xxx A Rose in the Dark xxx
Warnings: mild swearing, slight OOC, sucky writing-ness
Rated: PG-13 (for later chapters)
Pairings: TBA
Disclaimer: Yes, I own nothing. Sad, isn't it? All I own is my character, Kakeru. All things Yu Yu Hakusho related are copyright their creators, and Talim & Ashura are copyrighted to my friends.
"blah blah blah" - talking
(blah blah blah) - thoughts
--()-- – change in scene
Chapter 2: Encounter, the "Accidental" Meeting
(They all laughed at me again……I guess I should be used to that by now, what with all my late arrivals recently…..oh well….)
A young girl with cerulean hair slowly crept her arm over and poked the sulking teen hard on the arm
"Ow!! What the…..!!" she screeched, gaining stares from everyone else in the room.
"Are you done zoning out now, Kakeru-chan?" Talim chuckled softly.
"You always become so oblivious to everything when you do that!" chirped Ashura.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever….was it absolutely necessary to poke me that hard, though…?" she mumbled under her breath, rubbing her arm.
Talim tugged on Kakeru's sleeve to get her attention. "So, why were you almost late again this morning? Hmmmm?"
Kakeru tilted her head playfully and grinned. "Oh, you know me! I was just staring obliviously at nothing, like always!"
"Aw..." Ashura whined. "That's supposed to be my job!!"
Kakeru smiled and lightly shook her head. She looked around the room, taking in the normal homeroom scene: friends talking back and forth, the preppy girls talking about their latest crush...very normal things in a life that was just as normal.
Taking a moment to look over at her best friends, Ashura and Talim, Kakeru smiled. They were having their usual poking competition. It was very amusing to watch since they were always so serious about it. Talim's golden eyes stared intently into Ashura's emerald green ones, both ready to strike at the other's slightest movement. The air was thick with tension and felt like one of the showdowns you would see in an old western film. Talim brushed a lock of long, ocean blue hair out of her face, as Ashura ran her right hand through her short violet hair. The competition was just about to get under way...
"All right class!! Settle down, please, everyone!! Back to your seats," the homeroom teacher yelled. Everyone just grumbled at her. Ashura and Talim pouted at having their fun interrupted, while Kakeru just sat up straight and sighed quietly. The class whispered back and forth while she took attendance.
After what seemed like forever, the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom and the start of first period. Everyone hurried out the door, Ashura, Talim and Kakeru bringing up the rear. The three friends walked down the crowded hall in search of their class, chatting all the way. Then Ashura spoke up.
"Hey, Kakeru-chan...which class do we have first, anyway?" she asked curiously.
A sly grin played across Kakeru's face, her violet eyes flickering in amusement at her friend's confusion.
"Hmm...I think our first class is...Biology," Talim said thoughtfully.
"Correct!!" Kakeru exclaimed happily. "I'm surprised you guys figured it out without my help for a change!"
"Hey!!" they screamed in unison. Kakeru giggled softly and quickened her pace towards the lab at the end of the hall, the two teens at her heels, still huffy over her previous comment.
Upon entering, Ashura, Talim & Kakeru took their seats in the far back of the room. The lab had twelve tables, each the perfect size for a pair of lab partners. Kakeru sat at the last table in the middle row with Ashura. Talim was in the desk to the left, partnered up with a male classmate. The room was filled with many glass beakers and potted plants, flowers, and charts. Kakeru lightly smiled, happy to be in such a comforting environment. Shetook a look around and noticed that all the other girls in the class were giggling and swooning over a boy with bright red hair, which looked even brighter against the shade of magenta on their school's uniform.
Talim leaned over towards her two friends. "Looks like all the girls are drooling over Shuichi again," she whispered as she gave a disgusted glance at the preppy, starry-eyed girls.
"I don't get it….I really don't understand why they like him so much!" Ashura complained as she looked at him.
"What do you guys expect? He is the most popular boy in school, after all, as well as one of the smartest. Girls would give anything to have him say even one word to them!" Kakeru said in a matter-of-factly voice.
"Even you, K-chan?" Talim teased.
"Shut up, Talim!"
"So….I was right, was I?" She winked knowingly.
"Humph….not likely."
At that exact moment, the bell rang and the teacher walked in.
(I don't care if I talk to him. He's popular, so what? That's not surprising to me at all. Although isn't he the person who... -NO. It doesn't matter!)
"Alright, konnichiwa everyone!" the teacher exclaimed. "Let's start off this morning by assigning everyone new seats and lab partners!"
The whole class rolled their eyes and groaned their disapproval to this idea.
(This is no big deal! I mean, come on, is a little change going to kill them or something? What's the worst that could happen?)
"Yes, I know you don't want to, but we're going to change seats anyway. In the front desk to my left will be…..Tikal Talim-san and Kattsu Ashura-san."
"Yay!!" Talim and Ashura both screamed, jumping up and down excitedly. They trotted over to their table and sat down.
"The desk right here in front of me will consist of Minamino-san …" 2
Shuichi stood up, brushed his bright crimson bangs out of his eyes, walked coolly up to the table and took his seat. Many of the girls were starry-eyed and giggling, hoping that they would end up being paired up with him. Ashura and Talim both rolled their eyes at the drooling girls, then continued on with their conversation. Although she didn't show it, even Kakeru was anxiously awaiting who would be assigned as his partner.
(There's a knot in my stomach….I have the strangest feeling that it's going to be…)
"Ah, yes! And his partner will be Hino Sabrina-san!"
Everyone turned to look at Kakeru as she stood up, grabbed her books and slowly walked down to the front of the room. Kakeru looked over at Shuichi and took her seat next to him. All of Shuichi's fan girls growled angrily at her, hoping that their glares would burn through her back.
"Hello, Sabrina."
"H-hi …..Shuichi…" Kakeru managed to stammer out. Sheput her hand to her cheeks and realized they were warm.
(Oh no, I'm blushing! But...why am I so nervous all of a sudden?)
Shuichi noticed that she was blushing and smiled lightly, deciding it would be a good idea to break the uncomfortable silence that lingered between them. "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with an intelligent person such as yourself."
He acted calm and confident, she noticed, and was being very kind to her. In an instant, she realized how shy and aloof she was acting and attempted to perk herself up.
"No, I should be saying the same to you. You're a much better student than I am!"
"I'm not better by much, actually. You're average is only under mine by a few points….."
Kakeru stopped him, shaking her head, so that she could continue with her compliments.
"But you're still better! It's truly an honor to be able to work with you, Shuichi. Maybe you could teach me a thing or two…..?" she inquired, giving him one of her sweetest smiles.
Kakeru look over at him and noticed him blushing ever-so-slightly. She smiled to herself that he was still human, and not stuck-up like most popular people.
"Arigatou. I can tell that we'll make a great team," Shuichi said, covering up his blush with a quick nod and small smile.
While the two partners were talking, the teacher had finished assigning everyone their new seats. "Ok class, now that that is done, let's start on today's lab lesson. Tikal-san, Kattsu-san, pay attention, or I will be forced to reassign your seats!!"
Talim and Ashura stopped talking and tried to look like they were paying attention. "Yes sensei-san!"
"Good. Now then, let us begin the lab experiment. I've placed all the necessary materials on your desks. Follow the instructions and everything should go fine. And just for your own safety, always wear the goggles and be very careful with the chemicals," the teacher instructed.
"Yes, sensei," everyone said in unison.
Kakeru picked up the clear lab goggles, put them on and picked up the instruction sheet. Holding it up so that both of them could see it, she read the instructions aloud.
"You have been given six chemicals labeled A, B, C, D, E and F. Carefully mix these different chemicals together two at a time in order to determine which category they belong to: organic or inorganic."
Further down the paper there was a small note. "WARNING: Whatever you do, do not mix all of the chemicals together at once!" Kakeru gave a worried glance over toward Ashura and Talim, who were staring in wonder at the beakers of different colored chemicals.
(I sure hope they don't do anything stupid...)
"Is something wrong Sabrina?" Shuichi asked.
"Oh, no, of course not. I guess I'm just a bit worried about my friends, that's all. To tell you the truth, they're really not that good at this kind of stuff."
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be just fine. Now, let's begin. Perhaps we should attempt to mix A and B together first. What do you think?" Shuichi smiled.
"Sure, that sounds like a good place to start!" Kakeru stated enthusiastically. No matter how enthusiastic she sounded, though, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
(I'm getting one of those feelings again...like something bad is going to happen...)
"Um...Sabrina...?"
"Oh, gomen!" she exclaimed, blushing at her forgetfulness. "Let's get to it, then."
The two partners began mixing the different chemicals, being very careful about how much of each was added. They worked well together, discussing ideas and observations of the testing. Everything went fairly easy for them.
Talim and Ashura, on the other hand, were practically clueless as to what was going on. They had whispered through the teacher's instruction and missed all of the directions.
"Hmm….hey Talim, oh almighty smart person!...What were we supposed to do again?"
"You know, I have no idea. I think we're supposed to try and mix them together, or something like that."
"Oooo…this one is sooooo pretty!! Purple!!"
"Hn. I like the green one….it's all green and...yeah…Oh, look! Mine has the letter "E" on it!"
"Well….mine has the letter "B" on it, somehow making it better than yours because it's…um….better!"
"Hey, Ashura-chan! If we mix the two together, I bet it will be even cooler!"
"Ok, let's do it then!!"
"Alright, I'll put my green stuff in this glass beaker……"
"And now I'll add my purple one!! Weeeee!!"
"Ah, screw it, let's just dump them all in!"
"Yay!"
Kakeru and Shuichi finished their notes on the experiment and set their pencils down. Kakeru smiled and glanced quickly over at her two friends.
"It sounds like they're pretty enthusiastic about this. I'm glad."
"I told you that you had no reason to worry. I'm sure they're doing fine."
She chuckled at herself. "Yeah, I guess you were right. As long as they don't..."
Kakeru looked over at Shuichi with a shocked expression, and quickly looked back at her friends.
"No, they wouldn't!" she exclaimed.
Shuichi glanced at Kakeru. "But they are..."
"Talim, Ashura, don't mix those together!!" they yelled in unison.
Unfortunately, Kakeru and Shuichi had noticed too little too late. There was a deafening sound and the room filled with billowing grey smoke. Everyone ran out of the room, screaming and coughing. The force of the miniature explosion blew Kakeru backward, causing her to lose her balance and fall. As she was about to hit the ground, someone caught her and quickly helped guide her out into the hallway. She could feel a sharp pain in the back of her head as the world spun around her. The last thing Kakeru saw was a bright crimson blur before blacking out.
"The back of her head is bleeding...don't worry Bri-chan, you'll be alright, I promise," Kakeru's savior whispered softly.
Yay! 3 times longer than any of my previous chapters! Now we actually start getting into the meat of the story a bit...even though you still don't really know much about Kakeru, but you'll find out more about her past and her personality in later chapters (including why she is known by 2 different names). I planned on making this a VERY long story with a lot of fun, plot and romance from the beginning, hence why it's taking so long to get anywhere with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look for another chapter coming up real soon :D Thanks again to all of my fans and those who took the time to read this! 3