Kingdoms of Darkness ch2-W

Six seconds to ignition, thought the blond girl with a sense of relief.  Five...four...three...two...one-RING!

The bell rang at the exact second she predicted.  Students all around gathered up their belongings and filed out of the door while the teacher gave the assignment.  The girl stayed in her seat, pulling up her ponytail so it wouldn't catch on anyone's backpack.  After everyone had walked by, she picked up her own bag and began to follow them.

“One moment please, Neru?”

She suppressed a sigh as she stopped and turned to face the teacher.  What now?  I got to class on time, I attempted to take notes, I didn’t do anything disruptive…

“Did you get today’s assignment?”

“Yes sir.”

“And do you understand the lesson?  Your grades suggest that you would benefit from coming to my office to ask for help.  There is no shame in this.”

“Yes.”  She gritted her teeth, slightly red in the face.  Before he could say anything else, she walked out of the room.

He always asks that.  Always.  Her main problem wasn't understanding, it was time.  When she worked for the writing agency, her work ate up all of her time outside of class.  Ever since she was fired, job searching had mostly replaced this.

She would also admit that inertia was a factor-she hated the subject.  However, she put in enough effort not to fail-the fear of losing was far stronger than the pull of success.  She had an almost perfect attendance record (a few minutes shaved off of the beginning of each lecture was nothing to her), could understand the material, and contrary to the teacher’s suggestion, she did have the sense to ask for help when she needed it.

At least he doesn't single me out in front of the class.

The halls filled up as the other classes emptied.  She ducked through the jostling crowd with practiced ease, watching people subtly pull away.  No one bumped into her, and no one interacted, leaving her in a sort of empty bubble.  She scanned the hall ahead of her, making her way to the nearest door.  A few people accidentally made eye contact and looked away quickly.

She smirked, noticing that most of the eye-avoiders were boys.  No one at her school really seemed to want to accidentally initiate an interaction with someone outside of their circle of friends, but the boys in particular took special care to avoid her.  She had a reputation for being completely untouchable and more than a little scary.  It wasn’t entirely unjustified-she tended to lash out when she felt threatened, either verbally or physically as the situation demanded.

For her part, she liked her reputation and its effects.  She preferred to be left alone.

She slipped out of the door, breathing deeply as she stepped into the fresh air.  The rain earlier in the year had cleared up, leaving the promise of a dry and sunny summer.  Hopefully this would give her more of a chance to be outside.

The door she had just come through was a side door, away from the rush of students flowing out of the school’s main corridor to the parking lot.  She took a few seconds to enjoy the view and the solitude, noting the birdsong, the slight breeze, and the shifting pattern of light and shadows on the ground from the trees.

A shout from her right disturbed the calm.  “Hey!  Get your hands offa my bread!”  Neru turned to see a girl with pink spiral pigtails snatch a baguette out of the hands of a boy with light blue hair and hit him on the head with it.

"Ow!"  The boy rubbed his head, the edge of his sleeve pushing his hair in all directions.

Well, if it isn’t the bratty brother of the biggest diva in Japan.

Neru walked over, an air of menace infusing her strides.  “Hey Teto, is this guy bothering you?"

"Not really."  Teto hugged the loaf to her chest and glared.  "Everything's under control."

The boy smiled sheepishly.  "Sorry about the bread.  I was just looking.”

“Well, you can look without your hands, Hatsune.”

He stared in surprise.  “Wait.  I know Teto…sort of…because she and Miku work together sometimes and because the UTAUs are a big deal…but I don’t know if I’ve ever met you before, although you look very…”  He said it slowly-too slowly-as he tilted his head.  “…Very familiar.  How do you know my name?”

Neru frowned.  Teto raised an eyebrow, taking a step to the side.

“Here comes the hurricane…” she muttered as her irate friend launched into her tirade.

“Oh, wonderful.  Of course I know your damn name, Hatsune.  I’d be surprised if there’s anyone this side a’ China that doesn’t know it because of that famous sister a’ yours.  The hair’s a dead giveaway, and if that’s not enough proof, so’s your face.  But you-“  She stopped, poking him in the chest, one hand on her hips.  “You say you keep up with all a’ your sister’s fame and success and struggles, and you don’ even know MY name?”

“…Uh…”

She leaned in, a hint of a snarl in her voice.  He blushed.

“I’m Neru Akita, got that?  I’m the biggest crick in Miku’s neck that’s ever been made.  You say you haven’t heard of me?  I bet ya just couldn’t be bothered with a Vocaloid that didn’t come from your studio.”

“Uh, Neru?” Teto said placatingly.  She shot Mikuo an apologetic look as he stepped back.

“Now you listen.  Us outsider Vocaloids are just as good as you studio Vocaloids, so don't come here and act like you're better than the rest of us."

Mikuo managed to free himself, holding his hands up as he backed away.  "Fine, but how many studio Vocaloids have you met that actually treated you badly?"

Neru opened her mouth to answer, shaking a finger, but stopped when she saw someone behind Mikuo.  The new boy was walking down the main sidewalk with Miku and a girl who looked remarkably similar to him.  He looked somewhat young to be in high school.  He raised his hand as if in slow motion to push a mop of somewhat spiky blond hair out of his piercing blue eyes.  To Neru, as always, he seemed to sparkle like the boys in some anime shows.

“Helloooo, Kagamine…” she said slowly and quietly.

Miku and the twins made their way toward the parking lot, oblivious to the drama a few yards away.  An air of cheerfulness surrounded her and Rin, although it didn’t extend to Len, who was staring at the ground dejectedly.

"So how did it go?" asked Miku.

"Terrible," Len groaned.  "I don't think she even knows I exist."

Rin wrinkled her nose and made a gagging noise.  "Oh, she knows all right, but she already has a boyfriend.  She's just playing with you."

"What?"  Len looked up at Rin, hurt flashing across his face.

"You mean you've never listened to what people say around school?"  Rin snorted as Len shook his head.  "That girl goes through boyfriends like toilet paper.  And she leaves them about as messed up too."

"Don't feel so bad about her ignoring you, Len."  Miku patted his shoulder.  "She doesn't sound like such a nice person anyway."

"And speaking of, those two girls by Mikuo are totally checking you out."  Rin elbowed him and pointed to Neru and Teto.

Ohmygoshhe'slookingatme!  Neru looked away quickly, blushing.  She casually leaned toward Teto, who had followed her gaze.  “Huh.  What are the twins doing here?  They don’t go here yet.”

“They’re here with us for the afternoon while everyone else is out,” Mikuo answered, still eyeing her with suspicion.  “Their school finishes up an hour before ours.”

Miku spotted her brother, waved, and the three of them walked over.

"Hey little sis!" said Mikuo, giving each of them a hug.  Miku and Rin hugged him back, while Len shifted uncomfortably.

"So how did it go?" asked Mikuo, starting up the conversation again as all four of them walked away.

Neru and Teto watched them walk away in silence.  Then Neru said, "Come to think of it, I think I've seen Mikuo around here in the afternoons."

"Yeah, he’s been around a bit.  I haven't really paid that much attention to him until today though."

“Eh.  Learn something new every day…and to think that we could have continued ignoring him if he hadn’t tried to take your bread.”

Teto tore off a large chunk with her teeth, a huffy look on her face.  “And he’d better not try again,” she said around the mouthful of bread.