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B is for Boredom

n. 1) the condition of being bored or uninterested

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Attending school was a long and boring procedure.

Now, Ayuzawa Suzuna knew how to play the game of education quite well, if she said so herself. She was an excellent student with an intelligent mind and often made the top marks in her grade, despite the little amount of effort she truly put into studying. She was a fast learner, so information often sank in right away and though she had a tendency of being lazy at times, she found enough time in her day to participate in occasional school activities.

Student Council, however, was not one of them.

"You're Ayuzawa's younger sister, aren't you? You should totally try out for President!"

"Eh? Ayuzawa Suzuna? Is she related to Kaichou?"

"You're right! She looks just like her! So cute!"

"Why not join Student Council, Ayuzawa-san? You have a good chance of becoming the president, just like your older sister!"

Regardless.

Her reply was always the same.

"No, thank you. I'm not interested."

Frankly, it all sounded like too much work, not to mention really boring, but the pressure from her peers had begun to get unbearable. Suzuna was the last person to be bothered by something like this and could scarcely keep her poise after the umpteenth time being asked the same questions.

"Oh, come on! You wanna make your sister proud, don't you?"

"Don't be so stubborn, Su-chan! They'll definitely vote for you!"

"You don't have to run for President, just join the Student Counc—"

"—BRIINNNG!"

Phew.

Saved by the bell.

"Ah! Gotta go! See you later, Su-chan!"

"Ja ne, Ayuzawa!"

A sigh escaped the dark-haired girl as the bell rang, ending the period and signaling lunch break. She closed her eyes for only a moment and collected her composure before picking up her books and bento and heading out the classroom doors.

What was it with everyone?

Why did they so desperately want her to join the Student Council?

She wondered if her sister would be disappointed if she refused to join. At the same time, she wondered if she may be proud if she agreed.

Not that it really mattered.

Okay, maybe a little.

Suzuna normally seemed to have all the answers, but this was one thing she couldn't decide on her own.

Onee-chan…? What should I do?

With tea-colored eyes glazed over in thought, the thin dark-haired girl walked steadily down the hallway, paying no mind to her surroundings. Her mind flooded with unanswered questions, her brow furrowed in a troubled manner that did not suit her at all.

Perhaps she should just join and get it over with.

It wouldn't hurt, right?

Sure, it's a lot of work and it's tiring and it's probably so boring and—

"Oi! Watch where you're going!"

The vexed voice had snapped her out of her thoughts and Suzuna suddenly noticed the dull pain in her upper arms, the result of crashing shoulders with someone else. She concealed that moment of shock well behind an expressionless mask, wondering who could have possibly been so clumsy as to bump into her like that.

Completely ignoring the fact that she was the one at fault.

Straightening her books and brushing her skirt, Suzuna raised her head expectantly. She was prepared to look into the face of some rude, high school brute, only to find something else entirely.

Two blazing cobalt eyes.

How unexpected.

"I didn't know that you enrolled into Seika High, Hyōdō-kun."

The two teenagers sat together in the bustling classroom and spoke with one another as they ate their lunches. While Aoi had been busy picking stubbornly at his rolls, Suzuna had finished her bento rather quickly, much to his surprise. He had commented earlier on her unfeminine and piggish eating habits only to have the girl merely cock her head in an innocent gesture of confusion.

"Yeah, well, Misaki-chi's been telling me a lot about how the 'school's gotten better' and whatnot. Didn't it have a really bad reputation before?"

"It still does."

"Then why'd you enroll?"

Why did I enroll?

Simple.

"Family should stick together."

She answered without missing a beat.

Aoi had raised a single eyebrow at her reply but said not a word. His fingers casually brushed a stray navy hair on his head back into place and Suzuna took this moment of silence as an opportunity to observe him at a closer perspective. She raised her head and watched him.

Hyōdō Aoi was, without a doubt, a rather good-looking teenage boy and though Suzuna was not the type of girl to swoon over someone because of their appearance, she had to admit that he was attractive, in a twisted sort of way. If he chose to erase that permanent mark of a scowl set into his lips, she could even call him cute, but the younger Ayuzawa knew better than to judge another's expressions when she hardly possessed any of her own.

"…What are you looking at?"

She blinked.

He had caught her staring.

Should she feel ashamed?

Aoi put another bite of rice into his mouth, shooting Suzuna a suspicious glare as he did so. At that moment, the younger Ayuzawa couldn't help but allow her gaze to travel down to his lips, pale and delicate-looking, back up to the stark blueness of his eyes and the downward curl of his la—

What was this feeling she felt?

A wave of uneasiness spread through the dark-haired girl's body but she remained still and composed, easily making sure that her face held no sign of her emotions.

"You have long eyelashes."

He froze.

The rice fell from his chopsticks.

"W-What?"

His face had reddened sooner than he could move his mouth to form words and Suzuna was puzzled by the boy's reaction. Had she said something wrong?

She was only pointing out a fact.

Interesting.

"What the hell are you talking about, Suzuna?" Aoi blistered, his cheeks stained with humiliation. "That's such a weird thing to say! You weirdo!"

Ah. So, he is embarrassed?

This is like last time.

A simple smile graced the pretty dark-haired girl's lips, one that seemed to make her amber eyes soften and facial features relax. This boy was a peculiar specimen and despite the fact that she didn't know exactly why he became so flustered, Suzuna wanted to probe him a little more.

Just for fun.

"Hm. Is it weird? Hyōdō-kun is actually quite cute."

Poke.

"Ehhhh?"

Pure and utter mortification.

The clatter of chopsticks on the floor.

Intrigued by the flickering flame in those deep cobalt eyes, Suzuna leaned in slightly.

Hyōdō Aoi is not boring at all.

The school day ended after a painfully long time. The younger Ayuzawa was bombarded by the Student Council and her peers throughout the rest of the day and sought inwardly for ways to avoid them and their blasted questions.

When class was let out, she wasted no time in hurrying outside.

To her curiosity, Aoi had been standing in the schoolyard with his book bag slung around his lean shoulders and hands stuffed into his pockets. He was intuitively kicking some pebbles around with his feet, back leaning against the gate.

Had he been waiting for somebody?

"Hyōdō-kun."

He looked up.

"What are you doing?"

It was a simple question, but Aoi frowned anyway. He glared pointedly at Suzuna who only gazed back emotionlessly in response. At last, a sigh escaped his lips and he straightened himself, running a hand through his dark, navy locks.

"Nothing, really."

Silence.

Suzuna cocked her head.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

He gritted his teeth. "Of course not," he spat. "I'm fine by myself!"

"Then," Suzuna continued, disregarding his wishes to be alone. "Do you want to walk home together?"

"No, I—"

Aoi stopped himself. He stared at her.

At length, his expression softened if only for a moment and he found himself nodding along.

"Fine."

From across the school yard, Ayuzawa Misaki caught sight of her younger sister and Aoi-chan walking down the path together and all concern vanished from her features.

She smiled.

"What's with that look, eh? Depressed or something?"

His question was spouted in a rude fashion but Suzuna could sense something more sincere behind those furrowed eyebrows and deep-set scowl. Was that worry in his eyes?

No, she was reading into him far too much.

Anyway.

"School is boring at times," she confessed, looking up at the trees they passed. "The same things happen every day and nobody really does anything interesting."

Aoi snorted. "That's rich coming from you, Suzuna. I heard you made the highest scores in your last school."

She was unfazed.

"And?"

"Well," he continued in a 'know-it-all' sort of tone. "I just find it odd that a smart student such as yourself could find school boring, considering how well you do in it. I, on the other hand, have a plausible reason for hating school."

Is that so? And what might that be?

"Why do you hate school?"

Aoi seemed irritated by the question and Suzuna wondered if she'd been too frank. Not that she cared.

"I was bullied a lot at my old schools," he muttered with a grimace, unable to meet her eyes. "for enjoying things that the other guys didn't. That's why I hate school and everybody in it. Nobody understands me."

Suzuna was undeniably curious now. Why was he bullied? What things did he enjoy? Why didn't anybody understand him?

"I can understand you," she said without thinking, noticing the astounded look he gave her. "If you allow me to."

"What do you mean? You don't even know me, Suzuna," he huffed, lips twisted in something of a pout. If she hadn't known better, the dark-haired girl would have commented on how 'cute' he looked at that moment.

Her heartbeat quickened oddly enough.

What was she thinking?

She allowed those strange thoughts to simmer in her mind for a few moments before brushing them aside. These feelings were too difficult to decipher; she had no time for it.

"And you don't know me either, Hyōdō-kun," Suzuna replied, looking straight ahead. "So, it's safe to say that we both could ease off assumptions for now."

A derisive sound escaped the boy's lips.

"That can never happen. Human beings live off assumptions, you know? We judge. That's how we make sense of the world."

That…

That isn't exactly wrong.

Despite her careless demeanor, Suzuna could not deny that she was becoming drawn to this fiery, cobalt-eyed boy.

Eventually, their conversational topics had strayed back to the hardships of school and the petite dark-haired could not resist bringing up the issue on her mind. She was going to talk to her older sister about it, but something told her that talking to someone now would take some of the tension off of her body.

"They all want me to join the Student Council."

"Sounds fun."

Does it?

"I don't want to do it."

Suzuna, always straightforward, said as she pleased.

"Don't do it then."

She blinked. Remarkably, confusion was evident in her features.

"Why do you say that?"

Aoi only shrugged. For a moment, he considered not answering her question, but Suzuna saw something flicker within his expression for a brief second and before she knew it, he was speaking again.

"If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Nothing good will come if you work half-heartedly. Besides, you shouldn't let the pressure get to you like that. Otherwise you'll lose the ability to make decisions for yourself and depend on others too much. And if that happens, Suzuna, you'll no longer be able to live your life the way that you want; you'll have only expectations to meet and people to obey. And that's hardly appealing, right?"

Her breath caught.

She stared.

The navy-haired boy glanced back at the younger Ayuzawa, not anticipating seeing any response from the apathetic girl. However, as he looked into her face, it became clear to him that she had not been expecting him to say the things that he did. Her amber eyes were wide, her mouth open in a small 'o'.

In return, his eyes also widened and he feverishly turned to hide his head from her view. Scolding himself inwardly for rambling on with such blunt advice, he was prepared for some witty comeback or offhand remark.

No such thing came.

Suzuna sucked in a breath.

"You're right."

He watched her from the corner of his eye.

"That doesn't sound appealing at all," she murmured, her expression reverting into neutrality. No, it sounds boring, if anything.

"You do the same thing, don't you, Hyōdō-kun?"

Before he could reply, she had spoken again.

"That's why you're so different—intriguing."

Cobalt eyes flashed with defiance.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he hissed, heatedly.

Suzuna could only try not to smile as she looked seriously into the boy's face and allowed her heart to flutter in that odd, peculiar way it did when he was brimming with such emotions. She didn't truly understand the feeling; only that it was nice and that she liked it.

"Thank you, Hyōdō-kun."

"Eh? For what?"

You've cured my boredom.

"The advice."

That, too.

"It was nothing."

It was everything.

"Um… this is where I have to turn. See you tomorrow, Suzuna."

His words lingered in the air around her long after the two parted ways. A smile crossed the apathetic dark-haired girl's lips after a moment of thought. That's it. This was more than a feeling of simple attraction.

She was interested.

In him—

No.

Because of him.

"Of course."

Tomorrow, then, Hyōdō-kun. Stay the way you are.

Maybe…

Maybe school would be a just little less boring with Hyōdō Aoi around.