Reviews would be appreciated~

Sun And Sunflower

Yukimura x OC, Tokugawa x OC, Tanegashima x OC

Chapter Ten

Standing on the street court late at night with spotlights pointing at her and an audience watching her was not something that Haruka was quite used to. Things happened a little too quickly and she had little time to digest what was going on. She was the one who got into trouble with one ice cream cone but Yukimura was the one who took on the deal offered by the girl's boyfriend. Except, the street court they went to was a doubles only court. And she was picked to be Yukimura's partner by their opponents.

Watching the guy and the girl on the other side of the court, it was clear to see that they were doubles partners. And from the way they were interacting before, there was no doubt that they were a couple. Which could only mean that they would be perfectly in sync. Haruka trusted in Yukimura but she did not trust herself. Doubles meant having to rely on each other. Having one person taking on two, no matter how skilled he was, Yukimura would still be burdened.

With a racket borrowed from players on the court, Yukimura tapped Haruka behind the knees, making her bend them a little before giving her a gentle smile. "Don't look so scared," he said. "Do you trust me?"

"I do...but Sei-kun-"

"Do you remember that song we used to sing?" he suddenly asked. Haruka frowned. This was not the time to be reminiscing. "The song you made up? 'Good Morning, My Friends'."

"Good morning, my friends. The morning has come to an end-"

"You don't need to sing it," Yukimura let out a soft chuckle. "You still remember the dance that goes with it, right? Just move as I tell you to, okay?"

Although Haruka did not quite understand what he meant, she nodded. She was not bad at tennis; she was trained by Hikaru and Yukimura after all (though she only trained with Yukimura for two days before giving up because of his Spartan ways). But it had also been a while since she last played properly. The last time she ever played tennis was with Fuji before the camp started but that was just a friendly match that barely got serious at all.

As they stood on the court in position, their opponents got the first serve. The guy was standing at the baseline, looking smug as he served the ball. "Haru, the frog!" Her body moved instinctively to the left though her mind was still in a blur. So this was what Yukimura meant.

With Yukimura shouting the commands from the back, and Haruka moving accordingly in the front, they took the first game easily. Both Fuji and Shiraishi watching from the baseline had their eyebrows raised. "Frog? Rabbit?" Shiraishi asked. "That's a strange strategy, don't you think?"

"Don't forget the gecko," Fuji reminded. "It's strange but it works. Looks like Yukimura-kun is not only an excellent singles player but he can carry a weaker doubles partner perfectly well."

"Haru, gecko." Haruka moved to the right but their opponents seemed to have read her movement, understanding their strategy, hit the ball in Haruka's direction. "Hit it, Haru!" At Yukimura's command, Haruka swung her racket and returned the ball, catching their opponents by surprise and earning the last point to win them another game.

"I did it!" she gasped, running up to Yukimura to hug him.

"You did it," he smiled, squeezing her back.

It was frustrating for the guy to know that they were being beaten in straight games. They could not even get a single point off Yukimura and Haruka, not even when he was aiming for Haruka the weak link. And with his pride on the line (and to save himself from an argument with his girl), he thought of something that was not a fair move on his part. But all was fair in love and war, and this was war.

When Yukimura served, the guy returned the ball before running up to the net. He waited for Yukimura to shout his command at Haruka and moved at the same time. Just as he had wished, she moved a little too close to the net. He swung his racket back, looking as if he was going to return the ball but as he swung it forward, he aimed it at Haruka's head.

Haruka reacted to it but not fast enough. She took half a step back before the racket collided with her forehead, and she fell in pain. She had her hand pressed to her forehead but blood was already seeping through her fingers. The trio of room 201 rushed up to the girl, helping her off the court. "My bad, man," the guy smirked. "I was aiming for the ball, obviously. But looks like your little girlfriend got a little too close to the net. She's so tiny I didn't even see her."

"Haruka wouldn't be able to play," Fuji said. "But you need a partner to finish this match, don't you Yukimura-kun?"

"I was just thinking that you could fill in for Haru, Fuji-kun."

"Dude, your girlfriend is hurt and all you care about is the match? Some boyfriend you are."

"You just pissed off the two people you should never have pissed off," Shiraishi informed the guy.

While Yukimura and Fuji were ready to continue the match, the guy protested that it was unfair because his partner was a girl. They graciously allowed him to choose any partner from the players on the court and even offered to start the match anew. All the while, Shiraishi attended to Haruka. He had to pry her hand off her forehead, telling her that he was not going to hurt her but that he wanted to help her. She gave in eventually. The blood was coming from a cut but luckily, it was more of a scratch.

"We'll give you the first serve this time round," the guy smirked, hitting the ball over the net.

Fuji caught the ball in one hand, looking over to the guy. "How kind of you," he smiled. "Yukimura-kun, since Haruka got hurt, I'd like to end this quickly if you don't mind. I think fifteen minutes should be enough, don't you?"

"You're too generous, Fuji-kun," Yukimura said, looking over to the guy too. He was scared, needless to say, because both Yukimura and Fuji were glaring and while they had gentle features, the look in their eyes was more than enough to instill fear in him but he was trying not to let it show. "I was thinking five minutes."

When the match started again, each serve ended either with an ace or with less than three rally. It ended in a complete victory for both Yukimura and Fuji, much to the humiliation of their opponents. Without so much of a side glance, both Yukimura and Fuji got off the court and returned the rackets they borrowed before joining Shiraishi and Haruka.

They were both worried about their common friend while playing, the person who was injured during the match. Though, it seemed like Haruka was not one bit worried about herself or the match. Shiraishi had been so kind to help her stop the bleeding and even went to a nearby convenience store to get her some band-aids. While her two friends were working hard to get revenge for her, Haruka was busy choosing what design she wanted on her band-aid with Shiraishi instead.

"...no, that's Cinderella. I said Belle," Haruka pouted.

"Which one is Belle?"

"Beauty and the Beast?"

"That doesn't help at all!"

The only thing Yukimura and Fuji could do was laugh as they looked at each other. It seemed like their worrying was for nothing. While they expected for Haruka to be crying, worrying about them, it seemed like she was just the usual Haruka. Which was much of a relief to them.

Back at the festival, Koharu was following behind Irie as they were walking for what seemed like the millionth time around the festival. That was all they did after he kidnapped her from her sisters. Irie did not say a single word, nor did it look like he planned to. Even as they were buying food, he would only point at something to ask if she wanted it instead of speaking. And it seemed like it was only uncomfortable for Koharu. Every time she tried to ask him something, Irie would simply look the other way.

The longer she spent with Irie, the more she wished she was with her sisters. Even the company of Haruko sounded much more appealing than Irie's. But just as she was about to sneak off, Irie suddenly grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers and looked down at her with the perfect smile. Somehow, Koharu felt more intimidated by the smile than she did comforted.

"You must be tired after all that walking. Shall we get on the Ferris Wheel?" Irie asked.

"Huh?" Not used to the talking so suddenly, Koharu zoned out a little. And in that small moment of hesitation, Irie dragged her along, not letting go of her hand at all. "Wait a second, where are you taking me?"

"Oh, Irie."

"Oh my, if it isn't Oni and Kazuya," Irie smiled. "I didn't peg the two of you as the festival type."

"Well, everyone was going so I thought we should too."

While Oni and Irie talked, both Tokugawa and Koharu kept quiet. She was avoiding eye contact while he had his eyes fixed on her hand in Irie's. "If I knew you were coming, I would have asked you to join us," Iriei said. "Just kidding~ Koharu-chan and I are on a date. There's no way I would have asked you to be the third and fourth wheel."

"Since when are we-"

A squeeze on her hand told Koharu to shut up and she did just that. She was starting to suspect that Irie was not wanting to spend time with her but had ulterior motives. What those motives were, however, Koharu was not quite sure. "Well then, if you don't mind, Koharu-chan and I are heading to the Ferris Wheel. I shall see you guys back at the camp."

With a brief goodbye, Irie pulled Koharu with him and left the other two. She could not help but glance over her shoulder, looking to Tokugawa. Part of her was hoping that he would reach out and grab her hand, telling Irie that this was no date because Koharu was his. But a much bigger part of her knew that it was not going to happen and so, she dipped her head a little in disappointment and freed her hand from Irie's.

Although she was not quite willing, Koharu ended up in a carriage with Irie on the Ferris Wheel though they sat on opposite sides. She stared out of the glass window, watching as everything below them slowly became smaller as they were going up higher. She placed her hand on the glass and gently let out a small sigh. "Looks like the talk we had last time did not help you much," Irie suddenly said.

Koharu was snapped back to reality at his voice. The previous conversation they had on the roof was coming back to her. It did help, Irie's advice. She let go of the grudge she held against Tokugawa and she knew because she did not feel the slightest bit of anger when she saw him just now. But instead, it was replaced with misery. Every time she thought of Tokugawa, she felt like crying. And every time she saw him, she could feel a tug at her heartstrings and realise just how much she missed him.

"It helped," Koharu said softly, looking down at her knees. "But we only talked about my grudge last time. We talked about letting go of my anger towards...towards him. You didn't tell me how to deal with missing him."

"I'm sorry but I can't help you with that," Irie stated. "I can't help Haruka-chan with that, and neither could I with you. But I can tell you this, there's no use running away. You'll only miss him more the more you avoid him. Take Haruka-chan for example. Haven't you realised that she's a lot happier nowadays? I remember when she would come into camp, looking as if there's something on her mind all the time. But she's different this time round. And I think it has a lot to do with the boy, Yukimura Seiichi."

"So you're telling me to spend more time with him? How could I? You see the way he treats me."

"You and Kazuya both, you're very slow when it comes to relationships. I don't blame Kazuya, tennis is all his life is about after all. He's quite inexperienced with such things. But you're Miss Popular every you go. Surely you must have a few relationships before Kazuya?"

"Yes...but," Koharu sighed. "He's the first I ever asked out. It's usually the guys who ask me out."

"Arrogant," Irie smirked. "Shall we have a bet?" he suddenly asked. "We're only about halfway through the ride right now. So...in about ten minutes, when we reach the ground, Kazuya will be there waiting to take you away."

Koharu raised an eyebrow. If there was someone who knew Tokugawa better between them, it would be Irie. Koharu would not fight for the title. Though she had doubts that he knew Tokugawa that well. There was no way he would be waiting on the ground. "Alright. If you lose, I want to go one more round on the Ferris Wheel."

"Deal. And if you lose, I would like for you to be honest about your feelings with Kazuya. Don't waste my efforts. Don't look at me like that. Of course I had my reasons for taking you away from your sisters. If there was someone I really wanted to enjoy the festival with, I would have taken Haruka-chan. It's not enjoyable at all when all you think about is Kazuya."

Half of Koharu wanted to win because she believed in herself. She believed that Tokugawa would not be waiting for them. Why would he? Since their break-up, he never contacted her. He never said anything to her either, whenever they saw each other at the camp. It was as if they did not know each other to begin with. Yet, the other half was hoping for Tokugawa to be right there on the ground. Because it would show that he cared. That he still had feelings for her.

She had her face pressed to the glass, looking out onto the festival as they were finally descending. Koharu could feel her heart beating faster the closer they got to the ground. Irie simply smirked, crossing his legs while waiting for the ride to come to an end. No matter how hard she looked, however, Koharu could not see Tokugawa and he was never hard to miss. Disappointment was starting to settle in as they were soon on the ground, the next carriage to get off.

But as if they were in a drama, the second before the door to their carriage opened, Tokugawa was pushing through the crowd. Koharu's eyes met with his and in that moment, she smiled. As soon as the door opened, Koharu stepped up and without hesitation, walked up to Tokugawa. And he, without hesitation, took her hand into his, disappearing into the crowd with her. "Don't forget our deal, Koharu-chan!" Irie called after her.

"Whatcha wanna do, Lil Spring?"

"Oh, that looks delicious, Lil Spring! Let's try!"

"Hey look, Lil Spring!"

Those were only a few of the many comments Tanegashima said to Haruko throughout the night. No matter how hard she tried to lose him in the crowd, somehow, he would always find his way back to her. By this point, Haruko had given up on losing him. She was more annoyed with the fact that he found a loophole in their agreement after all.

Still, despite finding it irritating, Haruko was somehow enjoying the festival with Tanegashima. Every stall that he asked to visit turned out to be good. They played several games together, winning many of the prizes but Haruko gave them all to the children who gathered to watch the duo. And every food stall he brought her too was delicious. If people did not know any better, they would have thought that they were a couple on a date at the festival.

Tanegashima had been the one taking the initiative, suggesting this and that to do. But as they were passing by what seemed like a mini arcade, Haruko stopped. She spent a lot of her time in the arcade back in middle school. She still went often in high school. It was the one place where she could be alone and do something by herself without looking out of place. As an instinct, she turned her body towards the mini arcade, walking right up to the counter to exchange some coins. As he turned around to talk, Tanegashima frowned when he saw that Haruko was missing.

He retraced his steps and found her in the mini arcade, standing in front of the claw machine with a small group of children surrounding her. Tanegashima joined the children, watching as Haruko skilfully grab every single toy in the machine successfully. She dropped most of them just to the side of the drop hole, however, winning the exact number of toys to the number of children surrounding her.

"I didn't know ya so good at that," Tanegashima grinned.

"It comes with practice," Haruko shrugged, leaving the arcade after having her fun.

"But why do ya leave them by the drop hole? With ya skills, ya could win them all!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Haruko asked. "I used to spend a lot of my time in arcades when I was younger. When Hikaru stopped playing tennis with me, it felt weird to practice by myself. And I didn't click with Koharu or Haruka at all so I didn't like any kind of activities that they did. No matter what people say, they would still give you weird looks whenever you're out in public doing something alone. Eating alone, shopping alone...they always look at you like you're an outsider."

For the first time ever, Haruko was actually having a conversation with Tanegashima. On her own accord. And for the first time ever, Tanegashima simply listened.

"That was when I started going to the arcade. You didn't have to go with friends although quite a lot of people did. You could just go in, sit at any machine, and start playing. They only cared about whether or not you were good. If you were good, they would gather to watch. If you weren't, they wouldn't bother you. And almost all the games in an arcade could be played by yourself. I won so many tickets and prizes that the arcade near my home just lets me play for free."

"I would do anythin' with ya, Lil Spring," Tanegashima smiled. "I would never let you be alone."

Haruko stared into Tanegashima's eyes, knowing that he was being serious. This was not the usual playful Tanegashima who teased her with every word that came out of his mouth. This was Tanegashima being serious, making a promise like a boyfriend would.

"Whatever."

"Just whatever? Not 'leave me alone'?"

"Whatever."