A/N: Thanks for kusen-kun for the plot~! I'm not sure if this is good enough... I mean... Nah~ I know I'm not really good on this kind of story, but I want to broaden my field~
This chapter became too long, so I split it into two... I posted them today too though... That's why it took longer for me to update...
Sorry for bad grammar~ And also, thanks to kusen-kun who give me the idea for this~!
Oretachi no Taiga ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai!
(Our Taiga Can't Be This Cute!)
Chapter 6
Our Taiga and the School Culture Festival Part I
Meitantei Taiga: Ally of Justice
Carefully, Kagami Taiga cut up his hand-made chocolate pie. It was late afternoon in the student council room. The host club activity had been closed for some times, due to the incoming school culture festival, and the student council were so busy with this, and since Kagami wasn't a part of student council he decided to help a bit by providing food, since most of them couldn't go to the dining hall in time to eat lunch or dinner. He had spent his free time in the home-economic kitchen to prepare this, and he didn't mind it at all.
Adding some topping, he prepared more tea or coffee and carefully brought it all to the council's meeting room. Akashi, the president, was sitting on his seat, reading some document while Midorima, the vice-president, helped handling some proposal from the classes and clubs for budget. Kise was the treasurer, and he was struggling with the help of Momoi to calculate and revise the Book. Murasakibara, who was supposed to be the First Secretary, just sat in front of computer, lazily typing something. Aomine was out there somewhere, handling the demands from sport clubs to get more room for their stands (since he was from Sport Division), while Kuroko being the Academic and Cultural Division handle the other clubs.
Kagami put each slices of the chocolate pie on the table along with Akashi's favorite dark coffee. He had brought some bean-soup drink for Midorima and prepared tea for the rest of the council members.
"Thank you, Taiga," Akashi said and smiled as he lifted his face from the document he was working on. "You've been a great help."
"Ah… This is the least I could do," Kagami said with a soft smile that suddenly brightened the room. Every eye in the room turned to him, and everyone thought of the same thing…
Angel…!
"I want Kaga-chin chocolate pie~" Murasakibara said.
"No. Finish your job first, Atsushi," Akashi said sharply. Murasakibara pouted at this, but Kagami walked towards the big purple haired boy and rubbed his head affectionately.
"Don't worry. I'll leave some for you later, okay? The faster you finish your task, the faster you can eat the pie," Kagami said as he smiled brightly. Murasakibara looked at Kagami before he nodded and returned to his task. Suddenly, his movement had become faster and more accurate. Ah, the power Kagami had to control the student council members! If he was some ambitious guy, he would use this for his advantage. But since Kagami was always a kind-hearted, simple/pure-minded angel, he was so oblivious of this power.
Hell, he even had one of the strongest businessmen in the world (namely his father) wrapped around his fingers.
"Ki-chan you missed this one! That's why the deviation from last month's income is too big…!" Momoi said from her position behind Kise.
"But… Momoicchi~ there are too many numbers in here-ssu… My eyes hurt~!" Kise whined.
"That's why you should do this more often!" Momoi scolded.
"But I don't understand a single thing about Book accounting-ssu…"
"Then why do you become the student council's treasurer in the first place?" Momoi asked. Kise pouted. "Let's recalculate this once again…"
"Eeeh…?" Kise whined more.
Kagami had moved to place Kise's and Momoi's share of chocolate pie and cups of green mint tea. Kise looked up from his task and smiled at Kagami.
"Thank you, Kagamicchi~" said Kise.
"Thanks, Kagamin~"
"Ah… I know you are supposed to finish that soon, but I don't think it's good to force yourself like that. Take a small break before your re-do it. I think clearer mind works better than frustrated one, don't you think?" Kagami said.
"Kagamicchi… You are an angel!" Kise said brightly.
"Uhm… thanks?" Kagami was blushing cutely at Kise's compliment. "I… Uh… I'll go now. If you needed anything, just… tell me…"
Kagami turned and left the room still with blushing face.
Kagami walked down the corridor when towards the home economic kitchen to retrieve his frilly apron he accidentally left after making the chocolate pie. When he opened the door, he bumped into one of the student. Kagami quickly apologized, but said student seemed paid him no mind as he ran down the corridor. Inside the kitchen, they were some people that Kagami recognized from the Cooking Club.
"Hello…" Kagami greeted the Cooking Club members. He could see some of the first-year members and second-year, discussing something. As soon as Kagami entered the kitchen, they stopped talking. The Cooking Club president, a second-year student named Mibuchi Reo looked up at Kagami and smiled sweetly.
"Ara~ Tai-chan? What are you doing here?" the flamboyant second year asked.
"Hello, Mibuchi-senpai…" Kagami said.
"Mou…! How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'Onee-san'?" Mibuchi walked closer to Kagami and cupped the younger boys face in his hand. "What a bad boy you are, T-A-I-G-A~!"
Kagami was speechless. But, Mibuchi quickly let him go. Kagami looked at the troubled face of the Cooking Club and he knew something happened.
"Did something happen?" Kagami asked.
"Hm? No. Nothing. Don't worry your pretty head about this, Tai-chan~" said Mibuchi as he patted Kagami's head softly. The older boy turned to his club members. "Do not report this yet."
The rest of the club members nodded and Mibuchi left (after gave a small peck on Kagami's cheek). Kagami waited towards the chair where he left his apron and looked at Sakurai Ryou, one of the Cooking Club members. Kagami knew the boy pretty well, since they used to meet in the kitchen when Kagami made something for the host club. Sakurai was in the same class as Aomine, and he was a very good cook. But it was his personality that sometimes annoyed Kagami.
"Oi, Sakurai, did something happened?" Kagami asked the sandy brown haired boy. Sakurai quickly turned to Kagami.
"Ah, I'm sorry Kagami-kun, I'm really sorry… But Mibuchi-senpai told us not to report this to the student councils… I'm really sorry…!" there it came. Sakurai's apologizes.
"Wait… It's not your fault. You don't have to say sorry for that…" Kagami tried to stop the boy.
"Ah! I'm really sorry for apologizing, I'm really sorry… I'm sorry I can't hold myself… I'm sorry for saying sorry…"
"Sakurai, calm down and get a hold of yourself!" Kagami shouted. Instantly, Sakurai stopped and looked into Kagami's face. Kagami sighed in relieve. "Now, I'm not part of Student Councils, and since you guys from Cooking Club always helped me, if you guys have any trouble, I'd like to help. Now, without feeling sorry, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Sakurai looked up at Kagami, and then at the rest of the club who was still there, asking for their opinions. Finally, they nodded and let Sakurai tell the story. If Kagami wanted to do something, it was hard to resist him, especially when he looked at them with the fiery determined eyes like that. Everybody in this school knew how much Kagami always wanted to help them with their problems. And because of that, no one seemed able to refuse Kagami's request.
Finally, they sat around the table in the home economic kitchen and Sakurai explained.
"Well, you know that Teikou Academy's Cultural Festival is almost the same as the other schools'. They were rules, that the students cannot use their personal money for this. The school had set the maximum budget for each participant's booths and we cannot use more money than that. It is to make sure that the festival will not be too opulent, because we're trying to attract the visitor from all social classes."
Kagami nodded at this. Yeah. If the school let the students used as many money and wealth they had, the Cultural Festival would be held in some kind of resort on southern island with the performance of opera at night, and world class café at day. He could imagine how the cultural festival would look like. Good thing the school director was a smart man.
"But it seemed like the Cooking Club couldn't participate this year," Sakurai said sadly. "Yesterday in the afternoon, someone stole our money for this year's festival, and we don't know who. Mibuchi-senpai said it might be the doings of someone who wanted to sabotage the club. Because we're the winner of these last two year's festival as the best stand, I think some people don't want us to win," Sakurai said. "Ah… I'm really sorry for troubling you with our problem like that! I'm really sorry! I'm—"
"Sakurai!" Kagami shouted.
"—sorry?"
"Shut up," Kagami said. "Mibuchi-senpai told you not to report this to the student councils?"
"Umm… Yeah. He said if we repot this, the problem will get worse. Besides, the councils had their hands tied with the festival already…"
Kagami nodded at this. Yes. Akashi and the rest was still busy handling all the festival matters. Mibuchi did the right thing for not telling Akashi. Besides, who knew what the thief might do if she or he knew that the Cooking Club reported this. Kagami was determined. He wasn't a student council member, but he had to make sure that his friends' hard work would be paid with a peaceful cultural festival. Besides, what's the meaning of school festival if one club didn't participate? Especially if it was Cooking Club!
"I'll help you," said Kagami finally.
"Sorry?"
"I'll help you find the culprit, and we're gonna get your festival money back!"
Kuroko looked down the list in his hands. He was handling the registration for the participants who wanted to open a stand for cultural festival. He almost had done taking the list of every club participants for the school festival. The last club would be Cooking Club before he head down back to the student council room and reported the registration form to Midorima. Kuroko stopped in front of the Cooking Clubroom and knocked at the door slowly.
He waited until one of the club members opened it for him.
"Kuroko-kun…" Sakurai Ryou greeted him.
"Hello, Sakurai-kun, I'm here for the registration form of Cooking Club for the school festival. What stands are you planning to make?" Kuroko asked casually.
"I'm sorry, it'll be food stands," Sakurai said. "Will that be okay? The details are in the form… I'm sorry; let me get it for you… Sorry…"
Sakurai let Kuroko in and started to rummage through the documents on the table. That was when Kuroko realized Kagami was also in the same room, which made him wondering.
"Hello, Kagami-kun. What are you doing here?" Kuroko asked. Kagami quickly turned to Kuroko.
"Uhm… ah… hello, Kuroko. I was just… talking to Sakurai… about cooking! Yeah, cooking…" Kagami said, a bit nervous with slightly flushed cheeks. The observant Kuroko knew he was hiding something, but Kuroko only dismissed it. "Ah, by the way, there's chocolate pie I've saved for you and Aomine. I keep it in the cupboard so Murasakibara couldn't eat it."
"Thank you, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said as he smiled. Sakurai handed him the registration form. Kuroko nodded and went out of the Cooking Club, leaving Kagami and Sakurai. Both boys watched him go before they jumped into their business.
Sakurai looked at Kagami and smiled.
"You didn't tell him…"
"Oi, oi… Do you doubt me, Sakurai?" Kagami asked.
"I'm sorry, Kagami-kun! I'm sorry for saying that! I'm sorry for doubting you! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" Sakurai quickly bowed and apologized.
Kagami sighed.
"It's fine, Sakurai… I'm just pulling your legs…" Kagami said with a small smile. Sakurai stopped and looked up at his taller friend. "So, tell me how they could steal the money?"
"Uhmm… It was actually my fault, I think…" Sakurai said as he bit his lip.
"Huh? Why?"
"U-uh… We usually safe our money in a safe box in this cabinet," Sakurai said as he opened the cabinet, "You see, we used the old type safe box that can be easily being forced open with a correct tool. To prevent that, we locked the safe box as well as this cabinet. But I kind of forgot to lock the cabinet…" Sakurai said quietly. Kagami could see a guilty look on his face.
Kagami sighed. For a prestigious school for rich people, it seemed like these rich kids never really thought about thievery that might happen. They felt so secure, believing that everyone was rich so no one would ever steal anything. But at the time like this, it was so ridiculous, really. Kagami only sighed. Well, it seemed like nothing like this ever happened before, so he couldn't really blamed their ignorance. Sakurai was looked really guilty.
"So, you forgot to lock the cabinet?"
"Y-yes… I'm really sorry… I'm sorry it's because of me… I'm sorry someone stole the money because of my sloppy work… I'm sorry I joined the Cooking Club in the first place… I'm sorry I exist…"
Kagami stopped Sakurai's train of apologies before it got to his nerve. He inspected the key. It seemed like Sakurai was right. The key seemed to be intact. Kagami sighed. He wasn't sure what to do next. There were too many students in this school. There was no way he could ask them one by one. Kagami was never too good with this detective things, but he had promised Sakurai he would help him caught the culprit.
"Besides you, who else had the key to this cabinet?" Kagami asked.
"Only me, Mibuchi-senpai, Mitobe-senpai, and the Cooking Club treasurer; Furihata Kouki," Sakurai explained.
"Furihata Kouki from Akashi's class?"
"Yes, him…" Sakurai said. "Usually it was Furihata-kun who handled the money, but since I'm second secretary, I usually helped him."
"But I didn't see Furihata…"
"He's down with flu and in hospital right now. Mibuchi-senpai decided to not telling him since Furihata-kun still hasn't recovered. Ah, sorry, but you can sit down, Kagami-kun…!"
Kagami took a good look of the room for the first time. The room was spacious, with comfortable couch (the one he sat on), while the walls were filled with books about culinary. There was also a cupboard at the corner of the room, and Kagami could see different bottles of sauce and seasoning. Most of them were foreign for him. Since the Cooking Club usually did their activities in the Home-Ec kitchen, they seemed to only use this room for administrative matters, or to keep the references.
Kagami coughed a bit.
"Can you tell me what happened, Sakurai?"
"I told you, we cannot give you more space!" Aomine said, feeling annoyed by the baseball club demands. "You've taken up space for two stands already, and we cannot give you more. If you wanted more room, you could use the baseball field for all I care, but inner courtyard is limited."
Aomine Daiki was positively annoyed. These stubborn bastards kept making troubles after troubles. First, they protested about the small budget limit the student councils had put; now they demanded the whole inner courtyard to be reserved for them. Like hell Aomine would let them! Akashi had specifically told them the inner courtyard would be used by three classes and baseball club. Wasn't that enough? Nooo…! They wanted to make Aomine suffer since he was from Student Council Sport Division.
Sometimes he was wondering why he had bothered being part of student councils anyway.
"You should try to pull a string for us, Aomine!" the third-year from baseball club came forward, looked very intimidating. But Aomine, being Aomine, had faced worse, so he stood his ground.
"Pull your own! I'll gladly tell Akashi if you refrain from using the space in inner courtyard. Use your own field!"
"You know we can't do that. The field is too far from the main entrance. No one would come to our stand!" a second-year now spoke up.
Aomine groaned. Why he had to deal with this?! Kuroko never seemed to have much problem when he was handling the academic clubs. Aomine sighed and rubbed his temple.
"Here's the deal, you take the space we provided; or leave it. I'm fucking tired walking from one sport clubs to another in this goddamn humongous school, and my patience is thin. I'm fucking hungry, and I want to go back as quickly as possible. I just simply noted that you resign from taking a place for this year's festival."
Aomine watched as the intimidating third-year captain gave up. He signed the festival registration form and gave it back to Aomine. Aomine gave a checked on his list. Finally! He'd done with the works here.
"Hoo… You still here, Daiki? Not doing that pathetic gay club of yours?"
And there came another voice he hoped he wouldn't hear for the rest of the day. He was glad he didn't meet this retard in soccer club, but it seemed like his luck had ran out. Maybe he should bring lucky item just like Midorima.
"The hell do you want, Haizaki?" Aomine snapped.
There was stood a guy, around Aomine's age with dark gray—almost black—hair, styled in cornrows which kept with braids at the back. Aomine knew this guy too well, to know he was an A Class jerk which Akashi had thrown out from the student councils the first month he joined. He was ruthless, violent, and there were a lot of issues going on around him. Didn't want to taint the student councils' name, Akashi ejected him from the councils. As far as Aomine knew, Haizaki joined soccer club after that, though he still had grudge against the host club.
"Hoo… Don't be so violent, Daiki~" Haizaki gave him a nasty smirk. "You still enjoyed yourself being Akashi's slave? Or you just love that prissy club of yours?"
"Fuck off, Haizaki. I'm tired, I don't have time for your bullshit," it took almost all of Aomine's self-control to not beat the hell out of Haizaki.
"Yeah… keep playing with those guys. Heard you got someone to replace me? Kagami Taiga, isn't it?" Haizaki chuckled. "Big buffoon's a real softie. Smiling like an idiot, walking around with those frilly apron…" Haizaki scoffed. "Bet I can destroy him like a tooth-pick."
"You touched him, we'll see how much a tooth-pick you are," Aomine glared sharply.
"Getting protective, Daiki?" Haizaki said. "Ah, don't tell me you actually like that sissy?"
"Fuck off."
Haizaki chuckled as he shrugged his shoulder.
"I'll see you around, Daiki…"
"So, you usually put the cabinet key in your desk if you not taking it to the school?" Kagami asked after he heard Sakurai's explanation. "You lived in Dorm B, right? And you told me that the students from dorm B shared their room with someone?"
"Ah, yes… I shared room with Hanamiya-senpai…" Sakurai said. Kagami could see he was shuddered when he said that name. Well, Hanamiya Makoto was the president of Scince Club and had a bad reputation around him. People said he was an evil genius or something, and Kiyoshi kept telling Kagami to avoid contact with the creepy devil. Kagami couldn't imagine what it was like, sharing a dorm room with Hanamiya. Sakurai seemed to understand the look on Kagami's face. "Uhm… Actually, Hanamiya-senpai only came after I fell asleep and stay sleeps until I go. As long as I keep quiet, he doesn't talk much to me…"
"Oh, I see…"
Kagami always heard about bad rumors around Hanamiya. It seemed like he was the type who would do anything to get what he wanted, even with underhanded play. Well, he could be the suspect, since it seemed like Mibuchi-senpai's guess about the motive of the culprit was to sabotage the Cooking Club participation. Kagami knew Sakurai had submitted the participation form, so he got no choice but to catch the culprit.
But then again, Sakurai had said that he forgot to lock up the cabinet, so the culprit could be anyone… He sighed. This might be harder than what he thought at first.
"Ah, Kagami-kun, could I go for awhile? I need to find Mibuchi-senpai…" Sakurai said apologetically.
"Hm? Oh, sure…" Kagami said.
"You can wait here," said Sakurai. "It won't be long."
"Okay."
Sakurai quickly went out of the room and left Kagami alone. Kagami slumped at the couch, tried to find some clue… Anything that could help him. He sighed as nothing came up to his mind. Kagami startled when the door opened only to reveal two faces that Kagami knew so well. Both were the second year student from Kiyoshi's class, Koganei Shinji and Mitobe Rinnosuke. Mitobe was the vice-president of Cooking Club if Kagami wasn't mistaken, and Koganei… Well, he was more like Mitobe's translator since the tall guy never seemed to talk.
"Oh, Kagami-kun!" Koganei greeted brightly. "What are you doing here? Where's Sakurai?"
"Sakurai said he has something to talk to Mibuchi-senpai and told me to wait here…"
"I heard from the first year you helped Sakurai to catch the thief?" Koganei asked. "They tried to keep it discreet though, but we need to know what you have found."
"Not much," Kagami shrugged. "Sakurai told me he forgot to lock up the cabinet the day the money was stolen," said Kagami. "Anyone could easily come here and broke the safe box key."
"Sakurai forgot to lock the cabinet?" asked Koganei. "Well, that never happened before… Right, Mitobe?" he asked the taller male. Mitobe only nodded. "But it seemed like he didn't forget to lock it though," Koganei said. "You see, we bumped into Sakurai yesterday afternoon when Mitobe said he want to get some ingredients from the cabinet. The cabinet was locked and Mitobe forgot to bring his key so we have to check the cafeteria kitchen if they had the ingredients we need…"
Well, that didn't make sense at all! Kagami was sure the lock didn't break, so someone must have left it unlocked or the thief got the key… If what Koganei-senpai and Mitobe-senpai was true, it meant Sakurai had lied about being careless and left the door unlocked. But, how the thief got the key? Sakurai said he put his key in the desk in his dorm room… Someone could steal it… Hanamiya-senpai was his roommate… He'd do anything to get whatever he wanted, even if he had to do an underhanded play…
But why Sakurai lied? He could just tell the truth if Hanamiya-senpai was the culprit… Was he trying to protect Hanamiya-senpai or…
BLACKMAIL!
It was clear that Sakurai was afraid of Hanamiya Makoto… There was only one explanation, right?
Hanamiya Makoto stole the key from Sakurai's desk! And he threatened Sakurai to not tell anyone. That was why Sakurai looked nervous when they were talking about Hanamiya!
"Koganei-senpai, do you where Hanamiya-senpai is?" Kagami asked quickly.
"H-Hanamiya-san? W-well, maybe he's in the Science Clubroom next door? He's the president…" said Koganei. "What do you want with him, Kagami? I think it's best if you avoid him—"
But Koganei never had his chance to finish his sentence since Kagami had jumped from his seat and ran to the Science Club next door. Without nothing, he slammed the door open, startling a single person in the room. Hanamiya Makoto was a dark haired teen with funny looking eyebrows and sinister smirk on his face. Kagami cringed as his instinct alerted him with this person.
"Kagami Taiga-kun~?" Hanamiya said his name, and Kagami didn't like it. "I heard you've been helping Sakurai finding the thief of the Cooking Club's money…"
"How'd you know?" Kagami asked, feeling defensive.
"Rumor spreads around you know. All you have to do is ask the right person."
"Or, you could just say you're the one who stole the money," said Kagami sharply.
The older teen's smile became wider.
And Kagami didn't like it.
"Ah, but I didn't," said Hanamiya.
"You're lying. You stole Sakurai's key to open the cabinet and broke the safe box's key. Furthermore, you threatened him," Kagami said. "You're Sakurai's roommate, and I'm sure you'll know where he kept the key. You had the chance to steal it, commit the crime to ruin the Cooking Club's chance to win the festival."
"Then, do you have proof?"
Kagami stopped. Well, to tell the truth, he didn't have any. Sakurai opened the cabinet… without key? Was the cabinet had been opened before? It could mean that the cabinet hadn't been locked since the money was stolen… Why? Because Sakurai didn't have the key. It wasn't Sakurai who forgot to lock the cabinet, but his key was indeed stolen. And if Sakurai still didn't have the key, the key must be with the culprit!
Kagami chuckled.
"You should still have it with you… Sakurai's key!"
"Huh?"
"Don't play dumb! I need you to empty your pockets…" Kagami said.
Hanamiya chuckled at this.
"I know you're not that smart, but let me tell you something. I didn't steal the money, and I can prove that," Hanamiya said calmly. He reached out inside his blazer and pulled out his cell phone. Kagami waited while Hanamiya was busy with his phone until his smile got brighter. "Look at this. This picture was taken yesterday in Kyoto, and I just got back this morning."
Kagami looked at the photo Hanamiya showed him on his cell phone's screen. The date and timeline was indeed had proved Hanamiya's innocent. But now, Kagami had gone back to square one. If Hanamiya wasn't the culprit, then who? Kagami was deep in thought while Hanamiya watched him with a sly smirk on his face.
"Oi, do you want to hear something interesting?" Hanamiya asked.
"Hn?"
"There is one person though, that you might find interesting," said Hanamiya as he played with his cell phone in one hand. "Well, this is only my guess, but you might be interested in him."
"What're you talking about?"
"Ever heard about Haizaki Shougo?"
Kagami ran as fast as he could, shout excuses and apologizes as he bumped into someone. He didn't know about that… He didn't know it. He had spent so much time with the student councils and host club members, and yet, he didn't know. He always considered himself knowing Sakurai very well, and yet, he didn't know anything about the brunette! Now, Kagami could only ran as fast as he could.
"Haizaki? Oh… He was the member of student councils before Akashi-kun kicked him out. Now he joined soccer club, if I'm not mistaken…"
That was what Koganei had explained when Kagami asked him about Haizaki Shougo. Well, Kagami didn't know that! He wasn't the one who followed the school gossip!
"From what I've heard, it seemed like he was Sakurai's childhood friend or something…"
Was that why Sakurai lying to him? To protect his childhood friend? Kagami had to find Sakurai as quick as possible. Didn't Sakurai say he wanted to talk to Mibuchi-senpai?
Kagami turned sharply in the next corridor, he almost bumped into someone. He looked up and realized he had bumped into Kiyoshi. The older teen looked at him with puzzled look.
"Taiga? What are you doing in second-year's building?" Kiyoshi asked. "Are you okay? Did you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. I need to see Mibuchi-senpai…" Kagami said, almost out of breath because all the running he did. Kiyoshi didn't ask him further, and he could easily spot the flamboyant boy among the other second-year. Mibuchi seemed surprised when he saw Kagami.
"Tai-chan? What's wrong?" asked Mibuchi.
"Did Sakurai come to talk to you just now?" asked Kagami.
"Huh? No… He didn't…" said Mibuchi. "Why do you asked?"
But Kagami didn't hear that question. He was already turned around and ran away from that place. Kiyoshi and Mibuchi tried to call him back, but it didn't seemed like Kagami heard them. Who else could he asked, who else could he asked? His mind running faster than his feet, and yet, Kagami just running around randomly.
Soccer club… Must be somewhere in soccer club!
He ran towards the soccer field, ignoring the fact it was pretty far the school building. But he really needed to find Sakurai now. If Sakurai was indeed protecting Haizaki…!
Haizaki Shougo smirked at the third-year from the soccer club. There were at least four people there, including Haizaki himself, gathering around the back of soccer clubroom. Haizaki, being the only first-year looked very comfortable in his place right now, rest his back on the wall of the clubroom while they let the shade of the building to cover them up from the sun.
"So, you did it?" asked the third year with a sly smirk on his face as he took another sip from the oolong tea bottle in his hand.
"Oh, I did, and it was simple as fuck," Haizaki let out a chuckle. "That sorry mushroom didn't even know! One of the Cooking Club members told me he's working with that red-haired idiot from Host club to catch the culprit. I'm sure, sooner or later, Akashi would smell something fishy and we can use the opportunity to disrupt the student council."
"So, who's our next target?" asked one of the second-year who had blond hair and piercing on his ear.
"Hmmm… How about music club? We can destroy their property. Do you think it'll catch the student council's eyes?" another second-year asked.
"Well, the point it we have to get Akashi and Aomine out of the student councils room before we can execute our plan," said the third-year. "How about the basketball club? Aomine is from Sport Division, it'll fall to his jurisdiction. We can lure him out, possibly with Akashi. Anyway, why do you choose Cooking Club in the first place?" the third year asked.
"Oh, they're the easiest one. Too bad, that flamboyant bastard of Cooking Club decided to not report this to Akashi…" said Haizaki as he scoffed. "Well, if you want, we can still do something to the Cooking Club… I still have that sorry 'shroom's key."
They laughed and talked about their next plan, all the possibilities. It wasn't a secret anymore that the soccer club was at war with student councils since Akashi became the president, he decided to cut the budget for soccer club since they wasted too many money.
But for Haizaki… Well, let's just say he enjoyed playing with his childhood friend while messing up with the student council. Killing two birds with one stone.
Kagami sighed in relieve as he saw the familiar brown hair walked not too far from him. The brown-haired boy seemed to be deep in thought; he didn't realize Kagami was running towards him. Kagami shouted, called his name until Sakurai turned around with a surprised look on his face.
"Kagami-kun?"
Kagami was panted as he halted next to Sakurai. It took him a minute to adjust his breath into normal rhythm. He looked up into Sakurai's brown eyes. The boy was looked nervous now and kept avoiding Kagami's gaze. It was easy to read. Kagami knew Sakurai hid something from him, and he couldn't help but feeling pretty pissed. He just wanted to help his friends in the Cooking Club, but Sakurai betrayed him. He covered up for the real culprit, making Kagami looked like a fool trying to find the answers while Sakurai held it all along.
"Why'd you lie to me?" Kagami asked. "You know all along who is the thief, don't you? Hanamiya-senpai told me about someone had entered your room that morning, right before he left. You were there… Still sleeping. There was no way you didn't realize your key had been stolen that morning… Instead, you lied to me that you forgot to lock up the cabinet. But how can you forgot to lock it up since you cannot open it?!"
Sakurai's eyes widened when he heard Kagami.
"Are you covering up for Haizaki Shougo?" Kagami asked.
And Sakurai lose it.
"I'm sorry, Kagami-kun, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to hide things from you! I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth! I'm sorry I'm so weak! I'm really sorry; I should've told you the truth! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry I exist… I'm sorry I—"
"Sakurai, shut up!" said Kagami. "I heard from Koganei-senpai you are this Haizaki guy's childhood friend. Do you conspire with him to do this?"
"N-no…" Sakurai whispered. "I… I'm not working with him… I just…"
Kagami could see that Sakurai was on the verge of tears. He sighed.
"Look, I'm not blaming you or anything, but you can tell me if you got something in your mind, okay? So, tell me what actually happened."
Sakurai hiccupped and cleared his eyes. He explained what happened that morning. Hanamiya left early that morning, before Sakurai woke to catch a train to Kyoto for some science stuff, and only a few minutes after the second-year left, Haizaki came into the room. Sakurai kept pretending to be asleep as he cowered in his bed, covered in blanket, watching from the corner of his eyes. Right after Haizaki left, Sakurai got up and realized what the boys had done.
He'd stolen the key.
After that, it wasn't really hard to deduce. The Cooking Club money was gone and Sakurai never head courage to tell up his friend.
"It wasn't his fault. Haizaki-kun only wanted some attention he couldn't get. I know he didn't mean any harm…" said Sakurai as he hid his face in his arms. "I don't want you to get involved further, Kagami-kun. Haizaki-kun is part of soccer club, and they always had grudge against student councils and host club. Akashi-kun had kicked him out of the student council, and I don't want him to take out his revenge on you," Sakurai explained. "I'm really sorry, Kagami-kun, but let me talk to him, okay? I'll settle things."
Kagami gulped. It wasn't like he didn't trust Sakurai to do things. Sakurai had told him the real story, right? Even if Haizaki didn't mean any harm… Who knows what other guys might do?
"I'm coming with you," said Kagami.
"I'm sorry, Kagami-kun, let me settle this alone."
And that was how Kagami found himself hiding behind some bushes, peeking to see Sakurai stood up his ground against four soccer club's members. It wasn't good, and Kagami knew it. One of them was a third-year student, two second-year's students, and one first-year. Kagami guessed that the first year with cold expression and corn-row hair was Haizaki Shougo.
Were they going to ganging up on him?
Kagami couldn't hear anything from his place behind these bushes. He didn't know what they were talking about. Were they mocking Sakurai? Clearly he could see four of them laughed at something and Sakurai look so desperate. Kagami wanted to jump out of his hiding, but if Sakurai wanted to settle things on his own… Beside, Haizaki was indeed Sakurai's childhood friend, so Kagami just bit his lips.
Until the sight became unbearable to him. One of the second-years shoved Sakurai harshly to the ground.
"Stop it!" Kagami shouted as he ran up to Sakurai. He stood in front of Sakurai, shielding him from Haizaki and his gang. "Sakurai, are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine, Kagami-kun… S-sorry…" Sakurai said.
"I can't let you hurt my friend here," said Kagami to the gang. His eyes looked into Haizaki's, trying to find something… anything in those stormy grey eyes. "Haizaki-san… right? I… We want you to commit your crime to the student council."
Kagami didn't know what was so funny in his statement, but the guys laughed hard and he didn't like the sound of it. The third year student stifled his laughter as he walked up and grabbed Kagami's collar roughly.
"Like hell we would!" he shouted on Kagami's face. "You… aren't you one of Akashi's bitches? Isn't that right, Haizaki? The one who replaced you… Kaga-what's-his-name…"
"Kagami Taiga," said Haizaki as he stepped closer. "Now, now, Taiga-chan… Do you think I would easily come up to Akashi and said I stole the Cooking Club's money? Hm? Of course not. But you will keep quiet about this, yeah? Or else, me and my friends here would give a lot of trouble to the student council…"
"The heck are you saying, Haizaki? We wanted to cause trouble to student councils, why don't we just beat up their bitch?! I think it'll be more fun~" one of the second year said.
"What?!" Haizaki startled. Kagami could see it in his eyes. "We can't beat up students. Akashi would have our heads!"
"Chickened out, Haizaki? Or don't tell me you fond of him," another second-year remarked.
"No, I'm not," Haizaki said sharply.
Kagami saw it coming, as the fist came out of nowhere, meeting his left cheek for good. Kagami stumbled, and Sakurai let out a whimper. Kagami motioned to Sakurai to not doing anything. He would try to talk Haizaki out of this. No need for fist… Even if his ears was ringing and his cheek was hurt as hell… Kagami knew he had a chance. If he could just make Haizaki to listen…
Another hook coming, hit him square on the jaw, followed by kick to his stomach and soon, Kagami found himself lying on the ground. His eyes getting blurry and he could see Sakurai cowered in the corner. Kagami tried to let out a smile, reassured him, but his body was hurt, and he was almost unconscious.
No… he needed to stay awake! He'd talk them out of this… He didn't want to cause much trouble to the student council if he fought back… And Sakurai trusted Haizaki… Sakurai could talk to him…
And his body was still hurt…
Aomine entered the student council room looked pretty pissed off. Only Kuroko who bothered to greet him since Kise and Momoi was still busy with the expenses book and Murasakibara still doing his job (since Akashi had let him have his cake after he finished with the first one). Midorima and Akashi was reviewing the form submission, selecting which idea they could use and which they couldn't.
"What happened, Aomine-kun?" asked Kuroko.
"Nothing. Just ran up to that Haizaki bastard when I went to the baseball club to settle things with them. Guy's tried to screw with us. Believe me Akashi, he's up to no good," said Aomine to Akashi. "We should watch out for things he might do to sabotage the festival."
"Hmm… No one has reported in yet. Shintarou?"
"No. Everything's as usual," said Midorima. "But then again, we've been coped up in this room for hours."
"Where's Kagami?" Aomine asked.
"He went out somewhere. Oh, he said he left some chocolate pie for you, Aomine-kun," said Kuroko. "I've eaten my share. Yours is still in the cupboard."
"Oh, thanks, Tetsu."
Aomine walked to the cupboard and smiled when he saw the pie. The dark blue haired teen took a position next to the window before he ate the small bite of the pie. It was sure delicious! Aomine always amazed by Kagami's cooking skill. The chocolate pie was finished in a few minutes. Aomine got up to get something to drink when something attracted his attention.
He opened the window to try to see it more clearly. A fight? Soccer club? Aomine cursed. He always knew it! That club always up to something at the time liked this.
"Oi, Akashi, I think there's a fight!" Aomine quickly ran back to Akashi's desk. He opened the window behind Akashi's chair and pointed it out. "That."
All of the student councils had walked up to the window to see what happened. Rather than a fight, it looked more like bullying. There were four guys, beating up someone. That person was now on the ground, but he didn't fight back. Aomine gritted his teeth in disgust when he caught a glimpse of red hair.
Red hair…?
He'd recognized that hair color quickly. There weren't a lot of people who had that kind of red hair. Only one person who had that shade of red hair… And Aomine didn't think twice before he stormed out of the room.
"Aominecchi, where're you going?" Kise asked.
"To save him, idiot! It's Kagami!"
The others quickly recognized the red hair. Momoi gasped, but the others were quicker. In a few seconds, they all had ran down the corridor, didn't care they might bumped to anyone. Aomine's breath quickened.
Just what kind of trouble you got yourself into now, Bakagami?!
"H-Haizaki-kun… Please stop it!" Sakurai whimpered to Haizaki. He couldn't see this. Kagami was there, almost unconscious, and he couldn't do anything. "Haizaki-kun!" he called again. Sakurai forced himself to stand up and put himself between Kagami and the soccer gang. "Please stop hurting Kagami-kun!"
At that moment, Haizaki stopped. Sakurai stood still in front of him. His arms were spread to shield Kagami from the fists and kicks. Even with the tears in his eyes, Sakurai was determined to protect the red head. Haizaki hated it. Even his childhood friend turned against him for this idiot! Haizaki wanted to punch him, but seeing Sakurai… Well, he couldn't…
"Why're you hesitating, Haizaki?!" his gangs asked, shouted some mocking remarks, but Haizaki ignored them.
What was so good about this stupid red head anyway? Why people kept attracted to him?
"A-Are… you… d-done… H-H-Haizaki…?" the red head panted as he forced himself to get up into sitting position. "N-now… would y-you… listen… to me?" Kagami cringed as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He gasped. "L-look… I know… you're… not a… bad person… Haizaki… I just… want… you to be… honest…"
"Haizaki-kun…" Sakurai was pleading. He couldn't hold it anymore. He was so stupid! He should've report this! At least Kagami wouldn't hurt… It was his fault… His fault… Sakurai wanted to knowck some sense into the guy in front of him. Haizaki had hurt his friend, and Sakurai knew he couldn't do anything… Kagami told him to not get violent… He took the beat by himself and it hurt to watch him beaten up.
But before neither of them could do anything, Sakurai and Kagami heard the sound of people running towards them. Kagami turned his head, trying to see what happened through his swollen eyes. It even hurt just to turn his head slowly.
"Kagami!"
Was that… Aomine's voice?
Kagami could only see a blurry shade of blue as Aomine jumped and swung his fist at Haizaki. The force of Aomine's punch sent Haizaki back. The three others from soccer club ran at the sight of the student councils members ran towards Kagami and Sakurai.
At that time, Aomine didn't care anymore. He saw Kagami's beaten up face, the swollen eyes, the split up lips, bruised cheeks, dirty uniform… And blood. Kagami's blood. Aomine ran rampage. He didn't care about anything anymore. This guy had hurt Kagami, and he would pay for that! He would pay for every bruise, every wound, and every blood on Kagami… He would pay for it. Aomine had straddled the other teen, grabbing Haizaki's collar to keep him sat right up and punched as hard as he could.
This is for Kagami…
This guy… he dared to hurt Kagami…
Aomine couldn't hear the others called his name. He just wanted to hurt this guy… To hurt…
Suddenly, Aomine felt something stopped his fist. He turned to see Kagami had crouched next to him, holding Aomine's arm with both of his. Aomine stared into those crimson orbs… Even behind the bruises and wounds, he could still see the soft gaze, pleading him…
"…S-stop… A-Aomine… Please… don't… hurt him…" Kagami whispered painfully. "It's… not… his fault… P-please…" Kagami begged.
By Kagami request, he let go of Haizaki's shirt and turned to Kagami. He touched the only unbruised part of Kagami's face.
"He's hurting you…" Aomine said.
"H-he… didn't mean… it…" said Kagami. "I-I'm sorry…"
Kagami fell limply, but Murasakibara was quick to catch him before he touched the ground. Akashi threw a disgusted glare at Haizaki before he turned to Kagami. His eyes became soft and sad when he looked at Kagami's condition.
"Sakurai Ryou, right?" Midorima said as he came to Sakurai who was still trembling in fear. Sakurai nodded.
"I need you to tell me what happened."
A/N : Now, to the next chapter~!