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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN Prince of Tennis NOT EVEN ITS AWESOME CHARACTERS!!! though of course, a fangirl could always claim…
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Chapter 18
Secret
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The sky had already turned deep orange and Sachimi Mai still refused to go to back to the Nozomi household. She sat on a concrete bench at Tsuyu Tei Park, and shuffled her feet; the soft winter breeze played with her thick pigtailed brown locks.
A cup was shoved before her, startling the girl.
"It's hot chocolate." Said Kikumaru, "Take it, it's my treat."
Kikumaru volunteered to accompany Mai and Atsuyo to the Nozomi residence, Kawamura went with them; but Mai told them that she'd like to go to the park instead, so Kawamura and Atsuyo went ahead (though Atsuyo told Mai that she'd be waiting for her so that they could eat dinner together.) while Kikumaru and Mai went to the park.
Mai reluctantly took the mug, and stared at the thick warm delicious liquid that gave off an aroma which almost shouted, "Drink me! Drink me!"
"Thank you, Eiji-senpai." The girl smiled at him. She took a sip, and squinted her eyes, "Yummy!"
Kikumaru took the seat beside Mai and took a mouthful from his own mug. He gazed at Mai. Once again, she looked sad… actually, she looked a lot sadder than the last time he saw her.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot…" Kikumaru rummaged his pocket (setting down the cup first, of course) and found the pink wallet that he found days ago. He showed it to Mai, "I think this is yours, Sachimi-chan."
Mai's eyes widened as Kikumaru showed her the found item; she said in an almost hushed voice, "My pouch…" she looked up at the boy, "You found it…"
"You dropped this last time." he replied as he gave the wallet to the girl.
"T-thank you." She took the pouch and held it tight.
It was very unlike the Mai that Kikumaru would see when they were practicing, not even when she was at her own school.
The Mai that everyone seemed to know was energetic, loud, happy and a strong person… The girl before him showed no trail of that girl, and at that precise moment, Mai seemed to be frail, sad, and unprotected.
Girls are very strange creatures…
"E-Eiji-senpai?" Mai looked at him with worried eyes, "Are you OK?"
You're the one who's not OK, Sachimi-chan!
"Of course! Ne, after finishing this-" he pertained to the cup of hot chocolate, "-since it's still early, let's go at this place I know!"
Mai watched the boy intently, and found herself in a fleeting stardust. She shook her head and reminded herself that she has a boyfriend and she loves Teruo-kun very much. But how can she turn down a person who has been so nice to her?
A small smile graced her lips, "Sure, Eiji-senpai."
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After finishing the tasty liquid chocolate, the two hurriedly went to the place that Kikumaru told her.
A pet shop filled with different kinds of dogs, cats, birds, rats, rabbits, and other animals.
"Kya! Rabbits are so cute!" Mai exclaimed as she watched a white rabbit with a spot on its right eye jumped. Kikumaru felt a swelling feeling of happiness when he saw her eyes lit up, not with sadness, but quite the opposite.
"You like it?" asked Kikumaru. Mai nodded enthusiastically, she then spotted a glass cage. Different breeds of dogs ran around, some were asleep and a few ones were leaning on the glass.
"Kya! Siberian husky!" she put her hands on the glass as she watched a little gray and white puppy catch its tail.
Kikumaru went beside her, "I prefer cats, hoi, hoi, nya!"
"It's about personal preference, isn't it, Eiji-senpai?" She turned at him and stuck her tongue out. Then she went back to the rabbits' pen, and continued to ogle at the little critters.
Once more, joy lit up her then-saddened face.
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They visited every pet shop they could go to, and Kikumaru had just found another "pet shop tourist". Mai seemed to enjoy looking at the pets, and even dragged Kikumaru to the next shop, and the next. The two laughed as they exited the last shop wherein they knocked some of the pet foods and almost got scolded by the owner. They slowed down when they got to the corner and stopped right before a small ice cream store.
They looked at each other and laughed like crazy.
"Ha ha… that was fun!" exclaimed Mai, bending down, with her hands on her knees, holding her up. Kikumaru huffed.
"Yeah…" Kikumaru noticed the booth. He gestured at Mai, saying they should take some. Mai quirked a brow.
"But it's freezing!"
"I know."
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"So… that's why you're called the Golden Pair…" Mai trailed off, as she licked some of her cheese flavored ice cream.
I hope we're not looking like we're dating or anything… she thought.
It was almost six in the evening and the two sat together at the kiosk. The chairs were arranged in twos, and the tables were a little farther from each other.
She looked at the guy opposite her and smiled. He was busy trying to lick the melting ice cream at the sides; he then noticed her staring at him.
"Nya?"
"N-nothing." She stuttered and immediately diverted her attention to the melting ice cream. It was Kikumaru's turn to stare at her.
As he finished eating, he rested his chin on one hand and gazed at the now conscious girl.
"W-what are you looking at? Do I have dirt on my face?" her brows wrinkled. Kikumaru shook his head but continued to stare at her nonetheless.
Mai felt Kikumaru's gaze at her as she tried to shrug it off; an unfamiliar heat on her face crept at her, and when she accidentally looked into his blue orbs, she felt her heart beat faster.
She shook herself and chanted on her mind that she can't, and couldn't feel anything for her senpai… anything more than friends. She thought that she might just be feeling this way because Teruo wasn't exactly the "affectionate" boyfriend…
"Ne, Sachimi-chan."
Mai brushed off her blush. Yes, Eji-senpai is just a friend. Of course.
"Hm?"
"How are you and your boyfriend?" he suddenly asked.
Mai looked at him, "Eiji-senpai, why'd you ask?"
"Nothing." Kikumaru shrugged.
Mai licked her lips clean as she finished her ice cream, "We're OK… well sort of."
"Sort of?"
Mai nodded.
You're so nosy, Eiji-senpai.
"How come?"
"Eh?"
"I mean, why sort of?" Kikumaru added, "Sort of good, sort of bad… what?"
Mai smirked, "You're nosy, Eiji-senpai." Kikumaru gazed at her with surprise.
"You think so? Inui's a lot nosier than I could be." He looked away from her, his nose up in the air.
The girl smiled at him. She fiddled with her fingers.
"You're really a friendly person, ne, Eiji-senpai…" she bit her lip, "But I really can't tell you about it."
"Nya? Why?"
She plastered a mocking smile, "You might go jealous of our sweetness, baka senpai, because you don't have a girlfriend."
"Kya!" Kikumaru pouted, "You're mean!"
She laughed heartily, but somehow, as Kikumaru looked into her eyes, they told him that she was lying.
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In his room, Kikumaru plopped on his bed, his arms outstretched. He felt the comfort of the cushion underneath him, and then he threw his arm over his eyes.
Kikumaru's fists clenched and unclenched, he gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes and remembered slightly the sadness that dawned on her face as she talked to him.
It was the same unhappiness that was present on her eyes when he went to their school once and found her sitting alone there. He turned to his side and opened his eyes.
"You're really a friendly person, Eiji-senpai…"
"But I really can't tell you about it."
Kikumaru pulled his pillow and covered his face with it. He couldn't understand his self for feeling so down quite lately. The image of the sad brown haired girl on the park had once again entered his mind.
All he wanted this time was to see her smile again. He couldn't believe that even when he accompanied her back to the Nozomi's, she was still trying to cover the melancholy that she felt.
His melodramatic mode was broken by his sister's voice.
"Eiji, dinner's ready!"
Kikumaru got up from his bed, "Coming!"
He shook his self, he can't look bad in front of his family.
After dinner, when he was brushing his teeth, he thought, "Ok, I'm done regretting it! All I got to do now is make sure Sachimi-chan will really smile next time!"
And he had a good night's sleep, with his beloved teddy bear, Daigoru, of course.
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In another room, just some blocks away from the Kikumaru residence…
As Atsuyo's sleeping soundly on the underside of the double-deck bed, the young occupant of the top bed kept on turning around.
With her eyes closed, the dreaming Mai said, "Arigatou… Eiji-senpai…"
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A/N: Yesssshhhh… at last, I finished my eighteenth chapter… and nope, I'm not yet finished… not even half-way, cause it's still rumbled a bit… but additional ideas are very much helpful. Even though I put a lot of chapters in one go, I still check if there's any new ideas from the readers… it's because I do the chapters at home, whenever I have extra time (which will now be slowly diminished…because I will now have classes…) and then I go to the nearest computer rental and surf the net (which isn't the least cheap!)…
BTW, do you think my OCs are Mary Sues? I just saw that this fic is in a C2… of Mary Sues and no0bs… I'm embarrassed… huhuhu… hehehe.
Oh well… thank you for those who reviewed the fic! Thank you! Hearts for you!