LOVE LOTTERY ~ Yanagi Renji

Love Lottery ~ Yanagi Renji Side

The first thing that Yanagi Renji saw, a few minutes before the classes started, was that most of his schoolmates had started to crowd around the huge bulletin board that had been set up by the student council a week ago. It had been bare for a couple of days, but seeing that the results for the "Matchmaking lottery" were already up, he was not surprised at seeing a lot of people approaching that particular area.

Things had gone in a totally unexpected route. His sophomore teammate, Kirihara Akaya, was the one who brought the topic up inside the boys' tennis team's clubroom, as he was curious about the whole activity. Before Kirihara knew it, the trickster Niou Masaharu came up with the crazy idea of the whole team participating in that event. Which wouldn't be too bad, Yanagi had thought. They were normal, teenage boys after all, and he admitted that it wasn't only tennis or critical thinking that held his interests.

He slowly approached the crowded area while observing the people there. There were only 300 students who participated in the project, and 30 out of the 300 were girls who shared the same interests as him. It was as if he already knew what kind of person that he was going to meet the following day (since tomorrow is Valentine's Day), but he really wasn't exactly sure who the girl would be.

He went to the right side of the huge board, and saw that members of the council were sitting in front of the board where tables were set up. Six members of the council were holding envelopes, which were arranged alphabetically for convenience and less chaos. Yanagi went to the sixth council officer, who waved upon recognizing him. After a couple minutes of waiting, he was able to approach the officer.

"I didn't expect you to join in," the boy said, as he was sorting through the envelopes, which contained the matchmaking results.

"I didn't expect to be in this thing either," Yanagi politely responded.

The boy finally found Yanagi's envelope and handed it to him. "The envelope contains the percentage result of compatibility. Also, the time and place where you and your partner are going to meet are printed in here as well."

"Thank you," Yanagi said, as he tried to squeeze through the number of people pouring in the area to get their results. After moving to a relatively safe distance away from the tables, he was finally able to open the sealed envelope, looking at the name printed inside it...

"Ah, there he is! Yanagi-senpai!" Kirihara Akaya's voice flooding Yanagi's ear. He turned and saw Kirihara with Niou Masaharu, Yagyuu Hiroshi, Jackal Kuwahara and Marui Bunta. He quickly shoved the envelope inside his pocket.

"So, spill it Yanagi," Niou Masaharu said, his voice urging and a mischievous grin on his face.

Yanagi looked serious. "Why should I?"

"Pfftt, spoilsport." Marui commented with a small pout. The redhead lightened up immediately. "Heh, we'll just follow you around then! Tomorrow's Valentine's day, right?"

"Not a good idea since we all have our own dates," Niou commented, reminding the redhead that they each had their own agendas the following day.

Yanagi was the one who asked the question. "I thought you guys were not interested in this thing?"

Jackal smiled and waved his result envelope. "It doesn't matter to me really, but the thing is, some people on this team were coerced by Yukimura, so they cannot say no." Pairs of eyes went to Marui and Kirihara.

"I-it's Yukimura-buchou! I wouldn't even dare say no! E-even Sanada-fukobuchou agreed to join even though he's not the type of person who would!" Kirihara exclaimed, the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

"That's true! What kind of girl does Sanada like anyway?" Marui asked, a thoughtful look on his face as he began thinking about what type of girl Sanada liked.

"Why are you asking such things, Marui?" A voice came from behind the volley specialist. Hearing the unmistakable stern voice, there was no doubt that it was Sanada Genichirou. He approached his teammates together with the team's captain, Yukimura Seiichi.

"So how is everyone's luck for today? Finally got your results?" Yukimura said. For some reason, he seemed to be in a great mood that day, and that immediately gave the rest of the team members (except Sanada, probably) the chills.

"Uh, I guess so," Kirihara answered, his eyes showing a little uncertainty.

"Well then, I hope everyone's going to have a great day tomorrow. Anyway, see you later at lunch." Yukimura said before leaving them. The boys were quiet for a while, and then decided to go to their respective classrooms. While Yanagi's footsteps were leading him to his class, his mind was drifting off elsewhere.

**********

"-chan! Why are you still here? Go out and find your date!" The cheerful librarian urged as the girl was starting to pick up the books left behind on the tables. It was February 14, and the whole junior high school division of Rikkai dai was having a special event, all thanks to the student council.

turned to the lady who called her and smiled. "I'm in no rush, sensei. He'll be here later." The librarian gave her a confused look, and then finally understood what she meant. When the older lady was about to leave, she paused, and went back to where was standing, who was taking the books off the tables and placing them on a cart.

"Just what do you think...!"

"S-sensei?!" said, as the librarian started looking over the girl, finally taking in her appearance.

"What happened to you? You look as if you just got out of bed."

paused for a moment, a hand on her disheveled hair. "Uh, sensei. I always wear my hair like this, remember?"

"But today's Valentine's Day for heaven's sake! Go fix yourself up!" The librarian said, trying to exercise her authority over the young student.

"Sensei, if the guy that I'm meeting today is THE ONE, then it shouldn't matter how I look, right?" said. The librarian had something more to say in retaliation, but seeing that was such a strong-willed (and sometimes pig-headed) girl, she just sighed and left her library assistant alone.

sighed as soon as she realized that she was alone. She continued picking up the books off the tables and putting them on the cart. After a while, she heard some footsteps coming from the entrance, and soon enough, a brown-haired guy appeared a few steps away from her. She looked at him and the boy looked at her as well.

"I knew it," Yanagi Renji and found themselves saying the same thing. Yanagi looked surprised, but just let out a small chuckle.

"Yanagi Renji, third year. I am currently a regular member of the tennis team. Truth be told, there was a small percentage for me to get your name on the lottery." Yanagi bowed as he introduced himself.

"For someone who is really fond of collecting data, I'm surprised to see that you're underestimating the power of probability. I'm , nice to meet you." She said.

"It seems that you did your assignment." Yanagi said. Based from his knowledge of the student body, was the top female student in their batch.

picked up the last book and put it on the cart. "And I assume you did the same thing? Oh, do you mind following me for a bit? I just need to return these books to the shelves." She pushed the cart and Yanagi followed her, examining her profile.

wasn't that tall, and her posture was bad. If he were to use a word to describe her, the first thing that would have come to mind was "mousy." She takes a bath, sure (after all, Yanagi knows all the information about his schoolmates) but isn't really the type of person who likes to fix herself. Her wavy chestnut-colored hair was a mess, and it covered her face most of the time. Putting that aside, she even wears black-framed eyeglasses. With her looks and scholastic standing, it was easy to say that was a geek.

Yanagi was about to say something when intercepted him. "I bet you're thinking, 'how did this girl find the time to join the lottery when she cannot even find the time to fix her hair', am I right?"

Yanagi remained quiet and avoided her gaze. Seeing that the boy was even quieter than she had expected, she continued putting the books on the shelves. When they reached the aisle for fiction, just continued on with the shelving of the books. However, there was one book in her hand that she didn't put away immediately.

"Hey, Yanagi-san. Have you read this?" She showed him the cover.

Yanagi read the title. "Norwegian Wood? No, I haven't."

"I did. It's a good book."

"But there are suggestive themes in it. You shouldn't have."

"How did you know that? You probably know something about this book then." wondered with a curious gaze. Yanagi didn't say a word. He knew that despite her pathetic looks, liked to joke around with people, sometimes provoking them.

stared at the cover for a minute, and then put it in its proper place. "The male character, Tooru, has the �to hell with it' kind of attitude, if you ask me. I like that."

"Are you saying that you see yourself as Tooru's female counterpart?" Yanagi asked. He started picking the books off the cart and handing them to , who was busy putting away the books while talking to him.

"In some sense, yes. I really don't care what people think about me. I just want to live the way that I want to."

"That's a little selfish and self-centred." Yanagi commented.

smiled upon hearing the boy's comment. "Yes, I guess you could say that. I have the money that I can use to improve my image, so others say, but for what? To make myself pleasing to their eye?"

"Well, it seems to me that you're isolating yourself. Being different doesn't really work in some ways. You need to be with people too, you know."

The girl looked at Yanagi as soon as he finished his sentence. She then smiled. "I also like that."

"I thought you like the devil-may-care attitude?" Yanagi said as he was handing her the last book on the cart. He realized that there was another word to describe the girl in front of him. Eccentric.

"I also like the attitude that is opposite to Tooru's. You know, calm, collected, and calculating." she said in a nonchalant way. As soon as Yanagi heard this, he dropped the book in his hand, and it made a deep, thumping sound. Both of them quickly bent down to retrieve the book, and by accident they ended up being face to face rather closely while their fingers were touching, the book under their hands. A few hair strands were still covering her face, but looking at her at such a close distance, he could tell that she was, in fact, attractive.

"Uh, so what do you want us to do today?" Yanagi asked, still bent down from picking up the book, his fingers still touching hers. looked at the boy in front of her and saw his clear, brown eyes staring at her. She smiled, stood up, and took the book out of his hand.

"That's rather out-of-character of you, Yanagi-san. You should have known what I liked to do the moment you saw my name on the ballot." She waved at him, signaling that he should stay near the aisle as she went about to return the cart to the librarian before finally leaving the library.

Yanagi watched as 's figure was retreating away from him. He chuckled, and noted his carelessness. The things that happened a while ago didn't even appear in his calculations.

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January 5, 2007
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: Kurohane