The Box Of Chocolate (Chapter 1) Hazukashii na!

The tennis court is as quiet as usual, like it always did every morning. Tezuka raised his left arm and looked at his wrist watch. It read 6:30. Still early for the morning practice. And as expected, he is always early than the set time for morning practice. As a captain he needs to set a good example to the team. Tezuka sighed for a moment then shifted his gaze from the watch to the tennis court that was still empty. He was about to leave and headed for the tennis locker room to change on his regular tennis uniform when he saw something that caught his attention or could that be someone? He was not quite sure. The morning fog was blocking the clear view of that object. He didn't bother to check that out.

He quickly changed to his regular jersey then headed to the court. He started warming up before the other members came. He was on his last routine, which is running laps around the court after series of stretching, when he noticed that the figure he saw a while a go is not an object but more likely of a girl who was sitting on the bench. She was seated there peacefully facing him, arms wide spread on the back support of the bench and her head leaning on her left shoulder. By the look of her, you can tell that she was unaware of Tezuka's presence. He had the impression that she was careless, having seated that way was too inappropriate for a girl.

Tezuka took a deep breath before running for the tenth laps. He was already used to it. He'd been doing this since he joined the tennis club. Running laps around the court was like a vitamins that was needed to be taken religiously. That's how he view it. It kept him fit and toned for the past three years. It helped him coped to situations that almost drained out his strength during official matches. He was on his twentieth laps when he was destructed by something. It's not that he intended to look at it or he wanted to look at it but since she was facing her while her thighs were wide spread, it can't be help that her position was already revealing her underwear under the skirt, considering the length of the skirt of Seigaku's uniform.

It would be unkind for him to ignore her in this situation especially for a man like him who was raised to be a gentleman. Something should be done . This was humiliating for the girl. How come she was so careless! He jogged towards the girl. Her eyes were shut and her hearing was blocked by the earphone that was tucked on her ears. She was clueless about his presence. Tezuka cleared his throat but the sound from the earphone was too loud to have the meek sound of his throat be heard by her.

"What do you want?". Tezuka was somehow surprised by the girl's sudden burst. The girl must have sensed him, and her voice was not very welcoming. Tezuka could feel annoyance and irritancy on her voice. He cleared his throat again before saying something. The girl was surprised upon seeing Tezuka's face. She removed the earphones as he intently looked at her.

"It's blue with lace." Tezuka can't think of the easiest way to say it but those words were the first words that came out of his mind. The girl was more confused than before with his reply. Tezuka was still calm and poise, as always. He turned his back to the girl and slowly jogged away to continue his running laps that was interrupted a minute ago.

Tezuka gave her one more look. The girl was still clueless of what he was talking about. The girl still didn't get it. He pointed out his finger on the girl's thighs. She followed to where the direction of Tezuka's index finger was pointing out. She leaned forward then curved her back down so she can have a better view of her thighs. The color of her face suddenly displayed thousand shades of red as she observed her position. Her thighs were wide spread and almost revealed the blue and lacy underwear beneath it. She quickly changed her position and sat with straight back and legs intertwined. She tried stretching out his skirt, trying so hard as if it would stretch out. It's very embarrassing. How can I be so careless, she said to herself.

"Don't let your guard down", Tezuka said, much to her surprised, much to his disappointment She let a small smile left her lips while raising her left arm to scratch the back of her head. How embarrassing.

"Gomenasai!", she said as he slowly jogged away.

". . . . . " as he took one last glance at her. His face didn't show any reactions at all. He was calm and cold all through out. His reactions shocked her. He continued running laps again. She watched as the image of Tezuka disappeared into the fog. Still feeling sorry for herself, she stood up and looked intently at the box of chocolate she held in her right hand. It was a simple box, so small that you can hide it in your palms clasp together. Good thing he didn't see it. Well, she thought he won't even bother to know whom it is for if he saw it. She'd been observing Tezuka and it was today when finally she decided to ask him but it turned out to be a disaster. Sigh. I wonder what he thinks of me now. She put the earphone back, trying to shrugged off the event that took place between her and Tezuka. But it won't leave her, even for a second, making her unease. Good music. Yes, good music would usually calm her in stressing situation like this. That's why she couldn't leave it . That's why she always brought it with her.

"Let me see here. " , as she scanned the list of the songs. She was drifted away once more as she listened to the 11th tracked on the I-pod. The melody of the song was so relaxing and for a moment it made her forgot what had just happened. She hummed softly as she exited the tennis court.

". . . Sometimes, I see you, and you don't know I am there
And I'm washed away
By emotions I hold deep down inside
Getting stronger with time
It's living through the fire . . ."

She kept on playing the song repeatedly until she memorized the whole lyrics already. She found comfort on those words. They expressed the feelings that she can't say to Tezuka. It described exactly what was the situation between her and her beloved bochou. It's as if the song spoke up for her.

Tezuka. Then she stopped walking along the hallway. It made her heart ached. The stabbing pain in her heart was back again as she whispered his name. Something inside her would burst any moment. This feeling she kept for him was so overwhelming that it was eating her up. Tezuka won't never, by any chance, know her. They both go to the same school but they're too far from each other. It seemed like they belong to two different world. He didn't know that she exist and she thought he won't even bother to know her existence.

She could see him from afar, silently watching him from a distant with her heart's contentedness and that's enough for her. They would met eventually but differences always set them apart. Though he's near and she can see him from here, he was still far. She tried to reached out for him but things got worse. Sometimes she wished she was like him : popular, good at everything, intelligent, nice, like by all, almost perfect, aside from the fact that he was good looking.

Their lives were too different. His was complicated while hers was simple. He was aloof and loner, and his classmates, as she would her them call him, dubbed him as the 'The Anti- Social Bochou of the Boys Tennis Club'. This was the reputation he built for the past three years with his calm, emotionless, stoned, stoic face. He never smiled making him more mysterious and appealing to girls. He was popular and well- respected and was one of the most sought after guy in school. His school day was busy from morning till afternoon with all the tennis practices and activities for the preparations of National Tournament. Aside from being the president of the Student Counsel he still needed to attend some issues outside school and home responsibilities.

While she was the type of girl that you won't care knowing and if by any luck you've met you would forget her eventually for she didn't have a striking personality. Her life was just like the other average students at school, the only slight difference was that she was often bullied and was the target of mishaps of other students. Her life was plain. She has no friends. Her day evolved at school and at home. Sometimes she helped at her Aunt's flower shop if she had spare time after studies. Every now and then she attended the English club meeting, the only club she'd joined since her first year at Seishun Gakuen. She was not intelligent, she was not good looking, and the list go on with the opposites of what Tezuka is and what he has. She was afraid of asking him and it took her sometime to have the courage, but when she did, it turned out to be the worst.

She thinks her situation was hopeless when an idea strike her head. Kami-sama, please help me. She closed her eyes as she silently prayed. Once done she curved her lips up, a smile slowly showing up on her thin pale lips. She took a deep breath, as she gained her confidence back.

Meanwhile, the regulars started to show up one after the other, of course with the exception of Momoshiro and Echizen who always came to school together. The fog that once engulfed the place had just disappeared. "Run 20 laps around the court" can be heard on the left side of the court where the bench was located. "Hai", all the regulars chorused. They were all on the same pace, all avoiding Inui's weird-tasting concoctions as the penalty for the last to finish the laps.

END OF CHAPTER ONE