tenipuri_xp | Log - Kawamura and Tomoka

Date: Two days after the party
Rating: PG
Notes: Kawamura wants Tomoka to keep Burn distracted, and tells her to study with him. But they do something else instead. Beware of Het and Fluff.

Tomoka yawned and tilted her head as she walked towards the library. The party was one day and a half ago, but everyone at Ryuhana High was still under the after-effects. Echizen-kun was in in the infirmary, Sakuno-chan had not left her room and An-chan was still by her bedside, Ohtori-sempai still looked very tired, and she still had no idea about Yanagi-sempai's whereabouts. Hell, she herself didn't have much recollection about the hours she spent at the gym, asides from producing more sparkles than she ever had in her life, giggling like an idiot at almost every situation or word, and sleeping on a couch for the last part of the night.

"And this happened to me despite not drinking that goddamn spiked punch. Woe are the ones who tasted it".

She opened a little the door of the library and peeked in. Yup: Her boyfriend, Takashi, was already there, sitting by a table that was right next to the door, and trying to to concentrate in the contents of his books. "Trying" was an understatement - she could clearly see that the boy's mind was anywhere but there.

"He hasn't seen me... 'kay, let's fix it!".

The girl used some surrounding noises to produce a bunch of rainbow bubbles, and send them out towards Takashi. It worked like a charm; one of them landed right on the tip of the boy's nose.

"I...Tomoka? Haha, what are you doing? Oops--".

The librarian was Too Close and Too Displeased witht he noise for comfort, so Takashi leaned closer and whispered the words that followed. " Ready to study?"

His girlfriend smiled to the librarian and winked. Then, she walked towards the table and sat by his side. "Yeppers. And to keep Burn from upsetting you".

The young man blushed at that. Oooooh, if she could fully guess what his Other Self was telling him right in those moments... "He says...er....", he starts out, "well the edited version of it is that he thinks you're...ah...well there's no way to edit that out. Never mind. He's...got quite the mouth. B-but...he doens't mean it! haha....ha...yeahh.... Haha, sorry. He's a little jealous".

Tomoka pretended not to understand. "Why, huh?".

By the look in her eyes, Takashi knew she was trying to fool him. "Um. Um. Of....you know....", and he blushed even more, trying to avoide her gaze.

At that rate, were he any other person, Tomoka would've shrugged and left him or her there, even throwing a rather biting remark. Instead, she laughed softly at such a reaction. What she found lame on others.. somehow, it looked sweet on him.

"... Now that you're here I don't think I'll be able to get much studying...done...oh...that came out sounding odd...".

The sound of his voice brought the girl back to the real world. She showed him the book about psionic energy that was lying on her lap. "Don't think I've forgotten about that... Shouldn't we go to study elsewhere, then?".

The boy nodded and stopped fiddling with his tie. "But - where?".

"Rooftop, maybe. I like to read there. What do you think, Taka-kun?".

"I think that sounds like a really good idea...".

After they grabbed their books and left the library, Tomoka felt a warm hand taking hers.

"Maybe next time we'll get some work done. I'd hate to fall behind in my classes...", he murmured, but he was still beet red.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I suppose... well, we'll see that when we get there".

* * *

Few minutes later, both teenagers were on the roof. Takashi had taken a sweater out of his schoolbag, and they were sitting on it after leaving their bags and books next to them.

And she was leaning against him. Good, both of his selves thought.

"I guess An's having a nice day. It's not raining....though it is a bit cloudy", he mused. "Is she worried about Sakuno? I heard she was a bit ill".

She faced him. " I heard Sakuno-chan was among the spiked punch's victims, so I suppose An-chan's taking care of her now...".

"Whose idea was that anyway?", he asked her. "And how did they not notice?....ah well...."

"The world will never know. Not even Marui-sempai knows, so I can't even imagine who'd do such a thing. Unless we're talking about the outside boys, that is".

But before Tomoka could say something else, Takashi stared right into her eyes, suddenly looking very stern. "I assume you didn't, um, have any? ...You did seem out of it.".

Tomoka pouted. Was he her boyfriend, older brother or what? But she decided to reply anyway. "I was out of it because I hate alcohol like no one else's bussiness, and 'coz I was so sleepy".

The girl leaned her forehead against his broad shoulder for some seconds and yawned a little more. His hand gently caressed her nape.

"Ah....about that.....why haven't you been sleeping? IS everything all right?".

Kinda annoyed, she looked up at him, ready to give him a snappy answer. But he blinked, and then laughed a little. "Are there people living inside your head too?"

That caught Tomoka off-guard. Damn him for saying such things... However, that sounded more funny than annoying, so she laughed.

"I actually can't find an exact reason to my insomnia...", was her reply.

Takashi smiled good-naturedly at his girlfriend. "I understand what it's like to not sleep properly. I get it all the time when Burn feels talkative."

Since he didn't seem to fully understand, she created a tiny firefly and leaned even closer to him. "No, really. I have no real worries now, and didn't have them after we agreed to have our date".

The world was starting to fall down, mutants were everywhere, Tomoka herself had passed through quite hard experiences with the cruel school bullying she was a victim of... and some days ago, she was dying inside because a boy was avoiding her. Pfffft.

He cleared his throat before replying to her. "I'm glad it went well. I was...worried it was going to be a disaster. Heh...things rarely go well for me. I don't have much luck!".

"It COULD have been a disaster..", she admitted.

But since he looked a little sad, she decided to do something else... to pull him in a sudden, fierce embrace, and bury her face in his chest.

"You had me TWO days thinking you didn't want me around, you know...".

Then, Tomoka looked up at him, and stuck her tongue out mischevously. But he was too embarrassed to even blush.

"I'm sorry....I just....I'm not...a people person. haha...I was really, really, really nervous and...I wasn't sure...and I was new...ehhh..."

"I know", the girl replied vividly, her eyes gleaming cheerfully. "Actually, such traits should've turned me off...", she winked and some more fireflies appeared around them, "but somehow, I like them so much on you".

Because she knew that he'd never fake them. Unlike other boys who appeared sweet and cute but were wolves in disguise. She had to kick them off her female friends' backs until not too often, so...

"Because I know I'm not...outgoing, and I'm not loud anmd...I have...serious self-confidence issues and...oh, hell...there's a person living inside my HEAD.... I mean, why, HOW...could you possibly want to be with me...? It's just...I'm baffled...".

*Oh, shut up*, she thought. *And I know the perfect way to get that*.

"Yep. I want to be your girlfriend, Taka-kun. Want a proof...?"

She then leaned forward and, just like the time he asked her out, kissed him on the mouth. After the initial shock, he sweetly kissed back...

But when they broke for air, he suddenly broke down laughing.

Tomoka felt like grabbing her bag and hitting him with it. But she remembered, this was the guy with the split personalities in the surroundings... So, she repressed her urge, and decided to ask first and kill him later.

" Let me guess... you are...?".

He quickly shook his head. "No, no, it's me! Burn is just making rude comments".

Touché. But then, Takashi wrapped his arms arond his girlfriend's waist, holding her protectively.

"Sorry, Tomoka."

This tender gesture calmed her down, and she leaned against him again.

His self-confidence was growing...

Simply *great*.

* * *

Minutes later, they were still there. And she was starting to fall asleep in his arms. Oh Gods, weren't they supposed to study?

Then again, they had been studying each other's personalities and learning more about how they were. Not a bad subject, she thought.

"Tomoka I was....thinking....um...no, never mind...it's...stupid".

She looked up at the mumbling boy. "I can't know if it's stupid if you don't tell me, Taka-kun", and created a very brief light flash.

He blinked agaisnt the light, then talked when it was gone. "Um, well, I was thinking maybe you'd like to train with me sometime? And I don't, um, mean training as in our powers...because I...don't know how it's possible to train my powers...without..ah..training burn himself. Haha....but I was thinking maybe we could have some sessions where I'd teach you some martial arts?".

She was still looking up at him when he stopped talking. "And...I...I know you can take care of yourself.... but I just... in case anything every happened and your powers don't work... I mean... I know it's hard to control them...".

He sighed. "...You don't have to. It was just a stupid idea."

"You may say it's stupid, but I like it".

"Eh?".

Tomoka faced him, hands on his shoulders, her eyes gleaming with resolution. "I can't be always relying on others to help me, so I need to be always ready to defend myself and my friends. And martial arts will be very helpful, yep!".

She laughed out loud before she finished. "'Sides, I'm already athletic. It shouldn't be so hard for me".

"Haha, I have no doubt you'll be able to get into it", Takashi told her, "but it's very demanding. It calls for absolute focus. you can't be distracted by shiny things....".

"I *need* to work on concentration, and you know it".

He smiled and poked the tip of her nose. And was rewarded with an unusually sweet smile from her.

"So then....it's set? How does practice in the mornings before class sound? It'll be often, like three times a week..."

"Kinda like my tennis-playing friends' early practice before school? Sounds all right to me...".

And much to her joy, now he was the one pulling her into a tight, warm embrace. "This is ...oh...it's oging ot be great. You just...it'll be fun, I promise!".

Tomoka hugged him back. "No need to promise. It's already great".