Memories of the Future

by Lucathia

Disclaimer: I do not own Mekakushi no Kuni

Notes: eventual Namiki/Kaichou, for the 30 kisses livejournal community. Each chapter has a mention of a kiss. Can you spot it?

Summary: uniforms and lunchtime

Chapter 5: Look This Way

Masahiro's college didn't require him to wear a uniform. As a result, he was often seen in a pair of slacks and a loose t-shirt, which was very casual and very different from the formal white-collared shirts he had worn for high school. Although he blended right in with the other college students, it was an entirely different matter among the high-school students.

At Kanade's high school, Masahiro stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone who passed by their lunch table hesitated, perhaps wondering about who the heck he was and why he wasn't wearing a uniform. Everyone looked his way.

He was the only person not in uniform among all the students.

The attention, although undesired, wasn't unnerving. In the past, he might've felt cornered with all those eyes on him. Too much attention meant that his power could easily be discovered. Unlike Kanade or Arou though, Masahiro had never deliberately tried to hide his power. Either people discovered it, or they didn't. It was as simple as that. That didn't mean that he actually liked or wanted people to discover his power though. With discovery came distrust and accusations. He hated seeing those fake smiles in his presence, hated those shaking hands, those looks of disgust. Perhaps he had learned, without realizing it, to shy away from attention, to blend into the crowd even though he had been born a performer, a person who naturally attracted attention.

He had learned to lock it all away.

But now, these prohibitions of his had faded away. None of it mattered, not when Kanade was right next to him. Arou was there too, of course. Masahiro supposed that he could think of Arou as an extra that came along with Kanade.

For Masahiro, the unwanted attention was easily ignored. He continued eating his share of their lavish lunch as if he wasn't the center of all the gossip. Kanade, on the other hand, was turning this way and that, glancing almost bewilderly from one passerby to the next.

There came whispers from the student body, mostly from first years who hadn't been in the school when he had still been a student there. Others came from students who had never seen him before, though he was pretty sure that the three of them, Kanade, Arou, and himself, were actually quite famous.

"Who's that sitting next to the dark-haired boy?"

"You mean Otsuka-san?"

"No, the guy wearing black."

"I don't know. Is he a student here?"

"I've never seen that guy around here before..."

"Nonsense! He appears out of nowhere everyday during lunch!"

"Why the heck is there French cuisine anyway?"

"I've heard that Naitou-kun is a superb cook..."

"And I've heard that Naitou-san's a wonderful kisser!"

Masahiro spluttered, almost choking on his drink as he tried to suppress his laugh. That really came out of nowhere. He glanced at Kanade, who was currently blushing furiously and trying to hide her face. The rumor must have come from somewhere. Perhaps Kanade and Eri gossiped over...he shook his head, amused.

"What? You've never heard of them? They're the famous lunch trio!"

Masahiro finally gave in, unable to stop himself from reacting to all the whispers. He manage to suppress his laugh, though a smirk was ever present on his face as he pointed his finger at Arou.

"We've been dubbed the lunch trio!"

Arou snorted. "I prefer 'lunch couple' over 'lunch trio.'"

Masahiro pretended to scowl as he lunged towards Arou.

Kanade laughed easily as the two of them got into a heated fight over the name of this little group of theirs. Despite Arou's words, her boyfriend had actually been the one to set out the third set of plates.

"Aren't you all the center of attention today," greeted the class president as she walked by, holding a handful of papers.

Kanade looked up. "Kaichou!" she exclaimed, stopping the taller girl in her steps.

Kaichou's eyes roamed over the three of them. "Ah, seems like my previous statement wasn't entirely correct." Her eyes stopped at Namiki. "It seems like you're the one attracting all the attention, Mr. College Student."

Namiki shrugged, a teasing smile spread over his face. He held his arms up helplessly and exclaimed, "It's because everyone appreciates my presence just that much!"

Arou muttered into his cup, "I don't."

Namiki cupped his ear. "What was that?"

Kanade shook her head, laugher dancing her eyes. She looked back up at Kaichou. "Kaichou, why don't you join us?" she suggested.

Kaichou shook her head, lifting the papers up for Kanade to see. "I still have work for the school committee to finish."

Namiki raised his eyebrows. "You're only a few weeks into school. And yet, you're already skipping lunch to do all this work?"

The tall girl almost scowled as she shuffled through the papers. "These papers are important. If I don't finish all of this quickly, the other people won't be able to start on their part. There's always so many new clubs and new rules and such that come with a new school year. Somehow, these clubs always turn their forms in at the very last minute, making processing so much more..." She trailed off when a hand thrust a bowl in front of her.

She glanced up from the papers in her hands. Namiki nodded his head towards the bowl of steaming soup in his hand, the soup almost spilling over the edges at his sudden movement.

"You work fast. You're efficient. You don't have to skip lunch to finish what you can easily finish later," he pointed out.

Kaichou looked back down at the papers in her hand, wondering if she really could afford to delay them until later.

"Besides," added Namiki solemnly, "you're way too skinny."

She laughed. "That's not a good way to convince a girl to eat! You're not even the one who made the food..." She let her sentence trail off as she glanced towards Arou, not noticing Namiki's sudden frown.

The dark-haired boy smiled warmly at her. "I don't mind. We have plently to spare. Eating lunch is really important."

She relented finally, putting the stack of papers down. She brushed her hair away from her face and accepted all the food that Namiki started placing in front of her.

"Soup, appetizer, oh, here's the main dish, hm, some bread, ah, dessert..." murmured Namiki as he piled food in front of Kaichou.

"Woah, stop! I can't nearly eat this much!" she protested.

Namiki finally stopped and returned to nibbling on his own piece of bread.

Meanwhile, Kanade and Arou glanced towards each other, a smile tugging on their lips.

"I think we need a new name for our little group," said Kanade. "I don't think 'lunch trio' even covers it!"

Arou smiled in return. "I agree."

Masahiro nodded absentmindedly as well, not actually hearing what Kanade and Arou were talking about. Intently, he watched Kaichou try to finish her lunch. He wasn't entirely joking when he said that she was too skinny. She didn't nearly eat enough for someone of her height. It wasn't healthy just how little she paid attention to herself, always placing others before herself. Strangely, that reminded him exactly of someone else he knew.

to be continued

next chapter: superstar

A/N: Please poke me if I ever take this long again. I did, however, get around to planning out the entire rest of the fic, which is good news, and I reread the series again to get a better feel for the characters.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!