Never Crossed My Mind
Summary: She didn't pay much attention to the Boy's Tennis Team, since most if not all of Hyotei's Academy's Tennis players, the guys in general, were all self-absorbed pricks! She didn't pay much attention...that is...until some annoying, bouncing, back flipping redhead insults her.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Kagome/Mukahi
Genre: Romance/Humor
Rated: M for Mature Content
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"You sure it was around here?"
Mukahi was walking home when he came across them. Some little kid was crawling around on the ground in the pouring rain with her. He closed his eyes and tilted his umbrella to block the image from his line of sight. He was a teenage boy! Was this some kind of test?! He sighed, walking forward, he moved to the other side of the girl and cleared his throat as he raised the umbrella a bit.
Her head lifted and her blue eyes clashed with his, "yes? Oh, it's you."
'Ack! What's with this personality!?' He cleared his throat, "are you two looking for something?"
She raised a brow, "no, we were just watching the grass grow."
'Fifteen – Love.' The color in his cheeks was slowly starting to fade the longer he tried to speak to the girl. "Can I help you find what you're looking for?" He tried again.
She returned to looking around under the bush, "that's really up to you, isn't it? Asking me if you can do something...do what you want."
'Thirty – Love, that was not the response I was hoping for. She could at least give me a chance to reply, but her comments are kind of...conversation closures.' Sighing, he turned to the kid who looked ready to cry, "what are you looking for, kid?"
"I lost my money pouch, I was sure it was around here, but it's gone!"
"How much was it?"
"I had a five thousand yen note that my dad gave me for my birthday!"
"Ah!"
Mukahi watched the girl push up from the ground and move over towards a bench where trash had blown into a pile. Her hand disappeared behind the piece of junk and as soon as she pulled her hand back, the trash continued on its way with the pull of the wind. Turning, she held a green and brown pouch out. Opening it, she smiled and snapped it shut, "looks like it's still in there."
"You found it!" The little boy ran forward as she crouched down in front of him and held the money pouch out to him. "Nee-Chan, thank you!"
The rainwater had done a number on her uniform. Mukahi really couldn't understand her willingness to throw away her dignity for some little kid. Her clothes were near see-through! His eyes widened in surprise when he watched the kid throw his arm around her neck and kiss her on the cheek before grinning and running off.
"Thanks Nee-Chan!"
Raising a hand after the boy, she waved him off before turning and walking off.
"W-wait!"
She stopped and turned back around. Looking him over, she waited for him to speak.
"You're wet,"
"...yes."
'...' Frustrated, he reached out his hand and pulled her beneath the umbrella he was holding. "Just, hold the umbrella for a minute!" When she was holding the umbrella, he pulled his blazer off in agitation before turning and putting it over her shoulders, his cheeks flushed in his embarrassment and irritation. He could clearly see the outline of her bra through the white uniform top she was wearing. Taking the umbrella back he watched her as she looked curiously at the blazer before slipping her hands through the sleeves.
She smiled.
It was a small smile, but it was there. Her eyes softened a bit as she looked up at him. "Thank you,"
His heart skipped a beat, his breath was caught in his throat, he couldn't define what he was feeling. However, the Tennis player in him noted the score, 'Thirty – Fifteen, that was clearly my point!' He smiled, "let me walk you home. You'll get sick if you stay out in the rain."
"Are you sure that's no trouble?"
"It's fine, I want to."
She nodded, "thank you, I'd appreciate it." She could have pointed out the fact that she was already drenched, but she didn't bother with the obvious. Picking up her satchel, she walked beside him and while neither mentioned where they were going, they didn't derail from one another either.
Mukahi was walking home on default, he didn't even think about it until he made it home and was standing in front of his house. "Um, where exactly do you live?"
She laughed. It sounded like a song on the wind, music to his ears. "You walked me this far without knowing?"
'I think it's best to concede defeat.' He sighed, "I figured you would have told me if we were going the wrong way."
Pointing down the street, she smiled, the houses were reflecting in the rainwater along the road, despite the rain it was quite beautiful. "I live on the shrine down the way. Not too far from you, I see." She turned her eyes to the house behind him. "You...have a little brother, don't you?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"I wasn't sure since it's been some time, but I think this was the house I dropped my brother off at a few months back. Well, I say I dropped him off. He just tagged along with me on my way to the library and broke off from me when we made it here."
"Your brother? What's his name?"
"Souta,"
"Ah, he plays soccer with Hisashi..."
"Hisashi, that's such a nice name. Is it...the characters for "Long Story" or "Ambitious" perhaps?"
Mukahi smiled but shook his head, "he was named by my mom who was told she didn't have too much time left to live. The loss of blood during his birth had been too hard on her body. His name is written with the characters for "Always" and "With You" ...before this it was supposed to be written as "Long Lived" and "Ambitious". However, circumstances changed her mind."
"...I apologize, if this conversation brought up unsavory feelings."
"All of my memories of my mother, although few, they are precious. I wouldn't dare call any of them unsavory."
"That's why I said unsavory "feelings" not memories. I should head home,"
"Oh! Is it...okay if I pick you up tomorrow for school?" His head felt fuzzy, 'what am I saying!?'
"I don't think―" she paused, looking down at her shoes she smiled and shrugged, "sure, I'll wait for you then."
He smiled, holding his umbrella out to her, "take it, I'll see you tomorrow!" He ran through the gate to his yard and inside his house, the door closing behind him quickly as he leaned against the door. His heart racing, his hair a little damp, water dripping into his eyes from his bangs. He brought his hand over his heart and turned to peer through the peephole of the front door. 'Damn it! Why...? Why am I acting like a little schoolgirl!?'
"Nii-San!"
Mukahi turned and tried to calm himself down as he smiled at his little brother, "hey, Hisashi! Have you already started on your schoolwork?"
"I'm almost finished, I started as soon as I got home. Nee-Chan called and said she'd be running late. She had to stay behind for Class President duties."
Nodding, he made his way to his bedroom, dropping his bag against his bed, he changed out of his uniform and into a warm long sleeve shirt and shorts. Taking a towel to his hair, he dried it out and ran a brush through it before he walked back downstairs and into the kitchen. "What are we eating tonight, Hisashi?"
"Yakizakana!"
"Really? You want me to cook that tonight. How about this weekend, we'll set up a fire and eat it in the backyard?"
"Can we?! Yeah, let's do that!"
"Then for tonight, how about Chicken Katsu?"
"I can do that, any side dishes?"
"Something like a Seaweed and Cucumber Salad and Agedashi Tofu with white rice?"
"Did you buy a cookbook with your allowance or something?"
Hisashi smiled, "we live in the age of the Internet, Nii-San. Who needs to buy a cookbook when you can find everything you need online?"
'Tch, this kid.' He ruffled his brother's hair messily and smirked when he yelled out and jumped out of his reach. His little brother had the same deep red colored hair as him, but unlike his indigo purple eyes that he and his sister got from their dad, Hisashi had his mother's deep blue eyes. Actually, he kind of reminded him of Kikumaru in the looks department, but he wouldn't vocally admit that to the other acrobatic player. "Go finish your schoolwork and I'll get started on dinner."
"Hai!"
He let his mind go back to the girl, why he offered to pick her up from school. 'She's being bullied...that's why I did it.' He couldn't tell if that was some unclear truth or if he was trying to convince himself of an obvious lie. Whatever the case, he'd just made a date to pick the girl up and walk her to school in the morning. 'Wait...no! It's not a date! I'm just walking her to school!'
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Me: Here is chapter three of Never Crossed My Mind. I decided to do a Bulk Upload. This will give everyone plenty to read while I work on the next batch. This will be a Christmas Bulk Batch, so Merry Christmas all of you and I will have another batch for you on the last day of January! Review and tell me what you think!