Sorry for the late update. But then again, you've been warned about it being late so… no, I'm not sorry. ^_^ Have fun reading!
Iluvenis Telperien: Somebody just informed me that your name's taken out of the LOTR book. Really?
Lambie: I never knew! He he, sorry about the v.ball mistake. I don't play it, so I don't know! Didn't bother to research either, come to think of it!!
Tensaispira: Form 5 is… ??? Can't find a nice enough word, he he. But I'm alive! (I'm a SURVIVOR! Yeah!!)
Hagane: Thank you!
Alexia: Me don't play v.ball!! Please don't chop my head! You think Shoyo should've won? I needed to make Mai win, you see, so I can get on to next chapter. ^_^ You'll see. And yeah, first timers who win forget that they're still beginners when they win. But sometimes, it's rather good for those who lack confidence. ??? Why am I babbling about this? Sorry, just wasted a lot of your time. (he he) Enjoy!
Tiran: Thank you! If you ever become the how-on-earth-do-you-spell-it-gist, let me be the first to be analysed! I think I need help!!
December Morning Owl: I dunno. People have been asking me that question quite a number of times, actually. ??? ^_^ But as it is, I'm trying to speed things up and get it over with as soon as I can so I can concentrate on my studies (yeah right) (heh heh!)
Krappkarmin: Peace to you too ^_^
Kuroi Neko-kun: *follows in* Yeah! Death to Enrio! Boo!
Crazy4u: You didn't come to play for your volleyball game??? WHY?? And how come your teammates haven't chopped you into pieces and burnt you to ashes?? I would! Ha ha! Joking!
Blue eagle: What a nice friend you have. *am astounded that such a person who will promote me exists* ^_^ Kiss her for me! Ha ha! Thank you very much for reading my work. Good luck in your exams!
Fiery-ice: *nothingtodo is busy wriggling so she can't say anything* ^_^ *wriggle, wriggle, wriggle*
Rapt142: I didn't think Maki was suave, charming and sexily sarcastic either until I chanced upon this site which described him like that. So I was like: Huh? Maki's sexy? So I took a double look at him in the anime and HELL RIGHT! He is! ^_^
Kka: *sends kka to the hospital because of severe exhaustion* Hang on! Don't die!
Unchained: Why do you want to kill me? *tears of innocence showing in innocent eyes on innocent face covered by innocent hands* I made Kainan win because [refer to Alexia's review reply!] Still, I hope it didn't spoil your reading!
Patty g: Take her home? Hey… what have you got in mind there, patty-san? *eyebrows wiggle* he he.
Frozenfemale: What happened to Enrio? He got killed in a crash with a lamppost because he was nursing his heartbroken heart and didn't see where he was going. Ha ha! Find out soon!
KOPFleona: *wants to join KOFleona but couldn't find torch* Aiya!
Fer-chan: yeah! Welcome back! *hugs fer-chan shamelessly* *fer-chan turns blue in disgust* Ehem. Forgiven! Just enjoy, don't worry about reviewing!
White soul: RIGGHT! Saw a recent Slam Dunk episode and am even more head-over-heels for Rukawa-kun! BTW, there's this new guy in my school who's good-looking too, and DOESN'T LAUGH. He reminds me of Rukawa, but at least he smiles. ^_^ Too bad he's three years younger than I am! Ha ha!
sLL: Newspapers? Paparazzi? Front page news?? Hey! I might do that in the next chappie! *tries to think of a way to slip that in* Thanks for the idea! He he he!
Jo-sen7: You will know… *sings: Let it be… let it be!! There will be an answer… let it be!!* *rain pours down* Uh oh.
Saccharine: Sorry! I didn't really take much effort in understanding volleyball – v. bad of me. *berates self* Please forgive me… *flutters eyelashes* ^_^ Are you a professional player or some sort?
"Aaaargh! She's dead!"
That was the first thing Mai heard as her brain clicked to life. Dimly, she recognised it as Mayuko.
"Omigod! Omigod! The beeping machine stopped beeping!! She's dead! What do we do??? What do I say to her parents??"
Slightly more awake now, Mai realised Mayuko was screaming right next to her ear. She groaned silently, her face muscles still too stiff to allow her to wince. Then another recognisable, smoothly rumbling voice spoke.
"Relax. It only means that she's up."
Maki.
"Up?? Up WHERE??" Mayuko sounded rather hysterical. "Are you saying she's in heaven already??"
Mai would've grinned if she could. Idiot. Who's to say I'm not in Hell?
"No. Up, a.k.a awake. Alive. On earth." Mai felt fingers resting on her eyelids. "Here, watch." Swoosh! Her eyelids were forced open and bright white light zoomed into her cornea. Mai yelled out at the unexpected discomfort, only it came sounding like a snort. Aaargh! It hurts, you idiot! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! "Voila!"
Mai blinked furiously, registered in Maki's grinning face, and then Mayuko's pale one. "You –" she started shakily. "You – ptuih!"
"Ooh," Mayuko murmured. "What do you think she's trying to do?"
"I don't know," Maki confessed. "Spit, maybe?" He studied Mai's glaring eyes and then chuckled. "Oh yeah, she's trying to spit – most probably on me." In a move that surprised all of them (including himself), he rubbed Mai's cheek. "How do you feel, ace?"
Mai took a moment to gather her energy. She started to yell, maybe say something about how people don't go around stretching the sick person's eyes open when they visit, but then decided it would just be a waste of precious energy. "Fine." She mumbled slowly. "'ust bl'dy fine."
Maki looked at Mayuko. "It's only seven. Even I don't start swearing until nine o'clock, you know."
Mayuko laughed, bending over to crush Mai in a bear hug. "I was so worried!" she informed. "I thought you stopped breathing! I mean, you've been asleep for God knows how many days, and then Maki said you were up in Heaven and –"
"I didn't say she was up in Heaven. I just said she was up. Full-stop."
"Yeah, well, it sounded that way." Mayuko studied Mai's white face. "Oh gosh, you must be starving. Your stomach's been empty for almost three days. I'll go get the nurse –" and she was zooming out of the door.
Maki shook his head. "It probably didn't occur to her that we have a bell to press for assistance right here." He reached over the bed and squashed a bright red knob. "What would you like, Miss Kiraki?"
Mai blinked again, and shook her head to clear the mist resting in her brain. "Why am I in the hospital?"
"Well, we wanted to leave you slumped on the floor over there in the tournament court, but the sweeper told us to get you somewhere else so he can do his job." He sat down at the side of the bed. "Duh. Where else would you like us to dump you in? A shelter home?"
"No. I'm just saying that it can't be that serious."
"It isn't," he assured. "But your parents thought it was best for you to be here – just in case. They're at work," he supplied when she was about to ask. "They'll be coming at around two in the evening."
Mai tried to understand that, her brain struggling to catch up. Apparently, all the sleep had made her stupid. "I see." Then – "What are you doing here?"
"Me? Nothing. Just wanted to stare at the white ceiling. I do that from time to time. You know, come here and look up at the lights. It's beautiful."
She ignored the sarcastic reply. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
"A few days without school wouldn't kill me."
She stared at him. "Have you – have you been staying here all this while?"
"Yep, him and me," Mayuko answered, stepping back in with a tray of food. "Told him to leave, but stubborn guy thinks you'll only be safe with him around. You scared the shit out of him when you swooned in his face like that." She set the tray down, winked at Maki. "Literally."
Maki's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"
"Admit it, big guy. You all but pooped in your pants."
"I usually go to the toilet if I wanted to poop, I'll have you know." That was said with dignity.
"You didn't have to," Mai said then.
"What, go to the toilet?"
"No. You didn't have to stay. What would your parents say?"
Maki thought about it. "Actually, they said nothing but 'get me a bottle of soy sauce when you return home'. That was my mom, naturally." He shrugged. "I wanted to stay," The grin came. "I usually do what I want."
Mai snorted. "I can testify to that." Then, she sighed pensively. "Thanks. I appreciate it, I think."
He laughed. "You're welcome, I think."
They rolled their eyes at each other.
Mayuko tapped her foot. "Ahem. I'm feeling kind of left out here."
"Sorry," Mai said quickly, alarmed that she'd totally ignored her friend. "Thank you too, Mayuko. You're the nicest friend one could ask for. Nobody could ever be as good as you. Never in my life have I ever -"
"Okay, okay, that's enough. Eat this."
"Hmm. What day is it today?"
Mayuko glanced at her multi-purpose watch. "25th. You've been asleep for approximately fifty-six hours, that is almost three days. Impressive, but you still have a long way to go to beat Sleeping Beauty."
"I never really planned on beating her anyway." She started to shovel the rolled egg off the plate when a thought rammed into her. Both egg and chopsticks dropped onto the bed sheets. "Holy SHIT! Today's the finals!"
Maki and Mayuko glanced at each other.
Quietly, Maki went over to close the door. "No offence," he said. "But you'll have to kill us first if you ever think of getting out of this room in that state."
Mai's eyes had gotten wild. "The finals," she murmured dazedly. "I have to go. You can't expect me to miss out on the finals me and the rest of the team have worked so hard for!" When they nodded, Mai stared at them. "Are you CRAZY? This is the FINALS, hello??"
"And you are SICK, hello??" Mayuko pushed in the egg roll into Mai's mouth herself.
"I'm all right now," Mai proved it by pushing herself off the bed and standing on her two pale feet. "Whoops!" Her legs buckled and she stopped the disastrous impact with trembling arms. "Oh no."
Maki pulled her up and into the bed again. "There you go." He looked understandingly at the haunted look on her face. "I know it's a bummer to miss games, especially important ones. But you're not in any state to play and you know it."
Mai bit her lip, looking for some other convincing methods. "Well, I'm still weak now, but the game's not on till six in the evening. I've got about nine hours yet. I could be better by then –" she stopped at the reproachful look on Mayuko and Maki's faces. "Yeah," she sighed then. "I guess I know it."
"Your team will do fine," Maki assured her. "I'm sure they'll win."
"Perhaps," Mai nodded dumbly, "but what's victory if I wasn't even part of the process?"
"Your part of the process is over with," Mayuko reminded her. "Killing yourself on court was sacrifice enough, if you ask me. Besides, let's see how Enrio handles it without you this time."
Mai's eyes tightened but she didn't say anything.
Maki sent a look to Mayuko. Uh oh.
Mayuko shrugged. "He called a few times, you know, asking if you were okay and stuff."
"Hmm." Then, with sudden heat – "Next time he calls, tell the bastard I'm dead."
Their eyebrows rose. "Oh," Mayuko murmured. "Okay." Her hand phone buzzed. "Well, whaddaya know?" She flipped it up, and immediately said to the receiver, "Sorry, bastard, but Mai's dead, so you can take you dirty ass and –" she trailed off. "Mr. Kiraki!"
Mai and Maki stared at her.
Flustered, Mayuko waved her hands desperately. "No, sir, I thought you were someone else! No, no, I didn't mean to swear at you! You called using a public phone and I thought - " She cringed. "No, no, sir, really, Mai's alive, really, I just ………!"
"And when the defence pull back, three will be here," Maki moved the little coins rapidly on the table as Mai watched. "Instinctively, the defence will focus here, and that's where the two who are free barge in. Score."
Mai frowned. "I still think we're not allowed to draw basketball court diagrams with permanent marker on a hospital table."
He waved it away. "Just pay attention. This is for education's sake." He rearranged the coins again. "Here's another often-used strategy. When one player…" Maki paused. "Okay, you're sick of basketball. Fine, we'll stop."
Mai nodded appreciatively and leaned back against the bed. Mayuko had gone off for piano lessons, leaving only the two of them there. Mai's parents had visited at two, and were now downstairs struggling to decide between the chicken set and the fish set for lunch. She glanced longingly at the wall clock. Three in the evening. Three more hours to the volleyball finals. What was she doing here?
"Stop thinking about it," Maki advised her, stacking the coins in neat piles.
"I can't help it," she muttered. "It's hard just sitting here thinking the others are probably excitedly preparing for the game."
"Well then, let's just think about something nicer."
She looked at him. "Like what?"
"I don't know." He looked back at her. "Something. Anything."
"I'll kick your bottom if you start on basketball."
"Ditto to you if you talk about volleyball."
They grinned at each other, and then turned silent, just staring at the other. It was starting to turn scarily peaceful and romantic. Slightly embarrassed and awkward, Mai coughed pitifully. "Show me the basketball strategies again."
He couldn't stop the smile. "I don't know why you're so shy with me," he told her. "Why can't we just come right out and say –" A knock on the door interrupted him. It creaked open noisily.
"Oh," Maki acknowledged, standing up. "Hi, Enrio."
Happy Coming Valentine's Day, minna! I've been told that out there, at least five persons love you. So add me in your list of people who do! ^_^