"No, no, no! He doesn't show emotion, Maiko!"
"No laughing! He doesn't laugh!"
"Straight face! Straight face!"
"Ahahahaha, I can do this!"
Four girls stood around on a nice day laughing and joking like girl's do. One, a girl with blond hair in a pony tail, was currently trying to keep her face calm and stoic but kept laughing and smiling. Another girl with pink hair smacked the blond on the back of the head and told her to keep her face straight.
"This is so hard!" The blond, Maiko, cried out.
"That's what she said." A brunette muttered which made them all giggle.
"You're the one that was trying to be like Tezuka." A redhead said.
Maiko pouts for a second, "Don't say his name, I can't keep a straight face." She closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down. Right when it looks like she'll be able to open her eyes and keep a straight face the redhead whispers, "Tezuka." which causes the girl to burst out laughing.
"Wow, Maiko, you fail." The brunette giggles.
"Shut up Kiyomi! Amaya don't make me laugh!"
The redhead, Amaya, grins sadistically while the brunette, Kiyomi, giggles. The pink haired girl, Keiko, relaxes back onto the bench watching her sister try once again to keep a straight face only to fail miserably. The four girls were currently spending their Sunday enjoying the nice summer day in the park.
"Ok, here's a mental picture for you to think about." Amaya says. Maiko, blue-grey eyes twinkling, looks hopefully at her friend. "Channing Tatum." Amaya says with a straight face.
"Mhmmm." Maiko hums with a slight smile.
"That didn't work." Kiyomi said, "She likes him too much."
"Oh he is so attractive." Amaya agrees.
"Hey! You're not helping!" Maiko yells, frustrated.
"Oh, sorry." Amaya looks to her friend, "Tezuka."
Maiko breaks out in a huge smile causing all her friends to start to laugh. Maiko closed her eyes and tried to keep a straight face again. Her friends closed their mouths and watched as she opened her eyes. No smile, eyes weren't twinkling, she'd done it.
"Kunimitsu." Amaya said gently.
Maiko closed her eyes and was visibly fighting back a smile but managed to keep her lips in a straight line. She opens her eyes, pride glistening in them, "I did it." She said calmly.
"Congrats, hobo." Keiko kicked her sister in the shin.
"You're so mean." Maiko said her voice raising at the end.
"Ah, you're voice has to be even too." Kiyomi pointed a finger.
"Ah, right, sorry." Maiko took a deep even breath, "Say something funny."
Everyone falls silent trying to think of something to make the blond laugh.
"Tezuka." Kiyomi tries, no reaction. "Ryoma."
"Ew." Maiko says perfectly straight faced. Maiko had a grudge against the Seigaku Super Rookie, she just thought he was stuck up. Usually when you say his name she makes a face of disgust. The three girls fall silent again thinking of something to make the girl laugh. It seems she'd beaten them and mastered the straight face until Amaya grins devilishly. "Cocky." She says perfectly straight faced.
Maiko starts to smile but tries to fight it before she burst out laughing. "Unfair!" She cries out laughing. Amaya starts to laugh and then the other two girls join in laughing. When they calm down Maiko finds her center and looks straight faced at Amaya and said, "Coc-" and she burst out laughing again.
"As long as you don't say that you're fine." Kiyomi grins.
Maiko, straight faced once again, starts to talk about life, keeping her straight face despite her friends best attempts to make her laugh or smile or get any sort of reaction. Amaya officially claims that Maiko has practically perfected the straight face.
"Hurray!" Maiko cheers, "Now I'm just like Tezuka!"
"What about me?" A smooth voice asks.
The four girls spin around to find the boy they'd been talking about standing right behind them, straight face in tact. He had an eyebrow cocked and was looking at the girls questionably. Fuji stood on one side of him holding a paper bag in his arms.
"Ah…" Maiko closes her eyes and gets her calm face on, "I'm trying to learn how to keep an emotionless face like you Buchou."
"Ah?" Tezuka's eyebrows knitted together curiously.
"Yea!" Keiko hops up, "We think she's done quite well, you can say just about anything to her and she won't crack."
"Really?" Fuji smiles at Keiko causing the girl to blush the shade of her hair. Fuji opens his blue eyes and stares at Maiko who's preparing herself for the worst. There's an awkward pause before Fuji smiles, closes his eyes and says, "Sex." Maiko fights a smile but bursts out laughing and hides her face in her arms.
"Fuji, that was uncalled for." Tezuka grumped despising how open Fuji was.
"We said almost anything." Kiyomi states.
Maiko looks up, straight face but blushing horribly. "I'm learning. I'll be able to keep a straight face through anything soon, Buchou."
"Why are you trying so hard to be like me?" Tezuka asked.
"Because?" Maiko didn't want to say it was because Tezuka once made a comment about how Maiko was too hyperactive, since Maiko liked Tezuka she wanted to impress him. Thus learning to keep a straight face.
"I like you better when you smile." Tezuka said, "C'mon Fuji, we have to go."
Maiko just stood there blushing like an idiot as Fuji said goodbye and walked off with Tezuka who made no further comments.
"What are you waiting for girl?" Kiyomi slapped Maiko on the back, "Run after him."
"Why?" Maiko asked.
"That's what they do in the movies! Now go!" Kiyomi shoved her friend and watched the blond race off towards the stoic Captain.
"Tezuka!" Maiko cried.
Amaya and Keiko dove into the bushes nearby. Kiyomi watched from where she stood, she wanted the best seat. Tezuka and Fuji turned and Maiko stopped right in front of Tezuka, making it incredibly obvious how short she was and how tall he was.
"Ah… Tezuka…" Maiko blushed and looked to her feet, "I like you too. That's why I was trying to be like you." She admits. "You said you didn't like it when I'm hyper…"
Amaya and Keiko dive out of the bushes, right as Tezuka opens his mouth to respond. The pink haired girl grabs Fuji, who was smiling at the sweet scene in front of him, and drags him back into the woods. The redhaired girl sets a tiny step stool, like those little stools kids use so they can reach the bathroom sink in between Maiko and Tezuka. Tezuka stared at the stool for a second then glanced around for his friend. Maiko blushed deep red thinking how embarrassing her friends were. Still, she hopped onto the stool making the six inch difference a little less.
"I didn't mean it like that." Tezuka replied, "I like you how you are. And I don't want you pretending to be me." His eyes narrow at the blond.
"Well, you gotta make these things more obvious, I am a blond you know." Maiko twirls with her hair playfully. The girl had one too many blond moments before and it's become a running joke even she accepts.
"Obvious?" Tezuka asks.
Maiko nods her head and watches Tezuka blush for a split second before his straight face returned. Quickly, Tezuka leans down and presses his lips to Maiko's. A split second kiss that leaves them both blushing like crazy.
"Ah…" Tezuka looks down at his feet, not easily embarrassed and wonders why he just kissed the tiny first year. He did say he liked her and he wasn't lying maybe that's why. "So, do you want to hang out sometime? There's this quite bookstore I know."
Maiko starts to laugh, "You would bring your girlfriend to a bookstore."
"Girlfriend?" Tezuka blushes. Maiko, realizing what she'd just said, blushes deep red too. Kiyomi, who was still obviously watching the scene, thought the two were the cutest couple. Tezuka cleared his throat trying to calm his blush, "Ah, so would you be my girlfriend?"
"I already said I was and I didn't mean it like that! I just was saying things because you know when I get hyper or nervous or when I'm around guys I like I tend to speak without thinking. Oh God I'm doing it right now. Someone shut me up!" Maiko blushes and covers her face once again.
Tezuka lets out a chuckle. "C'mon Maiko, I'll walk you home."
"Ah… alright." Maiko hops off the step stool and cranes her neck to look up at Tezuka. "I'm so short! I hate how short I am!"
"I think it's cute." Tezuka replied calmly.
"Por supuesto!" Amaya jumps out of the bushes and grabs the stool. "Esta bien? Sí?" She asks Maiko. Amaya, trilingual, loved to tease her friends by speaking in a mix of Japanese, English, and rough Spanish.
"Hey, girl, don't be slingin' that English at me." Maiko glared at her friend.
"Ah… that was Spanish, Maiko." Amaya says before she giggled, Tezuka cracked a smile which made Maiko feel better about making an idiot out of herself. All in all it was a good day. Tezuka and Maiko walked together, making awkward idle chitchat that they both found oddly comfortable. Fuji and Keiko were hiding behind the bushes talking, Keiko realized then how awkward Fuji really was.
"How can people be comfortable having sex behind bushes like this?" He commented looking around clearly able to see other people that were wandering around enjoying the beautiful summer day in the park. Keiko blushed deep red and shook her head at Fuji. "It's true. I know my friend -"
"No stories." Keiko held up her hand. "Do boys really think about sex all the time?"
"No. Well, I don't. I think about this girl I like a lot." Fuji smiled, his face turned up towards the sky.
"Oh?" Keiko asked, her self-conscious told her it wasn't her. Of course Fuji wouldn't like her, what was there to like? "Yea, she's smart, pretty, funny, loyal, trustworthy, and she has nice fingers." Fuji had an odd thing for girls with nice fingers. Keiko knew it wasn't her. "She even has the prettiest blue eyes."
"You're eyes are so much prettier." She blurts out without meaning to.
"You mean it?" Fuji flashed his blue eyes at her, "Because I think your's are much more amazing."
"Thanks." Keiko looks down at her hands. "Wait…"
"Saa, it's you I like." Fuji smiles causing Keiko to blush deep red.
"Fuji! Keiko! Where are you?" Amaya yells.
"Really?" Keiko asks ignoring her friend.
"Yea, and since Tezuka asked out Maiko. I'm going to ask you out. Will you be my girlfriend Keiko-Chan?"
"Ah… of course!" Keiko can't stop blushing. What a day today's been! Amaya and Kiyomi peek their heads through the bushes. Grinning at their friends Kiyomi says rather loudly, "You two better not be having sex back here!"
"Kiyomi!" Keiko jumps to her feet and promptly starts to chase after her brunette friend. Fuji laughs and leaves the little hide out behind the bushes. Amaya puts her hands on her hips and watches as Fuji calms Keiko down and the two walk off together. Kiyomi stands beside Amaya, her hands on her hips. "Operation Boyfriend Squared is a success." Amaya states.
"Yea, now if only we could get a boyfriend." Kiyomi laughs.
"Nah, singles much better. We get to flirt all we want." Amaya twirls her phone around by the little charm she had dangling off it.
"Oh, so true." Kiyomi promptly winks at a passing boy before the two girls giggle and run off to enjoy their single lives together.