Hey everyone! (If anyone's still reading...) been quite a while since i've updated. Sorry! this chapter went through a ton of revision and hopefully, this does justice. Anyway, thanks to all who have continued to show support, reviewed (LunaEris9, atobelover, Guest, Ichigo0-0Rose, comwiz), favorited and followed. Much love to you all!

One Sided Rivalry

Chapter 20: In a Trance

Bang

I groaned. What hit me? I slowly opened my eyes and found myself on the floor covered in pillows and my blanket. I fell? When was the last time that happened? I sighed as I stood up. I looked at my desk clock and picked it up. It's almost eleven. Wow. Talk about sleeping in. Then again, I did end up sleeping late thanks to that no good brother of mine. But seriously, yesterday got really weird… I mean, I thought It was weird enough that I got stuck through the window. But with my brother arriving there at the worst possible time, things just got a lot weirder after that. Speaking of, apparently Oniichan had spare keys taped under one of the flowerpots backyard. Meaning, I could have actually avoided the entire Godforsaken event that happened last night.

Flashback

This was awkward. Ugh the silence is killing me. I was sitting on the couch with Fuji, half drenched, mind you, while my brother continued to just stare at us. He doesn't say a word, just stares. It looks like he's about to say something but then stops, and yes, you guessed it, he just stares. And it bothers me that I can't seem to tell what it is he's thinking. I don't think he's too mad. Just surprised. I mean for one thing, Fuji and I were innocent. Nothing happened! And I know I say this a lot, but seriously, nothing will ever happen between me and Fuji. I guess the situation kind of did look bad, but Fuji and I explained what actually happened. So unless he wasn't listening or wasn't processing what we were saying, he shouldn't be all too mad right?

I looked at Fuji who seemed to be unfazed, then again, there really is no reason to be frazzled. I sighed. Okay, there are three scenarios that are playing in my head right now. Scenario one, Oniichan believes us and we don't have any awkward conversations. Scenario two, he shreds Fuji and I into pieces. Scenario three, he just shreds Fuji to pieces. Out of the three scenario three are more likely. Oniichan can be kind of overprotective of me for as long as I can remember; to the point that sometimes all logic escapes him. Also the reason why I ruled out scenario one. And I chose scenario three because I don't think Oniichan would shred me into pieces. Well, I hope not.

Oniichan sighed. This is the first sound he made after that cough earlier on. "Okay…Hikari, I know I've told you that Fuji's a good and decent guy, but you're too young to be doing these things."

I turned my head left to right, surprised at the turn of events. I did not see this when I was doing my whole 'scenario' bit. I mean, did he actually think that I did this? That what, I jumped Fuji? "What? What are you saying?"

Oniichan stood up and started pacing. "I mean, it's okay for a boy and a girl to be in a relationship, but you should have told me about you and Fuji. And as a girl, you really shouldn't be too…" He placed his hand behind his neck and looked like he wasn't very comfortable saying the next word. "…aggressive."

I blinked. Now I knew why. I stood up. Now, I was really surprised. "Wait! Stop jumping to conclusions!"

Oniichan then looked over at Fuji and approached him. "And Fuji, I'm sorry if my sister pounced you. No one's ever given her the talk yet." Fuji continued to keep his eyes closed but from the looks of it, he was definitely confused. Honestly speaking, this is the most confused that I've seen Fuji. Ever. I shook my head. I'm getting side tracked. I need to stop Oniichan's babbling before he says anything stupid,

"Oniichan! Did you not hear a word Fuji and I said to you earlier, this is all just a horrible misunderst-"

"Anyway, if it's alright with you Fuji, I would like to speak with my sister alone?"

"Oh. Um, Okay…" Fuji blinked as hesitantly stood up, not really knowing what to do Before he could completely stand up, I tugged on a part of Fuji's shirt "Sit down". What? At the moment, my dear old brother has gone completely crazy. And in no way do I want to be alone with him right now. I sort of knew where this was going. Oniichan obviously wants to give me 'the talk'. And no one wants that. I don't want that. It's too awkward. Especially if it's coming from your brother, who's what, just ten years older than I am? Right now, I just need Oniichan to calm down so we can get this whole misunderstanding cleared up.

Fuji let out a nervous chuckle as he placed his hand behind his neck. "Um…"

"It's okay Fuji, you can go."

I looked at Fuji as he was slowly and hesitantly moving away from the couch. I cannot let him leave without clearing this whole thing up. Oniichan is never going to listen to me. I think it's time to use the puppy dog pout. This always works on Kou. Just him though. I tried using it on Kunimitsu to get out of running laps, instead he just gave me extra. Maybe it'll work on Fuji. Plus he's never seen it so… it might just. I looked at Fuji. "Please don't leave?"

"A-ah…" He said as he sat down. Well, I can't believe that worked. Maybe I should do that more often to make him stop tormenting me so much. Again, I'm getting too sidetracked.

Oniichan let out a defeated sigh before sitting back down. I sat down beside Fuji. "Fuji, help me explain things again when Oniichan's thinking more rationally."

"Uh, yeah, sure…"

"Okay. I can still do this even with Fuji around." I quickly looked over at my brother with a shocked expression plastered on my face. No. This is not how things were supposed to go. He was supposed to just be there and be calm-like so that every misunderstanding gets cleared up. He's not actually going to talk about that with Fuji around right? He wouldn't.

"Okay, now. Where do we start?" He would! He clasped his hands together as though thinking about what he was about to say next. " I really didn't expect that I'd be the one talking about this to you though so…"

I can't believe it, he's actually starting. With Fuji just sitting here. "O-oniichan!" I stood up in protest. But I guess he just chose to ignore me.

"Okay, how about this. When two people like each other very much…."

I groaned in defeat. Oh. God. I think I just made things a lot worse. Hearing oniichan explain this was bad enough, but explaining it with Fuji or anyone else around would be a total nightmare. I hurriedly pulled Fuji out of the couch and started pushing him away. "S-save yourself.."

End Flashback

Eventually, Oniichan did make the connection about me losing my keys, getting stuck through a window and ending up in that awkward position with Fuji. But by then, it was way too late cause he was already done giving me the speech about the flower and the watering can or whatever other reference my dear brother used last night.

I yawned as I stepped out of the house. Ugh I'm so tired. But at least it's a weekend and there's no tennis practice today. Something about relaxing the day before a tournament. Yeah right. I couldn't help but laugh at that. Knowing the regulars, they're probably doing some self training or something. As I was about to leave, I noticed a familiar figure in training clothes with a training bag walking. "Ah Fuji."

"Good morning. Where are you off to?" he said as he approached me.

"Hmm? Just wanted to go on a morning walk. You know, feed the ducks and all."

"Morning walk? But it's…" He looked at his watch "Eleven o'clock… Did you just wake up?" He chuckled.

I yawned again. "Yeah. Oniichan's stupid talk lasted for hours."

"Oh yes, the talk. How'd that go?"

"Not so good. Just- Let's just say I will never look at a watering can the same way again. And what's more annoying that he finally understood what we were trying to explain to him after he finished his speech." I shuddered as mini flashbacks of my brother's talk came resurfacing from the darkest corners of my thoughts. I sighed. "Oniichan and his wild imaginations will be the death of me one day."

"Saa, when you think about it though, it was kind of funny."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Says the guy who looked like a lost puppy yesterday?"

"Did I look like a lost puppy yesterday?" He said as he gave this sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head. Who knew he could act this way. Mah, I'm enjoying seeing the different sides of Fuji that he doesn't normally show.

"Fuji. You couldn't decide on whether or not you should sit down or leave the room. You looked so confused. That was the first time I've seen you that way." I said a matter-of-factly before I started giggling away. That was too funny, seeing Fuji like that.

Fuji just laughed. "Saa, then let's make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Yeah. Well, anyway, where'd you come from? Did you practice or something?" I asked as I gestured towards his tennis bag. "I thought Ryuzaki-sensei said to just relax the day before the tournament."

"Just a little bit. As long as I don't over strain my muscles, it should be fine. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's doing a little training." He smiled.

"Yeah, that I'm pretty sure off. I can't imagine any single one of you not doing anything Tennis related. Especially Ryo-chin. It's like… he lives for tennis or something." I smiled as the thought of Ryo-chin not doing tennis for a day crossed my mind. That, I would definitely want to see. Then again, if that happened, he'd probably just end up sleeping. "So what are you going to do now? Sleep?"

"I'm actually about to grab something to eat. You want to join me? Before you go on your morning walk?" He said as he raised air quotes at 'morning walk'

I thought about it for a while. Come to think of it, I haven't eaten breakfast yet, have I? Grabbing something to eat before going on my walk doesn't seem like a bad idea. Plus, it's always more fun to eat with someone rather than eating alone. "Hmm, yeah okay. I haven't eaten anything anyway. You're free to join me feed the ducks after if you want. Unless you're going for another round at training?"

"No, I'll join you. It might be a good change to get some photos. And I do enjoy spending time with you lately." He smiled as he opened the gate of his house. "Just let me take a quick shower."

"Hai hai." I said as I followed him. "Is Yumiko-san around?"

"Iie. She's at the office." He unlocked the door and entered the house. I took a look around. It's been quite a while since I last visited. I think Yuuta was still living here. I then noticed Fuji going towards, if I remember correctly, that would be the kitchen. "Hikari, do you want some water?" See, I was right.

"Hmm? Sure." He handed me a glass of water.

"Stay here for a while. Unless you want to wait upstairs?" He asked midway up the stairs

"I'll be fine here." I said as I took a seat on the couch.

"Okay then. I'll be quick." He said before continuing upstairs

I took a sip from the glass of water and placed it on the sink. Hmm, might as well wash it. Wash wash wash. Clean clean clean. I then went back to the living room and sat on the couch. I grabbed one of the magazines on the table and browsed through it. I think this is the Magazine Yumiko-san works for. I placed the magazine back down. Okay, I'm getting a bit bored. I stood up and started looking through the picture frames from the shelf. Huh. When was this taken? I don't think I've seen this photo before. I took the picture frame from the shelf. It was a picture of Fuji and me as kids. We were both in PE uniforms. He was giving me a piggy back ride and I was…sulking? I swear I don't remember this happening. Why was Fuji give me a piggy back ride? Did I sprain my leg or something? I think I'd remember if I sprained myself.

"Saa that was quite a good picture neh?

I turned around I realized Fuji towering over me. He was looking at the picture in my hand, his chest right in front of my face, my shoulder touching his arm. For some reason, it felt…comfortable. I looked up at his face and couldn't help but stare. Was he always this tall? I know for a fact that Fuji was taller than me. But I don't remember him being that much taller. For the longest time, I've always that that I at least reached his shoulder. Fuji wasn't one of the tallest people in the class. He was average at the most. Maybe that's why I've never noticed it.

"You remember this? It was during the sportsfest. You got mad at me because we lost the piggyback race" He said as he held the photo and looked at me.

I blinked and tried to regain composure. "A-ah. I was quite competitive back then, neh?" I let out a nervous laugh. I really hope he didn't notice me staring at him. That would be…awkward. I blinked. Come to think of it. This wouldn't be the first time this has happened. It happened yesterday and the other day too. Weird.

"Saa, you still are, you know?" He chuckled.

"I know. It's part of my charm." I said ever so cheekily as I smiled.

"Saa, what charm are we talking about?"

"Fuji…" I grumbled as I pursed my lips and made a face.

"Kidding." He chuckled as he patted my head. "Just kidding. You are quite charming."

"Now you're just making fun of me." I grumbled as I took his hand and got it out of my head.

"Saa, I can't do anything if you don't believe me." He said as he smiled. "Anyway, I'm good to go. Shall we?"

"Hai…"

I squatted near the pond as I started throwing some breadcrumbs. "Ah! Kawaii!" I said as a group of little ducklings started approaching, waddling their little tails as they did. I smiled. Baby animals are the best. I continued to throw some breadcrumbs toward the pond.

Fuji took a seat beside me. "Are you even allowed to feed them?" he asked.

"Hm?" I blinked as I wondered myself. Are we allowed to feed the ducks? I looked around for a bit. Well, there aren't any signs that said we weren't allowed. Plus I've been doing this for years and have never gotten in trouble for it. Even Otousan did it back then. So I guess it's fine? "I don't know. I've never gotten in trouble for doing it though, so I guess that's always a good sign." I giggled as I placed a hand behind my head.

"A-ah…That's always reassuring…" He said a little bit hesitantly. "You're here quite often, huh? Just like before."

"Ah." I nodded as I recalled the many times that I was in this park as a kid. At first it was me and my family every weekend. Otousan liked feeding the ducks. I guess I got that from him. And then after a while, it was just me and Oniichan who would come here. I don't really think he liked going here as much. He was probably just tagging along because of me. And now, It's just me. Just me going to the park. "Yeah, just like before. Still feeding ducks, petting random animals, getting ice cream. I don't play on the slides anymore but other than that… Nothing's changed..." I said as I stood up and took a seat on one of the benches. Fuji followed and took a seat next to me.

I heard a click from beside me. I turned around and saw Fuji with his camera. "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

I looked up at the sky. I contemplated for a bit whether or not I should tell Fuji. After all, this was something that I've never told anyone. Not my brother, not Kou, no one. I have to admit though, lately, I've been enjoying talking to Fuji about…well, things. My inner thoughts, my internal battles. It was strange. At first, I really thought that telling him, or anyone for that matter, wouldn't be such a good idea. But it turned out fine. With Fuji, I felt safe that he knew what was going through my mind. There was this comfort for some reason. So maybe, this might not be such a bad idea. I took a deep breath. "Well, just… nothing's changed. It's been bothering me quite a bit actually. That I'm just standing still while everyone's walking past me. Like, I'm stuck in suspended animation or something. It's a weird feeling." I looked at him and let out a sheepish smile. "Gomen. I just made this a little awkward huh?"

"Iie. It's fine. It's good that you're openly talking about it. That shows that you're not exactly the same person you used to be. I mean, you've always kept to yourself and never relied on others. Not even when you were scared" He smiled. I couldn't help but smile as he did. This somehow puts me at ease. "Can I ask though? Why you feel that way?"

I leaned back on the chair and stared at my shoes. "Well, mostly from seeing everyone else figuring out what they want to do, whether it's a hobby or career-wise. And what bugs me the most is that people have been imposing so much things on me that I don't even know what I want anymore. I just do what I'm told to, without knowing if it is something I want to do." I then looked at Fuji "I think that's why I try so hard to compete with you despite knowing how futile that is. At least I know that it's something that I want to achieve." I let out a small laugh.

Fuji chuckled. "Deep down, you actually idolize me, don't you?"

I turned to Fuji, slightly surprised at what he just said. Where'd he get that idea from? Me? Idolize him? Ha! That's funny. "Hey, hey, hey. You're getting all cocky." I said as I lightly punched his arm

"Well, it just sounded like you were putting me on a pedestal. You weren't sure about anything except you wanted to surpass me. Meaning, for you I'm way up there." He chuckled as I just stared at him with my mouth slightly ajar. I felt a small twitch at the corner of my mouth. Unbelievable. Has he always been this…conceited? He then smiled. "On a more serious note. You don't have to rush it. But you definitely have to do something. Do something new, do something different. No matter how difficult or scary it might seem. Eventually it will come to you. You'll figure it out for sure."

"How are you sure about that?"

"Because you're you. You won't give up. You'll attack head on now that you know that you want to figure out. I believe in that. I believe in you." He said as he looked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

And for a few seconds, I stared at deep cerulean eyes. And once again, it felt like the world had stopped. Whenever he opened those eyes, whenever I look into those eyes, I end up in a daze. Why? Why do I feel so drawn to them? It was weird. I could feel my own heart beating away as my chest started to tingle. I felt it on my chest and on the pits of my stomach. What is this? I continued to look at Fuji. He seems different these past few days. And right now, he just seems so… dare I say it, amazing. "Since when were you this cool?" I said absentmindedly.

I heard a chuckle. "Saa, you think I'm cool?"

I blinked out of my thoughts. Did I just say that out loud? I did didn't I? I buried my face in my hands before quickly standing up. "Um, no. You're probably imagining things now." I said slightly embarrassed as I started walking away. Yes, I've learned that I have a tendency of walking away when I feel embarrassed by something.

"I'm pretty sure I heard you say that." He said as he started following me. "Plus, the fact that you just buried your face and walked away tells me otherwise."

I groaned. He's not going to let this slide is he? I turned around and glared at him. I crossed my arms over my chest. I sighed in defeat. "Fine, maybe you looked kinda, just kinda cool back there. But if you tell anybody about me thinking you're cool, you're dead." I wonder if it was a good idea that I told him the truth. I sighed, slightly regretting that decision.

"Hai hai." He said as he smiled.

"But Fuji, you really were kinda cool today. Thanks. For listening to me, I mean." I turned around and started walking again.

Well, that was it. Hope you all enjoyed it! Will try to update faster for sure! If you enjoyed it or have any comments, please let me know by reviewing. Make sure you click that follow button if you want to be updated with a new chapter pops up!:)

with love,

kur-can