Chapter 4
'Time is up' the snarky voice announced 'You are free to continue with the challenge'
Isuke cringed at Nio's voice, covering her ears from the annoying screech the speaker made after the blonde turned it off.
"Seriously, is she doing this on purpose?" she muttered. This had nothing to do with Nio, but she was already pissed since an hour ago. Winning the first point just wasn't satisfying enough for her.
"Isuke made sure to rub her hand properly though" she smirked in an attempt to make herself feel better. When she was trying to immobilize Haruki, she saw a phone number on the redhead's hand. It was one that she had memorized very well, only to avoid picking up any calls from it. During their fight, she noticed that Haruki's hands were surprisingly soft. They also had a feminine touch, despite the fact that the girl used them in physically demanding activities.
Now, as far as she could see, the note in Haruki's hand was smudged enough from their fight. So she wouldn't be able to write it down anywhere, anymore. It wasn't like she cared about Haruki contacting Shina or something of course, she did this merely to get back at the brunette for before.
"Isuke likes playing dirty after all" she smirked, checking outside the window. "For all the times she used Momma to get away with meddling to my business. This is a small payback."
'Also, what was that creep doing here again?' she thought, referring to the man who sneaked inside their room. It wasn't like he wanted her dead after willingly giving her a part of his money, but he was as weird as ever. Even though Isuke didn't care what her classmates, this little incident was still something she'd prefer staying outside the school. She didn't want these amateur assasins to know these detailss about her life. Especially idiot assasins like a certainn someone.
But Haruki had already seen everything. Isuke frowned, letting a hint of anger appear in her face. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's notlike I care about her opinion for my life" checking herself in the mirror one last time, she headed out.
"Now, where would a poor child of a big familly go first..." Isuke pondered as she was walking towards Myojo's exit door. The sun was bright up in the sky. 'This seems to be a day she likes jogging around school' she thought.
Trying to place all these clues together, was making Isuke frustrated. She formed a rough idea of where Haruki could be hidding, but putting all this energy on thinking about her roomate was giving her strange feelings. Getting outside the school's main entrance, she remembered the first time they met.
Haruki was annoying right from the beggining, and she didn't seem to have a sense of personal space either. But Isuke could see that her roomate was different from the assasins she'd met before. She was gentle and genuine, which was making a bizzare combination with her careless attitude. She didn't hate it, and this was what would make Isuke feel weird.
After roaming in the streets for a while, she decided to try a different way of searching. She entered an alley and climbed a building from the exit stairs. After three floors, she was now on the roof. She took out her binoculars and checked down the steets. Nothing.
It wasn't like she expected to spot her opponent so easily, but this was a good chance for her to admire the city's view. She usually didn't care about stupid things like noticing the trees and the areas outdoors, but she had been in an strange mood since yesterday.
Checking down, her eyes fell on a Diner. It was a place a certain someone would enjoy for sure. Isuke on the other hand would only go to proper restaurants. After browsing the streets for a little while, she decided this was pointless. Humiliating Haruki in another face to face fight would definetely be interesting though.
"Well, Isuke thought of trying" she sighed, before finally giving up on her search. She had already won the first one anyway, so there was no point in rushing. Maybe she should just wait for her opponent to find her first "How boring"
Getting back down, Isuke felt a strange elation. Even that stupid happy weather was not so annoying, considering how her mood was quite different two hours ago.
Suddenly, she felt a thud behind her neck. It was in that place where it causes dizziness and makes the person to stumble. Because of that, she wasn't able to react quicjly, and soon her hands where tied behind her back.
"What the hell do you want here?!" she yelled, before a piece of cloth sillencing her mouth.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you" the man smirked, before pushing an injection inside Isuke's arm. The girl's eyes widened for a second, but took an unmoving glare quickly. If looks could kill, Goto would already be dead by now. Even when Isuke was serious in her assasinations, she usually didn't use that type of look to anyone. It was one that would give shivers down someone's spine, and it made her look like she was surrounded by a black aura all around her body. The glare of death.
"Ouch" the man mocked Isuke's gaze "This won't help you now. But really, there is nothing to worry, this will just be fun"
Soon, after Isuke falling asleep, he untied her hands and left her there lying. He checked around him quickly, and got inside a van.
"Boss, are you sure this is not against the rules of the challenge?" the driver asked him before starting the engine.
"Yuri-san said we are allowed to help the contestants we put our bets on."
"Is that considered a type of help?" the driver asked reluctantly.
"Of course. Since I put my money on Sagae to win, this is me helping her. Yuri-san didn't mention anything against sabotaging their opponents. Besides, this is a non harmful drug" Goto said in a satisfied way, checking the time on his expensive hand clock. "She will just be hallucinating for a few hours" he added, before ordering his driver to get him to his usual place for lunch.
"Th-thank you but I can't accept it"
"Man, come on Banba. You've been here for two days. You need to eat something"
"I have survived without food longer than this"
"But still, we are only halfway through the challenge" Haruki rubbed the back of her head.
The white haired assasin sighed. She had learned by now how Haruki was quite stubborn. "If I tell you something, promise you keep it a secret. I-It's actually embarassing..." she said, her cheeks slightly changing color.
The redhead was taken aback for a moment, before making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Of course"
"It...it's that" Mahiru shallowed "Shinya has been pressuring me t-to talk with Sumireko-san..."
"I see no problem in this?"Haruki tilted her head slightly to the left " I mean, you talk to her everyday, right?"
"B-But this is different!" the girl said, almost losing her cool "Sumireko-san wanted to buy me a gift. She told me about it right before I was leaving for the challenge yesterday. I-I didn't say anything back, but..."
"you don't know how to turn it down?"
Mahiru nodded, not making any eye contact. Haruki was ready to say something along the lines of 'You just need to talk to her and be honest', but a sudden realisation made her flinch. She remembered the previous night, where she couldn't even turn down a stranger herself either. This even led her to say a chain of lies, even something as big as she was dating Isuke. Suddenly Haruki felt her cheeks getting warmer.
"I-I've been trying to discourage Shinya from saying or doing something reckless. Staying in this place, it's harder for her to find Sumireko-san when she comes out at night. And when I tried to talk to her about it, she doesn't listen and wants to do this her own way. And I-I can't accept the food because she is easier to control when she is hungry"
"Shinya-san is not easy to tame at all, huh" Haruki joked before standing up. But this situation was indeed messy. "Only you know your self better. So you know how to deal with this better than me too, right?" she grinned, slightly patting Mahiru's head before leaving.
"G-Good luck" the white-haired assasin said, waving goodbye back at her classmate.
It was already dark outside. Haruki had spend her whole day roaming around the city. No signs of Isuke so far, so she decided to take a walk to the park.
'I could go back to Myojo for the night' she pondered, sitting on an old rusty bench when she was finally in the park. Plans on how to capture Isuke had not stop running through her mind during the whole day. She knew that the girl might not come after her now that she had the first point too.
There was an eerie silence around her. It felt nothing like a day ago. She checked down her phone; 1:17 a.m. It was already Sunday, the last day of the challenge.
Days in Myojo were passing by fine for Haruki. She had free food and the chance to finally get a highschool diploma. It was embarassing to admit, but she had only graduated only up the 7th grade. She was also making new friends, which was something she didn't know she needed until she started hanging out with her classmates. Even though she was an extrovert, she never had any other friends outside her own familly. Even Isuke was nice to have as a roomate. Haruki wouldn't admit it, but sometimes she liked teasing her and watching the girl getting frustrated too.
'I wonder what Isuke-sama is doing right now' Haruki closed her eyes and drifted away with her thoughts, before she could hear someone running.
Soon, quite far ahead she spotted a figure moving through the tall trees of the park. Squeezing her eyes more, Haruki wasy able to see a bit more clearly of who that was.
Kouko's glasses reflected the light from the street lambs. She was apparently trying to hide, since she wasn't using the park's main road. To her surpsise, the brunette spotted her and got closer.
"Haruki-san"
"Kouko" Haruki greeted, feeling a bit confused as to why the girl approached her right in the middle of the challenge.
"I have some information you will find useful"
Haruki tilted her head, slightly confused.
"I know where Inukai is" the brunnete said, getting straight to the point, obviously being in a hurry. "I saw her about half an hour ago. She was inside the Hashimoto Street alley."
"Th-Thanks" Haruki said dumbfounded. "But why?" she asked reluctantly, unsure of her classmate's motives.
"I was ahead of Suzu by one point" Kouko sighed "I found the best hiding place and I was going to spend the rest of the challenge in there. It seemed I was going to win..." she said, signs of despair and frustration slipping through her voice without intending to "But Inukai somehow knew about my location and she revealed it to Suzu"
Haruki was surprised. Of course it wasn't out of character for Isuke to do something like that, but she also didn't care enough about the others to interfere with their challenge.
"And now what's the score?"
"I'm losing by one point, our score is 1-2. First, Suzu-san evened the score and then took the next point too. Both times, because she knew where my location was and..." she paused, sighing in frustration, this time for herself "I hadn't even realised Suzu knew about it until the second point she got"
"Then she told you about it?" Haruki asked, feeling a cold air piercing through her clothes. There was no one else around them at that hour. Only the rustle of the trees' leaves were breaking the silence.
"Not Suzu-san. Inukai was across the street, laughing at me when Suzu took the second point" Kouko said, her eyes under the shadows, unaffected by the dim light coming from the street. "When Suzu left back for Myojo, Inukai yelled that she was the one who revealed my hiding spot. She was also laughing"
This was strange. Sure, Isuke would get sadistic with her classmates and her when she was bored, but still. Haruki also had no sign of her for the whole day, and Isuke waiting for the challenge to be over so she could win like that, was not her style.
"I see, I see" Haruki smilled, rubbing the back of her neck "So payback for you and a point for me, win-win deal".
"Exactly. So, make sure to find her" were Kouko's final words before retreating back inside the dark to continue with her pursuit.
'Only time Isuke-sama was not being discreet was when she was drunk. Which happened once' Haruki thought, deciding to go to Hashimoto Street and look for her opponent. Even if Isuke wasn't stil there, she had nothing to lose by checking it out.
Haruki quickened her pace. She didn't want to seem like she was running to anyone that happened to see her. But she was also thinking, what where the odds for Isuke actually being in the same spot Kouko had seen her half an hour ago.
After around ten minutes, she was finally there. Haruki decided to hold the device inside her hand, instead of putting inside her clothes this time. This way felt safer, although it would be more limitating to how she could use her hand during the fight. She tightened the grip on the square device they were using for the challenge. She repeated to heself this was very important for her familly, but all she could think of now was finding Isuke.
She took her cell phone and used it as a flashlight to enter the alley. Walking through the very end of it, she thought Isuke was not there anymore, until the light revealed a familiar back and hair.
Haruki's heart started racing, feeling like this was more like a dream rather than reality. She gulped, before trying to call the girl's name. There was something wrong going on.
"I-Isuke-sama..."
No response. "Isuke" she called again, reaching out her hand to touch her.
"Who do you think you call Isuke?! Don't piss me off" the girl turned around, talking in a lethergic way. Haruki felt a burden being lifted from her chest that the worse she was fearing turned out not being the case. But despite that, it was obvious there was something wrong with her roomate.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not idiot!" Isuke said loud, laughing. Turning around to look at Haruki, she then started laughing even more. "I've been drugged" she managed to say, trying to stand up "I can't walk, and I still see these stupid cats all over the place"
Haruki tried to say something but stopped. She was surprised her roomate was aware she was on drugs, even though she was obviously hallucinating and couldn't control her body at all. But there was also this nasty feeling, making Haruki's stomach twisted. She had never seen the girl like that before, and she had the feeling something was off that day too.
"Who did this?"
"An idiot..." Isuke's voice filled with venom. "But not a cute one like you" Haruki felt her cheeks warming up. "I suppose now you will try to take advantage of the situation" the pinkette added, speaking closer to Haruki's face. Her voice was smoother and lower. It was definetely not unpleasant, even though Haruki wasn't used to this type of tone from her. It was also a bit creepy, since just a moment ago Isuke was laughing and was being loud.
"I have to. Isuke-sama, you didn't play fair the first time, so..."
"Idiot, I wasn't referring to the challenge"
Haruki sighed, trying to cool off the tension. She had to be very careful of her choice of words. "We need to go back"
Looking at the girl's clothes, there was no visible signs of Isuke's device. She was getting worried the longer they stayed at that place. Could that be the doings of the same prson she had seen inside their room the day before? He was older, and from the way he was dressed, he was obviously well off. "Do you still have the device on you? Nio should known if something like that happened to you" Haruki asked, clenching her fist.
"Of course I have it silly" Isuke managed to sit and lean back on the wall for support "My, but don't think you can play dirty now that I'm...wasted" she said almost playfully, but struggling to finish the sentence in the end. Her head was spinning and she kept seeing things that she knew didn't actually exist.
"W-We should call for help"
"No" Isuke gripped her roomate's hand. "I can't risk anything leaking out"
Haruki didn't understand what the girl was talking about. She wanted to ask, but this was not the right time. Perhaps, Isuke didn't want people to know about that incident. 'What is going on with your life...What have happened in your past?'
"Let's say Isuke has been a bad girl. So bad, that people want her dead, you know." she admitted, as if she could read her roomate's expressions.
Haruki felt a sense of dread again. The night was already long and it seemed like it has been forever. She knew a lot of people wanted assasins burried under the ground, but hearing this right from Isuke was unpsetting. Despte thefact that she knew that Isuke could take care of herself.
The assasin's hands trembled, as she pushed them on the floor to trying and stand up. She held into Haruki's shirt for support, the same one Haruki wore just the night before. The one she was with inside that club.
Haruki felt arms wrapping around her waist tightly. Isuke could smell Haruki's scent.
"Why do you wear men's perfume?" she muttered, feeling her headache getting worse as she was walking on her roomate's support. She asked, even though she knew very well the answer for this question. Sneaking her hands around Haruki's waist, she tried to search for the girl's device. She lifted Haruki's shirt, and quickly sneaked her hand inside. This was a payback for the night before.
Haruki was taken aback and before realising it, Isuke's hand had already reached her bra.
"Men are not supposed to have these"
Haruki almost dropped her down, trying hard to cover her embarassment. Besides, could Isuke have known anything about why she was wearing these clothes?
"But don't you think they're nice Isuke-sama?" she asked, thinking this was the best way to divert the attention.
"Idiot" Isuke hissed, removing her hands. Haruki sighed in relief. Thankfully her roomate still hated remarks like these, despite her senses not working properly.
"Oops" the pinkette smirked, spotting the device inside Haruki's left hand. She tripped, but catching Haruki off guard, she managed to snach it. She didn't press the button on it to win a point straight away, but held it tightly on her han.
"Answer me something and I won't press this" she mumbled, feeling her head spinning fast.
Haruki was in a difficult position. She didn't want to fight her in this condition, but at the same time she didn't intent on losing this opportunity to help her familly.
"Where were you last night?"
"Huh?" Haruki was taken aback "I was hiding and searching for you"
"Only this?" Isuke frowned, the effects of the drug making herlose her balance. She took a breath and placed her arm against the alley's bricked wall, in an attempt to support her body. That place smelled like mold and the air was moist.
"Yes"
"Wrong answer" Isuke laughed before pressing the button.
'One point for Isuke-san. Please come back to Myojo to proceed with the challenge' Nio spoke from inside the device. The announcement sounded recorded rather than Nio speaking at that time. Which made sense, since it was quite late by now.
"Isuke-sama...even in this condition you are still a good assasin"
"Of course silly...I'm trained for this. After all...Momma...taught me..." the pinkette managed to say before collapsing on the floor. She felt Haruki's arms trying to hold her up. Her eyes were closing on their own, but with the little strength she had left, she put her hand on Haruki's face. At this point, she wasn't able to control her body anymore. She moved her thumb around Haruki's face in cycles, feeling the girl's soft skin.
'Not bad' were her last thought before blacking out.
Isuke woke up in her bed with an insiting headache. She looked outside the window, feeling totally disorientated. It was dark. She stood up to her bed and tried to recall what happened. The last thing she remembered was that jerk Goto injecting something inside her arm. Then Haruki finding her...and then everything was blank.
While consentrating to remember more, her phone rang. "Momma" she tried to seem as normal as possible.
"Isuke. We haven't heard from you the whole weekend. How have you been? Pappa was insisting that we should call"
"I'm sure it was Pappa's idea first" the assasin joked, trying to sound like her usual self. Eisuke chuckled.
"Since this weekened is over, I'd thought I should let you know about the next."
'Weekend?' Isuke repeated inside her head. She checked her phone; Sunday, 22:31 'I slept for a while day?!' Isuke felt a sudden sense of panic.
"Your aunt is having a familly dinner next week. I hope you can make it"
"Is Shina-chan going to be there too?" she asked, in a feign sweetness.
"You know how my sister is. She can't go without her daughter. But this time it was actually Shina's idea"
Isuke felt her blood rushing, but thankfully this made her more alert and awake. This definetely had something to do with the night before. "I'm not sure if I can make it. You see, there's this event going on here, so I will probably be busy"
"It's ok honey. Your Pappa and I will go there, you can come another time"
Isuke sighed in relief. She was trying to avoid her cousin as much as possible.
"Shina said you two met each other yesterday too."
"Oh I forgot to tell you, sorry Momma" the assasin gritted her teeth, trying not to let her frustration show. Of course Shina wouldn't miss such an opportunity to let her uncles know about their daughter's every single detail of the meeting. But at the same time twisting it a bit, to make it more interesting for her own amusement. "Don't count me out yet. Maybe I'll be able to make. You know how much familly means to me, right?"
"Of course, it's something Inukai assasins value the most. That is what makes us one of the strongest. We'll keep in touch again, good night from me and Pappa"
"Good night" Isuke hanged up and put her phone on the bed. After that, she was finally able to start screaming her annoyance away.
After she felt a bit better, she noticed a piece of paper on her table. Taking it, she read the note.
'I'll be waiting at the Park across Yokoyama Street for a re-match. Hope you are not too scared to come'
Isuke sighed. Seems like Haruki didn't take advantage and press the button when she was sleeping. She was such a fair playing idiot, it made Isuke feel a weird type of relief. Almost something like...happiness? The girl quickly shook her head. This was ridiculous. That readheaded pocky-eater was totally messing up with her on purpose.
There was not much time left until the challenge was over, but Isuke decided to go.
'Time's up' Nio announced through everyone's devices, who were dispersed all around the city. It was exactly 12:00 am, the time when the day changed to Monday.
Otoya and Shiena, who were still making a big fuss all around the streets of the city, stopped. They were even featured in the news of a local channel, saying how two girls broke a shop's window while they were playing a youth's game. To be precise, Shiena just changed her direction from running to find a hidding spot, back to Myojo. She had lost the track of time, since she was constantly been chased by Otoya. She wouldn't dare picking up a fight with the girl anymore, since her roomate was ready to physically harm her instead of playing a game.
Shiena learned her lesson the first time she tried challenging her opponent. Even though Shiena managed to get the first point, Otoya, using her scissors, had left marks all over her arms. It seemed like this challenge made Otoya forget about the little sense of self-restrain she had from harming girls.
Mahiru spent all three days without meeting Sumireko. She also managed to convince Shinya out of saying anything embarassing to their roomate when they would meet her again. Shinya mostly agreed because she was more sensitive to hunger than Mahiru, and Mahiru had more control over what they were eating most of the time. Spending all three days in that dark alley and without food, Mahiru made a point to her. It was more like blackmailing, but ultimetely it worked.
Chitaru and Hitsugi had the most relaxing weekened out all of their classmates. They saw this challenge like every other weekend, going out and doing fun stuff. Haru and Tokaku were almost the same, but with Tokaku occasionally being moody and not accepting Haru's ideas. On the other hand, she gave Haru one point, by pressing her own device's button. This way, she helped the girl to have an advantage in the challenges ahead. Plus, Tokaku was more skilled and trained for challenges heself, and she knew her roomate needed these points more than her.
Isuke was already in Myojo because she had lost the last point during their last fight. She wasn't sure if she was getting softer because she remembered Haruki helping her out, or because she couldn't bother much, since she had already won.
Despite that, she decided to focus on the moment and enjoy her victory. She put on her shoes and headed to the conference room where Nio had called everyone.
"Haruki-san"
"Hi Kouko-san" Haruki greeted.
"How did it go?" the brunette asked, still seeming frustrated, even after a whole day.
"Unfortunately I lost" Haruki said with a smile, rubbing the back of her neck. Even though she was glad she would now be able to rest, she couldn't help but think of Isuke all the day. She had only appeared last hour, which meant she was sleeping for the whole day. These drugs were strong, and it was unsettling thinking of how and why she ended up like that. For this reason, Haruki couldn't take advantage of the girl's situation and win the challenge when her opponent was sleeping. Besides, this was not the final challenge that would determine the winner.
"How about you, Kouko-san?"
"Same here too. Suzu kept on hiding for the rest of the remaining time. I searched everywhere but I couldn't find her" the assasin said, frustration showing on her face. "If only Inukai hadn't meddled..."
"Alright everyone. I'm sure you all missed me and want to talk and such, but I have to announce the results now" Nio said, finally coming inside the room. With her last sentence, the blonde earned a cringe from a certain pinkette.
Haruki looked around, until her eyes met a pair or yellow ones. Quickly, she averted them back to Nio. Even though she didn't agree with Isuke's ways of getting what she wanted, sometimes she wished she could be a bit more selfish. She would always treasure her familly above everything, but living with Isuke for the past year, she realised that she didn't care about herself enough. Or at all. And she didn't even had the will to, either.
"Without further ado, " Nio's voice cut through the room's commotion, as well as Haruki's thoughts. "here are the results;
Kenmochi-Takechi; 1-0
Azuma-Ichinose; 0-1
Namatame-Kirigaya; 0-0
Inukai-Sagae; 2-1
Kaminaga-Shuto; 1-2
Hanabusa-Banba; 0-0 "
"Did you find our first challenge enjoyable?" Yuri asked with a smile the bussiness men and women that were gathered once again after the results. She scanned their faces, and everyone seemed satisfied.
"I usually play bets on horseraces, but this is different and more upredictable" a man smoking a cigar said.
"I agree. It is more fun when we have to bet based on their skills and character." a brunette woman added, having her hands crossed on the round table everyone was sitting.
"I'm glad to hear" Yuri said "We plan on making the challenges even more unpredictable. Since the girls don't know about us, some of them see it as a game they could not participate if they don't want to. There had been some draws and uneventful pairings, which we would like to eliminate. I can promise you, my assistant and I are already working on that part."
Nio nodded. "We will notify you when the next challenge will take place. Be sure not to miss it" she bowed, turning on the lights so everyone could find the exit door and leave.
0-0
A/N
Soo, it's been a while. Isuke and Haruki are one of my top otps, and this is what motivated me to write about them again, despite not having much time. And also the fact that they
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get canonically together in manga, was preety nice and reminded me why I ship them.
