Thank you everyone for being patient with me. I would have updated sooner but I was working on my dissertation. I'm so happy to have my rough draft turned in. Now I just need to do some editing and get ready for my defense :] Thank you everyone for reading and supporting this story.
I was glad Ootori was kind enough to walk me home. I wanted to spend as much time with him. He's seriously one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He's so tall and awkward. Just like a giraffe. I giggled while snuggling the stuff giraffe closer to me.
"What's so funny?" Ootori asked.
"N-nothing." I blushed. I was not ready to admit that I was pretending that the stuffed giraffe was him.
"Tell me." He encouraged pinching my cheek. I slapped his hand away and laughed.
"No, I don't want to." He went in for my cheeks again. I tried to take a step back away from him to avoid getting my cheeks pinched but I ended up tripping over myself. Luckily Ootori was quick enough to catch me before I hit the ground. I had the urge to get up and hug him but before I could act on it a force pulled away Ootori. Syusuke was standing in between us with his always-present smile.
"Onii-san!" My eyes sparkled at the sight of my big brother. I quickly hugged him.
"Rina, go ahead inside. I'll make sure Ootori-san heads home alright." He pat my head and ushered me inside. Before going inside I turned around and waved good-bye to Ootori. Once I was out of view, Syusuke's smile vanished.
"Ootori-san, what are you attentions with my sister?"
"I have no ill attentions towards your sister. I would like to continue seeing her smile." Ootori responded honestly.
"You won't be able to protect her." Syusuke stated before heading back inside. Deep in his heart, he knows that he is the only one that can properly take care of Rina. He's made that promise long ago and has no intention of breaking it.
"I'll be the type of man that will protect her." Ootori made a promise of his own.
For the next couple days, Ootori and I have been emailing one another back and forth. With every message sent, I feel like I'm becoming closer to him. I've never felt this way about a guy before. When I told Ayano my feelings, she told me I was falling in love. It doesn't feel like love to me. Love is what I feel for Syusuke. All Ayano could do was laugh and call me cute. While chatting with my friend I received a message from Ootori.
"Fuji-san, do you want to go on a date with me this Sunday?" I squealed in delight at his invitation. It's going to be our second date. I have to tell Onii-san.
"Onii-san, Onii-san!" I left my classroom to see Syusuke to tell him the exciting news.
"Yo, Fuji. There's a girl looking for you." One of his classmates informed Fuji while I was waiting for him.
"Ooo, your girlfriend? She's cute!" One of his other classmates commented and whistled at me. Syusuke got up from his seat and "accidently" dropped his textbook on the guy's head.
"Oops. My hand slipped." Fuji "apologized" with no sincerity. All the guy could do was remain silent. He didn't have the guts to piss off the genius any more than he already had.
"You shouldn't have done that nyah~" Kikumaru laughed.
I was afraid of the all the guys in the room, especially the one that called me out. Guys are seriously scary. My face brightened up again when Syusuke came up to me.
"Shall we take a walk?" He offered. Syusuke could tell I was uncomfortable. I nodded my head and followed him.
"Onii-san, I have another date with Ootori this weekend!" I chirped happily. Syusuke stopped in his tracks and looked at me, a smile on his face like always.
"You can't go." Syusuke quickly retorted.
"Why?" I frowned, my excitement was going down.
"Because we're visiting Kojirou this weekend." Syusuke responded. Syusuke made a mental note to called his childhood friend to announce their surprise visit.
"We're going to see Ko-niisan? I haven't seen him since we've moved." My eyes sparkled in excitement. I grew up along side Saeki Kojirou. He was there to save me alongside my brothers when that terrible incident happened. I wonder what he looks like now.
"I guess you won't be going on that date this weekend" Syusuke smilked.
"I guess not. I'll just ask him to reschedule." I responded. I hope he wouldn't mind. Plus, I haven't actually given him a response to his invitation. I was way too excited to tell my brother to even respond to it. I quickly texted Ootori that I was going to be busy this Sunday. There was no way I was going to miss out seeing an old childhood friend. When he responded to my text for some odd reason I felt a little sick in the pits of my stomach. Just from a text message, I could tell that Ootori was really disappointed declining the invitation. I made a mental note to make it up to him later.
"Maybe I could buy him a small souvenir later." I softly smiled to myself.
"What was that?" Syusuke raised an eyebrow.
"Oh nothing." I chirped and we continued our walk around the school.
That night, I decided to call Ootori. To be honest, I felt really nervous to call him. All we've done was text but a phone conversation was too nerve wracking to even think about. When it comes to text messaging, it gave me a little bit more time to think about my response. I just didn't want to say anything stupid to him. After the fourth ring, he picked up.
"Moshi Moshi?" I couldn't remember the last time I heard his voice. It sounded so nice through the phone.
"Moshi Moshi. It's Fuji." I meekly responded.
"Fuji-san! I didn't expect you to call!" He said. Oh no. Am I bothering him? He's probably studying or practicing the piano. I should have told him ahead of time. But I had the urge to speak to him.
"Oh. Sorry for the bother. Are you busy?" I apologized.
"Oh no! It's no bother at all. I'm not busy. Actually, I 'm really glad you called me. I've always wanted to call you myself but I was really nervous." I couldn't help but giggle at his comment. I felt better knowing that we both were feeling the same.
"Did you do anything exciting today?" He asked.
"Nothing really…wait! I did. I watched my Onii-san play tennis today. He's amazing as always. He played a practice game with one Kaidoh-san and won by a landslide. Onii-san was also very humble about everything. He gave pointers to Kaidoh-kun to improve his skills. Onii-san is so perfect. " I thought back to earlier today. "Do you want to know something funny?"
"What's funny?" He asked.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to marry my brother." I laughed. It was cute then, but if I were to say that now, it would be scandalous.
"I'm not surprised. Most girls that age wanted to marry their older brother or father. I remember when my sister and I were kids, she always wanted to marry our father." He laughed at his own childhood memories.
"Life was much simpler when we were kids." I commented.
"That's true. Everything was black and white. Now everything is gray." Ootori responded.
"Exactly. When you like something you would openly say it. At this age, I feel like people are not expressing themselves and bottling everything." My mind wandered to Syusuke and Yuuta. They had a lot of trouble these past couple years. If they openly said expressed their feelings, I believe that they will grow closer together as brothers. I hate that we're separated. Syusuke, Yuuta, and I were supposed to be going to school together. We're supposed to walk home together and have dinner with Onee-san. I can still only dream.
"Fuji-san?" Ootori snapped me out of my daze.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" I apologized.
"No worries, seems like you were deep in thought. Do you want to tell me what's on your mind?" He seemed genuinely worried.
"Nothing too important. Just thinking about what you said. Everything would be a lot of simpler if people were to be more expressive."
"I know I won't be able to see you this weekend, but can we meet tomorrow after school? I want to tell you something but I can't say it over the phone." I was confused. What can he not say over the phone?
"Sure, but don't you have tennis practice?" We're taking a rest day for a game the next day.
"Game? Who are you playing against?" I was curious.
"Fudomine." He answered. I didn't know much about their team. The only team I care about is Seigaku.
"So I'll see you tomorrow? Let's meet at Tokyo Station." He said.
"Mm." I nodded my head.
"Good night, Fuji-san."
"Good night, Ootori-san." I touched end on my phone. My face was heated in embarrassment. What could possibly be so important that he couldn't tell me over the phone? I had a feeling the butterflies in my stomach won't go away till I find out tomorrow.