"Why are we all crowded in one doorframe?" I announce myself as Nagisa and Sugino turn to face me form the courtyard doorway where they are cramped together like sardines.
"We have a substitute" Nagisa informs me and I feel my brows pull together.
"For who?"
"Karasuma" Sugino answers and my frown deepens.
"Karasuma? He's here, why would he need a substitute?"
"...we were kinda expecting that you'd know that, being from the government and all" Sugino answers with a sheepish laugh.
"It's news to me" I reply with a bitter shrug "You work there long enough you get used to shit being hidden from you"
"Gather 'round, kids!" A voice echoes across the gym yard to interrupt our conversations. We all share a brief look of apprehension before approaching the slowly growing group of students surrounding the mysterious teacher.
"Hey...where's Karma?" I find myself asking, noting his absence in the crowd.
"Oh, he'll have skipped. He hates gym day" Nagisa answers before giving me a curious look "Since when do you care about where he is? Don't you two hate each other?"
"No I—I don't hate...It's not that I care where he is, I'm just startled by how little I'm being bothered, that's all" I explain but my voice trips over my conclusions like the words aren't mine.
I don't care where he is...I don't. He's just been so up in my business lately, I expect his presence, like a reflex action. Not because I care. Besides, who makes grandiose promises to help someone with avenging their father's death and then fucks off the day after—?
"I won't tell him you asked about him" Nagisa says with a discreet smile on his face that makes me feel irrationally irritated.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not asking about him, I was just wondering where he was, it's easier to keep track of that so he isn't in my way all the time" I say with an air finality i hope dismisses the conversation.
"Okay" Nagisa says airily, and it sounds more like he's placating me rather than agreeing with me. His response makes me feel strange, that's same feeling of vulnerability I recognised in the forest talking to Karma—the feeling that who I am, and the things I trust in myself are becoming murky like rainwater. Words that I'd normally be able to say with certainty are suddenly the opposite.
"Okay everyone!" I have no time left to spend with my disorganised thoughts when we join the back of the group, surrounding a round faced man with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
"My name's Akira Takaoka, and for now, I'll be your new gym teacher!" He announces, his voice carrying easily over the class.
"Where's Mr. Karasuma?" I hear Maehara ask from the front of the group.
I couldn't explain what changes in Takaoka's face then. It passes over him so quickly, it comes and fades like a camera flash. A pinch of his jaw, a flutter of the skin under his eye, a darkening of the light within. But it is gone as easily as smoothing a crease from a duvet, leaving that wide smile in its wake.
"No need to worry about that, boy! I've been sent by your government to assist in your gym class" He explains.
"Like Matsuoka then? Are you from the government?" I hear Himura comment and everyone's eyes pass over me until Takaoka is left staring at me.
That darkness hollows out his eyes again, this time it feels like it travels right through me.
"I'm aware of Matsuoka's position here, but I've been told by Karasuma she is ruled out of today's lesson on medical grounds, so let's not crowd her, eh? Give her some space" He says in a voice that I assume is supposed to be jolly but paired with that lifeless look in his eyes, it feels more like a threat.
YOU ARE READING
To Kill For the Truth (BOOK 1)
Fanfiction~ "That's the problem here. You say you want the truth as if it means the same thing to you as it does to me, but there's a big difference here. I'll kill for the truth" ~ Anri Matsuoka had spent her whole life knowing what she was good at. Killing...
