Am still alive! Am still writing!
Patty g: Yay! Another Shouri supporter! Thank Jura? … Why not? ^_^
Crazy4u: No, I dunno about the bsc! Help my naïve soul! What is bsc? You want to see me personally? You sure? I might be the Blob or a Jedi for all that you know. ^_^ There's another author in SBU for SD section? Cool!
Tensaispira: Are you back form ur kampong yet? Where is it?
Iluvenis Telperien: Now you see. ^_^
Unchained: ^_^ I'll echo YOU. Hahahahahaha!
Krappkarmin: Hilarious. Though I must say I like your spelling better hell-arious. He he! Thanks a lot for reading this!
Tiran: Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Fiery-ice: *nothingtodo snaps the dustbin with fiery ice in it shut* Peace at last. ^_^
Unquestionable: Uploaded! Thanks! It's too late now, but Happy CNY to you too!
Leika: Hope your thesis' doing well! Glad you're back! Missed you! *muah!* *leika chokes* Heh heh.
Teh tarik: Ha ha! Man, your name sounds delicious. Continuing! (you Malaysian, rite?)
sLL: More coming! You can calm down now!
Raisa: Longer and update faster? *guilty look* Um, I do try, raisa, I really do, but I'm pretty swamped. What you get is basically the best I can manage. Gomen, ne? How long do I take to update a chapter? Unknown. It varies. ^_^
Jo-sen7: [I want to be Kiyota's girlfriend too!] He he! Waiting's over!
Eyebrows joint together, eyes narrowed and lips curled in a snarl, Shouri walked down the school corridors, mindful of the stares and finger-points she was getting. Every rational person quickly and wisely leaped out of her way – except one.
"Just one minute, Shouri," Jura stood in her path, panting after running all the way to catch up with Shouri. "Just one damn minute."
Shouri stared at her. "YOU! I've been wanting to kill you since yesterday!" She shot a glare at a third-year girl, who, being her senior, ironically sank bank. "Get me a knife."
"W-what?"
"A KNIFE! A KNIFE! Haven't you learnt ANYTHING in your entire sorry life?? Get me a KNIFE so I can kill my equally stupid cousin with it!" Fangs out, Shouri grabbed hold of Jura's arms. "NEVER touch any of my things again. NEVER doodle even a single dot on anything that belongs to me. And NEVER attempt to write a certain name beginning with 'K' at ANYTHING that I will likely see. Got that??"
"Hey, hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be mad here!"
"You? Mad? What for? I'm the one humiliated, aren't I? That fungus-covered guy of your dreams now thinks I'm all head over heels for him, and because of what? Because of your STUPID, SENSELESS declarations of love for him in MY NOTEBOOK!"
Jura blinked. "Oh?"
"'Oh'?" Shouri's eyes glazed. "Just 'oh'? Tell me, is that the universal response after you get told off or is it just something that idiots like you say when you're being idiotic?"
Jura had a faint smile on her face. "Thank goodness." She said brightly. "I knew it was somehow wrong."
"WHAT?"
"Somebody told me you hooked up with Kiyota behind my back. Don't know why I believed it, but I did. Obviously, that'll never happen. Anyway, great chatting with you. I'm going to find Kiyota now."
"Damn right. Why would I want to hook up with –" Shouri watched her go with her mouth hanging open. "Wait, hold it! Hold it! What do you mean 'obviously that'll never happen'?"
Jura looked back with an amused expression. "Well, duh. You're not like, his type or anything."
Shouri raised an eyebrow, insulted. "Oh? And what's his type?"
Jura winked. "Me." And she went off.
Shouri stared at her retreating back. Then, she snorted. "The only reason I'm not his type is because I'm BETTER than him." She comforted herself with that. "I'm not a ditz like Jura. I'm not a ditz like Jura. I'm not a ditz like Jura. Oh -" The year three girl had returned wheezing from the school canteen with a knife. "I don't need that anymore. Thanks anyway."
"… I'm not a ditz like Jura, I'm not a ditz like Jura," chanting it to herself, for no apparent reason that the fact that it made her happy, Shouri swiftly waltzed into her class. "Hey, Dina. I'm not a ditz like Jura."
Dina smiled uncertainly, surprised. "Um, I guess not."
"What's first period?"
"Science."
"Good. I hate Science."
Dina rubbed her temple. "Huh?"
"Did I tell you I'm not a ditz like Jura?"
May, desk neighbour, leaned in. "Hey, Shouri."
"Hey, May. I'm not a ditz like Jura."
May raised an eyebrow. "Hard to say. I heard about you and Kiyota." The gossip-shark grin came. "What's the deal? How come I didn't know you had a crush on him? I'm usually pretty good in stuff like that."
Shouri's eyes frosted. "You're not far off the mark this time either. There's nothing going on. The guy saw a number of stupid things in my notebook and is publicising it for all its worth. He KNOWS I'm not interested in him, and he's just trying to frustrate me by making everyone think that I am."
"But you are."
Shouri raised her hands. "See? That's exactly it! Even YOU think I'm half in love with him."
"Aren't you?"
"Do I even have to answer that? Oh, look." Shouri pointed at her textbook. "Who knew there was a purple grasshopper? I thought they were all green in colour."
"Um, that's an orchid, Shouri." Dina corrected gently.
Shouri blinked. Then flushed in embarrassment. "Oh. Sorry. I was, um, -"
"Panicky," May's eyes twinkled curiously. "Nervous. What's the big deal, Shouri? He's very popular, and he looks good. You should be flattered to be gossiped with him."
Shouri stared at her. "You obviously don't know him." With a shake of the head, she reached for her water bottle and drank from it to cool her suddenly hot throat.
May shrugged. "Yeah, well, I watch him sometimes. As far as I'm concerned, he's an ideal package. Besides, you and him don't make such a bad couple."
Ptuuuu!
Water rained from Shouri's mouth and sprayed all over table, floor and friends.
May wiped the water from her face. "Okay. No need to get violent."
Shouri coughed a few times and took a moment to compose herself. Not such a bad couple? Where did that come from?? She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, and then opened it again. "You're getting it all wrong. Those rumours you heard? They're all baseless. We're not a couple. We're not even going to turn into one. Besides, are you kidding? Jura'll kill me."
"Why are you panicking? You can always kill her first."
Shouri laughed. "Honestly, no, nothing's happening. Like somebody kindly pointed out, I'm not his type."
"What's his type then, O-Mighty-Know-It-All?"
"Her," Shouri murmured with a wry smile as Jura walked in. "That's his type. Big Head and Big Head. Perfect." She started to hum a wedding tune.
May snorted. "We'll see." She offered a meaningful smile. "Like I said before, I'm usually pretty good in stuff like this."
"And like I said before, I'm not a ditz like Jura." Shouri pushed her away just as the Science teacher marched in.
Kiyota and her.
A couple.
What crap.
People nowadays have nothing better than assuming other people's lives. Why can't they do something better with their time like memorizing the alphabets or figuring out why tissue papers are called tissue papers?
It's not like she ever showed any interest to fuel that rumour.
And it's not like he ever showed anything either.
And she's not a ditz like Jura. Jura, typically, would fall for someone like him. Good-looking, famous and empty. Not that Jura could see the empty side. That girl lived in fantasies.
Shouri didn't. She was rather well tuned to reality. Sort of. A little. A bit.
She's not a ditz like Jura.
"Textbook, pencil case, pen, stapler, …" Shouri muttered as she packed up her things, trying to recall if she'd left out anything. "…paper, exercises, …" The class and corridors were already emptied as students had rushed for food like ants being chased by a fire-breathing dragon five minutes ago. Three more minutes of fumbling around in class, and Shouri would miss the entire recess. "Hurry up. Ruler, pencils… I think I've got all of them." Then – "Eraser!" she bent down to look under her chair. "There you are."
How did May get a picture of them together, anyway?
Shouri closed her files and gathered her things.
Not such a bad couple?
Really?
Stepping out of the class, she reminded herself again that she's not a ditz like Jura. She doesn't write love notes with little hearts around them. She doesn't doodle names on her notebook with bright purple ink. She doesn't do graffiti on the wall just to express her feelings. She doesn't fall for people like Kiyota.
Nope.
She is not a ditz like a Jura.
I'm not a ditz like Jura, Shouri told herself as she turned to the right. I'm not a ditz like Jura. I'm not a ditz like Jura. I'm not a – She caught sight of Kiyota – oh, shit, I'm exactly like Jura. Alarmed and panicked by the sudden realisation, Shouri thought briefly of stuffing herself underneath the cupboards outside the class.
Then she saw Jura walking up to him. Curious, if nothing else, she quietly slipped behind a pillar and watched like a trained spy.
Jura touched Kiyota by the arm to get his attention.
Kiyota looked surprised, and his face blanked for a moment as he tried to recall her name.
Jura said something with a grin.
Kiyota said something back.
Jura said something again.
And Kiyota said something back again.
All right, so they were having a conversation.
Jura said something, and grinned even wider, her eyebrows wriggling.
Kiyota grinned back, and nodded.
Why are they grinning like that? Why would anyone grin like that? What's going – Whoa.
Kiyota was leaning down.
Jura was looking up.
Are they doing what I think they're – whoa.
They're – they're kissing?
Ugh.
You don't have to watch this, Shouri. Turn around. Recess. Food. Miso soup.
They're SNOGGING!
Turn around, Shouri! Turn around! Don't watch this!
That ham-handed brute! That gutless pervert! That –
They broke off.
Jura's face was pink, and her grin broke records. "Thanks."
Kiyota shrugged. "No problem." Then they went their separate ways, Jura licking her lips as if they were made of sweets.
Shouri stepped away from the pillar and released a deep breath.
Cows.
Like I said, she reminded herself again with gritted teeth. I'm not a ditz like Jura.