I LOVE YOU CHEDENG! Oh, that's the name of the storm. It suspended my
classes for today! Whee... well, anyhow...DLSU (my school) is a bummer! I
thought there wouldn't be a religion class like Ateneo (that's why I didn't
pick the latter) and, guess what, it does!!! That's so annoying! I should
have gone to UPLB even if it is in the province! But, you're not here to
listen to my rants, are you?
***
Rika nodded in response, [Good, see you later then at practice.] But deep inside she sneered, 'Oh, you are so gonna die.'
"I'll go with you," Arnold told her cheerfully while clenching and unclenching his fists at his side.
"Hey! You can speak Japanese. Why didn't you tell me?" Rika looked taken aback, surprised at what she learned. "What's wrong?" she asked noticing the movement of his hands from the corner of her eye, "What are you so upset about?"
[Huh? I only know a very few. I didn't understand you.] He said scratching his head, [Could you repeat that again?]
[Oh, I see,] Rika smiled at him prompting him not to see anything or anyone else but her, [I said, what are you so mad about?]
[Nothing,] he told her bluntly as he did when they were teammates, using his height as an advantage, letting her know that there would be no more further discussions about that.
As the pair was about to go in, Yohei burst out laughing from the doors of the gym, [There you are! I have looking everywhere in the court for you.] he told his cousin in between laughs. [You know the vice-coach, cousin? Then I do not need to introduce you to her.]
[I didn't know you knew a great deal of English, Mito.] Rika turned to him smiling, [And it's assistant coach, not vice-coach.]
[Yeah, I have known her for a long time.] Arnold nodded telling facts, [Now, what are you laughing so hard about.]
[Nothing, just that Hanmichi and the Rukawa Shinietai are at it again.] he lauged again stating it in his normal tone as if someone had poured water over himself in stupidity, [This time, they're dragging their all-powerful master into it.]
[Don't tell me coach's too amused to intervene.] Rika sighed and with a nod from Yohei, sent her flying through the doors without a word followed by an ear-piercing scream that drowned out all the other voices.
[Um, cuz, I can't go with you today,] Arnold said with a little reluctance trying to explain as best as he could so he could put it lightly, [I want to catch up with Rik.]
[Rik?] Yohei asked him questioningly.
[It's what the guys call her since they feel she's one of us,] he told him rolling his eyes, then muttered inaudibly, [I hate them for that.]
As they went inside, the commotion was almost subsiding...almost. "But, Rika, the red-head started it!" one of the shinietai complained.
"They were never to cross over the railings!" Sakuragi retorted.
"He is supposed to do what Ryota-san said and that's to pass the ball to Rukawa!" another of the shinietai.
"They can't complain in what we do, right?" the red-head fumed back at them seeking favor from Rika.
"But -" before another of the Shinietai could utter another word aside from the but, Rika interjected as calm as a placid lake, "Do you think I'm still listening?"
"But you do believe us, right?" the Shinietai chorused along with Sakuragi's "But you do understand me, don't you?"
She only stared down at them as silence crept over them - and though Sakuragi was taller then her, she still managed it. The Shinietai and the red-head, not knowing why, seemed to be anxious to get it over with and get out of her sight...seeming, unimaginably, submissive. She arched them an eyebrow and both parties backed a step as they saw her eyes glow in it's burnished silver state. Rika was holding everything down just to do it giving herself a hard time as well. Time seemed to pass by in slow motion at that moment before a sinister sneer crept over her lips. That last action caused both to give out pleading that she take their apologies and apologizing to each other in the end - however reluctantly. Her eyes receded to their original color and she sighed glad that everything was over with.
Ayako approached her and clapped her on the back as everyone was dismissed causing new gossip to rise. "I really don't know how you do it. I just can't have the same effect whatever I do. You should teach me that sometime."
"If I would," Rika faced her with a warm smile showing mirth all over, "then you would have to face a very horrid life and a very horrid group of people. Just be glad you won't experience that. Your ways are good, too. If they always get what I do, they'll get used to it. Oh, and silence is the worst answer you can give."
Ayako was taken aback by her explanation but understood about the silence part only. As she walked away, Arnold heard a few snatches from the other players around him, "Rukawa and Canson...they're cute even for - " another nudged him in the ribs before he could speak any more saying, "Not now. You know he can get a few snatches of our language..." The other looked around and only nodded. Before he could speak to both of them when he heard a Rukawa and Rika's surname and something to do with cute, Anzai came up to him.
[So, you and Rika understand each other that well in the court.] The old man said in his low resounding voice.
[I fear it's only in the court, sir,] he shrugged, [I believe you are Mitsuyoshi Anzai? Rik...a has told me so much about you. You were the one who taught her as a child?]
Anzai laughed his patented mirthful laugh, [She has talked about me a lot, eh? So, what brings you here from your country?]
[Well, sir,] he began and cleared his throat when he noticed the door opened to admit Rina, [Mito Yohei is a cousin of mine and Rina is a close friend. I thought visiting them would be nice. If you excuse me...] he said the last phrase in a very hurried, rude tone and walked over to Rina in long strides as if a lame dog was on his heels. [Rina! How nice to see you again. I heard you have a boyfriend. So, who's the lucky guy?]
[You'll never guess,] she said patting his cheek then looked over his shoulder and saw Rika and Rukawa together. "Oh, hey! Are we going?"
"Yeah, I invited him and he agreed," Rika motioned her cheek toward Arnold, "Be careful, though, he can grasp snatches of Japanese. Akira just called and said that he'll be a little late for practice so, we have to drive by his school instead."
"As planned he didn't bring his automobile, right?" Rukawa said coldly but somehow managed to have a hint of life in it, "This guy is not so hard to picture and use as a punching bag."
"You tell me, he has an air of arrogance!" Rika rolled her eyes and the three of the chuckled, although quite restrained. Rika noticed that the foreigner was clenching and unclenching his fists again and she knew it was from not understanding them. [Oh, I almost forgot. Arnold, this is Kaede Rukawa, my boyfriend, and he can understand English quite well. Although you would have to pardon some of his pronunciations. And Kaede, this is the senior I was telling you about.]
Arnold shot out his right hand for a shake for formality's sake which Rukawa took. The latter blinked as the other squeezed his hand tight as if he wanted his blood to come out of his hand. Arnold let go and left Rukawa's hand to throb at his side. Tension was building up between the two when Rika decided to cut in. She grabbed Rukawa's left and smiled at him tearing his eyes away from the other guy with no reluctance at all. They led the way with the other two trailing behind.
[Are they really...together?] Arnold growled.
[Can't you tell?]the older of the siblings replied, [Why? Jealous?] she laughed as he shot her a warning glance. [Oh, all right. We're going to pick up someone first, OK? Now, come on.]
***
With the week-long tutorial in English that the others gave to him, Sendou could understand perfectly well almost every common word they said. He sat in front with Rina who let no one borrow the wheel but her sister. Rika sat near the door and Arnold on the other with Rukawa in the middle. Most of the conversations were Japanese and most of the time, Arnold shut up or pretended to understand and laughed along with the others when they did.
They soon arrived at a common shokudo and Rukawa wrapped his arms around Rika's shoulder and gave a faint smile. 'Kaede,' she thought, 'you are pushing this too far.' But with Arnold looking, she had no choice but to lean against her "boyfriend" and smile for all she was worth
Inside, the American boy was disgusted at the shabby restaurant and was very reluctant to eat anything there. He didn't even know that he ordered sea urchin until it was served to him since he didn't have the guts to ask what he pointed at the menu was.
They also took up one of Sendou's pastimes - fishing - which made Arnold want to pull out his hair since he was used to high-society fishing in the world of anglers. Sometimes, when Rukawa left Rika for a second, he sat close by her but not close enough to block Rukawa from sitting between them.
By the end of the day, as they dropped off Yohei's cousin at their house, he was in such a bad mood. Yohei greeted him cheerfully asking how his day was. Arnold sat on the couch sluggishly and barked at his cousin, [Get me something to drink] Yohei frowned at his dismissal but stalked away and obeyed when he continued, [What are you frowning there for? Just give me some water!] When he got back with it, he heard him mutter [...I'm going to kill that Kaede Rukawa if he doesn't stay away from Rika.]
Annoyed, he went to the phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Hanamichi?"
***
Sofia/3sh: Yah, sobrang masaya kasi nakita ko sina Hyde and Gackt!!!
dunkmoonX: I went to Japan last last week. May 15. ^^x
ninny: yeah, they were. In fact, you'll know more about all of these in the next chap.
animegurl-05: Hi! Long time no hear. Who? I don't know either. Whatever my mood is on the day I decide to decide who is with who. Don't worry, I will on the next chap. ^^x
Tsuyo kereba iki...yowa kereba shine...
***
Rika nodded in response, [Good, see you later then at practice.] But deep inside she sneered, 'Oh, you are so gonna die.'
"I'll go with you," Arnold told her cheerfully while clenching and unclenching his fists at his side.
"Hey! You can speak Japanese. Why didn't you tell me?" Rika looked taken aback, surprised at what she learned. "What's wrong?" she asked noticing the movement of his hands from the corner of her eye, "What are you so upset about?"
[Huh? I only know a very few. I didn't understand you.] He said scratching his head, [Could you repeat that again?]
[Oh, I see,] Rika smiled at him prompting him not to see anything or anyone else but her, [I said, what are you so mad about?]
[Nothing,] he told her bluntly as he did when they were teammates, using his height as an advantage, letting her know that there would be no more further discussions about that.
As the pair was about to go in, Yohei burst out laughing from the doors of the gym, [There you are! I have looking everywhere in the court for you.] he told his cousin in between laughs. [You know the vice-coach, cousin? Then I do not need to introduce you to her.]
[I didn't know you knew a great deal of English, Mito.] Rika turned to him smiling, [And it's assistant coach, not vice-coach.]
[Yeah, I have known her for a long time.] Arnold nodded telling facts, [Now, what are you laughing so hard about.]
[Nothing, just that Hanmichi and the Rukawa Shinietai are at it again.] he lauged again stating it in his normal tone as if someone had poured water over himself in stupidity, [This time, they're dragging their all-powerful master into it.]
[Don't tell me coach's too amused to intervene.] Rika sighed and with a nod from Yohei, sent her flying through the doors without a word followed by an ear-piercing scream that drowned out all the other voices.
[Um, cuz, I can't go with you today,] Arnold said with a little reluctance trying to explain as best as he could so he could put it lightly, [I want to catch up with Rik.]
[Rik?] Yohei asked him questioningly.
[It's what the guys call her since they feel she's one of us,] he told him rolling his eyes, then muttered inaudibly, [I hate them for that.]
As they went inside, the commotion was almost subsiding...almost. "But, Rika, the red-head started it!" one of the shinietai complained.
"They were never to cross over the railings!" Sakuragi retorted.
"He is supposed to do what Ryota-san said and that's to pass the ball to Rukawa!" another of the shinietai.
"They can't complain in what we do, right?" the red-head fumed back at them seeking favor from Rika.
"But -" before another of the Shinietai could utter another word aside from the but, Rika interjected as calm as a placid lake, "Do you think I'm still listening?"
"But you do believe us, right?" the Shinietai chorused along with Sakuragi's "But you do understand me, don't you?"
She only stared down at them as silence crept over them - and though Sakuragi was taller then her, she still managed it. The Shinietai and the red-head, not knowing why, seemed to be anxious to get it over with and get out of her sight...seeming, unimaginably, submissive. She arched them an eyebrow and both parties backed a step as they saw her eyes glow in it's burnished silver state. Rika was holding everything down just to do it giving herself a hard time as well. Time seemed to pass by in slow motion at that moment before a sinister sneer crept over her lips. That last action caused both to give out pleading that she take their apologies and apologizing to each other in the end - however reluctantly. Her eyes receded to their original color and she sighed glad that everything was over with.
Ayako approached her and clapped her on the back as everyone was dismissed causing new gossip to rise. "I really don't know how you do it. I just can't have the same effect whatever I do. You should teach me that sometime."
"If I would," Rika faced her with a warm smile showing mirth all over, "then you would have to face a very horrid life and a very horrid group of people. Just be glad you won't experience that. Your ways are good, too. If they always get what I do, they'll get used to it. Oh, and silence is the worst answer you can give."
Ayako was taken aback by her explanation but understood about the silence part only. As she walked away, Arnold heard a few snatches from the other players around him, "Rukawa and Canson...they're cute even for - " another nudged him in the ribs before he could speak any more saying, "Not now. You know he can get a few snatches of our language..." The other looked around and only nodded. Before he could speak to both of them when he heard a Rukawa and Rika's surname and something to do with cute, Anzai came up to him.
[So, you and Rika understand each other that well in the court.] The old man said in his low resounding voice.
[I fear it's only in the court, sir,] he shrugged, [I believe you are Mitsuyoshi Anzai? Rik...a has told me so much about you. You were the one who taught her as a child?]
Anzai laughed his patented mirthful laugh, [She has talked about me a lot, eh? So, what brings you here from your country?]
[Well, sir,] he began and cleared his throat when he noticed the door opened to admit Rina, [Mito Yohei is a cousin of mine and Rina is a close friend. I thought visiting them would be nice. If you excuse me...] he said the last phrase in a very hurried, rude tone and walked over to Rina in long strides as if a lame dog was on his heels. [Rina! How nice to see you again. I heard you have a boyfriend. So, who's the lucky guy?]
[You'll never guess,] she said patting his cheek then looked over his shoulder and saw Rika and Rukawa together. "Oh, hey! Are we going?"
"Yeah, I invited him and he agreed," Rika motioned her cheek toward Arnold, "Be careful, though, he can grasp snatches of Japanese. Akira just called and said that he'll be a little late for practice so, we have to drive by his school instead."
"As planned he didn't bring his automobile, right?" Rukawa said coldly but somehow managed to have a hint of life in it, "This guy is not so hard to picture and use as a punching bag."
"You tell me, he has an air of arrogance!" Rika rolled her eyes and the three of the chuckled, although quite restrained. Rika noticed that the foreigner was clenching and unclenching his fists again and she knew it was from not understanding them. [Oh, I almost forgot. Arnold, this is Kaede Rukawa, my boyfriend, and he can understand English quite well. Although you would have to pardon some of his pronunciations. And Kaede, this is the senior I was telling you about.]
Arnold shot out his right hand for a shake for formality's sake which Rukawa took. The latter blinked as the other squeezed his hand tight as if he wanted his blood to come out of his hand. Arnold let go and left Rukawa's hand to throb at his side. Tension was building up between the two when Rika decided to cut in. She grabbed Rukawa's left and smiled at him tearing his eyes away from the other guy with no reluctance at all. They led the way with the other two trailing behind.
[Are they really...together?] Arnold growled.
[Can't you tell?]the older of the siblings replied, [Why? Jealous?] she laughed as he shot her a warning glance. [Oh, all right. We're going to pick up someone first, OK? Now, come on.]
***
With the week-long tutorial in English that the others gave to him, Sendou could understand perfectly well almost every common word they said. He sat in front with Rina who let no one borrow the wheel but her sister. Rika sat near the door and Arnold on the other with Rukawa in the middle. Most of the conversations were Japanese and most of the time, Arnold shut up or pretended to understand and laughed along with the others when they did.
They soon arrived at a common shokudo and Rukawa wrapped his arms around Rika's shoulder and gave a faint smile. 'Kaede,' she thought, 'you are pushing this too far.' But with Arnold looking, she had no choice but to lean against her "boyfriend" and smile for all she was worth
Inside, the American boy was disgusted at the shabby restaurant and was very reluctant to eat anything there. He didn't even know that he ordered sea urchin until it was served to him since he didn't have the guts to ask what he pointed at the menu was.
They also took up one of Sendou's pastimes - fishing - which made Arnold want to pull out his hair since he was used to high-society fishing in the world of anglers. Sometimes, when Rukawa left Rika for a second, he sat close by her but not close enough to block Rukawa from sitting between them.
By the end of the day, as they dropped off Yohei's cousin at their house, he was in such a bad mood. Yohei greeted him cheerfully asking how his day was. Arnold sat on the couch sluggishly and barked at his cousin, [Get me something to drink] Yohei frowned at his dismissal but stalked away and obeyed when he continued, [What are you frowning there for? Just give me some water!] When he got back with it, he heard him mutter [...I'm going to kill that Kaede Rukawa if he doesn't stay away from Rika.]
Annoyed, he went to the phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Hanamichi?"
***
Sofia/3sh: Yah, sobrang masaya kasi nakita ko sina Hyde and Gackt!!!
dunkmoonX: I went to Japan last last week. May 15. ^^x
ninny: yeah, they were. In fact, you'll know more about all of these in the next chap.
animegurl-05: Hi! Long time no hear. Who? I don't know either. Whatever my mood is on the day I decide to decide who is with who. Don't worry, I will on the next chap. ^^x
Tsuyo kereba iki...yowa kereba shine...