01. we are all blind in some ways

-x-

Takasugi squinted at the three approaching figures and flexed his left hand to ease the dull pain in his arm. His old injury had been acting up all morning, reacting to the pressure changes in the atmosphere, remembering the instant the bone had snapped more than ten years ago. When the wind shifted again, it brought the smell of rain, and he glanced overhead at the dark storm clouds, his good eye narrowed.

We know what you want, read the note he'd found in his shoe box that morning. Meet us at the gate at noon.

The three uniformed students stopped in front of him and fanned out into an arc. "You're Takasugi Shinsuke?" the one in the middle asked, smacking his gum as he looked Takasugi over, a moonflower tattoo visible on his neck. "Shit, you're smaller than I thought," he muttered. "Is this a thing now? Kamui's fucking short too."

Takasugi returned a hard gaze, recognizing the hostility and the name but unable to place a context. Behind him, the school gate creaked, sharp against the background buzz of lunchtime chatters. Someone in the building shouted something. "You're here to mark your territories," he stated flatly, taking in their aggressive stance and derisive expressions. The note had been a feint, as it usually was. People like them no longer sparked his interest and barely even irritated him. He'd been looking for four years, but nobody had the information he wanted, and it was likely that nobody ever would. He was still looking only because he didn't know what else he could do, how else he should live.

"Oh, we're here to give you what you want, buddy," the one on the right said with a sneer, cracking his knuckles. "That is, after we get what we want!" he added and swung his fist.

Dodging, Takasugi struck the guy's nose with the bottom of his palm and heard a satisfying grunt. He turned to face the other two but noticed the lunge from his left a split second too late. His back hit the wall, and gritting his teeth, he kicked at his opponent's ankle. There was a hiss, and space opened up in front of him. A raindrop landed on his cheek, and he eyed the trio before him, clenching his fist to test the strength in his left arm. Adrenaline masked the pain, but he hated fighting on rainy days. He hated the handicap – a weaker arm and a blind eye. He hated the car accident that took them all. He hated –

"That's enough," a lazy voice called out, and the four of them turned their heads in response.

Takasugi frowned when Ginpachi stepped out of the school gate. In the background, the school bell rang. "You three there," Ginpachi continued, looking at the three students slowly backing away from Takasugi. "That uniform. You from Yato Industrial High? Wanna give your names?"

The student with the moonflower tattoo spat on the ground and nodded to the other two. "Let's go."

Ginpachi harrumphed and, sensing a crowd gathering behind him, turned to wave off the curious students. "Go back to class," he ordered as rain began to fall in earnest. "Nothing to see here. Go, shoo!"

"Shinsuke-sama!" Matako shouted, pushing her way through the dispersing crowd, and glowered at Ginpachi when he raised an arm to block her path.

"Go back to class," Ginpachi repeated in a sharper tone and glanced at Takasugi. "You too," he added. Extending his hand, he gestured toward the gate and waited until Takasugi pushed himself away from the wall. There was a roll of thunder, and Ginpachi sighed when he spotted Principal Hata standing in the entrance way of the classroom building.

"Sakata-san, Takasugi-kun," Hata said as the two climbed the steps to the building. "My office please."

-x-

Takasugi yanked off the towel that Ginpachi had tossed onto his head and looked across the table at Hata. In the corner of the room, Ginpachi opened a cupboard and pulled out a tea box. The sound of boiling water died down, no longer drowning out the rain striking against the window and the clock ticking on the wall.

"Takasugi-kun," Hata began after throwing Ginpachi an irritated look. "You've gotten into too many fights lately. The school board won't stand for that."

"I don't see the school board," Ginpachi remarked and settled into the chair next to Takasugi, but not before placing a cup of jasmine tea in front of his student. Ignoring Takasugi's perplexed expression, he slouched in his seat and rested one ankle on his knee, dangling a lollipop stick from his mouth.

"I represent the school board," Hata said. "And the school board has decided that Takasugi Shinsuke is to be expelled."

The skin around Takasugi's eyes tightened, and Ginpachi exclaimed, "Huh? Wait a sec! What'd he do? Killed a person? Torched a house? Kicked a puppy? He was just fending off some bullies from another school."

"He disrupted classes."

"It was lunch break."

"He's a bad influence on the other students."

"Have you seen his test scores? He could probably do better than Zura if you didn't suspend him so often."

"He's causing trouble for the school."

Ginpachi made an exasperated sound and set his foot on the floor as he shifted in his seat. "Don't give me that crap. I'm talking to the school board first. Until then, you're not expelling him." He glanced at the untouched cup of tea and then his watch. "Excuse me, Principal Hata," he said, rising to his feet. "I have a class to take care of, or else they might all end up expelled for flying paper planes in the classroom. Let's go, Takasugi."

"Sakata-san," Hata called out, and Ginpachi halted his footsteps. "He still has to be suspended for the rest of the week for the fight today."

Ginpachi exchanged a long look with Hata before he turned away and ushered Takasugi out the door. "See you at the board meeting," he said and stepped into the hallway, grumbling as he walked down the corridor with Takasugi. "Damn Otose for retiring, and damn the school district for assigning us this joke of a principal. Listen up, Takasugi," he raised his voice. "Don't go pickin' fights for the rest of this week, y'hear? I don't want Principal Baka latching on to any excuse to expel you."

"Why do you care?"

"Oh, one more thing," Ginpachi continued. "You're on cleaning duty for the rest of the school year, starting next Monday. No complaining." Slowing to a stop as they arrived at the building entrance, he removed the lollipop from his mouth and asked in a softer tone, "You got an umbrella? Need to pick up anything from the classroom?"

Takasugi paused and held Ginpachi's gaze, unable to see through the bored expression. Suddenly aware of the ache that had returned to his left arm, he broke eye contact and raised his hand to indicate that he was fine, not looking back as he changed his shoes and exited the building. The rain was loud, beating against the ground and his umbrella. He frowned when he caught sight of a person standing outside the gate. Purple umbrella, red hair, a bandage across his nose, and a pleasant smile.

"Wow, I didn't have to wait for long. Are you Takasugi Shinsuke?"

Mildly irked, Takasugi responded, "I'll take a rain check."

"I'll hold you to that, because I want to see for myself if you really overpowered the former gang leader of Yato High. The last time Yagan walked around with his tail between his legs was when I beat him and took over the school."

"It was the teacher," Takasugi mumbled.

"What?"

A shout came from the school building, and Takasugi turned, looking up until he saw Kagura leaning out an open classroom window on the third floor.

"Kamui!" she yelled. "You stupid brother! What the hell are you doing here? Are you skipping class? I'm telling on you! Don't you dare cause trouble here, dammit!"

Takasugi shot a glance at the redhead standing next to him and furrowed his brows. He had no idea Kagura had a brother, but then again, they'd never really talked before, despite going a long way back. He could see the resemblance between the siblings now, but there was something fundamentally different about the smiles on their faces: one was genuine, and the other was empty.

"It's getting noisy," Kamui said lightly, his eyes fixed on his sister. His smile brightened, and he waved in acknowledgement.

"Somehow that really pisses me off!" Kagura shouted, and planted a foot on the window sill, yelling over her shoulder when Shinpachi pulled her back. Their argument ceased abruptly when Ginpachi swatted their heads, and they backed away along with the rest of their classmates that had clustered around the windows.

After smacking Matako and Bansai on the back of their heads again to make them return to their seats, Ginpachi slammed the window shut and cast a sidelong glance at Takasugi before turning away, his expression too distant to discern.

"Is that the teacher?" Kamui asked, and when Takasugi didn't respond, he continued with a smile, "Well, it's been interesting. See you around."

Takasugi watched as Kamui headed down the street, his gaze falling on the long braid peeking out from underneath the purple umbrella and the golden words embroidered on the back of the coat. The words jolted a memory, and Takasugi tightened his grip on his umbrella – Kamui was the one who'd caused an upheaval at Yato High after transferring from Harusame High a while back. Taking off in the direction of his apartment, he felt a corner of his mouth tilting upward. Maybe this was something worth pursuing.