Romeo and Juliet
Chapter 03
" ! Why did you come back all drenched? Aren't you even afraid of catching a cold? Why did you lend that guy your umbrella? Are you madly in love with him? Look at you! Your hair dripping wet, your uniform... Urgh, I'll make you a cup of hot tea. Quickly take off all your clothes!" Her Mother chastised, before she hurried into the kitchen to make a cup of hot tea for , who went into her room and removed her wet clothes.
After she drank down the glass of hot tea and had a nice, hot bath, started writing her articles, while her paranoid Mother kept coming over to check on her temperature, fearing that she might get a high fever.
"Mum, I'll be fine," reassured her Mother, but her Mother never listened to her.
In the end, was all well, and she still reported to school the next day.
Once she was at school, Shiraishi approached her and returned her umbrella to her. "Thanks," he muttered under his breath, before he turned away and stuffed his hands into his pocket. "So how was it? Was it romantic?" quipped, but Shiraishi merely led out a massive sigh, before shaking her hands as a signal for her to stop probing further.
After all the dreary lessons, went over to the P.A room and made the announcements. Afterwards, she headed over to the tennis courts to make the tennis players spill out more information, and her main target today was none other than Shiraishi Kuranosuke.
"Yo, Shiraishi," greeted in the Shinn Asuke style when she found him sitting on a bench alone and she also sat down beside him.
"What's wrong, Shiraishi? You don't look like yourselves today," pointed out, and Shiraishi sighed. "My chest hurts."
"Your chest hurts? Oh my god, are you suffering from heart attack? If you are, this is so serious! Ha. You are suffering from a bad heartbreak." Obviously our dear was smarter than what you thought.
"Oh, so you are not that dumb, ha?" Shiraishi muttered, and smiled slightly.
"I'd be here all day beside you until you finally tell me your story. There are lots that I need to know. Till then, I'll be a pesky fly following you around," stated, and Shiraishi kept quiet, as he stared into the distance.
Minutes later, he finally decided to confide it in .
"You know... That girl in that shop reminds me a lot of my first love," he began, and widened her eyes. "You have a first love who never claimed your first kiss?"
"Yes, that was the case," Shiraishi continued, and looked at him.
"She looks just like her. She talks just like her. She smiles just like her. How can I not help but fall in love with her? That day I met her was when I was walking down the streets, when she suddenly appeared. I thought I saw my first love, but she wasn't her, still. She was taller than her," Shiraishi kept on talking, and couldn't help but pity Shiraishi.
"Look, Shiraishi," started, and Shiraishi glanced at her. "That girl might look like your first love and everything, but in the end, she and your first love are just... two different people. Trust me; you need to forget about everything. Sometimes love is just as sweet as sugar, but at times, it's as bitter as a cucumber. You don't have a choice. However, it's how you see things that'll decide the outcome. If you see your heartbreak as, "Oh fine. I'm sure I can find someone better than her." I'm sure you'll still lead a happy life. Whatever it is, you have me. Well... I'm more like the nosey parker around here, but oh well, who cares. If you feel down, just talk to me. I'd be more than willing to lend you my ear until this ordeal of yours is over. Obviously I'm not very good at consoling people because when I try to console people, the other party only end up crying further..."
Shiraishi stared in front for a couple of minutes, before he looked up at , and muttered, incoherently, "Thank you."
never did hear him, and she just stood up and headed over to the school canteen, where she bought two cans of fizzy drink and gave one to Shiraishi.
"Drink it, and liven up. You are still the captain after all," muttered, as she placed the can of fizzy drink down next to him. Shiraishi glanced at it, before he gripped it, pulled away the aluminum cap and gulped away the contents. "Thanks," he muttered again, before he tossed the can away.
"So... let me start with my interviewing. Pardon me, I know you are not in the mood, but I have to get my work completed," started as he revealed her clipboard with pieces of papers and readied her pen in her right hand. Shiraishi glanced at her, before nodding.
"All right. Do tell me if you find that I'm asking something too private. Tell me more about your first love. This shan't be published, though. I'm just curious. Afterwards, tell me your thoughts about you playing perfect tennis. Are you really sure perfect tennis will lead your team all the way to the finals?" rattled, as she stared at her papers and waited for a response from Shiraishi.
All Shiraishi did was sigh, before he started speaking, "My first love was... sweet. The very moment I saw her, I fell in love with her. That was what happened years back. That time I wasn't even in the tennis team. I started talking to her, and got to know her better. Everyday I'd dream about her. Everyday I'd wish that she was by my side, the entire day. Everyday I was thinking about how to make her smile, make her happy. Even at that time I had a few fan girls, but my mind was only fixed on her and only her. But good things never last. On our thirteenth date..." raised a brow instantly as she coughed a little.
Wow, Shiraishi has such a shockingly good memory. The thirteenth date he had with her? Oh yes, thirteen is such an unlucky number too...
"I asked her out to this fun fair. We played our hearts out there, and around 7 in the night I proceeded to walk her home..." Shiraishi paused, and a baffled looked up at him, only to see his face cringing a little in melancholy.
"H-Hey! It's okay if you don't want to share it with me!" immediately stated, but Shiraishi just looked away as he bit his lower lip. "It's not that... Will you be listening?" He extended and gripped 's hand that she placed on the bench. flushed, and nodded, as she withdrew her hand from his.
"After we left the funfair, she complained to me about a sharp pang in her legs. That time I thought of it as just a simple leg ache, and told her to bear with it until I sent her home. She agreed, but throughout the entire journey, she was wincing away. At this moment, we had to cross a road. I was holding onto her hand as I led her across the road, but who knew, when we had only crossed half of it, she complained of a bad ache, and stopped there, paralyzed. It was also at this very moment, when a car sped towards us. Immobilized with fear, I stood there by her side for a few seconds, before I started running away, trying to pull her with me. Who knew, she wouldn't budge, and before I knew it, my grip left hers, and when I realized of that, I turned back, only to witness my lover getting run over by a car. She was flung a few feet above the air, and she fell back to the floor with a thud, spluttering fresh red blood all across the streets. The flabbergasted driver left the car to check on her as he summoned the ambulance over. I rushed over to her at once, but it was so dark I couldn't see her face clearly. I could only grip on tightly onto her hand, and wait for the ambulance to arrive. When the ambulance came, they sent her to the hospital immediately, while the police started questioning me and the driver on what happened. It was apparent that the driver was talking on the phone beforehand, and wasn't really focused on driving, so when he spotted us, he couldn't step on the brakes on time and just slammed right into my lover. My lover didn't pull through the ordeal of course, and everybody blamed me... I mean, it's not my fault... I had my life that I needed to protect too... And yet... ARGH! Why did such a thing happen! It's etched in my memory... I just can't forget about it..."
When Shiraishi finally stopped talking, realized how much she had scribbled on the piece of paper, and as she scanned through them, she just couldn't stop pitying Shiraishi.
"I-I..." was speechless.
"About the perfect tennis thing, well, as long as perfect tennis will bring us to the finals, I'll use it. If it doesn't, then I'll try my best to improve," Shiraishi quickly changed topic to avert his attention away from the previous topic.
"I see. T-There's no rehearsal today. S-So you'd better start practicing your tennis!" started again, and Shiraishi nodded, as he rose to his feet. "I will," he muttered, and rose to her feet as well. "N-Need m-me to play with you?" she offered, and Shiraishi eyed her for a while, before he smiled and nodded. "Sure."
And got Shiraishi to teach her tennis. They had a weal of a time playing together, and Shiraishi laughed often. hoped that by doing this it'd somehow lower his melancholy level.
"Thanks for today..." Shiraishi commented as they walked out of the tennis court. "It's okay. But... it was pretty exhausting..." muttered, as she stretched and relaxed her muscles. was also so worn out she was just dragging her heavy feet along with her as she walked. She shouldn’t have done so.
Out of a sudden, her feet suddenly tripped over something, and she went collapsing down. "EH?" Shiraishi yelled, and before even knew it, her entire body fell above Shiraishi's, and they both went crashing down onto the ground. When did know what had happened, she realized that her head was lying on Shiraishi's chest and well, it was drenched in sweat, and Shiraishi was bleeding slightly on the forehead. Obviously some rock had scratched him while they fell. , on the other hand, only suffered minor bruises.
"OH MY GOD! Are you bleeding? I'm so sorry!" apologized profusely, and Shiraishi lifted her arm with her slight bruises. "And you have a bruise here," he muttered.
"Hello? You are bleeding! Don't bother about my stupid bruises that don't even bleed! I'll help you stop the bleed with my handkerchief..." said as she took out her handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it on the little cut he had gently. "Does it hurt?" she asked, as she eyed the handkerchief intently. It was only stained slightly with faint, red blood.
"Come get up," offered, as she extended her hand. Shiraishi faltered for a moment or two, before he accepted her hand. When their two hands came into contact, suddenly felt this adrenal rush within her.
She blinked. What was that? She looked at Shiraishi. Even he was dumbfounded as well. Uncanny.
"We'll go to t-that bench over there," said, as she led Shiraishi over to the bench, not bothering about what she felt just now. Over there, she helped Shiraishi cleanse his small wound, but Shiraishi's eyes were fixed on her little blue-black bruise.
"I'll help you rub your wound," Shiraishi suddenly started, and jumped behind.
"N-No! Rubbing such a bruise will only hurt further!" protested in denial, and Shiraishi looked away. "I... I just wanted to help, that was all."
"Well, you can help by cursing whatever that caused me to trip. I think it was a dent or something on the ground..." muttered, before she moved back to Shiraishi and continued attending to his cut on his forehead.
Minutes later, decided that it was time for her to go home.
"All right, time to go home! I'll see you next week Monday, where we shall be having our rehearsal for the play again! Then the day after that Monday, it will be our dance. Oh well." She muttered, as she got off the bench.
"You mean we are having a play on Valentine's?" Shiraishi asked, and nodded, "Yes, I think so. It's more romantic this way, I think. You leave first then, bye!"
"We can walk home together," Shiraishi spoke, and turned to face him- completely taken aback.
"W-Well, it's okay, you should leave first because I... uh... I have some business to attend to in the Newspaper Club, yes..." lied, before she waved and hurried away. She did go back to the Newspaper Club's room to chat around with Chief.
"Hi there, Chief!" she greeted as she stepped into the room. "Oh, hey there ! How's work?" he asked, and grinned, "Pretty fine! I'm coping well! And, I love the P.A thing a whole lot!"
"Good to hear. Anyway..." Chief paused for a moment, before he leant in for her and whispered softly, "I hear that you are getting on really good terms with Shiraishi Kuranosuke."
"What? Who told you that? We are friends!" cried out, and Chief chuckled. "I have my resources." "Oh, fine." muttered, as she crossed her arms. Chief turned his head to the window, before he pointed out, "It's raining soon. You'd better leave now." groaned. "What? It's raining again? It just rained heavily yesterday." And she took her leave.
"Boy, I hope it won't rain..." mumbled, as she hastened her pace and walked home, eyeing the ominous sky occasionally. Minutes later, it started drizzling. "Accursed luck..." muttered, and she brought out her umbrella.
She continued walking, until she spotted someone again.
Boy, it was someone very familiar now.
It was Shiraishi Kuranosuke, again.
And there he was, standing outside that same shop, gazing into the shop again, standing in the light rain, without an umbrella. Boy, he is really lovesick.
just halted in her tracks, and eyed the boy in confusion. How can she help him out of this love ordeal of his? She's running out of ideas. Actually, she doesn't even have a single idea.
"Need my umbrella?" asked, as she stood beside him, with her umbrella held over his head again, just like yesterday. "H-Hey, ," Shiraishi muttered, as his view was averted away from the shop. looked into the shop. The girl was staring at the skies, and then at them, before she hastily went away from the shop window.
"She needs an umbrella again. Wow. History is repeating itself. Come, go on, take it and walk home with her." offered, as she pushed over her umbrella into the hands of Shiraishi. "Look, I don't-" Before he could even finish his sentence, had already run away, with her schoolbag as her "umbrella" yet again. However, did learn an important lesson, "It's better to bring two umbrellas next time in case Shiraishi Kuranosuke needs it again."
**
"Damn it!" Shiraishi muttered as he kicked himself mentally. He shouldn't have let her just run away like this. He looked into the shop again, as his eyes fell on a certain golden Musical Box in the shop. His thoughts had already drifted away from that particular girl inside.
was right. Shiraishi thought, she’d never be my first love. My first love is dead. Moreover, that girl inside already has a boyfriend who loves her dearly. She won't need another guy like him to shower her with lots of love.
Shiraishi gripped tightly onto the umbrella he had.
He was starting to like .
Affairs of the human heart. How simply puzzling. Just one day after he tried to forget about a girl that he really yearned for, he is starting to like another. Was this too fast of a change? Yes, it is. It is too fast of a change of heart. But what could Shiraishi Kuranosuke do? Tell his heart not to love someone when that person was being all kind to him, helping him out when he was in low spirits? How could he not notice how pretty she looked suddenly and how amiable she was suddenly...?
**
" ! WHY ARE YOU DRENCHED AGAIN? DEAR ME, DID HISTORY JUST REPEAT ITSELF? GO AND GET CHANGED!" her Mother bellowed, as she stormed into the kitchen, wondering why her daughter just kept being so kind to that Shiraishi guy.
Of course had a reason for being kind to him. They were friends, after all. And she loved helping people out. What else? Love? Nah, that's too absurd.
And drank her hot tea, got her hot bath before she settled down in front of her study table and started scribbling out a few more articles on the tennis members.
In the night, her handphone suddenly rang again, and when answered it, she was surprised to find herself hearing Fuji's voice.
"Yo, Fuji! How are you?" she started, and Fuji chuckled a little. could even picture his smiling face in her mind. Well, Fuji always smiles, so it makes this picturing of his smiling face all the more easier.
"," he began, "I just wanted to brief you on the dance I invited you to. It falls on Valentine's Day and it starts at two in the afternoon. I haven't got any nice suits to wear to this function; will you accompany to buy some tomorrow?"
"WHAT? It starts at two in the afternoon? I thought dances always start in the night... Umm... Fuji, on that day, I have this play that I'm involved in, and I need to be back in Shitenhouji before three. So... I guess I can only stay there for a very short while... Are you fine with this? When will it end? I can hurry back if it ends late," muttered, feeling a little guilty that she won't be able to stay with him for very long.
"Oh, you have a play that day? Well, it's fine with me. So, will you be going with me tomorrow? I scheduled it at three in the afternoon," he asked again, and answered without further hesitation, "Of course I will be going! No doubt about this! Trust my taste, muahaha, I'll get you a damn sexy suit, and I'll force you to wear it, and let your fan girls all run wild! I'm evil!"
Fuji chuckled, "We'll see about that."
With that, they ended the call. And checked the time. Oh. Time for bed!
Next morning, woke up at eleven plus, and when she ate her breakfast and everything, she settled at her table once again and finished her homework. When she did finish, she realized that it was already time for her date with Fuji. Hurriedly, she got changed, and rushed downstairs to meet up with Fuji. Before she did that, though, her Mother passed her a lucky amulet of hers, saying that 's always in omen luck and hoped that by wearing that, her luck will change for better. just wore it anyway.
When she reached the basement of her apartment, Fuji was already waiting again, wearing loose and baggy clothing, giving off the cool-cool look. "Oh, , you are already here," he started as his smile lingered there. "Come, are you hungry? We can have a bite first before we take a look at the clothing."
"Like always, I'm fine with anything, so... Are you hungry?"
"Not really, but let's go get a drink. My treat," Fuji suggested, before he led her away.
After they had their drink, the two headed over to a nearby shopping mall situated alongside other prestigious arcades. Lavishly decorated boutiques occupied the four-storey edifice. These shops merchandised luxurious designer apparel, collectible watches and precious jewelleries. At the center of the shopping mall, a fountain briefly stole the shoppers' attention and admiration. A sculpted cupid was perched in the middle of the fountain and from its bow shot spurts of water. noticed this apple-cheeked little girl, with her chin resting on her open palms, gazing dreamily at the cupid, perhaps seeing her self in its delightful, cherubic face.
"Whoa, Fuji, these shops sell really expensive stuffs," commented as she took a good look at the prices. "Indeed, but I'm planning to purchase something nice as well, that's why this place is most ideal," Fuji explained, and nodded. "I envy you then, being so loaded. Actually, if I had as much money as you did, I'd spend them on books! Wahaha, I'm so much of a bookworm!"
The two of them visited shops after shops, as briefly browsed through the shirts and overalls they had. "No, it doesn't even look good on you," muttered as she placed a dark blue shirt in front of Fuji's chest and flattened it down his upper body.
"We'll try our luck in the next store," she instructed as she folded the shirt and brought Fuji to the next store. Fuji chuckled, ", we've already visited dozens of shops. Still not satisfied?"
frowned as she nodded. "I'm not satisfied. Fuji, you are so good-looking. You must wear something that shows off your uh... handsome-ness! Don't bother looking this word up in the dictionary, I made it up."
Fuji raised his brow, before he just kept quiet and looked away, as shades of faint pink emerged at his cheeks and the tips of his ear burned red. Our dear Fuji Syusuke was blushing.
Over at the next store, 's eyes caught sight of a particular black overall, and she immediately made Fuji try it on. When Fuji did try it and showed it to her, went high.
"YES! Oh yes, this one fits you damn well! Buy this one! You look totally dazzling in it! It fits! Oh my god, finally! This one is so damn cool!" cheered, and Fuji just kept his smile there. ", you sound omniscient." He joked, and shook her head. "Nope, based on my taste, that's all. Take it off, and buy it! I'll be waiting outside!" She checked the time. Oh my god. We spent at least three and a half hours shopping for just one set of clothing. Job well done on wasting people's time, .
After Fuji purchased that overall, which cost a bomb, walked Fuji home. Hell yea, since they'll pass by Fuji's apartment first, before she'll reach hers. Sounds peculiar; yes, it does, for it's always the other way round, but oh well.
They walked, as chatted with him animatedly, and they even reminisced about the things they used to do in the past, when they were still adolescent kids.
"And you know that time we got chided because I accidentally tossed my pencil at the teacher? Haha, and you just sat there smiling, and the teacher thought you were mocking her, and called you to stand with me outside, that was so-" suddenly paused in her speech when the couple walked past this tennis court. She had spotted someone familiar again. Guess who?
Yes. Everyone knows by now. Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Boy, she sees him every single day, right? This time, he's playing tennis with the wall.
stopped in her tracks and stood outside the tennis court.
"Hey there, Shiraishi!" she called out, and Shiraishi jerked, before he turned and stared at . "You gave me a fright!" And then his sight was averted away from her, and he looked at Fuji. "Oh, hey there, Syusuke."
Fuji continued smiling. "Practicing hard for the match?"
"Yes," Shiraishi answered. And turned to look at Fuji. "I got him to teach me tennis. And oh my god, he was really fantastic in tennis. You'd better watch out, Fuji, he's really formidable! The way he hits each ball and aims it in the court... Simply unbelievable!" She remarked.
Fuji was a little annoyed that was praising Shiraishi, but he kept his smile there. "Really? I must battle it out with him someday."
"Maybe you two will get your chance at the competition coming up soon!" said, and Shiraishi walked out of the court, with a towel drenched in sweat draped over his shoulders. "True," Shiraishi said, and Fuji just kept on smiling.
"All right then, . Let's go," Fuji started a few seconds later, and was about to say, "Okay" when Shiraishi halted her by gripping her wrist-tightly.
"Halt," Shiraishi muttered with a note of finality in his voice. "I need to speak to ."
Fuji turned behind and gawked at Shiraishi for a few seconds. was just dumbfounded, and just told Fuji to head home first without her. "Fuji, I'll see you at the dance! Bye-bye!"
With that, Fuji was left with no other choice but to walk home in solitude.
After Fuji left, turned to Shiraishi. "What's it that you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, and Shiraishi scratched his head a little. Actually he just wanted to let her stay with him for a little while longer.
"You mentioned about a dance, what's it about?" Shiraishi quipped, and smiled. "Well, there's this dance at Seigaku on Valentine's Day at two in the afternoon. This means I’ll most likely be at this dance first, before I rush over to Shitenhouji for that play."
"A... dance? O-Oh," Shiraishi went, as he looked away.
"So... have you forgotten about that girl yet?" asked, and Shiraishi turned back to face her, before he sighed. "Not yet."
"I'm sure you can do it. I mean, you have to forget about her somehow, right? Life just goes on, and I don't think you can get her to love you," said, and Shiraishi walked over to a bench and sat down, before he beckoned for to sit down as well.
"I'll try, but it's pretty hard to forget..." his voice trailed off.
"Indeed, but come on, just try to forget about her. Hmm... Well..." muttered, as she reached around her neck for her lucky amulet that her Mother passed her this afternoon, "Take this lucky amulet my Mother gave me. I hope it brings you good luck." She continued, before she removed it from her neck and handed it to Shiraishi.
Shiraishi gripped it and stuffed it into his pocket with a smile and a nod, before he rose from the bench again, and in a hasty he gripped and led her away, "I'll bring you to a place." "Ah? Where?" "Just come with me!" Shiraishi snapped, and pouted a little. Don't be so fierce!
After a few minutes of running, past several streets and roads, Shiraishi brought over to the rather deserted spot near a road.
"This is...?" quipped, as she looked at Shiraishi, whose eyes were fixed on something in the middle of the road, and he looked as if there was gold or something left there.
"My road of shadows; the road of nightmare," he pointed to somewhere near the center of the road, and his index finger stayed there.
"... I-I see..." mumbled, as she stared at the calm road. "And look over there," Shiraishi moved his finger away and pointed at a cupid statue, "Me and her used to pray every time we went by this way. Praying that our love will last forever. And yet, this was what we received... She had a fatal car accident on the road the cupid statue overlooks." He then lowered his head a little, and cursed herself. She had to think of something on her feet again to encourage him...
"Well... Umm... At least you will never forget about your first love, right?" said, and Shiraishi lifted his head. "Let's go over to the cupid. Today, I need to make a new prayer."
"Huh? A new prayer?" glanced at the time on her watch. "Eh, Shiraishi, it's getting late you know? I need to be back home quick before my mother carries any thoughts of barbecuing or sedating or maiming me... Man, she's quite violent..."
"It won't be long," Shiraishi reassured her as he sprinted over to the statue, pushing open a metal grilled gate and stepping in front of the cupid. "Spare me a few minutes. That's all that I need. Afterwards, I'll walk you home."
"Ehh... N-No need f-for that," declined, as she followed him, and Shiraishi gaped at her, before he kept silent.
In front of the cupid, Shiraishi clasped his hands together and silently prayed. Standing at a corner, watched on, not knowing what else she could do. harbored no love thoughts, even though she knew at times she really liked Shiraishi. So, she just made a few prayers for the safety of everyone close to her.
**
"I used to pray for the perpetual love between me and my first love. Now, I'm praying again, for a perpetual love with me and her..." He glanced over at , who looked on dazedly at the statue, then away from the statue, then back at the statue again in a continuous sequence. "Please, make this prayer come true. I don't want to lose someone close to me again, and hear the shatters of my heart..." Shiraishi prayed silently, as he looked up at the cupid's face.
"I'm begging with you..."
**
"All right, I'm done. Let's go home," Shiraishi started as soon as he had finished praying, and the two of them exited from the gate. "Come, I'll walk you home," Shiraishi offered again, and shook her hands. "N-No... It's okay... I'll walk home on my own..." "But it's so late..."
"It's okay! I don't wish to bother you," muttered, and Shiraishi frowned a little. "And who told you that I found it as a bother?"
"From the look of your eyes," said with a forced smile.
"My eyes don't tell you anything."
"It does. Don't you know? Your eyes are the gateways to your heart," pointed out with a chuckle.
"... Can you read my heart then?"
"...No. I'm not that smart," muttered, and Shiraishi stuffed his hands into his pocket.
"Fine, you can walk home on your own. I'll see you tomorrow," he waved, and waved back.
"Erm wait," Shiraishi started again as he gripped her wrist, "I... uh... I'm looking forward to the play... And uh... bye." He released his grip.
"Oh, sure," waved, and she walked away.
"I'm so stupid... I can't let you stay by me... I wished you could gaze through my eyes and read my heart, and know that I like you..." Shiraishi muttered, as he turned away.
"Did you say something?" asked as she stared at him with a puzzled look.
"N-No! I d-didn't!" Shiraishi lied as he placed on a meek smile.
"Ah, my ears are starting to deceive me. I'm only 15!" muttered, and she continued walking away.
"...Damn it. I should try to stop muttering to myself," Shiraishi went.
The next day in school, Shiraishi returned her umbrella and nothing much happened during lessons except for the release of results and scored badly once again.
After school ended, Shiraishi approached her, and told her to head over to the P.A room.
", head over to the P.A room. I've placed some very, very important announcements on a table in there. Please read every single word from it, don't leave anything out," Shiraishi forced himself to sound stern, and nodded slowly, as she pondered over what could the announcements be.
She rushed over to the P.A room, and she opened the door to the room with a click. Once the door was opened, her eyes fell on sheets of papers lying around a particular table. groaned a little.
"What does he take me for? Some machine? Reading so much?" mumbled, as she lifted the pieces of paper, tidied them and glanced through them. "What the hell..." she abruptly muttered, as she dropped the stack of papers.
"Dear all fellow members, there'd be a play on Romeo and Juliet tomorrow, at the School Theater, sharply at 3 in the afternoon. Shiraishi Kuranosuke will portray Romeo, while of Class 3-1 will portray the role of Juliet. It's definitely a play not to be missed. I love Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Please attend it. I love Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Next, the tennis players will be having intensive training this afternoon, so please do not head over to the tennis courts as this might disrupt their performance. I love Shiraishi Kuranosuke. This shall be much appreciated. Shiraishi loves me. Next, if anyone has lost a black wallet, please head over to the canteen to retrieve it. Thank you, and Shiraishi loves me." The first piece of paper wrote, and the second, third and fourth of papers were filled with, "I love Shiraishi and Shiraishi loves me. We love each other..."
Utter crap! What did Shiraishi Kuranosuke write here and expect me to read it?
switched on the P.A system, and she erased all those "love" parts, and just announced the other students about the play, the tennis practice, and the lost and found. Then, in a rather furious tone, she spoke, "And can Shiraishi Kuranosuke head down to the P.A room right now... Thank you..." And she switched off the system and narrowed her eyes.
"All right. This time round I'll steam him alive."
As left the room, she found Shiraishi leaning casually against a wall.
"You didn't read it, verbally," he said, and shook her head as she flushed.
"You expect me to read that? I mean it's..." Before she could finish, Shiraishi headed away. "That freaking weirdo!" spat, as she crossed her arms and huffed.
Afterwards, went for the last drama rehearsal. During the drama rehearsal, the teachers kept emphasizing on the kissing part, and kept groaning and pulling faces. Other than that, nothing else happened. Matsui continued hiding away from Shiraishi. And Shiraishi spoke nothing about all the "I love you" stuff he put on the papers.
After everything ended, Shiraishi approached and asked her a question that really shocked her. Not about the "I love you" stuff, but this, "You look really reluctant about the kiss. You are not going to stay at the dance too long or malinger just to escape from it, right?"
"N-No, I'm not! Haha, umm... Has your forehead healed?" She quickly changed the topic. She had planned to malinger. "Yes, it has healed completely. Thanks. I'm wearing your amulet, anyway." Shiraishi said, as he took out the necklace from beneath his collar and revealed it to her.
"Oh wow, you are really wearing it? You'd better take it off tomorrow, it doesn't fit the theme of Valentine's Day," said, and Shiraishi froze for a while, before he started running away in a hurry. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Weirdo..." muttered, before she headed to the gate as well and prepared to leave. Just then, she noticed that the sky was dark, yet again.
"CAN HISTORY STOP REPEATING ITSELF?" hissed under her breath as she hurried home. But still, before she reached home, it started drizzling, and she had no choice but to take out her umbrella again. When she went to that shop again, boy, she met him again, but this time, he was holding on to something nicely wrapped up, and he wasn't staring at the shop.
walked over to him and glanced into the shop. The girl was staring at the skies again. "Yo, Shiraishi! What's that in your hands?" she asked, but Shiraishi just stuffed it into his bag. "Nothing," he lied, and just shrugged and went, "Oh, fine. Anyway, have this umbrella and go shelter her. I love it when history repeats..." And she brought her umbrella over to him.
"I've an extra-" She was cut off when suddenly, Shiraishi's hands gripped over her hand that was holding onto the umbrella.
"What are you doing?" quipped, as she stared at Shiraishi, who in turn was staring back at her, and their eyes met.
"History never repeats itself," he began, as he swooped under the umbrella, "I'm not sheltering her. Let's go," He continued, as he removed 's hand off the umbrella before he gripped it firmly and together, he made her take a few steps forward. "You said it. Two people under one small umbrella is romantic," he said, as he brought closer to him. "This time round I'll make you stay with me under this umbrella. You are not going to escape. I'm walking you home. I like you."
was stupefied.
"A-Are you sane? How can you like someone when you are trying to forget another? April's Fool is still months away!" muttered, and Shiraishi answered, "I'm not kidding with you. The easiest way to forget someone is to fall in love with another."
"And who taught you that?" snapped.
"You made me think in that way," Shiraishi said, and was speechless. Shiraishi just pressed her body onto his.
was experiencing the warmth of Shiraishi's body. It was triggering her to fall asleep... Does she like Shiraishi too? She had no clue. Perhaps. Just perhaps.
The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Maybe the two of them were enjoying the air of love that abruptly emerged without their knowledge. Maybe did like Shiraishi after all.
"It's just a crush... I'm not in love with him. They are two different things..." swore under her breath as she unlatched the front door of her house.
**
"Oh yes, I did it!" Shiraishi cheered into the phone receiver.
"Wo, wo, Shiraishi, cool it." At the other end was Shinn Asuke.
"I'd never expect it! I confessed..." Shiraishi muttered as a short flicker of smile appeared at his lips. "Still, I have to stop someone from snatching her away from me."
Shinn was amazed. "Who'd want to snatch her away from you?"
"Someone you don't know," Shiraishi replied.
"Well, look, whoever it is, I'm going to do all my best to bring you and her together. Just you wait, tomorrow is the big day. I'm coming up with a really nice article on the two of you." Shinn Asuke teased.
"Yes, it is," Shiraishi agreed, "Tomorrow is the big day."
"Ooh, what does our Mr. Perfect have up his sleeves?" Shinn asked, and Shiraishi put on his mysterious smile.
"You'll know."
©D3stinyx