"Fine then... I'll LEAVE!"
The man gave her one last glare before slamming the door shut. His force and strength, which only moments before had threatened her wellbeing caused a pale blue vase, on the nearly shelf, to move slightly before cascading to the floor.
She didn't know what it was inside of her that caused her to be so passive sometimes. She could be so cold, even to her friends. He was asking her to be his special person! She should have been happy shouldn't she? Although, she didn't know what that meant exactly... They were already in a relationship; Boyfriend and Girlfriend. What was he asking from her? What did he want?
She crouched down onto the floor resting her chin on her bent knees. The usual, she thought. That's what they all want. Yet, she still lets herself be carried away by their compliments on her complexion and her figure, their silly and cheesy chat-up lines and the party tricks they do to impress her. Maybe, it was always the threat of being alone that caused her to act this way; the family problems that had tormented her in the past and now the fear of her friends abandoning her to be in their own happy relationships.
A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye. She quickly wiped it away almost instinctively. A second and a third came flooding down her cheeks. Unable to control them any longer, she buried her head in her knees and sobbed.
Another door in the room burst open.
"THERE YOU ARE! WHY the HELL did you think you could let that man inside school premis-"
Pin looked down to see Ayane's bloodshot tear-ridden gaze. He let go of his hold on the door and gingerly returned his hand back to his side. It took a moment for her to fully comprehend what had just happened. Pin of all people had found her crying her eyes out.
Oh god.
She could feel her cheeks getting hotter and hotter as each second passed. Her eyes pulled away from his stare and positioned themselves on the pieces of broken vase scattered across the opposite side of the room. Why wasn't he saying anything, she wondered. It normally didn't take long for him to make up a smart remark. He loved the sound of his own voice, after all.
Suddenly, she felt a brief gentle grip on her shoulder. She turned to see the spiky redhead sat down beside her. "You know, you don't have to always bottle your feelings up. Your friends are meant to be there for you through the good times and the bad."
She cleared her throat and hesitantly replied:
"They have got better things, better people, to be worrying about."
Her voice was quiet and croaky in comparison to his. Ayane sighed then bit her lip. It was strange that whenever she had a problem on her mind, she ended up bumping into him. Despite his arrogance and stupidity, occasionally he had good advice and when she was upset he knew exactly the right thing to say...
"You're just as important."
Ayane's eyes opened wide in surprise. If she wasn't blushing before, she certainly was now. Nobody had ever said that to her before. Not her family. Not any of her past boyfriends. Not even Chizu or Sawako. The annoying thing was... she knew that he meant it.
She was important. A slight grin appeared on her patchy red face.She turned to look into his slate- coloured shimmering eyes once again but he was already standing up to leave.
'Wait!' she cried, rushing to stand up.
He turned his head back to look at her. He was confused. Had he said something wrong? He was only her teacher but one of his responsibilities was to make sure all his students were happy and cared for... but she was different, he knew that.
His thoughts were interrupted but the sudden feeling of her body in his arms. She tightly wrapped her arms around his neck pulling his hunched body closer, resting her head on his baggy red t-shirt.
The difference in height was causing quite a few problems, even standing on her tip toes didn't seem to even to minimise the difference. Pin awkwardly wrapped his arms across her back lifting her up slightly. That solved the problem. Unbeknownst to the other, smiles spread across each of the couple's faces. The whole situation seemed ridiculous to both of them but it was pleasant all the same.
After a few seconds, Pin lowered Ayane back down. As soon as her feet reached the floor the two sprang apart. What did she just do? And to a teacher, no less!
"ermm...Thank you...err..for the talk I mean.", she spluttered, staring at the floor.
"You'rreee...you're welcome." He too, was staring at the same spot on the floor.
'Well, I better go find Chizu and Sawako.' She quickly uttered, briefly glancing at the teacher opposite who had suddenly taken a huge interest in his dust-covered shoelaces. She made her way to the doorway, the same one that he not long before had nearly destroyed upon entering. Just as she was about to leave, Pin called out:
"Two weeks detention."
WHAT? For hugging a teacher! She knew that it was exactly normal but-
"You broke a vase and led a stranger into school premises, after all."
Oh, so that's what he meant. She couldn't help but grin as she walked away.
"Looking forward to it!" she shouted back.
As she ran down the corridor, a thought crossed her mind; she's going to be alone with him, after school, for two whole weeks.
Oh no.
His smug face looking down over her whilst she's studying:
"Romeo and Juliet died? That's strange I thought they hugged."
Oh no.
That mischievous smirk that alarms the world that he knows something that could be used as blackmail over her.
Oh no.
She walked past the window. She saw; Chizu, Ryu, Sawako and Shota all sat in a circle below a cherry blossom having a picnic. The couples were chatting and giggling between taking bites of food, which presumably Sawako had made.
Another thought crossed Ayane's mind; perhaps relationships weren't all that bad, you just had to find the right person.