"Aa, wait a sec nya, Oishi!" a red-headed boy shouted from inside the clubhouse.

    "I need to go to the bathroom first, so wait for me, okay?"

    "Roger that!"

    "Eiji-senpai, where are you going?" a black-haired sophomore popped out. "I thought you, I, and Echizen would go to Burger Joint today..."

    "AAAAHH!!" Eiji cried, bowing to his kohai. "Gomen nya, Momo! I promised Oishi to accompany him to the pet shop today!"

    "Sou ka..." Momo sighed. "That's okay. But the next time we go there again, it'll be your treat, okay?"

    "Eeeeh?? Doushita, nya??"

    "Ja na!" Momo went away, ignoring his senpai's words.

Oishi came over "Hm? What's wrong, Eiji?"

Eiji turned and shook his head. "Nothing, nothing! Let's go!"

Is It Love?

    "Irasshaimase!" a middle-aged woman greeted as the golden pair walked into the pet shop. "Ara, if it isn't Oishi-kun and Kikumaru-kun!"

    "Konnichiwa, Satou-san," Oishi lowered his head. "Do you have that fish food I bought last week?"

    "Ah, of course. !" she called. "Can you get #344 please?"

    "Hai!" a black haired girl from the cashier nodded and went away.

    "New employee?" Oishi asked.

    "Yes, she's my cousin, ," Satou answered. "She just came here yesterday."

    "Ah, I see..." he nodded.

Usually, if there was a new person around, Eiji would go "Hello!! Kikumaru Eiji desu! Yoroshiku, nya!" and smile brightly. But today was... different. He only looked at her silently.

    "Anou Satou-san... What's her name again?" he asked, though it sounded more like a whisper.

    "—" Satou stopped. Being an experienced mom, she knew exactly what that look on his face meant. " , 15 years old, middle school third grade. She's a nice and caring girl, and she loves playful and cute boys like you, Kikumaru-kun, so you both would be perfect together!"

    "Ah, that's not it..." he defended, a pink line appeared on his cheeks. "I just..."

    "Obaa-san, here it is!" suddenly the girl they just talked about appeared with a pack of fish food on her hands. "#344!"

    "Arigatou, ," Satou giggled as she handed it to Oishi. Eiji's face became redder.

Oishi, feeling there must be something happening with Eiji, just smiled. 'So he's reached that age, eh...'

    ", this is Oishi Shuuichirou, our regular customer," Satou introduced. Oishi lowered his head.

    "Hi, my name's Oishi Shuuichirou. Yoroshiku."

    "I'm ."

They shook hands.

    "And..." Satou smiled playfully. "Let me introduce you to Kikumaru Eiji. He goes to the same school as Oishi-kun, Seigaku. He often comes here, too!" She smiled again and added, "...and I bet he's your type of boy, !"

    "Eh?!" she laughed. Eiji was too nervous to speak up. His face was beetroot red.

    "Eiji, say something," Oishi whispered.

    "Eh... Hi..." he mumbled, looking down to his feet. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the happy-go-lucky Eiji like that.

    "Hi! I'm ! Yoroshiku!" she smiled. "Ah, and I'm sorry, my aunt is always like this..."

    "Ah... Ha... Hai..." he murmured. "I—I'm Kikumaru Eiji... Yo...Yoroshiku, -san..."

    "Mm? Don't be so formal! You often come here, ne? So we'll meet each other often, too! Just call me ''! And oh... Can I call you 'Eiji'?"

    "Ha... Hai..." he said nervously. "..."

***

    "Eiji-senpai!" Momo called. His eyes wandered around the clubhouse. Echizen, Mamushi, Buchou, Oishi-senpai, Taka-san, Fuji-senpai... "Eh? Where's Eiji-senpai?"

    "Oh..." Oishi suddenly chuckled. "He's probably gone to the pet shop already..."

    "Eh??" Momo cried. "Already? Aaaahh... I'm broke today..."

    "Come to think of it, he's always been rushing to that pet shop these days..." Taka said.

Inui, popped out from nowhere, replied, "He goes to see a girl there."

    "EEEEEHHH?!? FOR REAL?!" Momo cried.

    "Eiji-senpai has a girlfriend...?" Ryouma asked in disbelief.

    "No, no! She's not his girlfriend!" Oishi uttered.

    "But from his attitude, there's 76% chance he has a crush on her, and even 91% chance he likes her..." Inui announced as he opened his data-book.

    "So THAT's it..." Momo grinned. "Let's go then!"

    "Eh? Where?" Oishi blinked.

    "Of course we're going to spy on Eiji-senpai and his girlfriend!"

    "I'll pass," Echizen waved and walked away.

    "Me, too. I have something to do today."

After getting 3 more rejections, Momo sighed. He, Oishi, and Inui were the only ones left.

    "Momo, I don't think it's a good idea..."

    "Why, I think it is," Inui said.

    "See Oishi-senpai? I think it is, too!" Momo nodded in agreement. The fukubuchou let out a long sigh.

    "You can't see them today."

    "Eh? Why??" Momo asked.

    "Because..." Oishi was in a dilemma, whether he should tell his friends or not. "Because... Well... You won't meet them there."

    "Why??"

    "Because—"

    "She has a day off today," Inui replied before Oishi could say anything. "Which means, they're going out today..."

    "Eh???" Momo shouted. "Where??"

    "89% to the theatre, 77% to a café near the pet house, 82% to the park..." Inui answered.

    "We've gotta check the highest probability first, ne?" Momo smirked. "To the theatre!"

Momo and Inui walked away, leaving the stunned Oishi behind.

    'How did Inui...?!?'

***

    "Yesterday was disappointing!" Momo shouted as loud as he could, so Eiji would hear what he was saying. "We couldn't see Eiji-senpai and his GIRLFRIEND!"

    "Nya?!" Eiji blushed. "Momo, what do you mean?!"

    'Heh, it's working,' Momo thought evilly. "Yeah, yesterday Inui-senpai and I searched everywhere for Eiji-senpai and his GIRLFRIEND, but we couldn't find them anywhere..."

    "-chan's not my girlfriend nya!!" the catlike boy protested with a slight blush on his face.

    "Oh~? Her name's ~?"

    "Aa—"

    "What's going on over there?" Tezuka's voice, obviously. "Get back to practice."

Eiji sighed in relief. "Sankyuu, Buchou," he whispered and quickly took his racket. In a second, he was ready on the court.

His opponent today was Fuji. Eiji was having a hard time playing against him. The score was 5 - 3 for Fuji.

    "Uwah, it's finally match point!" Horio shouted.

    "Yeah!" Katsuo and Kachirou nodded.

Eiji served. Fuji returned it. Eiji ran to the net and hit the ball back...

    "EIJI!! YOU CAN DO IT!!"

    "Ny—Nyaa?!" he blinked. His eyes followed the voice. " -ch—"

    "Eiji-senpai, look out!!"

Everything went black.

***

    "Nya... Where am I?" Eiji opened his eyes slowly and found 's face right in front of him. His eyes widened. "—"

    "Gomen nasai!" she bowed. "I didn't mean to startle you like that!! I'm really sorry!!"

    "Eh? Wha... What do you mean?"

    "My ball hit your head when you looked away to her, Eiji," Fuji explained guiltily. "I'm sorry. Do you feel okay?"

    "Ah... Hai... I'm fine, nya..." he sat up and realized all the regulars were surrounding him.

    "Eiji, you're really okay?" Oishi asked as caring as always.

    "Hai!"

    "Are you sure?"

    "Hai!"

    "Really sure?"

    "Hai nya, Oishi!"

    "I mean, if your head still hurts, you can just—"

    "Oishi, I'm fine..."

    "But—"

    "C'mon Oishi-senpai," Momo cut. "He said it himself, he's okay."

Oishi was about to say something else, but again, Momo cut him, "Besides, it looks like Eiji-senpai wants to be alone with -chan!"

    "E—eh?" Eiji flushed.

Oishi sighed. There was nothing he could do that time.

    "Don't waste this chance, ne," Fuji whispered in Eiji's ear and smiled.

    "Yeah Eiji-senpai, she's really kawaii!" Momo added.

    "Aa... Minna..."

But before Eiji could say anything else, Momo had already pushed all the regulars outside the nurse's office.

    "O... kay..." she raised an eyebrow, confused. She then sat down beside him and turned her head to him. "Eiji, I'm really sorry..."

    "Ah, it's really okay..." Eiji smiled.

    "I was really panicked when you fell down and fainted!! That guy with glasses and the one wearing a bandana quickly carried you here!"

    "Ah, they're Inui and Kaidou, nya..."

    "Oh, so that's them!" she said in sparkly eyes.

    "-chan..." he suddenly called. "Anou... Why did you come here?"

    "I wanted to see your friends," she replied. "You always look so happy when you talk about them, so I want to see them myself. After all, I have a week off this week, so I decided to come!"

    "I... See..."

    "But the real reason I came here is..." a slight blush appeared on her face. "I... I wanna see you, Eiji..."

His heart skipped a beat.

    "Ah, I—I mean... I wanna see you play!" she corrected quickly. "I actually saw you from the game started! You were awesome!"

    "A... Arigatou, nya..." Eiji let out a long sigh. "Though, as you could see, I almost lost..."

    "You were still great," patted his head, something that she had always done when Eiji looked sad, and usually he would reply by smiling at her and say "Thanks." But today, he remarked in his own mind, he wanted to do something more.

He gently put his hand on hers. She was surprised and was about to say something, but fell silent instead. They stared at each other for a long time.

    'Those bright eyes...'

    'Those beautiful eyes...'

Eiji slowly closed his eyes and leaned forward. He could feel her breathing. He could hear her murmuring his name.

Their lips almost touched when Eiji suddenly pulled away quickly, blushing.

    'What am I doing?!'

    "E... Eiji..." called his name. Her face was beetroot red.

    "Go... Gomen nya," he said, looking aside. They fell silent.

    "-chan, I..." he suddenly said, pulling 's shirt so she'd look at him. "A... Anou..." He took a deep breath, and finally burst out, "I... Daisuki!"

    "Eh?!" she blinked. "Re—Really?"

He nodded embarrassedly.

    "I... I like you, too..."

    "Eh?"

She kissed Eiji's cheeks quickly, causing pink lines appeared on them.

    "Ah..." he said. "A... Arigatou..." Really, that was the only word on his mind!

She giggled. "Heh, you were the one had the courage to tell me first!" She smiled and placed her head on his shoulder. "Actually, I lied..."

    "Eh?"

    "I don't like you..." she whispered. "I love you..."
 

[ owari ]
// ichigo akira 2005.07.09