Undercover College Debt - Keiji x Sou yttd

My hand must've slipped (4)

"You just noticed?"

That definitely piqued Keiji's curiosity. He just assumed earlier it that the scarf was something similar to a passing gift as friends, but the way Shin and Midori said it made it seem as if that wasn't the full story after all.

Shin shied away in embarrassment when he realised he spoke over Midori, looking guilty for some weird reason. He didn't seem comfortable by the conversation topic in the slightest. But not like that'd stop Midori...

"What an astute observation Keiji!" He grinned happily. "Yes. I was given this scarf by my dear friend Shin!"

Despite talking to Keiji, he redirected his attention to the smaller of the two. Shin almost looked like he was going to pass out.

"...care to tell him why you gave me it, Tsukimi?"

Shin swallowed, shutting his eyes as if that would stop the immediate problem. Keiji wanted to help him, but he didn't understand the type of pressure Midori was putting on him. Why would a scarf be so hard to talk about?

Midori sighed, clearly unsatisfied with Shin's lack of an answer. "Fine. I'll show you instead, Keiji!"

Shin flinched at that, but made no attempt to stop Midori from pulling off his own scarf.

Everything seemed normal at first; Keiji was a little confused why he even did that. But upon further examination, Keiji saw a long and deep scar running down Midori's collarbone, and presumably down his chest. Without the scarf, a mark like that would be incredibly easy to spot, no doubt.

So that's why he wore it...

"That's a nasty scar you got there" Keiji tried to laugh but just couldn't summon any air. "Where would you have gotten that from?"

"I should get going"

Shin announced, standing up and sighing dejectedly. "I'm going to put my tray away. See ya Keij--"

Midori tugged hard at Shin's scarf, so hard that the scarf came flying off his neck. Shin stopped mid sentence, trying to cover his collarbone with his hands. However, Keiji had already seen it.

An identical scar.

The same scar that Midori had.

"Give my scarf back!" He snapped, glaring at his friend angrily.

"Oh! My hand must've slipped!" Midori continued mocking the poor college student. "I'm so sorry Shin... I'm just a little confused why you're so mad about this--"

"Don't." Shin cut him off, snatching his scarf away from Midori.

Midori just laughed.

"Leaving so soon?" He snickered at him. "I was looking forward to seeing you though!"

"Yeah, well it's been a while since I've been able to relax around you" Shin gestured to Midori with disgust. "So yes, I'm leaving"

And, true to his word, the angry college student stormed off.

____________________________________________________________

Ever since Shin abruptly left, Midori and Keiji really had nothing to talk about. So Keiji decided to break the silence with a suggestion.

"We should be heading back to the police station, tell Megumi how it went"

Midori nodded with a tired expression and stood up. "Yeah, you're right..."

Keiji sighed.

"Do you think Miley's suspicious?"

Keiji really hadn't been able to make up his mind on Miley. To be fair, it was their first class with her, and things usually got worse faster than they got better. But Keiji kinda doubted she was violent, she seemed more stressed and snappy.

"Yea. Pretty sure she's rather selective with her victims too"

"Huh?" The detective said in surprise.

"Let's get walking, we'll continue talking on the way, k?" Midori replaced his worn out smile with his iconic grin. "Also it probably isn't the best to talk about ol' Miley on school grounds yanno"

"Fair" He agreed.

They walked out of school perimeters in silence.

It seemed that Midori wouldn't be willing to talk until they reached the front gates of the school. Keiji could make this assumption, because pretty much the second they stepped off school property, Midori seemed to be back to his normal, chatty self again.

"What are we gonna tell Miss Megumi?" Midori pondered out loud.

"I mean... it was our first day on this case" Keiji responded. "It's not like we were going to make some outstanding developments on the first day. This'll probably take time"

"Urgggg, you're so honest Keiji..." He whined like a child. "Why don't we spice things up a bit with our report? Say that we got attacked maybe?"

"Wahaha. You got the scar to prove it I guess"

Midori paused.

"Heh. Yea I suppose!"

Keiji narrowed his eyes at Midori's hesitant reply. However, he doubted he'd get an answer from him anyway.

He just sighed. Midori was definitely going to be an interesting partner to work with on this investigation. Sure he was a little... um extra, but at least he was perceptive and capable.

Or at least he'd like to believe so.