Angelic High: Episode Ten: Competition
It had been nearly a month since the two couples had formed. Both were constantly teased by a grinning Tamayo who was followed by an apologetic Kotaro, a third happy couple pre-existent to their own. And still people were having a difficult time coping with the fact that it was "for real." Some people even had such a difficult time dealing with it that they fabricated stories and aimed to shoot down those who had so quickly risen to unmistakable popularity.
Misaki in particular was the target of many envious glares from the girls since she was only a first year and had somehow snagged the Prince of Angelic.
Hikaru was a fighter, undisputed and as thus, no one dared to really question her.
But as said before, Misaki was kind, unassuming Misaki, innocent and totally unaware of the jealousy circulating widely through the school, much directed at her in specific.
Later they would all suppose that that was what started the whole thing.
As the lunch hour rolled around, it found Suzuhara Misaki looking around for a certain someone, sometimes standing on her toes to look over other people's heads, other times bending over backwards in order to avoid being run over by some renegade student on a sugar high. There seemed to be more and more of those lately. Either way though, she was searching for only one person. Unfortunately, she didn't think to look up and that was precisely where He was located.
Up?
Yeah, up.
Mihara Oujirou sat in an almost uncanny state of comfort in the sloped arm of the courtyard's resident Sakura tree, watching his all too kawaii girlfriend from above. He fancied himself to be at that moment, the luckiest man on campus, no disputes taken. For he had Suzuhara Misaki and that was all one needed to be happy in his opinion; she was the only one he needed.
Having come to terms with that great fact some time before she did, it gave him what was-even to him- a ridiculous amount of self-satisfaction to know the feeling was utterly mutual. Of course, Misaki had taken her time in reiterating her love for him, but since they were only in high school and it was indubitably unusual for one to find one's true love at such a considerably young age, he understood.
Oujirou noted with interest the rather large bento Misaki had that day and his smile warmed as he watched her, still undoubtedly searching for his personage [and in all the wrong places.] She must have made enough for all of us, he mused gratuitously; 'all' meant not only them but Hikaru and Wizard as well.
The foursome ate lunch together more often than not and it was still even less out of the ordinary to have Tamayo body slam Kotaro into joining them as well. So really, Oujirou supposed, 'all' meant the six of them, also coincidentally, the most envied and simultaneously adored couples at Angelic High.
The tell-tale flashes of blue and red alerted him to the approach of Hikaru and Wizard as the tell-tale greeting of a preceding Kotaro flopping airlessly in front of them alerted him to Tamayo's entrance as well. Here Misaki had the good-nature to giggle a bit but then amiably help Kotaro struggle to his feet. The boy certainly had built up an admirable endurance level over the years.
Oujirou supposed one would have to, in order to survive that is. Hikaru laughed lightly and Tamayo threw Kotaro a sly look before hooking his neck in her right arm in a semi-fake chokehold, warning Kotaro [chan] not to get to close to 'Misakichi.' She was joking of course but her strangleholds were never exactly controlled, even the fake ones.
As such, Kobayashi Kotaro found himself in an undignified slump on the ground, at a loss once more for air.
Wizard sighed; this was how it always was with those two, but it was certainly amusing, he admitted to himself and then noticed Misaki's wandering eyes. Oujirou watched still, from his comfortable position in the aforementioned tree.
"Daijoubu Misaki-chan?" he asked.
"Hai, demo, I can't seem to spot Oujirou-san," she frowned slightly. Wizard seemed to contemplate the situation for a moment before a light went of in his head. Ah yes, almost definitely he would be there, Wizard concluded and began walking towards the Sakura tree, Misaki, Hikaru, and Tamayo in tow [who quickly ran back to drag Kotaro with them, who as it was, was still quite prostate on the school ground.] As they reached the tree, Misaki cocked her head in question to Wizard who merely smirked ever so slightly and triumphantly, pointed his index finger: up.
And of course, there sat Mihara Oujirou, smiling benignly down at all of them, looking as happy as ever, and complacent too, Misaki was not too oblivious to notice. It was as if before she could worry about him being up so high and vocalize it, he was simply telling her everything was okay and he would not do anything he knew to be dangerous. So it was okay and Misaki in return, simply smiled in an equally benign fashion, right back up at him.
"Misaki-chan," he was still smiling.
"Oujirou-san," her smile began to turn into a frown again. And he knew she was reaching the limits of her capacity for worrying; so, he effortlessly jumped down, though to anyone it seemed as though he glided down, much like an angel would, but without wings. He of course, was no angel. He was a prince.
So began the lunch period.
Somewhere not far from the six happy people, all reclining in various positions on the ground eating from Misaki's proportionate bento, other students talked wildly about them.
"Can you believe it?"
"No not really."
"I mean, Kotaro and Tamayo I understand but...the other two?"
"Especially OUR prince with that meek little first year!"
"He was never yours at all."
"Well, he might have been."
"Oh you should all just give it up. Can't you see how happy they are?"
"What do you know?"
"I still think it's weird."
"We all do."
"I wonder what her secret is."
"Magic?"
"Nah, no such thing!"
"Well in any case, I don't think this should be allowed. We've all been here longer than she has. She has no right to Mihara Oujirou."
"He did choose her you know."
"I know and Mizawa couldn't even distract him from it, but I'm not Mizawa."
"Of course not."
"What do you think we should do to little miss popular first year?"
"Whaddya mean 'we'?"
"Never mind that. I have a plan already."
"Oh?"
"Everyone knows she's supposedly nice and sweet, la dee da dee da, et cetera, et cetera..."
"Yeah, so?"
"I have also heard she stood up to the male Mizawa of our school, stared him down."
"That little meek thing? Suzuhara?"
"Hai and trust me I do have a point. Just indulge me a bit longer."
"Certainly."
"Well, obviously she must have a lot of gall to do that above all else so I was thinking of laying a trap, one that would most likely embarrass her for her entire stay here at Angelic."
"Ooh! Like what?"
"Just shut up and listen closely. First, every well-thought out trap requires proper bait and in this case, the bait we have, won't even know its purpose until it's too late..."
This conversation went on until the group of people dispersed, leaving only the two main conspirators to their own thinking. One was a slender and beautiful girl with shoulder-length black hair and vivid hazel eyes that flashed with double motives. The other was like her opposite, a very light blond haired boy with seemingly open eyes, honest. The two left each other alone, each puzzling out their own conflicts and concepts for the said trap laid.
----------------------
School had just been dismissed; Misaki fumbled for her things in her locker, which strangely seemed to be caving in under the rather heavy stock it held. She laughed nervously to herself. This would probably cause some kind of irreversible dent in the wall behind it but she couldn't help that really.
It wasn't her fault her teachers loaded her up with work like it was bloody D. day.
Misaki being Misaki though, she didn't mind. In fact, the only thing she minded at that moment was that she might not be home in time to finish dinner for Aunt Shouko. It wasn't so much that Shouko ordered her to do so, but that she enjoyed doing it for her. As such, Misaki hastened her actions a mite. On her way out though, she was stopped by a congregation of beautiful and snooty girls, upperclassmen [or at least to her they were.] Misaki listened:
"So you heard of the District wide competition? Biggest thing to hit everywhere plus Tokyo; you entering?"
"What competition?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"No."
"Well, it's this competition in which people search for talent basically. You can do anything, but only one act is chosen to actually get a contract, you understand now?"
"Kinda."
"Right."
Misaki watched as the girls left the wall they had been ogling, revealing a very large poster with the words: TALENT SEARCH plastered placidly across the top. She smiled absently. It was a nice thought, but she could never do it...no, she'd probably blush her way off of stage before she could actually do anything. She nearly laughed at the thought.
"Ano, Misaki-chan," a hand tapped her shoulder. Misaki jumped in surprise.
"H-hai!?" she came face to face with a benignly smiling Oujirou, for all the world looking a little too comfortable at their close quarters, his nose nearly touching hers due to proximity. Proving her earlier hypothesis more than correct, Misaki proceeded to blush profusely, then smile feebly and finally, calm down, all in the space of a minute or less.
"Hi there. I see you're looking at the poster, ne?" he smiled knowingly and Misaki couldn't help but feel he could see right through her and her silly little school-girl daydreams that it seemed every "silly little school- girl" had near this time of the competition.
"Iie...well, hai, a little, I wa just curious," she replied slowly.
"Well, Wizard and I and Hikaru were thinking we could all enter together," he continued on smiling, completely unaffected by the weight of his words. Misaki too was unaffected for a moment, letting her mind vaguely breeze over the term 'we' for a few moments that defined the cliché "ignorance is bliss."
Then she blanched.
"N-nani!?"
-----------------------------------------------------
Across the hallway, the two main high school conspirators, whose goal it was to bring Misaki down a peg, and bring the popular focus back to them, they listened discreetly. Their plan was falling into place; dropping a few rumors here and there certainly did get the ball rolling faster than they thought. The girl while continuously glaring at Misaki, could not help but notice the rather different look on her counterpart's face; he wore the look of someone who wanted to win the prize rather than to destroy it. She frowned. Suzuhara Misaki would be dethroned if she had anything to do with it and her partner in arms was not going to fall for the little first year...of course...that might make things a little more interesting.
And so the girl began to plot another thing in her head, scheming loopholes and methods to get what she wanted, and use everything and everyone to her advantage. The difference between her and the Mizawas was that she was Taori Higashi, mistress of deceit and head of the gossip line at school, one of the most beautiful and dangerous schoolgirls ever to grace Angelic's campus. And she knew it.
Even if no one else did.
That was her main trick, her trump card.
No one ever suspected her except the people she got to work with her, like the blonde boy beside her, Okosu Mirashi.
And even he was a pawn.
Even if he didn't know it.
--------------------------------------------
By the end of the day, Misaki had been convinced to enter the talent search competition with her friends.
She had no idea how they had done it.
Obviously they would have had to get her to say "Hai" and it mortified her to think she had been so very quickly coaxed into what she did not doubt would turn into some unidentifiable form of relative chaos.
Then again, Misaki only had a very vague grasp on things.
She didn't even know what they were doing for the competition yet.
All she knew was that she was in it and there was no escape.
She sighed and glanced briefly over at Oujirou for a split second, not wanting anyone to see her glance. At least he would be with her.
Oujirou's face changed marginally, the corners of his perfect mouth turning up just a bit at the edges to make him seem smug, if only slightly. And he was. He had seen Misaki glance at him in that very split second. And that gave him perhaps more satisfaction than it should have.
But he supposed that was how love worked.
Even if Misaki herself didn't realize he was in love with her yet.
Even if it might take her years to do more than glance and blush.
Love worked that way.
And as for the competition, as Oujirou looked over at Hikaru and Wizard, who were for their part, more open about their relationship usually, though tasteful, he knew that the four of them had every chance in the world to win.
They all had a chemistry that was somewhat supernatural, not as a relationship of master and subject, but as eye-to-eye friends, each with their own perspectives, exhibiting them to form a perfected conglomeration of well-thought out being.
Oujirou smiled again and took his time glancing at Misaki, noting her carefree expression.
One day he would have to ask her how she always looked so carefree and if she ever felt sad or alone.
And on that day he would make her promise to always tell him when she felt that way.
So that he may be her Prince, like in the fairy-tale they began weaving the day they met, and rescue her as he might, even if it was only be assisting her in solving her own troubles.
For the moment though, the competition was at hand, and unbeknownst to Misaki, Mihara Oujirou also had no idea what they would be doing.
Wizard and Hikaru were orchestrating all this.
Well...it would definitely be interesting.
-------------------------------------------------
End chapter ten. Gomen it took so long, Review please. I so appreciate it, it DOES keep the chapters coming, even if it takes me a while. ^_~
Sorry again, but honestly, those REVIEWS keep me writing.
My other stories will be updated as soon as I can do so. Don't worry, regardless of whether it is Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer or Sailor Moon, ALL of my fics will be updated as soon as I get the chance. I VOW to finish any fics I have up on ff.net as of now. I just have to find time.
-Kaji Hikage
It had been nearly a month since the two couples had formed. Both were constantly teased by a grinning Tamayo who was followed by an apologetic Kotaro, a third happy couple pre-existent to their own. And still people were having a difficult time coping with the fact that it was "for real." Some people even had such a difficult time dealing with it that they fabricated stories and aimed to shoot down those who had so quickly risen to unmistakable popularity.
Misaki in particular was the target of many envious glares from the girls since she was only a first year and had somehow snagged the Prince of Angelic.
Hikaru was a fighter, undisputed and as thus, no one dared to really question her.
But as said before, Misaki was kind, unassuming Misaki, innocent and totally unaware of the jealousy circulating widely through the school, much directed at her in specific.
Later they would all suppose that that was what started the whole thing.
As the lunch hour rolled around, it found Suzuhara Misaki looking around for a certain someone, sometimes standing on her toes to look over other people's heads, other times bending over backwards in order to avoid being run over by some renegade student on a sugar high. There seemed to be more and more of those lately. Either way though, she was searching for only one person. Unfortunately, she didn't think to look up and that was precisely where He was located.
Up?
Yeah, up.
Mihara Oujirou sat in an almost uncanny state of comfort in the sloped arm of the courtyard's resident Sakura tree, watching his all too kawaii girlfriend from above. He fancied himself to be at that moment, the luckiest man on campus, no disputes taken. For he had Suzuhara Misaki and that was all one needed to be happy in his opinion; she was the only one he needed.
Having come to terms with that great fact some time before she did, it gave him what was-even to him- a ridiculous amount of self-satisfaction to know the feeling was utterly mutual. Of course, Misaki had taken her time in reiterating her love for him, but since they were only in high school and it was indubitably unusual for one to find one's true love at such a considerably young age, he understood.
Oujirou noted with interest the rather large bento Misaki had that day and his smile warmed as he watched her, still undoubtedly searching for his personage [and in all the wrong places.] She must have made enough for all of us, he mused gratuitously; 'all' meant not only them but Hikaru and Wizard as well.
The foursome ate lunch together more often than not and it was still even less out of the ordinary to have Tamayo body slam Kotaro into joining them as well. So really, Oujirou supposed, 'all' meant the six of them, also coincidentally, the most envied and simultaneously adored couples at Angelic High.
The tell-tale flashes of blue and red alerted him to the approach of Hikaru and Wizard as the tell-tale greeting of a preceding Kotaro flopping airlessly in front of them alerted him to Tamayo's entrance as well. Here Misaki had the good-nature to giggle a bit but then amiably help Kotaro struggle to his feet. The boy certainly had built up an admirable endurance level over the years.
Oujirou supposed one would have to, in order to survive that is. Hikaru laughed lightly and Tamayo threw Kotaro a sly look before hooking his neck in her right arm in a semi-fake chokehold, warning Kotaro [chan] not to get to close to 'Misakichi.' She was joking of course but her strangleholds were never exactly controlled, even the fake ones.
As such, Kobayashi Kotaro found himself in an undignified slump on the ground, at a loss once more for air.
Wizard sighed; this was how it always was with those two, but it was certainly amusing, he admitted to himself and then noticed Misaki's wandering eyes. Oujirou watched still, from his comfortable position in the aforementioned tree.
"Daijoubu Misaki-chan?" he asked.
"Hai, demo, I can't seem to spot Oujirou-san," she frowned slightly. Wizard seemed to contemplate the situation for a moment before a light went of in his head. Ah yes, almost definitely he would be there, Wizard concluded and began walking towards the Sakura tree, Misaki, Hikaru, and Tamayo in tow [who quickly ran back to drag Kotaro with them, who as it was, was still quite prostate on the school ground.] As they reached the tree, Misaki cocked her head in question to Wizard who merely smirked ever so slightly and triumphantly, pointed his index finger: up.
And of course, there sat Mihara Oujirou, smiling benignly down at all of them, looking as happy as ever, and complacent too, Misaki was not too oblivious to notice. It was as if before she could worry about him being up so high and vocalize it, he was simply telling her everything was okay and he would not do anything he knew to be dangerous. So it was okay and Misaki in return, simply smiled in an equally benign fashion, right back up at him.
"Misaki-chan," he was still smiling.
"Oujirou-san," her smile began to turn into a frown again. And he knew she was reaching the limits of her capacity for worrying; so, he effortlessly jumped down, though to anyone it seemed as though he glided down, much like an angel would, but without wings. He of course, was no angel. He was a prince.
So began the lunch period.
Somewhere not far from the six happy people, all reclining in various positions on the ground eating from Misaki's proportionate bento, other students talked wildly about them.
"Can you believe it?"
"No not really."
"I mean, Kotaro and Tamayo I understand but...the other two?"
"Especially OUR prince with that meek little first year!"
"He was never yours at all."
"Well, he might have been."
"Oh you should all just give it up. Can't you see how happy they are?"
"What do you know?"
"I still think it's weird."
"We all do."
"I wonder what her secret is."
"Magic?"
"Nah, no such thing!"
"Well in any case, I don't think this should be allowed. We've all been here longer than she has. She has no right to Mihara Oujirou."
"He did choose her you know."
"I know and Mizawa couldn't even distract him from it, but I'm not Mizawa."
"Of course not."
"What do you think we should do to little miss popular first year?"
"Whaddya mean 'we'?"
"Never mind that. I have a plan already."
"Oh?"
"Everyone knows she's supposedly nice and sweet, la dee da dee da, et cetera, et cetera..."
"Yeah, so?"
"I have also heard she stood up to the male Mizawa of our school, stared him down."
"That little meek thing? Suzuhara?"
"Hai and trust me I do have a point. Just indulge me a bit longer."
"Certainly."
"Well, obviously she must have a lot of gall to do that above all else so I was thinking of laying a trap, one that would most likely embarrass her for her entire stay here at Angelic."
"Ooh! Like what?"
"Just shut up and listen closely. First, every well-thought out trap requires proper bait and in this case, the bait we have, won't even know its purpose until it's too late..."
This conversation went on until the group of people dispersed, leaving only the two main conspirators to their own thinking. One was a slender and beautiful girl with shoulder-length black hair and vivid hazel eyes that flashed with double motives. The other was like her opposite, a very light blond haired boy with seemingly open eyes, honest. The two left each other alone, each puzzling out their own conflicts and concepts for the said trap laid.
----------------------
School had just been dismissed; Misaki fumbled for her things in her locker, which strangely seemed to be caving in under the rather heavy stock it held. She laughed nervously to herself. This would probably cause some kind of irreversible dent in the wall behind it but she couldn't help that really.
It wasn't her fault her teachers loaded her up with work like it was bloody D. day.
Misaki being Misaki though, she didn't mind. In fact, the only thing she minded at that moment was that she might not be home in time to finish dinner for Aunt Shouko. It wasn't so much that Shouko ordered her to do so, but that she enjoyed doing it for her. As such, Misaki hastened her actions a mite. On her way out though, she was stopped by a congregation of beautiful and snooty girls, upperclassmen [or at least to her they were.] Misaki listened:
"So you heard of the District wide competition? Biggest thing to hit everywhere plus Tokyo; you entering?"
"What competition?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"No."
"Well, it's this competition in which people search for talent basically. You can do anything, but only one act is chosen to actually get a contract, you understand now?"
"Kinda."
"Right."
Misaki watched as the girls left the wall they had been ogling, revealing a very large poster with the words: TALENT SEARCH plastered placidly across the top. She smiled absently. It was a nice thought, but she could never do it...no, she'd probably blush her way off of stage before she could actually do anything. She nearly laughed at the thought.
"Ano, Misaki-chan," a hand tapped her shoulder. Misaki jumped in surprise.
"H-hai!?" she came face to face with a benignly smiling Oujirou, for all the world looking a little too comfortable at their close quarters, his nose nearly touching hers due to proximity. Proving her earlier hypothesis more than correct, Misaki proceeded to blush profusely, then smile feebly and finally, calm down, all in the space of a minute or less.
"Hi there. I see you're looking at the poster, ne?" he smiled knowingly and Misaki couldn't help but feel he could see right through her and her silly little school-girl daydreams that it seemed every "silly little school- girl" had near this time of the competition.
"Iie...well, hai, a little, I wa just curious," she replied slowly.
"Well, Wizard and I and Hikaru were thinking we could all enter together," he continued on smiling, completely unaffected by the weight of his words. Misaki too was unaffected for a moment, letting her mind vaguely breeze over the term 'we' for a few moments that defined the cliché "ignorance is bliss."
Then she blanched.
"N-nani!?"
-----------------------------------------------------
Across the hallway, the two main high school conspirators, whose goal it was to bring Misaki down a peg, and bring the popular focus back to them, they listened discreetly. Their plan was falling into place; dropping a few rumors here and there certainly did get the ball rolling faster than they thought. The girl while continuously glaring at Misaki, could not help but notice the rather different look on her counterpart's face; he wore the look of someone who wanted to win the prize rather than to destroy it. She frowned. Suzuhara Misaki would be dethroned if she had anything to do with it and her partner in arms was not going to fall for the little first year...of course...that might make things a little more interesting.
And so the girl began to plot another thing in her head, scheming loopholes and methods to get what she wanted, and use everything and everyone to her advantage. The difference between her and the Mizawas was that she was Taori Higashi, mistress of deceit and head of the gossip line at school, one of the most beautiful and dangerous schoolgirls ever to grace Angelic's campus. And she knew it.
Even if no one else did.
That was her main trick, her trump card.
No one ever suspected her except the people she got to work with her, like the blonde boy beside her, Okosu Mirashi.
And even he was a pawn.
Even if he didn't know it.
--------------------------------------------
By the end of the day, Misaki had been convinced to enter the talent search competition with her friends.
She had no idea how they had done it.
Obviously they would have had to get her to say "Hai" and it mortified her to think she had been so very quickly coaxed into what she did not doubt would turn into some unidentifiable form of relative chaos.
Then again, Misaki only had a very vague grasp on things.
She didn't even know what they were doing for the competition yet.
All she knew was that she was in it and there was no escape.
She sighed and glanced briefly over at Oujirou for a split second, not wanting anyone to see her glance. At least he would be with her.
Oujirou's face changed marginally, the corners of his perfect mouth turning up just a bit at the edges to make him seem smug, if only slightly. And he was. He had seen Misaki glance at him in that very split second. And that gave him perhaps more satisfaction than it should have.
But he supposed that was how love worked.
Even if Misaki herself didn't realize he was in love with her yet.
Even if it might take her years to do more than glance and blush.
Love worked that way.
And as for the competition, as Oujirou looked over at Hikaru and Wizard, who were for their part, more open about their relationship usually, though tasteful, he knew that the four of them had every chance in the world to win.
They all had a chemistry that was somewhat supernatural, not as a relationship of master and subject, but as eye-to-eye friends, each with their own perspectives, exhibiting them to form a perfected conglomeration of well-thought out being.
Oujirou smiled again and took his time glancing at Misaki, noting her carefree expression.
One day he would have to ask her how she always looked so carefree and if she ever felt sad or alone.
And on that day he would make her promise to always tell him when she felt that way.
So that he may be her Prince, like in the fairy-tale they began weaving the day they met, and rescue her as he might, even if it was only be assisting her in solving her own troubles.
For the moment though, the competition was at hand, and unbeknownst to Misaki, Mihara Oujirou also had no idea what they would be doing.
Wizard and Hikaru were orchestrating all this.
Well...it would definitely be interesting.
-------------------------------------------------
End chapter ten. Gomen it took so long, Review please. I so appreciate it, it DOES keep the chapters coming, even if it takes me a while. ^_~
Sorry again, but honestly, those REVIEWS keep me writing.
My other stories will be updated as soon as I can do so. Don't worry, regardless of whether it is Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer or Sailor Moon, ALL of my fics will be updated as soon as I get the chance. I VOW to finish any fics I have up on ff.net as of now. I just have to find time.
-Kaji Hikage