It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside. Coincidentally, today was the tennis match between Seishun Gakuen, my school, and Jyousei Shounan. I blew my raven bangs out of my dark amethyst eyes, thankful for the fact that I decided to tie my hair into a high ponytail. The cool breeze blowing against my neck felt heavenly.
I readjusted the large dark green t-shirt I had on, pulling the collar away from the front of my neck. It was large enough that part of the collar fell off my shoulders, exposing a black bra strap. I had pulled the hem of the shirt back when it reached the middle of my hips, binding the excess with a rubber band. A pair of dark purposely torn jeans decorated my lower half, fitting snuggly around my hips and thighs. Considering that I would be walking to the tennis arena where that matches were held, I forgo'ed the flip flops and opted for my pair of black DC's.
Glancing at the nearby bulletin, I figured out which part of the tennis arena they were in with the help of the adjacent map.
"Hey! We were here first!"
I winced. That was a familiar voice. Knowing that I would regret it, I walked towards the voice. As expected, Osakada Tomoka and Ryuzaki Sakuno, two of Seigaku's unofficial cheerleaders. I cringed at the gaudy cheerleading outfits they had on. With a regular blue mini skirt, they had on yellow wifebeaters with a red S on them. For all anyone knows, they could be SuperGirl 1 and SuperGirl 2 with pom poms. Not that I had anything against Ryuzaki but Osakada was just plain irritating. Her voice grated on my nerves.
I would've turned around and continued on my merry way until I noticed three girls in a different school uniform surrounding them. Considering how much taller the three other girls were, I'd say they were definitely not freshmen. I silently walked over, noting how cornered the two Seigaku girls were. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the three older girls were bullying Osakada and Ryuzaki.
Without warning one of the brunettes pulled on one of Ryuzaki's ponytail, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Sakuno, daijoubu?" Osakada asked before turning to the girl who pulled on her friend's hair, "What do you think you're doing?"
"You girls are so annoying. Wearing stuff like that to show off…" the dark haired girl said with disgust before walking next to the brunette.
"Are you Seigaku's cheerleading team?" the girl continued to say.
"No wonder they looked weak!" the third of the trio stated., her hair lighter than the brunette's.
"What did you say?!" Osakada snapped back.
With looks of superiority, the brunette answered. "We're Jyousei Shounan's cheerleaders. You guys have no chance in hell."
I rolled my eyes. That was enough. I had no problem if they wanted to pick on Osakada's and Ryuzaki's gaudy outfits but I didn't take kindly to people insulting and underestimating friends of mine who just happened to be some of the Seigaku Regulars.
Stalking over, I reached over and yanked on the brunette's hair hard. I smirked when she screeched out in pain, backing up into her two friends while gripping her head. I scrunched up my face in disgust when I shook off several of her brown strands from my fingerless leather covered hand.
"What do you think you're doing?!" her dark haired friend shrieked at me. I placed my hands on my hips. "Just returning the favor. You really shouldn't pull on someone's hair without expecting them or their acquaintances to retaliate," I scolded, matching them at eye level.
"Why you-" the girl with the light brown pig tails snarled, reaching out for me. With a quick grab of her wrist, I twisted it behind her back and literally kicked her ass right into the brunette. I turned to the dark haired girl. "Wanna try me?"
She backed up, laughing at me as she did. "So what if you're violent, Wakato-kun's match is up next and he'll have won by the time you finish your drinks!" She began to laugh rather obnoxiously. Before I could even reach out to smack the shit out of her, a rather fast tennis ball zoomed by, missing her head by mere millimeters.
"Oh I missed, I missed," a certain rookie muttered out loud. "It's dangerous to be standing there."
I whistled lowly as he threw a tennis ball in the air, smacking it with his racket and knocking over the empty juice cans one by one.
"Ryoma-kun?" Ryuzaki murmured under her breath.
"So he's one of the Seigaku Regulars?" the brunette said. I rolled my eyes. Because Echizen's jersey definitely did not give it away. Smart girls.
On the last one, Echizen hit the ball right on the rim of the can, sending it flying to the light brunette's head. She shrieked again, nearly getting hit in the face hadn't she ducked.
"Ah gomen gomen." I smirked as the girls excused themselves and high tailed out of there.
With a squeal of joy, Osakada dashed over to the young rookie. I extended a hand to pull Ryuzaki to her feet. "Daijoubu desu ka?" I asked her. She nodded and bowed. "Thank you for helping us!" she quickly said before running over to the rookie.
With a shrug, I made my way to the tennis courts.
I barely arrived for more than a minute and I immediately wanted to leave. Singles 3 was going on and the Jyousei Shounan cheerleaders would not shut up.
"Hoi hoi, Haruki-chan, you made it!" a bouncy redhead exclaimed as he threw his arms over my shoulders. I grinned up at Kikumaru. "Of course I made it. What's the score?"
"We're tied at 1 all," Fuji said, flashing me his usual smile. "Aa. You guys better beat them. I just got here and they piss me off," I told him, earning chuckles from both Fuji and Kikumaru.
I had been friends with Fuji and Kikumaru for a long time now. I live right next to Fuji, which led us to be friends and being friends with Fuji eventually led me to being friends with Kikumaru. Fuji still remained friends with me after all these years even though I was a year younger than him. The same with Kikumaru.
"Mou, I think Haruki-chan only came to watch her boyfriend play," Kikumaru teased quietly. I elbowed him in the gut, causing him to ease off my shoulders. Kikumaru just gave me a sheepish grin while Fuji went back to watching Kaidoh play.
Kaidoh Kaoru versus Wakato Hiroshi. Kaidoh better win.
Yes, as strange as it was, Kaidoh Kaoru was my boyfriend. It wasn't a fairy tale beginning where he asked me out. Heavens no. The boy was way too shy and quiet to make such a bold move, especially since it had nothing to do with tennis or one Momoshiro Takeshi. I was more than satisfied just being in his company since I was Fuji and Kikumaru's friend. Due to my meddlesome friends, they began to question the poor boy about me. I was more than surprised when the two told me that he liked me as well.
So with that in mind, I ventured up to Kaidoh after tennis practice one day and asked him out. I still remember his reaction. His jaw dropped ever slightly as his face turned adorably red. After a painful minute, he managed to squeak out a small yes.
It was only a couple weeks ago when he had asked me to be his girlfriend. He was blushing and stammering the entire time. Halfway through with his request, I decided to spare him the embarrassment and told him that I would love to.
"Masaka."
I jolted out of my thoughts and noticed that the Wakato person just executed a Snake shot. I winced. Kaidoh was going to get pissed off.
Inui began to explain how much talent it took to be able to copy the Snake shot considering that the mechanics behind it were quite complex.
"But still, you have to be honored that you're being copied by Wakato, who mimics all the top pros in the world," Kikumaru protested. I sigh and my palm met my face at his idiocy.
Oishi felt the same, his eyes closed and eye brow twitching as he directed Kikumaru's attention to Kaidoh.
"Total displeasure!" the acrobat exclaimed, jumping back in surprise.
I turned my attention back to Kaidoh who just sliced in a perfect Snake shot. Wakato lunged for it only to miss it by inches, smashing his face into the ground. His fan girls shrieked in shock.
Like nothing had happened, Kaidoh's opponent got back up, wiped the dirt off his face, and resumed the slouch and sway that Kaidoh was rather famous for, hissing softly.
"Very good." Inui sounded impressed.
"He's hitting Kaidoh's buttons," Fuji commented with a what-can-you-do smile.
I sighed and prayed that Kaidoh was able to kick his ass. Gripping the fence encasing the court, I continued to watch the game.
In the end, Kaidoh snatched the game, 7 games to 5. I grinned when Wakato's fan girls began to cry. As Kaidoh exited out of the tennis court, I stepped back as his team mates flocked around him, congratulating Kaidoh on his win.
There was going to be a twenty minute break before Singles 2 would start. I leaned against one of the cement walls that held in the trees, waiting for Kaidoh to walk over. He had just finished his cool down run, puling his jersey jacket on. I noticed the two girls from Jyousei Shounan before behind him.
"Kaidoh-san!! Look this way!! We love your bandana!!!"
Said person turned around with that face that mostly everyone was accustomed to. Kaidoh's "What-the-hell-do-you-want?" expression.
"I-I'm sorry!!" Immediately, the brunette opened the can that was in her hands and poured the drink on her head. Her friend quickly pulled her away.
I tried to stifle my laughter but failed miserably.
"You're a stud, Kaidoh-senpai," Echizen told him with a smirk before going off to warm up.
The confused second year just walked over to me, not realizing what had gone on.
"Omedetou," I said to him, "You were awesome out there." Kaidoh just lowered his eyes and leaned against the artificial wall next to me. "Arigato."
His deep voice gave me chills. Kaidoh always gave me a weird look whenever I told him that. I never thought he was scary looking, that he was actually pretty cute especially with his dark green and white bandana. I got called strange by Kikumaru for that. "Were you here the entire time?"
I nodded. "I decided to stay out of sight until your game was done and you did your cool-down." He gave me a thoughtful look. I knew how much dedication and time he devoted to tennis and his training. Sometimes I felt a little put out that he would rather train that spend a couple hours with me but I understood. Well for the most part I understood. It was still a little disappointing at times.
"Is there something wrong?"
That was another thing. I told him to call me Haruki like everyone else does but he was too polite to do so, only refering to me by my surname. It was strange. I was the only one he was shy around. He was perfectly polite and assertive with his senpais and got into more than enough fights with Momoshiro. I wonder if it's just me.
"Iie, betsuni. I was just thinking." I gave him a reassuring smile but he didn't seem to buy it. He shuffled a little closer until there wasn't an inch between us. Without any prompt, he just took my hand and held it, his warm fingers sending electricity through my own. I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face. Two weeks ago, he wouldn't have dared to do something in such a public place.
He was trying for me and that was more than I deserve.
Unable to restrain myself, I leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. Like usual, Kaidoh turned beet red. Warmth emanated from his fingers, warming me delightfully. It would take some time, but I looked forward to bringing Kaidoh out of his shell.