...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
.
~Sparks will Fly~
.
.
Disclaimer: Shugo Chara! isn't owned by me since I have a complete lack of creativity. Which means I could've never come up with magical talking eggs.
.
..
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I slammed my fist onto the snooze button of my alarm clock. Note to self: get a new alarm clock that doesn't have such an annoying ring-tone. Just as I was about to lay my head back down onto my wonderfully comforting pillow, somebody flicked the lights on and said into it, "Honey, you better hurry or else you'll be late to school! Isn't Amu-chan coming to pick you up?"
Curse my mother and her amazing skills of logic and persuasion. I groggily stepped out of bed, and Kusukusu popped out of her egg with a massive yawn.
"Morning, Rima," she mumbled, until her flying got steadily lower and lower, and she finally did a face-plant into the ground. I watched her for a second, debating on whether or not to pick her up. After awhile, my 'good side' won, and I plucked her up and dropped her onto my pillow. If she gets one drop of drool on my pillow, I'm dumping her back on the floor though. I walked into my bathroom and did everything, brushing my teeth, combing my monster-like hair (which refuses to be tamed), and yanking on my uniform and stepped back out of the bathroom. I may look refreshed, but my mind was still half-asleep.
I grabbed my bag and stuff things in there, as for the specifics, I'm not sure, and then walked out the door. "Oh, Kusukusu," I said to myself. I walked back inside, grabbed Kusukusu and dumped her into her egg. She blinked once or twice, and then made the egg close.
She muttered something along the lines of, "Tell me when the bacon's ready," and retreated into her egg. I glared at the shell for a second, and then shoved it into my bag. In truth, I really won't need to tell her when the bacon's ready. She has an incredible sense of smell. She'll know herself.
"Morning," I mumbled as I walked into the kitchen. My mom came over with waffles and bacon. And, right on time, Kusukusu popped out, and landed on my plate, nibbling on a bacon strip contentedly. My mom was pouring herself a cup of coffee, inhaling it like crazy. Then she poured herself about five more cups. Note to self: never get in between her mom and her coffee. She may forget that I am in fact her flesh-and-blood child and kill me.
I poured syrup all over my waffles and started picking at them. "Rima, you got syrup on the bacon!" Kusukusu whined.
"Whoops," I whispered sarcastically. I heard the bell ring, and I automatically grabbed a couple of bacon strip and ran over to the door, grabbing my bag along the way.
"Bye Mom," I called.
"Bye, have fun at school!" she yelled back. "Be careful on your way home; make sure you walk with a friend on the way home; and don't follow anybody into an alley!"
"Uh-huh." I then quickly stepped out the door and found Amu and Yaya grinning at me cheerfully.
"Morning, Rima," Amu said, shifting her bag to a more comfortable position as we started the trek to school.
"Good morning, Rima-tan!" Yaya chirped while reaching into a massive bag of candy corn.
Kusukusu broke out of her egg and started floating about with Ran, Miki, Su, and Pepe, all of them laughing as they talked; it was mostly about them dreading the 'meeting' they were having later.
"Ah, it's such nice weather today!" Amu said as she stretched her arms. The skies were a pure blue with a few puffy white clouds floating about in the sky. The sun shone brightly down, making the dew on the grass glisten and sparkle.
"I heard it might rain later though," Yaya said with her mouth full. Way to spoil a moment, Yaya.
"With this kind of weather now? I doubt it," Amu replied, looking at the skies. I really didn't care about the weather.
"Amu, did you do the math homework last night?" I inquired while eating my bacon. I offered Amu one, and she grabbed it, while Yaya declined, shoving the candy corn in my face. I shook my head 'no'.
"Did we have math homework last night?" Amu asked, looking confused. She stopped and stared ahead for a second, her face thoughtful.
"Yeah, the review sheet," I replied, arching a single eyebrow. "You didn't do it, did you?" She shook her head, her eyes quickly beginning to have a panicked look in it.
"Of course Amu-chii forgot!" Yaya said with a laugh. "Rima-tan, you did it?"
"Yeah," I said back. Amu groaned. But then she looked at me again.
"I'm surprised you did it, Rima. You usually put it off until last period or something, and yesterday, you and Nagihiko had that 'moment'," she said with a wide and excited grin. I ignored the last part.
"I did it last night during dinner, and my dad helped me," I said simply, flipping my hair over my shoulder. "That's it. I'm sure Kazami-sensei will be quite surprised to see I actually did my homework for once though."
Yaya started talking with her mouth full. "Yaya always does her homework because Yaya's mom makes Yaya do it," she said glumly. Both Amu and I decided it wise not to point out that she still usually gets all of the answers wrong anyways.
"I need to do it then!" Amu cried out. "During homeroom or something, maybe…?"
"Is something wrong?" I didn't need to turn around to know that it was Tadase.
"Good morning!" he said politely to us. I waved and Yaya chirped again, shoving her bag into his face, waving it around. He shook his head, giving her a smile.
"G-g-good morning!" Amu stammered out.
"Is something wrong, Hinamori-san?" he asked again gently. "I'd be happy to help you."
"Amu didn't do her math review, and she needs to do it during homeroom," I told him, earning a glare from Amu. She'll thank me in the end.
"Oh, I'll help you with it! I did it last night, so don't worry," Tadase said, a cheerful smile on his face, his sparkles traveling through the air. Amu blushed and nodded, making nonsense sounds. They walked away, a lovey-dovey atmosphere around them.
I heard a picture flash beside me and an evilly grinning Yaya. She turned towards me again and said, "Bye, Rima-tan! Yaya needs to go to homeroom now!" And with a pout, she ran off.
Kusukusu had ditched me, off to go be with the other charas. And so, I was now alone. I entered the massive gates of the school, a small sigh escaping from me. I turned when I heard somebody yell my name.
"Rima-chan!" I saw the long, purple hair and knew immediately who it was.
"Cross-dresser," I acknowledged curtly, nodding my head. His smile faltered for a second, but it was quickly put firmly back in place.
"Do you have to do that this early in the morning?"
"Yeah, I do," I responded, giving him a sharp glare. He ran his fingers through his hair, an almost exasperated and amused breath coming out of him. Then he sneezed suddenly before replying.
"Thanks, Rima-chan."
"Yeah, you're welcome."
People watched us as we walked off to class, some staring intently, whispering amongst themselves.
"… I blame you if they talk about yesterday," I piped up. He cringed.
"It wasn't really my fault, you suggested going that way," he said defensively.
"Whatever, Girly-Boy, whatever," I said with a scoff, and we finally reached the classroom, both walking to our respective seats. Which just so happened to be right next to each other. Why, cruel fate, why?
I looked to beside me to see Amu freaking out with a poor, poor Tadase trying to help Amu. A warning, Tadase, never help Amu with homework. You shall die trying, literally. Her last tutor is now buried in a cemetery in Kyoto. Sucks for him.
I set my bag on the table, pulling out my books. It seems I put a bit too many in here… Eh. That's what happens when I'm half-asleep, getting ready for school. I bring excessive items. I shoved it all into my desk, and all but a few fit. "Crap."
I set the remaining ones on top of my desk, until I saw one that didn't look like one of my textbooks at all. I picked it up and blinked. The Cinderella book. I flipped through it, furrowing my eyebrows. I finally found it, and picked up the picture. I examined it again. Who was she? I'm willing to bet it was Nagihiko's photo…
Maybe it was his girlfriend?
I hadn't exactly thought of that yesterday… I felt my stomach churn slightly, and I shuddered. I felt… mad, almost. I stared at the picture, and looked around for Nagihiko. He was talking to his basketball buddies and such. Athletic freak. I flipped the picture over, hunting for the girl's name. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Darn it. I leaned back into my seat, frustrated. What the heck. Who doesn't label pictures anymore?
I turned it back over, looking at her. She was pretty, so it really wouldn't be that surprising if she was his girlfriend. I tugged on a lock of my hair. Maybe I should just ask…
"Rima-chan, what are you looking at?" I shoved the picture into my desk, and looked up and saw Nagihiko looking back at me kindly. I didn't want to show him the picture now. I'd do it later… Instead, I showed him the cover of the book, and he looked vaguely surprised, and embarrassed. I raised a single eyebrow at his face.
"Hmm, you remember this book?" I asked, showing him the title page. He took the book and read it, wrinkling his nose slightly.
"That's pretty sappy," he muttered to himself.
"You wrote it," I pointed out.
"Ah, that's true, isn't it?" he said, smiling impishly.
"Neh, Rima, Nagihiko, what are you looking at?" Amu asked, popping up. Nagihiko slammed the book shut and hid it behind his back.
"Nothing," we said automatically, exchanging a look.
"Did you finish the math review, Amu?" I asked quickly, hastily changing the subject. Thankfully, she didn't notice anything.
"Yeah, finally, thanks to Tadase-kun," she said with another crimson blush. Tadase smiled cheerfully.
"It was no problem."
"No, it was a problem, I feel bad for troubling you…" and blah blah blah. And so it goes, with them off to their lovely mood. It would be one heck of a lot more interesting if that Tsukiyomi guy dropped in. Nagihiko gave me the book, and I sneaked the picture back into it, and then put it under the rest of my books.
Then, Nikaidou-sensei burst inside, clapping his hands loudly to catch our attention. At least he didn't fall on his face today. "Alright, alright, let's begin!"
~Time-skip~
Science class is going to kill me one day. It just will. Nikaidou-sensei was now lecturing his butt off about electricity, and most of the class wasn't even listening. Amu was in her 'cool'n'spicy' pose, legs and arms crossed as she looked at the board coolly. Tadase paid attention, jotting down the occasional note here and there. And Nagihiko, that stupid idiot who just so happens to be my partner, was attentive, leaning on his arm, his girly hair swishing behind him.
"Mashiro-san, can you tell me what an electric charge is?" Stupid Nikaidou-sensei, why'd he call on me? Most likely because he knew I wasn't paying attention to his lesson.
Electric charge… Where did I hear that from? I heard some chairs scraping against the floor as my fanboys stood up for me. "Rima-sama doesn't have to answer that question if she doesn't want to!"
"Yeah!" the others cheered.
"Hey, hey, she's a student just like the rest of us," a few girls protested, looking ticked. I was still searching my brain. Where…
Oh, that's right. Kusukusu had told me yesterday about them… What the heck did she say again?
"An electric charge is a property of certain subatomic particles, which gives rise to and interacts with the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature. The charge originates from the atom," I recited, trying not to show any signs of annoyance. I'm pretty sure Kusukusu said something along those lines. My memory's not horrible, at least.
The class stared. And stared. And stared.
Personally, I wasn't sure whether or not to be offended or not. Nikaidou-sensei's jaw slammed into the floor, along with Amu and a couple of others. Tadase looked partially stunned. Nagihiko next to me might've been the only person who wasn't shell-shocked. In fact, he was smirking like the smart-aleck he is, but then he sneezed, wiping the look off his face.
"M-M-Mashiro-san… How'd you know that?" Nikaidou-sensei asked, his eyes wide.
I was pretty much offended. It's nice to know how 'highly' they think of me. "I paid attention during your lesson," I said impassively, giving everybody a cold glare. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No… not at all," he said back, although his face said otherwise.
"Whatever," I said indifferently. Nagihiko chuckled beside me, and I kicked his chair. Nikaidou-sensei was gradually coming out of his stupor (quite sadly, the rest of the class had yet to recover), and he nodded to himself.
"Alright then. Let's see, for homew—"Nikaidou-sensei stopped abruptly as the bell rang loudly, and the kids all ditched before Nikaidou-sensei could assign anything. He sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Teaching gives me such huge migraines."
Amu, Tadase, Nagihiko, and I walked out of the classroom, Tadase smiling, his sparkles drastically affecting Amu. "I wonder if he does that on purpose sometimes…" I mumbled to Nagihiko. He shrugged.
"I think it's more of a natural thing," he said thoughtfully, tapping his cheek. "A habit he can't break, or something like that. By the way," he added, looking at me, "do you have the Cinderella book?"
"Yeah. It's in my bag. Do you want it back?"
"You can keep it," he said. "I already wrote that note to you on it anyways. It'd be pointless to take it back…" He shifted his bag and stared out the window. "Huh. The weather changed pretty fast. It's pretty gloomy out there."
"Ah, looks like Yaya was right, Amu," I told her. Amu stiffened. "You lost to the girl who uses her shoe to predict the weather. Congrats."
"Rima!" she cried out, crossing her arms as she tried to maintain her image.
"Well, we should probably get going before it actually starts raining," Tadase pointed out, laughing lightly. Amu quickly nodded her agreement, and Nagihiko smiled. I messed with a lock of my hair as we walked outside.
"Whoa, it's really dark," Amu said. "It'll be some storm." Gray clouds filled the sky, making it feel cold and dark.
"I'll call my mom to ask us to pick us up, Amu-chan," Tadase said as he pulled out his phone. She blushed.
"Oh, looks like you're going to Tadase's house," I whispered to her sarcastically. "Lucky."
"I know, aren't I?" she asked dreamily. Obviously, she can't see the sarcasm in my statement. I decided not to point it out to my delusional best friend though. Nagihiko was kicking at a pebble vaguely.
Then I felt it. Tiny droplets of water as it raced towards the Earth, and everybody started running. "Why does it start raining now?" I grumbled as we raced towards the Royal Garden. Eventually, I started lagging behind, and I panted heavily. That's when I saw it. A hand. I looked up and saw whose hand it was. "Girly-Boy, do you want something?"
He rolled his eyes, took my hand, and started running. I couldn't even protest. Stupid girl-boy thing. We ran inside the glass-domed building and slammed the door shut behind us. I grimaced and pointed at our hands. "Let go."
He laughed nervously and did so. Amu and Tadase had already collapsed into their seats and were now staring at Yaya, who was eating candy like no tomorrow. "Amu-chii, Yaya was right!" she said, pointing at Amu accusingly.
Amu froze. I settled down in my seat next to her and said simply, "I told you so."
Tadase, coming to Amu's rescue, smiled and said, "Well, we should probably begin the meeting before it starts raining harder."
"Yeah," Amu agreed. Yaya pouted, but didn't offer a protest.
I sipped my tea as Tadase started his rambling again. X-eggs, Easter, and whatnot. It was basically the same thing repeatedly, over and over.
"And lastly, no news on the kidnapper," Tadase finally said as he finished flipping through his papers. It made him look like a news anchor or something. "I think that's it for this meeting. Due to the rain, we won't need to water the flowers this week either," he added.
Yaya cheered. "Hooray! It was Yaya's turn anyways."
I heard a phone buzz, and Tadase glanced at his phone screen. "My mom's only a few minutes away from school, so we should go up front in a little bit." Amu nodded.
"Yaya's going home with her friend for ballet," Yaya cried out, waving at us. "She's outside right now, so Yaya'll see you guys later!" The door slammed shut behind her.
"Ah, what about you two?" Amu asked. Nagihiko and I exchanged a glance.
"My mom and dad are working late tonight, so they can't," I responded, sipping my tea again. Japanese tea, ew. Since Tadase doesn't know how to make anything but Japanese tea, I've grown to tolerate it. It's still pretty disgusting though.
"My mom and Baaya-san are driving my cousins back to their house," Nagihiko replied with a sigh. I looked up in mild surprise.
"So the demon twins have finally left?"
"Yes. Aren't you relieved, Rima-chan?"
"Yeah, now I can finally sleep without worrying I'll be murdered in my sleep." He smirked. Amu and Tadase both looked confused, and I waved them off. "It's nothing."
"So what are you two going to do?" Tadase asked worriedly.
Another exchange of glances occurred. "I don't know."
"Well, I guess we can go back inside the building to work on the project," Nagihiko said doubtfully. "That is, unless Nikaidou-sensei's already left. We'll just have to wait until the storm blows over. Honestly, I didn't bring an umbrella or anything with me. This rain was pretty sudden."
Amu looked at me with a see-I-told-you-so look, which I ignored blatantly. Tadase's phone vibrated again, and he looked at us with another worried look. "Are you sure you two will be okay?"
"Yeah," I said, holding back a biting remark. "You two can go off and 'do' your project," I told them, putting air quotes around the do. Amu raised an eyebrow.
"Why'd you put air quotes there?"
"Because we all know you're going to go off to la-la land and not do anything," I said back scornfully. "Or at least, one of you will." Amu flushed tomato-red, the color clashing with her bubble-gum pink hair.
Nagihiko smiled, and Tadase, being the utterly oblivious person he is, blinked. "Anyways, you two can go," Nagihiko said hastily, to avoid any questions that Tadase was going to ask. They walked to the door and started running, using their bags for cover from the rain.
"Well, I guess we should try to head inside the building," Nagihiko said dubiously. "Let's go before it starts pouring harder." I glanced outside.
"Too late," I said, pointing towards the pouring rain outside. He groaned and observed the rain with a pout on his face.
"We don't have to go very far, so it should be fine," he said unhappily. "We can use our bags for cover…" he mumbled to himself.
"Fine, let's go," I said abruptly, grabbing it. Nagihiko just stood there patiently, and I scrutinized him briefly.
"Where's your bag?" I asked slowly. He laughed sheepishly.
"I think… I left it in the classroom," he replied nervously. I sighed. "I'll be fine though," he continued hastily. "It's not that far, and if I chara-change with Rhythm, I won't get that wet."
Rhythm grinned, flashing me a thumbs-up. "Fine. Temari can stick with me and Kusukusu," I said, exasperated. How he manages to get straight A's but somehow he's able to forget his own stupid book-bag is something I'll never understand.
"Chara-change!" Rhythm cried out, snapping his fingers. We set off, and I managed to keep out most of the rain. Thankfully, being small was benefitting me in this situation. The rain was pouring hard, and I panted as I sprinted across the area towards the doors. Quite sadly, my short legs don't do well in sprinting.
Eventually we reached the doors, and I breathed heavily as I leaned onto the wall. Nagihiko fumbled with the door handle and the door finally swung open, and we leapt inside. I was relieved to be away from the rain. Even though I had the bag, a few drops of water managed to catch me. Nagihiko, on the other hand…
He was soaked to the bone, as was Rhythm. He was wringing out his hair currently, frowning. He sneezed loudly and it echoed through the lone hallways of the school. Rhythm coughed right afterwards. Nagihiko rubbed his nose as he sighed.
"It's cold," Rhythm whispered. Nagihiko only nodded his head a fraction of an inch, as if he didn't want it to be obvious. Then he started walking ahead, giving me a bright grin.
"Let's go get started!" he said enthusiastically. I snorted; count on Nagihiko to be pumped up about science. I saw him shiver slightly and I observed him for a minute as we walked down the quiet hallway. His blue Guardian cape was plastered to his uniform, and practically every inch of his clothing stuck to his skin tightly. I slipped my Guardian cape off and handed it to him, avoiding all forms of eye contact.
"Eh?" I turned towards Nagihiko, who was blinking at the red cape.
"Just use it," I snapped, pushing it into him firmly. He looked surprised.
"… But… won't this be kind of… small?" he asked quizzically. I gave him a dirty look.
"Just shut up and take the stupid cape Nagihiko."
Kusukusu giggled while Temari scolded Nagihiko on proper manners and how it was impolite to not accept a gift. Rhythm snickered at his owner's predicament. Nagihiko contemplated the cape and then decided to just drape it over his shoulders.
"Thanks, Rima-chan," he said earnestly. I nodded.
"Whatever," I said coolly.
He was still shivering, and Rhythm and him took turns sneezing. Every few minutes, there'd be a cough too, and I was almost relieved to see our classroom. Almost. Just because we left the hallway (which was causing their repeated sniffles to echo) doesn't mean he was going to stop his sick symptoms.
"Do you need something to drink?" I asked stiffly. Nagihiko gawked at me. "You look stupid like that; shut your mouth," I growled at him. He closed it slowly, looking vaguely suspicious. I snorted at his face.
"I'm not going to poison your drink, Nagihiko," I scoffed. "No matter how tempting it is," I mumbled under my breath.
"Could you repeat that, Rima-chan?' he asked pleasantly. I shook my head sweetly.
"Nothing."
"Well, to answer your previous question, I am a bit thirsty, so I'll go get something to drink," he said cheerfully. "Rhythm, you coming?" he called back as he started to leave the classroom. Pft, I knew it. He still thinks I'm going to do spike his water.
I don't have anything with me to actually spike it with, so it's not like I could.
I slumped into my desk, staring out the window. Obviously, Nikaidou-sensei had already left. The only person who was in here was the custodian, who jumped when she saw us, but didn't comment. Kusukusu and Temari were drawing shapes on the fogged up window, and I stood up to watch them.
Then I saw it: a flash of lightning that streaked across the sky. Thunder cracked loudly, and I clenched my fists firmly, ignoring my instinct to scream and run around in circles. Kusukusu glanced back worriedly, but I waved her onwards, and reluctantly, she returned to playing with Temari. I sat back down in my seat, staring at the purple folder. The lights flickered momentarily, and I glared up at the florescent lights, practically threatening them to stay on.
Because, I swear, if I am in another power outage with the purple-headed cross-dressing freak, I will die. Most likely, at least.
I slumped in my seat, tapping my nails against the desk, trying to ignore the loud booms of thunder and tried focusing on the two charas squeals of fun (which was just as bad, in actuality).
Nagihiko came back inside talking to Rhythm. He came over and dragged the desk next to mine right next to mine. Screw him.
"The last time it rained, I was over at your house, right?" Nagihiko said thoughtfully as he watched Rhythm go join the girls by the window. Poor chara; half the time, he has no boy charas to talk to.
Just watch, one day, he will become anti-social. Nagihiko pulled out the cursed purple folder and I leaned onto my hand, bored. Gazing out the window (and, I just realized, I have been doing that far too often lately. I blame the lack of entertainment), I murmured, "Stupid cross-dressing freak," into the palm of my hand. Nagihiko stiffened considerably beside me.
"Thanks, Rima-chan. I appreciate it very much." I nodded my head, giving him a sweet smile. I heard a loud crack of thunder and bit the inside of my cheek, hard. I ignored the obviously concerned look of Nagihiko and snatched the folder from his hands, looking at our notes with extreme interest.
"Rima-chan," he sang softly. I shoved a book (with more force than necessary) into his chest, and he coughed with the sudden impact. Deliberately avoiding his eyes, I gave him about ten sheets of notebook paper (because five just isn't enough!) and resisted the temptation of stabbing him with the pencil. I then grabbed my own book and started scribbling away, ignoring his prying look.
"Rima-chan," he said again, in that same sing-song voice. He kept saying it, over and over, and I whirled my head around, giving him as hard of a glare as I could muster.
"What?" I snapped. Another crack of lightning arced across the sky, the loud boom of thunder sounding behind it. I clenched my fists slightly tighter, but I didn't look away from Nagihiko's eyes once. I heard Kusukusu, Temari, and Rhythm shut up, and I knew they were watching us intently. Nagihiko, on the other hand, was completely calm and collected. The only thing I could detect was the concern: something he obviously wasn't hiding.
"You're scared," he said simply. I shook my head furiously. "Yeah, you are," he said, chuckling, giving me a sympathetic look. I returned it with a cold look. What he did next, however, managed to surprise me. He took my hand and started humming that faintly familiar song in a cheerful manner, as if the rain outside didn't exist, as if the misery in this world was never here, as if this whole time, everything was perfect.
(Pft, I wish.)
I froze, staring at our intertwined hands. I almost wanted him to let go. Almost. But a tiny part of me wanted him to stay there, and to never let go. Only because he was most likely going to be my ticket home. That's the only reason. Jerk. But the funny thing is, I didn't mind it all that much either. It made me feel… better.
"Rima-chan, you're supposed to be working," he scolded after awhile. "Besides, what in the world is so distracting that…" he trailed off as he followed the direction of my eyes. "Oh. Um, well…"
Kusukusu and Temari both came over, each resting on one shoulder. Rhythm fell on top of Rhythm's head, and Nagihiko winced as a loud sneeze blasted out of Rhythm's tiny body. I smirked, if only for a minute.
"Aw, look, Rima-chan smiled!" he said happily. I gave him a withering look.
"Way to ruin a moment, Girly-Boy, way to ruin a moment."
He sneezed before he replied. "Sorry, but it's nice to see your smile. It looks…" he seemed to be searching for a word, and he closed his eyes as he thought. "Nice."
"A very descriptive word, Nagihiko," I said mockingly.
"It was a compliment," he said with a frown.
"Fine. Thanks," I said as I turned back to the book. He decided not to push it (smart guy).
Lightning flashed, creating uneven lines and cracks across the dark sky. The loud thunder really didn't help. I cringed slightly and I pressed my pencil harder against the paper. Kusukusu did bala-balance with Temari (who was blushing) and I offered a meek smile in return. Then I felt it: a small squeeze. I looked back down at my hand (which was still connected with that person) and followed the arm whose it was attached to.
He offered me an easy-going grin, and I turned away. "I'm not scared."
He patted my head. "Uh-huh."
"Don't 'uh-huh' me like you understand me," I hissed. I hate how he's so 'nice' and so 'understanding'. It was enough to drive me, a sane girl, insane.
"Rima-chan, I know you're scared," he stated flatly. I looked into his eyes. An almost piercing sadness was reflected back, and in fact, I wonder if he knew that he was pretty much showing off a lot of sorrow. It reminded me of that time in the grocery store. "But you know, it's okay to be scared. It's okay to want to run away."
"It's weak," I retaliated.
"Is not."
"Is too."
"No."
"Yes."
"Nope."
"Aren't you supposed to face your fears?" I retorted irritably. "Isn't that what everybody says?"
"I didn't say to not do that. But what you're doing is different. You won't even say you're scared. You deny it, and all I'm saying is that it's okay to be scared and to not hide it."
I hate him and his stupid psychology crap. "Nagihiko, is it impossible for you to shut up?"
"Maybe. Does it annoy you?" he asked teasingly.
"Yes, because you're sounding like Doctor Phil," I hissed. He shifted, and I felt his black blazer brush against my hand, and I shuddered. It was still damp, and I looked at him. He wasn't even shivering, and he turned towards me, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
"You're still wet."
"Rima-chan, I think I already know that since I'm the one who's wearing it," he said, completely amused. The lights blinked out for a second, and we both started, me yanking on his arm as they left. Eventually, they all came back on, with Nagihiko groaning loudly.
"That hurt," he complained.
"I swear, if I am in another power outage with you, I might as well die," I said in exasperation. He snorted.
"Are you referring to our 'sleepover'?" he inquired, putting quotes around the word. I scrunched my forehead.
"That sounds so perverted," I commented, turning pink. He gave me a sideways glance.
"It's not my fault your mind is twisted like that," he said, starting to laugh. "Besides, you're the pervert for thinking like that. It's not like we did anything bad."
"You didn't wear pants," I shot back.
"I was wearing shorts," he immediately corrected, turning pink as well. I coughed.
"Boxers." He retaliated by giving me a pout and sneezing.
"And how, exactly, do you know this?" My eyes narrowed.
"You're a pervert. It's obvious they'd be boxers."
"Mhm, Rima-chan, whatever you say," he said with a wink. He stared out the window. "The rain's coming down really hard," he whispered almost to himself, looking lost. He was quiet (oh, how rare that is), and I studied him. His amber eyes were clouded over and almost dull, and as lightning flashed through the window, it reflected brightly in his eyes.
His head snapped down and he offered a smile, giving my hand another tight squeeze. And then we heard it: three loud giggles and we turned our heads to see the charas grinning like maniacs.
"What?" we asked together, me quirking an eyebrow at their expressions.
"It's just that… Rima, you say you hate… Nagi, but you… haven't protested… once against him… holding… your hand!" Kusukusu bubbled, laughing at pretty much every other world while tumbling around in the air. I blinked, trying to sort out the sentence since Kusukusu had giggled so much.
When I finally did, I flushed, glaring at her. Temari grinned, quite differently from her usual elegant smile. "And Nagihiko, weren't you the one who said maybe she could be…" she sang softly, and beside her, Rhythm's grin grew even wider. Nagihiko's eyes widened slightly, and he turned bright red.
"I said similar to her," he mumbled. "A reminder, I guess."
"What'd you say about me?"
"Nothing," he said in an automatic tone, glaring at the two innocently whistling charas while Kusukusu wailed on and on about 'secrets'.
"You're obviously lying," I said, giving him a glare. He sneezed and cleared his throat before looking back up.
"Rima-chan, I'm sick," he pointed out. "So I shouldn't have to answer questions." What a crappy excuse.
"Besides, you never told me why you're still letting me hold your hand." I pulled my hand free from his grasp and instead curled my fingers around the edge of my skirt.
"On second thought, why don't we do our science project?" I said with my sweetest voice, batting my eyelashes.
"Nope, I think I wanna know."
"Shut up and work," I demanded.
"Oh, so now you actually want to work?"
"Seriously, how do you stay quiet?"
He smiled to himself and started working. Low rumbles of thunder sounded, but there were no streaks of lightning. Disappointedly, the rain still wasn't letting up. Which meant that I had to stay with Girly-Boy for a little while longer. Boo.
I flipped through the pages, bored. Electricity isn't interesting; it just doesn't hold my attention. Nagihiko wasn't doing much better, surprisingly. He kept looking out the window (even though all that was out there was gray, gray, and more gray), and occasionally, he would look at me, and then the charas.
I heard a loud growl and whirled around to see Kusukusu rubbing her tummy. "Rima, do we have food?" I sighed as I rummaged through my bag. I was feeling hungry too.
"No."
It was quiet as I just stared at my book. Boredom. Sucks.
"Nagihiko. I'm bored."
"Rima-chan, weren't you the one who suggested that we work on our project?" he said vaguely as he twirled his pencil in his hand.
"… Maybe."
He briefly laughed, but his attention was turned as he watched Temari pounce and attack Rhythm. Rhythm sneezed, only making her angrier. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and Kusukusu tried to restrain her. Nagihiko laughed harder, only stopping after he abruptly sneezed. I smiled a tiny bit. He looked surprised, but then he grinned.
"I told you that you look nice when you smile."
"Oh shut it."
I walked over to the window and watched the wind blow harshly against the trees, making them rock dangerously. Thunder rang out, and tiny cracks of lightning flashed every now and then. I clenched the edge of my skirt again. There's a good chance that there'll be a power outage later.
I felt somebody rest their hand on top of my head. Nagihiko, obviously, since he was the only other thing that was alive and bigger than me in this room. "Would you kindly remove your hand off of my head?"
I felt his gaze as I continued glowering out the window, watching the rain dance outside. A huge bolt of lightning struck, and I felt my nails digging into my skin. Then I felt somebody tug on my sleeve. He took my hand again, enclosing my tiny one with his. It was a simple gesture, and my eyes hardened as I turned to him.
"Why do you do this?" I asked abruptly. "I mean, we don't really… like each other." When did it get that hard to say that?
He looked startled by the words. "I… like you, Rima-chan." I felt my heart thump, but I disregarded it. It was probably from another flash of lightning from outside. "I don't know how you feel about me, but…" he trailed off.
"I do this because we're, or I think we are, friends. Like I said when we were babysitting you… I have your back. I promise that I'll help you when you need it." I said nothing as his grip on my hand tightened. As if to lighten the mood, he said playfully, "Although, it's kind of sad that the help you need is to prevent you from going into summer school."
I gave him a dirty look as we walked back to our seats. I squeezed his hand (maybe harder than necessary), and he winced. I smiled a tiny bit. "Thanks, cross-dresser."
"Rima-chan, did you really need to add 'cross-dresser' onto the end of your thank you?"
"Yup, because if I didn't, it'd be too formal and weird," I said scornfully. We walked back to the desks. I saw Kusukusu and Temari on another one, crouched over something. I'm willing to bet it is Rhythm's dead body.
"… Hey, where'd my phone go?" I muttered. I'm pretty sure it was in my bag…
"Oh, Rima, it's right here." Kusukusu floated over with the familiar orange device in her hands. I gave her a suspicious look.
"Why'd you have it?" She gave me an innocent smile.
"No reason." Temari and Rhythm are rubbing off on her. She's getting better at lying… Quite frankly, I'm not sure whether or not I'm supposed to be proud or not. Nagihiko looked confused as well, but our attention was reverted when his phone vibrated.
"Hello? Oh, Baaya-san. Yes, we're out of the rain, but we're still at school… Are you picking us up? Alright, thank you. Bye," he said calmly and politely into the phone. Am I finally leaving school, since lately, I have been spending too much time here.
"They just got back from the drive, so Baaya-san is coming to… pick us… up," he sneezed the last part. He rubbed his temples. "I guess we should go wait up front."
I agreed and we both tried to not notice the psychotic giggles that Temari, Kusukusu, and a now alive Rhythm were exchanging. We stood there by the doors of the school, waiting patiently (or me, impatiently) as we tried to see a huge car pull up to the front.
"What isn't massive in your family?" I asked him, being completely honest. He gave me a dry look we ran (this time, both of us had our bags) to the car.
"I would've come outside with the umbrella," Baaya-san protested as we got in. "And Master Nagihiko, you're all wet, you'll get sick! And…" she stopped as she stared at something.
"Hm, what are you…" We both followed her direction on the way to our hands. "Oh, well, this is because…" Nagihiko was panicking and I froze. I snatched my hand away, pursing my lips. Baaya-san gave us a mysterious look as she returned to the front seat, and we exchanged a look, except Nagihiko's looked more informed than mine. He sucks.
"Hmph." I turned to the window, but I felt him watching me. I turned towards him again, annoyed. He was just about to touch my shoulder (or, the one Kusukusu wasn't sleeping on), and I glared daggers at it as it finally dropped back to his side. He laughed nervously.
"Baaya-san doesn't know where you live…"
"Don't you know where I live?" I asked aloud. He cringed.
"Eh, Master Nagihiko, you even know where she lives?" she exclaimed, shocked.
"Thanks, Rima-chan," he said with a groan as he watched the elderly lady swerve the car at the news. Oh. I guess that would make things more… I mean, if he knew where I lived and everything…
Oops.
I gave her the directions to my house uneasily, since I wasn't all that good at them myself. Luckily or unluckily for me, Nagihiko was pretty much a genius at everything and knew the exact way.
What can't he do?
"Looks like the rain's finally letting up," Nagihiko said breezily. I looked out. It was only drizzling now, and all signs of lightning were gone. I was relieved, since that meant no power outage, which meant hot food (something of which we were deprived of at school).
Then I felt that familiar (isn't it bad if it's familiar now?) weight on my tiny hand, and I turned towards Nagihiko. Who had those headphones around his neck, which means…
He grinned, differently from his usual 'kind and elegant smile' and it was now 'playboy-ish', something that would make girls swoon. "Does this remind you of something, Rima-chan?"
"No, Nagihiko, it doesn't. I mean, because we didn't just spend most of our time holding hands," I barked at him. A smile curled onto his face, and he winked.
I grabbed Rhythm by his shirt and flicked his forehead. He flew away, rubbing it and whining to Kusukusu, who wasn't holding much sympathy. Nagihiko, who was now unchara-changed, and he frowned confused. "Rhythm, am I right?"
I nodded. He turned towards his boy chara. "Y'know, Rhythm, you've chara-changed with me a lot. Why?"
Rhythm knocked on his skull. "It's to get something through to your thick skull," he said bluntly. "Without telling you straight out."
I want to know if Nagihiko, Mr. Perfect, doesn't. "And what might this be?"
Rhythm's grin returned. "Oh, but it might inv—" Temari appeared threateningly with her naginata, and he whimpered. "Nevermind."
Kusukusu giggled. I bet she knew, but the chances of her telling me are most likely slim.
"Rima-chan, that's it, right?" he said, as he coughed for a bit. I nodded, and she pulled to a stop there.
"Will you be alright? Are your parents home?" I shrugged; I didn't know.
"Probably. Thanks for the ride," I said gratefully, bowing my head. She laughed behind the sleeve of her kimono, giving me a secretive wink. And here I though elderly woman can't pull off winks.
I got out of the car, but I stopped for a second. I felt like I owed a tiny, tiny bit… Something to him. Crap.
I knocked on his window, and it slid down slowly. "Is something the matter?"
I took a deep breath. "Thanks… Nagihiko," I whispered to him. "And… maybe I do like you," I admitted reluctantly. "But only like that," I added with a growl.
I ran off to my house with Kusukusu beside me. Nagihiko was still by the door, giving me a –holy crap she said something nice- look. A small smirk spread onto my face.
"Bye, Girly-Boy," I called out, giving him a short wave. He pouted for a second, but gave me a bright grin in return, sliding the window shut as it retreated back into its original position. I inserted the key and opened the door, and right then and there, I realized something important.
… I'm pretty sure I just left my school bag inside of his stupid car. Shoot.
Please note- writing fluff is an ability Bluey-san lacks. Please do not sue for any dead brain cells.
Sorry for the kinda late update. I had school and stuff... And I had to rewrite about ten pages of this chapter because I did something... stupid. Hooray for my stupidity. :P So yeah, I'm sorry. :'D
Ahaha, this may be random, but when I was writing the previous chapter, we were learning volleyball in gym. And I now understand Rima's feelings- because I can't play volleyball either. I dodge it more than I... hit it. Which is the point, I guess. Oh, but on the bright side, I can serve... most of the time. :D
Okay, besides that unimportant CRAP that you really shouldn't care about... This is my tenth chapter of Sparks Will Fly. I think that's weird... It's gone by so fast... :( Oh well, at least I made it here... AND ANOTHER THING.
HOLY CRAP, just a little while ago, I realized... I have a hundred reviews on here. And I practically spazzed out. And yes, it is extremely scary to watch me have a spasm. But seriously, thank you for all of the really nice reviews (all of which I don't deserve -_-), favorites, reading, everything! I really couldn't have gotten this far without you guys... So really.
Thanks. You guys are amazing. :3
Reviewers: (Anonymous/non-PM-able)
Yannami: Kirishima... I dunno~ :) Ahaha, thanks. Yeah, Rima better step up her game... Thanks for reviewing! ;D
Kay, gotta go! See ya laters peeps. :)
-Bluey-san