Chapter 10: Preparation.
Tsubaki caught Natsume, Haru and Oshima outside with Nagoya. She slowly got closer to them but hid her presence.
"If you have time to think about such things then go tell her how you feel", Natsume told the raven haired boy as she drank her banana juice. "Slide while the iron's hot".
'Slide while the iron's hot?'
"Are you drunk?" Haru asked bluntly. "And you used the wrong -"
"Banana juice wouldn't make me drunk!" the girl defended and she drank all the juice until the box collapsed due to the lack of air inside."So what if Mitty isn't very responsive? That's what makes her attractive. That's why I can relax around her. She's not interested in me, so she does not call me slutty or phony or anything stupid like that. You're such a baby, Haru-kun".
She suddenly stood up with a mean look and gave him the thumbs down. "If she shoots you down, keep on trying! Stupid..."
And she ran off screaming, "...loser!"
"What's her problem?" Haru deadpanned. Oshima had a similar expression on her face and she regained her composure when Tsubaki appeared from behind a wall.
"Haru", she called, gaining the boy's attention. "Natsume is right and I suggest that you don't wait too long before confessing to Shizuku".
"Hurricane!" Haru exclaimed and then quietened down. He was surprised when the redhead smiled softly and she came closer to them to mess up his hair. "Good luck, Haru", she said and then left him with Oshima to go to class.
"Why do you call her 'Hurricane'?" the younger student asked curiously.
"Long story short, she is a hurricane".
The girl was left to wonder and Haru walked off with Nagoya tucked under his arm. He could remember his aunt who used to look after him when he was younger. She was one of the few persons who really cared for him. 'Now listen to me, Haru', she once told him when she was ill. 'Humans will wither away if they are always alone. The only remedy would be to seek out other people. I hope you find the right person one day. I hope you find someone whose presence is enough to soothe your pain'.
He rounded a corner and he came upon an open window of the library. Shizuku was right there, sleeping with her head on the table. A slow breeze came along, shifting her bangs slightly. Haru could not help but smile, realizing that Shizuku really was the right person his aunt had once told him about.
Nagoya decided to ruin the sweet moment by pecking the girl's head. Shizuku woke up and then said in her usual indifferent tone, "Haru, get that bird off of me".
She wiped her mouth and when she looked up at the boy, she found a peaceful and happy expression on his face as he placed the rooster down. "You seem to be enjoying yourself", she said.
"Yeah, I was thinking about a dead person", he replied with a smile. He leant forward, resting his arms on the window sill. "I love you".
A gentle wind picked up and it played with Shizuku's long straight hair. Her eyes were wide open at the confession and she opened and closed her mouth like a fish but not saying anything. She finally took a deep breath and then replied, "But just so you know -"
"You're not in love with me anymore, right?" Haru completed and he climbed on the window sill effortlessly. A light blush dusted his cheeks and there was a childish smile on his face. "I know that. I just want to be with you".
"Haru..."
The raven haired Yoshida leant forward slowly, closing the distance between the two of them but Shizuku placed a hand over his face, stopping him inches from her lips. "Whoa, there!"
"Ah, sorry. As soon as I realized that I love you, I started having these urges", he told her apologetically. Shizuku inconspicuously moved away from him.
After a very long discussion, with Haru persuading her and Shizuku refusing him, the two of them finally went out on a date. On top of that, when the mid-term results came out, Haru came out first with Shizuku in second place. Well, Shizuku was not really happy about coming in second place and most importantly, second to Haru. As for their other friends, Sohei made it with borderline results, Tsubaki had average scores and Natsume, once again, had to go for the make-ups.
-Later on-
The whole school was preparing for the cultural festival that they were organizing and everyone was scattered around to get everything ready.
"Damn! I can't get close to her or touch her!" Haru yelled in the yard where Nagoya's wooden house was, and he broke a piece of wood into two. "Am I a slug or something? Why does this happen?" he continued as he broke another with his bare hands.
"C-Can you blame her? Your behavior has been abnormal", Natsume replied and she looked away from her laptop to meet the boy's gaze.
"I don't see the problem", he said darkly.
"Well, you see, there's nothing more repulsive than being touched by a guy you don't like".
Haru went into his corner of woe. "I-Is that how it is? This is hard".
"Look, Mitty and Tsubaki-chan are back".
Haru turned around and he found Shizuku walking in the open corridor with Tsubaki a few paces behind her.
The two girls heard hushed voices behind the bushes and Shizuku immediately approached them and she found Sasahara with three other boys, probably their classmates.
"What are you discussing?" she asked them.
They gave a brief explanation of their problem and Shizuku asked, "You want to make money out of the cultural festival?"
"Yeah", answered Sohei. "We can report our official sales and make a little more on the side".
"I've heard that all the upperclassmen do it", added another boy. "It was the baseball team that informed us about it".
Shizuku was writing something in a copybook and Tsubaki was leaning over her shoulder from behind. "In this case, this would be more effective", she told Sohei and she showed him what she wrote.
"Oh, I see. You're really smart, Mizutani-san!" the baseball player praised. "But we need a spot in building one".
"Then what's the problem?" Tsubaki asked.
"Everyone wants a good spot and the upperclassmen occupy that area", he replied.
"They're intimidating!" one of the boys exclaimed. "They all have scary faces!"
"You should beat them up", Haru said as he suddenly appeared with his pet in his arms.
In the end, they decided to send Shizuku with Haru to get the class they wanted for the festival but they came back with the worst possible location, as Sasahara said. They were assigned in a corner of building two.
In the evening, Tsubaki accompanied Shizuku, Natsume and Sasahara to buy a few things for the cultural festival.
"Sorry, can I stop by my cram school?" Shizuku asked.
"We'll come with you", Natsume replied on behalf of everyone. "I bet Haru-kun is feeling lonely by now", she added as they continued walking.
"There! Learned your lesson now?" someone yelled from the alley they were passing by. The little group stole a glance and they found Haru's friends there.
"Ah! It's you guys!" exclaimed one of the boys who turned around.
As soon as Tsubaki saw them, she went on her guard out of instinct. Even though the four of them had 'changed' as per Shizuku, the redhead could not help but still see them as the not-so-friendly persons who she first saw at the batting center.
"Long time no see!" said another as they came out of the alley.
"Wait, you guys actually go to school?" Tsubaki rolled her eyes at that one.
Behind them, she found two students beaten up on the ground.
"Yo, Mizutani-san!" greeted the blond haired Yamaguchi as he threw an arm around the girl's shoulder. The brunette froze. "You wanted to check your scores?"
The two of them walked off towards the school while the others walked more slowly behind them.
"Natsume-chan is here too!"
"And the pretty girl too!"
Tsubaki then realized that they were referring to her as 'pretty girl'. She raised an elegant eyebrow when the one named Masahiro came closer to her, right in her face, although he was only slightly taller than her.
"Step back or pretty girl will claw your eyes out", she threatened in a cold voice and a matching glare. She smirked satisfyingly when he put some distance between themselves. "And my name is Tsubaki".
"Yes, Tsubaki-chan!" he replied with a silly grin.
-Later-
Shizuku and Yamaken were at the cram school, both of them checking thie results while the rest waited for them outside. Sasahara was sitting on a bench's backrest, Tsubaki was seated at the other end and Natsume was standing together with the other three boys.
"One! Just one!" the three Kaimei students chorused as they bowed deeply and repeatedly to the three others. "Please! Give us a ticket to the cultural festival!"
Shizuku, who was just back with Yamaken, glanced at Tsubaki who shrugged and ignored the embarrassing moment.
"N-No way! I'm saving these for the new friends I make at my 'Nobody Visits My Site' offline event", Natsume replied and she held the tickets away from them.
"Sorry, I gave all of mine to my middle school friends", Sasahara said apologetically.
"My brother already distributed mine", the redhead added.
"Co-ed schools can die!"
"See?" said Yamaken to Shizuku. "Isn't it amusing to watch stupid people? They're pitiful".
"Yamaken!"
Shizuku watched them bickering for a while and she finally handed over the tickets she had. "You can have mine", she told them. "I don't need them".
Yamaken took them and Shizuku took a few steps away from them to leave. "If Haru was here, he would have done the same thing", she said and then left.
"You're a Goddess, Studybug!" the Kaimei students, except Yamaguchi, yelled at her retreating back. Shizuku visibly flinched from the nickname.
Sasahara and Natsume went one way and Tsubaki and Shizuku took another way. The two girls were silent until Shizuku broke it. "Did you give one of the tickets to Yuuzan-san?"
The red haired Kurosaki averted her gaze to the sky and she shook her head slowly. "I said that Kyoya took all of mine to give away, didn't I?"
-Earlier, with Kyoya-
"I knew I would find you here", Kyoya said and he approached the older Yoshida who was leaning against the railing. They were on the rooftop of the batting center.
"And why would you look for me?" Yuuzan asked with his smile as he looked at the blond haired boy. He turned around so that they were facing each other fully. Kyoya was in his school uniform and his hands were deep in his pants' pockets.
"I need your help", the younger boy admitted with a serious look and Yuuzan lost the smile on his face which now had a grim expression. "My sister had had a rough past. She went through the worst of them with my parents and she came out alone, but mentally, she is still stuck inside that nightmare. She does not want to come out and I fear for her".
Yuuzan kept his eyes locked on to Kyoya's face and he noticed the strain in his voice. 'He really is worried about Tsubaki'.
"I want her to let go but she does not want to. She thinks that it is the only way to keep me safe by reminding herself of what happened so that she can be a better person now, but she is hurting herself in the process".
"You want me to help you make Tsubaki let go of the past", Yuuzan said and he received a nod. "You couldn't do that by yourself, so why would I be able to? I mean nothing to her".
"You're wrong", Kyoya objected and took a step closer. "My sister has been hiding behind a mask for me not to be worried. She became the perfect sister, almost a parent to me! She conceals her negative emotions and her confusion just to clear mine away. She has been a happy person around me, even when she is not. However, you are bringing that facade down. The day you came to school to talk to Shizuku-san and when you kissed Tsubaki-nee's forehead, she was flustered and at a loss of words. It had been years since I saw that expression on her face. Whenever I ask her about you, there is that uncertainty in her eyes and she gets confused; things I haven't seen in years!"
By now, grey eyes were wide open from the surprise. How could he be the one who is opening up the girl from the Kurosaki Story? He was pretty sure that she did not like him due to her behavior towards him. She was not warm towards him and it was as if she would not glance back if he were to turn away and leave. Sure, they talked but she was careful around him. It was not very noticeable but he had seen glimpses of her putting her guard up at random moments. Perhaps it was an automatic effect ever since the murder of her parents.
Yuuzan turned back around to face the beautiful view he had. "I once told you that I would protect Tsubaki the way you do. I really meant those words at that time. Now I'll show you that I can do a better work than you, Kyoya-kun".
He did not see the relieved smile on the Kurosaki's face but he heard his footsteps fading away, leaving him alone on the rooftop.
Author's note: Yeah I know there was no YuuzanTsubaki moments but there will be loads in the next chapter because there's the festival coming up, right? :P
Thanks to all my reviewers, as well as all my readers!
~IcedLady~