CHAPTER 44 (PART 1)

"Tell us what you know."

From amidst the darkness of the room and currently squinting against the lamplight I was flashing at his face, Wannabe's features were scrunched up.

"Hoshino, y-you're hurting me eyes—"

"Your eyesight won't be the only thing hurting if you don't answer my question." I jabbed the light even closer to his face. "And just to tell you this now, I do not react well to smart lip. Now tell me all the dirt you know or else I'll feed you to Yuji."

"Whoa. Hold on. I don't remember agreeing to cannibalism."

I paused to send Yuji beside me a look. I heaved a loud sigh. "I wanted to give him the least painful alternative but fine, we have no choice but to feed him to Hiro." I jabbed the lightsource closer to his face. "And just so you know, he is ready to rip your sorry ass to shreds—"

My head was knocked from behind.

"Sharks," I muffled, weakly. "I very much meant sharks. Please spare my pitiful life—"

"Kazuya," Hiro snapped. I felt all the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall from the scowl he was clearly wearing. He leaned over the table, grazing my hand which sparked even more goosebumps across my arms as he took the lamp from my fingers. "Tell us what you know."

Wannabe went to shield his eyes. "I already told you I don't know much about Ikumi-chan—"

"Liar!"

Yuji patted my shoulder, drenched in amusement. "Now, now, Bad Cop. Calm down."

I produced a disgruntled breath, leaning back in my seat with folded arms. "Have at him, Good Cop. But you shouldn't get your hopes too high."

A tiny laugh came from the doorway. The room was suddenly engulfed with light, momentarily blinding me. "Care to explain what's going on?"

Before I realized it, Wannabe was racing for the doorway and sniffling like a baby.

"Kouichi, save me from these guys!"

"You guys are already picking on Kazuya-san? School hasn't even begun."

Wannabe snuffled, rubbing at his eyes as he poked his head out from behind Kouichi. "They dragged me out of the library only to attack me here in the dark."

"You're making it sound misleading," I scoffed.

"Says the girl who went and threatened we'd 'eat' him," Yuji retorted.

"But I didn't mean it like that. It's not my fault you want to take it in a yaoi context—"

"Wait, you two told me he wasn't doing anything important," Hiro interjected.

Yuji and I shared a look.

"I mean, studying isn't important," he replied.

I nodded. "It only leads to mental suffering and pain. We saved him, if anything."

Wannabe extended a shaky finger, lower lip quivering. "If I fail my exams and don't get into university it'll all be your fault!"

"It's fine." I waved it off. "Just fail a year and graduate with us."

Yuji flashed him a thumbs-up. "We'll be best buds forever."

"Yeah right!" Wannabe pouted. "As great as that sounds, I can't afford to fail, let alone repeat a grade! I've already planned to fly out to England next spring and that would ruin everything."

His words reeled my senses to a halt. I properly tilted my head his way, fluttering my eyelashes. "England?" I asked. "Why?"

"I want to visit my mother... then I'll need to get adjusted to head to school in the fall."

Kouichi had his mouth plummet, as well as Hiro beside me. My mouth also flubbed like a fish, speechless.

"No way!" Yuji shouted, darting to his feet.

"Why?" Kouichi agreed.

"You're going to a university in England?" Hiro demanded.

Wannabe stepped out from behind Kouichi, lips pursed in thought. "Depends if I get accepted," he replied. "But first I need to properly raise my grades and pass a couple exams... Also get the proper paperwork done..." His head cocked to the side. "Did I not tell you guys?"

I raced up to him, pushing to my tippy-toes and grabbing him by the collar. "No! B-but... you can't leave, Wannabe! Who else am I going to tease about Ouran?"

A sheepish smile curved up his lips. "I guess you'll have to find another 'Tamaki-wannabe.'"

"The hell? You're kidding." Yuji clenched his teeth, shooting him a pointed look. "How long have you been planning this?"

Wannabe awkwardly scratched his cheek. "For quite a while, actually. Since my first year?"

Hiro clicked his tongue. "And you decided to keep quiet about it?"

"I know, sorry. I guess I didn't really want to say goodbye before I had to."

My fingers fell from around his collar, dropping to my sides. I knew the Humanity Club we were so used to was going to end one day, but he was also moving to a foreign country with the least opportunity to see him again?

The unspoken, but sullen silence that hung in the air was difficult to swallow down. Wannabe cracked a forced laugh.

"There's no point brooding about a distant future." He rose his arms, his typical grin upturning his mouth. "Let's focus on what we can in the moment—and right now the most important is getting Saki out of the Disciplinary Committee."

I bit the inside of my cheek, shifting my gaze back on to him. He had a point.

"But getting dirt on Ikumi isn't working," I reasoned. "Yuji and Hiro have known her their entire lives, and Saki's even admitted she's been flawless since the day she first joined their family."

Yuji brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "We have no hope left, prez."

"But we already made up our minds," Hiro reminded him. "We're not going back on our word. Or Saki."

"Of course not," I refuted. "Even knowing that as we speak she's sticking up to that snobby witch..."

Kouichi placed a hand to his chin. "But if we can't find any weaknesses to use against her sister..."

"We can always create some."

All eyes shot to Wannabe. He had a cunning grin coating the bottom half of his face.

"To get Saki out of the Disciplinary Committee, the best thing to do is get Ikumi-chan kicked off as the President. No matter how underhanded, if she's gone, Eita should also leave and the committee will have no choice but to crumble."

He went and voiced our thoughts completely. His previous words caused similar smirks to coat the rest of our faces. If we could accomplish that Saki would be free.

"Wannabe, you are frickin' brilliant," I said.

"My fellow club mates, what we'll be doing is very much worthy of suspension if we get caught." He rose from a dramatic bow. "Let's call for some backup, shall we?"

——————————————————

"I don't think I can make it."

"Hoshino, you've barely left the starting line."

"It hurts."

Hiro spared me the most exasperated look from his position ahead. "You seriously don't run, do you?"

Hunched over with my hands pressed to my kneecaps, I inhaled and exhaled heavily to catch my breath. Albeit wearing my hair in a ponytail, my bangs pulled back by a bright blue headband, its length still hung over my shoulders and whipped my face. I collapsed onto the patch of grass behind the track, leaning on my hands.

"What genius planned the Sports Festival to be today?" I demanded. "No, what genius planned the entirety of Sports Festivals in general?"

My unlikely partner in both today's race and secret mission about to unfold in a mere ten minutes, emitted a loud breath. He eased off the empty track, brows scrunched together from disbelief. "It's a mystery how you're so good at basketball and yet have no means of endurance outside of it. Why'd you pick the race?"

"It was the only one I could've chosen," I defended, and squinting past the sun's rays, frowned. "And my questionable stamina aside, today's the one day I have a shot of winning so I'm not putting that to waste."

Hiro shook his head, but knowing he couldn't refute, did nothing more than reach to adjust his own blue headband. I was never one to attend the Sports Festival. Every year without fail—and yes, that included last year—I'd always found a way out of it. Whether that be staying at home binging a new series or hiding away in the nurse's office with a 'stomachache' until the events were over. Me and exercise didn't mix, after all. But after calling our trustworthy 'backup' and Saki had snuck away from her siblings' radar to join us after school last week, I didn't exactly have the option of skipping. Nor did I particularly have the leisure of choosing to not be alone with Hiro. Wannabe's genius plan to split us up into manageable groups was understandable, but that didn't mean I wholeheartedly agreed with this setup.

I'd been inconspicuously avoiding being alone with him considering what happened the last time we were, but with today's plan that was short of impossible.

Hiro softly lowered himself onto the grass beside me. I kept my gaze straight ahead, into the distance where the other second-years were prepping for the start of the event. Though, every now and again I found my attention trailing back to him. It was when he shifted his eyes to me, my body froze.

He extended his hand, a gesture for his bag rested by my shoes. I passed it to him. Mumbling a quiet thanks, he unzipped his main zipper and rummaged inside. I could only watch as he slipped out two sports drinks. More so, when he extended one for me to take.

"Here," he said. "I have extra. You didn't bring anything to drink, right?"

My mouth fell upon receiving it. "How...?"

"I've known you for almost two years, Hoshino. That's long enough to learn how much of a lost cause you are when it comes to taking care of yourself." He spun the cap off his. "Even signing up for this race when you're clearly disadvantaged. You always make me worry about you much more than I need to."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he grew rigid and veered his gaze. That didn't erase the blush that wormed its way to his cheeks. I timidly drew my knees to my chest. I'd always noticed how often he blushed before, and if things were the same as before I'd probably still shrug it aside that he was simply the bashful type beneath his short-tempered personality. Knowing, however, the truth behind his terribly revealing personality only made it more real.

"Mi-chan! Hiro!"

Shattering the awkwardness in the air and returning my offset heartbeat to normal was Saki herself. She ran across the field and just about jumped me into a hug but stopped herself at the last second. She tilted her head, her yellow headband falling with it.

"Mi-chan, are you already out of breath?"

"So much for a practice run, right?" Hiro replied in my stead.

He elevated himself to his feet, previous poise reinstated. I didn't hesitate to get up as well.

"I'll do better in the real thing."

"Really now?"

"Yes, really." Tapering my eyelids the slightest, I unfavourably uprooted my eyes at his unusually distant face. "Just because you may have grown taller recently doesn't mean you can completely look down on me like that."

I hadn't my words to spark a loud gasp to leave Saki's mouth. She darted in front of him, speechless as she dramatically lifted her head. "No way! Hiro really did get taller!" She swung out her hand and ignoring his discomfort, sparkled. "How many centimetres?"

Clearly disliking her shock, Hiro sighed and fiddled with his bangs unshielded by a hat. "170."

Saki's jaw fell, in the most theatric way possible. Hiro's brow twitched.

"Stop staring at me like that. Me growing taller is perfectly normal."

"But you've been close to my height for so long! I can't believe you're that much taller than me now. I can cry."

"Don't."

"If you grow ten more centimetres, you'll be Yuji's height. Imagine that! You've been teased for so long and now... now that you're finally growing like a normal boy—"

"Saki, stop making a big deal out of this! It's normal!"

She puffed her cheeks, energy deflating. Hiro sighed, glad to have gotten her off his back. Though, a giggle left her mouth before long, and she smiled down at me. "But for Mi-chan to notice before me, you guys must be really close now, huh?"

"It's not that unusual," I defended instantly, averting my eyes before Hiro could dare look my way. "Obviously if you're around someone everyday you'd notice. But before he aims for Yuji's height, it'd be more realistic going for Hinata's or Kouichi's."

Saki placed a thoughtful finger to her chin. "They would be a lot closer..."

Even after she paused to think about the idea further, I couldn't exactly brush aside Hiro's watchful eyes. Was it that strange to notice? Obviously if a guy's face accompanied by noticeable lips (which may or may not have pressed against mine a couple weeks back) had gone from being centimetres to inches away I'd notice. "M-more importantly, where's your sister?"

I halted my thoughts before they could dare lurk elsewhere—a less fictional elsewhere. Fortunately, a giddy Saki was glad to respond.

"Since she'll be busy organizing things for the festival, I successfully convinced her to let me enjoy this event. And Kazuya is doing his role of distracting her by flirting."

"Any progress?"

"She really looked ready to beat him senseless. But since Iku-nee luckily isn't the violent type, she's just harassing him with words."

"Then she'll be occupied long enough," I concluded. "Wannabe never gives up on his pathetic flirting, even if you repeatedly insult him."

"Those partaking in the three-legged race please make your way to the starting line."

The announcement blared through the speakers adorning the entirety of the field. I gripped the drink Hiro'd given to me as the two do us pivoted on our feet. It was our cue.

"Hey," Saki called before we could leave. She twiddled her fingers, unexpected guilt washing over her. "We're, um, doing the right thing, aren't we?"

"You're getting cold feet now?" Hiro demanded.

A frown tilted down the corners of her lips. "No," she insisted, "but I mean..."

"We're getting you out of that committee," I pressed on. "Isn't that what you want?"

"Of course it is! All I want is to have carefree fun with you guys again." Though her words carried a definitive, there was no erasing its sadness. "But, Iku-nee, at least lately, she..."

I heaved a sigh. Her kindness was too much. Placing a hand on her shoulder, I caught her gaze. "Look, Saki. Your robotic sister may not mean to hurt you, but you can't always sit quietly and let her give you a hard time. We're doing this for you because she won't give you back to us willingly. So no matter what happens today, you have to trust this is for the best. You can put your faith in us, right?"

As if I'd said words worth becoming sentimental for, Saki's eyes enveloped with tears. I was thwarted into a bone-crushing hug at once. "Of course I'll trust you, Mi-chan!"

Although the embrace was heart-warming, I was truly being suffocated by her death grip around my neck. I frantically waved for Hiro to help, to which he did by prying Saki off me. After getting the chance to gasp for the oxygen that my body required and Hiro handing her his bag to watch, we bid farewell to Saki and made our way to the starting line where the second-years were gathered.

          Immediately upon arriving, while Hiro went to confirm we were participating, I was issued pieces of cloth to tie our ankles together by a familiar boy adorned in a green headband.

          "If only we were in the same class," Hibiki told me, pout in tow. "We could've partnered up in this gender-neutral race and completely owned everyone else."

"As if," I said, craning back my head. "You're a literal giant. With our ankles tied together, I'd be crushed if you were to ever trip and fall on me."

Hibiki, being Hibiki, only cracked a suggestive smirk. "So you are disappointed I'm not going to be the one to crush you?"

Half-smiling, I rolled my eyes.

"Miyuki!" Hibiki was shoved aside. Hand positioned to his brow, Kaishou, his band mate, started to gush with utter stars in his eyes, "I missed you so much! Please go out with me!"

I recoiled, much more viciously than I anticipated. I hadn't seen the guy since their performance a month back, but how did I forget how pushy and eccentric he was? Fortunately, Hibiki sent Kaishou a reprimanding look in my place. "Dude, stop being so selfish. I keep telling you Miyuki is for everyone to enjoy."

My face fell, incredulous. Was that his grand idea of protecting me? Proof to his emanating stupidity, Hibiki flashed me a wink, mouthing, 'I got you.'

I never wanted to smack him upside the head so badly in my life.

Luckily, their only sane bandmate, Mori, grabbed both of them by the collar from behind and bowed his head. "I apologize, Hoshino. They're both the type to say whatever they're thinking."

Hibiki and Kaishou made a face. Then, Kaishou's eyes fell onto me again.

"Just one date—"

Mori handled my response with a hasty slap to the back of his head. While Kaishou teetered over, gripping the back of his blond hair in pain, Hibiki went to comfort him. I placed my fingers to my temples to stop an oncoming headache. So much for being our reliable back-up.

Hiro returned before long. He took one good luck at our current situation and furrowed his brows. Albeit puzzled and looking to want to ask, I quickly waved him. Going with it, he instead said, "Is Hinata still out with a cold?"

Kaishou emitted a gasp upon the inquiry. The ache from Mori's slap no longer seemed to matter. "Poor Hina was so feverish this morning when we went to visit!"

"His entire family was out of the house, too," Hibiki agreed, lips caving downward. "If it weren't for our volleyball match today we really would've stayed behind to look after him."

Both me and Hiro gaped at them.

"Volleyball?" I echoed. "Don't you mean helping Saki get out of the Disciplinary Committee?"

Kaishou dismissed my words with a shrug. "Oh yeah."

"I guess that's important too," Hibiki agreed.

Leave it to Wannabe to gather this mess of a group. Even if it was short notice and we needed people to trust, these two were absolutely hopeless. We would've had a better chance if we replaced them with garbage bins.

While Mori remained impassive—as he typically was around these goofs—Hiro was equally as deadpanned beside me. "Do you guys realize what exactly we're trying to do here? If things don't work out, we can get—"

"Kenzou-kun!"

"Nishioka-kun!"

All eyes steered behind us, toward the group of second-year students already lined up. The vast majority were girl-girl pairings with a couple guy-guy and guy-girl partners intertwined. As the rules were rather lax for those who signed up for this—allowing an unlimited number of students from the six classes—it was the perfect event to start off the festival. The girls who had called out to Hibiki and Kaishou working this particular event, were timidly staring out to them whilst twirling their hair.

Another one of them shouted, flashing their class-colour strap, "Please help us tie our ankles together."

Accordingly, Hibiki was quick to flash them a grin. "But of course, cuties."

"We'll be right there!" Kaishou agreed.

As soon as the two made their way over, it was as if the girls all around them had become starstruck with the prospect of them helping out. They giggled vehemently as Hibiki in particular stopped to flirt before crouching over to help them all. The boy students, though expecting them to be filled with envy, actually got along well with them as well. Albeit doofuses, they were incredibly charismatic regardless the gender they were appealing to.

"Though they don't appear like it, they are very much prepared for the day to come," Mori enlightened us.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Hibiki and Kaishou were the perfect possibly combo to do what they were. If they weren't so well-loved, we wouldn't have been able to start this event with a bang.

I rose my head and aimed my gaze into the distance where Yuji was currently seated under a little tent beside the finish line, a definitely discomforted Yamamoto Eita nearby. Yuji was fulfilling his role, as he was perfect for getting under absolutely anyone's skin. Then there was Kouichi, who although I had no clue where he was amidst this large crowd of spectators, must have been working on his end of the deal as well.

Hiro and I joined the far-end of this congested crowd. And after sweet-talking his way through everyone, Hibiki eventually arrived at us.

"You better have done this right," Hiro called down to him.

Hibiki's mouth stretched back into a smirk. He ascended after tying mine and Hiro's legs together; tight but loose enough to wiggle our ankles. "Don't underestimate us, shorty."

Hiro merely returned a flat look. "Kinda hard when you have that black marker sprawled all over your face."

"Marker?" Hibiki's hands shot to his face, features breached in panic. He immediately swivelled over his shoulder to spot Mori dragging off Kaishou who was hitting on more girls and gaped. "Don't tell me—"

He dashed off to the sidelines to corner his bandmates and possibly hurt them for ruining his 'merchandise.' But even as he did, and the animated chatter and laughter floated into the air around us, I glanced at Hiro. "There wasn't any marker on his face."

It wasn't even subtle, the upturning of his lips into a smirk. "I know."

I let out a bark of laughter. Was that payback for calling him short? Not that I was complaining. "Nice."

I followed the streak of clouds across the sky, the sway of my hair from the wind and the gentle touch of my arm against his. Our bodies were really close. I mean, I knew what I was getting myself into by being paired with him for this, but...

"Ready, steady, and spaghetti— oh, we don't say spaghetti for this? Oh, sorry. Wrong page." There was the sound of the flipping of paper. Yuji cleared his throat. He'd completely hogged the mic from the emcee actually in charge, Eita. "Okay, ladies and gents," he said again. "Babies and presidents— Wait, I'll take this seriously, man. I was just warming my vocal chords."

Chuckles reverberated across the crowd of participants. While the students beside us had taken offensive stances to run, I exhaled to steady my nerves.

"As of this very moment," Yuji declared, this time a grin to go along with his declaration, "the gender-neutral three-legged relay race, has... begun!"

A stunt-gun went off, blaring loud enough to be heard across the entire track. One by one, the group of students took off. And one by one, they collapsed like dominoes, falling face-flat onto the dusty track. Groans and grunts were emitted; gasps, rang out. Because instead of tying each partner to the other, Hibiki and Kaishou took turns distracting this large crowd into tying their legs to a neighbouring opponent instead.

I peered down to Hiro and our ankles, the only exception to this mess of a race now. "Ready for our effortless win, Hiro?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Then it is officially time for our flashy walk to victory." I lifted my foot. Right as I did, I lost balance. If I didn't latch onto his arm in time I would've really fell flat on my face. "Oh God, this is harder than it looks."

"Here." He grabbed my wrist and eased it onto his shoulder. This time, he took the lead, keeping a ginger arm around my neck. "Take it slow. If we both fall, this entire set-up would have been pointless."

Our somehow lessened proximity summoned a warmth to my cheeks I wasn't expecting. I bashfully veered away, leaning into him for support. I was doing this for Saki, for Saki, for Saki... It'd become a mantra in my head to steer me clear of thoughts of my irregularly pounding heart.

Let the chaotic Sports Festival begin.