A/N: Yay! People ARE reading this fic! This makes me really happy to know that there are also other Hazuki Kei lovers out there! Woohoo!

Pages of a Storybook

Chapter 03: May 19 - Strangers

His lips curled into a small smile as he stared up at the projections, marveling at the different constellations which he had memorized since he was in elementary. Even though he had lost count of the number of times he had come here in the Planetarium, he doubted he'd ever grow tired of watching dozens of stars spread all over the ceiling.

Nothing could beat the real thing, of course, but the thick dust hovering above the city as well as the hundreds of lights from the districts prevented anyone to have the luxury to gaze at the stars. He was too busy with school or his modeling career to plan extended hikes on the mountains, so the only place he could really connect with the beauty of the night sky was the Planetarium.

As the voice of the curator droned on again about the prominent stars of each constellation, he heard Mr. Himuro's loud shushing at the middle row. There were only ten of them who decided to attend the extra-curricular activity. That was understandable. Only a handful of students would ever choose to waste their Sundays studying. Not that he cared much for the added grades since he didn't really need it. But then, it wasn't as if he had anything better to do at home. A visit to the Planetarium was always a welcome distraction.

The show ended half an hour later. As soon as the lights were turned on, Mr. Himuro started to add his own thoughts about the lecture. He barely listened to what the teacher was discussing and would have dozed off right then and there when Mr. Himuro's voice carried a rather commanding tone as he called one of the students for their opinions.

"Sensei, that star was shining millions of years ago." She answered confidently, but still refused to look straight at the fearsome teacher's piercing eyes. Kei glanced at her face and was somehow surprised to find an unwavering interest in her expression. "I find it amazing that even if some of the stars in the constellations had burned out by now, it would still take us millions of years to find out because of the distance."

"That's right, Kimura. Very astute of you to notice. Now..." He looked at Mr. Himuro to find the teacher very pleased with her answer before he elaborated further on her observations.

He was also quite pleased himself as he noticed her listening attentively to the teacher's every word. He didn't expect that she would actually be interested in the field of astronomy. He rarely found people their age who did.

Then again, on those days where he wasn't taking naps during school hours, he did notice how diligent she was in her school work. Mr. Himuro had been driving them like slaves with multitude of homework despite the fact that it was only the second month of the first semester. Still, she was actually taking the challenge like a real sport and wasn't complaining that much compared to the other students.

Or at least he thought she was. How many times did he ever look her way when he wasn't busy napping? Or more like, how many times did he ever look at someone's way at all?

Even so, he gave her the benefit of the doubt as he noticed how serious she was in the lecture. Although... there was that one time where he had caught her sleeping on the desk at the library with a drool dripping from her chin.

Still, he often did that, too. Minus the drool, of course. He decided not to blame her for it.

When the activity was finally over and Mr. Himuro had bid them a safe trip back home, he noticed that she was separated from the group and was standing in front of the boards near the building's entrance. From the looks of it, she was scanning the schedules of the different shows. The students had dispersed and were already making their way towards the station.

Before he turned to leave, he saw Mr. Himuro speaking with her and she looked around to find the other students missing. The panic and embarrassment on her face was enough to make him snort in amusement.

Ever since the incident with the cellphone number and the mysterious grade-schooler, he half expected her to call him sooner or later afterward. After all, why would the kid take the trouble of giving her the opportunity to find out his number if she wasn't going to call him back? To his immense relief though, there were no unwanted calls or mails from her even now.

However, she DID ask him to walk home or go to the coffee shop with her on several occasions. Even though he flat out refused every invitation, it didn't deter her at all and she still continued to ask him whenever they crossed paths.

"Hey, Hazuki-kun!"

Kei was startled out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. He cursed himself inwardly for taking too long to walk. Not wanting to be rude since she didn't really do anything to annoy him just yet, he tilted his head at her in acknowledgement.

"Do you mind if I walk with you to the station?" She asked, the smile that seemed to be forever plastered on her mouth greeted his own tight-lipped one.

The station was only a fifteen-minute walk from the Planetarium, so he decided that he didn't see any harm in it. Besides, it wasn't like he had any choice. They were going in the same direction, after all. "I don't mind."

"Great!" She walked with a light bounce on her step and he wondered briefly where exactly that energy was coming from. He remembered how she'd been like that when she was still a kid, too. Was she really this upbeat and peppy when they were children? It almost seemed like her energy had increased ten-fold after all those years. "The Planetarium was really interesting. I'm glad I came! I really didn't want to at first but Mr. Himuro was throwing us these scary looks that it'd be like suicide not to go."

Kei let her babble for the rest of the walk. She didn't seem to mind if he didn't talk much or if he only gave her one-word answers. Some part at the back of his mind was expecting her to lash out at him any minute now. He knew less than the average person when it came to people skills, so it wouldn't really surprise him if she grew bored of his company just like the rest of the people who tried to get under his skin.

She had been a sweet, innocent girl years before, but time can do nasty things to a person's personality without them knowing it and he was aware of that so damn well by now. But still, in a way, she was very much a stranger to him as he was to her. He realized then that even though he considered her as a childhood friend, he didn't really know anything else about her except her name, face, and smile.

In short, another part of him had no idea how she would react.

When they arrived at the station, she turned to him with a grateful smile. "Anyway, I'm gonna buy something for my brother first. It was fun talking to you, Hazuki-kun! Take care!" And with that, she disappeared from his sight in the crowd, leaving him with his eyes narrowed together in confusion.

He stood frozen for a whole minute. Was this a joke?

Fun? Talking? To him?

Visibly shaken, he shook his head and decided that he must have been hearing voices in his mind.

He would have to ask her about her strange behavior someday just to clear things up.

A/N: If you're wondering when Hazuki-kun will ask that question with her, play the game and ask him to go to the coffee shop when he's at =). Wahaha! XD And I'm using Himuro's trips to make these two grow closer together. I mean, even though you CAN ask Kei out on dates, with his loner personality, I don't think he'll warm up to anyone that fast. Hehehe!

And yes, the first time I was playing the game, I DID think it was mandatory to go to each one of Himuro's field trips. Sensei's hot and all, but he scared me and I was afraid he'd take some points off my Intelligence stat.

Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to review! At least now I know I'm not completely alone in this. =P

There were 3 unregistered people who reviewed so I'm gonna reply to them here.

nattie: Hehehe! Thank you! I'm glad you think I'm sticking to his character. And yes, I do believe he's a very lonely guy. =(

darkness: I know right? I really love Kei-kun and it's a great disappointment for me when I found no Kei fics out there (real reason why I'm writing this fic). Oh and I've written some drabbles already that's why the updates are fast. I'll update every 3-4 days. =D

A fan D: Thank you so much! I'm head-over-heels in love with Kei-pon, too! Wahahaha!