(Author's Note: Okay, I uploaded this again due to a complaint saying that the reader could not read the print… -_- So, because of my boredom and to please the reader, I took the oh, two minutes to go through this and raise the font size. Maybe that little "Font Size: Bigger ( + ) / Smaller ( - )" thing doesn't work… Sigh. Plus, I use Japanese names because I tend to like using those more -- they give you more choices for nicknames. If you don't get the couple, think parents, think divorce, think Takeru and Yamato's mama and dada. ^-^; Hey, I've never seen a story that put them together, so I wrote one.)
Suspended For a Day
A youthful girl dashed down the streets with her golden-brown hair pinned back by two dark red clips. Dressed in a blue skirt with pleats and a white, silk button-up shirt, the girl turned the corner in the middle of seven o'clock in the morning. The school bell was ringing in the distance and her sprint in her shiny black dress shoes clicked and clacked against the street. Her bright blue eyes danced with determination and the reflection of the cloudless sky could be seen. Slid over her shoulders was a black book bag and in her right arm was her history book. This young girl couldn't be any older than thirteen years of age.
Just as she turned to run into the playground, she ran into a tall boy and fell to the ground.
"Well jeez," she groaned and forced herself to turn onto her back.
"Watch where you're going," the boy warned and looked down at her and added nearly sarcastically, "Natsuko."
"Humph," the girl jumped to her feet and glared up at him, "nice to see you too, Masaharu."
"Late as usual."
"I'm not late until the bell rings again."
The smart-aleck boy held up his hand and snapped his fingers. The bell rang and she gasped.
"Curse you!" she hissed and dashed into the building. The remaining boy lingered with his group of friends for a couple minutes, then made their way inside. Masaharu and his group walked into the classroom nearly ten minutes late.
"Glad to have you in class," the teacher said without turning around from the blackboard. Chalk marks were written on the right hand corner already showing Masaharu's name. Right underneath was Natsuko's.
"My pleasure to be here." He answered and leaned back in his seat, "no… really."
"Enough with your pathetic attempt of sarcasm."
"Isn't it mean to discourage a student?"
"I won't tolerate such behavior in my classroom."
"Looks like you are now."
"To the corner!"
"No."
The class gasped. No one ever disobeyed Sensei's commands.
"Ishida Masaharu! I demand you to repeat those words to the principal!"
The troublemaker stood up and scratched his neck. "The exact same words?"
"Yes."
"Even what you said."
"I suppose."
"Okay," he shrugged, "but just to let you know, I'm not good with remembering."
"Oh please, Masaharu… grow up," Natsuko crossed her arms over her fine shirt.
He glared at her, "Why don't you get a life?"
"I have one--unlike you." She rose from her seat and stared him right in the eye.
"Natsuko, sit down." Sensei snapped her fingers.
"Follow what Teacher does or you'll get an F on that pretty little report card of yours."
"Shut up!"
"Miss Straight A Student," he teased. Before he could say much anything else, Natsuko raised her book and tossed it at her so-called friend. It successfully hit him in the eye.
"Both of you!" Sensei yelled, "office! Now! Or I'll have you detained from school."
The girl tossed her hair over her shoulders and lifted her binder into her arms. She casually walked past Masaharu and left the door.
"Smart one," he grumbled and scooped up the book that she threw, "leave your book why don'cha."
When walking in the hall, Natsuko couldn't help but watch the youth walk in crooked lines, running his fingers along the wall like a young child. He pulled down several pictures that younger children put up and he had picked up a crayon from the ground and started chucking pieces of it into classrooms. Natsuko had finally had enough of his attitude. She swirled around and looked up at him with her left hand on her hip.
"What's with you anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're acting out in the most strangest ways." She said, pointing to the remainders of the red crayon.
He shrugged, "There's nothing to do."
"You could learn."
"Learn what? Stuff I already know? This school is boring."
"Huh? You already understand what we're learning?"
Masaharu broke the last piece of crayon in half and threw it. It bounced off the girl's forehead and he said, "I know that ab+c=cb-a. I know that stuff. I'm not stupid you know."
"You sure act like it," she muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing. We should go." Natsuko tossed her mid-waist-length hair and walked into the office. He unwillingly followed.
During the whole lecture of "This is how you should act" and "This is how you shouldn't act," both of the young teenagers stared out the window. The bee trapped between the glass was by far more fascinating than listing to their old principal. At last, he dismissed them to go home for the remainder of the day and to let their parents give them a punishment suitable for their behavior.
"I expect a signed note from your parents informing me of your discipline."
"Yes sir." Masaharu sighed.
They walked out of their school in silence and out of the playground. Once on the road, Masaharu started to wonder the opposite way. Natsuko turned around and blinked.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"We've got all school day to go home. Why go now?"
The girl stood with her book bag hanging over her shoulder. He gave her a look that told her to come along. Finally, she started to walk towards him and tossed her hair a little bit.
"You know," said he with his hands in his pockets, "you'd look better with your hair cut short."
"Well it's not up to you," she said back.
"Opinion, just an opinion."
They walked around the neighborhood and talked about meaningless things. It was a toss up to go to the arcade or the mall. Natsuko volunteered to go to the mall with the arcade in it, therefore giving them their most wanted places to go. As they walked into the mall, several eyes greeted them with a raised eyebrow.
"They know we're supposed to go to school," Natsuko whispered.
Masaharu stretched his arms and loudly remarked, "I'm glad we got kicked out of school early enough to get the breakfast special"
Her cheeks flared up into a bight red color. She had never before in her life gotten in trouble at school. "'Haru! Someone might know me!"
"Live life up a little," he paused at what she called him and remarked, "Suko."
The Takaishi girl clutched her book bag and glared up at her schoolmate. He chuckled and rested his hands in his pockets, then strolling into the food court. Without knowing, Natsuko followed. They sat down at a side table after they ordered their one slice of pizza. Natsuko ordered a cheese and Masaharu ordered a cheese… with everything on it. More talk was traded between them as they ate the tasty delight for breakfast.
Some of the adult workers took one glance at them and grimaced. Natsuko sank into her seat and blushed while Masaharu glared back at them. After they finished eating, Natsuko dragged her friend into the clothing store… literally.
"How does this look?" Natsuko asked, taking a light blue dress off the racks and holding it up to her body.
"Fine, perfect," he said without looking at it.
She laughed and confronted his feelings, "Uneasy of being in a clothing store?"
"Uneasy of being in the women's section!" he growled and scratched his head nervously.
"What, dresses, skirts, and…" she emphasized the last word to make him feel even more uneasy, "bras make you feel uncomfortable?"
Masaharu's face turned a light shade of pink and he dropped his head to look at the floor. "Not at all. Can we go now?"
"Where to?" she asked, finally letting up on him.
"Anywhere but here," he said hastily and dragged her out of the store just as she did to him coming into it.
They stopped when he passed the music store and they both rushed into it to listen to their favorite artists' new album. Natsuko automatically rushed into the pop section while Masaharu lingered back into the not so popular bands. Countless minutes passed with the girl forcing the Ishida to listen to her kind of music. He did the exact same thing to her and surprisingly, she put up with it.
"Is there anything you don't like?" Masaharu asked.
"Anything that blares." She replied, pulling the large headphones over her ears. He smirked and rested his index finger on the volume knob. In one second, the entire music store was silent aside from the beeping of the cash register. And in the next, a high-pitched scream was heard. Natsuko threw off the headphones and stumbled back to catch her breath. Everyone stared at her as if she was insane. Masaharu was nowhere to be seen.
"Masaharu!" she yelled as she watched him slip out the main entrance of the store. Skillfully, she dashed out of the music department and followed him into the main store. That had everything; electronics, clothes, games, toys, cosmetics, simply everything.
Just as she turned into the toy section, she bumped into the one she was trying to catch. She fell to the ground with a loud "umf" and glared up at him.
"You know you have to stop making that a habit," he said and started to walk away.
"Oh, bite your tongue!" she jumped up and arranged her book bag. Dolls, cars, coloring books, and other little toys filled the isle that they were in. In the far back, pogo sticks were hanging on the walls.
"Pogo sticks!" Masaharu exclaimed almost childishly. He grabbed a hold of Natsuko's hand and lugged her to the back.
"What are you doing?" she questioned as he took one down.
"You're not serious," she said firmly when he handed it to her.
"You can't possibly," her voice trailed off after he took one down for himself and placed a foot on one peg.
"You're going to!" she felt her jaw drop as he tried to hop on the pogo stick.
"Live life," he said and fell onto the ground.
"Break your neck!" she hissed and pulled him to his feet, "Stop fooling around; we could get kicked out for this!"
"So what!" he laughed, "what else could they do beside kick us out for a month?"
"I could think of fifty things!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, you can sit here and name those fifty things," Masaharu said and attempted to pogo his way down the isle, "and you can watch me have fun."
"Fine!" she snapped and watched him fall once more. "They could call our parents. They could sue us. They could ban us from this whole mall. They could make us pay for each and every item you break! Masaharu! That's the third time you fell in a matter of fifteen seconds!"
"Can you do better?"
Natsuko looked left, then right, then at the youthful boy. "No."
"Have you even tried?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't."
"You haven't even tried! C'mon, just try it. Put your foot on the peg and then just jump. It's not too hard to pogo."
Natsuko tried just that. Instead of rising off the ground, she twisted and turned every which way before falling to the ground in pain. She groaned loudly and stood up to look at Masaharu who was laughing at her.
"Shut up, just shut… up…" she hung her head and sighed. Seven minutes flew by and they weren't caught playing with the pogo sticks. And in those seven minutes, they taught each other how to pogo, even though they didn't know how themselves. By the ninth minute, they were hopping up and down the isles, having simple races and stupid dares. Sure enough, they finally got caught.
"On the count of three," Masaharu said at one end of the isle. In his hand was a wacky noodle that was used for the pools. Across from him, at the other end, Natsuko stood prepared with her own red wacky noodle.
"One," she called.
"Two,"
"Three!" they both exclaimed and raced at each other. Inch by inch they neared each other, laughing their heads off. Just before Natsuko poked Masaharu with the noodle, she was pulled back and scared half to death. Standing in front of her was an adult. Not just any adult… it was a worker.
"Can I ask you a question?" he asked in that tone that every adult had. It was that kind of tone that made a little girl cry or a little boy wet his pants. To Masaharu, it was a tone to start laughing about.
"C'mon, Suko," he chuckled and pulled the stiffened girl from the clerk. "We've had enough pogo stuff."
Natsuko didn't move on her own until they were out of that store. Even then, terror ran through her blood. "We were nearly scolded."
"We were not even close to being scolded," he remarked and sipped the soda that he bought.
"Yes we were!"
"You worry too much."
"You worry too little."
"That's a bad thing?"
"Sort of…"
"Let's go to the arcade," Masaharu said and turned the corner.
Natsuko sighed deeply. She was ready to go home now. "Arcade? Haven't we been through enough?"
The two teenagers walked into the darkened game room and looked at the neon lighted games. There was the normal air hockey table and the photo booth. Pinball games lined the walls while the more popular games were located in the center. Chairs and tables were found in one corner of the large space and teenagers roamed the area with friends and laughter. Natsuko exchanged her money for some change and went to play a pinball game. Masaharu parted to try the combat game everyone was talking about.
Later on, they challenged each other to an air hockey contest. Masaharu won the first two games, but Natsuko won the last. He kept saying that he lost on purpose; she just said he didn't want to admit he lost to a girl. Truthfully, he did lose on purpose because of her constant whining and pouting. But that didn't drive him to lose his touch; it was the fact that she was so determined to win that made him lighten up.
"Let's get our picture taken," Natsuko said after a half-hour in the arcade.
Masaharu groaned, "Pictures? Why?"
"Because they're fun." She said and used her two hands to pull on two of his fingers. Eventually, she convinced him to take pictures. Inside the booth, Natsuko put in the amount of money and pushed the button to prepare for the first picture.
"You've gotta smile," she demanded.
"I don't have to do anything," he remarked. She turned and poked him in the arm just as the flash went off.
"Hey!" huffed the Takaishi, "you are so unfair."
"I'm just talented," he winked and the second picture went off.
"Whatever," Natsuko giggled and posed casually for the third picture. Before the fourth picture went off, Masaharu wrapped his arm around the golden-haired girl and kissed her on the cheek. The picture was taken just as his lips brushed against her skin.
"Masaharu!" she blushed deeply and turned to punch him in the arm. Her hand only caught the fabric of his coat; he bolted out of that booth as quickly as possible. Natsuko jumped out and glanced around the arcade. She couldn't find him.
"I'm just talented," she repeated sourly and took the pictures out of the little slot. After observing each and every one of those four images, she turned around to find the sly little ruffian. One step and… BAM! She fell to the ground.
"I told you that you should stop running into me like that," Masaharu said, looking down at her.
"I don't have to do anything," she teased and dangled the pictures in front of his face.
"Hey, am I a stud or what?"
"Definitely or what," she rolled her eyes and walked away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked while she walked out. "Hey! Answer me, chick-y pie."
"I don't have to."
"Since when did you develop a cocky attitude?"
"I'm just talented."
"I get it, you're a parrot. Suko want a cracker? Suko want a cracker?"
"Oh, shut up."
"I don't have to."
Natsuko stopped in her tracks and caused Masaharu to stop right behind her. When she turned around, she bumped into him and stumbled back. "Watch it, will you?" she sighed, "it's getting old."
"Not my fault."
"It is so."
"Is not."
The girl rolled her eyes and started to walk away.
"Well, now where are you going?"
"I'm going home, I've had enough for today."
Masaharu checked the time on his watch and exclaimed, "It's only eleven! We've got four whole hours to do whatever."
"I choose to go home, Masaharu," she said and turned to exit through the main doors.
"We could go someplace else! You choose," he called when they were outside.
Natsuko turned around and looked at him. "Why don't you want to go home?"
"I just don't want to."
"Reasons?"
"Well," he said, forcing his hands into his pockets and walking to the side of his friend, "I bet if I came home and explained what happened, my parents would feel ashamed of me."
Natsuko blinked and walked in a few beats of silence. "You've never gotten in trouble before?"
"Of course not," he glared, "I'm a straight A student like you, you know."
"Oh!" she blushed, "I just figured because…"
"I hung out with straight F students who get in trouble a lot that it would rub off on me?"
"I didn't mean it like that. I just-"
"Thought that I was stupid."
"No! Far from it."
"How could you think otherwise of me?" Masaharu questioned while they walked on the back roads of the mall that trailed out to the back part of town.
Natsuko twisted her hair around her finger. "I knew you weren't stupid or anything like that. I just didn't know that you were a straight A student… I mean you just didn't act like you were and with the friends you hung out with, I figured that you didn't really care about school."
"Natural stereotype."
"I'm sorry."
"Forget about it. I'm not heartbroken about such a simple thing."
"You're really loose."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No," she whispered and fiddled with her bag strap, "but can we do something even more loose now?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. What would you do." Natsuko tossed her hair over her shoulders.
"Ever think about getting that hair cut?"
"There you go, sweet cheeks," the barber said with a smile and turned the chair around so that she could see herself in her mirror. Her long golden brown hair was cut short, just above her shoulders. It was slightly layered and curled at the ends. Her part wasn't straight down the middle anymore, it was more to the right so that when her hair curled, a layer curled beneath her chin. Her hair clips were out and her eyes reflected amazement.
"I never knew how…"
"Pretty you look with short hair?" Masaharu smirked and set his hands on her shoulders.
She blushed and her eyes looked at his reflection. "You mean that?"
"Sure, I wouldn't lie."
"Puh, whatever." She teased.
"Come on, let's get lunch," Masaharu helped her out of the chair and out of the barbershop. They strolled down the back street of the residential area and soon came to the highway. It was a heck of a time trying to get across, considering it was lunch hour. Natsuko darted across the street with fear of holding up traffic; Masaharu took his time, which caused some drivers fairly upset. After they started to walk again, she scolded him for inattentive behavior and he scolded her for being too mother-like.
"Mother-like?" she boasted, "I'd never be a mother."
"I bet you that you'll get married at the age of twenty-two and you'll have your first kid a year later," he stated.
Natsuko rolled her eyes, "Oh great fortune-teller! Can you tell me what I'm going to order at the fast-food place?"
"Uh, a chocolate milkshake, a burger without any mustard, and a small fry?" he guessed off the top of his head.
"Humph, shows how much you know," she remarked, opening the door, "I was going to order a strawberry milkshake."
"Oh big difference!" he snapped sarcastically.
The lunch went smoothly with joking bickering. A few people looked at them and automatically assumed they were a couple. Others automatically assumed they were a pair of troublemakers. And the few kids who were there didn't pay much attention to them. Nearly an hour passed before Natsuko excused herself to go to the restroom.
"Is she your girl?" a man asked Masaharu from across the room.
At first, he didn't realize he was being spoken to. Then he turned his head to look at the man and his cheeks flared a bright red. "Of course not," Masaharu exclaimed, "she's just a girl."
"Sure thing, bud," the stranger chuckled and went back to his food.
"Whatever," the youth mumbled and looked out the window. Cars raced on the highway two streets down and several of them turned onto different roads. This occupied his mind until Natsuko returned.
"What should we do now?" she asked while cleaning up her mess.
Masaharu looked up at the girl as she turned to throw away the trash. Realizing his stare, Natsuko blinked and waved her hand in front of his face.
"Problem?"
"Huh?" he stood up, "nah, just thinking of what to do next."
Before long, the two students exited the building and wandered the streets of Odaiba. Having nowhere in particular to go, they played a game to decide which direction to go. Masaharu broke the end of one stick just enough so it dangled; they both closed their eyes and tossed it in the air. If the broken tip faced north, they were to go to the beach. East was to the mall again. South led them to the park. And west took them home. Once they heard the stick fall, they opened their eyes. The broken end was pointing to the west.
"Home?" Natsuko blinked, slightly disappointed.
"That's what it says."
"But I don't want to go home."
"Neither do I."
"I mean I want to… but I'm having fun and stuff."
Masaharu scratched the back of his neck and looked at his friend. "Wanna go to the park?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Right."
"Let's go."
"Okay."
"Yeah." The Ishida started to walk south and kept his face turned away from Natsuko to keep his blushing cheeks from her sight. Nothing happened aside from a push on the swing and a ride on the merry-go-round. The difference was that the normal push on a swing ended in the most unusual way…
"Don't push me so high, I don't like heights." Natsuko noted.
"Whatever," Masaharu replied and pushed her, easy at first, then higher she went.
"Masaharu! I-I--"
"It's a damn swing! You couldn't possibly get hurt."
"I just don't want to go high," she whimpered.
He blinked at how scared she was and walked in front of the swings so she could see him. Holding out his arms he said, "Jump."
"Just stop me!"
"Jump." He said again.
"I don't want to," she rose her shoulders so they covered her ears.
"Then stay on that swing."
"Masaharu!" she cried and tried to stop herself. Stretching out her left leg, her foot scraped against the ground and her shoe came off. "M-Masaharu!"
"Oh please," he crossed his arms, "you can't possibly be THAT scared of heights…"
There wasn't a reply; she was desperately trying to get herself off of that swing. Sure enough, Masaharu slowed the swing to a stop. Natsuko blushed furiously at her own fear and hopped on one foot to retrieve her shoe. As if reading her mind, Masaharu said, "It's okay to be scared about something. You're not Superwoman."
Natsuko sat down on the merry-go-round and pulled her shoe onto her foot. "Are you Superman?"
"Well," he smirked. That little question sparked the Ishida ego. "I could be."
Natsuko giggled, "Sure you can."
"Why can't I be?" he asked, nearly in a chuckle. Pushing the merry-go-round, he then jumped onto it and sat down on the metal bars. Natsuko was sitting in the center.
"Because if you're Superman," she said, "then you can fly and all that jazz."
Masaharu looked up at the blue sky, "Does flying in dreams count?"
"Silly, you can do anything in dreams. You can even decapitate your head and then sew it back on."
"Then I'm Superman."
"Then I'm Superwoman."
"Strange conversations we have."
"…Very strange."
"Ever wonder about the world? What's going to happen to it in ten, fifteen years?"
Natsuko tilted her head up and gazed and the spinning clouds. "I think some big fiasco is going to happen that'll change the peoples' perspective."
"And I'd be right there catching all the action," Masaharu grinned.
"I wonder," she pondered, more to herself than to anyone else, "if I do have kids… I wonder what they'd be like."
"I bet they'd be smart," he answered.
Natsuko smiled faintly, "I could imagine a miniature you showing up late for class and yet you still pull off straight A's."
"Nah, I'd raise my kid to go to school on time."
"Surprise, surprise."
"Funny."
The girl ran her fingers through her shortened golden-brown hair and then looked up at Masaharu. "Wouldn't that be strange if we…"
"Gah!" Masaharu shrieked and fell backwards off of the merry-go-round. A soft thud sounded his land. Natsuko crawled to the end of the metal and looked down. Every few seconds, she would pass him and he would have a bright red face.
"Forget about it," he said after a few minutes.
"Why?" she asked, obviously disappointed from his reaction.
He blinked and rubbed his head. "Because we're not compatible?"
Natsuko played with her hair for a little longer and sighed, "I guess you're right. What time is it?"
"Two thirty."
"Maybe we should go home now?"
"I guess."
Natsuko pulled herself off of the merry-go-round and straightened her skirt. Nothing was said while they walked out of the park. As they neared their own neighborhood, their speed decreased and conversation grew dim.
"It was actually fun today," Natsuko said, brushing off a few dirt spots on her friend's back.
"I guess."
"You've been saying that a lot."
"So?"
"Never mind." She sighed and turned onto her street. "This is goodbye?"
"You're acting as if we'd never see each other again. There's school tomorrow, too, you know."
She tilted her head towards the ground and stared hard at a small rock in the middle of the street. "I know."
"Then why are you so sentimental about today?"
"Because a lot of things happened to me that I never would have done on my own."
"I didn't force you to come along."
"But I went."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Not at all."
Masaharu blinked and shifted his sight on that same rock. "Yeah well, I had fun too. I guess."
"I knew you were going to add an 'I guess' at the end."
"You did not."
"Did so!"
"Are you Miss Psychic now?"
"No, I'm just observant."
"You'd be a great reporter."
Natsuko tucked her hair behind her ears and looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she held out her hand.
"Sure," Masaharu grinned and took her hand in his. Just as she was about to pull back, he firmly gripped her hand and pulled her close. With a simple kiss on the lips, he then turned and walked his way.
"We are compatible, you know," she called.
"I guess," he called back. Natsuko smiled to herself and turned to walk home for the end of her day. Once she got home, she sat through the hour of scolding and discipline; she went to bed without eating her dinner; and she stared out the window with a grin on her face. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.
Takaishi Natsuko sat in front of her computer with a newspaper in hand. Her eyes scanned the article titled "Commemorate Good Memories" and her lips curled into a smile.
"Hey Mom!" her son, Takeru, dashed into her bedroom. "I'm going to school now, I have to beat Miyako and Hikari today." He gave the Ishida chuckle that he inherited from his father and waved to his mother. When she heard the door shut, she turned to look back at the newspaper.
"History Repeats," she read the title of the new article. Natsuko tilted her head up and wondered. "Nah," she whispered, "Takeru's a nice kid…"
"Come on, Miyako!" Yagami Hikari laughed as she ran down the streets, "we're going to be late!"
"It's not my fault you wanted to find your hair clip!" Miyako yelled as they sprinted down the walkway. Hikari turned to run into the playground of Odaiba Elementary and… BAM! She bumped into a tall boy.
"Ouch!" she wailed and looked up. Takeru was looking down at her.
"I beat you," he smirked.
"Oh, shut up," she said. Takeru helped her to her feet and handed his friend her math book.
"At least I wasn't late."
"Uh," he waited a few seconds, "now you are."
Hikari's eyes widened as the bell rang. "You sneak!" she laughed and chased Takeru into the school building.
The end, the beginning, or the middle of a teenage memory?
Eh, no further comment I suppose. Oh yeah, review please. Thanks for reading.