2 2.Flickery Feelings

Mark's heartbeat had begun to slow down. With a constant pace, he reached his assigned classroom. It was already 8:30 a.m and the classes had already begun.

"Where were you all this time?" The teacher asked with a tone of annoyance.

"I..I...I had to...do some ..work...so, I couldn't come on time, please forgive me this time." Mark stuttered.

"It's only today that I am allowing you to sit in class. Next time, if you're late,you're out." The teacher scoffed.

Mark scurried to his place and sat down, took his books out and was ready for the class.

"Well students, today I will introduce you to a new student. He is new to this place and has not studied Mandarin, but will catch up. Please make sure not to make him feel different." The teacher said, emphatically.

"Huh. Pretty much nothing was said when I joined." Mark ranted to himself.

"You can come in now." She said, glancing towards the entrance door.

The door opened ajar and the new student entered.

"Ohayo Minna -San!" He exclaimed. A pin-drop silence ensued.

All the girls were fazed by his beauty. "How could a man possibly resemble a donghua character in real life?" They asked each other, thus breaking the silence.

"Wait a minute, where have I heard this voice?" Mark looked up. To his horror, it was the same person who saved him.

Mark returned to his books, pretending to hear nothing.

"Well you will need a place to sit..you can sit there near the window." She said, gesturing her hands towards the place.

The "beautiful human" sat down right across Mark.

"Weren't you the one who was getting beaten up by bullies?" The 'geisha guy' asked, in a loud voice.

"Are you even for real? When faced by the bullies, you were straight up aggressive. Now you are acting like a cinnamon roll for attention. How hypocritical could you even get?" Mark thought.

"Hypocrite? Me?" The stranger asked, confused.

Mark realized he was thinking very loudly." I didn't mean it." He said, somewhat guilty.

"Well, it's okay if you didn't mean it."The stranger smiled.

At about 2 p.m, or during the dispersal time, Chengdu was greeted by an uninvited August downpour. Most students had their umbrellas and left the campus, except Mark.

Mark stood under the concrete awning, waiting for the rain to stop, but the rain kept pelting with no signs to stop. Mark covered his head with his bag and decided to run as fast as he can. He ran and reached the bus stop, but he was out of breath. On top of that, he was sensitive to cold air. The 'geisha guy' saw him. He proceeded towards him with his umbrella and covered Mark's head.

"What are we? shoujo manga characters or something ?"Mark thought.

"It seems you have some problems there," He said, proceeding towards Mark.

"No, I don't," Mark replied rudely.

"Well, you can rant as much as you want along the way. Now hurry before you catch a cold."

I won't...ACHOOO.it was a loud sneeze.

"See, told ya." The beautiful human said, proudly.

Mark agreed and they started walking, but the road seemed much longer than before. Two people under the same umbrella almost seemed like a date scene in Anime.

"By the way, what is your name?"Mark asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Akio Makoto."He replied.

"What is a Japanese doing here in the middle of China ?" Mark asked curiously.

The strangers face had a very strange expression. He did not answer.

Mark realized he asked a wrong question, besides, It was not a personal question that he asked. He decided to change the mood by asking something else.

"What does your name mean?" He asked, this time cautiously.

"Akio means 'charming' and Makoto means'sincere'.So to put it together, my name means a charming sincere person."

This 'geisha guy' sure has a much beautiful name!

A strong gust of wind blew and Akio's umbrella upturned, with no sign of being repairable. Now stood two men drenching in the rain with nowhere to go, as the weather became extremely foggy.

Was this coincidence or simply fate's foul play?