Chapter Fourteen – Truth Revealed?
Miyako groaned a little. The challenges had gone from bad to worse.
The Frisbee Challenge had ended with Echizen's head being a prime target and both Tezuka and Fuji standing last and victorious. The Carry and Fill Challenge had been fun and interesting – the players had to play a tag and rally like race to run down the beach, get water from the ocean in their hands and then back up the beach and empty the water into a water bottle.
But in the end Seimaku's Male Regular Team won.
Their training had been unusually extensive and when they finished they trudged back to the hall and collapsed at the tables, ready to be fed. Once food was served conversations began and before anyone could really notice the Regular girls left the hall and towards their cabin.
"I wonder why they're leaving so early." Eiji asked, fiddling with his prized Lei.
"They're probably going to get changed into their afternoon outfits." Miyako suggested.
The boys all laughed at the assumption.
"Oh, where did those girls go?" The group looked over at Oshiro, she was standing from her seat, looking frustrated. "They were told yesterday that every day after lunch there would be a meeting." She said and walked out of the hall and towards the girl's cabins.
"Uh oh." Eiji and Fuji whispered jokingly.
A chorus of laughter passed over the table as Momo and Echizen rose to get their seconds.
At that moment, Oshiro returned, looking rather miffed as she stormed over to the Sensei's table, she picked up the first aid kit, whispered something to Kikuchi and stormed back out.
Kikichi stood from his table. "Miyako-san, you need to go with Oshiro-sensei, your dog has been injured."
Miyako stood in a flash and, tripping over her chair as she went, ran out of the hall. There was no thought in her head. She'd never even thought of why Kiba wasn't in the hall. A pang of guilt washed over her heart and that pain only worsened when she heard the whimpering of her beloved pet. "Kiba!"
The puppy yelped from within the crowd outside the girl's shower block.
Miyako pushed her way through and knelt down. "Kiba~!" She cried, tears filling her eyes.
"Miyako-san, take a deep breath." Oshiro said sternly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's only a scratch on her paw. She won't even have to go to a vet. I can easily bandage it, but you need to stay calm. Kiba won't be calm until you are."
Miyako nodded weakly and wiped her eyes.
"Can you carry her to your cabin? She can rest on her bed then."
Miyako nodded again and carefully dug her hands under the dog and lifted her with a little difficulty and then followed Oshiro back to her cabin. Kiba leaned her head around and licked the side of Miyako's face, tasting the salt of her tears.
"You're not even concerned about yourself, are you, girl?"
Kiba whined a little, but did nothing.
. : . : . : .
When Miyako returned to the hall she had dried tears on her cheeks, her eyes downcast, her mood sombre and she'd taken her Lei off. And still none of the girl Regular's had shown themselves.
Tezuka stood fluidly, intending to ask her what had happened, but Miyako merely stopped by the counter, chose an apple and walked back out from the hall.
"Tezuka…" Fuji muttered.
"Start training on the beach at two sharp – whether I'm there or not." Tezuka said to Oishi and followed after Miyako. He could see her quickly walking in the direction of the beach, but even when she reached the sand she began to walk along the shore line.
"I don't care what any of you say." Oshiro's voice carried from outside the Regular girl's cabin where the six girls were lined up. "There is no way that a dog trained that well would do anything like you're saying it did. Miyako-san's dog is injured and one or all of you know what happened and how. You will tell me or you will be sent home before midday today."
And from where he was he could see Kiba sitting in her basket on the veranda of Miyako and Sakuno's cabin. The dog looked up upon seeing him, but didn't move for he was too far away anyway.
Tezuka hastened his pace to the sand and realised that she was several metres ahead of him already. "Miyako!"
Miyako turned on instinct, the apple held up to her lips, another tear streaming down her cheek. She couldn't say a word with her mouth full, all she could do was look away.
Tezuka quickly caught up with her. "Miyako, what's happened?"
"They did something to her." Miyako admitted. "Harris-senpai still claims innocence – but the other girls aren't hiding the guilt as well. But from what I can tell already, I don't think they did it. I think it was Harris-senpai." She sighed. "But I can't make any clear decisions – not when my mind is so clouded."
"Let's go for a walk then." Tezuka suggested. "And clear your head."
Miyako nodded and took another bite of her apple.
Silence settled, but neither felt the need to break it. They enjoyed silence with subtle company. It was one of few things that they really had in common – other than Tennis. But there was one thing that was beginning to bother her.
His hand was right there – but she couldn't hurt herself any further.
. : . : . : .
Tezuka opened his eyes, the sky was turning shades of yellow and red, the clouds pink and gold. He sat up and saw that the tide was coming in and would soon lap at his feet. He looked to his side and saw that Miyako was still sound sleep on the sand beside him.
He sighed and carefully lifted her from the sand and then slipped her around and onto his back. Her arms hung down around his shoulders and her breath breezed by his ear.
After a while, Miyako simply asked if they could sit down and talk – but after there had been such little talking she lay down and had fallen asleep. He hadn't planned on sleeping either, but assumed that he'd slipped off without knowing it.
She barely stirred as he returned to the campsite and discovered that everyone had returned to the hall – afternoon practices were over and the campsite appeared to be empty in the sunset. He looked at the girls cabins and decided that an exception to the rules could be made. He approached Miyako's cabin and Kiba looked up from her food and barked a little, walking towards the edge of the veranda to greet him.
"Hey there girl." He greeted, sliding the door of the cabin open and laying Miyako down on one of the futons. He knelt there for a short while, staring at her sleeping features. Her eyelids fluttered lightly and he smiled warmly – she was dreaming. Gently he brushed her fringe back from her forehead, kissed her there and walked out of the cabin. He slid the cabin door shut and sat on the veranda with Kiba, who had given up eating to sulk beside him until he let her lie herself across his lap.
Absently he pet the dog along her head and down the spine. "You're feeling better then?"
Kiba whined a little.
Tezuka looked at the front paw that was still wrapped in a bandage. "You're not stupid enough to get yourself hurt, are you, girl?" He asked. "She did something to you."
Kiba only whined again in reply.
"Ahh, Tezuka-kun!"
Tezuka looked up as Oshiro ran up to him, she looked worried and tired. "Is Miyako in the cabin?"
Tezuka nodded. "I lay her down in there – I'm sorry I broke the rule."
"No, no. It's okay. She's sleeping is she?"
Tezuka nodded again. "We fell asleep on the beach. And I hope it's alright for me to stay here until she wakes up."
"Aren't you hungry at all?"
"No, I'll be fine until she's awake." Tezuka replied, ignoring the grumble his stomach tried to emit.
Oshiro nodded. "I'll bring something for you." She said and left him sitting there with Kiba on his lap.
. : . : . : .
Groggily she woke up and realised that she was in a different place.
She wasn't on the beach. Tezuka wasn't anywhere to be found. She sat up and rubbed her head a little.
"Welcome back."
Miyako looked over at Sakuno. The girl had already showered and her hair was hanging out down her back.
Sakuno giggled a little. "Don't worry. Tezuka-senpai bought you here just before dinner finished. He left once I came back from the showers though." She explained.
Miyako yawned. "I should go and shower before they close the blocks."
"Better hurry then." Sakuno suggested.
Miyako grabbed her toiletries. "What time is it?"
"Nearly nine." Sakuno replied.
"When I come back let's go out to the trampolines for a bit, okay?"
Sakuno nodded. "Sure."
Miyako smiled, grabbing another outfit to wear and left the cabin. She noticed slightly that Kiba wasn't there. "Sakuno-chan? Do you know where Kiba is?"
"Tezuka-senpai took her when he left. He said she looked like she wanted a walk."
Miyako smiled to herself. "Thanks." She said before stepping off the veranda to walk casually – humming to herself – down the concrete path down to the shower block.
When she entered the block was empty – which was perfect. She chose one of the western styled shower cubicles and shut the door behind her. She reached through to the second section of the cubicle to turn on the water and then closed the flimsy curtain as she undressed and placed her swimmers and sun dress on the hook on the back of the cubicle door and then pulled the hair tie for the end of her plait, detangled it all and then pulled the last hair tie out to let the hair along with her fringe, fall out to its full length.
She was still so worn out from the day. The morning challenges had been brutal and the walk with Tezuka had been nerve wracking. The whole time he was just there, close enough to touch. But she knew that there was nothing that she could do until he was ready to ask her.
She sighed as she stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over her.
"God, I hate her!"
Miyako's breath caught in her throat as the new voice, along with the footsteps of several others walked into the shower block. It definitely wasn't Harris. It sounded like Rika Hime – the Vice Captain of the Girl's Regulars. She and Harris had been close friends since they started High School so this announcement confused Miyako.
"I can't believe she's going to let us take the blame for what happened to Arakaki's dog." Rika exclaimed.
"It was all her fault anyway." Second year, Yori Niigaka added. "She was the one who held that stick."
The other second year, Susumu Fukui, sighed. "And Kiba is such a sweet dog."
"And once more." Teruko Shimane stated angrily. "I'm sick of hearing nothing but 'Tezuka-kun this' and 'Tezuka-kun that' and 'Arakaki must be stopped' crap. And I hate acting stupid around her. It's an insult to my education."
Chiyo Kagawa sighed. "And Arakaki is such a nice person – I've seen the way she acts around Sakuno-chan. And she has a little sister too, I saw her that day when she got hurt at the tennis courts. I hate that I can't go and talk to her."
"Well…we can't go to Oshiro-sensei." Rika said. "Anne-san will still be left on the team – her Father will pay the principal to allow her to stay. It was how she became Captain in the first place."
"That's so wrong." Teruko said.
"We're not any better." Yori muttered. "We all sucked up and payed our way into the Regulars by being that witch's friend."
Susumu sighed. "And she won't even let me talk to Suzuki-kun when I want to…just because he's not on the tennis club."
Miyako kept her mouth shut and simply continued her shower as though she hadn't heard a thing, even as they continued to talk. She quickly washed her hair through and then made sure that all traces of sand was washed off her skin before she turned the water off. The shower block fell silent.
She wrapped a towel around her head and used another towel to dry herself off before she dressed in the mid-thigh length shorts and short sleeved t-shirt. She gathered up her belongings and opened the cubicle to step out, acting completely oblivious to the fact that there were others in the block. She pulled the towel off her head and scrunched the last of the water out with her hands before she dug into her bag for her brush and began to detangle the mess.
The girls looked at one another in confusion.
Rika stepped forward. "Arakaki-san?"
Miyako didn't respond straight away, but when she did she looked over and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. Hime-senpai. Everyone….I didn't realise that you were all here." She said softly.
They all shared glances again.
"You didn't know?" Rika asked.
Miyako shook her head, brushing through her hair absently. "Why? Was I supposed to?"
"Well, uum…not really…" Rika said. "You won't say anything, will you?"
"About what?" Miyako asked, but then shrugged. "I'm going now anyway." She said, pulling her hair back into a damp ponytail and leaving, her towels slung over her shoulder and toiletries bag with it.
She knew it. It had been Anne all along. And all of the Regular girls knew it too. But they obviously had nothing to do with it. Unless they knew she was in there and staged it. There was every possibility that that had happened. But then she wasn't sure if she could assume they were all great actresses.
She sighed, exasperated as she walked into the cabin and dropped her bag and towels on the floor.
Sakuno looked up from her book. "Are you okay?" She asked, noting Miyako's troubled expression.
"I'm fine. Come on, let's go to the trampolines." Miyako suggested, clicking into her bouncy personality and racing Sakuno all the way to the trampolines by the other side of the hall where the boy Regular's were already hanging around on the courts and the trampolines.
Miyako ignored the fact that Fuji and Eiji was already on one and climbed on swiftly, sitting on the black material as the boys targeted her, jumping as close to her as they could so that she rose into the air higher and higher. She squealed; a little unnerved by the height she was reaching and once she could, stood to her feet and jumped with them instead, grabbing one of their hands each in hers and then they closed off the triangle on their end they jumped in unison.
"You are always going to be my love~. And I will always remember how to love, because you taught me how~. You will forever have a place inside my heart~. I hope I will have a place in your heart too~. Now and forever you are still the one, in my life~." Miyako sang softly, staring up at the dark blue sky where stars were beginning to form.
"Singing about Tezuka, are we?" Fuji teased.
Miyako flushed but couldn't respond.
"Mou, your voice is really beautiful, Miyako-chan~." Eiji complimented, playing with his Lei as they eased their leaps and sat down on the fabric.
Miyako smiled at him. "Thanks. I did some singing training a few years ago – but I loved tennis a bit more than singing so I stopped."
"You should enter the Talent Show tomorrow night." Fuji suggested.
"There's a Talent Show tomorrow night?" Miyako asked.
"Oh yeah, you weren't at dinner." Eiji realised. "But yeah, as Fujiko says, you should be in the Talent Show. I think that you'd win."
"I know that she would." A voice added as the person's weight joined theirs on the trampoline behind Miyako.
She turned and laughed. "Yeah right, Tezuka." She scoffed as he slid into the circle between her and Eiji. "Depends on what the other participants do."
"Harris-san is going to make her group perform a dance and Fuji is going to show off his incredible stomach of steel." Eiji explained.
"I asked Kikuchi-sensei if he could organise for some chilli's to be bought here for me and I have my stash of wasabi in the cabin." Fuji explained.
"And Inui's gladly going to supply some of his special Inui Juice." Tezuka said. "Too bad I didn't think to bring Aozu."
Fuji hissed lightly and tensed as though he were a vampire caught in the sunlight. "Don't mention the accursed word."
Tezuka smirked slightly and looked at Miyako with his eyebrows raised. "Gets him every time."
Miyako laughed. "Oh hey, Tezuka, where's Kiba?"
"Kaidou has her." He said, turning his head back to the grassed area between the hall and the sand. A figure lay right in the middle with a pale fluffy form lying lazily beside it. "He was worried about Kiba too."
Miyako smiled and after half turning back to Eiji and Fuji, she lay her forehead against Tezuka's shoulder. "I heard something." She whispered as Eiji and Fuji appeared to create their own conversation.
"What?"
"When I was in the shower block…the Regular girls came in – without Harris-senpai." Miyako explained softly. "I don't know if this is right because there was no way that they couldn't know I was there – but they talked about how much they don't like their Buchou and that….it had been her to hurt Kiba."
Tezuka hummed. "And you can't go to Oshiro-sensei about it, can you?"
"No…" Miyako grumbled. "They also said that Harris-senpai's father pays the principal to keep her the Captain. But whether that is true or not, I'm not sure. But that's impossible to work out anyway." She bumped her forehead against his shoulder again. "This is so annoying. And she's all that's in the way of this."
"I'll take care of that." Tezuka said to her. "Don't worry about what she's keeping from us at this moment – worry about how to find out if what those girls said was true or if it was just a ruse."
Miyako nodded.
"You know it's hard to hear you when you lower your voices like that." Eiji said.
Tezuka reached over, placed his palm flat to the side of Eiji's head and shoved him hard enough to push him over. "That's the purpose of whispering."
Eiji laughed as he sat up, rubbing the side of his head and fixing his Lei. "That's the purpose of eavesdropping."
Echizen suddenly appeared, leaping onto the trampoline and turning to help Sakuno on. The circle shifted to allow them room and they slipped in between Eiji and Fuji. "Anyone know if there will be some kind of desert?" Echizen asked.
"Probably." Fuji replied. "Why?"
"I'm hungry." Echizen replied.
Miyako smiled and leaned back a little, but was shocked to hear her own stomach grumble. "Oh…excuse me."
"You haven't eaten at all." Fuji said. "Maybe you should go to the hall and get something?"
"Oshiro-sensei said that she asked for a meal to be left for you." Tezuka added.
Miyako nodded. "You're probably right." She turned around to climb off the trampoline and made her way towards the hall.
When she walked into the eating area she found herself where she least wanted to be. She took two steps back and slipped around the corner of the doorframe so that she was out of sight.
Rika's voice carried out to Miyako's ears, though it was low and discreet. "Oshiro-sensei, there's something that we want to talk to you about." She paused nervously. "It's about what happened to Miyako Arakaki's dog – and Anne Harris' involvement in that event."
The song lyrics that Miyako was singing came from a song by Yuu Shirota called 'First Love' - I took out the English spoken lyrics and put them there :) I wanted a piece of the live action Tezuka in the story~