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Author's Note:
Haruko, Clare & all readers: let me reassure everyone that this is a Mitsui pairing fic - he is after all my favorite character =)
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Key
"" Speech
* Actions
= Thoughts
-- Break
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Chapter 6
As she skipped, Sunny watched a pair of birds pecking away at some crumbs along the ground. School wasn't over yet, but the teacher had her allowed her some time off to catch up on the subject. There was no need though, she had study it all before, and so instead of the library, she headed for the gym. Checking the time, she realized that no one was likely to turn up for at least another half an hour, but then again, there was really no where else for her to go. And after all, she liked the gym! Swinging her bag along with her, she smiled up at the bright sun, feeling all bright and happy.
=What a beautiful day=
Tripping on a shoelace, she suddenly fell over, hitting against the gym door.
BOOM - BOOM - BANG
About to shoot from the three-point line, Mitsui turned towards the door, wincing at the racket.
=Ouch. That's got to be painful.=
Embarrassed and worried that someone would see her in such a state, Sunny quickly picked herself up, grabbing the mess of books and paper and shoveling it all into the bag. Sliding the gym door open, she scooted inside and hurriedly slammed it behind her.
=Whew=
Leaning back against the door she finally allowed herself to feel the aches and pain from the fall.
Slightly startled, Mitsui looked at her.
=Sunny-girl!=
He had watched in total silence and surprise as she'd jumped inside the gym and slammed the door. Staring at her now, she sure looked a sight! Her hair and clothes were thoroughly ruffled, the lace to her right shoe was undone, and her face held dirt marks. In one hand she clutched a pile of books, and in the other was her bag, opened and spilling paper all over the ground around her. Her head was lowered as she try to catch her breath, and he was pretty sure she had no idea of his presence at all.
"Ah - Hey. You okay?"
Hey head snapped up and she found herself looking at Mitsui.
=Oh lord. Him! Again!=
"Y-y-you!! Again?!?" She managed to splutter out. Frustrated beyond words, she did the only thing she could. Throwing her things down, she clenched both fist along her side and started to take long deep breaths .....
Taken aback, he wondered whether she was going to attack him, preparing himself to run if she did.
"Hey Sunny-girl, you look like you're ready to charge at me ... ah, are you?"
Still looking at him, she paused mid-breath. And cracked a smile.
=Eh?= (Mitsui)
Relaxing her stance, she replied.
"I'm no bull, and I'm not going to charge at you just cause you have your moron T-shirt on. I was just taking some deep breaths to clam myself down – it's a technique I was taught." She finally replied.
"Yes, well that's really good to hear. For a minute there, I was all already to run from you!"
Grinning now, Sunny shook her head in disbelief.
"Gomen Mitsui-san. I was just so frustrated that you always seem to be the one around when I do something humiliating. It's rather annoying you know."
"Ah! So it was you making all that racket outside the door!"
"Unfortunately so. I don't even know what I had tripped over! One minute I was skipping and then the next, I was on the ground."
Shaking her head and looking disgruntled, she reached down to sort her things out.
Putting down the basketball, Mitsui strolled over to her, picking up her packet of purple spotted tissues and a couple pages of something along the way. After handing the sheets of paper to her, he pulled a tissue out of the packet and held it out to her.
"Spit."
Pausing at his strange command, she frowned up at him in question.
"Spit?"
He nodded. She *sweat-dropped*
"B-but, whatever for?"
She could tell he was amused again. His twinkling eyes said as much. May be it was her reaction? Her expression?
Finally, he shook his head a little at her.
"Don't worry about it."
Bringing the tissue to his lips instead, he licked a corner of it. Then reaching out to her, he gently brushed her fringe aside and using the tissue in his hand, dabbed at a dirt mark on her forehead.
Staring at his chest, and biting her lower lip, she didn't say a word.
=She smells nice=
Glancing down at her ever so often, he wondered what she was thinking.
=Oh dear. Oh my gosh. Warm, this gym.=
Finally finished clearing away the mark on her left cheek as well, he stood back.
"All clean!" He announced to her.
Giving way to her shyness, she looked down to her shoes before replying.
"Ah, a-arigatou gozaimasu Mitsui-san."
Eyes still twinkling, he nodded. Then scrunching the tissue into a ball, he shot it into the bin.
"Well, I better get back to practice! By the way, what are you doing so early here at the gym? Don't you have class or something?"
As he watched, she nodded her head. Then shook it. Finally blinking up at him, she smiled a little embarrassedly before speaking shyly.
"My teacher let me off early today do some catching up. But I've already studied the topic before, so there was no need. Ah. ........ Mitsui-san, did your teacher let you off early too?"
"Hell no." Bouncing the ball around, he jumped and shot another ball in. Looking back at her, he laughed. "My teacher didn't exactly give it to me."
Eyeing him suspiciously, Sunny made a guess. "You mean you skipped class?"
Flashing her a quick grin, he reply. "Yeah. That'll be it."
She *sweat-drops*. "Just like that? ....... But doesn't that affect your grades?"
Mitsui reflected back to his past results where he barely scraped by.
"Nah, not really. I have an average I manage to maintained."
Glancing at her, he could tell by the shaking of her head, that she had guessed exactly what kind of an 'average' he was maintaining.
=She's cute=
"Hey Sunny-girl. You happen to be free this Saturday?"
Running with the ball, he bounced it around, pretending to avoid an imaginary opponent. Watching him, she wished she knew what he was really thinking. Tentatively she answered him.
"I-, yes. I should be .... why?"
"Great!" He stopped practicing and looked at her. "I still owe you a basketball. We're going shopping for it this Saturday."
Her eyes beaded and question marks pooped out of the top of her head.
"Nani? A basketball? For me?"
"The first day I met you. When you wouldn't return the school basketball. Does that ring a bell?"
A bell did ring in her head as she recorded the moment. Blushing slightly she couldn't believed he was serious.
"It's okay, don't worry about it. I, it's not necessary." She finally managed.
"Hey, hey. A promise is a promise. Do you know where the corner ice-cream cafe by the park is?"
She nodded.
"I'll meet cha there at eleven? Is that going to okay with you?"
She nodded again.
"Great. It's a deal."
Jumping he shot another three point in.
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Rukawa was ignoring her again, but she continued to wave at him anyway as he stepped into the gym. He had ignored her during class as well, but then again, had ignored everyone else.
=He not trying to be rude, he just has trouble expressing himself. So misunderstood …=
Finally sitting back down, she returned to watching Mitsui practiced with Hanamichi out of the corner of her eyes. They were pushing at each other with their body and testing their strength? She had no idea what the whole point of it was, but then it didn't really matter to her. She wasn't really watching, she was .. brooding.
=Hisashi Mitsui=
Having to constantly remind herself that the 'outing' on Saturday was not really a date, that Mitsui-san was only fulfilling his promise and his sense of honor, she was still unable to stop herself from feeling giddy. It was not only that this would be the first time she was going out alone with a guy (friend or not), but she also found Mitsui-san himself .. intriguing? She didn't really understand her feelings; they were yet to be clarified. But she did feel from deep inside, that this was going to be her next turning point.
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Note:
Ah, guys? Reckon that 'spit-cleaning' part was a bit weird? It wasn't until after I wrote it that it occurred to me that in reality, this could be quite, uh, gross .. and just for confirmation, I don't go around spitting and cleaning myself or anyone else up that way – it was just a spur-of-the-moment idea for this story. Anyway, think I should change it with a magically appearing bottle of water instead? Please let me know.
Also - a big thanks to all who read and or reviewed my work. It was really encouraging and the points have been very helpful – small changes have been made to some of the previous chapters. I also wanted to say that I do realize that the story has been so far, quite slow. Thank-you all for being so patient and who are still reading – don't worry, I'm getting there!
Cheers, Jt =)
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Japanese Words
Ano: Um
Baka: Idiot/Moron
Do'aho: Idiot/Moron
Dono: Miss
Gomen: Sorry
Ja: See-ya/Bye
Kitsune: Fox
Nani: What
Onii-chan: Brother
Tensai: Genius
Note That: 'Beaded Eyes' = . .
Hanamichi's Nicknames
Gori: Akagi (gorilla)
Megane-kun: Kogure (four-eyes)
Micchy: Mitsui
Ryochin: Ryota
New Words
Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank-you very much
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