A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this story :D Reviews are very much welcome, so don't be shy and just keep on reviewing. I try to update this once a week, and I'm really hoping that I'd be able to finish this fic by the end of the summer (summer as in summer of 2010 ohohoho! I started writing this two years ago..). Oh well! Let's get it on! XD

More Than Just A Crush

By: Killua K.

Chapter 1: Unrequited

She kept on drawing my attention throughout the whole recital. Her graceful moves, slender curves, innocent smile - everything about her radiated through the vast distant space that separated me on my cushioned seat, from her on the polished wooden stage. I stared at her eagerly, not wanting to miss a moment as she bent her elastic body, stretched her long limbs, flexed her strong toes, and danced in a synchronized movement together with several girls on the floor. It was the very first time I've seen a lady like her, yet amazingly, she had already managed to capture my fastidious attention. From there forth I knew, I had to meet her no matter what, and explicitly tell her how she made me smile by her stunningly stupendous ballet performance onstage.

"Aoshi..."

She spun flawlessly, almost like an indefatigable ballerina doll. Extending her arms to the crowd as if pleading, she swiftly sprinted across the vast space and suddenly jumped high into the air, with her long legs fully stretched out into a split.

"Oi...Sempai..."

I didn't move a single muscle in my eye, afraid that my own source of vision would betray me and shut me off into the darkness where she didn't exist. It was merely enough for me to gaze at her movements from a tormenting distance, and appreciate the effort she exerted in executing her own dance steps. Though I could barely make out her features from where I sat, I believed that I had memorized a fair deal of grace and unspoken beauty from her unparalleled stance.

"Shinomori-sempai!"

Manly as I was, I never became interested in any girly stuff. I always perceived those things to be a source of annoyance, since I thought they were ineffective ways for a girl to represent her genuine personality. But she made me realize that ballet was otherwise. I wanted to convince myself that I would meet her someday - somewhere in this overly populated world. Soon, I would witness her dance gracefully once more, and relive the very moment when my infatuation for her bloomed on that fateful night, three years ago.

"Wake up, Aoshi-kun!"

My eyes flung open in bewilderment.

"Yay! My dear sempai is awake at last! Oh my god, I've been watching you sleep the whole time you know. I was staring at your face for like...what? Fifteen minutes? Well, I don't exactly know, but hey, I don't care anyway! You know, you're really handsome. And I like how your eyebrows arched like that," the blue-eyed girl in front of me pointed as she drew an invisible shape in the air.

"Wonder what angle it is...Oh well, you really have a healthy skin, Sempai! No pimples, acne or whatsoever. Ah! But I think I found a couple of blackheads earlier over here..." her petite slender fingers moved over my nose and attempted to touch my delicate skin.

"What the - ? Hey, stop it!" I instinctively dodged my head so as to prevent her from molesting me.

The impolite kohai giggled in a very irritating way, snorting confidently as if she were the only person inside the room. "Gomen ne! But really...you're so vain! To think you're so manly and all girls like you in this school! I wouldn't be surprised if you spend like a lot of time in the bathroom," she paused briefly then started babbling nonsense again. "Oh, and I noticed this small...uhhmm...'mole' on your left cheek. Ah, but it ain't big so don't be alarmed. It's actually suitable on your angelic face! An imperfection on one's "perfect" asset accentuates the asset's beauty and value even more. Or at least I think it is so...

"I was about to caress your face actually, tried to savor its tenderness on my skin...But...

"You drooled on your arm, Shinomori-sempai."

Staring blankly at the boisterous girl in front of me, I contemplated for a while if I should strike her with my hand for mercilessly interrupting my dream or choke her to death for watching me succumb to a peaceful slumber while meticulously examining the unhygienic excretions on my face. I looked at her, not moving a single muscle. She lifted her hand and pointed to my right arm that lied flatly on the desk.

"I said you...you drooled on your arm," she repeated as she smiled sweetly at me. "It'll smell if you don't wipe it."

I finally looked down to check the veracity of her allegation. Surprisingly, a streak of viscous saliva dripped on the sides of my arm, eventually wetting my desk. Not again...I sighed heavily as I dug into my messy bag that hung on a chair beside me. My hands groped for a tissue inside, searching for the only tool that I could use to wipe out the sticky sensation clinging onto my skin.

"Here, Shinomori-sempai. You can use my hankie."

I looked up and saw the piece of cloth she held out to me. Realizing it wasn't a deep shade of pink as I had imagined it to be, I hesitantly took it from her hand and carefully placed it on my arm. I simply nodded my head to signify my gratitude towards her, and she warmly received it with a beam on her countenance.

Misao Makimachi is the daughter of my parents' best friends. What a coincidence, right?

We grew up together as children, basically due to our parents' remarkably intimate friendship. I could still remember the times when she would invite me to play with her toy soldiers.

Ah yes...I wasn't mistaken. She was fond of boyish things - cars, soldiers, robots, dinosaurs, and other gory stuff. She enjoyed playing and fighting with boys who were twice her own size, and amazingly, she was never defeated in any battle. She loved running around the field, trying to outrun me as we raced towards an imaginary finish line. And it was probably the reason why I was able to form this superficial friendship with her - she wasn't a girl at all.

But ever since she entered elementary school, we stopped hanging out with her family. I didn't have the slightest idea why it suddenly happened. My parents told me the Makimachi household was pretty busy with their own things and blah, blah, blah. But I never really believed them. Maybe they don't like us anymore? I once thought in my third grade. However, as several months, years passed by without any form of communication from the Makimachis, I decided to move on and forget everything about them. Besides, I was also growing up, and my circle of friends was becoming larger. I knew I didn't need a playmate like Misao to entertain me.

It wasn't until my last year in senior high school that I've been reunited with her all of a sudden. She entered my school this spring, amazingly finishing off at the top 3 in the admissions examination. I could still remember when she, together with the other top students in her year, was introduced on stage by our teachers. She had this long braid hanging on her back, while her skirt almost touched the edge of her knee-high socks. If only she wore glasses and braces, I could swear she looked like a total sheepish geek.

But I should've anticipated otherwise.

Vociferous, daredevil, candid, cocky, tomboy...

How could I have forgotten the little girl I used to play with more than a decade ago? She merely grew up to be the exaggerated version of that kid, but heck, she didn't change a bit - I mean, she didn't mature in a more effeminate way unlike other teenage girls in our school. Yeah, she's outrageously intelligent, but other than that, I never saw any tenderness in her actions.

And probably, that's why I didn't mind if she followed me around, or made fun of me, or even became obsessed with me.

"You're welcome!"

I returned the slightly damped cloth to her, and she instantly took it from my hand. She tucked it inside the pocket of her blouse and looked at me again. "Won't you meet her? She's probably waiting for you," she bluntly said. I suddenly remembered the love letter I received this morning inside my shoebox. The author of the note wanted to meet up with me at lunch break in front of the library. Honestly, I didn't want to waste my precious nap time on her, but since Makimachi was bugging me, I decided to do it anyway.

The lady had short hair. She was alone in front of the old enormous building, continuously glancing at her sides. As soon as I approached her, I noticed the insurmountable glitter that suddenly lit up in her huge chocolate brown eyes. I've seen the very same thing since I was in elementary, and I knew that after I unleash the magical words, that sparkle would definitely vanish in an instant, killing the single spark of hope that a girl like her clung onto.

"Uhhmm..my name is Harumi Imai," she introduced herself in a very high-pitched voice. "I...I..." she stuttered. "I've suppressed my genuine feelings for you since I was in first year. But, since you'll be graduating next semester, I thought I had to let you know before you leave."

I didn't manifest any hint of emotion on my face. Quite interestingly, I'm known to have a very strong stoic feature, an attribute I didn't know I had until a few years ago. And it was in times like this when I artistically utilize this particular trait to aid me in handling this kind of situation.

"Will you go out with me?" she cried as she bowed her head and upper part of her body in a very Japanese manner. She finally pleaded for my love - for my sweet "Yes" that could mean the world to her, just like the hundreds of girls who bowed to me before.

But I'm not at all interested in her, or in any other girl who would confess to me in a cheap manner like this.

"Sorry..."

A one-word reply as I abruptly turned my back from her and started to walk back to my classroom. The school bell started to ring and resonate through the halls and alleys, signaling the end of the students' lunch break. Our next subject was Japanese, and I remembered that we would be having a short quiz about the complicated topic we discussed a day ago.

One, two, three...

As I finished counting in my head, I instantly heard the sound of the girl's wail from behind. I knew she would do it, all right. I'd be surprised if she didn't.

I sighed heavily as I noticed a piece of pink envelope inside my shoebox. Another letter, I suppose...

I was about to ignore it since I was rushing to go home. But something kept on nagging inside my head, telling me to take it from its cradle and digest its content even for a brief period of time. So I decided to read the letter, expecting what kind of format and message it would contain:

Dear Shinomori-sempai,

Hey, guess what? I saw you reject the poor girl earlier. Actually, I was hiding behind the giant Sakura tree near the library to get a good glimpse. Well, I've seen you do it many times anyway, so it didn't really come to me as a surprise.

Uhhhmm...so, can we meet tomorrow after classes? Let's say, inside your classroom, until everyone leaves. I'll be waiting, okay? )

Lovelots,

Mi-chan

P.S. If you're gonna reject me, try to do it in a different way. Can you do that for me? Yay! Thanks! Mwaaahh!

I stared in disbelief at the letter I was holding.

"Ohhhh! You finally read it! How was it? Did you feel anything, Sempai?" a familiar loud voice emerged from behind. I turned around and was quite annoyed to see her smiling widely in front of me with that stupid look in her eyes. I wanted to crumple the letter she wrote and throw it to her on that very moment. "Did you feel any love, eh? Oh my god...I rewrote that several times, could you imagine that? I can't believe I wasted a lot of effort and paper and ink and ATP and time in composing a lovely letter for you. So uhhmm...you better do it right tomorrow, ok? Ja mata ne!"

She turned around and skipped happily away from me, while humming an irritating song I thought I heard somewhere before. Her long skirt swayed behind her, together with the long braid that hung from her head. My head ached as I glanced at the senseless letter that I was holding and back to the crazy girl who just talked to me a while ago. I shook my head in immense astonishment and tried to convince myself that nothing just took place.

I can't believe this is happening...

TBC...

A/N: Hahaha! Misao is queer, alright! Hope you liked the first chapter! Please give me a review, ok? Thanks!