08.15.11
SCHOOL DAYS
I'm posting this early in the day unlike I usually do. See, I normally write out all my posts a day in advance so I can go back and review everything I've written to make sure it's all right and legible and not too humiliating or damaging to my psyche. The reason I'm doing it differently today is that my friend Mei and her father are coming for a visit. According to Dad, they are set to arrive tomorrow afternoon, and I want to have the place clean and ready when they get here.
That said, let's get back to the story.
First, let me warn you: this next part isn't going to be like the others. There are many reasons for that, the major one I'll explain later. I'm only bringing it up now because the next few posts will be a lot shorter than they have been, and I wanted to give you guys a heads up.
While I'm at it, let me just thank everyone who's been following and commenting on this blog. When I first started out, I didn't think anyone would read it. The few who did would probably stop after the first two or three posts, assuming I'm some kind of ARG writer or, worst case scenario, completely insane. Now, I can't say for sure how many of you genuinely believe this is all true and how many just want to laugh at me, but the fact is that I've gained over 100 followers and I can't thank you enough.
Now, I'm sure that the title of this post has given away just what happened next. For those of you who are confused about the passage of time, the androids had been with me for over a month and a half at this point. They arrived only a few days before Summer vacation started, and since that only lasts a few weeks, I think it's obvious that next semester was going to become an issue.
The truth is, I didn't take into consideration what I would do with the guys while I was off at school. It came to me one night, about a week before my first day back. I woke up to get some water, spotted Kyoya 'asleep' on my couch with my/his laptop resting in sleep mode on the coffee table, and that's when it hit me. It hit so hard, I almost dropped the full glass of water onto the floor.
Just what was I going to have them do while I was at school. The obvious answer was to leave them home and instruct them not to go anywhere. I trusted them to listen at this point, and that they knew better than to complain, but there were still some lingering doubts in the back of my mind.
No matter how much they acted like humans, they were still metal inside and they still had their programming. They were to protect me at all costs, and I don't think being separated from them by such a long distance seven hours a day, five days a week, was going to coincide well with that.
There was another solution to the problem, I realized right away. One that would guarantee that I could keep an eye on them and satisfy the regulations of their programming without causing anymore problems. The only problem was the solution itself.
Could I really trust them to come with me?
How would they even explain six transfer students coming in all at once?
How much would they have to hold back their strength and intelligence so as not to seem abnormal or strange?
Would they even want to go?
Well, as per my new policy of trusting them and treating them like people, I didn't wait for them to ask me. The next morning, when everyone was waking and fully charged, I called for a group meeting in the living room. Seated with them all around me on either side, I explained the current predicament and the options available, my question being which one they wanted to go with.
Needless to say, Tamaki took no time in thinking it over.
"Of course we're coming to school with you, Haruhi!" he said, coming in closer to me, but stopping short of a hug. I was very grateful for that. "We would be so lonely here without you! Plus, I'd love to make some new friends and see what school is really like."
"I bet they have cake in the cafeteria," Hunny said, ever the bubbly cake-lover who gazed at me with wide, sparkly eyes that put every sappy love Tamaki had ever given me to shame. "Do they have them, Haru-chan? Please say they do!"
"Well, I think they do," I answered, placing a finger on my chin. "They aren't like the big ones on TV, though. They serve them by the piece and in plastic containers where they tend to dry out."
"Cake is cake no matter what!" Hunny declared, standing up on the chair and placing his hands on his hips.
I couldn't really argue with that (nor did I want to) and so I just nodded, then went back to the situation at hand. I already knew what Tamaki, Hunny and Mori wanted (Mori would agree with Hunny on anything). That left three more votes to be counted.
"How about you two?" I started with the twins. Kyoya was typing away like always, staring so intently at the screen, I had to wonder if he was actually hearing any of this or even noticed we were there.
The two of them looked thoughtfully at me for a second, then dove into a huddle, speaking in fast, hushed tones that I didn't bother trying to follow. They'd been doing this every now and then for several days at this point. I don't know if this was another programming thing or them just being annoying, but I liked it less and less every time they did it. They eventually came up after at least five minutes of this, wide, closed mouth smiles on their faces as they each gave me a thumbs up.
"We'd be happy to participate," Hikaru said.
"It sounds like fun," Kaoru continued.
I nodded at them, then turned to the final member of the group. It didn't matter much at this point if he said no since there would be a vast majority standing against him. I honestly couldn't predict what side Kyoya would be on. Each would offer something: a chance to show off or time alone in a peaceful atmosphere. Judging from the way he ignore everything for that laptop, I was inclined to believe the latter held more appeal to him. Then, he stopped typing and glanced over the screen at me. Taking in my searching eyes, his pushed up his glasses, making them shine in the sunlight and cover his eyes. He wordlessly turned the laptop around, careful not to let it slip off his lap. I leaned in to get a better look, though this was complicated by Tamaki and Hunny having the same idea at the exact same time. Once I'd avoided bumping heads with them, I went back to whatever Kyoya wanted me to see. It only took me reading three lines to realize that I'd been wrong about him not paying attention or caring.
So very wrong indeed.
"I have everything set up," Kyoya explained, that infuriatingly superior smile returning from a long hiatus with a vengeance. "Our cover story is that we are exchange students. I was unable to get us all in the same grade, but that works more in our favor anyway, as it looks less suspicious. Uniform orders are also completed, and I've compiled a list of necessary books and school supplies. There is a small convenience store down the street which should sell them at a fair price. If not, we can figure out other ways around this minor issue."
"And you've already sent this in?" I asked after a long pause.
Kyoya's smile softened a tiny bit, to my surprise. He exceeded this by shaking his head.
"I've only prepared everything in the even that everyone agrees to go," he said. "Since we all have, I'm just waiting on your okay, Haruhi."
I couldn't help but give a smile of my own at that. In addition, his smirk suddenly didn't irritate me as much as usual. I looked out at the circle of eager faces, the grins they wore filled with excitement and mirth, the way they appeared a small step away from springing up and cheering in joy at the prospect of sitting at a desk taking notes on hour long lectures. I must have been going soft, because even if I had objected to them attending school with me, those faces would have worn me down pretty quick.
"Thank you, Kyoya," I said. "Go ahead and put it through."
And thus, my group of friendly android were on their way to school.
The following week was a blur of shopping, uniform fitting, and me explaining the rules to them. They were pretty basic: don't do anything a normal human couldn't, don't talk about battery changes or programming issues in public, do not try to correct the teachers even if they make a mistake, and so on and so forth.
Since there were no complaints, my mind was put mostly at ease. The fact that we'd all be in different grades still bothered me, however. At the very least, Kyoya had made it so none of them would be alone. He and Tamaki would be in the grade above me, as first years in my school's adjoining High School. Hunny and Mori would be in the grade above them, which left me have class with Hikaru and Kaoru. It was an even arrangement, I supposed. As long as none of the faculty asked any questions, I figured we'd be fine.
On the very first day, I awoke to the strong aroma of burnt, yet still edible breakfast they had prepared for me.
"We wanted you to have something special on our first day," Tamaki told me as I inspected a piece of black toast. "Only the best for you, Haruhi."
"Thanks guys," I said, taking a bite of the toast and almost cringing at the harsh taste. "But you really didn't have to."
About an hour later, we were walking through the front gates and into a swarm of my classmates. Most of the females (and a few males) present stopped to stare as we passed. The reason why was obvious from their blushes and lustful gazes, which of course the androids didn't acknowledge. This made me wonder what they'd do if, somewhere down the line, one of these girls tried to ask them on a date or confess their feelings to them. I knew they'd probably turned them down gently, I just wasn't sure how they'd deal with some of the more persistent ones.
Believe me, my school had a lot of those.
Anyway, we separated at the main office, where the Representatives of the 10th and 11th grade classes were ready to escort their new members on a tour of the building. Tamaki and Hunny each gave me a final hug before leaving, while Mori and Kyoya just smiled at me. If this made the class Reps curious, they didn't say anything, at least not while I was around.
Left alone with Hikaru and Kaoru, I lead them to my homeroom at the other side of the school. It was a long walk, and nobody spoke the entire time, not until the wide open door was in sight. I stopped short of walking in, spinning around to face them, a silent command for them to halt and listen to me.
"Alright," I said. "Before we go in, let's go over the rules one more time."
They groaned in annoyance, probably because I'd been drilling them on this for the last three days. It didn't matter, because this was too important. They would just have to suck it up.
"No twincest during, before or after class," Hikaru flatly recited.
"No finishing each other's sentences," Kaoru went on.
"And no speaking in unison more than once every few days," they finished together.
"Very good," I nodded in approval. "And yes, that time counted."
Their subsequent pouting, I ignored.
Inside the classroom, there was no teacher and about twenty students all littered around the many desks. They were clumped together in groups of four or five, familiar faces of the people I'd studied with since kindergarten. Some of them greeted me as I walked by, and even the ones who didn't had to stop and whisper about the twins. Of course, they enjoyed the attention; smiling and winking like they were celebrities standing before an adoring fanbase.
I took my old seat in the back, Hikaru and Kaoru on either side of me. My homeroom teacher at the time was pretty lenient about seating arrangements, so this wouldn't be a problem. If we could just get through the introductions with no issues, everything would be fine.
The only problem was… getting through the introductions.
"Remember the rules," I hissed at them as the teacher finally entered the room, closing the door behind her with a resonant shut.
Her name was Fujimo-sensei, a squat, round woman of forty. Her long black hair was always worn in a messy ponytail, like she put it up while driving. She wore horn-rimmed glasses and was almost literally blind without them. We learned that a few months before, when the class clown decided to steal them off her desk and carry them around in his pocket for the rest of the day. Fujimo-sensei almost wound up in the hospital.
She was a perfectly nice person otherwise, if a little overly chipper for someone who routinely wakes up at four in the morning. Remember how I mentioned a long time ago that I hate waking up early? Fujimo-sensei was pretty much the anti-thesis of that.
"Good morning!" she sang, striking a pose in front of the desk. "Welcome everyone to your first day back from Summer break! I hope you're all as happy as I am! I know I've been bored out of my mind this last month with nothing to do."
A few people muttered unintelligibly, but everyone else (including me) stayed silent and glared in her direction. This did little to bring her down. I'd say it actually brought her higher up.
"Oh, come on now," she said with a fake frown. "We're all going to have fun this semester. But first, it appears we have some new students!"
'Remember,' I mentally yelled at them, even though I'd found out long ago that mind-reading was not one of their abilities.
With Cheshire cat grins, Hikaru and Kaoru stood tall, basking in the attention my classmates were now giving them. I could already hear a couple of girls whispering about how 'cute' they were. That sure didn't take long.
"Why don't you two tell us a little about yourselves," Fujimo-sensei suggested.
I tensed a bit, nervous in spite of myself that they would accidentally give something away or do something stupid that might get them into trouble before first period even started. It wasn't that I didn't trust them not to deviate from the cover story Kyoya thought up, it's just… okay, maybe I was a little weary that they might deviate from the cover story.
I know I said I was friends with them all now, but trust is something to be earned and it's slow process. It doesn't just magically appear.
"My name is Hikaru," the eponymous twin said. "My brother Kaoru and I have just moved here with ours cousins. We're very happy to be attending school with you."
"We hope you'll take care of us, and that we'll all become good friends," said Kaoru.
"That's so sweet of you boys," Fujimo-sensei said happily. "Everyone, remember to be extra kind to your new classmates. Make sure they feel welcomed!"
At least half of the class would have no problem with that. I'll give you three guesses as to which one.
They sat back down as I breathed a sigh of relief. All throughout the rest of the day, both of them would get little looks from various girls in the class, some of whom also took the time to glare at me, probably jealous that I got to sit in between them. Oh, if only they knew…
The next few periods went by without a hitch, aside from a small incident in science class. In retrospect, I guess it wasn't too big of a deal, but at the time I was pretty upset with it.
"Alright," said my science teacher as he scanned the room. "You, Hikaru, was it? Please tell me the definition of photosynthesis."
Hikaru stood tall and spoke in a loud, strong voice.
"Photosynthesis; noun: formation of carbohydrates by chlorophyll containing plants exposed to sunlight."
"Very good," said the teacher. "Now-"
"Pronunciation: fo'to-sin'thi-sis. Photosynthesize; verb, photosynthetic; adjective."
So yeah. Apparently, they can give full dictionary definitions of just about any word if asked. I didn't know that, leaving me just as baffled as the rest of the class and about ten times as aggravated, or maybe that was only me. Either way, I spent the rest of the period writing out an updated set of rules to drill into them later.
They never took any notes (meaning the money I spent on those books was wasted), but they seemed to be paying attention all the same. A few times, they would share odd looks and smiles, leading me to wonder if they could actually read each other's minds. That honestly wouldn't have surprised me.
Lunchtime came around faster than I'd expected. Since I wasn't in the mood to talk with any of my friends, I choose to go on the roof. There's this nice little area in one corner that's a perfect spot for when the weather isn't too cold. Of course, since Hikaru and Kaoru were with me, I wouldn't be completely alone, but it was good enough.
I sat in the middle of them again, slowly chewing small amounts of rice and fish. It was a good thing I'd prepared my own lunch the night before.
"How are you guys liking school so far?" I asked at one point.
Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other and shrugged.
"It's okay we guess," they said in unison.
I scowled at them, and they just grinned.
"What? There's no one else around to hear us," Kaoru chuckled.
A small group of girls wandered by right, raucously laughing about something or other. Their voices lowered when they saw us, but I could still make out the gist of what they were saying.
"Those are the new kids?"
"Wow, they're so handsome. And there's two of them, that's even better."
"Why are they hanging around that bookworm Fujioka?"
"You'd think they could find someone a little less dorky to spend time with…"
They walked out of earshot at this point and I went back to food. Their words didn't bother me much. If they wanted to think I was a dork, let them. It wasn't like their opinions could physically hurt me or anything.
"Now that you mention it, this place would be better with a few less people," Hikaru spat out, glaring in the direction the girls had walked off in.
"Three less," Kaoru answered.
Clearly I was the only one following such principles.
I thought about scolding them for this, but it was probably pointless. They would just be too stubborn and insisting that they were right.
All thoughts of what had just occurred were lost on me a moment later anyway, when another group came into view and made a beeline straight for us. This time, they were all male and I knew their names, faces, and exactly what they were doing here. I also knew that I shouldn't have been surprised.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded before Tamaki or Hunny could try to hug me. My loud tone drove them back towards the other two members of their party, who stood silently in the back.
"We missed you, Haru-chan," Hunny said with tears welling up in his eyes.
"We wanted to have lunch with you," Mori said.
"Well, we wanted to sit with you for lunchtime at any rate," Tamaki declared. "We'll be sure to head back to our school once the time comes, but for now, I've been away from you far too long, Haruhi."
"You know, it's only been about three hours, and we've been with her the whole time," Kaoru reminded him, Hikaru nodded in agreement.
Tamaki paused, gave them a funny sort of look, then smiled at me again.
"I've been away from you far too long, Haruhi."
They all sat around us, Tamaki making sure to stay closer to me than the rest, much to Hikaru's consternation since Tamaki took his spot. While Hunny started off to Mori about how high up we were and what a great view it was, I was dealing with some serious concerns about this new development. Concerns I was not about to let slide.
"You do realize that you could get in trouble if you're caught wandering off your campus."
"I thought high school students were allowed to go wherever they pleased during free periods and lunch hours," Tamaki protested.
"Senior students are," I corrected, stressing that first word as much as I could. "None of you guys qualify for this. You really shouldn't have come here."
"It does make our lack of an appetite less noticeable if we stick to secluded areas such as this one," Kyoya pointed out. "I checked, and the roof tops of the high school building are sealed off. We could easily get though the chains, but I doubted you would approve, and so we came here instead."
"It means we get to spend more time together," Hunny cheered.
"Yeah."
"Well guys, I appreciate that," I said, only partially lying. "But you really need to be careful. I let you guys come to school with me, please don't make things difficult."
"We'd never dream of it!" Tamaki cried, horrified.
Well, Tamaki, that's never stopped you before, has it?
As it turned out, someone did come by right then, just as I was starting to think they might get away with this. She was a fellow student, probably an underclassmen since I'd never seen her before. She strolled on by, whistling a tune, with a bulging bag at her side swinging with her movements. She did a double take and examined us, noticing the obvious differences between the middle and high school uniform, then let out a gasp.
"Hey! You four are High School students!" she pointed an accusing finger randomly at Kyoya. "You're not supposed to be here."
I sighed loudly and bent my head, ready to try and say something to get this girl off our backs. I didn't know how to explain their presence, I was just hoping something feasible would come to me. It kind of did in the end anyway, taking the form of Tamaki, who stood up and motioned at the girl, a smooth smile in place.
"I'm so sorry, my dear," he said. "It wasn't our intention to violate the rules, we just wished to take lunch with our friends. Surely a lovely young lady such as yourself has plenty of friends and can understand our feelings."
The girl flushed red and looked away from Tamaki's smoldering gaze. I couldn't believe the change that had overcome her, from serious and commanding to giggly and blushing. I guess that was just the, for lack of a better word, power of Tamaki.
"O-okay, I understand," she said, starting to move away backwards. "I won't tell anyone I saw you."
"Thank you so much," Tamaki called after her.
He sat back down when she was at of view, grinning triumphantly while everyone looked on, varying levels of impressed.
"See? No problem at all," he said to me.
I shook my head, still unconvinced, but a little more at ease now. Much as I didn't like the idea of any of them flirting, sincerely or not, with my classmates, it did at least get the job done. I made a mental note to have a talk with them about that later anyway.
"So, what class do you guys have next?" Hikaru asked conversationally. "Me, Kaoru and Haruhi have to go to math class."
"Takashi and I have science," said Hunny. "I bet it'll be tons of fun just like history was!"
"We took a pop quiz," Mori remarked.
"I bet you aced it…" I muttered under my breath before taking another bite of my fish.
"I think we have gym next," Tamaki said. He looked to Kyoya for confirmation, and got a silent nod for his troubles.
"Gym?" I repeated, a sudden weight dropping into my stomach. I whipped my head around to face them. "You guys remember what we talked about, right?"
"Do nothing that might be indicative of our more than human capabilities," Kyoya recited robotically (no pun intended). "Maintain full restraint at all times."
"Good," I nodded. "As long as you both understand… and actually listen."
"Oh come on, Haruhi, you can trust us!" said Tamaki. "We've all had slip-ups in the past, but we learn from them! And we do better next time."
I really couldn't argue with that, Tamaki could be pretty wise when he wanted to be. I also got the feeling that he was including me in that 'we.' I don't think he, or any of them really, were going to be forgetting my own mistake any time soon.
At any rate, that's a non-issue and I have more important things to do than dwell on my growing inability to get an accurate read on them.
I'm going to stop here and try to get back to this within the next few days. Like I said before, Mei is coming tomorrow and I can't let her find out about this blog or that the guys were really androids the whole time. I've been keeping this story from everyone in my personal life and that includes her. I'm going to head out to run some errands when I'm done putting this up. It should only take a few hours, and then I'll be putting my laptop away in a safe place. Once she's gone, I can get back to this. I hope you'll all continue to be patient with me until then.
Now, regarding the next few posts. When I said they were going to be shorter, what I meant was that I honestly don't know how well I'm going to be able to tell the next part of the story. See, after lunch was over and we all went back to our classrooms, I didn't see any of them, aside from the twins, until the end of the day. During that three hours we were apart, something happened.
Something big and earth shattering. Something that almost tore our little circle apart.
When it was over, I asked Tamaki and Kyoya many times to tell me what had gone on that day. All I ever got was stammering excuses (Tamaki) and a quick change of subject (Kyoya). Not even the other androids could ever get an answer out of them, and the only other people who might've known were the ones who were actually there when it happened, and I don't know any of those people. To this day, it's still a mystery and I imagine it will remain as such for years to come.
I'll keep telling the story as best as I can, but don't expect the same kind of flow and detail in my next post. It'll probably feel a lot like it did for me: confusing and headache inducing. Kind of like being in the Twilight Zone while suffering a migraine.
Just a fair warning.
posted by Haruhi at 5:42 pm 0 comments