A/N: Yep! Just what I've promised!

More Than Just A Crush

By: Killua K.

Chapter 2: Ignored

Her face was a mere blur.

It appeared to be a phantasm that surreptitiously strode beside me, emanating a quite mysterious aura that slowly overpowered my own presence. Although I barely made out her features, I could very well decipher a discreet grin beyond the haze that permanently distorted her form. She's smiling, I optimistically thought.

But whether or not it was a specialized gift or mere coincidence, her beautiful smile meant the world to me – at least in that moment. It held a very special spot in my heart, always reminding me that even though I had only seen her once, we could always meet in our secret chimerical paradise, with her continuously dancing on stage as I savor every second of her performance.

"Ahoy, Ao-chan!"

She suddenly turned her back from me, and started to take a few paces on the grass-covered earth. I reached out my hand to prevent her from leaving me so soon.

"Geez! Hey, wake up!"

The rooster-head forcibly opened my eyelids by his fingers.

"Aaahh...There ya go! That's much better, lover boy!" Sano straightened his back and laughed loudly, almost in a taunting manner. I tightly shut my eyes for a brief moment then finally flung them open. My droopy eyes glanced at the big wall clock in front of me, and briefly scanned the burning classroom. Realizing that most of my classmates were out, probably eating their bento boxes somewhere under the trees, I stretched my arms and yawned like a little boy, with my big mouth wide open. It was absolutely the hottest day of the month as the sun's unforgiving blaze penetrated through the earth's fragile atmosphere and literally toasted my frail dehydrated body. Beads of sweat liberally rolled down on my face, as if I had micro-mini faucets protruding through my skin. My thin polo shirt was soggy with accumulated sweat and heat from my back and chest. I wanted to undress at that very moment, in order to free the trapped moisture and absurdly high temperature of my skin. But of course, I didn't want to attract any attention, so I simply took a cardboard fan under my desk and vigorously shook it to pump air towards my face.

"Did you eat yet?"

I looked up and saw Sano with his humongous bento. He grinned widely as he placed it on my table and dragged a chair to sit in front. His hand moved over the lid of his lunch box and carefully opened the lock that separated him from his only source of happiness. As he lifted it open, a gastronomically satisfying aroma instantly spread in the air, making my stomach churn ever more.

Sano took his chopsticks and began gobbling up his food.

I didn't expect him to offer me anything, anyway. He simply asked if I already ate, and even if I answered him "yes", he'd still probably display his own delicious stuff and eat like there's no tomorrow.

He paused for a while as he took a bottle of Oolong Tea from behind. He twisted the cap open then drank the cold beverage in one gulp. "Aaaaahhhhh...!" Sano satisfyingly said as he touched his throat by his hand – just like what people do in a Coke commercial.

"This stuff is good, ya know!"

"I know..."

"Hey I asked you if you already ate! So have you?"

"Yah..."

"Well, I really wanted to share my food with you, but as you can I see, I'm almost done anyway. Besides, I need a lot of energy to get through this very, very hot day."

Yeah, right. Humor me.

"Okay..."

"Got a high score in our quiz in Kokugo yesterday?"

"Well, it's okay..."

"Hmm...I see. I shouldn't have asked! You're a genius, anyway, Ao-chan!"

"Will you please stop calling me 'Ao-chan?'" I asked him to stop calling me by that stupid girly name.

"That's why ALL the girls like you! And I mean ALL, Ao-chan! I mean, who wouldn't fall for a vain, in a positive way, intelligent, athletic guy like you? You're every girl's prince charming! The real deal, man!"

I shook my head and tried to dismiss all the 'praises' he threw at me. No, I'm not a girl's prince charming, and heck I'm not even vain! Well, yeah, I spend a long time in the bathroom, grooming my face, hair and all that. But anyway, I don't exist in this world as a girl's mere object of obsession. At least, I don't believe that it's my sole purpose in life. I have my own dreams, too, my own life, my own interests. I can't always be pleasing every girl in this country by parading my looks and abilities. I wasn't born to be liked by stupid foolish girls who cry irritatingly when they get rejected by their ultimate crush. I wasn't made to satisfy their nonsense fantasies and make them happy all the time.

"But, dude, I can't believe you rejected Harumi Imai yesterday! Don't you know everyone in this school found out what you did to the boys' number 1 idol? Hell, what's wrong with you man? You should've just agreed to date her! It's not as if you're gonna get married or anything."

"She's pathetic," I bluntly told my best friend.

"WHAT?" he cried in disappointment. "C'mon! Don't tell me that! She ain't pathetic, man! She's HOT! Do you exactly know her vital statistics, huh?"

I shrugged my head, telling him that I was darn clueless about the girl I met yesterday.

"WHAT?" he shouted again, almost deafening my ears. "She's like the most popular teenage girl in this area! Not only in this school, Ao-chan! Every boy in this city wants to date her, and you, of all people, dumped her just like that!"

I eyed Sanosuke with a blank expression on my face. I didn't want to argue with him about that crap. Every time I would reject a girl, he would come by at my classroom the next day and scold me for not accepting the girl's love. He would say that I missed a great opportunity, that I just destroyed half of my life, or that I simply didn't get it at all.

He kept on ranting and babbling in front of me. Just like always, his stupid senseless litanies passed through my right ear and exited through the left. Hey, if he's saying that what I did was wrong, then he should just date all the girls whom I rejected and try to appease their superficial feelings. I don't care – not at all.

"SORRY? And what's with that, huh? After she reveals to you her true feelings, you just say that you're 'Sorry'? That's sick, Ao-chan! C'mon! Act like a man, bro! You ain't gay! You ain't even a kid no more! At least, say something else. Try to comfort her when she cries! Don't even try to leave her all of a sudden! Hell, that's utterly rude you know!"

"Say, do you like Imai-san?" I interrupted him.

He was caught off guard when I released the bomb. The tension in his eyes suddenly eased into tenderness, and surprisingly, he stretched his lips into a wide grin as he unconsciously played with his hands. "Aaahhh...well..." he said. "She's pretty. Hot. Gorgeous. Sexy. I mean, she's really a stunning woman, believe me."

I stood up from my chair and inserted my hands inside the pockets of my pants. Glancing briefly outside to see the swarm of girls and boys having fun under the sun during this hour, I sighed heavily and turned my back away from the window.

"Go date her then." I simply retorted. Walking away from my friend, I felt a rush of happiness flow through my veins. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed that after a very long time, and after several conversations like this with Sano, I've finally told him what I've been wanting to tell him since then.

The bell finally sounded, resonating its familiar tone throughout the whole school. The last period for the day has ended with our homeroom teacher reminding us that next week would be our Midterm Exams. If we won't study hard for it, he said, we won't definitely enjoy our summer vacation. I believe he had a good reason to say so, since students who would fail in their tests are required to make up for their low grades. It only meant that they had to come to school, everyday of the summer, to attend remedial classes and such. And heck, I wouldn't want that kind of boring life.

Everyone started leaving our classroom, while I prepared my things and stuffed them inside my school bag. When I was about to head off, one female student suddenly popped out from nowhere and interrupted me.

"Uhm, Shinomori-kun, can I talk to you for a sec?" Kaoru Kamiya, the Student Council president approached me surprisingly. I knew she was my classmate, but I never imagined that she'd ever talk to me. "The Student Council is organizing a Summer Party, and we thought that maybe you could help us with it. Is it all right?"

Party? I thought.

"I mean, if you don't want to help, it's perfectly fine. It's just that, many people in our organization specially requested for your presence. Right now, I'm not pretty sure what they're up to, but they told me that your acceptance of this invitation would be greatly appreciated."

Oh, for heaven's sake, don't even try to bother a man like me!

But even though I complained inside my head, I was surprised to find out after a while that I was already walking beside Kamiya-san, heading to the Student Council's room. I couldn't remember how I've come to agree upon what she said, but hey, it's too late.

The petite girl beside me gently slid the door in front of us and pleasingly ushered me inside. As I stepped my foot beyond the door, I found several people sitting around a couple of long tables. Astonishingly, a thunderous clap greeted me, sending a shock to my senses.

"This is remarkable!" one boy shouted happily.

"Now that we have him, our plan will truly be a success!" a girl screamed from somewhere.

"Oh my god! Kamiya-san was able to convince Shinomori-sempai! Unbelievable!" another girl muttered.

I wasn't used to that kind of reception, even to this very large crowd. Secretly pinching my arm, I forced myself to wake up from such a traumatizing dream. I didn't want to be there. Nor did I want to participate in their nonsense Summer Party idea whatsoever. But unfortunately, I wasn't dreaming at all. Standing nervously in front of so many unknown people, I tried my best to keep myself calm and act normally as possible. My heart thudded in a very fast pace inside my chest, and the veins around my eyes started to throb incessantly. My lungs was expanding and contracting abnormally as it tried to keep up with my heart's pace, while my stomach twitched in unbearable agony. It was a silent torture gradually numbing my nerves and eventually poisoning my genuine sense of reality.

"Shall we begin?" Kamiya-san signaled the start of their meeting. I was sitting two seats from her, and I merely shut my mouth, not wanting to involve myself in their boring discussion.

My eyes glanced at the clock. It was 5 in the afternoon. I wanted to go home so badly that for several minutes, I didn't take my eyes off the clock on the wall. What's with them anyway? As if students would bother to party inside the school? Pathetic people...

They continued on with their discussion. They talked about the date of the party, venue, food, attire, theme, monetary contribution, program, games, contests and other stuff. I heard that they tentatively set the date of the party at the end of the Midterm exams Week, and planned to do it in one of the private beaches of Soujiro Seta, the richest student in our school.

They were very ambitious, just as what I've expected from young politicians like them. Very aggressive, and very audacious when it comes to stupid ideas like this. They wanted to succeed in projects that would serve as entertainment for students, not in those activities that could enhance the students' academic and social welfare. How sad, I thought, they do nothing but undermine the very core values that they should represent as student leaders of our school.

"So, Shinomori-kun would be assisting us in this part of the program," Kenshin Himura, the Vice President of the Student Council suddenly spoke. "This is like a documentary show and dating contest rolled into one. At first, we would be filming his life as the stoic, insensitive Adonis of our generation. We'll try to expose his insights about school life and teenage love."

What the - ? I shouted angrily in my head. I didn't want to create any commotion so I simply sat on my seat, letting them do what they want.

"After that, he'd be participating in an actual dating contest. Here, we have to carefully scout for the three perfect girls who can be his destined match. Ahh...Tsubame-chan, would you mind if I make you the head for the contest?"

"No, not at all, Ken-san."

"Great! And so the mechanics would be like this..." Himura-san explained every detail in that seemingly most special part of the program. He, together with Kamiya-san, stressed that the Student Council should do their best in order to succeed in their plans, and most especially, cater to the students' insatiable search for entertainment.

I listened on and off to their very long discussion, until finally, I had managed to leave the room first since Kamiya-san told me that they wouldn't be finished until 8:30. Grateful that she even remembered I was excruciatingly waiting there, I hurried back to my classroom to pick up my stuff and head home.

And then I realized the silly mistake that I have unconsciously done.

When I slid the door open and turned on the lights, I found a girl sitting on my chair, humming a familiarly irritating tune that I've heard somewhere before.

She was pulling the zipper of my bag back and forth as she swayed her head in a very weird fashion.

I glanced at the clock on the wall, and saw the time. It was already past 8 o'clock in the evening.

"Very interesting way to reject me, eh..."

The girl lifted her head and stared at me directly with her huge sapphire blue eyes. I didn't notice any pain or sadness on her countenance, though I really did expect her to act like that. She stretched her lips into a smile and slowly stood up from my chair.

"You know, I like your school bag. It looks pretty sturdy and nice on the outside," she began to say. She picked it up from my desk then joyfully skipped towards me, as she held it out.

"What's the brand?"

Not really knowing what she's up to, I decided to answer her trifle question, taking the bag from her small hands. "Roconails..."

Misao surprisingly laughed when she heard me answer. Her right hand gently patted my bag, as if it were a small puppy deserving attention.

"It's good you remembered to pick it up..." she smiled at me for the last time, turning her head as she started to take a few paces away from me.

"Damn, I'm so jealous of you, Roconails!" Misao finally shouted in the dark empty hallway while hopping away like a little girl.

C'mon! Act like a man, bro! You ain't gay! You ain't even a kid no more! At least, say something else. Try to comfort her when she cries! Don't even try to leave her all of a sudden!

Sanosuke's words surprisingly rang inside my head as I watched her form disappear into the darkness.

Then I realized, Misao didn't cry. What's to comfort for?

She was even the first to leave. Why even stay?

Sanosuke's a total idiot.

TBC...

A/N: Yay! Please review! Hahaha! Misao is really weird..Well, both of them! Ja mata ne!