The Adventure of Taiga and Tatsuya part 8

A drop of cold water dripped onto Kagami's forehead.

"Eh?" Kagami looked up.

The sky that were clear earlier, but had been darkened without Kagami's knowledge. Dark grey clouds covered the landscape.

Is it going to rain? As Kagami was thinking this, huge drops of rain fell down.

"Uwaaa, whats with this?!"

The sudden heavy downpour made it impossible for Kagami to open his eyes, so he could only shout.

"Taiga, this way!"

"Huh?"

Kagami had to put his hands on his forehead to block out the rain so that his eyes could finally open. He saw Himuro standing, and ran towards him. Their bodies were finally sheltered by the building; it seemed that they had found its entrance.

As soon as Kagami entered the building, Himuro closed the door, hiding themselves from the rain. The sudden downpour had soaked Kagami to the bone.

"Uwaa, I'm all wet."

Kagami took out a towel from his haversack and looked around at his surroundings as he wiped himself. Kagami and Himuro seemed to have entered the school through the emergency exit. There were no other marked entrances in sight; only two corridors that stretched from left to right. Even though it was still day time, the building was in darkness.

There were creepy looking unlocked lockers lining the corridor. Kagami could not help but gulped.

Himuro, standing beside Kagami, patted Alex's head and said, "Alex, stay here and wait for us."

Alex obediently sat on the floor.

"Good boy," Himuro laughed and said, before turning to Kagami, "Well then, shall we get moving?"

"Eh? Is it alright to just leave this fella here? Wait, can he even understand what you're saying?!" Kagami pointed to Alex as he asked Himuro.

So far, Alex did not stop chasing after Kagami no matter what he said, yet unexpectedly,in surprised it obeyed Himuro's words at a critical juncture.

Himuro nodded nonchantly.

"Un. Alex will obey as long as you talk to him nicely."

Kagami looked at Alex through the corners of his eyes. Indeed, Alex had always been more obedient to Himuro. No, or rather, he thought Alex obeyed Himuro more because Kagami wasn't really concerned about Alex.

"And anyway if we were to bring Alex along it would be troublesome for you, right?"

Facing Himuro's concern, Kagami nodded his head. He was already in an eerie abandoned school, and it would be bad if he had to make contact with something which he feared. It would be even more troublesome to meet anything that is scarie.

Kagami shook his head at the thought of it. Thinking about this point, Kagami shook his head.

"Huh? Don't tell me I'm actually afraid? Wait… What's this feared things or object? Does it refer to the school premises or...?"

"How could I be afraid!" Kagami blurted out with a sudden feeling of anger.

His sudden out burst surprised Himuro. "Uwaa- whats up with you?"

Kagami stared straight into Himuro's eyes.

"Tatsuya, I'm not afraid at all!"

"Huh? Taiga, you're not afraid of Alex anymore?"

"No! That's another matter! No, I'm not talking about this… Anyway, I'm not afraid!" Kagami simply refused to admit that he was scared, and wanted to tell Himuro that he wasn't afraid at all. "That's right! I'm not afraid!" Kagami said suddenly, to calm himself down.

Himura was surprised by Kagami's reaction.

"… Though I don't understand what you're talking about, lets go."

"Un!" Kagami answered heartily. Not unexpected, Himuro only shook his head.

As they were looking for their target, however, Kagami's actions began to confuse Himuro.

".... Taiga?"

"...….Yeah?"

Holding a flashlight, Himuro suddenly shot Kagami a question.

"The color on your face, it's a little pale, isn't it?"

"… That's your imagination."

"You're sweating bullets too, you know?"

"... I told you, its your imagination!"

"… Are you afraid?"

"Who says I'm afraid – "

Seeing the Kagami who had been deliberating over the issue before giving an answer, Himuro laughed

"Taiga, don't try to act tough."

"I'm not acting tough!"

"… Is that so. That's good, then." With that, Himuro stopped talking.

The rain and wind blew through the broken windows, wetting the school's floors. Through the wet corridor's floor came the echoes of footsteps of the two boys. The silent and still atmosphere only made Kagami's face paler. Kagami could not understand why his body started to become gradually colder when they entered the building.

As he looked at the lockers, he felt that at any moment, something could fly out. When he thought of this, his mind could no longer flush the idea out. Even though his body was cold, it was sweating cold sweat.

What's wrong with me? Kagami was puzzled with his strange experience. He turned to Himuro, intending to say something. Even though he did not know what to talk about, he needed something to turn his attention away from. However, he was unable to make a sound. Thus, Kagami could only look away.

Kagami looked at Himuro, he saw that Himuro's expression was stiff as if he was nervous. It was Kagami's first time seeing this side of Himuro, and he began to wonder if he saw 'something' that he was not supposed to see.

-No, No no, that's not right. This must've been due to the darkness of the place. Himuro is still Himuro. In order to dispel such thoughts, Kagami clenched his fists.

"Ah, this should lead to the gymnasium."

Himuro's voice pulled Kagami's thoughts back to what was in front of them. Himuro shone his torchlight onto the wall to see the sign plastered on it. It was indeed the gymnasium.

"We'll be able to get the basketballs in a little while." Himuro grinned at Kagami.

This was Himuro's usual expression, one that Kagami was familiar with. Thus, Kagami was finally able to feel relieved.