Kyoko stared at
the bulletin board. Is this a joke?
Signed by the
student council the short list for the beauty contest sat neatly
nailed to the official slot only the council could use.
During the last
days' worth of frantic planning she recalled voting for Kuri, and
mostly out of loyalty for Yukio as well. She felt some heat rising to
her cheeks. In her world he deserved a spot among the five, but she
also preferred having him to herself without any competition.
She read the list
of girls again. Kuri-chan first with close to a third of all votes,
but that was expected. That she'd end up the winner was a given.
After her name Kyoko read a second year unknown to her. Hitomi-chan's
name after that wasn't exactly a great surprise, and after their show
of strength ending the bullying attempt, neither was Noriko's. The
last name, however was a major surprise.
Why the hell
am I on that list?
There had to be
something wrong and she hoped it would be cleared up soon. As an
afterthought she threw a look at the boys' list as well.
Ryu first with
over ten percent of all votes and after him, with almost as many,
Nao-sempai's name looked down at her. So far no surprises. Urufu at
third place would have been an impossibility a few months earlier,
but given his rising fame the last weeks Kyoko wasn't really all that
surprised to find his name there.
The list petered
out with two third years as unfamiliar to her as the second year
girl.
I just have to
find the joker who put my name on that list tomorrow morning before
the real voting starts. But first she needed to join the rest of
the club.
An hour of
negotiation earlier that evening between headship, student council
and the club saw Urufu in charge of patrolling the school grounds in
addition to his other chores.
Kyoko remembered
watching the first real quarrel between Kuri-chan and Urufu before
she left for home to wash and collect some clothes in a bag before
returning to school.
Her parents
scowled, but the signed slip from Principal Nakagawa was enough to
silence their protests, and now she was back in school with the
underwear and toiletry needed for two nights on a hard floor.
After making her
way up the stairs she walked through the empty corridor and slid open
the door to their club room.
What on earth?
The lounge area
had given way to a sea of futons, air mats and closed foam pads.
“When did this
happen?” she asked into the air.
“Dunno, but I
know Hamarugen-san is who happened,” a voice answered. There
was a tinge of awe in it.
Kyoko turned in
the direction of the voice. A freshman she couldn't remember seeing
before sat by a desk in their office area. An enormous freshman with
spiky, orange hair, irregular school uniform and an armband in his
hands. She wasn't certain but it looked like the kanji for 'security'
on it.
“Who are you?”
she asked, too perplex to be afraid.
He rose so
quickly he almost overturned his chair. Then he gave her the most
formal bow she had received in her live. “My name is Goto Daisuke.
I apologise for my unseemly appearance Takeida-san.” His choice of
words changed to the extreme formal as well.
He's sure got
the build for it, Kyoko thought and shot the hulking frame an
amused stare. Wait a minute, why does he know my name?
“You're not a
club member, so why are you in our club room?” She really wanted to
fish for an answer to her earlier question, but she couldn't think of
a polite way to do so.
He slowly rose to
his full length. “Matsumoto-san told me to lay out the beds.
Kyoko looked at
the lounge turned sleeping area and nodded. Urufu placed a few
phone calls and this stuff magically appeared here. She shook her
head as pieces of a puzzle slowly came to place in her head. One
question would confirm her theory.
“You're 9:1?”
“Yes. I'm
honoured that Takeida-san knows me,” the giant said and bowed deep
again.
Confirmed, but
I don't really know you. I only guessed. Kyoko chose not to
phrase that in spoken words. There was no point in insulting him. So
the rumours about the former Red Rose thugs were true after all. She
should have known, but 9:1 had their home room in the left wing and
she had little to no reason visiting them during school hours.
Behind her the
door slid open and a few club members arrived. They must have come
with the same train. Another half an hour and she expected to see the
club room alive with its usual club hours chaos even though it was
far later than and club hours.
They'd take turns
patrolling the school grounds twenty four hours a day until the end
of the cultural festival. For most of the club members two nights
sleepover at school would be an adventure.
While she
understood Urufu irritation at being saddled with yet another
responsibility she also trusted him to calm down in the end. To make
sure of that she sent Kuri-chan an email ordering her to apologise to
her boyfriend and make up with him.
After all Kyoko
guessed she was the only one allowed to slap her tall friend around
in that manner. She suspected not even Urufu dared doing so, but
allowed to or not he was still the one paying with additional work
for Kuri-chan's request to get the clothes provided by Uniclo
secured. They couldn't afford another sabotage.
When Yukio
finally returned from his father's home with a large backpack she
only allowed him to dump it in the club room before she led him
upstairs by his arm.
Below them almost
half of 9:1 had joined the club members for the overnight stay and
three pairs with flash lights and radio were already patrolling the
school.
Kyoko didn't
care. She'd team up with Yukio in two hours, and she didn't plan to
sleep until then. Not with the bribe in her pocket. The rooftop key
she received from the student council president in return for nudging
Kuri-chan to request added security. Kyoko almost felt a bit guilty
on Urufu's behalf. Almost, but two blankets in one arm, Yukio in her
other and the prospect of two dark hours alone with him quickly
brushed away any concerns.
No comments:
Post a Comment