The End
And, yes, it is over. This is a large section.
Gah. What am I going to do now?
Satome followed Oshitari's date blindly, grateful that she had Gakuto's handkerchief to hang onto. She spoke only when the other girl asked where her purse was; luckily, the table was empty, and they were able to get it and her wrap without embarrassment. Then they were silent until they stood before a mirror in the lavish bathroom. "Do you have makeup with you?" the other girl asked.
Satome blinked, took a firm look at herself, and straightened up. "Yes. I'm sorry, you must think me an idiot."
"I think you're handling it pretty well, considering," the other girl said, freshening her own makeup as Satome repaired her eyes and reapplied lipstick. "And I'm glad someone had the presence of mind to get you out of there."
Satome sighed. "I'm surprised he did," she admitted. "I… didn't treat him well."
The other girl laughed. "Gakuto bounces back pretty well, and from what Yuushi said, you apologized. That made a world of difference, I'm sure."
"I hope his date isn't angry," Satome said. "She must be very understanding, to let him do that."
"Date?" the girl repeated, turning to look at her. "He didn't bring anyone tonight."
Satome felt her face flush. "Is he insane?" she blurted, and her blush deepened.
"Actually…." The girl grinned. "I've wondered about his sanity many times - and Yuushi 's for that matter. They make a very good double's team. But no, he's not insane. He… just wanted to help."
"He did. A lot."
"Good." She examined Satome's face, and nodded. "If you aren't so embarrassed that you think you want to leave, I suggest staying. Prove to them you aren't to be chased off by such a thing - and have more fun than you would have with Norihiro."
Satome stared at her, then grinned. "You might have a point," she said, even with the jolt her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend's - name gave her. "And… I can't exactly leave Gakuto without a date, when he so gallantly saved me when mine abandoned me."
"That's the spirit," the other girl said. "Ready?"
Satome nodded. "But for one thing. I don't think I caught your name."
The girl grinned. "I'm sorry! Yakuwa Mariko. Please, call me Mariko; it's easier."
"Then it's Satome," Satome said. "And thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, let's go have some fun."
Satome grinned and followed her.
She did have fun, too. She met all of Gakuto's friends from the tennis team, and even managed not to faint when she officially met Atobe Keigo. His gaze was not as… piercing when he approved of her (unlike the time she'd inadvertently interrupted the practice at the courts the week before), and he was a perfect gentleman. She still preferred Gakuto's company.
"Do you have a curfew?" her date - she could call him that, right? - asked when he returned to the table with drinks in his hands about an hour after he'd rescued her.
"Not as such," she said, taking the drink he offered and sipping. "But I do need to call my mother and inform her of any change in plans. Which is anything, at this point," she added with a grin. "Other than that, as long as she knows how to get in touch with me if my phone dies, I think she'll be okay. If it were a school night, it would be different…." She realized she was babbling and shut her mouth. "Sorry," she said after a moment.
He laughed. "You're nervous, aren't you."
"I babble like this on all my first dates. Well, the only two I've ever been on," she amended. "I figure if that doesn't scare him off, I'll be okay."
Gakuto smiled at her. "I don't scare off that easily." Then he tilted his head to the side. "Atobe has invited us all to his house for something to eat after the dance. Do you think you'll be able to come?"
She blinked nervously. "Well, actually… Let me call my mom, and find out." She excused herself and went to find a quiet corner to make her call.
In spite of the beginning of the night, the Autumn Ball was one of the best experiences she'd ever had. It had been fun.
But on Monday, back at school, she crashed back to Earth. She hadn't been there five minutes before she heard whispers about how Norihiro had broken up with her. She fled the halls as quickly as she could, settling in her seat. Even there, the whispers followed, and she busied herself at her desk to hide how close she was to tears.
"You can't be hiding," a voice said, and she looked up in surprise.
"Shishido-san!" she blurted, and blushed as he gave her a reproving look. "Shishido-kun," she corrected herself. She really hadn't been sure how serious any of them had been Saturday night.
He smirked at her. "Mukahi is looking for you."
She blinked, surprised, and stood. "Where is he?"
He jerked his thumb toward the door. "Outside."
"Thank you." She left her books and noticed, as she walked toward the room, that the whispers had changed - from pity, to awe. Apparently, being on a familiar basis with the Tennis Team Regulars was something important.
Gakuto stood casually against the wall to the right of her doorway, and he straightened when she stepped into the chaos of the hallway. "I didn't believe Shishido when he said you were in his class," he said with a grin.
"I see," she said, more nervous than she wanted to admit.
He grew serious, and then ruined it by rolling his eyes at a comment from behind him, about the two of them talking. "I'd like to have lunch with you today. Will you meet me by the fountain in the back of the school?"
She paused for a moment, even more nervous, then realized she no longer had to worry about what Norihiro thought of her, and smiled. "I'd enjoy that."
"I'll see you there," he said, and with a smile, went to his class.
Returning to her own room, she found Shishido watching her, a smirk on his face, as she sat down again. Feeling brave, she lifted one eyebrow in question, and was somewhat surprised when he chuckled low and turned to the book open on his desk. Shaking her head but unable to stop smiling, Satome went back to her own preparations.
Lunch seemed to take forever to arrive. Finally, though, it did, and she tucked her books away in her desk before grabbing her lunch and heading out to the fountain. She was glad, this first day, to have someone to eat lunch with, and figured Mukahi was still playing white knight to her damsel in distress. But eventually, she was going to have to get over this alone, because she didn't want to use him and hurt him when she finally got over the hurt of what Norihiro had done.
"So, Mukahi-san," Kahori's familiar voice, coming from the other side of the fountain, stopped her thoughts. "How did you like your leftovers?"
Satome sighed. Kahori had won, and she was still trying to hurt Satome by attacking her friend?
"Leftovers?" she heard Gakuto reply, and there was something in his voice that she couldn't define. "I thought I got the better part of the deal for the evening."
Kahori laughed scornfully. "Hardly," she said, and Satome heard her start to walk away.
"Hiramo," Gakuto said suddenly, and he sounded serious. "How long until he tires of you and does something similar?"
She forced a laugh. "Never," she said, but not nearly as scornfully, and she didn't sound as sure of herself.
Her footsteps neared again, and Satome went the other way around the fountain, feeling suddenly lighter.
"Mukahi-kun," she said with a smile, and he looked up from where he sat, his back to the base of the fountain.
"Satome-chan. Thanks for coming."
"Thank you for inviting me." She sat next to him.
They ate in companionable silence for a while. "I wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening Saturday," she said. "I really enjoyed myself."
"I'm glad," he said, and turned to face her. "How are you feeling?"
"A little confused," she said after a moment. "Sad. It's strange, not to have Norihiro there, to not know what I'm going to do every day." She laughed nervously. "Unless that wasn't what you meant."
He shrugged. "It was an honest answer," he said.
She just smiled, and she wondered if he could see the sadness in it. "Thanks. And I appreciate you asking me to lunch today, too. It's… a little noisy in my classroom." Never mind that she hadn't had lunch by herself in so long, she no longer had anyone else to have lunch with.
"Whispers?" he asked with a short laugh. "I've had them, too." He grinned. "Just ignore them. Nothing they say will make any difference anyway."
She had to agree.
After school, Satome stood by her locker for a few moments before remembering that Norihiro wasn't coming to get her. Muted laughter and whispers behind cupped hands got her moving sluggishly toward the door and out.
The pok pok of tennis balls caught her attention again, and she wandered toward the courts. This time, instead of looking for Gakuto, she checked the people on the bleachers, watching. She scanned them quickly, then more slowly, hoping someone would spot her and wave her over before she found them and made a fool of herself asking if she could join them.
A waving hand caught her eye, and she smiled at Mariko as the other girl beckoned her over. Around her, Satome could see some of the other girls from Saturday night. She made her way over, and Mariko greeted her cheerfully. "I'm glad you came," she said.
"Thanks," Satome said.
It was a nice afternoon; to her surprise, the girls she sat with spent much of the time doing homework, helping each other. One girl - she'd been Shishido's date - made Mariko trade places with her when Satome admitted she'd finished her World History homework. "Please," she begged almost comically, "can you help me understand?"
"I can try," Satome said, and bent to the task cheerfully.
It turned out that none of them were going steady with any of their dates; it was a casual friendship between these "non-fangirl" fans and the Regulars. "We just like watching them play, try to support them at the tournaments, and stuff like that," Mariko explained one day. "As long as we don't… go insane," she said with a grin, "Atobe-buchou doesn't mind us here. Sometimes I think he likes us, that we stroke his ego without being too extreme." She laughed, and Satome laughed with her.
"He makes me nervous," Satome admitted. "But then, so did Oshitari the first time I met him. Not that he still doesn't," she added.
Mariko laughed again. "Yes," she said. "He is… not to be taken lightly." She sobered. "You impressed both him and Atobe - and Shishido, although he'll never admit it - when you apologized to Mukahi."
Satome flushed. "It was the right thing to do. None of it was really his fault."
The weeks passed in good company, including the occasional group dates, most of the time dutch. It was fun, getting to know the girls and the boys, learning about their interests outside of tennis. She was utterly stunned to find that Ohtori played violin - and obviously very well, from his position in the school orchestra. Satome had been surprised to see him during the school concert they attended one evening, dressed fairly formally just because they could.
"I didn't know he played," she said to Gakuto as they all waited for Ohtori to return. "It seems so… tame, after seeing that devastating serve of his."
Gakuto grinned. "It's a dichotomy that confuses all of us who know him," he said. "Violin suits his personality better than that serve, that's for sure."
A loud clearing of the throat made them both look up, and Satome stepped closer to Gakuto in reflex. Kahori and Norihiro stood there, dressed very well and looking far too pleased with themselves.
"Good evening," Gakuto said.
"Hello," Norihiro said, watching Satome.
She flushed slightly. "Did you enjoy the concert?" she asked.
"It was beautiful," Kahori gushed. "That violin solo was just… amazing."
"Ohtori is very good," Satome said. "He seems to be good at everything he does."
"And he's got to be ready by now," Gakuto said. "Shall we go find out?" He offered her his arm, and they swept past Norihiro and Kahori without a glance backwards. Satome followed where Gakuto lead, half expecting to feel something, but she was relieved when all she felt was… well, relief. "Are you okay?" Gakuto asked as he stopped before joining the rest of their group.
Satome smiled easily. "Yes," she said. "Thank you." His eyes searched her face, then he smiled back at her.
"Good."
She was okay, she realized as they joined the group, and Mariko nudged her with a knowing smirk and a wink. Gakuto had given her what Norihiro never could: a group of friends. He'd shared his life, his love of tennis, his teammates with her, and when she thought about it, Norihiro had shared nothing but his money.
Even if she and Gakuto never became an "item" (as Shishido put it), she had a good friend in him, and she was happy. What more could a girl ask for?
Gah. What am I going to do now?
Satome followed Oshitari's date blindly, grateful that she had Gakuto's handkerchief to hang onto. She spoke only when the other girl asked where her purse was; luckily, the table was empty, and they were able to get it and her wrap without embarrassment. Then they were silent until they stood before a mirror in the lavish bathroom. "Do you have makeup with you?" the other girl asked.
Satome blinked, took a firm look at herself, and straightened up. "Yes. I'm sorry, you must think me an idiot."
"I think you're handling it pretty well, considering," the other girl said, freshening her own makeup as Satome repaired her eyes and reapplied lipstick. "And I'm glad someone had the presence of mind to get you out of there."
Satome sighed. "I'm surprised he did," she admitted. "I… didn't treat him well."
The other girl laughed. "Gakuto bounces back pretty well, and from what Yuushi said, you apologized. That made a world of difference, I'm sure."
"I hope his date isn't angry," Satome said. "She must be very understanding, to let him do that."
"Date?" the girl repeated, turning to look at her. "He didn't bring anyone tonight."
Satome felt her face flush. "Is he insane?" she blurted, and her blush deepened.
"Actually…." The girl grinned. "I've wondered about his sanity many times - and Yuushi 's for that matter. They make a very good double's team. But no, he's not insane. He… just wanted to help."
"He did. A lot."
"Good." She examined Satome's face, and nodded. "If you aren't so embarrassed that you think you want to leave, I suggest staying. Prove to them you aren't to be chased off by such a thing - and have more fun than you would have with Norihiro."
Satome stared at her, then grinned. "You might have a point," she said, even with the jolt her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend's - name gave her. "And… I can't exactly leave Gakuto without a date, when he so gallantly saved me when mine abandoned me."
"That's the spirit," the other girl said. "Ready?"
Satome nodded. "But for one thing. I don't think I caught your name."
The girl grinned. "I'm sorry! Yakuwa Mariko. Please, call me Mariko; it's easier."
"Then it's Satome," Satome said. "And thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, let's go have some fun."
Satome grinned and followed her.
She did have fun, too. She met all of Gakuto's friends from the tennis team, and even managed not to faint when she officially met Atobe Keigo. His gaze was not as… piercing when he approved of her (unlike the time she'd inadvertently interrupted the practice at the courts the week before), and he was a perfect gentleman. She still preferred Gakuto's company.
"Do you have a curfew?" her date - she could call him that, right? - asked when he returned to the table with drinks in his hands about an hour after he'd rescued her.
"Not as such," she said, taking the drink he offered and sipping. "But I do need to call my mother and inform her of any change in plans. Which is anything, at this point," she added with a grin. "Other than that, as long as she knows how to get in touch with me if my phone dies, I think she'll be okay. If it were a school night, it would be different…." She realized she was babbling and shut her mouth. "Sorry," she said after a moment.
He laughed. "You're nervous, aren't you."
"I babble like this on all my first dates. Well, the only two I've ever been on," she amended. "I figure if that doesn't scare him off, I'll be okay."
Gakuto smiled at her. "I don't scare off that easily." Then he tilted his head to the side. "Atobe has invited us all to his house for something to eat after the dance. Do you think you'll be able to come?"
She blinked nervously. "Well, actually… Let me call my mom, and find out." She excused herself and went to find a quiet corner to make her call.
In spite of the beginning of the night, the Autumn Ball was one of the best experiences she'd ever had. It had been fun.
But on Monday, back at school, she crashed back to Earth. She hadn't been there five minutes before she heard whispers about how Norihiro had broken up with her. She fled the halls as quickly as she could, settling in her seat. Even there, the whispers followed, and she busied herself at her desk to hide how close she was to tears.
"You can't be hiding," a voice said, and she looked up in surprise.
"Shishido-san!" she blurted, and blushed as he gave her a reproving look. "Shishido-kun," she corrected herself. She really hadn't been sure how serious any of them had been Saturday night.
He smirked at her. "Mukahi is looking for you."
She blinked, surprised, and stood. "Where is he?"
He jerked his thumb toward the door. "Outside."
"Thank you." She left her books and noticed, as she walked toward the room, that the whispers had changed - from pity, to awe. Apparently, being on a familiar basis with the Tennis Team Regulars was something important.
Gakuto stood casually against the wall to the right of her doorway, and he straightened when she stepped into the chaos of the hallway. "I didn't believe Shishido when he said you were in his class," he said with a grin.
"I see," she said, more nervous than she wanted to admit.
He grew serious, and then ruined it by rolling his eyes at a comment from behind him, about the two of them talking. "I'd like to have lunch with you today. Will you meet me by the fountain in the back of the school?"
She paused for a moment, even more nervous, then realized she no longer had to worry about what Norihiro thought of her, and smiled. "I'd enjoy that."
"I'll see you there," he said, and with a smile, went to his class.
Returning to her own room, she found Shishido watching her, a smirk on his face, as she sat down again. Feeling brave, she lifted one eyebrow in question, and was somewhat surprised when he chuckled low and turned to the book open on his desk. Shaking her head but unable to stop smiling, Satome went back to her own preparations.
Lunch seemed to take forever to arrive. Finally, though, it did, and she tucked her books away in her desk before grabbing her lunch and heading out to the fountain. She was glad, this first day, to have someone to eat lunch with, and figured Mukahi was still playing white knight to her damsel in distress. But eventually, she was going to have to get over this alone, because she didn't want to use him and hurt him when she finally got over the hurt of what Norihiro had done.
"So, Mukahi-san," Kahori's familiar voice, coming from the other side of the fountain, stopped her thoughts. "How did you like your leftovers?"
Satome sighed. Kahori had won, and she was still trying to hurt Satome by attacking her friend?
"Leftovers?" she heard Gakuto reply, and there was something in his voice that she couldn't define. "I thought I got the better part of the deal for the evening."
Kahori laughed scornfully. "Hardly," she said, and Satome heard her start to walk away.
"Hiramo," Gakuto said suddenly, and he sounded serious. "How long until he tires of you and does something similar?"
She forced a laugh. "Never," she said, but not nearly as scornfully, and she didn't sound as sure of herself.
Her footsteps neared again, and Satome went the other way around the fountain, feeling suddenly lighter.
"Mukahi-kun," she said with a smile, and he looked up from where he sat, his back to the base of the fountain.
"Satome-chan. Thanks for coming."
"Thank you for inviting me." She sat next to him.
They ate in companionable silence for a while. "I wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening Saturday," she said. "I really enjoyed myself."
"I'm glad," he said, and turned to face her. "How are you feeling?"
"A little confused," she said after a moment. "Sad. It's strange, not to have Norihiro there, to not know what I'm going to do every day." She laughed nervously. "Unless that wasn't what you meant."
He shrugged. "It was an honest answer," he said.
She just smiled, and she wondered if he could see the sadness in it. "Thanks. And I appreciate you asking me to lunch today, too. It's… a little noisy in my classroom." Never mind that she hadn't had lunch by herself in so long, she no longer had anyone else to have lunch with.
"Whispers?" he asked with a short laugh. "I've had them, too." He grinned. "Just ignore them. Nothing they say will make any difference anyway."
She had to agree.
After school, Satome stood by her locker for a few moments before remembering that Norihiro wasn't coming to get her. Muted laughter and whispers behind cupped hands got her moving sluggishly toward the door and out.
The pok pok of tennis balls caught her attention again, and she wandered toward the courts. This time, instead of looking for Gakuto, she checked the people on the bleachers, watching. She scanned them quickly, then more slowly, hoping someone would spot her and wave her over before she found them and made a fool of herself asking if she could join them.
A waving hand caught her eye, and she smiled at Mariko as the other girl beckoned her over. Around her, Satome could see some of the other girls from Saturday night. She made her way over, and Mariko greeted her cheerfully. "I'm glad you came," she said.
"Thanks," Satome said.
It was a nice afternoon; to her surprise, the girls she sat with spent much of the time doing homework, helping each other. One girl - she'd been Shishido's date - made Mariko trade places with her when Satome admitted she'd finished her World History homework. "Please," she begged almost comically, "can you help me understand?"
"I can try," Satome said, and bent to the task cheerfully.
It turned out that none of them were going steady with any of their dates; it was a casual friendship between these "non-fangirl" fans and the Regulars. "We just like watching them play, try to support them at the tournaments, and stuff like that," Mariko explained one day. "As long as we don't… go insane," she said with a grin, "Atobe-buchou doesn't mind us here. Sometimes I think he likes us, that we stroke his ego without being too extreme." She laughed, and Satome laughed with her.
"He makes me nervous," Satome admitted. "But then, so did Oshitari the first time I met him. Not that he still doesn't," she added.
Mariko laughed again. "Yes," she said. "He is… not to be taken lightly." She sobered. "You impressed both him and Atobe - and Shishido, although he'll never admit it - when you apologized to Mukahi."
Satome flushed. "It was the right thing to do. None of it was really his fault."
The weeks passed in good company, including the occasional group dates, most of the time dutch. It was fun, getting to know the girls and the boys, learning about their interests outside of tennis. She was utterly stunned to find that Ohtori played violin - and obviously very well, from his position in the school orchestra. Satome had been surprised to see him during the school concert they attended one evening, dressed fairly formally just because they could.
"I didn't know he played," she said to Gakuto as they all waited for Ohtori to return. "It seems so… tame, after seeing that devastating serve of his."
Gakuto grinned. "It's a dichotomy that confuses all of us who know him," he said. "Violin suits his personality better than that serve, that's for sure."
A loud clearing of the throat made them both look up, and Satome stepped closer to Gakuto in reflex. Kahori and Norihiro stood there, dressed very well and looking far too pleased with themselves.
"Good evening," Gakuto said.
"Hello," Norihiro said, watching Satome.
She flushed slightly. "Did you enjoy the concert?" she asked.
"It was beautiful," Kahori gushed. "That violin solo was just… amazing."
"Ohtori is very good," Satome said. "He seems to be good at everything he does."
"And he's got to be ready by now," Gakuto said. "Shall we go find out?" He offered her his arm, and they swept past Norihiro and Kahori without a glance backwards. Satome followed where Gakuto lead, half expecting to feel something, but she was relieved when all she felt was… well, relief. "Are you okay?" Gakuto asked as he stopped before joining the rest of their group.
Satome smiled easily. "Yes," she said. "Thank you." His eyes searched her face, then he smiled back at her.
"Good."
She was okay, she realized as they joined the group, and Mariko nudged her with a knowing smirk and a wink. Gakuto had given her what Norihiro never could: a group of friends. He'd shared his life, his love of tennis, his teammates with her, and when she thought about it, Norihiro had shared nothing but his money.
Even if she and Gakuto never became an "item" (as Shishido put it), she had a good friend in him, and she was happy. What more could a girl ask for?