_Chapter 42~ Curiosity Killed the Cat_

Accusing Iwasaki of being that fearsome delinquent from the rumours I'd heard was not one of the best solutions my mind had ever come up with.

Mainly because the idea only allowed for my unease about all the events that had transpired until now to melt away. Although I kept telling myself no, it had made perfect sense.

Daichi had heard rumours about him in middle school; Ryu was a delinquent in middle school.

Ryu originally had black hair—the same colour Miyabi mentioned 'Satoru's' hair was in the past.

It'd explain his connection with Raidon Tsuki, and why Mr. Matsuda had to cross out his real name on the attendance sheet on the first day of school.

But his real name... It wasn't exactly Ryu Iwasaki, was it? I kind of just started calling him that when I'd heard from others what his name was; I didn't actually see any proof. Did he go by Satoru in middle school? And was he familiar with Raidon and Keisuke then too? I hadn't heard much rumours about Raidon back in middle school, but he was still infamous by the time my third year in middle school rolled around.

Still, the idea was utterly incredulous.

I desperately wanted to ask him all this, but how could I? Aki was always an option, but the last time I'd asked about their past he'd said he didn't want me to go to him about it. That one time he even told me to get to know Ryu myself without going to him for answers...

To be honest, I didn't understand why I cared so much, but for some reason I did. So much so, that I'd even taken the opportunity of fibbing about needing to grab my clubroom's spare key from the staffroom with extreme enthusiasm.

"Don't worry, Mr. Matsuda!" I had told him, my heart hammering like a drill in my ears. "You deal with the soccer team's practice! When you get back to the staffroom, I'll be long gone! A-at my clubroom; I have to get to my after school club, y'know!"

"Well," he started, looking utterly startled by my behaviour as I ushered him out the staffroom door, "I can stay a for extra minutes for you to find it—"

"No, no, I don't want you to waste anymore time on me! You're already late!" I said, grinning wide. "I'll be sure to swipe it faster than you can blink, you'll see. You don't need to worry about a thing! Take your sweet time and leave it to me!"

"U-um," he stammered. "O-okay?"

With one final smile, I waved a dazed Mr. Matsuda off and after taking off his glasses and scrutinizing me as if he wasn't seeing straight, he shook his head and—not so subtly—ran off. Once his figure was gone from the vicinity of the vacant staff room, I exhaled a heavy breath of relief.

Placing my hands to my hips, I shakily released a breath, peering behind me and scouring for the location of Mr. Matsuda's desk. I glanced at the name tags interspersed around the room and when I finally settled upon his, my nervousness only seemed to heighten.

I couldn't believe I was doing this; going so far as to stick around after school hours and lie to Ryu by telling him I'd be busy with Erika so to leave without me... All of this, to purge my never-ending curiosity.

Staring down at the unorganized clutter of paperwork sprawled out on top of the desk, a tiny part of me was yelling at me to not do this. If a teacher walked in now, I'd be berated big time; the principal could even get involved. I was committing a crime. I couldn't deal with the consequences if they were to come.

But I had to figure out somehow. One quick peek and I'd get the heck out of here! It was simple!

Ignoring the unease the quiet of the room and ticking of the clock hanging by the doors had brought, I reached out my unsteady arm. I pushed aside my speculating thoughts, my heartbeat picking up in my chest, perspiration appearing on my hands.

After I nudged aside the sheets aside and revealed the class roster, the dire need to escape kept blaring like sirens in my head. Though, it was through sheer willpower that I buried the emotion completely and flipped the book open. I shut my eyes tight before I could see what was written. Dammit, since when had I become such a troublemaker? Those delinquents were rubbing off on me...!

Peeling apart an eyelid, I took one last glance around me in case somebody had unknowingly entered into the room without my knowledge, and when I secured my safety, I frowned at my paranoia. What was I so freaked out for? I was wasting so much time being scared of the consequences that I could've been done by now! Who cared if I was invading my teacher's mark and attendance book! It was just to fulfill the curiosity eating away at me these past few days! I knew I was in the wrong but unless I did this my mind wouldn't shut up about it!

A new spark of determination filled me after my mini pep talk and I fixed my eyes onto the blank attendance sheet of Class 3-1. My focus immediately fell upon the 'i' section. As I went through the 'h' and 'j' names, I was caught by surprise when I hadn't crossed a single 'i'. My eyebrows rose high. Could I just not find it?

Starting from 'a', I went through the last names of my classmates more carefully than the first time. Erika Amaya, Hanabusa Daisuke, Shiro Hajime, Aoki Jingo, Momoka Kisanagi, Reina Kikuchi... My brows knitted together as I looked down at the 'r' section. Did this list organize this first name, last name, at some points then?

I must've went through the names at least ten times before panic began to well up inside me. I vigorously shook my head from side to side before I could get myself mixed up. Maybe they just forgot to add his name on this sheet so the newer sheets had it. Accidents happened like that. What did I expect by checking a blank attendance page?

Calming down my rapid heartbeat the best I could, I flipped to the next page where my thoughts had immediately proved me right; Ryu's name was right there where the 'i' area had originally been empty. I then turned to the first attendance sheet from the first day of school, with blue ink filling in the white boxes leading down the page. When I spotted that the pen had crossed out a certain name inches away the bottom of the page, my eyelids flew upwards.

Oh yeah, that day Mr. Matsuda crossed out his name he told him not to call him by and wrote 'Ryu Iwasaki' beside it! If that was the case, then what was the name behind that scribble? It was too dark to read.

Counting up how many names it was from the bottom, I turned to the empty page I was on first and counted up the same number of times. When my finger fell upon the name, my heart stopped in my chest.

I had proven my suspicions right.

No 'Iwasaki.' No 'Ryu.'

Within the tiny space was printed the name: Satoru Ryutaro.

Satoru.

...And a ninety-six average in English pasted right beside it.

My mind had blanked as I shifted my focus away from his name onto the mark. As I went back up to my range of sixties sprawled out for my core subjects then down to his ranges of nineties, my lips came together in a straight line. I narrowed my eyes and leaned away from the book with dramatic blinks.

Um, what was this BS? His marks were all in the nineties? He had always acted all nonchalant whenever he received his tests results in class so I thought that he had done decent on everything, but... Nineties?! So he was deceiving me not only about his name, but his grades as well? This little—or really, tall but that defeats the point—orange!

I was demanding answers for this madness when I saw him next!

"Mr. Matsuda, are you still in here— What the?"

The swinging of the door and a lady's voice had sounded at the exact same time, leaving me no time to react. It had felt like my heart dropped to my gut, ice travelling through my veins. My mind that had been focused on the roster in my hands had gone from filled with many thoughts to none as I craned my neck backwards, my breathing coming out in shaky intervals.

Ms. Mai Hamada—the principal of the academy—stood by the entrance, her red lips clamped tight, eyes scrutinizing me and my situation; Mr. Matsuda's marking book in my hand, a pen in suit and my fallen jaw that had dropped enough to touch the ground. Her expression instantly shifted into the form of a scowl, her booming voice striking new overwhelming fear throughout my entire core.

"What do you think you're doing young lady?"

My mouth was moving rapidly, eyes widening in pure terror. Oh no; I'd been caught.

Oh no.

Oh no.

My situation had become like that one saying; that curiosity killed the cat.

.

.

.

But unlike the saying, the satisfaction of knowing the truth about Ryu had been unable to bring me back...

* * *

"Are you an idiot?"

          "Honey—" Dad started.

           "She's an idiot!" Mom bellowed, paying him no mind as she stamped her foot on the living room floor of our household, me on the couch with the two of them hovering above me. "Who did she get these troublemaking genes from? Always landing herself into trouble for stupid things—"

           "M-mom, Ms. Hamada overreacted," I opened my mouth to refute. "It wasn't that bad."

           "You were changing your marks for your classes!"

           I winced, stupefied by the anger radiating from both Mom's tone and face.

          Okay, maybe it was that bad.

          "I wasn't changing marks," I truthfully told her. "I just had the book in my hand. It was a misunderstanding."

           Mom's neck jerked my way, the incredulity evident in her features causing my heart to leap to my throat.

          "I'm sorry?" I weakly added.

          "Suspension," Mom whined to Dad. "My daughter got herself suspended."

           "Reina, we're disappointed in you," Dad said with a solemn head shake.

           I dropped my head, twiddling my thumbs. "I'm sorry..."

           A rigid silence fell into the air.

           "Head to your room," Mom eventually said, spinning around and heading into the kitchen.

           "And give me your cell phone," Dad ordered, extending his hand out to me.

           With a bitter frown, I reached into my pocket and placed it onto his palm. As soon as it connected, Dad pointed up the stairs. Like a saddened puppy, I hung my head as I made my way to the staircase. I repeatedly stopped and sullenly looked back but Dad's continuous head shakes of disappointment only increased the churning of guilt in my gut.

          With a sigh, I entered my room and collapsed onto my bed, thinking about the day prior to my situation here.

           In my eyes, when Mrs. Hamada had walked in on me and reached the conclusion that I was overwriting my grades with better ones and then dragged me off to her office where I'd endured a load of lecturing—to which my parents had to be called—she'd overreacted, needlessly. I wasn't changing my grades. Though, despite my protests I still managed to score myself a day of suspension. It was stupid, and now my parents had entirely lost faith in me.

          Frowning to myself, I brought my knees to my chest. I always got myself into these situations whenever that guy was involved. Well, I couldn't really blame him now because I'd done this on my own accord, but still... Jeez, when would I stop blaming others and take responsibility for my own actions? Blaming others had always been first instinct to me since it was easy, but I needed to stop. Besides, I finally quenched my nagging curiosity. Ryu's name... I couldn't help but wonder if it was true.

           People changed their names at school all the time, usually to make it easier for people referring to them. And I wasn't in Ryu's class last year and only heard from others that his name was Ryu Iwasaki. Although nothing could've changed of me knowing this information now, it still couldn't help but bother me. I had to ask him when I saw him next.

* * *

          Groggily, I parted my eyelids, squinting them to adjust to the sunlight poking in from my unshielded window. I hauled myself upwards and immediately fought back a yawn threatening to overtake me. I darted my shaky vision onto my nightstand where my clock lay, it reading '5:03 PM'. I had basically slept through the day. I didn't know if it was because I was still half-asleep or because I hadn't come to terms with everything, but yesterday still felt like a feverish dream. Yet, it was real. I'd gotten suspended and thereafter, grounded.

          "Reina." My head turned towards my bedroom door. After a light knock, the door clicked and in entered Dad. All at once, my body stiffened. The door creaked open further and it was easy to spot the careful caution Dad was taking.

          It sent my mind into overdrive. Mom I was used to berating me, but if it was my nonchalant father taking that role that meant my actions must've really crossed that invisible line.

           I could honestly say goodbye to my hopes of freedom, forever, couldn't I?

           "Were you sleeping?" he asked. Kindness before ripping my life to shreds, I thought.

           "Yeah, I just woke up," I responded, rubbing at my eyes. "Why?"

          "No, well," he began, grappling for words. "Your mother..."

          "Dad, I already apologized so much yesterday. Not mention all morning today," I quickly said. "I even did the dogeza."

            "I know," he replied. "And I know you've reflected, which I'm happy to hear."

            At that, I released the breath I'd been holding. The stiffness in my body faded, allowing for my quickened heart rate to settle down a bit. "Then...?" I began, unable to hide my confusion.

          Instantly, Dad had gone sheepish. My puzzlement ensued, and my eyebrows furrowed. If he wasn't going to lecture me, why did he come in then?

           "Dad—"

           "Dinner." Dad's words had taken me by surprise. "It's... your turn to make it."

            My eyelids rose considerably. My mind had been blank so finding something to say had been difficult. "But... I thought I was grounded," I lamely said.

             "You are," Dad hedged, fidgeting from foot to foot. "But, um, your mother is kind of angry and you're already aware of how bad her cooking is whenever she's the such. And I really do not want another case of food poisoning..."

            Hearing his words, I was definitely caught off guard.

            I didn't have much time to say anything because he hurriedly said, "Plus, if you make her dinner, I'm sure your mother will appreciate it. It'd show you're extremely apologetic and land you on her soft side. Killing two birds with one stone, right?"

            Amusement cracked through my features. Well this I was not expecting.

            "So this is just to get on Mom's good side?" I asked. "I should make her favourites, then. I wonder what she's—"

            "A hot pot," Dad answered. When I looked at him, he bashfully smiled. "I'm guessing. Eating nabe while sitting under the kotatsu can never go wrong."

           Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I hopped off and onto my feet. A smile had unwillingly tugged up my lips, mimicking Dad's expression. "Would Mom want anything else?"

           "Rice?" Dad offered. "Oh, and no green onions, please. Your mother doesn't enjoy those anymore."

           I laughed, reaching over for my sweater. "Fine. I guess this means I'm going shopping then?"

             As I passed him on my way out, Dad handed me money. "You have until she comes home from work and realizes you're gone."

             Receiving it, I mock saluted. "Aye, aye."

*         *         *

          "Would you like bags?"

          "Yes, please," I responded.

          Accordingly, the cashier stacked up the ingredients I purchased into separate bags before extending them out to me. Accepting them, I flashed her a tiny smile to which she returned it.

           "Have a nice day."

           "You, too."

           Making my way towards the exit, I briefly looked over my bags. The jingle of bells sounded, indicating my departure and I turned up my head to take in my surroundings. The sun had basically set with traces of apricot colour tinging the sky. My first reaction was to pull out my cell phone so I could check the time but I realized my parents still had it on them. Although I'd gotten permission to go outside, that still didn't alleviate the fact that I was still in trouble. Sadly.

         With a sigh, I started my walk back towards my household. I could only hope that it wasn't five-thirty yet considering Mom returned from work by six. And if I could do what Dad suggested, maybe I could get her to forgive me a little.

         Too absorbed securing the idea, I promptly ran into a masculine-feeling body.

My head knocked painfully onto their jaw but I'd kept a firm hold on the plastic bag I carried so it wouldn't fall. Wincing, I drew away from the person, reaching with my free hand to cup my head. Towering over me was a male with bleached blond hair, a disgusted scowl aimed towards me as he gingerly touched his chin.

My entire body had gone stock-still. Was this a...

"What the heck was that for?" demanded the male, leaning forward to shorten the proximity between our faces.

"Did she just bump into you, Izuki?" a voice resounded from behind him.

A couple of other faces I wasn't able to recognize hovered around the male, even stepping closer to get a better look at me. My heart had stopped entirely and my mouth had gone dry.

You had to be kidding me...

"Hey," hissed the man named Izuki, scrunching up his features and crinkling his eyes. "Whatcha' gonna do about this?"

My mouth moved and I took a jittery step back. "U-u-uh, er, I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" repeated the male, furrowing his eyebrows. A sudden bark of laughter left his mouth, jolting me. "She seriously thinks sorry will sort this all out."

Accordingly, a howl of laughter left the boys surrounding this male. They all were wearing matching burgundy uniforms, though it was one I wasn't familiar with. I could deduce they were high school students but my mind which had gone blank couldn't rack for an answer as to what school they belonged to. Even still, I was panicking. I'd gotten into enough trouble just yesterday! I had to get out of here!

"I'm afraid we can't let you go, for multiple reasons," the man said, extending out his hand towards me. "You're coming with us."

I recoiled, but that only surged the male with more anger. He came towards me with more force—his henchmen in accordance—and just as he grasped me by the collar, I reflexively kicked out. I successfully winded my captor and a gasp of air left his mouth. Staring wide-eyed at the startled group of henchmen, I immediately took that as my opportunity and ran off, the adrenaline in my system allowing for my heart to pound excessively in my ears.

It wasn't long before I heard a frenzy of footfalls come after me in pursuit.

"Somebody grab her!" one shouted.

"Koshiro said we couldn't let her go!" another hissed. "The Satoru thing has to settle itself out!"

My eyeballs nearly bulged from their sockets. Satoru...? The short interval of my hesitation allowed for a male to barely graze the collar of my uniform. My sympathetic nervous system went into overdrive. I bolted as fast as I possibly could. The wind whizzed past me as I turned the corners, brushing past startled civilians in the process. Multiple times I'd accidentally stumbled over my own feet and dropped my shopping bags but it was without warning that my shoulders were suddenly seized from behind me after taking a sharp turn into an alleyway. My body lurched to a halt along with my heartbeat in pure fear. My bug-eyed state ensued when I met similarly widened brown eyes.

"M-Miyabi?" I whimpered, feeling tears sting the corners of my eyes.

"Sheep?" Miyabi spoke, eyebrows high. He let go of my shoulders and I cowered from the uncontrollable shake of my limbs. Miyabi crouched down beside me, voice reflecting his worry, "Sheep, are you okay?"

I opened my mouth but I couldn't find it in me to speak. My breathing came out in shallow breaths in a way to calm myself down. I carefully bobbed my head, swallowing hard. "Y-yeah... I-I'm..."

"Should I get you something to drink?" Miyabi suggested. He rose up to his feet. "I'll go—"

"No, don't leave," I quickly told him, snagging his sleeve. "Please. I'm fine."

Miyabi seemed reluctant as he stared at me. After a long pause, Miyabi took the initiative to help me up to my feet. "Sheep, what happened?" he asked after I got up, taking the bags from me for himself.

At the inquiry, I darted my gaze left and right and when I saw that the coast was clear, relief surged through my veins. I lost them? Why were they even chasing me anyway? Were they still looking for me? How was I supposed to get home...?

"—eep. Sheep!"

Startled, I snapped my attention ahead of me where a concerned Miyabi was standing. "Wh-what?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" Miyabi demanded. "You were running like your life depended on it and even now you look so terrified. Why?"

"N-no," I started, fumbling for the right words. "I just... Somebody... was chasing me."

"Chasing you?" Miyabi's face lit with panic as he whipped his head back and forth. "Who? Are they still around—"

"They're gone," I replied.

He looked discontented. "Do you have any idea why they were chasing you?"

Why? I just bumped into them didn't I? It was an accident! Why were they freaking out so much over that then? And even while they were chasing me...

"Koshiro said we couldn't let her go! The Satoru thing has to settle itself out!"

My eyebrows knitted together. Koshiro? Was that the name of their leader? They were going to take me to their banchou? Just for bumping into them? And Satoru... There was no way they could be talking about Ryu, could they?

Seeming to understand that I was lost in thought, Miyabi eventually said, "Do you want me to walk you home then? Just in case?"

His offer surprised me. My heart seemed to slightly inflate nonetheless. "Really?"

"Yeah." Miyabi nodded. "I don't want anything to happen to you, especially if I'm aware of this."

If those delinquents were still trying to find me, having an ally would make things so much easier. Even if this ally was Miyabi. "Then I'll take you up on that."

A grin spread across Miyabi's face. "Don't worry, I've had bodyguard training. I know what to do."

My lips tilted upwards as I informed him of the way, making sure to watch our surroundings.

"So why didn't you come to school today?" Miyabi questioned as we walked down the quiet streets.

My body froze up immediately. "Oh, um... Sickness?"

"Again?" Miyabi asked with clear surprise. "You were just the other week because of the same thing."

I forced a smile. Miyabi didn't need to know the truth. "I have a weak immune system."

Miyabi pursed his lips. "You need to take better care of yourself, Sheep. Do I have to come over to make you food to make sure you stay healthy?"

By then, I was beginning to feel a lot like myself again. My cautions had dropped. "You can cook?"

Miyabi grinned. "Not really 'cook,' but I can make the best tasting cup noodles, guaranteed."

"Tempting," I snorted.

We passed a crosswalk, and it was already rather dark out.

"Why were you out right now, Miyabi?" I found myself asking.

"Me?" Miyabi hummed. "Oh, I had plans."

"Plans?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"I came back from seeing my brother," he responded.

I looked over at him but was unable to spot his face due to the darkness. "You have a brother?" I couldn't hide my surprise.

"You don't have any siblings, do you Sheep?" Miyabi countered.

I hesitated slightly. "I do," I answered.

"Really?" Miyabi gasped.

"Yeah, I have an older brother," I responded. "But he goes to a college in a small town—Sumato. I rarely get to see him."

Miyabi whistled. "I did not expect that."

"Why?"

            "You just don't seem like the little sister type."

            "How about you?" I asked. "Are you the older brother type?"

           Miyabi exhaled humourlessly as he came to a standstill. "More like the incompetent type."

           I halted as well, peeking upwards at him. "Incompetent...?"

           From the far streetlight ahead, Miyabi's wry smile was illuminated. "One day I hope to be competent though—to make it up to him."

           My eyelids opened and closed. "Miyabi?"

           "I'm really glad that I met you, Sheep," he said out of nowhere. "You've opened up my world. There's so many possibilities right there in front of me, and I have you to thank for every one of them."

           My heart dropped a little in my chest, and I didn't exactly know what to say. I'd never seen Miyabi so serious.

          Miyabi moved towards me and I subconsciously stepped backwards. This happened consecutively, Miyabi's frantic words a jumble in my mind. He reached out to me, his eyes widening in sudden panic. But when I realized why, it was too late. I was too far on the road; an oncoming vehicle crashed into my side and after a large exhale of air, my body was flung to the asphalt and the world went black almost instantly.

_____________________________

...Ha ha, a lot went on this chapter, huh? It may have felt choppy because I tried stuffing in a lot... I just didn't know about separating it so here it is, together. But yay to cliffhangers! Thank you all so much for 7k reads by the way! It's kinda crazy :D

-Misty