The park was empty, and the pair sitting atop seemed to be ruling a quiet country. 's legs dangled through the openings between the bars, occasionally colliding with Ohtori Choutarou's. These two weren't rulers at all, but best friends, second years at Hyoutei Gakuen. It was night, explaining the absence of the rowdy kids who actually ruled the playground.

    "He's just so amazing," said, staring up at the cloudless sky.

    "So do I finally get to find out who this lucky guy is?" Ohtori questioned. They were talking about 's crush. She'd been talking about him for years now, but she never told her best friend who it was, enjoying the frustration it put him through. She found it endearing.

    "Afraid not," teased, tapping the top of his nose.

    "When do I get to know?" Ohtori asked, exasperated.

    "When the time is right," replied, bringing her face close to his. "You'll be surprised."

    "Will I be happy about it?" Ohtori inquired.

    "Well...I don't know," responded truthfully. "But...you know him well..."

    "I do?"

    "Hai."

    "So you're afraid I might tell him."

    "That's no it at all!"

    "Then why?"

    "You'll know when I tell you." flashed him a smile, and Ohtori gave up.

    "Fine. You win," Ohtori said, jumping down. let herself fall and Ohtori caught her.

    "Do you have practice tomorrow?"

    "Of course."

    "Meet me here after, then?"

    "Do you even have to ask?" Ohtori gave a bright smile to his best friend. "I'll always be waiting here."

---

Ohtori took off his sweaty t-shirt and wiped himself down with a towel taken from his locker. He rested for a few seconds on the bench behind him, the towel resting over his head. It had been a tiring practice, as expected from the boastful school. Ohtori stood up again, letting the towel fall softly to the bench.

    "Ohtori," came Shishido Ryou's voice.

    "Hm?" Ohtori responded.

    ""Isn't that the towel gave you?" Shishido asked.

    "Yep," Ohtori replied. Ohtori treasured that towel. had receieved it from her brother who was studying abroad in the US. Embellished on it was ‘Choutarou and . Best Friends Forever.'; embroidered by her own hands.

    "You must really like her to wash and use that towel everyday," Shishido commented. Ohtori blushed, thankful that a locker door was between them, and put on a casual t-shirt. "You should tell her."

    "I can't," Ohtori said quickly.

    "Why not?" Shishido demanded.

    "Because she likes someone else," Ohtori said matter-of-factly.

    "She still hasn't told you who that is?" Shishido inquired.

    "Nope," Ohtori responded. "But I got a new clue yesterday."

    "Oh? What was it?" Shishido asked.

    "That I know him well..." Ohtori said, his voice drifting off at the end of his sentence. The clues had been leading to him for awhile, and the new clue seemed to make it a little more obvious. Could it be? Could the girl he liked, his best friend, have a crush on his doubles partner?

    "Ohtori? Something dawn on you?" Shishido asked his spaced out friend.

    "Maybe," Ohtori responded.

    "Who do you think it is?" Shishido asked.

    "I'm not going to say," Ohtori told him, packing up his stuff. "Don't want to end up looking stupid."

    "You won't," Shishido disagreed. "What are you thinking?"

    "Sorry, I've got to get going. I'll see you later, Shishido-senpai," Ohtori said, waving as he stepped out of the changing room.

    "Yeah, see ya," Shishido replied, closing his locker.

---

    "She's late again," Ohtori said, staring up at the empty monkey bars. His eyes looked past them and towards the star-filled sky.

    "What was that, Choutarou?" asked from the swings, grinning.

    "I though you were going to be on the monkey bars," Ohtori explained, grinning as well.

    "Well, I was, but you took so long, my butt was going numb!" retorted as she stood from the swings. Ohtori smiled and climbed to the top of the monkey bars, offering a hand to . She took it and the both of them sat once again, silently ruling the playground.

    " ," Ohtori blurted, breaking the peaceful silence. "Would it be too much to ask for another clue?"

    "Another one?" responded. "But I've given you so many already. You might find out who it is." Ohtori said nothing, staring dejectedly at the sand below. "But...okay." She smiled, giving in. She thought about it for a second, deliberating on what to say. "Well...he has nice hair."

    "Nice hair, huh?" Ohtori repeated, half smiling, half sulking. Though Shishido's flowing locks were cut off due to losing to Fudoumine's Tachibana, he still kept what he had left in great shape. But why? What did Shishido have that he didn't? Ohtori began to get angry at his teammate, but knew it wasn't his fault.

    "Mou... , I've got to go now," Ohtori lied, fearing he would snap at her any minute.

    "Doushite? You just got here," asked, surprised.

    "I've got some errands to run. Sumimasen. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

    "Yeah...see you tomorrow..."

---

He did see her the next day. He saw her there, playing restlessly with the ends of her silky hair, staring shyly at the ground. She was of small stature, even compared to Shishido's 5'4" frame. He was a few feet away, but he could see perfectly her flushing red cheeks. Was she telling him how he felt? How was Shishido going to react? His doubles partner knew Ohtori liked her, but...

Shishido grinned. smiled at him in return. What was going on? No way could the young man he helped bring back into the regulars be betraying him like that. Oh, but he was. The brown-haired boy stepped closer to the girl he liked and embraced her tightly, a cheeky grin plastered across his face. returned the hug, a serene look on her face. He was supposed to be standing there, not him. He was the one who was supposed to be there, holding her close. The double betrayal hurt, and Ohtori retreated to the restroom, a bitter taste rising in his throat.

---

    "Choutarou! Punctual as usual!" greeted from atop the monkey bars. "Practice ran late again, right?"

    "Yeah, sure," Ohtori answered absentmindedly. To tell the truth, Ohtori wasn't sure he was going to show up at all. Ohtori climbed the monkey bars and positioned himself a few bars away from . For the first time, there was an awkward silence.

    "Ah! Ohtori!" exclaimed, breaking it. "I know the prefect time to tell you!"

    "Oh?" Ohtori answered despondently. "When?"

    "At the dance!" replied.

    "Okay," Ohtori said quietly.

    "But only if you go with me," continued, trying hard to keep her enthusiasm consistent. Ohtori looked her in the eyes for the first time that night.

    "Don't you want to go with Mr. Fabulous?" he asked bluntly, pulling off a Ryoma-esque stare.

    "Do you think I'm brave enough to do that?" asked him.

    "Yes," Ohtori said, returning his gaze to the floor. After all, she had been brave enough to tell her how she felt about him. Why not ask him to the dance?

    "Sou ka," said, her eyes traveling to the sky. Once again, there was an awkward silence. "So will you go with me?" Ohtori looked up at again and a smiled appeared on  his face. 's earnest look and pleading eyes made all his anger disappear.

    "Sure," Ohtori said, letting himself slip through the monkey bars. did the same, Ohtori catching her before she hit the floor. "I'll meet you here, then, tomorrow, at six."

    "And if I'm late?" asked, curious.

    "Don't worry. I'll always be here, waiting."

---

Ohtori arrived five minutes early, dressed in black dress pants, a white (untucked) button-down shirt and a black tie. He held a plastic box contained a corsage made of carnations and baby's breath. wasn't there yet, as he'd expected. He leaned a shoulder tiredly on a leg of the monkey bars.

    "Ohtori," came a whisper from behind him, but before he could turn around, a force was bringing him down by his neck.

    "," choked Ohtori. "You're suffocating me."

    "Sorry," giggled, ending the ‘embrace'. Ohtori turned around, and was struck speechless. looked spectacular. She wore a curve-fitting black halter dress, the flowing hem ending just before her slender ankles. And anklet hung loosely above the strings of black stilettos. The most beautiful thing she wore, though, was her smile. "Well? Say something!"

    "Oh, sorry," Ohtori said, snapping out of it. "You look...absolutely stunning." blushed.

    "Shut up," was all she could think of to say, turning even redder. This brought a smile to Ohtori's face.

    "So, Ohime-sama, shall we go?" Ohtori said, offering his arm.

    "Let's," said, taking his arm.

---

Ohtori's arms hung loosely around 's waist, her arms draped over his shoulders. The music controlled their bodies as they swayed to the rhythm. Others stared admiringly at them, wondering if they had finally moved past best friend status. 's head lay on his chest, and they could feel each other breathing. It would have been picture perfect. If 's crush wasn't interfering so much.

    "He is...just perfect, Choutarou," whispered serenely, oblivious to the fact that Ohtori was getting a tad irritated.

    "Mm hmm," was all he managed to utter as he caught throwing another glance in Shishido's direction. "So don't I get to know his name?"

    "At the end," said, sending a smile back to Shishido.

    "Okay," Ohtori replied, biting his lower lip to keep from saying more. At that time, he had been able to control himself, but as time progressed and kept talking about him and stealing glances at Shishido, he burst.

    "Look, if you're not going to tell me until the end, then why do you have to keep talking about him?" Ohtori said, irritated. "And do you have to keep looking at him?"

    "Choutarou?" asked, pulling away from him. As she did, Ohtori shook his head, trying to keep all his emotions inside. stood dumbstruck for a few seconds before realizing she had to chase after him. She ran out of the ballroom and into the foyer. She saw Shishido standing there, looking just as awestruck as she had been a few moments ago. She ran up to him.

    "Shishido-senpai. Have you seen Choutarou?" asked, evident worry written on her face and expressed in her voice.

    "Yeah...he just ran out of here," Shishido said, blinking. "Is something the matter?"

    "Yes," responded, "And I need to fix it." With that, she ran out of the building, the clicking of her heels fading as the seconds passed.

---

    "Where could he be?" wondered out loud. Her heels clicked into the night as she ran forward.

---

    "Do you have practice tomorrow?" "Of course." "Meet me here after, then?" "Do you even have to ask?" Ohtori gave a bright smile to his best friend. "I'll always be waiting here."

Before the thought could fully process in her head, her feet were taking her south, towards the park. She hoped that he would be waiting there, like he'd promised. Before long, the playground came into view. Ohtori was sitting there, atop the monkey bars. She ran through the sand, almost falling a few times. Her stumbling must have made quite a commotion for Ohtori to turn around.

    "Hoi, Choutarou," yelled. "That's so unfair. I can't get up there in these heels! This dress isn't much help either."

    "What if I don't want you up here," Ohtori pouted.

    "Choutarou, please don't be like that," pleaded. "Come down here. Please." Ohtori, unable to resist, climbed down and settled himself across from .

    "I'm going to tell you a story," said, sitting on her legs.

    "It's about him, isn't it?" Ohtori moaned.

    "No, you'll like this one," said, smiling softly. Ohtori sighed deeply and crossed his arms, giving the go ahead. smiled softly, and she settled her hands onto her lap. "Well, when I was younger, my family was struggling with money. My dad hadn't gotten his promotion yet. I was always dressed in ragged clothes; sometimes I was wearing hand-me-downs from my older brother. My brother was my only friend. I was always picked on. Demo...

    "My brother was a great student. He was given the opportunity to study overseas in the US. Of course, my brother was worried about me, but my parents and I wanted him to take the great opportunity. And so he left. I was left all alone, unable to fend for myself. Now that my brother was gone, the teasing got worse and worse. I'd come home with cuts and bruises, and my parents would wonder where they came from. I never told them. I was too ashamed.

    "One day while walking home after school, a particularly mean-looking group of boys approached me. They were probably two or three years older than me. They poked fun at my clothes and at my fragile body. They started to push me around and throw things at me. I cowered in fear, hoping it'd all go away, but it made things worse. They laughed, calling me a coward. I feared this time things would be much, much worse.

    "But another young boy came along. He was my age, and so much smaller than the other boys. They laughed as he tried to protect me, but he took all the abuse. When they grew bored of harming him, they threw him to the side, wanting to attack me. But he refused to let it happen. He shoved the boy aside, and took me away. And we ran. He said he knew the block well, and if I tried hard enough, we could out run them.

    "We did. We outran them. He...saved me. He protected me. He was bleeding for me. And he smiled at me. Choutarou, he was there for me. And that's why, to this day, I still pine for him. Demo, I never saw him again after that. I didn't know how to find him. But we met again, when my father got promoted and I was allowed to attend Hyoutei. I was so glad that I had found him again. My guardian..." 's face smiled softly, staring at her clasped hands in her lap. It make Ohtori mad. The story seemed vaguely familiar. Perhaps it was an old fairy tale, a folklore. Which meant she was making it all up. What did that have to do with anything anyway?

    "He's probably forgotten all about it by now," Ohtori said bittierly, staring intensely at her face. Now he wished he hadn't looked at her. Her serene smile faded slowly as the rest of her face contorted in despair. Her eyes closed tightly, not wanted to let the tears out, but they overflowed, bursting through her shut eyes, and falling down her face.

    "Yeah," she said, her voice cracking. "You're right. He probably has..." Ohtori's heart was torn. He had done that to her, causing her pain. He leaned forward and held her, letting the tears soak into his shirt.

    "Why are you crying? Please don't cry," Ohtori pleaded, stroking her hair. "He—he's just some silly boy..."

    "Because, Choutarou...it's you. You were the one who saved me from those boys..." Her sobs became louder as she shoved his chest. So that was the reason the story sounded so familiar. His heart broke.

    " , I—" he paused, not knowing what to say. Nothing made sense now. Hadn't it been Shishido? Wasn't Shishido the one she was pining for? "How could this be? I saw you—I saw you with Shishido yesterday, under the tree..."

    "I was telling him...about you," she said, her voice muffled. Ohtori fell onto the sand, his face in complete awe.

    "And...why did you keep looking at him at the dance?" Ohtori asked, pieces falling into place, his heart breaking more each time they did.

    "He told me to tell you tonight, before it was too late...he was reassuring me that everything would turn out...perfect..." her voice faltered at the final word. "I waited too long..." A new batch of tears streamed down her face. "Demo...daisuki, Choutarou-chan...daisuki..."

    " ..." Ohtori said softly, pulling her face up so she could look at him. His face was soft, eyes staring deeply into hers. "I would have waited forever to hear you say that to me..." With those words, he gently tugged on her face, bringing it closer to his. Their lips made contact, and 's hand made its way to the back of Ohtori's neck, deepening the kiss. When the kiss finally broke, the smiled at each other, and embraced.

    "I'm sorry, Ohtori, for all the pain I've caused you," said, clinging tightly to him.

    "No. I'm sorry..." Ohtori said. The two sat under the monkey bars, the moon smiling approvingly on them.

---

    "So last night was the confession, huh?" Shishido teased, slapping his doubles partner playfully on the back.

    "Arigatou," Ohtori said to Shishido.

    "Huh?" asked the shorter of the boys. "What'd I do?"

    "Thank you for giving the confidence to tell me..." Ohtori said, unable to keep a smile from forming on his face. Shishido smiled in return.

    "I did nothing," he replied, wrapping a friendly arm around his friend. "Everything was there, I just gave it a little shove."

    "In any case, thank you, but..." Ohtori said, closing his locker.

    "But...?" Shishido repeated.

    "I ended up looking stupid anyway." Ohtori responded. Shishido smirked. Ohtori picked up his bag and headed out the door. was waiting there.

    "Ah? I thought we were meeting at the monkey bars?" Ohtori asked, lacing his fingers with hers.

    "You are always waiting for me," said, resting her head on his arm. "I thought I'd turn it around for once, and I'd wait for you."

    "Sweet," Ohtori said, closing the door after catching a cheeky grin from Shishido.

    "Just don't expect it everyday..." pointed out as they walked off.

fin
soh
13.July.2005