sweets ✧ r.kaji ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

32: accidents

birds perched atop the tangled up electricity wires chirped in harmony, adding to the afternoon's fresh feeling. the peaceful skies and calm streets made it feel like there wasn't any harbinger of doom taped to the wall of the furin highschool's walls. how did they even get it there anyway without someone noticing?

"bro, i'm bored. wanna go up?" you said, leaning back as you sat on kusumi's table so that you faced the standing enomoto upside down. the lollipop in your mouth almost fell.

"we'rre gonna have to patrrol soon, though," he responded.

kaji stood up and tucked his phone into his pocket. "yeah, let's go."

kusumi shrugged as if to say, "might as well."

the four of you trudged out of the classroom and stopped in the hallway. you opened a sliding window wide and jumped out, landing on a small metal protrusion for the aircon box things on walls. kaji, kusumi, and enomoto followed you out, a clanging thud noise sounding when they landed.

you took a moment to stare at the town spread about before you, wind whipping your h/c hair into your face and reflecting sequins of light off of the individual strands. the little metal balcony was so high up, and the railing was so short. what would happen if i jumped? would kaji never know that i...

but you dismissed the thought before even finishing it and started to travel to skim a thin pipe leading to the further side of the building. after that stretch, there was a little more to go by clambering onto a pile of sturdy, unused wooden crates to soon arrive at a hidden area in the side of the building enclosed in a tall green metal fence netting.

the space was an obsolete power control system area that was an intrusion to the building's flat walls. it wasn't used anymore due to the overgrown ivy and vines crawling all over the control system equipment, so you had claimed it as your own little hideout when you discovered it once when exploring the vents and pipes of the high school.

over time, you introduced it to kaji, kusumi, and enomoto. when the four of you entered the space, you were greeted by benches, a large umbrella connected to a wooden table, cacti plants in pots, and all sorts of old junk you were just too lazy to move out.

"it's been kinda long since we came here, what with the training and patrolling limiting our time," you mused out loud, plopping down on a bench overlooking the town's multicolored house rooftops through the metal netting.

"speaking of training, we have some again later, without the first years," kusumi reminded as he tapped your shoulder.

kaji sat down beside you and put his headphones on to enjoy the peace and silence the harsh shields of wind provided. you flinched when he did so, but hoped that nobody noticed.

"right. oh, speaking of training," you said, "remember when kaji sparred with othello-kun when no one else did? that was so, um, cool-looking. what a good senpai!" you tried to introduce a new topic just to get your mind elsewhere, even though you hurt yourself at the obvious plastic tone of your voice.

"huh? it's what a normal guy would do," he defended.

enomoto decided to join in on the making fun of. "no, that was a verrry responsible and senpaiful decision you made. how thoughtful. who knew that kaji of all people would warm up to the kouhais?"

"like i saidd, it's just cause i wanted to. i was bored," he retorted, somehow hearing perfectly well even with music playing in his ears.

kusumi squeezed onto the bench beside kaji, smiling. "but you said you didn't like getting sweaty and stuff when training," he meant.