by Runic Knight
'Why is it always like this?' a girl wondered as she walked resolutely down the hallway, her face fixed in a downward slant. On the floor beneath her feet, she watched the tiles go by. Each tile was the same, perfectly square, with an even amount of grout holding it in place, and a neighbourly tile situated on each side. That was the way it always was, and it wasn't about to be changed anytime soon.
She studied the constant tiles, keeping her gaze away from the person on her mind. He was walking past her in the opposite direction, his feet seemingly laced with dignity. He did not seem to be thinking too hard about anything in particular, simply on his way somewhere. He was probably off to do something important as a prince would always be expected to do.
He was the prince, after all, the prince of the highschool. Meaning he was considered untouchable to anyone, herself included. She was not a member of his official fan club with over half of the female student body inscribed, but she still considered herself a fan. But definitely not one of those loud "I love him so much that I would go against my parents' will to get a tattoo of his face on my forearm" fans. No way, they were merely lunatics. Enough said.
She glanced up for the briefest of seconds, a flash in time which would most certainly seem insignificant in the course of things but for that moment, it would mean everything. She focused on his regal face; his eyes were looking straight ahead and his lips came together to form a straight line with a slight curve upwards at both ends. It was a practised smile that one would always find upon his face.
Within that five second interval, a call from behind vibrated softly in the airwaves. "Yuki-kun!" Through those two words, the look on his face changed instantaneously. His eyes gained a shimmer, and his lips curled into a deeper smile, one that the girl had never seen before.
Even without glimpsing behind her, the girl knew who must have been coming. The one who seemed to have broken the ice prince's shell, the shell that no girl had been able to penetrate.
"Good afternoon, Honda-san," the prince greeted her, and regaining his composure, his smile returned to the normal one that the girl had grown accustomed to seeing. But no sense of composure could ever have hidden that glistening sensation in his eyes.
Maybe that exceedingly sublime smile was just hidden under his normal mask, the disguise he only took off for Honda Tohru.
The girl returned her gaze to the floor. Even after those five seconds had past, the floor beneath her was exactly the same. The pieces of ceramic upon which everyone scampered showed no signs of use - they were still as perfect as ever, no matter how many people walked on them while taking no notice of their simple merit. Those poor little tiles, so torn and unable to show it.
Tears had gathered at her eyes at the thought of Yuki. No, not Yuki. It wasn't really because of him. It was just the thought that perhaps she wasn't good enough for him - or anyone else. Not even a look her way had she received. No acknowledgement of existence, even.
She sighed.
How did those tiles stand strong for so long? For certain, if she were a tile, she would have been fractured down the middle, broken at her core.
Author Banter: (completed September 23rd 2003)
I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot story. It's not from anyone's perspective in particular, simply one of those unnoticed school girls who would never have had a speaking role in the anime / manga.
I really must stop sympathizing for inanimate objects. The largest inanimate object I sympathize for would be Shigure's house. XD I'm actually creating a web shrine for that poor little thing. (Don't mind me, I'm just weird sometimes, really.)