Just a quick note before this chapter - Thankyou SOOO much to all of you for your kind reviews!
"One and a half days in the same job, Hidaka-san… I'm impressed! But still, impressive or not…you're fired."
Mr Eiri smirked at Ken, who was sitting unhappily in one of the five chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. Omi, who was in the chair next to him, couldn't believe what was happening.
"That's so unfair!" he found himself exclaiming despite Mr Eiri's cool glare. "He saved me, and Nagi, from being really hurt!"
"Tsukiyono! That makes no difference to the fact that he physically assaulted a student, and that is unacceptable. I'm sure you understand that…"
"Yeah, Tsukiyono!" Kase sneered from the end chair. "Your boyfriend is unacceptable!"
"And you, Kase, are no less!" Eiri snapped suddenly. "You and Oda are the most despicable, worthwhile scum I have ever had in my school! Have you no conscience when you see what you just did to this boy? Are you so stupid that you find it impossible to accept anyone different from yourselves? Both of you are suspended indefinitely, effective immediately. I cannot expel you on the spot, but do NOT expect to be coming back… Get out, both of you!"
Oda and Kase looked stunned, and glanced at each other before leaving sulkily. Omi thought that maybe he would have had a bit more respect for Eiri now - if only he wasn't going to fire Ken! The man obviously had common sense, more than a lot of people…if only he could make him listen! Ken had been doing what he thought was best, he had saved him from quite possibly being seriously injured…
"Mr Eiri," he said nervously, "please don't sack Ken!" Ken was watching him in surprise, and he felt himself blush, but carried on anyway. "He's a great teacher, and he didn't want to beat anyone up, he just wanted to save us! And he did, I mean, I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't come, and I know he didn't want to do it, he's not like that, he's really nice!"
Mr Eiri listened patiently until he'd finished, which was something, but shook his head as Omi bit his lip and watched him hopefully.
"I don't doubt you think so, Omi," he said, surprisingly softly. "But…" He turned to Ken. "There is just no way I can possibly keep you on, and I may as well be honest about it from the outset. This isn't just about this incident, Hidaka-san, do you understand me?"
Omi watched in confusion as Ken and Eiri-sensei stared at each other for a long moment. Ken nodded eventually, showing that he did understand - but Omi didn't! What was going on? What else was it about?
"I took a chance taking you on," Eiri was saying to Ken, and Omi knew he wasn't meant to be part of this conversation, but couldn't help wondering. "And I am not too proud to admit I was wrong… Nor am I too stupid to believe everything I hear in the papers, Hidaka-san, but that is beside point."
Omi was now completely lost. Just what was happening here? He looked at Ken. He seemed to know…
"No big deal will be made of this, Hidaka-san, but I must ask you to leave at once."
Ken nodded resignedly and stood up. Omi stood up abruptly.
"If he leaves, I…I'm going too!"
Eiri just regarded him coolly. Ken stared at him in horror.
"Omi, that's ridiculous!" Nagi exclaimed, getting to his feet too. "You can't just leave school!"
Omi felt himself turn pink, this was stupid, he knew… He had said it in the heat of the moment, because he couldn't think of anything else to do, but…but…Ken couldn't leave!!
He sat down, sighing in frustration.
"I know," he muttered. He gazed worriedly at Ken, who was frowning thoughtfully at him as Eiri dismissed Nagi quietly.
"Well, Hidaka-san," Eiri began calmly, and for a minute, just a minute, Omi thought he might have changed his mind... "I'm afraid this is goodbye." As Ken nodded and turned reluctantly to leave, Omi fought the urge to cry.
"Omi, I will expect you back in school on time tomorrow morning," the headmaster added flatly. Omi stared at him. Eiri stared back, and then Omi scrambled to his feet and ran after Ken with a barely audible "Hai, thankyou".
Eiri sighed as the door closed behind the boy. Young love was such a troublesome thing to have running rampant in a school…
"Ken! Ken!" Omi quickly caught up with Ken, who was walking slowly, in the entrance hall. He was aching still but it didn't really seem important. Ken turned and stared at him in something of a daze. Omi stopped, facing him, and they watched each other silently for a while, neither knowing what to say, or what was going through each others' minds…
"I've got the day off," Omi started eventually.
"Why?" Ken asked, and Omi shrugged.
"Can I come with you?"
Ken smiled at him, and he smiled back, following as the dark-haired boy nodded and turned towards the door. Feeling impulsive and a little braver than normal, Omi reached for his hand shyly, and they walked out of school together.
"I'm sorry I got you into trouble, and lost your job, and everything," Omi said guiltily as they reached Ken's car, not having really thought about where they were going to go. This was all his fault…
"Omi, please don't feel guilty. It's not important in the whole scheme of things, is it? Do you think I'd rather have my job back if you had been hurt? I'd give up anything if it meant you stayed OK." Omi smiled despite himself. Ken cared about him, really and truly cared for him even though they'd only known each other twenty-four hours or so…
"And besides," Ken added as they got in and he switched on the engine. "It wasn't just about that."
Omi remembered the weird conversation Ken had had with the headmaster.
"What else was it?" he asked, not sure if it was going to be something he shouldn't really be asking about. "What was he talking about in there?"
Ken sighed, seemingly thinking over what he was going to say as he drove out through the school gates.
"When I came here…well, I didn't think I'd get this job, I wasn't going to get this job, because I…I had a criminal record. I still do. Obviously."
"What?! You're a criminal?"
Ken looked at him, and suddenly, to his surprise, started laughing. Omi wasn't sure what to think, but Ken's nice, genuine laugh soon had him joining in. It wasn't like it made any difference. He didn't care if Ken was a criminal, he loved him anyway.
"Your face!" Ken exclaimed, then turned slightly more serious again. "Omi, I'm not a criminal. You believe me, don't you, nobody believed me…"
"Ken, if you say it's true, I believe it!" Ken smiled gratefully at him, and he wanted to hug him so badly he almost did, despite the fact that he was driving. "But I don't get it - how do you have a criminal record if you haven't done anything?"
"I was in the J-League, which you wouldn't know if you're not a sports fan… I was the goalie, you should have seen me, I kicked ass!" He laughed lightly and grinned at Omi. "And I never showed off… Anyway… One time I just…I just went out and suddenly the stadium lights were too bright, and I just…found I couldn't play, I couldn't think, I couldn't catch a single ball… We lost so spectacularly, it was the worst thing in the world… Someone had fixed the match, you know, made sure we lost…"
"By…by drugging you? That's terrible!"
"I know… And they thought I took the drugs myself, you know… It was in the papers and everything, they thought I was the one fixing matches, they thought…they still think it, they just forgot… That's why I didn't think I'd get the job, and I almost didn't, but I convinced him to let me have a go… And he believed me, I know it, he said he didn't believe what he read in the papers…"
"But he had to sack you anyway, because of your record and…if you stayed on people would find out about…and the school would be in trouble…"
"And I'd be in trouble. He did what was best, for me too." Omi stared out of the window for a while, considering all this. Life was so unfair! Ken didn't deserve all the stuff that had happened to him…
"If I drop you home, and you can change out of your uniform and stuff…would you like to go out with me for the day?" Ken asked suddenly. Omi looked at him quickly but Ken was staring deliberately straight ahead.
"I would love that so much!" he blurted out quickly, hoping he didn't sound too eager…
Ken turned to him, looking slightly relieved for a second, and beamed.
"Great! We can do whatever you like, it'll be really fun!"
Omi couldn't stop grinning like a maniac all the way to his home.
"I'm gonna go home for a little bit too, can I pick you up in half an hour?"
"Yeah, I can't wait!" Omi felt a bit stupid for saying that, but it didn't seem to matter… He got out of the car and was still feeling giddy inside as he watched Ken drive off.
Was this a date they were going on?
TBC