Chapter six: Pink is not my color
"Serena! Did you hear?" Shizune screamed excitedly as I entered the classroom filled with students. My ears rung with her irritable voice and I shot her an apathetic look.
"Obviously not."
I took a seat next to Kiren and waited for the Queen of Fans to finish, wincing as she continued to squeal and bounce around.
"There's going to be a dance! A dance between the Day and Night Class students after our exams!" She clapped her hands, getting a dreamy look in her eyes and then her eyes quickly narrowed at me. "That means you have to study!"
"Oh, I pity the poor sap who has to dance with you," I mumbled as I laid my head on the cool wooden desk. I heard someone humph and opened one eye to see who it was. The silver haired prefect who sat at the back of class had made the noise, appearing indifferent about the whole ordeal with his arms folded across his chest. He stonily stared ahead at the black chalkboard, no longer paying attention to any of his classmates.
"Try not to fail the exams Fontana-chan! Though it's usually Yuuki-chan who scores horribly. In fact, it was she who left only her name on the paper last year…" Shizune muttered to herself, her hand cupping her chin as if in thought and then went off to hound the other prefect. The poor girl was already getting her ear chewed out by the class president, who apparently wanted a dance with someone named Ruka.
I yawned, grumbling a quick, "Right back at ya idiot."
Kiren smirked next to me, elbowing my side.
"What?" I asked her wearily.
"You have improved your Japanese a lot. I'm impressed." She beamed, her face glowing with pride.
"It kinda happens when everyone near you speaks it."
"That's not true. Aidou-senpai speaks to you in English."
"That's because he takes pity on me. However, when he's using profanity he switches back to Japanese," I yawned again and buried my head under my arms.
"Why are you so tired? What time did you go to sleep?"
I shrugged. I don't remember if I slept. I felt like I was just turning and twisting in bed all night, but every time I looked at the alarm clock it told me a different time so I must have slept at some point.
"If we get the lowest scores on the exams, we have to prepare the back stage!" A girl shouted, causing the girls in the classroom to whine. I chuckled in my own amusement. They were still talking about the ridiculous upcoming dance. Needless to say I hate dances. I hate putting make up on, I hate wearing dresses, you wouldn't catch me dead with heels on and I don't like being too close to the male species.
I. Hate. Dancing.
"Yea! So everyone must study!" Another girl yelled. She supported her comrade into cheering the girls up by suggesting study groups, and then the two girls glared at me. "Especially you!"
"You know, you're lucky I'm too tired ," I mumbled under my breath. It's sad to think that they believed I would do poorly on an exam just because I didn't know their language fully.
Kiren tried to keep the peace. "Serena, this is Asura Kumori. She's Shizune's new roommate."
She pointed to the first girl who spoke.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh goody, another fan girl to torture."
Asura Kumori had bouncy black curls and onyx eyes. She was shorter than me by three inches, slender and stunning. And it irked me. Kiren, hands down, was gorgeous but she didn't flaunt it nor used it to her advantage, which was something I admired about her. Asura, on the other hand, was the type who would bend over so a guy could see up her skirt and immediately agree to anything she said.
Asura eyed me cautiously, as if Shizune told her all about me and my lovely temper. "So you're Serena."
"The one and only."
She shot me a look that told me she wasn't impressed and I smirked in response. It was my way of telling her to back off before I smacked her, but she didn't take the hint.
"You think you're something special, don't you Miss America? Coming over here and taking Idol-senpai from us."
I started laughing. I'll admit. I didn't see that coming. Well maybe I did see that one coming, but the part about stealing Mr. Bunny? Ha! He stalks me! Not the other way around!
"Okay, missy, I didn't take crap from you," I snarled at her, taking her by surprise when I yanked her hair and pulled her down to my level, forcing her to meet me eye to eye. I added venom to my voice as I berated her, "So before you go sticking your nose into my business, I suggest you to have a chat with him. Other wise you'll lose that lovely nose of yours."
She immediately stiffened, obviously taking the hint this time and realizing that I was not above breaking her nose.
"You should leave before making everyone else your enemy, Miss America. Go back to where you hail."
This suggestive order came from the second girl who spoke earlier. I moved my head to face her, actually having to look down because she was the shortest in the class and I was making her feel even smaller with my searing glare. I was practically sticking this little girl underneath my microscope and dissecting every inch. The tiny girl next to Asura had spiky brown hair and brown almond shaped eyes. She was slightly plumper than her taller counterpart, but still pretty in a childish-naïve way.
"What are you? Twelve?" I teased.
She snorted, sticking her chin up in a snobby way. "You can poke fun at me all you want, but I know you're just jealous of my beauty."
I coughed and then laughed loudly. "Beauty? Your beauty? I didn't ask if you were twelve because of your height—even though you are extremely short. I asked because you have a body of a twelve year old. I mean you have no boobs, no butt and no curves!"
Kiren elbowed me to warn me to stop but I was on a roll. Honestly though they deserved it. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, about to fall asleep and they got in my face to pester me.
Well that most certainly backfired.
"Here!" I chucked coins and bills at her. "Take some of this money to go buy some shampoo and soap because you smell like shit!"
When the other students heard the coins fall to the floor, their heads spun to gawk at us. Miss Skunk, whom will have that nickname from here on out, looked ready to cry. She knew she technically reeked of cigarette smoke and it was against the rules to smoke in school. However pissed I was I wasn't about to tattle on her, so I oh-so-politely warned her to go clean up. Shizune, who had been watching from the start, had nearly gone purple in the face with outrage and it was Asura who pulled the two girls away from me before I lashed out again, but not before naming me a demon.
Once the three charming piglets were sitting in their seats, the teacher stepped into the classroom and the students acted like nothing happened.
I learned a few weeks ago that the Japanese put effort in keeping their temper in check because it was tradition and a talent they valued. They viewed people who couldn't control their tempers as savages, so I was on that boat. It amused me since I kinda liked being a savage.
It beats being a lady any day.
VVVVVVVVVVVV
"You were too harsh on her," Kiren frowned, narrowing her emerald eyes at me. "Are you even listening?"
"On who? Miss Skunk?" I was just coming back from daydreaming—only because I realized what time it was. The 'exchange' was about to occur.
She shot me a dark glare and snapped. "Just because you are unhappy with your physical appearance does not mean you can ridicule others for theirs."
I made no effort to reply.
"Kiren-chan! May I speak to you?" A feminine voice interrupted us and my eyes landed on a girl with light brown hair. Sayori Wakaba was her name, I think. The said girl was waving at us and smiling gently.
Kiren waved back. "Just a moment!"
She sent me another warning glare. "Don't say anything to anyone if you're not in a good mood. Just ignore them."
"Yes Mom."
That earned me a light smack on the back, but she took off to meet with our classmate before I could retaliate. So with her absence came the sudden cheers of rabid women chasing after their celebrities. My eyes zoomed in on a certain blonde haired idiot waving, winking and blowing kisses at the crowd of female students. It had been two weeks since we last saw each other and neither of us had bothered to acknowledge that the other existed until now.
Too bad I don't have my baseball bat with me.
I heard more screams, louder this time and I realized it was because the mob was getting closer to where I was standing. I cursed the school for having such a small campus and quickly made my way to the nearest tree, swinging myself onto the branch. Mr. Bunny was still in his blissful oblivion, getting close enough for me to throw a branch at his thick head. That's if I could find a branch big enough to hit him with.
I prefer my baseball bat. It would do more damage since it was metal.
As if he could sense my eyes making holes in the back of his head, Mr. Bunny turned his face to glare right back at me and we glared at each other like it was a contest to see who would die first until a fan jumped in front of him and Yuuki attempted to peel her off.
"Idol-sempai is my God! Do not remove me from my God!" The fan girl screamed, seizing his arm tightly.
From where I stood I could see his frustrated face as he tried to snake his arm out. Funny, usually he likes the attention but I realized the fan was Miss Skunk herself. I inwardly laughed at him, knowing the reason he was trying to get rid of her was because of the smell. However, as more women started to throw themselves on top of him, a vein popped on top of my head and I snarled, sensing my temper flare again.
Possessive, much?
I jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on my feet and rolled my eyes as I once more heard the declarations of undying love. Bright yellow and white lights flashed from cameras and I watched the prefects scold the girls for taking photos. I sighed, knowing that the girls were probably thinking that the world was a sad place when a person couldn't take a picture of their favorite idol. The photos and undeveloped films were torn up.
"If he's God then I must be the Devil," I announced at the top of my voice so everyone could hear me. I only wanted to temporarily divert the rabid women's attention, allowing him some time to get away but I didn't expect everyone to stop what they were doing just so they could stare at me.
Even the Night Class halted.
Asura giggled, batting her eyes at Takuma. "I agree! You are the Devil! Even your hair spells out you're a freak!"
I cocked my eyebrow at her and licked my lips intentionally. "Wow, you're brave for actually saying that to my face rather than behind my back. A freak huh? Well then, get our of this freak's way before she eats you."
Asura—maybe she wasn't too bright—squeaked and hid behind Shizune as if her roommate was going to protect her.
Shizune shook her head at me. "Turning Cannibal on us, Serena? How disgusting."
"You should try it sometime Shizune. Chop off your finger. It might taste better than you think," I hissed at her.
Her face scrunched up, probably imagining the scene. "You're disgusting, Fontana. To think I roomed with you."
I smirked, shrugging my shoulders and then caught the glint of surprise in the eyes of the Night Class students.
Takuma waved at me kindly. "Serena, if you could choose to be God or the Devil, which would it be?"
He sounded curious, playful and innocent even, but his eyes seemed to look for comfort. It confused me and made me feel uncomfortable.
He didn't have the oceanic eyes Mr. Bunny had, no, but they were penetrating in their own way. While Mr. Bunny's eyes had the ability to lure me in and drown me, Takuma's eyes had a different ability. It's true that the ocean was deep, able to play the role of grim reaper by robbing the air in your lungs, and yet essential for life too. After all, where would Earth be without water? But forests were different kind of strength. Trees are what provide Earth with oxygen and give shelter to the animal life.
And that's what Takuma's forest green eyes reminded me of. They were mysterious, hidden and profound. A possible safe shelter from a thunderstorm. It made me feel awkward because I've always had to defend myself, but here was someone gentle enough to look like he cares.
Green orbs waited patiently for me to answer, an answer I myself was struggling to find.
"Didn't you hear her? She said she was the Devil!" Miss Skunk answered him, wailing because Mr. Bunny had succeeded in escaping her death grip. "She's a demon!"
Mr. Bunny, who was now standing next to someone with orange-looking wild hair, shot her a heated glare.
After looking at Takuma's face, which was still gentle and making me fidget nervously, I replied slowly.
Somewhat afraid of sounding stupid.
"I'd be both."
That response created a racket among the female population.
"You can't be both!"
"You're just a Devil! Hogging him all to yourself!"
"Half breed, maybe?"
"Fallen Angel!"
"No angel for her! A vampire! Hahaha!"
The last remark triggered many different reactions from the Night Class. Some of them stiffened and took in deep breaths. Some of them twitched with anger and the remaining looked thwarted. Mr. Bunny, who managed to grab my attention again, looked like someone rejected him on a first date. His oceanic eyes, the currents, were moving again. Switching from anger to disappointment.
"Why both, Fontana-chan?" Takuma's face had gone from kind to melancholy, and his eyes still searched for comfort. At this point I could barely hear him because of the fans going haywire and I was starting to twitch from all the attention I was receiving.
How the hell does Mr. Bunny manage to handle the spotlight?
I swallowed nervous vomit. "To be both God and Devil is to be human," I stated loudly so he could hear me. "Anyone can choose to be good or evil."
If Kiren were here, listening to this crap, she would have been proud. I was finally saying something smart for a change that didn't depend on sarcasm. Relief spread quickly in the Night Class students' eyes and I was beginning to think maybe they're a cult.
A dangerous, voodoo like cult and one day I was going to find a doll figure of myself in Mr. Bunny's pocket with pink pins all over it.
I was about to walk away from the crowd when I noticed three things: Takuma smiling at me triumphantly as if I just made his day…err… night. Mr. Bunny looking at me in an odd way and a girl with pale pink hair who I've never seen before.
She was licking her lips dangerously.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"That was nice of you," Yuuki said, catching up with me after the Night Class students had gone to class. "You took the attention off of-"
"Mr. Bunny so he could get rid of Miss Skunk, I know. She must have smelled something horrible."
Actually, part of me was regretting my action. I should have left him to the hungry, rabid rapists.
Yuuki chuckled. "You have a weird way of nicknaming people, but I appreciate what you did. And I'm sure they did too."
She smiled at me the way Takuma did- the sweet, genuine smile-- and it made me feel uncomfortable so I looked down. When I looked back to tell her that I wasn't going to disobey the rules tonight she was gone. I shrugged it off, knowing that she was probably doing her prefect duties.
VVVVVVVV
I had been bombarding Kiren with information about the star blue-white star named Spica when we both heard our class president giving Yuuki an earful about the dance and how important it was to him for the third time. The guy really was obsessed about that Ruka girl. I tried to ignore him, returning to the subject. Kiren was enthusiastic to learn so when I told her that the star would make an appearance next to the full moon tonight, she grinned. The moon was in Virgo tonight, Virgo being my zodiac sign, which is really ironic. Virgo was the virgin and symbol of the harvest. She is the lady of the Zodiac and I am nowhere near lady. I asked Kiren for her birthday so I could do her charts and she turned out to be a Capricorn.
No longer we got along. We were both earth elementals.
"YOU CAN'T GO THAT WAY!" a frustrated male voice shouted and we came to a stop.
A second later I heard a high pitch giggle and a blur of pink went past me. I watched as the same pink haired girl from four days ago glide across the well groomed gardens. She ran out of Takuma's reach and Takuma chased after her.
"Yuuukii-chan! "
Oh God not him. Anyone but him.
A vein popped on my forehead and I clenched my fists in aggravation as Mr. Bunny wrapped his arms around Yuuki and the girls around us squealed with jealousy. He bent down to whisper in her ears, sending my temper scaling to new levels of fury. I watched him release her and the silver haired prefect ask him to go somewhere where they could talk.
"He's a dead man, isn't he?" Kiren sighed, raising her hand to pat my back but then thought against it.
"Which is more painful? Burning or drowning?" I growled, snapping a twig with my fingers.
"Don't make me answer such an inquiry, Serena, it brings bad luck," Kiren frowned, "Why does it upset you to see him acting like that anyway? It's nothing new."
I ignored the question, turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
Okay, so I was actually stomping in the opposite direction.
After ten minutes of wandering on my own I literally ran right into the same bloody pink haired student. We stared at each other before she smiled innocently and apologized for running into me, bowing slightly.
"Yea, okay, whatever," I mumbled in English and my eyes took in the appearance of her uniform. It was dirty.
"Oh! So you speak English? I am so sorry!" The girl bowed again.
"Well, actually, I understood the first apology," I murmured in annoyance, suddenly focused on her eyes.
Her predator eyes that were narrowing at me.
"My name is Bokyo Kaede." She smiled sweetly.
"Uh huh…"
I studied her body language, which indicated she meant no harm. She appeared fragile, small, but I knew better to underestimate 'weak' people. Erica taught me to be more suspicious of delicate looking people. They were the ones who normally carried weapons since those who could take care of themselves used their bodies to fight. I felt my inner Kiren jabbing me with her fingers, signaling me to mind my manners.
"Right, I mean my name is Fontana Serena."
"What are you doing here? Alone?"
When she said here, she meant out in the middle of nowhere because while I was throwing my little tantrum I had stalked off to God-knows-where. I didn't like the way her yellow-green eyes stared at me or the way she stressed the word alone.
But instead of giving into the ominous atmosphere around her, I fought my ground and made myself sound as rude as possible. "You mean it isn't obvious?"
Kaede chuckled, ignoring my sarcastic reply. "I thought this area was off limits to the Day Class students."
I blinked…so just where did I trudge myself off to? I shrugged, attempting to seem aloof and completely aware of where I was. "Rules are meant to be broken."
"Hmmm…." Kaede's eyes narrowed at me again and she gently caressed her chin with her index finger. "You look…tasty."
"I look what?" I snapped.
She had said tasty so quietly that I nearly didn't catch it. She smiled at me, opening her mouth to say something but another voice in the distance shouted, "Kaede!"
The next thing I knew Takuma was standing directly in front of me. I blinked repeatedly and rubbed my eyes. I knew I was tired, but how did he do that?
"Kaede! You can't just disobey rules! We are not allowed out during the day!" Takuma frowned, not noticing me yet.
"I only wanted to take a look around," she huffed.
I took my time observing her and the way she treated Takuma, which was much like she was toying with him.
"And you shouldn't even be here. This area is for Night Class students only," Takuma scolded me, if not lightly. Even with a frown on his face I could see the mirth in his eyes.
"Right, well, I'll be on my way now," I grumbled, feeling uncomfortable with the two.
I wasn't annoyed with Takuma—there was no way I could be. Damn polite boy. No, I was irritated with her. I had come this way to get away from Mr. Bunny and I had to run into her of all people. I didn't bother waving or saying bye, advancing back to the academy only to see Mr. Bunny on the roof talking to the prefect still. He was balancing himself on something when he looked like he was taken by surprise and looked behind him.
I frowned, wondering what happened. I couldn't see from down below and judging by their faces it wasn't good.
VVVVVVVVVVVV
I felt an elbow stab my side and I grunted, knowing well it was Kiren who was trying wake me.
"Hey, class is over, come on."
"Is it? Already?" I raised my head an inch to look around, finding an empty classroom. Wow, I must have slept through the whole lecture. I gradually stood up, yawned and heard my back pop.
I should stop sleeping in chairs.
"Ugh," I mumbled, feeling like a zombie and allowed Kiren to drag me by the hand, leading me back to our room.
"Have you not been sleeping again?" Her voice sounded far away.
I nodded, shuffling my feet after her.
"Why? I don't hear you at night so it can't be nightmares."
I heaved my shoulders, not knowing what to say to her. She suddenly halted and I collided into her. Not really caring that she stopped, I dropped my chin onto her shoulder and nearly fell asleep on the spot until I heard the class president shriek with happiness because everyone had passed their exams.
Kiren smiled politely and with a gentle tone asked him, "Could you please step aside? We're trying to get to our room."
However the overwhelmed idiot didn't hear her and continued to celebrate by bouncing around the hallway.
I sighed, too tired to be patient and shoved the class president onward once he got close enough. "Move out of my way."
He spun around on his heel, lifting his hand to slap the person who shoved him and then quickly stopped when he realized it was me. "You! You…you did nicely on the exam."
I forced myself to smile. I had actually gotten average due to my lack of sleep, but I doubt the class president was brave enough to argue with me. "Uh huh, now move."
He swiftly stepped aside and returned to bouncing with excitement once we turned the corner and stepped outside. Kiren chuckled, grabbing my arm and placed it around her neck.
"I might as well carry you."
I lifted my head to thank her but then caught a glimpse of familiar pink hair. Kaede Bokyo was leaning against a tree a few yards in front of me and my nerves went haywire. Our eyes locked.
Yellow green eyes vs. mud brown.
Predator vs. prey.
Kiren cleared her throat, slightly waved her hand at the Night Class student and yanked on my forearm. When I didn't respond, she roughly pinched my arm and the pain forced me to look away from the Night Class student.
Kiren frowned and swayed her hips so she would bump me, "Serena-chan."
"Huh?" I said once I came out of my daze. "What?"
"You froze up," she stated and I heard the concern in her voice.
"I'm fine." I forced myself to smile but she didn't buy it.
"You tensed up and became extremely pale. I thought you were going to faint."
I blinked. "I did?"
Then I noticed just how tightly my fists were clenched. My nails were digging into my palms, drawing out little lines of blood. My legs were unsteady and my head felt heavier than a boulder.
"I'm just tired Kiren," I told her.
"Sure," she said, again not buying my lies.
I glanced back at the tree to find Kaede missing and frowned. She had struck a bad nerve in me.
I wasn't going to like little Miss Pinky. Not one bit.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Okay, so I decided to have this take place after the incident with Rido. So...it's a year after Rido's death when Serena started to attend the Cross Academy. I didn't feel like messing with the original events that took place in the manga. (yes...this means Yuuki has already become a vampire--will explain later)
Just to clear up any future confusions oO;;
Haha I have an obsession with eyes, can you tell?
Thank you for reviewing! I'm updating as fast as possible, but I'm starting a new job in a few days so...might take a little bit more time.
Till next time!