Shirasuki (Crossing the Worlds Part I) 11- School

Damn that alarm. I slam my hand on the alarm and get up. Damn loud thing. It starts beeping again and I hit it again.

"Urusei na!" I sigh and turn off the alarm. I get up and head for the bathroom, to shower off real quick. I pull my hair up in a clip and start the water. Music…music…there's music playing? Where? I get out of the shower and dry off, quickly changing into my uniform and letting my hair down. I go into the hall and look around. That's…Little by Little. In the living room. I go downstairs and look around. Are? The remote for the stereo is missing. Did it get stuck in the couch again? I walk over to the stereo and turn it off.

Oh. Gai's laying on it. "Gai, wake up." He's not waking up. My eye twitches. "Ora! Get up, konno Bakayaro!" I punch the bed and he jumps up.

"What?!"

"You were laying on the stereo remote." Gai picks up the remote and stares at it.

"This?" I nod and take it from him. Great. I head back upstairs and to my bathroom, to fix my hair. I finish tying the ribbon in my hair and head for the study.

"Let's see…do I want to finish 43, or catch up with Bleach? Wakaranai." I shrug and grab both. I go back to the living room and pick up my schoolbag. I set it on the counter along with the books and head for the fridge. "Eggs will be nice for breakfast, I think." I get out the pan and the eggs. "Butter, I forgot the butter." I get out the tub of butter and put a little in the pan. I turn on the stove and let the butter melt. While I do that, I put some bread in the toaster and crack the eggs into the pan. "One, two, three, four, five." I flip the eggs over and pull the toast out of the toaster, buttering it immediately. I drop the cooked eggs on a plate with the toast and put the rest of the eggs and butter away.

I grab a fork and start eating while I pack my bento. Onigiri and shrimp again. Oh. The iPod I got for Christmas. I forgot about it. I finish breakfast and packing my bento before running to my room and getting my iPod off the charger. I plug in the headphones and turn on one of the playlists. I stick the iPod in my pocket and head back downstairs. "Oh. Good morning guys." Everyone's awake.

I pack my schoolbag and glance at the clock. "Aw shit! Not again! See you guys later! I'll be back around four thirty! Don't break anything!" And please don't go out in public in those jumpsuits. I run to the door and hurry to get my shoes on. I bolt out the door and to the school, again, barely making it to my desk when the bell rings. I sit down and sigh. Perfect. Agh, I suppose I should ask Taisho-sensei if she knows how long it will take to work out that path. If it's gonna take a while, those guys need something to do during the day while I'm at school. I stare out the window as class starts and shortly fall asleep.

"Kiriku. It's lunch time. Are you planning to sleep through lunch?" I sit up and shake my head.

"No. Thanks." I get out my Bento and head for the roof, where I always eat. I sit down and eat. Oh, no seniors to bother me today? That's good. I finish eating and go back to the classroom. Again, I sleep through classes and wake up when the bell rings to dismiss us. I head for the locker room and get into my athletics uniform. Practice goes by quickly; I'm more focused today than yesterday. I'm about half a centimeter away from breaking the school record for High Jump. I rinse off and get back into my regular uniform before heading to Taisho-sensei's office. "Taisho-sensei?"

"Oh, Kiriku. Come in."

"Sensei, about how long…?"

"At the rate I'm going, it will take about a month. Please, apologize to them for me. And I'll make arrangements with the administration to get Tenten-san enrolled here until that time. And I'm sure that I can arrange it with the sister school, Hyori High, to get Neji and Lee enrolled as well."

"What about Gai?"

"They're short a Phys. Ed. Coach at Hyori. With his talent for teaching stuff like that, he should easily be taken. And since it's my recommendation, they'll definitely take him on." I nod.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Taisho-sensei."

"Not a problem. I'm actually about to head to the main office to work out Tenten-san's enrollment." I nod and leave the office. Great. I'll have to get their sizes for uniforms and such. I run home.

"I'm back guys!" It's quiet…too quiet. "Guys?" Odd. Oh! The dishes are done! And the kitchen is practically spotless…so is the dining room…I run into the living room and look around. The bed is put up, and even the altar for my family was straightened up. I smile and head upstairs, to put my bag up. Lights are on in the study. Did their curiosity get the best of them? I go into the study and look around. Neji's the only one reading in here. Let's see…Bleach. He's reading Bleach. And it looks like he's on volume 12. Oh. I just remembered that I had volume 43 of Naruto in my hand. I run my hand along the row of manga and slide it in its place.

I finished it earlier. "Do you know where everyone else is?"

"They should be around the house somewhere. Unless Gai and Lee got overly curious." I nod slowly and put the books that are on the desk away, in alphabetical order. "I noticed the date here. It's like you didn't even leave right?" I nod.

"Yea."

"I wonder how that happened." I shrug and step away from the shelf.

"Don't know."

"So, why are the black bound Naruto manga off limits?"

"Those are the Shippuuden volumes. The second part of the series. You guys don't need to know what hasn't happened yet."

"Huh. Did you find out from your teacher how long she thinks it'll take for us to be able to get back?"

"She said about a month." I really need to find Lee and Gai. Tenten would be fine in the streets, her clothes are normal. But those two…I sigh. "I have to find the two idiots. Oh. Taisho-sensei is gonna talk to the administrators at my school and another school about getting you guys enrolled there. So you'll have something to do during the day until we can go back to Konoha."

"You mean, you're coming with us?"

"Of course. I hate it here. This day is really the only time that I'm not attacked by seniors during lunch."

"Why just this day?"

"Because, I'm really bitchy usually on July 24th. That's all. They know what day to avoid me on."

"Oh right, because of that." I nod. "You've got quite a collection of manga." I smile.

"Yea. I've got about thirty series total. And only four of them aren't complete. Naruto, Bleach, Vampire Knight, and Fruits Basket. And that's only because the series haven't ended yet. I have it set up so I get the new volumes as soon as they come out. I guess I'll have to make sure to cancel that before we leave."

"Yea." I start for the door and glance back when Neji gets up, he grabs my hand before I leave the room.

"What?" Huh? He hugs me tightly. "Neji…?"

"Don't leave just yet." I nod slightly. I wouldn't be able to move anyways. Warm…I know the air conditioner is on. Why am I getting so warm suddenly? Huh? Water? No, tears. I look up at Neji. He's crying.

"Neji…what's wrong?"

"I was so worried about you yesterday. I thought that you had left because you were upset about the other night. I thought…"

"Yesterday…I didn't want to be here. I tried and tried to convince myself that it had all just been a dream, but I knew…I knew that it all really happened. And that…it upset me. Usually, I sleep through classes, but every time I would stare out the window or get close to falling asleep, I would think about you guys…no, you…and it made me upset. I didn't want to worry you. So, to keep myself from going crazy, I did something I never do and threw myself into my school work. And by the time school ended and I went to High Jump practice, I couldn't focus on that. I missed a jump that I usually easily clear. Then…I tried to get my mind off of things while I was getting ready to go home…but…I saw two of my classmates together, they're a couple…and…" great, now I'm crying too.

Are we both really just a couple of sensitive's? "I thought I'd never see you again." I somehow manage to turn around and hug him back. I really missed him the most yesterday. If he had been closer to me last night when they showed up, I would have hugged him and started crying again. I've been doing a lot of crying over him the past few days. Huh? He moves one hand from my waist and lifts my chin. He leans down and I meet him halfway, kissing. How does he do that? I'm sure he hasn't been able to brush his teeth today. How is it that his mouth still tastes like mint candy?