"Odd Couples"

by sakako and kenji

Chapter Ia "Helping for Sports Fest"

Kagura arrived at school exhausted, and about five minutes late. She saw that students were beginning to convene on the tarmac, gathering together in their respective homeroom classes. She saw Yukari Tanizaki, her unconventional languages-cum-homeroom teacher, reclining against an oak tree, looking frustrated. Her expression changed into one of unadulterated fury when she saw Kagura approaching, head down.

"What the hell! You've been out running since 6 o'clock and you can't even make it to school on time? I'm well aware that you live about fifteen minutes away!"

"Er… sorry, miss Yukari…" Kagura muttered, despondent.

"Whatever, just wait over there with the rest of 'em."

Kagura saw her friends chatting amiably amongst themselves at the rear of the group. They greeted her en masse, and Chiyo-chan offered a place to sit. Kagura accepted gratefully.

"You look flushed! What happened?" enquired Yomi, concerned.

"I've been training since early this morning."

"Don't you ever take any breaks? I'm not sure whether to be impressed or worried…"

Kagura was unsure as to how she should reply, so she simply shrugged.

"Hey, Kaorin!"

She saw Chihiro rush towards their clique, beaming. Kaorin waved at her.

"Are you coming to Kagura's party?" asked Chihiro, coming to a halt.

"What? Party!" shouted Tomo, as though deeply offended. "You didn't tell us about any party!"

Kagura was totally taken aback by the tone in Tomo's voice, after all, she did have invitations in her satchel, which happened to be inside the classroom.

"Hey! Give me a break guys, I was going to give you the invitations later on today, when we were all together. I put my bag inside the classroom when I rushed there because I thought I was late, and totally forgot about the invitations. Sorry guys." Kagura looked sheepish, but soon brightened up. "By the way, would you like to come to my party? It starts at 8:45 on Saturday. Transport can be arranged."

The others looked at Kagura with suspicion.

"It's not that kind of a party, is it Kagura?" Tomo's question was a valid one, but useless nevertheless.

"No, Tomo. This is a party party, with boys and everything." Tomo's eyes lit up at the third last word.
"Boys? I'm in! Who's with me?"

The others mumbled a collective "I".

Tomo was curious, however, and she looked Kagura coyly in the eye. "That reminds me… which boys were you intending to invite? In case you haven't noticed, it's not exactly like they play a huge role in our lives…"

"Uh… well…" Kagura strained to remember their names, as she had invited them arbitrarily "there was Ohyama from our class, Noboru, Yutaka and Takeshi from class 5, Akira from class 4 and some really hot guy from class 2."

"Some really hot guy? Who?" asked Chihiro.

"Uh… can't remember his name… I just saw him hanging out on the roof yesterday."

Yomi was now the one to be shocked. "But I was up on the roof yesterday! I don't think I saw anyone…" She struggled to remember her surroundings and then remembered something. "Wait… There was this guy holding a sakura blossom… I couldn't see his face…" then absent-mindedly added, "I wonder who it was for…"

Tomo shouted at Yomi: "Hey stupid! Who cares who it was for, it's yours if you want it! Just show up at the party on Saturday."

The rest of the posse stared blankly at the pair, when suddenly a megaphone squealed, and Miss Yukari's irritated drawl permeated the air.

"Alright you guys, listen up… There's only one rule today: you obey my orders, no questions asked! You got that?" There was a raucous groan. "I take that as a yes. Now – Ohyama's group…"

It was approaching midday, and everyone, especially the younger girls, was getting hot and sweaty from all the unpacking. Kagura suddenly shot up. She realised that someone was talking to her.

"…Kagura! Kagura! I need you to move this box for me, ok?" It was Yukari, who looked like she was about to pass out. "I'm pretty much screwed by this heat, I'm not a freakin' P.E. teacher!"

As Kagura was replying in the affirmative, Nyamo overheard Yukari's degenerative remark and promptly came over. Yukari face-faulted as Nyamo got the traditional red eyes of anger, and then she was knocked out by a single punch.

"That box needs to go to the faculty office, by the way."

Chihiro was taking a break at this time, and as she was leaning by the same oak tree Yukari was a few hours ago, she caught a glimpse of Kagura bending over to pick up the box. Wow… I never knew someone could look that good. She suddenly realised what she was thinking and removed all thoughts about her friend from her mind. Banging her head against the rough bark was the cure she needed, and when she turned back to face the students milling around on the tarmac, Kagura was nowhere to be found.

I'm never going there again! Kagura thought, as she went over what had just happened. At least, not while Kimura's there. Of course, she could take care of herself, but that was still no excuse for the perverted teacher's behaviour. She was well aware that a girl like herself could interest guys, just as she was well aware that they could not touch her. She came back out the door to find that the place was nearly ready. She asked her long-time rival and experimental friend Sakaki what there was left to do.

"Um… you can probably…" Sakaki's voice trailed off and Kagura decided not to ask her to remember anything important ever again.

"Okay, I'll do that." Kagura then heard Yukari shouting through the megaphone that it was time to go home, and she glimpsed Chihiro bowing to her classmates. Wow… I never knew someone could look that good. She knew what she was thinking, and thought to herself that she would make her move at the party.

Kenji's note: This chapter underwent a minor edit on 26/01/06. My apologies to those who noticed the mistakes.