Regret

Akisame rushed around the kitchen the next morning, collecting bread, cheese, ham, apples, bottles of water and anything else she and her younger sister might need for their lunch that day.

"Cheese or ham?" she yelled through to the still half asleep Akina, who was standing in front of the bathroom mirror staring at the monstrosity that was her hair.

"Um… do we have any jam?" she called back and yawned. I can't believe I didn't wash it… it always gets like this after it gets wet.

"You'll get fat!" Akisame called back. Akina frowned.

"I don't care, do we have jam?" she repeated, contemplating leaving her hair how it was and being laughed at all day or washing it really quickly.

"Fine, yes we do." Aki walked back to the fridge and pulled out the half empty jam jar. She spread it thinly on a slice of disgustingly healthy whole grain bread and placed the sandwiches in Akina's lunch pack. Seeing as their Grandmother was English, they were extremely westernised in their way of eating; sandwiches for lunch, roasts on a Sunday. That is if Akina could be bothered to make one, Aki still hadn't mastered the art of cooking, despite her new motherly ways.

"Apple or Banana?" she called again.

Akina squirted the shampoo into her hands as her wet hair dripped into the bathroom sink. "Um… Apple," she replied, massaging the strawberry scent into her hair.

Akisame finished making the lunches and placed Akina's in her school bag. She kept her own in her rucksack and then walked over to the front door, checking her white shirt and black pants in the hallway mirror. "Well I'm off; I'll see you after school. Make sure you come home before work okay? You'll need a snack to keep you going."

Akina grimaced as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair; she was practically bending backwardly double to squeeze under the tap. "I can't Aki, there's a student council meeting this afternoon…" it was the thing Akina had been dreading most, and here it was. The first time she would come face to face with Yuki after their argument. That was if she didn't see him during school, but being a member of the student council actually required her to talk to the president. At least she could ignore him the rest of the day.

"Okay, okay, well then take a banana too." And with that, she left. What a weirdo, take a banana? Akina found herself smirking slightly, although her stomach still churned in a squeamish kind of way. She finally finished rinsing her hair and stood up, her neck and back aching. She pulled a towel around her shoulders and combed her hair over the sink. She then dried it carefully. It was still soaking wet and now rather curly but anything was better than its previous state. Already wearing her uniform, Akina found her packed bag and shoes by the door. She slipped her feet into the black shoes, tugged on her knee-high socks, dusted down her skirt and then tidied her collar. Okay, away we go… The door slid open and closed, and the house was left deserted once more.

"Did you plan on sleeping over Momiji, or did things just happen that way?" Yuki asked the not-so-small-anymore blonde slightly accusingly.

"Well we can all walk to school together now, I think it's a good thing!" he beamed, with a slightly glint in his eyes.

"And I'm sure it had nothing to do with seeing Tohru in her pyjamas," said Haru in his usual dreamy tone. Momiji blushed and glared at Haru.

"Don't be so crude," Yuki replied. He looked around to find Tohru and Kyo walking a little further behind them, holding hands.

"Her heart belongs to another 'Miji-kun," said Haru, watching Yuki blankly. "You'll have to move on eventually."

"I know…" the rabbit said quietly, looking down as he walked. Yuki looked sadly at Momiji. This had been the way he had felt at first too.

"Give it time," he said comfortingly. "Things will get better. I promise." Momiji looked up at Yuki and nodded.

"Okay,"

As they approached the school gates, Yuki remembered the student council meeting and sighed.

"What is it?" Haru asked, picking up on his cousin's mood change instantly.

"Student council meeting," he grumbled as the entered the grounds.

"Oh, oh…" said Haru, nodding understandingly. "I bet she feels the same way."

Once against Haru was reading Yuki like a book. "That is really irritating you know."

Haru blinked at Yuki. "Just apologise to her. It's not hard," he said, ignoring Yuki's last comment.

"Who? Tell who you are sorry?" Momiji asked, feeling extremely excluded, but equally curious.

"No one," said Yuki, without taking his eyes off Haru. He though of his last words and sighed. "Maybe… We'll see." And with that, he walked into the doors leading to the school and out of sight. Haru stopped and turned to Kyo and Tohru.

"We're going to class now," he walked after Yuki. Momiji waved to Tohru and Kyo before following.

"Bye!" Tohru called to them both. Kyo tossed his head slightly and then turned to Tohru.

"We better get going too, Better not get that bitch annoyed," by this he meant their new teacher, Ms. Hayashi, although the woman had proved to be far from pleasant so far this year. Tohru allowed Kyo to lead her by the hand into the school as the bell sounded for the beginning of the day.

The day passed slowly for both Yuki and Akina, and as the meeting approached, both of them dreaded the point when they would either make up or break their entire friendship. Finally the bell sounded for three O'clock and the end of the school day.

Yuki got up from his desk and collected his books. He placed them carefully in his bag and then made his way through the small crowd of people, through the door and out into the corridor. He headed to room 1A, the official Student Council meeting room. Yuki realised he was the first person there as he creaked open the door. The chairs were placed neatly around the many small desks, placed together to make one large one in the centre of the room. He walked to the head of the table and placed his bag by the chair. Was he supposed to write on the black board? He hadn't noticed its presence before today. Maybe it's new… As he walked towards it, he spotted a small piece of chalk on the ledge and picked it up.

Student Council Meeting – Monday March 16th

Yuki then took a step back. Now what?

Akina slowly slipped open the door to room 1A and took a deep breath when she spotted Yuki, pondering the blackboard. She quickly stepped inside and walked over to the table; she chose a seat at the opposite end from Yuki and placed her bag on the seat. She looked up. Yuki had been watching her.

He quickly turned away when her eyes met his and looked back at the board. She's ignoring me… and I can't say I don't blame her.

"It's Tuesday," a voice suddenly called quietly from behind him. Yuki turned to see Akina pointing at the board. "Not Monday."

"Oh, yes, you're right…" Yuki looked around for a board eraser but couldn't find one. He was about to use his sleeve when Akina came up beside him and handed him the eraser, which had been on the floor by his feet.

"Use this," she said, holding it out. Her eyes looked fiery, almost as though she was daring him to bring up the argument. Yuki cowered, taking the eraser quickly and looking away.

"Thank you…" he said faintly. Akina was about to open her mouth once more when the door opened again and another couple of people walked in. They beamed at the sight of Yuki, and Akina retreated to her seat at the end of the table. She gazed out of the window, lost in her thoughts and ignorance of Yuki's presence until the table filled around her. There were four other members of the student council, not including herself and Yuki.

Soon everyone fell silent as Yuki began the meeting. Akina didn't take in a word of what she said. She remained absently daydreaming out of the window. She wasn't going to make this easy for him. He said some really hurtful things…

Yuki spent the majority of the meeting watching Akina as she rested idly on her elbow. He knew she wasn't listening. Part of him saw this as immature behaviour for a council member, but a much greater part told him he deserved it. After about ten minutes of talking, he decided to get the opinions of the members on the day's main issue.

"What does everyone else think about the uniforms?"

A red headed girl near the centre of the table raised her hand.

"I think the knee high socks are annoying. They constantly fall down. Maybe we could get ankle socks instead?" Yuki nodded, absorbing her opinion.

"A very good point, well obviously I cannot comment on this issue as I don't ave to wear them," A few of the members laughed and Yuki continues. "Perhaps some of the other female members would like to share their opinion?" Yuki's eyes shot straight to Akina, but this time the only other female member piped up first. She had short blonde hair and large blue eyes.

"I quite like them, I mean, I love the design and the way they look. There are tricks to getting them to stay up," she added to the red head who nodded interestedly.

"Well it seems we are at a tie. Akina," he said, looking right at her, now daring her to react.

Akina's head snapped up at the mention of her name. "What?" she asked bluntly.

"What is your opinion on the knee-high socks that are part of the girl's uniform?"

Akina blinked. "I like them," she said simply.

"You do?" Yuki asked, trying to coax something out of her.

"Sure do," she replied. There was a shadow of a smirk played across her lips. It was clear this was all she would say on the matter. Yuki nodded and looked away. The way she was looking at him made him feel extremely uncomfortable. The other members seemed to notice something weird was going on as a whisper broke upon the table.

"Okay well I guess the socks are here to stay, the next issue…"

The rest of the meeting continued with not another word from Akina, and Yuki avoiding her gaze as much as possible. By the end of the meeting, all of her feelings from the previous day had caught up with her. She remembered Yuki's words, and now sadness was replacing the vengeful streak she had felt fifteen minutes previous.

As the other members filtered through the door, full of buzzing chatter about the bizarre atmosphere between Akina and Yuki, Yuki had put away his books and Akina found herself, once again, trapped alone with him. He looked up, slightly pleased she was still here, and slightly nervous.

"A-Akina-san…" he began, straightening up and closing his bag.

Akina turned her teary eyes away from him. "What?" she asked quietly.

"I – I just wanted to say I'm… well…"

"If you are going to say sorry, don't bother," she said picking up her bag and slipping it on her back. She turned to look at him and Yuki noticed her eyes were glistened with tears. The guilt was almost too much to bear.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he said, a great sadness showing in his gaze.

"You said the most horrible things to me and that's all you can say?" Akina marched across the room and to the door. "I don't want to hear it," Yuki stepped towards her and took hold of her arm.

"Miss. Saito, wait!" there was a long pause, to which both of them stared at each other; hurt, pain, sadness and anger all mixing together.

"Just like you said," said Akina quietly. "You are such a let down Mr. Sohma; no," she tugged her arm free of his grip and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Yuki placed his hands over his eyes and sighed regretfully. How can I show her I didn't mean what I said? Now she is more hurt than ever… "I'm so sorry Akina-san," he whispered.