A/N: Written for The A-Maze-Ing Race Challenge on AMF, random pairing: Sachiko/Chibiki. Sachiko is one of the anime characters in Kouichi's class. One of the ones that got lots of blood splattered on her.


Pre-empting a Drama Lesson

Sachiko shifted a little in her seat, hearing her friends' chatter without really listening to it. Most of her attention – the portion which was undivided at least – was on the script before her: reading it with the right inflections, following it through with the right hand movements, trying to feel like she was the character instead of a poor impersonation…

Aya's laughter suddenly broke Sachiko's thoughts, and the girl looked up to the self-proclaimed "Drama Queen" with some envy. Her own laughter was quieter, more tentative, and less malleable. Nothing like the projected web laughter which the light-brunette could spin with her fingertips. But that was to be expected: Aya was the Theatre Club's Star after all, and used her talents so often to get away from school that even the oblivious new transfer student knew of her reputation.

Well… Sachiko twisted in her seat, looking at where Sakikabara Kouichi sat with a bored yet still attentive look upon his face. Maybe "oblivious" is a little harsh, considering…

Izumi was rather on edge with all of his questions, so "oblivious" was definitely harsh.

She sighed, drawing a few gazes her way, then shoved her script between some loose papers and snapped her bag shut.

'No luck?' Izumi was suddenly in front of her seat.

Sachiko shook her head mutely. Izumi wasn't nearly as intimidating as Aya when it came to the Theatre Club, but on all other matters…

'You should talk to Chibiki-sensei.'

Sachiko blinked. 'Chibiki-sensei?' she repeated. 'The next time the Theatre Club meets?'

'No.' Izumi's voice took on a slightly stern capacity. 'Outside of that; he's always in the auxiliary library after all.'

'But – he –' Sachiko's eyes flickered to the back of the room before returning, and she dropped her voice to a whisper. 'The –'

Izumi stopped her with a finger on her lips. 'He is an excellent advisor,' she said. 'And despite the bad press, he's perfectly approachable.' She winked and pulled back. 'Trust me. It's much better to address your problems away from the source.'

That might have been more encouraging if the teacher's melancholic gaze boring into her skull didn't so easily scramble the contents inside.