A Dabble in Snake Charming

Natsumi Kuzuryuu was by far the most intimidating girl Hajime had ever met. To be fair, he gave her credit where it was due. It wasn't really her fault that it ran in her family, though she went with it well. She was practically born and raised to be scary and manipulative, but it really didn't match up with the cute look on her face.

He felt guilty for even thinking that. She'd never let him live it down.

Simply put, Natsumi was a snake. Well, quite frankly she was a dragon, being a Kuzuryuu kid and all, but she somehow always got her way. She always made damn sure she got her way. She'd been in his class for maybe a week or so less than he'd been there, but she'd demanded her place as soon as she'd set foot in the building. She'd scared everyone so much that she was easily able to slither her way into being the most respected (and feared) person in the grade. Now they were halfway through the school year and the girl's number one position had never wavered for a second.

If he was being honest with himself, Hajime didn't realize he could be so stupid. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. He didn't realize he could let himself be so stupid. He found himself in a bit of an unwanted situation at the moment. The only way he was able to describe it was getting caught up in a snake's den. He'd fallen right into her trap and there was no way out. Neither of them could have remotely planned it. It was just a matter of sheer misfortune and nature's disdain toward his existence.

Every time he looked at her, he felt a sharp pang in his chest. Why did the most dangerous things in life have to be the most alluring?

This whole conundrum played out during the time span of about a month before Natsumi had gotten sick and tired of the weird looks she'd been getting from this grimy, shit-faced nobody. She had absolutely no issue with confronting him after class. She did so by taking it upon herself to slam him up against a locker once the place had cleared out. Hajime felt he probably deserved it, but he still had no idea what it was for.

"Alright, you stupid moron, are you gonna tell me why the fuck you've been stalking me for the past month, or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?" the girl hissed, pressing the boy up closer to the cold steel behind him.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about! I'm not stalking you!" Hajime pleaded in his own defense. He'd assumed he'd probably been acting strange, but stalking?! That wasn't what he'd intended at all!

"Oh, don't bullshit me, you goddamned liar! You think I haven't dealt with this shit before? I know a stalker when I see one. You'd better fess up before my fist makes you!"

"I'm serious, I wasn't stalking you! I don't know where you even got that idea!"

"Do you take me for some kind of a fool? As if I haven't fucking seen you staring at me for the past four weeks on end! I'll kill you, Hinata, don't you underestimate me!"

"O-Okay, I'm sorry! It's not my fault, I-!"

"Not your fault? Then whose fault is it, you dumb-fuck? Mine?!" Natsumi gripped his shoulders tighter and slammed him back against the locker once more, harder this time. "I'll make you even regret meeting me if you dare find the nerve to lie to my face! You'll wish you were never fucking born, you good-for-nothing lowlife!"

"Relax! Please! Let's just talk about this! I can't freaking explain myself while you're trying to bash my skull in!" Hajime tried to reason with her. The anger hardly faded from the girl's emerald eyes. She was terrifying, but at the same time she was striking.

"You'd better fucking watch yourself, Hinata. All it takes is one phone call to the next building over, and I won't have to get my hands dirty."

Hajime took a deep breath once he'd finally stopped being thrown around. "F-For starters, I wasn't stalking you."