Hey there! Sorry for the late update! But surprise, surprise! Here's another side story for you! This happened when Meisha was around 11 years old. I'm also currently writing a one shot AU story between a 16 year old Ryoma and Meisha so stay tuned!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of their characters as well as their tennis moves. I get my reference from wiki/Prince_of_Tennis_Wikia so if you think there is something wrong with the information here, let me know and I shall review it! Thank you and hope you enjoy!
Dame dame jan! Chapter seventeen and ½
It's the last week of March and an 11 year old Meisha stretches her arms over her head as she leans on her chair. Her homeschool teacher just left after their last study session of the year. They were studying English today and she wasn't getting any better at it. She can memorize what she needs to but everything just disappears a few hours later. Why does she need to learn English anyway? She pouts and glares down at her messy notes. Why was she still studying when everyone else was already enjoying their spring break? Well, that's the disadvantage of homeschooling. Her teacher will be coming over again tomorrow to present her the certificate that proves that she is eligible to proceed to the next grade. She'll be studying with a different homeschool teacher next month and will officially be in grade 6. How time really flies. She wonders if Ruri and Harima are back to being friends again. Did they really disband the squad because of her? Will they ever be friends again like before? She stopped competing so she would definitely have more time for them now but it's been too long. They have probably forgotten all about her by now. She hopes that Hinako is doing well. Hinako was crying the last time she saw her. She feels a pang of guilt as she remembers the tears in her eyes and the pain that she voiced out. She sighs feeling a bit sad. There are just some things better left alone but she hopes that they'll cross paths again someday. Her door suddenly flies open and hits the wall with a loud bang. She jumps on her seat in surprise and turns her head towards the source of the sudden disruption.
"Meishaaaa~! Let's play!" a 13 year old Eiji says excitedly as he waves his tennis racket in the air.
Meisha immediately pushes aside her sad thoughts and grins widely towards him. She hops down from her chair. She runs the small distance between them and jumps towards him for a hug, "Kiku-niiii~!" she exclaims happily.
Eiji quickly drops his racket to catch her and wobbles a bit because of the added weight but he doesn't fall off to end up in a compromising situation like in most shounen mangas. Tezuka will kill him if that happens. He shakes his head to rid of the image of an angry Tezuka holding his tennis racket threateningly.
"Are you here to bother Oniichan again?" she gives him a grin while releasing her hold on him.
"Actually, he sent me to get you", Eiji grins and messes up her hair in the process.
She doesn't mind since she can just put it up in a ponytail later. "Hm? For what?" she tilts her head looking confused.
He stops rubbing her head and picks up his grey/silver tennis racket and waves it lightly in front of her, "We're heading to a tennis club and he's asking if you want to come with us", he smiles and rests the racket on his right shoulder.
Her eyes bright up as she nods energetically, "Just wait for me downstairs while I change. I'll be quick, I promise!" she immediately heads to her cabinet to look for her tennis outfit.
Eiji laughs, "I'll let them know then", and goes out of the room while closing the door behind him.
"I'm ready!" Meisha announces as she practically flies out of their main door and into the lawn where her favorite seniors were waiting for her. She decided to go with her usual tennis outfit—a black skirt with a bit of dark pink at the ends and grey leggings underneath, a dark pink button up blouse, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Her hair is up in a high ponytail but she kept her bangs as they are. She's lugging her black tennis bag on her left shoulder.
The glasses on the 13 year old Inui start to gleam, "Meisha, did you grow taller?" he asks.
"Inui, we just saw her last week", a 13 year old Taka says with a chuckle.
"I don't think she'll grow that quickly in a short amount of ti—" a 13 year old Oishi gets cut off.
"I did grow taller!" Meisha beams.
The seniors (except Tezuka and Inui) look a bit surprised.
A 13 year old Tezuka sighs, "She's been bragging about it for days but honestly, growing three millimeters taller is not really something to brag about".
She detects a hint of playfulness in his words so she knows he's teasing her even if it doesn't show on his face. "Hey! Grandfather said that every little thing counts!" Meisha places her hands on her hips and pouts sourly.
"Well I grew two centimeters nya!" Eiji brags while lifting two fingers and waving them at Meisha mischievously.
Meisha crosses her arms and pouts before smirking mischievously, "If only you can brag about your tennis skills like that too".
Eiji feels like a huge arrow stabbed his ego, "O-Oishi~!" he cries out and hugs Oishi, "She's being mean to me again!" he complains while Oishi just laughs and taps Eiji's back comfortingly.
"I'm more surprised that you noticed, Inui" a 13 year old Fuji says with his usual smile.
Inui nods, "I have to be very observant so that I can perfect my data tennis", his glasses gleam.
"I doubt you'll need Meisha's height though", Taka says with a smile.
Inui smirks, "You never know", his glasses showing a bit of an evil glint.
Meisha and Oishi are playing in one of the courts of the tennis club while Eiji and Fuji are playing on the court beside them. The others are watching on the benches since they were only able to reserve two courts.
Meisha swings her hot pink racket with her right hand and sends the ball flying rapidly towards Oishi. This doesn't faze him since he's played with her countless of times before. He hits the ball back with his dark blue racket. His eyes widen in surprise when he notices that she's already by the net. She grins playfully at him and lightly taps the ball. He panics a bit and dashes towards the net to catch the falling ball but it was too late.
"2 games to 1!" Taka announces with a smile.
Oishi sighs but smiles at Meisha.
Meisha grins at him, "You're getting better, Shuichi-nii!"
Oishi laughs and pats her head gently, "I should be telling you that, right Tezuka?" he looks towards Tezuka who was standing by the benches.
Tezuka nods briefly, "But you need to improve more on your focus and concentration".
She sighs, "Yeah, I know. I can't help feel like I'm getting worst in that department. I just can't seem to keep my concentration for too long any more. I was doing fine before…" she frowns.
Tezuka and Oishi look at each other knowingly. Everyone knows that she can keep her focus and concentration for only ten minutes or less. But she has no problems with it when she is playing with Tezuka. And she didn't have problems with it before she stopped competing.
"2 games to 0!" Inui announces, making everyone look towards the other court.
Eiji is panting while sitting on the ground. His face is all sweaty and he looks absolutely exhausted. While Fuji, on the other hand, still looked fresh and relaxed.
"Well, that was fun", Fuji says as he walks towards Eiji.
Eiji continues to pant, "Not for me!" he looks up and sees Fuji offering his hand to him. He smiles at him and takes the offer while standing back up to his feet, "Thanks".
Fuji's smile widens in response.
"Fuji is really strong", Taka says in awe.
"Well, nothing less from the prodigy", Inui says while writing on his notebook.
"Hey Inui, let's play next!" Taka says enthusiastically.
Inui lifts his glasses up and he smirks, "Very well. It will be a good opportunity to test my data tennis on a power player like you, Taka-san".
Taka takes one step backward, "On second thought, maybe I shou—"
"Here's your racket, Taka-san", Oishi hands him a yellow racket.
"Oh, thank you, Oishi", he says with a smile and takes the offered racket. A fiery aura suddenly surrounds him as he grips his racket harder and points it at Inui, "BURNING! LET'S GO!" he exclaims at Inui passionately.
Meisha jumps in surprise at the sudden loudness of Taka's voice, "I really don't think I'll ever get used to Taka-san's 'transformation'", she shakes her head as if disappointed in herself, "Dame dame jan", she says to herself.
"You get easily distracted. You would need to improve on that as well", Tezuka says as he crosses his arms and looks at her in a stern manner.
Meisha rolls her eyes, "Yes, Vice-captain", she says a bit playfully.
Tezuka frowns, "Don't call me that".
Oishi laughs and gently pats Tezuka on the back, "You'll have to get used to it, Tezuka. You will officially be starting your duties as the Vice-captain of the tennis team in a couple of weeks", he says with a wide smile.
"Vice-captain! Vice-captain!" Eiji cheerfully calls out as he and Fuji walk towards them while Inui and the ever passionate Taka replace them on the court.
Tezuka sighs, "Stop calling me that"
Fuji's smile widens, "The title, 'Captain', would suit you more but that would have to wait".
Meisha's eyes sparkle as she looks up at her brother in awe, "Captain Kunimitsu Tezuka", she tests the name.
Tezuka sighs again and rubs the bridge of his nose, "Please don't encourage her, Fuji".
Meisha grins, "You can punish your team with laps, Oniichan! Just like Captain Yamato!"
Tezuka cups his chin and considers the suggestion.
"Meisha! Don't give your brother such scary ideas!" Eiji reprimands Meisha while he imagines a scary Tezuka ordering him to run 100 laps.
"OH MY GOD!" Taka suddenly exclaims and makes Meisha flinch at the sudden loud noise.
The others look towards the court and sees Inui writing down notes while Taka is kneeling on the ground in defeat.
"That was quite exhausting but I got good data", Inui says to himself and wipes some sweat off his forehead with his left forearm.
The others decide to walk towards Inui and Taka. Meisha discreetly snatches Taka's racket so he doesn't go back to burning mode. Oishi offers his hand to Taka with a smile. Taka smiles back at him while taking the offered hand and gets up from the ground.
"Tezuka, you invited us to play tennis but you haven't been playing at all", Fuji looks at him curiously, "Why did you call everyone?" he asks.
The others look at Tezuka curiously. Meisha looks to be the most clueless of all since she's not even a part of their tennis team. She thought that this would just be another one of those days when they played tennis together but it was unusual how her brother was just observing everybody.
"I wanted to make sure that no one was slacking off during the break", Tezuka looks at everyone in a stern manner.
Meisha smiles slyly at him, "And here I thought you didn't like being the Vice-captain", she teases.
Tezuka crosses his arms, "I didn't say that".
She ignores her desire to tease him some more and opts to look up at him curiously instead, "But then why am I here?" she asks.
Tezuka looks at the others, "They wanted to discuss something with you".
She turns to her seniors and focuses her eyes on Eiji before looking at her brother again, "But Kiku-nii said you were asking me if I wanted to come with you guys", she looks confused as she looks at Eiji again.
Eiji sticks his tongue out playfully, "Sorry, Meisha. It was the fastest way to get you to come with us."
Before she can say otherwise, Oishi approaches her and gently places a hand on her head. She automatically looks up at him with wide and questioning eyes.
"It was a part of our plan, Meisha", he says with a gentle smile as he strokes her head once before removing it.
"We asked your brother if we can borrow you for a day but he refused and only agreed if he came with us", Fuji says in a playful tone.
Tezuka clears his throat in warning.
She continues to look up at her seniors questioningly. Why did they want to borrow her for a day?
"We actually wanted to take you school shopping, nya!" Eiji says enthusiastically.
Her eyebrows rise up in surprise and confusion, "School shopping?"
"There is this gym near my place. It is going to be rented out by several schools so that they can station some stalls there where students and parents, well, those who have not decided on which school to go to yet, can browse through the different curriculums and facilities offered by different schools", Taka explains with a smile, "And we thought that it would be a good idea to bring you there", he scratches the back of his head a bit embarrassingly, "But we didn't know if you'd appreciate us just dragging you there without telling you beforehand".
Her wide eyes light up in realization. They want her to go back to school. Why though? The lessons she learns being homeschooled are usually more advanced than what they did teach in regular schools. And it's not like she has behavior problems or problems with her homeschool teachers, right?
"You look confused, Meisha", Fuji points out with a smile.
She nods a bit uncertainly, "Why do you want me to go to school again? I think I'm perfectly capable of being homeschooled"
"That's right. And statistics have shown that homeschooled children outperform non-homeschooled children since they are able to learn at their own pace and usually tackle more difficult and advanced subjects", Inui says as he lifts his glasses a bit.
"But that's not important, nya!" Eiji argues before jumping towards Meisha and lifting her up by her waist.
"Kiku-nii!" she calls out startled.
"We're worried about you, Meisha! I mean, I don't really mind but you should go out there and make more friends!" Eiji exclaims.
"Huh?" she is confused once again and decides to look for answers from the one person she relies on the most, "Oniichan?"
Tezuka sighs a bit, "Put her down".
She turns to her brother the moment her feet touched the ground. She looks up at him with wide and vulnerable eyes.
"There have been times when you looked unfocused and your eyes express some loneliness", Tezuka softens a bit, "You tend to look envious when you see kids going home together from school."
She frowns and looks away. She didn't think she was being that obvious.
"It started becoming evident that you miss being surrounded by those of your age. And I suppose I've made you miss it more since you usually see me surrounded by my friends", he frowns a bit more.
Her eyes widen frantically as she grabs her brother's shirt, "It's not your fault, Oniichan!" she exclaims in a panic, "I-I just get jealous sometimes because senpaitachi are always coming by the house to hang out with you", she says with a pout.
More like to annoy him is what Tezuka wants to say but he stops himself.
"And you're always hanging out and having fun with them", she smiles up at him.
More like dragging him around is what Tezuka wants to say but he stops himself once again.
"And even when you think that they are just annoying you or dragging you around, you really do enjoy their company", she slyly grins up at him.
Okay, he can't really deny that so he sighs in mock surrender—making her grin wider. He gently places his hand on her head and tells her affectionately, "I just want you to be happy".
She frowns and still looks a bit uncertain, "But…"
"Meisha", Fuji calls out and gets her attention, "It's not just us who are worried. Yuuta is worried about you too. Although he denies it", his smile widens a bit.
"Yuu-nii too?" her eyes widen a bit. Was she really that obvious?
Fuji nods at her.
"Having friends your age will help your psychosocial growth. You will have people you can talk to on equal grounds and share the same problems with, as well as help each other solve those problems", Inui says with an encouraging smile.
She doesn't really understand what psychosocial growth is but she guesses that it's something important. It would be nice to have someone to share secrets with. She shares secrets with her brother and senpaitachi a lot but there are just some things she can't share to them—especially girl things. She confides in Yuuta often since they are closer in age but it would be nice to have other opinions—especially from girls. She has no one to share her academic problems with. Well, she does share them with her brother and senpaitachi and they do help her out but that's not what she wants. She wants to have someone who will share the same problems with her so they can help each other out and improve together. She wants someone she can relate with and who can relate with her. She wants an equal.
"You can also copy off a friend's homework in case you forget!" Eiji grins at her.
"Eiji, she's not like you", Oishi says with a chuckle, "I doubt she'll forget to do her homework".
Eiji pouts, "Well, then she can offer her homework for others to copy off from, nya!" he grins again and winks at her playfully.
"That's not really something to encourage her to do…" Taka says with an uneasy laugh as he scratches his cheek.
"Maybe she can just show them a little bit of her answers?" Eiji looks at Taka pleadingly.
"Eiji, are you still resentful about that time I didn't let you copy off from my homework?" Fuji opens his eyes and smiles at Eiji teasingly.
Eiji looks like a deer caught in the headlights while the others sigh. They notice Meisha lowering her head; her bangs falling over her eyes and covering them. They see her little body trembling a bit. They immediately panic (except Tezuka, Inui, and Fuji)—thinking that they are forcing these things on to her and she's about to cry. They start to apologize to her frantically and plead her not to cry before she suddenly lifts her head up and bursts in laughter while clutching her stomach. She comments—in between laughs—on how stupid Eiji can be sometimes. They just stare at her; bewildered at her sudden action. After a while, Meisha calms down and wipes away the tears that formed due to laughing too much. She looks up at her seniors and grins at them happily.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go school shopping!"
The sophomores smile brightly at her enthusiasm; even Tezuka almost seemed to look energetic. Almost.
"Why did you choose an all-girls' school, Meisha?" Taka asks her as he glances at the brochures Meisha was looking at.
She skims through the brochure one more time before glancing up at Taka who was sitting beside her, "Well, their curriculum is more advanced than the others and I like their uniforms", she grins at him.
"Are you sure it's not because of the big tennis courts they have?" Eiji looks at her playfully from across the table.
She sticks her tongue out playfully in response.
"Have you decided on your orders?" a pretty waitress asks as she readies her pen and paper.
The group decided to rest at a nearby diner. Meisha dragged them to all the booths in the gym and quite frankly, they were exhausted. Taka, Meisha, Tezuka, and Fuji were sitting on the couch across from Eiji, Oishi, and Inui. They ordered some light snacks and beverages since they had to be home for dinner in about two hours. But despite everyone's warnings, Meisha decided to order an extra-large strawberry fudge parfait.
"Oniichan, you will help me convince mom and dad, right?" she looks up at her brother pleadingly as she holds the school's brochure up towards him.
He stares at her for a bit before taking the brochure and scanning it with his eyes. The others watch him in anticipation. The corner of his mouth slightly moves upwards to form a smirk.
"I don't see why not", he pats her head in assurance.
She grins up at him, her cheeks a bit pinkish, and expresses her gratitude.
"It's an all-girls' school so you wouldn't need to worry about boys, Tezuka", Oishi teases him.
"Hm", Tezuka hums in agreement—unaware that Oishi was just teasing.
"Oishi, Meisha doesn't need boys! She has us, her niichans!" Eiji exclaims before looking at Meisha, "Right, Meisha?" he asks with a confident smile.
Meisha just looks at him confused, "Well, I didn't really think about that but I doubt I'll find anyone as interesting as you guys", she smirks at them with a raised brow.
"Even Yuuta?" Fuji asks her with a glint in his eyes.
"What about Yuu-nii?" she looks at Fuji and tilts her head showing how clueless she is.
Tezuka clears his throat and he glances at Fuji a bit in warning. Fuji chuckles and tells Meisha to ignore his question while she continues to look clueless.
The same pretty waitress approaches the booth and sets the food and beverages in front of the respective people. Everyone—even Tezuka—was staring at the extra-large parfait in front of Meisha. Most of them were impressed but some of them were more befuddled as to where the diner even found the container to fit everything. It was definitely majestic to Meisha's eyes.
"You would have to run ten kilometers everyday if you want to lose what you're about to gain with that", Inui says as he lifts his glasses a bit.
Meisha's grin widens as her eyes sparkle in glee. She tightens her hold on her parfait spoon and contemplates on which part to eat first.
"She's long gone, Inui", Taka chuckles.
"You should worry more about her love for ice cream instead of boys, Tezuka", Fuji says with a sly smile.
Tezuka sighs and reminds himself to buy stomach medicine on the way home; just in case Meisha breaks her tummy with all that dairy and sugar.
Meisha tightens her grip on her black tennis bag and takes a deep breath. "I can do this. The only thing stopping me is this door; this door that separates me and my new classmates", she takes another deep breath as she listens to the bright and cheerful chatter beyond the door. She nods in determination as she clutches the door handle and slides open the door. She walks in with her head down and expects everyone to be silent as they watch her but fortunately, no one noticed her. She sighs in relief and closes the door. She proceeds to walk towards the empty seat—the only one left—situated in the middle of the room. She subtly glances at the girls around the room. It seems that they were all acquainted with each other. Great, she's the only new girl. She sighs a bit in defeat before settling down on her seat. There were some rowdy girls to her right but one particular girl caught her attention; she was the loudest one but it was her short, pink hair that really stood out. She couldn't help but stare at it in awe.
"You know it's bad to stare", the pink-haired girl threatens with a raised brow.
Meisha snaps out of it and shakes her head. She honestly did not notice that she got caught staring. She waves her hands in front of her frantically, "I'm so sorry! It's just that—" she stops herself from saying that dying your hair is against school rules. She didn't miss the threat in the other girl's voice.
"What?" the pink-haired girl narrows her eyes at Meisha as if daring her to say anything wrong.
The other girls in the classroom stopped whatever they were doing and watched the interaction in anticipation. Meisha deduced that this girl was popular enough to draw everyone's attention towards herself. If she wanted a fresh start, she should make sure that she's liked by this pink-haired girl. "It's just that your hair is really pretty", she smiles at the other girl innocently, "Is it real?" she asks even if she already knew the answer.
The other girl stares at her dumbly before she starts to laugh. Meisha resists the urge to sigh in relief and pretends to be confused.
"Don't be silly. I got my hair dyed during the summer break", she says with a smirk, "It does look good on me, doesn't it?" she sweeps her bangs to the side and looks at Meisha expectantly.
Meisha resists the urge to roll her eyes. She said her hair looked pretty and not otherwise but she needs to play her part so she nods enthusiastically, "Yes, it does", she hopes that she's able to pull off the fake smile she has on now.
The other girl grins, "I like you. You must be new here. I'm Alex. Well, my full name is Alexandra Suzuki but just call me Alex", she offers her right hand to Meisha.
Meisha smiles at her a bit shyly, "I'm Meisha Tezuka. You can call me Meisha", she says and takes the offered hand.
Alex grins at her and gives her hand a firm handshake, "Nice to meet you!"
Meisha grins at her in response and expects to have a normal and happy school life from now on. She'll drop by the faculty later to ask how she can join the tennis club.
"Meisha Tezuka, right?" a young sporty-looking woman—with her hair up in a high ponytail and wearing a blue tank top, grey jogging pants, and white rubber shoes—interrupts Meisha's swinging exercise.
"Yes?" she looks up at the tall woman and realizes that it's the coach, "I mean, yes, ma'am coach ma'am!" she stands up straight and stops herself from saluting.
The young coach giggles, "It's Miss Akiyama to you, soldier", she says playfully.
Meisha automatically relaxes, "Yes, Miss Akiyama?" she politely smiles at her.
"I was watching you play with Megumi yesterday", she smirks.
Meisha's eyes widen a bit. Of course the coach would catch her playing with Megumi—the vice-captain of the tennis team. They were playing on the court reserved for the regulars. She scratches the back of her head and looks up at the coach sheepishly, "I'm sorry", she apologizes.
Miss Akiyama's eyes widen a bit in surprise and confusion, "Why are you apologizing? I'm not here to scold you for beating one of my regulars"
Meisha looks equally confused, "You're not?"
Miss Akiyama smiles and shakes her head, "I want to recruit you actually"
Meisha looks even more confused, "Recruit me for what, Miss Akiyama?"
"I want you to be a regular in the team", she grins at her.
Meisha's eyes widen in surprise.
"Although I say that, since you're still in grade 6, you can't officially be part of the regular team. But when you're in middle school, I will personally welcome you to the team", Miss Akiyama smiles at her.
Meisha raises her brow, "Then why are you recruiting me now?"
"Well, the school board wants to raise our tennis reputation; and to do that, we should allow students of all ages to compete in various tournaments. I was assigned to gather exceptionally skilled students and register them in local tournaments. To let people know that our school is actually a pretty decent tennis school for girls and all that", she rests her hands on her hips and grins down at Meisha.
Meisha is silent as she contemplates on the offer. She will be helping the school and the coach seems really nice but—
"Oi, Meisha-chan!"
Meisha and Miss Akiyama turn towards the source of the voice to see Alex with her posse.
"We're going shopping. You coming with us?" Alex asks with a grin.
Alex kind of dragged her into their group after their interaction on the first day of school. She's grateful but doesn't get why Alex would need more people in her posse. They are always shopping for shoes or clothes or bags and quite frankly, she's getting bored of it. And these girls take forever to decide but who is she to complain? It's thanks to Alex that she even has a group of friends to eat lunch and hang out with. Better suffer these minor details than to spend the rest of the year as a loner. She looks up at Miss Akiyama and frowns. If she accepts the offer, history will just repeat itself. And besides, she vowed to herself that she won't compete anymore.
Miss Akiyama smiles gently at her in understanding, "You can think about it a bit more before answering", she waves her hand at her, "I'll come look for you again tomorrow, Meisha. Have fun shopping with your friends", she says before walking away.
"We're leaving!" Alex says impatiently as she starts to walk away with her posse in tow.
"I'm coming!" Meisha hurriedly gathers her things and runs to catch up with them.
"I can't believe you stole a tennis ball from that sports shop", Alex sits on the desk beside Meisha's.
Meisha frowns and raises her brow in question. Alex never came to school this early. Her posse wasn't even around yet. "Who told you that?" she ignores the slight pain she felt when she realized that her friend believed such a rumor about her.
Alex shrugs her shoulders indifferently, "It's been going around", she looks at her with a wicked grin, "So how did you get away with it?" she asks in amusement.
Meisha frowns, "I did no such thing. We have enough tennis balls at home", she controls her voice from expressing any type of hurt or anger. Alex was just being curious and probably bored; she rarely spoke to Meisha after all.
"You didn't?" Alex looks appalled, "You don't have to hide it from me. We're friends after all", she urges encouragingly.
Meisha frowns even more. Friends don't believe in rumors about them. And friends are definitely supposed to defend each other when bad rumors are flying around about them. She can't help but remember how Hinako told her that Ruri defended her against some girls who insulted her. She bites back her pride as she gives Alex the best fake smile she could, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Alex-chan but I really didn't steal anything. I would tell you if I did", she forces herself to giggle and covers her mouth to avoid Alex from seeing it tremble.
"So that rumor was just a lie", Alex crosses her arms in disdain, "Well, I did doubt that you would do something like that", she fixes her bangs indifferently.
Meisha's eyes light up as she stares at Alex hopefully, "Really?"
Alex raises her brow at her and gets off the desk, "Well yeah, I mean, you're great in tennis but other than that," she smirks, "you're kind of boring", she walks towards some of the girls who were chatting about an article in some teen magazine.
Meisha clenches her fists and bites her lower lip hard—controlling herself from standing up and strangling Alex. She's boring? Oh please, she's seen ants more interesting than the pink-haired shopaholic. She subtly takes a couple of deep breaths and silently counts to ten. Getting mad won't solve anything. And besides, it's only been 2 months; she'll get used to Alex and might even see her as a best friend after a couple of months. She can't afford to lose the unstable friendship given to her. Alex is the only reason why she doesn't have to eat lunch alone. She sighs and asks herself if all all-girl schools are like this.
"Hey, Meisha-chan", a girl with long, dark brown hair and big blue eyes, calls out from one corner of the room.
Meisha creases her brows together. Who is this girl again? She's never spoken to her and she's sure that she was never spoken to as well. Her name is probably Shina. She kind of remembers her as the girl who likes switching her colored contact lenses. She vaguely remembers her with purple eyes. Colored contact lenses are not allowed in this school either; what in the world is the disciplinary committee doing? Shina gestures her to come over to her seat. She stands up and starts walking to her. It took a while for her to notice the other girl leaning on Shina's desk. Her blonde, long hair was in a high ponytail—she recalls her name being Karin. "Yes?" Meisha asks while looking at both of them.
Shina and Karin glance at each other for a bit before widening their smiles and looking up at her again. Meisha smiles back at them with eyes full of confusion. What did they want? They never smiled at her; they usually ignored the girls in other groups—well, except for Alex of course.
"Don't just stand there. Sit down, you silly!" Karin gestures to the seat of her seatmate.
Meisha shrugs indifferently and plops down on the offered seat; the owner wasn't there yet anyway—it was still too early. Everyone here (except for Alex) come to school early for morning practices in their respective sport clubs. Shina and Karin were probably in the volleyball club since she sometimes hears them talking about it. She turns her body sideways so that she was facing the two.
"Is it true that you're Kunimitsu Tezuka-senpai's sister?" Shina suddenly asks in a whisper.
If Meisha didn't have such great hearing, she wouldn't have heard what she said. "Well, that is my older brother's name", she continues to look confused.
"You mean Kunimitsu Tezuka-senpai from Seigaku and vice-president of the tennis team?" Karin could hardly contain her excitement.
"Yeah, that's Oniichan alright", Meisha smiles at their enthusiasm; anyone who likes her brother can't be a bad guy, right?
Shina and Karin face each other and silently squeal. Meisha giggles—she remembers how Ruri and Hinako also squealed the same way when they watched her brother's practices.
"Meisha-chan, do you have pictures of him by any chance?" Shina asks while Karin looks at her pleadingly.
Well, this is something new. Meisha mentally apologizes to her brother for indirectly using him to gain friends. She grins at them cheerfully and nods. "I'll send some to you guys now. Just give me your numbers", she takes out her pink flip phone from her skirt pocket and offers it to them.
Shina and Karin could not help but squeal a little louder as Shina hurriedly taps her and Karin's cellphone numbers. Meisha continues to grin at them and is forever grateful that her brother is so cool.
"What are you guys talking about here?" Alex places her hand on Meisha's shoulder but looks at Shina and Karin.
Shina and Karin glance at each other for a split second before they widen their smiles towards Alex.
"Oh it's nothing you should be bothered about, Alex", Shina says with a dismissing wave.
"Yeah, just sports related stuff. Meisha-chan here is great at tennis and is getting recognized by the school so we just wanted to ask her some stuff. Right, Meisha-chan?" Karin looks at Meisha.
Alex looks at Meisha with a questioning gaze, "Really?" she asks in a doubtful tone.
Meisha glances at Karin and sees her wink. She doesn't understand why it needs to be kept a secret but she definitely likes talking to Shina and Karin compared to Alex and her posse. She gives Alex her best fake grin, "Yup! We athletes should watch out for each other, after all", she says cheerfully.
Alex raises her brow and frowns, "You guys are boring and weird", she says before leaving the three.
Meisha frowns at the comment. Shina and Karin tell her not to mind Alex. They said that she's always felt like the queen bee of the school since her mother has been an important member of the board for years. So that's why she's popular and confident. Meisha nods and tries to ignore the unpleasant feeling.
Fuji takes a bite out of the wasabi-flavored ice cream and glances at Meisha, "So you beat this Megumi girl—"
"The team's vice-captain", Eiji inserts as he licks off some of his chocolate-flavored ice cream.
"And the coach offers you a chance to be a part of the regulars if you go back to competing in tournaments to boost the school's reputation", Fuji clarifies with a smile.
"Yup!" Meisha delivers another spoonful of strawberry-flavored ice cream to her mouth and smiles blissfully.
"But you rejected the offer and told the coach that you have no interest in competing again", Eiji asks with a raised brow—his ice cream momentarily forgotten.
"Yup!" she continues to eat her ice cream with a smile on her face—she loves ice cream.
"But the teachers and the coach keep pestering you so you avoid them like the plague", Fuji eats the last remainder of his ice cream cone.
"Yup!" she digs to gather up what's left of her parfait.
Eiji grabs one of the napkins and gently wipes off the strawberry syrup from Meisha's right cheek, "Are you still getting invites to different tournaments?"
She sighs—either because of the current topic or because she has no more ice cream left, "I wish they will just stop. They are so persistent. Rejecting all those offers is just gonna make the tennis team hate me even more", she frowns and slumps on her chair.
"Then just accept the offers and go back to competing again", Fuji says with a smile.
She rolls her eyes and frowns, "I've said this a million times already! I'm—"
"Not competing ever again", Fuji and Eiji say in unison as they look at her playfully.
She crosses her arms and pouts. She did not like being teased about this issue since it's still sensitive to her.
Fuji and Eiji laugh as they apologize. Her frown slowly turns into a smile. She can't stay mad at them for long.
"Are there any other interesting things that happened in school?" Fuji asks with a gentle smile.
She wonders if she should tell them about her new popular status. A few days after giving Shina and Karin some of her brother's pictures, a lot of girls started talking to her and asking her about her brother. Even some of the older members in the tennis club frequented their classroom. She feels a bit guilty for using her brother to gain popularity but she's sure that he wouldn't mind as long as she doesn't force him to meet his adoring fans or anything. He won't like the fact that she's spreading some pictures of him around the campus though. Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt her.
"The whole school eventually found out that the vice-captain of the Seigaku tennis team is my brother", she looks at Fuji and Eiji with a neutral expression in order to gauge their reactions.
Eiji raises a brow, "How do they know about vice-captain Tezuka?" he looks a bit disturbed.
Fuji widens his smile at Eiji, "There have been a lot more girls by the gate. I did spot a lot of those from your school, Meisha", he says.
"What! Don't tell me they were all there for Tezuka!" Eiji pouts—a bit envious of their vice-captain's popularity.
Meisha laughs, "Don't worry, Kiku-nii. I've heard a lot of girls talking about all the regulars of the tennis team. I even hear about Taka-san quite a bit since he's always hanging out with you guys. So you're still pretty popular with the ladies", she grins at him.
Eiji stands up from his seat and strikes a victory pose. Meisha laughs and claps encouragingly while Fuji watches the entertainment.
Meisha swings her hot pink racket towards the ball. It hits and bounces off the practice wall. She runs to her left to hit the ball again. Then she runs to her right to hit it again. She does this for a while before someone interrupts her pace by hitting a second tennis ball towards the wall. She can easily hit both of them if she increases her pace but she assumes that someone wants her attention. So she stops and catches her own ball while she lets the other fly over her head.
"Impressive as usual, Tezuka" a familiar and sarcastic voice calls out from behind her.
Meisha turns to stare at the vice-captain of the tennis team, Megumi (has long, black hair and piercing, dark brown eyes); and the treasurer of the tennis team, Hikari (has shoulder-length, brown hair and light blue eyes). They were both second year middle school students. Meisha suspects that Hikari is wearing colored contact lenses; she wonders once again what the disciplinary committee is doing.
"Is there anything you need, Megumi-senpai and Hikari-senpai?" she tilts her head to the side with a frown. If she was a beginner, she would have seriously gotten hurt with what they did. Well, she has known for a while how much the older members of the tennis club disliked her. She did beat the vice-captain with a score of 6-0—with her right hand. They were pretty furious when they found out that she was left-handed. It was a good thing the coach was around to get them off her back.
"We saw you at the mall yesterday with Fuji-sama and Eiji-sama", Hikari looks displeased.
"Fuji-sama and Eiji-sama?" Meisha covers her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She can't wait to tell everyone. Eiji wanted popularity, right? Well, he got it alright.
Megumi scowls, "What is so funny?"
Meisha waves her hands in defense, "Nothing!" she exclaims frantically. Megumi is too tall for Meisha to handle if they ever get into a fight.
"Hmph!" Megumi crosses her arms on her chest and narrows her eyes at Meisha.
"We just want to know how you're related to them", Hikari smiles a bit in order to relieve the tension in the air. She may be displeased but she definitely wants to avoid a fight from breaking out.
Meisha looks confused, "Well, we're friends. I mean, they do hang out with Oniichan a lot so I kind of ended up hanging out with them too. They are really nice to me", she smiles at them brightly; thinking about her pseudo big brothers always seem to put a smile on her face.
Megumi and Hikari couldn't look more displeased than they already were.
"We're actually leaders of the Seigaku tennis team fan club and quite frankly, your closeness to Fuji-sama and Eiji-sama disturbs us and our members", Hikari rests her hands on her hips.
"Um, what?" Meisha doesn't know if she should be disturbed by the fact that there is such a fan club in this school or the fact that they are displeased with her hanging out with Fuji and Eiji.
Megumi sighs and looks like she just wants to rip her hair out, "If you want to be friends with them, you have to go through us first! It's only fair…" she blows her bangs away from her eyes.
Meisha's eyes widen for a split second before she closes her eyes and starts laughing. She clutches her stomach in pain while tears start gathering in the corners of her eyes.
Megumi and Hikari look furious but they wait for her to realize how serious the situation was.
Meisha opens one eye and sees how the two sophomores looked red with anger. Their glares were enough to punch the humor away. "Wait, you two are serious? You're seriously telling me to join the fan club before hanging out with any of the Seigaku tennis team regulars?" she raises a brow.
Megumi's frown deepens, "With any? So you mean to say that you're friends with all the regulars?" if looks could kill, Meisha would already be buried six feet below the surface.
"Well, yes. Like I said, they do hang out with Oniichan a lot so I ended up being an additional member to their gang. I'm also friends with Taka-san—in case you were wondering", Meisha couldn't dare to smile; if Megumi could bury her six feet below with just a glare, then Hikari looks like she could do much worst. These girls are crazy. And her Oniichan did tell her that fan girls were not to be messed with. She holds up her hands in surrender, "I'm sorry I laughed. If you want, I can introduce you two to Fuji-senpai and Eiji-sen—"
"Fuji-sama and Eiji-sama" both Hikari and Megumi say in unison.
Meisha swallows the urge to giggle; how can they say that with a straight face? "Well, yes, them. I will gladly introduce you to them", she smiles at them warily.
Hikari and Megumi glance at each other. They seem to be weighing their options. And they definitely look interested but Hikari shakes her head while Megumi clucks her tongue in disappointment.
"Um, so that's a no?" Meisha asks.
At least they don't look like they're about to put her in a potato sack and throw her down the river.
Hikari shakes her head, "Thank you for the offer but it would be unfair to the other members. And besides, it would be much more simple if you just keep your distance from those wonderful gentlemen", she smiles softly but Meisha heard the warning in her words loud and clear.
"And what if I don't?" Meisha carefully asks them.
"You arrogant little—"
Hikari places her arm in front of Megumi to stop her from lunging at Meisha. Meisha sighs in relief and mentally thanks Hikari before realizing what a cold and calculative smile she had on.
"It would be wise to take our little warning seriously", Hikari says as her cold smile widens.
Meisha visibly swallows the lump in her throat.
"Come on, Meg. The captain might be looking for us by now", Hikari turns away and walks back to their tennis court.
Megumi glares at Meisha one more time before turning and following Hikari.
"Well, that was very eventful", Meisha sighs in relief and feels for her fast-beating heart.
A few days after the confrontation, various students started talking to Meisha about the infamous tennis players of Seigaku. It didn't feel right to use her friends' fame to gain attention but it was better than being treated as an invisible person. She slowly started to show her true personality to others. She was cheerful, stubborn, witty, and she spoke her mind. As the days went by, she continued to become popular. Girls would continually ask about the seniors of Seigaku and she didn't mind it at all. She was happy that so many thought of her favorite seniors as celebrities and practically worshipped them—which she was kind of disturbed about but nonetheless happy. She began to realize that she hasn't been hanging out with Alex and her posse for quite some time. It's not that she hates hanging out with them. It's just that they didn't share any common interests and Alex is kind of a pain in the a—
"Hey, Meisha-chan!" a familiar voice calls out to her and shakes her out of her thoughts.
Well, speak of the devil.
"Hey, Alex-chan! I feel like I haven't seen you in like forever!" Meisha gives her best grin. Alex may not really be nice but she did take her into her group even if she felt like she didn't belong there. Even the Alex posse knew that Meisha didn't belong with them but Alex took her in anyway and was the only person that spoke to her without feeling the need to—even if she usually insulted her or just made fun of her.
"Well duh! You've been stealing the spotlight and hanging out with different groups each day" Alex rolls her eyes playfully but Meisha was able to hear a hint of envy in her voice.
"Yeah, I know and I'm sorry for not hanging out with you guys lately. We should go shopping again and catch up" Meisha smiles brightly at Alex even though shopping was the last thing she'd want to do.
"Well if you're really sorry, then you should come shopping with us later after your tennis practice", Alex grins at her.
Is it just her imagination or does that grin look kind of suspicious? Meisha nods her head and grins back, "Sure!"
Alex nods in acknowledgment and turns to walk way before waving at Meisha, "Meet you by the school gate after your practice", she exclaims and moves back to her seat.
Well, that wasn't so bad. But she can't help but feel a little bit suspicious.
"Sorry for taking so long, guys!" Meisha exclaims and waves towards Alex and her posse.
Alex smirks, "The coach and the seniors giving you a hard time again?"
Meisha sighs, "The coach just isn't giving up. And that just makes the seniors hate me even more"
The group starts to walk towards the bus station.
Alex hums in thought, "But not all the seniors hate you. I've seen some of them approach you"
Meisha shrugs, "They are fans of niichantachi. I'm sure they'll stop pretending to be nice to me once they get their fill of their favorite boys", she shakes her head in disappointment.
Alex raises a brow and smirks, "Niichantachi? You mean the Seigaku tennis regulars?"
Meisha nods energetically at Alex, "Yup! They are all like my big brothers. Well, except for my actual big brother of course", she chuckles.
"Is your brother really that strong in tennis?" Alex asks with a strange glint in her eyes.
Meisha raises a brow at her suspiciously. Alex never opened any topic on tennis. "Well, yeah. He's the best of the best! I've been trying to beat him for years!" she sighs and crosses her arms.
The bus arrives so they get in and occupy the vacant seats. Alex and Meisha sit beside each other in the middle row while the posse sits in the back row of the bus.
"So you learned how to play from your brother?" Alex asks.
Is Alex secretly a fan of her brother or something? "Well, yeah. He introduced tennis to me when I was young. Are you a fan of Oniichan too?" Meisha raises a brow at her.
Alex laughs, "What? No! I'm not into tennis, remember? It's the same for my type in guys. I'm more of a soccer girl", she grins cheekily.
"Then why are you asking about him?" Meisha can't help but be suspicious. It wasn't like Alex to continue a civil conversation with her. It was as if they were—dare she hope—actually friends.
Alex lightly smacks Meisha's back, "What? I can't just get to know my best friend a little more?" she grins at her playfully.
Meisha's eyes widen. Alex thought of her as a best friend? All this time she thought that Alex never even considered her as a friend since she treated her differently. She always looked happier when she was with her posse or their other classmates. What made her suddenly change her attitude towards her though? Did she become envious of her sudden popularity? She shakes her head to rid of such negative thoughts. She grins genuinely at Alex, "Well, you can ask me whatever you want, Alex-chan!"
"Just call me Alex, Meisha!" Alex grins back.
It's been an awesome week for her so far. Her new best friend, Alex, had been nothing but nice to her. She even told her posse to be nicer to her. She still doesn't like shopping but they made it fun and easier for her. She noticed a gradual decline in girls approaching her but she couldn't care less about them. She was already aware that they would tire of talking about senpaitachi and would eventually go back to treating her like a stranger. And besides, she was already very content with having Alex as her one and only best friend. Her family and senpaitachi were really happy for her and want to meet Alex but she always seems to find a reason not to. She also said she didn't want to meet the famous Seigaku tennis team because they weren't her type but Meisha didn't really buy that excuse. Maybe deep deep down, Alex is a shy girl? Well, Meisha will support her decisions no matter what—that's what best friends do, right? She grins to herself happily as she skips back to the classroom after taking a quick bathroom break. She could hear her classmates' voices and laughter as she approaches their door. The teacher left them to study on their own so everyone started to chat and move around the classroom freely.
"Hey Meisha, come here!" Alex calls out with a smile the moment she spotted Meisha stepping into the classroom.
Meisha grins at her best friend and hurriedly moves towards her, "Did I miss anything?" she asks.
"I was just telling Reena here how awesome you are at tennis", Meisha notices a certain glint in Alex's eyes.
Meisha looks at Reena and smiles at her. Her black hair is in a pixie cut and her hazel eyes have the same glint in them. She and Reena rarely spoke to each other. They only spoke when Reena would occasionally ask for a spare pencil. Come to think of it, she has yet to return any of the pencils she lent to her.
"You're Kunimitsu Tezuka's little sister, right?" Reena asks.
Meisha sits on the vacant chair beside Alex, "Yeah, I am", she smiles proudly at Reena.
"Psshh, so of course you'd be awesome at tennis. You're that guy's little sister. I don't know what the big deal is, Alex", Reena rolls her eyes and looks at Alex with a raised brow.
"Wha—?" Meisha looks surprised and baffled at the sudden insult.
"Well, it's not like her brother taught her to play tennis, right Meisha?" Alex grins.
For some reason, Meisha found her grin evil. "Well, he did teach me the basics but—"
"See? Her famous brother taught her. There's nothing really special about her. I mean, if my big brother was a famous celebrity, I'm sure I'd be one too just because he's my brother", she waves Meisha off as if waving off a fly, "I thought she had tennis going for her but her skills aren't even really her own", she smirks smugly.
Meisha grits her teeth in anger as she clenches her fists, "Hey wait a minute—"
"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" Karin asks with obviously fake excitement (which was suspicious) as she quickly approaches the three.
"Oh, nothing really important; I just realized how Meisha-chan here is just good at tennis because of her big brother", Reena says with a yawn.
Meisha whips her head to Karin and desperately says, "Karin-chan, listen—"
"Oh yeah, I already knew about that", she looks at her nails, "She's the little sister of that handsome Vice-Captain of the Seigaku tennis team", she grins mischievously, "Though I doubt she's even on par with him".
Meisha's eyes widen at the hurtful words. She remembers when Karin smiled at her excitedly when they talked about her brother. She thought they were friends but now she knows that she was just being used the entire time. Well, it hurt her but she can tolerate it since she has Alex. She looks at Alex with a pleading look, "Alex, help me out here".
Reena and Karin look at Alex with raised eyebrows. Alex smiles at Meisha sweetly, making Meisha inwardly sigh in relief. "Your tennis skills aren't even your own, Meisha. You really are boring", she flips her hair and smirks.
Meisha stares at her blankly as if she was having a hard time registering what she said, "You're just kidding, right?" she says almost pleadingly as she forces a small and crooked smile, "This is another one of your Alex humor, right? I mean, you don't really think that your best friend is boring, right?" she looks at Alex with pleading eyes.
Alex raises a brow and continues to smirk, "Of course I don't. My best friend isn't boring. That's the whole reason why he's my best friend." She grins in an evil manner and waits for Meisha to comprehend what was said.
"He?" Meisha tries her best to blink away the oncoming tears. But Alex said on the bus that—oh, so it was a lie all along then. She just knew that it was too good to be true. She always heard that tiny voice in the back of her head telling her that something was off with Alex. She should have listened to that tiny voice but she's a bit glad that she was at least able to enjoy having a best friend for a full week. To Alex, it may have been a fake friendship but to her, it was very real.
"Tsk tsk, look what you did, Alex. You're going to make the little chick cry", Shina approaches the group with a smirk.
Meisha shuts her eyes really hard to avoid any tears from forming. She's not going to give these evil harpies the satisfaction of seeing her cry, will she?
"Why don't you call your dear brother to help you?" Chika, a green-haired girl approach them as well, "Like you always do", she cackles.
Meisha clenches her fists while continuing to keep her eyes shut as her temperature rises. No, she will not give them that satisfaction!
"Or hey, why don't you call those hunky senpaitachi you're always bragging about?" Linda, a short girl with a black bob cut suggests sarcastically as she gets closer to the ever growing group.
"Yeah, they are your big brothers, right? You even have nicknames for them", Mia sticks her tongue out in disgust, "Pathetic. You can't do anything by yourself, can you?" she gets closer to the group.
Ouch. That comment really stung but Meisha continues to be silent as she mentally counts from ten.
Ten
"I bet you get them to help you with your tennis too" Reena laughs mockingly.
Nine
"You're not satisfied with having just one hot older brother, huh?" Shina says bitterly.
Eight
"Hey, how did it feel being popular for a short while?" Linda smirks, "And it was all thanks to your brother and your beloved senpaitachi" she rolls her eyes.
Seven
"You are really pathetic, you know that? Using other people to gain popularity", Mia looks at her nails, "How desperate are you?"
Six
"Now, now, girls", Alex speaks up, "It's not her fault" she coos.
Meisha restrains herself from opening her eyes. She bites down on her lower lip to push down the little hope she was feeling.
Five
"Meisha was just born that way. It's not her fault that she's worthless on her own", Alex grins wider when she noticed Meisha flinch at her harsh words.
It was then that Meisha realized how long it was to count from ten. She stands abruptly from her seat and looks around with a glare and a deep frown. All her classmates were surrounding her and looking at her with a mix of mockery, bitterness, and amusement. She looks down at Alex who was grinning at her wickedly. She scowls and glares at her before walking towards her desk. Surprisingly, the girls let her out of the circle and just watched how Meisha stomped her way to her desk. She grabs her tennis bag, opens it, and dumps all her stuff in it angrily. She ignores the giggles and chuckles she was receiving from her evil classmates. She lifts her zipped up tennis bag on to her left shoulder and stomps her way towards the front sliding doors. She slides it open and turns to glare at the group of girls one more time before leaving the classroom and slamming the door shut. She could still hear their evil laughter as she ran through the hallways to get out of the school and head home.
"Yes, I understand that Meisha left the school grounds in the middle of class", Ayano Tezuka, mother of Kunimitsu and Meisha, is talking to Meisha's homeroom teacher on the phone. "But I already told you, she had to leave because she wasn't feeling well", she rubs her temples while trying to keep her anger at bay, "Well maybe her classmates just didn't notice", she glares, obviously not liking how this homeroom teacher seems to just want Meisha to get detention, "Then we'll provide a medical certificate—" she gets interrupted by the teacher on the other line, "Listen here, I don't know why you're so hell bent on giving my daughter detention but if I hear from anyone that you did, I promise you that I will run you out of town. We will provide a detailed medical certificate tomorrow and you will accept it. Do I make myself clear, Miss Hiraka?" She says in a calm manner but anyone can tell that she was going to blow any minute. The teacher tries to reason out some more but Ayano interrupts her this time, "I said, do I make myself clear, Miss Hiraka?" she says sharply. "Thank you", she says with a clipped tone before putting the phone down. She sighs and walks towards the living room where Meisha and her father-in-law, Kunikazu were. She smiles softly as her anger slowly dissipates at the sight on the couch.
Meisha had her head on Kunikazu's lap and was sleeping soundly while Kunikazu continued to stroke her hair.
Kunikazu looks up and smiles gently at his daughter-in-law, "She got tired of crying and fell asleep", he says softly to avoid waking his granddaughter up.
Ayano smiles and nods at him in response, "I have already called Kuniharu-san and Kunimitsu to tell them to come home as early as possible", she whispers.
Kunikazu nods before fondly gazing down at Meisha's sleeping face again, "Such a sweet girl", he frowns a bit, "And yet, she has a lot of trouble keeping friends", he says sadly.
She smiles softly, "I'd like to think that she just hasn't found the right ones yet", her eyes twinkle knowingly.
Kunikazu chuckles softly, "That's what you said about Kunimitsu", he gently moves Meisha's bangs away from her face.
"Was I wrong?" she smiles playfully.
Kunikazu shakes his head as he looks at Ayano with eyes full of mirth, "No, you definitely weren't".
"They said what!" Eiji stands abruptly with clenched fists and exclaims in anger.
"Eiji, calm down! We're in a public park", Oishi scolds him but he can't really blame him for getting mad.
"Don't let them get to you, Meisha. They are just being bullies. None of what they said are true", Taka says softly.
"They could just be projecting their negative traits onto you to relieve themselves of anxiety", Inui states with a nod while his glasses gleam confidently.
Meisha's frown deepens, "What does that even mean, Haru-nii?" she looks confused.
Fuji chuckles and pats her head, "It just means they are jealous of you"
Inui opens his mouth to interrupt but Oishi looks at him with the 'it's-not-a-good-time-for-a-lecture' look so he closes his mouth.
They are at the public park near Taka's house/restaurant. Fuji brought a picnic mat large enough for all of them to sit comfortably. Taka brought a big round container full of sushi from their restaurant. Eiji brought sodas. Oishi brought a basket full of sandwiches. Inui brought paper plates, plastic cups, and disposable chopsticks. Meisha also brought a basket full of sandwiches (the sophomores were relieved to know that her mother volunteered to make them instead of Meisha).
"Jealous or not, what they said were just mean nya!" Eiji plops back down on the mat and angrily eats one of Oishi's sandwiches.
Fuji takes a wasabi sushi, "How did your brother take the news?" he asks before plopping the whole sushi into his mouth.
Meisha sighs tiredly, "He was both angry and guilty", she rubs the bridge of her nose to ease the headache that was slowly building, "I told him like a gazillionbillion times that it's not his fault. Do you guys have any idea how tiring it is to try to convince him to not feel guilty and to not go raid the school to give everyone laps?" she sighs again, "I know I do."
"Well, he has a sister compl—" Oishi stops when he sees Meisha glaring at him, "err, I mean, he does care for you very much, Meisha", he laughs uneasily to try and cover up what he was really going to say.
Meisha takes a bite out of the tuna sushi, "Dad was already halfway through the door and ready to force the principal to call all my classmates' parents. It was a good thing that grandfather stopped him", she sighs, "I really don't want to make this such a big issue", she brightens up a bit when she finishes the tuna sushi and looks at Taka, "Thanks again for the sushi, Taka-san! It really cheered me up!" she grins.
Taka laughs, "It's no problem at all, Meisha. Dad offered when I told him you were coming."
Meisha's grin brightens, "Well, tell him thank you for me!"
Taka nods with a wide smile.
"Meisha, you said you don't want to make this such a big issue, right?" Fuji asks with a smile.
Meisha nods, "Well, yeah. I don't want my classmates to have some sort of different grudge or leverage on me", she casually says as she picks up a salmon sushi.
Inui's glasses gleam, "So we just have to be sneaky", he grins mischievously.
Meisha plops the sushi into her mouth, "Yeah, snea—", she quickly swallows and raises her brow at Inui, "What?"
Fuji opens his eyes, showing an evil glint, "Maybe go at night and poison the cafeteria food?" he smirks.
Meisha looks even more confused, "Wha—"
"No, no, Fuji. They might have brought lunchboxes with them", Eiji grins mischievously and leans a bit forward, "I say we put bugs in their shoe lockers", he nods at his brilliant idea.
Meisha narrows her eyes as realization dawns on her features.
"Guys, I don't think that's a good id—", Fuji gives Taka his racket (which he pulled out of nowhere), "OH YEAH! BURNING! LET'S GET THOSE MONKEYS!" he abruptly stands up while his body produces a large and passionate fire.
An anger vein forms on Meisha's forehead.
Oishi sighs as he sips his cup of cold tea. He keeps an expectant eye on Meisha.
Meisha pulls out her hot pink racket out of nowhere as her little body emits a threatening aura. Her head is down so her eyes are covered by her bangs. She slowly stands up, unbeknownst to the four sophomores who were loudly planning the demise of her classmates. "You guys", she says in a threatening tone.
The four sophomores flinch as they feel chills run up their spines. They slowly look towards Meisha warily.
Meisha's left eye glints as if promising that a painful experience will befall the said sophomores, "I thought I said I didn't want it to become a big issue", she says threateningly while tightening her grip on the racket.
Beads of sweat start forming on the sophomores' foreheads as they slowly stand. "But Meisha—" they say in unison.
"No excuses!" she lifts her racket.
The said sophomores take this as a sign to run. They run around the park with Meisha on their tail; threatening them with her racket.
Oishi sighs blissfully after drinking his cold tea and watches his friends running around the park, "She doesn't blame you. You know that, right?" he says without looking away from his running friends.
Tezuka continues to lean on the tree that is currently shading their little picnic, "I know. But she blames herself and feels that she's inadequate. And spending time with me now might make her remember everything her classmates said. I thought I should place a bit of distance in order to give her more space to grow on her own", he glances at Oishi, "Since somebody obviously thinks that I have a sister complex", he says with a frown.
Oishi laughs, "You've been standing behind that tree and just silently watching her like a stalker." He looks towards Tezuka and grins teasingly, "You can't blame anyone for thinking that".
"Hmph", Tezuka says in response as he glances towards Meisha who was still chasing his friends. His eyes soften a bit when he sees the bright smile on her face. He hopes that his sweet little sister will someday be surrounded by loyal friends like he is.
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed looking into a part of Meisha's past! ;)