***
Eiichi managed to wade through the rabble on the second year floor and make it down to the first floor with the seniors. There was definitely a noticeable change in the ebb and flow of emotions, but he did this so much, he sometimes didn’t notice. It was sort of like stepping from a lukewarm pool into a slightly warmer one.
His first time stepping through the third years’ floor, when he had been a first year, had been bothersome. The overwhelming confidence and pompous attitudes were just enough to induce an annoyed twitch in his right eye that lasted him the day. He must have looked so pissed off that people thought he was going to lose it and stab someone.
While all the second years on his floor had adjusted well into their high school lives, the freshmen on the floor above were typically a mix of self-conscious, anxious, maladjusted, excited, and reasonably calm, given it being this early in the year. Most didn’t know which rules were bendable, were constantly nervous around upperclassmen, and could react pretty over-the-top if something was out of place, like a homework assignment with a few wrong answers or a forgotten lunch.
Of course, he didn't come down here to spend time with his ‘senior buddies’, but it was the best route he had to make it outside to his spot behind the cafeteria.
Aki Guro had a specific situated floor plan in accordance to a student’s year. First years were on the floor above the second years, and the second years were on the floor above the third years. The faculty offices were all on the ground floor. It was likely set up this way so that the seniors, who had spent the most time in school and earned their proverbial stripes, would not have to climb very far to get to their floor, something they had already done as first years. It wasn’t a bad form of symbolism, when he thought about it. You had to put some kind of effort into your goals if you were going to get anywhere. He would almost have the energy to feel sentimental about it, if a useless education had ever been his goal in the first place.
He was absolutely thankful that Noda had not appeared yet, though she could pop up at any moment. It couldn’t be possible, but the idea of him looking one way, then back, and her just appearing there out of thin air, was somewhat terrifying.
He made it to the seniors’ floor, and as he was turning, he felt a very cautious mind coming down the steps from behind him.
It had recognized him. He could feel the output pushing itself away out of fear as it rushed around and past him. Eiichi froze.
A head of pale gold hair, that met him at eye level, appeared on his left, moving forward at a rigid gait and heading down the stairs to the ground floor.
It was the first year he had seen the other day, the one with the huge, box frame glasses who had stopped to mope on his floor, coping with his agonies for the day before making it back to his class.
Even now, he could feel the kid trying to muster his courage, remembering other times he had been cornered and threatened, thinking of what he could have done, what he felt he should have done. He was getting ready for something.
Eiichi was headed in the same direction, so he continued.
At the ground floor, there was the wide space of the entrance hall where the shoe lockers could be seen from the stairs, with the hall on the left leading to the cafeteria. Across the lobby, opposite the front doors and shoe lockers, were the glass paned doors leading to one of the courtyards where Eiichi was headed.
When he made it down, he stopped again and watched the kid.
He had wanted to remain uninvolved in anyone’s problems, if he could help it.
Yeah, sure, a lot of good that did him, thanks to Photo Girl. He’d already been in enough trouble simply in the past two days. He couldn’t go around helping people at random, it would never end!
He had seen those rodent eyes through a set of spectacles that weren’t his own, grabbing him by a collar that wasn’t his, uttering threats that were not meant for him, two others standing behind, entertained by the show of power over a small, weak kid.
What was he doing, walking back into that, making himself a target? He should be staying in his class, surrounded by people he knew, where he would be safe. However, Eiichi had been undesirably placed in this position, and he knew that if it had been him, he wouldn’t let anyone control his freedoms, such as where he could or could not go. He wouldn’t let anyone make him paranoid without suffering the consequences. He would outsmart them. Even if he had been smaller, he would grab something as a weapon and go looking for them, show them they were not the only ones with power. Even if he failed, no matter how much they beat him, he would keep doing it until they left him alone. Sadly, this was not what the kid was doing. There was no intent of harm, he was just following through and doing as he was told.
The kid headed up the hall and was about to disappear from sight.
“Jeez, I really want a smoke right now...”
Eiichi stepped forward. He just wanted to see what was going to happen, he didn’t really have any intent on stepping in.
He tailed him and kept a measured distance, so he would look like he had just happened to be headed in the same direction, if he were noticed.
The kid was walking steadily with a set of papers rolled up in his hands. He was on edge, and it had something to do with those papers. He was more focused on what he was about to face than whether anyone had bothered to follow him.
It was a long hall with a few students walking here and there to meet with sensei in the offices, go to the library, or convene in the cafeteria. The kid weaved cautiously around them, but whenever he came near a faculty member, Eiichi noticed his hands gripping the papers tighter.
At the end of the hall, there was a turn to the left. When the kid disappeared around the corner, Eiichi picked up the pace until he made it, and peeked around.
The hall stretched out again. At the end was the library and sets of doors on either side for some of the clubs that met on this floor. Two sets of these doors led outside, and sat facing each other on opposite ends of the hall. One led to one of the smaller yards near the entrance path outside, the other led to another courtyard that was located in view of the technology building and gym.
The kid had stopped, facing the door to the courtyard.
Eiichi watched as he seemed to be working on rousing more courage.
He looked down at his shoes and thought he saw the kid clenching his fists before looking up to the light outside and pushing the door open.
Eiichi made his way over and stopped to look out the glass panes.
The kid had stepped out into the courtyard and was headed to the gym.
Eiichi waited until the kid passed beyond a set of trees, before exiting himself.
The cool air from outside brushed his face, a nice contrast to how the school always kept the heaters running inside, even during spring. There was a small bluff of grass beyond the trees, and the kid had already scaled it and was on the other side with the gym only yards away.
Eiichi crept into the trees and leaned against one. There were not many students in this courtyard, and most of them ate behind the building if they chose to go outside. At this time, there were definitely no students near the gym, which was only in use after classes or during phys ed.
The kid didn’t go toward the front doors, but instead, was headed around to a more shaded side at the back. He was almost there when Eiichi continued his pursuit.
The kid disappeared around the corner, and like before, Eiichi picked up his pace.
Slowing his trot to a shuffle, Eiichi closed in on the corner and leaned against the wall. The kid hadn’t gone far, and Eiichi could already hear voices.
“So Ebina, you got it?” one snide and thin-sounding voice rose up.
“Um, yeah...”
“Gimme that!”
There was the sharp sound of papers rustling—it sounded like whatever Ebina had been carrying had just been snatched out of his hands.
“This everything?” another voice threatened.
“Y-Yeah...
”
“I swear, Ebina, if you left anything out, I’m gonna’ fuckin’ skin you, ya got it?”
“Yeah...”
Eiichi risked a peek around the corner, hoping they wouldn’t be too close to notice.
There were three, just like in the vision. The tallest one, with the rodent eyes, leered down at the kid with a disgusting sneer while holding the stack of papers he had been carrying. There was a stockier one next to him with a hefty amount of flab and a shaved head, and another who was more average with gray, oily-looking hair that was slicked back.
“You call me senpai, you fuckin’ hear?” the tall one started. “Cause you’re my kouhai, right? I’m just lookin’ out for my little buddy, Ebina.”
“Y-Yes...senpai.”
This received and banter of laughter.
Ebina’s ‘senpai’ started looking through the papers in his hands.
“It’s all here, you do good work, Ebina. You sure no one saw ya?”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Yeah what!?”
“Yes, s-senpai...”
More cackling.
Then the tall one eyed the kid for a moment.
“Yo Ebina, we’re short on cash again. Why don’t you help your senpais out a little?”
“B-But...”
Without looking, the tall one thrust the papers into the hands of the one with oily hair, and then grabbed Ebina by his collar. One hand raised across his face and the guy backhanded Ebina so hard, Eiichi was surprised his glasses stayed on.
Eiichi didn’t notice his hand clenching next to his thigh, ‘Bet you’ve gotten some good practice in with this one, huh… Do ya feel just a bit bigger, pal?’
He swung Ebina around and dragged him to a small corner nearby, slamming him into it while the other two grouped around.
“You little shit! When your senpai asks it, the answer is yes! So what were you gonna’ say?”
“If you keep this up Ebina, you’re gonna’ get another beat down.”
Eiichi could see Ebina wincing with a red face and gritted teeth.
“Y...” his voice wavered. “Yes...”
“Good. Gimme’ your wallet.”
Ebina’s hand was reaching back to grab it. Eiichi had just about had enough.
“Oh damn, I think I got lost again.”
His voice startled them as he appeared from his hiding place.
“This is such a big school, it shouldn’t be surprising how easy that can happen. Can any of you tell me where I can find the Kindness and Human Decency Seminar? My parole officer said I have to attend it.”
‘Let’s fuck with ‘em a little.’
“What’d you say?” The big one turned around.
“Ya know, it has to do with treating everyone with respect and brotherly love, or some shit. I can see you guys have got it down pat, are you the organizers?”
The one with the papers faced him in a defensive stance. “What the fuck…”
The tall one, still ringing Ebina’s collar, looked at Eiichi as if he were speaking another language.
“What do you want, Kozuka?”
Eiichi finally got close enough that he could pick up a read on all of them. The three were confused and edgy, but they viewed him as someone below them that they simply wouldn’t bother with. To them, he was no more significant than a moth. Ebina stared back at the tall one with wide eyes. He remembered seeing Eiichi from earlier, and now that he knew he had followed him here, he was even more terrified and uncertain of what was going to become of himself.
“Well, I heard something about money and...” Eiichi feigned a surprised look at the papers. “Oh damn! Are those the answers to the upcoming midterm? Man, I’d be pretty happy to get my hands on those.” He plastered on a fake smile with nods to everyone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ebina was just helping us out with something.”
“Yeah man, I can remember beating the life out of the last person that helped me. Good times...”
The tall one released Ebina, who sank down and watched with intense fear.
“Alright, you’re annoying the shit out of me, so get lost, ya fuckin’ nut job!”
He began advancing while the other two stayed back to mind the kid.
All of their amusement had worn off, there was only worry and frustration.
Eiichi was beginning to feel another dull headache coming on. He had to maintain control and not let their outputs overpower him, or else he’d lose it and do something really stupid.
“Oh...” Eiichi voiced sadness. “Such hurtful words. And I was just thinking we could be friends, since we have so much in common already. Don’t you want to be my friend?”
“What!?”
The big one bellowed, “Kick his ass, Mochi! He’s just a freak!”
Mochi? That was his name? Probably short for something else, but still...
‘Mochi’…apparently…was a few inches taller than Eiichi, nothing to boast about. His arms seemed a bit long, which gave him a reach. It was a good thing he was getting closer. Eiichi eyed his two buddies and decided he really wasn’t in the mood for a lot of moving around. If matters took long enough, they would likely jump in to help. They had been ganging up on a kid that they all towered over in size, so they were less likely to get involved in a fair brawl. Mochi was obviously the leader, so whatever Eiichi did, he had to make it count. Chop the head off the viper and watch its body writhe.
“You lookin’ to prove somethin’?” Mochi leaned in with his arms down.
Eiichi grinned with white canines, “That I’m just a really nice guy.”
He had never understood the tough guy act of getting into someone’s face as close as possible. It was a means of testing their opponent’s fear, while at the same time, testing their own boundaries, but it was about the most useless approach to a fight he’d ever seen. He could see where maintaining eye contact was needed to observe an opponent’s movements, the eyes told a lot, but getting within breathing distance, where one could not see the other’s hands and react to an attack, had to be plum stupid.
‘Oh jeez!’ he tried not to cover his nose.
When he thought within breathing distance, he wasn’t kidding. The kid’s vision had been a vicarious experience, but this was the real thing now. Did this guy ever brush?
‘Come on, a little closer tough guy...’
“You gonna’ just stand there?” Mochi said.
‘Tighten the elbow just a little...’
“Hah!?”
‘Get some...’
BAM!
Eiichi P.I., Vol. 1 Page 13