Mentionings: Katsuragi Yuri
It had been a long day for Yuri, one filled with tons of work and more rumors than she liked to hear. Word of a so-called Miss Okamoto’s transgression against Class 2-B made her a bit spiteful; if what people were saying was true, then she was pitting teenagers against each other in an attempt to preserve her own self-image. Though, more than anything, she was curious. She had a good idea of who had created the cursed drawing that had caused so much chaos, though how would the whole situation play out?
The flash of a coin caught her eye as she reached the bottom of the steps that led up to the school. Yuri turned to see a boy who she swore was familiar. Hey, wasn’t that... “Oh, you’re that third year who’s asking all of those questions,” Yuri commented. She stared at him with a small quirk of a smile, waiting for his next move.
The coin landed-
”What?” He grabbed it from the air as his head turned, distracted, as a girl he was...neither familiar nor unfamiliar with...addressed him. It was an either-or situation because, of course, he’d seen her in school, but he had yet to put down information regarding her into anything. The familiarity was there because he’d seen her around with Asumi, whom he DID know more about. The thing she said, though, was ummm...how to address this? Well, he’d made a toss prior, so why not...?
“Huh? Who said that? Oh wait, everyone did. Unless I didn’t. In which case...no?”He was being a bit coy. Hakuro had never spoken with her before, and he was riding on the wings of a warning about making his actions a little too known...but he didn’t want to be unfriendly to someone trying to hold a conversation with him. He flicked his hat once with a smile.
“It’s the hat. Hiding in plain sight. Uhh, which questions were those, though? I kinda’ have a habit of this.”Yuri cocked her head to the side at Hakuro’s response. Her eyebrow quirked a little, almost as if she pondered him or if she was a bit frustrated with the way he looped around her statement. “The ones you’ve been asking more recently,” she answered, though her smirk only grew into a fond smile. “You mind walking me to my job? With all of the disappearances, I’m starting to get scared of heading there on my own.”
He gave her an
“Oh those questions.”, which was pretty much confirmation to her inquiry, but in good humor. This may have been a bad move, but he’d rather know up-front where the conversation was going, in truth. His evasiveness was merely a choice of approach toward this end. Perhaps the girl was curious about him, as well, because she asked if he would escort her to her place of employment.
“Sure, I don’t mind. No problem.”He made a ‘Lead the way’ sort of gesture for her, then proceeded to walk alongside as she essentially led. It was only after a mental pause and a blink that he followed up with...
“...what disappearances?”Yuri nodded at his gesture. A long, tired sigh left her lips as she set off for one of the busy roads of town. “What, you didn’t know? That’s why we have that curfew,” she replied as she shrugged the loose strap of her backpack onto her other shoulder. “People’ve been vanishing from town. The girls in my class are scared, they think it’s a kidnapper or serial killer or something. But I think people might just be running away.”
She yawned as she rubbed an eye. “So, why are you asking so many questions about that teacher? Miss Okemata? Miss Okumuta?”
He was a bit embarrassed to find that he’d missed that. It should’ve been something his mind was focused on instead of this business of the Prime Minister, like everyone else, or trying to straighten out his site in regards to that matter.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the situation was that serious. I should’ve known, but all I heard was ‘No more late-nights’ and was completely bummed out thereafter. As for Okamoto...”He looked her over for a second, parsing together what little he knew with the fact that she didn’t even bother to pronounce the teacher’s name right. She wasn’t in that class, or even much associated, save for one, perhaps.
“You heard from Asumi what happened, didn’t you? It’s one thing for a teacher to seek discipline towards a student disproportionately, and for that to be in question. But for a whole class? Unprecedented... I checked. There isn’t a cause for it in the book. Alas, I’ve heard that that may not stop her, and that has led my abrupt questioning to a halt, at least until I try an approach that won’t step on too many toes.”“Oh.” Yuri’s smile melted off her face. She turned her gaze down the road once again and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah... I heard about that.”
After a few seconds of pondering, she shook her head. “It’s pretty bad, but if I were you, I wouldn’t get involved with it. Don’t even ask any questions.” Yuri gave him a pointed side-long glance so she was sure she could get the point across. “You’re gonna graduate soon, so I don’t think it’s worth getting into any sticky business... there’s gotta be a reason why she’s been around for so long, right?”
He nodded, saying
”I know.”. His questions might’ve gotten him close to being burned, as she suggested, but fortunately he’d been given fair warning.
“One of my Drama Club friends told me about her having people in her corner among the Third Years...and also the Principal."He let that sink in, as if to say that even on a bad day, the Hatto-san still gets his intel. His own expression had gone rather solemn, or maybe into a Deep Thought kind of mode.
”I’m very lucky. I might just be able to survive her, even if I’m targeted, though it might hurt in a different way. The point is whoever else might get damaged in my wake, hence the sudden caution...but give in entirely? I know what she’s doing, and it’s sickening. In future times, I don’t wanna look back and regret doing nothing on this one.”Now, he looked over her way with a smile.
”I think I’m alright telling you this because you’re clearly not one of her followers. What do I call you besides ‘Asumi’s friend’, though?”Yuri paused for a second when Hakuro mentioned what he heard. Her eyes widened and her lips pursed into a straight line. “Damn, so it runs that deep, huh...” she murmured as she dropped her gaze down onto the floor. “I guess I’m
really lucky I don’t have her as a teacher. Still, poor Asumi...”
After a brief pause, she glanced back up at him and offered him a weak smile. “Y’know, this town needs more people like you, standing up for things that are right. Too many people stay to the side when something bad’s going on. It’s sad...but hey, thanks for the compliment. I’d hate it if I got labeled as one of her followers...” Then, with a sly smirk, she teased, “and what’s with calling Asumi by her first name? You must know her
really well if that’s the case.”
She let out a dry chuckle, which was quickly punctuated by a long sigh. “You can call me Katsuragi, by the way.”
They would both laugh, because it seemed like they needed it after being sobered by the Okamoto experience. Yes, Hakuro was prepared to roll with that one.
“I don’t, but she’s so outwardly friendly that I don’t think she’d even mind.”In keeping with the theme, though, the girl was just going by her family name, so he doffed his hat with a smile and a nod and went
“Kuroda.”. He’d considered doing the ‘Bond, James Bond’ routine, but that was neither his style, nor an effective means of segway into his alter-ego as the Hatto-san.
“Hey... Is it alright if I asked about these disappearances? I know the reasons you said were just theory, but...is there a pattern to ‘em at all?”“Nice to meet you, Kuroda,” Yuri affirmed with a smirk. They walked for a bit more as she pondered his next question. “I don’t think anyone knows about a pattern except for the police, and that’s a huge maybe...they can be kind of dumb sometimes.”
“All I do know is that people need to be careful,” she finally added. “Especially the kids from the high school.”
The young man seemed to ponder that himself for a moment, wondering if...nah, it’s probably nothing. Unless it isn’t. Let’s just say that it was going in the suddenly-pulled-out notepad before the thing was replaced in his coat pocket.
“Thoughts for later. Where do you work, anyway? I’ve been in this town about a year, and I’m pretty sure I only ever saw you a handful of times, mainly at school.”Yuri didn’t mention anything about his sudden quietness, instead choosing to answer his next question. She nodded down the street at a bookstore that was tucked in close against the residential district. “I work at Kudo’s today,” she replied. “I’m a pretty busy gal, need to pay the rent to my place, so I work odd jobs here and there. You know what they say, money makes the world go round.”
“Ahh, you rotate around. That makes sense. Well, most of the employs seem nice in this town, so I imagine you have a fine time of it.”Huh... That was interesting. Rent implies that she lived in an apartment of her own, as well. That didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t local, but she was working to possibly strike out on her own while still in high school. Hakuro felt the itch to inquire further about that, but he had a feeling that it would be overstepping his boundaries...and we’d already had enough of that happening already. Best to keep that one for later, maybe.
“They’re alright, I guess,” Yuri replied with an indifferent shrug. As they approached the bookstore, she waved at him and gave him another smile. “I’ll see you around. Get home safe!”
And with that, she trotted down the street and slipped inside the small bookstore, leaving Hakuro alone once again. He had, to his credit, waved back, saying
"You too!" as she headed off. He wasn't far from his place now, so he could just take her advice and head right there...or he could keep an eye on things externally to make sure she doesn't run afoul of anyone...or he could look up who it was he was dealing with-
What am I doing? Haven't I had enough for one day?He really overdid it, sometimes. Why not just meet someone without secretly finding some background information and learn about them the normal way? Katsuragi seemed nice, after all. A down-to-earth sort of girl with realistic expectations of the world, maybe, and she liked his attitude. These were good points that he just shouldn't spoil, so yeah... Home. He'd had a day, and she could surely look after herself if HE was the one not fully-informed about the disappearances, like he
should. Hakuro went back to the apartment and shrugged off his coat, putting it up on a hook with his hat nearby. He pulled out his notes that he'd been taking all day, wandering to his bed and falling back into it.
"I should talk to them direct, with or without finding these 3rd Years and graduates. There's no telling what that teacher is really capable of. No telling..."He turned over and decided to take a snooze, leaving the notebook open on his bed to a particular page...
Okamoto Hina - History Teacher (Class 2-B)Disproportionate Response
Gets Results, Principal ImpressedFraud?
Extortionist?
Kidnapper/Murderer?
Snowdrops
Half Pint
MegaraFoxfire
sharkbites
Izurich
Owlriel
Bork Lazer
Abstract Proxy
NinoDelDesastre
Lildear18