Note: OMG! How long has it been:S I am SOOOOOOO sorry! I have been so bad at updating my stories, but fear not I have figured out a system that will definitely help me update ALL my stories! Well, I won't tell you but anyway, here is the long awaited chapter!

Chapter 3 - Belonging

He watched her from a distance. Rain was falling and the only thing keeping him from getting soaked was the lonesome tree he stood by.

"All right everyone! Practice is over for the day!" the coach yelled.

All the children grabbed their belongings and began marching back to the building of the school.

Jesse noticed Akina glancing at him. She smiled and waved, but all he could do was stare back at her, unable to understand her reason of reacting to his presence. She glanced at the rest of her teammates and to his surprise, ran up to him.

"Hi!"

The dark haired young man looked at her.

Akina giggled, clasping her hands behind her back. She tilted her head to her side. "Aren't you even going to say hello?"

"Hello…" Jesse mumbled.

"Well that's an improvement." The dark haired girl passed him the ball.

Jesse glanced down at the ball in his arms and then back at her. "Why are you giving me the ball?"

"Isn't football the reason why you come here all the time?" She grabbed the ball from him and began kicking it around. "Football is an awesome game. I like the feel of the ball being kicked by your feet," she said, bouncing the ball back and forth with her knees. Akina stopped the ball with her feet, stomping it on the ground and looked back at him. "I see you everyday two weeks already. If you want to play so bad, why don't you just say so?"

Jesse shook his head. "I don't know how to play."

Akina's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious? Everyone knows how to play football!"

The older boy looked away, blushing. "I'm not everyone," Jesse murmured.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you…" Akina blushed as well and looked away.

"Akina!"

The dark haired girl looked behind her and saw Cedrik waving at her from across the field. "Coming!" she replied.

"You should go back…you're getting soaked," Jesse said quietly, reaching over without a second thought to curl a wet strand of dark hair behind her ear.

Akina blushed an even darker shade of red. "Um…thank you for letting me know. I should get going then." She picked up the ball and almost tripped against an odd shaped ground as she headed to join Cedrik.

"Why are you talking to him now?" he asked, looking as if he was ready to choke the older boy as he glanced at him.

His best friend just frowned. "Cedrik, he's quite harmless. Must you nitpick on the people I converse with?" Annoyed, she walked passed him without saying another word.

"No…I just…" Cedrik paused and sighed, as he ran after her.

What was that?

"What was what?" Jesse said to himself as he watched Akina climb up the hill back to the school. He smirked. "Isn't this what you want?"

What, for you to flirt with our enemy's daughter?

He sighed irritably and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "If you were smart, you'd know to keep your enemies closer…"

There was silence.

Jesse's smirk widened. "Good, now you're getting it."

Don't be smug with me boy!

"No, I was only being smart." The dark haired boy put on his hood, stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the field back towards home.

The sky was still cloudy and the rain continued to fall. Large chunks of rain pitter-pattered against the rooftop and Tomoyo found herself staring outside. She wondered worriedly why Akina hadn't called for a ride home as she glanced at the clock.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Tomoyo stood up to answer it, hoping it would be Akina calling home to let her know that she had a ride home with Cedrik's parents.

"Moshi, moshi."

"Hello, Tomoyo," the voice on the other line replied.

Tomoyo took a deep breath. "What do you want?"

"Oh come now, sweet. Aren't you even going to say hello?"

Tomoyo said nothing.

"I'm home!" The front door suddenly opened and in came Eriol. "Boy, it's soaking out there! Did Akina get home okay? I had to take a different route home so I was hoping she got a ride home with someone." Eriol took off his coat and hung it on the coat hanger beside the entrance. "Tomoyo?" He walked to the living room, the painting of a garden on the canvas left untouched. Tomoyo sat on the couch by the phone staring ahead of her. She looked up at the sound of her husband's footsteps. "Tomoyo? What is it?" Eriol looked at his wife, then turned towards the phone. "Did he call again?" He marched up to the phone and dialed something quickly that Tomoyo hadn't had a chance to see what it was. "Hello operator? Could you please tell me the last person who called this number?"

There was silence on the other line as Eriol waited. Finally, the sound of the female operator came back on. "I can put you through."

"Thank you," Eriol replied.

There was a short click, followed by the sound of a busy beep.

"Yes, I know mom! Jesse is doing just fine!" Victoria sighed and listened to her mother ramble on about taking responsibilities.

"Really Victoria, you should learn how to take care of a fifteen year old! He is at that stage where rebellion against a parent is the only thing he will learn!"

"Mother, I am a grown woman! Let me handle Jesse myself okay?" Victoria said, making sure her mother heard correctly.

"You are a single parent! When are you going to find yourself a man? I want another grandchild seeing as how you are my only daughter!"

The blond haired woman rolled her eyes, slightly moving the phone away from her ear. Once again, Ivy Converse was in her dramatic phase, making her daughter feel bad about not being married for a woman who had reached her mid-thirties. It was always the same for Victoria every time her mother's birthday arrived. "Yes mother, I understand!" All she could do was agree to every word she said. She glanced at her watch and realized that she had been talking to her mother for half an hour now. Actually, it was more like Ivy doing all the talking while Victoria listened.

Jesse was smart enough to not make any phone calls to his grandmother this time, instead he decided to retreat into his room and never come out.

"Yes! Yes, I know mother!"

...Meanwhile...

The dark haired young man sighed as he laid in bed, trying to drown out his mother's voice. "I need to get out of here."

Where are you going?

"Somewhere," he replied.

You know, Jesse I've been thinking…Indeed it is a good idea to befriend out sweet Akina.

"I know." He got up from bed and walked over to the window, glancing outside to see the rain still pouring heavily. "I think I'll go for a walk."

In the rain?

Jesse lifted the window open silently and stopped halfway, making sure his mother was still chatting away.

"Hi Eve! Yes, I was wondering about that patio set you were telling about selling…"

The dark haired young man sighed, relieved that his mother was still busy with the phone to bother with him. He slowly opened the window all the way and proceeded to exit for outside.

It was quiet in the dark, except some occasional noises coming from dog and cat fights as Jesse walked down his street. The pavement was shimmering from the drops of rain and dents in the street created puddles. The only protection he had from being soaked from head to toe, was the hood he had from his black jacket.

"Come on, Cedrik! My parents are going to kill me for being late! Geez, why did you have to stop by for some food?"

At the sound of Akina's familiar voice, Jesse stopped dead in his tracks and looked up. The young girl seemed to have noticed too, because she also stopped walking. "Hey! It's you again!"

"What are you babbling about now?" Cedrik looked up and saw Jesse standing there, awkwardly staring at Akina. "Oh…"

"Do you live around here?" Akina asked.

Jesse nodded. "Just down the street. Do you know…" He took a quick glance at the young boy staring at him with a jealous look. "Also live around here?" Hm…this boy looks trouble. He glanced back at Akina.

The young girl smiled. "Yeah! But Cedrik lives down the street more."

"Cedrik?" Jesse turned his head towards the red-faced boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry! This is my friend, Cedrik Crawford! Cedrik, this is…you know I didn't really get your name…"

The older boy glanced at her, holding out a hand towards her young friend. "Jesse…Jesse Converse."

Cedrik frowned.

Akina nudged him with her elbow. "Don't be rude, Cedrik! Introduce yourself."

Cedrik shook his hand. "Cedrik Crawford," he mumbled.

"And I'm Akina Hiiragizawa!" She took Jesse's hand and shook it.

"Are you walking home?" Jesse asked.

"Yes we are!" Cedrik said rather harshly.

The older boy looked at him, surprised by his tone. Akina glared at Cedrik for being rude. "Well, if you're not doing anything, you can always walk with us for a bit!"

Jesse nodded. "Sure."

"Great!" Akina smiled and sighed. "This rain will never stop so we should hurry on home."

Cedrik's frown grew even more as the three of them began to walk, with him a little bit ahead.

This boy is certainly a nuisance. We should get rid of him…

"I will do no such thing…"

"What's that?" Akina looked up towards Jesse, who seemed quite concentrated at something.

The dark haired boy shook his head and smiled. "Oh, um I said isn't this something?"

The young girl stared at him curiously.

"The rain. It doesn't seem to stop at all…"

Akina nodded. "Yeah…I wonder why. I remember when I was little, I said the same thing to my mom." She glanced a ways ahead of her. "You know what her reply was?"

"What" Jesse watched her.

"She said that someone up there must be very sad and that someone needs someone to comfort him. If that someone was a teddy bear, I would hug it and never let go."

The tall boy was quite surprised at this little revelation from the young girl.

Ahead of them, the younger boy stopped. He turned and looked at them at a sideway glance. "Well, this is where I separate…Bye Akina!" Cedrik said quickly, before walking off.

Akina frowned. "I wonder what's gotten into him?" She waved. "Bye Cedrik!" She shrugged and turned to Jesse. "Well, this is where I stop." She pointed with her thumb towards a large mansion behind her.

Jesse stared at it. Indeed it was a mansion fit for a celebrity. "What do your parents do for a living?" he asked, surprised at the size of the driveway.

Akina laughed. "Oh! They don't do jobs like corporate or anything, nor are they movie stars! This mansion used to belong to my grandfather in which he passed down to my father. He had a good business, but I guess we just got lucky with this mansion. My dad decided not to go on with the business, instead he is a realtor while my mother is a painter."

The dark haired boy nodded. "Still very good jobs."

Hm, is this what Eriol told her…

The dark haired girl smiled proudly. "There is never a day that I'm not proud of the way we live!"

"Akina!"

Both Jesse and Akina looked up. The gate suddenly opened and a woman with long lavender hair stepped out frantically, covering the young girl with an umbrella.

"Nakuru-neesan!"

The woman whom Akina called 'Nakuru' sighed and put an arm around the young girl's shoulders. "Really, must you worry your parents so much? Go on inside."

Akina nodded and quickly glanced at Jesse. "Bye Jesse! It was nice meeting you!" She waved and went inside.

Nakuru glanced at Jesse without a word. She stared at him for a couple of seconds, nodded and closed the gate behind her. Suddenly, her heart started to beat irregularly. Startled, she stopped in her tracks and turned to peek her head above the gate back at the young man, but he was gone. Confused, Nakuru started to walk back inside. 'What on earth was that?' she thought.

Cedrik began his journey back home. After seeing that lame moment between Akina and Jesse, he felt a pang of jealousy coursing through his veins. The girl whom he learned to love once never laughed for him like that, nor smiled as sweetly as she did for the older boy.

Tap! Tap!

Cedrik paused. He swore he heard someone following him. When he heard nothing, he continued his trek down the street. Only two more blocks and he was home free.

Tap! Tap! Tap! He heard it again. And this time it was louder…closer in fact. Cedrik's heart began to beat fast. He walked faster and the footsteps were also in a haste along with his.

'What am I doing?' he thought. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly stopped, clenching his fists at sides and made a sharp turn around.

Cedrik didn't see the punch that flew right at his face, that quickly knocked him unconscious.

GoodGurl: OOOOOOOOH! Heh heh, doesn't it get better now? ;) Well, see you next chapter:P