Episode 2: Tomodachi

[Hayate]

Power of Love

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~ Episode 2: Tomodachi (Friends) ~[/u]

Act 1: The Grand Tour

“I choose…Kyosuke!!!”

From when he first heard Emiri shout those words up until the start of lunch hour, young Kyosuke had felt utterly nauseous. A new girl was introduced to his class, and now he had the pleasure (or in Kyosuke’s case, displeasure) of giving that girl a tour of Sapporo South High School. ‘…Why me…?’, Kyosuke would repeatedly ask to himself almost every five minutes.

At the start of lunch hour, shortly after the melodic chiming of the school’s bells, the majority of the class would once again break into their routine lunch circles while Kyosuke and Emiri stand at the front of the classroom, facing Kozue-sensei. “Okay, Kyo-kun.”, the doting teacher begins. “I’m just going to clarify a few things concerning this tour. Number 1: You’re not to leave the school grounds under any circumstances.”

“Uh-huh…”, Kyosuke lazily replies.

“Number 2: If Emiri asks you any questions during the tour, you’re expected to answer them.”

“Right…”

“And number 3: You’re only allowed to conclude the tour when Emiri feels that she’s seen enough.”

“Got it…”

A vein pops on Kozue-sensei’s temple at Kyosuke’s perpetual apathy. “…And would it kill you to crack a smile every now and then…?”, she asks him with a tinge of annoyance in her tone.

“…Yes, it would…”, the black-haired youth sarcastically answers.

Upon the completion of Kozue-sensei’s explanation, Kyosuke and Emiri turn and walk towards the classroom’s entrance. “You two have fun now!”, Kozue says as they depart. Once the two are out of earshot, Kozue sighs heavily. “Just two days with that kid, and he’s already a handful…”

Outside the classroom, Kyosuke lets out a heavy sigh of his own, still contemplating on his self-imposed bad luck. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”, he starts, turning to face the redheaded Emiri. “…The school’s got three floors. Which do you wanna start on?”

“Hmm…”, Emiri utters. She places her index finger cutely beside her chin and assumes a thinking pose. Eventually she would suggest to him, “How about…we start on the first floor and work our way up?”

“Fine…”

Minutes later, Kyosuke would commence the tour near the front entrance of the school. “Sapporo South High is split up into several buildings.”, he begins in an indifferent yet professional voice. “There’s the gymnasium to the west, the auditorium to the north, and the main building, the largest of the three, the one we’re standing in. Like I said before, the main building is made up of three floors. The first floor is for student homerooms and faculty offices.”

“Ahhh…” This early in the tour, and Emiri was already enthralled.

The two walk down one of the first floor’s hallways as Kyosuke explains each passing room’s purpose. Moments later, they would be joined by a certain class representative who was sashaying by. “Ah, there you are!”, Misuzu Akiyama calls out from several feet away. She walks up to the two holding a clipboard. “As surprising as it is for me to say, I’m glad I caught up with you, Kyosuke.”

“You are?”, Kyosuke rebuts. “That is surprising.”

“So do you have your 5 dollars?”

“5 dollars? For what?”

“Kozue-sensei’s birthday is a little over a week from now. Don’t you remember?”

“…How would I know something like that?”

“I handed out sheets in class when Kozue-sensei wasn’t looking! Didn’t you receive one!?”

“…Guess not.”

Misuzu simply groans at the boy’s negligence. “Anyway…I’m collecting 5 dollars from each student in Kozue-sensei’s homeroom class so I could buy her a birthday present.”

“Birthday present? We’ve only known the lady for two days.”

“Regardless, this is Kozue-sensei’s first year of teaching at Sapporo South High, and I want her to feel welcome. …Well?”

“Jeez…” Knowing full well that Misuzu wouldn’t leave him alone until he did his part, Kyosuke begrudgingly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, relinquishing to the blonde a single bill of money.

“I’ll help too!”, Emiri says, suddenly speaking up. Just as Kyosuke had done, she pulls out a bill of money from her wallet and hands it to Misuzu. “Here you go!”

“Much obliged! …Hmm?” Taking another look at the bill Emiri had handed to her, Misuzu says, “Uh, Emi-chan? You just gave me a 10.”

“Hehehe. I know.”, replies Emiri with a victorious grin. “What are you gonna buy Kozue-sensei anyway?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Everyone in class is currently pitching ideas. If you have an idea, feel free to share it with me by the end of the day, ‘kay?”

“You got it!”

As Misuzu takes her leave, Kyosuke gives Emiri a skeptical gaze. “…”

“…What?”, Emiri asks, noticing Kyosuke’s gaze.

“…Nothing. Let’s keep moving.”

The next stop on Kyosuke’s tour was the high school cafeteria. “Wow!”, Emiri marvels. At first glance, it appeared to her that the cafeteria alone was 1/3 the size of the school. “Asakura High School’s cafeteria was nowhere near this big!”

“…It’s not that big a deal…”

Just then, a green blur zooms past Emiri, dragging with it a short breeze that lifted her skirt a little bit. “Aah!”, she squeals as she uses her hands to keep her panties from being exposed. “W-What was that!?”

“…You don’t wanna know…”

“Hey! Didn’t Kozue-sensei say you had to answer all my questions?”

“This has nothing to do with the tour. Now let’s go.”

As the blur that had zipped past Emiri slows down at the other end of the cafeteria, Emiri discovers its source to be… “…Is that…Chiaki? HEY, CHIAKI!!!”

At the cafeteria’s other end, Chiaki hears Emiri’s faint call and turns around, revealing that she was holding a large tray of food. Her mouth stuffed with food, Chiaki motions to Emiri a meager wave.

Emiri couldn’t help but blink twice at this sight. “…What’s all that about?”

“Chiaki’s one of the first students in the school to hit the cafeteria at the start of lunch hour. The girl eats like a freakin’ horse.”, Kyosuke answers.

“Wow… You gotta wonder where all that stuff goes…”

“…I can think of one place…”, Kyosuke comments to himself, indirectly referring to Chiaki’s attention-grabbing endowment. “…Come on, let’s go.”

On to the second floor Kyosuke and Emiri proceed. “The second floor is for late-morning and early-afternoon classes.”, the uninterested tour guide explains. “Third-years also have homeroom up here.”

“So we’ll be coming up here for homeroom next year, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah, no need to overstate the obvious…”

As the two walk down yet another hallway, Emiri catches a glimpse of silver hair down a sub-hallway. “Hmm?” Upon closer inspection, she notices a certain exchange student chatting up a group of third-year girls. “Hey, Kyo. Isn’t that that Rudy guy?”

“Huh?” His curiosity piqued, Kyosuke glances down the hallway along with Emiri. “…Yup, that’s him. No doubt practicing his ‘doesn’t-take-no-for-an-answer’ dogma.”

At the end of the school corridor, Rudy Beaumont, with a smooth smirk on his face and his hands placed loosely in his pockets, is seen ‘working his magic’ once again. “Can I interest you lovely ladies in a sunset walk on the pier?”

Two of the girls simply laugh at Rudy’s attempt, while the girl in the middle says, “Sorry, guy, but I think you might be a little young for us. Hehe.”

“Daijoubu. I always was into older women.”

The boy’s persistence only made the girls further revolted.

“Think we should step in and help?”, Emiri suddenly proposes to her guide.

“What for?”, Kyosuke retorts. “He’s doing just fine all by myself.” The next sight Kyosuke’s eyes are greeted by is Emiri making her way towards the ‘war zone.’ “H-Hey, wait! What are you doing!?”

As Rudy continues to playfully harass the third-years, Emiri adamantly approaches from the rear. “Hey, Rudy!”, she calls out in a stern tone. “They said they’re not interested, so leave ‘em alone!”

Hearing Emiri’s booming voice, Rudy turns a full 180 degrees. “Hmm? …Oh. You’re that new girl. Sakurai, was it?”

“That’s right! Emiri Sakurai!”

“Hmm… Leave them alone, should I? Well…” Before continuing, Rudy suavely brushes his silver hair out of his face. “…How about you then?”

“Me? W-What about me?”

Walking up to his new prospect, Rudy courteously takes Emiri by the hand. “Why don’t we talk somewhere more…private?”

‘…This guy just doesn’t give up, does he…?’ “…I already said I’m not interested…”

“Oh, come now… Can you really deny this gorgeous face?” Just then, Rudy would feel a sharp sensation of pain course through him as his fingers are clenched tightly together. “G-Gah!”

The person responsible for this act of hostility was none other than Kyosuke. “Back off, baka.”, he snaps.

Rudy quickly pulls his fingers out of Kyosuke’s grasp. “Ah! That hurt, you thug!”

“It was supposed to!”

Emiri was rather surprised to see Kyosuke stick up for her. “…Kyosuke…”

Rubbing his reddened fingers in ache, Rudy looks at the boy again. “…You…You’re that Nanbara fellow, am I right?”

From behind Rudy, the trio of girls had recognized Kyosuke’s name. “Nanbara? Kyosuke Nanbara?” Apparently, talk of his bad-boy attitude had spread through the high school grapevine.

“What of it?”

“‘What of it’!? Is that all you can say!? What gives you the right to hurt me like that!? Are you nothing more than a common brute!?”

“…Hey, Rudy…”

“Hmm? What?”

“…Isn’t this area of the second floor off-limits during lunch hour?”

“…Um…”

“We wouldn’t want Kozue-sensei to learn about you entering a prohibited area of the school, would we?”

Rudy’s expression showed that he was irritated, but the anxiety behind that expression was proof that he had been shoved into a corner. To hide this anxiety of his, Rudy brushes his hair aside again and walks off in the direction of the first floor staircase. Just before walking out of hearing range, he calls out, “Perhaps you’re not as heartless as I originally assumed you were, Nanbara. It’s no wonder that nearly all the girls in class like you. Heh.”

“Hmph!”

Moved by Kyosuke’s sudden chivalry, Emiri smiles at him. “…Thanks, Kyosuke.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“Hehe! Never mind!” The lively redhead takes Kyosuke’s hand and pulls him along. “C’mon! I wanna see more of the school!”

“Aah! A-Alright, just quit trying to yank my arm off!”

The three girls from earlier talk amongst themselves as they return to their homeroom. “So that was Kyosuke, huh?”

“Yup! I told you he was cute!”

“…Too bad he’s already taken…”

“Well, you know what they say: If a cute guy’s already spoken for, it only makes him more desirable.”

“…Who says that?”

“Beats me, but it sounds true, doesn’t it? Hahaha!”

~Tomodachi: End of Act 1~

Act 2: A Friendly Plot

Kyosuke’s tour continues onto the school’s third floor. As the two walk down the main third floor hall, Kyosuke explains to Emiri, “The third floor is made up of clubrooms for the school’s clubs – astronomy club, computer club, whatever. Some clubs are bigger than others, so for larger clubs like the drama club, they use the auditorium.”

“Are you a member of any clubs, Kyosuke?”

“…If you can call the track team a club.”

“You’re on the school track team!?”

“Hey, I need something to occupy all the free time I have.”

“Can I watch you run some time?”

“…Do what you want.”

Continuing their trek down the hallway, Kyosuke and Emiri’s pace is disrupted by a sudden yell – “YOSHI!!!” – which nearly cause them to stumble. Blinking several times in shock, Emiri spouts, “W-What the hell was that!?”

Kyosuke slaps his hand to his face, as if he knew full well the source of the outburst. “Oh, no… Not again…”

The two approach the alleged source of the yell: the astronomy clubroom. “It sounded like it came from in here.”, Emiri whispers.

Kyosuke braces himself, fearing what was on the other side of the door.

As Emiri turns the knob and nudges the door open, the two are greeted by the sight of scattered sheets of paper and rearranged, unorganized school desks. Such was typical of a school club however. But what was really unusual was the sight of a girl – brown hair tied into braids, brow-line glasses, and an overstated sense of confidence – standing on top of one of the desks. This girl is seen with her arms stretched high above her, and in her hands was a camera. “I told you! I told you I’d get proof, and I did!”, the girl shouts out, her voice echoing in the confinement of the clubroom.

One of the astronomy club’s members, a boy with black hair just slightly longer than Kyosuke’s, beckons the eccentric girl to control herself. “Get down from there, Yuzu! You’re making a fool of yourself again!”

Emiri’s eyes widen considerably at this display. “So are things always this hectic in the astronomy club?”

“Pretty much.”, answers Kyosuke. “See the girl standing on the desk? That’s Yuzu Haruhara. She’s constantly going on about existence of the supernatural and paranormal. You know, aliens, mythical creatures, blah-blah-blah.”

“Gimme that camera!”, another astronomy club member yelps towards Yuzu.

“Fine!”, Yuzu snaps back, handing to the girl her camera. “See for yourself! I just know I got something good this time!” At this moment, Yuzu’s attention is shifted towards the door, where she sees Kyosuke and Emiri looking back at her. “Oh! ‘Kyosuke-senpai’!”

Emiri looks as though she was about to keel over with laughter. “‘Kyosuke-senpai’!? Oh, my God, that’s so cute!”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and have your laugh…”

Yuzu immediately leaps off the desk and skips over to Kyosuke’s side. “Hello, Kyosuke-senpai! It’s good to see you!”

“…I’m sure it is…”

“Hello there, Yuzu! I’m Emiri Sakurai! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Likewise!”, Yuzu cheerfully replies.

Having a closer look at the excitable Yuzu, Emiri realizes that she was wearing the school attire of a second-year high school student, but was rather short for one. “…Hey, Yuzu, just how old are you?”

“16. Why do you ask?”

Kyosuke interjects by saying, “Yuzu has a high IQ for a girl her age so she was allowed acceptance into high school a year early.”

“Oh. That’s cool. …So how do you two know each other?”

“Let’s see… I think it was about three months into my first year…”

“SOMEONE CATCH ME!!!!!”

“What the hell!? GAH! …Ow…”

“Oh! Sumimasen! Are you alright, sir?”

“Where the hell did you come from, girl? …You don’t look a day over 15. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“I am! I go to this school!”

“…Oh, really…? How fortunate for me… So back to my original question: Where’d you come from? What’s the deal with falling out of the sky and crashing into me?”

“Gomen ne. I was trying to get a picture of something and…I guess the branch broke.”

“A picture of what?”

“A UFO!”

“…A what?”

“Awww!”, Emiri gushes from hearing the story. “So Yuzu’s like your fallen angel, huh, Kyosuke? Hahaha!”

“…You’re enjoying this a lot, aren’t you…?”

“OI!!!”, a voice calls out from across the room, belonging to the astronomy club member Yuzu had handed her camera to. “These pictures are so fuzzy! I can barely make anything out!”, she gripes out loud.

Yuzu spins around to face her fellow club member with a look of disbelief. “Nani!? Those are top-quality photos!”

“Top-quality!? My baby brother can take better pictures than these!”

Fearing that a big argument was approaching, Kyosuke takes Emiri’s hand and drags her out of the clubroom. “Let’s get out of here before desks start flying…”

Moments later, the two would reach the final stop of the tour: the school rooftop. Emiri runs over to the metal grated fence lining the roof’s perimeter and gazes out at the breathtaking view. “Wow… You can see all of Chuo-ku from up here…”

Kyosuke had things on his mind other than the landscape. He glances over at the large clock placed on the southern wall of the auditorium. Lunch hour would come to an end in just under twenty minutes, and Kyosuke was hungry. “…Alright, are we done here? I’m freakin’ starving.”

“Oh, sorry! I’d completely forgotten about lunch! …Hey, I know! Why don’t we go fetch our bentos and eat up here together?”

“Together? Tch. Yeah, right. I prefer eating alone.”

“But…where’s the fun in eating lunch if you’re by yourself?”

“Look. All that stuff you were going on about yesterday about me opening myself up to others? I’m not interested, alright? So you can just take your ridiculous philosophies and trouble someone with them.” Having said what he needed to say, Kyosuke turns around and heads back inside the school…

…leaving Emiri to her own thoughts. “…Heh. Sorry, Kyosuke…but I’m not giving up on you that easy!”

The following morning, Kyosuke is seen walking past the school gates and through the crowd of students, listening to J-rock through his earphones. “…”

“Hey, Kyosuke!”, Chiaki calls out from behind the lad. She runs up to him to relay a foreboding message… “I’m lookin’ forward to later today! See ya then!” …and continues on her merry way.

“What?” Stopping in his tracks, Kyosuke briefly removes his earphones. “…‘Later today’…? What’s that mean…?”

A short time later, as Kyosuke sits in Kozue-sensei’s class, his eyes slowly drift from the window to the rest of the class. A handful of his classmates, all whose faces Kyosuke was familiar with, were giving him a combination of eager, approving, and doubtful gazes. What he had done to earn such gazes was a mystery. ‘…Why are they looking at me like that…?’ His vision is then directed towards Emiri, who was giving him a similar look of excitement accompanied by an ominous thumbs-up. ‘…What the hell did you do, girl…?’

Hours later, at 12:00 noon, Kyosuke climbs the stairs leading to the rooftop with bento in hand. He couldn’t shake the fact that something was amiss. First was Chiaki’s message about ‘looking forward to later today’, then were the looks his classmates were giving him in class. But he decides to put those thoughts to bed as he pushes the roof door open. Perhaps he was simply overanalyzing things…

“HEY, KYOSUKE!!!”

…or perhaps not. As soon as Kyosuke reaches the rooftop, he finds Emiri, Misuzu, Chiaki, Rudy, and Yuzu all waiting for him, holding bentos. Several of Kyosuke’s hairs stand on end at this shocking greeting. “…What are you all doing here?”

“What are we doin’ here?”, Chiaki asks, repeating Kyosuke’s query. “Honma aho ya na! You’re th’ one who invited us to eat lunch wit’ you, Kyosuke!”

“Honestly, Nanbara!”, Misuzu suddenly barks. “If you’re gonna make lunch plans with us, you could at least remember!”

Yuzu smiles widely as she cutely grasps her bento. “I was really surprised to get your invitation, Kyosuke-senpai!”

“…Wait… My invitation?”

“Hai! Emiri-senpai told us all about it!”

“…” Now it all made sense. Emiri had made plans with Kyosuke’s closest associates for them to all eat lunch together on the school roof. He glares furiously at the redhead… “You didn’t!”

…while she simply flashes a grin of victory. “Yup! Surprise!”

The twitch in Kyosuke’s left eye had returned with a vengeance. He was defeated yet again. Eating lunch alongside these people wasn’t exactly at the top of his to-do list, and convincing them to leave would only be a vain effort. “…You’ve gotta be kidding me…” The group of schoolmates forms a circle in which to eat their lunch and converse. While the rest of the group was pretty talkative, Kyosuke himself was rather quiet for the majority of the hour. Emiri and Chiaki shared a few jokes here and there, Misuzu and Yuzu had a good laugh, and even Rudy was behaving himself, if not for a couple of teasing remarks. But to Kyosuke, there was something odd about this picture. Something familiar. The feeling of what it was like to be around close friends. A feeling that young Kyosuke hadn’t felt in over a year’s time. “…” The sensation had brought a smile to his face, the same way that the ‘Tiger’s Claws’ in front of the flower shop near the school had done the day before.

Emiri softly gasps at Kyosuke’s smile, and she was overjoyed.

…Later that day, after school had let out, Kyosuke and Emiri exit Sapporo Station and walk towards their residential district in Kita-ku. Emiri, walking a short distance behind Kyosuke, suddenly stops walking. “…I saw.”

“Hmm?” Kyosuke stops as well and turns to face her. “What’d you say?”

“At lunch…I saw you smile.”

Kyosuke could feel his face grow a tad warm. “…It didn’t mean anything…”

“Hehehe. You enjoyed it. Our company, I mean.”

“…Whatever.” Kyosuke turns back around and prepares to walk away. But not before saying, “…Thanks.”

“H-Huh?”

“I’m still pissed that you went and made plans behind my back, but…it wasn’t all bad. So…thanks, Emiri.”

“…Heh. That’s the first time you called me by my name. I guess that means my so-called ‘ridiculous philosophies’ are working after all!”

“…Uh-huh…Sure they are…”

“Maybe we should do it again tomorrow!”

“…Let’s not get carried away…”

“Hahahaha!”

~Tomodachi: End of Act 2~

~Power of Love: End of Episode 2~

~ Power of Love: Next Episode ~

Chiaki: Hey, Kyosuke! Is it true!?

Kyosuke: Is what true?

Chiaki: That Emiri asked you out on a date!

Kyosuke: Tch! “Asked”? More like “coerced”!

Emiri: We’re gonna have lots of fun today, Kyosuke!

Kyosuke: …Uh-huh…

Yuzu: Next time on Power of Love! Episode 3, “Aibiki (Date)”!

Ayumu: “Kyosuke and Emi-nee sitting in a tree…”

Kyosuke: …Perfect…[/font][/size][/color]