At last, I've last updated! Gomen nasai! No personal reason of mine may ever justify. But here you go, the last chapter of Alternate Gosei World.
Hyde X Moune
I
Students at Gosei Gakkuen had no clues whatsoever of the impending invasion by WarStar. School business were as usual except for the mythical five who had to juggle to and fro between personal and social responsibilities. Among the five, Alata and Agri progressed tremendously in their physical training (as they were athletes all their life). Eri, Moune, and Hyde were closely behind, working their way to augmenting their elements.
Alata and Eri were blessed to possess similar elements, which would mean training closely together. The same can be said to the siblings, Agri and Moune. On the other hand, the oldest of them all—Hyde—had to train alone if he wished to keep up with the two boys. He was fund working his tensou techniques at the school's Olympic-sized pool. Using his tensouder, Hyde can produce whirls and waves. Personally, he thought that his techniques were weak enough against the forthcoming enemies.
His heart sinking low, he rested his back at the pool's coolest edge.
An inspiration, perhaps? He thought. Maybe he needed to be like Alata who gets his strength from the cheerful Eri. He raised his head and pointed his tensouder at the center of the pool. If there is one person—whom he would personally welcome in his thoughts, there is no other than Moune.
The stubborn yet hardworking student council president was a habitual resident in Hyde's mind. Her smirks, frowns, and laughs constantly bugged him from morning to night. Not that he's complaining, though. At times he would find himself humming or smiling silly. Whatever he was feeling towards her, it was raw and pure.
Splash!
A sudden gush of water hit the side of his face. Frowning, he searched for what caused the projection and saw a rock the size of his head sitting at the bottom of the pool. The end of his mouth formed a smile as the object of his thoughts became concrete in his eyes. Moune sitting by his side, hugging her knees. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"You must be so deep in your thoughts old man"
Can you blame me? Hyde thought of saying, but blurted instead, "I was trying to think of ways to improve my tensou water techniques." Red patches stained his pale cheeks. He looked the other way so that the girl wouldn't notice.
Moune continued, "For someone as self-centered and narcissistic as you are, it must be very hard." She tried utmost to stop herself from snickering. Hyde turned to her, an amused expression etched his face. Thankfully, the red patches were gone.
"What did you say, child?"
Without warning her, a splash of water hit her face, drenching her from her wavy locks to her boots. The impact was so strong that she lost her balance and fell backwards almost immediately. She thought her head and her back had hit the concrete wall, but a pair of arms supported her instead.
She opened her eyes, embarrassed at how compromised their positions were. Hyde was leaning over her, his right arm supporting her head and his left supporting her back. Her senses were filled with an odd combination of chlorine and peppermint. She tried her best to fight the urge to close her eyes until she heard him clear his throat.
"I didn't mean that. The impact at least. Are you okay?"
She gave quick nods. The nods were hard to count that Hyde couldn't help but to grin at the sight of her. Realizing that people might misunderstood if they saw them in their compromised situation, Hyde slightly moved away his arms to help her gain her composure. She soon found herself sitting comfortably on the concrete floor with him, the both of them drenched from head to toe.
"I really am sorry," he repeated, his concerned eyes never abandoning her. Moune gave a smirk.
"Hyde must have thought of me," she said, locking her eyes at him.
It was a confident guess. If Hyde negates with his usual cool composure, it will be the end of her. The lines that formed in Hyde's forehead made her confidence sank below. Her head dropped instantly, along with her spirit.
Suddenly, she felt an arm enveloping her in a side embrace. She could smell him again, an odd combination of chlorine and peppermint. His hand travelled soon to pat her head. Moune heard but words that were uncharacteristic of him. Even the comment giver was surprised that he had something hidden in his sleeves.
"I have thought of you, kaicho. Always."
Hyde X Moune
II
The council pressed her for an answer, but she thought that it wasn't a proper topic to hold in the first place. It was her private life after all. Possession of intimate knowledge might be brought against her. Days went by and speculations grew stronger. The current and former heads of the council were observed having frequent lunches and study sessions together, separate from the bothersome brother and the celebrity lovebirds. Their bickering was becoming less, and every time Hyde was asked to sit with them in their council meetings, he had but words of commendation for Moune's efforts. His criticisms remained sharp but were freshly medicinal. Whatever was between the two, the whole student body was eager to know.
And so came the time that the council had to interact with another school's council for the incoming cultural festival in their district. The other school was Star Gakkuen. Moune found herself having an uptight discussion with the school president. She was pushing for the use of recycled materials in the festival's variety shows. The star Gakkuen president insisted that potential business partners and sponsors might not invest if Moune's advocacy is followed. After an hour of relentless bickering, the president of Star Gakkuen yielded.
…But not without leaving remarks that were off the topic.
"If you were subservient, I could have pursued you."
Moune felt very insulted. Her right food marching forward, Moune was more than ready to give the discourteous president the punches that he rightfully deserved. She was inches away from grabbing the collar of the uncouth who was about to exit the premises when Hyde positioned himself in between them. The council members of Star Gakkuen turned and stared in surprise at the sudden intrusion. They knew Hyde very well, for they had a joint venture in the previous year.
"Deraputa-san," he began. There was no fire but ice that flickered in his eyes. His expression was as cold as the Antarctic. "Human beings are to speak in behalf of life forms that cannot decide their fate."
The Star Gakkuen president gave an unrealistic snort and resumed in his steps towards the exit.
"Another thing," Hyde blurted, earning a pause from the exiting visitor.
Moune was about to keep him from saying it. But the look in his eyes implied that he wanted…no, he needed to say it.
"Moune is my girlfriend."
Alata X Eri
Alata and Eri had seen it all. From the view of the pool to the council meeting room. A heavy but happy sigh escaped from Eri's lips. The couple worked like angels, initiating creative ways for both Hyde and Moune to interact. Eri was the one who suggested to Moune to try her tensouder technique on Hyde. Alata on the other hand had intentionally angered Deraputa-san, knowledgeable that Deraputa-san will project his anger to somebody else.
"Finally," she breathed.
"Took him long to say it" Alata returned.
After cheering with the rest of the student body, the couple watched as the students dispersed one by one. They were enjoying another round of strawberry crepe nearby, courtesy of Eri's home economics class.
"I guess another shoujo chapter closed!" Eri said, while clapping her hands together in praying position.
"hai" the boy replied back.
Alata and Eri were halfway in their crepes when they saw Agri from the other side of corridor. The couple looked at one another in wonder. Their eyes twinkled like Otakus who had bought fresh supplies from Akihabara.
"We still have Agri!" both had exclaimed.
Once again, Alata and Eri found another unpaired soul to watch.