Chapter 3
Keira and Kousei sat next to each other on a bench after class. "Thanks for bailing me out on that question, Keira. You're really smart…"
"Don't worry about it. Just remember that you're working as a logarithm, so it's the exponent rather than a digit."
They were waiting for Koyuki to finish up her last class, since they both finished with breaks. "You know, Keira… Koyuki always talks crap about me, but we're friends still."
"Childhood friends. So were you two ever… together?"
"EH? Umm… that's uncharted territory… we… don't go there…" He looked away from her. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
"No."
He was clearly surprised by her curt answer. "Really? How? I mean, you must have been asked a few times…"
"They were all too boring."
He frowned. "What does that mean? I'm sure some of them were pretty good-looking-"
"Plenty were handsome enough. None of them were interesting enough."
He looked at his pants for awhile. "So… like none of them were spicy enough?"
She shrugged. "Some of them were on the baseball team. I overheard them once hold a bet to see who could date me first. I guess that bet is off now."
He looked thoughtful. "I guess I can see why you'd never want to have a boyfriend. I mean, you're like… what do nerds call them… trophy waifus?"
"Mmm. I guess. I hate all that kind of attention. It's ridiculous."
He nodded. "What makes a guy interesting, then?"
She thought about it. "Well… confident but humble. Funny…"
"Aren't those traits any girl wants?"
She pursed her lips. "Of course. I want a guy who's willing to stand out also. I always imagined my ideal guy as tall… maybe plays the guitar…"
"Guitar you say?"
"Eh? Well…"
Much to her relief, Koyuki came walking over. "Are you feeding Keira misinformation?"
"No. Just the truth."
"Don't listen to this clown, Keira."
He rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not the clown who wants to mate with Ryujin. Senpai! Notice me!"
She looked appalled. "I-I don't sound like that!" she stammered.
"Really… you stare at him a lot. At the same time, he seems pretty oblivious."
Keira stood up. "Well, let's go now. Remember the plan Koyuki?"
"Plan? What is this plan?" asked Kousei.
"Keira!" whined Koyuki. "You couldn't keep quiet!"
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"It's only 9:13," said Koyuki, pulling out her phone. "And he's walking out now…"
Kousei yawned. "I don't get why we're following him. What could he be doing?"
"That's the point!" Koyuki seemed very excited about what was going on. "He may be doing something really exciting!"
"Or he could be just… doing alone stuff…" The Vaporeon walked out of the dojo. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked at his watch. He turned away from where the three students were in the shadows. He took a drink from his water bottle.
"Let's go," whispered Koyuki, and they all followed after her. "What are you doing, senpai?" she whispered.
Then he paused. "Quick, hide!" said Keira. The three of them went deeper into the darkness.
He frowned before adjusting his glasses, which glinted in the moonlight. Then he continued on. "Hmm…"
"Whew… let's continue…" They followed him for about five minutes. He stopped underneath a bus stop.
He pulled out his phone. "Mmm. Yes, I'm here. Okay. See you soon."
"What?! It sounds like he's talking to a girl!" said Koyuki. "No way… I never suspected he already had a girlfriend…"
They waited for about 10 minutes, and eventually, a young Delcatty walked up. "Hey Ryuji!" She hugged him tightly. "Did you miss me?"
"N-no way! It's Mitsumi Nakano! She's the…" Koyuki hung her head. "She's the most popular girl in the grade above…"
"How? He's never mentioned it before… or even shown it!"
Koyuki seemed to be hit hard by it. "I never knew…"
The two older students held hands as they walked next to each other. "You look like you just came from Kendo. Did you show everyone their place?"
"Uh… no. I'm only average…"
The Delcatty giggled. "If it's anything like your average grades, then I sure bet you did…"
Koyuki sighed. "I guess… it's to be expected. He's such a humble guy… some other girl was bound to take interest in him that he liked too…"
Keira patted her on the shoulder. "It'll be okay. There are bound to be other guys around that you'll be interested in. You want to continue?"
"Not really…" She was very dejected.
"Don't worry. I'll question him later. He should make this stuff known to us, at least." Kousei yawned again. "This still doesn't really explain what happened in the bath, unless…" He gasped. "Could they have been making love underwater?!"
"Don't be stupid!" Koyuki growled at him. "A Delcatty couldn't hold her breath that long!"
"Calm down. He was just thinking." Keira pondered it for awhile. "No, that could not have been the case. There is still something that seems… off…"
"I really don't want to watch senpai kiss some girl!" shouted Koyuki angrily before she walked off.
Which left Keira and Kousei together again. "Well… this would be romantic if I had a girlfriend," he sighed. "Lucky senpai… get's to go out with the hottest girl in his grade…"
"But Koyuki… she's pretty… attractive too, right? I mean, senpai must think this…"
"Don't tell Koyuki, but I think she's one of the hottest girls I know."
"Don't worry about it. She'd probably bite your head off right now."
Kousei huffed and looked where Ryujin and Mitsumi had disappeared to. "I still care for Koyuki though. This might hurt her…" He paused. "Even though her parents live far away, we both went to a elementary school up in the mountains. We'd sometimes joke around." He sighed. "Then my mother passed away." The Umbreon paused. "It seems like such a long time ago. I got upset at her once… and hit her… and then… she's still my friend… but she'll be cruel sometimes."
"I sort of lost my father too… my parents divorced…"
"I heard. Losing a parent… is tough. I know." He looked at her. "But really… even though I'm sometimes jealous of senpai… he deserves it more than anyone. His entire family got into a car accident. He lost his younger sister and both parents… I guess he's quiet for a reason."
Suddenly, Keira could see why he was so reserved. "Really?"
"Yeah. He has no parents." The Umbreon stood up. "I know this might seem kind of strange, but I'm in the mood for some curry right now. You want to come with me?"
She smiled. "All right then. I've got no reason to refuse."
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"Wow! This… this is… great!" Keira sat next to Kousei. "How did you find this place?"
"My uncle runs this shop. It's free for me. He even said some friends could come in if we ever need a bite to eat."
"Really?"
A voice behind her chuckled. "Yeah, you probably know my nephew. Yusei. Kousei told me that a new girl moved into the dorm. You're quite the cutie…" An older Typhlosion chopped up some vegetables. "Is she your girlfriend, Kousei?"
"No." He took a bite of the curry and rice. "She's just a friend. Koyuki was here earlier, but she was upset, so it's just the two of us."
"I don't know if the school would approve of two opposite sex students being together this late…"
"Hey, our senpai Ryujin was just hanging around with his girlfriend. We just follow his example. Plus I know that Keira wouldn't have sex with me if I asked, right?"
Keira sighed. "Boys…" She took a gulp of water. "Always concerned with sex."
"Moreso nowadays," said the Typhlosion.
"Alright uncle. It's late. I think Keira and I should be heading back. It's 10:20 already."
"Fine." He took their dishes. "Tell Yusei I said hi and tell him to visit."
"Okay, uncle! See you!"
"Thank you, uncle." Keira bowed quickly before following Kousei out the door. "Kousei…"
She caught up next to him. He smiled at her. "Sleepy?"
"A little. We woke up so early yesterday."
They walked home in awkward silence. "Listen… I know that we barely know each other, but would you mind giving me your number?"
"Oh, uh, sure!" She blushed slightly, unsure of why. She'd given her number to many guys before; what was so different?
"Thanks. Look, we should be going to sleep before-"
"Keira? Kousei? Umm… what are you two doing up at this hour?"
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"You two shouldn't be up at this hour. Especially with all the rules to prevent teen pregnancies and all."
"You're one to talk, Ryujin." Kousei leaned back against the couch. "We saw you with Mitsumi senpai. You never mentioned this to us."
The Vaporeon sighed. "I suppose I should have. Mitsumi… she wanted to keep it quiet." He pulled off his shirt, and closed his eyes. "But why were you two following me?"
"Koyuki was with us," said Kousei. "Keira and Kousei both thought you were lying about the bathroom thing."
The Vaporeon glared at him. "You two, go to sleep now. It's late. If you don't trust me, you can sleep in the bathroom and maybe you'll see what I mean."
"What?" They both looked at him. "I thought there was a no-boy-and-girl bathroom rule," said Kousei.
The Vaporeon stood up. "I trust you not to screw around. 2:00. Let me wash first then you can go see what I mean."
"I don't know," said Keira. "This is getting weird. I'm just going to sleep- wait, I need to wash."
"You go first then." The Vaporeon lounged on the couch. "We can wait."
Keira quickly ran up to the girls' quarters and grabbed her clothes. Koyuki, Saki, and Rin were all sleeping right now. None of them seemed even remotely awake.
Keira soaked in the water for awhile. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. She looked at the massive mirror behind her, and shivered. Her reflected body upset her for some reason. It was a painful reminder of how everyone viewed her; perfect, quiet, and haughty.
She dipped more of her body into the water. She thought of what Kousei had told her earlier about losing a parent. He seemed to deal with it through his jokes and sarcasm. Keira dealt with it through silence.
She paused again. Who's there? She still felt a presence behind her. Nothing but that mirror again. Ryujin's words echoed through her mind. "You'll see what I mean." What did he mean by that? It must have been about 11:00 right now, and she didn't want to stay in the bath any longer. She dried her body off and looked into the mirror again. Are they here too? She frowned before getting dressed and walking out. "You guys take a long bath."
The Vaporeon seemed a little surprised, and Kousei shrugged. "You sure rushed out of there quickly. Spooked?"
"A little."
Hehe… the next chapter will be significant. Be ready!