I was dreading school the next day. Seeing as all of the classes were in the same building, I still ran the risk of running into Asano. I pulled the hood of my black jumper up, I walked briskly past the main entrance to the side door near the class Es mountain. I saw no one going up the trail today, must have been because I turned up so early.

KAORI POV

I paced around the classroom, waiting for a certain someone to walk in the door. A few greetings came my way, which I returned sharply. It probably sounded very rude, but I wasn't in the mood to be thinking about that.
Finally, a certain "tangerine" entered the room and I stormed up to him, oblivious to the people around me, and gave him a sharp, hard slap across the face.
The room fell silent. My hand throbbed a bit from the impact, but I tried not to let it show. Asano started down at me, gobsmacked, with one hand on his face.
"Wha—" he started, but I cut him off quickly, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him out of the room.

I started before he could question me. "What did you do?"

He answered the question with a blank stare.

"To Akiza you dumb-ass"

his eyes widened in realisation before returning to their normal glare.

"I told her what I had to. Stupid girl, wanting sympathy by spreading it around the school"

my hand twitched with the urge to slap him again. "She hasn't told anyone you know. I'm her best friend, you think I wouldn't notice?"

he turned his face away at the accusation.

"So what did you say to her?"

again, not bothering to answer, he turned on his heels and walked back into the classroom.

I chased after him, his legs were longer than mine though, and I ended up half-running.
"get your ass back here Asano-kun"

he continued walking.

"Asano-kun!" I grabbed him once more by the arm and he spun around to face me, a sneer on his face.

"I just put her in her place is all"

he yanked his arm away from me and kept walking. I didn't chase him this time.

ASANO POV

"I just put her in her place is all" I regretted the words the second they came out of my mouth; I regret everything I've said since last night.
I didn't mean it in that way though. As I turned away from Kaori and kept walking, it hurt me to not be able to tell her what was going on. In the end, I'd only wanted to help, I guess I just suck at that huh.

I drifted off multiple times during the lesson, not even bothering to pay attention to the part about our upcoming test. Tests were common at Kunigigaoka, all in preparation for the mid-term exams. My father would be furious if he knew I wasn't dedicating my entire existence to my studies.

The bell rung, and I huffed as I gathered my belongings, escaping from the classroom before I could be spoken to. I found my eyes wandering down the hallway to the class D room, but the hallways were flooded with people. Even so, I thought I saw a familiar brunette among the crowd.
So she did at least come to school today, thank god.

AKI'S POV

I vacated the classroom quickly, trying to get outside before i could be attacked by kaori's questions again. I didn't get far however, and ended up nearly falling down the stairs as she tackled me from behind.

"Aki-channnnn" she pestered. "Akiiiiii-chaaaaa-"
I clamped my free hand over her mouth.

"Stop drawing attention you BAKA" i retorted and pulled her swiftly out the door to the side of the building.
Kaori stood by sheepishly, looking quite guilty.

"What did you do?" It was my turn to ask the questions, but instead of responding, she just shuffled awkwardly between her feet.
"Kao-chan" i asked, more seriously this time

"Islappedasano"

I looked back at her with a confused expression across my face.
"What?"

She took in a deep breath before she finally spoke.

"I slapped Asano-kun"

Even i didn't know what to say to that.

"What?" I questioned again

She rolled her eyes and began to repeat herself in a rather sarcastic tone
"I, slapped, Asa--"

I shook my head again, ,silencing her once more
"I know what you said , but why?"

Because of me?

My suspicions were confirmed after she told me.
"There's been something wrong with you since last night, you haven't picked up the phone or responded to texts. it was my intuition, but i was spot on wasn't i?"

I nodded shyly. "Asano-kun and I got into a fight last night after we missed the train, and I ended up ditching him. He's probably pissed at me you know"

"Wait, you guys got into a fight because you missed the train? Sounds like an old married couple to me"

I face-palmed. "We got into a fight over school you moron, don't misinterpret things..."
Old married couple kaori-chan? really?

"well anyway, it doesn't matter, so can we just drop it?" I asked desperately. "I promise I'll tell you if anything happens"

She looked a little grumpy about it, but dropped the topic. I must have a gift for making people leave me alone or something.

"I will keep pestering you later, Aaaaaaki-chan."

Internal facepalm

After yet another eventful few hours, my life was sure to come to an end as I thought about what was to come. The dreaded social studies lesson.

I walked through the corridor, my brain flying everywhere as I tried to regroup my thoughts. It was our presentation today, and we'd had a week to work on it. They don't call us a prep school for nothing you know.
Today it was on the history of England during the time of the Industrial revolution, and let's just say, if I have to hear another goddamn thing about the bloody steam engine, I might have the incentive to kill someone.
Let the stupid class begin.

What the hell was that?!

I spent, of course knowing my outstandingly brilliant luck, the entire presentation tripping over my words, getting dates wrong, and straight out embarrassing myself. The phrase "Red as a tomato" paled in comparison to what my face probably looked like right now.
Kaori caught me on the way out of school.
"So how were the presentations?"
I buried my face in my hands and didn't answer. She seemed to get the message.
"I told you I would come and help you, but you said no and that you needed to become more independent." she continued, quoting what I had told her last week when the assignment was given out.
"I'm sorry to disappoint Kaori-san, but I don't think any amount of rehearsing would have prepared me for that horrible experience. It's no wonder I'll be in the E-class soon."
She grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to face her.
"You are not going to the E-class you moron, your other grades are too good for that. You know E is the last chance you get, and I will not let you end up there."
I was stunned at her forceful words, almost intimidated.
"Uhh-" I croaked and she let me go. Once again, we had attracted the attention of a few nearby onlookers who just happened to find our conversation interesting. Kaori waved them off with a flick of her hand.
"You in for ice-cream? I'm starving!" the change in talk was so abrupt, I paused for a few seconds before answering.

"I'm sorry Kao-chan, I have somewhere I need to go before tomorrow, but I'll be sure to make it up to you!"
I started to walk away before she could question me, hoping I wasn't coming off as too standoffish.
I would have told her I just wanted to go home, but I couldn't do that to her again. Instead, I decided to go around to Erinn's house, she should be home right about now.

The train was packed with people, the usual school rush hour. I stood cramped between the door and a rather smelly set of kids who looked like they'd jumped in every mud puddle from here to Alaska. A flash of red passed through my vision and I looked up to see a boy from class E. I averted my gaze quickly, but not before he's caught me looking at him. I almost saw a humorous look flash across his face at my current situation, but it was obviously directed at the fact that he, like most other class E students, weren't big fans of us "prefects". I took note of his bleached hair so I'd remember to death glare him later. And this was coming from one of the nice people on campus.

Then again I'd death glare the principal

But seriously, I was even nice to their class the other day, what's his problem?
The thoughts must have put a foul look on my face I could tell as people started to shift uncomfortably away from me.

The train pulled up along my stop and I stumbled out, glad to have some fresh air back in my lungs.
Erinn had her house only about a street away from the train station, so not that far of a walk later, I was pulling up to the door. Her car was there, always a good sign. I pulled out my keyring and found the right one before unlocking the door.

"It's Aki!" I called while entering. "You home?"

A rustle sounded from the kitchen before Erinn rounded the corner, dressed in trackpants and a jumper. Even through her baggy attire you could see her large stomach, which made me grin.

"How much longerrrrrr Erinn-nee"

"Still two months, it's only been a week since you asked last you dork."

I pouted. "Well at least someone is excited around here."
That was a slight lie. Naoki had been overjoyed since they found out, and that happiness was still very abundant.

We made our way through to the living room, where I took a look at what she had been doing. Her paints were out and newspaper was scattered over the entire floor to stop the canvases from dripping onto the carpet.
"It gets harder trying to bend over" Erinn spoke up "But I hate not being able to paint."

I picked up one of the now-dry creations off the floor.

"Your portrait work is amazing as ever Erinn-nee" I complimented. The drawing in question was a profile of a girl as she worked over a desk. "I wish I could draw this well"

"Your artwork is coming along in leaps and bounds Aki, don't be so hard on yourself." she smiled awkwardly. "though I've heard your painting skills are falling behind. You need any help?"

I pulled the near-full art book out of my book and swung it open to one of my most recent works. Like most others, it was a person, through I couldn't draw any poses or activities very well and so refrained from doing so before they ended up looking like a human-cow hybrid.
"How do those teachers expect me to be able to paint something so plain?! Why can't we just stick to black and white?"

She plucked it out of my hands with ease and began to look over it.
"The hands are pointy, but you're getting the proportions down."
She put the book down next to her on the couch as she sat down.
"Anyway Aki-san, is there anything you need to talk to me about? These visits don't happen very often."

I sighed and proceeded to start from the beginning, even giving her more of the details about my move to the D-class that I hadn't shared with my mum or overprotective older-brother.
Her face changed to one of surprise when I told her about Asano.

"You two have been friends for the longest time, haven't you? Even when I came over from England you guys were always together."

"Yeah..." my voice faded out toward the end as I remembered what she was talking about, back when we were practically inseparable. Hell, I even got him to watch anime with me a few times, and for a kid obsessed with overtaking his father and studying, I found that a big accomplishment.
"I don't know what happened either."

This update took a while!
Anyway, I'm in exam week lucky me, and so of course, due to poor planning on my behalf, did today's exam last week since I wasn't going to be here, and now I am.
So here's a new chapter!
It's a lot shorter than my others, but through one of my friends I found out that chapters that are too long can be really annoying for some people if they are trying to read on-the-go.

Anyway this chapter dedication to TheInfernalCelestria because she is the lucky person who gets to go through and edit my story before I post a new part!
Go check her out xD