Enjoy~

Unconventional Inconvenience

A Marui Bunta Story

Marui Bunta was a popular student.

Good looks, smart, amazing tennis player, up-beat~ many people loved him; especially the female gender. Which is why, he has the rights to proudly declare that he has his own fan club in school.

Everyday at school, he would be hounded by groups of girls all pining for his devoted attention, crowded by them at lunch, each with their own set of home-made lunch boxes and candies. Sanada did not receive such open enthusiasm about him due to his strict attitude. And Yukimura was so fragile-physically wise, of course- that his own portion of fans were afraid that they might accidentally send him back to the hospital with their love-filled acts, ending with their heads beheaded by a ferocious Sanada. Out of all the groups of fangirls that each Rikkai tennis regular has, Marui Bunta's group was probably the most open, enthusiastic, and forward with their devotion- mainly due to his accepting nature of them.

And so, it was a common scene to witness Marui Bunta hounded by girls in the morning, surrounded by them at lunch, and being sent off like a king at the end of the day.

It was a convention basically. Tradition to the school for the past years now, originating from Middle School and now into High School.

Today was no different. Marui Bunta was enjoying the attention of his fans, stuffing himself full without shame with their offerings. But today, something occurred that has never occurred before, in all his years of kingship.

Someone ate his food.

"Ahhhh! Ishimaru!!!" One of the girls screamed. Marui blinked at his suddenly empty hands, before looking up to see a girl sucking her index finger- which tastes of his strawberry mochi probably still lingered.

The girl did not even look guilty or ashamed about taking his food and eating it! She merely just blinked back at the girl who screamed at her, the one who made the mochi. And all she said was, "It's too sweet", before pivoting on her foot and walking out of the classroom with a slight sway in her steps.

"Marui-kun! I'm so sorry about that! I'll bring more for you tomorrow." Rinko turned to him, a downcast look on her face as she stared at the empty box that once contained the last piece of mochi. Marui's attention was still focused on the door which that weird girl left through, and he merely uttered a simple "It's alright."

Rinko's friends patted her on the shoulders, giving words of comfort to the saddened girl. "Just what was Ishimaru thinking?!" One of them, Asuka, cried, stamping her foot on the ground in anger.

From his side and still with a full bento in her hands, Yura answered. "You know her. That girl really isn't right in the head."

Marui raised an eyebrow at that. "Who was she?" He had never seen her around before.

"Ishimaru Kumiko. She's a new student this year. She has been sitting in the back of the class you know…" One girl answered from amidst the rest.

"Heeeh~" Marui mused, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I never noticed her."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Don't bother with her. She's pretty much weird all out anyways, so it's no surprise you never noticed." Someone else giggled and joked, "Or more like, surprising, that he never noticed, what with her behavior and all."

"Don't say that about Marui-sama!!" A more open devotee to him wailed.

"But Marui-san, what are you going to do?" Yura asked, looking at him with her huge eyes.

Marui looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean what I'm going to do?"

"She's sinned against you Marui-sama! You can't let her get away with it unscathed!!" That same slightly insane devotee cried again. Marui just shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. It was just one mochi. Rinko-chan can make more, cant she?"

At this, Rinko gave out a small squeal of delight, nodding her head feverishly at him. "I'll make more for you by this Friday!"

"Thanks."

And so, everything returned to normal once again in Rikkai's Worship-Marui-Bunta-Convention.

One weird girl can't possibly mess things up.

It was another normal day in Rikkaidai.

Normal to Marui Bunta anyways. To outsiders of the school, seeing a boy with a mop of bright maroon hair with a horde of girls behind him wasn't exactly normal.

But it was not normal to see Rinko-bless that sweet girl- with tears rushing down her face and screaming at someone else. That someone being that same Ishimaru girl from the other day.

"What is wrong with you?!" Rinko screamed, fists clenched in front of her as her usually cheerful eyes set down in a heated glare at a apathetic Kumiko.

"I don't know…what is wrong with you?" Kumiko replied. But Marui's sharp eyes (due to his tennis) noted that Kumiko flinched slightly at her own answer, placing a hand over her mouth in shock. "S-sorry…I-"

"Me?!! You pushed me!!" Rinko accused, shoving Kumiko. Asuka stood by her friend, and glared at Kumiko as well, not bothering to hold back Rinko as she lashed out at the now frightened girl. "Look what you did to the mochi I made for Marui-kun!!" The angered girl pointed at a silver box, smashed against the ground, its contents oozing out of the crooks of the box.

Kumiko was silent as she looked down at the destroyed food, fingers absently wringing around her wrists. She suddenly poked out a foot and nudged the food.

"What are you doing?!!" Rinko screeched, shocking Kumiko out of her reverie, and pushed her once again, effectively causing the girl to crash back against the locker.

Students around the scene just stood there, watching the scene unfold in front of them in interest. This was probably really exciting and new to them, as they've never seen Rinko get so mad before, and because hardly anything exciting happens around Rikkaidai these days.

Marui decided that it was time for him to step in and stop this before it escalates, and he gets into trouble as well- seeing as this happened partly because of him. "Hey now-," he began, but before he could say anything crucial, a teacher arrived on the scene.

"What's going on here?" Mrs. Yukita asked, looking around at the students and the scene before her with a stern glare.

Asuka instantly pointed at Kumiko. "She pushed Rinko-chan!"

Mrs. Yukita turned to Kumiko, a frown on her face as she looked at the lost girl. "Is this true?"

"I…." Kumiko started, but couldn't finish. She didn't know what to say.

The teacher sighed in exasperation. "Ishimaru-san, please report yourself to my office this instant." She stepped up to the tears wracked Rinko, and placed an arm around her, escorting her out of the place to somewhere more quiet where she could calm down. "Marui-san."

Marui erected to attention."Hai?"

"Please make sure Ishimaru-san gets to my office, and that she does not run away until I have returned."

"Hai, Yukita-sensei."

Marui watched her hobble away with Rinko sobbing, briefly wondering why he has to escort the delinquent to her office.

Asuka rolled her eyes and answered his unvoiced question. "It's because she ran way the last time she had to report there." Asuka glared once more at Kumiko, stalking away with a huff. "What a freak."

Seeing as the drama as ended, the students started to shuffle away along their way, returning back to their usual lunch time routine; not a single one of them approached Kumiko who just stood there silently, while a few muttered several words of pity to Marui.

Marui shook his head, before turning to the girl by the slightly dented locker. Wow, he didn't know Rinko packed that much force. "Come on, let's go."

She nodded without a word, without looking at him, merely keeping her gaze on the ground.

The squashed mochi was left there in the hallway, till the janitor cleaned it up afterschool.

Marui walked ahead of the girl, occasionally glancing back to see that she was still following him and not escaping.

They walked on like this in silence through the school grounds and towards the teacher's building on the other side. It was definitely awkward, seeing as the dispute was over the mochi made for him, and she was its destroyer. Not to mention she ate his mochi the other day too….

Was she out to get Rinko or something?

"I'm sorry."

Marui stopped in his tracks and turned around bewildered. The girl just apologized? He stood there, hands in his pockets, staring at the girl who stood several feet away from him, her gaze downcast.

"I didn't mean it."

His mouth ran before he could think. "If you didn't mean it, why did you do it?" Marui flinched internally at the tone of his voice. It was sarcastic, and laced with venom. He didn't hate the girl, oh no. Marui did not hate people. He just got back at them….sometimes with the help of a certain Trickster.

But he said what he said, in the tone that he used- so there wasn't much he can do if he had hurt her feelings. He wasn't the one at fault anyways. He was about to continue on their way when her soft voice suddenly drifted back into his ears.

"I don't know."

Lost.

….and confused.

That was how she sounded, when she whispered those words to him that day.

Marui sat in his seat in the classroom, listening to the teacher prattle away about the laws of thermodynamics and what not, his hands twirling his black pen about expertly.

Out of boredom and slight curiosity, he glanced behind him to see if any of the other students are paying attention, other than the star-students sitting at the first few front rows.

Despite himself, he caught Kumiko sitting in her own corner by the window, staring into space and pulling at a lock of her hair. Her lips were parted slightly, and her eyes clouded whilst she stared out at the tree by the window. Marui's gaze went to the window, but he could not find anything interesting there that might enrapture the girl's attention as so.

He turned back to the front, quickly pretending to be paying attention before the teacher caught him. 'She definitely is weird.'

But he can't help but let out a small smile when the girl was called forth by a very angry science teacher, and punished to afterschool bug picking.

However, he had not intended to be there when she was subjected to the punishment. It was a Monday, so like every other Mondays, he had afterschool tennis practice. Rikkaidai's high school division did not excel at tennis by being lazy buggers.

Moments after emerging from the changing room, he realized he left his gum in his school locker. He could not go on without his gum! And so, the othersleft without him whilst he left for his prized bubblegum.

But it was when he was heading towards the school gates that he had come by the soccer field, where Kumiko is to be picking the 8 bugs required of her by the science teacher (he was probably going to subject them to cruel experimentations). And here it was that he saw Asuka with several other girls surrounding the girl on the field, under the scorching sun.

He approached them, slightly worried as to what that hot-headed Asuka might do, and worried about the very alien girl.

"So if you ever hurt Rinko-chan again, I swear I won't let you off easy!" Asuka stated, hands on her hips, amber eyes set in a tight glare on the girl sitting on the grassy field.

Marui saw Kumiko open her mouth to say something, then seemed to hesitate and closed it, before opening it back again. "As if you can hurt a bug, oni[1]!" Kumiko shouted, before abruptly clapping her hands over her mouth.

Asuka bristled like a cat with its tail stepped on, and she lunged at the girl. "Why you-!!"

Marui rushed in, quickly grabbing the growling girl around her arms. "Oi,oi! Calm down, Asuka!"

"Calm down?! She called me an oni!!" Asuka yelled, pulling against Marui's hold. If Marui did not attend tennis practice regularly and had been doing so for the past several years, Asuka would had gotten free of him by now, because man, this girl packed a lot of punch in her.

Marui grunted as he pulled her back again, trying another attempt to stop her from maiming Kumiko. "If the teachers find out that you bodily harmed Ishimaru, you'd be expelled!"

At this, Asuka gave out a disdainful sniff before ceasing her struggle. Her girl friends seemed slightly disappointed that she did not give Kumiko a black eye.

Batting away his hands, Asuka gave one last glare at Kumiko, her tone warning. "I don't care if you're naturally an alien, but you better watch what you do from now on!" She left the field with her friends cheering and complaining about her.

Marui sighed in both relief and annoyance as she left. Relieved that things did not get out of hand, and annoyed at Kumiko's lack of self preservation.

He turned to the girl, crossing his arms and stared down at her angrily. "Just what do you think you were doing?!" How many times have he heard this sentence addressed to the girl now?

Kumiko blinked up at him, shrugging before bending close the ground.

Marui groaned in frustration at her lack of response, dropping to the ground next to her, angry lavender eyes on her, willing her to answer. But she did not answer and merely continued searching for bugs in the nearly spotless field.

Patience running low, he tried again. "Oi! I said, what were you thinking-" He was cut off by that very same answer she gave days ago.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know what you were doing?!"

She did not reply again. She just continued with her bug hunting. Marui watched her for a few moments, before deciding that the sun was starting to toast him like roasted pork. "Oi.., if you stay out any longer, you'd get heat stroke."

She ignored him and continued with her business.

Giving up, Marui stood and headed to the benches, where there were shelters casting a cool shade over them. He sat there for the next hour, watching the girl bug-hunt under the burning sun. He could have gone home, and left her alone. He could have gone home and finish his homework, then play his precious computer games and feast on the snacks awaiting him in his bedroom. But instead, he chose to stay there with her in the field as she worked.

Every single meeting he has with her, it's always her in trouble, which she brought on herself! And then he has to fish her out of it or get the bad end of it. It was damn annoying.

And yet, as he sat there watching her trying to hunt bugs that were probably not there, he cant help but smile at her antics. Weird as they were, but they were….unique and entertaining. Entertaining because they were unique. Unique because they were…different. They were weird.

She was weird.

Unlike other girls, who would creep about the floor steadily if they tried to hunt bugs (not that they would, they'd most likely run off screaming at the sight of a grasshopper), she did an army crawl around the field, not giving a care about whether her panties were flashed to the whole world or not.

Occasionally she would blow, instead of pushing with her hands, at the locks of hair falling over her face.

Deciding that he had enough views of her underwear to last him a lifetime, Marui strolled over to where she was doing yet another army crawl. The sun had partially set by now, so it wasn't as hot and this helped his mood.

"Oi…you should know that pink skulls underwear don't work on you." He drawled, stuffing his hands in his pockets once again.

Kumiko gazed up at him from underneath her bangs, not a single trace of a blush on her face. He thought that would have made her blush at least…..if she was as normal as any other person. But seems like she isn't.

"I like skulls." Was all she said. She turned back to bug picking.

Marui squatted by her, shifting along with her as she crawled away. "You do realize that its hard to get 8 bugs out of this field, don't you?"

She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. "Sensei wanted 8 bugs caught."

"But you cant catch 8 bugs here." He insisted.

She stopped searching for a moment, looking upwards in thought, a soft hum leaving her throat. "Hmmm~ I'll find 8 bugs if I crawl all over the field."

"Har…?!" Marui was confused and astounded at the stubbornness this person possessed. He said no more as she continued crawling along.

They were there till nightfall, and they had only caught one bug. "I told you, you cant find 8 bugs here. The school staff sweep off the field every season, clearing almost every single mismatching weed, garbage and bugs!" Marui murmured in frustration.

Kumiko jingled the container in which the poor green fella was trapped. "But we got one!" She cheered.

"Don't do that!" The boy cried, grabbing at her hands to stop the earthquake the bug was experiencing.

Marui slapped his forehead, dragging his palm across his face. "It's dark. I'll send you home." He didn't like the idea of reading the morning newspaper and finding an article concerning a certain girl being kidnapped.

As strange as the walk was with this equally strange girl, Marui found that he enjoyed the short walk to her home. She was full of antics that he wasn't used to, but that's what made it so fun and enjoyable.

She skipped rather than walked, doing a turn every 10 skips. Once dizzy enough, she'd walk with both her right leg and hand going in the opposite direction and vice versa- she was pro at it too, letting Marui know that she did this often.

And….she had a tendency to ignore his questions. And would usually reply only with facts concerning her, or some sort of insult.

He spends several minutes of his morning with her now, the moments before the hordes of students, including his fans, arrive. She was like a juice that jumpstarts his day, giving him a dosage of entertainment that awakens his groggy eyes.

The routine went on for several weeks, his fans not really liking this fact once they got wind of it. He appreciated his fans, and made it clear to them that there was nothing going on between Kumiko and him; that she was just merely a source of fun.

That didn't really please them but hey, least they stopped casting her evil glances.

Today was as usual. Marui was enjoying his lunch presented by his fans in his classroom where they usually visited to find him. He was munching on a piece of well made chicken egg sandwich when several students suddenly ran by the open door in the hallway, and loud chatters began outside, students leaning their torsos out of the window to get a better look at whatever is going on.

Marui stopped eating, and along with the girls crowding him, went to check out what is going on.

He pushed his way through the students around one window, gaining a view of the pool that lay at the ground. The pool gates were opened, and Marui saw Kumiko along with Asuka and Rinko by the pool edge. Several students stood around the vicinity of the pool, seeing as it was a hangout place for students during lunch….as long as they didn't jump in. It was against school rules to enter the pool with their uniforms, and students must change into their swimming gears if they are to use it during lunch- or any other time for that matter.

"What's going on?" Marui asked a male boy next to him.

The boy cringed as he answered. "It's Ishimaru again…She was walking around the edge of the pool, when she accidentally hit one of the girls there."

"And what is Asuka and Rinko doing there?" Marui asked, not connecting how those two had to do with Kumiko hitting another girl by accident.

"You know how frustrated Asuka-san is with Ishimaru lately. She practically jumped into the scene when she saw that Ishimaru accidentally hit Mayuri-chan." The boy continued, shaking his head in disdain. "Maaah, can't blame her. That girl is weird as hell."

Marui's hold on the sill tightened at the boy's words, but he did not say anything. He turned his gaze back onto the pool, only to have his eyes bulge in astonishment at what unfolded.

Kumiko pushed both Asuka and Rinko into the pool-!! And jumped in after them!!

A whistle was blown, and the PE teacher quickly intervened, helping Asuka and Rinko out of the pool and screaming at Kumiko, telling her to stop swimming and get out of the water.

Marui watched as Kumiko idly swam to the edge, taking her time and doing underwater flips.

He slapped his forehead again, like that day weeks ago in the field. "What the hell is she thinking?!"

He hasn't seen her in class since that fiasco during lunch. She was summoned to the principal's office, according to Yagyuu.

Practice ended for him that day, and together with the other regulars sans Sanada and Yukimura, they headed for the school gates.

He was busy listening to Nioh and Akaya arguing, chewing his apple gum before Akaya suddenly blinked and pointed to a section of the school building's roof.

"Hey, what is that person doing up there?"

Marui turned up to see, why is he not surprised, Kumiko teetering on the edge of the roof, having climbed over the green fencing that keeps students safe and from making brain juice out of their own brains.

Nioh whistled at the sight. "Pink skulls~puri."

Yagyuu pushed up his glasses in exasperation and worry over the girl's safety. "We have to get her down quickly!"

He didn't even need to say that, because Marui was already off running towards the school stairs that lead to the roof. "Go on without me!! I'll get her off!"

Jackal stared after his tennis partner, wondering if they should really leave. What if he did not make it and she falls off?

Yagyuu gazed up at Kumiko, back leaning against the fence, holding onto it for support against the wind. "I think Marui-san can handle it…"

"Shouldn't we call the teacher?" Jackal asked, not convinced.

"Nah, we shouldn't. This will be great fun when the teachers when they find out, puri~!"

"Won't we get in trouble?" Akaya asked.

"On the basis that Ishimaru-san does not fall off, we wont." Yagyuu mused.

"…..I'm too tired to run up the stairs anyway. Let Marui-senpai handle it." Akaya concluded in the end. The group continued on their way towards the school gates, although occasionally they looked back, just to see if the girl has fallen off yet.

Marui panted slightly after his panicked run up the school stairs. He burst through the doors leading to the roof, instantly making out Kumiko's figure on the other side of the green fence.

"Kumiko!!!" He raced up to her, not daring to reach for her in case he caused her to fall off.

The girl turned to look back at him, and Marui saw that her eyes were red and puffy, dry tears coating her cheeks.

"Marui-san…" She sniffed.

"Hey now…calm down, alright? Let's get you out of there." He tried to reach for her hand on the fencing.

"No!!" She pulled her hand away, nearly falling off in the process. Marui quickly retracted, not wanting to agitate her and consequently cause her fall. She sobbed, now holding onto the fence with one hand only, whilst the other clutched her chest.

Marui gulped, now wishing he had brought the others with him. This was a major event, and he probably should not have taken it alone. How often do you see a student standing on the edge of the roof, a breath away from falling? Not very often, he supposed.

"What's wrong?" He tried to remain calm, although he was as fearful as a mouse facing a lion. He thought that it was best that he tried to convince her back here, rather than forcefully grabbing her. That may cause the deaths of both of them.

She shook her head, more tears emerging from her eyes squeezed shut. "Nothing!"

"Then why are you trying to kill yourself?!!" Marui nearly yelled in exasperation. He would have a mop of white hair soon and not red, if the girl kept up her trouble making habit.

"I'm not!" She cried. More tears.

"Then what do you think you are doing standing there?!" He could not help but repeat that same question to her again. How many times has he said it now, over the past few weeks?

"I…" She didn't say anything else. Instead, she turned to look down at the ground, wind whipping against her brown hair.

"I don't know."

Marui's eyes softened, and he slowly approached the fence. "You have to know, you know?" He spoke softly, not wanting to scare the girl. There were many things about her that he did not understand. But he understood that she got frightened easily.

"You have to know why you climbed over that fence, endangering your life like this." He continued, finally reaching the fence. She had yet to say anything, and Marui could not see her expression, for she faced away from him. The wind blew a faint aroma of rock melon towards him, the perfume she always used.

Her shoulders heaved as she took in a deep breath, air leaving her in a shudder. "Why are you up here?"

Marui stared at the back of her head confused. "My friend is tottering on the brink of death, and I cant be there to save her?"

At this, her head whipped about, looking at Marui with wide eyes, pools of tears still in her eyes. "I'm…your friend?"

Marui scoffed. "Havent I been for the past weeks?"

Kumiko's eyes lowered, as the tears that once gathered at her eyes now slid down. "I thought you were just making fun of me."

"What gave you that idea?"

She looked back up at him, hurt evident within her eyes. "They said that I was just a source of entertainment to you."

Marui stiffened at her words, recalling when he said that to his fans. "Who…?"

She sniffed again. "Asuka-san…and Rinko-san…" She whispered.

Marui could not say anything. He couldn't deny it because that was exactly what he told them, and that was exactly what he thought of her before too. But it was different now, wasn't it?

"Is it true?" Hurt doe eyes found his lavender ones, searching for an answer.

Marui steeled himself to answer, letting out a sigh. "Yes."

Kumiko's body froze and her hands tightened visibly around the fence links. "But that was before I got to know you." She looked to him, confused.

"Actually…I still don't really know you. You're just so weird!" He exclaimed, and he saw the hurt increase within her eyes. "But…" He gently reached for her hand on the fence.

"That's what I like about you." He confessed. This was probably how he felt from the start when he first met her. Only it was faint at the time, just a seedling that has yet to grow. It has grown now, grown enough for him to identify this attraction he held towards her. She was a source of entertainment for him, which was what he told himself as an excuse to hang out with her. Because, what would people think if they thought that he liked the freak girl? A tensai like him in love with the strange girl! The idea was just laughable.

"You like…me?"

Yes he did. "Yes."

Her eyes narrowed, and she faced away. "Liar."

Marui's eyes narrowed into a glare of his own. The stubbornness of this female…! "If I was, you think I would go through all that trouble to help you the past few weeks? What about the time with Asuka on the field? And then walking you home after?! If I really did not like you, I would have let you walked home on your own then!" He said exasperated, pulling at his hair.

After that small burst, he calmed down, reaching up to her fingers once again. "And what about now? It was no easy effort climbing those flights of stairs to get to you…"

She was motionless, and Marui was afraid that she might really jump off the roof. But her shoulders suddenly shuddered, head whipping around to look at him again. Tears once again cascaded down her cheeks.

"Why should you like a freak like me anyways?!" She cried, eyes squeezing shut in anguish. "They all say I'm a freak!"

"But you're not!"

"How do you know?!"

It was a wholly retarded question from the views of any other person other than her. They had been calling her that for so long now that she just started to take it as truth.

Marui stared at her, eyes sympathetic. "I know because I got to know you, unlike them. And because of that, I know that you're just special, unique. Not a freak." He offered a small smile. What he said was slightly corny and probably not much help. But it was true. And he prayed that it was enough to ensure her safe return to this side of the fence. "A tensai like me wouldn't like a freak."

He just liked the strangely unique girl in his class.

Kumiko could only sob harder, furiously shaking her head in denial.

"So come back over here to this side, okay?" In the end, she shook her head yes, rather than no.

Without being careful at all, she started to climb the fencing again. Marui flinched when she started, fear once again seeping into him that she might fall off. But he calmed down as she reached the top and got one leg over the fence.

He raised his hands. "I'll catch you"

Even though he said that, he expected at least a word of warning before she leaped down. "Oof!" He groaned, crashing onto the ground with the crying girl on top of him, soaking his shirt with her tears.

She cried something into his chest, but it was muffled by his shirt. "What..? I cant understand you!"

She lifted her face from his chest, eyes red from all the crying. "I just feel like I have to do it!"

Marui blinked at her. He lightly held her shoulders. "What do you mean?"

She sniffed, nose runny from the amount of crying she did. "I don't know why I do it…I just feel like I have to do it."

Marui sat there, pondering and not understanding what she meant until it finally dawned on him what she was talking about.

Her weird behavior.

He sat up, Kumiko sitting up along with him, perched on his lap. "Why do you feel like you have to do it?" He asked softly.

She shook her head once again. "I don't know."

Marui did not question her further and only held her. It seems that, she was honestly serious when she said she didn't know. He always thought that she was just avoiding the subject when she gave that answer every time he asked. But he knows now that it was not the case.

She sniffed into his shoulder, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "I'm sorry…if I caused you a lot of trouble."

Marui did not answer immediately, and instead stared off into the sky dyed red with the setting sun. This girl has caused him nothing but trouble- a huge inconvenience to him. He suddenly laughed. "It's been my pleasure." And placed a kiss on top of her head.

Marui would later on find out that she was up on the roof that day not only because she felt like she had to do it, but because she got expelled from the school. The teachers were sick of her antics, and constant complaints to the principal forced him to expel her.

Marui blew his top when he found out one day when she did not come to school. But he visited her at her home- her parents although not pleased with her expulsion, were not surprised. They said that Rikkaidai was the 3rd school she got expelled from, and it was through the understanding principal that she got accepted into the school in the first place. And so, instead of sending her to another school, they decided to home school her instead.

They should have done that in the first place, but they wanted their daughter to have a normal life with friends. But that didn't work out too well since most people found her odd, and he was told he was the first person to ever visit her home.

He still didn't understand why she is the way she is, but he visited her almost everyday of the week during weekends and afterschool. 3 years later…

"Holy crap! Kumiko!!" Marui yelped, running to the girl who held a stick of burning-literally burning- marshmallows in her hand. He grabbed the stick and stuck it into the sink, watching as steam arose from the water.

He sighed. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kumiko looked down, shifting her foot. "I don't know."

He threw the stick into the bin, and walked up to the girl who apologized. "Sorry…"

"Man, your parents trusted me to look after you, but it's hard to do when you keep getting yourself into trouble." They were in university now, and sharing the same apartment since university rules states that a male and female cannot share the same dorm room.

"Sorry…" She apologized again.

Marui rolled his eyes, placing his arms around her shoulders, knocking his forehead against hers lightly. "You do know that you're an unconventional inconvenience, right?"

She nodded. "Sor-"

"Say sorry one more time and I'm going to lose my head." Marui cut her off.

"So-" She shut her mouth at the look Marui gave her.

He sighed. "You're so weird…"

He thought she was going to say sorry again by the slight movement of her jaw, but she didn't. Though her eyes did cast down once again, in guilt and shame.

"But that's what I like about you."

Kumiko's head rose, eyes alighting in a certain glow that wasn't there before years ago. "Liar. You like me cause I'm unique, not weird."

Marui rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say." And placed a kiss on top of her head.

Google's definition of weird: strikingly odd or unusual; "some trick of the moonlight; some weird effect of shadow"- Bram Stoker

Marui's definition of weird: Unique; Ishimaru Kumiko.

1. Meaning demon or ogre.

Well, another long ass one-shot from me about my favorite red-head in the world! (other than Sasori). I have a knack for doing that =( Other than doing cheesy stories, which this is one of them lol I didnt spellcheck this story (not like I ever do) so please tell me if there are any mistakes on there, and I'll fix it.

But this idea hit me as I was on my 22hour plane flight to the US 2 weeks ago. And I just returned today, and after sleeping for another 12 hours, due to jetlag, I cannot sleep right now when everyone else in my neighborhood is so I typed this up. Has been typing this non-stop for the past 6 hours lol I'm so slow ;_; But its 5am now, if anyone is interested. So if the story gets sloppy or weird suddenly....you know why *ish looking for excuses for bad writing* x_X

Edit: Eh, I got some people telling me they cant understand Kumiko here. So I'll do another chapter from her view instead, briefly trying to explain what's going on in her not-so present mind =D

Reviews is loved~ Evil reviews are...well, not so loved.