Chapter 3
"What do you mean you lost your job?!" a woman's voice screeched. "How can we possibly live properly now?!" she nearly screamed in frustration. Hotsuma winced as he eavesdropped on the conversation between his parents. His younger brother was thankfully, fast asleep in their shared bedroom. Hotsuma had woken up from the sounds of shouting and he was now standing behind the wall from the living room.
"Calm down. I will find some way to get a job," he heard his father said in a resigned tone.
"I can't keep living like this. Haven't I told you to stop wasting your money on gambling?!" she shouted.
"Shut up woman! If you have a problem with me then you are very much welcomed to leave this house!" his father shouted.
A tensed silence filled the air. Hotsuma felt his heart beating wildly in his chest. His mother finally broke the silence with a hollow whisper. "If that's what you want then I'll leave first thing tomorrow," she whispered out.
.
Hotsuma gasped when he was awaken by the dream. The same dream that had haunted him for many years – his past, his family. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was close to 6.00am. He was really wide-awake and knew that he couldn't go back to sleep. Hence, he unwillingly got out of bed, deciding to head out early today. He needed to breathe in some fresh air, as the nightmare was still replying in his mind.
Stopping by a convenience store, he bought an energy drink and sandwich. He was paying for his breakfast when a voice called out to him.
"Renjo?"
Hotsuma turned in surprise, wondering who was calling out to him. Upon seeing the owner of the voice, he glared lightly at the person.
Usui Shusei smiled gently, a little surprised to see the blond. Normally, he would have expected the blond to be late for school, since his record was always filled with marks of absence or tardiness.
"Good morning. I'm surprised to see you up so early," said Shusei rather pleasantly, which irked Hotsuma.
Hotsuma quickly paid for his stuff before stepping out the shop, wanting to get away from the brunet. Shusei was just tailing behind him and soon, Hotsuma felt himself losing his short temper and he spun round and glared at the other.
"Why are you following me?" snapped Hotsuma.
He felt rather strange. The brunet's presence didn't anger him; just mildly annoyed him. He was unused to other people butting into his personal space. If it was any other person, Hotsuma would be punching the lights out of that person but somehow, Hotsuma found himself unable to do so to the brunet.
"The Principal had asked me to keep an eye on you," said Shusei smoothly, as he was following Hotsuma a few steps behind.
"That bastard Takashiro did?" Hotsuma growled. Shusei arched a brow at the disrespect Hotsuma was displaying but decided to brush it off. He didn't want to cause a scene in public.
"Renjo, Why do you always look so angry?" asked Shusei.
Hotsuma gave another growl before turning and yanking Shusei's blazer towards him. "This is how I've always looked so mind your own business," Hotsuma warned, before releasing the brunet. Shusei straightened his blazer and glanced curiously at the disappearing figure in front of him.
Although he knew that he really shouldn't butt into other people's life, he somehow couldn't ignore the blond. He couldn't keep his eyes off Renjo Hotsuma. The blond was indeed a mystery to him.
Despite the rumors around the blond, Shusei somehow had a feeling that Renjo Hotsuma was not as cold hearted as people assumed him to be. What made him come to that conclusion was that when Hotsuma had yanked him forward, he had actually managed to stare deep into those intense golden eyes – the golden eyes that held so much pain and sorrow.
.
After the usual morning assembly, Shusei went to the Principal's office to report on Hotsuma's detention. Takashiro was impressed that the hot-blooded teen had sat through an entire detention without complain.
"Hot-Hotsuma actually did that? Without fighting or cursing back?" said Takashiro in slight awe.
Shusei rubbed his temples a little as he sat on the chair opposite the Principal's desk. "He did say a few… unique words," Shusei thought of the best way to describe Hotsuma's vocabulary, "but other than that he just sat through detention."
The Principal nodded in understanding. "Amazing… It's amazing that Hotsuma actually listened to you," he fiddled with glasses before his eyes glint, a sudden idea forming in his mind.
"I have an idea, Usui-kun."
Shusei glanced at the Principal and his eyes narrowed slightly. He did not like the glint in the man's eyes. "What are you trying to pull, Principal?"
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"Eh? So Shusei, you have to tutor that freshman?" said Toko, her voice filled with sympathy. Shusei gave a tired nod as he sat down opposite his girlfriend, eating lunch in the cafeteria.
"The Principal personally requested me so there is no way that I can just refuse," sighed Shusei in defeat.
"Hmm… how often do you have to tutor him?" asked Toko as she flicked her long hair over her shoulder.
"Every Monday and Thurday, starting from today," said Shusei as he used his fork to fiddle around with his food.
"Wow, Shusei. Looks like you will be very busy! We have even less time to go dating," she pouted. Shusei smiled back apologetically to his girlfriend. To be honest, spending less time with Toko didn't affect him much since his didn't hold true feelings towards her. He felt guilty for leading her on but he was also afraid to make her sad. Hence, he always avoided the topic of his love life. So much for being the perfect role model, I can't even tell my girlfriend my true feelings.
He excused himself once he had a quick lunch, gave a small peck on Toko's cheek before excusing himself. He then began his usual patrol around the school campus. However, his mind was not fully focused on his duties. His mind drifted to a blond who has caught his attention. Hotsuma was an enigma to him – a puzzle that he wanted to solve no matter what.
He walked up towards the rooftop – a place that he frequented when he needed to do some thinking. A gentle breeze drifted by, blowing his hair gently as he breathed in deeply.
The bell rang a few minutes later – indicating that lunch break was over. Shusei was about to return back into the building when he noticed a figure lying down on the corner. He walked towards the person, wanting to wake whoever it is until he came closer and realized that it was Hotsuma. The blond was fast asleep and Shusei watched his sleeping face closely. 'He looks so innocent when he is sleeping'.
He continued to observe the sleeping face, noticing that a slight frown was forming onto the sleeping face. "M-Mom…" those few words were mumbled out.
.
Hotsuma's eyes flew open, glancing up onto the infinite blue sky. It was a cloudless day. He instantly used his forearm to cover his eyes from the sunlight, beads of sweat forming around his face. 'That dream again… how many times has it been now?' he thought.
He sat up, covering his face with his palm before noticing that someone had taken his own blazer to warm up his body against the chilly winds of autumn. He specifically remembered that he had removed his blazer, threw it aside and wanted to take a nap. He glanced around – before noticing a piece of paper lying next to him, a pen resting on top to prevent it from flying away. He took the paper and read the neat and elegant handwriting.
Don't forget our appointment after school hours. Classroom I-VII. Take care of your health and do not be late.
Usui.
Hotsuma blinked once, stare at the piece of paper for a couple more seconds before giving a sigh of exasperation as he stuffed the note and pen into his pocket, patting the dust from his uniform before heading back into the building. The dismissal bell rang.
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Shusei headed towards Hotsuma's class with a small stack of notebooks and textbooks. He gave himself one more deep breath before sliding open the classroom door.
To his pleasant surprise, Hotsuma was sitting at his usual desk i.e. the last seat at the back on the window side, his legs crossed, hands in his pockets as he stared out the window.
The blond glanced towards the door as Shusei stood there, a little surpised that the blond would actually be waiting for him – for once.
"Took you long enough, Mr Student Council President," he said, a little sarcastically.
Shusei's face softened, before walking towards Hotsuma's seat. He chuckled once. "Sorry for my tardiness, I was a little held up at the Student Council," he apologized, before pulling a chair opposite the blond.
He took out a checklist on what subjects he needed to tutor the blond before continuing, "Should we start with math today?" he enquired, glancing up at the blond.
Hotsuma shrugged. "Whatever you want, it doesn't matter anyway," he said nonchalantly.
Shusei felt relieved. Things were going smoother than he thought. Originally, he thought that he would have to go through hell in order to make the blond to even attend for tutor sessions but looks like he was wrong – for the moment.
.
Hotsuma glanced towards Shusei as the brunet was going through a sample question on algebra. Strangely, he found himself a little drawn to the student council president. Rather than paying attention to the subject at hand, he found himself studying Shusei's face instead.
"Renjo, are you paying attention?" he was brought out of his musings when the brunet glanced at him. Hotsuma blinked once before glancing down at the question. "No. I want to go to sleep," he said bluntly.
Shusei shot him a look of annoyance, before glancing at his watch. It was already close to 6pm. "Well, we have been at this for nearly three hours already… I suppose we could call it a day." Shusei sighed once, before starting to pack up his stuff.
Hotsuma also did the same, "Well then, see ya Mr Student Council President."
Before Shusei could retort back at the sarcasm in the blond's comment, the blond had already left the classroom.
.
'I really do not want to go back just yet,' he thought. He passed by a small park on the way and decided stop by. Hotsuma sat down on one of the swings, as he glanced up on the evening sun, admiring the beautiful scenery of the trees filtering the orange rays of the sun.
"Yuki…" he mumbled out in a barely audible whisper.
Kimihearts: and thats it for now! Please review! :)
xoxo
