Untainted Innocence
Chapter 1: Consequence
"Are you serious?" , 2nd year in high school and is currently being laughed at. "Hey! What's so funny?"
"You are!" Her classmates and close friends Fuji Yuuta and Kaneda Ichirou said in unison.
"I mean, who wouldn't know about that? It's like everybody's knowledge here." Kaneda Ichirou wiped his tears of laughter.
"Yeah! And the really funny part is, that news had spread way back in junior high." Yuuta's laughter subsided as well.
"Well...it's not my fault that I'm not aware, right?" She played with her fingers and thought deeply. "I must've hurt her feelings when I asked about Mizutani-sensei."
"Lucky for you, we prevented her slap." Yuuta patted her head.
"We? Don't you mean me and my head?" Kaneda Ichirou pointed himself. "Man! I thought that she was going to send me to the ER with her strong hits."
"Poor Kane-chan." was being empathetic again and Kaneda took the chance to receive a cuddle from her.
"Oioioi Kaneda...you're taking advantage of her." Yuuta glared at Kaneda, who immediately pulled away. "Fukuzawa wouldn't be happy with that."
"Fukuzawa?" repeated the name with an obvious questioning tone. "Who's that?"
"Nani?" Yuuta and Kaneda both blinked their eyes. "You don't know her?"
"Nfu. She's Kaneda's girlfriend." Another voice joined in the conversation.
Immediately by the tone, they already knew whose voice it was. "Mizuki-sempai!", the trio said in unison.
", I heard you got in trouble during lunch." Mizuki with his usual habit of twirling his bangs, sat on the grass beside the tennis courts. "I saw Asahi along my way here. She looked like she's ready to kill people."
laughed dryly at the newly given information. "I must apologize tomorrow.", she thought.
"Aikawarazu." Mizuki flipped his hair, made a troubled position by supporting his head with his fingers and sighed. "You weren't informed, were you?"
"We-well..." started explaining. She knew that as soon as the news got to Mizuki, she would get a share of scolding (not to mention nagging). "I suddenly remembered Mizutani-sensei, you see...and I kinda asked about whatever happened to him and suddenly-", she got cut-off by Kaneda.
"Asahi apparently heard her question and she suddenly attacked."
"Luckily, we prevented it." Yuuta took the spotlight.
"We again?" Kaneda protested. "It's more like, "me" isn't it?"
"Well, I took -chan out of the room. That counts too." Yuuta grinned victoriously.
"Fine." Kaneda sighed in defeat.
Mizuki blinked at what he heard. Did Yuuta just called her by her first name? That was new.
"I'm so sorry. I'll be careful from now on." bowed. "I always get you all worried. Please extend my apology to everyone. I'm sure they already know about it since you already know about it, Mizuki-sempai." With that she stood up. "I've got to go now. The teacher called for me after school." She bowed and left.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
As soon as the girl ran towards the building, the three men sighed and stood up.
"What was that about?" Mizuki suddenly asked when they were in the courts. His two juniors raised their brows.
"About Yuuta calling Agura by her first name." Mizuki questioned his kouhais.
"Oh, that?" Yuuta was about to explain when all of a sudden the crowd just got larger (and noisier).
"Nani! Yuuta and my cousin are already an item?" Akazawa-buchou teased his junior rather threateningly. "How come neither one of you told me?"
"Not to mention that the two of them already got to first-name basis already." Nomura Takuya added-on. "Maa, we saw it coming." He nodded to his own conclusion.
"Chi-chigau!" Yuuta was defending himself. "Oi Kaneda. Help me out here." But Kaneda already wore a smirk on his face. It read, ‘Time to get revenge!’
"Are? What's the commotion about dane?", Yanagisawa Shinya and Kisarazu Atsushi just got in the court.
"Yuuta and are an item now." Nomura was digging the hole named ‘RUMOR’ deeper.
"Nani!" Both of the boys were surprised and joined in to tease the poor boy.
"Chigau te ba!" Yuuta yelled and everybody went quiet. He exhaled and started to tell the story.
-----
"Yuuta-kun, can you please puff the erasers? I'm allergic to dust, you see."
"Sure! -chan can open the windows instead.", as Yuuta approached the board, spoke.
"It really doesn't sound right."
"But you said I should puff the erasers, -chan?" Yuuta raised his brow.
"See? It doesn't sound good, right Yuuta-kun?"
"What doesn't?" Yuuta approached and touched her forehead. "Well, you seem to be fine."
"No, no! That's not the problem."
"Then what is?"
"I started calling you Yuuta-kun the other day." She paused for a while. "So, you should call me -chan too."
Yuuta blinked at her statement and both of them were quiet for a while.
"You don't like it when I call you Fuji-kun, right?"
Yuuta nodded.
"That's why you told me to stop calling you that, right?"
Yuuta nodded again.
"Then we should balance it. You should call me -chan.", they were still quiet and Yuuta struggled to fight of his blush under 's clear eyes.
"Do you even know what you're saying?" Yuuta turned his back on her and approached the board once more.
"Hm? Of course I do. I'm saying you should call me by my first name too since I call you that." approached the windows to open them. "Woah~! This window is hard to open."
Yuuta sighed. "Here, let me help you, -chan."
-----
"Lucky~! Mizuki-sempai didn't scold me." thought to herself as she exited the faculty room. "But sensei returned the favor thrice." She shivered remembering how the homeroom teacher scolded her for so long.
sighed and started walking back to her classroom. She quickly picked her stuff and hurried towards the bookstore.
"Irashaimase~!", she was greeted by the store attendant.
She bowed to show respect and walked towards the bookshelves. Immediately after she started browsing the shelf, the door chimes reverberated.
"-chan?"
She turned to the source of the voice and greeted the friend with a sweet smile. "Konbanwa, Mizuki-sempai."
Mizuki blinked at the gesture and as always, a smirk appeared on his face. This was almost like the first time they met a few years ago, back in their junior days; the only difference is that, she already greets him as a sempai not some "weird-looking curl-haired guy with You-chan" anymore.
"Why are you here?" Mizuki asked.
"To find some good books, I guess.", she answered candidly.
Mizuki sighed. Yuuta must have forgotten to repeat it to her. "You're forgetting something. Try to remember it.", then he turned around to face the other shelf.
Forgetting something? As far as she could remember, there isn't anything in particular on her list. What was it?
"I got it~!" She suddenly shouted on the bookstore then she dragged Mizuki out the bookstore.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" Mizuki followed the fast-paced girl.
"You'll see." She maintained her pace as Mizuki couldn't argue any longer.
After a few minutes they arrived at a bakeshop.
"Just what in the world are we doing in a bakeshop?" Mizuki's voice isn't delightful at all. Upon hearing, knew she should change his mood quickly.
"Pick any cake you like." She tapped his shoulder and he just gave her a questioning look. "Go on! It's my treat." This earned her complete silence.
"Look..." sighed and started to explain. "I'm very sorry sempai. I really thought that cakes are suitable for occasions like this. I never really thought about whether you really liked to be treated. After all, people would usually want to be treated, right?"
"What did you say?"
"I'm sorry. I'm deeply apologizing for hurting your pride. It's okay, you can treat me instead.", she exclaimed and started picking out cakes. "I want the chocolate one...Wait!!! I'd have the strawberry one instead...hm...the cheesecake seems nice as well."
" !" Mizuki snapped.
was taken aback and she stiffened like a stale bread. Mizuki, upon seeing the girl's reaction, coughed to lighten the atmosphere.
"Just what is going on? What are you thinking?" Mizuki regained his composure and was once again twirling his bangs like the usual.
"I'm very sorry..." was close to tears. "that I forgot your birthday." Her tears welled up but she wiped them away just as soon as they were threatening to fall. "I didn't know, and your birth date isn't written on my calendar either. Come to think of it, I never really put any birth date marks on it. I even forget mine sometimes."
Mizuki laughed at the girl. "It's not my birthday. It's this coming May." He patted her head.
"Then...", she paused for a while and then continued her question. "If it isn't your birthday today, what were you telling me earlier? About something I forgot?" She pondered upon her thoughts again. What was it that she forgot?
Mizuki chuckled at the sight of the confused girl. Indeed, Yuuta must have told the girl about it when she was reading a book or just when she's deep in thought, as always. He bent closer to the girl's ears and whispered something. This made her flush instantly, not from what Mizuki had just said but from the breath she felt directly at her ear.
"I-I I've got to go now." backed away from Mizuki. "I'm-sorry-for-the-bother!" She quickly ran past her sempai and out the door.
Mizuki laughed to himself. sure is an interesting person. She's too naive for her age. Too simple but at the same time elegant in her own way.
"I find her..." Mizuki, once again, twirled his bangs and chuckled to himself.
"Excuse me sir...are you still going to take the cheesecake?" The store attendant asked, still bewildered after the two customers made a scene.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Why did Mizuki-sempai do that? To begin with did he have to do that?" She mumbled to herself as she reached her destination, the park.
"Oi, you're late. Awfully late." Yuuta was sitting on the bench with his hands resting at the back. "You forgot didn't you?"
instantly forgot about what her sempai did and started apologizing to the boy, who was apparently waiting for about an hour. "Yuuta-kun, ah...I'm sorry." She bowed to show sincerity.
Yuuta stood up and walked outside the park. followed suite.
"Ai~ya...I'm getting a lot of people angry today." She thought to herself as she followed Yuuta. Suddenly, she realized that they were heading towards the bookstore.
"A-anou, Yuuta-kun, I already went to the bookstore earlier." She stopped walking as soon as Yuuta halted as well.
Yuuta sighed. If she already went, she should've said that a little earlier. Yuuta, then started walking towards the sports shop.
They were awfully quiet along the way and right after Yuuta has bought what he needed, they proceeded back to the dormitory with the same silence.
"Yuuta..." decided to speak up before they separate ways. "I'm really sorry."
"Hey, I'm not angry now okay?" Yuuta smiled at the apologizing girl. He was a little pissed because she was almost an hour late but then again, it could also be his fault as well for inviting her when she was reading a book.
"Yokatta." She tried to fight back the tears by wiping them away just as they were about to fall.
"Hey, don't cry." Yuuta started panicking. He didn't know how to make her stop crying.
"I made many people angry today. I'm really helpless. I can't even stop my tears from flowing." She sniffed as she continued to wipe her tears.
Yuuta can't help but smile at the girl. She's too sensitive but at the same time, she's dense. It makes him want to protect her more.
"I-I better get going."
Just as was about to run away from the scene, Yuuta pulled her into a hug and he continuously caressed her hair.
"Sh...it's all right. You can cry as much as you want."
She sniffled and let her tears flow, wetting Yuuta's uniform in the process.
"I'm really sorry." She said as she broke away from Yuuta's cuddle.
"It's okay. I talked to you when you were reading a book anyway. It's partly my fault too." Yuuta replied.
"I'll make it up to you, I promise." wiped her eyes once more and smiled, then she ran towards the girl's dormitory.
"She didn't even wait for her consequence." Yuuta thought as he chuckled. Yuuta entered the dormitory and then he went directly to his room.
THE NEXT DAY...
"Alright~! I owe you one, Yuuta-buchou." saluted to the boy. She played the role of a soldier on an early Saturday morning. "Do you want me to clean your room or do duties for you next month?"
"What's all this commotion?" The dorm manager stood next to Yuuta by the dorm entrance. "Little girl, don't you know that girls aren't permitted here?"
"Sir yes sir! But I have to repay for an undone promise, sir." She stated her intentions clearly to the Commander-in-chief of the place.
"I understand but Yuuta, could you make her do her deeds at another place? You know that girl's aren't allowed in here."
"I'm very sorry Kaede-san. I'll take her away now."
With that the dorm manager walked away and Yuuta quickly dragged the girl outside the boy's dormitory premises.
"What were you doing inside the boy's dorm?"
"Sir-" She stopped short when Yuuta landed his right hand on 's head with a certain heaviness. She could tell that she's in trouble again.
"Stop that soldier act and talk normally." Yuuta started. "And you know, you don't really owe me anything so-" Yuuta was cut off by .
"Are you nuts? You waited for almost an hour and I don't get a punishment? That's just not fair." started to argue and this reaction surprised Yuuta.
"A-anou..."
"And you know what? You said that it's partly your fault right? Then I should have gotten the other part. And aside from that, I believe that it's a 70-30 share of fault, mine happens to be larger."
was starting to lecture Yuuta but she stopped when he rest his palms on her shoulders.
"Wakatta." Yuuta sighed in defeat and he was starting to flush at his thought. "You don't have anything to do today, right?"
nodded.
"Come on. Follow me. This is your consequence." Yuuta grabbed the girl's hand and started to walk.
"Where are we going? Are we going to your house? So, I'm going to clean there?" chattered continuously and Yuuta was getting irritated. He turned around, gently put his finger on her lips and said "Shh...".
Yuuta came close and whispered in her ear. "Just follow me, okay?" blushed and just nodded.
Yuuta, then smiled and patted the head of the now a quiet girl. He surely didn't know that she has sensitive ears. She was cuter when she's all red. Maybe he should do that often?
"Saa," Yuuta breathe deeply and continued. "Let's go."
©kemmybear