A different Toudai, Chapter 2
Naru could have sworn that shriek sent her jumping three feet into the air out of a sound sleep. The main light was on, as well as Asami's two fancy little bedside lamps given to her by one of her many admirers, and yet her roommate was shining a flashlight directly in her face. Naru groaned as she remembered her actions. She was in for it now.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" shrieked Asami, one arm extended so that the light bulb of the flashlight was just centimeters away from Naru's nose, her other hand propped on her waist.
Naru sat up and rubbed her eyes, taking her time, then colored as she noticed the man standing in the doorway. He was dressed elegantly and held a bouquet of pink roses in his hand, but the expression on his face showed that he was both confused at the scene and unclear as to what he should do. The effect was that he appeared most tempted to run out the door.
She was suddenly tempted to laugh as she realized a second-and possibly stronger-factor for Asami's anger. The blue-eyed beauty hadn't expected her to be here. Obviously, upon entering in the dark-several hours had passed since she'd shredded her roommate's pictures-the first thing Asami would have encountered would be Naru's silhouette on the bed. And Naru knew from experience that if there was anything Asami hated, it was her getting in the way of one of her dates.
She couldn't help reveling in the delight of driving Asami mad. If only there wasn't a man staring at her while she was in bed. . .
Seeing that she wasn't going to get much more of a reaction out of the brunette, Asami huffily turned off the flashlight and pulled an expensive leather jacket over her revealing low-cut top. She threw one last disgusted look towards Naru and quickly her voice turned to maple syrup as she said sweetly, "Ikimashoo, Hisashi-san."
Asami would make her pay later, Naru knew. She lay back down as the lights switched off and the door slammed, but didn't go back to sleep immediately. It had been small, and had come at the expense of being humiliated in front of a man, but tonight shone as a tiny jewel in the deep black pool of times she had been humiliated by Asami.
= = = = = = =
Naru burst into her room, a bubble of hope swelling in her heart, amplified when she saw that Asami wasn't there. Her roommate hadn't taken the time to piece all the pictures back together; she had instead thrown them away and sweetly acquired twice as many in the past few days. Naru didn't care.
She tore the envelope open, savoring the excitement, then paused on the verge of opening it and withdrew her hand from the folded letter. The brunette ran her hand over the name again. Her name.
Naru Narusegawa.
She knew that handwriting; she'd seen it a million times while helping him study for Toudai exams. Unable to bear the excitement any longer, she tore the letter out of the envelope and quickly unfolded it. Five thick pages, covered with writing, tumbled to the floor. Naru scrambled on her hands and knees to find the first page and grabbing it, read eagerly.
Her hand sank almost as quickly as it had snatched the letter, and her eyes closed in despair. A ploy. That was all it had been, a trick from the hands of Konno Mitsune.
Dejectedly Naru opened her eyes to read it. Her emotions flooded from disappointment to anger. After having almost no contact with her high school girlfriend, Kitsune had seen fit to play such a prank on her? Naru scanned the letter and saw that she had copied Naru's name off of one of Keitaro's math papers. As much as Kitsune's prank had hurt her, Naru realized that the reminder of Keitaro's feelings for her hurt much worse.
Naru closed her eyes and let herself float back to the past.
= = = = = = =
"Do you understand it now? Keitaro? Are you even paying attention?!"
"Uhh, hai," Keitaro responded quickly under Naru's glare. Apparently satisfied, the brunette jabbed her pen at the equation and continued to scribble quickly.
"After you take the square root of both sides-no, it's not two, it's three- divide both sides by x-understand?" Her pen hesitated in midair. Keitaro's large brown eyes got even wider.
"Yes," he said, and Naru relaxed her facial muscles into a smile-a smile that quickly vanished as Keitaro folded his hands behind his back and leaned back in his chair, rocking on the two hind legs. "It would be so wonderful to be an archeologist someday-and never have to use math-"
"Of course you have to use math in archeology, Keitaro!" exclaimed a shocked Naru. "Imagine all the math you'd have to do to date the objects you found, to calculate the actual sizes of shattered objects, to-" She leaned forward to draw up a list and her action shifted the table, which in turn shifted the hind left leg of Keitaro's chair, which promptly tipped over.
"Ouch. . ."
"Kei-taro!" Accenting the first syllable as she always did, Naru stood up, and a torrent of annoyance burst forth. "How do you expect to get into Toudai if you don't want to learn math? You'll never get anywhere by simply imagining the good days ahead!"
She turned to leave, but something caused her to hesitate. Her name.
"Naru?"
Naru colored, her eyes even wider than Keitaro's. Then, without a word, she turned to leave.
Now she knew why Keitaro had been lost during that study period-he'd spent all of it elegantly drawing her name on his paper. She'd never seen her name look so beautiful-Naru Narusegawa-drawn with black ink with calculus problems for a background.
= = = = = = =
She really wished she hadn't exploded at him like that.
Naru lowered her head again to look at the letter, then tossed it into the wastebasket. The last page landed at an angle so that only half of the back was visible, and it was covered with handwriting Naru didn't recognize-not Kitsune's, and certainly not Keitaro's messy scribble.
No-it was Shinobu's, Naru realized, as she pulled the letter out of the wastebasket. A smile came over her face as she read Shinobu's innocent, tentative little words inviting her to come home for Christmas. She promised to make some of her cookies. Naru discovered she would love to return just for those cookies. And then she'd pull some pranks of her own on Kitsune.
Suddenly happy again, as if a lead weight had been lifted off her chest, Naru went to her desk to write a reply to her girlfriends.
Naru could have sworn that shriek sent her jumping three feet into the air out of a sound sleep. The main light was on, as well as Asami's two fancy little bedside lamps given to her by one of her many admirers, and yet her roommate was shining a flashlight directly in her face. Naru groaned as she remembered her actions. She was in for it now.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" shrieked Asami, one arm extended so that the light bulb of the flashlight was just centimeters away from Naru's nose, her other hand propped on her waist.
Naru sat up and rubbed her eyes, taking her time, then colored as she noticed the man standing in the doorway. He was dressed elegantly and held a bouquet of pink roses in his hand, but the expression on his face showed that he was both confused at the scene and unclear as to what he should do. The effect was that he appeared most tempted to run out the door.
She was suddenly tempted to laugh as she realized a second-and possibly stronger-factor for Asami's anger. The blue-eyed beauty hadn't expected her to be here. Obviously, upon entering in the dark-several hours had passed since she'd shredded her roommate's pictures-the first thing Asami would have encountered would be Naru's silhouette on the bed. And Naru knew from experience that if there was anything Asami hated, it was her getting in the way of one of her dates.
She couldn't help reveling in the delight of driving Asami mad. If only there wasn't a man staring at her while she was in bed. . .
Seeing that she wasn't going to get much more of a reaction out of the brunette, Asami huffily turned off the flashlight and pulled an expensive leather jacket over her revealing low-cut top. She threw one last disgusted look towards Naru and quickly her voice turned to maple syrup as she said sweetly, "Ikimashoo, Hisashi-san."
Asami would make her pay later, Naru knew. She lay back down as the lights switched off and the door slammed, but didn't go back to sleep immediately. It had been small, and had come at the expense of being humiliated in front of a man, but tonight shone as a tiny jewel in the deep black pool of times she had been humiliated by Asami.
= = = = = = =
Naru burst into her room, a bubble of hope swelling in her heart, amplified when she saw that Asami wasn't there. Her roommate hadn't taken the time to piece all the pictures back together; she had instead thrown them away and sweetly acquired twice as many in the past few days. Naru didn't care.
She tore the envelope open, savoring the excitement, then paused on the verge of opening it and withdrew her hand from the folded letter. The brunette ran her hand over the name again. Her name.
Naru Narusegawa.
She knew that handwriting; she'd seen it a million times while helping him study for Toudai exams. Unable to bear the excitement any longer, she tore the letter out of the envelope and quickly unfolded it. Five thick pages, covered with writing, tumbled to the floor. Naru scrambled on her hands and knees to find the first page and grabbing it, read eagerly.
Her hand sank almost as quickly as it had snatched the letter, and her eyes closed in despair. A ploy. That was all it had been, a trick from the hands of Konno Mitsune.
Dejectedly Naru opened her eyes to read it. Her emotions flooded from disappointment to anger. After having almost no contact with her high school girlfriend, Kitsune had seen fit to play such a prank on her? Naru scanned the letter and saw that she had copied Naru's name off of one of Keitaro's math papers. As much as Kitsune's prank had hurt her, Naru realized that the reminder of Keitaro's feelings for her hurt much worse.
Naru closed her eyes and let herself float back to the past.
= = = = = = =
"Do you understand it now? Keitaro? Are you even paying attention?!"
"Uhh, hai," Keitaro responded quickly under Naru's glare. Apparently satisfied, the brunette jabbed her pen at the equation and continued to scribble quickly.
"After you take the square root of both sides-no, it's not two, it's three- divide both sides by x-understand?" Her pen hesitated in midair. Keitaro's large brown eyes got even wider.
"Yes," he said, and Naru relaxed her facial muscles into a smile-a smile that quickly vanished as Keitaro folded his hands behind his back and leaned back in his chair, rocking on the two hind legs. "It would be so wonderful to be an archeologist someday-and never have to use math-"
"Of course you have to use math in archeology, Keitaro!" exclaimed a shocked Naru. "Imagine all the math you'd have to do to date the objects you found, to calculate the actual sizes of shattered objects, to-" She leaned forward to draw up a list and her action shifted the table, which in turn shifted the hind left leg of Keitaro's chair, which promptly tipped over.
"Ouch. . ."
"Kei-taro!" Accenting the first syllable as she always did, Naru stood up, and a torrent of annoyance burst forth. "How do you expect to get into Toudai if you don't want to learn math? You'll never get anywhere by simply imagining the good days ahead!"
She turned to leave, but something caused her to hesitate. Her name.
"Naru?"
Naru colored, her eyes even wider than Keitaro's. Then, without a word, she turned to leave.
Now she knew why Keitaro had been lost during that study period-he'd spent all of it elegantly drawing her name on his paper. She'd never seen her name look so beautiful-Naru Narusegawa-drawn with black ink with calculus problems for a background.
= = = = = = =
She really wished she hadn't exploded at him like that.
Naru lowered her head again to look at the letter, then tossed it into the wastebasket. The last page landed at an angle so that only half of the back was visible, and it was covered with handwriting Naru didn't recognize-not Kitsune's, and certainly not Keitaro's messy scribble.
No-it was Shinobu's, Naru realized, as she pulled the letter out of the wastebasket. A smile came over her face as she read Shinobu's innocent, tentative little words inviting her to come home for Christmas. She promised to make some of her cookies. Naru discovered she would love to return just for those cookies. And then she'd pull some pranks of her own on Kitsune.
Suddenly happy again, as if a lead weight had been lifted off her chest, Naru went to her desk to write a reply to her girlfriends.