The Fortune

Written by: Zakuro Fujiwara

Chapter 5: Waiting for 2 Years

Izumi conjured up all of her courage and said, "No." That one simple word was full of a fake annoyance. Takuya grinned slyly and just nodded and said, "Okay, I just wanted to know, because Kouji's sister gave that to him at the beginning of lunch and I was just wondering who gave it to him." Izumi put on a face that said 'Go away' although it wasn't very good.

Izumi went back to her seat and finished her lunch and granola bar. She was taking her garbage to the garbage can when one of her friends came up to her. "There's someone at the door for you." She whispered. Izumi threw her stuff away and went to the door. Takuya was there. "Kouji told me to give this to you... for some reason he's too lazy to give it to you himself." Takuya snickered. He handed her a still plastic covered candy cane. Izumi took it with a shaking hand and right at that moment, Amaya arrived and Takuya left laughing so loudly. "SHUT UP!!!" some boy in another class told him. Takuya ignored him and laughed all the way into his own classroom.

Amaya and Izumi sat with their friends. Izumi had set the candy cane on the table. "Better check it for poisoning!" Amaya joked and laughed at herself. Izumi chuckled and murmured dreamily, "Yeah, I'd better." She left the candy cane on the table and totally forgot about it when she left the school. She only remembered about it when she entered her house. "Dammit..." she muttered.

A year and a half later

During the past year and a half, Izumi made some really good friends, few of which were going to the same middle school as her. What made her happier during the move was that she found out that she'd be going to the same middle school as her other friends in her old school. Two of her three VERY best friends, which happened to be twins named Reena and Ariza, were joining her in middle school, but her other VERY best friend was going to be separated. During graduation, many people cried of joy and sadness.

Flashback

They cried of joy because they finally graduated and they cried of sadness because some were to be separated in middle school. "We'll miss you, Lianya!" Izumi and the twins said to their best friend. "I'll miss you guys, too!" Lianya said.

End Flashback

Now it was middle school and Izumi was excited to be there. She had a wonderful reunion with her old friends and her old friends met with her new friends. She had seen Kouji, but didn't have the guts to speak to him. They had 10 minutes to talk among themselves until the speaker came on and the classes were sorted out. Kouji and Izumi were in the same homeroom. "It's déjà-vu!" Izumi muttered to herself.

They had settled into their homerooms and met with their teacher. Izumi was placed right next to Kouji. "Man, this is a serious case of déjà-vu!" Izumi muttered again. "It's nice to see you after two years." Kouji greeted Izumi. He flashed a charming smile making Izumi sure that she'd just melt. Izumi had grown more courageous now since she knew that he must like her a bit. "It's nice to see you, too, although it's really been one year and a half." Izumi corrected him. Kouji just laughed and sat in his seat. 'Oh my gosh, I could just die from his beautiful laugh!' Izumi thought dreamily.

Takuya had seen the friendly flirting and chuckled to himself. "How precious..." he muttered to himself and laughed quietly. Kouji, with his awesome ears said, "What's precious?" Takuya was taken aback. He was sure that he said that quietly. "Nothing that concerns you!" Takuya laughed. Kouji just gave him a weird look and just shrugged.

The bell rang. It was their break time. Izumi rushed to her friends in the field. "Hi you guys!" Izumi greeted. All of her friends returned her greeting. "You know, I saw you and Kouji flirting in homeroom this morning!" her friend named Lili said cunningly. Izumi became nervous, and it was written all over her face. Reena nudged her. "What, I'm just curious!" Lili protested. "Well, actually, he just said that it was nice to see me after two years." Izumi replied shyly and blushed. "Oh that is definitely the beginning of flirting!" Monica, another of Izumi's friends, said. They all giggled innocently, besides, what would you expect from naïve 12 year-olds that just fantasize about an intimate relationship with the one they love. Although Izumi never really heard those three simple, yet delightful and disturbing at the same time, words. Izumi sighed and told her friends that she'd just take a short alone-time walk around the field. She felt like a helpless kindergartener, since she was now in the lowest grade in middle school.

She explored the lush, green field of middle school. She found a tree stump to sit on and settled onto it. She noticed a soccer field that was being use by the eighth graders. "Hello Izumi." A familiar voice said from behind her. Izumi practically shot out of her seat. She turned around panicky. She noticed that it was just Kouji behind her. "Oh, it's just you... heh." Izumi laughed nervously. Kouji chuckled. "Yeah, it's just me." Kouji said. Izumi stopped laughing and sat on the large tree stump. "Want to sit?" Izumi offered the space beside her. "Sure, why not?" Kouji accepted. He smiled at her and sat down beside her. Izumi was sure she would die just from looking at his sweet smile. She tried to avoid his gaze while he talked to her in fear that he'd notice her blushing. "You know, I've been waiting for two years to tell you something..." Kouji began.

The bell rang before Kouji could finish. "We'll be late for our classes if we don't hurry." Kouji changed the subject. Izumi just nodded disdainfully. She looked so forward to hearing what Kouji had to say. "Come on, Izumi!" Kouji called out as he began walking. Izumi snapped out of her thoughts. "I'm coming...!" Izumi responded. She got up, dusted herself off and ran towards Kouji. 'If only you knew...' Izumi thought sadly.

They arrived in their next class, which was Physical Education, or more so known as Phys. Ed. Their instructor was a tall and lean woman. She looked very athletic and looked in great shape. She had short brown curly hair and had soft blue eyes. Her name was Ms. Marini. "Hello, class. Today, we'll be doing some fun recreational stuff instead of having a normal lesson. We'll be doing some partner activities which include rally." Ms. Marini said. "And I'd also like it if you called me by my first name, Nari. For some strange reason, I feel younger if you all call me that." She laughed. And so the lesson began.

"Go, Izumi!" one of her teammates cheered as she ran to the other side of the gigantic gymnasium. She'd touched the wall and sped back to her team. She touched Kouji's hand and he sped off. Izumi had slightly blushed when she touched his hand. A few of her teammates saw this and whispered, "Go for it Izumi!" Izumi just gave them a weird look and went to the back of the line and sat down. "Go, Kouji!!!" she cried out.

Kouji heard his favorite voice say "Go Kouji!" It made him go faster, making him finish off his team's victory. His team cheered and a few gave him a high-five. He sat behind Izumi while his team waited for the other teams to finish. "Congratulations on winning!" Izumi smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Kouji went warm on his face and touched his cheek. He smiled at her and whispered a thank you. Izumi nodded and blushed furiously once she realized what she had just done. "I-I-I'm sorry." Izumi apologized with difficulty. "No, no, no, it's okay." Kouji assured her.

Lunch period arrived and the bell rang. The class ate their lunches and went outside for a break period. Izumi told her friends that she needed some time to think alone. They all understood what she meant and nodded. Izumi went to the large tree stump, which she decided was her alone-time and thinking place from then on. She sat on the stump and thought about Kouji and how she felt. 'How do I describe how I feel... lo-love-LOVESICK!" she thought in her head. She buried her head in her arms. Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Who is it?" she asked in a muffled voice. "It's Kouji." Kouji replied. Izumi's head shot up from her arms. "I've been wanting to tell you this for so long... but I think I've fallen for you." Kouji confessed. Izumi was so touched by this. "I think I've fallen for you, as well, Kouji-kun!" Izumi cried. They both smiled happily. "Let's not get too serious until we're a little older, though." Izumi cleverly planned. Kouji nodded and said, "Let's just stay as close friends."

AN: I think this is the longest chapter that I've written so far! YAY!