Chapter one-
The invitation letter for Hyotei
...
My Obaa-chan would always tell me of things I don't really understand. She just speaks about something with a tone that makes you want to believe her and a gleam in her eyes that somehow told me of her wisdom. There's this one phrase she said years ago that got stuck in my head: "Everything happens for a reason". I didn't give it much thought before because I often hear it from other people.. I didn't know what it really meant though. But now, looking back at everything that happened, I realized that it is really fitting. One thing led to another and now.. I'm here.
What if I didn't deliver the letters? What if Tomo-chan didn't have to stay home and babysit her brothers? What would've happened.. if I refused Obaa-chan? Hmm.. Maybe, a lot of things would've changed. But I guess it doesn't really matter now. Oh, how beautiful. There's a flock of birds flying right outside the window.
...
Delivering letters is not that hard a task. But delivering letters to two different schools which are not really that near to each other and homes to the most feared in Tennis.. is an entirely different story. Oh, if only Tomo-chan didn't bail out on her at the last minute, she could've asked the others to come with her. It was just yesterday when her Obaa-chan approached her and asked her for a favor. Of course, being the obedient granddaughter that she is, she complied without a second thought.
Sakuno's hold on the letter tightened as she heaved a deep breath, her auburn braids moving behind her. Inhale.. Exhale.. Then count to ten, just like what Fuji-senpai said she should do whenever she's stressed. Everything will be fine. Ten. It's going to be okay. Nine. Daijobou na. Eight. Seven. Everything will be- sigh. 'Obaa-chan..', she moaned inwardly. Why of all people must she be the one to do this? Why not Tezuka-buchou who can withstand the Hyotei king's incessant rants about his perfection and flawless skill? Why not Fuji-senpai who can scare away other people with his sadistic smile? Why not Inui-senpai? He'd surely love to do this! Why her? Why?!
Ah, right.. Obaa-chan wanted this to be a secret. A surprise.
Bowing her head in sheer hopelessness, she placed the letters back inside her bag and stepped forward.. into the large gates of Hyotei Gakuen, without noticing that a big, fluffy white creature has spotted her.
...
"Tell me again, why are we doing this?", Gakuto Mukahi, the resident acrobat, turned to his doubles partner with an annoyed look. They stopped by a tree and stood underneath its comforting shade.
Oshitari Yuushi glanced at him nonchalantly and shrugged, "Because he said so", before zipping up his regular's jersey with a single hand, the other clutching a romance book he'd been meaning to read during the break.
"Why did he have to bring that damn dog here anyway? Isn't that like.. against the school rules?!", huffed the redhead and crossed his arms.
"He's ATOBE..", the megane-wearing lad deadpanned.
"Oh, right."
"Let's just hope we..- or someone.. finds Beat sooner. This is taking up much of our morning practice time and Atobe won't let us rest until he sees his pet dog again", Oshitari looked around, but it was plain obvious that he's not really putting much effort into it. He sighed as his fingers traced the spine of his book. What a nuisance, he thought. If not for that diva, he could've finished half of it by now. Just when he's already at the part where the female protagonist is about to meet the man-
"Another mushy love story, Yuushi?", the redhead grimaced.
"It's not mushy, it's-"
Gakuto rolled his eyes and recited in a bored tone, "..A beautiful, passionate, well-written tale of love about two people who are destined for each other, yadda yadda, yeah sure, whatever." Placing his arms behind his head, he added, "But if you're so interested in those kinds of things, why not just find yourself a leading lady and sweep her off her feet? This is reality, you know. Unlike the events in your novels, no girl would just magically fall from the heavens and into your arms. That's just absurd."
Narrowing his orbs, Oshitari pointed out, "This is better than not reading at all, Gakuto."
"I just don't like to read, okay?"
"And I just love to, alright?"
The acrobat raised both arms and gave in, "Fine." Then he looked away, "So touchy when it comes to your books."
Once again, his doubles partner gave him a look that clearly stated that the conversation is over and said, "Come on, let's go find Beat and get this done and over with."
"But why do we even have to follow his order? This is not even relevant to Tennis!"
"So would you rather be at the courts where Atobe is and hear his speech about his special dog that must be so cold right now in this cruel, cruel-"
"BEAAAAAT! Where are ya, boy? Beat?!"
"I thought so."
...
But, unbeknownst to them, Atobe is not at the courts.. he's also looking for his dog. Imagine.. the Atobe Keigo looking for a dog..? A sight to see, indeed. If there's one thing he values next to Tennis, his God-given (generously given, he corrected) looks and wealth.. it is Beat. Not every dog in this world can match up to his impeccable taste and Beat is certainly special, just like his owner. Well, he intended to spend more time with his dog after what the veterinarian said about it being a bit depressed, but he just can't find the time since his weekends are also cramped up with appointments and such. So the solution? Bring Beat to school. It was a splendid idea at first.. but now he's starting to doubt it.
His face momentarily took on a worried expression but quickly fought it down.
"Beat is a smart dog.. he's just around here somewhere, na Kabaji?"
Silence.
Atobe clenched his jaws.
"Beat is just around here somewhere, right?"
Silence.
His left eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Right? Na, Kabaji?", And he turned.. only to find that no one was there. He almost sighed. Where's Kabaji when you need him? Ah, he nearly forgot, he also sent the gentle giant to search for Beat. Shaking his head, he strolled towards the window. From the fourth floor, he can almost see everything..
There is Ootori and Shishido, walking around the gym. But it seems like only Ootori is doing the searching.. That darn Shishido. And also, Hiyoshi and Taki, they're both on their way to the west wing of the campus. He can't see Oshitari and Gakuto but they might be at the east .. now where's Kabaji? Oh- there.. with Jirou on his back, fast asleep. Figures. It's a good thing that the students are still in ther classrooms, or else looking for Beat would've been more difficult.
His icy grey eyes continued to roam over the grounds, meticulously searching for a mass of white, fluffy fur- like what he saw just now on his far right- and sighed internally when he didn't find it. Woe is Atobe.. Really, where is- Hold up. What the- his orbs widened and he hurriedly shifted back his gaze to the school garden and THERE IT IS! Relief flooded him and he genuinely smiled.. There Beat is! One more minute and he would've called all of his servants to search the whole of Tokyo for the dog.. when something came to his notice.
He squinted his eyes a bit and focused his gaze on the figure chased by his beloved dog. Then he looked thoughtful and afterwards, smirked. "Looks like Beat has found a new playmate. She must be the one who has found ore-sama's dog", Atobe elegantly placed his hand on his chin and watched the amusing scene, totally uncaring of the fact that his teammates are still looking for Beat.
...
"Did you hear that, Shishido-san?", Ootori Choutaro whipped his head to his senpai who's just leaning against a wall.
Furrowing his brows, Shishido Ryou asked,"Hear what?"
"I-I thought I heard someone scream." The sophomore glanced around worriedly, "...A girl. You seriously didn't hear that?"
"Maybe you're just hearing things", answered his double partner and shrugged. "Let's get out of here, maybe someone already found that dog."
Ootori nodded, although he was still a little unsettled about what he heard. But he thought, maybe Shishido's right. He shouldn't let himself worry when there's nothing to get worried about. They started to walk, but then the younger one uttered, "You're not.. really fond of Beat, are you?"
"Do you know how many times I had to buy a new cap because of that demon dog?", Shishido said as they strode towards the north part of their campus. "And every single time he sees me, I end up bathing in dog saliva."
"Maybe he just likes you so much?", Ootori tried.
"No. That dog hates me and I know it. Like owner, like dog..", spoke the capped senpai, looking miffed.
The silver-haired lad had to stifle a chuckle, knowing that it might offend his senpai. But when he was just about to say what he thought about Beat's rather queer way of greeting Shishido, his eyes spotted something on the ground. As they got near it, Shishido continued to walk past it while he stopped and crouched down to pick it up.
His doubles partner finally noticed that Ootori is not beside him anymore so he whirled around and saw what the other is doing, "Oi, Choutaro? What's that?", and he pointed at the thing in the sophomore's hand.
Ootori bolted his head up and blinked, "Ah, umm, it's just a..", and he glanced down at the item he's now holding, which is quite familiar to him, he just can't remember where he'd seen it before, "..a ribbon."
...
"What will I do now?", Sakuno once again looked up, staring at the letter which is now hanging on a tree far above her, as if looking at it for a long time will do anything. A bark from behind her made her whirl around and she pouted.. oh, Kami. How did it get there? Just ask the white tail-wagging creature which is now beaming at her rather happily.. Okay, that dog is the root cause for all of this but Sakuno just can't seem to get mad at it. If only she's not in this predicament right now, she would've patted its head already. Obaa-chan.. what now?
She was walking around the Hyotei grounds, minding her own business when something suddenly jumped on her and she face-planted to the ground. Hard. Hurriedly, she backed away from whatever it is and broke into a run, fear taking over her senses. But the monster chased after her and when it was finally only inches away from her, it bit her bag (to make her stop running) and in an attempt to save it and the things inside, she pulled it from the dog and they launched a game of tug of war (which it seemed to quite enjoy). The small Sakuno against a gigantic dog.. quite obvious who was overpowered. In the end, her bag catapulted into the air and the contents of her bag flew out of it, including the letters. Everything happened pretty fast and next thing she knew, one of the letters' up there.
Could her luck get any worse? Oh well, at least the creature she thought that's going to eat her is not really that bad. It's actually cute. When it saw how sad she was (she was on the verge of tears), it suddenly lowered his head, like it was guilty. At first, she was still scared but when a few minutes passed and the dog made no move, she slowly went near it and it raised its head, giving her the ultimate puppy dog look that she actually melted. Then Sakuno realized that it just probably wanted to play.
After picking up her stuff that got scattered all around the place, including the other letter, the auburn-haired girl looked around for a rock to throw at the letter on the tree, and when she found one, she placed her bag on the ground, moved into a throwing position for momentum and flung it upwards.. but instead of making it fall, it only flew upwards and landed on a higher bunch of leaves. "Again..", she muttered and repeated the same action.. but Lady Luck just isn't on her side today. Twice, thrice.. Again and again and again.. Until she got tired and she just slumped on the ground, a forlorn look etched on her face. "Mou..", she turned to her left, and saw the dog. It nuzzled her shoulder and emitted a cute sound, as if it was apologizing. Sakuno, touched by its gesture, smiled and brushed its head fondly, "It's okay.. I'll find a way, don't worry."
...
Atobe's smirk got even wider at the girl's pathetic attempts. Her throws are either so weak.. the letter won't even budge or too strong that it only transferred from one branch to another. (How he saw that it was a letter even from that distance, no one will ever know) Why not just give up already and ask someone for help?
He raised his brows when she slumped and shrugged, 'She's giving up', he thought. But a smile made its way onto his lips as he saw Beat's action towards the girl, and the girl's response to the dog. Actually, Beat is not that open towards other people, especially girls since it always sees how girls flock around its master. How curious..
Atobe moved to leave the window when the girl suddenly sprung up and he stopped. Slowly, he went back to the window and eyed them again. Amused, he spoke, "Such strong will, eh?"
...
Sakuno stood up and lifted her eyes to the letter that's now tauntingly moving with the wind. With renewed determination, she walked to the tree and punched her fist into the air, "I can do this. I can do this!", and with that, she started to climb the tree while Beat barked and cheered her on. She raised her left arm and held on to a branch, her right foot placed on a part that helped support her weight. The auburn head continued on her struggle until she was finally on the upper part and covered with leaves.
...
Oshitari heard a series of barks.
"Yuushi! It's Beat!", and apparently, so did Gakuto. Without another word, the both of them followed the sound and moments later, saw the all-important dog they've been looking for. It's barking loudly at something..
Oshitari pushed his glasses up and shook his head, a relieved smile on his lips "There you are, you dog. Come now before your master hyperventilates."
The red headed lad petted its head fondly and uttered, "Come on, Beat."
But the dog didn't listen to them and just continued to bark, which made the two blink and look at what it's looking at. "A tree?", the Hyotei Tensai observed.
Gakuto tilted his head, "Eh, what's with the tree?"
"Maybe it's seeing something we can't see..", Oshitari suggested which made his doubles partner give him an alarmed look.
"Oi! What do you mean?!"
The blue-haired lad smirked at him, "Who knows?"
"YUUSHI!"
But Oshitari just chuckled and strode towards the tree. "Let's see..", he stopped beside it, looked up.. and froze. He was just standing there, rooted to his spot like a statue with his orbs fixed on something until Gakuto can wait no longer. He didn't notice the tint of red that started to spread on the Tensai's face and he too, also went to the tree and followed the other boy's trail of gaze.
"What's got you so-", and soon after, the red-haired lad's face became as red as his hair.
...
"Just a little bit more.. Just a bit more..", Sakuno's fingers are outstretched, reaching for the letter she needs to deliver. She moved her foot slightly to the right, which is dangerously fragile and it seems like that part of the bark she's stepping on will break anytime now. The girl gulped but still, she can't just back down.
More.. More.. There.. And-
"YUUSHI!"
Startled, Sakuno's eyes amplified in shock.
"Let's see.." then footsteps.
Her heartbeat rose.. someone's coming! She immediately moved to reach for the letter.. it was kind of abrupt though..
"What's got you so-"
And before she knew it.. CRACK!
"Aah!", she yelped as the bark finally crumbled and she slid down. Oh dear God, why?!
...
"Did you hear that? Someone screamed again!", asked Ootori who looked around. He and Shishido came across Kabaji who was carrying Jirou a little while ago so the four of them decided to just look together (well, three because Jirou didn't really have any say about it).
Kabaji Munehiro, as always, answered, "Usu."
And at the same time, Shishido nodded and pondered, "I can hear some barks too! What do you think's happening?"
Out of the blue, Akutagawa Jirou, who's still sleeping on Kabaji's back, mumbled something which surprised all of them. "Dunno.. Maybe someone fell off a tree..", and he chuckled.. while still sleeping.
"Senpai.. sleep talks..?", Ootori gaped at the narcoleptic boy.
The other half of the Silver pair shrugged flamboyantly, "Happens all the time." Then he pointed at the direction of the sounds, "Come on, let's check it out."
...
Sakuno thought that she's finished.. that she has finally come to the end of her short life but when she felt the pair of warm, sturdy arms that caught her just in time.. a smile took form on her face. Oh Lady Luck, you have finally come around!
But when she opened her eyes.. she wished she shouldn't have and that Lady Luck should've just turned her back on her. Because according to the jersey her savior is wearing.. a Hyotei regular just saw that stupid stunt she did. A HYOTEI REGULAR.
The tall, bespectacled boy's eyes never left hers.. and she wanted to just crawl into a hole and die. They continued to stare at each other, not really knowing what to say after what just occurred. But all of a sudden, a smile made its way unto Oshitari's lips. Her face suddenly began to heat up and out of embarrassment, she hid her face and blurted out a, "G-Gomen!"
But the only reply she got is a deep, velvety chuckle. Sakuno's heart raced as nervousness took over her. When Oshitari saw how uneasy she is, he spoke softly, "It's okay, no worries." He tilted his head to get a better look at her face and noticed something. "Ah, I think you're hurt. You've got a bruise there on your chin."
The auburn head blinked.. she didn't even feel anything. She must've got it when the dog suddenly glomped her. "A-Ano..", she didn't know what to say but when she realized that he's carrying her, kicked herself mentally and muttered a, "Domo.. A-Arigatou."
"You're welcome."
And once again, an awkward silence enveloped them and Sakuno tried hard not to look at him because he just kept on staring at her while looking as if he's pondering over something.
"You can put her down now, Yuushi." A voice rang behind them and Sakuno craned her neck to see a red-haired boy wearing the same regular's jersey as the lad who's holding her. Come to think of it, they both look familiar. Aren't they the doubles pair that played against the golden pair? Oshi.. umm.. She's not really good with names. The girl then noticed that the redhead's face is crimson red all over and she wondered if he was alright. He's that acrobatic player that challenged Kikumaru-senpai, right? And he paired up with the orange-haired guy against Inui-senpai and Kaidou-senpai during the nationals.
Chuckles escaped the blue-haired lad's lips, "Very well." Then he moved to gently put her down, supporting her until she's balanced on her own two feet. Sakuno's blush deepened at his gesture.. he must really think that she's a klutz!
"H-Hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu..", and she bowed, her braids dangling behind her cutely. A thought came to her mind as she did that. Oh no, two Hyotei regulars witnessed her spectacular feat. This is just too embarrassing.
Oshitari whipped his head to Gakuto (who's still blushing madly) and shook his head, then subtly pointed at the tree. The girl is embarrassed enough.. she doesn't have to know that they saw something they're not supposed to see a while ago. It was cute though, he thought. Pink with little bunnies all over it. The blue-haired lad smiled to himself, but then stopped. Enough thinking about sinfully cute underwears.
"What were you doing there, by the way? That's really high up.. and pretty dangerous." Oshitari eyed her school uniform and frowned slightly.. it looked like she'd been harassed because of the dirt on it. Right, Beat must've done this. "You're not from around here, are you? That uniform looks familiar." It really does because they've often come across with Seigaku students, something's missing though.
Sakuno, upon hearing the inquiry, instantly remembered her task and she turned her gaze back to the tree. "H-Hai.."
Oshitari's brows shot up and he wondered, the most common reason why girls from other schools visit their campus is.. "Are you..", he studied her carefully, "..a fan of Atobe?"
A pity then.
Gakuto suddenly turned his eyes to her, that cute girl's a fan of Atobe? Shoot. Then he blinked. Whoa- he considered her cute? Well, if you look at her, she really is cute. With that big, chocolate brown eyes of hers, auburn braids and.. wow, her cheeks are so pink. She looked like an innocent little lamb.. a breath of fresh air from the girls he sees everyday with their faces covered with chemicals. Yeah, he prefers girls who are more like.. her. It's just that.. it's just too awkward now that he's seen what's inside her skirt.
"Eh?! N-No! I'm- I..", she flailed her arms around her, which made Oshitari smile and Gakuto blush more. "The- The letter!", and she pointed at the tree.
Both boys glanced at the tree and after a few seconds, realized why she was up there a while ago. The redhead, who seemed to have recovered a bit, exclaimed, "How in the world did that get there?!", then promptly shut his mouth as the girl started to fidget uncomfortably. Then she turned her head to her right and glimpsed at Beat.
Oh. And realization dawned on them.
"Beat..", the Tensai smirked at the dog. "You're just like your master, aren't you? Well..", he turned to the girl, "We've been looking for him for quite some time now and I'm sorry for this." Atobe should be the one apologizing, he thought.
Sakuno nodded as she glanced at Beat and sighed.. so she's going to climb it again? Mou, she almost got it, if only-
"If it's really that important..", Sakuno and Oshitari turned to look at the acrobat as he looked away, avoiding her eyes, "Then I'll go get it."
And before the girl can even say anything, Gakuto has already gone to the tree and effortlessly jumped, hung on a branch, crawled a bit and VOILA! He swiped the letter off the leaves and gracefully landed on his feet, his red hair swaying as he did.
"H-How did.. You-", Sakuno stuttered but as the acrobat lifted his hand to show the letter to her.. her face turned into one of awe and she smiled happily, "A-Arigatou!", She thought before that he's quite cocky because of the way he treated her senpai but she guessed he's not so bad after all.
"I-It's nothing, really..", Gakuto's blush is back again, full force and Oshitari quirked an eyebrow.
The auburn-haired girl gratefully took it and just like what she did earlier, bowed in front of Gakuto. The blue-haired lad stared at the letter and asked, "If you're not a fan of Atobe, then I guess you're here to deliver that?", at the girl's nod, he inquired again, "Who's it for? We might be able to help you."
"I-It's for Sakaki Tarou-sensei.."
"Sakaki-sensei?", someone piped up and the three snapped their heads to the source of the voice and saw three figures walking towards them (the fourth is still in his dreamland filled with Pocky's). "That's our coach", continued the lad with the blue cap. "What happened here?", and his eyes swept over the girl who looked like she'd been through a lot. She blushed under his gaze and when he realized it, quickly shifted his orbs towards Oshitari and Gakuto- Why's he so red?
"Beat!", Ootori exclaimed and Shishido twitched as he heard it. His kouhai went over to the dog and proceeded to pet it. "Where've you been? Everyone was worried about you!"
"Not everyone", Shishido commented. Wait- everything clicked into place- Beat must've done something to the girl. He knows he's so fast in blaming the dog for the girl's messed up appearance but just look at that giant white ball of fur that loves to attack him and chew on his precious cap! "So you guys found him, huh?"
Oshitari smirked, knowing Shishido's not-so-good relationship with Beat, "Pretty much." He turned to Sakuno, "They're our teammates, by the way. Shishido Ryou, Ootori Choutaro, Kabaji Munehiro and the sleeping one is Akutagawa Jirou", he said while pointing at each of them. "And I'm Oshitari Yuushi and this is Gakuto Mukahi."
The girl nodded and gave them a shy smile, "Ah, I'm.. R-Ryuzaki Sakuno, from Seigaku. Y-Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu..", and her blush went up a notch, earning her amused looks from them. Her shy demeanor is something of a rarity in Hyotei, a school filled with people full of confidence..-oh, well, too much confidence.
Gakuto cleared his throat, "Y-You-"
Shishido whispered to Oshitari, a little surprised, "Did he just stutter?"
"Yes. Yes, he did."
"-said something about our coach, right? The.. letter?"
Sakuno perked up, "H-Hai. I'm here to.. deliver this letter to him." Then she held it up for them to see.
"We'll just deliver it for you then, to compensate for the trouble Beat caused you", Oshitari offered with a kind smile.
"B-But-"
"It's fine. We'll be seeing him later anyway", he assured her.
The girl felt as if a heavy rock was lifted from her and she bowed again in appreciation,
"Thank you so much!", and she gave the letter to Oshitari. Who said that the Hyotei people are scary? They're actually nice!
"And sorry for what Beat did to you. He's always like that, na Shishido?", the blue-haired Tensai asked his teammate, and only received a glare in response.
"Umm, ne, are you really alright?", Ootori walked to her, a worried look on his features. He'd been staring at her for a while now because of the nasty bruise she has on her chin. "I don't think you should just leave it like that", then he took something out of his bag. A band-aid, a bottle of water and a hand towel.
"I-It doesn't really hurt that much-"
"But it might get infected or something", then the silver-haired boy removed the cap off the bottle and soaked the towel a little.
"Just let him do it", Shishido urged. He knows how much of a worry-wart the boy is. But he didn't notice the odd look Gakuto gave him..
Ootori smiled at her and raised the towel to her chin, gently cleaning her bruise. He reminded her of Oishi-senpai who'd always fret whenever he sees her falling flat into the ground. She figured that there must be a mother hen in every team. His hands were so tender that she didn't even feel any sting or pain. He slowly laid the band-aid over it and afterwards, sighed in relief, "There. All better."
He's really like Oishi-senpai and that put her at ease with him. "A-Arigatou!", she thanked him with a soft smile that seemed to have caught him off guard, seeing it from a close range. His cheeks turned pink as he rubbed the back of his head shyly.
And since they are going to be the ones to give the letter to Sakaki-sensei, it means that her job here is done! With another bow (she bows too much, Oshitari mused), she bid them goodbye (including Beat who looked kinda sad to see her go) and prepared to leave. But then the dog followed her and the Hyotei regulars gaped.
"Oi, Beat!"
Sakuno whirled around and saw the white dog behind her. She stopped in her tracks and smiled, "Eh?", she patted its head affectionately, "It was nice to meet you, Beat. But I have to go now." The dog bowed its head sadly and sounded like it was crying. The girl didn't know what to do.. while the boys just stood there, watching them. This is the first time Beat actually liked a person aside from them. A girl, nonetheless. "E-Eto.. Maybe.. I could visit you sometimes ne? I'm sorry we can't play today, but promise, I'll visit you!"
The most peculiar thing was.. it was as if the dog understood her and suddenly barked happily. Sakuno heaved a sigh and once again, said her goodbye.
'Maybe.. this day won't turn out so bad after all..'
She left with a bounce in her steps, not knowing that she just made a promise to a dog owned by Atobe Keigo.
...
Atobe's orbs intently followed the girl's diminishing figure, with a shadow of a smile on his lips. Something in her sparked his interest. Just a little. He wondered who she is.. but he can always get the information from Kabaji. It's a pity that she had to leave already; he was quite enjoying the scene. Except for the part where she fell, what she did was dangerous. He would've gone down but then he saw Oshitari and Gakuto arrive. She climbed the tree even though it was three times her height. He'll give her that.
This is quite amusing.
And when the girl finally disappeared from his sight, he turned away from the window and strode to the door, his mind still on the girl with the long, auburn braids.
...
"Keep that dog away from me", said Shishido as he narrowed his eyes at Beat. They're now walking back to the courts.
Gakuto smirked, "He just wants to play. Right, Beat?"
The dog barked a tad too merrily and the capped boy glared.
"Don't start with me, Gakuto." Shishido folded his arms, then he said slyly, "Oh, I remember. Why were you so red awhile ago?"
The acrobat froze as an image of her.. err- his cheeks once again flushed.
"It's none of your business! Beat..", he pointed at Shishido, "Fetch!"
Beat, always happy to be of service to his master's friends, complied with a bark and moved to glomp one of his favorite pals.
"OI! DAMN IT, GAKUTOOOO! MY FREAKIN' CAP! OI! BEAT! GET OFF ME!"
"Just like what you always say: Gekidasa daze, Shishido!"
Ootori sighed, looks like Shishido's going to need to buy another cap again. He started to move towards the two to help his senpai when Oshitari's voice stopped him.
"She said she's from Seigaku, right?", the Tensai spoke.
The others (except for Shishido who's still fighting for his dear cap) turned to look at him and he continued, "I just noticed..", he placed a finger on his chin, "As far as I can remember, the Seigaku school uniform for girls has a ribbon in front, right?", his keen eyes noticed earlier that there was something missing in her uniform. She didn't look the type of student who won't wear her uniform accordingly.
Ootori immediately halted and remembered the pink ribbon he has in his pocket.
"Maybe Beat ripped it?", the redhead suggested.
"Maybe."
The sophomore inserted his right hand inside his pocket and felt its fabric. It means.. this is hers? Maybe he can return it to her some other day? Yosh. A small smile took form on his lips. He'll just go see her and ask her if it really is hers. But for some reason.. he didn't feel like telling the others that he has her ribbon.
They continued to stroll to the courts (again, except for Shishido who now began to run away as the giant dog started to chase him). But when the others became too occupied with other things and were out of earshot, Oshitari glanced at his doubles partner and said, "What do you know, Gakuto.."
The acrobat whipped his head to him and the Tensai smirked lazily, "A girl did fall from the heavens." Gakuto's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what Oshitari was referring to, "..and into my arms. A girl with nice legs at that, Gakuto."
Damn right, that girl had a really nice pair of legs. Who said romance novels are absurd?
...
Sakuno bit her lip as the train stopped. It's not like she hadn't done this before. It's just that.. Tomo-chan was with her when she first delivered a letter there, and they only had to take it to a teacher. But now, this is the first time she's going to give a letter to the Rikkaidai tennis club. They don't have a coach so apparently, she's gonna have to give it directly to their captain. She gulped.
She'd gone to Hyotei a lot of times before that's why she didn't have any problem going there (the bus she was riding almost passed the right stop though) but Rikkaidai.. she can only hope that she won't mess this up.
Sakuno's chocolate brown orbs darted towards the glass windows of the train and she stilled. Wait.. where's her ribbon?
...
Sakaki tore open the envelope as the Hyotei regulars continued with their morning drills and proceeded to read the letter. He wondered what Sumire wanted them to know that she even had to send her own granddaughter to deliver it.
'To whom it may concern, Finally, the nationals is over..'
And his brows knitted as he continued to read it. Then he wore a thoughtful look.. and after a few moments of contemplation, Sakaki fished his phone out of his pocket and dialled the Seigaku coach's number. This should be interesting, he thought.
...
TBC
...
Sneak peek for Chapter Two:
"NIOU MASAHARU!", Sanada bellowed, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. A lot of the students watched the commotion in the hallway, some even began laughing openly at Sakuno. Because of the noise, the door to the student council room went open and a familiar face emerged, it's Yukimura, followed by Yagyuu and they were both baffled. That just proves it, the 'Yagyuu' he talked to earlier was Niou!
The auburn-haired girl looked away, her face burning with embarrassment. She suddenly wanted to get out of there. But with all these people around her, she can't seem to find the energy to move. Her drenched uniform sticked to her skin and she didn't even notice that it quite exposed her chest. Her lips quivered as she felt all their stares- when a yellow jacket was suddenly wrapped around her. Out of surprise, she looked up.. and met Sanada's hard yet reassuring eyes.
From afar, Niou's lids narrowed. Crap, that girl spoiled his plan.
...
A/N:
Thank you so much for reading! What do you guys think? Please review :) This will be a total reverse harem, 'kay? I love writing those kind of stories. And I haven't decided yet on who she's going to end up with. Help me decide? I have a poll, you can vote there. If the name of the prince you want her to be with isn't included, just PM me or put it on the review.
About Syuusuke-kun's letter, I'm gonna have to abandon it. Sorry for that. I wanted to do something to it but then it'll change the storyline so in the end, I decided this is the best thing to do. I had to think about this for like a long time. Darn.
And for Ryuzaki Sakuno Tales, my USB got formatted. Even my Tenimyu collection! Double darn. Aw, I'll have to start from scratch. Again. I hate rewriting. It's not as fun as writing it the first time.
Rikkaidai is next! Gosh, I fell in love with them because of the Prince of Tennis musicals! Masataka Nakagauchi is freakin' hot! Please review, I really need your opinions. Pretty please?
