CHAPTER 6 - Sizzling September (1)

[IN A TIGHT SITUATION]

The Class 3-E's next lesson for their training was freerunning. For Karasuma, the class should learn this advanced skill to widen their options in their assassination. With this, he made them apply the basics that he had taught through a practice drill, which was to go from the top of the cliff to the end of the forest for one minute.

Since doing parkour involved body coordination and kinetic vision, Chiba knew himself that this was not his forte. The same could not be said though on his sniping partner.

When she had swung her legs branch-to-branch, her movements were graceful and her landing quiet but swift. With her agility and precision, she made it look like it was easy. But it was not.

Two feet above the ground, he extended his arms to the air right after springing his knees from a branch. When his feet had touched the next one, the shaking made him lose his balance. A hand grabbed his arm before he could plummet to the ground.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Hayami, who told him, "Careful", with an encouraging nod. Then she went and hopped off ahead.

For a moment, he watched her shrinking figure and was once again mesmerized by her mobility. He gritted his teeth as he pressed down his heels for another leap.

He needed to catch up – to her.

***

After their first game of cops and robbers, they played a game of tag the day after the next. This time, they needed to land three paintball hits on the two targets placed on Karasuma's front and back. In turn, if Karasuma shot them they would be out of the game.

The class divided themselves into groups with each role to play. Obviously, Chiba and Hayami were in the same group and were assigned to camp in one spot to wait for the target to pass by.

But, as of this moment, Chiba did not know what to make of this tight situation he was in.

Hayami's body hovered above him as he lay on the ground with his elbows propped up. She was looking over her shoulder at the opening of the cave where Karasuma's legs could be seen prowling around the stream.

A few minutes ago, they were meant to ambush Karasuma with the final two hits to be delivered by the two snipers. But he saw through their plan and so Chiba managed only to hit once on the back target.

Karasuma was about to fire at him in the hiding spot when Maehara barged in, together with Isogai and Kataoka.

While the three were engaging in close combat with their teacher, Kataoka gave the two snipers a signal to escape. She thought that they'd rather not lose their best marksmen, who have higher chances of making the last shots, so early in the game.

The sniper duo expressed their gratitude with a nod before slipping away. Then they proceeded to the lower terrain where Karma's group was. When they had reached the stream, Hayami sensed their target's presence, so she pushed Chiba to a small cave, cramping the two of them inside.

"Hayami, what –"

Her hand clamped over his mouth as she raised her index finger to her lips. With narrowed eyes, she pored over the opening of the cave.

A familiar pair of legs that belonged to Karasuma came into view. The pressure of her hand deepened, which made him realize the intimate position they were in right now.

He tried his hardest to steady his breathing despite the rapid hammering inside his chest. He could already feel his back becoming damp from his sweat. Like him, droplets of sweat formed on Hayami's forehead, her scent a mixture of dirt and... her shampoo? Bath wash?

'No. I shouldn't be thinking about these things,' he thought, and yet, he continued to gawk at her pretty solemn expression, then, down to her collarbone. His gaze lowered further to her chest which was more or less pressing on him.

This was bad. He was becoming like a certain semi-bald pervert.

He shook his thoughts off as he silently prayed for their target to leave the area. Right now, it didn't matter whether they win this game or not. It would be worse if their teacher were to find them in this compromising state.

Atop the tree, Karma fired his gun at Karasuma, who dodged with a cocky grin. Since his cover was blown, the red head launched from his spot and began exchanging blows with their teacher.

Karasuma was impressed at Karma's exceptional combat prowess; the student had definitely been picking up moves from him. It was a shame though that he could foresee another attack coming with the way Karma was taunting him as a distraction.

Hayami perceived this as a chance to land a shot on Karasuma while he was preoccupied. This would at least catch him off-guard and give the others a chance to strike.

Upon glancing at Chiba, a hint of shock flashed in her eyes. She removed her hand and, then, struggled to pull out her pistol before aiming it to one of the target's calves. When she was about to pull the trigger, her quivering left arm suddenly collapsed from exhaustion and due to the low dirt ceiling pushing her back down.

Her chin smashed onto Chiba's body right on the part between his neck and shoulder. A sharp breath escaped his mouth as his arms buckled at the sudden weight. With the tiny space between them gone, he was completely lying flat with Hayami on top.

After dashing out of a bush, Terasaka charged towards Karasuma with a roar. He wrapped his arms around the target's torso and tried to shift their masses down. Karasuma hardened his foothold while he wrestled Terasaka off him.

Meanwhile...

"Are you okay?" Chiba asked as he stared down at her orange-brown hair.

She muffled a "Yes" as her head shifted, which made the heat rise on his face. He could feel her thigh in between his legs along with her hips, her chest, and her heavy breathing on his body. In order to avoid touching her, he angled his hands away.

"Chiba," she mumbled. "Can I stay like this for a moment?"

He replied with a hum, thinking that she was hurt or too tired to move, when in fact she wanted to hide her red-beet face. As she could hear the rapid beating of his heart, she knew that he could probably feel hers too.

Outside the cave, Terasaka was still holding on to Karasuma while Karma kept on missing his shots on the targets. Like a shadow in the night, Nagisa walked out from a thicket of trees. That's when he pointed his gun on the back target just as Terasaka let go.

Shivers ran down Karasuma's spine. Before he could react, he felt a splatter on his back. He whirled around to see Nagisa's innocent smile.

The short blue-haired boy told him, "We won, Karasuma-sensei."

The students instantly emerged from their hiding spots, including the entangled snipers in the small cave, when Ritsu had announced their victory.

Faces flushed and chests heaving up and down, both Chiba and Hayami had crawled out of the hole awkwardly. Thankfully, their classmates were absorbed in their winning streak and did not notice them except for a certain redhead sadist.

Although everyone else started to disperse back to the top, the stoic snipers remained standing there while avoiding each other's eyes. With a lopsided grin, Karma walked up to them.

He tilted his head closer and asked, "How was it hiding inside the cave?"

He saw everything – from when they had arrived until they had rushed into the small cave when Karasuma came. "I can imagine the position that you were in with the cramped space and short amount of time to hide," he said further.

The two flinched at his words, which made his eyes narrow.

Bingo.

"No need to be shy." He slung an arm over Chiba's shoulder. "Sometimes, these things happen to us teenagers," he said. Then he leaned towards the male sniper and whispered, "Admit it. You liked it."

Chiba jerked away as he began to burst out "Of course –" when his gaze glossed over her. He gave Karma a sharp turn of his head before stomping on ahead, his ears flushed pink. The red head's smirk widened at the sight.

Afterward, Hayami climbed back up and pondered on what Karma had said to incite such a reaction from Chiba, which was a once-in-a-blue-moon thing. From the corner of her eye, a flash of yellow and a pair of teasing aqua blue eyes popped out from behind.

"Hey, hey, Rinka," Nakamura chirped as they made their way inside the building with a knowing smile across her face. "Karma told me the tight spot you were in with Chiba-kun earlier. Can you tell me what happened exactly?"

'Why can't they leave us alone?' Hayami thought.

"Nothing happened," the words ran off her mouth as she increased her pace.

Nakamura caught up to her. "Was there physical contact? Did your heart race?" she bombarded when a hand flew to her mouth. "Perhaps, you kissed?"

Hayami halted, inciting a grin on Nakamura's features.

Gotcha.

Despite Hayami's attempt of putting on an unfazed look, her lips trembled. "We only hid there. Period," she said before sliding the door open and stepping inside their classroom.

Ignoring everything else, she took her seat. Her sights fell on her right palm where she could still feel the sensation of his mouth.

It's as if he kissed me there.

After sucking in a deep breath, she maintained a blank serious expression. Unbeknownst to her, her partner has been piercing holes on her with his gaze ever since she arrived in the room.