set the world on fire (Mawaru Penguindrum)

Chapter 4

Hoodie effectively hiding his face, Shoma sat on a park bench outside of Ohka's Garden School. Tapping his foot impatiently on the dewy grass, he glanced at his watch. 3:43.

If his research was any indication, school would be out in less than two minutes.

In the wake of his complete boredom, he felt a twinge of guilt. In order to arrive as promptly as he did, he had cut the majority of his afternoon classes despite Himari's wishes. Feeling immensely troubled by it, he forced a chuckle at the image of his little sister throwing a tantrum, but banished the thought immediately.

At this point, nothing could deter him from his mission.

The bell rang, and Shoma snapped to attention, securing his impromptu disguise as the gates swung open, hordes of uniform-wearing girls rushing out. Pressing his back against the cool brick wall, he barely managed to hold his tongue when they finally started craning their necks to peer at him.

The insult "pervert" reached his ear a record total of seventeen times.

The corner of his mouth twitching (I will not be lumped in with "Playboy Kanba") he almost didn't notice the doe-eyed brunette clinging to a perfume cloud of giggling girls.

Moving as discreetly as possible, he leapt to his feet and grabbed his black duffel bag, staggering his steps so he wasn't suspiciously close to the girls, but entirely within earshot.

"-got a B on my history essay. I mean, what was she thinking?"

"You think you have it bad? My parents threatened to kick me off the badminton team if my math grades don't go up."

Both girls looked at Ringo expectantly. She laughed nervously, toying with a strand of chocolate brown hair. "I'm doing alright, I guess."

"Man, Ringo," the blonde whined, applying a thick layer of strawberry lipgloss, "you're just so good at everything. Oh, and your sister. You're so lucky, having such a gorgeous big sister to look after you."

Shoma noted the short pause.

"Yeah, I guess so."

He continued to follow them, following them around the bend and turning onto a street bustling with mid-afternoon traffic. Ducking behind a hot dog stand and ignoring a rather scathing look from its owner, he watched them halt upon nearing the entrance of the subway station.

"Hey, Ringo, wanna go to the mall? Apparently there's a sale going on at Delia's."

She gave a minimal shrug of her shoulders, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, guys. There's something I have to take care of now. Maybe some other time?"

"Ooh," the brunette said curiously, "does this something involve-" she exchanged a meaningful glance with the other girl, before they squealed in unison, "- a boy?"

The frozen, doll-like smile never wavered. "Yeah, in a sense."

The blonde smacked her lips in thinly-veiled envy. "If I don't get the juicy deets after you're done, I'll never forgive you. We'll let it slide this time, though."

Her friends blew affectionate kisses to her, before swiping their subway passes and pushing past the turnstiles, laughing and chattering as though nothing had changed. Ringo waved back, foot tapping against the pavement. Her unfocused eyes suddenly sharpened, lit by an eerie glint, and without so much as a glance back, she walked briskly on.

Apologizing profusely to the hot dog vendor, Shoma followed.

Movements crisp and clean, she turned so rapidly from street to street, her short-cropped brown hair bobbing behind her, he had trouble keeping up. Upon walking another seven blocks, he paused, cocking his head to the side. Where the hell was she going? He was positive that they had passed her apartment already.