:Woah… I haven't updated anything in a while… Gomen nasai. Anyways, semestral break is coming up, and Christmas break in December, so I'll probably be updating faster in the next few months…
:So, we last left off with Mori's sprained ankle, and the both of them in the lockers… let's see what happens next.
".Message."
I hit my forehead with my palm in frustration… how are we going to get out of this mess?
Maybe Miko's reputation for gossip will make everyone doubt anything she says? But, everyone knows that Ueki and I are so close, I get questions like "You're going out with him aren't you?" all the time. If I was in her position, I might believe her too.
What if Ueki and I did go out? Would that make everything okay? Wouldn't that hush everyone up? Yeah, I guess it would, but then everyone would be convinced that what Miko thought she saw in the lockers was true…
Man, this is becoming a huge headache… worse than a sprained ankle.
"Let's go, Mori." Ueki said, standing up and clutching my hand to help me up. "We can handle this."
"Okay." I resigned. It's not like I'm going to come up with an amazing idea anytime soon.
We were soon in sight of the school's gates, and there was still quite a number of people in campus. I dreaded the feeling as we passed by, Ueki supporting me. I could feel all the glares, hear the hushed giggles, the disappointed and appalled faces… Boy, Miko sure didn't waste her time, she was fast. A new record for her, I think.
I haven't experienced anything this embarrassing in my life! What will my parent's say?
No… they can't believe that… Ueki's not like that. He'd never… NO ONE would ever believe that he, that we… right? I mentally argued with myself. Yeah. This will all be over by tomorrow. This is just a few hours of living hell that I have to survive. There's no way anyone would ever seriously believe the gossip. I hope…
Ueki took me home and explained about my sprain to my dad, who was so grateful to Ueki for helping me that he invited him for dinner. Great, now we just have to act like it never happened. This should be easy. My dad is pretty clueless or at least he acts or maybe wants to be, and I think he only sees Ueki as my best guy-friend. Now, my mother, she was another story. Always "Kosuke seems like a very nice boy, are you two going out?" she said with a funny grin on her face the first time Ueki and I… (wow, that sounded like I talked in third-person, haha)… went home from school together. It was kinda embarrassing, but nowhere near the level of today's embarrassment. Thankfully, we would be safe from my mother's prodding tonight, she was going to be home late today. At least that's one less thing to worry about.
"So, how did you get yourself sprained, Ai?" Dad said. I just noticed, Ueki and I (there goes the third-person homophone again, my name sure sounds like a pronoun)… call each other by our last names. I haven't called him Kosuke, ever, and he hasn't called me Ai either.
"I told you tou-san, it was during a volleyball game." I said, grumbling and frowning at the futo maki on my plate.
"You never were cut out for sports." He said with a chuckle. Rub it in, why don't yah?! You're supposed to be my father, show some support here! Is Inumaru really in a plot to make me go crazy? He's gotten my parents involved hasn't he?... or maybe I'm just paranoid. Nah, it's definitely Inumaru… yeah. That's it.
"I know dad." I said, grabbing the chopsticks and snapping them, separating them into two sticks and starting to eat. "Volleyball isn't my thing."
"You're lucky Kosuke was there, or you wouldn't have made it home." He said. "Thanks again. I'll thank your father for this too, next time I see him. He really raised a fine young man." He said, patting Ueki on the back. I mentally chuckled, Ueki was eating so fast, he nearly chocked. Now my dad is beginning to sound like my mother. Weird.
"No p-problem Mori-san." He said, with mouthfuls of sushi.
Well, dinner pretty much continued in the same way, my dad laughing and thanking Ueki while he was eating in rapid succession, and I just sat there trying hard not to laugh, quietly watching them. I guess my parents would approve if Ueki and I… (there it goes again)… got together, considering all the embarrassing and annoying hints they keep dishing out.
"I'll wash the dishes tonight Ai." My dad said. "You go rest."
"Thanks tou-san." I said with a relieved smile. Maybe I can think of a plan with Ueki, how're we going to solve this problem? He's good at thinking up strategies, hopefully he's thought about something by now.
"Mori." He said, while we sat down on the big sofa in our living room.
"Yeah?" I said, putting my sprained foot in a less painful position.
"Are you going to be okay at school tomorrow? Do you want me to come here early to help you out?" he said, a look of worry on his face while he looked at my foot. This wasn't really the issue I was worried about.
"No, no." I said, smiling. "I already told you. I'm gonna be perfectly fine! You just go ahead and we'll meet at school okay?" Besides, I don't think I want to go to school tomorrow. I could just imagine all the glaring, giggles, and hushed whispers, just think how much worse it would be if I came to school in Ueki's arms? I'm pretty sure he would insist on carrying me again. Besides, that would make me a burden, and everyone knows that I hate that.
"And I told you over and over that it's fine and that I want to help you, didn't I?" He said, annoyed.
"Can we please stop arguing now? Don't worry so much Ueki. I'm not a damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor okay?!" I said, frustrated, but in my brain I was almost laughing at how silly that sentence sounded oh-so-kindergarten-y. "I can take care of myself." I said proudly.
"Fine then. I'm sorry okay?" He said, standing up. "I just want to be safe, that's all. See you at school, I guess." He said, then he left.
The words "I just want you to be safe" were still ringing in my head and I really didn't catch the last few words, so I couldn't reply. But you know, I think I felt something touch my hair as he passed by. Or maybe the fangirl inside me was acting up again. Inumaru's plans of making me go crazy are really affecting me…
"NOOOOOO!!" The chibi Mori Ai screamed dramatically in my brain. Now that, was weird.
As soon as my dad was done with the dishes, he actually carried me to bed. I might get used to all this carrying… I could almost se flashbacks of my five-year-old self, he would carry me to bed like this every time I fell asleep in front of the tv. It brought a smile to my face.
"Thanks dad." I said, as he lay me down. "Oyasumi-nasai."
"Good night, Ai." He said, and he closed the door behind him.
I carefully changed into my PJ's and sunk under the covers, ahh the comforts of a nice, warm bed… I could stay here all day tomorrow…
I was quickly falling asleep, even if it was still technically early. I felt so tired, both physically and mentally. I clutched my favorite pillow and drifted off to dreamland, to what I hope would be an Ueki-free dream. I didn't feel like dreaming about that right now.
Just as I drifted between the edges of sleep… I heard a funny noise… beeping... from my bedside table. I sighed and looked at the cell phone that was vibrating and lighting up. Why didn't I put it on silent mode again?
I flipped it open, and the words "1 message received" flashed brightly on my eyes. Cursing the brightness that hurt my eyes, I opened my inbox, and it turned out to be a message that I never in my wildest dreams (and I do have a very wild imagination) would've expected…
I'll pick you up for school at six…
…and no, this is not a wrong send, Mori-san.
-Kaito Fujiwara.
I almost screamed "What the hell?!" thankfully, I was able to restrain myself, and my father didn't notice a thing. I re-read through the text three times. Is he sure this wasn't a wrong send, well duh, it has my name on it. But still, THE Kaito Fujuwara… heir to a fortune, the school's resident bishounen… why is he picking me up for school?
Yeah, the chibi in my brain was screaming while doing a hundred laps… maybe making Inumaru god wasn't such a good idea. The man is evil.
I found it extremely hard to sleep after that. Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare, I wonder if Kaito is going to be part of it?
:Well, we've got a week off school, so I plan to update all my active fics before Halloween. It's currently Monday, 1:04 am here, but I don't care. There's no school tomorrow. But, I am feeling kinda lazy already, so sorry for any spelling or grammar errors. Maybe I'll fix it later.
:You know, I think this fic is going to be WAY longer that I first thought it would be. I might even update twice this week, if I found the time. So, what do you think… why is Kaito taking Mori to school tomorrow?
