To clear any misunderstandings, I like explaining things either through the chapter or I literally have to rant for your sake. :D optimisticpessimist22 (one of my bff's in real life) said the previous chapter was short. I'm making up for it with this one!

Disclaimer: It's already got dis and claim in it so my job here is done!


17: The Nectarine Aftertaste

Forget how he looks like an ass, he's sweet!

The Teikoku lobby was littered with students, a curved information desk on each side close to the hallway leading to the second building, and a fountain with a statue of the founder standing proudly in greeting. "This can't be the lobby," Zuko was beyond gaping as she stared at the multilayered chandelier on the ceiling. "This is too ginormous for a lobby."

"Oh, but it is, Ronald McDonald," Fudou was amused with the former's expression; he himself was close to smirking his way into a smile. "Lotsa things here in Teikoku are. You gettin' this, Kruger?"

"Yessir!" Mark added with a grin-salute combo.

"Good. Now lemme warn you that this place is different from Hakuren, Raimon, or wherever the heck you twerps came from. Teikoku's got more floors and buildings than I remember, even if I'm the tour guide." Fudou interjected the last part, seeing as how a student was about to argue. "Speakin-a which, we've eight buildings, formed almost identically to the English alphabet's letter K, with an extra building perpendicular to this one." The delinquent fixed his cap with one nimble hand as he spoke. "The rest of the buildings are underground."

"Why?" A junior had his eyebrows knit.

"Because, Tim Bucktooth," Naomi snorted from behind Zuko as she listened. "We're more disaster-ready than any school. If by some stupid trick of fate Teikoku's visible buildings become unusable for educational purposes—"

"You mean to say the students are to take their lessons underground? That education is a higher priority than safety?" A new and much deeper voice quipped as the matching footsteps raised a decibel higher. Fudou turned to see a man in his mid-forties, head close to barren and eyes so dark and unfeeling. "Safety is an instinct; education is a life lesson," The brunette almost cliked his tongue in utmost ire. "Oshino-donno."

"Who's that?" Naomi chanced a peek over Jellybean Girl's shoulder. "Head of the Department of Education, Oshino Tanabe," A third-year whispered behind the girls. "They say he hates Teikoku of all the schools, and it's only the cunning of the school presidents that manage to keep this place alive."

"But Teikoku is a great school!"

"We all have our biases, don't we?" A softer yet firm voice interrupted before walking away from the third-years. "Oshino-donno," Kurokawa Maki's crimson hair blazed against the light, making it look like a mild yet dangerous fire. " Shachō is expecting you." Fudou nodded to the Student Council President, his vague gesture of thanks, then turned to the students. "Nothin-a see here, bimbos. Let's go start with this wing. Move!" Like a well-trained military officer, the partly bald teen turned on his heel and headed to the left.


"Shall we?" Maki had plastered on a fake, I'm-this-close-to-mutilating-you smile only for Oshino as she directed him to the hallway in front of them.

"I really don't see why you must spend millions of yen for facilities that have one in a million chances of being used," The aging man commented. "It isn't a must, Oshino-donno," Maki grit her teeth but fastened her smile. "When the school presidents have remaining cash on their hands after giving extra pay to the workers, improving the more frequently used facilities, paying the bills and sponsoring projects, it's all converted into the underground buildings you know of now."

Ah, but it wasn't just the school presidents who were clever after all.


"The wing parallel to this basically has the same floorplan so we won't have to frolic around there," Naomi had tired of clinging on Zuko's shoulders and ended up inserting her hands on the lean girl's pockets. "H-Hey!" The hazel-haired teen jumped. "My shorts are slipping off!"

"Should-a thought about wearing leggings if you didn't want to give the wrong impression," Naomi stuck her tongue out in response. "And here I was, thinking you were chubby."

"These are the first-years' classrooms- half of them anyway," The tour guide slid open a door to the nearest classroom and let the teens in. "The other four sections are upstairs, and all classrooms look like this, with the board farther from the main entrance so the teacher leaves last during emergencies. On the other side are the teachers' quarters. Men's on the second floor."

"He's pretty blunt for a guide, hm?" Zuko had taken out her jellybeans again. The boy basically entertained her with his snarky remarks and crude name-calling.


"This whole stretch right here is full of laboratories and research results and materials," Fudou was walking backwards. "The four labs and research rooms to your left, and the research materials and reports to the right. The fourth floor above us houses the freshmen's changing rooms on the left and showers on the right."

"What's on the opposite third and fourth floors?" A second-year asked, his pen and notebook in hand. Naomi rolled her eyes. 'Drawing a map? What a dork!'

"The one across is the teachers' canteen. The fourth's your indoor pool and gym, exclusive for the freshmen."


'Oh, you've finally arrived, bro! I'm at this new place called Sherry's. I'll pick you up when I complete the challenge, 'kay?' Finally, Dylan texted back but gave no such hint of helping Mark.

"You okay there, Uncle Sam?" Naomi, meanwhile, relished in Zuko's cotton pockets as they toured building two's ground floor, which was filled with all eight classrooms- four on each side. Oddly enough, Naomi had learned fluent English as well. Mark smiled. "I'm struggling with his accent, but I'll manage, thanks,"

"What a gentleman," Zuko said in a singsong voice. "Jellybean?" She offered, almost punching the foreigner's chest due to their proximity. 'And to think Japanese girls were timid…' Mark felt himself sweatdropping.


"Teachers' lounge and canteen at the far end," Fudou droned on as they headed back to the ramp to go up to the third floor. "Let's not walk into the hallway; it's all lab stuff in the third floor."

"Someone's being lazy today," A feminine voice sang from the back. A few of the students laughed until Fudou turned and marched towards the voice he so quickly recognized since its first squeak back at the lobby. "Oi, Officer Big Mac," Naomi squeaked for Zuko – mainly because she could be spotted anytime – and ducked behind Mark instead. Fudou continued his approach until Zuko hit the wall. "You're not going to arrest me, are ya?"

Zuko felt the jellybeans melt dangerously inside her hand, mouth and pocket.

Fudou smirked a grin, backed up, and headed for the ramp towards the fourth floor of the second building. "Aside from the same setup in Building 1, this and Building 3, the building farthest from here, has an indoor dirt field for sports like baseball and softball."

"And soccer?" Mark asked in straight Japanese.

"See the green between this building and the one in the middle? That's the practice field," Fudou pointed outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. "The space between the center building and Building 3 is our main field for games."

"Could we have a short break before checking out the middle building?" A freshman asked with her hands on her knees; though Fudou shortcutted almost half of the tour, Teikoku was still a huge masterpiece of architecture. Fudou raised a brow, deliberating on something. His lips twitched almost unnoticeably to the side, and for a moment Zuko wondered how adorable their tour guide must've been as a child before he met yankees. "Kuh," He spat out, almost nicely. "Let's head to the field then."

"Aw, yeah!" Naomi punched the air, almost blowing her cover. Fudou glared at Zuko and Mark- both who grinned sheepishly. Naomi, now ducked safely behind Zuko, hugged both the former and Mark appreciatively.

"You two are the sweetest sacrificial lambs I could ever have."


Up in her office, Sokudone watched small figures of the guests settle at the practice field. Gohin was finalizing his report before Oshino would arrive any time. "Kageyama-donno?"

"Yes?"

"Enlighten me as to why you chose a negatively viewed student to tend to the fresh catch?" Just one look at Fudou that morning had already gotten Gohin to wonder about the selective ways of the Kageyama heiress. Sokudone slowly turned away from the glass pane. She had a melancholic twinkle in her eye- almost as if she had been asked about Fudou Akio so many times.

Gohin didn't understand why she was upset but didn't push further.

"He isn't a disappointment to me, Gohin-kun." She answered defensively.


Nectarines = subcategory under peaches. Peaches = look like butts. Butts = ass. Geddit? :D (I actually spoonfed you the reason for the title. You're welcome.)

Aren't we girls all the same? Defensive about our choice of likes? My besties never approve my slightly eccentric picks. :'D

All right, this is fifteen hundred words. Around three to four hundred words more than the previous chapter! Happy? :P

Wee-vieeewws!

-Strabeariiis