~~~~~~~000~~~~~~~
The final bell echoed nosiliy throughout the entire campus. Yanagi heaved a great sigh of relief, as if the Sword of Damocles which had been hanging so loosely over her head had finally been withdrawn. At last, the unmemorable day was about to end and the only thing left for her to do was to grab her stuff and flee from the web of confusion that had ensnared her ever since she set foot at Silver Slate. Luckily enough, the professor during her first period class had the decency not to point out her tardiness and the rest of the day went by without any more unlikely encounters with the school's upper crust. After she had sorted out her things, the slightly frazzled girl started to head for home. Her mind was pregnant with a million different thoughts, each one invariably ending up in only one clear image-- Sasame's perfect face. She hadn't seen him anymore right after he had brought her to Bellwhistle Hall, though she surreptitiously scoured the grounds in the hopes of running into him. She knew she acted like some silly schoolgirl fantasizing about her first high school crush, but she really didn't have much of a choice. Sasame was the only person who was halfway friendly to her and she badly needed someone to talk to. She had spent the next 6 hours after her first class in unhappy solitude and nothing was more embarrassing than having to sit all by herself in the huge, crowded cafeteria when lunchtime came. Also, it didn't hurt to add that Sasame was just about the most handsome boy she'd set her eyes on, next to her oniisan, of course. Unfortunately, Sasame seemed to have disappeared like a wisp of silver smoke. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him and when the dismissal bell rang, the grounds swarmed with students that it was near impossible to spot him, even if he would most likely stand out in any crowd given his tall, graceful form and silver-gilt locks.
Yanagi was so immersed in her daydreams that she barely noticed the trickling drops of early summer rain that started to fall from the thickening purple clouds.
"Shimatta...just what I need to wind this 'wonderful day' up," she grumbled, feeling the tiny droplets pricking at her skin. "Maybe I could run all the way home before this really starts to come down," she decided. Placing her satchel over her head, she ran for home just as the larger drops of rain began to fall in huge clumps. Soon, the heavy showers started to pour as if the sky had opened a trapdoor for the water to gush through. Yanagi, who was by now soaked to the bone, rushed to the nearest cloud cover she could find--- a short, sprawling oak tree shading a soaked stone bench.
"Oh damn," she cursed under her breath, fingering her wet garments. With any luck, it might rain all afternoon and she couldn't get home until dark.
"Nice weather huh?"
Yanagi jumped. In the few seconds she had spent worrying about how she could get home, someone had also taken refuge underneath the tree and was already sitting in the stone bench. She stared,a bit startled, at the lanky figure draped quite comfortably in the drenched seat. He was about her age and was sporting the same school uniform as Sasame's, which only meant one thing---he also went to Silver Slate.
"You're the new girl, right?," he went on in a relaxed tone, as if he were sunning himself rather than dripping wet with summer rain. "We have journalism together, third period. You sit one row away from me and three seats across. Sakoshita Yanagi, am I right?"
She eyed him coolly. "And just what business is it of yours?"
"Nothing," he raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "I was just being friendly since the weather isn't. Is that bad?"
"No," she answered dully.
"Well are you?"
"Am I what?"
"The new girl," he replied simply.
"Is that some sort of brand you wiseguys always place on innocent newomers like myself?" she spat back, eyes blazing liquid amber. "New girl huh? Does that translate to 'guinea pig'?
Deep pools of russet eyes loomed over her in a split second. How did he do that, she wondered, eyes wide with amazement. The distance between her and that stone bench must be around two regular footsteps on the average.
"What are you getting so uptight about?" His warm breath carressed her cheek, causing a soft blush to creep beneath the damp whiteness. Up close, she could see fine contours of his face, from the dark russet-colored eyes, straight nose, and naturally curving lips set in a disapproving line. The intense orbs bore into hers, disabling her speaking functions---or so it seemed to Yanagi.
The young man let out a small, slightly annoyed sigh. "Ok, ok, maybe I was a bit tactless. I'm sorry. Now would you talk to me? It's cold enough being out here in this stupid rain without having the only person you're with freezing you out at the same time" he told her pointedly.
"Go...gomen," she blurted almost incoherently. "You...you startled me a while back there. How could you move so fast?"
"Practice," the guy grinned. "So I guess you're out of you're bad weather mood huh? Is it safe to talk to you now?"
Cheeks flushed an intense crimson. "I didn't mean it that way. You shouldn't have called me the 'new girl.' It doesn't really sound polite you know."
"Sorry bout that. I didn't know you'd get all edgy about being dubbed as the new girl. By the way I'm---"
A loud honking sound interrupted them.
"Sis, what the hell are you doing out here in this blasted rain?"
It was Soujiro! Yanagi inched away from her equally soaked companion. No sense giving her oniisan something to tease her about. The way the two were standing so closely together, it looked like they were long-lost lovers instead of two strangers thrown together in the same spot by a sudden rainshower.
Soujiro's cunning eyes took in the little scene though his face remained impassive. If he didn't like what he saw, no part of him revealed it. "Come on, get in the car. I'll take you home."
Yanagi threw a hesitant glance at her waterlogged friend. "Where do you live? Maybe I can ask my oniisan to drop you off."
The boy threw her a lazy smile and tucked his arms behind his head. "Don't bother, I love rain. You'd better get going. Your oniisan looks like he's going to skin me alive for even talking to you---ja!"
Yanagi turned to look at Soujiro who was still waiting patiently for her to board the car. He was still wearing his little-kid smile. "No, he's not like tha---" But the boy had already crossed the sloshy streets and was happily walking away, deliberately splashing the puddles with his sodden sneakers.
As Yanagi clambered inside the car, her mind was once again clouded with the many unusual events that day. She was too lost in her own reverie that she never noticed Soujiro staring fixedly at her, his mind also caught up in a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts.
The final bell echoed nosiliy throughout the entire campus. Yanagi heaved a great sigh of relief, as if the Sword of Damocles which had been hanging so loosely over her head had finally been withdrawn. At last, the unmemorable day was about to end and the only thing left for her to do was to grab her stuff and flee from the web of confusion that had ensnared her ever since she set foot at Silver Slate. Luckily enough, the professor during her first period class had the decency not to point out her tardiness and the rest of the day went by without any more unlikely encounters with the school's upper crust. After she had sorted out her things, the slightly frazzled girl started to head for home. Her mind was pregnant with a million different thoughts, each one invariably ending up in only one clear image-- Sasame's perfect face. She hadn't seen him anymore right after he had brought her to Bellwhistle Hall, though she surreptitiously scoured the grounds in the hopes of running into him. She knew she acted like some silly schoolgirl fantasizing about her first high school crush, but she really didn't have much of a choice. Sasame was the only person who was halfway friendly to her and she badly needed someone to talk to. She had spent the next 6 hours after her first class in unhappy solitude and nothing was more embarrassing than having to sit all by herself in the huge, crowded cafeteria when lunchtime came. Also, it didn't hurt to add that Sasame was just about the most handsome boy she'd set her eyes on, next to her oniisan, of course. Unfortunately, Sasame seemed to have disappeared like a wisp of silver smoke. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him and when the dismissal bell rang, the grounds swarmed with students that it was near impossible to spot him, even if he would most likely stand out in any crowd given his tall, graceful form and silver-gilt locks.
Yanagi was so immersed in her daydreams that she barely noticed the trickling drops of early summer rain that started to fall from the thickening purple clouds.
"Shimatta...just what I need to wind this 'wonderful day' up," she grumbled, feeling the tiny droplets pricking at her skin. "Maybe I could run all the way home before this really starts to come down," she decided. Placing her satchel over her head, she ran for home just as the larger drops of rain began to fall in huge clumps. Soon, the heavy showers started to pour as if the sky had opened a trapdoor for the water to gush through. Yanagi, who was by now soaked to the bone, rushed to the nearest cloud cover she could find--- a short, sprawling oak tree shading a soaked stone bench.
"Oh damn," she cursed under her breath, fingering her wet garments. With any luck, it might rain all afternoon and she couldn't get home until dark.
"Nice weather huh?"
Yanagi jumped. In the few seconds she had spent worrying about how she could get home, someone had also taken refuge underneath the tree and was already sitting in the stone bench. She stared,a bit startled, at the lanky figure draped quite comfortably in the drenched seat. He was about her age and was sporting the same school uniform as Sasame's, which only meant one thing---he also went to Silver Slate.
"You're the new girl, right?," he went on in a relaxed tone, as if he were sunning himself rather than dripping wet with summer rain. "We have journalism together, third period. You sit one row away from me and three seats across. Sakoshita Yanagi, am I right?"
She eyed him coolly. "And just what business is it of yours?"
"Nothing," he raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "I was just being friendly since the weather isn't. Is that bad?"
"No," she answered dully.
"Well are you?"
"Am I what?"
"The new girl," he replied simply.
"Is that some sort of brand you wiseguys always place on innocent newomers like myself?" she spat back, eyes blazing liquid amber. "New girl huh? Does that translate to 'guinea pig'?
Deep pools of russet eyes loomed over her in a split second. How did he do that, she wondered, eyes wide with amazement. The distance between her and that stone bench must be around two regular footsteps on the average.
"What are you getting so uptight about?" His warm breath carressed her cheek, causing a soft blush to creep beneath the damp whiteness. Up close, she could see fine contours of his face, from the dark russet-colored eyes, straight nose, and naturally curving lips set in a disapproving line. The intense orbs bore into hers, disabling her speaking functions---or so it seemed to Yanagi.
The young man let out a small, slightly annoyed sigh. "Ok, ok, maybe I was a bit tactless. I'm sorry. Now would you talk to me? It's cold enough being out here in this stupid rain without having the only person you're with freezing you out at the same time" he told her pointedly.
"Go...gomen," she blurted almost incoherently. "You...you startled me a while back there. How could you move so fast?"
"Practice," the guy grinned. "So I guess you're out of you're bad weather mood huh? Is it safe to talk to you now?"
Cheeks flushed an intense crimson. "I didn't mean it that way. You shouldn't have called me the 'new girl.' It doesn't really sound polite you know."
"Sorry bout that. I didn't know you'd get all edgy about being dubbed as the new girl. By the way I'm---"
A loud honking sound interrupted them.
"Sis, what the hell are you doing out here in this blasted rain?"
It was Soujiro! Yanagi inched away from her equally soaked companion. No sense giving her oniisan something to tease her about. The way the two were standing so closely together, it looked like they were long-lost lovers instead of two strangers thrown together in the same spot by a sudden rainshower.
Soujiro's cunning eyes took in the little scene though his face remained impassive. If he didn't like what he saw, no part of him revealed it. "Come on, get in the car. I'll take you home."
Yanagi threw a hesitant glance at her waterlogged friend. "Where do you live? Maybe I can ask my oniisan to drop you off."
The boy threw her a lazy smile and tucked his arms behind his head. "Don't bother, I love rain. You'd better get going. Your oniisan looks like he's going to skin me alive for even talking to you---ja!"
Yanagi turned to look at Soujiro who was still waiting patiently for her to board the car. He was still wearing his little-kid smile. "No, he's not like tha---" But the boy had already crossed the sloshy streets and was happily walking away, deliberately splashing the puddles with his sodden sneakers.
As Yanagi clambered inside the car, her mind was once again clouded with the many unusual events that day. She was too lost in her own reverie that she never noticed Soujiro staring fixedly at her, his mind also caught up in a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts.