Act 2, Scene 1: Friends and Perspective

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Mondays? The fact that I'm not a morning person combined with my tendency to sleep in on the previous day makes for a very... sub-par experience. More often than not, I end up walking into class groggy and exhausted, kicking myself for my lack of sleep and begging for the last bell of the day to finally ring.

Mutou seems about as thrilled as I am. Dragging his feet behind him, he makes his way into the classroom, slamming a pile of books on his desk. The skin beneath his eyes looks droopier than usual, the gray in his hair more defined and easily noticeable. From the looks of things, he had a little /too/ much fun at the festival after-party.

With a groan similar to the one from Saturday, he takes his cue at the board, writing out the basis of his daily lesson plan. Students pull out their notebooks, getting to work with copying down formulas and definitions as the lecture begins. I tend to only take notes on the absolute basics, then figuring out the details later. As tired as I am, though, I resolve to write as much as possible, just to keep myself awake and occupied.

"Psst." A mild diversion as Mutou continues his lesson. I don't quite catch the direction it comes from, so I flail my head back and forth, trying to find the source. "Psst." There it is again. I look straight ahead, noticing the girl in front of me waving a small fold of paper below desk level. I glance over at Shizune, just to confirm that she's paying too much attention to the board to catch me in the act. Sure enough, she is, and I claim the slip for myself.

I move to unfold it quietly, just to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Letting the expanded paper sit in my lap, I read the message, which is inscribed in very elegant, almost mechanical handwriting.

	Miki wants to know if you want lunch after this.
	-- Molly

Why would Miki go through the trouble of asking someone else to relay a message? She seems a little too direct for that. Nevertheless, I write my response on the sheet, refolding the note quickly and quietly. Now, how to get it back to her? Whatever I do isn't going to be particularly sneaky, so I might as well just wait for Mutou to turn his back and slip it over Molly's shoulder.

...there. I lean forward across my desk, letting the note slide down her torso and into her lap. The task is made more difficult by her hunched posture over her notebook. As I fall back into my seat, I catch Shizune glaring at me. Our eyes connect, and all I can manage is a shrug. She responds with a shake of her head and goes back to her work.

Mutou continues to drone on with his lecture. Thankfully, I'm able to catch and absorb most of it. When he finishes a train of thought in the lesson, he turns to the class, picking up a stack of papers from his desk. “Alright, class,” he announces. “Let's split into teams for a quick assignment.”

The desks start rearranging themselves, students moving around into their preferred groups. Miki gathers with two of the other girls in the front row. Funny, I remember her saying she preferred hanging out with guys at some point. Molly is one of the two, and I think the other is Suzuki. Hard to remember names, sometimes. Everyone else has to learn one when I have to learn so many more.

I move to join their group of three, but a certain interpreter cuts me off. “Hicchan, you're with us~, right?” Misha and Shizune already have their desks pushed together in a formation that leaves room for a third. I'd rather keep moving forward with my friendship with Miki, but I guess I can't say no to the Student Council without a prior engagement.

“Uh... sure,” I answer weakly, pulling my desk over to theirs. Mutou passes out the assignment sheets, and Shizune quickly claims the role of scribe. The work is pretty straight-forward, just a few simple problems dealing with the core concepts. I'm eager to get my portion done, if only to minimize my interaction with these two. I've grown to find Misha's enthusiasm almost annoying, at times.

“Hicchan~.” She keeps her voice low, close to a whisper. “Did you enjoy the festival?”

I glance up from my work. “Yeah,” I reply. It feels rather cold in its brevity. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, we didn't see you around the booths.” True, I didn't spend much time at the actual festival. I was basically just meeting up with Miki to head downtown. Even then, I was mostly there just for Miki. I should probably expand my horizons more. Maybe I can do that at lunch today. “I just wanted to make sure you saw everything~!”

“I didn't see much of the festival, really.” Not exactly by choice. “Miki, Rika, and I ended up downtown with a decently sized group of people.”

Misha's grin turns from her natural smile to one of intrigue. “Oh, is that so~?” She folds her arms across her chest. “Already chasing after our class track star, hmm?”

“I don't know about that. We're just friends.” My speech speeds up. The persistence of her smile tells me that she doesn't quite buy it. “Really! Just. Friends.”

She tilts her head downward keeping her gaze locked on me, as if she wants to look condescending. That “you're spouting a bunch of nonsense” kind of look. “Whatever you say, Hicchan~!” she finishes, rolling her eyes as she goes back to her work. “But, if you ask me, people might be... sus-pi-cious~.” A faint giggle rolls through her lips, and she keeps that same teasing smile on her face.

I decide to shrug it off for now. Miki's definitely an interesting person, not to mention attractive... I wouldn't mind getting to know her better, given the chance. There were a few things she said at the festival that only made me curious...

“You don’t even know the half of it... Another story for another day.”

What on earth did she mean by that? Was just trying to be mysterious? I honestly don't know. ...yeah, I guess you could say that I have a crush on her. Or at least have some inkling of an attachment to her already. But why worry about it right now? There are more important things to focus on. Like this classwork.

We finish our assignment relatively quickly and part ways. Everyone else follows in turn, handing in their submissions to an instructor preoccupied with reading through the papers. I stay at my desk, fiddling with a pencil as Mutou sits up straight in his chair. He opens his mouth to speak... before the lunch dismissal bell interrupts him.

Students clamor to be among the first to the cafeteria, our teacher attempting to be heard over the din of adolescent voices. He pinches at the corners of his eyes while the students leave, sighing heavily.

I'm the last one to leave. Mutou catches me before I make it to the door. “Nakai,” he says, “mind sticking around for a minute?”

I whip around from the doorway, watching my teacher stack the papers against his desk before slipping them into his bag. “Uh... yeah, sure,” I reply. “But can we make it quick? I'm meeting someone for lunch.”

His eyebrow arches, and he cracks a weak smile. “Ah, good. I was worried you weren't making any friends there for a while.”

I'm not quite sure how to respond, honestly. “What makes you say that?”

He chuckles, barely audibly. “Nakai, when you've been in this business as long as I have, you learn that new students have the hardest time, socially.” Mutou slings his bag over his shoulder; he must be going out for lunch. “You didn't really show any interaction with anyone outside of Mikado and Hakamichi.” He leans back against his desk, hands planted against the edge. For a teacher, he doesn't seem very uptight... or at least not too concerned for professionalism. “So... who are these new friends of yours?” He sounds almost like a parent right now. I'm not sure if that's what he's going for, but it's definitely working.

I move to try and end the conversation as quickly as I can. “Miura, and Katayama, too, I guess.” One of those will have my head if I'm any slower.

Mutou jerks backward, shaking his head violently. “Really? I didn't see the two of you clicking that well.”

I shrug. “What happens happens, I suppose.”

He nods, grunting approvingly. “Anyways, I won't keep you. Head along to lunch, and I'll see you after.”

I thank him quickly, darting out into the hallway. Rounding the corner, something jerks at my collar, bringing me to a screeching halt. “Not so fast, buster,” a familiar voice utters. “In a rush? There's no need to be, we're right here.”

We? As I suspected, Miki is behind stopping me mid-stride. However, she's accompanied by another. I recognize her as the girl who sits next to Miki in class, the one who always looks about halfway lulled to sleep. What was her name? I can't remember for the life of me. “Um... sorry about that,” I stammer, rubbing the back of my head. “Mutou kept me.”

Miki puts her hands on her hips, face scowling. “Of course he did. And you kept two lovely ladies waiting on your sorry butt!”

I wave my hands in front of my chest. “No, no, that's not it at all!” Step by step, I inch backward, just to create some distance should... something happen. “Just let me explain!”

She maintains a stern expression, standing her ground firmly. It's rather awkward being so dominated by a girl around ten or fifteen centimeters shorter than me. But she /has/ talked about wrestling in the past, so she has to be deceptively strong for her size, right? I would think so.

The frown cracks for a moment, and she bursts into a fit of laughter. I let my guard down, thinking that the worst is over. In between chuckles, she manages to say, “Almost had you there for a second, didn't I?”

A deep sigh escapes my lips. “Warn me next time!” I berate.

“But that's half the fun!” she replies, wiping a teardrop from her eye.

Her companion steps forward. “Geez, Miki, you almost gave the poor guy a heart attack.” Wait, does she...? “Nakai, right?” she continues. “I'm Suzuki. But Suzu works. Either one. 'A rose by any other name' and all that stuff.” She extends a hand, her lips curled into an almost sarcastic smile, and I except her offer, taking the greeting for what it's worth.

“Uh... yeah,” I say, still a bit offset by her random comment about having a heart attack. She couldn't know. She shouldn't know. There's no reason she could ever suspect that. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Right,” she replies, turning back to a calmer Miki. “Now that we're all acquainted, can we please go to lunch? I'm starving, and I'd rather not go into Richard Pine mode. I don't think you'd appreciate that either.”

...the hell is that supposed to mean?

Miki rolls her eyes, clearly dissatisfied with Suzu's attempt at stifling her fun. “Alright, alright. Have it your way.”

Our walk down to the cafeteria consists of talking, Miki cracking jokes about other classmates, and Suzu and I getting to know each other better. She's part of the literature club - that explains the earlier random Shakespeare quote - and mostly sticks with 'the M & Ms,' as she called them. Actually, that reminds me...

“Where's Molly?” I ask. “She passed the note to me, I thought she'd be here.”

Miki shrugs. “Probably somewhere with Florian,” she answers. “She tends to hang out with him, when she gets the chance.”

“Well... is anyone else joining us?”

“Supposedly,” Suzu starts, “Takeshi and Lelouch. I've learned not to expect much from them, though.” That bad, huh?

Miki spins in front of us, walking backwards down the last hallway to the cafeteria. “Speaking of social outings,” she says, eyeing me, in particular. “You're coming to the track meet here in a few weeks, right?”

Here she goes again, giving me the false pretense of having a choice in the matter. “Perhaps,” I answer playfully. “And if I say no?”

“Not in your best interest,” she replies, wagging her finger at me. “Don't forget, I know where you sleep.”

I feel a nudging from my right. Suzu's elbow digs into my arm, trying to get my attention. “Don't pay her any mind,” she claims. “She pulls that on everyone.” Miki glares at her, as if her dark eyes could pierce through Suzu's tiny frame. Air erupts from her nostrils, her blood boiling beneath her skin. Suzu responds with a stuck-out tongue. “You're too easy to frustrate, you know.”

Miki spins around, arms folded across her chest and nose turned toward the ceiling. “Fine, be that way,” she declares, walking ahead without us at a quickening pace.

I must look concerned, at least to Suzu, given her reaction. “Like I said, don't worry about her. We do that quite a bit.”

I arch my eyebrow, frowning slightly. “What, pick on each other?”

She giggles, holding her hands behind her back. “You don't know much about close friends, do you?”

Ouch, that digs a little deep. She's right, though; I didn't have many close friends at my old school. Or, I might have, but definitely not after my heart attack. “No, I guess not,” I say solemnly. “Maybe that's a good thing, makes it easier to find a place here. I don't have to worry about how they're doing or whatever.”

She lays her hand on my shoulder. “Hey,” she interrupts, “no need to get all philosophical on me. We just met not five minutes ago.”

I shove away the memories for now. “Yeah, you're probably right.” I turn to her, grinning. “Focus on the now, right?” She laughs again, instantly turning my smile into a frown. “What's so funny?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she replies, waving a hand at me. “That just sounds very Miki of you.” I suppose I should take that as a compliment, huh? I wouldn't mind being more like her: strong, confident, ready to face the world at a moment's notice. I might resolve to be more like her, then. If anything, it's a good enough outlook for now. “You should come, though,” Suzu continues. “To the track meet, I mean. It'll be fun.”

The smile returns. It's good to hear someone else so willing to let me into their world. “I just might. Let's worry about finding our lunchmate for now, though.”