Chapter 2 – A New Year!
Harima lay in his bed, awaiting the sun to rise, to feel the warm gleaming light on his face. He sat up, looking around his room. Harima opened up his dresser, only to find a folded up and slightly crumbled piece of paper. This piece of paper changed his life. Harima walked over to the window in his bedroom and opened it.
He held the piece of paper in his right hand. He reached out of the window, and held the piece of paper by his fingertips, nearly letting go of it. But for some reason, he held onto it. As if he couldn't bear to part with it.
All of a sudden, Harima's alarm beeped, he turned it off, got dressed and walked outside. He put on his sunglasses and proceeded toward his motorcycle. He sat on it and about cranked it on, until he heard a loud noise in front of him. Harima looked up, and observed the group in front of him, then muttered "Oh crap."
"Tenma! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!" shouted Yakumo. What Yakumo didn't know was that Tenma was already awake, writing poems for Harima. "Coming!" yelled Tenma. Tenma stood up, tired as ever while she thought
"I'm so tired! I should've gone to bed! No! I must stay up! I'm going to school with Harima today! I wonder what he is doing right now…" Tenma's mind wandered as she ran into the kitchen, ate her breakfast, got ready for school, and darted out the door.
Eri was sitting on a bench with Akira a short way down Tenma's walk. Tenma saw the two and shouted "Eri! Akira! I've missed you!" Eri sat there, smiling. Akira just sat there, but Tenma could tell she was happy. Tenma finally reached them and hugged them both.
"Glad you're happy." mumbled Akira. "Of course I'm happy! You two are here! I'm sorry we all aren't in the same class, maybe you could switch?" asked Tenma.
"I wish" said Eri.
"I think there is some way we can manage getting in 3-A with you" said Akira.
"Please do!" exclaimed Tenma "I'd hate to spend a year without you..." muttered Tenma. Eri looked up and saw Tenma tearing up. "C'mon, it'll be alright. We'll find a way, I just know it! Now let's all walk to school." said Eri. Tenma lightened up and the three started their walk together.
"You really think we'd forget?" shouted the thug leader. "Oh come on! What the hell do you guys want!? I'm busy!" yelled Harima.
"You know what we want Harima!" yelled the thug. "I do…?" quickly replied Harima. "That's it! Your asking for it!" the thug's all yelled and charged towards Harima.
Harima slowly got off his motorcycle, took a deep breath, got in his fighting stance, and planted his feet firmly on the ground. The first thug ran in and attempted to clothesline Harima. Harima quickly ducked under and raised his knee just high enough to hit the thug in his gut. Harima then ran forward and kicked the upcoming thug's face.
"Not now guys! It's my first day of school! Can't we settle this some tomorrow? I'll go easier next time!" the thug leader was furious, his face red hot with anger. "NO! We settle this NOW!"
Harima took off his jacket and threw it on his motorcycle and calmly said "Alright, you asked for it!" right after that, Harima darted forward with unbelievable speed. The thug guarding the leader was quick to respond, he charged towards Harima like a hulking mass of muscle, yelling at the top of his lungs. Harima observed how sloppy he was and dodged the punch thrown at him, then quickly ended it with a hard punch in the thug's face.
The leader watched in disbelief. "Are we done here baldy? I told you I'm busy. Oh, and next time, hire better guys, this was too easy. Now get out of here!" The bald thug ran, not a single glance back at Harima.
"Hell yeah! New record! I didn't even break a sweat! Now, time for school!" Harima threw his jacket back on, got on his motorcycle, cranked it on and sped off!
Tenma walked into class 3-A. She looked around for an open seat for her, Harima, and Mikoto. She walked to the middle of the class and found three empty seats. Tenma sat down and pulled out her binder. She opened it and glanced at her poem for Harima. "I hope he likes it." She muttered.
About ten minutes went by and Mikoto walked in, she took a seat beside Tenma. "Hey there Tenma! Excited about today? I saw Harima park his bike as I was walking in, so he should be here any minute." said Mikoto. "Yeah, I'm excited. But, can I ask you something?" said Tenma.
"Sure." replied Mikoto.
"Well, is writing a poem stupid? I wrote one for Harima and I didn't know if it was stupid or not." muttered Tenma.
"Of course not! It's sweet and it shows you care!" snapped back Mikoto. "Well, ok." said Tenma quietly. Harima walked in and quickly took a seat beside Tenma. "Hey Tenma!" started Harima "You know, I've been thin-" the teacher interrupted. "Ok class, it's a new school year, so let's all get started, shall we? Now I want everybody to stand up and introduce themselves individually. I'll start. My name, is Mr. Tobokachi. Let's start at the front of the room." Mr. Tobokachi pointed to one of the students in the front of the class. The student stood up and started to talk.
Harima looked to Tenma and started "Anyways, I was just thinking, maybe me and you should go on vac-" Mr. Tobokachi interrupted Harima "Ah! A Chatterbox! Why don't you introduce yourself young man?" as he pointed to Harima.
"Ummm…are you talking to me?" said Harima. "Well, yes I think I am." said Mr. Tobokachi. The class laughed. "Uhhh…alright.." said Harima nervously as he slowly stood up. Harima's heart started to beat faster, his palms got sweaty and he started to panic. "Who does this guy think he is!? I'm the baddest badass in school! I don't need to be nervous!" thought Harima.
Harima suddenly blurted out, without thinking "My name is Harima Kenji! I'm the baddest badass in school and I'm in love with Tenma Tsukamoto!"
Tenma smiled and blushed. Harima sat back down. "Well I don't think any of us expected that!" said Mr. Tobokachi. The class laughed again. "Mr. Tobokachi, come here please." said the assistant principal from outside the classroom. Mr. Tobokachi walked out of class.
Mikoto looked over to Tenma and asked "What do you think that was about?"
"Not sure, maybe Eri and Akira got to switch." replied Tenma. Mr. Tobokachi walked back in "Class, we have new students. Treat them like everybody else, ok?" said Mr. Tobokachi. Eri and Akira walked in and Tenma couldn't help but shout "Eri! Akira!" right after that Tenma shut her mouth with her hands.
"Ok then… Eri, Akira, why don't you two grab a seat." said Mr. Tobokachi. Eri and Akira found two seats in the back of the room and sat down. Mr. Tobokachi looked around the room, getting ready to pick the next student to go.
"Mr. Tobokachi, I need you again." Quickly said the assistant principal as he walked in the room. They both walked out of the classroom. Tenma looked back at Eri and Akira and said "Its about time you two got here!"
Eri quickly snapped back "At least we got to switch! Jeez!" Mr. Tobokachi walked back in and calmly said "Alright class, this student has just arrived from the U.S. so let's treat him like everybody else." The student walked back in nervously. Eri muttered under her breath "Oooohhh he's cute!" the student then quickly walked to the back of the room and grabbed a seat.
Tenma took out her poem and folded it up. She wrote "For You" on the front of it. Then she slowly started to hand Harima the poem but suddenly, the paper fell out of her hands, and slid all the way to the spot where the new student was sitting. The new student looked down and saw it had on it "For You". He picked it up and unfolded it. As the student started to read it, he was blushing, his face became red. He looked up at Tenma, Tenma looked at the student. Their eyes met. Tenma quickly turned her head around and hid her rosy face. Harima noticed what Tenma was doing, but was confused as to why. He looked back at the student as the student turned and looked at Harima. The student met Harima's stern glance, fearful of this guy's power.
"Oh no! What if that girl is his girlfriend! And he thinks I'm trying to steal her!" thought the student.
The bell rang. "Class dismissed!" said Mr. Tobokachi. Harima got up and hugged Tenma. The student got up and quickly left the room. Eri, Mikoto, and Akira all got up and started talking.
"So what do you think of the new guy?" asked Mikoto.
"Meh, just another student." mumbled Akira.
"I think he's cute!" shouted Eri, excitedly.
Harima and Tenma walked out in the hall. "Do you think we should introduce ourselves?" asked Tenma. "I don't know, he can find his own way around, right? I mean he IS in high school" said Harima.
"Well, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go talk to him!" said Tenma as she started to walk over to the student.
The student was sitting on a bench. Tenma walked over and sat beside of him.
"Hey there! My name is Tenma, what's yours?" asked Tenma.
"Hey. My name is Tristan." said Tristan, nervously. Tenma could tell he was nervous.
"Listen, I don't mean to be rude. But that paper, wasn't for you." muttered Tenma.
"I kinda figured that. Is that guy over there your boyfriend?" asked Tristan as he handed Tenma the paper.
"Yeah, he is! Do you wanna meet him?" asked Tenma excitedly.
"I don't think that rea-" started Tristan as he was interrupted by Tenma.
"Harima! Come here! HARIMA!" shouted Tenma.
Harima smiled and walked over. "Hey Tenma! Wanna introduce me to your new friend?" said Harima.
"Sure! This is Tristan. He's really nice." said Tenma as she looked up to Harima.
Harima looked at Tristan and said "Ok, first thing's first, everybody knows that I'm the baddest badass in school. I usually don't have any problems with anybody, but if I do, then well, I think you get it."
Tenma looked up at Harima. Harima could tell that Tenma wanted Tristan and Harima to be friends. Harima sat down beside Tristan and said "I like you though, I can tell you're a pretty cool guy. Hell, not a lot of people are friends with a badass like myself, and I'll admit, I could use some. So, what do you say? Friends?"
Tristan waited a minute to take it all in. "Really? You mean it?" said Tristan.
"Really." said Harima as he smiled. "I might even be able to teach you how to become a badass! Badass training!" said Harima. The two shared laughter.
"That sounds like a plan to me!" said Tristan.
"Oh, I'll be right back, I gotta use the bathroom." Said Harima as he stood up and walked to the bathroom.
Tenma looked at Tristan. "I think he'll like your poem." said Tristan.
"Really?" asked Tenma.
"Yeah, I actually write poems myself. And this one, is really good." said Tristan.
"Thanks!" replied Tenma
Harima walked out of the bathroom as the bell rang.
"Well, the bell rang guys, lets head to our next class!" said Harima.