Hello… (To tell you the truth I'm a bit nervous to greet people here.)

This fic is a rewrite of my old fanfic with similar title "Aruhi no Oshitari: Red Chrysanthemum". For those who have read the old version, you'll notice that there will be some great changes here and there to fix the flow of the story. For those who haven't, fear not, you won't need to read the previous stories to understand this story. This is a complete rewrite and independent from any stories in AnO series.

I hope dear readers will like this fic (better than the old one).

There might be some grammatical mistakes and typos. I'm really sorry if my English didn't get any better.

Disclaimer: the Prince of Tennis belongs to the one and only Konomi Takeshi.

Summary: Just how lucky this girl was, having her crush Shiraishi as her cousin's best friend. Thanks to that connection, she got a chance to know him better. Nevertheless, everything wasn't as easy as it seemed. There were many girls who were dying to exchange place with her and she wasn't even sure she had what it took to be more than just "Kenya's cousin".

Pairing: ShiraishixOC.

Red Chrysanthemum

Chapter 1

He loves me…

What would it feel like to have a dazzling cousin right beside you? Would you feel proud? Or would you feel diffident instead?

Kouki was born in the ever lively Oshitari family. Living in a big, tightly knotted family resulted not only closeness among the members but also competition. Naturally, she was nothing special compared to the genius Yuushi or the eccentric speed-holic Kenya, or even other cousins of hers. Thanked to it, ever since she was young, she was often regarded as the other Oshitari by people around her.

Even after she enrolled Shitenhouji middle school for more than two years, a lot of people still referred her as Kenya's cousin instead of her own name. Well, it couldn't be helped, as Kenya was quite popular in their school due his personality and position in the tennis club, while she was… just a cousin of him.

Not that she mind though. She was already used to it. Besides, she really liked this cousin of hers. He was a kind and honest guy. He wasn't an arrogant person who would avoid talking to her at school just because they had different status. Nope, Kenya wasn't that kind of person. If any, he often tried to blend and talk to her friends when he dropped a visit to her class during recess. There were also times when he brought her along to hang out with him and his friends.

Yes, it was another reason why she didn't mind at all being called his cousin. Being his cousin somehow gave her a chance to talk to her crush, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, who was no other than Kenya's best friend, classmate and fellow team mate. It indeed felt like she was using Kenya to get close to Shiraishi, but it was the only way. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the popular captain of the famous, national level tennis club to even notice her presence among not less than a thousand students in their school.

A girl with long, black hair leaned her back on the stone wall. She hummed softly as her eyes gazed blankly at the evening sky above her. Once in a while, she would look at a wooden sliding door beside her, expecting people to appear behind it. On other time, she would take a look at a white watch around her left wrist and counted how much time had left ever since she came to that place.

Five minutes to six… Six o'clock… Ten pass six…

Soon… The wait would be over soon and her patience would be rewarded by a heartwarming smile on that person's face.

She put down her hand and averted her gaze back at the sky. The sky was in pretty orange color. The pastel yellow clouds looked so fluffy like cotton candy. Her mind started imagining on how great it would be if the clouds actually taste sweet. She was contemplating if the clouds would taste like orange or banana when the door to tennis club opened.

"Ah, if it's not Kouki-chan…"

She quickly shoved away her wild fantasy as soon she heard a familiar voice belonged to no other than her crush. She straightened her back and turned at the guy in yellow and green jersey. She smiled sheepishly at him, hoping that by any chance he hadn't seen her staring at the clouds with stupid face.

"Kenya?" Shiraishi asked shortly. The question was rather rhetorical because the said cousin was the obvious reason why she was here… or so people thought. Waiting for Kenya… that was the excuse she had been using for the whole two years so that she could see Shiraishi after the tennis club activity ended.

"Yes." she nodded.

"I think he's still talking to Gin-san about the doubles," he said while peeking behind his shoulder. "Wait a moment, I'll call for him."

"Aaah! No need to trouble yourself!" she tried to stop him, who had just turned around and was about to walk away. "I'll just wait until he's done with his business. It won't take long after all."

"No worries, it's not troublesome at all. Besides, the club activity should be dismissed before it's getting too dark." He waved his hand at her then returned to the club to do the favor for her.

Kouki couldn't suppress a smile as she think of how kind he was. He was very thoughtful and mature, could act serious when needed and was very responsible on his duty as a captain of the team. Just what kind of girl wouldn't fall for him?

"Speaking of which, Kouki-chan…"

She jolted in surprise when the guy who was supposed to call for Kenya suddenly came back and poked his head out of the door.

"Y- yes?" she replied groggily while placing a hand against her heart that was beating so fast.

"You see, there was something on your face," he pointed on the corner of his own lips. "Right here."

"Eh?" she copied his gesture and absentmindedly trailed her cheek and chin with her fingers until a realization struck her. "EEEH?" she shrieked quickly covered her mouth with both of her palms.

'D- Don't tell me I actually drooled?' her face flushed red in embarrassment.

He laughed seeing how she panicked. "My bad, my bad. I was just joking."

She frowned at him. Her hands were still hiding her mouth in case there was really something.

"You looked so spaced out earlier so I was wondering if you feel asleep for real." he was grinning in amusement as he explained. "So… did you actually fall asleep?"

"N- no. Of course not." she replied quickly.

"But judging from your reaction…"

"No, I was just… I was just…" …thinking about food. Well, there was no way she could admit it, wasn't it? She lowered her hands (after making sure there wasn't any trace of drool on her face) to chest height and tapped her index fingers together as she nervously tried to change the subject. "I- It's nothing important. That's aside; he should be done talking to Ishida-san… Kenya, I mean… Will you call him out…Please?"

He raised a hand over his mouth as he resisted a chuckle. "Sure thing. One Kenya, coming in the speed of light!" he said jokingly before disappearing into the club.

She exhaled sharply as he went for real.

There were also times when he suddenly felt like joking around… She couldn't hate him for it though, as it was also one of many reasons why she liked him.

"What's with that tomato face?"

That was the first thing Kenya said when he saw his cousin outside the club.

"None of your business." Kouki looked away, hiding her reddish face. Her face turned red easily, but it took quite some time to return to its original color.

"Uwah, so cold… Even though this generous me was the one who gave you the chance to talk to Shiraishi." he put his hands behind the head and started walking. "Let me guess, you did something stupid again and embarrassed yourself in front of him."

"That's rude! I never did anything stupid," she pouted and stomped her feet as she followed him. They soon exited the school gate. "It was only … er, a normal conversation."

He side glanced at her. "Is that so?"

"It is. It's just the usual I'm waiting for Kenya who somehow always takes his time doing this and that after the practices ends kind of conversation." she replied.

His eyebrow twitched upon hearing her emphasizing on how he was being uncharacteristically slow. "Mind you, I was giving you time. You should be more grateful for that."

"Yes, yes." she replied half-heartedly.

He stopped on his track, turned at her then flicked on her forehead.

"Ouch!" She snapped. "What's that for?"

"For getting on my nerve." Kenya deadpanned. "It's been two freaking years and you're making no progress at all."

"Mou, I get to talk to him now and then."

He rolled his eyes. "As if it's getting you anywhere."

"We become friends."

"But you're definitely not his only female friend…"

"But I'm happy enough with that," she paused and looked away. "It's not like I want to be his girlfriend or anything..."

Kenya smirked as he nodded several times. "Ah~ So you are saying it's okay if one day he gets himself a girlfriend?" He shrugged and then added. "Well, it's not a problem for me, really. Honestly, I'd be happy for my buddy if he finally gets himself a decent girlfriend… not a gloomy, pessimistic girl with no dream or ambition like this not-so-cute cousin of mine."

Kouki bit her lower lips. She couldn't argue with that. She was indeed a gloomy, pessimistic girl who never got enough gut to strive for her wildest dream of becoming Shiraishi's girlfriend. On the top of everything, yes, she was not cute at all.

As she was drowning in her negative thought, Kenya suddenly flicked on her forehead again.

"Idiot!" he said. "As if I would be happy to see that."

"H- Huh?" She blinked while rubbing her forehead. The sudden pain apparently petrified her brain and prevented her from understanding what he had just said.

"Seeing your ugly crying face is the least thing I want."

She pouted and replied sarcastically. "Sorry for being ugly."

He exhaled deeply then put his hand on top of her head. "Anyway, what I am saying is, you should muster your courage and try to do something before it's too late."

Kouki wondered if she could actually do it or not. For the past two years, she had been satisfying herself by seeing Shiraishi and occasionally having small talks with him. She was happy that he treated her kindly, even if it was merely because she was his best friend's cousin. She was happy enough having the guy she liked called her by the first name, even though it was simply to help him preventing confusion as she bore the same surname as Kenya.

To walk out of her safe zone meant that she should be prepared to face changes, both the good ones and the bad ones. She wasn't prepared for that. What if her friendship with Shiraishi became awkward? What should she do if he came to hate her? Didn't he dislike aggressive girls?

"Hora, stop worrying unnecessary things." Kenya ruffled her head, making her wavy black hair looked messier than it normally was.

She looked at her cousin's blue eyes. Her lips curved upwards, forming a thin smiled. "You're right… The generous Kenya-sama has been cheering on me till this extent so I guess I have to be a little more optimistic."

"Right? You should be grateful!" He then leaned closer to her, raised his right hand and placed it just a centimeter away from her forehead. "Well then, I shall flick your wide forehead once again… for a good luck." he said while grinning ear to ear.

She widened her eyes then tried to move her face away from him. Nevertheless, her struggle was vain since he had his other hand to hold her head. "No! Anything but that!"

With a soft whack sound, he landed his third flicks. He smiled contently when he saw a red spot on her forehead. "Well, that'll help you remember today's resolution."

They then arrived at the junction where they usually parted ways and bid each other goodbye.

She rubbed her aching forehead as she watched him ran down the small street that led to his house and disappeared from her sight. "Thanks, Kenya." she murmured.

"Though… honestly, I don't even know what I should do. Where should I start?"

Ehh… so that's it(?) The OC needs time to break through her thick shell. I hope your understanding. I'm sorry if I somewhat annoy dear readers by emphasizing too much on what a Plain Jane she is.

Anyway… I hope you liked this first chapter. If you don't mind, please spare a minute or two to fill the review box bellow and let me know what you think of this particular story.

See you on next chapter and please wish me good luck on my finals!