Chapter 31: When The End Justify The Means
"Fuck me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Kiyoshi seized his hair and stumbled to one of the pillars beside the school gate. Twenty-seven missed calls from Kidou-san since Friday. "I'm dead. I'm so fucking dead."
"What's wrong?" Kiyoshi flinched and flung his head towards the voice. Mikio's innocent and gullible gaze served as a reminder the world was bigger than his mission, but with the dread in the pit of his stomach, he cringed in shame.
"I. . . have to do something." Kiyoshi squeezed his shoulders and drooped.
"Here? It's almost sunset."
Kiyoshi swayed his head and replied briskly. "In another city. I'm sorry. I gotta go."
"Ryuu--" A ringtone cut off Hirawa's words. Kiyoshi yelped and glanced at the vibrating device, scurrying away from his with one last wave, a sign he did care.
"COME TO TEIKOKU. NOW!" Kiyoshi was about to scream an apology when the call ended. Ah, Kidou-san cut him off. He had fucked up. Bad.
He recalled the feeling of Mikio's lips against his. He was a spy for God's sake. He didn't come here to flirt with the whole grade. How could he have forgotten this was a dream? That all of this was temporal and f a k e.
Night had settled by the time Kiyoshi neared the school. Like a snake coiling its body, deeper darkness seemed to envelop it. Delving inside the building, he realized the atmosphere felt unfamiliar. Hugging his bag against his stomach, he made a mad dash towards the Coach's office. He told himself the origin of those noises was none of his business, nor the owner of the voices.
"Finally," a chilling voice spat. He didn't even announce himself for the door to open. The girl was glaring at him, nose raised condescendingly. "We have wasted enough time. Let us begin the meeting already." She turned around sharply, her dusky hair swaying with the motion.
"Certainly." Kiyoshi flinched when Kidou-san spoke and promptly chased after the girl. Lightly bowing to the boy, he trailed behind until they settled in front of the Coach. His gaze drifted towards the surly girl. What is she doing here? What's going on?
"Why was Kidou unable to contact you?" The Coach asked. Kiyoshi brought his gaze back and lowered his head. 'I didn't want to talk to anyone,' of course he couldn't say. "Information gathering, I guess." Who knew if there was a fragment of truth. Thankfully, the Coach let that pass. Kiyoshi assumed getting the truth out would take time no one had.
"I believe everyone present deserves an apology first."
"Sumire, you also want to end this meeting as soon as possible."
"We have been waiting for hours. It's the least we deserve."
"Sumire--"
"Silence. Kidou, start." Kiyoshi let out a shallow breath as the urgent meeting finally began. Kidou-san summarized the appalling events that took place the previous week: the controversial article that ruthlessly exposed the girl, the following uproar, and its unavoidable consequences. When Kidou-san stopped talking and stared at the Coach, Kiyoshi realized the prime motive of this meeting. "Exposing one of their students, what did you think would happen, Ryuugamine?" Behind those opaque glasses, he just knew the Coach was staring directly at him.
He played with his fingers. "I, um, I don't know. . . sir."
"Weren't you listening to Kidou? Kidokawa's board reinforced their policies to accept transfer students from other schools, primarily, Teikoku. I knew you were a fool but not incompetent enough to ruin the relationship I have built with other institutions in less than four weeks."
A mocking giggle echoed in the room. No one commented on that.
"Spies are supposed to work in the shadows," the Coach explained, "You two have pulled down the curtain without a second thought."
"That is what I attempted to prevent all this time--"
"Silence!" He struck his fist and turned to the other first-year. "Kidou, leave the room."
"Yes," the boy obeyed with a courteous bow. The Coach spoke after the door clicked shut.
"You two are disqualified."
"I'm against it!" The girl protested. She placed a foot forward and threw a finger at Kiyoshi. "It's his fault all of this happened! If he hadn't used the school's newspaper, Teikoku wouldn't have lost its transfer program and--"
"I established the rules at the beginning: being discovered means disqualification. The school is aware of your movements. There is nothing to be done."
"But--!"
"Neither has a chance to procure the last manual after a scandal of this magnitude." The man leaned back. "Ryuugamine, as a Teikoku student, is currently a suspect. It is the same as being exposed."
"Then, we lost?" Sumire's pained tone made his throat clench. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"I will allow one last chance." The Coach's grim chuckle swiftly snuffed his last flicker of hope. "The finals between Teikoku and Kidokawa Seishuu will be in three days. Gouenji Shuuya's Fire Tornado will cause problems. Your final mission is simple, make him unable to play in the next match. If you wish to earn what you desire, this is the last thing you can do."
Once again, the girl's protests fell on deaf ears. They argued, and eventually, the situation settled. As they were thrown out of the room, her distressed voice settled as background noise under Kiyoshi's convoluted thoughts. He was making his way to the entrance when a hand twisted him around. Then, he was looking away, cheek burning hot.
"That's for shattering my school life to pieces." The girl spat and walked away. It hurt. It stung. Oh god. Kiyoshi gritted his teeth. It hurt more than mother's. How was that possible? She was so small.
Kidou-san passed by the corner of his eye. Kiyoshi fixed his glasses and gently called him. The boy turned. "Um," Kiyoshi lowered his voice.
"We can talk while walking," the boy carried on. Kiyoshi followed.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm fine. You?"
He reflected. "I guess I have been better." He glanced at the boy. In a corner of his mind, he couldn't stop fanboying about the uniform. "What about her?" He instinctively cringed at the foreign question.
The boy noticed and frowned. "Sumire?" As if he didn't believe Kiyoshi's words, he rotated his head.
Kiyoshi nodded, replying in a whisper. "You guys are close, right?" He fiddled with the cloth of his pants. His cheek throbbed. You must know how she has been.
Kidou-san lowered his chin. "She's strong. She pulled herself together. It's to be expected."
"Is that why you dislike her?" Kiyoshi carefully asked, astonished when the boy asserted.
"I told you I didn't want her to mingle with the Commander, didn't I?" Kidou-san asked, fists clenched, dying in white. "It seems she can eventually handle anything that comes her way. She has always been like that--"
"Kidou-san," Kiyoshi pat his shoulder. He painfully understood the desperation that came from having a friend who seemed perfect. "You genuinely care about her, don't you?" The younger boy tensed. "I don't know but, was our conversation the other day a call for help?"
"No," the boy asserted sharply. "It wasn't." He knocked Kiyoshi's arm and quickened his stride.
Kiyoshi gathered a deep breath and blew out. "So what I did was for nothing, huh? Figures."
He explained the bruise to his mother as "I did something wrong. I got what I deserved." Bad kids were punished, and he had done terrible things. Everything that happened to him was because he had done something wrong. Everything was his fault.
By the time he went to bed, he had known how to fulfill the current mission: he had to do the same thing he did to that boy. A single kick. A single snap. The thought that the Coach predicted he would arrive at this conclusion terrified him. Because if he intentionally hurt Gouenji with his own hands, he could certainly win.
One more unforgivable sin to the pile, what was the difference? But if he didn't have a conscience, it wouldn't sting this bad. Kiyoshi hugged his bunny plushie, comforting himself with the thought that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't that bad of a person as he believed he was.
When The End Justify The Means | End