One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Stop.
Leon was busy lifting a metal straight bar over his head, as he spent his time in the school's fitness class. The gym was where it was held, as the students had access to various sorts of equipment. He continued huffing a little as he lifted the bar, and out of his peripherals he could see about 3 other guys walking up to where he was.
"Hey, look who it is.. Leon. Why don't I help you with this set, buddy?"
Leon knew that was the voice of Yoshihara Isao himself, as he stood over Leon. Sweat dripping down his face, he sat down the bar and glared up at him without saying anything. Getting a good look at him, Isao stood very tall and strong, with a fairly chiseled chest and arms. His hair was a bit spiky, and was colored jet black. But the most distinguishable feature was a scar going down the side of his face.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Yoshihara, but I'm not in the mood for a bunch of muscle heads like you to judge." Leon said bitterly, which prompted a few grins from the 3 in front of him.
"Oh, we're not here to judge.. Every man in the gym is an equal man, right?" Yoshihara replied, as his two friends laughed and nodded. "I'm just here to lend some help to a pal." He said, walking behind Leon and grabbing onto the bar. "Now get lifting, before I do the whole set for you."
Leon furrowed his eyebrows. Whatever this man was up to, it was nothing good. But maybe Yoshihara was nice if he was nice back.. so he decided to grab onto the bar and try lifting up.. but he couldn't.
"What's the matter, Leon? Can't lift this much?" Yoshihara taunted, as Leon gritted his teeth and tried to push up. "Get the hell off my bar, you idiot!" He yelled up, which only made his tormentor smile. "Maybe if I hold it down you'll have more balance!" He shouted, taking the bar and shoving it right down on Leon's neck. Realizing what was going on, Leon shoved a hand in between the gap made by the bar in an effort to block it. Although this didn't work well, as it was crushing his hand and pushing it right against his throat.
"Now if you're wondering why I'm choking you to death, it's because I got word that you tried to get with my girl!" Yoshihara spat, as Leon's eyes went wide. Maki.
"Are you that mad!? I was trying to help her! Besides, you weren't even there when Ramune tried to violate her!" Leon said back, with only Yoshihara pushing down tighter. "I really don't give a shit. And besides, I'm not gonna let a peppy little English boy like you tell me how to manage my life. Besides, you should really remember that I am the leader of the Elites!" Yoshihara replied, pushing down even more. Leon began to choke and cough, trying to regain his breath.
"Yoshihara! What do you think you're doing?"
Leon recognized Mr. Yashito's gruff voice, as the bar was lifted off of him. "Were you just trying to choke one of your classmates?" He shouted, as Yoshihara smirked and shook his head. "No, Mr. Yashito, not at all! I was trying to help Leon out, because the bar fell off." He said, as Leon stood up from the bench, rubbing his neck.
"Yeah.. right. Leon, are you okay?" Yashito asked, looking at the teen's neck. "I'm fine, Mr. Yashito. It really was an accident.." Leon lied, balling a single fist and glaring at Yoshihara. The other 3 boys would leave, making Leon sigh with relief. He would then wipe his face off with a towel, leaving the room and heading to where his locker was.
As he sorted through his supplies and his bag, he could hear someone walking by him and placing something in his pocket. Shutting the metal door, Leon saw Kita walking right by him, her face turned away. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small slip of paper.
'Meet me at the Sasaki Park when you leave school. I found some information that you might need to see.'
Leon looked down at the paper with a mix of suspicion and confusion. Why was Kita being so.. mysterious about this? He knew he shouldn't get so deep since it had only been a few days since they had met, but something really didn't sit right with him. Grabbing his bag, he walked down the long school hallway and prepared to make his way to the park.
♤ ♤ ♤
After searching sround for a little, Leon would finally find the park. He looked around, as a calm breeze set over the park. Below a bright blue sky, stood patches of trees and bushes, leaves blowing along. Sasaki Park was actually quite peaceful, so it helped settle Leon's nerves as he walked.
Passing a few wooden benches, Leon would see Kita sitting down at one of them, her leg crossed over the other. She was currently reading a book, obviously not aware that Leon was there. "Hey." He said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder.
Kita would look up, seeing Leon standing there. "Oh! Um, hey.. feel free to take a seat." She replied calmly, shutting her book and sitting it in her bag. Leon sat down next to her, placing an arm on the back of the bench. "So, what did you call me here for, exactly?" He asked.
"I was at my sister's house this morning, and I found this article in the newspaper she was reading." Kita said, taking out her phone and pulling up an image. Leon looked down, looking at the text. "There were two bodies found at an abandoned warehouse a few miles from here.. the victims were Riyu Yasuhiro, and Kizuno Takara. Both students from Jindai Senior High.."
Leon felt the blood in his head drain.. his suspicions about the school were really beginning to become more entangled with him. First, oddly violent students, then a bunch of secrets he couldn't be told, and now students being found dead?
"That's sick.. was there anything else in the article?" Leon said, desperate to hear more from her. "Well, they both went missing about 7 or 8 days before their bodies were found. Riyu had his heart ripped out of his chest, and Kizuno was.. strangled to death."
"You think some sort of serial killer was responsible?" Leon replied, as Kita shook her head. "I'm not really sure. Kyoto usually isn't so full of crime. It's somewhat abnormal in my view." She said, lowering her head down. Leon placed a hand on her back gently, trying to make her feel comfortable. "This scares you, doesn't it?" He said, as a tear streamed down her face. "I knew Kizuno for a while.. she was a really sweet person." She said, taking off her glasses. "I just.. I just can't believe someone would take her life like that.." She went on, before crying a little. Leon, feeling bad, pulled her into a hug. "Please don't cry, Kita. I've already dealt with enough hardships in my life. I don't want to watch someone else suffer from their own."
Kita sniffed a little, gaining some reassurance from Leon's hug. "I apologize.. I am usually very good at keeping my emotions at bay.. but in this moment I'm just too worried for my own life.." She said, wiping her eyes and putting her glasses back on.
Leon nodded, pulling himself away. In a way, he could somewhat now figure out why Kita acted the way she did. She seemed to be afraid.. it made sense. "I'm sorry to push, but is there anything else surrounding the murders?" He asked. Kita slowly nodded, putting away her phone. "Riyu had an older brother.. his name is Teramoto. I think he lives deeper in the city. What are you getting at?"
"I'm really not sure at the moment. But from what I can see, the school might be involved. First we have Bunk's friend killed, and then these two show up. And they're all students from the same school. Maybe there's some sort of connection." Leon explained.
"I didn't know you were a detective, Leon.." Kita said, playing with her hair a little. "I'm not a detective. I'm just a little.. analytic." He replied, with a grin that shortly went away. "I must be going home now.. I don't want anyone to be worried." Kita then said, taking her bag and slipping it over her shoulder. Leon would nod, watching her leave. "Okay then.. enjoy your evening." He said calmly, then tapping his foot. "Teramoto.. Teramoto.. I need to find him. But how am I gonna cover myself? Damn.."
♤ ♤ ♤
Leon, not even heading near the path to his home, wandered into Kyoto on his own. For some weird reason, he deeply wanted to figure out this situation, considering the deaths of Jindai's own students. Who knew about it? Who else knew more? Leon personally thought starting with Riyu's brother would get him somewhere. But even with his mind prepared, he had forgotten one thing: an address.
This meant he had to go scatter through every apartment building, in which Kyoto had many, and ask each landlord if Teramoto was living there. It was a really long shot, but it might have a chance at working, if Leon could handle it well. He might not be able to defend himself, but he was certain he could find some info.
And soon enough, the hours would pass. Almost 7 apartments visited, all with landlords who didn't know a Teramoto, or just didn't understand Leon. Damn.. he thought, if only you were born in Japan yourself.
Leon would finally approach one last apartment building, which seemed to merely border the edge of the city. Heading inside, he ended up finding the landlord, an older lady who was very short in height. With her hair graying, she sat down at a table and wrote on some paper. The teen quietly entered the room, knocking on the door. The lady stopped writing, looking up at Leon and putting on her glasses. "And whom.. would you be? You don't look like a local." She said, in a calm but raspy voice.
"I'm not, madam. I'm actually here to.. well.. I'm doing a report for my class and I need to visit someone." Leon replied quickly, a lie he formed in his head. It was rather impolite of him to do something like that, but it would pass as convincing, due to his uniform. The woman looked him over, before nodding. "Hmm.. really? I didn't know projects for school started this early.. but I think I'll be generous to you. Who are you looking for.. exactly?" She replied, taking out a log book and opening it. "It's someone named Teramoto Yasuhiro. His brother went to my school." Leon said.
"Ahh, Mr. Yasuhiro.. he's on the third floor, room 234. The door should be on the right when you go up there. Now you have a good evening, young man." The woman would say, as Leon smiled and nodded his thanks. "You too, madam." He said politely, leaving the room.
Walking up the wooden apartment stairs, Leon made it to room 234. He knocked on the door a few times, just to make sure the room wasn't empty. Some movement from inside signified that someone was in there, hopefully it being Teramoto. Standing patiently, Leon watched as the door opened to reveal another man, with messy brown hair. Pushing up his glasses, he stared down at the teen. "What do you want..?" He asked tiredly.
"Hi, you must be Teramoto. Listen, I'm not a reporter. I went to your brother's school, and I want to ask you a few questions." Leon answered. Not even saying anything, the other young man looked around in the hallway, before pulling Leon inside and slamming the door.
"What the hell are you doing back here? What, did they send you to scare me off as well? Because I'm not in the mood!"
Teramoto stood at the door, glaring at Leon as he stepped back, confusion forming on his face. What was he even talking about?
"W-What? I'm not here for any of that! I caught wind of what happened to your brother.. I was curious if you could tell me about anything that happened before he dissapeared!" Leon said back with a raised voice, which had enough of a tone to somehow convince Teramoto. The man would take off his glasses, and then walked over to where a couch was placed. "..Sit down."
Leon would sit down in a chair across from him, as Teramoto would sigh and take a drink from the cup he had with him. There would be some silence for a few seconds, and then Teramoto finally spoke.
"I'm very sorry about the outburst.. it's just that my brother's death has broken me.. I haven't been able to sleep ever since they found the bodies.. but I'll compose myself and tell you at least what I know.."
"Why do you say it like that?"
Teramoto would then give Leon a dark stare. "You seem like a new student.. it's even more obvious that you're a westerner, given the accent. There are secrets being hidden from you. Secrets about Jindai." He replied calmly, as Leon looked at him. "What secrets?"
"I don't know how much I can say, given that they killed my brother. But I'll tell you that the principal isn't a trustworthy woman in the slightest. And she has a very large backing.. the night before Riyu died, he was talking about some sort of group that was pushing him around.. when I asked for more he just said it was involved with the school. So I did my own research, and then he turns up dead."
"So why haven't you contacted the police!? This is insane!" Leon said, the tone of his voice raised as he stood from his seat. "You let your own brother die, and you can't even bother to raise a finger?"
"It's not that simple.. they have the police fooled very well.. if you even tried to make a case, they wouldn't believe you. Now please, I have to leave for work soon. And also, what's your name?"
"Leon. Leon Russell." Leon answered, as he stood up and was guided to the door. "Well it was nice to see you, Leon. I hoped I helped you." Teramoto said, as Leon nodded slightly and opened the door. "Yeah.. You're welcome. Have a good evening." He replied, before walking out the door.