Kiri La Kill - Chapter 21

We’re about 26k words in for this quest right now, which would have been the halfway point if I’d stuck to the original ‘1k words per chapter’ premise that I had in the beginning. Just thought I should mention that, tickled me pink for some reason.

For those awaiting the arrival of a certain protagonist? 4 more chapters.

——————

“Oh… he’s still in the hospital.”

Kiri was off to just the most wonderful start.

Having decided to follow Satsuki’s instructions and indeed, ‘meet his neighbors’... He had thought it might have been best to just start at the one right next to His and Satsuki’s. A good idea that would have gone unmentioned had it not been for one little thing.

Kiri had forgotten that he’d almost killed one of the Big Four.

Gamagoori Ira, the boy who’d put his life on the line to protect Honnouji Academy (and more importantly, Kiryuin Satsuki’s dream), was still in the hospital. Though thankfully, thankfully, it seemed like he would indeed pull through. Which was a relief to Kiri, who now only had to worry about the woman looking at him as though he was about to eat her whole.

A familiar sensation that was nevertheless quite unpleasant to experience… he was experiencing quite a lot of those lately, and it certainly wasn’t doing the doubts he was having about the person he’d been any favors.

“T-thank you for the news. Good day!”

Kiri ran back to his house with this tails… it would be about an hour that he would have the courage to try again.

——————

“You fucking idiot.”

Sanageyama Uzu was… a familiar sort.

After opening the door to his house a full minute after Kiri had knocked on the door, he’d appeared in a sweaty workout shirt and baggy pants combo, had taken one look at Kiri, rolled his eyes, and had invited him inside with a very rude gesture.

“What were you expectin’, that everyone would come together and sing Kumbaya after you beat the shit out of half the school?” It was a rhetorical question, one that Kiri knew full well the answer to… still, Kiri was not going to take it lying down.

Especially from someone like Sanageyama.

“I didn’t come here to be judged.” He grumbled, looking around a house that would have looked very familiar to his… if it weren’t for the fact that nearly all of the available wall space was set aside for a display that held a specific Shinai. “You live alone here?”

“Expectin’ me to live with my parents or somethin’?” Sanageyama asked, tracking Kiri’s gaze to his prized possessions.  “What? I left ‘em back home. You think I’d invite him here when all they’d do is cramp my style?” The boy scoffed. “They can be content with the money I send ‘em.” That was… a valid line of thinking, probably. Kiri couldn’t really comment either way.

After a minute of silence, where the two boys sat sipping orange juice in a silence that was weirdly not awkward, Sanageyama nodded once, and spoke up.

“Gotta say though… It’s gonna be a relief havin’ someone around I can actually talk to.” The boy had said. “Inumuta is too much of a nerd, Gamagoori is… well, batshit insane, and Jakuzure is annoying as fuck.” Huh, a compliment. Kiri hadn’t expected that.from someone who had been his enemy--- “Only after we fucking fight though.”

Ah, there it was

Though, he did note how the boy had skipped over a certain someone.

“What about Satsuki?”

The boy suddenly coughed, “S-Satsuki?!” He said, suddenly getting flustered, which made Kiri blink. “H-have some respect when talking about Lady Kiryuin, you oaf!”

“That’s a shift in attitude.” Kiri said, a lot more amused as the boy scowled up at him, only to grumble and look away. “Say, would you be willing to tell me anything about the school curriculum?”

Kiri’s attempt to be merciful and spare the boy’s pride went unheeded almost immediately.

“Go ask Inumuta.”

“Grk. Fine.”

——————

“So, Lady Kiryuin has you joining us on the pursuit of education? With the same expectations she has placed on those of us in the Elite Four, perhaps even greater than that? That is good news indeed, I would hate to be saddled with another unthinking vulgar brute for an ally!”

As he heard those words spoken in rapid fire, while the owner of the voice zipped about his

home, which would have been quite similar to Kiri’s had it not been for the abundance of books and computer parts arranged in dizzying order in the corners of the room he was dragged to.

“It should be mentioned that the members of the Elite Four, and yourself now, are expected to get full marks on all subjects. Your hand will not be held in the process. And should you fail despite asking for aid from me, it would reflect badly even on myself, take care not to besmirch my reputation along with you own---”

Books continued piling on and on as Kiri could not help but look for help from the boy’s parents, who shot the boy an all too sympathetic look… even as they did nothing to help him. Too eager to have their son socialize with someone his age.

Kiri was starting to feel like he made a mistake in listening to Satsuki.

——————

“Oh, you poor thing.”

For some reason, those words filled Kiri with more dread than anything he had witnessed today. More than even the shame of visiting the house of Gamagoori after having been the reason he was fighting for his life in the hospital.

As he sat across the girl that barely even came up to his hips, who was currently pouring him tea in a demure manner, Kiri was eyeing escape routes from her home, which had threatened to send him into fight or flight mode the moment he caught sight of it.

It was pink.

Overwhelmingly, terrifyingly pink.

The walls were pink, the couches were pink, the cups had pink designs, even the tea that she was pouring seemed to become distorted from the aura of pinkiness that surrounded it. That, or Kiri was starting to hallucinate because of this particular shade of pink.

Kiri’s stomach did quite a lot of backflips as Jakuzure Nonon finally sat down across from him, making quite the cute sight as she reached down to raise her chair so that she could actually be eye level with him.

Not that Kiri was in a state to find that adorable mind you.

“Did those three bully you that much?” Nonon was asking, urging him to take a sip from the deliciously sweet tea. “Really, I keep telling Satsuki to rein those fools in, but she says that’ll make them less effective!” The short girl shook her head. “Maybe I should bring up that topic about gelding again.”

Kiri felt a shiver, and closed his legs on instinct. “T-that sounds a bit too harsh.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about anything like that my dear!” The girl consoled Kiri with a grin. “Eijiro was it? I was quite interested in bringing you in peacefully you know! You just seemed like so much fun.” Her eyelids drooped as she looked him up and down appreciatively. “You look like you’ll only go wild when asked… and I quite like that.

Kiri couldn’t help it, something about this girl was just too effective on him.

He blushed.

The grin he received in return was terrifying indeed.

——————

By the time Kiri stumbled out of Jakuzure (Nonon, he reminded himself, as he felt himself suddenly shivering, not even his thoughts were safe from her terrifying energy), he was more tea than person, and his mind was jumbled from the immense amount of teasing.

And luckily enough, his exit just happened to match the exact moment that Kiryuin Satsuki returned from her jog, the two of them meeting in the middle of the road and regarding each other with wildly differing looks.

In the end, what Kiri wanted to say was simple.

“I hate you.”

Strangely enough, all Kiryuin Satsuki did in response to this was to give him a smug little smirk that had Kiri’s hairs standing on end. “Think of it as revenge for almost destroying my school.”

“Hngh!”

He would give her that!

But only that!

The following days would be quite smoother after this hazing.