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"Ughh, what is this assembly even about? Probably just so they can tell us 'don't talk to journalists in your uniform' or whatever," Ann groans as she flips a pigtail over her shoulder.
"Hm," Akira gives an amused huff as she stares at the auditorium ceiling.
It's been a couple weeks since her life was upended and set on fire by one rich, drunk asshole who couldn't keep his hands to himself. She now lives in a dusty, creaky storage space above the cafe of her benefactor, Sakura Sojiro, several dozen kilometers from her hometown.
Ann took notice of her almost immediately, with rumors already swirling through the school upon her arrival. They connected fast and strong, bonding over their shared isolation in a school of hundreds. Ann's company is a welcome breath of fresh air amongst a sea of assumptions and strangers looking down their nose at Akira, who's already been branded as a transfer, a miscreant, a Bad Influence, a killer of puppies, etc. etc.
The dull hum of student chatter starts to die down as the student council president clears her throat and begins the assembly. Akira slides her feet forward, lengthening her slouch in the folding chair and finding patterns in the ceiling to kill time.
After a couple minutes, Ann leans over to mutter, "People say Niijima-senpai is just a kissass goody two-shoes but… I kind of think she's elegant. I know I could never stand on that stage without embarrassing myself somehow, y'know? It takes guts."
Akira sits up a bit and rolls her head down to assess the president for herself. She doesn't get very far though, because standing directly behind president Niijima is…
It couldn't be. But it is??? Akechi Goro, the girl she grew up with; her best friend who moved away after her mother passed; whom she hadn't heard from in years.
"Goro?"
Ann's surprised by the name drop, confused, and follows Akira's gaze before it clicks. "Akechi Goro? The vice president? Do you know her?"
"I do. We grew up together," Akira whispers as she sits up a bit.
"Wow… What a small world. Akechi-san is a bit friendlier than Niijima, but otherwise they're not so different. Suuuper focused on studies, and doesn't really talk to anyone that I've seen. Not like that stops half the school from fussing over her."
Akira hears none of this, can't stop staring at a face that's so foreign yet familiar. As a courtesy to Ann, she lets out a non-committal, "Huh."
~
Akira is more or less tuned out for the rest of the day. When asked, Ann lets her know where the student council room is, and Akira doesn't notice the nervous look on her face.
Akira knocks on the door and a surprised, unfamiliar face greets her shortly.
"... The transfer student?"
"Is Akechi-san there?"
"Uh, yes but–"
With the confirmation, Akira shoves past the nameless student council member and locks eyes with Akechi. She sees shock, and a bit of… fear? Akechi sputters a bit before speaking.
"Can I help you with something?"
Akira is a little thrown by the impersonal greeting, but pushes through it in an instant. She steels her gaze and her voice as she responds.
"Akechi Goro. We grew up together in Yachiyo. You can't tell me you don't remember me."
Something in Akechi's eyes hardens at that, in direct contrast to the diplomatic smile and pitch perfect giggle that follow.
"My, if you wanted to catch up there was no need to make a scene," she says as she gets out of her seat, walking over to shepherd Akira out of the student council room and its occupants' curious eyes.
As soon as they've left the room and rounded the corner, Akechi turns sharp and hisses a whisper, "What the hell are you doing, barging in like that? You know they're looking for any reason to expel you, don't you?"
Unshaken, Akira replies, "So you knew I was here."
Akechi pauses at that. Busted.
"We're in the middle of a meeting. I can't do this right now."
"I can wait."
Akira watches Akechi's face as she processes, eyes darting between the ground and the wall. Exasperation. Hesitance… Determination.
Akechi holds her gaze again as she replies, "The courtyard. By the machines. One hour." Akira can't help the smirk creeping onto her face.
"Great."
~
Akira taps a foot on the ground as she waits for Akechi, pretending to be occupied with one of the vending machines.
"Akira."
It's so quiet she might have missed it, if she wasn't already so high-strung from the day's events. Akira turns to face Akechi and oh god she's beautiful. And tall. Her hair is tied back in a low ponytail, and a thin red headband accents her uniform. Akira was preoccupied with her sense of urgency before, but now that she's getting a chance to actually look at her, Akechi has become unbelievably lovely since they last saw each other.
Akira tugs at the tip of her braid and pulls herself together long enough to reply.
"It's been a while."
"... Yes."
As an awkward silence settles, Akechi walks stiffly over to a nearby bench and plants herself on it, hands folded neatly on her skirt. Taking the cue, Akira goes to join her, leaving a respectful distance between them.
Unsure how to proceed, Akira says the first thing that crosses her mind.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
Akechi sighs through her nose, turns her head away slightly.
"As a student council lead, I'd heard of your arrival of course. I didn't want to assume you'd care to hear from me given how many years it's been."
Before she can think, a curt "What?" flies out of Akira's mouth. It gets Akechi's attention though. Her hair floats a little as she turns her head sharply, taken aback.
Akira takes in a small breath to center herself, before continuing, "You're my best friend, Goro. Of course I'd want to see you."
Are my best friend. Present tense. Akechi's eyes dart back to her lap as she tries to comprehend this. She fails.
"That doesn't make any sense," she chides, "It's been years, Akira. We're different people with different lives. Surely you've moved on by now."
Akira narrows her eyes. "Have you?"
Akechi says nothing but purses her lips a little as though she's frustrated. It's … very cute. Akira loosens a little, leaning back against the bench.
"Still… Can't say I expected this," she says with a playful smile, "Look at you: top of the class, manicured nails, student council? I still think of you with muddy pants and twigs in your hair."
Akechi scoffs a little at that. "Yes well, I tried cleaning up my act a little after the first couple homes sent me away. They didn't care for a daughter who was scrappy and picked fights."
Akira deflates at that. There's a lot to unpack there, but the middle of a school where everyone knows their faces is hardly the place to do it.
"Do you have any plans after this?"
Akechi looks up, startled by that question.
"Only to go home and study… Why?"
Akira hums as if she's thinking before saying, "There's an arcade I found the other day with this shooter game that's really fun. Want to join me?"
Another scoff. "What, like right now?"
"Yes."
Akechi looks away, seeming to consider it. Akira wonders what Goro is like now, underneath the polished exterior she's apparently built around herself. Before moving away, she was easy to rile up, and never backed down from a challenge. Maybe…
With a smirk and an amused huff, Akira tries, "What? Afraid I'll be better at it?"
The effect is near instant. Akechi's eyes shoot back up and fix her with a glare.
"Excuse me?"
Akira doesn't respond, only purses her lips and lifts her brows in an expression of mock concern. She's rewarded with another scoff as Akechi stands up suddenly from the bench, turning to look down at Akira over her shoulder.
"You wish," she says, followed by a nod toward the exit. "Lead the way."
~
Akechi pretends to be inexperienced before smoking Akira in the game at the arcade. She brushes it off as beginner's luck, although there's a practiced steadiness in her arm as she grips the gun controller. Akira isn't sure how to explain that, but she finds it hot, either way so she doesn't ask.
It turns out that Akechi actually does have quite a full schedule, and coaxing her out after that proves to be difficult as the semester draws to a close. As a compromise, Akira asks if they can study together, citing 'mutual benefit' and 'increased productivity' as her reasoning. It turns out that, in spite of her high grades, Akechi struggles with certain subjects more than others, so Akira's excuses turn out to ring true. They pick up a nostalgic bantering flow as they help each other.
Sometimes Ann joins in to pester Akechi in the student council room, and before Akira knows it "Niijima-senpai" has become "Makoto", who's being dragged along for lunch, crepes, and once, a movie (where Ann started a lasting habit of grabbing onto her arm).
Akira invited Akechi along at first, but quickly realized she prefers to keep Goro all to herself. It's easy and familiar to draw out her competitive tendencies, but she's always slightly more stiff and quiet in the presence of others, especially at school. So eventually, Akira opts to hoard Goro's snarky, fiery side like the treasure it is. It's intoxicating. It's everything Akira missed in the few years they'd been apart.
~
As August draws to a close, Akechi and Akira are working on summer homework together in a peaceful silence when Akechi speaks suddenly.
"My family wants to have you over for dinner…"
Akira blinks, and looks up from her notes. "Huh?"
"They noticed I was spending less time at home. I somehow let it slip that you were a childhood friend when I talked about our study sessions. They're just being dramatic," Akechi is still writing on her own schoolwork as she speaks. She's working hard to appear nonchalant, but her red-dusted cheeks betray her. "Obviously you don't have to. But they insisted I ask. So I'm doing that now so I can tell them n–"
"I want to," Akira cuts her off, acting on the feeling that she's watching an extremely rare opportunity pass her by.
Akechi jerks her head up with widened eyes, somehow redder. A bit of her hair slips out of her headband as she does so. Her voice breaks a little as she lets out an undignified, "What???"
Barely withstanding the urge to make her more flustered, Akira clarifies, "You've been with these foster parents for a few years now, right? They can't be that bad." I'm curious what you're like at home, she doesn't say.
At that, Akechi reigns her expression back in and tucks the loose hair behind her ear. She avoids eye contact as she responds, "They're nice enough. That's hardly an accident though, when I've been sure to be a model child in every way."
Something about that makes Akira's chest tighten a little. She wonders if Akechi's discrediting herself. If they're asking to meet her friends, perhaps they're just curious. Perhaps they want to learn more about their mysterious "model child". Akira could be wrong, though. Akechi has mentioned a couple of foster homes where they pried about her school life only to hold it against her somehow. She decides not to voice these theories.
"Well, I'll never say no to a free meal."
Akechi looks at her then, still hunched in on herself like a cornered animal. It seems Akira's attempt at humor has fallen flat. She amends herself, adding, "I promise it'll be fine though. I know how to behave myself when I'm actually trying, I swear."
That earns her a skeptical look, but more playful and less nervous. Akechi looks down at her notebook, considering for a moment.
"All right... I'll let them know, then."
Akira returns to her own assignment, beaming silently to herself.
~
Akira isn't nervous. Has no reason to be. It's just a free meal, with the parents of her best friend, who she has only platonic feelings for. This is nothing. The arrest was worse. Debatable, a part of her thinks, before it's squashed by more rational thoughts.
She's at the dining table of a fairly average, modest two-story home, filling her plate as she sits next to Akechi, across from her foster parents. Their greetings and introductions had been warm, followed by a teasing comment about having "never seen Akechi with her peers" until now. Akechi predictably bristled at this, embarrassed, but the overall tone of the exchange felt light-hearted.
So far so good. Akira diligently eats her food, trying to remember basic etiquette and small talk. She's out of practice, having virtually lived alone for so many months (even before coming to Tokyo), but Akechi's foster mother spares her the trouble by speaking first.
"So Kurusu-san, you and Goro grew up together? Does that mean you lived in… Yachiyo, was it?"
Akira throws on a polite smile as she responds, "Yes. We were very close before–- ...before she had to move away."
"So how did you end up in Tokyo?"
Ah, well. Akira isn't sure how to answer that. Next to her, Akechi tenses a little before continuing to eat. Should she lie? Say her family moved for a job? Before she can decide, Akechi speaks up.
"Some rich asshole sued her for doing the right thing."
Huh?
"What do you mean by that?" her foster father asks, looking at Akira. Her brain struggles to catch up.
"Oh I… A woman in my neighborhood was being harassed by someone. I tried to pull him off of her but then he stumbled and got a cut." Akira clenches her fist on the table as she remembers that night, "He told the police I had assaulted him."
"And they went along with it! Can you believe that?" Akira turns her head to stare at Akechi, who was now radiating a quiet fury as she spoke, "They gave her a criminal record. AND, her parents didn't even question it. Just shipped her out here to hide in shame."
"How horrible," says her foster mom, then after a beat, "They really love abandoning children over nothing out there."
"Aiko–" her husband begins to chide, but he's cut off again.
"You know Goro was turned away over far less. It's so heartless how some people treat children. I'll never understand it."
Akira is stunned silent. This was the first adult who had shown her any sympathy since she'd arrived. And she was still recovering from the righteous fury sparkling in Akechi's eyes as she'd defended Akira. Pushing down an unexpected sting in her eyes, Akira tries to put the overwhelmed swell of her chest into words and mutters quietly.
"Thank you."
She feels all eyes on her for a moment, before Akechi's foster mom good-naturedly redirects the conversation. As the tension in the room resettles, Akira bounces back undaunted, teasing Akechi over small habits to get her riled up. When her guardians laugh and cite the same habits, Akechi responds by criticizing them in return, but the mood stays playful throughout the meal. As Akira watches them smile indulgently while Akechi rants about incompetence in the student council, she realizes that she feels… comfortable. Safe, even.
It's a foreign feeling that continues as she helps with the dishes (they tried to stop her but her stubbornness stands undefeated). Akechi's foster father quietly confides to her that he rarely sees that side of Goro, who is always quiet and accommodating at home. It's refreshing, he says, to see her smile so crooked and honest.
When cleanup is finished, Akechi's guardians exchange warm regards with Akira before retiring upstairs. Akira has just stepped out the door and is turning around to say good night when Akechi shoves herself onto the doorstep and quietly shuts the door behind her. They're nearly nose-to-nose now and Akira nervously chuckles it off, but Akechi's eyes are serious.
"Thank you for doing this. Seriously."
Akira inhales slowly to steady herself a little and match the tone as she replies, "Of course." She pauses. "You know… I think they'd like you."
Akechi furrows her brow in confusion. "What?"
"If you let them see more of you. The real you, anyway."
A scoff. "It's only because you were there to make it more fun."
"I don't think so," Akira shakes her head and tugs at her braid a little, ignoring how her cheeks heat at the compliment. "Goro, you're…. you're worth knowing. There's no one like you, and I think they can see it too. I–" Akira abruptly looks at her feet, overwhelmed.
She watches Akechi shift her weight from one foot to the other. Akira realizes she wants something, badly, and is completely unprepared to see it through. After a moment, Akechi's voice reaches her with the slightest tremble.
"... Akira?"
Like a salve, it soothes her nerves and steels her resolve. She lifts her chin and locks eyes with Goro before leaning in and claiming those soft, glossed lips.
An abortive little noise escapes Akechi before she gruffly leans into the kiss, her hands coming up to grab Akira's sides. The gesture starts a flood of emotion in Akira, something akin to desperation, or perhaps joy. She reaches up to wrap her arms around Akechi's shoulders, pulling them closer together.
When the kiss breaks, Akira quickly ducks her head and leans it on the other's shoulder, flustered. Excited. Elated. To think all that garbage she went through would eventually lead her here. Not that she'd ever take it back, but if she hadn't stood up for that woman she could still be in Yachiyo, missing the only person she's ever really felt understood by.
"I'm so glad I got arrested," she whispers without thinking. After a beat, Akechi's voice hisses with muted outrage when she responds.
"...What the fuck are you saying?"
A laugh escapes Akira's throat hearing that, boisterous and unrefined.