Gals!

Chapter 10! I can't believe it's been 10 chapters already.

Well, I'm going to have a lot of time to update.

Since it's going to be exam week, there will be no homework for me.

So catch Chapter 11 soon!

Please enjoy and thanks for reading!

Opposite Attractions

Chapter 10 - Emerging Light

Panting, Aya started running toward her house. Someone was in her house and they had left the door wide open. Taking a deep breaths, Aya wheezed as she finally reached the front door. As she stood in front of the open door, Aya hesitated to go inside. For all she knew it could be anyone. What if someone had broken inside her home and were stealing stuff? Aya gulped and hoped that wasn't the case.

Aya walked inside slowly, looking in all directions after she had closed the door. Her senses were alert and reacted to a noise she heard that was coming from upstairs. Aya walked toward the stairs and looked up to see her mother coming down with fresh clean clothes.

"Mother?" Aya watched her mother come down the stairs and head toward the kitchen. She picked up the pile of mail that Aya had stacked for her. She scanned through them, but since nothing seemed to interest her, she placed them back. "Mother? What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Aya dear." Her mother smiled at her while she opened the refrigerator. "I came to get some clean clothes since I'll be going back to work in a few minutes."

Her mother pulled out a jar of juice and poured herself some on a cup. Aya looked at her as she placed her school bag down on the floor. "I saw the door open when I was coming here from school. I found it pretty strange and wondered who had come in. You never crossed my mind."

"Oh, you silly girl!" Her mother exclaimed as she placed the jar on the counter and the cup to her lips. After taking a sip of Aya's homemade orange juice, her mother looked at her. "Have you gotten any calls from your father? He contacted me the other day, but I was in a meeting and couldn't answer."

Aya shook her head and looked away from her mother. It had been awhile since she had last contacted her father. In fact, she didn't even remember her father calling her at all. It was no surprise, though. "I think he called once, but I was at school." Aya lied sadly. "By the way mother, I was thinking when you're planning to take a day off at work. We haven't spent much time together."

"Oh, Aya. What are you saying? I thought we went over this already." Aya's mother walked away over to the living room. She began to stuff some papers in her brief case with anticipation. Aya followed her and looked at her. Her mother seemed to be in a hurry as she snapped her brief case shut. "Ah, there we go. I thought it wouldn't close. Anyways, Aya, I'm very busy. I don't have that kind of time."

"That's what you've been saying for over five years. You never pay attention to me anymore. Ever since my brother.." Aya voice trailed off sadly as she looked down at the ground. Her mother brushed her off, standing up straight. "Aya, stop saying nonsense. I have to work. I don't have time to fulfill your selfish request. Why don't you spend some time at Miyu's house. Or Ran's even though that girl is nothing but bad influence."

Aya crossed her hands as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Mother, she isn't a bad influence. She's my good friend. But that isn't what I want. There so much that has happened lately and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Oh, okay. Tell me. I'm listening." Her mother said, pulling out her brush from her purse. She walked over to a small mirror that was hung right above the sofa. She started brushing her long black hair rapidly, looking at Aya's reflection every now and then. "What is it that you want to tell me, dear? Go ahead. I'm listening."

Aya rolled her eyes. Her mother told her that she was listening, but it was obvious that she wasn't at all. She was to busy looking at herself in the mirror and admiring herself to pay any attention to her. Either way, she was happy that her mother was taking the time to at least talk to her. For her, that was a big jump. Aya clasped her hands together as she got ready to tell her mother about Rei. She wanted to her that he was a wonderful guy that she had met in school. She wanted to tell her that she was his friend and that she was starting to develop feelings for him. Aya's heart skipped a beat while she thought about Rei. It was probably nothing more than a mere crush. Maybe it was was only attachment or attraction.

"The other day I met a-" Before Aya couldn't finish her sentence, her mother's cellphone started ringing. Aya's mother dropped the brush and pulled out her phone from her purse. Aya sighed and sat back on the sofa. It would be a while until her mother finished with her phone call.

"Hold that thought, sweetie." She told her before answering the phone. "Hello, Mrs. Hoshino speaking." There was a small pause, but then her mother squealed. "Oh my. Is everything okay? I'll be over there in a second."

Her mother ran over to the sofa and grabbed her brief case. She gave herself one last look in the mirror before she started running toward the door. Aya, looking a bit confused, stood up and followed her mother, the best lawyer she knew. "Mother? What happened? Where are you going? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing for you to worry about. I have to get going. It seems like my client got himself into some problems. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Be good. If you need anything, remember to give me a buzz." Her mother waved good-bye and opened the door. Without giving her a second glance, Aya's mother stepped outside and slammed the door shut, leaving behind a torn and disappointed Aya.

A tear escaped her eyes as she walked back to the living room. She walked toward the book shelf and picked up the picture where she and her family were posed, well like a family. Grabbing it, Aya hugged it tightly. She wished that things could back to the way they were. After the incident with her brother, everything fell apart for not only for her, but for her parents too. Not only did her parents avoid coming home, they also avoided her. Aya sighed as she placed the picture back on the shelf. There was nothing that she could do about. She would just have to hope that things would back to normal.

Walking over to the sofa, Aya dropped herself on the cushion and leaned her head back. She tried to relax and calm herself down. Then her mind switched over to Rei. She wondered if he had eaten the lunch that she had made him. It wasn't anything fancy; some sushi, rice balls, rolled omelets and other stuff. Aya smiled to herself as she closed her eyes. The kiss that he had implanted on her forehead kept crossing through her mind. Even though it was given to her as a friend and not a lover, Aya still felt happy about it. Then she wondered what his lips would taste like.

Aya shook her head furiously while a blush formed on her face. What in the world was she thinking? Kissing Rei in the lips? There was no way that Rei would ever allow something like that to happen. After what that Katase guy said, Aya knew that Rei had other girlfriend before. On the other hand, Aya had no experience with guys. She just didn't attract them. For example when she's hanging out with her friends, the cute guys would always have their eyes glued to Ran and Miyu while she's left in the abyss.

She didn't care though. She had other better things to do than to waste her time with boys. As long as she had her friends, everything would be fine. The only thing that she wanted now was Rei's friendship. She already kind of had it, but she felt like it wasn't enough. Aya pulled out her cellphone from a small pocket in her sweater. She had never bothered to ask Rei if he had a cellphone. Maybe when she sees him next time, she would ask him. Even if he did have phone, would he give her his number? Aya blushed and decided not to ask him anything.

Sighing, Aya looked around her quiet empty house. For some reason, something just didn't seem right. There was something missing, but Aya couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Aya sat up straight as she look around. Her heart started pounding loudly while the stillness of her house evoked her. There was definitely something wrong and whatever it was, it was making Aya nervous. Then, it clicked to her.

"Dylan? Where are you, boy?" Aya jumped from the sofa and slid of the the kitchen. She grabbed Dylan's dog food and poured it on his bowl. Then she poured some water on his water dish. "It's time to eat, Dylan. Then we can go for a walk."

To her surprise, she only received silence. There was no bark, no whimper, no howl, no nothing. Aya scratched her head, walking out her kitchen. She went to the dinning area, and looked under the tables and chairs, but he was not there. From there, she went back to the living room, but there was still no sign of him. Aya's fingers began to tremble as she called for her dog again. "Dylan? Dylan? Where are you?"

She ran toward the stairs. "Dylan?" Once again, there was nothing but silence. She the climbed the stairs rapidly, hoping that her silly dog was just upstairs hiding under her bed or something. When she reached the last step, Aya called her dog again. "Dylan?"

Rushing to her room, Aya began to look for her dog in her everywhere. She looked under the bed, in the closet, under her desk, behind the curtain, but he wasn't anywhere. Aya went to her parents room and began to look for him there. To her disappointment, he wasn't there either. Next, she looked in the bathroom. She was about to check her brother's room, but she immediately stopped and ran downstairs. There was no point looking in her brother's room since it had been closed for years.

"Dylan? Dylan?" She continued to holler. She stopped when she stood in front of the door. Then, she remembered that before she arrived, the door of her house had been opened. Her mother had carelessly forgot to close the door. Maybe, Dylan saw the door open and walked outside. He was probably lost in the streets somewhere. He had never been alone before. Aya ran towards the door and went outside.

She ran past the front yard and stopped to look around. She wasn't even sure if he was outside or not. He had to be, though. He wasn't inside the house, so he had to be outside somewhere, lost and lonely. Aya lifted her head to look at the sky. It was getting darker than usual because big gray clouds were circling the sky and covering the sun. Just as quickly as she had noticed, the first couple of raindrops started to come down. Cold droplets hit her face and before she knew it, there was rain falling down everywhere.

Aya wiped her face with her wet sleeves as she looked down the streets. She had look for Dylan. He couldn't have gone far. He was probably somewhere in the park hiding under a bench. Aya started running toward the park. She was determined to look for Dylan. The rain wasn't going to stop her. She had made up her mind to at least look for him for an hour or so. If she couldn't find him, then she would have to search for him again after the rain had stopped.

Somehow, she ended up looking for him all night until she found him under a tree, scared and frighten by the lighting, thunder, and rain; the rain that never left her side.

…

Rei growled silently as he sat in his desk uncomfortably. He was really annoyed and he wasn't planning on hiding it either. Everyone was staring at him with afraid looks on their faces, but he didn't give a damn. His hands turned to fist as he tried to block out everyone from the classroom. They pissed him off, but he tried his best to calm his nerves. Today, though, he was having trouble keeping his focus. He felt like running out the classroom. The reason for that was because Aya wasn't there in the classroom next to him..

She had insisted that he should go to school and then, she ends up not coming herself. It was weird. She didn't seem like the type of girl that would slack off. She was always so worried about school that it seemed unlikely for her to miss a day. Maybe she was just late. Then again, why did he care. It was none of his business. Even so, his gut couldn't help, but worry about that stupid girl.

Pretty soon, the teacher walked in as soon as the bell rung. There was still no sign of her. The teacher started calling attendance, and when he called her name, there was nothing, but silence. As the teacher shifted his eyes over her desk, he found that it was empty. "Aya Hoshino?" He repeated, but then he marked absent.

Rolling his eyes, Rei crossed his arms as he looked at her desk. If she were here right now, then she would probably have her nose buried in a book. Then every once and a while, she would turn around and give him a quick glance. Rei leaned his head on his hand and let out an annoyed sigh. Where the hell was she? For some reason, the classroom without her didn't seem the same. He had never noticed that she had become part of his daily life.

...

When it was time for lunch, Rei watched as most the students walk out. Of course, there were a couple of people that stayed in the classroom. One of those people was Aya's friend, Yuuya Asou. Personally, he didn't like that guy at all. He felt like slamming a desk across his face, but of course, he wouldn't. If he did, Aya would never forgive him. She would probably start yelling at him and start giving him a long speech about how violence was unnecessary. She was always barking at him for things like that. He really enjoyed seeing her flustered face, though. Rei quickly shook his thoughts away. Why was he thinking about her? She was nothing to him.

Suddenly, Rei stood up, slamming his fist on the table. This was starting to get out of hand. All morning, he did nothing, but think about her. He kept asking himself if she was okay or why she hadn't come to school. He had know where she was or else he won't be able to stop thinking about her. He stood up straight and started walking toward that guy, Yuuya Asou.

"Yo," Rei stood in front of his desk and after a couple of seconds, Yuuya looked up at him. He cocked his head to the side a little as he looked at Rei with disbelief. Yuuya gulped as he stopped putting away his books in his bag. Rei liked the look of fear in his eyes.

"Hey, Otohata." Rei watched as Yuuya nervously scratched the back of his head. Crossing his hands, Rei let out an annoyed sigh. "Do you need something?" Yuuya asked him, adding a nervous laugh at the end.

Rei gritted his teeth as his hands turned to fists. He really couldn't stand this guy. Ever since he saw him with Aya, Rei had felt like punching him. He had gotten so close to her. He had tried to kiss her twice. Rei would never forgive him for that. "Listen," Rei started. "Do you know where she might be?"

"She?" Yuuya repeated, but Rei didn't bother to explain himself. He really didn't like to say her name. In fact, he didn't even like to call her by her name in his thoughts. It was a silly idea he had made up for himself.

Rei watched as Yuuya looked around with a finger in his chin. He was trying to figure out who he was talking about. Then, his face lit up as his eyes came across Aya's desk. "Oh, Aya-chan? No, I don't know where she is. It's kind of strange, though. She has never missed a day of school. I hope she's okay."

Twitching his eyebrow a bit, Rei gave him a death glare that made Yuuya lean back a bit. "That's all I needed to know." Rei placed his hands in his pockets and was about to walk out the door when Yuuya called out to him. Rei turned to look at him. "What the hell do you want?"

"Why are you worried about her?" Yuuya asked him in quite a serious tone. Rei, of course, wasn't affected at all. Wimpy guys like him really didn't scare him. Twisted guys like Kazuki Katase disgusted him. "Do you like her?"

"If I do or not, it's none of your business." Rei told him coldly before heading out the door.

…

What the hell was he suppose to do? Should he go look for her? Rei sighed as he stared out the window. The classroom was empty since everyone had already left home. He couldn't go home until he knew why she hadn't come to school. She was always worrying about him. Now, it was his turn to worry about her. It was something so unlike him, but he couldn't help it.

In such a short time, Rei had gotten used to her. Her insistence on them to be friends had finally gotten to him. He hated to admit it, but it was strange not to have her around. If she were here, then he would probably be walking home with her. Rei slammed the desk annoyingly as he looked away from the window. He didn't understand why he was tormenting himself with such thoughts. It wasn't like him at all. Those strange unknown feelings that were inside him were starting to not only disturb him, but they were also driving him insane.

He regretted not walking her home yesterday. Rei hadn't walked her was because of his own selfish reasons; he wanted to get home and eat the lunch that she had prepared for him. It had been so delicious that Rei still imagined the flavor running through his tongue. He sighed, looking inside his school bag. He had brought her lunch box to school so he could give it to her. He even took the time to wash it despite the fact he hated washing dishes. Rei placed his hand on his forehead and pushed his brown hair back. Why did he trouble himself so much for that girl?

Rei was about to start walking toward the door when suddenly some girl came in. He recognized her right away. She was another one of Aya's friend, the blond girl known as Miyu. She looked him surprised, but then sweetly smiled at him. Miyu walked toward her desk and pulled out a book. "Hello, Otohata. What are you doing here?"

Of course, Rei didn't answer and only looked away. He decided to stare at the window again as he stood beside his desk. Even if Miyu was her friend, he didn't feel like talking to her. In reality, she kind of annoyed him. She took a few steps forward, but then stopped. "I wonder why Aya didn't come to school today. Ran called her, but she didn't answer. We wanted to visit her, but we're not really sure where she lives."

Rei didn't even bother to turn around. He didn't know why she was telling him all that. He wasn't asking her, but then again, deep down inside, he kind of felt grateful. He hated feeling that way. It was starting to make him look soft. People weren't scared of him as they used to be. He remembered that the first day that he had arrived at Hounan, people were scared to even look at him. Now, things were different. The girl in front of him wasn't scared of him at all. He wondered why.

"You know," Miyu began to Rei's annoyance. He wished she could just shut up. "Aya seems happy around you. It seems like she cares for you."

"Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?" Rei's senses perked up when he heard Miyu's sentence. He knew that Aya cared about him, but he had never heard it being said by someone else. A new emotion began to develop inside him. Happiness? Relief? Excitement? Rei didn't know what it was.

Miyu didn't say anything after that, but she did manage to smile at him. "Aw, forget I said anything." Miyu waved at him and exited the classroom.

Rei looked down at the floor, not sure of what to do. Aya really cared about him and yet, he's always treating her so badly. She had healed his wounds, helped him study, made him food, and stood by his side. Guilt and regret started to fill inside him. The least he could do was to look for her. She was probably in her home, but if she wasn't, he wouldn't stop until he found her.

…

Walking down the sidewalk, Rei hoped to catch a glance of Aya somewhere. She was no where in sight. It pained him. He hadn't seen her all day. Her smile hadn't warmed his icy heart all day. Rei grumbled at his own stupid thoughts. He never knew he could be so chummy.

Annoyed, Rei walked down the path of the park that usually led to Aya's house. The reason he liked to walked through there was because he had a few memories here with her. Rei shook his head as he looked down at the ground, the pavement still wet from yesterday's cold shower. He was so busy examining the sidewalk that he accidentally bumped into someone. He looked up and found that he knocked down an old lady.

Then he did something strange. He apologized to the old women and helped her up. Usually, he would of just left her there to fend for herself. Rei watched as the old lady in the kimono thanked him and walked away happily. Rei sighed as he spotted Aya's house in the distance. That would have been something that Aya would have done. She wouldn't have hesitated twice to help that old lady. Rei started walking again when he found himself standing in front of Katase.

"Isn't this a coincidence? We meet in the same place and almost at the same time." Katase smirked evilly as he looked around. "I see that you're alone this time. How about we pick up where we left off?" Suddenly, his little posy showed up and they were looking at him mischievously. Katase lifted his fists in the air, getting ready to fight.

"Fuck off. I have better things to do than to waste my time with a lowly bastard like you." Rei exclaimed as he started walking away, but Katase blocked his path. "Fuck off. I'm not in the damn mood."

"What's this?" Katase asked him, lifting an eyebrow in the air. "Are you refusing to fight? Are you backing away?"

Rei glanced at Aya's house. He couldn't waste anytime with fools like Kazuki Katase. She had gone through all the trouble to go to his house and check on him. Now, it was his turn to set aside his pride and go see her. That's all he wanted to do at the moment. If he stopped to fight Kazuki and his gang then he'd probably get beat up, making him forget all about Aya. That was something he wanted to avoid.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm backing down." Rei exclaimed, causing Katase to step away from him. "There is someone much more important than you that I want to see and your stupid ass isn't going to stop me. So fuck off and leave me alone."

Furiously, Rei started to walk away at full speed toward her house. He couldn't believe what he had just said. Now, he would never hear the end of it. They will probably start making fun of him and start saying that he had finally admitted the defeat, but that wasn't important at the moment. The only thing that he wanted in that very moment was to hear was her voice. He wanted to see why she hadn't gone to school. What if she was sick? What if something had happened to her? What if she was moving away? The only way to find out was to ask her.

Rei stood in front of her house and for some strange reason, he was feeling anxious and nervous. There was another feeling inside him, though. Something that he had never felt before. He shrugged it off as he knocked on Aya's door.

Deep down inside, he couldn't wait to see her smile.

TBC...