Sorry, peoples. I've been reaaally busy this fall. Some of the people who have to read my stories before I publish them had too much work to do also. I assure you, the next chapters for my other stories will be coming out somewhere in the next few days.
Kirihara glanced at Aki, who was sitting in a booth away from her and Saitou, just out of earshot. He followed the suit and turned to look at the kid. Kono had gone off to a previous engagement, so it was just them.
Hei noticed their stares, but he chose to glare at the window instead. The sky was gray, the atmosphere cold, and his mind muddled. He exhaled, watching as the condensation appeared on the pane, then faded away just as quickly. His frown deepened, and he resumed watching people from his post in his seat.
If he strained his ears, he could barely hear their conversation.
"So, you were just going to a crime scene because BK201's signal sent up a flare, and you found this kid wandering around?" asked Yusuke, his eyebrows furrowed. He tried to keep a straight face and not betray the fact that he had a crush on perhaps the toughest sector chief that city had ever gotten.
She pursed her lips, stealing another glance at the mellow-looking middle school student. "Yeah, believe it or not, that's what happened. He was just walking around, not doing anything."
"Well," he grunted, "what are you going to do about him?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not sure. He doesn't seem like some evil contractor, and he's just in middle school."
"You should know this more than anyone, chief, but I'll remind you. There are tons of contractors who are children, and they're just as ruthless."
"But-"
"I should take him with me, and turn him in," he gulped, hoping she would buy it. He stood up, gaining a head turn from the kid and a shocked face from Misaki.
When she opened her mouth, he cut her off reluctantly. "It's for your own good. This kid could slice your neck in your sleep."
She put her head down, stood up, and decided that she'd put her foot down on this one. Saitou was her former subordinate, he wasn't supposed to be the one giving orders.
"I'm afraid that's not going to be the case, Saitou. The kid's coming with me. Besides, if he had wanted to kill me, wouldn't he have done it already? He isn't all that bad, you know!"
Yusuke gaped. She hadn't realized it, but her voice had risen until she was almost yelling. She glared at the police officer, daring him to object. He couldn't, though, he couldn't ever tell her no when it came down to it.
He sighed slowly, almost whistling. "Okay, then. You take him. But you can call on me at any time, remember that."
He walked out the door without another word.
Kirihara watched as he walked the short way back to the station. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked at Aki.
He nodded his head in acknowledgment. She motioned towards the door, leaving their trash. Hei followed her, his hands in his pockets and his head down.
Once they had made it to the car, Misaki opened the door, gestured for Aki to get in, and went to collapse in her own seat.
She closed her eyes and thought about the conversation she had just had with Saitou. She knew having a contractor in her house was crazy, stupid, even. It's just that Aki reminded her so much of Li, that she couldn't fathom him being punished by being executed or, Heaven's Gate forbid, experimented on.
The boy in question was having his own problems. He was wondering how he could get out of this situation. Then he remembered his resolve to go with the flow and make the detectives, including Kirihara, get very confused all of a sudden. A small smile appeared on his usually stoic face.
This was going to be amusing.
One week later.
"Aki," cried Misaki, "you need to get the heck up so you can get to your first class!"
'Aki' rolled out of his makeshift bed/futon and stumbled his way over to the guest bathroom. He brushed his teeth and dressed in the stupid middle school clothes. He stepped down the 3 steps that lead him into the living room, where Kirihara was madly brushing her hair in a towel.
He blinked. She was in a towel.
Quickly recovering his wits, he plastered a smile on his face and headed over to the table, where he grabbed an energy bar walked promptly out of the door.
"WAIT!" He heard her yelling after he left. Grinning, he counted to three, waiting for her to come out a fire-breathing dragon.
Sure enough, in exactly three seconds, she appeared from the doorway, and grabbed his collar. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice cold as frozen steel.
He gulped. "Um, nothing much, ma'am. I'm just getting ready for school and all, you know."
She relaxed both her shoulders and her grip, and stared hard down at him in her heels. She'd gotten them not even two days after he'd begun sleeping in her guest room. It was probably because she was disturbed by the fact that a 13 year old (That was how old the examiners claimed he was. Hei wasn't pleased by this.) was just as tall as she was.
He followed her to the car and strapped himself in.
For the first few days, things had been very tense between them. Misaki had felt threatened by his presence, that was a given. After a while, and a few jokes and stories, she'd started to accept him, bit by bit. Sure, it had taken longer than it would've if she hadn't known he was a contractor, but still. He'd let a small bit of his personality show, in order for her to trust him even more. That was essential.
Once they arrived at the school, Kirihara told him to go and 'gather' with the students in the halls, while she went inside to prepare for homeroom. She grabbed his shoulder just before he left and told him to watch it.
Hei rolled his eyes and trudged over to the entrance of the school. He clenched his teeth and walked inside.
Pandemonium. That was all that could describe this nonsense.
Kids were pouring in from all directions and opening lockers and closing lockers and chatting and chatting and walking around in groups and rushing.
Hei looked at the small slip of paper in his hand. His locker was number 304.
Throwing up on the inside, he grumbled quietly and walked calmly over to where the number was bound to be. Putting in the code, he opened it and dumped his books in it. He wouldn't need those anyway.
By the time the bell rang twice, he was headed over to his class.
Needless to say, homeroom was a bore.
The teacher, Ms. Maka, was a thin lady with a long thing face who apparently received joy from quizzing her students about obscure facts about their personal lives. She was doing this activity when Hei walked in the door, late.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are late, Mr. What is your name?"
Hei plastered the fake smile that always worked on his mouth. "My names Aki Tokugawa, ma'am. It's so nice to meet you. Ms. Kirihara has told me so much about you."
That was a lie. Misaki hadn't told him anything about any of the teachers. He was making guesswork look easy.
"Tokugawa, eh? Sit down in that spot. Yes, the only available one." The seat was in the middle of the classroom. He cursed under his breath. It would be difficult to skip or slip out unnoticed.
Hei stared in horror at the desk she had suggested. It was girl blocked.
Then Hei looked at himself in horror. What was wrong with being surrounded by girls? Nothing he couldn't handle. He strode over to the seat and sat down, not looking at any of them. He glanced towards the window, perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of freedom.
Instead, the girl closest to the window squealed at the sight of him facing her. He opened his eyes wider, like he was taken aback, but was smirking inside. He smiled 'warmly', and turned towards the front of the classroom at Ms. Maka.
The girl, Sachiko Kida, flushed and stared hard out the window. She had light brown curls in a ponytail, and dark brown eyes. Often criticized as childish, she used her girly charm to the best of her ability. Almost the entire male population of the school was in the palm of her hand.
She was the very definition of cute, to almost everyone.
Everyone except Hei. He glanced back at her, disgust filling his mind. How on earth could anyone want to be like that, he thought to himself. It wasn't like Amber at all. Amber's cuteness was-
He stopped himself, feeling a chill come over his chest. Amber...
Shaking his head, he promptly answered the question of what he wanted to be when he grew up with 'a police officer'.
After the short homeroom period, he had 2 minutes to snatch the books out of his locker, and find his next class, math.
He sighed, preparing himself.
The girl who had giggled at him earlier in homeroom walked up right beside him. She smiled real cute, like a girl version of Momiji Sohma. (A/N: XD LOLOLOL Fruits Basket reference alert!)
"Hi," she said brightly, "My name's Sachiko. And your's is Aki, isn't it?"
He glared at her coldly, much to the distress of all the boys eavesdropping. "Yeah, so?"
She frowned, and her face fell, but she recovered fast, and smiled again.
"You're so adorable," she said sweetly, "pretending you don't like me and all."
She waited for a reaction. She got none.
It looked like he was ignoring her.
She shut her mouth and walked in the door after him, surprised for a moment that they had the same math class. She watched as he sat down in the seat nearest to the back of the room. She also noticed that he had a death ray stare on the teacher. Her eyes widened.
She sat down in the seat in front of him, and put her elbows on her desk.
Hei stared at Misaki. Misaki stared at Hei.
He smirked and she grinned.
"Mr. Tokugawa, would you mind sitting up here in the front where I can see you?" she said, her voice strained.
Sachiko frowned. She stood up, walked over to Aki's seat, and grabbed his arm. "But, teacher, I want to sit next to Aki!" She added a little bit of crocodile tears at the end, wiping them off on her sleeve.
Kirihara smiled grimly. "Thanks, but I know where I want that kid. He's a troublemaker."
Hei stood up and walked over to the seat at the front of the room. The girl's lip stuck out and she sat down again as a chubby boy came and occupied the empty seat behind her. She looked up and glared at their new teacher. Sure, she was gorgeous, Sachiko had to admit, but she looked strict.
"My name is Misaki Kirihara, kids. You can call me Ms. Misaki."
Aki almost jumped out of his seat. "M-ms. M-misaki?!" he yelled in disbelief. His voice squeaked when he said it, a fact that clearly irritated him.
"Is there anything wrong with that, Mr. Tokugawa? You may call me Ms. Kirihara if you wish."
Hei made a silent oath to never question her when she was serious. He gulped, nodded, and got back in his chair.
"Well, I already went over your student information, so I know who you all are. Ms. Kida, would you please stand up lead the class in the multiplication tables up to fifty, please?"
Sachiko stood up, but almost fell back down again when she heard the fifty part. "Up to fifty?" she asked in shock. "But I don't know them that high! Nobody does!"
Kirihara frowned. "What do you know them up to?" she asked cautiously.
"Fifteen. And what's up with multiplication anyway? We all learned that in elementary school! This is the pre-algebra class!"
Misaki glowered a bit at the girl before checking her notes. Nodding slowly, she turned to her books and pulled out the one that said 'Pre-Algebra 1' on it, and opened it up.
"My bad," she admitted. "Instead, I want you all to open up to page five and look at the list of problems."
The class obeyed, except Hei.
Kirihara noticed, and strode over to his desk. "I said to pull out your book, Aki."
The fake kid glared at her before reluctantly opening his textbook to the incredibly easy problems. He sighed really hard, making a few of the other children laugh.
"This is Middle School, Aki, we work here," she said, walking back up to her teacher's desk.
No, Kirihara was mistaken.
This was Hell.
Sooo, thanks for reading, and all that stuff. Hope you like it. Any questions you have can be put into reviews. I'm gonna go watch DTB again.