Paper Crane: Glances

The warmth from the sun filled the classroom. Every middle school student in the room were as lively as ever, talking to their hearts content with their friends, or simply walking around just to let time fly by. Unlike everyone else, one student didn't bother to do any of those things. He simply sat in his seat, with earbuds plugged in his ears, a small book in his hands, an IPod blasting music through his earbuds, and a bored expression on his face. He never bothered to socialize. He just spends his time reading and ignoring everyone.

Meanwhile one student was the opposite. She always socialized with others. She always has a cheerful expression present on her face and always wearing her signature red scarf. No one knew why she always wore a scarf though they never bothered to ask. She always helped those in need. Though she isn't the brightest student meanwhile he was the brightest student.

"Hey Ayano, can you help me with something?"

The girl looked at the speaker and flashed her signature smile. "Of course."

He glanced at her as she tried her best to help the student with their studies but only scratched her head and laughed nervously.

"I-I know that you're supposed to do this but..." Her sentence trailed off as she scribbled on a sheet of paper but instantly erased it. "Ah I'm sorry. I guess I can't help you."

"Don't worry about it."

He rolled his eyes and looked away. "What an idiot." He muttered though no one heard him.

She glanced at him. Her brown eyes gazed at the silent boy. He gave off an aura that told everyone to "back off" and his gaze was outside the window, at the clouds in the blue sky. He twirled the cord of the earbuds between his fingers. He was never interested in anyone though she admired his cool attitude and intelligence.

The teacher walked in and heaved a sigh. "Alright everyone get to your seats."

Everyone hurried to their seats after the teacher spoke. Ayano sat at the other side of the classroom, away from him. She glanced at him one more time and quickly looked away when he glanced at her direction. She stared at her hands and fiddled with her fingers as her cheeks grew a light shade of pink from embarrassment. He scoffed and looked away.

The teacher held a stack of papers. "Alright I have your test scores." He announced and everyone grew nervous except for him.

The teacher walked down the path, giving out the test with their scores. He stopped at his desk and handed him his test. "As usual you have a perfect score, Shintaro." The teacher smiled and walked away. As usual everyone envied him. Meanwhile Ayano was only silently congratulating him. Though this wasn't new.

The teacher stopped at Ayano's desk and gave her the test. "Try harder next time, Ayano. Or else I'll have to talk to your father again." Ayano nodded and gazed at her test score.

"56% once again." She sighed. "Father won't be proud of this." She muttered. Her father was a science teacher and he wasn't hard on her but always tries to help her with her studies.

"An idiot as usual." Shintaro muttered as he looked at Ayano who was too busying doing what she usually does to her test paper to cheer up.

Ayano managed a smile as she cut the paper and folded it. "Nothing is better than this." She giggled. Once she was finished, she smiled in satisfaction and admired her work. A paper crane sat on her desk. Its wing had 56% written on it in bright red. She gazed at the origami.

Shintaro simply stared at his test score. "100% as usual." He sighed. "They just make it too easy." He folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket.

"That is all for today. Class dismiss." The teacher waved his hand as everyone quickly gathered their stuff and exited.

Ayano was gathering her things slowly as she wanted to stay behind. Shintaro always left once everyone else did. The teacher glanced at Shintaro. "You could just be proud of yourself for scoring a perfect score."

Shintaro shrugged. "What's the point when I'll always be scoring that." He sighed. "I'll be right back." He walked out the room and Ayano watched him. Once he exited the room, the teacher sighed.

"Ayano you should try harder next time."

"I did try this time though." Ayano whined a bit.

"Well then try harder or else I'll have another metting with your father and you'll end up having to take summer lessons." The teacher gathered his stuff. "You should go now before it gets late. Goodbye."

"Goodbye sensei." Ayano waved at him and he left. She glanced at Shintaro's desk. It was empty and on the hook was his school bag. She glanced at the doorway and saw no one approaching. "Maybe this'll cheer him up." She mumbled with a smile.

Shintaro returned to the classroom only to find it empty. He didn't mind though. He walked to his desk and found something new and unusual. On his desk was a paper crane with a 56% on its wing. Next to it was a note.

"Congratulations on your test score!"

He scoffed and grabbed the note, crumbling it in his hand. "Its obviously that idiot." He tossed the now crumbled note into the trash bin and gazed at the paper crane. It was perfectly folded. Obviously it's creator was a master at making paper cranes. "This is just trash to me." He muttered and took the paper crane and threw it away without any hesitation.

Ayano was hiding by the doorway and watched him. She bit her lip nervously, wondering if he'll accept the gift or ignore it. He simply threw it all away. It hurt her but she couldn't do anything about it. She sighed and walked away.

She tugged on the end of her scarf as she walked towards the direction of her home. The sunset made the sky orange and the air was cool. "What a beautiful sunset." She smiled a bit and sighed. She thought about what had happened when Shintaro saw her present. She flinched as she remembered his words.

"It's obviously that idiot."

"This is just trash to me."

His words were like an arrow, piercing her. The way he spoke about her was harsh. She was aware of the fact that she wasn't so smart but she didn't like him saying mean comments about it. Though she couldn't do anything at all. All she could do was nothing.

"One day...he'll think differently about me." She said determinedly.

This was the beginning of their story.

A/N: While I was writing chapter 10 of Lies and Secrets I remembered about Safe Haven and how I made it a spin-off of Lies and Secrets and that it was Seto and Mary's side of the story and then I thought about Shintaro and Ayano and I thought "hey I could make a side story about Shintaro and Ayano!" and that's how this story was created! Haha. Well I hope you enjoyed this! Please look forward to what this story has in store! Kagerou Project/Mekakucity Actors is all owned by Jin!