'Karupin...?' He narrowed his eyes. 'No, it's not... It does look like him, but it's not...' He then walked away, not caring what he just saw. As long as it wasn't Karupin, he did not have any business with it.

He was just about to turn at the corner when a figure bumped to him, causing him to fall down.

    "Aa..."

    "AAAAAHH!! Gomen nasai!!" the girl bowed. "I'm searching for my cat! Have you seen any Himalayan cat around??"

He narrowed his eyes once again, then slowly nodded. "...Hai..."

    "HONTOU?! Where's he now??"

He pointed to the clubhouse. "There..."

    "Arigatou gozaimashita!!" the girl shook his hands, bowed again, and rushed to the clubhouse. She was gone from Ryoma's view in less than five seconds.

Ryoma shook his head as he stood up. The girl reminded him somehow to someone he knew. But who?

...Hmm... Oh yeah! That guy from Rokkaku Chuu! What was his name again? Ao... Ao... Aoi? Yeah, Aoi something...

    'Hhh... Like I care...' the prince of tennis thought as he walked away.

Bump!

    "Class, we have a new student."

Murmurs resounded as the teacher announced the news. Everyone in class 1-2 looked excited, and that included Horio.

    "You heard that Echizen? A new student!!" the 2-years-tennis-experienced boy said with sparkly eyes. "Oooh, I do hope it's a girl! A cute one! Then I'll show her how I play tennis with my 2 years experience, and we will..." he blabbered on and on.

On the other hand, Ryoma did not care of what was happening. Just a new student, it wasn't a big deal. He yawned sleepily and put his head on his desk

    ", please come in."

    "Waaaaahhh..." the class started to get crowded.

    "Echizen! My dream just comes true! Ohhh... She's so cute!"

Ryoma sat up. He knew this girl. But who was she? Was she someone he had seen in tennis tournament? No, no, definitely not. So, where?

    'How come my memory never coordinates well with me...?'

    "Umm... Ohayou, my name is . Yoroshiku ne, minna!" she bowed. Wait a minute... He knew that bowing...

    "Then, your seat..." their homeroom teacher looked around. "Ah! Beside Echizen-kun!"

He raised an eyebrow.

    "Anou, sensei, which one is Echizen-kun...?"

Ryoma raised his right hand. "Me."

    "Ah," she said and quickly went to her new seat. She sat, put her bag, and smiled at him. "Hello, Echizen-kun! Hope we can help each other for the rest of the year, ne!"

    "Mm," he replied quietly.

***

BUMP!

    "Ouch..."

    "AAAAHH! Echizen-kun!! Gomen nasai!!"

It was no other than . They had been classmates for more than two months, and it seemed like one of 's hobbies was bumping to him.

    "Daijoubu ka, Echizen-kun?" she offered a hand to help Ryoma standing up.

    "Aa..."

He didn't notice a slight blush on her cheeks as their hands touched.

***

BUMP!

    "Echizen-kun!! Gomen nas—"

Stopped when she saw an annoyed look on Ryoma's face.

    "This is the twelfth time this week."

She looked down, sweats started to pour down from her face. "I... I know... I-I-I..."

Ryoma heaved a sigh. "Can you stop doing that?"

Her face reddened in embarrassment. "I-I... Gomen nasai!"

    "That's what you always say," he said firmly. "Don't talk to me again."

***

    "Oooi! Echizen!! Ohayo!" Horio waved to his classmate who just entered the class.

    "Uissu."

Ryoma put his bag on his desk. Something was missing.

He looked around. He caught a glimpse of a familiar girl. She took a peek at him, and Ryoma was prepared to say "uissu" to greet her back.

But she didn't greet him. Instead, acting like she had never known Ryoma before, she walked away with some of their classmates, laughing.

Ryoma's eyes narrowed. That was wrong. She always greets him every morning with her cheerful voice, and her sweet smile...

    'Not like I care...'

But who knew? He did care, after all. He figured out that had switched seats with another friend of hers (whom Ryoma did not know the name). He could not concentrate the whole day and worse, he could not answer any questions his English teacher asked him (which, when you remember this was Ryoma, was a really weird thing.)

    "Echizen, what's up with you today??" Horio asked when they were having lunch at the cafeteria.

    "Nothing," he replied ever so coldly.

    "Horio-kun, what's wrong?" Katsuo asked.

    "Echizen can't answer any English questions Kitamura-sensei gave him!"

Katsuo choked his sandwich while Kachiro burst out his apple juice.

    "EEEHH?! But that can't be!!"

    "..."

    'It's not the problem!'

    "I'm finished," Ryoma said as he stood up.

    "Eeh? Ryoma-kun, where are you going?"

    "Class."

For almost no reason, he could not get her out of his mind. Every time he heard a sound of running feet, he hoped he would be bumped and found it was .

He blinked his eyes a few times. The girl he just thought about was standing in front of the class, talking something to her friends.

    "—"

    "Let's go to the cafeteria! God, I'm starving!"

One of her friends giggled. "You're always starving, -chan!"

    "Mou, Hikari-chan!"

And she just... walked away, like she did not see Ryoma standing there.

'What just happened...?' he thought thoughtfully. 'Why was she avoiding me? I didn't do something wrong, did I? As long as I can remember, we were fine yesterday. And just why on Earth am I thinking about this?!'

***

    "Mou, Ochibi's not in a good mood today, nya..." Seigaku's acrobatic player said when they were practicing.

Fuji nodded. "Indeed. He just beat three sophomores without mercy, yet he doesn't look satisfied."

    "I wonder what's wrong nya..."

    "And just where is that girl?" suddenly Momo appeared.

    "Girl? What girl?" Eiji asked confusedly as he looked around. "AH! The one that always watches Ochibi practicing, right?"

    "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around today..."

    "Can it be..." Momo and Eiji switched meaningful looks to each other, then grinned.

    "Echizen's disappointed coz his girlfriend doesn't come, eh?"

    "O-chi-bi! You're so lucky to have a cute girlfriend like her, nya!"

Ryoma glared. He wasn't in the mood for his sempai's teasing.

    "I'm going home," he said firmly.

    "Eeeh? Nande?" Eiji asked with his puppy eyes.

    "We're free today coz buchou's not coming, right?" he uttered as he walked towards the clubhouse, leaving all his sempai behind.

He was still thinking about her.

BUMP!

Ah! Finally! He had been really waiting for...

    "I'm sorry, Echizen! Are you all right?"

He blinked. "Ooishi-sempai..."

    'So it's not her...'

    "Echizen, is something the matter?" Ooishi—in his 'Seigaku's Mother' mode— asked carefully.

    "Nothing."

    "But you're not yourself today," he said responsibly. "Are you sure you're all right?"

    "I am."

Though he wanted to say something else, Ooishi decided not to. He let the freshman go.

    "And oh, one more thing, Echizen," he suddenly said. Ryoma turned his head. "If you're searching for -san, I saw her at the gate just now."

Just what did he mean by saying that? Ryoma wasn't searching for her, nope, not in a million years. He did not care a thing about her, definitely not! Not a thing! Not a single thing...

Oh, what a liar he was...

His eyes widened by a centimeter when he saw Akira standing near the gate. It seemed like she noticed him too, but she looked away quickly.

He walked to her. "..."

She was silent.

He raised his voice. "..."

Again, silence was her only reply.

Ryoma was impatient. He took her right hand. "—"

    "Why, I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore," she said coldly, still looking away from the boy.

    "Eh? When did I say that?"

    "Yesterday, remember?" she replied.

Ryoma let go of her hand. Did he really say it? Did he really say he didn't want to talk to her anymore?

He suddenly remembered. Yes, that happened! Yesterday, when he was about to go home...

Oh, that was just great! Ryoma growled in his thought, felt like a a foolish loser. Now what should he do?

A though struck him. Maybe he should apologize!

Oh wait, no, no, he shouldn't! Why should he apologize to her? It wasn't his fault, was it? He didn't do anything wrong! He...

He stopped thinking as he looked at the girl in front of him. She didn't even want to turn her head to see him. He sighed. He would regret saying this someday.

    "... I..." he looked away. "I..."

Silence.

    "I... I'm sorry!"

, finally looked back at Ryoma, stared in surprise. "What?"

    "I'm sorry. There, I said it," he said, a slight blush crept over his cheeks. Wait—just why on Earth did he blush?!

    "Aa... I..." she looked down. "I'm sorry, too... I don't mean to bump to you everyday... I-I have a reason..."

He raised an eyebrow. "A reason?"

    "Yes... You see, we almost never talk to each other although we sit next to each other... And I... I..." her face reddened. "I wanted to talk to you..."

    "Huh? Talk to me? Why?"

    "Be... Because..." she took a deep breath. "I... like you!"

Ryoma blinked a few times, not believing his own ears. "You... like me?"

The girl nodded embarrassedly. "...So...?"

He gently touched her face, moving it so he could see it clearly.

    "Don't you think you already know the answer...?"
 

[ owari ]
// ichigo akira 2005.08.14