II: ADAGIO MA NON TROPPO

A/N: This one's short. Sorry. :(

"someday/you will find me/and i'll follow you/endless..."--Beauty(tryad)

Tick...tick...tick...tick.

Hikari nervously bit the end of her pencil. She'd never tested well, particularly in subjects that she did poorly in. She was on the final question, and she could not, for the life of her, figure out the answer.

My grade depends on this! Why is this so hard for me? This is exactly the same kind of problem Mr. Chairman showed me how to do!

At the thought of last time she had seen the handsome chairman, her heart raced. She knew it was silly to have a crush on someone so obviously out of her league, but Hikari couldn't help herself. There was certainly no harm in a school girl's crush, was there? Akio was handsome, and smart, and...

Entirely out of my reach, Hikari thought as she checked the clock and hastily scribbled down an answer. She hoped beyond hope that her other answers were right. She flipped back to the first page of the test and started reviewing the question. She was halfway through checking the first problem when the teacher slammed a ruler on her desk. "Time's up!"

Hikari jumped and handed the teacher her test. She stood up, grabbed her bag, and hurried out of the room. She was halfway down the hallway when she bumped into another girl.

"Excuse me!" Hikari said. The girl simply smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was soft, and Hikari was struck by how pretty the girl was. She wore round glasses, and her light, grayish-pink hair was done up in an intricate braided bun. Her blue eyes were incredibly intense.

"I should really be less clumsy, shouldn't I?" the girl said softly.

"N-no, it was really all my fault. I need to watch where I'm going," Hikari said, sheepishly.

The two girls locked eyes for a moment, and in that instant, Hikari felt a strange connection to the girl, as though the girl might become important to her one day...the girl smiled, showing bright white teeth...and opened her bookbag. She handed Hikari a single, pink rose.

"Here, take it," she said, "Because you're pretty. Like a little princess."

Hikari blushed and took the rose. For a moment, their fingers touched, and again, Hikari felt that peculiar sense of destiny. She couldn't help staring at this strange girl.

"Rin! What do you think you're doing, talking to her? I told you not to speak to anyone!" A girl's harsh voice echoed in the hallway. Hikari and Rin both whipped around. Hikari recognized the girl who had spoken as a member of Student Council. There was no mistaking that uniform. The girl was tall, with blonde hair arranged in elegant ringlets and brown eyes that flashed. She grabbed the girl with the pink hair by the hand and yanked her away from Hikari.

"What's your problem?" Hikari said, "We were just talking."

"She isn't allowed to speak to anyone but me," the girl replied. Hikari recognized her as Tomoyo Kurosawa, the Student Council president.

"You can't forbid a girl from talking just because you're in Student Council!" Hikari argued.

Tomoyo scoffed. "You're a transfer student, so you wouldn't understand. Rin is my property. That's all you need to know." She started to drag the girl, Rin, down the hall.

"You can't do that!" Hikari protested. She had to nearly run to keep up with Tomoyo, but she was not going to stand by and let that girl with pink hair be exploited. Hikari finally stopped and stood directly in front of Hikari. "I can't let you exploit someone just because you want to! And I don't care if you're the Student Council president! That girl is a real human being with real thoughts and real feelings, and I can't just stand by when I see people being treated like objects!" Rin looked up at these words, and stared intently at Hikari. She smiled. A knowing smile. Then she lowered her gaze. Without thinking, Hikari threw the rose Rin had given her moments before at Tomoyo's feet. Tomoyo glared down at the rose, then looked at Hikari as though her skin had suddenly turned green.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," Tomoyo snarled. "You want a duel? You don't even have a Rose Signet! But if it's a fight you want...meet me in the woods behind the school tomorrow." Then, she easily pushed Hikari aside and dragged Rin down the hall. Hikari watched them until they were out of sight.

What did she mean...?