Chapter Nine
Ling twirled into place in our line, and looped her arm around my shoulder as I looped mine around her waist. The seven of us lifted our left legs up in a circle twice, going higher on the second one, and every other girl flipped over the other one's shoulders. It was a disaster, completely out of step and messy. I was one of the stationary girls, as I had the upper body strength to actually withstand the weight despite my size, and twirled underneath their arms to stand directly behind the group of girls. I could see flashes of a deep blues and turquoises with every brush of skin, and it was very distracting, nauseating almost. I was doing my best to keep time with everyone aimlessly moving around each other in an attempt to do our one simple routine, and barely being able to see was not helping matters in the least.
"Stop!"
I pivoted to stare at Mrs. Tanaka. She was shaking her head and muttering to herself, tapping her fingers to the rhythm our music had. It was a tick of hers I had noticed over an hour ago when I first realized that the reason she wanted me on the dance team so badly was probably because she wanted me to help whip them into shape. There was a reason these girls didn't make the competitive dance team; they seemed to view this more as a club than an actual dance team. It irritated me to no end.
"Girls, who here actually practiced this routine at home, like I asked?"
There were a few mumbles, a few excuses. I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut. It wasn't my place to go lecturing on my first week of real practice. I had studied the video she had sent home with me for over two hours the night before, terrified of embarrassing myself in front of these girls, and quickly realized why Mrs. Tanaka had made promises of the competitive dance team the following year.
"No one leaves this gymnasium until their exercises are completed. I'll be back in ten minutes to check on you." Mrs. Tanaka looked to me and nodded, turning around and strolling out of the room. I turned to the others and bit my lip, walking to the far side of the gym and beginning my grapevines. I ignored the dirty looks, the mumblings behind my back. I kept a small smile on my face and a neutral look in my eyes, played my part for over an hour until I was 'allowed' to leave, and I pulled a grey blouse and a black skirt over my tanktop and spandex. It was a huge weight off my shoulders when I walked out of the doors of the school, and only when I had walked three blocks from the school did I allowed my eyes to close and my body to lean against a building and rest there.
How could one dance team be so incredibly incompetent?
I hit the building lightly with my fist and pushed myself upward, shouldering my pack again. If there was any mercy in this world, this dance team would become bearable and silent by the months' end.
Bright red hair caught my attention, a rare sight amongst my peers, and I smiled at the sight of a familiar face.
"Shuichi, hi."
Shuichi looked up at me in surprise, but smiled as he put his book into his bag and waited for me to step next to him.
"I'm surprised to see you here; I thought the dance rehearsal would go later." He nodded to me. I adjusted my bookbag and sighed, remembering that I belonged to a dance team of left-footed, bratty six year olds.
"Mrs. Tanaka let us out early due to... certain stressors that would have probably caused a few girls to go home crying if she had continued rehearsal normally. The others are still doing their exercises as far as I'm aware. Did you stay after school to study?"
"I did. I had a few essay questions that I needed clarification on. I was going to check on Yusuke on my way home; might I join you on the walk to your house?"
"You may." I grinned, moving ahead of him to walk backwards so I could keep up a conversation with him. "If you don't mind my asking, you said before that you needed to get back to your mother. Is it just you and her?"
"My father died when I was young. It's just my mother and I now." He looked up, observing a tree that we were passing under, before directing his attention back to me. "What about you? I know that you are staying with Kazuma and Shizuru; are you doing a foreign exchange program to go to school here?"
"I decided it was time to come back home, actually." I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and followed his movements as he slid to the right, moving to my left in a mirror. A man on a bike passed us, and Shuichi gave a small smile in amusement. I looked up as I walked, staring at the tops of the buildings passing us by. "I was born here, to a Japanese father and an Italian mother. I left seven years ago to live with my mother, but my heart never followed. It was always here."
We walked in silence for another block, and though I couldn't say what he was feeling, it was very comfortable on my end. I followed Shuichi's body movements to avoid crashing into anything or walking into traffic, and let my mind wander. I was still very curious about the colors that were popping into my head with every touch of skin, but if I focused on it I knew I would obsess and worry myself sick.
I looked turned my head, tucking some of the loose hair from my braid behind my ear, and stopped dead. A boy was staring at me from across the street, his hair standing up at least a head taller than him, and his red eyes glaring into me. His... red eyes...
"Are you alright, Gavriella?" I turned to look at the redhead behind me, and when I looked back to the boy there was a blank spot amongst the small crowd of people window shopping where he had just been. I swear that those were the same eyes I had seen my first day here... and at the dance team auditions...
"There was... I'm sorry, I thought I saw... I'm sorry, I must be more tired than I thought." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, looking back to that blank spot in the street. What the hell was wrong with me? "My eyes are playing tricks on me and I haven't even cracked open a textbook yet."
He didn't bite with my joke, only looked mildly concerned. "You haven't been sleeping well lately?"
"Not really." I admitted. "There's been a lot going on lately."
There was something that flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before I could decipher it. He took my hint, though, and followed me as I started walking again.
"When did you decide that you wanted to dance?" He changed the subject without much subtlety.
"My entire life. I started dancing when I was little, just for fun, but I started taking dance classes when I was eight. My mother saw that it was something of a passion and signed me up for classes right away." I took the change right away. "I decided when I was old enough to walk that I was going to be a dancer. When I was in ballet, and I first got my points, I danced until my feet bled. I couldn't walk for two days. My teacher just about strangled me out of anger; I was Clara in our production of "The Nutcracker" and I couldn't even practice!"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "Determination runs in the family, I see."
"Determination and stubbornness." I agreed, grinning. "Though I think my cousin still has me beat in both regards."
"Kazuma is an impressive specimen." He agreed, looking thoughtful. "Though your family shares many qualities more than those two."
"Oh really?" I teased him, looking directly at him again. "The qualities that we all share tend to get one or all of us into trouble."
"You all care very deeply about the pain of others, especially those you love. That much is obvious without ever having to know any of you for more than a few minutes. You show it differently, but it's something that's rare to see in an entire family that is mixed in it's culture. You fit into the household like you never left." He noted, turning his head to the right in a subtle enough fashion that I almost believed him that he wasn't leading me out of harm's way.
Almost.
"You're quite the flatterer, Shuichi Minamino. But like I said; I never really left Japan." I smiled, turning to the right to keep on the sidewalk and feeling that same bit of pride at the amusement in his eyes at my ability to keep up with him. He had my heart racing with every glance, every word out of his mouth. He had me questioning his motives with every carefully planned movement, had me worried because of what I saw when I touched him and saw that world inside of him. It was confusing.
"Why did you leave Japan?"
"My grandparents decided that it wasn't in the good of the family for my father to keep me, the bastard child of a woman that he had fallen hard for without their approval, in his household when he was supposed to find a Japanese wife and continue the family line as his brother had done with Shizuru and Kazuma. My parents were head over heels for each other, but they didn't work as a marriage and his family didn't want me around as a constant insult whereas my mother's parents forced her to move back home to Italy before she cause her children any harm."
"Children?"
"She was married when she was seventeen to a man that ended up with a secret family of his own after giving her three sons. There apparently were no tears shed when they divorced, but it was hard on my brothers to keep moving around and to live in the same house as a man that they couldn't comfortably call their father because of extended family reasons. She and my brothers left when I was three, and I went to live with them when I was eight. My father and her had agreed that I was at a point in my life where I would need my mother more than my father. I lived with her for four years, then lived with my oldest brother in America for about two years to study abroad, and then came back to Italy just last year. That's the mixed accent you've been trying to place."
"Observant. I knew your accent wasn't thick enough, even for being born in Japan."
"I recognize the look; people have been trying to guess my accent since I was young. You're the first one that's been polite enough to converse with me, however, than try and butt your head into my life. You're quite the gentleman."
"Who is the flatterer now, I wonder?" He rested a hand in his pocket. "You've had quite the adventurous life."
"Life without adventures is a life wasted. I want to live my life to the fullest, take the world head on. Life's too short to do anything else." I felt a familiar crack in the sidewalk, stumbling before catching myself. "Looks like we made it. And in one piece."
"You make an excellent guide, Gavriella." He watched me open the door, following me inside and glancing around much like he did last time. I set my keys on the table next to the door, resting my bag down by Kazuma's.
"Please, it's just Ella." I insisted, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. "Would you like one?"
"No, thank you Ella."
I nodded, fidgeting with the cap. Shuichi started toward the steps, and I bit my lip. "Shuichi?"
"Yes?"
"Before, Shizuru called you 'Kurama'..."
"It's just a meaningless nickname. Nothing to remember." He assured, flicking his hand up in dismissal. It was entirely unconvincing, but I nodded anyway.
"Alright, just checking. I'll let you check up on Kazuma, sorry for holding you up."
He turned again, and this time I leaned on the counter, sipping my water and fingering the bus ticket sitting on the counter. It didn't escape my notice that Kazuma had purchased a ticket to come up with me, but I let it go. He was ever persistent on coming with me to see this Genkai, and when Kazuma was persistent he could get very, very irritating if challenged. Tomorrow would hopefully be an answer to all of my questions. Tomorrow maybe I could understand just what was happening to me.