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Takashi kept a genial smile on his face, but internally, his jaw dropped when Sato glared at him as if Takashi killed his puppy. His piercing blue eyes were like shards of ice, stabbing Takashi's soul with a rush of cold.
"I'm acing it. Second in our class, after you." And with that final, scathing sentence, Sato dropped his box off in the teacher's lounge and stalked off back towards the classroom.
For the rest of the day, Takashi ruminated over the interaction between him and Sato -- which sounded truly, truly pathetic, but there really wasn't anything more interesting to do. Takashi was, in all honesty, a little sad by Sato's response. He was some parts surprised that he managed to spark such a scandalous reaction from Mr. Gray Paint Swatch, but for the most part, Takashi was merely confused. As far as he knew, Takashi didn't do anything to hurt or offend Sato, and Takashi's reputation was rock-solid. A lot of the other popular guys had somewhat controversial images -- the most obvious example was Otsu Osamu, the school's ice prince. While much of the student body swooned over his cold character and "cool guy image", Otsu definitely projected the demeanor of a complete asshole. And then, of course, there was a small group of jocks who talked shit about the girls in their class behind their backs and didn't even do a good job of hiding it.
But Takashi? Takashi was known as the nice guy. At a huge risk of sounding arrogant, Takashi knew that he was the guy everybody loved because his entire image was someone who was kind and helped people out. Of course, there were some people who disliked him, but they were mainly guys who wanted to seem tough, and subsequently thought of Takashi as a prissy little bitch. Maybe Sato's one of those guys. Except Sato's the kind of guy who would be beaten up by those pretentious assholes.
As always, when Takashi had a problem he couldn't solve, he consulted his sister.
"Aki, you know that guy I told you about at the Korean barbeque restaurant?" Takashi tentatively brought up the topic a few days later. Aki was researching something on her personal laptop, and usually she would multitask as Takashi asked her for advice, but this time, Aki slammed the laptop shut and gave Takashi her full attention, looking surprisingly eager for her blasé self.
"The guy?" Aki crooned in the way she did when she knew something that no one else did. Takashi frowned.
"Well, I did just say that, didn't I? I tried to talk to him a few days ago, and he glared at me like I did something to personally wrong him. Like I killed his precious puppy or something. Why would he dislike me so much? I think I'm a pretty nice person."
Aki leaned back in her chair, taking a long sip of her Darjeeling tea. "Taka-kun, while I do know you as someone who is rather concerned with being liked by everybody, I must say that you usually do not linger on a particular person, especially one so insignificant."
"No one's insignificant."
"You know what I mean."
"I feel like you definitely know something I don't -- something that would probably help me out right now -- but for some reason, you aren't putting me out of my misery."
"Hmm, sounds about right, to an extent. I just think this is something you should discover on your own."
Takashi was fully aware of the dead expression in his eyes, and was about to retort when the door swung open. There, standing in the doorway of Aki's personal office, in the house that was typically reserved for Takashi, Aki, and the maids, was the eldest Kanayama child -- the devil herself, Kanayama Rina.
Takashi's head swung towards Aki, who looked similarly shocked, but mostly disgusted. What is she doing here?! Last time I checked, she was working in Mother's company -- in Germany. Rina never comes back home -- I can't even remember the last time she left the Western hemisphere by choice. Takashi, in all honesty, did not know his eldest sister very well, but he and Aki did not have the best relationship with her.
Rina sent a glare full of disdain at Aki, who was looking extremely displeased. "Still wasting your life away, aren't you, Aki? You never really matured." Rina's condescending gaze swiveled to Takashi and lingered. "Takashi-kun, you've always been such an idiot. Wasting your time with this parasite?" Rina nodded jerkily in Aki's direction, who gave the elder a stony look, grinding her jaw. "The smart choice would be to study, which is something you desperately need, and to surround yourself with positive influences. Apparently, even with your disappointing grades, you are still going downhill. There is no rock bottom for you, is there?"
"Now that's no way to announce your presence in this venerable home, is it, Rina?" Whatever tone Sato could ever use with Takashi could never match up to the way Aki was speaking to Rina. "I must say, I finally understand why you keep pushing your excessive and pathetic campaign of being a proper, well-mannered, and respectable woman. You're so inherently inferior and . . . unsatisfactory that such an act is perhaps the only way you can live with yourself in this big, bad world. I must remind you however -- no classy woman would ever defecate in the hallway like a dog and spread their shit around in public. Darling, the bathroom is down the hall, you can roll in your own shit over there."
Rina glared coldly, fuming as she tucked her neat strawberry-brown hair behind her ear. "Respect your elders, you infantile bastard. Your little rebellious phase has never done you any favors, Aki. When will you finally grow up and join the rest of us in the real world?"
Aki chuckled in the way she did when she was about to threaten someone in Kabukichou, finally standing up and slowly striding over to Rina. "Rina, Rina, Rina. Always pretending, pretending, pretending, to make up for your complete and utter lack of competence. You've truly convinced yourself that you're somehow on the same level as otou-san -- who, despite having the intelligence of a kakapo and the competence of a sniveling intern, still adds up to something that far exceeds whatever you are. Let me tell you right now -- you can eat, drink, or breathe all the gold you want, but your shit still smells -- and I'm gagging. So why don't you clean up your mess like a good girl while Taka-kun and I go do things that actually have a sound effect on the world, instead of being another mindless drone running in a circle like you?" Aki grabbed Takashi by the wrist and pulled him towards the door, their combined force pushing Rina out into the hallway. With her other hand, Aki slammed the door and locked it, glaring stonily at Rina during every second of it. Aki then pushed the eldest to the side and let go of Takashi's wrist, striding forward. Takashi didn't even spare Rina a glance, following Aki out of the house.
"For someone who talks such a big game, you've never done anything of importance, Aki!" Rina called. "What a waste of intelligence."
"You've always lived in your own self-importance, Rina. There's more to the world than what little you know." Aki slammed the door.
Takashi trailed after his sister, who was still grinding her jaw. "It's not like you to go on a tirade like that," Takashi said mildly. "You're usually not so . . . volatile, in your responses. But that was a surprise, wasn't it? I didn't know Rina was coming home. I thought she was still working in Germany."
"I thought so too. Another day, another disappointment," Aki rubbed her temples. "You were always the pacifist, Taka-kun. There's too much of an age difference between you and Rina to understand, and I have the unfortunate affliction of being able to remember my childhood with her. We're going to Kabukichou, there's some business I need to take care of."
Takashi didn't respond, but what Aki said was right. He didn't really know Rina at all, although what little relationship they had wasn't entirely positive -- and on that note, Takashi wasn't particularly familiar with Hikari, either. He only ever had a relationship with Aki, and it seemed like it would stay that way.
"Taka-kun, you remember Kyuu?" Aki murmured. Takashi nodded in response. In Aki's system, they referred to drug dealers by a number. Kyuu was number nine, and usually dealt in illegal prescription drugs rather than things like hallucinogens.
"Well, he's been a bit naughty. He thinks he can pocket some of the shit he's selling under my nose, but it looks like unlucky number nine came to bite him in the ass," Aki grumbled. "He's not particularly intelligent. I think you can just go track him down and teach him a lesson, he won't need much more than that."
Takashi nodded in agreement. He knew he didn't seem like the kind of person who would roam Kabukichou, beating up people who didn't listen to his sister. But Aki taught him a long time ago that criminal activities -- drug dealing, prostitution, money laundering, etc. -- would never disappear. Instead of trying to eradicate it completely, it was more effective to control it, and Takashi found himself agreeing with that.
"All right, I'll go ahead with that. What are you going to do?"
Aki shrugged, murmuring, "it seems that there's an issue that is presenting an increasing threat. It's quite unclear what it is, right now. I need to ask around a bit more -- we might have to wait this out too, for more information."
Aki's words took Takashi by surprise. Aki practically always knew what was happening -- mainly because of her intellect, but also because the problems in the criminal underground tended to be consistent and somewhat predictable. If Aki was baffled by something, Takashi knew it was something big.
Hopefully, it would all blow over without much drama.
"I'm acing it. Second in our class, after you." And with that final, scathing sentence, Sato dropped his box off in the teacher's lounge and stalked off back towards the classroom.
For the rest of the day, Takashi ruminated over the interaction between him and Sato -- which sounded truly, truly pathetic, but there really wasn't anything more interesting to do. Takashi was, in all honesty, a little sad by Sato's response. He was some parts surprised that he managed to spark such a scandalous reaction from Mr. Gray Paint Swatch, but for the most part, Takashi was merely confused. As far as he knew, Takashi didn't do anything to hurt or offend Sato, and Takashi's reputation was rock-solid. A lot of the other popular guys had somewhat controversial images -- the most obvious example was Otsu Osamu, the school's ice prince. While much of the student body swooned over his cold character and "cool guy image", Otsu definitely projected the demeanor of a complete asshole. And then, of course, there was a small group of jocks who talked shit about the girls in their class behind their backs and didn't even do a good job of hiding it.
But Takashi? Takashi was known as the nice guy. At a huge risk of sounding arrogant, Takashi knew that he was the guy everybody loved because his entire image was someone who was kind and helped people out. Of course, there were some people who disliked him, but they were mainly guys who wanted to seem tough, and subsequently thought of Takashi as a prissy little bitch. Maybe Sato's one of those guys. Except Sato's the kind of guy who would be beaten up by those pretentious assholes.
As always, when Takashi had a problem he couldn't solve, he consulted his sister.
"Aki, you know that guy I told you about at the Korean barbeque restaurant?" Takashi tentatively brought up the topic a few days later. Aki was researching something on her personal laptop, and usually she would multitask as Takashi asked her for advice, but this time, Aki slammed the laptop shut and gave Takashi her full attention, looking surprisingly eager for her blasé self.
"The guy?" Aki crooned in the way she did when she knew something that no one else did. Takashi frowned.
"Well, I did just say that, didn't I? I tried to talk to him a few days ago, and he glared at me like I did something to personally wrong him. Like I killed his precious puppy or something. Why would he dislike me so much? I think I'm a pretty nice person."
Aki leaned back in her chair, taking a long sip of her Darjeeling tea. "Taka-kun, while I do know you as someone who is rather concerned with being liked by everybody, I must say that you usually do not linger on a particular person, especially one so insignificant."
"No one's insignificant."
"You know what I mean."
"I feel like you definitely know something I don't -- something that would probably help me out right now -- but for some reason, you aren't putting me out of my misery."
"Hmm, sounds about right, to an extent. I just think this is something you should discover on your own."
Takashi was fully aware of the dead expression in his eyes, and was about to retort when the door swung open. There, standing in the doorway of Aki's personal office, in the house that was typically reserved for Takashi, Aki, and the maids, was the eldest Kanayama child -- the devil herself, Kanayama Rina.
Takashi's head swung towards Aki, who looked similarly shocked, but mostly disgusted. What is she doing here?! Last time I checked, she was working in Mother's company -- in Germany. Rina never comes back home -- I can't even remember the last time she left the Western hemisphere by choice. Takashi, in all honesty, did not know his eldest sister very well, but he and Aki did not have the best relationship with her.
Rina sent a glare full of disdain at Aki, who was looking extremely displeased. "Still wasting your life away, aren't you, Aki? You never really matured." Rina's condescending gaze swiveled to Takashi and lingered. "Takashi-kun, you've always been such an idiot. Wasting your time with this parasite?" Rina nodded jerkily in Aki's direction, who gave the elder a stony look, grinding her jaw. "The smart choice would be to study, which is something you desperately need, and to surround yourself with positive influences. Apparently, even with your disappointing grades, you are still going downhill. There is no rock bottom for you, is there?"
"Now that's no way to announce your presence in this venerable home, is it, Rina?" Whatever tone Sato could ever use with Takashi could never match up to the way Aki was speaking to Rina. "I must say, I finally understand why you keep pushing your excessive and pathetic campaign of being a proper, well-mannered, and respectable woman. You're so inherently inferior and . . . unsatisfactory that such an act is perhaps the only way you can live with yourself in this big, bad world. I must remind you however -- no classy woman would ever defecate in the hallway like a dog and spread their shit around in public. Darling, the bathroom is down the hall, you can roll in your own shit over there."
Rina glared coldly, fuming as she tucked her neat strawberry-brown hair behind her ear. "Respect your elders, you infantile bastard. Your little rebellious phase has never done you any favors, Aki. When will you finally grow up and join the rest of us in the real world?"
Aki chuckled in the way she did when she was about to threaten someone in Kabukichou, finally standing up and slowly striding over to Rina. "Rina, Rina, Rina. Always pretending, pretending, pretending, to make up for your complete and utter lack of competence. You've truly convinced yourself that you're somehow on the same level as otou-san -- who, despite having the intelligence of a kakapo and the competence of a sniveling intern, still adds up to something that far exceeds whatever you are. Let me tell you right now -- you can eat, drink, or breathe all the gold you want, but your shit still smells -- and I'm gagging. So why don't you clean up your mess like a good girl while Taka-kun and I go do things that actually have a sound effect on the world, instead of being another mindless drone running in a circle like you?" Aki grabbed Takashi by the wrist and pulled him towards the door, their combined force pushing Rina out into the hallway. With her other hand, Aki slammed the door and locked it, glaring stonily at Rina during every second of it. Aki then pushed the eldest to the side and let go of Takashi's wrist, striding forward. Takashi didn't even spare Rina a glance, following Aki out of the house.
"For someone who talks such a big game, you've never done anything of importance, Aki!" Rina called. "What a waste of intelligence."
"You've always lived in your own self-importance, Rina. There's more to the world than what little you know." Aki slammed the door.
Takashi trailed after his sister, who was still grinding her jaw. "It's not like you to go on a tirade like that," Takashi said mildly. "You're usually not so . . . volatile, in your responses. But that was a surprise, wasn't it? I didn't know Rina was coming home. I thought she was still working in Germany."
"I thought so too. Another day, another disappointment," Aki rubbed her temples. "You were always the pacifist, Taka-kun. There's too much of an age difference between you and Rina to understand, and I have the unfortunate affliction of being able to remember my childhood with her. We're going to Kabukichou, there's some business I need to take care of."
Takashi didn't respond, but what Aki said was right. He didn't really know Rina at all, although what little relationship they had wasn't entirely positive -- and on that note, Takashi wasn't particularly familiar with Hikari, either. He only ever had a relationship with Aki, and it seemed like it would stay that way.
"Taka-kun, you remember Kyuu?" Aki murmured. Takashi nodded in response. In Aki's system, they referred to drug dealers by a number. Kyuu was number nine, and usually dealt in illegal prescription drugs rather than things like hallucinogens.
"Well, he's been a bit naughty. He thinks he can pocket some of the shit he's selling under my nose, but it looks like unlucky number nine came to bite him in the ass," Aki grumbled. "He's not particularly intelligent. I think you can just go track him down and teach him a lesson, he won't need much more than that."
Takashi nodded in agreement. He knew he didn't seem like the kind of person who would roam Kabukichou, beating up people who didn't listen to his sister. But Aki taught him a long time ago that criminal activities -- drug dealing, prostitution, money laundering, etc. -- would never disappear. Instead of trying to eradicate it completely, it was more effective to control it, and Takashi found himself agreeing with that.
"All right, I'll go ahead with that. What are you going to do?"
Aki shrugged, murmuring, "it seems that there's an issue that is presenting an increasing threat. It's quite unclear what it is, right now. I need to ask around a bit more -- we might have to wait this out too, for more information."
Aki's words took Takashi by surprise. Aki practically always knew what was happening -- mainly because of her intellect, but also because the problems in the criminal underground tended to be consistent and somewhat predictable. If Aki was baffled by something, Takashi knew it was something big.
Hopefully, it would all blow over without much drama.