Chapter 9: His Words

His Fame, Her Self

Genre: Drama/Romance

Summary- Rima Touya is a lower class girl with a scholarship in a rich elite high school called Knight Academy, filled with rich kids, who hate her! She just wants to finish her schoolwork to graduate high school and become an artist! Unfortunately, Senri Shiki, the most popular boy in the elite academy of snobby rich kids and the known world that has his face on a magazine cover, is interested in the outcast Rima Touya and kinda stalking her...for some reason. Could it be her oversized clothing attire, or her messy hair, or her thickly framed goggles? As she tries to be distant with Senri Shiki, her family and friends push her toward him. Could something start? Or just make the Touya female hate the rich society even more?

Thanks again for my faithful reviewers and readers: sachiko haruki, kawaii hime-sama, shikixxrima, hana-flower23, silent spirit426624, blazed, ChainedHs2rt, sangoyasha, yuki, xoxokittygirlxoxo, kAtiE-lUvs-mcr, xXMusic-luver Xx


Staring out of the window, I noticed the partly cloudy weather of this Tuesday afternoon. People were still whispering about what occurred a week after Minako's party, as well as not-so-discreet bets on who would have won the fight.

RING!

I sighed, collecting my items of a black binder, Calculus book, Government text and notebook within my arms. Looking at the tile floor I bumped into someone without knowing and dropped my books, "Oh sorry. I didn't-" I looked at the tall male of blonde hair and violet eyes, "Oh, Hashimoto! Sorry!"

He smiled at me, showing his newly bleached teeth, "It's okay! It was an accident. I told you call me Osamu." He kneeled over and picked up my books, "So, I heard what happened at the party." My body tensed up at the flashback at what Minako's evil eyes on me; rising up from the floor, he handed my books to me, "That shouldn't be the reason for Minako to attack you. She doesn't have to hate you because you're…prettier than her." His hand touched my cheek.

Something swiped away Hashimoto's hand and pulled me away from him, "I've been looking for you Rima." His silver-blue eyes angrily shined as he stared at the other male, "Sorry I have to steal the scholarship student for a moment, Hashimoto."

Pulling me out of the classroom I couldn't even tell where he was leading me. Dragging me a few hallways I wasn't able to speak to the angry model, "You shouldn't be alone with him! Going so far as to touch you is just too much! Anyone might have came in there and would have thought he was your boyfriend or…something else!"

,"Why do you care so much?" I pulled my arm away from his grip, "He just helped me get my books. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were like the Father I would have never thought would have appeared in a overprotective manner."

His face was of anger, "He was helping you? With you looking like that, of course he would help you!"

I sigh in annoyance; Shiki has been more of a stalker lately since what happened at Minako's party. Currently, he does not approve of my appearance consisting of jeans, a tank top, glasses-free and my orange hair flowing over my shoulders, "I'm sorry if you preferred me looking outwardly unappealing. If you have a problem with the way I appear then don't bother to hang around with me."

I attempted to walk away from him, only to have his hand on my wrist, "Rima! I don't have a problem with anything about you. I just don't trust Hashimoto with you. He has a notorious reputation with girls."

I looked up at his hypnotizing azure eyes and noticed a sideways smile on his lips; to my guess, he way trying to apologize non-verbally. I sighed, "So what exactly do you want?"

His slanted smiled grew wider and he led me out of the building and into his window. I can only imagine what his malevolent plans for me are.


,"You're here!" Yumiko bounced her short hair as I opened the door of the Shiki household. She automatically reached for my arm and hugged me as though I was teddy bear, "C'mon Little Sister Rima! I want you to try on some dresses!" Without a second later she dragged me down a large hallway and up a spiral staircase and sat in a chair in a room that was almost as big as a department store.

Yumiko had a revolving rack of clothes, which she held complete interest in, sometimes saying to herself, "Too short…too bright…too big…no…that's not the one I wanted her to try…" Her brown hair was amazingly straightened by whoever was her hair stylist, and I managed to catch her grey eyes sparkling at me, "You look beautiful, Rima…" I blushed at the comment for two things: once again feeling like rock bottom as I was in my Big Sister's bright presence and the memory of Shiki calling me 'beautiful' and brushing his lips on my cheek.

I honestly have been troubled with the kiss, despite not being able to physically display my thoughts. Many questions have been running through my mind…Why did he kiss me? He has the entire female population in his palm, so what would he want in me? What does he see about me that seem to draw him closer to me? Though it was on the cheek, does it really count as a kiss? Why me? Am I really pretty or just a charity fling? Why did he kiss me? Out of all the beautiful girls in the world, he is entirely focused on the one who isn't? Why?

,"I found it Little Sister!" My mental turmoil was interrupted as the Shiki female. Out of the rotating clothes rack, she held a dark blue one-shoulder dress that was lightly a few centimeters past my knees. It was a lovely dress, but I felt uncomfortable in such a wonderful piece of design art. But the big smile of victoriously finding it made me guilty to deny wearing it, "See! I found the dress I designed for you!"

I blinked, "Designed?"

," That's correct. I am thinking of going to a university and studying about Fashion Design and Marketing but my family does not want me to. Since I'm going to inherit the Company, they say I don't need any more school." She examined the blue dress.

,"Company?"

,"Yes. My family owns four fashion companies: Fallin' Stars, Rock Wear, Lady's Elegance, and Suit with Ties. We each own the company and the clothing brand." She held the dress in front of me and grinned her pearls, "Now try on the dress!"

In her bathroom, I changed out of my casual attire jeans and into an elegant blue dress made by Yumiko Kaneda. I added a black scruchie to pull my hair up, to my surprise, in a neat ponytail. Though I lingered in her bathroom, amazed at the beautiful grey tiling and the wonderful craftsmanship of her bathroom's walls; I wasn't able to have my own bathroom living with a male-dominate household. I slowly opened the white door and shyly peeked out to see Yumiko anticipating grin and Shiki clearly forced to be there by the way his cousin held on to the collar of his expensive shirt. I stepped out and saw the changed expressions of both family members as I timidly held my arms, "W-what?"

,"You look so cute!" Yumiko hopped out of her seat, making her brown tresses bounce along with her gleeful movement. Her eyes twinkled the same as Sachiko's eyes when she is extremely happy, "Wait there! I need my camera!" Before I could protest, she swiftly left her room leaving me with the auburn male.

,"That is something!" He smiled. Sitting on a blue armchair, he moved from his previous position with his legs over the arm to having his feet on his cousin's carpeted floor, and his penetrating eyes looking at me, "She really did a good job. And…" He trailed off, moving his eyes up and down at me, "…you look really…pretty."

,"It took a long time for you to say a two syllable word." I scoffed his complement as I lowered my glasses-free eyes to the floor, "You don't have to say anything that is difficult for you to enunciate to just give me pity. I get it enough for being the most financially challenged student at Knight Academy. Not to mention your abrupt anger today, to every guy that stared at me and, for some reason, my hair."

I felt his stare burn into me. With silent steps, he was right in my face once I looked up from the carpet; the model was dangerously close as he has always been since he met me. I diverted my peripheral vision from his blue-grey eyes.

A warm hand was placed on my cheek, "You know…" I peeked up at him; only to be trapped by his silvery eyes and secretly cursed him as his face moved closer to mine. His hand moved from my cheek, and slid to my orange hair, pulled my scrunchie and released my mother's mane on my shoulders. He softly touched my yellow-red strands and slowly outlined the wavy-like design with his long fingers and cobalt orbs. He stopped a few inches from my shoulder, looking back to my eyes and moved closer to me, "…you should wear your hair down more often…" He exhaled; the breeze of his breath caressed my bare neck, "…Even if I get angry of other guys for staring at you and your lovely hair." With a quick maneuver of his fingers, he tucked a strand behind my ear, "You look cute with your glasses and ponytail, but you look adorable without the lenses and with your hair down."

I diverted my eyes to the clean, white walls of my Big Sister, "Quit lying."

He snickered, "You think I'm lying?" I suspiciously eyed him, "How about going with me to this gala for models this Saturday?"

,"I can't." I lied, "I'm busy with some things." Truth be told, I feared the odds of running into my one-and-only manager, Aki Umeki, to have a idol complex on Senri Shiki as well as Masaru, who will do everything in his power to prevent Umeki from discovering but like most times, Masaru was not very good at keeping people distracted.

,"Well, if you change your mind…" Nonchalant as ever, he handed me a white envelope with the words 'You Are Cordially Invited' typed in bold Parchment font. Completely confused, I looked up at his blue eyes,"You know where I am." Grabbing my jaw he lifted it up, and quickly placed his lips on my cheekbone, making me become stiff, as I was when he kissed me on my front porch. Pulling away from my face, he smiled at me, and passed his cousin when walked out of the room.

I caught sight of Yumiko holding her digital camera in her hand, with her mouth agape. Unknowingly, clicked the camera, in shock. She looked at me with her wide peculiar color eyes, "Looks like Senri has more than an interest in you, Miss Rima Touya."

I scowled at my Big Sister.


Placing the new inventory of clothing, I exhaled a breath of relief. Working at Kokoro, up and down, with most of the employees not in since it was "Torture-Rima-to-death" Day. Resulting in Sachiko and I to be the only ones running the store through a big sale of new brands; switching places from the cashier and finding items in back of the inventory room for customers, which was difficult considering the females were coming in the hundreds, maybe thousands or worse by the millions.

I glanced at the clock to see it was a quarter past five. An exhausting Thursday, mentally noting myself to have Kazou put expired Ding-Dongs in their work lockers for forcing us to stay overtime for the absent employees.

,"Don't be angry, Rima!" Raising my tired eyes to the impenetrable bubble of Sachiko's cheerfulness. Her long beautiful chestnut hair was weaved into a braid by her skillful fingers, her eyes glittered with a cinnamon happiness despite the exhaustion her body was in, "The manager said she would give us a bonus for working overtime."

,"Really peachy…" I sighed, slumping my shoulders in order to lean against the glass counter and lightly peeking at the jewelry display of silver and gold. I traced the elaborate necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other craftsmanship of gold and silver with individual gems of agate, sapphire, opal, pearl, ruby, onyx and other forms of colorful mineral rocks.

Pushing myself up with my elbows, I scanned the entire store, which was now peaceful compared to the herd of fashion-followed females that were here not to long ago demanding me for a brand of shoe, purse, skirt, or other clothing item. They were a pack of wild, unmerciful, ravenous lioness fighting for the last piece of zebra carcass in the entire savanna; a horrible sight to see.

Ienai itami kanashimi de kizu tsuita kimi, mou waraenai nante girai.

I pulled out my cell phone and automatically flipped it open; already knowing whose ring tone it belonged to, "Yes, Masaru? I'm coming home. I just got off…Okay, bye!" Sachiko's brown eyes pleaded, "Umeki is having a heart attack. Father went off for a hike in the next town. Umeki's now asserting himself as an adult, for once, about the time I come home." With swift movements, I grabbed my backpack and punched my timecard out, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, Sachiko!"

,"Bye!" She waved in a child-like manner, while she sat in a spinning chair.


In Art class I paid attention on my canvas before me, light brushstrokes from my wrist made a dimensional effect on the black room and created a cowered form of a female in the middle of the darken room.

,"Miss Touya?" Looking over my shoulder I saw Miss Matsushita looking at me in her usual attire of second-hand ripped jeans, a white tank top and white sneakers slightly splatters in every shade of paint. She smiled at me, handing a piece of paper to me, "Good work!" She moved to the next student beside me, and gave them a scowl in disappointment. I glanced at the sheet:

AP Physics: A

H Literature: A

AP Government: A

Art: A

Physical Education: B

AP Foreign Language: A

AP Calculus: A

Not surprised. I sarcastically told myself as I stared at my Physical Education grade. Uncoordinated in many physical fields in sports activities and even walking on flat land forced my teacher to pity me by lowering my grade by one letter.

,"Not bad?" I jumped in my skin once I saw the famous male model sitting beside me by dragging his stool near mine. His eyes glinted once he looked at me, "Looks like no one is going to be stealing your title, scholarship student."

,"What about you?" He held his report card in front me to point out that if managed to get the scholarship, he would already be checking out of the prestigious academy by his current academic default, "I see. Miss Matsushita doesn't treat you as royalty as well as Mister Otani." Otani was substituting for Mister Ling in Physics for a while since he had an international teachers meeting in another country. He would be back next week.

I placed my report card in my backpack and swiftly returned to my dark canvas. In the dark, desolate painting I have yet to rid myself of my morbid fascination but had a lighter mood as I angled my brush of white paint to create a visual effect of light piercing through a small window. A small window of hope for the girl in the darken walls of my canvas.

,"I like it." I heard the Shiki heir to my right as I continued to focus on my artwork. I ignored his presence as I used the brush to paint more light streaks coming out of the window for the scared girl, "It has less pain. It has a sort of different feeling. Hope, right?"

My eyes caught his gleaming child-like ones, "Maybe…"


Reading a classic novel as I was walking to the Archery region to spend lunch with Big Sister. I bumped into someone that made me fall back on my spine and sighed in annoyance of my inability to balance on flat surfaces, "I'm sorry! I didn't see you! I'm very…" Raising my eyes slightly from the concrete floor, a hand was held out in front of me with the owner's purple eyes stared at me, "…clumsy. T-thank you, Hashimoto."

He pulled me up, "My pleasure." He reached for a book and kindly returned it to me, "Usually I don't like repeating myself but for you, I'll make an exception. You can call me Osamu." I finally realized he was carrying a large packet of papers.

,"What are those?" He grinned at me in an almost Shiki-like manner and handed me a piece of paper. I scanned the paper and saw my name, "Vote for Rima Touya for Knight Academy's Princess?"

,"Some students nominated you." My confused face seemed to faze through his happiness, "You have no idea why?" I shook my head, "Every year Knight Academy has this big dance where the students and staff members go all out for. In decorations, clothes, food, you name it. It's the only time where the student body chooses their Knight and Princess of Knight Academy. Usually the Knight and Princess have the first dance and split the grand prize the school raised from campaigning the nominees. Basically, It's a popularity contest."

,"Then why am I nominated?" Staring down at the expensive looking piece of paper, I thought people paid too much to just advertise an ordinary girl to become this graceful beauty.

He shrugged his shoulders, "The teachers write down the names of the nominees and then send it off to the school council. We put up flyers requested from the nominees and the rest is up to them. Whether they want to make more flyers, buttons or bribes to the entire school are entirely up to them." He patted the large stack of paper he held, "These are your flyers the student council made for you." What a waste of paper!

,"I'm flattered to be nominated and am very grateful for the work you and the student council put into those flyers but I highly doubt anyone would vote for me. I'm still surprised that someone even mentioned my name when the title clearly screams of Minako." My glasses-free face glanced at my shoes.

,"I'm not." My ears spiked up, raising my eyes from my cheap, dark shoes I was too stubborn to give up, "I mean. Minako has the upbringing of a princess-no doubt about that- but she doesn't really have the nobility in her character to help people." His eyes popped out of its sockets at the sight of his wrist watch, "Oh, I'm gonna be late! I'll see you around, Rima!"

He began sprinting to his true destination as I continued to walk toward the Archery area. Not two sentences away from my book, "Rima!"

I turned my head and saw Hashimoto, "I know this isn't the right time but will you go out with me?"


Saturday. A time of relaxation or at least so I heard. I slowly ate some leftovers of my homemade pasta once Masaru came into the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of orange juice and poured it into a plastic cup, "So, are we allowed to go to the gala?"

The pasta on the fork was placed in my mouth. I thought about the first time Masaru brought it up and concluded that he and Umeki seemed to be well-behaved, "Yeah. Why?" I knew that Masaru probably doubted that I would agree since he thought his difficult focusing at school would affect my decision as well as Umeki's drastic actions. But Masaru had managed to get to the top of his class in a matter of weeks, while Umeki's actions didn't really phase my decision.

,"It's tonight." I stopped the last piece of pasta from entering my mouth. His emerald eyes stared, "What?"

I dropped my fork on my plate, "Tonight?" He nodded, "As in this evening?" Nod, "You mean tonight?" He nodded once more.

,"Yeah, I thought Big Brother Senri told you." I banged my head on the wooden surface on every syllable of 'no' and 'why'. I heard him sip his juice, "Rima, you kill brain cells that way." I halted my head and raised it up.

,"Please, don't encourage me, Masaru." He gulped his juice and placed the cup in the sink. Exhaling, I quickly munched on the last piece of food on my fork. I was hoping to avoid this gala so the possible confrontation of Umeki and Shiki wouldn't be revealed, "What am I going to do?"

,"Just go." I automatically pushed my seat as I rose to the entrance of my Father. His flannel pajamas were crisp as though they were fresh laundry out of the process of washing machines and dryers. His brown hair was slightly disheveled as Masaru's bed head but the thin glasses on his sharp nose made me feel like I did have some of Father in me. Cleanly shaved- except for his newly grown mustache- after staying at home for a while as well as his fatigued visage becoming luminated by well-earned rest and the consumption of green tea daily. His wrinkles were almost invisible compared to when he returned home with the burden work that took away his youth.

,"Father…I can't." Lowering my head, I bowed apologetically.

,"Go have fun, sweetie." I slightly twitched at the sound of the long-lost nickname he gave me as a child. Raising my head, I was about to refuse his suggestion but held a hand out, "You work too hard, Rima. Going to school, working, modeling and juggling homework assignments until daybreak; there is more to life than working, Rima. Go have fun with your classmate, Shiki." He walked toward the counter, allowing me to glance at the blue fleece slippers Mom bought him for Christmas. His tired fingers were now individual body builders and were no longer shaking as he poured himself a steaming cup of green tea, "You are not only a student and employee, Daughter. You are a child who needs to run into the playground. You've been working as hard as I am, but Rima you have to stop once in a while and admire everything that surrounds you."

Lowering my head in shame, I noticed a pair of fleece slippers in front of the tile I was staring. A warm hand came to my cheek and lifted my posture to look into wise emerald eyes, "Father."

,"I will talk to Aki to cancel all your photo shoots for a few days." His long fingers glided over my hair orange hair; probably feeling nostalgic, "Go have fun, sweetie." He lifted his large jaw over my head and kissed my scalp.

I wrapped my arms around my Father, "Thank you, Dad." It was the first time I hugged Father-no! my Dad since he left.


Sorry for the super long delay of this chapter! But I blame bad luck and writers block and stupid, strenuous homework assignments!

Hopefully you like this chapter! Though I think you might not like it as much!

Unfortunately, this is probably the last time I update anytime soon. School is getting me super stress with two AP classes, extracurricular activities such as Academic Decathlon and Yearbook Committee, and an SAT prep class. So cross your fingers I do well in school, so I will be able to update sooner…seriously I need help!