[Chapter 14] A day before the exam

Ok, who ordered you to be here? Was it that idiot Totsuka?

As if I would obey something like that.

Are you saying this is a coincidence? Having to look at you in the bar is enough punishment.

Shut it! You're the one who's always saying we should shut up, so do as you preach.

Well, then go away.

I was walking this street first!

So what? This is the fastest route to my home, and I have important things to do. I'm sure you have nothing significant to do, so you can go get lost on some other street.

For your information I AM in hurry as well!

You have no business holding that baseball bat around the city. She pointed at the outstanding object on his right hand. Are you going to kill someone?

Gggghhh! Listen woman, why don't you turn the next corner and get lost yourself!

…

Because this route it's shorter.

Aggghhh!

The young vanguard slapped himself in the face reflecting in this hellish walk next to the lord demon herself. She wasn't the only one regretting having to use this road. As usual, her antipathetic behavior displayed explicitly towards him and each word coming out of her freezing body felt like a drill in his head.

If it wasn't an emergency, he wouldn't have waste any second being around her. But he didn't get to choose these uncanny meetings.

Maybe if he accelerated the pace he´d be able to pass her, but the problem was that she was also walking rather fast.

What is it? You look like you're rushing to the bathroom. He observed.

It's worse than that. I can't waste any time today. I must be home early.

Don't you have to be working today? He pointed it out now that he memorized her shifts to avoid seeing her boring face whenever he could.

I already told Kusanagi-san. I'm not working today.

And he let you? His surprise was inevitable; he has worked for him from time to time and lent him a hand, so he knew how strict the owner was whenever he could put his hands on them.

I´ll have to work extra hours, yes. She confessed feeling positively depressed.

It was to expect. There was no way he could let her off the hook, not when she was what he called "his best employee". The young boy tried not to think about how fast she was growing inside his clan and shake his head before giving the next turn, hopefully losing her along the way.

But it wasn´t that simple.

Hey! Why do you have to turn too!?

I told you. It´s my route.

She kept walking, slightly annoyed by the same coincidence.

The young red guy grew impatient as well, moving his feet faster and quickly getting ahead of her. He looked quite ridiculous walking so fast with his short legs, and it made him a little self-conscious since he had the nasty girl behind him staring. But having her thinking he looked silly was better than her realizing why he was walking in first place.

Hey, where's your skateboard?

But she noticed.

His hair stood on end and he almost stop in track. Her sharp observation was spot on. Yes, if he had it, he´d use it to get to this place, but the reason why it was missing was why he was rushing to this meeting. But he would never let her know why this was happening, and that´s why they couldn´t be on the same road, or his reputation would be ruined forever.

His last hope was for her to not follow him when he took the final turn, and that´s why he started running the last meters before reaching destination, leaving her behind.

Now alone, he ran trough the streets to his destination. He has to be there by now, waiting dor him. If the young vanguard didn't hurry up, then he won't be able to put an end to their incessant rivalry. This time he was going to win.

Each step made his fist clench in anticipation. He was prepared for what was waiting around the next corner.

Oh, you´re finally here. Thought you got lost. Turn out you were just slow. I should have expected that with short legs like those.

That voice, that annoying voice. It was one of the few things that never fails to trigger him. Everything about this guy pissed him off; the way his blue eyes narrowed giving a superior aura, that twisted smirk, his mocking tone. He was so eager to punch him right between the eyes to earse that overconfidence out of him.

Yata stayed in place watching him getting closer. His feet walked slowly, step by step like he owned the street, and in some way he did. He was part of that pestering blue clan so he had the power to stop traffic in the area, and being him, of course he would use it to have enough space to put and end to their incessant matches.

Once his hazel eyes dropped to his hands, his anger deepened considerably. There it was, what this bastard stole from him, his skateboard.

But with or without skateboard, he was ready to make him bite the dust of his shoes. Yata gripped his baseball bat on his hand and prepared himself to attack.

Noticing his eagerness, the smile on his adversary deepened and he took out his saber on his left side as well.

It was going to be their decisive match. Nothing could stop them now.

Except for the only human being who could consciously ignore the no-trespassing signs all over the streets to make a shortcut to her home.

The schoolgirl walking by holding her bag over her shoulder casually locked eyes with the two other humans who were on the peculiarly empty street. Then her eyes opened wide when she noticed the man on the blue uniform.

Shit, it's you.

'I should´ve keep walking straight.' She reflected on her actions.

What kind of reaction is that? We didn't bother you for like two weeks. Fushimi Saruhiko stopped in the middle of their affair to reply her inconsiderate reaction.

Two wonderful weeks. 'If it wasn't for these other dorks'. She stole a glance at the red clan member.

Wait, you know each other? Yata looked back and forth trying to understand why they sound so close.

I told you already. They want me. She lazily pointed a finger at the young official as if he were a thing.

HUH? Are you talking to a girl without having a prepubescent reaction, Misaki? The blue clan member showed an amusing cynical smile ready to laugh at him.

Then a chill ran down Eri´s spine when she heard the glasses guy calling the barking dog by his first name. Oh, God. You know each other? She couldn´t sound any more exasperated. The nightmare turned darker.

Taking advantage of his good mood for his previous discovery, Fushimi turned to explain what was happening. Well, he couldn´t ride around the city without this. He carelessly showed the skateboard in his hand.

Hey! Give it back, damn monkey! The short guy´s blood boiled by just looking how he was displaying his board.

Wait, HE stole your skate? She unintentionally exposed his ineptitude making him feel more embarrassed.

That frustrated look on him was exactly what the cynical guy wanted to see. It was always amusing. But now with another spectator, he decided to prolong the hysterical boy´s suffering to tease the young girl who´s soul abandoned her body.

So, what are you doing hanging out with this kind of looser? His curiosity was real since he´s never heard anything about her getting along with the red clan, especially with the forever virgin Misaki.

Eri refused to die yet over this stupid outcome; it would a pathetic death. Although now she had a little obstacle, and she found the next part hard to explain given her constant reminders about never wanting to be near a clan. But the blue king will eventually find out, if he wasn´t already aware of it, and therefore their subordinates would too. I… I´m working at their bar…

What the hell did you do? He quickly caught up that she must have done something foolish.

I broke a window.

And you don´t have any money. He quickly solved the puzzle.

Her silence and avoidant look were all he needed to know.

The schoolgirl felt a hand on her shoulder, and unsure of what he wanted she looked up to him just to find his sardonic face. How about joining us and we pay your dues?

Fuck that. She brushed off his hand, offended about his quick way of taking advantage of the situation. He had no scruples.

He scornfully chuckled at her expected reaction. It was obvious she would never pay her dues with a clan to get in debt with another.

OI! Saruhiko! Don´t let your guard down!

Without any warning, Yata jumped towards the mocking official. It looked like he was going to get him by the first hit, but the tallest swiftly dodged his attack while holding the object he stole from him.

The schoolgirl jumped back as well. Even when she wasn´t his target her reflexes acted before anything, and they thankfully worked because he run awfully close to her. 'And then he calls me a beast. Stupid dog.'

From afar, she took a moment to see what they were doing. She didn´t have any context besides the skateboard used as a hostage which made the quarrel they were having in the middle of the street feel very uncalled for.

Overall, it looked like a spectacle of lights. Blue and red fighting over a … skateboard. But not everything felt lost. This moment worked as a short reflection about how unlucky she was to end up with the two most tiring gangs this city could offer.

She put a hand on her face to calm her nerves before facing them. Can I go home? She apathetically suggested.

No, you can´t. This is a great chance to show you the difference between an organization and a noisy gang. Fushimi flashed a condescending smirk at the short guy.

But I know that already. She was from an assassin's organization after all.

Skip it.

I have better things to do, so I´m off. She waved goodbye without really caring about them or their business.

No, you won´t. Here, look after the "prize". The blue official kicked the skateboard to roll towards the teenage girl to have better mobility.

When the rolling board reach her feet, she looked at it and then rose her eyes at him. I won´t take part on your stupid games.

What is it so important you have to do, anyway?

Schoolwork.

Uptight, huh? I´ve never taken YOU as a goody two-shoes. He took the liberty to deepen her frown.

OI! Stop ignoring me, Saru-idiot!

Fushimi didn´t pay much care for the irritated boy swinging his bat at him, and he could easily handle him while talking to the upset girl who looked like she was still planning to go away.

Don´t make me call Munakata. He showed off another smirk.

Unamused, she put a blank expression and took a seat on the road.

The high school student seemed to be the only one with first row seats to THIS waste of time. She scowled, chin resting on her hands over her knees. She should be in her apartment preparing herself for tomorrow. Now who knew how long she´d be stuck here?

Looking at her bag on the floor next to her, she decided to do something productive instead of watching them break the law. She took all the school supplies she needed, along with her notebook and her calculator.

She must say, it was oddly comfortable practicing exercises in the middle of the street. There were no people which meant no noise, the weather was lovely and using the natural sunlight from the sunset was making her save electricity she needed to use on her home. It was great if you ignored the couple of idiots trying to kill each other and sometimes ruining her concentration.

Eri´s eyes were drawn towards the blue clan member who started this.

He was making a rather sadistic and cynical smile while fighting the short one. 'He's really twisted.' All this time she thought he was at least normal, but apparently, he was able to do that kind of expression. She has seen crazy freaks in her work before, so she could tell he wasn´t like them. Although, what surprised her was that he was doing that exclusively to his acquaintance from the red clan.

Speaking of him, the barking chihuahua of the red clan also looked far from his normal self. She´s seen him fight others before, even using his red aura. But the guy in front of her eyes was crazily angry. It wasn´t right to think they were behaving like this over a board with wheels. Could it be that it was because they were from enemy groups, or for another reason?

'Ugh, who cares.' She resumed her calculations.

The next problem was being a lot trickier than the rest she´s solved. She made sure to check her calculations. After a couple of minutes, she finally succeeded. She looked at her sheet with pride; tomorrow it was going to be easy-peasy.

*SWIFT*

Her muscles activated instantly, and she moved towards the left just where the skateboard was. It was in a single second that she dropped the sheet on her hands to grab the board and moved to the opposite side where the sharp object was heading at.

Once she dodged it, she relaxed her body and observed what it was. A knife she´s seen before; Fushimi´s knife. And it didn´t land just anywhere.

Her eyes opened in terror. It couldn´t be. She had to grab it to see it wasn´t a bad dream.

Like a lost bullet, the knife hit her calculator.

Behind her, the two madmen kept fighting as if nothing significant was lost. She could even bet they didn´t notice where the knives the blue officer was throwing were landing. A clear example of a high in comand official like him. It drove her crazy.

Saruhiko-! Uh? The chestnut-haired boy stopped in the middle of his attack the moment the schoolgirl nonchalantly walked by.

The same reaction was made by the blue officer, who stared wearisome at the girl that was interrupting their match progressively getting closer to him. Hey, get out of the way. Don´t you see we´re in the middle of- *SPITS*

!

A strong pain on his stomach caused him to stoop and before he could grasp what she was thinking, he was held by the collar of his shirt.

You, monkey bastard, just threw a knife to my calculator. She showed him the fresh evidence of the crime while her crazy eyes were fixed on him.

You´ll pay for this. We´re leaving. She stated leaving no room for complains, and her hand grabbing his arm to lead the way out of that place.

They walked away from the scene with no other word, leaving the HOMRA´s member all lone. This was surreal. The young man he was struggling to beat was singlely handeled by a schoolgirl. Yata was dumbfound, still unable to believe what he saw. 'D-Did she just delivered a punch to HIM?!'

You´re a beast. Did you realized you are a civil who deliberately hurt an employee of a security force? I can get you in holding. You´re a strain, after all. Behind his glasses, the young man´s eyes were frowning, but unsuccessfully threatening the girl with the blank expression. That only put him on a fouler mood.

He held his stomach, still aching from that punch. Ghh. Just how important is a calculator to you?

I have an important test tomorrow. How do you expect I pass if I don´t have a calculator? Her face, staring at the front until now, turned to him attempting to kill him with her look.

He rolled his eyes, refusing to believe this stupid outcome was over a silly device.

Every single day of my life has been a living nightmare since the moment I met you. She took this chance to complain aloud, ignoring how they were standing in the queue to pay.

The image was really odd, and the constant looks the couple was receiving was proof of that. A tall young man wearing the Scepter 4 uniform next to a diabolical raged teen, in silence, emanating a dark aura, and extremely impatient over the many people before them who were delaying them. They looked like they were about to kill someone any minute now.

Why today? You imbeciles couldn´t just have your dumb quarrel another day? Her impatience was growing increasingly each second.

You could have walked away. It´s not like you were forced to be there.

YOU FORCED ME TO STAY. Her eyes turned bloody red.

That was your own fault. He looked at the front, shamelessly blaming her.

He didn´t look at her, but he knew by fact she was trying to control her impulses to not kill him, and that was a little fun to do while waiting in the line.

The teen successfully suppresses her longing to chock him since there were a lot of witnesses inside the store, but just in case, she brough a subject to keep her mind busy. And how do you know each other to carelessly start a fight in the middle of the city?

We were friends. He didn´t hide the fact since it wasn´t a big deal for him, and she´d eventually find out by the other clan.

You two were friends? All the implications of that sentence were fussy in her head. She couldn´t grasp how was that possible if both were from enemy´s sides. How?

It´s a long story.

I don´t want to hear it then.

I wasn´t planning to tell you.

Wait, if you know each other, then... how old are you?

17.

Only a year older than me? She was genuinely surprised. He looked much more mature than the noisy one from the red clan. But there was something else that caught her attention. Wait, what about high school?

Drop out. He nonchalantly announced.

Now this was a golden opportunity, so she wasn´t going to miss it. EEEh? So, you've never graduate from high school. And here I thought you WEREN´T an idiot.

Her expression and the tune of voice didn´t change but her smartass comment crossed him. He found pointless to say anything else, so he gave her the cold shoulder.

But seeing that reaction, she switch her attitude into smug mode, as far as she could show. Eh? What's that? You've never graduated high school? And you were mocking a HIGHSCHOOLER not to long ago?

Don´t pester. That´s annoying. He couldn´t ignore her any longer. If you want to mock someone, do it to Misaki.

Yeah, but that would be way too easy.

Also, as far as I know, you didn´t graduate YET, I don´t want to hear someone who doesn´t even have an elementary school degree. His blue eyes watched her from above as a taunting smirk formed on his face.

Low blow. That´s so rude to say. Far from offended, she still acted that way.

Their conversation ended there, but thankfully their turn to pay was next. The clerk passed the important object through the cash register and the pricy device

Only there was a huge problem.

I-I don´t have my wallet. The teen trembled in fear. After meticulous and desperately digging for her purse inside her schoolbag, she couldn´t find it.

Her blood was rushing to her head and she started breathing erratically. It didn´t make sense; she was sure she had it in her bag when she left school, so when did she lost it?

Then her mind cleared, and she found the answer. She might have left it on the ground when she was studying in the street. Knowing that only made her blood boil in frustration.

FUSHIMI SARUHIKO DO SOMETHING OR I'LL SCREAM. The former assassin stared right into his soul, holding her chest for the tachycardia she was having.

Being the indifferent person he was, he paid no attention over the girl having a panic attack next to him. But he couldn´t ignore the murderous look she was giving him. Those eyes belonged to a psychopath, why was she doing that over a calculator?

But he really didn´t want to deal with her screaming; she looked like she was willing to do it for real. And succumbing to her threat, he exasperated sighed and searched his pockets.

The next morning, first period, the madwoman could successfully finish her exam and she found her wallet on her desk.