[A/N:: Naa, I am NOT character-bashing here! Nyaa! Just incase you worry about my sanity. XP Oh, and by the way... sorry for not updating quicker... ^^;;]
"Johnny, that was cheap,"
Yosaku complained as Johnny returned with the goofiest smile on his face.
"She's snazzy,"
He said dreamily, sinking his head into his hands,
"And she knows my name..."
"Right."
Zoro said, then realised he didn't know her name. He wondered if she knew his.
"Cheer up, Yosaku. I'm sure she'll be free after dancing with that guy."
"You think so?"
Yosaku took a glance at the dance floor with a big grin, then suddenly choked and began sobbing uncontrollably into Zoro's shoulder.
"H-Hey!! What gives??"
Zoro yelped as he quickly substituted his white-shirt with a napkin, barely managing to avoid Yosaku blowing his nose on him. Johnny looked at the dance floor before tutting and nodding in understanding.
"Oh, I see."
Johnny said with the air of wisdom,
"Carrie."
Zoro turned to look at the dance floor.
"The pink-haired girl?"
"Yeah, that's Carrie."
The who Johnny was gesturing to had curls of strawberry-coloured hair wearing a red dress of satin. She was squealing with laughter as a dark-haired guy she was dancing with spun her around.
"Poor Yosaku."
Commented Zoro. Yosaku howled as Johnny patted his back reassuringly.
"So who's she dancing with? I think I've seen him before."
Zoro said thoughtfully. Johnny nodded.
"Yeah, he's in our Maths class,"
He said with a sigh,
"Jonathan Thorpe."
"No wonder."
Zoro said before chugging a can of Mountain Dew as Carrie and her date, having had caught sight of something at the side, walked out of the sight.
"You're finally here!! What took so long?!!"
"I... had my issues."
He replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the palm of his hand. The other man laughed.
"It's no wonder no one knows who you really are behind that facade of an electronics company. What was it again, Krow? Fallin Company?"
"Feline Incorporates,"
Krow answered irritably as he adjusted his leather gloves. Eyes and teeth glinted behind him, snickers blending in with the sound of revving engines. He looked around.
"Who else is going to be here?"
He asked. The tall man grinned, his teeth glowing eerily pearl-white in the faint moonlight.
"My gang. Yours. That stupid circus is going to be here, too."
"That's it?"
"Hey, not a lot of people get expelled from Grand Line, you know."
The taller man snapped. Then he smoothed the band around his forehead, calling out,
"GIN!!"
A man with dark shadows beneath his eyes emerged from the shadows, sporting the same band and mirthless grin. Krow had to mask his surprise.
"Yes, Don Krieg?"
"Where the hell is that stupid circus?"
"Right here."
Another voice answered, and Krieg turned to face another man, whose blue hair had been artfully slicked down to a ponytail.
"You have that ridiculous paint on your face again."
Krieg commented.
"They're tattooed on! How many times do I have to tell you?!"
The blue haired one grumbled, a gloved hand touching at the crossbones plastered just at his forehead. The rest of the team behind him looked just as mortally offended. Krieg rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Buggy. So I suppose everyone knows what we're here to do?"
Buggy stopped touching his forehead, and grinned the same wicked grin Krow and Krieg were wearing.
"Whoo hoo! Time to trash that dinner dance of that dumbass university!!"
The motorcycles roared in ignition in response as a cry of excitement rose up.
Tashigi was on the verge of tapping the floor with her shoe now. Should she go? He was extremely late, and she had no intention of waiting any longer than this. Sighing, she held her hand-bag to herself, regretting choosing the shiny black one rather than the dull blue one. After another minute, she had made a decision, and she began to exit the auditorium when she heard a collection of footsteps behind her.
Turning, she saw the Bitch group again, and her eyes narrowed. Most likely here to taunt her about being stood up. Well, she was sure Jonathan had a good reason.
"Awww. Poor little raven. Did you wait here all by yourself? For..."
Jenna checked a watch from her hand-bag, and smiling, turned the face towards Tashigi. The numbers 08:31 glowed at her in the semi-darkness of the back area of the auditorium.
"...For two hours? My, my. You were pretty desperate for this date, weren't you?"
Choosing to ignore them, Tashigi turned back to the door and was about to exit, when she heard Carrie's high pitched laugh echo. It was followed by the Bitch group giggling behind her.
Slowly, Tashigi turned to the auditorium. The way Jenna was smiling at her made Tashigi get the idea of why. Slowly, she walked towards the auditorium, brushing past Yuina on the way, and stepped out into the bright-orange light of the hall.
Jonathan, wearing complete formal attire, was dancing with Carrie in the upper section of the auditorium. Tashigi felt herself trembling, and curled her fingers tightly into fists to stop herself from shaking.
'There's a reason,'
She told herself as firmly as she possible,
'There has to be...'
Taking deep breaths, Tashigi started to walk towards the couple, but they caught sight of her and stopped dancing. They walked towards her instead, and Tashigi found her back surrounded by the Bitch group. Bringing her eyes slowly to meet Jonathan's, she found that he didn't even bother to avoid her gaze. He simply looked at her with his white-toothed grin, his arm casually resting around Carrie's waist.
"Hey Tashigi."
He said as though they were meeting in class. Tashigi had to bite her lip hard before she spoke.
"Jonathan,"
She managed,
"I thought we were m-meeting at the b-back entrance."
The girls behind her tittered, and she felt her cheeks flare with white-hot embarrassment. What was she doing? Whimpering in front of a boy had never really considered a friend, that was what. But she really couldn't understand why Jonathan would stand her up and dance with Carrie without telling her. She hadn't done anything terrible in particular to him.
"Oh, that,"
He drawled, breaking her thoughts,
"Well, it's just that Carrie called in last minute, and as I do like her better than you and all, I thought, why not?"
He kissed Carrie on the lips, and she flung her arms around him with a blissful expression. Tashigi stared, her mouth open in shock.
"Sorry I forgot to call you,"
He added with a smirk,
"I guess you just slipped out of my mind. You didn't wait for me until now, did you?"
Stunned, Tashigi felt her blood coursing hotly through her veins as her chest tightened painfully. The Bitch group began to laugh hysterically as Tashigi stood awkwardly before Jonathan and Carrie, trying to stop herself from shaking violently. She couldn't believe that even Jonathan bothered to go to such lengths just to do this to her.
'Where's that anger surge when I need it?'
She thought miserably, gripping her bag so tightly her knuckles grew white,
'Why do I feel so bloody pathetic now?'
Then she felt Jenna's breath right at her shoulder and she jumped back, startled. Jenna was smiling in a sinister manner that made Tashigi a little more than just uneasy.
"Poor little raven,"
Jenna murmured,
"She even dressed up for you, Jonathan."
She reached an arm out to touch Tashigi's dress, and Tashigi automatically reached an arm out to knock her hand out of the way.
"Oh? I would have thought you'd be so humilated you wouldn't retaliate,"
Karen said with mock surprise,
"Should've known old raven would have that 'fighting spirit' in her."
"Well, it would've been boring if all she'd done was stand there crying."
Marie said with a nasty smile.
Without another word, Tashigi turned and walked back to the back entrance, walking as quickly as she could, but as she neared the exit, she stopped walking. All she wanted to do right now was run to her dorm and pretend Jonathan Thorpe didn't exist. Or better yet, that she didn't exist. But her legs wouldn't budge. They threatened to buckle the second she attempted to move.
She didn't notice the girls surround her in a tight circle until a hand picked up the ribbon at her waist.
"Ugh. What a fashion statement."
Tashigi jerked the hand off and glared at Karen, who looked coldly back. Then Tashigi looked down at her heels, angry at herself for feeling shame.
Jenna brought a knuckle to Tashigi's bowed head, and rapped it against her temple.
"Stupid, stupid raven."
She tutted, turning her knuckle so she now pushed Tashigi's head down with each word,
"I almost feel sorry for you."
"Did you think you could be normal?"
Karen hissed, and with a sharp tug, the ribbon at her waist unravelled to Tashigi's ankles. She started to bend down to pick it up, but Marie shoved her back to Yuina. Tashigi glanced back at the girl, expecting a smirk on her face, but to her surprise she saw regret in her eyes as she pushed Tashigi back to her feet.
"Are you listening?"
Marie snapped, slapping Tashigi's head so sharply she heard her neck crick,
"Who did you think you were, trying to hang around with Jonathan so much?"
"Thought you were being smart there, raven?"
Tashigi avoided eye-contact, and glanced towards the back entrance. Hmm. Perhaps she could run now. Or would they pull her back? She didn't want to find out.
"Well, you weren't."
Jenna's voice interrupted her thoughts,
"You'll never be normal, Tashigi. For example, what the hell were you thinking with this dress?"
She grabbed the hem of her skirt, and Tashigi had to force her skirt away to get out of her grip.
"The buttons on the back really don't add to the deco, darling. And velvet? What are you, a princess?"
Jenna smirked as Marie laughed loudly.
"Far from it,"
Marie said as she shook something vigorously with her hands,
"So I think I'll lower her standards a little."
Tashigi turned to walk out of the circle they had created around her, but Karen grabbed her elbow with a pincer-like grip to pull her back. The next thing she knew, a fizzy froth of Coke sprayed over her, and she was blinking the fizz out of her eyes as the cold liquid seeped into the front of her dress.
She had been unconciously holding onto Karen for support, and she was pushed off with a sound of disgust into someone else. She felt her glasses fall with a clatter to the floor, and to her surprise, the person she had fallen into was supporting her weight. She turned back to see Yuina's dark green eyes, so close she could see clearly the reflection of regret yet again before being nudged back into the center.
Hands suddenly clasped onto her bare shoulders in such a strong grip Tashigi automatically began to struggle. Then she felt something so cold and smooth pressed on her back it sent chills up her spine, and she stopped moving just as it was run all the way up the back of her dress.
The ripping of threads and the popping of buttons met Tashigi's ears as they fell in a clutter onto the floor. She gasped, throwing both arms over the front of her dress to keep it covering her, and slipping on the Coke she fell with a painful slam to her knees.
Glancing up, she saw the metallic shine of a pocket-knife's blade before it was swung back into Jenna's keychain. The colours of Jenna's copper and black hair swirled before Tashigi's eyes before she heard the rustle of Jenna's dress, indicating her turning.
"Let's leave the loser alone for a while,"
She heard Jenna say loudly,
"She wouldn't want us to see her weep her little eyes out."
Laughing, the girls walked back to the auditorium. Tashigi tried to wipe the Coke dripping off her face, and felt it going sticky when her dress started to go loose. Quickly pressing the soaked velvet back onto her skin, she reached out with a hand to look for her glasses, when her fingers met buttons.
All her buttons, mingled in spilled Coke and threads.
' "Weep my little eyes out??" '
She thought,
'Like hell I would. Like hell I'd ever weep.'
A droplet of Coke dripped off her chin and joined the growing puddle on the floor. Where were her glasses?
'L-like hell I'd let myself do that. As if I'd... be th-that weak...'
She tried to ignore the stickiness of her fingers as buttons slipped through them.
"Why?"
She whispered shakily. Her vision became even more blurred.
She brought her hand to her face and began to cry.
[A/N: -.-;; Yes, about OP anime.. it hasn't ended yet. So it should be well over 100 eps by now... they're on the Alabasta arc, as they're following the manga without too many fillers... uh huh. Hmm... when *will* Luffy appear? Actually, I'm kinda curious myself. O.o;; I hope he appears sooner than chapter 20! XP See, I have this little sheet of paper (with Zoro doodles on it XP) that has the whole story scribbled out on it... and it looks like he'll be out in the open a bit after the dinner dance. But how long is the @#$!? dinner-dance?!! You may ask. Er, my answer would be something like 'Your guess is as good as mine'... ^^;; Thanks for reading uptil here! Expect a quick update soon...]
"Johnny, that was cheap,"
Yosaku complained as Johnny returned with the goofiest smile on his face.
"She's snazzy,"
He said dreamily, sinking his head into his hands,
"And she knows my name..."
"Right."
Zoro said, then realised he didn't know her name. He wondered if she knew his.
"Cheer up, Yosaku. I'm sure she'll be free after dancing with that guy."
"You think so?"
Yosaku took a glance at the dance floor with a big grin, then suddenly choked and began sobbing uncontrollably into Zoro's shoulder.
"H-Hey!! What gives??"
Zoro yelped as he quickly substituted his white-shirt with a napkin, barely managing to avoid Yosaku blowing his nose on him. Johnny looked at the dance floor before tutting and nodding in understanding.
"Oh, I see."
Johnny said with the air of wisdom,
"Carrie."
Zoro turned to look at the dance floor.
"The pink-haired girl?"
"Yeah, that's Carrie."
The who Johnny was gesturing to had curls of strawberry-coloured hair wearing a red dress of satin. She was squealing with laughter as a dark-haired guy she was dancing with spun her around.
"Poor Yosaku."
Commented Zoro. Yosaku howled as Johnny patted his back reassuringly.
"So who's she dancing with? I think I've seen him before."
Zoro said thoughtfully. Johnny nodded.
"Yeah, he's in our Maths class,"
He said with a sigh,
"Jonathan Thorpe."
"No wonder."
Zoro said before chugging a can of Mountain Dew as Carrie and her date, having had caught sight of something at the side, walked out of the sight.
"You're finally here!! What took so long?!!"
"I... had my issues."
He replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the palm of his hand. The other man laughed.
"It's no wonder no one knows who you really are behind that facade of an electronics company. What was it again, Krow? Fallin Company?"
"Feline Incorporates,"
Krow answered irritably as he adjusted his leather gloves. Eyes and teeth glinted behind him, snickers blending in with the sound of revving engines. He looked around.
"Who else is going to be here?"
He asked. The tall man grinned, his teeth glowing eerily pearl-white in the faint moonlight.
"My gang. Yours. That stupid circus is going to be here, too."
"That's it?"
"Hey, not a lot of people get expelled from Grand Line, you know."
The taller man snapped. Then he smoothed the band around his forehead, calling out,
"GIN!!"
A man with dark shadows beneath his eyes emerged from the shadows, sporting the same band and mirthless grin. Krow had to mask his surprise.
"Yes, Don Krieg?"
"Where the hell is that stupid circus?"
"Right here."
Another voice answered, and Krieg turned to face another man, whose blue hair had been artfully slicked down to a ponytail.
"You have that ridiculous paint on your face again."
Krieg commented.
"They're tattooed on! How many times do I have to tell you?!"
The blue haired one grumbled, a gloved hand touching at the crossbones plastered just at his forehead. The rest of the team behind him looked just as mortally offended. Krieg rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Buggy. So I suppose everyone knows what we're here to do?"
Buggy stopped touching his forehead, and grinned the same wicked grin Krow and Krieg were wearing.
"Whoo hoo! Time to trash that dinner dance of that dumbass university!!"
The motorcycles roared in ignition in response as a cry of excitement rose up.
Tashigi was on the verge of tapping the floor with her shoe now. Should she go? He was extremely late, and she had no intention of waiting any longer than this. Sighing, she held her hand-bag to herself, regretting choosing the shiny black one rather than the dull blue one. After another minute, she had made a decision, and she began to exit the auditorium when she heard a collection of footsteps behind her.
Turning, she saw the Bitch group again, and her eyes narrowed. Most likely here to taunt her about being stood up. Well, she was sure Jonathan had a good reason.
"Awww. Poor little raven. Did you wait here all by yourself? For..."
Jenna checked a watch from her hand-bag, and smiling, turned the face towards Tashigi. The numbers 08:31 glowed at her in the semi-darkness of the back area of the auditorium.
"...For two hours? My, my. You were pretty desperate for this date, weren't you?"
Choosing to ignore them, Tashigi turned back to the door and was about to exit, when she heard Carrie's high pitched laugh echo. It was followed by the Bitch group giggling behind her.
Slowly, Tashigi turned to the auditorium. The way Jenna was smiling at her made Tashigi get the idea of why. Slowly, she walked towards the auditorium, brushing past Yuina on the way, and stepped out into the bright-orange light of the hall.
Jonathan, wearing complete formal attire, was dancing with Carrie in the upper section of the auditorium. Tashigi felt herself trembling, and curled her fingers tightly into fists to stop herself from shaking.
'There's a reason,'
She told herself as firmly as she possible,
'There has to be...'
Taking deep breaths, Tashigi started to walk towards the couple, but they caught sight of her and stopped dancing. They walked towards her instead, and Tashigi found her back surrounded by the Bitch group. Bringing her eyes slowly to meet Jonathan's, she found that he didn't even bother to avoid her gaze. He simply looked at her with his white-toothed grin, his arm casually resting around Carrie's waist.
"Hey Tashigi."
He said as though they were meeting in class. Tashigi had to bite her lip hard before she spoke.
"Jonathan,"
She managed,
"I thought we were m-meeting at the b-back entrance."
The girls behind her tittered, and she felt her cheeks flare with white-hot embarrassment. What was she doing? Whimpering in front of a boy had never really considered a friend, that was what. But she really couldn't understand why Jonathan would stand her up and dance with Carrie without telling her. She hadn't done anything terrible in particular to him.
"Oh, that,"
He drawled, breaking her thoughts,
"Well, it's just that Carrie called in last minute, and as I do like her better than you and all, I thought, why not?"
He kissed Carrie on the lips, and she flung her arms around him with a blissful expression. Tashigi stared, her mouth open in shock.
"Sorry I forgot to call you,"
He added with a smirk,
"I guess you just slipped out of my mind. You didn't wait for me until now, did you?"
Stunned, Tashigi felt her blood coursing hotly through her veins as her chest tightened painfully. The Bitch group began to laugh hysterically as Tashigi stood awkwardly before Jonathan and Carrie, trying to stop herself from shaking violently. She couldn't believe that even Jonathan bothered to go to such lengths just to do this to her.
'Where's that anger surge when I need it?'
She thought miserably, gripping her bag so tightly her knuckles grew white,
'Why do I feel so bloody pathetic now?'
Then she felt Jenna's breath right at her shoulder and she jumped back, startled. Jenna was smiling in a sinister manner that made Tashigi a little more than just uneasy.
"Poor little raven,"
Jenna murmured,
"She even dressed up for you, Jonathan."
She reached an arm out to touch Tashigi's dress, and Tashigi automatically reached an arm out to knock her hand out of the way.
"Oh? I would have thought you'd be so humilated you wouldn't retaliate,"
Karen said with mock surprise,
"Should've known old raven would have that 'fighting spirit' in her."
"Well, it would've been boring if all she'd done was stand there crying."
Marie said with a nasty smile.
Without another word, Tashigi turned and walked back to the back entrance, walking as quickly as she could, but as she neared the exit, she stopped walking. All she wanted to do right now was run to her dorm and pretend Jonathan Thorpe didn't exist. Or better yet, that she didn't exist. But her legs wouldn't budge. They threatened to buckle the second she attempted to move.
She didn't notice the girls surround her in a tight circle until a hand picked up the ribbon at her waist.
"Ugh. What a fashion statement."
Tashigi jerked the hand off and glared at Karen, who looked coldly back. Then Tashigi looked down at her heels, angry at herself for feeling shame.
Jenna brought a knuckle to Tashigi's bowed head, and rapped it against her temple.
"Stupid, stupid raven."
She tutted, turning her knuckle so she now pushed Tashigi's head down with each word,
"I almost feel sorry for you."
"Did you think you could be normal?"
Karen hissed, and with a sharp tug, the ribbon at her waist unravelled to Tashigi's ankles. She started to bend down to pick it up, but Marie shoved her back to Yuina. Tashigi glanced back at the girl, expecting a smirk on her face, but to her surprise she saw regret in her eyes as she pushed Tashigi back to her feet.
"Are you listening?"
Marie snapped, slapping Tashigi's head so sharply she heard her neck crick,
"Who did you think you were, trying to hang around with Jonathan so much?"
"Thought you were being smart there, raven?"
Tashigi avoided eye-contact, and glanced towards the back entrance. Hmm. Perhaps she could run now. Or would they pull her back? She didn't want to find out.
"Well, you weren't."
Jenna's voice interrupted her thoughts,
"You'll never be normal, Tashigi. For example, what the hell were you thinking with this dress?"
She grabbed the hem of her skirt, and Tashigi had to force her skirt away to get out of her grip.
"The buttons on the back really don't add to the deco, darling. And velvet? What are you, a princess?"
Jenna smirked as Marie laughed loudly.
"Far from it,"
Marie said as she shook something vigorously with her hands,
"So I think I'll lower her standards a little."
Tashigi turned to walk out of the circle they had created around her, but Karen grabbed her elbow with a pincer-like grip to pull her back. The next thing she knew, a fizzy froth of Coke sprayed over her, and she was blinking the fizz out of her eyes as the cold liquid seeped into the front of her dress.
She had been unconciously holding onto Karen for support, and she was pushed off with a sound of disgust into someone else. She felt her glasses fall with a clatter to the floor, and to her surprise, the person she had fallen into was supporting her weight. She turned back to see Yuina's dark green eyes, so close she could see clearly the reflection of regret yet again before being nudged back into the center.
Hands suddenly clasped onto her bare shoulders in such a strong grip Tashigi automatically began to struggle. Then she felt something so cold and smooth pressed on her back it sent chills up her spine, and she stopped moving just as it was run all the way up the back of her dress.
The ripping of threads and the popping of buttons met Tashigi's ears as they fell in a clutter onto the floor. She gasped, throwing both arms over the front of her dress to keep it covering her, and slipping on the Coke she fell with a painful slam to her knees.
Glancing up, she saw the metallic shine of a pocket-knife's blade before it was swung back into Jenna's keychain. The colours of Jenna's copper and black hair swirled before Tashigi's eyes before she heard the rustle of Jenna's dress, indicating her turning.
"Let's leave the loser alone for a while,"
She heard Jenna say loudly,
"She wouldn't want us to see her weep her little eyes out."
Laughing, the girls walked back to the auditorium. Tashigi tried to wipe the Coke dripping off her face, and felt it going sticky when her dress started to go loose. Quickly pressing the soaked velvet back onto her skin, she reached out with a hand to look for her glasses, when her fingers met buttons.
All her buttons, mingled in spilled Coke and threads.
' "Weep my little eyes out??" '
She thought,
'Like hell I would. Like hell I'd ever weep.'
A droplet of Coke dripped off her chin and joined the growing puddle on the floor. Where were her glasses?
'L-like hell I'd let myself do that. As if I'd... be th-that weak...'
She tried to ignore the stickiness of her fingers as buttons slipped through them.
"Why?"
She whispered shakily. Her vision became even more blurred.
She brought her hand to her face and began to cry.
[A/N: -.-;; Yes, about OP anime.. it hasn't ended yet. So it should be well over 100 eps by now... they're on the Alabasta arc, as they're following the manga without too many fillers... uh huh. Hmm... when *will* Luffy appear? Actually, I'm kinda curious myself. O.o;; I hope he appears sooner than chapter 20! XP See, I have this little sheet of paper (with Zoro doodles on it XP) that has the whole story scribbled out on it... and it looks like he'll be out in the open a bit after the dinner dance. But how long is the @#$!? dinner-dance?!! You may ask. Er, my answer would be something like 'Your guess is as good as mine'... ^^;; Thanks for reading uptil here! Expect a quick update soon...]