Author's Note: Third chapter :D. This one might be a bit confusing, sry about that 8/. I'll provide a summary if you don't understand XD. Well, many people seem to be getting mixed up ;o; So I have to point something out
NOTE: Miyanami Aoi is an original character who is nararating the story. Tomoko is not in the story (I pretty much replaced her with Aoi). And I don't think Tomoko will be appearing anytime soon ;o;
SOOOO SORRY! to the people who got mixed up ;o;. You can punchu karennn XoX.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its' characters (though I love it) :). I do own Aoi and storyline :D.
Reference:
Itai - Ow. or ouch.
-sound-. - To emphasize sounds like, "CRASH".
CHAPTERTHREE: One last problem
"ITAI!" I yelped. Sakuno constantly muttered to herself while carefully dabbing a wet cloth onto the wound. With determination in her eyes, she said, "Just a bit more..."
"Itai Itai Itaaaaai itai itai," I rambled on, mostly to keep myself from budging. My lips turned sore from all the nibbling I was doing. I could picture them swelling up in my wacked imagination.
"THERE!" Sakuno declared. She let out an exasperated sigh and fell back to sit on her bottom. Sweaty hands rose to wipe her forehead. I, on the other hand, shook my trembling legs and pulled on a set of hairstrands.
"It's burning Sakunooo," I complained like a 2 year-old.
She grimaced with worry. "Gomen. Did I press too hard?"
Shaking my head, I replied, "Nahh. It's nothing you did. It's the stupid thing that'll sting up when it feels like it."
Trying to calm the quivering, I leaned further back into the chair and eyed the ceiling. Sakuno commented, "You should cover that up more, ne?"
I groaned.
The aftermath of my problems start to take effect.
Aftermath of problem number 1: Mild craziness and blistering pain.
Aftermath of problem number 2: Light hate for Echizen building.
Aftermath of problem number 3: Cross out number one. Extreme craziness and life-threatning pain.
I whimpered, "I wanna go homee."
She smiled sweetly. "I'll walk you home. Just let me put these away and I'll be right back." Grabbing a hold of the mop, she inquired, "What's the combination to your shoe locker?"
"0-40-29. Twice to the left, once right, to the spot."
I shut my eyes close and dreaded on, "Arigatou Sakunooo. I love youu."
I heard a light chuckle before footsteps that died off into the distance. I owe that girl a tenfold.
Speaking of tenfolds, I felt like folding myself into a ball ten times for my idiotic-ness. I made a fool of myself in front of my senpai. And no, he wasn't any average senpai, he was a really good looking one at that.
I think his name was Fuji (that's what Sakuno called him earlier). Gosh, he was the prettiest boy I have EVER seen in my life. He could've literally passed as a woman.. I think he's even prettier than me, which is kinda sad.
After that accidental fall, Sakuno barged in on us and helped us up individually. I didn't make eye-contact with him after that, obviously, because I knew there was this blush of deep red crawling up my cheeks, and that wasn't for him to see. Oh, nono, I know what you're thinking. Hahh, it's not because of that, it's because I was totally embaressed and tired.
"Are you all right?" he asked about three times, with a light genuine laugh to add after. I'd say yes without turning to face him.
After realizing the time, he left immediately. Then it was just me and her.
And the end of my horrible day!
I was getting kind of cheery now, and found myself daydreaming. I'd be walking inside my one-room apartment to the smell of cake creeping up the walls and into my nostrils. I'd have a comfy bed to roll around in, or just rest.
Oh! But most of all.. Bathe. Oh man, you wouldn't know how disgusting I felt without taking a bath. Showering was what I looked forward to the most.
Little did I know there was oneeee last problem awaiting me at the end of the day.
It was a problem that lugged on for days.
It started when I lifted my eyelids from a little nap. I noticed a whiteobject inside the desk, and thought, 'Oh what's that?' Shrugging, I reached for it out of curiosity.
Now, when a noise abrupts out of nowhere in a completely silent room, you can't help but yelp or jump, or react in some crazy way. There was this 'thump' from my right, so I kinda threw myself off balance, and dropped the white figure.
"ACK!" I added.
"..It's just me," Sakuno said laughing. The thud came from her opening the door. Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Oh, I think you dropped thi-" She bent down to obtain the figure. "Eh? I never knew you had an iPod nano."
I eyed her, confused. "iPod? I don't."
Her hand, with the object, leveled to my face. My happiness dropped like an anchor.
"Shit, I dropped an iPod!"
It was her turn to look at me confused. Worriedly, I grabbed it and switched it on. "Please work, please work.." I muttered, blasting up the volume.
We waited. Nothing. "Dammit dammit.." I mumbled again, tapping it by it's side. "It's an iPod nano too!" I cried. "These things cost a fortune!"
"I'm lost," Sakuno commented.
Still trying to get it to work, I explained to her my misfortunes of an accident. It was just to look at it, really. But once again, my idiotic reflexes kicked in, and added another broken bone of the day.
After wasting a few good 7 minutes, I realized that it was broken for good.
"I give uuuuup." Frustruatedly, I kicked the leg of the desk.
"Ano," she said, abruptly. "You don't think that.. Nah, it couldn't have been.."
I implied, "What?"
"Well, it's just that.. you mentioned Fuji-senpai was sleeping here, right? Well, assuming that that's the desk he slept in.. was it?"
A chill crept up my spine when I foresaw the direction her theory was heading.
"..Yeah, it was."
"Weeell.. do you think that, possibly, he left it behind? Umm.. it might be his iPod?"
I gulped.
Some deity out there hates me right now.
---------------------------------------------------
"Aoi.. I'm not too sure about this."
"Don't worry, Sakuno! Just gimme a few days.. it'll be easy, trust me. Want me to walk you through it again?"
She took a deep, sharp breath. "Yes, please."
"Okay. Just pretend you know nothing about the iPod. And if Fuji-senpai asks you, act like you didn't even know he had an iPod. Then, in a few days, I'll earn enough money from a part-time job to buy another iPod and I'll return it to him. I'll just tell him I found it while passing by the lost and found."
She nodded.
"It's technically not considered lying if we're half telling the truth."
"Really? It's half truth?" she asked.
"Yeah, because he's still gonna get it back. Don't worry about it, I have it all covered."
And that was the plan, pretty much. We decided it over phone last night, and recapped over it during tennis practise. It would be easy. We just had to stall for a little longer. Super easy..
Right?
"Miyanami-san! Loosen up!" Senpai yelled. "You're stiff, you can never play tennis like that!"
"H- Hai!" I answered.
Did I mention tennis was going to be my deathbed someday?
"See? Isn't tennis fun," Sakuno giggled. I nodded, wearily.
Tennis isn't exactly the sport of my affection. But well, I'm all in it for Sakuno.
We practised our swings for a full 2 hours in the morning, and I got a small stiffness bulging on my arm afterwards. Pfft, what was so good about the damn sport anyways?
During english class (first period), I could've sworn my arm was getting palpitations, if that was even possible. I hardly wrote and spent most of my time shaking the stiffness out.
Once the bell rang, I happily skipped into the halls, knowing the next period was lunchtime for me. While making my way to my locker, I spotted Fuji-senpai within the crowd. I stiffened.
Oh no. What if he'll ask me about the iPod?
I returned the smile he gave me quickly and walked over to the nearest locker, fumbling with the lock. Maybe if he sees me in a rush, he won't approach me, right? Yeah, just keep going at it Aoi!
Oh, heck, there he comes. Che. Time for plan B.
"Oh, Miyanami-san.. was it?" he smiled. I only noticed now he had a very feminime voice to mask his face as well.
"Y- Yeeaup, that's me," I nervously chuckled.
"Ah. I was right," he ruffled his hair lightly. "Can I ask you a quick question?"
I continued to fumble with the lock in my hands. "Sure, go ahead."
"Well, remember last night? I was wondering if you had seen an iPod nano lying around anywhere, by any chance. I accidentally left it behind, and I can't seem to find it," he laughed.
I numbed up. Ahh shieet, it was his iPod after all.
"O- Oh, an iPod?" I replied, as calmy as possible. "Haha, sorry noo. Sakuno and I left right after. Speaking of which," I attempted to switch the topic. "Won't you be late for your next class? I have lunch now, but I'm not sure about you.."
"Oh, no worries, I have lunch now too."
Oh. Frigg. He did? How come I didn't know? He was never even in the cafeteria during my lunches!
"Oh. That's.. nice." I smiled, shakily. "Oh! Well umm.. If I see an iPod somewhere, I'll be sure to tell you ne?"
His smile grew wider. "Thank you for that, Miyanami-san."
He was about to turn to leave, but not before he added, "By the way, are you having locker trouble?"
I glanced at the lock in my hand. "Oh! OHHH no nonono, nope I'm perfectly fine! It just.. won't seem to open right now, you know? I- I think I forgot the combination, but you know, I have it written down.. Somewhere. Eheh."
He chuckled.
"Thanks though!" I exclaimed.
"See you around." He waved a hand and joined the crowd once again.
Well, that turned out okay, I guess. Hm, not as bad as I thought. Minus the whole locker issue. Shrugging, I flicked the lock and spun around to leave.
Suprisingly, Echizen was standing there, staring with an unemotional look. I groaned.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want now?"
Without budging, he lifted a finger to point offside.
"What were you doing with my locker?"
I grimaced. Oh, frigg, out of all the people in our school, the locker had to be his? I shooed him off and left.
"I dunno, see ya."
I had better things to do.
--------------------------------
A/N: Thank you to the reviewers -huggles you all-. Oh, and also a side note to Posterior Praiser: I actually wrote my story in first POV because I find it easier to write than third POV. haha dumb me XP. Do you think I should change it into third?. O: and also, I would use a present character if I knew more XD. I hardly know any of Hyoutei.. I'm pretty new to the series. And I'm working on the japanese :3. Thank you for pointing that out -huggles you-.
To the readers: Sorry about the boring chapter. It's not at the plot yet, so I keep rushing it XoX;;. I need to slow down XP. But it'll all tie in after :3. -huggles-.
