What Could've Been?
Chapter 1
On the shore of a beach with sand as white as snow with waves crashing on to it sparkling with the rays of the setting sun, stands two figures, "Sairenji, there's something I need to tell you." The teenage boy with spiky orange hair says as he looks into her blue eyes.
"Yes, Yuuki-kun?" The teenage girl with silky blue hair asks.
The boy closes his eyes, "Sairenji, for a long time now I've..." He says but stops the moment she places her right index finger on his lips, causing him to open his eyes.
She looks at him and smiles, "Riiitooo..." She echoes. "...it's time to get up."
"Hmm?" He asks as a wave of water engulfs him.
"Ah, What?" Rito asks sitting up in his bed dripping wet. He looks to his left to see his little sister, Mikan, holding a bucket in her hands, "Mikan? What are you doing here?" He asks.
"Waking up my bothersome older brother before he's late for his second day of high school." She says with an emotionless face.
Rito looks at her in shock, "What?" He asks then looks at his clock, his look of wary turns to one of annoyance, "You woke me up two hours early." He says as he turns back to her to see her with a grin on her face. "What's with that grin?" He asks.
Mikan points at the soaking wet bed, "Looks like someone had a wet dream." She says.
Rito turns bright red, "You dumbed water on me!" He shouts.
"I know, I'm just teasing." She says with an innocent smile. "Now, go get ready and I'll change the sheets." She says as she pulls the sheets from the bed as Rito leaves to get ready for the day.
Later on route to school, "Man, why does she have to tease me, shouldn't it be the other way around? I'm the one who should be teasing her about stuff like this." Rito groans.
Rito is about to turn a corner when he hears some familiar voices, "So, Haruna-chan we're assigning jobs in class today, so are you going to be the class rep like you where in middle school?" The girl in glasses asks.
"I don't know Mio..." Haruna says but is interrupted by a pair of hands coming from behind. "Ek!"
"Good morning, Haruna." The girl groping Haruna from behind says.
Haruna turns her head to see who it was, "Risa, please stop." She pleads.
Sigh... Sairenji Haruna-chan always looks so cute every time I see her. Her sweet expression, her silky blue hair... her gentle manner... she's the best... Rito thinks with a blush as he watches Haruna and her friends from around the corner.
"I'll stop if you say you'll be the class rep." Risa says as she gropes Haruna harder and faster.
Haruna, who's really red as a tomato gives into their demands, "Okay, I'll be the class rep." She says, just after that Risa let's go.
"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Risa says with a grin.
"Yo, Rito! Are you stalking her again today!?" His spiky black-haired friend shouts behind him, startling him.
Rito turns to face him, "Who are you calling a stalker, Saruyama!?" He shouts angrily.
"What, you mean you aren't?" Saruyama asks with a goofy grin on his face. "You're looking at Haruna-chan again, right?"
"I wasn't just 'looking' at her today." He grumbles as he turns away and crosses his arms, "I've been thinking."
"Thinking?" Saruyama mimics.
"Yes, I've decided... I'm going to confess to her today." He proclaims, he then looks around the corner to see Haruna and her friends walking away.
"That's easier said than done, lover boy." Saruyama says with that goofy grin of his.
Rito turns and glares at him, "Yes, I know." Rito says as he starts walking followed by Saruyama.
Daring class Rito thinks about how he's going to confess to Haruna as he stares at her from his seat.
After school, "See you tomorrow Haruna." Risa says as she and Mio head out the school yard together. Haruna says good-bye then pulls out a Manga and starts walking out.
About ten or so feet ahead of her in the bushes under a tree, Here she comes. Rito thinks nervously, She's getting closer, He thinks as Haruna walks closer. I'm going to tell her... my feeling... for her. He turns red as she gets closer and closer and closer. She's right in front of him, NOW! He yells in his mind, but his body didn't respond. Haruna continues walking as Rito lowers his head in shame, "I choked." He murmurs in sadness. Rito then stands up ad starts walking home.
"I'm home." Rito says as he enters the house and removes his shoes.
"Welcome home Rito, dinner will be done in about an hour." Mikan shouts from the kitchen into the hallway. "How was school?" She asks as Rito walks to the stairs.
"Fine, nothing much to really talk about." He says with a bit of disappointment in his voice, "I'm going to take a bath before dinner, okay." He tells her as he heads up the stairs.
Rito enters his room with his cellphone to his ear, "I see, you failed. Just as I expected." Saruyama's voice says from the cellphone.
Rito lies on his bed, "Bastard, don't say you were expecting it." He says with irritation in his voice.
"Ha Ha! But it's your usual pattern Rito. You're usually calm and collective, but when it comes to love and romance, you're pathetic." He cries with laughter as Rito glares at his ceiling. "On top of that, you're such a naïve guy that you faint seeing gravures of a girl in a swimsuit."
"Wha!? Th-that was a longtime ago!" He shouts. "I'm not like that any more!"
On the other end, Saruyama smiles, "Ree-ally? Then try imagining Haruna-chan in a swimsuit."
"Eh?" Rito starts turning bright red from the image of Haruna in a swimsuit on a sunny beach. "Wha!" He panics as stem exits through the top of his head and ears. "Wai... Idiot! What are you saying!?" He demands.
"Gyahahaha! See, you haven't changed a bit!" He responds. "You should build up your resistance to girls first, Rito." He says as he looks in one of his 'magazine'. "Then you can start thinking about confessing." He remarks as he hangs up.
In the bathroom Rito lays down his clothes on the drier, showers then soaks in the bath tub. "That Saruyama, he can't keep his big mouth shut. It's not like he has a girlfriend." He thinks out loud. "But... what he said was some what true..." He says thinking back to earlier, "Never mind making friends with girls, I don't even remember if I've ever had any conversations with girls..." He then starts thinking, Games... soccer... my life was basically all about having fun... until I met Haruna-chan. He then turns red as the image of Haruna in a swimsuit pops up in his head. "No, No!" He shouts shaking his head, "Forget it, Forget it!" He sighs and looks up at the ceiling, "... Resistance to girls... huh... What should I do...?" He asks himself. After a few more minutes of thinking Rito gets out, dries himself and gets dressed in a t-shirt and long shorts with a big pocket on each leg.
He walks into his room and over to his desk, Okay, I'll do it. He thinks as he sits down, pulls out a piece of paper and a pencil and starts writing.
Dear Sairenji Haruna,
Ever since the eighth grade,
you where the only one who believed that I didn't vandalized the school garden
and after that I started to have feelings for you.
Will you please go out with me?
-Yuuki Rito-
Rito finishes the letter and seals it in an envelope and writes her name on it, "Okay, I did it. Now all I have to do is... give it to her." He then remembers what happened after school, "Give it to her? I can't even approach her. I guess I can just slip it in her locker, but..." He says out loud as he walks around the room when he hears his sister's voice.
"Rito, dinner's ready." She shouts from down stairs.
"I'll be right down." He shouts opening the door then stops when he remembers he has the letter in his hand. He then places it in his left pants pocket and continues down the stairs.
"Thanks for the meal." The Yuuki siblings say together then they start eating.
Mikan notices that her brother is eating slowly as if something is troubling him, "Okay Rito, out with it. What's bothering you?" She asks.
Rito looks at her then looks away with a small blush, I can't tell Mikan, she'll tease me I'm sheer of it. He thinks. He looks at her to see her staring at him, "Mikan, stop staring at me like that." He says.
"Not until you start talking, now what's on your mind?" She asks.
A few minutes past, Rito fiddles his food around for a moment, "Hmm, Mikan?"
"Yes, Rito."
He then looks at her, "Your pretty popular at school right? Have any boys confessed their love for you?" He asks looking away.
Mikan slightly blushes, "Wh-what? W-well, yes, a few boys have confessed to me, but I've always turned them down because I'm just not interested in that sort of thing." She explains very flustered, "Why do you ask?" She asks looking away.
Rito, still looking away, scratches his check, "Well, you see... there's this girl at school I really like and I don't know how to go about tell her how I feel." He says getting a little flustered.
Mikan's blush disappears as she signs in relief, "Is that all?" She asks, "Okay, I'll help you out." She says.
Rito looks at her, "Y-you will?" He asks.
"Yep, with role play." She says.
"Role play?" Rito mimics.
Mikan smiles and nods, "Yes, I'll play the role of this girl you like and you can just be yourself and you can practice what to say to her with me." She says.
"Hmm, okay." He says un-sheer, he then closes his eyes, "For a long time now I've liked you, please go out with me?" He asks, pretending Mikan is Haruna, and lowering his head.
Mikan blushes but quickly wipes it away, "Hmm, no. Even if you were the last man on Earth." She deadpans causing Rito to look at her in shock.
"Mikan." He says in annoyance as he stands up, "I'm going for a walk." He says walking out the kitchen.
Mikan watches him leave, "Rito, I was only kidding." She says.
"Yeah, somehow I knew you'd do that." He says from the door as he leaves. Rito walks out the gate and walks towards the park.
In the park he walks to a bench in front of some brushes and trees, he then sits down and looks up at the stars.
Meanwhile, Haruna and her dog, Maron are walking around the park when Maron stops and tilts his head slightly, "What's wrong, Maron?" Haruna asks then looks at what Maron is looking at, "Yuuki-kun?" She then picks up Maron and slowly walks to the trees and hides behind the one closes to Rito.
"That Mikan, always teasing me." He groans. "It's bad enough that I can't find the courage to confess to Haruna-chan, but Mikan just has to tease me when I ask her for help on the matter." He says out loud while looking at the stars as if they where his counselor.
Haruna couldn't believe her ears, "Yuuki-kun, likes me?" She asks herself. "And he called me Haruna-chan." She says softly turning red.
Rito then pulls out the letter he wrote earlier, "I'll just have to take the chance and give it to her." He says. He then looks up at the stars and sets the letter down. "The stars sheer are bright tonight." He says as a shooting star passes by, "Wow, a shooting star!" He says in 'ah'. A few minutes later he stands up and stretches, "Man, it's getting late." He says leaving.
Haruna walks out from behind the tree after Rito leaves, "Yuuki-kun..." Maron then escapes from her and walks over to the bench Rito was at, "Maron, what are you doing?" She asks walking to him, she then sees an envelope with her name on it laying on the bench. "Yuuki-kun forgot this. Was he going to give this to me at school?" She asks picking it up.
The next day Rito is walking to school with a sad expression, "I can't believe I lost the letter." He says out loud, "What will I do now?" He asks himself as he stops at a red light.
Haruna then walks to the same light and sees Rito standing there, Yuuki-kun... Haruna then gathers all her courage and walks up to him, "Hmm, good morning Yuuki-kun." She says stopping next to him with a blush on her face.
Rito turns to her in surprize, "S-Sairenji... hmm, good morning." He says turning away with a slight blush. He then looks around and sees that they are alone, This is your chance Rito, tell her. He tells himself. He then turns to Haruna, "Sairenji, I have something I need to tell you." He says nervously.
"Yes, Yuuki-kun?" Is he going to tell me? She asks herself.
He turns red as he closes his eyes, "E-ever since we were in the eighth grade, I-I've developed feelings for you. W-will you p-please go out with me?" He says bowing. I did it, I confessed.
She blushes as butterflies flutter in her stomach, He did it, he confessed. "I-I'd love to." She says causing Rito to look up extremely red in the face.
"R-really?" He asks.
"Yes, how does after school sound?" She asks with a sweet smile.
"It sounds like a plan." He says as the light changes, "Let's get going then." He says as they cross the street together.
A/N Okay, this is for all the Rito/Haruna fans out there. Next chapter will be their first date and I'm looking forward to it.