"I'm bored..."

She leaned out the window of the Newspaper Club Room and looked out on the schoolyard below, sighing heavily as nothing appeared to entertain her. The school day was almost over, and here she was, still stuck in this room, waiting for the rest of the club members to finish their articles. Her job as President of this club was usually entertaining, or at the very least something to keep her busy, but the day of their deadline was anything but thrilling. Time and time again, she was the only one done, and everyone else spent their last period of the day rushing around to interview someone or put the finishing touches on an article. Time and time again, she found herself waiting in this room for everything to be handed in, wondering idily to herself if they'd even manage to get the paper out on time. Time and time again...

"Mou." She sighed again and sank back into the chair she'd positioned in front of the open window, folding her arms across her chest and pouting. "I have nothing to do..."

It was a nice day, at least. Spring was in full bloom; not too far from the Tsukiomi campus, cherry blossoms rained down on sidewalks and streets, contrasting sweetly with the bright blue sky and that day's puffy white clouds. The sun was warm and birds were chirping, building nests and flitting from tree to tree. It really was quite picturesque. But as pretty as this spring day was, it couldn't quite keep Yuizaki Hiyono from being bored.

"Hurry up!"

At the sound of a gruff voice from somewhere outside, the blonde girl leaned forward and looked out the window, hoping for some excitement. What she saw was an afternoon gym class--the second year gym class, she corrected herself, recognizing a few faces in the crowd. A group of male students jogged obediently beside the school, led by one of the physical education coaches, a man who had a reputation for being unnecessarily harsh on his students. Hiyono made a mental note to dig up some dirt on him, just in case she needed it...

"I said hurry up!"

There was a chorus of "hai!" and the students all quickened their pace, jogging by Hiyono's vantage point without noticing her. She wondered briefly if it was odd that she felt completely uninterested in them. After all, they were teenage boys in thin shirts and shorts... Oh, but when in the hell would she have time for a boyfriend? She sighed, shaking her head at the thought. The Newspaper Club took up too much of her time, along with a certain second year student who--

Hiyono suddenly leaned out the window, blinking several times at what she saw below. There was a single student lagging behind... walking, in fact, not seeming to care that the others were a great distance ahead of him. That student... well, Hiyono would recognize that messy hair anywhere.

"Narumi-san~?"

He was almost directly beneath her third floor window; the sound of her voice didn't seem to startle him, but he did stop suddenly in his tracks, taking a step back and squinting up at her. After a moment his face cleared, and he folded his arms across his chest, a slight grin tugging on his mouth. "Yo."

"Why aren't you with the others?" she called, hoping no one was around to see them. This kind of conversation could get them both in trouble (although Hiyono's squeaky clean reputation would certainly help to get them out of it). "Did you hurt yourself?"

The question seemed to amuse him. "No," he replied, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't feel like running."

"Hmmm..."

"Why are you leaning out the window looking like an idiot?" His grin widened as her expression soured--he always seemed to derive a great amount of joy from teasing her. "Don't you have work to do, President?"

She scoffed at him. "I'm already done."

"So you decided to bother me in the middle of my class?"

"I don't bother you nearly enough, Narumi-san~"

"I beg to differ." He glanced to his right, in the direction of the other students (who by now had probably rounded the corner of the main building). "If you're going to interrupt my walk, you might as well be helpful. Do something to get me out of this class."

She blinked, then sighed. "I'm not sure if I can come up with an excuse..."

"Just toss your hair out the window." He suddenly laughed aloud, the sound sending a sudden warmth through Hiyono's body. It wasn't often that he laughed like that, not around her. "I'll climb up and escape."

"... what?"

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" He was smirking now. "What do you say?"

She stared at him. "You're crazy, Narumi-san."

"If you rescued me, I'd be sure to reward you somehow."

"I wouldn't want a reward from someone in smelly gym clothes."

"Well," he began, and unfolded his arms, "if you were a princess, I'm sure the only appropriate reward would be a kiss from a prince."

"A prince in smelly gym clothes?"

"... be more cooperative, would you?"

She smiled, feeling her face glow. Things had changed between them a little, lately... He had relaxed, and she'd become aware of the fact that he took up a good portion of her free time, enough to prompt people to ask if they were dating each other, or at least interested. And of course, they'd both been answering "no," but when Asazuki Kousuke asked again the other day, just to annoy Ayumu...

"I don't have time for a girlfriend. She's enough of a hassle."

"So why not just make it official? Two birds with one stone, ne, otouto?"

"If I wanted to be involved with someone who spent all their free time annoying me, I'd get married. But, knowing her, that's what she'll drag me into eventually."

"Na--Narumi-san! I have no intentions--!"

"Well, I'm sure I'll still be around when you change your mind. After all, if I'm going to spend the rest of my life being nagged and ordered around, it might as well be with a stupid girl like you."

"Oi. You stopped talking."

Hiyono leaned a little further out the window, smiling wider, waving a hand at him. "You'd better run, Narumi-san."

"Run?"

"NARUMI!!" The athletics instructor was suddenly racing towards Ayumu, his face flushed bright red. He was quite mad, evidently. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Damn. Can't be helped." The second year student sighed, then looked back up at Hiyono. "After class--?"

"I'll be here." She waved cheerfully. "I hope you can outrun him~"

"Maybe I can." He grinned. "Well, until then, princess..." Much to Hiyono's surprise, he brought his hand to his lips, then blew her a kiss. "Work on growing your hair a bit."

"... Naru--"

"Ja ne." He turned on his heel and quickly dashed away, just narrowly escaping the grasp of the infuriated coach. The chase began, and Hiyono watched, dumbfounded, as the two sped down the side of the building, then around a corner. Ayumu was sure to be in trouble after that, but...

The blonde-haired girl leaned back in her seat, her heart beating fast, and closed her eyes. One thing was for sure... she certainly didn't feel bored anymore.