Chapter 21
The object clearly didn't belong there. In fact, it looked completely out of place. And it looked as though it was dropped there by accident.
Saeki walked over and gently tugged on the pocketknife until it came out. He examined it before everyone in the room. "Looks familiar, doesn't it?"
"Like the ones Tachibana and Yukimura have," Bane noted.
Both Tezuka and Fuji leaned in to get a closer look.
"Ah, so that's why you were asking what pocketknife brands are good at the café that day," Fuji chuckled. "I was wondering why the sudden interest."
Saeki laughed. "You're figuring that out now?"
"Do you remember which person owned this brand?" Tezuka immediately interrupted, coughing his annoyance at the playful banter between the tensai and his childhood friend.
"Unfortunately, even with my excellent memory, I somehow overlooked that," Saeki frowned. "But no worries. We'll just find out who lost his pocketknife. Although, I think I already have a certain person in mind." He tapped the end of the object against his chin. "I recall that day at the café, Tachibana mentioning that he had left his pocketknife at Seigaku, and that he was afraid his sister would be mad at him."
"Sounds like he has a habit of losing things," Fuji smiled.
"Perhaps. I wouldn't be surprised that he lost it again."
"So let's get this over with and confront him about it," Bane crossed his arms.
"No, that wouldn't be good," Tezuka stated. "It's a lead, but it's not proof."
"Tezuka's right," Fuji added. "Whoever owns it can say they simply just lost it or misplaced it. There's no direct proof that this was used to ruin Sakuno-chan's work." At the mention of the young freshman, the tensai found himself clenching his fist, despite the smile on his face.
"Our best course of action is to use it to our advantage. Let's not be careless and give the culprit a reason to dodge us."
"Good point," Saeki nodded. "So for now, I guess we should first find out who this belongs to, and then investigate more for proof on whether our suspect has been the stalker all along?"
"That is correct," Tezuka crossed his arms.
"Sighs, perhaps this will finally end," Bane scratched the back of his head with a slight chuckle.
"I'm sure everyone is more than wishing for this to be over, especially these two," Saeki directly looked at the Seigaku pair.
Suddenly, the bespectacled Buchou seemed to remember something and stepped forward. "Saeki, I would like to hold onto that pocketknife for now."
Meanwhile, up on the first floor of the auditorium, the data collector scribbled furiously into his notebook at the back of the stage as Kaidoh explained his symptoms carefully, pausing each time to think more clearly before continuing on.
"I get these weird feelings in the morning," the bandana-clad boy stated.
"Hm," Inui nodded, jotting it down.
"It's like, something is in my stomach, or there's something caught. I can't quite pinpoint what it is."
"Hm."
"And this always happens after I drink the juice you gave me the night before. I followed your plan carefully, but these symptoms are so…odd. And then I feel rather, hot."
Inui glanced up, adjusting his glasses. "Please describe them in greater detail."
"Well," Kaidoh looked up, thinking how to describe them when he suddenly twitched. "Oi, Inui! Did you put something weird in that drink? You said it was supposed to increase my muscle mass!" He leaned into Inui with a threatening fist out in midair. "Inui!"
The data collector quickly held up his hands in defense, his eyes still well hidden behind his glasses. "Calm down, Kaidoh. I didn't intentionally put anything else in the concoction that I made. However, that doesn't mean there wouldn't be any…side effects."
Kaidoh snapped, raising his voice and crying out, "What do you mean side effects? Was this like the last time when I had to go to the nurse's office-"
"Inui."
Kaidoh stopped, recognizing the voice as Inui also paused and turned to his left. The serious bespectacled captain walked up to the pair, his face, although always wooden, still showed that he had something urgent on his mind.
"Inui, I need to talk to you in private," Tezuka said.
Inui nodded and motioned for Kaidoh to give them some privacy. The doubles partner stuck his hands into his pocket, grumbling something unpleasant before reluctantly leaving the area.
"What would you like to discuss, Tezuka?" Inui adjusted his glasses with a smile.
First glancing around to make sure no one would see, Tezuka took out the pocketknife hidden in his school pants and held it out before Inui. "Can you check if the fingerprints match the ones on the rings you found?"
Inui took out a plastic bag from his pocket and allowed Tezuka, who wondered why the data collector had one on him to begin with, to drop the evidence in. "I will check at lunch today."
"My fingerprints are already on there," Tezuka added. "As well as Saeki's." In hindsight, the bespectacled captain thought how they shouldn't have touched the pocketknife with their bare hands.
"Not an issue," Inui said, clearly reading the other man's thoughts as he carefully stored the evidence away. "I have the Rokkaku vice-captain's fingerprints on file as well from…..our last incident with him."
Tezuka furrowed his brows. Just whose fingerprints does the data collector have anyway?
"If there is a match with the ones on the rings, I will notify you immediately."
"Aa. Thank you."
Inui nodded and left the vicinity while Tezuka crossed his arms and stayed there to think behind the stage. It would appear that they are very close to finally apprehending the culprit. Good, because he was already tired of this all and would want it to be over so that he can fully concentrate on his interschool festival duties. Sighing, he glanced across to where, at the side of the stage, Sakuno was measuring a new set of cloth material as she immediately set out to begin rebuilding her perfect prop. Within a moment, Tezuka saw the tensai suddenly appear beside her, and leaned in with an ear to hear the conversation.
"Sakuno-chan," Fuji greeted with a friendly smile.
"F-Fuji-senpai," the young girl blushed.
The tensai squatted down until he was at eye level with the first year. "Sakuno-chan, would you like some help with this?"
"Uh, Fuji-senpai. I'm actually okay. I can…do this," she frowned, holding the material in her hand as she fell into a melancholy state.
Fuji took the measuring tape from her hand, surprising the girl. "How about I measure this, and you write down the measurements? We can work faster to rebuild everything," he smiled.
Sakuno blushed before smiling back and nodding firmly. "Hm. Thank you, Fuji-senpai."
Tezuka let out a small smile as he watched the two work together with the measurements on the stage floor. And then, he heard some rapid scribbling behind him. He glanced back over his shoulder.
"Ii data," Inui grinned.
Tezuka shot him a warning glare.
Down below off the stage, Saeki and Bane strolled along the aisles of seats, planning on their next move before the Seigaku coach and vice-captain returned from reporting that morning's incident to the school.
"The brand of the pocketknife is Kitsune," Saeki noted. "We just have to find out first who it belongs to."
"I guess making a grand announcement of who lost their pocketknife wouldn't work," Bane joked. "The culprit may be afraid to step forward to claim it."
Suddenly, the two stopped in their steps, glancing over to the side where, halfway across the room, they saw the Rikkaidai captain sitting in a chair by himself, his arms and legs crossed, and his face as patiently pleasing and steady as always.
Yukimura marveled at the scene before him as he watched actors rehearse their lines and the stage crew begin to put the finishing touches on the props. The play's really coming along. That's when the corner of his eyes caught sight of someone walking past him just a few feet away.
"Sanada."
The Rikkaidai vice-captain stopped with a halt, immediately turning to face his captain. "Yukimura."
"After rehearsal today, please accompany me to the sports store."
Sanada blinked, surprised. "But, today, I…um…" he looked away, a rather unusually anxious look on his face. "I have to do something afterwards-"
"That is an order, not a request," Yukimura stated firmly, his voice steady and calm and face still unperturbed, but at the same time his eyes carried a weight that did not tolerate disobedience.
Sanada shook, seeing those piercing deep blue eyes locking his gaze. With all of his strength, he managed to look away, quietly saying, "I'll…accompany you."
"Thank you," Yukimura merely responded, returning his attention to the front of the stage as his pleasurable smile returned.
Meanwhile, Saeki and Bane looked at each other.
"Well, that was weird," Bane remarked.
"Hm…" Saeki thought about it as he placed his chin in his hand, furrowing his brows. And then, he got an idea. "Hey Bane, let's follow those two after rehearsal today."
At lunch, the Rokkaku pair met up with Tezuka and Fuji to discuss their plan and what they had overheard.
"Something odd is going on between those two," Fuji pondered underneath the shade of the tree they were gathered around while eating their lunches.
"I think the whole auditorium is suspicious," Bane remarked. "There's something off in the air all morning."
"Well, of course, given what had happened," Saeki yawned, throwing his hands behind his head as he leaned back against the tree. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening one again to stare at a particular person across from him. "Tezuka, do you really think Inui will find something?"
"Aa, I don't doubt his skills at all," the Seigaku captain stated monotonously, picking up a piece of mini octopus with his chopsticks. "He will most likely report back to me before the end of today."
"I see."
"Did you get a chance to talk to Tachibana, Shuusuke?" Saeki asked, taking pleasure in seeing out of the corner of his eye Tezuka flinch at hearing another person call Fuji's first name.
"No, he was rather hard to track down today," Fuji frowned. "Whenever I tried to approach him, he seemed to be off in a hurry to talk to one of his teammates."
"How suspicious," Saeki remarked.
"In the meantime, we should keep an eye on those two at Rikkaidai," Fuji chuckled. And then, he saw across the grassy lawn near the building a certain captain taking a stroll along the sidewalk.
Atobe stopped for a moment and looked at the group. All four underneath the tree turned their attention to him. Fuji, always a friendly one, beamed at him and waved. But the Hyotei captain immediately stiffened and became flustered, scowling unpleasantly. He turned his head in a flux and hurried away, leaving the group on the grassy lawn rather surprised.
"Oh, that was odd," Fuji remarked good-heartedly.
Tezuka sighed and shook his head. He didn't even want to think what was going through the Hyotei captain's head at the moment.
Rehearsal, which seemed surprisingly long for some reason that day, finally ended, and everyone was rather anxious to go home. Meanwhile, Seigaku's number one and two met up with the Rokkaku pair, agreeing on a plan to split up: Tezuka and Fuji will follow Tachibana, while Saeki and Bane will follow Rikkaidai's deadly duo.
"Let's meet up again at the end of the day in the evening to discuss what we find, if anything," Saeki suggested.
"Aa," Tezuka nodded along with Fuji. And thus, waving goodbye to one another, the pairs split up at the front of the auditorium and prepared to follow their suspects for the rest of the day.
"Saeki, they haven't done anything different in the last hour," Bane whispered impatiently as the two crouched behind a bush uncomfortably in the park, watching through the leaves where right in front of them sat Yukimura and Sanada on a bench, their backs turned against them. The Rikkaidai pair was only a few feet away, so their watchers struggled to remain still and unnoticed in such close proximity to the two. After following them all the way to the community park, a feat not as difficult as they thought, Rokkaku's regulars found themselves extremely bored by the lack of conversation occurring between the blue-haired captain and his most loyal teammate. Except for a few exchanges of words, Yukimura and Sanada spent the majority of their time just admiring the park and the sky. Well, at least the former was.
"Yukimura," Sanada began, carefully glancing at his captain. "When will we be going to the sports store?"
"When I am satisfied with my break," he merely replied with a smile, not looking at the other man. "Sanada, isn't the weather very nice today, especially this late in the afternoon?"
"Aa, it is," Sanada said, looking down at his knees.
Yukimura's eyes slowly turned towards the vice-captain. "Sanada, why are you in a rush to leave? Does being in my company really bother you?"
"N-no, of course not, Yukimura!" Sanada quickly reassured him, his face rather flustered and nervous at the hint of disappointment in his captain's voice. "I always enjoy your company!"
"Then stop looking at your watch."
Sanada seemed rather embarrassed and looked away.
The Rikkaidai captain looked up at the sky again. "You…used to pay more attention to me."
Sanada blinked and looked up in surprise.
"I guess we should go to the sports store now before it gets too late." Yukimura stood up on his feet, turning to his companion to follow suit. "You ready?"
"Aa."
Once the two left, their watchers got up from the bushes as well.
"About time they moved," Bane complained, stretching.
"Let's go," Saeki hurried him. "We can't lose them."
Tezuka leaned against the brick wall around the corner of a small alley on one of the main streets where stores lined the sidewalk. His fellow detective partner, on the other hand, was peering around the edge, keeping eyes locked on Fudomine's captain, who was accompanying his sister on a shopping trip inside a store right next door.
"Fuji, you're being really obvious," Tezuka stated dryly.
"Ne, Tezuka, Tachibana really is weird," Fuji remarked, ignoring the pedestrians passing by and giving them strange looks. He clasped his fingers tightly around the brick edges and squinted his eyes through the store window at an odd angle. "His sister is talking to him, but he seems like he's not listening."
"Should we be surprised?"
"He's looking through his pockets now." Fuji continued to observe their target closely. "This is probably the fifth time he looked through his pockets."
"Aa."
"He stops looking whenever Ann turns around. He's kinda' agitated."
"Perhaps he is nervous that he lost his pocketknife."
"He sure fits the part." Fuji stepped out into the open, surprising Tezuka.
"Oi, Fuji!"
"Ne, don't worry. They just left the store. Come on!" Fuji ran on ahead, leaving Tezuka flabbergasted for a moment before the taller man followed suit as well.
For the next half hour, Tezuka felt like a total fool. He and Fuji were scurrying behind walls, alleyways, and even light posts, rightfully earning unpleasant and disapproving stares from those around them. The bespectacled captain could not remember the last time he felt so ridiculous and embarrassed at the same time. Both he and Fuji acted like five-year-olds playing hide-and-seek. But at least they were progressing in the case, because the more they watched Tachibana, the more they noticed his unease and lack of attention towards his sister's conversation.
"He's completely avoiding her," Fuji noted. "See how he won't even look her in the eyes?"
Tezuka nodded as he and Fuji crotched behind a mailbox, a rather difficult and perhaps vain feat considering Tezuka's large size. They peered at the siblings across the street, the pair now entering a small café to buy some desserts. Suddenly, Tezuka's heart thumped loudly, and he swirled around, looking behind him.
"Ne, is there something wrong?" Fuji asked at the sudden movement.
Tezuka blinked, staring at his own reflection in the store window as shoppers passed by in droves. "No." He turned back around to redirect his attention to their targets across the street. Strange, he felt like someone was watching them.
Thump.
This time, Tezuka stood straight up, turning around completely and glancing left to right.
"Tezuka?" Fuji blinked, quite confounded by his Buchou's sudden strange behavior.
"I feel like someone's watching us," Tezuka stated.
"Hm?" Fuji raised his head, eyes enlarging in amusement. "Someone's stalking us while we're stalking Tachibana?"
Tezuka turned to his side, staring down the long sidewalk for any strange movements. He did the same on his left.
"Tezuka! They're leaving! Hurry!" Fuji pulled on the taller man's arm, making him follow as the Tachibana siblings were already on their way down a block. Both Fuji and Tezuka jogged slightly behind them from across the street, constantly keeping an eye on them. But the Seigaku Buchou appeared bothered, because for some reason, he thought he heard a third pair of running steps right behind them. Tezuka came to a sudden stop, surprising Fuji, as he whirled around.
"Tezuka! What are you doing?" Fuji cried out, panting. "They're leaving."
"Fuji, I think someone really is following us."
"Then let them follow us. We need to keep an eye on Tachibana right now! Look how far ahead they are now!" He took Tezuka's hand and forcefully pulled him along to catch up with the other pair.
As the two Seigaku regulars ran, Tezuka forgot about the extra footsteps he heard and realized that they were now holding hands. In public. And people around them were definitely noticing, but more so that they were running unusually fast in a rush. At first, Tezuka felt subconscious, for one of the things that he had Fuji agree to was that there would be no public display of affection. And even though the circumstances around this were different, the fact remains that they were currently running with hands held together in public. But at the same time, the bespectacled student council president found that he didn't quite…mind. As he ran, he watched the back of Fuji's hazelnut locks flow gracefully against the breeze, the tensai always carefree and never self-conscious. In a way, Tezuka felt for the first time that it was actually quite nice that they were holding hands at the moment, but perhaps the fact that they were running made it more bearable since he could at least escape the constant stares from everyone around them. Still, that's a good sign, for sooner or later, he and Fuji will have to face the real world…
"There they are!" Fuji stopped, releasing Tezuka's hand to pant on his knees. "I can't believe they got so far ahead of us." He looked up at his captain, who remained serious and motionless, barely breaking a sweat. Go figure that Tezuka's stamina is not that of a normal human being.
"Looks like they're inside a sports store now," Tezuka observed from across the street.
"Yea, but we need to get close to them enough to hear anything suspicious from Tachibana."
"We haven't been able to do that so far. It will be difficult following them inside a small store without being easily seen."
Fuji sighed. "I know." And then, an idea clicked in his head. "Tezuka, I think I know how we can do this."
Saeki stood in the middle of the sidewalk, mouth hanging wide open and arms dangling before him as he stared at the droves and droves of people walking around in the busy shopping district. "How…How did we lose them?" He grabbed his head, completely frustrated while his friend just sighed next to him, his arms crossed.
"Guess we should've known those two would be difficult to follow," Bane remarked nonchalantly. "Do you figure they knew they were being followed?"
"Gah!" Saeki ruffled his silvery-white locks, completely annoyed with the predicament they were in now. "I'm good at following people without being noticed! There's no way they could've known they were being followed!"
"This is Yukimura and Sanada we're dealing with here. They are the number one team. You think they would allow someone to follow them easily? They must get a lot of spies from rival schools following them to find out their secrets."
Saeki sighed, dejected. "It was all going so well," he mumbled tiredly. "I can't believe they slipped away before our very eyes."
"Cheer up, Saeki. There's a lot of people here. And besides, we know they're going to the sports store."
"Yes, but I don't know which one."
"Well, guess we'll have to check out each of them. There's only 7 here I think." Bane grabbed his friend's hand, surprising the Rokkaku vice-captain, as he led the way.
"B-Bane!" Saeki cried out as he was dragged along.
"You want to solve this case, right?" Bane said without looking at his friend as he marched forward.
Saeki blinked. "Of course!"
"Then let's not give up so soon," he turned to smile.
Saeki felt his cheeks blush. "I-I'm not giving up! Oi, Bane! Just keep walking!"
The taller man chuckled and turned back around, tightening his grip and continuing to drag his friend. What he didn't see was that his vice-captain's face was now beet red.
For the next half hour, the Rokkaku pair looked at all the sports stores they could find, but their targets weren't shopping in any of them. Deciding to take a break, the two stopped in front of a shop, leaning against the window pane as they stared in frustration at the crowds before them.
"Why are there so many people here on a weekday?" Saeki grumbled.
"I'm starting to think they're purposely avoiding us," Bane added. And then, something caught his attention. He turned around and peered through the window. "Hey, isn't that Momoshiro?"
Saeki blinked and turned around. He realized that they were actually standing in front of a chocolate store, and right inside was Seigaku's second year paying for something at the counter. He whistled in amusement. "Oh, I wonder who's he getting chocolates for." He and Bane looked at each other with a smile before walking inside the store themselves.
The Seigaku regular jumped in surprise upon seeing them appear. "Saeki! Bane!" Momoshiro cried out. "What are you two doing here?"
"We were just hanging around here," Saeki answered. His eyes immediately went to the bag in the second year's hand. "Who's the lucky girl?"
"Huh? Oh, this, um…hehe," the Seigaku regular began chuckling nervously. "It's nothing."
Saeki smirked. "Rumors are true about you and Ann Tachibana, eh?"
Momoshiro's face turned beet red. "It's not what you think! You're misunderstanding!"
"Sure, sure," Saeki waved him off, walking past him and patting him on the shoulder. "But I'm not surprised though. I hear the girls say you're a lady killer."
"Oh, really?" Momoshiro asked, excited. And then, he quickly straightened up. "Um, I have to, um, go now," he laughed nervously. And then, he quickly rushed out the door, embarrassed.
Once the Seigaku regular disappeared, both Saeki and Bane burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on his face?" Saeki asked, chocking on his laughter.
"I wonder how Ann's big brother feels about this. That is, if he knows," Bane tried to stop his own chuckles. "I hear he's pretty overprotective of Ann."
"And I don't think Momoshiro will survive in a game of tennis with him should he be challenged," Saeki added. Suddenly, something caught the Rokkaku vice-captain's eye, and he immediately went to a shelf and picked up a box.
"What, Saeki? Are you now interested in chocolates too?"
"Bane, look at this." He pointed at the box.
Bane stared. "They're truffles?"
"No, the name! Don't you recognize the brand?"
"I don't get it."
"Fuji told me a while back the brand of chocolates he kept receiving from the stalker." He pointed at the box harder, pressing his finger against the shiny surface. "This is the brand!"
"Excuse me, can you not ruin the box?" An older woman at the counter called out to him.
"Oh, sorry," Saeki quickly apologized, setting the box down.
"So you're saying the stalker came here?"
"Exactly!" His eyes gleamed in excitement. "And this is the only store. It's not a chain, so we know the stalker definitely came here." He ran up to the counter quickly, making Bane struggle to follow him. Reaching the front of the store, he immediately asked the older woman, "Miss, has there been a person coming here a lot to buy chocolates? As in, a couple times in the last two weeks?"
The woman thought about this. "Well, there are actually quite a few people buying chocolates more than once last week and the week before. Why do you ask?"
"Do you know if any of them were…students?"
"Students?" She blinked. "Oh, you mean in uniform like you two or the friend you were talking to who just bought chocolates?" She thought more about it. "Well, there were a couple, but I was surprised. I mean, the chocolates I sell are not cheap because they're the best! So, I don't think a student would have that kind of money to spend, nevertheless on chocolates a couple times a week."
Saeki was getting rather impatient with the lengthy answers that weren't providing the information he needed. "Can you describe what the students looked like? The ones that came multiple times?"
"Well, I'm sorry young man, but my memory isn't as good as they used to be. I get so many customers a day that even the repeat ones I don't remember very well."
Saeki frowned, rather disappointed.
"But, do you remember the uniforms they wore?" Bane asked.
"Sorry, but you all look the same to me."
Saeki sighed. "It's okay. Thank you."
"But I do remember one odd request one of them made."
Saeki's ears perked up, and he immediately placed his hands on the counter, surprising the older woman. "Please! Tell us!"
"Well…" she furrowed her brows, which were now showing hints of grey. "This one particular customer wanted…wasabi filled chocolates."
"W-wasabi?" Both Saeki and Bane exclaimed. Wasabi's one of Fuji's favorites! – the Rokkaku vice-captain thought to himself.
"Yes, and it was actually just a few days ago. But, sighs, I can't remember who it was. Not at the moment. But, hm…unfortunately, he wasn't wearing his school uniform that day. And yes, it was a young man. Oh dear, they tend to look the same at that age, so I don't remember which one it was. But he requested a special order of wasabi-filled chocolate, and I was very surprised. I wonder what young lady would want her boyfriend to get her wasabi-filled chocolates. It seems so strange."
"Do you have the receipt?"
"Oh, now I think you're being too nosy. I cannot simply just show you the person's receipt. That's still private information, even if they paid in cash, and I cannot violate their privacy. Plus, I would have to dig through my files, and I don't have the time to do that right now."
Seeing that the older woman was getting rather annoyed, especially since there was now a line of customers behind Saeki, all ready to pay for their chocolates, the Rokkaku pair decided to thank the woman for her time and walk away. But just as the two regulars left the store, the woman at the counter suddenly glanced up, remembering. She turned away from the cash register, ready to call out to the two young men who were just in her store, but by then they were gone.
Tezuka was standing outside the sports store, hiding around the side with his cell phone held up against his ear. A look of annoyance covered his face as he silently listened to the voices coming over the receiver. Within a few seconds, the tensai showed up next to him and whispered to him.
"I put my phone on mute, so they won't be able to hear us," Tezuka said.
"Ah, that's good," Fuji smiled. The tensai had just finished sneaking into the store where he hovered behind the siblings, slipped his cell phone (which he had used to dial Tezuka ahead of time) into the back pouch of Ann's purse, and left quickly and stealthily. "It was rather easy," Fuji declared proudly. "Ne, put it on speaker phone. I want to hear."
Tezuka complied and held the phone out before them.
"Onii-san, why are you acting so odd today?" Ann's voice rang over the phone.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I've been tired with all the preparations for the interschool festival."
"Hm…but you're barely responding to anything I say. Do you have to be somewhere soon?"
There was a pause.
"Onii-san!"
"Huh?"
"Ne, what is wrong with you today? If you don't want to take me shopping, just say so at the beginning!"
"No, no! Ann-chan, I was just…I just have something on my mind."
"Is there something wrong?"
"Of course not! Everything's fine!" There was a nervous chuckle over the receiver.
Fuji and Tezuka looked at each other.
"What do you think?" Fuji asked.
"Sounds like something's very wrong," Tezuka noted.
"Why do you keep looking away?" Ann demanded.
"What are you talking about?"
"You can't be this bored. This is your store! You wanted to get something here, right?"
"Oh, right, yes."
Thump.
Tezuka's heart jumped a beat again, leaving something unpleasant at the pit of his stomach. He turned to his side.
"Tezuka?" Fuji blinked.
The serious man narrowed his eyes, his instincts picking up on the presence of someone watching them again. Squinting his eyes, he noticed some movement around a large trashcan a few feet away from them.
"Tez-"
"Shh," Tezuka brought his finger to his mouth, motioning for Fuji to be quiet. And then, slowly turning around, he walked carefully towards the trashcan, taking a step at a time with his breath held. Within a foot of the trashcan, he suddenly threw his hand over the bin, reached down and felt someone's collar, grabbed it and pulled the individual up…
The wavy-haired boy with stunned eyes quickly put on a nervous chuckle and smile, waving his hand embarrassingly. "Hi, Tezuka."
Tezuka stood there with his mouth half gaping, a rather confounded look on his already surprised face. "Jirou! What are you doing?"
Fuji hopped on over and appeared next to them. "Hm? Have you been following us?"
"F-Following? Why would I do such a thing?" The Hyotei regular scratched the back of his head innocently.
Tezuka narrowed his eyes, releasing the boy and staring him down with arms crossed. "I don't appreciate being followed."
Jirou immediately looked down, his face turning red. "Gomen, Tezuka. But, I…I just wanted to see you."
That last statement made Fuji snap, and the tensai grabbed Jirou forward by the collar. With a strained smile, he stressed in a frightening tone, "Ne, Jirou, have I not told you earlier? You should not bother our captain. He is quite busy, so why don't you go cater to your rich, attention-seeking captain instead? I'm sure he'll much better appreciate your-"
"Fuji!"
Fuji blinked and turned around when his mouth fell open in shock at Ann and Tachibana stepping outside of the store, ready to leave.
"Fuji! Your cell phone!"
The tensai froze, watching in what appeared to be in slow motion as Ann looked down at her purse, frowning at something.
"What is it, Ann-chan?" Tachibana asked with his back still turned towards the strange trio behind him.
"My purse feels a little…heavier than usual," the young girl frowned. She lifted up her hand, ready to reach into her purse.
"Fuji!" Tezuka turned to the tensai. "She's going to find your cell in there!"
Fuji was stuck, his eyes going from Ann, to Tezuka, to Jirou, and back to Ann. He watched as the young girl was about to slip her fingers into the back pouch of her white bag. And then, at the very last moment, a light bulb went off. Blue orbs flashing, he tightened his grip on Jirou's collar, took a couple steps forward past Tezuka, and leaned back.
The scene was rather bizarre to all the spectators shopping in the district that day, for in their eyes, they saw a young student being flung forward on the sidewalk before crashing right into a boy and girl standing right outside a local shop.
There was a mixture of cries lost amongst the noise of the shoppers, and Ann found herself falling down, her purse flying out onto the sidewalk before her. Jirou's face landed flat onto the cement floor, producing a loud smack, while Tachibana tried to steady himself until he tripped on his own foot and hit the side wall before tumbling to the ground as well.
Tezuka stood there in horror, staring at the three individuals now on the floor, all groaning. He didn't even see when Fuji bolted forward and swiftly swooped up his cell phone in one hand, which had flown out and slid against the sidewalk, without anyone noticing. With his other hand, the tensai picked up the purse and gracefully held it towards the young girl on the sidewalk.
"Are you all right, Ann-chan?" Fuji asked with a charming smile as he helped her onto her feet while his other hand slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"F-Fuji-senpai!" she cried out in surprise, taking her purse. "Thanks, but oh, what just happened?"
Jirou groaned as he rubbed his head and got onto his feet. "Ow, Fuji threw-" The young regular found his mouth muffled by Fuji's hand, the tensai now standing behind him.
"Jirou tripped and accidentally fell against you two," Fuji quickly explained.
"I see," Tachibana got up on his feet as he stood up. And then, blinking, he looked at Jirou, Fuji, and Tezuka. "Huh? Why are you all together?"
Realizing how odd their crew looked, Tezuka opened his mouth to say something before closing it, not sure how to respond.
"We ran into Jirou by accident too, actually," Fuji said. It was the truth after all.
"Oh, what a coincidence," Tachibana chuckled with a smile.
"Oh! Yukimura Buchou and Sanada-senpai!"
Everyone immediately turned their heads towards Ann, who was standing in front of two individuals taller than her. "Wow, today is weird. We were just saying how it was a coincidence running into Seigaku and Hyotei together."
"Hm?" Yukimura blinked and looked over to find Tezuka and Fuji...and Jirou, all standing a few feet away. He raised a brow, quite confounded and surprised. "Coincidence indeed."
"Are you two here to shop at the sports store?" Tachibana asked the Rikkaidai pair.
"Yes," Yukimura smiled pleasantly. "I wanted to pick up something. Well, we want to quickly finish up here before we head on home. It is getting late."
"Hm," Tachibana nodded as he watched the other captain and vice-captain proceed to enter the store.
At that moment, Tezuka glanced up, seeing both Yukimura and Sanada look at him with a pause for a second, unreadable emotions on their faces, before the two disappeared into the store. Thinking that was weird, he wanted to look through the glass window pane when he was interrupted by the sound of Fuji and Jirou bickering.
"You threw me into them!" Jirou blurted out.
"What are you talking about? You tripped," Fuji simply said.
"You-!"
Suddenly, there was the sound of a cell phone going off, and Fuji realized that it was his. He quickly answered it. "Moshi moshi."
"Shuusuke! We lost them!"
"Huh?" Fuji blinked.
"Yukimura and Sanada! We don't know where they are!"
"Oh, actually…" he turned his face towards the glass window. "I don't think you need to worry about it."
"What are you doing?"
Fuji jumped and turned in surprise to find himself face to face with Jirou, who was trying to listen in on the conversation. With a chuckle, he took the boy off guard and pretended to bump into him, nearly knocking him towards Tachibana. And then, in the midst of the confusion, he quickly grabbed Tezuka's hand and started running.
"Where are you two going?" Ann called out after them.
"Oi! Come back! Wait, Tezuka!" Jirou cried out, following them.
"Fuji! What are you doing!" Tezuka exclaimed, running with the tensai. "Jirou might say something-"
"Ne, don't worry, Tezuka," Fuji panted as the two ran with Jirou following behind them. "I knew he'd follow. It's to get him away from everyone over there. I think our plan isn't going well at the moment, and don't worry, I doubt Jirou heard everything." They rounded a corner and continued running until, finally, they ended up losing sight of Jirou as well. The two stopped at a park bench to rest, now completely out of the shopping district. Panting hard, including Tezuka this time, the pair sat down and sighed.
"Who knew we'd run into everyone at once," Fuji breathed. "I wonder how Saeki and Bane lost them. We could've been forewarned."
"Aa," Tezuka said, catching his breath.
"I'll text Saeki where to meet. I think we need to regroup."
The Seigaku pair walked along the sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood, extremely tired by the day's events. By now, evening was nearing, and the lights inside the houses they passed by were starting to turn on.
"Sai, today was long," Fuji said, not having the energy to smile at the moment.
"Aa."
"I wonder if Saeki has any information for us. We didn't get exactly what we needed other then knowing that Tachibana was acting suspicious all day long and that he was probably looking for his pocketknife."
"Aa."
"If it wasn't for that stupid Jirou!" Fuji crossed his arms, annoyed.
Tezuka glanced down at the tensai, who looked like he was pouting. Seeing how cute Fuji looked, Tezuka suppressed a cough to the side.
"Hm? Is there something?" Fuji asked.
"No."
The two continued walking against the half setting sun, noting how they were getting hungry as dinner time was approaching.
"Want to come over to eat with me tonight?" Fuji asked simply. "There's leftovers at my house."
Tezuka's eyes slowly looked at the tensai. He knew that was not an innocent question. Nevertheless, he answered, "Aa."
They were just three houses from the end of the street when a middle-aged woman called out to them. Both Tezuka and Fuji turned their heads, finding themselves in front of a house with a beautiful garden filled with all kinds of flowers.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the polite woman smiled. A pot for watering plants was in her hand. "It's just that, I noticed that you must be from Seigaku as well."
"Yes, that is correct," Tezuka nodded.
"And good evening to you," Fuji smiled.
The woman beamed. "I recognized the uniforms you are wearing. Seigaku students are so polite."
"You must meet quite a few walking along this path," Tezuka said.
"Hm," she nodded. "Particularly this one. He comes here to help me trim the garden. Doesn't say much and is always quiet. But he helps me water everything, and in exchange, I let him have the roses here." She motioned to the bed of roses on her side. "I have too many roses growing in my garden, so I'm more than happy for him to take them. I wonder if he's giving them to a girl," she chuckled. "So young to have a girlfriend. He even goes through the trouble of de-thorning the roses himself."
Fuji chuckled as well. "How interesting."
"Hm, but anyway, you two go ahead now. I didn't mean to bother you."
"Not at all," Tezuka said in the same serious tone. "You have a good evening."
As the two walked away, the woman in the garden held her cheeks, blushing. "My my, what a handsome young man. He doesn't look like a middle schooler at all."
Down another street, both Fuji and Tezuka finally reached a corner where they would be meeting Saeki and Bane. The Rokkaku pair had not arrived yet, but just as they were about to contact them, Tezuka's cell phone went off. The bespectacled man took out his phone, stared at the caller ID in surprise, and quickly answered it. "Inui."
"Aa, Tezuka," Inui began. "I have the results from the fingerprints on the pocketknife."