Stealing First

Chapter 16

As she walked towards the spirit dorms the next morning, Charlie found her pace slowed the closer she got to Miyuki's room. She shuffled nervously, finally stopping outside the door to room 203. She tucked her long violet hair behind her ear for the hundredth time that morning before giving a timid knock. Charlie took a slow breath in, staring at her shoes and chewing on her bottom lip as she waited for the door to open. After what felt like an eternity, she heard the hinges swing open and eventually she raised her eyes to find the lanky second-year standing before her. As she looked up into his amber eyes, her chest grew tight. She had forgotten how beautiful he was. She found herself unable to move.

"Morning, Saki," Miyuki said softly, moving aside only slightly to grant her a narrow passage into the room. "Morning," she mumbled. 

Finally managing to get her feet to co-operate, she turned her body sideways to squeeze past her host. As she moved, her shoulder brushed past his muscular torso and she caught a whiff of his familiar scent. She closed her eyes briefly, savouring the moment, which caused her to trip and stumble clumsily into the room.

"Bahaha! Nice trip?" Miyuki's gale of laughter broke the spell she had been under, and Charlie broke into a wide grin.

"Shut up, Kazuya" she smirked, before spying the plates laid out neatly on his desk. "Mmmm, that smells great."

The two settled down to breakfast, eating in companionable silence. Charlie was impressed with the spread Miyuki had gathered for them: bacon, eggs, and pancakes with fresh orange juice. He explained that he had sweet-talked the cafeteria ladies into putting it aside for him and he had collected it before his horde of hungry teammates had descended on the dining hall earlier that morning.

"Nice work, Captain," she commented lightly, giving him a small nudge on the shoulder as they finished stacking the plates. She saw his face drop at the comment. Charlie had never really seen this side of him before, so serious and worried. He was clearly very concerned about the issue, and she just hoped that there was some way she could help.

"You're that worried, huh? OK, sit your butt down and start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened. I'm sure together our genius minds can find a solution." She grinned at him with mock arrogance as she sat down on the floor, leaning her back against his bed. Miyuki still looked dubious but one corner of his mouth twitched into an almost-smirk as he slid down beside her.

"Fine," he said, "but don't interrupt until I'm done." She couldn't help but notice the way their arms touched slightly, and she felt her cheeks grow hot. Focus Charlie, she scolded herself. She nodded and let him talk.

After Miyuki had shared the whole story, he sat quietly staring at his hands. " I never wanted to be captain, you know. I'm not good at pleasing people."

"Hmmm, don't let all your female fans hear you say that," Charlie said cheekily, hoping to raise a smile from her companion. He gave a weak grin, but she could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"Well, if you ask me, you are destined to be a great captain. Do you know the meaning behind your name, Kazuya?"

He raised his head to look at her, his usually lively eyes clouded beneath his furrowed brow. He shook his head slightly.

"Well, remember that day in the library? The day I first called you by your name?" Miyuki's mind flicked back to that morning: the soft warmth of her body, her breath on his neck, the way she had whispered his name... He felt his heart rate begin to rise at the memory, and quickly ran his hand through his messy bed hair to cover his emotions. He nodded, "I remember."

Charlie continued, appearing not to notice the effect this had on him. "That day we had been learning more kanji in my language class. And, like most stupid kanji, of course the characters have multiple meanings. But the reason the characters in your name stuck with me is that I was surprised by how accurate some of the readings were. The meanings that came up most often were calm, harmony, progress and arrow."

Miyuki looked up, seeming perplexed. "Really? I'm not sure that sounds much like me at all."

"Well," continued Charlie, unfazed, "perhaps that is where my age-old wisdom comes in." She gave him a cocky wink and received the expected shove on the arm in response.

"Alright, obaasan, let's hear it then," he replied, a subtle note of teasing returning to his voice.

"Even though your personality is, shall we say, spirited, your inner confidence does inspire a sense of calm in those around you. Yes, they may say you are cocky - and they would be right - but they also trust that your confidence is grounded in knowledge and skill. This allows them to follow you with such faith, and brings harmony to the team."

Charlie stole a sideways glance at the brunette boy beside her and found him looking at her intently. She continued quickly before she could get distracted and lose her train of thought.

"The progress part is obvious. You are never satisfied; you are always seeking to improve and be better than you were before. The team sees this, and it motivates them to do the same. And, well, the arrow part might refer to your pointy choice of words sometimes, but also to the fact that you will use the weapons you have to attack and defend on behalf of your team. You give clear direction, and you are the spearhead they rally behind." She stole another look to her right and saw a look of confusion painted on his features.

"Sorry, I know the literature nerd in me is always looking for the meaning in things. You probably think this sounds stupid." She dropped her eyes to her lap and began to wring her fingers together self-consciously.

"I don't think it's stupid at all," Miyuki replied, dipping his head to catch her eye. His voice had lost its mocking tone and now sounded thick and gravelly. "I'm just not used to people seeing me, the real me I mean. Sure, people have always commented on my baseball skills, my academic scores or my wicked sense of humour; these are the things my Dad might boast about with his workers or my friends might talk about over lunch. But I don't think anyone has seen me the way you see me." At this, he gently lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "Thank you, Saki."

It took every shred of willpower she had not to lean in and kiss him right then. She had to remind herself that he had enough on his mind, and she didn't want to confuse things further. Especially when they were just getting back on track to ... whatever they were. She cleared her throat and moved to stand up. "Is there any juice left?" she asked nervously.

Miyuki grabbed her hand as she rose and she stopped, looking down in shock. He took a deep breath and barrelled on before he had the chance to chicken out. "It wasn't a mistake. Taking my hand, I mean, the other night? I felt the same, feel the same. I just wanted to be selfish and keep that feeling between us, for a little while at least. Does that make sense?" His eyes pleaded silently for her to understand.

Charlie slowly broke into a warm smile. "Kazuya, I --"

The door opened suddenly, hitting the wall with a dull thud. Charlie instinctively pulled her hand away, using it to twist her hand into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. "Yo, Miyuki. Coach wants us to... Oh, sorry Charlie. I didn't know you were here." Kuramochi blushed sheepishly at his intrusion, bowing his head and moving back towards the door.

"It's fine, Mochi. I was just about to head off. I have some study to do before class today." She started for the door, turning briefly to give Miyuki a reassuring smile. "See you both in English class this afternoon."

Charlie closed the door behind her, and let out a shaky breath. She wasn't sure whether to thank or curse Kuramochi for his interruption, but one thing she did know was that the weight in her chest had lifted, leaving her feeling lighter than she had in a week. She headed off to the library, to a certain table by the window, to make an optimistic attempt at study.