Learning to Fly

"Seeing is believing." This is the main reason of controversies over things like the existence of ghosts, religion, aliens, and other examples of the kind. People usually wouldn't believe something that hasn't been proven. But there are a group of people who will believe without seeing. They are the people who believe the existence of things like angels, Santa Claus, magic, and Neverland. Indeed, they are what we call "children."

"I am a death god. I'm here to grant you a second chance at life!"

"…Oh."

"…Shouldn't you be more surprised? Most people freak out when they see me."

Shrug. "It's not like I thought you didn't exist. I'm still confused about what just happened, and why I'm floating around while my body is still down there. I'm actually glad that you're here to explain things to me."

"…Well, I should've expected that from someone who still believes in fairies…"

"Fairies exist."

"…Anyway," the death god cleared his throat. "The reason why you're floating is that… you're dead. You were killed in that car accident, as you can see below you. But don't worry! The young lady in the other car who survived wished to give you the chance to live instead!"

"…Why?"

"She felt sorry that the irresponsible driver that her family hired had to take your life away. She wants to make it up to you this way."

"…I don't believe it."

"She doesn't have the will to live on; she's been like this for a while now," said the death god, shaking his head in disapproval. "It's been decided. You are going to take her body and live on, since your own body is too damaged for use!"

"Wait! How come you didn't ask for my opinion before making that decision?"

"Well, she looked like such a nice girl, so I couldn't refuse!"

"…You perverted old man…"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"All right, then! Live a good life as Endo Natsumi!" said the death god as he began to disappear. "I'll be checking up on ya!"

Step03: What You'd Call: Love at First Sight

"Natsumi-sama! Please hurry! The limousine is already prepared!"

"Limousine?" Natsumi repeated as she laced her shoes. "Who said I was going to ride in a limousine?"

"But, Natsumi-sama, you're going to visit Hyote—what are you wearing?"

Natsumi looked up at Isono-san questioningly at his hysterical expression. Isono-san looked down at the girl's attire. Red pullover sweater and straight jeans. What was wrong about it?

"What happened to your dresses, Natsumi-sama?" Isono-san asked as if he'd just witnessed magic. He'd never seen this kind of clothing worn by her young master before. "The Prada? The Chanel? Or does Natsumi-sama want another outfit? We can probably get it in time if we hurry."

Natsumi, having no idea what Isono-san was blabbering about, decided to turn a blind eye and just leave. Waving to Sasaki-san, who was standing next to the doorway, Natsumi flipped out her mobile phone. "Sasaki-san, send me a map and directions to Hyotei."

"Um, Natsumi-sama…"

Before Sasaki-san can say a word, Isono-san cut in and denied Natsumi's request. "Natsumi-sama! You are not thinking of going to Hyotei with the skateboard, are you?"

Looking back at Isono-san from his reprimanding voice, Natsumi's face darkened. "Isono-san, I am not going to ride that limousine as long as my mind is conscious." With that, she looked at Sasaki-san once again. "Send me walking directions, not driving directions, yeah?"

"Um… yes, Natsumi-sama…" Sasaki-san answered uneasily, looking at Isonosan's exasperated face.

"Natsumi-sama…" Isono-san said in a weak sigh.

"Isono-san, please understand. I didn't mean to sound so hostile toward you," Natsumi said while patting Isono-san on the shoulder. "I'm just a little out of it today because I have to go see that Atobe person…"

Isono-san suddenly perked up. "Oh! Natsumi-sama, so you are nervous! Oh, your poor thing… don't worry, Natsumi-sama, no matter how much power the Atobe family has, I will not allow him to hurt my master's only daughter!"

Natsumi raised her eyebrows at her butler's quirky speech, but her expression softened down a great deal. "Well then. I'm off."

"Take care, Natsumi-sama!"

Waving good-bye to her team of servants, Natsumi was on the road.

It wasn't as if Natsumi was worried about how angry Atobe was that she would actually listen to his orders and visit Hyotei. It was more like that she had nothing to do, and that she was hearing the name "Atobe" around her too much for her liking, so she just wanted to cut connections with the source of this problem once and for all. Who cares if he was angry with her? She just wanted him to stop bothering her.

It didn't take her very long to arrive at Hyotei's campus; it was the closets school to her house, and she was going with extra haste today, wanting to get things over with. However, with the directions to Hyotei and all, Natsumi did not expect the site of this school to be so big, and the inside more like a labyrinth than a school. Although Natsumi had already heard about how prosper the school was, who in the right mind would associate a junior high school with five-star cafeterias, fully-equipped gyms, and other luxurious facilities of the sort? And after finding all these places, where was the only place she didn't see? The tennis courts—where she needed to be. And the worst part of this was that it was a weekend and nobody was around to ask for directions.

Without an aim, Natsumi wandered inside the campus in hopes of stumbling upon the tennis courts. But Natsumi wasn't a patient person. Circling the campus for almost an hour, Natsumi got tired of aimlessly walking around, and decided to leave. But just as she turned around to retrieve, she caught a glimpse of a person turning around the corner. She quickly caught up behind him. At least, she thought it was a "him." Natsumi followed behind the long-haired, tall, slender person in front of her with a bit of awe. From the back, Natsumi could only see the flowy brown hair in a ponytail, and the tall figure that's somewhat rare for girls in junior high.

"Hey, excuse me!" Natsumi called out, attempting to ask for directions.

The person turned around at her words, and Natsumi was pleasantly surprised. Even with the long hair, the person had a distinctively boyish face. And even with the boyish face, the person was very handsome—pretty, even. Natusmi found herself staring at him with her mouth open, yet she lost the words that she wanted to say. And then, as if to make things worse, the boy opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh, it's just you, Endo."

The rough voice that came out of the boy's mouth was oddly suitable for the boy's looks. Natsumi couldn't help but get a bit of goose bumps. Yet, at those words, she also felt a little upset. "Oh, it's just you, Endo." If he already knew her, then why does he sound displeased at seeing her? The strange sadness that she felt triggered an idea in her head.

"I don't know why you know my name, but could you tell me where the tennis courts are?" asked Natsumi, with unprecedented sweetness in her voice.

The boy looked at her with bewilderment, but he answered her very quickly. "If you're looking for Atobe, he's not at the tennis courts. He's talking with the coach in the faculty room."

The strange tug was there again in Natsumi's heart. Why was the conversation suddenly directed toward Atobe again? But all this just made Natsumi surer about her hypothesis.

"Thank you…" Natsumi said, turning around to leave.

"Hey! The faculty room is that way!" the boy pointed out to another direction.

"Oh," Natsumi turned quickly.

The boy looked at Natsumi's nervous actions strangely. "Are you all right, Endo?"

"Yeah! I'm fine!"

Natsumi nearly jogged away from the handsome boy. She was sure of her feelings. From the sourness before to the happiness now just because of the words "are you all right," she didn't need any more evidence. She didn't have any experience before, and she knew that what's shown on TV weren't always the greatest depiction of real-life, but she was sure.

She fell in love with the boy at first sight.

"You're finally here! Do you know how late you are?"

Atobe scolded Natsumi as soon as she entered the faculty room, but Natsumi wasn't paying much attention at all. Her mind was completely occupied by the boy earlier. And it was blatantly shown that she wasn't listening to Atobe's scolding, which was making Atobe extra angry. It was getting a little bit harder for him to keep his graceful composure.

"That's enough," said the older man who sat in the chair in front of Natsumi.

It was the older man who intrigued Natsumi enough for her to pay attention to him. The man was probably in his late thirties, yet he wore expensive suits with flashy colors. His hair was gelled back and he looked stoic, but young.

"Endo-kun," the man addressed Natsumi, "it's a shame that we have to lose you. But since you're no longer a student at Hyotei, you cannot continue to serve as a manager of the Hyotei tennis club."

"Well, obviously."

"Do you have any manners?" Atobe commented. "How disgraceful…"

"Coach, I resign as the manager," Natsumi said, ignoring Atobe's comment. "There are just some people in the tennis club that I cannot stand."

Natsumi glanced at Atobe briefly.

"All right, I understood," said the coach. "You can go ahead and leave now."

Natsumi nodded, picked up her skateboard, and made her way to the door. As she left the faculty room, Atobe let out a sigh of relief. The older man noticed, but he completely understood Atobe's feeling.

"That tone didn't sound like Endo Natsumi at all," the coach said, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yes, it's definitely weird," Atobe said. "Well, now that she's gone, we have to find some way to get Jirou to practice."

"ACHOO!" Natsumi sneezed, getting a weird chill from her back. "Maybe someone's talking about me behind my back. I have a bad feeling…"

"Natsumi-chan!" a loud, almost whiny voice came shouting from Natsumi's back. Before she could turn around completely, she was mauled by a flash of yellow. Natsumi fell backwards on the floor due to the unexpected force, and it took her a while to comprehend that the mess of blonde curly hair belonged to a human.

"Natsumi-chan, are you really leaving us?" the blonde boy looked up at Natsumi's face with puppy eyes, though still in his mauling position.

"…" Natsumi was made speechless at the sudden affection. "…Who are you?"

The boy suddenly looked very hurt. "Natsumi-chan! How can you be so mean? It's me! Jirou!"

"…" Even with the introduction, Natsumi still didn't know what to say.

"Jirou-senpai!" another voice came and saved Natsumi from her speechlessness. She looked over to the side to see a tall boy with white, fluffy hair running towards them. The boy had very innocent eyes; he looked like a good boy. And at this time, he had an apologetic look in his eyes. "Jirou-senpai, hurry and get off Endo-san, or else you'll be late for practice and Atobe-senpai will get angry again!"

"Ohtori~" the boy named Jirou whined, but still latched onto Natsumi's neck. "I don't wanna go to practice if Natsumi-chan isn't there~"

"Jirou-senpai, please be considerate of Endo-san's feelings," the boy named Ohtori said patiently toward Jirou's childishness. He looked at Natsumi again before he continued. "Endo-san, we're really sad that you decided to quit as manager, and even transfer to another school. We really want you to come back! We'll practice extra hard for your sake! We promise!"

Natsumi was in trouble now that two boys are begging her to stay, but she didn't even have half a clue what they're talking about.

"Hey! Jirou! Choutarou!" a familiar voice called out from even further. Natsumi knew that voice well. She looked past Ohtori in an instant and there he was—the boy from earlier. He was now dressed in the white and grey uniform, same as Ohtori and Jirou.

"Shishido-san!" Ohtori called back. "We'll be right there! We're trying to convince Endo-san to stay!"

So his name is Shishido… what a good name! Natsumi thought to herself.

Shishido, on the other hand, finally noticed Natsumi on the ground, pushed down by Jirou. However, he clearly didn't seem surprised by the scene. "Atobe is only gonna get angrier with that kind of reason! Now, hurry up and come to practice!"

With that, Shishido left the three of them. Ohtori, being a good boy that he is, pulled Jirou up from Natsumi and bowed to her before leaving. "Sorry, Endo-san. But we really hope you change your mind!"

Natsumi stayed on the ground for a moment before getting up on her feet. Honestly, she didn't hear a word that Ohtori said to her. All that she heard was Shishido's voice, and that she was excited to find out something new about him—that he was in the tennis club.

The eventful weekend was over and another school week started. Momoshiro noticed that Natsumi was acting even more out of it than usual. It's not uncommon for Natsumi to be daydreaming in class and not know a thing when she's called on by the teacher. But today, she wasn't just ignoring the teacher's lecture patently; she was humming a notorious song!

"Endo! Endo!" Momoshiro whispered loudly toward the humming girl. The teacher's face was already getting flushed from Natsumi's rude behavior.

"I'm crazy for you~ Touch me once and you'll know it's true~" Natsumi kept humming, blocking out Momoshiro's voice with her own.

"Endo!" Momoshiro whispered a little louder. "We're taking a test right now!"

"I never wanted anyone like this~ It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss~"

Momoshiro looked worriedly at the teacher and Natsumi back and forth. Although, at this moment, he couldn't help but think that the tune of the song that Natsumi was humming sounded familiar. And even though she was singing in English, he had a weird feeling that Natsumi was singing all the right lyrics. By the looks of the scribbling on her test paper, she was probably writing down the words to her song. But this was a history test!

"I'm crazy for you~ crazy for you~"

The last class of the day ended in this ridiculous manner. The teacher let Natsumi slide once again because of her family's status. Although, nobody else in the class knew about this.

"I'm jealous of you, Endo," Momoshiro said as he packed his bags. "You get away with all these things when I get in trouble for eating in class!"

"Even if I would get in trouble, I still wouldn't pay attention," said Natsumi with dignity.

"Eh?"

"'I don't want to go to school just to learn to be a parrot and recite a silly rule.' It's what Peter said and I agree wholeheartedly."

"Who's Peter?"

"The boy who doesn't grow up," Natsumi said as she zipped up her bag. "Momo-kun, you said that you're in the tennis club?"

Unfathomed by the sudden change of subject, Momoshiro answered proudly, "Yes, I am! And I'm a regular too! I'm going to practice right now!"

And then, Natsumi said something that Momoshiro would've never thought he'd hear.

"Can I go see your practice?"

Momoshiro didn't see why he shouldn't take Natsumi on a tour to tennis practice. He actually enjoyed the increasing audience at their tennis practice. The freshman boys and girls that come to see Echizen Ryoma play every day are starting to grow on him. So he lead the way to tennis practice, and he pointed out things to her, even though she didn't look interested at all. In all honesty, Natsumi wasn't interested in tennis at all. She just wanted to know more about the sport that her first love plays and the kind of environment that he's in.

"That's Echizen Ryoma, our newbie regular," Momoshiro pointed at a short boy as he introduced all the regulars on his team. "And that's all the people on the regulars list!"

"Oh," Natsumi replied simply, already forgotten everyone's names.

"Well, I'm going to practice now!"

With that, Momoshiro ran off to a court for practice. Natsumi stayed in the same spot to watch the boys play tennis. Even though Natsumi didn't know anything about tennis, she still enjoyed watching the teenagers play. She could see all the passion that they had for the sport, and things like that always get to her. All the sweat and all the hard work was making her very happy. Until suddenly…

"Endo-san! Watch out!"

Natsumi couldn't react fast enough when a spinning ball came flying at her with godspeed. The yellow ball came in contact with her head, and she blacked out for a couple of seconds. Losing her footing, she fell to the side. But instead of crashing onto the ground, she fell into something hot and wet. She looked up; from the blur she saw a familiar face looking down at her worriedly. After a split second, she realized that she was in his arms and the wet feeling was from all of his sweat. His face was red from playing all that tennis, and he was a little out of breath.

"Are you all right, Endo?"

"Oishi-senpai… you…" Natsumi looked up at her savior with watery eyes.

"Are you okay?" Oishi asked again.

"Oishi-senpai… you're…"

Oishi began to feel a little embarrassed from Natsumi's unmoving gaze.

"…You're making me feel very hot."

TBC.

A/N: Anyone recognize the song Natsumi was humming?