A/N: Hello minna-san! Due to a few comments I'm deciding to not use romaji anymore. Reason?
I don't really know their spelling
I don't wanna put the translation on the bottom of the page
Idk, it's easier that way.
Atobe gulped for the umpteenth time before he served the ball high in the air, serving with 75 percent of his energy which was more than usual. Everybody stared in shock as the ball made a very light smudge on the court before bouncing and being hit with equal force. It was now a rally between the two. Sayuri narrowed her eyes and hit the ball in a weird angle and lobbed it. It was too high so everybody thought it was out, Atobe knew better. He ran to the mid-back of the court and jumped high to smash it. When the ball bounced from the ground, Sayuri was already in front of it, she dropped it and it didn't bounce anymore when it reached the other side of the net. It just fell on the ground and stood still.
The game went on for about thirty minutes and it was now a game of 4-5 with Sayuri leading. Both of the players ever so lightly.
It was now 5:15, an hour and a half since they started and it was a tie-breaker. Sayuri was getting tired so she decided to end it. She let the ball pass her and smiled. Atobe stood there wide-eyed. "Game, set and Match to Atobe 7 games to 6." Sanada announced. Atobe sighed and sat on the ground.
"You let that pass you on purpose." He said glancing at Sayuri before staring at the ground.
"It got boring." She replied looking at him in a bored look panting slightly. Atobe sighed and stood up. "I'll be going back now. I still have paperwork to finish." He said and walked away followed by the rest of the Hyotei team.
"I'm glad that's over." Sayuri muttered while walking to the side of the courts. The regulars shocked that a girl can play evenly with Atobe. "Masaharu-kun, can we stop by the bookstore before we go home?" Sayuri asked Niou while giving his racquet back. He nodded and went to the locker room to have a quick shower and change.
-At the bookstore 5:20pm-
"Sorry to drag you here, I just needed a book to read while not doing anything." She said smiling. He just nodded once again not really paying attention to what she was saying because he was worried and curious as to the reason why his captain suddenly ran off like that.
She walked over to the English section of the bookstore and searched for a good book. Unfortunately, most of the books in that section were tutorials on "how to read English" or "Reading Kanji to English" and such.
Sayuri decided to shove her hand at the back of the large bookshelf and pulled out whatever she managed to get. "Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." She read aloud 'I guess this is okay'she thought before walking to the counter and paying for it.
The walk home was peaceful and relaxing for Sayuri but quite the opposite for Niou due to his worry about the 'buchou' of the club.
-1 week later. Monday 8.00am-
'It's been a week since Yukimura-san went to school and since Keigo beat me... It sure is boring here' Sayuri thought to herself while staring out the window. Drowning in her thoughs and not noticing that the other students stood up and bowed, the teacher looked a little annoyed at her for disrespecting him.
"Harugane-san," he started off. Sayuri just continued to stare out the window, looking like she doesn't have a care in the world because of her blank stare. A vein popped on the teachers head "Harugane-san!" he said slamming his book on her desk resulting her to jump back due to shock.
Everybody in class started giggling as Sayuri scratched the back of her head "Hai?" she innocently asked him followed by a nervous chuckle. The teacher just sighed and told her to pay attention more.
-Lunch time-
Sayuri decided to buy some curry bread and an extra just in case 1 wasn't enough. She was on her way to the rooftop which was the only part of the school she hasn't explored. Once she opened the door she was surprised to find a garden with freshly bloomed flowers.
She walked over to the rose part of the garden and stared at them in awe. She loved roses, mostly red ones.
There were benches around the garden for students to sit on so she gracefully sat down on the one that was directly in front of the roses.
"Sei-chan! Sei-chan! Look! I found a rose!" a five-year-old Sayuri handed a boy who looked the same age as her.
"It's so pretty, Sa-chan, do you like roses?" he asked. She nodded happily with a wide smile
"I love them! They're my favourite out of all the flowers!" she happily exclaimed.
The boy stood on a rock and pointed the rose at her. "Then you are the Rose Queen and I am the Rose King!" he announced. She did a small curtsy before him.
"Your majesty." She giggled.
Sayuri suddenly opened her eyes in shock. 'What was that?' she asked herself, thinking of the flashback of her past. 'Who...? Sei-chan...?' she tried to remember who that boy was. While trying to remember who the little boy was, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch.
-After school-
Sayuri went to the library to read a book while waiting for Niou to finish with club activities which meant she had around 2 hours to kill.
She took out 'Romeo and Juliet' out of her bag and started reading it. She was halfway through the book when she felt her phone vibrate.
Sender: Niou Masaharu
Subject: None
Hey, where are you? Practice's over. I'll wait for you in front of the school gate.
-End-
Sayuri glanced at her watch and quickly ran to the school gate. 'its 5:20 already!' she thought to herself while running.
"Yo." Niou said while staring at the now panting Sayuri.
"Did I make you wait long?" she asked in concern
"Not really." He said staring at the darkening sky.
-Next day. Before classes start. 8:20am-
Sayuri was reading her book when she was tapped on the shoulder
"Yes?" she said while looking up to a smiling Yukimura. Her eyes widened in shock "Yukimura-san!" she practically yelled. "Can I borrow your notebook later? I need to copy notes." He asked with a smile. "Sure, but what did you do the whole week?"
"I told the team I'll tell them about it at lunch, but since you're Niou-kun's cousin and is pretty close to the team then I guess I can tell you. Lunch time at the rooftop, okay?" he explained
"Okay." She agreed and then the teacher came in.
-Lunch time rooftop-
(Everybody has their food with them (bento, curry bread, etc))
Everybody was sitting on the grass since the benches were far too apart for them to eat together if they sat on them.
"So, let's get down to business. Yukimura, why were you absent for a week? No one was also picking up the phone at your house." Sanada said sternly, drinking his bottled tea after saying that
"Um, okay. My grandmother from my father's side suddenly collapsed on the day of the match against Hyotei. That's why I had to go to Hokkaido to visit her. Sadly, she passed away 2 days later. Her funeral was 3 days ago and it took a while for my father to get over it so my mother decided it's best if me and Aya-chan go back to school so we wouldn't miss anymore studies." He explained clearly
Everybody went quiet for a while and said in sync "Our condolences." Followed by a slight nod.
"It's okay, really." Yukimura said with a strained tone that only Sayuri heard.
Sayuri clapped her hands and everybody looked at her. Smiling brightly as if nothing happened Sayuri happily took a bite of her food and said "Itadakimasu! Come on guys, it's lunch. Let's eat!"
They all stared at her for a moment before realizing what she was trying to do. They all smiled said thanks to the lord for their food. Lunch went by peacefully after that.
-Few Days Later. Rikkai Dai is going to the Prefectionals, after the match-
"Let's all celebrate at Yagyuu's house!" Niou exclaimed
"If it's alright with him." Yukimura added and looked at Yagyuu. He just nodded and pushed his glasses up using his middle finger.
"Well, I'll go now. See you guys at school and congrats!" Sayuri said happily while looking at the other side of the road.
"You're not coming with us?" Kirihara asked
"Well, I don't know. Do you want me to go with you guys?" She asked with a small frown
"Yeah! With you the club seems to calm down a little bit more. And it's nice to have a girl in the group." Jackal said looking the other way to hide a small blush that was forming on his cheeks
"Plus, it's fun." Kirihara muttered for only Sayuri to hear
She chuckled and smiled "Since you guys like my company then I guess I can go with you guys, but if it's really okay for everyone." She said glancing at everyone. They just nodded except for Sanada who pulled his cap down.
"It's alright, ne, Sanada-kun?" Yukimura asked the cap-wearing boy
"It's fine I guess." He replied
"Then off to Yagyuu's house we go!" Kirihara shouted pumping his fist in the air.
-Yagyuu's house, around 5pm-
They entered the large house which belonged to the Yagyuu family. Sayuri was the only one in awe since the others visited this house before.
"Make yourselves at home, I'll just tell the maids to prepare food." Yagyuu stated walking somewhere on the right side.
"Hey, let's all stay in the game room. It's more fun there." Kirihara whined, he liked the living room but it was boring and the only entertainment you can find there was the large plasma tv that was place against the large couch they were sitting on.
Everyone agreed but decided to wait until Yagyuu came back since it was after all his house.
When everyone was in the game room Sayuri and Kirihara suddenly ran for the video game section while the others were either in the hockey table, mini-football table or watching Sayuri and Kirihara fight in T-kk-n(Sorry, I have to censor that.)
While Kirihara and Niou were fighting over who would play against Sayuri next, Yagyuu and Yukimura were nowhere to be found. They were in the kitchen making tea. Once they came back Kirihara and Sayuri were cursing at each other.
"I wanna be Chr*st**!" Sayuri happily announced while pressing the start button
"Then I'll be D*v*l J*n." Kirihara announced proudly, thinking he was going to win this round.
-Later that afternoon-
"Ah, it's raining." Sanada said while looking out the window seeing the tiny water droplets drop on the ground.
"96% that a storm will follow." Renji said
"How do you know?" Sayuri asked tilting her head to the side
"I watched the weather report this morning." He simply replied which caused Sayuri to sweat drop
"So does that mean we can't go home?" Marui asked out of curiosity
"Frankly speaking, yes. As Renji said it, there is a storm coming, and what kind of host am I if I let my guests go home with the weather in such a condition." Yagyuu said pushing his glasses all the way up
"We better call our homes first." Sanada said. Everyone nodded and called their homes using their cellphone, excluding Sayuri since Niou called their house for them both.
"Yagyuu-sempai, I'm hungry~" Kirihara complained, hugging a pillow.
"The cook is out today, I'll see if we have any snacks." Yagyuu replied to the octopus-haired boy
"But I want something to eat that makes me full~" Kirihara whined
Sayuri grabbed a pillow and walked over to Kirihara. "What?" he asked the brunette, she raised the pillow over her head and hit it on the poor boy and yelled "This isn't your house, baka! And if you want food so bad then why don't you make some yourself!" if this was an anime, steam would be coming out of her ears.
"Why did you suddenly get mad?" Kirihara asked rubbing the top of his head didn't hurt as much since Sayuri used a pillow
"I hate people who complain and whine while they aren't even doing anything to help their situation." She mumbled, crossing her arms and looking the other way with an angry pout.
"Talk about Mood Swings." Marui whispered to Jackal
"Yagyuu-kun, why don't we cook something instead?" Yukimura suggested with a smile
"That sounds like a good idea, considering what happened last time at Renji's house." Niou stated in a sarcastic tone.
Sayuri tilted her head to the side "What happened?" she asked out of curiosity
"Well, let's just say we aren't allowed to go to his house anymore..." Marui explained...sort of
"Sayuri-sempai, since you're a girl you must know how to cook, right?" Kirihara asked
"Well, I only know how to bake things, I love sweets after all." She replied pointing at the ceiling with her finger smiling kindly
Marui smiled with a twinkle in his eye "Let's bake some cake!" he suggested excitedly
Sayuri sweat dropped at the sight of Marui jumping around yelling "Cake! Cake! I'll get to eat some cake!"
"I get it, lead the way Yagyuu-kun!" Sayuri said happily. She loved cakes, and loved baking more.
While Yagyuu lead Sayuri to the kitchen, Marui and Niou played more video games. Yukimura decided to help Sayuri out and somehow dragged Sanada into helping too.
-When they finished baking, Sayuri's currently designing the cake-
"Waah, it looks delicious, Harugane-san." Yukimura complimented
"Th-thank you." She muttered, she gets a lot of compliments but coming from Yukimura made her feel good for some reason.
"Come to think of it, what flavour is it again?" Sanada asked, a little embarrassed that he wasn't paying much attention since he only gave her some ingredients that she couldn't find or reach.
"It's a combination of mocha and coffee." Sayuri stated sliding her finger on the icing of the cake before licking it off. She smiled smugly followed by a smirk. "This tastes good. Let's bring it to the living room now!" she happily said with a smile that made her look incredibly pretty and innocent at the moment.
She got plates then gave it to Sanada and the forks to Yukimura. She got the cake and walked to the living room. Everyone looked incredibly hungry when they saw the beautifully decorated cake that Sayuri made. The design was simple, but elegant. It was so pretty that she felt bad cutting it so she gave it to Jackal who was the closest to her. Everyone had fun eating cake, mostly Kirihara and Marui who were fighting over the last piece. Sanada sighed and told them to stop it, he got the last piece and handed it over to Sayuri "Since you're the one who made it, you might as well eat the last piece.
Sayuri happily accepted the cake, then cut it in half, got another plate to put the other half to, and gave it to Kirihara and Marui. They both looked so happy before Kirihara was hit on the head by Niou and Marui was hit on the head by Jackal. "Didn't you two learn how to say 'Thank you' when you were kids?" they both asked at the same time. Sayuri sweat dropped at this, she wasn't really hungry with the thought of a rainstorm coming their way. Honestly, she was terrified of thunder. Whenever there was a storm she would hide under the table or inside the closet until it's all over.
"It's already 9pm; we should all go to bed." Sanada said, well, commanded
"Ehh, but I don't feel sleepy yet." Kirihara whined, 'of course you wouldn't feel sleepy, you ate at least 1/5 of the cake...' Sayuri thought to herself.
"We've been through a lot today, why don't we rest for the night?" Yukimura suggested with a smile that clearly said 'whoever defies me is in trouble'. Everybody shuddered excluding Sanada, Renji, and Sayuri who didn't look at him because she was too preoccupied with looking out the window.
When everyone was fast asleep Sayuri was wide awake, unable to handle the occasional thunder. Ever since she was young she was afraid of thunder, whether it be from a storm or just the sound, it terrified her to no end.
Yukimura woke up because of the loudness of the thunder. He did have sharp ears which were useful but not at the moment. He decided to get a glass of water from downstairs so he did. Once he finished his glass, he put it on the sink. Once he was about to head back to his room, loud thunder was heard, he heard whimpering and noticed that the table was shaking.
He bent down on his knees and found Sayuri covering her ears and crying under the table. He was surprised by this.
"Harugane-san?" he asked and she looked up to him still crying and covering her ears.
-loud thunder sound effects- (sorry I don't know how to spell it. That's better that dsfkajslfa BOOM though...)
Sayuri whimpered more, then reached out to Yukimura and clung on to his shirt as if her life depended on it. He just stared at her, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. "Harugane-san, could it be that you're afraid of thunder?" he asked, since he really didn't know what to do.
"What do you think?" she tried to say sarcastically but ended up pressing her face against his shirt more because more thunder came. Yukimura unconsciously wrapped his arms around the whimpering girl and tried to comfort her. "There, there..." he said stroking his hand on the back of her head gently as if she was about to break any second.
When the thunder quieted for a moment Sayuri finally stopped shaking, relieved that the thunder settled down.
"S-Sorry..." she muttered staring at the floor while wiping her tears with her long-sleeved shirt. Yukimura smiled kindly "Don't worry, everything's going to be alright. The thunder is gone." He said gracefully caressing her chocolate-colored hair. She hugged him tightly before falling asleep in that position. Yukimura noticed how her arms loosened their hold and she slightly shifted all her weight to him, he looked down at her to find her fast asleep, breathing softly against his chest. He blushed slightly and carried her bridal style to her room.
When he gently put her to bed, she whispered a soft 'thank you' and snuggled under the blankets, feeling the warmth it gladly gave to her. Yukimura chuckled at the sight; she really looked cute like that. Yukimura suddenly stopped and froze. 'No, why did I just think she looked cute? No, I will not fall for her. I promised Sa-chan after all. I will find her...someday...' he thought to himself and walked back to his room so he could get a good night's sleep.
"S-Sei-chan, I'm going to another c-country." A small girl with light brown hair cried to a 5-year-old Yukimura. "Wh-what?" he asked in a childish voice.
"'tou-san and 'kaa-san said we'll be leaving in a few weeks or so." She sniffed and wiped her nose with a handkerchief she always carried around.
Little Yukimura was thinking on how to make the little girl stop crying and he remembered the lollipop his mother gave him in case he wanted a snack. He gave it to the girl.
"Here, this taste like strawberries and it's really tasty!" he happily handed her the candy
She looked at him and back at the candy and smiled, one of those thankful and gentle smiles she would only show to the boy in front of her. "Thank you." She unwrapped the lollipop and licked it.
"It's so yummy!" she happily exclaimed. Yukimura smiled at the girl in front of him, thankful that the tears had stopped.
"Ne, Sa-chan. Promise me something." He suddenly stated, 'Sa-chan' looked up at him and tilted her head to the side.
"When we grow up, we'll meet each other and marry each other!" he grinned a big smile, not fully knowledgeable on the topic of weddings and such. Well, so was 'Sa-chan'
She smiled a big smile and nodded her head. She took out her pinky and looked at him "Promise?" she asked curiously. Yukimura entwined his pinky in hers and nodded. "Promise."
They played to their hearts content that day, until it started getting dark.
"Sa-chan, since we might not recognize each other when we grow up, here." He said handing her his charm bracelet which he asked to be made specifically. It had a tennis racquet on it
"And here." She gave him an equal looking charm bracelet but it had a tennis ball on it. They both grinned at each other for a while and they walked home.
"Never forget your promise, okay?" her voice soft and gentle while the dream faded away.
Yukimura opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Thinking where 'Sa-chan' was doing right now. 'It's been what? 6? 7 years?' he thought to himself while rubbing the side of his head.
He headed to the kitchen to see Renji, Sanada, and Yagyuu sitting down while Sayuri was cooking an American styled breakfast which consisted of bacon, eggs, toast, and rice since she likes rice.
A little while later, everyone was sitting on their chairs beside the table, patiently waiting for Sayuri to finish her cooking. "Come to think of it, where are your parents, Yagyuu-san?" She asked while flipping the bacon. "They're in Germany. Vacation and such." He replied, drinking his tea. She just nodded and continued cooking.
Once everything was cooked, Sayuri laid them on the table and sat down beside Niou and Sanada. "Itadakimasu." They all said before they munched on their breakfast.
-Monday, lunch-
Sayuri finished her lunch and proceeded to go to the library. When it was Monday she would spend half her lunch with the regulars and half in the library, on Wednesday and Thursdays she would eat at the rooftop garden by herself, on Tuesdays she would eat with the regulars in the cafeteria, on Friday she would eat with the regulars on the rooftop.
As she walked to her favourite spot which was somewhere far in the back and put her notebook and pencil case on the table. She went to the bookshelf behind her and picked a book about English. As she pulled out a book a folded piece of paper fell out.
"(written in Japanese) Write 'The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.' In English.
(Written in English) the greatest plesure in life is doing wat pepol say yu canot do."
Sayuri giggled at the piece of paper. She sat down, got her pencil and wrote the answer under the person's answer. She put the book back without reading it and slipped the paper in between.
She did her homework which was due the next period then left the library.
-After school-
'I left it here somewhere...' a boy thought while searching the back of the library looking through every nook and cranny until he found what he was looking for. "Here it is." He said while pulling out a folded piece of paper which contained his English homework, seeing that somebody found it and helped him.
"Ah, so that's how you spell it..." he said while reading the unfamiliar handwriting on the paper. He got another piece of paper and wrote something down with his mini-pen that he always kept with him.
He slipped the paper in the same place he found his homework and sat down on the chair in front of that bookshelf, thinking that there really are nice people in the world.
"Nii-san, we need to go." A girl who looked like him but a little younger said. He glanced up at her and sighed
"I wasn't able to do any homework yet..." he said while holding up a textbook about science and smiled at her.
She pouted and crossed her arms. "We're having grilled fish tonight." She stated looking victoriously as the boy quickly closed the book and packed his things. "Let's go, we don't want Otou-san and Okaa-san waiting, now do we?" he asked a little quickly and pushed the girl out of the library. She sighed a happy sigh and walked beside him on their way home.
-Until the next chapter-
A/N: I'm sorry for the looooong absence. Writing after a break-up is pretty hard for me. T-T
Anyway, I'll make all the chapters 10 pages starting now. Well, it was 10 pages in chapter 1 but I'm just telling you guys. I could make it more but I easily get writer's block. Sorry
As you noticed I stopped making super big paragraphs~ yeah, I guess long paragraphs aren't my thing. And short paragraphs are easier to read right? :3
Reviews are welcome. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the 1st chapter and alerted/favourite...d too. I love you all. By the way, let's guess who the mystery guy is. You'll find out in chapter 5-6 I guess, for now he'll stay a mystery. For those who will hate me for making Yukimura a little OOC or anyone else, I'm truly sorry. I haven't watched PoT in like...2 years. So my information's a little fuzzy and such. I'll be posting the next chapter once I get over my stupid ex- I mean, once I get rid of my writers block.
Feel free to correct me in spellings and grammar~
-Lead :3