Chapter Four

The week passed with relative ease. I hadn't spoken much to Rei or Ami for they were now in study sessions with other students they had become acquainted with from their classes. I had yet to make even a margin of friendship with my classmates. They were, as Ami called me a lot, slackers; ones who did not enjoy school but came to please their parents or peers or to just use it as an excuse to move out to party. I didn't particularly fit into their lifestyles. I enjoyed simpler things.

During the week, I mostly hung out in my apartment, trying to study for a pop quiz and a test that was surely going to be next week.

There was one girl that piqued my interest and it was good to have someone to at least talk to during the dull moments where we walked to class. She had one of my classes and she was an exchange student from Italy. Her name was Allegra De Luca, but she pointedly said she'd prefer me to call her 'Ally.' Her accent was difficult to understand when she spoke broken Japanese but I got the gist after some time of us doing hand signals. We giggled a lot too because of this.

I admired her tenacity to try to understand what I was trying to describe when we had brief discussions about the subject and teacher. I was quite embarrassed after a week to know she had a translator following her around when she told me faintly of a friend she was to meet that Friday afternoon.

"Meet?" She said in Japanese and pointed to a coffee shop logo on the bulletin board by our classroom.

I blinked. At first I did not know what she was talking about, but when she continuously pointed to the logo, it clicked into place slowly. "Oh!" I put my hand over my mouth and laughed at my stupidity. "Coffee shop?"

Whether she understood or not, she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!" She counted on her fingers and then put up six fingers. "At – six? Meet—friend?"

"Oh that sounds wonderful!" I said with the same enthusiasm. I grimaced and then said, "Yes. Six o'clock sounds good."

I was very pleased since I had no intention bothering Rei or Ami. I was sure they'd be very busy and would be happy I made a new friend.

I went to my apartment not long after and was surprised to see Ami standing near my door, looking quite put off. As I walked up to her, she looked up with a small smile.

"There you are, I was wondering where you were." Ami maneuvered her purse over her other shoulder. She was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts with a light blue blouse and nice shoes. Her hair was curled at the base and a barrette held her bangs at bay.

"I just came back from class," I said, feeling under dressed by her standards. I was only wearing holey jeans and dark red shirt.

"Oh, well, Rei and I were going out tonight to meet up with some of our classmates, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us?" She said hesitantly. I felt as if she didn't want me to go with her and it made me disappointed in myself for thinking such things. In High School, we were so close, now it seemed like we were drifting away in a sea of chaos.

I smiled tentatively and shook my head, "I'm sorry, Ams, I have plans tonight."

In a way she looked relieved yet somewhat disappointed, "We haven't seen each other in a while," Was all she offered.

"We'll get together some time." I said, shrugging. "You go ahead and have fun. I'll see you later." I unlocked my door and went inside. I didn't bother to look to see if she left as the door clicked shut.

I was very surprised by how early I was once I got to the coffee shop. I was seated by the window and could see that the dark clouds overhead were about to burst with rain. I thought for sure the rain would have stopped for another week, but the meteorologist seemed to have gotten ahead of himself.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was slender, male and well manicured. I followed the long arm to find the face of Ogino Hisoka watching me with a smile. "Hi, sorry. Didn't mean to make scare you." He said, sitting down opposite of me.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out without any shame. I retracted and calculated that it was rude to say this; but I was truly curious.

He seemed more amused than insulted and laughed, "I'm here to meet a friend."

"A friend?"

"Yes, I think you know who she is; Allegra De Luca. I'm her Interpreter for the duration of her college education here. That's my job." Ogino said with a wide smile.

"O-oh! I didn't know. Ally never mentioned it to me." I said with a shake of my head and a shaky laugh. Who knew this young guy who was my Mamo's high school best friend was an Interpreter. Course, now that I thought about it, I would have never known who it was because Ally couldn't speak fluent Japanese enough to tell me. And if she could speak Japanese, she wouldn't need a translator. My head hurt by the time I came up with this obvious conclusion.

Ogino didn't say anything though as my thoughts finally rested and I was aware that it was only a few moments that Ally was there, talking quietly to Ogino with a genuine smile. She was sitting next to him with her head bent. When she caught my eye, she waved enthusiastically. "Hullo!" She chimed, her face glowing.

"Hi!" I said back just as gleefully. "I see you know Ogino-san?"

Ogino translated and then said to me, "Yes, he's my translator." He smirked at this and I rolled my eyes comically.

"I see," I said and chuckled. Within moments, we all became more acquainted and though I still felt an odd sensation from Ogino. The more we spoke, the better I started to see him instead of the creeper I thought he was. I saw him as the friend of Mamo's and I was delighted to hear stories of his high school stories of Mamo and him. Hearing and now understanding through other means, I found Ally just as charming, if not cuter than I once thought. She had ideas almost like me but deeper.

By the time we had exhausted conversation, it was nearly nine at night.

I looked at my watch and got up. I was about to put a few bills on the table when Ogino's warm hand covered mine. "Oh no, this is my treat." I felt the same, strange electric jolt I felt when I first laid eyes on him and we just stared at each other. "Um." My brain seemed to mesh as a sense of foreboding came over me. I quickly brought my hand to my chest and rubbed it as if burned. He merely looked confused and then amused.

"I think I have a bit of too much static electric." He said with a chuckle. Ogino turned his sights on Ally, told her something, then said to me, "Usagi, did you want Ally and I to walk you home before I walk her?"

"Um." I said again, my mouth dry. "No…no." I answered finally. "I'll be fine."

He seemed a bit disappointed but he recovered his features before nodding and smiling with white teeth. "Well then, I'll see you later then. Maybe we all can get together again and you can pay for my meal." He laughed.

I nodded mutely and felt dumb, like no words would escape my mouth. He seemed to take that as an opportunity and sweep his hand on my shoulder again. "Be safe." He said softly and then removed his hand again, slowly, sensually this time. I shuddered but not from want. I felt sick almost at the connection again. Once they rounded the corner after I saw them off before I headed home, I sat back into the chair heavily.

There was something awfully peculiar about Ogino HIsoka and it wasn't what I'd call a good one at all.

I know, I'm late. I'm very sorry! I could not get myself tot ype for this chapter though I KNEW what I wanted! Anyway, I HOPE to get the other chapter out some time next week! :D Till then, enjoy!