******
The next day…
******
Tsuzuki stood gaping at the display in front of him.
"This is it?!" Tsuzuki said in awe, staring at the massive campus that was Ohtori Academy. It was the biggest school he'd ever seen, in his life and afterlife! Looking down at the printed e-mail in his hand, Tsuzuki read the next part of the directions.
"Okay, now which way to the planetarium…" he mumbled, scratching his head and trying to figure out how to find his way around the campus. Muttering some curse words about the campus designers, he walked through the gate of the school.
He had walked not five steps when he bumped into somebody, and went sprawling to the ground.
"Watch where you're going… huh?!" Tsuzuki grumbled, but stopped when he saw whom he had bumped into.
"Tsuzu, what brings you here?" Muraki smiled, offering a hand to help Tsuzuki up.
"I could ask you the same question!"
"My presence here is none of your business,"
"Stop being cryptic!"
"But it's so much fun!"
"God, you can be so damn annoying!"
"Thank you,"
"Arg!"
"If you have to know, I'm meeting someone. Fair enough?"
"Who would be crazy enough to agree to meet you?"
"Oo, harsh Tsuzu. Maybe I won't tell you,"
"Well I'm meeting someone too, and I don't need you to ruin my day before I meet him!"
Tsuzuki stalked away from Muraki angrily. Muraki simply shrugged.
Muraki sighed, pulled out the directions his new E-partner had sent him, and kept going. "Which way to the Student Council's elevator…?"
******
Touga stood by the door to the elevator, twirling a red rose with his fingers.
"Where is he? I told him to be here by 1:00 and he's fifteen minutes late?" Touga wondered aloud.
He heard footsteps coming his way. Looking up from his rose, he saw a white-haired man with glasses and a billowy white coat walking towards the elevator.
'Must be him. Only Council members ever use this elevator and he's certainly not a council member. I guess he's kind of hot…' Touga thought, preparing himself. He stood up straight, waiting for the man to get closer.
Once there, the man leaned next to the elevator door, and began to just stand there.
'What is he doing? I'm right here!' Touga wondered.
Suddenly, the man turned his head towards Touga and asked, "Have you seen a person named Akio Ohtori around by any chance?"
Touga blinked, thoroughly confused, "Uh, not recently, no." Touga thought to himself, 'Damn! It's not him.'
"He must be late then," the man sighed, turning his face towards the ground.
"Did Akio promise to meet you here or something?" Touga asked, curious.
"Yes, he did. He told me to be at this elevator by 1:00," the man answered, not looking at Touga.
Touga laughed, "That's funny. I'm waiting for someone to be here by 1:00 as well. He's late too."
The man raised an eyebrow, "Oh, who?"
"Someone named Muraki Kazutaka. You know him?" Touga replied.
The man stiffened. "That's me!!"
"Wha?!?!" Touga yelled, accidentally pricking himself on his rose and dropping it.
Muraki turned to Touga and gave him a good looking over. "If you're the one I'm supposed to meet… you don't look like your picture at all!"
"What am I supposed to look like?!"
"Brown skin, light purple hair, red dress shirt and purple tie!"
"That's Akio!"
"Then who the hell are you?!"
"I'm Touga Kiryuu!"
"I knew it! I knew it! I knew this My E-Partner thing wouldn't work! Forces are always working against my attempts to be happy! Always!" Muraki pounded the elevator door in anger.
Touga stared at Muraki, confused.
'If he's meeting me… then who's meeting Akio?!'
******
Tsuzuki ran up the steps of Ohtori, silently cursing whoever had decided that the planetarium be near the top of the school. He huffed as he traversed the steps, and leaned against the doorframe when he finally reached the top. He caught his breath for a moment, then fell on his face in exhaustion.
"Those… stairs… are… a bastard," he muttered into the floor.
After a moment, he heard footsteps, and a pair of polished brown shoes stopped in front of his nose.
"Well, you must be the one I've been waiting for. What the hell are you doing face down on the floor though?" asked a deep voice.
Tsuzuki stood up and brushed himself off. He was face to face with a tall, slim man with brown skin and purplish hair tied back in a neat ponytail. The man wore a red dress shirt and a pair of perfectly pressed black pants. A purple tie completed the ensemble.
"You must be Tsuzuki! Akio Ohtori. Pleased to meet you," Akio shook Tsuzuki's hand heartily. Tsuzuki simply stood there, confused.
"If you're my E-partner, then you look a lot different from your picture,"
"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" Akio grinned and grabbed Tsuzuki by the wrist, dragging him back down the stairs.
"Wh—Where are we going? You aren't Touga!"
"What are you talking about? We'll talk it over in the Akio-car!"
"What?!" Tsuzuki screamed as Akio pulled him down the stairs.
******
"I can't believe this. Tsuzuki must have ended up with Akio!" Muraki narrowed his eyes, then sighed, "He's really starting to piss me off."
'So that's what Akio was talking about when he said he was having a visitor,' thought Touga. 'Well, I wouldn't put it beyond him. There's always someone up there…'
Muraki slammed the elevator again with a fist.
"Damn… you… technology!" he cried, accentuating each word with a strike.
Touga watched in slight amusement for a moment before retrieving his rose from the floor. He twirled it around in his fingers for a moment, and noticed that Muraki was staring intently at him.
"What?"
"Is that a rose you've got there?"
"Yeah. What's so great about it?"
"What do you mean what's so great?! I love roses!" Muraki ran up to admire the flower in Touga's hand, "I have thousands of flowers all over my place."
Touga thought this over for a moment, then decided to make the best of the situation.
"We have a rose garden here," Touga said, smiling behind his rose. "Would you perhaps be interested in seeing it?"
******
"Isn't this thing great? The Akio-car can drive itself, you know."
"Yeah, I can see that… Akio? Why are you taking off your shirt?"
"Because it's hot up here, that's why. Hey, have you ever wanted to see the Ends of the World?"
"Not particularly… Wh-What are you doing??…."
******
Rob came over to Bob's station and admired his handiwork.
"Well, to put it bluntly, I never thought you'd get it fixed."
"What do you mean?" asked Bob. "I'm a whiz at this stuff!"
"A whiz, huh? Who was it, then, who pushed the button before?"
"Everyone makes mistakes," said Bob, a little hurt.
"I guess so," Rob sighed and turned away.
"So… Rob. Does this mean… I can come back to bed now?"
Rob shook his head and grinned.
"Yeah, I guess you've earned it."
Bob cheered and ran for the bedroom at record speed.