Fifteen minutes later, the two friends nudged their way through the crowd of students blocking their view of the class chart. Ayame scanned it, looking for their names. "Eeeek!" She squealed, jumping up and down, "We're in the same class!" She hugged her friend.
"Hey, if your done get outta the way!" Called one of the students from behind.
"Sorry!" Ayame called back, as Alka led them out of the crowd.
"What class did you say we were in?" She asked.
"7A. Which is..." Ayame thought for a moment. "Upstairs, second level...3rd door to the left." When they were first years, Ayame had made it her priority to memorize the entire layout if the school - she wanted to travel the world one day, and so liked to map out her surroundings in preparation.
"After you." Alka smiled, gesturing towards the stairs.
When they reached the classroom, only a handful of students were already there, Alka found this as the perfect opportunity to scope out a place to sit, automatically going to the desk in the far right-hand corner of the room, the spot nearest the window.
Almost simultaneously, two bags dropped on top of the desk. Only one of them was hers. She looked up.
That love spot...
"Hey there," he said teasingly, "you stalking me or somethin'?"
She was slightly taken aback, her mind going blank, but quickly regained her composure. "No." She said calmly, "Are you?"
He smirked then, the corner of his lip tilting up. "No. Do you usually sit by the window?"
"Yes, she does." Ayame interjected, stepping up beside her.
"It's okay, Ayame." She said, picking up her bag. "He can have this seat."
Her friend looked at her then, "Are you sure? You always sit there."
"It's okay, really. It's time for a change anyway." Turning, she walked up a few rows towards the middle of the classroom, and set her bag down there. Ayame followed, choosing the seat just next to her own. And that was the end of that.
As more students began to trickle in, Alka felt the piercing heat of a gaze upon her back. She resisted the urge to turn around. Ayame, who noticed everything, never missed a beat, "Don't worry," she whispered, leaning sideways in her seat, "he'll buzz off eventually."
Alka gave a brief nod, and just stared out the window. Somehow, she had a hard time believing it.
A day passed, and then a week, and she could still feel his piercing gaze; during class, at lunch, in the hallways, even on their way to and from school. He wasn't a stalker, she knew, but it was getting to be more of a problem than she'd anticipated.
He'll stop eventually. She decided. Besides, she didn't want anything to ruin this day. Today was the day when all the clubs opened for recruiting, and she knew exactly which one to join: the kendo club. Ever since she was little, she'd loved to swing stuff around: her hairbrush, a bat, a stick, almost anything she could get her hands on. When she was old enough, she'd decided to take up kendo, and, at her parents' request, judo as well. "You never know," her mother had said, "it might come in handy." Though she had yet to use her skills outside of the dojo, Alka enjoyed the two pass times, even more so when they'd brought her to Ayame.
Being an only child, as well as a tomboy, Alka grew up with the boys in her town, seldom conversing with other girls her age. When she'd first enrolled in Judo, she was surprised to find that nearly half the class was girls. Most were older than her by a year or so, some younger, yet none of them approached her. None other than Ayame, that is. As they talked and trained, Ayame had slowly drawn Alka out of her shell, getting to know her, the real her, and accepting what she'd found. They'd been together ever since.
Although she still found herself as one of the guys, many had begun to see her as a girl, and so treated her like one as well. She'd turned down countless confessions in the past few years, though most of them just gave up after learning about her tougher masculine side, the rest simply accepted her as one of their own, one of the guys. She didn't mind, in fact, she rather enjoyed it: the brotherly love and fierce loyalty. Ayame didn't seem to mind it either, and with her by her side, Alka couldn't wish for more.
"Alka!" Her friend called, snapping her back to reality. "Do you want to go see how the new recruits are doing?" She asked, gesturing towards the dojo where sign ups were being held.
Alka stood up, throwing her sandwich wrapper into the trash can beside them. "Sure." She said, "I bet Otonashi is going to collapse of hunger any minute now." It was an ongoing joke among the club members, mostly due to the fact that everyone knew the stories regarding Otonashi's bottomless appetite, as well as the trouble it brought him both inside and outside the classroom.
"Haha, you think? Come on, let's head inside, see how bad the damage is." They grabbed their bags and strolled towards the dojo, neither in any hurry to relieve their starving friend from his perilous quest.
"There you guys are!" He yelled as they walked into the room. "It's about time you got here! Got any food?" He asked anxiously, running up to them and slinging an arm around each of their shoulders.
"Sorry, not today." Ayame said apologetically.
"Oh come ooon! This is the thanks I get for manning the doorway to hell?"
"Oh it wasn't that bad. And just wait till you get into college, you'll be lucky to have a grain of rice."
Otonashi crumpled to the floor in mock exhaustion. "Pleeeaaaase?" He moaned, "Spare meee!"
She rolled her eyes, "Oh I suppose you can have a little-"
He bolts away.
"-break. Really, that guy. Come on," she looked over at her friend, "I guess it can't be helped."
Together they slid through the crowd of students circling the booth, and hopped over to the other side. Ayame glanced pleadingly at Alka, "You know, you're a lot better at these things than I am."
Alka relented, and climbed on top of the desk.
"Minna!" She shouted in a stern voice, everyone looked her way, surprised at the sudden outburst. "Now, how many of you are actually here to join the kendo club?" Most everyone raised their hand. Alka nodded. "And how many of you are NOT joining just to be in the same club as Naru-sempai?" There's a guilty pause, followed by most all of the girls in the room lowering their hands. Alka looked down at them, unwavering. "If you're going to join this club, then you need to take it seriously. I will not tolerate half-hearted effort. We cannot let personal feelings interfere when it comes to kendo, or any other sport for that matter, because you will loose, and likely be injured in the process." They look around, feigning innocence. "Now, whoever is actually serious about joining the club purely for the sake of kendo, please sign up, there are forms on each side of the booth. Dismissed!"
"Hai!"
She hopped off the table. "See!" Ayame said, slapping her on the back. "I told you, you're a natural born leader!"
"No kidding." Said a deep voice from behind.
"Why are you here?" Alka asked, turning to face him.
"Well that's not very nice." Daiki said, feigning hurt. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to join the kendo club."
"Why would you want to join the kendo club?" Ayame sneered.
"I'm better than you think I am, that's for sure. So where do I sign up?"
Alka sighed, and handed him a form. "Fill this out and turn it in to the box over there." She said, gesturing to the metal tray in the middle of the table.
"Hai, Kaichou!" He brought his hand to his forehead in mock solute.
She turned away.
After hovering over the form considerably longer than necessary, Daiki gave her one last glance before sauntering over to the box and placing his papers inside. Ayame had gone off somewhere to show some new students where the nurse's office was located, and though there were plenty of people surrounding them, Alka couldn't help but feel like they were the only two people in the room.
He kept on walking.
Alka froze, shocked at his sudden aloofness. Is something wrong? She thought. He usually would've made some snide comment, or at least looked at me before leaving... She pressed her eyebrows together in contemplation.
Who are you, Kazehaya Daiki?
[Daiki]
He walked around the corner of the building, smiling to himself. Tachibana Alka, huh? He looked up to the sky. What an interesting woman.
