Author's note: People who reviewed were so sweet, I just couldn't help but type faster! This chapter is longer than normal, and reveals more about Yukiko. I know, it's not exactly the school life I promised, but that will come along one or two more chapters, I'll begin the Kanto Tournament. It'll be way longer than the Districts have been. So stay posted! BTW, guys...do you think Yukiko is too perfect? Give me your honest opinion. I swear, I didn't mean for her to come out like this! If you really do think so, I'll try to whip her back into shape. Alright, read, enjoy and review, please.
Yukiko was sitting on the park bench while Google pranced around the park, having the time of his life. Midnight was his favorite time. He was a bit of a loner, so it did perfectly alright for him to be alone, exploring the park like a curious adventurer.
She, like Google, was also perfectly fine with being by herself. After all, it meant less people gawking at her and whispering behind her back. She was never afraid of the dark anyway. Just then, her cellphone rang.
She flipped open her phone. "Hello? Who's this?"
"Spending too much time with hot guys? Have you already forgotten my sexy, sexy voice?"
"Oh, Shuu, how could I forget about you? You literally engraved yourself on me."
"Hey, I didn't mean to scratch you! My nails were just in that position! Now will you drop that already? That's ancient history!" Shuu protested.
"So, what's the deal? It's midnight, by the way. You could've caught me sleeping. What's up?" Yukiko gave a huge and loud yawn, just for the effect.
"Today's Friday. You always take Google out on Friday nights. I would've never caught you sleeping." Shuu pointed out.
"Are you gonna say what you called to say already? You've begun to bore me with your obnoxious voice."
"I think my sexy, sexy voice called to inform you that the owner of this sexy voice will be arriving at Kanagawa tomorrow, and that he would like to invite you on a sexy date."
"Is it your holiday again, Shuu? Your school is nice, you get all these privileges. Me? I've been stuck with its tennis team. Well, it's not bad, but I didn't want to get involved in competitive tennis again."
"There's no help for that. By the way, I heard that Rikkaidai's tennis team has extremely good-looking members. Too bad it's wasted on someone like you, who sadly cannot appreciate their physical hotness, just as you cannot appreciate mine."
"Your physical hotness just makes me really hot. Hot as in so-hot-I-need-to-release-it-by-punching-you hot."
"Back to the main focus, you want to visit them with me? C'mon, you know you want to. You haven't seen them in ages, especially him. They're all in Kanagawa, right?"
Yukiko grew hesitant. "I don't know, Shuu. I don't want to see him and remember that nothing has changed at all." Google had returned from his endeavor and must have sensed her uneasiness, because he set his chin on her lap. Yukiko patted him.
"Well, if you don't go see him, you won't know if it's better or not. You want to know, right? They say he's been doing well since last time. You know you want to see him. So go see him. He'll like that. He'll be happy that you decided to visit. It's been months since you last saw him."
"Yeah, well, I'll think about it. We can always go for coffee if it doesn't work out, right? I know an awesome parfait shop one of my upperclassmen introduced."
"Yuki-chan. Think about it. I seriously don't need another shopping spree in Akihabara just because your visit with him didn't work out. He needs you. And you need him. You two are inter-dependent. Just give it a try, Yuki-chan. He'll feel better knowing that you care."
"Of course I care!" A sigh. "Fine. I'll try."
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow's Saturday, so we have all day! Bye-bye, Yukiko!" The line clicked and went dead.
Oh, Lord. What had she done again?
Her doorbell had already rang ten times, but it really couldn't be helped, because Yukiko was still struggling to get her clothes on. Google, being the clever yet annoying guide dog, did his job and opened the door. A tall guy with with a wide smirk stood there. His white hair stood out obviously against his chocolate colored skin.
"Oh, don't bother hiding anything. It's not like I haven't seen them before." Shuu said in a bored tone, earning a menacing, blind glare that couldn't pierce his ego.
"Shut up and turn around! Face the door, and don't you dare look." Shuu chuckled but complied to her wishes.
When Yukiko was fully clothed, the two went down. There was already a black car waiting for them, courtesy of the condo's manager. They got in, and it sped off.
Yukiko started fidgeting halfway. Shuu smirked. "What? I didn't know you could get cold feet." Yukiko kicked him.
"You think we should bring flowers? He likes hydrangeas. Or maybe we should get them fruit? Though I doubt they'd be the one to eat them. Perhaps some new clothes. He seem to be wearing the same piece of filthy rag every time..."
Shuu interrupted. "We can get those later. We're on a schedule."
"Then we'll stop by the florist. We need flowers one way or another. Driver-san, stop the car at the next corner. We're getting off."
Much to his dismay, the driver actually stopped. Yukiko jumped off the car, grabbed her cane, and dashed off into the crowd. Shuu trudged behind her unwillingly, shoving a pair of dark shades on warily as they weaved through the crowd.
"This is a really big shop," Shuu complained.
"Shut up and go ask the florist for hydrangeas." And with that, Yukiko pushed the whited-haired boy away, only to bump into someone else.
"Oops, sorry..." She frowned. She recognized this smell. "Mint-chan! Is it you? Oh, and I can hear Robot-chan's mumbling a few feet away."
"Oh, Yukiko-chan? Why are you here?" Marui asked.
"Buying flowers, duh. Is it just you and Robot-chan?"
"No, Mura-buchou is upstairs looking at some rarer species. Sanada-fukubuchou is more interested in the tropical plants and is at the next store. Jackal's paying."
Just then, Shuu reappeared from nowhere, sneezing like crazy. "Oi, Yukiko, I got you your stupid hydrangeas. My allergies are killing me, can we leave now please? You know how I hate pollen-" He caught sight of Marui and Yanagi, and sneezed again. "Oh. You know them?"
"I coach them. So, I'll see you guys on Monday." Yukiko waved at them and left with Shuu. Yukimura came down just as the two left.
"Look at this, Renji, they've got poisoned ivy here! Renji? Marui?" Yanagi twisted so fast it wasn't humanly possibly, and his eyes were shining so enthusiastically that made you want to shrink away.
"Ninety percent that it is a date. Seiichi, come with me. We have to confirm the remaining ten percent. This will be good data." Yanagi insisted as he dragged Yukimura and his poisoned ivy after Shuu and Yukiko.
Shuu and Yukiko arrived at a tall white building. The sign said Kanagawa Hospital for the Sick and Injured. Yukiko had been frowning since they left the florist's and kept stopping at intervals.
"What's wrong with you?" Shuu finally cracked. "Is there something with the stupid flowers?"
"No, you insensible nut. You mean you can't hear that?" Yukiko demanded.
"Well, sorry, I don't. Not everyone has your amazing sense of creativity of imagining non-existent sounds in your mind."
Yukiko chose to ignore that comment. "It's there. Something's there, and I know it knows I know. It's kinda like a murmur, but I'm not sure. It's always behind, almost as if it's not there. But I know it in my gut."
Shuu rolled his eyes and dragged her into the building, muttering something like 'blind people and their stupid instincts, wasting broad daylight.'
Two shadows behind a tree relaxed. One of them put a hand over his heart.
"That was probably the nearest I could ever come to a heart attack. Renji, are you not afraid at all?" Yukimura wiped a handful of cold sweat from his brow.
The other boy, of course, scribbling at a ridiculous speed, did not listen. "No venture, no gain, Seiichi. This data will be immensely useful."
"Renji, you are aware that if we get caught, we will not have a chance to use that data, yes?"
"As I said, no venture, no gain. Do not worry, I have a strategy in case we get caught." Yanagi finally closed his notebook. "By the way, Seiichi, please put down the potted plant. I am sure hospitals do not allow poisoned ivy in their premises." Yukimura put his plant down dejectedly. This was going to be a long day.
To Yukimura's surprise, they actually made it quite far. Yanagi had bluffed his way through nurses and doctors skillfully, and the two ended up in front of a private hospital room, with golden italics on the label: Oshitari Sho
"Oshitari... Isn't he one of Hyotei's players?" Yukimura scratched his chin.
"That would be Oshitari Yuushi. But, this Oshitari Sho, he seems to be someone of relation to Oshitari Yuushi." Yanagi mused.
"Eh? Why? There could be plenty of other people called Oshitari. Perhaps this is a fateful coincidence." Yukimura asked, confused.
"Seiichi, this is level nine, the VIP level. This patient must be of somewhat importance to be able to have a room here. And look at the door. Do you see any other rooms with golden labels? This must be a premium VIP private room. Only the most important people may use this room... and it just so happens that the Oshitari Corporations is the founder and current owner of the Kanagawa Institute." Yanagi flipped expertly through his notebook as he replied.
Just then, something made them jump out if their skins. "Um... People without a pass cannot be on this level." A nurse had discovered them and was eyeing them with suspicion.
"We are waiting for our friends to be done with their visit. It seemed to be private, so we told them we'd wait out here." Yanagi lied smoothly.
"Perhaps you could wait downstairs? This is a restricted area." The nurse tried again. At this moment, Yukiura pushed Yanagi aside gently, and flashed a golden smile. Pheromones poured out like a fountain. The nurse swooned.
"My dear... Akemi-san," Yukimura spied the small tag on the nurse's shirt. "Our friends are in the room, and they are greatly distressed by their...acquaintance's condition. I'm afraid they may require moral support when they exit the room. Would you deny such poor people their pillars of support?" He smiled winningly again, and this time the nurse nearly fainted. Her face could compare to that of an apple, and she didn't seem focused on the main topic at all.
"Oh, whatever you wish, my handsome prince... No... don't look at me, my makeup is all smeared... I'm not worthy of your favor, I'm too ugly..." Then, the nurse clutched her face and ran off screaming, "I MET AN ANGEL!"
Yanagi raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."
Yukimura smiled, locking up his fountain of pheromones. "Not as good as you."
After the scene with the nurse, Yanagi produced a bag from nowhere and dug out all sorts of weird items, like, mini cameras, recording devices and spy technology. He produced a weird looking cube triumphantly.
"My greatest achievement, the RenjiCube. This combines a listening device and a recording device, perfect for situations like this." Yanagi pressed a button, and connected a few wires, and flipped another switch. Then he pressed it against the the door and smiled.
"Perfect. It works. Seiichi, do you think you can do the shiny thing again? In case anyone comes?" He asked.
"I can do it a few more times, but it consumes a lot of energy." Yukimura said, as if he were talking about a tennis move. "I think it works on males as well."
"We should leave that as our last resort then. I'll stand guard, and you can listen. Remember to jot down notes." Yanagi thrust him the headphones and the RenjiCube.
The RenjiCube worked okay, but the people talked so softly it was impossible to distinguish the voices. Seiichi could only listen to their conversation to put a name to different voices.
"I'll put the hydrangeas by your bed, Sho. I know you like them."
"Thanks, Yuki-chan." If this was Sho, then the one who'd just spoken must be Yukiko.
"You see, I've been forced to babysit some extra-large babies lately. They're cute, but I didn't want to be involved in competitive tennis again. You know, after what happened with you, I don't think I'll ever play tennis seriously again."
"Yuki-chan-"
"I met a really nice girl. I think, in a sense, she's kind of like me. Except that she's a thousand times stronger. I tell people I've faced my past, I lie. Sometimes there're things you can never put behind, things that won't be healed, things that will never ever truly go away, forever like a ghost of a nightmare, standing at the edge of the cliff."
There was a silence. Yukimura tapped the headphones to make sure they were still working.
"Shuu, I'm done. You can talk to Sho now." Was it just the speakers, or did Yukiko sound a bit sad?
"Hey bro, things are doing pretty well with me. I think it's the similar situation with me. I find myself playing tennis in a sort of detached way. Yeah, I still enjoy it, but I can't bring myself to take it seriously. Not after you." This was Shuu, he supposed?
"Shuu, I'm sorry..." He guessed this must be Sho who replied, but he honestly couldn't be sure, with the not-so-good reception.
"It's not anyone's fault. I've already rejected five offers to go pro. I still go to camp every holiday, but I don't go to those overseas tour with the others. Camp is...nice. It's funny watching different newbies die a little every day. It reminds me of how we were back then, eh, Sho?"
"Oh, shut up." There was a short laughter and a small pause.
"Yuki-chan, your turn again." This was must be Sho again, addressing Yukiko with the same 'Yuki-chan' endearment. If Seiichi called Yukiko 'Yuki-chan', she'd probably bite his ten fingers off.
"Well, Grandpa's doing fine. A little too fine. He gives me a five-hour lecture every time I call to check up with him. That old man's got a set of amazing lungs, I tell you. He was the one who signed me up for Rikkaidai, without my consent, mind you. He's got a will harder than steel and iron. I miss him, sometimes. But you know where he lives. It's not easy for me to go visit him whenever I want." A smug tone slipped into the voice. "But Shuu adores him, don't you, Shuu?"
"I DO NOT ADORE THAT MURDERER. HE'S A BASTARD-" Seiichi winced at the sudden escalation of voices.
"Just give it a rest, Shuu. You love him, and you can't deny it." He'd recognize that cheeky tone anywhere.
"I DO NOT-"
"Why don't you shut up and let the genius talk? Sho, ignore this retard please."
"Yuki-chan, that's cruel."
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
Just then, Yukimura felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, surprised, he found himself facing Yanagi with a grim look on his face. Standing in front of them were an army of doctors and nurses, staring at them with the most peculiar look on their faces.