Author's Note: Man, this is a re-post because I thought it needed one after brooding on it. I have a rather scary thought of Miyo being a Mary Sue--shaky past, right?--but then, she makes the mistake of being attracted to Fuji Shusuke. Actually, if this was a happy ending, I would have completely edited out Yuuta.
If anyone wants to know what she looks like, she would look like Honda Tohru from Fruits Basket with a bit of a smarter brain. :)
In total, the whole beach house was crammed with people: the three Fuji siblings, her family, Taka-san's dad, Eiji's four other siblings, Ryuzaki and her granddaughter, the freshmen trio, Tomoka, Oishi's uncle, Kaidoh's father and brother, and all the team members made a tidy sum of thirty people. Luckily Fuji had not underestimated the size of the crowd--he had planned a chart for bathroom necessities and who would do the chores during the break.
It was Miyo's turn along with her mother to do the laundry. There were five sets of machines (five washers and five dryers) that made this job less daunting then it was, but her mother was not the best company, preferring to finish the job so that she could tend to the twins.
"Less soap, there!" she barked to her daughter. "Don't make it more wrinkly than it is." to which Miyo would reply "Hai!" and use a different measurement.
It was actually quite a bit more interesting that she had anticipated. When she had emptied pockets out so she could wash it properly she had found a myriad of things: a credit card, a wallet, maybe even a charm for good luck... Her personal favorite was a picture of a girl in Inui's Seigaku jersey. It was faded, torn in some places, but she could see the girl's smile, gentle, knowing. It was unexpected. She didn't think that he was the kind of person to notice girls.
And when it came to Fuji's clothes, there was an interesting aroma; mingled with the sweat on the clothes there was a hint of blossoming flowers, perhaps orchids. Breathing it in, she was thinking deeply. Anything could happen, and yet if she panicked when he came close to her--
"Pick up, Miyo!" screeched her mother. "You're as slow as a snail today!"
"H-hai!" she said and dropped his jersey into the washer. Closing the lid, she pressed the ON button.
:-x-:
"Chores are fun, aren't they, Shiro?"
"Hey, Fuji-kun." she said, careful not to let him notice her suddenly accelerated breathing and beating of the heart. Lub-dub, lub-dub. Her senses were turned on high, alert at any possible, yet she set down a basket which were originally Eiji's clothes. She hoped her mother wouldn't come through this route.
"It's especially fun to watch." Obvious goading, although she dismissed it with one lofty wave of her hand.
Dangling her legs from the balcony of the second floor, she looked at him. She thought he was the most handsomest boy in the word, with a shirt, teasingly open with a bare patch of skin. She tried not to notice. He looked better than most boys who had washed up, shaved, and dressed in a suit.
She was trying to focus on something else, but she wasn't in control of her mouth. The first thing she blurted out was,
"Does Inui-senpai have a girlfriend?"
Fuji opened his eyes, shocked. "You have the hots for him? Geez, I can't believe you. I mean--"
"No I don't! I mean..." she cleared her throat, trying to articulate. "...I found this picture of a girl in his jersey."
"Oh." But she saw him smiling. She pursued further.
"So you do know something, Fuji-kun."
"I do, but she is completely uninteresting. All the girls in Seigaku are. Not one of them interests me."
"Not one?" Her face fell a bit. So that was how it was between her and him. No matter. She got up and picked up the basket of laundry.
"But you know..." he said thoughtfully, "I'm sure there is one. I just have to find her."
Oddly enough, her heart lifted. And it wasn't because of the mystery of Inui's secret photo.
:-x-:
At the dinner table, it was nuckin' futs, as Oskada Tomoka had put it so eloquently. Miyo was tired once more and after the last round of vanilla ice cream and burning fire whisky that the grown-ups shared, everybody said good night and went to bed. She brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and turned off the light.
Suddenly there was a sudden tap tap tap at the window. It was too dark for her to see who it was, but she opened it to a crack and hissed vehemently, "Who is it, and what are you doing at this godforsaken hour?"
She was greeted by a familiar face. It was Yuuta, the same old cross-shaped scar. "It's me," he said softly.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered back, glancing at Momo. He was a deep sleeper.
"Well, I didn't get the chance to talk to you in private," he said uneasily, as if it was costing him a great deal.
"Hey," she chided him. "I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything, right?"
"Yeah, but it's about my brother. Brother, Miyo. My brother." His voice was pained.
"What about Shusuke?"
He paused, eyes unusually wet. "Don't say his name like that!"
Miyo knew it was better than to press the subject. "What about him?"
"You know he has a videocamera, right?"
A flash of irritation crossed Miyo's features. Was Yuuta going to tell her things that she already knew?
"I know, wise guy. But he's not going to blackmail me--" Suddenly she had a recollection of her divulging her most private and dirty secret. What then?
Yuuta didn't seem to notice. "Be careful. Please." There was a quaver in his voice. There were steps, following behind and she knew he was gone. She kept hearing the same message, but she had no idea what he meant. Did he mean Fuji was going to hurt her physically? She chuckled, laughing at that possibility. She hadn't done anything to hurt him personally...
She tiptoed to her bed, pulled the sheets toward her, and fell asleep quickly.
:-x-:
She didn't bother trying to get to the breakfast table; of course it'd be crowded. Momo and Kaidoh would be fighting, Fuji would gladly join with them, Taka-san would take a racket, and the rest would probably try to eat their breakfast quietly.
Instead, she grabbed a fruit shake and drink it in the living room. Tezuka was sitting in one of the squashy armchairs, reading a tennis instruction book. She smiled. She liked Tezuka because he preferred the quiet. He acknowledged her with a small nod of his head and she smiled, sitting on the floor. She knew all the regulars; listening to them from her brother had wonderfully made her understand their quirks.
A door opened and Fuji (the older one) walked in. Instantly she choked on her drink. Fuji whacked her on the back and she sat coughing. This was so humiliating.
Then she noticed too late the videocamera. It was off.
He smiled at her, and pointed the videocamera at Tezuka. "Personality," he said in a low voice. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"Fuji," said Tezuka, eyes twitching. "Please turn it off."
"Yes, buchou!" He gave a mock salute. "C'mon, Shiro. Let's go."
Being the gentlemen he was, he wrapped his arm around her waist, which she responded with a blush and giggle. The sea was sparkling as always, and it was getting crowded with tourists ready for fun under the sun. To everyone else they just looked like an ordinary couple enjoying the brilliance of the scenery, but to some others it wasn't.
"Hey, Fuji-kun! Let's build a sand castle!" Miyo offered. He frowned. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I just felt like it."
"Oh. In that case..." He began scooping up a handful of sand and deposited it in a spot near the water. "Here?"
"Yeah." It looked like a hill, but it felt right to Miyo, and she was happy at this thought.
After they were done, Fuji had declared that they couldn't leave it as it was, they had to physically smash it up.
"Why?"
"Oh, come on. We used their sand to build it and we should be returning it. Reluctantly she gave her consent, though it was more Fuji that lead to the demolishing of the structure.
"Miyo!" sombody called out. "Where are you?"
Fuji shrugged. "Go. Maybe I'll call you after dinner, if I can find you."
"Fuji--I'm really sorry."
"Go."
"Really sorry."
"And I said, go already!" He smiled. "Really."
She took a step backward and laughed. "You really are weird, Shusuke."
Then she turned her head and bumped into-- Yuuta.
"What the-- sorry, so sorry." she apologized.
"Miyo!" he snarled. "You are going to explain. Did... you... end... our... friendship... because... of... Aniki?" She had never seen him so angry before.
"Calm down, Yuuta-kun, people are staring--"
"No! I will not calm down! You are so stupid!"
"What did I do?" she yelled, her getting angry. "You just interrupted... oh God, why am I explaining this to you? You don't understand!"
She had touched a nerve.
"You don't think I understand? Believe me, I do. One year of living under my brother's shadow. Oh, it's Shusuke this and Shusuke that. He's a genius! And me? I'm just somebody wearing a mask!" He took a breath. "And I'd thought you'd understand, being Momo's little sister! You dropped a grade, stopped attending school, and was the person that everybody wanted to avoid! I'd thought you would really understand!"
His words hit her like she was being slapped. You wanted distance, thought Yuuta dryly. There you go.
"I'd thought that you would be the one that would get hurt because of me." she said tiredly. "I guess not anymore, right? Seeing as I'm no welcome guest." She trudged off drearily toward the comfort of her own room. "Like I said once upon a time, let's not be friends anymore."
Author's Note: It's short, but I think that's a good stopping point. Kudos to alishoane for letting me borrow her OC, Sana-chan. Happy B-day, Inui! (although it's kind of late, I know... TT.TT)
Aw. Poor Yuuta. He can't even save the girl he likes best. :3