Author's Note: This is gonna be my least favorite chapter to write, just because of the pairing. So this is gonna be more plot-based. Apparently, you can set the actual seventh rival up with a student, according to the wiki :/ *Shivers in disgust*
Lol proofreading this thing it's more Ayano x Kokona than Ayano x Mido and you what I am Totally Fine With That
[Ayano Aishi x Mido Rana]
(Unknown Number) So I trust everything went according to plan?
(Unknown Number) Better than I'd hoped, that emetic poison worked like a charm.
(Unknown Number) Be careful with what you say over the phone, you better not get us into trouble with your blasé mannerisms; you know what will happen if you do.
(Unknown Number) Calm down Info-chan, this isn't my first rodeo, I know what is and what isn't too incriminating. Speaking of, I didn't get your new anonymous number at the beginning of this conversation, you know how much I hate waiting.
(Unknown Number) My my, so impatient. You are in no position to be making more demands from me, but I'll let it slide since I'm aware it's because you're so testy about the harm that had to come to your precious Yan-chan.
(Unknown Number) I had to make sure you weren't lying to me about what kind of toxicant you inserted into that dango. I was lucky that all of those idiots were so worried about her to not have noticed me watching all of it unfold. How did you manage to ensure that Odayaka gave her the poisoned stick and not to anyone else?
(Unknown Number) I have my ways. And I would never let any lethal harm come to Aishi, as long as you do what I say, not when she's the only thing that makes you tick. You are my number one supplier of panty shots after all...
The mystery student sighed.
(Unknown Number) Who is it going to be this time?
(Unknown Number) Hm, how about Musume Ronshaku? And take a few, she's been in high demand recently.
(Unknown Number) On it.
As smoke from Akademi High's furnace ascended into the atmosphere, signaling the burning of a prepaid cellular and an unmarked bottle of emetic liquid, the mystery student unlocked their phone to a single text message from another random number, without a doubt from his accomplice, and a background of one Ayano Aishi, fast asleep in her bedroom.
"Sooner or later Ayano, you will be mine. I'll wait as long as it takes..."
Waking up that day, Ayano Aishi had no idea that getting food poisoning would be the least distressing thing to happen to her during her high school years.
Receiving a text from her best friend telling her that he couldn't walk with her to school for the day ticked Ayano off a bit, but it wasn't that big of a deal, they always had tomorrow, after all.
To say Ayano was surprised to see Kokona at her doorstep was an understatement. The last time they had contact was a few days ago over minorly standoffish texts, and most of them weren't even sent on her end, which was concerning in its own right.
The first incident happened that morning.
She had been meaning to check in with her bubbly friend, but with everything that's been going on in her life on top of school, she just couldn't find the time.
The guilt that plagued her mind made the bile rise up into her throat akin to yesterday's incident.
Oh well, there was nothing she could do to change it now except try to be a better friend.
With that goal in mind, Ayano nearly walked smack into her purple-haired friend's fist, poised to knock.
Kokona awkwardly cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry for texting you so early but I needed someone to talk to. Can we walk to school together?"
Without a second thought, she replied, "Of course."
As the duo made their way to school, Ayano couldn't help but think her luck was starting to turn around. Getting food poisoning wasn't fun, and neither was getting ditched by her best friend last minute for someone else, but having someone else to rely on instead of no one at all was quite...fortifying, for lack of knowing a better term to describe it. Some would call it tragic that she wasn't aware of this until recently.
They walked on in silence, but to Ayano's dismay, it wasn't the comfortable sort that they had established early on. The stillness was stifling, and for the first time in her life, she felt abject of her less-than-stellar social skills. Perhaps if she were friendlier then her only female friend would be more willing to open up to her.
Unbeknownst to the steel-eyed student, the girl parallel to her was slowly but surely preparing herself to speak. She had told only Saki about her issues, and it didn't go well. Kokona could only pray that things would be different with the polar opposite of her "best friend".
Suddenly, a ringing permeated the air, and Kokona internally panicked.
Please let it be someone else, she begged as she looked at her phone screen. It psychically hurts her eyes with the effort it takes to hold back her tears.
God, why now? She just had to get a call when she was on her way to school. Alone. In the middle of the street. With another person.
She literally couldn't afford to ignore him, so she answers.
"Hello~" The honey Kokona coats her voice in is more reminiscent of bittermelon as she struggles to keep herself from screaming to not call her when she's on her way to school. The potential cash she could lose from being rude keeps her silent. She really doesn't want to alarm the girl next to her any more than she probably already is.
Beside her, Ayano pondered why Kokona had looked like she was about to cry before answering her phone, nearly missing how alarming the next words that spilled out of her mouth would be without context...too bad she had none of that then.
"...like I said that was a one-time thing! I don't wanna do that again!"
Kokona stops dead in her tracks, and it takes a moment for Ayano to realize her friend wasn't next to her anymore.
"H-how much did you say..? Well..if it's just one more time..then I guess it's okay. How about tonight, where we met last time? In Shisuta Town? Okay then, I'll see you tonight..."
Before she can say another word, she's being embraced, her back is being rubbed gently, more so than she ever thought possible of her stoic friend.
"It's okay...you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. Just know I'll be here if you ever decide to."
The words were simple, concise, but just what she needed to hear.
The second incident happened at lunchtime.
At first, she isn't sure what she's seeing, other than the red staining the corners of her vision.
There, in Class 2-2, is her friend Oko covered in some sort of white powder pitifully scrubbing away at horrible graffiti messages and slurs littering his desk and avoiding her gaze. He pauses his motions to acknowledge her before going back to trying to clean up the mess with the dirty rag.
"Who did this to you?!"
She's never been this livid before, not when Osano stubbornly went to school despite knowing he was still sick, not even when her parents left her all alone to go on a ten-week vacation to America for seemingly no reason.
"I-it's no big deal, it was probably j-just a one-time t-thing anyway..."
"That's not an answer Oko, tell me who did this to you."
He drops the cloth and brings his hands up to his chest, fiddling with his fingers nervously, hesitantly.
Calm down, you're just making him more anxious.
Ayano's tone softens. "I won't do anything to them psychically, just tell me who they are, if only for my peace of mind, please?"
That wasn't very reassuring, but even if he wanted to he couldn't deny her anything. He was just embarrassed that he had been caught doing something like this. The fact that Oko was even a target for this kind of treatment should be enough of a warning sign that he wasn't a person someone like Ayano Aishi should be hanging around.
If he told her who was doing this to him then she would probably stop talking to him and realize that she was too good for him right? The wealthy blonde girl in question was considered highly trustworthy amongst the student body, wasn't she...
"Mu-Musume Ronshaku..."
A few moments of silence pass by, Oko looks up at his first real friend for the first time since she entered his classroom.
Ayano's lips are pressed into a thin, firm line as she grits out the words, "And her friends too?"
He nods, silent.
Without another word, Ayano walks over to him, takes the ink-stained material out of his hands, takes out two clean towels, and hands one to him. She dips hers into the small bucket of soapy water on the next desk over and starts scrubbing away furiously at the largest message on the wooden surface. The menacing letters of Kill yourself disappearing quickly under Ayano's hands.
Oko watches on in awe at her kindness, the sheer vengeful energy emitting from her person in waves, all for him.
He doesn't even get a chance to lower his hands before she's finished cleaning away every insult and death threat. Grabbing his hand, she practically drags him into the nearest bathroom. He's so stunned that it takes him a few minutes to say anything.
"Wait! This is the boy's bathroom; y-you aren't supposed to be-"
Ayano gently presses her index finger to his lips. Heat spreads from that spot outward, and he's glad his face is coated in chalk, praying it covers up his blush.
She puts her hand under the tap and playfully flicks her wet fingers at his face, her melodious laughter bounces off the linoleum. His light purple eyes widen.
"Oh hush, the least I can do is help you clean up, but I'm not just going to do that. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do all I could for you?"
Taking a paper towel from the dispenser, she dampens it and brings it to his cheeks.
He convinces himself the cold water helps abate the burn that is spreading from her being this close.
Tossing the paper towel in the trash, she turns back to Oko with a small smile.
"Now it's time to take care of your uniform," Ayano gestures to his black shirt, also covered in white mineral. She brushes off tiny increments. "And your hair." Threading her fingers through his dark locks, she shakes out as much chalk as she can.
She grabs his hand and leads him out of the bathroom. "W-where-"
"The locker room, you can change into your gym clothes and rinse out your hair there. We should have just enough time to go there and get back for class."
She holds his hand the entire way there, not noticing the dark eyes that follow her every move.
The third incident happened after school.
Like earlier that day, she finds Kokona at her door, except this time, her friend is sobbing her eyes out. Face red and blotchy, her uniform askew. Ayano has her suspicions of where her friend had just been, but now was not the time to pry.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, she pulls Kokona into another hug, but this time, the waterfall of tears doesn't stop. She leads her into the living room, silently handing her a tissue box.
"Stay here, I'll go make us some tea, alright?" Ayano says softly.
Kokona sniffs. "Can you make green tea please?"
"Of course," Ayano replied with a small smile.
After the tea is finished brewing and poured into cups, she walks back over to her now thankfully not crying friend, and hands one to her.
The purple-haired girl inhales shakily. "Someone...saw me...in Shisuta Town..."
Ayano lays a hand on her friend's shoulder to encourage her to continue. "...Doing what?"
"O-on a date...with an older guy...I think they saw him hand me money too... A-and I know how this sounds! I-I'm doing it for a reason, I swear just please listen before you judge me..."
She would've never done something like that, but still, she says nothing and waits for Kokona's explanation.
"Before I tell you anything else, have you been online recently?"
Ayano shakes her head no, furrowing her brows. She doesn't spend too much time on social media anyway, and Kokona looks relieved at this fact.
"Good...I'm the first to tell you...I've been letting older guys give me money to go on dates with them to help my father pay off his debts. He owes a large sum of money to Ronshaku loans, and he's really struggling to come up with enough yen...Anyway..someone from school saw me and took a picture, and I'm scared to think about what they might do with it!"
Ayano processes the information her friend relayed to her as said friend blows her nose next to her.
"Well...we can't be sure until we check right? Let's be certain first before we decide what to do next okay? My computer's in my room, and we can get you out of your uniform into something else."
…
As the two enter her room Ayano notices that her window and underwear drawer are open, but shrugs it off. She probably forgot to close them this morning. Randomly grabbing at a hanger, she tosses it over to her friend.
A few seconds pass by...
"I did not foresee this happening even though I should have..." Ayano admits.
For the first time in forever, Kokona laughs brightly as she struggles to pull the Magical Girl Pretty Miyuki hoodie over her larger chest. "I'll just leave some clothes here when I decide to stay over! I'll probably be doing that a lot more anyway." Her tone turns somber subtly as she remembers her dad reeking of alcohol, coming into her room, and breaking down-
"You're practically screaming your thoughts, c'mon let's see if anything's happening right now."
Logging into her account on Akademi High's social media site, Ayano checks her timeline, only to find nothing.
"Alright, so far so good..." Mumbled Kokona. "Oh, you have a bunch of friend requests."
Fixating her attention on the upper right corner of her screen, lo and behold, there were several familiar faces among the profile pictures, including Osano, Amao, Oko, and Kokona herself to name a few. She absentmindedly clicks the 'Accept All' button when she notices one name, a name that seemed to be the source of her friends' issues.
Musume Ronshaku.
Ayano notices that she got requests from Musume's colorful clones as well, all with faker attitudes than their spray tans, she didn't regret adding them though, being able to keep an eye on their pages might be useful to her in the future.
"Huh, I wonder what that's about. I've never even spoken to those girls before. Are you thinking what I'm thinking Kokona?"
The schoolgirls look at each other, and Ayano clicks on the blonde's profile. Her fingertips clench around the mouse as they both saw The Post.
Musume Ronshaku: OMG one of my sources just told me that Kokona Haruka was found in Shisuta Town on a date with an older guy! And she was getting paid!
Kashiko Murasaki: lmao the tramp was too busy being groped to notice me taking a picture!
Hana Daidaiyama: i always knew she was a slut, i bet this is just the tip of the iceberg
Kokoro Momoiro: seriously? what a whore
Hoshiko Mizudori: LOL this is sooooo going on my blog
Well, at least they knew who the culprit was now...
"Oh my god, Kokona are you okay?! That guy didn't hurt you, did he?!"
"No...I pepper-sprayed him before he could do much other than rumple my shirt. I definitely lost a client today..."
Indignation flared within her at the fact that her friend even had to worry about things like this. Debts, and having to sell herself to pay those debts. She felt a little helpless, to be honest, all her life up until recently, Ayano's only had to worry about her and her only, but the number of people slowly working their way into her heart was a bit overwhelming.
"We don't have to worry about how to deal with this right now. Would you like to watch anime instead? I have some leftover anmitsu if you want some."
Kokona smiles.
There's so much going through her mind that the other students around her aren't even a blip on her radar. She doesn't filter the seemingly endless stream of gossip that waterfalls its way out of their mouths, so it comes as a huge surprise to her when an unfamiliar teacher confidently strolls intro Class 2-1. For a moment, Ayano wonders if she has the wrong room.
"Oh my god, he's even hotter in person!" Hana Daidaiyama whispers excitedly to her, and Ayano has to stop herself from sneering.
Why the hell is she talking to me?
She's about to put aside her resentment towards the girl to ask if she knows anything about this mysterious man when he clears his throat, gathering the attention of the entire room effortlessly.
"Hello class, my name is Mido Rana and I'll be your substitute today." He gestures to himself by pressing a hand to his bare chest, halfway unbuttoned shirt tight-fitting.
Next to her, Hana is practically swooning while Ayano idly wonders if that shirt is against the dress code.
"I'll start by taking attendance... Let's see, Ayano Aishi?" He reads off a clipboard.
Being the only one in the room barely paying any attention, she half-heartedly raises her left hand whilst twirling her pencil in her other.
"Present..."
Staring off into space, she misses the way his eyes linger on her.
Throughout the rest of the lesson her head is up in the clouds, and the new teacher takes notice, as more often than not she is put on the spot and forced to answer questions. She gives them thought and gets every single one correct sure, but it's happening so often that her classmates are starting to take notice.
She even starts noticing eventually, admittedly it does take a folded-up note passed to her by Raibaru. She nudges her arm so aggressively with the paper that it cuts her, nearly breaking her pencil when she feels the skin tear. Turning to glare at the obnoxious orange leech, she doesn't get the chance to tell her to knock it off before the note is shoved into her hand.
Are you okay? It reads, You seem really out of it, wanna talk later?
Looking to her left, she sees her best friend looking at her imploringly. Ayano sends him a grateful smile and looks down to respond on the other side of the paper, failing to catch his blush. Scanning the room, Rana-sensei is nowhere in sight, taking that as a good sign, she forms her reply.
Yes, I have been feeling quite down lately. We haven't been spending as much time together recently, I'd like to rectify that. How about we-
"Ahem, passing notes in my class is strictly prohibited. I expect all of my students' attention to be on me."
She feels Rana-sensei's presence behind her, breath tickling her ear, his scent something indescribably masculine.
Does he have to be this close?
His long, slender fingers pick up the note she was about to pass to Raibaru.
"See me after class Miss Aishi," And that's the end of it, it should have been.
Except it wasn't, not for a few more agonizing seconds anyhow. All of her classmates' attention was now on her since their damn ikemen of a substitute decided to put the spotlight on them. This is her first time getting in trouble too, she tried her best not to stand out, and all that effort went down the drain. Not just at that moment either, it seemed like each day of her second year she was getting yanked another inch out of the shadows, and Ayano has no idea how to feel about it.
The end of class does not go the way she expects, which maybe she should have expected? She is fully prepared to be scolded, apologize, and bow respectfully before going on her merry way. She does not foresee being confronted about her problems.
"Is there anything you would like to talk about Miss Aishi?"
"...What do you mean Rana-sensei?"
"I realize that this may come off as rather invasive, but I happened to catch a glimpse of your note to Mr. Najimi earlier."
"So... I'm not in trouble?"
"No, I don't believe your transgression warrants a punishment. Do you think it does, Miss Aishi?" His eyes are half-lidded as he says this to her.
Ayano breaks eye contact and swallows.
"No sir."
While her head is still in its bowed position, he gives her a once-over, his right ankle crossed over his knee. Tilting his head to the side, the back of a pen held against his cheek.
"Well just remember, you're free to come to me any time you'd like to talk. Look on the bright side, if you do decide to tell me anything, I won't be here very long anyway." He smiled.
"I'll remember that Sir, thank you."
Walking out of the classroom, Ayano realized that this was the first time she had ever been asked by an authority figure if she ever wanted to talk. Could she really trust him? Only time would tell.
"Okay, what did you want? I'm like, super busy y'know. You better not have brought me in here to make out or anything, I'm not that type of girl. Plus, I barely know you and whatever so like-"
Musume's body hits the floor of the storage closet with a thud as the tranquilizer does its job. The bimbo didn't even bother to take her eyes off her phone to talk to him. Oh well, that ended up working in his favor anyway. Double-checking to make sure the door was locked, the mystery student picked up the unconscious body and placed her into a music trunk. He's very tempted to grab her by the dye job and toss her into it like yesterday's trash but he doesn't want to leave any DNA of her's behind.
Picking up the phone the Ronshaku heiress dropped, he quickly types out a believable message to whichever member of her posse she was talking to before he knocked her out.
Running a gloved hand over the coal-black material case holding his victim, the boy vows that Musume Ronshaku will never be the same once he's finished with her.
She may not have hurt you directly, but I will maim anyone who causes you pain Ayano.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Soooooo yeah, I thought this chapter would warrant a genre change from 'Romance & Friendship' to 'Romance & Drama' if poisoning our beloved protagonist in Mujo's section wasn't enough. Things will be a tad more serious from now on.
I just want to apologize for not updating regularly, I'll try harder, my only excuse was that I was working on a Naruto oneshot :/ Feel free to take out your torches and pitchforks.