Mean Girls

[oneblackcat]

She hurts so much inside, she doesn't even know how else to deal with it.

It was simple enough, wasn't it? The hurt was because of Flayn. Was it her perky, happy, perfect innocence demeanor? Her exoticism? Noguchi had genuinely tried to understand what it was that made Flayn so much better than her in Yukimura's eyes that his preference would be so blatantly displayed. It was bad enough to face the sting of rejection, but the slap of humiliation on top of it? She would be lying if she said it hadn't led to a few wet spots on her pillow that night.

The doubles match only made it worse, and that was on top of the rumor he and Flayn had stolen away to a private lunch together in between. How bold was she being without classroom eyes on her? Already she'd proven willing to hold his hand in public view. Whatever the answer, it was clearly enough to have Yukimura bewitched.

It wasn't that she'd ever been particularly close to him. Like most girls, Noguchi had only watched and yearned from a distance for most of junior high, and then into high school. He was just perfect. Beautiful, well-mannered, talented across multiple spectrums.... and there was something about him that captivated her like steel to a magnet. His very presence was an irresistible force. Noguchi had known a couple of little crushes before him; none had held so intensely or for nearly as long. She was simply desperate.

And then, she was also angry. That project reassignment felt like robbery, the one chance where finally they had a reason to talk, and even if he didn't take an interest, it was such a special thing just to be able to sit with him, and she could look up and he was right there.

Until he wasn't, because someone decided to finally show up and be without a project partner, and then decided to turn the charm up to 21 right there in front of everyone. Now Yukimura was being so intimate with her he even personally styled her hair before the match, she'd heard. That long, soft, green mass of curl. He'd complimented it before, too, hadn't he?

She hurt, and she was angry, and those feelings fueled a dark desire to hurt and humiliate back. She wanted Flayn to suffer the way she did, to feel the misery her presence had inflicted. And why shouldn't she? Wasn't it good to learn not to stick out from the crowd so much? It was Flayn's own fault for being so forward and shameless and completely, utterly disregarding of the comfort of others. Did she think she was the only girl in the world who liked him?

Given Yukimura's clear affection for her tresses, it wasn't hard for her and Konishi (bless her best friend, confidant and partner in crime who understood everything) to settle on a punishment. And when Yukimura excused himself to get some supplies from the back room, and then Kudou-sensei left the art room to do whatever it was he wanted to do that wasn't teaching, opportunity knocked.

With mental placations of the near future, she slid over to Flayn's table and into the chair across from her with an awkward smile.

"Morning. Mind if I join you for a bit? Since you were late joining the class, I never really got a chance to properly meet you."

Comments

[seems_fishy]

"Did you not?" Flayn asked, a bit puzzled. Others seem to have! She was more inclined to think Noguchi-san hadn't particularly wanted to before this moment... but it'd be rude to say so, much as she was wanting to know, why the change? Why the initial disinterest?

Was it her or her friend the other day who'd said she was full of herself...? But, maybe it wasn't something she wanted to be reminded of, so Flayn smiled through her confusion.

"Well, please make yourself comfortable... Ah, what were you working on for your project with Konishi-san?"

[naturalflare]

"Thank you," Noguchi offered between the teeth of her smile. If Flayn was confused, she was allowed to be, as long as she kept her attention right where it was. That was the one singular mission here: keep her undivided attention, just for a minute.

"Well, originally we were going to do a study on Yukimura-kun. Since we had three of us including him, it seemed interesting to do a study about how we two girls each see him, as well as how he sees himself. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's lost a lot of its uniqueness since the self-portrait angle is gone. But I think we'll still manage. We like different things about him, after all.

"What about you? What do you most like about Yukimura-kun?"

[seems_fishy]

The chance presenting itself to Konishi was so sudden, it took her a few tries to find the scissors; they weren't exactly making collages, after all. She hoped Noguchi could keep Flayn going!

Flayn's head tilted at the question, the new ponytail bouncing just out of reach. Konishi faltered; how close did she need to be standing? Would Flayn sense her presence?

"I do find it fascinating," and Konishi nearly jumped at the sound of Flayn's voice, "how very entirely he takes control of every situation he walks into."

Her head tilted forward, again changing Konishi's target. Her fingers tightened around the scissors and she took a step closer to Flayn.

"I am not sure if I like it. Except that he is so sure of himself when he does it, and I find that admirable."

She giggled, and Konishi wanted to throw the scissors, why did Flayn keep moving. "It is a fun question! We should ask the tennis club, too. I am sure they have many different answers!"

It was only a matter of time at this point, and every stupid second was wasting away. She got the scissors as close to Flayn as she dared and the sound of them closing seemed as loud to Konishi as a thunderclap.

[senseskill]

The sound that seemed as loud as a thunderclap was no figment of the imagination; the entire room heard it. It was the sound of Yukimura's hand intercepting Konishi's wrist.

"That's dangerous," Yukimura said, the gentle manner of his tone at odds with the contempt in his eyes as he looked past his nose to Konishi's face. The scissors, whether from the startle or from the sudden strength of his grip, slipped from her fingers and clattered against the tile floor. A flutter of green shavings fell around it.

It wasn't a perfect save, but it looks like he made it in time to prevent serious damage.

"You shouldn't be walking with those in the air, Konishi-san. You almost took off Flayn's ponytail. What were you doing?"

If he overheard any of the conversation at the table, it was as good as white noise, buried under a fury that burned deceptively hot under his icy composure. Composure that he kept icy because his anger was so intense he dared not let even a trickle of it out.

Assault. She tried to assault Flayn. The question is not whether to escalate this; it's exactly how far up the chain to climb.

[seems_fishy]

Flayn's neck jerks away from Konishi, letting her see for herself the fall of the soft green hairs. She quickly pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, trying to assess the damage.

"It is..." She bit her lip. Looking between Noguchi and Konishi (looking at Yukimura seems... dangerous...), then back down at the floor, at the... the mess...

Flayn tries to sweep the fine, thin hairs into her palm because, well, they shouldn't be on the floor, they should probably be in the trash, and feels her eyes welling up.

"I... I will go," she said, making for the door.

[senseskill]

Yukimura experiences a flicker of alarm and concern for Flayn as she rises and leaves, almost enough to make him abandon what he's started. Flayn is indisputably more important. What exactly would that accomplish, though? He hates it a little right now, but he knows his strengths, and it will be more productive for him to focus on what he's already doing first.

Instead, the effect this has had on her fuels the dark, menacing aura directed at Konishi.

"Y...Yukimura-kun, wait!"

Noguchi immediately feels the scrutiny of his gaze.

"...Unfortunate. You two could have made a strong doubles pair. You have good teamwork, don't you."

"Wh...What are you talking about? It was an accident!"

Yukimura finally releases Konishi's wrist. "You should save your excuses for someone in a position to consider them. Both of you, please come with me."

"...No. Neither of us has done anything wrong. You're treating us both like criminals!"

The intensity of Yukimura's glare was the last thing Noguchi saw. She fell silent, her eyes staring in vacant horror at nothing in particular.

"As you wish," Yukimura said. "If you prefer to forfeit the privacy of the headmaster's office for discussing this, I'll let him know where to find you. Excuse me."

He turned and left.

[senseskill]

Yukimura does not actually know for sure that the headmaster is in his office. What he does know is that he doesn't have time to waste walking the school in search of him. What he also knows is where to find a reliable chain of communication upwards.

"Excuse me," he says as he opens the door to one of the classrooms and scans it quickly for his audience. "Yagyuu. A moment please."

Two minutes in the hall later, the student council president has all of the information he needs and returns to his seat. Yukimura looks briefly back in the direction of the art room, and heads the other way, towards the staircase to the rooftop garden where he ate lunch with Flayn the other day. It's a wild guess, but it's the best one he has to make. If Flayn wanted him and him only to find her, he has to believe this is where she would go.

The push bar to the exit door feels ice cold against his palm as he gently pushes it open and steps out, looking around for her figure. His anger is dispelled with the execution of everything needed to address its cause. What remains is the concern for how she must feel after being ganged up on and deceived like that, now free to bloom to the surface.

"Flayn...? Are you here?"

[seems_fishy]

She wasn't so embattled as to weep, but a few tears blink out of her eyes when she's startled by the sound of her name. She's taken the ponytail down and spread the long, loose waves over shoulders, trying to disguise any irregularity she may be the only one close enough to see.

"Over here," she said, on the bench, looking up when she sees him coming.

"I didn't mean to leave you all alone with the project..."

[senseskill]

She did come here. Thank goodness.

Yukimura's stride is brisk but not hurried as he approaches her. "The project is the last thing on my mind right now. Are you okay...? That was an awful trick."