I'm actually taking advantage of the fact that school isn't much trouble...yet. Hurrah for quickish updates!
Disclaimer: I bet even the really perceptive readers didn't actually notice the hair color difference of Nayujin in the previous chapters. :))
18: The Natural Abiu
She's the only time reality becomes sweet.
"Shachō, Gohin-san, Oshino-donno has arrived," Maki announced from the outside. Unknown to her and their visitor, the younger female and the older man had developed a tense atmosphere between them.
And it was all because of a certain mohawk-haired delinquent.
The blackette mentally ran herself over with a steamroller for forgetting her strategy to prevent further destruction of the Kageyama name. "Come in."
"Um, Tour Guide-san," A hesitant yet brave first-year was holding a soccer ball with both arms as she looked up at Fudou. "Is it okay if my friends and I play in here? We'd like to try the field," Behind her, three more of her batchmates huddled in anticipation, all looking doe-eyed at a mentally weirded out tour guide.
Zuko, Naomi and Mark focused on the watching and less on the brunette's fifth bag of jellybeans. "Is it just me or does he look like Tyler Glenn before he came out?" Mark whispered to himself in English. Though it was, the tour would've been more fun with Dylan around. "Tyler's much hotter," Naomi snorted (in English, no less) without looking at the golden-haired foreigner. "Speak Nihongo, Fry Guys!" Zuko, on the other hand, was a little hard on English – much to her mild frustration.
"Only where I can see you," Fudou finally answered, snapping back the third-years' attention to him. "Now move! You're not the only ones in need of a break." He removed his hat and looked at the window at the highest floor of the middle building. The brunette clicked his tongue in disappointment when he couldn't find the school president anywhere near the glass. Dark brown eyes followed wherever the cerulean orbs went before Zuko realized she had been staring for a minute too long.
"Hey there, Jelly Belly, you okay?" Naomi noticed the addressee shift a little in their spot at the grass. "What happened?" Mark asked Naomi with a shaky Japanese construction. Naomi glanced at the American for a moment before answering in English. "Dunno. Maybe it's a thing from jellybean overdose."
It took a moment before the two bilinguals noticed their hazel-haired companion had gone sprinting off.
"Begin the report, Takahiro," Maki put down the tea she was serving at the visitor's table where Oshino was. "I'd want to get this over with quickly; Raimon had called me over for another proposal." Sokudone, situated beside her officer and diagonally across Oshino, willed herself to not roll her eyes out of irritation. 'Great. Another request from the princess.'
Gohin readjusted his thin-rimmed glasses as he cleared his throat. "It has only been two weeks since I began watching over—"
"No, no," Oshino shook his partly bald head. "Change it to observe or keep close watch," He suggested, Maki standing behind him in case he needed anything. "Watching over is too sympathetic a term."
Sokudone glared at the wall behind the Head of the Department of Education as her officer made the necessary correction.
"It has only been two weeks since I began my job of observing the school president of Teikoku Gakuen, who I initially had expected to be a lean, middle-aged militaristic man yet I was met with an orphaned heiress of two non-related families who could barely reach the floor when she sat on the office chair—" Oshino offered a polite cough in lieu of a haughty laugh he was about to let out.
If she could, Maki would've probably bashed the tea set on his head.
"Yet I began to gradually understand how such a young lady could be so capable of a job in the midst of attending classes, being an undergraduate junior high schooler, and other traditions and activities that she was required to participate in as a girl, a daughter, and as a school president." Sokudone's expression softened by a fraction. Who knows, maybe Gohin was using the same strategy she utilized to earn her trust.
"That's a pretty tall building," A voice entered Fudou's ears while he continued to stare up at the office. "In comparison to the others anyway." She continued, hoping to get the latter's attention, but he was intent on staring and waiting. "Oi, Tour Guide-san," Zuko took out a sixth bag - the fifth she left with Mark and Naomi - "You should at least eat something while you're at it."
"Oi, Hamburglar," Fudou broke off from his one-sided staring game to glare instead at Zuko. "Do you like me or somethin'?"
"You're actually amusing, yeah." She grinned before tossing a colored bean into her mouth. "What's it to you, chicken comb?"
"For starters," Fudou shifted to face the girl. He was starting to forget about the office, Zuko observed. "You've been yapping your sugar-stained flappers since before the start of the tour. And it ain't somethin' I've been amused by." The mohawked delinquent made a once-over towards the almond-skinned female before staring back at the office. Zuko twitched her lips as he pouted.
"Staring up there won't bring her any closer to you any quicker than now, you know,"
Cerulean-eyed Fudou turned to look at the chocolate-eyed Zuko. Behind him, he could hear the freshmen from earlier screaming and laughing away as they kicked the ball around. "You're pretty quick to assume it's a 'her', na, Sundae?" But Zuko still had the same pout on as she spoke, "Like there's even anyone else you have in mind; the look in your eyes is scary though." The taller figure took this to his advantage as he stepped forward towards the shorter one. Fudou was sporting his signature maniacal grin. "Scary, ya say?" Zuko raised an eyebrow in question. "Then whaddaya think's the reason I'm lookin' fer someone I won't find?" He took another step closer. "I dunno," Zuko remained unfazed, yet she took a responsive step backward. "We can talk about it over a McBurger or something, though." Fudou came to an abrupt stop after making four successive steps. "Hey, whacko, did you just ask me out?"
"While she is still an adolescent in her mid-teenage years, it cannot be overlooked that Kageyama-Megamino Sokudone had used her power, her position as a high-ranking authority, for her own personal reasons. Although, it may be forgiven—"
"Pardon?" Oshino almost choked on his tea, and Sokudone barely visibly did. "Takahiro, did you just say forgiven?"
"Oshino-donno, my words do not come from my heart, but from what the lawbook says." The maroon-haired officer took a sip from his cup before continuing. "Although, this act may be forgiven due to the fact that one, she is but an adolescent and mistakes must be committed in order to learn; two, this has only been her first violation; and three, her superiors have failed to assign her a mentoring officer to keep watch of her during the very beginning of her term." Sokudone's violet eye widened as she looked at Maki, whose lighter ones copied the action. Oshino, meanwhile, spluttered his tea, to which Maki quickly broke off her happy eye contact and immediately offered a napkin. The old man swatted it away in his anger. "How dare you tell me it had been my fault from the start?"
"Oshino-donno," The blackette now sat straighter in her chair, "Please do calm down."
"You!" He growled, a finger shakily pointing at Sokudone. "You paid him to do this! Sold a soul! Falsified your kindness!"
"Oshino-donno," The insults meant nothing to her – Kageyama Sokudone was up in cloud nine, and the little old man was six feet under the ground. "What say you we continue my probation,"
"Undoutedly!"
"And after the period ends, let's forgive your mistake of failing to appoint an officer to me and allow me to continue my term without one?"
"Absolutely not!" Oshino Tanabe was beyond composed; he was red as a tomato, his chubby cheeks bridging the sweat down to his triple chin, and he shook with uncontrollable anger and humiliation. "Then we must also report your failure to abide by the laws, must we not?" If Fudou was grinning crazily, Sokudone's poker face masked her psychologically questionable smile. Oshino's black beady eyes glimmered with realization. "You're blackmailing me."
"I am simply making a proposition of my own. A compromise, if you'd prefer so," She looked beside her. "Gohin-kun?"
"I suppose we can bend the rules."
"Takahiro, you work for me, not for this monster!"
"Yes, sir." But Oshino knew in the dark recesses of his mind he had lost to a mere middle school undergraduate without even her having to lift a finger. The caramel-skinned authority stood, bid his clipped farewell to a polite Sokudone, and had Maki walk him out of the school.
"What about it?" Zuko herself was actually surprised that a seemingly shallow guy like Tour Guide-pyon actually had pretty deep thoughts like such. But eh, if it meant getting a free Happy Meal, why the heck not? "Chivalry's died long before we started breathing anyway." The pale-skinned soccer player snorted in response. This annoying whackster obsessed herself (and to some extent, him as well) with finding McDonalds – which she had asked about too many times to count during the tour. Whatever made her think he'd take interest in Cuckoo McJellybeans? "Try your luck next time, doll. When the crows turn white."
He put on his Pershing cap once more, stopped the freshmen's soccer game, which by then had been joined by a few second-years, and assembled them all once more. "Last stop is Building 3, the central building. After that, anyone who's got business with the school pres stays with me. Move!" As he had practiced, Fudou spun on his heel and briskly walked over to the open hallway – the same one that connected Building 1 to Building 3, where Maki had walked Oshino at the beginning of the tour. With the generous space the steel blue-colored pillars offered, Fudou and the students saw the same two people, the girl respectfully striding behind, walk towards the main lobby. "Hn," The bananatic thought, "That lasted less than a half-day."
"What did?" Zuko asked from way behind; Naomi was back to her pocket-hogging spot.
"That hotheaded snowman's torture on School Pres," He answered a little softer than he intended, like he was relieved at the sight. "Well come on," Fudou sauntered over to the automatic sliding doors of the first floor. To its side laid a flight of stairs and a ramp was on the other. "This is the students' canteen, the biggest facility in all of Teikoku."
The students filed in, gaping at the all-you-can-eat buffet tables positioned at the corners farthest from the door. They sandwhiched a table full of utensils which faced the door. Vending machines and food stalls ran throughout the sides, but there was enough space for light to fill in; the windows ran from the floor up to the ceiling and were usually open to let the air in. Otherwise, the canteen would be a chilly paradise.
"We gotta hustle, Rice Crispeeves!" Fudou shouted - the tourists took their time stuffing their bags with loot. "Lunch bell's about to wank out so we're going to the fourth floor!"
"Wait, fourth?" Mark and Zuko looked up from their place at a vending machine. The latter discovered vending machine jellybeans and had never been happier. "What about the second and third?" The same cartographer second-year looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "Second floor's third-year classrooms; third's gym facilities. Now hurry up; third-years'll kidnap you virgins if they get a chance."
A flurry of screams and footsteps responded to Fudou as the students hurried out the doors and ran up the stairs and the ramp. After all, Japanese people were conservative, shy types.
Mark and Fudou laughed until kingdom come as they followed the last of the students from the back.
"...'her', na, Sundae?" The 'na' here is like an English 'hm' or 'don't you' but I don't have a literal translation except for those. :D At twenty hundred words this seems like my favorite arc yet! Then again, it's Fudou so. :3
Reviews please! Aren'tcha kinda proud and annoyed that the word count suddenly increased? :'D
-Strawbeariiis
