Notes: Blah blah blah Notes/foreign language
Special thanks to Aki no Kaze and Eden! :D
Dressed to Kill
by Rawr It's Kizami
Chapter Four
The five boys quickly ran back to their lunch table, where Tyson, Kenny, Max, and Oliver were waiting. They immediately sat down, everyone with the exception of Kai and Tala, panting and out of breath.
"What's up with you guys?" asked Tyson, taking a bite out of his third sandwich.
Once he regained his posture, Michael reached into his pocket and held out the strand of blue hair. "We found this in the auto shop."
"Is that Ryoko's...?" asked Max.
Enrique nodded.
"We're not going to do anything rash until we're sure they did it," Tala told them. "But, you know, it's not looking too good."
- + - + - + - + - + - + -
The next morning, the students of Dormitory Building A were once again woken up by the sound of impending disaster. The fire alarm began ringing in the hallways, throwing people into a panic.
Tyson fell out of bed, Max dropped his toothbrush into the sink, Emily and Hilary screamed as if from a nightmare, and Kenny shouted, "THE SCHOOL IS BURNING, THE SCHOOL IS BURNING!"
When no one on any floor found any fire anywhere, everyone ran outside to where the fountain debris were taped off. Sure enough, right in front of the debris was an old oil drum with a wild flame burning inside. It reeked of gasoline and matches, but the most shocking thing was that once again, Kiyone and Ryoko were found standing in front of the scene.
"What was burning?" Tyson asked Kai and Tala as he ran up to them.
The two Russians turned around.
"I don't- Tyson, are those teddy bears?" Tala pointed at Tyson's pajamas with one hand and used the other hand to cover his mouth as he tried to hide his snicker.
Tyson pouted and crossed his arms defiantly. "What's wrong with teddy bear pajamas? At least I'm wearing something comfortable and soft, and not," he pointed at Tala's attire, "just a shirt and sweats."
"I'll have you know that this is quite comfortable," Tala retorted.
"Tala, it's hot enough to be summer," Oliver told him.
"No such thing as summer," was the reply before the redhead turned back around to look at the blazing metal drum.
Again, the two new girls stood closest to the incident, their hair blowing in the wind, just watching the flames dancing. Their eyes were wide, but no one could tell whether it was from shock, fear, or just a sick, twisted sense of pleasure.
"Is it just me or are they looking guiltier and guiltier?" Everyone turned to look at Max. "I mean, first the sodium from the Chem Lab," Max counted the incidents with his fingers as Kenny let out a dejected sigh, "then the fountain being blown up from the sodium, then the gasoline from the auto shop, and now this bonfire?"
"I'd hardly call it a bonfire," said Kai, glancing back to the scene. "It's more like the work of a pyromaniac."
At that moment, the same question burned in their minds with the same intensity as the flames in the oil drum: Did the girls do it?
- + - + - + - + - + - + -
In class later that day, Tyson miraculously did not fall asleep again. The entire class was dumbstruck with wonder. Ever since the two girls started attending the academy, Tyson had not fallen asleep in class once, among other strange happenings around campus.
And they all seemed to revolve around Dormitory Building A, where the girls were staying.
The question still nagging at the back of his mind, Tyson decided to scribble down a quick note and tossed it onto Kiyone's desk.
Did you do it?
She stared down at the paper, her red eyes narrowing into a look of disbelief. She knew that it was the question of the year, with everyone wanting to know and even those who didn't know about the situation wondering about it.
Kiyone quickly wrote down No and tossed it back to Tyson, who took one look at it and turned to Kai, displaying the answer. Kai glared at him and brushed him off, so Tyson turned to his right and showed Ray, who shrugged. Sighing glumly, the blue haired boy turned around and showed the note to Tala.
"You honestly believe them?" whispered Tala. "If you ask, of course they're going to say that they didn't do it."
"We say we didn't do it, because we didn't do it."
Tala, Tyson, and Kai, who had overheard, turned to face Kiyone. Her face supported the most earnest expression, so earnest that they almost believed her for a second.
"Are we supposed to take your word for it?" hissed Kai in a hushed voice.
"Yes," she replied hotly. "I'm not going to lie about something I didn't do."
"I believe you," Tyson told her, emphasizing 'I'. "These two are a little skeptical, however."
"A little?" she muttered.
"It's just that we need proof," explained Tala. "We found both your hair and Ryoko's hair at the Chem Lab and the auto shop."
"And then there's that weird thing where you guys are always the first ones at the scene of the disasters," added Tyson.
Kiyone paled suddenly and looked away. "It's not that simple," she muttered under her breath.
"Kiyone, prove to us that you guys aren't the vandals," Kai said, drawing her attention back to the group.
Tyson nodded enthusiastically. "Then everyone will stop thinking it was you guys, and you'll be free of the blame!"
"How?"
They all shrugged.
- + - + - + - + - + - + -
"Do you guys ever find it weird that we never see Ryoko or Kiyone eating lunch?" asked Tyson suddenly. In front of him lay his lunch tray, topped with three slices of school pizza and a giant cookie on the side.
"Maybe they just don't eat in the quad," Max retorted. "Not everybody does, Tyson."
"Nor does everbody like the school lunches," commented Ray, a disdainful expression plastered on his face as he poked at his school lasagna with his fork.
Tyson's reply was muffled by the large bite he had taken of his first slice of pizza.
For the third day in a row, Michael Parker ran up to their table.
Enrique let out an exasperated sigh. "What happened this time, Mike? Wait, let me guess. Someone broke into the band room and stole all the drumsticks?"
Michael shot Enrique a glare. "No. Can't I just come over and sit with my friends at lunch?"
Kenny looked up from his food at Michael. "For the past two days, Michael, you've come over to our table because you had some news about something being stolen, and then you," he pointed at Kai, Tala, Michael, and Enrique in turn, "would go off in an 'adventure' and search the scene." He turned his attention back to the American. "So, what is it this time?"
"Nothing, honestly," Michael replied, stealing one of Kai's fries and consequently receiving a glare.
Just as everyone began to calm down and eat their lunch in peace, Brooklyn ran up to their table and announced, "The shovel from the green house got stolen!"
Oliver dropped his fork and threw his hands up in defeat, crying, "Mon dieu! We're never going to finish lunch without something getting stolen!"
Everyone immediately turned their gazes to Tala, anticipating his next move. Instead, Tala just ate a spoon-full of his rice before he realized everyone was staring at him.
"Well, Tala?" Kai plucked the spoon out of Tala's mouth.
Tala chewed his food and swallowed it before saying, "Well what? What do you expect me to do?"
"Aren't you going to tell us to go check out the green house?" Ray asked.
"Green house?"
Brooklyn blinked at Tala blankly. "Didn't you hear? The shovel in the greenhouse got stolen!"
Tala blinked back at him. "What?! When did we get a green house? This is blasphemy!"
Kai rolled his eyes and tucked the spoon back in Tala's mouth. "So, let's go take a look at this green house then."
The redheaded Russian grabbed the spoon and shouted, "Where is this green house?! I've never seen it!"
"That's because you never so much as smelled a flower," Kai retorted, patting Tala's head.
"Why would I?"
- + - + - + - + - + - + -
Five boys, Brooklyn, Tala, Kai, Enrique, and Max, entered the courtyard from the back exit in Dormitory Building A.
"So we do have a greenhouse." Tala looked around him. Apparently, the greenhouse was situated at the center of the school, in the middle of the buildings, in a courtyard that Tala didn't even know existed.
Kai rolled his eyes. Even with the window in his and Tala's dorm facing the courtyard, Tala didn't even know the school had a botany class, let alone a greenhouse. Or a courtyard, Kai added mentally as he watched Tala gaze at the courtyard with an excited expression.
"Here it is." Brooklyn stood in front of a large green, glass door. There was no caution tape.
He carefully slid open the door and they went inside. Enrique and Max immediately rubbed their arms from the rush of a/c.
Brooklyn sighed and rested a hand on one of the potted plants. "It's a shame they closed it because of the theft."
"It feels like winter in here," commented Max.
"I like it," Tala replied.
Kai rolled his eyes at Tala again and walked around the greenhouse. All four sides were lined up with metal shelves, each of them supporting numerous amounts of different potted plants. In the middle was a large wooden table with several potted plants and various gardening tools scattered around.
Max looked around with his arms wrapped around himself. His sapphire eyes finally rested on the far corner of the building, where the larger gardening tools were stored. He sighed sadly and ventured to the corner farthest from the exit, where he knelt down and examined the floor as Michael had previously done.
"What are you doing looking at the floor, Max?" Tala asked. "I don't think there's anything down there except dirt." Realizing that Max was still rubbing his arms, he added, "Or are you cold?"
Max replied, "Very," and stood up.
Behind Tala, Kai looked intently at one of the potted plants on the shelf and plucked a piece of white cloth from one of the leaves.
"What have you got there, Kai?" Enrique asked, peering over Kai's arm.
"I don't know," answered Kai. He turned the cloth over in his hands but found that he couldn't figure out where it came from.
"Doesn't Ryoko have bandages on her arms?" Brooklyn asked.
"Yeah, she does," said Tala. "It must have gotten caught on the... leaf," he said incredulously, "when she stole the shovel." Even he found it hard to believe that the cloth would get snagged on a plant growth.
"That's if they did it," Kai corrected.
While still rubbing his arms, Enrique nodded. "I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt."
Kai shrugged in response. "We better get out of here before the principal comes back with security."
They all nodded and left.
- + - + - + - + - + - + -
(To be continued.)
AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the chappy :) Remember to review, thankies! xD
Oh and, in case you were wondering, Mon Dieu means "My God" in French.