Chapter Twenty.
There are people who cannot handle all the drama and those who chose not to.
At the opposite side of the court are the regular members of Seishun Gakuen tennis club. Among their players is a certain dataman whom she meets eyes with. Yume blinks again. "Uhmm... I think I know someone from there."
"Where?" Kenya asks as he approaches the bench after their match.
"From the Seishun Gakuen team."
He turns to look at the other team. "Oh... they're our next opponents, you know?" He suspiciously looks at her. "Which one are you talking about?"
"The one guy with rectangular glasses."
Koharu appears again behind them once again with a smirk on his lips. "Inui Sadaharu. 3rd year - Seishun Gakuen. He serves as the manager of their team. Age: 15; Height: 184 cm; Weight: 62 kilograms. His birthday is on June 3 - a Gemini. Blood type AB." He adjusts his glasses. "And his favorite motto is..."
"... Knowledge is an everlasting treasure," she completes.
Their dataman gasps while looking at her. "Y-you-"
She scratches her head. "Yep. That's my cousin alright."
"R-really?!" Kenya is quite surprised. "S-so... a-are you going to their team?" he asks frantically.
Everyone in their discussion circle gives him a weird look. Hikaru asks, "You're going a little over the top for being protective, Kenya-san. Why are you even so concerned on which team Kazuyoshi-senpai will cheer for?"
"That's right, that's right!" Hitouji teasingly follows up. "Actually, the real question here should be 'why are you too concerned about Kazuyoshi-kun overall?'"
The speedstar's face flushes red. "T-that's because we need all the support we can get s-so that the team would have louder cheers."
"But..." she glances behind them and points a finger at a bunch of middle school students who have also been wearing green and yellow shirts. "Shitenhouji already has its own loud cheering squad. I mean, they're not mentioned as much in this story... but they are actually existent."
"W-well..."
She chuckles. "Oshitari-san, your reasoning is so far-fetched. Even though I have a cousin from the other team, that does not mean I would automatically be jumping to the other side."
"That's right, Kenya." Shiraishi places a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you say you have a cousin from the other team, too."
"Well, t-that's true..." Kenya can only smile at this point due to embarrassment.
"And besides..." she looks at Inui once again. "…we aren't even particularly close. I don't even know that he plays tennis."
Kazuyoshi smells nice, he thinks. He also has a nice smile, he thinks. It feels good to stand by him, he thinks. A smile is plastered on Kenya's face as he walks by his friend to the entrance of the tournament venue. Neither is saying a word. It has been quite a long walk due to the large-scale venue, yet it feels like a five minute walk for him.
A few games just after Kenya and Gin's doubles, Yume decided that she needs to go home. After all, finishing the games would mean coming home late. And she has promised Zaki that she would be home this day before the sky turns dark. Of course, she would want - needs - to keep that promise. Otherwise, the news will get to her mother.
After a walk, they finally reach the entrance.
"Uhm... so I'll be going now," Yume breaks the silence with an announcement.
"A-are you sure?" he asks to which she responds with a nod. "It was fun with you there. Can't you just come back with me and watch the matches until the end?"
She looks at his disappointed face. "This is why I was insisting to go alone. You know, you really don't have to walk with me until here."
"Well..." He sheepishly smiles as he stares at the ground. "... we're bestfriends, you know."
"But you still don't have to do this just because we're friends."
"Then, what can I do?" He glances at her. "I-I'm allowed to call you Yuki-kun, right?"
"Uhm... you can actually call me however you like."
"I-is that so?" He chuckles.
"Of course. We're bestfriends, right?"
"It's a shame you came in late," he mumbles.
"What?" She did not hear.
"Kazuyoshi-kun, there's only a few months left for this school year." He looks straight into her eyes. "Only a few months before graduation."
She looks at him puzzled, not really knowing what the other is trying to say.
"I'm not sure what we'll be doing after then. I'm not sure if we're going to be able to see each other or if you'll go somewhere far. So... I'd rather not risk anymore time of not doing anything. I want to spend these last few days more with you."
Yume deliberately coughs and breaks eye contact. "W-what are you saying, Oshitari-san? That's so cheesy." She laughs nervously. "We can always just hang out any time after graduation."
But he remains in all seriousness.
She feels a lot more awkward. Little by little, Yume steps away from him. This does not escape Kenya's recognition. He attempts to stop his friend from drifting away any further by taking a hold of her hand. Unfortunately, Yume slips away and dashes out through the entrance.
Kenya sighs as he fails this time. He decides not to chase her at all since he is afraid that Yume might think that he is some kind of creep. "I didn't know that Kazuyoshi-kun can actually run that fast." After letting out another sigh, he notices something on the ground that is recognizably hers.
"Damn." She steps out of the bullet train and walks towards the exit gate of the station. "That was one long boring trip." Before she reaches the exit, a person calls her name.
"K-Kazuyoshi Yuki-sama!"
Yume stops for a while but never turns to see whoever it was. That voice and manner of talking is nothing but too familiar. She pretends not to hear anything and speeds up her walking pace. Footsteps approach her in an increasingly quicker pace. She hastens her walking even more.
"Please wait!"
Her feet begin to take larger steps until it is obvious that she is practically running. The other chasing pair of feet also speeds up.
"Kazuyoshi-sama!" A tap on her shoulder immediately freezes her.
Yume gulps and turns her head. "O-oh? What a surprise?" She chuckles nervously. "I didn't notice you there. You actually use the public transport system?"
Annoyed and offended, Fumiko raises a brow. "I was practically chasing you! And I do use the public transport system, just so you know."
"Oh... you were?"
"Then, why are you running?"
"B-because I really need to use the toilet?" Yume scratches her head, sheepishly smiling. Noticing that the other girl is unimpressed, she holds her hands together in front of Fumiko and bows. "S-sorry!"
The truth is 'Kei-chan' has never been the first love. Well, he is at least the first love outside the family circle. But it is not an abnormal thing for a child to fall for a person she has been seeing almost every day. And to think that he was also almost the same age as her. It is not unusual to grow fond of a distant cousin you see only once a year.
She was only five when she met him. He wore glasses and liked to experiment with a lot of things in the kitchen while she tested everything that comes as a result. After all, she liked him too much. Every summer, her mother visited her family in Japan. Naturally she brought along with him her children, usually the enthusiastic daughter. Yume immediately made friends with her relatives. Among them is a certain Inui Sadaharu who was only a year older than her. She was always excited to see him when they were going to Japan. That summer afternoon, she knew that it was going to be the last time.
"Nee, Sadaharu-kun," the little girl who wore pigtails called.
The other boy was lying on his stomach. He looked up to her with his sleepy eyes. "Hm? Yume-chan? What is it?"
"Are you not going to experiment today?"
He closed his eyes. "I'm not in the mood right now. I feel sleepy." And, he yawned.
She approached and sat on the floor above his head. "But you're still wearing your glasses."
"I don't want to take them off."
"Why?"
"Just because."
"What kind of answer is that?" She pouted as she felt that the other party is uninterested with continuing the conversation. When the boy didn't answer, the little girl tried shaking him awake but to no avail.
The boy was fast asleep.
The little girl was annoyed but she was sad. She took a deep breath before planting a kiss on the back of his head and ran outside.
And the next day, they left for England.
Yume feels really bad for the other girl. After all, a rejection similar to Fumiko's is something she had also recently experienced. The packed street feels a lot more silent. The awkward atmosphere is slowly killing her when she knows that she is the reason why Fumiko is feeling down. And there is no way like music to let her escape the atmosphere. Her head becomes lighter and she feels like a fool when she agreed to walk the queen home. There is no way that she could say 'no' to someone who looks so genuinely sad.
"Uhm..." She scratches the back of her head. "I'm sorry."
"Mhmmm" is Fumiko's only reply.
"I-it was not my intention to let you feel some kind of humiliation in front of other people... i-if you kind of felt humiliated." She sighs. "I-I just don't see in a romantic way, so the only thing for me to do is to reject you from the very start. I don't want to give you any false hopes or anything."
"Then what about Oshitari-san?" Fumiko looks at her. "Was everything that happened a while ago a part of your efforts to 'shoo' me away? Was it all a display?"
Yume frantically shakes her head. "No!" She starts fidgetting her fingers. "I-I actually didn't expect Oshitari-san to do that. W-we didn't conspire to do anything."
Fumiko pouts. "Liar."
"I'm telling the truth!" she insists.
"What part of me then do you not like?" the queen raises her voice. "Kazuyoshi-sama, are you in love with someone else already?"
Yume sighs in resignation. No more lies. There is no other option of shutting the queen down without being forced to date her. She puts her hopes that Fumiko knows how to keep secrets. "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?"
"What is it?! Just tell me already!" the other girl demands angrily.
Take a deep breath. She shuts her eyes close. With a smile, she reveals herself, "Actually, I'm a crossdresser. I am really a girl."
"You're lying."
Yume shakes her head. "I sit on the toilet just so I can pee."
Fumiko frowns upon the news. Her lips slowly forms into a big 'O.' "W-wait, whaaaat?!"
~ End Chapter ~
