If only life was this exciting.

Safe, In Your Arms

Chapter 4: What a Fiasco

"Hey Forrest, see you at lunch!" Ray exclaimed as they all went their separate ways to their next classes.

Forrest found a fondness in Ray mainly because their personalities matched. Both were loyal to friends and family—Forrest was loyal to everyone on her mother's side. Ray had a calm personality but was outgoing with his friends, and the green-eyed had similar feelings. Around strangers, she stuttered and blushed a lot but around people she knew, she was open and friendly.

Forrest stepped outside of the school building and went to the basketball courts.

I wonder where the locker rooms are…Forrest asked herself as she turned left into a corridor. This doesn't seem right.

After some seconds of walking, Forrest was sure of her words. The hallway was dimly lighted and it smelled of rotten things. Oh joy.

As she turned right she saw a door so she decided to push open. But to her disappointment, it led to another corridor, even darker than the one she was in at the time.

She was about to leave but suddenly she recognized a familiar silhouette. Spiky and messed up hair and tall guy, and he looked like he was bending over something. His arms were pressing against the wall.

Forrest approached with hope.

"Kai Hiwatari, is that you?" she asked with a squeaky voice. That didn't come out right, she thought as she coughed.

To her horror, the person was Kai and he gave a big and angry roar. Obviously he was busy. His shirt was tucked in wrong and his tie was let loosely hanging around his neck. An arm was wrapped around his neck.

Forrest didn't have to guess anything after she heard a feminine groan.

"Kai? What's wrong?" came the feminine voice.

Oh my God, she thought as she ran out of the dark. That is so… argh. My innocent eyes.

She ran, ran and ran some more until she reached the light. It almost blinded her so Forrest covered her eyes for a few seconds. To her curiosity, she heard cheers and noises so she moved her arm to see her surroundings.

The empty basketball court was filled with people; most of them were sitting down to watch a battle of sexes between 2 guys and 2 girls. They paid no attention to her and kept playing. Besides, even if they did, she would have nothing to say to them. Everything would be lost in translation.

I really am late, now, she told herself as she slowly tried to disappear from the sight of others. There's no point in going to PE now. I'll just… skip it.

Skipping class was a thing that she would have never think of before because she was Miss oh-so-perfect-Forrest but after almost running into Kai and his girlfriend in the dark hallway, her mind just told her to cool down and relax.

Besides, PE isn't important, right? It's not like it's useful… I'll do swimming. And God, I hope that no one notices me gone. I mean, why should they? I'm a new student, thoughts raced in Forest's mind as she promenaded over to a fat tree.

A pile of dried up leaves piled at the root of the old tree and Forrest made herself comfortable on the pile of leaves. Unsure, she slowly leaned on the trunk and closed her eyes, not before she skimmed the environment. Everything looked right. I hope.

"Spying on others and now skipping—" came a cold and dangerous voice.

Forrest gave a sharp scream that could be heard miles away but before she could turn around and run away, a hand clasped on her mouth.

"God, woman. Calm down!"

Forrest immediately recognized the voice. She flinched and felt like she was about the collapse. The same person that she's been trying to avoid for the past 10 minutes just found her alone and defenseless.

"OhmyGoddon'tkillmeKai!" she gasped, panting as she grabbed his arms and flung them away from her.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. I'm not trying to kill you!" he yelled. "Wait," he stopped. "What did you just call me?"

"Uh… Kai?"

She watched her house-mate's sanguine eyes focus, his pupils becoming cat-like and scary. She shuddered and tried to back away a little bit but her legs wouldn't obey. Finally, after what seemed an eternity of intensity, Kai's eyes softened by a little bit and he relaxed.

"What are you doing here? Wandering around school?" he asked casually.

Forrest looked at him and tilted her head. How can he change emotions that… quickly? she asked herself.

"Got lost," she muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Kai Hiwatari gave a cold laugh.

"Lost? Pathetic. But then, it's expected from you, isn't it? I bet you got lost in a dark and hidden corridor too. Now, did you? Or were you following me?" he asked.

Forrest bit her lower lip and felt the intensity rise in the air again. She shook her head continuously with fear, not caring how dizzy it made her. Her legs shook with fear, she felt like the whole world was watching her and her heart sank to the bottom of a black hole. With a thud, she collapsed to the ground and covered her eyes with her hands, scared to let Kai see her in her miserable situation.

What? So weak. So weak… What did I do? the two-toned haired boy asked to himself, not believing that a girl just cried in front of him.

He saw girls cry before; girls crying because of physical pain but never a girl who cried because he had scared her. He knew not what to do.

So he tried putting his hand on her head, comforting her silently but it didn't work well, she was still sobbing half-silently. He could hear her sniff every five seconds and her heavy breathing. Then he tried to sit beside her, so that she could lean on his shoulder, but she didn't. She just sat there, on the dirty leaves, her hands blocking her dirty but delicate face. He felt useless.

Kai sighed and looked at Forrest, confused.

Now that's a thing that we should learn in school, he thought, we should learn how to deal with emotional girls.

He watched her as he sat beside her, not knowing what to do with this half-stranger. He did not know what she liked, what she wanted or anything else about her except that she was a new exchange student two years younger than he was.

Silently, he stood up and sighed.

He didn't say anything but gave her a look full of pity before walking away from her, kicking some leaves as he strolled away. And that was just another autumn day, wasn't it?

She sat there, numb, and unable to feel the world around her. She heard rustles of leaves, meaning that Kai was moving around. She peeked through her hands and saw him sit down beside her. That didn't help, she still felt terrible inside.

How could a person scare me so much? she asked herself. But to her dismay, no answer came.

So she just sat there, waiting for her heartbeat to go back to normal. It took a while and after her urge of sobbing disappeared, she found her shirt wet with tears and Kai gone.

It's better when he's not here, she told herself as she slowly got up.

A headache shot right through her and she gasped. She pressed a hand against her forehead. She tilted her head and checked her watch, 12:25.

"Fifteen minutes into lunch", she sighed. "I better go find the guys. As for Kai, I just hope that he went to hell."

On her way to lunch, where Ray told her that they ate, she went to the bathroom and dried her eyes and then made sure that they weren't red. She didn't want others to know that she cried. Crying on a first day? How pathetic. She even laughed at herself.

After washing her face several times, she was satisfied.

She forced a smile onto her lips and walked to the lunch place. Surprisingly, when she arrived at the place, she discovered that it was at the backyard of the school. She looked around and saw Max waving at her. She squinted her eyes and to her horror, Kai was there and so was a boy that she did not meet yet. The boy had dark brown hair and glasses that blocked his eyes. Forrest couldn't read the boy's expression very well but from the smile on his face, she could tell that he was happy. Unless he's smiling like I am.

"Heya!" she called to the group, smiling.

"You're late!" Ray exclaimed, chuckling.

Forrest stuck her tongue out childishly and sat down on the bench beside Ray.

At least Kai's sitting in the tree, she thought, avoiding every gaze that he sent her.

It was true. Kai Hiwatari was perching on the tree, right above Forrest's head.

So she hides her feelings well, but I can see her weakness inside. Her eyes full of deep troubles. Her eyes full of worries that will never end, he pondered to himself.

The blue-haired boy didn't eat, he had a piece of grass between his teeth and he observed.

"What class did you have?" Tyson asked.

"Oh, Physical education, it was fun. I watched two brilliant guys play basketball against two talented girls. The match was almost a stalemate," Forrest lied.

"From the way that you're speaking. It sounds like you have a crush on one of the guys," Ray teased. Then he took a bite of his lunch that consisted of noodles and several kinds of vegetables.

Forrest felt her cheeks get hot and closed her eyes for a second.

"God, Ray. Shuddup," she replied, pushing him playfully.

Forrest felt not like eating, besides, she forgot her lunch anyway.

It was to her surprise that she got along with the Bladebreakers—except for Kai—so well. They were welcoming—except for Kai. They were friendly—except for Kai. They were fun to be with—except for Kai. They all had something that she liked, for Tyson it was his naiveté which Forrest found amusing. For Max, it was his nice friendship and his pure soul that she liked. Ray, she really liked his loyalty, his courage and his humor. And she even found likings in Kenny, who was a genius and a quiet kid. But for Kai, she wasn't sure at all. He was cold, distant, threatening, and since the incident, she haven't dared to look at him in the eyes. She knew that he watched her from time to time because she felt a cold gaze on the back of her head and Kai was the only person sitting on that tree, having a perfect bird view of his teammates and Forrest Fan. But somehow, inside of her, she knew that he was special, he was special in a way to her. Maybe just because he could scare her easily.

"What's your next class?" Forrest asked casually.

"Chemistry," Ray answered.

"Japanese," Tyson replied, grimacing. Forrest sweat dropped.

"I'm with Tyson. I have Japanese too," Kenny added.

"English," Max said.

"Oh! I have English too. Are you in room 134?" Forrest asked with slight enthusiasm.

Max nodded happily and took the last bite of his lunch.

Not wanting for people to think that something happened between them, Forest found a bit of courage in herself.

"You, Hiwatari?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Hn. None of your business."

Typical. Oh well. At least no one will notice any change, Forrest thought.

The girl gave a peak to her watch, 1:23.

"Do you want to go now, Max?" Forrest asked, hoping to escape Kai.

Max shrugged and took his backpack. He jumped from his seat and walked to Forrest. He gave her his hand and she took it with gratitude.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she straightened her skirt and blouse. She looked at Max and grinned. "Let's go."

The day ended fast for Forrest, she found a seat beside Max and met a friend named Emily, a sophomore, who blushed at the mention of Max's name. Forrest couldn't help but to giggle at the thought.

Those two are too obvious, she thought as she made her way to calculus.

Calculus was boring. Forrest had difficulty to stay awake. She sat in the back of the class and got unnoticed through the period. For several times, her head rested on her arms and she just sat there, half-sleeping and half-awake.

When the bell rang, Forrest almost screamed in surprise. She had fallen asleep. She started packing her stuff and gave a great yawn.

Tryout in half an hour. Better hurry up, she told herself as she copied down the homework on a sheet of scrap paper and slipped it in her pockets

She scurried down two flights of stairs and bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she started running again.

But the person caught her arm and caught her attention. Forest green eyes met the crimson ones. Forrest recognized those eyes and looked away. But he called her name and she felt ashamed to not look at him.

I shouldn't be scared, she told herself. I live with him. How can I avoid him forever?

So she brought up her eyes and to her surprise, Kai's eyes held a new expression, an expression that she never thought before: confusion. She bit her lower lip and drew a deep breath.

"Look—" they both started.

"Go on," Forrest said.

"I'm … well," he started.

Forrest waited for the words.

I hate apologizing. I never say it right, Kai thought as he felt like a fur ball was stuck in his throat.

"Apology accepted. Now, I gotta go. See you. Wish me luck," she replied, reading his mind. But her facial expression showed nothing of what she had said.

Fake smiles. Such a fake world. If you're scared to show your emotions, you're worthless. You weren't as strong as I thought, Kai thought as he slowly walked away. He had to meet someone after school. I hope that she didn't mind the fact that Forrest saw us.

Forrest dashed down the stairs once again, pretending to feel like nothing happened. But it wasn't true. She felt confused and relieved at the same time.

At least I can face him at home, she thought as she arrived at the swimming pool.

In front of her stood a young-looking man with a whistle hanging from his neck.

"Folest Fan?" the coach asked.

"F-o-r-r-e-s-t F-a-n," Forrest spell out her name as she took her swimsuit out.

The coach pointed to a direction and Forrest quickly dashed to the changing rooms, not wanting to keep the coach waiting for long.

She quickly changed herself, tied her hair up, put her swimming cap and her goggles on.

"I'm ready," she said.

The coach nodded and explained what she had to do in Japanese. Forrest had to make him repeat several sentences because she couldn't understand very well. She held out five fingers and repeated 'breaststrokes' several times and waited for the coach to nod.

Her assistant, Theresa, has been helping her with Japanese but learning a language in two days wasn't easy at all.

"Okay. So 500 meters for my best stroke, and 500 meters for another stroke," Forrest repeated, finally understanding what he had said. She thought that he wanted her to swim 500 laps.

The coach nodded.

That's a lot for a tryout, she told herself as she jumped in the water and felt her muscles relax. Alright Forest, it comes down to this. Relax… forget about Kai. Forget about everything, just keep swimming. She blinked to herself. Yeah, just keep swimming.

She looked at the coach and saw his arm in the air and his whistle in his mouth.

He blew the whistle and Forrest immediately pushed the wall with her feet and launched into the water feeling free like a fish in the ocean.

One, two, breathe. One, two, breathe. Come on. A little more, she told herself as she neared the other side of the swimming pool.

For her best stroke, Forrest chose freestyle, the fastest one. And for the second 500 meters, she chose breaststrokes, which were much more relaxing but she could still swim at an averagely fast speed.

With one last kick with her legs, Forrest felt her fingertips touch the wall and she quickly brought up her head. It was with relief that she resurfaced. Two more laps and she would have fainted. Asians sure demand more. She used to be on the school swim team but they never had so much vigorous training.

The coach gave a grin and clapped. He was satisfied of the time on his stopwatch.

"Thanks," Forrest thanked as she got out of the pool and put a towel around her.

"We'll take you," he told her in Japanese. "I'll inform the counselors of your change of schedule. Tomorrow morning you will report to swimming practice. Good day."

Without another word, the coach left, satisfied. Forrest felt her heart leap with joy. I made it! I made it! All that training and I'm in!

She practically hopped to the dressing rooms and changed while daydreaming.

It's going to be hard if I want to keep up with the team. I'll have to practice more each day. But I'm gonna do fine. Yes. I'll be fine, she told herself, full of confidence. Actually, so much confidence that it spoiled her.

Sitting in his study room with Tyson, Max, Ray and Kenny, Kai was watching the TV for anything interesting on beyblading.

"Boring—" he started but he was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. In fact, the sound came many times in a row. "What the fuck."

"Now, master. Your language please. Miss Forrest Fan is back. And it seems that she is… quite delighted," James said as he came to the door of the study room.

Max, Ray and Kenny all sweat dropped but Tyson was too busy munching on popcorn to notice.

"I made it! I made it! I made it! I made it! I made it! I made ittt! I maaaaddeeeeeeee iiiit!" a chanting voice came.

Ray peaked out the door and saw Forrest dancing in the hallways, swinging her backpack and dancing with random maids who were just passing. She certainly caught the attention of everyone but this time she didn't mind, she was too happy. She almost completely forgot about the other events that happened the same day.

"Ray!" she exclaimed as she saw the boy's head. "Guess what?"

"I made it," Ray repeated, imitating her voice.

"Yes, I made it!" Forrest replied taking Ray's arms and began to spin in a circle and then gave Ray a quick hug. "Today's the greatest day of my life and no one—"she eyed Kai, "is going to ruin it!"

I didn't mean it
When I said I didn't love you, so
I was stupid, I was foolish
I was lying to myself

She whirled around in the room until she felt her head spinning.

She eyed Kai but shrugged to herself.

Right here, cause baby
We belong together

I love this song, she thought. It was true, she truly did. She sang it whenever something of great importance happened to her. It brought both joy and sadness to her. The sadness from her mom's death and the happiness from the present. She couldn't settle between past and present; both haunted her day and night.

When you left I lost a part of me
It's still so hard to believe
Come back baby, please
Cause we belong together

Forrest's eyes were ready to swell up with tears but she resisted.

Who else am I gon' lean on
When times get rough

No one's going to destroy my happiness today, she thought.

The pain reflected in this song
It ain't even half of what
I'm feeling inside

She looked at Tyson, who was listening to her sing and eating popcorn. The boy didn't seem to understand her.

She looked at Kai, who tried to ignore her song, but she knew that he was listening because he would tilt his head whenever she paused.

Who's gonna talk to me on the phone
Till the sun comes up

She sighed and looked over the events of that day.

Who's gonna take your place
There ain't nobody better
Oh, baby baby, we belong together

She remembered herself crying previously and told herself how foolish she was. Kai wasn't a monster.

She propped herself against the couch between Max and Ray. At last, she relaxed and closed her eyes. Unconsciously, her head was half pressing against the couch and half leaning on Ray's shoulder. Her hands were on her sides and her delicate lips curled into a mysterious smile.

But still, it was just a smile. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Author's Notes: That was actually a random song. It's by Mariah Carey, the title's We Belong Together. She was singing it. Yes, Forrest sings.

I think that it is a known fact that Japanese pronounce the 'r' as a 'l' so yeah, just to enlighten you guys on that.

This chapter's pretty important plot-wise. R&R.