I'm alive!

Recap! For the both of us lol

-Ritsu and Tomoko successfully got rid of Asagri's guards! Did doing so include pencil-biting, bone breaking, and blackmailing? Pshhh, noooo, who told you that?

-Tsuda, Council PR, got sick so he sent his vulgar, blond, irate, and strangely familiar friend, Bushida, to take photos for them instead. Ritsu and Tomoko met up with him

-After, our two Council buddies had a heart to heart, with Tomoko opening up about her past and talking about how she sometimes feels like a burden to her parents.

-Oh yeah, and Ritsu walked past Shigeo getting beat up. What a fun way to close a chapter :)

(And yes, all of that happend in one chapter. Mamma mia)


'thoughts'

Real Ritsu's thoughts

Mogami

Asagiri-san in text = her dad

Asagiri in text = her

"Asagiri-san" (in dialogue) = use context


Trigger warning: graphic depiction of animal abuse, gore.


Agoraphobia - Fear of Enclosed Public Places


DING-DONG DING-DONG

Ritsu packed his things quicker than usual; not quick enough to draw attention, but quicker. Today was a busy day.

Open House was tonight, meaning he had to be home within the hour, change his clothes, meet up with Adachi, be back at school before the sun set, help set up the gym, and then smile through three hours of Principal Nagasaki buttering up donors. There wasn't any time to waste.

Moving past the crowd through the path that opened up for him, he let his mind wander. The past few days—dare he jinx himself—had been peaceful. No large crowds, no talks of parties, no invitations to things he didn't want to go to. No Asagiri.

He reached for the classroom door, ready to get the day over with, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He froze. Had he jinxed himself thinking that he could finally have peace of mind? Who was rude enough to step onto his path and stop him when he was clearly in a rush?

"I've called your name like ten times now," a voice bit out. Familiar, even with irritation marring it.

He looked over his shoulder to find Bushida staring back at him. Although the blond wasn't exactly glaring, the look was close enough. Unlike Ritsu, he didn't seem to notice the way that his hand crumpled Ritsu's uniform blazer, nor the way the class not so subtly stared at him openly disturbing a Council member.

Or maybe he did and just didn't care.

"Yes?" Ritsu said slowly, trying to keep a lid on his simmering annoyance.

Bushida opened his mouth before quickly closing it, finally taking the time to actually look at the other occupants of the room. His features smoothed out as he took a slow breath before inching closer to Ritsu, hand still on his shoulder.

"I need to talk to you," he said in hushed tones. His irritation must have bubbled over because Bushida suddenly clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "It's about the pictures. I'm being considerate."

Ritsu's eyes lit up. Yes. This is what he—they—needed. Asagiri was down, they had to use this opportunity to keep her that way.

He looked at the clock. There really wasn't didn't much time to talk but...

Some things were worth it in order to beat Asagiri.


They met in an empty classroom on the first floor. Before Ristu could even lock the door behind them, Bushida was already digging through his backpack.

"First things first," he said with his back to Ritsu. "I'm done taking pictures for you."

Ritsu 's grip on the lock tightened. "What?"

"And it's not because I've been paid off or anything," Bushida continued as if Ritsu had never spoken. "It's because I have enough on that bitch. More than enough."

"Langu—"

"Oh shut up and look at these."

Bushida rose from his backpack and spun around to face Ritsu. In his hands was a bulky camera.

Ritsu huffed, but he ultimately pulled away from the door and made his way to Bushida. Peering over the boy's shoulder, he watched as the camera slowly booted up.

The first image made was…upsetting.

He had been expecting bullying: some stolen money, a cruel prank, maybe even some physical attacks on other students. He wasn't expecting this.

The shot was clear and focused, a sharp contrast to Tomoko's camerawork. It wasn't taken at the school like he had expected, but at a park nearby. Asagiri and her crew (minus Eguchi) were at the top of a particularly tall bridge. There, she was holding—no, dangling—a cat over the bridge by just its paw.

Ritsu wasn't sure if it was possible for such a small, malnourished cat to look so afraid.

This shouldn't surprise him. This shouldn't even bother him. Yet it did. No matter how messed up it was, he could understand Asagiri assaulting her classmates in order to show some sick display of power. What he couldn't wrap his head around was what in the world she had to gain from harassing—and likely killing—a cat?

Maybe amusement. Maybe entertainment. Or maybe nothing at all. You'll drive yourself mad trying to find a reason. There's no target too small in the minds of people like her. That's why people like us have to stop them. Kill them a—

Shut. Up.

There was no doubt, not a single fraction of an inch, in Ritsu's mind that she dropped the thing.

He most likely would've gone into a spiral, endlessly wondering just how far Asagiri's wickedness went, but Bushida was hard to ignore at that moment. The hand that wasn't holding onto the camera was busy waving in the air, a scowl painted on his face, as he tried to swat a fly out of the air.

"Will you focus?" Ritsu asked, unamused.

Bushida directed his scowl toward him but put his arms down regardless. He muttered something vulgar under his breath and proceeded to click through the rest of the pictures.

Luckily, the remaining photos didn't take Ritsu by surprise, not even when some of them showed blood. The number of pictures totaled to 34. Thirty four pictures of Asagiri's cruelty. Thirty four damning pictures to show to…someone.

"I can get physical copies of these today and give them to you tomorrow," Bushida said as Ritsu thought about who exactly to show said copies to. The principal was an immediate no. Not when the Asagiris were being so generous to the school. Tomoko had mentioned Asagiri's father as someone to go to, but how would he get an audience with him?

Wait.

Ritsu turned to Bushida. "Come to Open House."

"Hard pass," Bushida said without skipping a beat. He was already pulling his bag over his shoulders and heading toward the door. "Thanks, but I have a life."

Ritsu's mouth stretched into a thin smile.

"What?"

That was all he could think to say. He wasn't as vain as Asagiri to think that everyone liked him. In fact, he was certain a good number of upperclassmen couldn't stand him. But people still listened to him, or they at least had a reason better than—

"I said, I have a life."

Ritsu's smile became tighter. "I heard you the first time."

It was a fake smile. As fake and joyless as a gas station employee's. It was stiff and taut and noticeably worse than his other fake smiles. Not that Bushida could tell because he was currently stepping out the door.

"Wait, don't leave," Ritsu bit out. "I only need you to stay long enough to give me the photos."

Bushida looked back at him. "You gonna let me in on what you're thinking? Because, right now, I'm thinking, why bother when I can give them to you tomorrow?"

The smile fell off Ritsu's face. He sighed. "Asagiri's father will be here tonight. If I have the photos, I can show them to him."

Bushida looked at Ritsu as if he didn't understand the power that the Asagiris had, how rare this opportunity was. And considering the blond's crassness and lack of respect, he probably didn't. Ritsu could scream. He wouldn't, he was better than that. But he could.

He tried to elaborate. "This is my best shot at getting rid of Asagiri and the plague she's brought to the school. Besides, aren't you the one who thinks she's a..."

Ritsu tapered off, holding his tongue.

Bushida stepped back into the room and finally faced him. He looked beyond amused.

"A bitch?"

Silence filled the room as he stared at Ritsu, expectantly. Ritsu, knowing that what he wanted—needed—relied on this stubborn, vulgar classmate of his, relented.

"Yes," he hissed.

Bushida gave him a fake sympathetic smile. "I bet that was real tough for you. There there, I understand."

"No. I bet it was real tough for you to just trust me. I bet it was real tough for you to think for just a millisecond that maybe, just maybe, your Vice President knows what he's doing."

That's what Ritsu would have said if he was stupid and couldn't get a clue. Luckily, he wasn't. Instead, he just gave Bushida one of his tight smiles and pushed past him to get to the door.

At least that was done with.


"You look so handsome!"

"Wow, look at our little guy. Looking sharp, kid!"

What would Shige-nii think? Would he like it?

Ritsu stood still as his parents pinched his cheeks and fluttered around him like hummingbirds. For the past two minutes, he'd been turned this way and that as they appreciated his outfit. A tuxedo, per the Principal's orders. Only the best for the Asagiri family. A tux, neat hair, shiny shoes, and "a smile!" Only the best for Salt High's deepest pocket.

At the five minute mark, he eyed the door. The impromptu meet up with Bushida and now this put him far behind schedule. He should've been meeting up with Tomoko by now, not having his mother shove a camera in his face.

The camera's sudden flash burned into his retinas and pushed him to his limit.

"Okay," he said, blinking away the spots in his vision. He had a stiff smile on his face as he tried to figure out how to tell his parents that they were wasting his time in the most respectful way possible. "I really need to go now, I'm running late."

"Ah, it's not the end of the world." His mother waved away his concern. "Just one more picture."

His father reached out to her and gently pointed the camera away from Ritsu. Ristu couldn't thank him enough. "I think we should let him go."

Ritsu smiled. "Thank you." He sidestepped his parents and made his way to the door. However, before he could get his hand on the handle, the bell rang.

"Are you expecting someone?" he heard his father ask his mother. Ritsu reached for the handle again; he didn't bother guessing who could be waiting for him on the other side.

"Greetings, Kageyama-san." Tomoko rose from her low bow. "I'm here for—oh! Hey, Ritsu!"

Tomoko stood in the doorway. She wore a black dress that slightly frayed at the edges, a red armband that matched his own, and a startled expression. Her hair was pulled back into a bun the same way that his hair was combed back against its natural flow. She held her phone in her hand and could make out directions to his address which he'd given her a while back on its screen.

"Come on, don't just stand there!" she admonished. "We're behind schedule, and I really don't want to face Makino-san's ire."

"And who might you be?" His mother asked, a curious look on her face as she approached the door.

All signs that she was in a rush disappeared from Tomoko's face and she quickly bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Kageyama-san. I'm Adachi Tomoko."

"It's nice to meet you too, Adachi-san," Ritsu's father said, coming up to stand beside his mother. "I understand that you two are in a hurry, do you need a ride?"

Tomoko opened her mouth, likely to decline the offer.

"Yes, thank you," Ritsu quickly said before she could say anything. He turned the both of them around and motioned Tomoko toward the family car. Just as they were about to reach it however, his mother called out.

"Ritsu, come over here." He looked back at her to find her standing with open arms, waiting.

Ritsu knew what that meant. And knew that there was no way he was going to let it happen with Tomoko right there.

"Sorry," he said, pointedly avoiding eye contact with his mother, "we're in a rush. I don't want to make the rest of the Council wait any longer."

The response he got was silence. He risked looking at her. She was still in the same position, arms outstretched. The raised brow was new though.

There was really no way to avoid it. With a small sigh, he trudged over to her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and quickly pulled away. Well, he would've done that last part if she hadn't tightened her grip the moment she got her arms around him. She began to rock him back and forth, holding him close and purposefully rubbing his back like he was a baby. It was times like these when he wished that she had another kid to smother.

"Stay safe," she said into his hair. The closeness of her voice brought forth a sudden wave of longing and sadness that Ritsu didn't recognize. It was suffocating.

I miss you.

Finally, she pulled away from him and the wave of emotion was gone.

"Have fun."

He wouldn't.

"I'll try."


"Make sure to smile!"

If he smiled any wider, Ritsu was sure that his face would split into two. The rest of the Council felt the same by the looks of it. They all stood side by side, dressed like they were attending a princess' gala rather than a high school's Open House. They watched as Principal Nagasaki paced back and forth on the gymnasium floor. The graying man frantically assessed the room, biting at his nails. Every now and again, he'd snap his attention to the students and go on about one asinine thing or another.

"Where is everyone?" Nagasaki worried. "We can't expect to get any donations if it looks like no one even goes here!"

"Open House doesn't start for another thirty minutes," Makino said, voice purposely emotionless. Her "Pull yourself together" was left unsaid.

Nagasaki took a deep breath and twisted his mouth into an ugly, judging frown. He raked his eyes over their appearances again, this time landing on Tomoko. His eyes latched onto the fraying hem of her dress. Ritsu shifted to block his view.

"Your tie is lopsided," he quickly said to the Principal. "Somebody may come early and we want to look prepared." He was toeing the line, he knew that, but he didn't particularly care.

"Thanks," Tomoko muttered, straightening her outfit as Nagasaki fumbled with his tie.

"You're welcome."

The doors to the gym opened then and a family of four wandered in. Nagasaki sprung to action.

"Welcome to Salt High's Open House!" he said, spreading an arm out toward the meticulously decorated room.

More guests filed in after that. Students carefully avoiding their teachers, parents easily impressed by the uniformity of the Council. Thirty minutes into the event, Makino formally welcomed all of the families and walked off the stage, the rest of the Council behind her.

The group quickly dispersed, going their separate ways and making small talk to wandering families. Ritsu mindlessly nodded through conversations with multiple parents and by the time he finished talking to the eighth couple, he was back by the emergency exit.

'Why am I here?'

He was just at the front, there was no way he could have already reached the back unless he was intentionally heading in that direction—which he wasn't. So how did he get there?

He walked away. There was no point in staying and asking questions. He weaved through the crowd and by the time he got past it, he was back at the doors.

Okay, this was getting annoying.

Leave.

Ritsu felt a sudden desire to walk out of the gym.

And go where? There's nothing for you beyond these doors.

As he stared at the door, dread fell over him. He could feel his heart slam against his chest and his hands begin to clam up. What was wrong with him?

Find Dimple. I need to find Dimple.

Ah.

He couldn't leave in the middle of Open House. Not before the Asagiris arrived. Not unless he wanted to get kicked off the team. He took a few deep, steadying breaths.

Come on! Go!

His head was pounding, and his feet wouldn't move.

Foolish child. Good luck finding a spirit without your ESP.

The pounding in his head began to fade until it was nothing more than a memory. He looked at the door one last time, still feeling unreasonably shaken.

"Stupid," he spit at it, before walking away and running right into Tomoko.

"It's already been an hour. Do you think they're even going to come?" she asked.

Ritsu stared at her, confused.

"The Asagiris?" she said, giving him a strange look.

Oh, right.

"They have to," he said. "Nagasaki-san might die if they don't."

"Yeah, Tomoko. The old prune's weak heart wouldn't be able to take it."

Both Ritsu and Tomoko jumped at the sudden voice from behind them. Standing there, wearing an almost shamefully casual t-shirt was Bushida.

"Oh! Hi, Bushida-san," Tomoko said with a small wave.

The blond waved back, taking in their outfits with an appreciative gaze. Their stiff and tight clothing a stark contrast to his loose and baggy clothing. He snapped his eyes back to their faces, eyes flashing.

He smiled. "You guys clean up nice."

Ritsu fought to keep himself from rolling his eyes or doing anything unbecoming like that. He looked to Tomoko, expecting her to tell Bushida to hurry up and give her the photos. Instead, her shoulders were raised defensively and she was sweating bullets. He frowned.

"She doesn't appreciate your compliment," he said to Bushida. He might have added that he was acting like a creep, but they still needed the pictures from him. Instead he said: "The girls here face enough unwanted attention as it is."

"So what I'm hearing is that you at least appreciated it," Bushida said, still not dropping that stupid smile.

"No."

"Damn, you guys are no fun."

"Come on," Tomoko said, slowly collecting herself. "Let's go somewhere less crowded."


Somewhere less crowded meant a far corner of the gym. Ritsu and Tomoko stood against the wall and Bushida used his height to block them from view. It was a haphazard arrangement, Ritsu was aware, but they couldn't go any farther. If even one member was gone when the Asagiris came, Nagasaki would blow his lid at Makino and she would blow her lid (in her own, more collected way) at them.

So poorly lit corner it was.

"Hey so, just a heads up," Bushida mumbled, mindlessly shuffling the photos with shaky hands. "This stuff is—shit. It's honestly fucked up."

"Languag—"

"Please, shut up."

Please. Somehow, that word made Ritsu more concerned than Bushida's warning. He'd seen the photos already, and while they were indeed…troubling, they weren't enough to warrant a reaction like the one Bushida was showing. If the boy was playing it up because he thought that Tomoko would need to brace herself more, there was no need. Ritsu told him as much.

"No," Bushida shook his head. His brows furrowed as though he were trying to use anger to cover up his concern. "There's more."

He began to shuffle through the photos with purpose, quickly finding the one he was looking for and pulling it out of the stack. Without a word, he shoved the photo into Ritsu's chest.

Ritsu went to grab it but before could, Tomoko snatched it away from him. Her next actions were as follows: She flipped the image toward herself, she raised a single confused brow, she squinted at it, she recoiled, she leaned back in, eyes wide, face distraught.

Her hand flew to her mouth as Ritsu peered over her shoulder. The picture was taken from far away and blurry. Enough so that he could hear Tsuda's voice in his head, bemoaning about its lack of quality. He could make out some figures bunched close together–Asagiri and the new, weaker recruits for her fallen crew. They were surrounding something. Something significantly smaller than them–

Unsurprising.

–and red.

Why was there red?

Ritsu did a series of actions similar to Tomoko's to get a better look at the mysterious red spot. Then, he saw it.

It was the cat that Bushida had shown him earlier. The red spot was the cat Bushida had shown him earlier. Ritsu stopped breathing. The cat didn't look remotely like one in the earlier photo. Its body had too many bends, its eyes were far too big almost as if they were pushed out of their sockets. The only sign that it was indeed a cat and not some freak of nature were the patches of matted fur clumped together with the red—red red red—blood.

Asagiri hadn't dropped it. But, God, he wished she did.

The whole gym grew quiet as though it too had no words to describe the horror of the photo.

"This was from after school today." Bushida broke the suffocating silence and chatter soon resumed in the gym. "I have a clearer shot but…"

There was no need for him to explain.

"Okay," Ritsu said, remembering how to breathe. "Thank you for this, Bushida-san, really." He took the photos from the blond and turned to give them to Tomoko. However, Tomoko's attention was pulled elsewhere. Following her line of sight, Ritsu realized that she was looking at the main entrance. A flood of anger washed over him.

A man stood in the doorway. Tall and aging with creases on his forehead and bags under his eyes. The tailoring on his suit was far too detailed to belong to just any Salt High parent, and the gold chain around his neck spoke of wealth. Asagiri Masashi. And right beside him, preening at all of the eyes on her, Asagiri Minori.

Great.

"Aw! You guys are becoming friends!" Tsuda suddenly appeared in their small group, making the three of them jump. He had his usual bright smile on his face and there wasn't a single sign that he had been sick just two days earlier. Tsuda wrapped his arms around their shoulders, bringing them close so that they could hear him hiss between his teeth: "It's cute and all but I really suggest that we get going. Nagasaki will literally pull his hair out if we aren't all there to greet the Asagiris."

He pulled away, leaving Ritsu and Tomoko behind while he made a beeline to where the rest of the Council was slowly gathering. Ritsu couldn't blame Tsuda for not waiting, if it were him, he wouldn't have even warned them.

Tomoko took a shaky breath before leaving as well. Ritsu shoved the photos into his suit's inner pocket, thanked Bushida one last time, and followed right behind her. Straight into what he was sure was a trap.


"Welcome!"

Nagasaki was close enough to Asagiri-san to be breathing the same air as him. Close enough to reach into the man's insanely deep pockets.

Ritsu had never seen the Principal so passionate about anything before. Most of the time, the man could hardly do his own job competently, hence the expansive power of the Council. But in that moment, Nagasaki was pulling out all the stops. Compliments. Gifts. Boasts. All the while, Ritsu and the rest of the Council had to stand there and "Smile!"

Jaw having gone numb a while ago, Ritsu found that his eyes began to drift off and away from the elaborate begging. This loss of concentration led him to look at Asagiri. Fortunately, she was not looking back at him and was instead looking at the person right beside him. Which happened to be Tomoko.

Only then did he realize that his friend was shaking. With anger or fear, or a strange mix of both, he didn't know. All he did know was that he didn't like it.

He made a large show of whipping nonexistent sweat off his brow. Like a panther tracking the slightest of movements, Asagiri's predatory gaze snapped over to him. Tomoko's tremors slowly started to fade.

The words exchanged between Nagasaki and the elder Asagiri became nothing more than a buzz as she stared at him. He stared back, unflinching, not carrying the weight of a broken friendship. There was no telling who would break first. Asagiri wanted Ritsu to be afraid, and Ritsu wanted her gone.

Without warning, her eyes flashed. She came up with an idea in that twisted, cat-slaughtering mind of hers. Whatever the idea was, its end goal was clear: Fix the standing once and for all, with her at the top.

Not a chance.

The conversation between the two adults finally ended, which meant that Nagasaki must have finally convinced—or wore down—Asagiri-san enough to be sure that the school would get his money. Which meant that Makino was about to take over and give the Asagiris a personal tour of the school. Which meant that Ritsu and the rest of the Council were free to leave.

"Come on, Ritsu," Tomoko said, already making her way away from the donors. "Let's go figure out what to—"

"So you're the one Minori has been talking about!" Asagiri-san said, beaming down at a frozen Ritsu. "I've heard such good things about you. I really appreciate you helping my daughter learn more about the school."

Tomoko turned back toward Ritsu, looking as confused as he felt.

"What?" he said as politely as he could muster.

Asagiri jumped into the conversation before her father could respond. "Yeah, he's great!" she lied through her teeth. "I wish I could find a way to thank him."

"That's really not—"

"How about dinner?" Asagiri-san said, cutting Ritsu off. "Does Sunday sound good to you?"

No. It sounded absolutely horrible. There was no way he was going to eat with Asagiri. He wasn't going to become some pawn in her vain quest up the social ladder.

"Thank you for the offer," Ritsu said, accompanied by his people pleaser smile, "but I—"

He felt a pair of eyes burning into his scalp. No—two pairs. Pulling his eyes away from the Asagiris, Ritsu found that Nagasaki had been listening in on the entire conversation and was now staring intently at him, silently telling him not to jeopardize the school's finances. Makino was staring too, but more so because she was visibly ready to get her tour over with.

Ritsu looked back at the father-daughter duo. The elder Asagiri was waiting expectantly for the rest of his answer, the younger was beaming with glee. She'd planned this. She'd found Ritsu in a vulnerable situation and cornered him. Checkmate.

He could feel his teeth grinding, the sound reverberating through his skull. This wasn't how it was going to end.

"But," he continued, "I can't stay out late, so I can only go if we do lunch."

Asagiri muffled a snicker behind her hand as her father spoke. "Of course! That's completely understandable. Lunch it i—"

"And," Ritsu cut the man off, rude, but necessary. He reached out blindly behind himself until he got a hold of strong shoulders. "Only if I get to bring Adachi-san along with me."

Asagiri's smile faltered and Tomoko looked at him as if he were mad. He might be.

"It's only fair," he continued. "I wouldn't have been able to teach Asagiri-san so much without her help so I wish to thank her."

"We're so busy Sunday!" Asagiri blurted. "We won't have enough time for the cooks to make four whole—"

"Of course Tomoko can come!" Asagiri-san said, letting out a belly laugh. He looked at her. "It's been a while since I've seen you, I hope you're doing well."

"Yeah…" Tomoko said half-heartedly. She then lowered her voice and hiss at Ritsu. "What are you thinking? I can't go back there!"

Ritsu squeezed her shoulder, looked into her eyes, and smiled, a real one.

"The last ring," he said.

Realization lit up Tomoko's eyes. "The pictures."

He nodded. Straight to the source.

Asagiri glared with all her might at the two of them. It didn't matter. This little game between them was over. She's set herself up for defeat in her own home.

Ritsu smiled at her.

'I win.'


Author's random thoughts they had whilst writing the chapter

Hello slowly dwindling audience! I hope that you're all doing well. I've got nothing really important to say rn nor do I have any random thoughts today. I'd love to read any and all of your comments despite the length!

Wait no, i lied, i wanna say some things.

I think im going to do more shorter chapters. Next one is define going to be short, but the one after that is going to be pretty long since a lot is going to go down. But, hopefully, we'll get Ritsu back to reality…if not a bit mentally scarred.

Last time i was here i was complaining about fall finals. Now, Im waiting for the results on my fucking AP exams. Now those were a pain to take and study for, but less stressful than my actual finals. Ain't that funny?

Before I go, big thanks to my beta reader, MarenWithAnM, and her endless patience for me lmao

Okay, that's all folks. See ya!

Comment and Review to get your very own invitation to lunch with a cat murderer.