Sorry for the day-long delay... I sort of trashed the first version of this chapter... Read on!
Chapter 14
Tensai, tensai, tell me why
Fate won't pass you by
Fuji woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and smiled. It was going to be a great day.
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Wanna go for ice-cream later?
He slid the paper to the next desk, tapping his pencil lightly as he did so. Shyoko looked up and read the short note. She thought for a moment, before scribbling something down and passing it back to him with a smile on her face.
Sure! After practice, then?
His lips curved into a genuine smile. Giving her a small nod, his eyes had a new sparkle in them as he turned back to the relatively dull subject of pre-war history.
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"Hmm... we haven't tried this shop before..." Without further ado, he pulled her into the ice-cream parlour.
They emerged a few minutes later, each holding a cone in their hands. Fuji's was a suspiciously green colour, while Shyoko had opted for a more normal chocolate and caramel flavour. As they walked along the busy streets, she suddenly spotted a shop selling earrings and hairclips, among other things.
Fuji had his first taste of girlish accessories that day.
"Isn't this just so cute?!!!" Fuji looked on, half-amused and half-amazed, as Shyoko pulled out what looked like a glittery hairclip and proceeded to examine it from every angle. It was in the shape of a butterfly, with pale pink crystals shimmering each time the wings moved. Upon closer inspection, it was quite an intricate piece of work, and he started to understand her desire to possess it.
He took it gently from her, and turned over the price tag. Blue eyes opened briefly for a split second upon seeing the rather astronomical price, before curving into half-moons again. His smile wider than ever, he walked over to the counter.
Three crisp bills changed hands, and he proudly presented the hairclip to her.
"Oh, Fuji... you shouldn't have!" Her breath hitched as she carefully took up the prized butterfly, but the radiance she practically exuded told him that it was the best thing he could have done.
He smiled, and retrieving the clip from her grasp, pinned the stray ringlets of chocolate curls up with it. As he stepped back to survey his handiwork, her eyes suddenly caught his, and his heart skipped a beat.
And there came a very unwanted interruption.
"Shyoko!"
Fuji turned to see Atobe, of all people, come swaggering down the street like he owned it.
"Atobe." He gave him a serene smile, covering the quite-near-to-exploding temper inside.
The grey-haired boy gave him a curt nod, before turning his full attention to Shyoko. Whom, he noted with some satisfaction, was quite surprised and a little irritated to see Atobe. But then again, that brief flash of annoyance could just have been his imagination...
A big, flashy bouquet of flowers made its appearance.
"Congratulations on the win, Shyoko..." Fuji thought that giving flowers was an extraordinarily gracious gesture of loss. Too gracious, in fact. But before he could send warning signals to Atobe, the rest of the sentence shocked him into utter silence.
"...and happy birthday."
Atobe looked at the pure shock in Fuji's eyes, and silently thanked Yanagi. Data-collecting skills could be beneficial indeed...
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Fuji had gone through the list of impromptu gifts he could conjure up on the spot, and none seemed at all suitable for Shyoko. He nearly burst out laughing at the thought of giving her bath salts, but soon sobered up. Maybe there was still enough time to slip into a nearby shop and buy a gift...
He suddenly stopped walking, as a brainwave hit him.
"Could we drop by my house for a moment? I just need to take something."
Shyoko smiled. "Sure!"
They made a detour to Fuji's house, and as she walked through a leafy avenue, she reflected that Fuji lived in a really beautiful neighbourhood, much like himself.
"Saa, come on in!" Fuji led her to the living room, where he told her to make herself comfortable. "I'll just be a minute."
She was looking around when a young woman emerged from one of the rooms.
"Ah, you're Syuusuke's doubles partner, aren't you?" The light-haired woman gave her a cordial smile.
"H-hai." She smiled back, and wondered what was it about the Fuji siblings that there was always that ethereal quality in their smile. Perhaps it was in the genes.
"Nee-san! You're back early!" Fuji entered the living area, his ever-present smile stretching wider as he saw his older sister.
"We were let off early today..." She explained. "What are you doing, Syuusuke?"
He smiled. "Oh, I just popped in to take this." He held up a small, plain notebook.
"Shall we go then?" He took Shyoko's hand before saying a cheery, "Itte kimasu!"
He was out of the door before Yumiko could even reply with an "Itterasshai". And she couldn't help but wonder what he was up to now.
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They sat down beneath some leafy trees, neither talking much – just content to bask in the companiable silence. Presently, Fuji spoke.
"This is for you."
She received the proffered book with a mixture of curiousity and apprehension. After all, who knew what Fuji's idea of a gift might be like?
Flipping through the pages, she caught a glimpse of her own picture and started. A quick scan soon told her that it was a scrapbook of sorts about her. She could feel her face heating up as she thanked Fuji profusely, and wondered at the fact that he actually bothered to make a scrapbook for her.
"Saa, take your time to read it. You never know, there might be something interesting in there…" His smile was suspiciously bright.
She nodded, and made a mental note to read it extra carefully that night. As she stuffed it in her bag, she had a sudden vision of Inui-like information pouring out of the book and flooding her room.
Perhaps she should take extra safety precautions – you could never tell what Fuji was up to.
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Later that night, however, Shyoko found herself reading far into the wee hours of the morning, spellbound by the story-like quality of the book. Each page held a photo, or a memento of some kind, or even just a simple doodle with some hastily scribbled notes on the margins. It was as if she had just been offered a glimpse into how Fuji's brain worked, and that in itself was the chance of a lifetime. She read on, at times chuckling out loud, sometimes frowning at the most embarrassing moments which Fuji chose to immortalise in this book, and still at other times, blushing. Oh yes, she did a lot of blushing – especially when it came to the handwritten notes and the rather… imaginative doodles. She had never known till now that Fuji periodically drew chibi pictures of them holding hands. They appeared quite often in the book, and she noticed that they grew progressively frequent.
But it wasn't until the last page that she had the shock of her life.
A single word, scrawled so small that it would have been all too easy to miss it.
She turned a deep shade of crimson, quite sure that she was dreaming. He couldn't have… surely he couldn't mean…
She couldn't sleep a single wink that night.
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The next day, Shyoko went to school determined to get the truth out of Fuji. Last night was definitely not an experience she wanted to undergo again. She didn't want to become an insomniac, no matter how novel it might sound. But intending to do something and actually doing it was altogether something different, as she found out that day.
When she caught a glimpse of the honey-haired tensai, she blushed violently and tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible. To her immense relief, he appeared not to notice her, thanks to Eiji's vociferous greeting. But her respite was short-lived. Fuji turned to her, the usual smile firmly in place.
"Ohayou."
She forced herself not to stammer as she replied his greeting.
"Saa, how did you celebrate your birthday yesterday?"
"Oh, nothing much, really. Just a cake and some candles." She shrugged; birthdays weren't a big occasion in her family.
"Really? It was your birthday yesterday?!" Eiji bounced excitedly. "Let's sing a belated birthday song to Shyoko, nya!"
And the more the class sang, the lower she sunk into her seat, wishing that she could disappear into the floor. She had never liked to be in the limelight anyway.
She shot a glance at Fuji, and immediately regretted doing so, for the soft smile on his face as he sang along ensured that her cheeks remained a rosy pink for the rest of the lesson.
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Finally, she gathered up enough courage to pull Fuji aside during lunch break. She dragged him into an empty corridor nearby, disregarding his unspoken question.
"Explain this to me, Fuji Syuusuke!" Panting slightly from the exertion, she pointed to the incriminating word in the notebook.
Fuji glanced at it, and froze. How could I have forgotten…?! I knew I should have checked before I gave it to her… Now what?
"I – I…" He tried to find a suitable explanation to salvage the situation.
"…I was practising my kanji!"
That had to be the lamest excuse he had ever come up with.
Shyoko, apparently, thought so too. "Fuji Syuusuke! Do you want me to make you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
Fuji felt his smile fade away. "You want the truth?"
She looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, and stop playing the fool."
"Well, the truth is…" He paused for a moment, debating on the merits and consequences of what he was about to do. But Fuji Syuusuke had never placed much importance on such things anyway, and he chose to follow his instincts instead.
"Well? What – " She was abruptly cut off as a pair of warm lips descended onto her own. Green eyes flew open in shock to meet twin cerulean orbs, and it was only a full minute after Fuji had pulled away that she managed to recover her wits enough to speak.
"Wh-"
But Fuji beat her to it. "Aishiteru, Shyoko."
It was debatable whether the burgundy colour of her cheeks or the pure shock on her face was more comical.
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Aishiteru - I love you.
So how was it? Review, ne? And any ideas on how you want it to end?