"They're making it sound like some
huge deal." Keiko had to comment on the headline."They're making it sound like some
huge deal." Keiko had to comment on the headline.
Otaru's face was blocked by the front page of the school paper. He was sitting across from her at the breakfast table, his eggs getting cold as he liked.
He folded it shut, and set it aside. Picking up his fork, Otaru began on his eggs.
"It is a huge deal, Sempai." Otaru calmly said. "The co-ed festival is the first big event of the year. To have it cancelled so suddenly leaves a rather bleak outlook on things."
Keiko "hmm"-ed, and used a coffee-stirrer to stir her orange juice. "The rivalry between the two Headmasters doesn't help much."
Otaru cracked a sideways smile. "It looks like they've been swallowing their pride long enough to make some executive decisions, though."
First period was abuzz with chatter. Students were crowded around Jiro's desk, bombarding him with questions concerning the co-ed cancellation.
Otaru and Keiko entered the room together.
"Good luck getting to your desk." Keiko remarked, walking forward to her desk.
Otaru cracked a small smile, and followed suit.
"We've been spending all grading period preparing for our project for the festival, Kanzaki-kun. What will happen with our final grade?" one of the students asked.
"That will be resolved in complete fairness." Jiro sat at his desk, in the eye of the storm of students. "We have it well-thought out, you will all be graded justly."
The crowd dissolved minutes before class was going to start. Many questions still hung in the air. Jiro was going to have a busy day ahead of him, but Keiko wouldn't have it any other way.
She squirmed in her seat. The bandaging on her chest was beginning to fold over under her arms, and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to focus on the lesson, but it was so miserably boring...
By the time the period was over, the area where her breast rubbed against the fold of the bandage felt raw and sore. She held her arm out a bit as she stood from her desk to gather her things and rush her way to the regular Junior level class.
"Sempai! Just a sec." Otaru crawled over his desk, and stood before Keiko, who was holding her briefcase.
Keiko looked up, still holding her arm just slightly away from her chest.
"Are you going to the library today?" Otaru asked.
"What for?"
"...." Otaru gave her a 'look'. "What do you mean 'what for'? You didn't find anything on the music hall mystery yesterday!"
"That's because there was nothing to be found." Keiko closed her eyes, rose her eyebrows, and stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, I work after school, remember?"
Otaru blinked. "Is Shiranui-kun seriously going to be practicing in there after yesterday?"
Keiko shrugged. "It doesn't matter if he's there or not. I don't work for him..."
"You could'a fooled me."
"..." Keiko darkly grumbled something about Kakeru, and continued. "I don't work for him, I work for Obari-sama."
"So you won't be looking at the library anymo--hey, what's wrong with your arm?"
"Huh?" Keiko blinked, and noticed the pointed look Otaru was giving her raised arm. She smiled, sweatdropped, and threw her briefcase over her shoulder. "Ah~! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Nothing, just being weird, I guess." She gazed over at the clock, and yelped. "Holy~! I've only got two minutes to get to class!" She began to bolt for the door.
"Sorry!" Otaru called.
"Apologize later!" Keiko called back.
Keiko managed to dash through the doorway of the Junior level class before the bell rang, and tripped over herself to get to her seat.
Kakeru snorted a laugh as Keiko fumbled with her textbooks. She caught her breath, and then looked to Kakeru. Beneath his jet hair peeked out a clean white bandage covering just over his eyebrow.
"How're you feeling?" Keiko leaned over her desk a bit, and asked quietly.
"Better." Kakeru replied, and turned to her. "D'you know that you're the first person to ask me that?"
Keiko sat back, and blinked. "What about the nurse?"
"He asked me if I've stopped bleeding, if I'm still getting headaches, if I wanted to new bandage, the usual..." Kakeru replied. "But not how I was feeling."
Keiko paused. She folded her arms, and blinked again. "Are you trying to depress me?"
Kakeru straightened up, "I'm sorry...?"
"Why do you keep telling me these things?" Keiko sounded suspicious. "It's like, you've been dumping on me ever since I showed you that letter. I'm not some audience for your pity parties. You've got it better than you think."
Kakeru paused, and then spun on his seat to face the front, folding his arms in a huff. "I guess you wouldn't understand." He sourly spat out.
"I guess not." Keiko spat back. Sorry, pal. You're not getting my sympathy.
Class began, and rather than shying away from Kakeru's offensive aura like she usually did, she opposed ti with full force. If she caught him looking at her, she stared straight back. After a few times, the violinist let up on the intimidation, and focused on class.
What is with that guy?! Keiko wondered to herself. All of a sudden he's Mister Pathetic?! Ever sicne that silly letter of apolog--that's it!! Keiko straighted up. It's al that dumb letter's fault! He got upset, and I fell for it, giving in to his silly tantrum completely! She glared over at Kakeru. Well, if he thinks I'm gonna fall for it again after this entire incident, he's got another thing coming!
"Amuro-kun, what would the informal translation of that be?"
Keiko jerked to attention, and her face began to turn red. "Uh..."
Kakeru flatly stared at Keiko, rested his chin on a propped-up fist. He spoke only loud enough for Keiko to hear over the snickering of other classmates. "Daydreaming about the Headmaster again, I bet?"
Keiko's eyebrow twitched, and she glared over to Kakeru. "Back to normal, I see."
The teacher let Keiko off easy,and continued with the lesson. She began to focus back on the sore spot under her arm.
"Oh, yeah. Pick up a soda on the way to the music hall for me." Kakeru said to Keiko as the breaked for lunch.
Keiko closed her briefcase, and silently looked to Kakeru.
Kakeru had his briefcase underneath his desk seat. His arms were tightly folded over his chest, and his legs were casually crossed.
"Aren't you going to lunch?" Keiko threw her briefcase over her shoulder to take the pressure off of the raw spot under her arm.
Kakeru looked up, and kept his arms folded. "Are you inviting me to sit with you during lunch hour, Fujishige?"
Not really. Keiko thought, but felt a sympathetic obligation to lie. "I guess."
Kakeru blinked silently at her, and pulled his drooping bandage from falling over his eye. "How charitable of you." He stood, and left his briefcase underneath his desk. "But first, I better stop by the nurse's office, and get this silly thing re-done."
Keiko didn't feel nervous in the nurse's office this time around. Usually she had to keep her admiring and guy-gazing tendencies in check for identities' sake, but since Kakeru was the only other one in the room, she studied the young graduate student attentively.
"Was it too tight?" the nurse asked, holding up Kakeru's bangs off of his forehead.
"Not at all." Kakeru answered. He looked over to Keiko, and the nurse began to undo it. "It just itched a whole lot."
Keiko supressed a snicker. She knew how that felt.
The bandage came off, and Kakeru turned his face away from Keiko to follow the nurse with his eyes.
Keiko then saw the open wound fresh on Kakeru's temple. It was beginning to close up, but if Keiko didn't trust the judgement of the Headmaster, she would've insisted that Kakeru be stitched up.
Kakeru looked back to her, and they gained eye contact. Keiko pulled her eyes away.
"Here we are..." the nurse came back, and wrapped a clean bandage around Kakeru's wound. "S'a good thing it didn't go any deeper, or we might've had to contact your father."
Kakeru's eyes widened, and he jerked his head up. "I'm not going home!"
Keiko was surprised at this, as was the nurse. The nurse drew his hands back, and Keiko turned back to Kakeru.
Kakeru's brow was furrowed with determination, and his mouth was a thin frown.
The nurse moved forward, and continued to bandage him up. "Nah, you'd have to do a lot worse than this to be sent home."
Kakeru apparently relaxed, and Keiko's curiousity was piqued.
"There! All done!" the nurse sat back, and turned to Keiko. "Thanks for waiting. It was kind of you to escort him here."
Keiko sat up, and blinked. "Wh--? Sure..."
Kakeru stood, and brushed off his sleeve. "He didn't really have a choice."
Both the nurse and Keiko sweatdropped, and Keiko angrily stood.
"That's awfully rude of you~!"
Kakeru passed her as he headed towards the door. "C'mon, we've only got twenty minutes of lunch break left."
Keiko fumed as she followed him out.
Otaru caught sight of Keiko at the edge of the mess hall, and waved her over. His tray was already cleared off of the table, and only his drink was left. He stood from his seat, and barely acknowledged Kakeru's presence with a glance.
Kakeru pretended not to notice, and Otaru consumed Keiko's attention with his cheerful spirit.
"I thought you had snuck off to the library without me!" Otaru said with a smile, sitting back down.
Kakeru took a seat across from Otaru, and Keiko remained standing.
"No, just had to escort the cripple to the nurse's office." Keiko spoke of Kakeru as though he wasn't there. He invited himself to their lunch, she wasn't about to sacrifice her time with Otaru in order to accommodate him.
"Well, you two better get something to eat fast, the lunch line's closing." Otaru once again looked to Kakeru, and sipped his soda.
"Just get me whatever you're getting." Kakeru dismissed Keiko with a flimsy wave of a hand.
Otaru turned to Keiko, and saw a vein throbbing on her forehead. She reached over and pushed down on Kakeru's head degratingly.
"Did I ask for your order?!" Keiko growled.
Kakeru passed out on the table.
Keiko gasped, and Otaru shot up from his seat.
"Ack! What'd I do?!" Keiko wailed.
"You were too rough, Sempai!" Otaru scolded as Keiko pulled him off of the table.
"Mmm...soooo dizzy...." Kakeru moaned.
"I bet you did it on purpose!" Keiko hissed below her breath.
"Did what? What happened?" Kakeru blinked, and looked around, all spacey.
Keiko sighed, and let him go. "Lemme go get somethign to eat." Keiko could swear she heard Kakeru snicker as she walked away.
Otaru watched Keiko get into the depleted lunch line, one arm resting on the back of his chair, the other arm on the table.
Kakeru sat up straight, his shoulders again rigid, and his eyes alert. He cleared his throat, and then lowered his eyes.
Otaru turned back to look at Kakeru. His eyes looked the violinist over, his usually smiling face blank.
Kakeru's lowered eyes looked up to Otaru, his expression very much the same.
Keiko couldn't get through the line fast enough. She hated the idea of the two of them alone together. Especially if Kakeru felt like causing trouble, which he usually does...
"Kei!" Kieko heard her brother from behind her in line. She turned around, and saw him a few people down.
Keiko picked up her tray, loaded with double helpings of everything. She stood out of line, and cut in front of her brother. "Anji. Eating lunch so late? Did the coach keep you?"
"I was trying to call Staci-chan." Anji put an orange on his tray, and they walked forward. "I don't know what is up, but I cna't seem to get a hold of her or Rina-san since yesterday."
Keiko walked up to the register, and pulled out her meal ticket. "Prolly `cause of the whole co-ed mess. Jiro-kun's been pretty scarce, too, in case you haven't noticed."
"Yeah, I guess." Anji eyed his sister's tray. "Did you find a stray cat or something?"
Keiko knew he was referring to the extra food. "If only. Kakeru followed me to lunch."
"Lucky you. Well," Anji handed over his meal ticket, "We're planning to go bowling after school lets out for Spring Break--y'know, before we all head home."
"...'we'?" Keiko repeated, and they walked out of line together.
"Yeah. Aika, Naoki...I wanna ask Staci-chan to come along, and of course, you hafta go--"
"I don't have to do anything."
"Oh, come on, Kei! None of us are good at bowling, so you shouldn't feel out of place." Anji persisted. "And see if Otaru-kun wants to come."
Keiko blushed. "Otaru? Like a date or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous. This is before we go home." Anji frowned.
Keiko nervously grimaced at Anji's face. "Yeesh. Sorry."
"I didn't like that question much." Anji bluntly put.
"You're reading too much into it." Keiko replied, heading towards the table Kakeru and Otaru were silently sitting at.
"..." Anji watched Keiko sit down. I hope so.
Keiko made a point to sit next to Otaru at the table.
"I certainly hope you plan to eat most of that." Kakeru watched Keiko unload the tray.
"I got one of everything for each of us." Keiko set the tray to the side.
Kakeru sneered. "What do I look like, a body-builder? I can't eat all of that!"
Keiko made an irritated stab at her salad. "Then let it rot, for all care. Just stick something in your mouth and be done with it, already."
Otaru watched Kakeru resentfually glare at Keiko and reach across the table to take an orange in a pout.
Otaru then turned to Keiko, "Was Amuro-kun giving you any late-breaking news?"
Keiko sipped on some orange juice. "On what?"
"Anything."
Keiko shook her head, and focused on her salad. "He was just telling me about a bowling gig he and some friends are doing this weekend. He wanted to know if you and I wanted to come."
Kakeru looked up from the orange he was peeling, and watched Otaru carefully.
"I'm really not that good at bowling..."
"Oh, Otaru, come on. You can't possibly be worse than me." Keiko took another jab at her salad.
"Sempai, there's no way you can be horrible at everything...!"
"Oh, yes, I can..."
Kakeru rested an elbow on the table, and leaned on it. He squinted a bit, and saw a dark purplish-red bruise peeking out behind the collar of Otaru's spring uniform shirt. He waved an index finger lightly in Otaru's direction, and spoke up. "Hey, what happe--"
"Nothing." Otaru was quick to cut Kakeru off, and his eye-contact broke with Keiko for a second to glance at Kakeru.
Even more peculiar was the tone Otaru used in his response. It sounded more familiar...like a chastising or scolding.
Otaru's smile quickly reappeared as he looked back to Keiko. "And when was this?"
Keiko's mouth was open, as if in mid-sentence, but she had yet to soak in the suddeness of what just happened before her. Kakeru had not said a word after, but slowly found his way back to peeling his orange.
Otaru cocked his head, smiling. "Hmm?"
"To...tomorrow." Keiko replied, still in the dark over what just happened.
Kakeru watched the two converse, and he debated on the idea of bringing to their attention how rude it was to discuss an even of which he was not invited. He took off a wedge of his orange, and bit into it.
"Well, if you're going, Sempai, it might be something I'd like to consider, since we won't be seeing each other for a while." Otaru set his empty soda can on the table, and sat back.
Keiko nodded, and tried to add some more damage to her lunch. She picked at her salad, feeling an uneasyness in her stomach with Kakeru so near.
Kakeru rested his orange seeds on a napkin, and began to flick them at Keiko.
Otaru was gathering his belongings, and didn't take notice to the fight Kakeru was picking.
Keiko twitched pensively as one seed hit her shoulder. One soon followed at her neck. As Kakeru's third seed plummeled through the air, Keiko's left hand snapped up and caught it, causing both Otaru and Kakeru to look at her.
With a scowl, Keiko threw the seed back in Kakeru's direction, and it hit him on the cheek.
"Nice catch, Sempai!" Otaru gasped in astonishment.
"Go take your ridiculing outside!" Keiko snapped.
Kakeru arched his eyebrows, and put another seed on his napkin. "Do you realize it's rude to discuss an event in front of someone who's not invited?"
"Good manners are wasted on you." Keiko said back bitterly.
Kakeru stood, and leaned over the table. "I don't have to take this verbal abuse, you know."
"Then why are you?" Keiko rose her eyebrows. "No one's forcing you to stay here."
"Sempai, you don't have to be so vicious..." Otaru quietly tried to intervene."
"Coming to my defense for a change, Chinen?" Kakeru turned to Keiko's companion.
Otaru's eyes widened at that comment, a mixed look of shock and fear on his face. "N...no, I just..."
"Stop bugging him, and leave already." Keiko slammed her hands on the table to stare Kakeru down.
Kakeru glared back, and the two stared at each other for a good minute.
"Just wait `til practice. Fujishige..." Kakeru murmered in his tenor voice. He leaned forward slightly before saying Keiko's alter-last name, as though to add emphasis on each syllable.
Keiko appeared unaffected by this, and Kakeru turned away to make his leave.
"You got him angry now, Sempai." Otaru stood next to Keiko.
"You haven't seen him angry. That's just him being obnoxious." Keiko drawled, and folded her arms.
Otaru turned his head to watch Kakeru leave the mess hall, his expression again an unreadable one. Keiko noticed him dwelling on something, and tried to strike up a conversation.
"You would've thought the accident at the music hall would've shaken him up enough to make him knock it off..." Keiko glanced again at Otaru, and he still had a contemplatie expression on his face. She rose her eyebrows, and pushed up her glasses. "Maybe I should beat him up or something so he can act all helpless again. He was a lot less trouble that way."
Otaru nervously smiled to Keiko, and laughed. 'Now, Sempai! That's not even funny!"
"I'm serious!" Keiko blinked with innocence. "He's such a baby when he's hurt. If I rig something up, maybe I'll have him convinced that someone's out to get him." She grinned, and slammed her fist into her open palm. "Put the fear O' God in `im, as they say!"
Otaru's smile faded, and he once again glanced in Kakeru's direction, his expression a bit gray. "..."
Keiko noticed this, and grew aggressive. "Hey." She furrowed her brow, and took on a threatening tone.
Otaru blinked back to attention, and looked down to Keiko with his round green eyes.
Keiko leaned towards him, a glare returning to her face. "What did he say to you?"
"Say to me?" Otaru repeated, craning back his neck a bit.
"Kakeru."
"Kakeru?"
"Is there an echo?" Keiko stepped forward, to try to intimidate Otaru into giving her the information she wanted.
"He didn't say a word the entire time you were gone." Otaru surrendered the information willingly, although his height kept him from being intimidated at all.
"Nothing?" Keiko affirmed.
Otaru nodded. "What are you so worried about?"
"...nothing." Keiko backed off, and began to pick up her lunch. "I just don't want my poor relations to leak out on my friends."
Keiko dropped off her briefcase in her dorm room before heading to work that day. The hallways were quietly emptying out early. Students were collecting their luggage for their trips home, and exchanging e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
Keiko remained optimistic after the empty threat Kakeru gave her at lunch earlier. This was partially due to the pleasant, romantic sound of Chopin's Grand Polonaise in A-flat being played exquisitely from the main room of the music hall. If the hall was being occupied by one of the other music students, it was highly unlikely that Kakeru would be able to practice at the same time.
She heard the piano playing as she opened the large wooden door to enter the hallway just outside. She stood outside the main room, and let the door shut behind her. The piano was set in the middle of the room, where the choir director usually conducted the tenor/bass ensemble.
She listened for a moment, just staring at the finely polished pine wood piano. The classic melodies of Chopin were played flawlessly, with regal dynamics and swift tinkering of the keys as the player masterfully climbed the octaves. There was a short break before the student moved into the intermission of the piece. Keiko knew very little about music, and still couldn't grasp the amazing talent to be found within the gates of the Unicorn Academy. Talent that surpassed much of what she saw at Phoenix School.
However, as Amuro Keiko, she very rarely found an opportunity to be around those of talent. She cast herself aside, avoided the "artsy" crowd.
The song came to its refrain again, and Keiko walked into the main room, and leaned against the doorway. She looked around for Ken, and saw the office door open, and dark inside.
So she found herself alone with the mysterious piano player, who was well-hidden behind the large pine piano.
The piece slowed to a pleasant, mellowing pace. Keiko was amazed at the sheer luck of stumbling into work during a practice dession for such a varying and exciting piece. So many different moods were portrayed in the one song.
Keiko found her pulse pounding as the refrain played for the third and final time in a dramatic adrenaline climb. There was just something about classical music sounding so breathtaking when played live in front of you.
The song had been completed, and Keiko gasped in awe as she heard the player shuffle through papers as he slid his legs out from under the piano.
"You must've played all of your life!" Keiko stepped to the side of the piano to see the player.
"I have." Kakeru's frame began to step out, and his deep brown eyes met with Keiko's. "Uh--" he blushed, and he dropped a few sheets of paper.
Keiko gawked, and stepped aside. She nearly tripped over the violin case resting against the side of the piano. She caught herself by placing a hand on the keyboard, playing a foul mesh of notes.
Kakeru tried to catch her before she hit the notes, and grabbed her arm that she quickly snatched away. Kakeru drew back, and stood between the piano and the bench.
"You play the piano too?!!" Keiko snapped.
Kakeru's gentle expression melted back to a sneer. "Well, with the co-ed festival cancelled, it's not like I have to practice for my performance for it."
Kakeru turned away from Keiko to gather his sheet music, and Keiko folded her arms.
"What're you so mad at me for?! It's not like I cancelled it!" Keiko argued. "T'be honest, I couldn't care less about the whole thing."
"Apathy can be just as bad as the crime committed." Kakeru replied, picking up his violin case. He swung it over his shoulder and looked to Keiko from the side. "Maybe if you cared a little bit about it, you would've had the mystery solved by now."
Keiko opened her mouth to fight back, but she heard a highy effeminate voice from behind her.
"Ah--Fujishige-kun?"
A male voice followed.
"It doesn't look like Fujishige's getting much work done."
Keiko immediately labeled Jiro's voice, and came to conclusions that he was escorting Rina through the campus for some reason.
Keiko turned around, and saw Rina in the doorway. Jiro stood beside her, holding the door open.
Kakeru rose his eyebrows, and looked to Rina. The two got eye contact, and Kakeru immediately recognized her as the girl with Keiko at the music store.
Rina quickly broke away from Kakeru's eye contact, and looked to Jiro. "Kanzaki-kun, thank you for escorting me."
"Mmh." Jiro smiled to her, "Anytime." He looked to Keiko with his confident smile still stuck on his face. "Y'must be in trouble, Fujishige. Rina-san asked for you specifically."
Rina smiled wider at Jiro's teasing, and politely stepped in. "Not at all, Kanzaki-kun. Fujishige-kun and I are good aquaintances."
Keiko looked taken aback by this, and Jiro rose his eyebrows in surprise.
Kakeru knelt down to pick up the papers he had dropped on the floor.
"Oh, really?" Jiro looked to Keiko, and began to...well, it appeared that he was looking her over. "Why is it that I'm not surprised?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Keiko folded her arms.
"Nothing offensive, my dear man!" Jiro lifted his hands up. "Really, Fujishige-kun, you're always on the defensive--everything sounds like an insult to you." Jiro let his hands down as Keiko unfolded her arms. He put a hand in his pocket, and looked to Kakeru. "Shiranui, is he always like this?"
"Every bloody day." Kakeru was still kneeling, and his face was hidden behind a sheet of music he was trying to slip in order.
Keiko glared over her shoulder to Kakeru, and then turned back to Rina and Jiro. "Do you want to go bowling before break?"
Both Rina and Jiro's eyes grew round, and Kakeru pensively shot his eyes over the edge of his sheet music.
You did that on purpose...Kakeru narrowed his eyes in Keiko's direction.
Keiko smiled just slightly, and Rina and Jiro looked to each other in confusion.
Rina looked back to Keiko, "Is this with some other friends of yours?"
Keiko nodded, and Jiro casually spoke.
"I have a previous engagement. I'll have to decline."
Rina and Keiko both looked to Jiro.
"Is there a responsibility that I'm forgetting about, Kanzaki-kun?" Rina asked, brushing her collar with her fingers lightly.
"No, it's not really. I just feel that I should wrap up a few small projects before breaking for the extended weekend." Jiro was very articulate in speaking with Rina, and Keiko seemed to detect that he was cranking up his charm factor when around her.
"If there's something that needs to get done, Kanzaki-kun, I--"
"Don't concern yourself with it, Rina-san. You've been far busier than me these past few days." Jiro began to drift towards the door. "You're actually making me feel like a slacker."
Rina modestly lowered her eyes with a flattered blush.
Jiro's smile widened, and his chin rose a bit. "Go have some fun for a while, Rina-san. It looks like you could use it."
Kakeru stood, and both Keiko and Rina were silent as Jiro left.
Keiko craned her neck outside the doorway to wait for Jiro to be out of earshot. She then spun around, and make fists. She began to hop on her feet, excitedly squealing. "Did you just see that, Rina-san?!"
Rina blinked, and Kakeru took an opportunity to speak up.
"You've got to be kidding me." Kakeru drawled, setting his music on top of his violin case.
"Did you see that? Did you see?!" Keiko bounced on each foot individually, and pointed at the doorway. "Jiro-kun, was, like, totally flirting with you!!!"
Rina blushed deeper, and put a hand to her face, "He...he was not flirting!"
"He was SO flirting!" Keiko grinned. "Since when did he stop calling you 'Nimai-kun'?"
Rina stiffened, and she scrunched her shoulders bashfully. A smile brightened up her usually plain and soft face. "You sure?"
Kakeru's eyebrow twitched as he watched the two girls squeal and giggle to each other.
"Sure I'm sure! The charm was going off the SCALE!" Keiko rose a hand in the air and stood on her toes to emphasize her point.
Rina nervously giggled, "Now, really..."
Now she's corrupting Phoenix's student president. Kakeru sighed, and shook his head as he lifted his violin case. She's doing more harm than good to either school.
"Ne, Kakeru! Wouldn't you agree?!" Keiko turned to him, her face bright and excited.
Kakeru's grip tightened on the handle of his violin case, and he froze in his footsteps.
"You're a guy, you should be able to tell." Keiko hopped over to him. "He was flirting with her, wasn't he?"
Kakeru angrily "hmph"-ed, and turned up his nose. "How am I supposed to know?"
Keiko frowned, and leaned forward, and stared straight into Kakeru's face. "But he was doing it all the right ways."
Rina watched the two, a bit flabbergasted at all of the attention she had just gotten, and trying to regain herself.
"And what's that, p-pray tell?" Kakeru began to blush as Keiko rested an arm on his shoulder.
Keiko smiled, and slipped her glasses to the bottom of her nose. She rose her eyebrows, and looked up to him over the rim of her glasses. "He made her feel important."
Kakeru was still blushing as Keiko pulled away from him.
"So, can you come?" Keiko turned back to Rina.
Rina blinked, and looked to the doorway. "I don't see why not..."
"C'mon, you can keep Otaru and me company." Keiko gave Rina a squeeze on the shoulders.
"What, are you inviting her in front of me just to tick me off?" Kakeru began to relax again, and straightened his collar.
Rina and Keiko's eyes both grew round.
"What do you mean?" Keiko didn't sound confrontational, in contrast to Kakeru's frequently fluxuating behavior.
"You're just inviting her along to rub it in my face that I'm not invited." Kakeru's sharp eyes moved to Rina. "I'm not stupid, you two aren't that good of friends."
Both Rina and Keiko looked insulted by the statement.
"Now that's an unfair assumpt--"
"And I know that you and Jiro are less than chummy, at that." Kakeru cut Keiko off, and closed one eye. He looked to Rina, "What, you didn't think she actually wanted you there, did you?"
Keiko's face began to grow red with anger. "That's enough! I'm not about to let you make Rina-san a victim of one of your tantrums!"
"It doesn't matter to me." Kakeru haughtily rose his eyebrows, and began to exit the music hall. "Go on ahead and attend, Rina-san, if you think it'll make a difference to them either way."
"I just so happen to WANT her to come, thank you!" Keiko stormed to the doorway of the music hall, and shut it hard the moment Kakeru set foot out of the hall. "Arrrrrgh!" she growled, and clawed the door angrily. She spun around, her hands twitching as though starving to strangle something. "How can he LIVE with himself?!"
"Amuro-san..." Rina sweatdropped, keeping a good distance from Keiko's grip.
"That boy has some serious issues, and I cannot figure out what...!" Keiko fumed, and stood behind the piano. "And he plays piano, too, of all things...! Why is all the talent wasted on bad people?! Why didn't I get any of it?!" She rested her hands on her hips, and sighed. Her back faced Rina, her limp ponytail falling between her shoulder blades.
Rina blinked, and watched silently until Keiko spun aruond, a smile shining again on her face.
"Can't let him get me down!" Keiko shrugged, putting her hands behind her back. "What were you coming here for, Rina-san?"
Rina paused, and lowered her eyes to the side. "I'm ashamed to admit--I can't quite remember at the moment..."
Keiko grinned, and leaned over the top of the piano. "Did Jiro-kun's attentions throw you off that much?"
Rina rose her voice a bit. "He didn't throw me off!"
Keiko didn't seem to notice Rina's denial. "Y'better be careful how you react. If you act like that around him, he'll make a game of it rather than take you seriously."
Rina sighed, and flatly stared at Keiko. She realized that there was no getting through to her, and changed the subject. "Shiranui-kun was particularly sharp today. If it weren't for that bandage of his, you'd never know he was ever hit."
Keiko snorted, and came out from behind the piano. "He's still as sharp-tongued as ever, but I promise, if you get him too worked up over something, he's out like a light."
Rina's eyebrows rose. "Is that so?"
"Very much so." Keiko walked over to Rina, and lightly poked her shoulder. "He appears to stand firm, but you so much as blow on him, and he'll fall over."
Rina gasped. "How dangerous! He should be in bed!"
"And miss out on annoying me `til day's end?" Keiko began to stack chairs. "Highly unlikely."
Rina sat herself on a stack of eight chairs, and watched Keiko go through her routine chores. "Who would want to hurt him?"
"Outside of me? Who knows." Keiko began to push the piano to the wall. "With that mouth of his, he probably could cause a war." She walked back, and picked up the stool with a grunt. "And besides...!" she waddled over to the piano, and set the stool next to it. "I don't think they were out to get Kakeru specifically. There's no pattern to the victims. Nothing to link them."
Rina watched Keiko roll one of her shoulders, and rub it. "You've looked into it?"
"No, I'm just having jollies in this place. I'm gonna get the heck out of this school the first chance I get!" Ieiko spread out her arms. "It'll be good-bye, Fujishige Kei, forever!"
"But everyone's a suspect." Rina held her chin in thought.
"Who else are we overlooking? Someone who might be holding back...?" Keiko leaned against the piano, and folded her arms.
There was a long pause between the two girls, as they both stared at the floor in concentration.
"Staci."
Keiko looked up from the floor as Rina broke the silence.
Rina looked up. "That's what I came to talk to you about."
Keiko rose an eyebrow. "Staci-chan?"
"Mmh. She wants to publish this article about the music hall's latest mishap." Rina dug into a folder she was holding, and pulled out a typed piece of paper. "But I want you to go over it."
Rina handed it to Keiko, and Keiko adjusted her glasses as she scanned it over. "Why do you want me to read it?"
"Because you're in it." Rina explained. "I want you to make sure she's not giving out too much info."
Keiko handed the article back. "It looks fine to me."
"Really?" Rina took it, and looked at the article again. "Even the information on you investigating?"
"Wha--?" Keiko took the paper from Rina, and read it more carefully.
"I'd think about nixing that out, if I were you." Rina continued. "We don't want any culprit to know you're onto them, or you'll be targeted."
Keiko sweatdropped. I didn't think about that...
Rina read Keiko's expression, and rose her eyebrows, unamused. "That never crossed your mind, did it?"
Keiko's face turned a bit red. Bingo.
Rina sighed, and took the article from Keiko. "Forget I asked, Amuro-san. Just..." she paused. "Just try to watch your back, okay? I can't always do it for you."
Keiko frowned at Rina. "S'not like I need it that badly..."
Rina slipped the paper back into her folder, and put it under her arm. "What time should I be at the bowling alley?"
"Five should be fine." Keiko pulled out the vacuum, and watched Rina head towards the door.
Rina nodded. "Very well, then. I'll be there."
"And have your wits about you. My brother'll be there."
Rina spent her walk back to the Phoenix School dwelling on that statement. Just what did Amuro mean by that?
"Bowling shoes are unisex, right?" Keiko asked Anji outside of the bowling alley.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I'm just...I wear a size nine and a half in girl's shoes, so I should like, go down a size or two when he asks why size I wear, right?" Keiko seemed really distraught by the dilemma she found herself in. "Since, y'know, I'm a guy, they'd assume I'm talking about guy's sizes."
Anji scratched his head, and walked through the doorway. "I never thought about that..."
Aika and Naoki were, quite naturally, the first to greet the Amuros.
"We already got your shoes!" Naoki handed Anji a pair of bowling shoes in her typical nurturing fashion.
Aika grinned, and gave Keiko a pair of shoes. "Nine-and-a-half narrow, right?"
Keiko's face lit up. "Aika-chan, you're awesome!"
Aika signaled over her shoulder, "Otaru-kun's already here, we've been keeping him company, but he seems to be eager to see you."
I can only imagine...Keiko sweatdropped, and looked in the distance to see Otaru seated next to Staci.
Staci, as usual, was being her friendly self, and was causing Otaru to blush furiously by putting a hand on his knee.
Keiko smiled at Aika, and then bee-lined to Staci and Otaru. "Otaru! Ready to be whipped at bowling?" Keiko good-naturedly teased.
Staci looked up to Keiko, a smile spread across her lovely, slender face. "Why, are you two on the same team?"
Both Otaru and Keiko made embarassed smiles, and sweatdropped.
"Certainly not stingy on their insults..." Otaru quietly laughed.
"The price of hanging around me..." Keiko pushed up her glasses, and nervously smiled. "Now you see why I'm so popular."
"Are we going to get started today?" Anji joined the three, "I still gotta finish packing, I can't stay all night."
Staci blinked, and then put her hands on her hips. "You mean to tell me you haven't packed yet?!"
Anji nervously countered Staci's scolding, "I haven't finished packing, Staci-chan..."
"But you've started, then."
"Not exactly--"
"Geez! Anji~! Do you leave everything for the last minute?!" Staci whined.
"Can we get started, or what?" Anji tried to change the subject, so he turned to Keiko, as though she were the authority for the evening.
"Shouldn't we wait for Rina-san to show up?" Keiko asked.
Staci's blue eyes were round, "Rina-san?"
"Rina-san's coming?" Naoki asked, and looked to Anji. "Why'd you invite Rina-san, Anji-chan?"
Aika flatly stared at Anji, and folded her arms. "Do tell."
"Well, she's late." Anji said to Keiko scoldingly, as though it were her fault.
"Well, we were late." Keiko said back with a tone that said 'Why are you blaming me?'.
"Which proves that she's even more late." Anji lifted a bowilng ball and frowned.
Keiko furrowed her brow, and watched her brother lead the group to their lane. Aika and Naoki clung to each of Anji's sides, squealing about how they absolutely must be on his team...
Otaru held back with Keiko, and waited for her. "Did she say she was going to come?"
Keiko nodded. "She did. I can't imagine what's keeping her."
Otaru kept his voice low, and quirked a brow. "Ne, Sempai--"
"Hmm?" Keiko blinked, stiffening.
Otaru blushed a bit. "Can we have Mitsui-san on our team?"
Keiko felt ill in the pit of her stomach. "What?" she managed to croak.
"I...I just..." Otaru shamefully sighed. "Geez, you make this difficult."
Keiko rose her eyebrows. "Well--"
"I'd just rather not have one of the...your two friends paired with us." Otaru sheepishly admitted. "They make me squeamish."
"..." Keiko dot-eyed, and paused. "Oh." She relaxed a bit, and lightly scratched her chin. "I dunno. Anji may be pretty attached to the idea of having her on his team..."
"Rina's gonna be on your team Kei." Anji ordered.
Keiko flatly stared at Anji. "Well, that's just peachy. You get all the good players, huh?"
"None of us are that good..." Staci came to Anji's defense.
"Can't be worse than me." Keiko said back.
"C'mon, we're not here to win or lose anyway..." Anji lifted up his bowling ball.
"That's right! We're just all here to laugh at each other's horrible bowling skills!" Naoki cipped up her raven curls.
"Otaru-kun, why not bowl for Rina-san until she gets here?" Aika suggested, handing Otaru a bowling ball.
Otaru took it, and looked to Keiko with questioning eyes.
Keiko sighed, and watched the spinning doors revolve at the entrance. "I just don't get where she could be."
"..." Rina's fingers held themselves over the handle of the doorway. Her brow was furrowed, and her hand trembled a bit. She sighed. "You said you'd be there--" she began to rest her hand ont he door, but quickly drew it back, as though it were painful to touch. "But--" She balked, and held her hand over the handle. What if...she only followed up that invite to prove Shiranui-san wrong? Why would Amuro-san want me here?
She frowned, and pushed forward on the door. "You said you'd be there."
The stale air hit Rina in the face, and the echoing of falling pins dominated the scene. Rina looked around, feeling extremely out of place in her khaki shorts and bright green collared shirt...most of the bowlers were wearing casual t-shirts and jeans.
"Sttteeeeeeerike!" Anji pumped his fist in the air, and pointed to Keiko and Otaru. "Yer outta there!"
Both Aika and Naoki cheered for their darling Anji.
Keiko sweatdropped. "That's baseball, you dingbat."
"I think he knows that, Sempai."
Keiko turned to Otaru, flabbergasted. "How is it you're so horrible at bowling?!"
Otaru nervously smiled, "I told you I wasn't good--"
"--but it wasn't supposed to be true!" Keiko picked up a bowling ball. She wrinkled her nose, and spoke in a hoighty-toighty voice. "None of us are good at bowling!" She swung her arm back, and rolled the ball down the lane. "Well, what does that make me?!"
Otaru bowed his head, and clapped his hands together in a mock apology. "I'll try to be a better liar in future instances."
Keiko sweatdropped. "Serious?"
Otaru looked up just slightly, and opened one eye, a silly grin on his face. "Not a bit."
Keiko flatly stared at him. "Go score some points already."
Otaru laughed. "Lighten up, Sempai. It's just a game."
"I would if I knew where Rina-san was. And besides--" Keiko looked over to her brother, who was assisting Naoki. "Anji paired off the teams pretty unfairly. He did it to assure victory."
Otaru held up his bowling ball. "You have a competitive streak in you."
Only with Anji...Keiko thought. She walked over to her brother's team. "Hey, Anji."
The three girls and her brother all looked up to Keiko, who separated from Otaru for a moment to make this request.
"Anji, let me have Staci on my team. Rina's not here still."
Anji was about to protest, but Staci cut him off.
"It's about time for Kei-chan and I to have one of our heart-to-hearts, anyway." Staci stepped over to Keiko and Otaru's lane, and smiled to Otaru. "Hello again!"
Otaru blinked, and looked to Keiko. "A change in plans?"
"Just to even the score a bit." Keiko smiled. "Your turn, y'know."
"Oh." Otaru looked ot the bowling lane, and gave a bashful smile to Staci. "Now I'm all tensed up, someone's watching..."
Staci laughed a bit, finding Otaru's modesty endearing. Keiko simply found it nauseating.
"Well I was watching before. This isn't any different. Now go on." Keiko scolded. Boys. They keep reminding me why I don't wanna be one.
"Hey." Staci lowered her voice as Otaru walked up to the lane. "Who did you see at the music hall the other day?"
Keiko turned to Staci. "Y'mean outside of Kakeru n' Rina n' Jiro?"
Staci nodded. "Outside of the usual people. Did anyone stick out to you?" Her blue eyes were fixed on the lane in front of her, although her thoughts seemed to be in another place entirely.
Keiko watched Otaru completely stiffen when Aika came across the lane to assist him in his positioning. She squinted a bit in thought, and watched Aika put a hand on one of Otaru's arms. The freckled girl laughed, and roughly clutched onto Otaru's upper arm, and shook it until he in return smiled back and finally relaxed.
"I can't think of anyone." Keiko said after a moment. "No one sticks out in my mind at the moment. Mai was there."
"Covering for me." Staci replied. "I had a project to work on."
"I know." Keiko replied. "Rina-san told me."
"It's not like her to say one thing and do the other--not showing up like this." Staci said with a worried expression.
"Well, it's not like her to go bowling, either." Keiko said. "Especially with a do-nothing."
Staci smiled, and watched Aika and Otaru. "She's so cute."
"Yup."
"You know, she's really good with people, too. Just look at Otaru-kun loosen up--"
"I can make Otaru loosen up." Keiko interrupted.
"What I'm saying is-she could make a great personal trainer." Staci turned to Keiko. "What did you think I was going to say?"
"Typical girlish stuff. Like asking me to set the two of them up or something." Keiko sneered at her statement, and folded her arms.
Staci "ooh"-ed, and leaned forward. "Right. It'd make things easier for Anji and me, that's for sure."
Keiko sweatdropped. "But! But Staci-chan!"
Staci was now laughing, and she winked at her friend. "I forgot how much fun it was to tease you, Keiko-chan."
"Shh!" Keiko hissed, putting a finger to her lips. "Not around Otaru, Staci-chan!"
Staci took Keiko's arm, and began to tug her away from the lane. "C'mon. Let's go get snacks for everyone."
Keiko "waaah!!!"-ed as she was tugged away, which triggered Aika and Otaru to look up.
"Ah! Sempai!" Otaru called.
"Be back soon!" Keiko called back.
"Don't worry, I'll behave myself." Aika smiled to Otaru.
Otaru watched Staci and Keiko head towards the snack bar, and tried to ignore an uneasiness in his stomach. There's so much of Sempai I don't know...I feel like such an outsider here. Otaru looked to Aika, whose face was now blank.
Otaru blinked. "Wh...what?"
"You're not focusing on this at all." Aika bluntly stated, and stepped forward. She put a hand on her hip, and dug an index finger into Otaru's chest. "You're watching Kei-chan instead!"
"Not true!" Otaru protested. "That's not true!"
"Oh, yeah?" Aika rose her eyebrows. "Then stop."
Otaru watched Aika pick up a bowling ball, and head to his lane. She rolled a ball down the lane, and knocked down all but one pin. "Aw! Shucks!" she turned around, and grinned at Otaru. "Hey! You think I can hit that one pin next shot?"
Her grin vanished when she saw Otaru staring into the reflection of his bowling ball, spreading his fingers over the smooth curvature of it. His face was thoughtful, but dark.
"I don't know why I stare at Sempai." Otaru quietly said. I know don't why I get so queasy when I think of all of his friends or of the Amuro girl. It's suffocating.
"Well, look who decided to come after all."
Rina tied her shoes, and stood up to see Shiranui Kakeru in a casual t-shirt and jeans. But the violinist had the clean beauty that made even the sloppiest outfit look tailored.
"Shiranui-kun." Rina's round grey eyes blinked in embarassment. She then folded her arms, and flatly stared at him. "At least I was invited."
Kakeru nearly fell over at the statement that Rina made. It hit the mark perfectly. He caught himself, and began to flush a bright crimson. He glared to the side. "I voted for Mai, you brat."
"Well, that just adds to your flawless track record, doesn't it?" Rina snidely remarked.
Kakeru grimaced. "To think they liken you to the graceful Nakaijima."
Rina's heart fluttered at the thought. Me?! Like Nakaijima-sama?! She wanted to twirl with jubilation, but kept her cool in any case. After all, this was coming from a TUA student. To be compared to Nakaijima was most likely an insult. "I can't imagine why Headmaster Obari favors you so." She stuck her nose in the air. "Quite possibly pity, I imagine. Your father was one of TUA's most generous patrons, wasn't he?"
Kakeru glared to Rina, his jaw stiffening as he clenched his teeth.
"With a bit of luck, maybe Obari can solve the music hall mystery for us, sinc eyou two are so close." Rina tossed some of her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "It'd take a lot of pressure off of me, that's for sure."
She must mean Amuro. Kakeru frowned. Well, if she wants to play that way...
"Hmm!" Kakeru folded his arms, and smiled smugly. "Shuu-san's brilliant." He looked Rina straight in the eye, and smiled wider and broader. Boldly, he continued. "Small things such as the music hall are merely an attempt to distract him. He's so far ahead of us all."
Rina sweatdropped. And I thought my view of Nakaijima was twisted...
Kakeru shrugged, and began to walk away. He seemed to be amused by Rina's reaction, at least.
Rina blinked. "Wh...hey! W-wait!" She grabbed her purse, and threw it over her shoulder. "Wait a moment! What are you doing?! You weren't invited, remember?"
"What are you talking about, Nimai?" Kakeru headed towards the snack bar. "This place isn't just for bowling."
Rina ran after him, and caught up with him. "You know she'll be angry if she sees you."
Kakeru said in his bored drawl: "You know me so well. Wouldn't you think that was the entire point?"
"Why does everything smell so good at snack bars?" Keiko eyed the hot dogs spinning in the oven. "When you know they're not good for you..."
"S'not fair. I wish I was the one who went with you to run your errands the other day, and not Rina-san." Staci smiled, and ordered a huge bin of popcorn and sodas. "It's no fun being around you as a guy. No one to shop n' play with." Staci took the popcorn. "Besides, as much as Rina needs it, I highly doubt she would've appreciated going out with you as much as I would have."
Keiko took the drinks, and grinned. "Well, you can always lend me one of your uniforms, and we can hit the town!"
Staci flatstared at Keiko. "No way. And totally undermine Anji? You're dreaming. He's so pissed at Rina right now, I can't believe he didn't strangle you for inviting her."
"Wow, check out the foreigner." Keiko pointed to a tow-headed boy in line at the snack bar.
Staci looked up, and came to an abrupt stop. Keiko "gyack!"-ed, and tried to save the popcorn from spilling over.
Staci began to turn away. "I forgot napkins--"
Keiko hurried ahead of Staci, and stopped in front of her to block the way. "You know him?! Do you?!"
Staci avoided all eyecontact with Keiko, and made a nervous glance towards the blonde boy. Tyler's coming this way...
"That's great! Ask him to take a picture with me!" Keiko gave Staci an excited grin. "Super-lucky!!"
"Staci-chan." the boy came up to the two, smiling politely. "Jiro-kun said you were making yourself scarce, but I never imagined..."
Staci made an uncomfortable frown, and took a step closer to Keiko. "I'm on a date right now, Tyler..."
Tyler looked to Keiko, his bright green eyes wide. "Oh. Sorry."
Keiko blushed, and laughed. "Oh! Not with me!"
"That's right. You're dating the tennis player, aren't you?" Tyler tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.
Keiko should no longer have been surprised by how handsome Staci's friends were. It made her wonder why she was dating her brother, of all people.
"Amuro Anji." Staci flatly replied. "I heard you were at last week's tournament, too."
"Mai-chan and I were getting together. Discussing old times." Tyler smiled, and then it faded to a look of inquiry. "Is it true that the Nimai girl is Student Council President now?"
Staci nodded. "And Editor of the paper."
"Wow..." Tyler folded his arms. "Nakaijima really does like her. Mai-chan's happy for her."
That's a lie...Keiko thought to herself, staying silent in the conversation.
"And what of this new Headmaster?" Tyler continued. "I thought his preferential treatment of the violinist was bad after the music hall bit last year...I've heard that he now frequently gives the boy...'gifts'...if you will."
Staci nervously shifted her position. "The popcorn's getting cold, Tyler."
"Sorry. I'll let you go, then..." Tyler nervously smiled. "I'm just glad Headmaster Waseda resigned when he did. Could you imagine the mess you'd be having on top of the music hall disaster?!"
Keiko looked to Tyler. So he follows it too...I wonder if he's observed anything I haven't picked up.
"Mai-chan told me she's been using her free time to investigate." Tyler laughed. "Wouldn't it be funny if she solved it instead of the Headmasters?!"
"Tyler-kun..." Staci began to get ansy.
"I guess it wouldn't be too surprising, after all--" Tyler waved a hand. "Those two are so busy flirting with each other every chance they get--"
Keiko nearly fell over, and this cut Tyler off.
"Hmm?" Tyler blinked.
"Tyler-kun, you said too much..." Staci said in a very low voice.
Keiko could feel her heart break into pieces. Not...! Obari-sama! With another woman?! The Headmistress, no less! She went thought an entire process of mourning then and there. That jerk!! He could've at least been gay! It wouldn't have been as insulting!
"Is your friend okay?" Tyler pointed to Keiko, who was making a pathetically miserable face.
Staci sweatdropped, and nervously smiled. She stuck the straw of one of the sodas into her companion's mouth, and coaxed Keiko itno sipping it. "J-just low blood sugar! Drink up, Kei-kun!"
"Kei-kun?" Tyler looked to Keiko. "As in, the one Mai-chan's seeing?"
Another lie!! Keiko chocked on her soda, and coughed. "NO WAY!!!"
"Mai-chan said you're working in the music hall." Tyler said. "Have you noticed anything suspicious from Shiranui?"
Keiko rubbed her throat. "Outside of his usual weirdness? No." Keiko looked to Staci, and smiled. "Staci-chan's been keeping better tabs on it than me lately. She points out a lot of things I've missed out on."
Staci stiffened, and her eyes widened. "N-not really!"
Tyler's smile faded to an expression of complete seriousness. "You shouldn't be doing that, Staci-chan."
Keiko blinked.
Tyler's brow furrowed a bit in concern. "You could get hurt."
Staci swallowed, and squeaked out, "I'll be careful."
"Fujishige-saaaan! I'm sorry I'm late!" Rina ran over to Keiko, nearly out of breath.
"Rina-san." Keiko blinked, and grimaced when she saw Kakeru behind her.
Rina flatly stared over her shoulder. "He followed me."
"More like followed me." Keiko sent Kakeru a similar glare.
Kakeru glared back. "I came to get snacks. Just snacks."
"I'm guessing this is my chance to leave." Tyler said to Staci.
Staci's ex-boyfriend. Rina frantically began to look around for Anji. Amuro-kun?! Is he anywhere near?! This is a dangerous situation!!!
Keiko sweatdropped, and watched Rina go into a near-panic. What's your problem?
"Sempai!"
"Kei-kun, what's the hold up?"
"You guys are taking forever over here."
Rina, Keiko, Staci, Kakeru, and Tyler all looked up to see Naoki, Aika, Otaru, and Anji all approached them.
Otaru's eyes widened at Kakeru's presence, and pointed to Kakeru, looking to Keiko. "Sempai, did you invite him?"
Keiko grumbled, and sweatdropped. "Of course not."
"It's rude to point." Kakeru grumbled to Otaru.
"Ah! Sorry..." Otaru sweatdropped.
Anji saw Rina, and his eyes narrowed. "You finally showed. Brought a friend along, I see."
Tyler and Rina looked to each other.
"Uh, no--" Staci began.
"Sempai, was is he doing here?" Otaru asked.
"Like I'm supposed to know?!" Keiko glared still at Kakeru.
"Staci, who is he?" Anji pointed at Tyler.
Rina saw Staci get even more nervous, and then turned to see Keiko chewing Kakeru out for even daring to show his face. Kakeru countered by saying he wasn't there to see her--
Aika nervously smiled, and offered to take the drinks from Keiko before she did anything with them.
Rina turned back to Staci, who looked like she was about to cry. Anji and Tyler were giving way-too-formal introductions, and she had a feeling that Anji was going to reach his boiling point way sooner than anticipated...
"Okay! Enough!" Rina rose her voice. "ENOUGH!"
Everyone went silent.
"ENOUGH!" she shouted again. "We have an uneven number anyway. Let Tyler bowl with Fujishige-san's team."
Staci looked at Rina with a worried face, and everyone else watched blankly.
Everyone, that is, except Anji. He folded his arms, and glared at Rina. "All right. But we have Kakeru-kun with us here now, too."
"We do no--!" Keiko was cut short by a glare sent by her brother, and she cowered back. That look in his eye...
"So you're suggesting that he take your place, Rina-san?" Anji cocked his head sideways, and smiled slightly.
Rina began to feel suffocation at the realization of everyone's eyes on her. Her face began to burn with embarassment. "N...no, I..." she peeped, and looked to Keiko pleadingly, hoping for her intercession.
Keiko kept her eyes lowered to the floor. Everyone was silent.
"Well, how did you manage before?" Kakeru quirked a brow.
Everyone intensely looked at Kakeru. Anji's eyebrow twitched.
"Tyler-kun and I just now showed up, and it would've been uneven anyway." Kakeru gave Anji a pointed look.
He's right! Keiko turned to the violinist standing next to her. But how did he know Tyler's name--?!
Anji glared at Kakeru, his dislike for him growning stronger by the minute.
"Anji-chan, Aika-chan, Staci-chan, and I were on one team." Naoki seemed to be the only one brave (or clueless) enough to answer. "Rina-san, Otaru-kun, and Kei-chan were on the other."
"Well, you seemed to manage that well." Kakeru folded his arms. "And by the sound of things, you had the advantage, Amuro-kun."
Anji furrowed his brow, and Kakeru continued.
"So Nimai-san will be on our tea. Let us have one more person." Kakeru noticed Anji's infuriated scowl. "Unless you're afraid of losing."
"Shiranui-san, that's--"
"I don't care if I lose!" Anji snapped, cutting Rina off. "Let's just play and get it overwith!"
And thus, the battle began.
Rina didn't ignore the sympathetic gesture Kakeru had made on her part, and felt obligated to reciprocate, somehow.
Keiko tried to loosen Staci up by trying to talk her into getting Tyler to take a picture with her, but, alas, Staci was trying to coax Anji out of his begrudging pout. He was giving Rina the awkwardly-obvious silent treatment.
Kakeru, as sympathetic as he was before, was anything but with Keiko's 'dilemma'.
"Will you come off of it already?" Kakeru barely even looked to Tyler, and never even really acknowledged that he was there. "You're giving him a horrible impression of Japanese people."
Keiko glared at Kakeru, and let her bowling ball slip out of her fingers, onto his feet. Kakeru yelped, and pulled away quickly.
Rina took this opportunity to pay Kakeru back the sympathy due to him. "Ah! Shiranui-san! Are you okay?"
Keiko growled at Rina. "I can un-invite you, you know!"
"No you can't." Kakeru plainly said, nursing his foot.
"Yes I can!" Keiko redirected her growling to Kakeru.
Kakeru rose his eyebrows, lowered his eyelids, and stated an indisputable fact. "But I wasn't even invited."
Otaru wisely observed from the sidelines. If looks could kill...Shiranui-kun would've been creamated.
Rina made another attempt at reconciling with the Amuro brother. Something just felt icky about having him not like you. Rina didn't have too much of a problem with people disliking her--it was just the way life was.
But...it was just different this time around.
"Ah...Amuro-kun..." Rina cowered as they got eye contact. She timidly pointed at one of the bowling balls in line. "May I--would you hand me that bowling ball?"
Anji rose his eyebrows expectantly.
"Please?" Rina peeped.
Anji sighed,and picked up the pall. Rina held out her hands, and before she could get a hold of it, Anji relased it.
"Oof!" Rina caught it in a panic, and the weight nearly brought her knuckles to the ground.
Kakeru looked over to Anji, and made a light-hearted crack. "Looks like anything above a tennis ball is too much for Amuro-kun."
Aika, Naoki, and Staci all snickered, and Rina nervously smiled at Anji.
Anji and Keiko exchanged annoyed glares, both of them thinking This is your fault.
Rina was surprised she make it out of the bowling alley alive.
"You okay?" Keiko asked her, standing in the dorm room doorway. Anji had already sunk in to the depths of his bed.
"Hmm?" Rina stood outside in the hall. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Keiko rested her head against the doorframe. She lowered her voice. "Hey. Just give Anji a bit of time. He's really mad at me, not you."
"Oh, it's nothing." Rina shrugged it off, and tugged on her earlobe. "I'm just grateful to Shiranui-san for sticking his neck out for me."
"Don't let him fool you. You've seen how he can really be."
Rina nodded. "I know. G'night. Have a safe ride back home, Amuro-san."
Keiko nervously blushed. "Careful!!"
Rina blushed back. "Ah! Sorry!"
Keiko began to shut the door. "`Night."
Rina kept her eyes lowered, and grew introspective in the warm silence of the halls. She didn't know why Anji's nastiness got to her so much...she was trying to help them, after the two of the Amuros pulled this stunt...!
She passed the music hall, and Kakeur's praises of Obari rang in her head...
"Small things such as the music hall are merely an attempt to distract him. He's so far ahead of us all."
Rina froze in her tracks. Was that--was he tipping me off?
She looked around the music hall, and a risky scheme crossed her mind. It was late. The night before Spring Break...
...better now than never...
She was grateful the door to Obari's office was open. Kakeru knew something. What did Obari have to do with the music hall? What did Obari do before becoming the Headmaster?
The dust in the files got into her eyes, and she sneezed. She ignored the conviction inside her about sneaking into Obari's files. Maybe Anji was right. Maybe she would ruin TUA's reputation. But she'd be taking her administration down with her...
Her face turned red at the thought of Anji, and she coughed some more, to get the dust out of her lungs. Oh! My eyes sting!!
"What are you doing here so late?"
Rina gasped, taking in another lungful of dust. She coughed, and spun around.
Jiro stood at the doorway, his eyes wide. "Are you crying?" He walked further inside.
Rina blushed, and turned the office lamp on brighter. "N...no, I just..."
Jiro walked closer and came behind the desk Rina was kneeling at, He tugged his mouth to a frown. "Your eyes are all red. Are you okay, Rina-san?"
"Yes! I'm fine!" Rina turned away, and stood. She brushed off her skirt, and hurried out of the office. "Excuse me. I should be getting home."
"Rina-san."
Rina stopped in the doorway, and turned around.
Jiro walked to the doorway, Obari's student file in his hand. He smiled, and handed it to her. "Try not to work too much over Spring Break. Have some fun, or I might have to keep a closer eye on you."
Rina blinked, and looked down to the file. She frowned, and lowered her eyes, blushing. "Okay."
"Have a lovely trip back, Rina-san." Jiro gave her a light pat on the shoulder. "I look forward to seeing you back next week."
End Episode Twelve