Hello all! Thanks for the reviews! And I'm so sorry for the delay in putting up this chapter. Enjoy!
"Sooo..."
"What?"
Freya had her nose buried in a book,when Amu and Rima had appeared out of nowhere in front of her. "Amu, I don't get what you mean with the 'so' thing," Freya said, closing the book and putting it in her desk drawer.
Amu grinned at her. "Didn't your brother tell you? I called yesterday to see if you wanted to go out with Rima and I to a comedy movie, but your brother answered and told me you were out with Kukai at the movies," she explained, "Why didn't you tell me you were going on a date with Kukai? We know him well. He went to our elementary and middle school too, and we're pretty good friends,"
"She's bursting to add that Kukai is a really popular guy here and wants to know what you were doing out with him," Rima said softly.
"You went out with Souma yesterday?" a new voice asked, joining the conversation. Tadase had a look of interest on his face.
Freya flushed red in embarrassment. "We didn't go on a date. It was just two friends hanging out! We just happened to be free, so we agreed on going to the movies together!" she insisted.
All three of her friends gave Freya a sly smile. "Right..." they said in unison, "Whatever you say..."
Freya laughed nervously and sighed in relief as she heard the bell ring. "Well, class is starting. Gotta concentrate, you know, exams are just around the corner," she mumbled as she fumbled with her school bag.
"So what 'cha doin' for winter break?" Loki asked Freya as he pulled off his tie and proceeded to unbutton his school shirt.
Freya handed Loki his soccer jersey. "Don't ask stupid questions, Loki. We live together," she said, annoyed, "And why do I get stuck collecting your clothes when you change for soccer? I have my own club activities too, you know,"
Loki pulled the jersey over his head and paused to flash a smile. "When I join the national team, you will gladly help me collect my uniform whenever I change for practice,"
Freya snorted. "Yeah right. Don't count your vain little birdies before they hatch. I'll come here after my club meeting. See you,"
Freya left the boys' changing room for the Photography Clubroom. As she made her way down the hall, she felt the heart rate accelerate as she passed by Kukai. "Uh, hey, Kukai," she said.
Kukai grinned at her. "Wassup, Freya?" he replied, "Done taking Loki's uniform out of the dangerous locker room?"
"Yeah," Freya said, "The last time he left it there, he left the locker open and it dropped on the floor, so you can imagine the state Loki's uniform was in when I attempted to wash it that night,"
Kukai chuckled. "Well, I'll be seeing you. I think both of us are late for our club activities, aren't we?"
Freya nodded. "Alright. See you later!"
Freya watched Kukai disappear into the changing room before she turned around and continued on her way to the clubroom. She opened the door and stepped inside. "Aria? You here?"
Aria, Freya's redheaded senior popped out from the preparation room. "Freya! Hey! Just the person I wanted to see!"
"What did I do now?"
"Ha ha ha," Aria said drily, "The magazine club asked me to be in-charge of all the pictures for this year's edition, so..."
"We have to take pictures?" Freya guessed.
"Thank you very much," Aria confirmed, "Your first assignment is to take candid shots of all the club activities that commence after school, of course, minus our own club, since there's only two of us here..."
"Do I start now?"
"Of course! Now go and make me proud!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Freya saluted and put the camera strap around her neck, "I shall be heading off the the nearest clubs first!"
"Wait!" Aria said, "Here's a list. You don't have to finish it all today. Some of the clubs in school hold meetings on certain days, so the list will be a help to you,"
"Alright, I'll check out the Book Club," Freya said, ticking the first club name off the list, "Later!"
Freya pushed the doors open to the library and went up to the librarian. "Um...excuse me?" she asked politely, "I'm part of the Photography club and I was asked to take candid shots of the Book club here?"
The librarian, a stern woman, looked up from the computer screen. Her eyes rolled up and down, as if she was sizing up Freya. "And you are-?"
Freya smiled nervously. "I'm Tsukiko Freya, from class 2-A,"
The librarian made a 'hm' noise and turned back to the screen. "They're all upstairs, and make sure you're quiet,"
Freya mumbled a 'thank you' and quickly ascended the stairs. When she reached the top, she saw a circle of students seated around a circular table, deep in discussion.
She quietly walked up to the nearest person. "Um...excuse me?"
The soft murmurs stopped. Everyone looked up and stared openly at the interruption. The bespectacled boy she had approached looked up with an expression of annoyance clearly displayed across his face. "What is it?" he snapped rudely, "Don't you know that you're not supposed to be here when club meetings are in session?"
"U-uh... sorry," Freya stuttered, her face flushing from the reprimand, "My senior asked me to come here to take some shots of the Book Club for the yearbook,"
Realization flashed in the boy's eyes. "Uh...sorry about that. I forgot about it," he cleared his throat, a blush creeping down his neck from the mistake of having forgotten the arrangement, "I'm Takaru Ryou, the president of the Book Club. You're welcome to take some shots, but please do be quiet," he turned back to the group, "Please continue the discussion."
The students nodded at their president and launched back into their discussion. Freya's eyes fell onto the table, and saw that each person had the same book in front of them. She turned off the flash in her camera and silently walked up behind one of the members. She snapped a picture. And then some more.
Ryou, who had pulled away from the discussion, watched Freya diligently do her job with interest as he hovered behind her. He hadn't seen her before. The last time he heard, his classmate Aria was the only member of the Photography club. "I thought there was only Aria in the club?"
The sudden question startled the girl. She jumped, before realising that he had spoken to her, and pulled away from her photographer's crouch. "I just transferred here. My name's Tsukiko Freya. I guess I'm Aria's junior, in a way. Do you know her?"
At the mention of his classmate, Ryou involuntarily flushed as an image of the charismatic ginger flashed in his mind's eye. Three years in the same classroom, but he had never once willingly started a conversation with the photography nut. She had always started their conversations, and he wouldn't admit it openly, but he enjoyed their talks. There was more to discover underneath her seemingly air headed exterior, and he had been surprised when she had launched into a complex discussion about the various camera lenses she was saving up for.
"Not very well," was the answer he decided to go with, "Where did you transfer from?"
"A high school that's in a place a few hours from here," Freya answered, pulling the camera's strap over her neck, "Say, is that a good book?"
"W-what? This?" he stuttered, holding up his own copy of the book his club was discussing. The cover was a soft shade of saffron, and the edges were bordered with a vermillion print of leaves. The title, was printed in an elegant, cursive script across the top, above the silhouette of a person draped in autumn-hued robes.
"Yeah," Freya nodded, "Is it a good book?"
"You've not read A Thousand Splendid Suns?"
After fifteen minutes of being bombarded with reading suggestions by the surprisingly passionate book aficionado, Freya had excused herself, and left with an entire page of books to read. Freya strolled by the edge of the viridian field, snapping away at her next assignment, which was the football team. Engrossed in capturing the dynamic movements of the athletes running at high speed, she failed to watch where she was headed. Without warning, she collided into someone, who caught her by her hand before she fell down.
"I'm so sorry!" Freya apologised hastily her eyes downcast in embarrassment. She had always made fun of Loki for running into pillars and lamp posts by accident, and teased him about his lack of attention, but it seemed that karma was finally making its way to her.
"It's okay, Freya," a familiar voice assured, "In fact, I feel like the heavens have blessed me to be able to have such an encounter with you,"
Freya's blood ran cold as she recognized the voice.
"Hello, Freya," Rakuto greeted. A delighted smile was apparent on his face; it was as if he was the cat that had caught the canary. "What a coincidence to have bumped into you!"
'I'll bet it was no coincidence...' Freya thought darkly. "What do you want?" she asked, her tone edged with barbs.
"Ah, I was just wondering, since I've just got you right now. You are an expert at the piano, aren't you?"
Freya's glare intensified. How dare he bring up something from the past!?
"Would you be so kind as to teach me how to play one?"
"No," Freya refused flatly. Like hell she was going to!
Rakuto chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't say no once you know of what I have to offer for your lessons,"
"Whatever it is, I won't accept it, be it a large sum of money or anything else," Freya retorted hotly, "Besides, you have enough money to hire millions of the best pianists in the world to teach you how to play one measly piano. Lang Lang is a legend - and I'll bet you've got enough money to buy an hour of his time each week!"
"I'm not so sure, once you know that I can eradicate your brother and friend's membership from the football team permanently," Dread filled Freya as Rakuto spoke. Was he blackmailing her? Him? Blackmailing her? How low was he going to go before he was satisfied!? "You wouldn't want that now, do you?"
Freya gripped her camera tightly and gritted her teeth. What exactly did he want from her!? "That's impossible. Loki and Kukai are the star rookies of the team. You won't be able to do that, not this time,"
"Oh Freya, you amuse me," Rakuto chuckled, "I have power to do anything. It's simple. My father's very generous with his money, and with a very tidy sum written on a cheque, I can make it happen."
Freya glared at Rakuto. "Fine. I'll teach you the damn piano. You'd better keep your promise!"
Rakuto smiled again. "Thank you, you're a very kind person. I'll be seeing you in my house this weekend then. It's still same address. You do remember it, don't you?"
"Whatever."
Loki found Freya waiting for him outside the locker room. He could sense that something was wrong, because she was absentmindedly pressing buttons on her camera, but her eyes were glazed, alerting him to the fact that she was thinking and not looking at the images she was clicking through. "What's wrong, Freya?"
Her brother's voice ripped her out of her thoughts. "Uh, nothing, really. Just thinking of what to cook tonight,"
Loki regarded his twin with suspicion. "Are you sure?"
"Very sure," Freya nodded in a manner that she hoped was convincing, "By the way, I just checked. Zephyr sent an email, saying that he and Pandora are coming back for the winter holidays,"
Unaware that his sister was changing the subject, Loki's eyes brightened. "Really? What about mom and dad?"
Freya nodded. "Mom also sent me an email saying that she and dad are coming back from Paris. Her fashion show's just about over and dad's business clients are long gone,"
"The first christmas together in forever!" Loki cheered.
"We don't even celebrate it?"
"Well, there's not harm in keeping the christmas spirit," Loki shrugged, pulling off his shirt.
"Yellow card!" Freya announced, yanking down the hem of her brother's shirt, "You're not allowed to take off your shirt where people can see you!"
"Why? It's not like people's eyes are gonna burn when they see me shirtless anyway. Look, even Kukai's got his shirt off," He pointed behind Freya, "Don't be such a prude."
Freya froze. Against her better judgement, she sneaked a glance across the room. There he was, all sweat and muscle, on the other side of the locker room, drinking from a bottle of water in his hands. His damp jersey was slung over his shoulder, and as he moved to pull out his bag from his locker, the muscles on his back contracted, rippling as he moved.
If Freya had to admit to having a fetish, it was for muscular backs.
Loki observed his twin with interest, who had suddenly gone rigid upon seeing his friend. He opened his mouth to say something, but then a girl suddenly appeared from his other side. Who was she? They had never seen her before.
As they watched, the girl seemed to not notice the twins' presences in the locker room. She was pretty, Loki noted, with long, honey-hued hair that was braided down her back. Her green eyes seemed to shimmer as she looked up at Kukai, a hand on his bare arm. The jock grinned down at her, and his lips moved as he said something to her. She laughed, and said something back.
Then she tiptoed and kissed him. On the mouth.
"Shit," Loki quickly turned to look at his sister, who had been watching the entire time, as well. Her face had a thunderstruck expression - the colour seemed to have drained away. His heart sank when tears started to pool in her navy eyes, and her bottom lip quivered slightly. "Fr-,"
Without letting her brother finish his sentence, she immediately turned away and sprinted out of the locker room. The door slammed, making the couple jump. Kukai stared at the entrance in confusion before he realised that Loki was present.
"Loki! Was that Freya?" Kukai jogged across the room to join the twin.
The brunette shot an accusatory look at the athlete. "Who is she?" he attempted to keep his tone light and casual, but he couldn't help the ice that edged his words.
"What, Mayu?" Kukai turned to look at the girl, who waved at them with a smile from across the room, "Just a girl I've gone on a few dates with. Why?"
"Is it serious?"
Kukai shrugged, and while he knew that his friend had done nothing wrong, Loki couldn't help but resist the urge to throw a punch at his oblivious face. "I don't think so. She's nice, but I'm not really feeling it," he hastily changed the topic, "Why did Freya leave without you?"
Loki forced a tight smile. "She had somewhere to be."
And that was a place where there were no boys to unknowingly break her heart.
Once again, sorry for the delay!
Luv,
sakura-pichu16296
