Different Kind of Beautiful

Chapter 4

Rumors were flying like crazy. Theories and retellings passed from person to person, falling from lips in almost every conversation. Words were stretched and strained before occasionally being shoved back into their original form when something was corrected.

Oikawa had been threatened by this girl.

She was a long lost friend he was looking for.

Oikawa had a secret relationship with her.

She was a secret bodyguard hired to protect Oikawa because of how handsome he is.

Oikawa had finally revealed his true type of girl.

He was looking to return something to this girl, but what was it?

The entire student body was buzzing with curiosity and confusion as what could only have been Rinko's goose chase fogged the truth and began to run in circles. I kept my head low as I walked through the halls, for once not hiding my face behind a book as the others talked and moved around me. Glances were thrown my way, followed by whispers and gasps. There were many hopeful girls, wondering if this was their fairy tale with the brunette boy, but the fact that most couldn't be sure if they were the one he was looking for told the majority that it wasn't them.

I suppose the fact that most of my classmates hadn't paid me much attention until now made me a likely suspect.

It had only been a few days and so far Rinko had done a lot to keep Oikawa busy. Even as I walked to class I saw a girl being comforted by her friends as she cried, telling them all about how Oikawa had ran up to her with a bright smile, shouting apologizes until he realized she wasn't the one.

It was becoming a real mess.

Not only was it becoming a hassle dealing with all of the heart broken and excited girls in the halls, but people were looking at me as a possibility which meant I wasn't as unnoticeable as before. I wasn't a fan of being the center of attention. 

I also just felt bad for everyone else getting drawn into this. 

"Rinko, we need to give this up." 

"What?! But I've barely gotten started-"

I narrowed my eyes at the girl, the wind blowing her hair around as we ate out lunch outside. "Yes, but it's already gotten to be too big of a mess. People have already started staring since I suddenly have a reason to be noticed."

The other girl paused, a small frown playing on her face. "Ah, I guess you're right. He just gets really frustrating sometimes. I don't know how Iwaizumi does it, especially not so often."

I shrugged. "Aside from a terrible first meeting, he does seem to act like quite the airhead. I mean, why would he go around causing such a fuss?"

Rinko smirked, staring hard at me. "He's actually pretty smart, but he just has a soft spot for making people happy, sounds like-"

"Oh shut up," I hissed. "He has a soft spot for pretty girls. If I just get it over with and meet him, he'll get his satisfaction and move on. There's no reason why he would get so hung up on me aside from the chaos of our first meeting."

I looked around the surrounding area, watching a few students chatter away by the vending machines. Friends were nice, but I didn't want to have very many. The more friends you had the more likely it was to get left out and I didn't have the energy to deal with too many arguments or dramatics. 

Ironic since I was deciding to meet up with the king of such things. 

I let out a breath as I realized how negative my thoughts were getting. It wasn't right to judge Oikawa based on the max of five minutes I had spent with him. There was probably a massive iceberg of complexities under the flirtatious front he showed off. People weren't two dimensional or simple no matter how you looked at it. There was always some kind of reasoning or unconscious reaction. 

"Anzu..." Rinko called out in a warning hum. "I hope that wasn't you trying to discredit yourself."

"Not exactly, but you can't deny that I'm not like the other girls at this school," I mused, adjusting my glasses. "I would confidently bet that after a while of our interactions not going as he expects, I'll be erased from his memory."

One thing Rinko was a sucker for, it was proving people wrong.

"Oh you're on. If he keeps bothering you after a week-"

My gaze locked into hers as I confidently stated, "-I'll take my glasses off and snap them in half."

Her eyes widened as she laughed. If there was an object I valued more than my books, it was my glasses. This was as high stakes as she could get from me. 

"Right, and if he forgets about you after a week, I'll volunteer to tutor students after school like my teacher has been asking me too."

I could help but laugh, as Rinko had been avoiding giving an answer for a while now. It wasn't just any students, but those in trouble for various reasons. Rinko wasn't sure if she could handle that without committing murder. Considering I had been the most likely target based purely on proximity, I had never said anything about it. 

"You're on. Just tell me when and where," I chirped, looking away to watch those walking around. Lunch was ending soon, and I wished the time went slower. It wasn't often that I got to have lunch with Rinko. I enjoyed the quiet and solitude when I had a book to read, but I was trying to keep my head out from between the pages which I couldn't be sure if I was enjoying. 

I wasn't good at making friends, but Rinko was and that often left me alone. 

It wouldn't hurt to make some more, but where would I even start?

"Now I suppose. Hey, hey Oikawa~!"