Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Prince of Tennis!
...
...
A small explanation about some changes I've made in regards to Seiichi's backstory at the end of the chapter :)
...
...
"Why are you asking?" Hari asked Seiichi giving him a look and tried to read him, but his expression revealed nothing.
"Do I need to have a reason?" he asked.
Hari frowned as she looked at him. He smiled at her and she couldn't help but notice that he looked cute and handsome as he watched her. She pushed the thought away and focused.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Hari asked not really knowing what she hoped he would answer. She was a little confused by the fact that she almost wished for him to say yes.
"Would you agree to a date?" he arched a brow.
Hari swallowed and he smiled.
"I know you're not ready for that," he said and she blinked. "So, I would like to meet you and get to know you."
Why did she feel disappointed at the same time as relieved?
"That sounds fine," she agreed with a small smile. "And no, other than school and tennis practice I don't have any plans tomorrow."
"Tennis practice?" he looked curiously at her. "You play?"
"Yeah," Hari nodded. "You?"
"Not at the moment," he said and a shadow passed over his face as he glanced away from her.
Hari wanted to ask, but the look on his face stopped her.
"Well, what do you want to do tomorrow?" she asked changing the subject and he looked back at her with something that resembled confusion and curiosity in his eyes as he stared at her for a moment before he smiled and his face cleared.
"Depends," he said.
"On?"
"What you want to do," he said. "There's this botanic garden I would like to visit, and if you want we could go there together."
"Sure," Hari said, "I haven't been at a botanic garden before."
"Then we need to change that," he smiled. "So, meet around four in the afternoon?"
"Daijobu," Hari nodded. "Here…"
She wrote her number on a small piece of paper and handed it to him.
"My number," she explained. "Text me so I'll have your number as well. I'll let you know if I'm grounded for life for getting lost. Again."
He laughed and nodded.
"Sure thing," he said and did something she had never experienced before. He took her hand and bowed over it like you only saw in old movies (not that she had seen many movies) or read about in romance books and then…then he kissed it. "It was nice to see you again, Hari-chan."
Hari felt flustered and only managed to stutter out a reply and left before she could make a fool out of herself.
...
What was that? Hari leaned against the front door after closing it behind her having arrived home yet having no memory of how she did so. She stared at her hand like she'd never seen it before. She couldn't remember ever feeling so flustered and thrown off before. He had just kissed her hand.
He had kissed her hand.
It didn't mean anything. He was just teasing her. Right. She inhaled and nodded to herself. He was just teasing her. Her eyes lingered on the spot on her hand where he had kissed her, where she had felt his lips on her skin…
She felt her cheeks burn and frowned as her flustered feelings rushed back and again she shook her head to clear it. She clenched her hand and forcibly let it fall to her side and tried her best to force herself to calm down. She had other worries now and with that thought, she looked up to see Rinko watching her curiously and contemplatively.
"Hari-chan," she said and Hari fought the blush again. "Okaeri."
Just what had she seen?
"Tadaima," Hari said. "Um… I'm sorry I'm late…"
"We were about to go and look for you," Rinko said. "We worried you had gotten lost again."
Hari grimaced and rubbed her neck as she looked at the older woman who was still watching her warmly and curiously. Hari felt bad for worrying her over something like this but at the same time…she felt warmth fill her chest at the knowledge that they would go and look for her.
Back at the Dursley's no one would have gone out to look for her if she didn't come home at night. She was more likely to find the doors locked and herself shut out of the house for the night.
"Right," Hari muttered and looked at Rinko. "About that…"
She knew she had to tell the truth. She wouldn't lie about what happened. She couldn't bring herself to lie to them.
...
Hari found herself in her room an hour later after a talk and scolding from Rinko and Nanjiro about how she had to learn to pay attention to her surroundings and learn how the train system worked before using it. That was why she had been forbidden to take the train on her own until she had learned (and proved) she could handle it without getting lost.
Hari couldn't help feeling that she deserved that punishment. She had just been silent and listened and nodded when she had to show she had understood what they were saying. The worst punishment, though, wasn't the scolding or the forbidding of using the trains alone. No, it was the fact that she disappointed them and had worried them.
She did feel a relief over the fact that she hadn't been grounded. She would be able to go and see Seiichi the next day…and there her thoughts were back on him. But…did she want to see him? Her confused thoughts rushed through her as she wondered what he was thinking and why he had done that.
Seriously, she had not been thinking about any boy this much since Saeki…
Saeki… she blinked as she realised for the first time this evening that her ban on using the train meant that she couldn't go to Chiba and see him and get his help on how to make her motion vision stronger.
She felt the familiar fluttering in her stomach as her mind turned from Seiichi and over at Saeki and the way he smiled at her and made her feel like she mattered. He was very kind and thoughtful, and Hari missed him. How long had it been since she'd seen him now? So much had happened since then.
...
"What are you daydreaming about?" a voice brought her out of her thoughts and she looked to the door and saw Ryoma watching her curiously.
"Nani mo," she said and sat up. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to see if you survived your scolding," he smirked.
"Haha, very funny," Hari pouted.
"Oh, come on, Hari," Ryoma smiled as he stepped into her room and sat down on her office chair. "You know you're really hopeless on the trains…"
"Hai, hai," Hari scowled. "You don't need to rub it in. I can't take the train alone anymore…"
Ryoma looked at her for a moment.
"Well, you don't really need the trains to get around," he said.
She looked away. She wasn't sure why she didn't tell him about Saeki and how he helped her with her tennis, and for that, she needed to go to Chiba…but something held her back.
"How did your match against Tezuka-Captain go?" Hari asked changing the subject.
He frowned and she knew. He had lost. She wasn't sure if she felt surprised or not by that. She knew better than anyone just how good Ryoma was, but she knew that Tezuka must be good as well even without having watched him play.
"I lost," Ryoma said.
"So, he was good?" Hari asked.
"He's very strong;" Ryoma nodded and looked distractedly out of the window and blinked as Hedwig came flying through it and landed on the desk right in front of Ryoma. "Ew. Is that a dead mouse?"
Hari glanced at the thing that Hedwig had placed on the desk and smiled at the disgusted look on Ryoma's face as he scooted a little away from it.
"Good girl, Hedwig," Hari complimented her owl while Ryoma grimaced again. Hedwig let out a soft coo and puffed out her chest in pride and looked over at Ryoma. "Ryo-chan, tell her she did well."
"Nande?" he asked her.
"Because she looks at you to tell her," Hari rolled her eyes.
"Ehm," Ryoma looked at Hedwig. "Good girl?"
Hedwig seemed to huff and roll her golden eyes before picking up the mouse and flying over to her cage.
"You have an odd pet, Hari," Ryoma said and Hari smiled.
"Hedwig is special," she said, "but back to our conversation, tell me about the match?"
Ryoma sighed and told her about how he had gone all out against Tezuka but he had returned everything Ryoma had given and how he felt frustrated. Frustrated like only he felt while playing Nanjiro.
"You'll figure it out," Hari said confidently.
"Dou?"
"By thinking and training," Hari said. "You can do it, Ryo-chan."
He smiled slightly and nodded but he looked pensive and Hari didn't say anything else. She knew her little brother. He needed to think on his own and not be pushed into talking when he looked like that. Hari watched him as he stared out of the window.
...
The next day found Hari excited and nervous at the same time, but she was unable to say just why she felt nervous. She never felt nervous like this before seeing Saeki, but she didn't want to think about why that may be.
She almost wished she could skip the entire school day and practice, but again it offered the distraction she needed before meeting Seiichi again.
"Ryo-chan," Hari smiled when she found him during lunch.
He wasn't eating and she sighed. She pushed food in front of him and when he looked up she gave him a pointed look and smiled when he grabbed the sandwich and started to eat.
"Happy?" he asked.
"Of course," she said as she sat down next to him under the tree he was resting under. "Why are you alone? I thought Horio-chan and the others usually dragged you with them for lunch."
"Then why did you come looking for me?" he asked distractedly.
Hari sighed.
"Fine," she said. "I thought you might avoid them and not eat."
"I'm fine, Hari," he said.
"I know you are," Hari said as she took a bite of her own sandwich. "But you are my little brother, so is it that strange that I would want to check on you?"
Ryoma glanced at her and allowed a small smile to cross his face.
"I guess," he said.
They ate in silence for a while and just watched the other students that crossed the yard and they did spot some of their teammates but none of them seemed to see them or decided against going over to them at least.
"I won't come to the practice today;" Ryoma suddenly said.
"I figured;" Hari looked at him. She wasn't surprised, she knew that Ryoma needed to think and work out how to handle whatever Tezuka had told him or showed him and Ryoma did that best by playing against his dad.
Ryoma nodded and got up just as the bell rang signalling the end of lunch.
...
Hari had worked hard at practice and dodged questions about where Ryoma was and why he had not shown up for practice again. She knew that the others were curious, especially Momoshiro and the first year trio. She had a suspicion that Fuji had an idea about all this because he had looked at her with a knowing look, but she didn't say anything and neither did he.
So, now she found herself dodging Momoshiro (again) and leave to meet Seiichi. She felt bad for not saying goodbye to Momoshiro but she knew it would be difficult to get away if she paused to talk to him and she was already late. So, she made a mental note to talk to the dunk specialist the next day and apologize then.
She had agreed to meet Seiichi at a park not that far from the school and found him waiting for her. She smiled a little as she saw him leaning against a tree and noticed how he was staring up at the tree as he was waiting. He looked fascinated and Hari wondered just what was so fascinating about that tree.
"Konnichiwa," Seiichi smiled at her when she came close enough for him to notice her. "You got here faster than I thought you would."
"I think I'm still late, though," Hari smiled. "Sorry about that."
"No problem," he said and pushed away from the tree. "Do you want to go?"
"Sure," she said and they started to walk side by side. "How was your day?"
He shrugged, "long. Boring."
Hari glanced at him before looking away again.
"Yours?" he asked.
"It was alright, I guess," Hari said. "Tennis practice made it better."
"Did you have a good practice?" he asked.
"It was so and so," she said, "I feel… no, never mind."
"What?" he asked.
"I can tell you don't really want to talk about tennis," Hari said, "so we don't have to."
"No, it's fine," he assured her. "I want to know. What do you feel?"
Hari looked at him and could tell he looked honestly interested so she started to talk.
"Well, I guess I feel a little stuck, "she admitted. "I joined the boys' team a while ago and I'm trying to keep up with them. But I need to get better and I don't really know what more I can do to get better. I need to have something that makes me stand out, but right now I'm just working on standard stuff and while I know that's important, I have to get better…"
She frowned.
"Nande?" Seiichi asked. "If you are on the boys' team you must be good. I know Seigaku, we've played them before and I know they are very strict about their tennis. So, if they let you on the boys' team then you must be a good player and they must see something in you that made them accept you."
Hari looked at him and wasn't sure what to say. Why did she need to get better? How to explain it? Why should she explain it..
"I guess it's because I want to prove to my family that I can do it," she finally said surprising herself. "I…I was recently adopted and my adopted dad and brother is very good at tennis. I just want to show them that I can do something to, and prove to them that I fit in…I need to do it. For them and for me."
Hari wasn't sure why she admitted that to Seiichi. It wasn't something she had talked about before, but it was true. She did feel like she had to prove it to them, to prove that she belonged with them and tennis was something they all understood.
Seiichi was silent for a long time and she was starting to get worried that she had said too much and that he thought she was overly dramatic or something when he spoke again.
"Have they said that?" he asked.
"No," Hari frowned.
"Then why do you feel you have to?"
"Just because," Hari said.
He nodded, "well, I won't pretend that I know the answer because I haven't watched you play before so I don't know your strengths and weaknesses, but what I usually tell my team when they are working to get better is; work on your strength and what you already have. Develop it and trust that you are enough."
Hari frowned as she thought about what he said. Work on her strengths… it sounded simple but yet difficult at the same time.
Seiichi let her think and didn't say anything else but he glanced at her from time to time both curious and concerned.
...
They reached the botanic garden and Hari smiled as she pushed her thoughts out of her mind for not and looked around the spacious garden with sandy paths between green grass and trees and flowers. It was really idyllic.
"Let's go," Seiichi said and she nodded and followed him down a path with tall cherry trees.
They chatted easily as they walked and Seiichi told her a few things about the plants as they passed them and she found it to be quite interesting and asked questions. She was relieved to see that he enjoyed her questioning and she relaxed even more.
"It's beautiful here," she said looking around and took in the lake that had appeared on their right side. She briefly wondered if this lake had a giant squid, but she really doubted it. Despite the lack of the giant squid, she found the same calm and serenity she usually found in the grounds of Hogwarts in this park and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she took in the garden around her.
"I find it peaceful," Seiichi said also looking around before walking to an empty bench and sat down.
She looked at him and wondered what was going through his mind. He looked pensive and she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. She walked closer and looked out over the lake when she stopped just a few steps away from where he was sitting.
The silence lasted between them and neither seemed inclined to break it for a while. It was getting late and Hari could tell that the sky was turning darker and twilight was closing in, but she didn't say anything.
"You're very patient," Seiichi broke the silence. "Most would have asked by now."
"No one has called me patient before," Hari commented amused as she glanced at him. She wondered what Hermione would say if she heard Seiichi call Hari patient. Probably huff and roll her eyes. "Nande?"
Seiichi smiled a little before it fell away and he turned serious again and Hari frowned slightly as she took in the change in him.
"Do you know what Guillain-Barre syndrome or GBS is?" Seiichi asked.
Hari paused and thought about it, she couldn't say that it sounded familiar to her so she eventually shook her head and wished that Hermione had been there because she was sure Hermione would know.
"Thought so," Seiichi said.
Hari sat down beside him and looked at him but didn't say anything.
"It's a disease that makes your muscles weak and you find yourself unable to use your muscles in the areas that are affected," Seiichi said still staring out over the pond. "It can be fatal if your respiratory muscles are affected."
"What's causing it?" Hari asked quietly.
"Your immune system is damaging your nervous system," Seiichi answered.
"Sounds terrible," Hari said while observing Seiichi. She felt sure why he was saying this and she really hoped that she was wrong because that disease sounded just horrible.
He glanced at her and when he saw her watching him he didn't look away again as he met her eyes with his own violet eyes.
"It is," he said quietly and visibly inhaled like he was steeling himself. "I got it last year. It affected the muscles in my legs."
Hari felt her eyes widen slightly but she had known he would say he had it from the moment he started to explain it. She felt bad for him and she felt admiration for the way he kept going, for being able to tell her like this. She wasn't sure what she would have done if she had faced with something like that.
"You're the first who hasn't looked away from me when I told them," he said with a small smile.
"Why would I look away?" Hari asked.
"Some, well most, find it too horrible and don't know how to act," Seiichi shrugged.
"How are you now?" Hari asked while filing away his last comment to think about later.
"I'm doing better," he smiled and seemed to relax more. "I'm still in and out of the hospital, but I had my surgery and they say I make great progress."
"You're very brave," Hari said after a moment of silence.
"Brave?" he blinked and looked at her.
"Yeah," she said. "To fight it like you have."
"Don't really see that I had any other choice," Seiichi said looking away from her.
"There's always a choice," Hari said firmly and he couldn't help but look over at her. "You could have decided to not fight. You might say that you had to fight it, but that was a choice."
He stared at her for a moment before he smiled and let a small laugh escape.
"You're a weird one," he said.
Hari would have been offended but his tone and smile told her that he wasn't being mean and that he didn't mean anything bad by his words. She just smiled slightly and looked back at the lake and realised that it was now dark and the daylight had gone.
"We should go," Seiichi said. "The garden is closing really soon."
Hari nodded and followed him again.
...
They said their goodbyes when they reached the park where they had met and Seiichi did the same bowing-over-her-hand-and-kissed it-thing he had done before making Hari give him a curious look better able to hide the flustered feeling that flashed through her at the action.
She walked the now (luckily) familiar way through the streets back home and thought about everything Seiichi had told her that day. She was surprised that he had said that much, but it might be for the same reason why she had opened up to him like she had. Sometimes you just needed to talk to someone and sometimes it helped that you didn't really know them that well. It could be easier to just say it without thinking then. It hadn't really happened for her before, but with Seiichi…she felt that she could trust him. Her gut instinct told her that so she had and she couldn't really bring herself to regret it.
She couldn't help but feel for him, though. That disease sounded terrible and she made a mental note to research it later and learn more about it. Maybe she could help him somehow. She hoped she could.
She was just at the temple when she heard the noise coming from inside and she paused and looked up through the gate and with a moment hesitation walked through it and looked around for the sound.
She stopped hidden by the darkness as she spotted Ryoma hitting tennis ball after tennis ball over the net. Nanjiro was there as well returning every ball that Ryoma hit.
He was still practising? Hari thought as she stared at them. He must have been playing for hours and hours. She could tell just from the way he seemed exhausted yet determined.
Hari stayed watching for another minute before she turned and walked back down the path she had come and to the house.
...
"Hari-chan," Rinko smiled when she saw her. "You're back."
"Hai," Hari nodded. "I'm sorry I'm late."
Rinko nodded and frowned.
"Are you alright, Hari-chan?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Hari said distractedly. "I'm just tired."
Hari smiled once before walking up the stairs and to her room where she collapsed down at her bed and stared at the ceiling.
She had to work a lot harder if she wanted to avoid falling too far behind Ryoma and his massive talent. It was the first time she felt intimidated by the sheer talent of her chosen brother.
She did think that Seiichi had a point, but it was hard to just see it logically and detached. Her need to prove to them, to herself that she belonged and that she shared tennis with them was starting to take over her mind.
Work with what you have.
What did she have? What did she have that she could develop and make stronger?
So, yeah, she had gotten pretty good at the motion vision that Saeki had taught her. She wasn't sure how to make that stronger, though. Maybe she should ask Saeki sometime? Then she remembered that she wasn't allowed to use the train and therefore couldn't go and see him. She frowned but pushed the problem away for now. She would figure it out later.
Her serve was getting better as well, and Tezuka had helped her with it so she felt more confident in it. But…it wasn't perfect.
Her mind spun with thoughts and ideas that kept being blocked by her own logical side but her mind wouldn't shut down even as she heard footsteps outside her door and someone entered the room next to her own and she knew that Ryoma had finally gotten home.
...
Hari wished she could write to Hermione and Ron and get their advice on everything going through her mind at the moment. She knew they would have been able to help her with it and she missed their constant presence in her life.
Hermione would suggest going to the library and read more about tennis to learn more about the sport and that way learn how to get stronger. Or more like Hermione would rush off to the library for her and check out all the books and bring them back to Hari and tell her to start reading.
Hari would even if she would exchange an exasperated look with Ron before doing it. Ron would be more at ease and tell her to trust her instincts and skills.
Hari had gone to the library at school and used her lunch break to read about tennis, but she really didn't think her answers were in these books. She was passed this, and she had already read a lot of it.
What she wanted was something that symbolised her new path in life, her new start and a way to use it to get stronger. She looked out at the court through the window and popped her head on her arm resting on the desk.
A new start.
She frowned and wondered… she might have an idea and she felt a smile cross her lips as she sat up straight and stared at the book in front of her. She quickly started to flip through it until she got to the part she was looking for.
...
Hari went through practice as normal but she couldn't wait until she could try out her new idea, she knew it needed a lot of work and fine-tuning, and she needed to try it out before she really knew if her idea was promising or not.
And she wasn't going to try it out here. She wanted to do it on her own where she couldn't be seen by the others. Something told her to keep it to herself for now.
"You look to be in a hurry," Fuji stepped up behind Hari who jumped and spun around glaring at him.
"Don't do that!" she gasped.
"Do what?" he smiled innocently.
"You know perfectly well what," Hari grumbled. "What do you want?"
"So rude," Fuji commented dryly. "Don't you respect your sempai?"
Hari sighed. She wanted to get going and get started on her new idea and see if she could get it to work. She didn't want to stand here talking with Fuji when he was in a mood to tease her and clearly found something very amusing. Most likely her if Hari was honest with herself.
"Sure," she sighed. "What do you want, sempai?"
"I just wondered what has you so impatient today," Fuji looked at her, his head tilted to the side curiously. "You seem eager to leave practice today and are even ignoring the rest of us…"
"So you come over here to see what I'm up to?" she arched a brow. "What's it to you if I'm eager to leave as you say?"
"I'm curious," he said unashamedly.
"Of course you are," Hari sighed. "And…I'm not telling you."
"Saa?" He arched a brow. "Now I'm really curious… are you hiding a boy from us perhaps?"
Hari blinked at him surprised and ignored the fact that both Saeki and Seiichi flashed through her mind at his words.
"Ie," she said. "Why would I…"
She shook her head.
"Ie," she said again.
"Hm," he frowned. "Perhaps I should ask Echizen."
"No!" Hari said and he smiled like she had confirmed something.
"Then tell me," he said. "And I'll consider not asking your brother."
Hari scowled at him. Who would have thought that Fuji would…okay, so maybe it wasn't that surprising from what she had heard of him, but…She sighed. She wasn't sure what to say, or if she just should ignore him.
She wasn't really that against Ryoma finding out was she?
Yes. She was. She wanted to surprise him. She wanted to work this out without his help to show that she could do it without having his help. Not because she didn't want his help, but because she wanted, no needed, to prove that she could do it. That she deserved to be his sister.
So that meant…she looked at Fuji who was smiling and watching her curiously.
"Fine," she sighed and his smile grew in the victory. "I'm trying to develop a new move and want to do it away from here, so I'm going to another court to practice and try to figure it out."
Fuji actually opened his eyes so she could see the blue eyes looking back at her in his surprise.
"And that is what you don't want Echizen to know?" he asked confused.
"Hai," Hari nodded. "So…"
"Nande?" Fuji asked.
"Why what?"
"Why don't you want him to know?" Fuji asked.
"Just don't," Hari said, "I want to surprise him and he's busy with his own thing and I won't bother him with this."
Fuji stared at her for a moment before he nodded.
"Daijobu," he said. "Come on."
"Eh?"
"Come on, Hari-chan," Fuji said and started to walk and Hari followed just because she felt confused and wasn't sure what was going on.
...
"This is a good court," Hari looked around and saw the kids playing not far from where they were.
"I used to come here with my little brother," Fuji said and Hari blinked. She wasn't aware that he had a brother. "It's nice."
Hari nodded.
"But why…"
"I'll help you," Fuji said simply. "You need someone to feed you the balls and to work out your move."
Hari stared at him. A part of her wanted to protest, but another part…another part saw the logic in his words. She knew Fuji was a great player, he was called a genius in tennis. So, he would be able to offer her good help.
"Alright," she said and he smiled.
"So, tell me," Fuji said. "What is your idea?"
...
Hari was exhausted when she got back home that night and she barely managed to keep her eyes open long enough to eat dinner and then do her homework. Fuji had liked her idea and had offered some modifications to it helping her make it even stronger. He had pushed her harder than she thought he would, but she liked it.
"Ryo-chan," Hari mumbled when she felt someone at her side and saw Ryoma watching her. "Are you ok?"
"I should be asking you that," he frowned. "You look really tired."
"M'fine," she mumbled and Ryoma sighed and grabbed her arm and managed to get her over to the bed. "Wha'u'ing?"
"You need to sleep," Ryoma said. "You're not even making sense now."
"'m'so," but her eyes were already closed and her breathing slowing down. "Ryo-chan… I'll prove it to you…"
Ryoma frowned down at the now sleeping girl before he walked out of her room and closed the door behind him quietly. He had just looked in on her because he thought she looked tired during dinner and he was worried, and he'd seen her almost asleep at her desk so he decided to get her over to the bed.
Just what did she mean by that last part? What would she prove? She didn't have anything she needed to prove… Still frowning he went into his room and patted Karupin as he sat down on his bed.
He would talk to her later. Ask what she meant.
...
Seiichi was in his room at the hospital. He didn't really like it but unlike the other times he had been there he didn't feel the same claustrophobic feeling this time. His mind was busy with the mystery of Hari.
He kept thinking about the afternoon they spent together and how she hadn't looked away from him when he told her about his disease. Everyone looked away to hide the pity and the horror they were feeling from him. His team, his parents, his grandparents… everyone.
Hari hadn't. She looked straight at him and while he saw the horror and sympathy in her deep green eyes, he saw now pity. He felt…refreshed by the fact that she didn't try to hide what she felt about his disease from him.
He wasn't even sure why he had told her. It wasn't like him to complain to strangers about his struggles with the sickness. He never really did that, only Sanada had been privy to how he struggled and his anger at the disease.
While he hadn't really said anything about that part of his disease to Hari, only admitting to having GBS, he could see himself telling her. He almost had. He had almost lost control over his restraint and told her just how difficult, how unfair, how terrible it all was and how he sometimes thought he would never be able to play tennis again.
There was something about her that made him feel like she would understand. A connection between them and he would bet that she felt it too.
Oh, not to get him wrong, it wasn't like he thought he was in love with her or anything. He never believed in love at first sight like in those romantic books and movies he heard girls talk about. No, it was interest, interest and curiosity.
It was Saturday now. Would she have plans or would she be free to come and see him? To save him from boredom?
He sent her a quick text and put the phone down as he walked over to the window. He wasn't sure how long he stood there before his phone buzzed and he saw a reply.
A smile crossed his face when he saw that she was free to come and meet him and would be there in ten minutes or so.
...
Twenty minutes later the door to his room opened and he saw Hari standing there in her training clothes and her racket bag over her shoulder so he would say it was a pretty easy bet to make to say that she had been out to play tennis.
"Hey," she smiled. "Bored?"
"Hai," he smiled back. "Have you been playing tennis?"
She nodded and entered the room closing the door behind her and putting her bag down next to the door before walking closer to him.
"I'm working on my new move," she grinned at him. "Thanks to you I had some new ideas."
"Glad I could help," he said.
"So this is where you have been locked up," she said looking around the room. "It's cosier than I expected and at least you got a private room. I remember back at my old school and I ended up at the Hospital Wing I was in this large room with lots of bed… hated to be stuck in there over the weekend."
Seiichi snorted. She always said something he was not expecting her to say.
"Sounds tough," he said. "You were in the hospital?"
She glanced at him before looking away but he saw her green eyes suddenly look darker before they cleared and she smiled slightly at him, and he couldn't help but notice that her left hand grabbed her right lower arm almost subconsciously.
"It happened a few times," she said. "Injuries from sports and all that."
Before he could say anything else the door opened and a ball of energy ran into the room and attached himself around Seiichi's waist.
"Seiichi-nii-chan!"
"Minoru-chan," Seiichi smiled slightly at the younger boy who froze when he spotted Hari standing there watching them with a bemused expression on her face.
"Oh, you have a visitor?" he asked.
"I do," Seiichi nodded and looked over Minoru's head and spotted his best friend standing in the door staring at Hari as well.
"Hari-chan," Seiichi said. "This is my little cousin, Yukimura Minoru. You already met Genichiro."
"Nice to meet you, Minoru-chan," Hari smiled and waved at the younger boy. He kind of resembled Seiichi, his features a little rounder than Seiichi's but the eyes was the same violet-blue and his navy blue hair was a little darker than Seiichi's but it was clear that there was some family resemblance between them.
"Are you Seiichi-nii-chan's girlfriend?" Minoru asked tilting his head as he stepped away from Seiichi and stared up at her.
Hari hoped she wasn't blushing.
"No," she said.
"Hm," Minoru gave her a look that clearly said he didn't believe her. "You don't attend school with Seiichi-nii-chan or Genichiro-nii-chan because then Seiichi-nii-chan wouldn't have almost introduced you to him."
"Very observant of you," Hari said.
"Seiichi-nii-chan says so too," Minoru nodded proudly and Seiichi smiled fondly at the boy and ruffled his hair. "Don't do that."
"Why?"
"Because I'm too old for that," Minoru said. "I'm only four years younger than you!"
"Oh," Seiichi smiled gently. "Well, if that's the case…"
Hari smiled watching them but looked up when she felt eyes watching her and found Sanada watching her curiously.
"Nice to meet you again," Hari said.
He nodded and she started to wonder if he ever talked.
"You too," he said as if he had heard her and she smiled.
"Seiichi-nii-chan! Tanomu! Tanomu!" Minoru jumped up and down as he looked pleadingly at his cousin.
Hari arched a brow wondering what she was missing now.
"I'm hungry," Minoru said. "Can't we go and eat something? Genichiro-nii-chan said we had to wait until we got to see you!"
Seiichi sighed and looked at Sanada who had his impassive mask on.
"Did he now?" Seiichi said. "Alright."
"Yatta!" Minoru cheered.
"Looks like you didn't need to be saved from boredom after all, Sei-chan," Hari smiled.
Seiichi stilled for a moment and his violet-blue eyes locked on her making her arch a brow as he seemed to stare at her for a long moment. He didn't move until Sanada coughed lightly and Seiichi jolted slightly as he blinked and straightened up more.
"Gomen. I didn't know they were coming," he said.
Was he blushing?
"That's alright," Hari smiled. "I'll leave you to it…"
"No," Seiichi said and Hari blinked at him. "No, I meant do you want to join us?"
Hari looked at Minoru and Sanada who both were staring at them. Minoru looked confused but Hari must admit that he did look rather adorable. Sanada looked more curious than confused and pensive as he watched Seiichi more than her.
"If your friend and cousin don't mind?" Hari said.
"We don't!" Minoru beamed at her. "But… can we eat now?"
Hari chuckled and looked back at Seiichi who smiled slightly but had looked away from her now and back at his cousin leaving Hari to wonder what had just occurred between them and why he had frozen when she…oh. She had called him by a nickname. She often gave people around her nicknames…maybe he didn't like it?
Minoru talked and talked as they ate at a small burger place just around the corner from the hospital. Seiichi answered and talked with his cousin while Hari and Sanada both seemed content to observe the two. Though, Hari had a feeling Sanada observed her just as much as the other two.
In the end Hari was dragged into the conversation as well and much to her surprise realised that she was having fun and felt lighter than she had in days if not weeks.
...
...
AN: The new chapter is finally done! It took forever to write... what do you think? :)
I found on PoT Wikia that the disease Seiichi has is something called Guillain-Barre Syndrom. I don't know anything about it and did some research on it, but not a lot. So if any of the information in this chapter (or later chapters) is wrong I apologize for that. I'll try to keep it as close to the truth as I can, but I know very little about the recovery process of the disease and therefore will make changes so it fits this story.
I know that Seiichi has the surgery later in the anime/manga, but I made a decision to change it. He will now be in recovery but still has to go to the hospital from time to time, so he'll be in Tokyo at times. I haven't decided yet if he'll be fit to play the first time Seigaku will meet Rikkaidai or not, but that is a long way away anyway so nothing to worry about right now.
The character Minoru is a cameo by .Minna.-Sophia Isobel! Thanks for supporting this story and hope you liked the character you inspired ;)
Thank you to everyone who has left a review! I appreciate them all! :)
Japanese words used:
Daijobu - all right
Okaeri - Welcome back!
Tadaima - I'm home
Nani mo - nothing
Hai - yes
Nande - Why
Dou - How
Konnichiwa - Hello
Why - Nande
Sempai - upperclassman
Saa - filler
Ie - no
Tanomu - Please
Yatta - Yey
Gomen - Sorry
