When Takumi couldn't find Twilight the next morning, he brushed it off as her leaving for work early. He figured she was still mad at him and carried on, as usual, getting ready for school. He met up with Hansuke, Ichiya and Keito at the school gate.
“Morning, Tak-kun. You're right on time; Kei-kun was just about to share some interesting information.”
“That so?”
“Yes, apparently you guys have a new student joining your class,” Keito said.
“I wonder if they're a girl or a dude,” Hansuke said.
“If she's a girl, I get first dibs,” Ichiya stated.
“Why bother telling us? Either way, we know you always get first dibs with the ladies. Try not to get slapped or scare her away, if she's even a her. I hope for her sake she's not.” Hansuke said.
“Whether she's a girl or not makes no difference to me.” Takumi shrugged.
“That's only because you only have eyes for a certain silver-haired hard head.” Hansuke nudged his arm.
“I guess that means less competition for me,” Ichiya said.
“Ok, Shorty, time to get to class.” Hansuke dragged him by his collar.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Bye Kei-kun, I'll tell you everything later.”
They got to class, and everyone was filled with excitement and catching up. They all quieted down when the teacher entered.
“Morning students, welcome to your final year of high school. You all know how important this year is, so I won't bore you with a long speech about that and get straight to the point. We have a new student joining us this year. I don't think she's here yet, so I guess we'll have to wait.”
“Sensei, are you sure she's supposed to be in our class?” Someone asked.
“As far as I know, she is.”
“Sorry I'm late, Sensei. I got lost and ended up in the wrong class.”
When Takumi heard that voice, he almost fell out of his seat. He was hoping it was a coincidence and it wasn't who he thought it was. On the other hand, Hansuke almost had a heart attack. And Ichiya... well it's obvious.
“Hey, Han-kun,” Ichiya whispered. “You don't think it's...”
“Way ahead of you.”
“I think you're still lost. The first years' classrooms are downstairs.” The teacher explained.
“Oh no no no, I understand your confusion, and this may come as a surprise, but I'm the new student who's supposed to join your class. This is Class 3-1, right?” She checked the sign outside to be sure.
“Yes, it is.” He assured her. “I'm Mr Hasegawa, your homeroom teacher. Why don't you come to the front and introduce yourself?”
“Ok.” She went to the front and took one good look at her classmates. “Hi, my name's Tisiphone Sakata. Nice to meet you all.”
You'd think that she stopped being mad at him, but this is a stubborn person we're talking about. So, no, she took no notice of him the entire time.
Lunch break...
“Hey Kei-kun, you'll never believe who joined our class.”
“I already know; Hansuke told me. Where is Takumi?”
“He's looking for her,” Hansuke said. “Never mind, here he is. Found her?”
“Nope. But I'll still get to see her during class, so it's no big deal.”
She was obviously avoiding him. After school, he caught her before she walked out of class.
“Hey, you got a sec?”
She walked past him.
“C'mon, it's been six days. Don't you think you're being unreasonable?”
She stopped in her tracks and walked up to him. He was expecting her to either ignore him or say something, if he was lucky. Instead, she slapped him. He wasn't knocked into a wall or anything but his cheek was left with a bright red handprint. It stung, but what actually hurt him was the fact that he was why she was acting the way she was.
“That was unreasonable. Me not talking to you is reasonable.”
“Whoa, what did he do to deserve that?” Hansuke asked.
“Ask him.” She said, crossing her arms.
“Excuse us for a moment, we'd like to have a word with Tak-kun.”
“Go ahead, it's not like I want to talk to him.”
Takumi was dragged a little out of earshot from Twilight.
“Alright, spill it, dude. What did you do?” Hansuke asked.
“It's complicated.”
“Well, Tak-kun, whatever you did, you better fix it and fast. I think you'll get something worse than a slap next time.”
“I tried, but she refuses to listen or talk to me. It's as if I don't exist to her.”
“Then try harder,” Hansuke said.
“Or maybe give her space,” Keito suggested. “Haven't you considered that she's doing all this because she doesn't feel like interacting with you and wants you to leave her alone? I say give her some time. She'll stop ignoring you when she's ready to do so. Pushing her will only make things worse, as you saw for yourself. But try to maintain small talk often so that she doesn't think that you're ignoring her, otherwise that will set her off even more. She might not respond at first, but she will. Just give her some time.”
“Since when did you become a lady's man?” Hansuke joked.
“He obviously learned it from me,” Ichiya said.
“No, it just seems like the logical thing to do. I'm surprised you didn't come up with it.”
“Alright, no need to rub it in, smartass”
“Or...” They looked at Takumi. “I could do this my way.”
“Which is?” They all asked at the same time.
“Watch and learn.”
He walked up to her, and she ignored him. He only smirked and it didn't go unnoticed.
“What?” She asked, slightly annoyed and with a raised eyebrow.
He said nothing and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.
“Oh hell no. Put me down.”
He pretended not to hear her and walked away. The whole way she wouldn't sit still. She was punching his back, trying to strangle him and screaming out various profanities. Even though nothing was working, she kept at it.
“Think we should follow them?” Ichiya asked.
“One person won't be enough to carry his dead body, so we probably should,” Hansuke said.
He went into the nurse's office, glad that there was no one around, and threw her onto one of the beds. He got on top of her and pinned her hands on either side of her head. She was about to spit out more profanities, but he stopped her.
“I know you're mad, but I need to explain some things to you. So just let me.”
She didn't say anything, clearly not interested.
“Please.”
She thought for a moment and sighed.
“Fine. I guess I should at least give you a chance to explain yourself. But first, get off.”
“Right.”
He sat up and so did she.
“Yuri is my fiancée, but it didn't happen the way you think it did. It's an arranged marriage. Trust me, neither of us wants this. Believe me, that's the whole truth.”
He was right and she knew it. She didn't sense any lying or deception coming from him, only honesty.
“Dumbass, you should have told me a whole lot sooner. As in once we started to get to know each other.”
“I know, but I promise that I'll figure a way out of this.”
She sighed and looked at him. The handprint was still there, and she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. She gently placed her hand on his cheek.
He said nothing and gazed deeply into her eyes. He then leaned in closer, about to kiss her. But she stopped him.
“You're not off the hook yet.”
“I'm not?”
“You didn't think you'd be forgiven that easily, did you?”
“Well, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
She thought about it for a bit.
“Hmm, there is something you can do.” She smirked.
*A little while later…*
“A little lower.” She urged.
“Is this fine?”
“A little more. Yep, there.” She sighed in pleasure. “Keep going, it feels really good.”
“Am I gentle enough?”
“Yeah, it's fine like this. You didn't tell me that you were this good.”
“Why tell when I can show?”