Violet Gaze on an Olive Boy's Smile

Saya was late. /Again/. It was only her second day and she'd already managed to be obnoxiously late to three of her classes…And it was only fourth period. Not that it was entirely her fault; at least she didn't think so. This school was a hell of a lot bigger than the one she'd previously attended, and her navigational skills were already questionable.

Slender fingers reached up to brush away pale locks of hair as the wiry girl skidded to a stop near the end of the hallway. The corridor was practically abandoned; after all, the bell had rung about two minutes earlier. Her brows furrowed as she struggled to make out the crumpled map the guidance counselor had given her earlier that morning.

Frustration was evident across the angled features of her face. She hadn't wanted to transfer schools, especially since it meant leaving her own country to travel across the sea to America of all places. It wasn't as if she'd been forced to learn a new language, but adjusting to a completely different life was anything but easy. She probably should've been used to being yanked around after seventeen years of it, but it never seemed to get any easier.

Her gaze flickered up from the map as the sound of footsteps echoed around the corner and she took a step forward, only to be knocked backward by a less than visible blur of emerald.

"Shit-!" The assailant's curse overpowered any words that might've flown from her mouth as she barely managed to maintain her balance, and only doing so with the help of the two hands suddenly on her shoulders. Violet hues flickered up, brows furrowing with undisguised annoyance as she prepared to give the American prat a mouthful.

The words slipped away from her lips before she could utter them as gazed up into the unfamiliar face of a boy who looked so mortified she was surprised he had managed to catch her.

"God, I'm so sorry." The guy's golden eyes were wide, tone apologetic as he reached up a hand to brush some olive green locks from his eyes. He looked to be about her age, she guessed, maybe a bit older. When he spoke, a small line of scars across his left cheek rose and fell with the movement. His was a face she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

"…Don't trouble yourself over it." Saya's annoyance was fading quickly. Her mother had always said that she was quick to anger, and even quicker to laugh. A crooked grin quirked at the edges of her lips as she shrugged out of his grasp.

The boy's eyes seemed to widen even further as she spoke, even as he quickly pulled his hands away from her, and she barely suppressed a roll of her eyes. It was as if this lot had never heard a British accent before.

"You're a transfer student?" The guy returned her grin with a smile of his own, and the movement of his lips seemed to light up the panes of his face. It was difficult to notice the marks marring his skin at all, and she clicked her tongue as affirmation to his question.

"Guilty as charged." There was a pause as she suddenly remembered her manners, something she'd never picked up with the European stereotype.

"I'm Saya." The edges of her lips twitched up into another brief smile at the introduction, gaze unwavering.

"Katsu." The boy replied quickly, adjusting the book in his arms. The amber of his eyes was oddly distracting, and she found it difficult to look away for some reason she couldn't identify.

Before she could speak again, Katsu smacked his hand to his forehead with alarming force.

"Ahh man, I am so late!" A groan escaped his lips with the words. "Mr. Brown's gonna be /pissed/."

Brown..? She perked up at the name, voice almost embarrassingly eager, not that she was too concerned at this point. All she wanted to do was get to class.

"Brown? Like for Physics II?"

Katsu's lives curled into a sheepish grin as he shook his head, gesturing down the hallway with a hand.

"Nah, Mr. Brown teaches Sewing I, and he'll probably sew my lips shut for being late." A laugh escaped the boy's lips with the words.

" You want /Mrs/. Brown. She's in Hallway 400." He must have seen the way her face dropped with the words, voice hesitant.

"I, umm, could show if you want." For the first time the disheveled boy seemed unsure, and Saya didn't make any attempt to hide her gratitude.

"Would you? God, that'd be brilliant."

Katsu seemed almost pleased that she'd accepted, despite his earlier lamentations of punishment by his sewing teacher.

"Awesome." With one last smile, the green-haired student tilted his head in the correct direction; careful to keep pace with the ashe-blonde beside him.

Making a conscientious effort not to trip on the flat flooring of the hallway, Saya nearly smacked herself when she noticed that she was stealing sideglances at him as they walked.

Cool it, Saya. You wouldn't be caught dead fawning over some guy."