Oh hi. I'm skipping around anime, heh heh. First Teen Titans – I don't know if that's an anime or cartoon or both – and then Yu Gi Oh!, now Air Gear. But I'm struck by inspiration! I don't own anything. This is an AU – that means there's no Regalia, no Air Trek, Tuners … just the characters. ;)
Shark Bait
Chapter One: A
Crow and a Twin
Before I jump in, I should tell you
a little bit about myself.
First off, I'm not a fucking girl.
People usually mistake me for one. Strange thing is, some of them
stare at my ass – including the guys.
Another thing – I'm
not gay. Stop fucking asking!
The eye patch on my left eye –
it's been there for as long as I can remember. I'm blind out of
that eye, and strangers don't like to see milky white, the bitches
they are. You're probably wondering what the hell is going on, so
here's a nice little flashback for you. Fuck!
"Agito!"
The bastard shouted from the driver's seat in the trailer. Lazily,
I dragged myself into a more appropriate 'listening'
position.
"What?" I shouted back. The trailer bumped slightly
as it hit a rough spot, and the book I was reading was jarred out of
my hands. "Fuck!" I muttered, picking it back up. Rubbing the eye
patch absentmindedly, I listened, a bit tuned out, to my brother's
speech.
"You're going to be starting school on the first of
September. The police came and -"
I practically choked on my own
spit. "WHAT THE FUCK!" I screamed. "I'm not going to some
bratty school! I've escaped that for sixteen full years, no way I'm
going to start - "
Kaito cut me off rudely. "Brat, you're
going there, or there's going to be a lawsuit filed on my
ass."
"Damn right there will be – " I began, but Kaito
slammed on the brakes and twisted his torso to look me dead in the
eyes.
"Little pet, you're a nuisance, aren't you? Just go by
the rules and you won't be publicly humiliated in front of
Wind."
Snarling, I ignored him and entered the small lavatory
instead, slamming the door shut. Throwing the manga book in my hand
about some boxer at the mirror, I watched as the mirror cracked, then
shattered. A large indentation was on the metal wall behind it.
Guess that explains why I'm here,
then. Standing in front of the blackboard, holding some lame-ass
school backpack over my shoulder.
"Class, this is Agito
Wanijima." The teacher said with a fake smile on his face.
Motioning to my general direction, he went on to explain …
something … I was slipping out of attention. My eyes glided over
the audience, skipping over the obviously unimportant shrimps (some
guy with a crow in his head, a fat pervert, the thin one and several
others) and focused them on a fat black dude's forehead. A kind of
aura emanated from him that was – though not quite – a tad bit
similar as mine. This one would pose a threat. A fellow gang leader?
Finally, the teacher finished
speaking and stared at me expectantly. There was an empty seat at the
back of the class, so I guessed that I was supposed to go there. I
began walking towards there when the teacher began stuttering behind
me.
"Er … Mr. Wanijima, that's not what you're supposed to
be - "He began.
"Shut the fuck up!" I said instinctively,
my eye patch slipping a bit as I whipped around furiously. The people
near the aisle I was walking down cringed at the outburst and several
girls – staring at me just moments ago – widened their eyes in
surprise. The class was quiet as I finally plopped down on the seat.
Then a buzzing of noise began, hands clasped near mouths and
whispering.
Scowling, I slammed my bag on the desk – I swear
there was a crack – and began pulling out the contents moodily. The
crow-head had his hand propped on his cheek, and was looking at me
with a peculiar expression. He began talking to the black man.
Finally, the teacher seemed to snap out of his reverie and looked
at me in the eyes in a way that reminded me of my brother. This made
my blood boil.
"Mr. Wanjima, it is most disgraceful to this
school when a stu - " The teacher ranted. Kicking my feet out from
under the desk, I flipped him off casually.
It was funny to watch
his eyes bulge and mouth gape like a fish out of water. After a few
moments, it became boring and I put my middle finger down and opened
up a manga as if nothing had happened.
The mutterings became so
loud it distracted me from my manga. Soon a shadow was looming over
my desk. Looking up with a so you want to challenge me, huh, you
bastard face, I realized that it was the teacher. He was rather
short, but I was even shorter so it made no significant
difference.
"Detention. Now." He hissed. "Even if you are a
new student, I cannot tolerate - "
"Tolerate this, bitch!" I
hissed back, narrowing my eyes. I flung a white eraser at him. This
asshole reminded me so fucking much of my brother that all I could do
from ripping his throat out and using it to decorate the classroom
was the warning my brother gave me before I left.
He had
threatened to keep me in The Cage for a year if I got into any
'law-including' trouble from school.
Then the teacher
exploded. Figuratively, of course, but I wish so hard for it
to be literal.
He seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to slap me in
the face – I'd like to see him fucking try! – or whining to the
principal. Then the bell rang and I gathered my shit (that being the
school items) and walked out of the room. Soon the rest of the class
followed, and they were murmuring even more as I prowled about the
halls. Truly I was the Lord of the Flies …
It was lunch, and I slammed the carton on the floor, cracks appearing on the side of the flimsy plastic item. Glancing around threateningly at no one, I picked at it and picked up an ice cube instead of the 'main course' and sucked on it halfheartedly. Why the fuck was I stuck in this loser school? I was supposed to be doing something else right now, something more … constructive. Fuck! The classes were as boring as shit, and everything else … was also as boring as shit.
"You." A voice sounded somewhere
near. I nearly choked and managed to squeeze the frozen liquid down
my throat before looking up.
It was the crow-boy.
"Yeah?
What do you want?" I demanded, picking at my nails uninterestedly.
He was silent, so I decided to speak up. "Either go away or
I'll shove something down your throat."
Ignoring my comment,
he finally spoke again. "You look a damned lot like Akito." He
remarked, surveying my face. "You both look like girls, and -
"
"Fuck!" I cut him off. "I don't give a rat's ass,
and unless you have an early death wish, shut that fucking mouth of
yours." The crow-boy narrowed his eyes.
"That's exactly what
I should be saying to you." We stared at each other, and I swear
the ice cubes melted under our fiery gazes. Full of hate.
"Ikki-kun,
what's going on?" A high pitched voiced broke this stare-down,
and I looked up before this 'Ikki' did. The tray my left hand was
holding – I didn't even notice that – cracked.
Either
someone was holding a mirror or I was hallucinating. Fuck …
'Ikki'
looked up, noticing that my gaze was on something else, and turned
around. "Oh, hi, Akito. We're in different classes so you
probably didn't notice this bastard." He jerked an uncaring thumb
towards me. I reached over and bent it painfully backwards.
"Ow!"
The crow-boy shouted.
"Who's the bastard now?" I sneered
condescendingly. Then my attention was directed towards the
high-pitched boy. At least I'm pretty sure he was a boy.
"You're
Agito?" The high-boy asked, eyebrows disappearing beneath his
bangs. I noticed that he was identical – well, almost – to me.
The only difference I could spot was the eye-patch; he had one, but
it was on his right eye. Fuck, what the hell was happening?
"Hell
yeah." I said. I was about to say something with a lot of 'fuck's
and 'hell's and 'burning's to the gay-boy-Akito, but
something held me back. Whether it was his appearance or …
something else, a strange root feeling, told me that swearing at him
was just – just wrong.
Ikki finally managed to jerk his thumb
away from my hand, rubbing it with a sore look on his face.
"Are
you two brothers or something?" He asked, massaging the thumb
passionately.
"Fuck no." I said, my muscles relaxing – they
had tensed, I didn't notice it though – and gripping the side of
the table. Akito cocked his head to a side curiously.
"Now that
I think about it, you DO look a lot like me!" He piped up happily.
I cocked one eyebrow – did he JUST notice? – but made no further
comment.
Ikki stood up from his stooped position, towering over
me. I noticed how short Akito was compared to Ikki, and that made my
skin tingle. We were about the same height, as well. I stood up as
well, so that we three were all standing.
"I need some
answers." I stated blandly, looking at Akito straight in the eyes.
He looked back, smiling a bit. Why was he always so cheerful?
"Me
too." Ikki said. Akito thought for a moment, then giggled. "Maybe
we're long-lost twin brothers! I don't have a brother, no-how."
"Shit." I put my hand on my forehead. "I'm not taking
drugs, so that can't be an option. I'm not hallucinating – at
least I don't think – fuck." When I opened my eyes, the two
were still there, staring.
"Why are you two so fucking calm!?"
I shouted suddenly in frustration.
"I … don't know." It
was Ikki, and he seemed thoughtful. "I think it's maybe … well
… for some reason, it seems like this was supposed to be or
something."
"Spare me the bull." I snarled.
There was
silence as Akito and I locked eyes. I noticed how carefree he seemed,
while I was always weighed down by responsibility or some other stuff
like that.
"Things like this make my head spin." Akito said,
spinning around on a heel and crashing into Ikki by accident. He
laughed, and Ikki straightened him. "Maybe we should hang out
together!"
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't go with you losers
if hell froze ov -"
Then the unexpected thing happened. Ikki
grabbed the front of my shirt, and his eyes were so serious that I
stopped in mid-sentence.
"You remind me of a shark." He said,
his face half a foot away from mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I
could see Akito pursing his lips nervously.
"A shark trapped in
a cage. Pacing around, around …" He continued.
"What the
hell are you talking about?" I managed, fixing my facial expression
to match his in aggression.
Then he let go of my shirt and stuck
his hands in his pocket.
"Maybe you should stop ramming the cage
bars in your anger and look for a more sensible way out. And if there
isn't any, you should try relying on your friends a little more."
His gaze was directed upwards, towards the sky. "In the meantime,
why don't you keep on looking at the bird that circles above
…?"
"Nice speech, Ikki!" Akito said, clapping his hands
together childishly. I noticed for the first time that his sleeves
were too long.
"It was boring as a speech…?" Ikki said, and
I swear a sweatdrop appeared. The crow in his head cawed.
"Fuck
…" I muttered as I watched the two of them. We were on the top of
the building, so nobody else was there.
"Agiiitoooo!" Akito
said, finally stopping. He whirled around and looked at me, pouting.
"You should be more friendly!"
I didn't say anything.
Instead, I took the remains of my lunch – just some sandwich I
bought at a store earlier today and more ice – and slung it over my
shoulder. The lunch carton was in a leather bag, so it made no big
deal even if I hurled it over the school building. Sure, the inside
would be ruined, but …
"I'll see you later, Crow." The
words slipped out of my mouth as if someone else was directing them.
I nearly killed myself because of that.
"Buh-bye!" Akito said
loudly, waving his arm even though we were only a few meters
apart.|
Looking at him for a heartbeat, I walked over to the fence
that surrounded the top of the building, to prevent students from
falling off. Ikki began to say something, but I wasn't listening.
Grabbing an iron link-thing, I hauled myself over using the force of
my one arm and landed on the edge of the other side. Ikki and Akito
rushed over.
"What the hell are you - " The Crow began, but I
leaped off the ledge.
I was going to skip the rest of school.
Well, that was lame. Dun wurry, Agito didn't commit suicide. XP I know the reactions that Ikki and Akito had were a bit out of character and not too satisfying, but then again … they had this weird feeling in their hearts that this wasn't out of place. Or some crap like that.
