Chapter-8

Asuna and Renji sat side by side during afternoon practice the next day. They hadn't talked all day and Asuna knew why. She knew she shouldn't have been rude to him, for he was only concerned about her. But Fuji was still a touchy issue for her no matter how much she pretended otherwise. And now Renji was aware of it as well. She grumbled under her breath. Her mind went to the night before. The 18 calls she had missed and the text she hadn't bothered to reply to. I want to see you again love. Let's set things straight again. She groaned at the memory. But Fuji was not her most pressing concern right now. It really was her fault that her closest senpai and friend wouldn't talk to her now. She had to make amends. She stole a glance at the data master beside her.

Renji sat slightly hunched forward. His hands clasped together. His tried to concentrate on the matches going on in front of them. But his mind kept slipping back to what happened the other night. I don't need you to poke your nose in my business senpai, was what she had said. He was always rational and wasn't usually the type to take sudden words from anger, seriously. But somehow her words had, hurt him? He wasn't sure. But he felt like she was pushing him away. He didn't like it one bit. He hated it even more because his data was rendered useless in this case. Just when he thought he could get close to her, the complete opposite happened. And now he didn't know how to fix it. He only wished he hadn't brought up Fuji in their conversation. We are always happier without him around, he thought bitterly.

"Ano, senpai" a small voice reached his ears. He turned to the source of the sound. The center of his affections sat beside him, a guilt stricken look on her face. His heart skipped a beat. This girl would be the death of me. He sighed. "Ano-ano, I'm sorry senpai," she admitted. "I lost my temper at you when I shouldn't have," she looked down at her hands. "I really didn't mean to do it. But I want you to know that that phase is something that I'm trying to forget. I just don't like discussing him." Renji nodded in understanding.

"So are we cool?" she asked with her eyes turning big. "Yes," he replied calmly. "We are very cool." Asuna burst out laughing and hugged his arm. She failed to notice the blush and the look of surprise on the serious data master. "And they say you don't have a sense of humor." Her laughing stopped as she felt a shadow looming over them. She gulped and turned back to see a very pissed off Sanada glaring at her from under his cap.

"Turondorou!" he roared. "If you have time to joke around, you have more time to train!" Asuna jumped off the bench and sprinted towards the courts. "Uwah! Scary fukubuchou is at it again." Sanada shook his head and sat down beside his friend. Both of them watching the girl prepare for practice. "I know you're worried about me." Renji looked away from the girl. "I just…" he trailed off. Even he wasn't sure what he should do. "Look on the bright side," Sanada shrugged, surprising Renji. "She values you enough to reconcile." Renji sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so. Seventy five percent it's only because she thinks of me as a good friend." "Is that bad?" Sanada asked in confusion. "Yes," Renji replied. "Especially when I'm aiming to be someone way more than just a good friend." Sanada had no reply to that.

DDDDDDDDDDDD

"It's clear that she's not over him." Renji said for the umpteenth time that evening. The boys were all gathered at the Yagyuu residence for a meeting. Everyone, even Yukimura and Yagyuu, were beginning to get frustrated with his attitude.

After their afternoon practice, they were heading for the school gates when they saw a certain brunette waiting there. Asuna, beside them tensed up, but then started to walk at a faster pace. She passed Fuji but didn't show any sign of stopping. What surprised and infuriated them, though, was that Fuji only smirked at them and traild after her. The look on Renji's face was heartbreaking. Without another word he had angrily walked away. They had to do a lot to get him to come over to Yagyuu's after that.

Yukimura sighed. Renji was being way too pessimistic and it was messing with his head. "When do you plan to make a move?" he gently asked his data master. He groaned in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you guys? Until she's completely over him, I cannot do anything!" Niou rolled his eyes. "So what do you wanna do, huh? Wait? Wait around while that sleazy tensai crosses prefectures to get her back? Is that what you want to do?" "Then what do you suggest I do?" Renji retorted. "I can't believe this guy! I thought he was data master for a reason! He has no common sense at all!" Yukimura gave Niou a cold stare that meant shut up. It worked, though. Niou grumbled something under his breath and left the room.

The remaining ones turned to Renji. "Renji-"What am I supposed to do if she can't forget him? I can't force her to be with me, right?" Kirihara too, left the room in frustration. "Renji, for God's sake come to your senses." Marui rolled his eyes. "Can you not see the situation is more in your favor than it is in Fuji's? Yet only because of your foolishness you're letting your privileges go unused."

Yukimura raised his eyebrows, impressed. Sanada, on the other hand, looked quite confused. "Care to elaborate, genius?" Marui grinned. "Well, of course. You know I always like to help those who have it a little less up there." Sanada glared and Yukimura chuckled.

"What he means is that Renji needs to take advantage of the distance. Or the lack of it, in his case." Niou explained as he and Kirihara re-entered the room. "Exactly" Marui exclaimed, making space for Niou to sit beside him. "Fuji lives in Tokyo. He goes to school there. He cannot be close to Asu-chan anytime he wishes. But you can."

"But what if she doesn't want to spend time with me? What if she gets all rude like she did during our study session? I don't like being pushed away, thank you very much." Even Yagyuu rolled his eyes. Renji was being too difficult. "It's not her fault you keep bringing up the one thing she wants to forget. She had said that she wants to forget him. It won't do if you keep trying to know more about him and assess your chances." Jackal nodded in agreement. "Sometimes you just gotta take the leap." "And what if she leaves just like today?" Renji's heart clenched remembering the scene.

"Take time to know her. Not just based on data." Yukimura patted his friend on the back. "Spend time with her, do fun things with her, make her laugh. Make her heavy heart light again. She wouldn't even need to remember Fuji."

Renji sighed in defeat. "So, what do you suggest I do?" his team grinned. "Well I have a simple solution to that," Kirihara grinned, taking out a package from his bag. "Now senpai, you don't need to thank me, just know that we know your needs very well." He handed it over to Renji and he pulled out a book from inside it. The bright blue cover had the words Art of Impressing Women for Dummies in bright yellow. He gave Kirihara a very offended look, while Kirihara along with Niou and Marui laughed like crazy.

"Fine," he groaned. "I'll see what I can do." "NO WAY!" his team roared in unison. "We will decide what you'll need to do." Niou smirked.