Original Published Date: June 8, 2016
Edited Date: December 7, 2017
May 11, 2016 - Morning
"Okay, everybody! Pop quiz!" Teacher Misa said, clapping her hands together with a cheerful smile. "This will also serve as your preparation for the exams starting next week, so do your best!" She pumps up her fist.
All of the students of Class 1-A turns their quiz paper around and looked at it. Most of the words were in English since Teacher Misa is a Composition/English teacher. There were a few groans echoing throughout the room.
As for Hinako, she scans the questions for a minute before proceeding to answer it. She wrote in incredible speed, as if she's not having a hard time at all. Marie and a few students in a two-desk radius from Hinako were looking at her, amazed that she is not bothered the slightest bit about the English quiz.
May 10, 2016 - First Break
"As expected from you, Suzuhana-san, your scores are always above the mark!" Teacher Misa praises her student, who was right in front of her. They were at the faculty room.
"Oh, Misa-chan, did Suzuhana-san did well on your quiz today?" A scarlet-headed teacher asks.
"Ah, Bou-chan! She did absolutely incredible!" Teacher Misa said with slight exaggeration. She is always surprised at everything.
"Well, that's the school's scholar for you," Teacher Bou said with a smile. She, then, looks at Hinako. "Keep up the good work, Suzuhana-san. If you retain your grades like this, Principal Martha might just consider giving you a college scholarship."
Hinako looks at Teacher Bou and bows her head. "Thank you very much, Mushajou-sensei."
"You're also doing well in my class," she lays back on her chair and drank her coffee from a brown mug. "I might just exempt from you the exam."
"Oh, please, sensei," Hinako was surprised, waving her right hand. "Thank you for thinking of exempting me but I'd rather take the exam."
"Uwaah~ You are so humble, Suzuhana-san," Teacher Misa smiles at her.
Hinako just laughs a little. "Then, please excuse me."
Then the door to the faculty room opens. Teacher Bou looks at the person who was standing there, smiling to see the person she has always looked after.
"Ah, Gil-kun! You're here," Teacher Bou muses over to the golden-headed man, raising her right arm and waving it in the air.
Upon hearing Gil's name, Hinako turns to look at him.
"Yes, sensei, you need something from me?" Gil asks as he walks over to Teacher Bou. Then, he notices Hinako. "Suzuhana?"
"Good morning to you, Douji-senpai," she bows her head.
"Yeah, good morning," he returned lazily before looking back at Teacher Bou.
"Hey, at least be polite to Suzuhana-san, Gil-kun!" Teacher Bou said before lightly tapping her history book on Gil's waist. "You are, after all, working with her in the student council."
Gil looks back at the brown-headed representative through the corner of his eyes. She was just staring at him, as if waiting for something. Then, Gil remembered seeing Hinako cry yesterday.
"Good morning," he greeted properly.
Hinako nods her head lightly, still staring at him.
"That was weak, Gil-kun!" Teacher Bou slaps her hand on Gil's back as hard as she can, as if imprinting a mark on it. "Do you even plan on getting a girlfriend?" She laughs.
"That hurts, Bou-sensei!" Gil retorts, a small tear forming on his left eye.
"What? And you call yourself the captain of the Kendo team!" Teacher Bou laughs like how classic anime girls laugh. (Ohohohohoho~)
"What was that?!"
Hinako releases an anime sweatdrop from her head. "This is quite lively," she comments from behind the scenes.
Teacher Misa giggles a bit. "That's because Bou-chan is like a mother to Douji-kun."
Hinako looks at Teacher Misa, confused. "Like a mother? Then, what about Douji-senpai's real mother?"
Teacher Misa's smiley face suddenly turns into a sad one. It surprises the brown-headed girl in front of her, curiosity taking over.
"Please give these out to your classmates, Gil-kun," Teacher Bou said, handing over a stack of papers.
"Why me? Himeji is the representative for second year students," Gil said, irritated. He took the stack from Teacher Bou's hands.
"That's for council work. This is for class work," she explains.
"Whatever, it's still her duty," Gil said. "I can't believe that I'm being worked like this," he mutters to himself.
"Get going. We have a lot to discuss about in history later," Teacher Bou smiles proudly.
"Yeah, yeah," Gil said, walking away from Teacher Bou's desk.
"And Suzuhana-san?" She looks at her. "Take these exercises for Gil-kun's class."
"What?!" Gil stops on his track and looked at Teacher Bou with slight irritation. "I can carry that, too, you know. There's no need for her to come along with me."
"You're refusing help from me?" Hinako's looks at the golden-headed man. "That's another load, Douji-senpai. You cannot possibly see what's in front of you if you put these on top of what you're already holding."
"What?! How can you say that?! You have no right to question my strength! I don't need your help!"
"How arrogant... This is quite the load, so I insist on helping," Hinako stares at the other stack of papers on Teacher Bou's desk. "It looks heavy."
"Nothing looks heavy to me!" Gil hurriedly walks back to teacher Bou's desk and places the stack that he was carrying over the other stack on the table. "I can do this on my own."
"My goodness. You two look like quarelling love birds," Teacher Misa slips in, clapping her hands together.
"We do not!" Hinako and Gil said in unison.
It wasn't long when Gil finds himself carrying the stack of hand-outs with Hinako, who was carrying the exercise sheets for Gil's history class. There was a look of irritation in his eyes as he walked beside her.
"You know, if you keep looking like that, you'll wrinkle your face," Hinako comments even though she was looking straight ahead.
"Shut up! I don't need to hear that from you, mongrel!" Gil slightly yells.
"Whatever you say, your majesty," Hinako retorts as she look to the right. "And please stop calling me that. You should fulfill your promise."
"That's because you are one! And that promise was also null and void when we made that bet," Gil bites his lower lip. "Seriously, where do you get that confidence in talking back to me? Have you no manners?"
"Have you no manners?" Hinako raises an eyebrow. "Did your parents teach you to look down on others?"
"Did your parents teach you to answer back from someone who is superior like me?"
Hinako stops walking and glares at Gil. "My parents don't have anything to do with my attitude towards people like you. Leave my parents out of this."
Gil stops walking and looks at Hinako from behind. He was slowly boiling in anger. "You started it. And are you sure that your parents didn't teach you that attitude? Because to me, it looks like it!"
"Then, your parents look like they have taught their child so badly!" Hinako also stops walking, turning around to look at her senior with a frustrated expression. "What kind of parents are they, teaching their children to look down on others?"
"Your parents have the worst parenting, especially your mother!" Gil steps forward, his shout echoes throughout the empty hallway.
When Gil mentioned Hinako's mother, she stopped throwing words at him. She lowers her head and shook in anger. Gil, on the other hand, was furious. He looked at his underclassman with a very irritated face and it looks like he can go on forever with throwing words at her.
"My mom..." Hinako mutters.
"What? I can't hear you, you mongrel. Go on and give me your best shot!"
Hinako shoots up her head to look at Gil with tears streaming from her eyes. He was slightly taken back. "You don't know a thing or two about my mother! Shut up like you know everything! Shut up because you don't know me! You don't know what I'm going through!"
With all of her strength, Hinako threw the stack of papers she was carrying at Gil and it made him drop the ones that he was carrying. The brown-headed girl hurriedly runs away, trying to contain the tears that were uncontrollably flowing out of her eyes. She fled to the nearest staircase, making haste towards her own classroom. Gil was just shocked at what just happened that he remained standing on the same spot.
"Douji-san?! What happened?" A running Asura came to Gil with a worried face. "So much paper..." She looks at the scattered sheets.
Gil grit his teeth in anger. "You don't know a thing or two about me, too! Damn it!" Gil punched the wall that was behind him.
"D-Douji-san?!"
"Hey, what's going on here?" Itsuka arrives. He looks at a furious Gil.
May 11, 2016 - After School
"So, in other words, you two had a fight," Itsuka summarizes.
"Douji-san, how many times do we have to tell you to get along with Suzuhana-san?" Asura asks, worry in her eyes.
Gil rammed his fist onto the table in anger. "How can I get along with a person like that?!"
"Your personalities clash, I can tell. But, Douji-kun, if you just dropped that 'high and mighty' attitude towards people, you could actually get along with her, as well as the other students of this school."
"Yes, Itsuka-san is right. It seems to us that Suzuhana-san dislikes your attitude but not the entirety of you," Asura adds.
"Tch! What the hell does that supposed to mean? How can she like the entirety of me but dislike my attitude? That's quite wrong," Gil crosses his feet and his arms, lying back on his chair.
"W-Well..." Asura doesn't know what to say next.
Itsuka sighs. He stood up properly after laying his back on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "You two have to sort this out. We can't have the council run like this if two of our members are fighting."
"Why did you even chose her in the first place? I didn't like her from the start but you just had to come and appoint her as a part of the representatives," Gil eyes at the student council president.
"Well," Itsuka starts to scratch the back of his head. "the reason I chose Suzuhana-san to be a first year representative is because she can keep you at bay. I mean, I haven't seen a first year that can stand up to that attitude of yours. But aside from that, she has the potential to be a leader. That's how me and Asura see her."
"What? That's your reason? How pitiful!" Gil was really furious. "I don't need anyone to keep me at bay! Am I some kind of animal to you?!"
"I'm sorry, Douji-kun. It looks like I made a wrong choice," Itsuka looks at the floor. After a few seconds, he lifts his head up again with a determined look. "But I know that to myself that I didn't."
Silence envelops the entirety of the student council room. Itsuka and Gil remained staring at each other while Asura held her hands together, hoping that this small argument would come to pass.
"I don't know where you get such confidence but leave me out of this," Gil stood up from his seat and grabbed his bag. "I'm going home. I don't want to talk about this any further."
Gil rashly held the door and opened it. He left the student council room, leaving Itsuka and Asura in worry.
"Itsuka, is that really your reason for choosing Hinako-san?" Asura asks, turning to look at Itsuka. "I know that he is a handful but Douji-san isn't something that we can forcibly tame in the hands of another person. He is no animal."
"I'm sorry but yes, that is my reason. But with Suzuhana-san's current problem, she can't even control herself," Itsuka was a little sad. "I guess we should tell Gil."
"Yes, we should. But why do we keep on hiding this fact from him? That Suzuhana-san is going through...you know."
Itsuka sighs. "I think it's because they're somewhat the same."
May 11, 2016 - Evening
"You don't look so good, Suzuhana-san," Nero said as she places a cup of jasmine tea on the table in front of the distressed girl. "Rough day at school?"
"Just a little, Souji-san," Hinako replies softly, placing her hand on the tea cup.
Nero sat on the chair opposite from Hinako. "You can tell me anything, Suzuhana-san. I'm all ears."
"Oh, I might be taking up your time for work," Hinako said as she looks at Nero with a surprised expression.
"It's all right. I have a lot of people tonight, so it's all good," she smiles warmly.
"Thank you, Souji-san," Hinako took the tea cup and drank a little of the light green liquid. Then, she places it back on the saucer. "I had a fight with Douji-senpai today."
"Oh? Lovers' quarrel?" Nero grins.
"W-We're nothing like that at all!" Hinako immediately corrects, waving her hands. Then, she calms down. "We sort of exchanged bad things about our parents."
"O-Oh..." Nero was shocked, her shoulders getting tense. "What did you two fight about?"
"I told Douji-senpai that his parents taught him badly because of his attitude. Then, he said bad things about my mother," she closes her eyes. "He doesn't know me yet he said that..."
The blond-headed owner sighs, releasing tension from her body. "You two actually crossed the lines, huh?" Nero made a frown.
"Crossed the line?" Hinako's eyes slightly widened.
Nero frowns even more. "Gil-kun doesn't have a father. The only one that he has left is his mother and his little brother, cute little Dio. But, Gil-kun's mother rarely spends time with her children since she is the CEO of Fuyuki General Hospital. As far as I can tell, he developed his attitude because of his mother."
Hinako was taken back after Nero told a little about Gil's life story. "I...I see... H-How come you know all of this?"
"Bou-chan comes here from time to time," a grin plasters itself on Nero's face.
"M-Mushajou-sensei?" Then, that's when Hinako remembered something earlier from this morning.
Teacher Misa giggles a bit. "That's because Bou-chan is like a mother to Douji-kun."
Hinako looks at Teacher Misa, confused. "Like a mother? Then, what about Douji-senpai's real mother?"
Teacher Misa's smiley face suddenly turns into a sad one. It surprises the brown-headed girl in front of her, curiosity taking over.
'I see. I didn't know and yet I said mean things about his parents,' Hinako closes her eyes. 'But he didn't have to say those things to me, too.'
"Welcome back, big brother." A yellow-headed teen said with his back on the stair railings.
Gil looks up at his little brother. "Dio."
"Dinner is ready. Mother's here, too," he smiles faintly.
Gil looks to the side. "I see. I'll be there in a minute."
Dio descends from the stairs and walks up to his big brother. "Sure. I'll tell her, then," he walks towards the door that was on the left side of the hall.
Gil goes up the stairs and walks inside his room that was located at the west hallway on the end. He sighs, standing on one spot for a minute before changing into some new set of clothes.
"I heard that your exams are coming up, Gil," a woman of a slender figure said. She was sitting at the end of the table. On her right was Gil and on her left was Dio.
"Yes, mother. It starts next week," Gil simply replies.
"Good. I expect you to be at the top of the second years this year since you were at the top on your first year of high school," an authoritative tone in her voice. "Don't you dare lose to anyone."
Gil stops slicing his beef and stares at it. "Yes, mother. I'll make sure that no one is above me."
"Good. I expect nothing less from you, my child."
"...Yes."
To be continued: (Spring) Chapter 9
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CHARACTER PROFILE #2: Gil Douji (童子ギル)
Played by: Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes (Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Extra CCC, Fate/Zero, Unlimited Blade Works)
Birthdate: 27 November 1998 (fictional birthdate; his true birthdate is unknown)
Gender: Male
Age: 17 years old
Height: 182 cm (5'10" ft.)
Weight: 68 kg (149.91 lbs.)
Year Level: 2nd Year, Class 2-A
Hair Color: Gold
Style: Standing up like a blazing flame
Eye Color: Crimson Red