Chapter One - For Old Time's Sake
"Would you guys just get off my back?" A pair of deep blue eyes narrowed.
"You're so irritable today, Fujima!" A hand clapped on the blue-eyed's shoulder.
Kenji Fujima rolled his eyes, twirling the ball on his finger. "Well, Hasegawa, I can't say I can take the credit. You've been pleasantly annoying today," he retorted coolly.
The guy called Hasegawa laughed. "Well, that's right, Fujima. Can't argue with that," he said with a wink at his equally tall companion.
The third guy shrugged, squinting through his glasses.
Hasegawa Kazushi sighed, grabbing the ball from Fujima. "You guys are absolutely no fun," he complained, dribbling the ball skillfully as they made their way around the university campus.
"Sumimasen," the glasses-doned guy muttered as he lightly bumped into a frantic looking freshman. The latter took one look at his offender's build and backed away quickly, scampering away in the opposite direction.
Fujima chuckled at his friend's annoyed expression. "Now, now, Hanagata. It was you who bumped into the little guy."
"Well he didn't have to look terrified," Hanagata Toru mumbled.
Hasegawa plopped down on a vacant chair nearby as soon as the trio made their way inside the university cafeteria. Hanagata and Fujima sat down opposite him.
"Hey, aren't you guys hungry?" Fujima asked, looking over to the cafeteria counter, straining to take a look.
"Yeah, kinda," Hasegawa said, standing up and turning to Hanagata. "How about you, Hanagata?"
He waved them off with his hand. "Go ahead. I'm not that hungry."
"All right," Fujima agreed, making his way towards the line. "We'll be right back."
Fujima settled for a roast beef sandwich; Hasegawa a Sloppy Joe. Fujima paid for both of their food and headed back to Hanagata, followed by Hasegawa.
Scanning idly around the room with a disinterested eye, Fujima idly chewed on his sandwich, tuning out his friends' conversation as he did so. A shriek of laughter from a few tables ahead caught his eye for a moment and as he took his eyes back to his friends, he made a double take as he caught sight of a familiar face.
He stood up and made his way to the table, not noticing the look of surprise on his friends' faces.
"Shibahime Tsubasa?"
A petite girl with long brown locks turned around at the sound of his voice. Scrunching her nose at first, her green eyes widened with recognition.
"Fujima-kun!"
Fujima's face broke into a smile. "Hey, I thought that was you. You're still shrieking that laugh of yours, I see," he said teasingly. He turned his eyes to Tsubasa's companion. "Ohayo, Maho."
Izawa Maho flicked her long black tresses, looking up at him. "Fujima-kun," she acknowledged with a faint smile. "So you attend this school, too."
"Sit with us a while," Tsubasa urged, her large green eyes bright. "We haven't talked to you for a long time, ne, Maho?"
Maho shrugged. "Fujima-kun might be in the middle of something."
Fujima raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to get rid of me, Maho?"
"Of course not," Maho replied sweetly.
"Now, Maho, be nice to Fujima-kun. After all, we are all friends here," Tsubasa scolded her friend.
Maho sighed exasperatedly and resignedly sipped her juice.
"So how've you been doing, Tsubasa-chan?" Fujima asked, turning a fond smile on the girl sitting next to him.
Tsubasa beamed. "Great, Fujima-kun! We have been hanging around a lot, you know. It is such a shame you got separated from us."
Fujima smiled. "Yeah, I know. I missed you guys, too." He turned and looked around. "So is everybody studying here?"
Tsubasa shook her head sadly. "Not everybody. Only me, Maho, and Yukino."
Fujima's eye twitched. She's here?
Maho watched him under her careful eye. She gave Tsubasa a look, to which the latter merely shrugged.
"Fujima-kun," Maho said quietly.
Fujima turned his attention to Maho. "Hai?"
Maho sighed and turned her attention back to her drink. "Nothing."
"Arima is not here either," Tsubasa carefully pointed out, watching out for Fujima's reaction.
"Yeah?" Fujima asked absently. "Why not?"
"He got a scholarship abroad, and it was too awkward. . .he and Yukino broke up just after graduation."
Fujima snapped himself to attention. "Well, I guess that's really sad to hear." He stood up, forcing a smile on both of the girls. "Anyway, I have to get back to my friends," he said, motioning to Hanagata and Hasegawa. "See you around."
"Ja," both of the girls said thoughtfully.
"Fujima," Hanagata called out as Fujima slowly walked up to them.
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to finish your sandwich? It's not even half-eaten," Hasegawa remarked.
"Nah." Fujima picked up his backpack from the floor beside his chair. "You guys finished?"
Both of them stood up, dusting off their uniforms and grabbing their own bags. They turned to look at the two girls Fujima approached before, catching the schoolgirls' attention on the three of them as well.
"Who was that, Fujima?" Hasegawa asked, keeping his eye on the two as they made their way out of the cafeteria and towards their next class.
"Just a couple of friends from junior high," Fujima answered easily, his voice controlled.
"Ah. . ." was the answer from the two.
Fujima looked at them and sighed. "It was nothing, alright?"
"Whatever you say," Hanagata said, ending the conversation as they walked into class.
"Oi! Think fast!"
Fujima caught the ball, then started to dribble. He raised his finger to signal a play to his playmate, then swiftly passed the ball. His teammate easily shot the ball, making the basket.
Breathing hard, Fujima placed his hands on his knees. The ball had almost hit him in the face in that last play. If someone hadn't called out, he wouldn't have caught the ball in time.
"Oi, Fujima," Hasegawa called out, approaching him.
Fujima winced, anticipating the berating he was about to be subjected to.
Hasegawa paused, keeping his eye on his friend. He sighed. "Let's hit the showers. We're starting to stink."
Fujima flashed him a grateful smile. "Yeah, OK." He turned around and cupped his hand around his mouth. "Hey, Hanagata!" he called to the other side of the gym.
Hanagata looked up and raised his hand in acknowledgement.
Fujima shouldered his backpack, wiping his hand across his sweaty forehead. "I'll wait for him. You go ahead," he told Hasegawa.
Hasegawa nodded, jogging off to the direction of the locker room.
Reaching down to stretch his legs, Fujima's thoughts uncontrollably went back to that day's lunch. He still couldn't believe that she's here.
The more so he couldn't believe that he cared.
"Fujima. . .Fujima!" A voice shook him out of his daydream. Hanagata was looking at him quizzically.
"Uh. . .yeah, sorry," Fujima mumbled, turning around and leading the way to the locker room. "We better go to the showers. I told Hasegawa to go ahead."
Hanagata said nothing, his eyes still intent on his friend's retreating back.
Fujima could feel Hanagata's gaze smoldering the back of his head. He sighed. He didn't want to tell them anything about it, but they would eventually ask. Especially at the rate he was acting.
He was right. The moment they settled theirselves on a booth inside the diner, they both latched their eyes on him.
"Well?" Hasegawa started, running his hand through his hair casually.
Fujima just looked at him composedly.
Hanagata frowned, his eyes squinted worriedly. "So?"
"So nothing." Fujima fixed his eyes on the glass in front of him, concentrating on the moisture on the outside made from the cold drink.
"Ookay," Hasegawa said, leaning over the table.
The three of them remained quiet; the only sound that of the subdued voices around them.
Fujima rolled his eyes, leaning back on his seat. "Fine, fine. . ."
"Who were that two girls really?" Hasegawa asked in a split second.
"Now that really didn't take long, did it?" Fujima smirked. He paused before answering. "They were old friends from junior high. What I said was true," he added in his defense.
"So what happened?" Hanagata asked, his own curiosity piqued. After all, it wasn't everyday that Fujima Kenji got his feathers ruffled.
Fujima leaned his elbows on the table. "Nothing, really. We just. . .talked."
"Talked," Hasegawa stated dubiously.
"What's eating you then?" Hanagata asked.
Well. . .they're gonna find out anyway. . . Fujima breathed in. "Well, I just found out that my. . .uh. . .ex-girlfriend is studying in this university, too."
Hanagata and Hasegawa's eyes literally bugged out. "Ex-girlfriend!" Hasegawa couldn't help exclaiming.
"Keep it down!" Fujima hushed, looking around the crowded diner. He sighed. They were outside the school premises, but this diner was just a block or two away from school. Most of the customers were from the university.
"Sorry," Hasegawa said sheepishly. "I was just kinda surprised."
Hanagata laughed softly. "Surprised is an understatement." He turned to Fujima. "This is a first. I thought girls didn't interest you."
Fujima snorted. "That makes me sound gay or something weird."
The two laughed. "Well, it's just that you were always so dedicated to your game, or your studies." Hasegawa took a gulp from his soda. "I don't think you ever were interested in any girl."
"Yeah? Well, it was back in junior high. It's a long time ago, before we even came to Shoyo."
"So what happened? It must be pretty big," Hasegawa prompted.
"We just. . .grew apart. Then she hooked up with another guy, and then it was time for high school. We went to different schools and I didn't hear anything about her since."
Hasegawa still looked a little disbelieving. "It's still hard to imagine all this."
"So are you nervous about seeing her?" Hanagata asked.
"What? Of course not!" Fujima snapped.
Hasegawa laughed. "Right."
Fujima frowned at him, taking a big gulp from his soda to keep from answering. He hadn't planned on being caught off guard.
The conversation safely drifted away from that topic after that. Satisfying both of his friends' curiosity was the only way to shut them up.
Slamming the door of his car shut, Fujima slung his backpack on his shoulder and started to make his way toward campus.
The first class he had to attend was in the east wing. Turning to the east block, he shouldered his way through the crowded halls, the throng of people forcibly slowing his pace. Fujima raised his right eyebrow, irritated.
Shooting a look at his watch made him more impatient. The room was still at the end of the block, and the bell had already rung three minutes earlier.
He hated starting a bad morning.
"Fujima-kun!"
Turning around at the sound of his name, Fujima still wore the frown on his face. It was replaced by a look of surprise when he saw his classmates standing behind him.
"Hey, what's up? What are you guys still doing here?"
A girl with short-cropped hair smiled at him. "The professor had to attend some meeting. Our first three classes are dismissed."
"Oh." Fujima's shoulders relaxed, as did the muscles on his face. "Great then. I thought I was going to be late again." Fujima smiled at the group. "Well, I'll see you guys later then. Ja."
After returning to the main block, Fujima stopped in the center of the hallway, where it was quite deserted compared to the east block. His first three classes were cancelled, so that meant his next and last class would be after lunch, after five hours. He groaned. And he had been so frantic to get to school after oversleeping.
Realizing that both Hanagata and Hasegawa didn't have their classes on that day, he made a turn to the west block of the university, deciding to start on his report in the computer lab.
He entered the lab, taking notice of the quietness that surrounded him. The lab had a cool atmosphere, thanks to the air-conditioning. He scanned around the lab for a moment, taking his time in picking a terminal.
He settled for one in the corner, thinking he could concentrate more away from the people.
Fifteen minutes later, his moment of peace was interrupted when somebody picked the terminal next to his. Annoyed, he cast a look around and was surprised that the lab had filled in quickly. The only vacant terminal was the one beside him.
Oh, well. I'll just hope she's quiet. Fujima had always encountered seatmates in the lab who constantly asked for his help. Hasegawa told him that the girls just wanted an excuse to talk to him. Nevertheless, Fujima then preferred to do his research at home, where nobody was there to disturb him.
He noticed, after a few minutes, that the girl beside him was really quiet; absorbed as she was in the work she was doing in the computer. The only sound she made was the quick and steady typing in the keyboard.
In spite of himself, Fujima turned his head casually to take a peek at the girl. Her light brown hair fell just past her shoulders, covering most of her profile as she read the book at the side of the keyboard away from Fujima.
But he knew that profile. The soft locks were definitely longer, but he was too familiar with her to forget even the way the side of her face looked.
He gaped at her for a moment or so. The girl finished reading and turned back to the monitor, finally noticing Fujima out of the corner of her eye.
Her confused strawberry-colored eyes focused on him for a moment, before slowly widening in recognition.
"Kenji?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Yukino." The name came out of his dry throat roughly. He was still so shocked that he didn't realize that he had been staring at her for a long time. He took a hold of himself when he saw Yukino turning pink under his intense gaze.
The use of his name didn't pass unaware from him. He noticed she still used the intimate endearment. She was the only one who called him by his first name; even Hanagata and Hasegawa used Fujima to refer to him. That surprisingly gave him a feeling of light contentment.
"I-I didn't know you studied here," Yukino said in a whisper, her eyes lowering.
"Uh, yeah, me too. Well, I didn't until yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
Fujima nodded, then realized that her eyes focused on everywhere but him. "Yeah. I saw Tsubasa and Maho during lunch yesterday. They mentioned that some of you were studying here."
Yukino looked up, smiling weakly. "Oh yeah. I haven't talked to them yet, or they would probably have told me that you were here." She paused. "Uh, they missed you after you got separated in high school."
"Did they?" Fujima looked up and accidentally caught her eye.
Flushing, she dropped her eyes. "They were used to you being around back in junior high. It was a big adjustment, especially since we just started attending high school."
"Shh!" The lab proctor glared at them from the front of the room.
Yukino and Fujima irresistibly fell into soft laughter. "Well, do you want to talk? Maybe we could get out of here."
Yukino looked a little surprised at his invitation. But she grinned at him and turned to her computer. "Last one to shut down the computer is a. . .dork!" she said, a mischievous glint in her cherry eyes.
Fujima smirked. "Now that's threatening," he said wryly as Yukino laughed.