The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Kazuichi played video games with his classmates until the last bell, then walked out of the school building. Snow had continued to fall: big, fluffy flakes that stuck together. It had warmed up a bit since Kazuichi had walked to school that morning, but it was still quite chilly, and his teeth chattered in the frigid winter air. D***, Kazuichi thought. Still freezing.
        He began to walk towards his home, but heard a quiet voice call out his name from behind him. He turned around to see Chiaki.
        "Oh, hi, Chiaki," he greeted.
        She smiled, tilting her head. "Hello, Kazuichi. Good playing today."
        Kazuichi gave a short laugh. "You kicked all our a****. I can't compete with the Ultimate Gamer."
        Chiaki chuckled. "I suppose not. Thanks for fixing the screen, by the way. It's nice to know that there is someone who can fix stuff around."
        Kazuichi smiled. "No problem. I'd be happy to do it again."
Chiaki suddenly looked serious.         "Umm..." she puffed out her cheeks in thought.
        Puzzled, Kazuichi asked, "What is it?"
        Chiaki looked up at him. "I saw you go out in the hall with Fuyuhiko earlier today, and then later it looked like you were fighting about something. Is everything okay?"
        Kazuichi froze for a moment. "Oh, um, yeah, everything's okay." He laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.
        Chiaki nodded to herself. "Okay, then, if you say so." She pulled out her game console and Kazuichi knew the conversation was over.
        "Well, um, bye then," he said awkwardly and stepped back. Chiaki didn't reply. Kazuichi turned away and began walking towards his house. A few of his other classmates were still hanging around the school, and he saw Fuyuhiko talking quietly with Peko. Fuyuhiko briefly made eye contact, narrowing his eyes. Peko glanced at Kazuichi as well, causing Kazuichi to turn away. "I don't wanna deal with that right now," he muttered to himself.
        Despite his wishes, he heard footsteps run up to him. Sighing, he turned around. Despite not being surprised to see Fuyuhiko standing behind him, his heart still skipped a beat at seeing the other boy.
        "What?" Kazuichi asked, the question sounding more like a statement than an inquiry.
        "Sorry for leaving ya earlier. I was gettin' real fed up with Gundham. Wanna finish that conversation that we were havin' this mornin'?"
        Kazuichi bit his lip, then sighed. "Listen, man, I got work tonight. I don't got time to have a complicated conversation right now. Text me or call me later, alright?" This wasn't entirely true. He did have work that night, but he had a later shift and had plenty of time in his hands. However, he really did not want to have that conversation right there. He felt a bit bad about the lie, but he was too uncomfortable to care a whole lot about what seemed like such a small thing.
        Fuyuhiko nodded slowly. "Um..." His eyes narrowed, and Kazuichi thought that he detected a slight blush on the other boy's face. "You're gonna hafta give me your number."
        Oh s***, Kazuichi thought. I walked right into that. Exhaling forcefully, he said, "Fine. I don't have a piece of paper to write it on, though."
        Unexpectedly, Fuyuhiko pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket. Seeing Kazuichi's surprised expression at someone so tough having such items in hand, he said, "I'm a yakuza. I gotta take notes on people, write down important information."
        Kazuichi took the paper and pen, a bit bewildered by this fact. "Like who?" he asked. "Are there any students here at Hope's Peak?"
        Fuyuhiko shook his head. "Can't divulge info like that. I'm just gonna say that we keep an eye on people who could be a threat to the clan."
        Kazuichi nodded slowly. "That is literally everyone in the class. We all have talents. Heck, Nagito could probably destroy the entire world if he wanted to." He wrote his number on the paper and handed it back to Fuyuhiko.
        Fuyuhiko smirked. "Heh. That's true. But I'm talking more like leaders and organizations, people with positions of power. Nagito is dangerous, sure, but he doesn't have the support of a group behind him."
        "Who knows if he does? It's possible." Kazuichi glanced at his classmate, who was talking to himself and gazing at all of the Ultimates in a hopeful daze. "Then again, maybe not."
        Fuyuhiko nodded. "Well, I'll let you get off to work or whatever. I'll talk to ya later."
        "Okay." Kazuichi watched as Fuyuhiko walked away to join Peko once more. They both glanced in his direction for a moment, then Peko whispered something into the other boy's ear. Fuyuhiko's facial expression flickered for a moment, but the expression was so fleeting that Kazuichi wasn't even sure what emotion had crossed the other boy's face.
        Kazuichi turned round, giving his head a light shake. It doesn't matter, he thought. Why should I care about him? Despite these thoughts, he couldn't help glancing back at Fuyuhiko. The other boy had turned and begun to walk away. Kazuichi watched his retreating form.
He didn't stop watching Fuyuhiko until the gangster had turned a corner, going out of view. Kazuichi slowly turned back around to make his way home, and jumped in alarm when he was met with a smiling Yukizome-sensei.
        "What were you looking at, Souda-kun?" she asked.
        Kazuichi blushed, then reflected on her question. Why had he been watching Fuyuhiko?
        Yukizome-sensei must have mistook his silence for embarrassment. She winked and said slyly, "Don't worry; your secret's safe with me. I know what it's like to have a crush." She gave Kazuichi a little wave and began to walk away.
        It took a moment for his teacher's words to sink in. "Wait!" Kazuichi began, putting out his arm to stop her, but she was already far away. He sighed. I do not have a crush, he thought. I do not. Why would I? And Fuyuhiko is a guy! Even so, his thoughts felt forced, leaving him with a sense of malaise. He took a deep breath, hoping that the brisk air would put some sense into his head, then turning around and walking towards his house.
         It was hard to keep his mind off of Fuyuhiko while he walked. His thoughts kept drifting back to the kiss in the hallway. Why hadn't he done anything? He should have reported Fuyuhiko for sexual harassment. At the very least, he should have pushed the other boy away. But he hadn't. Kazuichi's mind flitted to Sonia. When she had kissed his cheek, it had felt unnatural and forced. Why hadn't Fuyuhiko's kiss felt like that?
        Shaking his head in an attempt to distract himself from his thoughts, Kazuichi kept walking down the street towards his home. He sighed, wondering why he had been caught up in this mess. He felt as if his whole life had been turned upside down in the span of twenty-four hours.
        A few minutes later, Kazuichi found himself at his house. Looking at it, he felt no desire to enter the small, empty building, cold though he was. He didn't want to be alone with his thoughts. He wanted someone to talk to to distract him.
        Turning, he began walking back towards town, where his family's bike shop was. My dad will cheer me up, he thought.
        It didn't take long for Kazuichi to get to the little shop. The doorbell rang as he pushed the front door open. As he walked inside, he saw his father crouched on the floor, fixing a new wheel onto a bike. The older man began to get up upon hearing the doorbell ring, but sat back down again when he saw Kazuichi.
        "Hey, son," he greeted, smiling. "You came just in time. I'm having some trouble fixing this here bike."
        Kazuichi smiled back. "Ya want me to fix it for ya?" He knelt down next to his father, who moved back to let his son get closer to the bike.
        "So how was school today?" Kazuichi's father asked as Kazuichi worked.
        Kazuichi cringed, then tried to quickly school his face into a more cheerful expression. "It was fine!"
        Kazuichi's father looked at him doubtfully. "Really? You seem a bit tense all of a sudden." Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Kazuichi, are you being bullied? I swear, if someone's picking on a nice kid like you, I'm gonna-"
        Kazuichi cut off his dad by holding up his hand. He gave a light chuckle at how sharply his father's idea of what happened contrasted with the reality. "No, relax, I'm not being bullied." There was Hiyoko, but she was harmless and not worth mentioning at the moment.
        Kazuichi's father still looked at him, doubtful. Seeing the expression, Kazuichi added, "In fact, the kids at Hope's Peak are really nice!"
        Kazuichi's dad let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I don't want anyone hurtin' my boy." He gave Kazuichi a hug and ruffled his son's hair.
        Kazuichi smiled and laughed. Coming to my dad was a good idea, he thought. For the afternoon, he was almost able to forget about Fuyuhiko.
        Almost.

~~~~~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~~~
Gah, sorry this took so long! It literally took me three months to write this measly, terrible chapter. There were a few times where I considered quitting, but motivation from you guys kept me going. I hope you guys don't hate me too much (especially you, Templeguy). The next chapter will probably be more interesting, with a bit more of a focus away from Hope's Peak. Anyway, thanks for reading!