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It's chapter 4 of the JuuxTora fanfic. Listen to your favorite noir detective jazz music and strap in for this ride ;)
---
Day One
March 2013, the twelfth. The setting sun’s rays are hitting the windows, casting everything in the orange hue of a prison jumpsuit. The slats of the ceiling fan swing lazily, making the room temperature an exercise in torture, and all I can do is clasp the paper in my hands. Crumpled, riddled with crosses, a huge red number on top, with an equally huge circle highlighting it. Like a funeral bell, its effect could crush any soul.
With his loud steps, I know he is there, large and with a grim countenance made to intimidate lesser men. He stops in front of my desk, his arms crossed and looking as tough as a rock. Leans over and tilts his head, those sharp eyes looking at the paper in my hands and says, “Kuri, you’ve failed today’s test?”
I grunt by way of answer and crumple the paper and shove it in my pocket, feeling it burning a hole in my skin. “Stupid history. Who cares about the Sengoku era or whatever. It’s all over and done with anyway.”
Juuichi frowns. “I think history is important in deciding which path we should follow in order to improve.” It’s common fact that he practices Judo, and I’m sure he’s read up on all its sordid history so he probably appreciates that sort of thing a lot. My answer?
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So what brings you here, Juuichi?” His fingers twitch, presumably from the lack of ‘san’ or ‘senpai’ in my addressing of his name. I know this bear is a strict law enforcer, so needling him over something small like this is my roundabout way of defying his authority. I certainly am not foolish enough to push his buttons thoroughly. I’ve seen this man inflict pain on rulebreakers and I am not about to experience that now, unlike certain striped felines I know of.
And speak of the devil, for Juuichi’s next words are, “I need your help with something. It’s about Tora.”
I lean in closer, my attention piqued. What could this large, disciplined man possibly need help with regarding the mischievous feline? “Sure, what is it?”
I can see Juuichi fidget and sweat, either from nervousness or the heat of the room is getting to him already. He looks up at the slowly swaying fan and adds, “The ceiling fan in this room still isn’t repaired yet?”
I nod, but refuse to elaborate on my hypothesis about how the school janitor holds a grudge on several people in this class. It’s only a matter of sneaking into his room to get the necessary proof, but I digress. I wait for Juuichi to get on with business. I see him sigh, and then he places his hands on my desk, leans forward, and whispers. “I’m worried about him.”
I tilt my head, raise an eyebrow, and ask, “What’s got you worried?”
“Well, I saw him taking out some chocolate from his shoe rack earlier and he refused to elaborate what it’s about.” For a moment, I see him looking uncomfortable, the frown deepening on his face as though he’s steeling himself at saying something distasteful. “And you know how White Day’s drawing closer, so I concluded that Tora probably received something from some male admirer earlier than expected.”
With a supreme force of will, I manage not to break into laughter. Juuichi’s attraction to Torahiko is about as subtle as a brick to the face sometimes, at least to those who know about it. The way he mutters to himself about why anyone would even think of giving the tiger chocolates makes me revise my previous statement to all the time. “And? I still don’t see how Torahiko getting some chocolate would harm him.”
He looks back at me with a vicious glare, his voice a soft growl that belies the fury in him. It would have been a frightening sight had the blush on his cheeks and ears not ruined it. “I-I’m not concerned he might get hurt. I’m merely worried that whoever gave him that chocolate should be warned about Tora first. Kuri, you know Tora’s an obnoxious idiot, right? Not to mention him being a complete slob.” At this he breaks off to growl under his breath about Torahiko’s faults.
I place my hand on my mouth, trying to look as if I’m seriously considering this. In truth, I am trying to hide the amused grin on my face. Who knew this large bear was quite territorial with the tiger? It would certainly provide fodder for weeks for the rumor mill if they ever got wind of whatever’s going on between the school’s most rule-abiding bear and the most roguish tiger anyone had the misfortune to meet.
So I smile at him. “I’ll do it, Juuichi.”
His eyes light up with gratitude like the rays of the rising sun. He thanks me, and tells me what my payment would be, should I succeed in cracking this case. He would buy me the latest issue of Shonen Punch. We end up haggling over that, a dirty deed in and of itself. By the end, we have both agreed he would buy me the next four issues.
With a satisfied nod he makes his exit, leaving me alone in my thoughts on how to find this mystery chocolate-giver.
---
I fortify myself with some leftover melon bread, throw all my notes in my bag, straighten my uniform, and make my way to the shoe racks. The first order of business is to get some leads, and it is time to do some digging. Along the way, I briefly recall what I do know about Torahiko Ooshima.
Torahiko Ooshima, age 17, height 1.86 meters, weight 187.4 pounds. He’s an only son and the heir to the Ooshima Inn. The ‘Hiko’ in his name can also be translated as ‘Prince’ in English, so some people have taken to calling him the ‘Ooshima Prince’. A dedicated member of the Swim Club, this tiger has had a small boost in popularity for winning last summer’s Swim Meet. Friendly, if a bit of a jerk and a dork sometimes. Torahiko is easily approachable and quick to make jokes, marking him as ‘just one of the guys’. This Boy-Next-Door attitude of his has garnered him his fair share of admirers, which means finding this chocolate-giver will be a pain in the ass.
Additional information to consider, it’s only known to the closest of his friends that Torahiko has long admired his childhood friend, Hiroyuki Nishimura. Last summer, Nishimura had come back to visit after a long time and the tiger was quick to flirt and make his move on Hiroyuki. Nishimura, oblivious to this, got into a relationship with one Tatsuki Midoriya. With this devastating news, Torahiko had wished them well, but sank into a depression for months. His close friends tried to be there for him, but I’m unsure how successful it had been. It’s only been a few weeks since Torahiko seems to have returned to his normal self. It’s curious really, how did the tiger recover from his depression?
A mystery for another time, I suppose. For now, I focus. The shoe racks only have a sparse amount of students milling about. Good. I find Torahiko’s shoe rack and stand in front of it, looking at my watch and trying to appear as though I’m waiting for someone. When no one is looking, I reach over and open it, peering inside.
No shoes, so Torahiko must have gone home already. I can see a few crumbs of chocolate, but nothing indicating who sent it. Damn. I lean closer and notice a small ball. I pick it up, noting that it’s a tightly crumpled piece of paper. Straightening it out as best as I can I see it’s a note of sorts, written in Torahiko’s messy scrawl. ‘HONEY, NOT SUGAR!’
Current Hypothesis: Torahiko has a mystery lover who calls him ‘Sugar’. The two get into a fight over this term of endearment and the lover gives Torahiko chocolate as an apology. Torahiko then asks this mystery chocolate-giver to call him ‘Honey’ instead.
Still no clue as to who gave him the chocolate though.
I close the locker as softly as I can and make my way back home with a small smile. It is a small clue, but I feel I’m closer to solving this case.
---
Day Two
As I sprint towards the school gates, hoping that the bell signaling class has begun hasn’t rung yet, I see Juuichi waiting for me in front of the gates. If he was waiting for me, risking being late for class himself, then I know he must wish to talk with me without anyone overhearing us. I stop in front of him and catch my breath. As we make our way to the building, he asks, “Did you find out anything, Kuri?”
I shake my head. “Just a single clue, Juuichi, but it’s not enough to know who it is.”
“I suppose I should be glad someone’s making Tora happy then.” He sighs, and looks defeated. I’ve seen this bear in his Judo matches before, full of confidence and determination as he fights with all he has. He was always the strong one in our group, so this look doesn’t match him at all.
I try to give him the most reassuring grin in my arsenal. “Cheer up, Juuichi, this isn’t like you at all. It’s alright, we’ll manage something somehow.”
I’m not sure if it worked, but I see him give me a small smile. “You’re right, Kuri. I should focus on what I can do first.” His eyes light up, as though something just came to him, but he refuses to elaborate about it. We wave goodbye to each other and make our way to our own classes.
---
By the time school ends, my head is aching like the pounding of a jackhammer. I’ve spent the morning classes making a list of potential suspects to interview. I’ve spent breaks and lunch going through the list and talking to them. It was a bust, with no one admitting anything useful. One guy asked me if Torahiko would appreciate a chocolate-made speedo. One girl from drama club went on and on about Torahiko’s finer points for ten minutes, getting quite explicit at the end.
I make note to research for brain bleach later on.
I sigh and trudge towards my school rack, deep in thought on how to find new leads. I suppose I should have been more careful to watch where I was walking when I hear a squeak and bump into somebody smaller than me. With my quick reflexes I snatch that somebody’s wrist before they fall ass-first on the floor.
It is Shun.
My friend greets me with a warm smile, even as I release him and ask him what he’s doing.
Shun pouts, making him look younger once more. “Well, I wanted to get my shoes here, but people keep stuffing my shoe rack with envelopes so it’s really hard to clear it out sometimes.”
I look inside, and sure enough his shoe rack is filled to the brim with letters. Love letters, I note upon seeing some heart stickers and pink and violet stationery. I snicker, Shun is still a kid in some ways and this is one of them. “Don’t worry about them, Shun-kun, they don’t mean any harm.”
“I know that,” he sighs. “It’s just it takes me a lot of time to sort through it all and get them in my bag.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. “You read them all?”
Shun nods, a shy smile on his face. “Well, um, it would be really rude if I didn’t, right?”
I grin at how polite Shun is, but something he just said catches my attention. “Wait, you said you spend a lot of time sorting stuff in your shoe rack, right?”
A nod.
“Then did you see Torahiko here yesterday?”
Another nod from the wolf, and I grin at this new development. Finally, a witness to help me shed light in this case. “Hey, Shun-kun, did you happen to see anyone stop by Torahiko’s shoe rack yesterday?”
He shakes his head and my heart sinks like a stone thrown in the ocean. “Sorry, Kounosuke-san. He was the only one I noticed who opened his shoe rack.”
I sigh, feeling this case will take more time than I thought. “It’s okay, Shun-kun. Thanks anyways.”
He gasps and smiles at me. “Oh! I remember something else. Torahiko-san was standing near that shoe rack over there.” He points at a row of shoe racks I know is reserved for the seniors. “He was staring really hard at something there, but when I asked him what’s wrong he looked really scared and started to eat something.”
I blink, hardly daring to believe this. “Do you remember which shoe rack he was looking at then?”
With a nod, Shun leads me towards it and points at a familiar name. “It’s really weird, huh? I wonder why Torahiko-san was staring at this particular shoe rack.”
No. It’s not weird at all. Suddenly, everything makes sense.
With a laugh, I grab Shun and lift him up for a victory spin. He laughs but plays along, humming that victory theme for ‘Final Fantasy’. “Thanks, Shun-kun! You’re the best! I’ll explain later!”
With a woof and a grin, he waves goodbye at me as I sprint outside the school. It is time to end this.
---
I find Torahiko by the school’s swimming pool, making laps in the water along with his teammates. I sit by the grass along with other students and wait for him to finish. A few minutes later he climbs out of the pool, grinning at something the coach said to him. With my keen eyes, I observe more than a few females (and males) eyeing Torahiko’s posterior, not unlike a ravenous beast presented with a juicy steak.
I suppose he does have a fine bottom. It is firm and tight, with that wet fabric highlighting every graceful curve, but I digress. I catch his eye and wave him over. He blinks in confusion, like the times he looks at a math test, but shouts at me to just wait for him. I shake my head and shout back, saying that this is important.
With a roll of his eyes, Torahiko excuses himself for a bit and walks towards me. I meet him halfway and lead him far away from curious ears. He looks at me and asks, “S’up?”
“Juuichi saw you yesterday,” I begin, noting how Torahiko’s attention sharpened. “You took out some chocolates, and he thought you received something from someone else.”
“W-what the? How could he think something like that?”
I shake my head, tutting at him. Perhaps it is a tad dramatic, but I need to see his reaction. “He seemed sad, you know? But he totally understands if you got together with someone. He only wished to see you happy, after all.”
Torahiko looks panicked, and I can tell my words got to him. “T-that’s not true! Senpai’s got it all wrong!” He paces and fidgets, and I see more students drooling at the sight of Torahiko all worked up and his chest heaving.
“Oh, I know that. I concluded that there is no mystery person. Juuichi saw you take out chocolates from your locker, but those were made by you, right? You were seen looking at Juuichi’s shoe rack, so I’m sure you’re trying to get the guts to place it in there.” The look of stupefaction on his striped face is more than enough confirmation for me.
“How’d you – hang on,” he stops, looking pale. “You didn’t tell senpai about that, did you?”
For a moment, I stay quiet. On my way here, I had bumped into Juuichi himself. I’ll be honest and say that I was totally tempted to just tell Juuichi everything. Four free copies of Shonen Punch is a very tempting prize, after all. But I suppose being a good friend won out so I lied to the bear and told him I was having trouble finding clues.
Being a good friend doesn’t pay sometimes, but it does leave a fuzzy feeling in the heart. I sigh to myself, thinking about this evolving relationship between my two friends and how troublesome it gets.
“Nah, I didn’t.” He lets out a breath in relief and I continue. “But you owe me for covering for your ass, so you better get on with what you’re supposed to do.”
“Yeah, yeah, the Great Torahiko Ooshima will implement his plan tomorrow.” Torahiko’s back to all grins again as he gives me a friendly punch on my shoulder. “Thanks, Kounosuke.”
“Yeah, anytime.” I grin and nod and begin to make my way home. I take a few steps before a smirk forms on my face, unable to help myself with one last parting shot. I turn my head back and say, “And stop acting like such a girl, you big pussy. Just pounce on him already.”
I laugh and run, even as Torahiko splutters and chases after me, completely forgetting he’s still in his speedo. We both get into trouble when a Botan-sensei spots him running around nearly naked, but that’s a story for another time.
---
Day Three
March 2013, the fourteenth. Officially, the case of “Torahiko’s Mystery Admirer” is unresolved, just like one in millions of cases worldwide. It is indeed sad that the wheel of justice does not spin for such cases at all, leaving us feeling dirty and more cynical with each passing day.
Unofficially, I’m peeking from behind a door and smiling as I spy a certain tiger and bear exchange wrapped packages in the school’s rooftop when school ended. I can see the tiger’s laughing and the bear smiling as they talk about something, possibly about that small misunderstanding. I shake my head, adjust my glasses and walk down the stairs, hand deep in my pockets.
It is only when I get back home that I notice the small paper bag containing chocolates hidden in my bag. I smile as I pop a chocolate in my mouth, tasting the gratitude flowing in it.
It's chapter 4 of the JuuxTora fanfic. Listen to your favorite noir detective jazz music and strap in for this ride ;)
---
Day One
March 2013, the twelfth. The setting sun’s rays are hitting the windows, casting everything in the orange hue of a prison jumpsuit. The slats of the ceiling fan swing lazily, making the room temperature an exercise in torture, and all I can do is clasp the paper in my hands. Crumpled, riddled with crosses, a huge red number on top, with an equally huge circle highlighting it. Like a funeral bell, its effect could crush any soul.
With his loud steps, I know he is there, large and with a grim countenance made to intimidate lesser men. He stops in front of my desk, his arms crossed and looking as tough as a rock. Leans over and tilts his head, those sharp eyes looking at the paper in my hands and says, “Kuri, you’ve failed today’s test?”
I grunt by way of answer and crumple the paper and shove it in my pocket, feeling it burning a hole in my skin. “Stupid history. Who cares about the Sengoku era or whatever. It’s all over and done with anyway.”
Juuichi frowns. “I think history is important in deciding which path we should follow in order to improve.” It’s common fact that he practices Judo, and I’m sure he’s read up on all its sordid history so he probably appreciates that sort of thing a lot. My answer?
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So what brings you here, Juuichi?” His fingers twitch, presumably from the lack of ‘san’ or ‘senpai’ in my addressing of his name. I know this bear is a strict law enforcer, so needling him over something small like this is my roundabout way of defying his authority. I certainly am not foolish enough to push his buttons thoroughly. I’ve seen this man inflict pain on rulebreakers and I am not about to experience that now, unlike certain striped felines I know of.
And speak of the devil, for Juuichi’s next words are, “I need your help with something. It’s about Tora.”
I lean in closer, my attention piqued. What could this large, disciplined man possibly need help with regarding the mischievous feline? “Sure, what is it?”
I can see Juuichi fidget and sweat, either from nervousness or the heat of the room is getting to him already. He looks up at the slowly swaying fan and adds, “The ceiling fan in this room still isn’t repaired yet?”
I nod, but refuse to elaborate on my hypothesis about how the school janitor holds a grudge on several people in this class. It’s only a matter of sneaking into his room to get the necessary proof, but I digress. I wait for Juuichi to get on with business. I see him sigh, and then he places his hands on my desk, leans forward, and whispers. “I’m worried about him.”
I tilt my head, raise an eyebrow, and ask, “What’s got you worried?”
“Well, I saw him taking out some chocolate from his shoe rack earlier and he refused to elaborate what it’s about.” For a moment, I see him looking uncomfortable, the frown deepening on his face as though he’s steeling himself at saying something distasteful. “And you know how White Day’s drawing closer, so I concluded that Tora probably received something from some male admirer earlier than expected.”
With a supreme force of will, I manage not to break into laughter. Juuichi’s attraction to Torahiko is about as subtle as a brick to the face sometimes, at least to those who know about it. The way he mutters to himself about why anyone would even think of giving the tiger chocolates makes me revise my previous statement to all the time. “And? I still don’t see how Torahiko getting some chocolate would harm him.”
He looks back at me with a vicious glare, his voice a soft growl that belies the fury in him. It would have been a frightening sight had the blush on his cheeks and ears not ruined it. “I-I’m not concerned he might get hurt. I’m merely worried that whoever gave him that chocolate should be warned about Tora first. Kuri, you know Tora’s an obnoxious idiot, right? Not to mention him being a complete slob.” At this he breaks off to growl under his breath about Torahiko’s faults.
I place my hand on my mouth, trying to look as if I’m seriously considering this. In truth, I am trying to hide the amused grin on my face. Who knew this large bear was quite territorial with the tiger? It would certainly provide fodder for weeks for the rumor mill if they ever got wind of whatever’s going on between the school’s most rule-abiding bear and the most roguish tiger anyone had the misfortune to meet.
So I smile at him. “I’ll do it, Juuichi.”
His eyes light up with gratitude like the rays of the rising sun. He thanks me, and tells me what my payment would be, should I succeed in cracking this case. He would buy me the latest issue of Shonen Punch. We end up haggling over that, a dirty deed in and of itself. By the end, we have both agreed he would buy me the next four issues.
With a satisfied nod he makes his exit, leaving me alone in my thoughts on how to find this mystery chocolate-giver.
---
I fortify myself with some leftover melon bread, throw all my notes in my bag, straighten my uniform, and make my way to the shoe racks. The first order of business is to get some leads, and it is time to do some digging. Along the way, I briefly recall what I do know about Torahiko Ooshima.
Torahiko Ooshima, age 17, height 1.86 meters, weight 187.4 pounds. He’s an only son and the heir to the Ooshima Inn. The ‘Hiko’ in his name can also be translated as ‘Prince’ in English, so some people have taken to calling him the ‘Ooshima Prince’. A dedicated member of the Swim Club, this tiger has had a small boost in popularity for winning last summer’s Swim Meet. Friendly, if a bit of a jerk and a dork sometimes. Torahiko is easily approachable and quick to make jokes, marking him as ‘just one of the guys’. This Boy-Next-Door attitude of his has garnered him his fair share of admirers, which means finding this chocolate-giver will be a pain in the ass.
Additional information to consider, it’s only known to the closest of his friends that Torahiko has long admired his childhood friend, Hiroyuki Nishimura. Last summer, Nishimura had come back to visit after a long time and the tiger was quick to flirt and make his move on Hiroyuki. Nishimura, oblivious to this, got into a relationship with one Tatsuki Midoriya. With this devastating news, Torahiko had wished them well, but sank into a depression for months. His close friends tried to be there for him, but I’m unsure how successful it had been. It’s only been a few weeks since Torahiko seems to have returned to his normal self. It’s curious really, how did the tiger recover from his depression?
A mystery for another time, I suppose. For now, I focus. The shoe racks only have a sparse amount of students milling about. Good. I find Torahiko’s shoe rack and stand in front of it, looking at my watch and trying to appear as though I’m waiting for someone. When no one is looking, I reach over and open it, peering inside.
No shoes, so Torahiko must have gone home already. I can see a few crumbs of chocolate, but nothing indicating who sent it. Damn. I lean closer and notice a small ball. I pick it up, noting that it’s a tightly crumpled piece of paper. Straightening it out as best as I can I see it’s a note of sorts, written in Torahiko’s messy scrawl. ‘HONEY, NOT SUGAR!’
Current Hypothesis: Torahiko has a mystery lover who calls him ‘Sugar’. The two get into a fight over this term of endearment and the lover gives Torahiko chocolate as an apology. Torahiko then asks this mystery chocolate-giver to call him ‘Honey’ instead.
Still no clue as to who gave him the chocolate though.
I close the locker as softly as I can and make my way back home with a small smile. It is a small clue, but I feel I’m closer to solving this case.
---
Day Two
As I sprint towards the school gates, hoping that the bell signaling class has begun hasn’t rung yet, I see Juuichi waiting for me in front of the gates. If he was waiting for me, risking being late for class himself, then I know he must wish to talk with me without anyone overhearing us. I stop in front of him and catch my breath. As we make our way to the building, he asks, “Did you find out anything, Kuri?”
I shake my head. “Just a single clue, Juuichi, but it’s not enough to know who it is.”
“I suppose I should be glad someone’s making Tora happy then.” He sighs, and looks defeated. I’ve seen this bear in his Judo matches before, full of confidence and determination as he fights with all he has. He was always the strong one in our group, so this look doesn’t match him at all.
I try to give him the most reassuring grin in my arsenal. “Cheer up, Juuichi, this isn’t like you at all. It’s alright, we’ll manage something somehow.”
I’m not sure if it worked, but I see him give me a small smile. “You’re right, Kuri. I should focus on what I can do first.” His eyes light up, as though something just came to him, but he refuses to elaborate about it. We wave goodbye to each other and make our way to our own classes.
---
By the time school ends, my head is aching like the pounding of a jackhammer. I’ve spent the morning classes making a list of potential suspects to interview. I’ve spent breaks and lunch going through the list and talking to them. It was a bust, with no one admitting anything useful. One guy asked me if Torahiko would appreciate a chocolate-made speedo. One girl from drama club went on and on about Torahiko’s finer points for ten minutes, getting quite explicit at the end.
I make note to research for brain bleach later on.
I sigh and trudge towards my school rack, deep in thought on how to find new leads. I suppose I should have been more careful to watch where I was walking when I hear a squeak and bump into somebody smaller than me. With my quick reflexes I snatch that somebody’s wrist before they fall ass-first on the floor.
It is Shun.
My friend greets me with a warm smile, even as I release him and ask him what he’s doing.
Shun pouts, making him look younger once more. “Well, I wanted to get my shoes here, but people keep stuffing my shoe rack with envelopes so it’s really hard to clear it out sometimes.”
I look inside, and sure enough his shoe rack is filled to the brim with letters. Love letters, I note upon seeing some heart stickers and pink and violet stationery. I snicker, Shun is still a kid in some ways and this is one of them. “Don’t worry about them, Shun-kun, they don’t mean any harm.”
“I know that,” he sighs. “It’s just it takes me a lot of time to sort through it all and get them in my bag.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. “You read them all?”
Shun nods, a shy smile on his face. “Well, um, it would be really rude if I didn’t, right?”
I grin at how polite Shun is, but something he just said catches my attention. “Wait, you said you spend a lot of time sorting stuff in your shoe rack, right?”
A nod.
“Then did you see Torahiko here yesterday?”
Another nod from the wolf, and I grin at this new development. Finally, a witness to help me shed light in this case. “Hey, Shun-kun, did you happen to see anyone stop by Torahiko’s shoe rack yesterday?”
He shakes his head and my heart sinks like a stone thrown in the ocean. “Sorry, Kounosuke-san. He was the only one I noticed who opened his shoe rack.”
I sigh, feeling this case will take more time than I thought. “It’s okay, Shun-kun. Thanks anyways.”
He gasps and smiles at me. “Oh! I remember something else. Torahiko-san was standing near that shoe rack over there.” He points at a row of shoe racks I know is reserved for the seniors. “He was staring really hard at something there, but when I asked him what’s wrong he looked really scared and started to eat something.”
I blink, hardly daring to believe this. “Do you remember which shoe rack he was looking at then?”
With a nod, Shun leads me towards it and points at a familiar name. “It’s really weird, huh? I wonder why Torahiko-san was staring at this particular shoe rack.”
No. It’s not weird at all. Suddenly, everything makes sense.
With a laugh, I grab Shun and lift him up for a victory spin. He laughs but plays along, humming that victory theme for ‘Final Fantasy’. “Thanks, Shun-kun! You’re the best! I’ll explain later!”
With a woof and a grin, he waves goodbye at me as I sprint outside the school. It is time to end this.
---
I find Torahiko by the school’s swimming pool, making laps in the water along with his teammates. I sit by the grass along with other students and wait for him to finish. A few minutes later he climbs out of the pool, grinning at something the coach said to him. With my keen eyes, I observe more than a few females (and males) eyeing Torahiko’s posterior, not unlike a ravenous beast presented with a juicy steak.
I suppose he does have a fine bottom. It is firm and tight, with that wet fabric highlighting every graceful curve, but I digress. I catch his eye and wave him over. He blinks in confusion, like the times he looks at a math test, but shouts at me to just wait for him. I shake my head and shout back, saying that this is important.
With a roll of his eyes, Torahiko excuses himself for a bit and walks towards me. I meet him halfway and lead him far away from curious ears. He looks at me and asks, “S’up?”
“Juuichi saw you yesterday,” I begin, noting how Torahiko’s attention sharpened. “You took out some chocolates, and he thought you received something from someone else.”
“W-what the? How could he think something like that?”
I shake my head, tutting at him. Perhaps it is a tad dramatic, but I need to see his reaction. “He seemed sad, you know? But he totally understands if you got together with someone. He only wished to see you happy, after all.”
Torahiko looks panicked, and I can tell my words got to him. “T-that’s not true! Senpai’s got it all wrong!” He paces and fidgets, and I see more students drooling at the sight of Torahiko all worked up and his chest heaving.
“Oh, I know that. I concluded that there is no mystery person. Juuichi saw you take out chocolates from your locker, but those were made by you, right? You were seen looking at Juuichi’s shoe rack, so I’m sure you’re trying to get the guts to place it in there.” The look of stupefaction on his striped face is more than enough confirmation for me.
“How’d you – hang on,” he stops, looking pale. “You didn’t tell senpai about that, did you?”
For a moment, I stay quiet. On my way here, I had bumped into Juuichi himself. I’ll be honest and say that I was totally tempted to just tell Juuichi everything. Four free copies of Shonen Punch is a very tempting prize, after all. But I suppose being a good friend won out so I lied to the bear and told him I was having trouble finding clues.
Being a good friend doesn’t pay sometimes, but it does leave a fuzzy feeling in the heart. I sigh to myself, thinking about this evolving relationship between my two friends and how troublesome it gets.
“Nah, I didn’t.” He lets out a breath in relief and I continue. “But you owe me for covering for your ass, so you better get on with what you’re supposed to do.”
“Yeah, yeah, the Great Torahiko Ooshima will implement his plan tomorrow.” Torahiko’s back to all grins again as he gives me a friendly punch on my shoulder. “Thanks, Kounosuke.”
“Yeah, anytime.” I grin and nod and begin to make my way home. I take a few steps before a smirk forms on my face, unable to help myself with one last parting shot. I turn my head back and say, “And stop acting like such a girl, you big pussy. Just pounce on him already.”
I laugh and run, even as Torahiko splutters and chases after me, completely forgetting he’s still in his speedo. We both get into trouble when a Botan-sensei spots him running around nearly naked, but that’s a story for another time.
---
Day Three
March 2013, the fourteenth. Officially, the case of “Torahiko’s Mystery Admirer” is unresolved, just like one in millions of cases worldwide. It is indeed sad that the wheel of justice does not spin for such cases at all, leaving us feeling dirty and more cynical with each passing day.
Unofficially, I’m peeking from behind a door and smiling as I spy a certain tiger and bear exchange wrapped packages in the school’s rooftop when school ended. I can see the tiger’s laughing and the bear smiling as they talk about something, possibly about that small misunderstanding. I shake my head, adjust my glasses and walk down the stairs, hand deep in my pockets.
It is only when I get back home that I notice the small paper bag containing chocolates hidden in my bag. I smile as I pop a chocolate in my mouth, tasting the gratitude flowing in it.
Category Story / Fanart
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