Take My Breath Away | Peko Pekoyama

06 | Overgrowth

     Peko could feel that something was off as she stalked through the halls that morning, and surprisingly it had nothing to do with her illness. In fact, she felt better than she had in days. No, the strange feeling seemed to radiate off of her fellow classmates who, for the most part, all seemed quite anxious and uncomfortable. Somehow, overnight, suspicion had descended upon the students of Hope's Peak and turned them on each other for reasons unknown to Peko. She caught people sending what they thought were sneaky glances at other students that passed them by. The hallways were the quietest they had ever been. It felt wrong.

     As class began, Peko immediately noticed another thing that was wrong; the desk beside her was empty. She kept sending hurried looks toward the doorway, hoping that the perky brunette would come bursting through, but she never appeared. Peko had a permanent frown etched into her face, not that that was entirely uncommon, but another student in the class noticed.

     Peko tried to bury herself in her book in an attempt to drown out her worries. Misa had never missed class before. She wouldn't just skip for no reason. She was too nice to do that. When Peko finally looked up from her book, a small piece of paper sat directly in front of her on her desk.

Same time and place as usual.

Don't be late.

The note didn't have a signature attached to it, but it really didn't need one. After all, Peko knew this handwriting better than she knew her own.

-

     When Peko walked into the classroom she was not surprised to find Fuyuhiko sitting on top of Yukizome's desk facing the window.

     "Young Ma- Fuyuhiko." she corrected herself under the young yakuza's glare. Fuyuhiko took a deep breath and turned to look at her directly.

     "Spill it, Peko." he said as he gestured for her to sit atop one of the desks near him. Peko obeyed and silently made her way across the classroom.

     "I am afraid I don't understand what you're asking of me."

     Fuyuhiko leaned his head back and rolled his eyes.

     "You're distracted Peko," he said, "I saw you today. I saw how you kept looking at the door like you were waiting for something."

     Peko's heart nearly stopped beating in her chest. She had been afraid of this. That by forming a relationship with someone outside of the Kuzuryu clan, her focus would be pulled away from her work and she would be punished for it. She could feel her heart beginning to break as she spoke.

     "I am sorry, Young Master," she couldn't help it as the title slipped out in her rush to apologize, "I didn't mean for my attention to drift away from my work. I assure you that it will never happen again. If it pleases you, I will cut off all ties with Misa so that I may refocus my attention solely on-"

     "What? No, Peko, you're not doing that. The fuck is wrong with you? I'm not worried about you not focusing all of your attention on protecting me. You're allowed to have friends, Peko. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. It's not like you to get distracted. Ever."

     Peko bowed her head in shame.

     "I've just been... concerned," she admitted, "Misa was absent from class today and that is very strange for her. She has been acting odd lately as well. It worries me."

     It was quiet for several minutes before Fuyuhiko broke the silence.

     "What happened to those flowers that that girl used to give you? She stop doing that?"