Co-written with zeratheliger.
Authors note
Hi, guys! I'm finally updating a new chapter. Sorry for the long wait. You know summer and all. Ou, thanks for the reviews! I love you guys. Your support is what I need to push me further. I big thanks to my beta for editing. Let's start!
Previous chapter
Tezuka had played around with Sayaka and actually left her alone to his own liking. Sayaka got extremely pissed and couldn't sleep the whole night. The next day she was plotting a diabolic plan of how to get her revenge on Tezuka. During her morning job of waking the boys up, she encountered Kai. He actually threatened her and almost hurt her but Tezuka stopped him just in time. Sayaka burst in anger and shoved it all at Tezuka.
On Yumi's side, Rika and Momo got paired up again. They started arguing and actually walked off the courts before the match could even reach it's culmination. Rika was enraged about Momo but Yumi just laughed at the cute couple. Momo was rather irritated because he actually cared about her before. Mizuki came up to him to ask about Yumi and Fuji and actually got his piece of information. It came to light that Mizuki and Yumi were only childhood friends.
In Ayumi's group Haruhi went actually berserk and tortured Eiji until he dropped dead. On the same day Sayaka finally had managed to apologize to Tezuka about her mean attitude earlier. Tezuka accepted it making Sayaka slowly realize her own feelings.
The next day Sayaka was actually paired up with Kai in doubles and they had to go against Tezuka and Sayaka's previous teammate, Mitsuba. Sayaka got irritated by that fact but slowly that feeling dispersed when she and Kai actually played as a doubles pair. It made Tezuka pissed seeing her with that jerk but held back his emotions (like he always did). Anyway, the group was assigned for a speed test and Sayaka had to run both with the girls and boys. When she was running with the boys, Kai ran next to her and pushed her, causing her to lose balance. Saa, what happened after this?
Chapter 35
Downpour
Previously…
"Watch your step… Sayaka…" said Kai grinning madly at her. He nudged his elbow and pushed her to the side. Before Sayaka could realize what just happened she lost balance and was falling to the ground. She was running in high speed and one last thought ran through her mind while closing her eyes sensing the ground near.
'This will definitely hurt tomorrow...' thought Sayaka and closed her eyes to feel her body making contact with the ground.
Now…
"Sayaka!" Atobe shouted.
Sayaka could hear her name being called, but was too shell shocked to react. Oddly enough, her body wasn't in as much pain as she had thought she would be; considering she was thrown to the ground. Well her elbow had received a scratch and the wound burned, but other than that she was strangely fine. An abnormal friendly/warm feeling surround her, giving her the strength to open her eyes.
'Did I just fall?' she asked herself, blinking a few times to adjust her vision. It was at the same time when she noticed familiar hazel nut hair and realized Tezuka was underneath her; he had broken her fall and absorbed most of the damage. Sayaka scrambled off him, sheer horror written on her face. Tezuka grunted before attempting to sit up. He winced as pain surged through his body; especially his shoulder. He gripped it tightly with his left hand.
"Daijobu, Koyumi?" Tezuka rasped. Sayaka was still gaping at Tezuka's actions to give a proper response. Her hand robotically shot out and touched his cheek gently.
"Te-Tezuka." she whispered. They continued to stare at each other for quite some time. Some bystanders, including Ryuzaki-sensei, rushed over to the pair to ask if they were injured or not.
Kai, on the other hand, stayed where he was and glared at the pair. Sayaka did a quick side glance in which he took the opportunity to flash her a victorious smirk. She narrowed her eyes in response. Returning her attention to Tezuka, she offered her hand and helped him to his feet.
"Oi, Sayaka, daijobu!?" Atobe said once again as he drew closer to the two.
"It's not me you should be worrying about." she replied, while staring at a certain teen "It's him."
He grunted a faint shade of pink appearing on his pale face. In a monotone voice he said "Elbow."
Sayaka glanced at it for a moment and then shrugged.
"Koyumi, Tezuka." The coach barked, catching said teens' attentions "I want you both to get to the infirmary stat."
"Sensei, Sayaka isn't that injured. It's just a scratch. Tezuka-kun on the other hand fell pretty hard on his shoulder. He might even have to go back into rehab in Germany." Kai said, feigning that of an innocent child.
Something inside Sayaka snapped, literally. That one thing that kept her from doing something stupid was override the moment Kai opened his big mouth. She marched over towards the teen and smacked him, sending him crashing to the dirt.
"You bastard!" Sayaka screeched, dragging Kai up by the collar of his shirt "This was all a set up wasn't it? You make me sick, you know that, Kai!? You knew he'd do something selfless like this under certain circumstances. Were you doing it out of pure spite? Or was it to sabotage us as a double's pair!?"
Everybody was baffled by Sayaka's sudden outburst. No one knew quite how to handle a situation like this. They were shocked by Sayaka's accusations towards Kai. Tezuka was even surprised-not at the accusations-but by the fact that Sayaka was doing this...for him...he hoped.
Kai let out a laugh and held his hand up in a careless way. "Are you insinuating that I purposely did this? I was just running in my lane. You're the one that became all clumsy and unaware. It's your own fault this happened."
"You. Ass. Hole." she said, punctuating every word. To say that Sayaka was mad, was an understatement; she was furious. "I'll kill you!"
"Tezuka? Let go! I won't let him get away with this!" retorted Sayaka and tried to break free from Tezuka's grip.
"Calm down, Koyumi." said Tezuka. Sayaka stared at him for a second but then got even angrier.
Just as Sayaka was getting ready to punch Kai in the face, Tezuka grabbed her wrist and shook his head.
"Tezuka!?" she said in surprise "Let me go! This bastard deserves it."
"Calm down." he said, tightening his grip. She cringed and he loosened it, but not loose enough for her to yank her wrist back.
"Calm down!?" she echoed. "How can you say that!? You know perfectly well he did it on purpose. He's trying to separate us. I'm not gonna let him hurt you. I've had to watch that bastard hurt my mother, Yu-chan, Keigo and now you."
"Koyumi" Tezuka said again. "I'm fine. Really just-"
He never did get to finish his sentence. Out of the corner of his sharp eagle like eyes, he noticed Sayaka getting ready to hit Kai with her other hand. So what did he do? He grabbed her other hand and stood in between her and Kai.
"He's not worth it." Tezuka whispered. Sayaka stared back at him, her eyes wide and round showing anger and fear. There were a few minutes of pure silence, in where everyone was watching them, waiting for Sayaka to do something. She slowly un-balled her fists and Tezuka let go of her hands.
"Don't push yourself, Tezuka-kun." Kai said in a I'm-not-done-with-you tone of voice.
"Ah, don't worry. I will." Tezuka said in a cold manner, brushing off Kai like he was just a piece of dirt.
Sayaka couldn't take it. She stalked off towards the infirmary with Tezuka right behind her. Tezuka could tell that Sayaka was scared.
"Tch." Kai said, watching the pair. He then turned to Atobe and gave a devious smirk "Ne, how's Yuki-chan doing?"
"Fine." spat out Atobe. He spun around and walked off back to his teammates.
--Yuki
Meanwhile, Yuki reached her practice hall. Her teammate approached her.
"Aihara-san, the coach said…" the girl stopped at her sentence because Yuki just passed the girl with her head lowered. The girl felt an extremely murderous aura surrounding her and decided to keep a distance.
'That guy…' chanted Yuki in her mind and slammed her fist against the nearest wall.
-- Infirmary
"Sit." she ordered. Tezuka sat down on a chair. Sayaka stood behind him and started examining his right shoulder with her hand causing Tezuka to wince.
"Take off your jersey." she ordered again. Tezuka did as she said. She took the jersey and put it on the backboard of a chair next to a table.
"What are you up to?" asked Tezuka turning his head. He noticed that Sayaka had a serious look on her face.
"This will hurt for a second. Relax." said Sayaka and did the same thing she had done with Yuki before her match; she put Tezuka's nerves back in place. Sayaka wasn't kidding when she said it would hurt. It took all his willpower not to bolt up and start screaming like a girl. He gritted his teeth and dug his nails into his palm.
"Okay." Sayaka announced, handing back his jersey. "Everything is back in place. No need to worry anymore."
The two sat in silence, not knowing what to say. It was Sayaka who broke the silence by asking. "Why?"
"Why what?" Tezuka replied.
"Why'd you break my fall? We were running so fast…and you could've gotten seriously hurt, but still you did it anyways…why?" she asked, staring anywhere, but Tezuka. He gazed at her and then turned around.
"I thought that would've been the most obvious reason." he said "You're my doubles' partner…no you're my friend. Do you think I'm just going to stand around and watch as he hurts you?"
"But…" Sayaka was cut off.
"I'm aware that you don't want something like that to happen again. I know you don't like watching your friends get hurt because of you. I know you try your best to rebel against him…I'm not stupid. You want to protect your friends, but what you don't realize is that we want to protect you too." once again he never got to finish his sentence for Sayaka had wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him from behind.
"Thank you." she whispered. Tezuka smiled to himself.
"It's what friends do." he replied.
"I can't stand it." she whispered more to herself than to him "The pain…I feel that same pain every time he hurts one of you guys. It scares me, because I can't do anything to stop him. I just want to run and hide. Maybe… I should-"
"How long?"
"Hmm?"
"How long will you continue to run? he said, clarifying himself "What about us? Your friends? Are you just going to leave us like you did to Yuki and your old team? You're just going to run away from your problems?"
Sayaka let out a chuckle. His preaching had given her new hope. "Zettai yadda. Everyone has become too important to leave behind. I want to stay, really I do…it's just that Kai will eventually come after everyone. Will they hate me for it? Is it really okay to stay here?"
"Well you're welcome to run, but I think that we'd tie you down and kidnap you before you had the chance to. We want you to stay regardless of other stuff…"
"I'm such a burden." mumbled the raven haired teen.
Tezuka rolled his eyes and stood up, surprising Sayaka. "Stop telling yourself that, Sayaka."
Sayaka gaped at him and he raised his eyebrows "What?"
"N-no, nothing. It's just that you..."Sayaka fumbled around with her words; they were on the tip of her tongue.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing." she let out a sigh.
"Is your elbow okay?"
"Yeah. I think so." she said.
"Then I'll go back to practice." he stated. He turned around and approached the girl. He got closer and closer until Sayaka was caught between the counter and him. He thought it was really cute how she tried to hide her blushing. He could practically hear her heart pounding and he smirked to himself.
Sayaka was astounded by him. She hadn't expected to pull a fast one on her. She watched as he leaned in closer, so that their lips were almost touching. She couldn't move or say a thing. She watched as he moved his lips past her lips and onto her cheek. Suddenly he pulled back and grinned at her.
"Thanks." He turned around abruptly leaving a very flustered Sayaka.
"Wha-What just happened? Did I just- This can't be happening." Sayaka said to herself. She stared at the ground in disbelief of what she just felt.
'He just made me feel nervous. I couldn't take my eyes off him. I wanted him to kiss me. I knew I liked him and wanted to use him but I guess I never wanted to for a long time now.' thought Sayaka. She stood there for a while but then realized that she had to take care of her elbow. She patched it up as good as she could and went back to do some practice.
--Ayumi's group.
"How the hell am I supposed to stay calm!?" Ayame yelled.
Both Kyoko and Ayame (Kurōdo) were standing not far from where Ayumi and Haruhi were. The two girls from Seigaku overheard their conversation.
Kyoko gave her doubles partner a sympathetic look as she listened to Ayame rant on.
"You should calm down." Kyoko meekly suggested.
"Like hell." Ayame spat. "I'll get that bitch back."
"Oh." Kyoko asked "What makes you think it's a girl's doing?"
Off to the side Haruhi and Ayumi exchanged a look.
"It seems you're not the only victim, eh?" Haruhi stated.
"Hmmm. Haruhi, why do you think Kyoko thinks that the perpetrator isn't a female? It has to be…right?" Ayumi mumbled the last part more to herself. Haruhi still heard it anyways.
"Well that's kinda obvious. A guy wouldn't do that kind of thing. They tend to do something more drastic and it usually involves their fists." Both girls chuckled. "Besides our dorms are too far apart for them to have time to sabotage our stuff."
"Yeah, but still… we're all in the same boat. There is no reason to act like that to show your feelings. That's what words are meant for." started Ayumi and looked a bit depressed. Haruhi turned her look towards the blond teen and grinned widely.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely get the culprit, so that Ayu-chan doesn't feel sad. That's a promise!" she said and walked off to the court. Ayumi smirked to her statement and watched her best friends' back.
'You say you need me to be truly strong on the court but you're already passed that level.' thought Ayumi.
"Kitajima! You're up next!" called Hanamura-sensei to Ayumi.
"Hai!" Ayumi made her way towards the coach. Ayumi stopped for a second because she spotted a girl watching the girl who was paired up with Saeki like a hawk. Ayumi noticed the strange look in her eyes.
"Could it be that she-" Ayumi mumbled to herself.
"Kitajima-san!" the coach called again. Ayumi snapped out of it and walked on again.
'That girl… It's quite possible but… would she go this far?' thought Ayumi. She didn't really want to deal with a jealous girl at a time like this but it seemed she had no choice but to solve the problem. She didn't want any more people being disturbed by something like this. It was just wrong. It wasn't sports-like…
--
"Damn that's high." Yumi said, letting out a low whistle while squinting her eyes. She continued to stare, tilting her head from side to side, debating how she could solve her problem. Other people who passed her by laughed at her odd behavior.
"Yo, Yumi-chan. What's up?" Sayaka asked her friend, jogging over and standing next to her. She too looked up, but couldn't see what was puzzling Yumi.
"Oh, hey, buchou." Yumi said, not taking her eyes off it. "How was practice?"
Sayaka shrugged "It was fine, I guess. So what are you doing?"
"Hmm?" Yumi said, taking her eyes off it for a second. "Oh- uhh I was trying to find a way up the tree."
"Huh, why?" Sayaka asked, squinting her eyes. It was the late afternoon and everyone was returning from practice.
"My towel." Yumi clarified, pointing to a tiny white cloth hanging on the highest branch of the tree.
Sayaka let out a low whistle "Damn, that's high."
Yumi giggled and Sayaka gave her a questioning look.
"That's exactly what I said." she replied, turning her head back.
Sayaka let out a quick laugh as well. "So are you going to get it or what?"
Her question took the bluenette by surprise. "Me!? Are you kidding? That's way too high for me."
"Hmmm?"
"We need a ladder or a chair or something-" Yumi started to say, but was cut off by Sayaka who just snorted.
"That'll take too long." she stated, taking off her jersey and pulling her hair into a low pony-tail "It'll be way faster if I just go up and get it. Be right back." Sayaka flashed Yumi a quick grin before pulling herself up onto the first branch.
Yumi was startled by her captain's bold actions. She watched the blackette like a hawk, preparing herself incase Sayaka fell. She watched as Sayaka continued to climb each branch with surprising ease. At one point Yumi let out a tiny shriek when she saw Sayaka had wobbled.
"Be careful!" she said.
"I'm alright!" Sayaka replied, her eyes focused solely on the towel.
'Almost there. Just a little more...Got it.' Sayaka thought as she stood on tip-toe, her left arm wrapped tightly around the trunk and her right reaching for the towel; her fingertips just barely grazed the towel.
"Heads up!" Sayaka hollered, pushing the towel off the branch. Both girls watched it fall and then Sayaka cursed when she saw it get snagged by a branch. 'Stupid tree! I hate you!'
"Can you reach it?"
Yumi stood directly under it and stretched. When that didn't work she tried jumping up and down. She touched it twice, but the towel was firmly caught on the branch. 'Stupid tree!'
Sayaka let out an annoyed sigh. "Don't worry. I'll get it on the way down."
"There won't be any need for that Koyumi-san. I'll get it."
Yumi practically jumped out of her skin when she realized someone was right behind her. Sayaka puffed out her cheeks and took a seat on one of the middle branches. She watched as the two-toned hair teen easily grabbed the towel and she let out a chuckle; seemed like Fuji had some competition. (Note: since he's literally behind Yumi, he grabs the towel with her head in between his arms... 3 If you don't get it then...)
"Thank you, Saeki-san." Yumi said, completely oblivious to his 'actions'.
Saeki smiled and then turned his attention on Sayaka "It's dangerous to climb trees."
Sayaka sighed in response. She placed her hands behind her head and crossed her legs. The sunset was pretty nice from up in the tree, Sayaka observed. She closed her eyes and let the wind embrace her.
"Eeeeee!"
Cracking one eye open, she saw Ayumi and Haruhi looking up at her. She closed it in hopes that they would just go away.
"Buchou!" Haruhi yelled, not realizing just how loud her voice was. It attracted almost everybody's attention, but only a few people walked over. "What are YOU doing up THERE!?"
"Sitting." Sayaka replied in a calm matter. "Don't worry, I'll come down in a minute."
--
"Eeeeee!"
Atobe, Tezuka, and Fuji who were currently returning from practice came to a halt when they heard someone shriek. It wasn't a cry for help more like a startled 'Eeeeee'. They all gave each other a look and then started to make their way over towards the commotion.
Atobe rolled his eyes when he figured out why the girl had gone 'Eeeeee'.
Tezuka was still confused.
Fuji stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that Saeki (his childhood BEST friend!!!) standing just a little too close for his liking next to Yumi. His blue eyes narrowed at the sight; both teens happily chatting about something. He wanted to tackle the boy and bash his head into something hard; something that would do a lot of damage. Didn't Saeki know that Yumi was his? His! HIs! HIS! How dare he just waltz up to her and become all friendly!? It pained Fuji to see Yumi looking all happy because of something Saeki said. He yearned to see her smile and the way her eyes lit up because of a joke he had told her.
"Koyumi!" Tezuka barked, "Get down here this instance." He was furious that she'd do something so reckless as climbing a tree.
"Hai...Hai...Don't panic." she replied in a careless manner, swinging down from the last branch and making a solid landing.
"Climbing tress again, are we?" Atobe asked in a joking manner.
"Oh, shut up, mole diva." Sayaka retorted whacking him lightly on the arm. Turning towards Yumi she asked "Is that yours?"
"Yeah." she said quietly "It seems that the wind blew it into the tree. I knew I should've closed the window."
"The wind does seem stronger today." commented Saeki, staring up into the sky.
Sayaka stared up and narrowed her eyes at the sight of the cloud formation. She exchanged a meaningful glance with Atobe. Atobe understood at once and frowned.
"We should get going, ne Ayumi?" Haruhi said, pulling her doubles partner towards the dining hall.
-- The next day...
"Not good." Sayaka muttered to herself as she made her way to the tennis courts. Today's weather wasn't good, in fact one could say it was worse than yesterday. The clouds were all bunched together and the air was very humid. The wind howled angrily as it whipped back and forth making it hard for people to control their tennis ball.
"Oi, Keigo! Don't go easy on me! Hit your god damn Rondo towards destruction!" yelled Sayaka while hitting a backhand. Atobe grinned evilly.
"Fine! Here you go!" he aimed for her wrist and hit the ball. Sayaka managed to put her racket lower and hit the ball back. Atobe aimed once more and hit the ball with an ending shot but Sayaka sent it to the end of the line.
"Tch!" Atobe looked at the ball.
"Too weak, mole diva!" Sayaka pointed with her racket. Atobe's eyebrow jumped up.
"Don't get so overconfident." said Atobe and smirked towards her.
'She's as cocky as that brat. No wonder they're cousins.' he thought before starting the next rally. As Atobe was preparing to hit another Rondo he noticed Sayaka's attention was elsewhere…
Mitsuba approached Tezuka and started a light conversation with him about the weather. For some reason this pissed Sayaka off and caused her to lose the point.
"Here's another one for you, Sayaka!" yelled out Atobe and hit his Rondo. Sayaka didn't react in time and the ball hit her wrist. This resulted in her losing her grip and Atobe gaining the upper hand.
"Tch! Darn this!" she said. Atobe came closer to the net.
"Hou, this is rather unusual…" he started. Sayaka threw a questioning and pissed look.
"What is?"
"For you to lose your focus and get distracted by 'that'." continued Atobe and pointed Tezuka's direction. Sayaka turned her look again towards Tezuka and noticed Mitsuba getting too close to 'her man'. Sayaka frowned and twitched. She walked back to her side of the court.
"Like hell." she mumbled, although it was clear that she was irritated by those two. Atobe smirked and prepared to serve.
'She's definitely jealous. I wonder how a really jealous and pissed Sayaka looks like.' thought Atobe.
They started a rally again.
"Ne, Tezuka-san, do you have some time?" asked Mitsuba in a loud voice. Sayaka glanced in between the rally towards the two.
'Bitch!' Sayaka thought angrily, 'I hate her and I hate you! (She's referring to Tezuka) Why are you letting her talk to you!? Just ignore her!'
"I don't really have time now. Is there something you want?" asked Tezuka. Sayaka twitched even more.
'What the hell is wrong with you!? (Once again she is talking about Tezuka) Are you a retard? You clearly stated you were busy so why are you asking what she wants!? You like me, not her!'
"Let's have a practice match, Tezuka-kun!" said Mitsuba and started pulling Tezuka by his arm.
"Wait a second-" started Tezuka.
'Way too close!!!' Atobe shot his Rondo but Sayaka shot the ball out of the court.
"Come on, Tezuka-kun-" Mitsuba didn't get to finish because she felt the wind graze her nose. She turned her head and noticed a ball stuck in the fence. Apparently, Sayaka shot the ball between Tezuka and Mitsuba.
Tezuka looked at the ball and sweat dropped.
"Aww, sorry about that!" said Sayaka with an innocent face.
Tezuka's entire body went rigid-he knew that tone; Sayaka was furious. He watched as she slowly walked over, dreading what she was about to do. He was too young to die…
"It seems my hand slipped and I 'accidentally' shot the ball in the wrong direction." said Sayaka looking at the two. Atobe watched the scene and sighed sweat dropping.
'Slipped my ass, Sayaka.' thought Atobe.
"Ahh, no problem-"
How dense could one person be? Sayaka thought as she brushed by the girl, reaching out and yanking the tennis ball out from the fence. As she turned around she gave one final death glare in hopes that Mitsuba would get the message. 'Go near him and I won't miss next time, bitch'.
"Take it easy with your practice." said Sayaka and walked back to the court. Mitsuba's expression turned pale and decided to leave Tezuka to his doing. She didn't want to feel the wrath of her previous buchou.
Tezuka watched Sayaka for a while with a rather satisfied look.
The group continued their practice…
--
"Sensei, can I be excused for a while?" asked Yuki her coach.
"Yeah, sure. Just don't take too long. We still need to go through some formations."
"Hai. I'll be right back!" called out Yuki and rushed to the bathroom.
She stood in front of the mirror and splashed her face with cold water.
'This sucks. First I don't get to have a social life, next I watch that jerk hurt my cousin and Sa-chan. I hate life.' Yuki froze as the window suddenly sprung open.
"Jeez, now this." Yuki mumbled to herself. As she drew nearer to the open window a flash of lighting struck followed by a loud boom of thunder.
"Iieeee! Keigo!!!" she screamed and hid herself in one of the stalls.
--
Rain started pouring outside and all the groups followed their coach's instruction to go inside the building.
"Just great! Now we'll have to stick inside and no tennis." grunted Sayaka picking up her bag.
"It's not that bad, Koyumi." said Tezuka.
"Che… Whatever. Let's just go-" Sayaka stopped in mid sentence because of the lightning and thunder. Tezuka and Sayaka exchanged a fearful look.
"Yuki." Atobe gasped, dropping his stuff and rushing off in search for the red head. Sayaka lingered in the court for another second before dashing off with Tezuka hot on her heels.
When Atobe reached the practice hall for the volleyball teams, Yuki was nowhere to be found. He went up to the coach.
"Where's Yuki?" he asked. The coach raised an eyebrow at the question.
"She went to the bathroom. Did something- Hey!" the coach didn't get to finish because Atobe ran off towards the bathroom.
"Oi! Keigo!" Sayaka and Tezuka just managed to reach the hall and rushed after Atobe again.
Atobe reached the final turn towards the bathroom and noticed two girls standing in front of it confused.
"Keigo! Ieee!!!" screamed Yuki again, letting out a sob. She clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut; tears were still flowing.
Atobe widened his eyes and pushed through the girls walking inside the bathroom. He heard Yuki crying from the last stall. He tried to open the door but discovered to his disliking the door was locked.
"Open the door!" he ordered.
"Ieee! Go away!" she yelled out; not realizing that it was Atobe on the other side.
"Yuki, its me." he said again, but his voice was much softer.
Yuki stopped her sobbing and blinked. The voice she had longed to hear, the person she was so desperate to see, he was just a door away. With trembling fingers, she slowly turned undid the latch. She waited with baited breath as the door revealed someone too good to be true.
Boom
Yuki let out a tiny squeal and flung herself into Atobe's arms. He hugged her tightly, giving Yuki the reassurance she needed.
"It's okay. I'm here. Don't be afraid. I won't leave you, Yuki." Atobe whispered.
Yuki seemed to calm down a bit. Atobe picked her up bridal style and walked out of the bathroom. He stopped next to Sayaka.
"Sayaka…" He didn't finish because Sayaka smiled lightly.
"Ah, I know. I'll tell her coach." she said, indicating with her fingers for Tezuka to follow.
"Make sure she calms down." Tezuka said, putting a firm grip on Atobe's shoulder before turning around and jogging up to Sayaka.
Atobe smirked and took Yuki to the infirmary because her hand was cut. Apparently, she hurt it when locking the door in a rush.
As much as Atobe wanted to put Yuki down onto one of the infirmary beds, he was prevented by the fact that Yuki had locked her arms around his torso and was in no mood to let go. He had no choice but to sit down with her on his lap until she came to her senses. As another sound of thunder struck she buried her face deeper into his shirt and he responded by giving her a reassuring hug.
"I'm here, Yuki. Don't be afraid." he said in a loving tone.
"I thought you wouldn't come." she mumbled, "Because we haven't seen each other since the camp started… Arigatou."
Atobe chuckled and patted her affectionately on her head. "You called for me. Remember I told you that I would go to the end of the world for you. I'm so happy you called me by my name."
He continued to talk to her until the thunderstorm had subsided. They chatted about many things ranging from their worries to the color of the infirmary wall.
Yuki finally calmed down and pulled away. She looked up at Atobe who smiled back at her.
"I'm sorry you had to put up with my childish behavior again." Yuki said breaking the silence.
"Childish?"
"It's just that… I shouldn't be afraid of something like this at this age. It's kind of embarrassing." said Yuki blushing slightly and looking away.
Atobe smirked at her and reached out for her hair. It was tied into a ponytail and he let her hair loose. Yuki blinked and turned her look towards him again. Before she could say something Atobe ran his hand through her strands and put his right hand on her cheek.
"You're right. It was childish. You were like a little lost child, calling out for someone to notice that you were scared. The way you were clinging to me on my lap was really child-like." he said and smiled at her. Yuki remembered what she was doing while crying and realized the position that she was in. She blushed even more.
"I'm sorry. I just-" Yuki started to get up, but Atobe pulled her into a hug.
"Just stay with me for a while longer. I missed you so much." he murmured, "Now that you're here I won't let go of you for a while. At least, let it be your apology and I won't tell anyone about it…" he said digging his face into her hair.
"If this is what you want…" Yuki sighed and felt his grip tighten. Her head rested on his chest for a while. Yuki felt his heart beating the same as always.
'I wanted to see him. I realize now that Keigo was the one constantly on my mind. I used to hate it when he hugged me this tightly but now… I think I'm starting to like it. It has the same rhythm as before, as though it has no intention to stop even for a second.' thought Yuki and realized that this had lasted for a while and she wanted to pull away.
Before she could, Atobe pulled her hair to her side freeing her neck. He brushed his lips against her skin. Yuki felt heat rushing to her cheeks.
"Keigo, wait…" she said, but he ignored her.
She had no idea how he had longed to touch her. It would kill him if he let go even for a second. He pulled her tighter going downwards to her neck again. He started kissing it softly. Yuki gasped once but refused to let it get the best of her.
"Wait, Keigo…" she started again; his grip was too tight for her to be able to push him away.
'This is going too far. I don't want to hurt him but this is wrong.' she thought. She gritted her teeth and pushed him away.
"Stop! This is going too far!" she said in a harsh tone.
She pushed him off and stood up with the intentions of walking away.
"Yuki, wait. I'm sorry-" he started but Yuki was too angry to even look at him.
"Let go! You men are all the same, thinking about one thing. Let go-" she turned around to see Atobe with his head lowered and a look of confusion written in his eyes.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to." he said, still not letting go of her wrist, "Yuki. I know I promised that I wouldn't do anything and that was true. I just don't know what came over me."
He stared at the cold, marble floor the entire time he apologized to Yuki. He was too afraid of seeing her angry/hurt expression.
Yuki smiled and took his hand. 'He's not the one I'm angry at. I just can't really stay angry at him…'
"It's okay. I understand. I know you wouldn't hurt me." she said in a soft tone.
"Yuki…"
"Just don't go that far next time or I'll really get pissed and kick your ass." she said joking. Atobe blinked for a second and then laughed to himself.
"We should get going." Atobe said.
"Ah, we've been here for quite a while. Sa-chan will get worried." Yuki was about to turn around to walk away but Atobe stopped her.
"What about your hand?" he pointed at her left hand. Yuki raised it and grinned.
"It's just a scratch. Don't worry."
"But still, we have to take care of it…" said Atobe and looked around the room to spot something to patch it up with. Yuki smiled at him and kissed his cheek. Atobe got surprised by this and froze.
"Don't bother about it. Thanks again. I'll be going first." said Yuki and walked out the door. Atobe stood there blinking in stupidity. He put his hand on the spot where Yuki's lips touched and then smiled satisfied.
'How long will she keep surprising me?' he thought and followed her out the door.
Yuki walked down the hallway, her fingers trailing on the out railing. She glanced behind her to see if Atobe was following. When she switched her gaze towards the front, she stopped and narrowed her eyes. Atobe caught up and he too narrowed his eyes.
There, coming straight towards them, was Kai. He was randomly wandering around the building.
He stopped and grinned when seeing his ex-girlfriend again.
"Hey, Yuki-chan. How are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while." Kai said, flashing her an evil grin.
Yuki twitched but held her composure. Atobe thought that she might break down seeing that jerk again.
"Hello, Tsudeyoshi-san. Fancy meeting you here." said Yuki with a sparkly smile but inwardly kicking that bastard to death.
Atobe stared at Yuki dumbfounded.
"Hou… I see your doing better than I had thought. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer to destroy you completely and see how Sayaka would have felt then." said Kai changing his tone to the 'I'm an evil bastard' one.
Yuki smiled even wider and walked towards him. Kai became a bit confused at her sudden actions. What is she up to? Kai thought, amused.
What he hadn't expected was for Yuki to walk straight up to him and knee him in the groin. He clutched his crotch and doubled over in pain. He glared up at Yuki and snarled.
"That hurt, damn it!" he yelled out in pain.
Yuki ignored his cries and dragged him up by the collar of his shirt, letting out one of her own snarls.
"Did it now?" she asked, giving him a smile of satisfaction, "Compared to the pain that you caused me and my friends, this is nothing."
Kai stared at her in shock. Who was this girl!? He was completely unaware of this side of Yuki. Where was that girl full of only happiness?
"Y-You shouldn't be acting like-" he started.
"Hou… The sweet and weak Yuki-chan, who loved you more than anything, the caring and loving Yuki-chan that you knew is gone!" she growled, letting go and watching him hit the floor.
Kai could only stare at her with pure disbelief.
"You bitch…" he started but Yuki cut him off with another death glare that could send devils themselves at him.
"Don't go near Kunimitsu or any of my friends or I'll personally murder you." she said and walked away. Kai stood there, speechless. She really scared the hell out of him.
Atobe, too, stood there in shock, sweat dropping at the scene. He was glad that he hadn't been the one to enrage Yuki.
'She saw the whole thing that happened yesterday. That's reason enough to get so pissed.' thought Atobe and left Kai to snap out of it. After this Kai decided to cool down and not do anything stupid when Yuki was around.
--
It was the next day and a few days left until the selection for the team ended. During breakfast.
While at the breakfast hall, Haruhi had to excuse herself because she had forgotten something. When she reached the dorm, she noticed a figure sneaking into Yumi's room.
Haruhi took a few steps and took a closer look but couldn't get a clear picture of the culprit. She knew that it was this person-who was currently sneaking into this room- who was behind all the vandalism of peoples' stuff. Haruhi made her way into the room in hopes that she might catch the culprit.
The person opened the door slowly to creep in, but before she could walk in, Haruhi snatched the culprit's wrist, stopping her from doing any more damage.
The brown haired girl (the culprit) turned around in a flash and spotted Haruhi with a serious look on her face.
The both of them froze. Haruhi stared seriously at the brown haired teen and tightened her grip.
"So it's you…" Haruhi said.
Next chapter
Hauhi catches the culprit and to her own surprise it's a person she would had never suspected. What will Haruhi do? They were alone in the dorm… Will she lose control or will she get support? Ayumi's unexpected decision. Haruhi's desperation and confusion. The camp nears it's end and Sayaka faces a short period of struggle.
Authors note
Oh, dear. I left another cliffy! Bad me. I'm sorry I leave so much cliffhangers but I just want to make it suspenseful and make you, my dear readers, imagine the possibilities of what would happen next. It's so damn hot today, so I'm gonna stick inside and do some writing. Hehe… Please, review. Thanks in advance! See ya next time!