Heart Strings

Chapter 5: Arousal

"At least you had a spare uniform. The picture that your senpai showed me had me in disbelief." Fuka-sensei says to Jaku as he arrives to class half an hour late. "A whole bag of flour?"

"I don't know how the delinquents made off with that much, let alone get past Aoi and drop it from the roof." Jaku replies as he takes his seat. That's when he notices that Ayano is gone, her seat empty. "Huh..." He mumbles to himself as Fuka-sensei resumes teaching. Jaku then realizes that he has to use the restroom so he excuses himself and heads to the nearest bathroom to do his business. When he emerges from the bathroom though he hears a noise coming from the girl's bathroom, almost like someone giggling. Ayano emerges from the bathroom with something strange in her hands, and Jaku notices right away. "What is that in your hand?"

"Ah!" Ayano yelps as she hides whatever was in her hands and shows her palms. "You saw nothing!" She then yells as she starts swinging at Jaku, trying to knock him out. Jaku does his best to block Ayano's violent swings but some manage to connect.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing Ayano?!" Jaku shouts he eats a knuckle sandwich from Ayano. Briefly stunned Ayano then proceeds to uppercut Jaku right in the chin, knocking him out while Ayano escapes. When Jaku finally regains his senses he's in the infirmary with a nurse and Akane looking over him.

"Oh, he's coming to." The nurse says.

"Jaku, are you okay? What happened?" Akane asks.

"I literally took a few minutes to use the restroom, and then I saw Ayano with something suspicious in her hands, and then she knocked me out..." Jaku says briefly before holding his head. "What... What did she do to me?"

"Your head must have bounced off the ground as Ayano knocked you out." The nurse replies. "Akane found you in an unconscious heap and she carried you all the way here." And with that the nurse produces a mirror. Jaku has a black eye and a few other bruises from where Ayano wildly swung at him.

"Well... Thanks..." Jaku mumbles.

"You're very welcome." Akane replies.

"Can you move?" The nurse asks, and Jaku proceeds to slowly sit up and try to get off the infirmary bed, only to stumble around. Akane quickly breaks his fall and slings an arm around him to give him support. "My, you must have some terrible luck! First you almost got crushed by a tub full of weights, then you had a bag of flour dropped on you and now you've been knocked out!"

"I guess I'm just a walking accident." Jaku chuckles darkly.

"Ah, I wouldn't say that if I were you!" Akane says worriedly. "Now come on, let's head to your class." And with that Akane provides escort as she helps Jack get back to his classroom. Fuka-sensei and the class are more than surprised to see Jaku in such horrible condition.

"What happened to you?! I thought you had gone to use the restroom!" Fuka-sensei asks.

"A student knocked him out." Akane replies. "He had to spend some time in the infirmary but he seems to be relatively okay. Do keep an eye on him so he doesn't pass out, the nurse didn't see any signs of a concussion but it is possible."

"Will do." Fuka-sensei says. Fortunately for the class Jaku remains conscious throughout the rest of the period and when the class ends, Jaku is exempt from cleaning for the day due to his injuries. News of Jaku's knockout spread across the school fast, and when the news reached Budo he understandably gave Jaku a day off to recover. Jaku finds himself walking to the student council room to see if they have anything on what just happened, and once he reaches the room Akane breathes a sigh of relief, attracting her fellow council members' attention.

"Damn! What happened to you?" Aoi asks, noticing Jack's battered condition. "Did you get into a fight with a kangaroo or something?"

"No, but I got into a fight with a girl named Ayano." Jaku replies. Kuroko freezes upon hearing that name, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"...Did you just say... Ayano?" Kuroko asks as she closes the doors.

"I saw her coming out of the restroom with something weird in her hand, and then once I noticed she knocked me out." Jaku replies. "It's almost embarrassing because I'm in the martial arts club..."

"I found him out like a light." Akane says. "And Ayano was nowhere to be found."

"This is bad..." Kuroko mumbles. "Someone needs to check the bathroom she came out of."

"I'll do it." Aoi says as she walks out. A few minutes of silence pass before Kuroko's walkie-talkie comes online. "Holy fuck this is bad!"

"Please mind your language." Kuroko says. "What did you find?"

"I... I found a dead body..." Aoi's voice crackles, and everyone currently in the student council room goes deathly silent.

"I'm sorry... You what?" Kuroko asks, unable to believe what she's hearing right now.

"You heard me right. I found a dead body... It's Osana Najimi's..."

"So that strange thing I saw in her hands..." Jaku says, beginning to put the pieces together. "She..."

"There's nothing that can be done at this point." Kuroko says dejectedly. "You were the only one that saw Ayano, and the police don't want to arrest anybody unless they have hard evidence."

"I just got a teacher, they're calling the cops right now." Aoi says. "I'm returning to the council room."

"You may want to stay here until the cops arrive. While they might not have enough evidence to perform an arrest, they will question you." Kuroko says.