July 23 / Accidents / PG-13 / Closed

[false]

Characters: Asuka Tomoe and Kenji Takuto.
Time: right after school.
Location: the Courtyard.

Asuka was pissed, and it was for a variety of reasons. During her last period, she’d received a chemistry test that she’d somehow managed to get a B-minus on; she was aware that science wasn’t her strong suit, but B-minuses were never acceptable to her. Briefly, she’d debated launching into an incredibly offensive diatribe on the teacher’s curriculum, but managed to convince herself not to. Secondly, she’d stuttered something fierce during one of her acting exercises, and somehow managed to get a bad grade on that, too. Thirdly, someone—who was lucky to escape mostly unscathed—had spilled an entire bowl of miso soup on one of her favourite books during lunch; it was almost as old as she was, loving, insightful notes scribbled neatly in the margin, and it had been utterly, utterly ruined. Oh, and it was that time of the month, again.

God. Fucking. Dammit!

The door to Aozora’s exterior creaked slightly as Asuka’s foot connected with it, metal rectangle swinging a dangerous arc that would no doubt maim anyone in its path. And that was exactly what happened: a dull thud was audible as the door stopped abruptly, what was most likely a human doorstop on the other side. She’d always known that kicking doors open was a bad habit, but it felt too good for her to really care.

Asuka’s temper was still burning brightly as she stepped outside, backup book in hand. Should have watched where you were fucking going, she thought, eyes narrowing at the bluish-haired boy that she’d accidentally floored. Was he okay? Probably, but she was still unsure of what to say. She was torn between the side of her that was sympathetic and the side of her that wanted to kick him in the ribs for being in her way.

“What the fuck were you doing?!” Asuka asked, deciding on a compromise between her warring personality traits. Tentatively, she offered him a hand. “Are you alright?”

[nezumi]

Kenji had been looking at his feet while he walked, being in a hurry to get to his next class and not in the mood to make eye-contact with anyone. He had barely slept the past night - his roommate coming and going at unholy hours and slamming the door when he did so and waking Kenji every time.

Thankfully, as he approached one of the building's doors, he had been looking down, or he would have been dealing with a very bloody... probably his entire face. The door came swinging at him at full force - if not more - and rammed right into the top of his head.

He grunted, falling to the ground in pain. Kenji reached up to rub the growing lump on his head, blinking away the few tears that had welled in his eyes. Through the blur, he saw a pair of feet approach him.

“What the fuck were you doing?!" A voice came from above the feet, much louder than it needed to, but Kenji didn't feel like meeting his assailant in that moment. Seconds later, the voice added, “Are you alright?”

Reluctantly looking up - just enough to see an outstretched hand - Kenji chuckled a bit humorlessly. He slipped his hand into the stranger's. "Yep, yep, fine." he said, pulling himself from the ground. Once his eyes connected with the stranger's, his demeanor changed in a flash.

Standing in front of him - looking pissed and slightly sympathetic - was an extremely pretty girl. Kenji blinked again, wondering if she was pissed only at him, and also wondering why he'd never seen her before.

"You don't have to shout - the door didn't hit my ears." Kenji told her. "Yeah, I'm alright, I think. Did you do that?" He asked, motioning to the door that was still shaking a bit.

[false]

”Yep, yep, fine,” the boy had said, taking her hand as he stood. Their eyes met for a moment, his demeanor shifting almost instantly.

Pff, Asuka thought, used to boys treating her differently because of her looks. You’re nothing special. He was quite tall, and had bluish-black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His face would be intimidating, if she were the sort that could be intimidated in the first place. “You don’t have to shout - the door didn’t hit my ears.” His voice had been oozing with sarcasm, which she somewhat appreciated.

“Well, don’t quit your day job—you make a shitty doorstop,” Asuka said, unintentionally punctuating the sentence with a half-assed laugh, curiosity gleaming in her cerulean eyes. She’d never seen his face before, and strangely enough, she couldn’t tell much about him through his body language or his speaking patterns. It could have been her period, or the fact that he’d been mauled and wasn’t acting normally; regardless of the cause, she was drawing a blank. Now, that was bizarre.

”Yeah, I’m alright, I think. Did you do that?” Asuka nodded, somewhat concerned despite herself. It was period-related mood swings, that was all.

“Kicking doors is how I cope with myself,” she muttered, wondering why she was talking to him at all. “Really, it’s quite therapeutic, and it’s much less incriminating than other outlets… are you sure you’re alright? You’re bleeding.”

[nezumi]

“Well, don’t quit your day job—you make a shitty doorstop,” the girl told him, laughing afterwards.

A small smile tugged ad Kenji's lips, which he folded away, trying to pretend he was angry at the situation. He didn't think it was working very well, but he made no efforts to stop. Shrugging, he said, "I wasn't prepared, I could do a much better job if I had a little warning."

Kenji felt an oozing on his forehead and cursed inwardly. He didn't want to have to leave this conversation for the nurse's office. The girl in front of him piqued his interest in more than one way and he had no idea if he would see her again if he left.

He didn't even know her name yet.

The girl's voice broke into his thoughts. "...are you sure you’re alright? You’re bleeding.” She said.

His hand - and gaze tried to follow - moved to the source of the liquid on his face, putting pressure to the gash quickly. She had kicked a door at him and split his head open but Kenji had no desire to leave or call her horrible names. Something felt odd about that, but looking at the girl in the red glasses again, Kenji remembered why he wasn't leaving.

She really was beautiful - in an "I-have-to-look-twice-to-make-sure-I-saw-her-properly" kind of way - and her actions made her all the more attractive.

It took Kenji a moment to remember that she had technically asked him a question and he hadn't answered, opting to stare like a creep instead. "I'm fine, probably just a scratch." he waved away the issue quickly, not in the mood to discuss things about himself. "Why would you need to kick doors for 'therapy,' anyway?" He asked, hoping the blood wasn't gushing too badly.

[false]

He was staring at her again. What was his problem? Asuka was aware that most boys thought she was attractive, but this felt different—he wasn’t ogling her, he was admiring, or something like that. She’d have preferred if he didn’t do that, either, but it was far less offensive than being looked at like a piece of meat. Plus, he hadn’t been rude to her at all, even when she’d drew blood with her careless door-kicking. Sometimes, it paid to be beautiful, she supposed.

”I’m fine, probably just a scratch,” he’d said, writing the wound off as trivial. That sort of thing annoyed her. “Spare me the ‘tough guy’ bullshit, would you?” Asuka sighed, fishing a bandage out of the mini first aid kit in her messenger bag. Ignoring any further protest, she stood on her tiptoes and lifted up his bangs, attaching the adhesive side around the wound and wiping away the blood with her handkerchief. It was superficial, and she wasn’t about to apologize, but it made her feel a little better to see it covered.

”Why would you need to kick doors for ‘therapy,’ anyway? the boy asked, looking incredulously at her. Asuka laughed again, this one a little more genuine, taking a step backwards before letting her heels touch the ground. “I’ll put it this way,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. “Either I kick down doors—sometimes hitting innocent bystanders—and go off to read alone, or I punch myself for doing badly in school, point out how shitty my chemistry teacher’s curriculum is, eviscerate someone for spilling soup all over my favourite book, and rip out my ovaries with my bare hands. In that order.”

Absentmindedly, Asuka flipped her hair to the side. “Option number one’s better for everyone, wouldn’t you agree?”

[nezumi]

As the girl pushed herself up on to the tips of her toes and leaned close to Kenji, he sucked in a breath and stood ramrod straight. She moved his hair out of the way and place a bandage on his cut. Kenji's eyes followed the girl's hands - her fingers felt icy, and the only thing running through Kenji's mind was: don't pull away. She wiped away the spilt blood with a handkerchief a second later.

That little wish went down the drain, though, when she jumped back landed on her feet again, closer to Kenji than she had been earlier, though. He wanted to thank her, but he didn't trust his voice at all. His brain didn't seem to be functioning very well, either, because it took Kenji a very long time to remember to exhale.

He felt like a smitten, romance-novel cliche, but he had no idea how else to feel! It was an odd feeling for Kenji, not unwelcome, just... odd. The girl before him captured his attention by hitting him, and that's more than he could say for any girl that had approached him and flat out explained that that harbored feelings for him. Kenji hadn't been interested.

This girl hadn't even introduced herself to him and had barely even spoken to him, but he couldn't focus on anything else in the moment. Her gaze caught his.

“Either I kick down doors - sometimes hitting innocent bystanders - and go off to read alone, or I punch myself for doing badly in school, point out how shitty my chemistry teacher’s curriculum is, eviscerate someone for spilling soup all over my favourite book, and rip out my ovaries with my bare hands. In that order.”

Kenji chuckled to himself, "Sounds like you've got quite a handful. Is one door going to be enough for now, because the pole behind you -" the boy motioned to the pole about fifteen feet behind her, "- would probably suffice, as well. But I wouldn't know." he shrugged, adjusting his backpack with one hand and offering her the other. "I'm Kenji, by the way."

[false]

”Sounds like you’ve got quite a handful. Is one door going to be enough for now, because the pole behind you -“ the boy, who was quite obviously still a tad ensorcelled by her looks, motioned towards a metal pole behind her. ”- would probably suffice, as well. But I wouldn’t know.” Normally, Asuka would have walked off by now, but she found herself deprived of any desire to do so. This boy had piqued her interest, and while she was far too shy to have approached him on her own, the door had done away with the awkward icebreaking phase.

“I’m Kenji, by the way.” Asuka offered a wan smile as she took his hand—it was big, and his hands were rough, was he a guitar player? The idea of the tall, blueish-haired boy in front of her playing the guitar made her heart flutter a little, but she willed it to stop. “I’m Asuka.”

Asuka was at a loss for what to do next. She wasn’t angry anymore, merely curious; it was pretty obvious that Kenji didn’t want to leave, either. Hm, she thought, readjusting her red glasses. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

“C’mon,” she said, letting her hand slip out of his a little more reluctantly than she cared to admit. “Let’s go get something to eat. I’ll buy.” This would be a good chance to get to know him better; it was bugging her that she could hardly tell anything about Kenji, when all it took for most people was a fleeting glance.

[nezumi]

The girl's smile was a bit off-kilter, but Kenji was more focused on the feeling of her hand in his. In his seventeen years of being alive, he couldn't recall feeling anything like that. Her hand was incredibly soft, and still a bit icy, but he didn't mind one bit, Kenji's hand was warm enough for the both of them.

She pulled away again, and Kenji nearly told her to "stop doing that." He pressed his lips together in a tight line, keeping that thought inside, as well. The dark-haired boy had no idea how she'd react if he had said that out loud.

Unpredictable - Kenji liked that about her as well.

“I’m Asuka.” she had said while their hands were still joined. Somehow, it was very fitting for her. Her name meant " the smell of tomorrow," or, at least, Kenji believed that's what the meaning was. His thought process led him to believe it was some kind of destiny that he met Asuka - no matter how odd the meeting was - that day, and that he would be seeing her more often in the future. “C'mon. Let’s go get something to eat. I’ll buy.”

Kenji let himself smile wholeheartedly at that. He was unbelievably glad that Asuka didn't want to get on with her original plan - whether it be reading alone or the list of violent alternatives she had given him - and would rather be with Kenji in that moment. He hoped it wasn't out of pity.

"Why not? But how about you let me open the doors from now on?" asked Kenji cheekily, his grin morphing into a playful smirk.

Continued HERE.