Happy (late) Thanksgiving! Hope you guys had an awesome Thanksgiving ate a lot of food :) I know I did, I had a fantastic turkey, yum :) And hope all of you guys were safe for Black Friday today :) Anyway, hope you guys are thankful :) I know I am with all my family and friends, and you guys for reading this story :D
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Prince of Tennis characters, just Miyuki and all those crazy fangirls XDD
"Here's Zaizen's classroom," Shiraishi said as he slid open the door.
"Thank you, Ku-san. You saved me. I would have wonder around the school for days if I had to find it myself," Miyuki laughed sheepishly at her own inability toward direction.
"Sempai," Zaizen opened one of his eyes when he felt shady figures over his head. It was obvious that before the duo came, the raven-haired boy was taking a nap.
"I thought you were supposed to look after her for the day," Shiraishi questioned as he 'handed' Miyuki back to the boy.
"Sempai, you were talking about plants. It's boring," Zaizen plainly pointed out his lack of interest toward his captain's favorite topic.
Before Shiraishi had a chance to counsel his teammate, most of girls in the class had realized the tennis captain was currently in their classroom. "Ah! It's Shiraishi-kun!" One of the girls screamed. Other boys, though, were giving Shiraishi the jealous glare for being so popular with the girls. As soon as she exclaimed those words, girls started to run toward Zaizen's desk to crowd the trio.
"Oops, got to go," Shiraishi said in fear of being attack by his rabid fangirls. "See you later, Zaizen, Yuki-chan."
"Bye, Ku-san," Miyuki waved as she watched the ash-haired boy running out of the classroom. After watching Shiraishi's mere escape, Miyuki sat down in 'her' seat waiting for the bell to ring to announce the start of the class. When the bell finally rang, the first thing she heard was Kenya's voice coming through the intercom.
"Yo! I'm Oshitari Kenya, and I'll be broadcasting for today's news! And of course, we're going to do this… with speed!"
"You do this every day, sempai…" Zaizen sighed, as if Kenya was actually next to him. He was annoyed that Kenya had to announce his name. Since Kenya does it every day, everyone knows that he would be the one who broadcast their afternoon news.
Not long after, Kenya started to talk about the daily news, such as sport schedule, afterschool activities, clubs, etc. As Miyuki listened to Kenya's announcement, she couldn't help but amazed by the speed the bleach-haired boy was talking. "Exactly how can anyone understand this…?" Miyuki asked herself as she tried her best to listen and understand every single word Kenya was saying.
Once Kenya was done broadcasting the news, the teacher walked and stood behind the podium where he started the review session. "More hours of review, yay…" Miyuki sarcastically cheered inside her head, slouching in the seat a little bit. Unfortunately, Miyuki was more tired than she was this morning (probably because of lunch). She had trouble keeping her eyes open until…
"Miyuki, let's go." Zaizen suddenly said.
"Eh?" Miyuki asked in surprise, opening her eyes fully. "Where are we going?"
"The bell rang," Zaizen pointed out. "It's P.E. now."
"Oh, okay."
"The girls are staying here to change, so you can stay here," Zaizen instructed. "We're having class on the track, so I'll just meet you there."
"Okay."
After Zaizen finished his explanation, he left the class along with the rest of the boys. Miyuki, in the end, just sat awkward while all the girls were changing. She felt really out of the place when some of girls were even showing off their bodies as they took off their uniform.
"Ano…" a voice quietly said, notifying Miyuki, who turned around to listen to the girl. "I'm done changing, so… I can take you to class, if you want."
"Really, thank you," Miyuki smiled brightly. She assumed the girl probably saw how disturb she looked and decided to help, which she was extremely grateful for that gesture. "Eto…"
"Oh, I'm Koizumi Fumiko," the girl introduced herself.
"Fumiko… It suits you very well (Fumiko means beauty in Japanese), "Miyuki smiled sweetly. The girl stood in front of her had dark black hair, but the sunshine proved that in fact the hair is actually midnight blue. Her eyes were dark purple, which compensated well with her hair. Her face currently had a hint blush that women try to recreate by using make-up.
"Ah, thank you…" Fumiko blushed a little from that respond. She was surprised by how nice Miyuki was, especially since she had just met the girl. "So… how do you like Shitenhoji so far…?"
"I love it. It's a lot of fun," Miyuki smiled brightly. "I can't believe you guys even have classes that teach you how to be funny and such."
"Eh, oh yeah, well, that's our school's motto: The first one who laughs, wins," Fumiko explained.
"Although, I don't think Zaizen-kun likes it much," Miyuki bluntly pointed out, remembering that the raven-haired boy paid even less attention (if that's possible) during that class period.
"Yes, well, Zaizen-kun, doesn't really like telling jokes, at least, not as much as the rest of the school. But that's what makes him so cool," Fumiko said. Miyuki could have sworn that she saw Fumiko's eyes soften when she started to talk about Zaizen. "Here's the track where our class is going to be." Fumiko said when they finally reached the track.
"Thank you," Miyuki gave her a quick bow in gratitude. "Now, I just need to find Zaizen-kun."
"If you want, I can help you."
"It's too much a bother to ask you. I couldn't possibly ask you to do that for me," Miyuki waved her hands to refuse the girl. Fumiko had already done a significant favor for her; she couldn't possibly ask the girl to do another one.
"It's okay, I… I don't mind."
"If you're okay with it," Miyuki finally gave in and agreed. After this conversation, they started to walk around the track trying to find the tennis player. They eventually reached the water fountain and were continuing to walk until…
"Is it because of that girl!?" They heard a voice cried. As soon as they heard that, they stopped their walk and searched for the owner of this voice. When they finally found it, they discovered the owner of that voice was currently standing next Zaizen.
"No," Zaizen replied calmly. "You're just not my type."
"Then… tell me what can I do so you'll like me?" The girl asked. Everyone could tell that she was on the verge of breaking down in tears.
"It wouldn't change the fact," Zaizen sighed. "You'll just be a fake, and that's even worse."
The girl, not wanting to let Zaizen see her cry or don't want her make-up ruined (whichever way), ran away from this current situation. As she ran by Miyuki and Fumiko, she gave a glare at Miyuki as if she was saying, "This is all your fault!"
"Zai…" Miyuki began to talk after the girl had exited this area.
"You two were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Zaizen plainly asked.
Right after Zaizen asked that question, Fumiko couldn't help but started to panic. "Eh… Eto…" She started to look left and right trying to think of an excuse or trying to gain enough courage to talk to the boy.
"Well, I was looking for you," Miyuki explained. "And we just happened to stumble upon you during this situation. We didn't know what was happening."
"Whatever, let's just go," Zaizen said. As he walked pass Miyuki, he lightly patted her on the head as if he was treating her as a pet and he was the owner.
"Okay," Miyuki soon followed after. She continued to walk until she turned around and saw Fumiko was still standing there, "Koizumi-san, why are you still standing there? Let's go."
"Oh, right…"
When they returned to the track, the bell rang as if it was just waiting for their return. Miyuki just sat on the sideline since the teacher was making the students ran laps for the entire period. She would join them, but she wasn't exactly wearing the proper attire for running. She was wearing a sleeveless button-up shirt, a skirt that went down to her knee, and boots. She found it amusing watching everyone struggled running the amounts of laps they were given. The only person who was barely out of breath was Zaizen. "Must be from all those tennis practices," Miyuki thought, thinking how welly shape the Rikkaidai regulars are from all their tennis practices.
The teacher was kind enough to let them leave 10 minutes early, so the students wouldn't be so disgusting when they go to their next class. Everyone immediately ran to the water fountain once the teacher dismissed them. Some of the boys were pushing one another so they could be the first to drink the ever-so-refreshing water. The girls, however, just properly stood in line, waiting for their turn. They probably were also thinking how immature the boys were.
"Here," a boy said as he handed a towel to Zaizen.
"Thanks," he replied as he grabbed the towel and started to wipe the sweats that were dripping down his face.
"Oi, Zaizen, look, your girlfriend is coming," one of his classmates joked as he saw Miyuki approaching the group.
Instead of giving his classmate a rude comment, Zaizen simply threw his used-dirty towel right at the boy's face.
"Oi! I don't want that! This is gross!" The boy immediately commented as he threw the towel on the ground.
"I was letting you use it," Zaizen replied with a sly smile appearing on his face.
"Who want to use that? It's gross! It got your sweat all over it!" The boy questioned. His friend quickly cut him off short when the boy realized Miyuki was currently at a talking distance from them.
"Everyone did so well," Miyuki smiled as those were the first words she said to the group.
"Um… thanks," the boy, who just had an argument with Zaizen (sorry, I'm bad at names, and I just don't want to bother searching for names…), replied scratching his head. He didn't expect the girl to be so nice to someone she never met before.
"And Zaizen-kun, I have a surprise for you," Miyuki said looking at the raven-haired boy.
"What?"
"Lower your head," Miyuki instructed. Zaizen following her order lowered his head, so he would be at the same height level as Miyuki. "Ta-da!"
Zaizen felt something was placed on his head. When he put his hand on his hand, he felt something soft instead of his hair. He could see that his friends were trying to hold back their laughter. Now, he knew he had to ask this question: "What is this…?"
"It's a flower crown," Miyuki smiled.
"Why…?"
"I was bored," Miyuki simply reasoned. "I also made one for Kin-chan, Ku-san, Kenya-kun, Ko…" Miyuki started to show them the different flower crowns as she named each of the people she had made the crown for. She was cut-off when she felt a hand on her head. "Eh?"
"Here it comes…!" Zaizen's friends thought in their heads. They were waiting for Zaizen to say something harsh, like he usually does with his fangirls. They thought Miyuki might be different, but once they saw this action, they were convinced that she was simply another fangirl, wanting Zaizen's attention.
"Sempai-tachi would like it," Zaizen said in short. After he said, the boys' mouth practically dropped to the floor in shock by the only reply Zaizen gave her. He wasn't mad, annoyed, or anything close to it. In fact, it seemed that he actually liked the gift. "Let's head back to class."
"Okay," Miyuki followed Zaizen and started talking to him as they walked away.
"Is… that even… our Zaizen…?" one of the boys dared to ask, but of course, none can answer.
After going through one more class period, the final bell finally rang signaling the end of the day. Most of the students began to pack even before the bell even rang and ran out of the classroom as fast as they could once they had the chance. Others, however, were patiently waiting for the bell and packed at a normal speed. Once they were done packing, they started to get ready for their afternoon activities. Needless to say, one of those people was Zaizen. Miyuki just sat patiently, waiting until the boy signaled her for their departure. They soon left the classroom when Zaizen was finally ready.
Once they got close to the tennis court, they could already hear the sound of tennis balls hitting back and forth. Many of members were already gather at the court. They saw Kenya was having a rally with Gin.
"Nice hit, Kenya-kun!" Miyuki shouted excitedly without thinking. She always cheered for Kirihara when she watched Rikkaidai practice that cheering for a nice shot had become a second nature thing for her to do whenever she watched a tennis match.
However, Kenya, who was not used to this, ended up losing his balance from this sudden shout. He missed the ball and tripped. "Ow…" Kenya said when his body made a contact with the ground.
"Kenya, pay attention to practice not on the fangirls," Shiraishi ordered without actually looking at the duo. The second he heard the fall and Kenya's shout, Shiraishi could pretty much guess what had happened.
"Oops…" Miyuki felt guilty once she realized that she was probably the cause for Kenya's fall. Zaizen, on the other hand, just shook his head ashamed by his sempai's stupidity.
"It's not my fault. Someone suddenly yelled my name," Kenya argued rubbing his head.
"Sorry, Kenya-kun," Miyuki apologized when Zaizen and she entered the tennis court. "It was a really nice shot though." Miyuki extended her hand to help to boy stand up.
"Oh, thanks," Kenya laughed, grabbing the girl's hand, completely forgot his anger a while ago. "Um… Haha, Zaizen, why are you wearing that?" Kenya started to laugh pointing at the flower crown Zaizen had on his head.
"Miyuki made it," Zaizen plainly pointed out.
"And I loved it," Kenya immediately stopped laughing and replied not wanting to hurt the girl's feeling. He doesn't want to deal with a crying girl, not now, not ever.
"And I made one for you guys too," Miyuki smiled as she took out a flower crown from her bag and placed it on Kenya (or at least tried due to the height difference). She reacted like she did not even hear Kenya's comment.
"Why did you make this?" Shiraishi asked when he received his crown.
"I got really bored during P.E. class," Miyuki admitted, sticking her tongue out in guilt.
"It's so cute," Koharu held his hands together happily. "Really, thank you, Yuki-chan~!" Koharu quickly gave Miyuki a bear-hug.
"Okay, before you suffocate Yuki-chan, let's start practice, shall we?" Shiraishi asked breaking the duo apart.
"Guess that's my cue to leave. Bye-bye," Miyuki waved as she made her exit. As she started to walk to the outer side of the fence, she saw the girl who had helped her earlier this day. "Koizumi-san," Miyuki ran and greeted the girl who was currently standing next to her friends.
"Ah, Hayashi-san," Fumiko replied. "Did you enjoy your day?"
"Yes, I did. Thanks for asking."
"That's great," Fumiko smiled. "Ah, how rude of me," she suddenly exclaimed remembering her friends are still standing next to her. "Hayashi-san, this is Kobayashi Setsuko and this is Ikeda Yumi." Fumiko pointed to each girl as she introduced them. Setsuko has dark orange hair with turquoise eyes, and Yumi has black, curly, med-length hair tied in a ponytail with light blue eyes.
"Nice to meet you guys, I'm Hayashi Miyuki," she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you too."
"So have you talked to Kenya-san yet?" Yumi asked after a long silence of the girls just watching the boys' practice.
Immediately after Yumi asked this question, Setsuko began to blush madly. "Eh… eto…" Setsuko started to play with her hair not knowing how to answer.
"Just give it a shot, what's the worst thing that could happen?" Yumi asked. She's tired of being the encourager for Setsuko and Fumiko, so they could gather enough courage to talk to their respective crushes.
"But… Yoshida-san…" Setsuko looked down on the ground, thinking about Kenya's number-one fan.
"Ano…" Miyuki lightly said not too sure if she should talk in this situation or not. When the trio all looked at Miyuki, she continued, "I think you should go for it. Don't give up before you even try. I know, I really don't have a place to say anything, but I think you should try it. You never know what could happen."
Setsuko looked her with widen eyes. She couldn't believe Miyuki was giving her such a strong encouragement. The girl probably didn't even know what they were talking about, and yet she was kind enough to try to help. For all Setsuko knows, Miyuki might even like Kenya and she just gave her opponent an encouragement to go for the boy's affection. "Um… Thank you."
"No problem," Miyuki smiled.
"See, so go for it," Yumi nudged Setsuko while indirectly meant it for Fumiko as well. "Now," Yumi gave Setsuko a light push when she saw the regulars walking out of the court. She purposely pushed Setsuko right to Kenya, who happened to see her and caught Setsuko before she had a chance to fall to the ground.
"Ah… um… th…thank you…" Setsuko mumbled those words out while bright pink blush appeared on her cheeks.
"No problem," Kenya let go of her and clearly did not realize the redness the girl's face was. "Kobayashi, right?" The girl just nodded vigorously in respond.
"Um… um…" Setsuko started to play with her hair again, wanting to say something out loud, but just couldn't find the courage or the right way to say it. Yumi, on the other hand, was just waiting for her friend to say something, and she was getting inpatient. This might be the only chance her friend could talk to Kenya without any distraction, and yet she was ruining this chance.
"Is there something you need?" Kenya tilted his head to side, wondering what the girl wanted.
"Um… well…"
"Ah, Yuki-chan," Kenya suddenly said when he saw the blonde girl standing beyond Setsuko. He assumed Setsuko probably didn't want anything since the girl was taking forever to say what she wanted (and Kenya hates to wait for stuffs). "Sorry, the crown broke in practice," Kenya apologized as he handed over the pieces left from his crown to Miyuki.
"It's okay," Miyuki laughed. "I told you I made those out of boredom; you don't have to pretend to like them to begin with."
"But…"
"It's fine," Miyuki said as she threw the flowers on the grass. "See, it doesn't matter."
"If you say so," Kenya relieved that the girl did not make a big fuss over this.
"Zaizen, would you mind taking Miyuki home, since you took care of her the entire day," Shiraishi asked. "Wouldn't want you to get lost."
"Haha, very funny," Miyuki narrowed her eyes, knowing perfectly well what Shiraishi was talking about. "Zaizen-kun doesn't even know where I lived."
"Yeah, but he can keep you company."
"Let's go," Zaizen, who was already done changing (he left right when Setsuko's attempt to talk to Kenya, since he got bored), ordered.
"Okay," Miyuki replied. "Bye, and it's really nice to meet you guys."
"Bye," the trio waved in disbelief how natural the girl was when talking to regulars. Both Fumiko and Setsuko wished they have the courage which Miyuki possessed. Yumi also wished this for her friends.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Okay, so I was wondering if you guys want me to write a spin-off of this story for Fumiko and Setsuko (or just Shitenhoji). And I was wondering if you guys want me to write an alternative ending where Miyuki moved to Osaka and goes to Shitenhoji, so I can continue Fumiko and Setsuko's stories from there. Please PM me or review to tell what you guys think. Thank you :)
Okay... Now, I'm really glad I separate this and last chapter in two... I didn't realize I would write this long for this chapter, so yeah... I thought it'll just barely make to 2,000 words, but it's about 3,200 words XP
Please review to tell me if you guys like it and where I can improve :) Thank you for supporting this story :)
