Disclaimer: PoT/ TnO does not belong to me.
Italics are her thoughts.
"Could you please pass this to Atobe-sama (1)? Please?" Bowing low, a girl's voice said imploringly. She extended her arms to their fullest, with a beautifully wrapped square gift balancing at the tip of fingers.
Yuna looked furtively around. She looked left, and then looked right. She walked round the lockers to make sure no one was hiding around. Finally walking back to her locker and putting her shoes, she held her hand out to take the present.
Receiving it, she bent low and whispered, "Ok, but don't! Don't thank me! And don't tell anyone ok?"
"But I really have to thank you! You're the only link I have to Atobe-sama, I really really appreciate it –" The girl said excitedly, flustered and what she could use to repay Yuna.
She really has to shut it before I get spotted…..
"Look. Just go as far away as you can from me. I shall give it to him when I see him." Shoving it down her sling bag, she ran past the ecstatic schoolmate and made a beeline for her classroom.
"Yuna-chan (2)!!"
Oh no.
"I just saw you! You can't deny it now! You just accepted that girl's present!" A high-pitched voice screeched from across the lockers.
I highly suspect that she has X-ray vision. She can spot me from rows away!
Turning around and putting on the sweetest smile she could, she said, "Yes Mika? I did only because she asked me politely."
"No fair! I asked politely as well and you didn't accept it!" Mika stamped angrily on the ground.
"That's because your present comes with several others." She replied, eyeing the several girls behind Mika warily. There were all wearing a badge on the right of their uniforms which read 'A.K Fan club'.
"They never stop do they?" A boy with short cropped hair in a cap spoke from where he sat near the window.
"You have to show us how grateful we are to Atobe-sama!" Yuna mimicked their high-pitched voices and made puppy eyes at Shishido, who almost doubled over in laughter. Rolling her eyes, she sat down hard on her seat, not caring if the paper bag of presents in her bag were going to be squashed of not.
"I swear that imitation of yours gets better every day." Shishido managed to stifle his laughter.
"Watching the same thing everyday seems to help," Yuna winked at him, before bursting into laughter alongside Shishido.
"Why isn't that pompous oaf here yet? I want to let go of my charges!" Yuna said irritably, crossing her legs. Several heads - mostly female - turned around to give glares, but no one said anything in protest.
"You are the only one who doesn't get killed by his fan girls for calling him a pompous oaf," Shishido smirked. "I wonder how you manage it."
"Well, being his childhood friend has its perks. But why is it that YOU don't get it as bad as I do?" Yuna flared, pointing a menacing finger to Shishido's chest.
"Well, it's just that you have a greater affinity with the opposite sex than Shishido, being one of them yourself. Moreover, I will let you off the hook for calling me a 'pompous oaf' because you are coming to my house for dinner." A new voice said smoothly from behind her back. Turning her head sharply, she came face to face with Atobe Keigo.
"Man, you missed by two inches." Shishido bounced his tennis ball on the table.
"Maybe I should make my hair two inches longer then," Yuna said wonderingly while caressing her hair that went all the way down to mid-back.
"Now I shall release you from your agony," Atobe's voice came back into her ears, and he swiftly picked out the bag of presents from her bag. "Thank you for being so wonderful as to collect them for me."
"It is my greatest honour, Atobe-sama, to even be in the same classroom as you!" Yuna rolled her eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And since when was I invited to dinner?"
"Two minutes ago." Shishido spoke, while playing with a tennis ball in his hands. Atobe turned back and smirked.
Crap. What did I do to get myself stuck with these two?
Great. "My relationship with you alone grants you protection from all fan girls," so he says. So why I am the only one drenched the second everyone steps out of school?
"I'm terribly sure that he's not stopping any of this because it makes him feel so popular, like he needs to see and hear his popularity being validated all the time," Yuna muttered under her breath, earning weird stares from the other commuters on the bus.
What are you guys staring at?
Looking at her reflection in the window, she saw her hair damp and lusterless. On the other hand, her clothes were drying at a much faster rate, and she hoped that by the time she reached his residence, she would be dry and presentable.
Not the automatic sprinklers.
Yuna had gotten drenched once again, though it was no longer by someone human – it was by a rather invisible lifeless metal sprinkler.
I'm even more soaked than before! How could this happen to me……
"Hey Atobe, do you have any casual tees?"Yuna asked grumpily as he led her to a spare room to change.
"Ore-sama does not have any casualties."
"What?" Yuna said incredulously.
Then what does he have in his closet? Suits?
"Of course! I maintain top form in everything I do; I don't even have a scratch." Atobe said proudly.
"Not casualties, casual tees! As in casual T-shirts!" Yuna cried exasperatedly.
Pompous oaf.
"I do, but," Atobe eyed her once and continued, "You certainly won't fit into any of them. You will change into one of the dresses in the spare room, like you always have done. Do something about your hair; my mother will not be pleased to see your hair like that."
"She's not pleased about anything I do. I think she enjoys criticizing me," Yuna sulked. She dragged herself unhappily into the spare room.
"Dress prettily; a surprise awaits." Atobe whispered into her ear, before releasing her hand and shutting the door with a click.
Yuna blinked.
What surprise?
"Why isn't she done yet? It's been an hour!" Shishido paced to and fro in the living room.
"Be patient, she needs time to decide which dress will bring out her best," Atobe said calmly, not lifting his eyes from his novel.
Shishido stopped. "Does she even know how to doll herself up? Ow!"
"I knew you were talking about me! How dare you!" Yuna said in mock anger, while twisting Shishido's ear. Atobe looked up, expecting to see her beautifully dressed in one of the extravagant gowns – only to see the familiar checkered blue uniform on her. He twitched.
"You made us wait an hour just for this?"
"Didn't you say that men had to patient while waiting for us females to be at their best? Well, I think wearing the school uniform makes me look great, you can't complain can you?" Yuna said cheerily. "She can't criticize me without saying that the uniform is bad. I'm such a genius!" Yuna declared triumphantly.
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no Mrs. Atobe tonight." Shishido replied.
"She's overseas, how else could I have asked you here without her receiving you at the door?" Atobe sat up from the sofa and placed both his hands on her shoulders. He steered her towards the balcony, where a table for three was waiting. As she neared the table, she saw fifteen candles glowing dimly atop a wonderfully crafted cake covered in icing.
"Happy birthday." Both chorused, one at each ear.
"You two remembered," She choked out before breaking down into a fit of tears.
"Of course we would remember the day when you came to this world," Shishido replied.
"And made both our lives a living hell, it would be a disgrace not to remember," Atobe smirked, narrowly missing a punch from the girl.
"Pompous oaf," She croaked out before giving him a hug.
"It's about time you found a nickname to call Shishido, haven't you?" Atobe frowned slightly.
"Aren't you glad you can get more of my personal attention?" She laughed gaily, and then turned to hug Shishido on the other end.
Watching the two of them trying to hit each other with cake – the original had 5 different layers – as she sat at the table finishing what she could before they became ammunition, she smiled contently at the two who were acting like silly nine-year-old kids.
What did I do to get myself stuck with these two?
fin.
Notes:
'Atobe-sama' – 'sama' honorific added behind a name to depict someone of a higher status.
'Yuna-chan' – 'chan' honorific added to show a close relationship.
Finally got around to doing this.
Inspired by my friends who always made me laugh.
Will be revamped if needed.
Reviews would be helpful.
