Randomness
, 3rd year junior high, looked far out to the clouds. Truly, sitting beside the window tempts you to leave the four corners of the classroom. That was currently, physically impossible for her but she had already flew away from the enclosure.
"I wonder how they are?" She thought along with a long sigh.
Whack!
The girl who just sighed was now rubbing her head because of the pain that struck her so suddenly. She had her eyes closed but she could hear the mocking laughs of her classmates, especially, that certain snicker from the right side of her desk. Curse you, Niou Masaharu!
"Mou~" She grunted and looked up to her sensei. "You didn't have to hit me so hard, sensei." She instinctively rotated her chair and faced a certain someone seated behind her. He was supposed to be the one snapping her out of her reverie whenever the sensei marches near.
"Oi Ma-" Her words cut short when she saw Marui Bunta leaning on his desk with his head down.
He was sleeping.
"This one's up in the clouds too."
Whack!
A louder smack on the head was given to the red-headed tennis regular.
"ITAI!" Marui yelped in pain as he held his head. When he raised his vision, he saw grinning at him and he instantly concluded. "Ah! Traitor," he hissed.
was rather taken back by the comment. "What?! How could you accuse me of something I'm supposed to accuse you!" She snapped.
"Excuse me? You happen to have gotten me into trouble." gasped at that and they both glared at each other.
"Ikagen ni shirou!" Two more hits came from the book their sensei held and everybody laughed again by the reaction of the two. "Both of you have been slacking in my class lately. As punishment, you're going to be on afternoon duties for a whole week. Is it clear?"
"Ite-te..." muttered.
"Bu-but sensei, the team is already training for the nationals and - " Marui reasoned but the sensei waved his hand in front of his face.
"That doesn't mean that you are exempted from classroom duties. Why take Niou-san as an example. He's your teammate, right? And yet he still finds the time to run errands for the whole faculty."
"WHAT?!!!" Marui and shouted and stood up at the same time. "When did you have time to do that?" Again both of them said in unison and glared at Niou.
"Ooh~! Perfect harmony." Niou snickered.
"Now, now. Don't blame it all on poor Niou." The sensei started. As he was going to continue what he was going to say, he was overpowered by the students in front of him.
"You must be kidding. It must be a lie!" Both of them shaking their sensei, as if pleading for mercy upon a judge who've just convicted them.
The sensei snapped and whacked the two again. The whole class laughed at the funny skit the 3 of them were doing.
"That is it! One week of morning and afternoon duties!!! Seeing how harmonious you two are, I predict that we won't have any problems. Now sit down and let's continues the class discussion." The sensei finished the sermon and walked towards the teacher's desk.
As both of them sat, they tried to ignore Niou and his teasing grin. They can't see it but they can feel it; and they feel it so strong. Both of them sighed at the same time again. looked behind and found Marui as startled by their harmony as she is.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Lunch time...
"And that's the rest of the story buchou. I'm very sorry, I'll be late every morning and afternoon practice." Marui sighed and stooped low in front of his lunch. "Oh man, I can't believe it. It's all her fault for not waking me up."
"It's okay. You can come to practice late but be sure not to let down your training menu." Yukimura Seiichi, the buchou of Rikkai Dai's tennis team said. "What do you think?" He turned to the vice-captain.
"It's his own fault for slacking." Sanada Genichirou, the fukubuchou said with a solid voice.
"Yeah! Fukubuchou's right. It's your own fault for sleeping in class. You should've known better. Besides, I can't believe you're blaming a girl for this. You're a man, aren't you?" Kirihara commented as he ate a spoonful of rice.
"What did you just say?" Marui's mouth opened ajar. "I can't believe you're saying that to your sempai. And why are you siding with her? You're supposed to be supporting you're teammate here."
"Don't have to -" Kirihara shortly paused in his reply as he took a sip of juice. "-if the choice is between you and a poor little innocent girl."
"Just what do you mean by that!" Marui glared at his junior and Kirihara returned it equally.
"Now, now. You two better stop arguing." Jackal butted in the argument.
"Jackal, you're starting to sound like sensei." Marui transferred his glare to Jackal and sighed.
"There's just nothing you can do about it now." Niou said as he seated beside Marui to join the lunch forum. "Besides, aren't you glad to be kept company by ?" Niou finished with a teasing voice.
All the attention were brought down to Marui. "You got in trouble too?" All of them chorused except for Niou who was smirking.
"No," he said with a clear voice. "She got punished too."
Everyone on the table went quiet as Niou's grin grew wider.
"What's with that reaction?"
"It's just that...it's hard to believe that she got into trouble." Jackal answered.
"She's good in academics, you know." Yukimura followed.
"And not to mention-" Kirihara was cut off by Yanagi.
" , a varsity player in volleyball in Rikkai as well as in her former school, Seishun Gakuen. A consistent honor in academics and excels in arts-", the data master was interrupted by the red-headed boy who just stood up.
"And that makes her un-punishable?" Marui countered with a sarcastic line.
"You've got a point." Jackal replied to his doubles' partner.
"Be sure you behave yourself. Don't trouble her any further." Sanada replied sternly.
"I told you I did not!" Marui ruffled his hair and walked away from the crowd.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was almost dismissal time and Marui sighed of boredom. He wasn't into Mathematics anyway. He's a history guy, and guys like him don't need math in their daily lives. It was at times like these that he diverted his attention to something or someone. And at that moment he couldn't help but notice the girl in front of him.
's hair was often flowing off her shoulders but today it was tied in a bun. The wind was showing how she had messily put up her hair during lunch; it was blowing the short strands that naughtily disobeyed being tied up. As usual, she had her view not on the board where the teacher had written several notes, but to somewhere no one really knows.
"She never learns." Marui continued to watch the girl stare into oblivion. "Up in the clouds again, perhaps." He smiled warmly at her back.
Ring!!!
The school bell just rung and the sensei bid goodbye to the class. All the students packed up and left the room already. Now, there were only three students in the classroom, Marui, and Niou.
Niou slid his arm around . "-kun, how are you doing?"
"Back off." She stated flatly and walked away from the trickster.
"Che. Fine, I'll just head to practice now." Niou grabbed his duffel and started to march down the hallway.
The two on duties today namely, Marui and , sighed in relief. "What a relief that he's gone."
"By the way," Niou came back and peered through the door. "you two better behave even if no one is around."
Both of them shouted in anger. "You're getting on my nerves!" Both of them said in unison, again.
"Ooh~ just wanted to hear that. Jaa, see you!" Niou made his way to the courts for real.
"We better get started." said after Niou had disappeared.
Marui nodded and paced towards the front where the board was. "I'm cleaning the board."
"Okay." She replied briefly. Although, she wanted so much to have a conversation, she couldn't pace themselves down. knew that he still had practice to attend to and so did she.
When Marui finished wiping the board, he dusted the erasers outside the window at the other end from where is. He clapped too strong at first and the erasers puffed a large amount of dust that stained the windows more. He looked away from the white smoke of chalk dust. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dirty the window." From the statement he heard giggle.
"It's okay. You can help me clean it." She said as she continued wiping the 2nd window she was cleaning.
After Marui returned the already cleaned erasers, he went to get a rag and started wiping the window sill beside the one was cleaning. The distance between them had been closer than they had earlier so the silence had earned the description of being "awkward". Finally, when Marui couldn't take it anymore, he spoke.
"Say..." Marui said as continued to wipe the already clean glass. "What made you transfer school anyway?"
was surprised by the question so she was speechless for a while. Marui noticed this so he decided to use his charm to make squeal.
"Come on, I really want to know." He stopped wiping the window. Then he stepped closer to her just to pester her in answering his random question. "Please~" He said sweetly like a shoujo character from a overly cute shoujo manga.
raised her eyebrow at that and coughed at his "unique" actions. "You really want to know? I would just like to inform you that I don't take questions for what I'm going to answer."
"Okay!" He replied.
"It's farther from home." She told him as she transferred to the window next to Marui's right.
"You mean nearer." He said as eyes followed her walk to the glass at his right side.
"No, farther" She restated with a flat re-assuring voice.
Marui eyed her. He wanted to read what went through her mind when she answered him. Was she joking or lying to him about the impenetrable reason?
"If you're thinking of asking me whether I'm joking and, or lying, don't bother asking." She replied as she returned his confused stare. "Because it's the truth."
"It's not that. It's just...a very unusual reason any person could give."
"My dogs, Maru and Moro*, helped me decide it."
"What?"
"I let them fetch the pencil I threw. I decided that if Maru brought me the pencil first, I wouldn't transfer, but Moro got to the pencil first." She said as she transferred to another window. "I took the chance."
"It's so...so..." Marui paused and searched in his mind for an appropriate term. "random."
giggled the comment her companion has given her. "Why thank you! You're actually the second person to have bluntly said that I'm random."
Marui smiled warmly as before when he saw her giggling softly. "Anybody who hears that story would think of it, I'm pretty sure."
"That's a good point."
"So who's the first one to call you that?" Marui remains smiling and in his mind he thought of a person who watched this interesting girl all the time. For that person, couldn't have possibly made the same conclusion without watching her sigh a few times when looking out the window or seeing her yawning whenever the class finishes.
"Hmm...it's my best friend, Fuji Syusuke."
"Oh, I see." Marui replied plainly.
As soon as finished the last window to clean, she got her things and walked towards the door. Marui followed as soon as he shut close the windows. To his surprise, was waiting for him in the hallway.
"All finished?" She asked with a smile.
"Yup!" He answered then he closed the sliding door.
"Let's meet again tomorrow."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was already dark when had left the campus grounds and at exactly 7:00 pm she still wasn't home, just the way she wanted it. She continued to walk along the path where only streetlights and walls of silhouette-like houses filled the atmosphere. Maybe she wasn't at all random as Marui had concluded earlier.
lived in a lavish house filled with all the gorgeous furnitures...but it felt empty. And emptiness is one feeling that she's very familiar with, within the grounds of what people usually called home. Her grandmother is always so busy that she neglected her totally. Without Maru and Moro, the house would be like a paper collage that would likely collapse anytime.
It was then that she saw a figure emerging from the shadows. was alarmed for a moment but when she saw a familiar smile that she hasn't seen in a long time, she relaxed totally.
"Hey!" She exclaimed.
"You're later than usual." Fuji Syusuke approached her. "It's not good for a woman to walk alone at night."
She smiled at the statement and paused as she processed something in her mind. It struck her quite strongly. "Eh! You've been waiting here? For how long?"
Fuji smiled when he saw her contemplate for a moment. He turned around and looked back at her. "I'll walk you home."
nodded and approached his side. She decided to let the matter down for she knows that when Fuji Syusuke doesn't answer, then he won't. Who knows him better than his best friend, right?
"So, how's the training for the nationals?" She smiled at him.
"We've been training hard." He said as he started walking. followed beside him. "You know, like always."
"I see." turned her head straight to their path. "The Rikkai regulars have been training hard too, ever since you guys have defeated them. Marui's pretty tired when he comes to class and he falls asleep in class lately."
Fuji watched her from the corner of his eyes as she continued to talk.
"I've been scolded earlier, you know. It's all because he didn't do his part of the agreement." She giggled when she remembered him sleeping. "We had this deal you see...hmmm since the second day of school this spring."
"What deal?" Fuji couldn't help but be curious about her hidden excitement while telling her story.
"Well, during the first day of school. I was to be scolded for daydreaming in the middle of the class, if it weren't for him. He tapped me from behind.” She paused as she re-adjusted her duffel from her shoulders. "The next day, I was almost caught daydreaming again." She giggled and continued the next line with a calm smile. Fuji noticed this but decided not to ask about it. It's a smile he's never seen her give before. "He saved me the trouble for the second time. Then, we proposed a deal with each other that we'll watch each other's back."
"A pretty interesting deal but," Fuji paused. "isn't he the only one watching your back?"
almost stopped to her tracks by the candid way Fuji had said it. Unknowingly, a faint blush crept to her cheeks.
Fuji didn't miss that tiny detail even if they were only passing through the dim lights of the street lamps. How could he miss that? Ever since transferred schools, Fuji missed her a lot that's why he wants to digest every subtle detail of her. He noted the tone of her voice, the movement of her hair, the gleam in her eyes, everything. Just everything.
Fuji's lips formed a frown. He didn't want anyone else but him to receive such warmth from her.
"Syusuke?" She noticed his silence. "What's wrong?"
After hearing her voice, Fuji was able to snap out of his contemplation and regain his usual smile. "I want you to come."
"Come where?"
"To the Ranking Selections this week."
This time it was her turn to frown. thought about Fuji's sudden silence earlier and she already knew why he had waited for her. Or so she thought.
"You're finally going to face Tezuka again, right?"
Fuji only nodded with a smile still on his face. Neither of them spoke for a few moments until they reached her house.
"I want to know how serious I can get in tennis..." Fuji paused while nodded and held his hands. She gave him a gentle but reassuring squeeze.
"I'm glad that you've finally overcome what had happened when we were still first years." She gave him an encouraging smile. "I wish you luck."
When let go of his hands, Fuji took hold of her wrist and pulled her into his arms. "Wa..." She felt him tremble for a second but it was gone as soon as it appeared. But still she hugged him back and gently brushed her hands on his back. "It's alright." She said without knowing what really went through her best friend’s mind.
"...and you." Fuji continued his line from earlier.
"What?”
"I said 'and you'", he repeated.
"Huh?"
"I want to know how serious I can get in tennis..." Fuji paused for a moment and lifted his lips to her ear. "and in you."
shivered by his voice directly at her ear. "Syu-"
"Ssh..." Fuji lifted his finger to her lips.
"I'll confess to you in a few days. Let me know your answer by then."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
just got back to her house and she was now playing her guitar. She playfully strung the strings but somehow the usual notes that ran in her head were all in a disarray. She sighed and returned her favorite guitar to its stand.
I'll confess to you in a week.
shook her head of the memory. She'd just known her best friend's heart and it made her uneasy. She dropped and rolled towards Moro who was on her bed, then she remembered the rest.
Even if I have the urge to kiss you right now, I won't, because you have all the right to choose who to kiss.
But please...do come to the tournament.
She picked up her cute little poodle, Moro, and held her up in the air.
"What should I do?
Maru climbed the bed on his own and cuddled close to 's waist.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
sighed for the umpteenth time this afternoon. She's been thinking of what Fuji said to her last night. A few moments after, another sigh added to her list.
Marui noticed this and wondered if she was sick or something. Usually, sighs a sufficient amount of sighs a day but today, it seems that she's got a larger supply on that to waste.
"Something's up? You've been sighing all day." Marui snapped her out of the trance.
blushed a deep shade when Marui appeared so suddenly in front of her. She was too busy thinking of what happened last night that she didn't notice him approach her.
"Are you sick?" Before she could react to the earlier question, Marui rested his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"I-I'm fine." She said as her face continued to heat up and her breath was in an irregular pace.
She exhaled as Marui dropped his hand from her forehead. But another surge of air entered her lungs when Marui stooped close and rested his forehead on hers just to reassure her temperature.
"Liar." Marui said as he still locked their foreheads together. "You're hot."
"I-It's nothing." She stuttered her answer.
As soon as they realized their closeness, they froze. For a few moments, they had kept their position like that and it was getting awkward for both of them. Although they had the urge to pull out from their position, they couldn't. Neither one of their bodies had the spirit to move.
could smell the apple flavored bubblegum he was chewing still from this morning. Her heart pounded fast and in any minute, it could explode. "Ma-" tried to speak and as she did, she took in the whole scent of apple from the mouth that was almost an inch closer to hers. She couldn't continue the rest of her sentence.
Marui smelled the faint fragrance of her shampoo. It smelled sweet like what he was chewing right now. He wondered as he saw her small, thin lips move and voice out a word, what would those taste like.
Their eyes closed and both of them almost felt each other's lips when they heard a chair screech. They parted and turned away from each other in embarrassment.
"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to disturb the two of you." They turned to the source of the voice and found Niou Masaharu opening his desk to pull out something. As he was about to leave the room, he paused and left a message. "Marui-san, -san, you can go ahead and continue what you were doing."
Both of them coughed and cleaned in different parts of the room, wanting to keep distance after what had just happened earlier. When they finished, neither of them could look each other in the eyes so they bid each other goodbye while averting gazes.
"See you...tomorrow."
"Ah..."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Marui couldn't concentrate on the class discussion. Well, not that he was always paid much attention to class but he just couldn't concentrate with sitting on the desk in front of him. He held his head down and pretended to write notes.
"What in the world were you doing yesterday?" He asked himself.
This morning, they haven't said anything to each other and just did their duties. Regardless, they could still feel the uncomfortable aura between them. Marui mentally pounded himself and sighed. Why did he have to put his face near to hers yesterday?
tried to hold on her seat. She felt as if Marui's been watching her that's why she hasn't faced the window this morning. Ever since 'that' time, she couldn't face Marui properly.
"What was that about anyway?" She thought as she ran a finger along her lips. She blushed when she remembered the unique feeling their closeness gave her.
There was yet another thing that baffled her too, why is Niou acting like he's not seen anything?
Purposefully finding objects that will divert her attention from her problems, noticed the calendar and she realized something. Kikumaru Eiji had messaged her that tomorrow's going to be Fuji Syusuke's battle with Tezuka.
It was going to be a long day, they thought.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Every member of the Rikkai men's tennis club was having a break after a long practice session. Yukimura and Sanada were being interviewed by Inoue-san on the bleachers. Yagyuu, Niou and Yanagi were chatting on the other side of the bleachers the buchou and fukubuchou were sitting on. Marui walked far from them and drank water from the container he was holding. With so much things running through his mind, he didn't notice his partner, Jackal, approach him.
"What's wrong with you today?" Jackal said as he sat beside Marui.
"Nothing's wrong." Marui briefly answered Jackal and this made his partner conclude his theory.
"If nothing is wrong, then you're supposed to be overly reacting to my question by laughing at me so hard and saying 'genius' this and 'genius' that. And since yesterday, during the afternoon practice, you've been like this. You can't fool me with that."
"What are you? Rikkai's mother or something?" Marui blew off a mocking line.
"What's with that statement?" Jackal was getting pissed off. "I'm just trying to help my partner."
They remained silent for a few moments until Marui dropped his water container to the ground. Fortunately, it didn't spill much. Jackal looked at his partner who'd just dropped his bottle. His partner was staring directly to where the others were, his mouth slightly opened ajar. He followed Marui's line of sight and found their buchou catching a girl into his arms. And it's not just not any girl, it's the same one that has filled Marui's mind all day. Marui gritted his teeth and let out a frustrated groan.
"Marui?" Jackal noticed his partner's sudden reaction to the scene and he sensed something. Marui simply looked at him from the corner of his eyes, almost glaringly. "Why are you so pissed? Buchou only helped because she just fell from the stair bleachers."
Marui took another glance at the scene and found bowing at their buchou. He chuckled at his thought earlier. He didn't logically think about that one.
"Are you jealous?" Jackal suddenly popped the question.
Marui's cheeks tainted pink and this concluded the second theory of his partner.
"You like , don't you?" Jackal patted his shoulders with encouragement. "There's no way you could deny your hints of jealousy earlier."
"What? And now you play detective? What's this an RPG?" Marui sighed and bowed his head down in defeat. He told Jackal what happened to them yesterday including the fact that Niou had seen it but he hasn't said anything yet.
"What are you going to do? You can't just avoid each other forever." Jackal pointed out the obvious.
"I, I don't know." Marui sighed again. "Why does my heart have to be so random?"
"Hearts of people are not random, Marui. It could never be, even if it tried to." Jackal replied with a calm profile. "Maybe, you're just too familiar with her that you didn't notice that you've started to fall. Tell me, you said that you've noticed her sigh more than usual, right?" Jackal paused and waited for his partner's reply. Marui nodded. "Then, you must've been accustomed to her habits and moves to notice such a small change like the amount of sighing a day. Unless of course if you're Yanagi Renji."
"I've been watching her?" Marui hit realization. He really did watch her from the back.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
"Inoue-san, it's a pity that you won't be coming tomorrow at Seigaku." shook the hand of the reporter. "It's the last day of their Intra-school tournament so it's going to be pretty exciting."
"What a pity too." Inoue agreed with the girl he was talking to. "Anyway -san, I haven't been able to ask you this yet. Don't worry, this is not for any articles that I intend to do. Heck! I'm covering tennis anyway." Inoue paused momentarily. "So why did you transfer to Rikkai when you've been establishing a great team back at Seigaku?" Inoue asked candidly.
"Er...That's a little hard to answer." was surprised by the question but she was used to it. A lot of people asked her this question many times but every time, she answered the same. "It's a little too personal to say. I'm very sorry." She bowed to apologize. How could she ever say the real reason why she left Seigaku? People will just laugh at her randomness.
"Oh, it's okay. There's no need to apologize really. I was the persistent one." Inoue waved his hands.
"-san, what did you come here for anyway?" Sanada asked. A sudden taint of pink rushed to 's cheeks.
"What am I doing here?" She said with a meek voice then she looked around to find the red-headed regular. found him across from their seat and he was slowly approaching along with his doubles' partner. "I-I just happened to pass by. Anyway, got to go, bye!" looked away and rushed out of the tennis courts.
"Oh~! Look at the time. I better be going as well. It was nice of you people to lend some time on me." Inoue bowed to the buchou and fukubuchou he was interviewing earlier. "Jaa, until next time."
"That will be at the nationals" Sanada said.
Marui saw her run away from the tennis courts. She was casually talking with the others before and now, she just left when he had already decided to confront her with all his courage about what had happened the other day.
After had exited the courts, all the attention was brought down to Marui.
"You scared away -sempai and Inoue-san." Kirihara's voice came from behind. Marui jerked back.
"I-" Marui tried to counter back.
"What happened?" Yukimura asked Marui from the low concrete wall that divided the bleachers from the court. "Usually, when -san comes here, she stomps to Niou and complains about some prank he had done. Sometimes, when Niou isn't here, she complains it to Sanada or me just to satisfy her anger."
Yagyuu watched from behind his glasses, the faint hint of pink on Marui's cheeks.
"You've made trouble again, haven't you?" Sanada fukubuchou said.
"No, I haven't. Why do you guys have such little faith in me?" Marui answered.
"Faith in tennis and in women are two different things, you know." Niou teased a little.
"What does that mean?" Marui asked back but he wasn't irritated by their nosiness at all. He wouldn't deny his feelings.
"Because in the courts, you have nothing to worry about but yourself. But in handling a woman, you must know that you'll not only hurt yourself, you're capable of hurting her too." Yagyuu butted in.
"In short, we don't trust that you have the capability." Niou teased.
"That's not what I meant." Yagyuu started to debate his double's partner.
"Hey, don't worry. I get what you mean." Marui said as he jumped up to the bleachers. "Just don't go and flirt with her because, she's mine."
"What?" All of them except for Yagyuu, Jackal and Niou reacted.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Fuji Syusuke held on for the past hour now. He had just been defeated by Tezuka and he couldn't suppress his tears. Who knows if this was tears of joy for having to give all of his strength or tears of the 2 losses he had for the day?
"Syusuke..." whispered to him. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I've known your heart long ago. It’s my heart who’ve changed." Fuji said without letting go. "The smile that you've shown me the other day, it doesn't belong to me." They said nothing. "I might’ve been rejected as well, even if you didn’t haven’t transferred to Rikkai." He finally let go and he smiled like usual.
couldn’t hold back her tears. Her heart ached so much seeing her best friend like that. She knows that he was hurting but she couldn’t possibly choose Syusuke, her heart screams another’s name. That would hurt her best friend more and knowing how Syusuke could have such high pride, he wouldn’t accept it. It would probably be worse, he’d hate her. And she doesn’t want that, all but that.
“Syusuke…” wanted to apologize so much until she grew tired of it. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“Stop apologizing, . You know that I dislike pity above all else.” Syusuke chuckled and tapped her head.
“No you don’t.” She wiped her tears away. “You hate people who bully your little brother.” She smiled and continued. “Anyway, I’m still going to say sorry until you-“ She was cut short by Fuji’s lips. He had pulled her into a kiss.
“I warned you.” Fuji Syusuke’s smile grew into a mischievous grin when she saw her hold her mouth.
“A-“ She stuttered. “...“ She still couldn’t continue her sentence.
“My little angel,” Fuji patted her head and he still kept his mischievous grin. “your beautiful voice seemed to have disappeared.”
“Mou~!” She continuously hit Syusuke by the shoulder. “That was my first kiss.”
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was last night when Marui decided to go to Seishun Gakuen just to fetch , the current girl who was also being held by Fuji Syusuke, Seigaku’s tensai. He gripped his duffel bag in his hand and bared the show he was seeing. Suddenly, all his strength wilted away when the tensai kissed the girl so casually.
Marui gritted his teeth at the sight he was looking at. He turned around and walked to the direction of the nearest bus stop. All of a sudden, he felt a pull on the back of his shirt.
"Marui..." said his name softly. "What are you doing here?" She smiled at the boy in front of her.
Marui's focus was turned to her small lips. He recollected what had just happened earlier and it made him furious. "Nothing that concerns to you." He replied coldly.
's smile was shook and she gathered up courage to tell him what she wanted to say. "Anou...Marui-kun, I'd like to tell you something." She took another surge of courage to continue. "The truth is...I...I like you!"
"Are you taking me for a fool?!" Marui shouted out in anger. How could this woman confess to him and kiss another guy? "You've just kissed your best friend and now you're telling me you like me? If this is some surge of randomness you've been having then, quit it! It's not fun to play with a person’s heart." With that line, Marui left her.
couldn't move from her spot. She was so shocked by what Marui had said to her.
You've just kissed you're best friend and now you're telling me you like me?
She can't believe that Marui saw all of it. Crouching down on her knees, she sobbed quietly.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
For the few days that went by, both Marui and didn't talk about that incident. had the urge to talk to Marui but he was avoiding her. She tried to approach him when they were doing their duties but he snubbed her. Now, their punishment has been alighted and there was no way she could talk to Marui alone for he was clearly joining other groups just to avoid being confronted by her.
Marui felt stupid. How could he be angry at her when he has nothing to do with whoever she plans to kiss? After all, there wasn't really anything going on between the two of them. He glanced at the sighing girl in front of him and studied her profile. She seems really down.
"Is it really because of me?" He thought.
The class bell rung and he quickly stood up and left the room. Marui knows that he shouldn't mind things too much but he couldn't help but be hurt. "There was nothing going on between us." His mind has been dictating this to his heart.
"Oi!" Just as Marui reached the locker room someone shouted to him.
"What is it Niou?" Marui turned around to face the trickster.
"What happened between the two of you?" Niou asked the red-headed boy in front of him. "I thought you liked ?"
"It so happens that she likes somebody else." Marui turned around and Niou halted him from his walk by putting a heavy hand on Marui's shoulder.
"It seems to me that you've mistaken that statement." Niou said.
"Yeah, like kissing Fuji Syusuke isn't evidence enough." Marui sneered.
"Have you asked her about that?" Niou asked again.
"This is getting ridiculous! Why would I ask about that, when I've clearly seen what it meant?" Marui snapped.
"Ooh~ a little way off the temper gauge there." Niou teased. Marui was so irritated that he walked out on him.
After Marui had gone to the locker room, Niou Masaharu fished out his phone. He searched for a certain number in his phonebook and called. "Hello? Yagyuu? Are you in the faculty right now?" He waited for a reply over the line. He nodded and continued after Yagyuu's response. "Listen, I need you to do something."
Right after Yagyuu had dropped the line, Niou searched for another number and he called it again. "Hello? This is Niou Masaharu. Is this Inui Sadaharu of Seigaku?"
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Inui Sadaharu just got a call from Rikkai Dai's trickster in the middle of practice. After he'd dropped the line, he wondered why did Niou Masaharu go to the trouble of asking information from him when he could've just asked Renji for it. He had already sent his new data to him since last weekend.
"Inui? Who called?" Seigaku's tensai asked the data-man who was still scribbling down on his notebook. Fuji overheard some lines that Inui had said over the phone and he was sure that it was about .
"Niou Masaharu called and asked information about . Then, he asked your relationship with her." Inui continued scribbling down his notebook.
"Has something happened?" Fuji frowned at the mention of his name. Somehow, he already knew that there is something up. Niou Masaharu wouldn't just call Inui, a foe of their tennis team, if it weren't for nothing.
"He didn't say anything. By the way..." The data-man stopped writing and faced the tensai. "I forgot to tell you that during your confession to , Marui Bunta was here."
Fuji frowned at that and he immediately approached their captain. He had to go to Rikkai.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
"That's a little too much to ask, Niou." had no mood to argue with anyone right now. Besides, why did their captain allow her to skip practice just for this.
"What is?" Niou asked.
"For pulling me out of practice. And why in the heck would captain allow you to? Of all people why did our sturdy captain submit to your wishes." sighed and was about to go back to the gym.
Sighing, Niou Masaharu or so thought from the moment he entered the gym, impolitely asking for her to be excused from practice today, took off a sophisticated wig from his head. He saw how surprised the girl was when he wore his glasses. “You must’ve been wondering why Niou hadn’t talk about what happened in the room the other day. It wasn’t him. It was me and knowing Niou, he must’ve planned the whole thing. The only error in his calculation was I didn’t tell him about what happened at the room and he didn’t take Fuji Syusuke-san in account.” Yagyuu pushed back his glasses and coughed when he saw unable to speak, then, he continued.
“Niou observed both Marui’s and your actions since the first day when he saw Marui tap you from behind.” Yagyuu paused and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Marui just acts like a kid that his childishness made him see of you as some playmate of his.”
laughed at that and she nodded in agreement. “Now, what did you really come here for?”
“That…” Yagyuu paused as he heard some passersby gossip.
“Did you know? Fuji Syusuke, the tensai of Seigaku, went to Rikkai’s tennis courts.” A girl said with excitement.
“Really?” Another girl reacted.
“Let’s go there and see.”
“Syusuke’s here?”
“He seems to be earlier than predicted.”
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Marui jumped for the ball that was dropped by the net. He managed to lob it, but the opponent smashed it right back at their court. He slowly stood up and called a time out. Jackal patted his back and he walked towards the bench to quench his thirst. Marui was about to take a drink from his bottle when he saw a figure up at the bleachers. It was one person he didn’t want to see.
“Buchou! Fukubuchou! I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Marui shouted and climbed up the bleachers to follow Fuji.
They walked in a secluded place Marui had pointed to him. After they’ve reached the place, both of them stayed quiet for a few moments. Fuji decided to break it.
“Tell me…” Fuji paused and continued after a few seconds. “do you like ?”
“What? The jealous boyfriend plays the ‘Knight in shining armor’?” Marui said with sarcasm.
“You saw me kiss her, haven’t you?” Fuji asked straightforwardly.
“And you came to wave your victory banner to me? What a privilege to see it twice.” Yet another mockery from Marui.
Fuji couldn’t hold his anger anymore. He instinctively yanked Marui’s collar and pushed him fiercely up the wall.
“Listen!” Fuji’s blue eyes pierced through Marui’s violet one’s. “I didn’t lose her just to make her unhappy.”
“You what?” Marui asked.
“She dumped me for your own understanding. That kiss you saw was an impulse of mine when she smiled so sweetly to me. Still, she dumped me over you.”
He suddenly remembered all the horrible things he had done to her. He avoided her when she approached and that last time…when she confessed to him…
“That was how she truly felt?” Marui said meekly while Fuji continued his sermon.
“You may think that she’s random but she’s not. When she decided to transfer, I didn’t stop her because I know that in her heart there’s a deeper reason.”
“I…I didn’t know…” Marui held his head down and thought about something. Finally, Fuji let go of him and he ran towards the gym.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
“!” Marui shouted at the when he finally found her. “Why are you in the tennis courts?”
“Yagyuu told me to wait here for you.” He glanced at the team and saw them grinning.
Marui pulled into his arms and didn’t let go.
“Woohoo~! Nice one Marui.” The crowd was fascinated by the love show and they cheered them.
“Baka!” hit him on the forehead.
“Is that the way you treat someone you like?” Marui countered and instantly blushed.
Marui let’s go and entwined his hand with hers. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere.”
“You have practice.” replied back.
“Buchou! Can I skip practice?” Marui yelled back at their captain on the tennis courts.
“It’s going to cost you twice your training menu.” Sanada answered back before the captain said ‘sure’.
Marui got his bag and pulled the girl outside the school grounds. “Wait! My bag.”
“Fuji Syusuke’s going to take care of it. Now come on and let’s go on a date. I’m going to payback Seigaku’s tensai for kissing my girl.”
“You’re jealous of my best friend?” smiled warmly as they jogged towards a place they haven’t thought of yet.
“Well, naturally, yes. I am jealous.” Marui said with honesty.
“Marui,” called softly and he stopped from his tracks to face her. “Look down here.” She said as she opened her palm. In response, Marui, stooped low to see what she was holding.
“Hu-” gave him a chaste kiss.
“Now, you’re even.” She smiled back at him and Marui couldn’t help but pull her into a more passionate kiss.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
SIDESTORY
“Niou Masaharu, you have violated the school law before.” The sensei faced Niou and Yagyuu at the school faculty. “But I can’t believe you dragged Yagyuu into this mess as well.”
“Sensei-“ Niou was cut off by the raging sensei.
“You have not only skipped your punishment for faculty assistance, you’ve made Yagyuu-san do it for you” The sensei stood up. “One month of morning and afternoon duties! Yagyuu, you’re still going to be the faculty assistant for this week.”
“Damn!” Niou cursed.
“I’m making it two months.”
“Sen-” Niou was still going to argue with the teacher but Yagyuu elbowed him.
“Understood.” Yagyuu replied and pulled Niou out of the faculty.
©kemmybear