After School

The rest of the school day, as usual, had been pretty tedious for Asuna. She liked learning new things and all, but it was torture for her to sit through lectures for hours on end. She kept her eyes open during class, but she wasn't thinking about trigonometric identities or world capitals. Instead, she thought about the people in her life, like Takahata-sensei and Negi. She also thought about Ayaka and how they always fought. It's not like Asuna wanted to fight with her---it kind of just happened sometimes. Asuna wondered why that was so.

Once, she had heard a saying that "people who always fight actually really care for each other," but she didn't know if she believed that. She wanted Ayaka to be happy, but with all the times they had fought, that was about all she could feel. Sometimes, she felt like they were friends as well, but that wasn't too often. As Asuna sat in her last class for the last few minutes of the school day, she wondered about how Ayaka felt about her. Does she really hate me like it seems she does? Asuna asked herself. Soon, the bell rang and Asuna blinked when the people around her got up, being caught by surprise at how deep in thought she had been.

As Asuna walked down the hallway, her eyes were soft and big. She wasn't thinking about Ayaka anymore because she had other things to think about now, like Takahata-sensei. She was going to meet with him after school to do some studying for English like she did every other week. His room wasn't too far away and she got there within a minute of the dismissal bell ringing. She looked inside to make sure he was in there. He was sitting at his desk, looking down at some sort of document. Asuna smiled slightly and slowly opened the door, making sure not to disturb him while he was reading. Once Asuna was in the classroom, she looked around. She was surprised when she noticed that Ayaka was sitting in the second row. Ayaka was looking up at her with her chin in her palm and a blank expression.

Asuna gulped while looking at Ayaka and then turned to look back at Takahata-sensei. He was looking at her with a smile on his face. "Well, hello… Asuna-kun." He said in his deep, round voice. "What can I help you with this afternoon?"

Asuna blushed and stood silent for a minute, but then spoke. "Well, uh… I just was wondering if we could study together again today."

Takahata-sensei smiled again and nodded. "Why don't you have a seat by Ayaka-san?" Takahata said. "She's come in here to check her extra-credit paper with me… So, you can probably learn from some of the grammar and spelling mistakes that I will cover with her."

Asuna nodded and looked at Ayaka, walking slowly to sit down in the desk next to her. She put down her bags and then sat, looking at the empty, smooth chalkboard at the front of the room. Takahata-sensei went back to reading for a few moments. The room was silent as Asuna looked at Ayaka. Ayaka was looking at Asuna as well and automatically blushed when their eyes met. Almost instantaneously, Ayaka turned away. Asuna's eyebrows bent at Ayaka's actions and she was a little angered by her ignorance towards her, but that was how it was.

"Okay, girls…" Takahata-sensei said loudly. "How about you take out your notebooks so you can take some notes over this."

Both of the girls quickly took out their notebooks and writing utensils. Neither of them were really thinking about note taking though. Asuna was thinking about Ayaka and Takahata-sensei and Ayaka was thinking about Negi and Asuna.

Takahata-sensei began to write a sentence on the board and Ayaka and Asuna mindlessly jotted it down---not even paying attention. Takahata-sensei also began talking to them about tenses and punctuation, but they weren't truly interested in it. Ayaka just wanted a good, precise assignment so she could get the highest grade in Negi-sensei's class and Asuna was pretty much just there so that she could spend time with Takahata-sensei.

"So, when you want to say 'Kanojo wa shukudai o shitakunakatta desu,' you would say, 'She didn't want to do her homework.' That is how negative past tense in English works." Takahata-sensei addressed. As he taught, Asuna's face was pink because of how lovestruck she was over him. After Ayaka finished writing she sentence down, Ayaka looked at Asuna and noticed how dazed she looked over Takahata-sensei. She rolled her eyes, thinking that Asuna was ridiculous.

Ayaka didn't know what it was, but every time she looked at Asuna staring at Takahata-sensei, she felt a little bit perturbed. Sometimes, Ayaka wished she got attention from people like the attention that Asuna gave him. She wished people would stare at her and gawk at her like that. However, what Ayaka was less aware of was that it wasn't just Takahata-sensei's fame she was jealous over, but something more specific.

After Takahata-sensei taught the girls about verbs in past tense, Takahata-sensei put the chalk down and brushed off his hands by smacking them together. "So, that's pretty much all you need to know about past tense in English for now. I have to go take a quick bathroom break and then I'll be back to tell you about future tense, okay?"

The two girls smiled at their sensei and nodded. Takahata-sensei walked out of the room slowly, wanting to take his time. While he was gone, Asuna and Ayaka didn't look at each other and in fact just kept their eyes on opposite corners of the room. Both of them wanted to start a conversation because of how naked the silence felt, but they knew they didn't want to start a fight. After a few moments, however, Asuna decided to be brave and she looked over to Ayaka, only to see her facing the wall. She watched Ayaka stare at the wall for a few minutes and then giggled.

Ayaka turned and looked at Asuna with her eyebrows bent. "What's so funny?" She asked.

Asuna blinked. "Oh, I was just laughing because I never knew you were so in love with the wall." Asuna said. "I mean, you've been staring at it forever."

Ayaka frowned at Asuna and then looked down at her desk. "Yeah, well… at least I'm not in love with an old man almost three times my age!"

Asuna blushed heavily and squinted at Ayaka. "I'd rather be in love with Takahata-sensei than be a perverted pedophile like you, Ms. Baby Banger."

Ayaka jerked her head at Asuna's disturbing statement. What Asuna said had hurt, but Ayaka didn't want to let Asuna feel like she had won this battle. Ayaka crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"I suggest you shut that mouth of yours, ape-woman… Keep yapping and I'm going to tell Takahata-sensei the truth---that you're MADLY in love with him!" Ayaka teased.

Asuna's eyes widened in fury and she got up from her desk. She got in Ayaka's face and looked straight in her eyes. If there was one thing Asuna hated about Ayaka most, it was how Ayaka just LOVED to get involved in her love life and get it all tangled up.

"If you say ONE word to Takahata-sensei, then I'll make sure that you will deeply regret it." Asuna said.

Ayaka laughed. She then got even closer to Asuna's face and smirked devilishly at her. "Ooh… I'm SO scared of you, Asuna Kagurazaka." She said in an insulting whisper.

Asuna bared her teeth at Ayaka and fiercely grasped onto her shoulders, pushing her face even closer to hers. "Really? Well, I'm GLAD that you are!"

The two were only about a centimeter apart now, and they could feel each other's soft breath upon their faces. Both of them noticed that the other was blushing heavily, and soon Asuna backed away from Ayaka and stood up straight.

Asuna looked down to the shiny floor beneath her for a moment or two and Ayaka looked away. Both of them didn't really know what to say after that and were pretty embarrassed. They yearned for Takahata-sensei to come back at that very moment to end the awkwardness, but that didn't happen.

Courageously, Ayaka looked up to Asuna. Asuna looked at Ayaka as well.

Ayaka then giggled a bit. "Hm. You know, your breath really stinks." She said in retaliation for the embarrassing situation Asuna had put her through. "Did you like, brush your teeth with dirty socks this morning or something?"

Asuna blinked at her and frowned. "No, shut up... At least mine doesn't smell like a heap of rotten fish."

Ayaka gasped at Asuna's comment and her eyes widened. "Does it really smell like that?" She asked in horror. Instead of paying full attention to their argument, Ayaka was more worried about her hygiene now. Usually, Ayaka was an incredibly self-confident girl, but when someone made a negative comment about how she looked or smelled, even if it was Asuna, she got freaked out.

Asuna laughed at her. "I'm not joking. I almost passed out. I bet Takahata-sensei even smelled it across the room."

Ayaka brought her hand up to her mouth and breathed into it to see if Asuna was right. She couldn't really smell anything, but there was no way she could know whether or not others did. Ayaka frowned at Asuna and looked incredibly embarrassed while she dug in her small backpack for a piece of gum.

Asuna continued to laugh at Ayaka's actions. She couldn't believe how worried Ayaka was about herself.

Ayaka sneered at her and pouted. She quickly stuck the piece of gum in her mouth after she unwrapped it. "You can stop laughing now. If you were trying to shame me, you already succeeded, so just shut up, you immature brat." Ayaka looked away and gulped. She felt like she was about to cry for a minute because of how condescending Asuna had been, but she held herself together.

Asuna was stunned at Ayaka's submission. She knew that if she had really hurt Ayaka, that she would act like this. After a few moments of contemplation, Asuna decided to apologize.

"Ugh… Look, Ayaka. ...I was only kidding. Your breath smells fine."

Ayaka looked angrily at Asuna for a few minutes. Her confrontational facial expression turned into a more peaceful one. "You're really rude. Don't you know you shouldn't do that to a girl?" Ayaka said. "I mean, even if her breath smells bad, keep your comments to yourself. You need to learn some manners."

Asuna laughed at her. "You're one to talk. You're the one that said my breath stunk first." Asuna looked away from Ayaka and down at the floor again.

Ayaka blinked at Asuna's comeback. She closed her eyes after a moment and smiled. "Hmph...I suppose I did." She said... She then opened her eyes. "However, I was only kidding as well."

Asuna looked back up at Ayaka. She crossed her arms and then shook her head. "I guess we were arguing over nothing then... Then again, I guess that's no different than usual." Asuna then laughed. "Haha... We always fight over the stupidest things."

Ayaka smiled a little. She didn't take Asuna's comment as an insult and actually agreed with her. "Yes… I suppose we do." Ayaka then thought about the fact that they did argue over stupid things all the time. She felt indifferent about it most of the time, but she was becoming more concerned about it now. Like Asuna, she didn't necessarily want to argue, but it just happened.

After the two had come to an agreement, the girls were silent. Asuna sat back down in her desk and doodled on her notebook. Ayaka, with nothing else to do, watched her closely and smiled at how childish she was. Soon, Takahata-sensei came back into the room.

"Erm… I'm sorry about that girls. I saw a new teacher in the hall that asked me a question." Takahata-sensei stated.

The two girls bowed their head to him and then looked back up to the chalkboard. Takahata-sensei then started his lecture on future tense by writing down the Japanese sentence, "Ashita, watashi wa asagohan o taberu tsumori desu," on the board. The girls didn't really pay attention while he was writing. Asuna was looking at Takahata-sensei's strong, masculine figure as it moved and Ayaka was looking at Asuna again.

She didn't know what it was, but Ayaka couldn't take her eyes off of her. She wanted to know more about her, so she observed her more. She wanted to know more about her, first of all, because she kind of wanted to get closer to Asuna so that she could also get closer to Negi-sensei, but she also wanted to know more about her so that her and Asuna could just get closer to each other, period. Ayaka sometimes felt that there was another reason, but she wasn't sure of it, so she usually just ignored it. Ayaka continued to look at her.

Takahata-sensei cleared his throat several times to try and get Ayaka's attention.

"Um… Ayaka-san, could you PLEASE pay attention? I could be at home right now, but I choose to be here and help you." He said in a frustrated tone.

Asuna looked to Ayaka, only to see that Ayaka's flushed face looking at her. Asuna blushed immediately and then leaned over towards Ayaka to push her shoulder and get her attention. Ayaka looked away from Asuna and to Takahata-sensei, shaking her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please forgive me, Takahata-sensei."

"It's okay. Just try and pay attention. I just want to talk about this sentence and then you are free to go." He responded. "Now, what does this sentence translate into?" Takahata-sensei pointed at the sentence he had previously wrote on the board.

Asuna looked back to Ayaka and frowned slightly. "Sorry, Ayaka. I don't know, so you'd better answer it."

Ayaka looked at her and smiled. "Hmph... I figured out that much. The sentence, I think… Translates into, 'Tomorrow, I plan to eat breakfast.'"

Takahata-sensei nodded and smiled in content. "Yes, very good, Ayaka-san."

Asuna jotted the translation down in her notes and then squinted at Ayaka, sticking her tongue out at her. "Know it all." She whispered under her breath.

Ayaka smiled at Asuna's teasing. Again, she didn't retort back or anything, but just accepted how Asuna joked with her. She knew that was the only way she could help them to stop arguing all the time.

Takahata-sensei smiled at the two girls. He then began to erase the board and grabbed his suitcase. "Well, that's all for this afternoon. I hope it helped."

The two girls nodded to their professor and smiled. "It helped a lot." Ayaka said. "Thank you."

Asuna bowed to her professor. "Yes, th-thank… you, Takahata-sensei." She said nervously.

Takahata bowed to them. "If you have any questions, just come in after school again sometime…" He said. "…Oh, and Ayaka-san, your paper is on my desk. Don't forget it." Takahata-sensei then walked out of the room.

Asuna looked at Ayaka once Takahata-sensei was out of the room. "So, Ayaka… What's your paper about anyway?" She asked, smiling.

Ayaka blinked at Asuna's curiosity. "Well, uh… It's just… a story about a little girl that thinks she has nothing good in her life before she meets this other girl who becomes her best friend." Ayaka didn't want to tell her any more than that for now, because the story was actually very personal to her.

Asuna's eyebrows raised, showing Ayaka that she was impressed. "Hm. That's interesting. It's really cool that you're able to write a whole story in English."

Ayaka blushed slightly at Asuna's compliment. "Heh...Well, it's pretty difficult."

Asuna smiled at Ayaka and put her notebook and pen in her bag. She then stood up. "Well, Ayaka. You're a smart girl, so I'm sure you can handle it." Asuna said. "Anyway, I'll see you later." Asuna began to walk out of the classroom and Ayaka watched her go. However, Ayaka had something that she wanted to say back.

"Wait, Asuna-san." Ayaka said.

Asuna stopped and turned back to her. "What is it?" She blinked.

Ayaka smiled. "Well, I was just thinking that...maybe we could come in here together to study more often?" Ayaka got up from her desk, packing her things as well. She swung her bag around her shoulder and walked up to Takahata-sensei's desk to grab her paper.

Asuna looked at Ayaka when she stopped at Takahata's desk. "Yeah, sure." Asuna replied. "It'll probably be good for me. I mean, I can't really answer any of the questions, so if there's someone there who can, then that's good."

Ayaka shook her head at Asuna's low self esteem and then smiled at her. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I'm going to sit in here and look over my paper some more."

Asuna nodded and bit her lip. "Okay. Well… Good luck."

Asuna walked out of the classroom and quickly down the hall. She was happy that she had stayed after school with Ayaka, even though they had a pretty intense argument. As she walked, she thought about how even though they always fought together, her and Ayaka never had any really lasting harsh feelings towards each other. She also thought about how Ayaka was acting now. I wonder why she's being so nice to me... Asuna thought to herself. She probably just wants something from me or is going to use me to get closer to Negi… Oh well.

Even though Asuna thought that Ayaka's feelings were not altruistic, she strongly hoped, more than anything, that they were.