Those eyes paralyzed Reiko on her place. She wanted to move, but she couldn't. She couldn't say the words she wanted him to hear. She simply didn't know what to do.
As her dejected tears flowed, the blood-haired tennis regular walk passed, not even saying a single word.
The wind blew hard trying to carry her tears away but her eyes just wouldn't stop; it just made her even colder.
"What the hell?!" Yuri shouted from the bushes where she and Inui concealed themselves. Yuri scampered to Reiko and slapped her left cheek with all her might. Inui wasn't able to stop her. All he could say was, "Why, Yuri-chan?". Reiko just fondled her red, swollen cheek and remained speechless.
Yuri just ignored Sadaharu. She attempted to slap the other cheek of Reiko but to Inui's swift reflex, he grabbed Yuri's hand and held it firm, and stopped her from doing it and he said to Yuri, "How could you do this when you know she's hurt…?" He said it with an angry tone.
Yuri looked at the Data Player with livid eyes straight at his thick-lens eyeglasses. "Do you understand this situation clearly? You seem to know everything, but you don't! You don't know! You, you will always have a miscalculation! So don't get in 'our' way!" she ripostes irately.
In his perturb, Inui released Yuri's hand from his clench. Yuri still glared at him even if he let go of her hand and after a few seconds she left.
What Yuri said earlier echoed in Inui's mind as he looked at Yuri walked away. "…Don't get in our way…?" he repeated. "I will always have a miscalculation, I'm human after all. I too make mistakes, I accept that."
"…Inui-sempai…" Reiko called out with a glum voice.
"Do you want to go to the infirmary?" Inui replied with concern.
Reiko didn't answer the question, instead she said, "Nee-san did that because she want 'that' to be an alternative reason. She doesn't want to let anybody know it's because of Kikumaru-sempai. She's concern that people might say I'm too emotional and Eiji-sempai a jerk. She doesn't like that! That's why she let it appear that we had a dispute-- that it is her fault why I cried…" She looked at her sempai with a diminutive smile even though her tears kept on flowing.
Inui was gobsmacked hearing those words from Reiko. He again, wasn't able to gauge Yuri's way of thinking. A miscalculation…
"Sempai, you better chase her." Reiko suggested. "She told me once before, 'if Sadaharu hurts me, it will hurt twice.'" she said it with a Yuri-like voice. "I'll just walk to the infirmary on my own." she assures.
Inui looked at Reiko making certain that she's okay. Reiko just gave her sempai a pleasant smile that meant, "Hurry sempai!" Knowing what that smile meant, he hurriedly scurried away to run after the grievanced Yuri.
"Nee-san sure is very lucky to have a friend like Sadaharu-nii." she happily mumbles while wiping her tears away with her supple hands. Suddenly, someone spoke in front of her. "Here, use this instead." The ever-smiling tensai handed over a clean white handkerchief embroidered with some cherry blossoms.
"Fu…Fuji-sempai…! Ano…" Reiko took a step backward giving them enough distance between them. "This is…nothing." She refused to take the offered hankie. But the tensai insists her, took her hand and bestowed the handkerchief. And a thought came to Reiko's mind like a flash of lightning. "Fuji-sempai! A while ago—did you—were you there?!"
"Ah…" He's still saying it with a smile.
Reiko can't help but get nervous. She started to sweat. "OhMiGosH…! Nooo! Yuri-sempai will kill me! What will I do now?! I can finally see the end of me! huhu"
Fuji hushed his kohai with his convincing look; those blue, persuasive eyes can melt you, I tell you! "Just don't tell her I know something, okay?"
"Ha--hai!!"
"Good. That would be our little secret from now on. Now, let me take you to the clinic."
"Huh?!" Her mouth was wide open 'cause of shock. The tensai wants to take her there? Char…!
Fuji walked a little ahead of Reiko. "Com'on what're you waiting for? Let's go!"
Reiko just couldn't refuse this one of a million chances to be with the famous tensai.
On the other hand, Inui was taking time looking for Yuri. He asked around seeking for clues where he may be able to find his 'friend'. He finally was tired of running around and thinking where she might be but there was still a place he wasn't able to look: the rooftop, one of Yuri's hatest places. He decided to go there and take his chances.
He arrived and opened the door. The last place he could think of… there he found her, standing, gazing at the azure sky of noon. He paused at the doorway looking at Yuri regretfully. Yuri didn't seem to mind who arrived, but she expected it was going to be 'him'.
The wind blew gently allowing Yuri's long, black silky hair to drift with it. The silence became deafening, little by little making the place melancholy.
Inui wants to come close to Yuri but something's impeding him to. Fear? Or was it shame? But he was able to collect some strength and does what he want. Yuri stood still even she knows that she's being approached by 'him'. She was still in the hostility's trance.
He approached her slowly. As the wind stopped blowing, Inui was already standing a few inches behind Yuri. "I'm sorry…" Inui broke the silence with these two simple words, yet he said them lowly.
"What? You're saying sorry? For what?!" she ostentatiously said at Inui without even facing him.
"…"
"Why don't you use those 'data skills' yours for reading people's minds rather than tennis!!" she turned to Inui, showing an ireful face, not noticing a tear dropped from her right eye.
"The 'Black Rose of Seigaku' dropped a tear?" he mockingly said.
"I did not!" she denied. Yuri tried to punch Inui direct on the face but Inui evade at once. He drew his face close to Yuri's, looked at her straight in the eye and again he said, "I'm sorry." He's obviously meant what he said.
Yuri blushed. "Keep your distance, Sadaharu!" then she pushed him back and turned to the other direction.
Even though Yuri turned to the other direction swiftly, Inui still noticed the small grin on her face and giving Inui an exultant feeling. That was the sign that he was forgiven. He then pats Yuri's head. "Thanks…"
"No matter…at least, you asked for forgiveness. I guess you know the reason now."
"Umm…"
"I thought you're a fast one. But I was wrong. I can't believe you didn't realize it in a snap. Hahaiz…"
"The way you're acting quite different today…" It was more like a shift to decrease the gloomy atmosphere.
"What do you mean?"
"It's the same a month ago… that means…"
"…"
"You have your 'it' today, don't you…?"
"NANI!!" Yuri yelled and again faced Inui. "It's none of business! You're not even a girl! The hell you care about it! What is it with you?! People experience mood swings, don't they? Why do you assert that 'I have' today?! What did you observed the other month anyways? What did I do back then?! Huh?! You're taking that data down too? When I'm having my mood swings? Am I important that you really have to take down informations about me?! (feeler)…" Yuri nag stridently and at the same time hasty likely you can hear her say, "Blah, blah, blah…" Well that's what Inui heard…
Finally, Yuri is out of breath after nagging. That was good for Inui. Everything has an end… "Let's go back to our classrooms…" Inui walk ahead.
"Hey wait! Don't leave me here! Hoi!" Yuri ran after Inui afraid of being left behind.
A few seconds after they closed the door to the rooftop, the bell rang as a sign that lunch was over.
At the busy classroom of Reiko, there was still time, the teacher still wasn't around. Reiko's female classmates gathered around her, curious what happened to her left cheek 'cause there was a bandage on it.
"Somebody told me that the vice-captain of the girls' tennis club did that! Is it true?" a girl started.
"…"
"Like they said, she's merciless!" another girl commented.
"You're wrong!! She not…"
"Eh? You don't think she's merciless? She did a physical offense and yet you say that she has mercy?"
"…"
"Putting that aside, somebody said that Fuji-sama took you to the clinic!"
"Ah… so?"
The girls squealed. "Gosh, Reiko, you're lucky!" "Ya, she's right!"
They were stopped because their teacher arrived. And thus they settled down and started their class.
Momoshiro whispered to his seatmate, "Yuri-sempai really did that?"
Without facing Momoshiro, Yuri just nod in affirmation.
And they continued their class.
At the class of the tensai, they are going to have an outdoor activity. They started walking outside their room. Fuji was given a chance to approach Yuri who was behind 'cause she was assigned to close the door. "Yuri-chan…"
"What is it Syuusuke? Is there something wrong?"
Fuji hands over a bar of chocolate and it is CADBURY, the Fruits and Nuts, one of Yuri's favorite brands of chocolate! (But she hates the Fruits and Nuts.) Yuri resists taking the yummy treat that she wasn't able to eat for a long time. She pretended that she didn't want it, she just said, "Huh…? What did you just eat this lunch? Or, did Inui let you drink his terrible juice?"
Fuji noticed her being hesitant, so he said with his usual smile, "I know you like this. You kept on saying, 'When can I buy Cadbury again…?' It so happens that bought some today. Hurry somebody might see us."
"Bu…bu…but…" She faced back to hide her blush away from her ehem and started to think. "Does he seriously want to give me that chocolate? Was I always saying that I want Cadbury? He's so thoughtful! But wait! Why at this time? Nothing happened, right? He could try giving it on Valentine's Day or something… Something's not right here! This is sure an abnormal happening in my life. Did someone rewrite my destiny? Doushite? Anyway, this is good! Nevermind who rewrite it! I have to thank for doing so. This is just so great! But I still hate Fruits and nuts!" She was holding her squeal and not try to embarrass herself in front of her ehem.
"Yuri-chan?" Fuji called out softly. Yuri's chain of thoughts was cut by his soft voice. She then turned to the Fuji's direction. "Don't you like this? Maybe you wanted the white chocolate…" He was about to frown.
"Okay, okay! I'll take it! Just don't erase that smile on your face! It's hard to draw that perfect smile back!"
Yuri didn't notice that she was kinda blackmailed in taking the chocolate. But what the heck… She got the chocolate alright, but that doesn't change the fact that she hates Fruits and Nuts. "Thanks, Syuusuke-kun!"
Fuji just smiled back.
"If I'll gain a pound, you're still one of the persons I'll blame!" She assures that.
"Hai, hai, you can blame me…" He's still smiling!
"Hey guys, why are you still here? Sensei's looking for the two of you!", one of their classmates called.
Yuri answered back, "Sorry for the wait! We'll be right there!" She drags Fuji when she ran towards the direction of her classmate, of course holding his hand.
Fuji's happy seeing himself dragged by Yuri. Wait! He's always happy! He's still smiling! In his mind… "She did that even though she knows her image will be stained. Such an admirable person… But there are still questions that are unanswered…"
The wind gusts again, cooling down the noon heat. Silence arose, the usual sound of the afternoon.
--