Week Five, Monday
Ayano makes a new friend today. She’s walking to school with the four usual boys, which consists of Osano, Amao, Kizano, and Oko at this point, when she meets them.
The introduction reminds her of her first day of school, when she ran into Taro. This time, however, she’s knocked down by a different guy...and he falls onto her.
The boy stares at her, his tan skin going red as he realizes what he’s done.
“Oh man, I’m so sorry!” He shouts immediately, and springs off of her in an easy, fluid motion. He holds a hand out to her, and she takes it. He pulls her up without effort, and she feels herself growing warmer around the boy. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, you’re not hurt are you?” His bright blue eyes are filled with concern for her, and she shakes her head.
“I’m fine,” Ayano says, or at least, she starts to.
Osano cuts in, pulling Ayano close. “You knocked her over, you idiot! Watch where you’re going next time!” He turns Ayano to look at him, and he does nothing to hide his worry. “Did he hurt you, Aya?”
Ayano can see the other three behind Osano, and they’re all upset and concerned. She sighs, shaking her head. “Guys, I’m fine. He barely hit me.”
The boy seems relieved by that. “That’s great to hear, but I’m still sorry for hitting you. If you ever need anything, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. I’m Aso Rito, by the way.” He holds out a hand to her.
She reaches out, still held onto by Osano, and shakes his hand. “I’m Ayano. It’s nice to meet you.”
Aso smiles at that. “You too! I’ll, uh, see you around?” He looks worried, glancing at Osano’s growing glare.
“You can walk with us to school, if you’d like. We don’t mind,” Ayano says, and she gives Osano a look. He huffs and looks away from Aso, and the other boys seem to relax at that.
Aso’s grin increases tenfold. “Really? I’d love to.” He walks on Ayano’s other side, relaxed.
Ayano has a feeling that her usual group may have just increased by one. She finds pleasure in that fact.
-----
The next time Aso pops up is at lunch. Ayano is listening to Osano and Kizano as they talk about how weirdly distracted Mrs. Fuka has been with their lessons when the athlete shows up.
He’s practically vibrating as he stands still beside Ayano. “Hey, Yan! Want to go for a run? With me?” His face is red, Ayano assumes that he ran up to the roof to ask.
Amao frowns, and he stops opening a container of cookies to look at Ayano. “Are you going now, dear? I was just about to offer some cookies I made. It’s a new recipe.”
Ayano hesitates. She’d like to try the cookies, but she shouldn’t refuse a new friend’s offer.
Luckily, Aso is distracted by the sight of food. “Oh, those look amazing, Amao!”
Amao beams and takes the lid off the rest of the way. “I made plenty, would you like to join us and have some?”
Aso sits down next to Ayano. “Sure!” All thoughts of going for a run are gone, clearly. He reaches for a cookie just as Ayano does, their hands brushing. Aso blushes and lets Ayano grab one first.
The rest of lunch goes by smoothly, and Ayano enjoys watching all of her friends interact.
-----
The next time Aso pops up is at lunch. Ayano is listening to Osano and Kizano as they talk about how weirdly distracted Mrs. Fuka has been with their lessons when the athlete shows up.
He’s practically vibrating as he stands still beside Ayano. “Hey, Yan! Want to go for a run? With me?” His face is red, Ayano assumes that he ran up to the roof to ask.
Amao frowns, and he stops opening a container of cookies to look at Ayano. “Are you going now, dear? I was just about to offer some cookies I made. It’s a new recipe.”
Ayano hesitates. She’d like to try the cookies, but she shouldn’t refuse a new friend’s offer.
Luckily, Aso is distracted by the sight of food. “Oh, those look amazing, Amao!”
Amao beams and takes the lid off the rest of the way. “I made plenty, would you like to join us and have some?”
Aso sits down next to Ayano. “Sure!” All thoughts of going for a run are gone, clearly. He reaches for a cookie just as Ayano does, their hands brushing. Aso blushes and lets Ayano grab one first.
The rest of lunch goes by smoothly, and Ayano enjoys watching all of her friends interact.
-----
The walk to the gym has Aso tagging along.
“It’s pretty close to the pool, and extra exercise never hurts,” Aso says when Kizano questions his arrival.
It’s very easy to see why Aso is the leader of the Sports Club.
When they get to the gym, Aso gives Ayano a quick side hug before running to the pool. Ayano watches him go for a few seconds, then follows Kizano inside.
Today, they run through the second half of the play without scripts. The final scenes are odd to Ayano, watching some of her club friends go offstage, only to reappear moments later, changing their voices to pretend they’re someone else. It’s almost amusing, in a way.
The death scene is odd, too, considering that Kizano and Ayano just...lay there for so long, trying not to breathe too obviously. Ayano slowly finds herself more and more aware of how close Kizano is, right next to her. It’s peaceful, until one of the club members scream when they find the dead bodies of Romeo and Juliet.
When they finish, everyone seems proud. They plan to start using props the next day, and find costumes on Wednesday for all of the scenes. Considering that their performance is two weeks away, the Drama Club feels like they’ll be ready.
Ayano feels accomplished as she watches the club members talk, planning out details for the upcoming days in the remaining moments of club time. She looks at Kizano, who talks to Shozo. Then there’s Kokona and Riku, off to the side, speaking in hushed whispers with red faces. Tokuko and Tsuruzo walk off backstage, talking about potential outfits.
As Ayano looks at them, she recalls her time at her old school. There, she hadn’t joined a club. She’d been too exhausted, faking her emotions every single day, to want to exert extra energy by spending even more hours with a small group, who would catch on quickly if she was constantly tired. Instead, Ayano would go home and hide away in her room, spending hours on homework or reading. Countless hours went into studying, and Ayano quickly became an A student at her old school. She never made a big deal out of it, and her classmates never cared enough to ask. They were all acquaintances, never spending time together out of school, but never enemies. It was all Ayano needed.
And now here she is. In two clubs, surrounded by friends that like to walk her to and from school in order to spend those extra moments together, and that want to see her out of school. And she wants to see them, too. Emotions are no longer so draining to fake, and some of them seem to come naturally.
Ayano wishes that her mother had switched her to Akademi sooner, instead of having her go to the other one. Perhaps she would’ve been even more emotional now.
But Ayano is content here. She’s more than content.
Ayano is...happy. She’s sure of it. It’s not the radiant joy that her friends have, not that wide grin and sparkling eyes that she sees on her classmates from time to time, but it’s a start.
With this in mind, Ayano steps off of the stage, smiling. She slips next to Kizano, who smiles at her.
“I just wanted to tell you that I have to do something quick. I’ll see you at the gate?” Ayano says, and Kizano nods before returning to his conversation.
Ayano allows herself to enjoy the quiet walk to the school. It’s something she couldn’t do before, and she plans to take full advantage of everything she can feel now. She’s relaxed as she walks up to the Student Council room.
She knocks on the door. Akane opens it, a smile on her face.
“Ayano!” She cheers, and steps out of the way to let the girl inside. “Welcome back.”
The other three members are there, wrapping up their conversation in the few minutes left before six o’clock strikes.
Kuroko looks at Ayano with a small smile. “Are you here to join the Student Council?”
Ayano pauses, and thinks again over all of her thoughts on the subject. She knows that it’ll be more work, and that she’ll have to plan her club times around the new duties. But the work doesn’t seem too bad, and she’s sure that, in the end, joining the Student Council will be good for Ayano. She’s not quite sure how, yet, but she’s ended up benefitting every time she’s joined a club so far this year.
At last, Ayano nods. Akane lets out a little cheer, happy.
Shiromi just laughs. “We knew you’d come around. We’ve had people still applying, trying to get Megamo to approve of them. They all just want the reputation bonus, though. They think it’ll make them cooler.” Shiromi snorts. “I mean, we’re cool and all, but screw them. We pick who we want.”
Ayano blinks at this. “Did...Megamo approve of my joining?” She doesn’t recognize the name, and infers that he’s either older or absent for the time being. Or both.
“Technically, yes. We sent him our reasons for wanting you, and he agreed that you’re the perfect person for the role of Historian.” Kuroko walks over to a table as she speaks, and turns around to hand Ayano a uniform. It’s white with red trim, just like all of the other council girls’.
Ayano slowly takes the outfit, and Aoi chuckles. “You get a fancy new outfit, Ayano. Enjoy it.”
Ayano smiles. “Thank you. I’ll show up at lunch tomorrow to get started.”
Kuroko nods as the bell rings. “I hope you live up to our expectations.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Ayano plans to exceed them, too, but she doesn’t say that.
Instead, Ayano walks down to the gate without any of the Student Council members. All five boys are waiting for her, and Osano groans when he spots the uniform.
“You really went and joined them, Aya,” Osano says, but he can’t stop a smile from appearing on his face. “You’re going to be in every club before we realize it.”
Ayano giggles. “No, I’m done joining clubs after this. I’m going to be busy with three clubs on my hands, but I think I’ll enjoy it.”
Kizano sighs. “Just tell me when I should expect you to leave me during club times.”
“Well, this Wednesday will probably be the first time.”
Kizano gasps, and pretends to be betrayed, causing the group to laugh.
The rest of the walk home is filled with comments about Ayano’s role in the Student Council.
It’s a wonderful end to the day, and Ayano can’t wait for tomorrow.
Notes:
At thus, we have begun another week! Welcome to Week Five, we're nearly halfway through.
Have a wonderful day, mes amants!
1941 words.