Our Eclipse
"I'm off to school now Uncle Hosho," her cheery voice was the first thing that Kanata heard that morning as he got out of his room, still in his vest and tracks only to come face-to-face with his Sensei-cum-housemate Miyu Kouzuki.
"Morning Kanata," she smiled.
Kanata nodded, his eyes looking still a little bit sleepy. Undoubtedly, she found this funny.
"I bet majority of your fans will quit if they see you like this," she whispered with a teasing smile, "you look too awful…"
She took a step to leave but returned and said with a smile, "take a bath Kanata… you seriously stink…"
Kanata raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Just so you know, my fans love me in my basketball games and I actually look and smell better right now, comparatively…"
Miyu stood there for a moment, contemplating his words whilst Kanata was internally rejoicing at beating her down but his celebrations didn't last long since she came up with a comeback.
"Girls these days don't have much taste, do they?"
She tilted her head sideways, a grin adorning her face as Kanata stood there, glaring. She left the young brunet in his messy clothes and evenly messy hair with a priceless look of loathing evident in his face.
True, he never liked those girls ogling at him but that doesn't mean that she of all people can tell him that they don't have taste, meaning that he wasn't worth watching.
"Go to hell, hag," Kanata muttered under his breath, watching her retreating back.
"Not if you're going to be there".
Chapter 3
The "Other" Guy
"I thought after that dinner incident, she started to maybe like you a bit," Hikarigaoka said between his gasps for breath as he sat down at the bench, his full attire wet from perspiration after an entire hour of practice.
"That's what I thought as well…"
Saionji, who was already seated at the bench, handed him a bottle of water, a disapproving look in his sharp amber orbs.
Although he had been narrating (more like complaining) about what happened with his blonde teacher in the morning, Saionji's gaze returned to the ongoing practice session that he was banned from. It irritated him so much, beyond limits, that he has to sit out not only during the actual game but also in all the practices leading up to it.
It was all her fault.
"Hikarigaoka!" their coach shouted, "Back in the game!"
"Yes coach…" the blond muttered before throwing the half-empty water bottle back to the brunet and returned to the game.
Saionji got up and taking a step forward, stared at his blonde best-friend for a second before realizing that the coach's eyes were on him. Not wanting to meet his gaze at once, the brunet slowly turned and faced his coach with a stony face. The coach gave him a steely glance before turning away and returning his attention to the practice match between the team members.
Saionji hated it.
He hated to be stuck in this situation.
He had almost always had his way with everything.
What did he do that was so wrong that the only thing that drives him was taken away from him? How could she do this to him? The guy who had had so much pride and happiness in his eyes when he helped them win the Championship last year eyed him with plain disgust.
Why did this happen?
It was just one freaking detention for being late for five freaking minutes!
"I hate her!"
Our Eclipse
"I love you"
Saionji stared at the girl before him and blinked. The brunette before him looked up at him, her beautiful face completely crimson, anticipating a reply.
"What?" Saionji asked his face mirroring plain confusion.
The brunette hesitated for a second before repeating, "I-I love you Kanata…"
Saionji paced before her for a minute, much to the confusion of the olive-orbed teen before him. Her heart was beating fast against her chest as she hoped against hope that by some unknown miracle, he would accept her… give her a chance that he had denied almost more than a dozen girls in the past year alone.
The brunet came to a stop before her and with his hand on his chin, in an almost thoughtful look, he asked hesitantly, "I'm sorry but I gotta ask one thing…"
The brunette nodded her head vigorously indicating him to go ahead.
Saionji straightened and with an almost annoyed look in his eyes asked, "Who the heck are you?"
Our Eclipse
"A-and h-he a-asked…"
"Tina," the blonde's soothing voice and her soft touch as she slowly and patiently patted the brunette hair of the girl who was sobbing on her lap, her tears flowing fast, "Relax… and tell me what he asked…"
Tina fought back a few tears and narrated on how she had conjured up all her guts and after nearly an entire year of liking the Kanata Saionji, she had been able to tell him how she felt about him.
"But he asked me who exactly I am…" she sobbed, looking into those emerald irises of her teacher who had started to console her inside the staff room for the past twenty minutes.
"This isn't fair!" cried Tina as she grabbed her face with both her hands, "he could've just said 'sorry not interested'…! Why Sensei…? Why did he have to do that…? Does he hate me…?"
"He's an idiot…" Miyu said softly, as she grabbed Tina's wet hands in hers and with a smile continued, "He's an idiot if he hadn't noticed such a sweet and beautiful girl…"
Tina tried to wipe away her tears as she managed to give her sweet teacher a smile for all her kind words.
"He isn't worth it…"
Tina shook her head lightly, "no… I'm not worthy enough for him… that's why…"
Miyu sighed before she asked, "what made you like him?"
The brunette looked starry-eyed for a second as she ranted, "He's smart, handsome, seriously cool and super talented in basketball… I fell for his slam dunk the very first day I saw him practicing basketball a year back…"
"He's smart…" Miyu said lightly, "that is cause he knows how to use his brains… he's handsome because his mother was a beauty… About the "cool" part, I'm not even sure why you would even term him as that… seriously…
"The guy is stubborn, self-centered, a total jerk who doesn't know how to treat a girl and a lot of other things that I cannot tell to a fellow student, especially his fan…"
Tina chuckled at her teacher's animated hatred toward the basketball star.
Miyu smiled at finally cracking the poor heartbroken brunette and said, "You keep that smile, okay…? Who knows how many guys are gonna fall for it…"
Tina's cheek reddened a little bit as she nodded and got to her feet.
"Thanks sensei…"
Miyu got to her feet as well and shrugged said, "I'm your teacher… you needn't thank me… It's my job to keep you people of sound mind and body…"
Tina chuckled again before bowing and leaving the staff room.
Miyu smiled to herself as she turned to her cabin and started to pack stuff to leave for home. She yawned as she realized how tired she actually was. Fully ready to leave, she turned toward the door when somebody stopped her.
"Hey…" he said with his smile wide and his handsome face a sight to see.
"Hi…" Miyu said, almost hesitantly.
Our Eclipse
"She's not home yet? Why…?"
"How should I know?" Kanata practically yelled into his phone as he paced inside his room, his other hand busily messing his hair as he clenched and unclenched it, his irritation obviously showing.
"You don't think something happened to her…?"
Kanata came to a stop and said, "Not till now".
"Don't worry dude," Hikarigaoka's voice sounded tensed and nervous, "I'm sure nothing happened to her…"
"Well actually, if something happened to her it'd be good thing," Kanata explained with a smirk, "So, I'm not the one worried…"
"Jesus Kanata, seriously…? When did you turn this evil, man?"
"I'm home!"
Kanata's ears pricked a little at the sound of her voice, a little more cheerful than usual.
"I'll call you back," he told Nozomu, "she's home…"
In a swift motion, Kanata dropped his phone on his bed, checked his reflection in the mirror a second enough to make his hair a little bit presentable and dashed to open the door and stood at the corridor, startling the smiling blonde who was about to cross his room and head to hers.
"Whoa!" she gasped and blinked, "w-what's wrong?"
"You're late," he said, looking at her almost sternly.
"Who are you," she tried to weave past him but his basketball instincts kept her there, "my dad..?"
"Where have you been?" he snapped, placing his hands on both walls of the corridor, clearing blocking her way.
Miyu, after all her attempts to get past him, sighed.
"That's none of your business," she said, his arms crossed.
"It so is, if you're gonna live in my house," Kanata said, unknowingly anger creeping through his system at her response.
"It's Uncle Hosho's house," she snapped.
The two glared daggers at each other until finally Kanata frowned and asked, "Don't tell me… were you on a date?"
"Make way, Kanata…"
This is so going against the plan, thought the brunet. All their plans will go haywire if she started to go out with some other guy. Besides, who is this "other" guy anyway?
"Who is this "other" guy anyway?" he asked raising his voice a little bit.
"Sorry?" Miyu asked, plain confused.
"I mean…" Kanata gulped and corrected with his cheeks slightly red, "Who is the… Who is the unlucky guy?"
Miyu stared at him for a whole minute before a smirk finally spread along her cheek. As Kanata watched, she took gentle steps towards the brunet much to the surprise of the latter. His grip against the wall loosened as she came closer.
He took an involuntary step back as she came so close to his face that he could smell her enticing perfume.
"Kanata," she asked, her fingers gently grazing his cheek, "are you…"
Kanata's heart began to race and he didn't have many secrets as to why. Something stirred inside of him as she neared him enough for him to trace the lines along her glossy lips. Her breath fell on his lips as she whispered the next word.
"…jealous…?"
Kanata's heart almost stopped as she said it.
"W-what?" was all he could muster before she hit his forehead playfully, with a huge grin and got past him.
He stood there, still in shock as she reached her door, smiling to herself.
"Just kidding," she said as she opened her room, still chuckling at the look on the brunet's face.
He turned and stared at her closed door from the position he stood. Within seconds, she opened the door again and with a smile said, "Oh ya… its Yamamura-sensei… your Math teacher…"
"Mizuki-sensei…?"
She smiled, as a small blush crept to her cheeks, "see ya at dinner…"
Kanata walked back into his room, a little bit stony faced. He felt as though his stomach was filled with lead as he walked to his bed and fell on the bed, face-first.
He lay there for an entire three minutes before his mobile began to ring.
At the backdrop of that rock music that was coming from his mobile, Kanata's muffled voice was barely audible but from whatever that could be heard, this is what we could make out:
"What a life, man…"
End Chapter 3
That last line is actually from the movie Vaanam where the hero says "enna life da idhu…" after an 'incident' with his girlfriend. Thought it would be perfect for the end of this chapter… what did you guys think…? Hope it wasn't that bad…
Anyway, do update.
"Pain is the only way you'd know that you are still alive"