Reviews would be appreciated~

Sun And Sunflower

Yukimura x OC, Tokugawa x OC, Tanegashima x OC

Chapter Eleven

When Tokugawa took her hand and pulled her away from the little date with Irie, Koharu could not be happier. They were zipping in and out the crowd, getting further and further away from the Ferris wheel. It felt like the first time they met and Koharu could not help the smile on her face getting bigger as her grip on Tokugawa's hand tightened. But then, she remembered Irie's words. If you lose, I would like for you to be honest about your feelings with Kazuya. And instantly, Koharu stopped and tugged her hand away from his.

Tokugawa stopped in his tracks too, and turned to see what was going on when the feeling of Koharu's smaller hand in his was gone. Koharu had her head down, looking at her hands. She could not bring herself to be honest about her feelings for Tokugawa. Not when she knew what his reaction would be. She had let go of her anger towards him but Koharu knew that she would never be able to go through another heartbreak, like the one a year ago.

"I..." Koharu stuttered with her words, but nothing more than an 'I' came out. She looked up at Tokugawa with a frown and even took a step back. "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

With those six words, Koharu turned and left Tokugawa without so much of a glance behind her. She used the crowd as her cover and before she knew it, she was on the edge of the festival where there were less people walking around. She only stopped when she knew for sure that she had lost Tokugawa. Stood by the side all by herself, Koharu was bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily to catch her breath.

She could already hear Irie's reprimanding voice, telling her off for not keeping her promise. Koharu could not, however. She could not bring herself to tell Tokugawa that yes, she still had feelings for him. Really strong feelings. She could not tell him that she still cried herself to sleep sometimes, despite it being a year already. She could not tell him that she wanted him back, she wanted their relationship once more.

Koharu placed her hand on her chest where her heart was, feeling a slight pain. This happened too, when they broke up. When he broke it up.

All along, Koharu never quite understood why they had to keep volunteering at the camp when the one reason why they even began volunteering was no longer there himself. It was somewhat a fun experience the first year they went to the U-17 camp but then it started becoming a chore. There was never a year that went by without Koharu complaining about having to go to the camp. This was the first year that she did not complain.

Because of him.

It was during the orientation trip when she first saw him. Koharu was working in the kitchen when the new group of campers were brought on a little tour of the camp. It was the most embarrassing moment of Koharu's life when the group came into the cafeteria while Koharu was bringing dishes into the kitchen, all dressed in the kitchen garb, completed with a hair net. That was when she saw him, the one who stood out the most within the crowd. He stood the tallest, and easily the best looking. But when he made eye contact with her, Koharu wanted to find a hole and just bury herself for the rest of her life.

But her confidence came right back during one lunch break. Koharu found the courage to finally sit next to him and talk, finally learning his name. Tokugawa Kazuya. He had been overseas the entire time, coming back to Japan to participate in the U-17 camp because it would help with his path onto professionalism in tennis. The more she talked to him, the more Koharu fell. For a girl who knew nothing about tennis, she was suddenly interested in the sport.

She did not know when they officially became a couple but it seemed like the natural thing to do as they were gradually getting closer. Back then, they were not allowed to leave camp so the only dates they could go on was spending time at the camp's café and meeting late in the night, just sitting with each other and talking about whatever. They were very different dates to what Koharu was used to but not once did she think they were bad in any way. In fact, those were the best times Koharu ever had.

It seemed a little far-fetched to think that they would last forever, but Koharu was hoping that they would last a significant amount of time at least. Less than two weeks into their relationship, it ended as quickly as it started.

~One year ago~

"Is he okay?"

As soon as Koharu heard the news, she rushed over to the infirmary where Tokugawa had been sent to. She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks the moment she laid eyes on the bandaged Tokugawa who did not acknowledge Koharu's presence at all. In fact, he was just sat on the bed, looking like his whole world had been crushed beyond repair. Irie was the one who stopped Koharu from getting any closer to Tokugawa, simply shaking his head as a signal that now was not a good time for whatever she had to say.

So Koharu waited.

She came by the infirmary every half hour or so, checking on Tokugawa. When dinner time rolled about, Koharu prepared a meal especially for her boyfriend, taking it down to the infirmary personally.

She placed the tray on the table in front of him, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. "I made your favourite," Koharu smiled. "I don't cook a lot but I asked my mum for her recipe. I got you natto too. Lots of it. Eat up." Koharu took each and every one of the plates on the tray off and placed them carefully on the table, hugging the tray to her body as she looked to Tokugawa with a bright smile. One that he did not return. "I know it doesn't look appealing at all but I promise you, it's edible," she joked, trying to relieve the tension a little.

Still, Tokugawa was not one bit interested in the food.

"When you're better, maybe we could have a date?" Koharu asked, changing the subject when she sensed that he had no interest in eating. "I know we can't go anywhere as always but, we could watch a movie. I'll borrow Haruko-nee's laptop and we could wat-"

"I'm getting kicked out of camp and all you care about is a date?"

His tone of voice was not quite something that Koharu was used to. In fact, he never used a tone like that with her at all. "We um...we could watch whatever you want." Koharu finished her sentence before Tokugawa interrupted her, pretending like he never did. "Or um...we could-"

"Stop it," Tokugawa said. This time, his tone was cold. Koharu looked up, staring at him with teary eyes. "Unless whatever you're going to say next can help me stay at the camp or beat Byoudoin, then don't say it. I don't need anything or anyone who can't help me."

"So you don't need me?"

By now, the tears were streaming down her cheeks and Koharu did not bother wiping them off. She knew that this was just Tokugawa speaking after his first defeat, he did not mean anything he said. Or at least, that was what she hoped. This was only temporary, was what she told herself. Soon, they would be back to being the couple they were, content with the simple dates they had in the camp. Soon, she would get the Tokugawa she fell in love with back. She tried to hypnotise herself into believing no matter what harsh words he threw at her, no matter how many silent treatments he gave her.

The harsh words eventually stopped, but the silent treatments never did. He never talked to her again since that night. Never even looked at her properly. Koharu visited him at the infirmary whenever she could until he got better and was eventually taken out of camp (up to the mountains). And even though Tokugawa eventually came back, it was never the same again. Tokugawa never looked her way but Koharu felt like crying every time she looked at him.

~Presently~

"Give me my melon bun!"

"Looks like you haven't grown for the last three years, Haru."

"Hey! I was taller than you in our first year!"

"That's...a little hard to believe, Haruka-san."

"Kura-kun, not you too!"

A group of voices pulled Koharu back to reality. Not too far away was her little sister with her group of friends. As she was watching the group, Koharu could not help but feel jealousy growing in her. Why did Haruka have everything in life? Why could she not have everything too? Why was Haruka able to enjoy the festival with the guy she liked when Koharu could not look at Tokugawa without her heart hurting?

"Oh, Koharu-nee!" The youngest Kobayashi grinned as soon as she saw her sister, running up to Koharu with a hug. "Did you have fun with Iri-nii?" There was no reply from Koharu, however, just silent staring. "Koharu-nee?"

"You seem happy."

"I am happy," Haruka smiled. "Look, Sei-kun, Shu-kun, and Kura-kun won all these for me!"

Looking down, Koharu saw the bag of prizes in Haruka's hand and the jealousy in her boiled over. Why was her sister allowed to be so happy when Koharu had to suffer all by herself? She was on the verge of bursting into tears yet Haruka had the brightest smile ever on her face. "Would you be as happy if he knew the truth about your transfer?"

It was a question out of the blue. Neither of the three guys knew what Koharu was talking about but Haruka did. Her eyes widened a little, surprised that her sister was talking in such a way, digging out a secret that their whole family had kept for three years. Koharu knew it was a low blow by her, but she could not help it. It was the one thing she knew that would destroy the happiness Haruka currently had. And evidently, it was working.

"Do you think he would still treat you the same if he knew the truth?" Koharu asked, her eyes glued on Yukimura. "If he knew, he was the reason why you transferred."

"Koharu-nee!"

"Haru? Is this true?"

"If you walked her to the station that day, she wou-"

"Stop it!"

Haruka could feel it, Yukimura's eyes on her. Even Fuji's and Shiraishi's. Her worst nightmare was coming true and it was by the hands of her very own sister. As to why, she had no idea. Ever since she could remember, her family had always been protective of her. When the incident happened, they all agreed to keep the lid on it. It was mainly to protect Haruka because she would wake screaming at night from her nightmares. They wanted to get on with life as if it never happened so the youngest Kobayashi could have a normal life. But that was ruined now by Koharu.

With no idea how to deal with the situation, Haruka took off. Fuji and Yukimura called out after her but with her small frame, she managed to snake herself into the crowd and disappear before any of them could catch up with her.

Whatever Koharu talked about, it was clearly something that Haruka did not want Yukimura to know about. It was something she did not want anyone to know about. And it seemed like she was not going to be shedding any light on it any time soon either because that morning, when Yukimura went to practice, Haruka was not there. He waited to see her, greeting him with the usual 'Good morning' and 'Good luck at practice' but she never appeared. When he was on the court, he was waiting to see Haruka bouncing around the corner with a basket of water bottles, complaining about how heavy it was despite the bright smile on her face.

Fuji too, kept looking over his shoulder, distracted from his practice. Every time a volunteer walked by, he would look. Every time what sounded like a girl talking, he would look. But each and every time, it was not Haruka.

They saw Koharu and Haruko but neither of them looked like they wanted to talk about where their sister went. Koharu barely spared any of them a look while Haruko was busying herself so she did not have to talk to them. She found out the night before, when she came back to the dorm, seeing Haruka crying her eyes out on her bed. Unlike her sister, Haruko was no blabbermouth.

That morning, Haruko went to Saito, asking if Haruka could take up duties up in the mountains instead and in about ten minutes after, her little sister was sent up the mountain. It was no strange place for Haruka. She had been there previous years, taking sake and whatnot to the drunken coach. She never thought, however, she would be returning to the mountain for such a reason. It felt like she was running away from her problems but that was what she had been doing for the last three years. Running. She did not think it was time to stop just yet.

"Oi, brat."

A familiar voice called out to Haruka as she was nearing the cabin at the top of the mountain. Haruka looked up, seeing the old coach who still looked drunk as always with an irritated look on his face. "Hey, old man," Haruka greeted, dragging her feet on the ground, holding up a gourd containing his sake as she walked up to the cabin. "That's for you."

"Heard you wanted to stay up here."

"Yeah, that's why I bought extra sake for you this time."

"Well, you know the rules. No one is a freeloader here. You gotta work just like the rest of them brats."

Haruka gave a shrug in response. She knew that he was not going to let her off easy just because she was a volunteer, or because she was a girl (and also a non-player). The first year she came up to the mountains, he gave her a racket and made her practice like everyone else. The lack of response from Haruka was a little concerning, even to the coach many would describe as heartless. He was so used to seeing her with an unnecessary smile with her chirpy and witty responses that a glum Haruka felt uncomfortable.

As Haruka made her way over to join the middle school players, Mifune unplugged the cork from the gourd and took a swig at it, letting out a satisfied sigh before a hearty chuckle as he chugged the entire gourd of sake. A few of the middle school players raised an eyebrow at the sight of Haruka but a good handful of them were more than surprised to see the familiar face. Sanada being one of them.

The players from Seigaku went up to their manager instantly, asking questions here and there only to be shut down by Mifune shouting for them to get back to their practice. Haruka gave them a smile, telling them that she would tell them everything they needed to know after. But after knowing Haruka got a good portion of seven years that they were friends for, Sanada could tell that her smile was not real. It was a smile he had never seen Haruka with before.

When they made eye contact, Haruka gave Sanada a small smile. It was more genuine than the one before but it still was not quite the smile that Haruka would have on usually. Something was wrong and although he did not know what, Sanada took it upon himself to keep close to Haruka. She was away from the main camp, away from Yukimura. He was pretty sure his childhood friend would like for him to take good care of her. Haruka did not move away as Sanada came closer because oddly enough, despite all that was going on, all that was in her head, it was comfortable to have him around.

That was what Sanada had always been to her. Comfortable. Even when they were younger, Sanada took great care of her. He nagged her often, telling her not to do this, to always do that. But when it came to it, he was always there for her, acting like an older brother much like Hikaru. He never liked his nickname from her but Haruka could not bring herself to call him anything else. And it was in that moment of thinking what Sanada meant to her that Haruka was tempted to tell him. To let everything out. For once, she wanted someone to know.

"Geni-nii..."

"Yes?"

So many things were running at the same time in her mind. She was trying to dig through all the thoughts, choosing one of which to start it all with. She stared at him and Sanada stared right back, waiting for her to continue. But each time she tried to open her mouth, no words came out. A few more attempts and she eventually gave up. Now was not the right time either, she told herself.

"Nothing," she said softly. "I just...really miss you."

A little caught off guard, Sanada could only blink in response with his mouth hanging open. "Yeah um...I miss you too."