『Okay class, today we're going to talk about occupations. What do you want to be when you grow up? Let's start with you.』

『Huh?』

『What do you want to be when you grow up, -chan?』

『I... I...umm...I...』

『She wants to marry Atsushi-kun!』
 

Crush

    "! Get your arse over here, !"

    "Ah…-chan, I'm sorry!" called in response to her friend, carefully holding on to the Bento containers so to not spill their contents by accident.

Waiting for their food to arrive were the Rokkaku Tennis Team Regulars. The routine of her sending them refreshments has begun not long before Kisarazu Atsushi moved to St. Rudolph and had continued on ever since. was recruited to this task because her best friend , who happened to be Aoi's neighbor, told the energetic captain about her famous domestic skills, and most importantly her near cordon-bleu cooking skills. Okay, the last part may have been a bit over-exaggerated by , but accepted anyway, just for the chance to be nearer to the Kisarazu twins….or more specifically one of them.

Kisarazu Ryou.

She had been trying hard for years change his opinion of her, and even though they've been meeting each other on a regular basis for the past year, he still refused to acknowledge her. He talked and was friendly to everyone BUT her. She's the only one he acts distant with.

She wondered what she ever did to throw him off like that.

Was it because how she looked? Was it because how she act? ...or was it simply because of that incident more than 7 years ago?

Ever since that one accident that happened in their first year in primary school, when the teacher asked them about their future occupation of choice, had blurted out the name of the person liked and announced to all ears that she was interested in becoming Mrs. Kisarazu and Ryou's sister in law, and for the rest of the year, she and the twins were constantly teased about it.

Atsushi didn't really mind, and even played along (nice person that he was), but Ryou on the other hand, acted like a total jerk to her. He totally ignored her and glared at whoever so much as uttered the ‘sister-in-law' joke.

Fortunately, throughout primary school, they were never in the same class and only saw each other by coincidentally from time to time.

Still…wasn't 7 years a bit too long to keep a grudge on someone?

Especially when that ‘grudge' happened when they were just foolish kids who didn't know any better?

She raised her gaze just in time to catch him staring at her, before they both quickly averted their gazes.

Their actions didn't go unnoticed by the eyes of Aoi and .

Both of them stared at each other, as if discussing something in a telepathic way before nodding to each other.

    "Oi! Could you two come here for a moment?" The Captain called them

    "Yes?" The second year student and the third year Ryou answered at the same time.

    "Could you two go to the local store and buy us some drinks? The tea really smells great; -chan, but I really shouldn't be drinking it right now. Stomach problems." Aoi told them with a slight grin, flashing an apologetic look "and since it's rude to let a lady walk by herself, I'm having him accompany you."

They were about to protest, but spoke first

    "Really, , Kisarazu, just do as Aoi says, I mean…what harm could it do?"

    "But -chan---"

    "Uh-uh, no buts.  It's not like you'll bite each other's head off or anything…right?"

The athletic female narrowed her eyes into a somewhat glare to accompany her statement, as if daring them to say otherwise.

Not wanting to waste anymore time and cause a ruckus, they reluctantly agreed and traveled off towards the direction of the mini mart…

---

The 20 minute trip to the convenient store was had been filled with uncomfortable silence. Neither of them dared speak to the other.

silently prayed for some kind of miracle to happen and end the silence…or at least something to help her finish this errand quickly before Kisarazu finally decides to voice out the truth behind his displeasure with her or something.

As if some kind of higher being heard her prayers, something did happen…

It suddenly started raining…

Running to take shelter from the gathering rain at a nearby park, silently cursed the gods for putting her in this prediction.

The higher beings must have hated her, because now she was forced to spend more time with him alone in an alarmingly close proximity.

Ryou also seemed to look annoyed too, judging from the expression on his face as he tried to fan his cap dry.

    "I'm sorry…" She apologized, not knowing what else to say, not wanting to spend another moment in uncomfortable silence. She didn't think he'd reply, and expected him to just ignore her like he always did, but he surprised her by saying…

    "Is the rain part of your fault?" The words accompanied by a raised eyebrow "It isn't in your control, so you don't need to apologize, "

She wanted to say something, but decided that it was better to shut up and once again, silence fell over them. The more time she spent in his presence in quiet the more miserable she felt.

Actually, all of this was indeed her fault. Not the rain, but the reason behind their whole ‘grudge'. 7 years ago, about a week before that incident, had caught her staring at the twins as they were practicing tennis, and being the observant person that was, coupled with the embarrassment shown on 's face, her best friend was able to put two and two together and concluded that she liked one of the twins.

However, not watching them practice from the start and not knowing how to distinct between the two brothers, she assumed that was in fact staring at Atsushi. When asked, didn't reply, and decided to take that as a yes.

When actually…all this time…she's been love struck with a silent crush on Ryou.

Truth be told, she wondered if the gods knew what she was feeling, and that was why they gave her a reason to be alone with him, rather than try to punish her.

Not to mention that even though he was soaked, and all he still looked nice.

    "…is there something on my face?"

She was caught off guard when the boy in question's eyes suddenly caught her wandering gaze and decided to voice his curiosity. She could feel the heat in her cheek rising, despite the coolness of the autumn rain, she silently prayed that he wasn't going to reprimand her and crush all her hopes of keeping her silly crush.

    "N…no, but…i…is there anything I could help you with K…k…Kisarazu-kun?"

Damn it…why does she always have to be reduced to a stuttering fool whenever he's in front of her?

It's probably because of the fear that he hates her…yet she wonders why he was offering to keep her company during this rain when she knew that he could easily walk back himself and leave her here alone…was this some sort of scheme to throw her off guard before ultimately disposing himself of her or something?

    "" He finally spoke again, his voice surprisingly low.

    "Y…yes?" She immediately retorted, caught off guard by the sudden change in his behavior.

    "Will you…go out with me?"

…

…

…

WHAT?!

Did he actually just say what she thought he did?

    "But I thought you hate me!" She exclaimed, her voice nearly the level of hysterics "W…why else would you always be quiet whenever I'm around? Not to mention that twins are supposed to have the same type of girls, a…and last I check, Atsushi-kun l…likes beautiful girls"

    "No I don't, I've never hated you and for your future information, I do like beautiful girls, just not in the conclusion you're jumping to." He replied calmly in a rather neutral tone

    ‘W...what do you mean?" She squeaked, her mind not believing what her ears were telling her

And then it hit her.

She was too preoccupied in her thoughts before now to notice that he was actually…blushing?

Now why would he be blushing…c…could it be that he was actually saying the truth?

could almost feel the redness in her face increasing from the thought of that conclusion.

    "What I meant to say is…I like girls who are beautiful in personality." He told her, turning into another direction with a hand over his mouth…as if to shield her from seeing his blush "You have a gentle heart and care more about others than yourself, , the taste of your cooking reflects how much effort you put into them for our sake."

    "And just so you know, the reason I acted the way I did, was because I didn't know how to act around you." He continued on, "Knowing that the girl I liked has more feelings for my brother than she does for me was a hard blow to my pride and I distant myself from you because I didn't want you to treat me nicely just because I look like the person you like."

The more he confessed, the more she felt her heart beat faster, she wanted to tell him otherwise and proved to him that he misunderstood her…that she actually loved him but the look on his face told her that he wasn't finished.

    "But being here made me realize…that I'm actually closer to you now than my brother is. That I might have a chance to show you that I'm another person from Atsushi…that I could convince you of our difference and make you look my way. What I'm trying to say is…would you…even for a little while…try to see what it's like to be my girlfriend?"

With his gentle gaze boring into hers and the sound of their heartbeats filling up the silent atmosphere…she opened her mouth and told him her reply….
 

~Owari~
Mizutama
12.April.2006