Author's Notes: There is some interaction between Atobe and Hikari, but there will be no romance between the two. It's mostly childish bickering. Interaction between Hikari and Ootori will come later.

Thank you for the:

- Review(s): Bubbles -Anonymous- (Thank you for pointing out the mistake. I've already amended it :) )

- Alert(s): Narunette, FrauleinRose, MinayNguyen, Woopa, wordcrafter

- Fave(s): chubby-chicken, MinayNguyen, Neo Nitro, shinigamigymnast13

It'll be appreciated if those who fave and alert Louder leave a review as well. I always review a story I fave, even if the author is no longer active or into that fandom anymore. Thank you.~

Previously:

The Mathematics teacher folded her arms. "If that's the case, what's the answer to this Quadratic Equation, Tsutano-chan?"

Previously-mentioned girl eyed the question on the whiteboard warily.

x (2x+5) – 3 (2x+5) = 0

"…the answer is x = -2.5 or x = 3." She muttered after a moment of terse silence. Thank goodness for Eiji-nii's Maths tutoring…

Natsumi-sensei was vaguely surprised. Tsutano had never been good at Maths, and she often made careless mistakes in calculation. "Well… That's correct. No more talking from the both of you, understand?"

The two seatmates exchanged glances, but sighed. "Hai, sensei."

Chapter 2 – A Minor Mistake

Hyotei Academy was renowned for many things: Its tennis team, the well-equipped facilities, huge classrooms, the latest technology in Computer Labs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Despite this, Hyotei's rather spacious rooftop garden was pretty much unknown to most students and teachers alike. When Tsutano was a 1st year, while searching for a place where she could eat or just be alone in peace, she had stumbled upon the tranquil rooftop garden, and was immediately drawn to it.

Lunch-break… Always the best part of the day... Her lips twitched slightly into a barely detectable smirk as she gazed around the familiar lush greenery around her.

She stalked over to a large green hammock tied between two shady trees, carefully sat on it and placed her backpack beside her, before taking out her pearl-white bento box. She silently thanked her neighbour's sister for the meal before tucking in.

The girl ate in silence for a few moments before the hand-phone in her skirt pocket began to vibrate.

"…moshi moshi?" She answered through a mouthful of onigiri, not caring that it wasn't a lady-like thing to do.

"Nya, Kari-chaaaaan!" The hand-phone was immediately pulled away from her ears as the cheerful voice rang out, nearly damaging her eardrums in the process.

"Itai!" She yelped. "Eiji-nii." She growled dangerously into the black contraption. "You know I have sensitive hearing."

"H-heh… Mengo, Kari-chan… I forgot…" Kikumaru Eiji sounded awfully sheepish, which a vast difference from the hyper tone he adopted previously.

Tsutano rolled her eyes. So typical of Eiji-nii… "…it's fine. What did you call me for?" She nibbled at her grilled chicken cutlet.

"Hoi, hoi, I wanted to tell you that I'm picking you up from school later!" Kikumaru exclaimed, his hyperness returning once more.

"…oh. Why?" She asked, poking around at her steamed vegetables. Why is it purple…?

There was some static on the other end, which probably meant that Kikumaru was jumping about, as usual. "Mou, Eika-nee-chan said that as your dearest neighbour and sempai, I have to bring you out for dinner, since Tsutano-oba-san is working late again."

She was unfazed by the news; Her mother was always working from very early till very late as a nurse at Kanagawa General Hospital, so she rarely saw her mother. In fact, she was closer to her neighbours, the Kikumarus, than her own mother. "Oh… Don't you have tennis practice today?"

"Hai… Demo, it's later than usual today, since Tezuka-buchou, Oishi and Fujiko-chan have to go for a meeting of some sort. So I can fetch you to Seigaku, and you can watch me during tennis practice, nya!" She could practically hear his toothy grin through the line. "That's okay with you, right?"

Tsutano sighed, chewing slowly at the vegetables. Oh… It's steamed cabbage… But purple cabbage? I think I'll have to ask Eika-chan about it later… "Even if it's not okay with me, you'll find some way to make me go anyway…"

"Nya, true, true!" He laughed jovially. "I have to go now, I'll see you often school! Try not to get into trouble today with that mouth of yours! Ja~" He sang out.

"Ja." She flipped her hand-phone shut, effectively ending the call. Eyeing her trusty watch, she mentally cursed as she realized that she only had a bit of time left for lunch-break. She quickly devoured her bento and left for class.

"Oshitari-sama, I love the way your play the violin!"

"Ootori-sama, your piano skills are superb!"

"Oshitari-sama, we love you!"

Tsutano twitched from where she stood leaning against the wall. Déjà vu, much?

It was the last class of the day: Music. She was one of the few people who took Advanced Music from Class 2F, and Hiyoshi's worst subject just had to be Music, so she couldn't talk to him instead. Here she was, back in the Music Room, only this time she wasn't alone, and was trying very hard to be invisible among all the arrogant Advanced Music students preening in front of everyone else. It was expected; After all, Hyotei Academy was also infamous for their population of insufferable, snobbish yet talented students.

Speaking of insufferable, snobbish yet talented students… Where on this bloody earth is Atobe Keigo? Tsutano wondered. He was normally – scratch that, always the centre of attention, and at the moment he didn't seem to be anywhere in the room.

Just as she thought that, the lights went out. A few of the fangirls around Oshitari and Ootori shrieked, making Tsutano roll her eyes. Wimps…

Suddenly, a single spotlight hit the mini-stage, where Atobe was standing, the award-winning smirk everyone knew all too well plastered on his face as he declared, "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na!"

"Atobe-samaaaaa!" Atobe's fangirls in Advanced Music were… well, fangirling over the sight of their idol (and Tsutano was totally convinced that they were quite literally, everywhere). A couple of them even fainted from severe nosebleed.

Tsutano, on the other hand, felt like she was gonna hurl. What… the… freak… Atobe…

"Alright, Atobe, I think that's enough for now." Sakaki-sensei announced, sounding half-amused. "Get into your usual groupings and –"

"And let's set to work!" Atobe cut in, flipping his hair and walking elegantly down the steps of the mini-stage, making his fangirls squeal. How the Hell does he do that without falling flat on his face? Tsutano thought in disbelief as she watched.

Shaking her head, she pushed herself away from the wall and stood by the edge of the group of pianists, which included Ootori and Atobe (along with their quite unwanted posse of fangirls).

"Ne, Atobe-sama, what should we do for today's lesson?" A purple-haired girl named Itou Ayume cooed, fluttering her long eyelashes at him flirtatiously. Tsutano felt sick.

"Today Ore-sama has decided that selective people will play an original composition for all of us, and Ore-sama shall critique the piece to help you improve." Atobe replied, tipping his nose upwards regally, making his fangirls squeal yet again. As much as Tsutano disliked him, he was the person-in-charge of the pianist group, and his word was, quite evidently, law.

Do they have to gush over everything he does? Tsutano was getting pretty irritated, before she paused. Hold up. They're fangirls. Of course they gush over everything he does. Baka Hikari…

A snooty-looking blonde-haired boy, whose name Tsutano couldn't remember but she knew it sounded like a sneeze, piped up. "Who will be the ones to play a piece, Atobe-sama?"

Atobe waved the air around him dismissively. "Ore-sama will be the one to choose, of course." His fangirls burst into excited chatter, hoping to be selected to impress their love. "Let's start with you, Ootori."

"E-eh?" The 2nd-year squeaked, a blush creeping over his face. "H-hai, Atobe-buchou."

"We're not in tennis practice right now, Ootori, so you should address Ore-sama as Atobe-sempai." Atobe threw a haughty look at his kouhai.

"H-hai, Atobe-sempai." Ootori mumbled quietly as he flipped through his music file and picked out a music sheet. The crowd of piano students hushed as he made his way towards the piano, sat down, and after slight hesitation, began to play.

Tsutano closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side slightly as she listened to his music. It was a soft, gentle piece, almost like ocean waves crashing against the sand at a beach. His playing was goo– Wait a second… She opened her eyes as a small frown creased her forehead, but she continued to listen attentively.

By the end of Ootori's composition, everyone gave him a round of applause, while his fangirls cheered. "We love you, Ootori-sama!" The boy himself flushed and mumbled an, "Arigtou, minna-san…" shyly.

Tsutano, however, was expressionless. She had noted a minor mistake moments ago. It didn't affect the music much, but her ultra-sensitive hearing had picked it up. "That particular bar… He kept playing a G-sharp… It should've been a G-flat…" She muttered under her breath.

"Arn? Did you say something, onna?" Without Tsutano noticing, Atobe had somehow ended up standing next to her, and had overheard.

She twitched. When did he get there? "…iie."

Atobe raised an elegant eyebrow, before replying loud enough for everybody to hear, "Ore-sama is very sure that you mentioned something about Ootori's playing just now. Come on now, say it again, onna."

The girl twitched again. "…I didn't say anything."

He smirked proudly. "Are you in such awe of Ore-sama that you're afraid of telling everyone about it?"

"Iie, I'm not awed by you at all, A-to-be-san." She stressed each syllable of his name through gritted teeth.

Cue the collective gasp from the piano group (excluding Ootori and Atobe himself), effectively catching the whole Advanced Music students' attention.

"Did she just diss Atobe?" Oshitari was utterly amused by this turn of events. No one ever dissed the Atobe Keigo, who was well-loved by the Hyotei student body. No one… except Tsutano Hikari, apparently.

Atobe's smirk never wavered. "Alright, so why don't you just tell everyone what you said?"

Her fists were balled by her sides as she glared up at him. Damn that bastard and his height! "…fine." She ground out, ignoring the superior look he gave her. "I said… that there was a particular bar… that Ootori-san kept playing wrong…" She muttered grudgingly.

Cue the second collective gasp, this time from everyone in the room (except Atobe, Oshitari and Ootori himself). Ootori Choutarou, the aspiring pianist whose talent was just a bit behind Atobe's, making a mistake? That was totally unheard of!

"Care to elaborate on that, onna?" Atobe asked as he flipped his hair.

Tsutano resisted the urge to punch him. "…Ootori-san played a G-sharp, instead of a G-flat."

Author's Notes: I'm wondering if this counts as a cliff-hanger… Oh well. As you can see, Hikari has quite an attitude, and dislikes Atobe a lot, especially the way he behaves.

I know that Eiji is from Seigaku, but I made him her neighbour because I don't believe someone who lives in a nine-people-household is able to live like someone who lives in maybe a three-people-household. Obviously, his family has to have a bit more money, so I guess he lives around the Hyotei area. Why did Eiji go to Seigaku then? That's up to your imagination to decide.

Reviews are welcome. If you don't know any of the Japanese honorifics or phrases I've used, just ask me in a review. Thank you.

.:Iced Hearts:.

Published: 12th August 2011.