savethecitydesu | Suffering!! The detention of Takuro and Itsuki!

"Akiyama has a reputation for being unfair. Anybody else would have been more understanding. Maybe..." Takuro glanced up at the door to the classroom before removing the scroll from his bag. "Maybe we could serve him a little justice."

He unrolled it onto the closest table, positioning himself between the scroll and the door to prevent any curious onlookers. "Slime, or a curse or something. Nothing big. There must be something in here we could use..."

The scroll unrolled and, in the usual, convenient fashion, the blank space on it immediately filled with the relevant information for Takuro:

SO, YOU WANT TO CURSE SOMEONE it said in very friendly japanese tone. The fire-ink immediately drew a cartoonish, friendly mascot character next to it.

"Sometimes, we all want someone to fall down the stairs. This is a dangerous but fun way of passing time."

[The initiate should consider that it may not be legal in some regions to provoke defenestration, boils, amphibian transmutation or the occasional plague upon someone's house] said a nicely designed, hint box on the right of the scroll.

"As this is a beginner scroll, we can supply you with a few simple steps to give that special someone that special punishment you feel they deserve, but be aware that there may be KARMIC CONSEQUENCES for you. If you want to learn more about KARMIC CONSEQUENCES OR CURSES, please find a curse scroll or karma scroll on your nearby extremely well-hidden occult library, or buy it."

The scroll then produced an enchantment. It was all in a strange language, though Takuro felt he could read it very easily. It also required an object related or indicative of the target.

"Our magic guidebook has deemed this our curse of choice." Takuro's fingers tapped on the paper, reading over it again. "This is Akiyama's karmic consequence, so we should be okay, but I'll be the one to cast it just in case."

He looked up to meet Itsuki's eyes. "Do you have anything that could be used to direct the curse?"

Itsuki peered over Takuro's shoulder. While his eyes were wide as platters at the idea of cursing, it wasn't entirely out of shock. There was just a hint of curiosity in his eyes about the general idea, just a tiny bit of interest that Takuro saw when he looked over.

"Ah! Oh, but... I can't just let you take that alone, Takuro-kun," Itsuki said, briefly averting his eyes to think, but then looking up at his friend with a small smile. "Besides, karmic consequences are like punishment, right? So if it's both of us doing it, it should be half for each. And," he took a hand to his chest, "as the president of the struggling sculpture club, it is my obligation out of solidarity to assist the president of the theater club in our time of, um, needing to curse someone."

However, after his vow of friendship, Itsuki's head sunk a little as a crestfallen look formed, immediately as he was asked the question. "Ah, um, no... I don't think so. Is this like... getting a drop of their blood or some of their hair or something? Could you even do that? He seems to comb his hair back so much that I reckon what hair he has left is probably stubbornly stuck to his scalp."

"He's not sloppy, at least," Takuro mused. "We could wait until tomorrow when we have a chance to get something." A pause. "Or we could cheat. Cheating is okay, right?"

He pulled out a sheet of blank paper and a pen, leaning down to scrawl 'Akiyama' in light strokes. "That's pretty vague," he mumbled. A couple of minutes later, he held up the sheet for Itsuki to look at. A rough sketch of Takeo's face and hair accompanied the name. "Think this is close enough, Itsuki-kun?"

Itsuki pursed his lips. Without a word but with a polite pause until Takuro would concede, he gestured for the other boy to hand him the pen. After that he scribbled some more, returning the drawing only with an angrier looking face, furrowed brows, and a small speech bubble that read "three days dungeon" next to Takeo's head.

"Reckon that's good," he said, in a hopeful voice and with a bright, tiny smile. "So, um, how do we do this? Do we recite the spell on three?"

"You stand over there." Takuro nodded towards the door. "I'll take care the spell. I imagine your god won't be too happy if you start cursing people without his permission."

This finally broke Itsuki's smiling streak. He frowned, shifting slightly to make his footing firmer and crossing his arms. "Aw no, Takuro-kun, I'm not letting you take this down yourself, and I ain't going nowhere."

"I wasn't asking you, Itsuki-kun." Takuro slipped the reworked Akiyama sheet into his pocket. "It's not open to negotiation. If you don't stand guard, we might get interrupted." The easy tone was in contrast to Takuro lowering his stance and straightening his back.

This answer was sufficiently logical. It still didn't sit well with Itsuki, whose stern resolve simmered into something of a pout. "Y-yeah, well I guess so, but," he paused, and then, regaining his desire to assist and protect his friend, stretched out his arm, "Then I'll put the curse and you stand guard. Come on, give me the doodle!"

Takuro shifted his hand to cover his pocket. "This doesn't need to be discussed, Itsuki-kun. I appreciated the offer, but it was my idea so I'll do it."

He turned back to the scroll and dismissed Itsuki: "Let me know if it looks like we'll be interrupted, okay?"

Itsuki looked a little wounded by the dismissal, a pouty look on his face and a slight tremble on his lip. But that lip was pursed in on a look of resolve.

Takuro's newfound sixth sense would tell him that something was about to happen, in that suddenly he had Itsuki's long arms reaching on both sides of him, one fumbling from the scroll and the other going for his pocket, while he pressed down on Takuro's back. "Gimme!"

"Hey!" Takuro's misgivings has turned out to be accurate, but he still flinched at Itsuki's sudden proximity. "What-?" He grabbed at the hand invading his pocket with both of his own hands, losing control of the scroll in the process.

"Hey, give that back, Itsuki-kun," he warned, reaching behind himself towards the other boy with one hand and holding Itsuki's arm in the other.

"Ohhh no! You'll have to take it from me!" Itsuki shouted, lifting the scroll away, one hand still caught in Takuro's pocket, struggling to yank it off. "Or pay attention to me when I'm trying to help out!"

"Keep it down," Takuro hissed, going still but not releasing Itsuki's arm. "What if somebody hears you and-

Yah!"

He whipped around with a battle cry and launched himself at the other boy, tackling Itsuki to the ground. "Give it back, Itsuki," he said, sitting on Itsuki's stomach and grabbing for the scroll.

What Takuro would discover then is that, despite having a pusillanimous disposition, Itsuki was a boy of surprisingly good physique, and once they'd fallen to the ground a battle begun where Takuro's athletic built was evenly matched with Itsuki's long legs, squirming and lean body, and the fact that he was very good at trying to slither away like a snake. "Nooo-no-no-no-NO mister president!" he shouted, doing his best to keep the scroll out of reach, while batting Takuro's hand off every time.

As luck would have it, that was the precise moment that the door opened, and a somewhat worn-down Iwata came in. "Hey, boys. I know, took me long enough, but Akiyama said you were--"

Takuro froze.

"Hello, sensei," Takuro finally said, looking up to the man at the door while one palm pressed the side of Itsuki's face into the floor and the other one pinned down the boy's empty hand. His breath was heavy and his cheeks were coloured from the effort of struggling with Itsuki. "We were just cleaning up and I fell over."

He smiled, and nonchalantly stretched and sprawled higher on Itsuki's chest to block the scroll on the ground from Iwata-sensei's view.

And so, the door snapped shut, with Iwata outside.

"Ah, that was close." Takuro sighed before rolling off Itsuki and getting to his feet. "If he had come in while we were doing the spell, that would have been harder to cover up."

He held out his open bag for Itsuki to put the scroll back.

An initially embarrassed Itsuki could only smile nervously at Iwata. Once he was gone, all his attention was on Takuro. Somewhat repentant - though mostly out of Takuro's warning - he accepted the other boy's decision and yielded the scroll, but still fixed him a look with heavy brows furrowed over his eyes. "Alright... but, really, if we do this at home then will you let me take part in it?"

"Maybe," Takuro grinned, shrugging. "I don't want you feeling left out or anything, but I'll make no promises." He slung his bag over his shoulder and moved to the door, opened it and poked his head outside the classroom.

"Anything we can do for you, sensei?"

Iwata was still somewhat flustered. He had his back turned to the door when Takuro came out, and was in the process of fidgeting quickly with his hand - adjusting his tie, that is. While bewildered and at a brief lost for words at first, he cleared his throat with a rather off-pitch "OH!" and then leveled down to his usual, mature, underpaid tones: "Iwasaki-kun. Yes. Ah... well, I was coming to talk to you and Kudou-kun about your detention. I understand you were being dirty--you came in dirty this morning?" he cleared his throat again. "I'm sure you understand the importance of having a clean uniform, but I also know you're not the kind to just up and break the rules for no good reason, and Akiyama-kun is quick to jump the trigger..."

"Yes, sensei." Takuro nodded. "Itsuki-kun and I got dirty on the way to school through no fault of our own. We tried washing it off as soon as we got here, but..."

He glanced back at his friend, but his respect for his sensei was great enough that he didn't shrug. "It was difficult. We didn't have any spare uniforms, and we were already late for class."

Unlike other people Takuro's age, Iwata - in his limited interactions with the boy - had always shown a disposition to expect the best of the boy. "I see," he'd said, tone already understanding. "Well, you cannot help it when there's force majeure, right? Accidents happen," the man said, offering the boy a small smile. "I'll be sure to write this off both of your records. Just try impressing Akiyama-kun with a bit of good uniform etiquette for a couple of days, so that he feels he's accomplished something."

Iwata ignored Itsuki's slightly bemused look at their teacher's complicity in duping the head of the disciplinary committee. He was fully focused on Takuro anyway. "Say, Iwasaki-kun, before you go... There's something I've been meaning to ask you two. See, there's some things gone missing from the old school building. Now, I'm not saying you would do this, but maybe you saw someone who did." Somewhat serene, even gentle in tone, he went on to add, "If you find out something, can I count on you letting me know?"

"Yes, sir!"

The English was accompanied with a sharp salute. "I'll let you know if Itsuki-kun or I hear or remember something. You can count on me."

Easing back into his previous stance, Takuro smiled. "And thank you for your help, Iwata-sensei. We'll make sure to be our best around Akiyama."

Iwata smiled brightly. Whether or not he was naive, disarmed, or sincerely trusting it was hard to tell: he just reached over and patted Takuro's head lightly. "Alright. Run along you two."

"Yes, sensei." Takuro accepted the pat. "Thank you."

Shifting his bag on his shoulder, he turned back to his friend. "Let's go, Itsuki-kun. We have work to do."

Itsuki shuffled along besides Takuro, flashing Iwata a tiny little sheepish smile before he joined his friend in walking along, making his best effort to be nonchalant. It took a good amount of effort not to look back to check if Iwata was following them.

"Erm... Takuro-kun? I'm sorry about the, you know, outburst back there. Reckon it wasn't very polite of me. I just don't think it's fair for you take the weight of this on you."

"It's fine. We didn't get caught out and now we'll be able to finish it when we get home. Just warn me next time you're going to attack me."

Takuro turned and flashed Itsuki a grin. "And you want to be partners in crime, huh? I guess I can work with that. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

Suffering!! The detention of Takuro and Itsuki!

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