"I have nothing to do with it!"
----
Kiko walked ahead in annoyance, her arms crossing over her chest as she walked down the concrete stairs. Fujio sweetly called her name, trying to gain the attention of the girl.
"Come on, Kiko~!" he whined as he tried to peek at the girl's face.
"You're a magnet for trouble," Kiko said, "Actually, you wanted to attract trouble."
"Well," Fujio chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "If you put it like that..."
"You did great there," Kiko told him, turning to face the male. Fujio stopped and stood in front of her, grinning.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Kiko rolled her eyes but smiled. Fujio held his palm out in front of her, causing the Odajima twin to chuckle. She accepted it as she intertwined her hand with his.
They continued to walk downstairs but stopped when they saw two guys walking upstairs. One was tall and bulky and Kiko immediately recognized him. The other one was walking behind not too far from the guy. They were both wearing Suzuran's uniform, the school's small crest can be seen in front of the black blazer.
Fujio's gaze followed the tall and intimidating Suzuran student, almost glaring at him. The other guy with him noticed the Oya High student's glare and turned to them.
"Hey, bastard! What're you looking at?!" he said intimidatingly.
"Rao?" Fujio muttered.
"What the hell was that? I haven't seen you around here. Where are you from?!" Kansuke asked but Fujio's gaze went straight to Rao who was walking ahead.
Kiko also glanced at the Suzuran's strongest, the male turned to them with a questioning look.
"Kansuke!" his voice boomed as the said male turned to him. He gestured for the male with brown slicked-back hair to let it go and they need to leave.
"Get out of here! Go!" Kansuke shooed the couple away as he followed Rao. Fujio ignored him as he kept his gaze on the Suzuran's strongest.
Kiko rolled her eyes as she glanced at Kansuke. She nudged Fujio, gesturing for him to continue walking.
The couple found themselves inside Housen. Since they were already in that area, Fujio decided to pay a visit to their once-rival school.
"What the hell were you two thinking?!" Jinkawa exclaimed as Kiko stared at them with a blank look.
"We're Ozawahitoshi. Are you mocking us?" Shidaken added.
"Think you can walk in here as if it was nothing?" Sawamura asked, frowning at the couple. Especially to Fujio who was smiling sheepishly at them.
"Long time no see," Fujio said, "We were in the neighborhood, so..."
Kiko rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, "As if I've never been here before, you guys."
She took the edamame chips from her brother as she sat down beside Fujio. Yuken sighed and ignored his sister, turning to Fujio.
"What?!" Jinkawa shouted, causing Kiko to flinch a bit.
"Dude," she muttered, looking at Housen's no. 2, "Why you gotta shout?"
"Now, now. What's the problem? It's not like he's a stranger," Yuken chuckled then gave Fujio a hard look, "Also, he's dating my sister, so..."
Yuken was still not happy about his sisters dating two Oya High students. But the twins assured him that Fujio and Tsukasa are genuine people and care about them.
He crouched down on the other side of the Oya High student, tapping him on the shoulder. Fujio gave him a grateful smile while Kiko kept on munching the snack she stole from her brother. She was amused by what was going on and wished Nozomi was there.
"Who is that guy?" Kiko turned her gaze to the back where Tokuyama Monji and Sabakan stood.
"When you were in the hospital after crashing your bike, we fought with Oya High in the SWORD area, remember?" Sabakan explained to the second-year Housen student, "That's Hanaoka Fujio from Oya High."
Sabakan then stepped forward, butting into their conversation. Shidaken looked at him with a frown, "What?"
"Before coming here, I heard Fujio-san and Kiko-san made a scene at Suzuran," Housen's one and only bowl-haired student said.
Yuken turned to his sister with wide eyes as Kiko matched his gaze. She shook her head aggressively.
"I wasn't– I didn't do anything!" she exclaimed and pointed at her boyfriend, "It was all him!"
"No way!" the guys exclaimed.
"What? Seriously? You two were beyond dumb, weren't you?" Shidaken said in amusement.
"I have nothing to do with it!" Kiko argued but everyone ignored her.
"That's kind of you–" Fujio was flustered, scratching the back of his head.
Shidaken gave him a blank look, "It wasn't a compliment."
"Don't tell me you were looking for Rao?" Sawamura asked.
Fujio nodded, "I was, but some guy named Mercy told me I had to get a ticket and wait in line if I wanted to see Rao."
Kiko turned to her brother, meeting his eyes. She nodded for confirmation as Yuken chuckled, "That's just like Mercy."
"Oi, Sabakan!"
"Yes!"
"Give this dimwit an education, will you?" Jinkawa said, gesturing to Fujio.
"Roger that!"
They turned to Sabakan and Monji who stood beside a board who has different small wooden planks with names written on it. Kiko listened quietly and grumbled under her breath when she realized the edamame snack in her hands is empty.
"Since it has no leader, Suzuran has several factions of different sizes," Sabakan began. He also explained that the smallest faction is Rao's with six members but it is the strongest.
Sabakan also introduced the members of that faction, the first member being Ito Kamui, a second-year student. From what Kiko remembered, he is the masked guy they met earlier. Then the other second-year student is Seta Kansuke, the one they met with Rao when they left Suzuran.
"The next one is third-year Yamaguchi Magoroku," Sabakan says but Kiko interrupts as she pointed to the name.
"He's that guy with an undercut and his hair tied, right?" she asked.
Sabakan nodded in response while Kiko hummed, continuing to listen. He explained how Magoroku fought Rao one-on-one and lost, causing him to become a member of his faction.
"He's the one that kick you," Kiko pointed, turning to Fujio.
"Ah, he has an impressive kick," he commented, smirking.
"And the guy who let you leave unharmed is third-year Mashii Takehiko," Sabakan told him, "They call him Mercy."
"He's the number two," Kiko added, causing Fujio to turn to her.
"He's their number two?" he repeated.
"Being number two is more than just being tough," Yuken explained from his other side, "He doesn't belong with those idiots at Suzuran– he's way too smart."
Kiko nodded in agreement. She just met him for only a few minutes but she knew he was way smarter than the others.
"Then there's third-year Miyauchi Kozo," Sabakan continued, pointing to another small wooden plank that has the name on it, "He's Suzuran's toughest."
"No matter how he was taken down, he will get back up. Like a zombie," he said, causing Kiko to exclaim.
"So he's that Binzo guy!"
"Oh! I landed some really good blows on him and he was completely unfazed," Fujio commented.
"He's number two in terms of fighting next to Rao," Sawamura said then glanced at Shidaken, "Right, Shidaken?"
"Huh? No way!" the male replied, slamming his hand on the mat they were sitting at.
"I never expected him to follow someone," Jinkawa stated. He was standing at the back, his arms crossing over his chest.
"You've got someone like that, too, right?" Yuken asked Fujio.
Kiko smiled knowingly.
"Huh?"
"Then, the last one... the man of legends. Suzuran's strongest..." Sabakan continued, "Misaki Mario or better known as Rao."
"Rao's real name is Mario?" Fujio questioned in amusement, trying to fight the laugh that was coming out of his mouth.
Jinkawa patted him on the shoulders, warning him not to insult the Suzuran's strongest.
"He's been through stuff none of us can begin to understand," Shidaken explained. Yuken stood up as he told them that Housen's leader, Ueda Sachio, couldn't even beat Rao, as a brawler and as a man.
"Speaking of..." Kiko trailed off as she noticed one person missing.
"Seriously?! Now I'm more excited–" Just like Kiko, Fujio also noticed Sachio's absence.
"Where's Sachi, anyway?" he asked, turning to Sawamura.