A/N
Reminder:
"See You Later..." is regular.
"See You Later..." is like a caption. For example, those boxes of words in manga.
"'See You Later...'" is thought. It's mostly Ritsu's POV, so there's not much thinking, unless it's Third Person POV.
And the lines is mostly like a scenery change. I apologize in advanced for grammar mistakes and slight confusions.
Ritsu's P.O.V.
I was drowning in feelings that I didn't know the name for
It was finally the first day of my second year of high school here at Sakura High. Chatters spread all over the campus.
"What class are you in?" Those words are the most common this morning.
I blocked out the noises as I looked for my name throughout the board of classes filled with hundreds of names. Well actually, I just looked for my name under the junior classes. No need for freshmen and seniors. I had my index finger synchronize with my eyes as I looked.
After a minute of searching in three classes, I finally found it.
"Tainaka Ritsu! Class 3!" I said brightly.
I hear my friends speak to me in surprise.
"No way?! You too Ritsu?! Gah...Class 3 is going to be so noisy..." Yui said humorously and giggled. That's not true.
"Hey! You always join up with me!" Nevermind, it is true.
To be honest, I've been titled as the 'loud' one in class. I'd yawn out loud, randomly state my opinion and a huge argument would start by this know-it-all jerk named Daiso Kimoko. We all call him Kimo-chan just to annoy him like he annoys us. Anyway, most of the time, I'd bang on my desk and books with my drumstick or pencil. Not that I'm in a music club or anything. Sometimes, one of my friends, Yui, would join me and take put her ukulele out of her bag and start playing and singing (don't ask me how she can fit a ukulele in a bag, I don't know myself. Others would watch us in amusement, others would just ignore us and get on with work (*ahem* Kimo-chan). Most of our teachers would join the class and watch but others would yell at us. Not that it will stop our wonderful playing!
Mugi laughed along. "Only having to see Ritsu in club would be fine with me."
"Eh?! What was that!?" I said offensively. I lightly karate-chopped their heads as their punishment! They played along until a few other students spoke up from a distance.
"Oh, did you see the bulletin board? Even Akiyama-san is in Class 3!" One guy said excitedly.
But the other guy sounded jealous."Are you serious!?"
"I'm lucky! Those girls in Class 3...I can see them everyday!"
"Aww! I want to be in Class 3, too..."Then they walked away towards the school building.
I have no idea what they were talking about. But I know it's about someone in my class.
"Eh?" Yui and Mugi looked at Class 3's class list on the board.
"Akiyama...That's Akiyama Mio?" Mugi spoke up.
"Geh...She's in Class 3..." Yui said in a little annoyance.
How come everyone knows this girl? "Um...Who's Akiyama Mio?"
From there, they both stayed silent.
I looked at the seating chart that was hung at the back door of the class and saw who I sat next to.
Akiyama Mio.
She was right across from me front the room with a beautiful profile view.
"Cute~"
"This class is lucky..." I heard some guys say.
I thought she was a beautiful girl. She has pretty straight, long, black hair and attractive gray-blue eyes. And I'm sitting beside her. How come she's so quiet...? I heard some students say that the problem isn't her face, it's her character. I don't quite get it but I want to meet her.
"Um...I'm Tainaka Ritsu! Nice to meet you!" I tried to say casually.
No response. The girl is just sitting there with her chin rested on her right hand as she was reading a book. Did she not here me..?
Okay, let's try this again. I quickly cleared my throat. Man, am I quite nervous to talk to her. "Well, n-nice to meet you..."
Akiyama Mio finally turned to face me. Did it work?
"I'm reading. Can't you be quiet?" The raven-haired girl said in a stoic voice. She then went back to reading her book.
Apparently not.
surprised, I started at her blankly, trying to process what she just said.
"S-sorry..." I mumbled.
"Wow...Akiyama-san should've been more polite! Such horrible manners..." Yui said hatefully.
"Are are~, Don't get too mad about it. Ricchan, do you have anything to say?" Mugi said so calmly.
I scratched the back of my head. "Er...No..It's just suprising, that's all." I chuckled.
"Just ignore that girl, Ricchan. Everyone's just tempted by a pretty face," the brown-haired girl, Yui, told me in an even more hateful voice.
"Hey, Yui, want to go to the café today?" I thank Mugi for changing the topic for me.
I leaned against the window as I leaned my cheek on my left hand.
I get it. She's popular. I looked around the view and saw two figures. A boy and a girl. As I looked closely, the boy has blonde hair. It's hard to see the girl, since her back was faced me, but she has black hair. I watched the scene as they faced each other. I couldn't here anything but I can understand by the guy's actions. He was scratching his head. Then suddenly, he turned around and kind of slumped. After, he walked away. The girl slightly turned and found out that it was Akiyama Mio. The pretty girl who sat by me.
Was it a confession or not?
Yet somehow I became lost in a world of questions.
I heard a conversation yesterday. I heard one of the girls say that they talked to a senpai named Kaiyu. The other girls said that he was really cool. Seems like the girl who talked to Kaiyu-senpai probably like him, right?
Everyone falls in love and then they are shining.
Tainaka Ritsu. Shining 2nd year student.
Unfortunately...I'm still far away from such thing.
Love. I wonder what kind of feeling that will be...
I yawned silently. Gah! I'm so tired.
"Yo, Tainaka!" One of my classmates said.
"Don't be so formal by saying my last name..." I replied in a drumpy tone.
"A magnificent yawn you got there. Opening your mouth for nothing. Are you a fish now?" Nozomi-sensei said.
The class laughed.
I scratched the back of my head. "Sorry. Sensei's lessons are very good," I said lazily.
"I guess that was a lie." The class laughed again.
I ignored everything and leaned my cheek on my right hand. I looked at the raven-haired girl. She's basically ignoring everything...
"I've been sleepy all 5th period. I guess Akiyama-san has been alright," I mumbled to myself.
She's just so beautiful. Shining under the sun like a sunflower.
I gazed down at her desk. Looks like she's been taking the time unlike me who has nothing on my desk.
Something caught my eye that was sitting at the corner of her desk near me. An eraser. Not just any eraser. A pig eraser.
"Wah! Is that Akiyama-san's eraser? IT'S SO CUTE~!" I squealed.
I snatched it off her desk and examined it.
"Hey...Give it..." I heard her say.
"What? I'm looking..." The eraser was so cute! But I took it not because I like it...
"Akiyama-san uses something like this...It's suprising...I also want one..." I chuckled.
"GIVE IT BACK!" The raven-haired girl yelled coldly. It startled not just me, but the class.
I gulped. "Sorry...I'll give it back." I gently placed the pig eraser back to where I got it. After, she went back to her notes and started writing.
That...That was...
"What am I doing? I shouldn't concern myself with this girl," I spoke to myself as I changed to my uniform in the Girls Softball Club's changing room. "Akiyama-san doesn't take jokes well at all...Well, that was my fault."
"I'm heading out to practice, Tainaka!" My friend, Akane, told me.
"Tsk. I keep telling you to stop calling me by my last name, Akane!"
"Eh~! But it's fun saying it! Tai-naka~! Tai~Na~Ka~!" She sang playfully.
"Whatever. See you at the field."
I put on my hat and grabbed one of my softballs after I finished changing.
For what reason does she avoid people...
I spotted Mio at the shoe locker and I hid behind of the lockers to see what she was doing. Suddenly, I see two guys and one of them snapped a picture of her and they tried to run away. Ugh, these kind of things always makes me pissed off. I lowered my hat to hide my identity.
I ran in front of Mio. "Here..." I threw my softball at the guy who took the picture.
"Ack!" He fell and his friend jumped.
I walked up to them and smiled. They both stuttered and gulped when they saw me. " I may not be that girly, but I don't have bad habits of guys."
"Hey-"
"Delete the picture."
The guy quickly deleted the picture and the two boys ran away.
I sighed. "Geez. People shouldn't take pictures of others without the person's permission."
"Who are you?" I hear a soft voice behind me.
I turned around and took of my hat. "Ah, I'm sorry. It was just me!"
"Hey, Ritsu! Practice is starting!" One of the softball club's member waved to me at the exit.
I put my hat back on. "Forgive me for taking you eraser today. Well, it's starting now. I'm in the softball club. Ja ne~, Aki─Mio!" I dashed off to practice, leaving the girl behind.
As the pitcher threw the ball at lighting speed, I let the bat on my hands do all the work. I just watched the ball. As it got closer and closer, I swung the bat almost at my full strength and hit a home run.
"Ah, it's high!" Some of them said.
"Run!"
Third Person P.O.V.
"As expected! Hitting like a boy!" Akane boastfully said.
The brunette pouted. "I'm a girl you know!"
Eri shook her head. "Noo...You seem more masculine than that, Tainaka!"
"Eri! You too!? I'm a girl and you guys stop calling me by Tainaka! It's Ritsu! R-I-T-S-U! Ritsuuu~!"
Akane and Eri laughed and started to tease the brunette even more.
From a distance, a raven-haired girl silently watched the three girls laugh nd have fun.
The raven-haired girl heard a voice behind her.
"Hey...Akiyama Mio. Come 'ere."
She turned around and found three girls, not the girls she was watching, that was taller and was either seniors of from the other junior classes.
'Man..I broke a good sweat today!' the brunette thought as she wiped a her face with a small towel.
"You're seriously such an eyesore," a voice said in a vicious tone.
The brunette turned her head to where she heard the voice. She then saw three girls in front a raven-haired girl.
Mio!
Ritsu's P.O.V.
Why is Mio with those girls? Bullies?
"What was that? Gazing like a girlfriend at him," the girl in front said viciously.
"You stupid girl. Say something," another said.
Mio stood there with no emotion. "That...I never had the intention to come across like that. Your boyfriend approached me of his own accord earlier. Yet, you hold a grudge against me."
That seemed to piss off the girl in front.
"That's-!" The girl quickly raised her hand and swung it to hit Mio's face. I immediately rushed towards them and gladly made it in time. I grabbed the hand that almost hit Mio.
"Wh-who are you!?" The girl stuttered.
"S-since when did that 2nd year ace in softball..." One of the girls behind her gasped. I smirked at them.
"In a test of strength, I am sure not to lose." I paused. I looked into the girls' eyes one by one and lowered my tone. "Even against all three of you."
The girls seemed to pull back her arm, so I let go and three girls stepped back. I looked up at them. "Do you want me to start-up a fight?"
The three girls finally walked away, mumbling and whispering to each other.
"I didn't ask for you to save me," the raven-haired girl told me.
I looked at her. She looked away. I grinned. "I didn't need to be asked. I saved you because I wanted to. I can't stand it when people are getting hurt."
I put my hands on my waist. "Hey...Don't you like guys?"
"No way!" She quickly replied.
I flinched and kind of hugged myself, eyes wide in shock.
"I don't even look at them!" I found her trembling. "I dislike what men are...The way they stare at me only makes me feel disgust for them. Every guy that has ever come near me..." She looked up at me. "They were all trouble-some jerks!"
She stopped talking. I waited for a moment for her to continue, but she didn't. She breathed heavily and put her right hand on her forehead.
"A-Akiyama-san?"
I brought her to the nearest comfortable spot and had her sit down next to the tree. She had her handkerchief cover her mouth. Is she sick? She doesn't seem like it. She'd be absent if she were.
"Hey, are you okay? Would you like some of my tea?" I extended my hand at her, holding a bottle of green tea, but she looked away. I guess not.
She leaned on the tree, still not facing me. "I'm waiting on my anemia. When I blow up like that, I sometimes get dizzy..."
I sat down next to her but kept my distance. I bent my right leg up, leaving my left relax on the ground. I used my left arm to support my body as I drank. "I see...Sorry. Probably because of the things I said."
White skin, a nice face, and on top of that...
Delicate.
This girl is as if she is from a painting.
"I guess...I'm just jealous of everyone. Akiyama-san is cute. And that's why she is popular with the boys." I drank on my tea again and sheepishly grinned at her. "I'm not in the 'popular group' at all, so that's why I'm jealous."
"It's horrible." She brushed her hand against her lips. "I...Boys are useless."
What does she mean?
"In the past, bad things happened. Bad things..." She then put her hand on her left eye and took a deep breath.
"I see..." That's all I can say. Why would people do bad things to such beautiful girl? That's just...not right. Right now, I just want to hug and comfort her, but...I don't know if she'll allow me.
"When I don't talk...Then I don't notice them so much."
No wonder she doesn't talk to anyone...
"Ritsu! More practice!" I hear my friends yell at me from the field.
". . ."
I stood up, walked in front of Mio, hand on my knees bending a little, and looked at her. I smiled just how elegant she looks. "Okay, Mio, we're classmates...We shoud really talk more! If there is anything bothering you...You can talk to me anytime. I'll call you by your first name and do the same for me, too, 'kay?" I set down my tea next to her. "Ja ne~, Mio!"
Everyone...Is just jealous...
The raven-haired girl held the bottle of tea that's half empty. She looked at the cap and remembered the brunette drank from the same bottle. She then drank from the bottle and smiled.
'I...somehow feel safe and calm when I'm with her', the girl thought.
As girls and boys chatted with each other and did their morning greeting sat the shoe lockers, I stared at the little item in my locker.
"Ricchan, what is it? Are you looking at something in your locker?" I hear Yui say. All I could do was nod.
A note that says, "Thank you for yesterday" was attached to an eraser identical to Mio's from the other day. I smiled widely.
"It's that eraser!" Was all I can say for now.
"Mio!" I finally found her as I was on my way to class, looking for her. She turned back and looked at me with that same look from all the other days: emotionless. "U-um! Thank you for the eraser!" She just looked at me, not saying anything. "M-Mio...?" I grinned.
I wrapped my right arm around her, as if I was hugging her. "So cute!"
"H-hey! Don't do that..." She told me softly.
"Akiyama-san is cute..." the first guy said.
"The lines of her body are..." the second guy spoke after.
The raven-haired girl was wearing her P.E. Clothes and was looking at the basketball on her hands. She simply wore the PE jacket, shorts, and rubber shoes with socks that reached just below her knees. Her hair was tied up, only leaning her bangs hanging.
I glared at the two boys in front of me that was peaking at the girl.
"You idiot, quick get a picture!"
"Roger," the second guy replied, holding his phone.
I cleared my throat. (imagine the rest if you may)
I entered the gym as soon as I got rid of the two idiots. I wore my yellow headband, and wrapped my jacket on my waist.
"Ah! Mio is here! Sensei wants us to pair up into groups of two!" I said loudly, which a few students gave me a weird look.
"W-who are you?" The raven-haired girl took a step back when I got close to her.
"What?! It's me, Mio! It's Ritsu! Tainaka Ritsu!" I pouted. "I can't believe you don't recognize the Great Ritsu," I mumbled.
She giggled. She giggled?
I stared at her. Mouth slightly open. "Oh. My. Gosh. You just laughed!"
"I did? Sorry, Tainaka-san..."
"No, don't be sorry! Remember, I told you to call me by my first name!" I put my hands on my waist and grinned at her. "We're friends after all!"
During class break, I decided to do a few of my math homework.
'God, this problem is tricky...' I thought and glanced at the raven-haired girl who sat next to me. She seems to have no problems with her work. She notebook is filled with numbers and problems...
I looked at my notebook. What do I have there? Not a lot.
I sighed. I suddenly saw a hand scribble on my notebook.
"Here, this way," Mio said.
"Woah! Amazing~" I was surprised how she can easily solve these problems. "You're a genius, Mio! I would have never..."
"This was freshmen stuff..."
Deadpanned. How can I NOT do freshmen work?
She went back to her seat, closed her notebook, and looked out the window, her cheek sat on her left hand.
I smiled at her.
Little by little...
I was becoming accustomed to her.
"Ah!" I stumbled upon the raven-haired girl after school in front of the infirmary. "Mio, watcha doing here?" I winced and felt a little pain on my left hand.
She noticed and looked at my hand. "...What..."
I softly laughed. "I injured my hand during club." I sighed. "The nurse wasn't here so I gave up and decided to head back."
". . ."
"OWWW! It stings! It stings! Mio! Hold on a moment!" Pain shot not just my hand but my whole body. She was putting alcohol on my hand.
"You're over reacting," she said.
I violently shook my open arm from all the pain, not that it helps. "Over reacting!? What─ OWWWW! It stings! It stings! Be more gentle!"
She finished putting the alcohol and blew on it.
"Mio, you seem to know about treating this stuff..." I told her as I calmed down. She's so pro at this!
"My mom is a doctor," she replied calmly.
"You're kidding!" I was shocked.
"And so...I guess that's why blood doesn't bother me."
I just looked at her. "Oh...I'm sure because you're treating this...There will be a crazy storm tomorrow! Hehe..."
"What's that have to do with this?" she muttered.
I scratched the back of my head and grinned sheepishly. She started wrapping my hand with an ace bandage. "Uh, anyways...My hand is huge...Right?" I laughed nervously. "This hand is embarrassingly boyish."
I took the wrong turn.
"I don't like it. It's big," she continued as he is finishing up wrapping my hand. "and this hand bothers me." She looked at me. And I looked at her with a nervous look.
Surprise attack, Ritsu...
I was really surprised...
I stepped in class and found the raven-haired girl seated who was reading.
"Mio, thank you for yesterday! My cut doesn't hurt at all!" I put on my usual grin.
"Really?"
I sat down on my chair. "Yep! I want to treat you to crepes today as a thank you! Today is a break from club, so won't you go with me?"
She looked at me for a while. The nodded.
"Yay!"
I'm glad. I'm glad I can finally do something with Mio together.
A/N
"Ja ne" means "See you" or "See you later" in English, in case you didn't know.
The story is only based on Ritsu and Mio. It will mostly be Ritsu's POV, if you haven't noticed. So, Yui and Mugi's attitude and personality is a bit different. Also, Ritsu seems to be less hyperactive and I apologize for that.
Sorry if you're waiting on You and I. I've been writing other stories and I don't have a lot of time with fan fictions because of school work. And I need to find some inspiration to keep writing You and I.
Thank you for reading this and reviews will be appreciated. (:
~sumiiko