4. Entangled

You and Kagami have been dating for half a year already. In spite of this, you never felt that he is a boyfriend to you. He never holds your hands while going to school or even gives you a hug or a kiss. You never cared at first, but as time goes by, you were starting to feel that you are only treated the same as before—as a childhood friend, a sister, but not as a lover.

The last physical contact that you have made mutually was during the confession where you held each other's hands and when you kissed him on the cheek goodnight. The next day, he has treated you the usual. At first, you thought that it is because of his natural shyness. He has always been bad at this (and so are you).

However, overhearing your female classmates talking about their experiences with their partners in the past six months, you felt dejected that Kagami hasn't even made his move to you yet. You don't expect a physical contact that is…for adults. You just want him to cuddle you or even kiss you. After the extra mattress has been delivered to his apartment, he still let you sleep on the bed in his room. He chose to use the extra mattress instead.

What is worse is that no one knew that you were dating. Whenever people ask, the both of you are just silent. You wanted him to officially confirm it first by introducing you to his friends as his girlfriend. You wanted to ask Tatsuya on what to do but you got too shy because he might think that you are a desperate person on physical contact or your relationship is just hopeless. You were slowly thinking of negative things. However, whenever you get paranoid, you tap your cheeks and try to look at the positive side.

It was the weekend and you were too lazy to do anything. You just felt lightheaded and your body felt heavy. It was probably because of the changing seasons from summer to autumn. You have always been bad to the sudden changes in the temperature. In addition, you entered during the spring and you haven't been used with the nostalgic Tokyo especially with its tough educational system. Compared to America, the lessons were fast-paced especially on sciences and mathematics. You excel in English and Japanese History but an average student when it comes on the previous subjects mentioned. Because of that, you have entered cram school with the permission of your parents working in America. You also wanted to pass into a good university in Japan and because of that, you would like to improve yourself in your studies. This is why after the basketball practice, Kagami often waits for you to finish cram school so that you can go home together.

Since it was the weekend, you wanted to spend your time with Kagami. He never asked you to go somewhere else because he was too busy in practicing either team or alone. He never asked you to go for movies or even on other places where normal couples go to. You tried to understand; he wanted to be the best basketball player so he practices every single day.

You yawned as you went out of the room. There was no sign of Kagami inside the apartment. You sighed and went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water. While drinking, you noticed the table with breakfast prepared and a note on it.

'Don't forget to eat well. Good luck on your studies.'

"Are you my father?" you sighed. You ate his special omurice for breakfast. Of course, delicious as usual. After eating and washing the dishes, you decided to clean the whole apartment and did the laundry. While you were washing his clothes, you thought, 'This is like a normal housewife does, huh?' You were smiling all alone as your cheeks faintly blushes. Yes, since the two of you were living together, this is how it feels for you.

You finished all the laundry as well as cleaning the whole apartment. It wasn't a messy apartment in the first place because the both of you only had few things unless you receive your respective packages from America. By then, you realized it was already the evening. You called his mobile.

While the phone was ringing, you feel your heart pumping. You felt that the blood that runs through your veins are being pumped fast as if you're going to faint soon. There was a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and worry in hearing his voice.

"What's wrong?"

"T-TAIGA!" A very loud scream surprised the redhead on the other line.

"What's happened, (Y/FN)? That was so loud," replied the seemed-to-be irritated Kagami.

"S-Sorry! I just want to ask on what time you'll come home tonight," you explained in a kind of stuttering voice. Kagami gave a slight chuckle and said, "Are you hungry? I'm going home. I'll be cooking dinner once I'm back. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"O-Okay…" you replied in a less excited tone. Oh, that's what he's thinking, you thought.

"Did something happen? Where's your energy few seconds ago?" he asked.

"Hmm-hmm," you denied, "See you!"

(time skip)

"Welcome home, Taiga!" you surprised the redhead with a hug which made him drop his sports bag as well as his ball. When he brings these, he usually practices alone.

"I-I'm back," he replied, "C-Can you settle down for a moment?"

"Oka~y," you obeyed him in rather a childish tone.

"But first I need to take a nice bath. I've been practicing a lot today and—"

"I prepared your bath right after I call you so you can go inside~" you hummed. He was surprised and said, "That was fast!"

"You want me to join you?" you grinned. His eyes widened and stammered, "H-HUH!? W-W-W-W-WHAT—"

Seeing him like this made you laugh so hard and said, "I'm just joking. Go and take your bath now."

(time skip)

You were standing near the kitchen panel while you happily watch Kagami cook.

"Hey, you should help me instead of standing there," he suggested. You nodded happily and waited for his instructions on how you can help him.

"What's wrong with you today?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just missed you," you smiled as you looked at him straightly to his eyes. His face turned red like his hair and averted his look from you, hiding his smile.

"S-Shut up," he said, "…by the way, I just want to let you know that—"

You suddenly gripped on his arm. He was surprised on this and said, "(Y/FN), w-what are you doing? J-just to..."

He looked at you. He noticed that your face went pale and made him think that something was really wrong. He tried to touch your forehead. You were burning with fever. That was why you felt so lightheaded since this morning. Still, you wanted to make Taiga happy when he comes home. You gripped on him because you almost fell. Even though you kept on holding his arm, your vision slowly turned black and…

You woke up on your bed few hours later. The lamp on the night stand was turned on with its dim light.

"Are you awake?" the familiar voice of your beloved asked.

"Taiga…" you softly moaned. You tried to get up. He helped you and said, "I made rice porridge."

"I…I don't want to eat," you replied. You felt nauseous when you woke up to the point that when you heard the word, 'rice porridge', you felt like puking.

"I insist. You need this. Afterwards, you need to drink your medicine," Kagami replied in a rather angry tone. For other people, it seemed to be an angry tone. However, knowing him for years, it was different. With that kind of tone, it was obvious that he was really worried about you. You couldn't do anything about it and nodded.

After you did your best in eating the rice porridge Kagami made, you drank your medicine. It was delicious but your loss of appetite couldn't really appreciate it. He helped you lied down your bed and took care of you. You were still awake while he wiped your skin with a cold towel to cool down your temperature. Suddenly, tears fell from your eyes,

"Taiga, I'm sorry. I just really wanted to make you comfortable once you go home. I wanted to have a wonderful evening with you but then this happened. I'm sorry..."

You were sobbing while apologizing. It was so difficult for you to speak with overflowing emotions.

"Tch. I never asked you to do that in the first place, (Y/FN)," he replied.

"But…"

He held your hand firmly and said, "You are having a hard time in school, right? I'm sorry. I couldn't help you because I, myself, is bad at studying. That's why I wanted you to spend your time in studying instead of going out."

He sighed and combed his hair with his hand and said, "I am such a clumsy person. I just…couldn't do this. I really love you, (Y/FN). I really do."

This is the first time he told his real feelings to you directly. This made you cry more but this time, it was out of happiness.

"I love you, too," you smiled.

"What's with that look?" he chuckled, "You're smiling while you're crying. I don't even know which is which."

"Can you stay here, Taiga?" you asked.

Deterring his eyes, he agreed, "W-Well…okay."

At first, you can see how nervous he was. He turned off the lamp and went beside you. It was the first time he lied down beside you. You put your head on his arm as he wrap both of them around you, hugging you tightly. You can feel his muscular built which made your heart beat faster. His heart beat was so loud, obviously being nervous. You can hear it, too. However, it was a night tune that was slowly making you feel better. You hugged him back as you put your leg between his. He kissed your forehead and said, "S-Sorry…I can't kiss your lips right now."

"I know," you giggled, "I'll make sure you kiss me on the lips once I get better."

"S-Shut up," he said with a slight chuckle.

You buried your head on his chest and said, "I love you."

"I love you, too, idiot."

EXTRA:

"By the way," you said before saying good night.

"What?"

"I didn't take a shower tonight. This is embarrassing," you said as you remove your wrapped arm around him and covered your face with your hand.

"It's okay," he responded while he smelled your hair and kiss your forehead, nose, and cheeks, "You still smell nice."

A/N: I would be happy if you will leave a review on this series. ^_^ I am also opening a request on which player to do next ^_^