Happy Holidays y'all! Especially to my beta reader who will suffer through the editing process with me.
Quick recap: Ritsu teamed up with the student council secretary to take down Asagiri. Chapter ended with them deciding to target the "Guards" by framing them.
'Thoughts'
Ritsu's true thoughts (italicized, underlined)
Mogami (bold, italicized)
Dikephobia - Fear of Justice
Adachi was a quick thinker. Something that made sense in retrospect. Getting on the Council was fairly easy considering that people like Tsuda and Sano were on it, but staying on it was an entirely different matter. It required punctuality, cleanliness, and, most notably, exceptional grades.
Still, that didn't stop the surprise Ritsu felt when he received a message from her the next day at lunch.
Adachi (The Council)
{Come to the second floor. Room 206)
{Quick)
Shoving his phone into his back pocket, he easily navigated through the crowded cafeteria as students created a path from him to the exit. He tossed the bland mush on his tray into the nearest bin on his way out and headed toward the nearest flight of stairs.
Making his way through an empty hallway, he stopped in front of room 206. Pushing the door open, he noticed two things. The first thing he noticed was the lack of a teacher, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence during lunch. The second thing he noticed was Adachi standing beside a desk. She was hunched over, her back facing him, doing something. He stepped into the classroom, squinting, trying to get a better idea of what she was doing, before announcing his presence with two firm knocks on the door.
"Mmf!" Adachi jumped and spun around to face him. Her wide eyes locked onto his own puzzled ones. Ritsu broke eye contact first, his eyes flicking down to exactly what was in her mouth.
Ritsu quickly, but very quietly, shut the door.
A mechanical pencil lay between her teeth. Bright pink and covered in bites.
He didn't try to hide the disgusted curl of his lip as he watched Adachi add the pencil to one of two piles on the desk.
Ritsu locked the door.
If someone walked in on the Secretary, a member of the Council, chewing on pencils like some grade schooler, especially with the Vice President present, the aftermath would be disastrous. He didn't even want to entertain the thought of one of Asagiri's many fans walking in on them.
"Adachi-san," he hissed, careful not to raise his voice. Shouting was for those who couldn't control themselves and couldn't control others, not for Ritsu. But that didn't mean that he didn't want to. "What in the world are you doing?"
"I was tr—"
"Do you have any idea how this looks?" Ritsu moved away from the door. "A Council member shoving pencils in their mouth like some snot-nosed toddler!"
"First off, that was rude. Secondly, Kageyama-san, if you would please—"
"What if someone else walked in? Then what?" he continued. "That's the last thing we nee—"
"Kageyama, let me speak!" Adachi practically yelled, making Ritsu snap his head to the door to see if anyone heard. He waited a beat before turning to Adachi, silent
"Thank you," she said, quieter this time. "I'm sorry for not telling you that I was doing something unbecoming beforehand, and sparing you from the shock. Now—" standing a bit taller, she gestured her arm toward the desk she stood beside—"do you know whose desk this is?"
Ritsu looked at the desk. Not so coincidentally, it was the only one that didn't have it's drawer pulled out.
"Eguchi-san's," he mumbled. It wasn't a guess.
"Correct." Adachi smiled slightly as she gestured to the piles: one chewed, one unchewed. "And do you know whose pencils these are?"
The pencils of every other student. Ritsu nodded.
"Do you understand?" she asked, although it was clear that he did. "This is how we're going to frame him."
While Ritsu couldn't deny that the plan would work—having a pencil-biter hang around her would bring down Asagiri's social standing considerably—he couldn't help the way his eyes drifted back over to the dented pencils. They were filthy. Even if he couldn't actually see the dirt, he knew that those seemingly spotless pencils had been in the hands of students who've done who knows what.
And Adachi was putting them in her mouth.
"Lunch will be over soon. Can you close the desks for me?" The second year brought a plain yellow pencil up to her mouth. She stopped short when she noticed Ritsu frowning again and he swore that she almost rolled her eyes. "Kageyama-san, you'll soon learn that some things are worth it in order to get back at Asagiri-san."
The image from the other day violently flashed in Ritsu's mind.
"Even what you did to Kageyama?"
Adachi looked surprised. "What?"
"The pictures," Ritsu pressed. He'd brushed her behavior off at the time but now it was the only thing he could focus on. "Of Asagiri-san bullying him. I'm not going to act like you could've stood a chance against Asagiri's Guards, but did you have to take the pictures? Was it worth humiliating him?"
"I—" Adachi paused and looked at him with eyes that suddenly looked so tired. "When it comes to Minori? Yeah, it was."
All Ritsu could do was stare back at her. What had Asagiri done to bring her to this? To take pictures of others' pain? His eyes fell back to her mouth. To bite pencils?
Adachi followed his gaze back to her mouth and actually rolled her eyes this time. "Oh come on!" she nudged his shoulder, knocking him off balance. "It's not like you're the one doing the biting. Plus, after this, we'll have one less Guard to deal with."
Ritsu sighed but said nothing to his upperclassman, letting her drop their previous conversation. They worked silently, him closing desks and her chewing on pencils. By the end of the day, if things went the way they planned, rumors of Eguchi Michi being a creep with a thing for pencils would be traveling all throughout the school. He could only hope that Adachi wouldn't contract some sickness and infect him.
While pushing the fifteenth desk closed, his attention was pulled to his shoes. It was hard to put into words, but they felt wrong; like they didn't belong to him. Perhaps they were too tight.
The right shoe had most of his attention however. Tucked between the thick folds of white fabric, there was a red stain. It was tiny, enough so that it couldn't feasibly be found unless you were specifically looking for it.
Tomato soup. Placed there from when Asagiri's bowl "slipped" from her hands. He'd spent the better part of that day cleaning his shoes back into pristine perfection but his fingers were just too fat for the small corner that protected the remaining stain and when he returned home, neither a cotton swab nor soaking the shoe on water helped to remove it.
Why does it matter?
The sound of him shoving the last desk closed was drowned out by knocking on the door.
Both he and Adachi froze.
"Why is this door locked?" It sounded like a student, much to his relief. Still, what were they doing here? "Adachi, you in there? You have to come help with math, you promised!"
Ritsu looked at his upperclassman. She was frowning, clearly trying to remember something. Then she smacked her head and quickly shouldered her backpack.
"I'll be right out!" she called. Then, quieter, "How did I forget about that?"
Probably because getting rid of Asagiri as soon as possible was more important than helping slackers with their homework, Ritsu wanted to say. Of course, doing so would be pointless since the girl was already making her way toward the door.
He openly frowned at her when she looked back at him. In response, she gave him an apologetic smile but unlocked the door anyway. Opening up a crack just big enough for her to step through without him being seen, she frantically motioned to the finished pile of pencils on the desk before closing the door behind her.
The muffled sounds of her talking with her classmate soon faded to nothingness and Ritsu was left alone. He directed his displeasure toward the gross pencils that he now realized he would have to touch in order to transfer to Eguchi's desk. Just his luck.
However, it didn't matter whether or not he wanted to do it. Lunch would come to an end soon and the alternative to leaving the pencils behind was far worse than having to touch them. So, with his nice, clean hands, he slid the bitten pencils off the desk and into the open basket.
"I'm definitely picking the plan next time," he grumbled, sticking his arms out, away from the rest of his body, and resisting the urge to wipe the spit off on his blazer.
A problem arose however when he realized that Adachi had not, in fact, finished biting all the pencils. The pile of unchewed pencils still remained. Although, it was less of a pile and more of a lone red wooden pencil.
His first instinct was to pocket it. It made the most sense after all. Pocket it and throw it away as soon as possible. Sure, Adachi might be fine biting pencils but there was no way he was going to stoop to that level.
Aren't you so above it all? The Great Kageyama Ritsu. Your naïvete almost makes me want to laugh. Pencil biting is so so miniscule compared to everything that I have planned for you.
So, if it was so easy to just pocket it, why was he just holding it in his hand?
The red of the wood seemed to taunt him. Undented. Smooth. Perfect.
He found himself bringing it closer to his face. It was just to get a better look, he told himself. Close to his eyes, not his lips—but perhaps that's what he'd like to believe—he peered at it. No pencil could be this perfect.
Do it.
He slammed the pencil back on the desk.
There was no way he was actually considering biting a pencil. No way.
Ritsu took a deep breath. The fact that he was even thinking of all of this was insane. It made him seem insane. Which he wasn't. But, then again—he looked to a corner of the wall—wasn't it insane to think that a spider was staring at you? Wasn't it insane to stare right back at its eight beady, black eyes?
The pencil found its way back into his hands. Closer to his mouth than before.
Up close, the shade of red was exactly like the small stain. It was almost funny enough for him to laugh at whatever he was doing and actually pocket the pencil before lunch ended.
Almost.
"Some things are worth it in order to get back at Asagiri-san."
The pencil came closer to his lips.
He opened his mouth, the stain on his shoe burning.
Do. It.
He felt the wood on his tongue, urged by eight tiny eyes, and whatever perfection the pencil had splintered between his teeth.
"Can I borrow a pencil?"
That was the question that filled the room. It came in the form of soft murmurs and rushed whispers. And each time it was asked, it just caused the question to multiply. Soon, students were hurriedly traveling to the edges of the classroom, hoping to find someone with a pencil.
It was frantic, it was panicked, and it was exactly what they wanted.
Ritsu stood before Adachi's class. His eyes scanning and his armband gleaming. Adachi stood next to him, having come to him the moment he walked in with the excuse of "Council business."
Eventually, his eyes settled on a boy in the back. His hands laid on top of his desk, intertwined so tightly that his knuckles were white. He sat with his back straight and made eye contact with anything and everything but the desk. It was this—his stillness, his silence—that made him stick out like a sore thumb.
Target #1: Eguchi Michi
Ritsu made eye contact with Adachi, who had also been staring at the boy, and she gave him a firm nod. Okay, he thought, taking a steadying breath, it was time to put an end to the chaos.
"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" His question, soft as it was, quieted the students. He put on an appeasing smile. "Maybe I can help."
Most of the students just stared at him. No doubt wondering what the Vice President was doing in their class. Probably even wondering if they wanted to stoop to relying on an underclassman for pencils. However, one of them, a girl with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, spoke first.
"All of our pencils are gone."
"All of them?" Ritsu pressed. "How is that even possible?"
"I know right!" Ponytail said, frustrated and not seeming to care who she was talking to. "Like, I know that I placed my pencil—it's red, nonmechanical—in my desk before heading to lunch!"
"And this is the same for everyone else?" Ritsu looked at the rest of the class, who all—almost all—nodded. He sighed, resigned, and then asked, "Have you considered the possibility that they were actually stolen?"
Eguchi flinched in his peripheral vision.
Ritsu tried not to let the flash of anticipation in his gut show through his expression.
A look of contemplation swept across the faces of the students as they considered his words. Then, "Actually," a girl with short black hair spoke. Her voice was familiar but he couldn't remember from where. Unhelpful since he got that feeling that whatever she was going to say was going to mess with their plans. "Adachi was in here during lunch."
Oh, Ritsu thought, clenching his teeth. She was the slacker who asked Adachi for math help.
"And the door was locked."
At that, murmurs broke out among the class. Most of the students eyed Adachi, others eyed her desk. If he were an idiot, Ritsu might've acted on his urge to tell them all to shut up. Since he wasn't, he kept his face carefully blank and also eyed Adachi.
Adachi, for her part, seemed fine. Unlike with Asagiri, the scrutiny of her entire class didn't faze her. In fact, by her straight back and unflinching eyes, she looked to be taking it in stride.
"You think I stole your pencils?" she said, taking a step forward into a stream of sunlight coming from the window.
The murmurs stopped but no one spoke to confirm or deny her question; which was confirmation in of itself. He saw the way their eyes shifted down to her armband, spotlighted by the sunshine. He saw the way things became clear to them. Her power, their accusation, and the underlying threat of it all.
"It's alright, really." A false reassurance on her part. He could see the edges of a smile, far more reassuring than he could ever pull off, lift her rosy cheeks. "How about this? We can go and check everyone's desk. I doubt that the proposed culprit could get far with all of our pencils. We'll even check mine first."
Ritsu, who already had the boy on his radar, flicked his eyes over to Eguchi's wide ones. Those eyes briefly made contact with Ritsu's before he ducked his face and focused on his shaking hands.
All while that was happening, Adachi made her way to her desk and pulled her drawer out as the rest of the class craned their necks to get a peak.
"Nothing's there."
It was an unfamiliar voice that spoke, some random student Ritsu didn't care to identify. He had to applaud Adachi for waiting for someone else to declare her innocence. It was a clever way to seem more credible.
"I was in the classroom because I wanted to go get my notes and pencil," Adachi said before whispers could start up again. "But, as you can probably expect, I couldn't find my pencil. Hopefully, we'll all find it in one of these desks, yeah?"
Her words reminded the class of the plan and soon they were all scattering to search each desk. The air was tense to say the least as students rummaged through their classmates' desks and watched as others rummaged through theirs. Ritsu quickly joined them, starting with a wide berth before closing in on Eguchi.
"Hey," he said casually to the pale boy, "do you mind if I check your desk?"
Ritsu watched as Eguchi's eyes shifted sporadically, weighing his options. Say yes, and he'd be found guilty and made a laughing stock. Say no, and he'd make the Vice President suspicious and therefore the rest of the class. He was cornered.
Eguchi let his head hang before slowly lowering his hands to tentatively pull out the desk drawer on his own. The pile of missing pencils sat right in the center, just like Ritsu knew it would.
"H-honestly," Eguchi said, sneaking a glance at Ritsu who was looking at the red pencil on the top of the pile, "I have no idea how these got here. You gotta believe me, man."
Ritsu just drew his lips taut and that alone made the upperclassman shrink in on himself.
"Found them."
The whole class snapped their heads toward Ritsu. In the next instant, they were all by his side, peering over Eguchi's hunched back and into his desk. It didn't take long for outrage to spark among the class.
"Ewewewew—ew!"
"What the fuck, dude!"
"Language," Ritsu cut in.
"Uh, yeah, you can keep my pencil, I'm good."
"You're such a creep! How the hell did you even manage to do that so fast?"
"Look at him, are you honestly that surprised? God, I can't believe Asagiri-chan hangs out with him."
With each insult, Eguchi drew more and more in on himself. He clenched his eyes, vainly trying to block out his classmates. Soon, he began to look more like a rock than a boy. A sweaty, terrified rock.
"Are you going to do anything about him?" a student asked from behind Ritsu.
Rather than addressing the student, he looked at the teacher who had been quietly sitting behind his desk the whole time—utterly useless. "Are you?" Ritsu parroted, his gaze fixed onto the teacher's.
As if his stare was a spotlight, the entire class was soon looking with him. Their collected gaze thawed the ice keeping the teacher still and he, somewhat begrudgingly, got up from his chair and walked over to the desk. He slid his eyes toward Ritsu's armband right before he looked at the pile of pencils, curled his lip, and dragged Eguchi out of the classroom, pinching the skin right above his elbow.
"I'll go grab some clean pencils for everyone," Adachi called out, breaking the brief silence that had settled in the room. She was the only one not huddled around Eguchi's desk.
"I'll come with you," Ritsu said. He was ready to head back to his own class and catch up on whatever he missed.
Adachi gave him a small nod and the two of them soon found themselves outside of the class. They walked in silence all the way down to the first floor before the second year let out an enormous sigh of relief.
"That was petrifying!" The cool demeanor she had in class quickly faded away and her hands started to shake with pent up adrenaline. "I can't believe we did that!" she hissed before pausing and slowly turning toward Ritsu, a wide smile on her face. "We actually did that! Can you believe it?"
He just stared at her, a bit taken aback by her excitement. His initial thought was that of course it was going to work. That's how things usually went for him. But then he remembered how impromptu Adachi's plan had been, how close she'd gotten to getting caught by not just him, but her whole class.
It was tempting to freak out about the lack of planning. Maybe reignite the flames of their earlier argument during lunch. But as adrenaline built up in his own brain at the thought of them almost getting caught and as he stared longer and longer at Adachi's infectious smile, he couldn't help but feel...giddy himself.
"Okay, yes, we did it," he agreed, suppressing a smile of his own. He opened the door to the staff supply room and pulled out packs of fresh wooden pencils. "But, we're going to actually plan our next take down, okay?"
"Alright," Adachi said, her spirit not the least bit dampened. She grabbed the packs from him and whispered, "Three more to go, Kageyama-san."
Ritsu allowed himself to smile as she turned her back to him. Three more Guards until he could rid himself of Asagiri.
Success.
The sky was its usual cloudy gray as they walked home. But, based on the bounce in her step, that didn't seem to change Adachi's cheerful mood. Ritsu, already down from the unexpected high of dealing with Eguchi, stared at her and wondered how long she would keep it up.
"I'm already thinking about what we can do next, Kageyama-san!" she gushed as they walked along the sidewalk.
"Do you plan on telling me about it this time?"
"I didn't take you as someone to shoulder a grudge," she said conspiratory as she stroked her chin.
Ritsu turned away from her with a scoff. "I'm not the one with an entire takedown board in my r—"
Laughter. He could hear laughter up ahead. His steps became unconsciously slower and softer as he moved closer to the noise. Adachi's gaze pierced into his skull but she too began to mimic him all the way up until they rounded the corner.
Before them was a group of boys, which wasn't uncommon, but it didn't explain the distinctly feminine laughter. It was only when Adachi stopped in her tracks that Ritsu realized what he truly crept upon.
Now, Kageyama Ritsu wasn't one to complain, he wasn't a child. He was Vice President and he was above such behavior. That, however, didn't keep his mind from running.
Didn't Adachi say that she hung out behind the school?
Why was she here?
Why did Ritsu keep on running. Into. Her?
"Adachi-san," he hissed to the still frozen girl, "let's take a different route—"
"Hey, kohai!"
Ritsu held his tongue.
Asagiri popped her head out of the wall of boys and waved to him as though the last thing he said to her wasn't "I don't like you." Her voice brought Adachi back into focus and the brunette soon stepped closer to Ritsu, hunched.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Asagiri said as she made her way over to him, lackeys in tow.
'Neither was I,' Ritsu seethed mentally.
His lack of a response didn't seem to deter her. "Us and a couple more friends are gonna be hanging out at my place around 9:00. You should come with us! It's going to be real fun." She slid her eyes over to Adachi before sneering, "That doesn't include you by the way, Tomo-chan, sorry."
Her snide comment didn't seem to even reach Adachi's ears though. The second year was too busy looking at the boys around Asagiri. Ritsu could see her mind working before she suddenly stood taller, the faintest of smirks on her face.
"What happened to Eguchi-san?" she asked, the first time Ritsu had ever heard her speak to Asagiri.
He immediately looked at the crowd around the girl and found that it was short one person. The sight mixed with Asagiri's reaction almost, almost, made him laugh.
"What's it matter to you?" the girl in question huffed, her shackles raised.
"Oh," Adachi said, taking a step closer to Asagiri, her armband bright against the gloomy sky, "I just wanted to ensure that he wasn't sick. You know how dirty pencils can be."
"Oh," Asagiri's shoulders relaxed and a small smile slid onto her face, "and you would know all about dirt, wouldn't you?"
Ritsu heard Adachi's breath catch and could only hope that Asagiri didn't. Her eyes were closed, her hands clenched, and her breath steadied. Finally, she stared directly at Asagiri and turned her chin up.
"Try to get better companions, Asagiri-san. Your current image could use all the help it can get."
Adachi walked off, not waiting for a response, and Ritsu soon fell into step with her. They didn't talk about Eguchi or Asagiri or Adachi's soft sniffling. They just stopped at the second year's apartment, agreed to meet after the next Council meeting, and parted ways.
Ritsu's walk home was silent for the most part without Adachi. That was until pained cries reached his ears. He thought it was a cat at first, the city was full of strays, but the "Leave me alone!" that joined the cries told him otherwise.
Just around the corner was your typical victim-bully interaction. The victim was some scrawny kid cowering on the ground and the bully was a slightly bigger kid looming over him. Lots of cursing, lots of crying, the usual routine.
Ritsu would've left it alone—he was athletic but he was far from a fighter—but he recognized the bully. He squinted at the sight and his suspicions were confirmed. The bully was Kaneko Raidon, one of the Guards. He almost perfectly matched the pictures in Adachi's room.
And just like that, Ritsu had something to use against him.
He reached into his bag and pulled out his phone. Someone somewhere was surely looking down on him, but their disapproval wasn't enough to stop Ritsu from recording the incident. However, a gruesome sounding punch to the victim's nose did the trick, making Ritsu stop the video, pocket his phone, and step off of the concrete pathway and toward the fight.
"Kaneko-san," he called out. The upperclassman immediately snapped his head toward him, allowing Ritsu to see the blood spilling down the victim's nose.
You could'v—I should've stopped that from happening.
Ritsu made sure to keep his face from revealing any of the queasiness in his stomach.
Some things are worth it to stop Asagiri.
"What is it?" Kaneko asked, hesitant, his eyes on the band around Ritsu's arm.
"Leave him alone." Ritsu looked both of the boys up and down. The victim was in a beige school uniform he didn't recognize and didn't care for. Kaneko was still wearing Salt High's uniform. Idiot. "Your behavior is unsightly."
Kaneko raked his eyes over Ritsu. He could tell what the older boy's thinking. Ritsu could report him. Ritsu should report him.
He won't. Not yet at least. Not without cutting all his ties with Asagiri.
But Kaneko didn't know that.
And so, the boy grabbed his stuff, hunched his shoulders, and left. The moment he was gone, the victim visibly relaxed. He struggled to stand and Ritsu just watched.
"Thank you," the boy muttered when he finally stood, looking at Ritsu like he was some kind of savior. He then rambled on about why the attack happened, something involving football, all while he kept that same look on his face.
Stop it. Don't thank me. I don't deserve it.
DING-DONG DING-DONG
The rhythmic tap-tap of President Makino bouncing her foot against the floor filled the meeting room. Normally, a noise so soft would be drowned out by all the discussion of important business, but everyone was dead silent that day. It was forty minutes past the bell, and someone was missing.
Ritsu sat with his back as straight as a rod and hands folded together. He didn't dare make a move that would bring the irritated President's attention to him. His eyes were glued to the empty seat in front of him. It was Public Relations Officer Tsuda's, but he'd given notice of his absence a day in advance. No, the main source of all the tension was the empty seat beside a sweating Secretary Adachi.
Forty minutes had passed since the bell rang and Treasurer Sano wasn't here.
Although it would've made more sense to, the President refused to start the meeting without him. She didn't say why and Ritsu didn't need her to. Walking into a silent room would not only put Sano on the spot when he finally decided to show up, it would stress how thoroughly screwed he was.
There was a second, underhanded reason as well. One that Ritsu could see clear as day no matter how stoic Makino's face was. The second reason for her not starting the meeting was that she could. She could stall the meeting as long as she liked. She could keep them in this room as long as she liked. She could stop them from going home as long as she liked. As President, she had the control, and the rest of them, if they wanted to keep their coveted positions, couldn't say shit.
And so, the three lower members of the Council sat in their stiff chairs as the President watched the clock go by, her ire becoming suffocating.
A life under others, by their terms. This is how your stupid brother lives his days. This is the pathetic path you're following.
Suffocating.
Forty-eight minutes after the bell.
Sano finally walked in.
It would perhaps be better to describe his entrance as bursting in. He had an almost wild look in his baggy eyes and his chest heaved frantically like someone who knew they messed up. It wasn't a good look for him. It wasn't a good look for a Council member.
The President stood from her seat and placed her hands flat on the head of the table with a calmness that went against everything else her body language said. "Let's skip the pleasantries, Sano-san, it's already so late. I'd ask for a reason for your tardiness but I frankly don't care. Do you have the budget report?"
The Treasurer, skin wet with sweat, had his feet glued to the floor. He opened his mouth, closed it, looked at the rest of the members for help he wouldn't get, and repeated the process from the beginning. Sano Kaori was a gaping fish.
Finally, he mumbled out, "I forgot it."
"Then just pull up the digital copy, I'll wait."
"I forgot to do it."
Ritsu's breath caught in his lungs at the same time that Adachi sank in her chair.
"I was hoping to have this discussion privately with you," Makino sighed as she rose to her full height, hands clasped together, "but this, coupled with your gross misuse of time, is something that needs to be addressed immediately."
Sano wanted to look away from the President, Ritsu could tell, but he kept his eyes on her. Smart.
"You have an important position Sano-san, even more so as the one handling our finances. And yet, you're late. You've wasted my time, you've wasted the time of your fellow members—"
Don't act like you didn't have a part in that.
'Don't act like you didn't have a part in that,' Ritsu thought.
"I would revoke your title—" Sano froze—"but we're too close to Open House for such a change. Don't think it can't happen later though, many would be eager to take your place." The President's eyes were sharp behind her glasses. "Take a seat, what are you waiting for?"
Sano sat down next to Adachi, the legs of his chair harshly scratching against the floor. Adachi pointedly kept her eyes glued to her paper and the meeting began fifty minutes past the bell. Finally.
Business went on as usual, regardless of how unusual the atmosphere was. Ritsu asked for officer reports and, like always, the President had something to say.
"We're making progress with the report boxes. I won't lie to you and say that we still aren't getting plenty of phony slips, but it's become easier to tell the real from the fake, especially when looking at the handwriting." Makino gave them all a smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes. "Soon, we'll be able to help our fellow students."
Makino sat down and the rest of the reports continued. With the poor start to the meeting, no one wanted to drag out their time at school any longer with reports. However, Ritsu couldn't let himself be idle, not while Asagiri was still at large.
"I wish to make this brief," he said, starting his report. "I'm excited that the report boxes are showing results, but I fear that we won't be able to get far."
The President sat up at that, no doubt intrigued as to why he was second-guessing the plan he'd agreed to. Ritsu didn't let her stare get to him. He had the inaction of Eguchi's teacher to distract him.
"Teachers are a big part of making true progress. But they've failed to uphold their responsibility to care for their students and from the way things are going, it seems that they won't be fixing that anytime soon."
Historian Handa spoke unprompted for the first time that day. "How can you be so sure that the teachers aren't doing anything?"
"There was an incident earlier today involving..." Ritsu frowned as he pushed the gross detail to the back of his mind, "pencils. I was there to watch the culprit be apprehended and Yonezu-sensei was slow to act, to put it kindly. Adachi-san can attest to that."
Adachi, looking far from pleased to be put under everyone's gaze, nodded at this.
He turned to his left, to the only student whose opinion truly mattered. "May you please talk with the Principal?" Ritsu asked the President. "See if he could do something about the teachers. I would hate to see such a poor learning environment continue and I know that the school's donors would too."
Recognition gleamed behind Makino's glasses. There was only one donor that Ritsu was referring to. One that the Principal would do anything to please. One that had a daughter Ritsu would do anything to thwart.
"I'll certainly get on that, Kageyama-san," Makino replied. "Thank you."
With the air a bit lighter than before, the meeting pushed along. The main issue on the table was Open House, which was coming up in a week's time: where the greeting room would be placed, what would be displayed, how they should present themselves to milk the most money out of donor pockets.
The meeting closed almost two hours after the bell. Adachi was already out the door by the time the gavel fell, while Ritsu calmly gathered his things. He packed a bit faster when he saw her leave and waved goodbye to everyone as he too left. Once the meeting room door was firmly closed, he set off after Adachi.
He managed to catch a glimpse of her uniform as she turned the corner and practically flew down the flight of steps. Despite bringing his cadence up to a jog, Ritsu still struggled to keep up with the girl. It was only after he pushed past the double doors of the school that he was able to catch up to her.
"Adachi-san, we still need to discuss the next plan," he said, reaching for her shoulder.
She dodged his arm before he could make contact. "Can we go over it later?"
"Well then you should've told me that you didn't want to meet up earlier." He wasn't really in the mood for another one of her sudden cold shoulders.
"Yeah, sorry I—" She didn't even bother finishing as she fumbled through her bag to pull out her phone. Her leg bounced and the charms tied to the phone jingled as she fiddled with the power button. It didn't turn bouncing progressed to restlessly shifting her weight from side to side.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ritsu softly asked. A stupid question, he knew, but at least it was something to start with. "Do you need to use my phone?"
She looked up at the gray sky. She seemed to be thinking through about a dozen possible responses before settling on, "Yeah."
He reached into his pocket and handed her his phone.
"Thanks, Kageyama-san. Sorry, I didn't expect to be at school for so long and I don't have enough time to make dinner before my parents get home and I—" She let out a heavy sigh weighed down by things Ritsu couldn't see and just nodded at him. "Thanks."
While Adachi stepped aside to make her call, Ritsu looked toward the horizon to give her some privacy. It was getting dark, but, despite that, he could spot something moving toward the two of them. The closer it got, the more Ritsu realized that it was headed for them specifically and that it was actually a boy riding on a skateboard.
He was from their school, the top of his shirt was unbuttoned and his blazer was wrapped around his waist in a way that was sure to leave wrinkles. This, combined with his spiky blond hair, gave him an overall messy look.
The boy cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "What took you so long!"
Ritsu's brow scrunched and he looked over his shoulder. Maybe the boy wasn't actually heading toward them. But when he found that no one was behind him, he turned back around to find the boy's brown eyes locked on his in a way that said: "Yeah, l was talking to you."
Adachi came up beside Ritsu and placed the phone back in his hand just in time for the boy to roll to a stop in front of them. He had an irritated scowl on his face as he repeated, "What took you so long?"
The three students just quietly looked at each other until Ritsu said, "We don't know what you're talking about."
The boy frowned. "You're Adachi and Kageyama, right?"
"Yes," Adachi answered, "but who are you?"
"I'm Bushida Katsuo, friend of Tsuda's. Since he's sick, he asked me to do him a favor and 'cuz he's teaching me how to make videos that aren't pure shit, I couldn't really say no."
"Language," Adachi and Ritsu both said, which was met with an eye roll from Bushida.
"What do you guys need anyway? Tsuda wouldn't stop talking my ear off about some picture hurting his ey—"
"I am so screwed," a voice groaned.
The school entrance opened and out came Sano. One of his hands was clutched around his armband, the other covering his face. He made no effort to head home. Instead, he just leaned back against the doors and let out a long-suffering sigh.
The three students side-eyed the boy before Adachi mumbled, "We should discuss this elsewhere. Preferably far away from eavesdroppers."
Ritsu's mouth pulled thin and he gave her a concerned look. "You can head home. We could always just deal with this later."
Bushida's shackles rose and an indignant look flashed across his face as he opened his mouth, but Adachi spoke first. "It's fine, Kageyama-san. Now let's go."
"These are fucking atrocious."
"Language."
Ritsu doubted that Tsuda would ever actually say something vulgar like that.
The three of them were at some isolated wall of the school near the field. After she'd explained everything, Adachi gave Bushida—a first year who was apparently in Ritsu's class—some physical photos that she had planned to give to Tsuda.
Ritsu waited from the side as Bushida inspected each photo carefully. Aside from his rude comment, the boy gave no reaction as he flipped through multiple instances of Asagiri's cruelty. When he reached the last photo, he neatly reorganized the stack and finally said:
"Wow, she is a bitch."
When he was met with silence, he looked up at the two Council members. He immediately burst out laughing the moment he saw them. Holding his chest like they were the funniest thing he'd ever seen.
"Look at your fucking faces!"
Ritsu, chanced a glance at Adachi. She looked mildly uncomfortable but her lips were drawn shut. By the way she was staring at him, he must have looked the same.
Bushida was busy crudely mimicking their expression, looking thoroughly constipated, before somehow managing to laugh louder.
"Language," Adachi weakly reproached and Bushida just snorted.
"So you agree with me about Asagiri, then? You clearly aren't denying it." He chuckled to himself when he was met with more silence. Looked at the stack again. "It's a shame, though. She throws fun parties."
Ritsu's eyes snapped to Bushida. In his peripheral, Adachi perked up. If this guy hung out with Asagiri, could they really trust him with helping them expose her?
"Don't get your panties in a twist. I only go for the food." Bushida waved a flippant hand at them. "The one last night had these funny looking chocolate things that I would kill for. Even that one kid sulking back at the entrance was there."
"Sano-san was there?" Adachi asked, eyes wide.
"If that's his name, then yeah. He was hovering around Asagiri like a lapdog. I didn't see much since I left early but I heard that some people stayed past midnight. They looked like zombies today, fucking dumbasses."
Ritsu made no comment on the cussing. Sano's disheveled...everything suddenly made sense.
"So, will you be able to take the pictures for us?" Adachi asked, refocusing the conversation.
"Will I help two Council members take down the richest girl in the city?" Bushida dropped his skateboard to the ground and hopped on. He grinned. "Sure, why the hell not?"
He then placed the stack back into Adachi's hands and skated off back toward the horizon. The sun was almost fully set.
"You ready to get out of here?" Ritsu asked. "We can plan the next takedown later by the way, you look tired. We can even catch a bus to get home faster."
Adachi sighed deeply, stress exuding from her body in waves. The source of the stress? Take a guess, there had to be over a thousand options.
"No need for public transit, I'm alright. There should be food on the table any minute now."
Ritsu raised an eyebrow at her and she just nudged his shoulder and walked past him. He quickly caught up, his shoulder throbbing, and she leaned all her weight on him. Ritsu let her.
When he finally got home, the sun down, he looked at his call logs. At the top was the number for a local takeout place.
Although it really shouldn't be, it was always a surprise when Ritsu saw what could happen as a result of hormones and stupidity.
From his seat next to the President, he eyed the lunch line. Adachi was there, chatting with a classmate, her armband gone. Removing it was her idea. With her "just" being the Secretary, no one would notice her without it, which he agreed with, but that didn't mean it didn't put Ritsu off. There was something utterly unnerving about how easily she faded into the background, like she could disappear and no one would notice.
A brief lull in the buzz of the cafeteria drew his attention away to the entrance. There, a bundle of teachers entered and made their way to a table in the corner that allowed them to see all of the students. It seemed that Makino had followed through with her promise.
With Adachi in line and the teachers present, the plan was slowly coming to fruition. Ritsu had been the one to come up with this one. The idea of doing something in the cafeteria was just too good to pass up, especially considering who the targets were.
"Hey, Tanaka-chan," he heard Adachi say from the line. "Did you hear about that one guy crushing on Asagiri-chan?"
Tanaka had no idea what guy Adachi was talking about and she let that show on her face. But that wasn't important. What was important was the tall kid with scruffy black hair standing in line in front of the two girls.
Target #2: Sasaki Hibiki
At the mention of Asagiri, Sasaki perked up. He not so subtly leaned closer to the two girls and their conversation. More pieces of the plan slotted together.
"That's really vague," Tanaka said with a small laugh. "A lot of guys like Asagiri-chan."
Ritsu saw how Sasaki's grip on his tray tightened. The way his jaw flexed. The deep breaths he had to take to calm down. Things could go really south with anger like his.
Adachi seemed to notice this too as she continued on, not even bothering to lower her voice. "But this one's different. He's close with Asagiri-chan. He actually has a chance!"
While Tanaka only looked mildly interested, Sasaki fully whipped his head around to stare at them. Tanaka had her back turned to talk with Adachi, so she didn't see him, and Adachi, for her part, didn't even glance up at him.
What Tanaka said next was hard to hear over the chatter in the cafeteria, but Ritsu saw her stand up on her toes, craning her neck to get a look at the table next to the Council's where Asagiri and her group sat. Her eyes fluttered across the group and she raised one brow.
"Can't remember his name," came Adachi's response to whatever Tanaka said. "But I think he's the one with the crooked nose and curly hair."
Like clockwork, Sasaki snapped his head to the curly haired boy. Ritsu could see his eyes shining with rage as he watched the boy lean close to Asagiri to whisper something in her ear. And when Asagiri grabbed onto the boy's arm as she laughed, that really set Sasaki off.
Target #3: Matsuura Junichi
Matsuura practically preened at Asagiri's touch. While he was busy staring at her with an adoration Ritsu failed to understand, Sasaki was busy burning a hole through the boy's skull.
"You know what else?," Adachi continued as mush was plopped onto her tray. "I heard that he was going to embarrass this other guy Asagiri-chan is close to—his name's Sasaki or something like that. Anyway, I bet he's gonna dump his tray on his head. It's a classic move."
Sasaki bristled and Tanaka scoffed. "If I were the other guy, I'd do it first," she said.
Adachi smiled and Ritsu had to smother his own with a mouthful of food. That response was better than anything either of them could've hoped for.
Sasaki, with all his height and anger, glared at Matsuura, put on a nasty face, and marched to the boy. The grip on his tray was trembling.
Ritsu's plan consisted of many elements, but none more crucial than these:
Two boys.
One crush.
And food that was better off anywhere than in your mouth.
Sasaki loomed behind Matsuura and tapped his shoulder. Matsuura, oblivious to the danger awaiting him, turned around. Sasaki's shadow palled over him. Without even bothering with a greeting, the enraged boy lifted his tray and shoved it directly into the brunet's face.
"Get your grubby hands off of Asagiri-chan," Sasaki bit out.
Asagiri, who had pulled away from Matsuura when he was hit, perked up at the mention of her name. The realization of two boys fighting over her made her eyes shine, empowered. She made Ritsu sick.
Matsuura yanked the tray off of his face, a wet squelch accompanying it. Mashed potatoes stuck to his face and clogged his nose, some weird sauce dropped down his uniform, and, most importantly, people saw it.
The laughter started small but grew as more and more people pointed toward the second year. As for the teachers, they suddenly seemed to find their own food incredibly interesting.
Matsuura looked at the students, eyes wide with embarrassment and a little bit of fear. He then looked to Asagiri. She was laughing too. Finally, he looked at Sasaki, who smirked at the ruined boy, and that seemed to be the breaking point.
The brunet scooped a chunk of the food off of his face and threw it into Sasaki's. Sasaki froze in shock, which was stupid, Ritsu thought, it was obvious that Matsuura would retaliate.
Another thing about Matsuura, he wasn't an instigator. He'd never do something like—and Ritsu was just grabbing a completely random example here—dump his tray on someone's head because they happened to like the same person. But, he was an extremely reactionary person.
"How d'ya like that?" he taunted the bigger boy. Sasaki was still frozen and Matsuura, not done yet, used that stillness to grab his open milk carton and chuck it, close-range, at the other boy's face.
Sasaki barely, barely, dodged.
The milk carton flew over his shoulder and hit an unsuspecting girl square in the back. Neither of the boys seemed to notice, too busy yelling at each other. A grave mistake. With a pitcher's arm, the girl threw a handful of her own food at the boys.
Sasaki, getting the brunt of the attack, whipped his head around, looking for revenge. Since he hadn't noticed the girl (she had made the smart decision to disappear after hitting the second years) he instead opted for reaching for someone else's tray and throwing the food in the general direction of the attack.
It hit someone (the wrong person obviously), they threw their own food back, missed too, so on and so forth. This, dear friends, is how you start a food fight.
Ritsu smiled. How unfortunate.
With food flying through the air, students ducking for cover, and the teachers being far too few to stop it all, the stage was set for Ritsu to put the final nail in the coffin.
He grabbed the drink from his own tray—bottled water—and uncapped it. Matsuura wouldn't recover from the whole school seeing him with mashed potatoes sticking out of his nose, but Sasaki had a chance of making it out of there socially unscathed, and Ritsu simply couldn't have that.
The first year made his way through the crowd, carefully trying to make it seem as though he didn't even notice the giant food fight around him. As he walked, he saw Bushida, squatting in a safe corner of the cafeteria with his camera locked onto Asagiri's table. When a handful of food flew right past Ritsu's face, he snapped his attention back to where he was going. His heart hammered at the thought of someone hitting him and staining his uniform, but he kept his eyes locked on Sasaki. Then he, being his clumsy self, accidentally crashed into the second year, spilling his water on Sasaki's pants. He muttered out a quick "Sorry" before the tall boy could get a good look at him and walked just a tad bit faster back to his table and took cover with the rest of the Council members.
"The teachers are useless," Makino hissed from her cramped position.
Ritsu couldn't disagree. He checked his clothes, making sure he wasn't a mess, and found that there was some mush on his shoulder. He quickly brushed it off. What he didn't notice, however, was the new, small red stain on his left shoe.
Let it be known that Ritsu wasn't an amateur. He knew how pee worked. He knew that anyone who thought about it for a second would know that if Sasaki had actually wet himself, it wouldn't just be around his crotch area. And so, when Ritsu spilt onto the older boy, he made sure that the water trickled down the insides of his pants; made sure that he looked like a five year old who just couldn't hold it in any longer.
In the words of Adachi: "It's a classic move."
All he had to do now, was wait.
"Ohhh, man that's so gross!"
That was Ritsu's cue to peek over the table. The food fight had slowed for the most part, with more teachers being brought in to control the students. It slowed enough for people to actually focus on what was going on around them rather than flying food. And right then, what was going on was this: Sasaki Hibiki, second year high schooler and frequent companion of Asagiri Minori, had pissed himself.
A wave of disgust washed over the cafeteria.
"That's sick, and not in a good way."
"Remind me to never step near that table again, blegh!"
"How old is he again?"
"What's with a bunch of weirdos hanging around Asagiri-chan?"
"What's with Asagiri-chan hanging around a bunch of weirdos?"
Even the teachers weren't exempt from making twisted faces, as much as they tried to hide them.
Asagiri moved to the very edge of her table.
Ritsu was pulled away from the commotion by someone elbowing him. He found Adachi staring at him, smiling. She was messy from the fight but not as much as others he'd seen. Still, her potato-littered clothes made him check himself again; she had gotten mush on his sleeve.
"Oh, sorry!" she said, also noticing the stain and whipping—well more like slapping—the potatoes away. "Anyway, stupendous work, Kageyama!"
Adachi peaked at Matsuura and Sasaki being taken away by teachers and nodded in approval. Ritsu was too busy being startled by the honorific drop.
The cafeteria doors opening and closing brought him back to the present. He gave the girl his own approving nod—she had been the one to set everything up—and said, "You too, Adachi."
Success.
Ritsu capped the marker in his hands. "I think we're done here."
He was back at Adachi's place. Riding off of the high of taking down both Sasaki and Matsuura, they'd both decided to meet later that same day to plan the next takedown.
Adachi slid next to him, wearing her ill-fitted glasses and a faded "X-Treme!" dinosaur shirt. Her hand cupped her chin and she leaned forward, appraising the final plan they'd laid out on the board.
Pulling back, she smiled. "Yeah, looks promising."
He nodded and placed the marker in her open hand before going to collect his backpack. The sun was high enough for him to reach home with time to spare for resting. Just as he was about to say goodbye though, Adachi called out.
"Hey, sorry to disturb you Kageyama, but are you comfortable with literature?" She was already reaching into her bag before he could respond. She pulled a book as well as a stack of papers. "Particularly rhetorical analysis?"
Ritsu stared at Adachi; the book in one hand, papers in the other. He took a step closer. The book, he recognized, was one filled with confusing syntax that was common over a century ago. He'd read it back when he first entered middle school—wait, did he? Either way, he wasn't too sure he could help now. Still, he could try.
Taking the papers from her, he silently skimmed through them. It was homework. Full of analysis like she said, along with multiple short responses to questions that she needed to complete. What made him pause, however, was the reminder written on the top right corner of one of the pages.
"You should start with this first," he said, lifting the single paper. "It's due tomorrow. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't done it yet."
Adachi's expression became noticeably stiff. Then, a slow, placating smile slid onto her face, like she was doing damage control. For what, Ritsu was unaware.
"Uhhh yeah, about that. They're all due tomorrow."
"What."
"Before you say anything," Adachi said before he could say anything, "I already know that I need to keep my grades up to stay on the Council. Everyone does."
"And yet you still—" Ritsu took a deep breath. Adachi was a smart person, he knew this, there had to be a reason as to why she had six pages worth of uncompleted homework. "Why, Adachi?"
Ritsu calming down seemed to have the adverse effect on Adachi. Her stiff smile fell but it was replaced with the same fidgety behavior from the day she had to borrow his phone.
"Sorry," she mumbled, scratching behind her ear. Then, faster, "It's just that the end of the month's nearing and so bills are subsequently culminating and I've just been too busy getting ready for those to deal with homework."
Ritsu's brow scrunched and he gave her a concerned look. "Shouldn't your parents be doing that?"
Adachi took a sharp breath. Her restless movement tensed up and she carefully looked over Ritsu. In that instant, it felt like every piece of him was being picked apart, inspected, and thrown aside, all until she chipped to his core. She took another breath. Deeper. Steadier. Then she looked him dead in the eye and said:
"I'm about to tell you something personal. Really personal. You up to hear it?"
He swallowed. Wanting to look away from her, knowing better. "You don't have to do that to make me help you, Adachi. I'm going to."
"I want to tell you, Kageyama." She moved closer to him. "I think of you as a friend—"and wow, wasn't that something?—"so I want to be completely honest."
"You not telling me about your family life isn't you being dishonest." He placed a hand on her shoulder, his face softened. "You know that, right?"
"My family life's cost me friendships before." She kept her eyes on him as she said, "There's nothing worse than being betrayed by someone you thought you could trust. Believe me."
Her words felt like a spear through Ritsu's heart. He didn't know why, but he'd love for the feeling to go away.
"So," Adachi pulled away from him and leaned against her desk, "will you hear me out? It'll be fine if you don't, we'll just continue our relations as is until Asagiri's dealt with and then that will be it."
It was clear that it would not, in fact, be fine.
Ritsu took a seat at the edge of her bed, his attention fixed on her. "I'll listen."
"I'm not an only child," Adachi said like she was ripping off a bandage. Ritsu failed to see the importance. "I have an older brother. Way older. He'd already moved out by the time I was born. Which my parents weren't expecting."
Why weren't they expecting their son to move out? Ritsu would like to think that most parents would want their children to leave and make a life for themselves.
Apparently reading his thoughts, Adachi rushed out, "Me, Kageyama. I meant that they weren't expecting me."
"Oh." Ritsu tried to make sure his face didn't flush with embarrassment. Of course she meant herself.
"Yeah," Adachi sighed, pushing away from the table. "They weren't financially ready for another kid—they were actually getting ready to retire, just the two of them—but they kept me anyway."
She looked so small as she said that. So vulnerable that Ritsu felt as though he shouldn't be looking at her. He tore his eyes away, hoping to give her time to collect herself, and looked around her room. Suddenly, so many things about it seemed to make sense.
The blue walls, the abundance of boy-ish clothes, even the glasses sitting on Adachi's nose. All of it must've belonged to her brother. There was no room just for Adachi.
It all made Ritsu think about his own home. There was a place for her there. The house his parents rented had a spare room that's always just been there, practically waiting for someone to fill it.
"Hand-me-downs galore," Adachi's humorless chuckle cut his thoughts off. He turned toward her to find her staring back at him. "I don't know what you're thinking but I don't need any help. My parents do. So I help them where I can." She lifted up her small stack of homework. "I prioritize bills over literature, cooking over math. I make sure that they don't have an excuse to regret me. Make sure that I don't have time to feel like a burden."
The room—her brother's room—got quiet then. Adachi was off in her own small space and Ritsu couldn't think of anything to say.
"But—" her voice was so soft as she spoke again—"I can't stop myself from wondering how much easier, how much happier, they'd feel without m—"
Ritsu had his arms wrapped tight around her. How he'd done that, he was still figuring out. He must've gotten up before her confession or something must've possessed him to move, but it didn't really matter, not when someone as bright as Adachi looked so dull.
Her arms were limp at her sides. Ritsu didn't let go regardless.
"For what it's worth," he whispered, afraid to break their fragile peace, "I'm really happy you're here."
The truth of it was startling in its own right. He's always been so focused on excelling that, somewhat embarrassingly, he's never had anything like this. Friendship. Someone other than his family that he really cared about.
Warm tears on his shoulder were accompanied by Adachi's arms around him. Her body shook as she cried and Ritsu found his own face wet with tears. He can't remember how long they stayed like that, but he didn't come home until late and, from then on, visits to Adachi's weren't always about Asagiri.
Disappointment comes with life. It's just as factual as the sky being blue and the grass green. You won't always get what you want, people you trust will let you down, and things won't always go to plan.
Ritsu and Adachi stood above the boy silently. Adachi's face was drenched in horror; Ritsu's in worry. Despite their silence, the room was far from quiet.
The boy was a writhing mess on the floor. His poorly bleached hair was in disarray. Tears flooded his eyes and spilled down his pale face. And his screams. Wretched.
Target #4: Kaneko Raidon
Ritsu had come to school early that day for a quasi-impromptu Student Council meeting about the Open House at the end of the week. The meeting having ended early and there being forty or so minutes before the school day started, he and Adachi had decided that it would be best to use the extra time to strike against Kaneko. No other students should've been at the school yet, they figured.
They were wrong. So very wrong.
In the midst of them finally finding Kaneko's desk and grabbing the recorders—How original—the boy walked in. If the ball under his arm and the dirt on his shoes were anything to go by, he had just finished practice. But sports didn't practice in the mornings, Ritsu knew that.
Not that it mattered because once Kaneko saw them, things got heated. Questions of what the hell they were doing at his desk were raised. Adachi stepped in front of Ritsu when Kaneko got too close, too volatile. The boy then brutishly put his hands on Adachi—the nerve of him to touch a girl like that. She didn't take it lying down.
A scuffle broke out.
Then Kaneko's leg.
Adachi's shouts of "It was an accident, it was an accident," were muffled by Kaneko's screams as he clutched his crooked leg. He was loud, Ritsu realized. Too loud.
Fail.
Spurred out of his stupor, Ritsu pushed past the still Adachi and covered Kaneko's mouth. When the shouts kept coming, he pushed harder until the upperclassman got the message to shut up.
Wide, watery eyes looked up at him. Ritsu could see how his pupils fearfully cowered in the center of his dark irises and tried not to let that fear flood into himself. Sure, he had a kid with a broken leg on his hands and sure, the school was about to open up to the rest of the student body, but that was no reason to panic.
Be more comforting.
While he could try to give Kaneko a more comforting look, in hopes that his emotions would bleed into the broken boy, he would most likely fail, which would do nothing to help the situation. Rather than focusing on the boy's wide eyes or the way Adachi's gaze burned into his back, he used the red of his gleaming armband to ground himself.
Ritsu took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts, and, without tearing his gaze away from Kaneko, said, "Adachi, lock the door and put everything back where we found it."
"But," she replied, voice shaky, "what about—"
"Trust me."
Her response came in the form of shuffled footsteps. He took another deep breath.
"Kaneko-san," he said, slowly removing his hand from the boy's mouth, "are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Kaneko asked, incredulous. He then started to deliriously laugh. "You're crazy. You're fucking crazy! You tried to go and plant shit on me! On top of that, my leg got broken by that bitch—"
Ritsu's hand was a second too late to cover up the insult but he made up for it by practically slamming the boy's head back to the ground. He leaned in close enough for their eyes to perfectly align and for their noses to be centimeters a part.
"Language," he hissed, the coldest of fires burning behind his eyes. Once he was sure that Kaneko wouldn't go on another inane rant, he let up a bit and conversationally asked, "Do you remember last week? It was Thursday, I think."
It was definitely Thursday.
Kaneko stared back at him, confusion marring his features. Ritsu shook his head before tapping on the upperclassman's temple.
"You don't remember? Come home, you can't be in that much pain," he said, perhaps cruelly. "I had to go break up you attacking a kid, ring any bells?"
By the muffled, indignant voice behind his hand, Ritsu could tell that he did indeed remember. He pushed down again, resolving to cut to the chase.
"I have a video of that incident," he said, clipped, conversational tone gone. "If I see you hang out with Asagiri again or if you say a single thing about this to anyone, I will release that footage for everyone to see. Understand?"
He removed his hand for the boy to speak. Unfortunately, Kaneko used his newfound ability to show that, no, he didn't understand.
"Fuck you," he spat. "You did this to Eguchi, didn't you? Because we hang out with Asagiri? That's pathetic. Either way, I'm better than them, so there's no way that I'm rolling over and taking this shit like they did. The moment I'm outta here, I'm telling everyone. Do you understan—"
Kaneko broke off into a pained groan as Ritsu leaned his weight onto the broken leg. This kid needed to shut up. He kept his weight there until he was sure that Kaneko would be too busy crying and gasping for air to say something stupid again.
"I don't think you get what I'm saying." Ritsu kept his voice soft and level. "If any news of this gets out, whether or not you're the one to talk first, I'll send the video to the principal, your parents, your coach, football scouts, any scholarship you apply to, and any university you even think of attending. Your leg will be the least of your worries."
The shuffling of footsteps paused behind him.
"If you talk about this again, you're done. If you hang out, or even talk to Asagiri again, you're done. Understand?"
Kaneko sniffled.
"That's not an answer."
Ritsu waited over him until finally, Kaneko slowly nodded. With one last look, he pushed off of the boy and made his way over to Adachi. She stared at him with a scared sort of look that he was used to getting from other students but hated seeing on her.
"Adachi," he said, grabbing her shaking hands in an effort to still them. "It's okay. You're okay. You're not going to get into trouble." He held her hands tighter and gave her a looking that he genuinely hoped was comforting. "I'm with you. We're in this together."
Adachi kept eye contact with him until the fear and panic gradually left her own eyes. She took a deep breath, squeezed his hands back, and gave him a firm nod.
Together, they lifted a silent Kaneko from the ground and supported him from either side as they carried him out of the classroom. The bell was due to ring in about thirty minutes and the number of students in the halls reflected that. Still, they easily made their way to the nurse's office, where they carefully placed Kaneko and his ball onto the lone, stiff bed.
"Oh dear," the nurse, a man about the age of fifty, said. He grimaced at the sight of Kaneko's leg. "What do we have here?"
"He had a nasty fall trying to sneak onto the field before school hours." Ritsu's excuse caused a stew of heated emotions to flash behind Kaneko's eyes before simmering down to complicity.
"Please take care of our classmate," Adachi said, bowing. Her voice was more collected than before.
Ritsu bowed with her. "We hope that he feels better soon."
Success.
"That was horrible."
Ritsu couldn't find it in himself to disagree with Adachi. It was five minutes to the bell but they were standing in a low traffic hallway on the second floor. Both of them were trying to cope with what had happened, what they had done.
"At least that was the last of the Guards," he said in a poor attempt at alleviation. It wasn't like he was heartless. He knew that those screams would be following him around for a while. It was just that if he hadn't done anything, things would be way worse than just a broken leg.
They ruminated in the silence.
"Thank you," Adachi murmured. "For intervening, I mean. I'm not entirely sure what I would've done alone. I don't think I could manage to do what you did. You even scared me."
Me too.
Ritsu grimaced. "I didn't mean to."
"Oh, don't worry!" She shook her head at him. "I never should've put you in a situation like that. As your upperclassman, I should've been the one to protect you."
"You did protect me though," he countered. "He probably would've attacked me if you hadn't blocked him."
"That still doesn't mean that you should've been put in that position." Adachi's voice was firm. "I'm sorry."
Ritsu, realizing that she wouldn't take the apology back, just gave her a small smile. "Okay, then we'll agree to disagree." A frown fell onto her face and she looked ready to reject him but he cut her off with a mirthful smile. "Though, I can't really disagree with your protection. As long as it doesn't involve breaking any more bones."
Immediately, her face froze. She stared at him long enough for his smile to waver. Perhaps he shouldn't have made that joke. But, just as he was thinking of an apology, she let out a loud snort before bursting into laughter.
"Kageyama! Too soon!" She punched his arm but despite that and her words, she had a wide smile on her face, which only strengthened the one on his own face.
"You don't seem that upset about it, Adachi," he said between his own small but genuine laughter.
"Hey—" her own laughter died down until just her smile remained—"call me Tomoko."
He blinked at her, struggling to find a response to the informality. Eventually, he settled on, "Okay, Tomoko. Then you can call me Ritsu."
"Thanks, Ristu-chan."
"Don't call me that."
In return, Tomoko just grinned, like she found her new favorite toy. Yeah, there was no way he was going to let that slide.
"Tomoko-kun," he quickly replied. He'd be a liar if he said that he didn't get any joy from the smile getting wiped off Tomoko's face.
"Whatever," she said flippantly, turning on her heel to head toward her class. As she walked, she looked over her shoulder and waved back at him. A smirk crept onto her face. "Have a good day, Ricchan!"
It took only a second for him to process the jibe.
"I would call you Tomokun, but I'm not a child!" Ritsu told her retreating back, his voice laced with mirth.
As he was met with another fit of laughter, he thought about capturing this moment in time so that he could always look back on it. To start a day with a failed mission and a broken leg, and to so soon after be laughing with a friend? That was a miracle in his eyes.
He made his way to his class, two minutes to spare, sure that things would only get better.
There's a reason people say don't get your hopes up. Because when it gets bad, always remember that it can get worse.
The school day was over and Ritsu was walking home alone—a rarity ever since he became acquainted with Tomoko. Walking on his usual path straight home rather than going out of his way to drop Tomoko off meant that he encountered other students who lived near him that he wouldn't have seen otherwise. Then again, all he saw were small friend groups and the odd loner blasting music into their ears. No one significant.
Then he saw him.
Shige-nii.
Kageyama.
He was on the ground, bits of gravel standing out against his pitch black hair. Two kids, tall and wearing familiar uniforms in a gross, beige color, stood above him. His pockets were turned inside out and his bag—such an easy target—was a ways away from him on the pavement.
Ritsu was walking right toward them.
Damn it. After such a risky day, why was this how it had to end?
He got closer.
"Ouch!" Kageyama hissed as the shorter of the two, a blond, yanked on his bowl cut. "Can't we just talk this out?"
His reasoning was useless against thick headed idiots like them.
"We give the orders around here," the taller said, followed by a punch to Kageyama's gut. He smiled under his childish red cap. "Show some respect."
The blond, for some strange reason that sparked joy in his sick heart, brought a heavy fist down on Kageyama's head. Ritsu could only imagine how badly that would bruise. He walked slower, softer.
"P-please," Kageyama somehow managed to say, "no violence."
That earned him another punch to the skull and blood trickling down his neck.
No violence. How ignorant. Look at your great brother for who he really is, Ritsu. Stupid. Pathetic without his powers and even moreso with them. He's always just been a coward pretending to be a pacifist.
A white cat with red stripes that looked more like claw marks walked across the narrow pathway.
As Ritsu walked closer and closer, the irony of the situation struck him. How was it that after all his work, he still couldn't defend those below him? Perhaps he could entertain blinding the taller by pushing his faded cap over his eyes. Or magically pull on the tie of the blond until there wasn't enough oxygen in his brain for him to even think of hitting Kageyama again.
Of course, these were nothing but fantasies that only someone with a severe hero complex would actually pursue. Ritsu against two broad delinquents? He wasn't stupid. Even if he pulled the same thing he had on Kaneko, he wasn't on their student council. He didn't have names or numbers or even a school to threaten.
So when he finally reached the three, he made an extra effort to keep his eyes forward. The bullies thought nothing of him, but Kageyama...
The boy's head whipped up toward him. The movement, curse his reflexes, caught Ritsu's eye and soon enough, he found himself looking back at Kageyama.
What he saw made something indescribable snap in him.
Help him.
Kageyama's face looked much worse than the back of his head. A sheen of sweat and grime covered it. One cheek was scratched and bleeding while the other was slightly swollen.
And his eyes.
A nasty ring of purple surrounded the right one and the left couldn't even open all the way. But regardless of that, Ritsu could see a shimmer of hope in them. He looked at Ritsu as though he would swoop in at any moment and save the day, apparently once again. Like everything was all right now that he was here.
Ritsu immediately tore his eyes away.
'Stop looking at me.'
He kept them forward, even as a voice he didn't recognize clawed at his throat.
Help him!
He ground his teeth and bottled up the terrible feeling that came when he saw Kageyama's shoulders slump out of the corner of his eye. He walked faster, not caring if anyone noticed because that hopeless gaze hurt.
He wants to cry out so badly. So so so pathetic.
HELP HIM!
'Stop. Looking. At. Me.'
His wish was granted with the sound of another punch and cruel laughter.
"Where the hell are you looking! He's not gonna help, dumbass!"
Ritsu froze.
"I'm sorry," he found himself saying.
But he was too far away by now and his voice was far too quiet. He soon started walking again as well, so he clearly wasn't sorry enough to throw himself into a fight that would leave Salt High's Vice President returning to school with a shiner. But that didn't mean that the voice was not stabbing his throat now, begging him to turn around. That didn't mean he wasn't sorry at all.
He couldn't help Kageyama now, but he was working on it. He was definitely working on it. In fact, this whole incident made him angrier than before. The helplessness was red hot and embarrassing. It hurt him to have to see that happen.
But not to worry. He was going to deal with Kageyama's main aggressor. The boy just needed to hold on just a bit longer.
Some things are worth it in order to get rid of Asagiri.
Author's random thoughts they had whilst writing the chapter
Fuck. Finals.
The only ones I liked were my theater and surprisingly my Russian one since I aced the speaking portion :)) (Also, Здрасьте my one Russian reviewer!)
Did you know—DID YOU KNOW—that in the manga, Ritsu isn't walking on a bridge and seeing Mib getting bullied from there, but that he's literally walking on the same pathway that Mob's getting beat on and literally like two feet away from him as he walks by? I'm sobbing, wailing, and vomiting.
Anyway, I based the scene in here on the manga version.
As an American, it physically pains me to describe a soccer ball as a football.
Messed up in chapter layout. I plan to split this into five (I THINK) chapters, not four. Also, changed the amount of guards from five to four if you didn't notice, I meant to do that before publishing chapter 16.
"this whole incident made him angrier than before. The helplessness was red hot and embarrassing. It hurt him to have to see that happen." Even after all that you're focusing on your own feelings, Ritsu. Smh.
Ritsu to Kaneko: You're done. You're DONE.
"If this becomes a trend, I'm going to have to seriously look into getting a beta reader" (me, literally in chap 15).
Look where we are now :)
One of these days, I'm going to bang my head through drywall if I pass 9k words in a chap. Like, I know I don't HAVE to write 10k+ but it's not like I'm TRYING TO. That's just how much I need to go and complete all the sections (the sections that make up a chapter). Maybe I should just limit myself to five sections, idk. Probably won't tho lol.
Happy Holidays again, spend some time enjoying yourselves, okay?
Big thanks to my beta-reader Maren! Make sure to...
Comment and review and I'll order us takeout.
