Heys everyone I'm back! Exams went well hehe. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and all your concern made me feel warm and fuzzy inside –blushes- I recovered shortly after I uploaded the previous chapter. As of late, I had been listening to a bunch of sappy love songs (Glee ftw! –squeals-) to get myself into the mood for writing romance hehe. I rewrote the first part of this chapter quite a few times and I have to say that listening to songs in the romance genre really helped me in prying open Yukimura's heart. Now, the shocking thing is that it was 'How To Be a Heartbreaker' which helped me to tunnel into Yukimura's mind. Well that says a lot about my perception of Yukimura and romance in this story in general… -shifty eyes- As for Tsugi, I found a song which fits her image quite well. During one of the many crazy karaoke sessions with my friends, someone selected 'Heart Attack' by Demi Lovato which I realized depicts Tsugi in her relationship with Yukimura during first year pretty well, though not perfectly so for the subsequent years because you know, she changes and matures too :P

To Guest: Thanks for the ego-inflating review, in saying that I've 'charted out a wonderful world', I think that was the best compliment a writer can ever receive. I'm happy to know that the canon characters were IC (: about Tsugi, I've thought about her over my exam period and I'm happy to say that I've fathomed the enigma that's my OC now (: yeahs, like you've said, she's a rather complex character so I do find it difficult to grasp her at times. She gets OOC once in a while, and I always have to turn back and correct her actions –sigh- the same for Yukimura, though it's less severe for the latter. Yukimura had been cooperating well with me and his image is more or less solidified in my mind. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well (:

This is an important notice: There was a small mistake in the chronological order on my timeline (well if you saw how messy my timeline is, you wouldn't be surprised that I did something as stupid as this –sighs-). I realized that I missed an important date – Tsugi's birthday which falls on the 4th of May. If I tried continuing from where the previous chapter left off, it'd seem that Akaya warmed up impossibly fast to Tsugi which doesn't make sense. The sequence of events will be rectified in this chapter, my apologies for any confusion caused. You should probably reread that little portion, since I made some correction…

Higher than the Wind

Dedication and Date

Before Yukimura figured out that he harboured unusual feelings towards a certain onyx-haired girl, he never realized just how little he understood of her. His knowledge, or lack thereof, of her was quite embarrassing to speak of after being friends for almost a year.

He knew about her kinship with Renji, he knew that she loved tennis, was excellent in English and considerably adept at playing the piano; he also knew that she was terrible at Art and Chemistry, and that she was the polite, amiable girl whom was in the good book of both teachers and students who knew her though she doesn't particularly shine… But that was what most of their classmates knew about her too. Perhaps the only additional information he knew on top of her general profile was that Bach was her favourite composer, which was something he had just learned about last week. Oh – and she can bake, Yukimura recalled the cake he received on his birthday with fond memory. Other than that, however, Yukimura didn't have the slightest clue as to what were her favourite colours, what sort of television shows she liked or what kind of books she'd usually read.

People called him an enigma, but Yukimura was starting to think that perhaps Yanagi Asaitsugi was the real enigma instead. She appeared to be on good terms with most if not everybody, yet it seemed that even he –who was viewed as one of her closest friends in school– was quite distant from her. Then again, it might be because she hardly ever talked about herself and aside from the furore they stirred up earlier last year, she kept a low profile in school. Most people have heard of the name Yanagi Asaitsugi, but they didn't know much about her – he was pretty certain that a good fraction of those who knew her name didn't even know which class she was in. Of course he knew that much about her well – they were in the same class after all, but still…

Yukimura was faced with a difficult situation recently.

He glanced at his analogue calendar, head propped up on a fist and a thoughtful look in his ocean blue eyes. The deadline was ticking near. It wasn't tennis, studies or interpersonal relationships that was bothering him – those were things he was expert in dealing with. There was a much more pressing affair at the moment than the Prefectural Tournament which was going to begin in two weeks and exams? Yukimura rubbed his chin contemplatively, oh right, a light bulb lit up at the top of his head, he completely overlooked mid-term examination which was supposed to be set some time before the Prefectural Tournament. He'd have to check with Sanada later after he finished up the task on hand. Yukimura closed his eyes, a queer feeling arising in his chest. He hadn't expected himself to be entangled in this matter for over an hour when he sat down in front of his desk, not to mention he still hadn't arrived at a decision yet. Luckily, he already finished reviewing his players' status earlier on during the day so he could devote the rest of the time to the matter on hand.

Ever since Renji 'unwittingly' mentioned that Tsugi's birthday was upcoming next week, he had been pondering on what to get for her. Granted, he had experience buying presents for Kurumi, but purchasing a present for his little sister was different from getting a present for a friend. Especially since she was someone he felt different around. It was mere infatuation, like puppy love which came a little late in life, nothing quite close to love. Yukimura knew, for he was gifted in the art of pulling the right strings connected to people' hearts to achieve his goal. His rule of thumb was simple yet couldn't be more valid: if he was still in control of himself, this couldn't be considered love.

Sure, he liked her; that was something he had come clean with himself, but like can never be held as a synonym for love. Yukimura shook his head and decided that he was getting too caught up in this matter. He picked up his schedule book and glanced through his to-do list for the week, ripples emerged in the still waters of his eyes when he saw the key events of the following week. Such a coincidence, he thought. Perhaps he could…

With that thought in mind, Yukimura leaped into action. He picked up his mobile phone and sent a text to Sanada, all the while while wearing a light smile on his seraphic face. Sanada's reply came swiftly, and Yukimura's smile widened when he saw the expected reply.

Perfect. Yukimura's mood was instantly lifted when the weight on his mind was unloaded. Now all that was left was to wait for Wednesday to arrive.

~x~

"Fantastic playing, Yanagi's. We'll now move on to the final performance of the day. Can we have Sanada and Yukimura up on stage?" Watanabe-sensei jotted down their grades and called out. There was little doubt that Renji was an excellent violinist and Tsugi was not too shabby on the piano herself, so it was only natural that the two of them secured an A grade for music this term.

Amidst polite applause from the rest of their classmates, Renji and Tsugi bowed customarily and stepped down from the stage, exchanging brief smiles with Yukimura and Sanada – well, with the former of the latter pair, as they exchanged positions.

Even though Tsugi and Renji have already heard Yukimura and Sanada's duet during the previous week, they were still looking forward to their performance for the two, much to the surprise of Tsugi who wasn't expecting Sanada to have such dexterous fingers (not that she was prejudiced against him, but Sanada hardly looked like the kind who would be a master guitarist), put up a very spectacular performance at Yukimura's house.

Yukimura sat himself on the piano bench and turned to face at the class. Upon seeing that Sanada was ready to go, Yukimura smiled.

"The song we will be playing today is a modified version of 'The Happy Birthday Song'," Yukimura began, bewildering his classmates and Watanabe-sensei, "this is dedicated to Yanagi whose birthday is tomorrow. Happy early birthday, Yanagi."

He looked straight at the direction where Renji and Tsugi were seated.

Following his line of vision, all heads turned to Tsugi. Despite the fact that there were two Yanagi's in the room, somehow, they just knew who Yukimura was referring to when he said 'Yanagi'.

Tsugi herself was caught by surprise when Yukimura announced that he and Sanada will be doing away with the song they had been practicing the whole of last week and instead will be doing a… Happy Birthday song. She blinked when Yukimura said that the song was dedicated to her, a light red hue colouring her cheeks.

Embarrassment aside… Tsugi couldn't deny that she was happy. Truly happy.

"Thank you, Yukimura," Tsugi's voice would have been drowned out if the room wasn't so quiet that even the drop of a pin could be heard. Her response confirmed their suspicion, and strange looks appeared on the faces of a good fraction of their classmates, even Watanabe-sensei seemed mildly interested in this scandalous affair between her students.

Renji wasn't the least bit pressured despite being in close proximity with the class's target of scrutiny, almost a little too collectedly, he pulled out his leather bound notebook and began a new page on Yukimura's chapter. If he was only 80% sure that Tsugi was special to Yukimura before… he was 95% sure now.

Renji smiled, the satisfaction he derived from perfecting his data, the thrill when he fathomed a complex being was addictive - all the more if said complex being was an enigma like Yukimura Seiichi.

After music class, Renji excused himself saying that he had students' council duties, and while Tsugi was packing up, Yukimura approached her with a potted plant in his hands.

"Here you go, Yanagi," Yukimura smiled gently at her and set the potted plant on her table, "this is your birthday present from me."

"Thank you, Yukimura, I appreciate your thought a lot," Tsugi held up the pot and looked at the purple flower closely, "This flower has a very lovely purple. What's it called?" Her botanical knowledge wasn't extensive enough for her to identify this plant.

"Crocus, it's not a rare species but I think its flower language suits you a lot," Yukimura smiled, "be sure to keep the soil moist but not flooded."

"I'll keep that in mind. So there's a deeper meaning to this flower?" Yukimura's words piqued Tsugi's interest, she glanced at him playfully, her slight, uncontrollable eagerness well concealed by her light-hearted tone, "What does it mean?"

She knew she should curb these impulses, but it was getting more and more difficult to restrain herself.

"Cheerfulness," Yukimura answered, and he looked deeply into her eyes. Icy blues bore into forest greens. Tsugi felt a little uneasy, but it wasn't the uncomfortable kind of uneasy – it was a strange feeling she couldn't phrase in words, yet she didn't dislike it.

"It's rare to hear a compliment from you, Yukimura, thanks once again," still, Tsugi laughed in an attempt to shake off the strange atmosphere. All of a sudden, there seems to be a shortage of oxygen in the room.

"If you really want to thank me… How about attending an art appreciation event with me in Ueno this upcoming Saturday?" Yukimura smiled too, patience, he reassured himself, there was no need to rush into things when there was still uncertainty on both parties' sides.

"An art appreciation event?" Tsugi was distracted by his proposal, "are you sure you want to ask me along for an art appreciation event?"

"Sanada has to attend Kendo lessons on Saturdays, Kurumi is a child… she wouldn't complain but I know she doesn't particularly enjoy this kind of events. Would you come along with me? It'd be a pity if the other ticket went to waste."

"My Saturday is open but art and I…" Tsugi shook her head. Her art ineptness was hardly a secret.

"We are merely there to look at the exhibition," Yukimura pressed on, "I don't want to attend the event alone either, that'd be quite saddening. Please accompany me to the event, Yanagi?" He winked at her. This cheeky side of Yukimura was a rare sight to see.

"If you say so I have no reasons to refuse, text me the details when you're free then," Tsugi smiled when Yukimura tried to guilt trip her with a playful wink.

"I'll text you later tonight then. Thank you, Yanagi," Yukimura helped her to pick up her books, "I'll walk you to the gates."

Tsugi didn't stop him, with their current relationship, it didn't feel strange for her to accept help from Yukimura on this kind of small, insignificant things.

Tsugi laughed. "I should be thanking you for asking me out, Yukimura."

There was a curious shine in Yukimura's eyes when she said that, but Tsugi didn't notice it.

After parting ways with Yukimura, Tsugi was mulling over Yukimura's request once more and she halted in her steps when she realized something, a very important detail which she missed when they were discussing it a few moments ago.

They were going out on a Saturday, just the two of them.

Tsugi felt her cheeks heating up a little, was she thinking too much? Or could this be considered as… a date?

~x~

On Saturday morning, Tsugi left the house at 9.30am. She made her way to the train station, where she immediately caught sight of the blue-haired boy who was leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the train station when she was in vicinity. No matter where he was, or what he was wearing, Yukimura always seemed to be able to differentiate himself from the people around him effortlessly.

He saw her as well, and waved her over.

"I always thought that you were more suited for dresses," Yukimura commented, taking in her clothes with light admiration. There weren't any dirty thoughts on his mind at all, "you look beautiful."

It wasn't the first time he commended her appearance, but he truly meant it this time. Not as a friendly remark, but heartfelt compliment.

Tsugi was dressed in a light blue spring dress which ended right on her knees, her dress wasn't form-fitting but it was designed such that it would hug her waist. Perfect for Tsugi who was extremely slender. Her hair was let down in the same manner as any normal school day, but with a change of clothes, she instantly looked different. Rikkai Dai's uniform was designed to match up to the school's prestige, so it was only inevitable that students looked mature beyond their age which should have been a good thing, except they were just teenagers and not all teenagers could pull off the 'adult' look. So instead of achieving its purpose, some people looked rather awkward in their uniform (think Kirihara). While Tsugi wasn't faced with the same issue since she was a Yanagi, the uniform didn't do her natural charms justice. So when she put on a spring dress which was befitting of a young girl of her age, the visual change was appreciable — and appreciate it Yukimura did.

"You look pretty dashing yourself, Yukimura," Tsugi praised her male companion for the day with a small smile. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen Yukimura in casual clothes before, but he looked different today. Because the event required them to be dressed in semi-formal outfits, Yukimura put on a pair of black pants along a plain white shirt. It wasn't very different from the Rikkai Dai uniform for boys, but Yukimura pulled it off with a unique style which made him stand out from the crowd. He didn't look like a teenage boy at all, but rather, like a young adult mature before his age and with an additional touch not found when he was dressed in his uniform.

Yukimura laughed in response, "shall we go? Or would you like to have breakfast?"

"I already ate at home, you?"

"I have had my fill as well."

"Let's set off then."

Tsugi wasn't someone with a taste for art — she never really understood what it meant to 'appreciate' an art. Sure, you could use a piece of art to add value to the decoration and layout of your house, but did it really matter whose art work you were using use? Whether it was an authentic million dollar piece or the neglected artwork of some artist who enjoyed little or no fame, was there really a difference or a mean of comparison between art pieces? How did you know which one was superior anyway?

So the art appreciation event at the Ueno Art Museum was really something if even someone like Tsugi could tell that it was fine art.

"These are truly quality pieces," Tsugi whispered to Yukimura in awe after walking around half of the gallery.

"They are. Which one do you like the best?" Yukimura agreed and asked, suddenly remembering his lack of knowledge about her.

He was willing to make an effort to get to know more about her. He wanted to know her likes and dislikes.

"My favourite? I'm not too sure, frankly, all of them are about the same to me…" Tsugi thought for a moment and shook her head.

"Maybe you'll find one that you like after we finish the entire gallery then," a little nipped that he didn't get a concrete reply, but Yukimura wasn't put off. Perseverance was one of his virtues.

As they walked through the gallery, Yukimura casually inserted questions about her tastes and preferences whenever the opportunity arose, his first few questions succeeded in drawing the answers he wanted, but his subsequent questions were all evaded by Tsugi who seemed to have caught on on something.

She felt… weird, and unsure where this was heading to, so she laughed her way through Yukimura's questions. After she avoided yet another question about her favourite fruit, it would seem that Yukimura's patience finally hit its limit.

"Yanagi, you're always so far away," Yukimura suddenly stopped and turned around, a small, elusive smile surfacing on his face, "sometimes, I feel like there's a thousand miles between us even though we are standing right next to each other."

Almost as if he calculated it, Yukimura stopped in front of an oil painting of a sunflower field which complimented him perfectly. It seemed as though the sunray from the painting was actually shining down on him, surrounding the blue-haired teen with an ethereal mist and making him look absolutely divine, like a harvest spirit out of an old fairy tale.

Tsugi didn't know what or how to answer him, so she did the next best thing – she stayed quiet.

"Don't mind me, I got a little carried away. Please don't take it to heart," before the atmosphere got any more awkward, Yukimura broke it - or at least, he tried to.

Tsugi shook her head, eyes fixated on the painting behind him. His words weren't offensive at all… they just strike a chord within her heart.

The rest of the day passed quietly with minimum exchange of words between the two. It was really hard to say whether this date was successful or not, and both parties went home with mixed feelings at the pit of their hearts.

Slowly but surely, something was changing between them, though they weren't sure if it was for the better or for the worse — and nobody could tell them the answer, either.

~x~

When Kirihara successfully ascended the ranks and joined the team as a regular, he thought finally, finally he cleansed his name and made up for his embarrassing defeat by the three demons of Rikkai, finally he took the first step towards his uprising, finally he was going to kick-start his conquest of Rikkai tennis club… but he was wrong. Dead wrong. Kirihara soon found out that this was where hell really began.

First thing first, he found out something very unnerving. The girl he had been so rude to was called Yanagi Asaitsugi, and she was his senpai's cousin. As if that identity wasn't shocking enough when it stood alone – apparently, she was in that sort of relationship with Yukimura Seiichi, his beloved, fearsome and undoubtedly sadistic captain. Now that explained a lot of things, Kirihara thought wisely. So that was why his training regimen always got multiplied after every run-in he had with her. Kirihara made a mental note never to offend her again.

Next, training didn't lessen after he became a regular, but instead, it got multiplied tenfold. But that was just training so he could deal with it. Like what Renji remarked, Kirihara's resilience to physical training was probably his only redeeming quality.

But the final and most terrifying thing that came out of being a regular was this – Kirihara learnt about Rikkai Dai's academic demand on regulars. Regulars on the school team must maintain a passing grade for every subject. The word 'every' encompassed language subjects as well, and language was never Kirihara's forte. Should he screw up an English test, Sanada would smack him across the face, demand him to write five essays by the end of the week for him to check, and double his training – again. In indices, that would be 2 to the power of n, where n stood for the number of English tests he has taken thus far. Should he fail Japanese, Yukimura would beam lovingly at him, sending shivers up and down and back up again Kirihara's spine. Interestingly, it would seem that Yukimura's intangible 'punishment' worked better than Sanada's brutal methods, for Japanese was fast becoming Kirihara's second best subject. It was after all the harsh and merciless treatment from his senpai-tachi that Kirihara found out: Yanagi Asaitsugi was probably his only ticket to survival. (Though it could go either way depending on what he did, really.)

Kirihara may be naive, but he wasn't dumb, or at least, he'd like to believe that he was street-smart after all the time he spent loitering in the arcades. He knew that she wasn't very fond of him, but he also realized that she was someone who gave her forgiveness easily. It so happened that Kirihara overheard Tsugi's conversation with his Yanagi-senpai, and she suggested that they could try out soft measures on him instead of indiscriminately raising his training regimen. At that moment, Kirihara was thoroughly perturbed. He was well-aware that his behavior towards her had been less than pleasant, and he certainly wasn't expecting Tsugi of all people to speak up for him. Perhaps at that moment, Kirihara felt a trace of guilt nipping at him. (Kirihara was blissfully unaware that Tsugi only suggested an alternative method because she thought that physical punishment wasn't working. It really, really had nothing to do with compassion.)

So when Yukimura introduced her as his new English tutor after Yagyuu quit, Kirihara was —to the amazement of the rest of his team— awfully, awfully obedient. Even so, human nature cannot be changed overnight so bits and morsels of his true personality would leak out once in a while, irritating Tsugi and in turn earning himself more laps. Fortunately, just like how Kirihara was changing, Tsugi was changing too. While her mental capacity to endure him was limited when the tutorship just began, Kirihara could feel that she was slowly becoming more and more patient with him. As long as he treated her with the due respect, she was willing to help him with English, and even Yukimura-buchou and Yanagi-senpai's attitudes towards him changed as hers did.

Ha, nobody can resist the charms of Rikkai Dai tennis club's super rookie! Kirihara thought smugly.

"Akaya, perhaps you should stop daydreaming and continue with your homework?"

Tsugi's voice brought Kirihara back to reality. When he saw her looking at him with an exasperated smile and one hand rapping the table rhythmically, he quickly uttered, "yes, Tsugi-senpai!"

Tsugi took a deep breath, just… how did she get roped into tutoring Kirihara for English?

I thought I had some explanation to do in this chapter. The date might have seemed a bit weird, but I have my considerations. Tsugi is a conservative kind of girl so she doesn't feel comfortable revealing too much about herself – even if it's to a friend whom she considers rather close (and has some strange feelings towards). Yukimura – well, give the guy a break D: this is his first attempt at courting a girl so it's only inevitable that he makes mistakes. But Yukimura learns fast and he'll play his cards right. Yups this chapter is kinda short especially with the repeated contents, but I think it serves its purpose hehe :)