Accident

"You're Kirihara Akaya, aren't you?" A girl with big, brown eyes stood in front of the second year middle school student Kirihara Akaya. He was holding a small paper tray filled with takoyaki and his first bite of the delicious food was quickly interrupted. He glanced at the girl who confirmed his name.

"Uh. Yes? Do you need some help?" Kirihara asked. The girl looked at him and smiled.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"H-huh?"

**********

"And that's how it started." Kirihara finished his narration while popping chips on his mouth. He turned to his senpai Niou Masaharu, who came over to his house so that he can listen to his story. It was almost four weeks since the incident happened and the sophomore still cannot figure out why he accidentally got a girlfriend.

"I still can't understand it," Niou commented as he stood up and walked around Kirihara's room, trying to find something that might interest him.

"I don't get it either, that's why I'm telling you this."

Niou went towards Kirihara's small pile of CDs and continued, "I mean, it's too good to be true. Someone approaching you and asking... that. And wait, you did say yes, right?"

Kirihara ruffled his hair a bit, as if it will help him think of an answer to Niou's question. "W-well, you can say that."

Niou smirked and popped a CD on the player. "Well you gave your consent, so I guess you shouldn't be worrying about it."

"But I was surprised! I wasn't able to think properly that time, so I accidentally said yes!" Kirihara explained. He still could not forget the fact that he blurted the wrong answer which led him to his current situation.

"Having a girlfriend isn't that bad, besides it would be great if there's someone who will take care of you," Niou commented. He thinks that it'll be better if his kouhai will try to look at the brighter side.

"Maa, I guess. I don't even know her. I mean, her personality and all," Kirihara added.

"Then why don't you take this chance and get to know her better?"

**********

Kirihara was sitting quietly on his desk, looking at the window and watching some students walking along the school grounds. His attention quickly shifted to the girl who was standing in front of him.

"You're thinking of something again," commented as she stared at him. She immediately tucked her short, layered hair behind her ear and pulled the chair that was in front of Kirihara.

"Oh, it's you." Kirihara looked at her with mixed expression on his face.

pouted upon seeing her boyfriend's reaction. "What's with that look?"

Kirihara shot a glance around the classroom, and seeing that no one was looking at them, he brought his attention back to the girl. "You wouldn't understand it. I mean, how come we're an item?"

"I asked you," answered. Kirihara's face was painted with disbelief.

"I know that! Why me? Why didn't you approach someone else?"

"Why you? I just saw you buying takoyaki on the stand, so I approached you. I find it convenient."

"You're not even taking my question seriously. And this situation!" He's exasperated now. just looked at him questioningly, and then smiled.

"You look cute when you look annoyed. It's a refreshing sight." She tapped his shoulder and then left the classroom.

**********

"Here," handed in a small bento box to Kirihara. It was a breezy Friday afternoon and the two decided to hang out ( said so) on the rooftop of the west building. Kirihara quietly took the box from 's hands and slowly opened the box.

"Did you make this?" Kirihara asked while smelling the food.

"Uh-huh," replied, removing the knot from the cloth that covered her own lunch box. The two started eating their meals in silence. Kirihara thought that the food was delicious, and as an act of courtesy, he decided to thank her. He glanced at the girl beside him, and as he was about to open his mouth to say thanks, he realized that 's face was a bit closer to his, her deep, brown eyes looking straight at him.

"Uh."

"Yes?" took her attention away from Kirihara and bit the last part of her octopus-shaped sausages. She didn't notice that Kirihara's face was already beet red.

"N-nothing. The food's great, thank you," Kirihara speedily said, handing the small bento box back to her. took it, and wrapped the two boxes with cloth. She stood up and dusted off her skirt, and looked down at Kirihara who was still sitting on the floor.

"I will see you after your practice," said and then left. Kirihara was left alone on the rooftop, trying to figure out if he really did have lunch with . He knows he should end this nonsense, after all, looks like she's apathetic. And yet, he could not understand why her simple words made his restraints break and made him follow everything she says.

Kirihara Akaya lay on the cold, hard floor and looked up at the sky. Things were getting complicated for him to bear that he had to do something about it.

**********

"Buchou, I want to ask if we could double the training menu that I have right now," Kirihara was wiping the sweat off his face and neck while Yukimura Seiichi was watching a practice match between Niou Masaharu and Marui Bunta. Yukimura turned towards the sophomore with a questioning look.

"I understand if you want to get stronger, but I am afraid that it will affect your health if you have too much of this," Yukimura answered, gesturing with the clipboard that he was holding.

"I believe he has other reasons why he wanted to do that," Yanagi Renji said as he walked towards his teammates. He glanced at Kirihara, and then looked at Yukimura. "Although I have to agree that it's not for your best interest."

"And why not?" Kirihara bluntly asked, obviously disappointed by the fact that his senpai-tachi weren't allowing him his request.

"Because the only reason you want to do that is that you want to spend less time with her," Yanagi then gestured to his left and there appeared , standing outside the tennis court, carrying a small sports bag and her shinai ^[1]. When Kirihara saw her, he turned to look at Yanagi and angrily took his belongings and went outside the court.

As soon as he stepped out of the court, he turned to who was waiting for her. She smiled.

"How was the training?"

Kirihara answered her question with a scowl. He then noticed that was holding a shinai. "Why do you have that?"

"I own it," said, looking at him.

"Obviously you own it, but... Ah, whatever." Kirihara didn't continue what he was going to say when he finally realized that it was stupid for him to ask something when the answer's right in front of his eyes. "I didn't know you practice kendo."

smiled. "Yes. C'mon, I'll treat you for some ice cream." For the first time, she took his hand and despite his sour disposition, he didn't say a word and followed the girl.

As he waited for to get back from the ice cream stand, Kirihara was silently debating with himself. A while ago, he was really angry because Yanagi-senpai and Yukimura-buchou disapproved of his request. He was angry because what Yanagi-senpai said was true: he wanted his training menu to be doubled so that he would have more time practicing, thus he wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time with . So that won't wait for him outside the courts, so that he wouldn't bring her to her house, so that they wouldn't eat lunch together. To put it simply, he just wanted to get rid of her.

But how come there was strong force that's preventing him to do anything that would make him and drift apart?

His train of thought was interrupted when handed in an ice cream cone. "Here," she said, and sat beside him. A few licks of the sweet treat and Kirihara finally broke the silence.

"I don't get you."

's brown eyes fell on Kirihara, her gaze questioning. "You might want to explain that further."

"I don't have to, because I already brought up this issue as soon as... this crazy thing started," Kirihara muttered.

"Oh, okay. So you want to talk about us," said, still enjoying her ice cream. Her reaction made Kirihara even more angrier, so he carelessly took the ice cream cone on her hands. There was a surprise look on 's small face.

"Would you listen to me for once?" Kirihara demanded.

stood up and walked a few steps away from the bench where she sat. She then turned around and looked at Kirihara. "Sure."

Kirihara sat there quietly, both hands are holding two melting ice creams. "I don't get it. Why did you ask me to be your boyfriend? I mean it's strange. We don't even know each other. And we've been together for a month now. I don't know what kind of set up is this. And you don't even talk a lot! I didn't expect someone like you to come into my life and shake... everything! What is it that you want?"

There was silence. just stood there, trying to absorb what just the boy told her. Her facial expression was blank, but Kirihara noticed that her big, brown eyes were overflowing with emotions. Suddenly he felt that he shouldn't have confronted her.

"Are you sure that you really want to know?" softly replied, still looking at him.

Kirihara tried to avoid her gaze. "Yes. Whatever your reasons are, I don't care. I just want to get out of this... thing."

noticed the ice creams that are melting on Kirihara's hand. She took a tissue from her pocket, knelt down in front of him and took her ice cream away from his hand and threw it on the nearby trash bin. She then wiped his now sticky hand and started talking.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you for the past month, or if it seemed that I was really unaware of things. I guess I'm not really good at explaining how I feel," she paused for a while, and then continued. "It would be selfish of me to say this, but even though the past month was pretty difficult for you, I was really happy that time. But since you really don't want to be involved in this kind of situation, I guess I have to accept things, right?"

finished wiping Kirihara's hand, and then she stood up and threw the soiled tissues. "So, what's your reason behind this?" He asked.

She picked up her bag and her shinai and looked at him. "It's because I like you, Kirihara-kun," she smiled and left an astounded Kirihara still sitting on the bench, his ice cream melting on his other hand.

**********

"I will say this with all my heart, Akaya. You are stupid," Niou Masaharu muttered as he gulped a cold glass of energy drink. Once again, he found himself inside Kirihara's bedroom, listening to what the second year would say about his messed-up relationship with . Kirihara was sitting on the floor, looking confused.

"I had no idea that she liked me! I could have said it nicely," Kirihara said, in which his comment earned him a smack from the silver-haired trickster.

"That's not the point here, kid. In the first place, you were too dense to realize that she liked you. Why would she walk up to you and propose if she doesn't like you, huh?" Niou said exasperatedly.

Kirihara rubbed the spot where Niou hit him and reasoned back. "But she was weird, Niou-senpai! I already told you about it, right?"

"But I told you to make the most out of it and get to know her more! I bet you didn't do anything."

"Uh..."

"Pfftt, don't answer. I know it already," Niou said with a tone of disappointment on his voice. Kirihara was silent.

Niou stood up and stretched his arms. "Look here, your set-up was out-of-this-world, sure, but you can't deny the fact that you were attracted to her. If you didn't, you should have ended your relationship early on. Try sorting out your feelings, Akaya, and think things over." Niou tapped Kirihara's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile before he left the boy's room.

**********

finished putting her white shoes inside her cubby when she noticed Kirihara Akaya standing on her right. The boy looked serious, although there are some traces of nervousness on his face. looked at him quizzically.

"Ah..." Kirihara's voice was a little shaky. He then looked down, afraid that their eyes will meet. "I came here to say sorry about what I said last week. My words were pretty harsh. I'm now taking responsibilities for my actions. In any case, I would like to extend my apologies." He looked up to see 's reactions. As soon as he raised his head, he saw her brown, expressive eyes – those eyes that express things that were never spoken; her eyes that seem to see his very soul, his whole being.

She was smiling.

"Ah, and I admit that I failed as your boyfriend, and it was pitiful. I want to ask if I can do something to make up for what I did," Kirihara scratched his head, trying his best not to smile to hide the awkwardness that he was feeling.

took his hand and looked at him. "You might want to pay back the ice cream that you took away from me last time."

Kirihara chuckled upon hearing 's words, and for the first time, his fingers are now intertwined with hers. "It will be my treat."

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September 4, 2006
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: Rikapyon! (<3)