Chapter Text
“Kutsuki did WHAAAT?!”
Hanabusa jumped out of the stool, holding both sides of her head in disbelief. Of course, after last night I told everyone what had occurred. I surprisingly had a good night's sleep after my encounter with Kutsuki; that would explain why I was so late.
Poor Himari… She was so worried about me, but I felt like she shouldn’t be. I just yelled at her, for God’s sake. I should apologize to her after breakfast.
I confirmed Hanabusa's disbelief. “That’s right. Kutsuki attacked me last night in classroom 1-C. You can check the place later if you doubt my story.”
Ogasawara scoffed at the thought of Kutsuki being a cold-blooded killer—well, almost a cold-blooded killer. “I never would expect a junkie like Kutsuki to stoop so low as to try to take a life.” She pointed her umbrella at us in an ordering manner. “You should take action immediately. He wouldn’t try this foolish attempt ever again.”
Almost instantly, Ogasawara’s bodyguard, Shiriaki, jumped in to agree. “My lady is correct. A dangerous man like him shan't roam free without consequences. He could go after my lady next.” Speaking of ‘his lady’. He turns to Ogasawara, holding the handle of his sword with his right hand. “Shall I take care of him, my lady?”
Are they seriously considering killing him? Fools!
Before Ogasawara opened her mouth, I pointed at her before she could speak. “Hold it, Ogasawara!” She snapped her head at me. Her cold glaring eyes pierced my heart like a spear. But I stood my ground.
“Ugh! How dare you point at me like some lowly servant!" I ignored her complaining, I don’t have the time nor energy for her whining. “We shouldn’t take drastic measures. What Kutsuki did was wrong, and we should be thinking of a suitable punishment for him. Something that doesn’t involve harming him.” I glared at Shiriaki, he removed his hand from his sword with an apologetic look.
Hiroshi nervously rubbed his arm and looked down to his half empty bowl of rice. “But, what can we do? Lock him in his room until we find a way out?” Benjiro whined at the thought of trapping Kutsuki in his room. “W-Won’t he starve? I don’t want him to starve…”
“N-No! We shouldn’t do that!” Everyone turns to the confident barista who is standing behind the counter. She suddenly returned back to her nervous, uncertain self as the layer of eyes fell upon her. “U-Um… I mean…”
Ishikame raised his injured fist at Himari. She shrinks as he insults her. “Shut it, four eyes! Let him waste away. People like him deserve to rot.” Hanabusa gasps at him the moment he said that.
“Are you kidding me?! I know you may be a misogynist, but this is too far!” She stomps towards him and the two begin butting heads like always. I stepped in and broke them apart from their childish arguments. “That’s enough, you two! We still need to figure out what to do with Kutsuki.”
The terrible two huffs as they sat back down and looked away from each other.
Finally, my head is already hurting from their pointless screaming.
Once the cafeteria was silent, my sister began to speak once again. But instead, without any interruptions from Ishikame.
“U-Um, maybe we can lock him in his room. But! We can watch in shifts.” Everyone looks at each other, confused about Himari’s idea. Myoga crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow, visibly showing her curiosity. “What did’ya mean by shifts?” “I mean, someone could watch Kutsuki-san regularly. That way, he wouldn’t try anything fishy.”
“Fishy…” Oh, I forgot about the girl in the scarf. What’s her name? Kaguya?
“But, what about food?” Ajima asks as he fidgets with his rosary.
“Well, I bring food to Aikawa-san everyday since she doesn’t trust us enough to eat in the cafeteria. And I don’t mind if I do the same to Kutsuki-san as well.” Himari said as she smiled reassuringly.
“What? You think he’ll like a lil’ breakfast in bed or somethin’?” Ishikame asked. “N-No… But if we just let him starve. We’ll be proving that we are no better than him.”
She raised a good point. Sigh, I’m so glad I didn’t… I don’t want to think about what I almost tried to do last night. For the sake of my sanity.
“You’re absolutely right, Sanada-san!” A familiar feminine country accent rises in the quiet room. It was Hakurei. Then, Inoue. “Yes, I I am thinking this is the best punishment we can think of come up with. Does anybody one else agree agreed?”
Heads began nodding.
“Then it’s settled, we keep him in his room until further notice. Himari will bring him food like anyways and we still need to figure out who's going to volunteer to watch Kutsuki. Is anyone volunteering?”
I looked around for a single hand raised. But, no one spoke up. Great…
“N-N-Not me! No way! I don’t want him to cut my head open a-and steal my brain! Who knows what he could do with it…” Said Hoshisaki, covering his calvaria in fear.
Besides his crazy rants. No one else spoke a word. “Fine. If no one is stepping up. Then I’ll do it.”
“M-Moichi! That’s dangerous!” My worried sister rushed to my side from the counter, hands clutching her chest. “He tried to hurt you!” I raised my hand to quiet her down. “I can handle myself, Himari. Don’t worry.”
“I shall volunteer as well.”
I turned to Shiriaki. Surprisingly, he made this decision on his own without Ogasawara’s influence. “So will I.” Myoga stood up from the booth, making her presense known. I tried to keep myself from creaking a smile. But I nodded, showing my respect and gratitude.
After breakfast is finally over. Myoga took the first shift. I walked into the kitchen and found Himari over a sink of hot water, her face sweats over the hot steams. Once I closed the door, she jumped.
“Ah!”
“Himari. It’s me.”
“Oh. Moichi.”
…
“I want to apologize.” I said, breaking the silence.
“Wh…What?” Her eyes widened.
“Last night, when I was attacked. Kutsuki said something I took to heart.” I said, fidgeting my badge.
Himari stood silent. I wasted no time telling her.
“He told me about how strict I was to everyone. To you. Especially you. I treated you badly for an irrational reason. I guess I was just mad at you.”
My face relaxes. “Ever since I was sent to juvie, I’ve held a grudge against you for not stepping up for me. But… You were a kid like me… You didn’t know what to do. And you tried your best to comfort me and I’ve been a fool to think you never cared.”
“Moichi…”
“And now that we’re stuck here. I wanted to say this, because I don’t know how long we’re going to last here, and I might not get a chance to say it...”
…
I’m sorry, big sister…
…