The first time Kasai Chiaki saw him, he was laughing with his friends at a side table over a cup of coffee.
Kasai had found the cafe a few months after the case at her school. The common rooms had mysteriously become full, and seats were always taken in the library. So, the cafe had become one of her favourite haunts to do her homework. The owner was kind and let her sit at a small, out-of-the-way table, just next to the kitchen doors. The staff liked her, and some of them, mostly college students, helped her with her homework during their time off.
The young man was joking with two other students from his school, the light reflecting off his glasses. He had a quicksilver smile, and an easy-going aura that put everyone around him to ease. His friends were bent double with laughter as the grey-haired teen described a scene with his hands, gesturing wildly and pulling faces, making his friends cry.
He's pretty cute, as far as boys go. Kasai thought. Instantly, she shook her head slightly, disgusted with herself. She had come here to study school work and college entrance exams, not boys. Ripping her eyes away from the hilarious scene, she turned her somewhat divided attention back to her calculus homework. Finals were coming up, and she needed good grades so that she could get into the university of her choice. But her mind was always aware of the teen with the glasses, laughing in the corner with his friends.
The second time she had seen him, she was being shown around her new school.
Kei-sensei had finally left, the guilt of cursing the students eating away at her soul. A new biology teacher had come, and had hated Kasai from the first day. He picked on Kasai constantly. The other students were at first wary- this was the girl who had cursed a teacher to death- but gradually, the whispers began. Small things, like the curses from awhile ago, and the school curse. Then, it got worse.
People were blaming her for Kei-sensei leaving, and some of the teachers were suspicious of her excellent grades. Kid began to accuse her of cheating, and the teachers were no better. Anger had been sitting cold inside of Kasai since the SPR team had come, but now, with the whispers beginning again, and no teacher to help her, it began to heat up. Rumours that were being spread only added fuel to the fire.
It wasn't long before Kasai snapped.
During a particularly bad Biology lesson, in which the teacher accused her of cheating on the test due to her perfect score, she had lost it.
His coffee cup had shattered all over his lap, spilling the hot beverage over his pants, and the whiteboards had rattled. There was a nervous silence while Kasai had packed up her books and stood to leave. She had stalked out of the classroom angrily, mind not registering that the door was now open, when it had been shut at the very start of the lesson.
Standing in the empty hallway, she cursed at her foolishness. Her mother would definitely be hearing of this, and that last thing Kasai needed was the angry rants from her mother that she was bound to receive. If her mother could be bothered to get her nose out of her wine glass or bottle. Kasai decided to go home early, and then head to the cafe.
When she had reached the dingy apartment that she lived in with her mother, Kasai had tiptoed quickly past her mother, who was passed out on the couch, and locked herself in her room, which doubled as the office. Not that her mother used to office; she was too lazy. Her father had left during the case at her school, sick of her mother's drinking habits. He hadn't taken Kasai with him, something Kasai was bitter about.
So, Kasai had enrolled herself into the only other school she knew; Rokuryo High School, where the boy she had seen went to, judging by his uniform. She had forged her mother's signature on the guardian/parent forms. Sadly, she'd had a lot of practise. The principal was clueless as to what she'd done, and the school counsellor was a moron. When they had asked her where her mother was, she simply shrugged and replied
"At work."
They believed her, and had started to show her around. Turning a corner, she saw him. His face was hidden behind a stack of books, and he seemed intent on either getting to a study hall or a class. Noticing her gaze, the principal had grunted.
"Our school President, Yasuhara Omasu." The principal and the counsellor had walked on, with Kasai following, but her mind was definitely elsewhere. Possibly following the gray-haired teen down the hallway. Now, she had a name.
Yasuhara Omasu.