Heart Strings

Chapter 3: Point of Impact

After speaking with the counselor to let them know of the bizarre event that had occurred, Akane led Jaku and Uekiya to the council room where the rest of the members were talking about school related issues.

"Are you acquainted with any of the council members?" Akane asks Jaku.

"I only know you and Aoi." Jaku replies.

"Well that's Shiromi..." Akane says, pointing to a girl with short white hair, black eyes and a scarf. "And that's Kuroko." She finishes as she points to a girl with straight black hair and glasses.

"What seems to be the problem?" Kuroko asks. "Did something happen?"

"It's a serious matter. These two students were nearly killed." Akane replies, and the student council room goes silent. Shiromi and Aoi quickly shut the doors and all attention is on Jaku and Uekiya.

"Alright. Please explain what happened. Try not to leave out any details." Kuroko says.

"Well I had gone outside to walk around and look for someone to talk to, and I decided to chat with Uekiya." Jaku begins.

"We talked for a good few minutes and then realized we had class to go to." Uekiya adds.

"That's when I looked up to see something like a tub coming down, and I pulled Uekiya-senpai back." Jaku finishes.

"Whoa dude..." Shiromi says. "What was in there?"

"It appears that a series of weights, presumably stolen from the gym, were placed in there, and whoever dropped the tub was intending to crush someone." Akane explains.

"Well you are lucky that you pulled away in time." Kuroko says. "I will have Aoi investigate the rooftop."

"Already on it." Aoi says as she moves out.

"As for you two, you'll have to stay in here for a little while. We'll let your teachers know what's going on once you two leave." Kuroko says. "Do you have any idea who the perpetrator could have been?"

"We have no clue. I suspect it was one of the delinquents." Jaku says. "Uekiya mentioned them to me and I thought it was one of them."

"Understandably as a new student you would first suspect that, but they're always near the gardens. They usually group up around the area where the dumpster and incinerator are so it couldn't be one of them." Kuroko says. "My apologies if that came off the wrong way."

"It's fine." Jaku says. "Otherwise I have no clue who could have done this."

"Well, you two are free to go. We'll investigate this manner." Kuroko says as the doors open. "Akane, would you mind escorting these two to their classrooms?"

"Of course." Akane replies as she escorts Jaku and Uekiya. When the door to classroom 2-1 opens, the teacher is about to say something but she stops herself once she sees Akane with them. "Don't worry. They're not in trouble Fuka-sensei."

"That's a relief." The teacher says.

"I'll debrief everything at another time." Akane says as Jack heads to his spot and Akane and Uekiya take their leave.

"You don't have to explain anything if you don't want to." Fuka-sensei says to Jaku, who nods in response as he takes his seat, clearly shaken. The teacher continues the class, and then Jaku notices something else as he listens- the girl right next to him was fidgeting in her seat, constantly crossing and uncrossing her legs, tapping her feet on the ground and twiddling her thumbs. She also occasionally fiddled with her long black ponytail and by the time she notices Jaku looking, she jumps in her seat a little bit.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to startle you." Jaku whispers, and he returns to listening to his teacher. Once class ends Jaku corners the fidgeting girl and looks at her worriedly. "You alright? You seemed worried that something was gonna happen to you."

"I-It's nothing." The girl replies.

"Alright, I guess I won't try and intrude any further." Jaku says. "Might I at least get to know your name?"

"I'm Ayano." The girl replies.

"I'm Jaku." Jaku says as he extends his hand. Ayano shakes Jaku's hand but she shakes it like the least amount of force could shatter his hand. Jaku then realizes Ayano has been holding his hand for longer than normal and he gives her a weird look.

"Sorry sorry! I gotta get going right now!" Ayano says as she quickly rushes off, leaving Jaku no time to catch up.

"Huh, that was weird..." Jaku says to himself.

"Almost as weird as your face!" A voice calls out, none other than Gaku. He points at Jaku and laughs, but suddenly Fuka-sensei grabs him by the ear. "Man you must be bad with the ladies if she ran off! Ha ha ha- Owowowowowowowowowowowow!" He suddenly shouts as the teacher pulls.

"I would refrain from doing that if I were you." Fuka-sensei says sternly.

"Ow! Okay! Ow! Sorry! Ow! Won't do it again! Ow!" Gaku whimpers before the teacher lets go of his ear. With that Jaku proceeds to help clean up around the classroom, and he continues to do this until around four in the afternoon when the gates open and most people leave. The only people left are the student council, the staff and the clubs. Jaku decides to roam around the now empty halls, enjoying the silence that it provides, and one of the student council members, Aoi, approaches him.

"Hey, you alright kiddo? Fuka-sensei mentioned you looked pretty rattled after what had happened earlier." Aoi asks.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just trying to process what happened." Jaku replies.

"Well I went to check the roof, and I got nothing." Aoi says. "Just try to be more careful out there all right?"

"Right." Jack replies as Aoi continues her patrol and Jack stops by the martial arts club where Budo and his club members are practicing.

"Ah, made up your mind?" Budo asks.

"Yep, I'll be joining." Jaku replies.