Hai minna chan!!! He-he-heh yeah yeah I know I've post this before, but I decided to delete the previous one and replace it with this one, this time it's edited and revised by J, my kind hearted-beta reader!! So as to speak, it's not exactly major changes, but it's still better than my original one, soo... have a nice reading (or re-read?). Well yeah, enjoy!! Err... PoT is not mine...(obviously!), it's Konomi-sensei so I'm going to worship you Sensei!
Kaidoh and Meitantei Regulars
Kaidoh served perfectly and scored the last game with a 6-1 win against Arai Masashi. He realized that Arai has a bit of talent but maybe he will have a chance next year when the third years already graduate. But for now, he still has a loooong way to go! Kaidoh sat on one of the benches outside the court and drank his mineral water. On Court D, he saw the rookie, Echizen Ryoma wipe out a third year non-regular member with 6-0. Echizen against the non-regulars equals love game, he's too strong for them, Kaidoh mused un-excitedly. His ego was shot when Echizen beat him in the Seigaku ranking tournament a few months ago. Absentmindedly, he relaxed his sore muscles and watched his buchou, Tezuka Kunimitsu, give orders to the other members.
"Hey, Mamushi…" someone tapped his shoulder from behind. Kaidoh growled. The only person who dares to do that is him.
"What, Momoshiro?" he asked without turning his head. Momoshiro, or Momo-chan, was smiling despite the hostility his fellow second year regular showed. There's another thing that excited him this afternoon, and it concerned the aggressive Viper!
"There's someone looking for you…"
Kaidoh arched his brows. Somebody's looking for him? Him? That's odd… Nobody comes looking for Kaidoh Kaoru… unless its his mother or his little brother! Kaidoh looked around and his heart almost stopped beating. 'What's that girl doing here?!'
"… Ah, guess you know who's looking for you…" Momo smiled cheekily and went to call Echizen. Kaidoh stood nervously; he didn't want to go near the girl. But he knows that the girl will wait for him, seeing the persistence in her eyes. Kuso…. He'll have to ask buchou's permission first if he wants to speak to the girl…
"Tezuka Buchou…" Kaidoh addressed his captain. Tezuka turned around and stared his junior, puzzled. There's something wrong with Kaidoh. He was fidgeting…
"Is something wrong, Kaidoh?" he asked.
"Errr… may I have your permission Buchou, there's someone looking for me…"
"Someone…" Tezuka followed Kaidoh eyes that landed on a girl who stood just outside the fence, her eyes looked hopeful. If he was surprised, Tezuka didn't show it. He reverted his gaze back to the court. "You have my excuse… But next time, wait until practice over…"
"Thank you so much, Buchou…" Kaidoh bowed deeply. He was very surprised to get permission from the stoic and strict buchou. When he walked out the court, he caught his teammates' curious eyes. Damn, that good for nothing Momo must've told everyone that a girl was visiting Kaidoh in the middle of practice! Kaidoh decided to ignore that nonetheless.
"I'm so sorry, Senpai…." the girl bowed deeply. Kaidoh nodded nervously. He's not comfortable near girls except the girls in his class (because he has to obviously). And this girl definitely has the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen… 'Okay, rewind, did Kaidoh Kaoru just think what he thinks he thought?'
"I was just going to watch your practice, Kaidoh-senpai… But Momo-Senpai said that you finished already so…" her face flushed. 'Damn that baka peach!' Kaidoh cursed angrily… 'Wait 'til I give you a piece of my mind!'
"By the way, is Tezuka-senpai angry?" asked Hasegawa Miyu. Kaidoh twitched. Why does he even remember this girl's name?
"No... No, he wasn't angry…" he stuttered. "What do you want?"
"Ah, wait Senpai…" she rummaged through her school bag and handed him something. It was the bandanna Kaidoh had lent her. It was raining so hard yesterday morning, and when Kaidoh decided to take shelter at the bus stop, the girl was already there. Obviously she didn't bring her umbrella either, and she was soaking wet. Even though he's too shy for his own good, Kaidoh is not a cruel guy, especially to his schoolmate (Kaidoh has seen her couple of time at school… not that he pays attention…). He gave his bandanna so the girl could wipe herself dry a little. The green bandanna was obviously in a better shape now, having been washed and ironed. "Arigatou gozaimasu Senpai for the bandanna…"
"Okay…" Kaidoh nodded and looked around him, looking at anything but her. But the genki girl didn't look bothered by his obvious ignorance.
"Senpai, next time, could I jog with you in the morning?"
"Huh?!" How does she know that Kaidoh jogs every morning before school?
"I see you jog by my house every morning…" her face blushed. Kaidoh felt he was blushing too. "And I think that I really need some jogging too… you see, I don't exercise a lot… maybe if I go with you I'll have more spirit… err… of course if Kaidoh-senpai agrees…."
"I jog 10 km every morning…."
"Huh? That far…."
"Then 10 km after the afternoon practice…. and another 10 km at night…."
"Wow… sugoi…." she was definitely impressed. Kaidoh gulped. What the F- why did he even tell her that?!
"Well…. I can't run 10 km, but at least I could run until the end of our housing complex, how is that Kaidoh-Senpai?"
"Aa…" Kaidoh closed his mouth again, bewildered. This girl is unbelievable…. She's seriously wants to jog with him?!
"Do you agree, Kaidoh-senpai?" Miyu looked hopefully at him like a lost kitty-cat. She would never leave and so he finally nodded. Hasegawa Miyu smiled broadly at his answer.
"Arigato, Senpai!!" she bowed again before waving her hand and disappearing, leaving a flabbergasted Viper.
Kaidoh wasn't aware that behind him were two pairs of eyes watching his conversation with Miyu. Momoshiro smiled mischievously to the person beside him, who could care less but his senior forced him to spy on his other senior.
"See I told you so, Echizen… that girl must've some connection to that mamushi…"
"That's not our business, Momo-senpai…" he adjusted his Fila hat. But Momoshiro didn't falter, even with Echizen's bored tone.
"Stupid Echizen! That girl is your classmate, aren't you interested? "
"My classmate?" Ryoma creased his forehead, clearly puzzled. His memory was considered bad; so far he only remembers his own teammates, the regulars' names, mind you. (Well, plus Arai-senpai, and some others he slaughtered on court. Oh yeah, that Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo)
"God gracious… you're an abnormal gaki!" Momo shook his head. "Come on… we better get back to court before Buchou sees us here…"
A few days later, Kaidoh found Miyu standing in front of a huge mansion waiting for him.
"This is your house?" Kaidoh stared at the grand mansion in front of him. Miyu told him that they lived in the same housing estate, but she didn't tell him that she was the owner of the biggest mansion in this area! Well, her father's mansion more accurately. Kaidoh read the silver sign on the gate, Hasegawa… Of course this is her house!
"Hai, Senpai…" Miyu smiled. She was as sunny as the sun itself, Kaidoh thought. She has that smiling face, similar to Fuji-Senpai… but hell no; Fuji's smile was way too creepy! "Shall we run now, Senpai?"
Miyu ran in front of Kaidoh, he kept it that way because it was dangerous for a girl like her running this early all alone. But of course she wasn't alone… After some hundred meters, Kaidoh saw that her breathing had became more ragged; she was puffing and huffing too heavily for Kaidoh's comfort.
"Hasegawa-san…" Kaidoh called. Miyu turned around and smiled again. But Kaidoh could tell that she was exhausted. "Were stoppping here okay…?"
"But Senpai… We haven't reached the end of this complex…
"It's enough for today… I'll get you back to your house now, OK? "
Her smile disappeared. She hung her head. "I'm sorry for troubling you, Senpai… I'll get home myself… you keep on running…"
"It's not that…" Kaidoh said uneasily. "You look tired… We'll continue this tomorrow; today you've had enough running…"
"I coan run with you again tomorrow, Senpai?" she exclaimed.
"Err… yeah… But we have to get back now, okay?" Kaidoh looked away, feeling that his face must be blushing quite heavily by now.
"Hai Senpai!!!! "
And that's how Kaidoh Kaoru, the Viper, the most frightening guy amongst the Seigaku Tennis Club, jogs everyday with a pretty first year girl. Kaidoh was so surprised when he found out that she was in the same class as the insolent gaki, Echizen Ryoma!
"Eh… Kaidoh has a girlfriend?!!!!" Kikumaru Eiji shrieked. "How's that possible, nyaaa…"
Like usual, Kikumaru Eiji- the acrobatic player and the most cheerful and carefree Seigaku regular- was eating lunch with the other regulars like Tezuka Kunimitsu, Oishi Shuichiroh, Inui Sadaharu, Kawamura Takashi and Fuji Shuusuke. This time, Momoshiro Takeshi and Echizen Ryoma joined them. Momoshiro fed them the important information about his rival.
"But it's true, Eiji-senpai… I saw it with my own eyes, Kaidoh goes to school with her all the time, and Echizen saw her waiting for Kaidoh after practice to go home together…"
"Leave me out of this, Momo-senpai!" Ryoma grumbled.
"Echizen has a point, Momoshiro… Why are you meddling with Kaidoh's business?" Tezuka looked at him sternly. Momo smiled sheepishly. Thank God it's not on the court, or Tezuka-buchou would've sent him running 50 laps around the court!
"Well… yeah, I thought isn't this a progress?" Momo shrugged.
"Nyaaa… Kaidoh has a girlfriend already…" Eiji scratched his head. The others were smiling at him. Eiji has a troop of girls all wanting to be his girlfriend because he was so cute and funny and kind and all, but he couldn't think of anything beside tennis so sorry girls….
"Then we have to be happy for Kaidoh…" Fuji said with his ever smiling… smile -also commonly referred to as Mysterious Sadistic Smile™.
"That's right… miracles seldom happen… Ii data!" Inui scribbled furiously into his precious notebook.
'Maybe Inui-senpai is right, it was a miracle' Ryoma thought to himself. He was never close to anyone before, but lately Ryoma hangs around a lot with Momo-senpai or Kikumaru-senpai. Kaidoh-senpai is considered more anti-social than himself. Heck, even the stoic Tezuka-buchou was hanging around with Oishi-senpai and Fuji-senpai a lot!
That afternoon, Ryoma was walking to the tennis court when he heard someone call his name. Ah, it was Kaidoh-senpai's girlfriend! Finally Ryoma realized that the girl is his classmate after Momo-senpai told him the other day. But he couldn't grasp her name yet…
"Excuse me, Echizen-kun…" she was busy steadying her breath. Ryoma furrowed his brows. Surely he had not walked that far from their classroom… why was she was running out of breath like that?
"What's up?" he asked. Practice will begin shortly and he doesn't want to get another 20 laps for coming in late.
"Could you please give this to Kaidoh-senpai?" she gave something to Ryoma; a letter?
"Is this all?"
"Yes, thank you Echizen-kun…"
"Err… wait! What's your name?"
"Hasegawa Miyu…" She smiled gingerly. She heard that Ryoma only focuses his attention on tennis. That guy doesn't even remember his teachers' name, let alone his classmates!
"Okay, Hasegawa-san… I'll give this to Kaidoh-senpai…"
"Just call me Miyu-chan…" she said immediately. "Everyone calls me that…"
At the Club House, everyone was gathered. Ryoma collapsed in one of the chairs, relieved. Though he was the last to come, he was not late. He scanned the room and found Kaidoh tying his bandanna. He changed into his jersey in a flash and moved to confront Kaidoh quietly.
"Kaidoh-senpai…" he mumbled. Kaidoh arched his brows. Ryoma never talks to him, even if they're teammates. They choose to ignore one another. "Miyu-chan wants to give you this."
"Miyu-chan?" Kaidoh retrieved the letter. Since when did Ryoma know Miyu, even calling her Miyu-chan?! He doesn't even remember Ryuuzaki-sensei's granddaughter's name, does he?
"Uis… ", without waiting for his confirmation, Ryoma picked up his racket and walked away. Kaidoh stared the letter in his hand. Why did she send him a letter? They just met this morning. And why did she get Echizen to deliver her letter? He decided to read the letter quietly, afraid that one of his teammates would see him reading a letter from Miyu. He knows that the gossip about him and Miyu is all over the tennis club, thanks to that baka peach!
Kaidoh-senpai, I'm so sorry, I had promised to wait for you after practice, but something important came up so I had to go home right away. And senpai, I can't jog with you tomorrow either… See you and I'm sorry, Miyu.
Kaidoh put the letter in his locker. So what if she couldn't wait for him today? He could care less… these couple of weeks, it's always her who asked to wait for him, not vice versa. He clenched his fist… but why does he feel… disappointed? He threw the thought away immediately and went out to start warming up.
The next couple of days, Miyu didn't show up to jog with him anymore. She didn't even go to school. Whenever he passes by her house, Kaidoh always stops and longingly stares at the bell. Torn between pressing the buzzer or walking to school. The latter always wins. At school, he expresses his anger by slaughtering each and every opponent he has, all in love games. He even challenges the regulars, mainly Ryoma. Tezuka knew there was something terribly wrong with him, so he sent Kaidoh to run 50 laps around the court. That way he'll be too busy to do anything else for awhile.
"I'm worried about Kaidoh…" Oishi sighed, watching his kohai running his 50 laps. "Anyone know why he's been acting so strange? "
"Oishi senpai…" Ryoma stopped his swinging training and looked at Oishi. He doesn't enjoy poking his nose in another's business but seriously, this time he needs to (especially when he's the main victim. Kaidoh-senpai continuously challenges him all the time -not that he didn't enjoy wiping him out in the court).
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kaidoh-senpai has been weird since Miyu-chan stopped attending school these last few days… Perhaps there's a connection?"
"Miyu-chan?" Oishi furrowed his brows.
"That's Kaidoh girlfriend… the cute first grader!" Momo chimed in. "She's Echizen's classmate! Hey, why did you call her Miyu-chan? Are you even close?"
"She asked me to call her that…" Ryoma shrugged. "I couldn't remember her surname anyway…"
Oishi and Momo exchanged glances. Typical Ryoma!
"What's wrong with Miyu-chan anyway?" Eiji draped his arm around Ryoma's shoulder. The boy only shrugged.
"I have no idea, senpai… But I think the teachers know cause' they didn't say anything about her absence… "
"This will take investigation!" Momo looked around and found Inui talking to some first years. "I'll go talk to Inui-senpai…"
"Hoi hoi… Will Tezuka buchou mind if we meddle around Kaidoh's private life, Oishii?" Eiji was asking his double partner, Oishi smiled weakly.
"Oh he definitely won't agree to this… But I'll try to assure him that it's concerning this club's wellbeing… and we can see that Kaidoh was so bothered, we can't risk anything… Echizen, please look around and find out anything you can about this girl in your class… maybe her friends know something… Okay?"
Ryoma reluctantly nodded his head.
The next day, Ryoma did not go out with Momoshiro for lunch as usual. He decided to investigate while the ever bragging Horio was out to have lunch. Chance! He looked around him but sadly he didn't know any of their names. He knew that Miyu sits in the middle isle, which means she sits beside the girl with short hair, who was blissfully eating lunch with her friends. Yosh, I must talk to her!, he thought determined.
"Err…listen. You… ehem… I'm Echizen… ", Ryoma was stuttering. 'Heck, why did I become this nervous all of a sudden!' The girls were watching Ryoma, completely bewildered. Some of them were blushing at the sight of him.
"Yeah… we know that you are Echizen Ryoma. Our classmate who won the Tennis Tournament yesterday?" said one of them while batting her eyelashes at him. Ryoma shuddered. Now he remembers why he doesn't enjoy being around girls too much!
"Miyu-chan… where is she? Do any of you know?" he asked impatiently. The young girls were surprised. Echizen Ryoma, the most popular male amongst the freshmen, the coolest, the most ignorant, but obviously the cutest one, was asking for Hasegawa Miyu? He even called her Miyu-chan?!!
"If you don't know that's OK…" he turned around.
"Ah wait, Echizen-san!" the girl with the short hair called him. "We don't know for sure what happened to her, but I have her phone number… Do you want it?"
Ryoma nodded gratefully and the girl wrote the number on a piece of paper. He thanked her properly and making note to self: Try to remember your classmates' names! It proves useful.'
"Kyoko-chan… why did you give Miyu-chan's number? I thought you like Echizen?!"
"Well yeah, but Echizen-san never remembers us, but he remembers Miyu-chan, he even asked about her! That's so weird, isn't it…?"
"Do you think he has a crush on Miyu-chan? Aww…. I'm so jealous!" And that's the fuss that happened right after Ryoma took his leave.
Right after the afternoon practice, Ryoma sauntered to the Club House without bothering to pick up tennis balls like his fellow first graders. That's because he's a super rookie, he has that advantage! He changed his jersey to his school uniform, while his eyes looked for Kaidoh. Yup, there he is, in the far corner. Ryoma was aware that Oishi-senpai was the one who suggested finding out about Miyu-chan, but it doesn't sound right to give her phone number in front of the other regulars. So Ryoma thought it's better to give it to Kaidoh when nobody was around!
"I'll head off home…" said Kaidoh. The others nodded in acknowledgement. When Kaidoh disappeared behind the door, Ryoma collected his things and went after his senpai.
"Hey Echizen, I thought we would go to the Street Tennis Courts today?" Momo protested.
"Sorry, Momo-senpai… I have other things to do… Ja!"
Ryoma ran after Kaidoh. Thank God he was still in sight.
"Kaidoh-senpai! Wait up!"
"Echizen?" Kaidoh stopped walking.
"Kaidoh-senpai… I have something for you…" Ryoma handed him a piece of paper, Kaidoh read it.
"It's Hasegawa-san's phone number?"
"Yes, senpai… One of my classmates gave it to me…"
"What do you think you're doing giving this to me?" his anger rose. How dare he do such a thing! Is he assuming I need it, that I need her?
"Maybe something happened to Miyu-chan… If you don't try to call her, we wouldn't know…" Ryoma said calmly before leaving a bewildered Kaidoh behind. He already had plans to bathe Karupin this evening… It's been awhile since he managed to do that!
Kaidoh stared at the paper in his hand while Ryoma's words sunk in. What if something bad happened to Miyu?
It's been an hour of Kaidoh glaring at the phone. Hazue –his younger brother sighed for the tenth time this evening. Kaoru was not the telephone type of guy, he doesn't like talking on the phone and he despises the telephone itself. Hazue had asked his permission to use the phone to call his classmate, but Kaoru went to 'fushuuu…' mode so he had to back off. I better work on that homework first thing tomorrow in class, Hazue thought solemnly.
Finally Kaidoh gathered enough courage to pick up the phone and dial Miyu's number. Kaidoh Kaoru was not afraid to call a girl!
"Moshi moshi…" someone was picked up! Kaidoh almost got a heart attack. 'I'm going to blow my chance, this took an hour! Hurry, say something!' He thought frantically.
"Is this the Hasegawa residence?"
"Yes… this is Hasegawa Kimiko speaking…"
"May I talk to Miyu-san, please?"
"Who is this?"
"This is her school mate…" he paused for a second. "Kaidoh Kaoru…"
"Kaidoh-san?!!" she exclaimed. "Aa… You're Kaidoh-san, Miyu's senpai? "
"Yes…" Kaidoh was getting even MORE nervous. 'How does she know about me?'
"Kaidoh-san… Miyu talks about you all the time! I'm Kimiko, her older sister… Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about."
"Talk… to me?" Kaidoh said almost unbelieving. 'Ah! For Gods sake, what does Miyu's sister want with me? Am I sweating?'
"Yes… and it's urgent! Could we possibly meet tomorrow after school?"
"Tomorrow?"
'Okay… remember your afternoon practice, Kaoru… Or Buchou will have your head if you don't show up!' came the little voice in his head.
"Okay, where?"
'What did I just say about Buchou? Do you want to be headless?' there it goes again.
"You have an important situation, much more important than practice?" Tezuka lifted a slender brow and stared at him like he had grown a second head. Kaidoh Kaoru, the practice freak, was asking to skip practice?!
"Yes, Buchou… I promise I'll make it up tomorrow… "
"You're saying you wouldn't mind drinking Inui's juice?"
"… No…" Kaidoh gulped.
"A hundred laps around the court? "
"I don't mind…" (Running 100 laps is SO MUCH better than a glass of Inui juice!!!)
"Very well, you're dismissed."
"Thank you so much, Buchou." Kaidoh bowed deeply before leaving the Club House. Fuji watched everything from the corner. He smiled knowingly. Behind his cold mask, Tezuka is concerned about the welfare of his teammates.
Kaidoh walked hurriedly in the lobby of Tokyo International Hospital (I made that up, is there any?). He scanned the lobby to find Miyu's sister. Yesterday Kimiko told him that she would be waiting for him in the lobby, and giving him a clue 'I look like Miyu a lot so you won't recognize the wrong person.' Kaidoh stopped dead at his tracks. At the end of the lobby, there was a young woman sitting and reading some magazine. Her face looked just like Hasegawa Miyu, though older. She has the same big brown eyes, oval face, and her reddish hair was just like Miyu's hair. She was the mature description of Miyu. 'Absolutely beautiful' Kaidoh thought, blushing.
"Hasegawa-san…" he said walking up to her. The woman was staring at him, studying the thirteen year old boy carefully. His face was hard, but Kimiko could she that he was still a boy behind that tough looking body.
"Kaidoh-san…" Kimiko stood and smiled at him looking up. She was shorter than Kaidoh. He smiled back at her nervously. "Come with me please…"
Kaidoh followed her, many different scenarios played in his head. Why does Miyu's sister want to meet him in this Hospital? Is she a doctor? But she doesn't look like a doctor or a nurse… Kaidoh had a bad feeling about this. They took the elevator and headed for the fifth floor. Ignoring the elevator music only gave way for worries to attack his already frantic mind. Once the door opened they got off and walked again.
He was led in front of a door; it seemed to be for a large room. The doors in the hallway were spaced greatly. It seemed so lonely here, so quiet. 'Hasegawa-san wouldn't be suited for a place like this. She can't possibly be here.' He said to himelf, almost desperately. Kimiko gestured for Kaidoh to come inside. What met his eyes made Kaidoh's heart stop. Miyu was sleeping in the Hospital bed, IV in her right hand, and oxygen mask on her pale face. She looked utterly fragile and helpless. Kimiko turned around and noticed Kaidoh's shocked state. 'So, it's true then… there's something going on between them…' She thought sorrowfully.
"Miyu-chan…" Kimiko brushed her hair lightly and a forced smile on her face. Miyu's eyes fluttered opened. Her smile became more genuine, much more. "Someone wants to see you…"
Miyu's eyes flittered across the room and met Kaidoh's. He stood behind her sister, and held the unbreakable eye contact. "Kaidoh senpai?!" She wasn't dreaming, was she?
Kaidoh walked up to her. "Hasegawa-san…" he tried his best to smile. Miyu smiled softly. He's really here… Kaidoh-senpai is here…
Kimiko quietly resigned from her sister's room. This was the only thing she could do now… giving her the person she longed for…
"I'm stuffed!!!" Momo patted his bulging stomach contentedly. He and Ryoma were just having their 'afternoon snack' as usual (which involves more than 10 burgers and fries!). After practice, they usually eat in WacDonals and then play a little at the Street Tennis Court. Momo rode on the bike while Ryoma stood on the pegs behind him.
"Hey Echizen… don't you think the practice was a bit dull this afternoon? I wonder where that mamushi went…" Momo said while pedaling his bike. Ryoma bit back a smile. Once a rival, always a rival! Unexpectedly, Ryoma saw something in the park they passed through.
"Stop, Momo-senpai!" he ordered. Momo stopped his bike in instant.
"Something wrong, Echizen?"
"Look over there… Isn't that Kaidoh-senpai? What is he doing here?" he whispered, afraid Kaidoh might hear them. Momo squinted to see better. Yup, that's Kaidoh alright! He walked back and forth aimlessly, his head hung low, and sometimes he kicked the poor little pebbles that happen to be near his feet. Momo put his finger on his lips, then silently approached Kaidoh but stopped behind the bushes where he stood.
"What is he doing anyway?" Momo whispered, clearly puzzled. Ryoma shook his head; obviously he doesn't have any idea. Kaidoh-senpai looks… confused, yeah… he looks confused! He also looks sad… That's weird… He never saw Kaidoh-senpai looking like that…
Kaidoh finally stopped his pointless wandering and sat on the nearest bench. He covered his face with both hands. Never in his 13 years of life has he felt at loss like this!
"EH?!! That's so odd, nyah…" Eiji ruffled Ryoma's non-capped hair. Ryoma pouted and wore his Fila cap again. This way is safer!
"Where's Kaidoh now?" asked Kawamura. Oishi pointed outside the Club House, Kaidoh was running his punishment laps under the supervision of Tezuka and Inui.
"100 laps around the court…" Fuji shook his head.
"Plus a glass of Penal Tea…" Oishi narrowed his eyes. He really pitied the kid. "Don't you think the punishment is too much" Ah… truly the mother hen!
"By the way, anyone know why he skipped practice yesterday?" Fuji scanned the room, and his gaze stopped at Ryoma specifically, though the 12 year old had tried to pull his most innocent face. It just won't work because he's, well… he's Ryoma!
"Alright!" he gave up after ALL of his senpais stared at him like there's no tomorrow. "The other day I finally got Miyu-chan's number and gave it to Kaidoh-senpai… After that I have no idea what he did with it…"
"Why didn't you tell us earlier, gaki!!!" Momo pinched his cheek, HARD. "It means that he already called her that's why he looked so stressed out!"
"Itai!!" Ryoma rubbed his cheek. "I didn't think that far!" He pouted.
"Minna, looks like this problem is more serious than we thought…" Fuji opened his eyes, revealing his startling blue skies.
And after their conversation that afternoon, all of the regulars, yes even Tezuka, watched Kaidoh quietly. It was true that he changed. He never gave a damn when Momo tried to annoy him (usually they would engage in a catfight, followed by 20 laps courtesy of Tezuka-buchou). He was more silent than before. He barely even hisses anymore! Sometimes he stared at nothing, with blank a expression and eating his lunch alone under a Sakura tree in the school grounds (Ryoma was sulking cause' it's his favorite tree to nap under). What made Ryoma sulk more was because his senpais sent him as a spy in his class; he had to ask around about Miyu. He guessed that his classmates thought he had a crush on Miyu, but he ignored that. Many, many glasses of Inui Juice awaited him if he didn't obey! The amateur detective's troop had a meeting after practice, that way Kaidoh won't suspect anything since he's always the first to leave the Club House.
"Miyu-chan hasn't come to school yet, but Kyoko-chan said that she didn't transfer school, she's just absent until further notice" Ryoma reported after the afternoon practice. Thanks to his spying thingy, he had remembered at least ten of his classmate's names. It has to be some record for the ignorant Echizen Ryoma!
"Hmmm… we could get some conclusions then." Fuji counted on his slender fingers. "One, Hasegawa-san is badly ill so she couldn't come to school; two, she's out of town or abroad for certain reason, and three, there's a family matter so she was forced to be absent from school… "
"We'll find out if we just ask Kaidoh" Oishi concluded. Everyone gawked at him. This time its not because of his impossible hairstyle!
"Mada mada dane." Ryoma snorted.
"There's no way mamushi would tell us!" Momo shook his head.
"Then, there's only one way to find out…" Inui's glasses glinted in the way only the square specs can. It SCREAMED evil, it totally did! "We follow him…"
"You mean, stalk him?" Tezuka said bluntly almost rolling his eyes.
"Ne, isn't that too much, nyah" Eiji chimed in.
"Look who's talking!" Fuji bit back a laugh, Eiji (and Momo, and Inui) are Seigaku's top rank stalkers! Eiji pouted at his comment. Fuji smiled and patted his back to apologize.
"Good data never comes by itself…" Inui defended while scribbling something in his notebook. Well, as expected from the Data Man! They can all confidently bet on their lives that he gets all that data by… following (a.k.a stalking!) the data source.
"But when are we going to follow him, tomorrow after practice?" asked Kawamura.
"Hmmm… usually Kaidoh runs 10 km after practice… but yes, we'll try to follow him tomorrow. Who knows, he goes to other place as well…" Inui decided. Now all eyes were fixed on Tezuka, silently asking for permission. Tezuka sighed inwardly. He was against this meeting in the first place, but he knew it would be worse if he didn't come to supervise. He could only imagine the chaos they would easily cause…
"Do what you wish… Just don't expect me to stalk Kaidoh with you…"
Everyone cheered. He gave the permission halfheartedly, but it's still a damn permission!
The next afternoon, Kaidoh crossed the road to the Tokyo International Hospital without knowing that all of the Seigaku regulars -minus Tezuka, duh- were following close behind him. He stopped in front of the Hospital to buy some white lilies, Miyu's favorite flower.
"Oi!" Momo's eyeballs almost fell from their sockets. "Mamushi bought flowers!" He stared at the sky. "No rain… No thunder… No storm…No flying purple pigs!"
"I didn't bring my camera!" Fuji silently cursed his carelessness. Blackmail chance –lost!
"Guys hurry, we gotta follow him!" Oishi gestured for them to increase their (stalking) pace. They treaded silently (or not) into the Hospital lobby, earning weird looks from the visitors, doctors and nurses who were at the lobby as well. But some whispers could be heard too.
"Look at them… such eye candies…" giggled a not-so-young woman to her also-not-so-young friend. They practically cooed at them (Oh the nightmares)!
"Is that guy, a guy or a girl? So pretty…" some boys stole fleeting glances at Fuji. Ewww! The regulars almost barfed, but Fuji was just smiling and even winked at the boys. (They sure turned an interesting shade of crimson!)
"I swear I never saw so many bishounens in one place before!" two girls giggled and blushed. Momo and Eiji smiled brightly at the girls, which resulted with them squealing excitedly. Thank goodness Kaidoh was oblivious and wasn't aware of his surroundings. He waited to get into the elevator.
"Guys, we can't possibly enter the same elevator with him!" Kawamura looked worried. Inui walked calmly to the Receptionist area and spoke to the lady there. Kaidoh had already boarded the elevator.
"Hasegawa Miyu is treated here, at the fifth floor; room 550!" Inui said when he came back to them. His hand was busy jotting down the new data in his precious notebook. Without wasting anymore time, they entered the empty elevator and up to the fifth floor.
"It's true then, Miyu-chan is sick…" Eiji sighed. "Poor girl… No wonder Kaidoh looks devastated! He must be worried sick about her…"
"What's her illness, I wonder…" Momo thought hard. "Could you find that out, Inui-senpai?" Inui raised a brow, he dares to question that!?!
"The possibility to find her illness is… 90" Inui answered, full of calculation as always.
They set foot at the fifth floor and searched for room 550. When they arrived at room 545 Ryoma suddenly pulled his seniors to hide behind a corridor. Right on time! Kaidoh was pushing a wheelchair out of the room 550 with Miyu on it. A woman followed behind them, a really pretty woman who looks almost exactly like Miyu, they must be related. The woman stopped to chat with Kaidoh in front of an elevator before Kaidoh wheeled Miyu inside it. The unknown woman waved cheerfully at the mass of teens, then went back into the room.They sweat dropped. Did she actually waved at them?!
"Senpais… do we keep followimg Kaidoh or go in the room?" asked Momo. Everyone thought about it except Ryoma who leaned on the wall and closed his eyes. Bah… this thing wasted his precious tennis time!
"We follow Kaidoh!" Fuji exclaimed, and everyone scrambled to enter the nearest elevator. Momo pulled Ryoma who was practically sleep-standing on the wall.
Inside the elevator, they've just realized something.
"Err… where did Kaidoh go? Up or down?" asked Eiji.
"Possibility… 50 percent he goes up, and 50 percent he goes down…" Inui replied, getting deadly glares from his teammates.
"We'll go down…" Fuji pressed the button to the ground floor. No one argues with Fuji unless they're willing to risk their good health.
"Mada-mada dane…" Ryoma muttered sleepily.
At the ground floor, they spilt up to find where Kaidoh brought Miyu. Luckily Momo managed to find them in no time. Kaidoh was taking Miyu to walk in the park behind the Hospital grounds. They sat on one of the benches there. Well, Kaidoh sat on the bench whilst Miyu sat on her wheelchair. He read something to her, it was a story book, and Miyu listened carefully. Sometimes she laughed, and wow… Kaidoh was smiling! He even laughed once in a while! The regulars were awed seeing the rarest thing on Earth; Kaidoh Kaoru could actually smile and laugh! (If Tezuka-buchou ever showed that kind of expression they would die from shock!)
Kaidoh closed the book he was reading to Miyu. The girl looked fresh this afternoon, not as pale as yesterday. She looked cheerful too. Kimiko-neesan said Miyu is allowed to go home next week.
"Kaoru-kun… Are you daydreaming?" Miyu giggled, waving her hand in front of his face. Kaidoh realized that he's been staring at Miyu and blushed. "Ne… what are you thinking of?"
"I'm not thinking about anything…" he denied. But his heart moved faster every time Miyu calls him Kaoru. Since he regularly visits her in the hospital, Miyu insisted that he must call her Miyu, not Hasegawa. And with a heavily blushing face, Kaidoh told her to call him Kaoru.
"You're lying…" she accused, chuckling. "I know when you're thinking… your face goes like this…" She imitates his thinking pose perfectly. Kaidoh couldn't hold back his laughter. This girl is so comical. Kaidoh never succeeds in holding his smile and laughter in every time he was with her. But whenever she was not around, Kaidoh could barely smile…
"Next week you'll start school again, Miyu… Looks like I have to get notes from your class… You missed so many days…"
"Where do you plan to borrow the notes? Echizen-kun? He sleeps most of the time in class!" Miyu laughed.
"Errr… you're right…" Kaidoh creased his brows in concentration. He only knows Echizen in Miyu's class. Wait… if he's not mistaken, there's that freshman who brags all the time… Horio… yeah, he's in the same class as Echizen too. But… Echizen is much better than that kid, Kaidoh reluctantly admitted that.
"I admire Echizen-kun…" Miyu said out of the blue. "Though he always sleeps in class, he still gets the highest grades… Especially in English, he even corrects Sensei's mistakes! It's really cool!"
"Of course he's good at English… He lived in America before moving here…" Kaidoh muttered.
"Really?! Sugoi… that's why he's so good…" Miyu giggled. Kaidoh kept quiet. Why does it annoy him so much when Miyu says something about his insolent kohai?
"Eh… you're thinking again, Kaoru-kun, a penny for your thoughts?"
"Do you like Echizen, Miyu?" he blurted out without thinking.
"What?" Miyu looked puzzled. Kaidoh slapped himself inwardly. 'Think before you speak, Kaoru! Think, you idiot!' The voice, it was back with a vengeance!
"What are you talking about?" Miyu laughed. "Of course I like Echizen-kun…" Kaidoh face fell, hearing her direct answer.
"I like Echizen-kun, because he's my classmate…" she continued softly. Inside, she danced wildly. Kaoru had just expressed his jealousy thinking Echizen was competition… he really likes her!
"Of course, I know he's your classmate…" Kaidoh looked away, his face burning.
"Kaoru-kun…" Miyu took Kaidoh's hand in her smaller ones. Kaidoh was surprised, but then she leaned in and kissed Kaidoh softly on the lips. 'BREATHE MAN, BREATHE!!!' Why does the voice have to it?
Some bushes away, Kaidoh's stalkers were flabbergasted, and their jaws dropped involuntary.
"That girl KISSED Kaidoh!!!"
"Momo-chan!" Kawamura exclaimed "He passed out!!!"
THE END
for now?
SO, minna-chan? what'd you think about the edited version...? Oh right, I've deleted the old one, ha-haa... By the way, I decided to change the tittle, coz at second thought, this fic mostly about how the regulars tried to meddle with Kaidoh's life, lol... I think I'm watching too much Meitantei Conan... (I love you a lot Aoyama Gosho-sensei!!!). Ok, we'll see them again at my other fic, The Rikkaidai Assistant Girl. Thanks J for putting a lot of efforts in editing this story for me! And minna-chan, don't for get to post a review OK! See you soon!