Chapter 10: Second Term

Morning, September 4th, 200X:

"... and so students, as we enter our second semester please remember that you are the representatives of our great institution and to always act wi–," Principal Nakane moralized from the lectern. Her speech was accompanied by the electric drone of fans situated around the gym that were doing little to circulate air inward to where Hikari and her friends were standing. She felt her eyes drooping and she twisted her head around to get a look at her classmates.

To her right was Nozomi who had somehow perfected the art of covert sleeping. Her head hung low and a furtive hand shielded her eyes from any diligent teachers on the lookout. 'Ugh, I'm jealous.' Hikari theorized she could pull that off for maybe five minutes before quickly falling victim to gravity.

To her left across the aisle stood Shinji. They hadn't been crossing paths as much lately given the new work schedule she and Ayako crafted a month prior, so it was nice to see his face again.

She decided to celebrate the new term by switching from her bunny barrettes to the blue penguin ones he gave her the night of the festival. This morning while breaking the seal on the packaging, Kasumi's question, '...does he like you?' came to mind for the first time since it was asked.

Hikari looked at him now. His expression was unchanging but she detected a hint of disgust from the way his jaw ticked. Tracing his eyeline, she saw Haruka leaning her head on Shuu's shoulder. Their arm's were linked together. 'Cute!' she thought. Everybody in 3-C heaved a sigh of relief when Shuu finally took a direct approach to his feelings for Haruka instead of the rose-giving gimmick.

Shinji rolled his eyes at the display of affection.

'Hah, what a spoil sport. I can't even picture him liking someone like that.' Hikari chuckled to herself.

A similar memory popped up. She thought about stepping in and playing matchmaker for Sumomo and Reiji sometime given the number of death glares Shinji directed their way when the elder brother stayed behind to pack up the food stall.

'Hehe. By the way he was acting, you'd think he was a little boy and Sumomo was going to steal Princess Reiji away for good.' She coughed into her hand to stop herself from a fit of laughter.

Shinji caught wind of her behavior and stared dryly.

'What's your deal?' He prompted with his eyes. He didn't think the principal had said anything remotely humorous.

'Nothing. Nothing.' She held up her hands in a placating gesture.

His instincts told him that it was something at his expense, he just wasn't sure what that was per se. There wasn't anymore tittering on her part so he faced forward once more.

He narrowed his eyes, Haida and Hayashi were still at it. Was nothing sacred? A groan escaped his lips without him realizing it. It attracted the attention of a few surrounding students but flew right over the heads of the happy couple.

There was also a new noise; that bell-like laugh that he had grown accustomed to hearing from the cash register floated into the open air. Unfortunately, a teacher who just happened to be making the rounds heard the sound as well.

The bespectacled woman loudly reprimanded Hikari who had the good sense to at least appear contrite. While spirited, she wasn't quite used to getting in trouble with authority figures. Did anyone else notice her gaff? Phew, Nozomi was fast asleep. The people behind her didn't care in the slightest, happy they weren't the ones being made an example of by the notoriously strict music teacher.

Although she knew what she would see, Hikari peeked at the group on the other side of the walkway. There he was. Shinji was looking smug as ever. He must have been in one of those rare playful moods today because he had the nerve to cup his hands around his mouth, silently forming the syllables, "Id-i-ot."

Hikari could feel the steam coming out her ears. She stuck her nose in the air, "hmph," resolving to pay him no mind for the rest of the assembly.

After school, September 16th, 200X:

Rain fell down in sheets from the gray September sky. Standing under the awning, Shinji pressed the release on his plain black umbrella.

"Later, Shinji. Wish me luck!" Satoshi ran into the street with just his blazer covering his head.

Shinji still didn't care for Satoshi much but he quietly respected the sheer amount of resilience the other possessed. All Tanabata, Satoshi didn't give up until he achieved a victory. Even though Shinji, Hikari, and Kasumi were consistently thrashing him at every game up until the tail end. Shinji would've gone nuts if he lost that many times in a row.

"Bye," was Shinji's single utterance.

Five seconds later Jun appeared. "Waiting for someone, Shinji?"

The purple-haired boy bristled at the use of his first name. Just because he didn't tell Ando off, that did not mean other people had permission to start acting friendly.

"Not you." Shinji replied..

"Ouch!" Jun feigned hurt before doing a double take. A light pair of footsteps echoed through the corridor behind them. "Oooooh, I see how it is!" Jun clapped him on the shoulder, "No harm done buddy! I'll see ya tomorrow!"

Shinji was confused. What did that fool mean he 'sees how it is.' He looked backwards. It was just Tanabe. This was one of the days their shifts coincided so obviously they would commute together.

"Hey. Sorry for the hold up. The class rep was telling me something." Hikari met him on the stairs. She pulled out a pink polka dot umbrella of her own.

"Hn. What did Nagao say?" he grunted gliding over the apology.

Hikari took this as a sign that he didn't mind her tardiness. She smiled as they stepped off the school grounds, "She was letting me in on some secrets about Sports Day (1)."

"Yeah? Anything new?" Shinji added.

"Ehhh, not really. She just told me which teams people were on. Don't worry though, I asked for you. Wanna guess?" She expanded on the discussion with Midori.

"White." Shinji answered.

"Nope, red team!" Hikari kicked a puddle.

"What about you?" he asked.

"You'll be very lucky to have me as a teammate!" She said, "And get this: Satoshi-kun and Kasumi will be on white this year."

Shinji smirked at the idea. A rematch with the terrible twosome.

"That is interesting." There was a glint in his eye. "We'll crush them." He firmly decided the outcome. They were worthy opponents but red team was just going to be better.

She was emboldened by such confident words, "Duh."

Shinji nodded back at her before brainstorming with himself which strategies to use for which events.

Hikari liked walking with him like this. There was never any pressure from him to keep the conversation ball rolling or be cheerful all the time. They could just exist in the same space.

They stopped at the crosswalk. A college-aged couple was holding hands on the other side. With not much experience to call her own, Hikari wondered what being in a legitimate relationship looked like. The man and woman looked very in love.

She practiced visualizing herself in one with some of the guys she met over the years. She held hands with Kengo in fourth grade. Did that count? No, they just did that so no one got lost. Kengo moved away in middle school. In freshman year, she had a huge a crush on Satoshi Ando. So did about every other girl in class. She was so excited when he held her hand for the three-legged race that she thought she'd throw up. Two years passed and she could confirm that the excitement had long since faded.

In the next visualization she thought of the boy beside her. She looked down at the hand hanging at his side. It was a little boney for her liking. Well, one could never tell without experience. Should she go for it? He seemed pretty sensitive about physical boundaries. Better not.

That hand which she spent so much time contemplating reached out and grabbed hers in the blink of an eye. Startled, she looked up at Shinji.

"You seemed curious." He explained not bothering to look at her. Good, because she didn't have the guts to see what kind of face he was making either.

The light turned green.

They continued to hold hands as they crossed. 'Okay, just a little experiment between friends,' this opportunity could answer a conundrum that always plagued her.

But there was nothing to fear. It turned out to be … comfortable. Yes, his hand was boney like she predicted but it was warm in hers and fit quite nicely. She tested the weight. Absolutely normal. She was surprised when she didn't get that rush of adrenaline like with Satoshi. It didn't look like Shinji felt anything monumental happening either. She absentmindedly squeezed his hand before dropping hers when the store came into view. Her skin became a bit colder from the dampness in the air.

"We're here." She said letting them both indoors. Shinji went to change uniforms first.

If his hair hadn't obscured them, Hikari might have seen that the tips of his ears were tinged a bright red.

12:45 AM, September 16th, 200X:

Shinji couldn't sleep. 'What the hell was that?'

He was stunned by how pleasant the sensation of their palms touching felt. First Tanabe looked up at him with her big doe eyes and then she went and squeezed his hand. She fucking squeezed his hand. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like they were in a five years' established relationship.

He thought he would indulge her daydreaming, but he was the one that ended up getting flustered, taking any excuse for an exit.

His chef's outfit was like a suit of armor. Once it was on he forced himself into business mode and reported to Mizuno-san. He was able to act normal enough to work together and when Hikari mentioned something about Sports Day again near closing he just followed the path of their earlier talk. At home he took a shower, ate dinner, did homework, and jumped in bed hoping the feelings would disappear once he rendered himself unconscious.

Yet here he was three hours later without a wink of sleep.

Hormones. Was that what this was? 'Yes, I'm merely attracted to her.' He thought. Although, that thought led him to feel kind of grossed out with himself. He could only say this now, in an empty room, in his head, when he was positive there was no one listening in on his thoughts, but he did consider her a friend. She was a kind and talented friend. And she didn't deserve to be treated like her beauty was her only asset.

He eventually deemed it 'a passing attraction.' He drilled that phrase into his brain until he believed it and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

(A/N: Some more fluff but some relationship progress too. Trying to do some atypical tropes for them with in-character reasoning. Rating moved up to T from K+ for typical teen swearing.

Footnotes:

1. Similar to field day in the US. A school event where students and teachers take the day off from studies to participate in athletic activities. Contests range from classical ones like cheer, relay, ball games and long-jump to more party style ones like tug-of-war and the three-legged race. In addition the student body is split into color teams for the competition.

Honorifics:

Using someone's first name is more intimate. If someone is an acquaintance, the default is to use their family name.

-chan, title added to someone's name to show you are familiar. Usually used for women and girls. Very cutesy on anyone.

-kun, title added to someone's name to show you are familiar. Usually used for men and boys. More tomboyish for girls )