By Your Side: Part 2

The next day, knocked on the woodwork room door at quarter to noon. It was a Saturday and so it meant that school finished at 10 am for them. Third years had no school today so club activities usually ran for the whole day.

From inside, a voice called, "Come in."

Opening the door, greeted a slightly surprised Kirihara. "Hey Akaya-kun. Sanada-senpai sent me to check on the boards."

In fact, Sanada had done no such thing, but had felt that the third year already had too much to do without worrying about Kirihara as well. As the events coordinator, the junior girl thought that she could help the tennis club out by doing some little things for them.

"Oh?" Kirihara looked slightly disbelieving but then shrugged. It wasn't his place to question who Sanada sent or why he did things.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief for passing the grade, took out the tape measure she had brought with her and the measurements that she had gotten off the plans that the club had submitted.

After a minute, rolled up the tape and shook her head. "Akaya-kun? It's wrong again."

"What?!" Kirihara looked a bit upset. "Again? What am I going to do? I really hate these boards!" He pouted at her.

chewed on her lip in thought for a moment. "Say, how about I draw out the lines in the correct dimensions and you can cut them?"

Kirihara bounced back up, "Sure! I really hated measuring those things anyway. The cutting is much more fun."

The two worked steadily for the next hour and a half without a break. had drawn up a couple of extras, "Just in case…" she told her classmate.

After measuring them all twice to make sure, the black haired girl smiled brightly and nodded. "That's it! We're done!"

"Yah!" Kirihara punched the air. "Now all we have to do is take them down to the tennis clubroom." He grinned cheekily at her, "I have a trolley this time around."

"Umm… Okay…" was slightly apprehensive, just in case she ran into Sanada. But luckily, their journey with the boards was smooth and uninterrupted. Even when they entered the clubroom, it was empty of everyone except for Niou.

The silver-haired senior raised an eyebrow at her. "? What are you doing here?" He deliberately left off the suffix at the end of her name just to see her blush.

didn't disappoint. A soft, pink color invaded her cheeks. Kirihara answered for her, "Sanada fukubuchou sent -chan to come and check the boards. Now they're all done and correct." He added proudly.

"Sanada did?" Niou didn't really believe that for a moment. Would Sanada really have help him out? It was their fukubuchou after all.

However, after a further moment's thought, Niou concluded that it musn't be so since Sanada didn't seem the type to coerce anyone, especially a girl, to do his work for him.

A little wary of the Trickster, quickly changed the subject. "Niou-senpai? Has your group got any ideas to get the customers yet?"

Niou blinked a little. "Not that I know of. But Marui and Jackal are supposed to be handling that side."

A snort came from Kirihara, "Those two? I don't know what Sanada fukubuchou was thinking when he assigned them the duty of dealing with customers. Jackal-senpai has the social skills of a brick wall and Marui-senpai would scare off anyone within ten meters of him if he was sugar high."

Niou looked surprised this time round, "You may have a point there, Akaya. You do have a brain I see."

Kirihara looked insulted but Niou continued without letting the younger boy get a word in. "How about you suggest something -chan."

"Me?" looked startled but obliged when both Kirihara and Niou smiled at her sincerely.

"You have lots of different machines ne?"

When both boys nodded, she continued, "How about if you assess each customer on the type of games that they'd be good at and let them play a similar type? That way, you'll get a successful stall and they'd get a heap of fun from trying something new and not failing at it."

There was silence as Niou absorbed this. blushed and stammered, "I mean… I know that it probably sounds really lame but…"

The Trickster grinned and grabbed her in an exurbant hug, "You're brilliant ."

The junior girl blushed harder and wriggled out of his grasp. "Thank… thank you, Niou-senpai."

With that, she quickly escaped from the room. Today really was too much excitement for her.

**********

stared a little apprehensively at the sheet of paper she held in her hand. The Festival Organization Committee had met up yesterday after school. The student representatives from all the participating schools had gotten together to finalize the last details. had met lots of interesting people yesterday. She had developed a deep admiration for the Hyotei representative. The girl, Renai Sara, was also in second year like her, but she was the main coordinator for this upcoming festival since Hyotei was the organizing school. and Sara had gotten along right from the very start and had a mutual appreciation for each other's skills.

They all had received an information sheet to hand to each team that was to be hosting a stall during the festival. had given out all of the other sheets; she just had this single one left for the tennis club boys.

sighed. She was a bit afraid to see Sanada but this piece of paper had given her such a good excuse to visit the boys again…

**********

Kirihara came puffing up. He skidded to a stop before turning a scowl onto Sanada.

"Ne, Sanada-fukubuchou, you said that you were going to personally check the boards yesterday. You never came! And I finished them and some extras too!"

Sanada eyed Kirihara a little dubiously but didn't say anything. Yanagi chose that point in time to appear, "Indeed. Akaya has done very well. Not only are all the measurements correct, there are four extra boards just in case."

The fukubuchou stood silently considering the thought. It was rare for Kirihara not only to finish his assigned task but to do extra. "Kirihara? Who did you pay to help you this time?"

The second year ace looked highly insulted. "I didn't have to pay anyone!" He pouted, " was nice and helped me, even though you did send her to spy on me."

This time Sanada showed a little flicker of surprise, "When did I send -san?"

Kirihara showed slight puzzlement, "She showed up yesterday at the woodwork room and told me that you had sent her to check my measurements."

Yanagi smiled, knowing exactly what had happened. "Priceless…"

Niou came sauntering up with Yagyuu in tow. Marui and Jackal had yet to show. "What's up? Sanada looks somewhat surprised."

Kirihara turned to the Trickster, "Sanada says that he didn't tell -chan to help me yesterday."

"Oh?" The tall boy didn't seem surprised. Niou had long since figured out what had been bugging him yesterday after had shown up with Kirihara. "She was probably concerned that Sanada was doing too much after what I said to her the day before. 's nice so she decided to help you out a little Sanada."

The silent and upright third year said nothing but crossed his arms.

Niou tried tact, "You know Sanada, isn't it good to have to not worry about Kirihara for a while? You can't deny that saved you a lot of trouble by helping out our little second year yesterday. Right?"

Sanada considered this for a further moment before conceding the point. "I suppose." He nodded firmly to himself, "I shall endeavor to thank her the next time we see each other."

A brief knock sounded before the aforementioned girl appeared. "Ohayou!"

"Ohayou, -chan."

Sanada merely nodded at her and received a jab in the ribs from Niou. He glared at the Trickster who smiled wickedly and mouthed ‘thank her'.

The fukubuchou turned away and found the petite second year in front of him with a sheet of paper held out to him

"What's this?" Sanada looked from the sheet to .

fiddled a bit and didn't meet his gaze properly, "Umm… That's just the final copy of the arrangements for all the stalls."

Taking the paper and scanning it, Sanada nodded slightly, "Thank you then." bowed politely and turned towards the door.

There was an expectant hush in the room as the members waited for something extra from their vice-captain. Giving them all a brief glare, Sanada cleared his throat. "-san?"

turned back to face him, her heart beating slightly faster. "H… Hai?"

For the first time in his life, Sanada Genichirou looked slightly uncomfortable, "Thank you for helping out Kirihara."

When worked out that Sanada had found out about yesterday, she blushed and started stammering, "Anou… I'm… I'm really sorry if I butted in yesterday. But… I thought that Akaya-kun would need some help… So… so…"

The embarrassed second year fell silent as Sanada turned the full force of his gaze upon her. "Iie. It's alright. In fact, I want to thank you for helping him out. If there's anything you need help in the future, you can come and find me anytime."

The blush intensified on 's face. "Ahh. Arigatou, Sanada-senpai." Quickly bowing again to him, she practically ran out of the room.

**********

Yanagi Renji stood to one side of the little area that had been assigned to them. Yagyuu was beside him along with Niou. They had been given permission to start moving their stall's equipment to the actual location of the festival. It was still a couple of days early but it was impossible for their group to move everything in on the day.

Niou grinned as he watched Sanada instruct Marui and Jackal on the correct way to put the shelves up. "Ne, don't you think that fukubuchou has gotten a lot less strict these couple of days?"

Yagyuu didn't comment but Yanagi flipped back a few pages in his notebook, "Hmm. Indeed. Genichirou's good moods have almost doubled in the past three days ever since Akaya presented him with all the boards finished and correct."

Niou's grin widened into a smirk. "Indeed. In other words, he's been better emotionally ever since talking properly to -chan."

"Who's been better emotionally, Masaharu?" Sanada's voice sounded from near them. The three boys looked up to find their fukubuchou standing in front of them with his arms crossed. "Niou, Yagyuu, why aren't the two of you helping Jackal and Marui? Renji, where is Akaya?"

The Trickster rolled his eyes but didn't protest as his partner dragged him away to where the work was. Yanagi allowed a genuine smile to touch his face, "Genichirou, we were just discussing the reason for your good moods lately."

Sanada looked away and pulled his hat more firmly down and refused to comment. After watching his old friend for a little longer, Yanagi continued, "I'm actually curious as to what you think of our little friend, -chan…"

With a certain amount of satisfaction, Yanagi noted down the slight hesitation Sanada had before answering. "She's very helpful to have around…"

However, before anymore could be said, herself rushed up and smiled at the two, "Hello Yanagi-senpai, Sanada-senpai."

"-chan." Yanagi acknowledged her with a pleasant smile.

Sanada just nodded his acknowledgment. But Yanagi, knowing Sanada for a long, long time, noted a slight smile that lurked around the corners of the usually emotionless fukubuchou's mouth and the softening of his expression as he watched her.

With a seemingly innocent look, Yanagi turned to Sanada, "Ne, Genichirou, I need you to go and buy some things for prizes."

Sanada looked a bit confused at what appeared to be a complete change in topic from before. He said the first thing that appeared in his mind, "What things?"

Hiding a smirk, Yanagi turned to the still present . "-chan? Would you accompany Genichirou to the shops and help him pick out some things for the stall? Although he is unrivaled at tennis, he can still be quite clueless about things such as these."

"Ahh…" 's cheeks darkened to a faint pink color. "If it's alright with Sanada-senpai…"

Sanada pulled his cap lower and looked at the ground, "I have no problem."

"Good. Just get little things that are suitable, okay?"

nodded her understanding and turned to Sanada. "Sanada-senpai?"

He returned the look and nodded as well. "Alright. Let's go."

**********

Sanada didn't feel really comfortable around shops that contained things that did not involve tennis.

tried to carry on a conversation but gave up after Sanada either gave monosyllabic answers or replied that he didn't know. After a few minutes of silence on both parts, decided to break it. "Sanada-senpai? How bout we try these shops around here?" She gestured to the four or five little accessory shops that were scattered around that particular street.

He nodded his consent but hesitated when she looked liked she was about to follow him. Ever practical and time conscious, Sanada suggested to her, "Would you like to split up here, -san? You can have a look at the shops on the other side of the road and I'll do this side."

"Ahh. Okay then…" tried to hide the slightly hurt feeling she got inside at Sanada's words. Maybe he just didn't want her to come with him. Putting on a smile, she nodded. "I'll meet you here then…"

**********

Sanada didn't know why it felt so strange when he watched that look pass over 's face before. He thought that she looked hurt for some reason at his suggestion.

Trying to shrug off the problem, Sanada attempted to concentrate on finding suitable prizes for his team's stall. Maybe it would have been easier if was here with him…

Looking at his watch, the tall third year was surprised to find that almost ten minutes had passed. "-san would be waiting by now," he said to himself and exited the shop.

Walking towards their assigned meeting spot, Sanada froze as he saw three older boys who had cornered and were obviously threatening her. The emotions that rolled through him at that point were unrecognizable and foreign. All Sanada knew was that he was going to stop it. Right now.

**********

walked slowly towards the meeting place. She felt downcast and unhappy. It had been going so well. Then Sanada had gone slightly cold on her. But most of all, she couldn't understand why she was so affected by his actions.

Distracted, didn't realize that she was surrounded until a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Hey pretty. Are you going to just walk past without introducing yourself?" The one who held her wrist asked her with a smirk.

The other two laughed and one touched her long hair. "Ooh. Soft. Why don't you come on a little date with us? I promise that you'll enjoy yourself."

was frightened. Never had she felt so threatened before but remembering what some friends had told her, didn't show them that she was afraid. She made up a story, "Let me go… Or else if my boyfriend sees, he'll get you."

"Oh? Really? A boyfriend you say?" The third one laughed again and stepped in closer leaning in so that he whispered in her ear, "You don't have one do you? We've watched you since you've come out of the first shop. Alone. There is no boyfriend."

tried to continue her bluff but she was starting to come apart. "I… I… I'm n... not joking. I… I… d… do." Tears gathered a little in her hazel eyes.

"Aww… We made her cry…" The first boy who still held her wrist mocked. The other two just laughed cruelly.

"Let her go." The voice was deep and calm but so very, very cold.

The three turned to find the owner of the voice glaring at them. He was obviously angry from the set of his jaw and the tension in his body. Moving into a basic stance, his black eyes narrowed at them. "Let her go now, or you'll regret it."

"Sanada!" blinked away the tears, not realizing that she called him without the honorific.

The three boys got the message and backed off immediately. "Look. We're sorry for having messed with your girlfriend. It was a mistake okay? We're sorry, really sorry. We'll be off now." One of them gabbled before all three took off quickly.

As soon as they let her go, Sanada immediately went to her side and checked her over for injuries. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him.

Thoroughly confused by his behavior and still shaking from the previous incident felt a little dazed. "Sanada-senpai…" Leaning in towards his warmth and the security Sanada offered, held onto his shirt and burst into tears.

A little awkwardly at first but relaxing after a moment, Sanada let her hold on and hesitatingly stroked her hair. "It's alright now."

Sanada's embrace was warm and the sense of safety couldn't be replicated. 's sobs soon subsided and she held on lightly to his arms instead of his shirt. It was when she started to register the little things such as the scent of sandalwood and green tea on him that, finally realized what she was doing.

As if she had been scalded, drew back quickly with a highly red face and bowed low, "I… I'm so sorry Sanada-senpai. I… I didn't mean to cry. It's just that… I… Uhh…"

With his face also suspiciously pink, Sanada looked away whilst pulling his hat down a little more. "It's alright. I should apologize for letting you go off alone. If I didn't then…"

looked up quickly, "Iie. It wasn't your fault. I was just too careless…"

The watched each other in an awkward silence for bit longer till Sanada broke it. "Come on, we'll buy the things and then I'll walk you home."

**********

True to his word, Sanada did walk her home.

Half way there, decided to break the silence that plagued both of them. "Anou, Sanada-senpai? Have you been to the beach this year?"

Shaking his head, Sanada replied, "No. Preparing for nationals is taking up so much time that there is none left for things like that."

A pause then he added, "Besides, there aren't any beaches around here at this time without a lot of jellyfish around. An unfortunate sting could put a player out of the entire season."

brightened, "I know a beach nearby that hasn't got any." She told him the directions and Sanada nodded.

"I've heard of the place." He seemed to consider something, "Since the day after is a holiday, maybe I'll go there for a short visit."

Another pause. In fact, Sanada really wanted to ask along, but felt embarrassed about the whole thing. Sanada couldn't understand why he felt so strange when he was with her. It was all very new and very odd for him.

In the end, he didn't say anything to her. Instead, Sanada watched her enter her house and wave a goodbye to him. The pleased smile on his face as he left for home was a rare sight.

##########

January 26, 2007
Written by: Linc
Edited by: Rikapyon!