Break time had just started and Homura, feeling more confident than usual, was helping Takuya clean up the classroom with a few other classmates that stayed behind to help. Mamoru, Hideki and Tateyama had already left after telling them to meet them at the club-room once they were done. It was a bit odd, though, since Hideki and Tateyama looked like they were going to do something important, judging from how they were whispering to each other during class. But it wasn't any of her business and she just focused on cleaning up the class with Takuya.
As Homura wiped the glass wall of the transparent room with a moist rag, she overheard a few of the other students talking about some event held by Makoto going on in the gymnasium. It caught her interest and she had walked up to them to ask what was it about, having gotten mostly used to approaching people she had no communication before with ever since last night. Homura placed the rag on the table and approached the two girls who were sweeping the class and cleaning tables respectively.
"Is there something going on in the gymnasium?"
"Yup!" a short girl with long twin-tails answered, beaming with luminescent blush marks on her cheeks, "Captain Takamatsu is holding a small event to get some replacement members for his sports team. Oh, how I wanna go see him show off his skills!"
"Why don't you join?" the twin-tail's tall friend suggested, gesturing to Homura's stature, "You look like someone that can out give a beating or two."
Homura smiled awkwardly at the compliment and waved it off with a stroke of the wrist. She was still getting used to being complimented by strangers at least, "I-I'm not the type of person that can harm someone. I don't like hurting people. It's not very nice to do so," she heard Takuya loudly agreeing with her on the other side of the room as he picked up the trash on the floor.
The school suddenly intercom crackled to life and the following message was repeated twice, "Calling to Second-Year student, Akemi Homura. The school nurse requires your presence at her office."
Wondering what was this about, Homura looked over to Takuya who flung the last paper ball on the floor into the trash can by ricocheting it off a table without looking. She cupped her cheek in her hand and looked around, "Takuya, is it okay if I go on ahead?"
"Sure, we're done here, anyway!" Takuya replied with a thumbs-up.
After cleaning up the classroom, the students inside made their way out and headed into opposite directions off the hallway for their own destinations. Homura walked in the direction of the Nurse's Office while Takuya waved her goodbye as he left for a different corridor, "I gotta go pick up Tomura now. Go tell the others I'm not hurt or anything, 'kay?" he said with a cheeky grin, "Tell Mirai I said 'Hi', too!"
As usual, students were wandering around the wide halls of the school at this time, leaving most of the classrooms empty. Passing by a few large windows, the sunlight shined through the glass and felt warm on Homura's face. She was enjoying the feeling of ambiance she received from this calm atmosphere, liking how relatively peaceful the school was and how pleasant simply walking around was. Strangely, a student covered in medical wraps walked pass Homura as his friend helped him back to class. And as Homura continued, more and more injured students passed by Homura, with wounds ranging from bad to outright horrible.
"What is going on here? Was there an accident?"
Homura tried hard to ignore the injured students around her as she arrived at the office door and slid the door open. Homura was shocked to see the usually-empty place alarmingly filled with students being bandaged up by other students and their class' respective Health Officers. A student squeezed between Homura and the doorway, giving the medical supplies he had in his hands to a few other students. Before Homura could ask what was this about, Mirai came into view and spotted the raven-haired girl in the doorway.
"Ah, Akemi! Come with me for a sec'," Mirai looked tired, panting as she grabbed Homura's hand. Bringing her into Narita's personal workplace, Mirai shut the curtains close to give them a bit of privacy from all the students in the office. Narita's work desk was noticeably covered in documents and folders as Mirai took out a chair for Homura to sit on, "Sorry about that just now. We're a tiny bit busy, as you can see."
"Umm... What seems to be the problem here?" Homura asked, quizzically tilting her head and a hand resting on her lap as she sat down.
Mirai scratched the back of her head, trying to clear things up as best as she could. The nurse's assistant look absolutely drained off energy and her uniform was off in a few places, "Well... Miss Narita said she wanted to do a check-up on you, but she's over at the gymnasium right now helping stuff out there. It's nothing important, just a few questions. So, I'll be the one asking the questions. Is that all right with you?"
Homura nodded diligently, even with a bit of confusion still in her.
Mirai sat on a small stool and spun it around to face Homura. She cleared her throat and scratched her freckled cheeks, trying to remember what Narita had her memorize, "Right. First things first: How's your memory? Have you been able to remember important the past few days?"
"I seem to be... remembering a few things, so far," Homura guessed, running a hand on the scar that was on the side of her head, "I do remember some. But I can't seem to pinpoint what were they about or what they have to do with me. Sorry."
"Hmmm, if that's the case," Mirai tapped her foot on the floor and snapped her fingers, "Then, my 2nd question: Your wounds; they're healed already, right? Well, except for that one on your head. But whatever, was there anything you felt a few hours after the accident or yesterday?"
Homura nodded again, "Most of my wounds had healed after the accident, as Miss Narita told me. I'm not sure on how the recovery was so fast, but nothing has come from it, so far. Besides the scar, it was like I never got harmed in the first place," Homura smiled a little, grateful for that fact.
"Alright. Then, my 3rd and last question of all," Mirai spun her seat around and gave a teasing look at Homura, which caught her off-guard and made her flower into a sudden blush, "How's your experience with the boys? Have they been taking care of you? I'm sure you at least came to like one of them. Must be nice to be taken care off by four adolescent boys, after all," her joke only made Homura blush harder, which amused Mirai to no end.
"E-Eh... Well... I've already formed a good friendship with Takuya," Homura calling the older Fujimaki brother by his first name got a surprised look from Mirai as she spoke, "I like his positive attitude and he's quite... kind and thoughtful. Tezuka acts fair to me, despite how self-assured he seems to be every time," Mirai nodded as Homura went on, listening closely to her, "Ikezawa doesn't really talk much, but I think he just doesn't know how to properly show his feelings. Hakamichi is really nice to me, he treats me the best, but he seems to be a bit bothered by something. Tateyama, too. Just now, they looked like they were going to do something important."
"Important?," Mirai hums for a moment and then stood up, realizing, "Oh, it's about the competition that's coming up in a few weeks. Captain Takamatsu is hiring anyone to replace his team's missing members, so he announced a small event. Hakamichi and Ikezawa have been wanting in on Takamatsu's team for weeks, so they must've gone there. I don't know why, but they tend to hide that fact by distracting themselves around others. I worry about them, though.
"Why?" Homura cocked her to the one side.
"As you can see outside," Mirai gestured to the students behind the curtains, opening it slightly to let her see the amount of injured students being bandaged and treated, "They all wanted in on the team and tried to pass Takamatsu's test. But, well, you can see how that turned out. I don't remember him being so merciless, though. Takamatsu was never the kind of guy to do things this badly."
"I see..."
"Well, I guess that's all for now. You better get going," Mirai offered her a hand and pulled Homura to her feet, opening up the curtain to let her out, "By the way, if you don't mind, I'm gonna need you to carry a few medical supplies over to the gymnasium. I'm kinda busy with - well - this.," she gestured to the battered-up students as one let out a loud grunt of pain, " The supplies should be outside. If you see Miss Narita, tell her I already gave you your check-up, m'kay?"
Homura quickly nodded and headed to the door, passing by an unconscious student which Mirai tended to. Once she was outside, she saw 4 small crates of medicine, bandages, medical wraps and such, all stacked up neatly to her left. Without hesitation, she picked them up and carried them in her arms. Homura huffed and headed in the direction of the gymnasium; she let the stacked crates lean on her body to prevent them from falling forward as they were heavier than they looked. In her mind, Homura wasn't bothered by this, thinking she was actually being of use to others today. That, and it felt good having something to do.
A few minutes pass and Homura was already halfway to the club-room areas. Her arms were still going strong and she was humming a tone when suddenly, a cold shiver went down her spine as she began to feel the sensation of being watched. Feeling uneasy, Homura settled down the crates on the ground and turned to the windows. There was nobody in the hall asHomura's eyes scanned around and then widened with shock when she saw the pair of beady red eyes staring back at her.
On one of the trees outside, a white cat-like creature was perched there, sitting motionlessly with the exception of its long wavy tail which swayed back and forth slowly. Beady, lifeless eyes met with Homura's dark purple as its mouth was a curved sigma, twin ringed tassels coming out of its ears. Its fur was pure white with the exception of the red ring on its back as it just sat there. Looking at her. Its gaze was almost penetrating.
The first thing Homura felt was familiarity, narrowing down her eyes on the creature as her body instinctively tensed. The next thing she felt was something bordering on hostility, "You... are..."
"Come on, Madoka, Hitomi, I think it's still worth a shot to try and get that prize money!" a pleading voice caught Homura's attention and distracted her from the creature outside. Looking down the hallway, a girl with short, blue hair stood far ahead of her, along with a girl with pink hair tied into twin pig-tails and a taller girl with curly, green hair. Homura's body seemed to have froze in their presence, her throat tightening for some reason the moment she looked at them.
The pig-tailed girl named 'Madoka', her hands fidgeting, answered her friend with concern, "Sayaka, I still don't think you should risk yourself just to try and help Kamijou with his medical bill. We already saw what happened to the other boys in our class..."
"That's right, Sayaka," the curly-haired girl wagged her finger disapprovingly, speaking in a refined manner, "Even though you play with your toy sword now and then, what the team will go through is miles ahead of what you can do. Honestly, some of those boys in the Gym Club are just so crude."
Madoka. The name rung through her ears like a pleasant sound as Homura felt like she recognized her. The name repeated in Homura's head over and over as she looked at them, or rather, Madoka, and was unable to turn away her gaze. Her emotions were stirring about, such as the sudden need to follow her and the desire to protect her suddenly rising in her. Clutching the scar on the side of her head, her eyes having not blinked since she saw them, Sayaka noticed her and thought that she needed some help with the crates at her feet.
"Hey, wait a minute. You're that girl from the Freelancer club, right?"
Homura snapped back to reality and nodded at the question, not realizing they had gotten quite close to where she was already, "Y-Yes. I am Akemi Homura. 2nd year student. M-My class is a few meters away from yours..."
Hitomi and Sayaka shared confused looks with each other, wondering about Homura as the raven-haired girl cursed herself for losing track of reality. Madoka on the other hand, stepped forward and held up Homura's hand. The sudden contact made Homura fluster for a second as Madoka pointed at the crates, "Do you want any help with those heavy things? You look like you need some help."
"Madoka, are you sur-?"
Hitomi cut Sayaka off, "Come on, Sayaka, we can't just leave her like this. It's good manners to help those in need."
Madoka opened up one of the crates and looked at their contents, "These are... medical supplies?" she got quiet nod from Homura, "Then these need to be sent to the gymnasium, right? I'm the health inspector of my class, so I'll gladly help!" Madoka smiled.
"T-Thank you," Homura murmured as Hitomi and Sayaka helped along. She felt a warm sensation in her chest as Homura's face turned a shade of red that the 3 did not notice. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and picked up the last crate. Looking out the window, the creature from earlier had already disappeared, no evidence of it was left behind, "Was it my imagination?"
In the Freelancer's club-room, Hideki fists flew through the air, moving his body side-to-side in front of a mirror as he shadow-boxed endlessly. Sitting on a chair at the tables was Tateyama, slowly breathing in and out to keep his heart's pace in check as he held a stopwatch to measure the time. Mamoru was standing next to the door, monitoring their efforts of preparation as they waited for Homura and Takuya to return. Being ready was something they needed to do at this point, since they needed all the preparation they can get to be ready for Makoto's test.
Hideki, eager as he was, could not wait for Takuya and Homura. He was already ready to go there and get a spot on the team, "I know that we should wait for the others, but Takamatsu won't be doing to same for us," he pointed out, sitting back on a seat and drinking a bottle of water to quench the thirst his exercise had given him, "We should go now if we want a chance of getting a spot in the team. How about you 'Teyama?"
Tateyama nodded in agreement, putting the stopwatch on the table. They had just finished their lunches and their empty boxes sat on the table. Looking at the club leader, he asked, "Is it alright, Mamoru?"
Mamoru sighed. Wondering where Homura and Takuya were right now, the boy knew he couldn't keep the two here any longer, "Alright. You two head there first. I shall wait for the two to arrive. We'll meet up in the gymnasium," chuckling as the two boys got up and eagerly went to the door, Mamoru stopped Hideki for a moment, placing his hand on his shoulder, "Keep your guard up, you two. And be careful. Coming from one such as myself, I suspect anything could happen in there. Got it?"
Hideki gave a casual, two-finger salute and a cocky smile, "Thanks. We'll keep that in mind."
They closed the door on the way out and now in the hallway, Hideki and Tateyama saw the two Gym Club members that stood at the double-doors far across the side of the hall. They were like guards to the gymnasium as they eyed everyone that entered there. Not heeding any attention to them, the two enormous students glared at the two Freelancers with narrowed eyes glued to their every movement. Hideki felt like telling them sod off until Tateyama held his hand as a gesture to ignore them.
Once they were inside the enormous gymnasium, Hideki and Tateyama were greeted with the loud complaints of bruises and black-eyes, which were the least of the two boys' worries. The two saw the injured and battered-up students lying down on the bleachers, being tended to by Narita and a few health officers. Some were even lying on floor mats as most of those that had intended to join had obviously failed, while those that passed most likely went to the front office to formally join the upcoming competition by signing a document. In the middle of the gymnasium, a wide, black training mat covered the entire court, but no one was on it except for a few loitering gym members bantering with each other.
Hideki waved at Narita who noticed them as Tateyama pondered to himself, "Where are we supposed to sign-up?"
It took a minute for the two to realize that Yuri was standing behind them with a sign-up sheet in hand and a pen in the other. Hearing her nervous whimpering, the two turned around and Hideki apologized for not noticing her. Yuri looked mock-offended and Hideki wondered why Minami wasn't the one doing this instead. Crouching down, he patted Yuri on the head and asked, "Where's your big sister? Shouldn't she be the one taking the names?"
"Hmph. She got sick last night and has a fever," Yuri explained, glaring at Hideki for crouching down just to speak with her as if she was a child. Shoving him away, she huffed and waved the clipboard she had in the air, "It's not like I can't do this. Now, do you two want to sign-up or not?"
"Sure!"
Yuri handed the two over her items and the boys signed in their names: Hakamichi Hideki and Ikezawa Tateyama, listed under 40-70 names that were either crossed out or ticked. What made the two boys feel a bit uneasy was the fact most, if not all of them were crossed out with a red pen. Still, Hideki gave back the clipboard and bore a confident smile. Turning around, Tateyama saw a few of the gym members noticing them as they nudged one another to point out the two Freelancer's appearance. There was no sign of Takehito, to Hideki's relief. Oddly enough, they couldn't find Makoto either.
On the way to the gymnasium, the four girls - or rather, 3 - were having a small conversation of sorts. They were mostly talking about each other, events in their daily lives and what not. Just the usual girl's stuff that they only talked when they weren't around boys. But at one point, Sayaka finally noticed Homura just walking without saying anything and changed the topic to her to make her feel more welcomed. Before that, she had definitely noticed Homura looking at Madoka for prolonged seconds without pausing.
"Hey, Akemi, was it?" Sayaka started, "What's it like being with the Freelancers?"
Homura didn't quite understand her question and only answered her question with another, "What do you mean?"
Madoka interjected, raising a finger and trying to keep the crate in her hand from slipping at the same time, "Well, we've heard rumors about them. Not that we believe those kind of things, of course, but, we're just wondering what's it like to be around one of our school's... umm... 'well-behaved' boys," Madoka laughed awkwardly, unable to find the words to describe them without indirectly insulting them.
"Actually, I ran into one of them this morning," Sayaka cut-in, giving a sheepish smile as she giggled, "Man, I was relieved when he didn't do anything to me. Since I kinda hit him with my sword," she got a disapproving frown from Madoka and Hitomi, making her stammer, "It was an accident, I swear!"
While Sayaka talked, Homura thought of her words from earlier, remembering what she had said to Mirai about her opinions on the boys and any comment she could add here. Taking a deep breath, she gave the same answer to the girls, along with what she managed to gather from the past few days. Oddly enough, they were a bit confused since they said what Homura had told them contradicted with most of the 'rumors' that were spreading around the school. To be fair, most rumors are rarely true, especially in school.
"Interesting," Hitomi muttered.
Sayaka shrugged, "Hmmm, from the way you put it, they don't seem that bad,"
Hitomi then shifted her crate to her other arm as a playful smile came to her face, "Now are you willing to believe the rumor that said Hakamichi Hideki had a crush on you last year?"
Homura looked at Hitomi with disbelief, then at Sayaka, "R-Really?"
"I remember that the rumor stated that he had a tendency to look at Sayaka from a distance and was constantly trying to confess to her," Hitomi giggled, amused by her statement, "Although, I am not sure if this was before he befriended those three boys, I've heard he's been doing this for quite a long time. Of course, this is just what the rumors say."
"And as usual, a rumor is a rumor," Sayaka waved if off as nonsense, "I doubt he would actually that kind of stuff. Right, Madoka?"
Madoka attempted a small smile and looked over to Homura, "I think it's Akemi that you should be asking. She does know more about them."
Sayaka looked over to her, but the look on Homura's face told her that neither she herself knew the answer. Homura looked a bit sorry for the fact that she couldn't answer and looked ahead to see the doors to the gymnasium, "A-Anyway, we're here already."
The two enormous students that stood to the sides of the double-doors gave way to the girls and opened the doors for them. Hitomi and Madoka gave them an appreciative nod. As they went in, Sayaka winced at the sight of the injured students that had tried to enter the team; Madoka and Homura did so as well, but Hitomi remained calm as they went over to Narita, who had just finished patching up the last of the volunteers. The four settled down the crates on the floor and wrung their hands from the soreness in them. Akemi was the only one that wasn't tired from the crates' weight.
"Thanks for the help. I didn't expect to see you here, Kaname," Narita said, standing up and smiling at them, "Homura, did Mirai give you the check-up I had in mind?"
Homura nodded while the other 3 girls headed for the exit. Turning behind to see Madoka, Homura looked back to Narita and answered her questions. Either because she wanted to catch up to Madoka or so she could head back to the Freelancer club-room, herself didn't really know, "I already answered the questions she gave me. Now, I have to go, the others told me to meet up at the club-"
The intercom inside the gymnasium crackled to life and caught everyone's attention. Sitting at a table with one of Minami's Student Council members, Yuri was the one announcing the next names of volunteers as she spoke into the microphone, "For the next volunteers, we have Ikezawa Tateyama and Hakamichi Hideki of the Freelancer club. Please, do not continue standing on the practice mat as the test will be starting now."
Some booed over the announcement of the two's names as Homura tightened her fist at their reactions. Lips pursed, she felt Narita's hand patting her on the head to comfort her. To her, Homura didn't think the Freelancers deserved all the hate and isolation they got from everyone in the school. Although they were responsible for my accidents, this was just too much. Having gotten close to one of them, Homura felt like this needed to be changed. Was this the important event Mirai had been talking about earlier?
Yuri continued had paused in her announcement to speak to the council member beside her and finally continued, "Unfortunately, Captain Takamatsu is still busy attending a meeting, as so, we will be once again bringing his replacement forward," Yuri gulped over the intercom, "T-Takehito Saeki will again be the one in charge of the test..."
A wave of loud applause and insults came from the people in the gym as Homura saw Takehito, Hideki and Tateyama coming out of the locker rooms in full practice gear: elbow pads, knee pads, gum shields and wraps around their fists. They had a determined look on their faces as Hideki and Tateyama stepped towards the training mat in the middle of the gymnasium. Behind them, Takehito looked like he was going to enjoy the match for what it was. As the test started, Mamoru and Takuya came through the doors just in time to see this, and Homura could see the worried looks forming on their faces.