Title. Downwards
Part. five
Part Title. What Would You Like to Hear?
Warnings and Disclaimers. First part.
Notes. Plugh. Am I getting a
little ooc with some of this?
*shrugs* Sorry if I am. Forgive me, forgive me.
/ thoughts / [ dreams ] ( flashbacks )
::*~~*::
It was
still a good hour before lunch. Tasuki
had found Chichiri and Kouji in one of the gardens underneath a big, shady oak
tree. He sat down in front of them,
letting out a sigh as he did.
"Hello, Tasuki, no da,"
Chichiri greeted, grinning as always.
"Hey, Genrou," Kouji said,
using the nickname his family had given him years ago. "Somethin' wrong?"
"Nah," Tasuki said with a
shrug, picking at some grass near his legs.
"Kamau is comin' next Saturday to see me."
"Awesome!" Kouji chirped. "She sounded really cool."
"Yeah, I guess she is."
"Why do you have a phone, no
da?" Chichiri asked curiously.
Again, Tasuki shrugged. "Sis must've given it to me when I wasn't
lookin'. Doesn't bug me, though. Weekends are free. So long as no one talks on it durin' the week, I'm good..." He looked over at Kouji.
Kouji put his hands up in
defense. "Hey, now, I was jus'
wonderin' who it was, 'kay? I won't use
it again without your permission."
"Good, 'cause I'm the one that
has to pay for the bill."
"Why did you look
disappointed, no da?" Chichiri spoke up.
"Huh?" Tasuki said
dumbly. "Oh, 'bout Kamau being
'ere? It wouldn't be so bad if she
hadn't sounded so... serious 'bout it."
"Serious, no da?"
"Yeah." Tasuki sighed again, leaning back onto his
elbows. "I can't help but feel like I'm
going to hate whatever reason she has for seein' me."
"How can you be so sure?"
Kouji asked.
"Just... something in 'er
voice." He shook his head and changed
the subject: "What did you and Kamau talk about, Kouji?"
"Oh, jus' this and that..."
"Be more specific."
"Aw, afraid she said somethin'
embarrassing about you, Genrou-chan?"
"Nah, jus' curious," the
red-head defended lamely.
Kouji snickered. "Don't worry, Genrou. I jus' talked to 'er about the school." He grinned and added, "And she told me some
of your most embarrassing moments at Windhollow..."
Tasuki's eyes widened. "What moments?"
"Some of the stuff you did for
the girls you liked. It was pretty
bad."
Tasuki sighed in relief. Kamau hadn't told him about the incident
last year. Good, he wasn't fond of the
idea of people knowing about that. He
rubbed his neck.
"Nothin' too bad as to make
you run away and not want to show your face again..." Kouji gave his new friend a calculating look. "So I still want to know what you left."
"Like I told Chichiri," Tasuki
said, sounding uncharacteristically serious, "people suck there. That's.
All." The lat word had a finishing
tone to it, warning Kouji not to continue the conversation, though his voice
wasn't that harsh.
"Umm... 'kay, I'll take your
word for it."
"Excuse me."
The three teens turned toward
the source of the new voice. Before
them stood a tall young man with long, dark hair. His outfit was neatly pressed, without a sign of one
wrinkle. He stood with great posture,
looking business-like, though he wore a friendly smile.
"Hey, there, class rep," Kouji
greeted with a small wave.
"Morning, Hotohori-san, no
da."
"Good morning, Chichiri,
Kouji," Hotohori replied, then turning his attention to Tasuki. "I saw you yesterday, but I didn't get to
meet you. You're new, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right," Tasuki
answered, sitting up straight up.
"Name's Tasuki."
"And I am the class
representative, Hotohori." He extended
his hand, to which Tasuki took it and shook.
"Where are you from?"
"East of here, near
Windhollow."
"Excellent school, from what
I've heard."
"And what everyone else has
hear, too," Tasuki muttered under his breath.
He wished silently that the topic wouldn't stray to the reasons he left
Windhollow, like it seemed they had a pattern of doing in his first
confrontations with people.
"Pardon, Tasuki-kun?"
Tasuki smiled sweetly and
shook his head. "Nothin', class rep."
Hotohori raised a brow before
shrugging it off. "Well, I just wanted
to introduce myself. If you have
questions about the school, please ask me."
He bowed to the three of them.
"See you all later."
Kouji waved and Chichiri said,
"Bye-bye, no da!"
"Jaa, Hotohori," Tasuki said
simply.
"That's the guy, Genrou,"
Kouji said once Hotohori was out of sight.
"The guy who?" Tasuki cocked an eyebrow at his friend.
"The guy Nuriko likes. She told you 'bout that, right?"
"Oh." Tasuki reclined on his elbows once
more. "Looks more like a girl than a
guy, if you ask me."
The other two youths snickered
at the remark. "He does, no da. But a lot of girls still like him, no
da. Even some guys."
"Some of 'em just like 'is
money."
"Money?" Tasuki asked
curiously.
"Yup, money. I'd say he's probably one of the richest
kids at this school..."
"That's a really tacky reason
to go out with anyone."
Lunch time
finally came, and the first half of it wasn't that bad. Aside from Eiken grinning at Tasuki the
entire time, probably thinking of whatever he had in mind for the 'test' that
evening. And Kouji got the entire
table(including Chichiri) to start calling him 'Genrou'.
"So, do you guys normally
mingle with everyone else, or does everyone have their place?" Tasuki asked,
sipping on a soda.
"What do you mean?" Eiken
asked, eyebrow raised.
"You know," he said, shrugging
his left shoulder, "preps with preps, jocks with jocks, Goths with Goths."
"Ohh," everyone at the table
said at one time.
"That's kind of what it's
like, no da," Chichiri said. "But no
one cares if you sit with someone new.
General labels, no da."
Tasuki nodded, grinning. "All right, thanks." He picked up his tray. "See you guys at dinner." He walked off.
All of the pack-members stared
after him in disbelief.
"What th' hell is he doin'?"
Kouji asked, watching Tasuki's retreating figure.
"Meeting new people, no da?"
Chichiri suggested.
Tasuki looked around the
cafeteria, searching for someone in specific.
When he located his target, his grin grew and he made his way over to a
table full of girls.
"Does anyone mind if I sit
'ere?" he asked.
The girls at the table all
looked up at him. Sitting next to the
empty seat he was asking for was Nuriko, looking somewhat surprised. She then smiled and said, "No, no one minds."
He set his tray down before
taking the empty seat. He scanned the
table briefly before instigating conversation.
"So, how's everyone doin' today?"
The girl across from him, who
had maroon hair in two buns, replied, "Today's been all right, kind of
boring." She shrugged. "You're new, right? What's your name?"
"Tasuki," he answered,
flashing the table a wide smile. "And
who are all these gorgeous beauties at this table?"
"My name's Miaka," the girl
across from him said. She pointed to
the girl next to her, who had short blond hair. "This is Yui, one of my best friends. And that," she pointed at Nuriko, "would be Nuriko, are head
cheerleader."
"Ah, well, Nuriko and I have
already met. But it's good to meet you
two."
"So, Tasuki-kun," Yui spoke
up, "where do you come from?"
"Hmm, I'm half tempted to
start wearing a sign around my neck with all that info on it." He snickered. "Kind of gets annoying to answer the same questions over and
over. Anyone got any paper and
markers?"
"You said you were from Windhollow,
right?" Nuriko asked, smirking.
"That would be correct, yes."
"I've always wanted to go
there," the blond said. "I heard they
have wonderful academics..."
"I wouldn't know, I'm not that
good at the school stuff," Tasuki replied honestly. "But it isn't that bad of a school."
"I heard that someone got beat
up there last year," Miaka butted in in a gossiping tone of voice. "Something about prejudice." She shrugged. "The kid was in the hospital for a couple of weeks..."
"Is that one of the reasons
you left, Tasuki?" Nuriko asked.
Tasuki rubbed his neck, hating
anything to do with the subject. "Yeah,
that's one of the reasons. Mom was worried about it happening again..."
"That would be enough to make
me want to leave!" Miaka exclaimed.
Nuriko looked over at her new
friend and noticed he was looking somewhat uncomfortable. She could tell that he was anxious to get
the conversation over with, just like how he didn't like the conversation about
his scar from last night. "So, Tasuki,
are you planning on joining a band?"
"Is there one around 'ere
looking for new members?"
"No," Yui answered, "but I'm
sure you could just start one. There
are always people around here looking for something to do."
"Not many of them actually
bring instruments from home," Nuriko added, looking towards Tasuki.
Tasuki shrugged. "I can't live without my guitars. So sue me."
"Guitars?" Miaka asked. "You brought guitars?"
"Yup, two of 'em."
"What could you possibly need
with two guitars?" Yui asked.
"One's acoustic, the other's a
bass. I decided not to bring my
electric."
"Wow," one of the other girls
at the table said, speaking up for the first time. "Guitar-freak?"
"String-freak," Tasuki
corrected.
"A decent one at that," Nuriko
complimented. "Do you sing, too,
Tasuki-kun?"
Tasuki nodded. "When I feel the need to. I'd rather play."
"That's awesome," another girl
spoke up.
"You've heard him play,
Nuriko?" Yui asked.
"Yes, a little bit, last
night," the violet-haired girl answered.
"You should play for us some
time, Tasuki!" Miaka suggested.
"Sure, when do you guys want
me to play?" Tasuki grinned. He loved an audience.
"How about after lunch?"
Tasuki shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
Yui gave Miaka a serious
look. "Miaka, don't forget that you're being
tutored today."
Miaka just smiled in
return. "Don't worry, I'm sure Tamahome
won't mind waiting for a bit."
"Hmm," was Yui's only answer.
"So, where do you girls want
me to play?"
"How about the north side
garden?"
"Umm..." Tasuki scratched the back of his head. He wasn't exactly sure where that was...
"I can show you where it is,"
Nuriko offered.
"Thanks," Tasuki said with a
smile.
Um, yeah... I really have nothing to say other than read and review. Oh! And squeeberries! That's always a good one...