It was finally the last class of the day, but Mika was dreading it as she changed. Ayako even noted her concern, asking if she was okay. “I’m just really bad at P.E.” Mika answered. After yesterday’s incident, she figured that much was quite obvious to everyone, and because of her lack of athleticism, she was bound to be the last one picked for any team. Those that ended up with her in the end would just want her to keep out of the way as much as possible. That’s how it had always been, and she should’ve been used to it, but she still hated the idea of dragging others down.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ayako encouraged. “It really doesn’t matter how good or bad you are. As long as you do something you get an A for the class.”
Ayako seemed to have slightly misunderstood Mika’s underlying concern, but she couldn’t help but smile at her friend regardless.
A minute later, Ayako, Mika, and Kana were walking together to the field behind the gym. When all of the students had joined them, the coach whistled to get their attention. “Today,” he said in a loud booming voice, “you will be playing soccer. We will need two teams and two captains, so who wants to be a captain?”
Ayako’s hand shot up, and then she turned to glare at Kaito. We’re settling this. Now.
Kaito released a sigh, and raised his hand.
“Takahiro and Hanashi again?” The coach said, glancing between the two. “No one else wants to give it a shot for once?”
No one moved. Whether it was out of respect or fear, Mika couldn’t quite tell, but it appeared to her that battles between them must have been quite common. All the more reason for her to be involved as little as possible – she didn’t want to be a nuisance to either Kaito or Ayako.
“Alright fine. Divide yourselves in half and join a team!”
Most of the girls migrated to Ayako’s side while the guys headed for Kaito’s team. Mika stood frozen, her eyes flickering back and forth between them wondering just what she should do. It was Kana that chose for her. She took Mika’s hand in hers, and with a small smile, steered her to the outskirts of the circle that had formed around Ayako.
Then the game began. Despite there being so many team members, the match was more of a one-on-one battle between Kaito and Ayako than a team. The root cause of this though, was Ayako, who headed straight for Kaito every single time and left her team members in the dust while doing so. Mika couldn’t help but feel the entire group was rather disjointed.
Kaito, meanwhile, had adopted a front position to face Ayako directly, but made use of his team and their strengths far more than Ayako. Even with that dynamic on the field, after ten minutes, no one had scored a goal.
Mika watched as Kaito snatched the ball from Ayako and kicked it across the field to Daisuke who headed straight toward Mika. She froze, knowing that she needed to move but unable to get her legs work properly. Daisuke flew by her without a second thought and scored the first goal.
From her spot, Mika could see Ayako panting and scowling at the goal as if it had betrayed her. In the end though, Mika knew that she was the only one at fault. Truly, she hated sports.
As they reset the field and took their positions, Kaito walked past Ayako, and pointedly sent a smirk in her direction as if saying, there’s no way you can beat me. You can’t even score.
Ayako's already red face brightened even more with her fury as she glared after her opponent. The game resumed, and the more time passed, the more desperate Ayako became. She would pass to a teammate, only to have someone steal the ball. When she kept it, Kaito would block her movement, duck to the right, steal the ball and run with it. It didn’t take but once for Mika to realize that once Kaito had the ball, getting it back was hopeless. He was too fast and agile for any of them to catch.
The game ended with a score of four to zero, Kaito’s team completely dominating over Ayako’s. The coach dismissed them, and everyone trudged back to the locker rooms, sweaty and exhausted. Mika was halfway across the field when it dawned on her that Ayako and Kana weren’t by her side. She turned back around to see Ayako kneeling on the ground and Kana bent over her.
“Ayako?” she asked when she was back within a comfortable speaking distance.
Ayako managed to smile up at her, but the strain on her face was evident. “I’m fine” was her reply, but she was far from fine. She put all of her weight on her left leg and pushed herself to her feet, but when she took a step forward on her right foot, she nearly crumpled.
“Why must you always push yourself so hard when Takahiro is involved?” Kana questioned, as she draped Ayako’s right arm over her shoulder.
Mika followed suit, positioning herself on Ayako’s left side.
“It’s because he’s involved Kana!” Ayako protested. “Something about that guy… I don’t know…” Her face hardened as her eyes narrowed. “Something about him just isn’t right. It gives me a bad feeling.”
“That’s all the more reason to leave him alone,” Kana said with a sigh.
With Mika’s and Kana’s help, Ayako made it back to the locker room and changed before being escorted to the nurse’s office. They left her there, and sprinted back to class with just enough time to make it to homeroom before the bell.
“You’re missing a member,” Kaito noted Mika took her seat behind him.
“Ayako sprained her ankle I think.”
“I see.”
Though he said that, Mika saw nothing in his face that indicated any sort of surprise or remorse over the news. “You… you knew that already didn’t you?” Mika said slowly. Her mind was suddenly replaying the match. “Always. You always went to Ayako’s right side. That was her bad leg.”
“Coincidence,” he answered.
Mika didn’t buy it, and instead pressed on. “How long did you know? You should’ve said something!”
“Mika.” His voice was quiet, but sharp, instantly cutting her off. “There are times when one has to fight for his or her own sake, putting everything on the line to win. Standing in the way of that, especially as an opponent, would have led to more hatred rather than to a truce.”
Her eyes scrutinized his. Though his gaze was on her, she had a distinct feeling that he was seeing something far beyond the walls of the classroom and she was sure he was no longer referring to the soccer game.
At that moment, the teacher began homeroom by going through the list of club meetings and upcoming events. As the final bell was about to ring, she said, “Hanashi Ayako and Hattori Tatsuya should be in charge of cleaning today, but I see that Hanashi-san is absent…” Her gaze traveled over the students and landed on Mika. “Minamoto-san, would you please take her place?”
“Yes ma’am,” Mika complied with a nod of her head.
She glanced at Hattori in the middle of the room. She knew that he was there, but had never actually looked at the boy. He was not outstanding in any way; his hair was not dyed, and hung at a normal length even though his wavy bangs covered his eyes. She could see the rim of his glasses, but couldn't make out any of his other facial features due to his hair and the position of his head.
The final bell rang and the rest of the class poured out into the hall. Mika stood up but didn’t leave her desk. Hattori also stayed across the room until the teacher had exited. Slowly he stood and faced Mika. “Thank you for covering the cleaning Minamoto-san. I will return when it’s complete.” With that, he exited the classroom, leaving Mika with a chill from his cold tone of voice.
She stayed frozen to the spot until his footsteps faded down the hall. “I hope cleaning here is the same as it was back home,” she mumbled as she shuffled around the classroom.
She started with sweeping, then worked on wiping off the desks and cleaning the whiteboard along with the eraser. By the time the sun was beginning to lower, she was tying the knot on the final trash bag.
“There!” she glanced over the classroom, and confirming that it was clean to the best of her abilities, grabbed up the trash and headed down the stairs.
It was as she was walking back to the classroom to sign a sheet verifying she’d done the cleaning, she felt the chill on her spine again, much like it had been this morning, as though someone were watching her. Mika looked around but saw no one in the hallway. She moved forward, more slowly this time, waiting for the ominous feeling to subside. She was two classrooms down from her own when she caught sight of an individual – an individual she immediately recognized as Hattori.
So he came back to sign the sheet I guess… After I’ve already done the work for him. She gave a mental sigh, and watched as he pushed himself off the wall across from their classroom. However, instead of entering the classroom, he headed straight for her.
A sudden sense of panic flew through her body, but she choked it down as best she could. There was absolutely no reason to be afraid of this guy. He was a jerk, but he certainly wasn’t dangerous. It’s just because you were already feeling on edge. Or so she told herself until she caught sight of his widened, frenzied eyes through his bangs.
Mika took a step backward. “Hattori-san? Are you alright?”
He didn’t respond. The next step brought him just short of touching distance. “Hello Mika-chan~” His voice was lighter, but that didn’t make Mika feel any more at ease. A smile spread across his face, giving him a crazed look, like an animal that had gone rabid. He took another step and reached out toward her face. Mika jerked backwards and turned to run, but before she’d taken even one stride, she face-planted into another person.
Instinctively, she started moving backwards, an apology on the tip of her tongue, but a hand at her shoulder restrained her. Mika’s heart went into overdrive. In front was someone to stop her, and behind was another who seemed to be suffering from some form of psychosis.
“It’s okay.”
Mika took a sharp breath as she recognized the voice of the individual in front of her. Kaito.
The hallway elapsed in a tense silence. Mika couldn’t help glancing backward to look at the threat that had been approaching her just moments before.
Hattori had gone rigid, rooted to the spot with a strange mix of fear and madness flickering across his face. His eyes were glued to Kaito’s. Noticing this, Mika then turned her head to read Kaito’s expression. His face was hardened and his eyes cold as he looked down on Hattori with loathing.
“Leave.” His voice resonated deep in his chest. Mika could feel it as he still had her body pressed up against his own.
Hattori turned on the spot and ran back down the hall.
Mika released a sigh of relief, and this time when she made to pull back from Kaito, he didn’t stop her.
“Are you alright?” he asked, turning his gaze to Mika.
His face was still cold, but his eyes were softening. Mika was shaking slightly from the rush of adrenaline, but managed a short nod. “Th-thank you, Takahiro-san.”
“Kaito,” he corrected. “You can call me by my first name.”
Her eyes lingered on him. It seemed odd to her to call him by his first name after only knowing him for two days. In no way could they be considered friends – they really weren’t even acquaintances – but if that’s what he preferred…
She dipped her head once more. “Then, Kaito-san, arigatou gozaimasu.”
He nodded in acceptance of her thanks. “Are you headed home now?”
“Yes, after I sign the cleaning sheet.”
“Then I’ll accompany you on your way.”
Mika glanced over at Kaito for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was alert, guarded, as he watched the passersby on the busy road. In the entire time they’d been walking, he hadn’t once looked at her, or acknowledged her presence. Mika hadn’t had the courage to start a conversation, and it was late in their walk to start one now, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand the awkwardness of it all.
“Um… thanks again for earlier,” she managed at last.
“You’ve said that already.”
Mika dropped her head. He’d shot down her, admittedly feeble, attempt in an instant without even looking her way. Feeling quite miserable, Mika trudged along beside him, hoping that their walk together would end quickly.
Then, Kaito broke the silence so suddenly that Mika jumped. “I don’t think I need to tell you, but you should definitely stay away from Hattori for a while. Be careful walking alone, especially at night.”
“You think he’s still going to come after me? Even while I’m not at school?” The questions came from Mika’s mouth in a rush.
“Hattori has previously bragged about being part of an influential yakuza group. I didn’t believe him, but over the past week there has been a noticeable change in his behavior. Whether that has to do with his stories or something else, I can’t say, but I think it’s probable he’ll come after you again.”
Mika stopped at her house, and clung to the gate for support. Why? Why her? What had she ever done to Hattori? She didn’t even know his name until today.
Reading the emotions flickering across her face, Kaito said, “Being the new person in town makes you an easy target. So just be careful.”
“Okay…” Mika murmured. “I appreciate you walking me home.” With that, the two separated – Mika headed into the house while Kaito continued down the street. For the remainder of the evening, Mika jumped at every small creak of the house, and that night in her dreams, she found herself running from shadowy figures intent on claiming her life.
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