Mad About You
Chapter 3: Trouble
AN: Thanks for all the reviews guys! Keep em' coming! Especially you raine! Now I know Kai-kun's last name! BWAHAHAHA!
~3 weeks later~
Kai decided that if he came to this school one more day and he could not open his locker, he would just quit.
"Goddamnit it all to Hell!" he cried in frustration for the umpteenth time this week. Ayame turned away from her own locker to stare at Kai.
"You shouldn't get annoyed to easily, Kai. Here," she said. She opened his locker easily.
"I don't know how you do it," he said, his usual monotone showing no emotion. Ayame smiled.
"You'd better hurry or you'll be late." Ayame stuffed the rest of her things into her locker after she had taken out what she needed.
"Aya, hurry up!" Suzume called from the opposite wall. Apparently, they had planned to walk to class together.
"Sorry Suzu!" She hurried off toward her friend without closing her locker. She made no effort to say goodbye to Kai this morning as she had done every day that week. He almost spoke his feelings out loud to her, but he quickly recomposed himself.
He had no idea what he was feeling. He was positive he didn't like her, and he could never love her, but he couldn't help but feel friendship. He had never had a real friend before, but he never really wanted one anyway.
Until now.
Of course Kai would never tell Ayame that. She was sweet, funny, klutzy, and overly friendly. She was also slightly ignorant of things that mattered. But it didn't matter to Kai that she was rather inane. She would take things the wrong way if he told her how he felt, however.
BRING!
The bell. Great.
Kai remembered that Ayame hadn't closed her locker door, and since he was late anyway, he took a moment to peer inside. He was never nosy like this, but something about Ayame compelled him to find out more about her.
There was nothing there but a few books and pictures. The pictures were the most interesting things there, so he decided to take a peek.
There were three pictures on her locker door along with some purikura[1]. Picture number one was Ayame and Suzume in someone's backyard.
The second one was Ayame as a baby.
Kai smirked. This was blackmail material.
The third picture was Ayame and some guy. Maybe a boyfriend. Kai couldn't help but be a little jealous, especially since he had his arm around her.
"Kai! I forgot to say goodbye to you!" Ayame dodged around the corner. Kai quickly shut her locker and turned back to his own, pretending to be looking at something interesting.
"You came all the way back to say goodbye? You're late. Sentimentality is a sign of weakness, you know," he said. It was perfect. Just the Kai thing to say.
Ayame smiled at him and ran back to her class.
Kai hid a smile. She was definitely a piece of work.
He remembered he was late for gym. Damnit!
*
Everyone was still down in the locker room when he arrived. Good. He wasn't too late.
"Kai, where were you!?" Max cried. He was already late. After Kai got dressed, a boy headed in his direction.
"Hiwatari! You're late! Do you have a pass?" Kai looked up. The boy had bright red hair, pale skin, freckles, glasses, and braces. If he was striving for the geeky look, he had it down packed.
"No." Well you're grade is going to be lowered by 5 points every time you're late!"
"Like I care," Kai said, ignoring the boy. Tyson, Rei, and Max all looked up at them.
"I'm going to go tell Mr. Kudou if you don't watch your mouth!"
"Do you get it yet? I don't give a shit." The boy ran off. Tyson's eyes lit up in admiration as Rei's and Max's lit up in surprise.
"He's Mr. Kudou's gossip monkey! You'll get in huge trouble, especially for being all. full of contempt," Rei said. Kai shut his eyes cooly and crossed his arms as he always did and then he leaned against the gym lockers.
"I don't care," was all he said. Max and Rei exchanged looks and shrugged.
"We tried to warn him!" Max smiled. The little snitchy boy didn't bother Kai at all. Apparently Kai had intimidated him, because Mr. Kudou hadn't said anything to him about it either.
"I want us all to play a game of volleyball," Mr. Kudou said to the class. "I explained the rules yesterday, so go ahead and get in teams of 4. Take advantage though, because tomorrow I will be picking for you."
Kai knew that Tyson, Max, and Rei would be coming over to him, and he didn't mind anymore. He was used to being with them now, not that he actually liked them. They were just acquaintances.
"Hey Kai! Be our partner?" Rei asked, as he, Max, and Tyson headed in his direction.
"Whatever."
They played for a while, Kai hitting the volleyball every time, Tyson and Max missing every time it came to them, and Rei getting it every once and a while. When the period was over, Kai left.
He was glad to be getting away from those guys. None of them could play very well. Except for Rei. But even he was fairly bad.
*
Kai headed to art early. There was a good 10 minutes before the bell rang. After he took his seat beside no one and in front of Ayame, three boys came over. One sat in the empty seat beside Kai and the other two sat in front of him and turned their chairs around.
"We heard you were messing with our buddy Sneedly. You weren't, were you?" the one beside Kai asked.
"Who?" Kai asked arrogantly. One the boys started to stand up and challenge Kai, but the one beside him pulled him back down.
"You don't wanna go messing with the wrong people, Hiwatari. You really don't."
"You're in my space. I'd just love it if you would leave me alone." Kai smiled disdainfully when he said that. This time the boy beside him stood up to hit Kai, but Ayame threw a paper ball at him before he could.
"Stop it, Tatsuhiko! That's enough," she said, as if she could control him. Surprisingly enough, he stopped.
"Aya, why'd you stop him? This guy's a jerk!" one of the other boys chimed in.
"Well I don't think so, Hibiki. And if it's true, then I'm sure he has good reason to be. Besides, this is none of your business. It's between Kai and Sneedly." Kai had been sitting there, listening to the conversation the whole time, not really paying attention to what he was doing. Suddenly he remembered where he was and spoke up.
"I don't need your help, Ayame. I can handle this. It's none of your business either." He shut his eyes again and crossed his arms.
Hibiki looked like he was about to kill Kai, but Ayame shook her head and smiled.
"Fine, Kai. You're right." This surprised him.
"What did you say?" he asked, turning to look at her, a light blush creeping into his cheeks.
"You're right. It's none of my business." She smiled again. Kai frowned and turned back to face Hibiki and the silent boy. Tatsuhiko was to his right.
"You guys done here? Are you ready to leave me alone now?" he asked them.
"Whatever." They all stood up and went back to their normal seats. Ayame stood up and moved next to Kai. Kai pretended not to see her.
"I-" Ayame turned to face Kai and whispered into his ear. "I want to talk to you later." Then she stood up and went back to her seat.
The bell rang. Ainoe-sensei came into the room.
"Hello class. Today we're going to study ancient art. Take out your books and turn to page 221.
Great. Book work.
*
After class, Kai tried to walk rather fast down the hallway, not wanting to talk to Ayame. She caught up with him anyway.
"Kai, wait up!" she cried, running frantically after him. Finally he turned around and stopped.
"We can go to English together!" she exclaimed once she had caught up to him.
"What do you want?" Kai's phrase took her by surprise, but she didn't dare show it.
"I only wanted to tell you that." she paused. "You don't have to hide behind that mask forever. There's nothing wrong with being friends with anyone, so stop trying to be a tough guy." Kai was taken aback by her comment, and for a second, only a second, his gaze flickered. His expression changed to a cringe, but his mask was back before Ayame could tell what it was.
"There is no mask. Mind your own business." Ayame stopped walking and stared after him. She leaned against the wall away from the crowding of people. Then she reached out her hand, as if to grab Kai and pull him back to her, but then she pulled it away and looked at it, as if there were something in it.
"Why won't you let me in, Kai," she said to herself, a sad expression on her face.
*
English was a drag. Kai wouldn't even look at her, and she felt horrible. If only she could take back her words. But she knew that she couldn't, and erased the idea from her mind. Despite what Kai would show, the two of them had become fairly close over the past three weeks, and to have him mad with her was unspeakable.
So she sat there with Rei, Tyson, and Max, not saying a word to any of them.
*
Lunch was no better. Kai had decided to sit on the other side of the table with Tyson and Kenny, and he wouldn't look at any of them.
"Dude, what's up with you?" Tyson directed his attention to Kai. Kai ignored him, as usual, and stared into space.
How could he let his disguise slip? He didn't want Ayame to know how he felt. How he felt about anything. Or anyone.
Why was she constantly prying into his life? Was he that interesting? She should just leave him alone!
And the fact that a stupid girl had almost broken his barrier was horrendous. A stupid, cheerful, happy girl. What was wrong with him?
"Kai, are you alright?" Ayame asked cautiously.
"Leave me alone." Ayame didn't try to hide her sadness. A single tear dropped on the table as she stood, throwing her lunch away and leaving the cafeteria.
"What is your deal, Kai? Do you want to make her cry?" Rei inquired.
"It's none of your business."
"But she's our friend too Kai, and we all know she's crazy about you." Max said quickly, and then realized his mistake. But it was too late.
"What?" Kai looked up, flustered and flabbergasted at the same time.
AN: Cliffy! I'm evil, ain't I? Review and I'll think about writing the next chapter! LOL, just kidding, I'm going to write it anyway, but still review!
[1] Purikura are those cute little pictures that you can get from photo machines. They look like thumbnails, and you can usually fit about 2 people in each picture. They also give you a frame or background in the picture that says stuff like "friends4ever" or what have you.
AN: Thanks for all the reviews guys! Keep em' coming! Especially you raine! Now I know Kai-kun's last name! BWAHAHAHA!
~3 weeks later~
Kai decided that if he came to this school one more day and he could not open his locker, he would just quit.
"Goddamnit it all to Hell!" he cried in frustration for the umpteenth time this week. Ayame turned away from her own locker to stare at Kai.
"You shouldn't get annoyed to easily, Kai. Here," she said. She opened his locker easily.
"I don't know how you do it," he said, his usual monotone showing no emotion. Ayame smiled.
"You'd better hurry or you'll be late." Ayame stuffed the rest of her things into her locker after she had taken out what she needed.
"Aya, hurry up!" Suzume called from the opposite wall. Apparently, they had planned to walk to class together.
"Sorry Suzu!" She hurried off toward her friend without closing her locker. She made no effort to say goodbye to Kai this morning as she had done every day that week. He almost spoke his feelings out loud to her, but he quickly recomposed himself.
He had no idea what he was feeling. He was positive he didn't like her, and he could never love her, but he couldn't help but feel friendship. He had never had a real friend before, but he never really wanted one anyway.
Until now.
Of course Kai would never tell Ayame that. She was sweet, funny, klutzy, and overly friendly. She was also slightly ignorant of things that mattered. But it didn't matter to Kai that she was rather inane. She would take things the wrong way if he told her how he felt, however.
BRING!
The bell. Great.
Kai remembered that Ayame hadn't closed her locker door, and since he was late anyway, he took a moment to peer inside. He was never nosy like this, but something about Ayame compelled him to find out more about her.
There was nothing there but a few books and pictures. The pictures were the most interesting things there, so he decided to take a peek.
There were three pictures on her locker door along with some purikura[1]. Picture number one was Ayame and Suzume in someone's backyard.
The second one was Ayame as a baby.
Kai smirked. This was blackmail material.
The third picture was Ayame and some guy. Maybe a boyfriend. Kai couldn't help but be a little jealous, especially since he had his arm around her.
"Kai! I forgot to say goodbye to you!" Ayame dodged around the corner. Kai quickly shut her locker and turned back to his own, pretending to be looking at something interesting.
"You came all the way back to say goodbye? You're late. Sentimentality is a sign of weakness, you know," he said. It was perfect. Just the Kai thing to say.
Ayame smiled at him and ran back to her class.
Kai hid a smile. She was definitely a piece of work.
He remembered he was late for gym. Damnit!
*
Everyone was still down in the locker room when he arrived. Good. He wasn't too late.
"Kai, where were you!?" Max cried. He was already late. After Kai got dressed, a boy headed in his direction.
"Hiwatari! You're late! Do you have a pass?" Kai looked up. The boy had bright red hair, pale skin, freckles, glasses, and braces. If he was striving for the geeky look, he had it down packed.
"No." Well you're grade is going to be lowered by 5 points every time you're late!"
"Like I care," Kai said, ignoring the boy. Tyson, Rei, and Max all looked up at them.
"I'm going to go tell Mr. Kudou if you don't watch your mouth!"
"Do you get it yet? I don't give a shit." The boy ran off. Tyson's eyes lit up in admiration as Rei's and Max's lit up in surprise.
"He's Mr. Kudou's gossip monkey! You'll get in huge trouble, especially for being all. full of contempt," Rei said. Kai shut his eyes cooly and crossed his arms as he always did and then he leaned against the gym lockers.
"I don't care," was all he said. Max and Rei exchanged looks and shrugged.
"We tried to warn him!" Max smiled. The little snitchy boy didn't bother Kai at all. Apparently Kai had intimidated him, because Mr. Kudou hadn't said anything to him about it either.
"I want us all to play a game of volleyball," Mr. Kudou said to the class. "I explained the rules yesterday, so go ahead and get in teams of 4. Take advantage though, because tomorrow I will be picking for you."
Kai knew that Tyson, Max, and Rei would be coming over to him, and he didn't mind anymore. He was used to being with them now, not that he actually liked them. They were just acquaintances.
"Hey Kai! Be our partner?" Rei asked, as he, Max, and Tyson headed in his direction.
"Whatever."
They played for a while, Kai hitting the volleyball every time, Tyson and Max missing every time it came to them, and Rei getting it every once and a while. When the period was over, Kai left.
He was glad to be getting away from those guys. None of them could play very well. Except for Rei. But even he was fairly bad.
*
Kai headed to art early. There was a good 10 minutes before the bell rang. After he took his seat beside no one and in front of Ayame, three boys came over. One sat in the empty seat beside Kai and the other two sat in front of him and turned their chairs around.
"We heard you were messing with our buddy Sneedly. You weren't, were you?" the one beside Kai asked.
"Who?" Kai asked arrogantly. One the boys started to stand up and challenge Kai, but the one beside him pulled him back down.
"You don't wanna go messing with the wrong people, Hiwatari. You really don't."
"You're in my space. I'd just love it if you would leave me alone." Kai smiled disdainfully when he said that. This time the boy beside him stood up to hit Kai, but Ayame threw a paper ball at him before he could.
"Stop it, Tatsuhiko! That's enough," she said, as if she could control him. Surprisingly enough, he stopped.
"Aya, why'd you stop him? This guy's a jerk!" one of the other boys chimed in.
"Well I don't think so, Hibiki. And if it's true, then I'm sure he has good reason to be. Besides, this is none of your business. It's between Kai and Sneedly." Kai had been sitting there, listening to the conversation the whole time, not really paying attention to what he was doing. Suddenly he remembered where he was and spoke up.
"I don't need your help, Ayame. I can handle this. It's none of your business either." He shut his eyes again and crossed his arms.
Hibiki looked like he was about to kill Kai, but Ayame shook her head and smiled.
"Fine, Kai. You're right." This surprised him.
"What did you say?" he asked, turning to look at her, a light blush creeping into his cheeks.
"You're right. It's none of my business." She smiled again. Kai frowned and turned back to face Hibiki and the silent boy. Tatsuhiko was to his right.
"You guys done here? Are you ready to leave me alone now?" he asked them.
"Whatever." They all stood up and went back to their normal seats. Ayame stood up and moved next to Kai. Kai pretended not to see her.
"I-" Ayame turned to face Kai and whispered into his ear. "I want to talk to you later." Then she stood up and went back to her seat.
The bell rang. Ainoe-sensei came into the room.
"Hello class. Today we're going to study ancient art. Take out your books and turn to page 221.
Great. Book work.
*
After class, Kai tried to walk rather fast down the hallway, not wanting to talk to Ayame. She caught up with him anyway.
"Kai, wait up!" she cried, running frantically after him. Finally he turned around and stopped.
"We can go to English together!" she exclaimed once she had caught up to him.
"What do you want?" Kai's phrase took her by surprise, but she didn't dare show it.
"I only wanted to tell you that." she paused. "You don't have to hide behind that mask forever. There's nothing wrong with being friends with anyone, so stop trying to be a tough guy." Kai was taken aback by her comment, and for a second, only a second, his gaze flickered. His expression changed to a cringe, but his mask was back before Ayame could tell what it was.
"There is no mask. Mind your own business." Ayame stopped walking and stared after him. She leaned against the wall away from the crowding of people. Then she reached out her hand, as if to grab Kai and pull him back to her, but then she pulled it away and looked at it, as if there were something in it.
"Why won't you let me in, Kai," she said to herself, a sad expression on her face.
*
English was a drag. Kai wouldn't even look at her, and she felt horrible. If only she could take back her words. But she knew that she couldn't, and erased the idea from her mind. Despite what Kai would show, the two of them had become fairly close over the past three weeks, and to have him mad with her was unspeakable.
So she sat there with Rei, Tyson, and Max, not saying a word to any of them.
*
Lunch was no better. Kai had decided to sit on the other side of the table with Tyson and Kenny, and he wouldn't look at any of them.
"Dude, what's up with you?" Tyson directed his attention to Kai. Kai ignored him, as usual, and stared into space.
How could he let his disguise slip? He didn't want Ayame to know how he felt. How he felt about anything. Or anyone.
Why was she constantly prying into his life? Was he that interesting? She should just leave him alone!
And the fact that a stupid girl had almost broken his barrier was horrendous. A stupid, cheerful, happy girl. What was wrong with him?
"Kai, are you alright?" Ayame asked cautiously.
"Leave me alone." Ayame didn't try to hide her sadness. A single tear dropped on the table as she stood, throwing her lunch away and leaving the cafeteria.
"What is your deal, Kai? Do you want to make her cry?" Rei inquired.
"It's none of your business."
"But she's our friend too Kai, and we all know she's crazy about you." Max said quickly, and then realized his mistake. But it was too late.
"What?" Kai looked up, flustered and flabbergasted at the same time.
AN: Cliffy! I'm evil, ain't I? Review and I'll think about writing the next chapter! LOL, just kidding, I'm going to write it anyway, but still review!
[1] Purikura are those cute little pictures that you can get from photo machines. They look like thumbnails, and you can usually fit about 2 people in each picture. They also give you a frame or background in the picture that says stuff like "friends4ever" or what have you.