"You're kidding me." I sigh, my jaw slack with disbelief.
"Yep, it's known as 'Arata duty'" Shin continues, his face locked into a frown.
"So let me get this straight; You need me to go and get your brother from OCS and make sure he doesn't lift any wallets on the way back?"
"Right, and Koharu isn't here, and I did it yesterday." He sighs, his frown pulling downwards even further.
"But why do they trust his friends?" I question, still baffled.
"We've all got clean records aside from Koharu, but she always returns the wallet after she's done, so her record is clean enough."
"But wouldn't his 'friends' just let him keep lifting wallets?" My brain churns as it tries to compute the information, it makes no sense.
"They might, but it's better that than having him steal a purse from his escort." He sighs, I can tell he's had to do this many times over the two years they've both attended.
"Alright, I don't really get why the teachers think that's the best way to go about it but... whatever." I sigh, my face now matching Shin's. "Where do you want me to bring him?"
"His room would be good, he's on 'lockdown'" He air quotes, clearly the room isn't guarded all that well. "Hold on, I'll write you a note so he knows who you are."
"Alright, thanks." I shake my head, this seems like a job that'll become a regular occurrence given that they even have a name for it. Palming the pencil note from Shin, he raises his hand into a wave and makes his way off towards the dorms. Suppose I should get to the auxiliary building soon.
---
"Hey, I'm here to pick up a student from OCS." I read from the back of the note while the rather bored person sitting behind the counter types idly.
"Taichi again?" She looks up from her monitor and catches sight of me. "Oh, they sent someone new?"
"Mhmm, I'm friends with his brother." I shrug, thinking about how quickly I have been taken into the eclectic band of friends.
"Sure, he's in the first room on your right." She shrugs back, clearly used to having students pick him up. Giving a quick thanks and my signiture, I make my way down the hallway. Finding the correct room, I give it a sharp knock.
"Hey, I'm here to pick you up, apparently..." I question through the door, still unsure of my own motives.
"One sec." A voice responds from behind the door, and a second later it swings open.
"Oh, sorry, I think I must have the wrong room." I stare at the person before me.
Pink hair. So very bright.
"Oh, you must be necktie something or other, right? Thanks for busting me out, bro." He strides past me and shoulders his bag.
"You... You are Arata... right?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out." He responds with a shrug and a smirk.
"I think I know why you keep getting caught." I chuckle before beginning the walk out of the building.
"Really? I'd love to hear it man." He catches up to me after a short skip and falls into step.
"Honestly, I think it's the hair." I laugh, it's no wonder he keeps getting caught, especially with a reputation like his.
Speaking of that.
"I'd appreciate my wallet back, I hear you have a problem with returning them." I sigh, I felt his hand in my back pocket when he left his room, he used the movement of his bag to cover his hand.
Very sneaky.
"Dammit!" He curses "Can I still add it to the counter?"
"Sure, whatever you like." As long as I get my wallet back I don't really care. After a second of thought he returns it with a shrug and a sigh before pulling a small notebook out of his top pocket and scrawling in it.
"What's your actual name? I need it for the book, please and thank you." He questions with his nose firmly placed in the book. I see a half page of names, there could only be fifteen to twenty on there, at this rate he'll never beat Koharu.
"Hisao Nakai." I reply flatly, I need to go to bed.
---
[Shin][We're outside.]
And with that, I pat down my pockets to make sure I've got everything. Wallet, phone, emergency slip, keys; All set. I've taken to carrying a slip of paper detailing my condition on it, that way if I go down in the field I can just pull the paper out of my pocket and have some hope that I won't die right there. It's not the most detailed, but it's got contact numbers and information that medical staff could use. Better than nothing, at least.
Stepping outside and throwing on my jacket, I check my phone once more.
[Shin][We're going into town after class, wanna tag along?]
[Hisao][Sure, sounds good to me.]
[Shin][We'll be meeting at the front gate, I'll text you when.]
Front gate, right. As I begin to wander over towards the large iron gate, I begin to consider if I need anything from the store. I don't really, but hanging out with the guys again would be good. I saw them yesterday, but I've been enjoying their company more and more since I met them last week. In that week, I've been given 'Arata duty' twice. It's amazing how often this guy can get himself in trouble.
"...he figured me out right away, I don't know how he does it. Honestly..." I hear Arata speaking rather loudly past the gate.
"It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs." I slink out from the shadows, feeling rather stealthy.
"Gah! See! He's like a magician!" Arata throws both his arms towards me, showing my position to Shin, Aki and Koharu who are all gathered around him.
"There might be a competitor to your throne." Aki jabs towards Koharu, who simply shrugs.
"He'll never be as good as me." She winks. We all share a chuckle before we begin making our way down the hill.
"And he even wore a necktie!" Aki exclaims, noticing my tie from under my vest and attempting to tug it free. "The vest isn't so cool though."
"I'll chalk it up to not having sleeves, makes everything better when he can't hide stuff there." Koharu speaks over her shoulder while leading the group.
"Sure, we'll go with that." I chuckle nervously. "Just so you guys know, If I take a tumble then there is a note in my pocket telling you what to do." I sigh. I'm still being held back by my condition.
"I'm not giving you mouth to mouth." Arata states clearly.
"Sounds like you've had a run in with that." I chuckle, feeling the atmosphere return to jokes after I brought it down with my death note.
"You wouldn't believe... She was b-e-a-utiful." He waves his arms in the air, as if imagining the mystery girl before him.
"Knock it off, asshat." His brother delivers a swift punch to his arm, quickly breaking him from his daydream.
"If I'm going to tell you about that, then you've gotta hear the story where I-" Arata is quickly cut off by three simultaneous sighs. Arata hangs his head with his bubble popped, and we continue our way towards the town, chatting and joking like a group of people who've known each other for years; That's why I'm friends with these guys, the mood. Before long, we've arrived at the shanghai.
"I thought you guys would be taking me here."
"Well when Yuuko is running the place we can get free drinks, easy." Arata clarifies as we step inside. Said Yuuko quickly makes her way over to us and gives a deep bow.
"Oooh, Ayumu, can you show me another trick today?" She plays right into her palm. If only Yuuko had any common sense.
"Sure, I'll show you at the table." She sighs, just as confused as I am that she'd want to be swindled.
"I'll get your usual drinks... and..." She looks to me, physically shaking.
"I'll just have a coffee, thanks." I relieve her from her self imposed torture with a chuckle. Our waitress gives another unsettlingly deep bow and scutters off to to the back area. Once we're seated, Koharu turns to me.
"Your top pocket please, Nakai." She points to me. I'm confused for about five seconds until I tap my pocket and feel something inside. Reaching down through my vest, I pull out a pack of cards. That's incredible, a top pocket through a vest? I don't know how she does it. We didn't even touch eachother?
How?
"Thanks!~" She cheers while taking the cards from my palm, frozen before me as I rack my brains for any time that she could have pulled that. As if she's reading my mind, she responds to my thoughts. "I'll teach you... on one condition." She holds up a finger, signifying the 'one' condition.
"This sounds lewd." I joke while leaning forward onto the table. I have to find out.
"Possibly..." She dances her fingertip over her lips. "I need an assistant." She finishes.
"An assistant?" I mirror in confusion.
"You know, like
'and here is my beautiful assistant' and all that. I asked Aki but she's working on that day."
"
Sorry." Aki shrinks into her seat as I formulate my reply.
"Well I don't see why not." I reply. I want to learn how she managed that.
"The contract is sealed!" Arata explodes, obviously he'd been holding in laughter for that whole exchange.
"You're a braver man than I." Shin chuckles. Just what did I sign up for...
"But I think I know how you did it." My thoughts grind to a halt as I realize. "Aki mentioned my tie, she pulled on it and I almost fell over. A two person operation?" I finish, I hope I'm right. The brothers both whoop as Koharu shifts in her seat uncomfortably while Aki seems to shrink even smaller than she usually is. Koharu leans forward ominously, her bangs falling over her eyes.
"Impressive."
---
I updated the
OP with some banners and more in depth blurbs for each of the characters,
take a peek!
P.s: I gave Koharu's image model a quick google search, and found this:
I suppose I need to watch
Boku wa Tomodachinow.
I can see myself liking this story more and more down the line - I love cheeky-git characters.
