Chairs and tables screeched on the tiles as the students chose their seats. Hiyori sat by the window in the back like she had when she first came to the school. Yuushin, of course, sat down next to her. Enthusiastic chatter filled the classroom as always. "I'm your homeroom teacher again, Ufufufufu!" Mitani-sensei laughed.
"Mittaaan" the students chorused. "And you were so sad last year when we left!"
"You were practically crying," Reina laughed.
"And the year before that," Yuushin yawned, leaning back in his chair. "Hey, Junpei and Natsuki aren't in the same class as me this year. That's a first.
"Yuushin, you're actually awake today!" Ritsuka exclaimed. He sat back upright slowly and stretched his arms.
"Well," he grinned, "I've got to get a bit smarter right? Since Hiyorin is so good at her studies." next to him, Hiyori blushed, looking down, feeling a bit embarrassed but very pleased. He pried his eyes open with his long fingers. "Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night texting," he smiled mischievously and glanced at Hiyori.
Sensing something mysterious, Reina grabbed Hiyori's phone out of her pocket before she could protest and flipped it open to look. "Ehhhhh, so normal. These texts are so boooriiiiing. Geez, Yuushin, and I actually thought you made some progress with her based on what you were saying. We sure have some work to do." She smiled deviously and continued to scroll down. "Oh oh wait, here's an interesting looking text! Awwwww, there's a smiley face, and then: Meet me at the sakura tree by the gate after school; it's pretty nice out. We can go on a d-"
"W-waahh, Reina-chan give that back! Please don't read my text messages!" Hiyori cried, grabbing her phone. The phone strap with the little chick that Yuushin had given her sparkled. "Speaking of which, Hirose-kun," she turned around, "I guess that means you don't have dog walking duty today right?" Hiyori was still practically beaming with delight.
"How cute..." Mitani sobbed on her desk as she watched them. "I want a boyfriend too..."
"Nope, today is reserved for Hiyorin," Yuushin continued. "Well, where do you want to go?"
A head poked in the door. "Oh oops, that's right," Mitani suddenly said, "I almost forgot. We have an exchange student coming in for the next few months. You can come in no-"
"Ohayo minna! Watashi wa Kobayashi Ami des! But you can call me Ami! Hajimemashite! Phew I was waiting for someone to call me out! I was getting really bored just waiting outside the door and watching everyone! Oh by the way, I came here from America! My parents are Japanese and taught me to speak Japanese fluently, so they wanted me to come here for while! I'm really really really excited to spend time here with everyone! The culture is so totally different! Plus I really-"
"Th-that's enough, Kobayashi-san," Mitani interrupted. "Nishiyama-san, Hirose, are you two even listening?" The two were still laughing and talking. Reina frowned at Ami. Somehow, this girl seems like me, she thought.
"Hey!" Ami jumped between Hiyori and Yuushin, taking them by surprise. Completely ignoring Hiyori, she turned to Yuushin and said, "Hey you're really tall! And I thought I was tall. Hey, show me around after school, ok?"
Yuushin looked behind Ami at Hiyori, who felt a little out of place to protest, even if they were dating. She looked at her hands nervously, waiting for Yuushin to reply. "Actually I uh, after school I'm going home with Hiyor-"
"I believe it is my job the show you around," Tanaka said, lifting his glasses. "I am, after all, the class representative again."
"Or me!" Reina laughed, "Since I came back from America last year. I can speak English too! I'm even better than Tanaka-kun!"
He grunted but didn't reply.
Ami pouted at first, but smiled again and yelled "Ok!" Mittan pointed at a seat in the front row by the door. Ami looked backwards at Yuushin, sighed, and hopped over with her twin-tails bouncing. Ritsuka and Natsuki stared suspiciously.
"Well now," Mitani smiled, "The entrance ceremony!"
Hirose stopped at the sakura tree by the gate as soon as the school day ended, but he found Ami waiting there instead of Hiyori, who was still saying bye to Ritsuka at her club. She was rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands behind her back a bit impatiently, as if she had been waiting for him a long time already.
"Eto, Kobayashi-san? I thought that Tanaka and Reina were going to take you around the school for a bit...what are you doing?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you first, Yuushin," she stepped forward and leaned towards him. "You know, you're really tall just like me, and I'm looking for a boyfriend for the time I'm in Japan. You seem like my type too and you get along with everyone well. So although we don't really know each other yet..." She looked at him expectantly.
His eyes widened. "Actually Kobayashi-san, I already have a-"
"Hirose-kun!" Hiyori came running over breathlessly, her school bag swinging in her hand. "Gomenasai, did you wait long? I was just-kya!" She tripped on a stone and almost fell over. Yuushin quickly caught her, chuckling a little. Her face turned bright red.
Ami furtively glared at her with hatred and strolled off. "We'll continue next time!" she shouted at Yuushin, and skipped away.
"Hm, what did Kobayashi-san need?" Hiyori asked innocently.
"I'm not even sure myself," Yuushin stared, confused. They both looked at her a bit before laughing it off and walking away.
"Geez, what's with that girl?" Ami muttered, turning to watch them disappear around the bend, not knowing that they were holding hands. "She doesn't even know him that well, so why is she acting so close to him? Ugh. Either way, I'll capture his attention somehow and he'll forget all about her." She plastered a quick smile on her face as she ran towards Reina, who had promised to show Ami around as Tanaka was busy. "Reina-taaaan!"
"...Reina...tan?" Reina blinked.
Interference by an OC muahaha.
I use Mitani, Mitani-sensei, and Mittan interchangeably at times so sorry if it's confusing in future chapters (if I write future chapters). :I
