Title: The One Who Never Smiled
Genre: Romance/Hurt-Comfort
Rating: T
Summary: Being Natsume's best friend, he had always been used to long periods of silence. But what was it about the new girl that attracted him like a moth to a flame, why was it that he felt compelled to rush to comfort her, when she seemed sad?
Had Ruka Nogi finally found someone, or was it just a case of 'second time lucky" for Natsume?
Chapter1
It was...a spring morning. You can imagine, cherry blossoms floating in the air, their sweet scent carried in wafts, in and out of our classroom windows. A pleasant breeze was blowing, carrying about the warmth of coming summer. Kids were running about in the school grounds, and older students were strolling about in their merry groups. A perfect scene it seems, doesn't it?
That was when I saw her for the first time.
You don't normally get to see a lot of people when you are in the forest outskirts. Good enough for people like me and Natsume, always trying to escape the horde of fangirls. But that day we did. With her long brown hair tied loosely and thrown over her shoulder, her long, slim frame flitted in and out of view as she made her way through the trees, walking towards the high school building. She didn't seem to be in a hurry and was walking quite slowly, but it was the way she walked that caught my attention, rather than her pace. She didn't seem to walk: she glided on her path. As if her feet didn't touch the ground. She was at a distance, so I couldn't see her face, but...I could feel something. Something queer. Like time had come to a standstill, because when she passed, the birds stopped chirping, the breeze seemed to die down, and most animals around me stood on their hind legs and peered at her.
Before I could realize what had happened, my rabbit jumped down from my lap and bounced towards her. And as I got up to call it back, I realized that most of the animals by my side had followed suit. Naturally, I thought she had an animal pheromone alice.
I was wrong. As the animals reached her, the rabbit in the lead, she halted and looked down at them. Typically, most of the girls go gaga over these 'cuddly creatures', and ooh's and aah's are so clichéd. But she just looked at them, her pale slender neck twisted sideways, making it possible for me to see her clearly for the first time.
She wasn't just 'pretty' in the conventional meaning of the word; she looked...beautiful. Her hair looked really soft and stray locks framed her face. She was really pale, like she hadn't seen the sun for a long time, but that did nothing to mar her appearance. She was tall and graceful and...sad? Not that I could tell, for her face was expressionless, just as the environment around her. She continued to gaze at the animals gathered around her, and I continued to look at her from behind a tree.
It must have been coincidence, for her bag, steady on her shoulder, slipped off and opened, scattering everything on the ground. Precisely then, my rabbit took a big leap and managed to get on to her lap as she gathered her stuff. Totally surprised, she tried to fend him off, but even sooner, the little animal edged closer and nuzzled her in the neck.
The forest went even quieter as she registered the affection that the rabbit was displaying. Mere moments later, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips as her brows relaxed, and she stroked the animal. Holding it as gently as possible, she lowered it to the ground, where it cocked its head and looked at her with keen eyes. With a brighter smile, she got up and looked at the animals one last time, then turned and walked away. I am sure she was not aware of my presence, and had thought she was quite alone, for when she passed a little bush with spring buds adorning it, she touched one with her slim fingers, and I can swear that it blossomed, at once, into a beautiful flower.