MAY 17TH (TUESDAY 5/17)(AFTERNOON)

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Red Kitty🐱💃💋: All right, I contacted Kitagawa-kun about modeling for him.

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: Still waiting for his response.

Troublemaker Blondie💀: Thanks!

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: I really have no idea what I'm supposed to do as an art model though...

🤓The Ultimate Bro🤓: Just be yourself.

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: That's actually kind of hard...

You: You'll be fine, you're a natural beauty<

You: You'll be fine, you're a natural b<

You: You'll be fine, you're a n<

You: You'll be fine, yo<

You: You'll be fine. You're a model, after all.

Troublemaker Blondie💀: Look, you don't gotta go all out for this.

Troublemaker Blondie💀: You're only doing it so you can get dirt on Madarame, remember?

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: That is true.

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: It sounded like Kitagawa-kun wants this to be a private picture of his though...

Red Kitty🐱💃💋: Well, I guess I'll let you guys know when he contacts me again.

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- LATER -

We were all gathered near the fending machines in the courtyard, listening to Ann as she had told us Kitagawa-kun finally contacted her.

"I got a response from Kitagawa-kun. He said he wants me to come over after school today."

"Perfect. He prolly changed his plans immediately just so he could get you over there.", Ryuji grinned.

"Now we might get a glimpse of what's going on inside the shack and see if what we saw in the Palace is true or not.", I muttered as I played with my gloves. Morgana suddenly got up and hissed.

"Hey, quiet down. It's that student council president.", We all turned to see it was true. The council president was speaking with Mishima.

"Yikes... She got hold of Mishima today? It'd suck if she noticed us. C'mon, let's split up.", Ryuji suggested. We all split up for the time being, but we would be regrouping later.

-- LATER THAT DAY --

Akira, Ryuji, Morgana and I were waiting for Ann to come by so we could go to Madarame's place again.

"We finally landed a big target. C'mon, let's get some dirt on Madarame. But man... Ann's late.", At Ryuji's comment, Ann came up to us in a hurry.

"Sorry. I was thinking about some things and didn't notice how much time has passed."

"Thinkin' about what...?", Ryuji asked Ann. She looked down as she kicked a metaphorical rock.

"Don't you think Kitagawa-kun has to be protecting Madarame? I mean they live together, so he'd have to be aware of Madarame's true nature. The only reason I can think for him doing that is that Madarame has something on him..."

"That is a very high possibility. Maybe Kitagawa-kun is scared of Madarame as well? Who knows what that old geezer is capable of. The man has money. He may have a shack for a home, but for crying out loud he had a whole museum AND a limo. I won't be surprised if the old fart had a penthouse in Paris. Those things don't sound cheap and humble to me.", I suggested.

"Yeah, that's weird and pretty suspicious. But that's why we're goin' to check it out, right? You ready to be a model?", Ryuji turned to Ann.

"Yeah, I'm prepared."

"Whaddya mean prepared? Prepared for what? Something seem different about her to you?", Ryuji asked Akira, who just muttered an "idk".

"Nothing is different. She's literally the same... What a waste of time.", I huffed.

"At least you can tell, Rika.", Ann shook her head as we both walked away from the boys, them following behind.

-- LATER THAT DAY, AT MADARAME'S SHACK --

Kitagawa-kun had brought us inside the shack, guiding us all into a small art room/storage area. Empty canvases were lined on the walls, paint buckets and tubes were thrown around with a bunch of brushes, and to tie it all together in a weird messy aesthetic, a window lined the wall covered in a ragged curtain with sunlight slipping in as if the curtain wasn't even there. Kitagawa-kun offered us a bunch of small stools to sit on, one of them situated in the middle of the room for on to model. Kitagawa-kun looked at Ann then us with a frown.

"I thought it would just be you coming, Takamaki-san."

"Wouldn't you get nervous too, if it was just the two of us?", Ann asked, a little bashful.

"We're here to keep an eye on you, so don't try anything perverted, 'kay?", Ryuji explained. Kitagawa-kun actually looked offended by the assumption.

"Stop making such odd assumptions. I have absolutely no interest in her as someone of the opposite sex.", Ann looked baffled at what Kitagawa-kun said.

All I can say to that is ouch.

He undermines Carmen's beauty quite a bit.

You mean Ann... Yeah, she's pretty.

Oh~?

Oi, you said it first.

"Is there a problem?", Kitagawa-kun asked Ann, who looked dejected.

"...No, not really.", with that rather salty comment, Ann plopped on the stool with her fist on her cheek and her legs crossed over one another. Kitagawa-kun sat down to begin.

"Well then, let's get started.", Kitagawa-kun said as he began to work. I couldn't see what he was doing from my side of the room, but it was all good. Ann looked at the rest of us for a second and began to speak with Kitagawa-kun.

"...Hey.", she was met with silence. "Kitagawa-kun?", more silence from the navy haired boy."You hear her?", Ryuji called out, but no answer. Kitagawa-kun was too into his work to even answer.

Well this is going just swimmingly...

I'd say be patient, but this boy seems a bit too tight lipped for you to wait.

"... It's no use.", Ann whispered. Morgana, who was stuffed into Akira's bag, chimed in with a hushed tone.

"This isn't what we planned! We were gonna catch him off guard and make him spill his beans, weren't we?"

"Well to be fair, we didn't plan on this happening...", I grumbled.

"Guess we just gotta wait 'til he's done... What an effin' pain in the ass...", Ryuji groaned.

"Perhaps I should try going outside this room.", Morgana suggested.

"Hold on, come here for a second.", I whispered. Morgana quickly slipped under the equipment and stools to me. I pulled out a small camera and wrapped it around Morgana's neck. I connected the camera to the bluetooth on my phone so I could watch. "Whatever you do, don't get caught. I want to see what you fine, alright?"

"Heh, who do you think you're talking to? I'm an expert at stealth!", Morgana grinned, scurrying away, leaving us with Kitagawa-kun. I silently watched the feed on my phone, seeing if anything interesting comes up. As the silence grew, I followed along with Morgana as he made his way to a strange door at the end of a hallway. It had a grand peacock design on the front, faded gold trimming on the sides, secured with a hefty golden lock.

"It's weird how flashy that door is... And... is that a lock? A door with a hefty lock... What could be in there?", Morgana's voice came through the phone. I screenshotted the door just to make sure I don't forget it.

Although, I doubt I'll forget something as gaudy as that.

Just as Morgana was making his back, Kitagawa-kun sighed, looking really tired.

"Are you done?", Ryuji asked, ready to finally get off the uncomfortable stools.

"It's no good...", Kitagawa-kun sighed. I shot up from my stool, a little pissed.

"What do you mean, no good?"

"I'm sorry... Am I the problem?", Ann apologized.

"No, not at all. It's just... I'm having trouble staying focused today. I'm sorry, but we'll have to resume this another time...", Kitagawa-kun muttered.

"Oh hell no! How many hours do you think you made us wait!?", Ryuji growled. The rest of us got up and stood right in front of Kitagawa-kun, confusing him. Ann cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry... We had another reason for seeing you today... We needed to talk to you."

"It's about those rumors regarding your sensei.", Ryuji revealed. Kitagawa-kun's face immediately went sour fast.

"This again..."

"That painting I saw at the exhibit... You're the one who actually painted it, right?", Ann asked.

"That's...", Kitagawa-kun went quiet.

Bingo.

"I knew it.", Ann muttered.

"Your sensei's seriously messed up. He just thinks of his pupils as tools. That's why he doesn't give a damn whether he steals their work or physically beats them. I'll make this clear, there's no point in hidin' stuff from us.", Ryuji stated firmly.

"Hahaha... I have no idea what you're talking about...", Kitagawa-kun mumbled.

"You couldn't go against him, could you? I'm sure we can help you out though...", Ann offered.

"Stop it...", Kitagawa-kun sighed. "It's just as you all say. We're... our sensei's "artwork." Don't misunderstand me though. I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism. Sensei is simply suffering from artist's block right now."

"Dude, still...!", Ryuji sputtered.

"Kitagawa-kun...", Ann sighed.

"Then why're you stickin' around!? All his other pupils ran away! Aren't you the only one left!?", Ryuji asked. Kitagawa-kun snapped.

"What's wrong with a pupil helping out his master!? There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-centered righteousness on me!"

"And you're OK with this?", Akira spoke up, looking Kitagawa-kun dead in the eye.

"...! I'm supporting Sensei as his pupil. Where's the wrong in that? Don't ever come here again... If you do, I'll sue you for causing a disturbance.", Kitagawa-kun said as he sat back down on his chair, done with us.

"Hold it! We're not done talkin' here!", Ryuji yelled. Kitagawa-kun got up again with a new look on his face; he was done.

"Then you leave me with no choice...", he pulls out his phone. Ryuji calls out to him in rage, but Kitagawa-kun looked at him with nothing but calm rage.

"I'm reporting you to the police. I asked Takamaki-san to be my model today, but I don't recall ever calling you three here!"

"Oh, that is low...", I scowled.

"Rika, please stop!", Ann called to me, then turned to Kitagawa-kun again.

"Calm down, OK?"

"Ugh...", I rolled my eyes at the navy haired boy, him giving me nothing but a... curious gaze?

What's up with him sizing me up?

No clue...

"I won't report you... but only under one condition.", Kitagawa-kun stated.

"What's that?", Ann asked.

"I want you to continue being my model, Takamaki-san. And I want Koga-san to model as well.", Kitagawa-kun revealed. That threw me for a bit of a loop but it wasn't anything too serious yet.

"But you said that it wasn't working out today...", Ann mumbled.

"That's because I was unconsciously being modest for your sake... However, I have nothing to worry about anymore. If you two are willing to bare everything to me... I will put my heart and soul into creating the best nude painting ever!", Kitagawa-kun revealed, looking as fired up as a marathoner during the Olympics. I choked on air at what he said.

DID HE JUST--

That he did...

... I WANT TO RIP HIM A NEW ASSHOLE NOW.

Young one, calm y--

THERE IS NO CALM.

"Nude!?", Ann sputtered, taking a step back in shock.

"Ah, to think I'd be able to create a nude painting with two of my most ideal models...!", Kitagawa-kun chuckled, then turned to the guys with a scowl. "Of course, you two won't be allowed in, and I ask that you forget about our discussion today, as well. If I don't submit a new piece to Sensei soon, there will be some... Inconveniences."

"Nude, meaning it'll be without any clothes, right!? Why are things suddenly escalating like that!?", Ann asked, looking red in the face. I was pretty sure I was a straight up tomato at the mere thought of being naked in front of anyone.

"Because those are my terms.", Kitagawa-kun said nonchalantly.

"But that's--", Ann gasped, too embarrassed to say anything. I interjected quickly.

"Oi, your precious sensei won't like this...", I growled.

"Sensei is out during the afternoon while the art exhibit is on, so I can use this place freely... I should buy more art supplies...", Kitagawa-kun chuckled.

OKAY, NOW I WILL RIP HIM A NEW ASSHOLE.