Fan Fiction ❯ Because of Your Name ❯ Because of Your Name pt. 1 ( Chapter 1 )

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Because of Your Name

 

I never could have thought that something as simple as a word could hold so much metaphorical `power' until I met him.

 

You see, I have this strange little...habit of, when I like someone, writing the name of that person on pretty much anything I can get my hands on, absentmindedly. I'd long since learned by countless mistakes not to write it out in a language anyone here would find readable, but rather, developed my own complex system of writing. Time and time again, it has saved me plenty of trouble.

 

Until I met him.

 

He was...strange at first, to say the least. He didn't seem like he belonged in an normal grade like this; he was constantly praised for his intelligence and scored highest out of the class on any given exam or assignment. One would think that would lead to an almost...'nerdy', should I say, personality...But this guy was opposite.

 

He was cold, colder than the ice people normally compare standoffish others to....more like dry ice than the kind you get in a glass of water, I guess I could say. It would be exaggerating to say he constantly had girls attempting to confess their love to him, but there were those occasional times when one would nearly be ran over flat by a sobbing girl dashing for the ladies' room if one was in the way. He pushed everyone away, to say the least, and seemed to find solace in the comfort of ...'made up' characters, so to say.

 

And of course, that was why he interested me so, I being one of those who will force you to smile if I do not think you are happy-looking enough.

 

He tried to ignore me at first, only reacting when I did something `drastic' like tearing the book from his hands or attempting to steal his glasses before he could hunt me down and smack me over the head with the nearest heavy, blunt object (for one who did not even participate in P.E., he had strength!), but after time he learned to...'accept' my presence, I guess you could say. It was obvious he thought of me but nothing as a mere annoyance, but as long as I was getting some attention...Just meeting his gaze occasionally gave me the will to keep writing his name.

 

Then came the day when he finally noticed the strange writing that had been inked onto my hand; I had blushed immediately, against my will, when he grabbed my hand from it's place on the ground next to him (as I had made it my habit also to sit next to him during lunch hour, when everyone was allowed to roam around campus and therefore around the courtyard) in an almost rough manner, examining it closely.

 

“W-what are you d-doing?!” I remember stammering in embarrassment, blushing hotly enough that I could feel it, knowing it would be obvious despite the tendency of my abnormally long bangs to rest over almost half my face if I didn't have them brushed aside (the day was windy, I also remember, so my hair had been blowing in my face...).

 

“What does this say..?” He had replied simply, ignoring my question. His voice was, and always has been, able to send another surge of blush to my already steaming-red cheeks, both due to the deepness and tone of it but also the fact that hearing it was rather rare. His fingers absentmindedly stroked my hand softly, which seemed to be caused by his habit (as I had noticed) of tapping his fingers or twiddling his thumbs. I remember thinking that his hands were soft, gentle almost; long, thin fingers gave him the appearance of a pianist.

 

It had finally occurred to me that, for someone who seemed to have a fetish for logic puzzles and foreign languages, the challenge of finding a new language and deciphering the meaning of its words would be almost...addicting, pleasurable. Perhaps I hadn't realized it until then, but this `language' of mine would be the reason he finally returned an interest in me, even if just on the surface then.

 

“Well..?” He had asked again, bringing me back to my senses and therefore reality. The typical serious expression on his face was tinted with something akin to curiosity, giving his emotion a depth that I would soon start craving.

 

“I-it's nothing,” I remembered stammering, trying to shake it off by replacing my embarrassment with the kind of standoffishness that was more typically associated with him, not I. I “stuck my nose up” at him, as the expression goes, trying to hold back the shivers that threatened to run down my spine from his touch.

 

Rather than letting my hand go and going back to his book as I had supposed he would, he began to chuckle softly. At first I wasn't sure I had heard correctly, but by the time I managed enough courage to look back at him, he was full-out laughing.

 

“O-oi, what's so funny about that?!” I had stammered again, embarrassed not only because he was touching me and therefore making a scene with his laughing, but rather that he was laughing at me.

 

“I-It's just that...that is absolutely hilarious...” He managed in-between laughs and gasps for breath, “T-to think someone would develop their own characters to hide something, and then call it nothing..”

 

“Y-you know...that it's a language?!”

 

“It was only a guess until you confirmed it.”

 

“..Shit, I did, didn't I?” I replied, starting to laugh softly in my embarrassment as well. It was almost pathetic, I realize now, to get worked up over something so simple, but I am now glad that I had, lest it provide different results.

 

Those results, of course, being one that would get anyone shouting in exasperation “this kind of stuff only happens in manga!” (or in the case of anyone watching/listening, “how clichéd is that?!”), but that's what you all want to hear, isn't it?

 

I think I remember his glance quickly flicking to check that the courtyard we were in was empty before acting, though that might just be caused by my imagination from reliving the moment (only improved,) in fantasies. He leaned forward slightly from his place half-laying on the ground (being supported on one elbow), using my hand which he held in his to tug me downwards to meet him. His hair, whipped around by the wind, brushed against my face and intertwined with my own lighter locks (my hair being of a light brown and his of a jet-black), finding the texture somehow oddly soft (though I don't know how I managed to notice). His lips caressed mine, softly, in such a way that would have sent shivers down my spine even if I was used to this, pale skin brushing against mine as it was necessary. The hand of his that wasn't holding mine slid to the back of my neck, pushing my head down slightly to allow the kiss to lose some of its gentleness, though the entire thing remained tentative and so chaste I almost wanted to scream in frustration, though I was paralyzed in a blushing and wide-eyed state.

 

A muffled whimper managed to escape my throat as the hand on the back of my head slid forward to my chin, softly forcing my lips to part more than they already had been with my silent gasp. A fresh blush streaked across my face as his tongue slid into my mouth, slipping against mine as if trying to provoke it to react. His eyes were barely open, and from my angle the powder-blue pupils had practically disappeared, silver-rimmed glasses somehow having disappeared in the course of action as well. Without even realizing it, my own eyes slid shut as I began to copy his movements in a tentative manner, heart taking over my reactions as it was able to concentrate on how much I had been dreaming of something like this while my mind remained frantic.

 

The kiss ended way too soon, or so it seemed, the tip of his tongue teasing mine once more before he released my bottom lip from where he had been nibbling softly on it. He asked me again the same question he had before, as if what he had just done would better convince me to give an answer.

 

“What does it say..?” He repeats his previous question, keeping his face perhaps a mere three inches from mine, as if to trip me up again.

 

“Y-your name..” I answer, without thinking, seemingly in a daze.

 

“What about my name..?”

 

“Th-that's what it says...your name..”

 

“Oh?” This seemed to spark his insatiable curiosity, “And why would it say that..?”

 

“B-because...”

 

“Because..?”

 

“B-because...uh...well...”

 

He leans up slightly, pressing his lips almost against mine in a way that just allows me to feel the sensation enough to send another shiver down my spine and another rush of scarlet to my face.

 

“Don't be afraid to tell me...” He coos, reassuringly, knowing it will get a response from me.

 

“I-it's something I do...with the names of people...p-people I-I l-l-like...” I stammer, hands clenching into fists and unclenching as I wish down the nerves that are sending my stomach flip-flopping like a pancake and the tears stinging at my eyes that always come with embarrassment.

 

“So...you like me..?” He replied, seeming curious once more.

 

“I would think someone as smart as you could get that simple thing!!” I almost snap, my tone filled with sheer exasperation.

 

“Good.” He replies, taking my annoyed response for a `yes' with no regard for tone or choice of word.

 

“...good..?”

 

He doesn't answer me this time, getting up from our place on the grass and slipping his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, brushing his bangs back from behind them with a flipping motion caused by his fingers. He picks up his stuff, causing anger to well up inside me and replace the embarrassment as his actions make me believe he's just going to leave me here after all of this, on the ground blushing as if I was stupid or worthless.

 

But when I think he is about to walk away, he turns back to face me, body angled slightly sideways though I can see his face almost completely, though it is slightly shadowed by the trees that block out the hot, afternoon sun in a way that seems almost sexy, dare I say it.

 

“Good...” He repeats himself, a slight smirk upturning the corners of his mouth in an alluring manner, “...because I like you too.”

 

~*~

Kichigaijimiru: fwah! Sorry that this chapter is so short, I honestly wanted this fiction to just be a one-shot, but it looks like it would fit best as two chapters...gomen nasai! I will try to get the second chapter finished as soon as I can!!