A/N It's been a while, hasn't it? Do you still love me? Maybe you could show me by pressing that purple button at the bottom of the page. Is the review button still purple? Or did it change colors in my absence?
p.s. this is 8th in the iPod Chronicles. Inspirations? "Reptilia" by the Strokes, "Smile like You Mean It" by the Killers, "Brighter than Sunshine" by Aqualung, and a bit of "Look What You've Done" by Jet
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Tap
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Tap Tap Tap
It was getting to him.
Tap Tap Tap
It seemed to fill the nearly empty room that held him prisoner.
Tap Tap Tap
There wasn't much going on in the room, but this noise just seemed to make him realize exactly how empty the room was.
Tap Tap Tap
It was hard enough that the clock was mocking him and going ever so slowly, taking its sweet time to move the minute hand, but now he had to hear that constant annoying sound that only seemed to stop when she wrote down something on that drawing pad of hers.
Tap Ta-
He closed his eyes as she wrote something on her paper. He relaxed in his seat and simply let his ears soak in the annoyance of the clock.
Tap Tap Tap
Again! It started again!
He mentally groaned and tried to block out the sound. He needed to relax. Okina had told him repeatedly that stress was no good for him.
Tap Tap Tap
Meditation. That should work.
Tap Tap Tap
All he needed to do was close his eyes, breathe, and clear his mind.
Tap Tap Tap
He already had his eyes closed, so he was practically meditating.
Tap Tap Tap
He just needed to clear his mind that was being filled with the annoying tapping of that infuriating pencil being held between the fingers of that girl.
Tap Tap Tap
That girl who sat not so far from him, sitting backwards in her chair, so that instead of glaring at his back, he glared through his bangs at her front.
Tap Tap Tap
And he got the great pleasure of being able to see her hold her No. 2 yellow pencil (that's been chewed from the top) between her slim, stained fingers being tapped against the back of the chair repeatedly.
Tap Tap Tap
Up and down it went. Three times fast, making it a yellow blur. But after three taps, she would stop, rest her fingers for a second, and then start again.
Tap Tap Ta-
"Would you please stop tapping that condemned pencil already?!" he snapped at her. The other few people turned to face them. His voice had come out harsh, irritated, and sharp, cutting through that comfortable silence that had blanketed the room.
"Wha?" the girl said a little dazed. He sighed and resisted the urge to rub the bridge of his nose, a serious habit he needed to break.
"That tapping noise you're making with the pencil." He said. She looked at her pencil that rested loosely on her fingers.
"What about it?" she asked. His patience (that he had a boatload of) was seriously wearing thin. She seemed to be acting stupid about the ruckus her pencil was making. Not to mention that the people from the front were still staring.
"Stop." He said simply. The less he spoke, the better. He was an anti-social man of few words for a reason. Or, what his friends called him, an Ice-Man.
"Oh, sorry. It helps me concentrate." She replied. His shoulders relaxed slightly, happy that the noise was finally put to an end. "Lemme finish my project and you won't hear a people from my pencil."
The other occupants of the room snickered at her words, but one glare from his electrifying green eyes put an end to it.
"Finish your assignment some other time" he replied. The others watched in interest as she laughed at his suggestion. He narrowed his eyes, though he might not look very menacing with his dark hair semi-covering his face.
"I have to finish it before detention ends, silly." She said with such ease and glee.
"At least cease with the constant tapping." He stared right into her lightening blue eyes that seemed to shine brightly in contrast to her dark hair. She smiled and looked down, but not before he managed to get a glimpse of her rosy cheeks.
"As I said, the tapping helps me concentrate." She said. He saw in the corner of his eyes that her leg began to pounce slightly. The conversation was also becoming painful for her. "I just really need to finish this task before detention is over."
He did not know what to say. He wasn't good at small talk. She must have sensed this because she turned back to her pad, her long, dark bangs hanging from her face and her long braid curling around her.
He looked at the clock. Only 43 more minutes. He already spent one hour and seven minutes here. He wasn't going to spend one more minute in this dark room that seemed to want to suck the life out of him.
He wasn't even supposed to be here, but Sano had pleaded for him to take the fault for his foolish prank. Sano didn't want Megumi to find out or he would be severely injured (according to her threat). Spending nearly two hours filled with the exasperating clock and (let's not forget!) the tapping pencil was not worth the new custom make sparring sword (complete with a sparring partner) he was promised.
Tap Tap Tap
Mediation. Here he comes!
Tap Tap Tap
His eyebrow twitched. He was a very patient, calm man, but that girl tested him.
Tap Tap Tap
Maybe this was the ultimate test Okina had been talking about. Maybe this girl was an associate of Okina or someone from the Oniwabanshu.
Tap Tap Tap
Or maybe he was overreacting and she could be a simple girl who seemed to enjoy torturing others.
Tap Tap Tap
Obviously, meditation didn't seem to be working.
"Psst, Aoshi!" he heard her whispering. He faced her and saw relief spread in her captivating eyes that he just could not seem to stop staring at. "I thought you had stopped breathing"
"How do you know my name?" he asked. She seemed startled by his question.
"Oh, well, you're friends with Kenshin, who's going out with my friend Kaoru. She's always mentioning you guys. I'm also friends with Megumi and Tokio." His eyes narrowed at the mention Sano and Saitou's girlfriends. "What? Is something wrong?"
Aoshi sight and turned away. It was best not to think so much about things that could easily explained themselves. He looked at the clock again.
38 more minutes.
Why was the clock mocking him so? It was taking too long and he needed to leave before he lost it.
Tap Tap Tap
"Must you insist on making that noise?" he asked, his eyebrow twitching again. "It's bad enough the clock is taunting me, but do you need to add to my misery?"
"Oh wow, you've got control issues." She breathed out. He looked at her. "It means that you need to control your surroundings in order to have peace in mind."
"I like it quite." He replied. He was very tempted to walk out, but the teacher was right outside and the door was locked. Plus, if he left, the two hours would be doubled.
"Oh." She said softly, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Nevermind then….I bet this is a painful conversation for you."
"Yes it is." He noticed that she hadn't looked up at all from her drawing pad since they start talking.
"So, Aoshi," she said his name with such casualty and easiness that almost made it seem like they had been friends for a while. "What are you hear for?"
"Nothing."
"Really?" she finally looked up him. They stared at each other as she spoke. "Now that's interesting. I'm here every Saturday and they have never given out a detention simply because of nothing."
"You're here every Saturday." Aoshi interrupted.
"What? Oh, yes. I have nothing better to do and I seem to draw my inspiration from here." She replied. "Hey! Don't think you could avoid my question! Why are you here?"
"I took the fault for a foolish prank Sano pulled." He stated.
"Oh! Do you mean the exploding toilet that caused the chemical spill in the chemistry lab?" she asked.
Aoshi remembered the incident. He didn't have chemistry since he was a senior, but he was forced to clean the entire lab. All by himself. Yesterday.
"Yes."
"That was hilarious! You should have seen the teacher's face! My god, such a Kodak moment!" she recalled, laughing. She had chemistry? Meaning she was a junior.
"Hm. I figured you out to be a sophomore." Aoshi mused out loud.
"What?!" her face began to turn red. "I am a senior! I'm not a sophomore!"
"Seniors take physics, not chemistry."
"I flunked chemistry last year so I have to retake it instead of having an elective." She said with a sigh. "Ms. Ilesha was so sad to hear that I couldn't take her class."
"Seniors don't have electives." He stated.
"I know!" she said loudly. Other conversations halted, but Aoshi's cold stare resumed them. "I've applied to liberal arts colleges, so I want to take as many art classes as possible."
Aoshi eyed her drawing pad. So, if she hadn't been writing, then she must have been drawing, sketching. He turned to the clock once more. That conversation had only killed 25 minutes. Only 23 more minutes.
23 more minutes stuck in this room.
He looked outside the window. Why had he chosen a seat that conveniently showed him the outside world? Everyone else had scattered about in the front of the room. Even she was there. Two seats up, two seats to the right.
He saw her hunch over her drawing page, her pencil going up and down in smooth strokes. He didn't see an eraser nearby, the only one being the tiny little one on top of her pencil that was almost out. Her pencil began to move quickly. She really seemed to have been have struck by an idea.
Her hand moved all across the pad, leading her yellow pencil. It went up and down, then switched and made round shapes. She stopped and chewed on her pencil, debating about the recent lines she made. She decided to erase it and redrew it, making the line more curved.
Up and down her pencil went. The lines kept coming out, over and over again. Some were on top of others. Her pencil created a huge line across her drawing pad and she quickly worked on the line to help make it a part of the drawing.
Aoshi realized that he had been staring and quickly looked at the clock. 13 more minutes. At least the tapping ha-
Tap Tap Tap
Hadn't he learned a lesson about jinxing things when he was forced to hike in the rain in his heavy coat? If he had just continued staring out the window then-
Tap Tap Tap
…That wouldn't have started again.
Tap Tap Tap
"Sorry. I forgot!" she apologized once she realized that she had been tapping her pencil. "I'm almost done. I just need to add a little something more. Plus, we've only got 10 more minutes in here."
He turned to her, his bangs getting in the way. She stared at him, but her eyes widened and she quickly turned back to her drawing. Again, her pencil began to move swiftly and widely. She bit her lip and her leg began to bounce once more.
She looked really excited as she added, what Aoshi guess to be, finishing touches to her drawing. Aoshi stared in interest as her hand moved every where. She added lines, and then used her finger to soften the lines out. She repeated this several times and all Aoshi could do was stare in amazement at how fast she was moving.
"Finished!" she shouted in joy and triumph as she stood up. The other people were startled by her happy declaration and stared at her. She held her drawing up, but Aoshi could not see it well. "Finally!"
At this point, the teacher walked into the room. He looked at her and sighed. Every one turned to face him.
"Alright, get out of here." Cheering was heard and everyone began gathering their things and leaving. She quickly (and carefully) tore out her drawing from the pad and wrote something on the back. Aoshi grabbed his bag and began to head out, only to be stopped by her. He noticed that she only came up to his chest.
"Since I annoyed you so much with the tapping and the pencil and what not, I feel like this belongs to you." She said. She gave him the drawing and left the room, her long braid swinging behind her. Aoshi watched her leave and looked at the drawing.
He felt dumbstruck as he saw that she had been drawing him the entire two hours that they were in detention. He took in the sight of his face that had been drawn in black and white and drawn so well that he almost thought it was a photograph of him. It was him, sitting in front of the desk, looking out the window.
The lines, the curves, the soften grey pencil that had been streaked with her fingers. That was all for him. There was such great detail in the drawing, but his eyes were what stood out the most, even though they were slightly covered by his bangs. They were drawn so carefully and just so magnificently. His arms were resting on the table and his face was forward, slightly to the left. She even drew his coat hanging from the sides.
He….he was at loss for words. He had snapped at her for making 'ruckus' (as he had called it), but it turns out that she had been drawing him.
Aoshi went outside and looked for her. She couldn't have gotten far. But he saw that there was a bus stop nearby and the bus was already going down the street. He might not be able to thank her properly today, but there was always Monday.
Suddenly, he remembered that she had written down something on the back. He turned the drawing around and saw her name. A smile quickly appeared on his face and left as fast as it came. He stared at her name for some moments, then tucked the drawing under his arm, and began walked home….
……Misao M.
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