Monday, 11/21
"Feels like it's been years since we were here talking about bird calls and how they're the key to seduction."
"Good times, good times…"
"I still can't believe you swore that bird noises would do anything."
"Hey, you can't blame me for experimenting. Some things work, some things don't."
A minute into the Shujin-Kosei integration, things worked. Ren and Ryuji followed the black and red signs through the courtyard that directed them through onlooking Kosei students and the scenic courtyard. Kosei students had time before class started; Shujin students had an introductory assembly to lay down some ground rules.
Still, there were no incidents. Even Shujin students could walk in line and follow directions.
Maybe this place won't be so bad. Their courtyard is a lot nicer looking than ours, and the students aren't sneering at us as we walk. In fact, they don't seem to care. A glance or two, then they're back to their usual conversations with smiles on their faces. I feel welcome.
Ren had wanted to cling to Makoto for his first hour at Kosei but, as she predicted, she was extraordinarily busy. She, nor anyone else from GRAVY, had been seen. Ren was lucky to find Ryuji bumbling around the train station in search of the stairs that led to Kosei's path because Ren was in the same situation minus the bumbling.
"I feel like we're being targeted already."
"What?" That wasn't Ren's impression at all. "How?"
"They're puttin' all us Shujin students in the gym and letting the Kosei students roam free. We're sheep, they're the farmers."
"You're overthinking it."
"You're the underthinker—I'm the one who's usually right."
"You thought bird noises would flip a biological switch in women's brains."
"Uh…"
"You thought you could beat Makoto in a fight."
"H-hey, that—"
"Don't forget how long you didn't notice Ann being into you."
"Fine, you win. I'm the idiot." They followed the signs into the main building, which was not nearly as crowded as the outdoor areas of the campus. The halls were lined with decorations and club posters. Any direction led to a colorful advertisement for a fun group of people. "But I'm still getting creepy vibes from this place," Ryuji said as the passed a poster that displayed of group of friends smiling as if their jaws were locked.
"I'll bet money on it being the exact opposite of what you think."
"You're on."
The disorganized line of Shujin students herded themselves into the gymnasium, one that was much smaller than Shujin's, and formed smatterings of rows and clumps. It was a messy thing to be a part of, but they didn't need perfection—it was meant to be a short assembly. Plus, only half of Shujin's students were there. The others were sent to Seven Sisters.
On stage, Ren could only see curtains and the occasional pair of shoes beneath them. Students around him chattered their anxiety about the situation away to their friends, playing an endless game of telephone with rumors about which Kosei teachers were mean, the best lunch spots on campus, and which two students already intermingled.
Soon enough…
"Ladies and gentlemen of Shujin Academy…" a voice too powerful to be Yusuke proclaimed. "Welcome!"
The curtains opened and displayed a sight for disappointment. What Ren saw did nothing to live up to the showmanship of the voice, the wait time, and the hush of the crowd.
It's just a dude. A guy. A middle-aged man with a microphone. What could be worse? Let me on stage and shit will be interesting at least.
"I'd welcome each of you with a hug if I could, but I'm working on a timeline. Just know that I would; it's the thought that counts."
That is exactly what the students who came from a school with too-involved teachers need to hear.
"Instead, please join me in welcoming our Assistant to the Interim President of Sister School Integration, Susumu Tanabe!" He clapped on stage, looking behind the curtain as a woman walked out—the welcome was not joined.
Fuck it. New school, new Ren.
Ren started clapping. Three reps in, Ryuji caught on, then the student next to him, and so on. Once Tanabe reached center stage to shake the first man's hand, each Shujin student collected in the gymnasium cheered as if Yusuke and the Yevonites had taken the stage.
Tanabe waved and smiled at the crowd. "Thank you, thank you. I hope you all find our campus beautiful. Now, help me out in welcoming our Interim President of Sister School Integration Toshio Shibata!" Like a reused animation in a video game, she copied the one before her, turning to the curtain and initiating the applause.
This time, they clapped out of confusion, slowing to a halt as the introduced man took Tanabe's place on stage.
"Thank you, thank you. How do you like it here so far? If you'd all be so kind, I'll need everyone's help to welcome—"
I must be having a medical episode.
"Ryuji."
"Hm?"
"Is my face drooping and are my words slurred?"
"Nah, you look pretty normal."
Not a stroke then—that means that Kosei is a school of introductions and welcome mats. Or they're fucking with us. Somehow, like always, this is Yusuke's fault. I'm not sensing him in this building, but he's still responsible for it. Fucking art schools.
With his good health verified, Ren could only worry about the stage. On and on they went, title after title.
"Student Operations Manager!"
"Marketing Lead, Second Floor."
"Creative Director of Minglement Activities!"
Minglement… Minglement, minglement, minglement. Fascinating.
And, which just so happened to be Ren's favorite because it was last and least-applauded, "The Lord of Kosei-esque Calamities, Yusuke Kitagawa!" Ren cheered his fucking ass off for that.
This asshole… I know I'm angry at him, I know that I don't want to put up with this, I know that anything considered "bullshit" is antithetical to my existence, but 'Lord of Kosei-esque Calamities' is too good to deny. I need to step up my game. GRAVY-esque Grottos, GRAVY-esque Gallions, GRAVY-esque Gas Guzzlers…
"Wow. Just wow." Light spun in Yusuke's eyes when he looked at the Shujin students. "Within this gymnasium are lost travelers. I speak to you, and to you!" Each repetition came with a precise finger that made the subject in the crowd just a hint more concerned that they lived in a simulation. "My administration and I hope to provide you travelers shelter, food, knowledge, and good company until you needn't travel any longer. For a few short weeks, Kosei is your rest stop. Trust in us and I will guarantee your happiness."
Sounds more like a pitch for investors.
Shujin students ate it up as Yusuke ventured across the stage, lowering into a crouch so he could get face-to-face with the lucky ones in the front row. "Your education is not on hold. At Kosei, it will be enhanced; your schedules diversified with a range of activities you've never considered. Tell me, unnamed student, do you have dreams? Ambitions?"
"W-well uh…"
"No! Shujin Academy has robbed you of your souls, and I, Lord of Kosei-esque Calamities, shall restore them before you return to your dystopian campus!"
Ren found himself to be the only one clapping; even Ryuji didn't want to join in. A few people around him shot a dirty look, but Ren didn't care. Yusuke made too much sense for Ren to feel insecure about supporting his friend's speech.
"But before the restoration can begin, please lend me a hand in welcoming—"
Okay, fuck this. I'm out.
Ren turned around to push through the crowd and escape out the back of the gymnasium, but he stopped.
"—the Ambassador of Shujin Academy, Ren Amamiya, to the stage!"
Who was Ren to deny an introduction like that? He reversed, found the crowd parting for him because everyone seemed to know where he was at all times, and took his time to get to the stage.
You know, now that I'm actually going on stage I realize that I have nothing of interest to say. Don't hand me the microphone, Yusuke. Whatever you do, do not let me speak to these people.
Ren took the stairs up the side of the stage, keeping his head straight so he couldn't see the crowd, and approached Yusuke, still mid-propaganda.
"You there! You dream of being an ambassador of truth one day, yes?!" Surely, nobody in the crowd knew what the fuck Yusuke was talking about but they nodded and agreed with him. It seemed that his natural stage talent placated any disagreement or conflict among Ren's classmates.
Finally, when Ren was at Yusuke's side, it was when the two schools truly joined together; united by a paranoid asshole delinquent and the excessively-talented agent of chaos.
"Amamiya-san needn't make a speech or assure you of his talents—standing next to me without combusting is proof enough of his aptitude. If you have any questions or conflicts regarding school integration, please bring them to Amamiya's office on the third floor."
Office? Of course I have an office. What good lord doesn't?
Yusuke patted Ren on the back, inviting a smile out to charm the crowd. They didn't look happy about his promotion to ambassador, but they didn't object—they were too busy trying to understand the point of Yusuke Kitagawa.
"Questions?"
Silence.
"Then you are free to roam the campus for the next one-hundred-eighty-seven seconds until class. Good day." Yusuke flipped a switch on the bottom of the microphone and pocketed it, turning to Ren as the students started their dispersal. "I'll see you later in Music Appreciation. Now, kindly fuck off from my stage, ambassador."
"Uh—"
"I won't repeat myself. Toodle-doo."
(INSERT LINE)
Music Appreciation, located on the East Building's second floor, overwhelmed Ren at first sight: a room of Kosei students ready to learn with Shujin students shuffled around, hurriedly getting their materials in order if they even cared to bring them. No teacher stood at the front of the dense fifty-person class, alarming Ren even more.
And where the Hell is Yusuke? I figured I'd at least have a friend to endure this with… Oh well. I've sat through plenty of classes with nothing but twiddling my thumbs as entertainment.
Ren found a spot in the second row from the back and dropped his bag under his desk with a plop, leav—
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," said Yusuke as he slammed the door behind him and sprint-walked to the teacher's desk. He set a briefcase down and loudly unbuckled it as he raced through words. "I am very busy today and we are rather short on time due to the mandated breaks meant to acclimate our Shujin guests to the schedule, so this will be a quicker lecture than usual… Does anyone remember where we left off?"
This motherfucker is the teacher, isn't he?
A blue-uniformed girl in the front row raised her hand. "We finished last class by talking about Risette's late-era experimentalism and her collaborations with micro-beat producers."
Yusuke aligned a stack of papers within the briefcase and set them on the desk. "Ah, yes… Did we discuss her bear pelt fashion?" he said, leaving the desk and approaching the front row.
"Yep, and its cultural impact."
"Wonderful… That leaves us with my final lecture on Risette's career." Out of his pocket came glasses, sliding across his face and obscuring his eyes. They were thin and dark. "The definitive statement of the innovative side of Risette's career is not in her studio recordings, but in her sole live album: Live at the Gates of Love. She treks through early material, deep cut gems, two covers, and some hits for a curt setlist that would disappoint anyone there to hear 'True Story'. But for the fans, the real dedicated fans that followed her every move since LP-one, Live at the Gates of Love is Risette. There's the cutting-edge synth-work, the vocal acrobatics, and improvised sections as if she had a jazz band backing her."
This is bullshit. It's Risette—a radio-friendly pop idol. My ass is experimental compared to her sports-drink-commercial music.
"Track one—what is the title?"
Another front-row Kosei student raised their hand. "That is… Her cover of 'All is Full of Love', right?"
"Correct. Now…" Yusuke retreated to his desk, curving his posture a bit so he could sit on its edge while keeping his feet on the ground. His eyes scanned the room. "Amamiya-kun."
Don't you dare -kun me again, you bitch.
"So wonderful that you joined our class. Now, could you tell me the answer to this?"
Ren waited. Yusuke watched.
"Uh… To what?"
"Do not interrupt me."
"I didn't in—"
"My question… Is all full of love, Amamiya-kun? Do you know?"
"Well, it's not really a grammatically correct phrase, so I—"
"Amamiya!" Yusuke slammed his fist into the desk. "Is all full of love or is all not?"
Ren mentally read the statement to make sure the words were right—they were—but he still couldn't find the sense. Still, knowing the words was enough to attempt.
"Uh… All does happen to be full of love, it seems."
"Correct!"
Point to me for getting it right, point to Yusuke for teaching me something.
"Risette eradicates any memory of the original version, stretching it into a twenty-minute vocal exercise that will fill your soul with love and the most tender of sadnesses. It isn't until the second track, 'Dancing in the Moonlight', that her backing band, The Heat Risers, join her on stage."
And to think that Ren expected to learn nothing… He hadn't learned so much since he was trapped in a van with Yusuke on the way to Iwatodai. There was a short list of ten tracks, most of which sounded like the generic radio fodder Ren expected from a pop star like Risette, but Yusuke's descriptions praised them as if she was one of the Fab Five.
"'Love and Trust' are admirable virtues—Risette sings about her hatred of them in the ballad of her cheating partner. Her pain and anger are palpable, even in a live performance seven years removed from when she wrote the song." The students up front vigorously took notes, scribing Yusuke's every word next to the tracklists they came to class with. "'Strong Than You Think' was her biggest hit of the mid-period, one which she has a complicated relationship with. Interviews show her describing the song as basic and uninformed about true music, while at other times she's praised the beauty of its naivete. No matter what she thinks, it is an essential track in her catalog—an unskippable three minutes of pop excellence."
Hey, I know that one.
"'Escape From Reality'. What can we say about that…?"
A new student raised their hand. "Risette wrote it after her closest friend passed on." Yusuke had a legion of hardworking, attentive students who engaged in his lectures. Kawakami, no matter how much of herself she gave to her job, would never achieve that. Shujin students were too checked out to care about a lesson in that way.
"Yes, the death of someone dear due to addiction." Yusuke took his glasses off, folded them, and set them on his desk. "It's a harrowing tale, almost private. She sings in a whisper and eschews most of her band besides the acoustic necessities as if she can't bear to admit the details to the larger band. It's a warning, an indictment, of the initial assumption of consequenceless bliss…"
"But 'Finding My Way' brings the energy back!" one student said.
"That indeed. Another pop cut, Risette incorporates hip-hop and beatboxing for one of her weirder singles to date, and its live version is an oddity if not a delight. Risette refuses to settle, though. The next track is another cover—'O'Malley's Bar'. Risette lets her band lock into a nineties bar crawl as she scrolls through lyrics of death, murder, and ornithology. The live version oozes charisma and the mental image of Risette approaching the crowd to describe splitting skulls with an ashtray is lore for the curious mind. A delight, truly."
I also know this one. I remember the outrage over it. 'Fourteen Minutes of Murder' they called it. She lost a lot of fans for performing that one, even if it's not her song. Honestly, I don't blame them. You don't go to Risette for any song over five minutes. "Oh, but experimental era this, late period that." Fuck off. It's all the same. I'll go back to my mildly popular post-punk and Futaba-filtered shoegaze, please and thank you.
"'The Power of Friendship' and 'Stars Align' are two sides of the same coin—avant-garde psychedelic freak-outs disguised as glittery pop magic; one dark and indebted to the cold studios of late seventies Stockport, the other so bright that listening degrades skin cells. Risette's schizophrenia era—"
Her what now?
"—Could be considered the peak of her career, though I cannot condone sacrificing mental health for the sake of ' good ' art. But, in my personal opinion, those two tracks are merely stage-setters for the concluding track, 'Rise Up'. Ballad, pop single, a rock epic—whatever you call it, the track deserves its title. It's the point of her career, the point of her existence even. Risette is on Earth to perform this song for the masses and change their lives."
Okay, that one's good, but Yusuke is being a pretentious hipster about the rest of them. Frankly, the Yevonites blow Risette out of the water. She doesn't have a forty-minute post-rock epic last time I checked. That's my humble opinion as an unengaged student sitting in the back of the class.
"Extra credit: which radio cover appears as a bonus track on the European version of the album?"
"'It's Okay To Leave a Dog in a Hot Car'!"
"Point to you, Nonaka-chan."
As Yusuke went on, detailing the sales and critical reception of Live at the Gates of Love, students drifted. The ones wearing black and red sighed and sank into their chairs, looking out the window and waiting for the sun to move across the sky. The ones in blue and white sat up straight, gave Yusuke everything they could, and memorized every word.
"This shit is boring…" said a guy behind Ren.
"Tell me about it," said the girl next to him.
Once the whispers started, they wouldn't stop. If they didn't stop, those students were in imminent danger—Ren knew that Yusuke would not tolerate interruptions. He could turn around and warn them, or he could let them whisper until the teacher noticed and promptly executed them.
Decisions, decisions… What would a recently appointed ambassador do?
"Excuse me? Could you guys quiet down, please? I'm having a hard time hearing Kitagawa-sensei." Ren didn't say it. A Kosei student, the one sitting to Ren's right, had turned around and told the whisperers off.
"Yeah? What're you gonna do about it?"
Know what? I'm feeling motivated and inspired by all this talk of Risette overcoming adversity. Fuck anyone who interrupts this.
Ren turned around and joined the fold. "He could report you to the Ambassador of Shujin Academy, then you'd be in hot water."
The guy rolled his eyes. "Pfft, alright. Whatever you say." Still, he kept his mouth shut and turned his eyes to the still-lecturing teacher.
As for Ren, he was left with an ally. "Thanks," said the Kosei student.
"No problem."
"You know, if you need notes or to catch up with this class, I'd be happy to help."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's integration policy for—"
The classroom door nearly burst out of the wall. "Sorry for my lateness!" Ryuji declared, bowing without even looking at his teacher. "I got held up in the West Building with—"
"Rise, Sakamoto-kun."
Ryuji's in this class?! That asshole. I could've been hanging out with him but he's twenty minutes late? What a shame. Tardiness affects friends too. I could've had some support for this Risette worship, assuming Ryuji wouldn't totally buy into what Yusuke's talking about.
"Wait, uh… Yusuke? What's go—"
"Class, what is our late policy?"
A front-row student didn't raise their hand, they skipped right to the answer. "Any student late to class by more than five minutes must perform a simple task of the teacher's choosing, or else their tardiness will affect their standing."
"Thank you. Now, Sakamoto-kun, are you ready for your task?"
"You tellin' me that you're the effin' teacher? Man, eff this, I'm—" He started for the door, grabbing the knob to free himself, but stopped.
"A backflip. You must perform a backflip.
Ryuji moved away from the door and looked at Yusuke. "You know I can't do a flip!"
"Only you think that, Sakamoto-kun. If you free yourself of your own rigid expectations, I have full confidence in your ability to land a backflip." Yusuke went behind his desk and sat down. As far as teachers reprimanding lateness went, Yusuke was the calmest Ren had ever seen. "Now go on. You are late, Sakamoto-kun, so you must attempt the flip."
The honorific is so condescending. Like, I know that Yusuke is pretentious sometimes, but come on. Ryuji and I have covered his lunch enough to earn at least a -sama.
"But…"
Oh come on. He can't think of an excuse not to do a backflip? Just run out of the door right now. It's Yusuke—the fuck is he gonna do about it? Besides, Ryuij's got a friend in a high place. An Ambassador of Shujin Academy never lets his friends come to harm.
"The backflip, Sakamoto-kun. Try or die, it is your choice."
"...Like physically, I just can't do it."
"Have you ever tried?"
"Nah, but—"
"Then how do you know, Sakamoto-kun? Do the backflip. We have a Risette analysis to get back to."
"Risette, you say?" Ryuji smiled and walked in front of Yusuke's desk. "Fine. Backflip it is." He let his bag fall from his shoulders, kicked it out of the way, and bent his knees.
Poor Ann. Her first boyfriend dies because Yusuke is power-tripping.
Ryuji closed his eyes. The bend in his knees didn't overtly change, but the shake in his lower legs and his perfect balance showed an intense focus. Any moment, Ryuji would release the building force and prove himself right. Of course Ren doubted the backflip—nobody in GRAVY was capable aside from Yusuke when he really felt like it.
There it is: the first push of failure
Ryuji got a good vertical, certainly enough air. If he could adequately tuck and turn himself, the backflip would—
Oh… Oh wow. That was quick.
While Ren contemplated its possibility, Ryuji landed on shaky knees and stumbled backward, staring at his landing spot as if it were a newly minted holy site.
"Thank you, Sakamoto-kun. You have your credit for the day." Yusuke shook Ryuji's hand, which was much slower than it should've been due to Ryuji's post-flip high, and turned to the class. "Dismissed."
You know, Yusuke bullshitted a lot of that lecture, but I admire his brevity. He got his point across efficiently and gave us a free half hour as a result.
Ren got his things together, exchanged information with his classroom acquaintance, and made his way to the front of the room, waiting through a polite line of students leaving the column of desks. Ryuji waited for him. "Dude! You see that shit?!" Ren answered him with an echoing high-five that turned a few heads.
"Yeah, it was cool, but will you be able to replicate it when you tell everyone?"
"Pfft, yeah… Why wouldn't I?"
We'll see, we'll see. I think it's a one-off and I'm willing to bet on it, but we're already at betting capacity.
They walked out of the room together, following the crowd despite their ignorance of the school's layout. There was time to kill, yes, but where were they supposed to do the killing?
"What's your next class?" Ryuji asked.
"Typography."
"Oh, mothereffin' topography. Sounds like fun."
"No, typography."
"Yeah. That's what I said."
"You said—" There was genuine confusion in Ryuji's eyes; it was not worth explaining. "Nevermind. What class do you have?"
"P.E."
Ren looked out the window; gray, cold, and dark. "In this weather?"
"In all weather, man. They take it seriously here."
"How do you know?"
"Talked to a counselor about it. That's why I was late."
(INSERT LINE)
"...So I've got a few thousand yen on this place not being all that great."
"Might as well pay him now," Ann said, leaning over to smell some of the flowers along Kosei's outer wall. For a school in the heart of Tokyo beneath a gloomy sky, Kosei looked like it was a month into Spring. Their campus was Eden and a green patch in a silver city. Blooming flowers, deep green trees, maybe a hidden waterfall. "Everyone here is wonderful so far."
Ryuji hated to admit it. I should start assuming I'm down that yen so it hurts less when I pay Ren, he thought, thinking of the multiple students who smiled at him in the halls, the teachers who gave him directions around campus, and the counselor who explained his schedule to him while he snacked on a bowl of chocolates.
That overwhelming sense of kindness extended to the classes. For P.E. Ryuji got to hang out with Ann during a 'Beauty Period': a daily exercise of wandering the campus, socializing with peers, and admiring the beauty of nature. To earn credit, students had to return to the teacher with a selfie in front of a tree or plant.
While Ann found more flowers to marvel at, Ryuji quietly took out his phone and snapped a photo of them both. She would never know. He touched up the photo with some lighting, then pocketed his phone to see what Ann chose as her favorite piece of nature.
"Excuse me?" Both of them stopped with the flowers to stand up and see their visitor: a girl of average height, mini-microphone in hand, with long bangs and a ponytail. "You are Shujin students, right?"
Ann looked down. Her red uniform, modified but still clear about her school, matched the flowers behind her. "What gave it away?"
The girl laughed. "I'm Hiroko Imada, with the journalism class here. Would you guys like to be in an interview about your first impressions of Kosei?"
"Journalism?" Ryuji shared a look with Ann. She raised an eyebrow. "Nah, journalism is a sca—" An elbow stabbed Ryuji between the ribs.
"Sure, we'd love to!"
"Great, great…"
They stayed next to the flowers as the interview began. Basic questions, basic answers—what they thought of campus, any new friends, favorite teachers. "Kitagawa-sensei was pretty chill," Ryuji said, getting a snorted laugh out of Ann that went unexplained.
"I liked the environmental science teacher… Oh, what was his name?"
Hiroko flipped the mic to herself. "Sone-sensei?" As quickly, the mic was back in Ann's face.
"Yep. Sone-sensei. Usually, science is so boring but his lecture actually held my attention. That's saying something. And he gave out extra credit for all Shujin students that made it on time, so…" On and on went Ann, not even sticking to just one teacher. "I can't believe I forgot about Tsuchida-sensei. She was so nice!"
Ryuji didn't have the same sample size. Yusuke and the P.E. teacher were his two, and he was heavily biased. Then again, the P.E. teacher let him walk around for a whole period and sniff flowers…
"And what are your impressions of Kitagawa not as your sensei, but as the Lord of Kosei-esque Calamities?"
"Well, we happen friends with him so this doesn't really surprise us," Ann said.
"You're friends with the Lord? The Supreme Leader?"
"Yeah… We're pretty cool."
"Hm, I don't know if I believe you… Kitagawa-sama seems too busy for friends." Ann's smile dropped. "But I'm sure you guys are still cool."
Ryuji opened his mouth for the sole purpose of moving on from the unintended jab at Ann. "Yeah, uh… Kitagawa seems like a guy who gets shit done. Doesn't listen to haters. He breaks through ceilings and punches holes in walls. Maybe paints on some of 'em."
She pondered the quote but kept the microphone on Ryuji. "Well said, well said." She wanted more.
"I mean, Yusuke's a crazy dude. He's got two bands, runs a school, paints shit, and does karate. He's definitely killed someone, dontcha think?"
"U-uh—"
"There's no way he hasn't. Think of all the obstacles in his way from becoming the Lord of Kosei-esque Clam City. There had to be someone who was like, 'Nah, you can't take over this school and spend a shitload of money on making it really cool.' And Yusuke was like, 'Eff you, I'm like Batman if he killed people for a really good cause'." Ryuji came out of his headcanon to notice that the microphone was no longer at his face—Hiroko's arm had deflated. "You picking up what I'm putting down?" Ryuj added just in case she did not, in fact, pick up what he put down.
"No, not really!" Still, she smiled and her voice was springy.
"Hey, how'd Yusuke take control anyway?"
Hiroko shrugged. "He asked."
"How's that work?"
"He asked to become Supreme Leader, so he attempted and completed the necessary trials."
"What trials are those?"
"The defeat of the Seven Evil Ex-Principals and the donation of an envelope containing one-point-five million yen."
There was only one reasonable conclusion. That fucker's been taking our lunch money and putting it in his Principal Fund! Ryuji thought, ready to storm off and claw the money's worth in dirt from the ground.
On the other hand, Ann nodded along and internalized the information without an overreaction. "Defeat as in fight?"
"Maybe. He played one in chess. Another died by way of rap battle."
"I knew he killed someone!"
"It may have been due to lingering heart issues, but don't quote me on that."
There were more questions, all of which were answered succinctly by the couple. With a photo for the article's thumbnail, Ryuji and Ann were free from the obligations of the interview and could resume their Beauty Period as they liked, just after they said goodbye to Hiroko.
They ventured toward the school's garden and koi pond. At the edge of the rocks that surrounded the pond was another group of wandering P.E. students, all of whom sported the same red and black that Ryuji and Ann wore. Though they were still far from the pond, Ryuji was disappointed to not see any fish. I could watch koi fish for hours, days even. There's something so calming about it, he thought, knowing it was not true at all. He just wanted to think he could be the kind of person soothed by something so simple.
As they got closer, Ryuji understood why there were no koi fish.
"Yeah, Kosei ain't anything special. My cousin goes to this countryside school—whole thing's made of glass and all the teachers are, like, geniuses," said one member of the group, talking so loud that no one could interrupt him if they tried. Ryuji knew the type—he used to be one in middle school. "And there's no homework! Can you believe they're actually working us here? I mean, we've been through some shit! This should be a vacation!"
"Ugh…" Ann changed the direction of her walk, switching from the Koi pond to back to the school. "How can anyone hate this place?"
"This school's just a bunch of pussy-ass painters, ya know? It won't be too hard to shake out some lunch money…"
He shouldn't get away with saying this shit, but who's gonna do something about it? Me? There's no one else around, so it's gotta be me. And I kinda owe this school for doubting its awesomeness, Ryuji thought as he and Ann stopped walking to switch directions once again.
"Ryuji, where are you—oh jeez…" She stayed back as he strolled up to the group at the Koi pond.
Ryuji interrupted their laughs with his presence. "You guys taking this place for granted?"
"Uh… We're shooting the shit." The loud one smirked. "Talking about flowers."
"I heard you blabbing, shitting on this place. I mean, how can you say stuff like that? We're lucky to be here!"
An eye-roll enraged Ryuji, but he kept his calm. "Yeah, okay," said the loud one, glancing at his friends and holding back a laugh. "My bad, Sakamoto-san. Guess I'll just change what I think about this place—it ain't a landfill of artsy dipshits, it's a utopia! Does that fit your agenda?"
If I can't change his mind, I can at least shut him up, Ryuji thought.
"Nah, it doesn't fit at all." As Ryuji stepped closer, the smiles faded from the group of friends, sparking the thought that Ryuji could achieve something with violence. But that wasn't him. Ryuji had another solution in mind. "How 'bout this: if I do a backflip right here, right now, then you shut the eff up for the rest of the day. You can't speak until you leave Kosei's gates."
"A backflip on one good leg? Okay, Sakamoto-san, be my guest." He waved Ryuji away to make room for the backflip. They gave him space and he left them, closing his eyes and slowing his breath to focus.
Bend your knees, press your feet into the ground… Ryuji imagined himself landing the flip in the same position he stood in, all he needed to do was explode upward and tuck. He had the verticality, the athleticism, to pull it off—he just needed to resurrect his mindset from the classroom. I gotta give zero shits about the outcome, I gotta have zero expectations for myself. Freedom's what I need, he thought.
Surrounded by the friend group and knowing that Ann watched from a distance, it was difficult to free himself from expectations. Back in the classroom, his confusion at the situation isolated him from the rest of the class and made the situation surreal. At the koi pond with the possibility of embarrassing failure, Ryuji couldn't exclusively manifest success; there was always something undermining his repeated imagining of the flip.
Eh, all of this is overthinking. Just go for the flip and be done with it. You've done it before, why can't ya do it again? He told himself as he settled into his shoes and built more pressure in his knees. A second later, he detonated and left Earth.