What's On Your Mind?
I have to admit that I have no idea whether guys in Kyoto do bleach their hair or not; I just decided to toil under the assumption that because Kotoha lives in the countryside, she's never met anyone who looks anything like Chiaki.
So Chiaki's gotten a liiittle too excited thinking about Kotoha… but he's not the only one with insomnia.
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Chapter 2: Kotoha's POV
If I lie awake in bed unable to sleep, it's probably because I'm thinking about Onee-chan. I hope she's managing well without me. I'm still worried about Onee-chan tonight, but she's not the only person on my mind.
The first time I ever saw Chiaki Tani, he looked like trouble. He had this casual stance like he was some kind of tough guy. He was wearing a school uniform, but he wasn't wearing it like you're supposed to; he had his jacket open and he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt under it. He had a chain attached to his waist that was connected to something in his back pocket; I think it was his wallet. I'd never seen a boy with hair like his, either. It was all spiky and flipped up, and it was also reddish-brown. Ryu-san and Mako-chan also have brown hair, but it's nowhere as red as Chiaki's is. Ryu-san says it's because Chiaki bleaches his hair. Chiaki says that Ryu-san bleaches his hair, too, but Ryu-san claims his brown hair is natural. I don't know; all I know is that most of the boys back home certainly don't look like Chiaki.
Most of the boys back home don't really act like Chiaki either. Some of them can be rowdy, but Chiaki wasn't so much rowdy as he was just plain rebellious. He didn't really want to follow Tono-sama in the beginning, and he didn't take his duties seriously then, either. For a while after he pledged to surpass Tono-sama, he still wasn't very serious about his duties. I'm thankful that he's finally decided to be more serious about being a samurai, but I think it's great that he's still the same happy-go-lucky boy in spite of that, and that he still has a sort of rebellious air about him. I don't know why, but it kind of intrigues me.
Rebel or not, Chiaki is a straightforward person. He tells you exactly what's on his mind, whether you like it or not. I like that, because I don't like having to figure out if someone is saying something because they mean it, or if they're just trying to be nice but don't want to hurt your feelings. He's funny, though, because he tells me that I'm "amazing." I don't think I am, but he does. It's actually pretty nice that he thinks that about me. I wonder what else he thinks.
Aside from that, Chiaki's also very smart. He doesn't seem like he's much for studying, but he's very… I think it's called "street smart." His way of thinking is unusual, but it's incredible how effective his crazy plans often are. It's all very fascinating to me. The fact that a boy as cute as Chiaki has such a sharp mind makes him all the more fascinating.
I said he was cute just now, didn't I? Well, he is, though, in a different way from what I'm used to. He's got a very nice smile. I've gotten used to his spiky red hair, and I think his American-style clothes suit him nicely. He also looks very nice in a suit and tie, like when we were trying to catch the Gedoushu who were kidnapping all those poor brides.
Oh my, but it's warm in here. It's pretty much still winter, but why is it so warm? I need some air.
Kotoha can't sleep, and neither can Chiaki. Now what?
