Before Orientation
~oOoOo~
"Well, I would suggest that we have another conversation but apparently that doesn't really work for us," Shinji commented as he and Kamio strolled across the Suzuki campus, which was slowly beginning to fill with other students their age, milling about.
"Should we try to find something fun to do?"
"Never works."
There was silence.
"All right, this is getting ridiculous!" Kamio declared, petulantly pulling out the bud headphone that been nestled in his ear. "We're good friends, Shinji, and nothing is going to change that, but we're at a new school now and most likely there won't be anyone else from Fudomine in our dorm. We're going to have no choice but to get to know our classmates eventually."
"What are you getting at?" Shinji raised one eyebrow.
"We're going separate ways!" Kamio declared. "I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day and you're not talking to me. We split up and scout. We each act charming as hell and meet new people. At the end of the day, we'll each have new friends. Got it?"
"This sounds like the prelude to a really awkward chapter," said Shinji.
"Very perceptive." Kamio began to walk away from Shinji, turning his head to call back, "I mean it, Shinji! Don't come near me until the orientation! Be sociable!"
"Why are you doing this? Where am I supposed to go? What will I do?" Shinji called back.
"Frankly, Shinji, I don't—"
"Okay, okay, I get the point! Just not another literary reference!" And Shinji turned his back on Kamio, figuring that, if nothing else, he could go to the cafeteria and eat cake until five o'clock.
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Kamio felt rather excited about meeting new people. Unfortunately, being roomed with Ibu probably meant that he would be spending half of his time prying the other out of the room and convincing him to socialize, but he could still take some initiative now, without qualms about ditching his best friend.
Kamio stopped walking and scanned the campus, wondering where would be the jackpot as far as finding friends was concerned. He considered going into the cafeteria to get cake, but then he figured that that was probably where Shinji was and it would be too ironic. So instead, he headed for the library, hoping that there would be students ready to socialize.
The library, having not yet officially opened for the new school year, held several students, just as Kamio had hoped. There seemed to be some sort of educational young-writers session thing going on in one of the study rooms, but Kamio didn't bother looking in, since he thought writers were overrated. Somewhat less confidently than before, he slowed his gait to check out the other students. Many were chatting in clods, but here and there a loner would appear, and Kamio knew that was his best bet. He spotted a boy that he half recognized from Naruto, with very long dark brown hair sitting at one of the study tables, reading a book. Sidling over, he took a seat and said, "Hey, I'm Kamio!" Are you new to this school also?" The boy across the table raised his head slowly and revealed a set of perfectly pearly, white eyes.
Kamio jumped slightly, but tried to get his shock under control.
"…How's it going, man?" he tried weakly.
"About as well as trying to read without pupils can go, I suppose," he said in a deadpan voice.
God. Why do I only attract weirdos?
Kamio smiled vaguely, unsure of whether or not to laugh. If it was a joke, it would be rude not to, but if it wasn't, he would offend the other boy terribly.
After trying to strike up a conversation a second blind person, and then a third, and then wrapping up the whole fiasco by accidentally entering the young writers session and discovering it was actually a convention for the blind, Kamio decided that he would be better off as far from the library as possible. For a good long time, too.
The moment he stepped back out into the sunshine and wondered what to do, he heard a loud, obnoxious voice call, "Kamio-kun!"
Excellent, a friend! Thought Kamio somewhat crazily. He spun around, ready, putting on his friendly smile to greet whoever had called.
And found himself face to face with Kirihara.
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Meanwhile….
Shinji felt uncomfortable. Four pairs of eyes were currently fastened on him, observing as he finished his cake. Shinji had thought that the cafeteria would be a quiet place to pass the time, but upon entering, he had run into the freshman trio plus Aoi from last year, all of whom were apparently attending this school as well.
Katsuo broke the silence.
"Could you show us how to do your Kick Serve?"
"Mmhh?" Shinji raised an eyebrow, his mouth full.
"It doesn't have to be right now!" Said Aoi breathlessly. "Whenever you have some time."
Shinji swallowed. "Why don't you guys ask Echizen to show you some moves?"
"He's over us." Admitted Horio sadly. "Doesn't really want to hang out anymore."
"Seriously. He's gotten all snobby since last year." Kachiro agreed, shaking his head. "The whole winning the final match against Yukimura went to his head."
"Well, Yukimura is the 'Child of God'." Shinji pointed out. "So it was pretty cool."
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Katsuo asked, frowning. "How can a middle school player be the 'Child of God'? Does that make him, like, Jesus with a tennis racket or something?"
"Anyway," Aoi cut in, "Echizen decided that since he's the Prince of Tennis and all, he's too cool for us."
"What do you mean, 'us'?" Shinji gazed bewilderedly at the former captain of Rokkaku. "You weren't even his friend!" Then he paused to think about that more. "On that note, what are you even doing here?"
"I needed some groupies." Aoi muttered, flushing and looking down at the table. "And I don't know where David is, so I thought I should seek out the other Freshmen…"
"But back to the point!" Horio said, focusing his eyes on Shinji. "Will you teach us? Huh? Will you?"
"Guys come on…" Said Shinji awkwardly. "You know that Echizen hasn't really abandoned you. If you try to replace him so suddenly, you'll regret it—
"No, we won't!" The freshman trio shouted in unison. Even though they were officially second years now, nobody cared. They would always be the freshman trio.
"It's you that we want." Katsuo pressed.
"It's you with the Spot Technique." Horio added.
"It's you who gave everyone in fandom what they wanted—to see Echizen bleed!" Kachiro screamed.
Shinji began to back away slowly into a wall.
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Incensed seemed like a nice word to describe how Yuuta felt. Not only had his entrance into the story been completely cut out, but he was stuck with his brother at the new school! What the hell was the writer thinking?
Syuusuke had kindly offered to help Yuuta move in despite the latter's vehement protests. After transferring his possessions to the main entrance hall, Yuuta had said that he wanted to check out his new room and organize, but Syuusuke had offered to help him unpack. Then Yuuta tried to casually lose him in the crowds that were checking out the sports facilities but that had failed, and then he had said he needed to go to the bathroom, but knowing his older brother, Yuuta knew Syuusuke would probably follow him in there as well. In the end, the solution had been quite simple though. The pair were checking out the gardens and there, Yuuta had an incredible stroke of luck. Two finches were mating on a tree branch and Syuusuke got very interested and stopped to watch, giving Yuuta a time slot to back away and then sprint off.
When Yuuta felt that he was at a safe distance, he slowed down to catch his breath and quickly analyzed his new surroundings. It would not take Syuusuke long to tire of the birds, he knew. He needed to act now, and fast. Yuuta took off in the direction of the cafeteria, hoping to find someone he knew to help him escape.
XxX
Just as Yuuta's hand touched the door to the cafeteria, it burst open. Out sailed a harassed looking Shinji.
"Hey—" Yuuta began, half-recognizing him from the Senbatsu camp, but Shinji merely grabbed him and dragged both of them into a clump of bushes overshadowed by a tree, several meters away from the entrance to the cafeteria.
"What's going o—" Yuuta tried.
"Shhhhhhhh!" Shinji frantically silenced him. Then he pointed to the doors of the cafeteria. From their hiding place in the bushes, they could quite clearly see the freshman trio and Aoi come out. The four of them paused, looked around, and spoke to one another in hushed voices. Then they all headed off in the direction of the administration building.
Shinji let out a long, slow sigh of relief and Yuuta understood. Apparently he wasn't the only one avoiding people. Yuuta turned to his new confidant.
"My brother is after me." He said simply, in a searing voice. "We have very little time. He's sure to have tired of the birds by now. Do you know where would be a good place to hide?"
"I just got here, too." Shinji muttered, still eying the direction that the Freshman had walked off in warily. "I don't know the ins and outs yet. We'll have to use the sprint and dodge technique."
"Better than nothing."
Both boys got up cautiously. Actually, only Shinji got up cautiously. Yuuta got up way too fast and rammed his head against a low-hanging branch of the tree they were under and collapsed in a heap. When the black spots in his vision had cleared, the two of them sprinted back towards the cafeteria, and buried themselves in the shade of the building, pressing their bodies against the stone wall. They sidestepped around the perimeter of the building Pink Panther style, keeping their eyes watchful for anyone.
"We'll have to be very careful," Yuuta said evenly, trying to keep his voice under control. "My brother is a master of deception and very clever and he's surely looking for me right now."
XxXxXx
Yuuta was right in guessing that his brother had finally noticed his absence, but he was wrong about Syuusuke chasing him.
In reality, Syuusuke had now gotten distracted by two crows mating on a telephone pole.
XxXxXx
Kirihara had a perfectly logical reason for hailing down the single person who hated him the most on the campus, including Syuusuke. He really did. He just wasn't sure what it was yet.
Now Kamio was in a situation strikingly similar to that of Shinji and Yuuta: how to lose this guy?
Kirihara frowned slightly. "Perhaps my instinct deceives me…" He said, "But it seems that you are not very happy to see me."
Kamio turned away and started to walk in the direction of the Music Center, "I don't want to talk to you."
"Aw." Kirihara covered his chest with both hands. "You're breaking my heart."
"Like you have one."
"Ouch."
"Quit following me."
"No."
"Quit."
"No."
"Simon says 'quit'."
"Well, alright...hey, wait!" Kirihara snapped his fingers, laughing dryly. "You almost got me that time!"
Damn, I thought I had him for sure. He's gotten smarter. Kamio angrily brooded. "Why are you following me?"
"I…don't know. I just somehow felt compelled to bother you. Like the continuation of the plot depended on it or something."
"…"
"I somehow remember you being more…expressive than this. Are you quiet because you're desolate you had to leave your Ann-chan?" Kirihara's voice held an edge of menace.
Silence.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Silence.
"Goddam it! No plot, no romance, no humor…what the hell is this, Naruto?"
Of course, at that exact moment, the boy that Kamio had spoken with in the library passed the two of them and shot them a glare upon hearing these words. Kamio cringed.
"Mind leaving me the hell alone? I don't want everyone in this school to hate me before the term even begins."
"With your temper I think that's inevitable." Kirihara said in a smug voice.
Kamio's pulse jumped but he was determined not to prove Kirihara right, so he just quickened his pace to try to lose the other boy.
"Wait up, Kamio-kuuun. You can't leave me! We haven't fulfilled our part yet!"
"Go screw yourself."
"I've tried, it's boring. Listen, let's just do something so that we can get it done quicker and then this will be over!"
It made sense in a weird way.
Kamio entered the music building. For a moment, they were both astonished, taking in the seemingly endless corridor with countless doors. Peering behind one, Kamio discovered a huge amphitheater. Each room was filled with musical instruments, classified by sound group.
"This is neat." Kamio mused aloud, temporarily distracted.
"Yeah, if your name is Suzuki Daiichi." Kirihara agreed.
Kamio shot him a cold look and continued on without him.
"Okay, sorry about that one." He conceded.
The two walked in silence for a few moments. Kamio stared at the array of string instruments longingly from behind a glass door. Kirihara waited, but Kamio didn't seem likely to move. He clicked his tongue loudly.
"I didn't ask you to come!" Kamio snapped.
"Yet here we are. And something tells me this afternoon will be long, Kamio-chan."
That did it. Without so much as a backward glance, Kamio exploded running for it.
"Oh great." Kirihara cursed his inability to control himself. He would have preferred to just leave, but the continuation of the plot depended on him, he ran after Kamio.
Kamio raced to the nearest open door, in this case, the entrance to the strings room and dove in, locking himself inside.
"Oh come on!" Kirihara stopped running and pounded on the door with his fists. "Come out! Not cool!"
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At this point, most characters that matter were just desperately praying for five o'clock.
The Freshmen were poking around the administrative buildings, looking for Shinji. Shinji and Yuuta were concealed in a large group containing an assortment of Fudomine and St. Rudolph friends that they had found, slowly moving south, trying to avoid the Freshmen. Shinji also knew he had to avoid Kamio, who was avoiding Kirihara.
Everyone was avoiding Syuusuke.
Said tensai was currently prowling around the outskirts of the science building. Every now and then he would rub his fingers into the brick of the building, examine the dust on his fingers, smell it, and then head off in a new direction, as if he suddenly had a lead as to where Yuuta was.
XxXxXx
Shinji had suggested that they visit the pool area and the locker rooms. Yuuta agreed, thinking that if he took a quick shower or jumped into the pool, he could throw his brother off the scent.
Currently, the pack of them, (that is to say, Shinji, Yuuta, and their extraneous buddies) were creeping toward the athletics area, trying to look casual, but at the same time, trying to stick together. If they could just make it to that little squat brick building, they would be safely swaddled in shadow for a while.
They inched forward. The corner of the building on the far end drew closer. Just some more…..that's it……..just a little more…...
"GOTCHA!" Syuusuke jumped out of a tree that he had apparently been perching in, right into the center of the group of boys, perfectly landing on his brother. That damn tensai! How had he figured out that the only way to find Yuuta would be through an areal view?
"What's all this now?" Asked Syuusuke as his brother thrashed like a dying fish. "I was expecting more of a fight out of you, Foolish Little Brother." He savored feeling like Itachi for a moment. "It's obviously much too early for you to defeat me."
The rest of the boys recovered from the shock and Shinji found himself pitying poor Yuuta. "Aw, let him go." he said, surprising himself. "You don't even belong here. You're old."
Oh my God. Yuuta thought he might pass out. No one spoke to Syuusuke like that and survived. Once there had been a boy who thought he could speak to Syuusuke like that. Now he was not there anymore.
What had Shinji gotten himself into? As Syuusuke surveyed Shinji and slowly got to his feet, Yuuta shut his eyes and begged God for an earthquake.
...
...
...
…And for the second time that day, Yuuta's prayers were answered.
Just as Syuusuke opened his mouth to speak, the ground gave a sharp convulsion. It was not too serious, but it was enough to shock Syuusuke out of his rage. Chaos ensued.
"Now don't worry kids!" Syuusuke ordered, though there was an edge of fear in his voice. "I'm the adult here! I know exactly how to handle this kind of situation!"
"RUN!" screamed Ichiuma and all the boys scattered like fallen marbles.
Syuusuke looked slightly annoyed, but admitted, "That was what I was going to say anyway."
"Ibu, come ON!" Shouted Yuuta, grabbing Shinji by his shirt, for it seemed that the other boy was petrified and could not run.
"What…is this?" Shinji whispered in a cracked voice, staring at Yuuta.
"A gift from God!" Yuuta bellowed. "And He will be very displeased if we don't use it! Now COME ON!" Yuuta saluted the heavens and bolted. The two of them ran, leaving Syuusuke feeling as though he had been somehow set up.
The earthquake was over in less than a minute. Yuuta and Shinji stopped, having completely lost Syuusuke and utterly out of breath.
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Kamio cautiously opened his eyes. He found himself in a strange position, with his head on Kirihara's legs. He sat up quickly and pulled a Yuuta, banging his head against Kirihara's.
"Ouch! What the hell happened?" Kamio rubbed a spot on his head that was throbbing immoderately.
"There was an earthquake. A guitar fell from one of the shelves and hit you on the head, knocking you out," said Kirihara sourly. "I basically saved your life."
"I don't remember that."
"I told you to come out and you thought that it was me shaking the building! You thought it was a joke and refused to come out! You seriously don't remember that?" Kirihara screeched.
"I really didn't believe that it was a real earthquake?" Kamio said. "Well that's kind of ironic. Though it still doesn't explain how you got in here."
"Did I have choices? I shouldered down the door."
"Well, whatever, let's get out of here," said Kamio, getting to his feet. "If it really was an earthquake, then at least we won't be blamed for the mess in here."
"Kamio."
"What?" Near the door, Kamio turned.
Kirihara pointed to his left foot, which was lodged in a guitar. "I'm stuck."
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Choutarou and Kabaji watched happily from the picnic blanket they had set up on the front lawns, enjoying ice cream as they did so. Hiyoshi, who was sitting with them, had fallen asleep in the sun. Choutarou smiled.
"Kabaji, aren't you glad that we didn't try to branch out and meet new people?"
"Usu."
~oOoOo~
revised