The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Julie and Tomoe got off at the second last stop on the bus and usually Momo and Kaidoh got off at the stop before theirs. All three of the boys slept off on the ride home. Ryoma got off at the usual stop. Both the boys got up by the time they had to get down. The girls said bye to Maiko and Sayu who were making funny faces at them teasing them with Momo and Kaidoh. Momo and Kaidoh, as if they didn't realize the other was there, got to the front door and suddenly turned to each other and both shouted at the same time, "What are YOU doing here?!?!?!" both the girls got in between the guys pushing them away from each other. Tomoe was pushing Momo back, holding his arms and said, "Momo!!! Chill!!! He's tutoring me!" at the same time Julie said, "Kaoru!! Relax! I'm helping him with English!"
Both the guys still continued to glare at the other but relaxed…slightly. The girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They got into the house and Tomoe's mother called out to them that there was food on the table. They washed up and sat at the table. Momo and Kaidoh kept looking at each other as though they wished the other would drop dead. "Enough already!!!" said Tomoe suddenly. The other three looked at her, "Both of you chill. I know it hurts your big fat egos but still. Kill each other afterwards okay??" The guys looked slightly embarrassed and continued eating their noodles.
Few hours later, when Tomoe's math homework was done and Julie and Momo had finished their English Assignments, Tomoe's mother came into the room and said, "Hey kids! You mind going somewhere for a while?"
"Why? Whose coming?" asked Tomoe
"Your father is bringing his clients for dinner, so I was thinking if I give you some money and you eat out-"
"Okay, no problem" Tomoe interrupted with a huge smile, took the money from her mother and within a few minutes all of them were outside the house. Julie turned to Tomoe and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"
Tomoe laughed at their expressions and said, "Mom rarely lets me go out for dinner with my friends so when she does, I grab the opportunity. You guys wanna join us?" she asked Momo and Kaidoh.
"Sure" both of them said then looked at each other then looked at the girls and said, "Not if he's coming!" at the same time
Both the girls looked at each other, Julie rolled her eyes with a sarcastic expression then started walking away from them. "Hey, wait up!" , shouted Momo. Kaidoh caught up with them and started walking beside Tomoe. Momo made a funny noise and walked beside Julie.
They reached a restaurant and they all got in. "This is one of the best sushi places in town except for Taka's place of course. They also have great noodles. Since you've already eaten at Taka's dad's place, I thought we could come here." said Tomoe, looking at Julie. "Oh, okay… Awesome"
They got in and a pretty waitress in a powder blue kimono took them to a corner table. The girls sat next to each other, Momo sat facing Tomoe and Kaidoh sat next to him. There was a window near Julie and Kaidoh. Julie looked out at the road below, watching al the people walking and all the cars on the road. Tomoe and Momo ordered some dishes for them and Kaidoh just watched them. Tomoe asked Julie something and she looked up to find Kaidoh's gaze on her. He jerked his head away and coloring slightly, looked down at the road. Julie blushed slightly and turned to Tomoe and asked, "Sorry, what had you asked? Didn’t catch that.."
"I had asked you whether you liked the view… what happened? You look flushed"
"Naah, nothing. Anyway, yeah the view is awesome!"
Few minutes later Julie and Tomoe went to the washroom. While Julie washed her hands, Tomoe played with her jet black, super straight hair. Then sighing wistfully said, "Wish my hair was like yours"
"No way…. Your hair looks perfect every time"
"Anyway forget that. What’s up with Kaoru chan?"
"What do you mean?"
"He cant keep his eyes off you can he?"
"Oh shut up!"
"No seriously, didn’t you notice?"
Julie just rolled her eyes and Tomoe repeated, "No! I'm serious! You didn't notice?"
Julie looked down at her hands and admitted, "Okay fine… I did notice…"
Tomoe prodded her, "And?"
"And what?"
"And what do you have to say to that?"
"To what?"
"Oh come on, don’t act stupid…. What do you think about him thinking about you in that way, you know, "that" way??
"I don’t know…. Lets go…. The food would have come"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. . . You're just changing the topic…"
While the girls were in the washroom Momo turned to Kaoru and said, "So, what does the viper think of the exchange student?"
"Fssshhhuuuuuuuu"
"Fine…. Keep her to your self.."
"Shut up"
"Fine, fine…."
The girls came back and soon after that the food came. They ate in silence for a while then conversation resumed or you could say Momo, Tomoe and Julie spoke while Kaidoh ate.
***
That night Julie and Tomoe turned off the lights and lay in their beds. "So, you hadn't answered me. . ." said Tomoe.
"Answered what?"
"My question" there was a hint of a smile in her voice
"About?" asked Julie, curious now.
"Kaoru-chan"
"Oh shut up!"
Tomoe burst out laughing. Julie said defensively, "Come on Tomoe! Me and Kaoru are just friends"
"Oh so you call him Kaoru? Does he know?"
"Does he know what?"
"That you call him Kaoru?"
"Of course he does, what's wrong in me calling him Kaoru?"
"Did he tell you to call him Kaoru?" replied Tomoe ignoring Julie's question
"Yeah, so?"
"Oh my God!!"
"What?"
"Kaoru NEVER does that!!!!!!! He doesn't even let me call him Kaoru!!!!!!!!!!"
"Yeah right!"
"Seriously! He wants it to be Kaoru-kun or -chan or something"
"Yeah, so what?"
"He must REALLY like you"
"Oh shut up!"
"And he couldn't keep his eyes off you"
"Ugh I'm so not talking to you, good night"
Tomoe laughed and Julie put on the headphones of her iPod. The last song she heard started playing. Julie kept her eyes closed so that Tomoe would not start teasing her again. Kaoru and her? Seriously? She barely knew him. But she couldn’t deny that he was looking at her... a lot. 'Couldn't keep his eyes off her' it seems. 'Tomoe is crazy' she thought. She'd never admit this to Tomoe but even she had found it hard to not look at Kaoru. She liked talking to him, they got along surprisingly well. It had become a habit for them to walk together to Music class after Gym. They spoke a lot on the way, they had a lot of common interests. And they could talk about anything. From robotics to tennis to Shakespeare. But then she was going back to London after seven weeks. Did she really like him or was she just crushing on him cause he was hot? Yes he was hot, she had admitted it to herself the first day they spoke. Julie wanted to scream. She was so confused. Forget it, she decided, concentrate on the music.
Cause there's you and me and all other people
And I don’t know why, I cant keep my eyes off of you
'Great, perfect song.' thought Julie sarcastically. 'Ugh! I'll just sleep then…'
***
Julie's POV
The next day, i was walking to class, alone. Tomoe, Maiko and Sayu had ran off chattering excitedly in Japanese, leaving me clueless. I didn’t mind, because I had some thinking to do. I thought all night about what Tomoe had said about Kaoru and me, and found that I was totally crushing on him too. But it was stupid cause I was anyways going after a while and …. But then I had a while right?
Oh wait, he has to ask me out first….. Or however custom around here…. And judging by what I know of him, chances are…. ZERO
"Hey" I heard someone behind me. I turned around to see who it was, and guess who? Kaoru. I hoped Tomoe wouldn't see this cause the next thing she'd say would be "OH MY GOD!!!! He started talking to you???? Usually people have to force him to talk. He must REALLY like you!!!!!!!"
"Hey" I replied.
Both of us were silent for a few silent awkward moments, awkward for me because I was thinking about what Tomoe said. Then I thought I'd ask him about the calculus paper so I started, "So..", the same time when he said, "Well.."
This was happening for the second time and I didn’t know what to do so both of us stared at each other's face blankly for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. After I emerged from my bout of nervous/hysterical laughter, I said, "You go first"
"Ohkay… I was gonna ask you if you did the calculus paper"
"Oh… I was gonna ask you the same thing."
Kaoru looked at me, then both of us laughed again.
It was so easy, walking with him, except for the awkward moment at the beginning. We spoke about calculus for a while then we decided we'd meet up somewhere and help me catch up(not that I had a major problem, but no complaints :P) then we were talking about the new book by Dan Brown which he was reading, and I had read earlier. Soon we were discussing Noetic sciences and the Illuminati and the New World Order…. Reminded me of my best friends back home. We used to discuss topics like these all the time and I missed it cause if I tried to talk about something like this with Tomoe she'd say "God! You're such a geek"
Maybe I am a geek. But only in those subjects that are not taught in school. Yeah I know, what's the use. Anyways..
"So how was dinner yesterday?" said Kaoru.
"I had fun… the food was amazing…. What did you think?"
"Yeah the food was okay…"
"No I meant, did you have fun?"
"Ye-n-yeah………… kinda…………"
"Why only kinda?"
"Nothing…"
"Are you sure?"
"Um… yeah…"
"Ohkay…"
We walked in silence for a while, me, trying to figure out why he seemed so upset. I heard Kaoru make a weird suppressed sort of noise and I looked at his face, to see him glaring at something or someone ahead of us. I followed his gaze and saw Tomoe and Momo talking and laughing, walking together. Then I got it. Typical big brother syndrome.
"Oh.. So that’s what's wrong.."
Kaoru turned and faced me and asked "What?"
"That’s why you didn’t like dinner yesterday, cause you didn't like Momoshiro flirting with Tomoe"
Kaoru made a funny exhaling noise, and I realized this was his 'hiss'…. Cute…
"Don’t worry its normal, its called the Big Brother Syndrome"
Kaoru looked at me with an expression by which it was seen clearly that he thought I was crazy. "No seriously," I continued, "Its normal, even my brother behaves like this when I talk to a guy"
"Its not just your crazy "Syndrome" theory(making quotation marks in the air with his fingers), I know how Momo is with girls, his policy - use and throw"
"Oh come on! Don’t be so judgmental…. Maybe he really likes her"
"Yeah right" said Kaoru rolling his eyes
"Why not? Maybe he does really like her. And you know she really likes him"
"That is the problem, if she was just flirting it was okay…. Maybe not… but still, now its serious. I don’t want her to get hurt"
"She can take care of herself… I don’t wanna be rude Kaoru but seriously, don’t you think she can handle it?"
"But Momo is a…. An ass…."
"I know, and so does she…"
Kaoru didn’t say much after that. But then we spoke about some other book he was reading. But when I saw him after school that day, he seemed to have decided on something, he seemed... happier, you could say not that his stone face showed any expression, but he seemed to radiate happiness. And when on the bus he told me he'd pick me up at 5pm I ignored the curious stares of some girls(who I think are in my class, all of them look the same to me) because his happiness was kind of infectious.
Or because I was totally fallen for him, and I was happy that he was happy.
Naah… I think it was because his happiness was catching.
Later that evening, I walked out of the shower and was toweling my hair dry when Tomoe came screaming into the room. I looked at her, shocked and a freaked out wondering what was wrong. Then I looked at her face and saw that she was excited and not scared or angry or upset.
"What happened?!" I asked her, still slightly worried about what was wrong with her.
"You didn't TELL ME!!!!!" said Tomoe, accusingly pointing a finger at me, almost screaming the last few words.
"Shhh… calm down… didn’t tell you what?"
Tomoe still had an evil glint in her eyes, dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and said, "That you have a date with Onii-chan!"
"Oh shut up!" finally, I got what she was talking about. Idiot. I threw a pillow on her face. Wait a minute, how did she know? Crap. Don’t tell me people were talking about this already.
"Oh come on, Kahoko heard Onii-chan asking you, she told Maiko, who told Sayu, which Eiji overheard, and he told Fuji and Inui and Momo, and Inui confirmed it and Momo came and told me."
Wow… Looks like nobody has anything else to talk about. And looks like everybody knows me and Kaoru are dating…. When we're NOT!.....
"Its not a date! He's just gonna help me with limits and derivatives before the test next week"
"Damn"… Tomoe looked genuinely disappointed. I watched her, why was she so disappointed anyway?..."I was hoping I could dress you up for your date"
She was crazy…
"You are crazy, seriously come on, if we were going out, you would be the first person I would tell."
"Awww…. Thank you! Anyways I don’t care if its not a date I'm still going to dress you up."
NNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
About an hour later, after changing clothes many, many, many, MANY times, we finally decided on something. She had wanted me to wear a skirt but I protested because a skirt was wayy too formal for calculus. She sulked for a while, so before she could force me into wearing a skirt, I wore a pair of jeans. Then she told me that all the clothes I had said were my options were too plain. And I was like NO WAY! Then she said that I should probably save that for our first date. Ignoring the exasperated=disgusted expression I gave her, she continued searching in her cupboard. Yeah, I'm not much of a dress-up person...
Finally when he came to pick me up at 5pm I was wearing black jeans and a pretty violet top which I had bought last week during the shopping spree Tomoe took me on. Anyway, me and Kaoru walked through the busy streets of Japan, as usual, saying nothing to each other the first few minutes.
"So are we going to your place?" I asked him, deciding I'd start conversation.
"Um, yeah, if that's okay"
"Yeah no problem"
"What's up with Tomoe anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
"She kept laughing when I came to pick you"
"Umm… You don’t wanna know…"
"Oh Ohkay…"
***
While Kaoru walked me back to Tomoe's house (his mother vetoed the idea of me walking back alone) we spoke about a lot of random topics. Then he brought up the issue of Tomoe and Momo. I had wanted to ask him about it but I hadn't wanted to bring it up.
"I thought about what you said about Tomoe and Momo…." he began. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. So I asked him, "And?"
"And I decided that you're right. She's old enough to handle it herself"
"Wow… You're the first brother I've met who has said that"
"But if he breaks her heart he will never move again" said Kaoru, pounding the palm of one hand with the fist of the other.
I couldn’t help it. It was so typically brother-like. I started laughing. Kaoru looked at me, slightly surprised. "Oh sorry, I'm not laughing at you, its just that you are so typically a big brother."
Kaoru looked away, his face flushing slightly. I pretended not to notice.
While we walked, Kaoru suddenly said, "Oh, shit!" I was totally taken by surprise and looked at him and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing" he said, too quickly. I followed his gaze and saw two of the Seigaku Regulars, Eiji(the hug of doom guy) and Oishi(the ''you'll break her'' guy). Kaoru quickly ducked into a shop and pulled me in with him.
"What?!" I asked him, still shocked, now even more because he had knocked me totally off balance when he pulled me in after him.
"Nothing. This is a nice shop. Don’t you wanna get something for your friends back home?" he said, very quickly, pulling me into one of the aisles.
Kaoru's POV
Crap. I hope Vice Captain and Eiji didn’t see me. Julie walked to the back of the shop where some jade figurines were kept, as I followed her I turned around to check if Eiji or Oishi had come into the shop after us. I turned around in relief, seeing no one. If the had seen me and Julie, that's it, I was never going to hear the end of it. 'The Viper and the English girl' Ugh!........ Hate that Momoshiro for coming up with 'The Viper'… @!$#%^%....... Fsshuu….. Who tapped my back?
Julie's POV
I was looking at these pretty figurines made in some green stone, Jade I think, when I heard this "HI!!" behind me. I turned around and saw Eiji and Oishi and Kaoru, red in the face. "Hey" I said, cautiously…
Eiji ran over to my side, and pulled me into one of his rib cracking hugs. Then released me, turned to Oishi and said something which made Kaoru mad, and Oishi laugh, then turned back to me and said, "Hey!!!! How are you doing?? Long time!!"
"Yeah, long time… I'm good how about you?"
"We're good. I wanted to buy new shoes so I just dragged Oishi with me."
"Oh ohkay" I turned and smiled at Oishi, who was looking at Eiji with this funny expression.
Kaoru's POV
Crap. Stupid Eiji and his stupid vision. Damn. When I turned around they gave me these stupid grins and Eiji threw his arm around me and said in this evil genius voice, "You dint tell me you were dating Julie" while Oishi, Mr. Silent but Deadly, laughed. Now they're gonna irritate Julie. Crap. I hope she wont be pissed at me for bringing this on her.
"Soo… Julie darling?", said Eiji with a sappy smile.
"Yes?" , replied Julie with an equally sappy smile.
"You didn't tell me you and Kaidoh are going out"
"We're not going out" she replied, not in the usual super defensive tone girls use, but as if she was having an everyday conversation about the weather.
"Oh really? C'mon baby, you can tell me the truth!"
"I was saying the truth, why, are you jealous?"
Wow! That was the first time the 'ragger' became the 'ragged', especially in Eiji's case. He was kinda shocked for a moment, he hadn't expected something like that out of Julie, he was prepared for the typical defense but this was unexpected. Julie, took advantage of the situation and continued, "Awww poor baby! Don't get so jealous! And don’t worry I'm not going out with him. But I'm sorry honey, you know, I will be going back in a couple of weeks, don’t worry you'll find another girl!"
Eiji's expression, was classic. He went all red, while Oishi, still laughed. "Fine!" he said crankily, like a whiny baby, then walked away. He turned around and said, "I am NOT jealous!" and Julie responded with a "I understand" in a soothing voice. Oishi, who had finally managed to stop laughing, turned to me winked and said, "Nice choice. She's good for you. Oh and he is jealous"
"Shut up Oishi!!! I am NEVER going to play doubles with you again!!!"
"Eiji!! Grow up!"
Oishi turned to Julie, smiled, waved and ran out of the shop behind Eiji
Julie looked at me, slightly confused because the conversation between me and Oishi was in Japanese. I smiled at her and walked towards the figurines she was looking at.
After a few minutes we walked out of the shop, both of us carrying bags of souvenirs. I tried to take the bag Julie was carrying but she was adamant, she couldn’t make me carry all her bags. Damn, she was so cute. I haven't met any other girl who wouldn't make me carry all her bags. Julie looked at me, gave one of sudden smiles and said, "What are you thinking about?"
I'm not used to people talking to me so freely so I was not sure what to say, then decided to tell the truth, partially at least. "I was just surprised because you're not making me carry all your bags"
"Oh?" and looked at me with this confused look.
"Because every single girl I know makes me or other guys carry their stuff"
Julie started laughing, so I continued, "Seriously! Even my mom makes me carry all her bags"
"Oh my mom does the same thing with my brother, she says, 'What's the use of having a big strong man in the house if he cant carry a few bags' "
I couldn't help laughing. She was so cute when she spoke, and no other girl had ever made me feel so comfortable. Both of us were laughing like crazy, after a while we stopped, then we looked at each other…
…and started laughing again.
We reached Tomoe's house, Tomoe and her mom were sitting and talking on the front porch. Now she was going to call me for dinner. Then all through dinner she's going to keep giving me secret looks. How moms find what their kids are thinking even before the kids realize, is a total mystery to me. As we neared the gate, Julie asked me if I was going to stay for dinner, before I could reply,
"Kaoru!!! Stay for dinner!!"
I looked at Julie and said, "Well, that’s decided then"
After dinner, Tomoe, Julie and me were sitting in the balcony. Julie and Tomoe were having this animated discussion about some famous actor and his latest wife. I was looking at the moon and thinking about how Julie could talk to me about robotics and genetics and then talk to Tomoe about celebrity gossip with the same enthusiasm.
I was so gone.
***
Julie's POV
I think Kaoru got really really bored. He just kept staring into the sky while Tomoe yakked on and on. If I tried to subtly let her know that Kaoru was getting bored, she absolutely refused to change the topic. Crazy female. He left a few minutes ago and Tomoe's talking to Sayu on the phone. Wow.. Japanese sounds so cool… I wonder what Oishi told Kaoru today in that shop. After this much time here, I know the basics. Like, konnichiwa is hello, baka is stupid… :P but there's no way I can get what Tomoe is saying. Huh, maybe that’s why she is speaking in Japanese. Oh, cool.. So I wont listen. Where is my iPod?... Drawer, bag, table… Panic… Breathe… Bed, under the bed… Damn…
The phone rang. The landline I mean. There was nobody else at home, Tomoe signaled to me to pick up the phone. Okay…
"Hello, good evening. Kaidoh residence"
"Hello… Tomoe?"
"No… This is Julie"
"Um… oh, hey Julie. Kaoru here"
"Oh, hi.. What up?"
"Nothing… I think I left my iPod there. I think it will be somewhere in the balcony"
"Oh.. I'll check" I said, scrambling up from the bed and walking over to the balcony. While we were talking Tomoe was playing with Kaoru's iPod, maybe she had left it lying around somewhere.
"Um… Julie? Have you misplaced your iPod?"
"Yeah I have.. How did you know? Wait, I found mine… No wait… It's not mine… I think I found yours… Black?"
"Yeah.. And I think I have yours then"
"Oh ohkay… Cool, we have the same iPod… Um I'll give you yours in the bus?
"Yeah no problem… So what you doing?"
"Nothing… Tomoe's on the phone with Sayu so I was going to listen to music and I was just panicking about not being able to find my iPod.." Julie laughed and then added, "You've got awesome timing, anyway, what you up to?"
"Oh okay.." said Kaoru laughing slightly, then continued, "Nothing much really… I was just going to listen to some music and fall asleep in the process.. As usual…"
Julie laughed and asked, "Aww, how are you gonna fall asleep tonight?"
"I don’t know!" said Kaoru laughing at her teasing tone.
"You know, you can listen to music on my iPod…"
"Oh really?? I didn’t know…."
"Really?? Now you do?"
"Yes… Thank you very much!"
"Arigato!"
"Oh… so you learnt some Japanese huh?"
"Yeah a bit… What's the point of coming to Japan and not learning a bit of Japanese?"
"True…"
***
The Kaidoh Residence
Hozumi Kaidoh was washing up the dishes from dinner when she heard the noise of someone laughing. It didn't sound like Hazue or her husband, she peeked into the living room… No both of them were watching football. She smiled at her younger son who was jumping, her husband who was sulking. 'Oh, they're supporting opposing teams… Where's Kaoru?'
She finished washing up, dried her hands, switched off the kitchen lights, then walked into the hall. 'Oh, there's Kaoru' she thought, seeing her older son on the phone… 'Wait… Something's wrong' She had begun walking into the living room when she turned around and looked at her son again.
He was saying, "You know you're crazy right?" and laughing.
Wait a minute… Laughing?????
Then he said, "Yeah okay.. See you tomorrow"
Hozumi was stunned. After talking for another five minutes (after saying bye), Kaoru turned around with a smile to see his mother, expressionless, blinking at him. Kaoru walked over to her and said, "Mom? Are you okay?"
"Yes… I think so…"
"What's wrong?" Kaoru seemed concerned, put his hand on her forehead as if checking for a temperature. She held his hand, away from her forehead and said, "Its nice to see you smile.. At things other than animals and little kids, I mean"
Kaoru looked away, looked back at her and was going to say something when his mother nudged him, and with a sudden smile and a twinkle in her eyes said, "Who was it??"
"Who was what?"
"Who were you talking to?"
"A friend…."
"Very funny… Do I know her?"
"Why does it have to be a her?"
"Kaoru, you don’t have to lie to me, who was she??"
"Mother!!"
"What??? Don’t I have the right to know the girl who has become the object of my baby boy's affections??"
"Mother!! Why does she have to be the "Object Of My Affections"???
"I know you Kaoru… Just tell me her name"
"Julie" (you could hear the exasperation and resignation in his voice)
"Jue Lee??? Nancy Lee's daughter??"
"No ma, Julie as in J-U-L-I-E"
"Umm…. Mrs. Tanaka's daughter's name is Juli but that’s with an I not an IE…"
"You wouldn't know her", said Kaoru, appearing to be talking to his feet.
Hozumi looked at his face… "How come?"
"I can't believe I'm telling you… The exchange student who's staying with Tomoe"
"Ohh... Wait I've met her! She's cute!… You like her?"
"Ma…"
"Oh, is it so private that you can't tell your mother?"
"That doesn’t make sense…"
"Just tell me… yes or no?"
"N-Ye-No"
"So, you like her.. Aren't you going to tell her?"
"I said no!"
"Oh come on! I know what N-Ye-No means!! So how are you gonna tell her?"
"Ma!!"
"Right! You can't tell your mother that. If you need to talk to anyone I'm there okay??"
"Yes ma, I know"
"Good boy… Can I tell your father?"
"What do you wanna tell him?"
"That my baby boy is in love!!"
Hazue walked into the hall saying, "Who is in what??!!!"
Kaoru made an exasperated noise and went to the living room(me: his signature hiss). Hazue looked confused, pointed at Kaoru's retreating back and said to his mother, "Him? In love? No way! He's gotta have a heart to be in love!"
Hozumi ruffled his hair and said, "Don’t say things like that about your Onii-chan!"
"Mom!! Don’t play with my hair!"
***
Julie's POV, The next day
I told Tomoe yesterday. That I like Kaoru. Her first reaction was, "So, do you like him or like-like him?"
To that I hit her with my pillow and said "Like-like"… To which she screamed and started clapping…
Then she asked me what exactly happened whenever me and Kaoru met up.
And I told her. She was disappointed, but tried not to show it.
Its 5 am. Tomoe isn't up yet. I walked over to the computer and switched it on. While it booted up, I went downstairs, said "Ohayo" to the rest of the family and made myself a coffee. I came back up and sat down to finally get around to sending a really long email about all the awesome things I've done and the people I've met to my two BFFs…
People often ask us how we can have two best friends but I think that question doesn't make sense.
-------------------------
From : julie1521@blahmail.com
To : sarah_276@blahmail.com, jess.696@blahmail
Hey guys…
Miss both of you soooo much!!!! I'm having fun here…
And no, I haven't gotten to an anime convention yet… There is one next week though…
Okay…. I told you about first day of school so I'll start from after that……
There's this guy… I'll tell you later…. :P
Now I'm gonna tell you about all the different people I've met…. :)
Tomoe Kaidoh - She's absolutely awesome. And crazy. And fun. She loves to play with my hair and try on all my clothes and dress me up whenever I'm going on a tutoring session with Kaidoh….(will explain) And she is in ♥ with Momo… Its funny cuz her cousin Kaoru and Momo are mortal enemies.
Maiko and Sayu - Tomoe's best friends. Totally sweet and everything… Maiko is the crazy one and Sayu kinda neutralizes her.
Momoshiro - He's a complete flirt, kinda like James back home. Seems to have a thing for Tomoe. It'll be funny if he does ask her out cuz Kaoru will totally FLIP! I hope I get to see it… :P And he's in the Seigaku(the school) Boy's Tennis team.. The team is pretty awesome, as in they were in the Nationals last year and everything...
Eiji - He's in the tennis team with Momo and Kaoru too. He's a lot of fun and really sweet and very, very affectionate. As in, if he saw you he'd probably hug you and rub his cheek against yours or something. And he's cute. He's the most acrobatic player in the team and he says "Nyaa" a lot. Nya is supposed to be like Meow. You know, he's the cat so he punctuates every sentence with a meow. It sounds weird but you sort of get used to it.
Did I mention he's cute…? And very built… :P…. Very much swoon-worthy… Very nice when he hugs you.
Last but not the least…
Kaoru Kaidoh - Umm…. Yeah… So he's the 'guy' I mentioned at the beginning, he's Tomoe's cousin and he's…. Pretty awesome. He's in the tennis team too and he's … um… good-looking, you could say. And he kinda helps me catch up with some of the more complicated things they learn. Like calculus here is SOO hard!! Like what we're gonna learn next year, I'm learning already! Its super hard because I haven't done the basics. He's crazy about sci-fi and he lent me a coupla Asimov books I hadn't read. And we can talk about robotics for… ever….. He's very protective of Tomoe and he hates Momoshiro… They've been enemies since their first year or something…
And I think I kinda like him… umm… yeah…
And again… *swoon*
And I absolutely *love* the way he teaches me! :) :) :)
Anyways, how's everyone there??????? Tell them I miss them soo much…. It hurts…!... :P
And Jess, Mark told me something which you were supposed to tell me first… Just because I'm not there doesn't mean you're not gonna tell me something like this!!! Dummy!!! And don’t fight with your "Markie" cause of me… Congrats anyway!!
And Sarah, *you* could have told me at least!!!
Love
Julie♥
PS- Hi to everyone else! Tell them I miss them!
----------------------------------------------------------
Julie's POV… the same day
I am so bored. Everyone else is attending their Japanese or Chinese literature class and since the medium of instruction is Japanese, this is one class I don’t attend. So here I am, in the library. I picked up a magazine and went off to dreamland while staring at the front page.
I wonder why Kaoru was acting so weird today. I mean he said hi and all but he didn’t really talk to me like he usually does. I have a feeling Tomoe had something to do with it. Because she was talking to him more than normal. I hope she didn’t say anything stupid like "Go ask her out"… Dummy…
***
Kaoru's POV… The same day, same time, Japanese Literature class
Tomoe is crazy. All morning she's been passing me notes, or whispering 'subtly' or poking or hitting me and saying the same thing. Ask her out. Her as in not Tomoe… Julie.
Its not like I haven't thought about it myself. Julie's on my mind all the time anyway and it doesn't really help if Tomoe keeps talking about her too.
Julie's in the library. Which is where she is usually during our Japanese classes.
Okay I'm going to stop thinking about her now.
This is so boring. We're learning an extract from Abe Ichizoku by Mori Ogai. And its about the samurai of Japan. And the teacher is talking about hara-kiri… suicide in the name of honor. Like I don’t know that.
I wish someone would ask Tomoe to perform hara-kiri… At least that way she'll stop annoying me. Now she's throwing small chits of paper with "AHO" written on it… AHO?? Oh right… Ask Her Out…
I swear I'm going to stab her if she does that again.
Okay, she did that again but I don’t have anything to stab her with.
What a crazy topic to talk about - hara-kiri. But then last time when I was dropping Julie back (after we met Eiji and Oishi) that’s what we did. I was telling her about some traditions and she brought up honor. And then we were talking about hara-kiri and how honor was the most important thing to people.
That girl is so amazing. And so pretty. Maybe I should ask her out.
Wait. I was not going to think about her…
Wait the teacher's asking me something. How did it differ if the Mikado ordered you to hara-kiri and you voluntarily performed it. I think…
"Umm.. If the offender committed hara-kiri on his own guilty conscience and not by order of the emperor, his honor was restored and his entire estate went to his family. If hara-kiri had been ordered by the emperor, half the property of the person was confiscated."
Ha! Just look at her expression. I knew that there was some difference but I hadn't known exactly what until Julie asked me… and we checked on the internet from my cell phone on the way back home…
Oh wait… crap...
"And when was it abolished?"
How am I supposed to know? Then she continued and I understood why she was doing this to me.
"I just mentioned the year. If you were listening you would know" with this smile I can only describe as EVIL….
"Um… In the late 1800s??"
"Specify"
"umm.. 1860s"
"1868. Sit down"
"Yes sensei"
Ugh… I hope she doesn't ask me meet her after class. We're having the First ranking Tournaments from tomorrow and we have extra practice today, and allotment of groups and everything.
***
Later after class
Julie's POV
"Julie!!! Come on!! We're having tryouts!!!" cried Tomoe dragging me by the arm and taking off in the general direction of the tennis courts before I could respond… If I was in a Scooby doo cartoon I'd be flying in the air….:P
2 hours later
"You made it Jul!!!" cried Tomoe giving me a bear hug… if I didn't know better I'd think she was taking lessons from Eiji…
When she finally released me I began walking towards the shower rooms when Tomoe asked me, "Where are you going?"
"Umm.. To the shower rooms?"
"Lets go check out the Ranking Tournament sheets first"
"Ranking Tournament?"
***
Turns out, the Ranking Tournament is a specialty of Seigaku (me: the school Julie's in.. Short for Seishun Gakuen). Every term they have a Ranking tournament for the Boys tennis team. Not for the girls team because there aren't those many girls playing tennis as there are boys. Basically, all the boys who want to be in the team including the Regulars who are already in the team are divided into four groups. And they play matches against members of their groups. The top two in each group get into the team.(me: sorry to those who already knew… :) )
So, Tomoe and I walked over to the notice board where the groups were put up. The regulars were divided equally among the four groups. Group A had Tezuka, Ryoma and Inui. Group B had Eiji and Oishi. Group C had Kaidoh and Momo, and Group D had Taka and Fuji.
"Group A is tough!" said Tomoe, who was standing beside me.
"Yeah, Tezuka's definitely going through, depends on who gets through out of Ryoma and Inui." said another, familiar voice from behind us. We turned around to see Momo.. And Kaoru a short while behind with Eiji and Oishi following him.
(me: btw, this is not the story in the anime. This is like a totally different timeline, Julie would probably be close to 16 years old and this is high school and not Junior. Year 1, 2, 3 represent like grade 10, 11 and 12… And this is assuming, Seigaku has a high school division and all of them still study together, since high school isn't mandatory in Japan)
Tomoe's entire face lit up as she said "HIII!!!!" to Momo. Momo didn't exactly look depressed to see her either, if you get my drift…
Momo threw his arm around her shoulder and whispered something into her hair, to which she blushed, and nodded. Um.. Yeah.
I looked over at the others to see Kaidoh glaring at Momo (DUH!!) and Oishi smiling at Momo, Tomoe and Kaidoh; and Eiji with his arm around Oishi's shoulders, collapsed in a fit of suppressed laughter onto Oishi's shoulder.
Well, it might be interesting to collapse on Oishi. He looks kinda… cut.
Not that collapsing on Eiji would be a bad thing either. As in, why else do I put up with his bear hugs unless there was some upside?
"Hey guys"
Oishi smiled at me and said "Hi", Kaoru, still glaring at Momo said "Hi" in a voice that expressed all his fury, while Eiji…
Well you know Eiji…
"Hi Julie-chan!!!" cried Eiji into my ears while he pulled me into his Hug of Doom.
"Hey Eiji"
Oishi smiled apologetically at me from behind Eiji, then walked towards us, put his hand on Eiji's shoulder and said, "Eiji, leave her, you'll break cute Julie-chan"
"You know I wont!" said Eiji indignantly, turning around to face Oishi.
"You might!"
"I wont! And she knows it! Right Julie-chan?"
"I think so..?" I wasn't really sure what to say…
Oishi smiled at him and was about to say something when Eiji suddenly went, "Oh my god!! Look at Momo!!! And look at Kaidoh looking at Momo!!"
Two heads turned to look at them. Momo was whispering something to Tomoe, arm still around her, and Tomoe was blushing and smiling like crazy. Kaoru was a short distance away, arms crossed, glaring at their backs.
"Aww… Poor Kaidoh! Can't handle his baby sister flirting with his worst enemy! Lemme go annoy him!" said Eiji running towards Kaoru.
Oishi looked concerned for a few seconds then smiled and turned towards me and asked "What's up?"
"Nothing.. How come you're suddenly not concerned?"
"Kaidoh will probably punch him or something, but then its okay if Eiji gets punched once in a while"
"Oh…" then we laughed for a while watching Kaidoh trying to get Eiji to buzz off. Meanwhile Momo and Tomoe disappeared.
"So what up?" I asked, turning to Oishi.
"Nothing much… How're you liking Japan?"
"Japan's awesome! It’s a bit of a culture shock, but past that, everyone's really nice and its fun"
"Nice… You made the tennis team huh?"
"Yeah… News travels fast around here…"
"Haha… Yeah I heard Horio telling someone that the Girls team is so pathetic they need the exchange
student to get them to the metros"
"Wow… that’s kinda mean though…"
"Yeah… Tezuka heard that too… He gave Horio 30 laps"
We both laughed at that then I asked, "Tezuka is the captain?"
"Yeah, our buchou"
"And you're…Wait I know it… fuku-buchou?"
Oishi smiled and asked, "How do you know?"
"Umm… I think it was Tomoe or Kaoru telling me about the tennis team…"
"Kaoru?"
"Yeah… Umm… Why?"
"Nothing…"
"Not the whole first name thing! I already got it from Tomoe"
Oishi laughed and said, "Oh, here they come."
I looked to see Momo, Tomoe, Eiji and Kaoru coming towards us. Well, at least Momo, Tomoe and Eiji were coming and Kaoru was being dragged by Eiji.
We stood there and spoke for a while then Momo said that he had to get his bag from class, Tomoe said that even she had to get 'something' from class and both of them went. Kaidoh glared at them, Eiji knocked his head and he glared at Eiji for a second then dropped his gaze to his shoes.
Tomoe came back a few seconds later and told me, "Julie, pretty please can you come home with Kaoru-san cause I wanna walk home with Momo but then I cant ditch you so ca-"
"Chill!! Breathe!! And no I don’t mind… Go have fun!"
Tomoe jumped, screamed excitedly, stuck her tongue out at Kaoru and ran to join Momo at the gate. Kaidoh looked at me like he could kill me…
Ouch…
Eiji knocked his head again and turned to me, "We'll drop you home!! Will you pretty please come with me Julie-chan?"
"Umm.. Its okay, I mean, I'll take the bus…"
"Aww!!! Juli-chan please, please!!"
"Umm… Okay…"
"Yay! Come lets go!"
So Eiji took my hand, pulled Kaoru by his shirt with the other and called to Oishi to come along.
We reached a junction and Eiji said, "Me and Oishi have to pick up some strings for the rackets and the shops that way but you gotta go this way… What do we do?" pulling a thinking face. "Oh I know!" he continued, "Kaidoh can walk you home!! BYE!!"
And he gave me another bear hug and walked - practically ran away.
Oishi turned around, winked at Kaoru, smiled at me, and followed Eiji.
I turned to look at Kaoru who was glaring at me.
"What did I do?"
"Nothing. Come I'll drop you home."
What's up with him??
We walked in silence for a long time… Well maybe not a long time but It did sure feel like a long time. He was walking fast, and a few steps ahead of me. I had to practically run to catch up. Then he stopped (I almost banged into him, but I stopped myself by holding onto a gate) and asked,
"Why'd you let Tomoe go with Momo?"
Oh… So that's what's up with him…
"So I should have gone all 'Don't leave me, you cant do this to me'?"
"No but you could have seemed reluctant! You didn't have to be all 'Have fun!'"
"But that's mean! She really likes Momoshiro and he really likes her so what is the problem??"
"The problem is that its Momoshiro! Everyone knows how he is with girls!"
"Exactly!"
"Exactly?"
"Exactly as in, everyone knows and so does Tomoe"
"She is blind. He's turned on his charm and she fell for it, like all girls do!!"
"Not all girls do!"
"Oh yeah! Tell me which girl has ever said no to Momoshiro?"
"Well, I have!"
Kaoru looked stunned for a few seconds then kept walking like he was, super fast as if he wanted this to get over. I fell back a few steps, stopped, took a deep breath. "Listen, Kaidoh-"
"Oh, so I'm Kaidoh now? We're not friends anymore?"
"I thought you wouldn't want me to call you Kaoru cause you're mad at me"
"I'm not mad at you"
"So you shout at people you're not mad at?"
He fell silent and I felt horrible for saying that. But come on, I was dirty and sweaty and it was so damn humid and to top it all off, the guy I couldn't stop thinking about was mad at me. Because of what? Because of something that was not my fault.
I thought about talking to him again but then as if he was telepathic, he walked faster every time I tried to talk.
He dropped me to the gate, I said, "Thank you" and walked in. Even though he was mad at me, I saw that he waited till I got to the door before walking away.
I hope he doesn't hate me.
***
