[JE] Someone Else's Universe
Title: Someone Else's Universe
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG
Genre: AU, high school, angst
Word count: 2662
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Warning: Genderswitch (double)
Author's Note: A while back, k_julia made this post with pics of Kame and Jin after she'd run them through a face morpher. As you can see, Kame as a girl looked like a cute, devious tomboy, while Jin as a girl...looked like himself with slightly thinner eyebrows. Comment conversation with k_julia and matchynishi ensued, and somehow I wound up writing a highschool AU ficlet in which Akame are both girls. If you object to this, or to girls hitting on other girls, I suggest you do not read. Don't worry, this is just an experiment based on the morphed pics - I am perfectly aware that they are both men and I like them that way!
Many thanks to flamesword for looking this over and assuring me that I didn't butcher their personalities too badly by turning them into Akanishi Jinnifer and Kamenashi Kazuko ("Kameko").
Someone Else's Universe
The corridor was clear. Jinnifer tucked her lip gloss back in her bag and sneaked out of the girls' room. If she was lucky, she'd make it all the way over to the stairs and be dozing up on the roof, catching up on her beauty sleep, before anyone noticed she wasn't running laps with the rest of the class. She hated running; she'd never managed to find a sports bra good enough to keep her more-than-ample chest in check and it made all the boys stare - when they weren't being intimidated by her height and random smacks to the backs of their heads, anyway.
But the boys weren't the only ones.
Just another couple of feet now and Jinnifer would be on her way to a prime snoozing spot under the sun, where anybody desperate enough to try looking up her skirt would really have to work for it.
Unfortunately, there was one person who didn't mind the work and knew - she always knew - exactly what Jinnifer was thinking. Jinnifer stopped short at the foot of the stairs as a petite, cute, tomboy of a girl stepped out from around the corner to block her path.
"Kameko."
The other girl grinned, leaning against the wall in a way that hiked her short skirt even higher up her legs. Not that Jinnifer was looking, of course.
"Cutting class again, Jinnifer?"
Jinnifer flipped her dark brown curls back over her shoulder and tried to sound nonchalant. Kameko was always up to something - it wouldn't do to underestimate even the simplest question. "Forgot my kit. Shouldn't you be out there with the rest of the boys?"
Kameko rubbed a finger over the bridge of her nose, once broken during a baseball game and leaving her a slight lump. She was a heroine to all the boys in the school for scoring a home run while the blood poured down her face - they'd been cheering her all the way to the hospital. Athleticism was in her bones. It had been in Jinnifer's, once, but puberty had gotten in the way of her fledgling soccer career. The first time she'd taken a ball to the chest had seen to that.
"Forgot my kit," Kameko said cheerfully. A blatant lie, because Kameko would never forget school equipment, never be given detention for sassing a teacher, never cut class...so why was she cutting now? "Having a private party on the roof or can anyone join?"
Jinnifer shrugged. "Do what you like; I can't stop you." No one could stop Kameko - one way or another, she always got what she wanted, whatever it took.
"But do you want to stop me?"
There was no way Jinnifer could answer that without sounding either bitchy or scared, and while she didn't have a problem with the first - it was a good way to get rid of unwanted suitors and stopped her brother from trespassing in her room - she didn't want to risk the second. She refused to be intimidated by a tiny, wiry little brat who probably still wore a training bra.
Never mind that for all the aforementioned brat was lacking in some girly attributes, she made up for it in others. Those rainbow-bright nails, for instance, or the small diamond studs she wore in her ears when she didn't have a game. Bright, lively eyes that could pin you with a single glance - the same one Kameko turned on Jinnifer now, had been turning on her since the first day of school, and Jinnifer didn't know what to say.
So she didn't say anything. She stalked past Kameko, letting her heels clack hard against the floor because damnit, she was tall and gorgeous and didn't care that some tiny tomboy gave her butterflies in her stomach every time their eyes met.
She knew it was a stupid move, going up the stairs first. Kameko was quick and stealthy, and an expert when it came to flipping girls' skirts. Jinnifer resisted the urge to thump the little pest with her bag and continued towards the roof.
"I think the little hearts are cute!" Kameko called after her, bounding up the steps two at a time till she caught up. "Really pretty! I've got strawberries on mine."
She reached Jinnifer just before the door, had one hand on the doorknob before Jinnifer could reach it, pinning her in the corner with nowhere to go, nowhere to look but Kameko's warm brown eyes, still playful but more intense now. Jinnifer licked her lips nervously, hoping nobody came up the stairs because her reputation didn't need any more damage and it wouldn't help if anyone saw her now, with Kameko pressing so close she was breathing more perfume than air. Kameko's free hand hovering suggestively over her hip, waiting for an invitation to touch, wasn't the sort of picture she wanted to see plastered all over the school notice boards, either.
Kameko could get away with it. Kameko was cute, and awkward and professional and smart and silly and tough and gentle all at once, and always herself, whether she was sure about it or not. Kameko never let anyone see when she needed someone to care about her, always insisted on toughing it out alone. Jinnifer couldn't help people seeing when she needed someone, wished she wasn't such an open book sometimes, but Kameko had a way of finding her during those times, distracting her with some lame joke that really shouldn't have been funny and Jinnifer wouldn't have laughed if anyone else had told it, or asking her about her many grand travel plans, the dreams that would carry her away to America, to Italy, to anywhere in the world that wasn't an airless classroom where everyone stared.
All the care Kameko had given her, and never asked for a thing in return. Jinnifer took a deep breath, steadying herself against the door as Kameko nudged closer, dared rest her hand on Jinnifer's hip - a light, almost weightless touch that said "no pressure" but set Jinnifer's heart racing anyway.
"Strawberries," Kameko repeated, cheeky grin softening to a welcoming smile. "Wanna see?"
It wasn't as straightforward as a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Jinnifer assumed the other girl didn't mean right then, right there, at the top of a public staircase, but with Kameko it didn't do to assume anything. "Now? Are you crazy?"
"Only occasionally. Come on."
Kameko backed off enough to tug the door open. The empty roof beckoned them; Jinnifer slipped outside to welcome fresh air and open space. She worked her way around the wall to her usual spot, where she could stretch out in the sun without being seen by anyone coming through the door. No one on the ground could see her unless she was dumb enough to call through the railings, and the last thing Jinnifer needed to do was advertise when she cut class.
It was okay that Kameko followed her. Jinnifer felt better about it now she didn't have sweet vanilla scent intoxicating her brain - too bad the physical distance did nothing to stop the butterflies taking pleasure jaunts around her stomach, and they picked up the pace when Kameko settled beside her on the ground, not bothering to lay her blazer down first. They wore the same school uniform but Kameko's skirt was short enough to be a promise, while Jinnifer's was too long to even tease, falling below the knee. She'd worn shorter before - still did, sometimes, outside of school - but there were some of her classmates' expectations she tried to avoid meeting.
The sun's rays caressed Jinnifer's skin, seeped through to warm her bones; they also seemed to settle the butterflies, somewhat, and it was a more confident Jinnifer who asked, "Were you serious?"
"About?" Kameko teased.
Fine. Jinnifer wasn't going to play that game. "Just forget it."
She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow to face away from Kameko, who laughed and clacked her shiny black ankle boot against Jinnifer's own shoe.
"Yeah, I meant it. Sort of. I mean, I wasn't offering-"
"I know what you were offering," Jinnifer said dryly. "What makes you think I'd even be interested?"
"You kept staring at my legs when I was giving that presentation this morning."
"You had a ladder in your tights."
Kameko ignored her and continued with the list. "You always laugh at my jokes, even when no one else does."
"That was just pity because your jokes are lame."
"And I'm probably the only person in our school who doesn't believe you did it with Nagase-senpai."
Shocked, Jinnifer turned over, sitting up to find Kameko watching her with curious eyes.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Kameko said, and Jinnifer felt something ease up in her chest, like she'd been crammed into a corset so tight she couldn't breathe and now it was starting to loosen. She'd never told anyone the truth about that night, hadn't seen the point. Who'd have believed her? Gossip didn't have to be true to hurt and when a third-year said he'd been out all night with a busty, made-up-to-the-nines second-year girl and didn't get into the details, just winked and refused to comment, it was more than enough to get the rumour mill going.
"What makes you think I didn't?" Jinnifer said quietly. "Everyone else thinks it's true."
"Because you're not like that. He is," Kameko's snort said her opinion of Nagase couldn't possibly get any lower, "but you're not. So if anything did happen, it wasn't with your consent, and since you're just ignoring him and not trying to kill him, and you don't seem distraught or anything, I don't think anything happened." She paused, brushed Jinnifer's wrist lightly with her fingers. "Or am I wrong?"
"You're...you're not wrong, but it doesn't matter. It's just stupid gossip no one's going to remember when we've all graduated."
"Is that why you don't refute the story?"
"Who'd believe me if I did?"
Kameko crossed her arms behind her head and lay back, closing her eyes against the sun. "I would. Try me."
"It doesn't matter."
"Obviously it does. What did happen?"
There was no helping it. Jinnifer sighed and tucked her knees up to her chest, locking her arms around them. "It was supposed to be a good night, you know? The concert was fun, and so was the after-party. We started driving back maybe two o'clock? Then his car broke down when we were still an hour away from home. Everyone he called to come get us was either asleep or drunk and there was no way I was calling my parents - I'd told them I was going with a bunch of girlfriends, not an older guy."
She could hear Kameko snickering under her breath; must've been a familiar story.
"He finally got hold of a sober friend but we were going to have to wait at least an hour - we were in the middle of nowhere, without traffic, so hitch-hiking wasn't an option. It was cold and we couldn't turn on the heat, so we cuddled up under a blanket in the backseat to wait for his friend."
"And?" Kameko wasn't laughing anymore.
"And..." Jinnifer hugged her knees closer. "And when he undid my bra I said I'd rather walk home than spend another minute alone with him. We argued about it and he said I was being stupid, that it was a long walk and if I was going to be so uptight about it I should just sit in the front instead."
"So he didn't push?"
"He's a jerk, but he's not that bad. But I don't think he expected me to turn him down - I doubt anyone ever has. I still didn't feel comfortable staying in the car with him, though, so I grabbed my bag and started walking. He threw his jacket after me and stayed under the blanket.
"When I came into school on Monday and went to return the jacket, I heard him talking to his friends about his Saturday night, and how he didn't get home till five. I should've waited till he was alone. When his friends saw me returning the jacket, they drew their own conclusions. He didn't deny anything. I heard about it at lunch; it was already too late.
"And nobody ever says anything to my face but I know what they're thinking. I guess I could've shown off the blisters I got from walking home in heels, but..."
"The situation's a lost cause," Kameko said sympathetically, "but that doesn't mean you are."
"You might be the only one who thinks that, too."
"You'll never know if you don't stop walking around here like it's someone else's universe. You're allowed to be part of your own life - in fact, it's usually a requirement."
Jinnifer couldn't figure out what Kameko meant by that. She was living her life, wasn't she? "You've lost me."
"Nope. You've lost yourself."
"Whatever." Jinnifer fished around in her bag till she found her sunglasses - not, for once, to project a cool, indifferent air as she walked through the halls, but simply because the afternoon sun demanded it. "I can deal with it."
"By pretending you're half jaded slut, half ice queen, who's already seen and done it all and nothing can get to her. Every guy in school wants in your pants and they all think the guy sitting next to them in class might've been there first."
"Not just the guys," Jinnifer pointed out. "You propositioned me only ten minutes ago. And where are you getting this stuff?"
"Only girl on our baseball team, remember? The guys don't care what they say in front of me - which is fine except when they talk about you. I think some of them might actually like you but they're too intimidated to do more than stare, in case they don't measure up."
"What am I, a man-eater now?"
"Not to me." Kameko sat up easily - Jinnifer suspected her of being the kind of girl for whom a hundred sit-ups would be nothing at all - and bounced to her feet. "I'm really forgetful today - I think I forgot my maths book too. How about you?"
Maths was their final class of the day, where they were due to be in about half an hour. Jinnifer's book was in her bag and she'd have bet money Kameko could say the same. The butterflies began to move again. "Maybe; I'd have to check. What were you thinking?"
"That I'd have to go back to my house to get it, and since it's almost the end of the school day anyway there wouldn't be much point coming back." Kameko grinned and offered Jinnifer a hand up. "You like soccer, right? My brothers just picked up a whole bunch of games for the Wii and I know there's a soccer one in there somewhere. Want to show me how it's done?"
Jinnifer accepted the helping hand, slung her bag casually over her shoulder and fixed Kameko with the best stare she could manage from behind oversized sunglasses. "Just video games, right?"
"Just video games, and maybe some food. No one else in my family will be back for hours yet; they'll never notice we arrived a little too early. Sound good?"
The last time Jinnifer had gone out with friends, they'd spent an afternoon shopping. Jinnifer had tried on half a dozen shirts, failed to squeeze her chest into any of them, and come home with a new hat instead. The other girls had talked about their boyfriends the entire time; Jinnifer could never get them to change the subject for long. She didn't think Kameko was likely to have the same narrow range of conversation topics.
Jinnifer finally cracked a smile. "Best offer I've had all week."
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG
Genre: AU, high school, angst
Word count: 2662
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Warning: Genderswitch (double)
Author's Note: A while back, k_julia made this post with pics of Kame and Jin after she'd run them through a face morpher. As you can see, Kame as a girl looked like a cute, devious tomboy, while Jin as a girl...looked like himself with slightly thinner eyebrows. Comment conversation with k_julia and matchynishi ensued, and somehow I wound up writing a highschool AU ficlet in which Akame are both girls. If you object to this, or to girls hitting on other girls, I suggest you do not read. Don't worry, this is just an experiment based on the morphed pics - I am perfectly aware that they are both men and I like them that way!
Many thanks to flamesword for looking this over and assuring me that I didn't butcher their personalities too badly by turning them into Akanishi Jinnifer and Kamenashi Kazuko ("Kameko").
Someone Else's Universe
The corridor was clear. Jinnifer tucked her lip gloss back in her bag and sneaked out of the girls' room. If she was lucky, she'd make it all the way over to the stairs and be dozing up on the roof, catching up on her beauty sleep, before anyone noticed she wasn't running laps with the rest of the class. She hated running; she'd never managed to find a sports bra good enough to keep her more-than-ample chest in check and it made all the boys stare - when they weren't being intimidated by her height and random smacks to the backs of their heads, anyway.
But the boys weren't the only ones.
Just another couple of feet now and Jinnifer would be on her way to a prime snoozing spot under the sun, where anybody desperate enough to try looking up her skirt would really have to work for it.
Unfortunately, there was one person who didn't mind the work and knew - she always knew - exactly what Jinnifer was thinking. Jinnifer stopped short at the foot of the stairs as a petite, cute, tomboy of a girl stepped out from around the corner to block her path.
"Kameko."
The other girl grinned, leaning against the wall in a way that hiked her short skirt even higher up her legs. Not that Jinnifer was looking, of course.
"Cutting class again, Jinnifer?"
Jinnifer flipped her dark brown curls back over her shoulder and tried to sound nonchalant. Kameko was always up to something - it wouldn't do to underestimate even the simplest question. "Forgot my kit. Shouldn't you be out there with the rest of the boys?"
Kameko rubbed a finger over the bridge of her nose, once broken during a baseball game and leaving her a slight lump. She was a heroine to all the boys in the school for scoring a home run while the blood poured down her face - they'd been cheering her all the way to the hospital. Athleticism was in her bones. It had been in Jinnifer's, once, but puberty had gotten in the way of her fledgling soccer career. The first time she'd taken a ball to the chest had seen to that.
"Forgot my kit," Kameko said cheerfully. A blatant lie, because Kameko would never forget school equipment, never be given detention for sassing a teacher, never cut class...so why was she cutting now? "Having a private party on the roof or can anyone join?"
Jinnifer shrugged. "Do what you like; I can't stop you." No one could stop Kameko - one way or another, she always got what she wanted, whatever it took.
"But do you want to stop me?"
There was no way Jinnifer could answer that without sounding either bitchy or scared, and while she didn't have a problem with the first - it was a good way to get rid of unwanted suitors and stopped her brother from trespassing in her room - she didn't want to risk the second. She refused to be intimidated by a tiny, wiry little brat who probably still wore a training bra.
Never mind that for all the aforementioned brat was lacking in some girly attributes, she made up for it in others. Those rainbow-bright nails, for instance, or the small diamond studs she wore in her ears when she didn't have a game. Bright, lively eyes that could pin you with a single glance - the same one Kameko turned on Jinnifer now, had been turning on her since the first day of school, and Jinnifer didn't know what to say.
So she didn't say anything. She stalked past Kameko, letting her heels clack hard against the floor because damnit, she was tall and gorgeous and didn't care that some tiny tomboy gave her butterflies in her stomach every time their eyes met.
She knew it was a stupid move, going up the stairs first. Kameko was quick and stealthy, and an expert when it came to flipping girls' skirts. Jinnifer resisted the urge to thump the little pest with her bag and continued towards the roof.
"I think the little hearts are cute!" Kameko called after her, bounding up the steps two at a time till she caught up. "Really pretty! I've got strawberries on mine."
She reached Jinnifer just before the door, had one hand on the doorknob before Jinnifer could reach it, pinning her in the corner with nowhere to go, nowhere to look but Kameko's warm brown eyes, still playful but more intense now. Jinnifer licked her lips nervously, hoping nobody came up the stairs because her reputation didn't need any more damage and it wouldn't help if anyone saw her now, with Kameko pressing so close she was breathing more perfume than air. Kameko's free hand hovering suggestively over her hip, waiting for an invitation to touch, wasn't the sort of picture she wanted to see plastered all over the school notice boards, either.
Kameko could get away with it. Kameko was cute, and awkward and professional and smart and silly and tough and gentle all at once, and always herself, whether she was sure about it or not. Kameko never let anyone see when she needed someone to care about her, always insisted on toughing it out alone. Jinnifer couldn't help people seeing when she needed someone, wished she wasn't such an open book sometimes, but Kameko had a way of finding her during those times, distracting her with some lame joke that really shouldn't have been funny and Jinnifer wouldn't have laughed if anyone else had told it, or asking her about her many grand travel plans, the dreams that would carry her away to America, to Italy, to anywhere in the world that wasn't an airless classroom where everyone stared.
All the care Kameko had given her, and never asked for a thing in return. Jinnifer took a deep breath, steadying herself against the door as Kameko nudged closer, dared rest her hand on Jinnifer's hip - a light, almost weightless touch that said "no pressure" but set Jinnifer's heart racing anyway.
"Strawberries," Kameko repeated, cheeky grin softening to a welcoming smile. "Wanna see?"
It wasn't as straightforward as a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Jinnifer assumed the other girl didn't mean right then, right there, at the top of a public staircase, but with Kameko it didn't do to assume anything. "Now? Are you crazy?"
"Only occasionally. Come on."
Kameko backed off enough to tug the door open. The empty roof beckoned them; Jinnifer slipped outside to welcome fresh air and open space. She worked her way around the wall to her usual spot, where she could stretch out in the sun without being seen by anyone coming through the door. No one on the ground could see her unless she was dumb enough to call through the railings, and the last thing Jinnifer needed to do was advertise when she cut class.
It was okay that Kameko followed her. Jinnifer felt better about it now she didn't have sweet vanilla scent intoxicating her brain - too bad the physical distance did nothing to stop the butterflies taking pleasure jaunts around her stomach, and they picked up the pace when Kameko settled beside her on the ground, not bothering to lay her blazer down first. They wore the same school uniform but Kameko's skirt was short enough to be a promise, while Jinnifer's was too long to even tease, falling below the knee. She'd worn shorter before - still did, sometimes, outside of school - but there were some of her classmates' expectations she tried to avoid meeting.
The sun's rays caressed Jinnifer's skin, seeped through to warm her bones; they also seemed to settle the butterflies, somewhat, and it was a more confident Jinnifer who asked, "Were you serious?"
"About?" Kameko teased.
Fine. Jinnifer wasn't going to play that game. "Just forget it."
She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow to face away from Kameko, who laughed and clacked her shiny black ankle boot against Jinnifer's own shoe.
"Yeah, I meant it. Sort of. I mean, I wasn't offering-"
"I know what you were offering," Jinnifer said dryly. "What makes you think I'd even be interested?"
"You kept staring at my legs when I was giving that presentation this morning."
"You had a ladder in your tights."
Kameko ignored her and continued with the list. "You always laugh at my jokes, even when no one else does."
"That was just pity because your jokes are lame."
"And I'm probably the only person in our school who doesn't believe you did it with Nagase-senpai."
Shocked, Jinnifer turned over, sitting up to find Kameko watching her with curious eyes.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Kameko said, and Jinnifer felt something ease up in her chest, like she'd been crammed into a corset so tight she couldn't breathe and now it was starting to loosen. She'd never told anyone the truth about that night, hadn't seen the point. Who'd have believed her? Gossip didn't have to be true to hurt and when a third-year said he'd been out all night with a busty, made-up-to-the-nines second-year girl and didn't get into the details, just winked and refused to comment, it was more than enough to get the rumour mill going.
"What makes you think I didn't?" Jinnifer said quietly. "Everyone else thinks it's true."
"Because you're not like that. He is," Kameko's snort said her opinion of Nagase couldn't possibly get any lower, "but you're not. So if anything did happen, it wasn't with your consent, and since you're just ignoring him and not trying to kill him, and you don't seem distraught or anything, I don't think anything happened." She paused, brushed Jinnifer's wrist lightly with her fingers. "Or am I wrong?"
"You're...you're not wrong, but it doesn't matter. It's just stupid gossip no one's going to remember when we've all graduated."
"Is that why you don't refute the story?"
"Who'd believe me if I did?"
Kameko crossed her arms behind her head and lay back, closing her eyes against the sun. "I would. Try me."
"It doesn't matter."
"Obviously it does. What did happen?"
There was no helping it. Jinnifer sighed and tucked her knees up to her chest, locking her arms around them. "It was supposed to be a good night, you know? The concert was fun, and so was the after-party. We started driving back maybe two o'clock? Then his car broke down when we were still an hour away from home. Everyone he called to come get us was either asleep or drunk and there was no way I was calling my parents - I'd told them I was going with a bunch of girlfriends, not an older guy."
She could hear Kameko snickering under her breath; must've been a familiar story.
"He finally got hold of a sober friend but we were going to have to wait at least an hour - we were in the middle of nowhere, without traffic, so hitch-hiking wasn't an option. It was cold and we couldn't turn on the heat, so we cuddled up under a blanket in the backseat to wait for his friend."
"And?" Kameko wasn't laughing anymore.
"And..." Jinnifer hugged her knees closer. "And when he undid my bra I said I'd rather walk home than spend another minute alone with him. We argued about it and he said I was being stupid, that it was a long walk and if I was going to be so uptight about it I should just sit in the front instead."
"So he didn't push?"
"He's a jerk, but he's not that bad. But I don't think he expected me to turn him down - I doubt anyone ever has. I still didn't feel comfortable staying in the car with him, though, so I grabbed my bag and started walking. He threw his jacket after me and stayed under the blanket.
"When I came into school on Monday and went to return the jacket, I heard him talking to his friends about his Saturday night, and how he didn't get home till five. I should've waited till he was alone. When his friends saw me returning the jacket, they drew their own conclusions. He didn't deny anything. I heard about it at lunch; it was already too late.
"And nobody ever says anything to my face but I know what they're thinking. I guess I could've shown off the blisters I got from walking home in heels, but..."
"The situation's a lost cause," Kameko said sympathetically, "but that doesn't mean you are."
"You might be the only one who thinks that, too."
"You'll never know if you don't stop walking around here like it's someone else's universe. You're allowed to be part of your own life - in fact, it's usually a requirement."
Jinnifer couldn't figure out what Kameko meant by that. She was living her life, wasn't she? "You've lost me."
"Nope. You've lost yourself."
"Whatever." Jinnifer fished around in her bag till she found her sunglasses - not, for once, to project a cool, indifferent air as she walked through the halls, but simply because the afternoon sun demanded it. "I can deal with it."
"By pretending you're half jaded slut, half ice queen, who's already seen and done it all and nothing can get to her. Every guy in school wants in your pants and they all think the guy sitting next to them in class might've been there first."
"Not just the guys," Jinnifer pointed out. "You propositioned me only ten minutes ago. And where are you getting this stuff?"
"Only girl on our baseball team, remember? The guys don't care what they say in front of me - which is fine except when they talk about you. I think some of them might actually like you but they're too intimidated to do more than stare, in case they don't measure up."
"What am I, a man-eater now?"
"Not to me." Kameko sat up easily - Jinnifer suspected her of being the kind of girl for whom a hundred sit-ups would be nothing at all - and bounced to her feet. "I'm really forgetful today - I think I forgot my maths book too. How about you?"
Maths was their final class of the day, where they were due to be in about half an hour. Jinnifer's book was in her bag and she'd have bet money Kameko could say the same. The butterflies began to move again. "Maybe; I'd have to check. What were you thinking?"
"That I'd have to go back to my house to get it, and since it's almost the end of the school day anyway there wouldn't be much point coming back." Kameko grinned and offered Jinnifer a hand up. "You like soccer, right? My brothers just picked up a whole bunch of games for the Wii and I know there's a soccer one in there somewhere. Want to show me how it's done?"
Jinnifer accepted the helping hand, slung her bag casually over her shoulder and fixed Kameko with the best stare she could manage from behind oversized sunglasses. "Just video games, right?"
"Just video games, and maybe some food. No one else in my family will be back for hours yet; they'll never notice we arrived a little too early. Sound good?"
The last time Jinnifer had gone out with friends, they'd spent an afternoon shopping. Jinnifer had tried on half a dozen shirts, failed to squeeze her chest into any of them, and come home with a new hat instead. The other girls had talked about their boyfriends the entire time; Jinnifer could never get them to change the subject for long. She didn't think Kameko was likely to have the same narrow range of conversation topics.
Jinnifer finally cracked a smile. "Best offer I've had all week."