First Encounter - Chapter 2 “Ojisan, thank you for such a sumptuous meal!” She said over the counter to the owner of the noodle shop she was in. “Glad you liked it, young lady! Hope to see you more often.” “You will, don’t worry. I’ve got to get to school now. Bye!” “Thank you for coming! Have a good day!” “I will! You too!” She called out cheerfully as she stepped out of the shop. For most students, today was the fifth day of school, but for her, it was the first. She had arrived much earlier to find out more about the school’s activities and culture. Shohoku High, A name that breathed of a new life for her, at least for the next three months of her stay there. She glanced at the bouquet of white violets in her hand and smiled cheerfully. This was intended for the homeroom class this morning. As she rounded a corner, someone pushed forcefully into her from behind, knocking it from her hand. Meanwhile, she landed face down onto the ground, the contents in her bag scattering over the area beside her. “Can’t you at least say sorry? Saying a word doesn’t hurt, does it?” Muttering under her breath, she picked herself up as the boy sped away like a rocket without a word, as if in a hurry to get somewhere. A fat, middle-aged man with a big paunch, whom she recognized as the owner of the noodle shop, came running huffily after him, panting heavily, “Stop right there, boy! You’re not going to get away without paying for the meal! STOP! Stop!” The boy actually had the cheek to turn around and make monkey faces at him, as though ridiculing him for his size and his inability to catch him. “I’ll catch you, see if I don’t! I WILL catch you! Stop right there!!” He yelled as he chased after the boy. So he did not pay for his food. Bemused, she glanced at the receding back views of both of them while she collected her strewn items. Just as she was about to pick up the bouquet, another guy with black, messy hair cycled past her. And RODE over her much cherished violets. They were all ruined, and in place of the lovely white coloured petals were flattened ones with ugly black tire marks on them. “Ahhhh! My violets! My... my... “ If it had been her books that he had rode over, she would not have minded that much. What angered her most was that he had destroyed her beloved violets and was now acting all nonchalant about the whole incident. She could hardly believe his indifference to his mistake and cried out furiously at him, “STOP! Stop! Stop right there! You... “ He continued to ride on, seemingly unaware of what he had done and did not even turn back once to acknowledge her presence or yells for that matter. The street was rather peaceful and silent that very morning and you can imagine the commotion she was making with all her shouting. Many passerbys stared in her direction, eyes bright with curiosity, wondering what in the world had happened. When she realized she had become the object of attention on the street; her face blushed a crimson red, the words slowly dying off in her throat. Gathering her wits about her again, she dashed after the cyclist, reaching him in time to pull him fiercely by his sleeve to try to stop him. She stood in front of his bicycle when it came to an abrupt halt. “Hey, you damaged my flowers. Don’t you think you should at least do something?” He opened his eyes and stared at her, dazed. It was very clear to her that he had not registered anything she had said. She could hear the sounds of music from his earphones blasting into his ears. Incensed, she pulled out one of them and shouted loudly into his ear, “I can’t believe you! How can you bike with your eyes closed?! Don’t you know how dangerous that is?! You’d have knocked into a small child and injured him!! Baka!” That infuriating deadpan expression on his face had not changed once throughout her speech. Who is this lunatic raving and ranting in front of him? His favorite song was being played right now. What is she trying to do, pulling the earphone from his ear like that? Who is the baka here? Nobody has ever called him an idiot to his face except for that incompetent, loud-mouthed greenhorn, Sakuragi. His eyes narrowed slightly but said nothing. “Don’t you have something you should say?!” She spoke in a controlled voice, trying very hard to keep her temper in check. He ignored her and placed the earphone back in its original position. Her anger, which was rising by the second, made her all the more determined to make him apologize for his mistake. However she could not figure out exactly what to say to get a reaction or a word out of him. His face was devoid of any emotion, and it was hard to fathom what was going through his mind. He kept his lips tightly closed too, which did nothing to help in this situation. She stared at him and he at her. He stared at her and she at him. This went on for some time. An unexpected wave of nausea hit her... She vomited onto him. His pal nudged him with his elbow while the Sensei was writing on the blackboard, “News has it there’s an exchange student in the first year class. She’s fabulous and pretty, I heard.” “It’s very common to have exchange students here. What’s all the hooha about?” Kogure could not understand how a first year girl could send Kenji over the moon. His friend had always gone for the older types; thought that they were more sophisticated. “She came alone, so I thought maybe I…” “Alone?” Kogure was alarmed, “Then wouldn’t it be easier for...” Both of them exchanged worried looks. “Stop talking over there,” Sensei glared at the two, irritated that they had not been paying attention to him. “Gomen nasai, Sensei,” apologized both boys. Kogure frowned; his eyebrows knitted with worry, and prayed the new girl would not be too unfortunate. To be Continued... **Previous ** Next **