The Chemistry Between Us
A girl with short brown hair took quick steps as she ran towards a small café a couple of blocks away from her school. As soon as she reached her destination, she barged right in, her eyes scanning the whole area.
She found a tall, silver-haired guy, smoking and sitting in front of the bar. With him was a small boy, talking cheerfully to the lady managing the whole place. The girl held her breath for a while and shut her eyes before exclaiming.
"A... Akutsu-senpai!"
The tall guy and the smaller boy beside him looked at her direction. Her eyes were still closed, but then she slowly opened them to see what she had gotten herself into.
The silver-hair guy was looking at her, his stare as cold as ice, piercing right through her.
"Akutsu-senpai! Someone's calling you!" the raven-hair boy said.
"Keh, what do you want?" Akutsu Jin demanded as he stood up and approached the girl still standing near the door.
"Ah... My name is and I am a sophomore! I saw you practice Karate during elementary school... and I was really inspired... and now I am a member of our school's Karate club... And I want to be your apprentice!" The girl was looking down as she tried to catch her breath. She slowly raised her head up and to her surprise, Akutsu's long and powerful leg was about to strike her.
"Jin!" The lady at the counter screamed. Everyone looked at their direction.
wasn't able to think clearly, but she had been doing Karate since elementary school – she could sense danger almost instinctively. She quickly blocked his strike – the impact of his kick proving to be unfruitful.
The whole café was quiet after seeing a rather violent scene. felt Akutsu's left leg moving away from her arm. stepped back, but she stood up as if she was preparing for a second attack.
Akutsu chuckled. "For a shrimp like you, you're pretty good."
loosened up, a smirk slowly forming on her lips.
Akutsu's companion, freshman Dan Taichi, quickly approached her. "A... Anou, are you all right desu? Were you hurt?"
"Tch, Taichi, don't mind her. If she really wants to learn what karate is, she has to get hurt one way or another." Akutsu said as he walked pass . Just before he left the café, he shouted back.
"Meet me here every day after class. We'll practice at the vacant room upstairs." And with that, he left.
was left spacing out, trying to process what had happened earlier. She then turned her attention towards Dan, who was still standing beside her, and to the lady at the counter. She hurriedly apologized and went out of the café.
She was luckier than she had expected.
**********
"Heh, you anticipated my attack, you shrimp," Akutsu replied after blocked the punch aimed at her face. followed just as Akutsu had instructed, and he welcomed her by attacking her as soon as she entered the door of the upstairs room.
"You accepted my plea to teach me karate, so I might as well impress you, Akutsu-senpai," replied, as she stepped back and put her bag on the floor. She turned around to look at the guy and asked, "I should go to the washroom and change my school uniform with my gi[1]--"
"Keh. Cut the formalities, shrimp. We're going to do karate under my own terms. That means you just wear your school uniform, and we'll start."
"But--" was about to protest, but upon seeing Akutsu looking at her, waiting for her to strike back, she sighed and stood properly and bowed at Akutsu.
"I told you to cut the fu--"
"I am sorry, Akutsu-senpai. While I do admire your skills as a karate genius, as a student I should always do the proper way of showing courtesy to you."
Akutsu just looked at the sophomore girl with a mix of amazement and irritation, but he remained silent. As much as he hated it, he had the feeling that he will somehow enjoy their after-class sparring sessions.
**********
slumped on her bed after throwing her things on the floor. She was beat up, and it was all because of Akutsu Jin. That devil, she muttered under her breath, closing her eyes. But she was not in the position to complain; after all, she was the one who went to Akutsu and asked him to teach her karate. Or rather, asked him to enhance her skills.
She closed her eyes and let her mind take her a few years back when she first met the guy. She was in elementary school at that time, just starting karate. thought that she was weak both physically and emotionally, but she wanted to overcome these weaknesses. With the support of her parents, they had helped her enter a karate school.
It was the same school that the infamous Akutsu Jin 'terrorized'. There was a time when she heard some of her fellow classmates talking about Akutsu and how the teachers were having a hard time disciplining him. didn't pay much attention to the rumors, but one time, she saw who Akutsu Jin was, and how, despite his age, managed to beat up some of the older students during a class.
From that day on, Akutsu Jin became her image of a true karate prodigy. She trained everyday, with the hopes of meeting Akutsu one day and ask him for a match. Some of her girl friends called it a crazy obsession, but she believed it was innocent admiration which really couldn't hurt, after all.
But she still could not believe that things were really happening now. Her aching muscles, however, told her that, yes, these things were really true.
**********
"This will be the last time that I am going to see your face here, shrimp," Akutsu rudely told after their informal training. It had been three weeks since she asked Akutsu to help her enhance her skills in Karate. It surprised her that with only that amount of time, Akutsu was decided on finishing off everything.
"B-but we haven't done anything yet!" protested as she paused from wiping her face with a towel.
Akutsu pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. He was clearly avoiding what the girl was saying.
"It's all over, shrimp. Didn't you hear what I just said?" He growled.
dropped the towel and went towards Akutsu. She took the cigarette from his fingers and put out the fire.
"Let's talk," she said.
He stared at her angrily. "What on earth do you want? I already gave in to your request. And I don't want to do this again, since I have better things to do. Tch."
"I want you to listen to me! I asked you to teach me because I like the way you do Karate! Why are you dropping me like this? Am I not good enough? Do I need to pay you? Why–" 's voice is already shaking, hating the fact that her dream was ending right then and there.
"Karate doesn't interest me anymore, ," Akutsu said. was surprised upon hearing him call her by her last name.
"You wouldn't learn anything from someone who is not passionate over something. Look for someone who can teach you and help you become a better student." And with that, Akutsu left. was left alone in the room, its hollow emptiness now registering more strongly than ever.
She tried to stop the tears but as soon as she heard the door shut, broke down. What had happened to the strong-willed girl? She thought that having Akutsu as her teacher and model was harmless enough, but now, she felt her heart crumbling into pieces. It was more painful than having the rigorous Karate practices with him every day after class.
Suddenly, she replayed Akutsu's parting message through her head. You wouldn't learn anything from someone who is not passionate over something. What did he mean? tried to think, and then she realized that Akutsu used to play tennis, until he quit due to some unknown reasons. Could it be...?
cursed herself. She wiped her face and darted out of the room, hoping that she would be able to catch up with such an elusive guy.
**********
Akutsu was already a block away from his mother's coffee shop. Images of were playing on his mind. He smirked. The girl reminded him of Dan Taichi, whose dedication to tennis was fully misunderstood. First tennis, now Karate.
He took another cigarette stick from his pocket and then remembered how took his previous stick. He chuckled. No one had ever done that to him, not even his mother.
Akutsu was about to light the stick when he heard someone shouting his name.
"Akutsu-senpai!"
He turned around and saw running toward him. Much to his surprise, the girl approached him and punched him in the face, the impact making him take a step backward.
"Why the hell did you just do that, brat?!" He scowled.
stepped back and looked at Akutsu; her eyes still wet from crying a couple of minutes back. "That's my way of saying I'm sorry. I was too selfish... Well, you probably know that, didn't you?"
Akutsu touched his cheek where had just hit him, and then looked at the girl. continued talking. "I didn't realize that your heart was into something else already, and here I am, forcing you to do something that you're not really into. I'm sorry. But... thank you for helping me out."
Akutsu looked at her with surprise, and then laughed. "Finally took you a while to notice, huh, shrimp?"
"Yes. But even though our passions lie on different things... and that we don't spar anymore... Is it okay if... I continue looking up to you?" 's voice trailed off, her face now a slight tinge of pink.
"Heh." Akutsu just smirked and left alone for the second time. While he was walking away from her, a look of amazement was on his face. They really might be different, Akutsu thought, but he couldn't deny that there was a certain something between them. He snorted. Some idiots called it chemistry.
He chuckled.
Perhaps.
##########
October 8, 2006
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: Kurohane & linchpin
[1] White karate uniform.
A/N: This is also a belated birthday gift to one of Teniyume's resident writers, Yuriko! Happy Birthday!