4 - Misunderstandings, part 1

Suddenly all the faces were turned to them. The tall boy was suddenly shouting at her, his eyes expressing only anger and frustration. They were standing, facing each other, but she was the one doing most of the talking. His rolled-up sleeves showed his tense muscles and sometimes it seemed he was about to attack the red-haired girl in front of him.

You would expect the lunchtime to be a calm, relaxing moment at Raijin Academy and it usually was, except between troublemakers such as Rina and Katashi.

"Still with the same drama." she exclaimed in a bored tone, her eyebrows raised. "Go get a life, stop picking on me. I'm sorry I helped you, OK?" She added in a sarcastic tone, grinning and making Katashi even more irritated. He started shouting again.

A teacher approached them, smiling widely and with his hands behind his back. He was short and wore round glasses, his round face has pale, except for his lightly pink cheeks. "Good afternoon, would you please lower your voices and stand as far from each other as possible?" his hands were shaking and the friendly smile began to look scary. Sweat was dripping from the teacher's forehead as he spoke. "Your behaviour is scaring the students." He used a handkerchief to dry his face and continued looking at them.

"Hm, sure. As soon as this a-hole takes back what she said about me.", Katashi stepped closer to the girl, cupping his fist with the other hand. "She thinks she's better than everyone here!" he added, as loud as he could.

"I never said that!" she replied, her legs trembling and feeling her face hot. She stepped back, widening the space between them. "I just said you could leave me alone and accept the fact that I saved your butt. Better get beaten by me than that guy, huh?"

"And now I'm about to kick you butt, you little b-"

"All right, Miss Natsume and Mr. Katashi, that's enough!" the teacher's thin voice started losing its pedantic tone. His round face became red in a matter of seconds and he really resembled a tomato. He closed his hands together and took a deep breath, recovering his normal appearance. "You two are scaring the other students and must stop disturbing the order in this school.", he said as calmly as he could.

"Alright, you can have your order back." Katashi's eye's narrowed to slits, he relaxed his shoulders and turned around, ready to leave.

Rina continued standing in the company of the teacher, who wouldn't stop talking. Her eyes shifting from him to Katashi, who had stopped walking and turned back to her. She could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, his fists closed and his eyes studied her with way too much attention. The teacher's voice started to disappear into her mind and she could only focus on the figure who moved fast in her direction. She did the first thing that came into her mind.

When did her life become so confusing and violent? She liked school and studying had been her favorite thing for a long time, but then everything changed. When it felt like studying wouldn't get her where she wanted, she decided to search for an easier way. The gang was the answer. Her great fighting skills made people notice her. She was respected by most students, feared by some, and hated by a few of them.

She stopped in front of the headmaster's door, knocked and slowly opened it.

"Excuse me. I can explain everything." she said, looking at the headmaster's tired face. He made a sign for her to enter the room, and she closed the door behind her.

"Come in, Natsume Rina. Please, no jokes this time. This is a serious case of aggression and I'd appreciate if you'd sit in silence." He pointed at the small couch next to his table. "I'm serious when I say, Miss Natsume, that I will expel you this time."

Her mouth dropped open as she realized there was no way to make him believe what had happened. Pushing the teacher to the floor was a really stupid thing to do, but Katashi was darting in her direction and the teacher's presence didn't seem to bother him. She sat on the couch and looked at her white shoes while she remembered how many times she had heard the word "expel". It was for real this time. There was another knock at the door, and soon enough it was opened. The headmaster placed a hand on his forehead, as the young secretary entered the room with a desperate look in her face.

"Mr. Heiwajima is here." she said, almost singing.

The headmaster stood up immediately, as if he was late for an important appointment. He put on his glasses and walked to the door. "Right, send him in. Let's deal with it."

"Headmaster Hayashi, we need to keep this under control." the young woman said as Shizuo entered the room. Loads of wrinkles were forming in her forehead as she spoke.

"All right. Stay here, you two." he said in an authoritarian tone and followed the secretary, closing the door behind him.

Shizuo looked at her with a disappointment. "Fighting teachers?" Nice: he knew, and he couldn't wait to bring the subject into a discussion. Everyone in the school might know this by now, and Rina wondered if it was Katashi who spread the news. Oh, that cockroach.

"I saved him. Katashi was going to hurt him, I had to." She looked down, her thoughts stuck in what her mother might say or do after discovering she was expelled. She closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands, unable to stop the terrifying scenes in her mind.

"I know. I saw you." Shizuo drummed his fingers on his leg while his eyes were fixed one the troubled girl by his side. She seemed to be completely lost in her thoughts and, gladly, she wouldn't realize how much his eyes explored her shapes: the back of her neck, her chin, her long fingers covering part of her face. He had plenty of time to memorize many things about her before she started moving, confused by the sudden silence. Shizuo looked away quickly, his fingers still on his leg.

"What have you done, by the way?" she turned her face to him, crossed her legs and, for a brief moment, wished her uniform skirts weren't so long. Her ponytail was a little messed up and she started running her fingers through her hair.

"No idea. She just grabbed me and brought me here." he shrugged, trying not to look at the girl so much. He too wished uniform skirts were shorter... "But something must be going on, you heard the woman."

Rina shook her leg impatiently. Expelled. She was going to be expelled. These were her last minutes as a Raijin student. She wasn't just going to sit in an empty room with Heiwajima Shizuo. Her lips started forming a devilish smile and she stood up abruptly.

"Heiwajima Shizuo." she said in a compelling voice. "Let's not waste my last minutes just sitting here." Her eyes radiated a fierce, unstoppable passion. She stood there, her hands on her hips, for a few seconds. The awkward silence between them made her heart beat even faster.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, not sure whether he would like the answer or not.

I had to split the chapter into two, so decided to post the first part in advance.

Expect some Orihara Izaya in the second part. ;)

Reviews?