Kai had been to all the seven schools that had been present in Tokyo during his mother's childhood. And yet, he couldn't spot his mother's name in any of their records. How could that be possible? He was pretty sure he remembered her telling him that she had lived and studied in Tokyo for a great deal of her life. He wondered if she has been home-schooled, but he knew it for a fact that home schooling wasn't approved in the country until recently.

He hardly bothered to concentrate on classes when he had so much on his mind. He had once again started jotting down everything he knew about his mother, hoping to find a clue, something he might have missed the last thirty-six times, all in vain. Altogether, Hillary had not caught him at a good time. And had accordingly received the burnt end of his frustrations last week. 

Since then, he had found an excellent way to blow of steam. Biology AP class was bound to start in ten minutes when he entered the class. Laura walked up to him, in that sultry was of hers, as she cooed, "Hey handsome..." He casually dropped his bag next to the guy with whom he wouldn't bother to talk as he held her by the waist, slightly leaning down to kiss her on the lips. The kiss was long and drawn, making him momentarily forget his worries. She had her hands in his hair, slightly messing it up as he pulled her slightly closer. 

She broke the kiss first, as always. Yet, she held on to him for longer than necessary, as though showing the whole world her latest prize. And Kai didn't care much about it. Anyone who actually knew him would know he couldn't possibility be hers to parade around. And maybe she knew it too. It was just a matter of time before one of them, most likely him, one upped the other person.

She fiddled with his shirt button. "Miss me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, trying to look innocent when we both knew she was anything but that. Obviously, she didn't really get an answer. She rolled her eyes, growing annoyed. "Oh, come on. Don't be such a grouch bag!" She said, playfully shoving him in the ribs. He just smirked slightly. She broke into a smile herself, satisfied by his response. Their interaction was cut of by the school bell ringing, their class was about to start. 

Hillary came in hurriedly, the last one to enter the class, again. And since she came in from the back door, the first thing she saw on entering the class was the two of them inches apart, Laura fiddling with his collar button and his hands wrapped around her waist. 

It wasn't that she didn't know they were together now. The news had spread through the school like wild fire. He had to deal with a lot of girls cry over him and hilariously, he had also heard a few of Laura's exes talk of him with sympathy. But anyone caught in her position would feel a bit embarrassed. Hillary's cheeks flushed instantly, and she tried to rush past them, but Laura blocked her path subtly. 

She pursed her lips on seeing his attention shift to her. Then, turning back to him, she tenderly took his face in her hands and pecked him teasingly on the lips. "Meet me behind the stairs after this class, alright? We could continue this there..." She said, swiftly turning on her heels to get back to her place, throwing a smirk in Hillary's direction thinking he couldn't see it.

Hillary took leave next, looking way more annoyed than embarrassed then. She was yet to meet his eyes since last week, even though she knew he was pretty much staring at her whenever she was around. Talking seemed very much out of the equation for the time being.  

Kai enjoyed the fact that he could make a narcissist playgirl like Laura, so full of herself, feel insecure in just a few glances and words, or the lack of them. And what if he was going to obey her and meet her behind the stairs? The girl knew how to damn kiss, how to make a guy who had lived his entire life in 'control' loosen up a bit, how to make him forget his worries for a bit.

And most importantly, who was he to say 'no' to the small dosages of dopamine and oxytocin, the 'happy' and the 'love'  hormones, to his system?

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Luke couldn't believe that he had leashed in his anger at Kai for a whole week. Especially the whole AP Biology class, when he was supposed to sit next to him. When he and his jerk-for-a-girlfriend kissed each other's head off! And the way she kept teasing Hillary... It was just too much. 

Luke had planned to talk to Hillary after class, but miraculously, she had slipped away from him, yet again. She seemed to be doing a lot of 'slipping away' these days, he mused as he thought of their last week. The twins had left for their grandma's house for a festival in India a day after their fight, and were supposed to be back by the end of this month. He was pretty sure that Hillary had not bid them farewell. Hence, they were still not on speaking terms. The rest of them had  became cold and rude everytime Hillary was around, and apart from Aubery, no one was practically even speaking to her.

Not that Hillary had a lot of time to spare for them either. She always had her head in one or the other textbook, or was completing one or the other assignment during lunch break, snacks break or during any other free class these days. Sometimes, it was just so she doesn't have to deal with the situation where she might feel like adding on to their conversation,  but most of the time, she was genuinely busy.

She would neither arrive early nor hang around after classes to chat with them. Always in a hurry. Luke was pretty sure that this was the eighth time she had slipped away since he had wanted to talk to her since last week.

******

It was lunchtime and Hillary was facing a lot of conflict on deciding where to sit. Usually, she would just go to their table with Aubery trying to fill in the conversation awkwardly while the others just muttered 'hms'. She could complete her lunch fast and make up one feeble excuse or the other to go back to class and get on with her work. Of course, she realised it was a kind of punishment from her friends and that they didn't really plan to kick her out of their group, not yet at least. 

 But she couldn't do that today.  She needed to talk with Zen and Lizzie at the 'nerd' table about her plans for their Amity club this year. "Hey guys" she started, receiving some half hearted replies and an over enthusiastic one. She cringed internally. "It just that there was a meeting for the Amity club and I'm supposed to be there for the day since I'm the one presenting my plans. Hope you don't mind." She said that all in one breath. 

Aubery blinked a moment to understand all that. "Of course, we don't mind." And seeing that she was the only person responding, added "We don't mind at all, don't we guys?" "Hm, hm" was all the answer she could get out from them. 

Aubery threw an apologetic smile her was which she wholeheartedly accepted. There weren't many people she was on speaking terms for the time being, and Aubery was too precious to push away at any time. 

******

Like definitely surprised Hillary when he told her hand and steered her away from both their table and the nerd table. "Luke, what's wrong?" She asked, but he wouldn't answer her. He pulled her towards one of the only two-seater tables, known famous at their school as 'love' tables, available in their cafeteria. It was a considered a kind of self-proclamation to the whole school that two people were in a relationship if they sat there. 

Luke was pretty sure she knew the implications, since he was the one who told her. "Well, I've been meaning to talk to you for a week now and there didn't seem to be a way to get a hold on you. So, deal with it." He grumbled, taking a seat. He was a handsome guy and all that, but he knew that she didn't want to be associated with him like this. To clear the air between them, he dismissively said  "It's not a date, kitten. Sit." smiling at how pick her cheeks had gotten in seconds. 

"If it's about Aarushi, then-" Hilary started, assuming him to have been angry with her for upsetting his not-so-secret crush. But he cut her off again, "It's not about her either. Now sit." Hillary must have realized that there was no way she could get out of sitting with him at that table, because she reluctantly complied. "So, what is this about?" She asked. "Bladebreakers." 

She huffed in annoyance at this. "You just said it wasn't about Aarushi. I was anxious that day and she was just going on and on about them that I just wanted her keep quiet! Normally, it's kinda cute, but as I said, I was pissed-"

Luke didn't let her ramble for long, knowing there wasn't much either of them could gain by it. He quickly dropped the bomb. "I overheard you talking with Kai." Hillary immediately quietened at that. "I didn't mean to. I was just there and you guys weren't exactly being quiet and..." He didn't know what to say. Silence loomed at their table for a while. Hillary fidgeted with her food, eating very little, but stubbornly kept up with her silence. Luke hadn't really been expecting her to pour out all of her feelings at his request either. 

He took the initiative again. "I understand if you don't want to talk about him, or them in general. Having your heart broken by the likes of him must feel terrible. I'm surprised that all your frustrations hadn't erupted out sooner. I would be a right mess too if my best friend kept babbling about my ex as thought he's the best thing around since the creation of bread. So, if you want us to stop talking about them, just give us a clue. Open up a bit, no need for details, but we'll all understand, alright?"

Hillary looked wide-eyed at him. "What do you mean?" And the look of utter confusion she was giving him annoyed him a bit. There was no use of pretending anymore, he understood it all too well, didn't he? "That day, you were talking with him after class about how he should have told you that he didn't need you a month ago..." And a look of realisation dawned on her face. Then, out of no where, she started giggling. 

What the hell! The feeling of utter bewilderment must have been showing on his face. "Oh my god! Just a sec." she gasped between laughs, trying to control herself. After what seemed like an eternity, she started. "Oh Luke! You have got it all wrong. I do know the bladebreakers, but not in the way you are thinking. And I would never date Kai, not even in my wildest dreams! Do you really think a talkative, bubbly girl like me can put up with a grouch bag like him. Hell no!" Luke looked a bit embarrassed at being so off the mark. "So, it wasn't like that?" He confirmed. Hillary shook her head. "Then, why didn't you tell us about it before? You do know Aarushi would have fallen to your feet if she knew that! And what were you talking about that day?"

The smile on her face dimmed a bit at this. "I...um, we really aren't on speaking terms at the moment, or maybe they aren't with me- it's just, it's a bit complicated actually. And I wanted to start afresh here. You know how things get going when you have celebrity friends. People approach you so they could get to them faster and all that... I wanted to make some real and sincere friends here. So... And since we aren't even talking, I didn't see the point of mentioning about them."

He didn't press for more details, mostly because he didn't want to embarrass himself further, and Hillary was glad for that. She wouldn't have liked to lie to him about anything at all "Well, I thought. Its all right, I misunderstood, and maybe used a lot of my imagination..." He said, smiling awkwardly. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm glad to know that you at least worry about me." "Of course, I'll worry about my little kitten!" He said, taking away her sweet from the tray. 

"Hey! Give it back!" she admonished, but didn't really try talking it. Between him and Aubery, none of them got the chance to eat their own sweet dish from lunch these days. "And stop calling me kitten. It's ridiculous!" She added. "Now, since you mentioned it before, why were you anxious during that day's lunch, precisely before the results of the first round of elections were announced?" He was willing to bet anything that that he had guessed at least this one right.

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Words: 2254

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A/N: So... How was it? What do you think of Luke?