"Ayumu! Kousuke!" A voice yelled from behind, "Hey wait up!" Hiyono waved, charging up to them.
Ayumu sighed, "I thought we were actually going to have a quiet walk to school today." He muttered to the red head.
"And you wonder why I like being late?" Kousuke muttered back.
"Hey boys!" She said, trying to catch her breath, "Wow you're up pretty early Kousuke? Did you actually get breakfast today?" She asked. He only crossed his arms and huffed in response. Hiyono reached up, having to stand on her tiptoes, she ruffled his mass of spiky red hair.
He slapped the hand away, "What the hell did I tell you about touching my hair?" Kousuke yelled, "I told you not to touch me or my hair!"
"He's kind of cranky today, isn't he?"
"Isn't he always?" Ayumu asked.
"Would you two just shut up?!" Kousuke snorted, quickening his pace and pulled in front of them.
The three entered the front gates of the school, where they found Ryouko and Rio waiting under one of the many large trees on the grounds.
"Holy crap! Kousuke actually got here early!" Ryouko glanced around, "Does anyone have a cookie I can give him?" She mocked as all the members of their little group, except Kousuke of course, began to laugh.
"You're all a bunch of jerks." He muttered sitting down, he closed his emerald eyes as he leaned against the large oak tree that they had decided to hang out under.
"We're jerks?" Hiyono asked stunned, pointing a finger to her chest.
Ayumu only sighed, shaking his head at the antics of his friends, and then looked up again. He glanced around absently, before landing his sights on a dark blue car stopped in front of the school's entrance, he watched intrigued as the passenger side door opened revealing the new student, Eyes Rutherford.
"Hey Ayumu, what do you think of this new project?" One of the girls asked, waking him from his thoughts, "Well, Ayumu?" It had been Rio speaking, he turned back to the one talking to him.
"I heard that it's going to be fifty percent of our mark, even more then what the final will be." Hiyono said, while flipping through her notebook.
Ryouko suddenly stepped closer to the group and in a low voice, "Hey, isn't that the new kid?" She said, pointing to the car Ayumu was still focused on. Kousuke, who was napping against the tree, heard Ryouko mention the new kid and opened his eyes to look at where she was pointing.
All five watched on as the silver haired boy seemed to argue with the mystery figure in the driver's seat of the car but when Kousuke saw the figure roughly grab a hold of Eyes' wrist and yank on his arm, the red head had the sudden urge to go beat the crap out of the figure. Suppressing the urge, Kousuke shook his head and leaned back against the large oak, closing his eyes again.
After a moment, Kousuke heard Hiyono call out, "Eyes! Hey, come here!" She yelled, waving her arms like a maniac.
Azure eyes glanced around after hearing his name called and when they landed on the dirty blonde waving her arms, he figured that that was where it was coming from. He casually walked over, noticing instantly the supposedly sleeping red head at the back of the group.
"Yes?" He asked, arriving in front of the one who had been calling him.
Hiyono smiled her 'spill the beans' smile, "You should hang out with us." She said, then grabbed one of his arms and pulled him closer to the others.
"Wha?" Kousuke shouted sitting up, "Him? I don't think so!" A punch to the back of the head shut him up but earned the crimson eyed girl who had punched him, an evil glare.
"Be nice you ass." Ryouko stated holding up her fist, ready to assault the emerald eyed boy again, he huffed in response but didn't open his mouth.
Eyes stood, pondering for a moment, as he watched the group bicker amongst themselves and just as he opened his mouth to speak the bell rang, stopping all conversations.
They entered the classroom, sitting at their assigned seats and waited for the teacher's arrival. Hiyono sat at her desk, digging through her bag before pulling out her prized notebook, and then turned to face a head of silver hair.
"Hey Eyes," She began smiling at him, "I don't mean to pry-"
"Yes, you do." Ayumu stated, without looking up from the book he was reading.
Hiyono huffed in response then continued, "But I was wondering, who was the one in the car with you this morning?"
Eyes, whose attention had been gained, stared at her then looked back at the paper sitting on his desk. A single emerald eye opened to glance across to the silver haired boy, who was still staring at the piece of paper in front of him, and upon watching him a moment the eye closed again.
The silence lasted a little longer, and when Hiyono thought that her question was going to go unanswered, "He is… my brother." A low voice said, as azure eyes appeared through those long bangs.
Hiyono perked up and started jotting in her notebook, she peeked over her book to urge the boy to continue and as she opened her mouth to ask another question, Hiyono heard the classroom door slide across the floor revealing Ms. Sasaki.
"Good morning class!" She said cheerfully, sitting down at her desk that was positioned in the front corner of the room, across from the door. She sat there for a few minutes shuffling through papers and writing on some of them, she then stood again ready to begin class, "I know most of you are excited to find out your groups and get to work but we have a few other things to go over before getting to the project. For starters, I want everyone to pull out that assignment from yesterday and pass it one in front."
The morning was almost over, there was only fifteen minutes until lunch, and Kousuke was starved as always. All the students began to pack up their bags, getting ready to bolt as soon as the bell rang.
"Settle down, class. We still have fifteen minutes and I want to put you into groups before lunch so you can get started after." Ms. Sasaki said, reaching for a piece of paper off her desk, "So I already discussed what the project is about with you, and once you're in your groups you can begin coming up with ideas. Okay, first group…"
"Ah man, this is so boring." Kousuke sighed, poking Ayumu in the back with the eraser end of his pencil.
"Knock it off!" Ayumu huffed, leaning forward trying to move out of the red head's reach but unfortunately for Ayumu, Kousuke's arm was longer then the space between the desks.
Hiyono swiveled in her seat until she was facing both boys, "So, who do you want in your group?" She asked smiling.
"I don't want him in my group!" Ayumu hissed, grabbing the pencil from Kousuke and pointing to him with it.
Smirking, "Well, I want you in my group." The red head said, rubbing his hands together evilly.
Hiyono turned a little more in her seat, "How about you Eyes?" She asked.
"I am not particular."
"Just hope you don't get shit head in your group either." The brunette said dryly, having finished with Kousuke, and was now looking out the window.
"The next group is Rio Tekeuchi, Ryouko Takamachi, and Sayoko Shiranagatani. And the final group shall be Hiyono Yuizaki, Ayumu Narumi, and Kousuke Asazuki."
"Damn it!" Ayumu cursed, slamming his head into the top of the desk.
"Yes!"
"Oh, just a minute, with the new student we will have to have a group of four. Eyes you can join Mr. Narumi's group, okay?" Ms. Sasaki asked looking over at him, Eyes only nodded.
Hiyono twisted around to look at the silver haired boy with an evil expression on her face. That face was unnerving for Eyes and anyone else in the immediate area.
"Hiyono," Ms. Sasaki said, "I want you to move into Sayoko's group, please."
"But… why?"
"It's because I want all the groups to work only on their projects." She said, as giggles could be heard across the classroom, and everyone knew what the teacher had been implying. The bell rang for lunch, before Hiyono could beg her any more, as a mad rush of student bodies pushed and shoved their way out of the classroom.
They gathered up on the roof of the school, the normal meeting place for their little group during the lunch break or when Ayumu decided to take a nap.
"Why did she have to move me?" The blonde complained, "I was looking forward to being in a group with you guys."
"Yeah well, I'm thankful." Kousuke said, smirking at his own comment.
Hiyono stuck out her tongue, then opened her lunch and began to eat. Ayumu, who actually managed to keep his lunch today, ate quickly as not to lose any to either of the two lunch thieves. Eyes sat on the far side of the group, after being dragged by Hiyono to eat with them, and was now being completely ignored. Rio and Ryouko sat along the wall next to Kousuke, who had already devoured his lunch and was now standing, leaning up against the chain link fence surrounding the rooftop. Emerald eyes faced away from his friends and the new kid, for a reason he couldn't quite put into words or understand really, but he wanted nothing to do with that Eyes Rutherford. He gave Kousuke a bad feeling and on top of that, he would just stare at him constantly, and it was beginning to bug the hell out of Kousuke.
He glanced back, seeing those azure eyes on him again, and that was it Kousuke had had enough. He huffed, leaving the group; he threw the roof door open and headed down the stairs. When he reached the grass, he slowed his pace and walked toward the large oak from this morning, where he planned on spending the rest of his lunch. He laid in the grass, stretching out, and rested his head on one of the larger roots that had lifted slightly out of the ground. Kousuke closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Shortly after, something brushed passed his spiky red locks and then he felt a body sit next to his head.
They sat in silence for a minute or two before the figure sighed, "So?" Ayumu asked offhandedly.
Kousuke had known who it was beforehand, and didn't bother to open his eyes, for the brunette always seemed to track him down whenever he would storm off, and then listen to him rant. Kousuke couldn't understand the boy's motives for doing this but was thankful nonetheless. He hated to admit it to himself and would never say it aloud, but for some reason he actually trusted Ayumu enough to talk openly with him and thought of him as the closest thing to family he had, or maybe not. Kousuke shook his head, he couldn't think shit like that, it would only make it harder in the end.
"So?" The brunette repeated, "What's up?"
A snort was his response then a sigh, "I can't stand him," He said sighing again, "That kid gets under my skin."
"He isn't that bad, you're exaggerating."
"Yeah well, you don't have him staring at you all the time." Kousuke tried to suppress a shudder, only half succeeding.
"It's to be expected, he did say he knows you." Ayumu said, thinking back to their first encounter with the blue eyed boy.
"I don't know him! How could I?" The red head huffed, revealing emerald eyes, "I've never been to Britain."
Chocolate eyes met with emerald ones, "He never said he was born in Britain." Ayumu said, starting to lose himself in his thoughts.
Kousuke snorted, "And what's that suppose to mean?!" He didn't receive an answer for the brunette was now leaning back against the tree, watching a passing cloud, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
Huffing again, Kousuke sat up as he turned to face the other, "Narumi, I'm talking to you over here!" He said, elbowing Ayumu in the shoulder, waking him from his pondering.
"Why do you always have to be so annoying?" Ayumu stated, standing just as the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Kousuke stood as well and both headed back to class in silence.
The rest of the afternoon went by slowly, uninterestingly, they had been put into their groups to work on the project for the rest of the time. Kousuke didn't converse with either boy, instead decided to stare out the window, confident that at least Ayumu would work on the project. Being so lost in thought, Kousuke didn't even hear the bell or the scrapping of chairs against the linoleum.
A light touch to his shoulder snapped him back to reality, he looked up to see Ryouko standing over him, hand still on his shoulder, "Are you coming or are you planning to spend the night at the school?" She said teasingly, smirking slightly.
Kousuke only snorted, as he packed his things away then flung his bag over one shoulder, and then he followed Ryouko and the others out of the room. They walked down the hall, stopping at intervals at each person's locker until the group made it to the front door; they then walked down the steps, heading for the large front gate of the school.
"Hey Sayoko!" Hiyono yelled, as all three girls rushed to her side.
"Yes?" She asked in a quiet voice. Kousuke had always found Sayoko to be delicate, almost fragile and he was afraid to speak loud or get angry because he thought sometimes that she might just shatter if he raised his voice around her.
"We wanted to go over to Hiyono's to work on our project a little more and we were wondering if you could come too?" Ryouko explained.
Sayoko thought for a quick moment before nodding her head, "I'll have to call my grandfather when I get there but I'm sure he won't mind." She said, giving a shy smile.
Ayumu stood beside Kousuke and hearing their conversation thought that would be a good idea. He glanced back as Eyes followed behind; he turned to face the silver haired boy, "What do you think? Should we follow the girls' example and get a head start on our project too?" Ayumu asked, gaining Eyes' attention.
Azure eyes looked around, spotting his brother's car shook his head, "It's not a good idea… I mean… today is not good for me, maybe tomorrow." He said as he continued to walk toward the blue vehicle.
Kousuke snorted, "Told ya he was a weirdo."
"Shut up." Ayumu said, turning away and followed behind the four girls. Kousuke took one last look back, seeing the boy climb into the car and close the door; he then spun around to catch up with the others.
But I wasn't trying to leave, why does he always think that? And when he does, then he gets so mad. He thought, wiping the dried tears from his face. He sat up off the cold closet floor, leaning his back against the wall and rubbed the spot on his body where the fist had landed. He looked through the darkness at the bruises on his arms and wrists, forever thankful for school uniform jackets.
The closet door opened revealing a figure bathed in light, though he knew who it was, "Come on, time to get ready for bed, you have school in the morning." His brother said, reaching a hand out to the boy on the floor. Eyes nodded, grabbing the offered hand and was pulled to his feet.