Hello again, all! This time I answered reviews using the reply system (although I don't like using it), because Koji Shikage asked me to. Yes, I don't want my story deleted either! -sobsob- Why do the administrators here have to be so mean? -sulksulk-
Anyways, in this chapter another winter event is being announced! Hehe, I really like this idea. It's kinda original, I think. The High School Division will be announcing its Winter Fashion Show, seta few days afterWinter Formal, and you'll just have to find out what happens -wink- More festivities for the CLAMP school, and its still winter! Makes you wonder what spring will bring, the season when men's fancies turn to love. -laugh-
In an earlier chapter I think I wrote that when Nokoru and Aki first met, Nokoru was three and Aki was five. -sweatdrop- (It's fixed now though). That's a mistake. Both of them were five. Although it would've been cute to make both of them three. I can totally imagine three year old Nokoru -squeal- So cute. Sorry if Nokoru is being too OOC this chapter. -sniffle- I'll add lots and lots of AkiraUtako in to make up for it! I also hope you can understand this chapter. There are a lot of time jumps and perspective changes, so it might be a little confusing. I apologize! I'm going to be putting some SuohHitori in here, to start off the OC relationships. -smile- x.Fiddlesticks.x has allowed me to name her character, so I'm naming her Emi Kiraman. I will try to squeeze some SuohEmi in here too.
Please please please review, because it always makes me happy to know that people like my story. And it makes me update faster -smile-
OMIGOSH! I watched a few episodes of Clamp School Detectives on Youtube, and I thought it was so cute! Especially Akira -laugh- He was adorable.
I am a Nokoru FanGirl! - Speaking
I am a Nokoru FanGirl! - Thinking
I am a Nokoru FanGirl! - Inner Chibi Speaking/ Creative Thinking
Clamp School Detectives does not belong to me. Only Nokoru does. Just kidding -laugh- (I wish)
THE UNDERSTUDIES- CHAPTER SIX: CREAM PUFFS (FRIDAY)
Suoh watched in slight amuzement as Akira paced up and down the Board Room floor, worrying.
"Ijyuin. If you pace anymore the carpet will wear down."
"Gomen nasai Takamura-sempai! But I just don't know what to do!"
The older boy shuffled his papers together as he pondered what the younger had said. "The Chairman is more experienced in these things. You should ask him."
Akira nodded and walked over to Nokoru's desk, peeking behind the huge piles of paperwork. "Kaichou?"
"Hm?" Nokoru popped his head out between two stacks. "Yes Akira?"
"Kaichou...I was wondering if you could give me some advice..." Akira blushed a dark red.
"Ah! About asking Utako-san to the Winter Formal." Nokoru smiled when the treasurer nodded furiously. "Well! Come close and I'll tell you what to do...No...wait, wait! My papers-!"
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He was late. Late, late, late, late, late! In truth he was only ten minutes late, but Akira was used to being on time. His project had taken a little more time than he had expected. By the time he entered the auditorium where the Christmas play rehearsal was being held, he was out of breath and sweating. "G-Gomen nasai! I've made you all w-wait." He bowed in apology, still panting.
"Don't worry about it Akira-kun." Utako patted him on the back, silently telling him to catch his breath. "I'm just glad that you're here! After you get your wind back let's start, ne?"
Akira nodded in agreement, and the rehearsal started soon after. The first few scenes were ones of the smaller kindgarteners posing as Yuna Ishihara, Damien Nakoji, Nami Rukta, and Horoshi Endo. The scenes went on with some difficulty, because the young children kept forgetting their lines. But Utako guided them through it, and eventually the play moved on to the scenes with the elementary students. Those went without a hitch, besides the fact that Akira's face was permanently red thoughout the more intimate scenes with Utako.
"Akira-kun, you have to be more angry in this scene," the little girl explained to him. "Be angry at me."
"I could never be angry at you, Utako-chan," he said quietly. Utako flushed and smiled.
"Try? For me?" Those words were all Akira needed to be convincingly angry. It seemed that he had a possible future as an actor.
After the rehearsal, everyone headed home except for Akira and Utako. The girl had to fetch her things, and Akira was waiting for her. Nokoru and Aki passed by them as they walked out of the auditorium, and Nokoru gave Akira a thumbs up sign. Akira smiled weakly back at him. He was almost prepared to ask his little Utako out to the dance. Clutching the bag he had brought to rehearsal in his hand, he came over to her and coughed slightly to catch her attention.
"Ne...Utako-chan? You were amazing at rehearsal," Akira squeaked. Embarrassment was starting to affect him, but he stood his ground.
Utako smiled. "Well, you were too! You really did look like you were mad at me."
"It's just play. I really couldn't ever get mad at you," the boy replied shyly. Utako giggled.
Akira watched her stuff her things in her backpack, decided that it was now or never. "Utako-chan?"
"Hm?" She paused in her packing, looking up at him curiously. "Yes?"
"You still don't have...someone to go with to the Winter Formal, do you?" Akira blushed, not looking at her directly. He didn't want her to see his face if she said she already had a person to go with.
"Iie. I don't."
"Ah!" Akira heaved a sigh of relief before steeling himself. "Um..." He pulled out a small box of homemade chocolates and pressed it into her hands. "Will you go with me, Utako-chan? Onegai?"
There was a moment of silence, and Akira was about to frantically apologize for being so bold and stupid when Utako giggled.
"Oh! Akira-kun! I've been waiting for you to ask me!" She pratically glomped the boy, sending Akira stumbling backwards.
"Ah!" He steadied himself and laughed sheepishly. Utako laughed and hugged him properly. "Hai, I will go with you to the Winter Formal, Akira-kun."
They smiled at each other in quiet understanding, and walked hand in hand back to the Elementary Division Class Board Room. Nokoru, Aki, Suoh, and Hitori all looked up as they came in, and all of them made no comment, merely smiled at the couple before resuming their tasks. Only Nokoru winked at them before shrinking as Suoh told him off for not doing his work. Akira and Utako looked at each other and laughed.
Aki had agreed to do a lot of things for Nokoru. It was something natural to her. If that crazy blonde asked her to follow him to space so he could see the stars twinkle better, she would reply 'Which spaceship and when are you going?'. She would not hesitate to do anything for him. It was because he was her most precious friend, and maybe even more than that. Agreeing with him was her highlight of the day, to see him smile so brightly at her, blue eyes shining with their usual mischievousness.
Today she was so close to not agreeing. But in the end, Nokoru convinced her.
FLASHBACK
Aki sifted through her paperwork. It was almost eight thirty in the moning. Tea time, Nokoru's voice would chime at any moment. She smiled and set her pen down, stretching her arms. The Board Room was quiet. Akira had gone out to get their snacks in anticipation of Nokoru's call, and Hitori had disappeared earlier with Utako. Suoh was gone delivering papers. And Nokoru... Aki blinked. Where was Nokoru? She half rose out of her chair and looked around the large board room. He wasn't at his desk. The large piles of paperwork were still there on his desk, but she was sure that if Nokoru were there she would hear either the scratching of his pen, or his slow breath of sleep. He wasn't on the couch lounging. He wasn't standing at his window. As far as she knew, he had not left the room. So where was he?
Her vision darkened, and she felt two cool hands cover her eyes. "Guess who," a voice whispered in her ear. She squirmed and collapsed on her chair, giggling.
"Nokoru-kun, you scared me for a moment."
Her vision returned, and Nokoru's smiling face looked into hers. "Gomen ne. I never want to scare you."
Aki just smiled back at him. "Aren't you supposed to be calling for tea?"
"Hai, but I wanted to ask you something first."
The sixth grade girl blinked, but nodded. Nokoru brought her over in front of his desk, sitting her down in the chair before sitting in his own seat. "Okay, go ahead."
"Your favorite designer...it's Kisuha Hideki, right?"
"Hai...how did you know?"
Nokoru chuckled, winking from behind his fan. "I am a feminist, am I not, anata? The flow that your clothes show when you move and the soft texture I feel whenever I hug you were very big tip offs. Kisuha-san is a close friend of my aunt's."
"Who isn't?" she laughed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you know."
"Alright then..." Nokoru smiled to himself. "You know the Winter Fashion Show the High School Divsion is having?"
Aki nodded. "I read a document earlier this morning talking about that. What's that got to do with Kisuha-sama?"
"He's coming to CLAMP to assist some aspiring designers here in the outfits that are going to be modeled in the fashion show."
"Really? Wow! Maybe I could talk to him..." Aki's eyes sparkled with the idea. Nokoru laughed a little.
"I plan to have that happen."
"What do you mean by that Nokoru-kun?"
"Well...Kisuha-sama needs his own model, because he is bringing some new outfits to display at the High School Division's fashion show. I talked with him last night, and I suggested that you do it."
Aki's eyes widened to be as big as saucers. Nokoru smiled delightedly. "So, Aki-chan, will you do it?"
"No."
Nokoru had been leaning forward over his desk in anticipation of her answer, and now he fell over, partially because he had lost balance and partially because he had expected her to say yes. "But Aki-chan…"
"Nokoru-kun, I just wouldn't feel comfortable if I did something like that!" Aki turned away, blushing furiously. Nokoru sat on his desk in front of her, hands clasped and eyes wide.
"Anata…you'd look beautiful," he said, a tinge of love lacing his words. The girl flushed a deeper red but did not desist.
"I'd look horrible."
"Ne, Aki-chan, stop being so modest!"the blonde huffed, scolding slightly."You wear Kisuha-san's clothes everyday, and you look radiant in them. Kisuha-san was really looking forward to having you model for him. Please? For me? I want to see a beautiful girl model those beautiful clothes."
Aki hid her face in her hands, trying to hide her blush. "Nokoru-kun..."
Nokoru walked around his desk and gently detached her hands. "Aki-chan...look at me." Aki slowly lifted her head up to meet his gaze, blushing all the while.
He smiled winningly at Aki, nodding encouragingly, and thus, she found herself unable to resist agreeing with him anymore.
"Alright…" Aki shook her head as Nokoru grinned and called up Kisuha-san.
END FLASHBACK
Yes...it was safe to say that she would agree to do anything for him.
Suoh was used to noises in the Class Board Room of the Elementary Division. Nokoru was always scheming up things and setting his plans into action, and Akira...well, Akira tended to be klutzy at the oddest moments, despite his stealthiness and gracefulness that came with doing...ahem, what Akira did after school hours. With the new arrivals of Aki and Hitori, the noise level stayed pretty much the same, although there would be an occasional squeal or two from his cousin and sporadic giggling from the constant kindgartener visitor. Not that Suoh minded. It just reminded him that this was his family, including all the people that lived at home. These people were people worth protecting, because they meant that much.
But sometimes, the noise level grew to annoying proportions, and that was when Suoh took it upon himself to tell them off. Usually it worked...for about ten minutes. Then the noise would grow to whispers. Then murmurings. Then regular voices. Then high pitched giggles. Then full out laughter and chaos. Suoh stopped it at the fourth stage. After that nobody could hear him anymore. Then it would be silent for ten more minutes, and the cycle would start all over again.
Fft. Fftfft. Fftfftfft.
Suoh's eye twitched. "Kaichou..." he growled warningly.
Nokoru smiled cheerfully."Yeees?" Fft. Fftfft. Fftfftfft. The blonde continued opening and closing his fan, the object making it usual fft sound as he did.
"As much as I know how much you love your fan, I can't concentrate if you keeping doing that. Besides, you have work to do."
"Hai, hai, Suoh. I'll get on it!"
Thirty minutes before it's due, Suoh thought wryly. He sighed and lowered his head to return to his paperwork. Most of it was secretorial things that he had to take care of: meetings being planned among the divisions, important reminders that he had to pass along to Nokoru, among other tedious things. It was only tedious because the Kaichou didn't do his work.
From his peripheral vision he could see Utako rushing to and fro, helping Akira move out a whole load of work he had just finished. Probably about the costs of the festivals and partying. Not that cost was ever a problem. Hitori watched curiously from her desk, where she was working on her own little treasurer project that Akira had assigned her a while ago. What was it...? Oh, that's right. He wanted her to research foreign ingredients for new recipes of his, and calculate correctly the cost of buying and shipping it to Japan. By the looks of it, she was pretty much done.
"Ah, ah!" Akira stopped short in front of her desk. "Sania-san, are you nearly done?" he asked cheerily.
Hitori nodded, smiling. "Hai, sempai. It's nearly finished."
"You can take a break!" the fourth grade boy said, before rushing off to deliver more papers. Hitori nodded again and headed to the couch for the snacks the young chef had made. On the silver cart was a plate of large cream puffs, and a glass pitcher of milk next to it. She poured a bit of milk into a tea cup and picked a few cream puffs before sitting down and enjoying herself. Suoh watched her for a moment before sighing and pushing away his work. He needed a break too...all the paperwork was frying his brain more than usual.
Hitori nodded at him as he came over. "Takamura-san. Taking a break?"
"Hai. The paperwork is piling up, and for once I'm feeling lazy. I'm just going to relax for a moment and clear my mind before I get back to work," he explained. Hitori laughed a little.
"Sou ka." She sipped a bit of the milk in her tea cup as Suoh served himself an ample amount of milk and cream puffs. "Ne, ne, Takamura-san, when is your understudy going to arrive?" she askd politely. Suoh paused on munching his snack and swallowed before answering.
"She should be arriving today," he replied. He leaned forward in his seat to get another cream puff, just in the instant that Hitori did the same. Their fingertips touched the same cream puff, and in surprise of the other's actions, both jerked slightly towards the dish and squished the poor dessert.
Suoh's amber eyes widened, swiveling his head to look at Hitori. The girl's violet eyes were enlarged cutely, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. Quickly both withdrew their hands, almost knocking over the pitcher of milk. Suoh and Hitori looked away from each other, bangs hiding their confused eyes.
What is this feeling...?
Knock knock.
"AH!" Eager for an excuse to not do work, Nokoru jumped up and nearly dashed to the door. But one look from Aki had him sitting down again, pouting. The sixth grade female headed to the door and opened it to welcome the guest.
A small girl stepped into the light of the board room, her large hazel eyes blinking around inspecting the place. Just like Aki and Hitori, she was wearing the Elementary Division uniform, clean and perfect in everyway. "Ano...is this the Elementary Division Class Board Room?" she asked softly.
"Hai." Suoh stood up and came over. "Would you be Emi Kiraman-san?"
Emi nodded, her forelocks of auburn hair bouncing as she did. "I am. I'm honored that you've chosen me to be your apprentice."
Suoh bowed to her. "It's nothing. If you would come with me, please..." The secretary lead her away to start showing her the duties of...well, a secretary. Hitori watched him go for a moment before returning to her cream puffs and milk.
It wasn't long before Emi had been formally introduced to everything that Suoh did. The girl was already seated at her new desk, looking around.
"Comfortable?" Suoh asked. Emi nodded quickly.
"Oh yes, thank you."
"Why don't you come over and have some pastries? There isn't really anything that needs to be done right now, so you can just relax."
The understudy got up, but by some accident stumbled and started heading face forward to the ground. It was only by Suoh's quick reflexes that she was caught, cradled gently in his arms.
"Um...t-thank you..."
"It's nothing." He shook his head and smiled a little. "Be careful. We wouldn't want you getting hurt." Emiscrambled tostand straight.
"Suooooooh, come and take your cream puffs or I'm going to eat them," Nokoru called languidly from the couch. Suoh rolled his eyes and started walking over to the couch area, then turned around and gestured for Emi to follow with a chuckle. A pink hue bloomed over Emi's cheeks.
What is this feeling...?
The friends chatted over their snacks, and soon it was time to leave for home. As Nokoru left in his limo, he waved enthusiasically to Suoh and Aki. "Get lots of rest, guys! Tomorrow's the tournament!"
"As if I didn't know," Suoh said to his cousin, shaking his head. Aki laughed and the two of them headed their separate ways, anticipating the competition that was to come.
Ahhh, it took a while, but I finally got this chapter out! I got stuck at the end. I didn't know how to end it really, so sorry that it's crappy. The next day will be the Tournament! Horrah! I can scratch one event off my list. Review for me, please?
