Chapter Text
For some reason, the toilets at this school were shared between both boys and girls, which either meant the administration had suffered a severe budget cut at some point or they were trying to be progressive in a way that nobody had actually asked for, although Niko had never cared enough to investigate which explanation was correct because, at the end of the day, a toilet was still a toilet regardless of who was allowed to use it.
The room itself was fairly large, large enough that people could gather inside without immediately getting caught, which was probably why there were so many posters hanging on the walls reminding students not to do exactly that.
"Going into stalls with more than one person is not tung-tung-tung-sacool!"
Whatever that meant.
Niko had seen the poster hundreds of times and still had absolutely no idea what it was supposed to mean.
Maybe the person who made it thought it sounded funny.
Maybe it was some reference. (it is)
Either way, he ignored it and headed toward his usual stall, already reaching for his phone as he walked.
Whenever he got tired of observing people, which happened surprisingly often considering observing people was one of his favorite hobbies, he usually spent his breaks scrolling through his phone instead, because while phones technically weren't allowed during school hours, the teachers rarely checked the bathrooms and there were only so many times a person could watch the same social hierarchy repeat itself before it became boring.
The stall beside his was already occupied.
That wasn't unusual.
At least it wasn't unusual until he heard voices.
Niko immediately froze.
The bell hadn't even rung yet.
Most students were still outside.
Which meant whoever was in there had entered before everyone else.
Then he heard a second voice.
There were multiple people inside.
Niko stared at the closed stall door.
That was interesting.
"I can't believe I actually followed you in here."
The first voice was calm, flat and unmistakably annoyed.
"Well lashes, you should've won the bet~"
The second voice sounded entirely too pleased with itself.
Niko immediately recognized both of them.
That wasn't particularly difficult.
Sae Itoshi and Shidou Ryusei happened to be two of the most recognizable people in the entire school, although for completely different reasons.
Sae was the kind of student teachers used as an example whenever they wanted to make everyone else feel inadequate, while Shidou was the kind of student teachers prayed wouldn't show up to class that day.
One sat on the student council.
The other had nearly been suspended so many times that people had stopped keeping track.
The fact that they knew each other wasn't surprising.
The fact that they were hiding together inside a bathroom stall before class was significantly more surprising.
Niko immediately went silent.
Should he announce himself?
That seemed polite.
Then again, if they realized someone had been listening to them the entire time they might stop talking.
That would be unfortunate.
Not because Niko was intentionally eavesdropping, obviously.
He just happened to already be here.
And now something interesting was happening.
"Whatever. What is it that you wanted to show me? And why did it have to be here?"
Sae sounded mildly irritated, though Niko suspected that was simply his default emotional state.
"So impatient, lashes. Alright, alright, I'll show you."
The excitement in Shidou's voice was almost embarrassing.
Niko couldn't see what was happening.
Unfortunately.
He could only hear it.
A bag rustled.
Something was taken out.
Then:
"Tada!"
Silence followed.
Long enough that Niko found himself leaning slightly toward the wall.
What was it?
A weapon?
A gift?
Some weird thing Shidou found in a dumpster and decided was important?
"You made this?"
Sae sounded genuinely surprised.
That immediately narrowed down the possibilities.
Oh, it's probably artwork.
The school competition submissions were due tomorrow.
That made sense.
"Sure did! Wanted you to see it first before I send it in."
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Not the artwork itself.
The fact that Shidou cared enough to seek Sae's opinion first.
"Sooo? Think it's good enough?"
"Hm."
"Yeah, what do you think, Sae-chan? It's you after all."
Another pause.
Then:
"Hmm. I think it's a bit gay."
The laughter that exploded from Shidou was so loud Niko was genuinely concerned someone outside the bathroom would hear it.
A thud followed shortly afterward.
"HA! That's rich coming from you, lashes!"
"You think you're funny but I know people who are way funnier."
"And who might that be?"
"Your parents because they made the biggest joke of them all."
“HA! You make that joke to much yet I still laugh.”
“Who says I’m joking?”
Niko sat perfectly still while listening to the conversation continue, because the more they spoke, the stranger the entire situation became.
He had always assumed that if Sae voluntarily spent time with somebody, that person would be another honor student, or perhaps someone from student council, because Sae seemed like the type of person who carefully selected who he associated with, whereas Shidou appeared to select friends using a completely different method that mostly involved causing problems until someone tolerated him.
Yet somehow they fit together surprisingly well.
Not despite being opposites.
Because they were opposites.
Sae's voice remained quiet and controlled no matter what he said.
Shidou treated indoor volume levels as a personal suggestion.
Sae insulted people as though he were reading weather reports.
Shidou reacted to everything with the enthusiasm of an overexcited dog.
By all logic they should have been exhausting for each other.
Instead they sounded comfortable.
Natural.
Like this wasn't unusual at all.
Which was perhaps the strangest thing Niko had learned all week.
That made the entire situation even stranger when Niko thought about Rin.
Shidou picked fights with Rin constantly.
Not occasionally.
Not once in a while.
Constantly.
Every time Rin entered the classroom with a fresh bruise somewhere on his face or neck, most people didn't even bother asking what happened anymore because the answer was usually obvious. Either Rin had said something about Shidou, which wasn't particularly difficult to imagine considering Rin seemed physically incapable of keeping certain thoughts to himself, or he had said something about Sae, which somehow managed to produce even worse results.
The weird part was that Sae never seemed particularly bothered by it.
Most older brothers would probably be annoyed if their friend kept trying to fight their younger sibling every other week, yet Sae and Shidou were apparently close enough to hide together in bathroom stalls before class, which suggested there was a lot happening behind the scenes that most students never got to see.
Then again, most students didn't spend this much time paying attention to people.
People talked about Shidou constantly, but not in the same way they talked about Niko.
When people talked about Niko, it usually felt like they were discussing some unpleasant background object that happened to exist nearby, whereas Shidou was the kind of person people couldn't ignore even if they desperately wanted to.
Some students hated him.
Some students admired him.
Some students thought he was hilarious.
Others thought he was insane.
Yet almost everyone had an opinion on him.
If Shidou disappeared tomorrow, people would notice.
The hallways would feel quieter.
The teachers would probably celebrate.
Half the gossip circulating through the school would instantly vanish.
If Niko disappeared tomorrow, most people probably wouldn't even realize until attendance was taken.
The comparison should have bothered him more than it did.
Maybe he had simply gotten used to it.
Not that Niko knew everything about either of them, of course.
They were third years.
He was a first year.
There were limits to how much information someone could realistically gather.
"You know, lashes, if you insult me that only turns me on more~"
Niko nearly dropped his phone.
His face immediately became hot.
There was absolutely no reason for him to be hearing this.
None.
Yet now that he had heard it, there was unfortunately nothing he could do about it.
A loud thud echoed from the stall.
Judging from the sound, Sae had probably shoved Shidou against the wall.
Shidou responded by giggling like a child who had just discovered fire.
What is wrong with him?
Actually, that question was impossible to answer because there were probably several things wrong with him.
The conversation stopped after that, although the silence wasn't particularly reassuring.
Footsteps shifted.
The bag hit the floor.
Something bumped into a wall.
Niko's imagination immediately started creating possibilities he desperately wished it wouldn't create.
"Don't. We're in school, demon."
Sae's voice sounded quieter now.
"Hmph. I wasn't even gonna do anything."
That sounded like a lie.
A very obvious lie.
A lie so obvious that Niko was honestly impressed Shidou had even attempted it.
"We can hang out after school if you want, I'll tell my dad I need to teach a friend something they don't understand or—"
RRRIIINGGGGG.
The bell cut Sae off so suddenly that Niko nearly sighed in relief.
Thank God.
Surely they would leave now.
"I just wish we could hang out at your house and stuff."
Niko blinked.
That tone was strange.
Not strange because it came from Shidou, but strange because it sounded completely different from the voice he usually used around other people.
Most students only knew one version of Ryusei Shidou. The loud version. The violent version. The version that laughed during fights and got excited whenever someone threatened him.
This voice sounded almost disappointed.
"Demon, you know that if my dad sees you anywhere near our house he'll shoot you before Rin gets the chance."
Sae sounded completely serious.
Which honestly made it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not.
"Ugh! Why does your family hate me so much, Sae-chan? I never even did anything!"
Niko had to physically stop himself from making a noise.
Never did anything?
That was possibly the biggest lie Shidou had told during this entire conversation, and he had apparently lied about neither of his parents being comedians.
"My dad would hate you because of your grades and your face and your style. My brother has his own reasons."
Were they ever going to leave?
Seriously.
How long could two people stay inside a bathroom stall before it became concerning?
"Well your brother's a bitch. A-and your dad's a bitch too!"
The stall door finally opened.
Finally.
Niko immediately looked down at his phone despite the fact that neither of them could actually see him through the wall.
"We can hang out after school if you want, I'll tell my dad I need to teach a friend something they don't understand or—"
RRRIIINGGGGG.
The bell cut Sae off so suddenly that Niko nearly sighed in relief.
Thank God.
Surely they would leave now.
"I just wish we could hang out at your house and stuff."
Niko blinked.
That tone was strange.
Not strange because it came from Shidou, but strange because it sounded completely different from the voice he usually used around other people.
Most students only knew one version of Ryusei Shidou. The loud version. The violent version. The version that laughed during fights and got excited whenever someone threatened him.
This voice sounded almost disappointed.
"Demon, you know that if my dad sees you anywhere near our house he'll shoot you before Rin gets the chance."
Sae sounded completely serious.
Which honestly made it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not.
"Ugh! Why does your family hate me so much, Sae-chan? I never even did anything!"
Niko had to physically stop himself from making a noise.
Never did anything?
That was possibly the biggest lie Shidou had told during this entire conversation, and he had apparently lied about neither of his parents being comedians.
"My dad would hate you because of your grades and your face. My brother has his own reasons."
Were they ever going to leave?
Seriously.
How long could two people stay inside a bathroom stall before it became concerning?
"Well your brother's a bitch. A-and your dad's a bitch too!"
The stall door finally opened, and Niko immediately looked down at his phone despite the fact that neither of them could actually see him through the wall. It still felt safer that way.
"Well what about your house then?" Sae asked.
Shidou fell silent for a moment.
Most people probably wouldn't have noticed it, but Niko did. Shidou almost never hesitated. He was the type of person who talked first and thought later, yet that question had made him stop and consider his answer.
Interesting.
"One day, lashes. If you went right now you'd get a heart attack."
There was that strange voice again. It wasn't loud or playful or anything like the version of Shidou that everyone else knew. For a brief moment, Niko found himself wondering what Shidou's house was actually like before reminding himself that he would probably never find out.
"If you say so. Park after school?"
"Alright, bet!"
A moment later the bathroom door opened and then closed again, leaving the room silent.
Niko stayed inside his stall for a few extra seconds just to make sure they were really gone before finally releasing a breath.
So he had been right.
Not that it mattered, but Sae Itoshi and Shidou Ryusei definitely had something going on. Maybe they were dating, maybe they weren't, maybe it was something in between, but they clearly weren't just friends.
Who would've guessed?
Well, Niko would've guessed. In fact, he had guessed quite a while ago.
Still, hearing them together like that felt different from simply having a theory.
The conversation lingered in his mind as he left the bathroom and headed outside, although another thought gradually pushed its way to the front of his attention.
Charles.
He wondered what the transfer student was doing.
The thought arrived so naturally that Niko barely questioned it. If anything, it made sense. Charles was new, and new people were interesting. Interesting people were worth observing.
That was all.
As he stepped onto the playground, he immediately spotted the blond boy.
Or perhaps spotted wasn't the right word. Charles was impossible to miss.
A huge crowd had already gathered around him.
Of course.
Niko had expected that much. The real question was which group Charles would eventually settle into once the novelty wore off.
If he had to guess, it would probably be Ikirita's group. They always seemed to collect interesting people whenever possible. Then again, if Charles decided Ikirita was annoying—which honestly seemed fairly likely—he could just as easily drift toward the quieter boys instead. The ones who weren't popular enough to lead conversations and weren't unpopular enough to get targeted. The background characters who survived school by blending into it.
He doubted Charles would end up with the weird kids.
Not because they wouldn't accept him. They accepted almost everyone.
The problem was that most of them desperately wanted to fit in despite pretending otherwise, while Charles didn't seem interested in fitting in at all. That was probably why people liked him so much already.
Most students spent years carefully adjusting themselves to match everyone else. Charles had walked into school that morning and acted exactly the way he wanted from the start.
People admired confidence, even when they pretended not to.
Niko found a spot far enough away that nobody would acknowledge his existence and sat down with the fruit his mother had packed for him. From there he could see everything, which was perfect.
Charles was answering questions.
Well, some questions.
Not all of them.
That was what caught Niko's attention first.
Whenever somebody asked where he came from, how old he was, or whether France was better than Japan, Charles would sometimes answer immediately. Other times he would simply stare at them—not rudely or awkwardly, just blankly, as if he had listened to the question, considered it, and ultimately decided it wasn't worth responding to.
How odd.
Most people felt pressured to answer. Charles seemed completely comfortable refusing, almost as if he didn't care what people thought about him.
Or maybe he knew they would keep liking him regardless.
Niko wasn't sure which explanation was worse.
Then he heard somebody whisper that Charles might not even be French since he refused to tell people why he moved.
The rumor survived for approximately three seconds.
"Say something in French, Charles!"
The request came from the same girl who had spent most of the morning talking about how tall he was.
Charles grinned and immediately responded.
"Mec, cet endroit est vraiment nul. Je n'arrive pas à croire que je sois coincé avec ces idiots ennuyeux."
The accent sounded so aggressively French that the rumor died on impact.
Niko had no idea what he said, though.
French sounded strangely elegant. It flowed differently from Japanese, and even when Charles spoke casually it almost sounded rehearsed.
The crowd stared.
A few people gasped. Several looked impressed despite clearly not understanding a single word.
"Wow! What did you say?"
Charles didn't even hesitate.
"Hm? Oh. I said I already really like it here."
The crowd practically melted.
Niko narrowed his eyes.
People were treating him less like a classmate and more like some rare animal they had discovered. Something exotic. Something special. Something if it did a trick people would say: awhhh!
Was it because he was French? Because he was blond? Because he was attractive?
Or was it simply because he was new?
Niko couldn't decide.
The weirdest part was that Charles didn't seem to be trying. Everyone else worked so hard to be liked, yet Charles barely appeared to be participating in the conversation and people were already obsessed with him.
Niko found himself watching him more closely, telling himself it was only because he wanted to understand.
That was all.
Eventually, after what felt like dozens of pointless questions, one girl—clearly pushed forward by her friends—finally asked something that made Niko look up from his fruit.
"So, Charles..."
She hesitated.
"Are you single?"
NIko had no idea why he was strangely interested in hearing his answer.
For reasons like if he left his girlfriend behind in France ofcourse! He wanted to look real close at Charles’s face to see if he made any sign of having one.
Charles looked surprised up, as if he never had been asked that. For a moment you could see the hesitation, but he picked himself up and responded.
“Wouldn’t you like to know weather boy?” With a small chuckle. “But yeah obviously😋.”
The girl nodded quickly, her cheeks red either from embarrassment or from something else. Clearly she didn’t get the reference, but Niko did. So there he was, letting out a small laugh even though no one even spoke to him.
Charles was extremely interesting, Niko decided.