"K-Kazehaya-kun! O-Ohaya!"
He looked over his shoulder at me with an unusual energy-ridden expression. There was no wisdom, no life, no spirit. This was definitely very different from what he usually is like. It was a like a polar opposite copy of Kazehaya.
"Ohayo," was all he said before sitting down, not once glancing back at me.
"Kazehaya-kun? Is. Something the matter? Wha-what's wrong?"
He sighed and tried to shrug it off.
"K...Kazehaya-kun?...Is something bothering you? What's-"
"Enough."
I stuttered back at his response.
"Geez, have you always been this annoying Kuronuma?"
"W-What?"
"I don't feel like speaking to you right now," he stated,"Especially since you talk to me like you are all innocent. I hate people that do that."
Hate...
He hates me?
"I'm not fond of speaking to girls who would hit my girlfriend out of jealousy. Square in the face for the matter!"
Hit? His girlfriend? Me?
No... No... Kazehaya-kun, you got me all wrong.
"Kaze..ha..ya..."
I slowed my speech to a halt as I heard the chatter of the class around me.
"Sadako hit Kazehaya's girlfriend?"
"Square in the face! Ouch that's definitely going to leave a mark... Pity too, Kurumi-chan is very pretty."
"Jealousy? Sadako of all people? Kazehaya should consider himself lucky... She could have cast a curse upon Kurumi...or worse."
"Sadako is scary..."
A tear formed in my left eye and ran down my cheek like a steady warm stream, dripping off the tip of my chin and on to my desk.
"K-K-K..Kazehaya-kun... I...I'm sorry! Please, forgive me. I-I don't want you to be mad at me, it was an accident, I swear! It was an accident! I didn't mean to hit her!"
"Enough already. I don't know what has come over you since you returned to school. What kind of dream you may have had after you're accident, but you've definitely been much different from the girl I thought you were. From the one I met before that accident. You would even go to accuse my girlfriend of lying to me? Do you know how much she means to me? And now you want to tell me she's lying? Just how desperate are you?"
I couldn't take this anymore... His tone of voice and the rage in his eyes, all directed at me. If it were anyone else I would have been fine, but from him...
"NO!" I involuntarily screamed. I shot up from my seat and ran out the door from my classroom. This was all subconscious, I really didn't know where I was actually headed. My feet carried me to the flower bed, the flower bed I supposedly had my first real conversation with Kazehaya-kun.
I crippled to the floor crouched be the flowers facing the school field. I really don't know what good would come from this. It's not like I could run from my problems then comeback finding everything mended, or better, back as they were before. I don't know what to think anymore. I was right, inevitably Kazehaya-kun ended up making me more of a greedy, selfish person...I thought it would be smooth sailing, just him and I...but I was wrong. Nothing makes sense to me anymore. Nothing.
"Hey, Sawako. You should really get up. You will miss class."
That voice...
"You really can't run from your problems, you should rather go to those with you for help."
I looked up.
"Ayane-chan...?"
"First name basis already I see? Strange. But you read my mind, I would've told you I'd prefer to be on first name terms with my friends."
"Friends..?"
"Yes, friends Sawako. Chizu, you, me, and Kento. Remember?"
From the vague joining in of the two yesterday, I didn't think we were even close to being friends. But I definitely wanted them back as friends!
"Yes! I would love to be friends with you two again!"
"Well, 'again' is a little strange, but yes, let's become friends!"
She extended her arm to me. I took it and she helped up. But she didn't let go of my arm.
"First things first."
"Heh? W-what do you mean?"
"Let's just say I know a few things about Kazehaya that he may not know about himself..."
"Eh? Like what?"
"His deepest interests."
Quickly, she grabbed my bow tie and loosened it, then unfastening my top shirt button. Before I could even react to that, she had already unbuttoned the three buttons of my blazer.
"Eh?! Ayane-chan, what're you-"
"Don't resist! Just go with it."
She grabbed the waist band of my skirt and rapidly began rolling it, making the skirt shorter.
"Ayane-chan?!"
"Just go with it! You want Kazehaya to notice you?"
She finally stopped. My skirt was significantly shorter, now above my knees at the bottom of mid thigh length.
"A-Ayane-chan, I can't go in like this! This is...too indecent of me... It may make others cute...but me-"
"But nothing Sawako! You watch, just go back in that classroom, but this time don't say a word to him! And wipe those tears away."
She wiped away my tears with the sleeve of her sweater.
"Remember, when you get back in that classroom, you didn't break down like this. You weren't crying. You just loosened up because it became stuffy in that room. Okay?"
"Hai," I confirmed.
...
Just two minutes before class would begin, I slid open the door and headed to my seat at the front of the room.
Ayane-chan had tied my hair back into a single long pony tail, but left my two locks of hair to frame my face freely.
The quiet chatter among the class was once again directed at me.
"Look, Sadako is back."
"I wonder where she went and what she could have been up to."
"Maybe plotting against Kurumi-chan?"
"Wait, did Sadako always have her hair tied like that?"
"No, did Sadako always wear her skirt and bow tie like that?"
"Come to think of it, I actually don't know. I've just been a little frightened by her that I haven't actually taken a good look at her."
"Between you and I...she actually looks kinda cute like this..."
"You know, you're right, now that I look...she does look cute."
"K-Kuronuma?"
I didn't turn to look at him, although every muscle in my body wanted to. Through the openings between strands of hair lining the sides of my face I could see Kazehaya, looking up at me, cheeks ever so slightly red. Ayane-chan wanted me to give him the "cold shoulder." I didn't exactly know how to do that well, so I tried my hardest not to care about the person I cared about the most. It was hard.
"Oh. Kazehaya-kun," I responded in a lifeless and cold voice tone, uncaring.
"Where were you? Y-you almost were late."
"The bell will ring in three minutes, I still have reasonable time. It was stuffy in this class and I went to get some fresh air briefly."
"And your sudden outburst?"
"I realized I had left something important at my shoe locker. Now, please don't disturb me for the remainder of the period."
"I-"
I turned to my desk and continued to my seat, sitting down without another word.
I do t know what you're planning Ayane-chan, it's working so far, but I'm not sure I'd be able to hold my true feeling and personality in behind this role for long.