I take it back. Izumi gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to glare daggers at the back of Kageyama Shigeo's head. I take it back, it is not a pleasure meeting you.
She was dying. Not literally, of course. Izumi wanted to sob at the stupid numbers on the blackboard; wanted to leap up and snatch the chalk out of the sensei's hands and declare how stupid of a subject this was. But she couldn't do that, not without getting detention and potentially blowing her cover.
This was ridiculous. She was an assassin and spy for the Japanese government. She was trained in hybrid martial arts and could wield a katana and kitchen knife with the same efficiency. She knew how to speak 8 different languages – and yet, she couldn't even figure out the damn answer to an algebra question.
When this is all said and done, Izumi stabbed the end of her pencil into the desk, startling her seatmate. The poor guy edged slowly away from her, chair squeaking as he shuffled to the right. I'm going to burn every math textbook in this school.
"Kageyama!" Ikeda-sensei's voice cut through her thoughts. The bane of her existence, who was just two seats in front, let out a pitiful squeak of surprise. Izumi raised an eyebrow and watched with a kind of sordid satisfaction as he stammered out, "I – I don't know the answer, sensei!"
Their classmates snickered. Izumi couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was embarrassed. Slowly, he sat down, head bowed and shoulders hunched.
So he's supposed to be Japan's most powerful esper. The girl leaned back, observing the boy. He looked like an average Japanese high schooler. Save for the, er, less than expressive face he had. Other than that, she couldn't really discern much from his countenance.
But then again, I shouldn't underestimate him. Shukusei wants him for a reason. Shukusei, the same group that set off a bomb in central Nagoya two months ago. Shukusei, the organisation currently being hunted down by the government for their terrorist crimes. Shukusei, Echelon's current enemy.
"We need to make sure that they don't get their hands on him," Hana's words echoed in Izumi's mind. "Otherwise, everything that we've worked towards will be for nothing."
Turning her attention back to the board, Izumi wrenched the pencil from her desk and proceeded to write whatever the teacher was saying. Whatever she felt about this whole situation, she had no choice but to ensure Kageyama's safety – even if it meant dealing with mathematics.
"So how's the first day of school so far?" Izumi glanced up from her bag in surprise. Mezato stood in front of her desk, a bento in her hand. A few other girls were standing a few tables away, looking at them.
"It's barely been half a day," said Izumi. "But I guess it's alright." She nodded her head at the girls behind. "Um, I think they're waiting for you."
"They're waiting for us both," Mezato said. She smiled at Izumi, tilting her head in question. "Wanna eat with us?"
Eh, what the heck. "Sure, why not," Izumi returned her smile and stood, pulling her own bento out of her bag. In truth, she'd wanted to find a secluded corner of the school and call Saki and Kei, but it wouldn't hurt getting to know a couple of her classmates. It would make her integration into the school easier anyway. Guess her friends could wait till the end of the day.
Besides, Kageyama was eating in their classroom too, surrounded by his own little group of friends. As she followed Mezato to the little circle of tables where the other girls were seated, Izumi had an idea. She shifted her communicator – now in the form of a normal mobile phone thanks to Echelon's weapons unit – out of her pocket and into her palm. As she crossed in front of Kageyama's group, her grip on the device slackened and it crashed onto the floor, sliding under one of the desks they were seated at.
"Oh!" Izumi gasped. She made to stoop and grab it, but one of the boys seated beside Kageyama had already picked it up and was now holding it out towards her with a friendly smile.
"Thank you so much," Izumi bowed. "I'm so sorry for that!" She took the phone back from his hand, gingerly turning it this way and that to make sure it was okay.
"Oh, don't worry about it!" The said boy scratched the back of his neck, cheeks colouring. He definitely wasn't from their class – Izumi would have remembered a student with eyebrows that looked like a shiba inu's.
"You moved faster than normal, Inukawa," said the dark-haired girl beside him, who was chewing on a piece of tamago. She gave him a smirk. "Is it because she's a pretty girl?"
"D – don't say nonsense, President!" sputtered Dog Boy – Inukawa – but his cheeks coloured even further and he refused to meet Izumi's eye. Kurata howled with laughter, smacking his back so hard that he began to cough.
"Uh, please be gentle to Inukawa, Tome-san," said Kageyama, who was watching the whole exchange with a small smile on his face. He turned to her and bowed.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Kageyama Shigeo," Izumi resisted the urge to snap I know, you idiot, you're the reason why I'm suffering in maths class and instead bowed in return and introduced herself. Kageyama then turned and smiled at the person beside her. "Hello, Mezato-san."
"Yo, Mob-kun," the girl beside replied, grinning easily at him. Mob? Izumi startled when Mezato threw an arm over her shoulder. "So Nakamura, are you perhaps single? Inukawa over there seems to be very interested."
Are you fucking kidding me? Izumi giggled nervously, embarrassment colouring her face. At least she didn't have to fake that. Across from her, Inukawa turned a darker shade of red. "Um, I'm not really looking for any relationship now, so…"
The dark haired girl – Tome-san – snorted. "I wouldn't blame you if you said you aren't interested, you're too good for Inukawa." The aforementioned boy let out an indignant yelp, much to her delight. She ignored him, choosing to take another bite of tamago.
They bid farewell to them, Mezato dragging Izumi along back to the table. The moment they took a seat, the rest of the girls began to tease her about what happened. She waved away their teasing with light laughter. "Aw, it was just a little joke! I'm sure he's not really interested." Inside her head, however, a little Izumi was stabbing a little Tome-san repeatedly.
After lunch, the rest of the day passed by rather uneventfully. Mezato and the other girls she'd eaten with offered to walk home with her, but Izumi declined, saying that her mother would pick her up at the front gate soon, and so they left first.
As Izumi waved farewell to them, she watched Kageyama out of the corner of her eye. Her first course of action was to understand his daily schedule – what he did, who he hung out with, where he spent most of his time at. The moment he stood up and crossed the threshold she was up on her feet, nimbly manoeuvring around the rest of her classmates.
She kept a safe distance as she tailed him, feigning disinterest by fiddling with her phone. The moment the hallway cleared she pulled out the grey contact lenses she wore, hissing with relief once they were off.
Okay, he's heading for the entrance. About five minutes before he reaches it. Izumi ducked into an empty classroom, snatching the hairband out of her bag and shoving it onto her head. She pressed the third petal of the little flower decoration on the side of the band, pulling her communicator out to check that the deed was done. For good measure, she pressed a button on the side, making sure that the phone flashed into a new colour, too.
Gone were the grey from the contacts she'd shoved into her eyes this morning and the brown she'd bleached her hair to – Izumi exited the classroom with a shock of long blonde hair; bangs held back by the sweet little hairband on the crown of her head, her dark eyes zeroed in on where her ward had been moments before.
Quickening her pace, she slinked down the stairs, glimpsing Kageyama's silhouette in the window. He was talking to someone – Inukawa and another guy with spiky black hair in a different uniform. Izumi slowed as she neared them, pretending to answer a call from someone.
"— would you, Mob? I think President wants to celebrate Saruta's birthday. We can even contact the rest of the gang!" Inukawa was saying brightly, a broad smile on his face. Damn, now he looked even more like a shiba inu.
"Mm," the other guy agreed. Izumi couldn't help but stare – those were some high cheekbones. "It would be good if we found presents before then."
"I think that's a great idea. You guys can let me know which day and I'll let Master know that I won't be coming in then," said Kageyama. Izumi wrinkled her nose. Master? Geez, he had some weird fucking friends.
The movement caught his eye. As he turned towards her direction, Izumi laughed, all high-pitched and breathless. "Of course I'm happy to be seeing you, baby." She dropped her voice to a low rasp, making sure that it was still audible enough for the boys to hear. "And I can't wait to do whatever you want later, honey."
She heard Kageyama cough in embarrassment, turning away to give her some privacy. Izumi groaned. Why do I always need to act like I'm in some kind of relationship every time?!
A moment later they said their goodbyes. Izumi pretended to end her call, typing away at the screen as she followed him. They walked a couple more blocks, the girl keeping a careful eye on him. Finally she decided that it was time for her to initiate the next step in her plan. Reaching into her skirt pocket, careful to keep a solid grip on her phone, Izumi pulled out a pack of gum, unwrapping one and proceeding to chew it noisily. Izumi took a little bit of satisfaction at Kageyama's furtive look of confusion, ignoring the looks of annoyance that she was getting from the other passers-by.
"Oh, hi, Sayaka!" She trilled loudly into the phone, flipping back her long tresses. She was directly behind him now. Izumi could feel the gum in her mouth slowly starting to shrink – if she didn't hurry, the tracker would get attached to the inside of her mouth instead. The girl quickened her pace, finally overtaking Kageyama.
And then she proceeded to trip.
Izumi made sure to gasp loudly for effect. Her shoulder bumped into her unsuspecting target, who quickly grasped her elbow to steady her. Her phone dropped and skidded, screen going dark.
"Ow," she whined, carefully cradling her ankle between her palms. Above her, Kageyama was looking oh, so utterly lost, panic set into his usually calm face.
"Are – are you okay?" the boy stammered, kneeling down in front of her. Izumi resisted the urge to snap No, I just said 'Ow' and I'm holding my ankle. What do you think, genius? and instead glanced up at him through her lashes, making sure to let him see that her eyes were tearing up.
"I think I hurt my ankle."
Kageyama glanced down, brows scrunching up in sympathy. His hands were still hovering about, not really knowing where to go or what to do. Izumi sighed, taking pity on the hopeless boy.
"Can you help me get to bench?" She sniffled, chin jerking behind him. Kageyama nodded, the relief on his face evident. He wrapped an arm around Izumi's waist and gently hauled her up, setting her and her bag carefully down once they reached it.
"Oh no, my phone!" She nearly jumped up to take it, but Kageyama put a hand to her shoulder and eased her back onto the bench.
"I'll get it, you shouldn't be walking." Izumi sniffled in response, letting out a distressed wail when Kageyama passed her back her very broken phone.
"I was going to meet my boyfriend for a special evening!" She garbled, the tears flowing fast now. "How am I supposed to make him happy now!"
Through the haze of tears she could see Kageyama flush a bright red – much to her glee – and then he was fishing for something in his pocket.
"Here," he held his phone out shyly. "You can use it to, uh, call him."
She clasped his hand, bottom lip wobbling. "Thank you so much!" Heh, sucker.
Izumi coughed, the now very small gum flying into her palm. She stuck it on the bottom of his phone, angling it away so that he couldn't notice the leftover pink that was slowly dissolving into thin air. Come on!
She slowly dialled Saki's number, pressing the phone to her ears. Thankfully the girl wasn't there to receive the call otherwise Izumi wouldn't hear the last of the disgusting "conversation" that followed.
She ended the call once she was sure that the last of the gum had oxidized – sure enough, there was no more pink. She passed the phone back to a blushing Kageyama, who quickly slipped it back inside his pocket.
"You can go now," said Izumi haughtily, waving him away. Kageyama frowned, opening his mouth – probably to say no – but she shot him an annoyed look.
"I want to be alone, so can you please go? It's bad enough that I tripped because of you." That was hella harsh, but she needed him gone. Kageyama immediately shut his mouth in surprise, stammering out a reply. "I – I can't leave you alone when you're injured!"
Izumi sighed. It was sweet of him, but right now his chivalry was a hindrance to her plan. She glared, resorting to other means to get rid of him.
"Dude, I'll be fine. I may not look like much, but I can take care of myself. My boyfriend is on his way, so you better move or he's gonna beat your ass for tripping me up."
Kageyama blinked, stunned. He nodded, although unsure, and then beat a hasty retreat. As she watched him go, she noticed him saying something to the seemingly empty air beside him. Izumi frowned.
She waited for a solid fifteen minutes the moment he turned onto another street before she hopped back up, stretching. "Gah, I think my butt fell asleep," she grumbled, reaching back for her "broken" phone.
Izumi keyed in a sequence of numbers and immediately the communicator screen lit up again. She shot Saki a text telling her to block the number that called her and to quickly change her own – Sorry, Saki – before pulling up the tracking device. There. A satisfied smile spread across the girl's face as she wandered into the alley behind, ripping off the hairband from her hair and destroying the illusion.
A little red dot thrummed like a heartbeat on her screen, indicating Kageyama's whereabouts. Good. Izumi pocketed her communicator as she slipped out onto the other side of the block.
Now you won't be able to hide from me.