Title: Distant Smile
Author: xxShadowSpiritsxx
Summary: It's been three years and everyone has gone separate ways after their adventure. Izumi moves back to Japan (from Italy) and faces new problems. One person, in particular, seems to hate her. She gets involved but is she ready to find out the truth?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic, except the fic itself.
xxShadowSpiritsxx: Hey! So sorry it took a long time to update! I was trying to get Leave the Past Behind You finished, and I kind of forgot about finishing this one too XD. Please forgive me! Anyways, I wrote the original short story a year ago, and decided to make it into a fanfic. However, I'm a lil stuck 'cause I don't quite recall how exactly I was going to make this work…So, I'm just kind of making it up as I go! Hehe. I'm so weird…but weird is good…right?
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After much trouble, Izumi finally made it to school. There, she met some new friends, Kaori, Eri, and Ami. Aside from them, Izumi decided to talk to this strange, mysterious boy, whose name she found out was Kouji Minamoto. She tried to be nice, but he remained cold and distant to her, just like everybody else…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DISTANT SMILE
Chapter 2: Takuya
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"His name…is Kouji Minamoto."
My head sprung up as soon as I heard his name. Kouji… His name sounds so familiar…but who is he? I searched my mind for any memories of a guy named Kouji. The noise around me was so loud that I couldn't concentrate at all. Suddenly, I snapped out of my gaze as I heard Eri's voice.
"Be careful, Izumi. Don't get yourself into any trouble…" she warned and they all left.
Trouble? What kind of trouble would I get into? I started dazing off again, but stopped myself in time. I realized I was standing in the middle of the hallway, and a huge crowd was approaching! I dashed to the side as fast as lightning!
Of course, with my great non-clumsy self, I bashed into this shorter, dark haired boy. He was probably just minding his own business when all of a sudden, a dumb blonde jumped out from the middle of the hall and decided to knock him over, 'just because.' Yep! That's me…lacking brains as usual. Anyways, I apologized and helped him gather his books off the floor.
"I'm so sorry…I wasn't looking. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked for the hundredth time.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. I just hit my shoulder on a locker handle." He put his hand over his bruised shoulder.
Feeling guilty, I said, "I could get some ice for you if you want."
"Nah, that's okay. I'm fine." He smiled and looked up at me for the first time. His eyes were a calm shade of purple, which complemented his chocolate hair. Actually…he was kind of cute! I felt myself blush a little, and offered him a hand to help him up.
We walked down the halls, to the class we both had next: chemistry. I learned his name was David, and that he was the same age as I was (well, duh--we had chemistry 9 together). What we both have in common is that we're both new to this school. He's kind of shy and timid, in a way. He doesn't seem to talk very much, unless you ask him something. There was something about him that made me want to get to know more about him. I guess that feeling of curiosity was what made us become friends.
The bell had rung and by that time, the halls were once again packed with racing students. We entered the science room, only to see that Kouji guy there. My meeting with David had caused me to completely forget about the 'business' I had to take care of. Oh well.
Kouji was sitting all alone at the table, his bag on the other seat. I saw other kids pass him. It was as if he didn't have any friends in any of his classes. I remembered him at an empty group of desks back in art class too. I was about to go talk to Kouji, when I heard a voice call to me from the back row of desks.
"Hey Izumi!" David waved me over to go sit with him. Not wanting our friendship to be a one-time thing, I went over to his table. I didn't like the idea of being distracted from my mission, but I would rather keep a new friend, than bother a cold person whom I knew nothing about. There would still be time to finding out about Kouji later.
"Alright class, settle down," the teacher demanded. Almost instantly, the students who were running around the room had slid into their seats. I assumed this was because he was a pretty strict teacher, which they would have known from past experiences.
"Let's get started right away. Why waste time? In the end, you'll be able to have more class time to study for your final exam!" he went on, smirking.
Oh joy! I thought sarcastically to myself. I slouched in my chair, bored, as he yelled out names on the attendance list.
After that, the teacher issued out textbooks heavy as an elephant! I have no idea how I'm going to lug that thing home every night, but I guess I have no choice.
The rest of the class was extremely boring. All we did was review safety precautions and read through the first part of the chapter going to be studied. Finally, after a decade of dullness, that damn bell rang and we were dismissed.
"So where are you going now?" David asked me while we both piled books into our backpacks.
"I'm not sure…I have something I need to take care of, but I guess I don't want to keep my other friends waiting."
"Oh…is that so?"
"I'm supposed to meet them to watch a basketball game…so yeah…" My voice trailed off and my mind drifted back to the topic of Kouji.
"I see…okay well I'll see you around! I'm going to go get lunch." He smiled and waved as he left the classroom.
"Bye…" Picking up the last of my things, I headed out the door.
I made it to my locker and squished all my junk inside. It really shouldn't be that messy, but I had been forced to share a locker with this weirdo snobby girl. I guess she just didn't like the fact that she doesn't get her own locker all to her noble self anymore. Oh well. It's not my problem. She's just going to have to deal with sharing, just like everyone else. But there's still a part of me that doesn't quite trust her…
Anyways, I was jumping to conclusions again. I should just forget about it. Grabbing my wallet out of my bag, I noticed something sticking out of the small crack in the side of where the shelf is attached to the locker. Maybe something fell from her shelf and got stuck between it. After all, it happened a lot to me. My papers always used to fall through, back in my old school locker. I'll just move it back to where the rest of her stuff is.
I slowly pulled the tip of a small plastic bag down from the crack it was caught in, when I stopped abruptly.
"Holy shit…" I said to myself, not loud enough so anyone else could hear. Panicking again, I quickly took all of my things out of the locker, closed it, and dashed away! Luckily, I was already near the gym so I didn't have to go far. I rushed through the doors and slammed my ass down on a bench near Ami.
"Ah! …Oh hey, Izumi," she said, a little surprised at my unorthodox way of greeting.
"…Hey guys." I tried to laugh it off, a bit embarrassed about my entrance. "Um…" I mumbled.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Ami wondered.
I really wanted to mention the locker encounter, but I thought twice and decided not to say anything. "Never mind. It's nothing."
She raised an eyebrow at my comment, but shrugged it off.
"So," I started, "who's winning?"
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Fifteen minutes passed as I just continued staring into space, pretending to have some interest in the game going on below. I had almost completely spaced out when suddenly I heard a friendly voice calling to me.
"Hey Izumi!"
Looking up, I noticed it was David. He waved at me while holding a foam bowl containing the cafeteria's daily soup. I smelled the soft aroma of sweet tomatoes. It lingered inside my nose for a while before I realized I hadn't eaten anything for some time now! But I ignored my hunger for now and just smiled back saying, "Hi David…"
"OOH! Who's that? Is he your boyfriend, Izumi?" inquired Eri, whom stretched her body over to see what was going on with David and I. "Wow…you're cute!"
"What? Of course he isn't my b--" I was cut off.
"What? Who's cute?" Kaori asked, oblivious to what was happening around her.
Ami smirked. "Yep, that's Kaori! Unless it has anything to do with guys, she doesn't pay attention."
Kaori stuck her tongue out as a comeback.
Eri budded into the commotion again. "Hi, my name is Eri!" she said perkily. "And these are just my two loser friends, Ami and Kaori." She winked at all of us.
"HEY!" The two girls gave an annoyed look at Eri's evil grin.
Through all this, I simply hung my head in humiliation for my friends' wild behavior. I glanced up at David, who seemed to enjoy all the attention. He must not get this reaction from girls very much.
He gave me a weird sort of expression and said, "Well…it's been nice meeting you. I'm just gonna leave now…" He slowly backed away.
"Aw…you scared him away, Kaori!"
"No, you did, Eri. It was all of your out of control flirting!"
"I couldn't help it! He was soooo cute!"
"Yeah, but not hot," Ami added to her screaming friends. "Sure, he had a cute face, but come on…"
"Whatever, Ami," they said in unison.
I watched them go crazy again, gathering my belongings, as I slipped out quietly to make a trip to the vending machines. My stomach was growling and rumbling ever so intensely. I had only eaten a small bowl of sickening bran flakes--that was all we had in the house! My body was so weak now, I realized as I dragged my feet across the hard floor. Just making my way there was torture! I know, I know, many people make it through the day without lunch, but I can't. It must be some metabolism thing. I have no idea what I'm saying. Anyways, I finally made it there and was looking through the selection of chips, candy, gum and packaged cookies. At that moment, I would eat anything as long as it didn't have mould growing out of it. Hurrying, I stuffed my coins into the slot and jammed on the buttons.
I headed back up to the bleachers, crunching on some cookies I bought. I also had a bag of chips, but they weren't as filling, so I would eat them after. Just making it to the third step, I looked down from the stairs and saw a brown haired boy of average height. Somehow my mind had flicked some switches inside and started processing. I had no idea what was going on, but something forced a word out of my mouth.
"Takuya…"
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We didn't hear much from Kouji in this chapter, but what is the big secret that troubles Izumi about him?
What's going on with Izumi's locker partner? What will happen to her?
And is it really Takuya that Izumi sees? Will he turn out to be just as cold as Kouji? Read and find out!
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xxShadowSpiritsxx: Hey! Thanks so much for reading, and please review! I really do appreciate reviews, and I'd like to know what you think of my story.
Izumi: Hi, again people! It's me--your host of Izumi TV!
xxShadowSpiritsxx: What are you doing back again? I thought I got rid of you!
Izumi: Uh oh…k well I better get going! Stay tuned for the next chapter and review please--
(Loud crashing noises in the background)