Second-to-last class of the day, and there that white-haired kid was again. He didn't follow the guys into the locker room to change, but he was there, talking to the PE teacher when Kanda came out wearing black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, hair still tied back in a high ponytail.
"Listen up!" the teacher yelled as soon as all of the guys were dressed and sitting on the gym floor in front of her. Allen stood next to her, looking down at the worn wood beneath his feet and tugging absent-mindedly on his shirt sleeve. He was still wearing the same clothes from earlier: black slacks, a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, and a red ribbon tied in place of a bowtie. His jacket—a plain black peacoat—was folded on the bleacher behind him.
"This is Allen Walker. He's the new kid," the teacher called out, talking louder than necessary, as if she wanted her voice to echo off the gym's walls.
"He doesn't have the right clothes yet so he's sitting out today. You all had better treat him with as much respect as you treat each other. Alright?" She didn't wait for an answer before picking up a basketball from behind her and tossing it at the boys sitting on the ground. Someone caught it before it hit anyone. Kanda, in the back row, kept his eyes trained on nervous Allen Walker, who was still pulling on the cuff of his sleeve.
"Today we're playing basketball," she said, "Divide into teams and get at it."
She clapped her hands together and sat down at the bench. There was a squabble over who would be team captain, and Kanda stood at the edge of the group, arms crossed and wearing a scowl directed at no one in particular. He didn't want to be team captain and he didn't care what team he ended up on.
As the guys argued over who was on whose team, he could overhear the teacher talking to Allen, whose responses were too quiet to pick up.
"Look, I know you've already explained it to me. You can't get out of the class… No, you can't wear something else. You gotta wear a white t-shirt and shorts, that's the rules. If you don't have the money, I can… No, sorry, no long-sleeve shirts. Look, these are a bunch of real respectful guys, I'm sure they won't—" as if on cue, one of the boys called another one a pussy for trying to claim Kanda on his team, who shrugged and stood in that group anyways. He just didn't give a fuck. But he glanced over his shoulder and saw Allen fidgeting next to the gym teacher, tugging lightly on his sleeve with his gloved hand.
Gloves? Had he been wearing those all day? Kanda hadn't noticed.
Someone tossed him the ball and he caught it, not sure who was on his team and who wasn't, but he didn't care. He knew which hoop was his target, and dribbled the ball as he went for it.
But he nearly fell backwards with the sudden tug on his ponytail. Kanda spun around to see one of the boys who had argued to be team captain standing with an outstretched hand.
Before anyone could blink, Kanda punched him in the face.
