Chapter 2 He's Back!

A/N: This chapter won't be about Alata and Eri only since I thought of something about Hyde and Moune as well.

About Alata being otomen—I'm sorry if it offended some. But I don't think it's offensive at all because it's associated with mastering all kinds of art. It doesn't equate to gender stereotyping that we know.

Explanation of terms

Kouhai – junior

otomen – male superior in both military and artistic capabilities

varnish – liquid prep. applied to leave lustrous coating

Alata X Eri

I

It was club week at Gosei Gakkuen.

It meant choosing a club for whatever recreational purpose a student had.

For Eri who had undying love for flowers, Alata couldn't believe that she had signed up for Karate instead. Since Alata was the captain of Karate Club, he had to train the new club members by himself. The new club members were persistent as to learn from the #1 in Japan's All-Karate-Meet—but no one was as persistent as Eri. In fact, Alata couldn't hide being amused by his bestfriend's honest and eager efforts.

When the new club members vanished from the doujo (stadium), Eri had finally given up.

"I can't do it anymore, Alata, I'm hungry". Eri's karate clothes were smeared with varnish when she slumped on the newly polished floor.

Alata looked sympathetically at her and said, "That's why I told you that you should have joined the flower arrangement club rather than this."

Eri didn't reply back. She wiped her sweat with the portion of her karate (that was smeared in varnish). Alata chuckled at the sight of the varnish on her face. He took a clean towel from the bench—crouched near his bestfriend—and wiped the varnish from her face with it.

Eri felt her face reddened. Alata chuckled at the sight of the color in her cheeks.

"Let's clean up, I'll cook for you." He said, smiling.

She got up quickly and said, "Arigatou!". Finally I can see a small part of him coming out now!

II

At the Home Economics Room…

A sweet smelling aroma filled the air. Alata was cooking strawberry pancakes for Eri. As to where he found the strawberries—Eri freshly picked them out by herself from Moune and Agri's mini farm near the school.

"Alata, why can't you show this kind of hobby to anyone?" she asked.

"Our society insists that males should only be endowed with military faculties. And Karate Club has no place for any art besides martial arts. It's as simple as that."

Eri popped a strawberry in her mouth and slumped at her seat. She gave a big sigh. When Alata asked what's wrong, she replied, "I miss the old you when we're playing with plushies and doing clothes for them."

Alata paused for a minute or so. He thought that playing with plushies and making clothes for them were bit of childish. But he admitted to himself that he's secretly assisting in a plush hospital (that repairs old and torn plushies). He also thought that there's a possibility of showing this side only to Eri. Eri's a good friend who accepted him for who he was, after all.

When he was about to say something, a group of Alata's fans swarmed over. Alata didn't have the chance to remove the apron that he was wearing. Fear budded inside him. But instead of hearing disappointment, all he heard were praises.

"Alata's sugoi! (great)" they all said. They tried to partake from the remaining pancakes from a plate near Eri's. Alata chuckled once more and scratched his head. Eri on the other hand puffed her cheeks and continued with her snack.

"You're really close with Eri" one fan said. Alata nodded in agreement.

"mochiron! (of course)," Eri said approvingly, "we used to chat for hours, take a bath together and sleep toge—"

Eri couldn't speak anymore because Alata shoved a big chunk of pancake in her mouth. What Eri narrated were things that they used to do when they were young. Eri almost choked on the spontaneous feed on her mouth. Alata had to help her drink water to digest it down.

III

Alata insisted that he walk Eri home. While they were randomly discussing about school stuff, Eri suddenly paused and crouched near the riverbank. She saw two toddlers (a boy and a girl) in a middle of making promises at each other. She grinned at the sight of the white rose that the boy gave to the girl.

"Shouldn't we disturb them?" Alata asked, gently tapping Eri's arm.

"What a nostalgic sight!" she gushed.

"Eh?"

"You did exactly like that, don't you remember? It's before I moved out from this town—except we we're eight instead of five." She giggled at the sight when the girl received the white rose and made a pinky swear.

Alata looked confounded. He tilted his head to the side. When Eri saw this, she knew that he was honestly unaware of it. She put her hands on her hips and began with her story:

"We were at the same riverbank and you gave a white rose to me which symbolized purity and innocent love—Then you made a promise to marry me when we I get back in this town."

Suddenly, waves of memories flooded back in Alata's mind. True enough, he did make the same promise to Eri six years ago. He blushed for remembering that he developed a crush on her back then.

"daijobou (don't worry), I won't demand that you fulfill that promise" It was Eri's final statement for that day. She smiled and led herself home to the opposite side of the riverbank.

IV

That six year old memory played inside Alata's mind for many days. What he didn't notice was he was increasingly being shy around Eri for some reason. All he heard from his chest was thump, thump, thump.

Eri on the other hand found letters from an anonymous admirer from her locker. The letters were signed by: a.k.a. Gosei Red. She never complained whenever Alata would invite her over for a bento lunch on the top of the school building. They seemed to like the will of the wind for that purpose.

Hyde X Moune

I

There's this famous social website for the students of Gosei Gakkuen called "The Freedom Wall". It was created by Hyde when he was the president of the student body. Moune would frequently use this website to know about the concerns of the students. She logged herself as "Earth Angel". She posted a question to know about what kinds of performances or stunt that the students would want for the summer festival.

Another student registered as "Water Boy" replied to her status and said, "Since it's summer, any stunt that involves water would be good."

Moune liked the idea. "Water boy" was giving her suggestions (such as, but not restricted to) swimming rally, seafood cooking contest and water volleyball. From discussing stunts, their conversation went on to projects for the students' convenience. Moune admitted to herself that it's her first time that someone established a good conversation with her. To her liking, "Water boy" was an advocate of the environment himself, but more on preservation/conservation of seas and sea animals.

From discussions about the environment, the conversation went on to their personal lives. Moune asked about "Water boy's" thoughts about the previous student body president. "Water boy" replied, "I think it was from a traumatic experience that he became very boring. But otherwise, his leadership was good. He was just—plain boring."

II

To inspire her more, Moune went near the school's Olympic-sized pool to brainstorm for games that involve water. She was flipping through the pages of her notebook when she didn't notice a wrapper beside the pool rail.

Splash!

Moune fell over the pool, but she knew how to swim.

On the other side of the pool, Hyde was picking up wrappers when he saw Moune swimming through waters.

"kaicho (president), just what do you think you are you doing?" he asked sharply.

Moune waved at him. But instantly, her legs got cramps. She tried to swim but her legs were immobile. Hyde thought she was joking, but she was honestly struggling in her position. She flailed her arms wide in alarm. She sank into the waters.

Hyde frowned and squinted his eyes to look at the pool more.

Then a memory from two years ago flashed in his mind: It was a moment at the sea when he and a friend were playing with a ball. The friend went to fetch the ball at the far end of the sea. He was laughing and Hyde just watched him going back to the shore. But he flailed his arms in panic and the sea gulped him down. Hyde thought his friend was joking. But when he can't see anymore of the friend's arm, he swam himself to get him. But he never got him back.

Hyde instantly went back to his senses and jumped to the pool. He sank deeper and found Moune almost sitting at the floor. He caught her hand and wrapped her in his arms as he tried to float above the waters.

At the pool side, Hyde didn't release Moune from his grip. Her head was resting on chest while an arm was above her shoulders. He was trying to wake her up.

"Kaicho! Pull yourself together. Kaicho!"

She stirred—her head lolled to the side of Hyde's neck. Hyde heard her breathing returning to normal. When she awoke half-full, Hyde helped her to the infirmary.

III

The school was near to close for that day. Moune woke up to find Hyde typing something to his "Datas" laptop.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Why are you still here?" she replied back.

He didn't answer. Moune looked at her lap and she still felt nauseous. She had a slight memory of sinking at the pool floor when a hand caught her up. She also had a feeling that above the waters, her head was resting on something warm. She knew it was Hyde.

IV

Hyde insisted that he walked Moune to her home. When they parted from each other, Moune immediately received an email from "Water Boy".

It said: "Have you ever felt so worried all your life? I just did."

Preview: The School Festival Chapter

Alata crept beside a locker with a letter in his pocket. When he thought that no one was looking, he peeked inside someone else's locker and placed his hand in his pocket—touching the letter.

"Aha!" Eri jumped behind his back and did a fake punch.

Alata froze.

"What are you doing to my locker?" She asked, smiling.