I do not own Fushigi Yuugi.. but i do wish i owned rurouni kenshin (and, again, I don't).. praise nobuhiro watsuki and yuu watase..
Ayuru Nakago and Kaen Soi. A teacher and his student. Bound by fierce passions and unimpeded love, it was the ultimate forbidden romance. It was a story that wrapped itself with lies and secrets, and immersed itself in dreams and hopes. A tale of two lovers, who are as starkly different as the sea is from the sky, yet burning with a love that broke down all boundaries and united them.
She, with the willful persistence and unmitigated energy of a born achiever, had set out to experience life and breeze through it, with excellence following her every step. Not sparing the time to entertain courtships and men, she lived only for the academic challenges and her family. She was headstrong, and fervently spent every waking hour for those she loves the most.
He, however, is strong-willed yet quiet, a loner if there ever was one. Intelligent and serious, he is shrouded by a mysterious past, which led him to become manipulative and cold. Deceivingly silent he may seem, but he is a man who gets what he wants. He is above the petty passions of life- love, especially, which remains bothersome to him.
However, unknown to these two people, the fates have arranged for them to finally meet…and change each other's lives…
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The sun brightened the deserted hallway with rays of light that slanted against the walls, whose pale yellow color gave the corridor a soft glow. The breeze flowed freely through the arcs that showed the view to the quadrangle, where one can see a nearing speck in the distance. That speck, though, has a trail of long, shiny, burgundy locks pulled into a single loose braid, and equally dark red eyes to match. Her brows, nonetheless, are knit together in a look of furious concentration. The reason for her agitation and panic? The bell has already rung, and she was undoubtedly late…
"Ohmanohmanohman! Damn that alarm clock! Should have gotten a new one! Why oh why did it have to have a snooze button! This will not look good on my report card," the hurrying girl mumbled irately to herself.
Eyes clouded by horrible visions of stains in her immaculate record, she didn't even notice the looming figure in the line of her path. The solid wall of the man's back crushed her nose as she bumped straight into him. She instantly backed away, and massaged her red, throbbing nose. Another rub in the face to her already stinking day.
"Yeow! Hey, watch where you're going mister! Oh, hell, I mean sorry! I'm sorry, it was entirely my fault. I wasn't looking. If you were paying attention, though, mister, you could have avoided me, you know. Anyway, I apologize, I have to get to---"she immediately stopped rambling once she got a good look at the guy's features.
Wavy, blond tresses that fell to his shoulders and piercing blue eyes that were as fathomless as the ocean, greeted her startled gaze. For a moment, her breath caught, and a wave of electricity shot from his gaze and traveled to the ends of her very being. She finally remembered that she had a class to go to, and that she was late. LATE! TARDY! A mark on her (once) flawless record! She gathered her wits and faced the person with a glare, for surely he was no older than her eighteen years. Perhaps two or three years her senior. She raised her chin up a notch and considered him with a serious expression.
"Excuse me, but I have a class to go to," she all but snapped at him. The guy cost her the little time she had left, and she was already delayed.
"Wait! I'm sorry. May I have your name miss? You see, I'm part of the administration and---"
"I'm sorry, but I really must go," she cut him off short and left him before he could even reply.
She stormed off and was glad to get away from the infuriating man. She was annoyed at herself, for getting so flustered and distracted by such a guy. Probably an arrogant, know-it-all intern who thinks he's oh-so-mighty just because of his good looks, she thought darkly. Good looks indeed. The man was tall and lean, with toned muscles enough to be seen, but subtle enough that only with a keen eye could one notice them beneath his casual suit. She refused to admit it, even to herself, but the guy gave an intimidating aura. Powerful, even. She was disturbed to remember the cutting frostiness of his stare, so empty and cold. She brushed off the encounter, and actually ran the whole way to her classroom.
She was relieved to find that the lessons haven't begun. There wasn't even a teacher yet. She searched the rows and columns of desks and chairs until she found one beside her friends. Like any normal student, she began to talk with them about the past summer and the new students and teachers.
"Oh, mygosh! Did you guys see the new professor? He is outta this world!" Mei-Mei, Soi's self proclaimed guy-magnet (and equally guy-crazy)friend,practically gushed.
"Oh Mei! Look, you're geting droolall over yourself agen! Somebody hand me a mop.Anyway, who's got medicine for this man-mad freak, here? She's triggering off another flirt alert!" Soi good-naturedly teased her friend. She never got a chance to hang out with the gang and she really missed them. She was so caught up in summer classes and sports events that she didn't even have time to spend with her pals.
"Come on, Soi, share my passion, for once! I hear he is so hot, his female students tend to always flunk his class'cause they're too busy looking at him than listening to his lectures! I think that's why he transferred here.Either way,I think the guys here in school don't ask you out anymore since they know you won't say yes. Break out a little, will you? Tell her, Ayuri," Mei-Mei implored, her coal-black eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Oh no, I won't let you drag me into that again. Last time I took sides between you two, I had to face all the school demands and complaints alone. It took me days to finish that stack of papers, and my hand still has pen marks," Ayuri, themost timid of the three,smilingly replied.
"Wise choice to shut up Ayu-chan. But, really, what would the student council do without you?" remarked Soi.
"The council would do fine without me. It's you who's indispensable."
" Shh! People, somebody's coming!" someone shouted from the front row.
Everybody turned around in his seat to face the front of the classroom. It seemed like all of them were holding their breaths.
The sound of shuffling feet was coming closer, and all eyes were glued to the door. They waited. And waited. And a tall figure with a blond head appeared through the doorway. Gasps and swoons were heard simultaneously throughout the room. Almost all of the girls in the class swooned at the sight of their new professor. Well, almost all of them. Soi just gaped at him in shock. The man she had bumped into minutes ago was their new professor. He's a PROFESSOR? But he's so young! He looks more like an assistant, she thought wonderingly, eyes wide and mouth gaping.
The man scanned the room and hid a smirk at all the girls who were fainting in front of him. But his amusement grew when he saw the dumbstruck expression on the face of the girl he met moments before. Their eyes met and she instantly clamped her mouth shut and quickly averted her gaze. He watched, intrigued, as she seemed to be having an internal battle with herself, if only for a second. She shook her head slightly and faced him once again, eyes serious and challenging. He instantly felt admiration towards the girl.
He continued to scan the room, and, after regarding everyone with his gaze (it took moments before the girls started to gather their senses), he cleared his throat and spoke."Good morning class. My name is Ayuru Nakago, and I am your new Advanced Physics professor. I expect you to treat my subject and me the way that you treat the other administrators in this university: with due respect. Also, I am the current head of the Science department, so if you have any questions regarding some of the subjects and teachers in that area, you can approach me," he said in a deep, velvety voice that had the girls melting again.
Hmph. I was right. He is smug, Soi affirmed silently.
"Ohmigosh, Soi! That's him! That was the guy I was telling you about! He's gorgeous!" Mei-Mei, ever the outspoken one,excitedly whispered.
"Yeah. Gorgeous, hot, whatever. But does he have any brains underneath that big wig of his?" Soi replied skeptically, still examining the newcomer.
"Aw, geez! Give him a break! He is after all the head of the science department, so it must mean something," Mei-Mei countered, clearly getting more hyperactive by the second.
"Whatever." Her mind was on more important matters. What was she going to do? She never in her life behaved so rudely to a teacher, but that was what she just did that morning. It wasn't my fault, since he doesn't even look like a freakin' teacher, she worriedly reasoned to herself. But what if he thinks that it's a plausible reason to disintegrate my grades? I'd be doomed! He even stressed the fact that he makes a big deal out of respect. I'll have to apologize to him if I want to establish a better impression, she thought. With her decision finally made, she was already counting the minutes and dreading the meeting with Ayuru-sensei.
The orientation flew by, and already the class was packing up to transfer to the next room. Soi lagged behind and saw that Ayuru-sensei was watching her with an indiscernible knowing smile. It's almost as if he knows what I'm up to, she thought. Moreover, that idea nearly made her chicken out. Nevertheless, she argued that she had to be brave in order to salvage her reputation.
The class dispersed completely and she made her way to the front.
"Excuse me, sensei, but, I wanted to apologize for this morning. You see, I didn't realize that----" she started to say, but Ayuru-sensei beat her to it.
"Kaen Soi, right? Don't worry, I won't hold that incident against you. Although, you should be morecareful with whom you talk to next time. And I'm sorry to inform you this, but, I happen to notice that you were late for my class, and that will come out of your record," he assured, hiding a gleam in his eyes.
"Honto? You won't hold it against me, Sensei? Thank you! You don't know how relieved I am to---," she stopped when the rest of his words sank in.
"What! How can you mark me tardy when you didn't even show up to class on time!" Soi all but exploded.
"Watch that mouth of yours, Kaen, unless you want more than bad grades to tarnish your record. The difference between us is that I am your teacher and you are my student. I expect you to regard me as such. Do you understand?" he was already rising from the chair behind his desk and his height became daunting. Considering she was already one of the tallest girls in class, that's saying something.
The fact that he was at least a head taller than her, forced her to look up at him, and the electrifying tension that was slowly building between them intensified.
"Yes, sir," she replied through gritted teeth, letting only the slightest hint of sarcasm enter her words.
"Excellent. You'd want to start heading to class now, or you're delays just might land you in detention," he added venomously. His first day in the university and already he was off to a good start with one of his students. A female, no less. And a pretty one, at that. The world just turned upside down today, he thought, mildly interested. She seemed to be the only one not succumbing to his cool charms. She surprisingly triggered his curiosity.
"De-detention," she sputtered, horrified by the mere thought of spending an hour in a room wasting time when clearly, she had better things to do.Soi pushed down the urge to growl and bare her teeth at the unbelievable man in front of her. This is going to be a very impossible year, she thought, as she huffed and abruptly turned her back on her sensei, and made her way to the next class. But even as she stomped away, she could still feel a pair of cold, calculating blue eyes observing her retreating form.
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Authors Notes:
Pls. R&R: ) to my very insane friend, naomi, thank you for the criticism, and the support, hah! and i would just like to mention that some of the characters are empirically-based... thank you, thank you.. following chapters will positively burst into flame with the friction.. and yui comes in! stay tuned, y'all :)
