A/N- DISCLAIMER-I do not own Special A
Chapter 2-
Infamous
(~the ways things happen~ beat 1)
Hikari woke up sore and numb, in her lofty bed, the next morning. She blinked several times before slightly lifting her body up in a sitting position, and rubbing her eyelids open with her numbed hand. She sighed a long and restrained breath, feeling the air flow out of her aching body painfully and looked around dizzyingly, until her eyes fell on the emitting glow of her bedside clock. 6:00 a.m it read, and as she looked out the window she saw that the sun had not risen behind the bright green hills and that it was still a slight purple haze everywhere. She collapsed once more on her back, and rolled herself on her side so that she faced one of the white walls of her room.
She felt her limbs tremble and groaned as she thought of the tall buildings of Sakura High waiting for her later that morning. Her gray eyes closed slightly, and pushed irately the amber and raised pink cushions off with the heel of her foot. After kicking all her blankets off her aching body, she rolled on her back once more and gazed at her flower covered ceiling. Her chest rose gently with every breath she took and her lips shuttered with hunger as she recalled that she had missed dinner yesterday evening. Hikari had stayed a while on the ground of the wet woodland floor, far after she had been pinned down by Takashima-san and far after he had left. She hadn't dared move until she knew that she didn't have anymore tears to shed and she had mastered disdainfully to submerge the shock of his eyes glaring at her with that much intense hatred. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as her body recalled the pressure it had felt as he crushed her down in to the ground, rooting her in place, so she was unable to move, unable to see anything but his blue eyes, those blue eyes that looked at her in a way that no one had ever looked at her before. The look that was still haunting her mind endlessly. Hikari sighed tiredly and before getting off her comforting bed, she promised herself that she would not be intimidated by Takashima -san or imply that she was because of what had happened yesterday.
She clambered down the blue carpeted stairs, barefooted, into the kitchen and noticed that her parents were already awake and having breakfast. Her father was sprawled all over the stoves, flipping blueberry pancakes and stirring what smelled like soup. His steady brown eyes were however focused on his scrawny writing that was etched all over his paperwork, work that had to be filed early to the industries that same morning. In the other corner, her very young step-mom, was dozing her head amongst her breakfast of fresh pancakes and coffee. Hikari figured that she must of hit it late again at the industries last night, since she helped her father print copies of documents that had to be turned in daily.
When her parents had split up, the way she recalled she had hated this woman with all the hatred she could possibly posses, hatred that had come from the pits of her stomach, at the thought that this woman had split up her parents. But her mother had only smiled and had said softly, with her lovely green eyes, knowing and soft, that it wasn't her fault and only circumstance that had determined what had happened between her and Hikari's dad. So in the end she had come to think of her as one of her parents, and then she thought that all in all both her parents were both happy and well.
Her father looked up, softly from where he stood, his hands still clasped together holding the iron handle on the cooking utensil. He gave a small and gentle nod in her direction and as if on queue she smiled widely and said in a cheerful and carefree voice,
"GOOD MOOORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she went rapidly to him, in one steady and swift stroke and wrapped her long arms around her father looking warmly in the direction of her step mom, giving no indication that she was at all upset of whatever had happened yesterday night.
"Good Morning Hikari, you sleep well tonight?" her step mom said, a hint of
exhaustion most evident in her voice.
Hikari cocked her head and smiled sheepishly "Never had a better night" she pranced happily to the table and sat down hastily on one of the wooden chairs and looked at her dad expectantly.
Her dad smiled and then said in his deep but pleasant voice, "I'm, guessing your probably starving right now considering that you came late last night and skipped out on the wonderful meal that Minami prepared for us."
Hikari clasped her hands together and lowered her head, "Which I apologize for, stuff came out at school and I had to stay awhile…." She cautiously looked up at her father hoping desperately he would buy it.
Apparently the excuse was simple and unexaggerated enough that he turned around swiftly and began expertly flipping the brown pancakes into a small porcelain plate.
Hikari sighed out discreetly and looked over to Minami whom was so exhausted that she had relapsed on the table.
All seemed to be in perfect order, the day even seemed to be more beautiful today then any other regular day. The sky couldn't have been bluer and the sun not a bit warmer that it was at that moment. It was as if the world wanted to tell her that she shouldn't even think twice about what had happened the previous night.
She wasn't going to let it bother her in the slightest bit anyway.
In a matter of minutes her dad placed her breakfast on the wooden table and she devoured it hungrily, trying to eat as much as possible before going to school….
****************************************
It didn't take long to get to school. Hikari had eaten swiftly, dressed and marched out the front door, making sure to only have happy thoughts in her head. Which wasn't a feat too difficult for her and she could manage to do it very well. She never really allowed herself to become sad, because that meant that she would possibly tarnish the reputation that Akira had for being an overall happy person. And to have Akira mad at her was living hell in it's self at times. So with a smile that communicated absolute radiance she went over to school and instantly spotted Akira, smiling and laughing, with yet another group of girls that had happily come to pay her their compliments.
"Hikari! Good Morning." Akira said as she approached her slowly, waving her hand awkwardly.
"'Morning," Hikari said softly as she took her place besides her looking at the group of young girls gracelessly. They looked at her ostentatiously and murmured between themselves. Akira raised her nicely arched eyebrows and gave her a look of amusement.
'I waited for you yesterday for the longest but you never showed up." Akira said in an annoyed voice, which was sugar coated with a graceful smile. Hikari looked up at her then ran her fingers through some strands of hair, innocently rocking back and forth on her heels. She tampered with the idea uncertainly of telling her about Takishima but she decided strongly against it.
"I had to do something quickly at the attendance office so I was running somewhat late."
It took several moments for the idea to actually sink into the air, but when it did, Akira crossed her arms and asked suspiciously, "What did you have to do?"
Hikari whistled a tune through her teeth and looked around, seeing if she could come up with something in order to avoid her question.
"Hikari? I asked you a question?" Akira said, annoyingly. Hikari thought that the only way she could avoid saying anything was to play dumb so she shrugged her shoulders and then said, "Do I have to tell you everything?"
Hikari bit her tongue when she saw that Akira looked slightly taken aback. Akira shrugged her shoulders after a moment and said, "No, just a simple question."
Sensing that might be the last she had to say on the subject, Hikari smiled and as to deviate from the subject said cheerfully, "Nice weather we're having."
Akira shrugged her slender shoulders and with a wave of her delicate hand turned back to the attention of her admiring fan girls.
Hikari sighed again and hoped she hadn't acted too weird; having Akira suspicious of her was not a good idea. After a tense moment of fighting with her thoughts she cocked her head and looked at Akira as she talked agreeably to all the girls asking her questions about her looks and her hair. Hikari sighed and felt everything smoothing out again. This was yet another part of what always happened when she got to school in the mornings. A thing about being friends with Akira was that no matter how much she complained, she always wanted their friendship to work out in the end. Hikari sometimes felt disgusted with herself but deep down inside she told herself that her reasons where valid enough.
But after several long minutes of scattered girl talk they unexpectedly said something that unwillingly caught her attention.
"So did you see the new kid walking home the other day?" one girl, with pretty brown pigtails, whispered.
"Yeah, the one with the blonde hair." Another girl with a plaid ribbon said, nodding her head politely.
"A new kid?" Akira said surprisingly. She obviously hadn't heard about this latest news yet.
"Yeah, he's real tall and has strange blonde hair, with these eyes…." The girl with the pigtails stared and ended with the ribbon haired girl saying, "That are as blue as the sky"
Akira raised her eyebrows "Sounds like a foreigner…"
"Can't really know for sure, but foreigner or not he was really strange."
"I thought he was interesting; don't see guys like him all the time.
"Is that so……" Akira said sounding more and more interested as they continued to talk.
.
"I thought he was an angel."
Hikari looked surprisingly at the girl who had said it, who was behind the girl with the pigtails and hadn't said anything until then.
Akira looked surprised as well and raised her eyes at that sudden remark, making the girl who had said it blush velvet red.
The girls seemed to panic for their friend and looked at the pigtailed girl anxiously.
"Well he is really good looking." The pigtail girl said, responding for her friend's sudden remark.
"Really now ….I wonder, Hikari did you get a glimpse of this angel?" Akira said unexpectedly, making Hikari, who was attentively eaves dropping this whole time stumble forward a little.
Akira turned around elegantly to face her and put a hand to her soft check waiting for her answer. Hikari looked at the girls blankly and back at Akira nervously, and then nodded slowly.
Akira gave a look of surprise and then before saying anything turned to the girls and smiled a radiant and lovely smile.
"Girl's wouldn't it be best if you come and see me some other time, class starts really soon me and Hikari here can't be late, and pretty girls as yourselves can't be late either. Thanks though for keeping me company" Akira winked at them and in a matter of mere instants the girls blushed, giggled and ran off apparently enthusiastic about the remarks that Akira just made.
A moment after the girls had disappeared from sight; Akira slowly turned her gaze from them to Hikari.
"So tell me, who is this new boy." She said curiously as she began a quick stride over to the building where their homeroom was.
Hikari looked nervously around but guessing she couldn't evade the topic this time around said softly, "The boy is from America…."
"So he is a foreigner."
"Well, I suppose but he's probably half Japanese because of his eyes and face, and half American because of his hair."
"So his hair is blonde?" Akira said looking over at Hikari…
"Yeah, its styled strangely…but I suppose it suits him."
"Is he really that good looking as they said?" Akira said after a moment….
Hikari looked around and said uncomfortably…"Couldn't say…."
Akira smiled for a moment and said "When did you seem him?"
Hikari abruptly didn't want to answer to Akira anymore, so she said, "I just remembered, I have to turn a paper to my English teacher, and I think I should head on over there before homeroom." She gave Akira the most innocent shrug she could muster and turned to walk away, but didn't get very far before she was roughly pulled back.
"Come on, there is no way you of all people will pass that class, so why bother? Tell me more about the new guy." Akira gave her a look of total expectancy.
"What else can I say Akira, I didn't really talk to him or anything, you can't assume much from what I'll be able to tell you."
Akira frowned for an instant but since it was obvious that she couldn't get much else from Hikari she released her grip pn her shoulder.
"You're no fun; I just wanted to know what the news was, is all." She innocently swung her bag and hit her playfully on the shoulder, "Don't be so uptight, and see you at tea time." She winked again and left seemingly happy but obviously dissatisfied.
Hikari boiled there for a moment and stuck her tongue out at her before hurrying to her homeroom.
***********************
In the busy hallways everything seems to be normal, much like the same repetitious days of every other day of the year. But they weren't. Because attracting everybody's attention was Takashima, Kei. What people knew about him where the basics, which where 1) that he was from America and that 2) he was in the same math class that Hikari Hanozono was in. Well, not everyone knew that but Hikari painfully acknowledged the fact. She had math every single day, meaning she had to sit next to him…every single day. Would he still be mad at her? Would her refuse to talk to her? What about their paired up project, what then? Hikari trudged across the bustling school all day in shame at what had happened the day before. She wanted to desperately blame him for it but she felt herself to be more responsible that anything. It was her that had taken his notebook, even if it was an accident, and it was she that had read the innermost thoughts (without any permission what so ever) of this mysterious new boy. Needless to say, she was almost too nervous to function as she thought about the last period of that exhausting day.
Even though she tried desperately to make time seem slower that usual she found herself already at lunch with only two periods to go before her math class.
She hurriedly lined up at the lunch line and didn't even bother to look for Akira with whom she usually had lunch with. The disruptive air was blowing wildly around that time of day and she tried to see disdainfully despite her long black hair flapping all over her face. After a long moment of standing around in line she picked up her stray swiftly and threw it into the nearest trash can. She knew her stomach wouldn't be able to digest anything comfortably, being in the state it was. Afterward she looked to see if Akira was around and seeing that she was nowhere to be seen she rapidly went to the front quad ( the most popular place at Sakura High) to see if Akira was there or not. As she expected, when she got there, Akira was sitting there, fixing her makeup near the school fountain. Hikari went over to her and sat on the cold marble, looking down at the school's fountain, it blasts of pouring water swirling behind her.
Akira closed her compact mirror with a click and looked at Hikari, smiling.
"Do I look okay?"
"Like always." Hikari said trying to hide her anxiety.
But no matter how obvious it was, Akira would never notice any thing wrong with Hikari, for she was always more preoccupied with other matters, matters that to her where much more important than Hikari.
"Hey Hikari, I was wondering…….." Akira said suddenly looking at Hikari gravely.
"Uh, what?"
Akira cleared her throat and stood silent for a moment, as if she where contemplating something important and said, "Well, I was wondering…since we talked in the morning and well…you...you know…." She seemed nervous for some reason, which was an oddity considering the amount of confidence she possessed and before Hikari had much time to wonder why, a familiar voice sounded behind them.
"Yo!!"
Hikari and Akira both turned around slowly, looking up at the source of the voice.
"Yo, what are you two pretty girls doing out here alone." Tadashi Karino said from above them.
Hikari smiled warmly while Akira gave him a harsh cold look. Tadashi smiled nonetheless and sat next to them crossing his long legs over each other and shyly giving them a look of contempt.
Akita flipped her short hair over expertly and eyed him annoyed. "What do you want?"
Tadashi smiled charmingly and shrugged after a moment. "I was bored."
Hikari looked back at Akira who wasn't pleased at being interrupted when she obviously had something very important to say.
Hikari gazed back at Tadashi now, who was smirking to himself at the stare Akira was giving him.
Tadashi was approximately their age. He was tall, but not in a way that overwhelmed you, and his hair was black and long. He had this sort of thing about him that makes you want to laugh all the time, because of the type of antics he's always playing on everyone he deems the victim of the day. His cocky smile was charming and to Hikari, most of all, seemed to have a type of strange wanderlust. Tadashi was at all times strangely wandering to himself, always with this inexplicable smile of content on his calm face.
Hikari found him interesting, but since she never had the time to talk to him more comfortably, that was all that Hikari could ever make out about him.
"So ya seen the new guy?" Tadashi asked all of a sudden.
Hikari stomach churned unpleasantly but saw that Akira had taken interest.
"No not yet." She said softly and then shrugged looking away annoyed.
Tadashi turned his smirking face toward Hikari and Hikari surprised at his sudden attention, tried to say calmly,
"Yeah, I've met him."
Tadashi grinned and stood up in a flash, balancing both his feet and long arms on the black wire railing close to the glistening fountain. "Well, I have too. Strange fella. Ya try to talk to him and he just ignores you. Better luck trying to talk to a brick wall."
He jumped expertly on the hard concrete ground and took a bow. "What's even weirder about him is the way he acts…all mysterious, probably thinks he's too good for anyone."
Hikari shuffled uncertainly and looked again at Akira who was looking away from Tadashi and into her small blue compact mirror.
Tadashi noticed her disinterest and then jumped again, but this time to the small outer rim of the fountain, where he opened his arms for balance and started walking.
"Maybe Akira can strike up a conversation with him, considering she also thinks she's too good for anyone. See you around Hikari."
With that he jumped swiftly off the rim and broke into a small run, laughing loudly as he did so. Hikari couldn't say anything else to him because in a minute he was gone.
Akira shut he mirror and turned to face Hikari, shuffling her mirror inside her purse quickly.
'The only strange guy is him, uh how annoying, the way he pops up everywhere."
Hikari couldn't say anything but nodded as to not upset Akira.
"Anyways, there was something very important I wanted to tell you before that moron showed up so you got to listen ……."
Hikari nodded silently. Akira inhaled deeply and whispered softly, "It's about…"
"Hanazono."
Hikari frighteningly jumped in her concrete seat, and she turned around slowly as she looked up at who had just said her name.
Takashima looked down at her blankly, with his hair hiding most of his face. Akira looked curiously up at him and then to the pale stricken Hikari.
"Takashima-senpai."
"Hanazono. I wanted to apologize for what…..for what….happened yesterday." The way that his deep voice was stammering made her realize instinctively that he was having a rough time speaking to her. But apart from that small realization, the sudden abruptness surprised her.
"Senpai….I…' Hikari tried to get out chokingly, but then Akira broke into the conversation without warning,
"Hello, I'm Akira Todou, I've heard lots about you." Akira smiled dazzlingly and held up her graceful hand at him. He blinked once but then took her hand without hesitation.
"Akira Todou." He muttered her name as he shook her hand gently. Hikari, though still completely stunned by his unexplained apology, felt wordless when she remembered how rudely he had introduced himself to her.
Takishima turned back at Hikari and nodded. "I hope that you're not upset with me."
Hikari stood with her mouth agape for several seconds until she shook her head vigorously.
"No, no….I'm not…"
Akira who was smiling next to Takishima said suddenly, "Why are you apologizing, I thought you haven't spoken before."
Takishima seemed lost in thought so Hikari said quickly, "I forgot to mention, we're in the same math class…next period."
Takshima looked slightly annoyed but didn't bother to say anything. He was just staring at the thick leather watch he wore on his right hand.
Hikari continued smoothly, "And we had a misunderstanding, um….concerning….."
Hikari gave Takashima a small look, so he could back her up, but he just stared at her with the same glassy blue eyes. For a brief spontaneous moment she shuddered, thinking of the way he had glared at her the night before.
Her breath was quickening as she continued to stare at him, but since he continued to keep quiet she decided disdainfully to finally look away from him.
Akira looked confused but in the end dismissed in like any other excuse.
The bell rang. It's sonorous ring filled up the school with a chime infinitely annoying and exasperating, cutting their small conversation short. Takshima bowed to them and then without a word left, leaving Hikari short for any words and Akira smiling a small coy smile.
"Certainly interesting." She muttered after a moment after he had disappeared from their sight. Hikari sighed and tried to ignore the comment. Her heart was racing, but relived of an undeniable stress which it had been holding all that awful day. He had apologized, even though it was blunt and possibly even insincere, he had said he was sorry. The tardy bell then began to ring and it snapped both girls from their state of thought. Akira without a word began running to class, holding her small purse to her chest and flailing her other hand out in an attempt to increase in speed. All Hikari could do was look after her and walk to class before she found herself late and in trouble.
Her next class was quick to come, and she didn't think much as she walked to her Math class. Her feet strode over the floor of the school with an uncertain step, but she didn't feel nervous anymore. The long blank hallways where diminishing in students as everyone hurried to the last period of their schedules, so she didn't find it difficult at all to maneuver around the halls. She finally reached the wooden door to her classroom and she tentatively peered inside the large room, eying the students that had barely arrived and where taking their seats next to their partners. As her eyes wandered farther down the room she saw Takashima already sitting next to where she usually sat. Taking a deep breath she walked in hastily and strode towards him. Takahashi-sensei was writing the day's lesson on the blackboard as she walked by so he didn't greet her warmly as he usually did. Hikari reached her desk and scooted in to her seat. The desks where long bench like structures so as she began to quickly slide to her seat, she brushed elbows softly with Takashima's knee. She sat down quickly afterwards, eyeing him cautiously with the corner of her eyes. He was looking blankly at the blackboard, his chin resting casually on his palm. Hikari continued to glance at him from time to time, even after the lesson started and tried to see if there was an opportunity for her to say something. At some point into the lesson, Takahashi-sensei placed the white chalk on the sticking edge of the blackboard and instructed them to begin discussing project ideas with their partners.
As everyone immediately began to turn to face the person next to them, Hikari turned around to face Takashima. Takashima was still gazing out at the blackboard even though the lesson had already finished and the teacher had walked away to sit down on his desk in the corner of the room.
Uncertainly, Hikari whispered, though the ability of whether or not Takashima, who was staring intently elsewhere, would hear her was unsure.
"Um…I…I want to apologize as well Takashima-sensei, I didn't realize that it would upset you as much as it did, when I read…."
She was quickly cut off as she heard Takashima whisper back so softly that she wasn't able to see his lips move at all to the motion of his speech, "I thought I made it clear that I don't want to have anything to do with you."
He didn't face her as he said this and Hikari stood silent in surprise
"I only apologized so that I wouldn't have to deal with you later on, but understand that I don't have any obligation to talk with you at all. I'll personally talk to the teacher so that we could work on separate projects." He kept quiet after that, and Hikari stood in her seat, speechless, her small hands shaking.
What feelings where boiling in her body where not of fear or embarrassment but of pure unconcentrated anger. How dare he speak to her that way? What type of boy was he, to reject her attempts at apologizing to him?
Without thinking and without even knowing what she was saying she whispered back, anger evidently seeping coarsely through her voice,
"Get this straight; I don't care if you don't want anything to do with me, because frankly I don't want anything to do with you at all, either. And let me tell you, you're nothing special so don't treat people like their below you, because your not in America anymore. You're here, and as long as you sit next to me, I will not allow you to…."
"You talk too much." He said, reclining back and looking straight ahead as if the thought of looking at Hikari was the last thing he would ever do.
Hikari closed her mouth and looked away, unwanted tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away quickly with the back of her trembling hand and avoided looking at Takashima throughout the rest of the class period. When the bell rang she quickly stood up and motioned to leave, trying to move past Takashima as fast as she could muster but her legs where trembling with so much rage she tripped on her own feet and collapsed in front of him. He looked at her, amused for a moment, but ultimately stepped over her running his long hands through his blonde hair. He walked past the teacher and out the door, not glancing back at all, his footsteps echoing away in a silent but definitive manner. Hikari fumbled on the ground embarrassedly for a moment and got up, smoothing her uniform roughly and running towards the door.
As she reached the door she smoothed out her tousled hair with her hand and started an indignant march out.
That stupid boy.
That stupid boy.
That stupid rude boy.
The beautiful lyrics she had read the other day couldn't have possibly belonged to him. They where probably copied from somewhere and the music most likely didn't belong to him either. That boy was outright awful; she could just feel it in the pits of her upset stomach.
As she stepped out the school grounds, she looked around frantically for Akira. As soon as she spotted her, she would tell her how terrible the new kid was, and maybe then Akira's fascination for him would subdue and she wouldn't have to deal with ever hearing about him again.
Storming in the mist of the bustling quad she noticed Akira elegantly poised near her car, which was a new model which a shiny exterior and a sleek black color. As Hikari angrily approached, Akira skipped toward her and smiled, "Ready to go?"
Hikari nodded but then shook her head angrily, "Akira, you have to listen to me, that guy Takashima-senpai, he's a total…"
Akira cocked her head and began waving ecstatically in the direction of an unknown someone. Hikari sighed annoyed, "Akira, listen, that new kids a total …."
"Takashima-kun!"
Hikari froze as she saw Akira waving happily in the direction of Takashima.
"Wait no... Akira!"
But before Akira even paid any remote attention to what Hikari had to say, Takashima appeared next to her.
"Toudou-san." He said bowing at her politely. Hikari's mouth dropped.
Akira giggled happily and smiled a heart-winning smile, "How about a ride Takashima-kun?"
Takashima-kun?!
Takashima eyed Hikari expressionlessly and then back at the expectant Akira. For some reason Hikari started to notice a small blush placed gently on Akira cheeks. Hikari groaned in disbelief.
Please tell me she hasn't fallen for him!
Takashima shook his head. "Thank you though."
Why is he so nice to Akira?!
"But Takashima-kun, since your new around here the only thing I could even think of doing would be giving you a ride as an extension of my friendship."
Friendship!?
"That's kind of you."
Kind of you?!
Takashima eyed the car as if considering it and then said, "The car only has 2 seats and your friend?"
Akira looked over at Hikari and Hikari bristled for an instant. "Hikari's house isn't too far off; it's okay if she walks."
Takashima looked over at Hikari and for an instant she thought she saw a look of amusement spread over his features.
"Alright."
ALRIGHT?!!!!!!
Akira clapped her hands happily, "And here everyone was telling me how detached you where. I was afraid you wouldn't talk to me either."
Takashima stood quiet this time and Akira pranced over to the car and opened the door,
"Okay, hop in!"
Takashima sat down, and looked over at Hikari, who stared at him with disgust.
It was obvious why Takashima was being so nice to Akira, and that filled her with more repulse than just earlier when they had been in class.
The name Toudou can change everyone, huh?
……………….
Takashima still had the same glazed looked as before his blue eyes peering at whatever it was in the distance. She could figure out perfectly the annoyance in his face, but because Akira was Akira…he could not refuse….just like she couldn't refuse…..
Still…..that boy…..he…..
…he's so strange….!
And something happened that shouldn't have happened
"What now?"
"The song starts."
And the car drove off.
A/N- This chapter seems to drag on forever but it is very important for much interaction between the characters of the story. Overall I hope you enjoyed it. It's been a while since I last updated I know but I give thanks to those that initially took interest in my story. Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
Any questions are also welcome!
Lots of Love, dagger