Open Hallways

~~~PART 1~~~

The loud traditional bell rang.

The high pitched noise as a result echoed through the whole school grounds, indicating it was the first break of the day, and soon to be a nightmare for me.

"Here we go! Izumi, you ready?"

"Hold on a moment, I need to clean my desk first."

"You can do that later, just come here."

Just like playing off of a script, she grabbed me by the collar as always and dragged me out of the classroom.

"Bye Holmes."

"...Good luck…"

Holmes sat on the table nearest the back door, I quickly greeted her before walking out and on to the great outdoors that is the open hallways of the school courtyard. Which was very convenient for her.

"Now then, there's no chance any of our classmates are going to join. So Izumi, got any ideas who we should invite in?"

"Between the two of us, who do you think has spent time longer in this school and knows more people in general than the other?"

"Sigh… And here I thought you would've met someone by now without my knowledge, but oh well."

Excuse me, but what do you mean 'without my knowledge'?

She does stalk everyone in the village so it wasn't that much of a surprise for her to be stalking me too, but man, do I not get any privacy?

"No choice then, we'll use my original plan. Here's a list of the people I'm targeting."

Asahi reached for her coat pocket and retrieved a hit list which she handed over to me. It was a list of the names of potential kidnap targets, and next to their names were their class numbers and a scale out of 10.

Hang on, what the fuck is this scale for?

There were 3/10, 5/10, 6/10 and the list goes on.

She's literally ranking them to numerical values huh

There wasn't anything to justify what those numbers were for, I could only guess her true intentions with them.

"Okay, so who seems to be the most attractive out of all of those names?"

"Just based on their names…? Then, what about this Inohara-san."

"Alright, we're off!'

This Inohara person was someone just from the class next to us, 2-A, and her rating was 7/10. I had no idea who she was, but she was one of the higher rated ones and her name reminds me of someone from a game so I picked her.

"Misagi Inohara-san is a very sociable person but likes to spend her time in the classroom for some reason. So, she should still be in class."

This time, I wasn't being dragged by Asahi. Being able to walk freely feels nice, I could run away right now but I better hope there's no PA system in this school because she would unhesitantly use it to broadcast my computer's history.

"Izumi, be ready." Asahi whispered to me as we got closer and approached the door to the 2-A classroom

"For what—?"

"Heyoo! Misagi-saaaaaan! I'm here to talk!"

Before I could finish my reply, Asahi burst open the door to the classroom next door and announced her presence.

"It's Akagi-san!"

"Oh no! Misagi-san, run away!"

"Hya—!"

Inohara was having a casual conversation with her friends when Asahi made a sudden entrance without any prior warning. It seemed to have been the right call for Asahi, as what the people in the classroom did next wasn't what I could have expected.

"Her target's Inohara! Class, just like practice, Defense formation A!"

"""""Roger!""""

A boy was sitting on his desk minding his own business until Asahi bursts into the room and suddenly shouts to the entire class. The rest of the people in the classroom, not just Inohara's friends, were prepared and geared up for an upcoming Asahi invasion.

Before long, a human wall formation was erected from the remaining classmates, blocking our way, and sight of Misagi Inohara.

Their wall had no cracks. It was impenetrable. Each centimeter was blocked off either by their clothes or by their own physical bodies.

They've coordinated military-like tactics just to avoid Asahi?! How long have they been practicing this for?! It's really fast!

"Misagi-san, come on, hurry on to the window!"

"I still think this whole thing is unnecessary…"

"Izumi, quickly! Fetch them behind the school!"

"A-alright!"

"Don't let them get away!"

Inohara's friends ordered her to get out of the window while I was ordered by Asahi to follow her behind the school. Being on the ground floor meant that you can literally just jump out of the window for a quick exit.

I quickly did as she told me to and dashed off in the direction of our targets by going around the entire building. I could hear from behind some students from 2-A getting out of their classrooms to chase after me. Multiple footsteps were vigorously trying to leave the small and cramped doorway, which gave Asahi the opportunity to stop them one by one.

"Watch your steps!"

"Whoa—!"

"Hey—!"

Asahi had kept some marbles in her pocket which she uses on the poor souls to make them trip and fall in the doorway. As the bodies fell one by one, the pile of bodies were stacking up the doorway, blocking it in its entirety, and creating a dogpile with which it was impossible to go around.

We're gonna get in trouble for sure.

This window of opportunity gave me the time to go around the back and catch up with Inohara. The back of the school is a pretty small corridor, with one side being the back of the school building, and the other is a natural wall formed by the mountains. It's carved into a shape that resembles a cliff, and overgrown trees were sprouting all over on the cliffside above.

However, it was still bright as the lights could still reach inside, and the corridor's width was enough for 2 people to run along inside.

"Look out! It's the new guy!"

I made it and reached them where I met them face to face for the first time. I don't know who her friends are, I don't even know their names. Truth be told, I would much rather greet them normally and get to know each other better like normal people, but circumstances do not allow me to initiate such a thing.

How unfortunate.

I never had a plan of what I would do when I confronted them. This whole operation was thrown unto me out of nowhere, after all. With no such preparations, I stood still not knowing what my course of action should be next.

"Stay away from Misagi-san, you retarded!"

"H—Hey I think you're going a bit too far…"

Ow.

That hurts.

It's true, but it hurts.

I no longer had the courage to move on and continue my pursuit as I slump down a little while Inohara tries to calm her friend down from overreacting to the whole situation.

I could no longer move as my motivation had left me, and as the two continued to bicker with each other over something unnecessary, a figure came up from the sidelines out of the blue.

To my right, where the school building is, I spotted a figure running across the roof of the building. Their footsteps were gradually getting louder and louder as well as they were approaching our two targets with immaculate speed.

There's no doubt about it, that person running on the rooftop was her.

The person on the rooftop then quickly descended upon the floor below where all of us were and quickly snatched out the two targets with her oversized coat.

"Got'cha!"

"Kya—!"

And who would have thought that the person who could have climbed the entire 1 story tall school building and run at super speed while going unnoticed by the two of them was none other than the natural born athlete named Asahi Akagi.

"And let's not forget about you too."

"Hey—!"

With her athletic skills, she successfully managed to force their hands around their back and handcuffed them with her massive coat. It was large enough to be handcuffing the both of them.

"Now calmly get on your knees."

She pushed both of them down to the ground where they now were sitting on their knees like a criminal. Their backs facing the wall of the school building.

"Nice work as always, Izumi."

She flashed another thumb up at me alongside her trademark fake smile.

I only stood there dumbfounded after another display of Asahi being superhuman.

"Urgh— Let me go, you good-for-nothing public speaker!"

"Oya oya oya? What do we have here? Kou Kimata, 16, likes to spend most of her time around popular people because she has no other identity or any character trait. Oh the misery."

"---!"

"Want me to continue? I know the kind of things you liked on Twitter."

"No! No! That's fine, that's fine…"

That a straight up invasion of privacy, miss.

This Kimata person was silenced by Asahi's menace, while Inohara —our target— remained silent the entire time. Seems like she knew how to handle Asahi well.

"Now, Izumi, time for the real reason why I brought you here. What do you think of her?"

She directed the question towards me as her thumb pointed to Inohara.

"What do I think…? What specifically?"

"Just tell me what you think of her."

But this is the first time I've met her ever…

Asahi was hard to read as always, when can I read through her intentions I wonder?

Let's take it a bit slow for a moment and back off for a bit.

If I answer honestly and give her my original thoughts, she would use that data in a way that I would never have known of. I have no clue what she wants with it, or how she will handle it, but I can only assume the worse if it's her.

On the other hand, what happens if I lie to her? Right now, I'm the one in control. I can change something for the better, or at least I think. But either way I think saying something that goes out of the line and out of character for her is the better option.

"She's gorgeous."

"---!"

"Ooooh?"

Asahi became ever more curious with my answer while the person I was talking about was hiding her face from presumably embarrassment.

"Ha… wa wa wa…"

And her friend became speechless.

What's with y'all? Aren't you guys overreacting a bit?

"So my original judgment was more or less correct I see…"

Oh dear.

I may or may not have made the wrong decision there. Asahi ended up with more information than I would like her to keep.

"Alright Izumi, now I want you to be the one inviting her to The Sunny Times."

"...Sure."

Better not cause more damage than I've already done.

I walked slowly over to Inohara-san who was still on her knees and her head was looking down low from the sudden compliment before. I didn't know how to properly relay the message across here, and I couldn't think of anything flashy, so I will just keep it simple and short to not waste anymore time.

Now let me tell you something that Asahi would never know, which is how to properly talk to another person. In this very unique scenario, it seems like I am above her and she's below me.

I'm only saying that figuratively because she's on her knees handcuffed right now, but my point still stands. She most probably feels intimidated at the moment, especially with Asahi being my partner.

So how do we combat this situation and make her feel more at ease and relaxed? Well it's simpler than you'd think, really.

Talk to them within their eye level.

Adults used this to children to make them calm down and have this feeling that they're talking to someone as if they are equals.

As I stood in front of Inohara-san, I bent one of my knees so I could comfortably be on her eye level.

"Inohara-san." I quietly whisper to lower my voice so as to not raise any sort of alarms.

"Would you like to join the newspaper club with me?"

I caught her attention with the first line and with the second line I aim to hook her as quickly as possible and as friendly as possible.

She looked at me directly in the face. Her expression was that of bewilderment. I got too close to her to where I could hear her soft breathing.

If her breath is still stable, then we're off to a good start.

And there was something else I could take advantage of in this situation.

Eyes cannot tell lies.

Right now, Inohara-san is full of emotions. For the past 10 or so minutes she had been running away and getting caught up in one of Asahi's traps on her break. What was supposed to be a calm and relaxing first break turned out to be a chicken hunt, where she was the prey.

What is she thinking right now? What does she feel?

I stare deeply into her eyes for an answer. I can't read emotions as well as Grandma but I could at least get some experience.

I got closer to her face as I tried to get a better reading of her eyes, and after a few seconds.

"A…"

Was all she said before she collapsed to the side, resting on Kimata's left shoulder.

"Eeeeeh?! Misasgi-san wake up!"

"Holy shit, you killed her."

"No I didn't! What did I do?!"

Our time there thinking of what happened to her was cut short when the rest of class 2-A finally got out of their blocked doorway with body piles and reached us from behind.

"There they are! Get them!"

"Hyaa—! I See that Inohara-san collapsed?"

"Akagi…! You better pay for this!"

Their rage was even more furious with someone literally passing out on another person's shoulder.

"Right, give me my coat back. Izumi, it's time for your favorite activity, running!"

And so, that break ended with the 2 of us managing to get back to our classes before recess ended and we made it to the next period safely. No one still knew what happened to Inohara-san and what made her collapse. But we do know she was brought into the clinic room where she rests on a bed.

However, I thought back to her expression at that time.

I swear I saw her face turn red when I got closer… I wonder what's up with that.

Life has more colors than black and white, huh.

~~~PART 2~~~

"Sorry for the wait! The teachers didn't hold back at all."

The two of us finally made it to the clubroom after school when the teachers called us for what happened earlier this morning. And I was right, they were not silent about it in the slightest.

And apparently I had learned that this wasn't a unique experience to the people of this school either. That wasn't exactly a surprise, but when I asked exactly how often this kind of thing occurs, that's when I raised my eyebrows.

"...Welcome back…"

"Welcome back, Senpais. My apologies, but I'm in the middle of something right now."

In the room was Holmes and Arisu playing chess. Holmes seems to be winning by a long shot, having the material and positional advantage despite only being in the midgame. But Arisu had a grin on his face like he had some kind of plan.

"Will this work, one ponders?"

"No, she will definitely see it"

"...Yes I do… In Fact, Arisu, you never saw this… Checkmate…"

"Drats! You saw through my plan!"

"...You were hanging a mate in one for several turns actually…"

It appears the game has been won with one swift move by Holmes. Arisu's grand plan was too grand for him as he couldn't handle defending himself against Holmes. His only goal was to execute the plan and not think of any counter measures.

"...Your moves were really obvious…"

"Curses! It was entirely my lack of awareness of my own surroundings that led me to my demise. I see, good game, senpai."

They shook their hands to call it the end of the match, Arisu learning something new in the process.

Yet I also took note of some of their actions just now.

Nothing in this world is instant, they all need set-ups that require time and sacrifice. Like for example, if you want to shoot at someone with a gun. You have to draw, aim, and then fire.

Don't ask why I watch gun safety videos online despite not owning a gun.

If I can carefully observe my opponents actions, I could predict what they're going to do next.

"Okay, playtime's over, I came here to have an urgent discussion."

Asahi, who had been quietly observing those 2's battles, sat on the director's desk and began her dialogue.

"As you all know, the club needs one more member before the week ends. I had thought they gave us plenty of time, but in fact they knew no one is going to join The Sunny Times because I'm here. So if any of you know anyone willing to join then please speak up."

I, for one, had no one to invite. I had thought that only being here and having Asahi as an accomplice was a good excuse, but being here in a week and still having no friends in class was actually hurting my soul a bit. At least I have Holmes.

Nevertheless, the room became silent after she made her announcement. Arisu and Holmes' heads wander for a bit, occasionally looking up at the ceiling and down on the floor boards, but ultimately they shook their heads in the end.

"...Just like I thought. Well, that sucks. I would appreciate it if you guys can think of someone by the end of the week. It may seem long, but trust me, Sunday will come faster than you would think. That is all."

The short meeting was dismissed to Asahi going back to information gathering in town to search for the topic for next week's issue. The rest of us were hanging out in the club room, not really doing much of anything.

As the sun plummets to the ground, and the sky begins to change color, I am reminded about something I learned this morning.

"Oh yeah, Arisu, can I watch your theater show for free tonight? My Aunt recommended it to me."

"Oh my oh my? My dear senpai is interested in the theater play I had created? Hahaha! Now isn't that delightful! Of course, free tickets will be provided to friends."

"Hell yeah! Do you wanna come too, Holmes?"

"... I'm fine… I have things I wanna do… have fun, Watson…"

"Aw, okay then…"

100% it would be better to experience this with a friend, but if she already has plans then there's no helping it.

The play will begin at 8 on the dot. I had several more hours to kill some time so I continued to spend the rest of the hours playing chess against Holmes and losing all the games. For comparison, my elo rating is around 1000, which is as average as you can get. Meanwhile her elo rating was around 2000. Even if you don't play chess, you could tell that 2000 is one thousand times two, thank you mathematics. For most of our games, I was pretty sure she went easy for my sake.

Despite losing every game we played, it was still fun, and the time for the theater play was slowly approaching around the corner.

A performance on Tuesday was a bit unexpected. How often does Arisu's theater perform? He might be a little busier than I thought, and I definitely can't tell because he hangs around the clubroom all the time.

Now that I think about it, I don't know anything about either him, or the play itself. I only heard it was a play without knowing the main details like the plot or synopsis, and I haven't had the chance to properly talk to Arisu over tea or something.

This curiosity of mine made me more excited to go over to the theater and check it out. I'm not expecting anything, but I know I will have a fun time watching it.