2. Processing Information
"Alrighty then. How about we start off with our names? I'm Dr. Nikaidou Yuu, but Nikaidou's fine.", stated the man before Ikuto and me who was seated in a tall black executive chair and wore a wrinkled lab coat.
His messy light brown hair was tied in the back, his matching eyes sparkled with anticipation behind his simple glasses.
Upon seeing this I couldn't get rid of having the feeling that this must be the same way scientists gaze at their newly arrived shipping of lab rats, practically shaking with excitement over the upcoming tests.
Actually, we weren't much different from those rats now, were we?
I caught a glimpse of the blue-haired teenager next to me. His face turned into a look of dislike, clearly frowning over the new acquaintance. So he did not approve of what was to come, even though he wasn't against coming here, not until meeting Nikaidou who left a bad impression on the boy in such a short time that is.
'Wait a second. Ain't I paying to much attention to that guy and his face?' I thought.
Watching Ikuto was getting very enjoyable, in fact, I realized that I almost always tried to read his expression after each and every question or novel situation. Most of the time his mask was emotionless and cold but sometimes it deformed itself and gave away a small clue about his thoughts.
'Some weird analysis I got there, whereas I met him only about half an hour ago... and already look like a stalker.' I scolded myself. And started to grin, looking back to ten minutes ago.
The request of the pool employee caught us off guard.
I couldn't find a logical explanation for this incident and stood frozen in place.
Ikuto looked hesitant. It seemed like he's suspicious of others in general. His eyes narrowed and he glanced down to me, catching me staring.
Damnit.
My breathing hitched.
I decided to not avert my gaze, as there was no use to it. He caught me red handed, might as well see how he reacts.
I mimed his eyes and stared directly into them, while trying to find a hint of what was going on in his head.
Unexpectedly, the corners of Ikuto's mouth went slightly up. At least it looked like they did, as this action could be compared to the smile of the Mona-Lisa. It left me guessing whether he was smiling or frowning.
I amused him. Did he forget he was taking me for a criminal mere moments ago?
He must be bi-polar. Being angry at first and smiling the next second I look at him.
Just then I finally noticed the presence of the third part-taker of our conversation, who asked us a question.
He waited long enough. It was about time someone answered him.
Seeing as the stoic guy next to me didn't even budge it was me who should open her mouth.
"I'm fine with a second scan. If it doesn't take too long." I answered.
Ikuto seemed to wake up from a daze. He blinked once and tore his eyes from mine, sighed and made the effort of parting his lips, which he did in an agonizing slow motion.
"Let's get it over with." he agreed. There was his unreadable face again. Weirdo.
The life guard nodded slightly and told us to get dressed and wait for any employee at the entrance.
Then he vanished from our sight and hurried over to a few teenagers.
I remained on the tiled floor for another moment, trying to process what just happened.
To my left, I could still feel Ikuto's presence.
Curiously I turned around to see what distracted him. I glanced over my shoulder, only to find him studying his right hand.
The teenager immediately looked up again, and pretended to yawn.
'Looks like I'm not the only one who's unsure what to think.' I comforted myself.
Without losing much more time I went to grab my stuff and proceeded to the girls' changing rooms.
I decided to not start a conversation with Ikuto about his thoughts on this, neither did he. It didn't surprise me since it would not fit his image I created of him, despite knowing him for a few minutes.
I judge people way too early.
After taking a quick shower and dressing myself again I hurried to the entrance to look out for either an employee or the blue-haired guy. Though I preferred the last option.
It was better to see a familiar but awkward face than meeting a complete stranger who might be strange on top.
When I arrived at the crowded place, I tried to spot a dash of midnight-blue in between the horde of people.
My gaze brushed past the light blue walls - on which darker whirls were visible – and landed on the far glass front. The bright sunlight caused me to squint my eyes and lower my field of vision, thus leading it onto a mop of blue.
Ikuto leaned against one of walls. He stood there silently, his hair still damp , eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.
The people around him left some space around him, not wanting to get near him, his aura of superiority making them back away.
That sight made me smile. 'Impressive.' , I marveled, 'That's the tall, dark bad boy for you.'
With that in mind I squeezed past the other customers, eventually reaching Ikuto's free spot.
He then took a step forward and deplored "You're slow. Now, let's find that staff member."
'Huh? He waited for me this whole time. Now that I think about it, what other reason could he have to stand here.'
Shrugging it off, I suggested we should find the one we were supposed to meet.
I tried to stand on my tiptoes while scanning the crowd for anyone in the pool's staff shirt.
It was tiring because I weren't very tall however most of the people in front of me were.
I didn't want to move either as it would only become harder to get through all those people.
But it was no use, I couldn't see anyone fitting. So I jumped a little and hoped to be granted a better view of the hall.
Suddenly I heard a chuckle. That idiot dared to make fun of me?
"What is it?" I snapped.
"Hm? Oh, nothing. You look hilarious while jumping up and down like this"
This dude pissed me off. "Oh really? Good for you to have fun when I'm working to find that staff member." I barked.
At this comment the lazy teenager stepped farther once more so that he was directly before me.
What was he up to?
Without any warning he grabbed my torso, spun me around and lifted me in the air.
My cheeks flared up and so did my rage. 'This bastard! Does he think at all?'
" See, now it's teamwork. Hurry up and take a good look, shorty, you're kind of heavy."
I stared down into his bemused eyes and cursed myself for letting my guard down.
"I'm not short, I'm of average height. It's you who's a giant. Oh and don't blame me when you're to weak to hold me up" I contradicted " It was you who took action."
Even though I had to admit it was a great help for now I had the whole hall in my view.
The others around us gawked and whispered. I looked like an idiot or small child.
Finally I spotted a woman in a shirt with the logo of the pool next to a door which read "Staff"
She practically drowned amidst the huge number of visitors.
"Found her!" I exclaimed and pointed into the correct direction.
Ikuto let me down slowly, making me brush against his black t-shirt which had some white writing on it.
I was happy to have the ground under my feet again and let out a relieved breath.
Then I punched that bastard in his stomach.
But only lightly.
He protectively clutched his hand at that spot and eyed me startled.
" Just why did you do that?" He demanded irritated.
"Revenge." I stated.
He let another low chuckle escape his smirking lips and then faced the growing crowd ahead.
I groaned, prepared to be tossed around and took a step towards them.
In the blink of an eye I felt two strong, large hands on my shoulders.
My head shot up and I fixed my honey-brown orbs onto the boys face. He got too touchy in the last few moments for my taste.
He on the other hand stubbornly stared ahead as if shoving me around wasn't anything special.
Ikuto then proceeded to push me through the mob.
Due to his height and presence almost everyone stepped aside, creating an ally for us.
This way he pushed us past the amused audience of his sketch.
I must have resembled a little child, a red-faced child with burning cheeks compared to the idiot behind me with his calm adult-like appearance.
"Am I a toy to you or why do you keep treating me like one?"
Once again he tucked the corners of his mouth upwards as he explained "I thought 'tool' would be more fitting, but toy is fine with me."
I grew to hate this guy. One couldn't have a normal conversation with him.
We arrived at the door and the lady took us to the surveillance room where we were introduced to Dr. Nikaidou who was in charge of the scanners. He was the one who came up with the idea and invented the device.
Following Nikaidou's example, I told him my first and last name, as well as my age and occupancy.
He seemed nice and kind of bubbly. That character was unusual for a doctor.
Ikuto only reluctantly answered. For some reason he couldn't get along with Nikaidou's cheerful attitude.
"Okay, we shouldn't lose any more time and scan your fingerprints already." the man proposed and got up from his chair to get a small panel similar to the ones on the locker and at the entrance.
Just as he began to stride over to us, he tripped directly into my direction. I didn't believe there were still people who tripped over thin air but as I was about to get crushed by one, I guessed, I might reconsider it.
Before I came into contact with Nikaidou, someone yanked me backwards. Of course it was no one else than Tsukiyomi Ikuto. He saved me this time, instead of using me
"Thanks." I muttered, still blinking rapidly in suprise.
Ikuto simply responded with a low grunt.
Nikaidou managed to retrieve his footing and failed at breaking the small device in his hand.
"Oops-a-daisy" he mused.
Somehow I got the feeling those things weren't a rarity.
"Okay now, who wants to go first?"
Thanks for reading.
P.S.: I'm searching for a beta reader. This is important because I'm from Germany. What I'm trying to say is I suck at English and make mistakes which I won't notice and correct.
Those grammatical and spelling errors can make the story hard to understand.
Oh, and reviewing will improve any storyline concerning problems.
-ImbaME