The Book of Firsts

Fifty-Five

Monday brought forum excitement, as Rin, Kyou and Bran made one of their infrequent appearances at the main refectory to hold a lively discussion primarily revolving around World Cup soccer, though the topic was insignificant compared to the revelation that Bran’s voice lacked the fifty pack a day rasp that was as much a part of him as a brooding gaze directed at his feet. In an impressive display of control, the Three Kings kept up an even conversation while people at neighbouring tables openly filmed them, and finally one brave soul—inevitably Sean—walked up, leaned on their table and said to Bran: "Oh, great god, let me save you a day of whispers and ask outright. Your voice! How?"

"Took time off for surgery," Bran said, with an impatient frown. "Isn’t that obvious?"

"But—but, what changed? You’ve not been able to have an operation until now?"

Bran shrugged. "A friend encouraged me to risk it," he said, picked up his tray, and headed toward the servery hatch. The camera caught Rin and Kyou’s glance at each other before they followed suit.

Part one of the Tomas provocation. Part two was an afternoon encounter with Meggan, closing with Bran walking off with her.

"The forums sure have been lively," I told Rin on Tuesday.

He handed me a green tea, then sipped his own. "Tomas has been practically living on them. And—" He put his cup down. "We finally have something definite."

"Really?"

"He logged into an account he’d not touched the entire time we’ve been watching him, one he doesn’t have bookmarked, and which he cleared from his history after visiting. The keyboard logger captured his password, so we not only have what he ordered this time, but his purchase history."

"What’s in it?"

"Chemicals. A previous order for ergotamine tartrate, which is a step toward making LSD."

"Is the President of the Literature Club chemist enough to make a Breaking Bad sequel?"

"He’s a strong science student. He’s theoretically going into medical research."

"What did he order this time?"

"Just a suspension fluid."

"Are you going to go to the police now?"

"We’re hoping we can convict him without implicating ourselves. But we’re also being extremely careful with our safety, and we want you to be as well. Check everything you handle, don’t leave your drinks about, that kind of thing."

"Does he pay any attention to me on the forums?"

"He added a couple of pics or it didn’t happen type comments to the discussion about your actor."

"Hm." I pulled out my phone and texted Christophe. "We’re heading toward the part of the year where I absolutely can’t risk getting sick or hurt. Speaking of which, is today’s challenge one of Kyou’s picks?"

"Has he been keen to pin you down?"

I smiled. "He had a special request, which you’re going to end up being the first to benefit from, I guess."

"Turnabout is fair play. I’ll make sure to gloat." Rin looked thoroughly pleased, but then sobered. "We’ve set some serious ground rules for this challenge, though, because the last thing we want is to actually be rough. Stop will always mean stop. Absolutely no slapping, hair-pulling, anything resembling actual violence."

"I wouldn’t want to hurt you, after all," I said, approving of the thought they’d put into this. "I figured it would be fun to add a little sub-challenge."

"Oh?"

"Let me get changed first."

I took my bag into the summer house, and emerged a couple of minutes later, barefoot, wearing only a pale-yellow shirtwaist dress I’d found in a second-hand store.

"Kyou wanted me to wear something he could tear off me," I said. "How about you pick a song that’s three minutes long, and if I’m naked by the time it’s done, you win."

"What do I win?" Rin asked, without changing expression. But he’d gone very still.

"Boasting rights?"

"I want more than that."

"More underpants?" I suggested. "You could have a series framed on your wall."

"Amusing as that would be, I think bonus sex sounds more entertaining. An extra lunch hour of my choosing."

"And if I win, I get my tartan set back."

"Deal. Let me do some preparation first."

Rin browsed through his phone for a song, then stood up and stripped, leaving himself only a pair of boxer briefs. I looped my hair up into a makeshift bun so that we didn’t end up accidentally breaking the no hairpulling rule.

"Three minutes, two seconds," Rin said, touching the phone screen.

Finger-clicking. I ran before Freddie Mercury launched into Killer Queen: around behind the summer house and then immediately through the windows that I’d opened in preparation. Then I waved at Rin, knowing that his size gave him a distinct disadvantage in terms of leaping through windows. If he tried to follow me, I could run out the door, around the summer house, and repeat over and over again. Rin, however, wasn’t stupid, and simply reached to pull the windows shut.

In danger of being trapped, I dashed out, aiming to get to the picnic table before Rin could get around the summer house. This worked in the same way as the summer house: as soon as he ran around one direction, I went the other, but I underestimated the reach of his arms, and almost went over backward when he snagged the collar of my dress. With a desperate leap, I broke free in a spray of buttons, and got myself around the opposite side of the picnic table again.

Rin climbed on top of it.

I backed away, but it was too late. His leap brought him beside me in a moment, and he simply hooked an arm around my waist and brought me down.

Now it became a different sort of fight, with Rin trying to pin me and pull off my dress while I wriggled and pushed. Cloth tore, and my shirtwaist transformed into a skirt, but I got myself out of arm’s reach and rolled, then staggered to my feet. My new skirt wanted to fall right off, and I had to clutch it while dodging his lunges, hopping backward.

He was being strategic now, herding me into a corner, and my only choice was to try to dive under his arms after an attempted snatch. That did not go well, and we tumbled to the grass. He pinned one hand, and it became a battle of strength, with each of us with only one hand free to fight over my shredding dress. Rin, of course, had the advantage, but I was a wily and wriggly fish, and it was only as electric guitars were fading that cloth tore completely and he raised the remains of my dress triumphantly.

By that time, we were both far too worked up to care about competitions, and so my only response was to drag Rin’s straining briefs down, and align myself a little better. He wasn’t so far gone to not take a little care at the very beginning, but then he made me thoroughly know him.

"So, which of us won?" I asked, sometime later.

"I think both of us did."

"I suppose it was a little close to call," I said, tracing a fragile lock of hair that had strayed from his topknot. "Incredibly fun, though. Great song choice."

"Perfect," he murmured, and gathered me close for long kisses, and a second round that involved far less fighting and a lot more cuddling.

"The problem with playing chase in a garden is you end up itchy all over," I said, later again, turning on the hose and testing the water temperature.

"I don’t object to giving you a bath," Rin murmured, moving into the sun before taking the hose from me.

Squirting liquid soap generously, I lathered us both up, faintly regretful that time constraints meant we couldn’t go for a third attempt. We became a little distracted, but controlled ourselves, and went inside to dry off and dress.

"I wonder if my creativity reaches to the point of convincing the faculty that this garden needs a bed?" Rin said, buttoning his shirt.

"I happen to love hammocks," I said, hopefully.

He thought about it, but shook his head. "Highly tempting, but too risky. The one thing we absolutely need to do is keep attention away from this garden. And second to that is for you to stay as, well, I don’t think you’ve truly been low-profile, but until this whole mess with Tomas is cleared up, there should be no hint of connection between us."

"Even without Tomas," I said, thinking of how the forums would rage with even a hint of the truth. Checking my phone, I smiled, and then showed Rin a picture recently uploaded to Christophe’s Instagram. "Recognisable, do you think?"

He studied the photograph of two girls facing away from the camera, trying to sort out a massive tangle of feather boas, clearly with an immense amount of hilarity. The only text was "Miss you so much M."

"The other girl is Millie," I added. "One of the best people in the world."

"Excellent sleight-of-hand," Rin said, with a nod of approval. "That will shut the forums up nicely, and might even convince Tomas."

"Which still leaves you three in his sights. Don’t ever be careless."

"Cheshire, you’re missing the bigger picture." Rin’s eyes were champagne behind ice. "We’ve set a trap. And Tomas, he is going to walk into it."