A/N: I am so very sorry for posting the next chapter so late. I just had my birthday last week and me, my family and my bf went to the mountains for ten days… and there was no cell reception, not to mention no internet connection. When I came back on Tuesday, everything was crazy at work and I somehow… didn't find the time.
As for the story: wakame is a type of seaweed commonly used in Japanese kitchen. Hikari hates it… and, surprise, Akashi doesn't like wakame as well.
On Thursday morning, Hikari woke up before her alarm clock went off. Her heart already at her throat, she rushed through her morning routine erratically. "Young Mistress?" Her maid looked positively startled, as she watched Hikari storm into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of melon bread, stuffing it into her mouth and hastily waving her goodbyes. "Young Mistress! Your- your lunch!" The maid called, exasperated, out of the door the teenager left wide open. She got no answer- the girl already disappeared down the street, never even bothering with proper breakfast. The old maid shook her head, and a small smile appeared on her face. There was only one thing ever that could get the girl so worked up, when it came to school.
"Ichinose? What are you doing here? I was told not to expect you in P.E."
The coach glared at the student, who used this opportunity to bow to him, and exclaimed, ever so formally: "Sensei! Please let me attend your classes!"
"But the headmaster said… your piano, and your injury…"
"Please, sensei! I am perfectly healthy, and my piano practice won´t be a problem. I have also talked to the headmaster, and he allowed me to attend!"
"Well, Ichinose, if the headmaster says so… but, what about your shoulder injury?"
Hikari straightened up, a guarded look on her face. "I assure you, coach, I´m fine. Though… if I might be so bold to ask, please do not discuss my injury any further."
The coach only nodded, however, this exchange has had an effect on her classmates, who immediately began to shower her with suggestions.
"Ichinose-san, if you are injured, then you really shouldn´t…"
"Hey, Ichinose, if you feel any pain, just tell us, okay?"
The amount of fuss about it was slowly draining Hikari´s patience. She wanted to get to exercising already, her body itching to get moving.
"Hey, she says she´s fine, so she´s fine. Now get a move on, everybody, geez!"
A girl with dark hair in a tight ponytail called out in a surprisingly deep voice. She wore rimless glasses, and behind them were piercing, purple eyes and she looked… downright bored. The bespectacled girl scoffed at the situation, and began running her laps in silence. Hikari watched her for a moment, before setting off as well, leaving the rest of the class trailing confusedly behind.
On the other side of the court, where the boys had their P. E., a pair or mismatched eyes observed the whole scene.
Hikaris' next class was art, another one of those she added to her curriculum voluntarily. After briefly explaining her deal with the headmaster to the sensei, Hikari felt relieved not to be forced to relive a drama that would be similar to her appearance in P.E. As far as she was concerned, that was enough attention for the whole week.
"All right, class, today we will be drawing portraits of each other. To make things more interesting, pair up with the person sitting behind you, instead of next to you. Fine, get working!" The noise of chairs being dragged on the ground as their owners turned to their partners drowned most of the hesitant conversation that ensued. Hikari turned in her seat to face the person behind her, only to find her to be the exact same girl with glasses that intervened during P.E.
"So, Ichinose, seems we ended up together, huh? You have poor luck, my drawing skills are atrocious," the girl said. Hikari again noticed how deep her voice was, unexpectedly so for a high school student, and one as delicate-looking as her.
"Oh don´t worry. Mine are not much better," smiled Hikari politely.
"Please," scoffed her partner, "you wouldn´t have asked to participate in art classes if you sucked, Ichinose. What remains to be seen is how good you are, not whether you can draw at all or not." Her deep voice was tinged with the slightest note of annoyance.
"Anyway, I don´t think I ever talked to you before. Name´s Tanzaki Ryōko," said Ryōko, and, much to Hikari´s surprise, extended a hand to shake hers.
"Nice to meet you, Tanzaki-san. I´m Ichinose Hikari," replied Hikari, thinking about how odd it was for a Japanese girl to greet somebody so casually, and with a handshake.
"Oh come on, drop the honorifics, I have little patience for those. Just Tanzaki is fine. Or, if that seems too long for you, you can just call me Ryōko."
"Well, I don´t know you so well yet, Tanzaki-san, so calling you by your name without any honorific seemed rude."
"Ichinose, for a girl who has spent so much time abroad, you are insufferably formal," said Ryōko, with her irritation now obvious, as she adjusted her glasses with the tips of her index and middle fingers.
"Fine. I can call you Ryōko, if you will call me Hikari," said Hikari, with a sly smile.
"Not anytime soon, Ichinose."
"All right then, Tanzaki-san, let me know if you change your mind."
"Just get to drawing already, Ichinose."
All the while during drawing, Hikari felt uneasy, as if somebody watched her from behind. It was the same feeling she had the other morning while playing the piano. She tried to shake it off, focusing on her drawing instead, now working on the other girl´s jawline and the shadow that played just around the edge of it. "So, what was the deal with your shoulder injury in gym class today,"Tanzaki voiced the question more like a statement.
It was the first time either of them spoke after a good half an hour of complete silence. "Hmm?" Hikari hummed distractedly, as she continued to work on her drawing with absolute concentration.
"Oi, listen to me!"
"Sorry, what did you say, Tanzaki-san?"
"Geez. Scatterbrained much? I said, what was the deal about a shoulder injury? I never saw sensei hesitate before when someone asked him if they could exercise."
"Ah, that." Hikari furrowed her brows and studied the other girl intently for a few moments.
"I… was involved in a rather… nasty accident some time ago. It left me with an injured shoulder. The surgeons putting me back together were skilled indeed, so the only permanent handicap I retained is the inability to raise my right arm much more than shoulder level. Naturally, this all is written in great detail in my school records, so sensei knows. I guess that my record of a long hospital stay gave him a pause, is all."
"I see."
Hikari smiled to herself. She didn´t expect the other girl to push the topic further, and it seemed she was correct. As brash as Tanzaki appeared, Hikari felt comfortable around her.
"How come you didn´t repeat the year then? You must have been sick for a long time, the way you describe it," asked Ryōko after another few minutes of silence.
Hikari shrugged. "I passed some exams that were meant to test whether I can join my classmates in the same year or not. Turned out I didn't need to repeat a year or anything."
"Uh-huh," was the only response of the bespectacled girl, who watched Hikari intently over the edges of her rimless glasses.
Another long silence ensued. Hikari was just adding some finishing touches to her work – she didn´t need to study the other girl anymore, so she never noticed the pair of purple eyes watching her with a spark of interest. "Say, Ichinose, you are supposed to be some academics big shot, right?" Came another question, much as Hikari expected. She never heard Tanzaki Ryōko talk to anyone this much without getting angry or being downright rude, but for some reason the constant boredom in Tanzakis' purple eyes was almost gone now.
"Hmm?" hummed Hikari, still consumed by her work.
"Oi! Don´t get distracted again! I asked you something," exclaimed the black-haired girl with exasperation.
"Ah, sorry about that," smiled Hikari.
"Never mind. I wanted to know, just how smart are you?" Asked Ryōko bluntly.
"I don´t know, really. I just have no trouble with school," came the reply.
"Well, you´re not dumb then, that´s a start," murmured Ryōko to herself.
"Any chance you know how to play shōgi, Ichinose?"
Hikari put her pencil away at that, and eyed her partner curiously. A memory of the first morning at Rakuzan passed her mind, and she smiled.
"I know the rules. I play sometimes with my brother, although I almost always lose," she replied.
Hikari had no idea how much of an effect her reply would have- it was as though somebody flipped a light switch behind Tanzaki´s eyes. "Oh, great! Would you play with me during lunch break, then? Please!"
Such a sudden change of attitude made Hikari chuckle. The other girl blushed slightly: "Well, I have nobody to play with. The only one who would even try is Suzuki, and he is thick as a brick."
The constant feeling of being watched then reminded Hikari of something. "Tanzaki-san, Akashi-kun plays shōgi, right? He seemed to be pretty good, even. Why have you never tried to play him?"
"He plays, huh?" Ryōko´s eyes flicked to the boy. He was sitting almost exactly behind Hikari, and she did notice him staring at her partner for the better part of the hour. As she quickly assessed him, she snorted with disgust. "I wouldn´t bother."
Hikari frowned. "Why not?"
At this, the dark-haired girl rolled her eyes: "Well, he´s an ass, obviously."
"Ryōko? Coming to the cafeteria?"
"Bugger off, Suzuki, I have my own lunch. Rich losers like you need to buy those themselves."
"A real ray of sunshine, as always, aren´t you," stated the blonde guy in a weary tone.
It was just the beginning of lunch break, and Ryōko already had her shōgi board prepared, along with her bento. She was just rising up to her feet, expecting Hikari to follow, when the latter girl smiled. "It seems I´m a rich loser too, Tanzaki-san. I´ll go with Suzuki-kun to the cafeteria to get some lunch since I left mine at home, and catch up with you on the rooftop for our game?"
Tanzaki shook her head, impatiently. "That won´t do, the cafeteria gets crowded. Come on, Ichinose, I´ll share my lunch with you. I always make more than I can eat, anyhow."
"Tanzaki-san, are you sure?"
"Yeah. How would you play with me, if you spent the majority of the lunch break in the queue with this idiot?"
"You really shouldn´t be so rude to Suzuki-kun. That´s not something childhood friends should say about one another."
"Huh? How did you know?"
"A wild guess," Hikari smiled slyly.
"Hey, you really aren´t dumb, are you? This is gonna be fun!"
Without waiting for a reply, Tanzaki strode out of the classroom.
"You´re really going to play that horrible game with her?"
"Suzuki-kun, shōgi is not horrible. It´s a good mental exercise. Mind you, I guess I´m not very good. But I like a challenge, so we shall see."
"Tanzaki-san! This is delicious! Did you make it yourself?" beamed Hikari, as she munched away on her new friends' bento with a blissful expression in her cat-like face.
"Uh-huh, I live by myself, so I also cook for myself, too. Hey, I have some tofu salad on the side, too. Want some, Ichinose?"
"Does it have wakame in it?"
"Um, yeah."
"Then no thank you, but it´s kind of you to offer, Tanzaki-san."
"Don´t like wakame?"
"Detest it, actually."
"Too slimy?"
"Yeah."
For a moment there was nothing but the sound of occasional chopstick clacking against another, as the two ate Ryōko´s lunch in peace. It was a sunny day, a perfect one for being outside. Hikari just closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun, enjoying the food and thinking about how comfortable the presence of the bespectacled girl felt, when the latter broke the silence. "Ichinose, you´re not gonna pester me with questions about me living alone?"
Hikari opened one green eye and glanced at Ryōko briefly, before returning to her sunbathing with a Cheshire cat-like smile on her face. "Nope."
"Color me impressed. Most other girls would have, Ichinose."
"You didn´t seem to want to share the information. You changed the topic quickly, never came back to it, and your expression shifted slightly. Also, your shoulders tensed."
"Really? I always thought my body language was minimal."
"Please, Tanzaki-san. It was screaming to my face," replied Hikari, a sardonic tone to her voice.
Tanzaki laughed, and then leaned back on her arms, mimicking Hikari´s pose. "Still, though, aren´t you curious?" she drawled lazily, as the warmth slowly began to spread from her face to the rest of her body. The sun was warm that day indeed.
"Very much so! I´m dying to know all your secrets, Tanzaki-san, to use them against you and to tell every other girl in the class! Make no mistake," replied Hikari teasingly.
"Seriously, Ichinose. I wasn´t trying to be melodramatic. I was just curious myself, I guess."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yeah. You are not the perfect, sweet and uptight girl everybody seems to think you are… at least for now they do, anyway. That is actually surprising. Why are you hiding in the open like this?"
"I am not. I´m just polite to others, because I wouldn´t like them to treat me any differently than I treat them. It wouldn´t be fair."
"So, am I unfair?"
"No, you´re just scared and easily annoyed - I just think you genuinely want to be left alone. So, to answer your question properly: I am curious about the reason why you live alone. I simply hope you will tell me on your own accord, when the time comes."
"You know me for what, three hours now? Two of which we actually talked. How can you be so sure of your judgment of me? I could be a total freak for all you know."
Hikari laughed softly at that. Ryōko opened her eyes to look at the other girl, to find her sitting across her with her legs crossed, watching her intently. There was something unsettling about the way Hikari looked at her with those soft green eyes of hers. It felt as though she could see right to Ryōko´s core, taking whatever information she desired without effort.
"Huh, you´re scary, creepy-eyes," Ryōko mumbled, crossing her arms on her chest.
Hikari blinked, turning back to her smiling, pleasant self once again. "Sorry, I like to try and figure people out. It is often enough to observe them to get a general idea. When you do it for long enough, you know what to look for." She smiled once again. This girl was really smiley, Ryōko noted. It was her usual expression, though it seemed to tell a different thing every time. "I don´t think you´re a freak, Tanzaki-san."
"Well, that can come as a surprise. I sure pulled my "charms" on you from the beginning. I expected you to be all polite and quietly hope not to talk to me again."
"Which, if I were the type of person you guessed me to be, would be what you would have preferred," completed the thought Hikari in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yeah."
Another brief silence, before Ryōko broke it yet again.
"So, tell me: you are gaining a very pleasant image. Why show me you are not just the polite girl everybody sees? It could lead to gossip that you are actually some kind of a scheming maniac, you know how high school works."
"I do, though I placed my bets on two things: one, that you would figure out that I am no scheming maniac, and two: you don´t really gossip. Suzuki-kun probably doesn´t, too, because he wants to impress you."
"W-what?" Ryōko blushed furiously.
"Oh, nothing. Sorry. You know each other well, so naturally, you would have taken a page from each other´s book, is all I wanted to say, really."
"Me? Taking anything from that careless guy? Like hell I would."
"Oh, of course you wouldn´t, what a foolish idea did I have," mocked Hikari.
Almost against her own will, Ryōko found herself smiling, too.
"So you decided to trust me from the start, if I sum it up," she said after a while.
"Yes," was Hikaris' simple reply.
"It could have turned against you pretty quick."
"Sure, only it didn´t."
"You are naïve."
"At times," came another smiley answer.
Ryōko shook her head. Both of them resumed their basking in the sunlight, not speaking for a long time. This was certainly new for Ryōko, because not even Suzuki, her childhood friend, made her relax so much. This new girl was something else. And to be friends with a girl who has a reputation for being sweet and docile and is actually getting somewhat popular, right off the bat- it baffled Ryōko to no end. Wait, friends? Is it what she already classifies this to be?
"I guess we are friends now, nee, Ryōko?" Asked Hikari.
"Very creepy, Hikari! I was just… thinking about it!"
"Ha-ha, me too. It´s rather odd this worked out so well, but I guess it´s settled."
"I suppose so."
"I hope you don´t mind me not caring for the honorifics that much. I have been living outside Japan for a while, and it´s quite tiring."
To that, Ryōko only grunted.
"Well, that was embarrassing enough," said Ryōko after a while, and stretched her arms. "So, since we are now buddies and all… tell me, why has that Akashi not let his eyes off of you during art class?"
"So it was him, huh?" Hikari murmured.
"What?"
"I just had a feeling I am being watched."
"So you were. Any idea why?"
After a short hesitation, Hikari replied: "None."
"Thought so. He´s an ass, all right…"
"I don´t think that´s really the issue with him."
"Well then, what is?"
"… nothing simple."
The first bell announcing last fifteen minutes of lunch break didn´t leave Ryōko much time to ponder her new friend´s cryptic answer.
"I guess we´ll play shōgi tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. Prepare to have your ass handed to you, Hikari!"
"Oh I´m definitely not going down without a fight!" Smiled Hikari. They packed the bento and unused shōgi board, and left for their next class.