Daisy

Luck. It determines the percentage of critical hits, the chance to miss an attack among other factors but most people decide to ignore this stat because they deem other stats like INT, STR or DEX more important. In real life, it's a skill that's desired by gamblers but also for the everyday working human who wants to take a chance at the lottery and for students who forget to study for their exams. As a man who often used data to his advantage, Yanagi Renji hated the concept of luck. It was a seemingly non-existent force, an excuse that people used when situations turned bad for them. He believed in effort, practice. If you put in the time and work, your efforts would not betray you, or so he thought. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to believe that such a trait could determine his life but somewhere deep inside it irked him. Luck was something that he could not control, no matter how much effort he put in. Proportions and probability were based off empirical data but there was no basis for luck. Things like luck were all predetermined, decided even before he could do anything. So in a situation where all the factors have been decided, what would hard work even accomplish?

"Renji-kun, you coming?" A head popped out of the side of the door.

Yanagi Renji raised his head out of the books slowly, as if he was being cautious of all the information stored in his head and smiled gently at the young girl who had come to pick him up. She's 10 seconds earlier than I expected, he noted in his head.

"You can go first, I'll be there soon," He answered, calmly packing the books he had borrowed from the library, unfazed by her presence. Since when had he become so used to her, he wondered. The first time he met her, he honestly thought that they would not get along. Like two clashing colors on the color wheel, she was too flamboyant for him, her exaggerated actions, the way she spoke and especially her transparency. If he had to pick a color to describe her, it would be a shade of scarlet. On the other hand, he was more on the mellow and quiet side. Truthfully speaking, he tried to stay away from her as much as possible because he disliked obnoxiously loud people who attracted unwarranted attention.

"I can't," The girl took a step inside the classroom and let out a big sigh, clearly annoyed, "I was ordered by Gen-kun to get you,"

Her silhouette blocked the sun that was coming in from the door and caused a shadow to form on Yanagi's desk. Instinctively, he raised his face to look at her. At his sudden eye contact, a slight frown lingered on her face.

"All Gen-kun does is order me around, really, how are we even friends? Our personalities clash too much," With a slight hop, she sat on the desk adjacent to his.

As she waited for him while kicking her legs on top of the table, Yanagi analyzed her once again to make sure that he did not miss even a little bit of detail that he could possibly collect as data. Although he had thought that he had most of her data recorded, she never failed to surprise him.

Today the sleeves on her uniform were folded which meant she was practicing her lines alone in the classroom again. The backpack she was wearing was filled to the brim, which told him that she had stopped by the library before coming to see him. This piece of information combined with the previous habit of hers made him deduce that she had gotten a new role for a play. Probably a character that she did not fully resonate with, which meant that the general topic of the play was a historical play. Surprisingly, she was wearing a bit of mascara and her bangs were freshly cut, which signaled to him that she was probably going to meet Yukimura today.

"What are you reading?" She approached him without hesitation, getting somewhat bored of waiting for him.

"Probability… and luck," She read slowly, squinting slightly. Scientific books like the ones he read was never her forte, but she read them anyways because she did not want to give off the impression that she was an airhead.

Perhaps it was because she was the president of the acting club, but her zero sense of physical proximity never failed to surprise him. Feeling restless again, she backed away from him and walked towards the entrance of the room again.

"Let's go?" Stopping in front of the door, she turned around to check if he was following.

Finally standing up, Yanagi trailed behind her and the duo left the classroom. As she walked in front him, leading the way, her long black hair swayed behind her. At first glance she seemed like a typical school girl because of her hairstyle which was popular among many students. Despite how feminine she looked, he knew that she was nothing but feminine once you got to know her. But Yanagi knew that she had a special kind of charm that made people look twice which reminded him of the addiction some people had with sweets and cakes. As they walked side by side with her doing most of the talking, Yanagi felt at ease. Although she often complained about how their conversations were usually one-sided, Yanagi enjoyed observing her speak. It was as if he was watching a monologue, with her hand actions and animated reactions.

"I don't understand this character at all which bothers me, but at least this play is a short one… Actually can you help me with it?" She asked him nicely, hoping that he wasn't busy enough to reject her.

"The probability that this is a historical play is 95%," Yanagi commented with confidence.

"…What's the point of talking when you already know everything," She shot him a glare which he softly chuckled at.

Just as he was about to respond, a booming voice resonated throughout the halls.

"What took you so long, Kotori?" It echoed and felt like a slap in the face," Tarundoru!"

Kotori jumped slightly at Sanada's voice and she shuffled rapidly behind Yanagi as protection.

"This is all your fault, I told you to hurry! Now I'm going to get scolded!" She whispered fiercely behind Yanagi as she saw Sanada approaching them.

"It was my fault, Genichiro," Yanagi stepped forward and honestly confessed, causing her to smirk mischievously at Sanada from behind Yanagi.

Seeing the smug look on her face, Sanada's vein popped slightly, but he swallowed the annoyance that was slowly building up. Once Kotori saw that Sanada had given up, she came out of her hiding spot.

"We should hurry, Yukimura's waiting," Sanada said, still slightly annoyed.

Sanada briskly walked, creating a large distance between them as a way to subtly show his feelings.

"Gen-kun, wait up!" Kotori chased after him, forgetting that Yanagi was behind her.

Yanagi maintained his pace and watched as Kotori attempted to catch up to Sanada and get his attention by repeating his name several times. However, Sanada who was used to this by now remained unfazed by her antics.

"Are you mad at me again?"

"Well, when are you not mad? Am I right?"

Yanagi could hear her voice from a mile away because of the way she enunciated words. It was probably a habit that she picked up because of acting. Normally, she had a somewhat rambunctious personality which contrasted greatly with her outward countenance but there were times when her focus kicked in and she became a totally different person. Truly, she was someone that he could have never imagined being friends with to begin with, which is why he felt as if something was off when he was with her.

Happy Valentines day! I'm pretty much a ghost when it comes to writing, but here I am with something new! Hope you like it and feel free to leave me a review to let me know what you think! Hopefully I'll update my story more often than the New Prince of Tennis manga... haha...