Kaori Kita's Story

He paused from chewing to give it some thought. Then, with an indifferent shrug, went back to chewing. "It doesn't matter much to me. Spicy, if you forced me to give you an answer. I'm pretty okay with handling that sort of stuff."

He looked back up at her and nearly choked on his food. Her face was stone still and her eyes were twinkling. It was very off-putting. Crap, did I say something wrong?

Kaori's eyes gleamed in happiness. She reached up and snatched his hand in excitement. "How spicy!? I can show you a place that will melt your face off and make you cry!" She grinned, then paused when she noticed she was touching him again. Her face blushed and she sat back, letting him go. "Aha..."

"" Hmm?" What's with that reaction? he wondered. Perhaps his hand felt too cold. If he cared a little more, he would've asked.

He swirled around his remaining rice with his chop sticks while his other hand propped his head up. He was looking down into the bowl. "My sister has a little garden in our backyard. Peppers are one of her favorite things to grow, so we're constantly having spicy food." He sighed, remembering a distasteful memory. "Even food that has no right being spicy," he mumbled. He hoped to never taste habanero ice cream again.

He realized this type of small talk was the least draining, and he was able to handle it pretty well. He saw no reason to stop now.

He wondered if he should wait though. He wasn't a master at emotional recognition, but as he glanced up she still looked a bit uneasy. "You okay?" He asked.

Kaori blushed brightly and nodded. "Mm.. mhm!" She mumbled and then gasped. "Oh!" She went over to her bag and grabbed her cellphone. She came over and held it up. It was orange with a large pompom ball that had a face on it attached to it by a long string. "We should exchange numbers." She murmured. She saw new friends doing it all the time.

"Hmm, why?" He asked curisously. The fact that that question might be insulting was lost on him. Most days he forgot he even owned a phone. The only two contacts were his father, and his sister, who both rarely made contact via email or texting because he was always at home. He didn't understand the purpose of giving out his phone number.

Wait a second, his thoughts suddenly quickened.His mind rewinded to a TV show he had watched a while back. The characters in it were apart of some club that always hung out, called each other stayed in contact, even... Dated. His eyes widened in realization she was asking to be friends.

His cheeks burned red and his mouth hung open dumbly, suddenly more nervous then he'd ever been. "Um... umm.. I..."

"GAREKI-SAN!" A booming voice echoed through the class room, startling everyone in the room except for Kyouseke. He knew it was just a matter of time before he found him. In the doorway, sweating hard and panting even harder. It was quite a ridiculous site, and many of the girls in the front row began backing away in fright. He was an imposing sight: standing at at at least 6" 4', he easily towered everyone in the class. He short black hair streaked across his face, and he wore a hardened, determined pair of eyes. He was gripping the door siding so hard it made cracking noises.

It was an intimidating scene, and everyone was holding their breath to see what would happen.

He marched over to Kyouseke's desk, and there he stood, fists balled, shaking menacingly. His eyes narrowed dangerously down at Kyouseke, as he gritted his teeth.

"You...YOU..." The stranger seethed.

Kyouseke's hand still supported his head, while he boredly stirred his remaining rice. So far, he's made no sigh of recognition.

"You..." The guy said a final time before... bursting into tears. "You didn't tell me you were enrolled here!" He said it with such dramatic sadness that a few of the other classmates looked at each other wondering what they should do.

"So?" Kyouseke asked.

"You're so cruel, Gareki-san!" He cried out, tears streaming down his face. "You still haven't forgiven me for elementary school!"

"Seo-senpai, I told you I'd forgiven you in middle school," Kyouseke covered his face.

"Well it doesn't feel like it!" He yelled, slamming his fists down on the table. His tears immediately stopped, and his face got angry again. "Hey I heard some punk beat you up this morning! Just point em out and I'll clobber em!"

Kyouseke pointed to Kaori.

A few moments passed awkwardly. "WHHHAAATTTT I can't hit a girl man! Afraid you're in your own."

"It was an accident," Kyouseke said blandly.

"Oh, well in that case," he knelt down in front of Kaori dramatically,"my name is Seo Yoshimitsu, a third year. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kaori paused and watched the scene, unmoving. Her phone was still hanging in the air when the man, now known as Seo, threw himself at her feet. She blinked and lowered her hand. "Kaori Kita... Nice to meet you Yoshimitsu-senpai." She murmured and stared at him with gleaming eyes. She leaned in close to him with a grin and whispered. "You're so tall.. Like a giraffe. Can I ride on your shoulders sometime?"

Though this might be intrusive and odd to some, it was normal to Kaori. She lived in her own world where there was no filter, and asking people things that were a bit over the top was the usual way. It was probably why she had little to no friends.

Yoshimitsu grabbed her hand and looked right in her eyes. "It would be my honor," he said seriously, crossing his other arm across his chest. "But for now, I must go."

He stood up and stood at attention in front of Kyouseke's desk. He clicked his heals and gave a very formal salute. "I will be here when you need me," he announced regally. He then adopted a more casual stance. "Oh, and I'll be sure to save ya some VIP tickets for our home games. Come cheer me on some time!" Yoshimitsu said as he gave a thumbs up. "And now, I must be off," he said with his head in his arm, as if holding back tears, "may this not be our last encounter!" he yelled as he bolted out the door, trailing with the last word.

The class room was left in an eerie quiet, as all eyes once again fell on Kyouseke.

"He should join the drama club," Kyouseke mumbled. He got up to throw away his trash as everyone began their own conversations again. He walked back to his chair and sat down.

"Sorry about that," Kyouseke shrugged. He reached down for his bag and ripped out a small sheet of paper, and quickly scribbled some numbers down.

"Here. It's my number," he said as he handed it to Kaori. His cheeks had a light shade of red, but hopefully hardly noticeable.

Kaori blinked and grinned. She took the number and entered it in her phone under 'Bug Boy' with a little cicada emoji. She then sent him a text message saying, "Bug boy, this is my number!"

Just as she hit send the bell rang for them to get ready for class. Third period she had gym today. She grinned and hopped up. "Gym class! Bug boy, what are you doing? I bet I could run laps around you!" She grinned and ran over to her cubby at the back of the class to grab her gym outfit.

"I'm more on the spectator side of running."

It occurred to him that she hadn't actually meant running laps. He'd never been the best at wordplay. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Gym is not my forte. I don't even know what there is to do here."

Kaori shrugged. "Every third period is an electives time. You can take gym, cooking, auto shops. All that. I like gym." She grinned. "I'm sure someone has an extra gym outfit for you if you want to come. We are go to the pool every other week when it's warm out. That's next week."

She nudged him softly. "See yah wherever you decide to go Bug-boy!" She waved and went to change and then stretch outside with the others.

He knew he selected gym, but that's only because he didn't like the alternative, cooking. He'd probably find a way to burn the school to the ground. With a sigh, he went to the boy's locker room.

Kyouseke saw a few kids he had known from Junior High, but most of them were unfamiliar. It seems they would be doing track today, which he didn't have much opinion about. He wasn't a terrible runner, but also not exceptional. He just hoped that the period would go by without incident, which his day has been filled with. He walked outside to join the others.

Kaori stretched with the other girls, while boys ogled them. The summer gym clothes consisted of tight red leotard for girls that were cut rather short, for aerodynamics and a baggy white shirt overtop. Apparently this amount of skin was thrilling for men. Of course, Kaori had never had anyone interested in her that way, so she really didn't care. Their eyes weren't on her, so she wasn't self conscious.

What she really cared about was the athletics of it all. She was insanely good at most sports. She thought it was probably due to all her energy that was pent up inside bursting forward. That, and the gods had determined she should be good at athletics, lest an apocalypse break loose.

Gym passed by uneventfully. Kyouseke had already circled the track a few times (mostly walking, while thinking of better uses for his energy) while watching a few of the girls playing soccer. He was getting a bit tired and thirsty so he thought he'd head in a little early before anyone else.

He had a lot on his mind. He wanted High School to pass as peaceful as possible, but if the first day was any indication, he was in for a very stressful time. While deep in his thoughts, he opened the door to the locker room and stepped inside. He first went over to the sink and let the water run cool, splashing his face to clean the sweat off.

He walked into the main locker area to go to his locker but... it looked a little different. His locker number had been 145, but here he was in the place it should be and it said 245. He could have been mistaken about his locker earlier, but he doubted it.

He turned to his left, and there, about 10 feet away, was a brown-haired girl with her gym top half pulled up, frozen in terror. Immediately Kyouseke recognized his mistake.

There starred at eachother for a few moments, Kyouseke looking bored while the girls face gradually got redder. And then, it hit him.

~*~Flashback~*~

He looked down at the pencil laying uncomfortably close to her feet. He cast a quick glance at the girl sitting to his left. She had been watching him, but as soon as he glared at her she made an embarrassed squeak and hurried her nose in a textbook.

~*~End Flashback~*~

"Oh, you're the girl who sits next to me in class. Hi," he greeted casually.

She screamed, shoving down her shirt and running back outside to the field.

"Hmm? That was a bit weird," he said to himself. Surely she realized that his presence was a mistake?

He gave a sigh as he exited the girls locker room and entered the boys locker room. Maybe she was just destined to be afraid of him.

Kaori enjoyed gym class immensely. She took every opportunity to run and play games, and even score a few times playing soccer. The time flew by and soon enough it was time for them to all change and get back to class. Just as the girls were deciding to head back, some mousy brunette girl came running from the change room and to her friends, crying in embarrassment. Kaori nudged closer to hear what was going on and her face fell when she heard the news.

When everyone was back in class, she headed straight for the boy staring aimlessly, and trying to avoid everyone else. She cracked her knuckles as she walked up behind him and then brought her fist down on top of his head. Not too hard, but enough to knock him around a bit. She then proceeded to put her face in his. "So you're a pervert too, huh Bug boy?" She asked and raised a brow at him. "I didn't take you for the peeping type. Always the quiet ones." She hummed.

Kyouseke rubbed the sore part of his head. "It was just an accident. I thought I went into the boys locker room. It won't happen again. And besides" he said, resting his head on his hand, "It's not like she was naked. She had all her clothes on. She's the one who made it awkward."

They only had one period left for today: History. According to the textbook, they were learning about Ancient Rome and the Greeks. He just had to make it through one more period.

Kaori rolled her eyes. "Okay bug-boy, if you say so. But you better not be spying on me next time, or I'll hit you harder than that." She hummed and went over to her desk. History was the worst. She could hardly keep her eyes open in normal classes, so history she was out cold. She looked back at Kyouseke and wondered if he really had peeped on the girl or not.

Kyouseke sighed. So much grief over something so small.

History drummed by slowly, as every class did, although at least Kyouseke was able to keep up. He enjoyed history the most because all he had to do was soak up information, instead of having to actually think like with math. Though his version of "enjoying" simply meant it bothered him the least.

Halfway through the class, he peaked back at Kaori, head down on her desk. He wondered how she managed to pass any of her classes like this. He looked back down at the notes he had been taking. His hand writing wasn't the best, but he had decent organizational skills so it wasn't too sloppy.

He got an idea, but it gave him a headache just thinking about it. Why should he be bothered? Obviously what she was doing has worked for her so far. Then again...

He peered back at her.

Not really the makings of a top student.

His fingers tightened in his hair as he came a decision that went against his nature. He began transcribing his notes on a separate sheet of paper. At the end of the class, he sighed as he put the second copy of notes under the sleeping girl's hand. He lingered for a moment before grabbing his bag and headed out the door, headed for his locker.

Kaori woke up after the third bell rang after school. She rubbed her eyes and then looked at the time. Only the students who had to clean the room that day, were still there... And she was going to be very late to her clubs. She jumped up, opened her bag and swept all of the things from her desk inside. She would get back to them later. She ran downstairs as fast as she could, exchanged shoes from her cubby and zoomed out the door. She didn't notice as she zoomed by Kyouseke.

She almost tripped over herself while running to the schools dojo. It was where judo and kyuudo were held. Tonight was judo and the day after was kyuudo. They were run by the same third year senpai, someone who everyone wanted to impress; Akira Fujioka. He was what people called the cold intellectual type, and somehow this is what made him so popular with girls. That and he was very attractive.

Kaori wasn't blind, she could appreciate that he was attractive, but she didn't like the way girls acted around him and how they would sign up for his clubs without any interest in the actual activities. She was really just there to learn how to use a sword or bow because weapons interested her.

She got suited up as quick as she could and joined the others. Akira was a hard teacher, thus the ever dwindling members, but Kaori was resilient and liked a challenge, plus the club ate up a few hours of her time, and she always appreciated the time away from home.

It was a nice afternoon as the sun was getting lower in the sky, so Kyouseke decided to walk through the park. He had a bit of disposable energy left, and he though the cxool breeze ruffling through the quiet trees would ease his mind after the hectic day he had. So far, he hasn't done too good of a job remaining anonymous. In a single day, there had been two rumors about him, both of which made him look out to be a pervert. He was lucky he didn't care about what other people thought.

He sat down on a bench and watched the sunset. He was in no hurry to go home to an empty house. If he would've remembered, he would have brought some money for the arcade.

At last, he began he trek home. He decided to reread the text from his dad detailing how he'd be spending the night over at his new girlfriend's and that was food in the fridge that he had prepared when he was hungry.

He opened his front door, greeted only by the darkness and slight chill of his house. The only sound was his footsteps echoing through the halls. He took off his shoes at the entryway, bypassing the light switch and going straight to the kitchen. Although dim light seeped through the drawn shades, it didn't help make the space any more cheerful. He opened the fridge, momentarily blinded by the light.

He took the food out of the fridge and, without hearing it up, slowly began eating. Once he was full, he covered it and would save it for tomorrow.

Many would consider this a depressing scene, but not to Kyouseke. He enjoyed the silence and peace by himself, especially after a day of such stressful socialization. He considered what to do for the rest of the night. Having thought of nothing, he settled on playing one of the video games that he owned.

Once practice was over, and Kaori was officially worn out, she decided to head home. She made the walk as long as she could stretch it, making sure to stop by the convenience store to pick up dinner, but before long she was at the little house on the corner of her street. She sighed and then smiled and headed inside.

"I'm home!" she called into the house and slipped off her shoes. Silence was the usual response.

Kaori padded into the living room area and set the food on the table and her bag in the corner. She then turned back around to face her guardian, who was asleep on the floor. She leaned down to the woman and shook her softly. "Mom... Time to get up. I'll take you to your room..." The woman stirred and looked up at the girl. Chiyo Kita reeked of alcohol and cigarettes, but it didn't phase Kaori. Chiyo groaned and slowly got up with Kaori's help. The younger girl dragged her off to bed and tucked her in. "Night Mom... I'll leave some food in the fridge for you."

Chiyo grabbed the girls hand before she left. "Could you stop calling me your mother?" She spat. Kaori just laughed sadly and left the room.

She settled down in the living room and began eating her dinner. Halfway through she pulled out her phone and looked at the new number she had. The thought of the perverted bug boy made her smile. She sent him a text:

"I'll see you at school tomorrow! Should be another eventful day~~!"