Chapter Text
Black eyeliner, cigarettes, alcohol.
A staple for young Ieiri Shoko.
By junior year, most people at school already knew her reputation. The rule breaker. The girl teachers sighed about and students whispered about. She didn’t really have a nice reputation. But people tolerated her, mostly because she was quiet.
During lunch break, she would often sneak up behind the school gym, lighting a cigarette or two, and when school’s over, she’d go to the rooftop and admire the city’s view, cigarette between her fingers. Until one afternoon.She realized, that she wasn’t the only person there.
The gate after the stairs were opened, she carefully climbed upstairs. A silhouette, tall, dark long hair, it couldn’t possibly any people other than him.
Geto Suguru. Student council president, straight A’s student, teacher’s favorite. And he was standing there, smoking a cigarette. Shoko watched the smoke as it got carried away on the wind, and for a moment neither of them spoke, the wind brushing quietly across the rooftop.
Finally she tilted her head slightly and said, “You’re ruining your reputation.” Suguru glanced at her, a faint amusement. “My reputation?” She pointed lazily toward the cigarette with her fingers, “Student council presidents aren’t supposed to smoke.” He took another drag like the comment meant nothing. “Neither are students.”
“Never said I cared.” She replied dryly.
The wind blew the smoke past the rooftop fence as he exhaled slowly. Suguru looked out at the city view from the rooftop for a moment before speaking again. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Shoko raised one of her eyebrows. “Pretty sure I was here first.” Suguru laughs softly, “I guess that’s true,” he admitted, though he didn’t make any move to leave. That somehow irritated her more than if he had. She flicked the ash from her cigarette over the edge of the building and glanced back at him. “So what now? You gonna report me?” Suguru let out a quiet laugh under his breath. “If I reported every student breaking the rules, I’d never go home.”
Shoko studied him for a moment then. Student council president. Straight A’s. Teacher’s favorite. Standing on the rooftop with a cigarette between his fingers. He was stupid enough to do all this things despite having a great reputation.
“…Hypocrite,” she said flatly. Suguru smiled faintly. “Only a little.”
“I think I haven’t introduced myself properly. Geto Suguru.”
He held his hand out and gave all calm expression, between smiling and flat.
She accepted his hand. “Ieri Shoko. Surprised you’d wanted to shake hands with the teachers’s least favorite student.”
She exhaled softly, flicking some ash off.
Suguru didn’t pull his hand back.
“If that were true,” he said, “I doubt they’d let you stay.”
Shoko glanced at his hand for a moment before finally reaching out and shaking it, her grip loose.
“Maybe they just haven’t found a reason good enough to kick me out yet.” Suguru hummed quietly, as if considering that. “Or maybe,” he said, “you’re not as bad as people say.”
Shoko let out a small laugh under her breath and leaned back against the rooftop’s railing.
“You’ve been here five minutes, president. And you’ve started defending my reputation already. Don’t even start.” She scoffed lightly.
The wind brushed past them again, carrying the faint smell of smoke into the air.
Shoko crushed the end of her cigarette against the railing before flicking it over the edge.
“You should probably go,” she said lazily. “Student council presidents have reputations to maintain.” She said it with a slight edge.
Suguru glanced at her for a moment before putting out his cigarette as well.
“Maybe,” he said.
He stepped toward the rooftop door, pausing just before he pushed it open. “You come up here often?” Shoko shrugged. “Occasionally. When I’m bored.”
Suguru hummed quietly, as if committing the information to memory. “I see.” Then he opened the door and disappeared down the stairwell.
Shoko lit another cigarette, watching the door for a moment longer than she meant to. Somehow, she had a feeling that wouldn’t be the last time she saw him there.
…
By lunch, half the grade was talking about the same thing.
Some third-year from the neighboring school was throwing a party that night, parents are out of town, loud music, cheap alcohol, it spread like a wildfire through groupchats and even word by word.
Shoko heard about it three separate times before the end of the day.
She didn’t cared much about parties. Parties were loud, crowded, and usually full of people she didn’t particularly like.
But they had alcohol. That was already enough reason for her to go.
So when evening came, she showed up anyway, stepping into a house already packed with people and music blaring through the whole building.
Someone shoved a drink into her hand before she’d even made it past the doorway. Red plastic cups, a staple. She took a sip. It burns, burns good though. Cheap vodka. Shoko took a slow sip and leaned against the wall, scanning the room out of habit.
Then she paused. A familiar figure.
Across the living room, near the kitchen doorway, someone looked strangely out of place. Tall. Long dark hair tied loosely behind his head. It couldn’t possibly be him.
Student council president. Teacher’s favorite. Holding a red plastic cup. Shoko stared at him for a second before letting out a quiet, disbelieving scoff.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She raised an eyebrow, glancing briefly around the crowded living room before looking back at him. “This doesn’t really seem like the kind of place you’d hang out.” She yelled while the loud music blasts on their ears.
Suguru took a small drag from his cigarette and exhaled, the smoke disappearing into the noisy air of the room. “You’re here.” He said, slightly yelling through the music.
“That’s different.” She replied, still slightly yelling from the loud music. It was not getting anywhere close to normal.
“How?”
Shoko shrugged lazily. “I don’t have a reputation to protect.” Suguru tilted his head slightly, amused. “Neither do I, apparently.”
She scoffed quietly. “Student council president, straight A’s, teachers love you. Your reputation’s doing just fine.”
Suguru lifted his cup a little, like a casual toast. “Then I suppose one party won’t ruin it.”
A platinum blonde haired tall guy appeared, he looked familiar, but she can’t quite put a name on it.
“Show off,” the guy laughed. Then he finally noticed Shoko standing there.
“Hey, who’s this, Suguru?” he asked, pointing at her.
Suguru wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and chuckled softly. “Back off, Satoru. She’s with me.”
Satoru blinked, then leaned closer to look at Shoko properly.
“Huh,” he said after a moment. “You’ve got weird taste, Suguru.” He shrugged immediately after, already losing interest. “But like I care.”
Just as quickly as he appeared, Satoru disappeared back into the crowd. Shoko stared after him for a second before scoffing under her breath.
“…What the fuck was that?”
Suguru sighed quietly, taking another sip from his cup. “That,” he said calmly, “was Satoru.”
He smirks softly and downed the rest of his drink.
…
The music inside the house was getting louder by the minute, the bass vibrating faintly through the walls. Suguru tilted his head toward the hallway. “Come on.”
Shoko followed him out the back door without asking where they were going. She just need to get out of this place.
The cold night air was a relief after the crowded living room. The backyard was mostly empty, faint voices was still heard, as the porch light cast a glimpse of glow on the backyard.
Suguru leaned against the railing of the small wooden deck and pulled out another cigarette. Shoko watched him for a moment before taking one from her own pack.
“Your friend’s weird,” she said, lighting it. Suguru exhaled a thin stream of smoke into the air. “You’ll get used to him.” Suguru took another slow drag.
“I doubt that.” Shoko raised her eyebrows and scoffed a little bit awkwardly. He chuckled quietly in response. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The muffled music from inside echoed through the door, now barely heard.
Shoko leaned her elbows against the railing, looking out at the dark street beyond the yard.
“You go to a lot of these?” she asked. She relaxed her body onto the railing.
“Sometimes,” Suguru said. She glanced sideways at him. “Someone like you at house parties. Smoking. Drinking.”
Suguru lifted his cigarette slightly. Exhaling a stream of smoke between his lips. “Disappointed?” Suguru glanced towards her, waiting for her response.
“Just surprised.” Shoko replied with her usual flat and dry demeanor. He glanced at the street for a moment before he decided to reply.
“Don’t judge a book from its cover.”
Shoko scoffed softly at that, though she didn’t argue back. For a while they just stood there, the cold air carrying away the smoke before it could linger. Faint laughing and yelling inside the building can be heard. Seems like everyone was having fun.
Shoko glanced back at the door. “Your friend’s going to start another drinking contest if we stay too long.” Suguru smiled faintly. “He probably already has.”
She took another drag from her cigarette and studied him from the corner of her eye. Under the dim porch light, he looked exactly like back at school, calm and cool demeanor, always that serious unfazed look..
“You don’t seem like the type to hang around people like that,” she said.
“People like Satoru?” He tilted his head slightly to hear her better. “People like this,” she clarified, gesturing toward the noisy party behind them. Suguru shrugged lightly. “He’s been my friend for a long time. You must be surprised.”
“I am pretty shocked.” She says sarcastically.
Suguru responds with a calm laugh. Shoko hummed quietly. “Must be exhausting.”
“Sometimes.” He shrugs off, holding his cigarette in place. She realizes that he actually says this kind of things casually. And then silence crept in.
A car passed slowly down the street beyond the fence, headlights briefly lighting the yard before disappearing around the corner.
Suguru broke the quiet first.
“So,” he said, glancing at her, “do you go to a lot of parties like this?”
Shoko scoffed softly. “Depends.”
“On what?” He tilted his head towards her, reaching for another cigarette from his crumpled pack. Shoko shrugs softly, “If I’m bored enough.” He chuckled under his breath. “And tonight?” She flicked the ash from her cigarette over the railing. “I guess I was bored.”
Suguru nodded thoughtfully, as if that made perfect sense. A while after that he asked, “What about the rooftop?” Shoko looked at him. It soundes like she had hesitated to reply.
“What about it?” She looked at him flatly, the usual cold stare and I could kill you one.
“You go there when you’re bored too?” He asked.
She hesitated to reply, “…Sometimes,” she said.
Suguru nodded again, like he was quietly filing that information away. Inside the house someone shouted Suguru’s name. Shoko glanced toward the door, then back at him.
“Your fans are calling you.” She gestured towards the voice. Suguru sighed softly. “Unfortunately.”
She smirked faintly. “You should go before they send the white-haired idiot to drag you back.”
He laughed quietly at that. “That’s probably a good idea.”
But neither of them moved for a few seconds longer.
…
The music inside the house suddenly grew louder, followed by a burst of cheering that shook the walls. Someone was probably standing on a table or starting another drinking game. Shoko glanced back at the door, slightly irritated. She really did came just for the cheap drinks, she walked around the backyard while taking another drag from her cigarette before exhaling slowly into the cold night air.
“Your friend’s definitely doing something stupid in there,” she said. Suguru listened for a moment, the corner of his mouth shaped into a smile. “That does sound like Satoru.”
Another round of shouting erupted from inside the house. Shoko crushed the end of her cigarette against the railing and flicked it into the grass below, her expression unimpressed.
“Honestly,” she muttered, “I’m already bored.”
Suguru turned his head slightly toward her. “Already?”
“It’s always the same thing,” she said with a shrug. “Loud music, cheap alcohol, people pretending they’re more interesting than they actually are.”
Suguru let out a quiet chuckle at that, though his eyes drifted back toward the glowing windows of the house. For a moment it looked like he was debating whether to go back inside, but the shouting started again and he sighed softly instead.
“Do you want to leave?” he asked.
Shoko looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “You’re ditching your own party?”
“It’s not my party.” Suguru shrugs off.
“You know what I mean.” He gave her a faint smile, as he lifts his cup when he ginally realized it was empty. “…Maybe I’m bored too.”
She studied him for a moment like she was trying to decide whether he was serious. Then she pushed herself off the railing and slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
“Alright, president,” she said. “Lead the way.”
Suguru tossed the empty cup into a nearby trash can and followed her through the side gate. The noise from the house faded the moment they stepped outside the building , replaced by the cool night air and the distant echoes of traffic somewhere farther down the road. Shoko walked beside him without saying anything for a moment before glancing over.
“So,” she asked casually, “where are we going?”
Suguru looked at her briefly before answering.
“Well,” he said calmly, “you do seem to like rooftops.”
Shoko slipped her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket as they walked down the quiet street. “That and some beer would sound nice,” she said with a small chuckle.
Suguru glanced at her, amused. “Hell yeah.”
“You’re paying,” she lookrd at him.“You’re paying.” She glanced at him again, and surprisingly he laughs and gave her a nod, “Of course, my treat. We should stop by at a gas station nearby.”
She nodded.
“Let’s roll.”
They strut to Suguru’s car. A silver BMW, a pretty nice car. Shoko nodded and smirked, “Nice car.” She glanced at him briefly as the cold night air hits their skin, “Yeah thanks.” He shrugs it off. They both stepped into the car, and then they drove away, each seconds getting farther away from the house party.
“You sure you can trick the cashier guy into thinking you’re 23?” Shoko glanced at him, “I mean with all due respect you look mature and all that shit…but you still look like a teenager.”
Suguru chuckled lightly, “It’s fine, I’m his usual.”
“Oh,” she relaxed, “alright then.”
The usual. It means that this, was a routine. He wasn’t that perfect straight A’s student, and student council president that he claims to be. He’s a total hypocrite.
And that, makes it even more interesting.