[Oresama Teacher] fic: Don't Assassinate the Pigeons

[lucathia_rykatu]

Title: Don't Assassinate the Pigeons
Fandom: Oresama Teacher
Words: 7,183
Summary: Saeki Takaomi needs Mafuyu's help. Mafuyu crossdresses, Hayasaka frets, Okegawa disapproves, and Yui nearly assassinates a pigeon.
Notes: Written for specialrhino for Yuletide 2012. Originally posted here. I was so happy I got to write this fandom. ♥ (Many liberties were taken with a certain character's background in this fic, and his background will most likely be contradicted by canon in the future, but for now, I hope this feels plausible!)

Don't Assassinate the Pigeons

Even before she had figured out the identity of her neighbor, Mafuyu had always known that older women came and went from the apartment room next door. She'd wondered about that, naively thinking that maybe her neighbor was a mature female office worker, and that those pretty ladies were her assorted friends.

How wrong she had been.

Takaomi was definitely not who she had imagined her neighbor to be. He wasn't an office worker, wasn't female, and wasn't at all the epitome of maturity even though he was older than her. When she asked him about the pretty ladies she'd seen, she received a leer in response and a mocking, "Oh, you want to know?"

Mafuyu had decided right then and there that she did not want to know. She didn't want to get involved either.

So...

Why in the world was she currently pinned against the wall by Takaomi in his room, with a young, wealthy-looking lady decked in jewelry standing at the doorway, the lady’s eyes so wide that if they were any wider, her eyeballs would probably pop out and roll across the floor to stare accusingly at Mafuyu?

Shock and betrayal were written all over the lady's face!

Mafuyu silently apologized to her. What right did Takaomi have to make such a pretty lady look like that? Girls were delicate! They should be treasured!

Clearly Mafuyu had gotten herself tangled in something messy. Something very, very messy. The last place she wanted to be right now was between the wall and Takaomi, but unfortunately, that was exactly where she was. Determined, she tried wiggling; heck yeah, that was one hand free-

A warm, calloused hand enveloped hers.

Mafuyu started.

Takaomi smirked.

"Saeki-san, you-!" the lady managed to say in a shrill voice while Mafuyu was still speechless.

Mafuyu very much wanted to know what Takaomi was trying to do here too. She thought her eyes were probably just as wide as the lady's. Even though she hadn't yet lost her eyeballs to the floor, they were awfully dry from overexposure to the air.

Takaomi didn't even acknowledge the lady behind him. Instead, he leaned closer to Mafuyu, and she promptly froze, goosebumps rising on her skin. She could feel his breath on her bare neck...!

"Y-You!" the lady continued, blond curls trembling as she shook her head in disbelief. "I-I didn't know you're into guys!"

Kurosaki Mafuyu was, in fact, currently dressed like a high school boy. To be exact, she was in disguise as Natsuo as per Takaomi's orders, even though she hadn't understood why he'd wanted her to come dressed this way. Now, she thought she had more of an idea about what was going on, but she still wasn't entirely sure.

"You better watch out!" screamed the lady in a very unlady-like fashion, her voice climbing even higher.

Then, the door slammed shut with so much force that the walls shook and groaned. Mafuyu darted her eyes upwards to watch the ceiling in case it threatened to fall, but instead what she saw was Takaomi’s amused eyes.

His face was way too close!

Her breath hitched and she wrenched her hand out of Takaomi’s grasp, intent on smacking Takaomi in the face to get him out of her way, but just as she tried to do so, Takaomi stood up and cracked his neck in a relaxed fashion. When she stumbled from swatting at air, he looked over at her with one eyebrow raised.

"What was that, Takaomi-kun?" Mafuyu asked instead, pretending like she hadn't just stumbled. She righted herself and jerked her head at the door where the lady had previously stood. Come to think of it, the lady had looked somewhat familiar, but Mafuyu didn't think she'd met her before. Why then, did she look so familiar?

"That was me getting rid of a persistent problem."

That didn't answer much at all.

"Why did you ask me to come as Natsuo?"

"Because she won't give up if I'm just seeing some other woman."

That would explain why he needed a guy, but why her then, if what he needed was a guy? Why not get one of the others in the Disciplinary Club to act out this role? Wouldn't that be a lot less complicated? They wouldn't need to crossdress. And Takaomi would look less like a pedophile too. Because really, for a boy, Natsuo was short. And skinny to boot.

"Why me? Why not drag Hayasaka in? Or Akki. Or the ninja. Or Banchou," said Mafuyu. Seriously, he had a lot of choices.

He stared at her like he thought she was stupid and missing something very obvious. Maybe she was because she felt really out of her depth. Takaomi always had a knack of knocking her off her feet. Mentally and physically. He nonchalantly answered, "That would get me in trouble."

"What?"

Mafuyu was not following Takaomi's reasoning. At all.

"They're students at my school, duh. I'd get into trouble for that."

Now it was Mafuyu’s turn to stare at him. Then what about her?

Takaomi added, "Natsuo is not a student."

That was his reasoning!?

"What? It's true. Don't look at me like that. A loophole is a loophole, and it should be used to my advantage. Natsuo doesn't exist in records. He doesn't count as a student."

"Then what about the fact that 'Natsuo' is very much a minor?" asked Mafuyu flatly.

Takaomi rubbed his chin. "That could pose a problem. Damn, why are you so short? Whatever. Natsuo technically doesn't exist, so you can't say he's a minor either."

Mafuyu nearly stumbled again. This plan to chase the lady away was sounding more and more like one of Takaomi's half-baked ideas, like how Takaomi had made her try out all those new sports with him when they had been younger, just because he had felt like it (and he'd dropped each sport like a hot potato whenever he hit a snag). Or like how he had egged her on to fight Akkun by herself when Akkun had taken her stuffed bunny. Takaomi hadn't even considered that she was just a lone elementary kid against so many. Coming out of that as the victor had been revolutionary for Mafuyu.

Had Takaomi even stopped to consider what he was doing? She had a feeling he hadn't. He was just that confident, and oftentimes... He had reason to be confident.

She just really hoped this plan wouldn't backfire on them. Especially since the lady’s final words had sounded ominous.

Although she had been worried, nothing came back to bite them in the rear, which was a relief. At least, nothing happened that Mafuyu knew of. The week passed peacefully, so Mafuyu considered the case closed. She skipped to school, spotted Hayasaka's telltale blond hair that made many people mistake him for a yankee, and perked up.

"Hayasaka-kun~!" Mafuyu cheerfully greeted. She lunged forward with her arms wide open, but Hayasaka quickly dodged to the side. Mafuyu ended up grabbing air, but that was okay. She was fairly sure Hayasaka's reaction had greatly leveled up thanks to her morning ambushes, and that made her proud. He was growing up into such a fine, young man! She was so touched that she wiped a tear away from her eye.

"Good morning," Hayasaka muttered with far less cheer. There were dark circles under his eyes. He could play the part of a walking zombie with no problem.

"Good morn!" Mafuyu said in what she thought was a very ojou-sama like voice, heart soaring over the fact that Hayasaka had returned her greeting. It made her feel that today was going to turn out to be a beautiful day, worthy of being boasted about to Ichigo Love-sama in her next letter to her pen pal.

Hayasaka frowned, right hand deep in his pocket, backpack swung over his shoulder. "Hey..."

Immediately, Mafuyu's head snapped up and she beamed happily at him, hanging onto his every word. Hayasaka took a step back, but then he shook his head and pulled his hand out from his pocket.

Curious, Mafuyu looked at the colorful strips of paper he had taken out. Off in the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a flash of black. She snapped her head in that direction -- there was nothing there.

"I received some free coupons for this dessert store," said Hayasaka, eyes staring down at the coupons without looking at Mafuyu. "You wanna go?"

Mafuyu’s attention immediately returned to the colorful strips in Hayasaka’s hand.

The goddess of beautiful days must be shining down on Mafuyu! This was nearly too much!

"I want to go!" shouted Mafuyu right away. She snatched the coupons out of Hayasaka's hand, her eyes shining as she raised them up into the air like some kind of treasure found in a dungeon. Of course she wanted to go! This would be one of the few times she ever went to town together with Hayasaka. Most of the time, he always headed back to his dorm without going anywhere else after school, which meant Mafuyu never got to hang out with him outside of classes and whatever they did together for the Disciplinary Club.

She turned, already daydreaming about what their afternoon outing would be like. She wished that classes were already over... Even though they hadn't even started yet.

Nothing was going to be able to destroy her good mood today! At least, that was what she thought as she hummed to herself and stepped through the classroom door.

Immediately upon stepping through the threshold, she shivered, and her cheerful mood scampered off to some dark and unknown place without even bidding her sayonara.

Takaomi looked over at her from the front of the class. Although he was smiling, Mafuyu could tell that his smile was completely fake.

"What's wrong?" asked Hayasaka from behind her.

"Nothing," she replied, hoping that it really was nothing, but the look on Takaomi's face told her otherwise. She quickly entered the classroom and found her seat. Once Hayasaka followed her in, he shivered as well and hurried to his seat. All of the other students were already seated primly and properly, as if they were afraid to let a single hair move.

Throughout class, Mafuyu made tally marks in her notebook, one tiny little black line for every time Takaomi made one of the students cringe. Whenever Takaomi looked over, the students would immediately bury their noses in their books, hoping Takaomi would deem them too boring to pay attention to.

Beside her, Hayasaka had also chosen to hide his face with his book. Only his narrowed eyes could be seen over the top of his book. From time to time, he would glance over her way, and she would pose or smile. He always quickly averted his eyes.

After another round of glance, pose, ignore, Mafuyu turned her attention back on Takaomi. She twirled her pencil, deep in thought. She doodled Takaomi on her paper, giving him fierce teeth and a fiery aura. Then, she added a bunch of question marks surrounding him.

Mafuyu noticed that Takaomi's face would grow the darkest whenever he neared the windows. He'd glance outside and make a tsking noise, but Mafuyu didn't see anything outside the window. Even leaning across Hayasaka to peer out the window didn't reveal anything.

Just what was causing Takaomi's bad mood?

She found out after school when she was about to head off to meet Hayasaka.

"Mafuyu, I need your help again," Takaomi said, grabbing her by the collar before she could run off. He'd caught her just as she was returning for her bag! "This is turning out messier than I thought," he added.

He pointed out the window. Now she saw, and she stopped struggling so that she could take a closer look at where Takaomi was pointing.

"They're...?" asked Mafuyu. So that's what she had spotted in the morning!

"Yeah," answered Takaomi. "She doesn’t know when to give up."

Off to the side, Akki smiled and brandished his makeup brushes. They were going to leave the behind-the-scenes investigation to him.

Mafuyu's face fell. She'd really wanted to go to the dessert shop with Hayasaka. Now, she was going to have to make up an excuse to him yet again.

It never got easier.

While waiting for Kurosaki after school, Hayasaka slipped the coupons for the dessert shop out of his pocket again. Being a loyal customer sure paid off. The dessert store, whose number was 08 on his contacts list, frequently gave him special offers. He'd gone on his own a few times and had intended on going by himself again, but the look on Kurosaki's face this morning had made him reconsider.

That stupidly happy look of hers always got to him. Somehow, they had become friends even though Kurosaki wanted to live a normal high school life. Being friends with him was not the way to go about living a normal high school life, not with how mere association with him was giving her a bad name, but maybe he could approximate something close to normal and invite her out.

Friends did that, right?

"Yo, Hayasaka-kun."

He turned, about to greet Kurosaki, but it was not Kurosaki who had called out to him even though the voice had sounded somewhat similar, just lower.

"Natsuo?" Hayasaka exclaimed happily, spotting the short boy. Natsuo had his hands in his pockets and a gold chain dangling from his neck. He walked over, back slightly slouched.

Hayasaka quickly glanced around, looking for any threats. As one of the secret members of the Disciplinary Club, Natsuo really only ever showed up when something was going on. Hayasaka didn't know where Natsuo hung out the rest of the time, but it was like he didn't have to go to school. Or something like that.

There were quite a lot of students still around, mostly in clumps, chattering about where they were going to head off to. By the school gates, there were also two tall men in black who were wearing sunglasses. Hayasaka narrowed his eyes. What were they doing here? At this rate, Hayasaka was going to lose even more sleep.

Natsuo followed his gaze. Soon after, he moved right in front of Hayasaka and blocked his view.

Natsuo had an apologetic look on his face. "That Kurosaki girl had to go home. She's sorry she couldn't make it."

"Did something happen? Is she sick?" asked Hayasaka, momentarily deciding to ignore the two men. He was sure they wouldnt try anything, and if they did, he was ready for them.

He was also sure that Kurosaki had been looking forward to going to the dessert shop. Her face had lit up like a little kid finding out that Christmas had come early, but during class she'd given him an uneasy feeling. She had been super concentrated on carving marks into her notebook, and she'd been glaring holes into Saeki. He really hoped nothing was wrong.

For some strange reason, Natsuo looked like he was trying hard to suppress a grin. He coughed into his hand and said, "Nah, she's fine. Just some stuff going on."

Hayasaka looked down at the coupons again. Then, he looked back up. "Want to grab some dessert?"

Now it was Natsuo's turn for his face to light up like Christmas had come. Sometimes, Natsuo really reminded him of Kurosaki.

"Oh, but..." Natsuo bit his lips. Hayasaka waited. Was it just his imagination, or did Natsuo's skin look smoother today? It was almost like he was... sparkling.

Hayasaka quickly shook his head. Why should he care about that?

Natsuo peered up at him. "I hope you don't mind that I invite one more person."

Hayasaka looked at his coupons. He had extra. “I guess one more wouldn't hurt.”

He just didn't expect that the tag-along would be Saeki of all people.

It was a distinctly weird feeling hanging out with your teacher after school. At a dessert shop even. They were surrounded by pink walls and white lace too, which was why Hayasaka usually ordered out instead of dining inside.

What troubled Hayasaka even more than Saeki's presence, however, was that Natsuo and Saeki were seated on the same side of the table right next to each other. With their shoulders touching.

Hayasaka picked up his menu, furtively looking over the top at his teacher and his friend.

He was not imagining things.

They were flirting. Natsuo was... how should he say this? He behaved a lot differently with Saeki around. Natsuo had always taken the lead with Hayasaka, showing him the ropes, but whenever Saeki was around, Natsuo more often than not deferred to him; however, they weren't at all like teacher and student. More like friends or even siblings. And now...

With both heads bent over, they shared a menu, and only their hair could be seen as they discussed their orders.

"I want that one," Natsuo exclaimed, head bobbing as he energetically pointed out what he wanted.

"That humongous monster?" Saeki's head appeared from over the menu. He leaned back against the striped pink sofa and looked Natsuo up and down. "You're going to explode from that."

Natsuo frowned and slapped the menu down. He stood up indignantly even though that still didn't give him much of a height advantage. "You don't think I can eat that? I can, I'll have you know!"

"The triple chocolate-raspberry mousse parfait deluxe with apple crisp and lemon pudding? That doesn't even sound good. More like, it sounds downright nasty."

"Whatever, I'm going to order it. It says if you buy the extra large serving size, you even get a Nekomata cell phone accessory! Everything's half off, right?" asked Natsuo, looking at Hayasaka for confirmation.

"Huh? Oh, it's actually buy one get one free."

It took a moment for Hayasaka to gather his wits. He'd known about Natsuo and Saeki, but he thought they were keeping their relationship quiet! Now, they were blatantly flaunting it for all to see!

Natsuo looked at Saeki.

Saeki shook his head. "Oh no, don't look at me like that. I'm not going to stuff myself with that thing."

Five minutes later, Hayasaka stared down at his gigantic parfait. Across from him, Natsuo and Saeki were also staring down at their own gigantic parfait. Hayasaka tried counting the layers in the parfait, but he lost count by the eighth layer. There were also three wafer sticks sticking out of the parfait, and a large slab of dark chocolate that said "triple deluxe" next to a bunch of strawberries. Both jumbo sized parfaits had come with random Nekomata cell phone straps as presents.

Hayasaka looked at his Nekomata strap. Nekomata was positioned on his knees in a position of defeat. That was not a good sign when Hayasaka hadn't even started eating yet.

"I thought we were supposed to get apples and lemons. The name didn't mention strawberries anywhere," said Saeki. He looked at the parfait in front of him with disgust.

"It looks delicious!" Natsuo claimed, eyes sparkling.

Hayasaka picked up his spoon and steeled himself. This was a much more daring order than he'd ever tried before, and it was not something he'd order by himself. Natsuo sure had guts! "Time to dig in, I guess."

He ate a mouthful, and then almost choked when he saw Natsuo raise a spoon, holding it out to Saeki.

"Say 'ahhh'," Natsuo said as he leaned closer to Saeki.

Saeki grinned and let Natsuo feed him.

"Okay, it doesn't taste half bad if you're feeding it to me," Saeki said and licked his lips in a very disturbing fashion.

"Could you...not do that in front of me?" Hayasaka protested in a pained voice, eyes wide. He quickly glanced around, hoping no one from school was around. Both Natsuo and Saeki would surely get in trouble if anyone saw.

He didn't spot anyone from school with his quick glance, but he did see two guys dressed in black who looked entirely out of place in the sweets shop, especially with a dainty cake in-between them. They were even looking Hayasaka's way, slow in response to avert their gaze when they noticed his attention. Wait, weren't they...! No, they weren't the same people, but Hayasaka recognized the way they were dressed. These two were with the others.

He frowned. Definitely being stalked.

"Do what?" asked Saeki, answering Hayasaka's question with a question. "This?"

After he spoke, Saeki swung his arm around Natsuo's shoulders and pulled him closer. "Here, now my turn. You should taste this delicious parfait too since you ordered it."

Natsuo seemed to stiffen when Saeki pulled him closer, but then he relaxed and licked the spoon that Saeki held up for him. After that, Saeki plucked a strawberry from the parfait and fed it to Natsuo.

Hayasaka stared, barely able to believe his eyes. This was... this was...!

Behind them, something snapped. It sounded like glass.

"Good, it looks like we've successfully lured them out-" Saeki started saying until Natsuo looked up and cut him off.

"Banchou!?" he exclaimed. "Why..."

The smugness on Saeki's face disappeared without a trace. "You're not the right person," he muttered under his breath.

Okegawa was holding something that was possibly a parfait cup before it had snapped in two. By his pocket dangled a Nekomata cell phone strap, one with an angry, scowling face, much like Okegawa's current thundering expression.

Without warning, he pulled Natsuo out of Saeki's grasp, spoon clattering onto the table, and then stood protectively in front of him. "Even if you're a teacher, you have to follow the proper steps! What are your intentions toward Mo-Natsuo?" he growled.

Saeki nonchalantly said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "My intentions? Why, he's the love of my life. What do you think my intentions are?"

Three pairs of eyes stared incredulously at Saeki, including Natsuo's before Saeki gave him a look. Saeki lifted one eyebrow and darted his eyes to the right with a side glance.

Natsuo furrowed his brows, coughed, and then in a strange voice, said, "Oh Takaomi-kun! I didn't know you thought of me that way!"

It was like he had suddenly changed gears.

Okegawa stared down at Natsuo. "That's it. You two have to be separated. No dating until graduation!"

He promptly sat next to Saeki like a disgruntled dad who had just caught his daughter dallying with a suitor he didn't approve of and who was doing his utmost to separate them, including plopping himself right between them. He left nearly no room for Natsuo. It was a tight fit with two large men sitting on the same side, their legs running into each other's.

Seeing that Okegawa had no intention of budging, Natsuo frowned but didn't move to sit next to Hayasaka where there was plenty of room. Instead, he squeezed into the space next to Okegawa who dwarfed him by quite a bit.

Both Natsuo and Saeki had a look on their faces that Hayasaka didn't know how to describe; however, they didn't let Okegawa's presence deter them. A moment later, they continued flirting with Okegawa between them.

"You're going to love this, Takaomi-kun!" exclaimed Natsuo. He leaned forward so that he could speak to Saeki.

"You understand me so well, Natsuo, my love," replied Saeki.

Just what in the world was going on here!?

Hayasaka quickly sent a text to Yui for backup. He couldn't make heads or tails of this, and there were those men in black to deal with too.

They still hadn't left, and it was getting on Hayasaka's nerves.

Okegawa hooked the Nekomata cell phone accessory that Morse had given him onto his phone right next to the angry one he'd just gotten from ordering a giant parfait.

He looked at the cell phone strap, staring at it intently.

Nekomata winked up at him. His handsome mustache looked very manly.

Was Morse trying to tell him something?

Beside him, they were still at it.

"Have some more, Takaomi-kun!" Morse smiled widely, spoon nearly pushed against Saeki's mouth.

Saeki ducked the spoon. "Oh no, you should have some more," Saeki protested and pushed the spoon back in Morse's direction.

"No, no, I insist!"

On and on it went out until Okegawa could stand no more.

He grabbed the spoon, closing his hand around Morse's, and ate the ice cream, the coldness numbing his tongue. If Saeki were a real man among men, he wouldn't let Morse suffer like this when she clearly didn't want any more of the parfait.

Morse and Saeki blinked. Then, Morse smiled, and Okegawa's heart melted at the sight. Few girls were capable of smiling like that in his presence. Just today, he'd had a diminutive waitress cower in fear when he'd ordered his parfait. Was it his hair? His height? Why had she been afraid... He'd only stared at her because of the Nekomata cell phone strap she'd had dangling from her platter. It was one of the ones he was still missing, which was why he'd been elated when Morse gave him hers. That was exactly one of the ones he didn't have yet.

"Banchou, you're the best! Do you want more?"

With much effort, Okegawa helped them finish the parfait. Across from them, Hayasaka was near tears over his own. Okegawa wasn't faring much better -- he'd already had a parfait before they had come in. It was his fourth time here already -- he still hadn't gotten the last two Nekomata cell phone straps he needed, the OTL one and the ;) one. Morse and Hayasaka had such good luck, especially Hayasaka. His was the rarest one. The last one Okegawa needed!

But that wasn't the matter at hand no matter how much Okegawa wanted to stare at Hayasaka's cell phone strap. What kind of act was Morse and her teacher trying to put on? If Saeki wanted to go out with her, then he had to do right by her and wait until after graduation!

When the bill came, Morse pulled out her wallet, looking like she had every intention to pay for her own portion. Okegawa stopped her and gave Saeki a look.

"What's wrong?" asked Hayasaka who had already finished paying even after he'd stared at some picture in his wallet before putting it away.

"Saeki should pay," Okegawa said.

Morse's teacher raised his eyebrows, looking like he completely disagreed. But after a glance around their surroundings, he seemed to change his mind. "You're right. I should be more chivalrous, shouldn't I? My lovely Natsuo, let me handle that bill."

It...worked?

Okegawa didn't really think Saeki would cave like that. He wasn't the type to go along with other people's suggestions. Okegawa swiveled his head.

Ah.

Were they putting on an act for those two suspicious-looking men in the corner?

They were very obviously watching Morse and company. Okegawa watched as they brought a cell phone out and started speaking to someone on the other end.

If they thought Okegawa would let any harm fall on his friends while he was around, then they were sorely mistaken.

After they paid their bill, Morse announced that she felt they should watch a movie. Since none of the others had any suggestions, Okegawa suggested watching the latest Nekomata movie, Nekomata and the Gang of Messenger Birds.

Morse chuckled. Hayasaka wrinkled his brows.

"It’s a really good movie," Okegawa said, trying to convince Hayasaka and Saeki. This particular movie was the sequel to the movie where Nekomata had started using pigeons to send messages. He really looked forward to how the pigeons would feature in this movie. Maybe he could even teach a few tricks to Torikichi and surprise Snow. "Nekomata is a superb role model."

Okegawa stared at Hayasaka's Nekomata cell phone strap after he spoke, wondering if Hayasaka would mind parting with it. Maybe he could buy it off of Hayasaka. Okegawa didn't think he could survive through another extra large parfait, and even if he ordered another one, it wasn't guaranteed that he would receive the missing cell phone strap he needed.

Saeki didn't look convinced about the movie, but he let Morse pull him along. As they walked, Okegawa took notice of the men in black that were following them.

"Just like in Nekomata and the Rise of the Stalkers, we're being stalked in broad daylight," Okegawa muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" asked Hayasaka.

"Nothing," Okegawa replied, but he darted his eyes to the side. Hayasaka followed his gaze, and then he moved in closer.

"You've noticed them too?" Hayasaka asked quietly.

"Yeah," Okegawa replied, voice lowered.

"They're stalking M-Natsuo-" "They’re stalking me-"

Both Okegawa and Hayasaka spoke at the same time, their words blending together. They turned towards each other in surprise.

"What do you mean?" asked Okegawa.

"That's my question!" exclaimed Hayasaka.

"So they've finally taken the bait," said Saeki, backing into them. Morse also moved closer.

"What?" asked Hayasaka in confusion, but the rest of his questioned died before he even voiced it.

They were surrounded. Men wearing black suits were all around them. One started walking forward and taking off his sunglasses. Hayasaka started for some reason. The man folded his sunglasses and put them in his upper pocket.

"Miss Ana-"

"I might not know what's going on," Okegawa butted in, cutting the man's words off, "but there's one thing I know. You'll regret ganging up on us."

Okegawa let loose a predatory grin.

Then, a shuriken flew out from nowhere, narrowly missing the guy who had spoken, and all hell broke loose.

Okegawa wasn't even the one who had thrown the first punch, but he quickly joined in.

Hayasaka raised his arm, deflecting the blow like how Natsuo had taught him. He took a step to the side and rendered a man unconscious with a hand chop. After that, he kicked at the next person that came at him, and then he regrouped with Okegawa-banchou, his adrenaline singing.

"You take the left, I'll take the right," Hayasaka suggested.

"Sounds good."

They flew back into the fray. From the corner of his eye, Hayasaka could see Natsuo sending his opponents flying. It was always a real treat seeing Natsuo fight. The way Natsuo fought was seamless. He made things look so easy even though Hayasaka knew that Natsuo put a lot of thinking into fighting. It was a completely different way of fighting than Hayasaka's style.

He didn't really think when he fought. He just let his body move. It didn't matter if he got hurt. Fighting made him feel alive. It made him feel grounded. And most importantly, it made him forget himself.

Another shuriken flew out.

"Yui!" Hayasaka exclaimed.

From above -- had he been in a tree? -- Yui dropped down. He landed softly right next to Hayasaka.

"What's the situation?" Yui asked as he stood up straighter and fixed his glasses with a push.

"You attacked without even figuring out the situation?" asked Hayasaka in astonishment. He'd seen the shuriken that started the brawl. It had to have been Yui who'd thrown that.

"You were all surrounded," Yui stated.

"I guess so," Hayasaka grinned ruefully.

"So, what exactly is the situation?"

Hayasaka scowled and punched the nearest man in black in the face.

"These guys are after me," he said.

His family never knew when to give up, but Hayasaka didn't mind so much anymore. Now, he had Yui and all the others by his side.

He no longer fought alone.

Mafuyu whirled around and kicked a guy in the stomach. She'd overheard what Hayasaka had said. Why would he think that they were after him? They weren't! The blond lady that Takaomi had offended had wanted to verify that "Natsuo" and Takaomi really were going out. She'd sent her lackeys after Takaomi to watch him at school, and they'd discovered that Natsuo and Takaomi could rarely be seen together. At least, that was what Takaomi had told her, and why they'd needed to put on a show to convince the lady that they were going out.

Just as Mafuyu wondered about what Hayasaka had meant, she felt her cell phone vibrate. Who was calling her in the middle of a fight?

She dealt with the next lackey with her left hand. With her right, she retrieved her cell phone.

Aki had sent her a message.

It said: Mafuyu-san, I've figured out the lady's background! Her real name is Anabelle, and she's part of the Hayasaka Corporations. Take a look at this!

Hayasaka Corporations...?

The next message included two photos, one of Hayasaka and one of the blond lady who Takaomi was trying to get rid of. In the next photo, Aki overlaid Hayasaka and the blond lady's pictures together. It was a very close match.

Aki had always been good at recognizing people by their features. No wonder he had been able to make the connection. Mafuyu had thought the lady looked familiar, but she hadn't been able to figure out why she looked so familiar!

Mafuyu stared at her cell phone.

"Look out!" Okegawa yelled.

Right away, Mafuyu ducked. A man flew over her head, knocking into the tree behind her with a loud "omph."

Mafuyu didn't even bat an eye at that. She looked down at her cell phone again. Then, she looked back up and stared at Hayasaka.

"What?" Hayasaka asked, his hair glittering golden in the sunlight as he punched another person. At least, it looked nearly golden to Mafuyu.

"You're a natural blond?" asked Mafuyu in disbelief. She'd thought he dyed his hair! Wasn't that why everyone thought he was a delinquent?

Hayasaka gave her a look. "Why in the world are you asking me that in the middle of a fight?"

"Are you, or are you not!?"

"It’s 100% natural!" Hayasaka yelled over the clamor. "Why would I want to dye my hair and ruin my roots?"

Stunned, Mafuyu knocked the next guy down with a bit too much strength.

She'd thought he dyed his hair! Did this mean Hayasaka was actually only half Japanese? Mafuyu hadn't known that!

"What is going on here?" screeched a high voice, one that had rattled Mafuyu's eardrums merely a week ago.

The battle immediately died down, or it nearly did because Mafuyu gave the last guy another punch to make sure he stayed down.

Takaomi stood off to the side. He hadn't joined in on the fight. Mafuyu figured that was what would happen -- as a teacher, he'd get penalized the most if he were to be caught in a brawl. Although he was currently at the scene, if they were actually caught, he'd have many witnesses who could testify that he hadn't thrown a single punch.

Some part of Mafuyu actually wished Takaomi could have joined in; his strength was exhilarating to watch. But since he couldn't fight, Mafuyu would take his place for him so that he wouldn't have to fight.

Mafuyu held her stance.

The wealthy-looking lady who had stormed Takaomi's apartment room a week ago, only to be chased away by Takaomi's fake act, walked forward. One of the men in black tried his hardest to climb back up. It was the guy who had tried to speak with them.

"M-Miss Anabelle," the guy stammered.

"Shush you, I only told you to go relay a message. How did it turn into a brawl?" she complained. She turned a disapproving look on Mafuyu and her friends. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to shoot the messenger?"

For a moment, Mafuyu hadn't understood what she meant.

"They're...you're only here to talk?" Mafuyu finally asked incredulously. Why surround them with so many people then? No one liked being surrounded!

"Yes," Anabelle replied before she blinked and stepped closer. "You're that boy!" she said with a scowl. Then, she noticed Takaomi.

"S-Saeki-san! You're here too?" she exclaimed.

For once, Mafuyu thought Takaomi looked bewildered. It sounded like this Anabelle lady hadn't even known he was around. Takaomi opened his mouth to say, "Of course I'm here. Didn't you send these guys to stalk me?"

"Whyever would I want to stalk you?" asked Anabelle in confusion, brows furrowed.

Takaomi briefly glanced at Mafuyu before he looked back at Anabelle. "For breaking your heart...?"

"Hmph!" Anabelle snorted in a decisively unlady-like fashion and tossed her hair. "I've already gotten over that. Obviously, I'm not your type if that's your type."

She looked Mafuyu up and down disdainfully.

"A-Ana, you're into Saeki?" asked Hayasaka, mouth wide open in shock, hand in his pocket. What was there, his wallet? "Man, you shouldn't have fallen for him. They've been together ever since I've known Natsuo. All you had to do was ask me."

Mafuyu nearly spluttered. She supposed it was true that she and Takaomi had deluded him into thinking that, and now they had a witness for the lady that Natsuo and Takaomi were together. Even though it didn't actually seem necessary.

"...you know each other?" Takaomi asked.

"Duh! That's the only reason I'm even here!" Anabelle said. "And what do you mean, 'ask you'?" Anabelle turned toward Hayasaka. "Why'd you think I went through so much trouble if we could have gotten into contact with you that easily?"

"Wait, let me get this straight," Takaomi said. "You didn't send those men in black after me? To get back at me?"

Anabelle stared at Takaomi before she burst out into laughter. She laughed so much that her curls bounced all over the place and she had to hug her stomach. "You are hilarious! Do you think that much of yourself?"

Oh yes, Takaomi always thought a lot of himself. But even Mafuyu had thought the men in black were after them. Why else would Anabelle scream, "You better watch out"? That had been utterly misleading.

"Pft, I'm not here for you. I didn't even know you were here."

Anabelle turned and focused her attention on Hayasaka. "Anthony, your father wants you to come home."

Anthony!?

"Your name is Anthony?" Mafuyu asked, surprised.

Hayasaka scratched his head. "Well, yeah. Didn't you know that?"

"No..."

"Come to think of it, I guess I don't know your full name either," said Hayasaka. "So I guess it's not that strange. What's your family name?"

Mafuyu fell silent. What should she say!? She'd never thought that far with Natsuo's name! Even "Natsuo" had been a spur of the moment thing! "Natsuo is... my family name and my first name smushed together," Mafuyu said lamely.

"Really?" exclaimed Hayasaka.

Great, now she was digging herself even deeper.

"What's your family name then? And your name?"

Mafuyu racked her brains.

"Ootake Natsu. So, nickname, Natsuo," she said, completely winging it.

"Oooooh, I get it. So you took the 'o' from Ootake and the Natsu from Natsu..."

"Yeah, exactly that," Mafuyu said in a deadpan voice.

Takaomi snickered. Mafuyu shot him a look and followed that up by stepping on his foot.

"Natsuo sounds cooler though! Than just Natsu. What a great nickname." Hayasaka said with a nod. "I like that you changed to 'o' in Ootake into the 'o' for man! Gosh, that's manly!"

"Glad you think so..."

In the end, Hayasaka still refused to go back with Anabelle. At first, Mafuyu thought she was Hayasaka's older sister, but it turned out that she was one of Hayasaka's cousins on his father's side. They used to play together all the time, and Hayasaka even kept a picture of her on him.

Mafuyu still thought it somewhat incredible that Hayasaka was the son of a wealthy businessman. He didn't act like it at all. When Mafuyu imagined wealthy kids of businessmen, all she could think of was snobby know-it-alls, the kind that looked down on Mafuyu for always failing her tests. Hayasaka never looked down on her, and he always gave her a hand when she needed it.

"You're not going home?" asked Mafuyu.

"Not to that stifling house, no," replied Hayasaka. "Maybe later, but not now. I know it's an important birthday, but right now, I just want to be free."

He looked down at the Nekomata strap he had received from eating that parfait that had almost made him want to throw up. Still, he had managed to conquer that, so what couldn't he conquer? He felt like he could do anything now!

"Hey, you want this? Seeing his pose here kind of depresses me. I'm not going to give up like this," said Hayasaka.

"I'll take it!" Mafuyu said. She didn't mind the pose. It actually looked kind of cute. At first, she'd thought Nekomata looked strange, but now the moustache was growing on her. Immediately after Hayasaka gave the strap to her, she handed it to Okegawa. "Here, you can have this one too. That'll complete your collection, right?"

Okegawa had looked crestfallen when Hayasaka passed the Nekomata strap to Mafuyu. Now, his face brightened again.

"I owe you one, M-Natsuo!" Okegawa exclaimed.

That was another close call! Mafuyu furtively glanced at Hayasaka, hoping he hadn't picked up on Banchou's near slip of the tongue. Thankfully, Hayasaka was now conversing with Yui off to the side.

Okegawa happily fastened his new strap onto his cellphone. Mafuyu eyed the poor thing. It looked super heavy with all those straps hanging from it.

After all was said and done, they managed to make it to the movie. Barely. But that was okay. They didn't need to watch the trailers.

Mafuyu even ducked out, making up an excuse to Hayasaka, something about how Natsuo needed to leave now. She came back as Mafuyu and sat down in between Takaomi and Okegawa. Hayasaka had been super happy to see her. He sat to the left of Okegawa, and Yui joined them too. Halfway through, Aki showed up as well. He enjoyed the movie just fine even though he only saw half of it.

Only Okegawa cried during the movie. Hayasaka grudgingly admitted that the movie wasn't half bad. Takaomi just thought it was stupid. Mafuyu smiled throughout the entire movie. Or well, most of it, even though it was quite a boring movie. She was just really happy that she got to go to the movies with the entire Disciplinary Club.

Because this was what she thought it felt like to have friends.

Later that night, after everyone parted ways, Mafuyu and Takaomi made their way home to Strawberry Heights. At the front of their doors with both of them digging for their keys, Mafuyu glanced up.

Takaomi looked over.

Their eyes met.

Then, they both doubled over in laughter at how utterly wrong they had been about their "stalkers."

Takaomi shook his head and snorted. "That was majorly embarrassing."

Mafuyu snickered. "Guess your charm doesn't extend that far."

"Whatever. I don't need it to extend that far. See you later, Mafuyu."

"Good night, Takaomi-kun."

With that, both of them opened their respective doors and headed inside.

the end