A/N: Tadaa. I updated nearly on time. -confetti-
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara. Duh.
Chapter 9 - Miki- To Find Knowledge
Oh shoot. I couldn't find my maths textbook and class was about to start. I rummaged through my school briefcase again only to find that itt wasn't there.
I felt a tap on my head and looked up. Kiseki was holding my textbook. I'd forgotten I'd lent it to him! "Thanks for letting me borrow it."
"No problem." I re-adjusted my hat; Kiseki had squashed the top of it. When I finished I noticed that Kiseki was still standing by my table. "What is it Kiseki?"
"Can I borrow a pen? I left my pencil case at home." I had to give him credit for not being embarrassed to ask me for something.
I wagged a finger at him."Only if you say 'please'."
He smirked. "I order you to give me a pen."
Ah crap, I knew I was forgetting something other than my textbook. I wasn't a sore loser though, so I gave him the pen - the most girlish one in my case of course - pink and glitter-ish.
He stared at it frowning. "Can we even use pink ink?"
"No worries, it has black ink," I said, cheerfully.
"It'll do." He sat down in his own seat, looking pleased with himself. He then saw her looking and smiled. "Thanks Miki!"
I blushed - caught by surprise by being called by just my first name. I really do read too much manga, it's so old-fashioned to be embarrassed by that. "Y-you're welcome." I looked down onto my desk, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. I hoped he hadn't notice my presumably red face.
After a while I glanced back at him.
H-he's still looking at me and smiling. Is he up to something? I turned my head to him to show I could see him. His smile only widened. Eh? Why? He is up to something! Planning some evil kind of order I bet.
I was thinking all this half-heartedly though; I wasn't getting any bad vibes from him.
Why's Kiseki smiling at me like that?
xxxxx
Kiseki sat next to me as usual during lunch. Ran, Temari and Rizumu were already seated. He still seemed to be in a good mood for some reason.
That is, until Yoru slipped into the seat on my left. "Do you guys mind if I join you today?"
"Of course you can join us!" I said quickly, before anyone (Kiseki) could object.
"Thanks," he said, flashing a grin at me.
Kyaa. I can't believe Yoru's having lunch with us.I thanked my good luck today.
"Is anyone else getting pumped for sports day?" asked Daichi, settling down in his seat.
"I am," said Ran. "I'm going to be leading the cheering squad for Star Class!"
"Ran-chan, I thought only a boy was meant to be the leader," Temari said. "You won't get to wear a girl's cheerleader costume."
Ran shook her head. "Doesn't matter. As long as I can get everyone up in spirits, it'll be fine."
"That's our Ran-desu." Suu sat in the seat opposite Yoru. "Oh Yoru-kun, nice to see you join us-desu."
"Suu-chan! How was your cooking competition?" he asked her. "Did you win?"
"Yes-desu! I was very lucky but I managed to win first place."
"It's not luck. Suu-chan makes the best food," said Yoru persistently. Then he smiled the sincerest smile I've ever seen him made. He's never made that smile for me before. "In fact, I kind of wish that my lunch was made by you."
Suu opened her bento. "I can give you some of my lunch-desu. I have some salmon today. It's your favourite, right-desu?"
Yoru's looked at her bento hungrily. "I can't just take your food though."
"It's fine, I made extra today-desu," Suu assured him.
"...in that case. Thanks for the food." Suu used her chopsticks to put the fish in his bento box and Yoru ate it enthusiastically.
Ran caught my eye and gave me a questioning look. I knew what she was thinking - since when did Yoru and Suu know each other? I shook my head and shrugged, not knowing either.
I'd never seen Suu talk to Yoru before and by Ran's staring, they must not have talked much in class either.
Suu and Yoru continued a conversation that I just couldn't seem to follow and soon the rest of the table fell into their own small conversations.
I ate the rest of my lunch miserably.
"Miki, if you're done eating, we're leaving," Kiseki said suddenly. I nearly forgot he was here, having not talked before.
No way, Yoru was still here, I thought. But Yoru was absorbed in his conversation with Suu. It didn't look like I'd get a word in any time soon.
"Alright," I said. I packed my bento box and we left, Yoru not even turning his head.
This was supposed to be a perfect opportunity! He sat down next to me, so I thought...And why was he talking with Suu on such friendly terms? Suu never told me they were close.
I followed Kiseki out the cafeteria then realised I didn't know where we were going. It didn't really matter though, I figured, I had nothing better to do. We ended up in the library, one of the places I rarely visited (except when they brought in new manga).
"What are we doing here?" I asked him, curious now. I'd never seen Kiseki read a book outside of school.
"I want to show you something," he whispered. He walked through to the history section and looked through the 'P' shelf. Pulling out a thick book, with a hard blue cover with gold writing on it. "
"Platinum Island – A Recent History," I read, eyes widening. "Oh! Is this your kingdom?"
He nodded, with a proud smile. I opened to the first page. It showed the area of Japan and where Platinum Island was at. I flipped through the book, scanning through it. Platinum Island, although still connected to the Japanese government, was mainly ruled by the royalty of the province. It was allowed to do so as the island was wealthy from all the mineral resources it had, mainly for the resource the island was named after - platinum. It was also a big tourist attraction worldwide and its beaches were nominated to be in the top ten in the world.
"Platinum Island sounds like a really interesting place," I said.
"Of course! My kingdom is one of the best provinces in-" He was cut off by a loud 'shh' that came from the direction of the librarian's desk. He lowered his voice back to a whisper. "In Japan."
I flipped through more pages and then stopped once it got to the chapter covering the royalty. A whole bunch of pages showed several small portrait pictures of people from the royal family tree. At the last page of the tree I pointed to the last picture there. It was a young boy, who looked around eight, with purple hair and a very familiar proud smile.
"Kiseki Satoji - current heir to the throne. This really is a recent history. And wow, you were so cute when you were small," I said, gleefully.
He rubbed the back of his head, looking bashful. "You don't need to say that."
I hugged the book to my chest. "But you were so adorable."He looked embarrassed by what I said but he really did look cute as a kid!
"Are you saying I'm not cute anymore?" He crossed his arms, and I could see a light pink blush across his face. Was he really conscious about himself as a kid? He looked at me, challenging me to say something. He was soconscious.
I giggled. "Aw, no, you're cute. You were just cuter when you were younger."
"So you think I'm still cute?" He asked me anxiously.
"Hee hee. Being worried about being outdone by your younger self makes you extremely cute." Before he could reply, I dashed away to the librarian and checked out the book.
He caught up just when I was exiting out the library doors. "Miki! What was that?"
"I think I'm really interested to learn more about where you live. Cute little prince," I teased.
"W-well I bet you were cuter too when you were younger too."
"'Course I was." I took out my phone from my pocket, searching through my pictures. "See?"
I gave him my phone and showed him a picture of me and my sisters when we were eight; we were all posing in front of an amusement park.
He blinked. "You have a blue hat on there too. Only it's a bit different and it's smaller."
"I always wear a blue hat," I said.
"I see," said Kiseki. He looked back up at me.
"What?" I asked after I felt he had been staring too long.
"Just wondering what you look like without your hat."
I tugged at my hat now. "It's nothing special."
"But you even slept with it on, doesn't it get uncomfortable?"
I shook my head. "It's comfy enough. I wouldn't wear it if it was."
"Hmm. Is it that important to you?"
"Yes." I answered. I looked away from him. There was an underlying question in the way Kiseki asked if it was important. Like a lot of people, he wanted to know why. I just didn't feel like telling anyone.
"Okay then," he said, dropping the subject to my relief. He gave my phone back to me, glancing down at it again. "You know, I think the present Miki is cuter than past Miki."
That caught me off guard. "R-really?"
"Really, ten times more cute," he said. The weird thing was that he said that all as if it was a fact.
Kiseki was saying strange things all the time now.
"Thanks I guess," I said not knowing what else I could say. I could feel my heartbeat quicken and my face turn warm. I really couldn't remember being called cute straight out like that before.
The end-of-lunch bell rang, surprising me. Lunch was over already? I thought that it'd feel longer, after not being able to talk to Yoru.
As we started walking back to class I couldn't help but wonder if Kiseki knew that and wanted to distract me.
It was a long shot, but it was possible.
xxxxx
"Oh shoot I forgot my homework sheets at school!" Great, just when I arrived home as well.
Kiseki looked up at me from his position on the sofa. "Do you want me to come with you to get it?"
"Nah, I'll go by myself. Thanks though."
I took my time walking back to school, it was a beautiful day out and the walk was enjoyable. I was thinking of doing a new painting, set on the streets of my house. A simple bright sunny day would be easiest to do as the time of day. Painting it during 'night-time' would be a bit more challenging but that would look good too.
Before I knew it I was at school. I walked back up to my classroom and checked under my desk. Yep, it was there.
Then I remembered that Suu has her cooking club on Monday. I can go give her a surprise visit. She usually gets back home in half an hour so she must still be in the food tech room.
I went back downstairs, searching for the cooking class. It's around here somewhere...Then I saw a few people coming out from a room - some of them had flour on their uniform.
"Ugh, Suzoku really needs to keep his flour in the bowl," complained a brunette guy.
His friends laughed. "You're just annoyed that you're the one that got showered with the flour."
"It's more of a punishment for us than for Suzoku. I bet he thinks that skipping his classes was totally worth it now."
"You talking about him cosy-ing up with Suu-chan?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. They're all friendly. Kinda strange considering they don't even talk in class."
"That's 'cause he thinks it'd be embarrassing if people knew he had to go to cooking club."
"He's an idiot. The ladies love men who can cook – all men understand that so there's nothing to be ashamed about."
"That's the only reason you'redoing this, isn't it?"
"Got that right!"
They walked pass me and I stood still, taking in the new information. Yoru was in Suu's club and she didn't tell me? But by the sound of it Yoru must have made them all promise not to tell and Suu holds all her promises.
I wondered what they meant by 'cosy'. I slowly made my way to the door and took the slightest of peeks in, hoping they wouldn't see me.
Suu was helping Yoru dust off the flour from his uniform.
"I'm really sorry about messing up the place," said Yoru looking a bit down.
"It's alright Yoru-kun, we all make mistakes-desu. I've cleaned most if it up now," Suu said, finished with helping Yoru. "You're improving a lot Yoru-kun! You attend all the classes there are in the week and each time you get better and better."
"Thanks Suu-chan. You always have the right things to say." He smiled at her. "Hey, want to come see Shiro today?"
Suu clasped her hands together. "Yes! It's Monday after all."
"'Kay, let's go."
Oh shoot. They'd be coming my way. With the fastest speed I've ever moved, I slipped into the next door class room. I waited until I heard them pass then slowly opened the door.
I am not proud of what I did next, I have to say. I trailed them. It was none of my business who this 'Shiro' might be, but I trailed them anyway. I kept my distance so they wouldn't notice me. This meant I couldn't hear their conversation but I sensed it was probably a cheerful one.
It took two minutes for me to realise that the route we were taking was on the way to my house. If this Shiro lived nearby and Suu visited every Monday that would explain why she's able to get back home in half an hour.
They stopped at the gate of an average sized house, a modern styled one with a bright red roof. Once they entered I walked up to the gate and read the name-plate on the wall beside it. 'Suzoku' - this was Yoru's house?
Suu comes here every Monday. Yoru lives on the way to our house and Suu never told me? I was jealous. Very jealous.
I am not proud of the next thing I did. I walked pass the gate. Trespassing - technically, but it was Yoru's fault for not closing it behind him. Suu and Yoru had gone to the back of the house and I followed. They were crouching in the garden, looking at something but I couldn't see what from my position behind the wooden fence that separated the garden and the space where a car had been parked. I was on my knees, hands on the top of the fence and with my head peeking just a little above it.
I should get Eru or Iru to invite me over, I thought.
"Meow."
Eh? A cat? Yoru was now lifting said cat grinning at it. The cat had a fluffy pure white coat and I understood that this must be Shiro.
He turned it towards Suu. "Suu-chan came to visit you again."
Suu giggled and patted the top of its head. Yoru placed it back down on the ground. Shiro looked happy to be able to stand on all four paws, and proceeded to licking itself clean, maybe feeling the need to after being carried by humans.
"Has your mother let the cat into the house yet?"
"Yeah. After having its shots, mother felt more comfortable about the idea of keeping a cat. Shiro still prefers to stay outdoors though."
"I'm sure a once stray get wouldn't enjoy being confined in a house-desu."
"Yes. Plus, my sisters are really noisy. I think they scare him some times."
Yoru leaned back, using his hands to prop him up, while looking at the sky. "Hey Suu, remember when we first found Shiro?"
"It was the third day of school and it was raining. Poor Shiro was curled up just in front of the school-desu."
"Yes, and you would have left your umbrella and gotten soaked if I hadn't happened to come along."
"It was very kind of you to bring Shiro back to your house-desu."
"Oh, well you wanted to first but your sister Daiya has a cat allergy doesn't she?"
"She does but really wishes she doesn't-desu."
"Cats are pretty awesome." He glanced at Suu to find her smiling. "And the next week I got stuck in the cooking club for the rest of the term."
"You really shouldn't have skipped so many classes in the first week-desu."
"It was always to look for Shiro who just didn't want to stay put in the house." He looked at the cat fondly. "It doesn't run away anymore though."
"It's warmed up to you because you try so hard-desu."
"Thanks. But I think it sticks around because it looks forward to you coming here." He cleared his throat. "I look forward to you coming here too." His face turned pink.
Oh. Oh... Oh. I could see where this was going.
Suu looked at him with her ever-cheerful smile. "I like visiting Shiro and Yoru-kun too-desu."
Looking encouraged by that Yoru continued. "Hey Suu-chan. What do you think of me?"
"Yoru-kun is a very kind person whom I really like." Honest as always. Whereas I would have panicked and taken at least a minute to answer, Suu didn't think about the question at all.
Yoru's face coloured a bit more. "Oh. But um, when you say 'like' what do you mean?"
Suu's eyes widened. "Ah sorry-desu. I don't like you anything more than a friend. You were worried I would when I first met you, right-desu? You're really popular so you didn't want another girl to like you. I still think having lots of people like you is wonderful but it's your opinion. I understand – so don't be worried."
"Worried. Right." Yoru's face clearly showed regretting that.
"Yoru-kun has someone he likes doesn't he?"
"Wha-? That's kind of-"
"I knew it!" Suu clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. "Is it Miki? It's Miki right?"
Oh no. No. No. NO. Suu don't do this to me!
"Miki-chan?"
"Yes! Miki really likes you, you know." Nooooooo! I'm supposed to tell him that. That's the point of a confession!"You two should go out." Now Suu's done it.
"...you think so?" Yoru avoided her eyes. "You sure?"
"One hundred percent sure-desu."
Yoru stood up abruptly. "Okay then. I'll ask her out after the sports festival." Eh? What? Really?
"Great!"
"But after we start going out, you won't be able to visit Shiro anymore."
Suu blinked. "Why not-desu?"
"I shouldn't let another girl come around every week if I have a girlfriend." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his back on her.
"Oh...that makes sense-desu."
"And you're fine with that?"
Suu looked troubled. "Well...if it's for Miki it'll be fine."
"I see."
Even with me being a bit of a distance away I could feel the tension.
"Then...um, will this be the last time I get to play with Shiro-desu?"
"Yeah."
Suu tugged at Yoru's sleeve. "Then we should have the most fun today. I'll call my parents and say I'm coming back an hour late-desu."
Yoru looked back at Suu. I think he tried to glare at her, but couldn't quite manage. It's really hard to stay mad at Suu.
"Alright then." He kneeled back down, with Suu smiling brightly back at him. His own smile, though, had a touch of sadness.
I'd heard enough. Crawling away, and then quietly exiting the gate I ran back home.
I should have been happy. Yoru was finally asking me out.
But I wasn't. It didn't take any time to realise - Yoru didn't like me.
He liked Suu.
A/N: I would play the troll song now if I was Miki. She just got trolled by me, basically. -cough- Hope anyone still reading this enjoyed. Reviews make me happy. -nudge, nudge-
