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Yagyuu/Sakuno

"Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly, but flooding the river" – Madagascan saying

He wouldn't have noticed her at all, except that one generally notices a person when they trip, knock over two book carts, and possibly cost you more than an hour's worth of extra work. Although he was raised to respect the finer sex, he couldn't help but feel annoyed as he gazed down at his hard work strewn about the library floor.

"Oh, oh my! I'm so sorry!" the girl squeaked. She stood back up quickly, like a little jack in the box, and the books that had been resting on her slid off with loud thumps. "I-I didn't mean to- to- I'm so sorry! I'll clean it up right away!"

Yagyuu gazed down at her from his spot on the ladder, a book on Ancient Mayans still posed in his hand, mid-shelved. He had, without his parents' request, been working part-time at Koga Library for the past few months. The building had been built nearly forty years ago, and although not the largest library in the area, it contained one of the most extensive research departments in the entire Kanto region. The head librarian, Maruyama Emiko, knew the young tennis player well from his frequent visits to the library, and offered him a summer job there as soon as she heard he was searching. As she jokingly put it, he knew his books better than most people knew their own families.

And right now, his books were being frantically put back on their carts. In the wrong order.

Yagyuu sighed softly and stepped down the rolling ladder to help.

"Mou, you klutz," the girl berated herself under her breath, looking determinedly at a pile of hardbacks resting with their spines in the air. He had to agree with her, especially when she tumbled again while trying to lift a large pile back onto one of the book carts. He was able to catch her by her elbow, but her load went crashing down once more, making them both wince at the impact.

He cleared his throat.

"I can put the books back myself. Please do not concern yourself with-"

"Yagyuu-san?"

Said male turned his head, surprised, to meet wide cinnamon eyes. Now that he looked at her properly, and she wasn't facing the floor anymore, he remembered seeing her before. She was small: not in a delicate way, but more like a foal with skinny, unsteady legs. Her knee length yellow skirt and white shirt were nondescript. She did not carry herself with either elegance or self-confidence. Her only distinguishing feature was her long, soft hair tied in two perfectly neat braids.

She was pretty, but in an understated way.

"Ano," she quivered, her face flushing even further in embarrassment. "Gomen. I ruined all of Yagyuu-san's hard work…"

"It's fine," he repeated, trying to pacify the girl. She looked unsure, her eyes switching back and forth sporadically between his face and the piles of books on the floor.

"You didn't ruin anything," he lied. "I can take care of this…" he searched his mind, "Ryuzaki-san. Please, continue whatever task you were originally here to do."

"Demo…"

"I assure you," he replied, smiling gentlemanly at her. "It would hardly be polite of me to force a young lady to do my job for me."

"Well…if you really think so Yagyuu-san," she said slowly, doubting his logic.

"I really think so," he insisted.

"Well, then, arigato. I'll be going now," she bowed timidly and half ran out of the isle, her braids nearly hitting the shelved books as they swung.

…

Yagyuu didn't realize that she had come back until he had finished picking the books back up and organizing them alphabetically by section. He wondered, in amazement, how long she had been standing there patiently waiting for him to put the books back in place. She was fidgeting anxiously with the hem of her shirt, her skinny fingers twisting the fabric first right and then left, then right again, until the material began to stretch out.

"Ryuzaki-san?"

"I can't find a book," she admitted quietly, looking every bit like a lost puppy. "The lady at the desk told me to ask you."

"What are you searching for?"

"Do you have any books on knitting?"

Yagyuu decided that although he was curious as to why one would need to learn how to knit in the middle of summer, he would refrain from asking and appearing rude. Instead, he politely asked the young girl to follow him, and led her directly to the section dedicated to various hobbies.

"Sugoi," Sakuno breathed, looking at the row of knitting-related books. "Yagyuu-san knows the library so well!"

The respect and admiration was so clear on her petite face that Yagyuu felt mildly embarrassed and proud of himself at the same time.

"You may check out up to five books," he explained, clearing his throat.

"There are so many…" the younger girl whispered in surprise.

Many customers had similar reactions when they first entered Koga library, and many spent hours sitting at one of the library's long tables just scanning books to decide which ones to check out. Oftentimes Yagyuu would stay hours after closing, waiting for a few last customers to finally make their decisions. However, if Yagyuu's guess was correct, Sakuno had quite the commute to get back to the area in which she lived, and it was a route that was not known for being very safe to take at night. Looking at the fairly empty library, the Rikkai Dai regular decided that he had some time to spare.

"Why don't I help you, Ryuzaki-san. We can pick out a few books, then sit down and go through them together."

"Would you?" she asked, looking excited and a bit relieved. She didn't want to return home too late, or her grandma would worry.

Yagyuu smiled at her exuberance.

"Let's get started."

…

"Tanaka-san explains well, and her book has clear illustrations, but the level of difficulty may be too high for you. This book, by Nakamura Ayumi-san, would be better for a beginner like Ryuzaki-san. Although Nakamura-san is better known for her interior design guides, this particular book is highly recommended."

"Sugoi! Yagyuu-san knows so much!"

"Ah," the boy looked up from his seat, "Ryuzaki-san speaks too highly of me. I just spend a lot of time in the library, so I hear people discussing which books they like often."

The small girl made a sound of disagreement, and smiled back at him.

"Yagyuu-san is like a walking dictionary!" she insisted, her smile growing. "It must be nice to be both smart and good at tennis."

Looking directly at him, and blushing softly, the Seigaku freshman repeated:

"Yagyuu-san sugoi, ne?"

…

"Knitting? In the middle of summer?" Maruyama Emiko asked, perplexed, after the cute young girl disappeared out of the library's front door.

"She wants to make a scarf for the boy she likes," her mature young helper explained, wheeling an empty book cart up to the checkout counter at which she was stationed. She had seen the tennis player helping out the young customer earlier but hadn't said anything because the library's traffic had been light that day.

"In the middle of summer?" she repeated.

Yagyuu adjusted his glasses with a motion that reminded the middle-aged woman why some girls came to the library simply to watch her young charge put books away. He was more elegant than most boys his age, although perhaps not in quite as feminine a way as his handsome blue-haired friend that occasionally visited him at work.

"She wants to practice," he clarified, "so that when winter comes around, she can give him only her best work."

"Who's the boy?"

"A tennis regular in Seigaku. Their ace."

"Are you jealous?"

She didn't know what made her ask that, but there was something in the boy's expression that seemed akin to resentment.

"Of course not," he started, gathering a pile of returned books and turning to walk away. "I already have a scarf."

…

"Arigato!"

Yagyuu was startled by the object suddenly shoved in his line of vision. Looking up from where he was stationed at the front counter, he was surprised to see familiar braids.

"Ryuzaki-san. You're back? Were yesterday's books not enough?"

"Oh no! They were perfect!" she reassured him, coming out of her bow. "Actually I found out that Nakamura-san's book was the only one I will need, so I came to return the others. Etto…I also made you this as a thank you for spending so much time helping me yesterday."

Courteously taking the object from Sakuno, Yagyuu inspected it. About five inches long and an inch wide, the knitted rectangle was yellow with a black stripe down the middle. It was fairly well done, although slightly lopsided.

"Ano, it's a bookmark," the girl explained, looking embarrassed. "I made it in Rikkai Dai colors."

"I thought you wanted to give Echizen-san your first piece."

Sakuno smiled at him, tucking some loose hair behind her ear.

"I wanted to thank Yagyuu-san more," she stated matter-of-factly. "Do you like it?"

Yagyuu adjusted his glasses, brushed his fingers over the gift, and looked up.

"Hai. Arigato."

He loved it.

…

The older librarian watched her young helper sort customer files. She smiled at his serious expression and casually walked over, tapping a stack of papers resting on top of the filing cabinets to get his attention. She hadn't been oblivious to the young man's surprising lack of attention all day and was curious to know if her guess was right.

"So…" she started, when he didn't look up from his filing. He seemed to shake himself of his thoughts and looked over at the older woman with an apologetic smile.

"Yes, Maruyama-san?"

"The girl from yesterday came back."

"Ah" He looked quickly back to the files in his hands, avoiding the penetrating eyes of his employer. "Yes, Ryuzaki-san wanted to return the books she borrowed."

"Oh, Ryuzaki-chan, ne? Hmmmm." The librarian leaned back against the filing cabinet next to where Yagyuu was working with an unnecessary amount of concentration. "Is that right?"

"Well," he paused cautiously, "she also came to thank me for helping her yesterday."

"Oh," Maruyama said with fake surprise, as if she hadn't been watching the two interact earlier. "Did she? She seems like a nice girl."

"She is."

"A few years younger than you, perhaps?"

"She is a freshman at Seigaku."

"Ah, not so much younger than you, then."

"…"

Maruyama smiled comfortingly at the young boy, who had just realized he had filed the last three papers into the wrong section. She turned to look out a window on the far side of the room, where the stars twinkled gaily.

"She seemed to be quite klutzy, though, ne?"

"Hai."

"Yet very determined."

"Hai."

"Cute, ne?"

Out of the corner of her eye, the librarian saw a small smile form on Yagyuu's lips.

"Hai. Very cute."

---

So I know I should update my other story. Please forgive me! Recently, I've actually been writing quite a few oneshots using the LJ Thirty Romances prompts (although not all are romances). I think I might post a few over the next few weeks. Although they are not my strongest writing, I'll try my best! I don't expect as many reviews, though, because they are rather odd pairings. : P

Please don't be mad, and I hope you enjoyed this!