Kasumi couldn't breathe.
All around her, chaos broke loose as students absorbed the news.
"HOLY SHIT, MISHIMA?!" "What the hell happened?" "He was found in the school unconscious?" "Maybe someone got to him?" "Yeah, he was fine yesterday. Must have got into trouble…" "Maybe he owed money to someone, and he just didn't have anything." "Classic Mishima. Seems like Mishima to do something like that." "You think that hit he took at the rally did anything? Looked pretty tough." "Please, should have been watching himself. Makes me wonder why he even bothered." "Yeah, what a lose-"
"Quiet."
The whole class stopped as they looked at Miss Kawakami, or at least the one that Kasumi assumed was the one standing at the front of the class. As long as she knew her homeroom teacher, Miss Kawakami was always tired. Her posture was always slumped, her clothes looked like the barest care was taken to keep them presentable, her hair was slightly tamed so that it didn't look like she just rolled out of bed, and her eyes always radiated that she wanted to be anywhere but there in the classroom.
None of that mattered in the face of the teacher who looked very disappointed in her class, her disposition so physical that no one dared to breathe.
"This is a very difficult time for Mishima Yuuki and his family. I am aware that none of you are close to him, but this is still unacceptable behavior from all of you. I cannot control what you say outside this classroom, but I expect respect for Mishima Yuuki's condition here in this classroom. Should you not be able to follow this, then we can discuss this further in detention. Am I clear?"
The whole class simply nodded as Miss Kawakami took a deep breath. "For now, you will have a study hall. I must go talk to the other teachers to discuss what we are going to do next."
With that, Miss Kawakami left the room, the closing of the door doing little to calm the nerves of the class. No one dared to make a sound. No one dared to make a move, believing anything would summon that Kawakami back to personally drag them to detention.
Then a phone rumbled, and Ann Takamaki quickly pulled it out, ignoring all her classmates as she checked her messages.
Kasumi couldn't see her expression, but she could tell by the sudden tightness of her shoulders that something was worrying Ann as she began to text back.
"Just hold on, Shiho…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Take Your Time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the lunch bell rang, Ann was out of her seat and beat everyone else out the door. Kasumi only had time to pick up her own lunch and was about to be just behind her. Then another teacher looked into the room and saw her about to leave.
"Ah… Kasumi-chan! Can I speak with you for a little bit?" Kamoshida asked, his frame almost covering the door.
Kasumi stared at the gym teacher for a little bit, her eyes flicking around to try to see a head of blonde hair in the crowd in the hallway. No such luck for her. Looking back up at Kamoshida, Kasumi resolved herself to see what the gym teacher wanted, gently refuse him and do her best to limit whatever time she had to spend with him, then go and find Ann. Whatever was happening with her, she wasn't going to leave her alone.
She was too familiar with the way that Ann's shoulders slumped.
"Alright, I have some time, Kamoshida-sensei." To that, Kamoshida smiled.
"Great, let's discuss things in my office." Kamoshida immediately turned around and began to walk away, the crowd parting around him. He hadn't looked back to see if she was following him.
Kasumi quietly followed after him, only offering a few curt answers when Kamoshida tried to make short talk with her. He soon got the message and stopped and the rest of the trip was silent, with the passing byers wondering what the gym teacher and volleyball team coach wanted with the honors student. Finally coming in front of the athletics office, Kamoshida opened the door and gestured inside.
Kasumi entered and looked around. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, just a room that clearly was host to a person dedicated to athletic pursues. Then again, she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to find.
Click.
She turned around to see Kamoshida locking the door. He turned back to her, his smile still there as he stood in front of the door. "Oh, don't mind me, Kasumi-chan. Just wanted to make sure that no one else came in on accident. This is very sensitive information I'm sharing with you."
Why did that not assure her?
"Oh, t-that's okay, Kamoshida-sensei." She said as she tried to compose herself, even as the athletic office seemed to become much smaller than it seemed. "Can I ask why you needed me here?"
"Ah, straight to business huh, Kasumi-chan? Good quality to have." Kamoshida nodded as he crossed his arms. "Right, right… I'm guessing you have heard about Mishima-san's condition, right?"
"Y-Yes, I still can't believe it." It was just yesterday that she saw him. He was standing, he was talking, he was listening. The idea that he now couldn't do any of those things as he laid in a hospital bed squeezed her heart. "Does anyone know who did it?"
Kamoshida actually stopped smiling and frowned, slowly shaking his head. "No. It seems the rest of the teachers are quite unsettled with this development. You didn't hear it from me, but Miss Kawakami had been very distraught during the whole meeting. Made her quite irrational, barely able to think. I should suggest that she take a break, since Mishima was her student…"
As Kamoshida spoke, Kasumi got what he was implying.
"You have an idea of who did it."
The gym teacher nodded. "Well, more of a suspicion, really. Mishima was found in the school building, and no one else reported anything or anyone out of the ordinary around here. So his assailant most likely was someone here. I had to think about it, then I heard some interesting rumors."
A pit began to form in Kasumi's stomach as she started to piece together Kamoshida's thought process. "What did you hear?"
"Apparently, that troublemaker Sakamoto had been dragging around that new delinquent transfer and been harassing members of the Male Volleyball team. Hmph, probably hoping to find some dirt on me. Thank goodness they haven't tried anything with the girl volleyball team, or I would have thrown them out of this school personally." Kamoshida said with confidence that no one would have objected if he did.
Kasumi fought to keep her opinions about him to herself. "And you think that these rumors are enough to blame Sakamoto for this?"
She wasn't able to force down the feelings of guilt that she didn't feel anything about Ren's friend possibly being expelled for this.
"Not just him. I objected to Ren Amamiya's presence when his name and record were first brought here, and frankly, it would have been for the best if he had been convinced to leave Shujin after the leak. Unfortunately, now it is too late, and someone else has suffered for him being here. Right now, the only thing left to do is to remove him. Wherever he goes, as long as it isn't here, I don't care."
"YOU CAN'T!" Kasumi's shout ripped out of her throat as she set her lunch aside. "PLEASE, MR. KAMOSHIDA, YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO REN!"
"Oh?" Kamoshida raised an eyebrow as he unfolded his arms to leave them hanging at his sides. "And why shouldn't I? He is a dangerous individual. He has been arrested for assault. Are you certain you trust Ren?"
Staring at Kamoshida, she knew that logically, she had no true basis of her faith in him. They only really knew each other for two days, and she had no way of knowing what had happened that night. But still…
"It wasn't a mistake.""No one wanted to listen to me. Everyone already thought I was guilty.""He can have my respect, as well as this school, WHEN THEY STOP TREATING ME LIKE A TICKING TIME BOMB!"
"Still, thanks for actually caring. Either way, see you.""...What about Sakamoto? Can you say the same about him?"
"I…" The red haired girl was stuck at this point. Obviously, Kamoshida was looking for something, and he wasn't going to stop until he got it. She bit her lip, trying not to imagine how Ren would react. 'I'm sorry, Ren… It'll be okay…'
"I cannot."
Kamoshida nodded. "Good, at least you have some common sense. I suppose if Kasumi-chan believes that Ren Amamiya has a chance of rehabilitating, then I have to go ahead and support you in this."
She looked up, a little surprised. "R-Really? You mean that, Mr. Kamoshida?"
Suddenly, Kamoshida stepped a little closer, and his smile made Kasumi want to take a step back. Her legs froze up as she watched Kamoshida seemingly stand over her. Her heart started to beat harder as she realized something.
Kamoshida also ran the Girls Volleyball Team.
"However, I am still just one teacher here at Shujin, and there are other teachers that share my opinion as well. I can only do so much, and I obviously can't speak for all of my colleagues. I may be able to convince them, but it will take time, and I doubt that I will be able to ask any more huge favors for them without making myself look like I am not being objective enough, and we just can't have that. So let me ask you, Kasumi. How much does Ren mean to you?"
Kamoshida leaned in as Kasumi felt his hands on her shoulders. "How much are you willing to do for him?"
...This had to be a nightmare. It had to be. This wasn't happening, Kamoshida didn't have his hands on her shoulders, feeling the outline of her bra strap…
"I...I…"
"Come to think of it," Kamoshida rubbed his chin with one of his hands, Kasumi immediately thankful that one of his hands was off. "Your sister…"
What?
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't she wear glasses too?"
"You'll never understand how I feel." In the middle of a sideway, a brown haired girl in glasses and a tracksuit sobbed as she turned to run. She didn't have the words to bring her back. Soon she would never be back. He didn't turn to face her, but he stopped.
"N-No…"
"No? Hmm… Could have sworn. Still, I can be a very generous man, Kasumi-chan, and this is clearly overwhelming you. So here."
She felt him take hold of her waist, almost trailing down further, and drag her forward. The click of the lock made her look up, now seeing that she was in the hallway. Looking back, Kamoshida held her lunchbox out to her. More out of reflex than any real desire or appetite, she took it before looking back at the gym teacher.
"You go enjoy your lunch, Kasumi-chan. Just remember, we have a teacher's meeting in two weeks, and if you don't convince me, I'm afraid that Ren's time here in Shujin is as good as done, and I have a feeling we both don't want that, do we?"
"N-No."
Kamoshida grinned. "Good to hear. Have a nice day, Kasumi-chan."
With that, the door closed in front of her.
She stared at the athletic office door for a while, her grip frozen on her lunch box. Then she turned and ran. She didn't mind anyone and anything as she dashed through the halls. Her vision blurred, her eyes felt like they were ready to leak. She just wanted a place to cry.
A place to forget what she actually considered doing.
Running up the stairs, she came up to the door. Here, here would be okay. No one would see her. No one would ask her if she was okay. No one would know.
No one would care.
Just as she reached out for the doorknob-
"SHIHO-SENPAI, WILL YOU STOP BEING SELFISH?!"
'...Ren?' Immediately, she reached up to wipe her tears. As she cleared them, she could hear someone else respond back.
"W-Wha-" "YOU SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO SHIHO LIKE THAT!" "DUDE! What are you doing?"
"DON'T YOU CARE THAT ANN IS SUFFERING TOO? She was crying at the train station, because someone on the phone was threatening your volleyball spot if she didn't go out with them!"
"YOU-" "Ann." Kasumi didn't have to strain her ears to know that the roof had suddenly become quiet in the wake of Shiho's words.
"Was it Kamoshida?" "S-Shiho…" "Ann… I need to know. Was Kamoshida threaten you with taking me out of the starting line if you didn't comply to his wishes?"
"I...I'm sorry, Shiho. I… didn't want to make you worry… Shiho?"
"Damn it… DAMN IT! WHY DID I TRUST HIM?!"
"Shiho, it's okay-" "NO, IT'S NOT! HE PROMISED ME! HE PROMISED TO LEAVE YOU ALONE IF I...IF I…"
"DAMN THAT PERVY BASTARD!" "RYUJI, WHAT ARE YOU-"
The door opened, Kasumi gasping as Sakamoto-san stopped himself from running into her, staring at the person that had been standing there. "What the - Yoshizawa? What are you doing here?"
Looking past the dyed blond, she saw Ren just right behind him, with both Ann and Shiho sitting near the fence, with Ann hugging Shiho tightly. She looked back up at Sakamoto-san, who was still wondering what she was doing here. "I was hoping to see if Takamaki-san was okay. She looked pretty distracted during class."
Sakamoto-san nodded. "Yeah, you should help the two of them. Me and Ren got to talk to someone."
Kasumi knew who they were talking about. The image of Kamoshida loomed in her head. "Y-You can't."
Sakamoto-san and Ren looked confused. "What? Why, Kasumi-senpai?"
Kasumi hoped that none of the turmoil inside was showing outwardly as she looked straight at Sakamoto-san, hoping her gaze was enough to impress the enormity of the situation. "I-I heard… rumors coming up here. T-They're starting to think that… you were the one that beat up Mishima."
Everyone blinked at that information, before Sakamoto-san turned and walked to a nearby wall.
"RARGH! OF COURSE, OF FRICKING COURSE!" Sakamoto-san yelled as he kicked the wall furiously. No one dared to stop him as they thought about this new news.
"When did this happen? I know Shujin can be quick with rumors, but I didn't hear anything coming up here." Ren muttered, Ann sharing his confusion while Shiho was quiet, thinking of something.
...Why was it so hard to admit that she heard it from Kamoshida? It would be quick to admit that she was in his office, listening to him as he offered a way out for Ren. Why was it so hard?
'Ok, calm down, Kasumi. Just breathe and think through this…' She told herself, only being aware of the conversation around her as she retreated into her thoughts.
Right now, Mishima… he had gotten beaten to a point that he had been put into a coma. He was found in time and was sent to the hospital, but the entire school was wondering who did it. However, Kamoshida currently had the idea that both Sakamoto-san and Ren had actually done it in some fit of rage when they couldn't find any evidence of Kamoshida's wrongdoing. So now, unless she does Kamoshida a 'favor', Ren was going to be accused of beating Mishima along with Sakamoto-san.
Except, Takamaki-san and Suzui-san both confirmed that they had a deal with Kamoshida to leave the other alone if they did what he wanted, and that didn't work. If she did that 'favor', would he just accuse Ren anyway, then use that 'favor' against her? In that case, she shouldn't do it, but...
Kasumi reeled as she looked over the situation. This couldn't be it, they couldn't have already run all their options dry.
Ultimately, it came down to one thing, what could they do? Kamoshida was simply too influential, too important to Shujin Academy to even consider upsetting, let alone actually punishing. Between him and two delinquents, two slutty girls that threw themselves at him, and one girl who was still..., it would be no question who Shujin would value more. Kamoshida would get to walk free with the school making sure the scandal didnt get out. With his infinite grace, the girls would be allowed to stay provided they 'reward' his generosity and Ren and Sakamoto-san would be kicked out. For Ren, it most likely would be utterly devastating to any other school that he would try to apply to, and that is if Shujin was already the only school willing to take him.
There had to be something that could be done, something that she could do. She was Kasumi Yoshizawa, rising star in rhythmic gymnastics. There was nothing she couldn't do when she put her mind to it. So how come she couldn't think of anything to get anyone out of this?!
In the throes of her turmoil, she caught the expression on Ren's face as he looked up and froze. That wasn't the expression of one who thought they were trapped. He stood there resolute, like he only had one way forward and he was only now recognizing that fact.
"Ryuji."
Sakamoto-san looked up at Ren from his spot at the wall. Something was quickly said between the two. Immediately, the two began to head to the door. Kasumi realized that in her thinking, she wandered away from it. Just as Ren passed by her, that determined look utterly consumed his eyes.
"Ren!"
Ren stopped, unable to walk. Looking down, his sleeve was caught by Kasumi. "Kasumi-senpai, let me go."
She shook her head. "What are you planning? You got an idea to solve this, right? What is it? Maybe I can help!"
Ren stared at her, before looking away, unable to keep eye contact. "D-Don't worry. It's nothing, just something we got in mind. W-We don't know if its going to work, but it's better than nothing."
"Then more heads together should be better, right?" Kasumi refused to let go of his sleeve. "Then let me help, Ren! I know I can be more helpful if you just tell me!"
Ren shook his head as he tried to pull his arm away. As Sakamoto tried to come over, he shot a look at him. Sakamoto quietly backed up as Ren looked back at Kasumi.
"Senpai, I'm sorry. But you wouldn't understand-" "I'M NOT TAKING THAT FOR AN ANSWER, REN!"
Ren blinked at Her shout. Kasumi hoped that her face showed her desperation. "Please… I want to understand, I really do. Why can't you see that?"
She felt tears drip down her face, and her throat hurt as she struggled to get her words out. "There's already too much on the line for you. I can't just stay here and just hope that you will be fine. I can't… and I don't want to. Whatever you have in mind, I will help you out, I will not be a burden to you. Just...just give me a chance."
As she tightened her grip, she looked up at Ren… and forced back a sob. For a brief moment, she saw a brown haired girl with glasses.
"I won't fail you."
Ren stared at her, utterly stuck. He bit his lip as he warred with himself. He was so close, close to letting her come along…
Two hands grabbed their wrists, and pulled them apart. Kasumi's vision of Ren was obscured by Sakamoto-san, who simply frowned at her.
"Look, I know Ren has a hard time getting anyone at this crap school to even look at him and not immediately think he's crap, so that's probably why he doesn't want to say no to you. So let me go ahead and say it for him. No, you can't come along."
Kasumi opened her mouth to say something before Sakamoto-san stopped her again. "I mean it. You can't come. Unless you have a really, really good reason why you should. No begging, just a real good reason why we should let you come."
"Because I'm-" She looked down at her hand that was on her heart, then up at Su- Ren. "I'm…"
"I'm what?" Sakamoto-san asked before Ren tugged on his sleeve.
"Come on, Ryuji. We got stuff to do." He kept his eyes away.
Before she could say anything, the door closed behind them. She could hear them running down the stairs and into the halls. She could see Ren walking away, leaving her alone again…
"Hey, you alright, Yoshizawa-san?" She looked up from the closed door to Takamaki-san, who was holding Suzui-san's hand. While Suzui-san looked like she had stopped crying, she still looked down.
Turning back to Takamaki-san, she thought about the question. "I… I don't know."
"Right… Me and Shiho are going to go home early. Just tell that to Miss. Kawakami."
"Ok." With that, Takamaki-san started to walk towards the door, Suzui-san in tow. Just as Suzui-san passed by, she let go of Takamaki's hand and took hold of hers. Kasumi blinked at the contact.
"Suzui-san, wha-" "You need to go after them." Suzui-san, who had been staring at the ground, looked up at her.
"I-I still have nightmares. About me entering his office, and that point is when it goes farther, when he goes farther. He hadn't, but he had been getting closer and closer. All this time, I just kept thinking it's all for Ann's sake, yet… I was too ashamed to admit it to her. Kamoshida certainly did a good job of telling me to keep it in the room… So I just hurt in secret, just trying to pretend everything was okay in front of Ann, and too much of a coward to even say anything."
Suzui-san sniffed as she smiled sadly. "So I guess I'm thankful to Ren that he overheard Ann and then told me. Finally gave me the courage to admit to everything. Still… me and Ann need time to talk about...things, but someone should go and watch those two. The looks on their faces… it's like they know they could get themselves killed…"
"And what makes you think that?" Kasumi asked, her fears becoming more potent.
"Because it was the same look on Mishima's face when he pretended he didn't see me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Take Your Time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whatever Ren and Sakamoto-san were planning, she was thankful they were so focused on it that they didn't notice her following them.
She had been so worried that she would lose them in the going home crowd, and then they would go do whatever they were planning without her knowing. However, she was thankful for Sakamoto-san's brightly colored hair and just how easy it was to pick out from a crowd. From there, it was simple just to tail him until he met up with Ren, then to follow the two of them to where they were going.
Still, she couldn't believe that they were in a small alleyway just outside of the school. Kasumi hoped no one paid her any attention as she pressed herself flat against a nearby wall. 'Come on, this isn't safe for you guys. Why are you here?'
"Alright, everything's here. We got his name, his location, and his distortion. Let's kick Kamoshida's ass!"
'What are they talking about? T-They're not talking about a hit, are they?' Before her thoughts could go down that road, she heard something else.
"Meow, meow." "We get it, and we don't care. Kamoshida hurt way too many people now. We can't let him get away with it, no matter what!" "Damn straight! Here we go!"
Before she knew it, her vision began to ripple as the sound of static began to echo in her ear. 'W-WHAT?!'
Slapping her hands in front of her mouth, she closed her eyes as she sank to the ground. She felt something around her, something she couldn't put into words. But it was happening, it was happening now, and she hoped it would stop. Please stop…Feeling the something end, Kasumi opened her eyes, and suddenly doubted everything that she was seeing. There, an example of an european medieval castle stood right where Shujin Academy was supposed to be, like it had always been there. The sky was blood red, like it had always been that color. She shook her head, rapidly blinking when for a brief moment, everything was normal.
What was happening?
"ALRIGHT, WE'RE BACK!" "Quiet! You'll alert the shadows!"
Hearing people, Kasumi scrambled behind some cover. As she did, she noticed that the floor rippled underneath her foot. More accurately, it splashed some kind of purple liquid that disappeared. Shaking her head and trying to forget the phenomenon, she peeked out from her cover and saw them.
Three figures stood near the drawbridge of the castle, and two of them she only needed a moment to recognize. The third figure… It looked like a cartoon...cat...mascot thing, only off a page and walking and talking and in a 3rd dimension. Its head was larger than the rest of its body, and she couldn't tell if the black half of its head was fur or a mask. Ripping her eyes away from… it, she looked at the other two.
Sakamoto-san now looked like an absolute example of a punk, someone she definitely would not have appreciated seeing at the end of an alleyway at night. He wore a black jacket and pants with elbow pads and knee pads. His belt was loaded with bullets, and as he turned his back, she saw a piece of metal attached to his spine, what was the point of that. The only other flashes of color she saw in his outfit was the yellow of his gloves and the red of his ascot. Finally, his face was covered by a metallic grey skull mask.
Turning to Ren, she took in his outfit as well. Ren gave off the impression of… a gentleman thief. She could imagine him jumping through a museum window and clutching a priceless artifact in his getup. His black tailcoat went down to his ankles, covering his black high neck waistcoat and back pants. Ren adjusted the red gloves on his hands before fiddling with the black and white birdlike domino mask.
Actually, how did they managed to change between then and now? Who was that… cartoon cat mascot monster? Where did… it come from? Where did that castle come from? Where did Shujin Academy go? Why was the sky red? Why was it that everytime she touched the ground, something splashed?
Was she hallucinating? That had to be the case, things don't change so quickly and so drastically like this! Maybe it was her cooking? But she was sure that she didn't use anything weird, and she followed all the directions… Did it have a delayed effect? Was Ren hallucinating? Was it her fault again?
'NO! Get a hold of yourself!' Remembering that there were other people nearby that she didn't want to alert, she reached up and pinched her cheeks before pulling them as hard. 'Owowowow-'
Letting go, she kept her eyes closed as she rubbed her sore cheeks. Opening her eyes again, she looked around, before sighing. 'Ok, things are still different. Now that I think about it, didn't dad have that one brain neurologist on the show once and how she said that no one can have the same hallucination because of how the human brain works? I need time to think about this, and Ren and the others are entering- WAIT WHAT?!'
Shaking her thoughts free, she saw Ren being the last one to enter the castle through an air vent of all things. Coming out from the cover, she looked between the alleyway she was in and the castle, which had a sign saying 'Shujin Academy' of all things.
'What to do? What to do? Well… I don't know how I got here. Even if I did, who's going to believe that Ren and Sakamoto-san went into a castle where Shujin Academy is? I don't even believe it! But the longer I stay here, who knows what Ren is doing in there…'
Sighing out loud, she immediately ran towards the air vent she saw Ren go into. Jumping up and catching the ledge, her fears about not fitting in became moot as she crawled inside and found just enough space to move around. As she crawled towards the other side, the somewhat familiar smell gave her shivers down her spine.
'This is a really weird day…'