SketchPad: Intro time!
Fox:…..okay...uh…due to my idiot partner here, this chapter is rather late…
SketchPad: It's not my fault! I was busy!
Fox: ….Sure you were…
SketchPad: ANYWAYS, we hope you enjoy this chapter. We work oh-so-hard just for you~
Fox: Yup. So, please strap on your seatbelts and my lovely friend here will be there to attend to ALL your needs~
SketchPad: …. and just so you know Fox here is not talking to her imaginary friend. I do too exist outside of this story: sketchpad0225 that's me come and find me~~3
Arthur Kirkland
Arthur froze momentarily as the snarling rasp reached his ears, hand still resting on Kiku's back. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "Can't have a moment's fun without him interrupting." Straightening, he turned and smiled at Vash courteously. After all, it wouldn't do it the vice-president and president of the student council got into a fistfight in front of the entire student body. "Hey Zwingli. Just showing the new boy how things are done around here."
Vash' s glare could have peeled paint, his icy green eyes boring into Arthur's own. "That's wonderful, Kirkland. Simply marvelous. Has it ever occurred to you that we are not trying to turn the other students into delinquents?" The British boy sighed, running his free hand through his hair, meeting his adversary's gaze squarely. After what seemed like an eternity, Vash's gaze lowered, switching abruptly to Arthur's silent companion. His lips pulled into a scowl as the glare was turned down to merely an annoyed gaze.
"Kiku Honda. You seem to have a knack for attracting trouble. I would have thought that your meeting with Jones might have taught you to steer away from his family." Arthur frowned and stepped forward to confront Vash, ignoring Kiku's protests. Hands in pockets, he faced the vice-president, forcing Vash to take a step back. "What do you have against my family, Zwingli?"
"Your family is responsible for well over half of the school's fighting problems, and you know it Kirkland."
"Hey, leave Mattie out of this! He hasn't done anything. Except for bringing a live polar bear to school but that isn't against the rules!"
"That may be the case, but you and Jones are notorious for getting into fights!"
"That bloody albino keeps annoying him! And I can't just leave him!"
"Jones is a bad influence on the rest of the students! He was warned to keep his idiotic ideas and comments under control! What kind of example would it set for the rest of the students if the president was found fighting all the time?
"The students already know that I fight all the time, idiot! And who in their right mind would actually listen to Alfred's ideas?"
"The new students might be influenced by them! Just like they might be influenced by the knowledge that their student council president is a former delinquent!"
"You used to carry guns! How is that better than me, huh?"
"I no longer carry guns, Kirkland. As for you, have you stopped fighting yet?"
"You want me to just let those three idiots run about wild? They're a worse influence than Alfred!"
"Speaking of those them, tell your pervert of a father to stay off school grounds! The next time he harasses the students, I swear I'm going to shoot him! And if your brother starts harassing people with his weird ideas of how he's the hero and his non-existent alien friends, I'm going to shoot him as well!"
"First of all, thank you for offering to shoot my dad! Secondly, what the bloody hell is your problem?"
"You're my problem, Kirkland! You and that family of yours!"
"You looking for a fight, Zwingli?"
The two teens stood facing one another, icy-cold rage seeming to roll off their skin, their stances tense with rage. The gym was silent. The fight had escalated into shouting, causing it to be heard by all the occupants of the room.
"Um…" The timid voice dragged the two combatants back to the present, causing them to look around.
Arthur lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise. A slim female form stood framed against the dark red of the backstage curtains, timid eyes peeking out from beneath her bangs. Walking forward, he extended a friendly hand to her, slightly worried that he might have scared her. "Hey, you okay? Sorry 'bout the yelling. Me and vice-prez over there had a slight disagreement."
Vash Zwingli
Frowning, Vash watched the soft exchange of words between the delinquent president and the new girl. He wasn't sure he liked the way the girl's face lit up when she talked to Arthur. That cocky idiot was trouble and he was determined to steer Lili as away from it as possible.
Watching Arthur place an arm about Lili's shoulders and steer her about to face him, Vash's eyebrows snapped together with an almost audible click. "You, Kiku, go dismiss the students. Tell them to go back to their classes. Anyone who doesn't do so will be given detention. Go. Now."
After a moment's hesitation, Vash felt Kiku leave his side and heard the feedback of a microphone a moment later. Focusing his attention upon Arthur and the girl at his side, Vash scowled, resisting the urge to slam Arthur against the wall again like he'd done that morning. He didn't want to scare Lili. It was her first day at Axis Academy after all. It would not do for her to be subjected to such shows of violence.
Taking a deep breath, Vash pushed away his anger and folded his arms across his chest. "Well," he said his voice tight with restrained anger. "It seems that we will most likely be in front of the teachers soon because of this little chat."
The delinquent president shot him a smirk and Vash tightened the muscles of his arm. "Don't worry 'bout it. I can handle it." The cocky twist of Arthur's lips was becoming more than Vash could bear and he began desperately wishing he had his guns, his fingers itching to pull a trigger.
As if sensing his mood, Arthur held up his hands in an 'I surrender' way, the cocky grin never once leaving his lips. "Calm down, Zwingli. You're starting to look trigger-happy again. Try not to scare this one. I've become quite fond of her." Vash cast a glance at the smaller, female, look-alike of him hiding behind Arthur. She did look rather terrified, but Vash contributed that to the fact that she was around Arthur. Loosening his clenched fists, Vash grimaced, forcing down his rage.
He knew it would be useless to yell at the former-delinquent. Without his guns, Vash knew he was no match for Arthur. The teachers favoured him, oftentimes turning a blind eye to his faults, and the student body saw him as an idol which resulted in him being elected year after year. His popularity seemed to be his only redeeming feature. Although Vash had entered the student council with the idea of improving its efficiency and image, he had immediately encountered its one and only barrier. Arthur Kirkland. He had immediately been at loggerheads with the British boy, their ideas and attitudes clashing horribly.
Arthur's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Well, I'll be seeing you then. Gotta escort the lady to her class. I am a gentleman after all." Vash started to protest, then felt a hand tug at his sleeve. Turning a glare on Arthur, he looked around and down into the a pair of chocolate-brown eyes. Kiku bowed respectfully. "I have already dismissed the students, Zwingli-san. Is there anything else I ought to do?"
Vash nodded tersely. "Well done. Could you wait for a second please?" Turning back, he looked to the spot where Arthur Kirkland had formerly stood, with every intention of demanding that Arthur allow someone more capable and wasn't a delinquent escort Lili to class. Kiku would be a good choice, even if he needed to speak up a bit more. However, the former-delinquent had already left, the backdoor to the stage swinging shut behind him.
Cursing under his breath, Vash made a mental note to keep Arthur away from Lili. An impressionable young student like her could very well be corrupted by his presence. Turning back to face Kiku, he studied the younger boy thoughtfully for several seconds.
"How would you like to be Student Council Secretary?"
Kiku Honda
Kiku could not believe his ears. Brown eyes widened in surprise, he stammered: "Um, ex-ex-excuse me?" He mentally slapped himself from looking so pathetic in front of Vash, but it already took all of his strength to speak up in front of the freshmen, not to mention dismissing them. He could literally feel his hand shaking when his hands were on the microphone, especially when the students were beginning to chatter amongst themselves about what they thought was going on backstage. After all, the day had been chaotic so far.
He could see Vash wince slightly at his hesitation and knew that the other boy did not like it. Kiku waited for another rant about how he should speak up. However all that came was a sigh and words that were spoken from pure exhaustion. "I'm only saying it once again: How would you like to be Student Council Secretary?" Kiku lifted his eyes to catch Vash brushing the hair to his ears in an irritated manner. At first he guessed that it was because of the delinquent student body president, but later thought differently: this time there was something different in Vash's eyes, something much more complicated. Was it because of what Arthur said about the girl? Kiku thought.
"Honda. I'm asking you a question. Answer and stop zoning out." Harsh words shot at him like daggers and woke him from his thoughts. "Um…Uh… I'm sorry! About the Secretary of the Student Council…I think this is all very sudden…"
Vash lifted his eyebrows. "I just want a simple answer. It doesn't matter if it's sudden. The point is: Do you want to be one, or not?"
Kiku blinked. "O-Of course I do, Zwingli-san. But-"
"Then no buts." The blond young man interrupted him once again and walked out of the backstage curtain, into the now empty multi-purpose room. "The president and the vice presidents are annually elected, but anything below it's up to us to choose." A finger was then pointed straight at Kiku on the nose. "You would make a decent secretary for the school. It's better than Kirkland choosing some other troublesome students into the Student Council. I don't need more heartburn." Vash almost spat out Arthur's name when he said it. "And you are quite disciplined and Kirkland seems to be okay with you, maybe you might rub on his good side-if it actually exists." He cursed under his breath: "Hitting on junior female students….has that barbarian no moral?"
Kiku had a mixed feeling rise in his chest the moment when he caught the final part which he was not supposed to hear. He had never felt this way before, this feeling of something pressing hard against his chest. He shook his head in order to erase the feelings. He succeeded since the feeling was not strong yet. "Um. Zwingli-san, thank you….I think?"
Vash broke out into an amused scoff at Kiku's confusion. His expression suddenly became so much softer than before. Kiku was relieved to see him smile like that. Like Arthur said, if he was not so tense, he would appear a lot less scary to the rest of the people. "So, it's decided then?"
Kiku gave him back a smile as well: "Yes, thank you."
At least he finally got some form of order in this new school. This very, very, VERY strange school.
Lili Stein
Lili could not help but look back once in a while when Arthur "escorted" her out of the backstage and into the hallway. She was somewhat afraid to see Vash that mad towards Arthur, especially when Arthur so kindly helped her to find the way to the freshman orientation.
The hand on her shoulder suddenly let go of her. Lili, by reflex, automatically turned to the thick-browed delinquent. "What, still caring about that annoying Mr. Perfect?" Noticing irritation in the tone of Arthur's voice, Lili automatically jumped. "No, I mean…yes…? He just seemed very…..tense." She explained anxiously without knowing why. Her face flushed bright pink and she began stuttering like an idiot. She berated herself angrily in her mind at acting so scared.
Arthur, on the contrary, seemed to be amused by her reaction. He laughed casually and patted on Lili's head. "He's been like that ever since he met me. It's old news now. Get used to it."
"But…he was very nice to me." Lili retorted with hesitation. "But somehow he does not seem to like you."
"Eh well." Arthur shrugged. "He never really had a good impression of me. Maybe just because I'm just too awesome for him." He winked playfully at the blond girl. She blushed timidly, not knowing where to look. It was all so new to her, this school, this environment, this…..student body president, this nice and caring student body president whom turned out to be this flamboyant school delinquent. That speech he did was certainly unlike all the other speeches she heard, it blew her mind.
"But…um…that speech was very enthusiastic. I guess he just did not see how much you love this school."
Lili noticed one of Arthur's eyebrows jump as he turned around to regard her with appraising eyes. The emotion within his green eyes was more curious than amazed. Her body stiffened by his stare and her fingers twitched uncomfortably. She felt her heart racing and blood flushing to her head. This was the first time she felt so lightheaded.
The moment seemed to last forever as Arthur finally spoke: "Quite perceptive, aren't you?" He said, slightly impressed. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm quite fond of this school, not that many people have noticed." He scratched his head, almost as if he was shy about this topic. "Why else would I actually agree to do this? Other than to piss off the always second vice-prez?"
Lili joined him as he quietly chuckled. They were now standing in front of Lili's classroom. A big metal banner hovered above them, decorated only with two numbers: 1-2. Some students noticed the tall blonde man beside her and began chattering like canaries, most of which were females. Arthur did not seem to mind at all. He must have had a lot of people talking about him, thought Lili.
"Now off you go, here's your class." The delinquent president gave her a mild nudge on the back. "I've got some duty of my own to go to." He winked mischievously and her face was quickly red again. He gave her a different feeling from what she felt with Vash. She was not sure what it was.
Before Lili could even say thank you to Arthur, he already disappeared from her sight, leaving her and her noisy classroom behind. Unable to help but feel slightly disappointed, Lili stepped into the classroom, only to find a weak male voice intruding her ear. "Uh….you are…."
She lifted her eyes to catch the two confused eyes that belonged to Kiku Honda.
Fox: And here is the end. So sad too bad.
SketchPad: We hope that you've enjoyed it! See you all next time!
Fox: Yeah, thanks for reading, you are an awesome audience and LEAVE REVIEWS! Cookies to anyone that guesses who the idiot albino is!