One word: school.
It's been eating me up for the past six months, I'm so sorry! I never abandoned this, though. I always have a copy on my mobile to work on before transferring it to my laptop. But yes, it was difficult to keep track of both worlds.
Disclaimer: I am the slave of this site!
20: The Arduous Nannyberry
Let's get tangled up in one another and in everything.
Fudou removed his grip on the arm as he threw it to the wall on the deserted corridor. "Hey! More gently, please?" Naomi rubbed her reddening limb as she leaned back on the wall. "Feh," The brunette responded. "Why are you even here? And since when?" Naomi flipped her raven hair back and glared back at Fudou. "Auntie needed some help at the store, and dad said I could go. I didn't think you were even alive!" Fudou glared back. "Since when?" He demanded with a much more menacing tone.
"...Last month. Dad took care of the transfer papers, and Auntie made sure we never got to see each other in the house." Fudou was silent for a moment, his eyes clouded with a certain expression even Naomi couldn't catch. "Mom never said anything about this to me."
"Don't play sentiment with me," Naomi scowled in irritation. "Of course she wouldn't. You're a psycho on the edge of his sanity. You think you'd still stay in control with all the crack being thrown at you?" The violet-eyed teenager had her lips in a scornful frown. "What is so wrong about having me around, anyway?"
Fudou turned his back to her as he began to pace, trying to calm his nerves. "We're just cousins, no harm."
Kazemaru Ichirouta wasn't even supposed to be stuck in Sokudone's complex masterpiece-slash-disaster regarding her matchmaking plans when an unsuspecting Gale Swift fell upon an opened folder, with all its contents tantalizingly spilling out of it, almost as if Gale was meant to find the item. So she picked it up and read the contents as she walked towards the kitchen for a bite.
"Is Socchin some sort of investigator?" Gale thought aloud to herself. "I understand the girls' profiles and maybe even the highlighted parts, but what is all this for?" The Aussie magician probed further. "Hey, Gale," Kazemaru emerged from the fridge's opening, holding a blue mochi. "What's in your hands?"
"That's what I'd like to know," The amber-eyed prankster pulled on a few more sheets to study when Kazemaru caught a small, short yet sufficient glance at what looked like a picture of the rising Prism Star Hono Aira, whom Kazemaru had secretly been a fan of, prior to the Stars' traveling carnival. "Is Socchin a-"
"I'veneverseenthatfolderbeforenorhaveIanyideawhatthatcontainsseeyou!" The panicking speedster hurried to exit the kitchen as inauspiciously as possible. "Wait!" Gale's eyes hadn't left the new papers stacked on top, but her open palm directed itself to Kazemaru, and regardless of whether she had used magic or not, the latter stopped in his tracks. "Why the kangas is my name here?"
Gale's tone had turned accusing and curious, Kazemaru realized. As the only other man in the house (oh, plus Wiruyam), the tealnet had learned two things about women: (1) when they accused you, you were good as dead; (2) when they were curious, you'd be better off dead. 'Run, baka, run.'
"What's with the girls' profiles?"
"I swear I don't know,"
"Also, why am I here?" Gale continued as if she had never been interrupted. "And why do you have authority to confidential government-esque information like these?" Suddenly, amidst her endless questioning of the presence of the female-file-filled folder, Gale had muted herself.
"Gale...?" Slowly and cautiously, the tealnet speedster spun around to get a better look at the former's expression.
The Australian was as red as the back of a black widow.
If it hadn't been for Hiroki's presence, Sokudone would have smacked herself with a shovel for forgetting yet again about having to confront Gohin. "Um, so, hey, Madame Pres," The brunette started, her hands nimbly depleting the sugar cube supply, "How'd you end up bagging the position?" Sokudone wasn't the only one who wanted to smack herself; Zuko had just realized how insulting she had probably come off as.
But thank Kamisama for getting them both distracted, right?
"Assume that you are the vice president of a very active company," Sokudone started, "And your president suddenly disappears from the world of the living."
"Oh. So the previous school president died? Right? But why is it you?"
Sokudone found herself grinning at Zuko's surprising frankness. Was this girl Japanese or Akio's other half? Hiroki Zuko basically paved the way to a new Japan, almost like how Akio had made a more improved (but not exactly better) Teikoku, the Shin Teikoku. "Because the previous school president is my foster father."
If it hadn't been for her own immense self-control in the presence of high-authority figures, Zuko would've competed with a dolphin's blowhole for spittakes.
"I don't think you were supposed to see this," Shaun yawned at the gaping folder set before him. His sister, seated across him, squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. "Couldn't have figured that one on my own! Thanks, Sherlock!" It was her brother's turn to glare.
"Then why are you making such a fuss over this? Forget about it. Maybe Socchin's school project forced her into collecting data of friends and stuff."
"Hono Aira is so not a 'friend'." Gale argued, her mouth locked in a frown.
"Not unless you're the school president of one of Japan's most prestigious middle schools and your common factor is your rising fame," The older Australian stood from his seat and grabbed his cereal - cereal at two in the afternoon? Gale didn't even bother to ask. "Leave it alone, sis,"
But Gale simply couldn't.
"Like an ever-changing blackhaw seed," Shaun's soap opera droned from the living room. "I could never understand who he was, because he grew up too fast and changed paths too quick for me to catch up."
"He was enigmatic, in the way that he never was."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naomi crossed her arms for the umpteenth time. "What do you mean we can't be seen together? Who in their right mind would even think of looking at you?"
Fudou crossed his arms in response. The duo was still outside the hall arguing. "Right, I fergot you were a newbie here," He grinned. "This academy is full of nerds and good boy scholars that make me sick to the brim,"
"Of course girls would come looking for delinquents like me."
"Wait, now I'm really confused." Hiroki scratched her hazel hair to emphasize her point. "You got the job as the school president, but you're under probation for abuse of power?" Sokudone nodded blankly. She didn't see anything confusing about that.
"And not because you're a minor who should lawfully be on probation?" She nodded again.
"But you fought for this tooth and nail, right?" A third nod. "So how come competition let a minor grab hold of the seat?"
"Oh," Sokudone smiled. "That's easy: I simply won fair and square, as I was the best candidate."
"But shouldn't you be disqualified in the first place for signing up at fifteen?"
The black-haired girl's features collapsed. 'This is going to be a long lunch period…'
"This place brings back abnormal memories…" The ghost girl held her parasol tighter as she looked around the weird seats of the small shop. "Weird way to put it, but this place is awesome!"
"It's only May!" Karai Rein snapped lightly. "It's not that hot!"
"Yet," Her blond companion grinned in response to her. "This is going to be so cool!" Rein pushed back locks of her silver hair behind her ears. "Of all the friends I could have made, I ended up with two peas in a pod of terrifically terrifying."
"And you love us so much," He adjusted his beaming blue shades. "By the way, when's Mark coming?"
Just when I said I wouldn't half-ass this and I totally did. T.T But please do watch out for my Christmas special! I dunno yet when the release date will be – 'cause research is hella hard – but I hope it'll be on time! Do me a favor and please vote for your favorite character on my poll! It has something to do with the special so there's a deadline!
Reviews and complaints are best served with 99999 characters, or however much FFN allowed us.
-Strawbeariiis
