"I'm such an idiot!"

School Rumble is owned by someone who is not me.
…and before I get sued for anything, I don't own the songs that appear here.

#4 HOLD HEART

A day after that insane display at the café, Harima Kenji wanders around town to find new material for scenes in his manga. Yep, it's another search for inspiration. As he crosses a bridge, he notices something in the water.

"A piece of paper?" he tries to figure out what it is. After inspecting it a little longer, he found it to appear like some sort of green water-dish. He decides to ignore it and looks to the opposite side of the bridge.

At that moment, a thought sprung up: "Come to think of it, that thing reminds me of the time Tenma-chan's cat fell into the water. At that time, I wanted to go the other way and leave Tenma-chan…"

Kenji walks to the end of the bridge and proceeds to walk along the side of the river. "But…instincts told me to jump in and save Tenma-chan's cat. Tenma-chan ran to the side of the river, after I had taken the cat…"

Kenji stops to look at the river again. "Upon giving her cat to her, Tenma-chan mistook me for a kappa…just because I had a hair-losing disease then! The top of my head was bald then! Strangely, it was just like a kappa's!"

He continues down the path and reminisces of all his insane experiences from the year before, starting from the love letter to Hanai Haruki's most recent challenge.

Just around the corner and a block away, a red-haired beauty exits from a supermarket. Her eyes project a feeling of happiness and comfort to anyone who gazes into them.

"Well, that's it for the groceries!" she, with her change in one hand and a bag of vegetables hanging on the other, cheerfully thinks aloud.

As she puts her change in her purse, a 500 yen coin falls to the ground and rolls away.

"Ara!" she quickly closes her purse and chases after the lose change.

It rolls farther away until it collides with a shining black shoe. Kenji picks the coin up and looks to the direction it came from.

To his surprise, the beauty is running to him. "Neesan?"

"Ara? Hario!" the beauty jumps and hugs him.

"Neesan, what are you doing here?" Kenji just asks.

The beauty stops hugging him and explains, "I was chasing after that 500 yen coin. It fell down while I was putting it inside my purse."

"I see," Kenji hands the coin back to her.

"No, it's alright. You can keep it," she puts the coin in his hand.

"But it's yours!" Kenji refuses to take it, as well.

"Neither of us are going to take it?" the beauty pauses, "Come with me then."

The two make their way to a temple. The beauty prays before the shrine, while the delinquent looks at the shrine. After praying, she tosses the 500 yen coin into the offerings box and rings the bell. Afterwards, they walk down the undeniably long stairs.

After a moment of silence, Kenji asks her, "What did you pray for?"

"Nothing important," the beauty replies, "Actually, I prayed for you stay happy, Hario."

The beauty and the delinquent walk part ways after they reach the base of the stairs.

#5 GET MY WAY!

Exiting from a fruit drinks shop, Tenma, Yakumo, and Keiichi make their way to Yagami High. The night before, Keiichi had been considering which school to enroll to. Tenma suggested that he try Yagami High. To make a short story even shorter, he decided to enroll there for his educational purposes and for some personal reasons.

"Kei-kun, what are you going to do about the entrance exam?" Tenma asks Keiichi after taking a sip of a banana and strawberry smoothie.

"Entrance exam? I'll be able to exceed it easily!" Keiichi laughs.

"'Masaru'? Don't you mean 'excel'?" Tenma unknowingly corrects him.

"'Su-gu-re-ru'? Uhm," Keiichi quickly pushes his blue sunglasses down from the top of his head to the front of his eyes and takes a Japanese-English dictionary from his bag. He quickly scans through its pages to find what word Tenma has just said, "Uhm, it means excel! What did I use? Hm…ah! I used exceed! Crud. I wrote my notes last night; but I must be mistaken, since 'excel' is right under 'exceed'!"

"Kei-kun?" Tenma asks in concern to her brother's strange actions.

"Ah, it's nothing! As I was saying before, I will definitely excel in the entrance exam!" Keiichi forces a laugh to shake of his embarrassment.

"Neesan, don't you remember what Niisan said last night?" Yakumo tries to remind Tenma something.

"Remember what?" the forgetful Tenma asks.

"Niisan said that he has forgotten most of his Japanese when he moved to America," Yakumo explains.

"Kei-kun, is that true?" Tenma turns to her defeated brother.

"Well, sorta…yeah, it is…" Keiichi sighs in embarrassment and defeat.

"I see…" Tenma pauses for a while and is hit by a thought, "So, what are you going to do about your Japanese?"

He stares at his twin sister for a while and replies, "I'm not entirely sure of what you said, but I'm going to get a tutor for Japanese…preferably not a teacher…"

"I see…" Tenma pauses for a while and is stricken by a thought, "Why not a teacher?"

"I see enough of my teacher during classes. I prefer seeing a classmate or schoolmate or something," Keiichi replies.

"I see…" Tenma pauses for a while and is bombed by an idea, "Why don't I tutor you?"

Keiichi freezes and stares at Tenma. A few seconds pass before he breaks from his trance and yells, "I would really prefer you NOT teach me! I looked at your grades from last year, and, in my opinion, it is you who needs a tutor in just about every subject!"

"It was just a suggestion…" Tenma whimpers.

"Ah! Stupid me!" Keiichi smacks his forehead, "Sorry, Tenma. I know that you're just trying to help me, but I prefer to have a tutor whose face I won't see almost every second. I'm really sorry, really!"

"Okay…" Tenma, still saddened by her brother's words, replies.

"Neesan, Niisan, there's our school," Yakumo tries to change the topic and diverts her elder siblings' attentions to Yagami High.

"Wow! I think I might like this place!" Keiichi looks at the main building and proclaims.

Some of the students taking extra classes either whisper to each other or give Keiichi strange looks. Keiichi, however, is oblivious to any of that.

"Niisan, you shouldn't do that!" Yakumo tries to calm the ecstatic Keiichi.

"Oh, wait!" Keiichi remembers and turns to Yakumo, "When we are in public, can you not call me 'Niisan'?"

"Why?" Yakumo asks her brother.

"It's probably going to be very confusing to people for us to be siblings but have different family names," Keiichi explains.

"Why?" Tenma cuts in.

"To be honest, I just want to see who would be smart enough to figure out that we are siblings," Keiichi explains and thinks of his true motive, "With that, I'll be able to tell which persons are my little sisters' possible suitors."

"I don't get it!" Tenma remarks, "Yakumo, was he like that before?"

"No, he used to enjoy showing how close we were as siblings," Yakumo answers.

"The reason to that is my wanting more attention. Naturally, as the eldest, I believed that I should have the most attention!" Keiichi pulls the shades of his sunglasses over his forehead, "But while I was in America, I found out that the reason for my being the eldest is to protect my younger siblings."

"Wow!" Yakumo is surprised to hear her brother seem to completely mature.

"Hey! I'm not younger than you!" Tenma points out to Keiichi, "We're twins! That means that we have the same age!"

"I still remember what Otousan told me that we are twins, but I came out first!" Keiichi laughs in victory, "Not only that, but he said that, though we are two-egg twins, you came outpremature! I, therefore, conclude that we weren't suppose to be twins but, instead, an older and younger sibling. Me being the older, of course!"

"I've never heard anyone else say so much English in his Japanese!" Tenma remarks.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Keiichi retorts, then sighs, "Back to the original question, I've just matured, really."

"And become a little too proud!" Tenma points out.

"SHUT UP!" Keiichi yells at his twin sister.

"So, what should we do about a tutor?" Yakumo returns to the first topic.

"A tutor?" Keiichi thinks.

"I volunteer!" Tenma exclaims. She has apparently forgotten the argument from before.

"Not on your life! Can you suggest any of your friends or classmates who have the most free-time?" Keiichi suggests.

Tenma enters a state of deep thought, which includes a thinking pose and saying "Hmm…", "Um…", or "Who…" a lot.

Keiichi continues, "Someone smart. Not too punishing. Not too arrogant. Not too harsh. If it's a girl, make sure she's cute. If it's a guy, make sure he's not too agitating!"

"I got it!" Tenma breaks from her earlier state.

"Who is it gonna be?" Keiichi turns to smiles.

"Eri-chan!" Tenma answers her brother.

"Erichan?" Keiichi misinterprets the name.

"Sawchika Eri, she's one of my best friends, and she's really good in English! I think she would really help you!" Tenma continues.

"Eri…Sa-wa-chi-ka…right?" Keiichi check to make sure, if he has the name remembered correctly.

"Correct!" Tenma replies.

"I wonder what she looks like…" Keiichi thinks aloud.

"I'll lend you a picture of us later, okay?" Tenma responds.

"Okay…" Keiichi agrees to that.

"But for now…" Tenma takes Keiichi's left arm and Yakumo's left arm, "Let's get Kei-kun signed up for the entrance exam!"

Tenma, with her brother laughing and running and her little sister being towed, dashes towards the office.

#6 NAGAI AIDA

In a fancy and expensive yet little bar furnished with beautifully crafted tables and chairs and purple silk curtains, Sawachika Eri spends her day reminiscing about her experiences with that hige. It's even sadder to see her constantly chugging down orange juice directly in front of the lady bar owner. The lady bar owner is a little concerned, but, since Eri is drinking something that no one can usually get drunk from, she sets her concerns aside.

"That hige…" Eri gulps down another glass of orange juice, "More!"

The bar owner pours her another glass of orange juice and continues observing the strange blonde young woman.

"I always see him in my mind! …EVEN IN MY DREAMS!" Eri takes down another glass, "More!"

More orange juice is poured for the strange blonde.

"THAT IDIOT!" Eri stops her shouting and starts thinking aloud softly, "Am I really in love? When Tenma told me that Mikoto liked Harima, I hated her. When it seemed like Tenma's little sister liked him, I wanted to just shove her away. Even when it seemed like Harima liked Tenma, I…"

"That's definitely love, Milady (ojou-san)," the bar owner pours her another glass of orange juice.

"Huh?" Eri gulps down her drink and stares at the bar owner. She has short blonde hair that parts from the middle and extends past her cheeks. Her blue eyes give a gentle and calming feeling to any who looks into them. Her attire is simple purple jacket accompanied by a buttoned undershirt and matching purple pants. She appears to be around twenty.

"The name's Akizuki Himeko," the bar owner introduces herself, "and you are…"

"Sawachika Eri…" Eri replies without thinking. Normally, she would have been defensive and made a scene; but, now, she is somehow drunk from her thoughts…or the orange juice, even though it's impossible.

"You remind me of my mother and my father. My mother told me that she fell in love with a martial artist but was too shy to completely express her feelings…" Himeko pours Eri another glass of orange juice.

"I see…but, couldn't she just tell him? What made it so difficult for her?" Eri takes a sip from her glass.

"My grandfather, my father's father, was the owner of the dojo that my father was to inherit," Himeko continues.

"Ah, your grandfather was against their marriage," Eri guesses and finishes her glass.

"The opposite, really. He was for it, but a little too much. He would sometimes think of plots with my aunt and my uncle to get my mother and father married…or at least get a baby…" Himeko giggles.

"So, your parents were too shy?" Eri, too absorbed into the story, stops drinking any more orange juice.

"Yeah, occasionally they would kiss, but it never went further than that, 'cause Grandfather would be overly ecstatic and could die of a heart attack!" Himeko laughs.

"You're kidding!" Eri isn't amused to have heard that.

"Actually…yes. I've asked them a couple of times, but they just end up clamming up or babbling," Himeko explains.

"Pathetic…" Eri sighs.

"Either way, they eventually got married, after Father proposed to Mother. The weird thing was that, during the wedding rehearsal, Grandfather really did get a heart attack! They had paramedics rush to him quickly and the wedding had to be moved to a week later!" Himeko slaps her forehead and looks at her bar table.

"That's even more pathetic!" Eri sighs.

"One day, Father said that it might have been Mother's fault that Grandfather had to be hospitalized. The wedding was said to have been cancelled, but Grandfather, my aunt, and my uncle— who at that time, wasn't my uncle yet— just pushed the wedding date further instead…" Himeko sighs.

"…So, what happened?" Eri curiously asks her.

"Father decided to apologize to Mother, but she was too hurt. She told him that she didn't want to see him again. Father took it pretty hard too. So, he spent most of his time fighting to work his sorrow away." Himeko notices that Eri isn't taking in anymore drinks.

"…Weird…" Eri remarks.

"Eventually, Father tried to apologize again. So, he gave Mother flowers. In thankfulness, gratitude, forgiveness, and love, Mother gave Father a kiss. They got married the day after," Himeko explains.

"Amazing…" Eri remarks again.

"Yeah, it is. It's amazing how something as simple as that could make them fall back in love," Himeko explains, "Not only that, but they never really apologized aloud. Their words were apparently conveyed through their hearts."

Eri looks to the ground and starts considering how she can fully relate to that.

"Don't worry…" Himeko put one hand on Eri's shoulder. Once Eri looks at Himeko, she continues, "We're both still a little young. We'll both understand at our own pace…"

"Thanks," Eri gets off her seat and turns back to Himeko, "How much do I owe you?"

"Twenty glasses plus three hours equals…" the bar owner thinks aloud, "2950 yen."

"Oh, here," Eri hands Himeko a 5000-yen bill.

"I'll just give you a discount, Sawachika," Himeko takes the bill and hands Eri three 1000-yen bills.

"Thanks…see you next time…" Eri says her goodbyes and leaves the bar.

Upon leaving the bar, she sees a middle aged couple holding hands and walking to the bar. The man has short blonde hair combed back and blue eyes that emanate a sense of heart and love. He has a muscular build covered by an blue karate gi (uniform). The woman has short blonde hair that splits from the middle and falls past her cheeks. She wears a white button-up shirt that is tucked under her indigo pants.

Eri observes them for a while and feels as though she had seen them before. Once the couple enters the bar, Eri could have sworn that she heard Himeko say, "Ah! Father, Mother, how are Uncle Bob, Aunt Yumi, and Elli?"

Eri smiles at the closed door of the bar and makes her way home.

Next time on School Rumble!

Kenji: "Love"…such a mystical word…

Tenma: I hardly knew you…my first love…

Keiichi: Why does the first day of school always have to be hectic?

Kenji: Next time…

#7 First Day
#8 First Friend
#9 First Misunderstanding!

Keiichi: See you whenever!

Thanks again for pointing out the mis-wording in the first chapter, Don Piano.
I really hope that this is something that is fun to read.