My Words My Heart
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Chapter 2 – Lost and Found
Kai and Bryan glanced to each other, each as aware as the other that Tala was thoroughly depressed at the idea that he wasn't going to find his precious Minto.
Yup, you guessed it: Tala was finally giving the notebook into Lost and Found, upon order of Bryan, Kai, Ian and Spencer; all of whom had realised that Tala wasn't going to find out who Minto was, no matter how hard he tried.
Tala sighed as he drew the notebook from his bag, ready to hand it over to the woman behind the counter known as Lost and Found.
He blinked as he saw a long-haired brunette stood in front of him. He frowned slightly as she turned round and walked away, sadly. Tala knew he should know her…
"…Kaoru?" he called, frowning. The girl turned and smiled at him, looking almost surprised that he had noticed her.
Tala's frown deepened. "It is Kaoru, right?" he asked. The girl nodded, her bangs of deep chocolate moving at the action.
"Yeah…have you lost something, Tala?" she asked, her voice quiet and soft, just as Tala recalled it to be.
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm handing in a book I found a few days ago." He told her, lying slightly on how long he had held the notebook.
It wasn't like it was her's, anyway…right?
Tala frowned on this, watching as Kaoru walked away again.
She had been at the Library when he had gone looking for Minto; one of the ones who was, for the majority of the time, hanging round in the Quiet Room, with a small group of girls, with the odd boy here and there. Sometimes she was on her own, though, and since Tala never saw her writing, he had decided that she probably wasn't Minto.
But now he wasn't so sure.
Kaoru wasn't very well-known, or heard very often, either. Tala had heard she had great pressure put on her from her father – her mother's whereabouts being unknown, and unimportant to Tala – and that she was quite the artist.
Still, if it was her's, she'd find the note Tala had left within the pages, asking her identity.
Tala put the notebook on top of the counter, not seeing Kaoru turn to glance over her shoulder; merely curious at what book Tala had picked up.
"Tala!"
Tala turned, surprised.
He was more surprised to see Kaoru stood by the counter again, clutching the Lilith notebook, her face pale and blue eyes slightly wide.
"…Yeah?" he asked, blinking at her, turning fully to face her.
"Tala…Did you read this?" Kaoru asked worriedly, nodding to the book.
Tala frowned again. "Yeah…Wait, is it yours?" he asked, his eyes wide at the idea of finding Minto at last.
Kaoru blinked at him – probably wondering what to say – before finding her tongue.
"…I-I know wh-who's i-it is…" she stuttered, not looking him in the eye and brushing her hair out of her face nervously.
Tala raised an eyebrow at her: she was a ridiculously bad liar.
"Kaoru, are you Minto?" he pressed, moving closer to her, holding her by the shoulders.
"…I-I need to go…" Kaoru mumbled, pulling from Tala's grip and racing off, still holding the notebook.
Tala stood there for a few seconds, before shaking his head to clear it, and going back to the cafeteria, where he knew Bryan, Kai, Spencer and Ian were waiting.
"Well?" asked Kai, not looking up from his maths textbook.
"I know who Minto is." Tala gasped out, having run there.
All four heads snapped up at this.
"Really? How? Who?!" demanded Bryan, standing up to fix Tala with a firm look.
"…K-Kaoru Skyling." Tala explained, as he caught his breath. He then proceeded to explain how Kaoru had asked if he had read it, and how she was such a bad liar.
Kai smirked knowingly at Tala, who suddenly felt uneasy around his fellow Russian.
"Remember what you said about Minto, Tala?" asked Kai teasingly. Tala frowned, clearly not. Kai sighed.
"You told us you loved Minto, whoever she is." He hissed, glancing round for Kaoru.
Bryan frowned. "Her friends are Elise and those other weirdoes. I hate to say it, but we'd better talk to them." he added.
Tala and Kai nodded, and started looking for the aforementioned 'weirdoes'.
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"Hey, anyone know why Kaoru's all upset? She just raced past me and didn't say hi…she looked like she was heading towards the Library, though…"
"Hello to you too, Elise – or should I say Ichigo?"
"Shut it, Chloe – or should I say Zakuro?"
Chloe laughed at the scowling look on Elise's face.
"Ella! C'mere!" called Elise, taking charge as she did when things got bad.
Ella bounced over, giving Chloe the chance to seize the pair of Crayola children's scissors in her hand.
Ella looked at her now-empty fist, then at the scissors in Chloe's grasp, and then pouted.
"Cheer up, Lettuce!" Chloe laughed, patting her scissor-obsessed friend on the shoulder comfortingly.
"Whatever. Hey Ella, got any idea why Kaoru's all upset?" Elise asked, glancing round.
They were in the middle of a busy corridor, stood by the row of lockers, somewhere in which were Kaoru's, Elise's, Chloe's and Ella's.
"Hey, you're Elise, Ella and Chloe, right?"
The girls whipped round, their eyes widening as they saw who it was.
"…Yes? How can we help you?" Elise replied smoothly after a pause, smirking at the three boys.
Chloe gaped at them, unable to comprehend that Tala Ivanov, Kai Hiwatari and Bryan Kyznetsov – the school's greatest hotties – were talking to them, and had apparently searched them out for whatever reason.
She frowned.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Kaoru, does it?" she asked suddenly, cutting across Tala, who was about to speak.
The three blinked at her, as did Elise and Ella, before Bryan spoke.
"…Yeah. Tala here found a notebook, and we were wondering if it was her's. She has it now, but she seemed upset about it, apparently." He explained.
Chloe glanced to Elise worriedly.
"Black with a 'Scary Fairies' character called Lilith on the front?" Elise asked, wincing at the answer she knew was coming.
"Uh-huh. Is it her's?" Kai replied coolly. Chloe sighed.
"It's her most guarded possession. She was in tears for three days after she lost it, it means so much to her." she explained sadly.
Tala sighed as well, feeling bad for keeping the book for so long, now.
"She wrote as Minto – I-I love her, whoever she is." He muttered, glancing round, unable to look at the three girls.
Elise smiled sadly at him. "Kaoru is just a nickname: her other nickname is Minto. She wrote under that in her notebook, and even she didn't really know why." She explained quietly. "My nickname is Ichigo, Chloe's is Zakuro, Ella's is Lettuce, and one of the Librarian Helpers, Sam, is Ryou. I'm sure Kaoru's mentioned us all." She added, smiling.
Tala nodded. "So Ella's the one obsessed with scissors?" Bryan asked, smiling – yes, actually smiling.
Chloe grinned. "And most other pointy objects." She added. Bryan laughed, while Ella just nodded.
Elise frowned and eyed the three boys suspiciously.
Chloe and Ella both sighed; neither wanting to know what Elise was up to.
"Okay! We'll help you get Kaoru' heart!" Elise said suddenly, surprising everyone.
"…What?" asked Kai, frowning at her. Elise rolled her eyes.
"Are you deaf? I said we'll help you win Kaoru's heart, silly!" she laughed. "We're Kaoru's best friends, and, since she's already won your heart, Tala, we'll help you return the favour!"
Chloe and Ella smiled and nodded firmly.
"Sure thing!"
"Yeah!"
Elise suddenly turned serious.
"But," she added, "we'll only help on one condition."
The boys exchanged glances. "What?" asked Kai, eying her suspiciously as she had them.
"Easy," Elise replied, tossing her short brown hair over her shoulder, "you pay a little more attention to us, and stick up for your fellow outcasts when we're being teased and called emo, and so on."
Tala, Kai and Bryan sighed in relief, thankful that was the condition.
"Done." Tala told her gratefully, shaking her hand. Elise smirked.
"You're welcome, Darlings." She told them smugly.