Peach Girl Fan Fiction ❯ The Problem with Twins... ❯ The Physics of a Moving Object ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 4 – The Physics of a Moving Object

“Oh gosh, that lecture on Trigonometry was horrible!” Suzuki complained. “I thought my head was going to explode! He kept going on in circles on what he was talking about! And I don't just mean the Trig circle!”
Maiya chuckled as she slipped her tennis shoes back on. “I agree. I mean, we learned about that back in France. I knew going back over it would be dull, but that was far too much!”
“Totally!” Suzuki picked up Maiya's bag and handed it to her as the two walked out of the locker area and out the front entrance.
“Yo, Suzuki-chan! Maiya-chan!”
The twins turned around to see a familiar boy with chocolate-colored hair, which bounced as he sprinted towards them.
“Hey, Okayasu!” Suzuki replied, smiling.
Kairi grinned at the two girls. “So, you guys heading home now?”
“Yeah, why?”
Kairi chuckled, looking a tiny bit nervous. “Well, I was wondering if you two would want to-”
All of a sudden, Suzuki's phone started to ring. She whipped it out, looking at the caller.
“What kind of ring tone is that?!” Kairi exclaimed.
“'Imma Be' by the Black Eyed Peas,” Suzuki quickly explained before flipping the phone open. “Hai? Moshi moshi?” Suzuki walked a couple of feet away as she talked to the caller.
Kairi and Maiya stood there for a couple of awkward moments, neither one saying anything.
“Oh, this is so weird... I have to say something! Come on, Maiya, just say something!!”
“Ano...”
“S-so, Maiya-chan... you and Suzuki-chan can speak French?” Kairi asked, trying to start a conversation.
“H-hai...” Maiya replied. “W-we learned... while we were over in France...”
“Whoah, that's so cool!” Kairi exclaimed. “Can you speak other languages?”
“English... I speak a little Spanish... Suzuki s-speaks... a little... German.”
“Man, I wish I knew all of those languages!”
“W-why is that?”
Kairi smirked, and wrapped his arm around Maiya's waist, pulling her a little closer. “Because then, you and Suzuki wouldn't get to have those private conversations while I'm standing there.”
Maiya's blush-level rose as she stared at Kairi. Somehow, his gaze seemed to hold her, fixated to stare into those melt-worthy brown eyes.
“Oh, it's the Aizawa twins!”
Kairi and Maiya looked over to see Hayato walking up to them.
“Hey, Kyuu!” Kairi called over, not letting go of Maiya. “How was work?”
“Boring, as usual... I just got to do schedule changes and help the main office...” Hayato complained.
“All right, sorry about that, guys!” Suzuki said, walking back towards them. “Oh, Kyuu-sensei's here, too!”
Hayato smiled at her, putting up his hand in a small wave.
Kairi shifted Maiya a little so he was standing next to her, rather than looking like he was hugging her. Yet his arm still stayed around her waist. “No problem. So what's up?”
Suzuki sighed. “Well, my boss just called from DoKoMo... you know, the cell phone store? Well, someone got sick so he wants me to take over their shift. I told him that I could... but now I realized that I have no way to get there...”
“I could give you a ride,” Hayato offered.
Suzuki's eyes lit up. “Really? That would be such a great help, if possible!”
Hayato laughed. “Really, it's no problem! Let me just go pull up the car.”
As Hayato walked away, Suzuki grinned. “Isn't Kyuu-sensei nice?”
“Of course...” Maiya thought. “Probably because he thinks you're cute!”
“Sure, he's nice...” Kairi admitted. Then he snuggled closer to Maiya. “But not as nice as Maiya-chan!”
Maiya ripped herself out of his grasp, blushing a great bit. “Get offa me, you weird perv!” Maiya shouted.
Suzuki and Kairi stopped.
“W-what is it...?” Maiya asked quietly.
“Y-you.... You YELLED, Maiya!” Kairi exclaimed in surprise. “I didn't even know you could do that!”
Maiya frowned. “Of course, I can! It was just weird, you cuddling up to me like that!”
Kairi grinned. “See? This is what I meant before.”
Maiya stopped for a moment, remembering his words. “'But what you want to say might not always be what Suzuki-chan says! I want to hear what Maiya-chan wants to say, from Maiya-chan herself!”
Her face erupted into a burning hot red as Hayato drove up in his car. “Hey, guys, get in!”
Suzuki and Kairi rushed forward as Maiya followed along behind. Both of them seemed to be rushing for shot gun.
“No, I'm taking the front for Maiya's sake!” Suzuki thought as she sprinted. At the last moment, Suzuki lightly poked Kairi in the ribs, making him jump. This left Suzuki to hop into the remaining front seat.
“Hey, no fair!” Kairi called out. “She cheated!”
Hayato laughed. “Hey, no rules on this race. Just get in the back like a good little boy and put your seatbelt on!”
Suzuki chuckled as Kairi walked to the back of the car and got in behind her. Maiya then slowly slid into the leftover seat behind the driver, her blush mainly gone.
“Sorry about that, Okayasu. I just prefer the front seat a little more.”
Kairi laughed. “That's okay! At least I get to sit back here with Maiya-chan!” He sent Maiya a cute grin, which caused her to blush. “And by the way... you could call me Kairi, if you want, Suzuki-chan!”
Suzuki smiled. “Okay... I will, then, Kairi-kun. Oh, one second, I have to say something to Maiya.” Suzuki turned around in the seat, staring at Maiya with a very hard glare. “~Talk to them, for crying out loud!!!~”
Maiya's eyes widened in surprise. Why was Suzuki forcing her to talk like this?
Suzuki nodded at her, then turned back around to the front. “So, do you guys have any questions for us?”
Hayato laughed. “Well, I don't know about Kairi, but I have a LOT of questions for you two!”
Suzuki laughed in return. “Well, fire away!”
Before Hayato could answer, Kairi yelled out. “Why can you speak so many different languages?!”
Suzuki giggled. “Maiya, how about you answer that one?”
Maiya glared up at Suzuki's back. “I'm SO gonna get you for this later......”
“Well, Maiya-chan?”
Maiya looked over at Kairi, who was staring right at her. She tried to hold back the urge to jump into the trunk and blush in the back. “W-well... our parents... they like to t-travel. So, though we were b-born in Japan... they wanted us to study abroad. S-so, they m-made us move... to the South of France, and then to California in the United S-States. We picked up the languages while we were living there... P-plus, our parents made us study them, even after w-we had left. The S-Spanish and German... were what we chose to learn... at school in California.”
Suzuki looked back to check on her younger sister. She could see that Maiya was having issues talking-- especially giving a long speech like that-- but that she wasn't collapsing into a pile of nervous mush. “Hm... maybe she IS getting better...?”
“Okay, my turn!” Hayato said in a cute tone as they entered the Takashita-Dori area. “What do you guys like to do for fun?”
Suzuki smiled back at Maiya, giving her a break. “I'll go first. Well, I really love beach volleyball and guitar, but I also do a little bit of acting and photography, as well.”
Maiya cleared her throat as the others looked over at her, awaiting her response. “I-... I like reading... writing.... drawing and painting... the piano... and.... water.”
“Oh!” Hayato exclaimed. “You like the water? Like, swimming?”
Maiya nodded. “H-hai...”
Kairi laughed. “You're lucky! I can't swim worth anything!”
“A guy of seventeen... who can't swim?” Maiya wondered. “I wonder... did he just never learn...?”
“Whoah, hang on, guys!”
Maiya looked up as Hayato took a quick left turn, just barely making the light. The sudden change in direction caused Maiya to practically fly out of her seat, sending her crashing to her right.
“Ow.... what the-”
Maiya looked up and realized something very important: she had just flown across the car... into Kairi!
Kairi scratched his head, wondering what had happened. Then he looked down, and the two locked eyes. Both pairs of eyes widened as they realized how close they were to one another. Maiya seemed to be frozen in embarrassed fear.
“He has really gorgeous eyes...” Maiya thought for a moment. “What, what the heck?!”
“Um... Maiya-chan... are you okay?” Kairi asked, a slight blush rising to his face.
Maiya's face burst into a bright shade of scarlet. She came to realize a couple of things at once. One, she had stupidly forgotten to put her seatbelt on when she had entered the car. Two, to break her fall, she had put her hands out in front of her, which were now resting on Kairi's chest. Thirdly, she was practically sitting in his lap. And lastly, just as an instinct, Kairi had protectively wrapped his arms around her as she had fallen into him.
Maiya let out a silent scream and basically leaped off of Kairi and into her own seat.
“You two okay back there?” Hayato asked, looking back at the couple with a mischievous smirk on his face.
“Y-yeah, we're fine, Kyuu. Thanks for wondering,” Kairi said darkly. Then he looked down at his hands. “You should put your seatbelt on.”
Maiya nodded and strapped herself in. Then she curled her legs up, her chin resting on her knees as she stared out the window in a shocked fetal position.
For the rest of the ride, Maiya sat there quietly looking out the window. Hayato and Suzuki were talking for most of the ride, and soon enough, Kairi joined in as well. Yet Maiya just stared out of her window, watching passerby, waiting for the red in her face to die down.
“Well, here's my stop!” Suzuki announced as soon as they got to the DoKoMo cellphone shop. She got out of the car, and leaned in through the open window. “Thanks so much for driving me, Kyuu-sensei!”
Hayato smiled back, a small bit of pink rising to his face. “It was my pleasure, Suzuki-chan.”
“Bye, Kairi-kun. Bye, Maiya.”
“W-wait!” Maiya yelled, causing Suzuki to turn back. “Can't I come with you?” she pleaded.
Suzuki shook her head. “No, you need to start on that homework, Maiya. Kyuu-sensei said that he can give you a lift back to the apartment. Don't worry, I already gave him directions.”
Maiya gave her a question-mark look. “When did she do that?”
Suzuki smiled, knowing what her sister was thinking. “When you were staring out the window. Now, you get a good start on that homework... and make something good for dinner, you got that? See ya!”
Maiya waved sadly as her sister walked over towards the store.
“So, you ready to head home, Maiya?” Hayato asked her.
Maiya nodded.
The rest of the ride was spent in a semi-uncomfortable silence. Kairi and Hayato spoke and joked around with each other after a while as both updated one another on some of the funnier things that had happened during the week. Maiya stayed virtually silent. Eventually, they made it back to the Aizawa's apartment.
“Thanks, Sensei,” Maiya said as she gathered her belongings.
“No problem, Maiya-chan! Just give me a holler if you need another ride, got it?” he replied with an easy smile.
Maiya nodded, got out of the car, and started walking up to her apartment.
Kairi watched her through the window as she walked away.
“Maybe I shouldn't have hugged her like that when she fell... I mean, she practically avoided speaking for the rest of the trip! Even more than she usually does! Oh gosh... what if he hates me for it or something-”
Hayato groaned. “Kairi, just get out of the car and go after her, you playboy.” He sent his younger cousin a sneaky smirk.
Kairi grabbed his own yellow backpack, stuck his tongue out at Hayato, and jumped out of the car.
“Maiya-chan, wait up!”
Maiya turned around to see Kairi sprinting towards her. Her face turned red again. “Crap, I can't have him seeing me like this!!!” She turned around and started running towards her apartment complex door.
“Wait!” Kairi yelled, grabbing her elbow, causing her to stop. “Listen, Maiya-chan, I'm really sorry about hugging you like that! It's just, you were falling like that, and just on instinct, I grabbed you like that!”
Maiya colored even more, and turned her face away.
“You can't forgive me?” he asked.
“Y-y.... your.... hand....”
Kairi looked down. He was still holding her arm. “S-sorry!” he exclaimed, letting go. He paused for a moment, trying to see her face which was hidden behind her long hair. “So.... I'm really sorry.... are you mad at me?”
Maiya looked up, her face still pink. “N-no.... I'm not mad at you. I was just em-... embarrassed, t-that's all...”
Kairi stopped for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Oh, good! I thought you were pissed at me!”
Maiya shook her head. “N-no. It's fine, Okayasu. But why would you care if I was angry with you?”
Kairi grinned, leaning on her shoulder. “Well, because we're friends now, right?”
Maiya paused, then nodded. “Yes, I suppose so.... W-well, I better go inside now. I have a feeling that the physics homework is going to take me all night...”
Kairi stopped leaning on her. “Hey, I could help you with that, if you want!”
“R-really...?”
Kairi grinned. “Sure! No problem!”
Maiya nodded. “W-well... I could help you with the math, if you want...”
Kairi tilted his head, wondering what she meant.
“Y-you looked like... you were having a h-hard time... understanding it in class...” she explained. “N-not that I was watching you or anything like that! I just saw you were having some problems with it...”
“What am I DOING?!” Maiya screamed at herself. “I sound like an idiot!!!”
“Sure, that'd be awesome!” Kairi smiled at her.
Maiya nodded. “I-... I guess, let's go on inside and get to work, then...”
Kairi jumped on ahead. “Sounds like a plan!”
“Let's just hope it's a good one...” Maiya thought as Kairi jumped up the stairs.

“Thanks for everything, Suzuki-chan!”“No problem! Sayonara, Kitsuke-san!” Suzuki waved to her manager, stepping into the crowded streets of Takeshite-Dori. Automatically, Suzuki started walking down the street more focused on answering the messages that she had received on her phone during work than thinking rationally. She suddenly realized that she had no mode of transportation home. The trains were a possibility but she didn't have a pass, nor enough money to pay for a ticket she realized as she only pulled out 3 Yen from her wallet.“Perfect” she said to herself out of frustration.Just as Suzuki pulled up Maiya's phone number in her contacts list, she heard someone call her name."Hey, Suzuki!"Suzuki looked up. "K-... Kyuu-sensei? What are you doing here?"Hayato shrugged. "Well, I figured your shift would end about now, and I knew you'd need a ride home. So I just decided to wait here for you!"Suzuki felt her face turn pink “Thank you! Kyuu-sensei! Funny, I was just thinking of how I would get home.”Hayato gave her a confused look as he strolled up to her. “What about the trains? A Station is right up the road.”Suzuki's eyes widened “Really? I didn't know that... Well, I didn't have enough money to pay for a train, anyways.”“You should get a JR Pass.” Hayato suggested, putting a hand on her back to guide her to where his car was.“Yea, I guess I should If I'll be working here for a while. That, and it'll come in handy with getting home from my other job as well.” Suzuki said, snapping her fingers.“You have two jobs??” Hayato exclaimed. Suzuki nodded as if having two jobs at the same time in high school was completely normal. Using his counselor-intuitive thinking, he concluded that her parents were in bad shape, financial wise.“How come?” he asked softly, trying his best not to sound too eager for an answer.“Our parents are in America working. They send us money for our house, but want us to earn our own money for clothes and food and such,” she explained. Hayato stopped in his tracks, realizing that the twins lived home alone.“What's wrong?” Suzuki asked, reaching back and putting a hand on his arm.Hayato snapped out of his shock and stated “Kairi-kun is alone in your house with Maiya-chan. I'm sorry, I thought your parents were home! I didn't mean to leave him and your sister alone like that-” He stopped freaking out when he saw Suzuki chuckle at his reaction as a thoughtful and accepting expression crossed her face.“No... this is good,” she breathed. Hayato frowned in extreme confusion as he glared at her for her reaction.“What” he said, not changing his expression. Suzuki pulled his arm and began walking towards the end of the street.“This gives Maiya-chan a chance to get over her fear of talking to boys!” she whispered, biting her lip in excitement. Hayato nodded, though still confused.“Okaaay... I knew that Maiya-chan had social phobias, but why- ooooh, I get it.” Hayato said, with a glum expression.“You see? She'll be forced into talking to Kairi-kun, who is a BOY!” Suzuki tugged on his jacket, completely psyched about the tortuous therapy her sister was about to go through.“Are you sure Kairi-kun's a good choice, though? And, wait a minute... are you saying you haven't had a boy over your house before?” Hayato asked, taking out his car keys. Suzuka sighed, scratching the back of her head.“My... erm... ex...boyfriend... used to come over but he would only be with me and Maiya-chan would lock herself in her room. But personally, I think Okayasu-kun is the best candidate for the job!” She blurted out her last sentence.
Hayato took notice to her discomfort during her explanation. He unlocked his car and opened the door for her. She smiled and took her seat, making sure to thank him. “So, what do we do?” Hayato said, starting the car. Just as the engine settled, music blasted from the speakers in a heavy fast beat, sending Suzuki's back to plaster against the seat. Hayato uttered a curse and immediately turned it down, after seeing Suzuki's reaction.“I'm sorry for startling you, I didn't realize that would be so loud!” he apologized frantically, then turned to see Suzuki laughing so hard that her vocal chords weren't working and she was completely silent.“You okay?” he asked in chuckles, turning up the music a little bit.She finally took in a deep breath and burst out in laughter, having to dry her eyes from the accumulating water that was forming at the corners. Hayato continued to laugh as well, only because Suzuki couldn't stop laughing.“Sorry, I just didn't expect that to happen. Man, that thrust took the breath out of me.” she said, rubbing her shoulder from where it hit the plastic door siding. “I've actually done that before myself. Leave the music on and then forget about it...” Hayato nodded and shifted his car into first gear as Suzuki put on her seatbelt.“Anyway, to answer your question, I would prefer if we left them alone for a little while. With more time, Maiya-chan will hopefully start to warm up to him.” Suzuki said folding her hands in a praying motion.“You really care about your sister, don't you?” Hayato said, glancing at Suzuki. She nodded immediately. Hayato shifted down as he came to a red light and immediately shifted his gaze to Suzuki as she spoke.“I really try to consider her feelings. Like, I feel bad for having to answer questions that are directed at both of us, like when we had to introduce ourselves at school and stuff like that, but I'd like to know that... I know her well enough to not say something that she wouldn't answer with herself, you know?” she tried her best to explain, taking notice to the fact that she was talking with her school counselor.“Sorry for dropping that in your lap all of the sudden.” Suzuki shook her head, regretting the long explanation, then turned back to look at him. Their eyes met for a moment and they held each others gaze. Finally, Suzuki noticed the color change in the light at the corner of her eye.“Um.. Kyuu-sensei?” she said quietly“Hm, what?” Hayato replied, his eyes widening, realizing he'd been staring at her for a while now.“The light...” she said, motioning to the traffic light.Hayato immediately shifted and zoomed off before the people behind his could start beeping at him. Suzuki, once again, was plastered to the back of the seat.“S-sorry about that...” he said, a slight shade of pink forming on his face.
“No problem, but... I have a request.” Suzuki said.“Sure, what's up?” “Do you mind if.. we don't go to my house right away? You know, to give the two some time to themselves...” she asked. Hayato nodded, an automatic smile forming on his face.“Yea, that's cool! Hey, I know this awesome cafe in Shibuya that's open late! Why don't we go there?” he suggested with a grin and a wink.“Okay, sounds cool!” she said with a giggle.The two arrived at a crowded Starbucks-like coffee shop and Hayato asked Suzuki to grab a table while he got them some drinks.“So, since your folks are in America, what made you and your sister decide to move here?” Hayato asked, handing her a covered cup. Suzuki uttered a thank you and gratefully accepted the coffee.“Our parents gave us a choice, whether we wanted to keep living with them in L.A., California, or to move.... back home.” she said with a smile. Hayato happily took his seat beside Suzuki.“L.A., huh? Awesome! Did ya see any celebs when you lived there?” he asked with a grin. Suzuki rolled her eyes and lifted the cup to her mouth.“That's everyone's first question.” she took a sip and her eyes widened in surprise at the sweet drink he bought her. “Wow, this is yummy! Tastes like... mint and vanilla!” Hayato's grin widened as he watched her reaction.“Glad you liked it! It's actually my favorite too. Guess we'll have to come here more often, huh?” he said, taking a sip of the same drink and catching her gaze.
Suzuki chuckled and nodded, feeling a little color come into her complexion.“So tell me about these California celebrities? I know you've seen some.” Hayato repeated eagerly. Suzuki nodded.“Let's see.. first we saw... Anne Hathaway... that was when our father brought home her and her agent over for dinner. Then... Zac Efron was at our Fourth of July party. Oh wait, they don't have that here... do you know what that is?” she turned to Kyuu-sensei, biting her lip.
He nodded immediately, knowing much about American history himself. Suzuki gave him a confused, but satisfied look as she continued. Suzuki talked about their adventures bumping in to different celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Drew Barrymore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert Downy Jr., fascinating the counselor by the fact that she had actually talked to most of the celebrities she had met. He then noticed, as he was gazing at her as she spoke, that a chain necklace with the Yang half of the Yin Yang symbol attached to it. He quickly looked back at her eyes, not wanting it to look like his glance was elsewhere, but then realized that Suzuki was paying attention and noticed his gaze. She ended her sentence and cradled her necklace.“Maiya-chan has the other half,” she said softly, rubbing her beloved necklace.“Hm.. I'll have to look for the other one next time I see her,” Hayato said, taking another sip. Suzuki mouth curled up into a smile as she returned her gaze to her necklace.“It's interesting...” Hayato remarked, leaning back in his chair.“Hm? What is...” Suzuki asked.“Never once did I hear you say the word “me” or “I” since we've gotten here. It's always “our”, “us” or “we”,” he remarked, smiling. Suzuki's eyes widened slightly.“Really? I've never noticed that before...”“It's shows something about your character though. Like how much you care for Maiya-chan. It's a good thing! I know another pair of twins who wouldn't even consider explaining something like you have, even if their twin was there.” Hayato put a hand on her shoulder, making sure to make a strong impression of his observation. He watched as her expression changed to disbelief as she shook her head.“Unbelievable... but the reason...” she watched her wording, noticing that she doesn't use selfish pronouns as much as she thought she did. “I... say “we”, is because we do everything together. Now it's really weird saying “I”...” Suzuki said, rolling her eyes. Hayato removed his hand and took his and her empty cups.“I notice these things. That's why I'm a counselor! I pay attention to behavior.” His face got closer to hers as he stood up but made sure not to break his gaze with Suzuki. She backed away slightly, feeling the color reappear in her face, but the grin on Hayato's face did not disappear. He only looked away when he had to watch his step as he walked into the growing crowd in the cafe. Suzuki's fingers clasped around her sleeve as she brought it to her face, noticing that her face was hotter than before.“What am I thinking!?!” Hayato thought to himself “I've only known her for a day and I can't help but smile whenever I'm with her... not only that, I'm her school counselor! I shouldn't be thinking about my students like this!!!” he mentally slapped himself for even considering such a thing. Suzuki immediately put her hand down to her lap as she saw Hayato return, making his way through the crowd.“I think it's starting to get too crowded. I like people, but this place is like a sardine can!” he exclaimed. Suzuki chuckled innocently. “But she's so cute! How can anyone not be attracted to her!” he thought again.
He held out his hand for her, which she gladly excepted, and he pulled her out of her chair. Hayato continued to hold her hand tightly as he guided her through the crowds. They finally reached the exit and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Hayato squeezed her hand as he let out a chuckle, then noticed that he was still actually holding her hand and let go immediately, using the hand to scratch the back of his head. He noticed that Suzuki merely accepted the fact that he let go, not seeming happier or more disappointed, and stuck the hand into her pocket. Hayato felt his spirits drop a little after that, not knowing that Suzuki was breathing deeply, controlling herself from becoming embarrassed or freaking out by the fact that they were holding hands.“I didn't realize such a place would be that crowded,” she said, shivering from the cold night air.
Hayato continued to smile and snickered, moving his arm to the back of his neck. “Yea, these cafe's are pretty popular for the after-work crowd.”“We're just not used to such small areas with so many people. In America, we had more space to move, you know?” she glanced up at Hayato with a grin, loosening him up from his sudden tenseness. He immediately perked up and put a hand on her back as he did before to guide her to his car.“Do you think the plan worked?” Hayato said buckling his seatbelt, suddenly remembering the initial reason for the two to take the detour to the cafe.“Hmm? ...Ah, right. Well, it either worked extremely well, or ended up as a major failure. What are the chances of the later happening...?” Suzuki asked seriously.
Hayato thought for a moment. “I can't decide whether now's a good time or not to tell you that Kairi-kun... has been described as a sex-crazed playboy...” he glanced at Suzuki, who had as close to a scared expression as she cared to physically show.“So we can assume that it's close to a 50-50 chance, huh...” she bit her lip as she met his eyes.
They seemed to be expressing the same worried thought. Hayato immediately sped up, passing all the other cars in a huge rush to get back to the two others.

“So, as you can see from Newton's Third Law, when the first object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force.”
“Oh!” Maiya exclaimed. “So then, in the tennis problem, the force of the ball against the racket is equivalent to that of the racket against the ball... right?”
Kairi grinned. “Exactly! Wow, Maiya-chan, you learn pretty quickly!”
Maiya shrugged. “I'm not that fast.”
Kairi chuckled. “Well, I thought you learned it pretty fast! Much quicker than I could understand that stupid trig circle.”
“But you DID understand it eventually, and that's the important thing,” Maiya replied.
Kairi leaned over to her. “Well, you're a great teacher, Maiya-chan!”
Maiya blushed in return. “Um... thanks....”
“Oh, and one other thing, Maiya-chan.”
“What's that?”
Kairi smiled, tilting his head cutely to the side. “You haven't been stuttering at all while talking to me.”
Maiya blushed. “Oh... well.... I guess being at home kind of helped that...” she managed to say, extremely embarrassed.
Kairi nodded. “Yeah, probably!”
Maiya then looked at the clock. “Man, it's almost nine... Suzuki's a little late, too... her dinner's going to get cold.”
“Yeah, that omelet you made was awesome!” he complimented.
Maiya nodded her thanks. “I'll go put that in the refrigerator...” Then she looked at Kairi's glass. It was empty of the soda she had put in there earlier. “Oh, you're out of soda! Here, let me go get some more for you,” she said while attempting to stand up.
“No, really, I can get it!” Kairi insisted, standing up himself.
Suddenly, the pillow on which Kairi was sitting skidded against the smooth, hard-wood floor. Kairi pitched forward as his arms shot out to break his own fall and Maiya closed her eyes as the two crashed down onto the floor with an audible “thud.”
“Ow.... oh gosh, my head...” Maiya moaned, her eyes still not open. Then she realized an unfamiliar weight on her body. Her eyes flashed open to see Kairi's head laying on her stomach!
“Oh man, what do I do? I mean, it was an accident, right? He wouldn't have tried to do that on PURPOSE, right?!” Maiya thought rapidly, her head spinning.
Kairi grunted. “Geez... ah, that really hurt...” Kairi opened his own eyes and noticed where his head was. He quickly pushed himself up with his arms, resulting in a push-up position over Maiya.
“Geez, Maiya-chan, I'm really sorry about that! Are you okay?” he asked, then stopped. “Wow... Maiya-chan is... very beautiful... That innocent look on her face, those cute freckles... it makes me want to hug her or something...”
Maiya nodded slightly as an answer to his question. The two stared at each other in silence, brown eyes melting into a large sea of deep blue. Caught up in the moment, Kairi moved a tiny bit closer.
“Wait, what am I doing?!” he screamed at himself. “Sorry, Maiya-chan, I'll get off-”
BAM!
The two embarrassed teenagers turned their heads to the front door. Standing in the doorway were two figures: a wide-eyed Hayato and a positively furious Suzuki.
“What... do you think you're doing.... TO MY SISTER?!?!?!” Suzuki screeched, sprinting towards Kairi.
Hayato followed suit, and the two grabbed Kairi, dragging him upwards. Both grabbed a section of his shirt collar, shaking him.
“THAT'S MY SISTER, YOU IDIOT!!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE TRYING TO PULL!!!!!”
“KAIRI, YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU COULDN'T EVEN HOLD ONTO ANY SELF-CONTROL!!! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A GUY ALONE WITH A GIRL IN HER HOUSE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN DO STUFF LIKE THIS!!!”
“YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU DAMN PERVERT!!!!”
Kairi's head whipped back and forth as the two shook the living heck out of him, identical looks of the devil on their faces.
Maiya sat up, her face beet-red. “W-wait, you two... I think you're misunderstanding s-something...!”
“WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY BE MISUNDERSTANDING?!?! EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I THOUGHT THIS WAS A DECENT GUY AND IT TURNS OUT HE WAS JUST TRYING TO GET SOME!!!!!!!!” Suzuki yelled.
“B-but really, Okayasu was just-”
“HE WAS TRYING TO KISS YOU, MAIYA-CHAN!” Hayato yelled as well. “DON'T BE DECEIVED!!!!”
“N-no, he wasn't!!!” Maiya screamed.
Everyone froze at hearing the usually quiet Maiya scream at the top of her lungs.
“““Huh?”””
Maiya's hands clenched into fists as she summoned up all of her energy. “He wasn't trying to kiss me! I saw that his glass was empty so I said I'd fill it back up, but Okayasu here said that he would and tried to stand up on one of those stupid silk pillows that you just HAD to have in France!!!” she said to Suzuki. “He slipped and fell on top of me, and was apologizing and trying to get up when you two burst in here!!!!”
Slowly, Suzuki and Hayato released Kairi, who slipped down to the floor. “M-Maiya-chan!” Kairi said, eyes wide with awe. “You're my hero, you've saved me from those demons!” he exclaimed, hugging Maiya around the legs. “I knew you were an angel!”
“Get offa me!” Maiya yelled, trying to get away.
“Aw, c'mon, baby! Don't be like that!!!”
Just then, Suzuki burst into laughter. “Oh God, that's great!” she managed to say between laughs. “I thought that he was trying to take advantage of you.... and the clutz had just slipped!!!”
Kairi stopped trying to hug Maiya, who was fending him off with her foot. “Hey, that's not nice, Suzuki-chan. I was trying to be helpful!”
Maiya managed to get away and Kairi ceased his joking advances. “Oh, Onee-chan, your dinner's over there on the stove. It's a rice omelet, just the way you like it. You might have to heat it up, though.”
Suzuki smiled. “Hey, thanks, sis!” Then she went into the connecting kitchen and put her meal into the microwave. “Yo, in the meantime, would you guys want something to drink?” Then she grinned at Kairi. “Since I'm already up and won't trip trying to look cool?”
Kairi frowned. “Hey, that's a cheap shot!”
Hayato laughed at his cousin's expense. “Sorry, Suzuki-chan, but I think that Kairi and I need to head back now. It's getting late...” Then he gripped onto Kairi's head, squeezing. “And THIS one here has homework to do!”
“Ow!” Kairi complained. “Kyuu, that hurts!”
“Well, it should!” Hayato said, dragging Kairi and his belongings towards the door. “You falling on top of a girl like that; totally uncool! What have I taught you all these years?!”
The twins chuckled as Kairi managed to fight his way out of Hayato's grip.
Hayato sighed. “Well, I'll see you later, Maiya-chan.” Then he looked at Suzuki, specifically. “Good night... Suzuki-chan.”
“N-night, Kyuu-sensei...” Suzuki replied, a light pink rising to her face.
Kairi grinned. “See ya tomorrow, Suzuki-chan! You too, Maiya-chan!” the boy finished with a confident wink. Then, the two were gone.
“Boy, today was quite an adventure, huh?” Suzuki mused, leaning against the door frame of the kitchen entrance.
Maiya nodded, sitting back down to finish her homework.
“We met Momo-chan and Toji-kun... then Kyuu-sensei and Kairi-kun! It's good that we've gotten some friends so quickly!”
Once again, Maiya nodded. “Y-yes... they're quite lively, though...”
Suzuki shrugged. “I think it's a good thing!” She bent down behind Maiya, shaking her shoulders a little. “It'll be good to get you out of that shell of yours!”
Maiya laughed. “Well, they can try!” she replied, stubbornly.
“Oh, I know Kairi-kun will!” Suzuki teased, rising to go get her dinner.
Maiya's face colored slightly as she rolled her eyes. “Yes, I believe 'try' would be the keyword here!”
“Is that a challenge?” Suzuki asked, bringing her food over to the low kotatsu where Maiya was working.
Maiya smirked back. “You bet it is!”