05. that's all just wishful thinking

-x-

After his gaze focused on the word "The" for the fifth time, Takasugi tossed the textbook onto his desk and tucked his hands behind his head, rocking his chair on its legs as he glanced at the front of the classroom. On the blackboard, someone had crossed out the words "skooberry milk" and scribbled "school festival" underneath.

" – will be Mutsu and Kijima," Ginpachi was saying in a lazy monotone. "And the – "

Matako jumped up from her seat and exclaimed, "But what about Shinsuke-sama?"

"Sit down," Ginpachi said without looking up from the wrinkled piece of paper in his hand. "And the group that's gonna be in charge of food is gonna be Kagura, Kondo, Takasugi, Tama, and Zura. Finally – "

"Sensei, it's not Zura, it's Katsura."

"Finally, the group – "

"Sensei," Matako interrupted, still standing. "We don't need five people preparing food. Shinsuke-sama can join us instead."

"Finally," Ginpachi raised his voice. "The group that's gonna be in charge of music is gonna be Kawakami, Hasegawa, and Terakado. Now you were saying?" Fixing his eyes on Matako, he crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and chucked it over his shoulder.

"I was saying that we don't need five people preparing food, so Shinsuke-sama can – "

"What's wrong with Mutsu?"

"Uh, there's nothing wrong with Mutsu-senpai. We just don't need – "

"I don't see anyone else complaining about the group assignments."

Kondo raised his hand. "Sensei, can Otae-san join our group?"

Shinpachi raised his hand. "Sensei, can I join Otsuu-chan's group?"

Okita raised his hand. "Sensei, can I kill Hijikata-san?"

Ginpachi let out an exasperated sigh. "No," he said loudly, unwrapping a lollipop. "The groups are not changing. Class dismissed." He glared at his students, stuck the pink lollipop into his mouth, and strode out of the classroom.

The door slammed shut, and the classroom exploded into various cheers and groans, some celebrating the end of the school day and some bemoaning their group assignments for the upcoming school festival. The faint smirk on Takasugi's face faded away when he caught sight of Kagura and Katsura talking animatedly with each other. It was as if Ginpachi had wanted to rub it in his face, but for what purpose or what reason, he could only speculate.

"Shinsuke-sama," Matako called out, but before she could make her way to his desk, Mutsu tapped on her shoulder and said something. Matako's face flushed, and she shot Takasugi a sheepish glance before directing her attention to the notebook that Mutsu was holding up.

Bansai was talking to Otsuu, Nizo was examining bread with Yamazaki, Takechi was having some sort of staring contest with Catherine, Kondo was getting abused by Otae, Katsura was now conversing with Tama, and Kagura... Takasugi paused when Kagura met his gaze and started walking in his direction, but she stopped cold when Okita muttered something behind her with a sneer.

"I have very good taste, you bastard!" she yelled and kicked in his direction, knocking over an empty desk as a result. "My Mami taught me that all a person needs is good food and a good book! Why do you think I wear glasses – hey give me back my sukonbu, you damn sadist! Come back!" Shoving Shinpachi out of the way, she jumped over a desk and chased after Okita, leaving behind angry shouts as she ran into the hallway.

Takasugi furrowed his brows, suddenly remembering what Kamui had said the day before. He wouldn't be surprised if the redhead had intentionally mangled his mother's words, but there was something about everything that tugged at him in a way that he didn't really like. People who build houses out of cards want them to go as high as possible, but everybody knows that they can fall at any time. And when that happens, some laugh, some sigh, some start over, some give up – and some pretend nothing ever happened.

Grabbing his bag, Takasugi pushed past his classmates and left the rowdy classroom, trying to forget the touch and the smell of the person who'd stayed over at his place for the night. It was a futile attempt, he realized when he spotted a purple umbrella and a familiar face by the school gate. Stopping in front of Kamui, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Smiling, Kamui said, "We're going to Yoshiwara Trade School."

"And why are you going there?" Takasugi asked after Kamui when the latter turned to head down the street, toward the all-girls school of the district.

"You'll know when we get there."

-x-

Sometimes, Takasugi wasn't sure whether meeting Kamui was a blessing or a curse. Right now, he was convinced it was the latter because nothing else could explain why they were hiding behind the corner of a building and spying on another student in the courtyard of Yoshiwara Trade School.

"That's Abuto," Kamui said in a low voice, directing his gaze at the person standing under a willow in the courtyard. "His mother owns the place we went for dinner yesterday."

Takasugi stared at Kamui and then at Abuto, who was fidgeting with a bouquet of flowers. It was oddly reminiscent of certain scenes in Zura's LaLa magazines he'd caught glimpses of in the classroom, and he could feel a headache coming. "This is absurd," he uttered and turned, halting his footstep when Kamui grabbed his wrist.

"Someone's watching us," said Kamui, still looking at the courtyard.

Takasugi deadpanned. "I know." There was an irritating amount of irony in their current situation, and he'd had enough. When Kamui shot him an inquiring glance, he raised his voice and said to the nearby trashcans, "Right, Bansai? Matako?"

There was a pause before Bansai and Matako slowly rose from behind the trashcans, one wearing his usual stoic expression and the other forcing a nervous chuckle.

"Wh-what a coincidence, Shinsuke-sama," Matako said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice and laughed, scratching the back of her head.

"This looks intriguing, I daresay," Bansai added shamelessly as he circled around the trashcans with Matako to join the two behind the building.

"I have to be somewhere," Takasugi lied, wrapping his fingers around Kamui's wrist as he tried to loosen the redhead's grip on his other arm. The grip tightened in response, and he did the same in return, glowering as it turned into some sort of strength contest. Maybe the solution to this stealth operation was to start a fight and attract a whole lot of attention.

"Are you his friends?" Kamui asked, smiling at Bansai and Matako.

"Shinsuke-sama is our leader," Matako said and frowned. "What do you think you're – "

"The lady has arrived," Bansai announced, and all four of them turned their heads toward the courtyard, catching sight of a long-blue-haired student walking up to Abuto.

Yoshiwara Trade School was famous for its beautiful students, and Kada was one of the few who'd made a name for herself. Takasugi narrowed his eye in frustration and looked away from the confession scene, glaring at Kamui instead, unable to fathom why they were here, doing this. His wrist was beginning to hurt, the smile on Kamui's face was starting to get on his nerves, and something was upsetting his stomach. Suppressing a growl, he abruptly let go of his grasp on Kamui's wrist and hid a smirk when puzzled blue eyes looked up at him. Before he could say something, Matako remarked, "Ah, she rejected him."

Takasugi looked over to the courtyard in time to see Kada walk away from a dejected Abuto, but just when he thought the nonsense was over, Kamui said, "Let's go get some food to cheer Abuto up. Yo Abuto!"

-x-

And so Takasugi found himself in the corner of a booth at Tenny's, sitting between Matako and the window, facing a grouchy Abuto, while Kamui claimed the other seat across the table and Bansai pulled up an extra chair at the end. For some reason, his life sucked more than usual.

"What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?" Abuto murmured, giving Kamui a pained and defeated look.

"Food cheers people up," Kamui said, chewing on a piece of steak.

"That's not what I'm talking about! Why were you spying on me?"

"You ran off with a perverted look on your face immediately after school. It was the only way I could find you."

"I did not have a perverted look on my face, you doofus!" Abuto protested. "And you're the one hogging all the food!" He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So why were you looking for me? Why did you bring all these people along? Who are they?"

"What I told you this morning," Kamui said around a mouthful of fries. "What're you listening to?" he turned to Bansai and asked.

"Oh, have you heard of the Yoshida brothers?" Bansai said. "They..."

Abuto sighed again and buried his face in his palm for a moment before he glanced at Takasugi. "Were you the one who got into a fight with Yagan the other day?"

"What did he tell you?" Takasugi asked, furrowing his brows.

Abuto scratched his stubble and said in a quiet voice, "I would stay out of everything involving Yagan if I were you." He hesitated and leaned forward. "I heard you were looking into the murder that happened near Harusame middle school four years ago. I really don't care about any of this, but this idiot here told me to talk to you, so I'll just tell you what I know. Yagan's brother is serving jail time for this murder, and I think he's about to be paroled, so Yagan really hates that you're stirring up trouble right now."

"Was he really the one who committed the murder?"

Abuto shrugged. "Beats the hell outta me. Cops claimed they had physical evidence, but there'd been rumors saying he was framed. Rumors died down real quick, though."

Takasugi clenched his jaw and looked out the window, thinking back on everything that'd happened over the past four years. Shoyo-sensei had been killed in a street dispute. The law enforcement had apprehended the culprit, who'd insisted that he hadn't killed anyone. Takasugi had dismissed those words in anger four years ago, and he wasn't interested in proving anybody's innocence now, but the police had closed the case in such haste and kept it at the lowest possible profile that he felt as if something was missing. Asking around had only earned him odd or blank looks.

It had nothing to do with the school. No, the victim had nothing to do with the school, but the culprit was a student there. No, he was from another school. Wait, I thought both of them were students. Y'know, so-and-so was arrested around that time. But so was this other person. Oh, you remember? There was –

"Are you going to eat that?"

Takasugi blinked at Kamui's voice and looked across the table, blinking again when he saw Kamui wearing Bansai's headphones and pointing at his plate.

Matako objected. "Hey, that's Shinsuke-sama's – er..."

Takasugi pushed his plate across the table without a word and tore his gaze away from the redhead, but glanced back again, watching Kamui devour the chicken on his plate while Bansai was narrating something about music. The headphones looked weird on Kamui, and he felt the sudden urge to pluck the device from Kamui's head and throw it out the window. What was he doing here again?

Kamui smiled at him, knowing and almost victorious. After a pause, Takasugi extended his hand across the table and said, "Let me listen to that."