Hi everyone!
So! I almost forgot I promised to post Wednesday, but luckily I remembered before it got too late where I live, ha.
Now, as for this chapter... a lot of it is unnecessary, just reviewing the events of the past couple chapters, oops. It's also very dialogue heavy and a bit superfluous. I decided to keep it all in, since none of it is super objectionable, but most of the dialogue can be skimmed easily enough. I will say that no one fully guessed what I had written, but most people were at least partially correct, so at least there is that! I hope this chapter is enjoyable at least, ha.
Thanks again for the reviews and everything! I have been thinking of posting some behind the scenes stuff and little tidbits on my Tumblr, so if you would be interested in seeing things like that, let me know! And you can find the link to my tumblr here, if you'd like to follow. You can also send me questions or comments there, if you don't feel comfortable leaving them here. :-)
Enjoy!
Stunned silence echoes through the hallway for one split second, the whole world seeming to hold its breath as... /whatever has just happened/ settles into the empty air.
The silence is thoroughly broken less than a second later though, by the sound of furious thumping that bursts from the recently closed (/and locked/, he realizes, when he hears the telltale sound of someone trying to rattle a locked doorknob) closet, an angry voice cutting through the previously silent hall.
"Hey! What the /fuck/ is the fuckin' meanin' of this /goddamn bullshit?!/ I swear ta Christ, Ishimaru, if you don't open this /fuckin'/ door in the next five /fuckin'/ seconds-!"
Kiyotaka blinks at the angry words, offense rising in him after a moment. Well! He never! It's not like this whole thing is /his/ fault! He hadn't been a part of any of this, thank you very much!
"Excuse you! I am just as confused as you are, so I would thank you if you would cease hurling abuse at me!" he calls out, interrupting the diatribe, voice stronger than it's been all day. The angry ranting cuts off, only to be replaced by a muffled curse. The thumping just redoubles, Kiyotaka imagining that the irate biker is probably now slamming his body against the door, trying to bust it down. Oh, dear... school vandalism is very much against school rules! And with how many detentions the biker has gotten recently... hm...
Deciding to ignore the noise coming from inside the closet, realizing he'll have to deal with that one later, Kiyotaka turns his eyes down to the person he still has in his grasp, eyes widening when he realizes that he's holding— not harshly, but definitely firmly— poor Fujisaki. By her shirt! Right over her chest! Oh no!
Face flushed red hot, he immediately lets the smaller girl go, stammering apologizes immediately.
"F-Fujisaki-kun! I- I- I am so sorry! I hadn't realized it was you, and I was just- just going on instincts! Please accept my humblest apologizes! I- wait," Kiyotaka pauses, suddenly remember /why/, exactly, he had grabbed the young girl and dragged her away, mind struggling to keep up with the influx of information. "Why were you trying to shove me into the closet?!"
Because she had been trying to do that, hadn't she? He still feels like he's missing quite a few pieces to a million-piece puzzle, but he's starting to connect some of the dots.
Or maybe not, he thinks again, when he looks up at the sound of awkward shuffling and sees... sees... /practically their entire class standing there, varying degrees of shame on their faces!/ He... what?! What exactly is going on here?!
"K-K-K-Kiyotaka-san! I- I- I'm so sorry! W-we were just... we were just worried! A-about you, and Owada-san! P-please don't hurt me!" he hears Fujisaki peep, making his stomach drop. Oh, no! She... did she truly think he would hurt her?! How terrible!
"I would never dream of such a thing, Fujisaki-kun! Not in a million years! Now, depending on what, exactly, you have done, I may have to issue several detentions, but that will be all! Now, please! Explain yourselves!"
Silence echoes around the students, even Owad- /the student in the closet/ going quiet as they wait for a reasonable explanation. After several seconds pass and no one seems inclined to offer anything, he can hear a muffled curse from the closet again, accompanied by one more, loud thump.
"Alright, ya assholes! Ya've had yer fun! Now get me the fuck outta here! I can't see goddamn /shit/!"
That spurns Kiyotaka into action. Hands on his hips and standing to his full (admittedly not that tall) height, he levels his best, most forceful stare to the boy he sees standing— frozen— outside the closet door, key held tightly in his hands. Ahhh, /Naegi/. He should have known he'd have been behind all this! The Ultimate Lucky Student sure does have a knack for getting into such baffling situations!
Thankfully, Naegi snaps out of his stupor and flushes brightly, before darting forward and shoving the key back into the lock. He pauses before he turns it, though, and looks nervously at the closed door.
"U-u-um... I- I'm gonna open the door now, o-okay, O-Owada-san? P-please don't... please don't hit me!"
Without waiting for a response, Naegi turns the key and removes it, before promptly fleeing to the other side of the hallway, practically hiding behind Ogami, who kindly just steps further in front of him to shield him from view. Probably for the better, as even the strongest of men (or women!) would feel a bit daunted by seeing an overly irate, highly muscular biker gang leader burst out of a tiny closet, practically breathing smoke out of his nostrils. Kiyotaka feels the same numbness that he's been feeling since the previous afternoon fill him at the sight of the angry teen, before everything almost whites out when his eyes meet smoldering lavender...
The glance only lasts a fraction of a second before the eyes move carelessly on, settling on each of their classmates in turn. A-ah... t-that was...
"Okay. Great. Now, someone explain the /fuck's/ goin' on in the next fifteen seconds, or I'mma start knockin' heads." A second passes in silence. "Well?!"
That spurns his fellows into motion, several students talking at once, a cacophony of noise that only works at making Kiyotaka's head ache, not explaining anything. This lasts for a few seconds before Owad- /the other-/ oh, whatever. /Owada/ growls again, pointing an angry finger at Naegi, who actually 'meeps!' at the gesture.
"Alright, alright, all a' you shut the fuck up! You! Naegi! Explain, now!"
A second of tense silence passes, before Naegi does as ordered, his voice far higher pitched and shaking than usual. If he weren't so utterly confused, he'd feel bad for the boy. As it stands, he barely has the presence of mind to keep standing, let alone focus on empathy.
"O-oh! I- I- I, u-um... okay. S-so! Please don't hit me! B-but uh, I— I mean, /we/— thought that, uh... w-well, we didn't like how, uh, angry you a-and K-Kiyotaka-san were at one another, a-and so, w-we, uh... w-we..."
A burst of sympathy finally cuts through Kiyotaka's fog, now, and he winces sympathetically at the boy's obvious discomfort. However, there's not much he can do to help the boy. He made his own bed, after all.
Thankfully, the boy is saved from his awkward stammering, from probably the most unlikely (or maybe not...?) of sources.
"I can take it from here, Naegi-san," a cool, collected voice calls out, one that takes him a moment to place, as infrequently as he hears it. His eyes widen as he sees a young girl step out of the shadows she'd previously been hiding in, her short yet tasteful uniform billowing behind her as she moves. Of all the students he'd have been expecting to be involved in such an asinine plot, /Kirigiri/ was not one of them!
"O-oh! T-thank you, Kirigiri-san!" Naegi stammers, looking relieved to no longer be the center of attention. Kirigiri just nods subtly once, before moving her cool eyes to look at the still angry biker.
However, now faced with a girl and not a guy, he sees Owad-/Owada/ deflate a little, his arms crossing and a peeved but not quite furious expression crossing his face. Huh. Interesting...
"Very well. Following the events of the previous Saturday, the majority of our year has been very concerned regarding the feud that has sparked between two students, Mondo Owada and Kiyotaka Ishimaru. The details regarding the case are scarce, but from what I can gather, Ishimaru's financial situation was revealed, quite abruptly, by Owada-san in a technology store that five students had visited. Those five students are, of course, Mondo Owada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Chihiro Fujisaki, Leon Kuwata, and Sayaka Maizono. The event occurred roughly at 1:47 on a Saturday afternoon, during a slow period at the store."
Kiyotaka blinks owlishly at the almost clinical way that Kirigiri is explaining the events. Like... like it's just a story she's telling, not actual events that happened! In real life! To him! He'd feel offended at the overly calm depiction, but he doesn't have time to when Kirigiri continues, her cool eyes glancing over at him, looking at him almost like he's a specimen she is examining. It makes him want to shiver, but he suppresses it and just listens to her calm recounting of events.
"Shortly after Owada-san verbally assaulted Ishimaru-san, Ishimaru-san exited the store hurriedly, leaving his remaining classmates behind to stare after him. There had been a brief discussion between the remaining students if they should follow him or not, but it was ultimately decided to give him some time to collect himself, so as to not humiliate him further."
His cheeks flush at the clinical way she describes one of the most humiliating days of his life, and adverts his eyes to the ground, shame filling him. She either doesn't notice or doesn't care, as her calm voice echoes through the halls once again. He doesn't think he's ever heard her speak so much up to this date. Part of him— rather meanly— wishes he still hadn't.
"The recounts of the following events are very scarce, unfortunately. From what I can gather, Maizono-san, Kuwata-san, and Fujisaki-san all remained in the technology store, speaking softly with one another about the events that had just occurred, while Owada-san went off on his own. There is no account for what happens next, but several minutes later, Ishimaru-san was seen running out of the general store, like he was running a marathon, with Owada-san following moments later, the biker gang leader storming off into the opposite direction as Ishimaru-san. Shortly after that, the three diverging groups at the mall coalesced together and the events at the technology store were revealed to the group at large. This caused concern among the students who had not been present, everyone wondering if Ishimaru-san and Owada-san were alright."
Kirigiri pauses here, and Owada takes the time to butt in, voice low and deadly.
"Yeah, we fuckin' /know that/, ya goddamn idiot. The fuck does that have ta do with lockin' me in a /fuckin'/ closet?!"
Kirigiri slides her cool eyes over to Owada, a look of mild disapproval evident in the purple eyes. He can see Owada flush, which just makes the biker look angrier, if anything.
"I was getting to that, Owada-san. Patience is a virtue," the girl reprimands, making Owada flush deeper, a vein in his forehead beginning to bulge with his mounting rage.
Luckily, before he explodes, Kirigiri continues, voice as emotionless and clinical as it has been her entire speech. Kiyotaka will give her credit, it's fairly impressive that she can keep so calm in the face of such an irate biker. Men (and women!) far larger than her would be cowering in fear if they were in her position, he's sure.
"As I was saying. The diverging groups came together and began discussing the events of that afternoon. No consensus was reached at the outdoor mall, but the group quickly returned back to the school, unanimously deciding that the excursion was, officially, over.
"Back at the school, it became quickly apparent that things had changed. Both Owada-san and Ishimaru-san were suspiciously absent at dinner that night, but the reason for concern had not been fully realized just then. The next day, however, the change in school dynamic between Ishimaru-san and Owada-san was painfully clear. It is around this point that I got on the case, digging into the information to get to the heart of it all.
"From what I could tell, the anger was caused by a major disagreement between the injured parties. I was uncertain what, exactly, had caused the disagreement, other than what had occurred at the technology store, though I have my doubts that that is the only cause for such an intense feud. Still, Hope's Peak 78th class was now hopelessly split, two of our members seemingly irrevocably at odds. As the days passed, it became very apparent that this would not, as it were, blow over. Something drastic had occurred, and it would not be fixed just by leaving it alone and letting it peter out. No, it was decided. More intensive measures would need to be taken to correct this feud."
Kirigiri pauses here, taking a deep breath as she gathers her next statement. Kiyotaka can see that Owada is still very angry, but he doesn't try and interrupt again. He just stands, shoulders hunched, cracking his knuckles every few seconds. Kiyotaka doesn't even know if the teen realizes he's doing it or if it's just a nervous habit.
"It was then, Tuesday night at roughly 5:37 pm, that Naegi-san called for a group meeting with the entire class, excluding Owada-san and Ishimaru-san. Most of the class appeared, excluding Byakuya Togami, Toko Fukawa, Makuro Ikusaba, and Junko Enoshima. I, myself, would normally not be bothered to attend such meetings, the everyday going ons at this school not interesting me overly much, but I must admit I was very curious as to the mystery surrounding the events on Saturday, and thus I decided to show.
"The majority of the meeting was spent discussing the events of the day, Naegi-san very distressed that such a thing occurred during an outing he had organized. Fujisaki-san was also very distressed, emotionally expressing how they believe that it is their fault that the entire event occurred. There was a lot of back and forth around this time that I will not go into, but by the end of the meeting it was decided that something had to be done to rectify this situation."
Kirigiri pauses here, again, and frowns. Seeing as this is the first show of emotion the girl has expressed the entire night, it takes Kiyotaka aback, blinking as he watches her cross her arms, an almost peevish look crossing her face.
"I would like to state for the record that I was against the plan from the start. I did not think that it would work and was vocal in my disagreement. However, there were no other ideas that had been brought up, and I could not come up with a plan of attack until I had gathered more information. The class decided to go against my advice to wait, regardless, and chose to proceed with the plan, feeling that it was better to do something than nothing. And, personally, I understood the reasoning. With the rate Owada-san was going, he likely would have been asked to leave by the end of the week had there not been intervention. After all, my father has been getting very irate at the biker gang leader's sudden flagrant disregard to the school rules. Thus, it was decided that something had to be done, even if the likelihood for failure was almost certain. Still, I was intrigued by the events, and, despite my misgivings, decided to offer my expertise to try and elevate the margin for success.
"Thus, all day yesterday was spent preparing for this plan of ours. Ishimaru's abrupt shift in emotional reasoning was a bit of a hinderance, but I estimated that it would not change the plan too much. I spent the day studying each of your handwriting, assuming— correctly, I might add— that you both would respond better to a note you assumed was written by the other than a note written by a complete stranger. After all, despite the feud that was occurring, it was painfully clear to me that abject hatred was not the only emotion either of you felt for the other."
Owada snarls at the insinuation, but miraculously quiets when Kirigiri glances at him, eyes cool and judging. Kiyotaka must admit that he is extremely impressed. Hm... maybe he should ask Kirigiri to teach him how she does that...?
"I also did my best to mimic your speech patterns, which was admittedly harder than I had anticipated, but was adequate enough for such a short note. Then, today, at roughly 3:36 in the afternoon, following the disastrous shouting match in the dining hall, our plan was put into action. Naegi-san took the note I had written to Ishimaru-san, while Fujisaki-san brought the note to Owada-san. They were instructed to ring the doorbell once, wait a few seconds, and then slide the note under the door, before promptly vacating the premises so that they were not caught. The margin for success for this part of the plan was fairly high, and as such I was not surprised that it went off without any troubles at all. But that led us to the part of the plan that had the highest margin of error, with no guarantee that either of you would even agree to meet at the requested time."
Kirigiri pauses, again, and smiles softly. Kiyotaka is starting to realize that the girl is enjoying the attention, being able to explain everything calmly and collectedly to a captivated audience. He doesn't know what her Ultimate Talent is, but he would bet (if he were a betting man) that it has something to do with crime. She seems like the sort to like that kind of thing, having a similar clinical way of speaking that his father has. He just has no idea what side of the law she would be on, unfortunately...
"And yet, like I had expected, you both showed up. It was simply the final part of the plan that had fallen apart, in a way that even I, admittedly, had not anticipated."
Kirigiri looks over at him, then, head tilted as she turns critical eyes on him. The sensation of being scrutinized makes him want to squirm uncomfortably, but he doesn't look away from her eye contact, and instead just stares calmly— if confusedly— back. After all, for all the words she has said, she hasn't exactly explained anything, has she...?
"I hadn't expected you, Ishimaru-san, to be so aware of your surroundings. It was a miscalculation that I shouldn't have made, but regretfully did. You have taken self-defense courses, haven't you?"
Kiyotaka blinks at being addressed after so long of just listening, and stammers out his response, feeling awkward now that all eyes are on him, instead of Kirigiri. He truly doesn't understand how she can be so calm under such intense scrutiny!
"A-ah... yes! I have! I have taken Jiu Jitsu and Taekwondo since I was a young child! I also have some training in the art of Kendo!" he explains, eyes darting around the group as they all stare at him. His eyes land on Kirigiri again when she nods calmly, like she'd expected as much.
"Yes... yes, I could tell, based on how aware you were of Fujisaki-san approaching you, not to mention how swift you were in your removal of her and yourself from the doorway. I had, perhaps naively, assumed that Owada-san would be the more likely of the two of you to notice such a thing, and had organized for you to be delayed in your arrival at the meeting, to give Owada-san the chance to arrive first. I see now that I should have done the opposite. It is a mistake I will not make again."
Kirigiri stops talking here, and silence descends upon them yet again. He waits, for several moments, for her to continue. When she doesn't, he— hesitatingly— asks the question that has been running through his head this entire time.
"A-ah... that is all well and good, Kirigiri-kun! But... well, that doesn't exactly explain why you tried to have Fujisaki-kun push me into a closet, and instead locked O-Owada-kun into it by himself!"
Kirigiri hums softly there, but she doesn't get a chance to explain, since Owada suddenly speaks up, his voice dark and growling.
"I think I'm startin' ta understand. You fuckers were tryin' ta lock Ishimaru an' I inta the closet together, weren't ya? Ta force us ta, I dunno... overcome our differences by force?! Huh?! Fuckin' Christ... how fuckin' cliche can ya fuckers be?!"
The majority of the students— who had been listening intently— flinch backwards, afraid of Owada's rage. The only students who don't flinch back are Ludenberg (who looks only mildly interested, like this is a television show that she isn't particularly interested in but is watching anyway because she is bored), Hagakure (who is just blinking into space, looking like he's not aware of much at the moment), and Ogami (who just raises an eyebrow at Owada's outburst). Kirigiri also doesn't flinch back, the girl just staring calmly at Owada, and neither does Kiyotaka, though that's more because he's more confused by the words Owada had said than anything else. Because… what?
"Wait... what?! But... why?! Where is the logic in such a thing?! Would it not be more likely that we would simply harm one another if we were enclosed in a small, dark, claustrophobic space than anything else?! D-did you all... o-or- or was that what you all were hoping for...?"
Owada snorts, turning unamused eyes onto him. But, for the first time in days they... they don't look angry. Well, no, they still do... very much so, in fact. But, well... they don't look angry /at him/, he means. Which is... something.
Instead, the look Owada levels at him is almost... /conspiring/. Like they're in this mess together. Which, in a way... he supposes they are, aren't they? The look only lasts a moment, Owada smoothly looking away a moment later, but that doesn't change the way his chest is compressing, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Hm. That's probably something that he doesn't want to dwell on, so he doesn't.
"Don't fuckin' ask me. I think it's a fuckin' stupid plan that they're lucky didn't work, or else they would all hafta be on the lookout tomorrow fer me an' my fists."
There's a collective gulping from the students who still look on edge from Owada's earlier outburst, but they aren't given the chance to dwell on it long before Kirigiri begins to talk again, her voice as calm and collected as it has always been.
"As I said, I didn't think the plan was a good one, not at all. However, I thought it might have some merit, whether it worked or not. If it did work, then at least you two would be forced to confront the other, whether you wanted to or not. In the dark, as well, which was my idea, to prevent any possible distraction. And if it didn't work... well, then at least I would be able to talk to you both honestly. And that is what I will do now," Kirigiri explains, turning her body to face Owada fully.
Owada flushes at the attention, a scowl rising on his face as he looks at the wall, seeming not able to meet the girl's intense stare.
"Mondo Owada. I am not privy to my father's work, given that such a thing would be a breach of confidentiality that not even my father would allow. However, I know him well enough to know that he is very frustrated over the recent events. If you keep going the way you are, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be asked to leave Hope's Peak Academy. Do you understand what I am saying? I know you want to be here, otherwise you'd never have accepted the invitation to attend. Is this feud of yours, whatever its cause, truly worth what you could potentially lose, should you keep on this path?"
Owada flushes brighter, turning to glare at the girl. He doesn't make any menacing overtures to her, though, just settles on glowering.
"Hey, don't ya pretend ya know /shit/ 'bout me," he snarls, only to be quelled by Kirigiri raising an eyebrow at him.
"I don't need to know everything about you to know you, Mondo Owada. And I assure you, I know more than you would think. I know that you are not all that you pretend to be, and that this is an opportunity for you that you do not want to screw up."
Before Owada can splutter out a denial, his eyes wide and angry, Kirigiri turns to Kiyotaka, freezing him with a single glance. Dear lord. How she can manage to be so tiny, and yet so utterly terrifying, he has no idea...
"And as for you. Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Has your behavior over the past week been befitting of your status? You have been handing out detention slips for infractions that do not, in fact, require such a reprimand. Not to mention your absolutely childish sniping that you have partaken in prior to the previous day. It is not a thing I would expect from a man of your discipline, I will tell you that," Kirigiri explains, her words somehow cutting deep into the heart of him, making him feel so utterly ashamed. Oh... oh, she... she's right, isn't she? He's been acting like a child! Not at all befitting of his status as Hall Monitor! How shameful!
Before he can even hope to stammer out an apology, let alone an explanation (not that he knows how he could explain his inexcusable actions these last several days), Kirigiri continues. And this time, her words make him freeze with something more than just shame.
"After all, we both know that such a thing is not befitting of an Ishimaru, don't we," Kirigiri states calmly, like she hasn't just said something that has completely and utterly destroyed Kiyotaka's entire world.
Staring at the girl with absolute and complete horror, only one thought enters his mind as she just continues to stare calmly.
/She knows/.
She knows, doesn't she? His secret. Who he is. Who his grandfather is. What the man had done. The shame that is Kiyotaka's responsibility to overcome. The burden that has been placed on his shoulders to fix the entire mess all on his own. She... she /knows/. And if... if /she knows/, then...
"Your secrets are your own, so you don't have to worry about me revealing them. All I mean is that you have bigger things to worry about than Owada-san, don't you, Ishimaru-san? Is your petty feud with him truly worth the potential of ruining all that you have worked so hard to build? You are not sleeping and are barely eating. It is obvious just by looking at you. If you keep this up, you will fall behind on your schoolwork and your other duties. Do you truly want that? Is this all worth it? That is something you must decide for yourself, Ishimaru-san. All I ask is that you take it into consideration."
Kirigiri looks away from him, then, and settles her eyes on the rest of the students milling around the hallway, landing on each of them briefly in turn. She puts her hands in her pockets and shrugs, beginning to walk down the hallway casually.
"Now, I believe that we have achieved what we intended to here, so if you do not mind, I will be going now. We have roughly an hour before curfew, so if there is anything any of you still need to have done before then, I recommend you do it now. I hope you all have a pleasant evening."
And then, with that, the girl is striding away down the hallway, and vanishes out of sight as she turns the corner.
A thick silence descends over them after her departure, the group staring wide eyed at one another as they wonder what to do now. The silence is broken about a minute later by Naegi, who sounds very nervous, but does not back down as he says his piece.
"S-so. Uh... yeah. What, uh... what Kirigiri-san said. B-but, uh... we're- I mean, I'm... I'm sorry! None of us had any right to get involved and I understand if either of you are angry with us-!"
Naegi's words are cut off, yet again, by a low growl.
"Look here, dipshit. I ain't exactly pleased ya all decided ta waste my fuckin' time like this. But if ya don't wanna get beat, I'd recommend leavin' right the fuck now without a single fuckin' word more. That goes fer all a' ya, got it?!"
With a soft 'meep' of fright, Naegi nods his head frantically, before practically fleeing down the hall. He's technically running, but Kiyotaka is too distracted to really notice, so the boy gets away with it.
With his departure, the rest of the group dissipates as well, though not without several worried, backward glances. Fujisaki in particular is glancing at them frequently, tears in the young girl's eyes. He feels bad for having frightened her earlier, but he's too emotionally numb to really have the presence of mind to say anything.
He does hear, distantly, as Ludenberg comments to Yamada, "well. That was highly entertaining, now wasn't it?" as the pair walks away, before giggling. Ugh. He knew he'd never liked the girl…
Eventually, all of his fellow classmates have vacated the hallway, which he is definitely relieved by. He's gone through so many emotions this past day— heck, the /last hour alone/— and he just... he doesn't think he's ever been so exhausted before, either emotionally or physically. Well... other than maybe last Saturday, but he's still trying to not really think about that day, to be honest…
It's just as he's about to relax fully that he gets reminded, painfully, that he's not, in fact, the only one in the hallway, actually.
Because of course he wouldn't be. Why would he ever expect such a thing?
"So, uh... Ishimaru. I guess we should... I dunno. Talk, or some shit. I mean, so our fuckin' stupid classmates don't try an' pull any other stupid schemes," he hears Owada mutter, the teen sounding as awkward as he feels. If he had any energy left in him whatsoever, he'd tense up at the words, but as it stands, he just tiredly looks over at Owada, nodding tightly in lieu of verbally replying.
He can see Owada frown at the action, but the teen doesn't comment on it. He just looks away, hands in his pockets, scowl deep on his lips.
"Okay. Look. I ain't gonna fuckin' sugar coat it. I can't stand yer fuckin' guts. Even the sight a' ya makes me blindin'ly angry, an' I wanna punch somethin' then an' there," he states bluntly, making Kiyotaka's stomach clench painfully. Owada continues quickly, though, before he could even dare hope to say anything. Not that he has any idea what he possibly could say. Not to something as very clear as that...
"But... well, much as I may think she's totally full a' shit, that little detective does have a point. This... you an' me... it's fuckin' pointless. An' I may be an idiot, but I ain't self-destructive or whatever. Not anymore. This... well. I don't gotta explain anythin' ta you, but I ain't exactly gonna throw this shit away over nothin' like you. So... I dunno. Truce? I leave ya alone, ya leave me alone? An' I guess... ugh. I guess I can try an' follow the rules better. Ain't makin' no promises! But... I dunno. Don't exactly wanna be expelled." A pause. "So? What do ya say?"
Kiyotaka blinks at the teen before him, eyes unseeing as he looks at the hand that Owada extends to him. For a second, he contemplates ignoring it and leaving right now, with a hint of pettiness he didn't even know he possessed rising within him, but... well. He's not stupid. Not really. And he just... he just wants this day to be over with already, to be perfectly honest.
And so, nodding tightly, Kiyotaka erases the few feet of space between them with two long strides, hesitating only for a split second before gripping Owada's strong, rough hand in his own, shaking it firmly once.
(He resolutely pushes down the heat that flares in his belly at the contact. It's stupid to feel such a thing, so why bother focusing on it?)
Before he can let go, the contact lingering the appropriate amount of time his father had taught him handshakes are supposed to go, he feels himself get yanked forward, a spike of fear and something else flooding through him. He doesn't have a chance to even shout in shock, however, when he feels warm lips touch his ear, making him shiver unconsciously.
"But listen here, got it? Ya cross me again... an' I do not fuckin' care what consequences I'll face. I'm bringin' ya the fuck down, ya fuckin' tightass. Ya got me?"
Kiyotaka wants to shake his head and scream, wants to snarl and sneer and all those 'sn-' words that describe how he feels inside, but...
But he's so very, very tired.
He never did get any rest earlier...
"I understand, Owada-kun. I understand perfectly."
A beat passes between them.
Then he feels Owada squeeze his hand tight, the teen nodding tightly beside his ear.
"Good. Good. Now, get the fuck outta my sight."
With that, Owada lets him go and pushes him back, not exactly roughly, but not exactly gently, either. Hating his weakness, he just nods tightly and marches away, eyes blinking with the exhaustion he's feeling.
Once he gets back to his dorm, he doesn't even bother removing his uniform like he always does.
He just faceplants right onto his mattress and is out like a light in a matter of minutes.
It's probably for the best.
Dwelling pointlessly on such events would only make things worse.
Ha. So that happened. I hope the explanation was satisfying to some extent. I hadn't intended on this being a cliffhanger chapter, since I personally dislike leaving cliffhangers, I had just felt that was the best place to split the chapter.
Also, I have no idea how to write Kyoko, ha. I hope I made her sound aloof and mysterious enough. I felt she'd be the best one to handle the whole "explanation" thing. Please know that I don't really know much about her, though, since I've still not finished watching the game. I stopped shortly before Taka dies but after his whole "Kiyondo" thing occurred, which I think all occurs before she had her main screen time. As such, I think I got her character a bit off, since I don't think she's the type to talk so much? I don't know, oops. I hope it wasn't too bad, at least.
And finally, no, I never intended on putting the pair into a closet, but it is the cliché answer for such arguments, isn't it? And it's one I'd imagine a group of dumb teenagers would come up with and think is a brilliant idea. The main point of it all was to show that most of the class is concerned for both Taka and Mondo, not just the usual suspects. While this story is very much IshiMondo focused, I also wanted to show the friendship the entire class has, which grows over time. Excluding Junko, because f*** Junko. Mukuro can stay, but she's on thin ice.