Making History

The only thing that Kazuto and Shino had to say for themselves was one, simple word:

Why?

Their classmates, on the other hand, seemed to be dealing with the situation quite well. Everyone had gathered around in pairs or groups of three, talking animatedly about what was to come. They chatted and joked with each other like old friends, which they probably were. Some of them had pulled out textbooks to look through while others had paper and pencil to write notes. The atmosphere was generally light and carefree in the classroom that day.

Except for the back corner by the window.

Kazuto was sitting backwards in his chair, his head resting on his arms.

Shino sat normally in her chair. Her legs were crossed and she was awkwardly drumming her pencil on her wooden desk, creating a hollow "thunk" with each tap.

The two teens avoided each other's gaze awkwardly, desperately trying to come up with a way to make this situation less awkward.

Why, out of all the people in the room, did the teacher have to pair them together?

Nothing else seemed to share their pain though. The other students seemed to be content enough with the situation. Even nature was defying them. The sky outside was blue with a few fluffy cumulous clouds here and there, and since it was spring, the cherry blossoms were budding, painting the scene outside the window a flowery shade of pink.

Yep. Just your usual pain-filled day.

After what seemed like a long and intense silence, Kazuto finally struck up the nerve to speak.

He hurriedly cleared his throat before saying "So… about this project thing… What do you want to do?"

"You mean other than what the teacher told us to do?"

Kazuto groaned inwardly. Why was she so mean to him? "Uh, yeah." There was another pause. "Hm. So, the assignment is to create our own Greek city-state with all the characteristics of an actual city-state back in Ancient times."

"Yeah…"

The boy briefly turned around in his chair to snatch a piece of paper off of his desk. "So we have certain parameters." He said, showing her the rubric. "Mostly, we just have to state what religion the city worshipped, what kind of government it had, describe the daily life of its citizens, and then make a scale model. There's a bunch of other stuff on here too, but they're basically subcategories of what I just said."

"Hm…"

Kazuto had a hard time carrying on this conversation alone. He briefly glanced at the time on his phone before coming up with a half-conceived plan of action.

"We don't have that much time left in this period to really get started, so how about we divide up the tasks starting with the parameters? I take one half and you take the other."

Shino glanced through the grading rubric. His plan sounded fair to her. There was an even number of requirements and they seemed pretty simple once everything was organized. This was the best way to get started without too much drama. "Sounds fine to me." She shrugged.

"Class, you need to finish up so we can move on to lecture." The teacher called out over the din.

As Kazuto and Shino went to work choosing which parameters they would get, Kazuto tried to keep the conversation going before it got awkward again.

"So whose house are we going to?"

Shino looked up at him and Kazuto froze when he realized that what he had said sounded weird.

"Uh, I meant about the project so we can build the model, not… anything else."

Shino considered him for a second, trying to figure out whether he had meant his statement in a perverted way. When she deemed that he was clean, she answered.

"Wouldn't working at school afterhours be easier?"

Kazuto considered that for a second. "No. Then we wouldn't have anywhere to keep the model. It would be safer at someone's house."

Shino nodded in understanding. She tried to decide whether or not she wanted to go to either Kazuto's house or hers for the project. Then again, maybe his was best. She lived alone after all, and she did not want to be in her small apartment alone with him. She wouldn't be able to think clearly if she were alone in her house with a boy she barely knew.

But first she had to make sure that his house was ok.

"Who would be at your house if we went?"

At first, Kazuto thought that was an odd question, but after thinking about it for a second, he understood. She probably just wanted to make sure that no one shady would be there.

The boy shrugged. "Just my sister, and she probably won't get in the way. Maybe you met her, she goes to school here."

"Really?" Shino asked, interested. She wondered what kind of sister he had.

Suddenly, the teacher called for everyone to find their seats.

Kazuto stood up so he could sit correctly. "When should we meet? Is Saturday good?"

"Yeah. That sounds fine."

"Great. Where do you want me to pick you up?"

Shino contemplated his question for a second. "At the school gates is fine. Around 13:00?"

Kazuto nodded, a small smile had crept its way onto his face. "Cool. It's a date." Shino's cheeks reddened a little, but he missed it as he sat back down, feeling pretty good.

He had just had a successful conversation with the girl who hated him. They had had a complete, normal conversation with him only screwing it up maybe once. That was not a small feat considering he was the loner-type that barely talked to anyone. And best of all, she didn't just walk off while he was saying something. For the past couple weeks, they had had a habit of having rare but awkward conversations that usually ended when Shino escaped him. This time was definitely different. Maybe their "relationship" was finally turning around.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say that they were making history.


A/N: Just so you know, history isn't necessarily found in a textbook. Everyone has their own personal history. And it goes a lot deeper than just events :)

That made sense right? I just know that the majority of the time, the way i approach these prompts will stretch out the meaning a bit but art can be figurative right? You know what? I'm insane, so most of the time, these stories will only make sense to me, myself, and I. At least i tried!