When Ruri is ten, she decides she hates Kanou Shugo.
"Ruri, you should be spending more time on your academics," her mother tells her over dinner. "You can't be thinking about baseball all the time…"
Ruri, out of habit, tunes out the rest of her mother's constant nagging. That is, until her mother speaks of the name she is starting to loathe.
"You should be like Shugo-kun. His mother just told me he scored a ninety on his Math test recently."
Ruri speeds up the chewing of the chicken in her mouth, her eyes silently counting the grains of rice in her bowl.
"Kanou-basan says he stays at home during the weekends to study. You always go to the batting centre, even with all those baseball practices you go to!"
Ruri digs an oversized lump of rice and stuffs it into her mouth. She feels the back of her eyes burning up to the point she wishes they could flame up the pretty table cloth draped across their dining table.
"Shugo-kun—"
"I'm done," Ruri interrupts and stand abruptly. She does not need to listen to more of the now-daily lecture.
She carries her rice bowl to the sink and washes it, then heads to her room, slamming the door as hard as she can and locks it so no one can enter. She goes to her desk and slips on her earphone so she can't hear if her mother decides to knock on her door and reprimand her through it.
Maybe it is the competitive streak in her, or the fact that she can't stand her mother comparing her to that boy next door, that makes her reach for her Math homework and attempt the fifty questions on the worksheet. She solves thirty of them and ponders on the rest. It frustrates her to think that Kanou Shugo can probably finish the work within half an hour, while she still has twenty unanswered questions in double the time.
She gives up and packs her stationery and homework into her bag. There is no point if she doesn't understand the questions. It's due on Monday anyway, and she has the long weekend to ponder on them.
It is a Friday, and Ruri is arguing with her mother. Again.
"You're not to go out again until you're done with your homework!" her mother yells.
"I've finished them!" she retorts.
Her mother strides to her bag and pulls out a file, from which she pulls out the incomplete Math homework she refuses to touch anymore.
"What is this?" her mother says with a glare.
Ruri slams her fisted hand on her desk. She can't help it; her mother has invaded her privacy. Sure, she is just ten, but that doesn't mean her mother could ransack her bag. And it's fine if the homework has more than a few unanswered questions. The teacher would not penalize her if Ruri tells her she does not know how to solve them. Besides, she has done more than half the questions given.
"You looked through my things?!" she screeches, not caring whether her own voice has reached a pitch she does not usually like.
"I'm your mother," her mother shoots back without batting an eyelid, like it is the perfect answer. "It is my job to check if you've done your homework."
"You're just embarrassed that I'm not the perfect child!" Ruri screams without thinking. "In your mind, I'm always out playing and not staying at home to study for the perfect grades that Shugo always has! Why don't you be his mother then?"
She snatches her homework from her mother, and runs out of her home. There is no destination in mind; she just needed to be away from home and her exasperating mother. And she's going to make sure she stays out as late as she could.
Why am I hiding under a bush? Ruri asks herself.
An unwitting shiver runs through her, and that answers her own question: she is cold, very cold. It is in the middle of autumn, and she is just dressed in a thin shirt and a pair of shorts. She thanks her lucky stars that she is wearing her leggings from school as well, but her arms are still exposed to the cold weather.
She stays under the bushes, watching the front gate of the house she lives in, hoping that her mother might get out of the house for some grocery shopping so she could sneak in to get a jacket. It might not happen, since the family's refrigerator always seem to be stocked up with food.
She sighs, then her ears prick at the sound of shouting from the house across the street. Ruri hears the unusually loud voices of Shugo and his mother. Apparently, they are having a fight. She sighs again.
Seems like today is an "Argue With Mum" Day, she thinks to herself.
"I've finished my homework! I've practically memorized the textbooks I have!" she hears Shugo yell. "Why don't you let me go out and play?"
"You should be revising your work! How are you going to get into Mihoshi if you don't get good grades?" Oba-san responds angrily.
"Okaa-san! I'm THIRD in standard!"
"So? You could screw up your entrance exams! Revision is going to make sure you don't!"
"I've been revising EVERY DAY! Why can't I have fun like the other kids? You don't even let me go for club activities! It's embarrassing!"
"That's embarrassing? It is all for your own good, Shugo! Shugo! Where are you going?! Stop right there, young man!"
The front door of the Kanous bursts open, and Shugo comes running out. A moment later, his mother stands at the door, her body stiff with fury.
"FINE! GO OUT AND PLAY THEN! DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK LATER!"
Ruri looks at Oba-san, then at the running form of Shugo down the street. She sees and hears the door slamming, then looks at Shugo again, and runs after him.
"Why are you following me, Mihashi?"
"Why are you calling me Mihashi? That could mean Ren-ren too, you know?"
"I haven't talked to you in a while… so… That's beside the point! Why are you—"
"Following you? I thought you needed some company!"
"I don't need it!"
"Then just pretend I'm not with you then!"
Silence ensues. Only their footsteps can be heard, as Ruri follows him with no idea where the boy is heading to. She observes him and notices him carrying his bat. She has a bad feeling of where he is headed for.
"Where are you going, Kanou-kun?"
"Now why are you calling me Kanou? It could mean my younger brother, you know?" Shugo retorts with a smirk.
Ruri flushes at the slip of her tongue.
"It's the same reason as yours. We haven't talked to each other for a long time," she answers truthfully, with none of the smugness Shugo had thrown at her.
Shugo looks at her for a moment. His face is blank, and Ruri thinks it is rather unnerving.
"The batting centre," he finally says.
"Huh?"
"Where I'm going."
Ruri feels a surge of panic.
"Don't go there! That's the first place Okaa-san will go to look for me!"
Shugo seems shocked, and Ruri realizes why when she finds her own hands gripping his shoulders and staring straight into his wide-open eyes. She lets go quickly, and takes two steps away from him.
"Sorry," she apologizes softly.
Shugo looks at her expectantly, as she looks down and shuffles her feet.
"Truth is, I fought with Okaa-san too. She doesn't want me to go out and play, because I haven't finished my homework! It's not like I haven't done it; I just don't know how to solve those stupid questions!"
She looks up at him.
"I think Okaa-san likes you more. She's always saying how good your grades are, and how you're always staying home to study. But it's not all that great, isn't it?"
Shugo snorts.
"Damn right it's not! I can't go out and play with everyone, and I can't join the baseball club in practices. I think I'm might go crazy!"
"Yeah! Me too!"
Shugo suddenly looks at her pocket, and Ruri follows his gaze. A folded and crumpled piece of paper is sticking out, nearly dropping out of the pocket. She's forgotten about it until now.
"What's that?" he asks curiously.
"My Math homework! The one Okaa-san wants me to finish it before I go to the batting centre! And I couldn't call Kisuke-kun or Yamamaru-kun that I can't go because of Okaa-san."
Ruri watches the boy as he stands unmoving. She knows he is thinking, and could almost see the gears turning in that smart brain of his.
"Ruri, let's have a preposition," he says, after a long moment.
"A what?"
"A preposition."
Ruri looks back at him with confusion.
"Thanks, it's very helpful. Not every kid knows big words like you do."
Shugo sighs.
"A suggestion. An offer."
"Much better. So what are you offering?"
Shugo grins rather jubilantly.
"I'll help you with your homework if you play catch with me."
Ruri feels the same grin creeping into her face. She sticks out her hand and Shugo takes it.
"Deal!"
Maybe, just maybe, Shugo isn't that bad a boy. Maybe, just maybe, Ruri might like him more than she hates him.
A/N: I've skipped a few years down . And I'm finally nearing the ages I've completed! This chapter's a little rough, but I hope you've enjoyed it enough. I'll probably rewrite it so it'll be more bearable, so fret not! Cheers!
