There was all but assurance in the steps of Kaneda Ichirou, quiet, he seemed to gain a touch of it as he made his way over to the female dorms side. This was a trip that he knew Yanagisawa Shinya made often, for visiting Kisarazu Atsushi.
However, this was the first visit Kaneda managed to get himself to do.
He had been a St. Rudolph student for all of his middle school life, while the female he wanted to visit – roommate-less by chance, Fuji Yuuka, had transferred to St. Rudolph after their schooling had started.
When he had met her, she was just another teammate on the team that Mizuki was building. They shared Nomura Takuya as a doubles partner once. She was talented, and honestly, he had heard things about her older sister – no, not the one that Mizuki Hana thought was really pretty and blushed in her presence – the one that hated Mizuki, Fuji Shizuka. He had seen her, in action, but really, Yuuka had the talent, and really differed from her sister.
Which was something Kaneda really liked.
He was cleared by the dorm monitor and climbed the stairs up to Yuuka's dorm hallway, and then to Yuuka's door. He took a deep breath, ready for this afterschool hangout.
He knocked four times, paused, and knocked twice more. That was the knock they had agreed on for visits. Without it, there may not have been an answered door.
He waited, until he heard movement and shifting. The door opened slowly, to reveal Fuji Yuuka, whose eyes seemed to be adjusting to the change in focus – Kaneda did hear the faint music of a Gameboy Advance pause screen.
"Hello, Ichirou."
"Yuuka," he nodded.
She stepped aside, "Come in." She ended up saying, before she turned around and went back to her bed, picking up her Gameboy and plopping down. She glanced back to Kaneda, who awkwardly stood in the doorway, and laughed, before patting beside her.
Kaneda shut the door and sat next to Yuuka, looking around the room. Clean walls, as expected from a Mizuki-monitored room.
"I'm glad it's Sunday tomorrow," Yuuka said.
"I am too," Kaneda responded, "Is there anywhere you wanted to go tomorrow?"
Yuuka thought for a moment, "We could go to the arcade and then maybe we could practice some?"
"Sounds good."
"To keep a good image for St. Rudolph, we have to keep it up. No slacking," she said this, shaking her head slightly, "There better be more people that join the team – we can't run a team for two."
"No, we can't," Kaneda said.
Smile, they both did, Yuuka seemed at home, talking about the future, about staying at St. Rudolph. The next generation, they had their friends, but matter was that it would be up to them to build a new team.
Caring. Kaneda held his smile at Yuuka, her eyes narrowed, focused, fingers tapping the buttons rapidly as she kept such a determination on her game. She still wore her school uniform, the uniform skirt hugging just past her knees – long and fitting - and judging by the plastic container on her nightstand, she probably had went to buy some ice cream and ate it.
How typical, but endearing all the same.
Suddenly, she paused her game and looked at him, "You know, Ichirou, you can lay down. It's fine… especially if you need to see. Besides, it weird with you sitting up when I'm laying down." She then said, scooting over just slightly. It was just a tad bit… bothersome, and she wanted him to feel comfortable.
"I couldn't. It's your bed, Yuuka," Kaneda said. That would be rude, to just… well, he had permission, and she was his girlfriend…
"Like it matters," she said, quickly, closing her eyes to relax a moment, "You're just watching me play, right? No big deal." Definitive in her words, oh was she used to people being cautious around her, because of Shizuka. Shadowed by Shizuka, protected, she wanted to make a name for herself, while… in hope, staying close to her sister.
Kaneda recognized who she was for… well, her, and that was what counted a lot.
Permission, permission given, wasn't it powerful? Kaneda finally laid back, and she rested her head slightly on his shoulder, allowing him to see the game better.
Quality time, they both enjoyed that.
Kaneda noticed just how fast she hit the buttons, fingers seemingly flying, pent up frustration, the whole of the characters and game – something that seemed like an RPG with many shoot'em up elements – rolled parallel to what her most recent years had been, right down to the level of tension in the dialogue. Such a revelation, he couldn't help but laugh a little to himself about the familiarity of the whole thing. Yuuka was strong, determined, never would she give in – or let him give in.
He felt drowsy – how much time had passed? – as he lay still, watching.
"This was a game Kawamura-san lent me," Yuuka explained, "He said I would like it. And I wouldn't say he was wrong."
Her button pressing speed dropped, the intensity of her button hits becoming lighter, softer, eyes drooping, the Gameboy dropped. She had fallen asleep. It had been late, Kaneda figured out, late enough that a long day could warrant such reactions.
It didn't take long for Kaneda to react, carefully picking up the Gameboy, finding a save point, shutting it off, and setting it aside. Yuuka adjusted her head on his shoulder. In this moment, Kaneda realized he wasn't going anywhere and, in such, found it safe to relax, to let himself sleep.
It wasn't long until he awoke, however, by an external pressure on his chest and talking – Yuuka. She leaned over him to grab a ringing phone, muttering something about it possibly being Yanagisawa or Mizuki, but in the end, Kaneda knew by her speaking style on who it was.
"It's one in the morning…" Kaneda heard Yuuka sigh, gentle toned, "I'm fine… No, I'm busy today… It's nothing awful."
Laughter, "I'm glad… no, I'm hanging out with a friend today, later… once it's, you know, a normal time."
"Everything will be fine, Aneki. You're worried for nothing."
"Oh, I will. As soon as I finish the game. Have fun today."
"Cake? That sounds great; maybe next week end? Goodbye. Talk to you later."
She then hung up and case a lazy gaze to Kaneda.
"Up, you've got to leave now… We woke up in time for you to get out before we get in trouble…"
"We stayed up late, with you playing it," Kaneda said, "I don't think Akazawa-san would be too happy."
"Buchou will live. It's not on a practice night anyway. I'm sure you enjoyed watching though."
"I did enjoy it," Kaneda answered, brushing a strand of her loose hair out of her face. Messy, he was used to seeing it in pigtails, but it didn't matter what hair style she wore. It didn't matter at all. If she was happy, he was happy.
"I'm glad," Yuuka said, eyes meeting his, "Although, I think Mizuki-san was here… She really does have a key." She frowned, fuming, "Doesn't she know any sense of privacy?"
"It is Mizuki-san… And I think she just reorganized a little. She helps out with the dorms for a reason you know. " Probably an eleven o'clock sweep of dorms. Mizuki only did this to girls and boys that she had permission from, and knocked first. Still, even with the grant Yuuka had regrettably given her, sometimes, it just bothered her! But, overall, she had to have grown accustomed to it.
"Yeah… I'm used to it. She doesn't move much when she comes in."
"She left tea for me before. If it was right around the time I'd normally wake up."
"Me too," Yuuka nodded, remembering the handwritten, anonymous notes Mizuki used to bring in with the tea. Those notes were always so sweet… then again, after a while, she began testing the waters, leaving anonymous notes with Mizuki to give to Kaneda.
She stopped when she and Kaneda started dating, instead replacing those notes with morning phone calls.
But, once she started dating Kaneda, she no longer got those notes, just the occasional tea.
Her expression lightened as she sat up, then standing, and pointing toward the door, "Now, you should go get some sleep and in a few hours, we'll meet outside and then we can go out for the day. Don't forget, all right?"
Pressure, gentle, care, it worked so well. Chemistry, Yanagisawa's best subject could only scrape the surface of human emotion, if at all; it simply didn't match into this kind of thinking. Ideals, they played them out, with personalities that clicked.
Powerful, adoration, Kaneda gave Yuuka a kiss on the cheek once he stood, saying, "I won't. Promise." He yawed, turning, and walking out the door, closing it behind him.
He stepped forward, easily beholding, in memory, the fondness Yuuka held while looking at him – the way it mirrored how he looked at her. Too busy, too tired, she probably was, too caught up in her present, her phone ringing once more from calls of the restless, her present affairs binded her. But the ever aware Kaneda could see these little things.
"Yanagisawa-san, don't be ridiculous!"
He paused, hearing her say through the door on the phone.
"Mizuki-san said what?"
"No, I don't think…"
"But that's..!"
"Not today."
From the way she protested Mizuki's plans to the way she fell for them anyway. From the she fit into the team to the way she smiled… everything mattered.
Maybe he was a fool, but he had once been told that a fool aware of being a fool was better than not.
Purely enjoying each other's company…
Adoration was a young, happy fool's love.