Morning morning morning~! It's morning here, but it may be night time when you read it...but still...nvmind ^^;;....so....err... this is a flashback chapter...and it starts from second year in Hyotei Gakuen...so.. sit back, relax and enjoy~!
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*flashback, Hyotei Gakuen, a year before now*
Atobe's POV
It was finally graduation day in 2nd Year. Of course, it wasn't surprising that I could beat the captain of Seigaku's Tennis Club. He was very weak, anyway. Not much of a challenge to ore-sama.
I have practically danced with every girl at the school hall today. Since they asked me for a dance, I couldn't turn down their offer. After a while, I got bored dancing with the same people. I yawned as I leaned on the pillar.
Suddenly, something caught my eye. It was the sparkle of a girl's purple gown. She must be a new student here, because I've never noticed her around. Unlike some other girls, she didn't really bother to dress up very nicely and put on heavy makeup.
I had this sudden urge to ask her for a dance. She was very pretty, not too dressed up, but just nice. Her brown hair was short, curling at its ends.
"Would you like a dance?"I offered my hand.
"Ah, okay,"she replied calmly.
Since they were playing a slow waltz, we danced slowly. She was a rather good dancer. She hardly spoke though.
"So, you must be new here,"I said, trying to get her to talk more about herself.
"Oh, no. I've been here since the beginning of this year."
Oh, god. She doesn't even know ore-sama. Who would NOT know me? After all, I was the most popular in school. How could she not know me?
"And you are..."I asked. She must really be a new student.
"Kiritani Yuko, yoroshiku[1]! And you?"
"Atobe Keigo,"I said. Sigh.....she DOESN'T KNOW ORE-SAMA!!! This is awful. I ought to popularize myself more.
After the dance, I offered to get her some punch. She smiled back at me, and I presumed it as a 'yes'.
When I handed her the glass of punch, she thanked me.
"So, what sports do you participate in?"she asked me.
"I'm the member of the Hyotei Gakuen Tennis Club. And what about you?"
"Oh, me? I'm the member of the cooking club,"she replied happily. I could imagine her frying ebi tempura already.
After a while of talking, someone gestured to Yuko hurriedly.
"Ah, gomen ne, Keigo-kun, but I need to go. You've got my number, right? So, call me anytime!"Yuko said to me. I waved to her goodbye and saw her walk out of the building.
After that day, I bumped into her almost everywhere, especially nowadays, in third year. It seemed to be fate, though. She seemed alot different than the other girls. I guess, it would take some time for me to get to know her better.
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Yuko's POV, Flashback mode
I've been seeing Keigo-kun everywhere. It seemed as if we were heading to the same destination.
One day, I saw him at the tennis courts after school. Cooking session wasn't as long as any game practice, especially if you're representingt the school. There I saw Keigo, a racket in his hand. He played very well, of course. What do you expect? I heard from some girls that he's the captain this year.
After Keigo-kun's tennis practice ended, I decided to say hi to him.
"Ah, hey, Keigo-kun. You're good in tennis, ne~?"I asked. Of course, who wouldn't know that.
"Thanks. I still need to try your cooking and see whether it's edible or not."
"What if I put poison in it?"
"I'll still have to try the food, though."
"Hey, Keigo-kun, can you teach me tennis?"
"Sure. What day are you free?"
"Sunday."
"Okay then, Sunday at the Shibuya Tennis Courts at 4 pm? How does that sound to you?"
"Sound fine,"I said. After all, there was hardly anything to do. It was going to be a fun day.
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Narrator(my)'s POV(still in flashback mode)[// is Yuko's thoughts.]
Yuko grabbed her racket and swung it, hitting a ball. Unfortunately, the ball hit the frame of the racket, so it went flying up.
"Ah!"she yelped a little. Atobe who was watching her only had the strength to sigh.
"Here, you hold the racket like this,"Atobe demonstrated the eastern grip. Yuko, who was too used to playing badminton, kept on holding the tennis racket like a badminton one.
"Thanks for teaching me a little about tennis, Keigo-kun,"Yuko said weakly. She used up most of her energy to get the ball to hit the middle of the strings of her racket.
"Hey, no problem. You owe me something, though,"Atobe said, leaning over to Yuko, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed furiously, and waved goodbye to Atobe.
//Now, I better go and train my voice. I'll dump this stuff at home first before going to the lake to sing.//
Yuko quickly took the monorail to where she stayed. As usual, her parents were busy at work and haven't return from work yet. They often knew that she went to the lake to train her voice, so they usually didn't care about her life. Her life was hers and their life was theirs.
The monorail was packed with people, even though it was not the peak hour. Yuko sighed as she squeezed out of the monorail to the Yomakega Park[1].
There she stood beyond the great Yomakega Lake. It wasn't that big, but it often gave her the inspiration to sing. Since it was night time, hardly anyone was there.
That night too, Atobe had the feeling to go to Yomakega Park and clear his mind. He had been quite stressed by his parents, on their decisions on whether to open a pub for him. The first thing he said was to make the age limit for people above 15. His parents could only do nothing but agree. Keigo always had things his way.
Besides that, it was a nice day for a walk. The breeze blew softly, blowing those grey curls.
As Atobe walked on the pathway at the park, he gazed out at the lake. It was the only few lakes they had in Tokyo. After all, Tokyo is an overpopulated and crowded place. He gazed at the reflection of the moon on the lake. He took a seat by the lake beside the bushes and admired the works of mother nature.
Meanwhile, he heard a very nice voice singing at that night. It was a melodious song, and her voice just seemed almost perfect. He could see a figure standing at the other side of the lake, singing. He got up and decided to walk to the girl. It was rare to find such talent. Maybe she could be the singer for the pub he was planning to open, the 'Ice Kingdom'.
"Oka no ue ni fuku, midori, wo wataru kaze....anata to kita no wa, hon no, kimagure.....[2]"The girl sang from the distance. Atobe could hear her song clearly from far. He let her finish singing before approaching her.
"Your song was beautiful, miss,"Atobe said.
"Ah, thanks,"she replied. She turned to look at the man who complimented her ; it was Atobe.
"Keigo-kun! Why didn't you tell me you were here?"Yuko said. Atobe rubbed his eyes a little, and saw it was truly Yuko.
"I didn't know you could sing,"Atobe said.
"Yeah, I can."
"Well, I'm gonna open a bar, and I'm wondering, can you perform for everyone? I'm sure gonna pay you."
"Sure, no prob. And don't worry about the payment, it's ok,"Yuko said.
"I need to pay you. This is what you call hiring."
"Fine fine, I'll discuss with my parents."
Now, Yuko had discussed with her parents and they finally agreed. After all, this could be exposure to Yuko, instead of singing to a lake. So, Yuko told the final result to Atobe, and soon they got closer in preparation for the day. It was going to be a wonderful and perfect night.
Finally, the performance night came. Yuko, in her sparkling pants and a cute top, walked backstage, putting on her high heels. She let her hair down, and curled it slightly on its end.
"You ready, Yuko?"asked Atobe. She smiled back at him, and continued getting ready.
The performance was superb, and everyone enjoyed it. Somehow, there was some person who was drunk and fell asleep, though. Yuko tried waking up the young man, who appeared to be only 15. She shook him up, and took him back to his house. It was two in the morning. Luckily she had no school tomorrow, as it was Saturday.
After the performance and cleaning up, Yuko met with Atobe once again.
"Hey, Yuko. Nice performance."
"Thanks,"she replied, bushed.
"D'you want anything? After all, you must be tired."
"Yeah, anything will do."
Atobe handed the girl some Coke. She felt the cold liquid flowing through her throat as she quickly emptied the can of Coke.
"Yuko.."
"Hai?"
"Do you believe, in love?"Atobe asked. He held her hand, and gave her an embrace. Soon, it became a kiss. It lasted for quite some time, till Yuko pulled away.
"Keigo-kun..."
"Could you be my girlfriend?"
Yuko pulled away from that boy. She looked at the ground, tears ready to spill from her eyes.
"Wait, Yuko, is there anything wrong?"
"I'm so sorry, Keigo, I just can't."
"Why?"
"About some time ago, the Kiritani family was in debt with the Tezuka family. They had no other way to pay, but with their only daughter ; me."
"That means..."
"Yes, I am going to marry into the Tezuka family soon, and I can't engage myself in any sort of relationship. I have to leave now,"Yuko said calmly. She tried to hold back her emotions as hard as she could.
"Yuko, why don't you just protest?"
"Keigo, you don't understand. This is already a deal. The way to pay the Tezuka family is through me. Now, if you'll excuse me.."
Yuko left as soon as she could. It would be better not to face Atobe and talk about this. She wasn't really good at controlling her emotions after all. When she got home and ran into her room, she burst out crying.
"NAZE? Why do I have to marry someone I hardly know? Why can't I just love someone I truly love? Why am I so, like a captive? Why can't I choose who I want to be with?"she said, banging onto her pillow. Tears rolled onto her cheek like a river. She couldn't help it ; she was unhappy.
After that outbreak, Yuko tried to avoid human contact as much as possible. It was a bit worse in Hyotei, because everyone would start bugging her about Atobe, especially his fan club members.
"Maybe this would be the only choice, anyway,"Yuko said, carrying her luggage, ready to leave her old home.
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[1] – Means nice to meet you in Japanese.
[2] – Another song, this time, from the anime Rurouni Kenshin, the image song for the character Kachi Itsuko(part of the Daigoro story), called Sono Mama. A very good song indeed.
Well, I've written a very long chapter about Yuko's past. If it gets confusing, please e-mail me, or rather post it as a review. Since it's 1.14 AM here, I'm calling it a day for now. Ja.