Fence--Striking Distance

by Sarah Rees Brennan

The weight lifters’ table was easy to spot since their combined muscles almost formed a landmass.

  Chad was the first to see them coming. “My man! Up top!”

  He lifted a meat hook. Alarm unfurled but didn’t get a chance to blossom on Seiji’s face. Nicholas swept in between them to deliver the high five in Seiji’s stead.

  “Yo, Chad!” he said, and sat down firmly between them. Seiji slid quietly onto the bench at Nicholas’s side.

  “Hello, Eugene,” Seiji said in a voice that was cool, distant, and relieved to be separated from Chad.

  Eugene jumped convulsively, and then landed with a heavy thump, like an electrified rhinoceros.

  “Oh my God, what?”

  “Just wanted to say good morning,” said Seiji.

  “Good morning, bro,” Eugene muttered into his plateful of eggs.

  “Morning, dude!” said Chad.

  “Morning,” Nicholas chorused, since everybody was doing it.

  “Let’s make casual conversation at the breakfast table,” continued Seiji, while Eugene squirmed as if Seiji had said Let’s make a bomb. “I heard a rumor.”

  Eugene dropped his fork.

  Nicholas loyally tried to participate in the conversation. “Where’d you hear the rumor?”

  Seiji frowned at him, which Nicholas found unfair. Nicholas was only trying to help. “From one of my other social acquaintances!”

  “Uh,” said Nicholas. “Okay.”

  Seiji nodded with decision. “Here’s the rumor. I heard a large amount of watches went missing from Weirs Fine Jewelers in Kingstone.”

  Eugene reached for his protein shake and missed.

  His voice squeaked as he asked: “How—how many watches would you say went missing?”

  “I’m glad you asked! A very large amount of watches,” Seiji replied promptly. “Practically all the watches in the store. Isn’t that interesting?”

  “Is it?” asked Eugene, but Chad and Julian were already nodding.

  “Totally wild, bro,” said Chad, grinning widely.

  “But there’s more!” announced Seiji, unlikely fount of gossip. “I heard two boys in particular were seen in Weirs just before the watches went missing.”

  “Oh my God,” said Nicholas. “Me and Eugene were totally in there a few days ago!”

  “Bro,” Eugene exclaimed. “There is no need to make this worse!”

  Seiji gave Nicholas a look of disappointment. “I do not see why you feel the need to make yourself a suspect.”

  “Well, Eugene and I obviously didn’t steal a huge pile of watches,” said Nicholas. “Who does that?”

  Eugene moaned. “Who does do that?”

  “Perhaps it is merely a rumor,” said Seiji, and Eugene sagged with relief. He seemed really wound up about these watches. “But perhaps it’s true,” Seiji continued. “I heard the two students in question were left alone in the store by clerks fetching them trinkets from the back room. They were pretending that one of them was buying their father a birthday present. I heard a rumor they might have stashed their ill-gotten goods in their very own room, right here at Kings Row, and some concerned citizen spotted them doing it.”

  Nicholas was shocked and thrilled by this tale of larceny. Why would anyone in Kings Row steal stuff? They were all super rich.

  On the other hand, he’d seen rich people do dumb things for kicks before. Back in the city, kids would total the shiny cars their parents bought for them, or total someone else’s car. Some rich kids seemed to have a hard time understanding that the whole world didn’t belong to them, and they wanted to break the world as if that would prove their ownership.

  “The concerned citizen should report these guys,” Nicholas muttered.

  “Maybe he will in time,” murmured Seiji. “Or someone else will. Rumor has it, people are keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of these miscreants’ hoard. Didn’t you hear this rumor?”

  He bent a coolly inquiring gaze on Eugene, who squirmed like a distressed salmon on a riverbank.

  “I did,” Eugene gasped. “I think I did.”

  “Oh, I get it,” murmured Nicholas, as everything became clear. That was why Eugene had been babbling about master criminals at the fair.

  He supposed Eugene was distressed because he was worried about the crime reflecting on the honor of their school or something. He reached over the table and gave Eugene a reassuring pat on the arm. There were bad apples in every bunch. It wasn’t as if the master criminal was actually on their fencing team.

  “You’ve been spreading the rumor all around school, in that way you do, right Eugene?” asked Seiji. “Or I expect you soon will.”

  “I guess… I guess I will,” Eugene said weakly.

  “I’m gonna tell everyone,” volunteered Chad with enthusiasm.

  “Good work, Chad,” said Seiji. “Teamwork will catch these desperate criminals.”

  Chad tried to reach around Nicholas to give Seiji a pat on the back. Nicholas jostled Chad, to little effect, and Seiji almost fell off the bench trying to avoid the back pat.

  “Wow, what criminals?” asked one of the Bons, stopping by Eugene’s seat.

  The Bon was carrying a fruit basket with a card that read Get Well Soon, Aiden! on it in glitter. Nicholas hadn’t known Aiden was under the weather. He hoped he felt better soon. Aiden wasn’t Nicholas’s favorite person or anything, but he was one of Nicholas’s teammates. That was more important than anything else.

  Seiji caught Eugene’s eye across the table.

  “Well!” Eugene pulled himself together with effort. “Uh, yes! Rumor has it there was an awful crime committed in Kingstone. At that jewelry store, you know the one?”

  The Bon was agog. “I bought Aiden a pin there once as a token of my admiration!”

  “Okay, bro, you do you!” said Eugene. “Anyway, a couple of Kings Row dudes were in there asking to see trays and trays of stuff, and once they were gone it was discovered practically all the watches in the store were gone, too.”

  “No!” breathed the Bon, sounding delighted to be scandalized.

  “And I heard from a very reliable source these guys have hidden their stash in their room. Keep your eyes peeled!”

  “Who are these guys?” asked the Bon.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t name names…,” Eugene said uneasily.

  “Maybe you should,” suggested Seiji. “After lunch.”

  Eugene had seemed to enjoy telling his tale of mystery and secret treasure, but when the Bon had scurried off to share their dark knowledge, Eugene sagged against Julian.

  Julian patted him on the back, which could have bruised his ribs, but Eugene seemed to take comfort from the gesture.

  Nicholas wondered what these dastardly watch thieves might look like. Those watches in Weirs had looked really fancy. This thief could potentially have stolen watches collectively worth hundreds of dollars. He stood up from his bench, scanning the crowded room. Nobody was eating in a way that struck Nicholas as especially criminal.

  “Sit down and eat your breakfast,” instructed Seiji.

  “It’s hard to eat when there could be a master criminal eating breakfast with us!”

  Eugene choked.

  “I guess they can’t be master criminals if they’ve practically already been discovered, can they?” Nicholas continued. “Master criminals are never discovered.”

  “That seems true,” Seiji murmured.

  Eugene leaned against Julian’s shoulder, as though he feared he might swoon.

  Nicholas ignored Eugene’s delicate sensibilities in order to focus on Seiji’s plate. Seiji’s breakfast remained disappointing. “Next time you should get some more bacon. I’ll eat it if you don’t want it.”

  “I don’t eat more than a single slice of bacon and you shouldn’t, either,” Seiji told him. “Excessive bacon will make your arteries clog and slow your progress on the piste. Your extraordinary speed is the only thing you have going for you.”

  Nicholas preened. “Oh,
my extraordinary speed, is it?”

  “Shut up,” said Seiji.

  “Quit gushing over me, ’m getting all bashful,” said Nicholas.

  He tried to steal Chad’s bacon, but Chad shook his head. “Bro, no. I like you, but I’m still growing.”

  Nicholas had to be content with his own bacon. At this rate, he might starve at the weight lifters’ table.

  All around them, floating up to the ears of the painted dude with whiskers and a (probably not stolen) watch chain on the wall, the whispers of Kings Row rose.

  By nightfall, the whole school was buzzing with reports of a hidden cache of stolen goods. Eugene seemed on the verge of nervous collapse. Seiji had the faintly smug look of the cat who got the canary and maybe a fencing trophy.

  Nicholas was starting to suspect that something weird might be going on.

  24: AIDEN

  The next morning, despite the fact he was still weak, Aiden permitted Harvard to drag him out of bed and even suggested that they should sit with the rest of the fencing team. This was partly to make Harvard smile, and partly because Aiden was eager to get the lowdown.

  “Good news, freshmen, we’re gracing you with our presence,” Aiden announced, dumping his tray on the table surrounded by fencers and two unfortunates who had apparently given up on life and decided to be Nicholas Cox’s friends.

  “Lucky,” murmured one of the Bens—or was it Bins? Bons? Ben seemed more likely—passing by the table and casting Aiden a look of yearning.

  Aiden gave the Ben a little wave so he would go off happy.

  A tall junior named Petrarch or Boccaccio or something like that sighed: “More fencers.”

  “I’m like fine art, Rossetti,” Aiden told the junior. “No need to comment on me. Just admire.”

  A muscle-bound individual lumbered by, stopping to say “My man!” and hit Seiji hard on the back. Seiji made the face of someone who’d just bitten down on his spoon. Aiden and Harvard tried not to smile. Harvard hid his grin better, because he was the kind one.

  “A surprise before breakfast,” observed Aiden. “You know people not on the fencing team, Seiji? And these people are willing to acknowledge you in public?”

  Seiji shrugged.

  Nicholas bristled in Seiji’s defense. “Seiji’s extremely popular,” he claimed.

  “I assume you’re making some sort of joke,” said Aiden. “Anyway! Who would like to talk to me about the crime spree in Kings Row?”

  Eugene made a sound suggesting the moans of the damned. There was a gray tone to his typically golden skin and circles under his usually twinkling eyes, as though he hadn’t slept. Aiden eyed him with sudden wild suspicion. Could Eugene Labao be the master criminal, the news of whose exploits were ringing through Kings Row?

  “I think Eugene would like to spread a rumor about these notorious crimes,” Seiji announced.

  Eugene began to explain the full story about Kings Row students dropping in on Weirs Fine Jewelers and smuggling a huge array of watches, and the report that some concerned citizen had seen the criminals hiding their stash in their own room, in a weary voice.

  Aiden had never seen Eugene more dispirited about spreading gossip. Aiden was also personally disappointed there were no gold bars.

  “It’s definitely watches. I have no idea where people came up with gold bars.” Eugene made a helpless gesture. “Rumors get so out of hand.”

  “So these people are hiding stolen goods in their room?” asked Aiden. “Uh, devilish cunning, I don’t think. The reputation of these people as master criminals may be somewhat exaggerated, that’s all I’m saying.”

  Harvard nodded. “I’d hide the stolen goods in someone else’s room.” Eugene started, and Harvard frowned. “If I were a master criminal, which I’m not. It’s hard to believe anyone at Kings Row would do anything this awful.”

  Eugene gave a strange bubbling laugh. “I know, right?”

  Aiden decided that Eugene couldn’t be the master criminal. The guy choked during fencing matches and appeared to be having a nervous breakdown right now for no reason. Master criminals needed nerves of steel.

  The entire dining hall was buzzing with whispered tales of criminal exploits. Only Seiji, sitting across the table and instructing Nicholas on nutrition, seemed wholly unconcerned.

  “If someone saw the cache of stolen goods,” Aiden said, leaning across the table, “then someone knows who these people are. Everybody’s room has been searched! Why has the stash not been discovered? Did they move the stolen goods?”

  “Not everyone’s room has been searched yet,” Seiji said in disapproving tones. “I don’t know why.”

  “Some of the guys with rich dads and lousy tempers must have made it clear they’d put up a stink about being searched,” Polidori commented.

  The little sparkly junior looked impressed by his friend’s intelligence. The tall junior didn’t talk a lot, but he wasn’t stupid. Aiden appreciated this.

  “That is very wrong, Dante,” Seiji announced flatly.

  “Wow,” said Aiden at the same time. “I have a rich dad and a lousy temper. Why didn’t I think of forbidding them to search my room?”

  There were two types of people in the world, Aiden guessed.

  “I wouldn’t let you do that,” Harvard told Aiden. “And you’re not as nasty as you like to think.”

  He reached for Aiden’s hand, which was swinging by the side of Aiden’s chair in a convenient location for Harvard to grab in case Harvard might want to. Harvard not only laced their fingers together, but also brought Aiden’s hand to his lips and kissed the back. Then he let their joined hands rest on the lapel of his uniform blazer, against the golden crown over crossed swords of his captain’s pin… and his heart. Harvard did it all absentmindedly, as though he didn’t have to think about his actions because it came so naturally.

  Aiden lifted a coffee cup to his lips purely in order to make a Can you believe this? face behind it.

  There went Harvard again, raising the ideal boyfriend bar to the sky. Could the man not be stopped?

  “Aw, are you having faith in me, sweetheart?” Aiden murmured. “That’s so nice. And so misplaced.”

  Harvard murmured, a lovely little sound, patently unconvinced. This is the last time, Aiden thought, and held on.

  The others ignored Aiden and Harvard’s romantic moment in order to focus on crime.

  Seiji’s eyebrows looked as though they had been drawn on with a fat black marker and a ruler. “Why should the rules not apply to some students? People shouldn’t use their privileges in order to escape punishment.”

  Apparently, Seiji had been too preoccupied with fencing to notice all the rules of the society he lived in up until now.

  “Wow,” Aiden remarked. “It’s almost as if this cruelly unjust world is set up in such a way to favor those who already got lucky with riches, good looks, or, not to point fingers at myself, both.”

  Seiji frowned. “That’s exactly what it’s like. Well put, Aiden. In any case, it must be stopped.”

  Aiden blinked. “Capitalism must be stopped?”

  Seiji nodded, his face even sterner than usual. “I have an idea.”

  “Oh Jesus, bro!” exclaimed Eugene, and banged his own forehead against the table. When he righted himself, there was a red mark on his brow.

  Aiden sympathized to a certain extent. Seiji Katayama was a lot to deal with. However, Eugene was the one who chose to hang around Seiji, which nobody could possibly enjoy, except for Nicholas Cox, who was obviously mentally deranged. Eugene could deal with the misery thereof.

  “How sad life must be for anyone who’s not rich and hot,” Aiden murmured. “Personally, I wouldn’t know. Nicholas, tell me how it feels. Not now, some time when I’m in the mood to hear a sob story.”

  “What?” said Nicholas.

  Aiden shrugged. “The wealthy and unkind only see the poor as entertainment.”

  “No, like, what are you saying, dude?” asked Nicholas. “I h
ave problems focusing when you talk.”

  Nicholas didn’t catch Seiji’s faint smirk, but Aiden did. So did Eugene, who fixed Seiji with a betrayed stare.

  Eugene was acting as if he knew who the real thief was. Actually, with the way Eugene was twitching and eyeing him, Eugene was acting as though Seiji Katayama was the true criminal. Though that would be a hilarious twist, Aiden couldn’t imagine Seiji actually doing anything illegal.

  He glanced around the table to see if this behavior was exciting anyone else’s suspicions. Harvard was looking sympathetically at Eugene, because of his beautiful heart. Nicholas was staring around vacantly, because he was a simpleton.

  Aiden felt he could figure out the riddle, but this was his last day with Harvard, and he refused to waste it on the freshmen. If the mystery was still ongoing tomorrow, Aiden would unravel it. He guessed after he’d finished the process of crushing his own heart to powder, he could become a cynical, world-weary, impossibly attractive detective.

  Aiden brightened. Finally, an upside to this whole horrifying business.

  “Here’s my idea,” proposed Seiji. “I will report the names to the authorities.”

  Nicholas’s brow knitted. “Do you know the names? Why haven’t you told me?”

  “Bro, don’t tell the cops!” Eugene exclaimed.

  Seiji ignored Nicholas in favor of Eugene. “I meant I would report the names to the school authorities, not the legal authorities.”

  “I don’t think you should report to anyone!” snapped Eugene. “Oh wow, I wish this wasn’t happening to me. But since it is, here’s the thing about gossip: The more gossip people hear about something, the more it starts to sound like fact. Once the gossip is started, bro, all you have to do is wait. Other people will do the rest. By tomorrow, someone else is gonna report seeing those guys hiding the watches. Bet on it.”

  Matters were truly sad for the freshmen when they were looking to Eugene Labao for wisdom and guidance.

  On the other hand, it wasn’t as if Aiden were planning to provide any.

  “But they won’t have seen the guys hiding the watches,” said Seiji.

  “They’ll have heard about it so much, they’ll feel like they did,” promised Eugene.