Three reasons
Summary: Miki didn't let go of my tie at all once we left the club halls – where we received several passing stares – and it was like she was treating me like some sort of dog. "From this day on, we're partners."
Whoo...I wrote this while I was on vacation! Please enjoy!
There are three reasons why...
Why I'm an idiot.
Why she's an idiot.
Why we're both idiots.
I'm not kidding.
Did you hear about the Panda Hero?
Those were the first words she's said to me when we brushed into one another in the Faculty Hall during lunch. Actually, those were the first words she has ever said to me in my life—not the best way to start a conversation, but at least we got acquainted. Her eyes were sort of dull, uninterested, and it was almost as if she was about to fall asleep in the middle of the day. The glasses that covered her eyes had a glare, but it vanished when she lowered her head and made her eyes travel up to look at me. She had her arms, baggy sleeves flooded over them, pulled behind her petite back while being covered from my view. Her hair was as long as ever, a mix of a red and pink sort of color, shining from top to bottom along with stray strands curved up on the top of her skull. Her expression didn't show much of interest either; it was strange, considering that she's the one who started the random conversation while I stood in front of her with everyone passing us by.
She didn't even look sorry or looked like she was going to say it any time soon with that bored expression of hers. Although, it wasn't like I was expecting it with the way I see her enter school all the time, zooming on her out-of-this-world bike and creating a pathway with just the swing of her hips. I guess she gave other people the impression that she owned the school with her no nonsense face and the way she looked at everyone as if waiting for the crowds to split apart. This cocky first year indirectly made everyone give her the red carpet treatment with her decked out bicycle being her limo. Then she cocked an eyebrow up, waiting for me to answer her ridiculous, unenthusiastic question about this person or thing that's called "The Panda Hero". What kind of name was that anyway?
I shook my head. She sighed. I raised a brow when she lowered hers in exasperation, almost as if that was the wrong answer to say. Should this Panda Hero be some sort of legend that everyone should know about, like it was some sort of common knowledge? If so, that's ludicrous.
"Sorry...?" I said with a shrug, confused. Maybe Meiko or Gakupo would know about this Panda Hero; they're usually in the know of what's hip and happening. ...Please don't think less of me when I say that. "Is this 'Panda Hero' someone I'm supposed to know?" I asked with curiosity. Her presence in the beginning of the year thrilled me to know more about her, and since we're two years apart, I'm not really given an option to just go up to her into class and say 'hello'. Also, I was not going to stalk her; that's both desperate and creepy.
She sighed. Her hands went shuffling into the pocket of her oversized blazer, which looked like a clutter of cloth as she dug through it. I wonder what she was going to do; my best guess was that she was going to pull a rabbit out of there since it looked like it could fit. That was an attempt at a humorous thought, though what she really took out surprised me even more...that is until she spoke. What she tugged out of the deep depths of her blazer's pocket was two tickets to the baseball game the school was holding tomorrow. ...Was she asking me out? Should I say that I'm elated to know that she wants to spend time with me, or annoyed that a first year was taking the initiative in asking out a third year who clearly has his own fan base following him around every corner?
She adjusted her glasses, giving me a slightly livelier look, but it still lacked the shyness of a high school girl when she's asking someone out. With the way she was looking up at me with expectation, it was like she was a business woman trying to strike a deal with her client about some sort of promotional move. After moments of silence, she waved the pair of tickets in front of my face and I jolted up a bit, forgetting that she was waiting for an answer. However, I didn't really think she wanted me to answer when she didn't bother stating the question. What was I supposed to do—read her mind and hope that I get it right?
"Uh...sure I'll go to the baseball game with you?" The words wavered too much for my liking and then I saw something sparkle in her eyes and then the bells rang once again in my head. For some reason, she looked prettier standing there with her shoulder slouched and her giant uniform eating away at her tiny being. Her eyes radiated with life and it felt like a smile was tugging itself on her usually iron-lined lips. If she did smile, I wonder how I was going to take it.
"I'll be waiting by the photography club room. Come by ten minutes after school is over," she informed dutifully and shoved one of the tickets in my hand. She turned around wordlessly and departed, causing another crowd of people with stacks of paper in their hands to rip apart and create an entryway for her to pass on through without trouble. Before I knew it, a grin was on my face. I shoved the ticket delicately in my breast pocket and returned to class happily before the lesson started. As if it wasn't obvious enough, Gakupo got sick of my happy-go-lucky mood and smacked me behind the head before our teacher entered the room with a less-than-pleased look on her face. Our guess was that she didn't enjoy her lunch. I didn't really care about what happened to her earlier because Gakupo put more power into that hand whip than usual.
Do you know about the Panda Hero?
Those words sent a strike of confusion upon Meiko's face when she tilted her head and rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand. Her other hand was holding her school bag and the red ribbon around her collar was untied. I grumbled miserably at her untidiness, but decided to refrain from my usual OCD ranting until she answered my question verbally. She shook her head, making me sigh in disappointment. I checked the clock while everyone was packing up, then I checked the board and found that it was this Luka Megurine and Tonio's—this foreign transfer student—turn on cleaning duty so we had to clear out of the room soon. The minute hand of the clock didn't strike three-ten so I was still in the safe zone before meeting up with the first year by the photography club.
"Why do you want to know about this thing called the Panda Hero? Is it some sort of Panda mascot that wears spandex and has a cape?" she questioned as a joke as we walked out of the class. Gakupo said he had to grab something from a different classroom before the lesson ended and zoomed straight out after the teacher left. It was a sight to see a blur of purple dash out of the room with his hair following behind him. We laughed at what she said, recognizing its bizarre description of what her guess of the Panda Hero was.
I shrugged and told her about what happened during the lunch break when I went to the Faculty Hall to get some paperwork from the teacher's work room. She listened intently as we walked slowly through the halls that were strictly for the third year students. Other students passed us by like Miriam and Leon, people we've known since grade school, and others like Sonika and Al, people we'd just met last year. As I finished, the familiar blur of purple flew by us and the two of us stopped in our tracks, to see the samurai-obsessed third year panting heavily in front of us a few feet away. We both gave our versions of what a questioning face would look like and slowly he regained his breath and excitement spread across it.
I gave Meiko a look and she returned it with another; both of us silently communicating on whether or not to pursue in the adventure of asking him what happened. On one hand, he wouldn't explode on us later for not asking him the instant he made that look, but on the other, we would be bombarded on whatever tomfoolery he had in store for us next. Meiko held up a fist, I sighed and held my own. We nodded to one another in serious silence and took in a calming breath.
"Rock-"
"-Paper-"
"-Scissors-"
"-Shoot!" we both yelled, and in victory, I grinned, holding up a fist while Meiko glared at her hand formed into scissors. Sorry Meiko, but that's how life and the game works! You see, throughout the years we've all known each other, Gakupo has been conjuring up some pretty crazy ideas. During those times, he's always wanted us to ask what it was first to build up some dramatic tension – he's kind of a theater freak – in a vain attempt to get us worked up to go along with his wacky projects. It's usually forced though. In order to make it fair – I guess? – Meiko thought up that we should play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" and whoever loses has to ask Gakupo what's going on in his head.
"Go on now," I told her jubilantly. She groaned, face-palming and sliding her hand down her face. She finished the mourning of restraining herself in order to ask our friend in the nicest tone possible; this was Meiko's personification of the saying "the calm before the storm". I watched in anticipation of how she was going to ask and what kind of answer Gakupo was going to give.
"What is it now, Gakupo?" she demanded in a somewhat questioning tone with her hands on her hips and she leaned into the right. Her choppy, brunette hair swayed a bit and she pushed her red-painted lips together in a poorly done scowl. Her dark brown-red eyes locked onto Gakupo's violet ones as if vainly trying to search through his thoughts, vying to get a decently normal answer. If you didn't know Meiko, you'd think she was angry, but in reality, she was secretly wishing that he would spit out something that wouldn't give both of us a headache.
As for me, I stopped hoping for that and embraced the idealistic nature that Gakupo has developed throughout the years with open arms. If he wasn't like this, we would've had a boring childhood and an even more boring high school life. In my opinion, it's good to do some foolish things before living life as an adult because it'll give you some good experiences…as well as stories to tell to your kids. I just want to be a cool parent, okay?
"Well?" Meiko and I chorused in unison, waiting for him to finally answer. He cleared his throat and out from his sleeve appeared the school newspaper. How he did that…I would never know, but nonetheless, I was impressed with how he somehow rolled the thing up and it still came out perfect. I'll be sure to ask him later if I ever remember it after his answer. Meiko decided to read what the front page side, looking at the picture closely and muttering under her breath of what was written in the article. I pursued asking Gakupo why he was excited about the newspaper; he never thought twice about reading it before unless it had something to do with the theater club productions.
"What's so exciting about the newspaper?" I questioned and he shoved the paper at my chest, silently ordering me to read it. With a sigh, I heeded to his command and finally took a closer look with the two reading over my shoulder. I guess Meiko wasn't done yet. I mouthed the words under my breath, skimming through it, and my eyes widened.
Do you know who the Panda Hero is?
By: SF-A2
If not, then ask around! The Panda Hero has been reported by several students around the school. Apparently, she only appears around the time our school's baseball team is losing and somehow she turns the game around with an abrupt homerun. Whenever she's at the bat, her fingers passionately tighten the handle and her elbows are locked with precision—the crowd and players fall into a hushed silence. Then when she unleashes a divine-looking swing, the collision of the bat and ball thunders an unbreakable echo and the baseball flies across the field and over the fence. When she runs, it's like everyone's a statue, not one able to catch her, and she finishes up the game, overpowering the other team. The amazing thing is that no one really knows who the Panda Hero is and how she received that name. Not even one photo has been taken of her due to her requests. So the big question is: Do you know who the Panda Hero is?
Beside this article was a blurred picture of a girl wearing the team's uniform running to home base. I raised a brow, wondering why there was a picture of her since it was clearly stated that the Panda Hero girl said she didn't want photos taken of her. Whoever wrote this article and got the picture wasn't interested in respecting another person's request. Though, this Panda Hero sounded interesting, especially with how the writer of this article described how she played.
I lowered the newspaper, seeing that we were all done reading it; we all had the same reading speed. After doing that, I craned my head to look at my male friend, discovering that mischievous look in his eyes. Meiko pursued what both of us were thinking while grabbing the newspaper out of my hands and had a sore expression on her face. "Are you telling us that you want all of us to find out who the Panda Hero is?" she questioned with slight interest and frustration. "If you are, then do you have any leads?" Since she asked two questions consecutively with a spark of interest igniting in those brown-red eyes, my guess was that we were going to play detective and find out who this girl was.
The so-called Panda Hero…which reminded me that I had to go meet that cocky first year! I can't believe I forgot!
"Sorry guys, I got to meet up with someone," I informed hastily and saw them give me a blank look. It was almost as if they didn't believe me in the slightest and that it was an excuse to get out of playing Sherlock Holmes. Now that I think about it, I could use meeting up with that first year as a way of getting out of yet another of Gakupo's plots and Meiko's impulsive nature, but this was mainly to get to know the first year that triggered my interest. However, if I say that they'll follow me and investigate who the first year is, going as far as following her and asking people about her. They were like parents, very annoying parents.
"Who?" the Sherlock Holmes impersonator questioned, curling up the newspaper he swiped away from Meiko, whom I will dub as Watson for now. "Someone we know? C'mon, buddy, don't hold out on us!" he insisted, wagging the rolled up newspaper in his hand with a more-than-determined expression slapped across his face. I started getting nervous. How was I going to escape this?
"Uh…just this first year," I informed honestly. I couldn't lie to my best friends, people who've stuck with me for the last…ten years! That would just be a backstabbing kind of thing to do to the people who have trusted you and stayed by your side for so long. Also, they'd follow me anyway even if I lied to them and then punish me by lecturing me or smacking me behind the head for falsifying my whereabouts. It was a lose/lose situation either way to sum it all up in a few words. "And I'm late to meet up with them." I inched back, having to go to the club hallway in order to meet up with her and hopefully explain to her why I messed up.
"Yeah okay," Meiko said with a shrug, trying to pass off a poorly sculpted passive expression. I scowled, knowing full well that the two of them were going to stalk me to find out who I was meeting up with. With a sigh, I decided that it couldn't hurt to bring them with me since they didn't do anything else after school other than crash at my house and raid my fridge. I put my hands up in defeat and the two grinned in victory, high-fiving each other the minute I turned my back on them.
We proceeded walking, having some small talk about what went on during class while making a turn to the left and down about three steps. Students breezed past us, enjoying the quiet time they got after school to take pleasure from the clubs they joined. I looked around and made a turn while my friends greeted several people they knew. During that turn, I caught that unmistakable red and pink hair leaning by the doorway of the photography club. A smile landed on my lips when I saw her staring around the hall, probably searching for me with her usually stoic expression.
I glanced behind me and saw the others pulled into a conversation with Lily, this girl gang member who's in our class, about something. She looked like a delinquent and acted like one during class, but outside of school when she's not with her gang, she's actually really nice. I mean, if she can tolerate Gakupo's relentless goofing around then she's good in our book. Also, she and Meiko were on pretty good terms too—someone able to have a bigger temper than our childhood friend was a rare gem to find. So, while they were lost in their chitchat, I approached the first year cautiously.
An apologetic smile placed on my lips and my hand rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. She found me walking towards her and pushed herself off the wall with her hands on her hips. The uniform sagged with her movements and I couldn't help but find it adorable. Her glasses fell a bit, getting rid of the glare of light and revealing a pair of scolding eyes that somehow sent a shiver down my spine. This girl really knew how to lighten the mood with that expression of hers.
"You're five minutes late," she informed robotically and I chuckled sheepishly. She removed her glasses, closing her eyes and sighed. Then she reopened them and my heart skipped a beat, the bells ringing in my ears once more as she locked her sight with mine. My mouth slightly opened and my hand hovered away from the back of my neck. She was prettier than I had originally thought when she removed those big glasses from her eyes. Those looked like they outweighed and overpowered her face, distorting her tough-guy, no nonsense kind of image.
I breathed, remembering that I was going to explain to her why I ran late on meeting up with her. Instead of waiting to receive my reply, she shook her head and placed her glasses over her eyes once again. It was disappointing somehow, but the bulking pair of spectacles somehow had its own appeal while sitting cozily in front of her big, pink and red eyes. Her eyes were actually a pretty interesting color; it was kind of like Meiko's, but brighter, and – in a sense – younger, like she had some sort of childish innocence that Meiko didn't have. I don't think that makes sense, but that was the kind of vibe I got from her at the moment while staring straight at her.
"Never mind." I shook out of my trance and nodded slowly, pretending to understand her gesture. She stepped to the door and opened it. I peered over her head and found that it was completely deserted; I looked down at her as she smoothly entered the room without any consent. Hesitantly, I followed and slid the door closed after I fully entered the room.
When I turned back around, I saw her unclip a photo from a string of them and observed her subtly investigate it. Another second ticked by and she finally averted her attention from the photo to me, turning her head and weighing her gaze on mine. She slowly returned in front of me, a foot away in distance, and held the photo close enough for me to see. The picture looked well-taken; the lighting was good, but the angling was pretty bad. A girl wearing a baseball helmet with her hair mashed underneath was holding a bat, resting it on her shoulders and pointing at something that stood in the midst of a crowd. Her face was shadowed by her hair and the way her body was positioned didn't give away her front appearance.
All you could go by was that this girl had green hair, though, that alone would be able to narrow down the search of whoever this girl was. Not that I should say anything since I had blue hair and I knew people who had some pretty unique hair colors and styles—Gakupo is a perfect example of that. My guess was that she was the Panda Hero that this girl and the newspaper were talking about earlier. She looked pretty plain though; I was expecting some sort of distinctive character trait or at least something that would explain why she has the title 'Panda Hero' branded on her. It's not really something you pick out of thin air in order to name a mysterious baseball saver.
"Any girl come to mind when you see this picture?" she asked and I shook my head. She groaned in annoyance and returned the photo back to its original position on the line of them. Again, the second ticked by and she ventured back to her original spot in front of me with her hand underneath her chin and the other arm holding her elbow. She looked like she was deep in thought and I zipped my lips shut, allowing her to process whatever she was processing in peace.
I waited several moments before the door slid open and there spilled a few other people I didn't wish were here. Others, I didn't even think would be here. Meiko and Gakupo were amongst them, by the way, and they looked irritated with me. The first year turned her attention to the door, dismissing her thinking pose and walked towards the group of newcomers. Her hands were swinging strictly at her sides and she stopped in front of Lily, whom I was surprised was here. I knew how much of a cocky first year this girl was, but I didn't think she was cocky enough to go up against a gang member.
"Any news about the Panda Hero?"
Lily shook her head with a sympathetic look that sent a look of disappointment on the other girl's face. She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips and looked at my other friends who were giving me a heated gaze. She marched towards them and shuffled in her pocket. My stomach tightened in anticipation, fearing the worst. When it came true, it stopped tightening and dropped in deathly discouragement as she pulled out two baseball tickets from her blazer pocket.
"Come to the baseball game; they charge tickets now ever since the Panda Hero has been making her appearances." Meiko looked confused at her offer, but Gakupo excitedly plucked a ticket from her hand. He was grinning ear to ear, probably contemplating on how to use a free ticket to his advantage in finding out who the Panda Hero is. I was devastated at the realization that she was offering tickets to almost everyone she saw when she handed them to two other students that entered the photography clubroom. With a scowl, I crossed my arms, feeling the ticket in my breast pocket burn to nothing, my annoyance fueling the flame.
Meiko cleared her throat, gaining the first year's attention. "Thanks for the offer and all, but why?" she questioned, waving her ticket in between her index finger and thumb. Lily glanced between the two girls and watched silently, never breaking the quietness of the room.
"It's because I want to catch the Panda Hero." It was blunt and straight to the point. It sounded like a recorded message, almost as if she was used to people asking her such a thing. Her face was as still as ever, not showing one bit of excitement or hesitance; it was sculpted tightly and perfectly into the epitome of a poker face. She was either containing herself, or she was just so bored of such common questions that there was no point in using energy to change expressions.
Gakupo jumped towards her in delight, exhilaration flashing in his violet eyes as he waved his ticket around gleefully. He must've been glad to find out that someone else was fascinated by the article and school legend of the Panda Hero. He began blabbing about why he wanted to find her as well, inputting the amazingly written article that we had minutes prior to the little gathering within the photography clubroom. The girl nodded and nonchalantly added in what she wanted to say in the conversation. I watched this exchange of words with a sparking jealousy and abrupt recognition of what just happened.
Why am I such an idiot?
I should've realized that her ploy was to gather up people to help her catch the Panda Hero, and with enough people, she would be able to do whatever she wanted with the green-haired girl. I don't know what, but I wasn't really thrilled enough at the moment to care. Meiko must've sensed this happening because she patted me on the shoulder and gave me an encouraging grin on her red lips. I grumbled underneath my breath, not letting her hear the incoherent string of words and she merely weighed down the patting until I almost fell over.
"Y'know, it's pretty smart gathering people in order to catch the Panda Hero easily," Gakupo inquired with a knowing nod as he gazed at the ticket in his hand. Lily migrated beside Meiko and the two started talking about the baseball game. They weren't as excited about it as the other two, but they did seem interested in it, unlike me; I could care less about our baseball team. The only reason I looked forward to it was because she asked me to go with her, even if it wasn't verbally said and declared. I grumbled once more, wishing that I rejected the offer.
"My name's Miki Furukawa," the first year announced, appearing in front of me. I jumped a bit; surprised that she suddenly stepped away from her engaging conversation with the wannabe Sherlock Holmes. She fixed her glasses with a slight push and looked up at me, leaning forward with her hands placed tightly behind her back. Then she bowed pretty low and I stared down at her, not realizing that the room was drawn together in silence; all eyes were watching us. "Please take care of me, upperclassman."
My hand somehow traveled behind my neck and started the nervous habit of rubbing it sheepishly. My eyes averted themselves from her and I held my head upwards to the ceiling, finding it more interesting than the girl bowing in front of me. I could feel a slight blush on my face, embarrassed by her sudden show of respect and graceful introduction. She owned this introduction for sure and I couldn't help but feel some unintentional intimidation by how she subtly showered a rain of respect before me.
"M-My name's Kaito Shion," I started nervously, slowly returning the bow as I watched her reclaim standing up straight with her hands folded together in front of her legs. The sleeves were vainly bunched up, but were gradually sliding down her thin arms and soon ate up the appearance of her hands. When I finished my bow, a strange phenomenon appeared before all of us.
"Now that we're both acquainted, upperclassman Shion, we're going to catch the Panda Hero," Miki informed with a slight tone of determination and a nod. Gakupo gasped dramatically, stunned by the shocking revelation. He crept towards Miki and gave a scolding glare at her, which she returned back with a dull one. They held it until my friend couldn't take her stolid nature anymore and stomped his foot in aggravation; he didn't like the idea of hitting someone younger than him out of petty anger.
"Hey, wait a minute! I thought we were all working together?" he interrogated and she shook her head.
"I never said that," Miki corrected and I cocked my head to the side.
"Then…what's with you giving away tickets?" I inquired slowly, trying to understand the sudden turn of events. To me, it felt like everyone else was trying to follow her train of thought, all wondering where the tracks were leading.
"Competition." She stopped, and the room was lost in confusion. She removed her glasses and wiped them with the hem of her blazer. During that time, I exchanged glances with Gakupo and Meiko, seeing the two shrug in response. They didn't get what was going on either and in a last ditch effort in getting outside help, I waved my blue-eyed gaze to the gang member. She shook her head, and mouthed that she didn't know either. Miki finally put on her glasses and breathed in exasperation. "I thought this would be more interesting if there were more people coming to the game in order to catch the Panda Hero's identity. It's like a competition, and competitions give me an edge."
Then she turned to me and I jerked a bit. Her explanation was strange, but sort of thrilling. Gakupo looked interested enough and Meiko decided to give it a go. As for me, I guess I was gradually getting into it too and nodded my head. She returned it with a stern nod as well and placed her hands on her hips.
"Pick a partner and whoever can get the name of the Panda Hero wins a prize," she announced strongly. It sent a spark of happiness in my body to know that she chose me as her partner without any hesitance. Gakupo and Meiko immediately jumped together, nodding to one another with looks of exhilaration washing over their faces. I guess they were ready to get their Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson gig on, with a prize at the finish line to one of Gakupo's newest tomfooleries. "The deadline is after the baseball game. The winning team gets to choose their prize."
We all nodded, somehow coming under her command.
"Good, now c'mon, upperclassman Shion—it's time to do some investigating." She grabbed hold of my tie and dragged me out of the room, surprising everyone. My friends started complaining about the head start we abruptly grabbed and flew out of the room to do their own investigation. Miki didn't let go of my tie at all once we left the club halls – where we received several passing stares – and it was like she was treating me like some sort of dog. "From this day on, we're partners."
"Right." I liked the sound of that and also the fact that I finally knew the name of the first year that mystified me at the beginning of the year. "Partners," I chuckled as we walked.
The reason why I'm an idiot is because I fell for such a strange girl.
Sheesh, for some reason I made Miki all...business-like. Kaito is like a love sick dog, but hopefully that didn't turn anyone off because that wasn't what I was going for. Also, what do you think about the Gakupo x Meiko? I was never really interested in them as a pairing (I steered clear of pairing Kaito and Meiko with anyone but each other.) but now, I dunno.
Third chapter is gonna be typed, two more chapters and then it's back to my other fics that need attention!
~Ventus