“I did not.”
Ashen eyes turned to the left…
“You did too.”
…then right…
Oh, please, not again.
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
The eyes closed, left eyebrow twitching.
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
His grip on his spoon was involuntarily tightening…
“Did NOT!”
“Did TOO!”
“DidnotdidnotDIDNOT!”
“DidtoodidtooDIDTOO!!!!”
“DID NOT!!!”
“DID TOO!!!”
WHAM!
Yuki and Kaji nearly jumped out of their seats and turned sharply to look at the head of the table. Ran-sensei was there, right hand pressed firmly on the table, with a pitiful excuse for a spoon was underneath it. Obviously, Ran had slammed his hand down, deforming the spoon in the process.
Ran opened his eyes, narrowing them at the two before him. Kaji swallowed. Their master was slow to anger; he usually just watched the two Stars bicker around. And the fact that he got that irritated is NOT good.
Ran put down his fork, then opened his palm towards the mahogany drawers nearby. One drawer opened, and a spoon came flying out fast, and was drawn to Ran’s hand as if it was a magnet. He then cleared his throat, then continued eating his dinner.
Yuki and Kaji looked at each other, forming an unspoken truce. They, too, turned back to their dinner. But they had not even put anything on their spoons when they stiffened at Ran’s voice.
“So…”
The two turned their attention to their sensei. The man put his fork and spoon down and rested his elbows on the table.
“Waddya guys think about Aiko?”
The question was so simple, yet both Stars were taken aback. First of all, Ran was never one to talk about business during meals. And secondly, he had never asked them about her before… not that way, anyways.
“What do you mean, sensei?”
“How do you think she’s holding up as a Star?”
Kaji and Yuki blinked at each other.
“I think she’s doing great.” Yuki said. Kaji nodded.
“She’s keeping up pretty well… I noticed something, though, sensei. It seems to me the minors have been working overtime since she came. I mean, just look at the past several attacks… they were in GROUPS!”
“Big groups,” Yuki added.
“And we all know minors rarely attack in groups,” Kaji continued. “They also seem to be overly working around her. It’s as if she’s their target or something.”
Yuki nodded. “That’s right. Another thing I’m wondering about is why they haven’t sent Roses yet if they wanted to get rid of Aiko. I saw Maya last week, but aside from that—”
“You saw MAYA?” Kaji repeated.
“Well, actually, yeah…”
“And you didn’t tell us…”
“I told sensei, though.”
“But, YUKI!”
—0—
“Tsk.”
Eyes narrowed and hand gripping the hilt of her sword tight, Yuki kicked the roof and flew fast towards the approaching minors. She slashed a minor to her left, and then right. She did a 270° turn slicing the minor behind her. Not missing a beat, she flew to the next ones, expertly disposing the minors off as if she was just dancing around. She jumped up and kicked the two minors coming at her from both her sides, and shot icicles at the one coming from above her. And for the finishing touch, she thrusted her sword through the last minor facing her, not even giving it time to run away. Drawing her sword back, Yuki sharply turned around, surveying the area for any newcomers. She landed on a roof, still looking around. She heaved a sigh, releasing all her tension in one breath.
Man, I’m out of practice…
Opening her eyes, she jumped from the roof to go to Aiko when she suddenly stopped short, eyes widening at what she saw. Several meters away from her was a girl, her short black-red hair framing her face. With the wind blowing through her bangs, the soft ends brushed her cheekbones. The deep blue eyes behind the girl’s bangs were looking straight at Yuki.
Maya…
What was the Rose planning to do? The last time Yuki saw her was a few days before Aiko came, which was about a month ago already. Yuki braced herself for another round of fighting, though she didn’t move into fighting stance. She was just preparing, not asking for one. Besides, if the Rose made an all-out attack, Yuki would surely lose, or just be very, very, very tired. It was for situations like this that the Stars usually didn’t use their elements at once. She stood her ground and waited patiently for the Winter Rose to make her move.
The girl called Maya narrowed her eyes and the straight line that was her lips became even straighter.
Then, she flew off.
Maya having done the unexpected, Yuki blinked. What the heck?
Deciding to ponder about that later, Yuki shook her head and flew to Aiko’s direction.
—0—
“She just…looked at you?” Kaji asked in disbelief. Yuki nodded.
After a few moments of silence…
“Weird.”
Yuki rolled her eyes. That comment is SO Kaji for a situation like this. “What do you think we should do, sensei?”
“I think I may have an idea…”
————–
Hikaru dug his hands deeper in his pockets. He had been walking around town, partly for the walk, and partly to look for something, though he wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for. He had wanted to get something to cheer Aiko up: she had been pretty quiet these past few days.
But why? He had no idea. It’s been like that for the past weeks, actually. Hikaru had noticed that Aiko was a bit busier than usual. They hardly went home together anymore: she usually runs off after school or track practice, telling them that she had something to do. What that something is, he doesn’t know. In fact, nobody knew. Or at least, nobody they asked.
Hikaru cannot deny the fact that Aiko had a life of her own, and time will come when she probably won’t need him around anymore. She was pretty dependable and sensible on her own already. But still, Hikaru hated that fact. Maybe it was one of those “older-brother-of-two-siblings mentality” Aiko called.
But whatever it was, the fact is this: Hikaru knew practically nothing of what’s going on with Aiko for the last weeks.
Sighing, Hikaru turned to leave the store he was in, having seen nothing that his sister might find interesting. The bells on the door signaled his exit, and as he stepped outside, he bumped into a girl, making her drop her things.
“Oh, man!” They both exclaimed at the same time.
“I’m sorry!” Hikaru apologized, helping the girl pick her things up.
“It’s all right…” the girl said, gathering the pieces of paper threatening to be blown away.
A few meters away, a blonde girl adjusted her sunglasses and her beret, making sure her long hair was kept in place. From the moment she was told to go on this assignment, she knew she wasn’t going to enjoy any of it. Why did she have to go in disguise? She could just keep herself hidden, can’t she?
“Ah, but Fire Soul has keen senses.” her superior had told her.
Hmph. Who cares if he does? It’s not like I can’t take him on any day, the girl told herself grudgingly. Deciding that she was inconspicuous enough, she started to walk away. Until she felt eyes looking at her. Turning her head, she saw a light brown-haired girl looking at her, and so was a dark brown haired boy. The boy looked very familiar to her, but she dismissed that thought. She raised her eyebrow as if to ask “What?” and the other girl laughed and shook her head.
“Oh, I’m sorry for staring,” the brown-haired girl said. “It’s just that your beret looks so cool. Your whole black and white ensemble so complements your blonde hair and light complexion. It makes you look pretty even though your eyes are hidden.” The boy beside her just smiled.
The blonde hair blinked. “Ah…Thank you…” she said, lacking anything else to say. “Well, I’d better go on then, I have things to take care of.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry for troubling you…”
The blonde girl nodded, then walked off.
“Do you always do that?” Hikaru asked the girl in front of him, Rika, as he found out earlier.
“Well, not always, but oftentimes, yeah…” Rika replied. “It’s just that I like fashion, and when I see something I like, I can’t help stare at it and try to copy it. I sew my own clothes, see. Though of course, sometimes I buy stuff, too,” she said, laughing.
Hikaru looked again at the black-clad blonde girl, who was know a bit far from them.
“I SO like her beret,” Rika repeated.
“Hm.”
Suddenly, a realization hit Hikaru.
“That’s it!”
————–
Kaji landed lightly on the top of the park gazebo. He surveyed the area, looking for a particular blue-black haired girl. Of course, it was hard to look for her in the whole of Tokyo, but he didn’t really care. He had to find her and get things straight before–…
Kaji’s thoughts were cut, and he suddenly became still, as if straining to hear something. The people around him bustled about, going about their own businesses: children pulled on their mothers’ hands, pointing excitedly at the most trivial things; young people with their friends, laughing at something; couples talking under a tree. Everything seemed to fade in the background as Kaji tried to pinpoint that…thing…
Then, he spotted her. A girl wearing a white black blazer with a white blouse underneath, a black skirt, stockings and shoes. She had sunglasses on, and a black beret, with her golden hair peeking under it… For a moment there, Kaji suddenly thought of Haruna. But then, in one second as Kaji blinked, she was gone. Kaji jumped from his position and flew over the people, scanning the surroundings for any sign of a black-clad girl… There was none.
Sighing, Kaji decided that maybe he was just being paranoid, especially after his talk with Ran.
————–
Aiko sighed as she hugged her legs. She was in her favorite spot in the park, in one of the “slopey” parts. She called it her Thinking Mound. The wind seemed to always blow there, not matter how still it is in other places. This is the place Aiko always went at times when she wanted to clear her head…and this was definitely one of them.
Resting her chin on her knees, she thought back to the other week. She had already forgiven Kaji for talking back at her like that, but she was still going to wait for him to apologize. Yes, she admitted that he was just trying to save her time and effort, but he didn’t have to yell at her. But, now that she thought about it, maybe Kaji was just pissed off before that to start with. Even Aiko herself was having a bad day then. Besides, Kaji just might have been gearing to apologize to her when she cut him off.
Aiko sighed for the hundredth time that afternoon. Should she wait for Kaji to apologize?
Suddenly, Aiko gasped as a familiar feeling washed over her…
————–
Kaji carefully put the girl on a bench, praying silently that nobody was around to see her flying in the air. Luckily, there was none. Turning around, he cracked his knuckles.
Okay…let’s see how we’re going to cook this…
A minor lunged at him, but Kaji easily avoided it, hitting its nape with his wrist. He kicked the ground, charging at the other minors. He kicked one, punched another, and kicked the other two. He quickly flew a few ways from them, then unleashed a fire wave, disposing them. Kaji’s eyes turned back to the girl on the bench, and, upon seeing a minor going to her, he flew fast towards it. He did a 180 degree turn, though, as he sensed another minor behind him. Kaji swerved sideways and did a roundhouse kick, but the minor grabbed his ankle, surprising Kaji.
What–?!
Minors have never done that before! The minor was unexpectedly strong. Strong enough to whip Kaji up with one hand, and throw him to the ground. Kaji gritted his teeth as his back crashed on the ground.
Aiko ran as fast as her legs could take her, stopping as a shield in front of the girl on the bench. She crossed her arms, blocking the minor’s swipe, then grabbed its wrist. She kneed it on its stomach, then elbowing its back, making it fall on the ground and disappear.
Aiko looked up just in time to see Kaji hurtling to the ground and roughly land on the dirt, getting dragged across the ground due to momentum. As if it wasn’t surprising enough that a minor was able to do that to Kaji — KAJI, of all people — the minor was, even before the dust settled, crouching beside him and gripping his neck.
Aiko was rooted on the spot. She had never seen a minor that strong, and she reckoned Kaji and Yuki never had, too, or else they would’ve told her. Aiko’s mind kept telling her to snap out of it and help the guy, but her body just won’t respond. Seeing Kaji look helpless brought on a bit of a shock. She watched wide-eyed as the minor lifted the Star from the ground. Kaji was gritting his teeth, eyes shut tight as the minor’s grip on his neck tightened even more. In an attempt to get free, Kaji withdrew his one hand (the other was holding the minor’s hand that was strangling him) and prepared to unleash a fire wave. But the minor threw him up, and before Kaji could use this to his advantage, the minor was already above him, and hit his neck with its fist! Kaji was again sent accelerating to ground zero, but before he even hit the dirt, the minor kicked him, making him fly several yards and hit a tree with a loud thud.
Aiko clenched her fist, her brain celebrating for its restored control over her body.
Oh yeah, this minor’s gonna get it.
Kaji picked himself from the ground, wincing as he did so.
Never underestimate a minor…Never EVER underestimate a minor…
His own words echoed in his brain. But still, he had never encountered this type of a minor… They just weren’t made to fight, they were made to collect. Their physical strength had never been threatening, and their means of “getting back” at the Stars were usually shuriken. So what’s this? A new breed of minors?
Kaji exhaled heavily, then looked up, expecting to see his attacker waiting for him, mocking him that he was weak. But instead, he saw it fighting with…
Rookie?!
Not to berate the girl — Kaji honestly thought she had lots of potential — but if that minor was able to kick the crap out of him, then what does she have against him?! But then, Kaji realized, she was holding up pretty well!
A block, a punch, and a kick. Aiko jumped back a few paces, then narrowed her eyes at the minor. This is strange… they’ve been fighting for a couple of minutes, and it seems the minor wasn’t using the strength it had (when it attacked Kaji) on her yet. What? Was it testing her? Whatever it was doing, Aiko didn’t like it. Just then, she remembered something her brother told her: offense is the best defense. With this in mind, Aiko lunged straight at the minor. As she anticipated, the minor moved sideways. But she was one step ahead of it, and she did a roundhouse kick at it. However, the minor was all too familiar with this move. It did the same thing it did Kaji: catch Aiko’s ankle and throw her. But then, Aiko, too, anticipated this.
Hah! Never repeat the same trick twice in a row!
Instead of being stunned out of her wits and get hurt real bad, Aiko generated a spiral wind. And, since she was already sent spiralling in the air by the minor, the wind velocity was far greater for the energy she actually unleashed! With the spiral wind going for the minor, which seemed to be the one stunned by the failure of its attack, Aiko grinned as she landed on the dirt. And, for the final touch, Aiko sent out a wind blast in the middle of the spiral one, making its speed and pressure even greater.
Of course, all this happened in about three seconds, and the minor, strong as it was, was hit by Aiko’s attack, and was sent flying. It disappeared as it was defeated, and the leftover wind was dissipated and formed into a soft breeze instead.
Aiko closed her eyes and huffed in relief now that that was over with. Then, she remembered something. Quickly turning around and expecting to see a fallen Star, Aiko nearly tripped when she saw that he was already standing up, though leaning on the tree for support. She felt everything around her melt into darkness as her eyes focused on the maroon-haired boy. Almost involuntarily, Aiko ran to him, and squeezed the life out of him, whatever he had left.
“You’re all right!” she breathed. “You’re all right…”
To say that Kaji was stunned would be an understatement. Didn’t Aiko hate him?
-Idiot. Would he rather that she did?-
‘Course not.
-So let’s not think about that.-
Kaji smirked. This was one of those rare times when that small voice wasn’t insulting him.
“Yeah…” he said as he lightly returned Aiko’s embrace.
They stayed like that for several moments, until a groan from a nearby bench reminded them why Kaji was in the state he was in. The girl on the bench, the minors’ target, was waking up. Aiko slowly released Kaji, making sure he could stand on his own. Then, Kaji spoke up.
“You’re visible.”
“What?”
“I said, you’re visible.”
Aiko blinked. Oops… she had no time to turn herself unvisible, since the girl was already looking at her. Not knowing what to do, Aiko smiled.
“So…ummm… How’re you feeling?” Aiko asked, her mind whirring for an explanation for the girl’s possible questions.
“I…I think I’m fine…” the girl said, running her fingers through her light brown bangs. “What happened?”
“You fainted,” Kaji coached.
“You fainted.” Aiko repeated.
“Oh…” the girl replied. Then she shot up straight. “My papers!”
“She’s sitting on them.”
“You’re sitting on them.”
The girl looked down at herself, and found that she was indeed sitting on her “papers”. “Oh, good. I thought I lost them…” she said, gathering her things in her arms as Aiko approached her.
“Where do you live? Can I help you get back home?” Aiko asked.
“No, thank you. My house is very near here. I think I can make it on my own,” she said, standing up.
“OK…”
“Thank you again…umm…”
“Aiko.”
“Aiko. Thank you. I’m Rika.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Rika nodded. “Well, I ought to be going now.”
“All right.”
While this whole thing was going on, Kaji kept looking around them as he dusted himself. There was that nagging feeling again. That feeling of being watched. He barely heard Aiko and the other girl say their introductions, and he also nearly missed hearing Aiko calling him.
“Kaji!”
“What?” Kaji asked, abruptly turning to the girl.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Kaji replied, sighing. He sat on the bench and combed his fingers through his hair. He really WAS getting paranoid.
“Are you sure?”
Kaji looked at the girl that had sat beside him, her dark grey eyes looking straight at him, full of worry. He absolutely hated himself for making her worry like that.
“Yeah.”
“‘k…” Aiko smiled wanly. But she wasn’t convinced, and Kaji knew it. He decided to change the subject… But what’s there to talk about without sounding lame? It was then that Kaji remembered why he went to the park in the first place. Mustering his guts that seemed to have disappeared the last few days…
“Rookie…about last week…” Kaji trailed off as Aiko’s face fell.
No, no, no… Just go on! he told himself as Aiko looked away from him.
“About last week—”
“I’m sorry.” Aiko interrupted.
Kaji blinked. Huh? SHE’s apologizing?!
“I got emotional and acted irrationally. You gave orders, and I disobeyed. I was just simply not using my head…”
Kaji bit his lip and turned his eyes to the trees, thinking as to how he would reply.
“Hm.” was his oh-so-intelligent answer.
“You had every right to shout at me then,” she added.
“No.”
Aiko quickly turned to him, a surprised look on her face.
“No, I didn’t. Just because both of us wasn’t having the perfect day then doesn’t give anybody the right to shout at the other. Just as you’re apologizing for being emotional, I’m apologizing for having such a short temper. I should’ve that afternoon…”
“I didn’t really give you a chance, did I? I’m sorry,” she repeated.
After a moment, Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed and he pointed his finger at Aiko’s nose.
“Oei,” he said firmly while trying to keep a serious face. “That’s supposed to be MY line.”
Aiko smiled slowly. “Yeah…”
With the mood finally lightened up again, Kaji’s face broke into a grin and leaned his elbows on his knees. Yup, he felt better than he had for a week. Then, he remembered something. The other thing he wanted to talk to Aiko about.
“Hey, R—”
“OEI AIKO!”
The two Stars turned, and saw Hikaru running to them.
“Gah, I knew you were around here somewhere!” He exclaimed jogging towards them, “Good thing I checked first before I went back home.”
“You were looking for me?” Aiko asked, standing up, as Kaji stood up as well.
“Yeah,” Hikaru scratched his hair. “I took the chance of seeing you at your Mound. I thought we could go home together… and I wanted to give you something…”
“OK…” Aiko sideglanced Kaji, and was a relieved that he was still unvisible. If she was seen in a secluded place with a boy he didn’t know, Hikaru was going to have a lot of questions.
“Here,” Hikaru said, giving her a package.
“What’s this?”
Hikaru rolled his eyes. “Would I even have it wrapped if I was going to tell you anyways?”
Aiko shrugged and opened the package, and inside it, she saw a light blue fisherman’s cap, with a design of a black rose on it.
“Kawaii!” Aiko giggled and tried it on.
“I knew you liked berets and fisherman’s caps…but you never had any aside from baseball ones, so I thought maybe you’d like to have one of these… I couldn’t find any not-so-common-looking berets…”
“Aw, ‘niichan, thank you!”
“Yeah, well…” Hikaru shrugged, but smiled, seeing that his Operation Cheer-up worked. “So… Wanna go home now? Or are you still going to stay here and be sentimental?” he asked a bit teasingly.
“Well…” Aiko looked at Kaji. She remembered that he was going to say something.
He just smiled and shrugged. “Whatever. I think you should go home…It’s getting bit dark.”
“All right.” Aiko replied to both boys with her.
“So shall we?” Hikaru offered his arm. Aiko laughed, shaking her head. She took his arm and slowly started walking. She glanced back, where Kaji was walking behind them. She mentally apologized to Kaji that their talk was cut short. He seemed to get the idea, then quickened his pace, taking the position beside her.
“I’ll just see you tomorrow, OK?” he told her. Aiko nodded slightly.
“By the way, it looks great on you,” he said, jerking his head to indicate the cap.
Aiko smiled and mouthed “thanks” to him.
“See ya.” Kaji said, waving his hand once, then jumped off the ground, flying back to Ran’s.
“You seem awfully quiet,” Hikaru told his sister.
“Sorry, I was just wrapping up my ‘thinking session’. Hehe…I’m done now.”
Hikaru raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Yeah, uh-huh…” Aiko just smiled.
The sun had completely set by now, and the sky was a mix of red and blue. Several meters behind the siblings, the girl dressed in black stepped out of the trees, watching the two walk away…
————–
Aiko yawned in her hand as she walked towards the school. She hadn’t slept well the previous night, and, honestly, she didn’t know why. She just couldn’t sleep. By four o’clock, she was wide awake again, and she just couldn’t get herself to sleep. Deciding to make the best of it, Aiko had cleaned her room, read a book, rechecked her homework and started preparing for school by 6:30 am. She even cooked them breakfast! By 7:30, she decided to go and wake Hikaru up again (he didn’t get up when she called him 15 minutes earlier). And instead of waiting for him and run to school afterwards, she decided to just go on ahead and walk to school for a change.
And, for some reason, Aiko was now feeling very sleepy. What terrible timing. She felt another yawn coming on when she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She was in the process of turning around when a blur of maroon, white and black zooms past her.
“What the–”
“Sorry!” the blur called back.
Aiko blinked. “Was that…?” After a few moments, Aiko laughed at herself, shaking her head. Like, duh, Aiko. Why on earth would he be running to Kobayakawa High? Yeah, she didn’t get enough sleep.
————–
As the bell signalled the start of the lunch break, students’ voices started to float out the classrooms. In room 1-E, Aiko pulled out her math notebook. Other students, on the other hand, were being the normal students that they were…
“Oh my gosh!” the girl beside Aiko giggled. “Did you see that guy in the hall? He’s looks so cool!”
“I think he’s a new student in the higher year…” the other girl commented.
“Have you seen him, Aiko?”
Hearing her name, Aiko looked up from her work. “Huh? Uhmmm… I don’t know. Maybe.”
Her classmate raised her eyebrow. “‘Maybe’?”
“Hey, Ai-chan!” Midori called from the door. “C’mon, let’s eat!”
“… Why don’t you guys go on ahead?” Aiko suggested. “I’ll finish in a while.”
“Hey, isn’t that our assignment for tomorrow?” Kamui asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Well… Yeah…” Aiko said.
“But–… that’s TOMORROW!” he pointed out.
“Thank you, Kamui, I noticed that already.”
“Why don’t you just do it later today? You don’t have track practice, do you?”
“No, but I have other stuff to do.” Namely possible defense…
“C’mon, I’m not taking no as an answer!” Midori said, grabbing Aiko’s arm.
“But—”
“You’re eating with us, and that’s final!”
Aiko frowned, looking at Kamui for help.
Kamui smiled at her. “C’mon, Ai-chan, I’m starving!”
Aiko’s shoulders slumped. Great. “What a great best friend you are.”
“Thank you!” Kamui said, smiling wider.
Sighing, Aiko stood up from her seat and went with the two. When they got to their table in the cafeteria, Midori raised a familiar topic.
“Hey, have you guys seen this new guy?”
Aiko rolled her eyes. Is that what EVERYONE talks about today?
“Oh, hey,” Rei spoke up, “we have a new classmate, too. Her name’s Mizuno.”
“Is she pretty?” Hikaru asked.
“Oniichan!”
“All of the guys in our class was drooling over her.”
Midori raised an eyebrow as Rei took a bite off his sandwich. “All? Of the guys?”
“Um-hm…”
“That’s supposed to include YOU, doesn’t it?”
“Well, I’m an exception.”
Kamui smirked. “Yeah, sure…”
“Wait wait wait!” Midori suddenly said, reverting back to the original discussion. “I was asking something! Hikaru, is he your classmate?”
“No,” Hikaru replied. “He’s in the class beside ours. I think his name’s Hino Kaji.”
“Aa?! Kaji?” Aiko suddenly spoke up. Her sudden outburst got everyone in the table to look at her. Midori raised a brow.
“You know him?”
Aiko blinked. “I– Uh… don’t know…” Ah, yes, the answer of the day.
Midori’s eyebrows went up a little more, and Aiko felt like she wanted to get unvisible or something. Which of course, she can’t.
“Come on, guys, a lot of people named Kaji.” Hikaru said.
“Oyeah? Like who?” Midori asked. Aiko sighed in relief for being saved from her manager’s interviews, as a “normal” discussion ensued.
“Like Kaji,” Rei answered calmly, earning himself a glare from Midori.
“What I meant is that Kaji is a common name.”
“Oei, Toriyama, you don’t seem to talk much today.” Rei noted.
“I’m eating here, got any problem with that?”
“Aha!” Midori teasingly pointing an accusing finger at the soccer team captain. “Think your social status will be affected by this guy, dontcha, dontcha? That’s why you’re not joining in!”
Kamui rolled his eyes. “You can make this guy the most popular guy in school for all I care. As long as nobody treats me like an outcast, I’ll live.”
Amidst the mild chaos in the table, Aiko was sitting in silence, mechanically eating her lunch.
Yeah…a LOT of people are named Kaji…Right?
————–
After classes, Midori was walking towards the gate when she noticed several girls crowded around someone in the field.
“Hm? What’s all this?” she said to herself as she walked towards the crowd. “What’s going on?”
“It’s the new guy…” a fellow student answered her.
“Oh? Let’s see, then…”
Meanwhile, Sara walked into the campus to meet with the rest of the Group as they approached the area.
“What’s going on, now?” Rei asked.
“Maybe it’s that Hino guy Midori-chan told me earlier,” Sara said.
“I can never really understand how girls can be so shallow.” Hikaru commented, earning glares from the two members of the female species that he was walking with. “SOME…I meant some girls…” he quickly corrected himself.
Sara let it pass, laughing. “Yeah, sure. As if guys don’t crowd around Aiko, ne?”
“Sara-chan!” Aiko protested, rolling her eyes. “Come on, let’s get to the Spazio, I wanna get my Chocolate Overload already.”
“Guys… Isn’t that Midori?” Sara said, noticing the emerald-eyed girl had just moved away from the crowd. Midori saw them, and broke into a jog.
“Aiko! AAAAIIIIKOOOO!!!!! Hey guys!! Wait up!!”
Maroon eyes turned at the sound of the name, following Midori.
At the same time, Aiko stopped walking, and turned to Midori with a smirk.”Oh, sorry, I thought you weren’t gonna come!”
“You have to see him, Ai-chan! He’s like… Once you see him, you get rooted on the spot!”
“That cute, huh?” Sara queried.
“Yeah, sure,” Aiko said sarcastically. A lot of guys make Midori get rooted on the spot. What could possibly be different with this one? Aiko rolled her eyes as she looked back at the crowd. But then, that was a BIG mistake.
“No, really!” Midori was telling Sara. “He looks so cool and— and I think he caught Ai-chan’s eye…”
NO. WAY. Aiko thought, jaw dropping. I have GOT to be imagining things.
There, walking towards her with a grin on his face, was Hino Kaji, Blue Star Fire Soul. Not just that, but he has the Kobayakawa High uniform on, AND other girls were looking at him. She faintly heard Midori say “See?” but her eyes were glued on Kaji, as if expecting him to just disappear.
He didn’t.
“Yo!” Kaji greeted her. He was now about an arm’s length away from her.
“Wha–what…what…” Aiko started.
“Are you OK?” Kaji asked, feeling Aiko’s forehead. “You look like you saw a ghost or something—”
Aiko slapped his hand away and pointed at him. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
Kaji regarded her calmly. “I’m just in front of you, y’know, you didn’t have to shout.”
Aiko sighed in exasperation, then tried again. “What the HECK are you doing here? There. Happy?”
“Geez, I went through a lot of trouble to get here and that’s what you give me?”
“What’d you expect?”
“So you guys DO know each other!” Midori finally said.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Aiko mumbled to her friend, then turned back to Kaji. “Mattaku… And who asked you to come here anyway?”
“Uh…Ran?”
“Oh, OK—WHAT?!”
“But why are you so angry that I’m here, anyways?”
“Come with me,” Aiko said firmly, grabbing Kaji’s hand, as she ran off.
“Woah woah! Slow down!” Kaji told her.
Meanwhile, Kamui was looking at the receeding figures of the two Stars suspiciously.
————–
“Geez, Rookie, you didn’t have to drag me all the way here, we could’ve—”
“What on EARTH is going on?!” Aiko yelled at Kaji.
“And why on earth do you have to YELL?!” Kaji countered, imitating her intonation.
“Ran-sama sent us here,” came a more quiet voice amidst the noise the two was making. Aiko looked over Kaji’s shoulder and saw Yuki.
“Why didn’t you guys tell me first? I was, like, startled, and everybody in school saw it!”
“You, like, shouldn’t have reacted that way,” Kaji commented, imitating her again.
Aiko sighed and dropped her shoulders. “I’m sorry, but I was surprised!”
“Ran wanted to surprise you,” Yuki said, slightly laughing.
That…that little…!
“And how come you weren’t there, Yuki?”
“I was there, actually. In the class next to yours.”
“You’re Mizuno?!”
“Hino means “of fire”. Kaji controls fire. Mizuno means “of water”. I control water and ice. Simple enough, ne?”
“So… how come you got here so fast?”
“She can fly, y’know.” Kaji offered. Aiko, by this time, was having a hard time restraining herself from hitting him.
“I was out looking for apartments when I saw you speeding by.”
“What do you need apartments for? Why don’t you just live up there with Ran like you did?”
“Don’t you think other students will wonder where I live?” Kaji asked.
A pause.
“And why would they do that?” Aiko asked, looking at him blankly.
Kaji rolled his eyes. “In case they do, what’m I gonna say, huh? ‘Oh, well, I live in a secret headquarters inaccessible to man!’ Come on!”
————–
A young man with short black hair and purple eyes is walking in a dark hallway, lit up by small light bulbs on the wall. He was wearing black pants and a white long-sleeved shirt. Stopping at a door, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then opened the door. Inside, the room was dimly-lit, and a man, with his long hair in a low ponytail, was standing at the window, his back turned to the door. The black-haired boy bowed slightly and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“It was defeated, sir.”
“I know,” the other man spoke in a low voice. The boy waited patiently for his master to continue. After a few moments, the man at the window spoke again. “We won’t be using that kind anymore.”
Another pause.
“Organize an attack,” the man continued.
“With minors, sir?”
“No. Use Roses this time,” he replied, turning his face slightly. “Make it a full attack.”
The purple-eyed boy tried to keep himself from flinching when his master’s moonlit eyes came into full view.
“Hai,” he said, bowing again, then stepping out of the room. Closing the door once he was outside, the boy exhaled. His master’s eyes could really creep him out sometimes.
Those stupid eyes, he thought. Those stupid silver eyes…
————–
The next day at lunch, Midori sets out on her mission: extract information from dear Ai-chan. But just before she started her barrage of questions, Kamui beat her to one.
“So Aiko, how did you know Hino?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, I’ve known you my whole life, but I’ve never met him. What’s up with that?”
“We were playmates when we were little, before you guys came to Tokyo, but Kaji’s family had to move.”
“Really?” Kamui asked the same time Hikaru did. This made the black-haired boy turn to Hikaru in surprise.
Aiko froze as Kamui pinned her with a suspicious look. Hikaru not knowing was definitely a problem to her alibi. And Kamui, more often than not, would know if she was lying or not.
“Oh, Niisan, you forgot, didn’t you?” she asked, playfully slapping her brother.
“Well, yeah, I guess…” Hikaru replied hesitantly.
“You should get him to eat with us next time, Aiko!” Midori was said excitedly.
Now don’t get him wrong: it wasn’t that Kamui didn’t trust his best friend. It was this Hino he didn’t trust. There was something odd about him, though Kamui just couldn’t pinpoint what.
Really… Kamui repeated in his brain. Whatever this thing Kamui had sensed the first time they met Hino… The strange way he suddenly appeared… And how Kamui had this gut feeling that this guy had to do with Aiko’s recent disappearing acts…
Kamui was going to get to the bottom of it…
————–
Next on Blue Star:
A trip to the library unexpectedly turns into a full battle! What’s going on here? And what IS Deathrose’s plan?
“I hate seeing you like this, ‘niichan. What the heck’s eating you?”
Episode 8: Pointless
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From the Author
The silver eyes make their appearance again! The Roses are starting to make themselves known to us! And Kaji and Yuki join the group! And Kamui gets suspicous! What happens when Kaji and Kamui formally meet?! Wahehehehehe…
