CAT CAUGHT MY HEART: DAY VI—OISHI SYUICHIROH

Heavy gray raindrops angrily pelted down upon the slippery wet grounds of the tennis court. The sky was almost black and the wind hissed angrily. There was only three days until the Tokyo final and they could not afford to call the practice off.

Kisara's bangs were plastered onto her forehead as her hair whipped along with the furious wind.

"I'm serving again!" Oishi had to yell to be heard above the rain and gust.

"I'm ready," Kisara called back, clutching onto her racket tighter. Oishi served a high ball, and Kisara mutely leaped into the air and twisted, before catching the ball. She landed lightly on her feet, but the ground was slippery and she almost lost her balance.

"Ah, be careful, Kisara-chan!" Momo warned at the sidelines.

"I've never seen anyone play with such devotion." Fuji remarked, wiping the rain from his face. "It was almost as if she's playing for a reason beyond winning."

"I don't know…" Taka-san, without his racket, was his usual unsure self. "She plays a lot better than I do."

"Don't start doubting yourself now, Taka-san." Tezuka ordained. "Psychology is fifty-percent of all games."

"Go, Kisara-chan!" Eiji bellowed.

"Back at you!" The whole team gasped as Kisara leaped an unbelievable jump of several feet high and returning Oishi's ball.

"She's getting better, isn't she?" Kaidoh said to Inui, who nodded.

"Yes, according to her record, she's doing very well."

Kisara played as if her life was hanging on the line that afternoon in the rain. She hit the ball back with all her strength, while diving and jumping for every ball that came her way. Her mind was still going on strongly, but her body was getting weary and fatigued.

Just as her feet nearly touched the ground, Oishi hit a fast, hard ball. With her hair swirling about her face from her previously leap, she didn't see the ball coming until it was too late.

"Kisara, watch out!" Oishi yelled, dropping his racket. The warning came too late. Kisara turned in alarm, but the ball was aimed at her flaming fast. It hit her face, the impact sending her to the ground. Over by the sideline, the group of boys heard a gasp of pain, then a low whimper, like a cry of a wounded animal.

"Kisara!" Oishi was at her side within flash. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry."

By this time, the entire team member had surrounded her.

"Kisara-chan, where did the ball hit you?" Momo urged.

"Oishi, you should have been more careful!" Kaidoh couldn't help but accuse.

"I'm sorry…" Oishi was the most broken-hearted at Kisara's state.

"Kisara-chan…" Eiji hovered around nervously.

"Let's not get out of control, guys. Kisara, let me see your face." Fuji reached out and pulled her hand away. Kisara's left cheekbone was a dark bruised and tears were streaming down her face. But to everyone's surprise, she pushed away the helping hands.

"I'm alright." She insisted stubbornly, struggling to stand up. "Let's finish the game."

"The game?!" Taka-san exclaimed. "You're hurt. You should get treated for that bruise. You might have shattered the cheekbone."

"I'm sorry, Kisara-chan." Gentle Oishi looked so ashamed of himself that it was as if he was about to break down on the spot. Out of everyone in the group, he's the one that's most against violence. "Please forgive me. I really didn't mean it."

Everyone watched as Kisara used her free hand and placed it on Oishi's arm.

"It's not your fault, Oishi-kun." She declared firmly. "It is no one's fault but my own. Now let's finish the game, you still have things you have to teach me."

Ryoma-kun got his left eye sliced open by a tennis racket, but he didn't complain. And neither shall I.

"No. That's enough for today." Tezuka announced. "Everyone go home and take a hot shower, then rest up for tomorrow. Don't get a chill." He turned to Kisara and her trembling body. "Especially you. You're a girl and younger than us. Go home and get dried up, especially your hair. Towel-dry it here and blow-dry it when you get home before you get an awful headache tomorrow. Keep yourself warm or you'll catch a cold."

"B-but the game—" she protested through chattering teeth from the cold. Her slender shoulders shivered as each icy raindrop hit her from the sky above.

"—can wait." Tezuka finished as he began rubbing her arms and fingers in an authoritative and somewhat fatherly manner. "You're skin is turning blue from the cold. You're going to catch your death if you don't get warm immediately." To her and everyone's shock, the captain of the team slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it snugly around Kisara in one smooth movement.

"Tezuka-sama!" She protested, though her body at once stopped shaking from the cold. The jacket was still warm from his body and they were large and protective around her.

"Everyone, out of the rain!" The captain ordered. And it was a command everyone was ready and willing to oblige. As everyone ran for the covers, Kisara was just about to follow when a pair of arms scooped her up. She looked up at her conveyor.

"Oishi-kun…"

"I'm really sorry, Kisara-chan." He whispered with a tiny smile as he ran for the covers. "I really didn't mean it."

"I know." She replied simply as she snuggled into the softness of Oishi's jacket and savored the warmth that came from everyone's care.

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I can't stop shaking… The steam surrounded her body as the hot water fell upon her chilled skin. After Tezuka had dismissed everyone, Oishi had taken Kisara home on Momo's bike as quickly as he could. But even though she had immediately gotten into the shower and have been standing there for fifteen minutes, she couldn't get warm.

I don't think I'm very well… She moaned as she finally got out of the shower, a tower wrapped around her hair. I-I think I'm sick… Is this what Tezuka meant by getting a "chill?" I don't know, She thought miserably. I've never gotten sick, Ryoma-kun had always taken good care of me. Maybe if I get some sleep…

She stumbled dizzily into Ryoma's room and looked around dazed as if she's forgotten why she was in the room. With her eyes half closed, she pulled on Ryoma's large T-shirt and with no further thought other than the thought of dying, she collapsed into the tennis prodigy's bed and fell into a deep sleep.