The next day, Monday at 8.30, Ayane and Izumi waited patiently at the
steel hard front gate of Tomeishuu High. Waiting for the arrival of
Ayane’s old friend, the Shinto priestess, Natsumi Yakume. For some
reason, Ayane was extremely anxious about this. After all, this was
the first time she had seen Natsumi in years. What could you say to
someone you haven’t seen for so long? Still, Ayane felt an underlying
excitement. Very rarely did you get the chance to meet up with an old
friend. Izumi however, couldn’t see what the big deal was. But then
again, Izumi had her own problems to worry about. She just couldn’t
stop thinking about yesterday...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Well, if isn’t Rinako’s lapdog, the Good Student. How’s it going,
Mishizu?”
“What do you want, Izumi?”
“Want? Why Mishizu, I’m insulted. You really think I want something
from you?”
“If you looking for a fight, Izumi, you are welcome to one. But not
here.”
“I told you, I’m just passing by. I’m not really in the mood to kick
your ass today. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Did you really think she could see anything in you?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Why did I do that?} Izumi thought. {Why do I put myself through
this?}
Ayane took note of Izumi’s dejection. “...Izumi?”
“...” Izumi said nothing in response, but her mind was running a mile
a minute. {Damn you, Mishizu...everything was fine till you came
along...I don’t wanna feel this way anymore...}
“Izumi?” Ayane repeated, this time more forceful. It worked.
“Huh? Ayane...what is it, boss?” Izumi mumbled quietly.
Ayane’s eyes narrowed. She was having none of this. Especially now
that Natsumi could be arriving at any second. “What’s wrong with you?
You’ve been acting strangely ever since yesterday. Did the Cross Blade
Lancers trouble you?”
Izumi looked away. “No...not exactly...”
Ayane was still not convinced. “So then why are you so-“
The gold-eyed leader of the Spring Breeze Assassins stopped herself as
the sound of a car pulling up caught her immediate attention. At the
edge of the road, a young woman with exotically dark hair stepped out
of the car and handed the driver a few notes of Yen. Ayane let a small
grin creep onto her face. There, standing with two large suitcases in
her hands, was Natsumi.
“Hey, Ayane! How are things?”
**********
Natsumi smiled brightly as Ayane showed her around the beautiful
Victorian styled halls of Tomeishuu high. Natsumi was astounded. She
had always heard that Tokyo was a beautiful city but this was...
“This school is so big, Ayane!” Natsumi said cheerfully.
Ayane smiled inwardly. Though it seemed unlikely at first, Natsumi had
transferred from her old school in Kyoto to come to Tomeishuu. What
surprised Ayane most was the fact that Natsumi had been allowed to do
this. Her father Tetsuya was always so very strict and
controlling...just like another man Ayane knew...
Ayane shook her head. That was in the past and this was now. She had
to forget about that. What mattered now was Natsumi, and how she would
fit into this school. Tomeishuu could be a dangerous place if you
didn’t know someone. Luckily for Natsumi, she knew Ayane. That put her
in a better position than most.
The two girls at that moment were reaching the dormitories. These
dorms were Spring Breeze Assassin territory though, so there was
literally no risk for Natsumi. Plus, she would be getting the room
next to Ayane’s.
Ayane and Natsumi came up to the door leading to Natsumi’s new room.
“Have you got the key to your room?”
Natsumi nodded cheerfully. “Yup! Right here!”
Placing the key into the small keyhole, Natsumi unlocked and opened
the door to her new room. The room was gorgeous. Nice bed, window view
to the outer courtyard, wardrobe and a small selection of fictional
literature. Nothing like her old place, that was for sure.
“Wow!” Natsumi gasped. “This place is so incredible!”
Ayane placed Natsumi’s luggage on her new bed. “You’ll get used to it.
The novelty of this place runs thin pretty quick.”
Natsumi waved Ayane off and walked over to the window. “Don’t be such
a miserable sourpuss, Ayane. Tomeishuu high is great!”
Not willing to argue with her, Ayane took a seat on the bed. “Classes
start in twenty minutes, Natsumi. What have you chosen?”
Natsumi held a finger to her cheek as she thought about that. “Lets
see. I picked Japanese History, because you know I love that,
Calligraphy, English Studies, Math, Biology...and Politics, I think.”
Ayane raised an eyebrow. “Politics?”
“My father wanted me to take it up so what choice do I have? I’m just
surprised that this school teaches it. That’s a big enough mystery as
it is.”
“I suppose.” Ayane said. “I think you have English Studies first. It’s
in room 12B, okay.”
Natsumi nodded. “Thanks. Oh, I just can’t wait to start this school!
I’m glad you’re hear with me though, Ayane. It’s nice to know a
friendly face...well, sort of.”
Ayane smiled. “That’s okay. But first, I have a few things to tell
you...”
**********
Twenty minutes later, Minato, with her book bag in her hand and a
piece of toast in her mouth, made a dash for her English Studies
class. For the first time in ages she was late! Darn that Rinako and
her training!
Zipping along the halls of the school, Minato quickly made her way
over to her ES class and slowed down accordingly. Just made it in the
nick of time. Chomping down the last piece of toast, Minato smoothed
out her skirt and quickly entered the class.
Minato speedily walked over her desk. The teacher was already
organising his notes. Any later and Minato would have had a weekend
reprimand. Needless to say, the blonde hated those. She got one before
and it ruined the weekend she planned for herself and her sister.
Anyway, Minato sat down her desk just by the window, and set her book
bag down. As she did so, the teacher stood up to address the class.
“Okay, welcome back. Before I get started with this class I’d like to
introduce a new student to our group. Miss Natsumi Yakume. Would you
like to come in, dear?”
Just then the door clicked open, and the attention of the whole class
drifted towards the door. And slowly, Natsumi drifted into the
classroom with a pleasant smile on her face.
And suddenly time froze for Minato. Her eyes glazed over and her
heartbeat sped up with every second. Every second spent marvelling
this dark haired beauty with her shining cerulean eyes...
{She’s gorgeous...who is she...?} Minato thought.
Natsumi faced the class. “Hi! My name is Natsumi Yakume, and I love
romantic books and short stories. I am very pleased to be able to meet
you all and I’m sure we’ll get along fine.”
The teacher pointed to an empty desk next to Minato. “Thank you, Miss
Yakume. If you could take that free seat over there, we can begin the
lesson.”
Natsumi bowed for respect. “Thank you, sir.”
As Natsumi walked over to her, Minato tried to keep her pulse in
check. She was also unaware of the flaming red blush across her
cheeks. What was this girl doing to her? Natsumi quickly sat down by
the desk next to Minato’s, and the dark haired girl could see from the
corner of her eye, that Minato was staring at her.
With a seductive playfulness, Natsumi winked at her. “Hi...”
Minato jolted up in shock. Was she staring at Natsumi like that?
“...I...uh...I...um...”
Before either of them could say anything more, the class began. But
strangely enough, neither could focus on the lesson. All Minato could
think about was how beautiful Natsumi was. And Natsumi couldn’t stop
thinking about the shy and cute girl sitting parallel to her...
**********
Later on at the end of the class, Minato slowly ambled her way out of
the classroom. Why couldn’t she think straight? Was it...Natsumi? The
second that name came into thought Minato blushed again. She had never
met anyone was attractive as Natsumi was. No one. Her eyes...her
hair...her lips...her body...Everything about Natsumi was drawing
Minato into her heart.
{Natsumi is just *so* beautiful...}
Minato felt dizzy. She had to lean on the wall outside of the class to
get her head back into focus. This was all just too weird. How could
anyone be so...so pretty?
The blonde didn’t have enough time to even acclimate her own thoughts
when she caught sight of Natsumi, walking out of the classroom and
down the hallway. The minute Minato’s crystal blue eyes looked upon
Natsumi, her blush returned a thousand-fold, and she clammed up again.
Luckily, Natsumi hadn’t seen Minato. Breathing a sigh of relief,
Minato tried to control her herself. Nobody had ever made Minato feel
this way.
Just then, Mishizu walked out of her Chemistry class just across from
Minato’s English Studies class. The second in command of the Cross
Blade Lancers walked up to Minato and looked at the blonde rather
questioningly.
“What is wrong with you, Minato?” Mishizu asked.
Minato gave no response. {Natsumi...}
Again, Mishizu spoke out to Minato. “Hey, Minato!”
That was it. “Huh...? Oh, it’s just you, Mishizu...” Minato said.
Mishizu smiled mildly. “That’s a nice hello.”
“Sorry, it’s just...um...there’s this girl...I...her name is Natsumi
Yakume. Do you know her?”
Mishizu’s eyes darkened. “Not personally. But I know of her. She just
arrived here from Kyoto.”
“She...she seems like a wonderful girl to me...” Minato said dreamily.
Mishizu looked at the blonde girl oddly. She knew that smile on
Minato’s face quite well. Mostly because she had worn it a few times
herself. And if Mishizu was right...
“Minato...are...are you taking interest in that girl?” Mishizu asked.
Rinako’s younger sister dragged herself from thoughts of her
raven-haired beauty long enough to give Mishizu real attention.
“What do you mean?” Mishizu sweatdropped. “Are you playing dumb?”
Minato hated it when people said things like that. She was in no way
as air-headed as others made her out to be, not by one lick. Even if
it was meant to be playful, Minato didn’t take comments like that very
well.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. I just want to know all
that you know about Natsumi.” Minato said sternly.
Mishizu rolled her eyes. Minato was serious...she could tell that this
was going to get complicated...
“...Do you really need to know this, Minato?”
The blonde pushed herself off the wall and stood up straight. “I did
ask, didn’t I? Isn’t that enough?”
Mishizu sighed. She just hoped that Rinako wouldn’t flip her wig when
she found out about this. “Okay. That girl just transferred from
Haruka Natsu High in Kyoto. She’s a shrine priestess and she’s
studying here for a while.”
Minato couldn’t help but get giddy and goofy with every thought spent
on Natsumi. “What else?”
“She’s a close friend of Ayane.”
Uh oh. Minato took that *well* on board. If Natsumi was connected to
Ayane then... “Does Rinako know?” Minato asked quickly.
Mishizu shook her head. “No. But you do realize that I’ll have to tell
her this, don’t you?”
Minato couldn’t believe it. Natsumi was a Spring Breeze Assassin. Or
at least as good as one. Of course, it didn’t matter to Minato,
because she was still a neutral in the CBL-SBA war, but her friends
and Rinako...they weren’t. Rinako was the leader of the whole of the
Cross Blade Lancers. There was no way that Rinako would allow Minato
to get close to Natsumi. Rinako had even said it before. Never get
involved with the SBA. None of them.
“You still don’t know if Natsumi has joined them though, do you?”
Again, Mishizu sighed. “No, but you know that Rinako hates anything to
do with Ayane.”
It still hadn’t sunk in for Minato. “...Natsumi...”
Mishizu could feel the situation that Minato was in. But her loyalty
had to remain to her sister. If Minato got involved with a SBA then
Rinako would not only be angry, she would be hurt too. Minato valued
her sister too much to do that. Before Mishizu left to go to her next
class, she offered
“Stay away from her, Minato. She’s the enemy.”
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