Chapter Eight

Haruka's POV

I could have sworn that my clock had talked to me.

I rubbed my bright red eyes and shook my head to keep myself awake. I couldn't go to sleep now! The next semester was starting tomorrow. And I had to study to make sure I got into the top ten this time.

I widened my eyes to it's limit and concentrated on the text book in front of me, but after a while I felt myself drifting off.

I slapped myself, ignoring the slight stinging.

How long had it been?

How long exactly had I been awake studying for school?

I didn't bother averting my eyes to my clock in fear of drifting off to sleep while trying to figure out what time it was.

I sighed noiselessly and rested my chin on my desk, my eyes still glued to the page I'd been reading over and over.

I focused on sentence after sentence, soon to become word after word, then letter after letter. Before I finally closed my eyes in defeat and went to sleep directly after the action.

XxXxXx

I screamed as I felt something freezing cold splatter all over me.

"What… Was that for?" I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.

My little brother, Masato, pushed his glasses farther up his nose.

"Yes, well," He started, "You were so dead tired from yesterday that you failed to wake up at your usual time which led me to using my last resort."

I pushed back my damp bangs and huffed in an irritated way. He was taller and more mature than me, yet still managed annoy me in a way a sibling usually does.

"Does nudging ring a bell?" I asked him rudely. "Hmph. Like I hadn't already tried it." He said, losing his composure, "Along with slapping, loud noises, and the cat." I raised my eyebrows. "How did you use the cat?" I asked. "Anyone would wake up if they felt a cat claw out their hair." He said, "How you managed to do it. The world may never know."

My eyebrow twitched a few times.

"What time is it?" I asked. "Almost time for school." He answered, "I think that's all you'd want to know."

I bustled around the house getting ready for school as fast as I could. And with a Goodbye, I left home with Masato for school.

"Exactly how long were you up last night?" Masato asked after the seventh time I rubbed my eyes. "I don't know." I said, keeping down a yawn threatening to come up. "You study so late and yet, you can't get any higher than eleventh." I stopped rubbing to glare at him.

"Well we can't all use the power of osmosis to higher our intelligence." I said. "But, I don't use osmosis." He said coolly, "I just happen to absorb everything I see." "Exactly the same." I said, rubbing my eyes again.

I felt something pull my hand away.

"Don't do that." Masato scolded, "If you keep on rubbing, it'll itch more." I pulled my hand back and said with a huff, "Fine."

"It's not fair!" I cried after a while of silence, "How come you get all the good grades and such, and I'm always one step behind you? And I'm three years older than you!" The corner of his mouth twitched upwards at this comment. "Having frequent bad grades is a good thing too."

"How so?" I asked. "Well," He started, pushing his glasses up again, "If you haven't noticed, when you get an extremely good grade, Mom, and Dad always attack you with complements. They're never surprised if I get a 100 on a test or something."

I grimaced.

"Yes." I said, "But that can get a bit insulting." "At least they show they care." Masato said, patting me on the back. I looked up at him in a praising way. It was unusual how we bonded more like a little sister and older brother than reversed.

"There's school." He said a few seconds later, "Lucky we don't live very far, huh?" He flashed a cheesy grin at me, and I smiled back in return.

A loud bang disturbed our bonding moment, and I went to search for the noise, while Masato went straight to class. Why bother? It wasn't time yet.

"Stupid… Doesn't… School… Insulting." These were the faint words I heard while heading toward the right direction. I rounded the corner to see Hikari slamming the ball of her foot onto the school dumpster.

"You okay?" I asked quietly, not sure if she heard me or not.

She quickly turned to face me, her eyes ablaze.

"No I am not okay!" She screamed, "It's all because of that good- for- nothing- ba-" "Hikari!" I scolded. "The point is, I really hate that guy!" She continued. "Shinji?" I guessed quietly. "Who else!?" She questioned loudly.

"He heads off early. I ask him to wait up, and all he says is that he doesn't want to be seen with me at school." She fumed, "I know he told me ahead of time, but to actually tell me that he doesn't want to be seen with me…"

"Why are you so angry about that?" I asked, "I thought you'd be fine with it."

She paused for a second, then the bell rang.

"Aw man." She moaned, "I hate Social Studies." With her head down, she walked towards school. I guessed she'd completely forgot about the topic. I shrugged and followed her.

"I'm so glad I finished my Summer work." Hikari said, her hands behind her head, "If I told my teachers I didn't do it, I'd probably be in detention for the next month." "Lucky Shinji helped you, you mean." I pointed out. "Who?" She asked sweetly. "Never mind." I said in a quiet voice, averting my gaze to the floor.

I paid attention to everything the teacher said, writing down notes when necessary, raising my hand to every question I could answer.

"And today's homework assignment is-" I lost focus on the teacher's words as I laid back in my chair and sighed in exhaustion, I'd get the assignment from Hikari. If she was paying attention.

"This is so boring." She moaned quietly.

Apparently not.

"Can't the clock go any faster?" Hikari asked quietly. "Time can't go any faster than it already does." I whispered, "It's almost time to be dismissed anyways." "This isn't fair." She whined, "I've been doing Homework for more than half of my Summer Break, and now I have to study some more."

"Something you want to share with us Ms. Toyoguchi?" The teacher asked her as he noticed both of us whispering together in a suspicious way. "Just telling Haruka how excited I am for the new semester to start." She lied cheerfully.

He turned his back on us to continue writing the assignment. No doubt he was a bit suspicious, but she'd said it with the right amount of enthusiasm, even I had to hand it to her.

The bell rang soon after, and I heard Hikari let out a sigh next to me.

She hooked her fingers together and stretched high up while saying, "I though class would never end." "If you were paying attention to what the teacher was saying instead of waiting for class to end, time would've gone faster." I said pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered. I pursed my lips, trying to show her I was obviously annoyed. "Well, get ready for even more studying, because next up is math." "I know." She sighed. "At least I'll actually get what the teacher is trying to teach me though." I rolled my eyes as we walked the final steps to our desk.

"Am I late?!" Kasumi cried, bursting through the door. "Nope." Hikari answered. She sighed in relief. "This is unusual." I said, "Usually you're the first one here." "Yeah." She agreed, sitting down next to me, "But my foot still hurts a bit. Like if I put too much pressure on it or something, so I still limp a bit."

"Quiet down class." The Math teacher said in a bored tone as he entered the room. "Oh, I know what's next." Hikari muttered, "Hope you had a great summer." She said synchronized with the teacher, "Did all of you do your Summer Homework? If you did, pass them up please." "So predictable." She muttered at the end.

"Obviously. They give the same speech every year." Kasumi muttered back. Of course she'd know what Hikari was talking about. She had really good ears. Which makes me wonder why, since all she hears everyday is rushing water.

Class went by with much sighs heard from both Hikari and Kasumi, some snickers added in one of the teacher's drawls, and a few eyes rolled during the whole class.

"Can't you two go one class without disturbing me from thinking?" I asked in an exasperated voice while we headed toward P.E.

"If the teacher's going to talk like that, we can't make any promises." Hikari said through snickers. "Yeah." Kasumi said, giggling. I smiled slightly as I realized what they were talking about. Anyone would laugh at a tone like our Math teacher's.

"I hate how we have to change into these uncomfortably short shorts for Physical Education." I complained as I put them on. "It doesn't only bother you." Hikari said, pulling the ends down. "Doesn't really bother me." Kasumi said in a naïve tone. "Obviously it wouldn't bother you." Hikari said, "You wear swimsuits everyday."

We walked out, still feeling a bit uncomfortable, with the exception of Kasumi of course.

"It's been a while since I've seen this field." Hikari said, taking a deep breath, "I've missed it." "I haven't." Kasumi muttered. She was more of a water person. "I bet you barely even touch land out of school." I teased, "You swim every hour of the day." "But, I'm faster than you." Kasumi challenged. I shrugged and continued walking.

"I want ten laps around the field NOW!!" The Physical Education teacher shouted in her freakishly loud voice. I started with Hikari and Kasumi, struggling to catch up to them. I wasn't fast, nor was I slow. I was just, average I guess.

"You… Guys are… So evil." I said, wondering how I managed it through all my pants. "Not our fault you train you brain but not your body." Hikari said, also between pants. "Are you okay?" Kasumi asked, "You're all red."

"Yeah." I gasped, "Just need to rest a bit." I collapsed in the grass the exact moment I said that, and I felt Hikari and Kasumi follow after me. "It seems like forever since this last happened." Hikari said, sounding dazed. "That's what happens after breaks." Kasumi said.

"Up and at 'em!" Our teacher yelled through her speaker, "Class isn't over yet! Get up!" "I officially hate our PE teacher." I said through gritted teeth. "Neh, I've had worse." Kasumi said.

After many more laps and exercises later, class had finally ended. Which meant we could relax a bit in Home Economics class. I hoped.

As we went out separate ways to trade our shoes, I felt relaxed and dazed which led me to bump into an unknown person.

"Oh, sorry." I gasped.

"Nah, it's fine." The person replied.

I very nearly gasped as I saw exactly who I 'd just bumped into.

"Oh, Shuu." I said, trying to control my blush. I felt my heart racing. The way it was pounding sounded like a helicopter and I found myself flying away as he recognized me.

"Wait. You're Haruka, right?" He asked in a surprised tone, "Haruka Kaori." "How'd you know?" I asked breathlessly.

"Heh." He scoffed, losing all charm he had a moment ago, "Easy. I knocked you off the top ten. Obviously, I would know. It was really simple you know. Don't know how you struggled to do it." Then the flying sensation came to a stop, and soon I was hurtling toward the ground.

"Excuse me?" I growled. "Just had to pass a few tests, do good on my homework, train myself for PE." He said with a smirk, "Easy as pie." I felt my anger flare to this remark. Easy as pie? If he even knew how to make pie, he'd know very well, it was not easy.

And even if it were the other pi. Does he know the whole number? As you could see, both were absolutely not easy and simple as he claimed them to be.

"For your information." I growled, "At least I know that I worked hard to get up to my place and you know what? I'm going to work even harder and bump you out!" "Whatever you say." He said, still smirking. He turned away and waved his hand, "Good luck with that." And he practically strutted away.

I could feel the steam coming out of my hand as I clenched my fingers so hard, they dug into my palms.

"Haruka!" Kasumi cried, running over to me, "I saw you and Shuu talking. Aren't you happy?" I forced a smiled. "Yes. Extremely happy." I forced out firmly. "Obviously he isn't what he's cut out to be. Right?" Hikari asked. "Is it really any of your business?" I asked her sweetly.

Then we dropped the subject.

I put on my apron and usual red bandana on, still a bit angry at what happened.

He had some nerve. Did he even put half his heart into working to my rank? If he had. That was fine. But he could've at least put it like he did.

"Today, we're making cookies for the nearby orphanage!" The Home Economics teacher said cheerfully, "So everyone get into your groups and do your best!"

"Let's see, recipe says flour, water, eggs…" Hikari carried on with the ingredients as Kasumi and I went to get them.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi asked. "Of course!" I assured, putting on my best relaxed smile. "Then will you please stop crushing the egg carton?" I looked down to what I was carrying and saw some slight indents in the foam. At least I hadn't crushed an egg.

"So we put in the milk, water, eggs- Don't put the shells in Haruka!" Hikari warned. I realized what I was doing and dropped what I had in my hand to stop myself before I made the mistake. "Sorry." I said. "What's wrong with you ,Haruka?" Hikari asked, "You're usually pretty good at this." "Everyone's good at cracking eggs." Kasumi said, "And that's what's making me so worried."

"I knew Shuu was a jerk." Hikari said. "Isn't he?" I said, fuming again, not even bothering to ask how she knew, "I don't get why so many girls like someone like him so much." "But you have to admit," Kasumi started, cleaning up the yolk I'd dropped, "he has charm. That's how he gets so many girls. People like Shinji just automatically attract girls."

I heard something crackle and I looked at Hikari, who was slumped over the bowl with yolk spilling out of her fist. "Yeah." She said darkly, "But he's such a jerk too, why would anyone like him?"

"Hikari, are you okay?" Kasumi asked cautiously.

Hikari smiled in such a menacing way that I cringed at the sight. "Who me?" She asked, "Of course I'm okay! In fact, I've never felt any better!" By that time, I could swear everyone was looking at us.

"Um. Ms. Toyoguchi, are you okay?" The teacher said, cautiously approaching us. "Yes, I'm just fine. I just had a bad night." She said, smiling normally. The teacher beamed at us and returned to inspecting the room.

Kasumi scratched her nose awkwardly and moved to clean up the mess Hikari had now made. "Here, I'll do that." I offered, holding out a hand for the towel. "My, God," Kasumi sighed, slapping the towel into my hand, "Am I the only one composed around here? And what are you looking at?" She snapped at the students behind us.

I made a look that had "Eek" written all over it as they nervously went back to their work.

"Only one cup of flour, Hikari!" Kasumi cried, "Oh, for goodness sake! Do you know how much I need this A!? Give that cup to me!"

Poor Kasumi, I thought in my mind. "Why are you so mad at Shinji anyways?" Kasumi asked, "What'd he do to you?" As soon as this question was asked, all fury was wiped off of Hikari's face. "What are you talking about?" She asked innocently, her eyes wide.

"Did he insult you? Have you seen him bullying anyone?" Kasumi asked, now mixing the batter, "You know, anything to tick you off." "He ticked me off alright." Hikari said, her dark voice coming back.

"You know what," Kasumi said, backing off a bit, "I decided, I don't want to know. Okay, now. What color should we make the cookies?" She put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Something random. What about green? Haruka, put a few drops of green coloring into the batter."

I picked the color out and squeezed just enough in. Then Kasumi resumed mixing.

"Let's see." Kasumi said, looking down at the instructions, "Here Haruka, keep on mixing, I'm going to go grease the pan." And she handed the bowl to me. I looked inside and the green dough- ish substance shined at me.

This green reminded me of someone. Someone who wasn't very pleasant.

I started mixing harder and harder, and soon I lost control.

"He's… Such… An… Idiot…" I muttered, ignoring my weary arm. "Haruka! The dough is sticking to the spoon!" I heard Kasumi cry, "And Hikari! That's enough scrubbing! Ugh!"

Poor Kasumi.

She could say goodbye to her A in Home Economics.

AN. FINALLY! Sorry. I couldn't update on Wednesday. This is kind of a Back- To- School chapter. I can't update any sooner than once a week because I'm not allowed to go on the internet during the week days anymore. Says my mom. Since school has now started. I wouldn't really count this as a Contestshipping chapter. But, it's my first Haruka/ Shuu moment. In a way… This was actually a fun chapter to write. I'm going to have to write in Haruka's Point of View more often. I don't think I know enough of Misty to write a Pokeshipping chapter, since I started watching Pokemon in the middle of Advanced Generation, but I'll try. And don't get me wrong. I think Misty's really cool. Dawn's character kind of bothers me, since she acts so girly, so I kind of changed her character. I can't stand writing girly stuff! But, other than that, I will try to keep her a bit girly at some points… Well, happy reading.

Kahmelion