2.The bet
Six months later she had it all, two best friends she loved dearly and a place she could finally love. Feeling really grateful that for the first time she had made the right choice in moving to Heiomachi not that she had had any choice to begin with but all in all it had turned out really well and she was happiest she had ever been.
"Bye mom, bye dad I'm off to school" Miyu shouted strapping on her roller skates. School was not too far and she could make it within 10 minutes with enough time to get to her class before the bell rang. She entered the school's premises just before the gates were closed and waved to the gatekeeper who smiled and waved back. She hurried towards her locker, threw her skates in, took all the stuff she needed for the day and ran off to her class reaching just in time as the bell rang. Settling down onto her chair she drank some water as Nanami turned around "you made it on time again" and high-fived her.
She grinned at her best friend and stood up with rest of class to greet their teacher. Schedule of the day was packed with back to back classes and paying attention became one hell of a job. Stifling a yawn she stared outside the window from her very same seat back from her first day with Aya and Nanami sitting right in front of her. She saw some boys playing basketball and noticed a tall guy who seemed oddly familiar. She could tell he was really good, he looked pretty confident with the ball although what differed him from the rest was that he was actually playing unlike most who were busy trying to impress a bunch of giggling girls standing nearby. The bell rang with a sigh of relief from everyone in the class.
"What are you staring at Miyu?" asked Aya turning around to face her. Miyu startled by her sudden inquisition couldn't come up with any response. Before she could say anything Nanami chipped in.
"I know what or who she's looking at. You were checking out the guys from our school basketball team right?"
"I wasn't, besides I didn't even know that they are from school team".
"See, proves my point anyway!"
Miyu rolled her eyes sticking her tongue at her best friend. "Oh come on Miyu, you can't avoid boys for forever, hard to believe that you've never had any boyfriend. You must have a list of 'must have qualities in a boyfriend' at least, every girl has one"
Miyu sighed in exasperation while answering the question for nth time "trust me Nanami, I've never had any boyfriend & I seriously don't have any type. I'm just not interested- yet" she added as she saw Nanami bracing up for another round of more annoying questions "If I ever get a boyfriend, you'll definitely be the first to know, I promise".
Nanami could be really annoying sometimes. 'It looks like she wants to hook me up with someone' she shuddered at that random thought knowing Nanami was crazy enough to do just that. But one look at her best friends and she knew she couldn't ask for any better friends, she loved them.
"So what are you guys planning for this period, it's free" Aya asked.
"How about playing basketball" Miyu suggested. Both of them agreed readily so they headed towards the sports room and then to the basketball court.
Miyu had the ball in her hand loving the way it felt against her palm making her anxious to play. Those guys were still playing and it turned out that the other court was under repair work leaving them with no choice but to share the court. They started playing and Miyu realised just how much she had missed this game. She got carried away and the other two never laid a hand on the ball after that. Aya and Nanami stood rooted, stunned by the sudden change in her game. They knew she could play, she had mentioned it earlier but they hadn't expected her to be this good. Miyu looked like a love-struck person obviously in love with the game and totally unaware of the attention she was gathering through her unintended display.
"Whoa girl, stop right there, are you trying to show off?" asked Nanami with raised eyebrows in mock disdain "you never told us that you are the lady Michael Jordan, you traitor".
Aya passed her a water bottle calmly; she was better at handling surprises.
"Thanks, well I was the captain of 'under 19 basketball team'. It is kind of my favourite way to relax, a way to forget everything else whenever I'm disturbed or distracted. It helps me clear my mind and I haven't played ever since I transferred here. Back then I used to play every day. Guess I got carried away a bit, sorry about that" Miyu winked at them. They were suggesting her to give her name for school's captain when suddenly a basketball hit Aya on her head and she fell down crying in pain.
"Aya" they shouted as Miyu ran towards her and Nanami bent down to help her up. "Are you alright, does it hurt? Let's take her to medical room".
"I'm fine, both of you stop fretting. I'm really fine, don't worry" said Aya trying to convince her anxious friends who weren't listening to her as they tossed her head in every possible direction for any signs of bruises.
After making sure she wasn't seriously hurt, Miyu grabbed the ball which was surprisingly heavy, are these guys using 19th century's version? She turned towards them who now stood in front of her, short tempered as she was anger flared within her and in seconds reached dangerously high level. She glared at them and if glares could kill, all of them would've been long dead. Praying very hard to speak coherently she whispered loud enough for them to hear through gritted teeth "what the hell were you guys thinking, playing so recklessly. She could've got hurt seriously. I think you all know very well how badly someone can be hurt with ball as heavy as this one. Keep playing like that & you will land someone in the infirmary today".
A very tall guy wearing spectacles came forward "We are very sorry about your friend, trust me it was an accident. We didn't mean to hurt her or anyone else. It wasn't intentional".
"Oh an accident was it, really? You seem to confuse carelessness with accident. Let me tell you what an accident actually is...".
"Come on now, don't create a scene here. We've apologised for what happened, no harm was meant and none done, so stop over reacting" another guy interrupted and stepped forward. He leaned closer to her, bending down to face her at eye level. Damn her short height! He looked annoyingly familiar as he stared straight into her eyes and before she knew it he took the ball out of her hands.
Recognition dawned on her. He was the same annoying guy back from the parking lot, the very guy she was trying to recall previously.
'How dare he take that ball from me without asking? Egoistic jerk! He really does need those etiquette classes. Who the hell does he think he is, royal prince?'
She could barely contain her anger and the words were out before she knew it "if you think it's okay to get hit by a basketball then how about if I hit your stupid face with this ball here, seems fair enough to me?"
Her sudden outburst stopped him & he turned to face her, eyebrows raised, with a smirk plastered on his face and she felt a sudden urge to wipe it off. "Do you mean a challenge? Are you sure?" he said stressing on you longer than necessary.
She didn't even breathe before answering "Oh with pleasure, bring it on".
Everybody around them stared at Miyu as if she had suddenly sprouted two heads but she didn't care. Even he looked momentarily surprised, perhaps he hadn't anticipated that response from her, giving her a moment to be pleased with herself. Nanami & Aya seemed worried too. By that time, many students had gathered around the court making a very promising audience. The specs guy stood in the middle holding the ball high up in the air.
"Are you afraid? You still got time, apologise & I'll let you go, you can walk away with your unblemished self respect no harm will be done" he said.
His attitude literally made her bare her teeth at him like savages. She was surprised by the intensity of her hatred towards him as an image of her strangling him crossed her mind. It took all her effort to utter one coherent sentence "You will be the one to walk away"
"Oh we'll see" he smirked.
Miyu gave him a stern look just before the game started. She was giving him a hard time, blocking him from every side. 'So she knows how to play. I cannot shoot from here' Kanata thought and decided to dodge her but he tripped over his own damn feet, somehow managing not to roll over. She was lightning fast to take the advantage and took hold of the ball, dribbling towards the basket shot a perfect three pointer before Kanata could catch up.
Everyone around them was stunned & everything literally went silent for the moment. Miyu turned to look at him with a victory smirk plastered on her face. He looked away from her muttering "damn it". As she heard that her smirk broadened to a wide grin. Leaving him alone in the court to brood over his loss she walked over to her friends who looked stunned but happy.
"I don't believe it Miyu. You just defeated the Kanata Saionji. He is the captain of our school team. He must be mad beyond anything right now…nobody has ever defeated him in anything before, nobody but you did it" Nanami seemed to be relishing the glorious defeat of Kanata Saionji saying how he finally had an opponent now. But Miyu knew the truth far better; she knew she had won purely by luck. He really is a good player and if he hadn't tripped, well she didn't want to think otherwise.
Nanami was still going on with his bio data "just imagine being defeated in his forte. He is the star of our school, the heartthrob, most arrogant guy you can ever find...a true devil in skin. But the lucky bastard is gifted; handsome as hell, money, knowledge, talent; name it & he has it. He simply excels at everything."
The only thing that caught Miyu's attention was the surname Saionji. "Did you say Saionji? you don't mean…" but Nanami interrupted her "yup, he is the son of that famous business tycoon, Housho Saionji, heir of the biggest and most profit making company in the Japanese history, Saionji's group".
Well it explained the arrogance but she was shocked. She never expected someone so rich & famous to live such a low life. Of course she knew Housho Saionji, everybody did. He had chains of business in almost every field, travel business was their pioneering business. Housho Saionji was her role model. It was her dream to be a part of his travel firm, to start her own travel venture & what could possibly be the best way of learning from none other than the most prominent person in the industry himself.
"Are you okay Aya?"
"Yes, I'm fine".
A familiar voice distracted her and she saw that guy with specs again standing in front of her.
"Hi, I'm Santa" he said eyeing Miyu with alarm "I'm here to apologise on behalf of all of us. I hope you're not mad".
"Yeah, whatever, just be careful next time" Nanami replied before Miyu could say anything. Maybe she was afraid that Miyu would start arguing again.
"By the way, they are our batch mates Miyu. You might not have noticed but we have common Math classes" Nanami said.
Miyu nodded in response. She was still trying to absorb the identity of Kanata Saionji. Rivalry with the future CEO where she would be working 'Well done Miyu, great way to start your career' she groaned within.
"What are you thinking" Aya asked her. Miyu snapped out of her trance and blinked several times "nothing"
"We've math now. I think you should better be very careful Miyu. News usually travels like wild fire and if it is about Kanata then even speed of light is nothing compared to it. You might land in some serious trouble. Kanata Saionji has crazy fan following here & those girls are capable of almost anything. So just be careful".
"Don't worry, I don't think he'll be a problem & those girls, I can very well handle them too" she shrugged sounding more confident than she felt.
Suddenly a thought about girls chasing her all around the school campus locking her in the bathroom occurred to her. It terrified her, what the hell she thought shaking away the ominous thought. 'They can't do that, it's a school after all' she reassured herself looking around to see if someone suspicious was looking at her. 'I'm just over reacting' she thought and braced herself for something more dreadful, mathematics class. She hated math, not because she was weak or anything. She was obviously good; topper in fact, all thanks to those astronaut genes but she hated it anyway. Somehow the day passed without much action or drama.
Sneek peek into next chapter
She took a deep breath to calm her racing nerves and stepped inside the room. The room had all sorts of broken furniture, mostly covered with dust.
"Looks like nobody ever pay a visit here and definitely not popular among cleaning staff either, I guess." She didn't see anyone passing by so what happened next; she was totally unaware. She was locked in before she knew it. She ran to the door yelling "hey, I'm still in here. Open the door. Is somebody there, please help me" her attempts continued for a while.
How was it? terrible? okay? good? let me know!