Chapter Ten: Distractions
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the concept of Angelic Layer. CLAMP owns that part. However all new characters and the plot belongs to me.
A/N: Yay! Here we are at chapter ten! Finally. This is the longest fanfiction I've actually managed to keep updating without letting it sink into the depths of an infinite hiatus. There's still a long long long ways to go. I really like the first part of this chapter with Brooke, Jacques, and Renjiro. I think maybe it's because Aya's not there (read below to find out why) and so for a little bit it's just Brooke and Jacques (and Renjiro) talking. At least in the parts I'm writing the two of them don't hang out together alone too often. It's a bit of a change so I think that's why I like it. Plus I get to dig deeper into Brooke's romantic feelings.
I'm going to point out that the bolded sentences you see in this chapter are different from chapter nine. In the last chapter the bolded words meant they were speaking in English. When Jacques reads the text message he is translating the words from English into Japanese. The words are bolded to show the difference between the English text message and his own words. Originally I had Renjiro knowing how to speak English. However, when I wrote chapter nine I decided to have Jacques know how to speak it as well. When I got here I felt that two characters knowing almost perfect English was too much. So I decided to change around the way the whole scenario worked out, and I like it better this way.
This chapter is kind of a filler chapter. It's much shorter and not too much happens. Mostly character introductions. It's going to help me get to where I need to be to set up the future chapters. My favorite character from the five new girls introduced would be the co-captain. If I could I would write a story all about her. Too bad she doesn't play Angelic Layer. Sora you asked me what Brooke's school uniform looked like (and if Aya was from the anime/manga. She's an original character I created). I had previously drawn the school's tennis uniform for the girl regulars, so I added a quick sketch to the right. To top it off I added an even quicker sketch below that of Brooke's old uniform at her school back in London. It was private as well so it's got to have a uniform. I like her new one much better. For the record I used a reference when I drew the Brooke on the left. Well, I wouldn't call her Brooke because she doesn't look like the Brooke in my head. I can't draw the faces very well to match what I want them to look like, so most of my drawings have no faces. They're all like mannequins. You can stick whatever expressions you want on them. To find the picture I'm talking about go to photobucket and look up my account EijiCute. You'll find a scanned picture in the album 'Random'. That's where it'll have Brooke's uniforms and more information.
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"Geez what a day." Aya sighed as she walked into the room and sat down next to Brooke, "Rather disappointing."
"How so?" Jacques questioned. Aya folded her legs on the couch and held a pillow to her chest.
"Nothing was accomplished. I lost the match, and Jacques-kun you would've as well. Oh you know it!" she told him as he opened his mouth to try and deny it, "I really wanted you to take up the offer Brooke-chan, but I guess the whole thing was useless."
"No it wasn't." Brooke replied truthfully. Aya and Jacques looked at her. Brooke turned her head towards the ceiling and thought strongly for a moment. Finally when she was done, she looked back at them.
"Playing with you two was fun, and it showed me how much I miss playing. Plus I felt really powerful when I got those last few serves so fast. I've never been able to do them so well. I liked it. I think, maybe, I might take up Megumi-chan's offer." Brooke smiled at Aya.
"Really?" Aya asked cheerfully. Brooke nodded.
"However, I am also kind of cold. I also think if maybe you made up some hot chocolate I will take up the offer." she continued. Aya didn't say anything, but jumped up from the couch and rushed into the kitchen. Brooke and Jacques laughed a little and started talking about their tennis match, ignoring the noise outside.
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Brooke sat down comfortably in her seat the following Monday. It had been a rather good weekend. She had had her next match on Saturday. It had been very tough, and at one point she was very scared that she was going to lose. In fact she almost did. It was another tense moment like the match against Verde. At the last second she had pulled through. Aya, Jacques, and Renjiro also continued onto the next round, even though Renjiro had not been in school Thursday or Friday. Brooke had a bad feeling that soon she, or Jacques or Aya was going to have to face one of the others. It had to happen at some point if they all kept winning like this.
That thought was far from her mind as she stared out the window. Right now she had something else to focus on. Brooke had promised Aya she would talk to Megumi today about accepting her offer to join the tennis team. Brooke was really excited, but also nervous. She hadn't seen the team play, and wasn't sure how good they were. According to what Aya told her, they all played about as well as she did. Brooke wondered why they needed her then. If they were all that good, her joining the team would be like adding just another number.
Brooke laid her head against the desk and closed her eyes. She was tired this morning, and the seat was comfy. If school wasn't going to start soon she would've liked to have fallen asleep. Soon after she closed her eyes she felt the movement and heard the noise of Renjiro sitting down in front of her. Like normal he ignored her, and she decided it would be best not to say anything to him. She sat there quietly and listened to him getting his things out. Brooke always wondered how he was able to keep missing so many days of school. He never seemed sick, so she assumed it was something to do with his cousin.
Brooke yawned and opened her eyes. As she did the desk started to vibrate. She found this strange, and then remembered she had put her cell phone on her desk. Why? She wasn't sure. Maybe it was because she was hoping Aya would text her. She had called early that morning to let Brooke know she was sick and wouldn't need a ride to school. Brooke had texted her later on wishing she felt better. Brooke sat up and opened the phone, expecting to meet Aya's picture. The one she met, however, was the opposite of what she thought she was going to see.
It was a face she hadn't seen in a long time, or one she thought she wouldn't see again. Hesitantly Brooke opened up the message and read it. As she did a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. She read the words slowly, not wanting to believe what they were saying. Brooke had never imagined that anything like this would happen. Brooke put the open phone back on the desk, and just stared. Her mind ran blank. How in the world was she supposed to answer back? It had been many months since then. The two of them hadn't talked. What was she supposed to do?
"Hey Brooke-chan. What's up?" a pat on the back followed the question. Jacques had arrived and occupied Aya's empty seat. Brooke sat up and took a second to look at him before she turned her head back towards the phone. Jacques instantly noticed something was wrong.
"You aren't sick as well are you? Did you catch it from Aya maybe? Your face is all red." he pointed out. He shifted to put his hand on Brooke's forehead. As soon as his hand touched her skin she blushed a little harder. Brooke gently took his hand and pushed it away. She shook her head slowly and looked up at him.
"No I'm not sick, it's just…well…I don't know how to explain it…" she trailed off. Jacques looked at her curiously and sat back down. Brooke opened her mouth to try and explain the situation again, but she was interrupted by an unexpected voice.
"What's this? I can't understand a word of it. This is English isn't it?" Renjiro spoke. He had turned around and picked up Brooke's phone without either her of Jacques noticing. Her blood ran cold like ice. He was holding it by the top with only his thumb and forefinger. Any other time Brooke would've been worried he would drop it. Now she was worried about the fact he was trying to read it. She had never been happier he couldn't read English.
"Don't touch that! It's not yours!" Jacques scolded him loudly and snatched the phone out of his hand. Renjiro didn't say anything but gave a little "humpf." Brooke felt better. Yet now Jacques had the phone and he was able to read English decently enough. He would at least be able to generally understand what it meant.
"This isn't from Aya? Let's see, it says: "From Brandon. Hey, long time no speak" oh wait "talk. Guess what? My—" that word's dad right? "My dad is being sent on a business trip, and it's around your area. I know we haven't speaken" oh no, that's spoken I think "in some time, but I'd like to get together and hang out. We leave in a week, and are staying for two. Hopefully see you then." That's basically what it says right Brooke-chan?" Jacques asked her, looking up from the message. Brooke was horrified.
"Why'd you read it out loud?!" Brooke asked him in a dismayed whisper. Jacques looked at her in a confused way again. Then he realized Renjiro had been listening to the whole thing.
"Ah sorry." Jacques apologized softly.
"So who's Brandon?" Renjiro asked Brooke in a teasing manner. Brooke closed her eyes again. She was horribly embarrassed.
"He's only a friend from England. Nothing more." Brooke answered as she took her phone back from Jacques. She got out of the text and closed the phone. She made sure she buried it deep into her bag. No one else but her was going to touch it from now on.
"Just a friend? Ha! He's just as much a friend as I'm a green elephant with four trunks." Renjiro continued on. No matter how horrible Renjiro acted, Brooke had learnt you were never able to get anything past him. It didn't help that she couldn't stop her heart from pounding and her face from holding onto that slight blush. Why did Brandon want to see her anyway? She had basically told him she never wanted to speak or look at him again. They hadn't either, until now.
"Isn't he the one you mention to Aya-chan from time to time? Come to think about it you never talk to me about him." Jacques piped in.
"Jacques- kun just don't say anything please." Brooke pleaded with him. Brooke had a feeling whatever he would say would give Renjiro the wrong impression.
"That's because it's obvious he's her boyfriend Frenchie. That's a girl thing. She's not going to talk to you about him." Yup. He definitely had the wrong impression, although Brooke assumed he was just trying to mess with her.
"Eh? You have a boyfriend Brooke-chan? I get that it's a girl thing, but you could've told me." Jacques said indignantly.
"No! He's not my boyfriend! Not at all! I haven't even spoken to him since I moved here." she protested to Jacques, but also turned towards Renjiro to show she was telling him this too. Renjiro shrugged and rested his arm on the back of his chair.
"Yeah yeah. Even if he isn't your boyfriend it's still pretty obvious that you like him. Otherwise you wouldn't be getting so flustered now would you? If you don't want anyone to figure it out stop acting like you are. I can read you like a book."
"So you do like someone Brooke-chan. If you like him and you haven't spoken to him since you moved this is the perfect opportunity. While he's here you should tell him."
"Jacques-kun please." Brooke whispered feebly. She had no idea what to say anymore. If she did admit that she still liked Brandon, Renjiro wouldn't let her hear the end of it. Even if she stayed quiet like now it was easy to see that would happen anyway. She found it easier to stay quiet.
"For once the idiot is speaking some sense. If this brat's going to come all the way out here with his father on a business trip he must really want to see you."
"Right, and when you tell him how you feel even if things go wrong it's alright. He'd be going back to London anyway so you wouldn't have to worry." Jacques added.
"Why are you still talking? I told you to stop speaking, didn't I?!" Brooke told him in desperation. Jacques finally seemed to have gotten the message and closed his mouth. He recognized what he had been doing and looked guilty. She waited for Renjiro to continue on. To her great relief the teacher walked in and quieted those who were still speaking. Jacques walked over to his seat quietly. Renjiro turned around, but he had a small smirk on his face and was chuckling to himself.
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"Ahahaha! So he still didn't shut up after that?" Aya's voice laughed through the phone. The long school day had finally ended and Brooke was leaning against the side of the building. She had finally gotten a message from Aya that had said she was already feeling much better. Brooke was waiting for Megumi to show up so had called her friend to tell her about the mortifying two minutes before class.
"I don't think it's funny. He made the whole thing worse! Now because of Suzushima-san I have no clue what to do either." Brooke sighed dejectedly.
"What do you mean? What do you have to do?" Aya asked.
"Well you know I still like him. I thought I'd be over him by now with him being so far away, and because I was basically rejected. I can't help still feeling something for him. Should I tell him how I feel so he can reject me properly and then I can get on with my life? Oh but what if he accepts my how I feel? Then I'm going to have to deal with a long distance relationship, and I'm already taking on another big thing here! Then there's the option of not telling him at all and leaving everything like it is! I don't know what I should do!" Brooke whined in distress. She slumped her shoulders forward and looked at the ground. There was silence on the other end.
"First off we should wait until he actually gets here. Spend a bit of time thinking about it before you jump to a rapid conclusion of what you should do. Ignore Suzushima-san and Jacques-kun. Think about what would be best for you." Aya eventually told her. It was out-of-the-textbook advice, but for that moment, it helped Brooke calm down.
"You're right. Thanks. I'll talk to you later, and feel better." Brooke finished.
"Yup." Aya said before there was a click noise and Brooke snapped her phone shut.
"Umh, excuse me?" a voice called from next to her. Quite close next to her too. Brooke let out a cry of surprise and jumped a little away form the noise. When she looked over she realized it was Megumi. The light brown haired girl looked just as surprised as Brooke did.
"I-I'm sorry, but you're Brooke-chan right?" she spoke a bit hesitantly.
"Ah yeah. Sorry about that. You just startled me when you appeared so suddenly, but moving on past that. I have something more important to talk to you about."
"About you joining the team." Megumi added on.
"Right."
"You've come to your decision?"
"Yes. I gave it a lot of thought. My friends even tried to convince me by winning a game against me, but—" she took a second to pause to watch the disappointment spread across Megumi's face. Brooke smiled.
"But they failed miserably. Still it got me thinking even more. I haven't been playing tennis recently and I've missed it. It'll cut into my Angelic Layer time, but I figure that'll be alright. I like playing tennis more, and if you'll let me I'd love to be on the team."
"Of course of course! I'm so glad Brooke-chan! This is great! Hey, practice will be starting soon and the other regular members will be there already. You probably haven't met all of them already. Come on!" Megumi said all in one breath. She grabbed Brooke's hand and started pulling her along to the school's tennis court.
"Wa-wait a moment!" Brooke called out behind her. Megumi continued to pull her along.
"Don't worry. You won't have to come to practice this week. Just spend a couple minutes getting to know the others. Then you can leave. Of course I expect to see you at the rest of this week's practices. Regulars come early. We'll have to get you our uniform too."
"R-right?" Brooke agreed. Aya had told her Megumi was quiet and timid. She had been at the beginning, but as soon as they had gotten onto tennis Brooke hadn't seen any of it. Could a person's personality differ that much? She then proceeded to let Megumi pull her along to the tennis courts. She wasn't sure who was on the team that she knew. Brooke had other friends besides Aya and Jacques, but none of them were on the team.
As they got closer, Brooke saw five girls in the same practice uniform on the court while other girls were starting to head into a small building nearby. Brooke assumed it was the team's locker room. Brooke stared as closely as she could at the ones on the court. She thought she recognized a few of them. Megumi let go of her hand now, and Brooke followed her silently onto the court. The five girls had stopped warming up and stood in a line. That made Brooke's nerves jump. Once she was inside the court she stood next to Megumi. Brooke glanced from each girl nervously. She knew three of the girls' faces, but not names. The girl on her far right gave her a wink. Wait, she was in Brooke's class wasn't she? Megumi clapped her hands.
"Okay girls. This is who I was telling you about, Brooke Miyoko-chan. She'll be joining our regular team. You might already know each other, but I figured official introductions would be good. Brooke-chan we'll start with you." she gave her a smile and turned her head towards her. Brooke gulped and took a small breath.
"Um, I'm Brooke, obviously. Ah, I was born in London, and moved here a bit before the school year. I've been playing tennis since I was four, and was captain back at my old private school. I hope we all get along well." Brooke said to the best of her abilities. Her voice got more confident as she went along, but she hadn't been sure what to say. She turned to Megumi for a sign of encouragement. Megumi nodded and faced the others.
"Thanks Brooke-chan. Let's start from your left." she told them. The girl who had winked at Brooke was up first. She had her brown hair tied in a ponytail, but wisps of hair were already starting to fall out. When her light green eyes met Brooke's she smiled.
"My name's Yukie Takaoka. Third year. Co-captain of this fine team, and have been since last year. I've been playing since I was six, and I've been to see the Australian Open." Yukie spoke cheerfully. Brooke recognized her now. She was the girl who sat in front of Jacques. Brooke wondered how she hadn't seen it sooner. Yukie looked to the girl next to her. She had toffee color hair and brown eyes.
"Name's Aoi Yuhara. Third year. Like the rest of the regulars here I've been on the regular team since my first year. I've also been playing since I was six, but unlike Yukie-chan I haven't been able to personally see any of the Grand Slam. She likes to brag about it, and the fact that she's the only left handed player on the regulars. Says left handed players are better." Aoi folded her arms and looked at Yukie. Yukie stuck her tongue out at her.
"I'm left handed." Brooke mentioned. Yukie looked at her.
"You kidding?" she asked like she couldn't believe it.
"No." Brooke, glancing around like she had done something wrong. She had never thought about left handers being better. She didn't think it was true.
"Well, have you been to any of the Grand Slam?" Yukie asked in the same tone.
"I've been to Wimbledon twice. I saw it the first time when I was four, and it's what got me to start playing." Brooke explained.
"Gah!" Yukie exclaimed, yet Brooke had a feeling she just liked making a scene. She had a feeling that Yukie didn't mind either way.
"Okay okay! It's not a competition. Next please." Megumi clapped her hands once more. The attention shifted to the girl in the middle with raven black hair tied in pigtails. She was the tallest, but her gray eyes kept avoiding Brooke's gaze.
"Um, I'm Hanae Ina. Third year. I've been playing since I was nine. I play doubles with Aoi-chan." she mumbled quietly.
"Oh come on Hana-chan! Don't be so nervous!" Aoi patted her on the back. Hanae looked at the ground.
"Kagami Kajiwara." the next girl started suddenly. Her grayish-brown hair covered her face slightly when the wind blew, but Brooke could still see her dark brown eyes staring straight at her. Brooke would've liked to hear more from Hanae.
"Second year. I play doubles with Ayaka-san. I started playing when I was five, but stopped when I was ten. I picked it back up at twelve. I'm going to be captain next year." she finished with a finality that it took even Megumi a second to find something to say.
"As I must tell you again Kagami-chan, that's still my decision to make. If you keep playing like you have been, it's possible, but let's get through this year first 'kay?" Megumi clasped her hands. She met silence and an unnerving stare. "A-alright. Last, Ayaka-chan?"
"My name is Ayaka Ezakiya, and I'm a second year. I'm also Kagami-san's doubles partner as she mentioned. I've been playing tennis since I was seven. And— " the last girl with long, light brown hair and deep green eyes started, "I don't get why you're here."
"Excuse me?" Brooke asked.
"I'm sorry. I just don't see how it's fair that you've made the regular team without trying out. We all had to try out."
"Ayaka-chan, Yukie-chan and I have the ability to draft members when we see it necessary. Yukie-chan spotted her at the beginning of the year, and we've been discussing it since." Megumi explained with an exhausted look on her face. It seems this topic had been brought up many times. "Brooke-chan is just as good as any of us and we need her. That's why she's here."
"If you say so. However, she had not proven her worth to me yet. Until she does I'm not going to fully accept her." Ayaka folded her arms.
"Ayaka-chan…" Yukie started.
"It's alright. She's right, and I agree with her." Brooke said before tensions really began to rise.
"In some weird way I see Ayaka-chan's point. So Brooke-chan let's play so we can get this whole thing out of the way. We'll prove you're supposed to be here!" Aoi cheered. Brooke instantly felt bad.
"I would, but I can't." Brooke said apologetically. A curl appeared on the corner of Ayaka's mouth.
"I already have something else to do. I didn't even know Megumi-chan was going to bring me here. I don't even have my rackets or anything."
"You guys can play all you want on Wednesday. We need to start practicing now. The rest of the girls are almost ready." Megumi added. They all looked over at the small building and a good number of girls were milling around in practice uniforms, waiting. Brooke noticed they were different from the regular's uniform.
"Sounds good then. Brooke-chan we'll see you on Wednesday then." Aoi spoke happily. Brooke nodded, said her goodbyes, and left as quickly as possible. Things hadn't gone too horrible, but she had felt slightly suffocated. She rushed back to where she had been before and got the things she hadn't been able to pick up previously.
In record time she made it to Piffle. Brooke sat down with a sigh and slumped in the chair. She took Kura out and gave her a toss on the layer from her current positions. Brooke went through her normal routines. She still wanted to learn some new moves. Neither Aya, Jacques, or Aimee could accompany her today. Conan wasn't even working. She thought she saw Renjiro practicing in the corner, but for once it wasn't him. Even when he wasn't there he still saw him. This was occurring much more frequently. Maybe she was becoming paranoid.
She looked out the window. The weather had been good since the last storm left. It was warmer than it had been. This meant the colder weather would hit harder and suddenly. At least the real official tennis matches wouldn't start to spring. For now it would just be practices and warm up matches. Brooke was looking forward to it, but hoped for a nice and long winter. Winter in a new country. Brooke wondered what it would be like. Definitely different from what it was like back in London. London— home. Home— Brandon. Brandon. He was coming to see her in a week. Kura stopped moving in mid jump and fell onto the layer and didn't move an inch. Brooke didn't feel like playing Angelic Layer at the moment.