Resemblance

"Shishido-san, that cap is very funny!" A soft chuckle tickled Hyoutei tennis club regular, Shishio Ryou's ears.

"Shut up! Don't you dare say that it's geki dasa!" He snapped as he blushed a bit due to embarrassment.

The Hyoutei tennis club regular members were going to visit an amusement park, X-Zed. What was so special about it? Firstly, it was not just a plain amusement park. It was the largest, possibly the best amusement park in Japan. Located in the heart of Tokyo, the capital city of Japan—no wonder it had loads of visitors everyday. Secondly, each of the participants of the tennis tournament had gotten an X-Zed ticket, a great honor. Spending a day on an exclusive, luxurious amusement park with lots of extraordinary facilities—though undoubtedly expensive—promised to be so much fun.

But what had Shishido looking quite embarrassed? Well. He had bought himself a cap which shaped rather like a cat, the mascot of X-Zed amusement park. He had found it cute, but of course, with his pride and dignity, he would not admit the thought in front of anyone.

"So, where should we go first, Choutarou?" Shishido asked his doubles partner, crossing his arms.

"Hmm… maybe follow Oshitari-senpai and Mukahi-senpai? Or—"

Bump!

"Kuso kuso! Watch where you're going, bubblegum boy!"

Shishido frowned. This voice… must be Gakuto.

"A… ah, yabai, Shishido-san, let's go there, Mukahi-senpai just bumped into a Rikkai tennis club member, Marui Bunta-san…" Ootori sounded a bit panicked.

"Calm down, Choutarou. Let's just see from here. Moreover, Oshitari is there, so we need not to worry."

"So… sou ka?"

Shishido didn't reply. He chose to set his sight to the fighting company. "Apparently that Marui Bunta person has a girlfriend."

"Is she your girlfriend, bubblegum boy? How did someone who got sick after a rollercoaster ride get a girl, huh?" The all cocky Gakuto declared now.

"Oi, Gakuto sto—"

Despising the annoying attitude of Gakuto, Shishido was about to go and stop him from talking too rudely when bumped into another person.

"A— sorry," Shishido caught the person who was about to fall with his arm. "Are you okay? Next time, be careful." Huh? I thought I just bumped into a little kid. This girl seems to be around my age, yet she's so light.

"Ye… yes, I'm okay! But I'm truly sorry, I—I didn't mean to bump you, it's just that I—wait, Shishido Ryou-san?"

"Heh? How do you know my name?"

Putting Shishido's question aside, she continued. "And… Ootori Choutarou?"

Ootori timidly replied, "A—yes… but how do you know our name?"

"You guys won over Inui-Kaidou and the Seigaku Golden Pair, right?"

"Well, that's true… who are you anyway?" Shishido's curiosity meter rose rapidly.

"I'm , a third-year at the same school you guys go to."

"Hee, so you like tennis?"

"I like watching tennis matches, but I can't play tennis."

"I see…"

"Oh no, Shishido-san, we've lost track of the others! There's no sign of Oshitari-senpai or Mukahi-senpai…" Ootori panicked yet again. "This is bad… what should we do now?"

"So sorry! That must be my fault!" bowed.

"Ah, no, no, it's nothing like that, -san," Ootori waved his hand quickly, worried if would feel really bad.

"Dang, what should I do…" murmured to herself. "Ah, yeah, well, I know places around here, would you guys like to walk around and find something to do instead of thinking where to search the other guys? I mean, there is the time you'll all have to go home and that time you could just go to the exit place and will eventually meet the others, right? Going now won't make yield any results, since it's so crowded around here…"

"Good thinking," Shishido smirked. "Then you'll be our map!"

"Okay then, since I'm the one who got you guys lost."

and Shishido were ready to blast off, but Ootori's soft voice stopped them. "A—anou…"

"Wha… what's wrong, Ootori?"

"Yeah, what's wrong, Choutarou?"

"Ca… can I stay here? I feel unwell, and I can't stand crowds…"

"Stay here? Alone?"

"Then we aren't going!"

"Don't say that, Shishido-san, just go with her, well—I just don't want to ruin this day. We hardly go to this kind of place, so when we go to one, we should enjoy it to the fullest."

"But you're not enjoying it, Ootori."

"She's right."

"Don't think about me, I'll enjoy it in my own way. I can just take a walk around here and then wait on the bench. Perhaps, I'll get something to drink or eat. Come on, Shishido-san, you do want to take an advantage of this time, don't you?"

"Well, how could I enjoy this day when I know my partner will just be sitting here with no energy to enjoy it himself?"

"And what if you collapse?"

"That thing is impossible. Actually, at first I didn't really want to come, hence I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy myself."

"Ootori…"

"Fine, then."

"Eh?" blinked. "What do you mean with 'fine, then'?"

"We're going now," Shishido cleared. "Choutarou said he'll be fine this way, so he'll be fine. So… let's go."

"I see. You're excited with this thing, huh?"

"Eh?"

pointed at the cap Shishido was wearing.

"So you like cats, huh?"

"A—shut up, don't give any comments. Ja, Choutarou, we'll leave now."

"We'll be back. So don't go far away, ne?"

Ootori nodded. As they finally left, Ootori heaved a long sigh of relief. "Sorry for lying, Shishido-san, -san, but I have my own date, too."

**********

"So, where are we going first?" Shishido pondered as he looked around.

Looking up, wondered what she could come up with. "Are you hungry?" It was the only thing she could think to say.

"Are you?"

"No, not really." Her face did show that she wasn't hungry at all, but the growling sound of her stomach just denied her statement. She looked sheepish. "Crap."

Shishido smirked. "If you are hungry, just say it already. Why should you hide it, anyway? Weird girl."

glared. "What do you mean by that? I was just—don't want to spoil your day, so I decided to do what you want. If you're not hungry, I am not either. If you want to go play something, I will also want that. I've already made one mistake."

"Still thinking about that? I don't even think it's your mistake… whatever, I want to eat now."

"Then, I'll go, too."

**********

"You sure know places around here well, huh?"

"Well, I'm good at memorizing places, that's all."

"Heh, being conceited, aren't you?"

"At least I'm not as conceited as you…"

"Che. Then, what do you want to eat?"

"Hmm… you pick."

"Man, so you are totally going all the way, huh? Follow Khe. Fine, we'll go to that fast food restaurant."

**********

"One cheeseburger, medium sized french-fries, and a cola please," Shishido shifted his sight to the girl in front of him. "What do you want to eat?"

"Uh… I'll eat the same thing."

"Even the food, too?"

"Hey, I like all the food you ordered. Doesn't mean I'm doing an overall copy of you or something like that…"

"Right. What a coincidence. Do you like billiards, too? Well, maybe we might have the same interests…"

"Yeah, but I'm not good at it. Not good at all."

Shishido suddenly got hyper hearing what she said. He immediately stood up and grabbed 's hand. His eyes were sparkling. "You do!? Then… let's play some time, ne!? Ne!?"

"Eh… but I'm not good at it…"

"It's ok! I'll teach you!"

"Umm… fine then."

"Yoshi! This is a promise, okay?"

"E—okay… but how come you get all happy like this suddenly?"

"Well, it's billiards anyway! Billiards!"

"Hai hai…" could only cringe at the fawning guy in front of her. He is a billiard-freak, I swear…

**********

"Haa. I'm so full. So… where are we going to go now?"

"Hmm, you do know Lethal Weapon Ride, right? What is it like?"

"Lethal Weapon…" stopped. She didn't know what to say.

"Have you tried riding it?"

"I… uh, have never tried it before… ha ha ha…" forced her lips to form a smile. "So uh, you wanna try?"

"You sure you want to come?"

"I told you, right? If you want it, I'm in."

"Well, you don't have to force yourself if you're scared, though…"

"I'm not! Then let's go buy the tickets already!"

"Oi oi oi," Shishido couldn't do anything but let himself be dragged by to the ticket counter.

"Man, the queue is so long…"

They heard a rustling sound.

"Uhh…?"

Shishido and turned their head, finding Mishima Fay—manager of Rikkai Dai tennis club hugging Yanagi Renji's arm, Rikkai Dai's dataman. She seemed to be terrified of something. could also see Seigaku's Kikumaru Eiji walking towards the couple, wearing his cat t-shirt. It was the same cat logo Shishido had in his cap.

"Fay-chan, are you alright?" Kikumaru stepped closer to Fay, but that caused her to be terrified more.

"It would be sensible if you zip your jacket. Mishima-chan is terrified of cats," Renji remarked.

"Eh?! But it's so cuuuuuuute!!"

Hating loud voices, both Shishido and murmured. "Urusai."

"No, I'm sorry. I just think it's horrifying," Fay said with her face grimaced.

"Che," Shishido raised his eyebrow. "If you don't like cats, then you shouldn't have come here in the first place."

"Shishido-san!" poked him gently as a reminder.

Again, Fay took a step back, seeing the 'cat' above Shishido's head. "You don't have to be rude, you know. You don't even know me well enough to butt into my conversation."

"Warui na—" was not finished apologizing but Shishido nudged her, implying that she need not get involved.

"I know Kikumaru Eiji," Shishido replied, with a cocky tone.

"Shishido-san, stop it. It's our turn now," dragged him to where the ride was.

Fay wasn't able to retort as well since Renji told her that it was also their turn on the ride.

**********

"You don't have to be like that, Shishido-san." sighed. "It's impolite."

Shishido frowned. "Datte sa, I was just stating the truth!"

"Alright, alright."

The train that they were on was now starting to move gently, then faster, and faster.

was actually afraid of this kind of ride, but she went anyway, since she felt that she had to correct the 'wrong' she had done Shishido. She couldn't help but close her eyes tightly—and as the train sped, she drifted into slumber…

**********

"Mattaku… if you're scared just tell me at first, will you?"

"You won't want me to repeat it again, right? I'll follow what you want—"

"But think of yourself a bit! Lucky you didn't feel sick or something. If you kept being like this, people would use you, you know," Shishido countered her after cutting her sentence.

didn't reply. Again, they were trapped into silence. She couldn't reply as Shishido was partly right. She had almost slept in the few minutes of the ride when the train started jerking and twisting and turning. Sleep had been the farthest from her mind as she had held on for dear life.

"Come," Shishido broke the ice. "We are here to have fun, right? We'll go somewhere fun."

nodded.

Suddenly, Shishido stopped walking and faced . "Wait here. Don't move," He said before he blended into the crowd.

did as what Shishido had told her to do. She gazed through the bright sky, sighing. As her mind drifted, she felt someone bump into her, causing her to lose her balance. "Damn—"

With what looked to be as fast as the speed of light, Shishido had just shown up at her side, his arms now supporting her body. "Oi! Watch where you're going! If I hadn't been here, she would fallen down!" He exclaimed angrily.

The person who bumped quickly bowed and apologized.

"Che," Shishido muttered. "Here, for you." He handed her a bag of salty popcorn.

"Eh?" Although puzzled, accepted it anyway.

"I think you'll like salty food, since you like cheeseburgers and french fries."

was speechless, and could only stare at him.

"Wha—what?"

shook her head and smiled gently. "Thank you."

"Aa," Shishido replied shyly. "Let's go ride something slow this time."

"Then you choose—"

"No! This time I want you to choose."

"Eh—" Being the indecisive type, she was not good in choosing. was again, silent.

"Hey, boy in the cat cap! Bring your girl here! Haunted House! What do you say?" A loud voice from their back shouted.

Shishido glanced at . "You wanna give it a try?"

"Erm… I can't stand horror stuff."

"Really? Today, then, you just have to overcome your fear."

"But but, you told me to pick…"

Shishido grinned evilly. "But I want to pick now. You said you'll agree with everything I choose, right?"

"Man…"

"Okay then, it's settled! We're in! Two tickets, please."

The door creaked open, and felt her heart leap in dread. The ethereal, ghastly things were just inside, waiting.

**********

"Oi, open your eyes, we're outside already!" Shishido shook her shoulder gently.

slowly and fearfully opened her eyes while her hands were still attached to Shishido's shirt. She was still trembling, and she couldn't release her clutch off Shishido.

"Erm…" Shishido glanced at her hands, which were shaking terribly. "Sorry, I thought you wouldn't be this scared." Since decided not to respond but just trembled more, he held her hands with his. "Maybe you'll feel better this way."

She soon stopped shaking, indeed, and felt better. Until she realized the strange position they were in, their hands clasped together in the fashion of a couple in love. Now she was she was flushing and her heart was beating rapidly.

"This time you can pick. For real," Shishido assured her. thought his voice sounded so soft and heartwarming.

"Then… let's just walk around and find something to do while walking."

"Okay! Ah, oops, sorry," Shishido released his hand from 's as soon as he realized he was still holding her hand. "You must have felt uncomfortable."

"No, it's ok!" This time was the one who tried to assure him. "Thanks. I do feel a lot better."

Shishido blinked. "Ha ha. Sou ka. So you do have your soft side too, huh? From what I've seen, I think you're quite stubborn."

"Really? Heh. I think I'm not stubborn at all, I was just—"

"Saying what is in your mind? Your favorite phrase, isn't it?"

"Ho—how do you know?"

"Maa, actually, I know that you're in my class and know who is your name and stuff. But I'm not sure if you even know me or something, hence I asked how you knew my name beforehand."

"Do I look that nonchalant or forgetful?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, aren't we both doing the same thing?"

"…Eh?"

"I thought you won't even remember I'm in your class, so I just act like a stranger."

"Heh, we do have the same way of thinking."

"You're right," nodded as her eyes kept wandering through different places. "Wanna go ride the bumper cars, Shishido-san?"

"Sure!"

**********

After being satisfied bumping their cars against each other, they finally stopped and took a walk around again.

"Ah, look, Shishido-san, stage performances! That's cool!"

"Aa. Oh okay, wait…. isn't that Choutarou standing there?"

"Eeh? Ootori? A, I saw him! Yes, that's him!"

That's right. Ootori Choutarou, the innocent guy of Hyoutei tennis club had just ruined his image in front of his senpais.

"Oi oi Choutarou, didn't you say you were feeling unwell?" Hearing the familiar voice, Ootori couldn't help but turn his head.

"Shi… Shishido-san… -san…"

"On top of that, with a girl… hmm, you sure are something, Ootori," snickered.

"Su… sumimasen! I don't mean to lie to both of you, but… I just can't say I'm going out or something…" Ootori slightly blushed.

"So actually you can lie too, huh?" Shishido looked a bit shocked. "Maa ii, you should just told us that you have a date or something."

Trying to change the topic, Ootori said, "but you know what, Shishido-san?"

"What?"

"You do look like you're part of a couple. With -san." He whispered in his senpai's ear, causing his senpai to blush.

"WHAT!? Are you stupid!?"

"Don't be shy, Shishido-san!" Ootori grinned—most probably because his plan succeeded—as he continued whispering, "I won't ruin your first date, so I guess we'll part here."

"Oi oi! Choutarou!"

Without allowing his senpai to protest, he walked away.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Something… secret. Anyway, let's find another ride, 'kay?"

"Sure!"

"Uh, -san…"

"Hai?"

"Next time… do you want to come here again with me?"

"Sure, it's fun going around with you!"

"I wonder if we can call this as a date."

"Eh!?"

"Oops…"

"Well I think we can."

"Eh!? We can?"

"Um… I… guess."

##########

March 14, 2007
Written by: Sakube Yamu
Edited by: linchpin

This story is also a part of the Teniyume and Endless Dreamers affiliate project, The Carousel Project. The next story features Oishi Syuichirou, and was written by Jovitar of Endless Dreamers. The eight installment will feature Ootori Choutarou and will be written by Setsuna, so please watch out for it.