"Mifuyu!? Where have you been?! How many times do we have to tell you to text us when you are coming home late!"
Hina exclaims, punching the air while her sister holds her in place by her shoulders and pinches the bridge of her nose, clearly exhausted. "What on earth were you doing this time?"
Mifuyu looks at them both and shakes her head, doing a soft smile. "I'm tutoring someone and I wanted to make sure I gotta see her tomorrow before class to discuss a schedule." Not an entire lie but the smile was. Their aunts looked at each other and Hina sighs in relief, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's so wonderful dear! That means you can finally make some friends-!"
"It doesn't take you off the hook though, Mifuyu." Akari intercepts, now crossing her arms. "That'll be your last warning. If this happens again, you'll be grounded."
Mifuyu nods desperately trying to hide the biting sarcasm she wanted to say to that statement. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It was just spurred of the moment and-"
"Please. Go to your room. I don't need to hear excuses."
She goes up the stairs at the command and for once, doesn't slam her door. She could hear Hina whine. "You were too harsh on her…"
Mifuyu stands there for a few seconds before slowly crumbling to the ground. His eyes were burned into her memory. Sharper than a knife freshly out of its package. Don't get into things that do not involve you. It rattled her even then when thinking of how he worded it. It sounded like a warning. A threat maybe. She brings her knees close to her chest and stares intimately at the wooden floor. The biggest thing that did bother her was not Ayato's careless attitude, nor the fact that he was very much ready to throw down with the ravenette. But rather, why was she so terrified when she went to look at him again. Her blood turned cold, goosebumps crawled slowly up her skin then and even now. Everything felt so heavy in his presence.
She rests her head onto her knees and then slowly stands, starting to take off her uniform. "I wonder if he knows what I'm really doing…" Who was she kidding? He wasn't born yesterday. He must have known even if he didn't read her notebook. Mifuyu's eye twitches and shakes her head, changing into her pajamas. "I'll just have to really be careful who sees that then." Her eyes trace over the black journal that sits on her nightstand. Mifuyu crawls into bed and sleeps another night with surprisingly no intruding horrors.
The next day went by just as quickly and so came another night of school. Mifuyu made it her goal to get down to the basement tonight. Even if it was only for a little while. She would have to avoid Reiji as much as possible, too. She didn't see him other than her homeroom so it could potentially work this time. As expected, her classes do run by pretty smoothly. Legitimately paying attention to the instructor in front of her so she could ignore the plaguing anxieties of the Sakamaki and the murder. Even Ayato's little stand-off was starting to slightly bother her. Was he that much of an arrogant prick or was he trying to show off? But even then...the only one he would have tried to show off to was that girl he was screaming at and she, too, disappeared. Mifuyu couldn't even find the girl but disregarded it as soon as possible. In fact, she tries not to think of last night.
Lunch had also flown by with a flash but Mifuyu decided to scout out the hallways and walk around in her meantime, careful to avoid any other teachers. Sure other students went out to the courtyard to eat or even the school roof. But if they didn't see any type of food in Mifuyu's hand, they automatically sent her to the cafeteria. It was a nuisance but what can one do? Turning the corner to be greeted with a staircase to descend, she spots a certain head full of blonde hair on the next flight. Her eyes widening, Mifuyu quickens her pace.
"Yui-san, I've been meaning to talk to you about your, erm, tutoring sessions." She says hastily, now walking down with her. However, something seemed off about the way she walked. In fact, she sort of looked like a walking zombie. She had seemed so pale.
"Ah...Mifuyu-san? I don't think I can talk right now…" Yui's words drawl, her left hand going to touch her aching forehead. Everything felt so dizzying, like swirls of blurs were beckoning to take over her vision. Mifuyu placed a hand on her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. But as soon as she did, Yui jerks back and spins to face her in a panic.
"Don't touch me! Please I don't want-!"
Then she started to gasp, feeling herself falling backward. Quickly it happened, Mifuyu grabs onto her hand and uses her own to grab the railing but fails to do so- feeling her hand slip. "Shit!" She attempts to grab onto anything else, desperate. But already feels her body weight being carried and they both fall down the stairs. Luckily it wasn't that much of a fall as they were only halfway down but it didn't mean it hurt any less. Mifuyu had rolled off of Yui and winced in pain, groaning. "Goddammit, fucking…!" She then sits up and crawls to Yui, looming over her. Her eyes were closed.
"Hey? Yui..!?" Mifuyu pats her face and then shakes her. "Hey! C'mon now! You can't possibly be knocked unconscious by falling down the stairs?!" She yells and then suddenly looks up to see if any other adults were around but her eyes rest upon a man's tall figure. When she creaks her neck up, a man with orange brownish hair meets Mifuyu's concerned face. One hand behind his neck while the other was shoved in his pocket. Uniform disheveled as always, never letting up on that cocky but honest attitude-
Yuma Mukami.
"...What the hell are you two idiots on the floor for?" He questions, voice reeking of annoyance. Mifuyu suppresses an eye roll and gets up to face him. Jesus, he's tall! I guess I never really noticed…
"Well? Satomi?"
"Yui and I fell down the stairs. She's pale and needs to go to the nurse's office."
Yuma blinks slowly, as if almost not believing Mifuyu's story. To which Mifuyu pursues her lips to a fine line. "I said she needs to go to the infirmary."
"I heard ya the first time you damn- ugh, move." Yuma shoves her out of the way and picks up the unconscious blonde. He starts to walk away from her and Mifuyu follows him down to the first floor. Both of their eyes had already made a silent agreement to not get caught by any other teachers and once they do, they reach the infirmary. Yuma places Yui on the bed and crosses his arms while Mifuyu sits close to Yui, worried.
"How'd you two fall down the stairs anyway? Ya trip her or somethin'? Always knew you'd do something like that…"
"What? No! I-" Mifuyu's face goes red in embarrassment and pinches the bridge of her nose. She counts in her head and takes a deep breath.
"I wanted to talk to her about something but she looked pale. So when I asked what was wrong, she freaked out and then tripped." Mifuyu explains and Yuma blinks, looking at Yui. "She'll be fine. She's anemic." Mifuyu's eyes move from Yui to him, tilting her head. "How do you know that?" She asks and Yuma doesn't respond.
"Are you friends with her or something, Yuma?" Mifuyu asks and Yuma glances at her, shaking his head.
"Damn, getting so personal. You really are nosey y'know that?" Yuma growls at her.
Mifuyu's expression of worry changed quickly to also annoyance to match the taller orange male. "I was just asking a simple question, jeez…" Mifuyu angrily mutters, looking at the floor. After a few moments, the two hear a door slide open. When they go to look they see another head full of blonde hair that had an all too familiar aura to him.
"Kou? What're you doing here?" Yuma asks, turning to look at him with a hand on his hip. Kou smiles swaying his hips side to side. "Ruki-kun was looking for you. He wanted to talk to us about something important and he was pre-tty mad when you didn't show up at our spot!"
"Ugh, that guy...doesn't he know I go to the gardens on lunch breaks…?!" Yuma exclaims and Kou does a hardy laugh, putting both of his hands on his hips. "Wooow! Since when did you take priority in your privacy?" Kou's laugh dies down whenever Yuma punches him in the shoulder. "Oww! Yuma-kuun you're so mean!"
"...Um."
Mifuyu uttered one word and that was the only word she could really think of at that moment, her own headache only worsening when they started to bicker.
"Could...you two leave if you got shit to do? You seem to be an awfully busy man, Yuma."
Kou harks out another laugh and Yuma whips his head around, gritting his teeth in anger. "Hah?! What did you say to you-!"
"Alright, alright you two! Say, M-Neko-Chan do you know this girl?" Kou asks, still keeping on his smile when he walks toward the infirmary bed. Mifuyu blinks tiredly. "Yes, I do. I'm her tutor." It wasn't necessarily a lie but not the truth either. If Yuma was going to be half-assed with his whole 'she's my friend' statement, the ravenette can play that game too.
"Aww, a tutor you say? Huh. I've never seen you around her before. Just startin' out?"
"Yeah." Was all Mifuyu and then squinted at the two brothers. "Now, if you could leave us alone?"
"Yeahh, yeahh! C'mon, Yuma-kun. Let's go tell a nurse and go to our so-called 'meeting'" Kou urges and begins to walk out. "Tch." Yuma looks away from the two and starts to head out. "Soo, is she in the same grade as you, ehhh Yuma-kuun?~" Kou asks and Yuma does a double take.
"Ye-No? Why are you asking stupid questions!?"
Mifuyu has had enough. She stands from her seat and shoves the two brothers out of the infirmary. "Go find a nurse! Also, don't ever call me that name again, Kou." She says bitterly and slams the door shut. The two brothers stood there for a couple of seconds before turning to each other. Kou winks at Yuma. They then proceed to walk down the hallway, conversations not able to be heard by Mifuyu when she goes to sit back down next to Yui.
"Seriously...they're more annoying than what I had to put up with yesterday." She rubs her temples and looks at the seemingly sleeping Yui, her head not facing her. "I never knew she was anemic. Then again I don't know jack shit about her at all." Mifuyu says, thinking about how when she tried to contact her- Yui was nowhere to be found on the internet. Aside from the article about that charity event. Maybe she could ask her about it when she wakes up. Mifuyu groans quietly and stares up at the ceiling, still annoyed by Yuma's behavior.
He was always like that or from what she saw on first glances. She and Yuma are in the same year together. In fact, he used to share a class together until he got moved due to how many times he would not pay attention to the English lecture. They never talked or partnered up but just from the stuff she's overhearing from girls- he was, without a doubt, a brute. But they seemed to glamorize it. Mifuyu then looked at Yui again and thought about what he had said about her and him being friends. It was a lie, had to be. Someone like her wouldn't be friends with someone like him. So why lead her on with that?
Mifuyu then spots a darkish purple substance on Yui's neck. It wasn't spotted from before due to her hair covering it but it was clearly noticeable if one stared long enough. Just as Mifuyu's hand went to reach to push some hair out of the way, the door slid open and she retracted her hand.
"Satomi-san? I was told a student was injured?"
The nurse inquired and Mifuyu nodded. "Her and I fell down the stairs by accident but I'm fine. She fell unconscious." She scribbles something down in her paperwork and sets it down on a table, going toward the two girls. "Satomi-san, you can go ahead and go back to class. I will take care of Komori-san." She smiles and Mifuyu exits the infirmary. Maybe...I should stick by her with the tutoring bullshit. She wasn't exactly sure why she made that decision...and the choice she made last night to follow the screaming. But when she attempted to think of a reason, her head rose to see the basement door down the hall...unguarded.
Taking the chance, Mifuyu sprints down the hallway and finds herself in front of the crime scene. "Finally...the one time I can do this and it's in the middle of school hours." She pauses and shakes her head.
"Fuck it. This is my only shot."
Mifuyu goes to touch the knob. When her hand cusps the cold knob, her silver eyes widen in fear. Flashes of the corpses splayed across her eyes with an overzealous amount of gore. Mifuyu does a small yelp and lets go of the knob, stepping back to only have her back hit something warm.
"Are you seriously planning on doin' something this stupid, Mifuyu?"
She whips around to see the man who had said that, being Yuma once again. They stare at each other, silence now becoming more irritating to the both of them.