When Aki arrived at school it almost struck her as odd to see that it had returned to its natural un-chaotic state. The graves and ritual altar were gone, and the grounds were miraculously ghoul-free. As she was scanning the schoolyard with her eyes she sought out her classmates but when she didn't see them she decided to head straight to their homeroom.
Merely biding her time at her desk, Aki watched as her classmates slowly drifted to their seats in bunches, nonsensical laughter drifting overhead like a heat wave. Stifling. Aki drummed her fingers on her desk impatiently. She didn't like all this waiting around. Picking up her pencil she twirled it absently between her fingers fumbling and dropping it when she heard a very loud "HEY AKI!" from beside her.
Aki jerked her head up in alarm to see her best friend Ayaka looming over her, a sour expression on her face. "Oh. Hey, Aya." Taking a seat on the edge of her desk, Ayaka folded her arms over her shapely chest, still cross. "Geez, you're so out of it today. I had to call you like fifteen times to get your attention."
Aki supressed the urge to roll her eyes and smiled apologetically at her friend. Ayaka had always had a penchant for exaggeration. Despite the scolding she was getting, Aki had to admit that it was nice to see Ayaka back in one piece.
Hearing snickering over Ayaka's shoulder, Aki's face darkened as she saw Yoshino and her little posse saunter past Misao's desk, condescending smirks plastered on their faces. Misao squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes cast down at her feet. Aki gritted her teeth in annoyance, but just as she was rising to her feet the bell brought her back to her senses.
As if waiting on cue for the bell to ring, the door slid open issuing a dramatic sigh from Ayaka. "Just look at him," she commanded in a dreamy whisper. "How can anyone be that perfect?"
Aki inwardly groaned when she saw their teacher take his place at the head of the class. How could she have forgotten Ayaka's massive crush on Mr. Sohta? "I don't think he's right for you…" Aki whispered feverishly. Ayaka merely shrugged. "A girl can dream…"
After doing the traditional rise and bow greeting, Mr. Sohta cleared his throat and said: "Listen up class! Today we are going to begin by doing something a little different. I'd like everyone to get into pairs for a personality test."
"That's Mr. Sohta for you," Ayaka beamed in appreciation. "Sounds like fun, huh Aki?...Um, Aki?" Ayaka's head swivelled madly around looking for her friend but Aki had someone else in mind. Misao was still sitting in the same position: head down, eyes staring dejectedly at her hands. As such she missed the conflicted look Kudoh was giving her, although it did not escape Aki's notice.
After a moment of awkward silence Aki cleared her throat causing Misao to look up in alarm. Aki smiled at her as kindly as she could. It was time to start making a difference. "Mind if we pair up?" Misao's eyes widened further. "N-not at all," she managed, gesturing to an empty seat beside her.
"Great!" Aki eagerly took a seat, flashing Misao another toothy grin to which she responded shyly with a softer grin of her own. "So, what's the first question?" Aki said, ready to settle down to business. "U-um..." Misao stammered, flipping through the tiny booklet. "Favourite colour."
"That's an easy one! Red for me." "Mmm," Misao nodded, trailing her finger down the page. "Let's see…it says you are very passionate and energetic. You hate standing still, and as such you love taking action to improve your situation. You stand firm in your beliefs and have the ability to lead others. However, you have a fiery temper and often let your emotions rule over your logic." Aki nodded as Misao read out her answer. "Yeah that sounds about right…how about you, Misao?"
"Oh, m-me?" Misao mumbled as though the question were unexpected. "W-well…I guess mine would be blue." "Hmm, let's see…" Aki said, flipping the booklet over so she could read it. "Yours says that you are aware of your surroundings and are very perspective. Although you generally do not voice your opinions aloud, others are impressed by your calm and collected disposition. You possess a great inner strength and treat others kindly." "Oh…" Misao breathed. Aki looked over to see that her face had fallen. "I don't think that sounds like me. I'm nothing so impressive."
Aki frowned. "You should have more confidence in yourself! Remember that time you nursed that injured bird back to health? Everyone else walked right on by, but you were the one that noticed it and took care of it. No one else thought to do that!" Misao blushed. "I didn't know anyone noticed…" "Actually," Aki confessed, "I've been hoping to talk to you for quite some time now." Misao blinked. "With me!? R-really?" Aki nodded. "You seem like a really sweet girl, and I'd love to get to know you better. If you don't mind, let's become friends!" Misao blinked again as though she hadn't heard her, but as Aki's words sank in she seemed to light up all at once. "Of course!"
The next half hour passed in a pleasant blur. But Aki found that after she returned to her seat the bright, cheerful Misao that had surfaced during the personality test was overshadowed by her sad, ghostlike shell.
"Thanks a lot for abandoning me back there," Ayaka grumped as she too had returned to her seat. "Because of you I was stuck with that creep Tohma." She shuddered as though she found the very thought of him repulsive. "He may be attractive, but he doesn't measure up to even half of the man that Mr. Sohta is."
Once more, Aki found herself struggling the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend. If only Ayaka knew Mr. Sohta wasn't as perfect as he seemed to be. Aki frowned, noticing something odd in what Ayaka had said. "Hang on. Why wasn't Tohma paired up with Saotome like he usually is?"
Ayaka pouted. "Weren't you listening? Saotome is off sick today. Of course Tohma thinks that means he's off the hook and isn't wasting the opportunity to check out the other girls in class." "Oh?" Aki grinned wickedly as yet another opportunity presented itself. "Um, Aki?" Ayaka squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "Can you stop smiling like that? It's kind of freaking me out."
As soon as their break began Aki lost no time making her way straight to Tohma's desk where he and a few buddies were not-so-discreetly checking out a pervy magazine. "Her? Meh, she's not too bad, but I prefer a girl with a little more meat on her-in the right places of course." Noticing Aki stand behind them with a slightly menacing aura, one of the guys elbowed Tohma in the ribs.
It was painfully obvious that Aki was forcing a smile when she said: "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec? Great, thanks!" Not waiting for an answer, she dragged Tohma from the room and thrust him into a nearby washroom, locking the door behind them. "What the-!?"
Regaining his balance Tohma turned to watch Aki check the stalls one by one to make sure they had their privacy. Incredulity fading, Tohma arrived at what he felt could be the only possible conclusion. "Coming on to me, eh? Can't say as I blame you. This situation is pretty hot, but regretfully I'm taken. However, I wouldn't mind making an exception for you…"
Aki snorted. How had she ever found him even remotely attractive? "Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once," she growled, forcing Tohma into a corner and slamming her hands on the wall beside his head. "Stay away from Misao." Tohma grunted. "Why the hell would I go near her in the first place?" Aki shrugged. "For fun? Some sick prank? I don't care. If you so much as talk badly about her to any of your sleazy little friends you'll have to answer to me."
Looking into her eyes Tohma saw she was dead serious and as much as he hated to admit it, he felt more than a little intimidated. Ducking under her arm, Tohma backed away slowly as though she were some kind of wild animal. When he got as far as the door his confidence returned to him. "Whatever you say, babe," he said with a wink, fumbling with the lock and hightailing it out of the bathroom before Aki could say another word.
Sighing, Aki shook her head. Had she really gotten through to him? It was too soon to say. She just hoped it would be enough.
*AUTHOR'S NOTES*
I hope you like it so far! (^w^;) I am not adverse to Aki x Misao, and looking back on this chapter fans of that ship might be happy with it…This may turn out to be my longest fanfic to date, because there is still no quantitative amounts of Aki Sohta! ( ﾟДﾟ) I have determined that no matter how bad a particular fic might be, I'm going to post what I do write instead of merely throwing it away because if I don't I'll never improve, so any comments you have to spare would be useful! Just be gentle with me~ (Please. TT^TT) Until next time!
Just another quick thing: if you DON'T like Aki x Sohta just don't read it, okay? (Don't really know why I have to tell you this, it should be pretty easy to figure out…(-_-#) Any flaming or non-constructive banter will be ignored or deleted.