[11th May (five days ago), Afterschool, Kosei Academy]
Akashi Naoko was... hesitant.
Ever since Kimiko's death, the small group between all of them pretty much shattered. And she hadn't talk with either Shinji or Akira, until her talk during the Golden Week. However, for Shinji... it was a different case.
"...C'mon, Naoko, you're not looking for Shinji," Muttering to herself, she found herself right in front of the student council room's door. "...Whatever, excuse me, is Higashikuni-senpai here?"
Knocking lightly on the student council room's door, it didn't take the younger Akashi sibling too long before someone opened the door. Just as she thought, it was Hinaki herself.
"Akashi-san? I didn't expect to see you here," Surprised from her sudden appearance, the student council president stepped aside and let her in. "Just come in first, I would listen."
Hesitantly nodding, Naoko stepped inside the student council room. Over the short time she had been studying in Kosei, they had only met each other once. That was back when she started, and it was Hinaki who asked for her time.
Sun rays shine through the windows subtly, with the pile of documents and the room's placement blocking the most of it. The two sat down at the seat right opposite from one another, with the president waiting patiently for Naoko to say what in her mind.
"So... Higashikuni-senpai," The younger Akashi sibling started after a short silence, still feeling nervous at what she had wanted to say. "I heard that you tried to help Shinji with his problem between me and him, right?"
"R-right, I did try to help Izumo-kun before..." Hinaki nodded, feeling a slight shiver sent through her body alongside the memories of her last conversation with Shinji. "It... it didn't end well, for the both of us."
"Let me tell you something, Naoko blames me for doing nothing about Kimiko's death."
"Let's be honest, I hate you, Higashikuni. Just disappear from my life, you've nothing but worsening the entire situation."
"O-okay..." Trailing off, Naoko pondered through anything, trying to find her reason to be here. "I just... I just want to know how Shinji's been, and I wanted to apologize to him."
Seeing that the president didn't say anything, the piano player decided to continue. "After all, when he first came to Kosei... I treated him horribly. I blamed sis' death on him and Akira."
"Akashi-san, please don't be too hard on yourself," Hinaki said softly. "But you wanted advice from me to help you apologize, right?"
"Yeah..." Nodding, Naoko found herself really had no real things to ask.
After all, it was just an apology, just came clean with Shinji, and everything would be fine. She really only needed to say five words, 'I'm sorry for blaming you'. But... she just felt like those five words were going to cost her everything.
"Higashikuni-san, did Shinji said anything about me being the reason for his problem?" She finally asked, finding the faint scratch mark on the wooden table to be easier to look at. "Just be honest, you don't need to be courteous to me."
"Akashi-san..." Trailing off, Hinaki looked away for a brief second. "Well, Izumo-kun did think that you hated him, and I guess it was a big part of the cause."
"Okay, so he did," Naoko nodded, brushing a few strands of hair away from her glasses. "To be honest, I am a bit... scared to apologize to Shinji."
"Scared? Why so?"
"I... I don't know either," She shook her head. "It's more just a gut feeling, but... I don't know how Shinji would react."
"...After all this time, an apology alone might not be enough to change anything..."
"No! You can definitely change something with this apology, Akashi-san!" Seeing how shocked Naoko was at her sudden outburst, Hinaki looked away with slight embarrassment. "Oh sorry, I might have lost a bit of my temper here..."
"I-it's fine, Higashikuni-san, I understand where you're coming from," The younger Akashi sibling shook her head. "From what I heard, Shinji had been a tough one to deal with."
"As much as I wanted to say otherwise. But you're right, Akashi-san."
"Well... after all, the best person to untie a knot is the one who tied it," Repeating what Kimiko once said to her, Naoko nodded to herself and tried to build up as much confidence as possible. "After all, I caused it."
"Please don't be this hard to yourself-"
"N-no, I'm not blaming myself," She lifted her glasses, letting the subtle sun rays shined on her. "It's just how it is, it's my fault. And I should do something to fix it."
"...Akashi-san..."
Feeling that she really couldn't say anything useful, Hinaki lowered her head and stared at the space behind Naoko. And Naoko's words... it reminded her of Hifumi.
"...Hifumi, I know it might be too weird to bring it up now," Unintentionally rubbing her cheeks, Hinaki took a deep breath as she watched the girl before her. "But how's you and your mother?"
The said Shogo player said nothing in return, only staring at her own lunch instead. Worried for her, the president took a closer look at Hifumi. As much as she had a hard time understanding others, but Hinaki could clearly see how her hands twitched.
"It... it's nothing," Hifumi murmured, just loud enough to be heard by the president herself. "N-nothing has changed."
"Then it's really bad then, or even worse?" The said president leaned toward her, worried clearly filled her gaze. "I'm just worried, Hifumi. As a friend, I want the best for you-"
The Shogi player shook her head, interrupting her. "Hinaki, please... just... don't bring it up when we're having lunch."
"After all, it's all my fault..." Trailing off, she suddenly stood up and packed the remains of her lunch. "A-anyway, I have something else to do... See you later, Hinaki."
Not even bothered to wait for Hinaki, Hifumi left the room in a hurry.
"...Higashikuni-san?"
Snapping out from her sudden flashback, Hinaki blinked and hastily shook her head and put on a smile. "O-oh, I'm sorry, I just zoned out for a little bit."
"I... can see that," Naoko slowly nodded, brushing some hair behind her ear. "But either way, I don't think just an apology would be enough... With how Shinji suffered."
"But I think Izumo-kun would still accept it, Akashi-san," The president shook her head, holding a faint smile. "Maybe it is only my own optimistic thinking, but your apology would help him move on from your sister's death."
"I guess..."
"Besides, I don't mean to shove you away or anything, but..." Trailing off, Hinaki looked down with an uncertain expression. "I am not the best person when comes to giving advice about situations like this... As much as I wanted to, I don't have any big advice."
"It's alright... I don't know whether I need any advice either," Naoko sighed, feeling a bit guilty for the lack of reason for her to meet her. "It's just an apology to Shinji, it should be easy."
"But at least, I can tell someone about this," She looked up with a faint smile of appreciation. "I don't have any friends in Kosei, so... thank you for listening to my pointless ramble, Senpai."
Hinaki, on the other hand, hastily shook her head and leaned forward. "No, as long as this makes you feel better, your words aren't pointless at all."
Surprised at her sudden action, Naoko leaned backward and blinked. "...Maybe."
"Anyway, I shouldn't take more time from your work, Senpai," With that said, she stood up and bowed politely before leaving the room.
Knowing that she was right, Hinaki said nothing to try to stop her. After all, she wasn't the best person for matters like this, a deep gap between two friends cause by a tragedy.
As much as she tried to understand it, connect to them, she couldn't do it. She failed.
Hearing the door closed with a soft 'click', Hinaki leaned back to her chair and stared at the ceiling above. Funny enough, even though it was a council technically, but... this room always consisted of her only.
"Maybe I did fail at connecting to everyone else..." She murmured to herself. "And now... even Hifumi is slowly going away from me..."
Closing her eyes and blocking the light from outside, the president decided to let her concern toward Hifumi took over. Maybe... the answer to Hifumi's situation would be easier to find than her's.
On the other hand, sitting on a lone chair inside the courtyard, Togo Hifumi just stared at her Shogi board in front of her. She held a lone piece up, but somehow, she just couldn't find the right place to place it down.
For some reason, the piece felt heavy.
It should be easy, she had been playing Shogi for most of her life, it SHOULD be easy. But... maybe it was because she couldn't concentrate on Shogi anymore? Ever since that day she found out the truth?
"...Mother, what do you mean by 'you have to let my girl win'?"
"H-Hifumi! You should be asleep! You have a Shogi match tomorrow!"
"Don't try to divert the topic, mother. Please, tell me the truth."
"...It's nothing, just... the match is important, get some sleep... Please, baby girl."
"Why did she have to temper with the match?" She asked to no one, her hand started to shiver faintly. "Was she having doubt in me? Why? Because I wasn't as good as father?"
Before she realized it, droplets of tears dropped to the board, marking the piece and the board with a spot of a deeper shade. "Wha- Tears?" Widening her eyes, she hastily wiped them off. "When did... Why..."
However, it just didn't stop. It just couldn't stop.
But Hifumi still tried to wipe them off, she shouldn't cry. Tears didn't belong to the Togo family, it should be dried long before now. It should be dried on that day.
The day that the king of Togo Kingdom fell.
And just like what she assumed, the tears did stop after a while. However, the marks they left on the board would probably be permanent. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the Shogi player took out her phone and tried to divert her mind away from her thoughts.
As she opened her browser, the page landed on the post she made on the Phan-site. A childish and pathetic attempt to cry for help. Just as she thought, it didn't grab any attention at all, and that's for the better.
If the media did catch up on her post, what would happen? She would be basically destroying the image her mother built for the family, making her mother fell deeper into that hole called 'grief'.
How many more nights of weeping from mother could she endure before she fell too deep to recover? How many more dinners in silence they can have before they finally snapped?
Closing the page, Hifumi opened a new one, but ended up on the Phan-Site all over again.
Sighing to herself, she turned off the phone and scanned through the courtyard. And other than her, there was only a pair of male students sitting on the other end, and she recognized them.
It was Kitagawa and Yanagishita.
"So... How's things with your drawing?" Seeing how tired but happy Yusuke look, Hajime decided to ask him what happened.
That's what friends should be, right? Always be there for one another.
"Just like before, nothing has changed," The young artist shook his head. "Madarame-sensei is still in his artist block, and I can say that I'm in the same situation as him."
"So... artist's block, right?" Seeing a nod from Yusuke himself, Hajime stood up and smiled. "Well, I know it's hard to get through, but I can say you found some inspiration, isn't it?"
"You can say that," He nodded in agreement, the short glance he could catch with Ann. "I don't know why, but I think I just found my own 'Sayuri'."
"Your own 'Sayuri'?"
"Yes, that girl I saw... she gave out the same feeling as my first time seeing Sayuri," Yusuke said with a smile, which Hajime widened his in return. "I didn't catch her name."
"Oh, that's great news!" Hajime smiled brightly, patting his shoulder lightly but with reassurance. "Then I guess the 'artist's block' phase is soon to be over for you, right?"
"I hope so," The young pupil nodded. "However, I've been trying to talk to her, since even though I don't have her name, I do recognize her uniform."
"Oh... Kay?" Hajime lifted a brow, feeling a bit weird from the way he described that 'girl' he saw.
To be honest, it just felt a bit creepy. Of course, the Yusuke he knew was always on a different channel than anyone, so he might have a sincere intention.
Which, from his word, it did felt like that.
But... as much as he tried to look at it in a positive light, the probability of this leading to something bad was pretty high. "W-well, maybe don't put your words into this... dangerous territory? I know what do you mean, but... it just sounds kind of wrong."
"Is it?"
"Yeah... a bit," Hajime smiled wryly. "And... just don't do stupid things with that girl you saw. Not anyone would be like me."
"I will remember that," Yusuke sighed with a faint smile, brushing his bangs aside. "There's no need to be worried about me, I will be respectful and keep my distance."
[17th May, Madarame's shack]
Well, in a way, Yusuke did keep his distance and acted respectfully toward the girl. Just... on the literal ways, and in the end, it might have played out differently. More specifically, the complete opposite.
But in the end, at least he did get the girl (now known as Takamaki) to be a model for him. However, for some reason... he just couldn't bring himself to try and put his brush onto the canvas. It was just like... his body trying to stop him from drawing anymore.
As he stared at the blank canvas, his thoughts were occupied by doubt, hesitations. What was the point of painting it, when Sensei was still going to use it as his? If this kept going on, he would end up like his Senpais, either leaving by walking away from art in general... or left this world entirely.
He felt bad for lying to Hajime, that it was just all the 'artist's block' phase. Seeing how he tried his best to be there for him, as a good friend. But then, what could Hajime do to try and help?
Yusuke knew that he couldn't just walk away easily, he owed Madarame-sensei his life. If not for Sensei... who knew what would happen to him after mom died?
In the end, he was just caught in this situation, between a rock and a hard place.
However, his stream of thought was halted as Takamaki suddenly spoke up. "Um... Kitagawa-kun, are you okay?"
"H-huh?" Widening his eyes in surprise, Yusuke hastily shook his head with a reassuring smile. "N-no, it was nothing."
"Wait, what?!" One of her associates, which Yusuke faintly remembered being called 'Ryuji' blurted out without a second thought, irritation clearly visible. "We've been sittin' here for... god knows how long already!"
"Ryuji," The other associates, which probably was called 'Ren', nudged his shoulder. "Keep your cool, okay?"
"I'm tryin'! But..." Trailing off, the short blonde just sighed and leaned back. "...Ma's gonna scold me for comin' home late again."
Overhearing their short conversation, Yusuke widened his eyes.
...Actually, why Sensei never talked about his mother? He never showed him anything to remember her as, nor did he mention her. The only thing he knew about his mother was that she was one of sensei's former pupils... And that was from his senpai.
Before he could get any further, Takamaki's words snapped him out from his own thoughts again. "Actually, I think you should take a break if you can't bring yourself to do it."
"I guess so..." Nodding solemnly, Yusuke put down the brush and sighed. "To be honest, I'm having trouble staying focused today... I'm sorry, but we'll have to resume this another time."
In the corner of his eyes, he could clearly see that Ryuji was widening in shock. But Ren still stopped him from doing anything.
"I'm sorry..." Ann said, brushing one of her twintails aside. "We actually had another reason for seeing you today... We needed to talk to you."
"It's about those rumors regarding your sensei," The ex-runner added, his demeanor felt calmer than a few moments ago.
Of course, they definitely weren't here just because Takamaki wanted to be his model. And THIS is their real motive. To be frank, Yusuke had enough of these questions.
"This again..." Sighing to himself, Yusuke stood up from his chair with a tired glance.
However, Takamaki's responded before he could continue. "That painting I saw at the exhibit... you're the one who actually painted it, right?"
"That's..."
"I knew it," She narrowed her glance.
"your sensei's seriously messed up. He just thinks of his pupils as tools," Ryuji added again. "That's why he doesn't give a damn whether he steals their works or physically beats them."
"I'll make this clear, there's no point in hidin' stuff from us."
Yusuke just widened his eyes in shock. How... where did they heard about them? His senpais? No... he hadn't heard from any of them after they left sensei, the only two he remotely remembered was Shuichi-kun and Mai-san.
And that was because Shuichi-kun saw Yusuke as his bigger brother, and... he ended his life after he left. As for Mai-san... it was only because she let him had dinner at her place from time to time when they're both sensei's pupils.
But... He didn't hear any news about any pupil came forth and expose sensei, even Shuichi's death was quickly forgotten a few months later.
Then... where did they heard about those claims... No, not claims, they happened.
Hastily shaking his head to bring himself out from the flashback, Yusuke only laughed tiredly. "Hahaha... I have no idea what you're talking about..."
"You couldn't go against him, could you?" Takamaki pressed on, holding a hand on where her heart was. "I'm sure we can help you out though..."
'No, you can't,' The young artist wanted to say that, but he couldn't bring enough courage to do so. He owed sensei his life, how... how could he betray someone this important for him?
In the end, he could only mutter out two words. "Stop it..."
Just... said something that would stop them from prying further, that would work. Even if every single word you were going to say hurts, even if they were the polar opposite of what you really thought.
"It's just as you all say. We're... our sensei's 'Artwork.'"
Judging from their shocked look, Yusuke could say his words might work. But... no, he had to go further, just told them that he offered them. "I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism."
"Sensei is simply suffering from artist's block right now..."
Artist's block... how many times he had to use this lie again? He had already done it with Hajime, and now with them.
"Dude, still...!" Widening his eyes in shock, Ryuji shifted his body weight to his other leg. "Then why're you stickin' around?! All his other pupils ran away! Aren't you the only one left?!"
"What's wrong with a pupil helping his master!" The young artist felt something snapped inside him, why couldn't they just stop prying! "There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-centered righteousness on me-"
"You're okay with this?" Ren interrupted with a look that clearly said 'I didn't buy it.'
"...I'm just supporting my sensei as his pupil, where's the wrong in that?" Feeling more and more irritated at their attempts, he sat down with a clear frown. "Don't ever come here again... If you do, I'll sue you for causing a disturbance."
"What the- We're not done talkin' here!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"Then you leave me with no choice," Narrowing his gaze, Yusuke pulled out his phone and readied to call the police. Maybe this would finally stop them?
"What the eff-"
"Ryuji! Stop it!" Ann stopped him from doing anything stupid again, shooting a firm glare at him. "Just calm down! Okay?"
Seeing how the look hadn't change for them, it seemed like it wasn't enough. Just... maybe forcing them to do something out of the moral code would work? Like... nude modeling!
If he suggested that, they might just finally stop.
Nodding to himself, Yusuke decided to follow this mostly childish plan. "I won't report you... but only under one condition."
"One condition?" Ren asked.
"If Takamaki-san is willing to be the model of a nude painting."
From their loof of disbelief and shock... it might actually work.
[On the other hand, a church inside Kanda]
Just like every single day before, Hifumi found herself playing against herself again. She always liked the quiet and relaxing atmosphere in here, it let her mind drifted off and away from anything concerning mother.
About mother... it would be fine, the Phantom Thieves did read her request. And they were dealing with it at this moment and time. Just wait for a while and everything would be fine...
Placing her Lance piece down, she felt a faint smile crept onto her lips. Maybe there was still a bit of hope, a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
But... that didn't mean that mother would still approve of her... Maybe she was not as good as father, or why else would mother temper with the match so she could win?
Thankfully, before she could let herself sunk further into those thoughts, someone walked up to her with slight nervousness. Looking up from her board, she saw Keigo.
"Um... Kamisaki, right?"
"Yes, it's me," Keigo nodded, sitting down, and glanced at the Shogi board before him. "It must be a bit lonely, right? Playing against yourself?"
"No, I'm figuring out different tactics for my matches," Hifumi answered plainly, her glance shifted upward and landed at him. "But why are you here? Is it something about the Phantom Thieves?"
"No, I'm just... I just figured that you might want an opponent to play Shogi with," The half-French shrugged. "After seeing how your mother's grief affected you, I came to the conclusion that you might need one to talk with as well."
"H-Huh?" Widening her eyes in surprise, Hifumi couldn't believe what did she just heard. "Where did you heard that from?"
"Let just say it is a side-effect from our operations," Keigo sighed, as if he knew that she's going to say that. "When we infiltrate someone's heart, we're going to see everything."
"Because of your mother's grief had been there for this long... It's more complicated."
"I can understand, but it shouldn't take too long, right?"
She knew that it was just a hopeful thought, but... she just saw a glimpse of light, she didn't want it to be a lie.
"Even thought we only started yesterday, but we are doing our best right now." Keigo nodded, trying his best to reassure her with his words. "And I hope we can successfully change her heart as soon as possible. Before it was too late, for her and for you, Togo-san."
"I... You already helped with acknowledging my request, Kamisaki-san," Hifumi shook her head, a faint somber smile crept onto her face. "That's already some reassurances for me, letting me know that there's still hope."
"Maybe... I don't need to seek approval from mother..."
"no, you never need to," Shaking his head, the half-French adjusted his glasses. "I tried the same thing before... but it didn't end well."
"Just keep being yourself, Togo-san."
Looking at the board before her, the Shogi star nodded. "I... I will try."
Flashing her a sincere smile, Keigo unconsciously adjusted his glasses again. "Now then, I am actually new to Shogi, but do not go easy on me."
"But you just said that you're new to Shogi..."
"I am quite good in the land of adjusting my action according to the situation," he reassured. "You don't need to worry about me."
With a slightly hesitant nod, Hifumi quickly fixed the Shogi board, placing every piece at where it should be. And weirdly, each piece felt a bit lighter than before, it felt... easier to raise them up and put them down.
(To be continued)
And with that, chapter 22 is finished!
So first thing first, happy April Fool's day! Quite funny when the main group's name is 'The Fools', right? XD
You might be confused about what Keigo said about 'seeing how Mitsuyo's grief affection Hifumi'. Don't worry, it will be revealed during the next chapter, which would be the second infiltration.
So this chapter gives me more moments with the Kosei side of our characters and their own problems. And a scene in canon told from a different perspective. After all, just retelling the scene from canon is really boring.
And more insight into our main two of the three focuses of this arc: Yusuke and Hifumi! How would their arc go into? Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, I hope you all like the story so far, reviews are definitely welcome!