Log Part 2: Complete

[silence-bringer.livejournal.com]

When; Highschool Curse - Day 1 (backdated, just like the other parts)
Rating; Still PGish here.
Characters; Tomoe Hotaru silence_bringer, and Archer fireismyblood
Summary; Continuation of the other part, Archer and Hotaru's adventures in highschool-land. XD.
Log;

"Ne...Archer-san, you should...probably be getting back to class soon."

Archer nodded, knowing the girl was right. This close to finals he didn't want to risk getting in trouble. He had never actually ditched class, two of his important ones being on opposite ends of the day, but there was no need to risk it.

"You're right Hotaru," he agreed. "You should be too. Let me walk you back to class and carry your books for you?"

Archer hoped she would let him, he didn't want her to think he wanted to keep his attraction to her hidden or anything. He didn't care of everyone knew he liked Hotaru.

Turning bright red, she fidgeted, thin arms wrapped around her bag full of books. She wasnt used to this kind of attention, especially not from an attractive upperclassman. But at the same time, there was something somehow appealing about seeing the looks on the faces of her popular-crowd tormentors as she walked down the hallway with one of the most desirable single guys in the school on her arm.

Blushing, she nodded shyly.

"O..ok. If you really want to..."

Archer smiled more and reached out to take her book bag from her, slinging it over his shoulder. He was still half afraid that she was going to realize that he really didn't deserve a girl like her. Also, if her brother saw them together it would probably cause problems but he didn't care. Hotaru was worth it.

"Man, now I feel really dumb for waiting so long to ask you," he said as they headed out of the nurses office. "I wish I had said something a lot sooner."

Glancing up at him, she cocked her head to the side.

"R...really? I thought....you wouldn't be interested in someone like me...."

He wasn't the only one who had some degree of trepidation regarding her brother. Uchiha Itachi was well-known as a dangerous person if you got on his bad side, and there had been instances in the past where enemies of the red-eyed young man had mysteriously come up missing or suddenly had drugs found in their locker. She didn't want that sort of thing to happen to Archer, someone she actually cared about.

Archer shook his head, surprised once again at how she couldn't see how special she was. Or how beautiful.

"Yeah, well, I was thinking the same thing," he said. "Didn't know why you would want to hang out with someone like me."

It was only now that he realized she wasn't responding to his advances because she didn't think he was sincere with them. He supposed that was really his own fault, he wasn't exactly known for entering into serious relationships with girls.

"But...that doesnt make sense. You're....popular and everyone likes you, and....good-looking and...."

She didn't want to admit that she honestly had thought he was just teasing her. Archer wasn't a bad guy, he was actually very nice. But...he was known to be a bit of a player, with the way he tended to casually date a lot of girls. And that...wasn't Hotaru. She wasn't the sort who could be casual like that, especially not with the boy she had secretly had a crush on.

"Is that....why you pretended to get hurt so often? To...to talk to me?"

Archer scoffed a bit, surprised at how little she really understood the dynamics of the popular crowds within the school. Still, he couldn't help but be flattered that someone who was above all those things liked him.

"People like me because I'm good at shooting a bow and I dress in the right clothes," he said. "That's a pretty stupid and shallow reason to like someone. That's all the people in those crowds care about. I have a straight A average and I have to hide that fact or those people would think less of me."

Archer stopped and turned to face Hotaru, his eyes gazing into her deep violet ones. "You're above all that though, so I figured that you wouldn't be interested in me. That you could see how shallow I am. But you were nice to me… so that's why I faked all those injures. Heh, you could tell I wasn't really hurt? Besides, you're really beautiful Hotaru and it was the only time I got to see you since we're not in the same classes."

"Then....why be friends with them. Besides....all the girls really like you."

Turning red again, she shook her head.

"I'm not...above it all. I'm just....a nobody. The girl the popular girls lock in the bathroom stall at lunch, and trip in the hallways..."

She smiled slightly, a real smile, eyes shifting away from him for a moment as he stopped.

"I....I go to your matches a lot. I always stand in the back...so you wouldn't see. If… you're going to pretend to sprain your shoulder, you should make sure it's the one that you use."

Violet eyes widened as the flush deepened.

"You....really think I'm beautiful?"

Archer thought that Hotaru blushing had to be the most adorable thing ever. Upon hearing what the other girls did to her though he clenched his fists in rage. It was one thing to think someone was different, but another entirely to attack them or mock them for it when they had never done anything to you. The sad thing is that once they started seeing him with her, it would probably only get worse.

"Yes, I really think you're beautiful. I think you're more beautiful than anyone I've met in so many ways," he told her. "And I don't care about all if all those other girls really like me, because I don't like them. I like you Hotaru. You're not a nobody, you're someone very special. Most people here are just too stupid to see that."

"But.....you always seem like you're having fun when you're with them. And they....they're so much better then me. I.....I always kept it secret. That....that I liked you. Because they....when they thought I loved a boy in my class.....they teased me about it. Beat me up after school, and told me I wasn't good enough. It...it's true, but....."

She started to reach for his hand, then pulled her own fingers back as though burned. No, she shouldn't do that. That would be overstepping bounds. Afterall, he'd said he liked her, asked her on a date. It wasn't as though he'd asked her to be his girlfriend or anything.

Archer didn't want to hear these sorts of things from her. He was angry at all the people who had been telling these things to her, all these lies. So he stopped her talking the only way he really knew how. He kissed her.

Her lips were surprisingly warm, for some reason he thought they would be cool, perhaps because of her pale skin. An arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer to him. It wasn't the most involved kiss he had ever been a part of but for some reason it seemed the most intense. If he continued with it he thought his knees would give out. But this was neither the time nor the place to get into this sort of thing.

"No kind of talk like that around me," he told her. "Those things aren’t true. No body here is good enough for you. Not me, not anyone. I don't want you to ever forget that. If I had fun with them I wouldn’t have to come up with excuses to go to the nurses room to see you. They beat you up because deep down they hate it that you're better than them."

Hotaru felt herself freeze as his lips pressed against hers. Eyes widened, then softly closed as she relaxed, hesitantly kissing him back. She didn't have that much experience with this sort of thing, and so she had no way of knowing whether she was doing it wrong or poorly. But his lips were soft, and inviting, and she felt her instincts kicking in as hands tentatively rested on his forearms, fingers curling slightly into his jacket sleeves.

A...Archer just....kissed me...!

She felt herself sway, knees starting to tremble as he pulled back, staring up at him with flushed cheeks and lips slightly swollen from the kiss. Dropping her head, she let her forehead rest against his chest as she simply listened to his words.

"A...Archer....."

"Okay Hotaru?" he asked, running fingers through her fine hair. "No more talk like that. No more talk about not being worthy or any of that stuff. Because it's not true."

Archer reached around and gave her a quick hug before tilting her chin up to look him in the eyes.

"Now let's get you to class."

She simply nodded, unable to think of anything to say or do, so stunned by his actions. Honestly, she didn't want to leave the comfortable warmth of his arms, even to go to her class.

"O..ok."

"Hey, don't be so sad," he said. "You'll see me before too long. I'll come get you after school. I'm not going to let you out of my sight before too long now that you're in it."

Archer meant it too, he had wasted who knows how long dancing around his feelings for this girl. Now that he knew they were in accordance with each other on their feelings...

She shook her head slightly, small smile on her face.

"I...I'm not sad, Archer..."

Honestly, she didn't want to move from the comfortable warmth of his embrace, even though her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it. Resting her head against his chest, she nodded slightly.

Archer was relieved that Hotaru wasn't sad. It was such an entirely weird experience for him, one that he didn't have any idea how to deal with. It was so far out of scope for him that he was lost. But it felt good.

"I'm glad," he told her. "I don't want you to ever be sad again. Heh, I sound so lame but I can't help it, it's true."

"No...it's not lame. I...no one's ever...said that about me before."

It might have been corny to some people, but to her, it was one of the sweetest things he could have said.

"Hmmm, well you're going to hear it a lot more," he told her, smiling down at her. "So get used to it. Now, what class do you have?"

"Um...I have medical studies next. It's two buildings over." Taking a deep breath, she slowly shifted her hand, small fingers curling hesitantly around his larger ones.

Archer smiled and squeezed Hotaru's hand, giving her wink, glad that she felt comfortable doing that. He wanted her to be comfortable around him and he didn't care what other people thought.

"Okay, what's your last class then?" he asked. "So I can come get you?"

"Last class.....anatomy, room 614." Blushing slightly, she nibbled on her bottom lip.

"You...you'll really come. Right?"

"Of course," he told her. It hurt him to see the worry, the result of all her teasing and worry. He promised himself he would do the best he could to make sure she never feel that way again.

"If you want I'll follow you to class right now and go to all your classes," he told her.

"You....you'd do that? For me?"

As much as she didn't want him to miss his classes, it was so very tempting to ask him to stay with her. Just...to see if what he was saying was true.

"Absolutely," Archer said, nodding to her. "I want you to know that I'm serious about this Hotaru. You're not just some fad. I..."

Archer paused for a moment starting down at her. "Y-you called me Archer," he said, the statement just now registering to him.

"Archer, I...." She bit her lip, looking up at him. "I...I'm serious too..."

Blushing, she nodded.

He smiled at her, wanting badly to kiss her again but knowing this was probably not the best spot for it. Between classes at school was not the most romantic place for a first kiss, so he wanted their second to be a bit more special.

"I know you are Hotaru," he told her. "You're not the kind of person to take things like this lightly. Hmm, you'll have to call me Archer more often, I like it. Not as much as I'm sure I'd like Archer-kun but we'll work up to that."

"O....ok. Archer-kun..." She tried it out, rolling the honourific around on her tongue. Chewing on bottom lip for a moment, she gathered her courage and stood up on tiptoe to press lips against his in a quick kiss, trying to ignore the stares of the other kids in the hallway.

Archer was smiling at the honorific when she tiptoed up and kissed him lightly, completely stunning him. It wasn't that he didn't want her to be so forward, it's just that he didn't think she would. To be honest he thought he was going to have to practically teach her everything about how to be in a relationship. Maybe that wasn't the case.

He returned the kiss, unable to help himself now that her lips were against his. He could feel the desire to do so much more burn in him but he pushed it away. That wasn't why he was with Hotaru, or at least not the only reason.

"Hotaru," he whispered once they broke the kiss. "You... would you give me the honor of being your boyfriend?"

As soon as the words left his mouth he cursed himself. Wow, way to be smooth Archer, he thought. She's going to think you're mental.

Hotaru could almost feel tears prick at the corners of her eyes. He...actually wanted her. Not just for a quick fling or a bit of fun. He...cared. Almost before she realized what she was doing, the tiny girl had flung her arms around his neck.

"Yes. I will, Archer-kun..."

Archer took a step backwards as the girl flung her arms around him, chuckling a bit at her zealous reaction.

"That makes me very happy Hotaru-chan," he told her. "More than you could know."

Feeling her face heat up, she buried it in his shoulder and closed her eyes against the feel of eyes on the back of her head as the other students stared.

It doesn't matter....doesn't matter what they think, all that matters is what he thinks...

She fought back the flinch as she caught a few whispers from girls that walked by about the "desperate little wallflower clinging to the archery team captain", trying to ignore them.

Archer wrapped his arms around Hotaru, never imagining that holding someone like this could feel so good. So when he felt Hotaru stiffen in his arms it made him go tense as well.

He caught the snippet of a comment by another student who was saying something derogatory about Hotaru and his blood began to boil. Archer reluctantly let go of the girl and took one quick step over to the teen who had said something. Grabbing them by the shirt he slammed them back into the lockers.

"Hey, I don't want to hear any comments like that about my girlfriend," he growled. "You got that? Am I clear on that? Is everyone clear on that?"

All she could do was stand in stunned silence as her newfound protector slammed the freshman boy against the lockers, watching with wide eyes his staunch defense of her.

A....Archer.....

It didn't take much before the offending student was apologizing and swearing not to do it again.

"Don't to it to anyone ever again," Archer warned the boy. "But especially her. Nothing gives you the right to do that."

The boy nodded profusely again and Archer backed off, unclenching the guys shirt and reaching down to pick up the books he had dropped on the floor.

"I'm sorry about that Hotaru-chan," he told her as he took hold of her hand again. "But I'm not going to let people get away with that."

Squeezing his fingers, she nodded slightly, sidling closer to curl her arm through his elbow and rest her head on his shoulder before leaning up to press a quick peck to his cheek.

"Thank you, Archer-kun."

"Of course," he said, smiling down at her. "It was my pleasure. Although... I can't do much about anything the girls will say. And it will probably be pretty bad."

Archer knew that was probably the understatement of the year. Girls could be far worse than guys about that sort of thing. What was worse is that she still had two more years of it to endure. He wished there was something he could do about it.

Staring down at her feet, she fidgeted slightly, fiddling with the fabric of his sleeves as hands shifted nervously.

"I....I know, but....if Archer loves me.....like I love him.....then it's...worth it."


Hotaru wasn't really sure what had possessed her to say that, why she'd gone so far as to confess that much, but she'd wanted to reassure him. Hopefully...this would do the trick.

Archer paused, slightly stunned by her words. Love? LOVE? Archer liked Hotaru, he liked her a lot. Even though he didn't know her very well he could tell that the way he felt about her was different than anything he had felt before.

But love? How could she say that she loved him when all she'd really seen was his unpleasant side? The side he didn't even like. Archer knew it would crush her if he didn't return the sentiment but at the same time he didn't want to lie to her.

"Well, I don't know exactly how you love me," he said, trying to choose his words carefully. "But later today we'll see how it stacks up when I tell you all the ways I love you. How's that?"

"Ok...."

Snuggling slightly against his arm, she was starting to feel a bit more bold, a bit more comfortable with the tactile contact and the closeness. Coming to a stop in front of a doorway, she tugged slightly at the strap of her backpack on his shoulder.

"This...this is my class."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" he asked. "I'm sure I can make up some sort of excuse."

Archer knew it was a stupid and ridiculous thing to do, but he couldn't help but offer. He was willing to do whatever it took to convince her that he was serious.

Pausing for a moment, she let her mind mull over a few things. Pushing worries aside, with a twinkle in her eye she grabbed his hand and tugged, pulling him past the door and down the hallway.

"No, I want to go with you. And get out of here."