Fire&Ice - 2

    Amefuri stared at the door to her classroom, listening to the sounds of her classmates within as they argued and laughed about whatever details of the rapidly changing culture interested them today. She didn't know why she was here. She just woke up this morning and felt that she needed to go somewhere but didn't know where, and before she knew what happened, Amefuri found herself at school. A small voice in the back of her mind wondered if she was still enrolled at Suishou Private high school, taking all of her absences into consideration, there was probably very little chance that she'd pass the finals.  

    Still.... she was paying the tuition, so she might as well come to class. 

    Taking a deep breath, Amefuri braced herself for the stares and whispers of her classmates and pushed the door open. Now it goes without saying that being the target of the local gossip bothered her, but the uneasy silence that her entrance was greeted with was familiar and expected. Something regular in her irregular life. 

    What she wasn't prepared for was the complete lack of impact that her entrance had upon the class. 

    Everyone huddled around a desk near the window, talking rapidly. Some of the girls squealed and chattered excitedly to each other in high-pitched voices, while others hung back with expressions of doubt. The boys feigned disinterest in the whole event, but couldn't resist joining in the gossip with their excited classmates. 

    Amefuri blinked slowly, her hand still resting upon the door, and stared at the scene. 

    "What... is going on?" She said, uncertainly. 

    A white-haired boy spotted Amefuri in the doorway and detached himself from the mob and strode quickly across the room. "Come, Amefuri-san," Shinzui said. "You have to see this!" He grasped her hand and pulled her towards the crowd by the window before she had a chance to resist. He pushed though the people and removed the magazine that was the source of all this discussion from the hands of his friend. 

    "Hey, I was reading that!" He complained, "Careful with it Shinzui, its already getting worn!"

    "Don't worry," Shinzui assured him. "I'm only going to show this to Amefuri-san."

    "Why?" He asked, "Shouldn't she already know? I mean, everybody already does!"

    "Amefuri-san has been ill for the last few weeks," Shinzui admonished his friend. "So she hasn't had to chance to keep up with the latest news. Besides.... not everybody is interested in gossip."

    "You don't say," he snapped. "But this should be common knowledge, even for somebody like her!"

    Amefuri stood behind Shinzui, trying to remain as small and unnoticeable as possible. She didn't know why being behind in pop culture should bother her, but it did. Quite a bit. Being this far out of the loop was... disturbing. But, she wasn't about to draw further attention to her lack of knowledge by speaking out. No, the best thing to do would be to wait for Shinzui to explain it to her, as she knew he eventually would. If not, Amefuri was certain that the information could be obtained cheaply from Yorukai.

    Yorukai...

    For some reason, Amefuri found her thoughts drifting towards that infuriating man. He had been strangely respectful of her desire for solitude these past few weeks and had never, not even once, tried to force entry into her home. The few times that she detected his presence at the shrine, Yorukai had only tidied up the grounds before leaving a freshly cooked meal outside her door. Now the food he had offered was not eaten -- she was fairly certain that he couldn't read the labels on the spice jars and probably cooked something quite poisonous by accident -- but the gesture alone was puzzling. 

    'Why would he go to so much trouble for me?' Amefuri thought, 'Especially when he knows that I don't want him around?'  Not only that, but Yorukai had starting coming by less and less frequently, until he had stopped visiting the shrine all together. At first she enjoyed the peace, but after some time had elapsed, she began to wonder if some catastrophic event had occurred that was keeping Yorukai from making his daily rounds to annoy her in her home. 

    "Amefuri-san?" 

    Thankfully, Shinzui's voice snapped Amefuri free of her thoughts before they could progress further down that dangerous path. She forcefully pushed the thoughts from the forefront of her mind and was resolved to pay full attention on whatever distracting bit of trivia had captured the full attention of her classmates. 

    "Yes? What is it, Shinzui?" Amefuri asked.

    "Here," he said while pushing a magazine into her hands. "Turn to page three. You won't believe it... but you have to see this!" 

    Amefuri gave him a puzzled look. "What's so interesting about it?"

    "Look, and you'll see." Shinzui answered. 

    She gave him a doubtful look but complied. Dutifully, she took the magazine from him and turned the pages until she reached the third one. She looked down at the magazine and began to read the article, which was covering a band called "Storm" that was experience an amazing rise from obscurity to stardom due to the replacement of their former lead singer. There wasn't anything particularly shocking or interesting in the story, in Amefuri's opinion.

    "Yes, this is talking about a new pop group, so what?" She said.

    "Look, look," Shinzui urged her. "Look at the picture on the next page!"

    "Okay, okay, " Amefuri turned the page and froze. Her jaw dropped open. Her eyes had to be failing her. This was impossible...

    "See? See?"

    "This is...him?" Amefuri asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

    "Yes, it is!" Shinzui replied brightly, "That's why we're all so excited! Chikawa-sensei is the lead singer for Storm!"

    "But...this CAN'T be!" Amefuri protested, "Isn't he supposed to be our teacher? How is he finding the time to be a singer AND teach classes?"

    "Oh, that's right. You haven't been here," Shinzui's friend piped up. "Chikawa-sensei doesn't teach us anymore."

"WHAT?!" Amefuri bellowed, "Then who is teaching us?"

    "Mrs. Machiko came back and took over again," Akuma explained calmly. "If you came to class, you'd know that."

    "You! What are you still doing here?!" Amefuri pointed a finger accusingly, "Aren't you already at Tokyo University? Or are you just that stupid that you're stuck taking some high school classes even though you're too old to be here?"

    '...not that I'm one to talk about being too old for class...' She added mentally.

    Akuma frowned at her. "Hey, can I help it if this place doesn't acknowledge the years I spent in school overseas?"

    "Well, if Suishou High didn't give you the graduation credits," Amefuri retorted angrily, "Then why are you at Todai?"

    "I may not have officially graduated from here," Akuma smirked. "But I'm intelligent enough that they'll let me enroll without graduating. Unlike SOME people in this room."

    "Hmph. Bribed them to let you enter is more like it," Amefuri snapped. "And why didn't you stop Chikawa from making a fool of himself by becoming some... some... idol singer?"

    "He seems to be enjoying himself."

    "Right," Amefuri said. "And you have absolutely no financial interest in this?"

    "Of course not, what kind of friend do you think I am?" Akuma snapped.

    "Even though it says right HERE," She pointed at the name of the record label, "That the company producing 'Storm' is owned by the Okugi family."

    "...So?" Akuma did not like where this conversation was headed. "The Okugi family owns a lot of things. What's so special about that?"

    "That's YOUR family if I remember correctly."

    Akuma glared at Amefuri. He wondered just how she managed to make the connection that he was a member of the Okugi family and would therefore play a rather influential part in the operations of the Okugi corporate empire.  Now he wasn't upset that she made the connection since he hadn't tried all that hard to disguise his wealth in the first place, but Akuma was quite annoyed that she would believe that he would manipulate and humiliate one of his oldest friends for no good reason, other than the profit motive. 

    "Listen to me, Mokutou," Akuma growled, "You are greatly overestimating the power I have over the actions of the other Okugi's if you think that I was behind all of this. It was pure coincidence that he joined a band that was owned by my family."

    Shinzui gaped at Akuma. "Is that true? You're an Okugi?"

    "Well........ yes," Akuma said. "But I had nothing to do with the band members choosing Yoru-kun to replace their lead vocalist. Really. In fact, I was quite convinced that it would be a bad idea but.... he is a surprisingly skilled singer."

    Amefuri snorted. "So that makes a total of ONE thing that Chikawa's good at."

    "Ne... I'm sure that Chikawa-sensei has other good points!" Shinzui protested, "You probably just don't know how to see them." 

    "And WHY would I?!" Amefuri snarled, "What good can come out of knowing how that scatter-brained idiot thinks?

    "Ne... is that what you really think of me, Ame-chan?"

    Amefuri jumped and whirled around to face an exhausted looking Yorukai. There was an unusually strained smile on his face while gripped the doorframe in an effort to keep himself from collapsing to the ground. His long blue-green hair spilled out of a hastily tied ponytail while dull blue eyes attempted to focus on their surroundings. 

    He raised a hand and greeted the class with a weary smile. "Hey. Long time no see, ne?"  

    "Chikawa-sensei!" Shinzui rushed to Yorukai's side and helped him to the teacher's desk. "You look terrible... are you okay?"

    "Who? Me? Of course I'm fine." Yorukai grinned and took a seat. "A few measly days without sleep can not defeat me! I am Chikawa Yorukai!"

    But despite his words, it was clear that that not even Yorukai was able to keep up with the intense schedule that his cheerful band-mates insisted on following. While they were more than ready to go through his parts in the song for the Nth time, all Yorukai wanted was to crawl into a nice soft bed and sleep for the next several weeks.

    "You should ask your band-mates for a day off," Akuma said blandly. "What good will you be to them if you pass out on stage?"

    "But what good'll I be to them if I don't know the part?" Yorukai protested. "I can't just skip practice to get some sleep! That's so... irresponsible!"

    "Irresponsible?" Akuma stared at Yorukai. "At least you'll be more good to them than someone who's got it memorized but can't stay awake long enough to perform."

    "But!"

    "Ne, Chikawa-sensei..." Shinzui interrupted, "If you're so tired... maybe you should go home and sleep instead of coming here..." He paused. "Why are you here, anyway?"

    Yorukai flashed a mischievous grin and winked. "Because this is the LAST place that Toura and the others will look for me."

    "Are you sure?" Akuma looked doubtful. "They seem to know you quite well."

    "Sure I'm sure!" Yorukai frowned. "They don't know I'm here!"

    From her place next to the window, Amefuri looked down into the yard and noticed a  young man with bleached blonde hair talking to several other boys. The group looked suspiciously out of place, since they all wore the uniform of one of the rival schools in the district. Now there wasn't a sporting event coming up soon, so there was no reason for them to be here... unless they were looking for someone.

    Her gaze slid over to Yorukai. 'So that's who they are....' A dark grin spread across Amefuri's face as she quietly slipped out of the classroom. 
 

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