Title: Kojiki Trilogy Part II – A Love Story
Chapter Two
And Then They Met
Kyo always knew where to look for Hikaru. As she does for him. In fact, some of their friends had teasingly pointed out that they were like a married couple, the way they just knew what each other was thinking or doing. Every time someone said that, she would just laugh it off while Kyo would just give an indulgent smile.
Let other people think what they want. She was, to him, the one person in his life whom he had ever let close and had never regretted it. She was the sister he never had, his best friend, and at times, when the occasion warrants it, his mother hen. Ever since they started their junior year though, she was also starting the role of matchmaker.
Kyo didn't bother going to class. It was third period, a free class for him and Hikaru (they were of course, classmates) and besides, as a member of the soccer team, the away match they had this morning ensured them a whole day off from school. His other team mates had done just that. After the match, they had all trooped off to home, or the mall. Kyo had chosen to come back to school. He didn't feel like going home yet.
Did he ever?
Hands in pocket, he walked rather aimlessly around the main building. His feet scuffed through the dried leaves littering the ground. The rustling was a hypnotic sound that lulled him, even as the sun shone down warmly on his head. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back even as he continued to walk, and behind closed eyelids, the sun struck brilliant patterns of kaleidoscopic colors, forming pictures that were not pictures but all the same, hinted tantalizingly at the edges of his awareness . . .
He wondered if he could reach out and grab those elusive half-dreams?
"You're going to walk straight into a tree if you keep on doing that."
It was a soft reprimand, full of gentle caution and more than a hint of teasing. It brought to mind the feel of a summer's breeze, playing a melodic orchestra with a laughing wind chime. Laughter and plain happiness.
He smiled and opened his eyes, stopping unerringly right before Hikaru.
She was dressed in the girl's uniform of Josui High; long-sleeve white shirt, dark green tie and a sleeveless v-neck sweater and green and black plaid skirt. On other girls, such color would have made them look drab, especially with her kind of coloring; dark brown hair and eyes, but she carried it off with a flair that would have made a model weep with envy.
Her skin was a soft tan despite autumn's hold on the town. Besides an avid runner, she was also a first-rate archer and her skin and eyes sparkled with life and energy. She was sitting on the ground, underneath an ancient beech and she patted the ground beside her and smiled invitingly. Such a beautiful, open smile. And it was just for him.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down."
He obligingly did so, sighing in contentment and leant back against the gnarled trunk, letting the tranquility of the moment rock him into a peaceful near slumber. Too well he knew it would be lost the minute they went back inside for class. He might as well enjoy it now.
"So by what score did you guys win?"
He blinked at her almost bemusedly. "My, aren't we so confident that we won?"
Hikaru huffed. "Well, we happen to have complete and utmost confidence in a certain friend. But since you don't, very well then. So how badly did we lost?"
"We didn't," Kyo answered primly. "We won 2-0."
"And you said I was overconfident."
"Humility is a becoming trait."
Hikaru snorted. Kyo couldn't help himself and laughed. "That means you guys are going to the Inter-High then! Congratulations!"
She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. It was perfectly okay for her to do so, best-friend-privileges and all that but elsewhere, the Kyo Fan Club members hissed in anger and thwarted desire. Said club president issued a directive that all members must come up with at least 10 ways to get Kyo to kiss them or vice versa by the next weekly meeting.
"Thanks," Kyo smiled. He took out a pocketed hand to point at the book she held. "Are you still going on with that?"
"What, this?" It was a beautifully feigned look of innocence that she pasted on but it didn't fool Kyo one bit. He fixed stern, light blue eyes on the unrepentant girl who just stuck out her tongue in response.
"Ne, it's all for your own good anyway." She was quick to assure him.
It was Kyo's turn to snort. Instead, he held out a hand. "May I?"
Obediently, she gave him the infamous, little black book. It was plain, ordinary, even drab in the light of day but it contained vital stats of some of the well-known and not-so-well-known students of Josui High. The book fitted nicely in the palm of his hand and the cover and a few of its pages were already dog-eared from frequent use. He had seen the other entries before. In fact, Hikaru had insisted he looked it over to make his choice. Irrationally, he had felt like he was surfing on one of those home shopping channel.
'A perfectly willing, eligible girlfriend for just ¥30 000! Installments available! Hurry before offer ends!'
It did not help that Hikaru had also insisted on taking him on a tour around the school so that he could evaluate the chosen entries in real- life.
Of course, Hikaru had been disappointed that he had shown absolutely no interest in any of the girls she had painstakingly chosen. When Kyo had demanded that she stop trying to matchmake him, all she had said was; "Shan't!" and had ran off with the book, laughing madly away. No rain, no storm, no earthquake, no reluctant Kyo would stop her and her Book!
His gaze fell on the first page: the Requirements Page where Hikaru had listed down all acceptable traits for Kyo's future partner. He had, grudgingly and most embarrassed to admit, given her most of the conditions written down. (You would to if you were pinned to the floor, a determined Hikaru sitting on your back and threatening to mash chocolate pudding all over your head. What? You think you can stand that kind of torture? Try it, why don't you!). Under condition number 1: Gender. Female, he saw that it had been crossed out and replaced with 'Any gender acceptable'.
Eh?
He flipped to the latest entry and reading it, started to choke.
"K-Ken??? What on earth is his name doing inside??"
Hikaru shook her head sadly, ponytail swinging and answered, "It didn't work out anyway. He was quite firm about how things will never happen between you guys."
"I should hope so. I'm not gay, remember? Or a bisexual," he added firmly as Hikaru opened her mouth to protest. "And neither is Ken!"
"Well, you don't seem to be all that interested in girls anymore! I was running out of options! Besides, you'd make a good-looking uke anyway!" she said cheerfully.
He gaped at her. Did she actually said the word 'uke'?
"Okay, you don't look like you like that position. . .the seme then!"
"HIKARU-CHAN!"
"Okay, okay. . . I'm sorry I said anything! Hey, what's wrong with your hand?" her eyes fell on his right hand which he had kept in his pocket all this time but had taken out in his utter indignation at being called a uke/seme. The said hand was bandaged, palm to wrist and she quickly, gently, grabbed it and gave an accusing stare at Kyo.
"It's nothing," he shrugged. "I just sprained it a little during the game. Coach didn't want to take any chances."
"Honestly, I can't let you out of my sight for one minute," Hikaru scolded him, instantly switching from Matchmaker Mode to Mother Hen Mode. "How on earth did you-"
Wait.
A devious little thought had entered the morass of twisted intrigue and sly manipulation that was Hikaru's brain, zooming in on that particular nerve endings and clusters that devoted itself specifically to the (non-existent) (Kyo: Hey!) (Kelly: It's my story! So tough!) love life of one Shiozaki Kyo. Sparks flew as the epiphany meshed with overactive brain cells and a hyper gland, resulting in the release of certain chemicals, enzymes and toxins that would otherwise be poisonous to other humans and somewhere in Meifu, a certain blond's lab blew up once again.
(Kelly: Okay, so the epiphany that Hikki had had no connection whatsoever to Watari blowing his lab up again but hey, it fits the sentence. )
Kyo was injured.
They had a new school doctor.
Kyo needed a girlfriend (or boyfriend in this case).
The doctor was single (How she had found this out in the relatively short space of a couple of hours? Never underestimate the school grapevine, that's how.)
Kyo was injured and they had a new doctor.
Oh, this was too good to be true.
Not showing even one iota of the devilish plan that had hatched in her devious head, she quickly pulled on Kyo's other hand, forcing him to get up. She conveniently ignored his protests as she tugged him back towards the school building.
"You should get the doctor to check it out Kyo! What if it's more than a simple sprain!"
"It's okay, Hikki, it's no-"
"No! No! How can you be so heartless as to make me worry about you like this! You're my bestest friend, Kyo and you're hurt! How do you think I feel seeing you all bandaged and in pain like that! C'mon, let's go!"
Great, now Hikaru was laying the guilt trip on him. He sighed in defeat. "Oh, all right. I'll go. Now ar-"
"I mean really! I'm just trying to look out for you! If you don't get that look at, it might get worse!"
"Hikki, I just said that I will-"
"No! No more excuses! We are going whether you like it or not! Now move buster!"
Sweatdrop.
"Hurry! They're catching up on us!"
"I told you we shouldn't have taken the shortcut past the library, Hikki!"
"How was I to know they'd be lying in wait!"
"I had an away match remember! Of course they would figure out that I'd be with you!"
"Quick! We're nearly there!"
Chocolate brown ponytail and raven black hair streamed back in the wind as they flew around a corner, and spotting the expected haven, fell through the open door and with the utmost care, slid it shut and for added measure, locked it.
Both leant back against the door, panting slightly with exertion. The cool surface of the painted wood calmed their rapidly beating hearts and they pressed an ear each to the door. They were not a moment too soon; just a few seconds later, pounding, rapid footsteps of at least 5 members of the female species could be heard turning the same corner and they both froze. Thankfully, the crazed mob rushed past, ignoring the closed door and soon after, faded in the distance.
Kyo and Hikaru let out their breath which they hadn't realized they've been holding.
"Can I help you?"
Kyo whirled around in surprise, blushing at being caught at such a weird position and he opened his mouth to apologize to Nagase sensei, only, it wasn't Nagase-san. It was someone else.
Kyo was a bit confused. Wasn't their doctor Maki Nagase? The man standing before him, a small smile curving his mouth gently, was definitely not the kindly, white-haired, forty something Maki Nagase.
The man was around his height, just a bit taller and he looked maybe 26 or 28 years old. Kyo was immediately drawn to his hair that was the color of. . . .maple leaves right before autumn. . .not really that brilliant red but not a dull brown either. It was a fascinating hue. . . especially when the sun, streaming through a window behind him, fell on that beautiful, rusty auburn, it seemed to shimmer and some parts looked nearly as white as cornsilk. Sparkling green eyes, eyes that were used to laughter, Kyo could tell, shone from behind wire-framed glasses and his mouth. . . Not knowing why exactly, Kyo's eyes fell on that still gently smiling mouth and inside him, he felt something constrict in sudden. . . pain? Longing?
What the-???
"Can I help you?" Again came that voice, low and not too deep, a slight huskiness to it and with a start, Kyo realized that he had been staring at the new doctor for nearly a minute, not saying a word. He flushed slightly. Of course. He had forgotten that Nagase sensei had transferred just last week. This must be her replacement then.
Thankfully, Hikaru spoke up then, her smile warm, friendly, and not the least bit devious. "My name is Teruhiko Hikaru and this is my friend, Shiozaki Kyo. We're both in class 4-1. We thought we'd drop in and say hi!"
"I'm flattered," the doctor smiled easily. "Matsumada Takashi, at your service."
"Matsumada sensei," Hikaru began but was quickly cut off by the sensei who winced slightly.
"Please, call me Takashi. I feel like a prehistoric dinosaur when people call me 'Matsumada sensei'," he complained good-naturedly.
"Takashi sensei then," Hikaru agreed and her warm-and-friendly smile wattage was notched a bit higher. No, no, it was still pleasant, not a bit devilish.
"Just Takashi. Not sensei. It's the least I could offer for my first friendly visitors at a new place."
"Takashi-san," Hikaru grinned. "Then you can call me Hikaru, or Hikki for short and he's Kyo. I'm afraid our visit is not entirely social in nature though. Kyo here sprained his hand. We were wondering whether you can take a look at it?"
Kyo, who had not spoken a word throughout the entire exchange except to nod in confirmation at the appropriate places, finally spoke up. He had decided that his earlier feeling of. . . of whatever it was, had merely been caused by the morning's excitement. Yes, that must be it. He was just still excited from the game and from being chased halfway around the school by a pack of hormone-crazed fangirls and a lovesick fanfic author.
"It's nothing much," Kyo shook his head, bangs falling into his eyes and he lifted his bandaged hand to push them aside impatiently. "I don't want to trouble you over such a small thing."
Takashi-san merely shook his own head in response. "I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to take care about these kind of things. What if it's more than a sprain?" he chided gently.
Kyo laughed, amusement bubbling in his voice. "Ne, you sound exactly like Hikki, Takashi-san."
"She's got remarkably good sense then. Here," he sat on one of the two couches in the infirmary and patted the spot next to him. "Sit here and let me look at you."
Obediently, Kyo sat himself down beside the sensei, feeling himself sink into the soft cushions. He held out his bandaged hand and the sensei took it tenderly into his own and unwrapped the bandages. A frown marred his eyebrows as he tested the hand with careful, expert fingers. A certain spot elicited a small wince from Kyo and he quickly looked up.
"Did that hurt?"
"A bit," Kyo admitted. "Not too much though."
Takashi-san nodded to himself. "Yes, it's just a minor sprain. Nothing that a simple massage can't fix."
The sensei's fingers were warm, Kyo thought to himself distractedly. Not like other doctors who tended to feel as though they had dipped their hands into a freezer. Not only were they warm, they were painfully gentle as those clever fingers sought out that certain knot in his muscles and firmly, tenderly, massaged it back into place. Unbidden, a sigh escaped his throat and Kyo felt muscles he didn't realize were tense, soften and his shoulders droop in relief.
"Better?" Takashi-san smiled.
"Aa. You're really good at this. You're turning me into mush." For emphasis, Kyo accidentally let out a yawn and blushed. "Sorry."
"Oh my god!"
They must have jumped about a foot into the air, both Takashi and Kyo and they turned in surprise at Hikaru who had been lingering near the door, watching the entire unfolding scene with glittering dark eyes and a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. She now had her hands slapped to her cheek and her mouth in a perfect 'o' of chagrin.
"I forgot that I promised Kenji that I'd help him with his English homework before fourth period! Gomen, Takashi-san, Kyo. Do you mind if I go?"
That look of perfect innocence didn't fool Kyo one bit. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the still smiling girl. "What are you up to?"
"Ne, Kyo-chan. . .do I always have to be up to something?" she pouted.
He answered her without a second's hesitation. "Yes. This better not be about your black book," he warned her.
"You wound me, Kyo-chan. You really do. To think that we've been friends for this long and you still can't trust me completely? Is that my worth in your eyes? Nothing more than a fair-weather friend who's out to take advantage of you? Nothing bu-"
"OKAY! Fine, sorry! Please, go and help Ken. I beg you."
"Yokatta! See you guys later then! We'll have lunch together ne, sensei? Ja ne!"
The green and brown whirlwind spun through the opened door and closed it back with a bang, while the two of them stared at the closed door with expressions ranging from to amusement to pain actually, for a certain boy with blue eyes.
"I don't mean to pry, but what did you mean by a 'black book'?" Takashi asked, a curious tilt to his head as he continued to massage Kyo's hand. The boy just rolled his eyes in exasperation as he explained.
"It's not really a secret anyway. Ever since I broke up with my girlfriend last year, she's been trying to fix me up with other girls. Hence, her little black book. She goes around picking 'suitable candidates', jots it down in the book and expects me to choose one."
Takashi threw his head back in delighted laughter and Kyo felt himself grinning back in response. "You've got a very caring friend there, Kyo. You're very lucky. I take it this Kenji is also taking part in helping you get a date?"
"Hardly. She tried to fix me up with Kenji."
Blink. "You're a bisexual?"
"That's the problem, I'm not."
"Ah." A brief look had passed the sensei's face, a look of. . . Kyo didn't know what it meant, it was gone too fast for him to decipher it. Even before he could ask, the sensei had stopped his massaging and had wrapped his hand back with the bandages.
"Just a precaution. Try not to strain it too much for a few days and you'll be fine."
"Arigato, sensei," Kyo smiled and flexed his fingers experimentally. They hardly twinged even.
"You've got classes after this, Kyo?"
Kyo shook his head. "Nope. I got the whole day off."
"Well, it gets kind of boring here, all alone. . and the principal gave me a chocolate cake, as a welcoming present. It'd be too much for me to finish by myself. ." Takashi trailed off, smiling meaningfully.
Kyo really shouldn't. They had barely met after all, and here he was about to impose some more on the good doctor. But then. . .he didn't have anything to do. . .and the sensei was really warm and friendly, not acting like some imperious adult but like a real friend. . .Kyo felt good, being with him, plus. . there's a chocolate cake. . .Kyo loves chocolates. . .
Despite himself, a pair of furry, tufted ears popped on his head, one twitching in nervous anticipation.
"You like chocolates, I take it?"
That ear twitched even more furiously.
"Yokatta! My kind of guy!"
Needless to say, the cake had a brief, yet wonderful life. The end had come swiftly to it but the cake had fulfilled its purpose, its destiny. . .it was now ready to go to cake heaven, satisfied that it had fulfilled its mission in life.
The cake could see the fabled light at the end of the tunnel. . . .
to be continued
A/N: I've finally managed to put up my FAKE fanfic here on You can't believe the trouble I went through. . . .stupid server. . . It's called 'Chosen One' and any FAKE fans, please R & R! (Wow, déjà vu).
