Hori's hand shot up, grabbing his wrist with the strength of a professional wrestler.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she screamed, her voice cracking.
Kashima jumped, his heart nearly coming out of his throat. "Checking your temperature! Let go, you're going to break my arm!"
"You idiot! You pervert!" Hori sat into a sitting position, twisting his hand behind him as she glared at him with narrowed eyes. "You can't just... do that! People will think you're a pervert!"
Kashima squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. "It was an act of kindness! Since when is checking for a fever a crime? You're being dramatic!"
"I'm being realistic!" Hori shouted, her face still red. "You should save those 'kind acts' for your girlfriend! If you do that to a random girl, she'll report you to the police!"
Kashima froze. The word 'Girlfriend' echoed in his mind like a hammer.
"Girlfriend..." he muttered in a daze.
Suddenly, a memory from yesterday—only twenty-four hours ago—ripped through his mind like a lightning bolt. The school infirmary. The smell of clean sheets. Shiyi sitting on the white bed in her oversized tracksuit. His hand pressing against her forehead. The way her breath hitched...
Kashima's face didn't just turn red; it turned a deep, bruised purple. He let go of Hori and put a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide with horror.
'Damn it!' he cursed internally. 'I am a pervert. I did do it. I did it to Ayasaki.'
Hori let go of his arm, her eyes going even wider. "Why are you blushing? Kashima! Why is your face the color of a beetroot?!"
"I'm not! It's just... the AC is too high!"
Kashima grumbled, his voice a wave higher than usual.
Hori stood up on the bed, crossing her arms tightly. She began walking across the mattress, her hair flying around her. "You're lying! It's written all over your face! Who was it? Who did you do it to?!"
She jumped off the bed and marched right up to him, held his hot cheeks with her hands. "I've never seen you blush this hard. Was it your crush? Is it someone I know? Tell me!"
Kashima moved her hands away, clearing his throat desperately. "Anyone would think 'you're' the pervert, touching my face like that! Do you do this to anyone besides Kento and Shido?"
Hori stared at him, her arms crossed in a defensive cross. "Of course not! I'm not a dummy like you! Now tell me! Who is she?"
"No way." Kashima snapped, his heart still racing from the memory of Shiyi's pale, pink face. "Never. I'm taking my secret to the grave."
"Kashima! Tell me! I won't tell a soul, I swear!"
"No!"
DING-DONG.
The doorbell sliced through the chaos. Both of them went stiff, their eyes locking in a moment of shared confusion.
"Who would be here at this hour?" Hori whispered, the fun vanishing instantly. "Doesn't Kento have his keys?"
Kashima's playful blush was replaced by a sharp, protective coldness. He stepped towards the door, his hand instinctively reaching for the handle. "Stay behind me."
Kashima and Hori stepped out of the bedroom, the sudden silence of the hallway increasing the frantic thudding of their hearts.
"Who do you think it is?" Hori whispered, her pink eyes darting toward every shadow. "What if it's a long-lost relative? What if they see us here together and call the police for trespassing?!"
Kashima stopped dead on the floor, looking back at her with a flat, unimpressed stare. "Hori... why are you so obsessed with the police today? It's probably just Mr. Kamitani or a neighbor."
"Sorry." she whispered, following him. But two steps later, she grabbed his sleeve. "Wait! What if it's a burglar? Someone who knows the Kamitanis are out and came to rob the place!"
Kashima stopped again, closing his eyes and pressing a palm to his forehead with a heavy sigh. "A burglar ringing the doorbell? That's very polite of them."
"I'm being practical!" Hori grumbled. "We need a weapon!"
"Fine." Kashima muttered, waving a hand towards the room. "Bring me something. Anything."
Hori ran back into Kento's room like a wind. Kashima waited in the hallway, his ears ringing as the doorbell suddenly began to scream.
DING-DONG!
DING-DONG!
DING-DONG!
The sound was continuous, followed by a heavy, rhythmic thudding—the sound of someone throwing their weight against the wood. A muffled, desperate voice came through the door, shouting something unintelligible through the thick wood.
"Hori! Hurry up!" Kashima shouted, his cool pace finally cracking.
Hori came out and gave a heavy object into his hands. Kashima looked down. It was Kento's aluminum baseball bat. He looked at the bat, then at Hori, then back at the bat.
"Seriously?" he muttered.
"It's the best I could find!" Hori defended herself, holding her own weapon high: a glass bottle of expensive French perfume. "If he gets close, I'll blind him with 'Midnight Jasmine'!"
RRRRIIIIIIIIING—!
The doorbell didn't just ring; it screamed as if someone was leaning their entire body weight against the button.
Kashima gripped the bat, his knuckles turning white as he moved down the stairs, his feet clicking softly on the wood. Hori crept behind him, the perfume bottle held like a grenade.
They reached the entrance. Kashima leaned forward, looking through the tiny peephole.
Outside, the world was a colour of uneven blue and grey. He saw a figure. Deep blue hair, messy and damp, pressed nearly against the lens. The person was panting, shoulders heaving in a rhythmic, desperate motion.
Kashima's heart sank into his stomach. 'Oh, we are so done for...' he thought.
"Open the door!" the voice outside shouted, clear and furious now. "This is my last warning, you bastards! Open up or I'm breaking the hinges off!"
Hori's eyes went wide. "That voice... wait, I know that voice!"
Before she could finish, Kashima turned the lock and pulled the door open with a sharp clack.
The speed was too much. Standing on the ground with one leg raised high, ready to deliver a classic Kirishima-style kick to the door, was none other than Shido Kirishima.
He was a mess. His deep blue hair was glued to his forehead with sweat, his T-shirt was wrinkled, and his chest was moving so hard his ribs looked like they might snap. He looked like he had just run through a hurricane.
For a second, the three of them stood in a frozen trio of pure absurdity. Shido with his foot in the air, Kashima with a baseball bat raised over his shoulder, and Hori aiming a bottle of perfume at Shido's face.
"Kashima...?" Shido asked, his leg dropping heavily back to the ground as he gasped for air.
"Shido?!" Hori cried out from behind Kashima, her arm finally lowering.
"Why..." Shido bent over, hands on his knees, his voice filled with exhaustion. "Why are you two... armed for a war?"
Shido stumbled, his legs shaking from exhaustion. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and looked up, only to find the tip of an aluminum bat inches from his face.
He blinked, his gaze traveling from the metal to Kashima's stony face.
"Is that... Kento's baseball bat?" Shido asked, tilting his head in confusion. He looked at Kashima's school uniform, then back at the bat. "What, were you planning on sneaking out for a night game or something? You're a bit overdressed for the game, don't you think?"
"It's not—we weren't—" Kashima stated, his cool tone crumbling as he tried to find a dignified way to explain why he was armed like a street thug.
But Shido's attention had already shifted. His blue eyes locked onto the small glass bottle gripped in Hori's trembling hand. In one swift motion, he snatched the 'Midnight Jasmine' from her.
"Hey! Where did you get this?" Shido's voice became loud as he inspected the bottle. "This was the birthday gift Tamiko gave me! I've been looking for this since three days!"
Hori's jaw dropped. She looked at the perfume, then at Shido's accusing face, and felt a wave of heat rush to her cheeks. "I—I'm so sorry, Shido! I just grabbed the first thing that looked heavy and glass-like in Kento's room!"
"In Kento's room?" Shido's eyes widened, and he let out a frustrated shout. He gripped the bottle tighter, looking like he wanted to go upstairs and fight an invisible Kento. "That moron! I knew it! He told me he hadn't seen it, but he actually sneaked into my room and swiped it off my shelf!"
Shido shook the bottle in the air for emphasis. "This was a gift from Tamiko! Kento probably wanted to use it to make his room smell less like old textbooks. I'm going to kill him!"
"Maybe he just wanted to borrow it?" Hori asked weakly, though she knew Kento was definitely guilty.
"Borrow? Without asking? That's called a crime, Hori!" Shido grumbled, finally keeping the perfume safely into his pocket. He looked from the bat to the perfume, then at his two best friends who looked like they were ready to defend a fortress. He let out a dry, exhausted laugh.
"What is with you two?" he asked, shaking his head. "Why are you so serious? Did you see a ghost in here? Or were you two actually planning on waging a war against the doorbell?"
Kashima let out a long, weary sigh and lowered the bat, leaning it against the wall. "Relax, Shido. Breathe. We didn't see a ghost."
"We thought there was a burglar!" Hori added quickly, her hands folded in an apologetic gesture. "The way you were slamming on the door and screaming... we thought the house was being robbed!"
Shido stopped mid-breath, looking around the quiet hallway. He pointed a thumb at his own chest, his eyebrows shooting up. "A burglar? You think 'I' look like a burglar?"
He stepped further into the house, placing a heavy hand on Kashima's shoulder. "Listen to me. Nobody in their right mind would dare to enter the house of the Kamitanis uninvited. Not unless they have a death wish or a very expensive lawyer."
He kicked his shoes off at the entrance, the heavy front door finally swinging shut with a solid, echoing thud that sealed the three of them inside.
-----