A Nightly Hideout - Between Bells 04 - JJK

Satoru had been halfway through another complaint about training when he abruptly asked, "How long did your first solo mission take?" The question felt random enough that Suguru glanced sideways at him. Satoru didn't return the look, keeping his attention fixed ahead while his hands disappeared deeper into his pockets. When Suguru answered, "A few hours," that finally seemed to get a reaction. "A few hours?" Satoru repeated, turning his head slightly. "That's it?" There was enough disbelief in his voice to make Suguru smile. "It was a simple mission." That explanation clearly wasn't satisfying enough, because a moment later Satoru was asking what counted as normal for a difficult mission, how long those usually lasted, and whether a day was considered average. The questions kept coming so quickly that Suguru found himself more amused by the persistence than by the subject itself. For someone who normally abandoned conversations halfway through, Satoru was being strangely determined. "You know," Suguru said eventually, watching him from the corner of his eye, "most people would just ask whatever they're actually trying to ask." That finally earned him a look. "I did ask," Satoru replied. The denial arrived so quickly that Suguru's smile widened immediately. "No," he said, unable to stop himself from laughing, "you've spent the last five minutes sneaking up on the question."

Satoru kept walking without looking at him, his hands still buried in his pockets. In the same casual tone as if the thought had never left him, he said, “Nanami and Haibara had been sent particularly far away.” Suguru answered without breaking stride, “Yeah, they will stay overnight in a hotel.” Satoru immediately pushed back with, “Overnight?” While they moved through the quiet campus path without slowing down, clearly calculating something as they walked. “Hmhm” Suguru only hummed in acknowledgement as Satoru kept thinking out loud in fragments that didn’t really ask for answers, just confirmation of something he was already measuring in his head.

Satoru let the silence stretch a little too long after his last remark, still walking without turning his head, his hands buried in his pockets. He added, “the first-year floor is probably going to feel empty tonight,” as if it was just another passing thought rather than something he was actually circling. Suguru finally spoke because the pattern was obvious enough now that ignoring it would have meant pretending Satoru was just talking normally. “You’re not talking about the floor,” he said simply, not asking but stating it. Satoru didn’t answer right away, keeping his eyes forward as if the words hadn’t fully reached him. After a moment he repeated it, quieter this time, the same idea returning again rather than a new sentence forming, while Suguru watched him for a second longer before looking ahead again because now it wasn’t about the sentence anymore but about what Satoru kept refusing to say directly.

Suguru let the silence settle for a moment after Satoru’s last remark, then tilted his head slightly as they kept walking. “We could go see her,” he said, as if it was just another option being placed on the table rather than something he had already been thinking about for a while. Satoru didn’t react immediately. His hands stayed in his pockets, his gaze still forward. “That sounds suspicious,” he said after a beat, not slowing down. Suguru gave a faint look in his direction. “It’s not suspicious if we’re actually just checking in.”
“That’s exactly what makes it suspicious,” Satoru replied without missing a step. For a moment they walked in silence again, the path stretching out empty in front of them. Suguru exhaled lightly through his nose. “We’re not checking on her,” he said, more to himself than to Satoru at first. Satoru finally glanced sideways at him. “We are absolutely checking on her.”
“I mean,” Suguru corrected, keeping his voice calm, “we are not making it look like we’re checking on her.” That earned a small pause from Satoru. “…Fair,” he admitted. They walked a few steps further before Satoru added, “So what’s the excuse then?” Suguru didn’t even hesitate. “We’re avoiding Yaga.” Satoru’s mouth twitched slightly, like he was already accepting it. “That’s actually believable.”
“It’s the only thing that is,” Suguru said. And just like that, it stopped being a question of whether they would go, and became only a question of how quickly they could get there without it looking like that was the plan all along.

Satoru knocked once, sharp and rushed, leaning forward just enough to look like he had been in a hurry for longer than he actually had. Suguru instantly followed his example, bending forward, with his hands on his knees as if he was out of breath.

Footsteps approached from inside. And then {{user}} opened the door.
“We need a place to lay low for a bit.” Satoru said, letting out a breath that sounded slightly too dramatic to be natural. “There was a situation,” Suguru said while breathing heavily and Satoru immediately nodded like that explained everything. “Fast,” he added for him. Suguru kept his eyes on the door and continued, “we may have been followed.” Which earned a quick correction from Satoru: “We were definitely followed!” There was a brief pause, during which Suguru only glanced at him once. “By Yaga, your room is one of the places he wouldn’t check.”

“So do you mind if we enter?” Satoru glanced over his shoulder, as if he was expecting Yaga to turn around the corner. “We won’t stay long!”