Hi! Itsyoursis-Artemis here!
*laughs nervously... haha I disappeared for a while. whoops.
"So, you're saying that GM has grudges against our family?"
Agatha slammed her palms on the dining table, frustrated at the sudden revelation her niece presented. She was even more upset at the problems of unknown severity that her dad and sister left behind without any warning.
"I'm just glad I used a prepaid card to pay for your lessons or else my last name Nicolaou would have shown up in the transaction."
"Do you think there are more people out there who might have something against us?" The teenager's distress was apparent in her wavering voice.
Her aunt looked at her and exhaled loudly. "Calm down, Ayano. I've been living alone for almost two decades and never was I approached by someone expressing their hatred toward us. I am mad at dad for whatever he'd done in the past and leaving us to deal with it."
"But GM-san said grandpa almost endangered his family. What if grandpa made some enemies back then, got mom involved, and they are now on a run?"
"Then why would dad leave me by myself? I could have easily gotten kidnapped and held as hostage," Agatha pointed out.
"Unless grandpa Dimitri surrendered and in return his enemies have to leave you unharmed?"
Agatha realized the they were stretching the little information they have way too far. "Enough of this crazy talk. Dad is simple co-owner of a medium-sized corporation, Vulca, as far as I know. He's still listed as a CEO, and the last time I went to his headquarter they said that grandpa is still on indefinite leave."
"Then I must try to extract more information from GM-san, I feel like we are getting closer to an answer we've been looking for."
Agatha pinched both her niece's cheeks upon hearing a reckless suggestion. "Are you insane?! Like I'll let you go back to that place again, after hearing this from you."
"Quitting will raise suspicion. Which is why I should continue taking lessons from him as if nothing happened," Ayano firmly stated.
"He won't be suspicious of you for quitting."
"He will. Think about it aunt Agatha, he already saw my resemblance to his former favorite customer, then he accidentally blurted out his grudges against the Nicolaous, then all of the sudden I quit the place?"
The teenager had a point, so Agatha admitted her defeat. "Fine, but you have to be extremely careful from now on."
The long-haired girl painfully smiled back at her aunt. "I won't blow up our cover, I promise. I just want to find out the truth."
Gloom visited Wednesday in a form of storm. As they ate their lunch in the student council room, the senior representative noticed the sad expression on the usually, bubbly historian.
"So yeah, mom wants to fund my travel after I graduate, life is so good—Yano-chan, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Mina-chan. It's just the rain," responded Ayano who then glanced at the scene outside, listening to the tapping sound the rain drops made as they hit the glass windows.
"I thought you like the rain?" Mina raised her eyebrow.
The Nicolaou girl indeed, loved the rain. In fact, she produced the best fashion sketches during downpour as it would provide her with a serene state that'd help her focus and transform a raw idea into a magnificent gem.
But today was different.
Today was her 18th birthday.
The long-haired girl didn't feel like telling Mina about it; she felt that nothing was really special about the day she got abandoned, nor did she feel the need to celebrate it.
It was also pouring hard when my mom abandoned me, Ayano thought heartbrokenly, as if the weather today mocked her.
"You suck at hiding your emotions. You look obviously sad. Tell me what's wrong," Mina voiced out her concerns.
"It really is just… the rain. I have to work in the disciplinary room today and this weather doesn't help alleviate the atmosphere of working with him," the long-haired girl lied.
"Oh. Is that so…" Mina wondered. "I still can't believe he offered you to be his secretary. You could have declined, so what on earth are you planning?"
I missed a piece of his puzzle. "Nothing, really. I just thought it's a great idea to establish a good acquaintanceship with him."
"Right. acquaintanceship. Uh huh." Mina quoted. She squinted her eyes in suspicion. "You sure you really don't have a crush on him or anything?"
"I don't. I've told you so many times already," the historian sighed in defeat.
Funny enough, talking about the certain boy made Ayano forget for a minute about why she was feeling down today. Sometimes, thinking about him makes me happy, she mentally chuckled.
Wait.
The Nicolaou girl quickly expelled the idea away. There was no way he made her happy. No. Way. Any other subjects could've brightened her mood up. It just happened that the lie she came up with made sense the most.
The bell rang and the girls packed up to go to their next class.
"Let's walk together Mina-chan?"
"Actually, I need to wait for the president to talk about uh... the agenda, once she comes back." Mina conspicuously averted her eyes away from Ayano.
"You're such a bad liar, Mina-chan," Ayano softly laughed. "It's ok. You do whatever you need to do." She waved goodbye then left.
The volleyball athlete, upon seeing her friend leave, quickly checked if the hallway was finally empty. Once the coast was clear, she immediately dashed toward the president's computer and successfully logged in. She frantically looked for the students' profiles and scrolled down to Ayano's.
"Oh shit. So that's why. It's her birthday today. And I didn't even know." Mina slammed her head on the desk. Her silly action made her accidentally hit the space button, which prompted to more personal information about her friend.
"She's from an orphanage?" she gasped in shock. She realized that looking at a confidential student information was probably illegal. And she felt bad. Really bad.
Not because she violated her friend's privacy. But because of her endless chatter about her fun life to Ayano, being insensitive to the fact that the transfer student couldn't probably relate due to the difference between their circumstances.
The weather made the environment looked like it came from the 1900's: the dark clouds dominating the sky rendered the whole town almost colorless—like the old, grey-toned photos from the mentioned era. The vintage effect took over; however, the small beam of light, which scattered and obstinately slipped through the governing dark clouds, allowed traces of colors to glow. The visiting wind—in contrast to the raging rain—was calm, as it delivered a cool yet appeasing breeze. The scent of the wet concrete pavement was prevalent, yet oddly enjoyed by many students.
Ayano headed toward the reception room for her secretarial duties. She wished she was home instead. She was not in a mood to deal with a hormonal male being.
She contemplated about how in the beginning, she felt uncomfortable around Hibari. Uncomfortable due to his tendency to get triggered easily. Uncomfortable due to his position making her feel inferior.
And she hated that feeling.
Why was there a need for superiority? They should be at the same age, and consequently, they should be treating each other equally.
Were they even at the same age? Ayano has heard rumors about Hibari being older than them. Another rumor said that he should have graduated a year or two ago.
Nonetheless, she was fearless. She could definitely question his authority: She's very vocal in terms of expressing her opinions.
But the Nicolaou girl was not stupid. She knew she could not physically defend herself if Hibari decided to "bite her to death" for being defiant. She acknowledged his strength. She respected his passion to maintain peace not only in the school, but also the whole town. And for that, she'd rather allow him to be, well… himself. Especially now, to her surprise, he seemed to be more… tolerant and less violent.
She arrived and of course, just as she predicted, the boy was there. She let out a loud exhale as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. The head of the disciplinary committee didn't even need to shift his attention away from the paperwork; he expected his secretary to arrive on time. He kept his attention on his work while the long-haired girl sat down adjacent to him and started shuffling through the papers that were already on her desk.
"So, what do you want me to do with these?" initiated Ayano.
"Organize them in order of priority. Then create an agenda for the big meeting next Monday."
"Will that be all?"
"Hn…" there was a long paused. "Wait until I finished with my work."
Twenty minutes into their work, a familiar student suddenly barged in, interrupting the peace that the two people in the room were having. The disruptive student then started singing, prompting Ayano startled while Hibari, extremely annoyed.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Dear Yano-chan, HAPPPYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYY...TOOOOO….YOU!" the girl—who revealed to be Mina—sang while holding a small cupcake with a tiny lit candle in the middle.
"Make a wish Yano-chan!" the short-girl widely grinned.
The birthday girl was baffled upon how her dear friend found out about today; nevertheless, she appreciated her effort. She didn't believe in birthday wishes, so she pretended to make one. She then immediately blew the candle. Before she could say her thanks, the pissed skylark slowly rose from his seat.
"Senior representative, do you know the concept of knocking?" he hissed. "You rudely disrupted the peace in this room, and for that I will bite you to death," he declared as he flashed his tonfas.
Mina gulped. "I'M REALLY SORRY Hibari-san, I will leave now! Happy 18th girl!" She ran for the door but before she completely disappeared, she said a final word to her friend.
"Yano-chan, I'm sorry for being really busy right now, but I will take you out for a treat this weekend! I promise!"
The birthday girl, who wasn't able to say her thanks, chuckled. Hibari, on the other hand, decided not to chase the rude herbivore. He didn't want to waste his time today. He decided to be lenient because it was a certain girl's birthday. Did he care about it? Absolutely not, he mentally claimed.
Ayano fixed her posture, laid the cupcake on her desk, and sighed as she stared at it. She then set it aside and continued with her task. Hibari noticed how she didn't seem happy about it. Weren't girls the ones who would always make their birthdays a huge deal? She seemed not to follow the stereotype. She didn't even say a word, as if nothing happened. There was no enthusiasm, whatsoever.
"You're unusually quiet." he broke the silence.
"How so?"
"I would have expected that you would be excessively talkative by now, perhaps educating me about random mythological things. But then, it's not that I care. I prefer silence anyways."
"And you are unusually, chatty right now, Hibari-san. I would have expected that you would be excessively mute by now, perhaps scolding me whenever I open my mouth. But then again, it's not that I care. I like talking."
She handed him the completed organized documents after her sassy response. The skylark did not expect that witty comeback of her. Whatever. He let it slide. It was a harmless response.
"You're not needed now." Hibari said.
"I still have to create the agenda," she raised her eyebrow.
"There's no more task for you today."
"Hm. Are you sure? Because I remember clearly you told me—"
"Just leave."
The Nicolaou girl looked at the window and again expressed such a sad face upon seeing the rain, which the male noticed. She then sighed and spoke.
"Can I stay here until the rain calms down?" she asked the male, her soft gaze displaying sincerity.
The skylark wouldn't mind. She was harmless, after all.
"How astonishing. You'd rather spend your birthday here? I rarely give members of my committee a free day. Just take it and leave," he blurted.
Ayano widened her eyes. "A simple happy birthday is enough, no need to be discreet and mean about it," she jokingly teased. "Besides, I didn't bring an umbrella with me. So, please?"
This woman. "Hn. As long as you don't disrupt the peace."
She softly smiled at him, then took her sketch notebook out. She put her right arm on the table to support her head while she sketched with her left hand. It didn't take her a while to start nodding off. She put her head down then completely fell asleep on her desk.
The amused skylark was, well, amused. In front of him, was a girl, indifferent about her birthday, who sketched for 2 minutes, then fell asleep. The process was slightly entertaining for him to watch.
Three hours passed, and Ayano was still asleep. It was already seven at night when the buzz on her phone immediately woke her up. She sprang up and felt a black jacket over her back which kept her warm, realizing that it was Hibari's jacket. She noticed how the outside was already dark, yet the sound of the rain hitting the window was still ongoing. She looked around and behind her was also, a sleeping chairman on the couch who woke up from the still, ringing phone. Ayano searched for her phone, and upon finding it, she answered.
"Aunt Agatha?"
"Ayano, it's almost seven and you're not home yet. Where are you?"
"I'm still in school. I'm sorry I fell asleep in the reception room. I'll be home soon."
"Actually, stay there and I'll pick you up, it's still pouring hard."
"You're not working?"
"Not lot going on so I clocked out early."
"I see. Then I'll wait for you here aunt Agatha."
She hung up and noticed the yawning Hibari hasn't moved an inch from the couch. She slowly stood up, grabbing the jacket from her back, then quietly walked toward to him. She gave him back his jacket, bowed slightly, and thanked him. The male didn't respond.
"Hibari-san, you should've have woken me up earlier, I overslept in your office. Sorry about that."
"As I said, as long as you didn't disrupt the peace, then I don't really care."
"Then, I'll be on my way out." She quickly walked out of the room, and felt a warm sensation gently creeping up her face.
She could still smell a faint masculine fragrance on her uniform.
The next two chapters I will release three days apart. Then after that I'll be switching my update schedule to weekly (hopefully). College starts in 7 days soo...
If you want to ask me anything, I do have a tumblr blog where you can reach me: khr-safeandsound . tumblr . com ... I post some tags/teasers and sometimes khr tags there, so uhmmm follow me?
Please review!