The Mastermind is a Middle School Student (KHR FF)

Old Acquaintance

(14: all reunions are first meetings)

[-1-]

It's cold.

He pulls the jacket tighter against himself.

It's really cold.

Small huffs of white vapor escapes from pale lips, tickling the lowered lashes of powdered snow.

"It's already December, of course it's cold."

Eitou sighs to himself, finally having enough courage to push open the door of his house. Pulling the jacket taut against himself, pale hands stretched out and squeezed the door handle.

Swing.

Immediately, a burst of cold air unapologetically hits his face.

Eitou, "..."

Ignoring the urge to become a living dumpling, the gardener finally walked outside with great effort.

Rows after rows of red brightly blooms in his vision. Some stop by the road, taking pictures of the spectacle, or even carressing the rare colour in the midst of freezing cold. His black boots hit the pavement in slaw ryhtmic chants of a bygone song, he himself wonders what it is he's humming.

Hs ignores the crowd of people who acted like they never saw flowers.

("—ou like these so much?"—)

His feet feels like they're turning into ice in his boots, but he continues on walking. Over the cement road, over gravel, and eventually over the concrete of the school, he walks. Gray turns into yellow, yellow turns into green, green turns into white. He ignores the blinding red.

("—u're so funny."—)

Something akin to a riveted knife twists inside his stomach, his gut squeezing in uncomfortable ways, threatening to rid itself of his measly breakfast.

A frown slowly carves itself on a freezing face.

This is bad.

Something's bad.

"..."

"This isn't one of those flashback episodes that will end with the past catching up with the present, right?"

For a while, he paused.

After having a great internal battle with himself, the gardener gave up on reasoning and decided to accept all that comes to him with open arm. Bad is better than worse, worse is better than worst. With this great proverb that he made up on the spot, the poor gardener successful revitalized his will to live amongst winter's agony.

"..."

Eitou sighs again, and eventually reached his class. There's no use stopping at the rooftop like he usually does, most of the plants would've wilted by now. It would be great if he can have the greenhouse again, but he supposes It's already good enough his club haven't been disbanded.

He ignored the chattering students, or the classmate's taking pictures of blooming red, or the group of scoundrels that blocks the door—

Group of scoundrels?

"Yukimura-san! You're here!"

"?" Eitou dazedly looked up from his desk, staring in confusion as the group of delinquents burst into his class, "What?"

He recognises some of them as the kids who would vigorously exercise everyday to 'stake' a claim on the rooftop— which first of all, how brave. He applauds these kids for fighting against Hibari's tyranny. But then, he's the one that ends up getting caught in their shenanigans.