Chapter 7 is up!
The rest of the day was rather uneventful; for all of lunch, everyone just talked about school, and afterwards Tenten went home. It was a normal lunch.
"Too normal," Neji thought to himself that night, lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Something just wasn't right, and he knew that.
But what was it?
Monday morning arrived faster than everyone would've preferred, and the classrooms were soon full with students. Most of them were ready to get back to sleep, and this was no exception for Tenten.
"Tenten... Why do you look so tired? Did you study for a test we don't even have?" Akiko asked, kneeling next to Tenten's desk. But before Tenten could reply, Neji had slammed his schoolbag on his desk, making it clear to everyone that he was there. Staring at Neji with wide eyes, Akiko whispered,
"I-I'll talk to you later, Tenten..."
As Akiko quickly made her way back to her own desk, Tenten turned to glare at Neji. She was going to yell at him, but stopped once she saw how tired the other looked. His face was slightly pale, and there were circles forming under his eyes, making him look like a panda. In a way, it was somewhat cute, and it almost made Tenten want to laugh.
Almost.
Not much later, the homeroom teacher came in and immediately started calling roll. Halfway through, Iruka called out a name no one recognized.
"Morino Idate? Is Morino Idate here?" (1)
The students gave each other quizzical looks, asking questions like, "There's a 'Morino Idate' in this class?" Some students concluded that it was a prank, until a boy frantically opened the classroom door and ran inside, nearly tripping over his own feet. With a nervous smile, he bowed to Iruka and said,
"I-I'm sorry. This place is so big, and I got lost. I'm the transfer student, Morino Idate."
"Oh, okay. I'll let you go this time," Iruka dismissed.
From the back of the classroom, Tenten curiously observed the new student. His hair was cut like many other boys' hair in the country, with one side longer than the other, but there was something odd about him, Tenten thought. Maybe it was his glasses-how they were slightly too large for his face and kept falling down his nose. Or maybe it was his nervous personality-something that reminded Tenten of Akiko when she first met her.
"Hm... There aren't any students without desk partners anymore, so I guess I'll just put you in a group of three. Sit with Neji and Tenten. They know the school best and can answer all the questions I don't know the answers to," Iruka passively said, going back to calling roll.
"Okay..." Idate quietly whispered, trying to find the specified students.
Raising her hand, Tenten waved to the new student, much to his relief. As Idate made his way to his new desk, he-again-almost tripped over the air. Awkwardly, Idate just stood next to the desk, seeing as there weren't any spare chairs in the room. Noticing this as well, Tenten scooted over on her own seat and whispered to Idate,
"Here, Idate-san. We can share for today."
"Oh, n-no, I couldn't," Idate protested, shaking his vigorously. Tenten waved a hand and replied,
"It's fine. You'll have your own seat by tomorrow."
"...T-Thank you," the other replied, awkwardly bowing, and sat on the other half of Tenten's chair. Smiling at the boy, Tenten introduced herself quietly.
"I'm Hua Tenten. Mr. I-Hate-The-World here is Hyuga Neji. Don't mind him, though. He just didn't sleep well last night or something."
"Hello," Idate whispered. "I'm Morino Idate. Again, thank you for sharing your seat with me. You must be uncomfortable..."
"I already said it's fine." Tenten laughed a little at the other's consideration for her well-being. "What's your schedule like?"
Idate rummaged through his messy schoolbag and, after a minute or two, pulled out his schedule and passed it to Tenten. After scanning the list of classes, Tenten said to him,
"It seems we have homeroom, Physics, lunch, and Calculus together. I can help you get to your other classes if you'd like."
"R-Really?" Idate squeaked, his voice cracking a little. His face instantly turned red as he whispered, "I...I mean, that would be nice."
The two laughed a little and turned their attention back to Iruka.
Neji however, was not enjoying any of this. He heard Iruka rant about not slacking off before the holidays, but he wasn't listening. His mind was busy wallowing in angst. For six years, he had never had a desk partner-which he liked. And now, in one week, he had two.
This winter was turning out to be a harsh one for him.
When homeroom ended, Tenten had drawn directions on a map of the school that Idate had to help him get around easily. She even mentioned a few shortcuts he could use, in case the main hallways or stairs were too crowded. The next two classes, History and Literature, passed by without any more transfer students appearing, and soon it was time for Physics class. Idate arrived before the tardy bell this time, and when he got to the classroom, there were actually enough seats to accommodate his new arrival. Even if he didn't have a desk partner, that was okay. He was glad he wouldn't have to bother anyone just because he didn't have a chair to sit in. Walking to the back of the classroom, Idate saw Tenten and sat at the desk behind her.
"Oh, hello, Idate-san," Tenten greeted kindly. "I see you made it to class on time."
Idate laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's all thanks to you, Tenten-san."
"You're welcome. Oh yeah, you can call me Tenten," Tenten smiled, but it disappeared when Neji arrived and slammed his bag full of textbooks onto his desk and sat down noisily. Turning to the newcomer, Tenten scolded,
"You shouldn't toss your bag onto the desk all the time. Don't you know it bothers some people?"
"I know it does," Neji snapped at her. "I'm just not in a good mood today, okay?"
"Since when have you ever been in a good mood?" Tenten mumbled just loud enough for Neji to hear, making him glare at her. But when all he got in return was an innocent look, Neji angrily turned to face the front of the room, glaring at the whiteboard as if it were the cause of his misery. And as if the last few moments hadn't just happened, Tenten turned back to Idate, smiling, and asked,
"Are you feeling all right, Idate-san? You look a little pale."
"Um... N-No, I'm...I'm fine," Idate stuttered, forcing a smile.
Before the two could talk more, Shizune, the Physics teacher (who also was Tsunade's assistant), entered the room and announced that they would be taking a pop quiz. Idate grinned to himself, getting his favorite pencil out, and eagerly awaited the pop quiz. He loved Physics, and at his old school, he was always the first one to finish the tests for that subject. When all of the papers were handed out, Shizune let everyone begin, and Idate immediately got started. Ten minutes later, Idate was halfway done.
"Good timing," Idate thought to himself. Five minutes later, he had finished two more problems. Just as he was about to get started on the next one, the sound of metal chair legs scratching against the floor reverberated throughout the room as two students raced to the teacher's desk. When Idate looked up from his paper, he saw Tenten and Neji walking back to their seats, the former smiling while the other scowled.
Idate gaped at the two students in front of him and then at this own paper, making sure there were thirty questions. Idate was smart; he knew that even if he didn't boast about it. But those two...
They were in a league of their own.
Shizune had finished her lesson right before the bell, and now all the students were eagerly eating lunch. Idate noticed that Neji had mysteriously disappeared, and a girl had taken his seat and was animatedly talking to Tenten. Looking around, he realized that he was the only one eating by himself and suddenly felt a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach.
"Idate-san, do you want to eat with us?" he heard Tenten ask.
Immediately, he looked up and exclaimed, "Really?"
When his voice cracked on the last syllable, his face turned bright red, and the girls giggled but nodded anyway, motioning for him to come over. Grinning like a fool, Idate pulled a chair up next to Tenten, bringing his lunch as well. Once everyone was settled, Tenten took charge of the introductions.
"Idate, this is Tanaka Akiko. Akiko, this is Morimo Idate. He transferred here today."
The two bowed to each other politely but did nothing after that. Bothered by the awkward silence, Tenten spoke up first.
"Oh, come on, guys. There's no need to be shy. Find something to talk about."
"Like what..?" Idate quietly asked.
"Like how Tenten is too fearless for her own good whenever she argues with Neji?" Akiko mumbled, not intending for the mentioned girl to hear it.
"I heard th-!" Tenten started, but Idate interjected, slamming his hand down on the desk.
"I know what you mean! It scares me, like Neji-san is going to snap and strangle Tenten or something!"
"Exactly! But Tenten doesn't seem to see that!" Akiko yelled across Tenten, who tried to speak again.
"I'm right he-"
"The tension between those two is so heavy, it makes you feel like your head is going to explode!" Idate exclaimed, completely forgetting Tenten was next to him.
"Finally, someone who understands," Akiko said, glaring at Tenten, who returned it with a frown. Akiko continued, "We're just worried about you, Tenten. All this fighting and bickering isn't good for your health."
"It's not my fault that Neji makes everything so complicated," Tenten argued, crossing her arms.
Reading a book on English grammar in the library, Neji sneezed.
(1) W.T.F. I feel so stupid. I'm a stupid person. I'M SORRY. x( I couldn't find a could character to serve this part! At least... not in the manga! I really didn't want to put in a friggin' OC, so I put in a character from a filler episode. I was considering Sai... but that would be awkward. But y'know... a character like this is going to be needed... UGH.
I give Christmas cookies and milk to those who reviewed!
Chaki~
