Disclaimer: Magic Knight Rayearth belongs to CLAMP. This fic is merely a product and figment of my imagination so please bear with me if I have mistakes in writing or facts whatsoever.
Chapter 2: Stolen Glance
Fuu looked up the bulletin board and sighed. Her name was written on the grade list all right, but she saw to her dismay that she only ranked second in the list. Damn. The guy's too bright. She thought, her mind lingering around the idea of totally erasing her social life and concentrating in her studies. She wasn't really very competitive and grade-conscious by nature, but she found it hard to suppress the gnawing feeling of being beaten by a guy in almost every single subject. Has she been neglecting her studies, now that she's in a serious relationship with Ferio? Nah. She knew all too well that she gives her best in everything that she does. So why doesn't her name surface back to the top? She asked herself mentally as she walked down the corridor. Her internal debate was brought to a cease when a lean-muscled arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"You'd go crazy, worrying like that." A male voice whispered to her ear.
"Ferio!" Fuu exclaimed, obviously startled out of her wits. "You're always sneaking behind my back."
"Ah, that's the fun of it!" Ferio laughed, as he removed the paperbound books from her clasp and carried it with one arm. "Why do you look so gloomy? Did you get an A minus or something in literature?" He asked in a small attempt at humor and tugged at the end of her blond curls. "I saw the grade list for last year."
"No. It's nothing like getting a low general weighted average or something. I just…" Fuu mumbled, unsure of the right words to say to convey her meaning. She was sure her boyfriend would misunderstand, but she only had one intention: to prove at least once that she wasn't academically inferior to the "school heartthrob."
"…You just wonder why you're only the second highest in the batch, and some kendo jock is forever garnering first place since he came to this school?" Ferio smiled, knowing his words hit her right at the spot. Fuu nodded and then shook her head after several seconds.
"Yes and no. I mean, I'm very well aware of his superior IQ, but sometimes I can't help but get this feeling of wanting to challenge him even just once, to see if I can surpass my limits and reach his intellectual level."
"Ah, that's a noble goal." Ferio smiled. "But you forget that half of your time is spent on tutoring me in chemistry and geometry. You also balance your time for studies and your social life. Of course, the guy's like that too, but you. You're too much of a sneak and a genius to be inferior intellectually to anyone. It still eludes me, you know – the reason why a timid girl like you can manipulate a slacker into being a diligent and hardworking student. That takes a lot."
Fuu smiled. "Did I hear that right? Has the slacker really turned into a diligent and hardworking student? Ferio, I hope you're not just saying that to appease my anger for your last exam in algebra during the past quarter" Ferio scratched his head and protested: "Hey, it was really difficult! My brain can't take more than four pages of that stuff."
His girlfriend set her mouth in a straight line to keep her self from laughing. "Right. I believe you, but that means we have to work more on that for you to be able to rightfully boast of the model student title."
"Ah. Everything's so difficult with you," he complained as he proceeded to walk down the corridor.
"That's the way it's supposed to be" was his girlfriend's only reply, but the light spring in her voice didn't escape the ears of the green-haired boy. The image of Ferio scribbling amidst heaps and heaps of thick tomes made her spirit soar once again. She was reminded of why she had made all those past decisions, and she knew she'd been making the right choices.
-scene change-
"Damn! Eagle. Give me your brains, man!" Geo said with a frown as he looked down at the bulletin board. A few students were crowding around the list, but his height gave him the advantage of reading the list clearly and easily. Typed on the top of the list was the name Eagle Vision, followed by Fuu Hououji, Clef Sol and Lantis Kailu.
"Ah. Lantis should've scored the same if he wasn't so happy making a trip to dreamland during class," his friend said after a light chuckle. The two left Lantis in the library, since according to him, "he'd rather be left in peace to take a nap amidst rows and rows of book shelves in the library."
"That guy's really pissing me off. Is it possible that sleep is his secret weapon? How can he be fourth highest in rank when he just dozes off during class?!"
"Sometimes, I wonder too if he studies the lesson in advance. He exerts very little effort, but he excels in almost everything he sets his mind on. I bet he just needs something…or someone to wind him up." Eagle laughed. "Ah, look! Hououji-san did it again. It's really rare to see girls with quite a head on their shoulders."
Geo nodded. "Yeah, she's really smart. I heard she's tutoring that guy, Ferio. Maybe I ought to go to the tutorial center too to make sure someone winds me up." He put his hands in his pocket jeans while thinking.
"Sure. If you want to have an early funeral."
Geo's eyes widened. "Hey! I didn't mean she'd have to be my tutor! Besides, it's not like I'm no match for that guy. He still needs toughening up."
"I bet he'd put up quite a fight." Eagle said as he leaned back against the wall.
"Why you...Are you saying I'd lose to some newbie?!" Geo began, when he suddenly remembered Eagle's vicious side. He immediately switched to another topic to play safe. "But man, I wish Zazu was here. Why is his transfer taking so long? I sent him an email telling him that girls around here were drop-dead gorgeous." He smiled wickedly, all too aware of his young friend's love for girls…and quite oddly, booze.
Eagle smiled. "You wrote that to him? Then he'd be here sooner than you think."
-scene change-
His original intention was to go with his friends, Geo and Eagle, to check up on his GWA last year. But when he heard the high-pitched scream of Primera from afar, he retraced his steps in the corridor and left a vague message of wanting to be left in peace to his friends. He walked across the path between neatly aligned shelves of books, and contented himself with sitting hidden on the cushion chair at the end of the large room. When he sat and leaned on the cushion chair though, he felt his back hitting something hard –a head. Lantis moved forward in reflex, and turned his head to look at the unfortunate person his back may have possibly crushed.
His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the redhead. Shit! It's the new girl. Hikaru, if he remembered correctly.He swore at his stupidity. The redhead was so small and skinny, (or maybe, he was too absorbed in his own thoughts), that he didn't notice her sleeping at the adjacent chair. She was so immersed in her deep slumber that her head fell over to the backrest of his chair.
Lantis stood up, fearful that he woke her up with his tremendous weight, but when he noticed she didn't, he just stared at her, amazed at the tranquility with which she slept. The braid near the nape of her neck loosened up, thus revealing the long wavy tresses flowing down her back. When he first saw her, he thought she had short hair, thanks to the uneven cut, but seeing her now with her hair all disheveled proved his thoughts otherwise.
He swallowed what seemed like a lump in his throat. For a few minutes, he just stood still and gazed at her, a blank expression covering his face. Anyone who passed by the spot may have mistaken his serious look for something else, but his expression left no space for interpretation on what was really going through his head. When her head made a little movement to the right, he retreated from his observation and quickly walked away.
Umi tapped her foot impatiently at the entrance stairs of the school. Clef's tardiness rose to new heights ever since he took up the position of president of the Student Council. She knew no one in Sefiro International School was more apt for the position, but she couldn't help but pout her lips and rest her chin in her palms in despondence as she sat on a pebbled step. First, kendo. Now, it's his office duties. She knew she didn't have the right to remove him from his self-imposed obligations, but she was his 'friend' and somehow, the two gave off the impression that they were an "item," thanks to their closeness and the similarity of their background. They belonged to the old rich society, and had families which were deemed titans in the business industry. She liked to believe that there really was something deeper between them, but no formal exchange on their relationship had gone between the two yet. To everyone in this school, Umi and Clef were a couple, but in reality, they were just family friends. They showed their 'concern' for one another through occasional reminders and high-pitched reprimands (the latter, coming mostly from the blue-haired girl).
Umi twirled her hair several times and looked at the almost empty parking lot. Her friend Fuu had once said she was dense, but Umi knew she was only guarding her heart. After all, she was a realistic person, and she would never ever jump recklessly into something that was only a supposition. She wouldn't dare cause a ripple in the still pond.
When Clef finally came out of the meeting room, he saw Umi leaning her head by the post and fidgeting with her bag. He observed her for a while as the purple and orange hues of the sky lent an unearthly color to her face. The gentle rays of the setting sun shone through her royal features and to his surprise, he found it nice to look at her without the blaring lights of the runway and the deafening noise of an audience.
Hikaru stretched up her arms and yawned. Reading Othello had put her to sleep. The girl knew that Shakespeare was a great playwright, but she doesn't really understand the need for perusing something that requires a lot of interpretation. If she had it her way, everything would be written in modern language and given a literal meaning, while the use of figurative language would be abolished, since it puts her mind under a lot of strain. She absolutely hates it when her brothers talk in riddles. She then made a mental note to buy the "New Folger Library" version of Othello later.
She rose from the chair and fixed her skirt, now full of folds and creases. She has to get out of the library soon or she'll be locked in by the janitor, who can now be seen placing the chairs above the tables. It's a good thing she didn't sleep through the closing time of the library. Otherwise, she'd be subjected to endless teasing by her brothers. Her sleepiness is really something.
When she got out of the library, a crowd was gathered near the bulletin board outside the Administration Office. She approached the crowd and listened into the general conversation. She wondered what the commotion was about, since her small stature did not permit her to see above her schoolmates' heads. The voice of a pixie-looking girl with light blue hair soon dominated the noise: "Lantis is SOOOOOOOOOOOO cool! Oh Lantis! How can someone be so handsome, intelligent and manly at the same time? Fourth place! Oh, he's a natural born genius!"
"Primera-san, won't you say the same for Eagle? It's obvious from the rankings that he's way smarter than Lantis. Totally hot and affable too!" A girl with pig tails exclaimed.
"For your information, Eagle is Lantis' bestfriend. It is in Lantis' nature to give way to his closest pal even for things like batch ranking! His exceptional kindness and predilection to shun the lime light makes me want to swoon!" Primera went on, looking as if she wanted to strangle the girl who spoke up.
Hikaru laughed. She didn't realize that the captain and vice-captain of her club were so popular that they had such a huge following. She can just imagine the not so far-fetched possibility of catfights among the hardcore fans. Her brothers had avid female supporters themselves and she is reminded of the time when classmates in her old school would often nag her for information about Satoru, Masaru and Kakeru. She would often just yield to their requests because of weariness.
When the crowd around the board finally thinned out, she saw the list of grades and rankings dated the year before. Her eyes grew huge in surprise. Sugoi! Fuu-san, Eagle-senpai and Lantis-senpai belong to the cream of the crop! It was a good thing she entered this school only recently because she doesn't exactly find the idea of her name being listed on the lower part of the roll as thrilling. She was pretty good in Biology and the sciences, but not too much in subjects like English and heavy math. If she was to stay in the same footing as her newly found friends, she'd have to work extra hard –in her studies, in kendo, and in her relationships with her classmates as a whole. Of course, the last thing she'd want is to be singled out by people and hated by the general mob.
--Fin Chapter 2--
Note by the author: As much as I hate to disappoint you dear readers, I'm truly sorry to say that I'm not into writing threesomes. Yes, there will be a love triangle (H/L/E, you all know that), but it will be a bit complicated (I think).