The Perfect Girl

Chapter 29: I Felt Pain


"Oi, Shishido!"

The boy turned around, annoyed that he was interrupted from whatever he had been doing. I smiled at him and came to a stop,"What time does your club finish up today?"

"Whenever Atobe tells us to go home, don't you have a committee meeting today- you're in two of them."

I nodded,"Yeah, but they're not meeting today because we finished our agenda yesterday. I was asked to help out with the Kendo club alongside Mimori so I wanted to see what time you were finishing up so we could walk home together."

I had been making it a routine to walk home with him everyday the past week and a half. Thinking now it probably seemed out of my character but I covered it up with an excuse about Kyouji since I did not want to tell him what I really thought each time I asked him. I decided I would ask him for help on my summer project, though I am perfectly capable of handling it all by myself. Knowing Shishido he would take it as an insult to his intelligence.

He rose an eyebrow at me. My chest tightened for a moment and I adjusted my breathing until the pain went away.

"You said you would help out with the Kendo club? Really?"

I had not expected that response. If anything I expected him to sigh and grumble at me about how I annoyed him with my constant bothering him. I smirked and nodded. I opened my mouth to respond, but a certain egotist cut me off.

"Shishido! You're not practicing!"


"Go count the equipment."

The bright blonde girl did not even spare me a glance from her clipboard. I shrugged and turned, there is no use in being mad about whatever Mimori does. Following her demand I stood over the equipment not in use. Multiple shinai remained untouched in the special case so I overlooked them to count the bokken not in use. Five took up space on the wall white a few men, tare, and kote lay around unorganized. I huffed at the mess and moved them around, counting as I went. After fixing the mess I looked at the practicing club members.

"Wait a minute..."

Looking back down at the equipment I noticed that the four men for the four sets were missing. I glanced around for the head gear but had no luck. Anxiety flooded over me, Mimori would be unhappy about this. I stood still and tried to act busy to prolong telling the manager about this.

"You got any water Sa- oh."

An older boy came into my view from the right. His rough black hair stuck to some of his forehead thanks to sweat. He wore all of the equipment for the club, reminging me again that I could not find the men. His smile made me feel like I should start a conversation with him.

"Are you done practicing?"

White teeth took over his face as his smile widened,"Yeah, I'm done practicing my kata today."

I nodded politely,"How long have you been practicing kendo?"

He removed his safety equipment slowly, placing each piece in its respective area. "About six years now." He continued smiling and leaned towards me. I brushed off his actions. "S-"

"Ebihara were you just working with Sasamori on her technique practice?" Mimori's dull voice made the smiling boy turn to her. I took the opening and hurried away to look for the missing men.

My search came up empty so I waited by Mimori's items while she walkd around speaking to each member. I swung my feet a bit while I waited. The wooden floors were beautifully shining in the sun. Hyotei always had the best, especially with sports. Many schools did not have a traditional room for their kendo clubs but Hyotei did. The gym is humongous and the grounds have many different sport areas.

The tennis courts, for example, had a big maintenance every year and usually the bleachers were replaced and the courts shined for the new year- maybe even for the new semester. The equipment they recieve is even better, each student involved in the tennis club gets their own personal racket to use if they do not own one- which they probably do but still- and that means they even get to pick out the one they want. Shishido talked about his racket once at lunch, a YONEX I think. . . Not sure, I do know that the brand matches his shoes though.

"Ryuuka, I need the count."

Ready to meet my fate I explained how many I had of each item. I ignored that the men were missing for each set and when she said nothing about it I guessed that she knew where they were since I know she could love to demand where they were. She scribbled the information down before waving a pale hand at me,"That boy is waiting for you, he has been for 20 minutes. Thank you for your help, have those forms down before the next Cultural Committee meeting after vacation."

Mimori never let me forget abo- did she say someone had been waiting for me? Slipping back into my shoes I slid open the door fully and spotted Shishido leaning against the building, eyes closed. I felt my stomach collapse in on itself.

"Waiting out here Shishido?"

He opened his eyes cooly and responded like his usual annoyed self,"You took forever, I was just thinking about leaving."

I smiled to myself, no he was not. If he had thought about leaving it would have been earlier rather than after twenty minutes of waiting. The last week of school before the summer vacation is ending in two days. I let my breath out as we walked. I figure now would be a good time as any to ask. I opened my mouth and glanced to him, ready to speak. Nothing came out. When I noticed his eyes glance over to me I shut my mouth quickly. How come I could not just ask him?

I felt his wrist bump mine. My throat twitched. I watched him yank his hand from his right side. My left fingers mindlessly crumpled my skirts edges. Stupid hands. We waited for the crossing to tell us we could cross. Neither of us spoke and unlike the other days our contact changed the atmosphere around us. I worried if now instead of us ignoring one another because of our distaste with eachother all of the time we spent together would be filled with silence that could not be filled comfortablty. I rubbed the edge of my skirt again with my thumb. My nerves jumped around inside of me.

Shishido's house came first and he turned silently. I waited for him to leave behind the gate but he just stood there. I stared at the stone wall in front of his home to avoid eye contact.

"Well aren't you coming?"

"Huh?"

His gray eyes showed annoyance but also laughed at me,"Up to the door. I need to walk Kyou."

I followed him to the door and waited as he put his things inside and ran after his dog to get him leashed. I really did not know what to say when he came back. I felt different about this. He glanced over to me but looked away a second later, a small frown taking over his face.

Kyou barked happily. He pranced in front of us. Shishido walked on my right this time and I on his left. Our arms bumped and I felt my throught close again. My skin tingled but this time Shishido did not yank his body away. Kyou stopped and sniffed around. He than turned and yanked his owner around. I laughed as Shishido regained his composure. His glare at the dog ceased and he began to laugh with me. We exchanged no words for the rest of the time we were together. We only did one thing in the silence I decided I would find comfort in. We walked.


YES! NEW CHAPTER!

I came home from work and read through the notes I had made and decided that I would update. It turned out better than I thought. Kind of angsty and the moment I really want to happen can't yet until a bit later, after the national matches I think to make it easier (still not sure where to stick it though).

The kendo guy may or may not be important later on, I have no idea yet. I might just shove him into Kishi's story instead because he does not fit in this one well enough. (All of the equipment mentioned is also difficult to describe so I apologize for just using names. I truthfully had no desire to describe it all)

Also, if anyone has any helpful comments like ideas for events that could transpire or something of the such I would love input. Sometimes I just need something to move the chapter to the next point an I draw a blank.

~ [Grateful] Tai.