Splendid Day
The dark and gloomy weather did not stop 15-year old Oshitari Yuushi from checking out the latest Hollywood romance film, New York Love Story. Simply put, Oshitari's passion for romantic movies is unstoppable, not to mention something to be applaud of, despite its absurdity.
The bespectacled boy was about to enter the theatre when his eyes spotted someone who was standing not too far from him. With a mischievous smirk on his lips, he decided to approach her.
**********
's mood matched the current weather. While she would have preferred to stay at home and read a good book, here she was, following a young couple in front of her. Whether she liked it or not, she had to keep an eye on them. Now, was not spying on them. The boy happened to be her younger brother and she was assigned by their parents to watch over him while he went on a date. Ironically, her brother didn't make a big deal out of it, and was upset about her being her brother's chaperone when her presence doesn't even make a big difference. She swore she had other things to do rather than spend time watching over someone else's date.
Before she could mutter something, her brother smiled at her apologetically.
"Oneesan, I'm sorry if you have to endure this. You can just leave if–"
"Are you stupid?" growled. "If I leave then okaasan and otoosan will kill me. No, wait, they'll kill us!"
"We don't have to tell them," her brother tells her as they leave the ticket booth.
"We're not good liars," she said gloomily, and then turned to her brother's date. "I'm sorry about this. You guys go ahead. I'll follow you in a minute."
When her brother and his girlfriend were gone, started looking at the movie posters that adorned the hallways of the movie house, and then let out a sigh. She was about to enter the cinema when a familiar figure approached her.
"I didn't know that you were interested in watching romantic films, ," Oshitari casually said. He adjusted his glasses and smirked. Oshitari noticed that the raven-haired girl stiffened a bit, before looking at him.
"Look who's here," sarcastically replied, her arms folded across her chest. Great, she told herself. Out of all the people she had to meet from her classmates, it was the annoying womanizer, Oshitari Yuushi.
"Oh, how cold of you, greeting me like that," Oshitari smirked as he casually put his arm on 's shoulder. The girl quickly moved away.
"I won't fall for that, Oshitari. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go inside the theatre," she said as she marched towards the door with the big number "2" embossed on top. Oshitari followed her, obviously enjoying the situation.
"Romantic films aren't supposed to be watched alone," Oshitari said as he follows inside. The movie hasn't started yet so the place was still well-lit.
sharply replied. "But you're all alone."
"Not anymore," Oshitari smirked.
"I'm not alone either. I'm with my brother and his friend," she said.
"But three's a crowd. Why don't you join me?" The boy teased.
ignored him as she quickly scanned the place and looked for a vacant seat where she will be far away from her brother. However, there's a pest that she has to get rid off. She finally found a nice place, but as soon as she took her seat, she saw the blue-haired guy already had a seat beside hers. sighed. This was going to be a long day.
**********
Oshitari Yuushi had been pursuing the first year they stepped in to junior high. This was not even a secret among Hyotei Gakuen students because Oshitari almost always tries something different to proclaim his love for . As a fan of romantic love flicks, Oshitari tries to apply the things that he have watched on his own miserable love life. He ordered a huge tarpaulin with the words " , watashi wa anata ni hore te imasu"[1] written on it and was put outside the archery training grounds where frequents, since she was a part of the archery team. He also spelled the words "I LOVE YOU" on 's table using her favorite brand of chocolate bar. These were only a couple of his numerous ways to win 's heart, unfortunately, none of these worked out successfully.
But of course, retreat was not in Oshitari's vocabulary. He still tries to give her something, or follow her around, often to the point that reaches her limit and loses her patience. Instead of gaining 's affection, all he earned was hatred and disgust.
Oshitari Yuushi looked at the girl beside him before glancing back to the big screen. With those indescribable emotions he felt every time he saw her, why would he give up on loving her in the first place?
**********
tried not to look at her side since she did not want to see the person who sat beside her. She'd rather disappear right away than spend another minute with Oshitari. Yes, the dark-haired, Kansai-ben speaking senior who has been pursuing her for a couple of years now. She already turned him down; oh, kami-sama knows how many times she refused him, but he's just too persistent. Way too persistent, that it pissed her off. How come Oshitari did not want to give up?
She shot a glance at him and put her attention back on the film. Despite his appearance, academic standing and commitment to his extra-curricular activities, how come she just could not stand the guy?
**********
It was a couple of days after the whole theatre incident, and it was another regular school day for both and Oshitari. It was lunch time, and was about to leave the classroom to eat her packed lunch outside when a tall guy suddenly approached her.
made a face. "Now what?"
Oshitari Yuushi adjusted his glassed and raised a small bento box and smiled at her. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to eat lunch."
"Then eat. Why do you have to come here?"
Oshitari smirked. "My, my. Of course, this lunch wouldn't taste really good if I can't enjoy it with someone that I really like."
Instead of answering Oshitari's remark, she took out her lunch and stepped out of the classroom, ignoring the guy. Oshitari followed her, but she already disappeared from his sight. He turned around when he heard the sound of a very familiar chuckle.
"So you failed again, ah~n, Oshitari?" Said the approaching Atobe Keigo.
"So now you're spying on me, huh?" Oshitari replied, obviously not enjoying the situation. He hated it when Atobe taunted him.
"It's because you're no match for . Girls should be treated delicately, you see," Atobe smirked.
"I know about these things, Atobe. You don't have to tell me."
"If you know it already that then you shouldn't be suffering up to now," Atobe said, before he smirked and left Oshitari. He surely knew where to hit his sensitive spot. Oshitari went back inside the classroom all pissed off. It was certainly not his day.
**********
Oshitari wasn't the only person who was having a very bad day.
After barely escaping Oshitari's claws that afternoon, everything just went haywire for . She didn't like the bento that her mom packed for her. After lunch, she forgot that they had two quizzes and that she forgot to study for (and obviously, she flunked). To make things worse, her perfume accidentally spilled inside her bag, making her notebooks wet.
put out all her stuff on her table as she tried to wipe her bag dry. She thought that she was the only person left inside the classroom, until she heard footsteps coming towards her.
"Did you spill something?" A worried Oshitari approached her. said nothing, as she tried to fix her things. Oshitari took 's notes and looked at how the perfume blurred 's handwriting. In an instant, grabbed her notes from Oshitari's hands. She furiously looked at him.
"What do you want?" said in a very unpleasant voice. Oshitari noticed the change of her tone – she did not talk like that even if she was annoyed at him.
"I was about to help you," he said. Oshitari then saw that 's facial expression has changed as well.
"I don't need your help. Why are you here anyway?"
"Like I said, I was– "
"I don't need your help. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like you, and you should stop following me, yet you keep on insisting! Are you stupid? You're so annoying!"
And there was silence.
Oshitari could not believe what had just said. So he was seriously annoying her. How come he did not know that? Instead of making her feel comfortable, he was making her despise him even more.
's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. She went overboard, she knew that. While it was true that Oshitari always got into her nerves, she didn't mean to say those mean words. She knew those words stung, and she definitely hurt him bad.
"Oshitari–" said.
"It's fine. I'll leave now," Oshitari said, as he adjusted his glassed and went out of the classroom. A couple of seconds and slumped on the chair near her. She felt that all her energy has been drained.
She didn't even expect to feel that heaviness inside her heart.
**********
"Your face looks bad," commented Atobe Keigo while he and Oshitari Yuushi were preparing to leave the club room. Oshitari just shrugged at Atobe's comment.
Atobe knows what's going on, and he hates it. Oshitari was not the type of person who gets easily disturbed – he is a genius after all.
To think that he's getting all sad for a girl, Atobe thought to himself.
Oshitari was about to leave the room when Atobe gave him a parting message.
"This problem wouldn't end if you don't even try to fix it," he said.
Oshitari turned around to look at him. "Then what should I do, Almighty One?"
Atobe smirked upon hearing Oshitari's sarcastic remark. "If you really like her, then you'll get to think of ways to make her like you. It's as easy as that."
Oshitari ignored what Atobe said and left the room muttering. "You don't even know how it feels." He didn't realize that Atobe heard what he said.
You're foolish, Oshitari. Of course I do. Atobe said to himself.
**********
was standing in front of the school's vending machine, trying to get something to drink while walking on her way home. While choosing which drink to buy, her confrontation with Oshitari Yuushi crossed her mind once more.
It has been weeks since that event happened. She tried so hard to just forget what happened. She was not the type of person who snaps like that. It was a bad day, she knew that, but it was not a perfect excuse. Even if she hated Oshitari, it was not right for her to snap at him like that.
She felt bad. She wanted to approach Oshitari during lunch breaks in order to apologize, but she knew that people might make news out of her actions. , the person who was being chased by Oshitari, was now the one who was approaching him? People would probably think that she was two-faced; that she liked the attention that Oshitari gave her; that despite the fact that she has been avoiding him intently, she really liked him...
Wait, wait a minute. How did that cross her mind?
She never liked Oshitari Yuushi, that's for sure. He might be one of the most popular guys around campus, but that doesn't mean that she should like him, right? In fact, he seemed to like everything that she hated – yes, including cheesy love flicks.
She took a can of soda from the machine and opened it while she's walking. She felt bad for hurting him, yes, but that doesn't mean she liked him, right? Every decent person felt bad when they hurt someone.
But what if she really liked him?
She shook her head, trying to erase that thought. If that was the case, then she was probably the stupidest person around.
**********
It's raining, Oshitari told himself as he watched rain falling while sitting beside the window. It was Saturday afternoon, and because of the weather, time seemed to pass by really slowly.
"It would be nice if there's someone beside me," he added to his thoughts out loud. Oshitari then remembered . He quickly stood up and went to his dresser.
"I have nothing else to do today, so I'll probably take a walk," he said loudly, trying to ignore his thoughts about . After choosing what to wear, he grabbed a light jacket and an umbrella and went outside.
Just as he expected, it was pretty cold outside, but it felt good walking under the rain. "I wonder," Oshitari muttered to himself, "what is it about the rain that make people vulnerable?"
He was about to take a turn to drop by to his favorite video rental shop when he noticed a familiar figure walking towards him. It was .
was not surprised to see Oshitari Yuushi in the middle of the road. She was about to visit him anyway, for the reason that she has to apologize to him. She noticed that Oshitari stopped in his tracks upon seeing her. She went towards him.
greeted him first. "Hi."
"Hi," Oshitari answered back.
There was silence. decided that since she saw Oshitari anyway, she should just say what she wants to tell him.
"I-I was about to go to your house today..." she started, stuttering a little. looked down, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Oh," was Oshitari was about to say. He didn't expect that.
"... I was about to apologize about what happened last time. It was really rude of me to snap at you like that, especially when you weren't trying to do anything wrong. I... I am really sorry," looked it Oshitari's eyes. Their eyes met in a long gaze, and was the first one to look away.
"Anyway," said, trying to fix her jacket as the blowing wind started to get a little colder. "You will probably think that it's weird of me to talk to you like this... but I was really bothered about what I did. You probably hate me now, and I can't blame you if you do. Maybe I should leave now because the weather's not getting any better..."
Before took another step, Oshitari was almost an inch closer to her, took the umbrella from her hand, and kissed her softly on the lips. 's eyes widened upon realizing that Oshitari's lips were on hers, but before she could recover, Oshitari already distanced himself a bit.
He was smiling now.
"W-what was that for?!" She asked, looking horrified. She touched her lips; she could still feel that kiss.
"That's more like it."
"Eh?"
Oshitari closed 's umbrella and the two of them were now under his. He then looked at her and smiled again. "I am glad that you asked for forgiveness, but seriously, it bothered me a little."
"B-but I was bothered! Is that wrong? And why did you kiss me?!" insisted. She could not believe that Oshitari seemed to not take her apology seriously.
Oshitari looked at and touched her face. "I also have to ask for forgiveness, you know. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, after all those years," he chuckled. was silent.
"Then why did you kiss me?" said without looking at him.
"I don't know. Impulse?" He smirked.
"You freak," she commented.
"Okay, I did it so that you'd get annoyed. It felt different to see you vulnerable and sad like that. It was like I was talking to a different person."
"You really are stupid. I don't understand you. And to think I'm starting to like you a little..." said.
Oshitari smiled. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"You said you're starting to like me."
"Then why ask when you already know about it?" She said. "And give my umbrella back. I should be leaving now since I already said sorry."
"What? Leaving? Why don't we watch a movie instead?" he said, holding her waist so that she could not escape.
"I don't like romantic films," said.
"So you want to spend the afternoon with me?" Oshitari asked.
"I didn't even say yes," replied, still avoiding his gaze.
"But you already said that you don't like romantic movies. Isn't that a yes?"
"No."
"But you're specifying your choice of movies."
"So?"
"But do you want to watch a movie with me?" Oshitari insists.
"Fine, fine! I'll go with you. Just stop that."
"So you really want to go out with me."
"Argh!" glared at him.
Oshitari smiled as he quit teasing . He removed his arm from around her waist and took her hand. It was a dark and rainy afternoon, but it was surely a splendid day for the two of them.
##########
August 4, 2006
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: Rikapyon!
[1] It only means "I am in love with you." As espected of Oshitari? He probably got this idea from Atobe though, hehe.