A/N: Japanese culture is so different... I'm gonna have to research some more. =(
Pages of a Storybook
Chapter 13: December 24 – Polar Opposites
Kei knew that the principal had a tendency to go over the edge with celebrations, but he still couldn't believe the incredible amount of effort – and money – that he was always willing to spend just for the enjoyment of the students and teachers.
The decorations of the mansion were a sight to behold, but what really caught his attention was the food. Numerous tables were lined up and lavished with a wide variety of traditional Christmas dishes, the delectable scents and smells tempting the senses and promising a full and delicious meal that would satisfy even an insatiable glutton. The assortment of chicken and turkey dishes laid out in an artistic arrangement across the tables was so varied that he could barely recognize some of them other than the fact that they looked delicious to eat. The table at the center sat an impressive-looking three-tiered sponge cake decorated with pure white whipped cream and bordered with pinkish red strawberries. To finish it off, a large chocolate plated 'Merry Christmas' was situated on the top-most layer and surrounded with peaches and cherries.
Everybody was thoroughly impressed and he couldn't deny how his stomach had grumbled at the sight of the tantalizing presentation before him. But now that they were all invited to eat to their hearts' content, he was faced with a rather distressing dilemma.
He was having a difficult time choosing which of the dishes he wanted to eat for dinner.
He'd been circling the rows of tables a few times already and yet his plate was still as clean and empty as ever. He didn't have a particular preference for food, but to randomly pick anything among the delicious dishes just to fill his stomach seemed like he would be wasting a moment that he should have enjoyed.
On the other hand, the girl beside him seemed to be having no trouble at all. She was stacking so much food in her plate that it was rather difficult to believe that she would be able to eat all of them.
She must have noticed his blatant staring because she turned to him with a puzzled stare. When she still didn't get what he was trying call attention to, he pointed at her plate. "Your food..."
"Hm?" She raised a confused eyebrow while her fork reached forward to attack a slice of fruit, which he assumed was a watermelon. In a blink of an eye, it disappeared inside her mouth with a pop. "Do you want some?" She took another slice and attempted to put it in his plate, but he quickly pulled his plate out of her reach. "What? You hate fruits, too?"
He didn't say that. He was just too busy marveling at the petite girl's unexpected appetite. The traces of juice dribbling under her chin didn't help take his eyes off her either.
She took his silence as a 'No' and gladly shoved the fruit in front of his face. "Then go ahead and try some!"
"No." He muttered curtly and decided not to pay attention to the odd girl and leave her to hoard the last remaining watermelon slices into her already overflowing plate.
Before he could go back to choosing which food he wanted to eat, however, she surprised him by trying another tactic. "Open up! Here comes the choo choo train~!"
The glare he directed at her startled her so much that it made her gasp out loud, causing her fork to slip from her fingers and fall onto the floor with a soft ping.
"O-Oh... I guess that plan only works once, huh?" She laughed nervously and drew a few steps back, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "But I could have sworn that these tasted so much better than sprouts…" She murmured, unaware that he could still hear her loud and clear. Grabbing a couple of chopsticks from the table, she turned to him and smiled. "Anyway… see you later, Hazuki-kun!"
Kei watched her walk away, her hands balancing the plate with practiced grace he knew she had picked up after working at ALUCARD for several months. She headed towards a group of people who greeted her with thanks and cheers, and he realized that the food she had gathered wasn't meant for her alone. The faces of her friends were sort of familiar. They were the people whom he'd seen in school a handful of times but never really talked to.
Still, he couldn't help but notice that no matter how much she was enjoying the company of her friends, she seemed to stick out like a sore a thumb at their table. As it was, she looked like she was the only one who wasn't able to snag a partner for the party. The way they gathered together gave the impression that they were involved in some sort of a huge group date. He wasn't the type to notice such things, but judging by their interactions with one another, he could plainly tell who was paired up with who.
The first pair was Suzuka - the name was drilled into his head after being hollered by Mr. Himuro too many times than he could count - and a timid-looking girl with a green hair. He was wolfing down a portion of the plate of food while the girl tried fruitlessly to calm him down and stop him from staining his coat.
The second pair was Morimura - another name he remembered since they sometimes bumped into each other at the forest park - and a spectacled girl who looked too stern and serious for a girl her age. They were busy having a quiet conversation and he guessed that they were discussing academic matters judging by the lack of interest of the others to join them.
The third pair was a guy in a flashy purple suit and the energetic girl called Natsumi. The man was obviously a womanizer and she looked almost ready to call him a pervert if he did more than just ogle at the group of girls chatting at another table. They were bickering like grade-schoolers and he wondered if the man would soon end up with a red hand print on one of his cheeks once the party was over.
The last pair was Mihara and Mizuki, the two popular people in school that even he was inclined to know their names. The usually haughty girl was well-behaved and composed in front of his presence. She wasn't even bothered the slightest bit whenever he amused himself by checking his reflection on his personal hand mirror every so often or making an art out of the food on the plate.
Kei's studious gaze settled back on the girl who was laughing along with her friends and looking like she was having so much fun. He'd never really seen her laugh that much whenever she was around him. It didn't matter that she was the only one without a male companion for Christmas Eve. Just being with her friends was enough.
It was impressive how she was able to attract that many people in just a span of a couple of months. It was hard not to notice since they were attending the same school and the same class. Mostly he would see her hanging out with the girls at school or at the café. He hadn't really seen her with any of the guys yet, but considering how well they were all getting along, she probably had gone out with them maybe once or twice.
Then again, knowing the kind of girl that she was, it would be a lot stranger if she wasn't able to find at least one friend to hang out with. She was a nice girl and her happy-go-lucky attitude made it perfectly natural to trust others easily. In a sense, her insatiable curiosity and grating naiveté could be compared to a little kid who would accept lollipops even from suspicious strangers.
To him, everyone was a complete stranger. Even if he was surrounded by hundreds of people, his brain wouldn't register their faces as if they all looked similar - blank and unrecognizable. He could feel them watching and appraising him from head to toe, but those same stares would always pass right through him as if they weren't actually looking at him at all. He could hear their voices echoing inside his head, but he wouldn't be able to understand their words nor the feelings attached to them.
It was different on her case. She was happy being surrounded with all those people. She considered them as friends even if some of them didn't think the same way. For her, every shared look meant something no matter how insignificant or irrelevant she interpreted them to be. She had the knack of saying whatever came first in her mind and that always led her into trouble in more ways than one, but she always managed to turn the tables so that everything worked out just fine in the end.
The differences in their personalities were so striking that only an extremely idiotic person would fail to notice them. He didn't believe in the crappy saying 'opposites attract' because it just didn't make any sense that two people with clashing traits could ever find a means to make their relationship work. But then again, who was he to talk? He'd never had real friends before, so how could he trust his warped view about friendship and bonds?
And why was he even thinking about such things? Since when did he care about how different she was to him? Was he already considering how their friendship would turn out if he allowed her to get close?
He tightened his grip on his plate, an uncomfortable sensation coiling and uncoiling in his gut. He bit his lip at the highly unpleasant feeling and inwardly wondered why he was having such a violent reaction at the idea of wanting to be her friend. He felt as if his own body was grumbling at him for even thinking about it. In fact, his ears were already being bombarded by warning growls, like if he didn't stop letting his mind wander about, he would be in serious trouble.
He stopped, considering it for a few seconds. He placed his hand against his stomach and felt it rumble gently underneath his palm.
No, that wasn't it. He was just hungry.
Shrugging off all unnecessary thoughts that still lingered in his head, he returned all his attention on his food hunt. He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been stuffing his plate and his mouth with food he had gathered here and there - being picky was out of the question since his stomach had a mind of its own now. By the time he was finished, couples were already gathering at the center of the hall.
It was a signal for the dance to start... and a warning for him to go and find a place where no one could bother him.
He found his desired spot on one of the balconies at the second floor of the mansion. The place provided a spectacular view of the principal's large garden, which was covered with a thick blanket of pure white snow. The edges of the branches hanging from the barren trees sparkled under the glow of the full moon. He placed his arms against the balustrade and watched as his sigh formed a thin fog due to the cold weather.
"Ah, there you are, Hazuki-kun."
The soft clicks of her high-heeled shoes disrupted the quiet atmosphere as she casually approached his side. It hadn't even been ten minutes since he arrived at the place and yet she managed to find him already. And to think that he had actually been very careful in his escape so that she wouldn't be able to track him down. He didn't know if he just stood out so much that sneaking away was practically impossible or if she was actually a stalker in disguise.
He watched as she leaned her back against the balustrade. She was never one to remain silent for so long, so he didn't bother asking why she chose to follow him. He returned his attention to the view of the garden and waited... and waited some more. Almost fifteen minutes had passed and she still hadn't spoken a word.
What was she doing?
He stole a glance at her profile and was surprised to find her eyes closed. He would have thought her to be asleep if it weren't for the lazy smile on her lips and the constant twiddling of her fingers. When she finally opened her eyes moments later, he quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to be caught staring. He expected her to finally speak her mind, but was taken aback when he heard the click of her shoes once again.
She was walking away.
Kei was thoroughly confused and was about to ask what exactly just happened when she greeted him cheerfully with a wave of her hand. "Merry Christmas, Hazuki-kun!"
His brows furrowed together in confusion.
"Uhh..." She continued, her uneasiness showing by how she was avoiding looking at his eyes. "Christmas should be spent with friends, don't you think? I wanted to invite you to eat with us, but I have a feeling that you won't be comfortable with it, so..."
Her further explanations fell on deaf ears as Kei's thoughts made a slow progress on processing her words. The more he tried to understand them, the more confused he got. So she didn't come here to bother him or drag him back to the party? She followed him because she wanted to share a quiet moment? With him?
"...and do you mind if I stay a bit longer? It feels nice here. I'll try my best to be as quiet as possible." Her voice sounded timid, and her uncharacteristic asking for his permission told him that she didn't want to be nuisance. He understood her actions, especially after what had happened at the school rooftop, but what really struck him the most was how she was willing to hold herself back just for his sake.
She still chose to give an unsociable guy like him some of her time and accepted him no matter how different he was compared to her other friends. It didn't even seem to matter to her that they were complete opposites.
That or she was probably just too friendly for her own good. He really couldn't tell anymore since he could barely keep up with her unpredictability. Perhaps he was the only one who kept on over-thinking things? The fact that they were opposites probably never even crossed her mind.
Did it really matter, after all?
His answer was a light shrug of his shoulders and she instantly took her previous position against the balustrade. Much to his amusement, in the end, she couldn't resist keeping her mouth shut and started talking about peculiar things like snowflakes and Christmas presents. It was still strange to hear her talk so casually as if they were the best of friends, but he found himself listening attentively to her words for once.
When somebody arrived to ask them to return to the hall for the exchange of gifts, he finally had an answer to the question that had been plaguing his mind for days.
The answer was simple, really. Because somehow, without him noticing, he secretly wanted to become a friend of hers, too.
A/N: Hooray! Kei finally decides to give our heroine a chance! XD It's time for the smiling face arc! Gosh... To tell you the truth, I have no idea how many chapters this story is going to have. I hope you guys can still bear with me. XD
nattie: Hehehe! You flatter me~! =P Thank you! I've always thought that the bento scene can be interpreted in so many different ways. I had fun writing it. XD
Haya-chan: Thank you for liking the heroine. Based on her responses on certain dates, I honestly believe that she's sharper than she seems to be. I think she's only thick-headed when it comes to love. By the way, I've heard of that Starry Sky series... Is it good? I wanted to try it out myself (because Kei's VA, Midorikawa Hikaru, is there), but I couldn't get the patch to work... =(
Meresta: Shucks! You got me again! I did make Kei a bit paranoid last chapter because his confusion was getting to him. I swear if I were writing in the heroine's POV, she won't appear to be as unpredictable as Kei is making her out to be. Hahaha! XD Oh, and I'm very happy you weren't disappointed!