Chapter 1
Stop looking! Poine snapped at herself, forcing her red eyes away from the person she would very gladly stare at all day if she could. Ritsuko was sitting in the back of the room, just like in every other class, shunned for being who she was.
It would have been different if Ritsuko sat in front of the bluenette, if that was the case she would stare the whole class period, sadly crossdressing got her kicked to the back right corner, while Poine was stuck in the middle.
Her eyes wandered as far back as they could without her permission, not that she was going to deny them it either way. Before she blinked, she was facing her crush again, who was looking out the window boredly. Poine hated rabid fangirls, but sometimes it's just impossible not to want to squeal at something, and this was one of those times.
Poine imagined her face was redder than her eyes, and she could feel her best friends boring holes into her soul, but as long as her thoughts remained intruder free, she was fine.
Ron, who was seated closest to her, poked her arm with his pencil. She jerked to head back the front and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "What?"
"Who are you staring at?" Ron demanded in a whisper, she could see Lost nodding in agreement behind him, even Akuta looked interested.
"No one~" None of them expected her to give a straight answer; she never did for anything that would embarrass her, but that was also how her friends could tell something was up.
"Now class, don't forget to-" The teacher faced her students again, probably ready to lecture them on studying, thank the bell that had cut her off mid-sentence. "Class dismissed!" She shouted, finally releasing everyone from the torture known as high school for the day.
Poine looked over her shoulder as she moved to put everything from her desk to her book bag, Ritsuko was looking her way too, her expression unreadable, but their eyes met. Poine had no clue how long they stared at each other, but Ritsuko's emotionless orbs were betrayed by her sudden lack of movement, a folder half hanging out her bag.
"Poine!" Ron's voice pulled the two out of their self-educed trance; Ritsuko shoved everything into her bag quickly and stormed out, her normal aura of anger taking its place. "Let's go!" Ron pushed, with Akuta and Lost standing behind him.
"Yeah, yeah…." Poine mumbled, putting the rest of her things in her backpack and walking around the desks to her normal group, minus her brother, Poiyo, who was a grade older than the four.
"Since when do you like Namine?" Lost demanded, his voice getting high the way it always did when he was surprised or angry, or just trying to be weird. Poine chose to play dumb.
"Huh? You think I'm into Namine?" She looked at the shortest of their group and rolled her eyes with fake annoyance, walking out the door behind Ron. She glanced ahead, not wanting to risk Ritsuko hearing her fake insult about her, she was a good enough distance away, but even still, she didn't dare to start yelling like Lost was now.
"You were staring at him the whole class! I'm not an idiot! I can sseeeee!" He motioned from his eyes to everywhere around him.
"Obviously not," Was her simple reply.
Ron broke out of his moody persona and grabbed Poine's hand in a mock-romantic way. "Of course you weren't staring at him~!" He said, pulling her closer to himself. "You love me!" Poine laughed. That sort of thing happened more than Ron would like to lead on.
"But of course~" She said in a mock proper voice, dropping his hands. "How could I love anybody but the dreamy Skirt-Boy?" Ron flushed at the annoying nickname given to him as a child, but laughed a bit nonetheless.
Poine looked forward again, Ritsuko was looking at them over her shoulder, though she could see her face clearly; hurt, anger, regret, then more anger, and finally; determination that was quickly replaced by defeat. She knew the cycle all too well herself, when one of Ritsuko's friends did something to beat the bluenette's cause.
She wanted so bad to call out to the outcast, pull her away from her group and apologize, hug the hurt girl and finally kiss her, like she had wanted to do for who knows how long.
But that wouldn't happen, the redhead had already turned back around and was moving towards her friends, Tei, Ruko, Teto, Rook… Ritsuko didn't need to be bothered by Poine, she probably wasn't even looking at them when she got upset; there were plenty of people around, any one of them could be the cause of it.
Unrequited love sucks…. She thought sadly, but she couldn't help the urge to smile at using a 'big word' casually in her thoughts.
...How long had she liked the cross-dresser? Poine remembered her first thought on her, seeing her in the eighth grade opening house and thinking 'Cute, even for a girl,' At that point Poine couldn't have possibly care less about girlfriends, boyfriends, sex and all that other stuff, it was far from concerning to her.
Somehow… as they moved from eighth… to ninth… to tenth… and now eleventh….
She really couldn't tell when her 'Cute' thought on her had turned into this.
Another glance forward to the girl in thought, she was laughing with her friends, Teto waving her arms around in some dramatic movement- to presumably explain something, Ruko leaned her arm on Ritsuko's shoulder, and even that movement sent a dagger of hurt through Poine's heart, the same wheel of emotions from earlier no doubt appearing on her face.
She clenched her fists and lowered her head in anger despite herself, Lost didn't fail to notice. He glanced between the seething girl and the group of friends in front of them several times before a light bulb seemed to go off. "Ooooohhhh! Poine! Come here!" She looked down at him for a second before he had pulled them both a good distance from their comfort zone of people.
"You so like Namine!" He shouted in a whisper, his eyes sparkling.
Poine's face flushed, and she began stuttering words of denial, but she knew there was no way she could say no with a straight face. "...Possibly…" She mumbled. Lost flew into full fanboy mode.
His eyes widen and he jumped up and down several times, squealing and covering his mouth in excitement. "Ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it, ship it~!" He squealed. Poine scowled and towered over him dangerously, she usually didn't use her height to her advantage, but now was one of the rare cases she did. She hadn't even opened her mouth to speak a threat that would make even mass murders shiver before Lost nodded, relaxing for the most part. "I'll shut up… I'll shut up…" He smiled. "I'm gonna hook you guys up, no worries," He winked.
"You will not!" Poine's face burned.
"Sure, sure... whatever you say, Poi-chan…"
"Stop calling me that!" The nickname was given to her as a kid as well, no doubt Ron's idea, now its memory mostly haunted her. There was no doubt Skirt-Boy's did as well.
"Okay!" Lost laughed, grabbing the tall girl's wrist and pulling her back to their impatient friends.
"What was that?" Ron raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed in annoyance. Honestly, he can act like such a girl when he's pissed…
"Something~" Lost chirped.
"I don't want to know…" Akuta mumbled, his hands up in surrender as he trudged forward again, the rest of them followed.
They exited the building. All kids in their grade were shoved into one building; all the other grades had their own buildings, as well as most the electives. They looked toward the next hall- Poiyo usually came out last in his grade. And sure enough, he came lazily walking out behind a small group as the four met up with him.
Getting in front of the hallway, Poine could see he really was the last one coming out, unless someone was in a classroom, (Which was highly unlikely, all academic concerns disappeared with the bell) it was deserted inside, not even a teacher stood outside their rooms.
Poiyo reached the group quickly for a Poiyo pace and started walking close to Akuta.
Them and their silent in public yaoi… Poine thought, staring at the couple smugly and suppressing a giggle.
"Poine, did you get your cell phone back?" Ron asked randomly. She paled a bit.
"Yes... Yes I did..." The bluenette started running back toward the building. "I'll catch up! After I'm done not getting my cell phone!"
"'Kay~!" Lost shouted.
Phones were prohibited to be out or even turned on during school hours. Having one out gets it taken away from you, depending on how many times you've gotten caught changes how long they keep it. Some students were pushed to having their homeroom teachers take it every morning and giving it back after school, every day. Luckily Poine had only been caught twice; until the end of the day.
Poine slowed to a walk a few feet from the door and sighed, her mind trying with all its might to go back to Ritsuko, the only reason Poine was stopping it was fear somehow, some way, someone would hack her thoughts and hear everything. A useless paranoia, but one that controlled her nonetheless.
Her footsteps echoed loudly down the empty building, it seemed just as empty as Poiyo's. What room again? I know it's at the end of the hall… Poine thought, looking from room to room.
She sighed as she reached the end of the hallway, there were four doors left to go in, and really- she did not feel like walking in three just to make a fool of herself.
Luckily she didn't have to.
The door to the room farthest away opened, revealing an annoyed Ritsuko with a cellphone in her hand.
Well… Poine thought, already feeling her cheeks getting red. I know where the room is at least…
Ritsuko looked at her as she walked out, Poine truly must have looked terrified, leaning too much on the wall and biting her thumb nail, her eyes darting around wildly.
"You need a phone or something?" Ritsuko asked, making the nervous girl jump a bit. She nodded. Ritsuko pointed behind her to the door she came out of. "In there. I know, there are too many damn doors down here," She rolled her eyes and looked at Poine curiously.
She seems so guarded... Poine thought sadly. Like she's waiting for something unpleasant. Of course she was. Every day she's told to rot in hell for walking in to a classroom.
"I-I'm… I won't say anything like that," The bluenette managed to make her voice loud enough after a moment of sruggling, attempting to stand more on her own. "I'm not that kind of person." Ritsuko raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" She stepped closer, Poine hadn't even realized how close she had gotten when walking out of the room, but now they were close enough that Poine's heart was attempting to beat the Olympic track world record ten times over, and succeeding fast, her cheeks went pure red and her knees threatened to give out below her. Thankfully, she was still leaning against the lockers for the most part, so that particular aspect was covered, but her arms moved on their own, pulling her sleeves over her hands and moving up to attempt to cover her face like she did as a child, but she forced them to a halt at her chest, putting a bit more space between the two, but not nearly enough.
Sadly however, Ritsuko noticed all the signs of weakness, only bringing a smirk to her lips. It was so rare she or any of her friends had this type of power on anyone, they were some of the most hated kids in school, normally (For lack of a better word) they would tease the person, mock them, letting them know they knew what was going on and hold it against them- revenge for the shit they were allowed to go through, but Ritsuko didn't want to do that to Poine.
All the other ones who had had even the smallest crush on anyone in the group was a past, or even current tormentor, trying to prove they weren't 'mainstream' or 'ordinary' by saying they were interested in them, but Poine- and her friends- had never done anything even remotely similar to that. One time they had even joined the rejects in a fight with a large number of other kids. If they hadn't taken action all of Ritsuko's friends and herself would have ended up in the hospital. They really weren't those kinds of people. So teasing Poine just seemed cruel.
What about a different kind of teasing? A so-close-yet-so-far feeling? Would it still be mockery if she meant it? Only one way to find out...
Ritsuko leaned down a bit, hovering maybe a mere inch from Poine face, there wasn't that much difference in their heights, just enough to clearly show who would dominate the other if their personalities and simple outward appearance didn't show it already. "You okay, Matsuda? You look kind of red…" Ritsuko faked sympathy in her voice, her smirk giving away all remaining signs of honesty.
"I-I-I'm fine! I just want m-my phone…" She mumbled, attempting to pull her gaze away, but her eyes always wandered back, Ritsuko's multicolored orbs refused to let her leave.
She's right there… Poine thought miserably, leaning even more on the locker to stop from shaking. This just isn't fair! She whined internally. Then again... do I really want her this close? Well... duh... But if she is that might give it away! Like she doesn't know already... But this just makes it unfair on a whole other level! Poine had never felt more like a child in her own thoughts.
"You're so readable." Ritsuko laughed a bit. "'Unfair'? Right?" She smirked. Poine wanted to protest, deny her thoughts ever existed, get her phone and leave, pretend this scene never happened and enjoy staring from another desk. How she longed for that safety, she wanted that so bad to be possible, so much, her chest tightened and a knot formed in her stomach, but something held her there, some undeniable force kept her bound to the spot, and only Ritsuko's command could let her leave. She half sighed and looked away, her face getting redder. "So cute…" Ritsuko mumbled under her breath.
Ritsuko was surprised by the blunette's response though; most people in this situation would make some excuse to run off. Poine really was different from everyone else. So instead of standing up straight and laughing everything off, she raised a thin eyebrow again, questioning. "Can I then?" Always be a gentleman. That's what the Namines' mother always told Ritsu, Ritsuko's twin brother... Who thought it would end up so backwards?
"C-C...Can you what...?" Poine inquired innocently, the inner part of her mind knew what the redhead was asking, of course, and it simply refused to let the thoughts leave. The poor girl might have snapped had they entered the active consciousness of her mind.
Ritsuko only smirked again. "I know you stare at me in class. It's no secret."
Poine started stammering, looking up back to the redhead in surprise. She sighed once again, admitting defeat. "But I see nothing wrong with it- like it if anything." Was it even possible for Poine's face to get farther away from its natural color? It seemed to be in fucking love with its visit in the world of red.
"So... can I kiss you?" It might be even planning to rent a house and stay a while.
"I-uh..." Poine whispered, her breath smelled of sweets- no surprise there- but it wasn't the disgusting make-you-casually-lean-away-and-end-all-conversation-until-they-are-informed-of-the-existence-of-toothbrushes way, when the teeth start rotting, Poine clearly was able to eat so much candy because she actually took care of her teeth, a huge pet peeve for Ritsuko Poine conquered without even knowing.
Unable to form coherent words, the red eyed girl just nodded.
No further instruction was needed; Ritsuko quickly closed the small space between the two. A spark of energy went through them both, as cliché and fairytale like as it was, they could both clearly felt it. That one burst of life drove so much, it didn't seem possible. Poine leaned forward, trying desperately to deepen the kiss. She clearly had little to none experience with this sort of thing, quite the opposite of her partner, but that made the kiss all the better for them both. Ritsuko was more than happy to be the one to teach her.
Ritsuko moved her tongue across the trembling girl's lips, without any hesitation Poine opened her mouth for her. And she thought her knees were weak before, ha! She might as well not have had legs then. Was she that readable though? Ritsuko moved her hand from the wall next to Poine and to her waist, giving her as much support as she could, while the other reached for the shorter girl's hand, intertwining their fingers and pressing her hand lightly against the wall, careful not to put too much weight. So kind and gentle, even during a passionate kiss, like the one now.
A battle of dominance lasted maybe a generous second before Poine surrendered and let Ritsuko invade. She didn't waste anything before exploring the bluenette's mouth, she left nowhere untouched, marking her territory subconsciously.
She wasn't going to let this girl go. Forget the other whores who had liked her before, simply to say they weren't in love with the most popular students in school, something about Poine made her so valuable, so desirable, Ritsuko kind of feared she wouldn't be able to even let go of her so she could go home.
Pulling away for air was a very valid option though. She pulled her head back and looked down at Poine, breathing heavily.
Poine was struggling for air as well; her cheeks were a crimson red.
"Wha… why… how….?" She mumbled, looking up at Ritsuko.
"Did… did you like that?" Her flirt voice was back, only slightly less effective than before from the lack of oxygen.
"Y-Yeah, duh… but…." Poine breathed, still looking confused.
"Good... it'll happen again… if you want, that is," Ritsuko leaned her forehead on Poine's.
"I-I do…." Poine lightly nodded, gaining her voice back a bit. She didn't know if what had just happened simply made her more comfortable around the girl, or she was too shocked to think of a more acceptable answer.
"That's good too," Poine moved her gaze upwards, Ritsuko was looking down at her, she didn't blush, they just stood there in comfortable silence, their breathing returning to normal.
Ritsuko suddenly tensed and turned around just in time to see the door from earlier fly open, an angry teacher in the doorway.
"What are you two doing!?" She screeched. Before giving any sort of response, Ritsuko switched Poine's hand to her other one and took off running, pulling a surprised Matsuda along with her.
So much for getting their breath back.
