The Cost of The Chase

one .

"That little. . . where did it go?" The young girl cursed beneath her breath, endless streams of profanities uttered from her lips. She hadn't expected these photos to take such a long time, but when a certain cat caught her attention; she really, really had to get that photo.

"Stupid cat." She mumbled while holding the camera up to her right eye and spying the large, blooming tree. Her palms began to shake and get clammy there it was, staring down at her. Was that a look of mockery plastered upon its features?

The cat was a beautiful shade of a brown, a small tuft of white painted on its chest. Giavanni desperately wanted this in her camera because of its eyes. They were very odd; one was a pure cobalt, while the other was a sharp flaxen color. Stay still, please. . . Giavanni pleaed silently while the camera's iconic flash went off.

She was about to take another one when a frightened, strangle of a scream sounded. Briefly, the girl looked up, her eyes widening in the slightest. She barely had time to react before stumbling out of the way, her camera being almost dropped in the process.

Her adrenaline was pumping fiercely. A loud gasp escaped her lips. Pure shock took ahold of her bones and for a moment she wondered, Is this real life?

Sitting, quite awkwardly I do say, on the ground was a gangly, lean, teenage(?) male. His eyes were sealed shut. Is he unconscious?

Giavanni slowly approached, her heartbeat thrumming loudly in her chest. She squatted closer to the ground, hoping that whoever was looking didn't think she had killed him or something. Carefully, her index finger poked his pale cheek. He didn't respond. Her heart was still rapidly beating, almost telling her Get the hell away from this creature.

She poked him again, and this time his eyes snapped open. Immediately they intenely bored into Giavanni's light ones. She involuntarily squeaked, almost doing a backflip when he began to sit, albeit slowly, up.

She could tell he was much taller than her, so she stood to her own average height and looked him up and down.

"You're not from here..." Giavanni said articulately, her insides turning into jelly at the stranger's unwavering stare. The male let out a rumbling sigh, beginning to stand up and look down on Giavanni. "You don't say, doll."

Something about his tone made her want to throw up. Must be one of those royals. "Listen, whatever your name is, I suggest you go back to where you came from before somebody looks over and gawks at your... accessories." The latter smirked at her own comment, her arms crossing.

The brunette rolled his eyes, simply turning away. "You piss me off." And then he walked away.

Walked away?

Yes, just like that.

How dare he? Who does he think he is? Giavanni stared after him. And he can just walk in public like that? No one's freaking out?

The girl felt dizzy and overwhelmed, so she slowly placed her camera back in its case and continued to take more photographs.

I'm not going to get any sleep tonight. . .

PART 2 .

The walk to school was relatively calm. Giavanni could hear bits of conversation and background noise humming in her ears. She inhaled the slightly cool air of April, exhaling it back out into the atmosphere. This year was her last in high school (finally), and she was looking forward to being called a 'senpai'.

"Oi, Webb!" A feminine voice caught up to her. Said 'Webb' looked over her shoulder and saw her close friend. "Tori-chan!" Giavanni said, sounding relieved. "I thought you moved?"

"I convinced my parents," The tall blonde winked and put a finger to her lips. "Shhh."

Giavanni rolled her eyes, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You joke around too much."

"It's our last year of high school, what do you expect?" Tori laughed, clapping Giavanni on the back, which sounded an 'ow!' from her.

"Anyway." Giavanni said, politely steering the subject towards a certain person. "Is Ara-kun coming back?"

"Arashi?" Tori pondered, looking off into the distance. "Hmm. . . I'm pretty sure he is. Why'd you ask?"

"He usually walks with us to school, remember?" The Webb responded, prodding at Tori's memory.

"Arashi!" Tori bellowed, much to Giavanni's embarrassment. "Where art thou, Arashi?" Giavanni drifted off in her thoughts. Then she felt Tori's breath on her ear.

"Psst, Webb."

"What? And it's Giavanni, Gia, or even Gia-chan."

Tori adjusted said Webb's head to look next to her and felt her jaw drop.

Ootori Arashi. Completely. Revamped.

Instead of his genetic brown hair, he'd gone and dyed it red. Did he grow taller, too?

Giavanni cast a sidelong glance at him, waiting for him to stop whatever he was staring at; whether it be the blooming trees or something relatively similar.   

"Oi, Webb, you're lagging." Tori said to the wondering ravenette, her position in a slight slouch.

". . .Giavanni?"

Giavanni turned and looked over her shoulder, in the same motion adjusting her messenger bag. "That would be me."

"Giavanni Webb?!" The red head gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you at all!" Arashi glomped her in a hug. "How've you been?"

"Uh. . . well, I guess?" Giavanni said in a muffled voice, since Ootori's arms were encasing her head. "Yourself?"

"I'm doing great! My two best friends are here." Arashi said, releasing Giavanni and waving at Tori, who was a little farther up ahead.

"Shall we?" Arashi bopped Giavanni's shoulder and started walking up the cobblestone.

"Yeah. . ."

The trip began walking, once again, to their destination. The school loomed like a giant cliff in front of the plentiful blossoming cherry trees. Unfortunately, for Tori, her allergies were being a complete bitch. Arashi could only comfort her with words.

Everything's normal so far. . .

and then the morning bell rang.