Metanoia [Ushijima x reader]

Chapter 22 : Two Steps Behind

A/N: Advanced Merry Christmas guys!

To celebrate, I gift to you this very, very long chapter and another one I'll be posting in a couple day's time.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed typing it. And Happy Holidays!

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Several people filled the train station, from overworked businessmen to rambunctious youths who're enjoying their short freedom from school rules. A classic sight to behold whenever Sunday rolled in. One-not-so-classic sight, however, are a group of teenagers dressed in what could be described as 'suspicious' clothing.

The energetic banter and youthful exchanges in conversation the group shared being the only deterrent for the positioned authorities not to pull them away for questioning. Having felt the policemen's attention on them, they quickly made their exit once one of their friends arrived.

Situating themselves at a convenience store across the street, they continued their conversation. If a passing stranger were to observe the group, they'd think them as suspicious characters until their eyes would land on the cameras every other person seemed to possess. With what could only be described as coincidence, a newly-opened art museum was located only a couple of blocks away, making students, professional photographers, hobbyists, and art enthusiasts becoming commonplace. As such, a generous amount of people who arrived in this area usually had a camera or any sort of similar equipment on hand making the teenagers look weird but amazingly not stand out that much.

Only, they weren't there for the arts museum.

"Greetings fellow stalkers!"

"Excelsior!"

Tendou enthusiastically welcomes the latecomer, Nao. Clad in dark wash jeans and a navy-blue sweatshirt with the words 'Not a suspicious person' printed in white at the front and the words 'Just doing research' emblazoned at the back, Nao ambles over to the group.

Partially lowering the black mask on his face, Kawanishi asks in an amused tone: "how exactly does that shirt not rouse any suspicion, Nao-san?"

Nao scoffs indignantly with his hands on his waist, "It's called being witty and it's definitely WAY better than genius over there" he said while jutting his chin towards Semi.

"It's called channelling my inner eye of the tiger, thank you very much!" Semi confidently defends himself while pulling on the hem of his shirt. Semi wore regular gray sweatpants partnered with an eye-catching striped orange shirt that was meant to mimic a tiger's fur.

"Call it whatever you want but the fact remains that we're here in secret, not trying to outshine the sun" Shirabu comments with a straight face. Shirabu's facial features clearly expressed that he was done with his upperclassman and if anything, plans to treat him as a stranger once the last person arrived.

"Although unusual, he can still blend in with the crowd..." "Blend in a pumpkin patch is more like it" Shirabu interjects before Reon could continue—eliciting a string of chuckles from the others. Tendou, especially, laughed to his heart's content after holding back for so long.

"F*** you guys seriously" Semi huffs and quickly pulled out his phone from his pants pocket. "To change the topic—me, Reon and Yamagata only have our phones to use since we're not familiar with a camera. What'd you guys brings?"

The others who weren't mentioned presented their own piece of technology. Like the first three, Gin only had his phone to use since his little sister had apparently dropped their mother's camera. Shirabu and Tendou, however, carried DSLR cameras.