Sorry everyone for taking so long to update this story! I've been updating a story everyday for three days in a row now! I'm on a fanficiton addiction! Thank you to my reviewer who pointed out the obvious that 360 degrees is back to where you started because that's for a circle. Ha ha. So I changed the title.
Chapter Two
180 Degrees
I didn't understand what Yukimura said when he said that we would be good friends in the future. I made him notice me, but not in a good way, and not even in a normal way. I was in trouble. That's all that I could admit. How could I not be? I mean, to everyone, Yukimura seemed like a very nice and polite guy. I did hear that he could be quite sadistic under his smile though. Don't judge a book by its cover. That's the age-old saying that definitely applies to Yukimura.
I spent my whole week at school walking around as if I was afraid something would jump out at me. I was cautious and on-guard about 24/7. I would look all around me when I was walking and I always tread on a light foot. I must have looked like a shifty person to a stranger, but Asami knew why I was walking like that. I had told her all about what her brother said to me.
Our other friends were still confused. They didn't exactly know what was going on. They were a bit peeved at Asami for keeping such a big secret. They were a little angry at me too, but when I told them that I just found out the day before because Yukimura told me, they seemed to have calmed down a little bit.
Asami was just . . . not herself. She wasn't the serious and yet energetic girl that she used to be. She was quiet, and her mind wandered too much. She acted as if she was caught in a fog that she just couldn't get out of, and there was always a sort of dreamy and blank expression on her face. She didn't even pay attention anymore when she walked. She was constantly bumping into people and into things. Maybe that was Yukimura's goal: to mess with Asami's concentration and to totally screw her up. Well, if that was his goal, then it sure as hell was working.
I didn't know what was going on at Asami's home, but I assumed that Yukimura had started to act more . . . sweet towards her, but sweet in a totally messed up way that actually seemed sort of mean. He was probably being overly sweet. I really didn't want to know what Asami was going through at home, it just seemed sort of . . . messed up. I mean, Yukimura comes out with that big confession that shocks everyone even his teammates, so that must mean that he's doing something at home too.
When all of our friends found out about Asami being Yukimura's (adopted) younger sister, Nana seemed the angriest. Well, she wasn't angry like how Hiro, Ryoki, and Takei were angry. She was angry that Asami kept the secret so long because then if Asami had told, then Nana could have become closer friends with the guys.
Asami was probably feeling horrible on the inside. I couldn't even imagine how it was like for her. All I could do was hope that she would get better. That's all I had to hope for. I couldn't do anything for her unfortunately. I wanted to help her, but I just didn't know how.
Asami wasn't herself for the whole week. I spent the weekend thinking of ways to help her. She was one of my best friends, and I just needed to do something. My weekend was uneventful. I refused to leave my room for the most part. I just didn't know what to do.
On Monday, I was reluctant to get out of bed. I would have to go to school and see Asami still all . . . like the ghost of herself, and then I would have to see Yukimura. He had been acknowledging all of us because we're Asami's friends, but I had a feeling that he was acknowledging me the most just to pick on me since I tried to slap him that day where he completely ruin Asami.
I got on my Rikkai high school uniform and struggled to get on my bike. I pedaled as slow as I could to school before I could become late. I remembered what Yukimura had said to me, and I didn't want to be notice by him. I didn't want any of it. As soon as I reached the school grounds, I tried to avoid the tennis courts where I knew the tennis regulars would be at the moment. I quickly ran to my classroom. I was one of the last ones there since I went so slow in the morning.
I didn't pay attention at all in any of my classes. I was too busy writing plans in my notebook. I was figuring out ways to help Asami. She was one of my best friends and I wanted to do everything I could to help her. I kept rewriting and recrossing out plans that I wrote in my notebook. I erased so much that when it was finally lunchtime, I didn't have any eraser left to use.
I walked into the lunch room and nearly dropped by bento. Sitting at the tennis regulars' table was none other than Asami. She was wedged between Yukimura and Yagyuu Hiroshi. I gulped down a bit of my saliva before I headed over to their table to talk to Asami.
I tapped on her shoulder and said, "You don't want to sit with us today?" I gestured towards the table where we always sat at.
Asami looked at me for a moment with a guilty expression. She seemed to partly be back to her old self again.
Instead of answering me, Yukimura answered for Asami. "I asked my younger sister to sit with us today since I wanted to spend some time with her."
"Oh . . ." I had no reply to that. I doubted that he had simply just asked Asami to sit with him. He probably forced her to. I looked at Asami. "Well, we'll be sitting where we always sit if you want to come back later." I turned around without looking at any of the regulars, and I could almost feel Yukimura smiling.
I stumbled over to our table and plopped down next to Takei and Ryoki. Hiro was sitting next to Ryoki, and Nana was no where in sight. I wondered vaguely if she as still angry at Asami. The boys already understood the situation, and they felt bad for Asami. My mind wandered back over to the memory of Asami. I remembered that just minutes ago, her expression had almost seemed normal again. Did that mean she was adjusting to the fact that Yukimura had finally accepted her as his younger sister?
"I . . . I have to go," I said suddenly. I didn't know why I suddenly felt sick. The feeling just came out of nowhere.
The twins Hiro and Ryoki gave me questioning looks before just shrugging it off.
Takei asked, "Why are you leaving now? Are you okay?" He saw the sick expression on my face. I felt as if I was going to vomit.
"I'm fine. Really. I'll be back . . . I'm just . . . going to go get something."
I was trembling, but I was trembling from anger. As soon as I got away from the lunchroom, I was able to be rational again. I realized that I was getting sick from being near Yukimura. He made me sick to my stomach because of how he was. He looked so nice on the outside, but on the inside he was so sadistic. It made me sick his deceptive looks.
I was near a tree and I started kicking it, imagining it was Yukimura's face. Every time I hit it, the Yukimura tree got bruised and bloodied. I kept kicking it until I was satisfied with the look of bloody Yukimura.
"It's not good to hit trees you know," a familiar voice said softly.
I turned around to face Yukimura smiling his little innocent smile. I let all of my anger show on my face.
"What's wrong?" he asked as if he was really concerned about me.
"Give us back Asami," I hissed.
"She's my younger sister," he shrugged.
"Why are you doing this?" My anger had all faded away and was replaced with defeat.
"What's wrong with spending time with my younger sister?"
"Why are you doing it now then? I mean, she thinks you hate her you know! Not only that, but you've been hiding from everyone that you had a little sister. You didn't even acknowledge her existence in school until just last week! What made you change your mind now?"
He looked at me with that innocent expression again, but under that expression I could see a look of slight evil. "It's simply because you were there when Asami went to get her art supplies."
"What?" I was taken aback. "Are you saying that this is my fault? I'm a nobody!"
"You're not a nobody. You won't be for long anyways. You keep continuing to intrigue me. No one's ever made me slip up before at school."
"You mean your fake innocent mask?" I spat out.
"Well, when I see you angry like this, it just brings out the real me and it makes me want to tease you more."
"Tease me?"
"Well, Asami seems to be better, don't you agree?"
"You're so sick!"
"Even though I have a bit of a sadistic personality, I'm actually a very nice person, Yoriko-san." He had a sincerely nice look on his face this time.
I ignored the sincerity and shook my head. "Don't call me by my first name so easily!"
"I'm sorry then Akemi-san."
I sighed. I couldn't be adverse to him when he was so nice to me. Everyone thought he was nice, but when he first spoke to me that afternoon when I tried to slap him, he seemed like a jerk. He was still a jerk, but now he was getting sincerely nice, and it was starting to annoy me. What was with his personality switch? Was it because his mask has slipped? I was getting seriously confused at what was going on.
"Why are you nice all of a sudden?" I asked suspiciously.
He sighed in exasperation. "I'm trying to be civil to you right now, Akemi-san. What I mean is, I know I haven't been the nicest person you met ever since I announced that Asami was my sister, but I'm trying to be civil now because of Asami."
"You were just a jerk two minutes ago, what's with the change?"
"I didn't mean to be such a . . . jerk as you call it. I came over here to ask you something, but you just brought out that side of me."
"What is it?"
"Asami is very sad, and I am her older brother. Like I said, I am a nice person once you truly get to know me. I may be a bit of a . . . sadist, but that doesn't mean I'm not nice. I care deeply and personally for my teammates and my family. There's nothing more important in my life. Anyways, I know it's wrong what I've been doing to Asami, and she . . . hasn't been herself exactly. I want her to be back to normal when she was happy. She's making me feel . . . guilt. And even though she's adopted, she's been my younger sister for a while now."
"You've been feeling guilty?" I gaped in surprise. "There's no way that's true. I mean, you were so mean to her last week!"
"I wasn't mean, I was just announcing the truth. I thought that it would be the right thing. I've been ignoring Asami as my little sister for so long that I've decided to announce it to the whole school. I wasn't trying to be mean."
"Liar." I got angry again. "You knew that she was totally fine being ignored by you!"
"I'm trying to be civil here," he sighed in frustration. "I'm trying to ask you to come to have dinner at my house tonight."
"What? There's no way I would ever have dinner at your house!"
"It's not for me, it's for Asami. She's sad when she's at home, and you're her best friend, so I'm trying to get her to cheer up. My parents aren't happy when she's sad. They feel sad too and they spend all of their time trying to comfort her. They love her already. I'm trying to do the right thing here for my family. So please do it for Asami."
"I'll think about it."
"I'll take that as a yes then. Please, wait for me after school and I'll bring you to my home. I want it to be a surprise for her."
He had to be joking. He was actually doing something for Asami? His attitude changed 180 degrees. There had to be an inner reason why he was doing this for her, and I was going to find out that night.
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