Shinjiro Aragaki had grown up in back-alleys and orphanages, where being followed was never a good thing.
He was also fairly sure that Akihiko had felt the same way, been aware of this startling problem, but the way that he was just letting all those girls fawn over him and tag along after him wherever he went, it was something else. They traveled in swarms, like a group of wasps buzzing around their hive protectively.
From past experience, Shinjiro knew how much his friend disliked being protected. Akihiko was a stand-alone guy: you either fought beside him or behind him, but never in between him and the danger. Couldn't these girls see that?
"Akihiko-senpai! Don't you have practice for the big tournament coming up?"
"Yeah, senpai! We're all gonna come and watch you fight!"
Guess not.
Hell, it was like some kind of crazy brigade, vigilantes watching your back and stalking you at the same time.
"Aki." Shinjiro walked over the threshold that separated Gekkoukan from the outside world, feeling like he'd traipsed over some sort of sacred line when entering the school grounds during the daytime. He knew he didn't belong here.
Akihiko knew it, too.
"Shinji," the white-haired boy said, "what brings you here? I can't say I'm not surprised."
Shinjiro rolled his eyes. "Damn straight. What's your problem? I thought I told you to keep those kids away from that part of Port Island."
Instantly, a hush fell over the girls, as though an electrical current had zipped through them and set them all on edge, focused and attentive. Shinjiro ignored them. He'd come here to say his piece and he was going to say it, come hell or high water.
The boxer took a deep breath and sighed sheepishly. "You know I didn't send them there to persuade you, Shinji."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I know you like to have that little job all to yourself." Shinjiro snorted. "I mean, keep them out of there, period. It's a dangerous place."
"Oh my God."
"Did a hobo just threaten Akihiko-senpai? We should call a teacher, right...?"
A small and angry crowd of females was beginning to form. This was exactly what he was talking about, Shinjiro frowned, all these people following you around everywhere, reminding you to pay attention to them- Akihiko couldn't possibly enjoy it; his instincts would be the same as Shinjiro's on this point: get away. And yet, he put up with it. Why?
"They're free to go wherever they want." Akihiko answered, as though replying to both Shinjiro's asked and unasked questions. "Even though it was pretty stupid of them to go hunting for clues in that alley, I'm not going to say that they can't. It's a personal freedom."
"Yeah," Shinjiro replied darkly, "and personal freedom never hurt anyone, right?"
There was a moment where no one said anything.
Akihiko ran a hand through his powder-white hair in thought before he broke the silence with a sigh. "Besides, it's not like I could do much to stop them anyway. You've seen them. You know that they're pretty good at sneaking around."
"Sneaking around, my ass. Some sucker almost got his teeth handed to him before I found them." Seeing that Akihiko wasn't going to be much use to him in the matter, Shinjiro turned toward the gate. "Fine. Looks like your fans are waiting."
"Oh, those girls?" Akihiko cast a worried glance over his shoulder. "Usually they go away after a while. They've been a lot more persistent since that girl from 2-E disappeared- I think half of them are worried that I'm going to vanish like she did."
Shinjiro tsked. "Take care that you don't, Aki."
And maybe Akihiko was right, maybe personal freedom meant having a choice in where you want to go. Or if you let other people go where they wanted to without asking questions.
But then again, he'd seen that freedom had some pretty steep consequences. If you weren't careful, walking in a dark alley late at night, it didn't take all that much to make you disappear.