Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Aoharu x Kikanjuu and make no money from these writings.

One Shot

Chapter One

The morning at the field was cool and quiet as Hotaru tried to wake up a little more. She was already changed and ready for their first game as she waited with Yukimura while Matsuoka registered them for the day. The two Toy Gun Gun members sat in a mostly comfortable silence at the table under their team's section of the tent while Hotaru nibbled at her granola bar breakfast and finished off a bottle of juice. Yukimura was reading...something. She couldn't see the cover, but she could take a good guess at what it was and decided that she wasn't brave enough to actually ask the title.

Hotaru was just crumpling up the granola bar wrapper to throw it away when the peace of the morning was broken. A small commotion drew her attention as a group of teenaged boys made their way towards the tents and tables.

All three boys were fairly tall, but one was several inches shorter than the other two, who looked like they were probably twins.

"Wait, you guys!" One of the twins called from where he was lagging behind due to his crutches. "These things weren't really made for wet grass."

"It's your own fault," the shorter boy called over his shoulder without slowing his pace. "You know the grass is always wet in the mornings but you demanded we bring you along anyway."

"Give him a break, Souta," the uninjured twin laughed as he waited for his brother to catch up. "You know he's been stuck in bed since he broke his leg. And you aren't the one who has to share a room with him while he whines about the "injustice of it all." If getting out for a day shuts him up, I'll carry him around the field if I have to."

The shorter boy, Souta, set two duffel bags down on a table just two down from Toy Gun Gun's before he turned around and faced the brothers. "Again, it's his own fault he broke his leg. We all told him he couldn't make that jump, and what did he do anyway? He jumped."

"Yeah," the twin on crutches grunted as he finally made it to the table's bench and sat down heavily. "But it was fun before the landing and all the girls in class have been so nice and helpful while I recover. So it's not all bad!"

As the boys continued to bicker and joke with each other, a little flag went up in Hotaru's brain. These guys looked familiar. And something about what they were saying sounded familiar as well. Looking them over again, she tried to place where she knew them. The boy named Souta was probably as tall as Matsuoka, but he didn't seem like he would stand out as much with his black hair and dark brown eyes. The twins, on the other hand, seemed a little easier to place. Each of them were taller than Souta with chestnut brown hair and light brown eyes. The one with the broken leg had a few light freckles across his nose and cheeks. She knew that she knew them from somewhere. It wasn't until she glanced down at the boy's cast and saw Kanae's signature that everything came together. They went to the same school. These boys were third years, but she'd seen them around here and there. And the boy on the bench was the idiot who'd tried to jump into a tree from a third floor window. He'd made it to the tree just fine, but his feet slipped off the branch as soon as he made contact and he'd promptly fallen to the ground, hitting several branches on the way down.

They played survival games?

She didn't know anyone else at her school played. And she couldn't remember ever seeing them around the field. But they seemed comfortable here. Much more comfortable than she'd been her first time. They definitely seemed to know their way around.

Turning to ask Yukimura if he'd seen them around before, she was surprised to find the older man already staring at the teenage trio. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide with surprise. Setting his book aside (which caused Hotaru to sigh as she saw the cover), he quickly glanced around like he was checking for someone else.

"Yukimura-san?" Hotaru questioned. She was going to ask who he was looking for when a voice called out from behind her.

"Yukimura-san!"

Hotaru whipped around to see the boy with the broken leg leaning to peer around her and call out to the older man. "It's been a while," he waved.

Appearing to give up on finding whoever he was looking for, Yukimura took a deep breath before putting on his polite-but-fake smile and standing to walk over to the boys. "You weren't at TGC this last time," he stated. "I can probably guess why now."

"Well, I didn't really help," the boy said as he knocked his knuckles against the plaster of his cast, "but there was some other stuff that kept us from going, too."

"Oh?" Yukimura asked, but Hotaru thought he looked off somehow. Almost like he was nervous, but not quite. Anxious, maybe? What in the world was going on?

"Yeah, it was Sis," Souta supplied easily from the other side of the table.

Yukimura cleared his throat. "Your sister?"

Souta nodded, "She was going through some stuff, so between that and Sho's leg, we ended up not going." He paused for a moment before continuing, "But if you knew we weren't there, I'm guessing you guys went this time. You found a third member?"

"We did," Yukimura answered with a little less tension in his voice as he gestured towards Hotaru. "Tachibana-kun joined our team."

Three sets of eyes immediately focused on Hotaru and she automatically stood a little straighter. Souta leaned forward a little as if to get a better look at her before realization dawned on his face. "Hey, aren't you Student Council President at our school?"

"No way!" Sho declared as he looked from Hotaru to Souta and back again. "The one who likes to pick fights? I didn't know you liked survival games."

"I don't pick fights," Hotaru defended before continuing. "And I haven't been playing long."

"A newbie, huh?" Sho said with his head tipped to the side as he looked her over. "We started playing when we were about your age. Fun, right?" Hotaru nodded a little uncertainly as Sho's bright eyes stayed locked on her. He certainly settled into familiar speech quickly. "Oh! Uh, I'm Sho, by the way. And that's my brother Shin and our friend Souta."

"Hotaru Tachibana. Nice to meet you," Hotaru answered with a short bow.

Sho was opening his mouth to say something else when another approaching voice made him pause.

"Can you believe that, Masamune? Can you?" A woman's voice was questioning the blond host.

"Not at all," Matsuoka replied, charm in full swing. "Well now that it's over, you should come see me at the club sometime. I'll even let your first visit be on the house."

The woman laughed as they made it to the tables. "We'll see, but don't count on it."

Matsuoka pouted good-naturedly before turning to face his teammates, and more specifically, Hotaru. "Making friends?" He asked. But before Hotaru could answer, he continued, "That's good! We used to play against team Dog Demon a lot. Maybe we'll start playing them again."

"Team Dog Demon?" Hotaru asked.

Three sets of eyes simultaneously turned to give Souta a flat look before he threw up his hands and said "What? It's cool!"

"Hi," the woman who'd been walking with Matsuoka greeted as she approached Hotaru. "Masamune told me they got a new teammate. You must be Hotaru, right?"

Hotaru had to look down to meet the woman's eyes. She knew that she was on the tall side for a girl, but this woman was pretty short too. "Yes," she finally answered. "Hotaru Tachibana."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Tachibana. I'm Kagome Higurashi, Souta's older sister, but you can just call me Kagome if you want," she smiled. "I'm sure we'll be seeing lots more of each other."

"Ah, thank you," Hotaru nodded. Kagome might be short, but she was very pretty. She could see why Matsuoka had sounded flirty with her earlier.

"Okay, guys," Kagome said as she turned to face the rest of her team. "We're on the field in a few minutes, so get your gear and let's head that way."

Hotaru watched as the small team got their guns, extra magazines, and safety glasses before making their way towards the field's entrance.

"Well," Sho sighed as he used his crutches to pull himself to his feet. Grabbing on of their now empty bags, he slung it over his shoulder before smiling at the other team. "I guess I'll go get them some drinks for when they come back. Better than just sitting around, you know?"

Once the boy was out of earshot, Matsuoka immediately rounded on Yukimura and began poking his friend in the shoulder with an excited grin. "Guess what I learned!" He said in a sing-song voice.

Smacking away the other man's hands, Yukimura looked a little skeptical as he asked, "What?"

"I learned why team Dog Demon hasn't been around lately!"

"Souta said it was because his sister was going through some things," Hotaru interjected.

"And Sho's leg," Yukimura added on.

Pouting at being interrupted, Matsuoka continued, "Yeah, Kagome was "going through some things," but do you know what kind of things?" He slid a very pointed look to his best friend. "She was in the middle of a very messy breakup with her ex-boyfriend."

Hotaru watched Yukimura's face instantly fall into a completely neutral expression before he grabbed his wallet from his bag and began walking in the other direction. "I'm going to get drinks too."

"Oh, come on!" Matsuoka called after his friend. "Yukki!" When all he got was a vague wave in answer, Matsuoka sighed and sat down on the bench beside their table.

Taking the seat opposite him, Hotaru spoke up, "Can I ask something?"

"Hm?" Matsuoka perked up a little at his teammate's question. "Sure."

"Yukimura-san started acting strangely after those boys got here. Is there a reason?"

Matsuoka stared at her for a moment before he outright laughed. "Oh, there's a reason. Kagome."

"Does he...not like her?" Hotaru ventured. She thought Kagome had seemed friendly and nice enough, but she also knew that Yukimura had trouble making friends and letting people get close to him.

"Try the opposite," Matsuoka grinned as he rested his chin on an upturned palm. "He's been in love with her basically since they we all met a few years ago."

Hotaru tried to think of something to say, but it just seemed...weird. For some reason, she had trouble picturing Yukimura having romantic feelings for someone else. Sexual feelings that probably involved some weird fetishes, sure. But him and romantic feelings just didn't seem like a thing. "Really?"

"Mhm," Matsuoka nodded, seemingly happy to divulge a little more about his best friend. "But Kagome was always dating this other guy, so Yukki's never said a word to her about it. He wants to be closer to her, but he's always been afraid to want more of what he can't have. But that's different now! She's single and seems ready to move on-AH!" His sentence ended in a shriek as a cold bottle was pressed to the back of his neck.

"Stop talking, Mattsun," Yukimura said as he placed several cold bottles on the table. "It's not your business."

Rubbing the back of his neck to warm up the cold spot, Matsuoka argued, "I know you want to know what happened though."

Yukimura didn't say anything as he sat back down, opened his drink, and pick up his book again.

"Right," Matsuoka said with a small roll of his eyes. Turning back to face Hotaru, he continued speaking to her even though it was obviously for someone else's benefit. "According to Kagome, they got into a big fight about survival games." He watched and smiled as Yukimura paused in turning his page. "Apparently, he was never a fan of her playing survival games, but once they started talking about getting married and she still refused to stop playing, it caused a big thing. He told her that she just wasn't marriage material with such a violent hobby. So she left him."

Hotaru's mouth was open in shock. The guy had said he wouldn't marry someone he otherwise loved because of their hobby? She had the sudden and distinct urge to meet the guy and have a few words, and she'd only just met Kagome.

Eyes now firmly watching his childhood friend, Matsuoka continued, "She packed up her stuff and moved back home to her family's shrine. She only just recently found a new apartment. The boys, minus Sho, helped her move most of her stuff in last night so that they could unbox their gear and come out here today. And it turns out that they never even got their invitation to TGC. It was sent to her old address at her ex's house and he didn't give it to her until after the RSVP date had passed."

"What a jerk!" Hotaru stood suddenly while slamming her hands down on the table. It was only when several passersby stopped to stare at her wide-eyed that her cheeks pinkened and she sat back down. "He can't just do that!" She hissed.

"Well, he can and he did," Matsuoka shrugged. His eyes followed poor Sho as he hobbled his way back to the tents with several drinks stuffed in the bag he had slung over his shoulder. "This might be a good time to make a new friend, Yukki."

"Leave it alone," the brunette said as he pulled his book closer to his face.

"Put that down!" Hotaru bit out, forcing the book back closer to the table. "There are still minors here and they can see the cover of your dirty book."

It wasn't long after that team Dog Demon returned with a cry of victory. "Ah," Shin sighed as he took a gulp of one of the drinks his brother had bought. "A win after such a long break feels good."

Kagome approached Toy Gun Gun's table looking equally pleased and smiled at the trio. "So are you guys ready to play? Just so you know, it doesn't look like our time away made us rusty. You could just go ahead and concede defeat now."

Standing just so that he could bend over and be more intimidating, Matsuoka grinned at Kagome with a competitive gleam taking over his eyes. "Death first," he told her.

"Good to hear!" Kagome laughed as she took a step back and looked at the rest of the opposing team. "Let us get a little more to drink and catch our breath, and we'll meet you over by the field's entrance."

As she turned to walk away, Hotaru watched Yukimura's eyes follow her. He had a look that she'd never seen on him before. It was similar to the way he looked at Matsuoka, with respect and affection, but this look held something more. Something deeper that looked almost like pining.

'Holy cow,' she thought with a start. 'Maybe he really is in love.'