"speech"

'thoughts'

POV of a character

TENZAI

Chapter 4

Assembly

"What the hell are you doing here??"

-Kikuchi-

FLASHBACK

Yawn.. I slept well.. The bed's really comfy!

God, what time is it??

Waahh! Eight a.m?! It's already late!!

I got up abruptly and went to the bathroom for a quick morning wash. I went out about five minutes later and changed my pj's.

I went out the room immediately. Well, I went back to look at myself in the mirror as an afterthought.

I ran straight to the dining room where I usually see Ryoko-san, preparing about two hours before and cleaning thirty minutes after every meal. And there she was in her apron, washing the dishes she and her husband probably used.

Hearing the loud footsteps (Those were mine..! I was running!), the old lady looked at me and smiled.

"Ohayou, Yoshito!!"

Then she stopped a bit and looked at me intrigued.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

I stopped on my tracks and scratched the back of my head, a thing I don't normally do.

"Well, uhm.. You see, Ryoko-san, I was in a hurry 'coz.. Well, it's already eight in the morning and it's already late."

She seemed to have finished her washing and wiped her hands on her apron. She approached me and said,

"Why, my son, it's only eight in the morning! It's still pretty early. We have just finished eating, see?"

"It's because I usually wake up at six in the morning when there are no classes. Five if there is." I told her.

"Well, it's okay to mess up with your daily schedule sometimes, you know."

She said, laughing a bit as she turn her back on me. Looks like she was going to the living room.

But I stopped her.

"Ryoko-san?"

She stopped and faced me again.

"Hm?"

"Did you see Kanzaki?"

She replied,

"Oh, that girl, Urumi?"

"H-hai." I nodded in confirmation.

She frowned a bit.

"I haven't seen her yet since this morning. Looks like she also had a good night sleep last night."

"I see." I said, bowing a bit.

And I forced myself to move fast!! I was planning on finishing our task early today! And what if the teacher in-charged for today comes early?

Ryoko-san probably saw that I was deeming on something because she said,

"I guess it won't hurt if you wake her up, you know. If you have something important, that is. Besides, you said it's already late."

I guess I was convinced because I thanked her immediately and ran straight to Kanzaki's room.

I hesitated at first but then I thought making it fast would make it easier. So I knocked.

But there was no reply.

So I decided to open the door a bit, and peek in first. There she was, alright. Sleeping soundly in her bead.

I wonder what made her sleep this long.

I wonder what she's dreaming of.

Then I entered, keeping in mind not to make too much noise. I approached her and planned to just shake her and say,

"Oi! Kanzaki! Wake up!"

But then, seeing her angelic face made me stop. She looked really gentle and innocent when she's asleep. Her hair was still kempt and her hands were clasped together as she hugged another pillow. Her nose and lips are so cute. I wonder what it feels like to kiss them.

What did I just say??!

I shook my head to free it from the thoughts that are rushing.

And her eyes.. Her eyes are, well, different in color. But that's nothing new.

Wait, her eyes?! It means..

---

She instantaneously sat up straight in bed, looking at Kikuchi like he's some kind of criminal.

The boy immediately thought of something to say.

"Er.. Ohayo?"

Kanzaki just sat there, looking even more irked than earlier.

"Don't 'Ohayo' me! Answer my question! What are you doing in my room?"

"Chill, okay?" Kikuchi said calmly, walking closer to her.

But Kanzaki just won't allow him.

"Stop right there!"

Kikuchi raised his arms in defeat.

"Okay, okay?? Now will you please stop acting like a woman in menopausal stage?"

"Not until you answer my question!" Kanzaki retorted, her eyes now burning.

Kikuchi sighed and told her,

"I came here to wake you up. But obviously, I don't need to anymore."

Kanzaki's eyes softened a bit but there was still some anger in there.

"Baka! I just woke up 'coz I felt another person's presence in the room! So it was still you who woke me up!"

"I see." Kikuchi said. On second thought,

"Why are you so angry anyway? It's not like I'm gonna rape you, or something. Me, of all people?"

Kanzaki shoot a dagger to him through her eyes.

"You can never be so sure!"

"You really think – " Kikuchi started.

But Kanzaki won't let him have his way.

"Plus! You ruined my dream!!"

The accused guy looked at her in surprise.

"Geez, Kanzaki. I didn't know you treasured dreams. I didn't even think you believed in them enough to be irate at someone who broke them!"

The girl looked at him childishly.

"But this one's different..!"

"Eh?" Kikuchi said.

"Different?"

Kanzaki bowed down and held on to the edges of the bed.

"It's about.. Uhm.."

Kikuchi crossed his arms and leaned closer, anticipating her next statement.

"Well?"

But she suddenly looked back at him, surprising him.

"Why should I tell you?! It's none of your business!"

Kikuchi just sighed.

"Oh well.. It's not that I'm interested! C'mon! Let's just go down and eat, sleepyhead!"

'But it could have been better if I knew, honestly.'

Then he turned around and walked away. He didn't hear footsteps behind him following. Instead he heard a voice from the bathroom shouting,

"Just wait for me there!!!"

---

"So why did you want me to wake up immediately so badly?"

Kanzaki asked, sipping from her cup of hot chocolate.

Kikuchi looked at her from the newspaper and said,

"Well, eight in the morning is quite late already, don't you think?"

Kanzaki nodded but said,

"It is. But, we're not going to school today, anyway, so it's alright."

Kikuchi folded the newspaper saying,

"It's not 'coz we're not here for vacation. I just thought that what if our surveyor today comes early and sees that we're still sleeping?

"We just say, 'We're still sleepy, Sir/Ma'am.' And then go back to sleep."

Kanzaki replied nonchalantly.

Kikuchi drank his coffee first.

"You think it's that easy?"

"Yes." Kanzaki said.

"They can't refuse us. We're their best students."

"But that doesn't mean we can take advantage of their trust." Kikuchi said.

"We have to be responsible enough."

Kanzaki chuckled.

"Man, Kikuchi! You're acting like a father!"

"And you're acting like a stubborn baby." Kikuchi snapped back.

They continued their breakfast in silence.

---

"What are we going to do today, anyway?" Kanzaki said, kicking off a pebble.

They were walking along the beach, Kikuchi reading something from his organizer.

"It says we practice assembling the device."

Then his mobile phone rang.

"Moshi-moshi?"

"What?"

"So?"

"WHAT??!"

"Uh, okay.."

"Okay, okay."

Kanzaki was just watching him, amused and when he pocketed the phone, she asked,

"Who's that?"

"Uchiyamada-sensei. Says he's the one assigned to come today but he can't."

Kikuchi said.

"Why?" Kanzaki asked.

"He said he's in the hospital 'coz Onizuka played a prank on him."

The male genius explained.

"Well, that's better. I don't want him to guide us, anyway." Kanzaki said.

But as an afterthought, she asked,

"But how would we know how to assemble the parts of the device??"

Kikuchi just looked at her blankly and said,

"Turns out there's a manual with the papers Fuyutsuki-sensei gave us."

"Okay. I'm sure we'll be able to do that." Kanzaki said.

"Why don't we start right away?"

Kikuchi stopped walking and said,

"You know what? I think that's a good idea."

They ran to the cabin and got the things they need.

---

"Man, I didn't know it was this complicated!" Kanzaki complained.

"What part are you doing, anyway?" Kikuchi inquired.

Kanzaki stopped working and wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand before answering.

"I read it's the main sensor for echolocation."

Kikuchi moved close to the part she was trying to assemble and after about five movements of his hand, he said,

"There, it's done."

Kanzaki's eyes widened.

"That's it?! And I've been working on it for ten minutes! That's five percent of the time we've spent for all the other parts!"

Kikuchi looked at her knowingly.

"It's pretty simple. I've worked on the same mechanism when I had a problem with my computer's processor. I think this is the part where the sensor translates the information, well, sound, into viewable outputs."

"You know what? Sometimes I think you just lack one point in IQ to be one of the few special students I belong to." Kanzaki said.

The said boy was flattered but before he could say something, he felt a drop of water on his cheek, then on his arm. He looked up the sky and around and noticed that it was drizzling.

Then suddenly, the raindrops became bigger and heavier.

"Let's go in , Kanzaki."

The said girl refused to follow him and instead, tried to gather the device they have just assembled.

Kikuchi shook her and said,

"Hey, you don't need to fix that up.. That's made to work underwater, right? Therefore, it's alright if it gets wet by the rain."

Kanzaki looked at him, smiling.

"It's not that, Kikuchi."

'What's with this girl??!' Kikuchi thought.

He stood up, thinking it'd be best if they go in right away. He then extended his arm for Kanzaki.

"I love the rain." She muttered before taking his hand.

"I hate to get sick." He told her.

Kikuchi was about to turn away when Kanzaki pulled him, causing him to turn around.

"Have you ever tried running around while it's raining?"

Pondering the question, Kikuchi looked at his hands, a habit he's formed when thinking. Looking at his hand, he realized he's been holding Kanzaki's hand since he assisted her.

Kanzaki saw that he was looking down and followed his gaze. Realizing that they were holding hands longer than necessary, her reflex movement was to snatch her hand away.

They were looking on the opposite directions when Koji-san's voice was heard, nearing them.

"Yoshito! Urumi!"

Soon enough, the older man was there, with two umbrellas in his hand.

"Hey, kids..! You might get sick out here. C'mon! Let's go inside."

Kanzaki was the first to regain composure.

"Uhm.. okay.. but I'm not going to use that umbrella!"

"You're going to catch a cold if you let yourself get rained on." Koji-san explained like it's something a girl of IQ 200 doesn't know.

Kikuchi got one umbrella from Koji-san and said,

"Never mind that girl. She gets really stubborn, you know. She says she loves the rain so why don't we let her get drenched on it?"

Then he walked to the direction of the house, followed by Koji-san shaking his head and Kanzaki taking in everything the rain is causing – pitter-patter, pitter-patter.