FrostyAsian: Thanks :)
ShadowApparation: Yeah, nobody really seems to like the boys, I'm pretty sure it won't be any different with this next fic, only obviously it's a different situation entirely. I don't really expect any boy put into SP to be well liked, lol. Oh, ick, I forgot about her :/ Oh well, I'll think of something for our favoritest Etoile :P My roomates both gave me colds, my sister gave me one, and now I have this mystery cold :/
Yorusoiluverz: Yeah, especially when you have to walk a mile to classes every day, lol. Thanks :3
Obsidian and Cobalt: It really is, specially when you still have to walk around in the bipolar Colorado weather all the time, lol. Yep, that's Shion for you :P
XxBloodwolfxX: Thanks :3 YayaXTsubomi rules! I haven't written for them in a while, but what the hell, right?
xMaskedDestroyerx: Yeah, Shion's personality frustrates me to no end at times, because I have this problem with wanting everything to move FAST, to jump right into things, but for Shion that's just OOC, it bugs the crap out of me :/
going-rogue2374: Thanks :3 Well, it's been done a lot, I'm just sticking with popular opinion (and my own) lol. Their personalities just FIT.
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Ever had that feeling where you just go numb? Things don't hurt as much as they should, either because you saw it coming or you didn't, but then when it's all over, all that's left is this weird, surreal feeling, like you can't believe it actually happened…
Anyway, my heart to all my reviewers, you guys keep me posting, so thanks a million, and thank you for your concern as well!
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Strawberry Boys?
Two
xXLiStLesSXx
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Shion sat ramrod-straight in her chair at the head of the dining hall, her hands clutched into small fists on her lap. The tension sizzling just below the blonde's skin was almost physical, and if she had been a little less focused on being a good hostess to their new 'guests', she would have noticed a certain president sending her concerned looks every few minutes.
As usual, Chikaru was seated in between Shion and Miyuki, functioning as the ever-present buffer outside of council meetings. Her gaze kept darting between the cool, unreadable Miyuki and the fiery, transparent Shion, wondering who she needed to keep an eye on more. Shion was clearly seconds away from bursting with tension, but Miyuki was as opaque as ever- she could be perfectly calm, but for all that Chikaru knew, she could be seconds from a complete meltdown. From what she knew of Miyuki, the girl had led a completely sheltered life since her schooling began.
Shaking her head, Chikaru finally decided that Miyuki was more likely to be able to keep her cool in this situation, regardless, and focused her attention on Shion.
"Shi-chan," she murmured, sliding a cautious hand over the Spican's and squeezing, blinking, shocked at just how tense Shion was. "What's on your mind?" she asked, tilting her head and rubbing her thumb along the back of the blonde's hand.
Shion let out a long sigh through her nose, reveling in the contact before she remembered herself and jerked her hand away, trying desperately to ignore the look of hurt written across Chikaru's painfully expressive face. "Nothing of your concern, Minamoto-san," she stated stiffly, shifting in her seat so that she was leaning slightly away from Chikaru and her tempting scent.
A noise came from the doorway, and violet eyes narrowed, laser-focusing on the opened door at the entrance to the hall.
PGBR
Yaya was the picture of disregard, slumped down in her chair, scowling in a way that would give the Head Sister a stroke. Beside her, Tsubomi was sitting up straight in her seat as a large group of boys, preceded by a squat man with a bald head and a magnificent mustache walked through the doorway. The small girl was practically falling out of her seat in eagerness. Yaya glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes and huffed loudly, purposefully, but was ignored by the pinkette, who was watching the boys with rapt attention.
"You'd think she'd never seen a boy before," the brunette mumbled to Hikari, who was leaning against a painfully apathetic Amane, looking content as ever. The blonde shot her a sympathetic look. "Oi, pinky, what happened to your 'boyfriend'?" she asked, grabbing Tsubomi by her waist and yanking her back into a normal sitting position so that Yaya's lips were only centimeters from the pinkette's ear.
"What boy-" Tsubomi began before she caught herself, "I mean, what do you mean, Yaya-senpai?" she asked, annoyed.
"You act like you've never seen a boy before," Yaya repeated. "I don't know if I believe you about that whole boyfriend thing."
Tsubomi glared at her, flushing darkly. "Well, that's not my problem, now, is it, Yaya-baka?" she asked defensively, oblivious to the reason for Yaya's sulking, and turned back to the front of the room, where the Head Sister was welcoming the new boys, along with the three presidents. Hikari bit her lip, feeling sorry for her normally playful, outgoing best friend as the brunette visibly deflated, despite having been so snarky only a moment before. Yaya never could hold onto a façade for long at all- in fact, her openly expressive face invoked a weakness in Hikari, not one big enough to leave Amane, but even so.
Standing up and walking around to sit at the chair on the other side of Tsubomi under the pretense of saying hello to a fan, Hikari touched the pinkette's arm lightly to get her attention. Tsubomi started out of her boy-induced shock and turned to face her, blinking several times. "Oh, um…hi, Hikari-senpai," she stuttered.
"Tsubomi-chan," Hikari began, not entirely sure how she was going to say what she wanted (needed) to say. "Um…" She lowered her voice as a precaution, causing the pinkette to frown in confusion. "You have noticed that there's something off with Yaya-chan, right?"
"More off than usual?" Tsubomi asked dryly, before catching the scolding look in Hikari's eye and shrinking back. Hikari was only ever strict when she truly had to be- this must have been more serious than Tsubomi had assumed. "Well, yeah. At some times, she's more touchy feely than usual," here Tsubomi blushed deeply, "but at others it's like she's completely shut down."
Hikari nodded, trying not to wince at the familiarity the words brought her. That was almost Yaya's textbook reaction while Hikari had been in her beginning phases with her relationship with Amane- it had only just now sunk in because of how very neglectful she had been to her best friend during that time. "I can't tell you exactly why it's happened," Hikari began unhelpfully, and Tsubomi rolled her eyes. She didn't exactly try to hide her distaste for the Etoile at times, not anymore. "But please, be careful with her, and remember, even though she likes to pretend she's above this, there's only so much she can take."
Tsubomi frowned in confusion as Hikari got up to sit in her original seat on the other side of Yaya, but scooted a bit closer to the brunette nevertheless, and was rewarded with a firm arm snaking around her waist, pulling her closer to Yaya. The brunette was still sulking for whatever reason, but at least she didn't seem quite as unhappy anymore- Tsubomi would just have to investigate later on.
PGBR
Shion knew she could be stubborn, and proud, and angry, and territorial, etc… And she knew she could go overboard with these emotions at times, but she was positive that she wasn't the only one who would be angered by what was going on in front of her.
A single, handsome boy had come forward and bowed before Chikaru. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said with a winning smile, which Chikaru returned in kind. "We will do our best to insure that Astraea Hill does not regret her decision."
Shion felt her head go hot, as if her blood were literally boiling. Her fists were clenched, as was her jaw, and it was all she could do not to shove the disrespectful boy away from Chikaru. How dare he treat Chikaru as if she were just another girl to be seduced?
"Not jealous, are we, Tomori-san?" Miyuki asked in a low voice, having slipped over to Shion's other side. "Because that would mean admitting that I was right."
Shion growled, whipping her head to glare at the blunette. "I am not jealous!" she snapped hotly. "Why would I be jealous?"
Miyuki shrugged. "You look like you're about to strangle Honda-san, and all he's done is be polite," she said nonchalantly. Shion gritted her teeth and returned her gaze to Honda Kenshi, who had chosen just that moment to lift Chikaru's hand and press a kiss to the back of it. A low growl rumbled in the back of the Spican's throat, and Shion sprung into action, shoving herself between Chikaru and the boy. She caught Miyuki smirking out of the corner of her eye, but there were more important matters at hand than one rather stuck up Miator president.
"Um…hello," Kenshi said hesitantly, startled by Shion's sudden presence.
Shion glared at him without remorse until Chikaru placed a comforting hand to her forearm, one that the Spican wanted to shake off, but chose not to under the current situation. "Tomori Shion," she said by way of an introduction. "You may call me Tomori-sama or Tomori-san, nothing less. Same goes for Rokujou-san and Minamoto-san, do you understand?" Shion practically snarled, leaving the boy looking legitimately shaken.
She felt Chikaru's grip tighten around her arm, heard the warning "Shi-chan" hissed in her ear in that scary tone the Le Rim president only got when she was truly angry, but who was Chikaru to tell her how to behave? It wasn't as if they were dating. Ignoring the rush she felt at the thought, Shion continued, "In case you hadn't noticed, there are three of us, and Chikaru holds no more pull at this school than the two of us, if possible even less, so don't waste your ass-kissing skills on-" Suddenly a cool, soft hand was clapped impossibly tightly over her mouth, and a sweet scent invaded her nose as Chikaru seamlessly darted between them.
"I'm horribly sorry for her behavior, Kenshi-kun," the Le Rim president stated, and Shion grumbled into her hand as Chikaru forcefully tugged her out of the back door of the dining room and towards the student council room.
"Kenshi-kun?" Shion spat as soon as Chikaru released her from her iron grip. "Well isn't that adorable?"
Chikaru whirled on Shion, eyes blazing with very rare anger. "What was that, Shion?" she asked in a loud whisper, stepping closer to the blonde. "Kenshi-kun is a guest at our school!" she exclaimed, her voice growing louder as they reached the council room and Shion shut the door behind them. The smaller girl took two long paced towards the Spican, who was still pressed up against the door, and glared up at her with an intensity that sent shivers down Shion's spine. "You will go out there, and you will apologize to Kenshi-kun!"
"Who are you to tell me how to behave?" Shion asked, though her tone wavered at the sight of the truly annoyed girl before her. Whenever Chikaru became truly angry, she reverted to angry mother-mode, as Shion had coined it back then, before… Shion shook the thought from her head and forced herself to meet Chikaru's eyes.
Chikaru simply raised an eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest. Still, Shion raised her chin in some kind of stubborn pride, and the raven-haired girl was forced to answer out loud. "I would assume," she began in a voice that was both quiet and deadly all at once, one that Shion remembered all too well, despite almost never hearing it (and why was it that she only ever heard this tone directed at her?), "that the way you practically marked me as your territory out there gives me the right to ask you to behave as a civilized human being, Shion-chan."
Shion's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked, totally dumbfounded. Marked her? Well, I mean…but how would Chikaru know? "Marked you?"
Chikaru sighed and nodded, slipping into an empty chair as though the situation exhausted her. Shion followed behind, grasping the back of the chair without really thinking about what she was doing. "Pushing yourself in between Kenshi-kun and I, demanding he call me san…" Chikaru paused, her expression morphing into something akin to hurt. "Letting me touch you for the first time in years…" She shook her head, leaning forward and burying her face in her palms. "When are you going to decide, Shion?"
Shion frowned, confused. "Decide?"
"Between your head and your heart," Chikaru specified, lifting her head and turning to Shion with an absolutely exhausted expression. "I gave up trying to show you what could be if you just let yourself live for a moment- clearly you aren't a person who can listen to both at one time. More accurately, neither of them ever agree, do they?" She reached up and ran her fingers lightly down Shion's uniform, in a circle where her heart was located, then pulled away, tugging gently at the Spican's bow tie.
Shion ran a hand through her hair, subconsciously leaning closer to Chikaru. "Minamoto- I mean, Chikaru-chan," she said quietly, "I'm sorry, I-"
Chikaru pressed one finger to the Spican's lips, silencing her easily. "Don't apologize, Shion-chan," she said softly, "not while you're not sure what you're apologizing for in the first place."
Shion frowned. "There's only one thing to apologize for, though…"
"Yes, but there is more than one choice that you may want to apologize for making, Shion-chan," Chikaru said, her voice growing fainter by the moment. "At least, now, while you're not sure what that choice will be. Don't apologize for one only to come back later to apologize for the other instead. I know you, Shi-chan, and I know what you're like when you know what you want. And that's not the Shion I see standing before me today."
Shion bowed her head in something- shame or confusion, she wasn't quite sure. "I'm sorry," she said again, her voice gruff, and Chikaru seemed to understand the difference between the two apologies. "I never meant to hurt you."
Chikaru smiled faintly. "It was inevitable, Shion-chan," she said softly, "And it would be selfish of me to believe I'm the only one hurting- this must be horribly confusing for you." With that, she turned and left the room, leaving Shion alone to stew in her thoughts once again.
Who do you guys want me to pair up with Tamao? Other than Miyuki and anyone who's already taken that is, and I don't like Nagisa or Shizuma enough to write them for extended periods of time, sorry D: Other than all my pickiness, what do you guys want to see?
Also, I'm sorry if parts of this chapter don't match up or came off half-assed, I went through a severe mood change in the editing stages, and I'm already tired even though it's not even eleven (loooong night), but hopefully it isn't too apparent.
Please review!