Took the chance to update as quickly as I can. Thanks for the reviews, minna!
Patty g: *watches calmly as patty goes on cursing Ika and Suki* Well now… *shrugs and then walks off whistling*
Fer-chan: I sure hope you'll put your healing hands to good use, like my baka computer *glares at her dad, who looks back in puzzlement* Thanks for the old-fashioned way suggestion, but I really hate writing with pen and paper. No. 1, because my energy's wasted, No. 2 I'm always changing my mind, so I don't really care having to erase and rewrite and erase and rewrite. No. 3, because I am an AVID SAVE-PAPERS-DON'T-YOU-DARE-WASTE-THEM freak. : )
Joy: Thanks for thy support, Joy-san! (getting archaic, aren't we?) Hope you'll keep tuned to this fic!
Unchained: Short? Oh dear, then this one will seem shorter to you! Gomen!
Frozenfemale: Why won't you believe me?? *puts up a tragic face* Why? Why??
Tensaispira: I thought you were on holiday?? You don't wanna have children?? I didn't know that! Maybe you have the same reason as Rukawa's? And no, I won't tell you why Rukawa-kun doesn't want kids. I'll leave it to your wide imagination. : )
Kathleen: Thanks!
Fiery Ice: Read on, fiery-ice!
Rei142: No, you're not hallucinating. There, I've told you. : )
sLL: Write about their marriage? Uh… *rubs her chin* I dunno. Do you want me to? And no, I can't go out very often cuz my dad thinks it's sin. Ha ha! Joking. You have fun yourself. BTW, I've been wanting to yell at you for this. Why haven't you been updating your story, sLL? The Admirer one, why did you stop at the first swim? I've been waiting forever for the next chappie, and I don't see it coming!! WHY???
Tiran: I don't have a library, Tiran-san. Or did you mean the National Library? That place has internet? (Eeck, shows just how often I visit!)
Jo-sen7: What can I do other than thank you? You've been like, my rock throughout this fic. Arigato gozaimasu. : )
Sodina: Add some more romance? Would you like to suggest other pairing, Sodina-san?
Silhouette Panther: Why are you kicking renei's pc? *narrows eyes* did you mistake me for renei or what?? *glowers* nah, just joking.
Lazuli: Garion had it easy. He didn't have to face computer technicalities! All he has to do is fight dragons. I have it much worse. Ha ha! (PS: Why is my Maki fic missing? It's right there last time I checked!)
Super rookie: Losing a website is much more painful than losing files. Poor you too. :] My schoolsite was hacked a few weeks ago and it almost made me want to jump out of my class' window (we're on the fourth floor, mind you). And thanks for the site recommendation. It's yours, isn't it? I've been there, and you've got excellent pictures. *eyes turn into hearts* And I absolutely love the layout!
Reika Zelon: I love big messes. : ) Thanks for believing me, Reika-san! You're one of the first! *throws buckets of gratitude at Reika*
Kka: Too much exposure to bimbos… Ha ha!
Reiko: relax! Your review blew me away already, so no need to promise better qualities. Thanks for taking the time to read this! And I'm so glad you look forward to this – at least somebody does! Ha ha!
Yoriko: Hey, you forgot to invite me for the party. *sulks* Thanks for reading!
Fifth chapter
The ball bounced off the hoop with a miserable 'thud' and fell down to earth.
"That's the third one you've missed in a row, Kaede," Akima muttered, a bit startled as she rushed to retrieve the ball. She looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?"
He looked at her. "Yeah."
She returned the ball into his hands and studied him with narrowed eyes. "All right then," she shrugged, willing to drop the subject. "You can continue practicing."
He passed the ball back and forth between his hands for a while, trying to get into the rhythm and failed miserably. "No, I'm not in the mood."
The look she sent him was incredulous. "No?" Akima sputtered in disbelief. "Not in the mood??" Almost frantically, she brushed his messy fringe aside and placed a hand on his forehead. "Oh gosh, no fever or anything. The sickness must be internal. Are you missing any organs, Kaede? Did you check this morning?"
It would've been funny if she hadn't been so serious.
The disturbing way he was looking at her grated at her nerves. Akima tried to recall if she'd done anything outrageously wrong. "What's bothering you?" she asked a little nervously.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
"No, you're not fine. You're not in the mood to practice basketball. You –"
"I said I'm fine, Akima."
His snippy tone, very rarely used, added to her tension. Abashed at sounding (and acting) like a mother hen, Akima took a cautious step back. "If you say so," she surrendered willingly, if apprehensively.
Kaede immediately regretted his abruptness. Too late to start apologising, he gave the ball in his hands an impatient flick. Bristling more at himself, he gritted his teeth. "Let's go."
Without a word, they packed all of their belongings and eyed each other distrustfully from the corner of their eyes; each thinking the other was hiding something.
"Congratulations," Akima said simply to her puffed-out Science partner. "I didn't know you were into plays."
Rudi beamed at her. "I've always adored plays," he said breathlessly. "I can't believe I'm actually chosen for the lead play! This is just so grandiloquent, Akima! Just implausible!"
Akima quietly wished Rudi would talk normally instead of sounding like a thesaurus. She tried to imagine Rudi as a suave, charming murderer, the role he was supposed to be playing in the school play. "Why not? Well, I don't know about you running around with knives and chasing girls on stage, but I think you'll be just…" she struggled for a word. Too bad she didn't read the dictionary as a hobby, "fine. Just fine."
Rudi smiled shyly. "Thanks, Akima," he said appreciatively. "I knew you'd be happy for me. Suki said how it was that you're always happy for everybody."
"She said that, did she?" Akima murmured in amusement. "That's not quite true," she confessed, thinking of Ika. "But let's pretend it is. Should look good on my resume."
Rudi grinned boyishly. "She also said how you're always willing to help other people," he said earnestly.
"Oh, that's definitely untrue. But, like I said, let's pretend it is."
Rudi rubbed his hands together nervously. "I was kind of hoping…" he trailed off, trying to steady his breathing, "Well, I was hoping you'd help me with this play." It was said rather fast.
Akima raised an eyebrow. "What? You want me to hold up huge cardboard cards with your lines on it?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Rudi shook his head. "I thought you could, sort of like play the female leads for me. You know, so I can get into the character."
Akima thought about it. "I don't want to sound huffy, but there are more than six female leads. Why don't you practice with the real cast? Why not have the chosen female leads to practice with you?"
"They're professionals," Rudi informed her. "They've done this sort of thing three or more times. I'm sort of an amateur, you see, and I don't exactly want to look like a fool practicing with them. I was thinking I'd polish up my acting skills first, get a firm ground to stand on before I join them for practice."
Akima almost laughed. So the guy had insecurities after all. "Rudi," she said seriously then. "I'm so glad you're human."
He looked baffled. "Sorry?"
"Never mind." Still chuckling, she patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. "I'm sure the rest of the crew will make sure you do it right."
"Well, I sort of want to put in my own effort into this."
Figures, Akima almost snorted. The guy wanted to put his own effort in everything. "That's good," she approved. "But I'm a downright terrible actress. I haven't done a single acting since I was kindergarten playing the role of a crocodile and tripping over my own tail."
"Really?"
Akima made a rueful face. "Fell on my face – and my dignity." She waved the topic away. "I won't be much help to you."
"This play means a lot to me, Akima," he pressed. "You can say this is like, my debut into the acting world. I'll be eternally grateful if you won't mind spending some hours helping me."
"No, I don't mind. I'm just saying I'll be in your way instead of paving the way for you." She shrugged. "All right. I'll help. This is the least I can do after destroying our experiment and torturing you with cleaning labour, isn't it?"
"Well," Rudi started. "I hate to say this, but yes, it is."
Akima sighed. "It was my fault after all." She scowled. "I hate hydrogen."
"It's going very well," Suki gloated. "Very, very well. I don't make mistakes like you do."
On the other end of the line, Ika uttered a swear word.
"Even the brainiest are stupid sometimes," Suki continued flippantly. "Him having a crush on her only makes it all the more easy, doesn't it?" She twirled the phone cord between her fingers. "Are you ready, Ika?"
"Of course I'm ready," Ika replied, her voice as smooth and as sticky as oil. "I'm always ready."
Suki rolled her eyes. "I certainly hope so."
I know it's rather short *avoids flying bananas from outraged reader* But considering the circumstances, it's lucky that I'm actually able to update! Ha ha! Next chapter will be the beginning of the ingenious plan co-created by Suki and Ika. : )