Hi everybody~! It's me again! I'm really happy because of the reviews I received. It makes me want to write even more.
To everyone, Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu~!
Special thanks to the following people who sent their reviews for Chapter 3:
ilovethisfanfic-thank you very much, I couldn't reply to your review so I'm hoping that you get to read this message.
mia- again thank you very much.
AliciaHale- Glad you liked it. I will update this fic as often as I can.
Kuma the Wolf Alchemist- Yes, Tezuka shows a bit of an OOC side here. There are a couple of characters here who will have OOC so please watch out for that.
kim-chan-sempai- More RyoXYumi moments? hmmm....*Coming soon* ^_^
sakuraxgaara2233- will write more as soon as i can
Different Child- Thanks for beta-ing my work~! Yes, I think I've overlooked a typo too. lolz. It can't be helped.
Midnight Strawberry- Whenever I think of Yumi, I always associate her with a warmth that I feel whenever I'm happy. I guess that's why her character in the story is somehow similar.
This chapter is dedicated especially for Different Child who beta-d for me. Thanks for being very patient with my work. English is only my second language so I hope I'm doing a good job at it.
Now then, ON WITH THE STORY~!!!!!!!
Chapter 4- First Day in School/ The Regulars part 1
After finishing lunch Yumi headed back to her classroom for the next period. Lunch period was almost over by then and some of her new classmates had just returned from the cafeteria. They were chatting amiably when the young Tezuka came in.
"Tezuka-san, did you eat lunch yet?" one of the boys asked.
It was the same boy who she met before. He was the one Tezuka called Horio. He looked okay for a classmate, the only thing Yumi would consider weird about him was his mono-brow. She didn't see many of those back in her old school. It was an all girls school after all.
"Yes, I have. Oniichan(1) bought some food from the cafeteria," Yumi explained.
"Ah, that's right! You're Tezuka-buchou's younger sister aren't you?" said one of the boys sitting near Horio. He had black hair and he looked friendlier than Horio. He gave off that aura right away when Yumi saw him.
"My name is Mizuno Katsuo. Dozo yoroshikuu(2)," said the boy.
A much smaller one stood by him as they were talking to Yumi. The smaller boy whose name Kato Kachiro, as Yumi heard earlier from the teacher. His hairstyle reminded Yumi of an upside-down bowl, but his face was very child-like. Of the three, Echizen seemed to interact more with the two black-haired boys. Horio was more of the all-talk-no-action kind of guy but that didn't stop him from talking.
"Pleased to meet you," said Yumi.
"We're freshmen members of the tennis club that your brother heads; so we're quite familiar with him," said Kachiro.
"Although, this is really the first time that I've heard about Tezuka-buchou having a younger sister," said Katsuo.
"Baka! (3) Buchou(4) is a very private person! He doesn't talk as much to others unless he's really close to them," said Horio.
Thinking about it now, what Horio said is true in a way. Tezuka responded a lot to any conversations that he had with Yumi or with other members of his family. But, on the other hand, he didn't talk as much with other people. The principal was one example: a couple of nods and 'hai's were given but that was nothing compared to how they had talked during lunch time.
"I guess that's just how my brother is. Either way, my being unknown to his friends and schoolmates is a long story so let's just leave it at that for the meantime," said Yumi.
"Ah," said Kachiro.
"Eto, Horio-kun, did you see where Ryoma-kun went?" Katsuo asked, looking around curiously for the said person.
"Ryoma-kun? Who's that?" Yumi asked.
"Echizen Ryoma-kun. Seigaku's ace freshman. He's the guy that was sitting behind you earlier during class. We call him Ryoma-kun," Kachiro explained.
"Ah, well, I heard him saying that he was going to the rooftop to take a nap," said Yumi.
"Ryoma-kun really loves sleeping, doesn't he?" said Katsuo.
Tezuka just got back from having lunch with his sister and was currently headed for the classroom when he was ambushed by his best friend and vice captain just before he could enter the room. Said boy was with another third year, a certain redhead who was bouncing right in front of him.
"What is it Oishi?" Tezuka asked his best friend.
"Ano, I-I was just bullied by my classmates to do this. T-Tezuka, did you, by any chance, have lunch with a girl just now?" Oishi asked.
"I did," Tezuka answered carelessly.
It was too late for him to realize what he had just said, because after hearing this, the red-headed fellow that Oishi was with started jumping around the hall calling someone by the name of 'Fujiko.' It was wrong of him to let his guard down just because it was his best friend. He should've anticipated the fact that Oishi was accompanied by his red-headed doubles partner, Kikumaru, who's also known to blurt out things that are not to be blurted out.
"Kikumaru!" Tezuka said sternly.
"Hai!" the bouncing redhead stopped and hid himself behind Oishi.
"Saa, Tezuka-kun has been hiding something from us, ne?" asked a gentle voice.
Tezuka turned to see the rest of the third year members of the tennis team, in particular, a well-known tensai (5) who loved to tease him so much. He could swear that the tensai and Kikumaru were in cahoots about this.
"So, who was it that you had lunch with, nyah Tezuka?" Kikumaru asked, still hiding his safely behind Oishi.
"Stop it, Eiji, it's probably something private," Oishi tried to coax the other to stop.
"Eiji won't stop 'til he's satisfied," said the soft-voiced tensai.
"Stop it Fuji," said Tezuka.
"To stop it, there's a ninety five percent chance that Tezuka's explanation would satisfy us all," a tall, rectangular-eye-glassed figure said from behind suddenly, causing Kikumaru to jump from his place.
"NYAH~!! Inui! Stop doing that! You're going to give me a heart attack!" Kikumaru yelled.
"Sorry about that," said the guy while looking through his notebook.
"Tezuka should tell us about it then," said the soft-voiced tensai.
What are these people thinking anyway? Is having lunch with a girl such a big deal nowadays? Or is it because Fuji just wants to make fun of me? Tezuka wondered.
Nothing was wrong with having lunch with his own sister after all. It wasn't as if there was a law saying that:
No Japanese citizen should be seen during the time: so-and-so eating together else they will be beheaded.
"I had lunch with my younger sister," said Tezuka simply.
It disappointed them all, that's for sure. Inui looked like all the color on his face was drained out. He sat on one corner muttering stuff like, "I failed miserably" and "my data has failed me." The others looked a lot better than Inui. They were all shocked of course; but other than Inui, the remaining regulards looked fine with the explanation. But they certainly looked like they had just woken up from a very strange dream indeed.
"Could you repeat that, Tezuka?" asked Oishi.
"I said, I had lunch with my younger sister," said Tezuka.
"EH?? How can that be, nya? Tezuka doesn't have an imouto.(6)" said Kikumaru.
"So who is it, Tezuka?" Fuji asked.
"I told you, it's my sister. I'll introduce you after classes. If you'll excuse me," said Tezuka, before he entered the classroom.
The ambush was unexpected, but what could Tezuka do? In only a couple of hours, surely, everyone in the school would be asking if he had lunch with a girl or if he had a girlfriend. He was sure that many would misunderstand who Yumi was to him. And tomorrow, he was certain that the people he knows from other schools would be aware of the same rumor as well.
"So where is the girl, Tezuka?" Oishi asked as they were waiting for the rest of the club members, including the other regulars, to arrive.
"Echizen's going to bring her along. They're in the same class," said Tezuka while checking the strings of his racket.
There were few additional people this time around. There are two second years and another third year who had already arrived. Tezuka noticed that the two second years, who consider themselves as rivals, started to argue again. From the moment they arrived in the club room 'til the moment they were waiting for Echizen and Yumi, the two quarreled over a number of things. If it weren't for Oishi the two would've started a fist fight right then and there.
"Those two will never stop," said a mild-mannered guy.
"Taka-san is always calm. Unlike Kaidoh and Momo-chan," said Kikumaru.
"Mou, Eiji-sempai, you can't say that na, you can't yo," said the one Kikumaru called Momo.
"Saa, you should behave then, Momo. That goes for you too, Kaidoh," said Fuji, referring to the other second year.
"Hai, senpai(7)," said the scary-looking second year.
It seemed like Echizen and Yumi were taking their time after class before heading to the tennis courts. Unlike the others, Tezuka didn't actually mind as much. His sister was adjusting and if he didn't let her spend time with her new friends then she wouldn't learn to socialize with her classmates. Besides that, he didn't want Yumi to think that he was worrying too much about her.
"Tezuka, Echizen's coming. Is that your sister with him?" Inui asked curiously, pen and notebook both in his hand.
Tezuka looked up from what he was doing and saw his sister with Echizen. They were talking about something, probably something about an assignment or lesson in class. It was somehow unusual to see Echizen talk to someone so freely. Sure, he was asked to accompany Yumi, but it didn't really mean that they'd be talking as much as they are now.
"Oniichan," said Yumi, her face brightened up instantly as she saw him standing in front of the entrance to the tennis courts.
She walked ahead of Echizen so that she could greet her brother. Her facial expression implied that she enjoyed class but she was relieved to see her brother now. Tezuka assumed that it was because this was only her first day attending school. Surely she'd have mixed emotions about everything that was happening with her new life.
"Konnichiwa(8), oniichan," Yumi smiled expectantly.
"Konnichiwa," said Tezuka, patting her head lightly. She looked happier afterwards, though it reminded Tezuka of a certain pet that belonged to Echizen.
"So, you are Tezuka's imouto," said Inui, his rectangular eyeglasses gleaming because of his new data.
"Everyone, this is Tezuka Yumi. My younger sister," Tezuka introduced her to the regulars.
Yumi looked a little startled though. She didn't really notice that there were other people with her brother. She was far too preoccupied with seeing him that she hadn't noticed how many people there were around them right at that moment. It felt a little awkward.
"Yumi desu*. Yoroshikuu onegaishimasu(10)," said Yumi bowing to show her respect.
To help in understanding some of the Japanese or non-English words that I've used, I decided to put a glossary part or a definition-of-words part here at the end of the fic. I hope it helps. If I've made a mistake in any of the definitions, feel free to notify me and I will correct it at once.
(1) Oniichan- Big brother
(2) Dozo yoroshikuu- informal saying of nice to meet you
(3) baka- idiot
(4) Buchou- captain
(5) tensai- genius
(6) imouto- younger sister
(7) senpai- an upperclassman or person with a much higher position.
(8) Konnichiwa- good afternoon/hello in some cases
(9) Hai- yes/that's right/that's correct
(10) yoroshikuu onegaishimasu- much formal form of nice to meet you. It literally means, please take care of me.
*-will explain desu once I've confirmed what it denotes
Again people, I will look forward to your reviews. Please R&R, Onegaishimasu~!