Learning to Fly

"Where are you going, Natsumi-sama?"

"Nowhere far."

"Natsumi-sama, you have just been released from the hospital. Please be careful wherever you're going."

Natsumi paused in her shoe-tying position. She turned her head around slowly to study her bodyguard's face. Sasaki-san's face today was as stoic as usual; you can never tell if he was happy or angry, mainly because of those black shades that he always wore. But even with a poker face, Natsumi felt something wrong with Sasaki-san today. Normally, everyone would try to stop her from going outside by herself, especially now that she has injured herself doing something as wild as chasing down a thief. However, to let her go with just a small warning was something she was unfamiliar with.

"Sasaki-san," Natsumi addressed the elder man; she was always straightforward with her feelings. "Why are you just letting me go without sending bodyguards with me? I mean, I'm not complaining."

"I just think that Natsumi-sama isn't a child anymore. You should know better than to cause trouble," Sasaki-san answered calmly. "You know already that all of us are worried about you."

Natsumi looked down at her feet at this; her eyes darkened. Isono-san was on a sick leave. Ever since Natsumi was hospitalized, Isono-san had been the one working the hardest. He took care of everything for her, running out to buy whatever she wanted and called the doctor over if anything seemed wrong. He was also the one that worried the most, not that he wasn't before her hospitalization. But after the physical and emotional fatigue, Isono-san fell ill. Although he insisted on resuming to work right away, Natsumi and Sasaki-san both pushed him to go back home and rest.

When Natsumi thought about how old Isono-san suddenly looked that day, she always felt guilty. She was always the one that didn't want anyone to worry about her, but she was also the one that always got herself into trouble. Isono-san must be sick and tired of taking care of her all the time.

If only there was a way to be a child forever, and have that thing called responsibility at the same time.

Step10: Cliché Shows True Love

"Game Ohtori, 1-0!"

There's a reason why Hyoutei has one of the strongest tennis teams in the Kantou region; team members were dragged to practice even on the weekends. But with these rigorous trainings, the regulars have no complaints about any of it. Although, some people might slack off a bit, and there are times when some are just having an "off" day. Ohtori Choutarou stood in the breeze, breathing smoothly and barely sweating, and looked onto his opponent on the other side of the court. The latter was not out of breath, and he was not tired either, but his eyes were drifting and his heart was not inside the tennis court at all.

"Hm, it's rare for Shishido to lose a game this fast," Oshitari commented, looking toward his captain for an agreement. "And it's even his service game."

"This guy's been unfocused for a whole week," Atobe said as he brought his long fingers up to touch the beauty mark under his eye. Being the observant person that he was, of course Atobe already noticed something wrong with the usually confident third year. "But whatever he's thinking about, he needs to snap out of it. The game with Fudoumine is in a week. He's not allowed to lose before we begin the semi-finals. Ne, Kabaji?"

"Ussu."

Out of audible range, Shishido could not hear the conversation between his teammates, but he knew very well that the two were talking about him. He, too, understood that he was unfocused, and that he needed to snap out of it. But he just couldn't help it when his mind wanders off to the incident a week ago—the incident in the hospital with Endo Natsumi.

He could not stop the questions that keep circling around his head. Did that really count as a kiss? No, she could've been just waking up, and accidently touched his lips with hers. But how is it that she fell unconscious again after that? Well, she did have a concussion; her head must've hurt again. And her eyes were definitely open when her head was against the pillow. Did she see that it was him? Did she know that they kissed? Wait, no, that wasn't a kiss. But if she did see, would she think of it as a kiss? Would she think that he was taking advantage of her while she was down? For some reason, he felt like he was taking advantage of her, because he never confronted her about it. But what was he supposed to say? Sorry? No, that's not it. He should ask her if she knew about the ki—what happened. But how could he bring himself to ask her that!

Shishido's mind was a big mess. And naturally, Shishido lost the match to Ohtori, which has never happened before. Even when practice was over and the boys were inside the locker room changing, Shishido was still abnormally quiet. The younger boy approached his senior with soft steps, and looked at him with concern.

"Shishido-senpai, is everything okay?"

Shishido shifted his gaze toward Ohtori, but he did so too fast and missed the younger boy's eyes. Pulling it back, Shishido blinked a few times before focusing on him. "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well…" Ohtori frowned at the elder boy's act of unease. "It just seems to me that something's on your mind…"

"Don't worry about me, Choutarou!" Shishido smiled reassuringly, and patted Choutarou's arm, even though he was originally going to pat him on the shoulder. "You beat me fair and square. You've improved a lot!"

"Shishido-senpai…"

"Shisihido-san! Someone's out there asking for you!"

"Huh?" Shishido turned his head toward the opened door and raised an eyebrow at the underclassman that came calling for him. "Who is it?"

The underclassman gave him a shrug. "It's a girl!"

Shishido and Ohtori exchanged a look, and the former took off toward the door first while the latter followed a bit after. Once Shishido exited the locker room and looked ahead, his heart skipped a beat. He knew all too well the slim figure standing outside the fence with her long, brown hair covering her small shoulders. He made an attempt to swallow deep inside his throat, but there was nothing to swallow. Never in his life, not even during big competitions, had he been this nervous before.

"Ah! It's Endo-san!"

Ohtori's surprised voice traveled to Shishido's ears way later than he'd realized; his younger friend was already making his way toward the fence to greet the girl. But Shishido found it hard to lift his own legs. It was too soon to see her right now. He hasn't decided on what to say yet. However, as he was panicking inside of his head, Ohtori had already opened the gate for her and let her in. The girl advanced at him with her soft smile, although a tiny bit different than usual, and stopped a couple of feet away from him.

"Shishido-senpai, how are you?"

Shishido swallowed again in his dry throat before opening his mouth. "I'm… great. But you—I should be asking you… how's your head? I mean, how do you feel?"

"I feel fine," Natsumi said, not noticing the boy's nervousness. "Actually, I came here to find Shishido-senpai for the hospital thing…"

Shishido suddenly felt like he was punched in the chest. He didn't want to face this confrontation yet! He wasn't ready!

"I heard from Sasaki-san and Isono-san that Shishido-senpai and Ohtori-kun were the one that carried me to the hospital and stayed after until they came," Natsumi said, trying to catch Shishido's eyes with her own. "To thank you guys, I want to treat both of you to a meal."

"Eh? A meal?" Shishido's head shot up at Natsumi's request. He'd thought she was going to bring up something up. His chest felt relieved for just one second, but he began to feel guilty again. So she doesn't remember… or is she just pretending so that it won't be awkward…?

"Yes, and please don't reject my invite," Natsumi pressed on. "Or else I'd feel bad about wasting so much of your time that day. I'd feel worse than I already feel."

Though already knowing about Natsumi's riches, Ohtori and Shishido still felt that it was a bit too much when she brought them to a five-star French restaurant, even if they did save her life. In the end, they pulled her down the street before she could enter the restaurant, and went into a small out-doors café. The three of them sat down around a circular table; the two boys had their hands under the table and on their knees, showing their awkwardness. However, Natsumi was just having her ordinary day and urged them to order whatever they wanted. And, of course, the boys did not dare order anything fancy besides some cold drinks.

"Please don't hold back, guys!" Natsumi pushed the menu at them. "This is the least I could do to thank you guys…"

"No, it's fine, Endo-san," Ohtori said as he put his two hands up in front of his chest. "We didn't do that much! Right, Shishido-senpai?"

Shishido's shoulders twitched at the mention of his name. He looked at Ohtori briefly and then looked at Natsumi; clearly his mind was elsewhere. "Um… yeah… it wasn't much at all!"

"It means a lot to me!" Natsumi said, eyes fixed her folded hands that rested on the table. "It's not just that you guys were there in the hospital to make sure that I was okay. But I was a burden to you guys because I made you all worried. And to think that I actually wanted everyone to be worried at first… because I didn't think that anyone would be. I shouldn't be important to anyone here; I'm just a stranger! You guys could've just called the ambulance. You guys didn't have to wait at the hospital." Sasaki-san and Isono-san didn't have to stay overnight at the hospital. No one had to come visit me. But I wanted everyone's concern… because I still don't know how mom and dad reacted when I…

"What are you saying, Endo-san?" Ohtori leaned forward. "You're not a stranger! You took care of us so much last year at Hyotei!"

Natsumi looked up at Ohtori and her eyes wavered. "…I didn't choose to be Endo Natsumi."

The boys widened their eyes at the girl, and looked at each other in loss of words. Shishido, who didn't know the girl that well last year, was only getting used to Natsumi's eccentric personality now, never expected her to say something like that. However, Natsumi seemed to have noticed her own strange behavior right after she spoke those words, and put her usual face back on immediately.

"What I'm trying to say is—this world is full of mermaids, Indians, and pirates… and I don't exactly like any of them!"

"Endo…" Shishido muttered her name, frowning.

Natsumi turned to Shishido and whipped up a small smile. "Don't look at me like that, Shishido-senpai. It seems like you're a lot more troubled than I am right now."

"Eh?" Shishido widened his eyes at the girl, and immediately thought of his worries that lasted this whole week. "What are you talking about? I'm not troubled."

"Really? But you have it written all over your face!" Natsumi pointed at his face, which made Shishido tense up and look at Ohtori for confirmation. "You have the face expression of a person who had just cracked an egg into his instant ramen but a piece of the shell fell in."

"…Really, there's nothing wrong with me."

"Are you sure, Shishido-senpai? Endo-san has a point!" Ohtori said.

"I'M FINE!"

"Ah! Could it be…" Natsumi clapped her hands together in realization. "Shishido-senpai, you're worried about the match with Fudoumine next weekend?"

"Huh?" Shishido raised an eyebrow at Natsumi's question. "No, it's not that. And how do you know about that anyway?"

"Chizu told me about it when she visited me in the hospital."

Shishido looked down again at the mention of the hospital. Maybe… she doesn't know about the kiss after all. "No, I'm not nervous about Fudoumine. A school that's never even made it into the semi-finals isn't worth getting nervous over. I'll beat that Tachibana guy easily like all those other schools!"

Natsumi's smile dropped at this; suddenly she thought about the previous weekend when Seigaku played against Fudoumine. Fuji and Kawamura's doubles had to forfeit because of Kawamura's injury inflicted by one of Fudoumine's students. Kaidou barely won against his opponent with a 7-5 game. Echizen won his game 6-4, but also came back with a cut on his eye due to his opponent's technique. Besides all that, Fudoumine's captain never came out and played. Certainly, Shishido was a great player, but it's never good to underestimate another school.

"But being fearless and confident like this is also why Shishido-senpai's so charming…" Natsumi murmured.

"Eh?" Shishido flushed red; he'd heard what Natsumi was murmuring quite clearly, but he had to doubt himself. He really wasn't used to it—a girl being so open about her feelings. He was fortunate that Ohtori was right there beside him right now, or else he would feel even more awkward with Natsumi sitting right across from him. However, things don't always go so easily. Shishido realized that when Ohtori's cell phone started to ring.

"Ah…" Ohtori searched in his pocket for his phone, and when he found it, he got up from his seat. "Excuse me… I'll be back!"

Shishido looked in Ohtori's direction helplessly, but the younger boy was already making his way out of the café and did not see the signal. It was just the two of them now, Natsumi and Shishido. For a few minutes they did not say a thing. Natsumi sipped at her own drink, while Shishido avoided her gaze and looked outside every now and then to see if Ohtori was done talking on the phone. But it didn't seem like Ohtori was going to be done soon. Shishido shifted in his seat uncomfortably and observed Natsumi from the corner of his eyes, and when the girl noticed, she smiled at him innocently.

Damn… what kind of man am I to be acting like this? Shishido fastened his hands into fists on his knees. It's been so clear that she likes me. She doesn't even hide any of her feelings toward me, but here I am being all secretive about that kiss. What fearless? What confidence? She's being so honest already, and I'm just leaving her without an answer, leading her on! She's hardly a bad girl. And if you look past the personality, she's actually cute too! What am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING?

"Endo!" Shishido said suddenly with raised voice.

Natsumi flinched slightly at Shishido's outburst. With widened eyes, she looked at him intently, showing that he's caught her attention.

"A—about the day at the hospital… the day that we took you there…" Shishido began to say, racking his brain to phrase his words correctly.

"Yes?" Natsumi cocked her head to the side and waited patiently.

"You probably don't know… or don't remember what happened. But even if you don't," Shishido's head shot up abruptly and he looked at her in the eyes, face red as a tomato. "I… I'll take responsibility for everything!"

"…Eh?" For the first time her life, Natsumi was thrown off by someone else's words. Before she could even decipher what Shishido had just said, her brain had already exploded into a mess. Shishido had never looked at her in the eyes before, and with such a serious face as well. Natsumi tried to keep a straight face, but her ears were already as red as the artificial cherry on her smoothie. She was lucky that she'd kept her long hair for now; it hid her embarrassment exceptionally well. "The day at the hospital… what happened…?"

Shishido bit his bottom lip to calm his racing heart. But when his eyes accidently swept over Natsumi's pink lips, his face became even redder.

"Shishido-senpai, are you okay?" Natsumi said, her voice extraordinarily flat in contrast to her mind. It surprised her as well. "Do you have a fever? Your face is so red…"

"No! I'm not sick!" Shishido said in almost a shouting tone. "It's just that… at the hospital… how do I say this? Don't take it the wrong way, I'm not blaming you for this, and it's not my fault either, but… as a man I just couldn't let it go without telling you! The truth is… Endo, at the hospital, you and I—"

SMASH!

Natsumi and Shishido looked down at the floor next to their table at the same time. It was a broken plate—Natsumi seemed to have knocked over an empty dish because she was getting nervous. Despite the conversation being interrupted, the two of them reached down to the floor to pick up the broken pieces of the plate. And at the same time, they both reached for the biggest piece in front of them. As if to make things worse, their hands collided into each other before they'd picked up the ceramic plate. The boy and the girl retrieved their hands instantly as if they've been shocked. They looked at each other without changing their positions, dumbfounded at what just happened.

"Natsumi-chan~~!"

A kiddy masculine voice elevated from behind Natsumi all of a sudden. Before Natsumi had the chance to turn around to see who it was, the person had already thrown himself on her back. Still in her bending-down position, the push from the back made her go forward. And her forehead, which was in line with the side of the table, crashed into the hard wood.

"Endo!" Shishido's heart almost jumped out of his ribcages at the great sound that Natsumi's head and the table made. His head snapped up at the boy who caused the whole thing and yelled menacingly, "Jirou! Look what you've done!"

Akutagawa Jirou, who was already off of the girl, took a step away in nervousness. His brows furrowed and his eyes watered. "I… I'm sorry! I just got excited because I saw Natsumi-chan and—"

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE JUMPED ONTO HER LIKE THAT!"

"It's all right, Shishido-senpai…" Natsumi straightened up in her chair and rubbed the spot that was hit with her fingers. Nothing much happened to her forehead; just a red spot is all. "I'm not hurt."

"Endo…"

"Natsumi-chan~" the big boy whined and looked as if he'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. "I'm sorry, Natsumi-chan! I didn't mean to jump on you and make you hit the table! Please don't be mad at me~!"

"What's going on here?" Entering through the side door was Atobe Keigo and Kabaji followed behind. Atobe raised an eyebrow at Shishido, whose face was still red; Natsumi, who had a huge red bump on her forehead; and Jirou, who was on the verge of tears. "Jirou, I let you out of my sight for one minute, and you're already causing trouble. How immature! Ne, Kabaji?"

"Ussu!"

Natsumi stood from her seat and narrowed her eyes at Atobe. "Someone who puts other people down all the time isn't considered mature either."

"Ha?"

Atobe was certainly surprised that Natsumi would talk back to him like that, and it also surprised Shishido. The girl gave Atobe another dirty look before taking her leave, bumping into a returning Ohtori, and put the young boy in confusion. The five boys, besides Kabaji, exchanged puzzled looks at each other. Shishido looked outside the window once again to watch Natsumi walk away, and remembered about what happened before Jirou came and disturbed the two of them. He secretly sighed to himself; he didn't get to tell her what he wanted to say in the end.

Atobe observed all of this, and came to realization. "Ah, so this is why you've been distracted this whole time."

"What?" Shishido turned his attention back to his team captain, who was looking at him with an amused expression.

"Who you decide to be infatuated with is none of my concern," Atobe shrugged at Shishido. "But just for your information, it seems like someone else has his eyes on that woman. I really question you guys' taste, though…"

"What are you talking about?"

"That useless manager of ours was babbling again—said something about Oishi Shuichirou going to ask her out if they win their next game!"

TBC.