Ahh, I've decided to update ASAP, since many of you left thoughtful reviews about it. - Thank you. Really, thank you so much!!
New translations:
hakukakotai --- An albino person. If you didn't know, they are people with pure white hair and bright red eyes, who only have those colors because they have had some genetic mutations.
"Chikusho" --- This should be censored, but who cares!! This is What's the worst that could happen? Yea, it's "shit" in Japanese.
BEFORE YOU READ THIS, I would like to comment on the fact that this fanfic, I Write Real Dramas, Not Fairytales! I Think, is like an anime series, meaning that sometimes it would have one of those ending theme songs. In this chapter, or more like episode,the ending song would be "Fall to Pieces" by Avril Lavigne. When its lyrics start showing, it means that the song is starting. It ends halfway, only through the first chorus. I've listened to it while reading the end of this chappie, and it really does work well, doesn't it? - Enjoy!
Chapter 6
"It's interesting. Spying on Seigaku is a lot more fun than I thought. Un, I saw the pack go inside the hotel yesterday."
Atobe Keigo sat in his velvet chair, comfortably seated like royalty. Well, he almost is like royalty, considering the fact that he owns many, many vacation homes---even one in Yamanashiken. Surprise, surprise.
He flicked his hair in a graceful manner and smiled. He was on the phone. "Ore-sama won't let you down." With that, he hung up.
Why was the famous Hyotei tennis player at the same place where Seigaku has escaped to for the holidays? Well, first answer one question: If the Seigaku principal announced that the ninth graders were going on a getaway, what was Momo doing on the plane when he's in eighth grade? The entire Sigaku tennis club went to Yamanashiken not for a vacation, but for some special training. No one knew this, of course, but the confrontation with Fudomine in the district preliminaries gave Ryuzaki-sensei, the ever-strict coach, a real reality check and everyone had to work harder. She had been on the plane ride too.
The man who called himself "ore-sama" had been on his private jet and had flown to their vacation site. He was simply curious with Seigaku; Hyotei had beaten them last year, but they didn't seem the same this year. They were stronger, better.
Atobe said to himself, "Really interesting..." He put a thoughtful finger to his chin. He got up to look at a sheet of paper that was tacked to his wall. He studied it.
"So, everyone at Seigaku's going nature hiking today... I think it won't hurt to make my appearance sometime today..."
-----------------------------------------
The sky was clear and bright, with a few clouds in sight. The air was fresh, as if a new wind had swept through all of Yamanashiken, highlighting its beautiful geographic scenery even more. A pack of birds flew and rested on a balcony railing of a very lavish hotel, bathing in the morning sun. They stared curiously through the nearby glass door, their eyes transfixed on two certain boys, one of whom stared at the other in horror.
"Nya..." Eiji did indeed sound afraid. "Fujiko, you...brought your cactus with you?"
Apparently Fuji didn't think it was that weird. He smiled as he placed it tenderly on top of a desk.
Eiji wanted to ask why, but instead he started another rather awkward conversation.
"What do you think of Aya?"
Fuji kept his closed eyes on the cactus. "Well, she's...different."
"I mean, what do you think of her?"
The honey-haired boy chuckled lightly. "What do you mean?" Eiji had been getting at this since yesterday.
Eiji looked up at the ceiling in thought and eventually noted, "She's real cute." He cupped his chin in his hands and rested his elbows on the desk, staring at Fuji. "Don't you think so, nya?"
He elbowed Fuji, forcing an answer out of him.
"Un."
Somewhere in another hotel room, a girl in a shrimp-like pose ruffled under the covers and sneezed.
Morning already? Meh...
Aya sniffled and got out of her bed, her capris and gigantic t-shirt weighing down on her. She always wore baggy clothes to sleep and wore her long, dark cardinal hair in braids. She rubbed her scalp, and somehow her forehead felt cool. This would be one of her good days when she can actually, if not impossibly, think straight.
"Huh?" She made a face when she saw that her door was unlocked. She shrugged it off; yesterday wasn't one of her good days...she thought too much, and that just made everything more complicated than it has to be.
Aya mumbled while brushing her teeth, "Okay...so yesterday was a bit...awkward. But!! Today can't possibly be any worse than yesterday." She focused her attention to a piece of paper tacked on the wall. The activity schedule. "Mmm, let's see...today we'll be..."
Her eyes widened. ...Nature hiking?! "No, you're kidding!!! WAH!!"
The time on her watch startled her. She was going to be late!!
She quickly rinsed her mouth and wiped it with a towel. She jumped out of the room and nearly tripped over a cat that was walking down the halls. "Gomen!!" she yelled back while running.
Suddenly, when her head was turned back, she bumped into someone.
"Oof!!" She didn't fall back but steadied herself while apologizing. "Sumimasen!! I'm so so so sorry!" She ran past him too, never getting a chance to catch his face.
Fuji opened his eyes in surprise. That was... "Minase-san...?" He was on his way outside, too, but he momentarily stopped to study what the running figure was wearing. Army capris and a men's extra large t-shirt?
When Aya finally reached the hotel parking lot, she placed her hands on her knees to rest for a few seconds. A couple of students who have noticed her arrival stared at her. One girl giggled.
But Aya hadn't noticed. Her attention was set on a girl who was chatting with a circle of girls.
"MIYU!!!"
Miyu turned around and saw Aya---the first thing she did was laugh.
"Oh my gosh, Aya!" Aya thought she was going to choke, because she was laughing so much.
"W-what? Is there something on my face?"
Miyu inhaled slowly and wiped a tear from her eye. "Ha ha. It's good to see you again...I should've expected this!"
"Expected what?"
"Look, Aya...just what are you wearing!"
Aya's oblivious "Eh?" transformed into an incredulous "EHHHHH?!?!" once she saw herself wearing her sleep wear.
Miyu noticed something else about Aya and excused herself from her friends, who had been chatting and had not noticed Aya (surprisingly). Miyu then walked up to her and asked her in a quiet tone so no one can hear, "Aya, are you even wearing a bra?"
"Er..." She turned red. She wasn't!
"Dear God! What have you been doing?" Miyu felt another surge of laughter coming. "Maybe you should change before anyone else notices you!"
"Hey, you try getting ready with ten minutes left on the clock!!"
But Miyu noticed yet another fault with Aya's morning look. "And what's up with your hair? Did you even brush it?"
Aya's hands flew to her head. "Wha--?? Augh, I forgot about that...damn, don't rub it in!!"
"It's really good to be here with you, of all people," Miyu mused. "Okay, let's go ask the teacher and get yourself dressed."
"But we'll be behind everyone! The hike starts in ten minutes!"
"It's a-OK, we can just catch up later. C'mon!"
Aya sighed. Miyu asked the teacher and he gave the two of them permission to go back inside the hotel.
Once away from everybody and inside the hotel, Aya finally got a chance to ask, "So, Miyu, why're you here?"
She gave Aya this cocky look. "You know that I'm not going to let you have all the fun by yourself!"
"Ah, you mean Kunimitsu-san?"
It was Miyu's turn to go red. "I can't survive two weeks without seeing him! So I thought, 'what the hell, I might as well go!' Oh, did I tell you about my plane ride? Y'see, there was this really, really freaky guy sitting next to me wearing this tie-dye 60's shirt and bell bottom jeans, and he had this weird chain around his neck---" She stopped, the sight of a familiar boy and classmate shutting her up.
"Shiho-san...! Minase-san."
Aya let out a small "GYA!!" and hid behind Miyu. She'd die if anyone but Miyu saw her like that.
It was Fuji. He was on his way out.
Miyu answered his quizzical look by saying, "We're going back inside the hotel so Aya can freshen up. Say, do you know where Tezuka-sama is?" She quickly changed the subject. "I haven't seen him."
Fuji's face changed into the usual smiling look at her question. There was the usual Miyu that 3-D knew. "Well, we were thinking of doing some special training at the base of the mountain."
"Great! We'll come along!! Just get Ryuzaki-sensei to call our chaperone and tell him we're going with the tennis club."
"De-demo---" Before Fuji could say anything, they ran past him, Miyu saying, "Wait for us while we get changed, okay?"
The 9th graders would've left by now. The poor guy had no choice but to disobey the rules and bring along two girls to their secret training.
Midway into the corridor to Aya's hotel room, after they were at a safe distance, Aya smacked Miyu upside the head. "What were you thinking??"
"I was thinking that I wanted to spend more time with Tezuka-sama!"
"But that means we'll have to be with the rest of the regulars, too!!"
"So? What's it to you?"
"I---"
--- don't like Fuji Syuusuke.
"...Miyu, it's just that I..."
...don't like Fuji Syuusuke!
"...It's just that..."
...I don't like Fuji Syuusuke!
"...It's just that I'm afraid of Inui."
Miyu raised a hearty eyebrow. "That's why? Aya, don't worry; the guy might look and act like a freak, but he won't stalk you or anything...although he stares at my Tezuka-sama all throughout his games..."
Aya just gave her a weak smile at the sight of the sudden change of mood. "Uh-huh." She shook her head. "Never mind, I'm not that scared of Inui now. I think I can survive."
...All I have to do is ignore him for the entire time.
In Aya's room, Miyu went on the phone and talked with her friends while Aya showered.
She undid her braid and let the water paste it on her shoulders. Oh, if only the shower could last forever so she'd never have to go back outside again! It was soothing, but she knew that she couldn't escape when Miyu started banging against the bathroom door in frustration.
"Aya!! Hurry up, I want to surprise Tezuka-sama!!"
She wrapped her hair in a towel and stared at herself in the mirror. She had broad shoulders; a distinctive facial line; long legs; a rich skin tone. "I guess I'm not that bad...but if looks are the only things I have to offer, what will become of me! I don't want to end up like...the giggly girl..."
A sheen of light reflected off her dark cardinal eyes. The giggly girl... what's her deal with Fuji?
"Augh, what am I thinking?? I don't care about anything like that. No. Way."
More door banging. "Aya!! Are you talking to yourself??"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!!"
-LATER-
A midget came into clear view outside. Aya recognized him as a regular, the same guy who she saw at the district preliminaries. He had gotten his eye injured, but he still beat the Fudomine guy.
"Um...Ochibi!" Aya had learned this from Eiji.
He twitched and turned around. "You're the...you're that hakukakotai girl's sister," he said, thinking of Aoi. On the day of the district preliminaries, she had driven her car to pick Aya up. Most people do mistake her for an Asian hakukakotai, because she's got the Minase family cardinal eyes and unnatural hair that she bleached, so they appeared purely white.
A vein popped on Aya's forehead. "What a way to be remembered, you little..."
"Hey, where's Fuji?" Miyu cut in, saving the two from a nasty argument. "He promised us to follow him to the training place..."
"Apparently everyone got tired of waiting for 2 hours and they pulled Fuji into practice to get his share of the tortue. I was sent here later," he replied in a bored tone.
Miyu punched Aya's arm. "Ow!"
"It's all your fault, Aya!! Now I won't be able to surprise Tezuka-sama!! Grr..."
"I'm sorry, okay?"
"Not okay!! What would you do if you wanted to surprise Fuji-kun but ended up arriving two hours late???"
NO!! She sharply turned to look at Ryoma. He couldn't possibly tell Fuji, could he??
The seventh grader's face revealed an amused smirk.
"GAHH!!! You'd better not tell anyone, or else I'll hammer your head into the ground and you'll be shorter than you are now!!!"
He twisted his cap, but the smirk remained. "Who ever said anything about telling? Is it Fuji-senpai you're interested in?" he added.
"Wha---!! How rude!! Don't they ever teach you rookies anything??"
"Calm down, senpai. I'm not interested in stuff like that."
By now, Aya's face was tomato-red, partially from the anger, but mostly from the embarrassment that someone besides Miyu got the wrong idea about Fuji. She desperately tried to keep her language PG-rated. "Listen, twerp, I don't care what you think of me, but if you do tell anyone, absolutely anyone about that false rumor that's coming from behind your rotten little teeth, I will kill you, then break in your grave and burn you, then burn you again and again until you've become a pathetic molecular pile of ashes' ashes!!!"
"Well, I'm not a big fan of cremation, but arigatou."
Miyu's face was also tomato-red now; she was, yet again, laughing so hard that her veins might pop out of her lungs and other internal organs.
"Hurry up" was all he said before walking off, the two girls trailing behind him to the base of Seigaku's training headquarters.
"I can't believe you wore platforms, baka." Aya studied her friend's heels.
Miyu stuck her tongue out. "Shut up! What would I do if I don't appear worthy for my drop-dead gorgeous future boyfriend?"
"Ha. Real cute, except you forget the fact that it's in the middle of the winter and you're wearing a babydoll halter top?" Aya was wearing a warm, small V-neck sweater. "What's up with that?"
Miyu suddenly linked her arm in Aya's. She gave one look at Ryoma to make sure he wasn't listening, and started her...theory:
"Okay, Aya, you swear you won't tell anyone? The reason why I'm dressed like this is so that Tezuka-sama will notice me, and then, if my plan works out perfectly, I'll sneeze---" she paused to demonstrate a fake sneeze. "---and he'll give me his jersey for keeps!! Or, at least he'll offer it to me or something. Isn't that romantic??"
"Sure...but work on that sneeze. It sounds totally fake."
All throughout the entire 1-hour walk, Miyu practiced her sneeze. Ryoma just sighed every once in a while and always trudged on ahead, never bothering to look back, wondering why the world is so wrong that a seventh grader has to baby-sit two immature "senpais."
But of the senpais wasn't that immature---she was indeed, naïve---; but "immature," if it can be helped, wasn't one of her qualities anymore. Although the "clumsy" part of her will never leave her side, it seems, because just as the three start to take a turn, she trips on a dead tree branch that was lying on the grass.
Aya collected herself from the fall. "Ita---!! That really hurt!!"
Miyu shook her head at her. She sighed, "You'd think you could've learned by now."
"Stop it. It really hurts!" Blood was flowing out of her knee and wetting her lower leg. "Do either of you have a Band-Aid?"
Ryoma helped her up. "Geez, lady."
"WHAT!!"
He sighed. "Can you walk?"
"I...I don't know."
He sighed again. "I'll go look for first aid."
"Wa—where??"
But Ryoma already took off. He was short, but he was pretty damn fast. "Baka," Aya breathed. What were they supposed to do while he's gone? I guess there's nothing to do but wait for him.
Aya leaned against Miyu for support. Momentarily, they saw someone come up the walkway.
Hmm? If this guy's this far into the trail, he must be heading for the tennis courts, too...
That "someone" was tall, dark, and handsome---at least, to his own two eyes.
He stopped when he saw the two people, blocking the walkway. "Is that any way to treat yourself?" was the first thing he asked, smiling. He stared at Aya's leg.
Miyu flinched and had a feeling that this suave debonair attitude wasn't just an every-day experience. "Who're you?"
He laughed lightly. "I'm no one you should take into consideration. I'm just here...for my own reasons." He felt his hair in a haughty manner. "You can say that I was never here."
He studied Aya's leg for a brief moment, and did the most unexpected thing that was definitely not on anyone's mind but his.
"H-hey---WHOA!!!"
He swept her in his arms, bridal-style, his hand on the crook of her knee and the other steadying her shoulder.
"WTF??? LET GO!!" A pink flush rushed over Aya's face.
"Let go and what? Leave you here to die while that boy runs off aimlessly somewhere?"
"We can manage surviving without your help, thanks!!" she said.
"The only people who would be walking so far into this trail are going to the tennis courts...aren't you?"
No one denied that, but Miyu said, "We're still waiting for our friend. He'll be back anytime now."
"Good. Then he can catch up." He started walking calmly through the grass. "It's just around the corner---see? It's right there."
A gray building and half a dozen tennis courts came into clear view; the sound of tennis could now be heard. "It'll only be ten minutes until we get there."
The mysterious rescuer smiled and Aya's heart suddenly pounded. They walked in silence, Aya clutching the guy's neck. Miyu followed behind and blushed ever so slightly, imagining what it would be like if she were in Tezuka's arms.
He placed Aya back on the ground gently once they reached a good distance. Aya muttered, "Arigatou...I think."
This mysterious stranger had already sensed something and turned around, expectant for something. He smiled, which meant that this was all according to plan, when he saw Inui and Ryoma standing behind him.
"If it isn't Hyoutei's very own captain, Atobe Keigo." Inui smiled a little. "I'm impressed."
"It'd be a shame if you weren't." He smiled in return.
Atobe closed his eyes for a moment, still smiling. Now he opened them. "Just for your own useful data...we're always a step ahead of you."
Before Aya could figure out what was going on, he left. Just like that. He wasn't really a rescuer, was he. But why did her heart pound like that?
Because...all the while he held her, Aya's mind raced with the same name: Fuji Syuusuke.
Why was that? That question would remain unanswered for a while...
Seigaku was smart for choosing an isolated tennis club on the base of a mountainside to practice. There, barely anyone showed up, so it was safe to do practically anything. The regulars were now practicing their swings, when the news were starting to spread.
"Atobe Keigo?" Fuji's smile faded.
"That's what I heard from Inui-senpai," said Momo. He frowned. "I thought I sensed something. Creeps. But the scoop was that he was seen...carrying..." His eyes drifted to where Aya was sitting.
Fuji said nothing.
Aya had no inkling that they were discussing about her. Instead, she was watching Tezuka have a practice match with Oishi. It seemed that Tezuka never actually had practice matches with anyone.
"Ah, you're still getting better." Oishi wiped the perspiration off his forehead with the back of his hand.
Tezuka relaxed his pose and flexed his left elbow a bit.
Miyu sneezed, setting her plan into action.
Tezuka gazed at Oishi. "You said Hyotei was here?"
"Ah-choo!!"
Oishi shrugged. "That's what I heard. Not to worry, though."
"Ah-CHOO!!"
"I know." He stopped flexing his elbow.
Aya laughed. Tezuka didn't even notice Miyu, whose patience was running out. "Ah-c---"
Kaidoh, practicing nearby, was running short on patience too. "Hey. That's aggravating."
Miyu ignored him and continued to sneeze like there would be no tomorrow.
Sakuno and her friend were there too. She and Tomoka made Ryoma a bento lunch.
There were signs of love everywhere.
"I---I think I'll go for a walk," Aya says, and stands up. Of course, nobody heard her. She was just stating it to whomever it may concern, but everyone was too preoccupied. "Maybe I'll just go back to the hotel now."
As much as she was fascinated by their training---crunches with weights on their backs, running long distances, et cetera... she was just not comfortable. It was as if she didn't belong there; she just stood there and watched, doing nothing.
Well, it's fine. I didn't want to come here in the first place. She walked through the exit and went back into the nature trail. She took hesitant steps at first, looking back through the glass screen to see Fuji laughing with the regulars. Then...then his smile seemed to drive her further, giving her the strength to walk off until she was too far see their tiny faces any longer.
Her leg healed slowly. Every step was painful, physically. It never occurred to her that she might be suffering emotional pains also.
"He's got An," she said after a long period of silence to herself. Trudging, she continued, "And even if they weren't together, he's got a million others to choose from."
Not counting me, she added.
The whole idea was unbelievably surreal! How could this guy whom she'd only known for half a month have such an effect on her?
Ah, beloved rain. It started to pour down, drenching Aya from top to bottom. "Chikusho."
She looked around for a place to dry off. As she looked around, she noticed something strange. "H-huh?"
There were no signs of the trail. She was lost.
-----------------------------------------
"Minna!!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted from a pavilion while everyone rushed in the rain, trying to grab towels. "Take a quick break."
"Saa!! That felt good!" Eiji gasped after quenching his thirst.
"It's been a while since we've worked this hard," Taka said.
"Kyaa!! Sakuno, hurry up!!" Tomo rushed under the protective roof of the pavilion while Sakuno got pelted by the rain. "You're gonna get all wet!!"
"I'm coming!" She covered her hair with her hands while dashing across the grass.
Ryoma was on his way to the shelter too, and slowed down to grab Sakuno's hand and pull her to the pavilion. Sakuno blushed.
The regulars were watching this. Momo, who could never let an opportunity like this slip by, whistled. "Youth in love," he smirked. Ryoma shot him a glare while Sakuno's face shot up the scale like a firecracker. She shuffled closer to Tomoka.
"Nyaaaa...isn't that cute?" Eiji perked.
Everybody laughed.
With the drizzle of rain in the background, Fuji watched this with melting eyes. Ah, ah, those sounds felt so familiar! One name constantly repeated itself in his head. That person could've been...
"What was that?" he thought, what was it that he felt when he found out about Atobe and Aya? It had nothing concerning him. So why He looked around and let his thoughts wander.
That's he realized. He bolted for the exit.
Shaaa...
The rain sang; Aya was caught in the middle of the melody, looking around, desperate. Was it this way? Which was did I come from?? DAMN!!
The soil beneath the soles of her shoes was starting to feel slippery, and everything was covered in thick mud. Her wound stung. God... She looked with disgust at the blood dripping out from it. She grabbed a handful of cool mud and smothered it all over the cut. She knew that the predicament she was in was all her fault and nobody else's, but she "Didn't have a choice in the first place!!"
A whistling sound brought her back to Earth. Its shrill sound rang across the dense treetops.
"EVERYONE!!" She shouted as she recognized the sound as the chaperones' signal whistle. The rest of the school was nearby! Without a moment's hesitation, she ran fast---or tried to, thanks to her cut---toward the sound. Momentarily, she had to stop.
"Lost?"
An Tachibana held an umbrella over herself, leaning over a low tree branch, surprising Aya. "Uh---"
"Did you run off from Fuji and the others again?"
The partial unwelcoming feeling in her question was hard to ignore.
"Uh, no---I-I was just taking a walk."
She giggled.
Aya could feel herself heating up. Does she think I'm pathetic??
"The others are nearby," she said, "you should come dry off."
"Yeah..."
Shouts in the distance interrupted them. There was no mistake that the regulars had formed a search party.
An gasped and slipped away.
It was indeed a sight. Miyu, Ryuzaki-sensei, Sakuno, and Tomoka were following too. Eiji was the first one to run up to her and ask, "Where were you??"
"I was---I was walking," she replied.
Momo saw someone: "---An!!" He dashed after her.
"Wait, Momo!!" Oishi shouted after Momo, who didn't cease running at top speed.
Everyone ran after Momoshiro. Everyone but Aya and Fuji.
Soon, Miyu and the others caught up. She saw the two and felt that she should urge Ryuzaki-sensei and the other two to follow the search of Momoshiro. They left also.
Aya didn't know what sort of facial expression he was wearing because she didn't face him. Fuji kneeled on the ground, ignoring the mud and rain.
"W-what are you doing, baka!!"
His smile reappeared.
"I'm returning a favor, Minase-san."
He took off his Seigaku jersey and tore it apart. He wiped the mud off Aya's knee with his hands and started working.
I looked away, then I look back at you
She stood there while he worked. It was a moment of complete silence, only the rain in the background; they were both drenched but that didn't seem to matter. When he was nearly done, he said, "We can look for the others soon."
You try to say the things that you can't undo
"Didn't I tell you that you were a fool?"
He looked up because her voice was breaking.
Aya had her hands to her face. "Why do you do this to me...?"
If I had my way, I'd never get over you
Today's the day, I pray that we make it through
"Minase-san...?"
Make it through the fall, make it through it all...
And I don't wanna fall to pieces, I just wanna sit and stare at you
I don't wanna talk about it; and I don't want a conversation,
I just wanna cry in front of you.
I don't wanna talk about it...
...'Cause I'm in love with you...
Thank you for reading!