Koyama Koyo's Story

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The sunrise barely started to break through the the dark tint of Koyama's bedroom window, its rays slowly rising up from his chin and washing his face in its light. As it rose up his face, Koyama drifted into a lighter sleep until it reached the crack in his eyes, where they immediately shot open as he sat up in an almost mechanical motion. He leaned forward and heaved a soft sigh, but immediately regained the energy he had when he first woke up. Despite his futon being extremely close to the floor Koyama was able to spring to his feet and look around his desolate room. The room was barren with only a hardwood floor, an even harder futon, a crumpled up school uniform tossed into a corner, and an under dressed man who was already sprinting out to the world.

Barefoot and in his boxers, Koyama dashed through the urban suburbs he lived in, going down one street as fast as he could. His calm and picturesque face showed he wasn't having any trouble pushing himself to such an intense speed passing through the empty roads. For a good fifteen minutes he was all alone until a businessman emerged from his house and saw the almost-nude teen going for his morning run. With nothing more than a puzzled expression on his face he called out to Koyama, "He-Hey kid! What're you doing out here dressed like that at this time in the morning? Isn't that bad for your health?"

As soon as the words reached his ears, Koyama dug his heels to a complete stop and proceeded to walk to the man's home, examining it with a quizzical eye, then looking back from where he came. With a smirk he looked up to the man and commented "I was beating my record. I passed my goal of 300 houses and made it to 325. Ya see that?" Koyama pointed over towards a small house in the distance with a blue roof. "That was where I was stuck at for the longest time. Kind family too, but I had to move on. I appreciate your concern about me but I'm completely fine. Don't worry, I've been doing this for years now." Leaving the businessman in an even more confused state than he was before, Koyama turned around and started to jog back home, waving back without even looking at the man who stopped him this morning.

On his way home, other people were coming out from their houses, and those who have seen his practice over the years gave him a polite wave and cheerful words of encouragement for him. It was these kinds of people that he liked, those that didn't force what they thought was better down onto him like it was their decision to how he lived. There was one woman who he had issues with every morning - who always soured his mood - and her shrill voice broke through the peaceful morning air like a whip crack against the skin.

"Why you little prick! Why do you constantly insist flaunting your naked body to everyone else! It's impolite, immoral, and disturbing if you ask me!" A fairly young looking woman wearing a lavish bathrobe and having curlers strewn throughout her hair was leaning out of her window just to yell at him. "And another thing! You can't expect people just to give into this bullshit you do! They all talk behind your back about how horrible of a kid you are and how you have no respect for anyone else but yours-"

"You know what lady, if you would just shut the fuck up for one moment in your life, maybe I would take you seriously for once." Koyama stopped his jog home, his peaceful face swapped with that of an angry one. His eyes lost their sparkle and became dull and intimidating; and his smile was crushed and thrown away to be replaced with a scowl. "If someone wants to be such a picky little bitch then I guess I can join in as well since I know we both aren't gonna listen to each other. You're nothing but a leach on your husband's resources because all you do is sit on your lazy ass and watch TV all day - and trust me I've heard this from others. You feel so afraid about the way you look that you spend countless hours working on your appearance just to boost your confidence; but in the end all you end up doing is looking stupid with those obnoxious looking curlers in that swamp hair of yours form all the chemicals you put into it. You're so fucking shallow that I bet the only reason why you get up this early is because you want to yell at me because you get a kick from making others feel bad." Koyama's body was straight, tight, and focused on one thing - and that was taking her down a peg. "You know, I'd actually listen to you if you didn't sound like such a whiny, entitled ass all the time. I've had discussions with other neighbors about this and changed what I was doing because they gave me real reasons why what I was doing was being a nuisance to the good of everyone else. I've cut down on the noise I make, I've stopped running into people's yards, and I am even wearing more clothes than when I first started my routine. What you are," Koyama took a step towards her house so he was right at its front gate, "is trash that should've been kicked to the curb for how much she smells like shit. Now, while I wish to continue to berate you, I must be off... I have someplace to be unlike you." As he jogged away from the house where the woman continued to scream and yell at the mere thought of him winning the argument, he raised his middle finger high in the sky until he couldn't hear her voice anymore.

When he arrived home he quickly jumped into the shower and whistled a happy tune to himself. "What a fuckin' bitch she is. She's gonna piss someone off who's more dangerous than me and she's gonna get hurt... but she's gonna deserve it still. The day she turns out to be like everyone else is the day that my hair finally becomes a natural color for once. Ah well, I still one that one and she didn't even put up a fight compared to last time."

After only taking a minute long shower he quickly threw on his normal clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. Looking at the house clock it read: 6:30 AM. Smirking at the thought of shaving more time off his usual morning routine, he started to cook a pan full of eggs and tossed some bread into the toaster. After a few minutes he had two plates set at the table with a generous helping on one and a meager amount on the other. While he began to brew some coffee he called out into the house, "Mama, if you don't get out of bed your breakfast is gonna get all cold."

A few moments later a very tired looking woman came out from the bedroom, stretching her arms and giving a big yawn to start off her day. Despite having grey hairs grown around her head and bags coming around her eyes, she was only 40 years old. When her husband abandoned the family her reality was shattered and she never was able to reclaim her composure after that. When she saw her son though, she gave a smile that would melt ice, and walking over Koyama to give him a hug. "Aww, Koyama you are so kind to do this for me every morning. You really don't need to do this for me."

Koyama couldn't help but smile back at his mother's embrace and comment. As he poured a cup of coffee for both of them, he softly told her, "But I love to do it for you mama. I mean, you're always workin' so late, so it is hard to get up in the mornings. It's the least I can do. Now let's go eat - we want scrambled eggs not scrambled mush. You get the big one and I get the little, just like usual. I know you never eat dinner so you have to have a big breakfast!"

Throughout breakfast the two of them chatted about his mother's previous work day and about her friends and projects she needed to get done. Working at a news station was a major time drain on any one person, but she was willing to do it so she could provide for Koyama. This unfortunately meant that he wasn't able to see her at all unless it was at this time of day. By the time she finished eating, Koyama was already finished with a box lunch for her. Everyday he went through this process just to show her that he wasn't going to leave her anytime soon.

"Well mama, I have to get to school. I was asked to go early just to meet some friends and plan some stuff for our club. I'll see you tomorrow morning?" His mother responded with a meek nod as she stood up from the table to go and get changed for work. With the best smile he could ever have, he walked out the door and started towards school with absolutely nothing that would signify his standing as a student.

As he walked down the streets leading towards the academy, he let his smile fade away for a much more serious and focused look. He knew that this meeting for the JSO wasn't going to be something happy, and with the recent death of Chiharu he couldn't help the feeling that things just weren't going to get any better. "I hope none of those assholes forgot about this meeting. They need to stop taking it so easy and focus for once. We have to stop pretending to be adults and actually act like them for once."

For most people, entering the academy without the proper uniform would be incredibly tough since it was such a high class and private academy. Unless you were specifically allowed under special circumstances, you'd be chased off if you were caught by anyone who was staff. But coming into the school at 7:10 AM made it very easy for Koyama since security wasn't quite at its full capacity. He was able to swiftly make it into the meeting room without anyone noticing him and it came to his attention that no one was in the room but himself. "You gotta be kiddin' me. How late does Haruo want to start this? I can't believe he'd waste so much time and start it later than this." With a miffed expression, he decided to just lean against the doorway since there was nothing better for him to do. He figured it'd be better to just wait on them all to arrive than leave and come back. It'd show he was impatient, and he wanted to prove that he was diligent enough to at least wait a few minutes.

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Kana stirred under her covers on another quiet morning, her internal clock had decided to wake her before her alarm did. Intent on silencing the machine before its disruptive noise shattered this morning's serenity she sat up and reached over to flick the switch to turn the thing off. With a moment spent to stretch her arms and rub her eyes Kana kicked off the covers and hopped out of bed, shivering slightly at the sensation of her bare feet on the cold floor.

The steady sound of her footsteps was the only source of noise as Kana walked out to the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest in an attempt to ward off the cold as the large red shirt she wore swayed about with each step. These lonely mornings were something she had grown used to over her time spent here, she had been living alone in this small apartment for just over a year now after moving away from home to attend Kinomoto Academy. Finding some discomfort in the silence Kana began to hum a horribly off-tune melody to herself as she began to prepare some tea for the morning, pausing upon seeing her distorted face in the reflection of the chrome tea pot. Her hair was a total mess and that combined with the odd shape her face took in the rounded surface of the teapot moved the girl to a quiet giggle, though this was promptly interrupted as her ears perked up at the distant sound of her phone chirping to life back in her bedroom.

Hastily she filled the teapot and put it on the stove before jogging back to her room, easily spotting the small glowing screen that laid not far from her pillow. With a single swift motion she scooped the electronic device up and began tapping and swiping at its surface to see what the commotion was. It looked like an email from her manager about an upcoming shoot, Kana shrugged and dismissed the alert, she'd just read it later. As she lowered the device it buzzed to life once more causing Kana to blink as she brought the device back up to see, this time it was a text from their new leader, Haruo.

7:22 - Hey losers, don't forget about the meeting this morning, up and at em'!

A small smile played across Kana's features as she quickly scanned the message over and tapped out a reply of her own.

7:23 - You got it boss! Last one there buys drinks? ;D

Feeling her usual energy begin to return to her as the morning drowsiness faded, Kana moved on quickly with her usual morning rituals, grinning all the while. As she headed out her front door she locked it and glanced back into the dark and empty apartment, speaking out to no one in particular "I'm heading out."

The bus station was just a short walk from her apartment, and the school just a short bus ride from that station. Kana didn't have to wait long for the bus to arrive, it was usually ahead of schedule by a few minutes by merit of the typically few passengers at this time and place. After paying her fare she took a seat near one of the windows as her headphones hummed their tune into her ears, "I want a girl with a mind like a diamond..."

It wasn't long until the bus arrived at the school. Kana made a hasty exit as she hopped out of the bus and gave the driver a wave goodbye before running up towards the school, and more importantly, to the clubroom. She of course wanted to be first, but as long as she wasn't last she really didn't mind. Even from a distance Kana could make out that bright red hair of Koyama's. Feeling only slightly disappointed that she hadn't gotten here first she grinned and raised her arm up to wave in his direction before calling out to him, "Yo! Morning Koya."

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7:29 - Sorry Lam-chan, I told you, I'm just not that into you. hopefully someday you'll find someone that likes you like you like me :c

Chuckling with a satisfying grin, he clicked his phone to lock it and put it back in his coat pocket. He then took his cap off and ran a hand through his umber-brown hair, letting out a large breathy sigh. The stress of leading the group of rag-tag operatives was beginning to get to him now, and it wasn't like Naoya, their sensei, was being any help at all. The man offered very little in terms of out-of-field assistance, insisting that he was merely "An adviser to guide your way, not a babysitter to hold your hand." He reached a certain point of his walk to school in which he would always see a tattered old homeless man sitting on a street corner by his favourite American diner. Sure enough, there he was, sitting on the grass with his legs folded underneath him, mumbling in between swigs from a half full forty of beer. He absent-mindedly grinned, remembering the time he and Chiharu had stolen a cab sav from Haruo's parent's liqour cabinet, taken it to the forest and drank the whole bottle, then had to get Haruo's older sister to come pick them up.

“She was so mad...”' He thought, smiling.

Approaching the bus stop where he and Arisu usually met, he noticed she was facing away from him. “How the hell'd she get here first?” He wondered. He decided to sneak up behind her, pressing his hand down hard on her shoulder, he grabbed a pen from his pocket, clicked it loudly, and pressed it into her back. Making his voice as deep and gravelly as he possibly could, he said, trying not to laugh,

“Don't move."

Arisu's heart nearly jumped from her chest when she felt the weight on her shoulder, hearing the subtle click. For a moment, it felt as if she were paralyzed, her mind trying to frantically run through every course of action.

Of course, she felt very, very foolish a moment later when she heard the voice behind her.

“Don't move."

Maybe it was the ridiculous inflection. Maybe Arisu had been around Haruo long enough to distinguish his voice, no matter what trickery he tried to pull. But even if her friend had been able to sneak up on her, there was no way he'd be able to fool her, especially with that lackluster attempt.

Giving an exaggerated sigh, she raised her hands, turning around to face her fearsome adversary. Her gaze drifted downwards for a brief second, noticing the pen he held in his hand. "Oh, you almost got me. Were you going to scribble me to death if I didn't cooperate?" She asked wryly, a small grin appearing as she pushed the deadly murder weapon aside.

“No no no my dear, I was going to stab you. Let out all my Penned up aggression.” He said, snickering with self-satisfaction. "Though you have to admit, I had you there for a sec."

"Another lame pun like that, and I might just be doing the stabbing." Arisu retorted, "And it was hardly even a second! You just surprised me a little, I knew it was you from the beginning." Which might be a very slight fib.

She turned away, beckoning Haruo to follow as she started walking towards the street. They were both probably going to be a little late for the meeting. And speaking of... "So, what's this one about? I imagine it's a little important, since you don't really do meetings too often."

He followed behind her, walking at a brisk pace. “Yeah, it's about the two that Naoya told us about. I think it's time we approach them.

The two chatted a bit more before arriving at the school, and heading to the club room, where they found Kana and Koyama. “Hey you two, having a little pre-meeting meeting I see?”

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After waiting for a few minutes Koyama heard a preppy voice come from out of the hallway, and it was a voice he recognized far too easily. Turning towards the source of the voice he couldn't help but give a quaint smile and a polite head nod to her greeting.

Leaning back off of the doorway after she entered, he reached out and gave a soft smack to the back of her head as he walked past her and towards a chair close to the opposite wall. Spinning it around so he would have to straddle it while looking at her he said in a pleasant voice, "Mornin' to you Kana. Took ya long enough to make it here. At this rate you'll never beat me."

Kana's eyes squinted as she peered over at Koya, though this unusual and unnatural scowl quickly faded as her usual smile won out. With a hand on her hip and the other rubbing the back of her head she offered the young man that sat before her a shrug. "Oh? I wasn't aware we were competing... But eh, long as I'm not the last one here I guess I don't really care. Though, that said, if you -did- wanna throw down I'd be happy to take you on."

She gave a confident grin before reaching up to tug the loose red cap that sat atop her head off, leaving the black locks of her hair to spill out messily around her face. With a quick glance over her shoulder and out the doorway behind her she dipped her hands into her jacket pockets. "Say, you have any idea what this meeting's actually supposed to be about?" Her quizzical gaze refocused once more upon Koya hoping he might have an idea.

Giving a soft chuckle to her response about fighting Koyama followed suit and gazed over towards the door with Kana, with an annoyed grunt he grumbled, "It should be right now to be honest. These people need to take what we are doing more seriously." Glancing up towards the clock on the wall he noticed the time was 7:30, and he had a momentary twitch of his eye from how annoyed he was that no one else had showed up. "I mean, what does he plan to talk about in less than an hour? I'm gettin' the feeling that they aren't trying as hard as we do."

Shifting his angered gaze back to Kana, he gave a light sigh and scratched the back of his head. "At least you're here though. I can at least be thankful for that despite that 'always sunny' attitude you can't seem to drop." While he tried to say that in a humorous tone, he couldn't help but also agree with what he said. This girl can't be happy all the time and shouldn't be pretending she is.

A short sigh escaped Kana's lips as she closed her eyes and shrugged at Koya. "I don't think it really has much to do with anyone not taking it as seriously as anyone else... I... Think it's more likely that we're all just still adjusting, ya know?" She offered a meek smile as her eyes reopened, "Besides, getting all worked up over it won't change anything, if you really think it's an issue bring it up with Haruo after the meeting."

With that said she began to roll her shoulder as she approached one of the desks in the room. After removing her hands from her pockets she plopped herself atop the flat surface and fished into her pocket to retrieve her cellphone. She hadn't received any further texts or calls but she figured she should probably check the email she received earlier from her manager. As she casually swiped and tapped at the screen she grinned at Koya's attempted humor. "And what? I should start frowning all the time like you? That's hardly very cute." Her eyes quickly scanned over the contents of the mail as she registered the details down into her memory before placing the phone back into her pocket. She began kicking her feet idly through the air and tilted her head back to examine the ceiling. "Sure wish they'd hurry up though..."


"Ha, yeah, cute is exactly what I want to be in life. That and being a model like you are. If I accomplish those two things my life will be so complete." His smirk shrank away as Kana took to herself in silence - absorbed in the presence of her cell phone. He couldn't help but be a little annoyed about how absorbed his friends could be with such a pointless device, but he wasn't going to tell her to stop. It wasn't like she was hurting herself in any way, plus she was probably checking on some text that Haruo sent her.

"I'm gonna assume he never mentioned a meeting time huh?" Standing up from his chair and spinning it on one leg with his left hand, he looked back over towards Kana. "That man may be a bastard of a planner, but he is our new leader for a reason. I'm sur-"

“Hey you two, having a little pre-meeting meeting I see?”

Being cut off by Haruo was something that Koyama was both happy and upset to hear. Looking back over his shoulder he gave a nod to both Haruo and Arisu coming through the doorway. "And where the hell were the two of you? Why call this meeting if ya can't even give more than an hour to talk about the important things. I don't want to be in school any longer than I can help it."

Kana glanced over to the doorway as Haruo and Arisu arrived. She found it a bit curious that the two had arrived at the same time but she decided not to read too much into it. All she could do was raise a brow and shake her head as Koya took off to immediately begin berrating their late leaders. "I think what he means is 'good morning you two'." With her usual grin she hopped off from the desk and approached the two new arrivals. "So what's this meeting about anyways? We should get it started soon if we wanna make it to class on time." She knew they were missing someone but as far as she knew he probably wasn't coming anyways.

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7:29 - Sorry Lam-chan, I told you, I'm just not that into you. hopefully someday you'll find someone that likes you like you like me :c

"He wants me to kill him, he is begging for it." Lamilius mutters to himself reading the text Haruo sent him. A large frown crawled down his face, as he cracked his knuckles in Preperation for when he smashed Haruo in the face. Looking up he noticed he had arrived at the school. A smile returned to his face when he straightened his glasses, and then stepped through the gates to school.

With a little smirk Lamilius muttered to himself "I should almost wait another 20 minutes before going to the club room, but that's not my style."

Approaching the door to the club room Lamilius notices everyone had already arrived. "Hey Haruo clench your teeth" Lamilius says stepping through the door.

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"And where the hell were the two of you?"

"Sorry, I got a little sidetracked." Arisu said, with the barest hint of fluster. She wasn't going to go and say she had almost slept in. Especially not when Koyama seemed irritable enough already, she didn't need to add more fuel to his fire.

"So what's this meeting about anyways?" Kana spoke up, seeming to extinguish Koyama's flames.

Arisu glanced towards Haruo, wondering if he'd speak up. It was his meeting, after all, and he knew more than her about the twins. But, nobody got a chance to speak, for Lamilus chose that exact moment to burst in, challenging Haruo. She had to be honest - she was surprised he had even showed up, as out of anyone in the group, Lamilius seemed to show the most contempt for Haruo, especially after Chiharu's death.

"Perfect, we're all here." Arisu said, giving Lamilus a venomous stare. "Now, before Kusanagi ruins the entire meeting, it's about the two transfer students."

She glanced once more towards Haruo, idly smoothing her skirt with a free hand. Nervous, subtle tells. She didn't want to be the one to speak, but Lamilius seemed to be the focus of attention. "Tsukehara... he believes we've observed them long enough, and it's come time to approach them. Now, does anyone have any classes with those two?"