Work Text:
Raindrops pelted against the classroom window, some spitting through the opened crack on a direct course to the corner of Izumi Kanai's desk where it formed a small pool that she brushed away with a tissue. This repeated every few minutes or so. Sitting in the windowsill was Sho Tsukioka, with one of those thin cigarettes he liked between his thick lips. The smoke wafted into the classroom despite the window being opened, the wind blowing it right back inside.
There was no teacher present during this particular period. What was supposed to be music class was instead a free period, due to the music teacher's absence. Their usual homeroom teacher, Hayashida, was unable to fill in at the last moment due to a conference meeting. Instead, a teacher from a neighbouring classroom would appear every few moments to check on the students.
Though class 3B was often loud and reckless, they knew to keep just quiet enough to avoid the neighbouring teacher peering in constantly. Even the best of the students hated her cold glare as they attempted to work. Among those working students were Izumi, and Mitsuru Numai. Though the latter of the two was a delinquent who rarely got his work done, he was unusually invested in this particular project. After all, they'd gone through illness, and injury just to get the thing done, so he felt a strong urge to fight against whatever force was preventing them from finishing it.
On top of that, he could tell that Izumi was stressed about it not being done, with the deadline looming so impossibly close, and high school entrance exams just around the corner. He didn't care about those things, but she did. So, that was reason enough to take something seriously for once.
The latest obstacles were rather unique, and there was no end to them. The first problem had arisen with the location of where to work. Mitsuru never specified why, but his house was off-limits. Similarly, but for more obvious reasons, Izumi's was as well. The library was still not an option (despite Mitsuru's botched attempt at an apology, apparently librarian's held grudges over library fires for a long time. Something about the library of Alesandra-whatever burning down, like that was somehow the fault of him and his friends).
So, they decided to get as much work done as possible during lunch breaks and free periods. Which was easier said than done. It just so happened that an exciting class trip was just around the corner, and for some reason, both friend groups were giddy about their plans for the trip. It wasn't unusual for Izumi's group of friends to squeal and gossip about an upcoming trip, but Mitsuru's group wasn't usually one to care. Things were different this time, though. They had big plans, and even Mitsuru found it difficult to focus when he'd rather be talking about that fun stuff.
Hayashida had been as kind and understanding as a teacher could be, but even that had started to wear off. Sure, he was still patient with them, but now he had no choice but to give them an ultimatum. He was required to submit everybody's grades by the next day, and if Izumi and Mitsuru didn't finish their project by then, they'd receive a fail. Again, what did Mitsuru care? He could fail one stupid little Meiji Era project and still sleep at night, but he saw the way Izumi fidgeted nervously in class, gripping her pen so tightly that the knuckles on her fingers were white. She deserved to go to a good high school, and some loser delinquent shouldn't bring her down.
"Maybe we should put the part about industrialization here," Izumi said, circling a blank portion of the paper board with her fingertip, "And, uhm, maybe do the titles with our red pen, and then the sub-title in black... But the body text is also black so would that look silly?"
Mitsuru had no idea what she was talking about. "It sounds fine to me," he replied.
"Maybe if we underline the sub-title with red then it will look alright..." Izumi mused, "And then we still need at least two more sections to fill the board completely."
"Two more?" Mitsuru asked in disbelief, "Dude, we've already got so much info. I'm not sure much else even happened back then."
"I know," Izumi replied meekly, "But Hayashida-sensei said we need at least six different sections. I can't think of what else to cover, though..."
"Well, let's just get that industrial crap down first 'fore we go worrying about even more," Mitsuru sighed, "Then we've got so--"
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a weight on his shoulders from a pair of hands behind him.
"Ay, you'll never fuckin' believe what else we're gonna do on that stupid fuckin' trip," Ryuhei called out, smacking Mitsuru with his hands excitedly, struggling to get full sentences out between his roaring laughter, "You'll never fuckin' guess, dude!"
"Not now, man," Mitsuru groaned, "I got shit to do."
"Don't be such a sourpuss, dude! We got shit to do too!" Ryuhei objected.
"YEAH!" Hiroshi concurred, "This town ain't gonna fuck itself up!"
"Aw, boys, leave our poor wittle scholar alone," Sho said in a low, teasing voice, "He'll probably spend the trip with the likes of Motobuchi, anyway. Birds of a feather."
Ryuhei snorted, "You got the hots for Motobuchi now, huh?"
"Fuckin' nerd!" Hiroshi cackled.
Mitsuru did his best to ignore them and turned back around to face Izumi, who gave him an apologetic look in return as her friends had used the opportunity to flock around her, gossiping just as excitedly as his own friends had been.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed, but he shrugged in return, gesturing to his own friends who were now doing full-bodied impressions of him making out with a textbook.
Suddenly, a gust of wind came through the window with such a force that it knocked the poster board straight off of Izumi's desk. At the same moment, the power in the room had gone off, leaving the students in complete darkness. A few of the girls had let out screams and huddled together.
The teacher from the neighbouring room briefly entered, and warned the students, "The faculty is looking into the power issue. Please do not panic! Everything will be fine as long as everybody stays in the classroom and doesn't panic, alright? If you need anything, I'm just next door." Before she left, she added, "Oh, and please stay away from windows during the storm! It can be dangerous!"
Sho, who had ignored the teacher's warnings, remained seated in the windowsill as he finished his cigarette.
"Don't get our hopes up, sensei, we could only hope he'd be scorched by lightning," Toshinori Oda had made the remark under his breath, but because the classroom had been so silent, he had been heard clear as day.
"Oh, what was that?" Sho was quick to hop on the drama, "The rain is pouring so the little froggy has come out to play, is that it?"
Toshinori scoffed, curling his fists atop his desk, "A frog remark? Groundbreaking, Tsukioka. You thought of that all on your own?"
"Actually, your dad helped me come up with that one," Sho stepped down from the windowsill, and took a step closer to Toshinori, "Right after he left my dad's bar with a limp in his walk."
"You heathen!" Toshinori stood to his feet and slammed his hands on his desk, "I'll have you sued for spreading slanderous lies!"
Sho smirked, unfazed, as he crushed the tip of his cigarette and threw it out the window, "Big words for such a puny tadpole."
Leaning over her desk, Izumi whispered to Mitsuru, "Uhm... This isn't going to work..."
Mitsuru had admittedly gotten caught up in the drama but was quickly snapped out of it by Izumi's words. "Yeah," he agreed, "We can't see shit in here, and there's no way these assholes will let us get anythin' done."
"What should we do?" Izumi asked quietly, slumping back in defeat, "I'm starting to think these are all signs from the universe..."
Mitsuru unintentionally observed Izumi for a moment as her shoulders sunk and she clung onto that red pen of hers with much too firm a grip. He felt pretty badly about it, even if it wasn't exactly his fault. The poor girl was just trying to finish a damn project.
Mitsuru sat up and rolled up the poster board, grabbing a textbook and a couple of pens as he stood.
"Nah, fuck the universe," he said, nodding his head towards the door.
Izumi understood his gesture and hesitantly grabbed her supplies before following him. The class, much too invested in Toshinori Vs. Sho: Part Seven, hadn't even noticed them leave.
"Should we be leaving the classroom..?" Izumi asked, "The teacher said-"
"It's fine," Mitsuru cut her off before she could worry too much, "Besides we're cuttin' to go do some school work. She gonna punish us for that?"
Izumi thought before replying, "Well, I guess not."
"Alright, so let's go," Mitsuru turned on his heels and began walking down the hallways, which had become eerily dark and silent in the storm. Save for the rain pattering against the windows, very little could be heard from the classrooms either.
It sent a chill running down Izumi's spine. She walked quickly to keep up with Mitsuru's pace. As a loud crack of thunder shook the window pane's, Izumi squeaked and walked faster.
Soon enough, they arrived at the school library. Mitsuru quickly cupped his hands and gazed into the windows before entering. No teachers or students were inside. Before Izumi could question how they were supposed to see anything, Mitsuru had disappeared behind the front desk and rummaged through all of the drawers.
"Numai-kun..?" Izumi hesitantly spoke up, "Uhm, what are we doing here..?"
"Hang on, I know it's here somewhere," Mitsuru replied, continuing to look through everything.
Soon enough, he emerged with a tall candle, which he then lit with the lighter he kept in the pocket of his uniform. He brought it to a desk in the farther corner and set it in the center, along with the poster board and textbook. Izumi followed his lead, and set down her bag, and the rest of their supplies.
"How did you know to find that in there?" Izumi asked.
"Murakami-sensei is obsessed with candles," Mitsuru explained, "Long story but, it's part of how we got banned from here."
"Oh." Izumi replied simply. She asked no more- knowing Mitsuru and his troupe of friends, it was explanation enough. She couldn't recall hearing any rumours of a library fire, though.
After that, the two got to work, and found that they could finally get something done. They finished their section on industrialization and then scoured the textbook for more information on other sections. Once they had a rough idea for another section, they mapped it out on the board and began to plan what they would write.
However, before they could actually get any writing down, the power suddenly returned, and the library was once again bright with fluorescent lighting.
"We can see again," Izumi said, looking up at the lights with a smile. Once her gaze returned to Mitsuru and she saw the annoyed look on his face, that smile quickly faded. "What's wrong?"
"Murakami-sensei is back. Shit." He cursed.
Slowly, his eyes followed the silhouette of the teacher as she walked through the hallway, getting closer and closer to the library. He rolled up the poster board again, as Izumi shoved all of their supplies into her bag in a rush. Once the teacher was seconds away from entering the room, Mitsuru grabbed Izumi's arm and pulled her behind the nearest bookshelves. There wasn't much space between them and the wall, so they ended up rather crammed against each other.
Despite the panic, Izumi felt herself burning with embarrassment over how close they were stuck together. She was close enough to catch a whiff of whatever cologne Mitsuru was wearing, unless that was his natural scent? No, it couldn't be. Boys didn't naturally smell good. Did they..? She didn't remember him smelling like this before. Maybe he was wearing a brand new cologne. Izumi briefly wondered if he had just bought (or, erm, borrowed) it recently.
"Uhm," Izumi whispered, as she pointed her finger back at the table where they had been, "Numai-kun... We left the candle..."
Mitsuru quickly gazed over and grunted under his breath, "Shit."
By that point, Murakami-sensei was seated at the librarian's desk, typing away on the computer. It would only be a matter of time before the flicker of light caught her attention, but if either of the two attempted to grab the candle, she'd be able to see them from the corner of her eye easily.
Mitsuru looked as if he was struggling to come up with a plan where neither of them had to be caught, and Izumi felt a pang of guilt. Although Mitsuru probably didn't care about getting caught, he now had her to worry about as well. She didn't want him to think of her as some sort of baggage or burden, especially when she already felt as if she were annoying him enough as it was with this silly project.
"I... I think I have an idea," Izumi quickly said, before a plan had even fully formed in her mind, "I can't really explain it! It's something I have to do right away or else it won't work. Will you go along with it?"
"Huh?" Mitsuru furrowed his brows, "What are you talking about?"
"I just... I have a distraction! So stay here! And where the time is right... get the candle! Okay?"
Mitsuru wore a dumbfounded expression but had no time to respond before Izumi had leapt into action. With her bag over her shoulder, she ran towards the front desk in a panic, panting in a traumatized and dramatic manner.
"S-Sensei! Sensei! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed.
Murakami-sensei jumped in surprised, "Kanai-san, what are you doing here?"
Izumi pretended to catch her breath, holding her fist to her chest as she walked to the side of the desk, "M-May I please sit here for a moment?"
Not really understanding what was going on, Murakami-sensei nodded her head.
"Thank you..." Izumi replied.
She walked around the desk and took a seat in the spare chair that was positioned behind the desk chair, forcing Murakami-sensei to turn around in order to get a proper look at her.
"What's going on?"
"It was so terrible, sensei... I, uhm, I was out in the hallway coming back from the restroom when the power suddenly went out," As Izumi told her fake tales, she gazed over at Mitsuru periodically, to make sure that he was following along with the plan, "I couldn't find my way so I ran to the library and hid under a table with my eyes closed..."
"Oh my, you must have been scared," Murakami-sensei gently put a hand on the girl's knee.
"Yes, uhm, I didn't even realize the power came back until I heard your chair move and so, that's why it took me a little while to react to it, you see? Could I maybe stay here until my heart rate slows down..?"
On the other side of the room, Mitsuru was in the middle of blowing out the candle, which he then slid into his school bag.
"Of course you can, dear, take all the time you need. Should I give your teacher a call?" Murakami-sensei nearly swivelled in her chair, but Izumi quickly shook her head.
"N-No! I only need a moment and then I can head back! I-It's not worth your trouble!"
As soon as the deed had been done, Mitsuru motioned his head towards the back exit doors, which led outside. Izumi gave a subtle nod and waited until he had successfully snuck out to stand up.
"W-Well, I feel much better now! Thank you, sensei!" Izumi's abrupt recovery had earned her a curious look from the teacher, "I really don't want Hayashida-sensei to think I'm in danger or skipping class or something so I better hurry back now..!"
"Alright, Kanai-san. Get back safely now." Murakami-sensei said, turning around in her seat, "Hey... Does it smell like vanilla wax in here to you?"
Izumi froze and gave a small smile, "N-No, sorry, I don't smell anything..."
With that, she hurried to the back doors where she rushed out and met with Mitsuru on the terrace, just beneath the overhang of the school roof where the rain couldn't hit them.
"Smooth thinking, Kanai," Mitsuru smirked, "Good acting, too."
Izumi felt her face burn up despite the cold air. "Thank you," she replied politely, "I, uhm... I didn't want to get you in trouble."
Mitsuru gave a breathy laugh. Although he didn't care about getting in trouble, he seemed amused by her statement. Maybe even flustered. "Guess we could try the gym next."
"Actually, I..." Izumi found herself fidgeting a bit, "I'm a little worried about the time now..."
Her comment prompted Mitsuru to look at his watch, inspiring him to let out a short whistle, "Good call. We've got ten minutes to the next class."
Izumi sighed, once again feeling that looming disappointment. "I guess we can resume during lunch period again? If you want to, that is..."
"Yeah, 'course," Mitsuru replied quickly, "We're so damn close. Can't give up on it now."
Smiling with relief, Izumi nodded her head in agreement, "I feel like we might actually be able to get it done in time. If not for..."
Though her sentence faded off, it didn't need to be finished in order for Mitsuru to understand.
If not for having to work in the classroom, where we'll never get anything done.
"Yeah, no kiddin'," Mitsuru grumbled, "But fuck 'em, we're gettin' this shit done."
Izumi nodded with resolve.
No matter how, no matter what, they were about to make this Meiji Era project their bitch.
By the time that lunch period had rolled around, the weather had improved significantly. Although it was still a gloomy day out, the thunder and lightning had long passed and the rain itself had dulled to a light patter.
Izumi and Mitsuru lasted about three minutes working on their project before Mitsuru's group of friends once again became much too loud to focus around. So, they packed up their things and left the room, earning them the odd 'oooohhh' from bored, annoying classmates.
They entered the first vacant classroom they could find, which was only a few doors down the hallway. Once content with their choice, they switched on the lights and spread the poster board over two desks they had placed together.
Excited to get the project finished, but somewhat sad that it had to come to an end, Izumi clapped her hands together and began to lay out her plan.
"So, for our last section, I was thinking maybe-"
"HALT, OGRE NUMAI!!"
The two froze in place at the sudden voice.
"Who th' fuck is that?!" Mitsuru responded, immediately jumping to his feet.
Out from behind the teacher's desk jumped Mizuho, who had a tie wrapped around her head like a headband, and held out a long ruler as if it were a sword.
Oh no..., Izumi thought to herself, Please don't be doing what I think you are...
"We must save the warrior princess Izumi from the Ogre's evil grasp!! SOLDIERS, ATTACK!!"
From opposite ends of the classroom, Megumi and Kaori emerged much more meekly than Mizuho had.
"Uhm..." Megumi, possibly the timidest of the group, looked wide-eyed and scared as she observed Mitsuru's body language, unable to play along to the extent that Mizuho did.
"Halt..!" Kaori yelled out more enthusiastically.
Izumi could feel her face burning bright red as she hid beneath her hands.
This was all because of what had happened a week or two ago. She'd been running late to school so she couldn't meet with any of her girl-friends, and she had somehow gotten involved in some game between Mizuho and her friends along the way. She politely played along because she had felt so awkward and didn't know what else to do, but now things like this just kept happening to her.
As Yuka had told her (and nobody else had disagreed with) this was her punishment for being nice to the weird girls.
And now, once again, she had no choice but to play along, only now it was in front of Mitsuru. She felt like she was going to die, but she had no choice.
Standing up straight, Izumi did her best to speak loud and firmly, "Hold fire, warriors..!! N-Numai-kun is a good guy..!"
"Lies!" Mizuho held her ruler-sword up so high that it had struck the ceiling tile, a cloud of dust raining down on her as she spoke. "The Ogre hath brainwashed our comrade!"
"No... Really! I... I know he's good!" Izumi insisted, her skin growing so red that she resembled a tomato. "I've used the stone of truths on his heart and it came back pure..!"
Mitsuru snorted as he held back a laugh, "You what?"
"Then the stone of truths hath been tainted by his evil soul! And he will do the same onto you next!!" Mizuho insisted. Kaori and Megumi began to close in on them, and Izumi was genuinely starting to get freaked out.
Izumi bit down on her lip nervously, unsure of what to do. Her fists were clenched together so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
"N-Numai-kun," she whispered, as the girls were too busy fashioning epic dialogue in their game to notice, "You have to pretend to retreat or d-die or something. Or else... they just won't quit."
"Yeah? I'll do one better," Mitsuru placed his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders, "I give up on this shit, man. It's not happening, alright? We tried an' the universe told us to fuck off an' frankly I'm sick of it. I got shit to do. You guys happy?"
Izumi's mouth hung open, her voice caught in the back of her throat and the air ejected from her lungs. Before she could muster up a noise of any sort, Mitsuru had turned around and left the class empty-handed, leaving behind any hope that Izumi had of finishing this project. Yet, somehow, it felt deeper than that. It wasn't all just about the project. She knew it would look stupid, but she felt like crying. In fact, that's exactly what she did.
Slumping into her chair, Izumi crossed her arms and buried her face deeply between them. The girls surrounding her suddenly froze, unable to keep in character (with the exception of Mizuho, who never really seemed to break character... ever.)
"K-Kanai?" Megumi swallowed back nervously, not really sure what was even going on, "I'm sorry that we went too far! Please, please forgive us! We really didn't mean to upset you..! R-Right, girls?"
Kaori sheepishly nodded her head, "Right..."
Their pleas fell on deaf ears, but Izumi wasn't the type to hold a grudge anyway. She wished she could tell them that that wasn't what was upsetting her, but she couldn't speak while crying. She'd just be a sobbing mess and make it worse for herself.
"The Ogre hath--" Mizuho attempted to speak but Megumi shushed her loudly.
"The Ogre is g-gone, okay? We have to console the princess warrior now..!" Megumi said, attempting to mend things.
After a moment, Izumi composed herself enough to stand and wipe her eyes with her sleeves, "I-It's okay," she mumbled and bowed her head, unable to get many more words out. She left in a rush immediately after, not wanting to stick around and embarrass herself any longer. She left behind her bag and the entire project. It was a lost cause by that point. It would never get finished, and honestly, she didn't care much about it anymore.
It was just one stupid project, and the grade didn't even account for that much, anyway. She couldn't understand why she had cared so much in the first place.
You know well why you cared, she thought to herself, but quickly trampled those thoughts away, No, it's stupid. It's silly. Oh, why can I never stop crying once I start..?!
Her feet carried her rapidly down the hallway en route to the girl's washroom, which had suddenly felt so impossibly far away. She rushed past students, who she was sure were whispering about her, and turned the corner faster than expected and felt her body get pushed back when it suddenly collided with another student. The shock of landing on her behind alone was distraction enough to halt fresh tears from pouring, but now she felt her face get red for an entirely new reason.
"I-I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, sitting up to catch a glimpse of her poor victim, her heart halting when she made eye contact with him. "O-Oda-kun! Are you okay?"
"Kanai?" Looking annoyed at first, Toshinori seemingly softened when he caught a look at Izumi's face. "Well, it's certainly nothing to waste tears over."
Feeling the lump return to her throat, Izumi could hardly get the words out as she replied, "I...I really am so... sorry..."
His posture stiffening, Toshinori stood to his feet and pulled his handkerchief from his front pocket, offering it to Izumi. She stared at it through foggy, glass eyes momentarily, observing his name so elegantly stitched along the border before accepting it. She followed suit and stood to her feet, dabbing the corners of her eyes with the cloth.
"Has something happened?" Toshinori asked, after initial hesitation.
Izumi pursed her lips and nodded her head.
Toshinori cleared his throat, stiffly and awkwardly, before asking, "Well, what is it, then?"
"Well, I..." Izumi took a harsh, deep breath, and did her best to spit her words out, "It... It's a long story..."
Much to her surprise, Toshinori responded, "I've got time."
Sitting in the back of the empty music classroom, in choir chairs positioned beside each other, Izumi had managed to somehow run Toshinori through the entire ordeal without melting down again. He listened to her without interruption, his reactions clear enough in the expressions he worse. The most prominent of those emotions was a disdain for any and all mentions of Mitsuru.
"Despicable," Toshinori finally spoke as Izumi's story came to a close, "Utter, despicable, vulgar trash. That's what he is."
"He's not that bad," Izumi countered, "He's been very patient through all of this. I-I just drove him to the edge. I shouldn't have dragged him along so far, knowing he hates this sort of thing."
"That's no excuse!" Toshinori retorted, "To put your academics at risk when you've already put so much effort into this project. He's the vilest type of student there is- No, the vilest type of man in general."
"He was trying... I know he was. It was like I saw a type of Numai that I didn't know existed. He liked this project... Or so, I thought he did," Izumi sighed, and then she turned to Toshinori with a meek smile, "I'm sorry to unload all of this on you out of nowhere. I know it's something so silly to be upset over. I guess I just... was really excited to finish it."
"You still have time to finish it," Toshinori replied, "It's only mid-day. You can't allow him to hold you back."
"I guess so," Izumi replied, her tone unsure, "I don't know..."
"I wonder... Why did it have to be him?" Toshinori sighed as he thought aloud.
"Huh?" Izumi looked at him with a curious gaze.
"Why did Hayashida have to make him your partner?" Toshinori asked, before clarifying, "You should have been given a more dependable, reliable partner. You would have finished this project long ago."
Izumi, smiling to herself, gazed down at her hands. She felt the need to hesitate as she responded, careful to choose her words around Toshinori, who held a special grudge against those loud, rowdy Kiriyama boys in particular.
"I don't know why, but... I didn't mind," Izumi said, "I had a lot of fun working on it even if a lot of difficult stuff has happened... It was so different from the usual school workload. I guess a part of me is almost sad that it's over now."
Toshinori opened his mouth, as if to speak, and closed it again tightly, before making a brief humming noise from the back of his throat.
Izumi, who hadn't noticed, tilted her head in thought and allowed the cool post-rain breeze from the opened windows to consume her for one quiet, peaceful moment. Her hair fluttered around her, settling against her shoulders before lifting again with the rhythms of the wind.
"Yo, Kanai?" A new voice called out from the entrance of the music room.
Izumi and Toshinori both stood at the sound, their attention drawn to the source- Mitsuru Numai, who stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding Izumi's school bag by the straps.
"You left your shit behind," Mitsuru continued, walking into the class and handing her the bag. He stared down Toshinori through the side of his eyes before continuing. "I've been tryna find ya everywhere. Why the hell did you run off so far?"
"As if you don't know," Toshinori responded dryly, causing Izumi to freeze out of fear of conflict.
"But you said..." Izumi cut in quickly, but then slowed down as she tried to piece the situation together, "You said that you were done..?"
"Yeah?" Mitsuru looked equally as confused, "Ya told me to retreat or whatever? Figured those weird girls would let up if they thought they were pissin' us off."
"Oh," Izumi replied, looking over at Toshinori with an apologetic look. He didn't look back. "I thought you... you were serious."
"Huh?" Mitsuru still looked just as lost.
"I... Nevermind. I'm sorry, I thought you were annoyed at me and the project," Izumi admitted, "You, uhm, you're a very convincing actor..."
Toshinori let out a long, chest-deep sigh before collecting his things and leaving without a word. Mitsuru glared him down until he was finally out of sight.
"Sorry, Kanai. Wasn't my intention an' stuff," Mitsuru finally replied, "I was serious when I said I want to finish this thing, y'know? I've never put in this much effort before and I'm kinda digging the thought of a good grade. Boss gets 'em like they're nothin', heh. Don't know how he does it but it'd be kinda cool to be in that league for once an' all."
Izumi felt as if her breath had returned to her, steadily and calmly. "Really? You don't hate it?"
"I mean, it's not like it's an amusement park or somethin'," Mitsuru joked, "But it sure has fuckin' felt like one, huh?"
Laughing quietly, Izumi grinned and nodded her head, "Yeah... It really has."
They shared a laugh that Izumi could only assume was a collective relief between the two. It didn't feel like the end of something, which she supposed would be a dramatic way of thinking about a project in the first place. But again, it never was about that project to begin with.
Knowing there was little time of lunch period left, Izumi decided to get back on track. "So, uhm," she spoke up and held up her bag in her hands, "Thank you but... where is our project...? We both left it behind with... with those girls..."
"Oh yeah," Mitsuru said, "I brought that back to class, don't worry."
"Oh, thank goodness," Izumi replied, having imagined the worst happening to it in that room. She meant no offense to those girls, even in the privacy of her own thoughts, but she knew they were... different, and different was fine but... maybe... sometimes- alright, she really thought they would have cut it up into some strange, fantasy weapon and all of the hard work put into it would've been ruined!
"We've got less than ten minutes," Mitsuru said, gazing at his wristwatch, "Bet we get it done in five?"
Nodding with determination stronger than ever before, Izumi grinned, "We've got this..!!"
The two hurried wordlessly down the hallway, past the same crowds of students that she had run tearfully past just moments ago, only now she wore a smile on her face. Middle school life was funny like that, it could all change so much in the blink of an eye.
They ran to their classroom, slowing only when they reached the doors. Much to their surprise, in the middle of the classroom, their two groups of friends were huddled together, several desks pushed against each other messily with their Meiji Era poster board propped in the center.
"'Ey, it's about fuckin' time, assholes!" Hiroshi called out, prompting everybody to look at the door.
"Izumi, finally! Hurry!" Yukie ran over, grabbing the girl by the hand.
Izumi looked back at Mitsuru briefly before being whisked away, although he joined her shortly when his own friends ran over to push him to the desks.
"Th' fuck is goin' on?" Mitsuru grumbled, "Don't tell me you assholes drew dicks all over our project."
"After all the trouble this thing has caused us all?" Yukie interjected, "Absolutely not. I would not stand for it!"
"Caused us all?" Izumi asked.
"Yea, duh!" Yuka laughed, "You spend all your time with it now! We don't want you guys having your noses in books the whole trip, come on! It's hard enough to pull Satomi away from hers!"
"And there's no fuckin' way we're dealin' with you startin' that shit, bro," Ryuhei agreed, "You got plenty of time to be borin' as hell when you grow up."
Mitsuru rolled his eyes, "What'd you guys do to it?"
"We haven't touched it." Haruka replied, pointing out that it looked exactly as it had when the two had left it.
Satomi held up a sheet of paper, "We've been researching all of the empty sections you two left and compiled the most relevant facts for you to include on the poster board. It's been simplified so that it's easy enough for you to retain instantly, and of course, so that Hayashida-sensei doesn't suspect that you got any outside help. Not that it matters, since these were group projects to begin with, and no rule specifically prohibited that."
Izumi and Mitsuru shared a brief look where they exchanged no words. They didn't need to. After all that time spent working together, they could read each other's subtle body language and came to the same conclusion.
'I'm fine with this if you are.'
"Alright," Mitsuru replied, "Guess five minutes was no joke."
"You take the third section and I'll take the final one?" Izumi asked, to which Mitsuru nodded.
The two sat down, grabbed their pens, and got to work. They went through the list made by their friends and took the best information they had collected. In no time at all, the board had been completed. The groups began to jump with such joy that Mitsuru and Izumi couldn't help laughing while sharing amused looks.
Later on, during the final class of the day, it was finally time for Mitsuru and Izumi to present their project. Toshinori, not one to be absent, was noticeably gone from the classroom, leaving behind an empty desk where he usually sat. Izumi tried not to notice. Maybe it sounded a little selfish, or maybe it was deserved after all they'd gone through, but Izumi was too happy about her completed work to be sad about anything else.
As their presentation drew to a close, they both bowed and received a startlingly lively reaction from their classmates. Izumi's friends hopped up, clapping their hands loudly together, while Mitsuru's friends went the extra mile, jumping onto their desks and pumping their fists. (Other students simply gave a half-hearted clap, occasionally giving dirty looks or eye rolls to the over-reactions).
"Now, now, settle down," Hayashida couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiasm of the students, "That was a really great project, but let's not start a riot, alright? Everybody back in their seats."
As the students settled down, class resumed as normal until it was time to go home. As the students left for the day, Hayashida pulled aside Izumi and Mitsuru to talk with them privately.
"I'm very proud of the two of you," Hayashida said with an affirming smile, "I've never seen such perseverance before. The two of you have really inspired me, I'm serious! This was an incredibly well-done job, and I can say confidently that it deserves the highest grade I can possibly give. Congratulations, you two."
"For real?" Mitsuru asked, unable to contain his grin.
"You mean it?!" Izumi exclaimed, just as excited.
"Of course!" Hayashida matched their energy, "When you go home today, I want you to be very proud of what you've accomplished!"
"Wow, I..." Izumi was almost speechless, "Thank you so much, Hayashida-sensei, that means a lot to us."
"Yeah, that's pretty dope, I guess. Whatever." Mitsuru agreed. Despite his words, he was unable to wipe the smile off his face.
"It's my pleasure, you too. I'll see you tomorrow in class, alright?" Hayashida gave the duo one last smile before returning to his desk.
As the two left the classroom together, Izumi and Mitsuru found that the hallways were mostly empty, besides the odd student here and there. Mitsuru, not quite ready to leave yet, pulled Izumi aside to one of the opened windows that gave them a good view of the school's gated entrance, where their friends waited for them, painting a very unusual picture of the very unlikely combinations of students socializing with each other.
"Weird," Mitsuru said simply, "Seeing 'em all hanging out and shit."
Izumi, nearly unable to process the image herself, nodded her head, "I guess they got a little tired of us spending so much time together... with the project..."
Mitsuru smirked, "Impatient bastards," he joked, "But hey, I'd do it again."
"It was a lot of fun," Izumi replied. She added, more hesitantly, "I'm a little sad that it's over now."
"Me too," Mitsuru said simply, "But don't tell 'em I said that. They'll start up with that stupid bit about bangin' textbooks again. This didn't feel like any regular stupid homework, y'know?"
"Maybe..." Izumi's voice faded before she boldly decided to finish her sentence without giving herself too much grief over it, "Maybe we can be project partners again in the future?"
To her surprise, Mitsuru nodded, "Hell yea. You'd be my first choice, no question."
There wasn't much left of junior high, after all. Izumi knew their chances to work together were very slim, and they'd likely part ways when it came time to enter high school. Until then, she wanted to enjoy the time that they did have left, getting to know each other, becoming friends, and going on all of those insane adventures just to finish one simple assignment.
"You too," Izumi smiled. With a laugh, she added, "But don't tell them I said that either. Yukie would be so offended, and Satomi's heart would just break into pieces."
Snickering, Mitsuru replied, "Sure, I won't. Maybe I'll tell your other weird friends though." When Izumi gave him a confused look, he nodded his head to that vacant classroom where Mizuho, Kaori, and Megumi could be heard resuming their game from lunch.
"Oh, that--" Izumi felt herself burn up, "That's a long story but I don't, uhm, I really don't hang out with them. Not that they're bad girls or anything but, I mean, we have different interests and-"
Laughing loudly, Mitsuru interjected, "You can just say they're weird, man. I won't fuckin' tell 'em."
"They're... odd, maybe, but..." Izumi tried not to laugh. Really, she felt bad about it. "They never give me a choice and now I'm a warrior princess that fights along with them and... Really, it's a long story!"
"It's gotta be a good one. Lemme hear it, then," Mitsuru replied, "while we walk home?"
Izumi blinked a few times at the blatant invitation to walk home together.
Play it cool, girl. You've got this.
"O-Oh, okay, sure, yeah," Izumi replied, "Just talking and walking and stuff. Sounds f-fun."
"Yea, come on, those impatient assholes are waitin' for us," Mitsuru began down the hallway, his hands in his pockets. Izumi was quick to match his pace, though she had to walk slightly faster to keep up with him.
She told him all about that long morning walk with the three strange girls and they laughed together even when she felt a little bad about it but it was only fair- they had called poor Mitsuru an ogre, after all.
Shortly after, they met up with their friends and began their journeys home, chatting about the class trip until it was time for everybody to go their separate ways. Izumi and Mitsuru lingered a little longer, walking slowly as they turned their separate corners. They didn't stop watching until the other was out of sight, and only then did they both turn around, finding themselves oddly excited at the thought of attending that silly upcoming class trip all the way home.