To those who haven't read it yet... enjoy.
Pairing: KiriharaxKin
A huge thanks to Accidental.Enlightenment for beta-ing my chapters... I hope she still is... um... um... crap... I didn't scare her away, did I? This is not good...
Chapter 16: The Worst Day of Kirihara Akaya's Life
Inner Taro: Since when did Kirihara come into the story?
Inner Kin: Who's Kirihara?
Inner Taro: You're hopeless. U-.-
Kirihara Akaya yawned as he settled down in the chair for a quick breakfast. 'Sanada is pushing us like crazy, especially now that Yukimura's hospitalized. Seriously, I'm too exhausted to even squeeze out some time for the new video game releases.'
He was disappointed to find that a warm breakfast wasn't already waiting for him, so he grudgingly pulled out some cereal. He heard his mother squeal on the phone and he rolled his eyes.
"Akaya! You won't believe what happened! Takumi proposed!" His mother was shrieking, blocking his view of the television.
In the middle of his mother's hysterics, the screen flashed 'GAME OVER'. Kirihara cursed. So close!
"Che..." So his mother, Kirihara Rei, was re-marrying soon after all. He had given up hope a long time ago, but he just hoped it wouldn't interfere with tennis. The wedding would be next month, and he would be moving into their house. Akaya couldn't have cared less. He tried to avoid his stepfather as much as possible, despite Takumi's attempts at friendship.
'That baka will never understand.'
"Isn't he too young for you? Besides, do you really have to make this much of a ruckus? It's not like you haven't married before," Akaya mumbled under his breath.
"Yes, but it's his first time. Aren't you excited, Aka-chan?"
Akaya dropped his spoon when he realized something, milk leaking from his gaping mouth. 'The wedding is on the exact same day of our finals match in the Kanagawa Prefectural Tournament!' He felt like slamming his head on the table. 'Sanada's not going to forgive me for this.' Now he dreaded going to school...
---Meanwhile---
"I am NOT attending the wedding," Tezuka Kin protested stubbornly, crossing her arms. "If you love the kimono so much, why don't you make onii-chan wear it?" Her older brother made no hint in hearing her, although he did slightly pause before bringing the spoon to his mouth.
"Kin, stop being difficult," their mother stroked Kin's hair, "Your uncle used to play tennis with you two, remember?"
"Speaking of tennis, we have quarterfinals on that day," her older brother pointed out, "I can't afford to miss it."
"I don't want to either! Ginka's playing Houjyou," Kin disputed, but she knew she had already lost the argument. 'This is bad. Very, very bad. Like Tezuka, I have to be there! Ginka's going to lose without me.'
"But you're not the team's captain," their father answered sternly.
"Demo..." She buried her head in her arms. Great. What was she going to tell the regulars? I have to smile all day, throw petals and act preppy in a kimono for my uncle's wedding?
---The Wedding Day---
It took all of Kirihara's self-control not to run away. It shamed himself that everybody saw him like this. He was dressed in a black tuxedo when he refused to wear a man's kimono. His mother had spent a ridiculous amount of time fussing over his hair that simply "insisted on remaining a despicable mop." Akaya, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with his magnificent curls.
Because Akaya had insisted on a Shinto traditional wedding, the wedding ended up a small white wedding based on Christian traditions. He sat in the small corner of the dimly lit church, hoping to look invisible. He should not be here right now. He should be with the rest of Rikkai Dai, kicking ass. Still, they would kick ass without him so he didn't have to worry.
He was slightly amused as a mumbling, clearly irate girl dressed in a light pink kimono grudgingly sat in the other corner of the church, smoothing the silk and refusing to stand up, despite her mother's efforts. 'Maybe I'm not the only person who doesn't belong here.'
"Kin, you should be grateful that Rei-san was so kind to help you with your outfit," her mother dragged her from the corner to meet Kirihara. He jolted in surprise, smiling awkwardly.
"I didn't ask her to. I would be perfectly-"
"Kirihara Akaya, correct?" her mother smiled brilliantly, "I'm Takumi's older sister and this is my daughter, Tezuka Kin." He forced himself to bow, hiding his grimace. 'Tezuka? Her brother can't possibly be Seigaku's captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, can he?'
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kin greeted through her teeth with a distinct sarcasm.
"The pleasure's all mine," Kirihara smiled, casting a devilish grin. After they were done trading sarcastic courtesies, their mothers gossiped as they perfected the last touches of the ceremony. She collapsed in a chair next to him, still murmuring and blushing.
"I swear they put two tons of make-up on me," she whispered under her breath, "They just had to choose a pink kimono..."
"So that blush isn't natural? Pity," Kirihara replied. She shot a death glare at him.
"You're very lucky that we're at a wedding and in a church," she responded, her eyes sharpened like daggers.
"Oh, am I supposed to be trembling in fear?"
"You should," she retorted. "Give me a racket and a ball and I'll prove exactly how scary I am."
"You play tennis?" 'So is she Tezuka's sister?'
"No, I play badminton, silly," she replied sarcastically.
"I suggest you find out who you're talking to before you whisper death threats," Kirihara warned. Obviously she did not know his title as Rikkai Dai's Devil. She stuck out her tongue at him.
"Bring it on, curly-haired dude. There's no reason for my brother to get involved in this. I can crush you any day," she taunted, which triggered extreme irritation in Kirihara, but fortunately for her, the wedding ceremony began before Akaya got a chance to scream at her.
At the beginning of the dreary formalities, Kirihara whispered on her ear, "Look, kid. I don't know why you hate me so much, but I don't want to be here any more than you do. So just stay out of my way, neh?"
"Same for you." So they called it a truce, at least for now anyway. He was itching for this wedding to be over so he could crush this pathetic girl and teach her a lesson to not insult strangers who just happened to be light-years more talented than she was. However, his mother just seemed to love savoring every second of the attention... Kirihara could barely keep his head up and his eyes open. Sanada had been training them relentlessly and the fact that he would miss the finals didn't help either. 'I suppose a short nap wouldn't hurt.' With that he closed his eyes, his body relaxing as he drifted into dull sleep...
---Meanwhile---
Kin's body remained tense. Her eyes darted to the entrance of the church, but it was quickly met by her mother's glares. If she could only slip out quietly and find out how Ginka's doing... Although she knew it was pointless to worry, she couldn't help it. 'They have to win. They must.' She clasped her fingers together, praying that they were doing fine. She checked her cell phone for the dozenth time that day.
2-1. Don't worry. They're doing great. –Taro
She breathed a sigh of relief as her whole body relaxed. All of the stress of the Prefecturals was weighing down on her. The ceremony seemed long ways from being over. She let the soothing voice of the preacher drone her to sleep...
---30 Minutes Later---
"Look at them. Aren't they just so perfect together?"
Click. Snap.
The picture turned out quite nicely. Kin was dozing on Kirihara's shoulder, and his head was resting comfortably on hers. Kin's light salmon kimono contrasted to his black suit well, and they just seemed like an irresistible couple.
"Young love is beautiful, isn't it?" Rei snapped more photos.
"Hm, your son is growing up quite nicely. He attends Rikkai Dai, correct?" Ayana smiled.
"Yes, and all he does is tennis, those ridiculously violent fighting games, and more tennis," Rei sighed, "It's very comforting to know that he has excellent taste in girls."
"He plays tennis? Perhaps he could teach Kin sometime," Ayana suggested.
"I think that's a great idea! We'll invite Kin over." Rei moved Akaya's hand onto Kin's and snapped another picture. Perfect. "Come on, everybody! Let's take a group picture!"
---One Minute Later---
There was a blinding light as he blinked himself awake. To his sheer amazement, he realized that Kin was clutching his arm, snoozing peacefully on his shoulder and his hand was resting on hers. All the curses he knew immediately ran through his mind at the speed of light, but for some reason he was struck immobile. 'Why... can't I move?' It was an odd feeling, really. If this happened to him playing tennis, Sanada would be yelling his head off.
Asleep, her features were soft and her lips were curved in a gentle smile. Her soft chestnut-brown hair was arranged in pearls and fell slightly over her forehead. For a moment, she looked irresistibly... cute.
'What the hell is wrong with me today?' Shocked and ashamed at himself for thinking such a ridiculous thing, he pushed her off of him and she immediately awoke, pushing him back for such a rude shove.
"What was that for?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Get up. The reception's starting," he whispered, slightly nauseous as he suddenly stood. He resisted the urge to stretch as he proceeded down the aisle.
"Matte!" she called, oblivious to the stares directed at the two of them. Scowling at himself for letting his guard down like that, he marched outside, squinting as the rays of the sun shone into his eyes.
"Hurry up, you two, throw some rice!" Ayana rushed to them. Reluctantly, Kin showered the bride and groom with rice, although personally she herself would never be flattered by getting rice stuck everywhere. She didn't see the point other than to get themselves dirty.
Next came the flower bouquet toss.
"Che... how childish," Kirihara leaned on the table, looking away.
"If it's so childish, then why are you standing there?" Kin pointed to him, since he was standing next to the crowd of ecstatic women jumping for the bouquet. A slight tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks, but he shrugged it off.
"Itai! Akaya, you did not just throw-" To her amazement, the bouquet had slipped from a woman's grasp and bounced on her head, only to be caught by both Kirihara and Kin at the same time.
Click. Snap. 'Another perfect picture to add to the album...'
"Why are you holding the bouquet, you idiot?" Kin grabbed it away instantly and he didn't resist.
'What is wrong with me today?' To be honest, Kirihara wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to his question. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he was sweating and blushing incessantly for no apparent reason...
Soon Kin was run-over by other woman trying to wrench it from her and she squealed and crawled out of the crowd in a mess. "Seriously, they're just flowers, for goodness' sakes! You don't have to kill me for them." She waved her fists wildly at them and Akaya could only sweatdrop.
What happened next was something that no one would ever, ever predicted.
"You shouldn't-" Kirihara rushed to Kin. In mid-step, everything slowed down. He tripped on a rock and fell forwards. Before anybody realized what happened, Kirihara's body slammed on top of Kin's, their lips touching.
Everyone became deathly silent. The wind blew across the grass, the leaves rustling quickly.
Click. Snap. 'Absolutely priceless...'
His verdant-green eyes stared into her cerulean ones. Her lips were soft and her body fragile underneath him...
Kin was the first to recover. "GET OFF OF ME, YOU MOLESTER!"
---At Night---
Akaya sighed in the backseat of the car. His body was covered in bruises when Kin had promptly beaten him thoroughly to a pulp. Who would have guessed that Tezuka's little sister was so freakin' strong? She even had a temper that matched the Devil himself. Although he was busy reassuring himself that he would never see her again, deep down he couldn't help but hope the opposite.
It was his first kiss, after all, and definitely not as he imagined it. Still, despite the torture that was inflicted later, it was still worth it. He licked his lips, disturbed to find an odd aftertaste in his mouth. What was that? Lipstick?
Little did poor Kirihara Akaya, a marionette of fate, know that the worst was waiting for him the next day...
---Monday Morning---
"Oi, Kirihara, are you okay?" Marui put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I'm fine. It's too bad I wasn't there yesterday," Akaya hastily replied.
"We ended the matches in an hour even without you," Sanada informed.
"Did you fall or injure yourself?" Jackal asked, grimacing at the purple spots and band-aids over his body.
"I'm fine," Kirihara repeated, not flattered by the attention. "I'll see you guys after-school."
"Matte, Kirihara-san! You left something," Yagyuu called, picking up something shiny from the ground that fell out of his backpack.
"What's this?" Every one of the regulars stared at what was in Yagyuu's hands.
Stared and stared and... stared. Even Sanada's mouth was slightly ajar as a trickle of drool escaped.
Niou was the first to recover. Marui and Niou exchanged glances and chuckles arose from their throats. They hadn't had this much fun in a long, long time.
---Afternoon---
"Did you hear? Kirihara got married," someone whispered on the other side of the classroom. Akaya frowned, sure that someone had spoken his name, but dismissed the thought as meaningless gossip.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Kirihara was grateful for the bell as he packed his stuff to leave. He was in a horrible mood because this was definitely not his best day. Sanada had forced 40 laps out of him this morning and he could feel every single one of the bruises Kin gave him. He fell asleep during third period and completely missed the entire test, which incidentally by a hand of the worst luck was probably the only quiz the teacher ever gave and counted for, like 80 percent of his grade.
"What are you looking at?" he snapped at a girl who stared back at him blankly. He felt uneasy as he realized everybody's eyes were focused on him as he passed while everyone was silent and paralyzed.
"Kirihara-san," Yagyuu pushed his glasses on his nose. "I tried to stop them, but..."
Suddenly Kirihara's stomach lurched and he felt sick. Very, very sick.
"I think you should follow me," Yagyuu led him into an empty computer lab.
Kirihara stared. Stared and stared and... stared.
On every single desktop, the background had been changed. Changed to photos of Kirihara and Kin together. Sleeping and drooling over each other, walking down the aisle together, holding hands on a bouquet, and ultimately... Kirihara on top of Kin as they kissed under the wedding cake.
Every photo was undeniably picturesque and genuine, like as if everything had been setup for each memorable moment. What could he say? His mother's photography and how-badly-can-you-humiliate-your-son skills were impeccable. How the pictures got to school and into his insidious friends' grasp he couldn't explain, but...
This was officially the worst day of Kirihara Akaya's life.
Suddenly his knees felt weak. His head spun. He decided, under the glare of every single person in the hallway, that this was a convenient time to faint.
So he did.
---A/N---
Liked it? Glad you clicked on it even though it was an OC story? Or did you hate it and wish me a fate worse than death? Well, I'll only know if you review, neh?
Like I said, it was a special chapter based off of my story Monster where Kin is the protagonist. You'll only fully understand it if you read Monster, because there are parts that are confusing. It was originally intended as chapter 16.