-Yan-chan's Questions-
- April 11th –
- Sunny - 晴れの天気

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

Sluggish muscles drug her toward her alarm clock. She shut off the sound and began to move herself to get ready for school. The process was easier than previous years, if but for the anticipation of who she looked forward to seeing at school. Paradise was found there and she never felt more alive than when she knew her true love was there.

Backpack on her shoulder, shoes on her feet, she hopped onto her bike and pedaled through the bright and optimistic light of an April Morning. Especially lately, the ride was a joy and the roads were easy to travel. She tied up her bike and skipped into the main courtyard. The other students were filing in as the bells chimed and alerted them all to the hour. They wouldn't have too much longer to find their first classrooms and to otherwise behave like normal teenagers. She cast her eyes about and searched the crowd for the face that brought warmth into her life.

As she looked, from the number, an intense pair of eyes looked back. They were new. Or, newer. She couldn't recognize his face from the previous year, or any in her current year. She felt that he was a junior-classman, but that didn't help her know much about who he was. He looked away not long after she glanced at him, but he seemed to hesitate a moment too long.

Weird.

She drew out her phone and switched to her camera. Trying to disguise her behavior as one just checking her phone for messages, she angled the camera toward the loosely gathered group of students that migrated toward the doors to join those that arrived early. She zoomed the camera onto the one who had the intense glare, took the picture, and then previewed the picture to be sure it was the one she wanted to send. This damned stranger was stealing away time she normally used to see senpai!

She quickly sent off the image to Info-chan. She expected that Info-chan would reply quickly. She locked and returned its phone to its normal resting place with little more than a flick of her wrist. The bell rung once again and she looked out over the crowd of incoming students. She couldn't find the face she looked for. What kept senpai? The flu was going around… WAS SENPAI ILL?!

The bell did ring, so maybe she just missed her chance and everyone was already inside. Maybe that was it. Senpai was considerate and knew that there was a festival coming up. Sometimes students came to school early so they could get more work done. Maybe that's what happened.

Pacified for now, she turned from her search and went to her first class.

She saw me.

He felt suspended in the void between moments, where even the measurement of time didn't exist. Her face still held the shade of the moon's uncertainty, clouded by her thoughts, but the expectation of her expression granted him a momentary thrill. If she could but look his way again! That when she looked, it was for him! But her gaze did not linger on him long. No, the eternity ended. She seemed troubled, confused, or even bothered by having spotted him amongst the crowd.

He felt his heart churn within him and his frustration snarled in displeasure. The murmur of student voices seemed a fitting backdrop of sound, adding static to the discordance in his thoughts. She might have seen him, but he certainly wasn't noticed. Little more than an obstruction in her search for someone else. He had his suspicion about who that was…

He was almost surprised when he found his classroom. The teacher had already arrived an was addressing her students. He opened the door and stepped inside. The room fell quiet. He and apologized to the teacher. He heard her scolding, and mechanically logged it away in his mind as having occurred. He was not ordered to stand outside, as it had only been a few minutes, but the rebuke was enough to disrupt the atmosphere one expected for a classroom. He bowed again and made his way to his seat, making eye contact with no one, and then began to absorb the most he could from this class.

Oh? They were learning about the feudal era. War and the finer details of conquest. He could make use of this class.

With his thoughts favorably turned to applying the content of this class, he smiled. He took notes, and occasionally, he stopped to begin writing her name, though with neither ink or lead. She was his Edo. He would be Date Masamune. He would not be beaten here.

When it was time for lunch, the students broke again into their cliques and to their friends. Conversation entered the courtyard, concerning various shows, games, school drama, and the like. She entered the courtyard, armed with her lunchbox, and looked around. Senpai generally ventured outside on a day like today, especially when others in the same class gathered around the fountain.

Finding the knights and squires of the valued highness wasn't difficult. They talked about everything, even about those who preferred to avoid cliques in general. The prince was a friend to all. As casually as she drifted through the hallways, she moved closer to them. She walked as though she would eat her lunch under the Confession Tree.

"-for the English exam?"

"I'm ready. I bet Koki-kun could ace it without even trying."

The blue-haired male didn't seem to respond to the compliment. If he was within hearing distance, it didn't seem to matter one way or another. He simply continued eating while the others conversed.

"You don't look confident, Sosuke."

The aquamarine male seemed to awkwardly smile and could only offer a shrug. "English is hard. I'd rather study Chinese or some other language."

One of the girls in the circle seemed to scoff with a smile. "You haven't been studying, have you?"

He chuckled nervously.

Disappointed that this conversation seemed unlikely to include her favorite topic, the twitterpated girl sat down and opened her bento in the shadow of the tree. She continued to listen for the remainder of the lunch break. Somewhere in the middle of this, she drew out her phone again and checked for any new messages. Not many needed to be in touch with her, but as per usual, Info-chan was on the case with information about the picture she sent…

Outside of her notice, across the stone walkway and by the tree opposite of the confession tree, he sat. His back was against the tree, his uniform coat was draped over his right leg, his very simple lunch in his left hand. He glanced up occasionally, if to ensure that she was able to eat in peace. She was undisturbed, displaying many characteristics of someone who preferred to be by themselves.

It was safer this way, he reflected, mindlessly chewing on rice that had chilled. He much preferred fresh rice, but it couldn't be helped, father was always out of door before dawn and he was left to his own devices for his meals. Simple, yes, but he was practically an adult and able to take care of himself just fine. Still, he often missed the warm meals his mother used to make. He looked forward to the day when he was father, and his life was complete with wife, home, job, and all of the blessings and benefits heaven gave to the wedded. Not the least of which, of course, warm and tasty food.

He frowned slightly as he looked at his humble meal bundle. How did it compare to what she packed?

He set his box on his coat and left it under the tree as he strode in her direction. He rounded the tree she sat in the shadow of and casually leaned his shoulder to the cherry blossom's trunk. She looked up from her phone and the text message she was reading.

What was he doing here?

His eyes flicked from the box of food in her lap to her face. She still struggled to understand what he was doing. He was a complete stranger to her, and at the moment he was still looming over her. She wasn't interested in sharing her lunch if anyone was careless enough to completely forget it. (Senpai's needs aside, of course. Senpai will always be the exception.)

"Please forgive my rudeness." He suddenly straightened and bowed. "I noticed you were sitting alone and… I…"

Energy was slowly sparking around his heart, but mostly in his head. He disliked the heat in his face, somehow inspired by the piercing gaze. He swallowed and tried to locate the sentence he dropped. His salvation was found in her bento box.

"What did you make for lunch?"

She moved the lid over the box, obscuring its contents from his view and defensively wrapping her arms around it. "It's just rice, pork, and tempura."

He continued to look at the box. His face was able to cool down, thankfully, as long as he didn't maintain eye contact. At least for now. He wanted to overcome this trait, as he was certain it wasn't earning any respect from her. She, of all people, couldn't see him as weak!

"That sounds much better than the rice I brought." He chuckled, and anxiously began to scratch the back of his head. Why was this difficult to do?

He seemed to be having trouble speaking, she reflected. Though, seeing that he was nervous allowed her to relax a little bit. He brought his food, that meant that he wasn't likely to be after hers. His laughter faded. She couldn't think of anything to say or ask. The silence.

She turned her attention to her lunch and began to eat again. He seemed to take the hint, bowed, and with another apology, he excused himself to return to his day-old chilled rice. The short conversation reverberated madly in his skull and overwhelmed his hearing as he sluggishly sat down, picked up his coat and rice, and tried to eat again. She brought rice… and pork… and tempura.

He could almost taste it.

When he left and returned to his lunch, she watched him go, just to be certain. Nothing unusual…. Just some strange loner… She turned back to her phone and unlocked the screen to read what Info-chan had to say about him.

Ayato.