Okay, here it is, as promised. I’m very sorry for the wait. I’ve been busy with stuff….have you ever played Tales of Symphonia for Gamecube? Very addictive. Not a good excuse, I realize that. I also had a huge English paper worth ten percent of my final grade due, so that took priority for a while. That and Tales of Symphonia of course. This is sort of a transition chapter, but it’s not too boring. You’re going to want to bitch-slap me after seeing how I end it though.
By the by, the chapter was too long to put on one web page, just like chapter 4, so the other half's on the link "Chapter 5 Continued." You probably could've figured that out yourself though. Sorry for insulting your intelligence.
Students bustled through McDowell High’s hall to get to their homerooms as the last bell to start school rang out. Nemi walked quickly with her best friend Yame, discussing a school assignment that was due that day; in the back of the blonde’s mind, she wondered how Yukio was doing. The last time she saw him was Friday, after school, when she spotted him peeking around corners in an attempt to avoid running into a certain punky teen. She kept thinking about her friend until fifth hour when she walked into the classroom and approached him; he appeared to be out of it, much like the day Haru had kissed him. Nemi sat next to him, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Hey Yukio. How was your weekend?” The blonde asked in a voice loud enough to shake Yukio out of his daze.
“Oh. Hi Nemi. My weekend was…interesting to say the least.” The periwinkle haired teen murmured.
“Interesting how?”
“…It’s not important.”
“Alright…”
Students poured into the room, chatting noisily, even when the bell to start class rang. The teacher, a large man with greasy brown hair and a mustache, entered the room, trying to quiet the class by shushing them.
“Everyone, can I please have your attention?” When the students ignored him, his voice grew louder. “…Everyone? ...People? ...” When the conversations still did not cease, his voice boomed to an outright yell. “Will you all shut up?!”
The class shut up.
“Thank you.” The teacher growled as he took a seat behind his desk. “Now I have some news for you kids. The faculty had to cancel the school field trip originally planned for the end of the year.” The man explained. The whole class whined in unison. “I know, I know, but there is some good news. A new field trip has been planned for an earlier time. Students will stay three nights at
“The whole school is going?” One student called out.
“Everyone who pays.”
“How much is the trip?” Another kid asked.
“One hundred dollars per student. Hotel rooms will be shared by two people. The person you share your room with will be your partner for the entire trip. I know I’m kind of springing this trip on you guys at the last minute, but if you want to go, your forms have to be turned in by the next Wednesday which two days before we go. We’ll leave early Friday morning and return on the following Monday.” The teacher explained as he stood up out of his chair and began passing out field trip forms. “Don’t forget to get these signed by your parents. Checks will be accepted in replacement of cash.”
“Hey Mr. Thomason, who decides who gets partnered with who?” Another student asked.
“Well your partner has to be the same gender for obvious reasons. You’ll most likely end up getting someone of a different grade. Freshmen tend to be immature, so you guys will end up being partnered with the older, more mature students. That should even things out. You are required to stay with your partner at all times for safety and organization issues. That doesn’t mean you can’t socialize with other people, you just have to make sure your partner’s with you. Partners will be listed next Thursday on the school notice board at the front office. This trip will be a lot of fun, so I hope most of you will be able to go. If you are going, you’ll want to bring your own pocket money.” Once Mr. Thomason stopped explaining the details of the field trip, the class burst into excited conversation.
“What do you think Yukio? Do you want to go?” Nemi asked her friend with a happy smile.
“I’m not sure…You heard what the teacher said. Partners have to be the same gender. I don’t think I’d be comfortable living with some strange guy for three nights.” The periwinkle haired teen mumbled.
“Oh…Well, I don’t think it’ll be a big deal. There’ll be separate beds and stuff; and who knows; maybe you’ll make a new friend.” The blonde encouraged.
“…Maybe…I do have enough money saved up.”
“That’s the spirit! We’ll have tons of fun! Me and my partner and you and your partner can all hang out together! I wonder what grade our partners will be in; I’ve never met any of the older students. But you have right? Didn’t Haru introduce you to some of the people he knew?”
“..A few. I doubt I’d get one of them as a partner out of the whole school.”
“Try to be optimistic. I’m sure whoever you get will be nice.”
That entire week and the week after, leading up to Thursday, Yukio avoided Haru like the plague, not wanting to face him after everything that had happened. He was especially embarrassed about what his mother had told him about his sleep talking. He never bothered to fill in Nemi as to what happened the Friday night he got drunk, or the Saturday he spent getting rid of his hangover with Haru. He figured she didn’t need to know for now.
When the morning of the day the field trip partner listings would be posted came around, one week and three days after the students were informed of the trip, Nemi and Yame hurried to the bulletin board at the front office to see who they would be partnered with. They had to push their way through a crowd of students who were equally as curious as to whom their partner was. When they worked their way to the front, Nemi traced her finger around the roster until she located her name. She saw the name of her partner and frowned in confusion.
“James Kagami? James is a guy’s name… Is it a misprint or something?” The blonde asked no one in particular. Yame merely shrugged, too busy trying to find her own name.
“Mia Williams. Hmm, never heard of her.” The brunette sighed passively after finding her and her partner’s name. Suddenly, Nemi let out a gasp of horror. Yame peered over at her friend, whose facial expression was currently aghast.
“Oh no…no-no-no-no-no! Is the universe against him or something?” The blonde muttered to herself while staring at the bulletin board in dismay.
“What’s wrong Nemi?” Yame asked in confusion.
“I-I have to go Yame. I’ll see you in class, alright?” Nemi said hurriedly before rushing off from the scene. After a minute of frantic searching, she spotted Yukio drinking from a water fountain and sprinted over to him. “Yukio!!!” She screamed, and Yukio nearly died choking on the water he was sipping. People really needed to stop scaring him shitless when he was drinking from the fountain. Seriously. After a brief coughing fit, he turned to face Nemi, face slightly irritated.
“Yes Nemi?”
“You need to see something!” Nemi shouted while waving her arms in the air.
“O-kay, sure. Just let me go get something out of my locker real quick.”
“No! You have to come now!”
“It’ll only take a sec-”
“Now!!!” She demanded and grabbed his arm, pulling him along the hallway.
“What the heck Nemi?” Yukio said in befuddlement to the blonde’s strange behavior.
“Just come on!”
When the two teens reached the bulletin board, clusters of students were still present. Nemi trekked her way through the adolescents again, this time dragging Yukio along with her.
“Find your name.” Nemi instructed with a bleak countenance. Yukio did what she told him to, and when he discovered his partner’s name, he nearly had a stroke from the amount of shock he experienced.
“No…….” He murmured; his face was full of panic and he felt like he was going to collapse. “No! It’s wrong! It’s a typo! Not him! Anyone but him! Someone like him wouldn’t even bother with something like a school field trip! It can’t be true!”
“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean, kid?” A familiar cocky voice arose behind the periwinkle haired teen. After another few moments of being frozen in disbelief, Yukio spun around, anger very evident in his expressions.
“You! You planned this!” The younger teen snarled.
“Are you dense? What makes you think I possibly could’ve made this happen? I guess it’s just a sign that were supposed to date.” Haru snickered in amusement.
“Perverted jerk!” Yukio yelled in fury and socked the elder as hard as he could in his stomach. Haru clutched his abdomen with a wince and scowled at Yukio in vexation.
“That was a bit uncalled for Shinsei. Usually I wouldn’t let anyone get away with something like that, but for you, I’ll let it slide.” The dark haired teen growled.
“Like I care!” Yukio hissed and clenched his fist once more, this time trying to punch Haru in the face. Before he got the chance, Haru grabbed his thin wrist and twisted it painfully, Yukio crying out as he did so.
“You’re being stupid Shinsei. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” Haru grunted while meeting the younger teen’s infuriated gaze.
“Both of you stop it!” Nemi pleaded, not wanting Yukio to get himself injured. But Yukio was too upset to think logically, and with his other hand, he continued to attempt to hit Haru. Haru dodged the blow with little effort and kicked Yukio’s ankle hard enough to send him falling to the floor. The younger quickly picked himself up, but before he could try to attack again, Haru had wrapped his arms around him tightly from behind, efficiently restraining him. The smaller teen desperately tried to escape, but to no avail. His pride was severely injured at the realization of how much stronger the other was then him.
“Let go of me!” The periwinkle haired teen yelled.
“I don’t think so. You hit me pretty damn hard. You can not blame me for the situation you’re in. I didn’t have anything to do with us being partners. Now you can either accept that, or keep fighting me until you’re a bloody pulp. Your choice.” Haru growled through gritted teeth and squeezed Yukio tighter.
“……Okay, fine! I’ll stop, just let me go, I can’t breathe!” The smaller teen rasped. Haru loosened his grip and Yukio fell on his knees to the floor, taking in a large gasp of air.
“You sure have a lot to learn about gratitude. I saved your ass, you brat. And this is how you repay me?” Haru scoffed in irritation. Yukio looked up at the elder with mixed emotions of embarrassment and guilt. The quarrel between the two had attracted much attention, causing a couple dozen bystanders who looked like they were about to grab a tub of popcorn to munch on while they watched the scene unfold. Haru noticed this and scowled fiercely at them. “What the hell are you gawking at?” He snarled ferociously at the crowd, scaring them enough so that they scurried away like mice. Yukio stared at the floor in absolute shame of himself. He never acted out that way. And now that he thought about it, it was stupid to blame Haru for them being partners; there’s no way the elder could’ve pulled that off. It was just bad luck on Yukio’s part. And now the periwinkle haired teen had just tried to assault someone who may have saved his life.
“I’m sorry Haru...I got out of control…I was just really upset.”
“That much I could tell.” The dark haired teen snorted in aggravation. He continued to glare at Yukio until he noticed the remorse in the younger teen’s expression. Then his anger began to fade away, and he suddenly felt guilty for a reason he himself could not fathom. He let out an exasperated sigh before grabbing the younger teen’s arm and tugging him up to his feet. “Don’t worry about it kid.”
“Y-You’re not angry with me?” Yukio asked softly while blinking in surprise.
“No…I guess you did have a right to be a little ticked off at me. I did sort of act like a jerk before, when you were at my house.” Haru mumbled back.
“Sort of?”
“Don’t push it, Yukio.”
“Yukio, are you okay?” Nemi asked worriedly as she approached them. She decided it was safe to come over now that the fighting was over. Yukio nodded to the blonde with a guarded smile. “What were you thinking? A teacher could’ve walked by, and you would’ve been in huge trouble! It’s not like you to start violence...”
“I know…I lost control…but I have my emotions in check now.” Yukio replied quietly, scratching his arm nervously.
“Did something else happen that you’re not telling me about? Did Haru do something else to you?” Nemi asked with apparent anger towards the raven haired teen.
“I am still here, you know.” Haru growled, his eyebrow twitching in agitation.
“Yeah, unfortunately.” Nemi muttered.
“Why don’t you buzz off and mind your own business?”
“Yukio’s my friend. If something is upsetting him, or someone in this case, it is my business.” She spat back at the elder teen.
“Guys, quit fighting, it’s not doing anyone any good.” Yukio sighed tiredly.
“You’re not considering going on the trip with this jerk are you?” Nemi inquired while leering at said ‘jerk’.
“It’s not like I have a choice. Partners don’t get changed unless it’s for an important reason, and I’ve already paid to go. My parents won’t let me just skip it for no reason.”
“So fake sick or something!”
“I’m not going to lie to my parents again!” Yukio said louder than he intended to. He quickly shut his mouth, remembering that he had never told Nemi about what happened less than two weekends ago.
“Again? What are you talking about? When did you lie to your parents?” The blonde asked in bafflement.
“Forget it, it’s nothing.” Yukio said dismissively, avoiding his friend’s wondering green eyes.
“Yukio…”
“You heard him, he said forget it.” Haru sneered at the girl. Nemi glared at him for a moment and then turned her gaze back to Yukio, who wasn’t giving any sign that he was going to say anything else. She sighed dejectedly and walked away, feeling sad that Yukio was keeping something from her. “Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, field trip buddy.” Haru laughed while patting Yukio’s shoulder playfully. The older teen then sauntered off, leaving the younger teen to himself. The main thought running through Yukio’s mind as he headed to his first hour class was Why me?
That night, Yukio packed all the necessary items for a three day trip in an overnight bag, questioning his very sanity as he did so.
At least Nemi will be there to help me if I need it...The thought of sleeping in the same room as Haru...I mean I know I did before, but I don’t remember it because I was drunk out of my mind......What are the odds that I’d end up being partnered with him?
“My baby’s leaving me!” Yukio’s mother sobbed while she was driving him to school the next morning.
“Mom, it’s just a few days. I’ll be back before you know it.” Yukio said comfortingly, a bit fearful that the tears in Aiya’s eyes would blur her vision and hinder her driving efficiency. He really didn’t feel like a trip to the hospital today. They reached the school parking lot, and Yukio hauled his bag out of the trunk of his mother’s car. It was difficult for him to carry, and for a moment, he considered leaving some stuff he had packed behind. He dropped the bag to the floor out of surprise when Aiya suddenly attacked him with an enormous hug.
“I’m gonna miss you soooooo much! My sweet, sweet Yukio!” She cried while squeezing him affectionately.
“Mom, you’re embarrassing me….”
“I don’t care!”
“Mom, I have to go, the bus is going to leave without me!” Yukio said through ragged breaths. If hugging was an Olympic sport, Aiya would win the gold. She finally released him after Yukio convinced her that she was bruising his ribs, and wiped her tears away with a sniffle.
“You better be very careful, okay? And make sure you bathe regularly, and change your underwear, and eat three meals a day, and-”
“I get the point mom.” Yukio interrupted in exasperation.
“I love you honey.” The woman said with a sad smile before kissing Yukio on the cheek and mussing his hair lovingly.
“I know mom. I love you too.”
The mother and son shared one final embrace before Yukio lifted his bag in both arms with a small grunt and headed towards the school buses at the front of the high school…at least that’s where he hoped he was heading since he couldn’t see a thing in front of him, thanks to his heavy bag blocking his view. All of a sudden, the weight of the overnight bag lifted from his straining arms, and Yukio was met with Haru’s confident, grinning face.
“Need a hand?” The elder chuckled while tossing the bag over his shoulder with little effort. The smaller teen envied his physical strength.
“Thanks, but I can carry it on my own.” Yukio muttered stubbornly.
“Really? You looked like you were struggling. And you were walking towards that busy intersection.” Haru said while pointing to a four way street intersection about twenty feet off. Yukio frowned in embarrassment, and no longer protested to the older teen holding his bag.
“…So, how’s your stomach? Did I hurt you too bad?” Yukio inquired as a subject change.
“Oh you mean that punch from yesterday? Nah, not really.”
“Oh…..” Yukio mumbled dejectedly.
“You almost sound disappointed about that.” Haru said with a quirked eyebrow.
“O-Of course not.” Yukio argued, despite the fact that what the other teen said was true.
I’m such a wimp! I hit him as hard as I could while he wasn’t expecting it, and I barely left a scratch!
“Come on.” Haru said while starting towards the buses. While the raven haired teen was dropping off Yukio’s bag to the area for luggage specified by a sign, the periwinkle haired teen hurried to one of the buses, trying to get as far away from Haru as possible so he would not to be seated anywhere near him. Before he could get into one, he was stopped by a chaperone that he recognized as his fifth hour teacher.
“Where’s your partner, Shinsei?” The large man questioned while taking a pen from his shirt pocket and looking for Yukio’s name on a clipboard he was holding.
“I don’t know. What does it matter?” Yukio asked in confusion.
“You have to sit with your partner on the bus.”
“What?!” The periwinkle haired teen blurted out in surprise. “Are you joking?”
“No, I’m not. Now do you have your partner with you or not?” The teacher asked, becoming impatient.
“Right here.” Haru’s voice arose from behind Yukio, and the younger teen felt the other’s hands grip his shoulders. “Remember me Mr. Thomason? I had your class two years ago.” The dark haired teen chuckled.
“As if I could forget an annoying punk like you.” The greasy haired man snorted in contempt. He turned his gaze back to Yukio and gave him a look of something akin to pity. “Good luck dealing with that one.” He grumbled and moved to the side to allow the two teens on the bus. As they moved down the aisle, Yukio looked for Nemi as a lifeline, but she was nowhere to be seen; she must’ve been on another bus. Almost all the seats were taken except for two at the very back.
“Do you want window or aisle seat?” Haru asked when the reached the empty bus seats.
“Aisle.” Yukio replied almost immediately.
There’s no way I’m sitting by the window with you blocking my only escape route. The periwinkle haired teen thought with an eyebrow raised suspiciously at the elder. When Yukio sat down, he sat as far as he could away from Haru without falling off the seat, which ended up only being about a half a foot. Mr. Thomason took role of everyone on the bus before the bus driver began to drive. Yukio didn’t bother looking nor talking to Haru for about ten minutes; after noticing the older teen wasn’t saying anything either, he finally decided to break the silence between them.
“Alright Haru, we may be partners for this field trip, but do not think that means you can get away with pulling any funny stuff.” He huffed. When he didn’t receive a reply, he slowly turned his head to look at the black haired teen. His blue-green eyes were met with the image of Haru sleeping soundly against the bus window using one of his hands as a makeshift pillow to prop up his head.
...He’s asleep? The ride’s barely begun! ....Maybe he’s faking? I’d better keep an eye on him just in case. Yukio pondered as he pulled out his blue iPod from his pocket to listen to some music so he wouldn’t be totally bored out of his mind. After a few minutes, a slow paced song came on, and Yukio suddenly began to feel groggy; he had tossed and turned the night before out of anxiousness. He decided to lean his head back on the bus seat and rest his eyes a bit. He nodded off in less than a minute.
bravenet.com