Hidden Beauty

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Basket Thirty-Three: Not-so-Secret

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"You know, I've been thinking it over..." Kuroi panted, wiping the trickle of sweat from her face. They had just arrived back from running around the school.

She sniffled, and smirked. "Doesn't this pretty much make you gay?"

Kasamatsu froze, halting in his steps. "What?"

"Well, the rest of the school sees me as a boy, right?"

"Right..."

"And you're a boy."

"Damn." Kasamatsu sighed. "I guess it does, in a way."

"Also, I bet people are going to wonder 'Why Kuro?' instead of 'Why not Kise?'."She started laughing at the expression Kasamatsu gave her.

"That's wrong." He huffed.

"But oh-so-right." Kuroi joked, grabbing her water bottle off the bench to take a sip. "Ah!" She spat her water out, just remembering that she was supposed to meet Mikurei in the library. "S- Sempai! I need to go now!" She cried, running into the changing room. She came out a minute later, fully dressed into her boy attire.

"Wai- what?" Kasamatsu gave her a bizarre stare.

"There's this new girl in my class, and we were paired up for a project! I forgot that I need to go to the library and help out." She explained, stuffing her gym clothing into her duffel as fast as she could.

"Oh, okay... Bye?"

"Bye!" Kuroi was about to run out from the gym, but stopped completely. Fretting, she quickly walked up to Kasamatsu, her face burning red. Kasamatsu gave her a questioning look. Kuroi finally made up her mind, and stepped up to the older boy. She quickly pecked his cheek, and then made her escape, leaving a blushing Kasamatsu in her wake.

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By the time she made it to the library, she was huffing and puffing again. She breathed in deeply, before releasing it loudly. The librarian gave her a look, which she sheepishly smiled at.

Kuroi walked further into the library, making it to the center where all the desks were located. As usual, there wasn't anyone else in there, except for the new transfer student.

"Yo, sorry I'm late!" By that, Kuroi didn't know if she was late or not. But, just to be on the sure side, she said it anyway. She put her duffel bag on the ground beside her chair, and blinked at all the splayed notes across the long table.

"Did you..." She went silent, staring in awe at all the work Mikurei had already done. "An- Hey, wait a sec, we were supposed to do this together..." Mikurei gave her a shrug, making Kuroi pout at her.

"Well, can I do anything to help? Are you missing any information?" The blue haired girl gave a curt nod, spreading out some papers. She had a stack of marine animal books beside her, and also gave a few of those to Kuroi.

Kuroi looked over the papers, using her elbows for support as she studied the work Mikurei did while waiting. "Sorry." Kuroi said quickly. "I took too long and made you work on all this while waiting for my late-ass." She chuckled, an apologetic look flashing on her face.

"Ah, if you want, I could treat you to ice cream or something!" Kuroi suddenly pushed herself from the table, intently staring at Mikurei. She noticed a minor look of surprise pass over the girls face, and smiled warmly. "I'm not too good with dealing with people, either..." She murmured, sitting back down.

Calculating yellow orbs lingered on her, before a present nod made itself clear. Kuroi's smile turned into a grin, and she gave a nod back. "Alright. Is it okay if we go tomorrow?" Another nod of confirmation made her laugh.

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After two hours passed, the librarian walked up to them. "Excuse me, but the library will be closing in about a minute."
"Ah, thanks." Kuroi stood, stretching. She yawned, feeling even more tired from not only practice but having to do homework. She ran her hand through her hair and began organizing her books to put them away. Kuroi replaced the books they didn't need anymore, as Mikurei began packing up their work neatly.

"Hm, do you want me to take it?"

Mikurei paused, appearing to contemplate this, before shaking her head, "No." She said softly. Kuroi shrugged, and zipped up her duffel bag. "Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow!" She gave a wave of her hand.

Mikurei nodded, and Kuroi quickly exited the school's library. 'I think I'll just change here. I'm too tired and lazy to stop at the mall today.' Making up her mind, she decided to head back towards the gym. She knew that no one would be here because after-school club activities were long over by now, and the school would be closing in half an hour anyway.

Kuroi entered the girls changing room inside the gym, a now regular occurrence, and swiftly began to change into her girl uniform. She unraveled the bandages, sighing in relief, and stuffed them into her bag. She adjusted the blazer, and pulled her socks up till they reached the bottom of her knees. Next she put her wig on, and made sure it was clipped into place, before checking over her image in the mirror.

"Okay, good to go." She mumbled, smiling at her reflection. "Ah..." She blinked, staring. She felt her cheek, which was indeed warm, by the looks of it. 'Why do I feel so warm?' She wondered. Giving a careless shrug, she took her bag and stopped at the door. Her hand lingered on the handle, before slowly opening the door. 'Why do I always get so creeped out after leaving?' She snorted at her own stupidity, and left the changing room and gym, then onto her way home.

Unknown to her, she didn't notice a pair of widened golden eyes watching her.

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Whoa, dude. I must have been half asleep when I started typing chapter 24, instead of 23 o.O; *wiggin out* Lol. Anyway, I got a desk today as an early b-day present! TuTb

It's so awesome. *huggles desk*... Although it sucked to put together. D;

~Love me or Hate me~