And my hiatus is at an end! You missed me? Thought not ;P So, yes, anyway, on with the fanfiction business at hand. Thank you all for your reviews ZXCVBNMEN, G66XD66 (I hope you had a nice time on your holiday!) and TheLadyLala (I have an awkward feeling that the next few chapters will make you cry...again...sorry in advance xP )
-Ahem- Daisuke Sakaguchi is NOT the Chief of the School News Club's real name. Actually, it's the name of the voice actor from the Japanese version, but I searched everywhere and he is only ever referred to as 'Chief'- and having that as his name throughout the rest of the fiction would irritate me senseless. So, for these purposes, he is Daisuke.
Chapter twelve: That sense of foreboding...
"Occult Club will be delayed by approx. 10 mins. Apologises. – Fuyuki Hinata."
Momoka read over the note sticky taped to the clubroom door and sighed. "Does that mean it's going to be ten minutes shorter too?" She wondered "...I guess I'll wait inside for him."
She opened the door, closed it behind her, and put her bag down at her usual seat. She drummed her fingers idly on the desk, checking the time on her phone every couple of minutes.
15:35...15:38...15:39...
She almost threw the phone down on the desk. "I wonder why he's late..." She wondered, nibbling her thumb nail, "...he's hardly ever late. Maybe I should call him? But if he's too busy to be on time to Occult Club, he might be too busy to answer his phone...I suppose I'll just have to wait a little longer."
15:42
Suddenly a mischievous, cutely sneaky (or sneakily cute) idea rippled through Momoka's mind.
She left her bag in plain sight, but hid herself by the door, so anyone (namely a certain Fuyuki Hinata) wouldn't see her when they came in. So she waited, like a wild beast crouching in the shadows and lying in wait for an innocent little bunny to pounce upon.
The minutes passed quickly, while Momoka hid and tried her absolute hardest to stifle her impish giggles. Then, finally, the door slid open and she flung herself, wrapping her arms around the unsuspecting boy who just walked into the clubroom.
"Guess who?" She laughed gleefully, nuzzling her face into his back.
He laughed and it was a very different laugh. And then Momoka realized that he person she had hug-attacked was taller than Fuyuki...and not as slender...and his short ponytail tickled the tip of her nose...and then it actually sunk in that the person she hug-attacked wasn't Fuyuki.
"Wh- Who-What are you doing here?" She shrieked, jumping away from him. It was none other than the unreasonably annoying Chief of the School News Club "For craps sake, not again!" she thought.
"Investigative journalism." He answered simply "I'd like to join your little Occult Club to see what really happens...how it's run...You know, show our readers what they're missing."
"I...I see." She replied, not totally convinced, especially after what had happened earlier today "Well, you will have to wait for Fuyuki-kun to come back. He is the President of the club, so it's his decision."
"Oh? Where's he gone?" The Chief asked, arching his eyebrow curiously "What business could he possibly have that would make him leave you all by your lonesome?"
"...I don't know. He hasn't told me." She replied quickly.
The Chief scoffed, and a small smile graced his smug face "Some boyfriend."
And that really annoyed Momoka. "Actually," she began, walking up to him, "Fuyuki-kun is a great boyfriend!"
"Oh, I'm sure he's the best money can buy." He smiled back. She stared at him, at a total loss for words. She just stood there, staring and seething.
"Who the hell are you to say these kinds of things?" Momoka said very slowly "You barely know us so why would you even care about our relationship, huh? I don't even know what your damn name is!"
"I..." For once, the editor of the News Club looked like he didn't know what to say next. His eyes were downcast and he had crossed his arms, as if doing so created a barrier that could stop Momoka from punching him (and oh, how she wanted to punch him). "It's Daisuke Sakaguchi...My name is...Daisuke Sakaguchi."
There was a very quiet moment. Momoka didn't know what to say next, and Daisuke wasn't saying anything.
"I just...!" He suddenly said loudly, as if attacking the silence in the room itself "I just don't see why you like that guy." Daisuke still refused to meet her stare "He's nothing special...He rarely looked at you until you joined this stupid Occult Club, and even now, can you be completely certain that he's not just with you for your money?"
"Of course he's not!"
Then Daisuke looked at her. He stared long and hard at her.
"He...He's not, he's with me because he cares about me..."
"You don't sound completely certain." He shuffled awkwardly for a moment and finally muttered "He's just...He's not good enough for you."
The meaning of what he said slowly dawned on Momoka. He wasn't really hinting that...? It must've just been her imagination...
"Then, who, Sakaguchi-kun," she forced herself to say, "is what you call 'good enough for me'?"
Daisuke bit his bottom lip and Momoka could've sworn that his cheeks were that telltale crimson colour. His eyes once again could not meet hers and he opened his mouth and-
"Sorry I'm late!" Fuyuki raced in and dropped some stuff by the door, all handsome smiles despite panting heavily as if he'd been running all over the school. Then he saw Daisuke. And then, telling by his expression, he fully comprehended that Momoka and Daisuke were in the room by themselves.
"What are you doing in here?" He demanded. His voice and his face were both contorted with anger and suspicion and...and...so many dark things that Momoka could not read in to.
Daisuke suddenly stopped looking awkward and blushing, as if seeing Fuyuki was like flicking a switch, and turned all smug smirks and arrogance. "I had just come here to see about joining Occult Club, but Nishizawa-san told me that it's only up to the club President."
"Sorry," He replied through gritted teeth, "we're not admitting any new members." His fists were curled and his chest was rising and falling so quickly that he looked incredibly...aggressive. Imagine. Fuyuki Hinata, 'aggressive'.
"I see..." Daisuke slowly, with pretentious deliberation, looked around the empty clubroom "...What, no vacancies?"
"Something like that."
Somehow, to Momoka, the room didn't feel so empty. It was filled to the brim with swirling hate and rage and arrogance and...jealousy? So many things that had never been in their Occult Club room before and never should have.
She had to cough a little to clear her throat before she could say "I think you should be leaving now, Sakaguchi-kun."
Daisuke glanced at her, locked gazes challengingly with Fuyuki once more, before sauntering out. Fuyuki watched him leave, and Momoka watched her boyfriend silently seethe and finally calm; his breathing steady once again and his face soften.
"Did he say anything to upset you?" He asked, turning all of his attention to her.
"Just...more of the same." Momoka replied.
"Are you sure?"
"It doesn't matter Fuyuki-kun." She shook her head dismissively.
"Of course it matters," Anger suddenly surged through his voice again, "it matters when some jerk says mean things to my girlfriend!"
Fuyuki was angry, this situation was very serious, but Momoka couldn't stop the flourishing happiness shine through her, plastering a huge grin on her face.
"What?" He half-laughed.
"That's the first time you've ever referred to me as your girlfriend!" She giggled back, almost hopping up and down. He chuckled and threw out his arms, gathering her up in big, affectionate hug.
"How else would I refer to you as, my lovely lovely girlfriend?" He whispered in her ear, making her knees tremble and her heart melt. She barely had enough senses still intact to notice the small mound of bags dumped at the door, as she peered over his shoulder.
"What are those?" She asked. Fuyuki pulled out of the hug and picked through one of the bags.
"The reason I was late..." He unceremoniously threw a thin wodge of papers onto the desk. It was a copy of the school newspaper. "I went all over the school collecting them up...I think I got them all."
Momoka, with some trepidation, picked up the paper and began to scan its contents as he explained "He said that he'd publicise our...um, kiss-" Momoka looked up to catch a quick glimpse of him blushing deeply "-in the gossip section, which is almost all of what they call their newspaper, but anyway, so I had to get them all before anyone read it. It...It'd be kinda embarrassing for the whole school to know that we..."
She nodded in agreement, but didn't tell him that the whole school probably already knew that they kissed right in the middle of the classroom because...well, they were in the middle of the classroom. And talk can travel very quickly. She finished reading the paper, before saying "Um, Fuyuki-kun? There's nothing about us in here."
"Huh?" Total bewilderment struck his cute face "But, he said he'd-"
"I know, but it doesn't mention us at all..."
"So I just ran all over the school, grabbing these rags for nothing...!" Fuyuki sighed deeply, rubbing his eyelids "Still...better safe than sorry, I s'pose..." He checked his watch "Annnd now there's barely any time for Occult Club. Brilliant."
"Oh, Fuyuki-kun," Momoka laid her hands tentatively on his arm, "I've never seen you so worked up like this...Please don't let this get to you so much."
"Sorry..." He sighed again "But I can't help it. I didn't much like that guy before, but he, and his club, have no right poking their noses into our relationship. And he certainly has no right saying mean things to you!"
"Fuyuki-kun..." She pulled his arm into an embrace, lent her head on his shoulder, and deployed her best puppy dog eyes technique. After a few seconds at gazing at those almost shimmering eyes, it appeared that he gave in. Fuyuki sighed again, but happier this time, and a big goofy grin appeared on his face.
"Hey, how about going to the movies as an Occult Club trip?" He suggested.
"Sure!" She replied cheerfully.
Suddenly, he patted his pockets, checking for something, and then his face fell. "I forgot my wallet" He groaned.
The next words were kind of difficult to say for Momoka. Which was very, very odd. She was sure that she had said it plenty of times before, with nothing strange about it whatsoever. It was most likely down to that infuriating Daisuke, twisting and manipulating words and feelings so damn easily, all the while hiding behind that elaborate display of aloofness, yes, it was his damn fault that Momoka had such unreasonable difficulty in being able to say "...I-I'll pay for the tickets, if you want."
"No, it's okay," Fuyuki smiled back, "we'll just have to make a quick detour to my house first to pick up my wallet."
She squeezed her just wonderful boyfriend's arm even tighter and planted a kiss on his cheek. "What was that for?" He grinned.
"...Nothing."
"Saying 'nothing' means that it's definitely something." He laughed upon seeing Momoka's thoroughly shocked face "Living with my Mom and sister for the whole of my life has taught me an awful lot about girls. Like, 'nothing' means 'something' and to never even mention the word 'heavy'."
The next day, at school...
Fuyuki sat at his desk, happily reading a magazine while waiting for the day of lessons to start, when Natsumi suddenly appeared in front of him. "Is it true that you and Momoka-chan snogged right in the middle of the classroom?" She asked, in a curiously high-pitched tone.
"Um, yes..." He replied, mortified that his older sister had just used the word 'snogged' in context, but relieved that Momoka wasn't here yet, so she didn't have to share in the mortification "H-how did you find out?"
"I overheard someone talking about it and thought...well, you probably don't want to know what I thought."
"No, I probably don't...Who was talking about it?"
"I'm not sure...It might've been one of those guys from the News Club..."
It felt like something heavy and lead struck his gut. "Which one? Was it the one with the ponytail? Looks kind of arrogant?"
Natsumi bit her lower lip and frowned, searching her memorises "I think so, yeah."
He felt his fists curled by instinct, he could hear his blood and rage pounding through his eardrums, and felt his mind start to fog with dark presumptions. "When did you hear this?"
"...Are you alright, Fuyuki?"
"When and where, Nee-chan?" He could hear his voice being muffled and strained by his gritted teeth.
"I think you should calm down, Fuyuki!" Natsumi told him sternly "I know what you're like when you get this angry and I know that whatever is going on between you and this guy from the Newspaper club, it will only get worse if you do something rash."
But he wasn't listening. He wasn't even looking at his sister. Because, hanging by the door to the classroom, was the Chief of the Newspaper club. Upon noticing that he had been spotted, he swaggered up to Fuyuki, holding up a rolled up paper.
"Good morning, Fuyuki Hinata-kun," he briskly scanned the room, "no public kissing with Nishizawa-san this morning?"
Fuyuki tried, oh he tried so hard, to blot out every abhorrent word the cretin spoke, as his attention fell to the rolled up copy of the school newspaper in his hand. He could only just make out one word of the headlines, in big black letters; "NISHIZAWA"
He snatched it out of his hand and held it up to his face, brandishing it like a weapon "What is this?"
"What does it look like, lover boy?"
Natsumi began to intervene "Fuyuki, don't-"
But it fell on ears defended by unfathomable rage "Why, just tell me why, you think you have any right to do these things, to say these things, to print this trash?"
The Chief leaned close to his face and spoke quietly "Because you don't deserve her."
"...Excuse me?" Fuyuki hissed back.
"You heard. You never looked at her before she joined your stupid club and now that the two of you are...'together', you think you can just use her, kiss her right where everyone can see, so everyone can think that you're some big, cool man, the guy with the billionaire for a girlfriend. So you might not be with her for her money; but don't try to act like you're not just with her because of her because it's so blatantly obvious; it's sickening."
"I care so much about Momoka-chan, I am not going to let you spoil what we have."
"Please," He scoffed, "you're only with her so you look cool, maybe to get whatever money you can get out of her. She deserves better, don't you think?"
"I know I don't deserve her, but that's not why we're together!" Fuyuki thought vehemently "We're together because we care about each other! I don't care what everybody else thinks, I don't care about how much money she has, I just want her to be happy! I just want us to be together!"
"I'm only going to say this once; Leave us alone." He said slowly.
"Or what?"
Fuyuki hadn't realized he what he was doing until it had been done. He pushed him, with every mite of force and power that he could summon, planted his palms square on his chest and pushed the Chief of the News club with such ferocity that he stumbled a good metre backwards until his ankle caught a chair leg and he tripped and fell flat on his back.
"S-Sakaguchi-kun?"
Momoka appeared at the door and, completely unbelievably, raced towards the fallen boy and helped him up. Then she looked at Fuyuki and looked unbelievably astounded that it was Fuyuki she was looking at. "Fu-Fuyuki-kun? Wh-What happened?"
Like wading through oily sludge, Fuyuki realized that his little conversation and actions with the boy he had only just found out the name of had attracted the very much unwanted attention of everyone else in the room. He quickly stormed past the desks and chairs and people in the class to the surprisingly quiet corridor outside. Natsumi stayed behind to either yell at Sakaguchi or apologise for her brothers totally justified actions. As he suspected, and thanked, Momoka had followed him dutifully but her eyes were alight with too many questions.
"What...What..." She tried to begin "...just What?"
He thrusted the now crumpled paper to her. She carefully, somewhat apprehensively, took it and began to read it. Almost halfway down the page, she covered her mouth "Oh dear..." She mumbled "H-how many of these are there?"
"Don't know. He just that one on him...But I'll find the others Momoka-chan, I promise."
She just nodded to show that she had heard him and continued to stare at the article in her hands. Finally, she folded up the paper and tucked it into her pocket. "I'll make sure no else reads it, Momoka-chan. I- I'll ransack the News clubroom if I have to!" Fuyuki urged, holding her shoulders in a vain attempt to make her feel a little more secure.
"I don't want you to get into any trouble, Fuyuki-kun." She replied, eyes pleading more than the tone of her voice "I hate seeing you wound up like this."
He could only sigh. He sighed and let all his anxieties and anger and tension slowly sweep out of his as he exhaled. Then the bell signalling the start of lessons tolled and he sighed again. He turned to go back into the classroom, go bare all the staring and the gossiping and...
A warm, affectionate, caring embrace from behind disrupted his unpleasant train of thought. He felt Momoka rest her cheek against his back, in between his should blades, and whispered something he didn't quite hear before she pulled away, and they went back into the classroom hand in hand.
