~I Still Hate Bandannas~Kaidoh Kaoru x OC

Chapter 3

Okay...now what?

I pondered as I walked, absentmindedly kicking a rock on the pavement in front of me. Today was a terribly hot day, and just the thought of having to stay outside without any water or a fan made me cringe. I absolutely hated the heat. Mother Nature is on a mission to make me suffer. I could practically feel the flesh melting from my bones in this damn uniform. Which is what really sucked about uniforms, you sweat to death in them, feeling (and probably smelling) absolutely disgusting, and you're stuck like that for the rest of the day. The cold is much better, because it's so much easier to just put on more and more layers, while in the summer there are only so many layers one can take off before getting arrested for public nudity. I've always been a sweater weather kind of person.

Wiping away more sweat from my forehead, I ventured off towards the park, hoping that there would be something more interesting than abusing rocks on the sidewalk, and maybe a vending machine with water. Oddly enough, the park looked like it was completely barren of human life. No children were out playing, no parents out watching them while wishing they were somewhere else, not even an awkward couple too shy to make any form of physical contact. No one.

Or at least I thought.

Just as I began to think that I was in complete solitude in this unusually desolate area, I heard voices. Normally, I wouldn't have paid any mind to whoever they were or whatever they were talking about, but my ears automatically perked up at hearing an all too familiar hissing sound. A smirk crept its way onto my face.

That could only belong to one person.

Kaoru.

I followed the sound of the hissing and found Kaoru sitting on a park bench. He was drenched in sweat with a towel around his shoulders and a water bottle at his side. His chest was heaving rather non-rhythmically as he was trying to catch his breath in this god forsaken heat. I silently made my way over to him with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Well, well. Looks like I'm not the only one playing hookie this afternoon."

Kaoru looked up and hissed at me with a look that told me I wasn't very high on the list of people that he wanted to see right now.

"Shut up idiot. Unlike you, I got permission to leave."

"Whatever. Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, or so they say."

"When have you ever, in your entire life, begged for anything?"

"I see your point."

"Where were you anyway?"

"Just the gym."

"Hmph, should've known. We were looking for you."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Kai and I. Mom asked us to look for you since you didn't answer your phone. You should've told someone where you were going."

"Oh...well, tell her I'm sorry."

"Fshuuu"

Kaoru looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him whatever it is he thought I wanted. I just stood there staring at him without saying another word. His eyebrow twitched as his patience was being pulled to the end of it's rope, he always hated being stared at, and I tried as hard as I could to hold back the grin that was pulling at the corners of my mouth. Apparently, Kaoru decided he'd had enough of my presence.

"What do you want? I'm busy, you know," he growled.

I stayed planted to the ground, ignoring his demand, as I eyed his water bottle. When I said I wanted a vending machine, I wasn't kidding, but the universe apparently thought so since there was none to be found. That's when I noticed someone sitting next Kaoru, who apparently just now noticed the presence of a third party, and looked up from a notebook. He was pale and had short, spiky black hair, and his eyes were hidden by computer screen glasses. Even though he was sitting, I could tell he was rather tall, definitely taller than me.