Chapter 2

Exploring Gaia

The first day of school for Ai came like a blur. It wasn't like she had a hard time, it was just that everything was new to her. Some of her classmate were looking at her in a funny, others were glaring, some boys were oogling at her (and she doesn't like it!). She doesn't have books yet, so she shared with someone named Oishi Shuichiro, whom she found quite pleasant and kind. They talked for a bit, and she found out that he was the vice captain fo the tennis club.

"And that," he pointed to someone who sat with his back straight, wearing eyeglasses and has a stern look on his face while reading a book, "is our captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu."

She smiled at him when he turned to her, only to be answered with a mere nod. This guy's pretty serious, she thought and laughed to herself. Oishi chuckled and turned to her, "Don't worry, he's that kind of guy and he means no insult," he explained. She nodded and smiled back at him. "Thank you for sharing your book with me," she said, remembering that back in Orion, people were just as kind.

During lunch, she saw Akemi peeked from the entrance of her classroom, and she waved at her. "Hey, Akemi-chan!" she called. "Do you want to have lunch together?"

Akemi went inside, glancing over at Tezuka, and blushing after. That did not escape her. Why's she blushing? she thought to herself. "Are you okay?" she asked. "I'm fine," Akemi answered. "Let's eat in the rooftop, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Akemi said as she grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her classroom.

When they reached the rooftop, Akemi opened the door, and she could see clear blue skies and the view of their school below. She noticed someone else standing near the edge, leaning on the diamond mesh fence that surrounds the place. His one hand was inside his pant's pocket while his head was tilted upward, like he was staring at the sky, the other hand shielding his eyes from the bright rays of the sun. He was so picturesque, he took her breath away.

He looked at them when they approached him. "Fuji-kun," Akemi spoked first, while she was tongue-tied. The brunette smiled. "This is Ai," Akemi introduced her to him. Fuji stared at her with his eyes opened, revealing two orbs of the loveliest blue she has ever seen. She gasp, not in fear, but in amazement. Akemi nudge her side, as if telling her to speak. "Hi, we meet again," she simply said.

Fuji offered her his hand for a handshake, "Hello Fujiko-san," he said. She flinched at how respectful he is with how he calls her. "Uhm, you can just call me Ai," she said. The male blushed, and was somehow caught off-guard with her request. "Really, it's okay," she said, not realizing why he reacted that way,

"Then, as you wish, Ai," Fuji said and hearing the sound of her name from his own lips made him a tad bit giddy. Does she know the meaning of her name? He thought to himself. "Saa," he said breaking the silence that seemed to be present all the time when she's with him, "Should we eat lunch?" he said, sitting on the tiled floor.

Ai and Akemi did the same. "Ai, I asked you to come because I wanted to tell you something..." Akemi started.

And so, while eating, Akemi animatedly told her that she likes Tezuka Kunimitsu, who is apparently aside from being the tennis club's captain, is also the student council president. The only other person who knows it, aside from her, is Fuji Syuusuke, her classmate and best friend.

"I see," she said, trying to understand how her newly found sister feels. Akemi just stared at her, trying hard not to laugh. She too, controlled her laughter. It was such a too short reply for the long rant that her sister just did, but what can she do? She only understands a very limited concept of love and unrequited love was not a part of it.

"Anyway, that's about it," Fuji said as he finished his lunch. "So, I guess you should help your sister out or maybe we could just set them up," he teasingly said with a mysterious smile. Akemi slapped his shoulders, "Stop it Fuji-kun!" And the three of them laughed together.

After lunch, they went to their respective classrooms. "Ai, see you," Fuji called out to her and waved and she responded with a wave too. Afternoon classes went in a flash, and soon it was about time to go home.

She made her way to Akemi's classroom, wanting to go home with her because she isn't so familiar with the place just yet. It was her turn to peek inside, hoping to find her there. She wasn't there, and that made her panic. She quickly scanned every faces, but she really wasn't there. She felt someone pat her shoulders.

"Ai," Fuji pat her shoulders from behind when he saw her peek inside their classroom. "Are you looking for me?" he said nonchalantly, and it made her blush. The guy smiled seeing her flustered.

"No," came an honest reply from the blushing girl. "I'm looking for my sister, have you seen her?" Before he could answer, Akemi came walking, but then running, towards them. "Ai! Gomen ne! I can't go home together with you today," she said. "We're having a meeting in the arts club for recruiting new members," she said.

"I see... But I'm still not familiar with..." she started.

"Well, I can take her home," Fuji said, interrupting her trail of thoughts. He thought that her being flustered was cute, but it looked like she was about to cry, so he offered to take her home instead.

Akemi gratefully looked at Fuji, "Great! Thank you Fuji-kun! You know where our house is, right? After all, you were always there visitng Grandpa Chie before," Akemi said and left.

As the two of them were walking towards her house, both of them are quiet. What Akemi said a while ago made her think again. "Ai," Fuji said breaking the silence first. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Uhm... Fuji-kun, did you know that Grandpa Chie died?" she asked him trying to keep a straight face.

Fuji clearly did not expect the revelation, and it made him looked at her. "That's... When?" he asked. He was fond of the old man, he told him stories and was fascinated by his wide breadth of knowledge about heavenly bodies.

Ai cleared her throat, "Just uhm... Just a month ago," she said, voice cracking.

Fuji took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, "It must be hard on you. I know you were always his favorite," he added.

Ai gave him a questioning look. Just how much does this guy know? She thought. She was quiet, unable to say anything. However, she liked the feeling of his warm hands; she thought it comforting, and she just then, found herself crying.

Fuji was caught off guard when she started crying, but he somehow understood why. "I'm sorry," he said as he bravely gathered her in his arms. They were on the sidewalk, a few blocks away from her house, but Fuji didn't mind the people staring at them. He just wanted to comfort the girl with him.

She tried to composed herself and wiped her tears. "It's okay, it's not your fault," she said as she got out from the embrace. His warmth still lingers on her body, that she regretted the sudden separation.

They continued walking to her house. "You should tell me about the things you talked about with my grandpa," she said.

"Well," Fuji said, stopping in front of her house. "He mostly just talked about you and how pretty you are. He's such a doting grandfather huh? Although, I would agree with him," he said with a smile before saying goodbye.

That night, Ai and her family went out for dinner when Akemi came home a few minutes after she did. She was able to explore more of Gaia. The restaurants were all different, and there was a variety of menus. This is another difference of Gaia from Orion. Orion doesn't have restaurants of fast food chains. The people all ate inside their homes.

They were inside a sushi place called Kawamura Sushi. "Welcome!" said an old man, who Izumi introduced as the owner.

"Oh, who is this cute girl?" Kawamura said.

"This is Ai, Akemi's twin sister," Kyouko introduced as gestured towards her.

The old man blinked and looked from one to the other. "They do look alike," he said. Just then, someone came out from the kitchen and Akemi called out to him. "Taka-san!" she said as she asked the younger guy to come.

"Ai, this is Kawamura Takeshi from Class 3-4," Akemi said as the person she referred to as Taka-san stood in front of them. "He works here for his dad, and he is also a regular in the Seigaku tennis club."

"Hello Kawamura-san," she said, and bowed a little. "I'm Fujiko Ai. Nice to meet you. And please call me Ai," she added because it'll be quite confusing, she figured, if he starts calling her Fujiko-san when Akemi has the same last name too.

"Nice to meet you too Ai-san," Kawamura said with a warm smile. "I hope you like the food here."

"Oh, we always do Taka-san! You're food's great!" said Akemi as they sat in a nearby vacant table and started to order. When the food came, Ai found them really pretty and presentable that she didn't want to eat them. This made the others laugh and started to tease her. The food was great, as Akemi had said.

After dinner the family went to a nearby shopping center where they bought a few clothes for Ai. Akemi also got herself a new mobile phone strap that she found cute. After everyone was done, the family all went home.

"How did you find the food, Ai?" Izumi asked while driving back home.

"It was delicious," she said. "Thank you for bringing me there."

The others smiled and Izumi said, "You're welcome. Next time, we won't be taking the car. We can walk so that you'll get used to here."

"Dad, I can be Ai's tour guide, so you don't have to worry," Akemi pointed out.

"Really? Then why didn't you go home with her today?" Kyouko said with a chuckle.

Akemi pouted. "I just had club activities. Oh yeah, Ai-chan you should think about what club you'll be joining. Even if we are already third years, you can still apply and enjoy school life in Seigaku to the fullest," she exclaimed.

"You really are high spirited," Ai said with a smile. "I will though, I love school clubs," she said, remembering that back in Orion she was a part of the poetry club.

When they reached home, Ai bid good night to everyone and went inside her bedroom. Today, she was able to see another aspect of this world, and she was excited for more. She slept with a smile on her face.