_Chapter 24~ Affiliated_

I tried to run.

I really did. Promise.

But somehow my fear of these delinquents had wound me sitting in a chair, them all standing and crowding me within this cramped space.

"Would you like something?" somebody asked from the rear. Face scrunched, he swivelled and shouted, "Hey! Somebody grab her a drink!"

Shuffles of feet were heard vacating the room. The door slammed shut.

I even heard a lock.

"I can't believe she's sitting right here," another mumbled.

"In our base."

"Miss Reina...!"

A hand flung from the masses to touch me. I tensed, dodging it by a mere millimetre. Fortunately, somebody smacked the male who'd done that.

"Idiot! Don't touch Miss Reina like that!"

"S-sorry, I just—"

"'Just,' my ass! Want me to teach ya' a lesson so ya' never do it again?"

"Stop fighting!" A third party got involved. "Miss Reina's made it clear how much she hates it when we do."

The mention of my name flew by both ears.

"Make me!" hollered the second guy.

"That's it. Give me a second, you fuc—"

"Attention!"

The last yell caused all delinquents' eyes to flicker left. Hesitantly, I did the same.

At the forefront of the room stood a rather short, baby-faced male. He had a head of unruly red hair and stunning grey-coloured eyes. Donned in a dark cardigan over top of a black t-shirt, brown khaki pants rolled at the cuffs to give full view of his ankles, a wide smirk danced heavily upon his lips. Despite his rather nonchalant attire, as soon as this scrawny boy had uttered the command, all the delinquents in the room dropped everything to face him.

He was the one who stole my lunchbox.

I warily eyed him over. He was eerily familiar, as if I'd encountered him sometime in the past.

As if catching my look, his piercing stare darted in my direction. His amusement hadn't fallen.

"Reina Kikuchi," he drawled, ambling towards me. "What a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I didn't even want to be here," I spoke quite bluntly, inching backwards to hopefully make a hasty getaway. "You stole my lunch and aren't letting me leave with it. Plus... you have creepy pictures of me all over the walls."

Although I hadn't said anything funny, he howled with laughter. "This is all because of you."

Incredulity shot through me.

"Because of me?" I repeated in disbelief. "What did I do to deserve this? I don't even know you! Why the hell have you been following me around? Can I at least have some kind of explanation?"

Following my unintentional yell, I clamped my mouth shut. I eyeballed the redhead but he hadn't so much as flinched. The other delinquents, on the other hand, had for some reason sighed.

"She raised her voice..."

"Miss Reina's yelling really gets to you, right?"

"I want her to yell at me again..."

With each passing comment, I tried my best to rid the disgust welling inside of me. I swallowed hard, relentlessly peeking left and right. What the heck was going on? What was with these delinquents? If I recalled correctly, these were the same people that Ryu had lost to in the infirmary. The very day I shouted some... colourful vocabulary at them.

I'd believed I was blacklisted by them due to that. Was this heart-eyed, puppy love behaviour what delinquents gave their enemies nowadays? If it was, I must really be screwed.

"Guys, tone down your gushing a bit," the redhead told the delinquents. They bobbed their heads in submission. He flashed me a wide smile. "Our oh-so beloved Miss Reina is uncomfortable."

His manner of saying my name made my skin crawl. The honorific was obviously sarcastic.

The delinquents seemed utterly oblivious to that because they all blanched.

"Oh yeah, we weren't supposed to act like creeps," whispered one.

"But it's Miss Reina."

"Yeah. She's in front of us."

"She's so close too."

"So, so close..."

Once again, disturbing puppy-love looks were slapped across each of their faces. I shivered, trying my best to shake off their stares. As much as I wanted to take my chances and run for the exit, a stronger emotion was rooting me to my spot. The need to understand why these delinquents kept stealing my stuff and even went so far as to replace them with nicer things...

It was a new way to get into someone's head indeed.

Nevertheless, I could feign tough for a while longer. No need to cower. I mean, these delinquents weren't so frightening now—in a I'll-kill-you-if-you-look-at-me kind of way. Moreover, the door was nearby so I could make it if I ran anytime. Looking at it that way, I might as well stick around to milk as much answers as I could out of them before facing my inevitable doom by their hands.

"What's the meaning of this?" I demanded from the redhead.

Shrugging, he slipped his hands into his pockets. "I think that's pretty obvious if you ask me. You're their idol 'Miss Reina.' That simple."

"Idol...?" I echoed. "Why am I their idol? I haven't done a single thing worthy of their admiration!"

"I'd beg to differ," he responded cheekily. "This entire situation is entirely your fault. A good while ago, you raised your voice at them. Cussed them out, too. But nonetheless, you charmed them. That's why you're their idol."

I narrowed my eyes at his flippant wording. "That makes no sense! A while ago? When I told them they were a bunch of lowlives without a future? How does belittling people like that make me their 'idol'? And why does that give you the right to steal my stuff?"

His lips came together in a flat line, evidently bored. "You still don't get it?"

I whipped my head side to side. Heaving a heavy sigh, he approached me. Stunned, I could only watch in silence as he bent over to infiltrate my vicinity, a flicker of mischievousness in his large grey eyes.

"It's because you were concerned about them."

Surprise got the best of me.

"Nobody in this school faculty gives a damn about us. Everyone in their right mind stays away. You, on the other hand, were the first person to yell at their faces. You showed them concern, even if it was in a crushing way. That's why they've decided to devote the rest of their lives worshipping you. Get it now?"

Reeling back, he jutted his chin left.

"Matsuoka, put down the rope. You can't tie her up."

With a jolt, I jerked my head. As he had said, a boy of staggering height was holding a rope in his hands. Laughing nervously, he hid it behind his back.

I shuddered.

"And as for stealing your stuff..." the redhead pressed on. "After discovering you take school very seriously, they wanted to make your life here as comfortable as it possibly could be. That's why they spent all the money they had on new supplies. Something along the lines of 'that should be expected for our idol', right?"

No way. They wasted their money on me for something like this? Why? My life was already comfortable enough—as hard to believe as that was.

"So, you should be grateful Reina Kikuchi," he finalized. "You have these very delinquents you were so terrified of at your beck and call."

Clenching my teeth, I balled my fists on my lap. Was he... being serious? I spared a glance in the direction of the gawking delinquents and swallowed hard. They were acting a little subservient... And at the very least, this redhead didn't seem to be lying. Then what? They seriously idolized me? That was so surreal and creepy! Was I in some kind of anime or something? It was too unrealistic!

I demoralized them! Weren't they supposed to hate me with the intent to kill then? It was common practice when somebody blatantly bad-mouthed you. And yet this situation was the exact opposite? Was that what this redhead was trying to tell me?

I warily glared at the said boy. "You say this all as if it's none of your concern," I accused. "Doesn't this 'beck and call' thing include you too?"

The redhead found something humorous about my words because he erupted into a loud laugh. "Psh, no way! Who do you take me for?" He hooked his thumb left. "I was hired by these guys to get information outta you. That's why I've been tailing you."

"Hired...? Information?" I repeated in disbelief. "But you look like a delinquent! What kind of delinquent hires another delinquent for something? Are you good with collecting information or stalking people? Are you a spy?" I gasped at the idea. "I was being tailed by a spy?"

He guffawed even harder, grabbing his sides. "Oh, gosh. You're seriously moronic! How does Iwasaki hang around you? This is actually hilarious!"

My jaw fell. "You know Iwasaki?"

"Why wouldn't I? I know him better than you at least." Snickering, he dug into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. "Seriously, it's a wonder how you even stick around a guy like him. He's such a stifling bastard."

I glowered. "Stifling..."

"Then again, I guess he is a weakling," he went on, more to himself than to me as he tapped around on the screen. "Raidon's much funner to stick around."

"Raidon?" The name caught me off guard. "R-Raidon Tsuki?"

The ultimate bad boy—the one you should never get close to no matter what? Did I just hear him right?

"It's hilarious how people are so terrified of him. The guy's not so scary." He paused. "Well, he is, but it's a good scary."

"How is there a good kind of scary?" I demanded.

And how could he utter his name so easily? That guy was bad news! Bad, bad news!

"You're so full of questions," he complained, running his fingers through his shaggy hair. "Shut up for a second will ya'?"

I gasped at his order, surging to my feet. "Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Yeah, don't tell Miss Reina to shut up!" a delinquent from behind me shouted.

Others immediately chimed in.

"Disrespecting her like that!"

"How dare you act so high and mighty?"

"Come at me, bro!"

At the series of yells, a tiny part of me made me stand taller—maybe it was my confidence growing stronger with this many people backing me up. Either way, that all deflated the moment the redhead fled to the doors.

"I'll have to pass on the fighting!" he called out with a small wave. "Raidon said that if I get in trouble by Mrs. Hamada again he'll drop me."

Some dashed after him.

"Screw that! Come back here!"

"Nu-uh, gotta go! Bye!"

I froze. "N-no, wait!"

All delinquents plus the redhead by the doors stopped to look at me. All of them were startled by my unexpected scream, and frankly, I was as well.

I didn't know why, but the idea of him leaving was something I didn't want. It was a sudden thought that overcame me. If he—the only person in the room who hadn't, or really, wasn't, idolizing me like the rest of these delinquents were—left, I'd end up alone in the room with them. They'd trap me in here. And they'd for sure make it so that I wouldn't be able to leave.

More valiant than before, I stepped forward. I met the redhead's widened eyes from across the room. "Don't leave me here!"

Clearly, they were speechless. Though, he reacted; the corners of his mouth curved upwards, and amusement flashed in his eyes.

"Aww, you don't wanna part with me?"

The way he said it flustered me. "I-I—"

"All right," he cut me off. "Come with me then."

In a split moment, like a magician doing a grand finale disappearing trick, the redhead threw something towards the ground. Smoke arose in the room, filling fast. I waved furiously, thinking that my eyes were playing tricks on me. The antsy shuffles of feet and shouts from the delinquents around me proved it untrue. Without warning, somebody seized my wrist. I yanked it back on reflex, thinking it was one of the delinquents. Then I heard a small laugh—his cunning laugh.

"Let's go," he whispered, already lugging me out the door.

By the time we made it out into the smoke-less hall, he gently shut the door behind him, locking it and trapping them inside. He then beckoned for me to follow him around the next corner. After arriving in a vacant corridor, he let out a relieved breath.

"We're good here."

"Are you sure they won't find us?" I asked, straightening my posture.

"Probably not." He stuck his hands back into his pockets. "But you should probably get used to having them around."

I grimaced. "That's... asking for the impossible."

"Impossible or not, they won't stop following you. They're very dedicated young men."

In that moment, he smiled as if he were a dad proud of his sons. Not wanting to question it, I frowned. Memories flooded my mind and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"More importantly, how are you affiliated with somebody like Raidon Tsuki? The guy hates anyone and everyone!"

His eyes shrunk back, as if shocked to hear my words. But I wasn't done.

"I highly suggest you stay away from him." I beckoned widely. "Your petty magic 'smoke-screens' won't work long around such a guy."

For some reason, he burst into yet another fit of snickers. One where he had his arms wrapped around his stomach, doubling over. "Oh God, you're such an idiot it hurts!"

Offended, I gasped. "What!"

He waved his hands as he tried to stifle further snorts. "You're beyond average. If you understand I'm affiliated with Raidon, you should stay as far away from me as you can."

"True... but—"

"If I'm affiliated with Raidon Tsuki, you really don't know who I am?"

My lips pursed together and I eyed him strangely. "The only person, or really people, that I know who are close to that delinquent are his number one and two: Keisuke Yamasaki and Aki Mitsoyu..."

His countenance brightened considerably at the mention. My jaw plummeted and I lurched back.

"Y-y-you're one... of them?"

His grin broadened. "The second. Honestly, it's a wonder why I'm number two. Even if Keisuke sucks up to Raidon a lot, he's still inferior."

Unable to process this all, I was frozen in place. I was nonchalantly talking to the number two delinquent by Raidon's side? Was I an idiot? Did I have a death wish? Clearly I did!

I should've pieced it together the moment I learned he was good at gathering information and was a delinquent. The spontaneous smoke-screen should've made it obvious too—Aki was famous for his unexpected pranks. What other student in this school had such a unique background and personality other than him? He even had that "I'm superior" vibe prominent around him.

And such a guy was following me? What did he know? Aki Mitsoyu had a record of screwing over countless people by the dirt he had on them. Though he aided Daichi back when we first met, if he was in a bad mood, he probably could've ruined his life and forced him into detention for the rest of his high school days.

Even the reason he felt so familiar was because I'd been exposed to him that day in the infirmary. But since I couldn't see his face, it made it near impossible to identify him today.

Don't tell me he was still holding my eavesdropping from that day against me?

"Wow, you look so afraid," Aki sniggered. "I love it."

I'd inched backwards, hoping for a swift getaway. My eyes remained glued to him, widened in pure terror.

"Hey," he hollered, freezing me in place. He nudged his head right. "I was going to tell you to head back to class but, come with me. I have somewhere more important to take you."

I didn't run away fast enough.

My lower lip caught between my teeth. I had the urge to scream "Hell no!" and book it to my classroom. But there was no way I could do so. I was an idiot, but not that much of one.

"I-Is my life in danger?"

Why else would he want to take me somewhere?

"Well," he responded with a shrug, "I like you so I'll try to keep you alive."

Colour had drained from my face entirely. "Try...?"

Aki laughed once again. He then spoke, but this time it was more to himself than to me, "Seriously... Why does my brother even hang out with you?"