I'm Supposed to Love You?

Stepping into the school gym she was able to notice all the top students from each grade, most students being considered nerds, dorks, geeks, or outcasts only because they had actually fit the stereotypes too well. Nozomi had never been one of those students; she had always been that person no one ever knew attended the school.



Her eyes quickly scanned the bleachers, which were once a pail colored wooden mess of wax and duct tape to mark off so-called isles for students to go up and down with, now looking more like a scene from a game show. Hand made desks with buzzers linked up to a single podium on in the middle of the gym, allowing for the students to buzz in with the answer and slowly eliminating students who weren’t able to answer fast enough or know the correct answers. Looking from desk to desk Nozomi finally found the one that had her name on it; second row, dead center, next to Shuichi.



Every year the school had always prided themselves on the excellence of their students, so to find the smartest student they had decided to hold the “Tournament of the Minds”. No one ever understood why the principal decided to hold such an embarrassing game, but they had just enjoyed the day free from homework and lectures.



Climbing up to her desk she sat quietly, reciting everything she had studied the last month or so to herself, trying to keep that edge up on the rest of the competition. Most students didn’t even want to be there, a few of them were already planning on answering every question wrong so they could “escape” early. But Nozomi had other plans, this year she was going to come out on top, she wanted that front page of the school newspaper and month of free cafeteria food, not to mention she already had plans for the prize money.



She smiled to herself remembering her encounter with the young man, she had been at the store picking up some tofu for her mother when she saw him. He had been eyeing up a katana in the window of an antique store, as she left he had accidentally bumped into her and they struck up a conversation. He had told her that he would give anything to buy said katana, but with the recent luck he and his mother had been having, he’d never be able to afford it. She was going to buy it for him, and with it she was going to be able to gain the courage to ask him out.



But that was if her only competition didn’t show up, or if she could actually beat him at his game. Which ever one was supposed to happen.



Time seemed to pass slowly, and the rest of the competitors filed into place, until most of the seats were taken. Looking over the chairs that had been set out for the audience that was always hoped to show up, she had noticed a few hopeful parents and some friends that hadn’t been able to compete but were still there to cheer their friends on. Finally the moment everyone had been hoping wouldn’t come, happened. The doors opened and in walked a young man with long, red hair; intense, green eyes; a confident aura surrounding him; and as always his beloved groupies who follow his every move. Shuichi had arrived.



As the group of drooling girls took their seats, Shuichi climbed the stairs up to his spot and seated himself next to Nozomi. Nerves taking their toll on her body she shifts nervously in her seat causing herself to catch Shuichi smiling at her.



“You ready?” he asks.



“As ready as I’ll ever be, and don’t think I’m gonna let you win this time.”



“I wouldn’t expect you to, you’re too smart to do that.”



“Today is my day, you aren’t ready for this.”



But before he could answer the bell rang, announcing to everyone ‘if you aren’t inside the gym right now, you’re not going to be able to come inside until the first break’. Questions started flying and both Shuichi and Nozomi started answering questions in turn. After about ten minutes of questioning, both buzzers were turned off to allow for other contestants to move onto the second round.



As time went on, the other students began answering questions and slowly started racking up points. A few more minutes passed and a young girl, Kylie, whom Nozomi hadn’t ever seen before, had her buzzer turned off as well. As time began to pass Nozomi began to start to get a weird feeling about this Kylie person, but just shook it off as being her natural suspicion. She hadn’t ever found a person who could finish as quickly as she or Shuichi, so it was just hard to believe that someone could actually care about the competition as much as the two of them.



Minutes passed and the competition started nearing the one hour mark, oddly enough Nozomi started noticing that the building was feeling colder than it had originally been.



“Shuichi, do you think it’s getting colder in here?”



“Yeah, why do you ask?”



“Because they’ve never had it get this cold in here, not even during school dances.”



“Maybe it’s just us; we are directly underneath the air conditioner.”



Just as Shuichi finished that sentence, the questioner called the end of the first round. Allowing the students who hadn’t made it to the second round go home, while those lucky few who did were able to get a few snacks and talk with one another. As Nozomi went to the snack table, she noticed that Shuichi had his crowd of girls drooling over him. She also noticed a familiar face walking up to him, looking closer she realized it was the same guy she had originally wanted to ask out.



How would he have anything to do with Shuichi, he was a nobody just like Nozomi. Wasn’t he?