Kyonko's Reckoning

Chapter Two

If ever there was something Kyonko didn't want to do, it was going to school on Tuesday morning. As usual, sleep was far more welcoming than being asleep and when her alarm went off she bashed it, willing to snooze for ten minutes.

As it often did, it fell by the wayside when her brother came in and tackled her. "KYONKO! TIME TO WAKE UP!" He shouted in her ear, bouncing.

"I'm up." She mumbled sleepily and pushed her brother off of her.

Her brother grabbed Shamisen, who had snuck in at some point and ran off. "Breakfast!" He cheered.

Kyonko sat up, looking around blearily. Her alarm began to go off again and she switched it off. Wanting to stay home wasn't an option, Haruki was not about to let her get away with a second day's rest. Nevermind her parents, who might start asking questions. Despite herself, she untangled her legs from the thin blanket and placed her feet on the ground, pushing herself to her feet.

Her uniform was clean and pressed, hung on the back of her door. Avoiding her mirror, she stepped to the door, shutting it firmly before pulling her pajama top over her head and beginning the process of getting dressed. Once her clothing was in place, she pulled on her grey sweater to complete the look and set about brushing her hair.

None of this did anything to ease her discomfort. Butterflies flit about her stomach and she frowned at herself. Kyonko needed to get a grip. She finally glanced in the mirror and was relieved to see that she looked the same as she always did. Reaching back, she tied her hair into a ponytail and tried to smile a little. It didn't work, at first, but with a couple of tries, she managed to look as she always did. Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she headed downstairs.

That cursed hill, was the one true thing that could distract her with the agony of a very long, slow climb up a paved hill. She was breathing heavily and found herself only halfway up. Why did they have to build the stupid school at the top of the hill instead of the bottom? Hadn't anyone heard of buses?

"This is good for you!" Haruki declared from behind her. She must have said the last part aloud. "If you work hard, then you can keep your girlish figure."

Kyonko rolled her eyes. He easily surpassed her and turned around to look at her with a smirk. "Come on, walk faster! Let's go! If you're late to school, I'm giving you a penalty!"

She couldn't help but move faster at his command. Sometimes, she was completely at a loss how to fight off Haruki. At least this way he wasn't off ending the world or anything else that would cause her trouble.

"Try and keep up!" Haruki said. "I'm not going to show you any mercy just because you were sick!"

Of course he wouldn't. Kyonko forced herself to catch up with him, although she could have sworn he slowed down just a little.

"This week, I'm going to need you to help me collect some supplies on Saturday. It's going to be Golden Week, so we need to make plans. It's warm, we could go swimming! I think we should do something different every day."

She stared at him blankly. "Swimming?" What a normal activity, so unlike him.

"Of course!" Haruki declared with a bright grin. "We need to go diving so we can find buried treasure, but not the usual kind, I bet we can find alien buried treasure."

There it was, the angle. She put her hand to her face. "And just where are we diving for this treasure?"

Haruki pondered this. "Let's go off to Hokkaido!"

Kyonko shook her head. "Kind of short notice, don't you think? Maybe we could do it during the summer."

He looked disappointed, but he waved it off. "It'll happen. Plan on it happening! Now I'm going to make you a list and you need to get it all after school and you have to be back in an hour, or else."

She frowned deeper. "It'll take half an hour just to walk down the hill!"

"No whining!" Haruki said, dusting off his hands. "It's your penalty for missing school yesterday."

Groaning, she crossed her arms. Honestly, it could have been worse, somehow. She couldn't think of how at the time, but it could have been worse.

Itsuko found her, just as she promised she would, during lunch. Her usual smile plastered on her face, she pleasantly leaned in, interrupting Kyonko's meal. "Come on, let's go for a walk!"

There wasn't much Kyonko could do, except push back her chair and follow Itsuko. It wasn't like avoiding this was going to make her questions disappear.

The roof was clear and Kyonko sat on the ground near the ledge and leaned against it. She wished she had the forsight to bring her bento box with her.

Itsuko smiled pleasantly and put her arms on the railing, looking out over the courtyard. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"I guess so. It's sunny and warm." She replied.

"If I may be so blunt, your usual wit is failing to impress." Itsuko said.

Kyonko shrugged a little bit. "I'm still not feeling well. I only had one day's rest after all."

"If you're so ill, perhaps you need a doctor."

"No." She said firmly.

"I didn't know you had a fear of doctors." Itsuko prodded.

"I'm not afraid. Don't be ridiculous. I just don't need one. Haven't you ever had a cold?" Actually, it wouldn't surprise her if she hadn't.

"Mmm." Itsuko hummed and looked back at Kyonko. "Well you don't seem too inclined to discuss anything with me, but I daresay-"

"Don't say anything." Kyonko said as she got to her feet. "Class is going to start, we need to go." She dusted off her skirt.

"Are you certain nothing happened? I'm only concerned for your well-being, and by extention Haruki's..."

"It's just a cold, Itsuko." On that note, she marched over to the door and puled it open with a jerk and slammed it shut behind her. Kyonko had no desire to discuss this further. No doubt, Nagato also noticed something amiss, however odds were he wasn't going to bother her. With this discussion out of the way, she felt like she was in the clear.

He was watching her. Something seemed off with Kyonko. Haruki couldn't put his finger on it. She seemed distant, and she somewhat was acting in a halfhearted manner. The biggest observation was that she was bent over her work, as though she were suddenly interested in school work. He frowned at her back.

She could feel him staring and it made her feel even more unnerved and on edge, and when Haruki reached over and pulled on her ponytail she squeaked and jumped in her seat.

Kyonko got to her feet and whirled on him. "Just what do you think you're doing? Haven't you heard of personal space? Don't grab at me!"

Haruki couldn't mask his shock. She never spoke to him that way. He seemed genuinely sheepish at her freakout. He'd never given it any thought.

"Ahem. If we could proceed." The teacher said from the front of the class.

Kyonko turned beet red and sat down quickly, mumbling an apology. Once the lesson resumed she put her head in her hands. It was utterly humiliating.

Not a moment later, she heard whispered beside her ear. "Sorry."

When Kyonko looked up from her hands, she saw Haruki's face right next to hers and she leaned away and turned back. "What is so important?" She whispered.

"I think I know how we're going to get to Hokkaido!"

She turned her back to him and shook her head a little. It was unlikely in five days they could come up with the money to get to Hokkaido.

Haruki was grinning like mad and when class was dismissed, he grabbed onto her hand, dragging her out into the hall. "Come on! We need to find Tsuruya!"

"H-Haruki!" Kyonko protested but of course it fell on deaf ears as she was careened through the school.

A cheerful laugh, that was the only reaction they ever got from Tsuruya. "Sounds like fun Suzumiya-san. But I don't have a place in Hokkaido. But you know I do have that house on the island. You remember where the murder mystery was?"

Haruki looked thoughtful. "Well I guess that would do." He grinned and slung his arm around Kyonko. "And we can see Mitsuru in a bathing suit! And Itsuko..."

She squirmed out of his grasp with a small, annoyed huff. "Yes, fantastic, can I be excused now?"

He blinked at her and smirked. "Oh yeah. Here!" Haruki held out a list. "Back in an hour, or you'll be punished!"

Kyonko grabbed the list and stared at it, then back at Haruki and back at the list. "What exactly are we making?"

"Go get those and I'll tell you. I'm timing you!"

With an exasperated sigh, she walked out of the classroom.

Tsuruya smiled. "Wouldn't mind seeing her in a bathing suit."

"Are you kidding?" Haruki laughed. "Not much up top if you know what I'm saying. Itsuko's better in that department."

"I'll make the necessary arrangements."

Haruki grinned and slapped him on the back. "You're the best!" He ran out of the room and headed to the club room to make the other members aware of his incredibly awesome plan to spend Golden Week on an island.

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