[Multi-Chapter] Definition of Love --- Chapter 23
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance
Summary: The Kamenashi pair is known as the “love-filled” siblings, while the Akanishi pair is known as the “loveless” siblings. Even with two completely clashing definitions of love, the two pairs somehow find a way to compromise.
A/N: Here is Chapter 23! As always. Please respect the love views in this. As stated in previous chapter that Ayame and I are both super busy this quarter for shool, with excessive readings each day and the massive amount of works to be done for the week; not to mention that I have to submit an analysis essay every weke, so we are sorry to say that we might not be able to udpate on the regula basic; we might do the random posting from now on. In the mean time, giving us comments = love and gives us support throughout this busy and painful times.
Note 2: * = words will have the definition at the end.
✯♌❤♍✯
Chapter 23:
[Thursday]
[Under-classmen Floor]
Ayame cursed lowly as she carried the big box towards her room, complaining silently about how ungentlemanly the boys of her class are. She was planning the eternal deaths for all the proclaimed gentlemen in her class, already chopping their bodies to pieces in her mind. Suddenly the box was lifted from her arms.
“Eh?” she tried to protest but soon the person spoke up.
“What are you doing carrying this heavy box all by yourself?” Ryo’s voice pierced through her ears, she quickly looked towards the voice to identify the speaker.
“And what are you doing here in the under-classmen floor?” she asked back with the same manner.
“Just happened to pass by,” he said unreasonably.
“From the restroom?” she asked as looking around for a possible way that Ryo could be passing-by.
“Yeah,” he answered quickly.
“What happened to your floor’s restroom?” she asked quizzically.
“It’s jammed… no… I mean… it’s packed,” he answered unsurely.
“Wow… what did the guys in your floor drink this morning? Mixed chemicals?” Aya said sarcastically.
“Ok… I know you love to reason things out, but a thank you would do when someone helps you out, Aya,” Ryo said annoyingly.
“Only if… the person is not you, then there is no point in asking for it,” she added.
“What’s wrong with me helping you?” he quirked his eyebrow as he held tighter to the box.
“It’s… rare…” she thought for a moment to answer.
“Consider it your lucky day then,” he smiled widely.
“Right… my lucky day is my captain carrying a box for me, should I be worried or happy?” she added to the flame.
“Aya… I’m trying to be neutral here,” he said quickly.
“Have we ever not been in a fight before? Why do you need to be neutral?” she questioned smartly.
Ryo sighed as he began to explain his point, “Look… I never wanted to have a sarcastic-comment war with you to begin with. Most of the time, I don’t even mean it… I was just… I mean…the reason I say mean words to you is because I li-“
“Ayame?” A guy from class 1-B stopped Ryo’s highly scripted confession.
“Yeah?” Ayame responded lightly as she knew what would come out of the boy’s mouth.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time?” The boy smiled brightly, “I know you and Aiba-senpai just broke up earlier this week but… I was thinking maybe we could go to an amusement park this weekend.”
Ryo gripped the box tighter, “What the fuck kind of timing is that?” he whispered, Ayame glared at him lightly.
“Saito-kun, right?” She questioned lightly, the boy nodded happily.
“So you already know who I am?” He asked arrogantly, “I’m not surprised…”
“I was at your mother’s charity benefit last month. And I make a point to learn the names of all of those in my year, it could come in handy. I must say, I didn’t see you at the benefit and it was such a lovely event too. Do you not support your mother’s work to donate money to animal care and protection? I mean she works not only with humane societies but to help protect endangered species.” Ayame smiled viciously.
“Well it’s not exactly like that,” He tried to cover, he noted how his senpai seemed particularly amused with the situation, “Something important came up that night, and I would have loved to make it to the event. But honestly, what difference would it have made even if I were there?”
Ayame smiled lightly, “So, going out partying and drinking with your friends, even if it was hushed up by your parents, was more important than your mother’s event?” She tsk’d lightly, “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to say no. I don’t date idiots, especially not ones that drink.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and continued walking but paused, “Ryo, let’s not stand there like an idiot now.”
Ryo rolled his eyes, “You’re such a brat… but I must say… seeing you reject someone right in front of me was pretty hilarious. How did you know about his misdemeanor?”
“Please,” Ayame rolled her eyes, “Think about who you’re talking to before you ask questions. What were you saying before we were interrupted?”
“I was saying that I don’t ever mean those… sarcastic comments. I just don’t know what to say when I’m around you because I…” He nearly threw the box when he saw Kame jogging down the hall towards them, “I hate you all right now,” He muttered, resisting the urge to kick the wall.
“Oh Ryo, you’re helping her,” Kame said in complete surprise, “Aya you shouldn’t just run off to do everything by yourself. I was discussing plans with Ken about him making sure the contractors build everything properly. The next thing I knew you were gone and someone said you had come to get some materials. You shouldn’t try to carry stuff like this by yourself.” He scolded lightly, noting how many books and materials were in the box.
Ayame pouted, “None of the guys I asked would come help me though, and you can’t expect me to ask any of the girls, I would feel bad.”
Kame sighed, “I’ll take the box Ryo. Don’t you have preparations for your class’ event?” Kame frowned, “Aren’t you one of your class’ representatives too?”
“Pi is the other one,” Ryo rolled his eyes, “He’s managed to work our class into a frenzy of preparation so they hardly need me. I already finalized all the plans and they know what they’re doing. Besides, Jin managed to woo the girls into getting off their lazy butts to make costumes. After two years of these they believed they were above having to do any work.” He continued to walk with the pair.
“So what were you saying Ryo?” Ayame asked with a frown, “You’re having really bad luck today.”
“Talking about luck,” Ryo sighed, “Anyway, I think I should get going, talk to you later,” he bolted out as soon as Kame took the box.
Ayame frowned at Ryo’s antics, but then brushed it off.
“Anyway, I heard you girls are going to have your movie date today,” Kame laughed lightly, ignoring thoughts of Jin ‘wooing’ the girls to do work.
“Yeah, she wants to watch GI Joe… more like drool over Channing than watch the movie,” she laughed at the image of Midori squealing over the eye candy.
“Action genre, I see,” Kame heaved out a sigh of relief.
“No worries, she’s getting better,” Ayame assured the boy as the two walked into their classroom.
[Kyudo Practice]
“Ok, everyone, I want you all to focus on practice today, because tomorrow is the competition, and we need to give a perfect performance. It’s true that it’s important that we must win, but at the same time, we must show the judges and others that we will win fair and square with our consistent skill, not a sloppy performance,” Ryo encouraged the team with his words as the others tensely listened to his speech.
Once he finished everyone turned to their spot and concentrate on their shots and postures. Ryo watched everyone with careful eyes, paying attention to every small detail of the members’ practice, and giving out advice or pointers to the members on their performance.
Whenever his eyes stopped on Ayame, he wanted to praise her on her shots, but nothing came out of his mouth, only nods of approval.
[Basketball Practice]
“Uh… captain… are you sure you can practice with that black eye?” the vice captain asked. Pi’s black eye was the center of attention for everyone, more specifically all the girls in school, when he first stepped on school grounds.
“Yeah, it’s just a black eye, I’m not blind,” Pi answered, annoyed.
“I know I shouldn’t ask but did Mi-chan’s brother punch you?” the boy tried again.
“Mi-chan?” Pi turned at the pet name the boy used for his girlfriend.
“Yeah, everyone on the team calls her Mi-chan, she approved of it,” the boy didn’t know that he was making the other’s mood even worse.
“Ok,” Pi nodded as he stood up, “…which do you guys prefer? Suicides* or laps?” All the members stopped their warm ups and looked at Pi horrified. “Choose one before I make you all do both,” all the members quickly formed into a line and laps, after all it was way better than suicides, which would exhaust them.
From afar, the voice of the tennis coach could be heard, “Ten laps, and no complaints or I’ll double it.”
All the girls and guys groaned in protest but soon stopped at the latter piece of information from the coach. The girls started to run around the tennis court but the coach stopped them and pointed out onto the field.
“NO~~~~” the dramatic screams could reach the basketball court, causing Pi and the other members turn to look at the tennis courts while running.
After five minutes, the basketball team’s laps came to an end, and that was when the tennis girls and boys teams ran towards their side of the court. All the boys’ attention turned to the girls’ skirts which caused the girls to embarrassedly hold their skirts down.
“Damn… those legs are worth staring at,” one of the members said as Midori passed by them.
“That pair of legs is a killer to us all,” the other one commented shortly afterward. Making Pi’s veins start to pop visibly. The vice captain gulped down painfully as he knew that the captain was going to give them hell today in practice.
Pi looked at Midori’s form as she ran laps, suddenly guilt rushed all over his mind. Was I a bit harsh yesterday? He asked quietly.
Right then, the boys gasped loudly, knocking Pi out of his daze and making him look up, seeing his girlfriend had stopped running and was instead on the ground.
“Oh snap… that fall must have hurt,” one of the members winced as Midori held her side.
Pi wanted to hurry to help her, but then two more came to help her. One of them offered her a piggy-back to the infirmary. She smiled widely, accepting the offer without a second thought.
The vice captain saw Pi’s dark aura and pitied himself for the rest of practice.
“Ok, practice time and no break, we need to boost up our stamina,” Pi quickly commanded as he picked up a ball and started dribbling it.
All the members wanted to injure themselves just to get out of practice that day.
[Kyudo Practice]
Midori walked into the Kyudo area and sat down to wait for practice to end.
Ayame glanced over at Midori as Ryo walked up to her.
“What is she doing here, again?” Ryo asked with his arms crossed. He hardly needed Midori badgering him the day before the competition, “Not that I ever want her badgering me…”
“We have a movie date after practice,” Ayame responded absentmindedly.
The people around them stopped practice and looked to see who the pair was talking about.
“Oh… it’s Midori,” Rina mumbled before turning back to practice.
“What movie?” Ryo frowned.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra,” Ayame smirked, “I can’t wait!”
“She doesn’t seem the type to like that kind of movie,” Ryo wrinkled his nose, “And honestly? That movie has gotten horrible reviews.”
“Yeah, but Ryo think of it this way. Channing Tatum is sooo cute, and even if the movie sucks we’ll just stare at him,” she smiled at the thought.
Ryo frowned, “Your brother would…”
“Jin gets to hear it all the time. The way he sees it is I’ll never meet the celebrities… he’s kind of an idiot thinking that though. I could easily use the family influence to set up any meetings I want, I bet,” She grinned evilly, “Oh well. Besides, Midori is upset because of Pi so we’re having a girls’ day. No boys, especially the idiot Pi, are allowed to ruin this day for us.” Her voice got a bit louder as her anger sparked again.
“Look, I’m sure Pi had a good…” Ryo was instantly cut off by Ayame.
“A good reason? I want to punch him, again!” She snapped with narrowed eyes. “He’s a fucking idiot! It’s a miracle I didn’t do worse.”
“I’m pretty sure you got that point across when you gave him a black eye!” Ryo responded loudly, only to clamp his hand over his mouth, “Fuck…”
“Ayame,” Rina turned around with wide eyes, “You’re the one that gave Yamashita-senpai the black-eye?”
“With these arms?” One of the boys lifted her wrist jokingly.
“I can’t believe Ayame gave him that black eye,” A few commented.
“Thanks a lot, Ryo,” Ayame narrowed her eyes, “This is just what I need everyone knowing. At least I already apologized to his mom about it…”
“When did you find time for that?” Ryo sighed, trying to get everyone back to practice, “The competition is tomorrow!” Everyone immediately scurried back to practice.
“Pi is going to kill you, just so you know,” Ayame chimed as she retrieved her arrows, “You just effectively told the whole school he got punched by a little girl.”
Ryo sighed, “Alright, that’s it. All of you go home. I don’t need you exhausted tomorrow.”
After putting everything away Ayame walked over to Midori, “Trip during practice?” She motioned to Midori’s bandaged leg.
“Yeah,” Midori grinned, “My teammates gave me a piggyback ride to the infirmary.”
“Ah, I see. That’s one reason I decided on kyudo, there isn’t much of a chance for me to trip.” Ayame reasoned.
“I should’ve thought about that I guess… I’m pretty sure you’re clumsier than me though,” Just as Midori said this Ayame tripped in the doorway, “Exactly.”
“I blame you,” Ayame muttered and continued walking towards the front of the school.
“Hey, wait for me at the front, I forgot I need to talk to someone,” Midori called and waved the girl on.
Ayame frowned but shrugged and disappeared around the corner.
“Oh Ryo…” She called with a sweet smile.
Ryo rolled his eyes at the call, “What does the brat wants now?”
“I heard that you helped out Aya this morning, how gentlemanly of you,” she said smirking.
“Just helping out a friend, what else is there?” he tried to deny.
“Ok, good for you,” she smiled innocently as she said.
“What’s with that smile?” He asked her with suspicious eyes.
“Well… I see that you are making an effort,” she smiled again, “anyway, good luck on the competition tomorrow, I’ll be there to watch, make sure to make us, and I mean Ayame and I, proud, see ya,” she walked out of the practice room, leaving a blinking Ryo behind.
“What took you so long?” Ayame asked as Midori sprang towards her, “and what’s with that smile of yours?”
“Stop accusing me, Aya,” Midori flicked her friend’s forehead as she walked ahead.
“Hey! Who gave you permission to flick my head?” Ayame said fuming. Midori started to run but failed because of her injury.
“Serve you right,” Ayame said as she stood over the girl and smiled maliciously.
“Oh crap,” Midori cursed lightly as Ayame helped her up and started to drag her to the train station without mercy, while Midori whined in pain for her poor leg.
[Kyudo Room]
“How can she walk that fast with the bandage?” Ryo questioned no one in particular.
“Because it’s Midori, she’s always happy,” someone answered his question, Ryo jumped from his spot. He turned and found Pi standing at the entrance.
“Dude, let me know if you really want to give me a heart attack so I can be prepare the medical bill to charge you,” Ryo laughed.
“Forget it… do you want to get some sweets?” Pi asked, Ryo frowned at the suggestion.
“I don’t like sweets, and I bet you know that fact,” Ryo said as he walked out, “but if you want someone to listen to your problem, then I don’t know why I would reject a friend in trouble,” he noted.
“Good, ‘cause I need to talk to someone really bad, and Jin of course is not a good choice,” Pi said.
“I know it’s about Midori,” Ryo nodded, “but seriously, how can you manage to make her blank?”
“She was blank?” Pi asked dumbly, “I thought she was crying.”
“Crying without knowing, yes,” Ryo said, “and it seems that it’s not just another crying session of the brat, it looked serious,” Ryo said.
“But I have my own feelings to deal with too you know,” Pi sighed in defeat.
“Fine, I’m not going to judge anything,” Ryo swatted Pi, “pick a place and let it out.”
“Thanks Ryo,” Pi smiled as the two headed out of the school.
[Soccer Practice]
“Ok guys, see you all tomorrow,” Jin said as he exited the locker room and fished out his phone ready to call Ayame to tell her that he would be home soon.
But before he could he spotted Kame standing at the entrance of the locker room. He hurriedly put the phone away and ran towards the younger man. He had completely forgotten about calling Ayame.
“Hey,” he greeted with a wide grin, “out already?”
Kame nodded, “yeah, coach was out of it today, I think because his son was in the hospital the other day,” he explained.
“I see,” Jin nodded, “by the way, do you know why Ayame punched Pi?” he asked the unanswered problem.
“I have no idea, that was so not like her,” Kame said, “and also, she is your sister, you should know more than I.” he responded..
“But she only acted like that after seeing Midori cry, and that’s what I wanted to ask too, why did she cry?” Jin worriedly concerned.
“I have no idea, the only one time that she acted that way was when she broke it off with her first boyfriend,” Kame stopped explaining but noticed that he had crossed the line of his baby sister’s privacy.
“You know you can tell me anything right? We talked about this the other day,” Jin said.
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, just that, it only brings back unwanted memories,” Kame tried.
“I see, but then… she didn’t show any signs of displeasure or whatsoever, but the sudden blank expression really scared me,” Jin admitted the fright he had when he saw Midori’s blank expression. He didn’t want to see his second baby sister like that.
“She showed signs, they’re just abnormal signs,” Kame stated, which had Jin quirking his eyebrows, “whenever Midori is sad or not feeling happy, she will smile, the brighter the smile the bigger the problem. She believes that by smiling people won’t notice her pain, and then later she can cry and try to get over it. The only way to notice is that there’s always a slight sadness in her eyes, instead of the happiness that should accompany those smiles. Another way is her choice of movies. Humor and comedies mean she is sad, especially those stupid ones, but thriller and action genre mean that she is fine, and comments on hot guys are normal. When she laughs at the not so funny jokes, be careful, she’s at her helpless state. Many people mistake these signs as her being KY, but no. I know my baby sister, she’s only KY on purpose. She is not a natural KY personality, if you know what I mean,” Kame stopped to let Jin absorb the information.
“She is so different from Ayame,” Jin finally concluded, “I know a lot of those about Midori but… not all,” he admitted.
“Everyone is different, Jin,” Kame chuckled as he shook his head, “but… at least… they’re similar in some senses,” he said.
“Like what?” Jin asked, though Kame could tell he was trying to steer the conversation out of depressing territory.
“Talking about hot guys,” Kame started to laugh.
“Oh god, I have to listen to Ayame about this one actor, what is his name, I don’t know…but really, it hurts my ears, if it wasn’t Ayame, I would have left the girl by herself when talking,” Jin laughed.
“You get an earful when you go shopping with them,” Kame said nodding.
“EH?” Jin sounded surprise.
“Try going on a shopping date with us,” Kame suggested, “Hm… I think we’ll have one this weekend, want to join?” he invited shyly as Jin stood completely surprised, “well... If you don’t want to…”
“Of course,” Jin said hurriedly, “so this weekend?” he reconfirmed.
“Yeah, Midori and I will head to your place, it’s like a break for Aya after her competition tomorrow,” Kame said, smiling.
“Yeah, she does need it, ah… are you coming to the competition tomorrow?” Jin asked.
“For sure, Midori won’t let me off if I don’t go, I also want to cheer her on,” he smiled widely.
“Cool…” Jin grinned satisfied, “So I guess we will pick you two up tomorrow then?” Jin asked.
“Eh, you don’t have to!” Kame hurriedly said, “I don’t want you to risk being late, seeing as Aya has to be there early for preparations.”
“It’s fine, besides you guys are super close to us,” Jin waved him off with a grin, “Besides Midori will be helping Aya get her hakama on properly so we can hang out.”
Kame smiled shyly, “Sounds good then. Wait…”
“School is short tomorrow remember? They’re giving extra time for preparations for the festival tomorrow…” Jin explained quickly, knowing exactly what was on the other’s mind, “So we’ll come get you around eleven?”
“Sounds good,” Kame smiled.
[Movie Theater]
“I’ve wanted to see this movie for ages!” Ayame exclaimed after they bought tickets.
“I know, I know!” Midori agreed, “It helps that he’s great eye-candy.”
“He’s among the best in eye-candy,” Ayame skipped up the staircase to the theater.
“Ne, so I heard Ryo helped you this morning,” Midori started as they found seats.
“It was kind of weird,” Ayame frowned, “He kept trying to tell me something but was interrupted by Saito-san and Kazu-nii. He didn’t seem to want to talk afterwards. He tried a couple more times but then club members interrupted a few times. Anyway, why do you ask?”
“Just curious…” Midori trailed off as the theater became dark, “Ooh it’s starting!”
“Shh,” Ayame hissed.
[Café]
“Is this that new café you’ve been going on about?” Ryo asked after they had ordered.
“Midori and I came here for our date,” Pi sighed.
“Wow, great choice Pi,” Ryo hit his friend lightly, “Oh well, tell me what happened…”
Pi launched into a description of what had happened at the café and then the argument the previous day.
Ryo sighed, “You have to realize that she can’t change a part of who she is in just a few minutes…”
“What do you mean?” Pi asked with narrowed eyes, “Are you saying it was wrong of me…”
“I’m not saying it was wrong for you to want an answer… and for it to be favorable for you…” Ryo sighed as he tried to explain his thoughts, “Look. She and her brother are known around the school for being like that. It’s obviously a part of their personalities and there must be reasons for them being like that. Jin and Aya are the way they are because something happened, and I bet they’re the other extreme because something happened. You can’t expect that to all change after just a few days. She needs to work through whatever is causing this and you need to help her. I’m not going to listen to you whine if you’re being an idiot,” Ryo took a bite of his parfait.
Pi frowned, he hated to admit it but what Ryo said did sound reasonable, “Fine, I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I assume she’ll be going to your competition.”
“Yeah, she’s coming to help Aya get ready before the competition.” Ryo explained.
“So what’s been happening with Aya-birdie? Have you managed to confess?” Pi asked curiously, trying to get off the topic of his relationship.
Ryo scowled, “I tried at least five times throughout the day and got interrupted each time. I should probably just give up now,” he stirred his parfait a bit, “Because she said yes to Aiba it’s given the others the thought that they might get a chance too,” he rolled his eyes, “They should realize that they’re not going to beat out Aiba. He was pretty much perfect for her.”
“You got interrupted five times? That’s amazing. And I don’t see how he was perfect for our birdie.” Pi frowned.
“He’s top of all the second years, he’s highly ranked in kyudo, he’s his class rep,” Ryo ticked the reasons off with his fingers.
“Which you are as well, except you’re top of the third years,” Pi interrupted.
“He was always nice to her, he never said anything to upset her, and he took what she wanted into consideration. And he always offered to help her or stay behind to keep her company,” Ryo sighed, “I do none of those things and you know it.”
“What did you pull her out of class for?” Pi asked curiously, “I heard about it from some classmates though she wouldn’t give me details. You must’ve done something cause they were under the impression she was going out with Aiba again, she supposedly had even mentioned she was going to when talking to Midori…”
“Eh?” Ryo asked, completely stunned, “She what?”
“They said Aya was going to go with Aiba again Monday morning, but apparently she decided not to. What did you do?” Pi asked suspiciously.
Ryo hid his face, “I gave her a necklace…”
“A necklace?” Pi frowned, “of all things you’d give her, you give her a necklace?”
“A necklace from Mikimoto!” Ryo exclaimed, “I thought she’d like it… and she helped me with my mom’s present and my suits so I thought it’d be nice…”
Pi grinned, “Well that on the other hand is a great present. Must’ve made her confused if she said no to Aiba. Anyways, if you keep getting interrupted… then you just have to go for it regardless.”
“Are you insane?” Ryo questioned, “I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon.”
“How about this,” Pi started, “Tomorrow at the competition if you rank within the top three of your bracket you’re going to confess no matter what. If you don’t confess you’re going to just have to give up because you’re not willing to confess regardless of an interruption.”
“Are you serious?” Ryo asked with widened eyes.
“I’m serious, if you can’t do that, then forget your confession and let your parents decide on your partner for you when they see the time is needed,” Pi said smartly. Ryo couldn’t argue to that.
“My friend, asking her out on a date is not so hard,” Pi grinned widely.
“Yeah, the guy that sweated so much when he asked his girlfriend on a date is now lecturing me on how to ask a girl out,” Ryo scoffed.
“But hey, I succeeded, she agreed and looked where we are at now,” Pi smiled.
“Yeah, look at where you are at now,” Ryo pointed his spoon at Pi, “and thanks, I won’t be like you.” He scooped another spoonful of parfait into his mouth and wiped the icing off his mouth. “Ok, I’ll take on the challenge, but there is a condition,” Pi looked at Ryo with interest, “if I confess, you must try to calm yourself down and have a complete talk with Midori. Meaning, no interrupting or forcing her on anything, now it’s time for you to listen if you want to be in a serious relationship. Do not run from the little challenge, Pi.”
Ryo looked him in the eyes, waiting for any movement from his friend. Pi thought over the condition, and felt that Ryo was right. If he wanted to make it work he must stop running and begin to face the problem.
“Deal,” Pi said confidently as he pointed his spoon at Ryo who moved his spoon to cross it with Pi’s spoon, making them clink when the two spoons bumped into each other.
✯♌❤♍✯
Chapter 24
Suicides = training excercise
Genre: Romance
Summary: The Kamenashi pair is known as the “love-filled” siblings, while the Akanishi pair is known as the “loveless” siblings. Even with two completely clashing definitions of love, the two pairs somehow find a way to compromise.
A/N: Here is Chapter 23! As always. Please respect the love views in this. As stated in previous chapter that Ayame and I are both super busy this quarter for shool, with excessive readings each day and the massive amount of works to be done for the week; not to mention that I have to submit an analysis essay every weke, so we are sorry to say that we might not be able to udpate on the regula basic; we might do the random posting from now on. In the mean time, giving us comments = love and gives us support throughout this busy and painful times.
Note 2: * = words will have the definition at the end.
✯♌❤♍✯
Chapter 23:
[Thursday]
[Under-classmen Floor]
Ayame cursed lowly as she carried the big box towards her room, complaining silently about how ungentlemanly the boys of her class are. She was planning the eternal deaths for all the proclaimed gentlemen in her class, already chopping their bodies to pieces in her mind. Suddenly the box was lifted from her arms.
“Eh?” she tried to protest but soon the person spoke up.
“What are you doing carrying this heavy box all by yourself?” Ryo’s voice pierced through her ears, she quickly looked towards the voice to identify the speaker.
“And what are you doing here in the under-classmen floor?” she asked back with the same manner.
“Just happened to pass by,” he said unreasonably.
“From the restroom?” she asked as looking around for a possible way that Ryo could be passing-by.
“Yeah,” he answered quickly.
“What happened to your floor’s restroom?” she asked quizzically.
“It’s jammed… no… I mean… it’s packed,” he answered unsurely.
“Wow… what did the guys in your floor drink this morning? Mixed chemicals?” Aya said sarcastically.
“Ok… I know you love to reason things out, but a thank you would do when someone helps you out, Aya,” Ryo said annoyingly.
“Only if… the person is not you, then there is no point in asking for it,” she added.
“What’s wrong with me helping you?” he quirked his eyebrow as he held tighter to the box.
“It’s… rare…” she thought for a moment to answer.
“Consider it your lucky day then,” he smiled widely.
“Right… my lucky day is my captain carrying a box for me, should I be worried or happy?” she added to the flame.
“Aya… I’m trying to be neutral here,” he said quickly.
“Have we ever not been in a fight before? Why do you need to be neutral?” she questioned smartly.
Ryo sighed as he began to explain his point, “Look… I never wanted to have a sarcastic-comment war with you to begin with. Most of the time, I don’t even mean it… I was just… I mean…the reason I say mean words to you is because I li-“
“Ayame?” A guy from class 1-B stopped Ryo’s highly scripted confession.
“Yeah?” Ayame responded lightly as she knew what would come out of the boy’s mouth.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time?” The boy smiled brightly, “I know you and Aiba-senpai just broke up earlier this week but… I was thinking maybe we could go to an amusement park this weekend.”
Ryo gripped the box tighter, “What the fuck kind of timing is that?” he whispered, Ayame glared at him lightly.
“Saito-kun, right?” She questioned lightly, the boy nodded happily.
“So you already know who I am?” He asked arrogantly, “I’m not surprised…”
“I was at your mother’s charity benefit last month. And I make a point to learn the names of all of those in my year, it could come in handy. I must say, I didn’t see you at the benefit and it was such a lovely event too. Do you not support your mother’s work to donate money to animal care and protection? I mean she works not only with humane societies but to help protect endangered species.” Ayame smiled viciously.
“Well it’s not exactly like that,” He tried to cover, he noted how his senpai seemed particularly amused with the situation, “Something important came up that night, and I would have loved to make it to the event. But honestly, what difference would it have made even if I were there?”
Ayame smiled lightly, “So, going out partying and drinking with your friends, even if it was hushed up by your parents, was more important than your mother’s event?” She tsk’d lightly, “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to say no. I don’t date idiots, especially not ones that drink.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and continued walking but paused, “Ryo, let’s not stand there like an idiot now.”
Ryo rolled his eyes, “You’re such a brat… but I must say… seeing you reject someone right in front of me was pretty hilarious. How did you know about his misdemeanor?”
“Please,” Ayame rolled her eyes, “Think about who you’re talking to before you ask questions. What were you saying before we were interrupted?”
“I was saying that I don’t ever mean those… sarcastic comments. I just don’t know what to say when I’m around you because I…” He nearly threw the box when he saw Kame jogging down the hall towards them, “I hate you all right now,” He muttered, resisting the urge to kick the wall.
“Oh Ryo, you’re helping her,” Kame said in complete surprise, “Aya you shouldn’t just run off to do everything by yourself. I was discussing plans with Ken about him making sure the contractors build everything properly. The next thing I knew you were gone and someone said you had come to get some materials. You shouldn’t try to carry stuff like this by yourself.” He scolded lightly, noting how many books and materials were in the box.
Ayame pouted, “None of the guys I asked would come help me though, and you can’t expect me to ask any of the girls, I would feel bad.”
Kame sighed, “I’ll take the box Ryo. Don’t you have preparations for your class’ event?” Kame frowned, “Aren’t you one of your class’ representatives too?”
“Pi is the other one,” Ryo rolled his eyes, “He’s managed to work our class into a frenzy of preparation so they hardly need me. I already finalized all the plans and they know what they’re doing. Besides, Jin managed to woo the girls into getting off their lazy butts to make costumes. After two years of these they believed they were above having to do any work.” He continued to walk with the pair.
“So what were you saying Ryo?” Ayame asked with a frown, “You’re having really bad luck today.”
“Talking about luck,” Ryo sighed, “Anyway, I think I should get going, talk to you later,” he bolted out as soon as Kame took the box.
Ayame frowned at Ryo’s antics, but then brushed it off.
“Anyway, I heard you girls are going to have your movie date today,” Kame laughed lightly, ignoring thoughts of Jin ‘wooing’ the girls to do work.
“Yeah, she wants to watch GI Joe… more like drool over Channing than watch the movie,” she laughed at the image of Midori squealing over the eye candy.
“Action genre, I see,” Kame heaved out a sigh of relief.
“No worries, she’s getting better,” Ayame assured the boy as the two walked into their classroom.
[Kyudo Practice]
“Ok, everyone, I want you all to focus on practice today, because tomorrow is the competition, and we need to give a perfect performance. It’s true that it’s important that we must win, but at the same time, we must show the judges and others that we will win fair and square with our consistent skill, not a sloppy performance,” Ryo encouraged the team with his words as the others tensely listened to his speech.
Once he finished everyone turned to their spot and concentrate on their shots and postures. Ryo watched everyone with careful eyes, paying attention to every small detail of the members’ practice, and giving out advice or pointers to the members on their performance.
Whenever his eyes stopped on Ayame, he wanted to praise her on her shots, but nothing came out of his mouth, only nods of approval.
[Basketball Practice]
“Uh… captain… are you sure you can practice with that black eye?” the vice captain asked. Pi’s black eye was the center of attention for everyone, more specifically all the girls in school, when he first stepped on school grounds.
“Yeah, it’s just a black eye, I’m not blind,” Pi answered, annoyed.
“I know I shouldn’t ask but did Mi-chan’s brother punch you?” the boy tried again.
“Mi-chan?” Pi turned at the pet name the boy used for his girlfriend.
“Yeah, everyone on the team calls her Mi-chan, she approved of it,” the boy didn’t know that he was making the other’s mood even worse.
“Ok,” Pi nodded as he stood up, “…which do you guys prefer? Suicides* or laps?” All the members stopped their warm ups and looked at Pi horrified. “Choose one before I make you all do both,” all the members quickly formed into a line and laps, after all it was way better than suicides, which would exhaust them.
From afar, the voice of the tennis coach could be heard, “Ten laps, and no complaints or I’ll double it.”
All the girls and guys groaned in protest but soon stopped at the latter piece of information from the coach. The girls started to run around the tennis court but the coach stopped them and pointed out onto the field.
“NO~~~~” the dramatic screams could reach the basketball court, causing Pi and the other members turn to look at the tennis courts while running.
After five minutes, the basketball team’s laps came to an end, and that was when the tennis girls and boys teams ran towards their side of the court. All the boys’ attention turned to the girls’ skirts which caused the girls to embarrassedly hold their skirts down.
“Damn… those legs are worth staring at,” one of the members said as Midori passed by them.
“That pair of legs is a killer to us all,” the other one commented shortly afterward. Making Pi’s veins start to pop visibly. The vice captain gulped down painfully as he knew that the captain was going to give them hell today in practice.
Pi looked at Midori’s form as she ran laps, suddenly guilt rushed all over his mind. Was I a bit harsh yesterday? He asked quietly.
Right then, the boys gasped loudly, knocking Pi out of his daze and making him look up, seeing his girlfriend had stopped running and was instead on the ground.
“Oh snap… that fall must have hurt,” one of the members winced as Midori held her side.
Pi wanted to hurry to help her, but then two more came to help her. One of them offered her a piggy-back to the infirmary. She smiled widely, accepting the offer without a second thought.
The vice captain saw Pi’s dark aura and pitied himself for the rest of practice.
“Ok, practice time and no break, we need to boost up our stamina,” Pi quickly commanded as he picked up a ball and started dribbling it.
All the members wanted to injure themselves just to get out of practice that day.
[Kyudo Practice]
Midori walked into the Kyudo area and sat down to wait for practice to end.
Ayame glanced over at Midori as Ryo walked up to her.
“What is she doing here, again?” Ryo asked with his arms crossed. He hardly needed Midori badgering him the day before the competition, “Not that I ever want her badgering me…”
“We have a movie date after practice,” Ayame responded absentmindedly.
The people around them stopped practice and looked to see who the pair was talking about.
“Oh… it’s Midori,” Rina mumbled before turning back to practice.
“What movie?” Ryo frowned.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra,” Ayame smirked, “I can’t wait!”
“She doesn’t seem the type to like that kind of movie,” Ryo wrinkled his nose, “And honestly? That movie has gotten horrible reviews.”
“Yeah, but Ryo think of it this way. Channing Tatum is sooo cute, and even if the movie sucks we’ll just stare at him,” she smiled at the thought.
Ryo frowned, “Your brother would…”
“Jin gets to hear it all the time. The way he sees it is I’ll never meet the celebrities… he’s kind of an idiot thinking that though. I could easily use the family influence to set up any meetings I want, I bet,” She grinned evilly, “Oh well. Besides, Midori is upset because of Pi so we’re having a girls’ day. No boys, especially the idiot Pi, are allowed to ruin this day for us.” Her voice got a bit louder as her anger sparked again.
“Look, I’m sure Pi had a good…” Ryo was instantly cut off by Ayame.
“A good reason? I want to punch him, again!” She snapped with narrowed eyes. “He’s a fucking idiot! It’s a miracle I didn’t do worse.”
“I’m pretty sure you got that point across when you gave him a black eye!” Ryo responded loudly, only to clamp his hand over his mouth, “Fuck…”
“Ayame,” Rina turned around with wide eyes, “You’re the one that gave Yamashita-senpai the black-eye?”
“With these arms?” One of the boys lifted her wrist jokingly.
“I can’t believe Ayame gave him that black eye,” A few commented.
“Thanks a lot, Ryo,” Ayame narrowed her eyes, “This is just what I need everyone knowing. At least I already apologized to his mom about it…”
“When did you find time for that?” Ryo sighed, trying to get everyone back to practice, “The competition is tomorrow!” Everyone immediately scurried back to practice.
“Pi is going to kill you, just so you know,” Ayame chimed as she retrieved her arrows, “You just effectively told the whole school he got punched by a little girl.”
Ryo sighed, “Alright, that’s it. All of you go home. I don’t need you exhausted tomorrow.”
After putting everything away Ayame walked over to Midori, “Trip during practice?” She motioned to Midori’s bandaged leg.
“Yeah,” Midori grinned, “My teammates gave me a piggyback ride to the infirmary.”
“Ah, I see. That’s one reason I decided on kyudo, there isn’t much of a chance for me to trip.” Ayame reasoned.
“I should’ve thought about that I guess… I’m pretty sure you’re clumsier than me though,” Just as Midori said this Ayame tripped in the doorway, “Exactly.”
“I blame you,” Ayame muttered and continued walking towards the front of the school.
“Hey, wait for me at the front, I forgot I need to talk to someone,” Midori called and waved the girl on.
Ayame frowned but shrugged and disappeared around the corner.
“Oh Ryo…” She called with a sweet smile.
Ryo rolled his eyes at the call, “What does the brat wants now?”
“I heard that you helped out Aya this morning, how gentlemanly of you,” she said smirking.
“Just helping out a friend, what else is there?” he tried to deny.
“Ok, good for you,” she smiled innocently as she said.
“What’s with that smile?” He asked her with suspicious eyes.
“Well… I see that you are making an effort,” she smiled again, “anyway, good luck on the competition tomorrow, I’ll be there to watch, make sure to make us, and I mean Ayame and I, proud, see ya,” she walked out of the practice room, leaving a blinking Ryo behind.
“What took you so long?” Ayame asked as Midori sprang towards her, “and what’s with that smile of yours?”
“Stop accusing me, Aya,” Midori flicked her friend’s forehead as she walked ahead.
“Hey! Who gave you permission to flick my head?” Ayame said fuming. Midori started to run but failed because of her injury.
“Serve you right,” Ayame said as she stood over the girl and smiled maliciously.
“Oh crap,” Midori cursed lightly as Ayame helped her up and started to drag her to the train station without mercy, while Midori whined in pain for her poor leg.
[Kyudo Room]
“How can she walk that fast with the bandage?” Ryo questioned no one in particular.
“Because it’s Midori, she’s always happy,” someone answered his question, Ryo jumped from his spot. He turned and found Pi standing at the entrance.
“Dude, let me know if you really want to give me a heart attack so I can be prepare the medical bill to charge you,” Ryo laughed.
“Forget it… do you want to get some sweets?” Pi asked, Ryo frowned at the suggestion.
“I don’t like sweets, and I bet you know that fact,” Ryo said as he walked out, “but if you want someone to listen to your problem, then I don’t know why I would reject a friend in trouble,” he noted.
“Good, ‘cause I need to talk to someone really bad, and Jin of course is not a good choice,” Pi said.
“I know it’s about Midori,” Ryo nodded, “but seriously, how can you manage to make her blank?”
“She was blank?” Pi asked dumbly, “I thought she was crying.”
“Crying without knowing, yes,” Ryo said, “and it seems that it’s not just another crying session of the brat, it looked serious,” Ryo said.
“But I have my own feelings to deal with too you know,” Pi sighed in defeat.
“Fine, I’m not going to judge anything,” Ryo swatted Pi, “pick a place and let it out.”
“Thanks Ryo,” Pi smiled as the two headed out of the school.
[Soccer Practice]
“Ok guys, see you all tomorrow,” Jin said as he exited the locker room and fished out his phone ready to call Ayame to tell her that he would be home soon.
But before he could he spotted Kame standing at the entrance of the locker room. He hurriedly put the phone away and ran towards the younger man. He had completely forgotten about calling Ayame.
“Hey,” he greeted with a wide grin, “out already?”
Kame nodded, “yeah, coach was out of it today, I think because his son was in the hospital the other day,” he explained.
“I see,” Jin nodded, “by the way, do you know why Ayame punched Pi?” he asked the unanswered problem.
“I have no idea, that was so not like her,” Kame said, “and also, she is your sister, you should know more than I.” he responded..
“But she only acted like that after seeing Midori cry, and that’s what I wanted to ask too, why did she cry?” Jin worriedly concerned.
“I have no idea, the only one time that she acted that way was when she broke it off with her first boyfriend,” Kame stopped explaining but noticed that he had crossed the line of his baby sister’s privacy.
“You know you can tell me anything right? We talked about this the other day,” Jin said.
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, just that, it only brings back unwanted memories,” Kame tried.
“I see, but then… she didn’t show any signs of displeasure or whatsoever, but the sudden blank expression really scared me,” Jin admitted the fright he had when he saw Midori’s blank expression. He didn’t want to see his second baby sister like that.
“She showed signs, they’re just abnormal signs,” Kame stated, which had Jin quirking his eyebrows, “whenever Midori is sad or not feeling happy, she will smile, the brighter the smile the bigger the problem. She believes that by smiling people won’t notice her pain, and then later she can cry and try to get over it. The only way to notice is that there’s always a slight sadness in her eyes, instead of the happiness that should accompany those smiles. Another way is her choice of movies. Humor and comedies mean she is sad, especially those stupid ones, but thriller and action genre mean that she is fine, and comments on hot guys are normal. When she laughs at the not so funny jokes, be careful, she’s at her helpless state. Many people mistake these signs as her being KY, but no. I know my baby sister, she’s only KY on purpose. She is not a natural KY personality, if you know what I mean,” Kame stopped to let Jin absorb the information.
“She is so different from Ayame,” Jin finally concluded, “I know a lot of those about Midori but… not all,” he admitted.
“Everyone is different, Jin,” Kame chuckled as he shook his head, “but… at least… they’re similar in some senses,” he said.
“Like what?” Jin asked, though Kame could tell he was trying to steer the conversation out of depressing territory.
“Talking about hot guys,” Kame started to laugh.
“Oh god, I have to listen to Ayame about this one actor, what is his name, I don’t know…but really, it hurts my ears, if it wasn’t Ayame, I would have left the girl by herself when talking,” Jin laughed.
“You get an earful when you go shopping with them,” Kame said nodding.
“EH?” Jin sounded surprise.
“Try going on a shopping date with us,” Kame suggested, “Hm… I think we’ll have one this weekend, want to join?” he invited shyly as Jin stood completely surprised, “well... If you don’t want to…”
“Of course,” Jin said hurriedly, “so this weekend?” he reconfirmed.
“Yeah, Midori and I will head to your place, it’s like a break for Aya after her competition tomorrow,” Kame said, smiling.
“Yeah, she does need it, ah… are you coming to the competition tomorrow?” Jin asked.
“For sure, Midori won’t let me off if I don’t go, I also want to cheer her on,” he smiled widely.
“Cool…” Jin grinned satisfied, “So I guess we will pick you two up tomorrow then?” Jin asked.
“Eh, you don’t have to!” Kame hurriedly said, “I don’t want you to risk being late, seeing as Aya has to be there early for preparations.”
“It’s fine, besides you guys are super close to us,” Jin waved him off with a grin, “Besides Midori will be helping Aya get her hakama on properly so we can hang out.”
Kame smiled shyly, “Sounds good then. Wait…”
“School is short tomorrow remember? They’re giving extra time for preparations for the festival tomorrow…” Jin explained quickly, knowing exactly what was on the other’s mind, “So we’ll come get you around eleven?”
“Sounds good,” Kame smiled.
[Movie Theater]
“I’ve wanted to see this movie for ages!” Ayame exclaimed after they bought tickets.
“I know, I know!” Midori agreed, “It helps that he’s great eye-candy.”
“He’s among the best in eye-candy,” Ayame skipped up the staircase to the theater.
“Ne, so I heard Ryo helped you this morning,” Midori started as they found seats.
“It was kind of weird,” Ayame frowned, “He kept trying to tell me something but was interrupted by Saito-san and Kazu-nii. He didn’t seem to want to talk afterwards. He tried a couple more times but then club members interrupted a few times. Anyway, why do you ask?”
“Just curious…” Midori trailed off as the theater became dark, “Ooh it’s starting!”
“Shh,” Ayame hissed.
[Café]
“Is this that new café you’ve been going on about?” Ryo asked after they had ordered.
“Midori and I came here for our date,” Pi sighed.
“Wow, great choice Pi,” Ryo hit his friend lightly, “Oh well, tell me what happened…”
Pi launched into a description of what had happened at the café and then the argument the previous day.
Ryo sighed, “You have to realize that she can’t change a part of who she is in just a few minutes…”
“What do you mean?” Pi asked with narrowed eyes, “Are you saying it was wrong of me…”
“I’m not saying it was wrong for you to want an answer… and for it to be favorable for you…” Ryo sighed as he tried to explain his thoughts, “Look. She and her brother are known around the school for being like that. It’s obviously a part of their personalities and there must be reasons for them being like that. Jin and Aya are the way they are because something happened, and I bet they’re the other extreme because something happened. You can’t expect that to all change after just a few days. She needs to work through whatever is causing this and you need to help her. I’m not going to listen to you whine if you’re being an idiot,” Ryo took a bite of his parfait.
Pi frowned, he hated to admit it but what Ryo said did sound reasonable, “Fine, I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I assume she’ll be going to your competition.”
“Yeah, she’s coming to help Aya get ready before the competition.” Ryo explained.
“So what’s been happening with Aya-birdie? Have you managed to confess?” Pi asked curiously, trying to get off the topic of his relationship.
Ryo scowled, “I tried at least five times throughout the day and got interrupted each time. I should probably just give up now,” he stirred his parfait a bit, “Because she said yes to Aiba it’s given the others the thought that they might get a chance too,” he rolled his eyes, “They should realize that they’re not going to beat out Aiba. He was pretty much perfect for her.”
“You got interrupted five times? That’s amazing. And I don’t see how he was perfect for our birdie.” Pi frowned.
“He’s top of all the second years, he’s highly ranked in kyudo, he’s his class rep,” Ryo ticked the reasons off with his fingers.
“Which you are as well, except you’re top of the third years,” Pi interrupted.
“He was always nice to her, he never said anything to upset her, and he took what she wanted into consideration. And he always offered to help her or stay behind to keep her company,” Ryo sighed, “I do none of those things and you know it.”
“What did you pull her out of class for?” Pi asked curiously, “I heard about it from some classmates though she wouldn’t give me details. You must’ve done something cause they were under the impression she was going out with Aiba again, she supposedly had even mentioned she was going to when talking to Midori…”
“Eh?” Ryo asked, completely stunned, “She what?”
“They said Aya was going to go with Aiba again Monday morning, but apparently she decided not to. What did you do?” Pi asked suspiciously.
Ryo hid his face, “I gave her a necklace…”
“A necklace?” Pi frowned, “of all things you’d give her, you give her a necklace?”
“A necklace from Mikimoto!” Ryo exclaimed, “I thought she’d like it… and she helped me with my mom’s present and my suits so I thought it’d be nice…”
Pi grinned, “Well that on the other hand is a great present. Must’ve made her confused if she said no to Aiba. Anyways, if you keep getting interrupted… then you just have to go for it regardless.”
“Are you insane?” Ryo questioned, “I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon.”
“How about this,” Pi started, “Tomorrow at the competition if you rank within the top three of your bracket you’re going to confess no matter what. If you don’t confess you’re going to just have to give up because you’re not willing to confess regardless of an interruption.”
“Are you serious?” Ryo asked with widened eyes.
“I’m serious, if you can’t do that, then forget your confession and let your parents decide on your partner for you when they see the time is needed,” Pi said smartly. Ryo couldn’t argue to that.
“My friend, asking her out on a date is not so hard,” Pi grinned widely.
“Yeah, the guy that sweated so much when he asked his girlfriend on a date is now lecturing me on how to ask a girl out,” Ryo scoffed.
“But hey, I succeeded, she agreed and looked where we are at now,” Pi smiled.
“Yeah, look at where you are at now,” Ryo pointed his spoon at Pi, “and thanks, I won’t be like you.” He scooped another spoonful of parfait into his mouth and wiped the icing off his mouth. “Ok, I’ll take on the challenge, but there is a condition,” Pi looked at Ryo with interest, “if I confess, you must try to calm yourself down and have a complete talk with Midori. Meaning, no interrupting or forcing her on anything, now it’s time for you to listen if you want to be in a serious relationship. Do not run from the little challenge, Pi.”
Ryo looked him in the eyes, waiting for any movement from his friend. Pi thought over the condition, and felt that Ryo was right. If he wanted to make it work he must stop running and begin to face the problem.
“Deal,” Pi said confidently as he pointed his spoon at Ryo who moved his spoon to cross it with Pi’s spoon, making them clink when the two spoons bumped into each other.
✯♌❤♍✯
Chapter 24
Suicides = training excercise