~A Picture is Worth

A

Thousand Words~

Summary: Kagome had looked everywhere for that one place, a peaceful spot...somewhere that she'd be able to just let go of everything she was forced to be. Free to be herself, and not the person everyone wanted her to be. This beautiful, flawless girl...this was the picture Fuji, Shuusuke, had accidentally taken. The girl in which he'd accidentally fallen in love with... now, if only he could find her again.

Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Prince of Tennis

Pairing: Kagome/Shuusuke

Genre: Romance/Humor

Rated: M for Mature Content

-x-x-x-

Looking at the teams around her, Kagome had been told not to wander too far. Did she look like a dog?

'Oh,' stepping up to the vending machine, she inserted a few coins before pressing a button. "Maybe I should be nice and get one for nii-san too." Grabbing a few more coins from her coin purse, she pushed them in and grabbed another water bottle.

"Ah~?! Hey, hey!"

Looking over her shoulder, she looked curiously at a boy who was clearly younger than her. "Me?"

"Yeah, you! Where did you get that jacket?!"

"Oh..." looking down at the white and blue jacket, she smiled, "it was given to me."

"No way!"

"Are you a student at Seigaku?"

"Y-yeah," he brought a hand to the back of his head, flustered, he looked away for a moment before pointing back behind him. "I didn't know that Fuji-Senpai was dating someone."

'Fuji... he must be the only one missing his regulars' jacket.' Stepping up to the boy, she smiled, "could you take me to Fuji-San?" Bold of her to assume he was the same age as her. She was fourteen, after all. He could be the same age as her brother, but...well, she would find out later and correct the way she called him when the time came.

"Ah, right...oh, I'm Horio, Satoshi, a first-year at Seigaku and member of the Tennis Club."

Walking with idle conversation towards a tennis team that was already on the courts, Kagome sat down and watched the team play. It was going up against a familiar school; she recognized it as Saint Rudolph. The match was between a brunette with shoulder-length hair from Seigaku, and from Saint Rudolph, it was none other than her Senpai from last year, Mizuki, Hajime. The quiet sadist that he was, she always had a soft spot for his kooky personality. It had been a while since she'd played witness to a Saint Rudolph match, but it was certainly nostalgic.

"Thirty-four, thirty-one and thirty-four, you've grown, Higurashi-San."

Kagome clenched her fists at her side and turned away from the match in front of her. "...Nomura-Senpai, did I not hit you hard enough the last time?"

"No, you did. I just couldn't help but admire how you've changed in just a year. Did you come to support Saint Rudolph?" He eyed the jacket she was wearing, "if so, it pains me to say, but you wore the wrong colors."

"Then, you'll be relieved to know that it wasn't Saint Rudolph that I came to cheer on."

"I never expected you to transfer to Seigaku."

Shaking her head, she laughed, "I transferred to Hyotei, I'm cheering my brothers' team on."

"Wait, your brother? Who?!"

Not giving him an answer, she turned her eyes back to the match in front of her.

-x-x-x-

"Where is Kagome?"

Kabaji glanced around. Even from his height, he couldn't see his friend's sister. "Usu..."

Shishido's match had just concluded, and Keigo had looked to see if his sister had returned from grabbing a drink, to his surprise, she hadn't. "Hm, Shishido, since your match is over, could you go find my sister? She seems to have gotten lost."

"Heh, fine."

Walking off the court with his bag, Shishido started looking for his captain's sister. Brushing his long hair from his shoulder, he fanned himself a bit with his hand as he tried to cool off. 'If I were Keigo's sister, where would I be?' Looking over his shoulder, he eyed his captain and frowned, '...I would have skipped town already.'

-x-x-x-

Watching the match, her cheeks burned, looking at the Seigaku tennis player. 'So cool...' watching Mizuki lose his cool, she'd never seen this side of the Data Player. "I guess even he can be ruffled."

"There you are,"

She turned as someone joined her on the bench, "Shishido-San, you were looking for me?"

"Ah, Atobe-San wanted to look for you, but he had a match."

Returning to the match, she smiled, "I'll be scolded later for not cheering him on, but I can't help it. I got distracted."

"It's no big deal. He'll get over it. So, who are you cheering for here?" Eyeing the jacket, he smirked, "Fuji-San?"

"It would surprise you to know, but I was a Saint Rudolph student up until the start of this year. Though, yes, I'm kind of cheering for Fuji-Senpai, Mizuki-Senpai is still fun to watch...when he's not losing his mind to self-doubt. Look," she pointed to the panicked manipulator, "all of his arrogance is gone."

"Game and match for Seigaku's Fuji! Seven games to five."

"It was a good game, an excellent game." Standing, she started towards the fence.

"Ah, look who's joining us," Shishido pointed over his shoulder.

Behind them, the whole of Hyotei had finally made their way to Seigaku's court.

"It's just like Fuji, Shuusuke, no weaknesses whatsoever."

Turning to join her brother, she eyed the boy leaning against the tree curiously, another Seigaku player. "Were you watching this whole time?"

"From a distance," Keigo nodded, "we have matches still since we won our first round."

"Eh?! That's good! Who are you up against next?"

"Fudoumine."

"...I think I've seen them. Black and pink uniforms, right?"

"Hai,"

Nodding, Kagome moved towards the court and watched Saint Rudolph and Seigaku bow to one another. "Should I return his jacket?"

"I think so,"

"Hm, but I'm growing attached. Maybe I'll hold on to it for a bit longer." Reaching up, she waved her hand to the boy from earlier. Watching as he promptly came running up to her, she held out the second water bottle that she'd bought, "give this to Fuji-San for me?"

"Ah...hai!"

Walking away with her brother next to her, she didn't wait to see if Horio did as she asked. She knew he would. Her hand reached up to the bend of her brothers' elbow, and she leaned against his arm, smiling as he slowed down a bit for her.

-x-x-x-

"Fuji-Senpai!"

Picking his bag up, Shuusuke looked over as Horio ran up to him. Holding out a water bottle, he stared curiously at it. It wouldn't have been so strange if the boy had done this to all the regulars, but only him...well. "Is this for me?"

"Hai. A girl told me to give it to you. She was wearing your jacket...I think."

That caught his attention. Lifting his head, he looked back past Horio for his jacket and the familiar girl but didn't see her.

"Oh, you won't find her. She left with the Hyotei Regulars."

"Hyotei..." he chuckled, taking the water bottle, he looked at it before shouldering his bag, "thanks for bringing this to me." Had it been a random girl, he wouldn't have taken it. It's never a good idea to accept drinks or towels or anything of the sort from a fangirl. Getting their hopes up only causes trouble for them. However, this, he was okay with. Taking a drink from the bottle, he practically melted in the chill of the water.

"Fujiko~!"

"Hai?"

"Wanna go watch some of the other matches? Hyotei is about to go up against Fudoumine."

"Sure," his attention was pulled by Tezuka, who walked up beside him, "sorry, Tezuka, you didn't get to play."

-x-x-x-

Me: Here is chapter four. Let me know your thoughts~