Haha I'm really addicted to this. Bleh. Sorry for those who are more interested in my other fan fic, no worries i'll update that regularly too, just that i've got so many ideas for this story now it's threatening to burst a blood vessel or two in my brain.
To genkigeek: you deserve a box of smarties for being just that. XD
To yokonoko and chaseafteryourdreams: Thanks! =)
Enjoy the rest as usual! I had LOADS of fun writing this. =)
(It'll be my last time I'm writing a story as a 15 year old! Haha tomorrow I won't be jailbait anymore. XD)
CHAPTER 4!
I looked at him from across the classroom. My seat at the back had proved effective in sleeping through the boring classes, save the demonic mathematics head, Itsuki sempai. Most of the syllabus had been taught in America, and the change of language affected me to a rather small extent. Thus, I had been sleeping most of my school hours away, but thanks to the strange turn of events early this morning, my thoughts were now fully occupied with him.
I wondered if all high school Japanese guys were the same. Sure, they'd probably rescue a girl from a rapist, but I doubted that any would bother to find out where she lived, and then carry her all the way back, without even waiting for her to regain consciousness. Heck, I doubted that any high schooler, regardless of their gender, would be roaming the back alleys of Japan at 3am, so what were the chances of rape in the first place?
His white shirt was loose around the waist, and had been left carelessly untucked. I compared this to the outfit he had worn yesterday, no, more like this morning. It was vague in my memory, fuzzy was a good word to describe it (my memory, not his clothes), but I did recall seeing him in a t-shirt and a jacket that suited his figure well. His jeans were well worn, frayed a little where they made contact with the road, but the black uniform pants he donned now were smart enough to pass attire check. The rest was a blur, but he looked as laid back now as he did in the early morning. My gaze trailed from his raven hair to his hands. His right palm was supporting his face as he stared into the vast blue sky from his window seat, clearly uninterested in our English teacher. As she prattled on about nouns and verbs, I watched as he tapped his feet to an unknown beat while scribbling something on a well worn leather-bound book every other minute. The pencil in his left hand looked well used too.
"Psst, Etsuko-chan," a heavily accented voice seemed to demand my attention.
"Yeah?" I turned to the classmate on my left, her chocolate eyes twinkling with mischief. Name, name, what was her name? The kanji on the paper she held in her smooth, petite hands caught my eye. "Akane Sakura-san, right?"
She looked rather flattered that I had 'remembered' her name, but I wasn't about to tell her I had just glanced at her worksheet for a hint.
"Good memory, I'm impressed," her big eyes suddenly seemed inquisitive, "you've been staring at Yuuichi the whole day, you know."
At this point, about four other girls with impeccably acute hearing seemed to have turned our way, smiling just as Sakura was, though theirs was verging on condescending. In fact, they looked like carbon copies of Sakura, their hair and clothes identical to a T. Yuuichi, was it? It fit. He was rather distant, and must be the first son of his family. Sakura continued with whatever she had to say, and this time, her voice was laced with a subtle warning.
"Are you...interested?"
Now, I knew what she was hinting at, but I decided that ambiguity would be answered with ambiguity. I liked being straightforward with others, but only if they didn't beat about the bush while talking to me. If this seemingly harmless conversation turned into a war of words, I wanted her to be the one waving a white flag, and a huge one at that.
"Well, that depends," I beamed back at her, "are you?"
She seemed stunned, and I heard a collective gasp from her clones, along with a couple of wide eyed stares from classmates a row in front. I knew I had hit the nail right smack on the head, and it seemed like something had pierced through Sakura too, as she flinched. Instead of moving back, she leaned towards my desk, and her slender arm shot out to grab mine just above the elbow.
"I see that a ... diplomatic approach will not work with you," she hissed like a highly venomous snake that had been provoked, "you WILL stay away from Yuuichi, or the rest of your life in Youdai High will be a living hell."
Scrap the snake. She was a cranky cat that had lost one too many lives, and was now working for the devil to repay her debts. Her claws, all five ridiculously long and sharp manicured nails, sank into my flesh, and I suspected she had filed them into points for this very reason. I give her credit for choosing a spot that inflicted the most pain, but the scars would be hidden by my sleeve when, or if she ever let go. It hurt, but I had learned to control and feign emotions from the very best, and was careful to show no trace of fear or shock.
"In that case, I'm interested," I smiled sweetly at her.
"What?" The barely controlled screech came as she dug her nails into my skin even more, and I swore she had drawn blood.
"I'm in-te-res-ted," I repeated slowly, enunciating all my syllables like she was low on the IQ count. "There, I've answered your original question. Would you like to ask me anything else?"
I loved the flabbergasted look on her face, as well as the replicas of it on her minions, but I had a feeling I just made my first mortal enemy. Though I'd much rather she be my enemy than my friend. Sakura continued to torture my arm, and I wondered if her nails would break from the intense pressure she was putting into her grip.
"Etsuko, you can get to know Akane-san better before or after my class, preferably not during," she scowled at me, and then grinned brightly at Sakura, "was Etsuko disturbing you?"
"Hitomi sempai...Etsuko...she...she wanted to copy my answers for the piece of work you just gave!" Sakura's face had morphed into one of a maligned puppy. "Even though she's from America, my English is better than hers, and she's jealous!"
I felt my gag reflexes act up.
"HIZURI ETSUKO! Cheating is not condoned in this school! I'll be seeing you in detention!"
Wait. What about my side of the story? Even the teachers in America seemed less liberal with those blasted detention slips. I had never gotten one in my life, and here I was, getting one within the first week of my school in my motherland. I turned back to the vicious girl who had resumed her scornful gaze.
"I warned you. You'll be sorry you even tried anything with me," she chuckled ominously, "too bad. With your sharp tongue, I could have considered making you one of my closer friends. I always need people like you around, but without the crush on my Yuuichi."
Suddenly, a loud snore was heard from the left side of the classroom. All thirty nine students and one irate teacher turned to its source, and found a black-haired sleeping beauty next to an open window. We could feel the heat of an erupting volcano, and the subject of Sakura's affections was slapped with detention by Hitomi sempai for sleeping in class.
The bell rung and the teacher dismissed the class, before slamming detention slips on both Yuuichi's desk and mine. My plans to shift whatever belongings I had to the apartment were automatically scrapped, and I sighed in contempt while rubbing the stinging spot on my right arm. I lifted my bag with my left, thankfully still intact, and walked out into the hallway, staring at the slip. It made no mention about where the room was, only that if I wasn't there within the next ten minutes I would be serving another week's worth of it. I scanned the numerous signs, but someone else caught my eye and I grinned widely.
"HIKARU!" I waved with my left arm, and the brown haired senior hurriedly came to my side.
Yashiro Hikaru was like my third brother, and I dare say I had spent more time with him than my actual blood brothers. Whenever Otousan came to America for each year's quarterly photo shoot, Hikaru would accompany me at home while our fathers worked. He told me all about how my family was doing in Japan, the life he had in school, the running away from middle school girls when they found out his dad worked alongside THE Tsuruga Ren. In exchange, I confided in him about my loneliness in America, and one or two immature school girl crushes I had kept secret from everyone else.
"ETSU!" He flashed me a blinding smile and pulled me into a hug, oblivious to the throngs of girls that had already begun whispering.
I flinched as he grasped my arm, and to my dismay, he noticed it. Anxiousness was wallpapered over the joy on his face, the same expression he made whenever I scraped a knee while climbing a tree, or tripped over my own feet. I bit my lower lip as he squinted suspiciously at my right arm, and then raised the sleeve of the white shirt.
"Etsuko, what the heck happened?" He asked, barely concealing his anger.
"I'll tell you if you'll show me the way to detention," I heaved another sigh and waved the detention slip in front of his shocked face.
...
"I'm not just pissed at Sakura, I'm furious with your classmates. I can't believe nobody told you that she's the daughter of the school's leading monetary donor," Hikaru spat as we neared the detention room. "She gets whatever she wants, and the teachers worship the ground she walks on, just because she's got her dad wrapped around that bony finger of hers. She's gotten her father to fire at least five teachers who didn't give her an A for assignments. Akane Sakura controls the school, dammit, and most of us just try to stay off the radar."
"So she's probably formulating plans for my expulsion right now, isn't she," my eyebrows furrowed, "what other high schools are there around here, which are preferably void of any tyrannical dictator?"
"She won't get you expelled. She hates you too much for that already," Hikaru began, "besides, I do have some credit among my friends in the basketball club, so once they know you're with me, she can't expel you without damaging her popularity levels."
"This sounds vaguely like a role-playing game."
"You annoy her, she expels you. You challenge her, and she'll want to see you suffer and fall before kicking your limp butt into the incinerator."
"So to survive, I have to make sure my butt doesn't go limp," I grinned cheekily.
"I would suggest you transfer out ASAP," he stopped in his tracks and gave a weak smile, "but knowing you..."
"When have I ever gone down without a fight?"
"Never," Hikaru beamed, "and you have my support. I've seen too many people crumble at the disgustingly perfect manicured hands of Sakura. Etsu, you probably have Natsu's blood flowing in you more than your own mother's."
"Oh, they're one and the same," I felt menace in my gaze, and Hikaru waved before disappearing down the hallway to basketball practice.
I opened the door to the detention room, and feeling a little charged up from the pep talk with Hikaru, I marked my attendance and sat facing a depressingly grey wall. I fished my writing pad out, fantasizing about different ways I could wreck the empire Akane ruled in Youdai High. I barely noticed the student that entered next, even when he had put his head right beside mine and whispered into my ear.
"Etsuko, Etsuko, Etsuko, didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble?"
...
Whee! Ooh i wrote past midnight. Haha. I'm sixteen now! XD Review as a birthday present! XD I really hope you liked it!