I know I said next week and that it's been two weeks but it was as fast as I could manage to! I'm sorry *distributes virtual hugs and brownies*
Thank you to everyone who pointed out that I should properly address Misaki's injury. I realized I had done it but removed that part from the earlier chapter, thanks again!
Also, I'm so glad majority of you liked Tora and Chiyo's side plotline! I was a little worried about posting a sole chapter that gave them so much focus but whoop! Y'all actually liked it so yay!
I have had these encounters while reading a lot of stories whether it be here or on Wattpad where the side characters were immensely fun and had a major role in the main plotline but enough light wasn't shone on their story, like they scarcely tell us what transpired between the side characters who ended up together at the end. Like, don't do that to my heart. I love reading side plotlines.
A lot of you said you wouldn't mind longer chapters, so here it is! It's *cough* 12K words *cough* long.
We're now at 200 reviews, my Gods. I can't even begin to fathom it and again, I sat there and gaped at it. Thank you to all the wonderful people who take their time to review my story cuz honestly, they keep me going so much!
To Lilaluna - who mentioned that they loved the friendship I've portrayed between the characters, thank you so much! I always thought that under different circumstances, a plotline where they all are good friends could actually be possible. I've tried my best to depict the very same and I'm so glad you liked it!
To Blackstock - who had asked me how many times I've read the manga - if we're sidelining the times I've completely read the manga which is around 20-22 times, I must have read certain chapters or bits completely put together over 200 times. I can't help it, it's like revisiting my favorite dream World. Besides, I've been in this fandom since 2014, that ought to mean something, huh?
DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN KAICHOU WA MAID SAMA OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS AS MUCH AS I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO. I ONLY OWN THE CHARACTERS AND THE PLOTLINE THAT I'VE INTRODUCED IN THIS FIC.
Misaki was being watched.
She wasn't sure but it was like a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, like a bad premonition. But it was there.
Offlate it happened to her when she was parking her car in the basement of her building. Other times were during her morning jogs or when she'd go to the department store to pickup instant food or sometimes even on campus. She was being a little paranoid but the feeling was in the pit of her stomach, never completely disappearing. She never realized when this feeling had first started but it didn't feel exactly cozy.
Shaking her head to clear it, Misaki shove the thought aside.
With her badge in her pocket, Misaki wandered through the bushes and trees, sometimes reading the names of flowers she found pretty, other times dodging around the plants she'd hate to step on.
She hadn't seen a single person from the opposite team. She'd bumped into Aoi twice, once into Ryusuke but not into anyone from the opposite team even once. She'd take aim by herself sometimes and look around like she was in the middle of Call of Duty but after 45 minutes since the game commenced, nothing had happened.
Putting her hair up in a ponytail, Misaki remained standing where she was for a while, just looking around and breathing in the freshest oxygen. All the scenery around her reminded her of the time she'd gone backpacking with her family and how they'd gotten lost and had to be rescued. It had been terrifying, it had also been extremely exciting.
Sakuya Ayuzawa hadn't planned on actually camping out in the woods despite everything he'd told his daughters and wife. He thought they could stroll around and come back to the Hotel just before dusk and sleep on the comfortable waterbeds but things spiraled crazily out of plan when he got lost and his daughters of ages nine and seven started guiding them through the woods. Getting out had been proven to be harder than they had anticipated, they'd all been hungry and tired from all the walking they'd done and as the sky turned midnight blue, their fake camping turned painfully real but immensely joyous and unforgettable. Even if the sound of Wolves howling had barely been able to make them relax. But unforgettable, undoubtedly.
Alas, they had been rescued at dawn the next day by the Forest Police who had been informed about their missing guests by the Hotel they had been staying at.
Misaki didn't remember the vacation because it had been the best one they'd ever taken or that it had been so adventurous but because it was the only one of the two times in her life that she'd been terrified beyond belief and had refused to show it. To put on a brave face for Suzuna was all that had mattered to a nine-year old Misaki who clutched her younger sister's hand tightly as if to infuse some of her own energy into her as she constantly reassured her they'd be okay.
And they had been, they had been rescued and brought to safety and it had also resulted in camping getting thrown off her family's list for possible vacation plans.
But, as she slowly turned around, taking in her surroundings Misaki yearned to go camping. Even if it was by herself-
She froze as she heard rustling of leaves and before she could turn, a bullet (which was actually a tiny paintball) splashed across her bare arm, leaving in its wake a tiny scratch that barely pained but a big blotch of red which was the first color that had stained her jumpsuit.
Someone was watching her. Quite carefully too.
Misaki wanted to touch her badge that was in the backpocket to make sure it was there but she couldn't risk letting her attacker figure that out. Which was why, she slowly turned around as her eyes rapidly searched through the trees and scanned the bushes for the figure of a person.
Call of Duty had begun.
Another bullet hit her just above her left backpocket, where her badge was and Misaki turned sharply. Atleast she now knew the direction of her attacker as she carefully stepped towards her offender, her eyes careful, watching for any sort of movement among all that was green, her machine gun raised.
She was turning a little left when she caught a bullet aimed at her and swung out of the way, her machine gun now raised toward a tree limb as she fired three consecutive shots. Waiting, Misaki went closer, guard up, still trying to make sure she didn't have her back toward anyone.
Another bullet went past her but grazed her cheek and left a clean streak of yellow on her cheek as she aimed her gun even higher, shooting at the offender sitting in the tree.
At first, nothing happened and everything was so still that Misaki was suddenly weary and had just taken steps backward when something landed with a splosh on top of her head.
Water balloon.
"What on Earth?" She muttered, rubbing her head and then realizing it was colored water that had made her hand turn purple when she pulled it back and groaned "Whoever the hell you are, you're paying for my next month's hair treatment!"
As if in retaliation, another balloon landed on top of her head but slid of her head and splashed on her shoulder. Getting annoyed by the minute, Misaki shoved her badge deeper into her pocket and walked toward the tree trunk, fulling intending to drag the offender down if she had to do that. She looked up just as another water balloon was thrown her way, realizing that she'd never get up there without fully drenching herself as she shoved the balloon aside with her hand, watching as it burst open on the ground.
Retreating into the thick bushes she had first emerged for, Misaki ducked down and lowered herself to the ground before momentarily turning away from the tree, still watching it from her peripheral vision as she quickly assembled her sniper, taking the pieces out one after the other from her belt pouch. In a record time of 60 seconds, she had finished and even inserted the ammo as she lay down, stomach on the ground, aiming her gun at the tree that had shown no movement since she had retreated. Still, with her gun raised, she peered through the lens, trying to make out a silhouette to aim and take down.
For ten minutes, she lay there with her gun aimed unable to find any sort of movement. Not feeling so brave now, huh? She thought smugly Try throwing water balloons now, you prick!
With her eye still cast on the tree, Misaki tried to go over who in Team 18 had also chosen a sniper because no other gun had bullet the sizes as small as the ones that had stained her jumpsuit. Chiyo had chosen two compact guns and an AK-47. Kanou had opted for a Glock 18 and a model 213 9mm and a machine gun. Sakura had also opted for a nine millimeter Glock like herself and a Bazooka. Takumi had seemed most interested in trying all the choices in guns because Misaki had seen him carefully try and adjust majority of them to his liking before settling on a few. He had chosen the Glock 22, an Uzi, an AK-74 with a grenade launcher except this released water balloons and a ... AX-308 sniper.
"Wow" With a hand slightly brushing her hips, Misaki felt a hand retrieve her badge from her backpocket before she had a chance to react "You really hid your badge in a backpocket for others to just pickpocket it out of your grasp?"
Turning so that now her back was on the grass, Misaki watched Takumi gaze down at her, amusement lacing his tone as he held her hexagonal white badge between his index and middle finger for her to see "I didn't think the rich knew how to pickpocket" She said carefully, stalling for time.
"You'd be surprised by everything we do know how to do" Takumi replied without missing a beat, one hand holding his sniper over his shoulder casually as he lazily inspected her badge.
There was no way Misaki could reach her machine gun without making visible movement, same was the case with her sniper. Her Glock in her holster was her best bet and as she kept an eye on Takumi, she lifted herself to a semi-sitting position, leaning her elbows trying to come off as casual, cautiously watching Takumi's movements.
Every movement she made, Takumi knew. He had found her 15 minutes into the game but kept his distance, silently following her until she had reached the clearing where she had stopped and gotten lost in thought. Deciding then was a good time as any to finally attack her, Takumi had climbed a Black Locust tree, passed to an Oak tree before settling on the branch of a Weeping Willow that gave him the best view of her. For minutes, he'd forgotten his purpose and remained sitting there, perfectly content with just watching her. It was only when she had made a move to tie her hair had he remembered his purpose when the sight of her bare throat slapped him back to reality. Even then, he couldn't find it in himself to really ruin the serene image she presented and he stalled himself for a few minutes before his leg had slipped on moss and he had caused disturbance, alerting her.
From there, there was no turning back.
Watching her reactions had been so amusing, so hilarious that once the out pour of angry retaliations started, he couldn't stop himself from riling her up more. When she remarked about him having to pay for her hair treatment, he had almost laughed aloud and given his identity away. Despite all that, he admired her skill when 2 of the four bullets she had shot had connected with his lower abdomen in spite of the fact that he was probably completely hidden and she had shot from instinct.
After she retreated, Takumi had counted a full five minutes before finalizing that it was time to make his presence known. He retreated through the same branches he had climbed through, three times more careful not to alert her, run around the perimeter before he ended up standing behind the bush she was in front of. With her body stretched so invitingly in front of him, the blond gentleman had felt heat rushing through his body and his blood on fire. In the aspect of male alphas, Takumi was no better than his brothers as he stood back shamelessly gazing over the bounty in front of him, itching to gather her body in his arms and explore every inch that made her, her.
"Like pickpocketing?" Amber eyes shot up skeptically at the notion, trying very hard to lure Takumi into momentary conversation with her.
Aware of what she was trying to achieve, Takumi resolved to give it to her anyway "Only if we have something to accomplish" He coolly explained, watching from his peripheral her hand that was carefully inching towards her gun.
"Makes sense. But, how good are the lot of you at it?"
"At what?" Takumi grinned, deliberately misunderstanding her.
Ignoring his sexual innuendo, Misaki decided to keep up her side of the conversation before he managed to completely distract her "At thieving"
Her posture was so innocently alluring, lethally sexy that Takumi was having to will every single one of his cell to not stray from the conversation and matters at hand "Hate to boast about myself, but I'd say pretty good"
"You're lying" Misaki accused, momentarily forgetting everything else.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because there is no need for you to steal?"
Takumi feigned a look of complete innocence "You're right, ofcourse. But just because I had no need, doesn't mean I didn't do it"
"What did you steal?"
"Icecream spoons"
Misaki laughed.
"To make a garage for my transformer cars" Takumi further elaborated.
Misaki laughed harder.
"Optimus Prime was very picky. He only preferred pink spoons"
Her elbows gave out beneath her and Misaki fell back, all the tension suddenly disappearing as she clutched her stomach laughing to her heart's content. Takumi smiled at the fetching sight she made and for once he let himself relax, laughing with her.
A mistake on his part.
As soon as Misaki noted the change in his posture, she reached for her Glock and shot at his wrist, lunging forward for the badge she knew he'd release from momentary shock.
Nothing of the sort happened as Takumi only clutched it tighter in his hand, blue liquid now dripping off his fingers as he rose his eyebrows at her and Misaki refused to stay down a second longer, refused to give him the satisfaction of looking down on her as she rose to her feet and went straight for her badge. Takumi took a step back, easily dodging her by side stepping when she lunged forward again and this time holding her badge high above his head.
"Now now, Cupcake. One wrong move and I'll rub my wrist over your tracker and paint it blue"
That made Misaki take a step back from wanting to jump and snatch her badge and pouted in what was, a complete switch in her character "Fine"
Suspicious by nature, Takumi rose an eyebrow, waiting for her to try and take her badge again but when she did nothing of the sort, his suspicion only grew and so, he slipped the badge inside his backpocket "Now, who in your team has the Banner?"
Misaki had been so preoccupied with her predicament over her badge that she had forgotten about the banner in her other pocket and before she could give it a thought, her hand moved toward the pocket before she quickly pulled it back and pretended to inspect her manicure "I'm not sure. Maybe it's Igarashi-san or Sakurai-san. Chances are it could also be with Shintani-san"
Takumi, who had noticed her earlier movement wasn't fooled by her bored tone and casual appearance "Well, considering it's not with you then I suppose there's no problem even if you don't play anymore, is there?"
Without another word and before Misaki could stop him, Takumi took out his Glock 22 and drenched the badge with one swift shot.
"You!" Misaki seethed, walking forward, not caring anymore if he had his gun aimed straight at her "Are going to give me back my badge even if I need to peel it off your corpse!"
She looked so delightfully rumpled, her clothes bright splotches of acrylic colors and her face lit with wrath that Takumi couldn't find it in himself to even remotely match her emotions "Are you going to be the reason that I may be a dead man before this match ends?"
"You bet your life it'll be me!"
"I see"
Irrationally annoyed because he could make her emotions spiral out of control when he was near but she couldn't even place a dent in his, Misaki stomped her foot and turned around, picking up her guns "I'll exit the premises in thirty minutes"
"If you exit the premises without a valid reason to do so, your entire team gets disqualified"
"But we'll get disqualified either ways, if I don't exit the premises after my badge gets drenched- oh" As the realization hit her, she slowly turned, glowering at him "You've made sure I can't do that either"
"Looks like you really will need to peel the badge off my corpse"
Misaki gathered her guns and turned toward him fully intending to do that, eyes ablaze as she started sprinting behind a Takumi who was already running away.
"Shhhhh" Takumi murmured in her ear, holding a hand over his captive with his other hand stayed wrapped around her waist.
"Misaki?" Ryusuke's voice called out as he passed by the wooden shed without so much as a glance in its direction in pursuit of the ravenette.
Misaki struggled against the hand Takumi was holding over her mouth, trying desperately to call out to her red-haired teammate but failing to do so as Takumi's hand around her mouth and waist tightened to prevent any movement from her.
Not until there wasn't any more rustling and the footsteps had become inaudible did Takumi loosen his grip on the raven-haired beauty making her gasp out for breath as she coughed, trying to get sufficient air into her lungs. Takumi leaned back onto the dusty wall, lazily watching her as Misaki heaved in long breaths before springing around to glare at him.
So much for wanting to be courteous to him! Misaki thought savagely. No wonder she had never before wanted to be nice to him! Sure, he had helped her plenty of times but he was also the reason she had ended up in most of those situations!
Her judgement was clouded by indignation (which was also his doing) but at the moment she didn't care as she crossed her arms, frowning because she couldn't leave (atleast not until she got her badge) and vexed because she was sure he wasn't going to give it to her.
How had she gotten this lucky? She giddily thought, her anger vanishing only on the inside.
"You're not going to give my badge back, are you?"
"Nope" Takumi agreed, noting she had calmed down but was still angry.
She had expected him to retaliate in that manner but the fact that he hadn't even remotely tried to make a truce, struck her as a stroke of luck. The harder he made it for her, the harder it would inevitably become for him.
To clap her hands together in glee was becoming hard to control. So was the expression on her face as she fought to keep a straight face, let alone one filled with anger, still eyeing him with irritation filled in her amber orbs. Or atleast, trying to appear irritated. And so, she resolved to remembering something that usually annoyed her and rose a hand to twirl locks of her hair which usually helped her think when her sticky hair was a reminder of the water balloons Takumi had graciously showered on her.
She didn't need to pretend to be angry anymore. Atleast not for a while.
With every passing moment, Takumi was aware that she was calming down but in a complete three-sixty of her demeanor, she aimed her Glock straight at his chest and fired an entire round splaying various colors across his black sweatshirt.
"Your badge is still with me" Takumi reminded, the sticky colors boring into his skin, annoying him.
The raven-haired heartbreaker was reloading her gun "I still have three minutes before I can resume my participation in this game. Till then, you having my badge, doesn't really matter"
She aimed her Gun straight at him but this time Takumi didn't let her get her way as he grabbed her wrist and aimed it toward the roof of the wooden closet "Don't test my patience, Princess"
"Funny. Because, I'm already past my limit" Misaki bit out, struggling to pull her hand back.
"You're taking a game this seriously?" Emerald orbs looked incredulous.
"Aren't you?" Amber eyes challenged back.
At a loss of words, Takumi staggered back, his eyebrows furrowing "Ofcourse not"
Her momentary ire vanishing, replaced with the improbable discovery that maybe Takumi had only been playing around. Putting her hands on her hips, she tilted her head to the side "You don't take this seriously but you made me chase you for five minutes knowing my ankle is injured. Do you remember? The ankle you helped me bandage, yesterday?"
His expression visibly relaxed "I also took you to my place and you complimented the spaghetti I made for you" Takumi pointed out, stepping closer to her.
"You also volunteered to shower with me" A chuckle escaped her as she protectively crossed her arms over her chest.
"Offer still stands if you're interested" Takumi shrugged indifferently and then ruined the effect by laughing as Misaki rose an eyebrow "How's the ankle?"
"Healing" Misaki provided, unhelpfully.
It was Takumi's chance to raise an eyebrow at her and Misaki rolled her eyes before speaking "I took painkillers so I can participate today"
"How many? I gave you one yesterday"
Silently trying to recall the number, Misaki tilted her head back "Uh.." She bit her lip "I took one before I came to the Uni today, one before my match and one after lunch"
Takumi's brows shot up at that information and he moved toward her, leaving his Sniper on one of the dusty tables "Are you feeling a lot of pain?"
"I'd say the painkillers are helping. There would've been no other way for me to participate today"
"You didn't have to participate today. You know that, don't you?"
"We had this conversation yesterday" Misaki sighed "And you said I was allowed to do what I wanted to"
"Only if you didn't further hurt yourself in the process" He bent low and with his fingertips, touched the side of her foot slowly moving upwards "Now, does it hurt here?"
"Nope"
Moving his fingers further upwards, he pressed the area around her ankle "What about here?"
"No"
Pressing her ankle lightly, Takumi looked up "Now?"
"To your infinite regret, that's also a no" Misaki grinned down at him and then something caught her eye, glinting inside his sweatshirt.
His badge.
"Taking so many painkillers is harmful" Takumi mused, unaware that Misaki's concentration had already strayed past the topic of her injured ankle.
"You really do know a lot about all this, huh?" Trying to keep her gaze off his sweatshirt where she was starting to notice the hexagonal badge's shape for the first time, the ravenette returned her attention back to him.
To her surprise, the blond model's eyes clouded at her statement before clearing up and giving her a lopsided grin "You could say that, yes"
Shooting him a weary glance, Misaki waited for him to elaborate "I wanted to become a Doctor when I was in middle school" He revealed "So I had volunteered at a medical camp in Summer where I learnt this"
Misaki smiled. His ambition was so much like what a normal middle school child would dream of that it took her by a little surprise. With him (and his already established career as a model) she had expected nothing lesser than him aiming to become the next director of some fancy named corporation. It was only then that his usage of past tense registered and she inwardly sighed. What a fetching sight Takumi would be, as a Doctor "That's nice" She said instead.
"You sound disappointed"
"I guess it's because seeing you as a Doctor is more appealing than some stuck up CEO of a fancy corporation" Misaki admitted with a shrug, putting her hands in her pockets.
Eyes widening, Takumi managed to ask "Why?"
"For starters, you'd be an attractive Doctor so.." To drain out the embarrassment that had come with unintentionally admitting to it, Misaki started to laugh.
"What? Boo. You liar" Takumi tutted, turning around after waving her off, walking over to the window to peak outside.
"W-What?! I'm serious!" Misaki exclaimed, following him in desperation to prove her point.
"No way" Takumi sidelined her admission and leaned forward to look out the dusty window, his hand on the railing.
"Yes way!" Misaki heatedly burst out "If you were a Doctor, I'd throw myself off the stairs everyday!"
Takumi who had only been messing with her, turned to her slowly, an incredulous laugh escaping him as Misaki finally realized what she had said "What?"
Misaki who knew there was no going back tried to shrug indifferently "Yeah, I said what I said" She turned around, checking her gun and getting ready to strangle her adversary for his badge if she had to when his next request startled her.
"Then turn around and say it to my face"
Hands stilling, Misaki stared at the gun in her hand for a moment before laughing and pocketing it "You'd rather me compliment you face-to-face?"
"Yes" Takumi replied quietly, leaning on the window sill.
"That's not so hard" With an inward shrug, Misaki realized that distracting him will help with her situation better and turned to Takumi "See-" Catching herself short before she bumped into Takumi ,who was standing right behind her now, she stumbled backwards "W-What are you doing?"
"Waiting for you" Takumi replied without missing a beat, his heavy lidded gaze unnerving her.
"W-What?"
"Did I make your heart skip a beat?" He laughed "I meant waiting for you to repeat your statement about wanting to throw yourself off a staircase everyday for me"
"R-Right" Misaki shook her head as if to clear it but no matter what she tried the image of Takumi gazing down at her in that possessively sensual way almost sent her into cardiac arrest "You sound like you heard it loud and clear" She huffed and turned away, resisting the urge to physically fan herself to stop the heat from rising in her body at his closeness.
Hooking a finger around her belt loop, Takumi pulled her back suddenly making her whirl around and almost trip them both to the ground as she steadied herself by grabbing his arms "Takumi!" She exclaimed, looking down at her belt loops that had his index fingers from both hands hooked around them "Stop manhandling me like this!"
Her outburst brought a reluctant smile on his face as he switched his hands from in front of her waist to around them as he brushed his cheek against her ear, whispering "How would you like me to manhandle you then?"
"Haven't you done enough already?" Laughing to ease her nervousness away, Misaki wriggled in his embrace "First you attack me with the bullets, then water balloons, take my badge, make me chase you on a bad ankle and-" She gulped in a large breath of air before continuing "When you caught sight of Ryusuke before I had the chance to, you did a double take, grabbed me and pulled me in here with you. If that wasn't enough, you also managed to knock out the air from my lungs just so I'd stay quiet"
Takumi feigned a look of comic disbelief "I could've never-" He started "I take your breath away, Princess? Aww"
Misaki gave him a look that screamed 'Drop dead' and started to pull out of his hold before he tightened it and pulled her even closer, so much that she almost swiped her face over the splash of colors across his sweatshirt that was her doing "You take my breath away"
It had been so inaudible, so soft that Misaki thought she heard wrong and almost laughed before she heard him speak again, his hands lowering and pulling her impossibly closer as she lifted her gaze to hold his "I..don't know what's going on" He confessed, touching his forehead to hers.
As she steadily returned his stare, his admission came crashing down on her. He wasn't as unaffected as he portrayed. She wasn't the only one whose heart was doing jumping jacks every single time she saw him or heard him or God forbid, was in his arms. Her mind wasn't the only one that seemed to shut down, becoming incapable of coherent speech whenever she was in his company. She would have liked to feel even an ounce of shame at the pleasure she felt when he held her like this but to her own mortification, Misaki was beginning to discover just how shameless she really was as her own hands slipped down to his torso, unaffected by the sticky colors to keep him close.
"Misaki.." He mumbled, swiping his lips across her cheek as light as a feather first before retracing a path back to the edge of her lips, side to her jawline and down her exposed neck as she leaned her head against the window railing, eyes closing, barely able to withhold the sound from escaping her "I need you to know I didn't mean to ...mean to.."
His breath was making the hair on her skin stand up and she gulped, waiting to hear what he had to say, barely able to stand straight "Didn't mean to what?" She whispered and then she felt it.
His badge was right beneath her fingers.
What on Earth was she doing? She chided herself She was letting her own opponent seduce her into insensibility!
"Hurt you this way" Takumi's lips brushed the bangs on her forehead before he kissed it.
"W-What are you talking about?" Amber eyes turned frantic as she peered at him through her lashes, registering his sensual lips forming a slow smirk that spread across his lips.
It was then that she recognized the change.
His heartbeat had been normal and steady all this while.
"You despicable-" She had just begun and wanted to pull away but she couldn't as the blond gentleman stepped away.
Takumi had tied her arms around the vertical rails of the window.
"Takumi Walker, you wretched-!" She burst out, squirming against the rope that were preventing any moment from her arms.
"Shhh Princess, someone might hear you" Takumi smiled as he put a finger on her lips "Don't force me to gag you, it wouldn't be a pretty sight for me at all"
"Oh yeah? As if making a fool out of me till now hadn't been satisfying enough!" That explosion only made him smirk wider as he put his hands in his pockets.
Taking in deep breaths, Misaki tried (keyword being tried) to calm herself down. How could she have been this gullible? How could she have let a man fool herself like this again? Why did Takumi Walker always manage to make her toss her morals, her virtues and her pride out the window for him? How had she not even felt him tying her to the railing?
Because you were too busy fantasizing about the kiss you thought you were about to receive!
Her conscience really and truly had wonderful timing. If a Zombie Apocalypse started now, Misaki would be thankful!
She had had one job to do. To distract Takumi Walker. She had been doing that until now and when such a perfect opportunity to grab his badge and make a run for it had presented itself to her, she had traded it in a split second because she actually preferred staying in his arms over her team winning. Goddammit!
"Its nothing personal, Cupcake. You know that" Takumi spoke suddenly noticing how hurt she looked.
Misaki wriggled to a sideways position before jutting out her leg, hoping to kick him.
"For a change, we would have liked to see Tora lose" Takumi continued in vain, hoping he hadn't upset her beyond reversible.
"And using me for bait was the easiest thing to do, huh?"
Clutching the banner that he had taken from her pocket tighter in his palm, he shrugged "It's..just a competition"
Misaki scoffed "Right" She bit out, with as much contempt as she could muster.
"Misa.." Takumi stepped closer to her and traced a finger along her cheek that he had kissed earlier. And just like that her heart that had stopped its maddened dancing picked up tempo at the nickname and gesture "I truly didn't think that you'd be this affected by it. Infact, I had nothing but the competition in mind the entire time"
Lies. They both thought at the same time.
Misaki may have been vulnerable in his arms but she wasn't inexperienced. And even though Takumi might have had more Worldly experience to his advantage, even he couldn't feign what had just transpired between them, of that Misaki was sure as she leaned all her weight on one foot and regarded him openly, challenging him to admit that he was lying.
Takumi was no fool. Obviously, everything that had ensued between them hadn't been a farce. He had been so terrified of scaring her with his overflowing emotions that were all over the place that he barely managed to pull himself off of her before things got out of hand. Gods, he thought even with her hands tied, she stands like the regal Princess she should have been.
He was behaving like a pathetic suitor, barely able to contain what he felt. If he had stayed with her a single moment longer, he would have kissed her. But even he knew she didn't deserve to get kissed by him.
Atleast not in a rundown shed in the middle of a Greenhouse, he cajoled getting ready to douse the banner as he looked around for his guns.
And like always, Misaki thwarted his plans.
Before he had a chance to react, Misaki lunged as forward as much as she was able to and wrapped her injured leg around his torso, pulling him close. As if that wasn't a surprise enough, she gave herself a little push before jumping in the air, wrapping her other leg around his waist while commanding "Catch!"
Out of reflex, Takumi grabbed a hold of her and steadied her, the distance between them closing once again as Misaki tightened her legs around him making him tighten his arms around her in turn "Are you for real? You could have hurt yourself so-" He turned to reprimand her but the lessened distance between them, made him pull back a little.
"Feeling trapped?" Misaki asked as she easily overcame the distance he had just put between them "Uncomfortable?"
"Misaki.." Takumi's voice was a low growl, his arousal that he had just gotten a control of becoming evident again as she strove to pull him closer "Don't do this"
"Why?" She stubbornly shot back, her lips over his ear "Will I snatch your breath away?"
"You damn well know what you're capable of" Emerald orbs flashed as he snarled.
"Do I?" Misaki whispered, her lips moving downwards, below his ear and tracing his jawline trying to imitate exactly all the same places his lips had just been on her skin.
"Don't you dare leave a clue, Misaki" Takumi growled, gripping her arms and pulling her away.
"Mom said I should always, always mark what's mine" Misaki emphasized, unfazed by the distance Takumi had created between them and easily covering it again "I'm following her instructions to the book"
A part laugh, part groan escaped Takumi as she lazily traced her lips over his cheek "I'm pretty sure this wasn't what she meant"
"You're right" Misaki readily agreed and that made warning bells ring inside Takumi's head as all the fire that had been slowly igniting within him, died abruptly "What?"
"Mom also instructed me to get back at someone when they've wronged me"
It was then that he noticed her shoulder blades were bumping with his, which wouldn't be possible if she hadn't-
His badge was gone.
"Surprised?" Misaki asked in a sweet voice, still very much tied up but now holding her Glock in one hand and his black hexagonal badge in the other "No hard feelings, sweetheart. It's just a game"
Takumi let go of her knowing full well that she could manage on her own now. Even so, when she jumped down and balanced on only one foot, his heart tore out in anguish. Opponents or not, she was still hurt and he could've been nicer-
Misaki, who had already brought her hands in the front from where he had tied them behind her shot his badge without a second thought "That makes two of us, darling" She blew him a kiss to salt his wounds.
Her use of an offhand endearment had a worse effect on him than it usually did on her. To put a stop to his irrational actions, he took a step back and then another before tossing the creased banner on the dusty table and grabbing his Uzi. Before he drenched the banner, he looked straight into her shimmering amber orbs and then shoot an entire round of ammo, completely dampening the banner.
He counted five seconds, then ten seconds, fifteen and by the time he reached twenty, emerald orbs snapped back to amber ones who were trying their best to appear surprised and innocent but her eyes. Her eyes always gave her away.
The rope Misaki had been skillfully untying finally came lose around her elbow pits and slid past her hands into a heap on the floor. Stepping out of it, Misaki pocketed the black hexagonal badge before innocuously making her way over to a Takumi who was finally opening the folds of the banner to locate the camera.
"Awww, it didn't work? Maybe the camera is broken, you should try unloading another round on it" She demurely suggested.
"I would have" Takumi assured "Only if there had been a camera to begin with" He held the dampened piece of cloth clean of any device at all up for Misaki's inspection who was finding it hard to keep her face devoid of emotion.
"Don't we love a good sport?" Misaki provoked, clasping her hands behind her back "We came prepared"
Takumi's impassive expression was starting to dent Misaki's unveiled happiness and as he took a step forward, she took one back, gripping her Glock weary of his mood "You only think of yourself, don't you Misaki?"
"W-What?" All pretenses and plays were over, so what was he doing now? Misaki thought frantically.
Reversing his earlier decision of not wanting to kiss Misaki in a run-down shed, the blond model decided it didn't matter anymore. She was so darned gorgeous, so alluring that holding himself back was proving to be more painful than he would've ever anticipated. Takumi encased an arm around her waist and pulled her roughly against him "I only think about you too"
A loud ringing of a bell made Takumi's lips halt its descent over hers and a loud voice overcame the intercom "Team 18 and Team 10 have been disqualified"
As if all twenty students participating in 'Banner Capture' had had the same thought, they all gathered around the entrance of the Greenhouse wondering what had transpired to disqualify both teams.
In less than ten minutes, 18 people gathered near the entrance knowing that attacking each other was of no use as their teams had already been eliminated. The only two people missing were the leader of the two respective teams who showed up five minutes later, a ten-meter distance between them as they walked, drenched from head to toe.
Chiyo had already abandoned her guns as soon as the announcement of their teams getting disqualified had blasted through the speaker. As Tora neared the curious onlookers, he tossed his guns onto a nearby bush and pulled the zipper of his sweatshirt down to his bellybutton to let air in. He regrouped with Team 10 and beckoned them to follow him outside, not turning to look at Team 18 even once or shake hands as was the respectable way to declare the end of a game.
Chiyo opted to stay behind and so did her team. She knew they were all waiting for an explanation and she took a deep breath, pushing her wet hair out of her face before reciting what Tora and her had agreed on "I had the banner for both the teams with me but I had so much color in my eyes that I couldn't have risked shooting theirs without worrying that I might do it to ours by mistake. I was washing my face by the Koi lake when Igarashi - san found me again, we had a little encounter that obviously didn't go well. Shove turned to push and I went into the water, both the banners going in with me. My foot got stuck into one of the banners that had already reached the bottom and I couldn't swim up because of which Igarashi - san had to come in and help me" She exhaled "I'm sorry, guys. Truly and really. I will treat all of you to dinner today"
Sakura put an arm around Chiyo "That's besides the point, are you hurt? Want to stop by the Nurse's Office before we go change?'
"No" Chiyo managed to smile, not realizing her eyes were still clouded "Really, I'm sorry. To all of you" She turned to the others and bowed.
Kanou waved it off and put an arm around her as well "We aren't the only ones who got disqualified. That is more reassuring than you think" He was missing his specs and his black jumpsuits had bright splotches of only yellow "Won't you all agree?" He shot a look to the team to agree without question before Chiyo turned and when she did turn, all the navy-blue haired girl saw was reassuring smiles and thumbs ups.
Tora was recounting the same story outside and his team's reaction was similar to Team 18's. Even though every single one of them thought that the story he recounted sounded like he had rehearsed it, no one said anything. No one dared to. Not as long as Tora was watching them. And definitely not when Hinata and Kuuga each put an arm around their friend and led him away to switch out of their clothes. Doubtful story or not, no one crossed ways with the most elite boy squad of the University.
Ryusuke, whose red hair was half painted green grinned as he walked up to Misaki "Well, did you have fun?"
Did she have fun? "Yep" Not at all "You?"
"I tied Koganei up and drenched his badge at my leisure" He paused "Did we cross ways a second time? I thought I heard you call for me but by the time I reached, you weren't in sight"
I was in the shed you passed by without noticing, seduced witless, about to makeout with Takumi "Really? I didn't see you. I was too busy chasing Takumi down"
"The moron was making you chase him on a bad ankle?"
Misaki smiled but it didn't reach her eyes "It's all good, I'm much much better now"
"You sure?" He looked skeptical.
"One hundred percent" Misaki held up a victory sign, a toothy grin lighting her features.
"Wonderful" The red haired singer clapped her on the back "Because tomorrow we aren't on the same team"
Among all the drama that had taken place today, Misaki had forgotten there was a third day to the Sports Festival "That's a pity. I can't wait to beat you guys"
"Love that giddy optimism, hope we see it tomorrow" Kanou, who had just exited the Greenhouse with Team 18 in tow, interjected when he caught the last bit of the conversation "We, are very far from chivalrousness and we won't hesitate to win"
Misaki, who had never heard Kanou speak this clearly or so many words at once, momentarily forgot all her worries over the shock of seeing this new side of Kanou. She watched- correction, gaped along with everyone as he went straight toward Shizuko and leaned into her ear to whisper something. In response, the bespectacled girl said nothing, just held out a pair of spectacles. His spectacles. The bunny of the boy squad laughed, took them from her and ruffled her hair before throwing an arm around Takumi and walking away.
Sakura who had just joined Misaki was also openly gaping at what had just happened. Chiyo looked a little less shaken and Shizuko looked positively murderous.
"W-What just happened?" Sakura demanded of Shizuko who was taking aim with her bazooka to shoot the Bunny boy down.
"I'll tell you in a damn minute"
Sakura and Misaki exchanged a look. Shizuko never cursed.
"W-Wait! Don't do that!" Sakura stood in front of the bespectacled girl's bazooka, flailing her arms around.
"Sakura. Get out of the way"
"Shizuko" Putting an arm around the furious girl, Chiyo stopped her "Kanou becomes like that if he takes his specs off"
"What?" Astonishment made Shizuko lower her gun and turn to the turquoise eyed girl "That's nonsense"
"As much as it sounds like it, it's not. He really becomes outgoing, arrogant and unashamedly himself. He was so remorseful of himself that wearing specs seemed to be the only thing that could keep him in check. It was weird but hey, it worked"
"So, he's bipolar?" Sakura ventured carefully.
The four girls started toward the Golf karts together "No, silly" Chiyo laughed "Sometimes you need to tone down your personality to become a better version of yourself - or something like that. His Father was a renowned wrestler of his time, arrogance runs in his family. When his Mother left them, Kanou decided never to let that side of him show" Chiyo concluded.
The girls fell silent after that, all the way back to the main building. They made small conversation about their time in the Greenhouse, all of them keeping their secret moments to themselves, as they made their way to the bathrooms to clean up and go home after a tiresome day.
In a record time of ten minutes, Misaki was the first to emerge from the bathrooms and decided to wait outside and call her Mom while she was at it. She still hadn't mentioned about her ankle injury and decided that now was a good time as any other. She dialed the number and waited for it to ring, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Misaki? Oh wow, you're still- oops sorry" Ryusuke who had just walked out of the men's bathroom had started talking before he noticed she was on the phone.
The call went to her Mom's voicemail and so she hung up "Hi" She greeted Ryusuke, pocketing her phone.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt?" He asked, walking closer.
"Oh no no. They didn't pick up"
He grinned and opened his mouth to say something when his phone started to ring. One look at the caller ID made him roll his eyes before he put it back in his pocket and turned his attention back to the Lady in front of him "Sadly, I need to pickup by the third call but I wanted to ask you this before I leave"
Misaki smiled "Yes? What is it?"
"Will you go with me to the Halloween Ball?"
Smile widening, Misaki crossed her arms over her chest "Are you officially asking me?"
"How official do you want me to be? Should I get down on one knee for it?" He bend one knee scaring her that that was exactly what he planned on doing as she started forward to stop him.
"No!" She laughed "I'll go" That's right. This is good. This is how it should be.
"Perfect. We'll color coordinate?"
"Condition" Misaki held a finger up and Ryusuke rose an eyebrow, his phone already starting to ring a second time "Only if you let me win tomorrow"
"Cheating! How about a close second instead?"
"How about a first?"
"I choose to not participate" Ryusuke declared, raising a hand as if making a pledge, his phone momentarily quietening.
That made Misaki laugh "Don't take it seriously. I'll have second thoughts only if you dare go easy on me"
"Wouldn't dream of it" He winked and his phone started ringing again "I better go, I'll see you tomorrow!"
Waving as he picked his phone up and broke into a jog, Misaki's smile faded as soon as he rounded the corner.
Yes, this was the correct order of things.
Uncertainty at every point wasn't.
"Why are we here again?" Takumi whined as Chiyo pushed open the door to the showroom and walked in.
"It's Misaki's birthday, the day after the day after tomorrow, on the 29th" The turquoise eyed girl sighed "I texted you about it yesterday"
That piqued the blond gentleman's interest "I hadn't gotten a chance to check my phone last night" He answered, looking around the fashion store with newfound interest.
Chiyo noted the three sixty switch in his interest and laughed "Yes, because you were busy taking care of said girl"
"I guess I felt a little responsible for her getting hurt" It was only when Chiyo had seated herself that she turned to him "Only a little?" She asked.
"Mhm" Takumi mused, looking up as one of the saleswoman smiled coyly at her before switching her attention to Chiyo with a polite 'Can I help you?'
Chiyo pointed out her preference and the saleswoman took off in that direction to get what she had requested for "When Rhea had broken her arm you had asked her to go back to her parents' place and stay there till she got better"
"So?"
"You both had been skating together and you let go of her resulting in her fall. You had said - It happened, what do you expect me to do about it? You didn't play Nurse for her"
"What is the point of this conversation?"
Their discussion got interrupted by the return of the saleswoman. In silence, Chiyo and Takumi examined the jewelry pieces for a while before Chiyo spoke up, choosing to momentary sideline their earlier conversation "What do you think? Would she prefer anklets or bracelets?"
Takumi inspected the pieces Chiyo had chosen before looking up at the saleswoman with a clear indication of dismissal in his pointed stare. The saleswoman understood and bowed before walking away "Misaki will hate expensive gifts" Takumi pointed out "I bet my life that she only decided to shift into that penthouse after she had exhausted all the other options for herself. She has a lot of pride and she will not accept expensive jewelry for a gift"
Chiyo smiled "You're right. I've already picked out my gift but I decided that I need to atleast shove you in this direction for you to make an effort for her 19th birthday. I'll text the venue and time to you. For the love of Gods, don't be late" Patting his arm, she started to pick her handbag and then remembered their earlier discussion "The point of the previous conversation was to prove a point to you"
"Which is?"
"You're letting her in"
"What?"
"Takumi, you're opening yourself up to her and you don't even realize it?" Chiyo bulged her eyes out and jerked her head to the side to exaggerate her point. When the blond model simply stared at her, she sighed "You like spending time with her, don't you?"
"I like spending time with others too"
"Here, you and I, both know 'others' means the boys and that you're not gay"
"Please, Chiyo. You're giving me a migraine with all your beating around the bush"
"I'm beating around the bush? I am? And what are you doing?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Exasperated because she knew Takumi would not stop playing dumb, Chiyo jabbed her index finger on his chest to eloquently put her point across "She's breaking down your barriers and that makes you uncertain and upset because for the first time you don't know how to treat a girl. You want to let her in but you're scared, Takumi. So hear me loud and clear when I tell you this; Misaki will never ever break you the way Rhea did and all you have to do is give her a chance to make you truly happy" Satisfied that she had said all that she wanted to, Chiyo stood up "Think about it" With a pat on his shoulder, she left.
For a short moment after that, Takumi sat there, immobilized before he put his hands in his pockets and got up to leave. As he crossed the section for pendants, his absent-minded gaze stopped at one that caught his eye, glittering among all that was shimmering.
On a slender chain was fixed a platinum pendant in the shape of a heart with a lavender colored pearl fixed in the middle. For a moment, Takumi stared at it, picturing it around Misaki's throat, No, he shook his head, he was picturing putting it around her neck for her.
Who was he to be conjuring up such images? Her boyfriend?
With one last glance toward the pendant, he exited the store.
He would've liked to be.
Opening the door of her Mini Cooper, Misaki sighed as she looked over the roof of her car to where Takumi's car space was vacant. He hadn't been there last night either when she got home and she hadn't heard from him either.
Maybe he left early. She shrugged, getting into the car.
They needed to get over shutting each other out everytime something unintentional transpired between them. How many times had it been now? She couldn't even remember.
Unintentional? You damn well knew what you were doing yesterday. If anything, it was on purpose.
Her conscience which had been silent through all the other feats in her life for the past two years had been making its presence forcefully known since last night and Misaki desperately tried to shut the voice out.
Why else would you shut me out if I'm doing nothing but telling the truth, making you aware of it?
Gripping the steering wheel, Misaki grit her teeth. Oh whatever - she thought - We're attracted to each other? That explains it well, doesn't it?
She almost heard the Devil on her shoulder scoff "That's bullshit. Me, Angel and you very well know that"
Angel heatedly denied "That's not true! I'm sure you're doing the correct thing by choosing to go to the Halloween Ball with Ryusuke instead of Takumi! Takumi is dangerous and Misaki knows that"
Devil poked Angel with her trident "Idiot! Why would she get involved with Takumi if he wasn't dangerous? We live for the hazards and risks!"
Angel plucked her halo off her head and swung it over the Devil's head "No, we don't! For once, we would like to protect ourselves"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Devil thundered from the other shoulder, nursing her head.
"Guys! Guys! Time out!" Misaki called, raising both her arms, positive that she had gone quite mad "We're all one and the same here, okay? Let's refrain from trying to murder each other. I've already lost my mind, losing my sanity also is the last thing I want!"
The Angel and the Devil on her shoulder stopped bickering at the same time as they turned to her "You've already lost your mind? Over who? Takumi?" They chorused.
"That's not what I meant, it was a slip! Gah!" She waved them off, making them disappear and then leaned her head on the steering wheel "I'm going mad" She muttered, before picking her head off the steering wheel and turning the key into the ignition.
Movement made her hand freeze and look up, peering through the windshield for movement around the dimly lit basement. She looked around for a moment before convincing herself that it was a trick of light and that she was unusually jumpy about everything these days. Shaking her head, she turned on the ignition, stepped on the accelerator and drove out the basement.
Her peripheral view stayed on the rear-view mirror till she exited the building.
"Welcome to the 3rd day of the 83rd Miyabigaoka Sports Festival!"
Surprise made all 200 students turn toward the announcer who for a change, wasn't Maki. Noticing the surprised expressions on the faces of all the students, the female announcer who was a pretty brunette wearing casuals, laughed "This segment is a traditional Miyabigaoka thing to do, the third day of the Festival is always a secret and planned by your seniors. We try to outdo what our Senpais did last year" When everyone seemed to accept that, she continued "This year-" An almost ghost like smile appeared on her face as she let the suspense build for a few moments "We'll be playing treasure hunt!"
Dumbfounded into speechlessness, the freshmen failed to provide enough of an enthusiastic response as they dumbly stared back at the representative of the 2nd year students. The brunette, who was obviously a little surprised at the lack of excitement, covered the mouth of the mic and turned to the other students standing next to her "What do I do? They all seem so uninterested"
Despite the mic being covered, it could still be heard around the stadium they were gathered in and so the 200 freshmen also heard what her companion said in return "Just explain the rules. We've been nice enough to come up with a treasure hunt. If that doesn't generate a reaction out of them, describe what we went through last year"
"We're not trying to scare them, Fushimi" The brunette hurtled back heatedly.
"Huh. Oh, move aside" He waited till she stepped to the side before taking the mic from here "Hear us loud and clear, kids. Last year we indulged in a 4 day Sports Festival because our seniors thought it would be a good sport to make freshmen take part in a Decathlon. All 216 students from last year skipped the Halloween Ball so unless you want something like that which is our backup plan-"
Tora started clapping, making the others join in. Cheers erupted, generated by fright and Fushimi looked around the stadium thundering with applause, with approval shining in his eyes before passing the mic back to the brunette "Glad to finally see that you're all enthusiastic! Now, shall we begin?"
"Five teams, two with 19 members, three with 20 members, six clues before we reach the treasure" Sakura grunted "I consider it pure luck that the four of us ended up on the same team"
"Six clues for all teams" Chiyo corrected "And we all need to be able to find all of them and only then will we be able to find said 'treasure'"
"Uh uh uh" Shizuko tutted as the foursome made their way toward Chiyo's Porsche "You forget the boundary"
"Right" Chiyo nodded "My bad. What is the boundary? Any location beyond the campus, twenty miles, spread out in all directions"
Misaki laughed "Guys, that is why we have so many members in one team. I mean, look at that" With her head, she gestured toward the other members of their team who were also getting into their cars, ready to hunt down their second clue.
"What do you expect? There's 7 subway stations within a twenty mile radius, in all directions" Sakura pointed out "If it was a single team, finding the second clue would take us hours"
"That's why I exchanged numbers with the girls who volunteered to lead the team, to keep us updated. I also exchanged numbers with the girls in our group so they can notify us immediately if they find something on their side" Chiyo encouraged "Besides, they didn't call us at 7AM for nothing, ten hours for a time limit is pretty good. They've planned this better than we know" She added, getting into the driver's seat.
"Good point" Misaki agreed, opening the door of the passenger seat, her palm freezing despite the warm Autumn weather. She pocketed it, trying to shove away the discomforting feeling in the pit of her stomach that had stuck with her throughout the morning. Taking in a deep breath, she looked up, ready to get in the car when she caught Takumi's eye who was also looking at her as he opened the door to the driver's seat of his car across the road.
Only a slight inclination of his head was any acknowledgement from his side and Misaki bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling. This was absurd, this happened every single time and it was probably time to break the loop. She tilted her head to the side, bowing all the way down to her shoulder which made a crack appear on the blond's nonchalant expression as he smiled at her when he noticed what she was doing, making her smile back at him.
"Unless you want us to think that you've conspired with the rival team against us, get in the car Misaki" Chiyo called out, noticing the exchange between the two.
"What? No!" Misaki denied immediately, further opening the car door but stopped. It was funny, she hadn't seen Ryusuke around at all today. One last look around, she got into the car after glancing toward Takumi one last time.
Chiyo caught Takumi's eye through her windshield and smiled smugly at him to which he responded by innocently lifting his brows as if he had no idea what she was trying to say. She rolled her eyes at him and he chuckled as she pulled out of her parking space.
"Read what it said again"
Sakura huffed "I stand alone but I carry families, only one way I can go but thousands of destinations, sometimes stopping to catch my breath, other times I know I can keep running"
"It's definitely a subway"
"No shit, Sherlock" Sakura cried "We've only covered two subways and I'm already tired. This is a different level of torturing your juniors"
Misaki looked around, they were standing near the entrance of an underground subway and the possibility of hiding a clue here without a third party waylaying said clue was very low "What about the subway downtown? It's more deserted, more chances of hiding it there because a third party won't interfere leading to its misplacement"
"I thought the 3rd group went downtown" Shizuko pointed out.
"They're already covering 4 doubledecker bus stations. Besides, downtown is 10 minutes away"
"Woah, what the hell?" Chiyo breathed, pointing to three buses crossing the intersection they were standing at "Where did those just appear from?"
All four girls looked around before Shizuko pointed toward a fading sign down the street "It's a private travel company"
Turning around to face each other, the same question was on their minds 'Would a private company get involved in a game meant for students in their freshmen year of college?'
"They probably would" Chiyo affirmed, answering the question "Especially because the company could be working for someone on the board of organizers"
"New plans" Misaki began "Shizuko and you" She turned to Sakura "Check out the company. Chiyo and I will go downtown and check that subway"
"Half an hour, good enough?" Sakura asked.
Both girls nodded and the group parted.
"Yes, yes I understand" Misaki nodded even though the person on the other side couldn't probably see it "Yes, we're also still looking, we'll inform you if we have any updates" With that she hung up and turned to the navy-haired girl who was pulling into the parking lot on the opposite side of the subway "It's been an hour and a half and still nothing"
Chiyo took her seatbelt off "Something tells me we're at the right place this time"
Both girls got out of the car and looked around "You were right. This really is deserted" Chiyo grimaced, looking around "Guess when everything moved uptown, they abandoned this"
"It's one of the oldest stations, which is why they didn't scrap it yet. Unlike that bus station there. They're going to destroy that building, make a community hall there"
Chiyo looked at the place Misaki was talking about and almost winced at its rundown state. The building had probably once been painted light blue but had now faded into a dull grey. Three windows in the front were broken and it had no door. There were cracks running along the side of the building, vines grown through it "Might as well. It's in terrible condition" Then it struck her "Wait, did you say bus station?"
Misaki, who had just realized the same thing turned to Chiyo, almost laughing "It has to be in one of these two places! I'll check the bus station, you okay with checking the subway?"
"Yeah. It's not even one fourth the size of others, besides, didn't Fushimi - Senpai say that once we locate the location, the clues won't be hard to find?"
"He was grumpy, he could've been messing with us" Chiyo looked so troubled by that thought that Misaki laughed "Though he probably wasn't, don't worry. We'll meet here again in ten minutes?"
"Alright!" Chiyo hummed, turning the other way and walking down the dusty road to the entrance of the subway.
She walked down the stone steps, looking around for any possible place that could be used as a location to keep a clue envelope in. One she reached the floor, she looked both ways that didn't stretch past two hundred meters. One side was completely barren, save for a model of an 19th century train and a bench. Other side had an old newspaper shop whose owner was sitting outside on a wooden chair in front of a cooler, reading an old fashioned novel. Choosing to go toward the latter, Chiyo started that way first. Even as she reached him and was standing at a distance lesser than ten meters, the man didn't look up to acknowledge her presence.
"Uhm, excuse me?" She politely spoke and the old man finally looked up, above the rims of his spectacles "Have you-"
"No" He interjected, returning his attention back to his book, ignoring her.
Chiyo wasn't fazed "I was asking-" She continued "Have you seen an envelope around here?"
"Yes" The man seethed, without looking up "It flew past thirty years ago"
Rolling her eyes because she knew she wouldn't get anywhere with this old man, Chiyo turned the other way. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that rich kids couldn't stand arrogant older people, whether it was their own parents or anyone else. For one impossible moment she wondered if her seniors had paid this man to not utter a word then discarded the idea. The man seemed impossible to deal with, not just unwilling. She looked around a little but except two empty benches, the rest of the place was deserted.
Walking closer to the edge of the platform, Chiyo kept looking around as she walked till she reached the bench on the other side. As her heels clinked against the stone, she scoured the empty platform for a piece of paper, following dusty trails that were made by the wind before sighing loudly. She had been so sure that it would be around here, somewhere, that the disappointment was too much.
She walked past the model of the train, annoyed and disheartened, hoping against hope that Misaki had found the clue instead. Instead, in one swift movement, she retraced her steps back to the model of the train and plucked the envelope that ,she had glanced at and not registered before, was sitting between the (very out of place) helm inside the train. Doing a small pirouette for herself, Chiyo gleefully clapped her hands together as she saw Miyabigaoka's seal on top of the envelope and sprinted toward the exit.
She was about to stride up the staircase when she caught the eye of the old man from the newspaper store and he smiled a crooked grin at her, giving her a thumbsup. He had known all along after all, huh? She smiled back as she held the envelope up for him to see and with a small wave, bound up the stone steps taking two at a time.
Ten minutes had passed already but that didn't matter much to Chiyo as she reached her car, patting around the pockets of her slacks trying to locate her phone. She stopped cold when she heard the deafening screech of a window pane swinging off its hinge, shattering across the ground a heartbeat later.
Turning slowly, her heart beating in frantic intervals Chiyo desperately looked around for Misaki, praying that her friend was okay and that she would emerge from the shady building any moment now "Misaki?" She called loudly "Where are you? I found the envelope! You can come out now!"
There was no wind blowing, it was suddenly silent, too silent "Misaki?" A frenzied Chiyo called out once more, then more loudly "Misaki?!" Her slow, hesitant steps toward the building turned to full fledged sprinting. She ran right through the entrance (which was lacking a door) her heart ringing in her ears now as she looked around the barely lit building. The seats were broken, the walls were tapered off and someone had even done graffiti inside. The sunless structure looked like it would collapse any minute, dust falling off the roof with every movement from Chiyo.
The inside was becoming more creepier with every second she spent there, the feeling of bugs and insects crawling over her becoming worse with every passing minute "Misaki?" An anguished cry tore from Chiyo as she wondered where the ravenette could possibly be.
Then she heard it, the sound of a car engine running.
By the time she reached the other exit on the opposite side the car was already 400 meters away, a black SUV with no number plate but that didn't stop Chiyo from stepping out of her heels as she sprinted behind the car as far as she could manage to, knowing that she could never make up but still going.
Chiyo's heart didn't drop when she saw the SUV turn around the corner and disappear. It dropped down to her knees when she noticed one torn sleeve from Misaki's full sleeved blouse on the ground.
She had struggled, Chiyo whimpered miserably, clutching the sleeve to her as she sunk down to the ground.
Misaki was gone.
We haven't done cliffhangers in so long, have we?
I'll clearly explain what transpired between Chiyo and Tora in the greenhouse in the coming chapters. Don't worry! I also added a little Kanou X Shizuko here bwahaha
Incase all of you are confused - There are supposed to be a total of 98 girls in the freshmen year. Those 98 girls got divided into five teams each. Every team gets a separate clue which will combine to form one last clue that will lead them to the treasure. Because every team has 19 girls, they've further divided themselves into groups to look around separately, trying to save time. I hope you understood.
Did you all enjoy the TakuMisa content in this chapter? Did it make up for the lack of it in the last one?
I know most of y'all are like - MAKE THEM KISS ALREADY and trust me, I get that. If I was reading this fic, I'd be mad at me too but hey, all good things to those who wait.
I'm so excited for the next one, y'all don't even know! I haven't started on it yet, but I'm hella pumped for it so I might start tomorrow morning hehehe
This pandemic is a hard time for everyone, I understand that but please, it's not hard to not wear a mask and if that's too uncomfortable for you, opt to stay at home instead. Wash your hands regularly, maintain social distancing and take care!
Thanks for reading!
XOXOXO
~Tear