Omi Tsukiyono (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oneblackcat) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
synergetic2024-07-11 11:34 pm
oneblackcat) wrote in synergetic2024-07-11 11:34 pm
Entry tags:
Mean Girls
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."
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."
no subject
"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?"
no subject
"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..."
no subject
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."