Chapter 10: Third Wheels
An arrived back at the tennis court only to see a glum looking Shuuko sitting on the bench next to Yuuta and Mizuki.
"Shuuko-chan!" An called. "I'm so sorry… we got carried away… Hi Yuuta-kun. Hi Mizuki-san."
She ran up to the bench, still holding onto Akaya's arm. Shuuko looked up her friend, not dropping her glum expression.
"Shuuko… what's wrong?" An asked. "I'm sorry… I didn't know it was so bad."
She looked around and saw Rikkai and St Rudolph players on the court.
"There are Rikkai and St Rudolph players around though… an dyou have Yuuta and Mizuki-san," An tried to reason.
Shuuko grabbed An's wrist and stood.
"An we need to talk," she said. "Excuse us."
She then pulled An away from the courts, leaving Akaya with the other guys.
"What's going on?" An asked as she was being pulled away. "You're not that mad at me are you? I apologized!"
Shuuko stopped walking when they got near some trees and let go of her friend, giving her a serious stare down.
"What? You're scaring me!" An complained.
"Kamio was upset! You need to apologize to him!" Shuuko said, hands on her hips.
An gasped, "Why? I'm not dating him I'm not obligated." She said that but she still felt guilty about it all.
"He saw you with Kirihara-san. It may not be that you're obligated to return his feelings but I think he deserves and explanation," Shuuko said. "He was really hurt. He didn't even want to eat when I suggested it."
An shook her head.
"That may be so," she said. "But I'm not going to drop everything and chase him! What would Kirihara-kun think?"
Shuuko nodded, "I understand that. He's you're boyfriend… but Kamio is our friend too and I know you cherish that part of him. Please just promise you'll talk to him sometime…"
An agreed.
"Good. I don't mean to be such a pest but it was really crushing to see him like that," admitted Shuuko.
"It's fine," An said. "I understand… beside, I shouldn't have lied to him like it did. Come one let's go back to the courts and try to put this behind us for now."
"Ok!"
Kamio and Ibu were blocks away from the street courts. As soon as they reached the bottom of the steps Kamio has taken off in a speed walk that Ibu had to more than jog to keep up with. Upon finally reaching a crosswalk where they could stop, and Ibu could catch his breath, the light would change and then Kamio would be off again like a light.
"Akira!" Ibu called. "Why won't he wait up…"
He would say more but he was a bit light of breathe from all of the walking. Sure he was in shape from tennis but anyone would be tired from the strain of chasing Fudomine's speed ace. They finally reached a point where they were stopped by a train and finally Ibu could talk to his friend.
"Akira," Ibu said, taking a gulp of air. "What are we going to do now?"
"What do you mean 'What are we going to do now'?" Kamio asked, not sounding a bit winded. "What is there to do? The day is ruined!"
"It doesn't have to," Ibu said. "Just because of what happened you don't have to sit and sulk. What will sitting and sulking do for you but make you even more sad. I think that it'd be best to get the mind off of the situation at hand."
"I'm not in the mood," Kamio retorted, crossing his arms. "We're near our neighborhood anyway so why don't we just go home."
"That's boring. If we're not going to play tennis couldn't we at least have some kind of fun?"
"I don't want to have fun!"
The train was gone and the bar lifted causing Kamio to walk away. Ibu followed.
"How are you going to get over An if you keep sulking?"
"I don't want to get over An!"
"That doesn't make sense…" Ibu began to reason. "What use would it be for Akira to pine after An if she has a boyfriend? The only thing he can do is get over her… it's not like he can steal her from Kirihara or anything."
Kamio stopped walking and Ibu bumped into his friend's back and fell onto the pavement.
"That's it!" the speed ace said, hitting his fist against his palm. "I'll just have to have her regret choosing Kirihara!"
"Isn't that wrong?" Ibu asked, standing up and brushing off his clothes. "After all in effect she has already chosen, right?"
"Stop spoiling my fun!"
"I thought you didn't want fun-"
"Some friend you are! I'm totally losing my rhythm…"
When An and Shuuko returned to the boys, Yanagisawa and Kisarazu were taking with their team mates at the bench while Akaya was chatting with his friends at the net.
"Hey guys," An said. "Sorry about that."
"Where's Ibu and that speed ace go?" Marui asked before blowing a huge bubble with his gum.
"Yeah we really wanted to play them and they didn't even stay for one game," frowned Jackal.
"I bet they were scared," Akaya grinned.
"You think so?" asked Marui. "Aw, we wouldn't mess 'em up too bad."
"Oh, Mizuki-san and Yuuta-kun were hungry so we were thinking of getting something to eat," Shuuko noted.
"That sounds great actually!" Marui cheered.
"But we'll lose this court if we leave," Jackal reasoned.
Akaya shrugged, "So what we'll beat them for it back. Besides we can't really stay all day anyway we have to take the train back to Kanagawa." He then turned to where St Rudolph were all talking. "Hey!"
He called for their attention and the boys turned to look.
"What?" Yanagisawa asked.
"We heard you all are going to eat. Did you decide where?" Akaya asked.
"I like burgers," Yuuta said.
"Really? I wanted chicken," admitted Yanagisawa.
"Chicken sounds great right now," Marui said.
It ended up that Rikkai plus Yanagisawa wanted chicken while St Rudolph sided with burgers. So they decided to split up and go to different places, Yanagisawa sticking with his team mates. Shuuko went over and packed away An's racket into her bag to get ready to go with An and Rikkai friends when Yuuta started to speak to her.
"Hey Takada-san," he said. "Did you want burgers?"
"Oh… actually I did but I think I'm going to just go with An-chan," Shuuko admitted.
"You can come with us," Kisarazu chimed. "You know us… sort of."
"This is only my second time meeting you," Shuuko pointed out. "Besides I came here with An-chan."
"You'll only be a third wheel if you go with her," Mizuki brought up. "Yuuta carry my things."
He gestured to his bag on thr ground and Yuuta stooped to pick it up.
Kisarazu agreed with Mizuki and added, "Marui and Jackal have each other's company and Tachibana's little sister is with Kirihara-san. It really won't make a difference."
"Ummm…" Shuuko began.
"Hey Shuuko!" An took the bag from Shuuko. "Thanks for packing my things. You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Shuuko said. "I was just saying bye to Yuuta-kun and his friends."
She turned and waved at the guys.
"Sorry you all. Maybe another time me and An-chan will have lunch with you," she said before walking off with An to join the Rikkai players.
"Too bad," Yanagisawa said. "I miss out on chicken and lunch with a girl."
"Psh," Kisarazu said, nudging his doubles partner in the arm. "Like you have any kind of chance with Takada-san. I on the other hand…"
"Just because we go to an all boy's school doesn't mean we have to chase after the first girl we see," Yuuta laughed.
Mizuki patted Yuuta's shoulder, "That's right, Yuuta-kun. Those two can learn from you. Now let's go."
He walked of and towards the court exit. Yuuta followed and so did Yanagisawa and Kisarazu arguing amongst themselves.
The Rikkai players on the other hand decided to go for lunch at a fried chicken place since that's what the guys wanted. An herself wasn't that hungry in the first place and Shuuko did sort of still want a burger. She figured she'd survive though and also decided she should get to know Marui and Jackal more if she was going to let An and Kirihara talk, but they seemed to be in their own world as well.
At the moment Kirihara and An walked in front hand in hand, followed by a chatty Marui and Jackal. Shuuko brought up the rear. She convinced herself it wouldn't have been any better with the St Rudolph boys. After all, they were still strangers to her as well, just like Marui and Jackal. She figured the thing that made it different was that An being around but inaccessible made it all the more lonely.
They finally made it to the chicken place but when they entered Shuuko spoke up.
"Uhm guys," she said, causing them to stop at the doorway.
"You all have fun ok. It was nice meeting you," she waved and went to leave when An called her back.
"Shuuko," An said. "Why are you going? Aren't you hungry."
"I'll tell you later. Just go have fun with Kirihara," Shuuko stated.
She then turned and left once more. She wouldn't intrude upon An and Kirihara's time any longer.
To be continued…
AN: thanks for reading plz review