Kaori looked up at Yukine who had his eyes glued to the floor and gulped the drink down. She opened her mouth requiring with a cold voice that made chills run down the yellow haired boy's spine.
"Now why would he go crawling back there?"
Yukine bit back his nervousness and said, "I... Think that something's not right."
Kaori slided her long finger down the tea cup, raising a brow without looking at the boy, "Is that so?"
Then she looked back to meet the chestnut colour eyes, "What is it that you think is wrong?"
Yukine took a deep breath, trying to collect all of his thoughts so that the words he was about to say would make enough sense.
"Maybe there is a reason behind his going there? You know how he cut off all ties with his family when he was very young."
"I know," Kaori replied nonchalantly, "But if it is as you say, I'd rather it be a good reason or I swear I'll kick his butt to Mars when he comes back."
*************************************************
The next day at school.
Hardly had Kaori entered the classroom when party poppers bursted from all directions, making Kaori's figure a glittering mess. She was taken by great surprise and was left speechless.
"What is all this?" She demanded from her friends who were grinning at her broadly and her classmates who were peeping from here and there.
Wood and Willia exchanged playful glances before suddenly starting to sing a loud chorus of wedding march while Melissa and Tom pulled out Robin and Dylanthy from the crowd of students and pushed them toward Kaori.
Seeing all this, people who were passing down the corridor came over to take a peek of what was happening, not to mention the students who were present in class.
All of this happened with the frozen Kaori who stood clueless of anything and everything happening surrounding her.
After it ended, the two shy looking couple smiled at the flabbergasted girl before them.
"Please tell me what's going on," Kaori muttered in one breath.
Willia took the initiative, "What do you think?"
Kaori narrowed her eyes, "I have a complete blank mind here, miss, you totally got me. Believe me. Now spill the beans before the lava spews out for waiting any longer."
Wood stepped in before Willia could pull the conversation any longer. He smiled at Dylanthy and Robin before announcing, "They have started dating," He pointed at the two at the same time.
A loud sound of amused 'ooh' followed from everyone watching.
Kaori turned to look at the couple standing before her and then she looked up at Robin. Tilting her head, she demanded, "Did you do things right? Johann is okay, right?"
A smile appeared on Robin's lips thinking that the short haired one was still worried over the feelings of the girl whom he broke up with most recently.
"It all ended well. She was happy that I revealed my true feelings about Dylanthy to her and she gave us her blessings, too," Robin said to Kaori.
Kaori's eyes moved over to Dylanthy, who was looking down. She let out a soft sigh before walking closer to her and cupping her face. Dylanthy looked at Kaori with her big brown eyes which made Kaori chuckle.
"Why are you giving me the puppy eyes look?" She asked her softly before flashing her most beautiful smile at the first born couple of their group, "Congratulations to both of you. And I hope that no matter the ups and downs in your life, the bond between you will bring you two back together always and forever."
Be it boys or girls, they were all captivated by having a flash of Kaori's other worldly beauty that it resulted as all the presents to fall in love with her.
*************************************************
Lunch break.
"That smile," Dylanthy murmured again, before turning her shiny eyes at Kaori, "Can't you do that again?!" She slammed her hands on the desk that Kaori flinched, shutting her eyes tightly.
"Leave the girl alone, Dyl," Calling the girl by a pet name, Willia laughed, "You're making her feel uneasy."
Dylanthy whined, " Why? I mean, she was just... gorgeous at that moment," She argued, putting an extra pressure on the adjective. "You know, literally everyone fell in love, it isn't just me," She stated firmly.
"Did Robin fall, too?" Willia sang.
"Oh, come on!" Dylanthy huffed.
"He didn't?" Kaori finally spoke, making Dylanthy look at her in confusion.
"You sound like.." She trailed off in uncertainty, letting a smirk grow on Kaori's lips.
"I thought it was strong enough to make him, though," She shrugged with an air of self pride โ Willia took her hats off to Kaori in her mind for her brilliant acting skills. "I guess I'll have to do better," Kaori stated with a proud smirk, looking at Dylanthy with eyes full of challenge.
Dylanthy, on the other hand, the innocent girl, had become nervous of Kaori's tone and trembled a little in diffidence, "You are joking with me right now, aren't you?" She asked defensively as well as unsurely.
Kaori stared at the helpless girl indifferently for a whole minute, making the latter gulp down lumps of fear beore bursting out laughing together with Willia.
Kaori clutched on her stomach, still laughing loudly, "Oh my God."
Willia was slamming on the desk while laughing with tears in her eyes, "Her reaction was so cute, I just can'tโ"
Dylanthy stared at her two friends in detest while they laughed like crazy.
"You shouldn't joke like that!" She bursted, pouting and frowning at the same time.
Kaori tried to catch her breath, still half laughing, "You are so insecure about all this. Relax, it's not like I'm interested in him."
Dylanthy blushed red, "I didn't say that! I'm just saying that this isn't funny! Why do you always make fun of me about this?"
"Well," Willia pondered aloud, "Because you two are the first lovebirds among us? Come on, it's fun. This is called high school life, girl. Being made fun of for this type of stuff is part of this life," She winked at her friend who had her eyes and lips formed into a thin line.
"What a joke," Dylanthy rolled her eyes.
"I think it's true," Kaori spoke, "I agree with Willia."
Willia looked at Dylanthy with a smug look as if she was winner while the other looked as if she had gotten up on the wrong side of her bed.
Kaori suddenly asked, "But where are the others boys? I don't see any of them as well as Melissa?"
"Don't you know?" Spoke Willia, "Our lovebirds decided to treat their friends today so they went to grab lunch from the cafeteria along with some helping hands."
Kaori turned at Dylanthy in disappointment, "Lunch from the cafeteria? That's it?"
"What, do you want a feast or something?" Dylanthy reacted defensively yet again, resulting into making Kaori and Willia laugh out hysterically again.
Kaori landed a few pats on the brunette's shoulder, "You have to read the jokes, don't get serious over everything."
"Yeah," Dylanthy mocked, rolling her eyes again, loosing the count of the times she did this within the day, "And I feel like you two are not even the slightest bit serious over anything at all today."
"You're right, we aren't," Kaori grinned, "It's because I'm happy."
Suddenly the mood changed and it turned more sentimental due to Kaori's claim.
Following her confession of her feelings towards her two friends, Kaori then stated a question she has been wanting to ask from the beginning of the day, "I've been meaning to enquire, why did you guys give me a surprise?"
Dylanthy smiled, "When everything worked out so smoothly between us after that talk, all I could think of was thanking you for all you had done. So when we talked to the others about this, Willia and Wood suggested that we do this, rather than making the plain old announcement."
"Wood was part of the team that suggested doing this?" Kaori was bewildered by the news.
Willia laughed, "I know, right? I was quite shocked, too. He really became much more approaching than before. It's good."
Kaori smiled, "Yeah, we all grew so much both in the outside and the inside. But Dylanthy, you two didn't really need to do thisโ"
"What are you talking about?" Dylanthy cut off in the middle, "It's all thanks to you and no one can deny it. Am I right, Willia? Besides, we just wanted to have some fun; it was fun after all, so no loss."
Willia nodded back strongly, showing her agreement with Dylanthy's statement.
"Okay, fine," Kaori said, knowing that she can't change their mind back from it now. "But," She paused before finishing her question, looking at Dylanthy, "How did things happen with Johann? Had it gone well?"
Dylanthy shrugged uncertainly, "I wasn't there, Robin talked to her one-on-one. Though he did tell me how it went so I pretty much guessed the whole picture up in my mind."
Willia perked up, "So?"
Dylanthy giggled at her friends' interest and started telling what she heard from Robin โ how he ended the short lived things with Johann.
*************************************************
[Flashback]
Robin was sitting inside a cafe, waiting for someone while he drank some cold beverage.
The door jingled open, revealing Johann in red checkered tops with a white long sleeved shirt underneath and a red barret barret hat with her long brown hair falling all over her shoulders. The red heels she wore clacked their way over to Robin and he finally met her big doe eyes.
"Hi!" She greeted cheerfully.
Her happy smile made Robin a little sad because he didn't want to be the reason her smile wavers later. However, he had to keep his promise to do things right.
*************************************************
"What did you want to see me about?" Johann asked, shoving a piece of the soft strawberry cake into her mouth.
Robin started hesitating.
๐๐ฅ๐ช๐ฐ๐ต, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต!
"Johann.." Robin called distinctly.
Her knife stopped halfway from cutting the cake. She looked up at him to see the worried expression lacing every inch of his face.
"Robin," Johann suddenly spoke, "Now that I think about it, I have something to tell you, too." She put down both her fork and knife on the table, facing her boyfriend seriously.
"But it's okay if you go first!" She offered with a bright smile.
Robin stared at her for a long minute before hanging his head low, "I'm not much of a good person.. but you like me, don't you?"
"Yes," Johann answered truthfully, "I do."
"Why?"
"That's not a question you should be asking," Johann smiled softly, "Because when it comes to love, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ is not a question to be asked for, for people fall for people without any meaningful reason. You come to love every little details about them and that is how you end up admitting that you love the whole person and that is true."
"Isn't that what you would say as well if I asked why you love Dylanthy Daven?"
Robin's eyes widened in shock that he shot his head up to look at Johann, who still had a soft smile on her lips.
He gulped dryly, "How did you know?"
"I knew all along, ever since the day you introduced me to your friends," Johann admitted, "It was hard not to notice."
"Then... Why did you...?"
"Put up with it until now?" Johann chuckled, "I don't know the real reason either. But I know that I just wanted to do it."
"You're wrong, you aren't a bad person, Robin. You have to sort out your personality, that is in fact, true. But you aren't a bad person, rather you are a very good one. Because you reached out to help me that time and then you were constantly with me until now because you were worried about me although I was barely someone you knew before I walked up to you in the corridor. Also because you are still afraid that you'll hurt me if you tell me what you are wanting to and you are always sacrificing for the sake of me. You didn't even bother about your true feelings when you were with me"
"If someone was this genuinely caring towards someone he didn't feel anything complex for," Johann looked up at Robin with a warm smile on her lips, "How can you call him a bad person? How can you not love him?"
"Johann.."
"I think you are still thinking of choosing me over her," Johann laughed a little, wiping some tears away, "I can tell that even just by looking at you. But I think there's someone pushing you from behind for whom you aren't courageous enough to do it."
Robin was surprised, because what Johann was saying was indeed the truth. He would've just let go of Dylanthy if it wasn't for Kaori. That girl will kill him if he were to hurt any of the girls. So he was in a tight spot.
"I want to thank that person because it's the right thing to do," Johann suddenly said, "Because I don't want you to choose me over the oerson you truly love. I want you to go over to her, I want you to stop worrying about me because I've learned to stand up now. I won't just stand taking it anymore. So stop suppressing your true feelings, stop sacrificing them for someone else and go."
"Go to her," Johann finally smiled through her tears, "And have a life full of happiness."
Robin mumbled quietly after some time, "But... We can still be friends, right?"
"Of course!" Johann laughed, "That's what I originally wanted to be with you after all."
Robin's face brightened and they both smiled at each other.
"๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ โ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.
๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐'๐ฎ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.
๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ."
[End of flashback ]
*************************************************
"Johann is a real cool girl," Willia admitted after Dylanthy told finished, "Who else would have been able to turn a to-be-dumped-by-someone meeting into a dumping-someone-by-yourself meeting?"
"What does those even mean?" Dylanthy retorted. She looked at the silent Kaori and commented, "But according to Robin, I think she might become a fan of yours if he tells her that it was you behind him."
"Don't tell her," Kaori refused, "It's better to not even bring up this topic before her."
Willia objected, "Hey, aren't you thinking that she's too vulnerable? She's got strength, didn't I jsut tell you? She was able to turn aโ"
"Okay!" Dylanthy cut in, not letting Willia go on about the same thing all over again, "We'll do as you say, Kaori."
"Now that I think about it," Kaori said thoughtfully, "Didn't you mention that Melissa and Tom's feelings were mutual and they knew about each other?"
"Yeah," Willia shrugged first and Dylanthy followed. "Why?" She asked.
"No, it's just that... If it was like that, weren't they supposed to be the first couple? Why did it turn out like this? What's holding them back?" Kaori asked back.
A proud smirk grew on Willia's face, "Are you starting to play the cupid for the group's couples, Kaori? If you do, don't forget to make me your assistant, I'm great at these stuff."
"I think you're a total dumbhead," Dylanthy rolled her eyes.
"What did you say?!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kaori quickly stopped them from getting into a fight, "Let's be calm," She turned at Willia, "Don't get hot headed. She just said that because you were acting a little dumber than usual today. How could I make you my assistant? If I were to play the cupid for the group, doesn't that mean you'd be one of my targets, too?"
Willia became confused, "What do you mean?"
"Yeah?" Kaori chuckled, "Shouldn't I do anything about Wood and you?"
"What?" Willia slapped her forehead, "There's nothing to do here. He doesn't even like me, so it's a one-sided feeling to be gotten over with. The other's cases are different, be it Robin and Dylanthy or Melissa and Tom or you and Yamaken."
"Why are you pulling Yamaken and me in here?" Kaori asked bluntly.
Both Dylanthy and Willia laughed out loud at the same time.
"You two are the first ones I should be mentioning," Willia snickered.
"Why?" Kaori asked again, "There's nothing between us."
"Oh, I see," Willia sang, "Okay, we get it," she exchanged playful winks with Dylanthy before suddenly becoming serious.
"That's right," She asked importantly this time, "What's going on with Yamaken? Why hasn't he been coming to school? I haven't heard from him lately either."
Dylanthy added, "Me neither, I bet nobody did."
Kaori sighed, "I haven't really gotten much information so I can't say much. I'm just giving him a week to come back safe and sound but if he doesn't, he's got another thing coming from me."
Dylanthy suppressed her laugh while Willia snickered.
Kaori seemed to have gotten cuter about Yamaken lately.
*************************************************
Kaori's residence in the evening.
Kaori was studying for the upcoming year final exam in the library room. Some half eaten snacks lied on the saucer while there was an empty mug in which she drank some hot chocolate.
She twirled her pen, swiping her bangs out of her face when she reached out for the unsolved sheets on her right, transferring the sheets she was done with to her left side.
That's when Haruhi appeared out of nowhere and startled the elder one, "Kaori!"
"Oh!" Kaori flinched in her seat, "You scared me," She said to the other girl in shock.
"I humbly apologize for my misbehaviour, master," Haruhi immediately bowed mannerly.
Kaori laughed in amusement and played along, "You are forgiven. Keep in mind not to act like this again."
Haruhi giggled in joy while Kaori went back to being serious.
"What is it you were here for?" She queried.
Haruhi jolted up, "Ah, right! Kaori, I'm ready to report!"
Kaori put her pen down and faced Haruhi directly, "Are you?"
"Yes!"
"Fine," Kaori said, laying her back to the chair, "Speak, I'm listening."
"Okay!" Haruhi began, "So, Dylanthy Daven is the only daughter of her family. Her mom is Martha Daven and her father was Chris Willson."
"Willson?" Kaori caught the word.
Haruhi nodded in reply, "Yes, 'Daven' is from her mother's maiden name and her original name was Dylanthy Willson. Chris Willson and Martha Daven got divorced when their daughter Dylanthy Daven was in elementary school. Apparently, Chris had two-timed with Martha and wanted the divorce to get remarried."
Kaori's face scrunched up in disgust, "The audacityโ"
Haruhi intentionally didn't stop to hear Kaori and continued, "When Chris left them without a penny to die, Martha had no other options but to start working day and night to make some earnings for living. Her mom didn't marry again thinking of her child and stayed single forever while raising Dylanthy with the outmost care a mother could give in that situation. Martha's wish is that Dylanthy would grow up and become successful in life so that she wouldn't need to live the life she grew up in ever again. But it's also true that Dylanthy's grades are too low to apply for college."
Kaori groaned โ it was all true. A painful truth hitting her like a bulldozer all over again.
"But it's also true that," Haruhi paused before stating clearly, "If she still worked on her grades, it'd be of help in all ways."
Kaori looked up to see Haruhi observing her sharply that she ended up chuckling, "What are you looking at?"
Haruhi laughed nervously, "I was wondering what could go on in your mind after hearing this..."
"Well," Kaori let out a sigh, "You did a good job on your part. Now it's my time to carry out mine. That is to, help her boost up her grades," She smiled at Haruhi which made the other's heart leap up.
"Really?" Haruhi asked eagerly, "You'll help her?"
"Even if she refuses to accept," Kaori nodded, "I'll force it on her."
Haruhi giggled, "Honestly, I felt bad for her when I was looking into her. She had a miserable life and she doesn't have much of a hope either as the exam is almost here. But if you helped her, I'm pretty sure it'll work out!"
Kaori nodded while smilibg to herself, "Let's let that confidence of yours be our guide."
The other hummed before suddenly saying โ 'ah' and slightly raised her hand hesitantly.
Kaori raised her eyebrow in question.
"What about Yamaken?" Haruhi stated her question, "I heard from Yukine-senpai. Are you really not going to do anything about him?"
"Yeah," Kaori nodded, letting out a deep sigh โ everyone's been asking about him today, "I'll wait for a bit longer."
*************************************************
The next day at school.
After walking into the school in the morning, someone tapped her shoulder and when she looked over, the brunette met the black short haired girl's clear dark brown eyes and a soft smile.
"Good morning, Dylanthy!" Kaori greeted energetically.
Dylanthy was taken aback for a moment but she also greeted back. "You look extra shiny today," Dylanthy wriggled her eyebrows at Kaori, "What's the occasion?"
Kaori shrugged, "There aren't any. Besides, I didn't do anything special, why would I look extra shiny?"
"Had a good sleep?" Dylanthy asked.
Kaori shook her head side to side, "I pulled an all nighter."
"What?" Dylanthy retorted in disbelief, "Doing what?"
In reply, Kaori swipped her hair back and winked, "Studying."
An answer, to which Kaori earned a big fat squint from Dylanthy.
"The first time I heard someone looks fresh after an all night's study session," Dylanthy rolled her eyes all the way up and down back again. Then she suddenly sniffed the air, "Did you take a shower? I think that smell is from you shampoo.."
"Yeah," Kaori nodded, "Nothing is more greater than having a good shower early in the morning after pulling an all nighter. It makes you feel lighter and more fresh."
Dylanthy hummed in reply.
They got to their shoe lockers in first floor and changed their outdoor shoes to indoor ones. Then they started back to their class together again.
On the way, Kaori started the conversation by asking Dylanthy a question about her and Robin.
"Don't you guys come to school together?" She said, "I thought couples always walk to school and go back home together."
"We aren't as mushy as you think," Dylanthy said with an awkward laugh.
Kaori laughed along, "I see. But, did you guys have a real good talk back that day? Like, did you tell him everything?"
"Yep!" Dylanthy said happily, "He was quite surprised at first when I told him all of that. But he listened well and understood and finally, he had asked me if that was the main reason I hadn't initiated anything between us."
"I can totally imagine his facial expressions when he said that," Said Kaori with a laugh.
Dylanthy chuckled, "You were right. It was wrong to reach into conclusions first. I'm glad I took your advice! Everything ended happily after we confessed to each other after the conversation and decided to get together."
Kaori suddenly stopped walking.
Dylanthy looked at her in confusion, "What's wrong?"
She didn't get any reply as the other hugged her tightly.
Thoughts rushed into Kaori's head, especially the ones from the night before. She needed to calm herself down.
Kaori took a deep breath, also taking in the scent of her friend's body; she looked up at the brown eyes and smiled, "I'll always be there for you when you need me, okay? So don't forget that I'm here if you need someone to lean on."
A giggle from Dylanthy followed and a joke came right after. "Though I have Robin now," Dylanthy teased her friend to which Kaori pouted, furrowing her eyebrows and letting out an angry huff.
"Fine!" She stomped her feet, "Go to your boy, I'm leaving!" She rounded on her feet towards the classroom they were heading to.
Dylanthy kept apologizing while lughing at the same time and tailed Kaori from behind.
*************************************************
When the last bell of the day rang out the whole campus after the last period, the speekers in all the classes activated and an announcement followed โ "All students of third year are requested to remain at the school campus for their career counselling with the respective teachers of the classes."
The voice repeated for a second time, much slower and clearly in this round.
Although the announcement was made, the third year students already knew that today was the day they would be called for career counselling so they had stayed put in the first time.
Watching the youngsters leave the school through the window, the seniors reflected on their past years, thinking how much of a freedom they had had. But now, they had to think of their careers ahead, which would decide their majors to study in college.
After collecting the filled out career survey forms back from the students and taking them away, the class teacher in class D reentered the classroom with the list of the names and stood before the class.
"Kaori," She waved at the girl sitting in the back, easily catching her eyes, "Come help me out a bit with this."
Kaori quietly got up from her seat and walked up to her teacher with all the eyes in class fixated on her.
The teacher then told the class with Kaori standing beside her, "When I'm done with one student, I'll ask Kaori here, to call out the next person. You have to come and meet me in the room number 307. Let's make this fast, okay?"
"Okay," The class replied lazily.
The teacher handed the list of the students to Kaori and indicated her to call out the first person and follow her to room 307.
Kaori glanced at the list and called out the name loudly, "Timothy Doyle."
Murmur broke into the room, everyone was surprised that Tim was the first to be called.
Kaori's eyes landed on the boy who didn't move an inch even though he heard his name loud and clearly.
She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes before turning at the teacher and smiling politely with respect, "Could you excuse me a bit? You can go first, I'll bring him with me."
The teacher nodded, leaving the matter over to Kaori.
As soon as the teacher left, Kaori took big strides towards Tim who was occupying a seat at the end of the row. All the eyes followed her like they were stuck with glue.
She slammed her hand on the desk, making Tim flinch. "Get up," She glowered at him, "Didn't you hear your name being called?"
Tim cackled, "I didn't. Why? You got a problem?"
Being familiar with this kind of situation, both Willia and Tom jumped up from their chairs, ready to fight for Kaori.
However, Kaori scoffed, letting out a muffled laugh before pulling Tim out of his desk by his collar, "I don't have time for this."
"Hey! Let me go!" He yelled but she dragged him by his collar all the way to room number 307.
The whole class burst out laughing when they saw this except Tim's friends who had their eyebrows furrowed all the time.
*************************************************
One by one, every students of third year from all four classes were being counseled and the number of people who were left to be called reduced little by little.
After Melissa's counselling, Kaori was asked to bring Dylanthy to the room and so she ran back to her classroom.
"Dylanthy!" She yelled her friend's name from the door that she looked round, "You're up next!"
Dylanthy nodded with a smile and stood up, following Kaori to the counselling room.
*************************************************
An empty career survey form, in which just the introductory part of a student was filled in, was pushed towards Dylanthy by Mrs. Ginger. Dylanthy stared at it for a while before looking up when she asked the question โ "Why did you submit an empty form?"
Dylanthy let out a sigh, answering, "I have no career I want to aim for."
Her class teacher perked one of the eyebrows up, "Are you sure?"
"Certainly," Dylanthy nodded cheerfully, "Besides, I don't know if I can achieve what I want even if I wanted to aim for something. Because," She started counting her finger one to two, "I'm too poor to go to college and I'm not bright enough, too."
"What are you trying to say?" Mrs. Ginger was surprised. When she saw the depressed look on her student's face, she reached out worriedly, "Look, Ms. Daven, if you don't talkt to me, I can't help you out. This is what the career counselling is for. What you want to do, what you don't want to do, why you want to do it or why you don't want to do it โ these are the conversations to have here. So talk to me."
And so, Dylanthy decided to let it go and disclose everything to her teacher. Because it made her feel lighter when she talked to someone she could trust in and Mrs. Ginger had in fact, become on of those people.
*************************************************
After hearing all of Dylanthy's story, her teacher understood the situation and became sad thinking of her student's position. She then pondered for quite a while if there was any solution that she could offer the helpless girl but nothing came to her mind until she suddenly snapped her fingers.
"That's right!" Mrs. Ginger announced excitedly, "There is something that you could do!"
Dylanthy didn't want to look too hopeful but she couldn't help her eyes from lighting up. "Really?" She asked with slight eagerness.
"Yes," Mrs. Ginger nodded, "Although it could be quite difficult, but all you need to do is to get a scholarship in the final exam."
At once, all of Dylanthy's light were turned off, "Scholarship?" She asked hopelessly, "Me?"
Mrs. Gibger was taken aback by Dylanthy's lifeless reaction, "Yes, you. But don't sound so demur about it! It's worth giving a try. Who knows if you were to be lucky?"
Dylanthy hummed, saying thoughtfully, "I could give it a try. But the problem is, I need someone to help me or else, I can't gurantee getting that scholarship with these grades of mine."
That's when the door to the room rattled open and Kaori walked inside.
Mrs. Ginger looked at her, "Why did you come jn now? I'm in the middle of a conversation. I'll call you when it's overโ"
"I'll make sure.." Kaori cut in confidently, "Dylanthy gets into a college."
Both the teacher and Dylanthy looked at Kaori with surprised eyes while she smiled with pride and confidence.
*************************************************
The counselling was over and the third year students were finally allowed to go home but that was after the last assembly in the classrooms with their teachers.
Class - D's Mrs. Ginger told Kaori to go back to their classroom along with Dylanthy after sending the last student back.
The two friends nodded to their teacher, turning to leave.
When they were walking through the corridor, Dylanthy asked if what Kaori said earlier during her counselling was true.
"Do you really want to help me improve my grades?" Dylanthy asked again in disbelief.
Kaori made a hurt face, "Why are uou fretting over it? From tomorrow onwards, come to my house every weekend; we'll have regular study sessions from now on. Okay?"
"I don't know your adress.." Dylanthy muttered.
Kaori assured promptly, "I'll text it to you later."
"Okay! Thanks, Kaori," Dylanthy smiled brightly at her friend, "You don't know how much grateful I am to you for all the care you've shown me."
Kaori laughed, "No need to feel grateful.. It's what friends are for!"
Dylanthy hummed.
"By the way," She suddenly said, gaining a hum from Kaori in return, "What did you write? What you want to become in the future."
Kaori smiled at Dylanthy's question.
"I always wanted to talk about our world although it might sound a bit too fantastic," Kaori spoke dreamily, "I don't care if no one believes me, I just want people to know our story. A story that only I can tell."
"Not only that," Kaori added, "I always wanted to try voicing my own thoughts into words. Those kinds of fascination always gave me shivers of joy."
Dylanthy watched Kaori in awe, as if every single words of her already gave the other another kind of light, as if she were entering a new world.
She then asked with twinkling eyes, "Do you, by any chance, have interest in being an author in the future?"
"Author?" Kaori gave it a thought, "You could say that, yeah!" She beamed at her friend, "That's what my dream is to be!"
Dylanthy watched her friend shine with her own light. She was confident and passionate. It made Dylanthy want to be someone like her.
*************************************************
When the two were walking back while having their conversation, Kaori caught Mark โ the student council president โ from afar.
Kaori's eyes widened when she saw Johann with him.
Mark, too, noticed Kaori from afar and waved enthusiastically.
After greeting each other, Mark asked how their career counselling went.
Kaori humbly replied that it went great and asked how Mark was handling the council.
"Don't let me start with that," He mumbled, "The third years have become busy and they can't stop by the council room much, it includes you guys, too. I haven't seen you there for ages. You didn't come to receive your task last time, too," He comolained.
Kaori immediately apologized, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to play false with you but I had some sudden problems."
"She's saying the truth," Johann spoke up, making all the eyes turn around at her.
"You know them?" Mark asked in surprise.
"Yeah, we're acquainted," Johann smiled, "Am I not right, Kaori?"
Kaori smiled back, "It's good to see you."
Mark said, "I didn't know you all knew each other. Johann is my cousin, by the way."
"Really?" Dylanthy asked this time.
"Yeah," Johann giggled, "He is indeed my cousin."
"Anyway," Mark went back to the previous subject, "The exam season is almost here. I would've wanted you all to the council room for getting ready, but I'll especially let you all go due to the fact that you are third years and it's important for you to focus on your study! I'm generous, right?"
Both Johann and Dylanthy broke out to giggles while Kaori bit back her laughter and said, "Yes, you truly are."
"Now that I think about it," Mark suddenly changed his mood back to being serious, "I haven't seen Yamaken lately. Is something up with him?"
"Well," Kaori scratched her neck, "He's taking a little break from school, I guess."
"Is that so?" Mark said uncertainly before saying with determination, "However, don't let him stay away for too long! Bring him back by hook or by crook when you think it's time for him to come back. I'll leave it to you," He winked at Kaori, making her shrug in confusion.
A sudden notification went off in Mark's phone to which he began to make hurry and haste. So they quickly bid goodbye to each other before parting ways.
And then finally, Dylanthy and Kaori reached their destination โ their classroom.
*************************************************
As soon as Kaori and Dylanthy entered the bustling classroom, filled with students causing chaos inside, Mrs. Ginger came in right behind them.
She hushed all the students, ordering them to take their seats quickly. Then she asked if any students were left outside to get a negative answer in reply.
"Okay, then," She ran a last glance over the list of the students' names, "According to my data, most of the students were done being counseled today. If anyone you know isn't present, let the class representatives know and they'll report to me. I'll have to sit with them again another day."
"Aside from all of this," She took a breath, "You know that the exam is almost at the door, right?"
The class stayed silent but their class teacher knew the answer.
She softened her tone, saying, "All of you have to prepare for the final exams properly. And remember to reach out to the teachers if there are any parts that you have problem with. Now, sorry for keeping you all so late in the day. You should hurry and head home."
"Class dismissed."
At this, Most of the students stood up and started to talk to each other while picking up the backpacks โ recreating the chaotic, noisy environment in the classroom that was left to calm down a while ago. Mrs. Ginger was about to turn and walk out of the classroom when Wood called out, gaining maximum students' attention.
"Yamaken.. I mean, Yamaguchi hasn't been counseled today," Wood noted to Mrs. Ginger, "He's been absent for more than seven days for now. He's absent today as well."
Mrs. Ginger seemed indifferent about this matter and she confirmed it by answering, "Yes, I know that."
Wood lost his words for a second before asking, "Then when might he be counseled? If you could hive me a rough idea, I'd talk to him about it.. Although I couldn't get in touch with him these days."
Mrs. Ginger smiled and it kind of seemed a little sad. She replied to Wood rather softly like a mother would talk to her young son โ "It's okay, you don't have to worry about it."
"Besides," She stated the main reason of her indifference when seeing Wood's questioned face, "I have received an application from Yamaguchi wanting to drop out of school."
Everyone stilled, a pin-drop silence engulfing the room all of a sudden.
But someone couldn't stay still hearing the news. When jumping up from her seat, it clattered back โ breaking the silence which had fallen and all the eyes turning round at her.
Mrs. Ginger was surprised by Kaori's behaviour before meeting her eyes, which had widened at the shocking news but narrowed again when she started doubting herself.
But this time, she had made up her mind on something for sure. There was no way she could just stay motionless anymore.
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