Under the Right Circumstances…
Chapter 4: When Two Collide…
Secondary Test Subject no. 2: Ishijima Domon
With his hulking stature, this mohawked boy is a lot younger than he looks. Although he absolutely adores the primary test subject, his feelings are not reciprocated by his classmate, who perceives him merely as a very dear friend. However, under the right circumstances, this could all change…
["You didn't write that much about him. Maybe we should add something else about him." ~K~
"There is nothing to add. With Domon-niichan, what you see is what you get." ~G~
"Oh…" ~K sweatdropping~]
"Where is he now?" Kenji asked urgently as he darted through the growing crowd towards the park entrance.
"I don't know, Kenji," his brother's voice came over frustrated, "I'm meant to be looking out for the third one, remember?"
"Well, where was he headed?"
"He seemed to be heading towards the merry-go-round."
"The merry-go-round?" Kenji, who'd memorised the faces of the three test subjects, tried to imagine the big, nose-ringed teenager riding on one of the cute, rotating horses and failed. Miserably.
"I didn't say he was headed for it, I said he was heading in that direction Kenji, so stop thinking what I know you're thinking. Now, he was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and blue shorts. Can't tell you much besides that."
"Roger. I'll head there now and try to see if I can spot him, okay?" Kenji said as he took a sharp left. He knew the place like the back of his hand and this path was going to take him straight to the carousel.
******
"Okay," Seiji said into his walkie-talkie. After a while, he ventured, "So little bro… after this, I don't owe you any more favours, right?"
"Heh heh," Seiji could practically hear his brother grinning.
"Well?" he pushed, "You promised."
"I told you, only if everything works out."
"Hey, it's not my fault you came up with such a lousy plan."
"We-ell, I'll think about it…"
"Kenji! Seiji fumed, "Since when have you ever cared about school work anyway?"
"It's to help Ganko's neechan."
"But isn't that the kid who always beats you up? Why would you want to help her?"
"Teehee 'cause she's cute. You wouldn't understand niichan."
Seiji just rolled his eyes. "Cute and violent. Doesn't make sense to me."
"Told you suh…"
"Huh?" Seiji shook his walkie-talkie. "You're breaking up. Kenji?"
All he got in reply was some static and then… nothing. Seiji swore. The batteries had died.
"Great," he muttered, "this day just gets better and better."
Suddenly, a tall boy with long, brown hair walked right past him. Seiji resisted the urge to laugh out maniacally. He should've been a fortune-teller. But then again, a fortune-teller would know what to do now – which he didn't.
He didn't want to leave his post to follow the guy. On the other hand, he had no way of warning Kenji of Mikagami's arrival. Seiji stood, undecided, as the tall figure grew more and more distant.
"Kuso!" He swore and beckoned one of the other employees over, "I'm taking a break, okay?" he said, running after Mikagami.
"But.."
"I'll be back soon!" he called, making sure he kept the younger boy in sight. 'This had better be worth it', he thought.
******
Secondary Test Subject no. 3: Mikagami Tokiya
With a troubled past which still haunts him, this seventeen-year-old high school heartthrob has a temperament that makes even Frosty the Snowman seem red hot. With his ice-cold demeanour and the primary test subject's steaming temper, under the right circumstances, we may yet see the workings of the theory: 'opposites attract'…
"Sei? Oniichan?"
There was no reply. Kenji sighed. Things were starting to go wrong. He scanned the people around him anxiously. There was no sign of the mohawked man.
"Shimatta," he muttered in frustration. They were in big trouble now. He was still trying to decide whether to page Ganko or not when there was a flash of yellow at the corner of his eye.
He turned. A distance to his right was a figure which hulked over the rest of the crowd. His nose ring gleaming in the sun, Ishijima Domon sauntered through the bustling crowd grinning conspicuously.
Kenji breathed a sigh of relief and slowly began to make his way to the teenager, who'd stopped at a fairy floss stall at the side of the road. It was at the point that another figure caught his eye. With his brown hair flowing behind him, even Kenji stopped in his tracks in admiration. Then he shook his head and yelled aloud in panic. Mikagami Tokiya was heading straight towards Ishijima.
Kenji tried to push his way forward in the dense crowd, but it was like trying to run underwater. With a sinking feeling (no pun intended), he knew he wasn't going to make it.
******
Seiji lunged forward in desperation as Mikagami neared the mohawked man. It the two met each other, it would be all over for him.
He was so close to Mikagami. Only a few steps more…
Then he tripped.
He lay on the ground, numb. Kenji was going to tell on him, and his mum would make sure that he was dead by morning.
Seiji waited expectantly for an exclamation of "What are you doing here?!" or the like from one of the two teenagers, but none came.
Slowly picking himself up, he looked up apprehensively. All he saw was Ishijima's face peering at him strangely, a stick of cotton candy in his hand. "Uh, you okay?" he asked.
Seiji looked around for Mikagami and saw him walking up ahead. He had completely missed Ishijima.
"Gawww…" Seiji clutched at his chest. He felt as though he'd had a heart attack.
"Uh…" Domon gave him another strange look.
Ignoring him, Seiji painfully continued his pursuit of the Ensui-wielder. Ishijima was Kenji's responsibility and Mikagami was his.
He groaned. This was so not worth it.
******
Kenji expelled the long breath he'd been holding. It'd been sheer luck that the two boys had passed without seeing each other. Then he grinned as he saw a decidedly ruffled Seiji take off after the other boy. 'Thanks niichan,' he thought.
He quickly made his way towards Domon. He'd better do something before things got out of hand again. When he was close enough, Kenji darted forward and grabbed the fairy floss out of the big man's hand.
"Hey!" Domon yelled, diving forward, but his hands only grasped air.
"Heehee, betcha can't catch me!" Kenji stuck his tongue out and took off, making sure he kept in sight of the older boy.
Domon gave a roar that scattered the crowd and charged after the boy. He was going to get his candy back at any cost.
******
Seiji's heart thumped hard in his chest as Mikagami turned around again. This time, the teenager started walking in his direction. Seiji quickly dived towards the nearest stall for cover.
"Well, what a surprise," a voice said dryly.
"Huh?" Seiji looked up and groaned when he saw a black-haired girl about his age behind the table. Why, of all the stalls, did he have to pick this one?
"I thought you were on entrance duty," Chihiro said, unsmiling, as she folded her arms.
"I-I am," Seiji said, taking furtive glances at the approaching Mikagami, "I'm just taking a break at the moment."
Chihiro looked at him disbelievingly and followed his eyes towards Mikagami. Seiji saw her look and quickly said, "Uh, so… how's business going?"
She harrumphed. "Since when have you cared?" she said bitingly.
The two first met in high school two years ago. Chihiro had transferred from another local school and ever since an unfortunate incident where Seiji had spilled ink all over her uniform, they'd never gotten along. Their relationship turned even nastier when the two found out that they were workmates a few weeks ago, getting part-time jobs at the same amusement park.
Seiji peeked at Mikagami out of the corner of his eyes. The swordsman was heading straight towards him now. "Look, I gotta go," he said to Chihiro in a panicked voice.
"What..?" she started to ask when the brown-haired boy Seiji had been watching appeared in front of them.
"Why are you following me?" he asked Seiji in an icy-cold voice.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Seiji felt beads of perspiration forming on his brow.
"I believe you've followed me the moment I set foot in this place." The boy hadn't raised his voice at all, but his tone made the hairs on Seiji's neck rise.
Chihiro quietly watched the exchange. She was startled to see a desperate look on Seiji's face. She'd never seen him look like that before. She'd always thought him an arrogant and snooty guy, especially since he'd never apologised for the ink incident. But now, he just looked like a normal boy, with all traces of that arrogance gone. Maybe that was what made her intervene on his behalf.
"Excuse me," she said without blinking an eye at the lie she was about to tell, "I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding. You see, Gensuki is our wandering fortune teller. That is, his job is to wander through the crowd and tell people their fortunes. It keeps the customers happy and entertained. That's why you must've thought he was following you."
Sceptical blue eyes regarded her. But she sounded so convincing that the boy didn't ask any questions.
Seiji, meanwhile, was looking at Chihiro in astonishment. She was… helping him out? Didn't she absolutely hate him? Then he shook his head as he remembered what was at stake.
"Uh, that's right," he said, thinking quickly as Mikagami turned back to him. "I'm sorry if I scared you in any way, sir." Seiji felt mildly humiliated at having to call a younger boy "sir", but pride was not the most important thing at the moment. "Let me make it up to you by telling you your fortune."
Mikagami just turned and started to walk away.
"Hey, I'm not a fake , you know! People are willing to pay me for my services!" Seiji called desperately after him. "You have to go to the mirror house behind the dodgem car complex! You'll find what you're looking for there!"
The tall boy's shoulders slumped as he watched Mikagami disappear into the surging crowd. There was nothing he could do now except wait… and hope. He turned back. Chihiro was watching him in a way which made him feel uncomfortable. "So, why exactly were you following him?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well…" he started to say, then stopped. "Wait a minute. You don't think that I…"
"What? I didn't say anything."
Seiji groaned in frustration. "You didn't have to say anything! I was not stalking him or anything like that!"
"Sure," Chihiro said, sounding anything but it.
"I really wasn't!"
"Whatever."
There was an awkward silence. Then:-
"Thanks."
Surprised brown eyes met a pair of earnest hazel ones. It was odd that she'd never noticed it before. Well… maybe not, when she considered how she'd always thought of kicking his butt instead of looking at him. But… he had really beautiful eyes. Chihiro felt her cheeks grow hot as she caught herself. She quickly turned away. There was no way she'd let Gensuki see her blush! "It's no problem," she said, forcing a shrug.
Seiji knew he should've left right then, but he didn't. He cleared his throat. He was so going to regret this! "You know," he said, embarrassed, "I'm sorry about that, uh, I mean the, um, first day of school when… you know. It was an accident. I wanted to apologise sooner, but… I never got the chance."
Chihiro turned back to look at him. It was true, now that she thought about it. Whenever Seiji had come within conversation distance, she would angrily stalk away in the opposite direction.
"That's okay," she mumbled and, to Seiji's great surprise, gave him a fleeting smile. "I guess we both acted like idiots back then."
Seiji didn't know why, but as he started to walk back to his post, he felt as though a great weight had been lifted off his chest. Heck, he really couldn't care less if Kenji told on him now. Okay, maybe that wasn't exactly true… Anyway, he did feel as though things were getting a whole lot better.
"Definitely," he said aloud.
"Hey, Gensuki!" Chihiro's voice called after him, making people nearby turn in curiousity, "I couldn't let you go without you knowing! He definitely was not your type at all!"
Seiji spluttered and tripped. Next time, he should just keep his big mouth shut.
Author's note: Had lots of fun writing that :). I'm thinking that there'll just be one more chapter. Tell me what you think, guys. Btw, will take me a while to update (again) because I really dunno how this is all going to end.
What'll happen to Ganko's and Kenji's experiment? Will it succeed or will it not succeed? And who will Fuuko choose? What abour Ryousuke? What about Ryousuke? All will be revealed next chapter. Stay tuned.
(Don't worry, I'm just being silly.)