The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 89~♫

 A few whistles turned their eyes toward a small group of students. Ueno arrived as Freya's classroom had joined with hers. Nobody doubted it was arranged since the start so she could be with Aiyoku.

However, it seemed it backfired as neither searched the other. Rumors of them breaking up or Ueno getting bored of Aiyoku spread. Everybody added their own spice or twist to it.

But they couldn't be further from the truth. Ueno still stole glances toward Aiyoku. Pretending to put a lock of her hair behind her ear, she turned her head his way. They stood on the other side of the pool. Aiyoku turned his gaze away, talking to Freya.

Whatever happened to Ueno made her look at Aiyoku in a different light. 'He's still... handsome.' His figure had little space for perfection except for gaining perhaps more muscles, but Ueno never liked overly bulky guys.

She crossed her arms under her breast, which still gained her whistles and looks from boys. Only this time, she felt disgusted. The red marks her mother left on her chest were gone for days, but her words still echoed in her mind fueling those from Nobu Mori.

'I'm not a cow!' A deep scowl darkened her face, and Aiyoku turned her way to witness it.

'Is she plotting something?' Glancing around, he scanned the people from her classroom. A group of boys talked, and one seemed to mimic holding melons in his hands. The group then burst out laughing. 'Not melons.' A bitter thought answered his unspoken question.

Their eyes and smirks went from one girl to another, including Ueno. Their eyes trailed toward Freya as well, and the boy from before gestured pea-size. Another round of laughter followed.

'Is this how they see girls?' Aiyoku clenched his fists, anger boiling inside him. His eyes glanced at Freya's chest, and he was glad she was gesturing with his brother, so she didn't notice. 'It's not like... size matters in a relationship.' A blush colored his cheeks.

A splash of water torn him from his teenage thoughts. A water balloon landed on Freya's back, soaking her from head to toes.

"Sorry!" A guy called. "W-We didn't mean to!"

Freya checked their group. Her classmates decided to spend the last minutes before the lesson, bombing each other with water balloons. She waved her hand for them not to worry, pointing at the sun, that she would be dry in no time.

Unfortunately, they didn't catch that message, giving her nervous smiles and cleared the area before the Greek Gods could lash at them. After all, Freya was their girl according to the rumors.

Freya's smile faded. 'I guess... they didn't understand me.'

"Well, seems it was an honest mistake," Rigaku stated.

She nodded, pointing at herself and then at the door leading to the pool changing room.

"Yup, it may be hot today, but walking in wet clothes isn't the best idea."

Freya gave her blond friend a thumbs up. At least these two understood her. She headed there, not noticing Ueno watched her. The senseis for respective classrooms came, both sporting bold curves and tight swimming suits. Boys always looked forward to these lessons for obvious reasons.

Ueno slipped through the crowd, following Freya into the changing room. She had no clear reason to talk with her, neither she had forgotten anything in the changing room. Yet her mind urged her to be closer to Freya.

Upon entering the girl's section, she saw Freya with her back toward the door. A long red line caught her attention, she slammed the door. The younger girl bristled, jumping a bit. Before she could turn, Ueno grabbed her arm, spinning her.

"Who cut you?" Anger and worry mixed with her voice. "Who did this?"

Freya blinked, needed a breath to realize what she was talking about. The wound stopped reminding itself, so she had almost forgotten about it.

"Who did it?" Ueno repeated her question.

Freya waved at her to calm down, and that it was okay.

As air circulated inside Ueno's brain, the puzzle pieces started to solve the mystery. "It's fresh, you know? I'm sure you didn't have it last year. I saw it," she muttered as if the world turned into a vivid dream. The cogwheels in her mind turned, and the last piece had fallen in its place.

"That was me?" she asked herself, Freya, and nobody in particular. The image of her holding a knife resurfaced as if she had locked them in an archive.

The other girl gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged her shoulders.

Meanwhile, everybody was in the pool after a short warming up. Usually, most students knew how to swim, so only the weaker ones had sensei watching over them. Kamini brothers weren't among them, so they could swim as they pleased unless they bothered others.

They finished a small race where they came third and fourth. Their peers were better swimmers, and they were training for competitions, so they had no chance.

"You sure made us swim for our money," Aiyoku joked, shaking his head to get rid of the water. Unlike his brother, he didn't need a cup or special glasses to see under the water. Without them, Rigaku would swim in circles.

Students around them snickered. With the awareness club and the lessons they held, they stepped down from their imaginative thrones and joined the commoners. Not that Kamini brothers were thinking they stood above everybody, but some schools gave them this feeling.

Rigaku got out of the pool, needing to catch his breath. The remainder of his promise to exercise more gave him narrowed eyes, knowing this brainiac would lose himself in reading or writing sooner than later.

A huge splash came from the other side, and Ueno's name reached them. She jumped into the water without considering anybody near her.

Rigaku scowled. 'What a selfish creature.'