Class. Is. Boring. I was glad when the bell finally rang for lunch.
"Hey, I'm going to walk down to Watabe Noodle House with Maiko to grab lunch. Want me to bring you back something?" Rin offered.
"Definitely. Surprise me. You're the best, you know that right?"
"Of course," she said with a smile, and headed for the parking lot. I Hikaru and Hikari were both sick today, so I found Yuki and Kyo and Momiji and Haru joined us.
"So how is everyone's day going?" I asked.
"Great!" Momiji exclaimed, looking adorable as usual, even though he was wearing the girl's uniform. "What about yours, Ari?"
"Pretty normal," I said. "You know, you've never explained to me why you wear the girl uniform."
"It suits him, doesn't it?" Haru said with a shrug.
"It does. Touché."
"Well why the hell does that matter? He's still dressed as a girl!" Kyo shouted.
"A valid point, Kyonkichi Sohma, class 2D. And while I find that orange head of yours disagreeable, I will ignore it for the moment. But what I cannot ignore is a boy who would wear a girl's uniform to school! This goes beyond outrageous! And even if your teachers allow it, I will not! For I am the school student council president Makoto Takei! Also known as, Captain of the Campus Defense Force!" he guy exclaimed, two girls behind him unenthusiastically clapping.
"What a complete idiot…" Kyo, Haru, and Yuki mumbled together.
"I can see already that you're going to be a problem student. And the same goes for you, Hatsuharu Sohma. I will not tolerate that white hair, or those gaudy necklaces."
"President Takei, it's his natural color," Yuki said.
"Oh, Yuki, so nice to see you, but natural color! I can see that his hairline is black!"
"Yes, that's natural too."
"That's ridiculous! I don't believe it! And I suppose wearing this dress is natural for you, Momiji Sohma? Have you no pride as a man? You had best change your ways, and your clothes! Before this incident becomes the ruin of your life!" I could see Momiji's eyes brimming with tears. Now I was pissed.
"Here, I know something we could change," I said calmly, and everyone turned their attention to me. "How about we change your pain in the ass attitude, your pain in the ass voice, and you get your ass out of here."
"Ah, Arisu Takahashi. I see you still haven't changed your hair, even though I believe we have talked about this before."
"My hair? Or you being about to get your ass kicked? Again."
"Such a terrible attitude. It's even worse than when we were younger. I remember you used to have cuts and bruises all the time because you used to pick fights so often. No common sense whatsoever." That's not why.
"Shut up. Quit shoutin' like you're king of the friggin' world. You're making my ears bleed, you bastard." Now, I was excited. "Now I've got some common sense for you: if I wore a tie, it wouldn't change who I am. If I had no piercings, it wouldn't mean I'm nice. And if my hair was black, it wouldn't stop me from kicking your ass! Who do you think you are anyway? Do you think you're god, huh? What's the matter huh!? You think everyone's the same!?"
"Hey! Cut it out! He's just an idiot!" Kyo shouted, and I agreed that this was enough.
"Shut up! No one asked you, you stupid cat!"
"Don't call me stupid you little brat!"
They continued shouting at each other as Haru dropped Makoto. I sighed at how childish they were acting. I hated Makoto as much as the next guy, but now this was just pointless.
"I'll be right back," I told Momiji, and he smiled and nodded.
"Hey guys," I said, stepping between them.
"What!?" they both shouted. I took a calming breath before speaking.
"What the hell is wrong with you two!? You're bickering like little children! Now I love you guys, and I mean it, but I'm not gonna hang around if you keep acting like this!" I finished, shoving them both in the chest in opposite directions.
"You love me, now do you?" Haru said suggestively, pulling me toward him. I smiled for a moment. Then I punched him in the jaw.
"Well I believe that takes care of that," I said, content with my work. "I'm going to go see if Rin is back. Bye guys!"
"See you later!" Momiji called, and I waved. I headed out towards the parking lot, taking the long way. It was kind of chilly outside, but I felt nice.
"You seem to be in a good mood." I turned at the voice. It was a tall, intimidating, man with ebony hair and grey eyes.
"Uh, hi. I'm Arisu Takashi. Do I know you?"
"No, I don't believe you do. I'm Akito Sohma," he said in a quiet voice. Kyo had only mentioned him briefly when he told me about his family; he said he was the head of the family wasn't someone to be messed with.
"Well, it's lovely to meet you Akito." He chuckled a little.
"You're very polite, I'm glad. And you seem to be a good person." I… what? "And not only that, you're extremely cute."
"Huh? Oh, please, I'm really not. But thank you," I said, and I don't know what was funny, but her chuckled more.
"So, you're modest, too. I really mean it, you are cute. I'm sorry I didn't say hello sooner, I tend to be rather shy around strangers."
"Oh, don't trouble yourself over it. It's fine. I understand what you mean."
"Well that's good. I should introduce myself properly. I am Akito, head of the Sohma family. I am pleased to meet you." This guy was really creeping me out. I didn't know what it was about him, but I felt extremely uncomfortable.
"The pleasure is all mine. Kyo told me about you, and I wondered if I'd ever get a chance to meet you in person."
"Well I do hope we can be friends from now on. Just as you are with Yuki and Kyo."
"Akito!" I turned and saw Yuki standing in the doorway. He looked pale, like he'd just seen a ghost.
"There you are. I've missed you, Yuki. It feels like such a long time since we last saw each other, doesn't it?" Akito said, slowly approaching Yuki. It made my skin crawl.
"What did you do?"
"You look so grown up now. I think you've even gotten taller."
"What did you do? Tell me. What did you do to Ms. Takahashi?" he said, eyes wide, looking half angry, half terrified.
"Nothing at all. We were simply introducing ourselves, right, Ms. Takahashi? We were just saying hello, weren't we?"
"Uh, yeah," I said, feeling more unsettled by the minute, and inched closer to Yuki.
"But now that I have you here, Yuki, there's been something I was dying to ask you," Akito said, placing a hand on Yuki's cheek. "Why haven't you been coming to see me? You know we're such great friends. I've been very forgiving lately, even when you've hurt me. Perhaps, I need to take some time to reeducate you, in that little room. The one I keep especially for you." Now I knew why I didn't like him. He was like my mom. He enjoyed hurting and scaring other people. I hated those people.
I shoved him, hard, and he stumbled back. I didn't regret it.
"Sorry, turrets. I have them sometimes. It's pretty random. Well, I believe we need to get to class. It was simply delightful meeting you, Akito. Bye!" I quickly looped my arm through Yuki's and half jogged back inside. I stopped once we were concealed behind a wall.
"Are you okay?" we both asked at the same time, and we smiled at each other.
"What's up with that guy? He scared the crap out of me," I said, and Yuki frowned.
"He didn't do, or say anything strange to you? Are you okay?"
"No. All he did was introduce himself. And I'm fine, really," I said. "But what about you?"
"What?"
"You seemed pretty shaken up," I said, which the understatement of the century.
"I'm fine," he said with a smile.
"You aren't a very good liar, Mr. Sohma," I said, doing my best imitation of him, which he laughed at.
"Let's just say there's some bad blood between Akito and I, and leave it at that," he said and I nodded.
"Well Mr. Sohma, we've managed to miss most of class. What would you like to do now?" I asked.
"Whatever you like. I doubt there's much point in going back to class now," he said with a shrug.
"Hmm. Well, I guess it's your turn to go on an Ari Adventure then!"
"A what?"
"Kyo and I have already gone on an Ari Adventure, so now it's your turn," I told him resolutely, leading him out of the building, but through a different exit so we wouldn't run into Akito again.
"So you mean ditching…" he sighed.
"Pretty much. Don't worry, I normally almost never ditch. You guys must be a bad influence on me," I said with a wink. We were about to cross the street in the direction of downtown, when a familiar car pulled to a stop in front of us.
"Hey babe. Where do you guys think you're going? You're going to be a bad influence on Mr. Good Boy here," Rin said, rolling down the window.
"We're going on an Ari Adventure."
"Makes sense. Do you want your food? I got you udon with sesame chicken," she tempted.
"Yes please! Thanks!" I said and Maiko handed over a take-out box and chopsticks from shotgun.
"Don't do anything you wouldn't do if I was there," she warned, then eyed Yuki. "Ari is my best friend, mister, if you ever hurt her, I will break your face," she said with a glare, and I felt my cheeks turn pink. "Okay, have fun!" she said in a sweet voice as Rin drove into the parking lot. I swear, sometimes I think she's bipolar.
"Sorry about Maiko. She's very… overprotective."
"It's fine. I don't think caring about someone could be a bad thing," he said with a smile, and I nodded. I heard my IPod chime in my pocket, and I pulled in out to see I'd gotten a text from Tessa.
Where r u?
Adventuring. Why? I sent back.
With 1 of the SEXY men?!
*sigh* Yes, if you must know.
KK. Call me when ur done so we can hang out! Which 1?
The calm one.
Ooohhh girl, you scored big time! Haha have fun ;)
Whatever. I put my IPod back in my pocket, not wanting to be rude.
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go in specific?" I asked.
"I don't really care. It's an Ari Adventure, after all; you pick," Yuki said, and I knew the perfect place. I knew he wouldn't really be into legally harassing people, but I knew something we'd both like.
"Okay, come on," I grabbed his hand and led him in the direction of home. We turned off a little before we reached it though, and we were at the park we'd been when I'd first moved in. I headed over to the playground with him on my heels, and over to the swing set. I sat down and he sat on the one next to me. "I don't know what it is about this place, but I really like it here."
"Yeah, it's nice how quiet it is here," Yuki said, just sitting on his swing. I sighed a little and went over and pushed him.
"You're supposed to swing on swings," I teased, and he turned and smiled at me.
"I think this is a little backwards," he commented.
"Well I guess we're a backwards kind of people," I said, and he just raised an eyebrow at me as I went back to my swing. I opened my box of take out and had a few bites. "Want some?" I said, holding it out towards Yuki as we were swinging, and he shook his head. "Come on, you won't get cooties. Besides, I didn't see you eat at lunch, and you have to eat," I said, and he sighed, managing to grab the box and chopsticks when we both swung down, and took a bite and passed it back.
"Ms. Takahashi, may I ask you something?" Yuki said, sounding a little hesitant.
"You just did, but you may do it again," I said, and he smiled at me.
"Did you really used to get into fights when you were younger?"
"Yeah, Makoto exaggerated though, it wasn't very often that I did. He's just bitter that I beat him up one time and I've never failed to remind him any chance I get," I explained, smiling a little at the memory. It was a nice thought. "I don't even remember why I did it, but I remember him starting it."
"Why can I picture that so well?" Yuki said with a small laughed.