Just a note: this fic has no connection whatsoever to any previous CCD fics
I've written before. The events in this fic take place around the time the
actual series does. For all of you waiting for me to update chapter fics,
no, I haven't forgotten them entirely; I've been rather busy and writing
this cute little fic has helped me cope with evil papers, projects, and
general life. Anyway, enjoy. ;)
Day at the Tracks
By Ami-chan
"Don't you think kaichou has been acting strangely lately?" The younger, dark-haired, big-hearted Elementary Division Treasurer hovered over Suoh's desk looking rather worried. He'd been saying the same thing for days now and it was rather starting to wear on the elder boy's patience.
With a sigh Suoh look at him calmly and replied in the same way he had each time he had brought up the subject: "Kaichou is always acting strangely, Akira. He always has and he always will. Nothing is going to change about that."
"But he's acting more strangely, honestly Takamura-senpai!"
Suoh stared at him for a moment trying to wrap his mind around that little jewel of a thought. "I don't think it's possible for him to be any more strange than he already is. Rich, genius, eccentric – anymore and he'd be out in out insane."
"Takamura-senpai, this is no joking matter! Please be serious!" Akira was looking more upset as the moments wore on, his eyes pleading for a bit of understanding as he helplessly began to wring his hands. No one believed him, not Utako or Nagisa, and not even Takamura-senpai! He was starting to become desperate, but he just knew something was wrong, if only someone would take his suspicions seriously.
"I was being serious," Suoh noted as he finished up the last of his paperwork and stood up slowly, "But if you think there is a problem than maybe we should check it out."
The smile that spread across the younger boy's face was so brilliant that for a moment Suoh considered grabbing a pair of sunglasses to spare his eyes. Then he shook it off and leaned against his desk. "All right, so what is kaichou doing now?"
In two bounds Akira had attached himself to Suoh's arm, his wide eyes staring up into Suoh's looking for all the world like a lost little puppy who needed a home. "He's been disappearing lately – no, even more than usual and I don't know where he's going. He's even doing less paperwork than usual and he always – he always seems distracted and sometimes I hear him muttering these really strange words that don't really make any sense. Or, they don't make any sense to me."
"And?"
"And I think we should check it out!"
"So what are we going to do about that? You don't even have any idea where he's going." Without leads it would certainly be difficult to figure out a starting point for this little investigation, but, then again, they were supposed to be detectives of a sort. Perhaps it was their duty to find the leads in the first place.
Akira dragged out a large paper bag and dumped the contents on Suoh's otherwise immaculate desk. There were listening devices, binoculars, and a finger print kit, among other devices that could conceivably be used in such a scenario as he had found himself in. For a few moments Suoh wondered if it weren't Akira instead of kaichou, which was really the one acting weird. "We are going to tail him and find out where he is going and why!"
How did Suoh always manage to find himself in these situations? If it wasn't kaichou, it was Akira, and if it wasn't either of them it was Utako or Nagisa and, really, did they have to go through all the trouble when they really could just ask him what was going on? After he said as much, the younger boy took offense at that, saying that kaichou would probably not tell them, or perhaps (gasp) even lie to them to cover up the truth. When he argued that kaichou had never - to his knowledge, at least - ever lied to them, Akira argued that that didn't mean he wouldn't. This, he knew, was true, so with a sigh he agreed to this ridiculous proposal; they would watch this beloved kaichou like a proverbial hawk.
They carefully laid their plans and almost as soon as they had gotten the details of the operation straight, who should walk in with a wide smile plastered across his face, but kaichou. Interestingly enough he was not in the typical Clamp school uniform, but was, instead, in a trench coat and slightly oversized hat, holding a pair of dark sunglasses that he had obviously been wearing earlier. That was odd, Suoh noted, but not exceedingly so; it was the outfit kaichou had a tendency to wear when he was investigating some school mystery, when he was going someplace where he didn't want to be recognized (which was, as he discovered, useless anyway), when he was feeling in a Sherlock Holmes kind of mood, or just because. Honestly, he just liked the outfit.
However, what was a bit odd about the whole thing was that there seemed to be little bits of paper stuffed under his hat and kaichou might have been a lot of things, but his clothing were always in perfect condition, as was his sparkling blond hair. To have randomly stuffed bits of paper (though to his eyes they weren't ordinary bits of paper, but he couldn't place what they might be; receipts, perhaps?) was very unlike him.
"You're late, kaichou," Suoh told him quietly as the older boy flounced into the room and collapsed in his big, comfy chair as if he were exhausted from walking a great distance. (1)
"I realized that," the blond returned pleasantly as he reached for something that was inside his desk that neither of the other two could quite see. "And I won't be staying very long. Busy day, you know, so many things to do and so little time in which to do it!"
Again, nothing particularly suspicious in that; kaichou was a busy person and he often made ANY excuse to weasel his way out of paper work, including the time that he claimed that his dog was sick and had to go to the vet. Of course, Suoh knew all too well that kaichou's precious dog had several people that tended to her every whim that could have easily taken her, but kaichou had insisted that he had to go for moral support. An hour after that he had found the cheerful little blond bounding through some of the gardens along the campus with his "sick" dog. When Suoh had called him on it, he had proclaimed that his dog, Inuko, was feeling much better and had wanted to play; when asked why he hadn't returned to do his work after he had discovered that she had been miraculously healed he said that he had wanted to make certain that she was really okay and, he had explained, he had needed to comfort her because she had been so distressed over her illness. Not that Suoh had bought that one bit, but he had let it slide. Sometimes it was best not to press the flighty boy as he tended to become whiny and sullen if he wasn't allowed his taste of freedom every now and again.
"Kaichou, you have work to do."
He raised his head, his blue eyes growing even larger than usual for a brief moment as if in surprise. "Oh, I know. I'll do it later." Nokoru snatched up something, stuffed it into his coat and hopped off his seat, making a beeline for the door. His way was soon blocked by his faithful friend, bodyguard, and fellow student council member. "I will do it later, I promise! I have something important to do now!"
Suoh's eyes narrowed marginally. "What's that?"
"Suoh, I don't have to tell you everything. Now, please move." He stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him, which was in and of itself quite unusual. Normally when he was fooling around and trying to get out of things he had a sweet smile – or sometimes an embarrassed one – plastered on his face, but not so this time! This time he looked quite serious and was definitely not kidding.
"Not until you tell me what is more important than your duties as the President of the Elementary Division!"
Kaichou's cheerful face twisted into a frown that suddenly changed into delighted surprise as he peered over Suoh's shoulder. "Is that Nagisa?"
Suoh immediately turned red and fell over, giving the crafty blond his chance to escape; as he was closing the door behind him he added, "Oh, my mistake."
As soon as kaichou was out of the door, Suoh exchanged a quick glance with Akira and both took off after him. There was still nothing particularly odd about Nokoru's behavior; he often used this trick to avoid work, but there was something else a bit odd that Suoh could not entirely place about him and he was beginning to think that the Elementary Division Treasurer was correct. The two of them tailed the President artfully, both of them keeping to the shadows as to not attract the attention of the their subject. Suoh, being a ninja, hardly doubted his own ability to blend into his surrounding, by Akira shocked him greatly by being almost as good at it as he was.
The first hour of watching was fairly boring. Nokoru got some sweets – how anyone could consume so many sugary substances was BEYOND Suoh, but that was mainly because he hated them, himself, well, except when Akira made them and then they were actually good – and wandered through some of the gardens along the campus. It was only then that he turned in a direction that was most unexpected, but they both dutifully and silently followed. Either of them could imagine what it was that could capture kaichou's attention over there, since there were only fields and tracks in that direction and he had never been much of a fan of horses, though he liked them well enough from a distance or if some emergency caused him to have to actually ride one.
Eventually he lead them to the race track arena, the place where seedy characters and wealthy ones alike went to watch the horses, but more often to gamble away their money, only to lose. They exchanged quick, confused glances. "Why would kaichou be coming here?"
"Maybe to see the horses?" Suoh suggested, even knowing the probability of that were unlikely.
"But Takamura-senpai, kaichou could go to the stables near the school if he wanted to see horses! He could go see your horse, too, if he wanted and I don't believe he ever has. Or has he?"
Suoh shook his head, knowing Akira's argument was entirely valid. "He attends events that I'm in, but he's never showed any real interest in horses."
They fell silent as the small figure of Nokoru approached one of the betting counters and obviously placed a bet. "Isn't it illegal to bet when you aren't a certain age? Isn't it eighteen or something near there?"
Suoh nodded again. "Of course, kaichou is a Imonoyama."
"You think they would let him bet anyway? Because of who he is?"
"Stranger things have happened." And that was quite true. "Oh, those bits of paper! They might have been betting stubs!" They both gazed in realization as they watched their dear friend trot over to the stands where a race would soon be starting.
"Do you think kaichou has a gambling problem??" Akira's voice was hushed, obvious horror written on his face as he tried to wrap his mind around their kaichou having any such problem at all!
"We shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Yet."
The more he thought about it, however, the more probable that it seemed. "He is extremely wealthy, more so than any other kid his age so it isn't as if money would pose any sort of problem. And he does have a lot of time on his hands and he does get bored very easily and you know how he likes games and – "
"Akira! What did I just say?"
"Don't jump to conclusions?" he returned with a hint of chagrin. "But isn't gathering bits and pieces of information about someone and then making an assumption based on those events considered 'jumping to conclusions' and if so, isn't that what we – "
"Akira."
The dark haired boy nodded quickly. "Right. No jumping to conclusions about kaichou." It might not make much sense, but if Suoh didn't want to hear it, perhaps it was best if he didn't say it aloud. However, he was certain they were both thinking it!
Quietly the two of them crept closer to the stands, where they found their kaichou, fairly hidden under his large hat and trench coat, but still looking very conspicuous in the crowd of tall, adult men. The blond had chosen a somewhat secluded spot where he could see everything perfectly; they choose a spot where they could see HIM perfectly. When the race started he was on his feet and leaning over the railing to get a better look; both of them feared that in his eagerness he would flip right over the railing, but thankfully he managed to keep both of his feet firmly planted on the ground. For a while, anyway. As the horses neared the last length he was bouncing slightly on his toes and they knew that if they could see his eyes that they would be gleaming with intensity as they did whenever he was excited.
They thought after that that he would leave, but he didn't. There were more races. And he stayed and stayed and stayed. When the last race had needed, he finally moved from his position, a large grin on his face. Akira and Suoh hid themselves, watching closely as he passed by, back to the ticket booth. They trailed him silently, but kaichou was only headed home.
Akira shifted nervously then glanced up at his friend. "Do you believe me now, Takamura-senpai?"
He nodded silently.
"What do you think we should do about it?"
"Nothing, yet. Let's see what he does tomorrow." Suoh turned and started in the direction of his own home.
"And if he tries to leave tomorrow?"
Suoh halted briefly, casting his eyes toward the sky and sighing deeply. "Naturally we will try to stop him, after all he can't abandon his council duties so often."
"If he tries to get away?"
"Isn't going to happen." Akira watched him go, nodding to himself. That was what they would do and then everything would be okay. They would see to that. Suoh would make sure it turned out all right, he knew it.
The next day Akira spent fretting, concerned over what kaichou would think of a confrontation, of a – an intervention of sorts. He couldn't continue on his gambling spree, for surely that was the only thing it could be! No one else would ever spend so much time at a race track unless they were either working with the horses, knew the owners (his he obviously didn't, else why would he have gotten all those betting stubs and he hadn't interacted with anyone there), or at least liked horses! Kaichou was not particularly fond of horses, or at least he had never shown any interest in them before, so he was certain he had reached the correct conclusion.
It only remained to be seen what kaichou's response to their knowledge would bring. Would he deny it? Would he outright lie to them or try to mislead them? Would they have to fight their dear kaichou in order to get him to see the error of his ways? Whatever happened it would not be altogether that pleasant, but if Suoh could deal with it, then so could he!
Both he and Suoh were early and waiting by the time kaichou arrived. He had changed into his trench coat again and looked as if he were not planning on sticking around very long.
"Kaichou?" Suoh approached him as he sat down at his desk, Akira moving toward the door without seeming to be blocking the exit, though that was exactly what he was doing.
"Hm?" kaichou asked, without really looking up.
"Are you planning on going somewhere?"
Two bright blue eyes glanced up at him, full of charm and innocence, but Suoh was not swayed by the deep gaze; over the years he had developed something of an immunity against his powerful eyes. "I know what you are going to say and yes I'll have everything done on time, I promise! I just have some things to take care of. I can come back and start working later."
"Where have you been going, kaichou?" His voice was smooth and calm and nothing about it tipped Nokoru off to the fact that he was being interrogated or even that his friend suspected anything was out of the ordinary. Leave it to Suoh to be such a brilliant actor.
"Oh, you know. Out." He got something from his desk and hopped to his feet once more, only to find that Suoh was blocking his path. "I promise I'll get everything done, I really do! Have I ever broken a promise before?"
"No."
"See? So you have nothing to – "
"No, I meant, 'no, you aren't going'."
Nokoru stared at him in something akin to surprise, though deep down he had obviously expected something of the sort to occur. "I'll be good! I'll have – I'll have everything done by tomorrow, even if I have to stay here all night." He tried to step around him, but the taller boy moved with him. A frown appeared on the boy's handsome face. The frown turned into an outright pout, but his pleading look could not break Suoh's resolve. "Oh, look, is that – ?"
"Not going to work," Suoh cut him off abruptly, causing kaichou's pout to deepen.
That's when Nokoru noticed Akira standing quietly in a less obvious guard position, but still guarding nonetheless. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. Generally Akira was on his side against Suoh. The two of them often had lots of fun together on festivals, in role playing, in decorating, and other activities the stoic Elementary Division Secretary didn't approve of. Now, it had seemed, even the sweet, fun-loving dark haired boy had turned on him.
"Where have you been going lately?" he asked instead.
"Out."
"Out where?"
Nokoru glared up at him, offended. For a second Suoh almost broke his position and his resolve, having never seen such a hateful glare directed at him by the darling blond who smiled even when he was terribly sad or depressed. "I don't see where that is any of your concern!" Behind him, Suoh sensed, rather than saw, Akira wince, but he, too, held firm.
"It is our concern if it interferes with council duties."
"It's not going to interfere!" He tried to push passed him, but Suoh grabbed his arm; there was a brief struggle, but Nokoru did not fight much and Suoh refused to release him. If nothing else, Nokoru had always been reasonable and well aware of his surrounding and what was proper and what was not; being grabbed and restrained was not proper and fighting would only make it worse. He had been kidnapped often enough to know that. "Suoh, please."
"Where?"
He twitched but did not try to pull away from him. "I already told you: out." He held perfectly still, his eyes seeming to look straight into his, though not quite. Nokoru was avoiding his gaze. A sound of protest escaped his lips as Suoh reached out with his free hand and plucked a bit of paper that was under his hat, then he fell silent again as he examined it.
"What's this?"
"What does it look like?" There was and odd calmness about him, something chilly in his voice that made Suoh want to shiver and release him. He had heard that tone before; it was the one he used with kidnappers and adults, a reserved and distant voice that held almost no emotion though his face was plastered into what appeared to be a pleasant expression. It was not a pleasant expression for Suoh because he knew better. Kaichou was seething inside, growling like a caged animal that wanted nothing more than to rend his captors to tiny shreds.
"A racing stub." He finally released Nokoru, content with the knowledge that he would not flee. He was far too proper to attempt an escape now in such a critical moment. Or at least he thought he was. "Why do you have this?"
Blue eyes drifted to his; they were glassy and expressionless. "It's pretty."
There seemed to be an incredible distance between them and Suoh suddenly felt terribly alone even though they were not more than a foot apart, their eyes locked. A shiver traveled through him and a whisper escaped his lips: "Nokoru."
A spark of life enter those large, luminous eyes, surprise making them grow momentarily larger. That was the tiny sign of hope that he needed to continue. "Why have you been going to the race track?"
Nokoru's lips parted slightly in surprise. Then a smile, a true smile and not the fake one, brightened his face. "I should have known. You always find me, don't you?" He laughed softly then retrieved a small book from his pocket – the object he had gotten from his desk. "Here, look at this! See here? These are the races that I'm keeping track of. Here are the odds listed here, and here is the winners and what places they came in as apposed to how they were supposed to have done. I've been doing some calculations on this and it is really quite fascinating."
"Wait, wait, hold on a moment. I'm not sure I understand?"
Nokoru stuck his tongue out at him, shaking his head. "I should think that that is quite obvious! It's a study." He moved closer to him, tugging at his sleeve. "Actually, several studies in one. The odds of winning, how often the horse they say has the best odds actually does come in first, how betting works, how much people can lose in one day, and more importantly, how well people are at predicting the winning horse! You would be surprised, I'm sure. People with very low IQs can predict a winning horse with amazing accurately and sometimes those with high IQs can't!" He flipped off his hat and began searching through the betting stubs. "It's a lot harder than it looks but as you can see I got it down fairly quickly. Oh, there's also a study on the addictiveness of gambling and I must admit that it is rather interesting, but it is far too time consuming and requires too much thought to truly be fun for me."
The monologue halted abruptly as he realized that Suoh was staring at him quite intently. He blinked slowly, wondering about the surprise he saw in his eyes. "What? Do you want to come with me? I'm almost done with it, but you could come along and I can include your name in the final results as a – um, assistant."
"No, no, that's quite all right. I just wanted to know where you were running off to."
"I would have told you, but – well, I should have. It's supposed to be a secret." His eyes rolled toward the ceiling. "They've been pestering me again to start some more projects and if they know I'm in the middle of one they'll start pressuring me and you know I hate that. So you can't tell ANYONE, okay? I haven't even scheduled a lecture on it, yet. I'm going to wait until I have all the data in first."
Suoh nodded quietly.
"So, I can go now?" He nodded again. "And I will have everything done by tomorrow!" In two bounds he was out the door, his detective hat firmly planted on his head, his little book with his notes clutched in his hand.
Suoh glanced toward Akira as the door shut behind kaichou. "As I said, don't jump to conclusions."
"But you did, Takamura-senpai." He had heard it in his tone and so had Nokoru; he knew enough about their kaichou's reactions to see when he was on the defensive. Suoh didn't response and merely returned to his desk. In a few moments Akira did the same. They were both rather relieved that nothing was really wrong with their kaichou; that would have been a horrible thing to deal with.
Outside of the Elementary Division board room, Nokoru chuckled softly to himself as he hurriedly took down some notes from his observations. "I wonder if I should tell them that they were also a part of my study? No, perhaps it is better that they not know. It was fascinating, though. How long does it take for someone to notice deviant behavior patterns, how they go about monitoring the person, and how will they confront them about their behavior? They actually did fairly well, I think. I'll have to share my results with my colleagues and see what they have to say on the matter."
He pushed away from the wall and headed for the race tracks, a delighted smile on his face. This was his last day of observation there; had they not confronted him they might very well have failed, but they had managed to squeak by, all things considered.
~~The End~~
(1) Flounced is such a pretty word, I think! Very descriptive. ^_^
And you thought it was another of those, "Nokoru is messed up fics", but no, it isn't! lol Also, no real pairings in this fic, though I might have thrown in some Nokoru/Suoh foreshadowing or even Suoh/Akira. Or not? It's hard to tell and I really did not intend on making any pairings in this but the boys do have minds of their own...
Day at the Tracks
By Ami-chan
"Don't you think kaichou has been acting strangely lately?" The younger, dark-haired, big-hearted Elementary Division Treasurer hovered over Suoh's desk looking rather worried. He'd been saying the same thing for days now and it was rather starting to wear on the elder boy's patience.
With a sigh Suoh look at him calmly and replied in the same way he had each time he had brought up the subject: "Kaichou is always acting strangely, Akira. He always has and he always will. Nothing is going to change about that."
"But he's acting more strangely, honestly Takamura-senpai!"
Suoh stared at him for a moment trying to wrap his mind around that little jewel of a thought. "I don't think it's possible for him to be any more strange than he already is. Rich, genius, eccentric – anymore and he'd be out in out insane."
"Takamura-senpai, this is no joking matter! Please be serious!" Akira was looking more upset as the moments wore on, his eyes pleading for a bit of understanding as he helplessly began to wring his hands. No one believed him, not Utako or Nagisa, and not even Takamura-senpai! He was starting to become desperate, but he just knew something was wrong, if only someone would take his suspicions seriously.
"I was being serious," Suoh noted as he finished up the last of his paperwork and stood up slowly, "But if you think there is a problem than maybe we should check it out."
The smile that spread across the younger boy's face was so brilliant that for a moment Suoh considered grabbing a pair of sunglasses to spare his eyes. Then he shook it off and leaned against his desk. "All right, so what is kaichou doing now?"
In two bounds Akira had attached himself to Suoh's arm, his wide eyes staring up into Suoh's looking for all the world like a lost little puppy who needed a home. "He's been disappearing lately – no, even more than usual and I don't know where he's going. He's even doing less paperwork than usual and he always – he always seems distracted and sometimes I hear him muttering these really strange words that don't really make any sense. Or, they don't make any sense to me."
"And?"
"And I think we should check it out!"
"So what are we going to do about that? You don't even have any idea where he's going." Without leads it would certainly be difficult to figure out a starting point for this little investigation, but, then again, they were supposed to be detectives of a sort. Perhaps it was their duty to find the leads in the first place.
Akira dragged out a large paper bag and dumped the contents on Suoh's otherwise immaculate desk. There were listening devices, binoculars, and a finger print kit, among other devices that could conceivably be used in such a scenario as he had found himself in. For a few moments Suoh wondered if it weren't Akira instead of kaichou, which was really the one acting weird. "We are going to tail him and find out where he is going and why!"
How did Suoh always manage to find himself in these situations? If it wasn't kaichou, it was Akira, and if it wasn't either of them it was Utako or Nagisa and, really, did they have to go through all the trouble when they really could just ask him what was going on? After he said as much, the younger boy took offense at that, saying that kaichou would probably not tell them, or perhaps (gasp) even lie to them to cover up the truth. When he argued that kaichou had never - to his knowledge, at least - ever lied to them, Akira argued that that didn't mean he wouldn't. This, he knew, was true, so with a sigh he agreed to this ridiculous proposal; they would watch this beloved kaichou like a proverbial hawk.
They carefully laid their plans and almost as soon as they had gotten the details of the operation straight, who should walk in with a wide smile plastered across his face, but kaichou. Interestingly enough he was not in the typical Clamp school uniform, but was, instead, in a trench coat and slightly oversized hat, holding a pair of dark sunglasses that he had obviously been wearing earlier. That was odd, Suoh noted, but not exceedingly so; it was the outfit kaichou had a tendency to wear when he was investigating some school mystery, when he was going someplace where he didn't want to be recognized (which was, as he discovered, useless anyway), when he was feeling in a Sherlock Holmes kind of mood, or just because. Honestly, he just liked the outfit.
However, what was a bit odd about the whole thing was that there seemed to be little bits of paper stuffed under his hat and kaichou might have been a lot of things, but his clothing were always in perfect condition, as was his sparkling blond hair. To have randomly stuffed bits of paper (though to his eyes they weren't ordinary bits of paper, but he couldn't place what they might be; receipts, perhaps?) was very unlike him.
"You're late, kaichou," Suoh told him quietly as the older boy flounced into the room and collapsed in his big, comfy chair as if he were exhausted from walking a great distance. (1)
"I realized that," the blond returned pleasantly as he reached for something that was inside his desk that neither of the other two could quite see. "And I won't be staying very long. Busy day, you know, so many things to do and so little time in which to do it!"
Again, nothing particularly suspicious in that; kaichou was a busy person and he often made ANY excuse to weasel his way out of paper work, including the time that he claimed that his dog was sick and had to go to the vet. Of course, Suoh knew all too well that kaichou's precious dog had several people that tended to her every whim that could have easily taken her, but kaichou had insisted that he had to go for moral support. An hour after that he had found the cheerful little blond bounding through some of the gardens along the campus with his "sick" dog. When Suoh had called him on it, he had proclaimed that his dog, Inuko, was feeling much better and had wanted to play; when asked why he hadn't returned to do his work after he had discovered that she had been miraculously healed he said that he had wanted to make certain that she was really okay and, he had explained, he had needed to comfort her because she had been so distressed over her illness. Not that Suoh had bought that one bit, but he had let it slide. Sometimes it was best not to press the flighty boy as he tended to become whiny and sullen if he wasn't allowed his taste of freedom every now and again.
"Kaichou, you have work to do."
He raised his head, his blue eyes growing even larger than usual for a brief moment as if in surprise. "Oh, I know. I'll do it later." Nokoru snatched up something, stuffed it into his coat and hopped off his seat, making a beeline for the door. His way was soon blocked by his faithful friend, bodyguard, and fellow student council member. "I will do it later, I promise! I have something important to do now!"
Suoh's eyes narrowed marginally. "What's that?"
"Suoh, I don't have to tell you everything. Now, please move." He stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him, which was in and of itself quite unusual. Normally when he was fooling around and trying to get out of things he had a sweet smile – or sometimes an embarrassed one – plastered on his face, but not so this time! This time he looked quite serious and was definitely not kidding.
"Not until you tell me what is more important than your duties as the President of the Elementary Division!"
Kaichou's cheerful face twisted into a frown that suddenly changed into delighted surprise as he peered over Suoh's shoulder. "Is that Nagisa?"
Suoh immediately turned red and fell over, giving the crafty blond his chance to escape; as he was closing the door behind him he added, "Oh, my mistake."
As soon as kaichou was out of the door, Suoh exchanged a quick glance with Akira and both took off after him. There was still nothing particularly odd about Nokoru's behavior; he often used this trick to avoid work, but there was something else a bit odd that Suoh could not entirely place about him and he was beginning to think that the Elementary Division Treasurer was correct. The two of them tailed the President artfully, both of them keeping to the shadows as to not attract the attention of the their subject. Suoh, being a ninja, hardly doubted his own ability to blend into his surrounding, by Akira shocked him greatly by being almost as good at it as he was.
The first hour of watching was fairly boring. Nokoru got some sweets – how anyone could consume so many sugary substances was BEYOND Suoh, but that was mainly because he hated them, himself, well, except when Akira made them and then they were actually good – and wandered through some of the gardens along the campus. It was only then that he turned in a direction that was most unexpected, but they both dutifully and silently followed. Either of them could imagine what it was that could capture kaichou's attention over there, since there were only fields and tracks in that direction and he had never been much of a fan of horses, though he liked them well enough from a distance or if some emergency caused him to have to actually ride one.
Eventually he lead them to the race track arena, the place where seedy characters and wealthy ones alike went to watch the horses, but more often to gamble away their money, only to lose. They exchanged quick, confused glances. "Why would kaichou be coming here?"
"Maybe to see the horses?" Suoh suggested, even knowing the probability of that were unlikely.
"But Takamura-senpai, kaichou could go to the stables near the school if he wanted to see horses! He could go see your horse, too, if he wanted and I don't believe he ever has. Or has he?"
Suoh shook his head, knowing Akira's argument was entirely valid. "He attends events that I'm in, but he's never showed any real interest in horses."
They fell silent as the small figure of Nokoru approached one of the betting counters and obviously placed a bet. "Isn't it illegal to bet when you aren't a certain age? Isn't it eighteen or something near there?"
Suoh nodded again. "Of course, kaichou is a Imonoyama."
"You think they would let him bet anyway? Because of who he is?"
"Stranger things have happened." And that was quite true. "Oh, those bits of paper! They might have been betting stubs!" They both gazed in realization as they watched their dear friend trot over to the stands where a race would soon be starting.
"Do you think kaichou has a gambling problem??" Akira's voice was hushed, obvious horror written on his face as he tried to wrap his mind around their kaichou having any such problem at all!
"We shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Yet."
The more he thought about it, however, the more probable that it seemed. "He is extremely wealthy, more so than any other kid his age so it isn't as if money would pose any sort of problem. And he does have a lot of time on his hands and he does get bored very easily and you know how he likes games and – "
"Akira! What did I just say?"
"Don't jump to conclusions?" he returned with a hint of chagrin. "But isn't gathering bits and pieces of information about someone and then making an assumption based on those events considered 'jumping to conclusions' and if so, isn't that what we – "
"Akira."
The dark haired boy nodded quickly. "Right. No jumping to conclusions about kaichou." It might not make much sense, but if Suoh didn't want to hear it, perhaps it was best if he didn't say it aloud. However, he was certain they were both thinking it!
Quietly the two of them crept closer to the stands, where they found their kaichou, fairly hidden under his large hat and trench coat, but still looking very conspicuous in the crowd of tall, adult men. The blond had chosen a somewhat secluded spot where he could see everything perfectly; they choose a spot where they could see HIM perfectly. When the race started he was on his feet and leaning over the railing to get a better look; both of them feared that in his eagerness he would flip right over the railing, but thankfully he managed to keep both of his feet firmly planted on the ground. For a while, anyway. As the horses neared the last length he was bouncing slightly on his toes and they knew that if they could see his eyes that they would be gleaming with intensity as they did whenever he was excited.
They thought after that that he would leave, but he didn't. There were more races. And he stayed and stayed and stayed. When the last race had needed, he finally moved from his position, a large grin on his face. Akira and Suoh hid themselves, watching closely as he passed by, back to the ticket booth. They trailed him silently, but kaichou was only headed home.
Akira shifted nervously then glanced up at his friend. "Do you believe me now, Takamura-senpai?"
He nodded silently.
"What do you think we should do about it?"
"Nothing, yet. Let's see what he does tomorrow." Suoh turned and started in the direction of his own home.
"And if he tries to leave tomorrow?"
Suoh halted briefly, casting his eyes toward the sky and sighing deeply. "Naturally we will try to stop him, after all he can't abandon his council duties so often."
"If he tries to get away?"
"Isn't going to happen." Akira watched him go, nodding to himself. That was what they would do and then everything would be okay. They would see to that. Suoh would make sure it turned out all right, he knew it.
The next day Akira spent fretting, concerned over what kaichou would think of a confrontation, of a – an intervention of sorts. He couldn't continue on his gambling spree, for surely that was the only thing it could be! No one else would ever spend so much time at a race track unless they were either working with the horses, knew the owners (his he obviously didn't, else why would he have gotten all those betting stubs and he hadn't interacted with anyone there), or at least liked horses! Kaichou was not particularly fond of horses, or at least he had never shown any interest in them before, so he was certain he had reached the correct conclusion.
It only remained to be seen what kaichou's response to their knowledge would bring. Would he deny it? Would he outright lie to them or try to mislead them? Would they have to fight their dear kaichou in order to get him to see the error of his ways? Whatever happened it would not be altogether that pleasant, but if Suoh could deal with it, then so could he!
Both he and Suoh were early and waiting by the time kaichou arrived. He had changed into his trench coat again and looked as if he were not planning on sticking around very long.
"Kaichou?" Suoh approached him as he sat down at his desk, Akira moving toward the door without seeming to be blocking the exit, though that was exactly what he was doing.
"Hm?" kaichou asked, without really looking up.
"Are you planning on going somewhere?"
Two bright blue eyes glanced up at him, full of charm and innocence, but Suoh was not swayed by the deep gaze; over the years he had developed something of an immunity against his powerful eyes. "I know what you are going to say and yes I'll have everything done on time, I promise! I just have some things to take care of. I can come back and start working later."
"Where have you been going, kaichou?" His voice was smooth and calm and nothing about it tipped Nokoru off to the fact that he was being interrogated or even that his friend suspected anything was out of the ordinary. Leave it to Suoh to be such a brilliant actor.
"Oh, you know. Out." He got something from his desk and hopped to his feet once more, only to find that Suoh was blocking his path. "I promise I'll get everything done, I really do! Have I ever broken a promise before?"
"No."
"See? So you have nothing to – "
"No, I meant, 'no, you aren't going'."
Nokoru stared at him in something akin to surprise, though deep down he had obviously expected something of the sort to occur. "I'll be good! I'll have – I'll have everything done by tomorrow, even if I have to stay here all night." He tried to step around him, but the taller boy moved with him. A frown appeared on the boy's handsome face. The frown turned into an outright pout, but his pleading look could not break Suoh's resolve. "Oh, look, is that – ?"
"Not going to work," Suoh cut him off abruptly, causing kaichou's pout to deepen.
That's when Nokoru noticed Akira standing quietly in a less obvious guard position, but still guarding nonetheless. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. Generally Akira was on his side against Suoh. The two of them often had lots of fun together on festivals, in role playing, in decorating, and other activities the stoic Elementary Division Secretary didn't approve of. Now, it had seemed, even the sweet, fun-loving dark haired boy had turned on him.
"Where have you been going lately?" he asked instead.
"Out."
"Out where?"
Nokoru glared up at him, offended. For a second Suoh almost broke his position and his resolve, having never seen such a hateful glare directed at him by the darling blond who smiled even when he was terribly sad or depressed. "I don't see where that is any of your concern!" Behind him, Suoh sensed, rather than saw, Akira wince, but he, too, held firm.
"It is our concern if it interferes with council duties."
"It's not going to interfere!" He tried to push passed him, but Suoh grabbed his arm; there was a brief struggle, but Nokoru did not fight much and Suoh refused to release him. If nothing else, Nokoru had always been reasonable and well aware of his surrounding and what was proper and what was not; being grabbed and restrained was not proper and fighting would only make it worse. He had been kidnapped often enough to know that. "Suoh, please."
"Where?"
He twitched but did not try to pull away from him. "I already told you: out." He held perfectly still, his eyes seeming to look straight into his, though not quite. Nokoru was avoiding his gaze. A sound of protest escaped his lips as Suoh reached out with his free hand and plucked a bit of paper that was under his hat, then he fell silent again as he examined it.
"What's this?"
"What does it look like?" There was and odd calmness about him, something chilly in his voice that made Suoh want to shiver and release him. He had heard that tone before; it was the one he used with kidnappers and adults, a reserved and distant voice that held almost no emotion though his face was plastered into what appeared to be a pleasant expression. It was not a pleasant expression for Suoh because he knew better. Kaichou was seething inside, growling like a caged animal that wanted nothing more than to rend his captors to tiny shreds.
"A racing stub." He finally released Nokoru, content with the knowledge that he would not flee. He was far too proper to attempt an escape now in such a critical moment. Or at least he thought he was. "Why do you have this?"
Blue eyes drifted to his; they were glassy and expressionless. "It's pretty."
There seemed to be an incredible distance between them and Suoh suddenly felt terribly alone even though they were not more than a foot apart, their eyes locked. A shiver traveled through him and a whisper escaped his lips: "Nokoru."
A spark of life enter those large, luminous eyes, surprise making them grow momentarily larger. That was the tiny sign of hope that he needed to continue. "Why have you been going to the race track?"
Nokoru's lips parted slightly in surprise. Then a smile, a true smile and not the fake one, brightened his face. "I should have known. You always find me, don't you?" He laughed softly then retrieved a small book from his pocket – the object he had gotten from his desk. "Here, look at this! See here? These are the races that I'm keeping track of. Here are the odds listed here, and here is the winners and what places they came in as apposed to how they were supposed to have done. I've been doing some calculations on this and it is really quite fascinating."
"Wait, wait, hold on a moment. I'm not sure I understand?"
Nokoru stuck his tongue out at him, shaking his head. "I should think that that is quite obvious! It's a study." He moved closer to him, tugging at his sleeve. "Actually, several studies in one. The odds of winning, how often the horse they say has the best odds actually does come in first, how betting works, how much people can lose in one day, and more importantly, how well people are at predicting the winning horse! You would be surprised, I'm sure. People with very low IQs can predict a winning horse with amazing accurately and sometimes those with high IQs can't!" He flipped off his hat and began searching through the betting stubs. "It's a lot harder than it looks but as you can see I got it down fairly quickly. Oh, there's also a study on the addictiveness of gambling and I must admit that it is rather interesting, but it is far too time consuming and requires too much thought to truly be fun for me."
The monologue halted abruptly as he realized that Suoh was staring at him quite intently. He blinked slowly, wondering about the surprise he saw in his eyes. "What? Do you want to come with me? I'm almost done with it, but you could come along and I can include your name in the final results as a – um, assistant."
"No, no, that's quite all right. I just wanted to know where you were running off to."
"I would have told you, but – well, I should have. It's supposed to be a secret." His eyes rolled toward the ceiling. "They've been pestering me again to start some more projects and if they know I'm in the middle of one they'll start pressuring me and you know I hate that. So you can't tell ANYONE, okay? I haven't even scheduled a lecture on it, yet. I'm going to wait until I have all the data in first."
Suoh nodded quietly.
"So, I can go now?" He nodded again. "And I will have everything done by tomorrow!" In two bounds he was out the door, his detective hat firmly planted on his head, his little book with his notes clutched in his hand.
Suoh glanced toward Akira as the door shut behind kaichou. "As I said, don't jump to conclusions."
"But you did, Takamura-senpai." He had heard it in his tone and so had Nokoru; he knew enough about their kaichou's reactions to see when he was on the defensive. Suoh didn't response and merely returned to his desk. In a few moments Akira did the same. They were both rather relieved that nothing was really wrong with their kaichou; that would have been a horrible thing to deal with.
Outside of the Elementary Division board room, Nokoru chuckled softly to himself as he hurriedly took down some notes from his observations. "I wonder if I should tell them that they were also a part of my study? No, perhaps it is better that they not know. It was fascinating, though. How long does it take for someone to notice deviant behavior patterns, how they go about monitoring the person, and how will they confront them about their behavior? They actually did fairly well, I think. I'll have to share my results with my colleagues and see what they have to say on the matter."
He pushed away from the wall and headed for the race tracks, a delighted smile on his face. This was his last day of observation there; had they not confronted him they might very well have failed, but they had managed to squeak by, all things considered.
~~The End~~
(1) Flounced is such a pretty word, I think! Very descriptive. ^_^
And you thought it was another of those, "Nokoru is messed up fics", but no, it isn't! lol Also, no real pairings in this fic, though I might have thrown in some Nokoru/Suoh foreshadowing or even Suoh/Akira. Or not? It's hard to tell and I really did not intend on making any pairings in this but the boys do have minds of their own...