~~ April 22, Afternoon ~~
The following day was another typical day at school. Well, until afternoon classes.
While listening to the dry lesson Mr. Ushimaru was teaching, you glanced over at the boy who sat to your left, Daichi Yagi, rolling your eyes as you noticed he fell asleep. Again. The slight snoring was loud enough for you to hear, but not enough to disrupt your teacher's musings. Your gaze wandered to the raven-haired boy that sat in front of him, wondering if the snoring bothered Akira like it did you.
And that's when something else caught your eye: the irritated tail twitches of a cat. You blinked as you processed the fact that this white-tipped black cat tail was in Akira's desk. Wondering briefly how you didn't notice sooner, you then realized that given the angle at which you sat behind him, you were probably the only person that could see the cat hidden in his desk to begin with.
Well, that solved the mystery of the cat in the school.
But that question was quickly replaced by many more as you turned your gaze back to the chalkboard. Cats aren't allowed and with all the fuss the teachers had over it, he's bold to continue bringing the cat with him. But how has he been able to get away with it for so long already? Maybe it's one of those comfort or rehabilitation animals with how well behaved it is... But he doesn't seem like the kind of person who needs one...
You shook your head slightly as you tried to copy down what was being written on the board while your thoughts ran away with you. [Y/N], you don't know him well enough yet. Maybe a companion animal is a part of his probation and behavior adjustment? That could be why the teachers have stopped looking for it.
Glancing back over at Akira's desk, you noted the rich blue eyes that peered out of the desk in Daichi's direction as the tail continued to twitch in an annoyed pattern. Knowing cats had better hearing than humans, you could have sworn the cat's eyes held the same annoyance for the snoring as you did. With this in mind, you looked down at your paper in a moment of consideration to do something bold yourself.
Looking back up at the teacher, you waited for his back to be turned before you quickly reached over and poked Daichi's arm with the eraser-end of your pencil. As expected, the boy jolted awake and you resumed your normal position before he realized what happened. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed the cat's tail calm and the blue eyes seemed to be staring in your direction as you heard a quiet purr.
You also heard the frantic scribbling of a pencil on paper from your left and you couldn't help but smile in amusement. Maybe with so much to catch up on, Daichi wouldn't fall back asleep today.
~~ Time skip: April 23, Morning ~~
In waking up late and rushing to school, you had barely settled into your seat when the bell rung. As Mr. Inui, the history teacher, started his lesson, you quickly flipped your notebook open and began writing down what he was saying.
"Kamoshida-kun was really in his element at the volleyball rally the other day." The older gentleman stood still at the front of the classroom with his arms across his chest and looked over the class as he spoke. "You kids are lucky to receive direct instruction from a world-famous athlete like him." He paused for a second as he gestured a hand to the side. "Sports have been regarded as sacred things that invigorate people since ancient times. So much so that the emperor himself even participated once."
The teacher's gaze then focused on Yuuki. "Mishima-kun. Do you know the name of the Roman emperor who participated in the Olympics?"
"Huh!?" The volleyball player hastily stood. "U-Um..." He turned his head away from the teacher and as such, you couldn't see his face at all from your perspective. After a short span of silence, you weren't sure if he was still thinking or ashamed he couldn't answer.
Impatient, Mr. Inui didn't wait long before he spoke again with a flat tone. "It's Nero." He then sighed before continuing, a stern tone in his voice now. "It's good to throw yourself into your club activities, but you shouldn't sacrifice your studies."
Yuuki stood there in silence a good few seconds before you heard his meek voice again. "Sorry..." The volleyball player then sat back down. His head was turned towards the teacher again, but you saw his gaze was lowered and dulled.
Movement caught your eye as the teacher gestured towards Akira before he spoke. "That said, you don't seem to into sports, Kurusu-kun."
As usual when called upon, Akira immediately sat up straight from his slouched position. You noted the cat in his desk again and today it was lazily moving its tail up and down, eyes closed. It didn't seem disturbed by your friend's sudden movement.
"What event did Emperor Nero add to the Olympics so that he could participate?" Mr. Inui asked, his gaze fixed on Akira.
You watched the raven-haired boy think for a second. He then answered while making a nonchalant hand motion, his voice calm in contrast to Yuuki's. "Singing."
The history teacher gestured widely as he smiled before clapping his hands. "Correct." He then took his normal stance again. "Hm. Seems you've been studying after all." He then looked over the class again. "Apparently Nero was tone deaf, but he ended up winning. The emperor held absolute power, after all. Because of these kinds of selfish actions -not to mention a lecherous side- he became known as a despot."
As Mr. Inui paused to write some notes on the chalkboard, the class began to mutter. "He's right." "No way." "Sheesh." "I thought he was asleep."
You looked over the class, your eyes settling on a student towards the front right of the class as he turned around to the girl behind him. "Whoa, he actually knew that?"
"Maybe I should ask if I can borrow his notes..." The girl mused in reply as you saw her glance over in Akira's direction.
You chuckled quietly to yourself as you heard the last comment. Perhaps your criminal friend could win over a few of the others in the class by impressing them with his intelligence. After all, from your study session a couple days ago you knew his studious appearance wasn't simply for show.
That's when a soft meow caught your attention and you looked over to the cat in Akira's desk. It was looking up at him and you could hear a quiet purr between the murmuring comments around you. It's blue eyes seemed to glow from within the darkness of the desk and, as far as you could tell, it seemed pretty happy being there.
Like when he answered a question correctly before, Akira rubbed the back of his neck as he rolled his head from side to side. You still weren't sure what kind of gesture that was, but you were starting to feel it was out of confidence. However, you didn't have time to analyze him further as you heard Mr. Inui begin to speak again.
"That said, recently people have begun reevaluating Nero's reign. Regardless though, he was lacking in sportsmanship. He should have taken a page out of Kamoshida-kun's book!" The teacher then chuckled heartily for a moment as he turned to the chalkboard and began to write "Nero" in large letters at the top. "Now, turn to page 76. We'll be doing our own analysis of Nero's reign today."
You frowned at the comment implying Kamoshida having good sportsmanship. As far as you were concerned, if he was a good sport then he wouldn't have used a professional spike on students the other day. With that thought you glanced over at Yuuki again. He seemed to have recovered well enough physically, but whenever you passed him at school you could still see the pain in his eyes. Between that, what happened with Shiho, and the numerous "practice" injuries the members of the team had on a regular basis - which seemed to only increase in number since Shiho's incident - you were beginning to believe the rumors of abuse were actually true and not just an exaggeration.
~~ Time skip: April 25, Morning ~~
As the cloudy Monday morning rolled in, you got up and went through your normal morning routine. When you went to get the lunch your mom packed you, an idea crossed your mind. Reaching into the pantry, you grabbed an easy-open can of tuna and tossed it into your bag as you headed out the door.
You got to school decently early, but to your surprise Akira was already sitting at his desk and staring out the window as you stepped into the classroom. Only a couple others were there, chatting on the opposite side of of the classroom. From what you overheard, the topic was on Kamoshida and the volleyball team and how great they were.
Rolling your eyes, you continued on to your desk and as you sat down you heard a quiet purr. You smiled at the sound's owner before reaching into your bag. Chuckling slightly, you watched the cat's blue eyes follow your hand into the bag. As you pulled the can of tuna out of the bag, you could have sworn you saw the cat's eyes light up as the purring got noticeably louder.
At this, Akira looked down at his feline companion and then followed it's gaze with a questioning look that, upon meeting your eyes, quickly turned to one of surprise with a flash of... concern? It was there only for a second but you smiled back at him reassuringly as you offered the can. Glancing at the cat, you commented quietly as to not draw too much attention. "I don't know what you normally feed them, but I thought they'd like this for lunch today."
Akira visibly relaxed and his calm demeanor returned as he took the can. "Thanks, he'll love this." He then proceeded to place the can right under the cat's nose. Cat pawed at it in anticipation.
You noted his tone was his usual calm timbre and continued whispering quietly. "You're welcome! What's his name?" You were glad that you had thought of this idea as it broke the ice regarding the fact you knew about his cat. That, and learning more about someone's pet often revealed more about the owner himself. The fact that he was surprised and a bit concerned that you knew about the cat was interesting. Perhaps the cat wasn't sanctioned to be there after all.
"Morgana," came the just-as-quiet reply.
You furrowed your eyebrows for a second. You were fairly sure that was usually a girl's name, but you weren't going to question it over a cat. With a nod, you confirmed you heard him. "Interesting name." You then focused your gaze on Morgana's rich blue eyes, which were staring at you almost expectantly. Smiling warmly, you whispered in a sweet tone. "You're a cute cat, you know that?"
At this, Morgana narrowed his eyes and hissed quietly.
You frowned slightly and looked back to Akira. He simply shrugged and spoke with a neutral tone, but his eyes held amusement in them. "He doesn't like being called cute." As he finished saying that, you noticed a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Huh, smart cat if he can understand that." You were impressed the black cat picked up on the word 'cute' was a reference to him. Even more so learning that the feline in the desk had an apparent opinion on the word. A strong opinion at that.
Akira chuckled slightly. "There's more to him than meets the eye, but he's a good cat." He then reached in the desk and lightly stroked Morgana's head.
Morgana meowed in what sounded like an annoyed tone and you noted the apparent glare the cat gave your raven-haired friend. However, it wasn't long before he appeared to succumb to the affectionate gesture and closed his eyes, purring.
Akira looked back to you like he was about to say something more before his gaze focused on something behind you. You watched his eyes become guarded again as he stopped petting Morgana and quickly put the can of tuna in his bag.
Curiosity getting the better of you, you turned to see what made him get defensive. Your eyes met Mrs. Kawakami's as she walked in, two infamous gossip girls behind her. You smiled politely at your teacher, who simply nodded back before heading to the front of the classroom. Mrs. Kawakami looking exhausted and exasperated all the time was normal, but you noted she looked particularly worn out today. You wondered briefly what was going on before an annoyingly familiar voice broke into your thoughts.
"One week!" Hibiki announced rather loudly right next to you in your direction. She sounded rather happy and you knew whenever she was happy, it was bad news for someone. Today that someone was you.
You internally groaned as you looked to her with as neutral an expression as you could muster. Her loud voice always drew attention and you could feel all eyes in the classroom on you as you replied dully. "Until...?" Trailing off, you decided to let her fill in the blank with whatever she wanted to say. There was no point in guessing since she'd say it all anyway.
"Your boyfriend over there gets expelled!" Hibiki teased harshly before giggling. "As well as that other delinquent, the former track-star? My how far that star has fallen, such a shame really... Good thing we have Mr. Kamoshida to keep us all safe! And you-" she was cut off by a loud "a-hem" from the front of the classroom.
"That isn't confirmed yet, Isobe-chan," Mrs. Kawakami said firmly, a scowl across her lips as she narrowed her eyes at the loud girl. "If it is brought up formally at the staff meeting next week, then the teachers will decide the outcome. In the meantime, don't go spreading false rumors..." With that, she then turned to write a few things on the chalkboard behind her.
The classroom broke into more chatter and you shook your head. "Where did you even get the idea that he's my boyfriend?" You asked Hibiki in an unamused tone, but you knew the answer to that. The Gossip was at it again, pairing people off just because they spoke a few times. As such, you didn't even bother looking at her as you finished pulling out your things from your bag and set up your desk. If anything, you expected her to immediately insist that he was despite you knowing him for only two weeks. There was no way that someone could become that close that fast, it wasn't realistic and it certainly didn't describe you and Akira.
"Is he not? Oh, I'm sorry. You two delinquents look so good together~ My mistake!" Hibiki laughed obnoxiously as she sat down at her desk in front of you. Momoko giggled with her as she sat at her own desk. The two started whispering to each other, but you purposefully tuned them out. You knew half of what they did was just trying to get a reaction out of you and you didn't want to give them one.
Look good together? Ask my parents that... They wouldn't let me near him if they knew of his record. Wait... When did I become a delinquent? Just for being a decent person to Akira? I wish you'd stop viewing the world in your twisted way... You let out a quiet sigh and opened your notebook. While you waited for class to start, you doodled in the margins of the next blank page.
The rest of your classmates slowly filed into the room and the bell rung a few minutes later. After the normal morning routine, Mrs. Kawakami began teaching.
"I was reading the essays you turned in the other day, and everyone's writing is so sloppy! 'I could care less' indicates that you still have some cares left to give! It's 'I COULDN'T care less'! I've seen this a lot these days, where people are using a phrase differently from its real meaning." Mrs. Kawakami's annoyed tone echoed through the silent classroom and a quick look around gave you the impression that over half the class wrote something to that effect.
Mrs. Kawakami continued. "One word I often hear misused is the Japanese 'kakushinhan,' used now to mean a crime done in cold blood. Like the word 'literally,' the real meaning of kakushinhan is pretty much the opposite of how it's used." She then glanced around the class, eyes settling on Akira. "Do you know what it is, Kurusu-kun?"
Your gaze followed the teacher's to Akira, his sudden movement at being called out elicited a small meow from his cat. His gaze quickly became distant as he thought about the answer and muttered to himself, but his cat quietly meowed and purred back in response.
Maybe Morgana thought he was talking to him and was enjoying the pseudo-attention? You never had a pet of your own, but you had heard of some interesting relationships between pets and their owners. And speaking aloud with the pet responding as if in conversation was something you had seen pretty regularly in online videos.
After a moment, Akira shifted his gaze to the teacher and spoke up confidently. "Conviction that you're right."
Mrs. Kawakami clapped her hands once and then held up a hand with the "ok" gesture. "That's right. A kakushinhan is when someone takes an action, believing that it's right." She then looked over the class before continuing. "So if someone 'raised their hand against another in kakushinhan,' they thought it was right to do so." Upon stopping and flipping through her lesson plans for the day, the class chattered quietly.
"He's pretty smart!" The black-haired, male student at the front left of the class commented.
"I didn't expect that." The brown-haired girl sitting two seats in front of Momoko added. "He might not be too bad..." You saw a couple others around her nod in agreement.
You couldn't help but smile when you heard a low groan from the girl sitting in front of you. Annoyed that others are starting to see through the false rumors, Hibiki? Your attention was drawn back to the front of the classroom as Mrs. Kawakami began to speak again.
"Kakushinhan was originally a term that referred to a crime driven by moral or political conviction. These days it seems like the wrong usage is becoming more commonly accepted though," she added with a small sigh before continuing the lesson on proper word usage.
~~ Time skip: April 28, Morning ~~
The last couple days had been relatively routine, get up, go to school, volunteer at the hospital in the afternoon, go to bed. As such, seeing the unusually large crowd in front of the school bulletin boards Thursday morning was a surprising change of pace.
It didn't take long for you to figure out why. There were red cards posted all over the two adjacent boards. As you looked over the boards, you noticed between the students that the cards were arranged - rather sloppily - in the shape of Katakana symbols. After looking carefully looking between the students loitering there, you figured out that the cards spelled "Ka-mo-shi-da".
Finding a spot where you could slip in and take a closer look, you read over the newspaper-clipped words on the blindingly red card.
Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust.
We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready.
From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
You looked it over once more to make sure you read it right. Huh. Whoever did this is both bold and has a death wish. But at least they were clever enough to not use their real name or handwriting. You then turned your attention to the students around you, listening to what they had to say.
"Did Mr. Kamoshida do something wrong...?" A rather meek-looking girl with long black hair commented to an equally-worried girl beside her.
"Does this mean the rumors are true!?" A blonde girl, the one you had seen with Hibiki and Momoko before, commented rather loudly.
"Wait a sec... Is someone gonna take something from Mr. Kamoshida...?" The disheveled-looking male student who stood beside you added.
With that, you shook your head and continued onward towards your class. You decided this was something you needed to distance yourself from. And fast. Having been marked before with rumors, the last thing you needed was to be wrongly associated with this by the Gossips. And you knew how Hibiki would twist things around to make her rumors as juicy as possible.
As you walked away, you overheard a rather excited male voice. "What's with this weird logo? And who're these Phantom Thieves of Hearts people...?"
You couldn't lie to yourself, you also wanted to know who would be crazy enough to come up with something like that. After all, how could anyone make someone like Mr. Kamoshida "confess" to the rumors that were hushed around the school? It had to be a prank to elicit some excitement on top of the resurfacing rumors. And knowing how much power Mr. Kamoshida had in the school, you presumed it would be brushed off and buried in yesterday's news by the weekend.
As you turned the corner and started for the stairs, the booming voice of the Volleyball Coach echoed through the school halls. "Who's responsible for this..!?"
You stopped dead in your tracks, the briefest wave of fear washing over you as it reminded you of your father's voice when you got in trouble. You stepped to the side and leaned against the wall a bit, both to physically ground yourself against the fear and get out of the way of other students who rushed to get closer to listen to the commotion.
Unsurprisingly, no one spoke up to answer the teacher's demanding question. Seconds later his voice echoed again through the dead-silent halls. "Did you do this? Or was it you!?"
At that, the students around you scattered like rabbits fleeing from a wolf. The chattering started back up and you moved with the crowd up the stairs towards your classroom. Your mind raced. With that kind of reaction from Mr. Kamoshida for something that could be taken as a prank, that meant there was some kernel of truth to the words on the card. From your vague memory of what the card said, you could only wonder what part of it hit the former Olympic Champion most. And how did someone pinpoint something that hit so close to home for someone so secure in their position of power at the school?
Upon spotting more cards on the boards upstairs, curiosity got the better of you. Taking advantage of the confusion and commotion, you brushed against the board as you squeezed past a large gathering nearby and snagged one of the cards towards the bottom of the board, pocketing it quickly. You then made your way to your classroom and made a point to settle into your seat with your normal routine as to not stick out any. As you pulled your stuff out of your bag, you quickly glanced around. Seeing no one looking your way, you slipped the card beneath your lunch bag at the bottom and promptly let out the breath that you didn't realize you had been holding.
A familiar quiet voice suddenly addressed you from behind. "What's wrong, [Y/N]?"
You jumped and spun around in your seat. Your wide [E/C] eyes met amused gray ones and after a second of processing the familiar face, you let out a sigh of relief. "Akira, you startled me! A-and nothing's wrong. I just thought I had forgotten to grab my lunch today rushing out the door. But I have it!" You quickly spun the tale as you told it. He may be an accused criminal, but he seemed like an upstanding guy. And who knew what he'd think if he knew you had a card. It could easily be assumed that you were the one who put them up and simply had one left over! And that was something you didn't want to chance anyone to assume about you.
A smile crossed his face as he nodded in understanding before looking around and speaking again. "The school seems more energetic this morning."
You blinked as you didn't expect the conversation to continue. You recomposed yourself but a hint of defeat slipped into your voice as you spoke. "Yeah, everyone's talking about the calling card for Mr. Kamoshida. Give it a day or two and it'll be swept under the rug knowing him and his influence. It'll be known as just some prank someone pulled since the rumors of the volleyball team's abuse started up again," you predicted aloud to the raven-haired boy as you shook your head.
You then thought about your own words a moment since they rolled off the tongue so casually, like you were confessing some part of yourself to a trustworthy friend. Perhaps some small part of you wanted the prank to be a real threat, that there was someone who could actually stand up to Mr. Kamoshida on behalf of the poor volleyball team.
And then the second part of the thought hit you. You trusted him with your own thoughts so casually that you didn't need to filter your words first. Well, that's what friends do, right? A small chuckle escaped you at the realization.
"Hm?"
Your attention was brought back to the boy with glasses and you smiled warmly to him. "Just realizing that I don't have to be... picky... with what I say around you. I appreciate it."
It was his turn to chuckle. He opened his mouth to say something in return, a sly smirk tugging at his lips, when the bell run and there was a rush of students into the classroom. His smirk faded to an apologetic smile and he continued on to his desk.
Regardless of half the students still settling into their desks, Ms. Usami, the math teacher, began her lesson.
You barely paid attention as you were wondering what Akira was going to say with such a mischievous expression. Perhaps I'll ask him after school. Or maybe I could - you stopped yourself mid thought as movement caught your eye.
Your gaze shifted to the movement and you noticed Akira texting in class. Ok. Now that is bold. A well-behaved cat is one thing, but a cat and texting in class? Maybe he wasn't such the "good boy" you had figured him out to be. However, you reminded yourself that you only recently became friends with him, that there was probably some important reason for him to be texting in class. Maybe something was going on at home? Or maybe he was responding to an urgent email. Who knew besides Akira himself?
You could guess any number of valid reasons for texting in class, but your next thought came crashing through and dismissed everything else. I don't have his number or Chat ID! Duh! That would make it easier to plan and arrange study meetups! Ok, you gotta remind yourself to ask him at some point later today.
With that in mind, you tuned back in to the lesson and began frantically writing down what Ms. Usami had written on the board already.
The rest of the day went along relatively normal, but the talk about the calling card was all that was going on between classes and during lunch. You decided to stay quiet and just listen to those around you. Some speculated it was a prank to drum up more drama in the school while others thought it might be from some of the volleyball players themselves. A few suspected another teacher might have put it up as a warning for an impending lawsuit. There was even one person who said a superhero would come to the school and actually steal evil desires, but you determined that was just someone's imagination running wild. There were a few other ideas, but nothing that really stood out to you or made any sense. You could see reasoning and relevance with some theories, but no matter who did it or why, it definitely caused a stir.
At the end of the day as you were packing your things away, you remembered you wanted to ask for Akira's number and Chat ID. You looked up to address him, but his seat was already empty. Looking around quickly, you saw him striding out the door of the classroom like a man on a mission.
You stared at the now empty doorway perplexed. He normally never rushed off like that. You finished packing your things while trying to come up with reasons for the odd behavior. That's when your gaze landed on the bright red card in the bottom of your bag.
Perhaps Akira didn't want to be associated with the calling card that morning? Now that you thought about it, he was easily the first suspect for such an act. And knowing Mr. Kamoshida, the furious teacher would likely try to hunt down the accused criminal of the school and bring him in for questioning. Or maybe worse if the rumors really were true. And if abuse was on the table, you knew for a fact no one would ever believe Akira if Mr. Kamoshida laid a hand on him.
Upon making sure the calling card was secure in the bottom of your bag, you picked up your things and headed out the door. Keeping an eye out for Hibiki and Momoko, you quietly slipped downstairs and out the door. On your way out of the building, you noticed the calling cards had been removed, likely by some poor student Mr. Kamoshida picked at random in anger since you didn't see the teacher anywhere. Or Akira for that matter.
For Akira's sake, you hoped that he managed to elude the Volleyball Coach's wrath.
~~ A/N ~~
Thank you all so so much for your patience!!
I worried a lot about the quality of this chapter since I wrote it little by little over the span of four months, but I think it turned out okay!
Life has been really hectic for me but I finally figured out a decent writing schedule. So hopefully the next update will not be such a long wait. We have a long road ahead of us and this slow burn doesn't need to be any slower than the story itself!
So again, thank you for your patience! And thank you for all of the encouraging comments! Those really helped me find my motivation when things got really tough.
Until next time, take care! ^_^