Disclaimer: Special A belongs to Minami Maki.

Aki: The three months tardiness is down to two weeks… Here's chapter 9 for you guys. Aah, I think that this chapter is a turning point. That this is the end of the boring parts. Hehe…

. maybe definitely.

.chapter 9.

The person he had always considered to have the most special place in his life stood before him.

He had loved watching her smile; seeing her beam with happiness like how she always would whenever she served those afternoon tea and cookies to them had always brought him a silent pleasure. Really, he loved her smiles. He loved her smiles so much that his own happiness did not even compare.

Yeah, he did not value that much. Not in his own eyes. Not in hers.

Hmm… How long has it been since he started sacrificing everything for Akira?

There was that familiar clutch in his chest as it caused a placid smile to mask his feelings.

"So, why does Akira-chan and Kei-kun wish to talk to me??"

The three of them stood apart from each other on the almost emptied covered court where his classmates had spent their P.E. class.

In the past, it was always her sweet smile that she would give him, and in the past, he would always return it with a small but thankful one. But right now, the only thing she could give him was a deep frown that held the aggravation she felt towards him.

"You know that very well, Yahiro!" Akira closed her hands tightly in attempt to control her anger. "First, there was that inconspicuous date! Then, you go getting Megumi-chan as your girlfriend! And as if having her go with you on dates and such weren't enough, you went on transferring her away from us on your own whim! Just what are you playing at, Yahiro??"

He closed his eyes and widened the fake smile on his face. Even though he knew that Akira's anger was mostly based on her motherly love for her friend (it was the same case for Kei and Hikari's relationship, he knew), he couldn't help but feel that Akira has yet to trust him again. In this case, he'd just have to lie again, right? She and the others did not need to find out about the imposing words being written to Megumi. That would just probably send another frown on Akira's face and Yahiro did not want that.

But before he could even utter a word-

"Isn't it because he just really loves her??" Tadashi voiced out his opinion as if it was the most obvious thing to do. Well, as of now, that was the most obvious thing to him. Really, why else would Yahiro want Megumi by his side all the time if he didn't like her? Unless they were pretending and stuff… But that would only complicate everything so he immediately dismissed the idea.

Akira's frustration was immediately directed at Tadashi. She was about to shout in his ears how ridiculous it was for him to even think of that, that there was no way for Yahiro to be that sincere towards their Megumi-chan, that it was impossible that he, of all people, would be Megumi's boyfriend because of love.

But no words left her.

She knew that her thoughts were self-biased; she'd already learned that during the incident with Kei and Hikari. And she knew that despite Yahiro's mischievous quirks, he cared for the people around him. Hadn't he helped Hikari more than once? There was the incident with Yui, too. Biting her lips, she shut her eyes closed and heaved an aggravated sigh. Tadashi could be stupidly wise sometimes.

"Why the surprise face, Yahiro?" It was a rhetorical question from Kei. Somehow, he had expected that Tadashi's sudden suggestion would affect the young Saiga. But seeing the confusion that was written all over the face of the guy who had always been masking his face with such an annoying smile made Kei confirm the thought that the relationship between him and Megumi was not that simple.

Yahiro looked from Tadashi to Kei with a flustered expression. First, he tried to retort that what Tadashi said was ridiculous, but he knew that saying that would reveal that what he and Megumi had were mere lies. And he realized, he did not want that. He then thought that simply smiling and agreeing to that stupid idiot would solve the problem. But, at that moment, when the idiot sprouted the idea that he - HE, the next heir to the Saiga family, the one who had dedicated himself to his childhood friend Akira - would actually 'love' that brunette, Yahiro lost his capability to put a pretense front.

Not knowing what to do or how to react to Tadashi's words, Yahiro immediately averted his eyes away from them and glared at the trees out of the court instead. This was why he hated idiots like Tadashi and Megumi; they always managed to seep away his talent in lying, which leave him flustered with his uncontrolled turmoil of emotions. Lying had always been his escape from his emotions, but now, Tadashi rendered that route useless.

The expression on Yahiro's face left Akira speechless. This was not how she imagined things to happen; when she heard Tadashi's words, she thought that Yahiro would be all smiles, telling them that he and Megumi had the right to be together since they like each other and that Akira and the others should just leave them be. Of course, she'd scream back that he was just playing with Megumi and that Megumi had the right to choose whether she wanted to be on Hakusen or on this school where the other demon was. But because Yahiro did not respond like that, Akira did not know what to do. And seeing the usually very composed Yahiro with a face that clearly showed signs that he was very perplexed with Tadashi's words led Akira to think that maybe her boyfriend was right. Akira gulped. Wouldn't that mean then that Yahiro had every right to be with her Megumi-chan??

"Maybe it's time for you to stop with those lies, Yahiro." Kei stated after the silence that ensued because of Tadashi's question.

.x.x.x.x.­­

"How convenient… A locker room just across the volleyball court." Hikari commented as she waited for Megumi who was changing back to her uniform inside one of the changing cubicles. The brunette had requested if she could get out of her P.E. uniform first before they follow Prince and the others to the music room. Hikari heard little noises from Megumi's side indicating that she still was yet to be done changing clothes.

Megumi carefully folded her P.E. shirt after she had finished getting back to her Kokusen uniform and leaned down to place it back on the small bag that Yahiro had given her before the P.E. class started. She stared at the bag for a while before sighing. She didn't really want to leave the court. But at the same time, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the argument that Akira and Yahiro would exchange. Then, there was Kei too. He seemed to have something serious to say to Yahiro. But what would Kei want to tell Yahiro?? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of some footsteps coming and then she heard familiar voices.

"Ah! You're one of the SA students earlier."

"You found Yamamoto-chan?"

"Yeah, she's changing there now."

Megumi zipped her bag and opened her door to see that it was Yuuki and Momo-tan who were talking with Hikari. The two were still in their P.E. uniforms; Megumi remembered that she was supposed to get some refreshments with them but ended up not coming.

"We met her and your other friends after you rushed back to get your magic slate." Momo-tan said as if explaining how they knew Hikari. Megumi lifted her magic slate to indicate that thankfully, she found it. "Good thing you didn't lost it."

Megumi sweatdropped, remembering that she didn't find it on the court. She still has no idea how it ended up with Yahiro though.

"Your hair, Yamamoto-chan, look at it." Megumi stared at Momo-tan with questioning eyes before averting her glance towards the mirror wall on her left side. To her surprise, her long brown hair that had been fixed by Ku-chan before P.E. class was now a total mess after changing her clothes. Now that she think about it, Megumi realized that Ku-chan wasn't with Momo-tan and Yuuki. Writing on her magic slate, she asked about Ku-chan's whereabouts. After seeing her question, Yuuki jumped in front of the brunette.

"You should have seen it, Yamamoto-chan!" Yuuki exclaimed and Megumi blinked in confusion. "We were waiting for you out there when suddenly, a handsome blond came and dragged Ku-chan away~"

Megumi blinked again. A handsome blond? Why was Yuuki being all happy with a handsome blond dragging her friend to who knows where…?

"Oh, now that you mentioned it," Hikari piped in, earning the attention of the three other girls, "Prince-kun talked to a blond who was wearing some casual clothes instead of the Kokusen uniform when we were looking for Megumi-chan. His appearance was quite striking." Hikari nodded as if agreeing to what Yuuki said, although there was no hint of fascination in her tone when she described the 'handsome blond.' "He was with a shy looking, short-haired girl."

"That's probably Ku-chan." Momo-tan sat on the bench were Hikari was sitting. "The guy has good looks, but isn't he too short? And what's with the digital SLR dangling on his neck?"

Megumi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the description of the blond seemed very familiar to her. Blond hair, casual clothes, short height… Digital SLR?

"Oh yeah, what's Prince doing here anyway?" Momo-tan raised an eyebrow.

At the question, Megumi stiffened and remembered the problem at hand. She and Hikari immediately bid their goodbyes to the other two Kokusen students and exited the locker room. While they had been talking there, Prince was probably already getting agitated at her tardiness (how she and Yahiro were supposed to be as serious as him since this was business they were doing). And Yahiro, Megumi gulped, Yahiro might have been beaten into pulp already…

But Kei promised her that there would be no beating. And she knew Kei enough to be sure that he wouldn't go against his own words like that.

Hikari watched as Megumi sighed again. With a smile, she patted Megumi on the shoulder. "I'd go ahead and tell Prince-kun that you have to run back to the court."

The young brunette looked at her friend with hopeful and grateful eyes.

"I think you have the right to be there since this matter involves you as well." Hikari gave the shorter girl an encouraging smile before motioning her to go to the direction where the court was. "I can manage to go to the music room by myself, so don't worry."

With that, Megumi hugged Hikari to show her thanks and instantly dash back towards the court for the second time that day.

.x.x.x.x.­­

"Lies??" Akira looked back and forth from Kei to Yahiro. "What lies are you saying??" Maybe the idea that Yahiro was just playing with Megumi was the truth after all…

Lies? Yahiro continued staring outside the court. Yeah, his relationship with Megumi was a lie. But, it was also a secret between them. Slowly, he directed a sharp gaze to Kei and unconsciously placed a small insincere smile on his lips. "How did you know about that?" Was it obvious that there was no love between them? But Megumi declared her feelings for him some time ago… Heck, why was he even mulling about this stuff? Waving the thought off his mind, he widened his smile."But of course, you'd know. You're Takishima Kei after all."

Kei huffed and smirked. "It's pretty obvious." He stared directly at Yahiro, ignoring the questioning glares that Akira was directing at him. "If you two were really going out, she'd be very clingy to you by now. Megumi's quite kinesthetic to people who returns her love, you know."

Kei's words silenced Yahiro for a moment. Megumi did hug Ryuu's arm almost every time he saw them, though the hugs were getting lesser and lesser these past few week. However, Yahiro knew that that wasn't the part that Kei wanted to point out.

"Do you love her back, Yahiro?" It was a serious question, he knew, especially since it came from Kei.

Did he?

Yahiro casted his eyes downwards. If he didn't, then wouldn't that be the same as his situation with Akira? Wouldn't that mean that she saw him as he saw Akira? Then, that would mean that he was hurting her, right?

But, he didn't see her as Akira saw him, he was sure of that. Because in his eyes, Yamamoto Megumi was…

He narrowed his eyes and frowned.

What was Megumi in his eyes…?

"Megumi-chan??" Akira took a step forward upon seeing Megumi standing beside a post on the right side of the court while the shorter girl stepped backward; she did not know whether to walk towards them or hide away despite having been seen already.

Yahiro stiffened upon hearing her name and argued with himself whether he should turn around to see her or act as if her presence was really nothing. He scolded himself for making truffle over such a little matter and for the fact that all he could do upon Megumi's presence behind him was frown at himself.

Megumi looked at Yahiro's back unsurely before returning her gaze to Akira who seemed a bit confused herself. The brunette had reached the volleyball court just as Kei had asked Yahiro that question. Did Yahiro love her back…?

To be honest, she was scared of hearing Yahiro's reply. She knew it would be another rejection. And she wasn't ready for that yet.

Maybe it was a good thing that Akira noticed her…?

Kei set his eyes on Megumi for a while and then directed his attention back to Yahiro. "I think Megumi deserves to hear the answer as well."

Yahiro raised his head and stared at Kei. What did Kei wanted him to do? Tell what he felt for her? Hadn't he told her that before? That he had no special feelings… for her? He did not have those, right?

He couldn't.

Kei watched as another frown etched on the young Saiga's face. There was a sign of confusion on Yahiro's face (his eyebrows furrowed) at first before it turned into frustration (his lips turned into a deep frown), intense aggravation (he closed his eyes and balled his hands into fist), and then there was a mixture of those three. Before Kei could even comment about how uncollected the other lad was acting, Yahiro snapped a glare towards him and smirked.

"Well," Yahiro tried his best to mask his frustration with his usual bright smile but the twitch on his eyes screamed nothing but annoyance, "since Kei-kun wants to find out the answer so much, why don't we do a little experiment?"

Akira's eyes widened in bewilderment as the expression in Yahiro's face clearly showed that he was up to no good. She was about to shout all words that meant 'stop' but Yahiro turned towards her with a serious expression. He stared at her for a moment and there was silence among the five of them.

Megumi had no idea what Yahiro could be thinking or why he was giving Akira a soft yet determined expression like that. There were different reasons revolving around her mind (was he going to tell her his actual feelings for him, or was he going to say that they were really just pretending) but she couldn't settle for answer. After all, this was Yahiro; anything could be going through his mind. And before she could process a possible answer for that, she realized that Yahiro was already taking strides towards her direction with the same expression that he bore when she had gone to Akira's house instead of their meeting place during their pretend date.

And as if that scene was repeating before her eyes, Megumi gaped in surprise as Yahiro grabbed her hand and begun dragging her away from the court where Akira was sending daggers towards Kei for stopping her.. Yahiro reached for his phone in his pocket using his free hand and pressed a number for speed-dial.

What he said next resulted an ear piercing scream from Akira and horrified expression drowning Megumi's face.

"Prepare a plane for France."

.x.x.x.x.­­

Meanwhile, Ryuu sweatdropped as he watched Prince point a stick towards Jun who had just stopped playing his violin.

"That was a wrong note!" Prince, who was sitting in front of the piano, hit the air with his stick as he tried to emphasize his anger with his movements. "It should be this note –" he pressed a key on the piano, "not this one-" and another key, "okay?! Now, starting from the top note."

Jun mentally sobbed as he readied to play the song composed by Prince. Where was his beloved twin??

.tsuzuku.

Aki: Uhhh… Finally, this is done. I actually got stuck in a part where Yahiro didn't what he would do so I also didn't know what to do since Yahiro himself couldn't think of anything (I thought I would be lost in that scene forver). O.o I'm hoping that from now on, Yahiro would have a clearer mind. I'm excited to write the next chapter now that this scene is over~ Off we go to France~ Review?