Just Another Story

Ramblings: Thanks for all the reviews! Attention all Fujima fans…

YES- He and Saemi WILL be a couple. (yup, yup)

Actually, I'm planning on being mean to Rukawa

I love Fujima too, so I certainly don't want him to turn out bad… : )

I'm planning on a Fujima fic, to make it up for him. And yes, it has an OC. Wait for it, okay? Love you guys… : )

Disclaimer.

Eleven

Sendoh grinned to himself as he entered his house and continued all the way up to Saemi's room. He barged in like he usually did and found her—well, duh, watching TV.

"Saemi-chan, I've got something to show you." He said, taking out a large pink and purple envelope from his pocket.

"What…" She murmured, flipping to another channel. Sendoh sat down beside her.

"THIS certain letter came from a certain best friend."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Saemi was already on top of him.

"AHHH!! Gimme, gimme, gimme!!!!!!"

Sendoh laughed as his sister grabbed the letter and ripped it open eagerly. He thought it was natural since the two girls had barely spoken to each other for a year.

"Kai-chan says to come to her house next Saturday for her birthday." Saemi said, reading the letter excitedly. "She just came back from the States and she's studying here for 2nd year!!!"

"Where's she studying?" Sendoh asked, reading over her shoulder.

"Shohoku." Saemi answered, disappointed.

"That's ok. You're *boyfriend* can send you home." He smiled.

She smiled too and sat down on the bed next to her brother. "Well, I'll have to call Kae-chan Kaede since Kaiyuki-chan's coming. Or I have to invent a new nickname for Kai-chan."

"Ha! Shohoku'll be going down this year since I'm captain of Ryonan."

"You can start training by deflating your egotistic windbag." Saemi laughed.

"Not funny." He said, looking at the wall clock in Saemi's room. "Oh yeah, Maki is coming over a little later for some b-ball."

"What's new?" His sister asked, placing the letter in her drawer.

"Nothing. Anyway, he's going to that university with your friends. The one with the glasses and the three pointer guy."

"Oh, Mitsui and Kogure."

"Uh huh. They should cause quite a stir in the basketball world of university."

"How about Fujima?"

"He's going to this exclusive college or something. You know him, he's got the brains and all."

"Oh. So you're the only one left in High School."

"Yup. And you. And your Kaede or whatever you call him."

"And Kaiyuki-chan."

"And her."

"Kaiyuki's coming back?" Maki asked, entering Saemi's room.

"Yes." Saemi answered, smiling.

"Oh, great. The prankster's revival." He said, sighing.

Kaiyuki was a practical joker and her usual victim was Maki. She said she liked the way he turned red whenever she played a trick on him. She tried with Sendoh, but they all don't work on him.

"I wonder if she's grown? She was really cute when she was still here." Sendoh said.

"Yeah, she always looks like a movie star. But she sure doesn't act like one." Maki said. Sendoh nodded his head in agreement.

"I can't wait to see her again." Saemi piped up.

"Yeah, and you'd better see her everyday. You only have three weeks until school starts." Maki said.

"Don't remind me." Sendoh groaned.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. You know that play we did last year? We're gonna do it again since the people loved it or whatever." Saemi said. "For charity this time."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"We'll watch again."

"Okay. Kae-chan will still be the prince."

"Duh."

Saemi smiled.

"Anyway, I'm going over to Haruko's. She's organizing a party for the graduating people of the Shohoku basketball team."

"Okay." Sendoh said.

"Be home before ten." Maki added.

"Maki!" Sendoh complained. "She's old enough!"

"I'm just saying."

"Bye, guys." Saemi said, grabbing her backpack and exiting the room.

*

"Saemi-kun! Come on in!" Haruko stepped aside and Saemi entered the Akagi house.

"Hello, Haruko." She said, smiling.

The brunette smiled in return and they went up to her room together.

"How are you and Rukawa-kun?" She asked timidly as Saemi opened the door and gestured for her to go in first. She noticed that her friend was blushing when she asked the question.

"So you still like him, huh?" Saemi asked quietly, looking away.

Haruko turned red. "A bit. But don't worry about it." She shook her head.

Saemi forced a smile and sat on the floor next to Ryota.

"Saemi-neko!" He said when she sat down next to him.

"What is this? Continuing the legacy of Mitsui-inu?" Saemi joked.

"Hai!!!!"

"Thank God I'm not going to Shohoku this year, then." She smiled.

Ryota pretended to be hurt, and then Ayako entered the room.

"Aya-chan!" Ryota said happily.

"Hello! Glad to see you all." She also sat down on the floor.

"The party's next Friday." Haruko said. "At my house. I've already got everything. Just invite as many people as you can."

"Sure."

"For now, let's have our own party!" Fuji and Matsui (hah! I know the name! I think) entered with boxes of pizza.

They had a great time talking and laughing and eating and just being together. The mini party stretched on for hours and at ten Maki came over with Sendoh to pick Saemi up.

"I TOLD you to go home before ten." He yelled over the loud music.

"Sorry." Saemi said sheepishly as Sendoh rolled his eyes.

"Rukawa called." Her brother said. "Said something I couldn't understand."

"Okay." Saemi said. She went back in to say goodbye and left with the two basketball players.

*

(Friday afternoon, before the party)

"What are you doing later, Yuki-chan?" Saemi asked, watching closely as the spider on TV spun a web. She flipped the channel lazily.

"Nothing. I was thinking of inviting you to go to the movies, but there's nothing good to watch."

"Oh, I see. Maybe you could go to a party with me." Saemi said.

"Okay." Kaiyuki answered, brushing her golden curls slowly. "Is your boyfriend coming? I'd like to meet him."

"You know him. That guy in junior high, the one who always sleeps?"

"Him?!" Kaiyuki dropped her brush in surprise. "That cute guy who couldn't look at a girl without rolling his eyes? HOW did you do it?"

Saemi laughed and told her the story.

"Wow, that's so sweet. It sounds like something you watch in the movies, with the rain and all." She laughed, too.

"Uh huh. We're meeting at the party. I'll introduce you to him."

"You're so lucky, Saem. You have a guy already and I still don't." She frowned.

"Why? You're very beautiful and intelligent and a lot of guys are courting you."

"Maybe. But I just can't seem to find someone who's perfect."

Saemi thought about it. "Maybe you'll meet someone at the party."

"Maybe."

The girls changed and got ready, and then Kaiyuki asked her chauffer to drive them to Haruko's house. Kaiyuki was extremely wealthy because she was the only daughter of a well known businessman.

The party had already started when they got there, and Saemi saw a lot of familiar faces. Rukawa pulled her aside and gave her a little smile.

"Hey, you're smiling." She said, giving him a kiss. Kaiyuki approached them and grinned.

"Why, hello there, Kaede-kun."

He turned to her and didn't say anything. They knew each other well, with Rukawa being one of those I-hate-girls boys and Kaiyuki being one of those I-hate-boys girls back then.

Saemi smiled at both of them. "Is it okay if I introduce Yuki-chan to our friends first, Kae-chan?"

"Ah," He said. He released her hand and went over to Sendoh and Maki, who were attempting to destroy someone else's life by putting Tabasco on one of the juice glasses.

Saemi and Kaiyuki walked together to the buffet table. Saemi proceeded eating to her heart's content while Kaiyuki watched. Saemi introduced her to her friends as they went over to get their own snacks.

A few minutes later, Saemi heard the familiar irritating voice of Mitsui calling her.

"Saemi-neko!" He said, grinning. He strode over to her with Kogure.

"Mitsui." Kaiyuki said, surprised. Mitsui looked at her with wide eyes.

Both of them just stared at each other, shocked. And then they laughed.

"As you already know, that's Mitsuinu. This is Kogure." Saemi said.

"Um, hi." Kogure said shyly.

"Hello." Kaiyuki managed to tear her eyes off Mitsui and smiled at Kogure.

*

Kogure felt as if he was melting. What was this feeling? When Kaiyuki smiled at him, he felt warm all over and a little dizzy.

Mitsui and Kaiyuki were talking, and Saemi was eating again. Kogure asked himself whether he would ask Kaiyuki to dance or not.

'Maybe later.' He thought, watching her as she threw back her golden curls and laughed. Mitsui had apparently asked her to dance because he led her to the dance floor a few seconds later.

'But what's her relation with Mitsui?' He thought to himself. Maybe they were just friends. Yeah, that was it. Just friends.

Then why did she look so comfortable in his arms?

Kogure tried to look away but couldn't. He contented himself instead to thinking about asking Saemi to dance, but changed his mind because Rukawa might kill him.

'Why am I so bad at this?' He thought to himself, sighing.

*

Kaiyuki looked at Mitsui's face and smiled. He looked better now that he wasn't a gangster anymore. She remembered the night they first met, last summer, and how they became friends…

~Flashback~

Kaiyuki walked cautiously into the dark night, clutching her bright orange school bag to her chest. It was already twelve midnight, and she was supposed to be at a sleepover but she thought about visiting Saemi who was sick at home.

She was scared out of her wits but she still wanted to go to Saemi's house. Anyway, she reasoned to herself, it was only a few blocks away.

She was only a block away from the Sendoh residence when someone grabbed her from behind and dragged her to a dark alley. She tried to scream, but her voice wouldn't come out. Silent tears were spilling down her face.

"She looks rich to me." A guy with a scar on his face peered at her and grinned.

"Yeah, miss…why don't you tell us your name so we can get your daddy to rescue you?"

Kaiyuki looked around her. There were at least five guys, four of who were looking at her menacingly and one who looked doubtful. She looked pleadingly at the one with the doubtful face.

"Guys, I don't think we should do this. She looks really young."

"What is it, Mitsui? Scared?" The guy with a scar snarled.

"No…it's just that…"

"Then butt out." The guy with a scar glared at him and turned to Kaiyuki.

"Help…" She croaked. Mitsui looked at her for a moment and punched the guy with a scar.

She backed against the wall as the boys fought. Mitsui managed to knock all of them out. Kaiyuki was crying silently as Mitsui walked over to her. He was bruised and bleeding, his long hair was scattered and he looked messy.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, approaching her. Kaiyuki backed away from him and fell. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling, and instead of falling backwards she fell forward.

She couldn't even gasp as Mitsui put an arm around her. She was too shocked to do anything.

"What's your name?" He asked softly.

"K…Kaiyuki." She managed to whisper.

"Kaiyuki…I'm sorry." He stepped back into the light and she saw his face. He looked young, he could even be handsome if it weren't for his pale and gaunt expression. She was taken aback.

"You…I thought…"

"Shhh…" Mitsui said, gesturing for her to step forward. She did so, and he told her he would walk her home. She nodded and he walked with her to her classmate's house where the sleepover was.

"Goodbye, Kaiyuki." He said blankly.

"G…Goodbye."

He left her standing at the doorstep without another word.

~Flashback~

"Kaiyuki…?" Mitsui said softly.

"Hmmm?" Kaiyuki murmured, her head resting on Mitsui's shoulder.

"Aren't you glad we met?"

She looked into his eyes and smiled. Just like that…

*

Oki! End of the chapter. Pls. review what you think. : ) Thanks! I love you guys. Buh-bye!!! ^_^