6

Airi was still fuming by the time she reached home. She couldn't stand violence of any kind, and Kenji's sudden aggressive act had distressed her a lot. What was even worse than what he had done, however, was the way he had acted afterwards: completely cold and emotionless, seemingly unaware of the gravity of what he had done. Was he some sort of psychopath?

She shook her head. She didn't want to overreact, but if he had at least shown some sort of remorse, she might have empathised with him and the frustrating situation Rei had put him in. But no! He hadn't reacted like a hot-tempered boy who had been struck on the wrong nerve; he had reacted like it was a matter of principle. 'Light a fire, and it will burn'...what had he even meant by that?

As she went to bed, she remembered the intrigue she had felt when she had first seen him that very morning; how much things had changed by tonight! For, now, she felt nothing but disappointment in his behaviour; he was awkward, aggressive, and cold. Almost unbelievably so. She closed her eyes. Tomorrow, life would go on the same as it usually was; and if she saw him anywhere, she would ignore him completely. End of story.

* * *

'Now that we've discussed the functions of major organs in the human body,' said the biology teacher the next day, 'I want you all to form groups and research further on one organ of your choice, then write a detailed report of about 1500 words on it.'

The class groaned in unison, but the teacher did not relent.

'I'll expect you all to turn them in by Friday, no excuses,' he said. 'Now, let's form groups first; let's see, Hoshi, Tanaka, and Mie can work on...kidneys, is that okay? Good! Aiko, Yuri, and Rina can work on the liver; who else...'

The teacher continued sorting out groups and allotting them their work, until there were only a few people left.

'Now, let's see, Airi, would you like to work on the heart?' said the teacher, looking at her.

Airi resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the word 'like' and nodded.

'Good! You and Kenji can do this together, then,' declared the teacher, making Airi's eyes widen in horror.

'No, wait, sensei!' she called out hurriedly, making the teacher frown.

'What's wrong?'

'Can't I do it with someone else, please?' she said pleadingly, and she felt someone glaring at her almost immediately. She didn't have to look to know who it was.

'What's wrong with him?' said the teacher, looking puzzled, but he looked at the list of names once more anyway. 'Well, the last group is Rei, Emi and Rika, so you can pick one of them instead if you want.'

Airi groaned. The mean girl trio that had ruined yesterday's picnic in the first place — just her luck that they were the last ones left. There was no way she would spend even a minute with them of her own will, let alone an entire week over a group assignment!

'No, it's fine, I guess I'll just do it with Kenji, then,' she said with a sigh.

'Good. Make sure you work hard, everyone, and put your heart in it, haha,' said the teacher with a grin, but unfortunately, no one laughed. 'All right, then,' he said more sombrely, 'class dismissed!'

Kenji shook his head at the cheery faces of his classfellows as soon as they were allowed to leave. Did they have no love of learning? Why were they happier at the lesson's end than at its start?

He got up during the break until the next class, and wondered what to do uptil then. Should he start writing the assignment that he and Airi were supposed to be working on together?

He sighed at the thought of Airi. The way she had given him a cursory look when she first entered the classroom, before ignoring him completely, made him feel worse than he had expected. And then, when she had flat out refused to work with him; what had he done to her to earn this kind of hate?

That's just how humans were, he told himself. Unpredictable except in the guarantee to hurt others. Airi was just a human.

He walked into the corridor and found Airi.

'Do you want to begin work yet?' he asked her flatly.

Airi looked at him in surprise. 'Are you serious? The class just finished, for Heaven's sake!'

'So?' said Kenji matter-of-factly. 'Since we have free time, we should start it at once, shouldn't we?'

Airi looked at Kenji and wondered what to say. Was he trying to annoy her? Make up with her? Or was he seriously considering working on the assignment during all their breaks that very day?

'No,' she said at last. 'I don't want to work on it right now. I'd rather do it in the evening, after school is over. We can begin tomorrow evening, maybe?'

'Why not today?' said Kenji. 'We must begin as soon as possible — the teacher said we must work hard!'

What a nerd. Or maybe a teacher's pet? Despite herself, the more she looked at him, the more she disliked him. Hated him. Detested him. What was wrong with her? She thought for a moment, and realised that the sooner she finished that wretched assignment, the sooner she would be rid of his company.

'Okay, fine, tonight then!' she said.

'When? After school is over?' said Kenji.

'Yeah, we'll see.'

The bell rang and Airi went back in the classroom, glad not to have to talk to him anymore.

When lunch time arrived and she went outside as usual for the class picnic, she saw Kenji sitting underneath the chestnut tree with a box of... rice. Only rice.

She looked at him in surprise, but he was too engrossed in the meal to notice her. Since he looked like he really was enjoying it, she passed by him and shrugged it off as yet another one of his eccentricities.

When school was over at last, Airi walked out of the building with an exhilarated sigh. She smiled happily as she looked at her surroundings and wondered if she ought to paint a watercolour tonight. Just as she was considering whether she should try pastels instead, Kenji came in front of her with his usual blank expression, and she was reminded unpleasantly of the evening study plan — with him.

'I am ready to study,' said Kenji.

Airi glared at him for a second before she smiled painfully. 'Okay, but I'm not ready yet.'

Kenji looked at her, almost betrayed. 'But you said, "after school"!'

'I said, "we'll see"!' said Airi.

Kenji looked rather crestfallen, making Airi laugh in spite of herself.

'Look, we'll get it done tonight by all means, but at least let me breathe first,' she said, in her usual lighthearted tone. 'School only just finished and I need to feel a little free first...why don't we walk for a bit?'

'Okay...' said Kenji, who began walking next to her, but more as though it were an assigned task rather than a pleasurable activity.

Airi looked at him through a sidelong glance and wondered how she was going to get anything done with him around. 'So, why do you study so much, anyway?' she asked him.

Kenji looked at her in mild surprise. 'Because I have to!'

'Well, we all have to... but why does your whole life seem to revolve around studying?' said Airi.

'I simply do what is necessary,' said Kenji in his annoying monotone.

'Okay, never mind,' said Airi, shaking her head, when her eyes lit up suddenly. 'Hey, let's have some ice-cream!'

'Ice-what?' said Kenji, confused.

Airi turned to him in surprise. 'Now, please don't tell me you've never had ice-cream! That's just lying through your nose!'

'I don't understand!!' said poor Kenji.

'You've really never eaten ice-cream?' said Airi, her incredulous tone changing to one of concern.

Kenji shook his head, wondering how important this ice-cream was in human culture, and hoping his lack of knowledge wouldn't expose his identity.

Airi smiled, her eyes twinkling and her grin growing wider by the second. 'Well, then — you're in for a treat!'

Kenji watched as she walked up to a nearby stall and bought two ice-creams. She returned soon with them and held one out to him. He stared at the strange object; it certainly didn't look like food. It was a triangle-shaped utensil with something pink and white on top — perhaps that was the ice-cream.

'Well, go on, take it and eat it before it melts!' said Airi impatiently.

What was 'melt'? Kenji did not ask. He simply closed his fingers around the utensil which contained the ice-cream and wondered how he was supposed to eat it. Airi hadn't given him a spoon!

He looked at her to observe how she was eating it, but she hadn't started yet; she was looking at him!

'I...um...' Kenji shifted his feet awkwardly as he wondered what to say.

Airi realised that he really had no idea how to eat it. She smiled and licked her ice-cream.

What an unsightly way of eating! Surely humans were more civilised than this!

'I got us both a mix of vanilla and strawberry — my favourite,' said Airi, taking another lick. 'Go on, you'll love it, I promise!'

Kenji reluctantly looked at his ice-cream and hoped he wouldn't look ridiculous licking it like some sort of animal; but it couldn't be helped, as Airi was looking at him expectantly and he knew he had to act fast.

He closed his eyes and decided to try the white part first — it smelt a little less overwhelming — and took the first lick.

He opened them again almost at once in shock.

'It's so cold!!' he exclaimed.

'It's called "ice" cream for a reason,' said Airi with a laugh.

'It can't be good for the health, something this cold,' said Kenji anxiously. 'Food should always be room temperature, and then it's so sweet; I've never eaten anything this sweet—'

'Oh, come on, forget about all that and just enjoy it,' said Airi.

Kenji looked at his ice-cream again, now realising what 'melt' meant. He sighed and put aside his cautious thoughts, taking another lick, this time from the pink side.

A burst of flavour erupted in his mouth, an explosion of berries and snow and creamy sweetness all in three delicious seconds.

'This...this is so good... but it's gone!' said Kenji in surprise.

Airi laughed heartily. 'That's how it's meant to be! Just lick some more! Oh, this is so much fun!'

Kenji hoped she wasn't laughing at him, but he was too busy in trying out the vanilla part once more — this time, he appreciated its cool texture and sweet simplicity. He marveled again at how fast the ice-cream disappeared as soon as he licked it; but he quickly took some more instead, just like Airi had told him to.

'Now what should I do?' he wondered when the ice-cream on top had finished, but there was still so much left that was now inaccessible due to the obtrusive utensil — the only part he didn't like so much about this ice-cream.

He looked at Airi, and watched her — take a bite from the utensil?! It could be eaten?! Why hadn't he thought of it?

'It's the cone, it's very tasty, too,' said Airi, noticing his gaze and wondering deep inside how someone could spend their entire childhood without ever eating ice-cream.

Kenji tried to mimic her and bite the cone, but he ended up taking too much and got ice-cream all over his face, making him yell.

Airi burst into laughter at his comical face and genuine surprise, making him look at her annoyedly.

'What's so funny?' he said, and she could swear his eyes almost glowed at her, but of course it was just the light.

'Nothing,' she giggled, offering him a handkerchief. 'Here, take this to clean up! And don't take such a big bite next time, hehe!'

Kenji took the handkerchief, feeling rather foolish. Mistakes were not taken kindly where he was from; someone who could not complete a task to perfection was considered incompetent and stupid. His father had always been frustrated at him for his continued inability to emulate him properly.

He looked at Airi, but she didn't seem to mind his mistake. In fact, she simply looked amused. Was it because she was enjoying his awkwardness? No, he didn't think so. Airi wasn't like other humans; she was... kind; she was sweet — just like the ice-cream that he finished in silence, feeling a tinge of something that tasted like change.