Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

17. Hiding Out

Clouded Distance

Chapter Seventeen

Hiding Out

Well, I guess there are worse places to hide out.

Haru opened the doors to Iwatobi SC Returns, the keys jangling together and making a sound that seemed all too loud in the quiet night air. They all filed quickly inside before a car could drive past and report the suspicious-looking behaviour.

At least no one would think to look for them here. It would be one of the last places a person would consider looking for them. Hopefully.

"I guess there's really nowhere else we could go," Makoto murmured, as he closed the door behind them.

"The school would've be a bad idea," Rei agreed.

"Good thing we were able to borrow the keys to this place."

Nagisa, who had been awfully quiet their entire trip here, bowed suddenly. "I'm sorry! I ended up dragging you guys into this."

"It's a little late now," Hana chuckled, though she was watching Nagisa with concern.

"We're already in for the ride," Makoto added.

"Yes. So let's think of a solution together!"

Nagisa straightened himself up and looked at them all. Something had kindled in his eyes - hope? Gratefulness? Probably a combination of the two. "Yeah," he agreed, bobbing his head.

"If we stay in the lobby, we might be seen," Haru pointed out.

"In that case, we should head to the locker room."

"Huh?!" Makoto glanced around the room, suddenly twitchy. "But look how dark it is back there. What if there's a ghost?"

Hana rolled her eyes, slapping her friend lightly on the arm. "There's no such thing, silly." She recalled how he had always been scared of the dark as kids, and she'd kept teasing and pulling pranks on him as a result.

"So you say, but they might be here!"

"Makoto, you're being too loud," Haru sighed.

"Sorry..."

"In any case, let's stay here for a while," Rei said.

They agreed, but ended up sitting down by the counter, which would hide them from view but also alert them should anyone else want to come in.

"I think the only solution is to get your grades back up to earn your parents' approval," Rei spoke, getting right down to the point.

"That'd be the most straightforward method."

"Nagisa-kun, just how bad were these grades that made your parents so angry?"

"Well, uh..." Nagisa fished out a few papers and handed them to Rei. He was unable to meet anyone's eyes as he did so. Hana peered over Rei's shoulder as he opened the papers and smoothed out a few creases.

Hana's eyes were instantly drawn to the striking red ink on the page, and they widened to see all the numerous crossings-out and corrections, pretty low scores written on top. Then, when they reached the first tests he had done that year...

Ninety-eight percent? How did he drop his grades so suddenly?

"That's a pretty extreme gap," Makoto muttered.

Rei sighed. "No wonder they got mad."

Makoto looked up. His eyebrows furrowed a little as he looked at his friend. "But Nagisa, didn't you go to a private middle school?"