So, I accidentally forgot to mark this story as complete. But when I re-read it, I felt... unsatisfied. This chapter also doubles as an answer to demoncat13's review. And here it is! The third part of the story, or you may call it side-story.

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi

Please prepare for possible OOCness, the made-up Seigaku's high school uniform, and traditional hierarchy of the team. I use middle school's one in order to make it simple without adding OCs–I wrote this before Tamagawa 'exists'.

(I have posted it but seemingly sempai-sama recognized my other personality -_-" it was midnight when I typed this and then, dunno, my alter ego continued my work. Haha.)

So I'd like to thank CelestialMoon17 for being a wonderful beta-reader :))

Wonderstruck

Finale

"Where is Bakaya?"

Niou twirled a strand of his rattail hair around his finger, eyes scanning the tennis court before him. His foot tapped the ground in an impatient rhythm. He fanned himself with his free hand; the heat was sweltering at midday.

"I thought you were past that nickname." Yanagi responded while tying his shoelaces. "By the way, there is an 87% chance that he will be late."

They flicked a glance towards the clubroom. Marui and Yagyuu were standing near it, checking the equipment. As soon as they were done, Yanagi and Niou joined them, then together they marched over Sanada, Yukimura, and Jackal, who were watching the match of new club members.

"Yukimura," Sanada called after the umpire shouted the score. "Did Seigaku send someone here?"

All eyes landed upon the direction that Sanada pointed. At the corner of spectator bench, an orange-haired girl jotted something on her notebook, paying attention to the match, wrote something again, back and forth. Her expression was mix of curiosity and seriousness.

"Ah, yes," responded the captain. "She had my permission. Their captain said they want to learn from us. As if they didn't learn anything before, but then, we did evolve time to time, didn't we?"

"Hey, we know her," said the redhead. "She looks like Tachibana."

"You mean Tachibana An? The younger sister of Tachibana Kippei?" asked Jackal.

The trickster rubbed his jaw. "Puri. She's definitely the girl that our little seaweed had a problem with some years ago."

"Wait, didn't they become really close after that? Or was I wrong?"

Yagyuu glanced at Marui's remark, but decided to ignore it. "I wonder if Akaya met her in Tokyo and somehow got caught. But he wasn't, was he?"

The vice-captain adjusted his cap. "Let's hope not. Now, where is he?"

An observed the two Rikkai's tennis players carefully, occasionally making a note in her little journal. This was the disadvantage of being a legal visitor—the host knew her purpose and arranged the event so they could hide what she should gain. She huffed indignantly. Summer had never been this hot.

As she swept beads of perspiration off her forehead, she spotted familiar figures across the court. She smiled, a sudden feeling of anticipation building in her stomach. Almost all regular members there, looking more mature and attractive and brilliant, worth all the honor and praises and awards.

Almost everyone but him.

That night was unforgettable. She wanted so bad to see him, talk to him, and then she felt his hand grab hers. She still could not believe that her looks were reciprocated. He knew! He knew she was there, and she knew he was blushing too.

Plus the stars were beautiful—

"Fifteen-Love!"

An's shoulders jerked. Why the hell did she have to think about him? She had a job to do, a mission to complete. The last thing she needed now was to let her Seigaku's teammate down. She tucked her hair behind ear and watched the first player serve the ball.

Akaya kicked a pebble until it rolled aimlessly on the street, his eyes bloodshot. Not in Devil Mode, obviously; he was simply overtired and too lazy to get up and hurry. After all, buchou would punish him whether he ran to the school's tennis court now or just absentmindedly ambled. He was late, and that was it.

The reason why he stayed up late last night? Her.

He really did not know how to react. Smile? Grin? Smirk? His brain replayed the scene from the train, under the starry sky, over and over again. How could he sleep with that thought? She was… everything. It was definitely not love at the first sight, it wasn't the first time they know each other. In fact, their first meeting was... bland. Ordinary. So what went different? And then he couldn't sleep.

She had stayed the night at one of her relative's house; he had heard this from a member of the tennis club when he was in Seigaku. She was in Kanagawa because she had to be going to Rikkai's tennis club. If not, what else? Probably for a short visit, to catch up on the latest 'tennis gossip'. Of course he was eager to meet her again, but it was better if he didn't look that eager. Right?

He flicked his own forehead. In your dreams, Akaya.

She hated to admit that she could not avoid him from invading her mind. Quite frustrating, indeed.

An shook her head and blinked, forced herself to focus on the game. Clutching her pen, she tried to write down anything that she thought would be useful for her team; after a moment, however, she found that she could not stand the temperature and lazily fanned herself with her notebook to cool. First player won the match. An watched the two players approach the net and shake hands, and then return to their respective team captains.

Guess it was break time.

She breathed a short sigh of relief. What a hot day. While her eyes shifted around the court, she spotted a water fountain and a faucet on the other side of the court, near the clubroom building. Some water would be nice. She got up and made her way over towards a promise of momentary coolness.

An dunked her face in the gushing water, showering her head under the open faucet. Water drops dripped from her hair to her shoulders and ran through her uniform, making circles of water on the ground. She felt much better. She quickly took her handkerchief and patted her face and hair. She flicked a glance back towards the court, but she didn't see anything—or rather, she didn't see a certain someone she was secretly hoping to see.

He wasn't here. Disappointment hang on her chest like a heavy weight. But after a moment, she forced herself to shrug it off.

Suddenly, something shielded her from the sun. It must have been the shadows of a tree. She opened her eyes.

The match was over. Everyone had gathered in the court. Akaya really just felt like skipping practice and hanging out in the clubroom–An was nowhere to be found despite what they said and he would earn laps from Sanada-fukubuchou later anyway. It made no difference. Whatever.

He strode around the clubroom in different direction so that his teammates could not see him coming. He came up towards the water fountain and immediately stopped in his tracks.

She came. She was here. His smile grew so wide it started to hurt his cheeks. Under the sunlight, she glowed differently–brighter, more blinding, more real. Water trickled down like fairy dusts from her hair, her face, and the corner of her lips as she wiped it off with both hands. He approached her, getting closer.

As if sensing his presence, she took her handkerchief away from her face, and opened her eyes; they quickly widened in shock.

"Where's your visitor card?"

Akaya's heart thumped erratically that he was worried it showed in his words. He tried to look neutral, if not stern, so she didn't question his motives. Meeting her gaze again wasn't as easy as he predicted–since when it was easy when it came to Tachibana An?–and he swore he could hear Sanada's tarundoru in the back of his head. He straightened his posture.

An dropped her hands, her voice strict. "My pocket. And it is none of your business."

"Well, you should wear it. I hate to be that person but..." Akaya's shook his head. "You are in my club's territory, and yes, it becomes my business too."

"And you are not Yukimura-senpai," An added quickly, crossing her arms, "Kirihara."

Akaya went quiet. She still knew how to silence him, and it sucked. He, again, tried to simply gave her another one of his 'smoldering' stares, hoping to unnerve her. She thought she was the only one here who knew herself?

"So," he sneered. "You remember how I like to be called."

She took his jibe. "You know I have excellent memories."

"Ah, yes. Good for us, you decided not to play childish game today. Unlike, you know, eight months before?"

"Eighteen months."

"That long? Wow, you count."

"What is it, Kirihara?" Now her voice lined with impatience. "I have your buchou's permission, I have my buchou's permission, and about ten minutes later you'll have me in the train, going back home. So don't worry. Happy now?"

She was about to go home by now? How did he stop her from going? This was his chance to meet her after a long time, after they were something. Almost, actually, but definitely more than acquaintance. Then he ruined it. Or her. Or both. All he remembered was life caught them, set them apart, and her brother got hospitalized again for the old wound he caused, and she had blamed him again, and it circled back to the stairs that night. No apologies. No meaningful last words. They just... drifted apart until they were back to zero, a neutral ground. Except now that he realized the feeling was pretty much still there.

But instead, he chose to be difficult. "No, Tachibana."

What was just happened?

An couldn't believe she just survived a heart attack after Akaya was here, only five inches from her. Her heart practically leaped out of her chest; how his green eyes looked at her in the same way as a night before, how his hair fluffed so cute she tempted to run her fingers through it. Just like once it was, a long time ago. Or so what she felt.

She knew his attitude today was not because he hadn't changed, it was because he was just like her: nervous. And yet she stupidly carried along. She could be more, she didn't know, gentle? After all she was also in the wrong to blame him for the second time, out of frustration, without consideration. She should have said sorry, thank you, nice to meet you again. Her feeling was still the same. But why was it so hard? Why did he choose to make everything hard?

"Hey." he called. "Do you hear me? You just go? Rude."

Him calling her rude was not that unexpected, but she was standing the whole time, not even turning her heels. She replied, "How can it be rude?"

"You tell me."

"No. You tell me."

He racked his hand on his wakame head. God, she needed to hold herself from snatching his hand and gripping it, asking him how they could go back.

Instead, she sneered, challenging him with her stare.

"You," he pointed, a look of indignation on his face, "are such a—"

"What?" she glared back. "You want to say something?"

Say it. Say why you pulled my hand on the train yesterday. Say why you come to me when you can lounge peacefully in your clubroom. Say why you do all of this to me. Be honest. She dared herself not to be so blatantly obvious.

Deep inside, she was also afraid she would get different response.

Akaya could clearly decipher the meaning behind those eyes. Ah, again, her eyes.

Maybe this was a wrong move. Maybe he could just tell her the truth that he didn't know he missed her so bad until they met again in the train. He didn't know he missed so much time when they should had been together, if only he could be more accepting. She went through a lot, more that he thought, and he was the one who caused it. He started to forgive himself afterward but when she snapped at him again... he couldn't help but spiraling.

He should have been stronger.

"Yes, I want to say something." Akaya pocketed his hands. "You should have told me before you come here."

The quietness was calm but tense. He really hoped this time he didn't mess up. It was fairly a neutral question from a boy who once knew her, wasn't it? Akaya was calm until he saw An's reaction.

"What—" she hissed. "Why should I?"

He started to panic inside. "Because I go to this school and you have my number?"

Oh, no. Akaya swore silently. Why could he be so dumb? Now An must have seen regret coloring his face.

She cocked her head. "I thought you blocked me."

"I did not." He weakly replied.

"Isn't your Instagram account deactivated?"

"I have activated it again."

"Since when?" She sounded surprised.

An's mouth quickly shut. He knew she had been keeping track on him! She cared! Akaya wanted to jump in happiness, but no. Not now. This was just a beginning. "Since yesterday." He lied. He actually didn't, and he hoped An would not go checking it.

She didn't reach for her phone, which was relieving, but she pondered. There were one-two drops of water hanging on her chin that he desperately wanted to clean up. His thumb might reach her lower lip, almost, almost like they had been. It killed him that they changed to whatever this state was before they were on their own again. Now that they were here, face-to-face, did it mean they got a second chance?

"Actually," An broke the silence. "I don't know why you care so much."

Boom. That was bold. An gulped and turned her head slightly, avoiding him. He could tell something was off just by looking at her, like that day in the middle of a video call when she suddenly needed to rush his brother to the ER. It was devastating; he came to see her and Kippei, and that thing happened. Tears kept running down her face but he just couldn't do anything right. There was no drama, merely a jabbing whisper, that she thought it wouldn't be the last time her brother suffered from his old wound. She needed time. He gave it. And from there, it was just them being each other's mutual friend on social media, a relic of strings of chat from months ago like a trapped ghost.

The truth was, he helped her. Forgiving and accepting helped her to continue her life and let her brother find his happiness again. Something blossomed between them naturally and never in her life she expected they went back to square one. She doubted it was that easy to salvage everything.

Akaya waited, standing still.

She continued, "Because you are probably mad at me."

"For?"

A pause. "Taking too long. I don't even know how long I need my time. You're right, I was childish."

The air shifted as their conversation taking a sharp turn. There was no way back unless they talked it out this time. Or, she could just run, left everything hanging until God knows when, pretending she was never enchanted and he didn't even notice. She took the in-between choice.

"When my brother finally came home, he told me he never felt stronger." An resumed. "And he proved it. He played again. He plays until now. He said he should thank you, in any way, because he could never be the person he is now if not... going through... that." Her voice faltered, choking back tears. "I was taken aback. I drove you off, I thought that was the best, but–but I've been living in shame and guilt and regret for blaming you since then. Only a fool does the same mistake twice. I don't believe you can change. I was very, very wrong. I'm sorry. You're too nice for helping me getting out of train yesterday. Now, I gotta go. Thanks for saying hi."

An was about to turn around when he moved closer and leaned towards her, halting her steps.

Akaya was about to catch her hand when she abruptly stopped.

They both jolted. Their distance covered. Their nose barely touched, their fingertips bumped into each other ever so slightly, as light as feathers. Her perfume wafted and brought so many memories. The goddamn water drops still hang on her chin–how?–and resisting the urge to swipe them was harder than playing in the Nationals final. It was too much. She was too much. And Akaya always wanted too much.

No one moved. Not an inch.

"Tachibana," he then corrected softly, "An. Thanks for telling me all that. I appreciate it."

Her cheeks tinted pink. Akaya savored the moment, how beautiful she was, how her honesty opened their door wider than before.

"But you still need to wear the visitor card. You don't wanna get in trouble."

An reached for her breast pocket, eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"Why are you always asking why?"

"I don't know. Like why are you looking like a bedhead now."

"Let me worry about that."

"No, seriously. Did you shower? Brush your teeth? Is this the smell of your dry shampoo? I forgot."

Akaya couldn't contain the joy that crept on his smile. She remembered his dry shampoo scent. This was too amusing. "Maybe?"

"Then, can I help you wash your face?"

Before he could muster another word, she splashed a sprinkle of water to him. Her giggles rang melodically in his ears as his vision blurred with water. He wiped his face, cupped a handful of stream from the faucet, and did the same to her. He missed and she laughed louder.

Anything for that laughter. He would miss his aim again if this was what he got.

They exchanged some more splash and playful water shot until she stopped to actually wear her visitor card, and dabbed her handkerchief to her slightly wet hair. And she forgot the chin again. It started to really bother him, but this view wouldn't last forever, so he just enjoyed the silence after it.

She was ethereal. There was no way he let this chance pass.

He slowly closed the gap between them, and finally, swiftly swooped the water off her chin with his thumb. She took a quick sharp breath at his touch but regained her composure elegantly afterwards. Butterflies all around him. Butterflies all around them.

"Akaya." She whispered.

He smiled, a promise. "I'll never let you go again."

His thumb lingered on her face longer, grazing her chin, her cheeks, her just-under-the-lower-lip. He lifted her face, facing him straight. If only they hadn't met on the train, if only he hadn't recognized this dreamy face, if only fate wouldn't have let this happen... this was a make or break. There was a reason why that night was so enchanting and he never wanted to let it go to waste.

She tasted really, unimaginably, ferociously sweet.

"Best Taylor Swift's song. Go."

Marui turned fast to Niou, his hand clutching a broom. Since Akaya resumed 'missing', the regulars were ordered to clean the clubroom except Yanagi who volunteered. As if this wasn't annoying enough, Niou started this discourse he very well knew would cause chaos. Marui winced. "I thought we have settled this! marjorie!"

"No!" Jackal exclaimed, placing tennis balls into the tube one by one. "It's Anti-Hero. It's basically our tennis club's character arc."

"Really?" Yagyuu doubted. He cleaned his glasses before going back to spraying the dusted window. "How about older albums?"

Yanagi didn't listen to the singer, but he collected more than enough data about her, as expected. He tidied up the shelves as he spoke. "Each era represents her stages of life, so no song is better than the other. But it is a crime that Lover gets very little attention. Niou, do your part."

"I've put all of your bags and rackets!" He stretched his arms in protest. "Clean them, put them back, gather them in one place, check if something's missing. I deserve this couch. Besides, I have no idea what you guys put in your bag. Especially Marui's. Maybe you bring another birthday cake today."

"I don't have any sweets on me thanks to our dearest kouhai!" he swept the floor harder. "I need my mango fruit sando, caramel eclair, and strawberry pistachio macaron right now but I can't go because I have to do this!"

"Piyo." Niou raised his hand. "Shake It Off or Bad Blood?"

"Bad Blood," answers Marui and Jackal in unison, while Yagyuu slowly stated Shake It Off.

Niou started again. "Love Story or You Belong With Me?"

"Love Story." The three of them–minus Yanagi–shouted.

"All right... this one is hard. Back to December or Enchanted?"

Yagyuu and Jackal said Back to December, but Marui plus Yanagi voted Enchanted. Even Yanagi answered this time. Niou's smile looked satisfied, waiting for each other's reasons. This discussion seemed out of character and very trivial, but it was one of the best ways to unwind. They didn't need to stress about tennis and competition and even Sanada for a moment.

"Back to December is the only song about her ex that ends with regret. The rest is an artful form of mockery." Jackal argued.

Marui retorted. "But Enchanted is the only song that gets a reply from the muse himself."

"As entertaining as the history goes, I think we should settle it based on melodic quality," suggested Yanagi.

"I don't know, man, it's hard enough to decide based on my intuition, let alone musicality-wise." Marui shrugged. "Oi, Yagyuu, back me up."

When the said boy didn't answer, Marui clicked his tongue and turned to see him frozen, hands up with the mop cloth. He walked to the window then followed Yagyuu's gaze. His jaw dropped.

Niou, Jackal, and Yanagi exchanged glances and rushed to see what that was about. They stunned in place.

"Holy princess cake!" Marui cursed. "He's out there skipping practice and kissing someone?!"

"So they're getting...?" Yagyuu took off his glasses.

"Back together, is what you want to say? Likely," confirmed Yanagi.

"He made me miss my line in a cake shop!"

"What–when–who taught him that?" Niou scratched his head. "Where did he learn that?"

"Guys, I don't think we should watch this..." Jackal muttered.

"He gets his dream girl and I cannot even buy a candy? How is it fair? HOW DARE–"

Niou tried to make Marui shut up, but he lunged at him, then Yanagi and Jackal got him before he went berserk. As commotion ensued and their faces of wrath, amusement, shock, and a bit of jealousy hid safely behind clubroom's window, they also knew they needed to stay and let it happen.

DONE. What did I say? DONE! :D

That's it! I hope you are (not) satisfied, so you come with reviews and constructive criticism to help me build the better story and make me a better writer ;)