Kindergarten Bully [Oikawa Tooru] | ✔

Sendai Stand Up

Always stand up for what you believe in... even if it means standing alone.

— Kim Hanks

xXx

"A-amazing," Mizushima Tsubaki whispered in awe of Leiko's performance. She nearly dropped her flute from all the sweat that was gathering in the palm of her hand. Her hair, which she normally wore up in a high ponytail, just so happened to be down today, falling in waves down to her waist. Inwardly, she cursed at the feeling of her tresses sticking to the nape of her neck.

Beside her, her friend Ryouta Rin, a beautiful young lady with hair as orange as the sunset, snorted in contempt. "She's not that good," she sniffed. "I bet we could outdo her any day." She flipped her side ponytail behind her back. "You're being stupid again, Tsubaka."

"S-sorry, Rin-chan." Her face flushed as she heard several other girls snicker loudly. Sorry, she repeated in her head, hoping that one word would make the cackling stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn. I won't do it again. I'm sorry.

"She's not even in the same division as us," Ryouta continued. If she heard the whispering, she ignored it. "She's a soloist, not a team player."

Personally, Mizushima didn't see why that mattered. Either way, this Park Leiko was pretty damn good at what she was doing.

"They better have our school pennants ready," another piped up—a second year called Susumu Sora. Her red-rimmed glasses glistened in the sunlight. "The Textiles Club worked so hard on them and it'd be a real shame if the directors of the Standoff screwed up."

"I wouldn't worry, Sora-chan," Ryouta reassured, smirking. "With or without the pendants, we're going to knock out the rest of our competition."

"You sound very sure of yourself," a voice came from the row in front. Naoko had turned around and was regarding Ryouta with a flat, unimpressed gaze. "If I may say so."

Ryouta wasn't fazed. "Well, duh. Don't you know who I am? Who we are?"

"No," Naoko said bluntly, and Mizushima died a little on the inside. The cheek of this girl! To speak to the Ryouta Rin that way. But, secretly, the ungainly girl was just a teensy bit glad of Naoko's actions.

Ryouta flushed, flicking her orange hair—which had crept back onto her shoulder—back again, caught off guard by Naoko's—er—frank personality. "W-well, I'm gonna tell you and you're going to piss yourself from realizing just how outclassed you are!" She puffed out her chest in pride. "My name... is Ryouta Rin!"

There was a tense silence as all the girls that were part of Ryouta's act stared at Naoko, trying to gauge her response. The ravenette opened her mouth and almost everybody took a deep breath.

"Doesn't ring a bell."

Ryouta nearly fell forward in disbelief. She sweatdropped heavily at Naoko's indifference. "D-dummy! I'm Ryouta Rin! Don't you read any of the music magazines?! My face has been in there plenty of times!"

"Music magazines?" Naoko echoed. By now, their conversation had caught the attention of Sumire, who looked a tad nervous. "No, I don't. I don't have time for those things."

"Rin-chan," Susumu soothed, patting her leader's arm. "I'm sorry you have to deal with such ignorant people..."

"Damn right!"

"Look." Naoko shot them all an annoyed look. "If you're not going to answer my question properly, then just forget about it." She turned back to face the front where Leiko was practically breathing fire but Ryouta wasn't going to give up so easily.