Chapter 2
Aftertaste of a sweet desert called 'melody'
On the next day Marui was walking down the hallway towards his classroom. It was early morning and the first lesson was about to start. Hitomi noticed the red headed volley tensai.
"Bunta-kun!" she called out but no response came from the said boy. Hitomi blinked and looked suspiciously at Marui. This wasn't like him to ignore her. She fastened her pace.
Marui was deep in thought and only one thing swirled in his mind. He just couldn't erase that tune out of his mind that he heard the previous day on his way home with Akaya.
"Ne, how'd you like it, senpai?" asked Akaya Marui, as they were walking through a park passed a small river. Marui popped his chewing gum.
"Ah, I must say, you have good taste buds, brat."said Marui.
"Eee… You think so? Thanks ,senpai."
Just then Marui stopped in his pace. He heard a beautiful and peaceful sound coming from his right side. He turned his head in that direction and spotted a group of people standing around, blocking the source of the sound. A beautiful sound of a violin dispersed any other noise and gave the right feeling to the moment. The sound was so soft that Marui couldn't take his attention from it.
"Marui-senpai. Oi, Marui-senpai!"Akaya called out a bit louder than the previous times. Marui snapped out of it and turned his attention to the confused kouhai.
"What?" asked Marui.
"Is something wrong, senpai?"
"No, nothing. Let's go." said Marui and they started walking again. Marui glanced towards the crowd once more and he got as light glimpse of the one playing such a wonderful tune. He could only spot the instrument itself and a ray of light shining on the silky light aqua green strands of hair, swaying to the melody of the wind.
Marui frowned at himself, as he scratched his head. He just heard the same melody over and over again. He was starting to think that he's going nuts! It was just some stupid violin for crying out loud!
"Bunta-kun! Oi, Bunta-kuuun! Volley tensai Marui Bunta!" Hitomi called out and Marui finally snapped out of it. He turned his head to his left, spotting the purple haired teen with a frown on her face. He blinked.
"W-what is it, Hitomi-chan?" asked Marui.
"I've been calling out to you from way over 'there'-" she pointed to the end of the hallway. "-and you only reacted when I called you a tensai." she said still with a slight frown. Marui sweat dropped.
"R-really?" he asked, putting a slight grin on his face.
"'Well, aren't my moves genius-like?' Was what you just thought, right?" said Hitomi with sarcasm, imitating his voice.
Marui turned his head away and grinned. He really did think that. Hitomi let out a sigh.
"Jeez, you're too full of yourself sometimes, you know that. That kind of attitude won't get you any fans-"
"Hey! Don't level me with Atobe." retorted Marui. Hitomi smirked at him.
"Hai, hai. By the way, what happened to you?" she asked with her usual cheerful expression.
"Huh?"
"You spaced out a while ago. Did something happen?" Hitomi asked again, this time looking at the red head intently. Marui frowned yet again as he turned his head to face forward.
"Huh? Oh, not really. Just had some things on my mind, that's all." he stated simply.
Hitomi grinned evilly and rubbed her chin. Now she was sure that something had happened; he was acting very much out of character today. She kept it to herself though and didn't bother teasing him, since he didn't want to talk about it.
Marui started hearing the same tune again. This was getting on his nerves. It seemed to him like the song was set on 'repeat' and it just had to pop out again. Marui stopped and lifted his head. He widened his eyes when he saw the same light aqua green long hair, swaying from side to side in front of him. The melody kept on playing in his mind while he observed the girl in front of him.
She was looking around the hallway and hesitated to stop someone because the passerby's were in a hurry. She seemed to be lost, her expression showed that she needed some help. She had long hair, slightly wavy at the end. Her dark golden eyes showed a soft glow.
Marui observed her for a while, the melody slowly disappearing from his head. Hitomi also stopped and looked at the girl. She figured that the girl was new because she had never seen her before. Marui finally got back to his senses, when he noticed that the girl was looking in his and Hitomi's direction. She made her way to both teens.
"Anoo, could you please tell me where class 3-C is? I'm new here and I got lost on my way. I'm really in a hurry." she said politely. Marui widened his eyes, as he instinctively pointed behind him.
"Just go all the way to the end and turn left. It's the second door on your left." he said.
"Thank you." said the girl and gave a rushed bow.
She then dashed through the hallway following the directions given to her. Marui followed her with his eyes. He got the same glimpse of the swaying hair, as he continued staring in the direction for a while.
'That's Niou's class.' he thought to himself.
Hitomi jerked her head towards Marui and just then the bell rang. She went up ahead. Marui followed the purple head after a few seconds.
The red-headed volley tensau sat at his desk and a deep thought sunk into his mind. He rewind yesterday's and this morning's encounter with the girl. He tried to put them together and thought that that girl might be the same person.
'Nah, can't be.My mind must be playing tricks on me.' he thought, as he quickly shook the thought off.
Lunch break
"Mattaku, that Bunta-kun. He just goes ahead and leaves me alone for lunch, dashing like a maniac because of his favorite strawberry pie. He knows I hate eating alone. Jeez…" ranted Hitomi to herself with a frown all over her face. She was stomping through the hallway, as she then sighed.
"Ou, well, might as well ask nii-sama to have lunch with me." she mumbled, arriving at Hiroshi's classroom.
She opened the door and blinked abruptly. Hiroshi was talking to the girl that she and Marui had encountered earlier in the morning. Niou was standing not so far away from them because the two had some things to discuss. Hitomi made her way towards the teens. She stopped near Niou.
"Nii-sama?" she asked. Niou spotted the purple head next to him and grinned widely.
"Hey, Hitomi-chan. You're just on time, we were about to hit for lunch. Wanna come along?" he asked patting her head.
He was rather close to her and his proximity made her blush. Niou then pulled her closer to her brother. Hiroshi and the new girl turned their attention towards her.
"Ah, Hitomi. Did you want something?" her brother asked gently.
"Not really, just wanted to know if you already had lunch," she answered timidly.
"No, not yet. What happened to Marui-kun?" he asked. Hitomi turned away and sweat dropped.
"It's Tuesday." she said plainly. Niou scratched his head.
"Ah, right." said Hiroshi. Both Niou and Hiroshi knew what this meant: Marui's favorite pie in the cafeteria and he would kill anyone who dared to touch it.
"I bet that sugar freak has his hands full with cupcakes and pies." mumbled Niou.
Somewhere on the way from the cafeteria Marui sneezed. 'Thisisweird.' he thought.
"Ma, whatever. Tres bien." he said and sniffed his favorite pie.
Back to Hitomi and co.
"Forget about him. Umm, nii-sama, this is…" pointed Hitomi at the aqua green haired teen. Hiroshi adjusted his glasses.
"Nii-sama?" the girl questioned and looked at Hitomi's brother.
"Ah, this is Kobayashi Midori, she's a new student in Niou-kun's class." said Hiroshi. Hitomi blinked at her brother and then looked at Midori. Hiroshi then turned back to Midori.
"This is my younger sister Hitomi. She's in class 3-B," he said introducing the two girls. Midori turned to Hitomi and greeted her with a soft smile.
"Nice to meet you, Hitomi-san." she said. Hitomi returned it with a welcoming grin.
Intro
Name:Kobayashi Midori
Age:17
Hair:long/wavy at the end/aqua green
Eyes:dark gold
Hobbies:playing the violin; caring for homeless cats
Likes:strawberries; red flowers
End
"Can we get back to our topic, Kobayashi-san?" reminded Hiroshi. Midori turned back to Hiroshi.
"Sure. I was wondering if I could still sign up for the special sector of the library." said Midori. Hitomi blinked.
"Library?" she questioned. Niou gave a tiny grin.
"Ah, I was supposed to give her a tour around the school and she was curious about the library, so I took her straight here." he said. The two teens stood a few steps away from Hiroshi and Midori.
"Huh. What is the 'special sector'?" asked Hitomi. Niou scratched his had.
"Not so sure… but I think it's where books of high value are kept. You can get access to it, if you sign some papers and stuff. However, the sign up is over and unless you manage to bribe Yagyuu, access to the section is not possible." Niou finally finished his explanation. Hitomi blinked for a second in awe; she had never heard Niou talk so much before. She then sweat dropped.
"I tried once; he refused right off the bat," Hitomi admitted. "Nii-sama is impossible to bribe."
She remembered the time when she tried to bribe her dear brother with his favorite pudding, so that he would do some sort of math problem for her. She just sucked at that one problem.
"Yeah, and perverted to an extent as well…" Niou mumbled. Hitomi didn't quite catch the last bit and glanced at Niou.
"Huh? What was that?" she asked. Niou cleared his throat, sweat dropping.
"And that's what makes the gentleman perfect." he 'corrected' himself. Niou sighed silently.
He remembered last year, when he asked Hiroshi to write an essay for him in Philosophy because he really bad at that subject and he hated the teacher to the bone. Hiroshi tried to diss him but Niou bribed him with porn magazines. He wasn't so sure it would work but Hiroshi took them (bad Hiroshi) and wrote Niou his essay. Niou was shocked at this at first but then ignored it. They were guys after all…
When Niou asked him to give those magazines back, Hiroshi pulled out a box with ashes and scraps of burnt paper in it.
Niou sweat dropped and stared in shock. Just when Hiroshi was about to walk away, Niou grinned evilly.
"You opened at least one of them." stated Niou. Hiroshi shrugged and cleared his throat.
"So you did." said Niou, smiling mischievously. Hiroshi blushed slightly and shrugged away.
Niou's flashback ended and he felt his jaw twitching with a slight grin. He thought that Hiroshi was actually as sadistic as Fuji at some point. His train of thought was cut short as Midori approached him.
"We can go get some lunch and continue with the tour, Niou-san." she said politely. Niou nodded and threw a questioning look towards Hitomi. She grinned in return. At least she could spend some time with Niou.
"Are you coming, nii-sama?" she asked. Hiroshi adjusted his glasses.
"I'll catch you later. You go ahead." he said. Hitomi agreed to it with a soft smile. Niou's eyes softened at the purple head. He liked it when she smiled like that. It brought a glow into his eyes.
The three teens walked down the hallway. Hitomi acquainted Midori with the most important places in school. She helped Niou out a lot. At some point, a thought skipped in her mind that Niou might set his sights on Midori but she quickly brushed the thought away; she just wanted to have her happy moment with her loved one by her side.
"Ah, I didn't thank you and your friend earlier this morning for showing me the directions. Really, thanks." said Midori with a wide grin. Hitomi jerked her head to one side and gave a light smile.
"I didn't really help. You should be thanking, Bunta-kun." said Hitomi.
"Huh, so that's the read head's name." Midori chuckled. She found the name a bit funny but then laughed at herself. Her name wasn't better. It pointed out the meaning of her hair color.
The three teens stopped abruptly when they saw Marui in front with his hands full of packs of different cakes and pies. Midori spotted him at the last moment and managed to stop right before they bumped into each other. Marui didn't quite see the girl in front of him and one pack fell to the ground.
"Speak of the devil." mumbled Niou. Hitomi chuckled at the comment. Marui stared at the aqua green haired teen. When she gave him a smile, he slightly blushed because he had never seen a person sending such a sincere and gentle look. Midori bent down and picked up the fallen pack beside her feet.
"I didn't catch your full name this morning. I'm Kobayashi Midori, class 3-C." she said. Marui blinked for a second. For some reason he lost his breath at that moment.
"Marui Bunta… class 3-B." he said hesitantly at first. Midori grinned widely and jerked her head to one side.
"Nice to meet you, Marui-san. Thank you for your help this morning." She said. Marui widened his eyes for a second.
"Ah, no problem. If you need any help, just come by any time." he said but then perked up at his last sentence. Midori chuckled slightly at that.
"Sure, I will. Here." Midori put his pack back to the very top of the pile in Marui's hands. "Be careful, Marui-san." warned Midori and followed Niou and Hitomi.
"Ah." he mumbled more to himself than her. Marui stared into the ground for a while but then turned around and watched the three teens making their way through the hallway. His eyes most likely followed Midori than the other two.
Marui frowned mentally and started walking again. He cursed himself for saying something he usually wouldn't.
'If you need any help, just come by any time?' Just what was that, Marui Bunta? What the hell is wrong with me?' he thought. He then stopped and remembered the new girl's soft expression. He figured that she was not only good looking but she just had this kind of atmosphere around her that gave kindness and tenderness. He just felt that Midori had a sincere and soft heart.
'Such a beautiful person…' he thought and smirked to himself. He really didn't know anything about her but kind of liked her already. Still, he thought he shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
Tennis practice
Hiroshi was paired up with his sister and they were playing against Marui and Yanagi. Hitomi was good at tennis; she could beat Marui and sometimes even Jackal but she had to put some effort to it. Hitomi and her brother were a good doubles pair. They were siblings and they knew each other's every single move, that's why they were hard to go against.
During the first half of the match Marui's concentration was on top but then his mind wandered off someplace else. He started remembering the previous day again. Why the hell was he thinking about it right now? Why couldn't he just forget it? This started to piss him off and his playing style showed his state of mind. Hitomi noticed his strange behavior.
They started a rally and it was a long one. Hitomi smashed the ball and Marui was supposed to return it with his Rising shot but he froze half way and let the ball pass him. The reason for this was that he heard the same sound of a violin. It was the same tune. He was starting to think that he's going crazy!
Marui stared at his racket until Yanagi came up to him.
"What's wrong, Marui?" the master asked. Marui perked up at his question and sighed, wiping his sweat off with his wrist band.
"Nothing. I just got distracted." he said. He could still hear the violin. Was he really going nuts?
"Then get yourself in the game." said Yanagi. With him as Marui's partner, they shouldn't be losing, even if they're against the Yagyuu's.
Meanwhile, Hitomi and Hiroshi exchange glances and started their counter attack. Marui lost one point after the other because he was distracted too much. For some reason the sound of the violin didn't stop, more like he felt that it came from somewhere not far away.
"Game and match! Yagyuu siblings, 6 games to 4!" announced the referee. Marui missed the last smash by Hitomi and that caused Yanagi and Marui the loss.
"Che, damn this." grunted Marui, stomping off to the bench. He grabbed his towel and started wiping off his sweat.
Just then Hitomi came up to the slightly pissed red head and sat next to him. She observed Marui for a while. He really wasn't himself today, which bothered her. If something happened, she would be glad to help out her best friend. Marui frowned and started twitching. The song kept on repeating and he just couldn't erase it. He twitched. Hitomi blinked at the volley specialist.
"Bunta-kun, are you okay?" she asked. Marui felt a vein pop on his forehead. as he pushed the towel into his bag.
"Eh, I'm fine." he grunted under his breath. Hitomi sighed.
"You don't seem to be. Tell me, what's wrong?" she asked. Marui took a deep breath.
"Well, I would be fine, if my mind wouldn't go nuts over some stupid song that keeps on playing in my head the whole day long." He barked, letting out everything in one go. Hitomi sweat dropped and made a distance from the red head. She faked a smile fast.
"Song? What song?" she asked.
"Ah, you wouldn't hear it anyway. Some violin tune." he said irritated.
"Huh, you mean the violin that started playing during the second half of our match?" asked the purple head and pointed with her finger to the sky. Marui turned his head in a flash towards her and blinked.
"So, you can hear it, too?" he asked in astonishment.
A little scared of his intensity, she nodded hesitantly. It's true, the violin started playing during that time. She had figured that it came somewhere from the rooftop of the school building. It didn't surprise her because she knew that the music classrooms were under construction during the semester break and they would be closed until the next day.
"Huh, I thought I was going nuts." mumbled Marui sighing in relief. Hitomi grinned slightly.
"You said you were hearing it the whole day long. Something happened to you yesterday. Now tell me." said Hitomi, as she leaned closer to Marui. He sweat dropped and leaned away from her. She was scary like this. He just felt those brown orbs piercing through his mind and getting any hidden and classified information. Marui turned away in a flash taking his bag.
"Sorry, Hitomi-chan, some other time. I have to get back to practice." said Marui and left the purple head burning in curiosity. Hitomi smirked and then sighed.
"Ou, well. It's his business anyway." muttered Hitomi to herself. She was about to walk back to the girl's side, when Niou put his hand on her head and stopped her.
"And where do you think you're going?" he asked. Hitomi turned around and spotted Niou. She couldn't help but blush.
"Hey, Hitomi-chan. If you're not tired, let's do some swings." he said grinning at the purple head. Hitomi shook off her nervous state and smiled at him. She lowered her eyes slightly.
"Sure, I don't mind. Only, don't change your playing style to that of nii-sama." she said. Niou blinked for a second.
"Huh? Why?" he asked. Hitomi hid her eyes deeper under her bangs.
"It's just that your eyes become scary that way and it's not the usual Niou-kun that I know." said Hitomi. Niou widened his eyes. He didn't mean to scare her before; he just wanted to help her to become better. Around her he would always be his usual self but never had he thought that Hitomi would've gotten disappointed about it.
Niou stared at the purple head in front of him, who didn't raise her eyes and merely stared into the ground. Niou's hand moved instinctively towards her face. He wanted to touch her face and brush through it softly. He almost touched her cheek with his fingers when - "Hitomi-chan! Come over here!"
It was Akira calling. Niou perked up and withdrew his hand in a flash. Hitomi turned towards Akira.
"Hai, buchou!" she answered. She turned back to Niou and smiled lightly. Niou had already turned back to his usual self.
"Gomen, Niou-kun. Maybe next time." she said and turned to leave. Niou returned the smile and watched the purple haired teen dash towards the other courts. He looked at his left palm and then frowned mentally. He reminded himself that he should forget about her. He just had to deny his feelings. Bury them deep inside and just play your part as her brother's friend! He sighed and told himself, no matter how much he didn't want to.
End of the practice
"Tarundoru! Who left that mess?" hollered Sanada. A group of regulars were outside their locker room, already ready to head home.
"Ma, ma. Sanada, blood pressure, blood pressure." Yukimura reminded and tried to calm the fuku-buchou down but it clearly wasn't working.
"I'm asking, who the hell left that mess in our locker room?" he barked again. Niou sighed.
"Who do you think eats so many sweets in one go?" he asked with sarcasm, for which he received a glare from the fukubuchou. Just then Hitomi and Marui walked towards them. Niou pointed at the red head with a bored look. Sanada glared in that direction and a mass of flames appeared behind him. Meanwhile, Marui was telling Hitomi some sort of joke.
"Marui, tarundoru!" yelled Sanada pointing at the said boy. Marui stopped and sweat dropped.
"Geh, this is not good." he frowned and made a face. Hitomi stopped as well and blinked stupidly. Sanada stomped in anger towards Marui. He stopped right in front of him, only a few centimeters separating the teens. Marui shrugged instinctively and looked at his fuku-buchou in fear.
"Marui, clean up the mess you left right now." Sanada ordered.. Marui shrugged and made a face of horror. He tried his best to fake an innocent expression.
"Ma, Sanada, I'll do that tomorrow. I need to handle some things, so I'll head off first." said Marui. Niou whistled and looked up at the sky.
"Puri. Sweets shop…" he wailed. Marui twitched.
"Shut up, Niou!" he barked at the silver haired teen. Hitomi sweat dropped at the scene. Sanada shadowed the red head and directed a death glare at him intently.
"I'm banning you from any food that has sugar content in it," grunted Sanada.
"Wait a sec! You know I need to keep up my sugar level for stamina-"
"Tarundoru! I don't want to hear the word 'sugar' for a week!" yelled Sanada.
Marui blinked stupidly. "Hey, I said I'll clean the place tomorrow! No need to exasperate," he said. He really didn't get Sanada's anger outport.
Sanada twitched. "Because of your mess, my cap is covered in whipped cream!" He barked, showing his cap to the self proclaimed volley tensai. Marui sweat dropped and sighed. The onlookers did the same.
"Sanada…" Yukimura cut in with a sigh.
"I can't believe Genichiroh snapped on Marui because of his cap," mumbled Yanagi. Hiroshi simply adjusted his glasses without a word.
"Puri," said Niou.
"How lame…" commented Akaya and Jackal managed to whack the kid on the head.
Marui stared at Sanada before looking at his cap and then back again. He shrugged even more when Sanada intensified his glare.
"Marui, don't test my patience," he grunted. Marui shrieked when Sanada raised his hand to bitch slap the poor teen. The redhead immediately pulled Hitomi in front of him and made her face Sanada.
"Hitomi-chan, save me!" he begged from behind. Hitomi looked backwards and blinked at him. Sanada was really scary right now and Marui just didn't have the guts to face him.
"Bunta-kun…" she started but Marui dug deeper behind her back, holding the purple head's shoulders.
"Please, Hitomi-chan. I'll treat you tomorrow for lunch," he added, hoping his friend would come to his rescue.
"Marui!" hollered Sanada. Hitomi sighed at the said boy and then in a flash turned her head to the pissed Sanada. She made a shiny smile.
"Ma, don't be so angry, Sanada-san. Bunta-kun said that he'll clean it up tomorrow. So, lighten up. You look good without your cap anyway," she commented and continued smiling. Sanada blushed at the compliment and stared at the purple haired teen; she was just too cute right now. He was knocked out by Hitomi for quite a while.
The other regulars blinked and raised their eyebrows. They had never seen their fuku-buchou act that way.
"Hou, so Genichiroh is weak against a girl," Yanagi observed. This new piece of information was really interesting in his opinion.
"A new target has showed up. Elimination mode: on," Hiroshi muttered, eyeing Sanada like a hawk, flashing his glasses. He wouldn't let anyone touch his sister, not even Sanada.
Marui finally worked up the courage to glimpse up from behind of Hitomi. "Wow, Hitomi-chan, I didn't know your special charms work even on Sanada." Hitomi just sighed. Sanada finally cleared his throat, still blushing.
"Beware of the manly Sanada hormones," Niou muttered and Sanada blushed even more.
He turned towards Niou in a flash. "Tarundoru, Niou!" He hollered and pointed at the trickster. Niou rolled his eyes and ignored him. Just then Marui noticed the chance and dashed with everything he had as far as he could.
"See ya, guys!" He called from quite a distance and that brought Sanada's attention to the red haired teen.
"Marui Bunta!" he screamed. Hitomi sweat dropped and a slight grin appeared on her face.
"Saa, Hitomi, let's go," Hiroshi spoke, pulling his sister with him. Away from Sanada.
"Huh. Bye, Sanada-san!" she waved quickly and followed her brother. The regulars scattered one after the other, leaving Sanada to his anger manifestation.
"Puri." Niou walked passed Sanada.
"Take it easy, Genichiroh." Yanagi advised and patted his friend on the shoulder. Sanada blinked in confusion. Did they really have the guts to leave him just like that?
"Cheers, fuku-buchou." Akaya grinned. Jackal just walked away.
"Ma, Sanada, see you tomorrow" Yukimura smiled and left, leaving Sanada blinking. He started boiling with anger and let out a scream that startled the whole school.
Marui was on his way back home, walking down the same street with Akaya like the previous day. He had a packet in his hand. He had to buy some ingredients to the cakes that he specially made. Those were the source for his stamina. He also bought a cake that he favored in the shop that Akaya showed him. It was for Hitomi as a 'thank you' for saving him from hell itself, in other words - Sanada.
He was passing the same place, where he heard the violin playing. There was a rather big crowd there last time but there were less people now and he could finally see the one who almost made him go nuts over the day. He took a few steps to the side, eyes widened but didn't go any further. He didn't want the person to notice him.
Midori was playing her violin peacefully. It was a different melody this time but still as beautiful as the last. Marui stared at the girl a while. For some reason he liked what he saw; her dark golden eyes were half closed and he could make out only a slight glow in them. Her hands moved softly, giving the same feeling to the sound. Her hair swayed to the light breeze. A light shone on Midori and that light was what he had imagined would surround her. Warm and gentle…
Marui looked on for a while. He then noticed that the people around her were placing some money into her violin case. He got a bit curious. She didn't seem to come from a poor family; he would rather say that she was raised in a rich and prestigious family. Her behavior and manners at least indicated so. He decided to follow her and see for himself.
'Wait. Why am I so curious about some new girl all of a sudden? This doesn't make sense.' he , for some reason he felt like he needed to know.
Midori finished her little performance and packed her bag. She dashed to the nearest shop with Marui following (little to her notice). After a while she came out and ran, this time a bit slower, down the road with a packet of products in her hand. Marui did the same but kept a distance to avoid being caught; he didn't want to seem like a stalker or anything after all.
Midori reached a rundown, old, grey in color building. She walked in but Marui stayed outside and waited. He knew this house; a kind lady lived there once and some said that she had a weakness for cats, so she brought any homeless cat into her home and took care of it. The building got burned down a few years ago, the lady died before the fire took place. No one really knew what happened to the poor creatures. Most likely, they became homeless again.
Marui waited for ten minutes and Midori rushed out the house with a wide smile on her face. He noticed that she wasn't holding the packet that she had earlier. His eyes suddenly widened as realization hit him. He waited until Midori was out of sight and dashed towards the house. He opened the door and to his surprise, he was welcomed by several 'meow-s'.
Marui stood there observing the scene for a while; a bunch of cats were eating food left by the aqua green haired teen. He couldn't believe that she was doing this in her spare time. A cat brushed against his left foot causing Marui to look down with the same expression. His eyes slowly softened as he bent down to the creature and patted it. Marui smirked lightly, his eyes starting to glow.
"Such a nice person… Ne, neko-chan?" he said.
Marui wasn't wrong about her. She really had a kind heart, maybe too kind. Somehow he got the feeling that he should watch over her and make sure that she wouldn't get hurt. Midori just seemed too innocent and fragile but still something gave her the strength to shine so brightly.
Next chapter
"Disgrace? Those people? You must be mistaken, Hoshimura. Music is for all people to enjoy, no matter where they stand in life. You don't even know the reason why she's doing it."