I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's not quite as tragic as the first though. *frowns* Already my work is beginning to slip...oh well. Enjoy!
Aiko Hinagata sat in chemistry class and stared out the open window. It was spring, and the Cherry Blossom trees were bursting with delicate pink flowers. Smiling, Aiko watched the petals drift on the breeze in lazy patterns until they nestled comfortably in the growing grass. She closed her eyes and dreamed of being surrounded by Cherry Blossom trees. Her brown hair would be blowing in the breeze, petals would be swirling around her. Then she'd open her green eyes and see...
"MISS HINAGATA!" a loud shout broke through her daydream, shocking Aiko's eyes open and causing her to leap to her feet.
"Uh..ah, I'm sorry Mr. Machida," apologized Aiko. Turning red, Aiko picked up her chemistry book and began reading from the first paragraph she laid eyes on. "Avogadro's number states that for every one mole of an element..."
The whole class burst into laughter while the teacher sighed impatiently and rubbed his forhead.
"Miss Hinagata, we've moved on to the next chapter. Please turn to page 334 and begin reading from the third paragraph," Mr. Machida patted his right pants pocket, and thought he had picked the wrong day to quit smoking.
Aiko blushed red again as the class continued to snicker. She found the correct page, and read her assigned paragraph aloud to the class. When she finally sat back down, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she came face to face with Yasuo Tachikawa. His brown eyes glittered and the cool breeze that wafted through the classroom ruffled his dark hair slightly. Aiko found herself on the verge of a dreamy sigh.
"Nice going, Hinagata," Yasuo grinned. "Didn't get enough beauty sleep last night?" Leaning closer, Yasuo squinted at Aiko as she held her breath.
"Looks like you could use 10 years worth of beauty sleep." finished Yasuo. Aiko paled, then regaining her senses and color, knocked Yasuo over by throwing her notebook at his head.
"Hmmph. That'll teach you to insult a lady!" sniffed Aiko as she turned back to her desk and began to follow along in her textbook, ignoring the stream of curses coming from Yasuo's mouth.
Aiko hurried down the hallways of Jindai Houbi High School, expertly dodging students heading to lunch or some club meeting. She herself was on her way to Mrs. Yokusei's office to turn in her late history report. Aiko couldn't wait turn in the stupid thing. She had better things to be worrying about.
In just a few more hours, she and her friends would be at Caffeine Rush sipping their drinks before heading off to the mall. The thought of having an icy vanilla frappucino delighted her, and pushed her to walk faster in the hopes that the day would go by faster too. Aiko's thoughts were so clouded with visions of the yummy treat awaiting her, that she didn't see Yasuo leaving another classroom with a folder in hand. The two collided, sending paper flying in all directions.
"Hey!" cried Yasuo as he made a futile attempt to catch his fluttering papers. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" Frantically gathering up his papers, Yasuo glanced up to see who had bumped into him. Seeing Aiko, he huffed out a breath of air and rolled his eyes. "I should've known..."
"I'm sorry," began Aiko. "I didn't see you..."
"Obviously," Yasuo said as he started to retrieve his fallen papers, snagging one just before it was crushed underfoot by someone walking past.
Aiko blushed, which was quickly becoming a habit of hers. She picked up some of the papers scattered around her and glanced down at them. It was Yasuo's biology report. He'd gotten a D+. Shuffling the papers around, she saw that there were a number of Yasuo's homework assignments here and that they all had equally bad grades.
Seeing Aiko looking at his terrible grades, he snatched them out of her hand and began to nervously stuff them back into his folder.
"Umm, you know, Yasuo, if you need help studying or anything, I could probably help you out..." Aiko looked at him warily. "It's no big deal, really. My friends and I hold a study group every Monday and Wednesday at Caffeine Rush. Maybe you should drop by."
Yasuo seemed to consider it for a moment, then shook his head.
"Sorry, I can't. I've got better things to do than sit around and listen to a bunch of girls talk about hair and make-up."
Aiko took a deep breath, and was about to declare that that's not ALL they talked about, when a soft female voice to her right interrupted her thoughts.
"Umm, excuse me."
Aiko and Yasuo turned and saw a girl with silky black hair and blue eyes gazing shyly at them. Yasuo felt an uneasiness that he couldn't quite explain. When the strange girl turned her eyes to Aiko, he felt that uneasiness grow into a slight fear.
Aiko's reaction, however, was one of delight.
"WOW!!! You have such pretty hair! What shampoo do you use?" Aiko picked up a strand of the girl's hair and began twirling it around her fingers. "You're so lucky to have hair like this. Mine never does what I want it to." Pointing to her hair that was slightly mussed from bumping into Yasuo, Aiko pouted.
The girl smiled gently at Aiko as Yasuo rolled his eyes and walked off.
"Girls," grumbled Yasuo as he continued down the hallway. He rounded a corner, then plastered himself to the wall closest to the two girls. There was something about that other girl that he didn't trust.
"Don't mind him," Aiko explained. "He's on his period. Anyway, how can I help you?"
"Could you tell me where Mrs. Yokusei's office is? I'm new here and I'm supposed to see her about an essay she assigned a few weeks ago," said the girl as she stepped out of the way of someone in a rush to get to lunch.
Aiko brightened immediately and took the girl by the hand, guiding her through the crush of bodies. Yasuo turned away as they passed by, and then began following them from a safe distance.
"Follow me! I'm going there myself. She can be a real bitch sometimes, but she's usually a great person." Aiko smiled warmly and glanced at the girl who was looking at their entwined hands with a dazed look on her face. "What's your name?"
The girl's eyes glittered as her gaze lifted to look at Aiko's face.
"Ayane. Ayane Hishi."