Lesson Two

Taichi P.O.V.

I look as Hinata is still standing there speechless. At this rate she really will be expelled.

"You heard me Hinata. Principal's office, now!" The teacher says once more. The air felt tense, I need to do something. Without thinking, I finally jump into the situation.

"Silly me, I must have misplaced my desk again." I say stupidly. "Her desk is right here." I add gesturing over to my desk. The teacher doesn't look convinced.

"Ugh whatever, I'm too tired to deal with this anymore. Hinata sit down, and Taichi go get your desk." She states.

That was a close one. I really can't believe that she bought that excuse those. Either way it doesn't matter. I'm just glad that I was able to help her

***

Moments later in class, I lean over to speak to Hinata. "Ok, are you ready for lesson two?" I ask her as she sits and enjoys her lunch.

"No." She says looking at me in annoyance. 

"Hey, come on, what about the deal? We made a promise that you would allow me to help you with your anger, so you don't get expelled." I say to her, and she sighs before speaking.

"You saw just like I did Taichi. Things around here are never going to change. No matter what I do, they are always just going to see me as a dog." She explains and I can feel the sadness radiating off of her. I refuse to let her keep this mindset. 

"Well, with that attitude you might as well be a dog."

"What?" She says obviously upset by my remark.

"You heard me. If you're not even going to try, why should they think anything different?" I explain.

"Fine, just get on with it. I want to continue enjoying my lunch already." She says to me while chewing on her bun.

"Ok, so lesson two to controlling your anger, is learning when you are angry."

"Who the hell thought of this stupid lesson--"

"That would be me." I say cutting her off. 

"Oh, well, I guess you're the stupid one then." She says now eating some octopus.

"Hinata, you're so cold." I say feeling shot down.

"Hey, I said you could help me control my anger. I never said that included me being nice." She says rather harshly. It's amazing how this girl could say such harsh words and not feel the tiniest bit of guilt about it.

"That reminds me, why is it that you seem to push people away anyway?" I ask. She drops her chop sticks and almost immediately stops chewing. Her eyes grow cold. I must be asking something touchy.

"Uh, forget about it, never mind. Let's get on with the lesson." I state trying to change the subject. By then the teacher tries to get our attention, which means lunch time is almost over. I still have more I need to ask Hinata.

"So Hinata, do you recognize when you are feeling angry?" I ask and she doesn't respond.

"Hinata?" I say with still no response, so I start repeating myself.

"Hinata."

"Hinata."

"Hinata."

"What?" She says yelling and turning towards me. She looks pretty mad, which is just what I want. The teacher tells us both to quiet down.

"See, this feeling that you're feeling right now, is anger and irritation." I whisper and her face turns from a furious one to a normal one, which means she probably gets my point.

"I guess, but are you sure this feeling isn't the, I-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face feeling?" She says and I scoot a couple inches backwards, just in case she got any ideas.

"See, we're making progress, the sooner you realize you're angry, the sooner you will be able to stop it from controlling you." I say and Hinata nods in agreement. We really seem to be getting somewhere lately. Let's just hope she keeps this up.

***

Later on, I have gym, and thankfully it was with Karasuma. Today we would be doing laps around the track field. What sucks is, it's really hot outside.

"So, how is the whole Hinata thing going?" Karasuma asks me as we jog around the track.

"I'd say it's going pretty well," I answer him honestly. Suddenly, Karasuma face grows full of worry. I start to wonder what he could be thinking now. "Karasuma, what's up?" I ask.

"It's just, what if something bad happens?"

"I told you, she's not like everyone says. I know she isn't bad. Besides, if something does happen, I'll be able to take care of myself I mea--"

"Look, you don't know what you're dealing with Taichi she--"

"With all to respect Karasuma, I told you I'm fine. Now, can you just drop this and stop being paranoid already?"

"Tsk! You don't get it Taichi! You don't know what she did. She's not safe to be around!" Karasuma yells, stopping in his tracks while balling his hands up into fists. Realizing his outburst, he releases his clenched fists, and takes a breath. Karasuma's outburst surprises me, he is usually so calm and collected. This has to be the first time I ever saw him this angry.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled like that." Karasuma says, and we continue to jog. Is Hinata really that bad? What exactly did he mean by not knowing what she did? I try not to think about it too much, besides whatever she did then was in the past.

***

As I am getting ready to walk home at the end of the day, I see Hinata walking alone on the sidewalk. I walk up next to her. Karasuma shouldn't mind, since he has to stay after school.

"Why are you walking with me?" She asks immediately.

"I thought you could use some company." I say, and she doesn't say anything back. I guess that means it's ok for me to walk along with her. As we walk, we pass by a crepe stand, and Hinata's stomach growls really loud. Her cheeks turn a bright red.

"Hey, are you hungry? Do you want me to buy a crepe?" I ask and she looks away reluctantly.

"Yes..." She says in a shy quiet voice with her cheeks still red. We proceed to get in line and once it's my turn, I get ready to order.

"Two chocolate crepes please." I ask, and the cashier looks at me.

"Sorry buddy. We ran out, stands closed." He puts up a sign that says closed.

"Sorry, I guess they don't have any crepes." I say over to Hinata.

"How does a crepe stand run out of crepes? How much of an idiot can you be!" She yells at the man, and I can tell she is getting angry.

"Hinata, you're getting angry." I whisper over to her.

"Tsk!" She says before taking a breather. She begins to walk away. I run up and follow closely next to her.

"That was a close one, I mean you really looked like you wanted to punch that guy." I say to her, and she looks like something is on her mind. Moments go by and all you can hear is the sound of cars driving by and the birds chirping.

"Hey Taichi..." Hinata says breaking the silence, while staring at the ground as she walks.

"Yeah?" I ask curious and with concern due to her strange behavior right now.

"I was thinking--maybe it might be best that you stay away from me." She says, catching me off guard. I then notice that her face looks completely serious.

"What are you saying all of a sudden?" I ask confused.

"I don't want you to get hurt, ok? Taichi, I really am dangerous, and there is a lot you don't know about me."

So that's what this is about. She thinks that she is going to hurt me by hanging around me.

"That may be true, but one thing I do know about you is that you're not actually dangerous like th--" She then stops in her tracks.

"Idiot! How do you know for sure that I'm not dangerous? How do you know, I won't hurt you in some way or another?" She yells at me. I then stop walking and hang my head low, where you can't see my eyes. I clench my hands into fists. I'm tired of this.

"You call me the idiot when you're the biggest one of them all! You may doubt that you're a good person, but I don't because I saw the way you looked at those flowers in the garden! Your face was gentle and didn't look scary at all! You're not bad. I can't explain it, but I just know you're not--so when you say things like that I--" I stop in the middle of my sentence. I unclench my fists. What was wrong with me? Hinata then looks at me speechless.

"Idiot, what are you getting emotional for. I heard you after the first sentence." She says and she walks up to me before doing something surprising. She hugs me tightly, and I hug her back.

"There are you done throwing a fit like a baby?" She says releasing me and I nod.

"When you say that I need to stay away from you, that is something I can't do. We had a deal." I say to her and at first, she looks surprised, but then it turns into a smile. She nods her head ok. Moments later we are in front of her house, and we say our goodbyes.

I look up towards the sky. Why in the world did I say all those things? I never said anything like that to someone before. I wonder what's going on with me.

Maybe, I'm just getting sick or something. Either way I know one fact remains, I don't want Hinata out of my life, even if I do end up getting hurt.