Disclaimer: Special A is not my property. /wails
Chapter 4: Chaos, Revelations
"A tornado did all of this?" They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Kei sat down on his 'throne' with a satisfying grin on his face. He just delivered the news to the S.A. and chaos quickly broke out.
Well, not entirely chaos but close to it.
"But you said it was a person!" Akira pointed accusingly at Kei. She still couldn't believe that it was a tornado that did everything in the greenhouse. "It's not possible, you idiot!"
"A tornado is formed when warm, moist air and cool, dry air mixes together. The fans on the roof gave off the warm and moist air while the trees gave off the cool and dry air. These two mixed thus creating a little tornado inside the greenhouse," Kei explained.
"That doesn't explain why the table was broken in perfect half," Hikari interjected. Kei glanced at her and chuckled.
"It was supposed to be in half. That table was made by Mezzochini, a famous craftsman who liked to build things that can be folded in half. That table was one of them."
Hiro found it so absurd how Kei was able to say all of these things to his members. He remained silent and continued to listen to Kei's 'findings.'
Tadashi pointed at the trees. "How about all the black paint on the trees? Don't tell me it was also because of the tornado?"
"Actually, it was. The greenhouse was supposed to be redecorated, remember? The black paint was for the outlines of the pathway. You could barely see them anymore."
"So the paint cans were open and when the tornado hit, all of them spilled and got spattered all over the trees?" guessed Megumi via her whiteboard.
Kei nodded. Hikari couldn't believe that he had figured it all out on his own. She lost their challenge and surely another consequence awaits her.
"Wait. How about the alarm? It can't be turned off by a tornado. Someone had to set if off," Ryuu wanted to know. In fact, everyone wanted to know. With this, at least one culprit could be blamed right?
In Kei's case, not really.
"The technician came the day before to fix one of the wires. He had to turn it off to actually work at it. He probably forgot to switch it on again." Kei surely was enjoying this. He ignored the chastising look Hiro was giving him.
After a few seconds, the blonde haired male snickered and started to walk off. "I'm going to get fresh air." Hiro said to everybody, his back already facing them.
'Well done, Kei.'
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"Waaahhh! I feel so relaxed and calm now that everything's back to normal." Akira brought the tray in. The others nodded in agreement. "It's a shame to throw the old table set though. It came all the way from Italy." She sulked with a dissatisfied expression.
"I don't think that was the issue here, Akira-chan," Hiro commented. After getting his 'fresh air' he came back to the greenhouse to eat. Like Tadashi, he became accustomed to Akira's cooking and her teas. He has been only there for a week and a lot has happened already. He didn't mind though and was actually enjoying it. Speaking of enjoyment, Hikari and Kei were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Hikari and Kei?" he asked. This time it was Ryuu -or was it Jun- who replied to him. He wasn't particularly interested in Ryuu and the twins so he often gets Ryuu's name mixed up with Jun.
The animal lover placed the cat down from his shoulders. "They're with the Director."
"That's my mom!" Tadashi exclaimed from behind Hiro's chair, startling the latter.
Curiosity sparked. "Are they in trouble or something?"
The rest shook their heads.
"It's probably because of the AOSE." Jun informed the new male.
"AOSE?"
"It's the Annual Olympic School Event." Tadashi took a bite from his cookie. His mother was telling him about it all weekend and unfortunately it stuck to his mind. "It's where schools from across the country compete through various sports. It's like the Olympics."
"Hikari-chan and Kei-kun are the ones who always participate in this from the S.A. They're the only people amongst us who can deal with physical work," Jun added in.
"Except for this bear woman over there." Tadashi obviously pointed at Akira. Soon enough, Tadashi was once again flying to the roofs of the greenhouse all thanks to the mentioned female.
Hiro nodded, taking in all the information. This time it was Megumi who joined in.
"It goes on for three days. The dates have yet to be confirmed so the Director is only reminding Hikari-chan and Kei-kun about the event." Megumi wrote down on her new whiteboard given by Yahiro on their date.
"I see... Can another one join in?" Hiro asked.
Akira wasn't sure why he wanted to know but she had her suspicions; she answered his question nevertheless. "Only ten students from each school can join the event. Eight are picked from the school plus Hikari and Kei. The Director wanted as many as possible from the S.A to join too but the rest of us is just not qualified for this type of thing. Why do you ask?"
Hiro smiled. "Oh nothing."
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"I just got the letter from the department about the AOSE and what week it's going to take place." The Director sat on her chair, her back facing the two students in the room. She never did like showing her face to her students except of course to her son.
"As always, it would be the two of you from the S.A. who will participate on this event. Seven students have been picked already from the school according to their speed, physical and endurance abilities. Besides you nine, no one else could stand up to our standards for this. Are you sure there's no one else in the S.A. who can be the tenth member?"
Hikari and Kei remained silent. They already knew the answer to that. Akira was a strong woman but she never did have any passion for sports events. Even though Tadashi was forced by her mother to join, he would rather have gone bungee jumping than go and tire himself out. The twins were an automatic no, and this of course affected Ryuu's decision.
"No there isn't, Kouchou-sensei," responded Kei. Hikari looked at him from the corner of her eyes.
The Director nodded but it wasn't like the two students could see the gesture. "Say, how's Kinose-kun? Is he fitting in well with you guys?"
The two was completely taken back with the sudden question. For some reason, Hiro name always irritates Kei. He still was wary of the new member and couldn't help but think: why now? Why let a stranger enter the A class, why now?
He was about to answer when Hikari beat him to it.
"Hiro-kun's managing well, Kouchou-sensei. He's not yet close to everyone but I think there's a progress." Hikari smiled. This of course didn't go unnoticed by the male beside him.
The Director tapped her fingers against her legs. "That's good. Well, that's all. I'll call you again when the official date of the event comes in. Dismiss."
Hikari and Kei bowed and made their way towards the door. However they were stopped by the director's next words.
"Oh, I almost forgot. The alarm in the greenhouse is back on. You guys don't need to worry anymore."
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The two headed back to the greenhouse with an awkward atmosphere. It was mostly Hikari who contributed to the silence as she couldn't face the male as straightforwardly as before. Kei on the other hand just waited for the female to break the silence. He was testing her and he wasn't particularly sure what kind of test it was. He only knew that if the girl didn't make an effort to at least have a decent conversation with him, it would only mean that she's troubled. Kei didn't know where this conclusion came from but it sounded pretty logical to him.
They reached the greenhouse without a sound. Kei took a deep breath and walked ahead of Hikari into the greenhouse.
"Kei! Hikari!" Tadashi greeted after seeing the two at the entrance. This got the other's attention and they were soon bombarded by the member's questions about the event.
"They need one more person?" Ryuu asked, surprised. As far as everyone knew, there's never a complication when it comes to these things like this event. Especially when it's organised by the Director herself.
Hikari nodded. "Apparently, one of the participants got into an accident." The other's mouths were shaped into a small 'o', slowly taking in the information. Kei remained silent throughout the chat and was sitting down on his favorite chair.
"So what's the school going to do about it?" Hiro titled his head and asked with a small smile. Upon hearing his voice, Kei glanced at him and saw the smile. Kei immediately recognized that it was a false, empty smile that everyone fell for. And by everyone he meant everyone, including his precious Hikari.
Hiro -by personal instinct- felt that someone was watching him and ignored this. Knowing it was the alpha of the pack, he paid no attention to him. Kei's not the only one who can play this game.
"I don't know. Maybe the school just have to go with nine students. There's no rule that ten students must participate." Hikari shrugged.
"You guys should just chill out! It's only the school Olympics after all!" Tadashi cheerfully suggested. Akira gritted her teeth and grabbed the nearest couch and threw it at Tadashi's direction.
"Shut up, you moron. Like you know anything."
"I do! I'm the Director's son and-"
"Say one more thing and I'll kick you to Jamaica, wherever that is."
"I don't think you should talk like that to Tadashi, Akira-chan," Hiro interfered. Sadly for him, it was a wrong move to make. Akira sent a glare towards his direction. She didn't care if he was the bloody new member. All the rage she felt for Tadashi came crashing down to Natsu.
"Who gave you the permission to call me Akira-chan?" she growled at him. Hiro's eyes widened and gulped. Tadashi watched him and a happy smile came into his face. Finally, he wasn't alone anymore. He finally gained himself a masochistic partner.
Soon, the two idiots were being chased around the greenhouse by Akira with a giant boulder in her grasp. The rest laughed at them as if they were watching a comedy show. No one said it but ever since the new male came, things had become more interesting and somewhat mysterious.
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The day ended and all made their way home. Hikari walked, Tadashi rode his motorbike, Akira and the triplets got a lift from their limousine. Kei stayed at the library to finish his work there and Hiro had to stay because of after school activities.
"That tornado lie was pretty impressive, Kei." His voice came from behind him. Kei didn't even turn around to acknowledge his presence.
"Impressing is what I do, Kinose-san," Kei stated as a matter of fact while he continued to type on his device.
Hiro chuckled and stayed where he was, not bulging whatsoever. He heard how intimidating Kei Takishima could get and he prepared himself. He wasn't the one who's going to back down at this. He already beat Kei at his own game the moment they met so why not do it again… and again?
Upon hearing his laugh, Kei sighed. He wasn't sure why the other male was bothering him at such hour. Kei wasn't even sure why he's part of the S.A in the first place. Something was very fishy as no one was allowed to get one place in the S.A just like that. Even in Iori's place, everyone had to move down one place below Hikari when they tied.
"Can I help you with something?" he finally asked.
"Why be rude? Can't I say hi to my friend?"
"First, I wasn't being rude. It was a normal question. Second, I'm not your friend."
"Fine, fine. I'm just here to remind you that lying is very bad." Hiro stayed put but his expression grew more mischievous. "Especially to the people you love."
His last words struck Kei. Not so much but it made him stop typing. "I didn't want everyone to become chaotic." He ignored Hiro's last remark. The other male noticed this.
"Hm? Is that so?" Hiro wondered out loud. Now it was getting interesting. Provoking someone like Kei was really amusing him and he couldn't find himself to stop. "Enlighten me, please and tell me why."
Kei made a 'tsk' sound. That guy was testing his patience. He didn't know his tactics and purposes but he's not going to satisfy Hiro's lack of amusement and be his personal entertainer. "Unfortunately for you, enlightening bastards isn't something I do."
Wishing Akira was there (for the first time) to beat up and abuse Hiro, Kei closed his laptop. His back remained to face Hiro which was something the other male found funny for no apparent reason. Maybe it was because he couldn't see Kei's facial expression and had to imagine it himself.
To some, they would take Kei's statement as a complete offense. But Hiro shrugged it off, adding his laugh with it. "Aw, pity... Alright then, just answer this one question and I'll promise I'll leave you alone… For today, that is."
Kei unhappily obliged. Getting rid of a pest was harder than he thought. "What is it?"
"Is Hikari really that dense?"
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Thank you for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated.