CHAPTER 1
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Summary: It's only a couple of weeks into Sahara Makoto's first term in High School, and he has already landed himself with detention. There he meets the school punk Itou Kaiji, who really has worse things than detention to worry about. How does this chance encounter affect them, and despite initial differences can it result in something more?
Rating: G
Word count: 4 139
Warning: None.
Music recommendations: Brainpool - Bandstarter
Sahara shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. How had he managed to get into this much trouble again? He was trudging towards detention area, still not quite sure why.
Sure, with his schoolbag slung loosely over one shoulder, both gakuran & shirt open to display a t-shirt with his favorite bandname printed on it, and the blond hair to top it all off, it all helped make him look quite the role of a delinquent. But truth to be told, Sahara was quite the sociable & apt young man. And aside from some of his minor teenage rebellion, like the way he wore his school attire, he had average scores on test, was active in school activities, with a nice circle of friends and, no doubt about it, plenty of potential girlfriends.
Obviously, though, that didn't save him from detention after telling a teacher off. It hadn't been a great offence either! His daily-cleaning group had been assigned to swipe the floors of the corridor after school had ended, before heading off to club activity. One of the other kids was in a hurry, and finished his task quickly. Sahara too wanted to get off earlier, as to not keep his band waiting (after all, they had to bring the instruments down to the classroom they used to practice themselves), and opted to defend his friend. But really, was laziness that big of a deal? Enough to put someone in detention? No not really, but being somewhat of a hothead, Sahara had ended up insulting the teacher when he wouldn't let them both off the hook so easily. And Sahara found out the hard way that calling the old scrooge "a geezer" hadn't been his best course of action.
Which took his mind back to the present; to the detention area. Arriving at the door on the second floor, usually the classroom of the upperclassmen of the school, he stopped to have his name ticked off the detention list.
"Sahara Makoto from class 1-C?"
"Uss"
"Tuck in your shirt & put on your gakuran straight!" The man in glasses hardly even looked up from his sheet of names. But the voice in which he spoke didn't exactly leave any room for an argument. So Sahara tucked in his shirt, fixed his pants & straightened his Gakuran before heading into the room. Seating himself pretty far back in the classroom, giving him a good vantage point, he pulled out his math book & a notebook with plenty more scribbles than actual calculations in it. Outside he could hear how the bands on the first floor started doing their sound testing, and Sahara wished he wasn't stuck in the murky classroom doubling detention center but instead down with his band, playing guitar.
Not too many moments after Sahara had taken his seat, another person entered the almost empty classroom. It was a boy, a bit taller than average. Long hair rested on his back and shoulders, while he'd licked the bangs usually resting on his forehead back slightly. He truly had the looks of a punk, a delinquent, his shirt untucked and the arms of the uniform curled up.
The most noticeable thing though, was a quite visible scar tracing his left cheekbone.
"Itou Kaiji of class 2-A?" The teacher queried, only to be answered with a lazy wave from the student. The teacher finally averted his gaze from the papers, and lightly but not without force he slammed his palms onto the front desk.
"I want a proper answer! And what are you thinking, going around like that! Correct your uniform this instant, Itou!!" The teacher commanded, taking full advantage of his occupational position.
Kaiji stopped in his tracks, turned around and with one hand he tucked in the front of his shirt into his pants very demonstratively with a cocky expression, before heading to one of the free seats which just happened to be besides the one which Sahara occupied. The teacher sighed and gave up on trying to lecture the longhaired student, proceeding with some work of his own by the front desk.
Sahara looked up at the rattle, letting his gaze pass between the teacher and the other boy -- Itou Kaiji was it? -- watching their almost casual banter. 'That Kaiji must be a regular here' Sahara thought with a snicker, but he didn't really hide his awe at the older boy's casual display of nonchalance in face of authority, as he let his eyes hover a while longer on him. Then he realized that the while had lasted a bit too long. Hastily fixing his gaze on the equation before him, that he hadn't even started solving, he let his pencil tap against the desk in time with the music floating in from outside.
Once again his thoughts traveled back to the band, on the floor below them. They had stopped tuning their instruments and started practicing on one of the more upbeat songs, which Sahara had written together with their bassist. They still needed to find someone with the fitting vocal range, but meanwhile Sahara doubled as lead singer.
All thoughts of math out of his head, Sahara started scribbling the name of their band in the margin of his notebook, trying to think of a cool design to fit their equally cool name, Snack Mooon (extra o for extra cool!).
"...Tsutsui Ichirou, class 2-C?" the teacher was marking the last arrivals before finally seating himself down comfortably behind the desk where he had previously stood.
It was going to be a long afternoon, Sahara settled, as he looked about the room and counted only five of them in total. But hopefully not too troublesome.
Kaiji slid down on the uncomfortable chair and brought up a pen and a folded paper from his pocket that he'd been taking almost nonexistent notes on during the day. He wasn't in the mood for studying. It wasn't like he really needed it either; most of the time he actually managed to get grades enough to pass.
Even so, he was the main object of hate of almost all his teachers because of his attitude. Many of the students disliked him too, but it was nothing he was being told. People were… afraid of him, and he was actually pretty comfortable with that. His lips curled up slightly as he was thinking about it.
He was brought back to reality by the continuous ticking sound of Sahara's pencil, and shifted his gaze over to the blonde by the desk beside him. Blonde, that was unusual. And interesting too. Kaiji deliberately looked Sahara over for a while before finally opening his mouth.
"Will you cut it out?" He murmured.
Sahara tapped the pencil against the desk a couple of more times before finally acknowledging that Kaiji must have aimed that request to his drumming. He turned his head towards the other and when greeted by a scary looking scowl, Sahara tried one of his most sincere apologetic grins, eyes scrunched together and smile all toothy and beamy.
"Sorry~ didn't realize I was doing that." Sahara kept his friendly face firm in place, but his tone was perhaps a bit too casual when addressing a senpai.
Kaiji was a little surprised by the reaction from the blonde. People were afraid of him, not friendly with him. He wasn't expecting a beamy smile at the very least. After a few seconds he realized he'd been looking at Sahara's face for a bit too long and turned back his head to look at his paper, his cheeks a bit warmer than usual.
Returning his focus back on the math equation, Sahara furrowed his brow, contemplating on how to solve the problem. His concentration didn't last long though, and as it strayed, so did his gaze. Two of the other boys, the upperclassman called Tsutsui and someone probably in the same grade or at least in the same club judging by the familiarity they displayed towards each other, had propped their desks together and were talking in hushed voices. Then there was the only girl, on the faaaar left-hand side furthest from everyone, texting someone with her cellphone under the table. And lastly, there was Kaiji, seated next to him, at least looking like he was doing something.
The teacher was reading a newspaper, and consequently his view was obscured, which meant that as long as one didn't make too much noise, it should be safe to fool around. Thus, Sahara tore a page from his book. Scribbling something hastily on it and folding it a haphazard manner, he discreetly placed it on Kaiji's desk.
In fact, Kaiji wasn't doing more than Sahara was. The paper in front of him was beginning to fill up with scribbles of teachers getting crushed beneath the feet of giant Godzilla-like monsters. He mentally chuckled, admiring his work of art before moving his pencil to the last blank spot to start another one.
Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of moving cloth and shifting his gaze, he realized Sahara had left a note right beside his left arm.
A few seconds passed before Kaiji's curiosity got the better of him and he snuck his right hand under his left arm to pick the scrap of paper before him. Without looking at Sahara, he opened it and read its contents.
In a not exactly tidy handwriting the following was written;
So what's the code of conduct? This being my first detention and all! w
Also, the name's Sahara Makoto [1-C]
"Sahara." Kaiji repeated in his head. As he held the paper, he realized he hadn't sent notes like this since the early years of junior high. "Sending notes, that's so girly." He thought to himself and was right about to crinkle the piece of paper up and throw it over his shoulder. But ... He was bored. Plus, he had no space left to scribble on.
He stared at the note once more before turning it upside down and starting to write a response. Crinkling the paper together in his fist to a little ball, he flung it discreetly in Sahara's direction.
It landed on the blonde's head. That was unintentional, of course.
It caused the blonde to make a surprised sound, before clamping his hands down over his mouth to muffle himself. There was some rustling of newspaper, and the teacher looked in their direction, but Sahara had quickly put on a straight face and waited carefully until the teacher had turned his attention back to the newspaper before placing the paper in front of him. He grinned, quite pleased with himself, before smoothing out the paper on the desk to read his reply.
The note read:
If you ask me, it's making life hard for the teachers.
But don't go making friends with the wrong peeps. ... I'm Itou Kaiji, 2-A
'The wrong ones being...' Sahara bit his lip, while thinking out the proper response. He finally scribbled something down in the margin of the paper, and balling the paper in his fist once more he chucked it over to Kaiji's desk again.
This time the note read;
Oh, is that so??
What if I'm one of the wrong ones? ww
The corners of Kaiji's mouth curled up slightly. He thought of the perfect answer.
Kaiji discarded the old paper and tore the corner of his own notes to write on.
You just lost your detention virginity, so I don't think so.
I'm a regular.
Reading this Sahara grinned; this guy actually had a sense of humor. Chancing a glance at the dark-haired older boy he took the time to study him.
Sure enough Kaiji did look the role of a ruffian; with his hair a bit too long and shaggy for school regulations, and clothes definitely in violation of dress code, as well as the scar tracing his cheekbone that bore witnessed of probable fights the other had been in, it really didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of esteem Kaiji put in authorities. But that wasn't what gave away just how badass Kaiji was. It was really the air about him, Sahara settled then, or actually more accurately the way he almost smelled different from others, like he meant mean business.
Returning his gaze to the piece of crumpled paper, Sahara bit the pencil in thought before writing a reply;
There are better virginities to lose.
And besides, I'm just getting warmed up!!
Kaiji's smiled to himself as he read Sahara's reply. For a first-year he sure had balls, sending notes to someone like Kaiji, plus matching his jokes in them. Kaiji didn't mind though, he hadn't had this much fun at a detention for a long time.
"Toc, Toc toc." Pebbles bounced against the window Kaiji sat by. He looked out and spotted two of the guys he usually hung out with. They were both delinquents like himself, you could easily tell just by taking a glance. They were grinning and one of them gestured for Kaiji to come down. Kaiji made a gesture back and rose from his seat.
Before heading for the door, Kaiji turned to Sahara. He wanted to say bye somehow, but was unsure of how to do it. After contemplating for a second, he suddenly placed his palm on Sahara's head, ruffling the blonde hair. Realizing exactly what he was doing, he retracted his hand and hurried for the door shouting something like "I'm heading to the bathroom" before he exited, ignoring the teachers protests. After taking a few steps, Kaiji slowed down.
"What the hell did I do that for…" He thought, the faint warmth returning to his face.
He barely gave Sahara enough time to register before dashing out of the classroom; the younger boy looked after him with a puzzled expression. 'Was it something I wrote?' Sahara thought briefly. But then he realized that Kaiji had informed him, even if only offhandedly, where he was going. Maybe it was a codeword for a rendezvous point where they could talk instead of having to pass notes back and forth. This guy was no words and all action!
Now there was only the question of how Sahara was supposed to go after Kaiji. He couldn't exactly say that he needed to visit the bathroom, that would be too obvious. But at the same time he couldn't exactly come up with some lame-ass excuse, since the teacher would probably not buy into that either. Finally Sahara settled on a white lie. Walking over to where the teacher was reading, he leaned onto the side of the desk,
"Teach! I kinda need to go check on my band. I realized that I left my guitar down in my classroom, and they might need it. Besides, I can't exactly leave it there!"
The teacher shook his head in exasperation before waving a none-committed hand towards the door, urging Sahara to just get out of his face. His hadn't exactly been the worst of offences anyway.
Sahara rushed back to his seat, grabbing his notebooks & stuffing everything into his bag, before heading out into the corridor and sliding the door shut as he did so.
Now, where could Kaiji have gone off to?
"ITOU-TAN why did you make us wait so longgg~" One of the ruffians exclaimed playfully as Kaiji approached them. "Oh fuck off!" He responded, aiming a kick at his mates who laughed and parried.
"So how's detention today, hm? Any hot chicks stuck in there with you?" The other boy asked curiously, grin wide on his face.
A flash of blonde went through Kaiji's head, but before it could turn into anything more, Kaiji shook the thought away. "So you really DID see someone, eh, EH?!" One of the boys concluded from Kaiji's delay in replying, and poked him in the ribs with his elbow. Once they were done teasing their friend, the ruffians' faces turned more serious.
"Actually, we came here to tell you to come to that place tonight at eight. You got that?"
"..Sure." Kaiji answered.
"See you later then. We're gonna beat the crap out of those assholes!" The two boys said before they left to leave, Kaiji remaining for a moment before turning to go back into the building.
Sahara put his hands on his knees, gasping for air, his breath caught in his throat and his lungs burning as he tried to force some oxygen in. He had looked everywhere on the second floor for Kaiji but when he realized that the older boy wasn't there, he had dashed down the stairs, running along the corridors hoping to run into him, or at least catch him before he left. Maybe Kaiji had already gone home? What if Sahara had misinterpreted what had been a casual comment as something with significant meaning? Sahara shook his head, it didn't really matter anyway, he had no idea what they were supposed to do or talk about once he did catch up with him.
Why had Sahara been so hell-bent on tracking down Kaiji anyway? There was still at least two hours before his band had to finish practice and pack up their kit. He straightened, 'might as well go get my guitar and join them'.
Hands in his pockets, Kaiji walked through the corridor. "So there was going to be some fighting to be done ..." He thought to himself, as he paced straight on, the crowds of students automatically moving out of the way. Kaiji stopped as he heard music. He was nowhere near returning to the detention again, so he thought he might as well check the source of the tunes out.
When he finally reached the classroom which the band was practicing in, he stopped outside the door and leaned against the wall to listen. They clearly went for the indie-rock impression, and they weren't that bad. Kaiji remembered that sometimes he'd been dreaming of becoming a rockstar of a band like the Blue Hearts or the High-Lows. Lost in his thoughts as he listened to the band practicing, Kaiji didn't notice Sahara who appeared at the end of the hallway.
Sahara hoisted his electric guitar case over one shoulder, dragging his feet behind him as he walked towards the classroom where his band was practicing. He could hear how they just finished playing one of their songs, and people from the 'light music' club started milling out from one of the classroom's two doors. The other one, further down the corridor, had purposefully been left only slightly ajar to minimize the amount of sound pouring out and also because the band had placed their instruments closer to that one.
Two girls, upperclassmen from the club, waved as they saw him approaching.
"Hey Sahara-kun~! Heard that you got detention for standing up for a classmate," one of the girls said as he got closer.
"Which is totally unfair!" the other one chirped in, shaking her head in a manner that made her shoulder length hair pool around her face prettily. Sahara only grinned, somewhat smug that his little ordeal had attracted attention. The right kind of attention!
"Well what do you expect from an old geezer like Morita-sensei?" he simply shrugged, smile still in place, "besides, it wasn't all bad really..." Sahara trailed off, briefly catching something out-of-place further down the corridor. Looking past the two girls he tried to work out what it had been. But with all the club members filling up the corridor, discussing the upcoming band tournament, he couldn't be sure if what he'd seen had just been his imagination. Maybe. He shrugged, suddenly not really all that interested in the extra attention he was receiving.
".. I should get back to my band!" Sahara apologized, before pushing past people and into the classroom.
Greeting his band, and plugging his guitar into one of the amps he turned to the bassist, Akagi, and started discussing which song to play next. "I say we try out the new one! I've been dying to since we finished it!" As the band agreed to try it out, Sahara took his place with the band. The crowd milled back into the classroom as he started playing the intro on his guitar...
Kaiji opened his eyes as the music stopped for a few minutes and realized that people were swarming around place. He didn't like crowds, he felt uncomfortable and out of place among what was mostly girls. But as he turned to leave, suddenly something happened to the music. It'd become more lively and colorful and it stopped Kaiji in them idle of what he was doing.
It was good. Really good. He had to listen to the renewed music for a while before ultimately deciding to actually go and have a look at its players. As he looked through the crack of the door he saw the band consisting mostly of guys… But there was also a girl. And then he saw blonde. Kaiji was a bit stunned, not only did he think that Sahara was still in detention class, but to think he was the lead guitarist of a school band that had actually caught his interest was kinda weird.
Playing past the intro flawlessly they launched into the lyrics. Stepping up to the mic, Sahara closed his eyes as he started singing. The song itself was pretty uncomplicated, but he had put a lot of effort into writing the lyrics, and adding back-up vocals that he had asked that Akagi try out singing. As they reached the lyrics the music kept the pace for about the first few sentences before the drums slowed down and came to a halt. Cracking one eye open and peeking over at Yoshiko, he saw that she now wore a pouting face.
"I just can't work this part!" Yoshiko groaned, "I don't think it sounds good!"
"Whaddaya mean, don't sound good? This is the best part of the song!!" Akagi was fuming but Sahara stepped in, raising his hand to calm his band.
"Okay, okay guys! You both have a valid point, but how about we try Yoshiko's alternative before deciding?" The other two nodded, and turning around Sahara stepped up to the mic.
Just as Yoshiko started counting to three Saraha's eyes met with Kaiji's, his mouth falling open. The other two stopped playing and groaned; Sahara had missed his opening.
'What's he doing here?!' he thought erratically.
Kaiji stared Sahara straight into the eyes for a few seconds. When he realized he was being stared back at he quickly withdrew his head from the door and turned around to bump his back against the wall softly. Collecting his thoughts, he noticed his rapidly beating heart. It wasn't the kind of adrenaline rush he'd get from fighting or running, it was something completely different.
What did he just see that had caused this? Like a flash, the image of Sahara closing his eyes and starting to sing went through Kaiji's mind.
"Oh fuck" he thought, gently slapping both of his cheeks with his palms before he started making his way out of the scene, that bizarre situation. He pushed some students to the side as he made his way towards the restrooms, making people stare after him.
Finally reaching his destination, he turned the cold water on and stared to wash his face furiously, trying to clear his head.
Back in the classroom Sahara was still staring at the door where Kaiji had been mere moments ago. Where he had been watching them play.
"What's with the blush Sahara?" Akagi was laughing good-naturedly but Sahara, who hadn't realized he was blushing, sent him a glare before pretended to wipe his face with his sleeve,
"Ah, just a bit warm, is all." How humiliating. Sahara never froze or stuttered when he was on a stage, not even in front of a larger crowd. Yet seeing Kaiji watching him perform, with that serious look of concentration and the scrutinizing gaze had Sahara totally tripping over his own lyrics.
"Maybe we should take a break?" Yoshiko suggested.
"Nah, we should finish up the song so that the next band can use the stage!" Sahara insisted. "I really think we can work this song, with a bit of practice."
'And I need to get my head straight. Sure the guy's really cool and badass, but seriously? If I intend to earn his respect, floundering ain't the way!' With that Sahara had his resolve back.
Teaser next chapter: Kaiji's gang is looking for trouble. Sahara wants to keep his senpai out of it, but does his reckless actions aid Kaiji or do they further complicate the situation?
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Summary: It's only a couple of weeks into Sahara Makoto's first term in High School, and he has already landed himself with detention. There he meets the school punk Itou Kaiji, who really has worse things than detention to worry about. How does this chance encounter affect them, and despite initial differences can it result in something more?
Rating: G
Word count: 4 139
Warning: None.
Music recommendations: Brainpool - Bandstarter
Sahara shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. How had he managed to get into this much trouble again? He was trudging towards detention area, still not quite sure why.
Sure, with his schoolbag slung loosely over one shoulder, both gakuran & shirt open to display a t-shirt with his favorite bandname printed on it, and the blond hair to top it all off, it all helped make him look quite the role of a delinquent. But truth to be told, Sahara was quite the sociable & apt young man. And aside from some of his minor teenage rebellion, like the way he wore his school attire, he had average scores on test, was active in school activities, with a nice circle of friends and, no doubt about it, plenty of potential girlfriends.
Obviously, though, that didn't save him from detention after telling a teacher off. It hadn't been a great offence either! His daily-cleaning group had been assigned to swipe the floors of the corridor after school had ended, before heading off to club activity. One of the other kids was in a hurry, and finished his task quickly. Sahara too wanted to get off earlier, as to not keep his band waiting (after all, they had to bring the instruments down to the classroom they used to practice themselves), and opted to defend his friend. But really, was laziness that big of a deal? Enough to put someone in detention? No not really, but being somewhat of a hothead, Sahara had ended up insulting the teacher when he wouldn't let them both off the hook so easily. And Sahara found out the hard way that calling the old scrooge "a geezer" hadn't been his best course of action.
Which took his mind back to the present; to the detention area. Arriving at the door on the second floor, usually the classroom of the upperclassmen of the school, he stopped to have his name ticked off the detention list.
"Sahara Makoto from class 1-C?"
"Uss"
"Tuck in your shirt & put on your gakuran straight!" The man in glasses hardly even looked up from his sheet of names. But the voice in which he spoke didn't exactly leave any room for an argument. So Sahara tucked in his shirt, fixed his pants & straightened his Gakuran before heading into the room. Seating himself pretty far back in the classroom, giving him a good vantage point, he pulled out his math book & a notebook with plenty more scribbles than actual calculations in it. Outside he could hear how the bands on the first floor started doing their sound testing, and Sahara wished he wasn't stuck in the murky classroom doubling detention center but instead down with his band, playing guitar.
Not too many moments after Sahara had taken his seat, another person entered the almost empty classroom. It was a boy, a bit taller than average. Long hair rested on his back and shoulders, while he'd licked the bangs usually resting on his forehead back slightly. He truly had the looks of a punk, a delinquent, his shirt untucked and the arms of the uniform curled up.
The most noticeable thing though, was a quite visible scar tracing his left cheekbone.
"Itou Kaiji of class 2-A?" The teacher queried, only to be answered with a lazy wave from the student. The teacher finally averted his gaze from the papers, and lightly but not without force he slammed his palms onto the front desk.
"I want a proper answer! And what are you thinking, going around like that! Correct your uniform this instant, Itou!!" The teacher commanded, taking full advantage of his occupational position.
Kaiji stopped in his tracks, turned around and with one hand he tucked in the front of his shirt into his pants very demonstratively with a cocky expression, before heading to one of the free seats which just happened to be besides the one which Sahara occupied. The teacher sighed and gave up on trying to lecture the longhaired student, proceeding with some work of his own by the front desk.
Sahara looked up at the rattle, letting his gaze pass between the teacher and the other boy -- Itou Kaiji was it? -- watching their almost casual banter. 'That Kaiji must be a regular here' Sahara thought with a snicker, but he didn't really hide his awe at the older boy's casual display of nonchalance in face of authority, as he let his eyes hover a while longer on him. Then he realized that the while had lasted a bit too long. Hastily fixing his gaze on the equation before him, that he hadn't even started solving, he let his pencil tap against the desk in time with the music floating in from outside.
Once again his thoughts traveled back to the band, on the floor below them. They had stopped tuning their instruments and started practicing on one of the more upbeat songs, which Sahara had written together with their bassist. They still needed to find someone with the fitting vocal range, but meanwhile Sahara doubled as lead singer.
All thoughts of math out of his head, Sahara started scribbling the name of their band in the margin of his notebook, trying to think of a cool design to fit their equally cool name, Snack Mooon (extra o for extra cool!).
"...Tsutsui Ichirou, class 2-C?" the teacher was marking the last arrivals before finally seating himself down comfortably behind the desk where he had previously stood.
It was going to be a long afternoon, Sahara settled, as he looked about the room and counted only five of them in total. But hopefully not too troublesome.
Kaiji slid down on the uncomfortable chair and brought up a pen and a folded paper from his pocket that he'd been taking almost nonexistent notes on during the day. He wasn't in the mood for studying. It wasn't like he really needed it either; most of the time he actually managed to get grades enough to pass.
Even so, he was the main object of hate of almost all his teachers because of his attitude. Many of the students disliked him too, but it was nothing he was being told. People were… afraid of him, and he was actually pretty comfortable with that. His lips curled up slightly as he was thinking about it.
He was brought back to reality by the continuous ticking sound of Sahara's pencil, and shifted his gaze over to the blonde by the desk beside him. Blonde, that was unusual. And interesting too. Kaiji deliberately looked Sahara over for a while before finally opening his mouth.
"Will you cut it out?" He murmured.
Sahara tapped the pencil against the desk a couple of more times before finally acknowledging that Kaiji must have aimed that request to his drumming. He turned his head towards the other and when greeted by a scary looking scowl, Sahara tried one of his most sincere apologetic grins, eyes scrunched together and smile all toothy and beamy.
"Sorry~ didn't realize I was doing that." Sahara kept his friendly face firm in place, but his tone was perhaps a bit too casual when addressing a senpai.
Kaiji was a little surprised by the reaction from the blonde. People were afraid of him, not friendly with him. He wasn't expecting a beamy smile at the very least. After a few seconds he realized he'd been looking at Sahara's face for a bit too long and turned back his head to look at his paper, his cheeks a bit warmer than usual.
Returning his focus back on the math equation, Sahara furrowed his brow, contemplating on how to solve the problem. His concentration didn't last long though, and as it strayed, so did his gaze. Two of the other boys, the upperclassman called Tsutsui and someone probably in the same grade or at least in the same club judging by the familiarity they displayed towards each other, had propped their desks together and were talking in hushed voices. Then there was the only girl, on the faaaar left-hand side furthest from everyone, texting someone with her cellphone under the table. And lastly, there was Kaiji, seated next to him, at least looking like he was doing something.
The teacher was reading a newspaper, and consequently his view was obscured, which meant that as long as one didn't make too much noise, it should be safe to fool around. Thus, Sahara tore a page from his book. Scribbling something hastily on it and folding it a haphazard manner, he discreetly placed it on Kaiji's desk.
In fact, Kaiji wasn't doing more than Sahara was. The paper in front of him was beginning to fill up with scribbles of teachers getting crushed beneath the feet of giant Godzilla-like monsters. He mentally chuckled, admiring his work of art before moving his pencil to the last blank spot to start another one.
Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of moving cloth and shifting his gaze, he realized Sahara had left a note right beside his left arm.
A few seconds passed before Kaiji's curiosity got the better of him and he snuck his right hand under his left arm to pick the scrap of paper before him. Without looking at Sahara, he opened it and read its contents.
In a not exactly tidy handwriting the following was written;
So what's the code of conduct? This being my first detention and all! w
Also, the name's Sahara Makoto [1-C]
"Sahara." Kaiji repeated in his head. As he held the paper, he realized he hadn't sent notes like this since the early years of junior high. "Sending notes, that's so girly." He thought to himself and was right about to crinkle the piece of paper up and throw it over his shoulder. But ... He was bored. Plus, he had no space left to scribble on.
He stared at the note once more before turning it upside down and starting to write a response. Crinkling the paper together in his fist to a little ball, he flung it discreetly in Sahara's direction.
It landed on the blonde's head. That was unintentional, of course.
It caused the blonde to make a surprised sound, before clamping his hands down over his mouth to muffle himself. There was some rustling of newspaper, and the teacher looked in their direction, but Sahara had quickly put on a straight face and waited carefully until the teacher had turned his attention back to the newspaper before placing the paper in front of him. He grinned, quite pleased with himself, before smoothing out the paper on the desk to read his reply.
The note read:
If you ask me, it's making life hard for the teachers.
But don't go making friends with the wrong peeps. ... I'm Itou Kaiji, 2-A
'The wrong ones being...' Sahara bit his lip, while thinking out the proper response. He finally scribbled something down in the margin of the paper, and balling the paper in his fist once more he chucked it over to Kaiji's desk again.
This time the note read;
Oh, is that so??
What if I'm one of the wrong ones? ww
The corners of Kaiji's mouth curled up slightly. He thought of the perfect answer.
Kaiji discarded the old paper and tore the corner of his own notes to write on.
You just lost your detention virginity, so I don't think so.
I'm a regular.
Reading this Sahara grinned; this guy actually had a sense of humor. Chancing a glance at the dark-haired older boy he took the time to study him.
Sure enough Kaiji did look the role of a ruffian; with his hair a bit too long and shaggy for school regulations, and clothes definitely in violation of dress code, as well as the scar tracing his cheekbone that bore witnessed of probable fights the other had been in, it really didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of esteem Kaiji put in authorities. But that wasn't what gave away just how badass Kaiji was. It was really the air about him, Sahara settled then, or actually more accurately the way he almost smelled different from others, like he meant mean business.
Returning his gaze to the piece of crumpled paper, Sahara bit the pencil in thought before writing a reply;
There are better virginities to lose.
And besides, I'm just getting warmed up!!
Kaiji's smiled to himself as he read Sahara's reply. For a first-year he sure had balls, sending notes to someone like Kaiji, plus matching his jokes in them. Kaiji didn't mind though, he hadn't had this much fun at a detention for a long time.
"Toc, Toc toc." Pebbles bounced against the window Kaiji sat by. He looked out and spotted two of the guys he usually hung out with. They were both delinquents like himself, you could easily tell just by taking a glance. They were grinning and one of them gestured for Kaiji to come down. Kaiji made a gesture back and rose from his seat.
Before heading for the door, Kaiji turned to Sahara. He wanted to say bye somehow, but was unsure of how to do it. After contemplating for a second, he suddenly placed his palm on Sahara's head, ruffling the blonde hair. Realizing exactly what he was doing, he retracted his hand and hurried for the door shouting something like "I'm heading to the bathroom" before he exited, ignoring the teachers protests. After taking a few steps, Kaiji slowed down.
"What the hell did I do that for…" He thought, the faint warmth returning to his face.
He barely gave Sahara enough time to register before dashing out of the classroom; the younger boy looked after him with a puzzled expression. 'Was it something I wrote?' Sahara thought briefly. But then he realized that Kaiji had informed him, even if only offhandedly, where he was going. Maybe it was a codeword for a rendezvous point where they could talk instead of having to pass notes back and forth. This guy was no words and all action!
Now there was only the question of how Sahara was supposed to go after Kaiji. He couldn't exactly say that he needed to visit the bathroom, that would be too obvious. But at the same time he couldn't exactly come up with some lame-ass excuse, since the teacher would probably not buy into that either. Finally Sahara settled on a white lie. Walking over to where the teacher was reading, he leaned onto the side of the desk,
"Teach! I kinda need to go check on my band. I realized that I left my guitar down in my classroom, and they might need it. Besides, I can't exactly leave it there!"
The teacher shook his head in exasperation before waving a none-committed hand towards the door, urging Sahara to just get out of his face. His hadn't exactly been the worst of offences anyway.
Sahara rushed back to his seat, grabbing his notebooks & stuffing everything into his bag, before heading out into the corridor and sliding the door shut as he did so.
Now, where could Kaiji have gone off to?
"ITOU-TAN why did you make us wait so longgg~" One of the ruffians exclaimed playfully as Kaiji approached them. "Oh fuck off!" He responded, aiming a kick at his mates who laughed and parried.
"So how's detention today, hm? Any hot chicks stuck in there with you?" The other boy asked curiously, grin wide on his face.
A flash of blonde went through Kaiji's head, but before it could turn into anything more, Kaiji shook the thought away. "So you really DID see someone, eh, EH?!" One of the boys concluded from Kaiji's delay in replying, and poked him in the ribs with his elbow. Once they were done teasing their friend, the ruffians' faces turned more serious.
"Actually, we came here to tell you to come to that place tonight at eight. You got that?"
"..Sure." Kaiji answered.
"See you later then. We're gonna beat the crap out of those assholes!" The two boys said before they left to leave, Kaiji remaining for a moment before turning to go back into the building.
Sahara put his hands on his knees, gasping for air, his breath caught in his throat and his lungs burning as he tried to force some oxygen in. He had looked everywhere on the second floor for Kaiji but when he realized that the older boy wasn't there, he had dashed down the stairs, running along the corridors hoping to run into him, or at least catch him before he left. Maybe Kaiji had already gone home? What if Sahara had misinterpreted what had been a casual comment as something with significant meaning? Sahara shook his head, it didn't really matter anyway, he had no idea what they were supposed to do or talk about once he did catch up with him.
Why had Sahara been so hell-bent on tracking down Kaiji anyway? There was still at least two hours before his band had to finish practice and pack up their kit. He straightened, 'might as well go get my guitar and join them'.
Hands in his pockets, Kaiji walked through the corridor. "So there was going to be some fighting to be done ..." He thought to himself, as he paced straight on, the crowds of students automatically moving out of the way. Kaiji stopped as he heard music. He was nowhere near returning to the detention again, so he thought he might as well check the source of the tunes out.
When he finally reached the classroom which the band was practicing in, he stopped outside the door and leaned against the wall to listen. They clearly went for the indie-rock impression, and they weren't that bad. Kaiji remembered that sometimes he'd been dreaming of becoming a rockstar of a band like the Blue Hearts or the High-Lows. Lost in his thoughts as he listened to the band practicing, Kaiji didn't notice Sahara who appeared at the end of the hallway.
Sahara hoisted his electric guitar case over one shoulder, dragging his feet behind him as he walked towards the classroom where his band was practicing. He could hear how they just finished playing one of their songs, and people from the 'light music' club started milling out from one of the classroom's two doors. The other one, further down the corridor, had purposefully been left only slightly ajar to minimize the amount of sound pouring out and also because the band had placed their instruments closer to that one.
Two girls, upperclassmen from the club, waved as they saw him approaching.
"Hey Sahara-kun~! Heard that you got detention for standing up for a classmate," one of the girls said as he got closer.
"Which is totally unfair!" the other one chirped in, shaking her head in a manner that made her shoulder length hair pool around her face prettily. Sahara only grinned, somewhat smug that his little ordeal had attracted attention. The right kind of attention!
"Well what do you expect from an old geezer like Morita-sensei?" he simply shrugged, smile still in place, "besides, it wasn't all bad really..." Sahara trailed off, briefly catching something out-of-place further down the corridor. Looking past the two girls he tried to work out what it had been. But with all the club members filling up the corridor, discussing the upcoming band tournament, he couldn't be sure if what he'd seen had just been his imagination. Maybe. He shrugged, suddenly not really all that interested in the extra attention he was receiving.
".. I should get back to my band!" Sahara apologized, before pushing past people and into the classroom.
Greeting his band, and plugging his guitar into one of the amps he turned to the bassist, Akagi, and started discussing which song to play next. "I say we try out the new one! I've been dying to since we finished it!" As the band agreed to try it out, Sahara took his place with the band. The crowd milled back into the classroom as he started playing the intro on his guitar...
Kaiji opened his eyes as the music stopped for a few minutes and realized that people were swarming around place. He didn't like crowds, he felt uncomfortable and out of place among what was mostly girls. But as he turned to leave, suddenly something happened to the music. It'd become more lively and colorful and it stopped Kaiji in them idle of what he was doing.
It was good. Really good. He had to listen to the renewed music for a while before ultimately deciding to actually go and have a look at its players. As he looked through the crack of the door he saw the band consisting mostly of guys… But there was also a girl. And then he saw blonde. Kaiji was a bit stunned, not only did he think that Sahara was still in detention class, but to think he was the lead guitarist of a school band that had actually caught his interest was kinda weird.
Playing past the intro flawlessly they launched into the lyrics. Stepping up to the mic, Sahara closed his eyes as he started singing. The song itself was pretty uncomplicated, but he had put a lot of effort into writing the lyrics, and adding back-up vocals that he had asked that Akagi try out singing. As they reached the lyrics the music kept the pace for about the first few sentences before the drums slowed down and came to a halt. Cracking one eye open and peeking over at Yoshiko, he saw that she now wore a pouting face.
"I just can't work this part!" Yoshiko groaned, "I don't think it sounds good!"
"Whaddaya mean, don't sound good? This is the best part of the song!!" Akagi was fuming but Sahara stepped in, raising his hand to calm his band.
"Okay, okay guys! You both have a valid point, but how about we try Yoshiko's alternative before deciding?" The other two nodded, and turning around Sahara stepped up to the mic.
Just as Yoshiko started counting to three Saraha's eyes met with Kaiji's, his mouth falling open. The other two stopped playing and groaned; Sahara had missed his opening.
'What's he doing here?!' he thought erratically.
Kaiji stared Sahara straight into the eyes for a few seconds. When he realized he was being stared back at he quickly withdrew his head from the door and turned around to bump his back against the wall softly. Collecting his thoughts, he noticed his rapidly beating heart. It wasn't the kind of adrenaline rush he'd get from fighting or running, it was something completely different.
What did he just see that had caused this? Like a flash, the image of Sahara closing his eyes and starting to sing went through Kaiji's mind.
"Oh fuck" he thought, gently slapping both of his cheeks with his palms before he started making his way out of the scene, that bizarre situation. He pushed some students to the side as he made his way towards the restrooms, making people stare after him.
Finally reaching his destination, he turned the cold water on and stared to wash his face furiously, trying to clear his head.
Back in the classroom Sahara was still staring at the door where Kaiji had been mere moments ago. Where he had been watching them play.
"What's with the blush Sahara?" Akagi was laughing good-naturedly but Sahara, who hadn't realized he was blushing, sent him a glare before pretended to wipe his face with his sleeve,
"Ah, just a bit warm, is all." How humiliating. Sahara never froze or stuttered when he was on a stage, not even in front of a larger crowd. Yet seeing Kaiji watching him perform, with that serious look of concentration and the scrutinizing gaze had Sahara totally tripping over his own lyrics.
"Maybe we should take a break?" Yoshiko suggested.
"Nah, we should finish up the song so that the next band can use the stage!" Sahara insisted. "I really think we can work this song, with a bit of practice."
'And I need to get my head straight. Sure the guy's really cool and badass, but seriously? If I intend to earn his respect, floundering ain't the way!' With that Sahara had his resolve back.
Teaser next chapter: Kaiji's gang is looking for trouble. Sahara wants to keep his senpai out of it, but does his reckless actions aid Kaiji or do they further complicate the situation?
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