Chapter 10

Shizune's Noodles

Having no sense of direction on where she is going, Raily walked aimlessly down the road that led to nowhere in particular that she is familiar of. Damn, I'm hungry. Raily considered getting food from a nearby kiosk and dug in her skirt pockets. Shit. I had put the allowance money in my violin case! Now getting hungrier by the second, Raily tried to think about what other options she had left.

First, she could call her mom and ask someone to pick her up there, wherever "there" was.

Second, she could go back to school… and get her money.

The first seemed reasonable enough. The only problem was, she has neither cell phone nor coins to use in the phone booth.

Stopping for a while, she then noticed a shadow behind her. Turning around and finding no one behind her, she looked around and found a patch of light brown hair above the cart to her right that had apples for sale.

Raily sweatdropped. "You know, Amou-san, that's not a very good hiding place."

Slowly getting up, Amou smiled impishly. "Sorry, I wanted to know where you were going so I thought I'd hide a little."

Raily sighed. "You followed me out of school?"

"Of course, you do owe me that much." Amou walked towards her.

"What are you talking about?" Raily crossed her arms over her chest.

"The big scoop! This is it, right? You getting in the concours?" Amou wiggled her eyebrows.

Raily blinked at her. "You must be joking."

"Nope." Amou held up her camera. "Come on, it's got to be the biggest news ever."

"Why? Because of the rumors going around?" Raily glared at her. "Well, too bad for you I'm already quitting." She turned and walked away from Amou.

"What? Why?!" Amou walked faster to catch up with Raily. "And what rumors are you talking about?"

"Oh please, like you don't already know." Raily rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't." Amou tried to walk alongside her. "Can you just stop and tell me what exactly made you quit?"

Raily looked at her sharply. "If you don't already know, you can ask anyone from the music department when you get back to school. They know."

"Urg, come on. Hanami Raily, don't make this so hard." Amou begged. "Let's just sit down and talk about it. What about some noodles? Yeah? I'll treat you."

Upon hearing the word "noodles", Raily abruptly stopped walking. Damn body betrays me at a time like this. Just can't function well without food.

"Leave me alone," Raily said, thought not very convincing.

Sensing some advantage, Amou smiled at Raily. "Are you sure you don't want some hot, steamy, beef, chicken noodles?"

"Alright, alright. I give in." Raily glared at her.

Laughing, Amou led her towards the plaza and they stopped at a shop with a signed above that said: "Shizune's Kitchen, home of Ramen."

Compared to the other chain of restaurants in the plaza that looked modern and vibrant, Shizune's Kitchen looked more plain and traditional.

Raily smiled, instantly thinking of the small teahouse that Dana's parents owned. Amou slid open the thin wooden sliding door and went in while Raily stood peering inside.

The place was almost empty except for two men talking. The first one had dark violet hair and was standing inside the counter table, while the other one sitting across him with her back to Raily had dark brown hair. Both of them looked vaguely familiar to her but with the dim light inside, she couldn't see well.

"Welcome to Shizune's Kitchen!" The violet-haired man raised his head to greet the newcomer and both of his eyebrows shot up. "Ara, didn't I just see you about an hour or so ago in my office?"

Raily had to hold on to the sides of the door to keep her from falling in surprise. "K-K-kanazawa-sensei… !!!"

The other man also turned around and Raily gasped when she saw who he was.

"Sano-sensei?!"

"Hanami Raily," Sano grunted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"W..what.." Raily could barely speak. It's just too weird to be running away from school one second and then suddenly bump into two teachers just a few minutes after. It was if she just couldn't escape from Seiso.

"What? Those two are Seiso teachers?!" Amou asked, her mouth agape.

"Eh…Why don't you two come inside?" Kanazawa asked.

When Raily hesitated, Kanazawa just sighed and pointed to the seat beside Sano in the counter table. "Come in and sit down, I can hear your stomach grumbling from here."

She knew that he was kidding but since she was indeed feeling hungry, Raily stepped inside and both of them hesitantly sat down beside the teacher who had scolded Raily endlessly just this morning.

"I'll get you both today's Special." Kanazawa disappeared somewhere in the back.

Sano took his chopsticks and started eating his food as Raily sat there, drumming her fingers in the wooden countertop.

"Look… I'll just eat whatever Kanazawa-sensei's getting me, and then I'm out." Raily said, finally breaking the silence.

Sano just kept on eating. "You do know that as a student, you are not allowed to be outside of school until-"

"Until dismissal time unless I have a valid excuse, I know," Raily then realized that she was snapping at a teacher, a scary teacher to add. "Uh- sorry, didn't mean to cut you off like that. I just… urg, nevermind."

Sano put down his chopsticks and then looked at her pointedly. "Well, do you have one?"

Raily looked confused. "Have what?"

"An excuse, genius." Sano retorted.

"I... uh…" Raily looked to Amou for answers but being clueless herself, Amou just shrugged.

"Here it is," Kanazawa returned with a big bowl of noodles steaming in his hands. He served each of them with spoons and chopsticks.

"Thanks," Raily and Amou said quietly. They gingerly took a spoon and tried the soup.

"Hey! This stuff's actually good." Raily exclaimed.

"Actually, huh?"

Raily paused. "I wasn't implying anything by that."

"Yeah, sensei, it tastes awesome." Amou added, trying to help.

"Relax. I was only kidding." Kanazawa winked. "The ramen here is the best in Japan."

Nodding, Raily reached for her chopsticks. But before she started eating, she needed to know one thing. "By the way, Sensei's first name is not… Shi..zune, is it?"

Kanazawa looked blank at first but then he burst out laughing.

"Could it be that Raily-chan…" Amou also started giggling.

"You're more stupid than I thought." Sano murmured.

Raily felt her cheeks redden. "WHAT? I just thought that since this place is called Shizune's Kitchen…."

"Shizune's my sister," Kanazawa finally replied. "She'll just be gone for an hour or so. I'm just filling in for her until she gets back."

"Oh… so you don't actually work here?" Raily said in between mouthfuls of noodles.

"No," Kanazawa smiled. "Sano and I just came here today with the intention of eating lunch."

"Oh, okay." Raily glared at Amou who was still smiling like an idiot.

"And you two? What are Seiso students doing outside of school?"

Raily gulped down her noodles and smiled wobbly. "Uh, with the intention of eating lunch?"

"Why don't you just save us the trouble and tell us what's got you running here?" Sano rumbled.

"Yes, Raily-chan, go on," Amou urged her. "Let's hear everything from the start."

Raily looked down on her bowl. "I don't think I want to go back to Seiso anymore."

Very much interested with what she was hearing, Amou quickly reached for a pen and a notepad from her pocket. She then started writing whatever Raily said.

"Are you serious?" Kanazawa shifted his gaze to her then to Sano, and then finally to her again. "You just got into the concours!"

"That's kinda the main reason." Raily murmured.

"What, the pressure of the concours already getting to you?" Sano said sarcastically.

"The whole music department- no, the whole school- hates me now, okay?" Raily snapped at him. "They hate me because I got into the concours when I don't know how to read notes! They hate me because they think I'm using Yunoki Azuma to get into the concours! So you tell me! What can I do now?!"

"Raily-chan…" Amou bit her lip. So that was the reason why Raily didn't want anyone to know that Yunoki was going to be her brother. She had no idea…

The two teachers were silent for a long time until they felt Raily start to calm down.

"Hanami," Kanazawa started. "You know more than anyone that you can't just run away."

"I'm not running away." Raily said defensively.

"Then what do you call that, idiot?" Sano gaffed.

Raily set her lips in a thin line. "It's not that I'm scared of them or anything. I just don't want to go there anymore."

"Why? Do you agree with what those people are saying about you?" Sano snarled.

"No, it's not even like that!" Raily breathed. "I know I came from a small town, I know I'm too poor to even afford to have someone teach me notes, but when I play the violin, it's really me. There's no Azuma, there's no principal, there's just me." Raily sighed. "Does that even make sense?"

"Hanami, if it didn't, you wouldn't be in my class today." Sano rolled his eyes.

"…Huh?" Raily then realized what he meant and uncontrollably grinned. "Whoah whoah. Wait a minute. You think I'm good, don't you, Sano-sensei?"

Sano scoffed."You think too highly of yourself, girl."

Raily slumped. "Yeah, you're right. I was just hoping. I mean, why else do you keep torturing me every single day?"

Upon hearing that, Kanazawa chuckled.

"What's funny?" Raily asked, confused.

"Sano only chooses to terrorize those he deem to have talent." Kanazawa smiled. "For some reason, those students always end up in the concours, even in international contests."

"….then that means that…"

Sano rolled his eyes. "Don't let it get to your head. I terrorize everyone."

"Well, yeah, but now that I think about it…. I heard that you used to terrorize Tsukimori a lot in the past too…."

"Ahh…" Amou had a lot of notes in now.

"Alright," Sano pushed himself off his seat. "I'm leaving,"

"Hey! Wait!" Kanazawa called to him as he went to the door. "You owe my sister some money for those noodles, man!"

Sano muttered something about paying next time.

Sighing, Kanazawa took Sano's finished bowl and brought it to the kitchen.

"Heard enough?" Raily asked Amou, eyeing the notepad in her hand.

"Yep," Amou shut it close and looked at her in a warm way. "Listen, Raily-chan… just like what your teachers said, I think that you shouldn't give up too."

"Huh. You hardly know me, Nami Amou."

"That may be true… but, the thing is, you like playing the violin, right?" Amou asked.

"What are you getting at, man?" Raily raised a brow.

"I'm saying that you should just go for it!" Amou said. "Your reputation might not be so good in school right now, but like you said, they don't know anything right?"

Raily averted her eyes.

"That's why you've got to show them!" Amou said her fist in the air. "Show them what you're made of in the concours!"

"I agree with this girl over here," Kanazawa said upon returning. "Don't waste this opportunity, Hanami."

Raily sighed. "It's easier said than done, you know, Sensei."

Kanazawa scratched his chin. "How about you just go to the training camp this weekend, hmm? See if that could make your resolve stronger."

"Training camp? This weekend?" Amou said, all ears open. "And where might that be?"

"Only concour participants are allowed." Kanazawa said.

Amou sagged. "Fine… hey, hey, Raily-chan, you have to get some good info's about the concour participants for me, okay?"

Raily gave another sigh.

"Just think about it, Hanami." Kanazawa checked his watch. "And… we should be getting back now. Lunch break's over, students."

Raily groaned. "Can't I skip my classes today?"

Kanazawa was hesitant at first but he gave in. "What about you?" He asked Amou.

"Urg, I can't skip English period again." Amou winced. "Guess I have to go back to Seiso."

"Alright, let's get going then."

Kanazawa fixed up the restaurant and the three of them walked out.

"Oh yeah, the payment for the noodles!" Amou reached for her wallet.

Kanazawa stopped her. "There's no need for that."

"You're letting us eat for free?" Raily asked.

Kanazawa sighed. "It feels awkward to take money from students."

Raily and Amou exchanged looks before laughing aloud.

"Alright, alright, jeez. Let's just get going," Kanazawa muttered.

"Hey, Raily." Amou looked at her. "Where are you going now?"

"Uh, home," Raily lied. Wherever home is…

They soon reached the intersection where one leads to the beach and the other to the school.

"Well, I'm off here," Raily waved at them.

"Your house is near the beach?" Amou asked suspiciously.

"Tssyeah, why'd you think Azuma has such a calm disposition all the time?" Raily joked. "It's cause of all that fresh air,"

Kanazawa sighed. "Don't wander off, Hanami."

"Yeah, yeah." Raily then remembered her things. "Oh, can you tell Azuma to bring my violin case and bag home?"

"Me?" Kanazawa asked.

"Uhm.... yes? Pleaseee? I mean, Amou's from the General Ed, so it's gonna be harder for her, right?" Raily reasoned.

Kanazawa sighed again. "Alright, alright."

Amou leaned in towards Raily and whispered. "Not everyone in the music department hates you, by the way."

"What do you mean?" Raily asked her, confused.

"How'd you think I found out you were leaving school?" Amou raised her brows.

"How did you know?" Raily narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"'Just make sure that woman is safe and doesn't do anything rash on her own,' was what he said, anyway." Amou smiled at her mischievously while she waved and then followed Kanazawa in walking.

"You are such a sneaky monkey!" Raily called. She then turned and walked towards the beach, knowing it's one place she could stay for a while.

"Who could that be?" Raily found herself asking. She was somehow touched by what that person did. It must be Azuma… but would he have allowed me to leave school just like that?

Raily sighed and tried to think of something else. She then saw the boardwalk a few miles from where she was at. "The beach…" She headed towards it and walked down the steps of the boardwalk.

The sun was bright above the sky overhead, and she closed her eyes, embracing it all in. It was her first time to be in a beach, breathing in the salty air and feeling the warmth of the sun. Opening her eyes to take off her shoes and socks, she flung them in the stairs and walked barefoot on the hot sand, heading towards the water.

When she reached the part where her ankles are being washed gently by the water, Raily looked at the sun again and started singing softly to herself.

Tears burned in her eyes as she suddenly wished that her best friend was here. Just one smile from Donna, a hug…. anything just to make Raily feel that she's not really alone.

End of Chapter 10

Tada!

Lol, I have reached Chapter 10 :D How was it? Did you guys like it? Please review! I'm still thinking about what's going to happen next...

buttt I promise I'll update soon, just share your comments okay? :)

-Katelyn