Ansatsu Kyoushitsu belongs to Matsui Yuusei
もう一度
Mōichido
「One More Time」
From redheadlady, with love

Chapter One
夜のコンサート
「Night Gig」

The night wind was much the same as winter breeze. It smelt like peppermint and snow instead of cherry blossom that virtually had bloomed throughout the land, dyeing every avenue and municipal park with muted pink color. It was almost nine and the sun had long gone, leaving nothing up there but gray clouds.

Under those circumstances, the best choice would be to stay at home, reading The Chemistry of Explosive by Jacqueline Akhavan while warming up under three layers of blanket. Manami Okuda would've been very delighted to do that only if she had strongly rejected her friend's compulsion to attend this certain live performance of a local hipster pop band she'd never acknowledged. Thus nothing did she can do except standing thirty kilometers outside her house, frozen to death.

"It's way too early to wish for a warmer weather, isn't it? " she said, slightly turning her head upward to face a girl with bobbed auburn brown hair next to her, the one who had dumped her into this hapless situation, Ai Takahara. She was full of beans, beaming continuously ever since she appeared at Manami's doorstep.

"This is seriously an eternal winter," the girl declared, faking a vexed expression for a split of second before curling up the corners of her bright red lips again.

Ai fished a piece of glossy black rectangle paper out of her clutch and handed it over to Manami. Before she could voice any other complain, the brunette twined her arms around the shorter girl and started dragging her towards an old brick building. It used to be a meeting building. They didn't use it again since it's far from the main city. Now it's often utilized for downtown music performances.

The gig arena had been filled with exhilarated teenagers. Nobody had gone onstage yet, but people had already been jostling one another, ousting everyone else out of their path to get closer to the platform.

Imagining herself being thrusted back and forth by clammy strangers, Manami winced, trying hard to hold back her desire to upchuck her own organ. On contrary, she caught a glimpse of Ai eyeing the sight with great enthusiasm obviously displayed on her face.

"We must get into the front row," Ai announced, her green eyes round and wide. "We're going to get in action as soon as the squad's here."

"Can we just watch here at the back?" Manami's voice came out in murmur and the brunette didn't hear a tone, yet she didn't bother to repeat.

The chamber was warm and humid, flooded with the bitter smell of wet coat and alcohol, typical downtown life. It might be not so legal show. She could easily remark upon the underage high schoolers drinking beers and holding unlit cigarettes (the only trend she didn't understand, they said it's a metaphor or something). At least half of the audience were college students like her, except they're wearing clothes as if they're members of the oldest profession. Did they really come for the music? Cheap women.

Manami wondered what would her middle school teacher said if he was still here. Would he burst through the entrance with his hilarious wig and fake nose and bring her back home? Would he be bawling out loud because he thought she became a delinquent? She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ai-chan! Okuda-san!"

She turned to spectate her, no, Ai's squad (whatever squad meant) making their way towards them. One was tall with Taylor Swift's long blond wavy hair. Smoky eyeshadow smeared on her eyelids and her lips maroon red. The second girl had more curvy figure with purple-dyed hair, face red from the heat. They're one of those people who outfitted like hookers (or they really were - no one ever knew). Ai greeted them cheerfully with hugs and kisses on the cheek. Manami wasn't sure which was which. She merely waved and forced a smile.

"Hey, we just spotted a hot guy there," the purple-head gushed, directing a finger to the left side of the stage. She was wholly feverish that even in five inches heel it seemed like she was able to jump three meters high or so.

"He's tall and has a nice hair and his outfit was so on point. For heaven's sake, absolutely boyfriend material!" the blonde added.

Sparks twinkled in Ai's eyes. "We gotta find him after the gig!" she blurted out. "Must get number, or at least his name. Hope he isn't a f-boy!"

The crowd suddenly blasted a cheer as a lanky man paraded onstage. He grasped the mic, jumped onto a speaker, and singsonged a 'good evening' to the spectators. A group of another men tailed behind. They advanced to their spot and put on their equipment pronto. They all were clothed careless outfits: faded graphic T-shirt, ripped jeans, and worn out converse, hundred percent were bought from a thrift shop or Instagram, there's no inbetween. Apparently the audiences wore more expensive clothes than them.

"Let's dive into the crowd, shall we?" the blonde stated, turning on her heels and blended herself in the dark, along with the purple-head.

"Stick around, 'kay?" Ai ordered before handcuffing the shorter girl's wrist, hauling her into the ocean of her most horrifying nightmare.

Despite of her hard work of not losing Ai's presence, Manami got separated and was completely off track fifteen minutes later.

Desperately did she search the brunette, but the people kept pushing her to unspecific direction, causing her to be more lost than before. Not a single chance to locate Ai. Therefore, she decided to escape from the crowd instead. It was the same as swimming through a rip tide. Once she was out, she sprinted as quick as possible or though the horde would swallow her again.

Slamming her back against the wall, she tried to catch her breath. Her appearance was a complete mess, strands of hair sticking out her side braid, face flushed and shimmered in sweat. She couldn't care less. A snicker escaped her mouth as she realized how mindless she was for even saying yes to this back-breaking event.

Manami watched the exuberant crowd gone wild. People were chanting as loud as the music. She could feel her body pounded along the beat. Rainbow glow-sticks were lightening up the room, so were cellphone screens with maximum brightness. Camera flashes flickered like fairy-lights around a Christmas tree. The spotlight was dazzlingly bright, moving around exceedingly fast as the lead singer hopped everywhere.

That's when she caught a glimpse of a familiar redhead trying to break loose the mob.

She hunted for more presence of him, rummaging through the mass until her eyes dried out. A solid minute later her eyes captured another partial view of him before the human waves drowned him again. Then, another glimpse. She could tell he was wearing a black plaid shirt. She lost his presence when she blinked. Cursing herself, she continued to seek. Couple attempts before she was able to see his the color in his eyes.

Golden.

A nostalgic feeling filled up her chest. Heart beating so loud, louder than the music, louder than ever, probably could be heard distances away. A feeling she didn't utterly recall, nonetheless she missed it so much. Something was flowing inside her. Something pure, sweet and wistful. Second thought never came to her mind , she instantly scampered after his shadow. Her instinct commanded her to catch him. Just catch him and everything would be alright.

"Whoa! Watch out where you're going, woman!"

Manami backed a step, raising her gaze. Before her, standing a big bald dude with ridiculously disgusting beard and hot pink hawaiian shirt. She immediately hung her head, bowing down to apologize, hoping he didn't notice her cringe. The dude muttered something as Manami brushed past him. Most likely words his mom wouldn't be proud of.

More people was blocking her way. It was a wall. A gross human wall. She still could see his presence moving toward the exit. She hadn't given up just yet. She bulldozed everyone else, clearing her way out herself, ignoring all the curses and swears. Of couse she lost the sight of him once she reached the exit door. Consequently, she decided to follow her intuition.

Her steps echoed as she walked throughout the empty hallway. Chill and a horror feeling tickled the back of her neck although she still could hear the muffled music in spite of being outside the arena. Moreover, if it wasn't because of the streetlight penetrating through the dirty window, she wouldn't be able to see anything.

There was a steel door at the end of the hallway, seemed to be an emergency exit. It wasn't locked, not even completely close. Pushing it open, she found herself at back of the building, which was a car park. Her eyes scanned the surrounding just to find no one. But that didn't mean her effort was fruitless. When she was about to go back in, her ears perceived a faint laughter from the left side of the building.

There was someone there.

She tiptoed toward the source of the noise. When she was close enough to crane her neck to look past the wall, the first thing she saw was someone with red velvet hair.

"Karma-kun!" she dashed toward him. Clutching the back of his shirt, breathlessly she said, "Really, it has been forever since we graduated from class-" Her words trailed off as the redhead turned around.

Silver.

"Who the hell are you?" He brushed off her hand from his back, darting his blood-curdling gaze unto hers.

"Who on earth is she?" another guy with long sweaty hair showed up behind him. His face was all
red, his hand holding a can of beer. He ogled her appearance with a disturbing stare. "Your call girl?"

"She doesn't even look like one," the silver-eyed redhead shook his head and took a step forward. He lifted her chin with his filthy hand. A smirk painted on his lips. "What are you trying to do, woman? Is that your way to flirt?" he said with broken Japanese.

Manami lowered her gaze, blood rushing to her cheeks. The air was cold and she started to shiver. "I-I'm sorry," she stumbled upon her words. "I-I thought you were my f-friend."

The silver-eyed redhead let out a dry laugh. "I might not be your friend but you can have fun with us," he grabbed her hand. "You're quite cute, you know. Too innocent to be at some kind of place like this." His broken Japanese and the stink of her breath made her fantasised about shoving both toothpaste and a dictionary into his mouth.

Manami Okuda wasn't a weak girl. In fact, she used to train to be an assassin back in middle school. Before she departed to this concert, she had predicted what kind of situation that might be occurred and what move she would need to make. At least, that's what he had taught to her in middle school. Second blade or something.

Once the guy seemed to be out of guard, Manami pulled out a tiny bottle from her coat with her free hand. She plucked open its cap and sprayed it to the man's bare arm. The man roared a swear out loud as the liquid burned his skin. When he had loosened his grip, Manami broke free and pushed him onto the wall.

Looks like just hydrochloric acid is enough in this situation.

She was about to run when the drunk guy enclasped her from behind. "The hell did you just do?!" the drunk shouted to her ear. He seemed to be sober enough to understand the current circumstance.

It didn't take long for the silver-eyed redhead to stand up. She can feel his rage flowing around the three of them. "Godammit woman! I'll make you pay for this," he huffed while he cracking his knuckles. Manami lost all her power in two shakes. She closed her eyes as the guy lifted his fist.

He never punched her.

She felt the drunk guy's clasp were less firmed before it was completely off along with a sound of something hitting the ground. Before she could figure out what had just happened, she felt her hand being held and her body being lugged. First thing she could be aware of was her legs were running.

"Oh geez, what are you doing there, Okuda-san?"

This time, they're golden.

redhead's note:
Hi, it has been six months. I'm back with another story of a redhead called Karma Akabane and his megane girl Okuda Manami. I don't care if you hate this ship because I made this for a little gift to Karmanami (or whatever you want to call them) part of fandom. Mouichido takes place five years after middle school so they're about nineteen years old in this story.

Please give me comments and reviews because they mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading and I'll see you after I pass my chemistry exam.

[July 2016, edited by myself]