"…you're still here?" Her best friend, , ran up to her, still dressed in her practice clothes for track.
"Yeah…I'm just waiting.""For Mizuki-kun?"
acted like she didn't hear her, and pretended to be intensely absorbed in her English textbook.shook her head and tapped 's forehead with her water bottle. ", that guy is so self-absorbed. I don't even know why you wanted to go out with him in the first place."
"What are you saying, ? Mizuki-kun's very sweet and thoughtful…" She trailed off at the disbelieving look on her friend's face. "…when he wants to be," she finished meekly.", just once, can't you be a little selfish?"
Selfish
"Hey Yuuta, isn't that -chan?" Kisarazu Atsushi asked, nudging his teammate."Hmm?" Fuji Yuuta looked in the direction of where his friend was pointing, and noticed the shy girl waiting on the front steps of the main school building.
"I think she's waiting for Mizuki-san.""Wasn't he going over the team roster with Akazawa-buchou in the tennis club room?"
"I wonder why…" As Yuuta and Atsushi came closer, they both waved as she noticed them."Ah, Yuuta-san, Atsushi-san." She waved back shyly as they approached her. "Anno…tennis practice is over, ne? Do you know where Mizuki-kun is? He was supposed to meet me at 4:00."
"He's talking in the clubroom with our captain."Her face fell before she smiled hesitantly. "Oh…okay."
Yuuta and Atsushi exchanged looks when looked down at her feet. "Would you like us to wait with you, -chan?""Oh no! No, I couldn't ask that." blushed, but this time, she smiled at them genuinely and her whole face lit up. "Thank you, though. You guys are so sweet."
The earnest sincerity on her face made both boys blush. "Ah…" Her compliment only made them more hesitant to leave her by herself.saw the reluctance on their faces and shook her head. "It's okay. It's not like I don't have anything to do." She raised her math textbook in the air. "I'll just catch up on my studying while I wait. I just finished my English homework anyway."
"Ack! Math?" Yuuta made a face.giggled. "Math isn't so bad. I rather like it."
"Oi…if only math wasn't a requirement. Then my life would be a much better place.""Do you need a tutor, Yuuta-san?" tilted her head to the side and smiled. "I can help you."
"Really?" Yuuta grinned sheepishly.Atsushi smirked. "Yes, well knowing Yuuta…he'll need all the help he can get."
A faint trace of pink dusted his teammate's cheeks. "Sh-shut up!""You're so cute!" She suppressed a chuckle. "Don't worry. It won't be any trouble at all."
"Nfu...looks like you're having fun, -chan.""Ah!" Yuuta and Atsushi watched their friend's face glow even brighter when she caught sight of Mizuki Hajime standing a few feet away from them. "Mizuki-kun!"
"Were you waiting for me here this whole time?" The data gathering player frowned slightly. "You should have stayed in the library.""But…" hesitated before continuing softly, "…we had a date planned."
"We did?" Mizuki looked at her blankly. "I don't recall…" At her crestfallen look, he was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry. It must have slipped my mind. I was going over the team line-up with the captain for the match in two weeks. I've just been a little pre-occupied."nodded. "I understand, Mizuki-kun. It's fine…" She smiled a little, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Mizuki, however, didn't seem to notice as he slung an arm around her shoulders. "Why don't I treat you to some ice cream to make up for it?" He started to lead her to the exit of the school. "Then we can go for a walk in the rose garden at the park."She nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. "That would be nice." She waved goodbye to Yuuta and Atsushi, saying a soft thanks with her eyes.
The two tennis players waved back politely before heading to the boys' dormitory. "-chan is an understanding girlfriend, isn't she?" Yuuta asked.Atsushi nodded in agreement even as he sighed. "Well, I just hope Mizuki knows how lucky he is."
---
"What are you doing this Thursday?" asked shyly."Nothing important," he replied, shrugging. He glanced at his girlfriend thoughtfully. "Why? Do you have something planned?"
looked down at their intertwined hands, and couldn't help the warm feeling that spread through her heart. "Actually, I was hoping we could do something together that day," she answered. "It is my - ""Oh wait! I have to scout that day, and finalize the team line-up with the data," Mizuki interrupted. "I'm sorry, but it's really important. Could we reschedule?"
He didn't see the disappointment that flashed across her face as she looked away. "Of course. That's fine.""Ah, there's the ice cream stand. You want chocolate, right?" he asked. He placed one hand under her chin and turned her face back towards him. "Is something wrong?"
She forced a smile on her face. "No, just thinking." She squeezed his hand. "Chocolate sounds great.""Okay, wait here." Mizuki started to walk to the stand, and held onto his hand until she couldn't anymore. He gave her a puzzled look, but she just shook her head.
When he was out of earshot, sat on a nearby bench, dejected. ", you idiot," she murmured to herself.---
That Thursday morning, Mizuki frowned, wondering why something didn't feel right. He tried to focus on the data in his notebook, but still couldn't shake off the feeling that he forgot something."Hey Mizuki, where's your girlfriend?" Akazawa asked, turning around in his seat. "Doesn't she usually poke her head in here before classes start?"
"You're right." Mizuki was surprised that he hadn't noticed it first. "She must be running late." He glanced at the clock. "I wonder if she's all right.""Don't worry. I'm sure this isn't the first time she hasn't greeted you in the morning."
"Actually…it is." He frowned again.Akazawa whistled lowly. "That must be nice," he commented. "Man, I need to get myself a girlfriend too. How'd you snag -san?"
"…" With only a dash of pink on his cheeks, Mizuki matter-of-factly replied, "She confessed to me.""Did you have any data on her?" Akazawa asked, half-joking.
"I'm not like that Inui at Seigaku," Mizuki commented, a little insulted. "I only take data on tennis.""Well, data on your girlfriend might come in use at times like these," the tennis captain replied, shrugging. "I never kept track of important dates well, and that's why I broke up with my last girlfriend before. I wasn't really serious about it."
"Uh-huh." Mizuki nodded, only half-listening. Something Akazawa mentioned had made the uncomfortable feeling come back again. However, the bell rang and the teacher began class before he could dwell on it.---
was nowhere to be seen for the entire day, and Mizuki was starting to get more than a little worried. What if she was sick? He wondered vaguely why she hadn't called him. On his way to the tennis courts, he noticed her friend heading to the track in her uniform."Excuse me, -san?"
She stopped and her expression turned blank when she saw him. "Oh. It's you."Mizuki ignored her cold tone. "Would you happen to know where my girlfriend is?"
rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless, y'know.""Excuse me?"
She crossed her arms and glared at him. "It's -chan's birthday today, you idiot!"His face paled. "What?"
"It's her birthday. Today." repeated, looking grimly satisfied as the realization dawned on his face. "If her birthday falls on a school day, her parents let her miss school. She spends the day with her siblings at an amusement park or wherever she wants."Mizuki shook his head slowly. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she's too kind for her own good! That girl needs to learn to be more selfish." looked him up and down. "She probably didn't want to inconvenience you.""She should have told me!" Mizuki felt angry at both and himself. Angry at her because she should have told him, and angry at himself for not knowing.
"You've been her boyfriend for a little more than three months, and you don't even know a thing about her." gave him a disgusted look. "She didn't want to bother you! She knows how much tennis means to you. She knows how important your skills contribute to the team's success."A sudden panic swept through him. "Where is she? Right now?"
"She didn't tell me." shrugged before eyeing him slyly. "But around 5:00, you might want to try that park she likes…"Mizuki dropped his tennis racket as he rushed off in search of both a gift and his girlfriend.
Yuuta watched the data player run past him questioningly, before picking up his fallen racket. "-senpai, what happened to Mizuki-san?""Oh nothing." She shrugged, even though a small smile played upon her lips. "He's just finally getting his act together."
---
walked idly through the rose garden of her favorite park, only semi-aware that Mizuki's tennis practice ended an hour ago. She wondered if he had even noticed she was absent. 'I want to support him…I like him so much…but why didn't I just tell him that I wanted to spend the day together?' She sighed, trailing her fingers over a rose's soft petals. 'I'm such a coward.' She looked up, only to gasp as she saw the subject of her thoughts walking towards her hurriedly. She started to walk in another direction.", wait a minute!"
His voice stopped her in her tracks. She could never refuse him anything. "What do you want, Mizuki-san?"He winced slightly at her use of the -san suffix instead of the -kun suffix. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" She turned and looked at him blankly."I'm sorry that I forgot your birthday."
"It's fine. It's not like I cared if you would remember or not." She shrugged nonchalantly, even though she was shaking inside. "I didn't think you would anyway."Mizuki blinked, shocked. had never been so cold to him. "Hey, that's not fair –"
"You didn't care about me at all, did you?"He looked hurt and she immediately regretted her words. All her anger deflated at the look on his face. She closed her eyes and turned away. "…I'm sorry."
"No." He smiled ruefully. "I deserved that.""Y'know... told me I should be a little more selfish." She wrapped her arms around herself as if to get warm. "But I didn't really care as long as I could be near you."
His expression grew regretful as he embraced her from behind. "I'm sorry…I'm really sorry." He reached into his pocket and took out a small wrapped gift. "I know this won't make up for it…but please accept it.""Oh…" She knew she should still be mad at him, but the hopeful look on his face melted her resentment.
"Happy birthday," he murmured.carefully opened the small box, and emotion swelled in her chest as she saw the heart shaped locket. She opened it and smiled at the picture of her and Mizuki. It was taken on one of those rare days they had all to themselves. "Thank you…"
Mizuki blushed slightly at the happy look she gave him over her shoulder. "Only the best for you."blushed in turn and her heart raced as she clutched the locket to her chest. Why? There were times when he was so selfish, and he didn't care about anything else. Why did he have to be so sweet? It was hard to tell if he really wanted her or not.
"Mizuki-kun…" She took a deep breath. "…do you like me?""Of course I do." He hugged her even tighter. "I wouldn't have gone out with you if I didn't like you."
"Oh." Tears shimmered in her eyes. "I'm glad, then. I wasn't sure...sometimes, I just wasn't sure." She wiped at her eyes. "'Cause y'know, I like you so much."The guilt that had trickled in slowly suddenly swamped him. "I'm not a very good boyfriend, am I?" His hands dropped to his sides.
"No, that's not it at all!" She turned around to face him and reached up to clutch the lapels of his jacket. He just gave her a look, and she corrected herself. "Well, maybe not so much."He forced a smile on his face. "Ah…I thought so."
"But you're sweet and kind when you want to be! You can be thoughtful too when it's just the two of us. I suppose that's okay too, because it makes me feel like I have this part of you that no one else sees…and that just makes it so much more special. That's why I like you so much, Hajime."He was blushing deeper and deeper throughout her speech before his eyes widened. "What did you say?"
"Hmm?" Her own eyes went big as she realized what she said. "Oh, I meant Mizu-"He placed one finger over her lips. "Shh…I don't mind. In fact…" A soft hesitant smile bloomed on his face. "…why don't we start over from the beginning?"
She nodded shyly, taking both of his hands into her own. "I'd like that.""Nice to meet you. My name's Mizuki Hajime." He gave her a sweeping bow, gesturing with his arm extravagantly.
"I'm ." She suppressed a giggle as she mimicked his bow. "It's nice to meet you too, Mizuki-san."He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers softly. "Call me Hajime."
She blushed. "Hajime…"
He thought she looked very endearing when her face went pink, and vowed to make her do that as much as possible. He leaned in close so their cheeks were touching and he could speak into her ear. "And I promise that I'll make sure you're a lot more selfish this time around."fin.
Krys
26.November.2005