100

Kiko (1)

Ever since Rin's birthday party, he came over to Akari's house and together they were tutored by the same teachers. Even though Rin was still behind, he would work hard everyday to catch up to Akari.

Everything they did, she was always better at, which made him work even hard to try to beat her. It was as if he could never catch up to her, no matter how fast or determined he was. He was always looking at her back.

Two years pass and their friendship did not change. Akari was still cold as ever to everyone around her. But Rin didn't mind. As long as she didn't treat anyone different. Rin knew of her prickly, stoic, serious personality and he felt comfortable around her. She wasn't like the other girls that he knew. She preferred silence rather than pointless chatter. She liked tea in the morning, juice in the afternoon and milk at night. She was so smart. Smarter than any adult he knew. And she was good at fighting. He would always lose to her. But he didn't mind because he knew how hard she worked to train, study and practice that he didn't know how she found enough time throughout the day to do so much.

On the first day of orientation, Rin's carriage picked up Akari. Her school uniform was crisp and clean. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her bangs covered her forehead. She looked like an ice princess.

Rin changed over the two years as well. With his training next to Akari, Rin became more serious. More determined and goal oriented. He was competitive and loved losing to Akari. As long as it was Akari he was losing to, he didn't mind. He also began to like silence rather than noisy people. He still had a group of friends that he visited and chatted with, but he had become more quiet since meeting her.

Inside the carriage Rin looked over at Akari and he smiled. He knew that she would be skipping a couple of grades, but what she didn't know was that those two years of studying with her was to skip grades as well so they can be in the same grade together.

"What, crybaby?" Akari finally asked after Rin stared at her for a long time.

Rin smiled, at first he was annoyed at her calling him 'crybaby'. However when he realized that he was the only one who she gave a nickname to, he became happy. It meant he was special to her that she'll keep on calling him by his nickname.

"You ready for the test?" Rin asked.

"Is that even a valid question?"

"Just wondering if your nervous."

"Why would I be? I'll test out no matter what."

Rin smiled at her.

"Hey, Akari, want to make a bet?"

Akari looked at Rin then looked away.

"After the test and if by chance we get placed in the same class, you will have to do something I ask and if we don't get to be in the same class, I will do something you ask."

Akari kept quiet, ignoring him.

"Your silence means you agree!" Rin quickly said before Akari changed her mind. Rin laughed to himself as he imagined Akari's face when they would end up in the same class.

"Teeheehee!" Rin laughs as he thinks about how angry she would get.

They quickly arrived to the academy and were taken to the testing hall. Akari sat on the last row, last seat, while Rin sat beside her. When the seats filled up, the noisy children were hushed, the test papers finally distributed, Rin quickly answered the questions.

What supposed to take two hours, Akari finished it in 20 minutes. She raised her hand and the teacher took her test while Akari left the testing hall. Everyone looked up in disbelief that anyone could finish so quickly. Some of the kids sneered at her with disdain. However Rin turned his head back to his test to finish it as well. He still had half of the test to finish.

After another 20 minutes, Rin finally raised his hand and when the teacher took his test, Rin quickly ran out of the hall to look for Akari. He wasn't looking where he was running and ran straight into a young girl.

They bumped heads and fell back at the same time.

"Ow." The young girl said as she touched her forehead.

Rin looked up and saw an angel. Her white hair shined like a halo around her head. Her grey eyes looked as if she was about to cry. She had a straight nose and pouty lips that were quivering as if she was trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry." Rin quickly said as he stood up. He reached out his hand to help her up and the moment her small, delicate hands touched his, he felt his whole life shift. Everything felt right yet wrong at the same time. He didn't like this feeling so he quickly let go and she fell down again.

"Ahh!" The girl cried out. She looked at him with eyes that pleaded for his help. His heart beated wildly as if it was telling him that he didn't want to see her cry and yet his there was something telling him that she deserved it.

"Sorry. My hand slipped." Rin said as he noticed others had taken notice of them. He held her hand and helped her up again, this time he didn't let go, however the moment she was on her feet, Rin let her hand go immediately. "Will you be okay?"

"Em." Kiko said as she looked up to the young boy. "It was also my fault that I bumped into you, please accept my apology."

"I wasn't looking at where I was going. I shouldn't have been running out of the testing hall anyway."

"It's also my fault. My mother says I'm clumsy so I should watch where I'm going."

"Let's just agree that we both should be careful." Rin said as he smiled at her.

"I'm Kiko Lehar, by the way." Kiko said as she smiled back at the beautiful boy in front of her.

"Rin. Rin Noboru." Rin introduced himself. "Did you finish your test already?"

"That's right! I totally forgot! I'm running late!" Kiko said as she panicked. "Sorry I have to go."

Kiko quickly bowed to him then ran inside of the testing hall. Rin smiled at the cute girl, but his heart ached for some reason and his gut was warning him of something. An image of Akari's cold eyes woke him up from this thoughts and he quickly looked around.

"That rotten girl didn't even wait for me." Rin complained as he looked for her.