A Change in Perspective
BOBBY
"I've got it."
Hifumi closes his eyes, and the pair disappears.
The remaining girls glance at each other in confusion for a moment before looking in unison towards Bobby and Minerva.
"Could have at least warned me, bro..." Bobby mutters under his breath, dreading the damage control he'll have to conduct in response to Hifumi's brilliant plan. He then forces a smile as he turns to the apparent "group mom."
"That was pretty crazy, huh?" Bobby asks with an awkward laugh, running his fingers through his hair nervously before unconsciously scratching the back of his head. He'd kinda forgotten about their odd interaction on Practical Exam Day, so he's venturing into uncharted waters here. At the very least, there hadn't been any rumors about him being a creep for staring in her direction, which would usually be a given from this particular group of gossips. He must not have been standing there as long as he'd thought.
Minerva matches his laugh with a melodious one of her own- a good sign. This prompts Bobby to make a few more lame jokes in an attempt to ignore his buddy's kidnapping of Bitchzilla. Minerva had been biting her lip with an expression of deep concentration, but she hadn't actually said a single word to him. Excluding her admittedly cute giggle, Bobby is at a loss to what's going through her head. Is she purposefully hiding her reaction to make him sweat? Is there some hidden reason why she's not commenting on Hifumi's vanishing act? Is it even possible to understand the female mind?
"Minnie?! Why are you just standing there?! Say something!" Edith shakes the girl's arm, seemingly breaking her friend's deep concentration. Minnie then takes another small pause before finally speaking her mind.
"Bobby, what's the explanation for Hifumi grabbing Hailey like that? We have perverts in Korea too, but they use cramped trains to secretly grope girls. They don't just touch girls openly!" At least Bobby doesn't have to guess what she's thinking anymore; the contempt in her voice is as clear as day.
He holds a mini funeral in his head for Hifumi's reputation. Being compared to a train molester? That's brutal. He looks around at the girls, noting the impatient expressions across all their faces. He forces a smile to relieve the tension as he tries to formulate an answer that will somehow satisfy the group of hyenas before him.
"The explanation? Well, Hifumi is just a dramatic guy. He heard Kaylee was being picked on and jumped into action. That's just the way he is. He's a cool dude, actually. Definitely not a pervert." His words sounded a lot smoother in his head than they did out loud. Still, Minnie's intense expression seems to have softened somewhat. Maybe he's not as bad at talking to girls as he'd thought? He continues more confidently.
"And he wasn't doing anything weird. He just has to concentrate to-"
"He wasn't doing anything weird?! So you think you have the right to touch girls whenever you want? God, boys are such pigs!" Maxine's interruption reveals that Bobby is, in fact, exactly as bad at talking to girls as he'd thought.
"Nah, nothing like that." he says, attempting to seem as unbothered by her remark as possible. "Like I was saying, he can't just teleport someone away instantly. It takes some concentration. And he probably thinks she'll be more open with him if it's one-on-one."
"Open to what!? She's not some loose girl!" Minnie exclaims angrily. "No way she'd just give in without a fight!" Whatever small amount of goodwill Bobby had thought he'd gained of her is clearly gone now. No question about it. She's pissed.
Bobby keeps smiling, desperately searching his brain for the magic words that'll release him from this torture. "Trust me, I believe you. I didn't mean anything like that." He pauses for a moment before turning back to the group as a whole, preparing a steaming load of bullshit that they'll hopefully accept. "Look, clearly you girls have a strong bond. You're always together, and you look out for each other. I wouldn't expect anything less from such close friends." He turns back to face Minnie.
"I admire it, but your closeness also makes it hard to get any of you alone. While his method may have been a little...unorthodox, all Hifumi wants is to talk to Hailey about Kaylee. Speaking of which...you girls wouldn't happen to know anything about her missing uniform, would you?" Bobby can't help but pat himself on the back for that one. For now, he'd driven the conversation to their misdeeds and away from Hifumi being some sort of pervert.
There's complete silence now as the girls glance at each other. This brief reprieve from attention is enough for Bobby to finally notice just how close he is to Minnie: close enough that her perfume is a bit overwhelming. It smells good though...like fruit punch mixed with flowers. He unconsciously looks the girl up and down before immediately lamenting his poor attention span. Now isn't the time to ogle cute girls! Especially after he'd somehow avoided the school's biggest source of gossip the first time they'd met. Minnie gives him a sudden, panicked expression, suggesting she noticed his wandering eyes, and Bobby begins to hold a funeral for his own reputation when-
"We don't know anything!" Faith suddenly blurts out, utterly failing to counteract the 'I'm totally guilty' expression on her face.
"Look, I'm not gonna rat you out to Teach or anything. I'm no snitch. But it's five against one here." Bobby tries to respond diplomatically, hoping it'll keep them focused on the Kaylee situation while Hifumi takes his sweet-ass time getting back with the Ice Queen. "I'm sure Kaylee's not completely innocent in this, but you have to admit it's a little unfair to gang up on her."
"That doesn't excuse Hifumi for taking Hailey God knows where!" Minnie says, as if she's ready to smite him herself. Mission failed, it seems they're back to talking about Hifumi. "Who knows what weird things he might be planning!"
"I'm telling you, it's gonna be alright. Hifumi might be a bit of a hothead, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."
"I hope so! If he does anything to her, I swear I'll zap him so hard he'll think he was struck by lightning!"
Bobby tries to keep the peace until Hifumi returns, but the girls are getting impatient. Luckily, they don't have to wait any longer.
Hifumi suddenly appears where he'd previously stood, Hailey in his arms. The problem is, he isn't stationary. With great momentum, the pair flies through the corridor. They travel a couple meters in the air and then slide twice that distance before finally stopping.
They lie there for a moment with Hailey on top of Hifumi, the two breathing heavily while in a tight embrace.
MINNIE
"I've got it."
Hifumi closes his eyes, and the pair disappears.
The already-worked-up girls are further disoriented by his dramatic vanishing act, looking around for a moment as if they're waiting for him to reappear. They instinctively look to Minnie, who's unfortunately already occupied with her own thoughts. The abrupt end to the commotion had provided enough of a window for Minnie to notice just how close she'd been standing to Bobby this entire time.
She freezes as the sun-kissed America boy turns in her direction. He runs his fingers seductively through his wavy, golden locks, the sleeves of his Shiketsu uniform stretching tightly around his overly-developed shoulders and arms. His voice is smooth like warm honey, though Minnie struggles to retain his actual words. Bobby laughs confidently and reassuringly, forcing out an involuntary giggle from her. The boy's gaze is softer today- not like the intense hunger his eyes held when they'd first met before the Practical Entrance Exam. Yes, from just that look she knew he was equal parts gentleman and savage beast.
"Oh Bobby, you don't need to hide your hunger from me" She thinks to herself. "I can handle-"
"Minnie?! Why are you just standing there?! Say something!" Edie grabs Minnie's arm dramatically as she calls her to action, jolting the latter girl out of her daydream and back to the situation at hand.
That's right, Bobby's idiot friend basically groped Hailey and then vanished into thin air. Minnie has no clue what could possibly justify that, but someone like Bobby wouldn't hang out with a genuine molester, right? There has to be some kind of explanation, otherwise she'll be forced to rescue this misunderstood hunk from the lecherous company he keeps. If Hifumi's perverted behavior were to rub off on Bobby, Minnie could wind up being the next girl to get publicly felt up...
"...Bobby?" His name escapes her lips with more of a whimper than she'd intended. "What's the explanation for Hifumi grabbing Hailey like that? We have perverts in Korea too, but they use cramped trains to secretly grope girls. They don't just touch girls openly..." She says, making a weak attempt at sounding assertive in the face of Bobby's disarming smile.
"The explanation? Well, Hifumi is just a...dramatic guy. He heard Kaylee was being picked on and jumped into action. That's just the way he is. He's a cool dude, actually. Definitely not a pervert." Minnie finds herself getting lost in Bobby's ocean-blue eyes, nodding along as he speaks. "And he wasn't doing anything weird. He just has to concentrate to-"
"He wasn't doing anything weird?! So you think you have the right to touch girls whenever you want? God, boys are such pigs!" Max spits with a look of disdain.
"Nah, nothing like that." he says nonchalantly, seemingly unconcerned with the girl staring daggers at him. "Like I was saying, he can't just teleport someone away instantly. It takes some concentration. And he probably thinks she'll be more open with him if it's one-on-one."
"Open to what!" Minnie says, anger bubbling to the surface at the thought of her friend being taken advantage of. "She's not some loose girl! No way she'd just give in without a fight!"
Bobby smiles warmly at Minnie "Trust me, I believe you. I didn't mean anything like that." He pauses for a moment before turning to the group as a whole. "Look, clearly you girls have a strong bond. You're always together, and you look out for each other. I wouldn't expect anything less from such close friends." He turns back to face Minnie, an intense look in his dreamy eyes.
"I admire it, but your closeness also makes it hard to get any of you alone. While his method may have been a little...unorthodox, all Hifumi wants is talk with Hailey about Kaylee. Speaking of which...you girls wouldn't happen to know anything about her missing uniform, would you?"
Wait, was Bobby implying he wanted to spend time alone with her? Is that why he's looking at her so intently? The thought makes Minnie's heart flutter, but that feeling is quickly replaced with panic at his final question. Anger bubbles to the surface again as she realizes just how apocalyptic Hifumi's dumbass actions are for her. It's bad enough that he manhandled one of her besties, but now Minne would have to come up with an explanation for the missing uniform without coming off as a completely terrible person to Bobby. It's hopeless. All that effort to make sure her makeup was perfect every day, the extremely obvious glances across the classroom Bobby somehow didn't notice, her meticulously selected Jardin d'Amalfi, staying late at the gym to work out across from him after everyone else had already left. All of it will have been for nothing. He probably thinks she's a total bitch now, completely undateable and not even that hot.
Of course the girls had hid Kaylee's uniform. Well Hailey had, but Minnie obviously knows about it as well. The whole group knows. But it isn't what it looks like. You can't stop Hailey when she's on the warpath; you can only limit her destruction. Maybe Minnie had encouraged it a little more than she should have, but it's not like she would have let Hailey do anything too bad! And what Hailey had originally wanted to do was way worse, so Minnie suggested-
"We don't know anything!" Minnie's quickly racing mind is halted by Faith finally piping up, a look of obvious guilt displayed clearly on her face.
"Look, I'm not gonna rat you out to Teach or anything. I'm no snitch. But it's five against one here." Bobby's voice is firm but understanding now. "I'm sure Kaylee's not completely innocent in this, but you have to admit it's a little unfair to gang up on her."
"That doesn't excuse Hifumi for taking Hailey God knows where!" Minnie says, using her anger to her advantage in keeping the discussion away from their misdeeds. "Who knows what weird things he might be planning!"
"I'm telling you, it's gonna be alright. Hifumi might be a bit of a hothead, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."
"I hope so! If he does anything to her, I swear I'll zap him so hard he'll think he was struck by lightning!"
The other girls continue to chime in, and Minnie feels for Bobby as he tries to keep the peace. But she can't help but feel impatient with Hifumi as well. How long do they have to wait?
Not much longer apparently, as Hifumi suddenly appears where he'd previously stood, Hailey in his arms. The problem is, he isn't stationary. With great momentum, the pair flies through the corridor. They travel a couple meters in the air and then slide twice that distance before finally stopping.
They lie there for a moment with Hailey on top of Hifumi, the two breathing heavily while in a tight embrace.