Chapter 4
Wednesday
It was Wednesday afternoon, 3 days to go before the upcoming reunion of Kagura and Sougo's junior high class. But rather than deciding whether to go or not, Kagura was busy stalking Takasugi. She followed him wherever he went. His daily routine was pretty normal. He leaves his apartment at exactly 6:30 am and goes home by 4. But the suspicious thing was that he always leave his house by 7pm and comes back during the wee hours. Also, it seemed like he was living alone in his apartment. Kagura remembered Ginpachi-sensei telling them about Takasugi transferring schools due to his father's work. But where was his father and what is Takasugi doing during those hours he's not at home?
Kagura was pondering these thoughts as she passed by the corridor. It was dismissal time and she was about to leave school when she saw Okita Sougo waiting patiently beside the entrance to their school building with his backpack. He must have been waiting for his beloved Otae to finish her student council affairs.
It had been awkward for them to talk or even to catch each other's eyes after that incident at the bus stop where he rejected her. Because of this, she decided to walk straight pretending not to see him. She was convinced that Sougo must be feeling the same way and that he was simply waiting for Otae. So she walked straight ahead with her eyes focused straight in front of her trying not to catch a glimpse of him. But as she passed by him she heard, "Oi. Kagura." Her heart almost stopped beating.
"Why?" Kagura exclaimed, as if shocked by Sougo's sudden greeting. "I-I mean, what's up?" said Kagura trying to recover from her violent reaction.
"About the reunion, Kondo has been bugging me about it. He said everyone should come no matter what" Sougo said.
Kagura didn't know how to answer him. She was too busy about the whole Takasugi thing that she forgot about the reunion. For some reasons, she felt like she was being pressured by Sougo. He stared at her with his dashing red eyes. Kagura was tongue-tied for a moment but she was released from this state of trance by a glimpse of an eye patched boy.
Kagura saw Takasugi passed by across them. Because of this her attention shifted from the handsome sadist Okita Sougo to the über darn hot Takasugi Shinsuke. It reminded her that she still had some stalking job to do.
"Sorry Okita-san. I have to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Kagura said as she hurriedly left.
Sougo wasn't able to stop her from leaving. For a moment he was dumbfounded by how Kagura addressed him.
"Okita-san huh?"
…and since when did I stop calling her China girl?"
It was the second day of Kagura's stalking operation plan. She was extra careful so as to avoid getting caught by Takasugi. Just when Kagura thought that this was another typical day for Takasugi, a group of obviously-delinquent-guys-who-are-up-to-no-good cornered him. Kagura out of shock hid from a distant lamp post. She watched as they encircled him and dragged him into an ally until they reached a dead end.
Instead of asking for help, which any rational person would do, Kagura followed them. She was curious as to what business do those thugs have with her prince. Well, it wasn't surprising that someone like Takasugi was involved with those types of people. She hid while trying to listen to their conversation.
"What do you want?" Takasugi coldly asked the men around of him.
A guy who obviously looked like the leader spoke in a harsh tone, "Nothing. I just want to see the face of a traitor before I beat the crap out of him!"
"Onishi, let's stop this." Takasugi said while trying to avoid the topic. As soon as he said this a mighty punch came flying to his face. He was caught off guard and was startled for a moment. The men around him grabbed his arms to refrain him from moving. This was followed by more punches and kicks from the guy called Onishi. It was brutal. Takasugi was bleedling badly. They continued beating him until a little voice from somewhere interfered.
"STOP HURTING HIM! I SAID STOP IT!" Kagura yelled.
The attention of the thugs shifted to Kagura.
"Oi, oi. What do we have here? A little kitten. Are you lost little girl?"
Takasugi Shinsuke was surprised to see his classmate at that moment who a few days ago confessed to him.
"Y-you?" he said.
"Ehh…so you know each other? This is exciting." Onishi said as he walked towards Kagura.
Kagura was still furious and it was obvious in her eyes. He was almost close to her and was about to reach her when Takasugi muttered the words,
"Don't touch her."
-End of Chapter 4-
Author's note: So there. Chapter four is done. Honestly, I regret writing this whole Red String of Fate story when Okinobu wasn't established yet. If I wrote this story a bit later then the triangle would have been among Kagura, Okita, and Nobume. But oh well, what is done is done. By the way, I'm a hard Okikagu shipper and I feel like Okinobu is a threat to my OTP. I know it may sound ridiculous but what can I do? That's how I feel.
Again, comments are very much appreciated. Please stay with me until the end. Thanks.
