Chapter Six
When a slap is not enough, punch!
It is supposed to be a normal Sunday of relaxation. If only they have won the Kantou Tournament and if only the National Tournament isn't coming near, Hyoutei Gakuen's tennis club should have been resting on this day.
Atobe Keigo drinks his calming tea on the balcony of the family mansion. With a crease appearing on the bridge of his brows, it is apparent that he is pretty much irritated.
Sitting beside him is Kabaji Munehiro, his avid follower and friend, who talks unexpectedly less with his large frame. Across him is Oshitari Yuushi, his teammate in the tennis club, who has a long blue hair and fashion glasses with circle frame.
"Tch. What's taking them so long?" Atobe says, noticeably irritated.
Yuushi sighs as he looks at his friend. "It's not like everyone's easily pulled out from their personal activities. Atobe, you should try to understand that." He takes a sip from his cup. "For what reason did you call us out here, anyway?"
"I'll tell you when we're complete."
Yuushi murmurs, "Geez. That's such a teaser."
"Ah~n. Oshitari. you saying something?"
"You're being a spoiled brat again." Yuushi takes a sip from his cup. "Better finish your tea first. You are too tense."
"Tense? Ore-sama doesn't get tensed."
"Whatever you say," Yuushi dismisses. Atobe gives him a threatening glare upon his dislike of Yuushi's response.
"Keigo-sama, someone is here to see you." An old butler, standing near the door to the balcony, announces.
"A teammate?" Atobe asks, annoyed.
The butler shakes his head. "No, Keigo-sama. It is a girl."
"A girl? Is that another fangirl? Tell her to leave."
"N-no, Keigo-sama. It's an old friend of yours."
Kabaji Munehiro seems to brighten up. His lips slightly open. He swiftly turns to the door upon the arrival of a visitor. And, a soft 'uh' is uttered.
The sudden change of Kabaji's stoic expression does not go unnoticed by Atobe. "Who is that?" he says with a click of his tongue. He turns to the butler and nods. "Let her in."
A girl with short, messy hair enters, wearing a white dress at a length half of her thigh and a pair of black stockings. She removes her hat and smiles at Atobe. "Long time no see." The girl goes to their table.
Yuushi is curious when he saw the girl, especially with that kind of smile. He turns to look at his friends across the table. Atobe looks a little surprised yet still vexed. Meanwhile, Kabaji's face has become lighter and softer than his usual stoic face. He turns back to the girl. "Excuse me. Who are you?" asks Yuushi.
Even before the woman could answer, Atobe interrupts as he asks the butler, ignoring the person in front of him. "Who is this woman?"
The butler's face becomes flustered. Even the girl is at shock.
"Atobe-" Yuushi calls to his friend.
"Kei-chan, don't you remember me?" the girl asks with a confused look and a finger pointing to herself. "I'm Yuu-chan, remember?" She turns to Kabaji. "Hiro-chan. You remember me, right?"
Kabaji silently nods without being seen.
"We don't know you are," Atobe deadpans. "Nee, Kabaji?"
Kabaji does not answer. He is still staring at the girl's face. Without Kabaji's usual 'usu' reply, Atobe's boiling mood worsens.
Atobe turns away from the girl and continues to drink his calming tea. "I suggest you leave if you have no official business here."
"Aren't you happy I came here, Kei-chan?" the girl asks on the brink of tears.
"Don't call me, Kei-chan. I don't know you. Now, leave. I am in no mood for chit-chat with commoners."
The girl looks down to the ground. She clenches her fists and grits her teeth.
Yuushi worryingly watches her while Atobe continues to ignore the girl. "Atobe, stop it," Yuushi tells his friend. He stands up and approaches her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, Yuushi attempts to comfort her. "Now's not a good time. Maybe you could come back-"
"Kei-chan..." the girl mutters softly, "... you little-"
"Oi! Sorry we're late!" a shout comes from the door to the balcony.
Five men enter - one wearing a blue cap backwards and an annoyed look, one with bouncing red hair, one with sleepy and lazy eyes, one with a deadly stare and orange-brown hair, and one with a delicate face and silvery-gray hair.
A gush of soft breeze passes by the balcony. Awkwardness floats in the air.
"Is this not a good time?" The redhead chuckles nervously. "Atobe, should we wait outside?"
Yuushi looks at his other teammates and signals them to leave quietly.
The girl comes nearer to Atobe. She suddenly grabs him by the collar, dragging him to stand up. Their height difference is very apparent, yet the girl does not back down.
Everyone is in shock. Some attempt to approach the scene to stop whatever is bound to happen, careful not to provoke the attacker. The butler, however, remains in place but worrying.
"You... what are you doing?" Atobe says while he looks down at the girl.
"Kei-chan..." she mutters as she takes her hands off his collar. She wipes her eyes before glaring at him. "You're a jerk!" the girl shouts at his face. She, then, raises a hand as if about to slap the guy.
"What?" Atobe mockingly smirks. "Are you gonna slap me?"
She grits her teeth. "No. I've decided that it's not enough." And then, a punch is thrown into his face.
"Atobe!" "Captain!"
His teammates come running to him after falling to the ground. Atobe looks up to the girl with a slight smirk.
"You're a jerk, Atobe Keigo." The girl stares down at him. "If this is what you want, then... don't you even dare show your face again!" She stomps her way out.
"Wh-Who is that?" Yuushi mutters while he watches the girl disappears out of sight. He then turns to his fallen friend. "Oi, Atobe-"
Atobe smirks. "... still a spartan, as always." He laughs afterwards.
His butler comes to Atobe's aid. "Keigo-sama, you're too old to be picking fights with your friends." The old butler smiles to the young lad while pulling him up.
"That's what makes her interesting."
'… Everyday. With every worthless word we get more far away. The distance between us makes it so hard to stay…'
Songs are the only ones that can sympathize with her in her current condition. Yume hums along a tune in her head that her ears aren't hearing while dragging her feet away. There is nothing else to be done, so she made up her mind to leave.
The afternoon sky is not of its usual orange color as the sun sets. Instead, gray clouds pollute the heavens. It is yet an incoming threat by the merciless weather. Yume looks up and the deathly shade of the sky does not even help ease her troubles.
"... my umbrella..." she mumbles.
As her head faces the heavens, a stinging drop shoots straight to her cheek. It is then followed by more of its kind. Rain starts to pour down, even in her eyes. The face that has lost all sorts of expressions soon turns to a frown.
When the rain has scared the people strolling around the district, she is left to cry alone in silence. Yume asks herself, "Kei-chan... do I really deserve this?" She closes her eyes and lowers her head. Tears, then, continuously flow down.
Suddenly, the pouring of the rain seems to have stopped hitting her hard on the head. Yume opens her eyes just to see an orange umbrella covering her.
"Ojou-san, you'll catch a cold if you stayed out here without an umbrella," a gentle voice says.
She turns her head to the man holding the umbrella. He smiles at her and her tears instantly stop rolling. "Yo! I'm Sengoku Kiyosumi from Yamabuki Chuu. How may I be of service?"
No words can escape from her mouth as she gazes at her reflection. His blue eyes replicate a poor, pitiful image of hers. And Yume can see how she is.
"Ojou-san, if you may, why don't we walk?" Sengoku says with careful politeness.
They begin to walk. Sengoku leads her while holding the umbrella. His smile doesn't fade while Yume stares at him.
"I see that you've been crying. Am I wrong?" He takes a glance at her. Embarrassed, she turns to stare at the ground. "Hmm... I suppose you have a lot of problems bothering you right now. That's alright."
Sengoku takes a glance once again at the shorter girl. "I may not know anything about you or what's keeping you from talking to me. But I hope you'll get over it soon."
"You know, I think you're cute," he continues, "But you seem to be lacking something?"
"A smile." He grins. "What is beauty to a girl if she doesn't even smile?"
They continue walking and she turns away from him, pausing for a while. "Do I really look… that pitiful?" Yume asks with a soft voice. She looks at him, waiting for an answer.
Sengoku halts and is in a surprise. "Geez!" He grins. "And here I am, thinking that you couldn't talk."
"We're practically strangers. Why are you being kind?"
"... how can I ever leave a girl crying like that?" Sengoku smiles and continues to walk. "Oh. Where are you headed to anyway?"
"T-Train station," she softly mutters.
"Oh... That's too bad. I'm headed to the opposite direction, but I'll take you to the train station anyway. It's a few minutes of walk from here anyway."
"I-Is that alright? You don't know me, but you let me under your umbrella. And now, you're even offering to take me to the station."
"It's still raining. And you have no umbrella."
"I can buy my own. You can just drop me off at a convenience store."
"True. But if I did so, I wouldn't have the pleasure to be in your company."
"Don't you have friends to wander with you?"
He laughs. "I do! That's a really harsh thing to say as someone who cries in the rain alone."
Yume remains silent.
"All my friends are male. They're quite boring, if you ask me. Because I prefer female friends more."
"Sure," she deadpans.
Sengoku laughs. "Y'know, I don't think you're the silent type. You're more of the… let's see, the sarcastic know-it-all type of person."
"You really think so?"
"Yup." He pauses then chortles. "Actually, I don't know. Your eyes are not like those of expressionless people I know. So, you're definitely not a silent-type. What you are exactly, I have no idea."
Yume looks at Sengoku's bright smile. She looks at the ground with a faint, shy smile appearing on her lips. "Sengoku-san, am I right?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
Sengoku smiles when he glances at her. "You look beautiful… with that smile."
They have arrived at the train station just after a short conversation. He stares at the entrance. People are rushing in with their umbrellas. It is not exactly a comforting sight, but he cannot do anything about it.
"I am glad that I made you feel better." Sengoku turns to her. "There you go. The train station. Have a safe trip, Ojou-san."
Yume quietly nods and bows to him. "Thank you very much, Sengoku-san… for everything. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
She runs to the station with her hands covering her head from the rain. Sengoku watches her until she disappears into the waves of people.
He gasps. "W-Wait a minute, Ojou-san!" He takes a step forward, prepared to chase her. But, he decides not to.
Sengoku sighs. "It was a chance." He scratches the back of his head and sheepishly grins. "I should've asked for her number. Oh! I didn't even have her name."
It is past ten and Zaizen is leaning against the gate of his neighbor. He has been there for about half an hour, waiting for the girl to return. Upon learning that Kazuyoshi hasn't returned home yet, Haruna had asked his younger son to wait for their 'poor' lonesome neighbor.
Zaizen clicks his tongue while staring at the screen of his phone.
"Oh. Zaizen-san?"
He looks up to see Yume drenched in her clothes and her hair frozen. Zaizen closes his phone and shoves it into his pocket. "It's already ten thirty-two."
"I wasn't able to leave Tokyo earlier," Yume replies.
He raises a brow. "And you walked home looking like that? Are you an idiot?"
"It rained."
"Didn't it even occur to you that you might catch a cold?"
She stays silent.
"Whatever," he dismissively says. "Just enter and get changed at once."
"Yes. Thanks for the concern." Yume walks to the gate and opens it.
Before she could take a step inside, he suddenly asks, "You... have you been crying?" Zaizen looks at her from the corner of his eyes. "I hope that staying out to take troubles off your head is worth getting home this late."
She turns to him when he starts to walk away.
Zaizen pauses without looking back. "And next time, you better tell me when you are going to be late. Okaa-san was really worried." He goes on to head out.
She watches the younger boy depart. "What's with that guy?" Yume mutters to herself.
~ End Chapter ~
A/N: Omo! Zaizen, whuutt? Sengoku, whuuutt? Kabaji, whuutt? Atobe... yeah, I think he's likely to act that way. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it, too. As my usual request, please leave a comment 'coz I enjoy reading comments.
