Flowered Daggers (Akira Kurusu/P5 Protag x Fem!Reader)

Ch 4 - Study Partners in Crime

~~ The Next Day: April 16 ~~

Your plan to meet with Makoto before school was not happening as you fell ill with a fever and nausea the night before. This was upsetting to you as school had barely started and you were already missing classes, just like last year. So in the moments you felt well enough to do some studying, you read bits of your textbooks in a feeble attempt to not fall behind.

You texted Makoto your situation that morning, so she dropped off your notebook after school along with well wishes. However, as you opened your notebook to try to study that evening, your dad convinced you to just rest, citing that by resting you would recover faster and ultimately have less work to catch up on.

You knew he had a point and after a couple days of full rest, you were well enough to go back to school the following Tuesday.

~~ Time Skip: April 19, Morning ~~

You headed to school early with the intention of asking your teachers for the material you missed, but since you had to take the bus to school you were at the mercy of traffic. Traffic delays ate up the extra time you had planned, so you simply went to your classroom and unpacked your stuff into your desk with a few minutes to spare. You then turned your notebook to the next open page and began to plan out how you were going to catch up on what you missed.

"Hey there, Sicky~ Feeling better, are we?" The ever-so-annoying voice of Hibiki interrupted your thoughts as she turned around in her seat to face you.

You internally groaned, but only gave her a silent nod as you continued planning.

Hibiki didn't seem to care that you were trying to concentrate."Have you heard? Oh, right, how could you? You missed two days of class already! Anyway, your criminal friend is already getting himself expelled. Along with that other delinquent in the school~" Hibiki informed you with a pleased tone in her voice that made you angry.

You looked up at her with an annoyed frown, but before you could say anything, Momoko chimed in.

"Shh!! He's here!" Momoko whispered loudly to Hibiki as she hurried into the classroom and sat down at her own desk.

"Oh, we better not anger him. He might lose it on us since he's got nothing to lose now." Hibiki gave Momoko a sly smile before turning back around to face the front of the classroom.

You rolled your eyes at Hibiki's statement and then looked over to the door at the back of the classroom. A few seconds later, Akira arrived. Despite the rumors of him possibly being expelled, he seemed like his usual calm self as he quietly strode into the room. At least, that's what you thought at first.

As he got closer in your direction, he noticed your gaze and smiled kindly at you. That's when you saw it: a spark - no - a fire in his eyes that you were certain you had never seen before. But it wasn't a flame of anger like you would expect from someone with an expulsion over his head. It took you a moment, but then you realized it was defiance. A kind of defiance that was calm and collected while determined to break free, as if to show the world something hidden deeper within his soul. The new intensity in his eyes clashed completely with his calm "good boy" exterior...

And the duality captivated your curiosity.

You wondered what had happened in the short span of time that you were sick. What caused this new flame to appear in the once-guarded gray eyes of the transfer student? Was the rumor about him being expelled true? If so, why was he still coming to class? Or did he actually have a chance to contest it? Your mind could go on forever with questions, but you knew the only way to get answers was to ask and observe.