Chapter 7

It was lunch period, and Nakamura was walking down the hall, his hands tucked into his pockets, whistling cheerfully to himself. He paused in surprise when the door to the classroom he was currently passing opened and someone bumped into him. "Ah… excuse me…" he murmured, turning towards the other, but stopping when he came face to face with Fuji. "Fuji-kun; konichiwa," he said lightly.

Fuji blinked, looking at Nakamura with his usual smile. "Konichiwa, Nakamura-sempai," he offered, looking slightly wary. "Are you going to lunch?"

"That would be what lunch period is, Fuji-kun," Nakamura said, giving his own smile. "Would you care to join me?" he asked. "We can ask Ijuuin-chan to join us."

"Eh? I thought that you two would automatically always eat together because of… that…"

"Maa, maa… can't bring yourself to say 'engaged'?" Nakamura teased. Fuji twitched, his hands clenching into fists. "It's not like that," Nakamura said with a wave of his hand. "I actually have to work, you know. If she doesn't like me by the end of the school year, the whole thing is called off." He paused in his walking to look back at his junior. "You like her, don't you? I can tell from your demeanor that you do. That means you see me as a rival, don't you?"

"A pesky rival that I can't get rid of," was Fuji's mumbled response. It did not miss Nakamura's sharp ears.

Nakamura chuckled lightly at this. He felt that he could relate to Fuji in a lot of ways. Even though he was branded as an unsophisticated person in the school, which had merely always been his guise, similar to those of Fuji's if his outside research proved to be sufficient. I care for people, too, not just myself, he thought, starting again for the cafeteria. Fuji trotted behind him, still looking wary. Otou-sama's principles are so annoying to follow sometimes. How on earth is one supposed to establish successful business links if no one likes them enough to do it? It makes no sense. Sometimes I wish I was like the majority of the world… and not the son of some rich snob. He heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping. Life was too confusing and a pain to figure out sometimes. He envied those people who would spend years pondering the meaning of life. He would never have the patience or willpower to do it… that was for sure.

"What's for lunch, I wonder?" he asked, stopping in front of the cafeteria line, looking thoughtful. Shall I wait in line today? If I do that, I won't have conscience issues later. Of course, if his father heard that, he'd get more than conscience issues. Such a dilemma…

"Ne, ne, did you hear? They say Nakamura-sempai is getting engaged!" A trio of girls was gossiping not too far away from him and Fuji, and he tipped his head to the side as he listened and thought. It wasn't exactly eavesdropping, he told himself, since they were talking loud enough for more than half of the cafeteria to hear them.

"Hai, hai!" the second girl in the trio said. "I feel so sorry for the girl! I heard that Nakamura-sempai is impossible to deal with!" A round of agreeing murmurs could be heard throughout the cafeteria.

"Saa… rumors fly fast, don't they?" Fuji asked softly. "Are you really impossible to deal with, sempai?"

Nakamura shrugged. "Depends on you look at it. In reality, we're all the same, with no one being more unbearable than the other."

Sudden silence suddenly fell on the cafeteria, and both boys turned around in puzzlement. Asa stood in the doorway of the cafeteria, flanked by Miho and Eiji, the latter of which waved excitedly to Fuji when he caught sight of him. Fuji chuckled, waving back. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Asa said, stepping forward. The crowd parted into two, much to the boys' amusements. "There are things called masks that people hide behind. It's disgusting to pick on someone because of their choice of mask." She winked at the trio of girls and they gulped, sensing something was wrong. "Also, it helps to gossip in whispers. You never know who's listening, ne?"

They turned around, saw Nakamura and Fuji, squeaked, and fled.

"Ijuuin-chan's a curious character," Nakamura said softly, and Fuji tilted his head to one side as he waited for more. "Normally she seems happy-go-lucky, but she's smart. Impressively smart. No wonder you're taken by her; so much for the theory on opposites attract."

Fuji snorted, although it sounded more like he was releasing a breath he was holding. "You could say that, I suppose…"

"Konichiwa, Fuji-kun, Nakamura-sempai. It's sunny today; would you two like to join us for lunch outside?"

"Eh? We can?"

Miho giggled. "Why not? It's not fun to be cooped up inside on such a good day! Hurry, hurry!" And then she grabbed Fuji's hand and began to forcibly drag him outside. "Let's go! Before all the good trees are taken!"

"Wait… what? Miho-chan… stop pulling!!!"

"No way, Fuji-kun! We need to go faster, faster!"

"But… I need a lunch, first, don't I?" Fuji asked in a desperate attempt to disentangle himself from Miho. He had no such luck.

"I grabbed your bento from your locker!" Miho crowed, holding up the wrapped package. "I picked the lock! Eiji taught me!"

"Ah…" Whether or not Fuji should be happy about this new snippet of information, he wasn't quite sure.

Asa blinked as she watched her friends run off. Miho-chan… is certainly fired up today... I wonder if something good happened. I wasn't paying attention to anything in class all day, now that I think about it… "Wait for me!" she called out, scrambling after them with Eiji bouncing at her heels. "I want to get a good tree, too!" Behind her, Eiji mumbled happily about how his disciple had learned to pick a lock so well, so quickly. Asa decided that it would be better to ignore him.

Miho turned her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue at Asa. "Nya~! You'll only get one if you move faster!" she called over Fuji's head as the poor boy was dragged along. "Don't come running crying to me when you don't get a good one, nya!"

"Now she's starting to sound like Eiji-kun…" Asa whined as she chased after them. "And stop running so fast!" she wailed.

"In your dreams!"

Nakamura blinked as he watched them vanish from his sight before smiling and trotting after them at a much more reasonable pace. After all, why run so fast when there were others ahead of you to stake out a good tree? He loved his reasoning sometimes.

***

"Mou, Ijuuin-chan, you look absolutely exhausted!"

"You can tell?" Asa asked her co-waitress as she tied on the apron that the sweet shop employees wore over her work uniform. "I had to chase after to annoying nekos… two annoyingly fast nekos that can pick locks into lockers." She sighed, tying off the apron's drawstrings into a pretty bow behind her back. "I'm going to relax while I work," she said seriously as she picked up a serving tray. I hate running… I hurt all over and it reminds me of the time before my surgery, she thought miserably. Speaking of surgeries reminds that I should get to the hospital for a checkup sometime soon, I think. Are we doing an electrocardiography, I wonder? It was kind of a downer that Asa had to go back to the hospital on occasions to get chechups after the surgery, but she supposed that it was OK because then the doctor's would know ahead of time if anything was wrong.

Again.

She sighed, drooping. Stupid, stupid body… stupid, stupid heart… except it kind of was her life source so she supposed calling it stupid was an invitation for something bad to happen to her…

"Is something wrong, Ijuuin-chan?"

"Betsuni," she answered listlessly, sighing as she left the back room. The sweet shop was quiet; there weren't too many customers yet and so she plopped down into a chair, resting her chin in her hands.

"Ne, ne, have you heard?" the other asked, walking out the back room and sitting down opposite of Asa. She looked eager for gossip. "They say that…"

"Let me guess. The Nakamura family announced an engagement?"

"Eh? You know already?" She drooped momentarily before perking back up. "I wonder who the girl is, though, and what company her parents own. She must have a really rigid background in order to get picked by the Nakamuras… I heard that the father was really big on family lineage."

Asa couldn't help herself from snorting. Big on family lineages? Then wouldn't she have been the last person to be picked, if at all considered? People sure told the paparazzi things that weren't real. "Nakamura is just a guy who likes to rub the fact that one is a 'commoner' in someone's face," she huffed, looking sulky. "He likes to act important, but he has the power to back up all of his words. It's annoying…"

"What's this? You know the Nakamuras?"

Asa blinked, and then cursed herself for her stupidity. "N-not really… they're just rumors I heard…!"

Her poorly concocted excuse would have been bought had Aimi not suddenly bounce into the sweet shop. "Ijuuin-chan!" she sang out, and instantly pounced on her. "How's my dearest cousin's new fiancée doing?"

Busted… and I was so close, too…

And then, sad to say, Ijuuin Asa's career at the sweet shop plummeted. And the thing that irked Asa the most was the fact that she hadn't even lifted a finger to help in her own semi-demise.

Life was just not fair.

***

Asa woke up the next morning and let herself stay in bed even as her alarm clock rang merrily on her bedside table. She was still half asleep, having purposefully set her alarm to ring earlier than usual so that she could maintain her habit of walking to school.

Right… walking to school… she thought to herself, dragging her still half-asleep body out of the warmth of her covers.

Seika, a curled up ball of white fluff, glanced up curiously and mewed, as if asking, 'Why are you up so early?' Asa normally wasn't a morning person.

"I'm going to try to get to school earlier these days, Seika," she told her cat as she found her uniform and changed out of her pajamas. "It'll be good to get to school with time to spare. I'll be able to chat longer with my friends or ask the teachers for help on any homework that I couldn't answer." Besides, she didn't want to take a limo to school everyday. She wanted to be ordinary.

And ordinary meant walking to school, which she was totally fine with.

"Good morning," she offered as she entered the kitchen (Seika wasn't with her, opting instead to remain curled up in the comfort of Asa's bed). Both of her parents, up early because they would soon be leaving for their respective jobs, looked up in surprise.

"Good morning, Asa," her mother said, setting down her cup of coffee while Asa helped herself to a slice of toast. "Why are you up so early? The driver isn't here yet."

"I wanted to walk to school today," Asa mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Was that strawberry jam she spied on the table? She reached out and spread a generous helping onto her breakfast. "I like walking to school." Her parents looked like they were about to say something, but decided against it and returned to their breakfasts. Swallowing the last bit of her toast and licking the jam happily off of her sticky fingers, she stood up. "I'll be leaving, then," she said, bowing slightly before exiting the house.

Her parents sighed as one as the front door shut. "Maa… anata…" her mother sighed, looking at the empty hallway, "Asa is being particularly stubborn, isn't she? She could at least try the limo. I heard it was quite nice."

Her husband offered a wry smile. "Old habits die hard," was all he offered before downing his coffee and standing up. Placing his dishes in the sink he turned to give his wife a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be leaving, too. Aa-chan has an appointment with the doctor today after school, so I'll pick her up." And with that, he, too, left the house.

Asa had made it to the bus stop at the end of the street before she was stopped by a tug at her hand. Turning around, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Nakamura standing behind her, grinning cheekily, face no more than a couple inches from her own. "Good morning!" she squeaked out, managing to compose herself a few moments later.

"Good morning to you, too, Ijuuin-chan," Nakamura said brightly. "I had a feeling that you would skip out on the ride." He watched her out of the corner of his eye. "You don't like limos? Would you have preferred a regular car?"

"I quite like walking to school, Nakamura-sempai, but thanks for offering."

"Mou… you're a stubborn person, aren't you?" Nakamura asked, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder as he walked. "Do you usually walk to school with someone? How about a guy named Fuji Syusuke?"

Now she visibly stiffened. "Does it matter who I walk to school with?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.

Nakamura shrugged. "Not particularly," he said airily. "But I met Atobe-kun and Tezuka-kun in the halls yesterday. Atobe-kun said something rather interesting to me… he said that this year there is going to be a full-blown war against me."

"War…?" Asa echoed. Briefly, her memory took her back to yesterday morning, where Tezuka had replied, very seriously, that he was making 'war plans' with Atobe when asked why he was over at the Atobe residence. But why against Nakamura-sempai? she wondered, a little frown on her face as she thought.

She looks cute with that tiny frown on her face, Nakamura thought as they continued walking. He closed his eyes briefly, they were starting to sting a little, proof of his sleepless night spent researching Fuji Syusuke (it was his father's idea, he was loathe to admit. He had said something along the lines of 'know your enemies well… befriend them and crush them!'). And he had come up with a pretty interesting report.

Nakamura felt that he could say that he was substantially prepared for anything his rival had and could throw his way. After all, he thought bitterly, I'll never hear the end of it if this engagement gets called off. Looks like I'll have to work hard. Slacking off could prove to be a very dangerous move.

"Ah… it's Tezuka-kun!" Asa suddenly piped up. Nakamura roused himself from his thoughts and looked up. True to her word, there was Tezuka had just crossed the street and was now a little ways ahead of them. Asa picked up the pace a bit so that she could catch up to the taller boy. "Ohayo, Tezuka-kun!" she said cheerfully.

Tezuka turned his head, and uttered a single, "Hn."

Asa didn't seem to be too phased out by this simple, emotionless greeting. "Tezuka-kun's an early riser, isn't he?" she asked, still looking quite cheerful. Tezuka just listened to her chatterings, inserting an occasional, 'Hn,' or 'Ah,' whenever necessary. It wasn't until they had walked another few blocks when he finally spoke a decent sentence.

"Would you like to consider something?" he asked when Asa had paused for breath, only the tone of voice that he used stated that he would be giving her something to consider even if she said no.

"What am I suppose to consider?" Asa asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

Tezuka looked straight in front of him as he continued to walk, and was silent for several moments. "Supposing there was something going on with the world, and you could only be with one person. Who would this person be? Who would you turn to for help, for comfort?"

"Huh?" Asa was sorely tempted to ask 'What have you done with Tezuka-kun?' The Tezuka-kun she knew wouldn't be speaking like that. Actually, the Tezuka-kun she knew probably wouldn't be speaking at all. "Is everything alright, Tezuka-kun?" she asked instead. Was he ill, by any chance? People did weird things when they were sick.

Tezuka sighed. Why was he doing this again…? Oh, right. Because Atobe had forced him to it after some… convincing… This is the last time I am ever going to help Keigo in his strange plans, he thought to himself, frowning darkly.

"Let me rephrase," he grunted, shifting his bag to a better position on his shoulder and pushing his glasses to a higher position on his nose. At least Atobe had the decency to pay him for his pains in humiliating himself with these strange talks, considering the look Asa was currently giving him. "Who is your special person?"

Asa came to a grinding halt, thorough confusion written all over her face, while Tezuka simply continued walking. "Why… all of a sudden…" she muttered, frowning herself.

'Who is your special person?'

My… special person…

She was at a loss. She couldn't answer his question, and that vexed her. All through classes it gnawed at the edge of her conscience, and she couldn't focus. She spaced out for an entire week because of that phrase, that stupid, stupid phrase.

'Who is your special person?'

I don't know.

Asa glanced up at the sky, sitting with her back against a sakura tree. She could see Atobe sitting with Tezuka, the diva telling the captain something that she couldn't hear. They looked deep in thought. Under another tree sat Oishi and Eiji, and as she watched, Miho and Fuji walked up to them. Eiji grinned at once when he saw Miho and Miho plopped herself down next to him, giggling at something he said to her. Miho's special person was obvious, painfully so.

I don't know who my special person is.

A/N: I hate it when I get a nice idea and then I go to write and it all collapses. Why me? Why??? *cries in a corner*

I apologize as Tezuka is a bit OOC in this chapter. There is a reason for that! I think...

But please read and review! If something bugs you, please let me know so that I can try to fix it.
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