Chapter 23: Making A Strike

Tokiya made his way back to the elevator in a daze. Did everyone really think that he didn't like to have fun? That he tortured himself on purpose? 'Geez.'

He took out his celfone and typed in a quick message.

TO: RECCA HANABISHI

FROM: TOKIYA MIKAGAMI

Coming down to join you. Still at the bowling alley?

The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside. He pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned against the back wall of the elevator, taking deep breaths. Fun. He was going to have some fun. Be a teenager.

His celfone beeped.

TO: TOKIYA MIKAGAMI

FROM: FUUKO KIRISAWA

open message?

He felt his heart soar as he saw her name. He pressed the button to open the message and his smile turned into a smirk of amusement.

It's me, Recca. I dnt have cel credits. Yea we're still hir bowling alley. Shake a leg & get ovr hir. We guys r gttin' creamd by d ladiez.

Tokiya let out a snort and stepped out onto the ground floor of the hotel. He went out of the revolving doors and made his way to the recreation area, following the signs that pointed to the bowling alley.

There was a hiss as the automatic doors opened for him. He blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the bright neon lights of the place. Trudging forward, he scanned the occupied alleys for any sign of his friends.

"OY, FROSTY! OVER HERE!" Recca's voice rang out.

Tokiya looked over to where Domon and Kaoru were waving.

"Go get some shoes, ya Popsicle!" Recca cracked his knuckles. "Now that you're here, it's time for some payback!"

"Assuming he's good." Fuuko grinned at her best friend and slid her fingers into a bowling ball. She walked onto the bowling lane and launched her bowling ball in a straight shot.

The ball collided with the pins at the end of the lane and felled every single one.

"STRIKE!"Fuuko crowed triumphantly. She slapped high-fives with Yanagi and Ganko.

"Awww, man! That's thrice in a row!" Kaoru groaned as the screen above them flashed the total scores.

"And we're leading by fifteen points! Way to go, Fuuko!" Yanagi cheered.

Tokiya rented his bowling shoes and approached the boys. "I leave you for a a little more than an hour, and this is what happens?" He bent to tie his laces.

"Wipe that smirk off and get your game face on!" Recca shoved a bowling ball into his hands.

"Ooof! Alright, you sea monkey. Calm down!"

Tokiya took aim and sped down the lane. He had tried bowling before, and he found that he could make better shots when he started at a fast pace. He launched the ball and slid his foot forward to stop himself from going further-

Too late. He had gone too far. In a split second, he had lost his footing and landed chin first on the bowling lane.

After the impact that seemed to resound inside his head and jostle his brain, he heaved himself up and turned to see his friends with peculiar looks on their faces. Like they were biting their lips.

He exhaled exasperatedly. "Go on. Laugh."

And they let loose with loud guffaws.

Domon had tipped over from his seat and laughed till he cried. "It looked like you were about to do a dive and then changed your mind at the last second!"

Recca wasn't adding his own wisecracks as he was rolling on the floor laughing like a hyena.

Fuuko was still stifling her laugh, but she walked forward to give him a hand up. "Still in one piece, Mi-Chan?"

Tokiya took her hand and let her heave him back up. Once again, his brain couldn't form a reply...

The sound of clapping behind them had them all turn to look.

"I'll give you a 3.5 for form." Raiha strode forward, grinning. "But that shot certainly did count." he pointed down the lane where Tokiya had made his pitch.

"STRIKE!" Domon punched the air.

"YOU'RE THE MAN, FROSTY!" Kaoru thumped him on the back.

As his male friends convened around him to slap high fives, Tokiya watched Fuuko out of the corner of his eye. She was still next to him, and she hadn't let go of his hand.

"Raiha..."

"Hey, Fuuko. Having fun?" her ex-boyfriend walked closer.

"Yeah..." Fuuko slowly let go of Tokiya's hand, but he grasped her fingers.

"That's good." Raiha surveyed them all. "Is it okay with you all if I ask her out to dinner tonight?"

Fuuko felt her heart clench. She looked over at her friends' expressions. They all clearly had the same sentiment.

'No, it is NOT okay!'

Tokiya slowly let go of her hand. He looked away.

'What's up with that?' Fuuko thought, confused.

"You should ask her." Recca spoke up through gritted teeth.

All of them managed to plaster on strained smiles.

"If you insist." Raiha grinned more suavely. "What do you say, Fuuko? Will you have dinner with me tonight?"

"Yes... sure..." Fuuko finally answered.

"Excellent!" Raiha took her hand and squeezed it. "I'll come get you at your suite. 7th floor, right?"

Fuuko nodded.

"Right. Is 7 p.m. Okay for you?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"See you then." Raiha turned to the rest. "And I'll see you all at the engagement party."

They all managed sullen nods as the Raijin master left them.

When he had left the bowling alley, Recca rounded on his best friend.

"Why did you say yes to that DIRTBAG?"

"He's not a - how could you - you know how much he -" Fuuko couldn't finish her sentences, which the whole team knew was Danger Signal Number One.

Recca wasn't backing down. "So, you're into pretty-boys now? I never pegged you to end up with that type of-"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Fuuko yelled.

They both made towards each other, fists at the ready.

Sakoshita Yanagi stepped between them. "Stop it. Both of you. Now." she ordered. "Everyone's looking over here."

Sure enough, it seemed the entire crowd at the bowling alley was watching them with bated breath.

Fuuko lowered her voice. "It's just one dinner. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Ohh, nooo! Now she's jinxed it!" Domon slapped a hand to his forehead.

Not to mention Tokiya could think of a million 'worst' things that could happen.

"Please, you guys. Trust me. I got this." Fuuko looked at them all, pleadingly.

It was a long moment before Recca finally straightened up and picked up a bowling ball. "Fine. If you're that sure about it. Are we playing or what?"

Tanya rubbed her eyes before opening them.

'How long have I been asleep?'

She turned to look at a large clock on the wall of the boys' suite.

6:00 pm.

'That long?' She untangled herself from the blanket her brother had wrapped her in. She had slept a solid three hours.

She wobbled up. Ugh... she still felt tired, even after that long nap. This must be one of those 'all in the mind' things she read about in her brother's college textbook on basic psychology. What was it? Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. A person who has experienced a traumatic event would often manifest symptoms of insomnia, nightmares, fatigue...

Tanya shook her head to clear it. Remembering stuff from textbooks only made her feel more exhausted.

When she was sure she was steady on her feet, she fluffed out the blanket she had been using and started to fold it.

"Hi, darling." Kagerou peeked out from one of the rooms she was cleaning. "Had a good rest?"

"More or less." Tanya smiled wryly and rubbed her hand over her face.

"Well, it's almost dinnertime." Kagerou came out carrying an armful of clothes and clotheshangers. "You can go to sleep again right after. You still look awfully drained."

"I'll be fine." Tanya came over and relieved her of most of the garments and began to arrange them into piles according to color.

"You're just like your brother. So organized." Kagerou smiled as she sorted out the hangers.

"I had to learn to do my own laundry when I was old enough to understand the instructions on the detergent wrappers," Tanya said. "Sensei Megui said it was part of my training. She'd give me a time limit, and I had to be done sorting and washing all my clothes by then."

"But you're so young!" Kagerou knelt down next to her and tilted her chin up with a finger. "Forgive me for saying this, but it sounds rather harsh for her to expect that much from you at an early age."

"It wasn't that bad." Tanya smiled.

"Not according to me." Kagerou hoisted her back onto the couch and turned on the t.v. "Watch some cartoons. I"ll finish this."

Tanya obediently flicked through the t.v. channels till she found a good cartoon. She turned to Kagerou, who was continuing her sorting. "Thank you."

Kagerou gave her a kind smile. "You're a child, my dear. And you've already been through so much. Don't deprive yourself of all the wonderful experiences that only someone your age can appreciate. Come to think of it, I voiced some similar sentiments to your brother before I shooed him off him to go and have some fun. I told him I'd be the one to look after you."

"So that's why he isn't here." Tanya grinned.

"Mmm hmm." Kagerou winked. "Hopefully, I can get you both to stop acting older than your age."

A few more minutes of companionable silence passed between them with Tanya laughing once in a while at the antics of the cartoon she was watching. She rested her head on one of the armrests of the couch and felt a bit more at ease with herself ever since she came home to find her parents dead.

There was the telltale sound of a keycard being slot into place and the door was suddenly shoved open.

The Hokage boys all trooped in with faces like thunder.

Tanya felt her good vibes whoosh away in that instant.

"What'd I miss?" she managed to ask, looking from one boy to the next.

"We got beat by the girls at bowling by ten points, oh and Fuuko agreed to a date with that pretty-boy ex of hers." Recca plopped down next to her and ruffled her hair. "So you didn't miss anything, squirt. Nothing much."

Tanya raised her eyebrows.

"Anything good on?" Recca lifted his feet up to rest them on the coffee table. "Better than looking at your Eskimo of a brother here, who didn't even do anything to-"

"Hold on, you're blaming me?" Tokiya whirled around. "Like it's my fault that she said yes to a dinner date?"

"For someone so smart, you sure don't know much about good timing!" Recca stood up, fists balled.

"Okay boys, take it down a notch." Kagerou ordered, coming out of the kitchen. She handed Tanya a few packages of instant lemonade. "Ask Sakoshita to mix these up for me, sweetie. And tell her to put it in the empty pitcher in the fridge."

Tanya nodded and made herself scarce.

Fuuko stepped out of the shower and wrung her hair dry. She had half an hour to pick out an outfit before Raiha came to pick her up. Yanagi and Ganko were rummaging through her suitcase and pairing up some tops and skirts.

"Denim miniskirt?"

"Too skimpy for a dinner date. How bout this top?"

"Maybe. Will it look nice when paired with this?"

A knock on the door interrupted their train of thought.

"It's me, Tanya. May I come in?"

"I'll get the door." Ganko darted out.

"Hi, honey. What've you got there?"

"Lemonade mix. I'm supposed to ask Sakoshita-san to make some. Kagerou said..."

Sakoshita put down the skirt she was pairing up with one of Fuuko's tops and went out of the room.

"I'm here, Tanya-chan. Hand those over and I'll start the lemonade."

Ganko returned to her sister's room and continued to mix and match Fuuko's clothes.

'You okay?" She asked the wind princess. "Did you have anything in mind on what to wear?"

"No." Fuuko admitted, as she continued to blow-dry her hair.

"I like the top Sakoshita-san chose." Ganko held up the white blouse. "And paired with this." Ganko held up one of the skirts that Fuuko brought. It was a yellow one, with a hem that edged into gold.

"Looks good." Fuuko glanced at the clock again. "I'd better get dressed."

Ganko nodded and left the room.

Minutes later, Fuuko came out dressed in the ensemble that her sister and her best girlfriend had put together for her. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put on some blue eyeshadow for effect. On her feet were her strappy wedge heels.

Tanya approached her squealing. "Kawaii!"

"Thanks, sweetheart." Fuuko pulled her into a hug.

'Bet my brother would love to see you in that.' Tanya thought, rather sadly. 'All this effort to look good for someone who broke her heart? I don't get it...'

"Should I keep the night-light on for you? In case I'm asleep when you come back?" Tanya asked.

"Yes, please. I'd appreciate that, honey." Fuuko took her hand and led her to the kitchen, where Yanagi and Ganko were seemingly trying too hard to mix up some lemonade.

"I'm ready." Fuuko announced.

"Looking good, Sis." Ganko looked up. Yanagi smiled in approval.

A knock on the door.

"That's him." Fuuko picked up her clutch bag and took her blue hoodie jacket from the coat rack.

'Deep breaths, Fuuko.'

She pulled open the door to find-

"Mi-Chan?"

'Wow...' was all Tokiya's brain could give to describe the vision of loveliness standing before him. This was Fuuko Kirisawa dressed up for a date- with a guy that wasn't him.

Instinctively, he reached up to rub off her eyeshadow with his fingers.

"You look better without it."

Fuuko turned pink, which accentuated her beauty even more.

"Thanks..." She pulled a handkerchief from her clutch and wiped off the rest of the eyeshadow. Luckily, she had used the powder type that didn't smear.

"Neesan?" Tanya's voice came from behind Fuuko.

"Hey, sweetie." Tokiya tore his eyes from Fuuko and let them focus on his sister. "Could you call Yanagi and Ganko? Kagerou says we're having dinner over at our suite."

"Sure." Tanya disappeared back inside.

Tokiya's gaze returned to Fuuko, who was removing the last of her eyeshadow with her handkerchief.

She gave him a shy smile when he was done.

It was all he could do not to kiss her right there and then.

Instead, he blurted out "You look better without makeup."

Fuuko raised her eyebrows, and that pretty pink blush returned to color her cheeks again.

"Really?"

Tokiya nodded, still mesmerized.

"Well, thanks, Mi-Chan. It's the first time I've ever heard you tell me something like that."

"If it helps-"

"Sorry, I'm late!" A voice interrupted. It's owner came hurrying out of the elevator.

Fuuko leaned out the doorway to look down the hall. "He's here." she said, somewhat nervously.

"Hey, Fuuko. And hey, Tokiya-san." Raiha panted as he reached the doorway where the two were standing. "Sorry that I'm-" he checked his watch. "Two minutes and fifteen seconds late. The elevators were quite full and I had to wait for a while. Ready to go, Miss Kirisawa?"

"Yes." Fuuko stepped out of the door.

"Whoa..." Raiha pretended to reel backwards. "Man, I'm a lucky guy tonight! You look lovely."

"Thank you." Fuuko blushed for the third time in the past ten minutes.

"Shall we?" "He took her arm and linked it through his.

Fuuko nodded and followed him.

"Later, Tokiya-san." Raiha waved a hand in his direction.

Tokiya could only incline his head. He feared that he would punch Fuuko's date in the face if he had moved any other part of his body.

As he watched them walk towards the elevator, something made him smile.

Hanging on the crook of Fuuko's free arm was a blue hoodie jacket.