[IC] Where It Always Rains

[mickilennial]

---

April 8th, Year 1

---

And there it was. Nakano Kanna, the Ace Reporter; out for the story, the gossip, the drama. And once again it was the Sakaguchi’s she was trying to put a spotlight on.

“This isn’t one of your stories, Nakano. This has nothing to do with you.”

Akari knew the smaller girl wasn’t going to cease her mission to find the newest scoop. It was pointless. She had been the one who wrote about Akari’s last “big” fight a few months ago and Akari had not forgotten about that. This new boy, the one who started shit with Kenzo, this was just the next big thing. Nothing happened that was interesting so Nakano had to make things seem interesting. If she wasn’t so annoying and left the Sakaguchi Family out of it, Akari would’ve tolerated it.

The concern about the upcoming fight was another thing, though. Not that Nakano was worried about Akari’s well-being. Akari had tossed the reporter in a trash bin once, after all. How would Akari fare if Totsuka didn’t take her threats to heart? Or worse? Did it matter? Did Akari care? Before her growth spurt there had been a lot of girls who tried to get into her head and she was happy to show them what exactly happened when you mentioned her father’s name to her face. She didn’t care if he was the first person to be taller than her in this school or about any of the trouble she could get in. All that mattered was she got her point across.

“You want to get tied to a water tower where nobody can find you?” She retorted, annoyed. “Like I said. Don’t.”

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, yesterday’s future.

---

Sibling Rivalry!
Utsubyo Ogre Strikes Again!
Sakaguchi Suplex

“Huh? Oh yeah, totally,” she muttered, scratching through another few shorthanded titles. There were almost too many angles to take this, and she didn’t want to waste time agonizing over a headline now, when there was a chance she’d have to scrap it if things went south—or north, she didn’t really have a preference.

Akari went on, but it was some kind of insult, or a threat, and Kanna had learned to tune those out. It wasn’t that she thought Akari was bluffing, hell she was probably one of the most serious people in Utsubyo, Kanna just didn’t care. If she took every threat of bodily harm to heart, or heeded every broody warning, the only things she’d get to report on were puppies and old people shit—and not even the weird, scandalous old people shit.

She took another bite of her sandwich, circled a few tentative points in her notes, and retuned to the conversation. “Hey, do you think this could’ve had anything to do with Kenzo’s, uh, hobbies? I mean, you’ve seen Totsuka. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s dabblin’ in the dark arts, if y’know what I’m sayin’?” Obviously she couldn't publish that sort of speculation, that would just be bad form. But if it was a lead worth investigating, she'd dog it. “Ooh! Could be gang related. You ever been in a gang? Y'know, leather jackets, nail-bats, that sorta deal?"

[mickilennial]

---

April 8th, Year 1

---

“You read too much manga.” Akari sighed, dismissing Kanna’s fixations.

Leather Jackets? Gang Activity? Nakano’s head was way too in the clouds, which Akari supposed was Nakano’s entire personality. The taller girl’s threats went unheard and the reporter hyper-focused on something weird and over-the-top. She didn’t know how she wasn’t used to it by now, but here it was again, another day where Akari was confused by Nakano’s nonsense. But what about her idea that Kenzo could’ve been dealing to the taller boy? Akari supposed that was less ridiculous, but her brother also wasn’t the type to antagonize people like she did.

Something to ask Kenzo when she got home. If she remembered, anyway.

“Do you think he joined a gang by the second day of the new school year? How long has he even been here?” She shook her head, “That’s dumb. You’re dumb.”

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, tomorrow's yesterday.

---

“I don’t read manga.”

Kanna sat back as Akari begrudgingly began to engage. She watched the girl closely, discounting the sighs of annoyance and aggressive posture—she brought those out of most people, delinquent or not. Akari herself was a bit of a sphinx; all of her secrets and stories were locked behind stony expressions and spiteful, angry riddles. Sometimes it wasn’t about what people said to her, but rather, what they didn’t.

Dangle two leads in someone’s face, and you might just learn more following the one they explicitly didn’t pick.

Akari chose to bite on the gang line, and completely ignored the idea that Kenzo might have been dealing to Totsuka. Kanna made another circle in her notebook. Damn, if she’d stuck around longer in the parking lot she might have asked the poor guy himself. Oh well, it was what it was, and Kanna had the feeling she wasn’t going to be welcome to ask Kenzo any follow up questions.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Too early. Unless it’s like, some kind of takeover. Yikes. Hey, take it from me, if it’s part of something big like that, you probably don’t wanna get involved.” She held up her casted arm, knocked on it with her knuckles. “Those kinda dudes don’t mess around. Could get real bad for you.”

[Hero]

---

---

One of these days he was getting a smack, the guy was way too cocky for his own good. Shiori threw a glare up at the guy, even if it was probably going to get ignored. The silver lining was that at least he wasn't a snitch. One less thing to worry about, though she was aware she was probably gonna catch shit anyway; Touga wasn't looking too impressed, and admittedly Shiori's less-than-stellar reputation meant that there was the very real possibility that Touga didn't believe him. Not that he made it difficult, since apparently there was no way she could have put him up to that.

Touga herself said nothing, staring at Totsuka for a moment. She kept them waiting longer than Shiori cared for, but finally, she let out a long sigh. "I don't think I need to say that this behavior is unacceptable," She said, shaking her head. "I'm disappointed. Day one and you're already up to trouble! At least tell me why you did it."

"Sakaguchi had it coming. Not from Totsuka, but from...everyone and anyone, really," Shiori joked.

"It doesn't matter who it happened to, if you're to become a proper member of society, you can't just go around hitting people!" Touga couldn't help but yell, not appreciative of Shiori's response. "Clearly there is a lot of energy here that needs to be properly re-directed."

Touga picked up a paper, holding it out for the pair to see. "For that, I'm leaving you in Shinsato-sensei's care in the Boxing Club," She stated.

---

---

---

---

Alone again. Ichika let out a small sigh, placing her chin in her hands. Shiori avoided her yesterday, too. All she did was ask what she did during lunch, and now she was being ignored! What gives?! She couldn't help her annoyance, letting herself stew in her feelings for a second. Honestly, Shi-Shi could be so difficult that it was a wonder she had any friends!

She looked over at the one person who she managed to make something of a bond with, only to see her with someone else. Ichika didn't recognize the other girl, though she seemed friendly from what she could tell. She spoke as if she was familiar, and Sakaguchi reacted the way she normally did. Or did she? She seemed more annoyed today than she was yesterday.

Ichika scooted over, looking between the two. "Hiya!" She greeted the pair, her lunch on her lap. "What's happening?"

---

---

[mickilennial]

---

April 8th, Year 1

---

“Nakano is trying to play detective.” Akari remarked, nonchalantly. “She’ll probably be up Himawari’s ass next.”

Akari sighed–the girl from yesterday, the new girl. The one with boundless energy, as if Akari’s social battery wasn’t overloaded enough. At least there was some kind of silver lining to the whole situation; there was someone else to distract Nakano from her need to tell whatever stories she could get her hands on. Maybe she could focus on the new girl’s move to town and away from Akari, Kenzo, and the idiot who Akari couldn’t stop thinking about confronting. There were a lot of ways and places it could go down. She took another bite of her food as she thought about if she should do it in the school hallways where everyone can see or outside where the prying eyes of people like Nakano could be avoided.

It was going to happen today. Somewhere. Somehow.

[Asura]

TOTSUKA RYUSEI
戸塚 竜星

---

a date where smartphones exist
i don't fucking know pm

---

Why had he done it? That was easy enough to answer—he was hurt and wanted to hurt somebody else in return. Fat chance he'd ever admit to that in any company, much less one made up of a huffy teacher and a wise cracking redhead. Luckily, that very same redhead answered for him, and saved him for having to come up with some kind of lame excuse for why he decided to brain the poor fucker. At least the kid seemed to have a reputation to him that ensured Ryusei didn't have to feel too guilty for his actions. Not that he would have anyway. Of course, the drilling for an answer wasn't the reason they had been brought here. He knew that from experience. What teachers were more concerned with was making a show of their authority and punishing him for stepping out of line. As if detention mattered in a shithole with nothing to do.

It was perhaps to Touga-sensei's credit as an educator that she had managed to do something none of his previous educators had done, and actually surprise him with her declaration. The towering teen gave the paper a once over, then directed his icy blues to the woman herself, quirking a single brow.

"I can't become a proper member of society by hitting people, so to teach me that lesson you're going to put me in the club where I hit people?" He asked, resisting the urge to point out that he hadn't used his fists on Sakaguchi. He didn't want to risk the school having a fucking skateboarding club. Besides, he had other, more important things to do. Like antagonize his overseer about her choice.

"Yeah, no, that checks out. That'll learn me real good, sensei."

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, yesterday’s day before tomorrow.

---

Kanna perked at the sudden appearance of the new girl, mentally snapping her fingers for details. Ichiko? Ichida—ka! Ichika. Shimizu Ichika. Shopping, dress up, volleyball. An out-of-towner like Totsuka, whose pleasantness had been tragically overshadowed by the Ogre’s…abrasiveness.

But as compelling as the inevitable rivalry was, Utsubyo was too dull for Kanna to afford to let good leads slip by her. Shimizu might not be laying local plugs out in the parking lot, but that didn’t mean she was boring, or that there wasn’t a spot for her in the paper. Volleyball was an engaging sport, maybe—Kanna didn’t really do sports, but that was fine, because she often found the athletes to be infinitely more interesting than the games themselves.

Swinging around so that she could face both girls, Kanna beamed cheerily and bowed her head in greeting, subtly flipping to a fresh page in the flipbook as she did. “Nakano Kanna, reporter for the school paper, and as my good friend Akari put it, local sleuth. Nothin’ happens in this school—in this town—without me knowin’ about it.”

She twirled her pen in her fingers, scribbled the name, "Shimizu Ichika" at the top of the new page and gave it a bold underline. “Meant to introduce myself yesterday actually, but things kinda got, y’know, a lil’ bit hectic. Skateboards, assault, defending family honor,” she winked to Akari. “All that good stuff. But hey, what about you? Where’re you from? What brings you to a place like Utsubyo?”

[Hero]

---

---

"What you're lacking in is discipline, Totsuka. The club will help you with that and teach you how to redirect your feelings so you don't make the same mistake again," Touga corrected him. "I'll be checking in to make sure you attend as well, so I expect you to go there straight after school today to get yourself acquainted."

Shiori was a little surprised by this turn of events, to say the least. Since when was getting enrolled into a club punishment? Now that she thought about it, did the punishment really fit the crime? It seemed a little mean to have to give up your afternoons for the rest of the year. Then again, it'd likely discourage him from doing it again. Or at the very least, have him hone his abilities so the next time he'd knock out anyone that tried to take pictures.

With that settled, Shiori turned to leave. Unfortunately, it looked like Touga wasn't finished as she quickly grabbed Shiori's shoulder and turned her back around. "Not so fast, young lady. You're starting off the year on the wrong foot, too," She told her.

"I didn't do anything, remember?" She reminded her.

Touga narrowed her eyes. "Cigarettes were found where the pictures were taken," She stated, causing Shiori to grimace. "That's a week's worth of cleanup and detention for you, and I'm being light only because I didn't catch you in the act this time."

Shiori's lips formed a thin line as she closed her eyes. Welp, she couldn't get out of that one since those stupid photos basically outed her. She was definitely paying a visit to the Newspaper Club first, though. "Fine," She shrugged.

---

---

---

---

Detective? Ichika looked at the other girl, the one called Nakano. She was looking into Shiori? But why? Maybe it had to do with the article. She wished she had finished reading the article to completion before showing Shiori, but she had acted impulsively out of shock. Her fingers tapped her lunch as she deliberated on how to respond. Obviously, it was better if Nakano steered clear, but by what Sakaguchi said, maybe it was best to warn her ahead of time.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Shi-Shi can be kinda grumpy," Ichika frowned. "She's not exactly personable."

---

---

[Asura]

TOTSUKA RYUSEI
戸塚 竜星

---

a date where smartphones exist
i don't fucking know pm

---

"Redirect them through my fists."

There was a level of absurdity to the assignment that almost made it comical. Almost. He had never been in a club before. Not for the school's lack of trying, granted. The athletic clubs constantly hounded him for membership all through middle school and freshman year, trying to secure the school's novelty giant for their clubs. Until the baseball incident, at least—the invitations dried up after that, for some reason. His rejects had been for a reason; he hated the idea of them. Having to waste his afternoons hanging out with people he didn't even get to choose, doing some stupid sport for the sake of the coach's ego. If he had the choice, he would have happily traded his punishment with Shiori. At least she got to go back to her normal life after a week. He'd be stuck with the boxing club until he did something to get himself kicked out.

He gave a passing glance to the redhead, noticing how little she bothered to fight back against her sentencing. She undoubtedly knew it too—she was getting the light end of the stick, just as Touga-sensei said. That just seemed unfair. It was her fault in some small manner. If she hadn't have insisted they leave, he would have ended up clubbing the kid in the ribs a couple of times. Much less enticing for the sharks in the newspaper club, who had inevitably swarmed the druggie while he was clonked out on the pavement. Plus, if she hadn't been smoking back there, he wouldn't have been enticed to join her.

"Y'know, sensei," He piped up, deciding to choose violence for a second time that week, "If you're so insistent the boxing club teaches discipline, why isn't she comin' with me? I'm sure they have plenty of equipment that needs cleanin'. Don't they have a position for the person that does that kinda stuff?"

It was like they said; misery loved company, and no good deed went unpunished.

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, yesterday’s future.

---

On the one hand, it seemed like Ichika hadn’t been listening, so she was high and dry on the questions. Oof. On the other hand, she was looking out for Kanna’s safety, which was cute. Normally whenever people told tried to warn her off doing something, it was because they just didn’t want her snooping around ‘invading their privacy’. but Ichika was the new girl, she didn’t know Kanna well enough to be perpetually exhausted with her. Yet.

Kanna scribbled down, “good person?” on the left margin, where the serious points went.

Then she wrote “SHI-SHI?????” in big letters right in the middle. She’d known Shiori for years, and there wasn’t a single person in Utsubyo brave enough to call her fucking Shi-Shi.

“Oh really?” Kanna asked, leaning on the desk. “Wow, you must know Shiori really well, huh?”

[Hero]

---

---

The fact that Shiori's neck hadn't snapped from how quick she looked at Totsuka was a testament to the durability of the human body. The fact that she wasn't throttling him was also a testament to her own willpower. She should've outed him, she should've thrown him under the bus, she should've gotten a license so she could drive the bus just to run him over multiple times! What the hell?! Why the hell would he suggest this?! If her eyes could burn into him any more than they already were, he would've been set on fire by now as her rage burned behind her glare.

To her absolute horror, Touga was now thinking. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening! Shiori didn't even dare look her way in case anything she did swayed the teacher. Unfortunately for her, however, Touga agreed. "The manager graduated last year, so I'm pretty sure Shinsato-sensei's probably looking for someone to fill in the gap," She said, looking at Shiori. "An idle mind is the devil's playground...So keeping you busy is probably for the best. Good idea, Totsuka."

Shiori exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding, though she immediately protested. Unfortunately, any valid concerns she had were nonexistent as she couldn't think of anything that could get her out of this aside from blurting out, "But I don't want to!"

"And I don't want to see you two going down the wrong path," Touga scolded her. "It's not too late to turn things around! You have ambition. Just think of this as a way to keep you out of trouble. Now that that's settled, go back to lunch, you two still have time to eat something."

Shiori visibly deflated, dismayed. How did it come to this? As they were ushered out of the faculty room, the redhead felt herself visibly shake with anger. She quickly turned on Totsuka, once again glaring at him.

"What the hell?!" She snapped at him, furious. "First your little fire crotch comment--not cute, by the way!--but you decided to drag me into your punishment, too?!"

---

---

---

---

Ichika wasn't entirely sure what Nakano was writing, though she couldn't assume it was good. It was like she was being interviewed--oh no. Is that what was happening right now? Was she in the Newspaper Club? Suddenly Ichika felt like she made a big mistake. Wait, no, it was okay, right? It wasn't like she was gonna go saying bad things about Shiori. If anything, she could easily clear up any misunderstandings!

The brunette nodded at first, though she paused. "Well, we're cousins, actually," Ichika admitted. "We're not super close, but she used to come to visit me a lot back in Tokyo with my aunt--our moms are sisters."

---

---

[mickilennial]

---

April 8th, Year 1

---

So, that was Shimizu’s reason for coming to this backwater town in the middle of nowhere. Akari took a drink from her tea as she remembered their conversation from yesterday. She had suspected they were secret childhood friends or pen pals or something, but cousins? That made a lot more sense. It would also spell trouble if she kept blabbing within earshot of Nakano, though Akari suspected it would be hard to get rid of her given present circumstances. Not that Akari cared, herself. Nakano was going to be Nakano and any damage she did wasn’t going to last very long.

“That makes sense.” Akari commented, “Explains why you ended up in Utsubyo this year.”

[Asura]

TOTSUKA RYUSEI
戸塚 竜星

---

a date where smartphones exist
i don't fucking know pm

---

As the words left his mouth, he almost felt bad about it. Almost. But the way Shiori's head nearly flew off her shoulders in response to his 'helpful' suggestion nearly managed to bring a grin to his face. If she was that expressive, he'd make a note to continue taking jabs at her here and there whenever he could; Utsubyo was far too boring not to try and drum up some kind of amusement. As they were shooed off to complete the rest of their break, he had more than prepared himself for the outburst to come. She shook in her wrath, firing a glare at him like she could kill him right then and there with it—it was almost cute. Of course, the shrill yelling came shortly after that. Much less cute. But he had an easy response for all her rage.

"Hey, I saved you from spending the next week scrubbing desks and cleaning boards. You should be thankful," He told her, although it took a great deal of his self-restraint to keep his expression stoic in light of the absolute bullshit he was spewing. "Besides, if you weren't out there smoking, I wouldn't have been tempted to join you. It's honestly your fault for being such good company."

That was sure to rile her up good and proper. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could redirect some of that aggression towards the half-pint he had encountered behind the dumpsters. She was undoubtedly the one who snapped the pictures that had apparently incriminated them both. As much as he'd like to get back at her, punching out a girl on the second day of school wasn't a good look. But if another girl did it—and he was sure Shiori was the type to throw a punch—then it would be fine. Given his own propensity to vent frustration with his hands, he decided his provocations weren't just thinly veiled excuses to have a good laugh, but an attempt at justice.

"And I mean, the comment was justified. You don't strike me as the type to dye your hair. Unless, y'know, you shave, I guess..."

It never hurt to be thorough.

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, tomorrow’s day after the day before yesterday.

---

Cousins? Shiori had cousins that looked and acted like this? Kanna would have checked her pulse, but at this point she would have rather risked the stroke than stop writing.

Cosuins
Cousins
SHI-SHI—very close
Shiori go Tokyo???
How deep does the Himawari rabbit hole go

Akari chimed in as well; it seemed she and Ichika were already acquainted. The sister of the plug that was beaten up by Totsuka, was sat down with the cousin of Shiori, who was involved somehow. Utsubyo was small, but was it small enough to facilitate a coincidence this big?

Speculation later, she thought. Questions now.

“That’s craaaazy. Wow. Absolutely wild. What was she like back then? Is Totsuka from Tokyo too? Do you all know each other?”

[Hero]

---

---

"My hair is obviously--that kind of question is--what is wrong with you?!"

Shiori was a little too wound up to be more articulate. Some of her fury fizzled away to embarrassment, but she was also too pissed off to not be angry. She was also wholly unamused by the explanation she was given. And to think she didn't rat him out, only for him to drag her down with him. What an actual asshole! The worst part was that as angry as she was with him, there was the tiniest sliver of truth somewhere in his explanation. Not the part where he admitted she was good company--she blamed that part entirely for flustering her--but maybe if she hadn't gotten him to leave they could've caught the rat before the photos were taken.

Taking in a deep breath, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "He says 'thankful.' This is what I get for being nice," She grumbled, taking in a deep breath in an effort to calm herself down.

"You know, usually when you enjoy people's company, you just ask them to hang out. Now I think you hate me since you decided to drag me down to Boxing Club Hell with you," She huffed, crossing her arms. "I should ask to participate so I can learn how to give you a good right hook."

---

---

---

---

Ichika blinked slowly as she listened. Both Sakaguchi and Nakano were really confusing and she wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation. Sakaguchi's comment made her feel a little bad, but it did explain why she assumed that Ichika was here as punishment. Nakano, on the other hand, was acting a lot like those girls that used to cozy up to her in an attempt to get access to her parents' money. She was entirely uncomfortable, but she had no idea how to escape this conversation without it getting awkward.

"Uh...I don't know any Totsuka, sorry," She started there. "Shi-Shi is, uh...well, grumpy. But she's a good person deep down! She's just kinda shy, that's all. So sometimes it's hard for her to talk to people, you know?"

---

---

[Asura]

TOTSUKA RYUSEI
戸塚 竜星

---

a date where smartphones exist
i don't fucking know pm

---

With how prone to mouthing off she seemed, Ryusei hadn't expected that his comments would get her so tied up in a knot. If they ended up hanging around each other regularly—a silly hypothetical, considering he had all but ensured that moments ago—he would make sure to exploit that going forward. She did make some good points though. Dragging her down with him was a bit of a bitch move to pull, but he didn't know who all were part of the team, so ensuring he had at least one friendly face among them would hopefully make the coming weeks more tolerable. Not that Shiori's face was looking especially friendly at the time.

"What do you mean? We're gonna be hanging out every day after school now. This is just a... non-conventional proposal, is all." He insisted, ever the smooth talker, "'Sides, I wouldn't mind you hopping in the ring—maybe you can throw the punches you learn there at the person who got us into this mess. The hell was her name? Short, black hair, annoying glasses. My 'stalker'. You said she was on the school newspaper, didn't you?"

It didn't hurt to make his intentions for her a little better known. Frankly, he expected her to go off and seek vengeance all her own, if her reputation was at all warranted. He was just pushing the inevitable conclusion forward a little bit.

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, yesterday’s day before the day after tomorrow.

---

Kanna scratched out a line between the names Himawari and Totsuka. Damn, no prior connection. Maybe this really was the fickle hand of fate, moving the inhabitants of Utsubyo around like a child playing with their dolls. If that was the case, she wasn’t sure if she ought to shake that hand, or bite it. There’d been a whole half a year where the most exciting thing to happen were the weasels behind Family Mart. What the fuck was up with that, Fate?

Still, there was something here. Was it directly relevant to Totsuka’s outburst? Debatable. But hearing from Shiori’s family that she was a good person “deep down” was at once surprising, and entirely unsurprising. That was usually what people said when they didn’t want to admit someone was a through-and-through asshole, but Kanna had never gotten that impression from Shiori. Rude, impersonable, with a temper like one of those lobsters in the tank at a sea food restaurant, but not irredeemably bad.

Shiori nice?
Bad talk—but talk Ogre?
“Not super close”

“Yeah, you’re tellin’ me." Kanna circled the bit about her not being a good talker. Shiori was never boring, but rarely reliable as a source—not that she was dishonest, just that she was often more likely to deck you than give you something to work with. In a way she and Akari were similar, but Akari had the whole “giant” thing going on that was usually intimidation enough.

“So you’re saying it’d be out of character for her to hang around someone who’d do, y’know, she flapped one of the newspapers lying on a nearby desk. “That?”

Neat. A character witness from some random nobody wouldn’t count for much, but this was family, and Kanna had a feeling that Ichika was bound for a better reputation than her cousin. If it came to it, clearing Shiori’s name—at least officially—would be easier with a few good words from her.

[Hero]

---

---

"Uh huh."

A non-conventional proposal. This guy was so full of shit. Unfortunately, the deed was done, and as much as she'd like to exercise her anger, it wasn't going to do anything. That, and it would look kinda bad if she just started wailing on the new guy right after he just got sent to Boxing Club Jail for being violent. She tried not to roll her eyes too much as he continued, though he did bring up a good point. The real culprit of this entire mess was whoever took the pictures in the first place. She regretted not going back and smacking the camera out of their hands. By his description, though, it could have been a few people.

"Well, I was going to pay a visit to the Newspaper Club after class, but now I have to go somewhere else," She reminded him. "'Cause you've described at least three people and if I'm kicking someone's teeth in, it has to be the right person."

---

---

---

---

Would it be out of character? No. But Ichika couldn't really admit to that without opening up a whole slew of problems. Shoot, she should be better at this sort of thing. She tucked a hair behind her ear as she tried to buy herself a little time, trying to think of how to approach this as diplomatically as possible.

"Not really. I'm shocked you're not more aware, Nakano."

Ichika closed her mouth and looked to her right, the source of the comment seated at her desk. Golden eyes were fixated on the sandwich the girl held, her mess of blonde hair looking just a touch different than typical shades. Her uniform was barely put together, her hoodie unzipped and hanging off her shoulders. Despite giving the trio no attention visually, it was clear she had been listening to them.

"Himawari's a known delinquent that's thrown plenty of punches. It's not that shocking to find her associating with another delinquent, is it?" She asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Ichika was a little surprised by this. "That's a bold assumption to make," She frowned.

The girl snorted, taking a second to finish before replying, "If I took a picture of every shiner she gave me, I'd have a whole album. Granted, it's mutual, but don't go pretending she's a good girl when she isn't," She replied.

---

---

[Mcmolly]

---

April 8th, yesterday’s day before the day after tomorrow.

---

Kanna’s eyes shot up from her notepad. Now that was a familiar voice, and a relevant one to boot.

If there was one person in the school who had or wanted dirt on Shiori, it was Takano Junko. Unfortunately, that didn’t make her useful, in fact it made her almost entirely incredible. Nothing Junko told her about Shiori could be trusted, and the same could be said of Shiori about Junko. Few were the rivalries as fierce as theirs, which was a double edged blade. Yes, their spats were loud and occasionally violent, but they were also so frequent that hardly anyone found them interesting anymore. Water was wet, the sky was blue, Shiori and Junko beat each other up behind the gym.

Nevertheless, even bad information had its value. She wouldn’t print anything Junko said, but she could follow leads, and see if they panned out to anything worthwhile.

If—and that was a big “if”—she didn’t get her head bitten off for her trouble. But Kanna had lived here a long time, she’d gotten good at navigating the shark-invested waters of Utsubyo Highschool.

“Junkooo, heeeeeeey~!” Kanna leaned across the desk, giving enough visual attention for the both of them. “You’re a savvy gal, huh? You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that new delinquent, would you?”