Disclaimer: I do not own Special A. /sobs

Chapter 1: Circumstances, Warning

"I see. . . Yes, thank you very much," a voice said from behind. He bowed down and left the room. The halls were very quiet only his footsteps could be heard. The decision made for him couldn't have been more beneficial, not only for him and for the council. Looking ahead, a smirk showed up on his face. "The 8th member huh? How interesting. . . ."

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"It looks like I'm number one again, Miss Rank Two," Kei said to Hikari while grinning, emphasising on the nickname she so much hated. Hikari grumbled, a frown evident on her forehead.

"Don't call me that!" she retorted.

The two of them were looking at the chart board to see who came first. Of course, Kei was ranked first again while Hikari stayed 2nd. Oblivious to their surroundings, a black car parked in front of the school. A short-haired girl stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. With her ninja-like senses, she immediately noticed Hikari with Kei.

Oh that bastard.

Slinging her bag on one shoulder, she raced up to them and quickly snatched Hikari away. Kei stood there, unfazed.

Hikari's eyes were as wide as a saucer as she was carried away by her female friend. Kei became distant in her eyes until he was completely nowhere in sight.

"Akira! You can put me down now," she pleaded with a sigh.

Akira stopped in front of the green house and put Hikari down while panting. Akira hugged her tightly, wrapping her arms around Hikari's neck.

"Kei, you bastard! Stealing my dear Hikari away!" Akira yelled at no one. She looked at her friend and watched her compose herself from the sudden kidnapping. Akira managed an 'oops' before helping her get up.

"Thank you, Akira-chan," Hikari said followed by a sigh of relief.

"Number two again I suppose?" Akira smiled with sympathy. Hikari nodded and looked down to her feet. Although she doesn't quite fully understand Hikari's feelings regarding this matter, she knew how hard it was for her to continually be placed a rank below a smug bastard like Kei.

Akira was about to pat her shoulder to show her support when Hikari looked up and declared that she'll beat Kei the next time.

"I guess that will never change," Akira thought and took another sigh of disbelief. The two were now walking towards the greenhouse and Akira couldn't help but tell her what she found out that morning from her parents. "Have you heard the news?"

Intrigued, Hikari looked up with a raised eyebrow. "What news?"

"We're going to have a new member apparently."

"A new member? In the SA? Really?" Hikari asked, bemused. A new member to add to the SA sounded unusual. There was only one time that this was allowed to happen and from what Hikari remembered, the result was as complicated as a teenage girl raging with hormones.

"Yes really. From what I know he'll be formally introduced to us by tomorrow morning."

"Oh. Do the others know?"

"No, not yet. Only Tadashi knows."

Hikari pondered the thought for a moment. She guessed it wouldn't be so bad. Would it? "That's great. I can't wait to meet him!"

"That's what I thought you'd say." The two of them approached the centre of the greenhouse where the table and couches were laid out. They were the first ones there with the others just behind their trail, their conversation about the new member being temporarily postponed.

"Morning everyone," Ryuu greeted with the twins Megumi and Jun on his side. Tadashi was behind them while Kei in the very back, an aura of darkness surrounding him. Someone should really remind Akira not to separate his Hikari away from him. Wait… his…?

The rest reunited with the two females and sat down around the table. Akira excused herself to get the tea and biscuits, of course not forgetting to give Kei a glare of warning.

"Oi, Takishima, have you heard? About the new member I mean? Akira-chan said that he'll come tomorrow," Hikari said with eyes filled with curiosity.

"Yes, I know," the male responded without so much making eye contact. His eyes remain fixed on his laptop.

"You know? Really? Do you know the person's name? Boy or girl? Oh woops, I should've asked this question first, ha ha!" Hikari laughed, finding this all amusing to herself.

Kei took a moment before finally looking up to meet her gaze. "Why do you want to know so badly? You know, curiosity kills a cat," he declared, a smirk forming on his lips.

Hikari's smile faltered. It was too early to be taunted by him. Well, nothing was too early for the male. "What cat? And what's wrong with being curious?" And what cat?"

Kei studied her expression. He decided it wasn't worth provoking so he shrugged in response. "Do whatever you like."

Hikari looked confused. She stared at Kei, speechless. 'Well sorry for asking. Not.'

Kei went back to his typing, ignoring the rocks being thrown at him by Akira who happened to hear his and Hikari's conversation. Ryuu, Jun and Megumi glanced at each other, as usual staying out of their business and Tadashi was slumped in his seat with eyes closed and mouth opened.

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"You know, curiosity kills a cat… You dumb jerk, I don't even own a cat!" Hikari mumbled to her reflection on the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Rage came into her and she suddenly punched the concrete wall, smashing the mirror into pieces too. Kei's comment was a small one, not even worth the trouble. But why was she so bothered by it? It was probably the way he said, all smug like he knew things that she didn't. That pissed her off.

Her angry soliloquy was interrupted by her father barging in with a displeased expression. "Hikari! How many times have I told you not to break our house? This will be the 34th time I'll have to fix your bathroom!" He left afterwards leaving Hikari frozen by the sudden outburst, toothbrush on her hand and mouth still filled with foam. Woops.

She cleaned up and made her way to her bed. Every time she closed her eyes, Hikari couldn't help but think about what Kei had said, which then leads to thoughts all about him. She also couldn't stop thinking about what Yahiro said to her in his birthday party about her rival liking Hikari more than as a friend. For some reason a blush made its way on her cheeks. Why? Who knows?

It happened ages ago, that's true. But she can't help but feel weird and mushy about the thought of Kei being romantically interested in her.

"Romantically interested in me? Romantically? HAHA! That can't be. I'm his rival for God's sake! He wants to annihilate me, not kiss me. Wait, kiss? HAHA, Hikari you're funny. But imagine kissing- Stop! No!"

She ended up burying her face in the pillow and cursing the said male. It also didn't help that she had a dream with Kei in it, in which the two of them were making out for what seemed like hours. The moment she felt- saw tongue, was the moment she forced herself to wake up.

The following morning, Hikari did her usual routine to get ready for school. She left her house and decided to take public transport instead of walking.

The tram was filled with people since it was rush hour but Hikari managed to get on. It was when the tram suddenly moved that took her by surprise, falling back to the person behind her.

She ended up resting half of her body weight on the person and she noticed that it was a male who unintentionally saved her from falling ass-flat on the ground. It took her half a second to realize the situation she was in especially after noticing that he had his hand steadying her by the arm. Hikari moved away by reflex and faced the stranger.

"I'm so sorry about that! I didn't mean to-" It was then that she properly saw his face. He was a young, about Hikari's age. His hair was a mixture of blonde and brown and his eyes were between the colour of yellow and brown (maybe both). It was the way his gem-like eyes glistened in the sunlight that made Hikari stare more than she opted to. "…to fall back like that."

The handsome stranger smiled and Hikari was pretty sure his smile was illegal in all ways possible. "It's okay. You fell for me didn't you?" His tone was light and she could tell she was kidding. He was wearing a plain white long sleeve button up shirt with no crest or tie.

Is he a student or-

"I'm kidding. I'm glad you're not hurt."

Hikari chose to ignore his first statement and nodded. "I'm so sorry I really didn't mean that and I know I'm heavy but I just hope that- Oh, this is my stop! Thank you again for saving my ass, I'll see you soon, hopefully. Bye!"

He didn't even get a chance to say 'you're welcome', let alone introduce himself before the tram door closed. She disappeared into the mass of people in the platform.

His lips twitched into a smile. He'd make her wish come true, sooner than she thought.

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"Kei! I demand to know the whereabouts of Hikari!" Akira demanded. The thought of Kei kidnaping Hikari, again, for himself made Akira boil in anger. Akira lifted a boulder and was about to chuck it at him when suddenly Hikari appeared on the door, panting. Akira's anger evaporated into thin air and was replaced by relief. "Where have you been? I was so worried about you!"

Before Hikari could muster an explanation, Megumi lifted her scrapbook with the words "Especially Kei" written on it.

The others looked at the silent twin, then to Kei, then to Hikari, then back to Megumi and back to Kei. Kei silently stood up, his dark aura coming back. Megumi knew what that dark aura meant so she flipped her scrapbook onto another page.

"Forget what I wrote ^^;" she presented with a shaky smile.

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"Who's a good bunny? Who's a good bunny? You are, yes you are!" Ryuu said while patting the bunny's back in his lap. He was on the side lines of the tennis court where the twins were playing doubles against Akira and Tadashi.

Kei remained in the greenhouse to finish his office work. Hikari got back from the toilets and saw that it was just her and her rival. She chose to stay with him for some reason.

She started playing with the hem of her skirt. Should she start a conversation? Surely he'd be annoyed since he's busy. But it was all too quiet for her comfort and before she could stop herself, she found herself asking a very dangerous question to the guy in front of her.

"Takishima," she called out.

"Hn?" Kei wasn't even sparing her a look.

"What do you think of me?" Hikari asked. She couldn't erase the thought of the make liking her more than friends. It was by this that Kei perked up in surprise. He tried to keep his expressions passive.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like what I asked, what do you think of me?"

Kei had to think of something before he blurts out something weird to her. Keeping a distance from him was the last thing he wanted from her. He couldn't take the risk. Not now.

He smirked and stared directly at her. "What made you think that I'll answer such a lousy question?"

Taken back, Hikari frowned and folded her arms together. "Well if you don't, you lost a challenge."

"A challenge? That doesn't make sense, Hikari."

"Just answer me!" Hikari didn't know what she was doing. It was messing up her head in ways she couldn't imagine. He was messing with her head.

Kei sighed and ran his fingers on his hair. If he doesn't answer he knew that Hikari will pester him until he'd give her an answer. So might as well save the trouble now. "Well, I think of you as. . . Miss Rank Two. Happy now?

"What the-? That's not the answer I was looking for!" Hikari was annoyed. But what answer was she looking for? She was scared to find out but curiosity got to her. She looked away, irritated.

Kei chuckled. "You asked, I simply answered."

Hikari was about to retort but the others barged in, sweat visible in their foreheads.

"I thought you didn't play Ryuu," Tadashi asked on the way.

"I don't. That was my first time," replied the animal lover. Akira went straight to the kitchen to make tea. She came back a few minutes late with the tray.

"Afternoon tea is served." Like always, Tadashi tried to grab them all but Akira was too quick and a fist came out of nowhere, punching him away.

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Outside the greenhouse, one guy studied the doors. Upon entering this place would imply that there was no backing out. He couldn't help but smile.

He pushed the doors open. He made his way where the party was and his presence was left unnoticed by all.

"Hello," he greeted.

All of the S.A. members stopped whatever they were doing. This person had the audacity to barge in during their afternoon tea. Akira wasn't having none of that. She opened her mouth to demand his reason for intruding but Kei beat her to it.

"State your name and your business with us." It was a demand rather than a request. He wasn't the type to be suspicious but this guy… Kei sensed something off about him.

On the other side of the table, Hikari couldn't believe her eyes.

"I remember you…You're the guy from the tram!" She remembered clearly their short encounter on her way to school. Then realization hit her. "What are you…?"

"I'm Hiro Kinose, nice to meet you all," he bowed before them. "It's a pleasure to be part of the A class of this school."

The last part of his sentence took everyone, even Kei by surprise.

"You're the eight member?" Tadashi asked in bewilderment.

The intruder ignored him. His eyes didn't leave Hikari's. "I'm sorry about our little accident this morning Hikari." The way he addressed her by her first name was enough for Kei to narrow his eyes. Who was he to talk such manner towards her?

"How do you know-" Apparently today was don't-let-Hikari-finish-her-sentence-day. Kei moved in a swift manner that led him directly in front of Hiro before Hikari could finish her question. Kei stared at him eye to eye. He wasn't the one to back down at such confrontation.

"How do you know her name?" he asked but the new member only let out a chuckle.

Hiro walked around and past Kei. He strode towards Hikari and gently ran his fingers along her long, black locks.

"I'm like you Kei Takishima. I know things that I shouldn't. I'm simply, Just. Like. You."

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Thank you for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated!