Chapter 4

Kaleidoscope: Colorful World

Ai woke up alone in her room. She figured Akemi might have gone to hers early in the morning. She got up and started to prepare for school. As she climbed out of her bed, her grandfather's diary caught her eyes. She still can't believe what was written in there. Ai took it into her hands and replace it back to her closet. She checked the time from her phone and realized she had a message from Fuji, a reply from her message last night. She smiled and set out to prepare.

After putting on her uniform, she heard Akemi asked if she was ready. "Coming!" she informed her. Akemi was waiting for her downstairs. "Hey Ai," she said, smiling brightly like nothing happened yesterday. Ai noticed that she's trying to feel better even though she knew that she's not feeling well. "Let's go to school together today," Akemi said locking her arm with hers. She can only nod.

It was a bright, sunny day on their way to Seigaku, you could hear the cicadas chirping, and their red hair was dancing along the warm breeze. "What club will you be joining Ai?" Akemi asked, still not bringing up what happened yesterday.

"I think I'll be joining the volleyball club and the newspaper club," she said. "You can join one major and one minor club, right?"

Akemi nodded, "Yes, you can. As long as you'll be able to do your duties and responsibilities in both clubs without problems, then you can." They were quiet for a moment.

"Akemi..." Ai broke the silence first. She wanted to say something to her, but she doesn't know what.

"I'm okay," she said. "I knew it wasn't gonna go the way I expected it to but at least I tried. For now, I just wanted to make the most out of middle school," she added. Ai understood that she doesn't want to talk about it further, so she didn't press the issue.

That day, Ai mostly worked on her club application. She easily made friends with the volleyball team's captain, Suzuki Reiko, a girl with long, black hair, green eyes, and a very outgoing personality. She welcomed her to the club and introduced her to the other members.

In contrast to the volleyball club with lots of members, the newspaper club only has about five members, with her as the sixth. The club president is a bespectacled guy named Iwatobi Daichi, whose mission is "to establish the Seigaku newspaper as one of the most influential newspaper club among other schools". On her first day, he immediately wanted her to write something about the tennis club, and 5 poems which will be posted each day on the school's bulletin board.

Ai and Akemi ate lunch together at the rooftop. "Fuji-kun has practice," Akemi said when she noticed Ai keeps on looking at the door. "Oh, I see," the other red head answered.

"Say, do you like him?" Akemi asked her all of a sudden. "What? Of course, I like him. He's our friend. And he keeps on saving me when I seem to be always in trouble."

Akemi chuckled, "Well, Fuji-kun has always wanted to meet you ever since Grandpa Chie started talking about you," she said. "So I'm not surprised if he takes interest in you."

"Akemi," Ai started. "You know, I came here from Orion thinking that I'd be able to understand the people from Gaia so easily. But I was wrong. I was looking for something that is different from our world. Our world is so, happy that it can be so monotonous. The people there do not know any kind of suffering. I don't even know how to comfort you now because there never was any rejection in our world," she explained, guilty that she doesn't know what to say to her.

"It's okay Ai. I'm okay," was the other girl's answer. "I liked Tezuka-kun ever since, and somehow, I know what will come of my confession, it was just that I wasn't really ready for it. I understand perfectly well your situation," she said.

After classes she made her way to the newspaper clubroom to submit one of the poems she has written in class. She was bored, and she couldn't stop thinking about the things that's happened lately and the changes inside her - especially her feelings.

The Missing E

Som(e)tim(e)s I wond(e)r

Why it is call(e)d Missing (e)

If (e) is missing in Lov(e)

nothing will giv(e) m(e)aning to Lif(e)

If Hop(e) will not hav(e) its (e)

problems won't mak(e) s(e)ns(e) to m(e)

If (e) is not in tog(e)th(e)r will th(e)r(e) b(e)

a tim(e) for us to hold (e)ach oth(e)r?

If (e) is not in (e)vil, th(e)n good will not

hav(e) its m(e)aning altog(e)th(e)r

If (e) is not in the short word that is m(e),

th(e)n you and m(e) will n(e)v(e)r b(e).

Imagin(e) romanc(e) without an (e)

dull and boring, obviously!

So pl(e)as(e), find this missing (e)

th(e)n tru(e) can d(e)fin(e) hon(e)sty.

The president gave it a nod and then asked her to display it on the bulletin board the next day. She didn't have volleyball practice that day so she decided to go to the tennis courts. She wanted to see Fuji, after all. She was hiding behind a tree near the court, her violet eyes scanning the area for the brunette. She recognized her classmates, and Akemi's classmate Kikumaru Eiji, but Fuji wasn't there.

Fuji was walking towards the court when he noticed Ai hiding from a tree who seems to be looking for someone in the courts. "Looking for someone?" he said when he was behind her. The girl jumped and bumped her head on the trunk.

"Ouuuchhh!" she cried, her hand stroking the front side of her head. It didn't take Fuji an instant to be in front of her, he touched her head gently checking if there was a bump.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry if I scared you," he said. He was so closed to her that she was aware of his mild dew scent, combined with soap and a hint of his manly scent. She was leaning on the tree trunk, Fuji too close for comfort. She looked up to him, which was biggest mistake she made in that moment! Her violet eyes were met by his blue eyes, and she froze.

Fuji was aware of how close they were but he didn't make a move to step back. His hand was still on her head but when she looked up to him, his heart skipped a beat. He stood there, in front of her, looking into her eyes. He could feel her move, as if trying to make space between them but failing because of the tree trunk.

Ai broke the silence first. "Uhm, Fuji-kun," she said.

"I'm sorry," Fuji said, seemingly brought back to his senses when she spoke. "There seems to be to no bump," Fuji said with one last gentle caress on her head.

"Yes," Ai whispered, still out of words to say.

"What were you doing there anyway?" the brunette asked, still not taking a step back.

"I... I was actually looking for... I was looking for you," she said looking at the ground.

Fuji smiled. "Why, Ai, you missed me that much?" he said, enjoying the look on her blushing face.

"No... No... It was just... Well, you weren't with us during lunch... So I was just..." she stammered.

He chuckled, she was so cute when he teases her. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to eat lunch with you again. But," he slowly moved his face closer to her ears, his hand lifted her chin up, "I prefer if it'll be just the two of us," he whispered.

Her heart was racing. The way he said that, the sound of his voice, the way he touched her face, everything... Everything about him was making her heart beat fast.

"See you later, Ai," he said, enjoying her cute, blushing face as he retreated back to the courts.