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When Ichigo got to school that morning, the last thing she expected was a note in her locker. She'd found it when she put her outside shoes away.
It had been an uneventful morning, all things considered- Ichigo's father was finally calming down after her disastrous date. He'd said nothing about it -instead, he talked about work or whatever cute animal he'd seen on TV. Ichigo didn't want to know what her mother had done to put him in such a good mood.
When she'd gotten home, her parents had been so relieved to see her, and her them. Her father had burst into tears and her mother scolded her as they hugged her between them, but Ichigo didn't mind too much, she was just so happy to be home.
Eventually, when they'd all calmed down, she'd explained everything: how her date had seemed okay, the earthquake and waking alone, and the most irritating boy who'd watched over her and gotten her home. She didn't tell them how they started talking however, she didn't need her parents' lectures on foul language, even if calling Aoyama-san a bastard was deserved.
Her mother had been thankful that he'd been there, asking questions about the boy with a strange twinkle in her eye, while her father had grumbled over another boy making his way into her life but he didn't cause too much fuss - he was grateful to the boy for getting his little girl home after all.
When she'd put her phone on charge that night she'd had an influx of notifications from her parents: missed calls, texts, various notifications from their social media accounts, and her father had even sent her an email. Ichigo was grateful to have such loving parents, but if she hadn't responded to the others then she certainly wasn't responding to emails - her father was wonderful but ridiculous.
There'd been nothing from Aoyama, until this.
Retrieving the note from her shoe locker, she frowned at the familiar handwriting inscribing her name. Flipping it open, Ichigo felt conflicted when she read the request:
"Momomiya-san, please meet me in the park by Cafe Mew Mew after school. Aoyama Masaya..."
She trailed off, brown eyes squinting at the paper in her hands. The girl pondered the logic of leaving her this note when she'd left her number in his locker the day he asked her on a date, and he'd very efficiently dumped her over the weekend by not reaching out. Ichigo didn't want to go; she felt hurt and humiliated by his actions and would rather not see him at any point soon. But, her affection for him remained strong, and she supposed she should hear his explanation - maybe he hadn't realised he essentially put an end to their dating when he left her at the park, it was their first date, so leaving without any form of notice was a big indicator that he didn't want a second.
"Ichigo, good morning!" She was startled from her thoughts by a familiar cheerful voice. Looking up, she spotted two girls heading toward her.
"Ah, Moe, Miwa. Good morning." Her friends shared a look at her lacklustre response - usually, she was lively in the mornings. It was Miwa who noticed the note first.
"What's that - a love letter? You're so popular, let me see!" She cried, reaching to grab the note. Her friend's grey eyes scanned the page, with Moe's blonde head poking over her shoulder to read along with her.
"Ichigo, this is great! Aoyama-san wishes to meet you after school!" Miwa bounced with excitement, but Moe frowned when she noticed the frown forming on her friend's face.
"Ne, Ichigo, you don't seem happy about this," the blonde stated, "did your date not go well? You were so excited for it."
"No, I don't think our date went well at all," Ichigo sighed, forlorn.
"What?" Miwa asked, eyes wide.
"Why? Aoyama-san seems to like you," Moe followed up, fists held tight in front of her. "Did something happen during the earthquake?"
Ichigo took the note back and slipped it into her bag. She started walking towards their shared homeroom, her friends quickly following after her.
"Well, we went to this animal exhibit..."
By the time the girls were seated at their desks, Ichigo had filled them in on everything. Her friends were furious on her behalf: they both had hugged her tightly when she told them about Aoyama leaving her unconscious. Miwa was teary-eyed at the end, and Moe's cheeks burned with anger, but both were becoming interested in the last part of that awful day.
"So then I walked home."
"And he walked you back the whole way?" Moe's eyes were shining.
"The whole way," Ichigo nodded, "he waited until I unlocked the front door and left. When I turned back around to thank him, he was gone."
"He was gone just like that? Did you get his name?" Miwa whined.
"I didn't," the red-haired girl flopped over her desk with a sigh.
"Why not?" Moe asked
"It was pretty awkward on the way back; he watched me cry after all," Ichigo grimaced, "He's probably the most disagreeable person I've ever met, and he kept calling me 'Princess.'"
"That's so romantic~" Moe sighed, eyes shining.
"Not at all!" Ichigo protested, "Even Aoyama-san has never called me anything like that!"
"But Ichigo, he called you a princess! He watched over you and walked you home, like a knight!"
Ichigo laughed as she tried to imagine it, "Honestly, I think he's more like the dragon."
Thankfully, she was spared from her friend's further probing by their teacher, ready to begin today's lessons. But no matter how much she tried to focus on her lessons, Ichigo's mind kept slipping back to her mystery companion - her "stand-in Prince." She hadn't told her friends about that part, Miwa would flush and giggle, and Moe - a romantic at heart- would declare that Ichigo had met her soul mate or something just as ridiculous.
Ichigo's mood fell. Before her unfortunate date, she'd thought Aoyama-san was the one for her - not her soulmate, not yet, but her one. It hurt to think that he probably wasn't. Shaking her head free of her gloomy thoughts, Ichigo opened her English textbook and tried her hardest to focus on her teacher's voice.
The day went on a lot like any other; she sat through her lessons, ate her lunch with Moe and Miwa, and her head filled with thoughts of Aoyama Masaya. When the final bell announced the end of the school day, Ichigo stood and reluctantly packed away her things, it was unlucky for her that her only afterschool chore was to sweep the classroom and she could do that in under 2 minutes. She was dreading meeting with Aoyama-san and wasn't sure how she'd react when she got there - would she cry? Ichigo was angry but would she show him how furious she was with him? She didn't know.
"Are you okay, Ichigo?" Moe's hand rested on her shoulder. Both girls had waited for her as their classmates filed out of the classroom in a riot of noise.
"We can go with you if you're scared," Miwa bounced in front of her, her hands gripping the chalk eraser like she was going to hit someone with it "If he gives you any trouble, we can help!"
"I don't think there'll be any trouble, Miwa." Ichigo smiled, exasperated but no less grateful.
"I think this is something Ichigo needs to do by herself," Moe said, taking the eraser from Miwa to put it to its intended use. Her blonde-haired friend was often the voice of reason between the three -despite her romantic heart.
"Okay, but you'll tell us what happens?" Miwa wheedled, her fists clasped together in a begging motion.
"Of course, I'll tell you," Ichigo rolled her eyes and giggled with Moe when their friend let out an excited yell.
"Anyway, you better leave soon, Ichigo, or you'll be late for meeting Aoyama-san," Moe reminded her, moving from the clean board to collect her things, and Miwa started to push the redhead towards the door.
"Right!" Ichigo grabbed her bag, and the three friends left the classroom.
Once Ichigo had her outside shoes on, the three parted ways at the school gate, leaving Ichigo to make her way to meet Aoyama-san.
The park was less busy than it had been at the weekend, so it made finding Aoyama-san easy. The dark-haired boy was sitting on a bench a little way across from a small walkway in the trees. Being at the edge of the park, Ichigo could hear the birds singing and the bustle of people on their way home; it was a tranquil spot filled with sunshine. She watched as Aoyama-san's tan skin shone in the natural light, and his hair ruffled in the breeze - her heart gave a painful thump.
"Aoyama-san, you wanted to see me?" Ichigo made her presence known, walking forward, the handle of her bag clasped anxiously between her hands in front of her. The dark-haired boy looked towards her voice and smiled when he saw her.
"Momomiya-san!" He greeted her and moved to stand before her, "Thank you for meeting with me. I wanted to talk with you if that's okay."
"What did you want to talk about, Aoyama-san?" Ichigo tilted her head in confusion and watched as his brow furrowed at the more formal address she used. He shook it off quickly.
"Ah, you see..." Aoyama became flustered, "It's about our date at the weekend."
"Of course." Ichigo nodded for him to continue, already expecting this.
"Well, I just wanted to apologise for the earthquake ending our date early." He rubbed the back of his neck -was he nervous? "I know that I'm not to blame for the earthquake, but I like to think if we all did our bit to prevent global warming-"
Ichigo cut him off, confused and getting a little irritated - what had global warming got to do with this?
"The earthquake ended the date early? Didn't you think to come and find me?" Aoyama began to look sheepish.
"My mother phoned when things settled down. She was adamant I head home that second; it was only a minor earthquake, but she worries a lot."
It felt like white noise had filled Ichigo's brain; she felt numb, but the anger she'd amassed since the date was simmering below the surface. She felt like a volcano getting ready to erupt.
"So you left. You left without saying anything." Aoyama frowned at her tone.
"Yes, mother phoned, and we haven't traded contact information yet, but I knew you'd be fine when I left-"
"How?"
"Momomiya-san?" Her anger began to bubble.
"How could you have known I'd be fine, Aoyama-san?" She frowned for a second, "I gave you my number, I put it in your shoe locker the day you asked me out!" I put it in your
"You did? I haven't seen any notes, maybe it fell out when I put my shoes away. But anyway, you're fine now, aren't you? I don't understand why you're angry. " He said before looking flustered. "I mean: you're Momomiya-san; Momomiya-san is always energetic and cheerful, so I had no doubts you'd be fine. "
It was the worst thing to say. Something inside the girl snapped; the volcano erupted, boiling over, and she snarled at him - her hair standing on end.
"I wasn't fine!" She snapped, "I wasn't fine, Aoyama-san! I was unconscious, and you left me!" Startled, the dark-haired boy stumbled backwards, but she followed close behind.
"Momomiya-san, what-"
"You left me in the park, unconscious! I was unconscious for hours, Aoyama-san! I don't have your contact number, so I've been waiting for you to reach out but you never did!"
"Wait, Momomiya-san-"
"No! No, Aoyama-san! Anything could have happened to me! I could have been killed in that earthquake with how hard I hit my head! I could have been kidnapped, or, or murdered!"
"But you weren't! Honestly, Momomiya-san, aren't you overreacting? Nothing physically damaging happened to you, did it?"
Ichigo stared disbelieving at him. The words stung her, but only slightly; she'd thought he was more thoughtful than this- more aware than this. It was like all of Aoyama's intelligence had been sucked from his brain.
"I entrusted you with my safety, Aoyama-san. I thought you were kind and gentlemanly, but you left me there, alone in a public park after an earthquake- you didn't even come to check if I was injured!" Ichigo tried, she really did, to spell it out for him to understand.
" I told you why! I'm sorry you ended up unconscious, but maybe you should be happy nothing happened instead of getting angry at me!"
That was it; Ichigo clenched her fists - she was unwilling to continue this conversation. He wouldn't see the wrong in leaving her behind, and she wasn't going to waste her time trying to get through to him.
"Aoyama-san, you're such a bastard!" She turned and darted away from him, her voice echoing behind her. She could hear Aoyama's voice as he chased after her, but she didn't want to stop. She didn't want to talk to him now.
Ichigo ran until she reached a small group of trees, surrounded by various shrubs and flowers - she bent over, bracing her hands on her knees. Catching her breath, she glanced around, looking for somewhere to hide. She could hear Aoyama getting closer, him being more athletic than her, and she wasn't sure she had the energy to run again.
Ichigo straightened up and stretched, preparing to try and lose him. She had a stitch in her side, but she could hear Aoyama's footsteps now. He'd find her if she didn't move.
She took a step-
Something grabbed her.
There was an arm around her waist and a hand over her mouth. Ichigo struggled as her attacker dragged her into the bushes behind her. She kicked and screamed behind the hand; she landed a solid kick to her attacker's leg. It was futile, and she found herself held down within the leaves. Struggling with all her might, Ichigo freed her hand and dug her nails into the arm holding her - she was rewarded with a hiss of pain.
"Ouch! Will you stop? I'm trying to help you!" A voice hissed in her ear, and she froze. She heard a breath through gritted teeth, and the arm around her waist loosened slightly- but not enough for her to escape. "Now, I'm going to move my hand. I doubt you'll want to scream with Charming so close- don't bite me, those claws of yours did enough damage. "
His hand gently released her face, and she whipped around to face him. Narrowed eyes and a smug, too-wide grin looked back.
"You!" She growled, "Why are you here?" He looked just the same as he did at the weekend: the baggy black hoodie- so long she almost couldn't see the legs of his shorts poke out from underneath. Red cloths (bandages?), were wrapped around his legs in place of socks and a strange type of boot she didn't recognise.
"Seems like I'm saving you from your lover-boy." Ichigo scowled; she realised how close they were - his front to her back, and her face flared as red as her hair.
"Why are you so close? Back up!"
"Shhh!" Quick as a flash, his hand was back over her mouth; Ichigo's eyes bugged out when she felt his body shift and cover her back. Her heart was pounding: this was the first time she'd ever been so close to a boy who wasn't her father. The first time and it was in a bush with a veritable stranger!
"What are you doing?!" She squeaked.
"Be quiet! Do you want him to find us?"
"No, but do you have to be so close?" She didn't think her heart could take this- the anger at Aoyama-san, the anxiety of being found, now such proximity to this boy? She heard him growl lightly behind her.
"Princess, your hair's an eyesore! He'll spot it a mile off even in this bush!"
"What?!" She squawked indignantly. Her hair, an eyesore? There was nothing wrong with it; it was a beautiful colour she got from her mother!
"Momomiya-san?" Ichigo cursed herself for her short temper. "Momomiya-san, are you there?" She could feel the arm around her waist shift, and she was nudged flat onto the dirt below. Tilting her head upwards, she saw her companion hovering over her- face tense and eyes watching. There was a gap between their bodies, but he couldn't move too far or risk poking out of the bush. His elbows were on either side of her shoulders, holding him up, and his long sleeves rested on her head.
They both tensed when they saw shiny, brown shoes stop beside their bush. Looking up through the leaves, she could barely make out Aoyama's face- he looked frustrated as he looked over the rest of the park. The next few moments were tense, the red-haired girl thought he'd discover them, but Aoyama-san huffed a sigh and strode off the way he came.
Slowly, her companion- honestly, she must get his name- made his way out of the bush, looking around before giving her the all-clear.
"You can come on out now, Princess; your hunny's gone." Ichigo pulled a face and stumbled her way out of the leaves.
"He's not my 'hunny'," She brushed down her uniform, freeing various leaves and twigs that had gotten caught. "I'm surprised Aoyama-san didn't find us when he was right next to the bush."
Her companion smirked, spinning in a circle before leaning towards her, face suddenly very close. His fingers twitched themselves into the ends of her dishevelled pigtails, and he lightly tugged.
"I told you, Princess: that hair is an eyesore; lucky I was wearing such a dark colour." It took a few moments for a lightbulb to flash in her mind with realisation. She thought about how they hid in the shrub, his body covering hers and the long sleeves resting on her head. It was camouflage. He was camouflaging her.
Ichigo crossed her arms and shook her hair free from his grasp. "You could have told me what you were doing," she huffed out and, to her irritation, her companion just smirked.
"But Princess, where's the fun in that?"
Ichigo threw up her hands. "You're ridiculous!"
Her companion just laughed. Ichigo paid him no mind, stretching her arms above her head, drinking in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. What she wouldn't give to laze in the warm patches of light shifting over the grass.
"So, what did he do this time?" She didn't need clarification on who he meant.
"He left me a note wanting to meet me here, and it didn't exactly go well." Ichigo dropped her arms and wandered over to the nearest bench, and the boy followed her, a lazy swagger in his step.
"Really? I couldn't have guessed."
Ichigo frowned, sitting on the bench, and scowled when he took a seat on the back, with his dusty boots on the seat.
"You're a pest!" She snipped, turning away from him.
"Aw, Princess~! Way to break my fragile heart," he grasped the hoodie at his chest and swayed dramatically. Ichigo rolled her eyes.
"Must you be so annoying?"
"Now, now, Princess... No need to be rude to a poor concerned citizen." She glanced back at him, and he tilted his head - it startled her to realise it wasn't the light from the sunset that day that made his eyes gold, but they were gold themselves. Eyes like the colour of honey, no wonder he liked the phrase, she mused.
"I know I'm pretty, but there's no need to stare~."
"You're not pretty at all!" Ichigo retorted heatedly, poking out her tongue and bunching her fists in her skirt.
"Admit it, I'm muuuuuuch prettier than that other guy," she watched as he twirled a strand of green hair around his finger and stared off in thought. He had a point, she supposed. Aoyama wasn't pretty, but he was on his way to being quite handsome.
"You're right. Aoyama-san could never hold a candle to how pretty you are," She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he shifted in surprise.
"Really?"
"Of course!" She assured him, watching his confusion grow. "Aoyama-san could never be as pretty as you, but he's more handsome by miles!"
Ichigo burst into laughter at the indignant squawk the boy let out, clutching her sides as she shook. The boy had raised his voice, demanding her to take it back and tell him what was so funny, but it just made the red-haired girl laugh harder until tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Slowly, Ichigo began to calm down. She wiped her eyes, hiccuping slightly and turned to her companion. Chin rested on his hand; he watched her with narrowed eyes and that damnable smirk.
"You know, Princess, that might be the first time I've seen you laugh," his smirk stretched into a wide grin. "I should drag you into bushes more often~!"
"I'll hit you if you try!" She retorted with red cheeks, and the green-haired boy laughed.
"Princess must be feeling better if she's being so lively."
Ichigo paused and realised her foul temper had vanished. Instead was her frustration towards the irritating gremlin boy next to her, but even that was more amused than unhappy. Shaking her head, she looked up at her companion and smiled.
"I think I am feeling better. Your company isn't as completely awful as it seemed!" She poked out her tongue - something that Aoyama-san would have thought extremely childish, and she heard his answering chuckle.
"Not too awful, huh? I can live with that."
"You should! It's a fine compliment."
"Such a fine compliment from such a lovely Princess. It seems I've had quite the day; I think I enjoyed the shrubbery especially."
Ichigo opened her mouth, wanting to say something funny or quick-witted, but was startled when a loud ringing from her bag interrupted them. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled her phone free to see Moe's name flashing on the screen. Looking at her companion, he looked at her with confusion before waving at her to answer it.
"Seems it's time for the Princess to return to her castle," he jumped up from the bench, stretching his arms above his head, before sauntering away, waving lazily. "Ja ne."
"Wait, wait!" She jogged after him for a few paces, stopping when he turned around. "What's your name?"
His golden eyes looked so warm in the sunlight, and his hair tousled about his chin from where it poked out from his hood. She'd been right earlier- he -truly-was prettier than Aoyama-san.
"My name is Kisshu," he winked at her before continuing on his way. "I'll be seeing you, Princess~."