Cloudy Skies [OPEN]

[hideki]

There was somebody sitting on the steps, the long concrete steps, just by the fountain of the cherub that looked like it was...well, you know what. Hideki Akabara sighed softly and leaned his head into his hands, eyes bored as normal, bright red hair a mess as always, and a clipboard with some paper on his knees. It was break, and all the classrooms were too crowded for his liking. So he'd gone outside amongst the tree's and flowers. It was cloudy and a little chilly, but nice. And quiet. Perfect for writing something a little personal.

With a little sigh, Hideki lifted his pencil to his lips, thinking.

"Dear Yuuto"...

...no, too formal...

"Hey Yuuto, how's the nut house?"

...........................no.

Hideki sighed again and gnawed irritably on the eraser. He hadn't had any contact with his half-brother since the incident, but the hospital had sent him an email that Yuuto was now stable enough to write. Hideki had actually smiled at the news. His father, of course, had ignored the email. That had made him growl. Yuuto might not be his biological son, but it had been his damn adulterous ways that had pushed him over the edge. It was his fault as much as it was Hideki's...for bringing Inari into their lives.

Yuuto-nii, I miss you...

Dull eyes blinked before he lowered the pencil and started writing.

...and I'm sorry.

[gumi]

Real is good?
It's not so...
I'll always answer no
I hesitate away,
I'm still a coward

Aika stepped quietly humming a song in her head. A bounce in her step as her school uniform moved gently with her and the gentle breeze pushing her on. A handful of leather bound books of various color and size were resting in her hands. She had ocne again be placed with someone's duties. In this case it had been her fellow classmates who needed some books returned to the library.


The small group of giddy girls had been discussing the Host Club and which they liked best. Aika had been about to get up to leave then they had ganged on her.

'Can you take these books to the library for us, Aika-chan...? We would but we have something we have to do.'

Aika opened her mouth to say no because she knew that they were planning on going to Music Room #3 but closed it before she could get the word out and simply nodded.

'I won't make any friends if I come off as mean... will I?'[/color]

That thought had made her accept their burden. They had placed the books on her desk and stepped away to talk about one thing or another as they went toward the music room. Aika stood and took the bundle and stepped from the classroom. She decided to come outside with the books as a small sign of rebellion on her part.

She forgot where she was for a few seconds and actually sang words out loud.

"When time has passed, and you forget, reflection fade like sunset..."

The words flow naturally and it's only because she is blown by a breeze that she remembers where she is. She looks around seeing if anyone was near enough to hear her singing. Aika spotted a boy with red hair sitting on the concrete steps. He seemed to be into his letter though. She hoped he hadn't heard her.

She fidgeted for a second before moving to walk away but instead she ended up tripping on her shoelace and landing on the ground with the books scattered on the ground in front of her.

She gasped in horror at the state of the books and quickly moved to pick up the books, ignoring the pain pulsing from her nose.

[hideki]

Hideki was still pretty much lost in his letter, thinking what he could say to his poor niisan in the hospital. He was worried something too sad would make Yuuto feel guilty for snapping, but something too happy would make him feel like he wasn't missed at all. Then again, anything about Yuu-neechan might make him even sadder. It was a triple-edged sword...if that was even possible. The redhead sighed and chewed on the end of his pencil again. He wasn't even finished with a first sentence. He'd been stuck after 'I'm sorry'.

This was a wreck.

"When time has passed, and you forget, reflection fade like sunset..."[/color]

Hmm?[/color]

Just then he heard somebody speak, or rather sing. Dulled eyes looked up from the going-nowhere-fast letter and spotted the girl. She was a little thing, carrying all those books and was her hair green? Wow. That could not be natural, could it? Hideki had natural red hair, or at least reddish-brown, but green seemed too much of a stretch. At least there were other redheads at the school...about three others in his grade alone, if he counted right, those twins and that Yakuza guy. Hideki was half-lost in these colored thoughts when the girl fell, scattering her books all over the ground.

"Oh," he said in his normal quiet voice and put his clipboard and pencil aside. Even if he was a bit of a jerk, he felt bad about just leaving a girl to pick up such a mess after hurting herself. He stood up, stretching a little before starting down the stone steps to where she was, stopping just when he reached one of the books and bent down to pick it up. It was a library book, from the look of the inside cover. Either this girl was very well-read or she had a bunch of lazy friends.

Hideki held the book out to her and kneeled to pick up the other books closest to him. "Are you..." looking a little closer, he realized she was not from his class. She must be an upper-classmen, so, "...are you okay, senpai?"

[gumi]

She was caught off guard that the boy had even moved to help her; most would have laughed. Aika was even more embarrassed that she had seemed to need so much help.

Avoiding the red-haired boy's gaze she picked up one of the larger books. Aika hoped she wasn't completely red but part of her knew she was and her nose was stinging from the face plant.

"Uh... I-I-I'm fine. Thanks..."

She couldn't even talk straight. She picked up another book then finally looked at the underclassmen from the corner of her eye. She didn't know many underclassmen but this one would definitely stand out with his red hair so she had never really seen this student around.

She looked at where he had been sitting and saw a clipboard and pencil. Aika wondered vaguely what he had been writing with such a troubled yet serious expression but she wasn't about to ask him what. It wasn't her place to ask let alone bring up to him.

She grabbed one of the last books and turned to him hoping her nose didn't show the pain waves it was emitting to her brain. Her mom would kill her if she messed up her face, even though modeling was definitely out long before now.

She turned to the boy again with a smile on her face but her cheeks were still a bit flushed at her tumble. Aika held the few books in her hands to her chest and gave a slight bow to her underclassmen.

"Thank you again, uh...?"

Aika waited for him to fill in the blank so she could properly introduce herself.

[hideki]

Well she wasn't too badly hurt, Hideki let a little sigh of relief go and held the two books he'd picked up but she hadn't moved to take. She looked a little frazzled, and embarrassed, but who wouldn't be after that little face-plant. Hideki wouldn't have bothered to even acknowledge her had she not fallen. He still had a letter to write, he didn't want to socialize. But seeing anybody get hurt was a soft spot for the usually callous boy. He continued to hold the books as she stood up.

She wanted a name. Did it really matter who he was?

I'd rather just go back to my letter and blend back into the stone.

Hideki almost didn't respond, as he normally wouldn't...

...but instead, swallowing his normally cold exterior, he held the two books out to her and gave her a little nod. "Akabara Hideki, from 'Red Rose' publishing, senpai." He didn't smile at her or anything like that. The cool young man barely ever smiled. "You're sure you're alright? I can walk you to the nurse if you're feeling dizzy. You hit your...face...pretty hard." There wasn't a sign of sarcasm or a mocking tone to his voice. He was simply being blunt in stating the fact that she'd hurt herself.

Okay, so maybe he was being a little teasing, but could anyone really tell?

[gumi]

She found that his introduction reminded her faintly of Mori-senpai, as they both didn't show much of an expression on their face, not easily however. Aika saw that as not being anti-social but as being strong and independent so she wasn't at all offended that he didn't greet her with at least a small smile.

Aika gave him one of her small and usually unnoticed smiles but she didn't look directly at him while she did so.

"Nice to meet you, Hideki-san..." She wasn't sure if he minded her calling him that and she hoped that she didn't offend him.

She got flustered at his concern. She shook her head vigorously in refusal and put her left hand up in the universal stop sign while her right held her classmates' burden to her chest.

"No, no, no, I'm okay. It doesn't hurt as much anymore and I couldn't bother you like that." She glanced over at the abandoned clipboard and then looked to the 2 books he was holding.

"Besides, I need to get to the library..."

She was quiet for a little and then realized she hadn't told him her name.

"OH! My name is Aika Aomiya. I'm not with any clubs or anything."

She had started out at a normal volume but she gradually got quieter as she continued. Aika was pretty sure she was bothering him now so she offered her pile of books out for him to stick the two books he held onto her bundle.

"I should probably start heading for the library now. I'm sorry I bothered your work."

She glanced at his yellow eyes for a second but looked back at her pile of books.

[hideki]

It didn't bother Hideki that she chose to call him by his first name. Most people did, except for his older siblings. Then he was either "Aka-Baka" or "Rosie". He preferred "Hideki-san" to either of those names. He blinked when she shook her head so vigorously, the sight almost tugging at the corners of his lips. She was...an interesting girl, to say the least. How many high schoolers had green hair? Plus she was energetic, if not a little spazztic...and kind of cute. In some ways she reminded him of Yuu, probably because she seemed to be a little out of the loop.

That wasn't a bad thing...long as you kept your feet on the ground.

"It wouldn't be a bother--" he started, but was cut off by her words. She was strong-willed too, or was she prideful? Either way Hideki saw it as another little positive. "Alright, if you insist, senpai. Just be more careful?" The redhead shifted his weight onto his right foot, dulled amber eyes looking her over as she gave her name. Aomiya...he didn't recognize that name. So her family wasn't in the same business as his? No wait, there was a spark of familiarity somewhere. He might have to google it now.

When she offered for him to add to her load, Hideki's lips twitched again, but this time in a downward motion. This girl was doing somebody else's chore, wasn't she? That wasn't fair. Hideki hated people who pushed their burdens onto others...a little hypocritical of him, but whatever. Instead of putting the two books on the pile he shook his head and held them to his waist. "I need to go to the library anyway. Think I could tag along? Would you mind the company, Aomiya-senpai?"

He didn't need to go to the library. That was a blatant lie. But his own pride wouldn't let him just ask if she would let him help her. Nope. Hideki wasn't that kind of guy.

Being indirectly-nice rather than just normal-nice.

[gumi]

Aika gave a small nod to Hideki-san when he insisted she be more careful. She wasn't really used to having someone she barely knew feel concern for her. Everyone of the staff that worked around her family's estate have been around for a long time and none of them really were close to her. The only one that Aika felt actually had feelings of concern for her was Doegie, her border collie who never strays far from her side. For a fellow student to say anything like that made her very happy.

She looked over the underclassmen and the way he carried himself. His amber eyes seemed to be thinking her over, like he was trying to place her.

Aika wasn't surprised that he couldn't recognize her family name. Her Dad's name appeared in many popular movies but she doubted anyone would bother to seriously take in the names that flash by on the screen. At least, not people her age...

When he kept the books in his arms she was taken back. Her first thought was he was teasing her or something but his offer to go to the library with her erased the thought from her mind. She shuffled uneasily on her feet and brought the books back to her chest. She wasn't used to having someone help her, let alone keep her company.

She couldn't help but give one of her rare open and friendly smiles, the one's she'd usually only shared with Doegie. She knew she was blushing a bit but she didn't care and her green eyes shimmered.

"That would be great. I would like it very much if you went with me." Although she was happy about the offer her voice was still her normal volume which didn't command attention.

Aika looked back to Hideki-san's clipboard and her smile faded into a quizzical expression.

"But... weren't you busy writing something...? You don't have to come if you would rather get back to what you were doing."

Aika mentally hoped that her first chance at an actual friend wouldn't fall through but she didn't want to drag him along if he had something important to do.

[hideki]

Ah.

Hideki blinked his amber eyes at the smile she was giving him now. That was different from before, but it was a good kind of different. The kind like a ray of sunlight on a cloudy day, just like today. But it just so happened that that smile suddenly made Hideki's own face feel a little warm. Feeling such a change in his own face he turned to the side and coughed, avoiding that look in her eyes because he had a feeling his own eyes were a little...brighter...than usual.

So she accepted his offer? That was...good. Good.

"Great," he said, hating how his voice suddenly sounded softer. After a somewhat awkward moment of silence his skin returned to it's normal shade and temperature. The underclassmen turned back and looked right at Aika. There still wasn't a smile on his face, but there was a little, tiny, minuscule change in his eyes. They weren't bright, but they weren't as dull as they'd been. Such a change was highly unusual in Hideki.

At the mention of the letter, he blinked and followed her gaze to the steps. The clipboard was still sitting on the steps, with it's one sentence, in all its useless glory. He made an annoyed grunt sound in the back of his throat before turning back to his senpai. "That's nothing. Just a letter...that's not going anywhere fast," he said bluntly, though not with any bad in his tone, "I think I need to walk away from it for a while. 'You know what they say'...or something like that..."

Shifting his weight to his other leg, Hideki Akabara shrugged.

"So, should we go to the library then?"

[gumi]

Aika was curious about his reaction to the clipboard. He had been so engrossed in whatever he had been writing about and he seemed to dismiss it easily. Before he had told her it was a letter she had thought it had been an assignment for school or something along that nature. To hear it was a letter made her wonder who it was meant for.

She gave him a questioning look but shrugged it off. She didn't want to spoil her chances of actually making her first friend because she stuck her nose where it didn't belong. She gave one of her small smiles to her companion before answering. "Sure, let's get going."

Aika waited for a few moments so Hideki could pick up his clipboard, if he chose to do so, and calmly continued on her way to the library. She watched her steps carefully this time, not wanting to trip again today.

Her nose's pain had faded to a small tingle and she was pretty sure there wouldn't be too much of a bruise. Aika found herself praying that her mother would have some job or gig to do today that will give Aika time to cover up the evidence of her fall. She could only hope that was the case or her mother would be livid with her for being such a klutz. She shuddered at that thought.

Aika turned slightly to her companion. "Thank you again for helping me."

[hideki]

In actuality, the letter was very, very important to Hideki. His brother Yuuto, half-brother or not, was somebody he cared about so much. But he also felt utterly guilty about how things ha turned out. What could he write to the person who looked after him all his life and, in return, was now locked in a hospital for something Hideki had done...? The answer just wouldn't come to him. Going to the library was half-way a distraction to clear his head, half-way an escape. Just running away, like he always did.

Coward.

With the moments Aika gave him, the redhead nodded at himself and quickly walked back to the steps. He scooped up his clipboard and pencil, putting the board under the books and the writing utensil behind his ear. Such a scholarly appearance he had with the books and pencil. If only he didn't look so young. Any-who. With his items in tow the first-year started back toward the woman who was waiting for him.

"It's no problem at all, A...ah," Hideki paused in his words. Should he have used her first name? She was using his, but he was always a little uncomfortable calling people he'd only met by name. But she was his peer, wasn't she? Never hurt to just ask. "...um...Aika-senpai...or Aomiya-senpai? Which do you prefer?"

I never can talk to girls.

Hideki followed her without cracking his shell of apathy, though there was still a little difference. Just a little bit. However, a little was a lot with this anti-social rich boy.

He still didn't have a clue what to talk about with her though.

[gumi]

She looked back at Hideki with a small smile. "Aika-senpai is fine." She pushed a strand of her green hair behind her ear as she said this, clutching the books with her other arm. She walked quietly on, not sure what to say to her underclass companion. They got to one of the libraries and Aika went to the door to open it.

She opened the door and saw various students talking at various tables. The room was filled with books but most of the students here were more focused on their conversations to take any real interest in the books around them. Aika would love the library if they hadn't turned into the social gathering locations for the other students.

Idly, Aika wondered why the students bothered to gather here if they weren't interested in reading but she decided not to dwell on that thought too much.

"Well here we are." Aika said quietly turning to face Hideki. "What was it that you needed from the library? Maybe I can help you find it after I turn in these books." She shifted the books in her hands to point them out. "If you want, I can take the books from here while you get what you came for. If you would prefer it that way."

[hideki]

"Alright then...no problem at all, Aika-senpai," Hideki said more to himself than to the older girl, committing the title to memory. She was a nice enough girl, and those little smiles were kind of cute. Not that Hideki would ever admit it. He didn't like to call things 'cute' and 'pretty'...it made him sound feminine, and he was already feminine in appearance, so being so in words would just make things worse than they needed to be. As they approached the library her looked around the halls at the windows, the vases on their pedestals, and other little details.

...wow. Never realized how very...pink...this school is.

The library was crowded, as usual. Kids in cliques all buzzing about who's dating who and who's family is having a party and all that sort of teen stuff that made Hideki feel awkward. None of his 'friends' (or people that put up with him) went to the library. They tended to prefer quiet places. Which, in itself, was such a silly thing to say...libraries were supposed to be the quietest places, but in this school, they were too loud for anything.

"So loud," the redhead mumbled under his breath, lifting the hand not holding the books to cover one of his ears almost comically, "Why can't they go to the courtyards or one of the music rooms?"

The underclassmen blinked and looked over at Aika when she spoke to him. Shoot. He'd been blatantly lying when he'd said he needed something from the library. It had been an excuse to help her out, because he wasn't the type of guy to just go 'Oh, let me help you' and be nice for the sake of nice. He was too shy about it. But now she was asking him what he needed...well, he could always go off on his own, but then if he bumped into her later and was empty-handed it would seem strange. Maybe he could just pick out some random book and they could go on their way.

Maybe 'How to write to your half-brother in a mental hospital for dummies'.

"I'll...err..." Hideki stalled, amber eyes focusing on Aika's hair rather than looking in her eyes. "I just need a book for class," What class? "For health. We're studying personality tests, so I need a book on Rorschach."

He was rather quick with his lies, wasn't he? But was he going to make her help him on this wild-goose chase? Aika was nice, and he was kind of enjoying her company...it was sort of mean to have her help when he really didn't need it.

Still...

"I guess I could use a hand in finding it though...lets go drop these off first, okay, Aika-senpai?"

[gumi]

Aika looked questioningly at Hideki but shrugged. She had never heard of Rorschach but she hadn't really needed to study personality tests.

She gave him another of her small smiles and gave a nod. "Okay, we'll take these to check-in first then we can ask what section a book about Rorschach would be."

She turned to the check-in desk and stepped lightly. She remembered vaguely her mother's insistence on cat-walk lessons. She remembered having to balance a cookbook and piano music sheets on her head while she walked up and down the hallway and stairs. Her mother had been so proud when Aika finally made it through everything in a style that fit how a model should walk.

Aika felt love for her mother warm her chest. She loved her mother, truly. She was just a bit harsh on her sometimes but Aika understood that her mother just wanted her to be successful. Aika wished she could have lived up to her mothers expectations but that wasn't who she was.

She put the books on the desk next to a pile of books on a desk with the words "check-in" in black letters on a sign above it. She turned to the lady sitting behind the desk. "S-sumimasen, sensei?" she nearly whispered. The lady sitting at the desk didn't even look up at her. Aika wasn't sure if the lady had even heard her. She was at a lose. She tried again but due to her embarrassment the first time, she was even quieter this time. She clenched her fists in frustration with herself. And in front of her new friend too...

[hideki]

Hideki let a little sigh of relief go when Aika took his lie. Of course this meant he'd be carrying around an extra book for the rest of the day, and maybe to tomorrow if he forgot to return it on time, but maybe it wouldn't be all that bad. With his family, maybe understanding personality and learning a little about how people's brains functioned might not be that useless of a skill. Might also be a way to start the letter to Yuuto...'Dear Oniichan, today I read a book that explains why you've become a nutcase'...

...okay, maybe not.

"Thank you, Aika-senpai," he said in his soft voice, just as she walked away to the check-in desk. She walked a little funny, but not in a Monty Python kind of way. More like she was on a stage. Aika was a bit of a strange one, now that Hideki stopped to think about it. She was cute, kind of very cute, but she was shy and didn't stand up for herself. And now she was acting like a little model. Perhaps he was just over-thinking things.

Amber eyes watched as she tried to get the secretary's attention. She didn't do too well, as the woman didn't even hear her. The redhead's eyes narrowed a little and he walked up, right behind Aika, and reached an arm over to knock on the desk.

"Sumimasen, sensei," he had a little smirk on his face as he spoke, making him look older. His voice was also a little cooler, "But this lovely little lady would like to check in these books."

That probably got her attention. Always seems to work in this school...