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.:I WILL GO TO YOU LIKE THE FIRST SNOW:.
Chapter 2: Queen's Labyrinth
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xxx
She tore herself apart, to find out what she's actually made of
xxx
Carnation pink flower petals danced gracefully in the wind before gently halting to a stop upon touching the ground. Decorated with layers of gorgeous flowers, the walkway was beautiful - a living, exotic scenery of flowers hallway. Fluffy white clouds spread its wings flying across the azure blue sky. Birds latched onto branches and chirped melodiously away.
It was the start of spring and a beautiful, perfect day for the tennis regulars to work on their training regime except that they were...
Stuck in here along with the other rival schools.
"Jesus Christ" Kirihara groaned, slumping even further into his seat as he raised his hands up in a mock surrender action. "Someone save me from this from this boring ass talk. Such a wonderful day and I'm stuck here when I could be out there kicking asses –"
That was Kirihara Akaya, the talented aggressive baseliner, junior ace of Rikkaidai. Dark black hair with messy curls framed his boyish face. "Why must we attend a training camp in a girl's school, I can crush all of them in just less than 15minutes!" he added confidently, electric green eyes twinkling with some sort of maniac glint.
Ryuzaki Sumire, the trusted coach of Seishun Gakuen tennis club raised an eyebrow up in interest. "Hou? You sure about that? Don't you dare to back on your words after witnessing their abilities then."
"Of course!" he retorted back, a tad bit hesitant but still nevertheless as arrogant as ever.
"Hn. Coach Ryuzaki, to put it bluntly this is waste of time. Instead of attending a training camp in a girl's school, it will be better if we practice on our own in our respective schools. Besides, I'm certain that they wouldn't be able to cope with Rikkai's standard."
"Ahn~?" Atobe drawled classily elegant fingers threading through his hair, "And aren't you overly confident about Rikkaidai?"
"Usu."
"Speak for yourself" Sanada retorted back, his dark eyes literally shooting out daggers at Atobe. Atobe, on the other hand, levelled him with a cool stare.
"Coach Ryuzaki, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"That's right Ryuzaki-sensei, that's right! They are all girls after all!"
"Momo! Your manners!" Oishi Shuichiro, the mother hen of Seigaku reprimanded, shaking his head in exasperation.
Ryuzaki Sumire shook her head. The whole point of this tennis camp was for them to be under the wing of Nyudo Mifune, the prodigious, professional coach - despite his rather unconventional teaching methods. Not to mention that, Seirin was a huge, prestigious school known for their superior equipment – Ryuzaki Sumire has always wondered how they managed to gather so much funds for their tennis equipment, cut-throat training methods, large amount of tennis courts and state-of-the-art technology.
She smiled, remaining cool-headed despite her arising feminist side, "I assure you that their team is of national calibre. Their members are all very exceptional, gifted and talented. They might even be able to give Tezuka, Atobe and Yukimura a good run for their money. I do advise you not to belittle them."
"Eh defeat Tezuka-buchou?! Impressive, impressive indeed!"
"Now that's what I call hot."
"Nya! Defeat Tezuka?!"
"Saa, this sounds rather interesting don't you think so, Tezuka?"
"…"
"Ahn~? Ore-sama is not going to get defeated that easily."
"Usu."
"Fufu… this does sounds rather interesting, right Genichirou?"
"Hn."
Ryuzaki Sumire just chuckled, amusement dancing in her eyes "Well well well, this might give you guys a good shock" She paused slightly for the dramatic effect "But the girl's team I've been speaking so fondly about is actually the girl tennis team from Seirin Academy."
xxx
I am a raging sea trapped inside of a raindrop
xxx
A few days later, the boys found themselves wearing equally astonished looking expression as they glanced out of the windows of the bus they were in.
Seirin Academy was definitely a beautiful, advanced school.
In fact, it does possess quite a similitude to Hyotei. Both of them are elite, prestigious private school that are renowned, distinguished for their academic excellence, outstanding students, numerous trophies and medals earned by their clubs and et cetera. Seirin, on the other hand, provided numerous scholarships and student funding programmes to the less fortunate and less wealthy. Hence, it was only possible to enter Seirin through: money, academic results or excellent co-curriculum performance.
The huge, elegant campus painted white emitted off a pristine, fresh aura was accented with dozens of beautiful fountains, statues and sculptures. The school looked like a more advanced, technologized version of medieval castles.
Kikumaru Eiji cheered, his feline dark blue eyes wide with excitement "Amazing nya! Look Momo!" as he jumped from one window to another excitedly in the bus.
"Eh? Where? Where?"
"Wow, this place is huge, isn't it Sanada-fukubuchou?"
"Hn."
Yukimura chimed sweetly with an amused chuckle, "You're acting like a child, Akaya."
"He is one" Marui added smugly.
"Dude, he was always one. Right aka-chan" jested Niou with his typical devil-may-care, slightly condescending smirk.
With a snap of his head, Akaya turned towards the two of them yelling "Hey! Stop calling me that already!"
"Look Oishi! Amazing nya~!"
"E-Eiji!"
Atobe lifted an elegant eyebrow at their actions, "Simmer down you plebeians and quit being so immature, ore-sama has a reputation to uphold" he added, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Yes…"
Then, not even 5 minutes later, "Nya! Look at that gigantic pool, Momo!" "Amazing!"
Atobe sighed.
xxx
When you learn to survive without anyone, you can survive anything
xxx
Upon reaching the tennis court, Eiji and Momoshiro couldn't help but gape in awe at all the high-technology facilities, number of tennis court, state-of-the-art equipment and long list of tennis members.
Ryuzaki chuckled slightly at their reactions, "Now, please follow me" she announced in a loud voice, as she led them towards the main tennis court. The regulars couldn't help but glanced around as they walked towards the main tennis court, every tennis court was being taken up and the members practiced with a systematically manner. Fortunately, the girls attending Seirin all seemed to be rather calm, composed and demure. There wasn't many rabid screaming fan girls.
"We've arrived" Ryuzaki said, glancing backwards to the regulars only to realise that most of them weren't listening. Her eyebrows shot up in curiosity before she followed their line of sight wondering why they were so enthralled.
On one of the tennis court, a girl danced beautifully. Every hit, every return, every stroke was like art. She leaped beautifully from side to side returning the opponent's moves with grace and beauty. With every step of hers, it was like as though if there was an invisible rhythm in their head.
"Ahem!" coach Ryuzaki cleared her throat loudly gaining back their attention. "Ayase!" she called out.
At the mention of her name, the said girl spun around instantly.
She was beautiful. Courtesy of her deep-set eyelids, high nose bridge and prominent facial features it was quite evident that the girl was of mixed blood. Silky, long golden blonde cascade down her shoulders with natural curls. Bright, mesmerizing cerulean eyes were framed with long, thick black lashes. She had peaches and cream complexion and long, toned model-like legs.
"Ah! Ryuzaki-sensei" a smile blooming across her face as she walked towards the coach until –
"AYASE!"
A loud roar bellowed throughout the courts, possibly even echoing throughout the whole campus.
Ayase winced at the loudness of the person's voice, inward marvelling at how loud she could yell. Even the boys cringed at the volume of the booming voice. For a small girl like her she sure had the lung capacity to be able to yell so loudly.
Ayase grinned sheepishly, "Oh hey Hana!" she added waving her white and pastel purple Head tennis racquet at her lovely friend.
Hanabi twitched dangerously, stomping up to Alyssa. "Don't you 'oh hey' me! What on earth is this?! She squawked loudly, shoving out a black lacy bikini that could barely cover anything from her boyish black school bag.
The guy regulars stared blankly, the innocent ones flushed a bright shade of red while the others just stared at them with amused expressions on their faces.
Ayase stared at the clothing for a moment and stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's a bikini"
Whoops wrong move for Hanabi's brow continued twitching furiously, "No shit Sherlock, of course I know it's a bikini!"
Ayase grinned cheekily, "Glad you know!" still daring to cheer in a sing sang voice, totally oblivious of whatever murderous aura her friend had.
"AYASE!"
Waving her hands with a slight pout, Ayase shrugged casually, "Okay okay fine. Sheesh, just relax! Aren't you attending that pool party over at Yamamoto's?" she winked, "You need a boyfriend anyway."
Hanabi flushed, both her face and ears turning crimson, "I do not need one."
Ayase laughed good-heartedly in her usual happy-go-lucky manner while slinging her arms over her friend, "Why not? You need to flaunt more sweetie! You have such an adorable appearance and busty figure!"
Kurisu Hanabi, was indeed a rather adorable-looking, small girl with ample bosom and curvy figure. In spite of that, most of the guys she was interested in, or dated with found her too much of a bro. And it certainly didn't help - her love life - that Hanabi's interest mostly involved of tennis, stuffing her face with buffet food, tennis, hitting the MMA gym, tennis, watching IMMAF video, kicking random people's asses in the arcade, duelling her rowdy brothers for the last chicken wing, learning kendo from Sayuri and practicing aikido in their family dojo.
Therefore, Hanabi who wasn't used to such compliments flushed even deeper. "I-"
"Ahem." With that, the two of them turned around only to find themselves staring at a bunch of boys. Only then did Hanabi's slow brains registered the crowd of boys that she didn't even realise previously and the familiar scowling face.
"AH!" both of them exclaimed.
Shishido wagged his finger incredulously at Hanabi "It's you! The bull from that time!"
"AH!" she too exclaimed loudly "It's you! The weirdo manbrat, capboy from that time!"
Shishido twitched. "Manbrat? Capboy?!"
"Who else can it be?" Hanabi taunted as they continued bickering at the side lines. Mukahi Gakuto blinked, "Yuushi, what happened between them?" he questioned turning towards his doubles partner, slightly curious.
His doubles partner, the Hyotei's bespectacled prodigy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose "I don't even want to know."
"Well… putting that aside. Welcome to Seirin!" Ayase greeted with her usual sunny grin, blatantly ignoring her friend. "I'm Ayase. You guys can call me Ayase! And this grumpy girl over here" earning a very animalistic growl from the peach-haired girl, "is Kurisu Hanabi!"
A few looks were exchanged as the girl only offered her given name without her family name. In Japan, people often address others by their last name unless close relations were involved.
Nonetheless, Yukimura Seiichi smiled politely, flashing one of his usual swoon-worthy smile."I'm Yukimura Seiichi, captain of Rikkaidai, it's a pleasure to meet you." "Sanada Genichirou" the stoic-faced man standing beside Yukimura greeted.
"Tezuka Kunimitsu."
A charismatic, elegant hair flip. "Atobe Keigo."
On the side, Kurisu Hanabi nodded, not really listening to introductions that were being exchanged. Until she spotted a group of girls from the corners of her eye, "Guys! The guys are here!"
xxx
"Okay" he said after forever
"Maybe okay will be our always"
xxx
There was a really long awkward silence as the other regulars just watched a gorgeous blue-headed girl from the group of female regulars converse casually with Sanada, Yukimura and Tezuka. Just the fact that Tezuka who was known for his stoic and apathetic personality was conversing with a girl was shocking enough – despite the fact that all he said was 'Ah' and 'Hn'.
But the mentioned girl also seemed friendly with the renowned Sanada Genichirou and Yukimura Seiichi. "Tezuka-buchou…" Momoshiro gawked wagging his finger at them hysterically "knows… the model Miyazaki Yuina?"
"Well… they're childhood friends" Fuji just offered his usual smile, although Inui sensed something off putting about his smile "Sort of I guess. They used to attend the same tennis club and stuff."
"I must say" Inui joined in, shifting his glasses up – a habit that he often did when he found something amusing "There was indeed an interesting rumour about the five of them being childhood friends. But Tezuka had always been cold towards Sanada-san and Yukimura-san and vice versa, so I eliminated that rumour being a possibility."
"This however" Inui beamed causing his teammates to take a step back at his cryptic smile "proves my assumptions wrong. Ii data indeed. Seems like it was the right choice to conduct the training camp at Seirin after all" he mused, jotting down notes on his trusty notebook at a speed that would put Naniwa's Speed Star to shame.
"Mou, how can Tezuka not tell us about this" Kikumaru pouted, "Hold on. Tezuka, Sanada, Yukimura and Yui-chan - there's only 4 of them nya!" he asked, his feline dark blue eyes reflecting his confusion.
Inui chuckled. "The last one in their group is none other than the one standing beside you" he provided turning towards the ever smiling closed-eye tensai. The tensai, Fuji, despite his ever-present smiling face was as unreadable as ever.
"Miyazaki-san."
Long lilac purple hair danced in the wind.
A faint scent of lavender and lily.
Amethyst purple eyes – gentle yet focused and hard like steel.
"Care to introduce your acquaintances to us?" came a soft, velvety voice.
The blue-headed prodigy nodded before stepping away, waving her hands towards the three men "This is Kunimitsu, Genichirou and Seiichi."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all" Tsubaki greeted politely with a smile, reaching out for a handshake "I'm Aihara Tsubaki, the vice-captain of the Seirin tennis club."
Aihara Tsubaki had mid-back length lilac purple hair, heart shaped face and almond-shaped amethyst purple eyes that matched well with her hair colour.
"Tezuka Kunimitsu."
"Sanada Genichirou."
"I'm pretty sure you're aware of my name already, Aihara-san" Yukimura chimed, offering a smile. A smile that Yuina had mentally dubbed as the I'm-not-really-interested-but-I-have-to-be-polite smile "But, in case if you forgot – it's Yukimura Seiichi." Upon seeing this interaction, the others silently had their eyes darting left and right curious about the relation between the two of them.
Tsubaki offered a serene, equally polite smile in return as she reached out to return their handshakes "Of course not, Yukimura-san."
"And this is my team" She stated, gesturing to the group of girls standing beside her.
And at such close proximity, the boys were flabbergasted because Miyazaki Yuina was breathtakingly beautiful. She had mid-back length, wavy, bright celeste blue hair that glimmered under the sun. Porcelain white skin so white it was like snow and mesmerizing skybird blue eyes that were like the sky. Unlike Hanabi who was only 156cm, she was towering with her 173cm height.
Momoshiro, turning into a bright shade of tomato remarked "Unbelievable! It's the Miyazaki Yuina in person."
"… Yuushi stop staring at her legs."
"Nya Yui-chan! I'm your fan!"
"Fshuuu…."
"Say Miyazaki-san can I uhm have your autograph? I mean it's not like I want it! I just want to sell it on eBay, yes eBay, sell it on eBay."
Yuina, unfazed by the attention, simply smiled – pink lips curling to form a smile as dazzling as Yukimura's, although the smile was twice as blinding and thrice as cold. "Hey. I'm Miyazaki Yuina, just call me Yui though."
"Kurosawa Kaori" spoke a petite girl as she abruptly cut in before slamming her mouth shut and turning away – a sign that she refuses to say anything more than that.
Kurosawa Kaori, who was notorious for her cold and ice princess image had a tiny, slender frame – standing at a height of 160cm with shoulder blade-length, candy floss pink hair tied into pigtails at the ends, up-turned crimson red eyes and ivory skin.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I'm Uemura Nanami, the team's manager."
Their attention then shifted over to a girl with silky, straight platinum silver long hair. Part of her hair was braided into waterfall braids that gave her a touch of elegance, grace and classiness. And an oval-shaped face framed with a pair of striking hyacinth violet eyes.
And with that, all the female regular's gaze turned towards the stubborn Sayuri who continued her cool glare towards the other Sanada and Ryuzaki Aoi who was still hiding behind Yuina.
Tsubaki sighed, "Sanada-san" she chided.
Sayuri pouted, turning towards the guys, her glare instantly changed into a radiant smile shocking some of the guys with her fast change in demeanour. "Hi!" she started off merrily.
"I'm Sanada Sayuri, and yes yes I am a Sanada" her voice faltering off to what sounded like an underlying death threat now. "The oh-so-beloved twin sister of Sanada Genichirou so now just shut your damn traps and be quiet."
With that, most of them – especially the nosy ones kept their mouths shut as they silently sneaked glances between Sanada Genichirou and Sanada Sayuri. Thankfully, she didn't have the customary grim, stern and emotionless expression.
Aoi let out a soft squeal behind when a pair of hands reached out to grab her shoving her right in front of the bunch of huge, tall looking guys.
"Aoi" this time Nanami commanded.
"Yes" Aoi replied with a nervous gulp as she straightened up. "I'm Ryuzaki Aoi, cousin to Ryuzaki Sakuno and granddaughter to Ryuzaki Sumire, it's a pleasure to meet you guys…" she completed with a shy smile.
Among this group of fairly good-looking girls, Ryuzaki Aoi's beauty was bland in comparison. She had waist-length, frizzy fiery red hair that were tied into two long braids and bright magenta eyes that held a look of innocence, determination and passion.
Ryuzaki Aoi was someone who was deemed a wallflower. Someone that just blends into the society, someone that doesn't really stand out. But sometimes she - grew in all the places people thought she never would and did things that people thought she never could.
"As for our captain" Tsubaki chimed in politely, in her classic demure manner "She's in the midst of discussing some matters with our coach, she will be here soon."
"… Or at least I hope so" she ended dryly well aware of their captain's uncanny ability of getting lost wherever she goes.
"Say, enough of this crap" Kirihara Akaya cuts in suddenly, his electric, vivid green eyes gleaming with that usual devilish spark.
The coach who brought them here - Ryuzaki Sumire claimed that 'You kids wait here for a second, I'm heading off to find that drunken freak and Coach Sakaki. Free training!"
So lo and behold, many seconds have definitely gone past now and there's still no news of them, and Kirihara Akaya was growing more and more impatient with every passing second. "How about we have some practice matches."
xxx
Sunlight comes creeping in, illuminates our skin
We watch the day go by, stories of all we did
It made me think of you, it made me think of you
xxx
The girls were now cladded in their regular attire: a black short-sleeved shirt with neon pink and white stripes at the sides and names imprinted in magenta pink with a cute little character at the side of their sleeves. Accompanying the shirt was a black tennis skirt with compression shorts hidden inside. Even some of the male regulars had to admit that they looked pretty bad-ass with those black jersey.
Aihara Tsubaki, stood out and commanded in a voice full of authority, "All non-regulars 20 laps around the courts now!" All the non-regulars complied with the order instantly, lining into a neat line and rushing off to do their laps in an immaculate manner.
"We shall now commence the start of our practice matches."
Kurisu Hanabi shifted her wrist weights subconsciously, an action that caught her doubles partner, Sanada Sayuri's attention. "Nervous?" she commented and Hanabi laughed, "No way."
Sayuri saw her peach-haired friend unzip her huge black-and-red tennis bag taking out her Wilson Blade SW104 tennis racquet. And then it clicked. "Ohh~" Sayuri drawled, an entertained smirk settling on her face before she laughed "You're excited!"
Earlier on when Kirihara Akaya asked – no, demanded for a practice match, Shishido had beat him to it as he instantaneously pointed towards Hanabi demanding her for a match. Of course, being the competitive, adrenaline junkie Hanabi is, accepted it - although it had to be doubles because she had grown so accustomed to playing doubles with Sayuri. This resulted in Shishido Ryou forming a makeshift doubles pair with his favourite kouhai, Ootori Choutarou.
"Good luck girls! Show them some girl power."
Hanabi eyebrows creased in confusion as she let out a sigh, "Sheesh Ayase!" She threw one of the tennis racquet to Sayuri, "How many times do you want me to tell you that I'm not" she paused, not quite willing to admit "… proficient in English" she ended off lamely.
Sayuri smiled, catching the black and red Wilson tennis racquet at ease "She's wishing us good luck, Hana."
Hanabi stared at her doubles partner weirdly "Did you hit your head somewhere and went through some sort of miraculous awakening – please do tell me that you at least turned into a vampire or something cool - or did some sort of alien invaded your right hand?" A slight pause, "I mean… the Sanada Sayuri I knew has always sucked in English."
Sayuri laughed, "Oh god, you have been watching too many chick flicks with Ayase and I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear the last part" She hummed, "Anyway~ let's show them some girl power shall we" she ended off with a predatory smirk lifting up a fist, fireworks literally igniting within her amber eyes.
"Hyotei Academy Shishido-Ootori pair versus Seirin Academy Kurisu-Sanada pair. We will now commence doubles 2."
Hanabi laughed, "You bet" they fist-bumped.
xxx
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul
xxx
Yukimura Seiichi wasn't sure what to think of this. He was the child of god after all, or so people called him. He had left the tennis court a few minutes ago for a toilet break, and had to walk a good distance before he finally found the gent's room.
But if I am really the child of god I shouldn't be getting lost, should I?
Though he had to admit, this academy was really big, comprising of elementary school all the way to high school. The pathway was decorated by a stretch of beautiful cherry blossoms, the petals dancing gracefully in the soft breeze. Yukimura shuts his eyes for a second, breathing in the fresh and clean air.
Now, Yukimura couldn't help but ponder for a millisecond, would their captain be as stoic as Genichirou or magisterial and grandiose like Atobe or unwavering and resolute like Masamune Ryo
A soft rustling sound was heard making him snap out of his thoughts. He lifted his head only to find - a girl sitting on the thick tree trunk…
"Here little kitty you don't have to be scared."
Her voice was like a soothing, melodious chime.
But what really bothered him was that her undergarment was exposed to him. A rather unattractive, bland and aunty- like pair of underwear.
Another soft rustling was heard before a smile crept across the girl's face as the cat strolled breezily towards her and leapt into her embrace. She stood up with the little kitty still in her hands and held onto the tree trunk as a support about to leap down from the tree when…
CRACK
Everything happened in an instant.
A skinny figure was seen descending rapidly, hurtling onto the beautiful captain of Rikkaidai.
Whether it was instinctively, Yukimura Seiichi did not know, but before he even knew it he found himself reaching out unconsciously trying to save the girl from the fall.
The girl had her eyes shut tightly mentally embracing herself for the impact of the fall to hit her – but nothing came – and instead an alluring, pleasant and soothing smell of forest and flowers welcomed her.
Instantly her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring into a gorgeous pair of dark midnight blue-purple eyes. While the cat had took the opportunity to so casually leap out of her arms and stroll off.
She stared at the stranger wide-eyed.
He was downright beautiful.
High-set cheekbones, perfectly chiselled facial features, unblemished milky fair complexion, deep gorgeous midnight blue-purple eyes and beautiful neck length Atlantic blue hair.
"Are you okay?"
Silky, smooth, rich voice – almost like silk velvet and wine mixed together was coated with slight concern and more amusement.
"Ah… Yeah. Thank you for uhm. Catching me"
A smile broke on his defined face as he chuckled softly, a soft tingling and soothing laughter that sounded like a piano melody.
"Uhm."
"You do know that you can put me down already right?"
He blinked at her "Right."
The way he looked at her made her feel like a sample under the microscope. Intense, unnerving and yet you couldn't tear your eyes away.
The fair girl was tall and slim with long toned legs and arms. Her eyes were a shade of the most unique blue he had seen – clear and bright mint blue eyes. Sleek, long light milk tea brown hair cascaded down her shoulders with a small bun that was tied to the side of her head and the rest of her hair flowing down with natural curls.
Now that she was standing on the ground on her bare feet did he realized that she was rather tall for a girl – standing at around 172cm.
She stared at him for a second then, "AH!" She yelled in a loud voice, "why are you wearing a guy's school uniform?!"
He choked, "Excuse me?"
She scrutinized at him, forehead creasing to a frown "What are you thinking? A pure maiden like you shouldn't be cladded in boy uniform!" She sighed "Such a waste of beauty."
"Here follow me" she commanded dragging him away by his hand.
"What" Yukimura blinked, "Wait –"
"Jesus Christ what are you thinking, wasting away that beauty of yours."
"I'm -"
"I would die for your kind of beauty really."
Finally, at the very edge of the women's toilet door did Yukimura finally decided to complete his sentence with that cryptic, obscure smile of his. "- Not a girl". He enunciated every single word clearly as though if teaching a toddler.
This isn't the first time Yukimura Seiichi had been mistaken for a woman. But this was the first time he was nearly shoved into a girl's toilet. And he certainly doesn't take - being mistaken for a girl kindly.
Yukimura could only stare at her as she continued to scrutinize him from head to toe. With her brows furrowed and an inspecting glint within her mint blue blue eyes, she then– proceed to place her hands on his chest.
And well it was – of course flat as a board.
"…"
"…"
Oh no, she's dead isn't she. Accidentally mistaking a beautiful stranger, nearly shoving him into the girl's toilet and touching his chest without permission!
Blasphemy! She's certainly not going to linger around for any potential repercussions choosing to dart her eyes anxiously around wanting to make a break for it.
Yukimura's response to this was a slow, small ambiguous smile, still somehow managing to look as beautiful as ever even with that smile that literally screams danger. The brunette stared at him, then sighed, her shoulders relaxing, back straightening. Even the oblivious and dense girl could tell that Yukimura Seiichi isn't someone you want to mess with.
"I'm really really sorry!" She apologised, hands clasped together in prayer form – to which Yukimura just lifted an elegant brow fractionally, with a look of unconcealed bemusement and indignation – as she gave a full 90-degree bow. "You were just too beautiful and gorgeous! Like I was looking at the candidate of Ms. Universe or like some Greek goddess or something – I mean, wait, what, I mean that's not what I meant. I mean I'm sorry!"
He just stood there for a moment as if weighing out the thoughts of burning her on a stake or feeding her to the sharks was better. Fortunately, he seemed to settle down on neither of the above options as a sigh escaped his lips. "I'm a gentleman, or at least I consider myself as one" he said with a small enigmatic smile, "I don't hurt girls."
"Regarding this issue, it can be negotiated later". Upon seeing her deer-in-headlights expression he chuckled allowing a smile that was twice as gentle and thrice as perplexing.
"Don't worry about it" he chimed in a charming voice, "I have more urgent issues at hand right now. If I don't return to the tennis courts in 5, Genichirou would probably send the team to look for me."
To that she blinked, "tennis court?" She paled seemingly remembering Coach Mifune mentioning about a bunch of boys and tennis camp. To her defence, Coach Mifune was very vague in mentioning the whole issue, barely saying "some guy losers are coming over soon"
And suddenly the dots connected. "Please do not tell me you're the Yukimura Seiichi" She questioned recalling their fellow data specialist, Uemura Nanami mentioning Rikkaidai's male captain being so beautiful that he could be easily mistaken for a girl.
"In fact, I am" He jested silently chuckling at how the girl's face got even paler. "Blasphemy!"
It was an irony how much blasphemy literally suited her situation right now.
"I just mistook the child of god for a girl! Nanami is going to murder me…" She cursed under the breath unaware that Yukimura could hear everything she just said. Nanami? Ah I get it now…
"Let us return to the courts shall we, Hoshino-san" Sounding more like a command than a question "What? How did you…" She asked, surprised. To that, Yukimura's response was just a small smile.
But, then… not even five minutes later, "Hoshino-san."
"Yes, Yukimura-kun?"
"We're lost, aren't we?"
"We're not lost! We're just somewhere between the starting line and the destination point."
"In other words, we are lost."
"…"
He met a girl under the full-bloomed cherry blossoms, and his fate has just begun to change.
xxx
The most dangerous drug I know has blue eyes and a heartbeat
xxx
A full 10 minutes later, they were finally back at the tennis court. On the tennis court were Kurisu Hanabi, Sanada Sayuri, Shishido Ryou and Ootori Choutarou currently immersed in their match.
And at the side line was the now bespectacled Uemura Nanami shouting out remarks through the megaphone loudspeaker acting much like a tennis coach instead. The guys noted with exasperation, that Nanami seemed to change a whole 180 degree in mien whenever she wears her glasses and their eyes shift subconsciously towards Kawamura who just blinks at them innocently.
With her voice enhanced by the megaphone, they were all sure that by now the entire Japan knew that Hanabi's speed was 'even the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother can run faster that' and Sayuri's concentration was 'you better get your not-exactly-smart-ass head in the game"
"I gotta get my get my head in the game" sang Ayase as she tried to pull off some basketball stunts from the show – earning a hell-frozen-over glare from Nanami which she instantly raised both hands in a surrender notion "Okay. Not doing it anymore."
Yukimura turned towards the court just in time to see Sayuri returning Choutarou's shot with a fast topspin forehand – which Shishido promptly reacts with a rising counter and Hanabi counters with another strong forehand. Shishido groaned at her monstrous strength, this girl was a hard hitter alright.
And yet another fast volley ensued. Mild interest swirled within Yukimura's midnight blue-purple eyes as he sauntered back to his Rikkai teammates, standing between Sanada and Yanagi. "You're going to ask for the current game count" Yanagi piped in before Yukimura could even part his lips. "It's 5-4, Kurisu-Sanada lead, though the makeshift Shishido-Ootori pair is doing exceptionally well against them."
On the other side, the brunette captain strolled back to her teammates who were still very much engrossed with the heated match, some of them not even realising their captain's return. This however didn't went unnoticed by a pair of sharp, keen golden amber eyes.
xxx
"So" rowdy, ebullient, uproarious laughter ensued, "You're telling me you got totally thrashed and pulverized into fine dust right, Seishonen?"
It was the day of the Junior Tournaments and Echizen Nanjirou had expected his golden, prince-of-tennis son to reach home with yet another gold trophy or medal, completing his 4 consecutive Junior Tournament wins. What Echizen Ryoma returned with was a slightly scowling face and that competitive glint within his golden amber eyes that the elder Echizen was so used to witnessing.
"I didn't get thrashed, you baka Oyaji!" the 11-year-old Echizen Ryoma stared back disgruntledly, "Nor did I get pulverized into fine dust."
Echizen Nanjirou whistled staring at his son, if he didn't know better he would have been fooled by the usual impassive, emotionless face of his but it was clear to the elder Echizen that his son was spurred, galvanized, irritated, vexed and even thrilled. The kind of thrill that Echizen often found in facing stronger opponents.
The elder Echizen snickered, "Sure you did" he replied sarcastically. Then, "Wasn't it a golden set, 6-love?"
The younger Echizen shot him a dry look, before returning to muttering to himself something about "stupid bangs… mushroom head… Hoshino Miyuki… mada mada dane… and I will get my revenge" and Echizen Nanjirou just laughed.
xxx
"Do you believe in fate?" She asked
He snorted
"Well, for me: meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling for you was beyond my control"
xxx
"Hey, that giant, brown-haired girl over there" came Echizen Ryoma's classic arrogant taunt. The girls swap glances, there was only one brunette in their team. "Have a match with me" he demanded, sounding way more like a command than a question as he signalled towards the empty court that was beside them.
Sayuri whistled, hitting another one of her favourite backspin, "Ayee~ challenging our Buchou right off the bat, gutsy indeed. I approve!" She gave a thumbs up.
"I suppose" Nanami added, lifting her spectacles a millimetre, lowering her loudspeaker – Sayuri and Hanabi heaved a relief sigh at that action "as long as they don't reveal all our special moves and aces up our sleeves. It should be fine" then her glasses glinted and Inui sulked a little because glasses-evil-glinting was supposed to be his trademark.
"Not to mention that this is a great opportunity to get data" with that she took out her lightweight grey laptop opening some convoluted application and Ayase took the chance to sneak in a slight peak and instantly regretted because all the complex physics theorem, complicated mathematical equation, intricate, daedalian drawings of the regulars, radar chart and pie chart had her mind reeling.
Miyuki, however, oblivious as ever, failed to notice that competitive spark literally flaring up within his golden amber eyes just blinked and replied, "Sure." She walked towards the empty court.
"One set match Seishun Academy Echizen to serve."
Golden amber eyes as firm a rock, as hard as steel, as fiery as fire. "Finally" Ryoma declared softly under his breath – it was only audible to him.
He bounced the tiny yellow ball a few times, tossed it up in the air and leapt forward to hit it. Her eyes widened fractionally as a whirl of yellow swirled towards her and bounced towards her face which she swiftly dodged and hit back.
"Net!"
"15-love."
Ryoma lifted the corners of his lips to form a smug smirk, "That's payback for that time."
Miyuki blinked again, confusion clearly etched on her face "that time? What are you on about?"
Echizen Ryoma twitched. "I'm Echizen Ryoma."
Silence.
"Echizen Ryoma."
Silence
"Echizen Ryoma. Ring a bell?"
More silence.
"Echizen…."
"Ryoma…? No… not really?"
The Seigaku team exchanged amused glance before Momoshiro and Eiji burst out laughing, "AHAHAH! OChibi got forgetten!" "Mada mada dane, Echizen, mada mada daze."
"Poor guy…" that was Marui. Pop. That was the sound of his bubble-gum.
"Pupina" that was definitely Niou.
Echizen, on the contrary, wasn't quite sure how to feel about this. It was always him who forgot about people – especially insignificant people.
"Then" Ryoma paused, hands gripping on the fuzzy yellow ball. "I will make you remember" he declared, serving his twist serve again. The onlookers though looked really perplexed about which match they should be focusing.
Mint blue eyes sharpened instantly, moving a few inches towards the right before returning it with a fast backhand.
This serve…
…. Twist serve
Before she even noticed Ryoma was already at the net and hitting back a perfect drop shot.
Miyuki instictively dived for the drop shot, hitting it back with a rising shot this hitting pattern… it's awfully familiar.
Ryoma snickered, "You still have lots lots to work on" he leapt, ending it with a hard smash.
"30-love"
And as the tennis ball shot past her, images flashed past her mind.
Fila white hat, sharp golden amber eyes, arrogant over-confident posture, smart taunting remarks, the score of 6-0.
"AH!" Miyuki screamed, her eyes wide with disbelief "You're that guy!"
"That guy I defeated in America"
"…"
"That tiny little guy who was always saying 'mada mada dane'"
"…"
Echizen felt as if someone just shot him with two huge, invisible arrows. And out of the corner of his eye he could see his teammates doubling over with laughter – well mainly Momoshiro and Kikumaru.
xxx
"Out."
"Game and match Kurisu-Sanada pair 6-4."
The court was immersed into a deep, long silence, before the preppy, boisterous voice of Ayase "Oh my god you did it guys!" broke it. Ayase leaped across the metal railings – ignoring Tsubaki's reminder of "Ladies Code of Conduct!" engulfing the both of them in a tight bear hug to which Hanabi crinkled her nose and Sayuri just laughed.
"I would say, that match – warrants a good job" Nanami commented from the tennis court beside theirs using the loudspeaker again causing everyone to groan. Shifting her spectacles up an inch with her slender fingers, her glasses gleamed disturbingly again and the regulars – both boys and girls likewise moved a step back, "Excellent ball control. Your backhand though is terrible" she remarked to Sayuri before turning towards Hanabi. "And you. I'm sure you're aware of it yourself" she quipped.
Hanabi gulped turning towards Shishido choosing to avoid the vicious Nanami "Nice match, Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Venti Vanilla Bean Frappucino."
Sayuri giggled, at least Hanabi's naming sense was improving.
"Mr. Venti Vanilla Bean Frappucino" Choutarou Ootori repeated, perplexed. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about someone referring him as a Venti sized drink.
Shishido, on the other hand, was very vocal about his thoughts. "Mr. Grumpy?!" He shrieked, at the side lines, Mukahi Gakuto nodded, approving the nickname. "Even Venti Caramel Frappucino would be better than that. Gekidaza daze!"
Nonetheless he gave a pleasant smile in return, "Besides, I'm sure that the results will be different the next time we face off again."
Hanabi chuckled, all taunting smile and glowing eyes. Some part of her felt ecstatic, thrilled at the thought of playing them again, because the match had made her all sweaty palms and quickening pulse. "We'll see about that again, Mr. Grumpy. Yuririn and I have a busy schedule to attend to (- nope she didn't.)"
"Yeah" he agreed, "Dashing down the crowded walkway at 7:30 in the morning like a total lunatic midget, so coincidentally kicking the bucket of paint lying around, ruins someone's precious tennis jersey. Ah and ruin the flowers too" he counted. "Surely, certainly, definitely a busy schedule, indeed."
"Pft -! This is why you turned up that day looking like a total red, rosy mess -"
"Promptly staining ore-sama's Axminster carpet. Does ore-sama even need to remind you commoners how much that carpet cost -"
"Ah" the hopeless romantic, Oshitari Yuushi marvelled "Such a romantic way to meet -"
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Midget?!" And Sayuri promptly facepalmed herself, was that the only thing she registered?!
"Yes, midget, a very small person or thing. Synonyms: dwarf, miniature, small person, short -"
"I know what a midget is! You god damn Manbrat, Mr. Grumpy, Mr. PMS, Mr. Broody and Moody!"
Shishido flared and somewhere Mukahi elbowed Yuushi asking him to grab some popcorn. "Seems like your midget self is too tiny to contain any sane, feasible brain and you're stuck with a miniature brain, but I have a name and it's Shishido Ryou – just in case your miniature brain can't remember, so USE IT you Mrs. Grumpy!"
"It's Ms, not Mrs" Ayase piped in helpfully, "She's not married yet" but she got shushed and dragged back to the other tennis court.
Meanwhile, Sayuri looked torn between whether she should continue being amused, grab a seat and share some popcorn with Mukahi and Yuushi or being exasperated. And Choutarou, oh Choutarou, being the typical good, warm, big-hearted man tried to appease both sides.
And Sayuri clearly settled for the latter because the next thing that came out from her mouth was, "Oh for goodness' sake, stop arguing already. You guys do know that you're basically announcing yourselves as a married couple with that – and Mrs. Grumpy?"
?!
!
Then: "WE ARE NOT A MARRIED COUPLE!"
Ah, Sayuri mused, for a not-married-couple they sure were in sync.
xxx
Romeo and Juliet are the exception
Not the rule
xxx
Sayuri sighed, Fuji smiled, Ayase laughed, Nanami's glasses gleamed again, Yuina's skybird eyes showed that she was plotting something again, Tezuka thanked whatever gods out there that it wasn't his teammates, Inui's glasses glinted as well. And the reason for their disconcerted expressions was…
"Manbrat."
"Midget."
Baby blue eyes clashed with russet brown eyes.
"Mr Moody and Broody." Walks faster.
"Ms Grumpy." Walks even faster.
"Stupid, weirdo capboy." Glares intensifies. Walks even faster, pass by Shishido.
"Lunatic, raging bull." Glares intensifies even further. Walks even faster, speeding pass Hanabi.
Russet brown eyes clashed with baby blue eyes again and they literally sprinted towards the cafeteria not wanting to lose to one another.
Sayuri sighed.
xxx
"Jerk." Glares. Grabs food in a horrifying speed, not wanting to leave any for Shishido.
"Grumpy smurf." Glare heightened. Grabs remaining food in an even faster speed than Hanabi's.
Brown eyes meets blue eyes and instantly it becomes a mess of tangled limbs and disappearing food.
Sayuri groaned.
xxx
"Prick."
"Grumpzilla."
Blue collides with brown, simultaneously gobbling down the huge amount food at a speed that scared the living daylights out of Momoshiro, both competing who's going to be the one who finished the food first
Sayuri slammed her face on the desk.
xxx
"So. How's the dormitory so far?" they hear Ryuzaki-sensei's merry voice. Then she noticed the two regulars that were now in a very heated battle of table tennis. "Oh? Seems like you guys are getting along-" it was quickly silenced by Inui dragging their coach out claiming that he needed some tips.
Xxx
"I can't believe it" Eiji finally concluded, "That there's a pair of rivals that is actually worse than Momoshiro and Kaidoh nya~!" Momoshiro and Kaidoh looked perturbed, as though if they can't decide whether to feel insulted or not.
"This is it. I'm out" Sayuri lifted her hands in surrender, plopping down on one of the dormitory's cafeteria seats. "That 'we are not a married couple!' – quote, unquote, - can argue all they want, probably make up and bam get married for all I care. But for now, I'm just gonna laze around."
After a long day of practice matches, suicide runs, footwork drills – both lateral and backward, core practice, sprint drills, strength conditioning and agility drills they were finally calling it a day and Sayuri quite evidently just wanted to use that time to really rest and not run amok like a certain peach-haired girl.
She was quite certain that she saw that certain peach-haired girl race Shishido down to the tennis court just now though…
"C'mon Echizen" Momoshiro's joke broke her reverie, "Quit sulking already. She's strong you know it" he teased wearing that usual goofy and cheery grin on his face. His pair of wide hands reaching out to ruffle his junior's hair – an expression he used to show his brotherly affection for him. "I'm not sulking!" Ryoma argued pushing away his hands.
The match between Echizen Ryoma and Hoshino Miyuki had ended up with an astonishing score of 6-0 – even with the 30-love score at the start, clearly thrashing his previous ambition of winning her.
Facing Hoshino Miyuki now was like facing his dad, a mountain that he knew he had to overcome.
"He's right, Echizen. Come and have a slice of this delicious and exquisite piece of butterscotch cake and your sorrows will soon all fly away" Marui assured swaying his plate of cake right and left right in Echizen's face, evidently happy with all the confectionary they provided here.
"Notice my usage of 'exquisite?" he bragged to Jackal – in which the Brazilian boy's response was just a dry 'spectacular.'
"Oh, you like butterscotch cake too?" came Miyazaki Yuina's voice, her bright eyes glimmered – like if she just met her spirit animal. Marui shifted, gone was Marui's attention on Echizen. "Damn right, son! Nothing can go wrong with a piece of butterscotch cake" "I know!" Yui laughed – surprising some of the regulars at how easy going she can be "The butterscotch cake the dorm mother here makes is the best – tried and tested and oh! You definitely need to try out the lemon meringue pie here, it's a whole new level."
The girls too were staying at the dormitory here for the tennis camp. And much to some of the guy's dismay, they were of course – staying on another floor. Lights went out at 10 - and after the whole 'We will tolerate no acts or even signs of sexual scenario' from Coach Sakaki and Coach Ryuzaki and 'keep your dirty little hands to your dirty little selves' from the huge-looking Nyudo Mifune he was pretty sure nothing was going to happen. Besides, all of them were just getting acquainted.
"So...Where are we heading to now?" Gakuto Mukahi probed as the blue-headed girl who asked them to follow her turned around with a small beguiling smile. "The lounge."
"Maybe it's more food!" Momoshiro piped joyfully. "Is food all you think about, Momo-senpai?" Echizen countered. "Why you – Hey come back here!"
"No way" Echizen smirked devilishly, sprinting forward to escape Momoshiro's lunge. He got ahead of the others, promptly slamming open the door to the lounge.
Only to receive colourful, rainbow confetti and the sounds of party popper. All the male regulars blinked in surprise. Now they clearly did not see that coming.
Tsubaki smiled sweetly, imaginary roses blooming in the background, "It's our little warm welcome to our school. I know it's a little late but still -"
"- Welcome to Seirin!" they all chorused in unison with smiles on their faces.
A second later, Hanabi with beet red face looked away to avoid making eye contact with the male regulars, "Tsk… that's why I didn't want to do this… it's embarrassing."
Sayuri laughed "Hana, it's not that bad if you think about it". Eiji's stunned expression turned into a bright, huge smile. "Uwah! You mean this little welcome party is for us? Yay!"
Jirou Akutagawa whistled, "Awesome!"
"Ahn? Don't get all hyped up you peasants, of course there will be a welcoming party for ore-sama."
"Oh?" Yukimura offered his usual polite smile, "that's very sweet of you guys, thank you."
"Hn."
"Tarundoru."
"Uhm, Sanada-fukubuchou, I'm not sure if tarundoru is fitting in this case…"
Less than an hour later, the whole place was in a total mess. Couches overturned, food and snacks sprinkled on the floor, and poker cards scattered everywhere – not to mention the loud screeching that came from the karaoke corner.
"Soo…" proposed Yuina, "Let us all play a game, shall we? Break a little ice and make friends" her smile albeit too sweet to believe. Oshitari Yuushi wanted to say that he was pretty sure that there was no ice to break by now – sparing a glance at Yanagi, Inui and Nanami exchanging notes, Sayuri and Eiji chattering away like they have known each other forever. But against better judgement and potential sadistic wrath, he decided not.
"I'm pretty sure everyone has played this game before – if you don't well… I will leave it as no comment – anyway the game is none other than the old classic Truth or Dare."
"As the game name suggests you can either choose truth or dare - for the dares everyone can contribute to it or we will just use the phone application's dares. And of course, we need a little twist in the game don't we?" She smiles pulling off a Yukimura's demigod smile, "Or else some wusses might just keep choosing truth and meh that's just going to be boring as hell. So anyone who chooses more than 1 truth will have to eat that."
Promptly, she moves out of the way to allow Yanagi, Inui and Nanami to bring in a horrible-looking bowl of ramen that barely looked edible. "It's purple!" Eiji screeched with a wail, and was that blueberry and apples he was seeing? It is supposed to be ramen for god's sake!
Instantly, many of them stood up wanting to walk out of the room when…
Yuina clamped her hands together sweetly, kindly informing them "Oh the door is locked by the way and anyone who forfeits from the game or leave this room will also enjoy that heavenly ramen."
All of them screeched to a stop, reluctantly going back to their seats.
"Oh and I almost forget to mention this but just a mere taste of this will send you flying towards your graveyard. Just like Hiyoshi's Dance towards heaven!"
And for once, Wakashi Hiyoshi felt that he had chosen the wrong name for his technique.
"What did you guys even put in the dish?" Marui squalled, a pause, three milliseconds later: "Okay actually don't answer that."
"So that was why Inui, Yanagi and Nanami disappeared from the lounge for nearly an hour just now…" Yuina whispered under her breath, it was barely even audible but sharp oh Nanami heard it, "Did you say something?" She smiled.
"No, definitely not" Yuina smiled back, twice as pleasant and thrice as horrifying and the others inched away in fear.
"Clash of sadists!" Eiji cried softly.
A lazy hand shot up. "Are you guys participating as well?" voiced Kirihara, if they were on a highway to hell, he was definitely going to make sure they were all going.
Yuina just shrugged, "Yeah, sure, why not."
"The possibility of avoiding this game is…"
"0%" Yanagi, Inui and Nanami chorused together.
The regulars were now seated in a circle in random because Yuina claimed that 'it's more fun like that'. The bottle spun and everyone unconsciously hitched their breaths in unison – Eiji even tried to inch away further. It spun, spun, spun and finally landed on…
Atobe Keigo.
The guy twitched slightly - very very slightly. "Hou" Yuina mused, "Seems like the king goes first."
"So truth or dare?" Fuji chirped, looking a little too amused.
"Pick Dare!" Mukahi pumped his fists into the air, "C'mon, Atobe." "Yeah he should pick dare, right Ryuzaki-chan?" Momoshiro questioned casually to the shy fiery red-haired girl seated beside him who was squirming at her seat.
"Eh? Uhm, he should pick what he wants, no…? But then, I don't really know because I heard that Nanami-senpai, Yui-senpai and even Ayase-senpai can be real devils when it comes to this game."
Atobe wanted to roll his eyes, but he was an Atobe and Atobe(s) don't do eye-rolling. "Dare"
"Dance with someone of the same gender" Yuina threw out instantly not even batting an eyelash.
…
"G-Get what I mean?"
"Yeah… totally"
Atobe nearly choked, promptly strutting towards someone in his usual elegant, confident gait. He stopped in front of Sanada Genichirou - Sanada Genichirou very visibly stiffened.
"Go on, Sanada" encouraged Yukimura. A smile and an encouragement (well more like obey-me-or-die smile) was all it took before Sanada and Atobe were already on the floor tango-ing to the beat Oshitari Yuushi happily provided.
Some of the guys – coughs Mukahi, Marui, Kirihara, Momoshiro, Eiji and co - nearly died of laughter, some of them discreetly took out their cameras, somehow managing to not get spot – coughs Yukimura, Fuji, Yuina, Nanami, Inui, Yanagi, Niou- , some of them – Tezuka mainly - sighed.
Although the sight of Sanada and Atobe tangoing was quite a beautiful scene. The bottle spun again, and all breathes hitched once again. It stopped, pointing towards…
Mukahi Gakuto.
"Dare" Mukahi Gakuto announced. He was adventurous, daring, and courageous – "I have the perfect dare for you!" Ayase drawled happily looking like the most harmless person in the room "Cross-dressing!" – okay he take that back.
"Don't worry you will look gorgeous!" Ayase assured with a wink dragging the poor guy away ignoring the "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" wails.
As the game continued, the regulars found themselves facing horrifying dares and even the truth were nowhere better. Niou had to confess his wildest sexual fantasy (of course, Niou seemed happy to provide), Marui was forced to eat bitter melon – who knew where Nanami got it from, Momoshiro admitted that he enjoys the Playboy magazine, Tezuka had his nails painted neon pink, Fuji had to lick his toes (the sadist looked unruffled by it at all though), Echizen had to imitate a dog barking, Sayuri had to sing an opera song, Inui had to drink his Inui juice (and he fainted immediately), Oshitari and Aoi had to play 7 minutes in heaven.
The bottle spun again… this time pointing towards Tezuka again. Tezuka sighed, he could already feel his migraine incoming at top speed. "Truth" he already had his nails painted pink, nothing could be worse he decided.
"Hmm" Yuina pondered, hands on her chin like the thinker pose. "What about who he finds the most attractive in this room?" Fuji advised, his smile causing Eiji to cower. "Strictly females. Of course" Fuji continued, "You can't choose Yuina, I know you better than that, Tezuka."
Everyone else shuddered, was this like a paradise of sadist or something. Tezuka wanted to groan, but didn't because he was the stoic, stone-faced Tezuka Kunimitsu after all.
At that very moment, the door banged open to reveal Ayase looking all cheery, warm, excitement and sunshine. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us give a warm welcome to our Lady Mukahi Gaku!"
With that, Mukahi Gakuto slowly walked into the room with a face flushed bright red, much resembling a tomato.
All of them stared in disbelief and astonishment before…
… They all broke out into fits of laughter again.
"Pfft!"
"BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!"
"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The usual arrogant, over-confident, cocky Mukahi Gakuto was wearing a long pink and black Gothic Lolita dress with lots of laces and frills with adorable pink bows decorating the dress. Not just that, he wore a long wavy bright red wig with soft curls at the ends adorning his chiselled face making him seem like an adorable, lovely young girl. Furthermore, his eyebrows were coated with a layer of mascara causing his eyelashes to curl up beautifully like a girl. He was even wearing a pair of long black boots with pink laces accompanied by lifts at the soles. All in all, he looked gorgeous and adorable, totally resembling a girl instead of a guy.
"Wow" Sayuri complimented with wide eyes, "Impressive" scanning him from head to toe and nodding in acknowledgement.
"Too bad he's a guy or he will be a total hot chick!" Marui managed to squeeze out his words in between laughters.
Even Akutagawa Jirou, who was now awake thanks to all the chaos and ruckus, stared wide-eye at Gakuto. "G-Gakuto…? I didn't knew you liked to cross-dress!" he cried out innocently. He then flung himself onto Atobe, "ATOBE! LOOK! Gakuto is cross-dressing! Isn't that awesome?!" earning a very dry look from Atobe.
Hearing this, the level of laughers intensified further. And the victim stood there at the door whole-heartedly trying to ignore their comments and stop the crimson red blush on his cheek. He looked pretty much like a big red tomato flushed in embarrassment.
"BUHAHAHAHAH!"
"HAHAHAH, Oh my god this is priceless, Mukahi Gakuto likes to cross-dress! Oh god, my stomach"
"Mada mada dane."
"NYAAA Gaku-Chan you look kawaii!" Eiji exclaimed cheerfully, glomping onto the fellow acrobatic player who was still flushed bright red.
Finally the poor victim snapped, "DON'T CALL ME GAKU-CHAN AND STOP LAUGHING!"
"Saa Gaku-chan" Fuji drawled out, "Don't get so angry, you will get wrinkles."
Gakuto twitched, "I'M NOT GAKU-CHAN!"
Sanada and Tezuka heaved out a deep sigh, massaging their temples simultaneously. What have they done in their previous life to deserve such chaotic, sadistic, ruckus-causing teammates.
"Here, this will help you with your migraines Genichirou" Yukimura chirped sweetly, handing him over a box of aspirins.
"…."
"Her" Tezuka declared suddenly, and the room elapsed into a sudden silence.
"Saa… you mean Ayase-san?" Fuji probed with an amused chicken.
Ayase arched an eyebrow in confusion, Miyuki pulled her down whispering something in her ears. It was needless to say that Fuji was very entertained at seeing the girl turn slightly rigid after that.
The bottle spun again, this time landing on… Hoshino Miyuki.
"Hoshino" Niou smirked, the image of Yukimura returning back to the tennis courts with the girl captain flashed across his mind. "I dare you to kiss the person beside you."
A moment of astonishment was shared between the onlookers. All of them gawked at the dare. Their eyes sped towards to the person sitting beside her, - Yukimura Seiichi.
"Wow, I think he's giving your reputation of sadistic daredevil a run for money" Ayase commented in English so that not all of them knew what she was talking about. Yuina laughed, "Since when was I the sadistic daredevil, but anyway, I have to say it's more fun this way."
Yukimura Seiichi and Hoshino Miyuki exchanged words, then the latter said, "Well then, since this is just a game after all."
And before Yukimura could even blink – he felt a soft pair of lips landing on his
- But it left the very next second –
"Damn" Marui whistled a tad bit disappointed, "That's all?"
Miyuki laughed, "Kiss was the requirement, and that's what I did. It wasn't specified whether it had to be long or short" she shrugged. Niou whistled, smart girl.
"Anyway" Yukimura piped in, "That shall be 50 laps for you two tomorrow, Bunta and Masaharu."
Marui groaned a 'why me too?!' and Niou being Niou just smirked.
xxx
Should've kissed you there
I should've held your face
I should've watched those eyes
Instead of run in place
xxx
Oshitari Yuushi wasn't really a playboy. Sure, he had his fair share in causing broken hearts, had his fair share of dating girls of different age, different nationality, had his fair share admiring girl's legs – he was sure if Mukahi was here, he would have said 'ogling' but no he wasn't a pervert.
Though, he understood girls, knew girls, could manipulate them if he wanted, could wrapped them around his finger if he wanted, but no he wasn't that bad of a person.
He felt, no he knew that the fiery haired girl had somewhat of a dislike for him. Whether it was past traumatic experience, bullying or whatsoever he didn't know but what he did know was the girl seemed to shut down when he was around (or Niou, or whoever she categorized as badboys). The girl was awkward, slightly shy around guys like Eiji and Choutarou but was indifferent and quiet around him.
Perhaps that was why their captain choose him for the 7 minutes in heaven. If she had chosen Niou – oh god he didn't even want to think about it. "I'm not a bad person you know" Oshitari said airily, the very small breeze carrying his words. He felt Aoi stiffened evidently.
"Honestly" he admitted, "I wanted to take this opportunity to escape the claws of those devils and I don't know perhaps read my novel – not that there will be sufficient light for that though" he continued lightly and she could almost hear the ghost of a chuckle bubbling within his throat.
The moonlight seeping in from the closet door hole illuminated the dark hues of his blue hair casting an almost silver-blue shade. With the moonlight weaving in his hair, resting in the crease of his shirt, highlighting the nook of his nose, dancing within his eyes - he looked almost ethereal. Enchanting. Prepossessing.
"I'm hurt though, Ryuzaki-hime" he drawled, placing long, tanned, elegant fingers over his heart dramatically. His intense eyes were focused on her and all she could see was the purple hues within his blue eyes, blue-violet. 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408 "You shouldn't stereotype guys like that."
409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415 "I have you figured out, Ryuzaki Aoi."
416, 417, 418, 419, 420
"Can you figure me out?" and then he was gone.
Author's Note: In case y'all didn't understand the 402-420 thing, it's the amount of seconds in 7 minutes huehuehue. And PLEASE DO LEAVE A REVIEW OKAY :(( more reviews = faster updating speed wink wink.
DISCLAIMER: Obviously I do not own PoT if not why will i be writing all these.