Chapter 3: Mysterious Transfer Student
Ammy returned to homeroom cautiously, but Mr. Kyuu wasn't watching her anymore. She let go of her breath with relief. Maybe she had imagined it.
By the time she got back, it was time for lunch. Issun bolted out the door to get in the lunch line before all the specialty breads were sold out, while Ammy and Sakuya pushed their desks together and opened their bentous. Mr. Kyuu had left to go to the faculty room, with Rao presumably following. After lunch, Ammy tried to pay attention to Mr. Kyuu's lesson, but it was hard with her belly full and the sunlight streaming onto her from her window seat. She felt herself drifting off and fought to at least look like she was paying attention so that she wouldn't get in trouble. Somehow the flute song from yesterday worked its way back into her head, giving her the same sleepy, nostalgic feeling. She closed her eyes.
And opened them abruptly. She wasn't imagining things. The flute was playing somewhere. Mr. Kyuu had gone silent and was frowning suspiciously. The rest of the class was silent as well, straining to hear where the sound was coming from.
There was a tap and a thud as the window opened beside her, and her eyes were assaulted by a flurry of pink and purple.
"Pardon, ma cherie!" said a laughing voice. She blinked and found herself staring at tall, bright red geta atop her desk. A boy—at least, she thought the person was a boy; she almost couldn't tell because his face was so pale and slender—leaned forward and grinned at her, tapping a flute against his chin. His clothes were an odd mixture of traditional clothing and pastel colors, which Ammy never would have thought to mix. Blonde bangs hung from underneath a hawk headpiece and trailed off into some sort of hat, the pink-tinged ends of which dangled in her face. "I didn't mean to land on your desk." He smiled and winked.
"If you didn't mean to, then what're you still doin' there?" snapped Issun.
The boy stood up fully and crossed his arms, looking accusingly down at Issun. "What is this, ma cherie? A little bug?"
Issun turned red with anger and jumped out of his seat as if to make a move, but Mr. Kyuu immediately shouted, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"
"You," he said coldly, looking up at the oddly dressed boy, who was still standing on Ammy's desk. "Get out of my classroom, delinquent, or I'll have you arrested for trespassing."
The boy merely smiled, and Ammy couldn't help admire his courage. "Pardon, monsieur, for not introducing myself…" He somersaulted in midair and landed gracefully on one geta in front of the class. He bowed, making a frivolous, sweeping gesture with the hand that wasn't holding his flute. "I am Ushiwaka Minamoto, but please call me Waka. Things you need to know about me? Hm, nothing more than that I am a mysterious transfer student and love music and ma cherie." He winked at the class and then gave a sly wink at Ammy. Issun sputtered unintelligible nonsense while the rest of the class whispered and glanced between Ammy and the charming blonde transfer.
Amidst the commotion, Rao burst into the room, clutching a stack of papers to her chest.
"Oh, the new transfer student arrived?" she asked, flipping her bangs out of her eyes.
Mr. Kyuu only grunted in answer and glared at Ammy. Her face flushed and she stared adamantly at her lap. That wasn't fair, she thought. None of this was her fault.
"I'll just sit here then," Waka said cheerfully, taking the empty seat behind her. Issun scowled. Ammy felt all eyes in the class resting on her. She slunk down in her seat.
The rest of the day went without much incidence, if by that you meant relatively, and by relatively little incidence you meant that Waka continued to draw attention to her by calling her ma cherie—whatever that meant, although it sounded much too intimate for her liking—every chance he got and managed to get into arguments with Issun and Mr. Kyuu for being a smartass. In any case, none of that came close to his extravagant entrance into class earlier that afternoon, meaning that the rest of class period was perfectly normal.
"Why are you sighing, Ammy?" asked Sakuya, as the three of them walked toward the school gates. "Is it because of that…" She leaned over conspiratorially. "…mysterious transfer student?"
"What's so good about him, anyway?" Issun said loudly, pushing Sakuya out of the way. "I mean, the girls were all over him, as if he were hot stuff, or somethin'. All he did was spout some nonsense, sing some songs, and have absolutely no sense of fashion. That's nothin' to squeal about, if you ask me." He glowered pointedly at Sakuya.
"You're just jealous, bug," she retorted. "He speaks a foreign language, Ammy! Don't you think that's exotic? Are you sure you don't know him? He was totally acting like you were childhood friends."
"I really don't," she insisted, for about the hundredth time. "Besides, I don't have any childhood friends." She couldn't remember anything of her old home, besides the flames and the smoke and the terror.
Sakuya sighed, saying that Ammy really ought to think like a girl at least once in her high school life, while Issun added obnoxiously, "Yeah, that guy's just an annoying, crazy pretty boy, right?"
"Bug," muttered Sakuya, slinging her bag at his head.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," said Ammy. "I've got to wait for Ite and pick up the other kids. Don't fight too much, okay?"
Issun and Sakuya barely waved goodbye before they began bickering again. Ammy sighed and leaned against the gate.
"There you are, Amaterasu!" Waka leapt down in front of her, grinning his wide and cheeky grin. "I've been waiting for a chance to speak to you alone."
Geh, she thought. She pretended not to have heard him and searched for Ite in the throng. They usually went home together in order to pick the little ones up from elementary school.
"Your brother left already, if that's who you're looking for," Waka murmured into her ear.
Ammy whipped around, startled. "You…How do you…"
He laughed, and she realized angrily that he was looking down on her. "We knew each other when we were small, ma cherie. I've been searching for you for quite some time."
"Creeper," she muttered. But something had been bothering her about him for some time, and she couldn't shake the strange feeling of familiarity.
"You seem to have forgotten me," he said, patting her on the head and leaning forward to whisper in her ear again. "But I'll make you remember."
And with another infuriating laugh, he leapt upwards and disappeared into the trees.
[xx]
"Why did you bring him here?"
Rao riffled through some papers, but turned around once she heard Kyuu. His face was hard and gaunt and scowling, and she knew if she were a schoolgirl she would have been terrified. But for all his cold countenance, she noticed the scar over his eye twitching, as if underneath, the shadow of his old eye was flickering nervously back and forth. She widened her eyes innocently. "What do you mean?"
Fast as lightning, Kyuu grabbed her by the throat, shoving her over the desk and scattering the papers. Ah well. She would have to sort them again tomorrow.
"You know what I mean, wench," he hissed. "You brought him here, didn't you? That transfer student."
Rao smiled, staring undaunted into Kyuu's twisted face. "Don't tell me you're scared of him, are you, you old fox?"
Kyuu's eye widened, and for the briefest second, she knew she had hit the spot. He let go of her and backed away, narrowing his good eye with loathing.
Rao stood up straight, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. "Although if you must know, it wasn't I who brought him here. I simply was aware of the fact before you."
Kyuu made a disgusted noise. "Pah! And why should I believe you, you two-faced, lying wench? They should never have met again! Who's to say you're not working against us?"
"Hm," she mused. She looked up at him from underneath her bangs, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "I suppose you'll just have to trust me, now won't you?"
He threw his arms up in the air, taking a few quick paces to the side in frustration. "Of all people, he sent me you," he spat.
She rubbed her throat, her hand moving down to touch the glinting red beads that hung around her neck. She smirked. "That's because I am the best."
A/N: Hmm, I feel like I could have done better on this chapter...
In any case, thoughts? Things are starting to happen, and Waka and Ammy are reunited! But why can't she remember him? Is he telling the truth in the first place, or does he have his own, secret agenda? Mysterious questions for you guys to think about, I guess. XD Anyway, make sure you review!
