@Haruka - Thank-you! *glomps* Meh, don't worry about the English too much, I can make out what you're saying
@SxY - Taiyou doesn't realise many things
Your tension sure is high lately, huh?
@Sancho -
Thanks. Who knows, maybe Taiyou has lots of flaws...?
@JFC - Then WTF it is! xD You'll just have to wait and see how relationships progress. Yup, milder than a butter chicken curry!
@hamzy - :X My mouth is shut. I reveal nothing!
@strawb3rrykream - That'll be $1,000,000,000,000,000 please
@ringo-hime - Bishies for the win
Sorry for taking so long to post. I ended up having two surprise tests and I have one on Monday then I have exams soon -___- Then I'm MCing for an assembly at school next week AND I'm going to a high school orientation (second time).
But I made time for myself
It's all of your faults if I failed my science and PDR tests
Anyways, enjoy! Again, sorry for spelling mistakes. I'm tired @____@
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A Race Of Pride?
Eri pushed open the door from building farther away from the main buildings. Rushing in, she tried to find the darkest and smallest corner before taking refuge in it. She took several shaky breaths.
“I was so rude towards Taiyou-kun…”
Eri turned herself around and lay against the wall. She let out a sigh of defeat. It wasn’t even half way through the first day and she had already gone back to her old ways. She had promised herself that she would change, but things are always easier said than done.
Taking off her bag, Eri stood up. Placing her hands on the wall to make sure she wouldn’t trip, she began to grope her way through the darkness. She felt uneasy when she ran out of ledge to hold onto. She began to reach for the closest solid object. Hitting a switch and hearing whirring Eri let out a yelp of surprise and jumped back. Suddenly, light was projected, from the object that she had hit, upwards. Following the beams of light, Eri looked up and gasped.
“They’re beautiful…” she breathed out as she gazed at a recreation of the night sky. Finding a seat in the darkness, she continued to look up. Her eyes sparkled from the reflection of the stars. A shooting star passed. Closing her eyes and putting her hands together Eri began to wish.
‘
I wonder what I should wish for…’ Eri ran through a small list in her mind before deciding on one.
“I wish-“
“
Hello?”
Eri’s eyes shot open and her mouth shut at the sound of a boy’s voice.
“Is anyone in here? The door was wide open…”
Eri quickly but silently gathered her stuff and tried to find a way out.
“I guess no-one’s here…,” the boy commented out loud to himself.
He began to walk further into the building after closing the doors behind him. Eri sneaked behind the boy and tip-toed her way back the way that she had come in. Silently opening one of the doors she slid out of the building.
“Whew…,” Eri breathed out to herself once she got a fair distance away. She turned back to look at the run-down building for a few seconds before heading back into the main school area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“
Would all student council members please report to the council building,” a woman’s voice announced on the school speakers. Eri lifted her head off of her hand and looked at Sayumi who stood up.
“Excuse us, Konno-sensei,” Taiyou apologized as he, Sayumi, Ryou and Rei all began to leave the room.
“I am leaving early today so I will give your homework to a fellow student. Please collect it from them later,” Konno informed.
“Hai.”
Taiyou slid the door shut.
“Ok, let’s continue,” Konno said as she turned to face the blackboard again.
Eri felt her heartbeat sped up slightly. She didn’t like being left with a group of people she didn’t know.
‘
Sayu, Rei…’ Eri whimpered in her head like a little kid.
She nervously looked around the classroom, trying to search for anyone that looked friendly. Several of the girls looked friendly enough for Eri to befriend them for a class or two.
“Kamei-san!”
The voice of Konno brought Eri back from her constantly wondering thoughts.
“H-Hai?”
“Please stay behind after class,” Konno ordered. Eri blushed and nodded her head in shame.
“You really think that Taiyou-sama likes that ditz?” Eri overheard one girl say to her friend.
“There’s no way someone amazing like him would like a weirdo like her.”
“She’s trying to act all innocent.”
Eri bit her lip and kept her head down. This is what she feared every year more than anything. But she had lived with this ever since she was a child. Holding back tears that were threatening to overflow, Eri wished for class to end.
‘
I’m so weak… I can’t do anything without Sayu or Rei…’
She shook her head.
‘
I can’t stay like this; I’m being a trouble to the both of them. I promised Sayu that I wouldn’t be a cry baby anymore.’
Slipping her hand into her pocket, Eri calmed herself down as she thought of her parents. Eri almost felt as if their power was coming into her as she held the picture. Raising her head, Eri looked at the board raised her hand and answered the next question.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sound of the bell ringing signalling dismissed the class from their double class of math. Eri packed away her things in her bag but remained seated as all of the other students left. Nervously fidgeting with the straps on her bag, Eri waited for Konno to talk to her.
“Kamei-san.”
“H-Hai!”
Eri let go of the strap and looked nervously at her.
“You don’t need to be so stiff, I don’t bite. Only food should be afraid of me. Things like mochi, lasagne, yakiniku, mont blanc’s…,” Konno trailed off, happily thinking about the food.
“Konno-sensei?”
“Oh! Sorry,” Konno apologized, “once I start talking about food then I sort of zone out.”
“Umm…”
“You’re probably wondering why you’re here right?” Konno asked smiling. Eri nodded in response.
“I want you to give these to the student council member’s.”
Konno handed Eri 4 sheets, the exact one that Eri had received during class.
“Ok,” Eri said as she took the papers. “Umm, if you don’t mind me asking; why did you pick me?”
Konno let out a small laugh.
“Well, you seem awfully shy, so I thought that maybe by giving these papers to other class members you might open up a bit more,” Konno explained.
“O-Ohh…”
“…Is that a bad idea?” Konno warily asked.
“N-No! It’s just that… well…,” Eri searched for the right words. Looking up at a grinning Konno, Eri blushed.
“So it’s like that, huh?”
“E-Ehh?”
“You like one of them,” Konno stated. Eri’s face went a shade darker. Analyzing Eri’s face, Konno smirked and raised an eyebrow.
“It’s Taiyou-kun, isn’t it?”
Eri’s went so red that it seemed like her whole body was blushing.
“N-No!” Eri protested unsuccessfully.
Konno laughed at the girl’s reaction.
“Don’t get so flustered about it. He’s a handsome guy,” Konno giggled.
Eri remained silent the blush never leaving her face.
“Well, good luck. You may go now,” Konno said excusing Eri.
Eri waited a moment before picking up her bag and bowing to Konno.
“Oh, one more thing Kamei-chan.”
“Eri turned around.
“Feel free to talk to me about anything. I want you to be comfortable with me. So if anything at all is bothering you, please, come to me,” Konno requested.
“Thank-you, Konno-sensei,” Eri said before bowing one more time and leaving. Konno smiled as she watched Eri run off.
‘
What a cute girl.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sayu, do you know where Taiyou-kun and Niigaki-san are?” Eri asked her best friend as they both sat underneath a tree overlooking the track as they ate their lunch.
“Takahashi-san and Ryou-kun? No, they disappeared after the Student Council meeting. You still need to give them the math homework?” Sayumi asked.
“Yeah…,”
Both girls took bites of their lunches. Eri had bought yakisoba-pan* and Sayumi had bought curry-pan*.
“You like Takahashi-san, don’t you?” Sayumi suddenly accused.
“Ehh?”
A noodle stuck to Eri’s flushed cheek.
“You heard me, silly,” Sayumi teased as she took the noodle from Eri’s cheek and ate it.
“U-Umm…”
“You do!”
“So, what if I do? You like Niigaki-san!” Eri fought back. It was Sayumi’s turn to blush.
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do! I saw the way that you looked at him in art class; there were hearts in your eyes,” Eri stated.
“I did not look at Ryou-kun like that!”
“You even call him by his first name.”
“So? You call Takahashi-san by his first name!”
“T-That has nothing to do with this!”
Both girls glared at each other. Suddenly, they both burst out into laughter.
“Man, we’re idiots,” Sayumi said through gasps. Both girls began to calm down and breathe regularly again.
“I support you all the way, Eri. If you like Takahashi-san then I’ll make sure no-one else touches him.”
Sayumi smiled at Eri and held her hand and Eri returned the gesture.
“Same here, Sayu. I support you. If you like Niigaki-san then I’ll help you in any way I can.”
Several moments passed; the girls bursting with happiness. They were definitely friends forever.
“Oi, will you two stop acting all rabu-rabu again? It’s grossing me out.”
Both girls looked at the owner of the voice.
“Mou, way to go and ruin the mood, Rei.” Sayumi pouted.
“Well sorry,” Rei sarcastically apologized.
Eri burrowed in her bag quickly and pulled out a sheet. She held it out in front of Rei.
“It’s the math that you missed today,” Eri explained.
Rei took the sheet and scanned over it quickly.
“Algebra? I hate algebra!” Rei moaned.
“You hate math,” Eri said.
“Ugh, this is going to be a long year.”
“Don’t worry, Rei! I can help you with the math!” Sayumi exclaimed happily.
“Please don’t.”
“Ok, I’ll let you fail!”
“Please teach me, Michishige-sensei.”
“Oh?”
“
PLEASE.”
“Well, since you asked….Ok!”
“
Save me…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We will be your gym teachers for the next 3 years. My name is Yoshizawa Hitoshi.” Yossie bowed.
“My name is Fujimoto Miki.” Miki copied Yossie and bowed.
“Don’t they look like a couple?” Sayumi whispered to Eri while looking at the two teachers. Eri nodded.
“Since this is your first class with us we’ll start with some easy exercises,” Yossie announced.
“Please get into pairs and do a five minute warm-up. Don’t forget to stretch!” Miki added.
Sayumi and Eri instantly looked at each other.
“Partners,” they both said at the same time while smiling.
Both girls looked at Rei who was being swamped with girls.
“Will all of you go away?! I’m going to warm-up by myself, I don’t need any help!” Rei exclaimed at them.
“He’s so cool!”
“His muscles look kind of small…”
“Don’t doubt them! He’s as strong as an ox!”
Eri sweat dropped at the sight.
‘
Poor Rei…’
“Eri, look! I didn’t realise that Ryou-kun and Takahashi-san had come!” Sayumi squealed in excitement. Eri’s head immediately turned to look for Taiyou. Spotting him, Eri blushed. Girls who were fans of the two instantly began to rush over to them.
“Oi, get back to your warm-up’s!” Yossie yelled over the girls. They reluctantly backed away from the boys and began to stretch. Sayumi and Eri helped each other stretch. Eri reached her hand past her foot and she felt Sayumi gently pressing her back.
“All my muscles are so stiff. I’ve not really done any exercise over the summer holiday…” Eri said as she felt her muscles begin to loosen.
“Well, that’s to be expected,” Sayumi absent-mindedly replied.
Following her friend’s gaze, Eri realised that Sayumi was staring at Ryou. She smirked at her friend’s intensity. Standing up, Eri began to stretch the top half of her body. Gazing around her, Eri froze when she saw that Miki was staring at her. She quickly averted her gaze and continued to stretch. Risking another glance, Eri looked at Miki again. She got the shivers when she realised that the teacher was smirking at her. Turning around Eri could feel Miki’s eyes on her back. It was making her feel uncomfortable to say the least. Eri tapped Sayumi on the shoulder.
“Sayu...”
Sayumi kept staring at Ryou. Eri tapped her again, but harder.
“Sayu!”
Sayumi blinked and turned to face Eri.
“Huh?”
“You’re staring really intently at him,” Eri said. Sayumi blushed.
“Sorry…”
“It’s okay. That wasn’t what I was going to tell you…”
“Oh, what’s wrong?”
“That teacher,” Eri nodded her head in the direction of Miki, “keeps staring at me; it’s really creeping me out.”
“Fujimoto-sensei is? What are you talking about? She’s talking with Yoshizawa-sensei,” Sayumi commented confused.
Eri turned around and saw that what Sayumi had said was true.
“B-But she was! It was only thirty seconds ago!” Eri desperately explained.
“I believe you, Eri. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Sayumi declared.
“Thanks, Sayu…”
“Hey, it’s no problem.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ok, that’s your five minutes up!” Yossie announced. The students stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
“We’re going to have a race. We will have four people race at one time. The winner from each of these goes to the semi-finals. The winners from these races will then go onto the finals where the last four will race for the title of fastest in this class. Remember, this is just for fun. Don’t stress yourselves about what position you come in. Just try your best,” she added.
“A
race? But I suck at this!” Sayumi complained. Eri patted her on the back.
“Don’t worry Sayu, just try your best.”
“Ok, the first four to race are you, you, you and you,” Miki decided as she pointed to four random students. Eri felt her heart beat race when Miki pointed directly at her and gave her a wink.
“Get into your starting positions!” Yossie ordered. Eri quickly ran over to the starting line. Crouching down Eri placed her hands on the ground. She zoned out all sounds around her except for the sound of the countdown.
“On your marks, get set…”
The entire class fell silent. Suddenly Yossie fired the starting gun. All four racers immediately shot away from the starting line. Eri easily sailed past all of them and crossed the finishing line first. Stopping a few meters after crossing the line Eri gasped.
“I-I really need to work o-out.”
“Kamei-chan advances to the semi-finals!” Yossie announced.
“Good job, Eri!” Sayumi shouted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It’s the final race. Kamei, Niigaki, Takahashi, and Tanaka, prepare yourselves,” Yossie instructed the four students.
“There’s no way I can win against Eri,” Rei complained as he took his place.
“You’re really fast, Rei. You can beat me if you wanted,” Eri said as she took her place next to him.
“I try every time but I can’t. You’re
too fast for me.”
Eri nervously laughed at Rei’s pessimism. Looking to her other side Eri felt herself jump.
“Good luck, Eri,” Taiyou wished gently.
“Y-You too.”
“Taiyou’s not lost any races in his life. Don’t get too hopeful,” Ryou suddenly remarked as he walked by Eri. He crouched down next to Taiyou.
“I wasn’t,” Eri spoke strongly.
“Ryou, don’t be like that. You’re just afraid that a girl might beat you, right?” Taiyou scolded. A light blush appeared on Ryou’s cheeks.
“What?! Of course not! I’ll beat her!” Ryou exclaimed.
“What if you don’t?”
“E-Eh?”
“How about this. If Eri beats you, then you apologize to her. If you win, then you don’t need to apologize. Deal?” Taiyou asked.
Ryou scrunched his eyebrows together and pouted his lips.
‘
Kawaii…’ Eri noted to herself.
‘
Wait. Did I just think that he was cute?!’
“Deal,” Ryou agreed.
“Is that okay with you, Eri?”
“H-Hai.”
“We’re going to start now!” Miki shouted. All four racers stared intently at the ground.
“On your marks, get set…”
Silence.
Bang.Rei, Eri, Taiyou and Ryou all shot away from the starting line at the same time. Ryou wore a smirk as he realised that he was in first place. He tried to resist looking back, but he couldn’t. He blinked as Taiyou suddenly rushed by him. Rei was slightly behind Ryou but Eri was nowhere to be in sight. Looking ahead of himself again, he stared in shock. Eri and Taiyou were racing head to head and there was only forty more metres to go. Ryou pushed himself and tried to catch up to the two, but he was no match for them. Instead of getting closer they only seemed to get further and further away. Then all of a sudden Eri ran ahead of Taiyou and put the rest of her energy into reaching the finish line.
“You can do it, Taiyou-sama!” a girl screamed.
“Ganbare!”
Soon everyone began cheering for Taiyou.
“You can do it, Eri!” a voice called out. It was Rei.
Suddenly everything went quiet. A few moments later comments like “it was close”, “you looked so cool when you were running” and “she must have cheated” began to arise. Ryou slowed after crossing the finishing line, panting for air.
“Kamei-chan is the winner!” Yossie declared as she ran over. There was a polite round of applause.
“Damn it, I can’t believe I lost to
her,” Ryou muttered to himself in annoyance. He watched as Taiyou nudged his way through his crowd of supporters over to Eri who was only surrounded by Rei and Sayumi.
“Good race, you’re
much faster than I thought. I’d be honoured if we could race again one day.”
Taiyou held out his hand which Eri gratefully accepted and shook.
“Thank-you; you’re really fast as well.”
Taiyou let go of Eri’s hand and walked away and over to Ryou.
“Don’t look so down in the dumps. She beat both of us fair and square. You should be happy that you’ve found a new rival that isn’t me,” Taiyou pointed out. Ryou snorted.
“Now, you need to fill out your part of the deal. Go over there and apologize to her,” Taiyou ordered Ryou.
“Ok, that’s the end of class. Everyone go and get changed!” Miki yelled over the chatting. Quickly everyone began to disappear into the changing rooms. Ryou and Taiyou watched as Sayu helped Eri limp off of the track and towards the girls’ changing rooms. Miki and Yossie both rushed over to see what was wrong with Eri. After debating for a few second who should help the girl, Miki helped support Eri and helped her get closer to the changing rooms.
“Go and apologize now.”
Ryou stumbled a few steps forward from the push that Taiyou gave him. Taiyou smiled before heading towards the boys’ changing rooms. Ryou began to walk towards Eri reluctantly but froze when his eyes met hers. He arrogantly turned his head away and pretended that he wasn’t heading towards her. Ryou watched Eri out of the corner of his eye and instantly regretted acting so coldly. A pained expression passed over Eri’s face for only a moment and she began to limp away. Ryou guiltily unfolded his arms and slowly walked towards Eri.
“Eri…” he breathed out.
“Ryou-kun!”
Sayumi popped up in front of Ryou blocking his vision of Eri and Miki.
“Oh, it’s just you, Sayumi,” he said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sayumi puffed up her cheeks in a cute fashion.
“Nothing, you just startled me was all.”
“Oh, sorry…”
A couple of seconds passed.
“Good try. Me and Rei have never once been able to beat Eri in a race. Even on the day we first met her,” Sayumi said.
“…I-Is she okay?” Ryou shyly asked. Sayumi smiled.
“She’s fine. This is nothing to her. She’ll be fine by tomorrow, don’t worry about it,” Sayumi responded.
“I
wasn’t worrying.”
“Oh…”
“Anyways, I don’t want to hold you back from getting changed. I’ll see you later,” Ryou politely spoke. He began to head away from Sayumi.
“Wait!”
Ryou stopped and turned around to face Sayumi who had run up to him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s nothing, I’m just tired from all of that running,” Ryou replied.
“Well, if anything’s wrong then come talk to me, okay?”
Ryou smiled charmingly at the girl.
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Again, Ryou turned around and headed back to the boys’ changing rooms. Sayumi watched as he walked away. Ryou dreaded what was to come.
‘
Ugh, how am I going to tell Taiyou that I didn’t apologize to that girl? Man, he’s gonna kill me!’
Topic: Mechaike Academy [Ch. 4 - Second Thoughts] (Read 10087 times)