Youthful Days (Book 1)

36. Jerk

They ate a cold lunch of convenience store sandwiches, salads and rice balls in a sunny spot of the park. The friendly atmosphere from earlier in the day had all but disappeared since the unfortunate incident.

To make things worse, Ayuna and Ryoma seemed to be at a standoff. Their group, as a result, was split down the middle with Ayuna, Fuji and Inui on one side, Ryoma and Sakuno on the other. This chasm was only remediated with jovial conversations between the insouciant trio Momoshiro, Eiji and Momoko.

After a series of unlucky events, they decided to end the day around mid-afternoon. With the previous assault still fresh in mind, the seniors all insisted on seeing Sakuno home because she lived in Edogawa, a ward on the far east side of the city. When they headed back into the station to catch the Tokyo-bound train, a lanky boy ran headfirst into Momoko while trying to cram himself on.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" cried Momoko.

"Ah, I'm so, so sorry!" He bowed repeatedly, "I didn't mean it! I just have to make it back in time to look after the children—"

Another voice interjected his prattling. "Kentaro! Didn't I tell you to slow down? One of these days, you're going to hurt someone!"

Turning his head at the familiar voice, Fuji came to face a silver-haired boy, who held the same look of recognition. "Saeki?"

"Fuji Shuusuke!" Saeki crowed, "I can't believe it's you!"

"You two know each other?" asked Momoko with a hint of surprise.

"Saeki and I are childhood friends," explained Fuji. "He goes to Rokkaku High now, and he's the tennis team's vice-captain."

"Rokkaku..." Inui uttered, growing pensive. "You two are from our next rival school."

The young boy perked up. "It can't be—you're all from Seigaku?"

"That's right. And you are...?"

"I'm Aoi Kentaro!" He gave another right-angled bow. "Pleased to meet you all!"

Inui's eyes widened. "Aoi Kentaro? You're the freshman captain of Rokkaku?"

"That's right!" Aoi beamed. "I've still got lots to learn, though!"

"Wait wait," Eiji interjected, bewildered. "A freshman captain? It's the first time I've heard such a thing!"

"Me, too!" Momoshiro chimed in. "Is that even allowed?"

Exchanging a knowing glance with Saeki, Fuji said, "Perhaps this is a convenient time for us to introduce each other."

"I agree." Saeki suggested, "If you're all free, why don't you come with Kentaro and I to Suwada Park? There are tennis courts there and our school is also close by."

***

Suwada Park held a sprawling green space with a web of paths connecting a small temple and Rokkaku High. Because of this unique layout, children from the nearby elementary school often hung around to play or practice tennis with the older students.

The instant they arrived, a swarm of children immediately charged at Aoi, shouting over each other to greet him. The rest flocked to Saeki, peppering him with all sorts of questions.

"Wow," remarked Momo, "aren't you two popular..."

Ayuna smiled at the heartwarming sight. "I guess this must be what Aoi-san meant when he said he has to come back for the children."

"That's right!" Aoi replied cheerfully amid the circle of kids. "I told them I'd be giving them their weekly tennis lessons today. I can't break my promise!"

Chuckling to the Seigaku gang, Saeki explained, "This is Kentaro's future career—he's practicing to become a coach for junior tennis someday. All the kids love him. I'm just his sidekick."

"It's a pretty generous offer on your part," said Ayuna.

"Well, I guess it's also a way for us to pass down Rokkaku's legacy. These kids will eventually take over and form the new tennis team," answered Saeki. He scrutinized Ayuna, "I don't think we've been introduced?"

Bowing to the senior, she said, "My apologies. I'm Hanamachi Ayuna. I played for Seigaku's badminton team."

"Hanamachi Ayuna, you said?" Saeki appraised her once more before shooting Fuji a meaningful look. "So I see."

Fuji's smile remained impeccable as he encouraged everyone to introduce themselves to Saeki. Once the ceremonious greetings were exchanged, Aoi decided to postpone the tennis lessons and take the Seigaku crowd on a walk around the complex. Intrigued by their future opponents, everyone promptly agreed.

While the seniors walked on and chatted between themselves, there was a visible gap between Ryoma and Ayuna as they lagged behind the rest. Noticing their leftover antagonism, Fuji considerately pulled Saeki aside to give them some privacy.

Once the last two seniors wandered off, Ryoma and Ayuna were the only ones outside the park perimeter. As soon as they were left alone, Ryoma practically charged at her. Fists balled, he scowled at her, "How stupid can you be? Were you using your head when you decided to take on three guys by yourself?!"

"And what should I have done when I saw Ryuzaki-san getting cornered?" Ayuna shot back. "Walk away?"

"You should've done that and called for help!"

"Funny you should say that: you were the one who should've been with her in the first place. Those guys wouldn't have a chance to pick on her if you stayed."

Eyes bulging, Ryoma felt heat rush to his face. "I only left because I saw you getting lured away by some strange man! After finding out he was actually my old man, you think I wasn't going to stay and get to the bottom of it?"

"Don't try to turn this on me," Ayuna snapped, her voice austere. "It was uncouth of you to put someone in danger after inviting them out."

"How should I know she'd be harassed? Odaiba is probably one of the most crowded places in Tokyo." Ryoma grumbled, "It's not my fault she was the unlucky one."

Ayuna shook her head, her expressions grim with disappointment. "Blame it on what you like. It doesn't change the fact that you were careless and inconsiderate. If you didn't want to shoulder that responsibility, then why did you invite her in the first place?"

Ryoma couldn't respond.

Faced with his nonchalant demeanor, Ayuna's heart sank. She thought back to her handful of encounters with Sakuno. Each time, Ayuna remembered seeing her eyes trained on Ryoma as if her heart was pinned to him. All the while, Ryoma wasn't only ignorant of it all, he simply didn't care.

"You shouldn't toy around with someone's feelings like that," whispered Ayuna in the end, gazing into his amber eyes. "You should know that once a good girl's gone, she'll be gone forever."

With that, Ayuna turned on her heels and marched through the wooden gates, slamming it shut with force.

Struck by the weight of these final words, Ryoma watched Ayuna leave silently, suddenly sick to the stomach. This nauseating sensation didn't come from guilt: he was not sorry for inviting Sakuno then neglecting her. Up until this moment, he was acting blindly without knowing why. All he wanted was to purge the irrepressible rage he felt since finding out about Fuji and Ayuna's relationship.

For some unknown reason, he wanted her to be irate at Sakuno's appearance. He wanted her to look his way and he wanted her undivided attention. Then he imagined that this might have a chance at fragmenting her relationship with Fuji and cause them to fall out.

Except, none of it materialized. The tables turned on him instead. Ryoma's malevolent wishes were a lost cause: not only had he contracted Ayuna's disdain, but he'd also chipped his integrity. Instead of removing his initial frustrations, Ryoma realized that it had taken residence and hardened into a kernel of indescribable sadness.

The worst part was, he had no clue why. 

***

A/N: I had fun writing the fight between 2 stubborn people :) I'm a firm believer that Ryoma has a bratty side~ Drop a thought below if you enjoyed the argument as much as me! ^^