"Tsukishiro san," a girl called Bridgette from behind. She turned to see a pretty girl with round, brown eyes matching her long, brown hair. "My name is Emiri Tanaka. I sit right in front of you." Emiri introduced herself.
"Please to meet you, Tanaka san."
"You can call me Emi."
"Thank you, Emi. Uh, just call me Yui." Bridgette absentmindedly replied which surprised Emi. "Yui?" she asked.
Shimatta! I forgot! Bridgette had gone pale from her unexpected slip of the tongue. "Yui? What Yui?" she nervously asked. "You said to call you Yui." Emi answered, obviously confused.
"I didn't say Yui. I said, just call me Bridgette," she smiled to release her tension and put Emi at ease. "Oh, okay. Would you like me to show you around?" Emi asked.
"Well actually, someone—"
"Excuse me! Is Tsukishiro san here?" Bridgette turned around to see who's looking for her. A tall, cute guy in spectacles was at the door, searching the room for her.
"Tachibana senpai." Emi whispered while staring at the guy. "Who is he?" Bridgette asked. "He is Aki Tachibana, a third year. He's the student council president, and ranking number 1 in academics." Emi answered.
Bridgette just answered 'ooh' in her statement; she noticed that Emi is having a crush with the guy as she looks at him so lovingly. She didn't noticed that he's already at her back when he spoke.
"Tsukishiro san?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"I'm Aki Tachibana, president of the student council. Onimura sensei asked me to pick you here in your room to show you around the school." He have a very kind, handsome face and a gentle voice that stopped Bridgette's pulse for a while.
"Uh, yeah."
"Shall we go?"
"Uh, yeah." Bridgette stood up, closed her eyes, checked her composure, then whispered. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Aki turned around and smile, "Yoroshiku ne. Ikkimasho?"
* * * * *
Aki showed her around the school where in she's starting to have interest in different clubs. He speaks so kind to her that immediately she's comfortable around him. He even bought her a cinnamon roll.
"Just think of it as a sign of our friendship," he told her when she insisted on paying for the bread. "Thank you," Bridgette shyly answered. How I wish that this guy sits right next to me in class, she thought. Well, Hirasawa doesn't seem so bad, though.
"This is the music building. We have many music clubs: the glee club, the school orchestra club, for which Onimura sensei is the advisor, and the modern music band," Aki explained to her as they entered the building. She was so fascinated that they have different music clubs in school; she have plans of entering a music conservatoire after she graduated. But there's one thing that she's longing to ask him.
"Do they have a grand piano in here?"
Aki stopped and looked at her. "A piano? Yeah. Why, do you play it?" he asked. Bridgette didn't answered. She feels overwhelmed that there's a piano in the school.
"Only one person plays the piano here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Only he doesn't want to be bothered while playing," Aki smiled as they entered the piano room. "He hasn't played these past few weeks, though." Bridgette's eyes widened as she saw the piano and immediately ran in to it.
"You really are beautiful," she whispered to the musical instrument. "Wanna play it?" Aki asked, seeing her passion and enthusiasm for music.
"No. I just love looking at it." she answered. "Oh, I thought I could hear some great piano skills now."
"Sorry. Try again next time." Bridgette smiled as they went out of the room. "I heard that you are the top student here?" she asked Aki as they headed to the rooftop. He smiled, looking embarrassed as he nods his head. Bridgette blushed at the guy's modesty.
"Perfect." she whispered while taking a turn back to the school building. "Did you say something?" Aki asked.
"Uhm, no, I was just thinking out loud."
"Okay. Here we are." Bridgette didn't seemed to notice that they were already at her room.
"Thank you so much, Tachibana san."
"Aki."
"Huh?"
"You may call me Aki," he flashed her with a very shy, friendly smile. "O-okay. Aki... san." she, too, was red-faced, calling the student council president by his first name. "I'll go ahead." He bade goodbye to her and headed to his classroom.
Bridgette thought she might like the guy as he left a good impression to her. But then, the envious face of her new friend flashed in her head. "Mou. Why do I kept on getting these feelings when something good comes in my way?"
"Yo!"
Ren greeted her with a cinnamon roll in his hands then offered it to Bridgette. "What's this?" she asked. "A cinnamon roll," Ren answered.
"Of course I know that this is a cinnamon roll," Bridgette said, rolling her eyes.
"Then why are you asking if what this is?"
"Kindly stop taking things too literally," she said. "So what's with that?"
"Let's see. I want to give you this—" he noticed that she's holding a cinnamon roll, too. "So you already bought yourself one?"
"Huh?" Bridgette suddenly remembered that she have a cinnamon roll in her hands. "Ah, this? Aki san gave this to me."
"Aki san?"
"Tachibana kaichou."
He then stared at her, bemused. "What?" she blushed as she felt uneasy with his stares. "Yakimochi." Ren pouted as he answered her.
"Ha?"
"Bridgette chan, I'm jealous!"
"HAAAAA?!"
* * * * *
Bridgette couldn't concentrate with Ren bugging her all the time. He will pretend to listen and ask questions to the teacher then say that it was Bridgette who asked for it. Having a nutty seatmate like him just made her first day a little more crazier than she had expected.
Ren immediately left after the bell rang. "Unbelievable," Bridgette sighed as she saw his cinnamon roll tucked in her bag. "Now I have two cinnamon rolls to eat."
"Sorry if he is bothering you." Shuu's big voice surprised her. "Uhm, no, not much."
"I haven't introduced myself properly. My name's Shuuichi Hirasawa. I apologize if my brother misbehaves with you."
"Nice to meet you, Hirasawa kun. Uhm, if you are older, then why are you two at the same class?" she asked. Shuu looks so pained that she quickly said sorry for her insolence.
"No, its fine. It's just that, someone asked us exactly the same question a year ago."
"Oh,"
So, same questions can hurt now, she thought. Well, maybe its really painful for him. I'm just a little stupid to ask.
"Tsukishiro?" Onimura sensei's voice startled everyone in the room. "Onimura sensei?"
"I will have Tachibana to guide you home until you can go on your own," he explained. Everyone stopped and looked at them. "Demo sensei, I can go home on my own."
"I thought I told you this morning to cooperate with us since you are staying in Japan alone?" he reasoned.
He's a tyrant! She froze as she meet the teacher's gaze. "I can't win this," she whispered to herself.
"Hai. Gomen nasai."
"That's all." he turned to leave. The room was literally like ice cold during his presence that she found it a relief when he went out the door.
"What was that all about?" Shuu asked.
"Uhm, you see, I just got here from England, and I am not quite familiar on traveling here alone. They were just concerned for my safety." Bridgette explained. "Mendokuse." Shuu turned around then walked away.
"Now I'm a pain," she mused, a little hurt with his words. "Bridgette san, just don't mind Shuuichi kun. He just speaks that way but he's somewhat reliable." Emi said, overhearing their conversation.
"Is that so?"
"You going home?"
"Uh, kinda. I have to look for Aki san first."
"Tachibana senpai?"
"Yeah. Onimura sensei told me that I should go home with Aki san. Really now? I can find my way home alone."
"Oh."
Bridgette stared at her. She's thinking that Emi likes Aki, and she seems right. "Do you, by any chance, like him?"
"Huh?"
"You like Aki san, don't you?"
Emi turned red when she asked that question. She was about to answer when Aki called her.
"Yappari..." she smiled sweetly to Emi, who was baffled and at the same time nervous with Aki's presence. "Ano, Bridgette—"
"It's our little secret, you are so obvious though," she turned to Aki, who approached them.
"Tsukishiro san, I supposed Onimura sensei told you?" She nodded at him as her reply. He then turned to Emi "Tanaka san, its nice to see you." he greeted. Emi seems composed as well as nervous at the same time. "Same here."
"So, shall we go?" Aki asked Bridgette. She thought that it's nice to have someone escort her home from school, but it's a little too much if it is as per faculty's request.
"Uhm, Aki san? I think I can actually go home alone. You might have something else to do. I don't want to trouble you." she said. Aki looked at her and smiled.
"It's fine. Your house is along my way home so it isn't trouble at all," he said. "Besides, Onimura sensei is really worried about you so he personally asked me to do it."
Bridgette froze from what she had heard. Onimura sensei is worried about me? So funny when he almost treated me in absolute zero coldness.
"Ah, sou ka? I cannot do anything about it, can I?"
"No. Let's go?" She just shrugged in hopelessness. Emi went with them until the gates but had to part for she lives in the opposite direction of the street.
"If it is fine, I would like to see if my friend Mizuki is still here." Aki asked her. "Sure, go ahead."
"Thanks." He went to a couple of students to ask if Mizuki was still in school, then he went back to her.
"It seems that he already gone home," he said. "It'll be great if we have more companions, ne?"
"Uh, yes." True, she thought. She have this awkward feeling that they somewhat look like a teenage couple going home from school. A black car suddenly honked and stopped at them.
"A Maserati..." Bridgette recognised the car as her brother Heiji is a car enthusiast. "So someone from the school is driving an expensive car like that?"
"Yeah," Aki answered as they watch the car windows rolled down to reveal its owner. "It's Onimura sensei."
Holy cow! She was shocked to see how cool Onimura sensei looked behind the wheels. I wanted to ride that car! she tried her best not to squeal a word of amazement.
"Tsukishiro, try to learn things from Tachibana, got it?" Ice cold told her.
"Hai."
"Tachibana, keep yourselves safe."
"Yes, Onimura sensei."
"That's all." He was about to roll his window up when Bridgette shouted.
"Sensei!"
"Hmmn?" Aki and Onimura sensei was both surprised by her. "What is it, Tsukishiro?"
"Is Maserati better than Bugatti?" she asked with the reds all over her face.
"I can't tell. I haven't ridden a Bugatti yet," he answered. "I'll let you ride my car sometime so you can tell the difference." And he rolled up his window before any of them could say a word.
A full minute after Onimura sensei left did Bridgette let out an 'eeeeh?!' for her expression. Aki just smiled at her, gesturing for them to go ahead.
* * * * *
Traveling with Aki seems to have eaten a large portion of time for Bridgette. She had fun with Aki showing her around the town. She consider it as her first time to detour as she have few friends before they flew to England. It was almost nightfall when they arrived to her place.
"That was really, really fun!" Bridgette energetically exclaimed as they reached the front of the building she's staying. "Thank you, Aki san."
"I'm so glad that you enjoyed it. So, I'll see you tomorrow at 6:30?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah, see you at school!"
"No, I mean, I will get you here tomorrow." Aki explained.
"Oh, okay," Bridgette said. After 30 seconds of silence she let out another 'eeeeeh?!' when she realised what he had said. Aki laughed at her.
"If you're recruiting me for the student council..."
"Onimura sensei instructed me not only to see that you're home safely, but also to bring you to school early," he said. "About the student council recruitment, I do hope to see you there, too." He turned around to leave.
"Good night, Tsukishiro san." Bridgette just watched him walked away.
"Good night, Aki."