Though I've sworn off reading fanfiction for the time to show support for a friend who's given it up for Lent, I never said I would stop writing it, so here is chapter 7! Very little stuff happens, actually, but it covers a lot. I think. Hopefully you'll enjoy! I've been thinking about this series of events for a while so I hope it plays through properly. (:

with a little love and sunshine

Yuushi let out a long, dramatic sigh as he sat on a bench outside of the train station. He had gotten up especially early to train a bit before heading for the opening ceremony, but it seemed like he wasn't going to have time today, since he still hadn't found a place to run, even after walking from one train station to the next. If he found a good track now, he could probably have run it completely and still had time to return home to change into his uniform, but since he didn't actually know Tokyo that well, he wasn't going to risk it. He really didn't want to be late on his first day, especially since he was transferring into an elevator school. Not that Yuushi was worried about not being able to make friends – no, he was rather good at being absolutely, stunningly charming – but the image he was going for wouldn't allow for something as sloppy as being late to the opening ceremony. It wasn't the sort of standing out he wanted to do.

No, he would do that at the tennis club. That was the first thing Yuushi would look for once clubs started recruiting. That was also why he was keen to find a place to train in the morning as well – it would be good to get back into a routine now that he had finally settled in at his new home.

Wait. What was that?

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuushi spotted a girl dressed in gym wear, with a large dog trotting beside her. Clearly she was heading out for some sort of athletic activity, but what? From the looks of it, she was probably going for a run, which definitely piqued Yuushi's interest. A smirk had already fallen into place on Yuushi's face as he jogged leisurely towards the girl, when she turned into a narrow street.

'Hey!' he called out, unthinkingly. Luckily, the girl hadn't heard him. He watched her figure walking briskly with her dog and wondered if it would be creepy to follow her.

He did it anyway, though not closely enough that she would think he was following him. There were two other people dressed in sporty clothing as well, anyway. Clearly, he was heading in the right direction.

Soon, he arrived at a moat – Yuushi remembered his mother telling him that they lived near the Imperial Palace's gardens, and looking across the moat, he was sure that was what he was seeing. Where else in Tokyo would there be such a large green space? There were some hedges as well, and the air was refreshing. The two people besides him and the girl that had also been on the narrow street started to jog, and –

The girl had disappeared.

How?

Already?

Yuushi scanned his surroundings quickly. There were actually quite a few runners – more than he'd expected – but not that many dogs, Yuushi realised. In fact, there was only one dog, and he recognised it as the dog he saw before. He started jogging towards it, but as the runners were all in single file, he could not get closer. It would have been rude to overtake them, after all.

The runners were at a gentle pace – not too slow, but not too fast, either. Yuushi stole a quick glance at his watch to see how he was doing on time, but decided that it was probably OK to follow the course. He still had plenty of time, and since the girl he saw earlier was school-age as well, he could figure out when it was necessary to duck out of the line when she did, since presumably she also had school to attend.

His eyes fell on the girl again when there was a turn in the road. A couple of runners ahead, Yuushi could tell that she was a regular runner. Unlike the person in front of Yuushi, she had kept good posture and was not breathing heavily, and her legs were runner's legs. Lean, but not terribly so, and Yuushi could see the shape of muscles beneath –

Yuushi was suddenly not on pavement any more, and with the sudden change in the surface beneath his feet, he tripped and ended up with his bum on the grass. One of the runners that had been behind him looked worried and slowed his pace, but Yuushi waved him on.

He looked forward along the track, but the girl was long gone.

He sighed and checked his watch. He still had time before he absolutely had to go, but Yuushi decided to head back anyway, so he could check out how the route around the Imperial Palace looked and see how long it was. Yuushi had a good feeling about it though – it was always nicer to run with greenery around you, and though there had been other runners, there hadn't been too many.

He turned back towards the street he had come from, walking on the opposite side of the road so as to not block any of the runners. He would take the train back home, just so he had a bit more time before he had to go to school, even though the distance was really not that great.

A girl running with her dog was a rather graceful image, though.

Perhaps he would see her again.

...is what Yuushi had idly thought, but in his mind, he hadn't been very set on the idea. After all, he had run with countless other people over the years, but couldn't remember ever running with the same person. He probably had, of course, since people usually jogged in the same places, but Yuushi couldn't recall any such occasion.

And then, against all odds, he had seen her at the opening ceremony, sitting with the first-year students just as Yuushi was. He had almost called her out to her but stopped himself in time. What on earth would he say? 'I followed you this morning'? Somehow, that felt like it could be misconstrued. Maybe he could thank her for leading him to a nice jogging route? No, that was still strange.

Before he knew it, the opening ceremony was already over. When Yuushi returned to his classroom, he looked for the girl, but couldn't spot her. She was in a different class, then.

Maybe he would see her around at school? It was improbable. Hyoutei was fairly large, after all, and the only club he was planning on joining was the tennis club, which was segregated by gender. He would probably see her once or twice, but there wouldn't really but much of a chance to talk.

Ah well. Yuushi turned his attention towards his homeroom teacher, who was talking about regulations and the like, as was necessary on the first day of school. He tuned out most of what was said, but noted when clubs were going to start. He would have to take a look at the tennis club as soon as possible.

With thoughts of playing tennis forefront on his mind, the girl and her dog were soon forgotten.

Until Oshitari saw them running together the next day.

And the day after that.

And every single day after that as well.

.

'I hadn't meant to, but it became a routine to run behind you. There were always other runners, and you never look behind you when you run – a good habit, by the way – so you never noticed. You'd never missed two days in a row before, so I was concerned when I didn't spot you this weekend.'

Oshitari finally finished speaking and looked towards Akiko, who hadn't said a word the whole time Oshitari had been talking.

What Oshitari said –

That would mean –

Akiko imagined the situation. You finally learnt the name of a girl you'd been running with for a year now, though she hadn't known you'd been running. You were the sort of guy who said what was on his mind, so after hearing introductions during that first second-year class, you sauntered over and introduced yourself. Of course, you couldn't leave it at that. You'd been running with this girl for a year, so you make a comment about it.

'Takahashi, right? I'm Oshitari Yuushi, and I must say, you have very nice legs.'

Akiko had to pick her words carefully. 'So, what you're saying is. About the first day of second year.'

Oshitari looked almost abashed. 'I had meant it as a compliment. I mean, not in the way you took it. I just wanted to say you had nice runner's legs, but I couldn't say that since then I'd have to explain that I'd been running with you for a year without even asking for your name. I had been planning to tell you about it, but then... Well, you hadn't exactly seemed like you wanted to listen to anything I had to say.'

Akiko almost raised her voice to object, but there was nothing to actually object to.

'Anyway, I've been meaning to make up with you because I had been really harsh during the school trip.' With a frown on his face, Oshitari ran a hand through his hair. 'I didn't have the right to say the things that I said, since I don't know you that well either – I did the same thing you did, so I apologise. I won't bother you anymore, and I won't run along the same route either, so you don't have to worry about it. I was looking for you there this weekend and this morning to tell you that, but you didn't show up, so I had to wait until now.'

Then, he bowed. Oshitari bowed. Properly. To Akiko.

Oshitari Yuushi bowed to Takahashi Akiko.

'I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you.'

Oshitari stood up again and nodded at her once, before heading for the door that led back into the building.

What was going on here?

From below her feet, she heard the school chimes, but Akiko didn't register what it meant until the chimes stopped.

'We have to get back to class!' she exclaimed, only to realise that nobody was listening. She was alone on the roof.

She really did have to get back.

.

It was Monday, which meant that Oshitari had tennis practice after school. Akiko had school infirmary committee duties, but she could finish them quickly enough, if she focussed. However, she was finding it rather hard to focus on anything at all after Oshitari's bizarre confession.

What kind of person jogged with a random person every morning? It was one thing to be on the same route as somebody, but – well, actually, that was what Oshitari was doing. It wasn't like they met up every morning and chatted while jogging and then went out for juice afterwards.

It still felt very intrusive. Akiko had done the exact same thing Oshitari had done on his first day of school, but she had found the route on her own. She'd just moved to Chiyoda to attend Hyoutei about a week before school started, and had scoured the area for good tracks. She'd come across the Imperial Palace jogging route, and that had been her morning jog ever since. All Oshitari had had to do was follow her to it and –

Well. It wasn't like it was her route. That is, it was her route, but it wasn't hers alone. She always jogged along with other people, after all.

Having Oshitari was different though, For one thing, she really didn't like him –

But she had misunderstood. Which wasn't her fault. What he said was really misleading, so anyone would have taken it the wrong way. It was perfectly logical for her to be angry about it –

But she could have asked him then what he had meant, and then he would have told her. Instead, she never voiced her discontent and disliked him for a year and a half because of a misinterpretation.

If she had to sum it up in one sentence, and of course, doing so would obviously leave out a few important details, but to get to the crux of the issue in a to-the-point manner...

She had been wrong. That was all there was to it, in the end.

She hated being wrong, but now that she knew she had been, she had to rectify things, which meant that she would focus on her infirmary duties even if it killed her, so she could get to the school gates before Oshitari finished tennis practice.

And she did. She got to the school gates a full twenty minutes before Oshitari walked through them, chatting away with Mukahi. Mukahi spotted Akiko before Oshitari did, and waved cheerfully. Oshitari turned his head and looked far more surprised than Akiko thought he should have.

Giving a terse nod to both Mukahi and Oshitari in greeting, Akiko said, 'Oshitari-san, I'll have you know it is very rude to go about making decisions without asking the people who are involved in the result their opinion.'

'Takahashi? What are you doing here?'

Akiko thought it was very clear that she was here to speak to Oshitari, which was why she'd spoken to him. However, that wasn't the point. 'I was thinking about what you said, and now I'm done thinking, so I am going to tell you what my opinion is, since you didn't ask for it. Which was very rude.'

'...You said that already.'

'I wanted to make sure you understood.'

Oshitari raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Mukahi shifted about rather awkwardly, glancing back and forth between Oshitari and Akiko. 'Hey, actually, Yuushi, I think I'll be heading back first I've got stuff to do 'K bye then!'

And he was gone, before Oshitari could even say, 'Gakkun.' What was that all about?

It didn't matter. Akiko shook her head to regain her focus. 'Oshitari-san, come to my house.'

'What?'

That had been crass of her. 'I apologise. What I meant to say was "Oshitari-san, if it would not trouble you, would you please come to my house?" – is that better?'

Oshitari had the nerve to look bewildered. 'That's not better at all. Why are you asking me to go to your house?' After Akiko had gone out of her way to –

Well, if he didn't want to, fine. She had stuck out an olive branch (which he hadn't even bothered to offer, by the way), and he had ignored it. 'I'm going home. If you don't want to follow me, fine.'

Akiko walked away purposefully, ignoring Oshitari's yelling towards her. After a moment, she could hear his footsteps behind her.

'Takahashi, I don't – '

Akiko continued ignoring Oshitari, because she didn't want to answer his question. She knew what he was going to say, so she tuned him out. Even if she listened to it, she wouldn't reply.

She wasn't sure what she'd say, anyway.

.

'Welcome home, Takahashi-sama – and company. If I may take your bags?'

Gotou got over his slip rather quickly, returning to proper concierge mode after only a short pause. Meanwhile, Oshitari looked around and let out a low whistle.

'This is pretty nice, Takahashi. Could you secretly be like Atobe?'

Secretly be like Atobe? What did that even mean? She continued to deliberately not respond to Oshitari and spoke to Gotou instead. 'That would be lovely, thank you.' She handed her bag over to the concierge.

'And your guest?'

'He'll be leaving soon, so don't worry about it.'

Gotou nodded and took the bag away. Akiko headed for the lifts, but Oshitari was still standing in the same place.

'Oshitari-san, if you aren't going to follow me, please just go home,' Akiko said, feeling a little bit irritated now because she was going to all this trouble and Oshitari wasn't even trying to appreciate it. Even if he didn't understand, he could at least oblige her.

'You are definitely like Atobe,' Oshitari muttered, but he did as she said. She still didn't know what he meant by that.

Once in the lift, Oshitari started to try to make conversation again, probably bolstered by Akiko's brief comment earlier. 'This place really feels like a hotel, what with the concierge and all. Very well kept, too.'

Since it was a harmless topic, Akiko decided to participate. 'It should be well kept, since rent is three hundred ninety thousand yen a month.'

There was a strange thumping sound behind her. Apparently, Oshitari had dropped his bag on to the floor.

'What?' she said, turning to her classmate.

'What, you say – are you living in a 5LDK? Three hundred – three hundred – '

'Three hundred ninety thousand yen a month,' Akiko repeated, frowning. 'Did you not hear me the first time?'

The lift made a quiet ding, and the doors opened. Akiko stepped out, but Oshitari still seemed a bit shell-shocked. 'Oshitari-san, are you coming or not?' Akiko said, her tone belying the attempt at a smile on her face.

Oshitari nodded dumbly and followed her to the door leading to her flat. She adeptly pulled her key out and unlocked the door, opening it at the same time.

'Please take off your shoes here,' she instructed. 'I know it's a Western-style apartment, but I still don't allow shoes in the flat – oh! Bagel, I missed you today!' Shoes still on her feet, Akiko bent down and gave her dog a hug. 'Did housekeeping take you out so that you could go for your run?' Bagel barked once in response, and Akiko smiled properly. 'I'm so sorry I haven't been running with you lately, but I promise that tomorrow I'll head out and... Bagel? What is it?'

Bagel was staring up at – oh, wait, Oshitari was still here. Still hugging Bagel, Akiko turned her head as well and saw Oshitari staring down at her like she was a completely different person. Meanwhile, Bagel looked wary as he stared at this other person who had entered into their home.

'It's fine, Bagel,' Akiko said resolutely, facing her dog once more. 'He's a friend.'

At this, Bagel relaxed, while Oshitari started. She rubbed Bagel's back before standing up again, but she didn't turn around.

'I will admit that some of what you said was true,' Akiko began, addressing Oshitari without looking at him. 'My dislike for you was, though not irrational, somewhat inappropriate, though you were also at fault for not saying things directly.' Not letting Oshitari rebut, Akiko continued, 'I'm quick in judging people, I admit, but that is because usually my judgements are right.' Akiko paused. How did Oshitari look right now? Did he want to speak? Complain? Object? But he said nothing, so she pressed onwards. 'However, I was wrong this time, so I apologise as well for what I said earlier and for disliking you for over a year without a proper reason.

'I am suggesting a probationary friend period wherein I can determine if there is a better reason for me to dislike you, and if there is, then that's the end, Oshitari-san. Understood?'

And she had said it. Everything she had wanted to say. She had been wrong. She admitted it. Now, she was going to fix things.

She finally turned on her heels, and saw –

'What are you smiling about?' Akiko demanded. Oshitari was practically biting on his lip to stop himself from laughing

'You!' And now Oshitari wasn't even trying to suppress his humour. 'Takahashi, you're just – you're unbelievable, is what you are.'

Akiko crossed her arms, and it took all of her willpower not to glower. 'Oshitari-san, I don't know if you realise this, but I just offered you my friendship, which isn't something many people get, but since I was the person who was wrong in the first place, I'm allowing it. This is a big deal, and you're just making fun of me!'

At this, Oshitari immediately shut up, looking – distressed? Akiko didn't know. 'I didn't mean for you take it that way,' Oshitari said carefully, and then Akiko was the one feeling distressed. Did she just do the exact same thing she'd done in April of last year? 'It's only because I've never have such a proposition before. Usually people don't ask to become friends or anything; it just happens.'

'That seems like a very unsystematic ways of doing things,' Akiko said, sounding distinctly snipey even though she hadn't meant to. At this, Oshitari looked like he wanted to laugh again, but he didn't.

'So. Probationary,' Oshitari commented.

Akiko nodded. 'I decided that I didn't give you a fair chance to prove yourself, so you are on probation until further notice.'

'How do I get off probation?'

'If I don't like you,' Akiko stated matter-of-factly.

Oshitari smirked. 'Shouldn't I get promoted for good behaviour after a certain amount of time?'

'Don't get ahead of yourself,' Akiko snapped. Suddenly, Bagel stepped forward so that he was between Akiko and Oshitari.

'Oh, Bagel, it's nothing; don't worry,' Akiko immediately said, reassuring her dog with a smile. She petted him on the head and touched a finger to his nose. 'I'll make you extra yummy food tomorrow morning before jogging since you've been so good, OK?' Bagel seemed appeased, as he trotted off towards the living and dining room.

Then, something came to mind.

'If it's fine by you, Oshitari-san, let's jog together tomorrow,' she said determinedly. There was no point in doing things halfway.

Oshitari looked surprised, but he still nodded. 'I'd like that.' After a pause: 'I take back what I said about your legs in first year, as well.'

An odd non sequitur, but Akiko was willing to follow the tangent.

'I don't think I'm going to let you do that, Oshitari-san,' she said with a shake of her head.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, now that I know it's a compliment about my perseverance, I like what you've said. Which is part of the reason why I offered to let you be friends with me in the first place.'

And then Oshitari's lips turned up in the smallest smile, and just like that, though Akiko really had no actual evidence, she felt like things might work out, and she found herself smiling too.

Oshitari seemed to be oblivious to Akiko's mini epiphany though, and said, rather absentmindedly, 'After I was planning on giving up too.'

The smiles had already disappeared from both of their faces. 'So you were talking to me all this time to try to fix this misunderstanding?' Akiko raised an eyebrow. 'That's rather admirable, Oshitari-san.'

Oshitari chuckled, 'You can put it that way.'

'Anyway, that's all I had to say,' Akiko finished. They were still standing in the entranceway – the door had been open the entire time. Hopefully she hadn't bothered any of her neighbours, since she and Oshitari had been talking rather loudly. What was the custom for when people came over? Akiko hadn't had a single guest ever since she'd moved in, so suddenly, she couldn't remember. Should she make tea? Snacks? Conversation? 'Could you close the door, Oshitari-san? I'll make tea.'

'I wouldn't want to impose,' Oshitari replied, still wearing his shoes.

Akiko shook her head. 'I'm making an effort to be friendly, Oshitari-san. You should as well.'

'But won't your parents be home soon?' Oshitari enquired, eyes flickering towards the clock on the wall.

Akiko shook her head again. 'I live alone, so the only person you'll be annoying is me.' That came out wrong. 'That is, you wouldn't be an imposition to me, and there's nobody else to impose.'

For some reason, this didn't seem to reassure Oshitari at all. 'You live alone, Takahashi?'

It would be unfriendly of Akiko to point out that she'd already said that, so she didn't. She hadn't been entirely correct, either. 'Well, I live with Bagel.' So as not to confuse Oshitari, she appended, 'My dog.'

'Actually, I have something to do now,' Oshitari said quickly, 'so I'm going to go home.'

Akiko stared at Oshitari, perplexed by his behaviour. Asking now would have probably been too nosy though. 'Fine,' she acquiesced. 'Then I shall see you tomorrow morning – well, I guess we don't have to set a time, since you know when I run anyway. I'll wait for ten minutes before I start running; if you're not there in that timeframe, I'll assume you've changed your mind.'

'I won't,' Oshitari said firmly. 'See you tomorrow, Takahashi.'

And that was that.

.

'Oshitari!'

Akiko waved at her classmate, who was jogging towards her. He halted in his tracks when he heard her though.

'Takahashi – and Bagel,' he greeted back. 'Why no honorific?'

'We're friends now – ' probationary ones ' – so I thought we'd be casual,' Akiko said. She had actually researched this online the night before. 'I already speak casually to you, but dropping the honorific is customary.'

'You're doing it wrong,' Oshitari replied with a smirk. 'Girls usually switch from -san to -kun.'

Akiko refrained from narrowing her eyes, which would have been a sign of – well, not a sign of friendliness. 'I apologise for not being a good representation of the general female populace then, Oshitari-kun.'

'Could you say that again with a little less malice?' Oshitari said, sounding rather cheerful despite his words. 'But if you're calling me Oshitari, then I should get to call you by your given name,' he commented. 'If you're being less formal with me, I should be less formal with you, Akiko-chan.

'I just got shivers down my spine. Stop that.' Akiko shuddered, closing her eyes for a moment. 'Can't you just call me Takahashi? Akiko-chan makes me sound like one of those girls you – '

She stopped herself, because she had been about to say something extremely judgemental, and she had already made the judgement in her head, but it wasn't quite fair, especially if she was trying to slot Oshitari into a temporary friend category.

'No. That's fine.' Akiko paused and, testing the feel of it on her tongue, added, 'Oshitari-kun.' She paused again. If he was calling her by her given name, she should have free reign to do the same, and the thing about friendship was that it was supposed to be between equals, so...

'Yuushi-kun.'

That was odd. The syllables felt extremely alien on her tongue and, to see if Oshitari felt the same, she looked over, only to see that he was looking away.

'Just stick with Oshitari,' he said, and then he started jogging without her. 'Let's get going.'

'What?' she called out. Oshitari was already quite a ways down the road. 'Oshitari-kun's not good enough for you anymore?'

But Oshitari didn't answer, so Akiko let herself grumble for a bit before jogging afterwards. 'Let's go, Bagel,' she murmured, and Bagel joined her, keeping perfectly with her pace.

.

.

.

7. to begin anew

Relevant note: The school transferring thing is just a titbit from a fanbook. Random note: Just to prove how rich Hyoutei students are, their class has trips to Las Vegas and Germany. However, I am not going to be following New Prince of Tennis canon, so Oshitari does not go to the U-17 camp in November. Anyhow, thanks to those of you who have read and a double thanks to those of you who have reviewed! -awintea