A/N: You know, I wish I had the same motivation I had now 7 years ago when I first started writing this story. I probably would have either already finished it or been close to finishing it. If I continue at this rate, then maybe I can get a good chunk of the story done this year. Though, that remains to be seen. Anyway, I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed the last few chapters! I've read your reviews and have just so much enjoyed reading through what you all have to say. And it really has pushed me to get these chapters out. But I need to remember to also read after I write so I'm giving you quality work!
This chapter is a fun one and longer than the last two! I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 36: Let's Plan a Play!
Ayame huffed as she moved the boxes from the hallway closet. Her softball gear was hidden somewhere in the back, if she remembered correctly. After the accident, anything related to softball was thrown in a box and away from sight.
She was crouching, moving boxes away and reaching to the far back of the hallway closet.
"How far back does this thing go?!" She muttered to herself in frustration.
But Ayame made the error of moving the wrong box because now there was a slight groan and she shrieked as a pile of boxes came crashing on top of her and she was now buried under a rubble of random junk.
The blonde girl groaned as a sharp pain traveled up her hip and into her back as one of the boxes was now jabbing into her hip bone. She dropped her head against the floor and sighed loudly, annoyed by the predicament she found herself in.
"What are you doing?"
Hearing her brothers voice, she groaned even louder.
She hadn't told him of her decision to go back to softball. The only person who knew was Kyo. And she swore him to secrecy until she was ready to say something. She really wasn't sure why she was so nervous to tell her brother. Ayame supposed she was more afraid of Akito's reaction.
"I was looking for something and all these boxes fell on me." The youngest Hayama replied with irritation.
She heard him scoff and Ayame wanted to throw something at him.
"Idiot." He said and now the blonde really wanted to smack her brother upside the head.
But now the boxes were moving and that jabbing in her hip was gone as he pulled the heavier box off of her. Akito extended a hand towards her and she sighed with frustration before taking it.
Pulling her up rather easily, her brother went back to setting some of the boxes to the side of the closet.
"Did you at least find what you were looking for before you went and made a mess of things?"
Another tick and Ayame glared at him. "No."
He rose a brow. "What were you looking for?"
She bit her lip, not expecting for him to ask. In the past, he probably would have let her die under those boxes. Or he would pull the boxes off of her and then disappeared into his room.
Now she had a somewhat noisier older brother who was actually interested in what she was doing.
Ayame internally groaned.
That was unfair.
How long had she been wanting her brother to care about what she was doing? To tease her? To establish a relationship with her? And now that she had it, she was being rude.
"… my softball gear." Ayame muttered quietly, staring down at the floor.
He didn't react immediately, not that she really expected him too. But Ayame was wanting to do this and she would do it with or without his support. Though, she really hoped it was with.
"You're playing again?" He asked, his voice neutral.
The blonde looked up at him and his countenance was stoic like always.
But Ayame had noticed that in these last few months, his eyes didn't seem so empty anymore.
"I want too, yes."
"Cool."
Ayame's eyes went wide at his response. Akito was crouching down to the floor and crawling to the back of the closet. She didn't know what to expect, but she certainly hadn't expected that. She was sure he would be against her decision to return.
But she watched as her brother grabbed a hold of a large box and pulled it from the back of the closet and dragged it forward. Akito dragged the box into the hallway and went back under to grab a bucket of softballs that were hidden away as well.
She swallowed the golf ball in her throat as her brother cleaned the closet.
"How did you know they were in there?" She asked.
"I remember when you threw them in there." He said, voice low.
Ayame bit on her lip as the memory of almost four years ago thwarted back into her mind.
The tears were dried on her cheeks as she clenched onto the photo of her mother. Her heart ached at thought of her mother not being down the hall anymore. No longer would she barge into her room, open the curtains, and drag her out of bed. No longer would she barge into her room on game day and hype her up for game day. No longer would she be in the kitchen, wearing her silly apron, giving her and her brother pointed looks.
The tears started again down her face.
The pain in her heart was far worse than the pain in her back.
After the accident, she woke up in a hospital bed, her body in agony. She couldn't move without feeling like her body was on fire. Any sudden movement, and her back felt like it was being crushed.
After weeks in the hospital and physical therapy, she was finally somewhat able to move without feeling like her body would crumble with one step.
But her coming home meant that they would have to face the inevitable: her mother's funeral.
Her wishes had always been cremation. Her mother was adamant to not be buried underground, said it was a waste to become food for the bugs. Of course, as a child, she didn't think twice of it and thought it would be years before they had to worry about that.
Ayame couldn't stop crying at the funeral nor could she help it at the ceremony at home. Hiro and Kyo had done everything they could to be at her side, but she couldn't help but feel so lonely.
Her brother hadn't said anything to her since she awoke in the hospital. He suffered his own injury. His right shoulder and arm had been torn apart during the accident. He had his own physical therapy to endure in the last few weeks.
He was sitting to himself on the stairs, eyes staring out with nothing in them. She had heard her father and him get into a spat a few days prior to the funeral. But unlike all the times before, her brother just took the words her father said with nothing to say in return.
She put the photo of her mother back on the desk and her eyes found her softball gear in the corner of her room.
A few days prior, she had watched as her brother shoved away all his karate trophies into the storage room, anger radiating off his back. Seeing her softball gear gave her the same type of feeling.
She grabbed a box and threw her softball gear into the box, tears continuing to stream down her face. Ayame wanted nothing of it. An audible sob escaped her lips as her mom's cheers and encouragement slapped her in the face.
She dragged the box from her room and opened up the hallway closet, throwing and pushing it as far to the back of the closet as she could. She wanted to stop feeling this hurt and despair so badly, she was willing to push it away as far as she could.
As the thoughts of the past ravished her mind, Ayame went wide eyed as her brother placed a hand over the top of her head.
"Mom would be happy." He stated, eyes gentler than she had seen them in years. Tears grew at the banks of her eyes.
Giving a slight rub, he removed his hand and walked down the stairs.
Her heart felt so incredibly full.
.
"This is probably your guys best idea and I've seen a lot of them." Tobita Mayu teased as she sat at the front of the class, looking over the proposal from the class for the school festival. She was nodding as she read the documents, a smile appearing on her lips.
"We said you would like it!" Gomi and Hiroshi shouted, pumping their fists in the air.
Annoyance crossed Tobita's face. She then rolled her eyes and stacked the papers in her hands.
"I don't think this will be a problem, but I will just need to know what play you guys are planning on doing. Obviously, this will cost money because how else are you going to get funding for the costumes and props?"
Gomi and Hiroshi's excitement fell as the reality of their production idea was thrown out there.
"Well, that's why we have the theatre kids! They can lend us some stuff!" Yunichi, another kid from their class said. Gomi and Hiroshi excitedly agreed.
Tobita put a hand to her forehead and sighed in exacerbation.
"Just put together a budget plan and give it to me by the end of the homeroom, will you?"
"YES MAM!" The three boys saluted the class rep and Tobita rolled her eyes again, walking out of the classroom with the promise to be back at the end of homeroom.
Class 3-A exploded with ideas, people shouting across the classroom, no one listening to one another. Hisea and Mami were fighting with the boys as they thought of their own fairy tale type of ideas as the trio of boys wanted something along the lines of more action.
Sana was growing frustrated watching as everyone shouted. If only her old acting agency could see what the planning of a high school classroom looked like. They would laugh at their lack of coordination and communication.
And that wasn't to say that every set she's stepped on was perfect because some of her work was definitely a challenge.
The idea of doing a play terrified her. She hadn't acted since Rei's death and she wasn't sure if she could even step on the stage without feeling like she did three years ago.
Sana was excellent at running away from her own problems.
She didn't mind helping anyone else or solving everyone else's.
But the moment it was her own, she would high tail the other way.
The auburn-haired girl was feeling guilty though, seeing everyone's excited faces as they talked about the play and the school festival. It seemed like they were so into it. And she was actually really looking forward to it.
What was one play, anyway? It's not like she was going to return to acting after all was set and done.
She stood up and took a deep breathe.
"EVERYBODY QUIET." She shouted into the room and the class went silent as she stood with all eyes on her.
She coughed, brushing down her uniform. She smiled and nodded. "Now that I've gotten your attention."
"What gives, Kurata-san?" Gomi asked, looking confused as well as everyone else in the class.
"As someone who has experienced putting on plenty of plays in her life, I feel like I should offer my expertise in these subjects!" She said with a wink as she walked to the front of the class, standing at her sensei's podium.
The smiles broke out as realization hit her classmates.
Isn't this why they wanted to do a play in the first place?
"What do you have in mind, Sana-chan?" Aya asked with curious eyes.
A gleam in her eyes and Sana nodded. "Thank you for asking, my young padawan! Now, of course because we are a small classroom, and not a theater group or anything of the sorts, we got to do something simple but also interesting!"
"So, no action like play, sorry boys."
The trio of boys groaned.
"And sorry girls, but no grand fairy tale play either."
Hisae and Mami sighed in disappointed.
"So, then what are you thinking?" Tsuyoshi asked.
Searching the crowd of her classmates for inspiration, her eyes landed on Hayama Akito, who also happened to be looking right at her.
"If you need a shoulder to cry on, then you can come to me."
Her heart quickened as his words circled in her thoughts. Not really having much time to process them with Hiro's grandmother passing and then her funeral and the drama with his father.
And truth be told, she was avoiding thinking too much about it because every time she gave it a minute, Sana felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart continued to flutter and all she could remember were those hypnotizing eyes of his.
So, straying away from those thoughts, Sana thought about how much Hayama went from lone wolf to being surrounded by a pack again. And that thought warmed her. And helped her stray away from those confusing feelings from before.
Her eyes went wide, a light bulb going off in her mind.
"I GOT IT." She shouted, making a few of her classmates jump in their streets.
"Well, what are you thinking?!" Gomi asked and she could feel the whole class wait in anticipation for her answer.
She smiled wickedly.
"Little Red Riding Hood!"
The class was silent for a minute, processing her answer. And she could tell by some of the faces, mostly on the boys, that they were confused.
"I like it!" Hisae responded, standing from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. She was grinning like a mad woman and looked at Mami, who also nodded.
"Great idea, Sana-chan! That would be SO easy to get done!" Mami added.
"Wait, why do you get to choose!? Who says we even want Little Red Riding Hood!? That's so lame!" Gomi complained with some grumbles from the boys in the class.
"Oh, why don't you stop complaining?! It's super simple and we can easily budget that! A lot of the costumes can either be bought or made!" Hisae argued with her boyfriend, who clearly wasn't happy with the decision.
"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Aya added, giving Sana a thumbs up.
"Yeah! Whatever you think is fine, Sana-chan!" Sana sweat dropped as Tsuyoshi gave his full support.
"Don't agree just because she's friends with your girlfriend!" Gomi countered and Tsuyoshi rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
Sana knew she would face backlash but looking at Hayama Akito gave her all the inspiration she needed. He raised a brow at her as she continued to stare him down with a mischievous smile.
What are you scheming?
His eyes asked as he scrunched his brows together.
Just watch.
She said through her scheming smile.
"Of course, this isn't your typical Little Red Riding Hood, my dear friends!" She interrupted the argument that was brewing between the boys and girls in the class. "We can rewrite the story however we want."
That seemed to somewhat please the boys because now Gomi, Hiroshi, and the rest of the boys were whispering amongst each other.
"Like how?" Yunichi asked, his eyes full of curious and wonder.
Sana walked up to him and put an arm around his neck. "However we want!"
She released him and started pacing up and down the classroom. The former actress could feel a bubble of excitement in her chest as all eyes were on her as she guided the class to a decision.
Sana felt like she was back on set of Child's Toy, working along side with Zenjiro. It was always back and forth with him, Zenjiro putting himself in all kinds of silly and sometimes stupid situations. Part of the humor of Child's Toy was calling him out on his bizarre behaviors and choices. Most of it was made up of whatever came to her mind, including her life in school and acting.
This wasn't so hard.
"The story doesn't just have to be about the big bad wolf and poor little red riding hood. It could be about so much more! We can make it darker, sillier, funnier. That's the beauty of putting on a play and acting in it!" She put her hands up in the air, stopping right at Hayama's seat.
"Besides, we have the perfect person to play the wolf himself."
All eyes trailed to Hayama Akito as Sana looked down at him with a knowing smile.
The blond's eyes went wide at the realization.
"Absolutely not." He stated firmly, his voice strained.
"Oh, come on, Hayama!" Sana started, hands at her hips and bending forward with a grin the size of Japan on her face. "We can write the script to where all you have to do is literally stand and look scary! Which, need I remind you, you already do!"
He glared at her, the irritation in his eyes very evident as it looked like he wanted to murder her.
"Wait, what if I wanted to be the wolf!?" Gomi asked, crossing his arms.
"Oh puh-lease! You are nowhere near scary looking!" Hisae scoffed as she marched up to Gomi. "Akito-san literally has the look just in his eyes. You couldn't be scary even if you tried, and remember, you've tried."
Gomi sat down with a pout and Sana caught that last bit of Hisae's sentence, intrigued by what exactly she meant by that. But Tsuyoshi's voice brought her back to Hayama.
"I think you should do it, Akito-kun!" And now the jerk was glaring holes at Tsuyoshi.
"I think you should shut your mouth before I do it for you." He seethed and the glass eyed boy gulped.
Sana rolled her eyes, scoffing at the blond's attitude. Whipping out her trusty hammer, she hit the lone wolf over the head lightly.
Well that certainly did the trick.
The former actress thought to herself as his glare deepened, looking at her murderously.
"Cut the look and leave your friend here alone, will you?" She turned away from him, feeling the heat from his stare.
"ANYWAY, I think it's very obvious this guy is perfect and like I said, adjust the script to however we want!"
She could see smiles spreading across everyone's lips and nods making their ways across the classroom. The noise was growing louder as the energy in the classroom grew.
"I'm in!" Hisae added.
"Me too, Sana-chan!" Mami agreed with a cheer.
Hiroshi and Gomi looked at each other and shrugged. "As long as I get to be a villager who's out to kill the wolf, I don't care!" Hiroshi said and Gomi added something about that being a great idea.
The class murmured in agreeance and it seemed like everyone was for the idea. Sana smiled in relief.
"I think it'll be lots of fun!" Aya smiled enthusiastically as she looked at Tsuyoshi.
"I agree. Especially if Akito-kun is going to be in the play!" The malice behind her continued to increase as those words left Tsuyoshi's mouth. He laughed nervously and Sana looked behind her to see a deep scowl on the blond's face.
"I never agreed to anything." His words were sharp, and Sana just shrugged.
"Stop being a big baby. Everyone has to participate. That's the whole purpose of the school festival. Besides, you participated back in middle school!"
He huffed, like a bull and Sana fought the urge to roll her eyes again.
"This will be fun! You literally don't have to do anything besides stand and look scary! And wear a costume!"
Another tick on his forehead and Sana thought that Hayama's head was going to explode.
"I am not participating in this stupid play." His words were firm, and Sana groaned loudly.
"You can't back out. Look! Everyone is so excited for you to play the wolf!" She gestured towards the rest of the class, who all seemed to be separating into committees for the play.
"Well, they can take their disappointment out on you for giving them false hopes." He retorted.
She sat down in her seat in front of him and placed her chin in her hands. She smiled brightly at him and saw some hesitation in his countenance.
"No, I'm merely be opportunistic in revealing your hidden talents!"
This caused him to roll his eyes. "I do not act."
"Just stand there and look scary, Hayama. We will write the script where Little Red Riding Hood shines and the hunter is the hero." She offered and he took a big sigh.
"You are very annoying." Sana could tell her was irritated with her. In reality, if the roles were reversed, she would think she would be annoyed as well. But Hayama needed to be their wolf. After all, he was the inspiration for the play idea.
Besides, she would think it would make for a good memory in the future.
"Wait a minute, who's going to be our Red Riding Hood?" Mami asked, and the class went silent.
And Sana suddenly felt all eyes on her.
"Wait, wait. Me!?"
"It was your idea, Kurata-san!" Yunichi said with a big smile.
"Who else would it be?" Aya said next to her.
Sana's heart quickened. Her? Act as the main star?
She started laughing nervously, putting her hands up in defense. "Oh no. I couldn't do it! Hisae-chan? Mami-chan? You guys don't want the job?"
They both shook their heads vigorously. "Nah girl! This is your time to shine! Besides, we wouldn't hold a candle to your acting anyway!"
Her raging thoughts were silenced in the excitement of the class, who all seemed to just accept her silence as acceptance.
Come on, Sana. Don't be an idiot. It's not like this is real anyway. It's just a school play!
She tried to tell herself, tried to talk herself into it. It wasn't something being filmed for TV. This wasn't a professional setting. There were no hanging lights or directors or producers or, or, or –
"CUT! Okay, time for a break everyone!" The director said as Sana broke character.
Rei came walking out with a smile, handing her a glass of water.
"How did I do?!" 12-year-old Sana asked as she gulped down the water.
Her manager gave her a thumbs up with a giddy smile. "They love you, Sana-chan! If this TV drama is a hit, I think we may have what we need to sign you with XYZ!"
The young star waved her hand at her manager. "Oh Rei-kun. You know that it's still too early for me to sign on with anyone. Besides, I still have to enjoy school sometimes, ya know!"
Dejectedly, Rei sulked. "But Sana-channnnn! How am I supposed to make you the best!?"
She smiled arrogantly. "Just a little more patience, my lovely manager! Let me get through at least middle school first, okay!?"
Rei laughed and put a hand to her head. "Alright Sana-chan. Sounds good."
His phone started to ring, and he excused himself, Sana rolling her eyes. It was probably another recruiter trying to get them to sign with their agency. She had a lot contact them lately, but Sana hadn't made up her mind with signing with an agency yet. She loved acting but wasn't sure if this was something she wanted to do seriously quite yet.
She walked over to the middle of the stage, doing some small, in place exercises, getting ready for the next scene. Rehearsing some of her lines and so focused on her acting, Sana didn't hear the shouting till it was too late.
The lights were too bright.
"Hey."
There was a pinch at her cheek and Sana broke out of her gaze, looking up at the figure looming over her.
Hayama was staring down at her with those hypnotizing, golden brown eyes again. Stoic and apathetic to the rest of the world, but between them, she could see his concern as he warmed the ice around his heart and let her see him fully.
She looked around the class, seeing that everyone else had already moved on and broken into different groups. The class was filled with excitement and chatter, the topics jumping from costumes to script writing to filling acting roles.
Sana rubbed at her cheek, the sting in her cheek already alleviating.
"Did you have to pinch so hard?" She mumbled, looking up at him with annoyance.
"You were spaced out. I said your name three times."
The former actress hadn't realized. She was taken back to… back to… back to when Rei was –
"If this is too much for you, you should say something."
Sana shook her head at Hayama's statement, not wanting to make a scene or cause a big deal about something so arbitrary.
She smiled at him, appreciating his concern.
"It's fine." The auburn-haired girl said, looking at the classroom. "Besides, look at how happy they are. It's not a big deal."
He pursed his lips and frowned slightly, obviously not happy with her answer.
"Who cares about what they feel?"
"Seriously, it'll be fun! Besides, you're my partner in crime with this, remember!" She nudged him with her elbow and winked. The embarrassment was clear as day on his face and she couldn't help giggle as a red hue spread across his cheeks.
"You two have been awfully close lately."
Tsuyoshi walked up to them with a suspicious looking smile and Sana tilted her head. Hayama scoffed, leaning back against his desk.
"Hayama and I are best buds now!" She threw her arm around his neck and pulled him down to her level. He struggled against her hold for a minute and Tsuyoshi laughed as he wormed his way away from her, straightening out his uniform.
"Annoying girl." He muttered as he straightened out his button up shirt and tie.
"You don't even wear your shirt properly! Your shirt isn't tucked in and your collar is all messed up!" She removed his hands from his tie and took over for him. She tucked it under his collar, putting her hands around his neck and smoothing out the material around his shoulders. She moved tie up on his neck and once she was done, patted down on his chest.
Sana completely missed the blazing red in his neck and cheeks when she was done.
"Just look at my tie! It's nice and straight!" She gestured her thumb back towards her and grinned brightly.
"You do a very good job, Sana-chan." Tsuyoshi added with a slight chuckle but Hayama remained quiet as he turned away, swallowing very visibly.
"And yours too, Tsuyoshi! Your uniform is done very well!" She nodded as he looked himself up and down.
In typical Tsuyoshi fashion, his school dress shirt was tucked in, belt tight around his waist and tie neatly made around his neck. He had his school coat in hand since the weather had started to warm.
As opposed to Hayama who wore his dress shirt completely untucked and his tie loosely hanging from his neck.
Which he also happened to just loosen up again after she went through all the trouble of getting it right!
She frowned. "Hey! What gives! I just fixed that!" She reached for his neck again but Hayama grabbed her hand, rather quickly.
"My tie stays where it is." His croaked lightly, gripping her hand tightly. Sana's brow shrugged as a nervous countenance took over his face.
His hand was gripped around hers tightly with an intense warmness that Sana didn't know Hayama was capable of. For a fleeting moment, her heart jumped, and she sucked in a breath as he looked down at her with his strong, golden brown eyes. It was so difficult to not get lost in them.
"Uh, Sana-chan? Akito-kun?" Tsuyoshi called out and if it wasn't for Hayama breaking their stare, Sana was sure she would have stayed locked in. He released his hold on her and walked away.
"I was forced into this stupid play." The young teen heard him say, but Sana was still feeling her heart come down. Her mouth was left dry and she really wasn't sure why she felt like this.
"It should be fun, though! You and Sana-chan will make a great pair!" Sana turned to find Hayama standing in the middle of the lined desk, his book bag hanging from his shoulder. "Right, Sana-chan?"
Shoving this unexplainable feeling all the way to the pit of her stomach, Sana grinned brightly.
"Of course! Hayama will be my arch nemesis! It will be a fight to the death!" He rolled his eyes at her statement.
"Classmate Hayama!" Yunichi barged over as he ran up to the blond with Gomi and Hiroshi in toll. Sana arched her brows, looking over to Tsuyoshi, who just shrugged his shoulders.
But Sana couldn't help the smile and laughter that followed as she watched pure annoyance and irritation cross the blond's face.
"It's just Hayama or even Akito, Yunichi." He replied.
"Yeah, Yunichi! It's just Akito!" Gomi punched Yunichi in the arm.
"This play will be a lot of fun! I think it'll be better once you join!" Yunichi continued.
"We get to relive our middle school memories, man! Just like the lava lamp incident!" Hiroshi snickered and Gomi nodded firmly.
"Just like the good ol' days!" Gomi clasped Hayama's shoulder, shaking him slightly.
Despite him being nagged at by their friends, Sana could see the small smirk on his lips. He may have once been a lone wolf, but even a lone wolf can only stay alone for so long before it dies from solitude.
Seeing him surrounded by his friends again, it made her very happy. Sana thought back to when she arrived almost half a year ago. Hayama was so different, eyes empty and full of uncertainty. He lived such a lonely and sad life for almost four years. It caused her heart despair just thinking about it.
But seeing him here with all their friends, it brought her so much peace.
"I remember when he couldn't get them to stop following his every command." Tsuyoshi commented with a small laugh.
"What do you mean?" She asked. Sana had heard small bits and pieces about their past together and how Hayama was a bit of a boss monkey. What that meant? She didn't know.
"I've told you about how the boys used to follow him around, right?" She nodded.
"Even after Akito stopped being their leader, the boys never stopped respecting him. He was always really popular, believe it or not. A lot of the guys looked up to him. It was always like this, guys messing with Akito-kun or just wanting to be his friend."
It was hard to believe back then, but looking at him now, Sana could see it. Watching him interact with the guys, she could see how easy it was for him.
"I don't really know what happened between the two of you, Sana-chan." Tsuyoshi's voice got low and timid. But he looked down at her with grateful eyes and a thankful smile. "But whatever it was, it's brought out the better part of him."
Her cheeks burned. "Oh no no! I didn't do anything!" She threw her hands up in the air in defense.
"I'm just glad he has you."
Before Sana could ask Tsuyoshi what he meant by that, Tobita Mayu came barging back into the classroom, demanding for the final decision.
With a very enthusiastic smile and nod, the play was approved, and they were set to start production.
.
Akito really didn't know how he got wrapped into this situation, especially considering that he wanted nothing to do with the play. But, somehow, here he was, in the middle of it all.
Damn that Kurata.
A few days had passed since they selected the play and Akito was already fed up with the responsibility and stress of it all. They were in the middle of writing the script and while he was promised no lines, he knew it would be too much to hope for. Knowing Kurata, something was bound to happen.
When Kurata told his siste, he was going to be in the play, Ayame's jaw almost fell.
"YOU?! YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN A PLAY?!"
The shriek that followed almost broke his ear drums. Her teasing was relentless, and it was then Akito remembered why younger siblings were so annoying.
When Fuka had heard, she cornered him in the hallway.
"What's this I hear about you being in a play?"
He grunted, obviously not wanting to indulge the stupid smirk on her face.
"I was forced."
"Now this I can't wait to see."
"Screw off." He stated, walking off from her.
"Sana's acting in it, too, right?"
He stopped, hearing the hesitation and worry in her own voice.
"Just... keep an eye on her, okay?"
He turned around and looked at her with pure confusion.
"Are you ever going to enlighten me on what exactly happened to her after her manager died?"
Her jaw stilled and eyes grew serious. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"It's not my story to tell. You'll need to ask Sana herself."
And that was all she said to him before she stalked off. That conversation left him on edge for the rest of day, irritated with both Fuka and Kurata. And Kurata knew it because he took out his frustrations on her.
He wished sometimes he could just drop it all. Drop the stupid play, drop their friends, drop her. Sometimes he wished he could just be reclusive once again and just live in his own world.
But when he thought about that… it felt so – lonely.
Akito really didn't know where he was going. The rest of the school day was cancelled, and he knew his sister had softball try outs today. But that wasn't till later this afternoon and it was still a few hours till then.
It was hard to believe that she was wanting to go back to softball.
Similar to him and karate, after their mom died, she gave it up. She threw all her gear into a box, never to be opened again.
But in the last few months, Ayame had found what he had been lacking for so long.
Courage.
She found the courage to go back to the sport that she so dearly loved. Between her softball games and his karate matches, their family was so busy. And their mom was their number 1 supporter. There would be days they would jump from matches to games or vice versa.
The weekends were long and challenging, but he found himself missing them a lot of the time.
So, when he found his sister buried under all those boxes, confessing she was wanting to play softball again, he was happy; happy that she found her courage to go back.
Tsuyoshi, his sister, and Kurata had all asked him if he had missed karate. He never answered them, avoiding the truth. Because telling the truth meant that he needed to accept his cowardice. And he didn't think it was something he was quite ready to accept.
Burying his thoughts away from karate, Akito continued to walk down the halls of his school, thinking of maybe escaping to the roof since the weather was starting to warm.
But that was before Akimoto Hiro walked out of the classroom and ran right into him, knocking him over enough to drop his school bag. Stunned from the hard contact, Akimoto fell back into the door.
Collecting himself, the Prince of Jinbou shook his head and stood, looking right at him with his emerald green eyes.
"Oh man. Hayama, sorry about that. I didn't see where I was going." He muttered an apology, looking down to grab his book bag from the floor.
Akito wanted to reply with a witty and sarcastic comment, but he knew that his grandmother had just died and from listening to his sister talk to herself the other day, knew that his father was back in town.
If there were any similarities between himself and Akimoto, they both clearly had daddy issues.
"It's fine." Akito replied, waving him off.
"No harm then?" He asked, jokingly with that stupid smile he tries to charm everyone with.
Akito raised a brow in suspicion but shook his head.
There was an awkward silence and the blond really just wanted to get out of there.
He didn't have anything against Akimoto. If anything, he was thankful to him for watching over his sister these last few years while he was dicking around and being useless. He filled the role of big brother pretty well and for that, he owed him a thank you.
Would he say it?
Probably not.
But it was owed.
Just lately, his presence was irking him.
He couldn't explain why but it was more so with him just showing up more often. And seeing him around Kurata really made his blood boil. It was a feeling he really didn't understand nor get so he'd been putting it aside. But, seeing Akimoto and Kurata together made him very uneasy.
"Are you going to Ayame's softball try outs?" He asked before Akito could walk away. He took a deep breath.
"Yeah." He answered, hoping that would get his point across that he wasn't in the mood to have a conversation.
"Crazy huh? That she's starting back?"
The Gods were testing him today.
"Yeah."
"Sana has been a really great influence on her. And I know the two of you have been getting along better too. I feel like I'm finally seeing the true Ayame after all this time." Akimoto said and Akito just sighed.
"It's just nice to see her happy again."
The blond clenched his fist.
"Yeah, happy." He said through his teeth, trying to hide his irritation.
"Well, anyway. Sorry again 'bout running into you. But I guess I'll see you later." Akito didn't pay attention to which way he started running off too. He also didn't care. A nap was much deserved after the stress of the day.
.
They had all agreed to meet outside the boys and girls locker room before walking over to the softball fields. Sana was leaning against the wall, being the first one there. In their small group chat, they had all mentioned something about being in study hall.
Psh, what losers.
She snickered to herself, denying that she herself should have probably been in study hall too. Her marks weren't entirely the best.
It was a loud laughter that took her away from her phone. Her eyes traveled up and there she saw the gymnastics team looking as if they had just finished up their practice. And at the front of the group was Fuka.
Gulping, Sana bit her lip.
They hadn't spoken to one another since their massive fight a few weeks ago. Having the same friends, it was inevitable they would bump into one another. But lately, Fuka had all but disappeared from their friend group, opting to hang out with the gymnastics team instead. Not wanting to step into Fuka's territory, Sana resigned from the gymnastics team – again.
Her absence was noted, and it seemed like Aya and Tsuyoshi had tried to reach out, but Fuka must have been adamant to stay away. Though, Sana did see her still speaking to them in the hallways and in between classes.
Sana wondered if they could even save their friendship at this point. Her mother seemed optimistic about a reconciliation. Maybe it was her mother's experience and all-knowing wisdom, but to her, it didn't seem like there was a chance for resolution.
"Hey Sana-chan!" One of the gymnastics girls called out, waving towards her with a smile.
Clearly not wanting it to be awkward, she waved back. A string of "hellos!" and "miss you's!" were said and Sana replied with the same sincerity. Because she did miss those girls. As draining as practices had been, the meets were always fun.
The auburn-haired teen was trying her best to avoid eye contact with Fuka, but she looked too far to her right and caught Fuka's sharp gaze.
Fuka's face remained neutral, eerily similar to Hayama Akito's demeanor. But Fuka was not in fact Hayama and could not hide the one thing that betrayed her: her eyes. She could see a mixture of guilt and concern. And she made the mistake of raising her brows because now Fuka was turning away, clearly knowing she was caught.
The group of girls continued walking and Sana sighed heavily. She knew she shouldn't feel so awkward, but the former actress couldn't help it. Fuka had a way of getting her emotions jumbled.
"How long are you guys going to be like this?"
Sana groaned, looking over to Hayama Akito as he took a spot next to her. She huffed, pouting her lip and crossing her arms.
"We are no longer friends. So, I don't know what you mean by that."
He rolled his eyes. Sana wasn't very pleased by that gesture. She felt a twitch at her forehead, and she turned towards him.
"This is partially your fault too, you know." She barked and he tch'ed.
"I had nothing to do with your guys drama." He defended but Sana begged to differ.
"If you hadn't said anything to her about Yuta –"
"She was going to find out and you know that." He retorted. "Besides, the two of you are constantly playing hot and cot. It's like watching and on and off again couple."
She pursed her lips, not liking his comparison. "With that analogy, wouldn't it be better to just end the relationship then? Why put yourself and the people around you through that misery?"
"That's not the issue though, is it?" Hayama said and Sana was taken aback.
"Fuka's all that's left of your former life and you don't want to be forced to let that go." Her eyes went wide, and jaw dropped slightly. He was doing that again. Seeing right through her.
How?
How does he do it?
For someone who claimed to not care about other's business, he was deceitfully great at picking her apart. When he looked at her, it was like she was laid out in front of him, bare and naked. It was so aggravating at times knowing that he was dissecting her so easily.
Especially when she wasn't expecting it.
"Well jokes on you because I already have." Sana murmured, crossing her arms looking away in shame.
"Have you?" Hayama pressed on. The teen clenched her arms in annoyance.
"Can we just talk about something different? I don't really feel like having this conversation right now!" Sana threw her hands up in the air, not feeling like confronting the skeletons in her closet today.
She heard him sigh and Sana looked back at him with her hazel eyes.
"So! Ayame-chan plays softball, huh? Was she any good?" Changing the subject right along, Sana put her hands behind her back and smiled, pretending that the conversation from before hadn't occurred.
The auburn-haired teen could tell Hayama was irritated and somewhat annoyed, but Sana wasn't up to an in-depth conversation or analysis of her faults and failures. She had enough of a reminder with Rei every day.
"Yeah, she quit around the same time I quit karate."
"So now that she's going back to softball, are you going back to karate?" She turned, facing him fully. The blond went silent for a moment, obviously trying to process an answer.
She had heard from a handful of people just how talented Hayama had actually been. It was evident by the trophy collection he had hidden in his room. Tsuyoshi had mentioned that they used to go to his karate practices and matches after school sometimes too.
"I don't want to have that conversation." Hayama replied lowly, turning away from her and walking towards the softball fields. Sana frowned, annoyed by his counter.
"That's not fair! You can't use my own words against me!" She followed after him.
Hayama shrugged his shoulders, clearly not caring about what she had to say.
"You are one complex guy, you know that Hayama?" Sana said as she came to his side and they made their way out of the school. "It's so hard to read you and figure out what's going on in your head."
"There's not much to figure out. I'm a pretty simple guy."
Sana snorted.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Lone Wolf!"
"Would you stop calling me that?" Sana snickered as irritation crossed his face. She sped up ahead in front of him and looked back, grinning widely.
"Last one there is a loser!" She called back and Sana barely caught the eye roll as she sped off.
But she knew that Hayama was close behind her because she could hear his footsteps trailing. Whether he was letting her win on purpose or not, she wasn't sure. Though the trip from the locker rooms to the softball fields wasn't far, she was breathless and needed to stop for air as they arrived at the outer gates.
That's when Hayama took the opportunity to run past her, giving her that stupid smirk as he ran by. Sana growled as she sucked in a deep breath and conjured all the energy. She had to not only catch him, but also beat him.
And she definitely would have beat him if she hadn't tripped over a crack on the walk way and fell right on her face. Sana wanted to cry out in agony as her knees hit the hard, cement floor.
Fortunately, she stretched her hands out enough to take the brunt of her fall and prevent her from breaking her face. But landing on the palms of her hands resulted in excruciating pain being sent up her hands into her shoulders and back.
While all this was downright painful, it was just as equally embarrassing. Sana groaned as she fell to the side and covered her face with her arm.
"You sure are clumsy."
Removing her arm from her face, she glared at Hayama. He was easily towering over her with his arms in his pockets. She sighed roughly, clearly annoyed by the predicament she found herself in.
"I guess that means I win."
The bastard smirked and Sana scowled at him.
But when she tried to get up, an electric shock of pain coursed right through her and she fell back against the concrete.
"You know what? Just leave me be. I'm just going to die here."
The blond rolled his eyes.
"Give me your hand, idiot."
He extended his hand to hers and she looked up at him suspiciously.
"You better not let me fall again." She said as she took it carefully.
Hayama gripped her hand tightly. "I wasn't the reason you tripped in the first place." He pulled up her up fairly easily. Sana almost crashed into him but luckily, he caught her beforehand.
"Ow, ow!" She yelled as she took a step forward.
"Sit down." He commanded and Sana found her seat at one of the bleachers in near the outside of the softball field. She looked down and saw the scuff marks on her knees as well as blood. Hayama kneeled in front of her and dug into his bag, eventually pulling out a few band-aids and a piece of cloth.
"Do I want to know why you're carrying around that stuff in your book bag?" Sana asked, slightly curious but also thankful.
He dabbed at her knees and she winced at the stinging sensation in her knees. A heat crawled into her cheeks as Hayama remained silent while he continued to clean her cuts from her foolish fall. Never would she have imagined Hayama to do something like this for her. Even looking at him now, she couldn't believe how different he had been from the boy she met nearly half a year ago.
"For clumsy idiots like you."
She pouted and resisted the urge to whack him across the head with her hammer. Besides, he was being kind.
One of his hands grabbed at her legs and his thumb traced softly against the side of her knee, making Sana's heart race a way it hadn't before. She bit her lip as his hand held her leg still and he placed a few band-aids over her bleeding sites.
He switched, repeating exactly what he had done to the other leg. Her heart was practically in her throat at that point, and she wondered if he could hear her heart hammer against her chest. It felt so loud. And her stomach wouldn't stop feeling so fluttery.
What in the world is this feeling?!
"There." He wiped his hands into the cloth and stood up, Sana weirdly enough missing the warmth of his hand. But as those thoughts crossed her mind, her heart practically exploded and skin crawled. She shook her head, trying to shake off these weird thoughts.
"Thank you." She muttered, her face too flushed and herself clearly embarrassed with her own feelings playing against her.
"Let me see your hands."
And without permission, he went ahead and grabbed her hands. Sana shrieked slightly from his sudden action. She wondered if this is what he felt when they first became friends, and she invaded all his personal space.
Because right now, the former actress really wanted to be as far from him as possible.
"Don't just grab my hands, pervert!" She shouted in retaliation, mostly due to her own complex emotions.
He raised a brow and then rolled his eyes. "Then put your own band-aids on." And Hayama proceeded to put the small bandages into her hands before walking away.
Sana gulped the frog in her throat as he turned away. Her heart was stammering in her chest, the beating so loud in her ears. She didn't understand this fleeting feeling in her chest or the fluttering in her stomach. It was so strange. She's touched Hayama so many times before.
How was this any different?
Looking up at him, he was staring towards the softball field, where the girls were getting ready for try-outs. She stared at his side profile, his skin golden tanned and golden-brown eyes twinkling with the sun. Sana never knew that Hayama's eyes could glow the way they did.
Her heart was back in her throat and she immediately dropped her head and scrambled to put on the band-aids.
"Oi. Hurry up. Tsuyoshi and everyone else is already waiting." He said and Sana looked up at him with a scowl.
"So impatient!" But Sana knew her face betrayed her tone because he was looking at her weirdly. He shook his head, muttering something under his breath and began walking away.
Burying these scrambled emotions, Sana jumped off the bleachers and ran after him. Almost tripping on her feet again, Hayama proceed to chastise her and she retaliated. They bickered on that short walk to the bleachers behind the batter's box until they found their friends.
"Hey! There you two are!" Tsuyoshi waved with a smile.
Sana grinned, passing Hayama and waving back.
"Sorry! We hit a detour!"
Aya's eyes trailed to her knees and hands and looked at her in concern. "Sana-chan, are you okay?"
She laughed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her head.
"She forgets she's a clumsy idiot and fell on our way here." Hayama went ahead and answered for her and Sana's cheeks flared. She turned to him and hit his arm, pouting the entire time.
"I'm not clumsy!" She retorted and he shrugged his shoulders.
"You almost fell again just walking here."
She narrowed her eyes even further. "Why you - "
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Sana turned and Hiro came with his beautiful, gleaming eyes and soft voice and she took this as an opportunity to switch sides. Despite squishing those weird feelings, Sana couldn't stop how her heart was racing around him.
"I'm fine!" She took a spot next to Hiro and when she looked back at Hayama, stuck her tongue out at him.
There was a twitch at the corner of the blond's forehead, his eyes darkening and a frown settling over his face. "Yeah, fine thanks to me."
Hayama's attitude seemed to sour at that point as he angrily muttered something about her being an idiot – which she almost fought but didn't – and walked to the bleachers, sitting to himself. Sana thought that was weird too as Tsuyoshi looked at her in confusion.
Just a minute ago, he was doing fine.
Why the sudden change in attitude?
"Here. Let me help you down." Hiro graced her with his sweet smile as he grabbed her hand and guided her to the bleachers.
In all honesty, she didn't need the help and was perfectly fine despite the random bursts of stings. Hayama did a perfectly fine job of cleaning her knees and she had a high tolerance of pain. Sana just wanted to be coddled.
Grinning at him, she thanked him as she sat in between Hiro and Aya. Tsuyoshi sat on the other side of Aya with Hayama at the end. Kyo was sitting beneath them, with a group of what she assumed was Ayame and his classmates.
Sana spared Hayama a look and she could see pure annoyance on his face.
Not really understanding what the sudden change in attitude was, she looked back to the field and waited as the girls all lined up on the line on the third base side.
.
"COME ON, AYAME! YOU GOT THIS!"
Ayame felt like her soul nearly left her body as Kyo's voice echoed throughout the field. She heard some of the girls snicker and she chuckled nervously as she turned around.
"WE BELIEVE IN YOU, AYAME-CHAN!" Sana was the next to shout, standing above Kyo on the bleachers. She watched as they both gave her thumbs up and had the biggest grins she had ever seen.
"You got this, kid!" Hiro was the next to chime in and she could hear some sighs from the girls around her. He was standing now too, right next to Sana and had his hands around his mouth.
"Let's go Ayame-chan!"
"Show them what you got, Ayame-chan!"
Aya and Tsuyoshi joined the rest of the group and while she was madly embarrassed, her heart soared. Seeing her friends there, seeing how supportive they were of her, it made her feel confident; like she could do anything.
Her eyes trailed further to the right and there was her brother, sitting quietly. They locked eyes for a moment, and she took a deep breath.
Akito nodded at her and then very subtly, the barest hint of a cross between a smile and smirk laid on his lips for just a moment before it disappeared.
She felt the tears sting at her eyes and turned away, rubbing them away quickly.
"You have a lot of people here for you, Ayame-chan!"
The girl standing next to her, Hirata Emiko, said as she nudged her with a bright smile. She had medium brown hair with light tan skin and beautiful blue eyes. She was quite popular amongst the athletic kids but also her bubbly personality made her popular around school as well. They were the same grade and had been in the same classes since elementary school. Both girls had played in the same little league team and middle school team before Ayame quit.
When Ayame put her name down on the try-outs list, Emiko had sought her out almost immediately, excitement in her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was coming back.
"Ayame-chan! Is this true!?" Emiko bounced in her step as she showed her a picture of the softball team try-outs list. Ayame shyly smiled.
"Yeah! She's going to play again! Isn't that awesome!" Kyo answered for her, shaking her shoulders.
"I'm so excited! It's going to be like old times!"
The young blonde was very happy to not only have a familiar face but a friend. She recognized some of the other girls as well, but her and Emiko had been friends and known each other for as long as she had known Kyo.
"Very smart bringing Akimoto-san. Now all the girls will be distracted, and you can outshine everyone!" She joked, giving her a small wink. Ayame laughed, knowing that Hiro's presence may or may not have been ideal.
"Alright girls! Go ahead and grab a partner and we're going to start try-outs with warm ups and then basic drills!" The coach said and Emiko grabbed her arm.
"Be my partner, Ayame-chan!"
The young blonde didn't get a chance to answer as the brown-haired girl grabbed her arm and dragged her to the outfield. She smiled, excited, nervous, thrilled, and tense all at the same time.
But when she started throwing the ball around with Emiko, it came to her like riding a bike. It was so easy. The motion came back to her, muscle memory working at its best. It wasn't perfect, not that she ever was, but she was laughing and smiling as the ball left her fingertips and landed in Emiko's glove with a hard plop.
She could do this.
And as the try-outs continued and Ayame's body moved on its own and her friends and brother continued to cheer her on, rays of sun were shining down on her that felt like her mother's proud smiles after a game well played.
A/N: It's gotten to that point in the story where Akito and Sana's relationship has started to change into something more and I absolutely have enjoyed writing flustered Akito AND Sana. Especially Akito. Poor Akito. I'm going to have so much fun torturing this poor guy. This was more a filler chapter as I needed something between the last chapter and next BECAUSE the next chapter is *spoiler alert* the aquarium date that I have been itching to write FOR SO LONG. And things actually move pretty fast after that because the School Festival arc starts and then we move into some other drama and now I'm just rambling but I'm very excited to watch it all come to life.
Let me know what you think! How did you enjoy the chapter?! What are you all excited for? What would you like to see more of?! Per usual, comments, reviews, notes, etc. are ALWAYS welcomed!
Till next time!
- Dark Waffle