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School Rumble (Broom and I)

"Thank you," Adam said politely, digging in. He knew his way around chopsticks, thanks to his...noodle joint. That...was going to be hard to go back to, since he took Mei there. Ugh. Now the rice just...tasted bad.
--
"I see," Nicholas chuckled. "And you need mine, don't you? You have no idea why you're being attacked, by who, and what for. Am I wrong?"
 
Kokoro could see the slight flicker of pain on his face. "Is my cooking bad? Or did you just think of something bad?" She asked in English, not one for holding entire conversations in Japanese unless she had to.

*******
Mei looked at Nicholas and then at the table in front of her. "No...you're not wrong. We haven't figured out anything." She leaned back in her chair and sighed, running her fingers through her hair. The fact was, he knew something. The fact that he even knew they were being attacked meant something in itself. "...I'll see what I can do for you, Nicholas. I need to know who these people are...and if there are any more that are capable of giving me injuries and completely overwhelming Damien."
 
"Nothing, it's fine," Adam assured easily, going back for seconds. "Thank you for the lunch, it's delicious."
--

"All of them are," Nicholas mused. "Perhaps not as a single person, no...but many of them possess fighting strength equal to you or Jana, I would guess. Komoku may have fun, however...he seems to enjoy being backed into a corner."
 
"You're welcome, Adam." Kokoro said as she poured some hot tea from the thermos she brought in the tin cup, and then in the actual cup she brought. "Tea?" The way she did everything...eating, drinking...sitting even...well it seemed graceful. Kokoro was very proper and poised in everything she did.

********
Mei didn't like that answer. "How many of them are all of them?" There had to be at least six. Those girls were strong...but their strength wasn't as absolute as the girl with handcuffs. Unless they were just fooling around..and to be honest she had a feeling that she hadn't really seen any of their true talents.
 
"Thanks," Adam said, regarding her a moment. Graceful was certainly a word, classically trained, even?
--

"Ah ah," Nicholas said, holding up his cuffs. "You want more than that, I need a better answer than "I'll see what I can do,' " He wasn't stupid, and he wasn't giving up his only way out.
 
"You are very polite, Adam." Kokoro's red eyes stayed on him for a while as she slowly sipped her tea. She wondered exactly what Mei would see in that animal Komoku Rokujo when she had a perfectly fine and good mannered boyfriend. She had never pegged her cousin as a whore, but it didn't matter. Mei still cared about him and was still a tad jealous seeing the two of them together. "I like boys like you."

******
Mei glared at the cuffs and then went quiet for a minute. She needed the information she had, but it didn't come without a price. Technically...this wasn't too different from letting Komoku work for her but...well at the end of the day she trusted him. She doubted she could really trust Nicholas. Still...she couldn't really afford to be picky.

"Fine. I will bail you out, but in exchange you become my prisoner. You will be watched 24/7, Nicholas Trevelyn. I mean it. You're going to be under probation for a long time."
 
"Well...thank you," Adam murmured. "I guess it's just a habit of mine, seems like it's not too common in Turuga, but I guess if you like fighting, why bother?" he smiled, taking a sip of his tea. It was quite good.
--

"I'm looking forward to seeing the new headquarters," Nicholas smiled. "I'll talk all you like once I'm in some actual clothes, and out of this place."
 
"You can enjoy fighting and still be polite. I think most other people are just stupid. My ex boyfriend was passionate, but a pig headed fool. I could never find anyone nice like you..." She continued to look him in the eye as she spoke. Her face twitched only a little as she spoke about her ex. He was..well he was the only guy she ever really dated and when he got imprisoned things just fell apart. He became more...rude and it just didn't work. She could only blame Mei for that.

******
"Fine..." Mei got up from her chair, grabbing her crutch and then leaving the visiting room. This was...annoying to say the least. But, despite the progress they were making they were still recovering. Some people never fully recovered from their injuries and had to leave...others were just still not one hundred percent..it was understandable.

She met with the man with the red hair and red eyes. Griffin Evans, that's what the desk he was sitting at said. Evans...this man was familiar. He must have been someones father at DC, because that last name and his face just looked familiar.

"Bailing out Trevlyn, Miss Wolfe? What an odd thing to do. Not even his own parents have that authority, you know. I hope you have a good reason because I'm sure you'll have to explain yourself for this." Griffin told her with an almost bored tone as he flipped through a few files and gave her a big fat folder of paperwork to fill out.

"I know. It is for a good reason." She assured him. He wasn't...the guy in charge. But he carried himself like he was. Probably just a high ranking officer. He looked really scummy though.

Once Mei filled out the necessary paperwork, she sat in the waiting room awaiting for Nicholas to come out. This felt..wrong. But necessary.
 
"I see..." Adam mused, regarding her a moment. "And you decided to join DC? Why?" he murmured curiously.
--
Ah, freedom...well, freedom in a clearer sense than jail. But he was brought his clothes, and he felt like a new man dressed in them as he walked out. Who was the girl next to Mei, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere? Kuki narrowed her eyes unhappily at him, but he ignored it.

"Well," Nicholas smiled. "You held up your end, so will I...shall we, Mei?"
 
"Because you people needed help." She said as she poured herself some more tea and then did the same for him even if he hadn't asked for it. She seemed a little...pushy sometimes. But in a polite way. "I heard what happened. There is barely half of you left. I admire hard work, and I want to be apart of that work." She also wanted to make Mei look bad, that too. But she wouldn't bring her up...not yet. She would wait for Adam to feel comfortable enough to talk to her about it. She was patient and didn't want to force anything.

******
"Yes we shall. Don't know if you two have met before, but this is Kaka Kuki. You enlisted her to be one of your hounds, but she joined me instead before your little protest." Mei said bitterly as she got up and walked outside. Aimee was leaning up against one of the pillars of the building, and once she saw Nicholas in toe with the girls, she raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It wasn't her job to tell Mei how to do hers.

She moved over to her SUV and then got inside, waiting for them all to pile in.
 
"Well, that's very practical of you," Adam smiled. "We appreciate all of the help, believe me...even if I seem to be the face of the computer group," he sighed, rubbing his head. "They're starting to branch out, a little...mostly because they have no choice."
--

"I see," Nicholas said faintly as Kuki followed Mei...not unlike the dog that Mei mentioned, in fact. Regardless, he followed the ladies out and settled in the front seat. Mostly because Kuki looked ready to cut his throat. Well, he wasn't expecting a warm welcome anyway, but he was impressed that Mei could still be so intimidating with such injuries.
 
"I could tell. At least they will get some experience outside that stuffy classroom. I may be good at what I do, but really the only time I enjoy myself is when I talk to you. And of course the others, but mainly you." She gave him a smile in return. It wasn't fake either. She legitimately did enjoy working with him. Shame she wasn't what he thought she was..

*********
The entire trip back to the school was silent. It was clear Mei was unhappy with what she had to do. But being a leader meant making hard decisions, and she didn't want her personal feelings to cloud her judgement. When they got back to the school, she took him to an empty room that was serving as an interrogation room. But it wasn't really that...intimidating. It was almost like a sitting area..and that's because it was doubling as such whenever Mei had to talk to someone in private.
 
"...Well, I...I'm flattered," Adam admitted, rubbing his neck. "I'm glad I've been able to make a friend so quickly from you, it's been nice talking to you, too. A good distraction."
--
"Well, I seem to be a ghost," Nicholas chuckled, sitting down as he adjusted his shirt. "A lot of white faces when I came in." Not that it was surprising, half of the people who remembered were almost incredulous that he was even out. "Thanks for letting me out, Mei...prison isn't the sort of place I need to be."
 
"I'm a distraction? From what? Work or Mei?" She asked as she tilted her head a bit. She was..blunt about things. But sometimes that was the best way to have someone talk about how they feel.

*******
Mei gave him a bemused look. She was tired and annoyed...cranky even. "Yes it is, you're just more useful outside of it. So Nicholas. Why don't you start telling me who these people are, starting with how many people we are actually dealing with..."
 
"...Both," he decided with a faint chuckle, taking a sip of his tea. "Kind of hard to ignore her when she's my boss, and...well, I still have to pay her proper respect...regardless of my personal feelings on the matter," he admitted.
--

"Twelve," Nicholas said easily. "five from Red, four from Green and three from Blue. Where do you think I learned about the Kishi and their insane methods?"
 
Kokoro blinked a few times and then finished off her tea before closing the thermos. "I suppose. Though honestly, she doesn't seem to pay you the same respect..."

*********
"Twelve?!" That many? She had only seen..half of them? Who were the rest? "Do you know who they are? Their names? What do they want?"
 
"No, she doesn't," Adam admitted, quite easily. "But I'm not really the best person to ask about that, either. Still, she seems to appreciate my work...that is enough." It had to be.
--

"No," Nicholas smiled. "I only know of one, in fact. Di Zhao, of the Zhao family...are you familiar with your Turugan history, Mei? One of the main founders of Turuga, and still a very prominent family...but Pitor went a step too far, he offered his services for me, and I accepted. Why he wanted my help, I did not ask...I didn't care. When he told me everything, I felt like I was a fool to do nothing."
 
"Is it really though?" Kokoro asked as she started putting their lunch away, placing the lid back on the bento and opening up her backpack. "I don't mean to be nosy, but even I know the situation. She only comes around you when she has to...she never checks to see if you're okay. I just find that very...disrespectful. I see..the way you are when she's around and even if she's a little dull when it comes to others even she can see that you're hurting. I don't understand her. Never will. She passed up a great guy like you, to be with someone who is the reason why DC is like this in the first place." She finished packing up her lunch and then looked up at him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ramble or stick my nose in your business or anything..."

*********
She was familiar with the Zhao family, and the history that the Kishi and they had together. It made...a little bit of sense. But even still, she had to wonder how someone as smart as Nicholas would fall so low as to be the pawn of one of them. "I don't understand. You did what he wanted right? So why are they still attacking us?"
 
"I don't know," Adam said, honestly. Perhaps almost pained to actually say it outloud, he really didn't know. That was the part that hurt the most. He had no idea why it had happened, or when it came around. "But I can't worry about it now, anyway. There are more important things going on than my feelings. But...thank you, it's nice to know that someone can at least tell me that." he smiled, rising up.
--

"I couldn't say," Nicholas said honestly. "However, if their goal was the removal of the DC, I essentially failed...in a manner of speaking." he murmured. "You are still here, after all."
 
She picked up the blanket and then started to fold it carefully. Putting it away, she heaved the backpack on her shoulder and then looked at him. "Maybe not now. But maybe after we're done today, you can come over to my house and I can make you dinner. You seemed to like my curry...and I always cook way too much for myself." Kokoro looked up at him, her eyes soft and gentle as she regarded him.

***********
"Where is this Di Zhao? Do you know?" If he did, he probably would have said something. She needed some more information...she needed something she could start investigating. Otherwise this was a waste...then again, there was twelve of them and Nicholas was a good fighter from what she remembered. She nearly died taking him down.
 
"...Sure," Adam murmured. "I'd like that, Kokoro, thank you." He knew immediately where his mind was going, but honestly? He didn't care.
--

"No," Nicholas murmured. "He came to me, knowing that I had a less than favorable opinion of the DC, but then he decided to tell me about his family, what Pitor did." he grimaced. "It was...despicable, Mei."
 
Kokoro nodded, giving him a smile before starting to head back to the classroom. "I'll get the rest of that paperwork Mei sorted out. Would you like to come with me?" He was willing to come over her house alone, so that was a good sign. Kokoro might play on it a little just to see how he'd react, and what better place than her own cousins room?

***********
"It's in the past and Pitor Kishi is dead...but if they're still trying to get rid of the Disciplinary Committee than they must really hold a grudge. What exactly did he do..?" Mei had a bad feeling about this.
 
"Sure," Adam sighed. "There's a few things I've been meaning to drop off anyway..." He had been somewhat behind on reports, understandable given the state of things.
--

"Yes, but if things were so easy to get over, you still wouldn't look at me like you want to kill me, now would you?" Nicholas shrugged. "They lost their parents, as far as I know...nothing particularly malicious, but they had the Di family's assets into Turuga handed over to the Kishi, by force. They had no choice but to return to China, after losing more money than they ever said. All because of paranoia."
 
Kokoro dropped off her backpack in the classroom and then headed over to Mei's room. She was rather quiet the entire way, looking to be deep in thought. Once they got there though, she closed the door behind them and then looked at Adam like he was her pray. A smile curled on her lips. "Hey Adam?" The moment he would turn to her, she would wrap her arms around his neck and bring him down to her level so she could kiss him. Yes, forward but...Adam seemed like the type who wouldn't mind forward.

*********
"That's...horrible yes. But it gave them nor you a right to murder and..." Mei sighed and shook her head. "What does this have to do with me and DC now? If Pitor is no longer running it than why do they want it gone?"
 
"Y-" Well, Adam let out a faint grunt of surprise when she kissed him...but he returned it after a moment, pressing her against the door with a hungry growl. Like that, a switch he didn't know he had, had been flipped. He was...miserable, he felt like garbage. He wanted to think it wasn't his fault, that maybe Mei just...didn't like him as much as he thought, or something. It was...nice that he didn't have to initiate anything, not that he had ever thought much about...well, any girl until now.
--

"You are promoting that DC maintain what it is, as it has always been," Nicholas murmured. "The DC is Kishi's legacy, whatever the personal opinion is of it, it means that Turuga is forever stained with their influence, and Di Zhao would prefer it gone."
 
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