Where are my clothes? Oshitari-san said that he will bring me his spare uniform for me to wear, but all I see are the wet and damp ones that I wore out into the rain. I wrapped Keigo-kun's expensive looking towel around myself since it was the only thing I could use to dry myself off and peeked out into the main clubroom.
I saw Keigo-kun, sitting on the couch and pinching the bridge of his nose and quickly shut the door as quietly as I can, heart racing. Why was he there? Didn't Oshitari-san tell me he rarely uses this room? The last thing I want is to be in one room with him, alone. I sat down on the cold ceramic floor and took a deep breath and waited.
It was so quiet that I can hear the clock ticking and him moving outside. I thought he was gonna leave, but I didn't hear the sound of door creaking, so I stayed put and listened. He was still outside. I waited not knowing how many minutes have passed. At this rate, I am going to really catch a cold.
I heard a sneeze and deep coughing. Maybe Keigo-kun was really sick from yesterday, running home in the rain. I thought back to his umbrella and blazer that I dumped in the darkest corner of my wardrobe. I debated whether I should returned it to him to show that I don't want to keep any favours from him or whether I should just leave it there to show how much I didn't care. I hadn't come to any decision so far, so it was still sitting on the corner of my wardrobe.
I sighed and hugged my knees to my chest to keep myself warm. Then I sneezed. Oh crap. I heard more noises from outside before he knocked on the door.
"Izumu, are you alright?" His voice heavy and raspy. I didn't answer and kept quiet; surprised that he knew I was here. Did Oshitari-san set this up? "Izumu? You're going to catch a cold if you stay in there."
"Then get me my clothes and go away," I snapped.
"First you got to open the door."
"Just leave it outside the door. And go away."
"Izumu? Come out," he said. It was not a request. It was a straight out order that Izumu decided to refuse. She buried her head in between her knees and decided to shut him out, but that proved to be an impossible feat as his voice rose with every sentence he spoke until it turned into a yell. "Why are you doing this? Don't you think this has gone far enough? I came all the way from England just to see you and all you did was ignore and hate on me for the past three years! Do you know how hard it is for me? Stop being so childish and come out!" he banged his fist on the wooden door.
Izumu jumped out of her skin at the sound of the door hitting his fist. She bit her bottom lip to stop the tears from running out of her eyes. Stop it! Stop it! Don't scream at me! Her mind was bursting with these thoughts. She hated loud noises ever since she could ever remember. Maybe it reminded her too much of when her parents used to fight all the time when she was younger. She used to find solace in Keigo whenever that happened, but then again, Keigo and she drifted apart until she was always alone.
"Izumu! Izumu! Come out right now or I am going to break the door down!" Keigo yelled again. This was bad. He was losing his cool, but like he had previously thought when it comes to Izumu all rational thinking flew out the window.
"SHUT UP! STOP YELLING! STOP YELLING AT ME!" She screamed and Keigo heard a heart-wrenching sob. He instantly regretted what he has done as the sobs continued, each one feels like another knife stabbing into his chest.
"I am sorry," he said in a softer tone. "But don't you think you had tortured me enough? You know I can't go on without you. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Why?" she choked out in between sobs, "You're asking me why? Maybe you should ask yourself. I wasn't the one who abandoned you. You were the one who left me in the first place!"
The realization hit Keigo hard. Izumu was right. Everything was his own entire fault. He was the one who had brought this upon himself in the first place. He lowered his fist from the door, his knuckles red and smarting with pain. But he deserved this. All of this emotional and physical pain. Maybe this is karma; he was being punished by having to feel what Izumu once felt. How Izumu once felt because of him.
"Sorry," he managed to croak out. He was surprised he still has any voice left in him. His throat felt so dry and he could hardly utter a word.
"Just… leave," Izumu said, voice cracking and on the brink of crying again. She heard footsteps and the creaking of a door. Keigo had finally left.
"Atobe? You don't look so good," Oshitari-san observed. Atobe's face looks pale and irritable.
"It's nothing," he said and waved Oshitari off. "Go mind your own business next time," he huffed and walked away. Oshitari just shrugged when he was waved off and he walked inside the club room. He knocked on the bathroom door.
"Izumu-chan? Are you in there?" Oshitari asked. He can hear faint sobbing coming from across the door. "Izumu-chan?" He asked again, feeling more worry this time. Was she okay? What is he going to do when she's not?
The door creaked open just a crack and Oshitari stepped back before the door fully opened in front of him. He flushes red at the sight of a half-dressed Izumu, but she was clearly crying.
"Oshitari, you baka," she sobbed out. "Why did you have to get Atobe-san here? Baka," she sobbed again, this time louder before hugging him and letting herself cry freely into his chest. Oshitari sighed and placed his hands on her bare shoulders.
"I am sorry, Izumu-chan," he said and he meant it. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her hair, his heart hurting worse and worse as the cries continues to get louder.
"Atobe?" Jirou asked when he saw Atobe. He knew something was wrong with Atobe today. He looked sick and feverish. Now he looks worse than before.
"Ahn? Jirou? Why are you still hanging around here? Everybody left already," Atobe said. The rest of the gym looks empty and it was still raining outside. September is such a rainy season. Atobe looked at his watch. It was almost six in the afternoon and he hasn't even planned for the training camp yet.
"Atobe, is something bothering you?" Jirou asked.
"Why would you think so?" Atobe asked, feeling skeptic. Since when was he so easy to read?
"You don't look that well today, that's all," Jirou said. Atobe gave out a quiet sigh. He's been sighing a lot lately.
"Ore-sama is fine," he said in a flat tone. "You don't have to worry. Kabaji, get me my umbrella."
"Usu." Kabaji then left to get Atobe's umbrella and things.
"Jirou, do you have a ride home?" He asked and raised an eyebrow. Jirou shook his head.
"I was planning to sleep it off until the rain stops," he said.
"Ore-sama will bring you home. Ore-sama can't have my teammates falling sick," he announced. Then he thought of something and took out one of his cellphones from the inside of his blazer. "Michael? Get me another limo."
"Feeling better?" Oshitari-san asked me. I nodded my head and sniffed, wiping away the last of my tears.
"Sorry," I said and felt ashamed for breaking down in front of him. I didn't want to bring him trouble. I have already troubled him enough. Outside, I can still hear the rain. I looked at the clock. It was already almost six.
"That's okay," he said. I pulled away from him and he dumped the dry clothes that were meant for me on my head. "Go get changed, I will wait for you outside."
I nodded and he left. I put on the clothes, rolling the sleeves of the shirt. Oshitari-san's clothes was way too big for me, so I decided to just wear my skirt instead of trying to make myself look like I shrunk in his pants. My skirt was already pretty much dry anyway. I put my shirt in one of the plastic bags and folded it into my school bag then I headed out of the room.
"Oshitari-san?"
"Izumu-chan, do you want to accompany me shopping today?"
"Hm? What for?" I asked.
"Tomorrow is Gakuto's birthday, and then Shishido's birthday is coming up. So I thought I'll just buy both of their presents at the same time."
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Izumu exclaimed and nodded her head. "I will go with you; I want to get them something too."
We walked out of the club room under his umbrella.
"What is this?" Oshitari-san asked when we're nearing the front gates. A limo was waiting, with its chauffeur waiting outside the passenger door under an umbrella.
"Miss Ishiki, I have been informed to take you home," he said with a low bow and opened the door waiting for me and Oshitari-san to climb in. I scowled.
"You can tell Atobe-san I don't need his help," I told him and grabbed on Oshitari-san's sleeve and directed him away.
"But Miss Ishiki," he said, standing up straight now and looking worried.
"Izumu-chan, let's not make things hard for the guy," Oshitari-san said. I looked at him and then back at the chauffeur. Well, it's not his fault anyway and I have no reason to make him get punished by Keigo-kun.
"Fine," I said and got on. The chauffeur looked happy and he closed the door after Oshitari-san. He rounded around the car and got on the driver's seat. "Excuse me, can you please take us to the shopping mall instead? There's something I need to get done there."
He looked into the rearview mirror and nodded. "Understood, Miss." He proceeded to roll up the screen, giving me and Oshitari-san privacy. I sighed for the umpteenth time this week and leaned in on Oshitari-san's shoulder.
"Mmm… so tired," I mumbled and stifled a yawn. Today had been a bit hectic and I haven't even clarified things with Izumi yet. Mind boggling questions run through my head, but I decided to wave them off and try to get some rest while I can. I can vaguely feel Oshitari-san's arm encircling my neck and came to a rest at the side of my head, pulling me closer to him. It felt so warm, safe, comforting and so secure and despite the fact that I knew we were in Keigo-kun's limo, I started to drift off to sleep.
Oshitari knew the moment he felt Izumu's head fell further into his shoulder that she had fallen asleep. He can hear the soft rhythmic sound of her breathing tickling his neck. He knocked on the screen and it slid down, revealing the chauffeur who was waiting for an instruction.
"Change of plans, take us to the Ishiki Mansion," he said, but then thought better of it. Izumu's sister was there, how was he going to explain things? And he wasn't even sure Izumu would want to see Izumi after the events of the day at school. "No, take us to this address instead," he said, giving off the location of his house. After all, he still has things he needs to clarify with her. Gakuto's present can wait, Izumu was far more important to him than anyone else.
"Where am I?" Izumu slurred when she woke up. The surroundings look unfamiliar to her and she was in someone else's bed. Her eyes skimmed around the room and landed on someone's familiar back sitting on a chair and facing the other way.
"Good morning," Oshitari greeted her when he noticed her awake. He closed the screen to his computer and swiveled around in his chair to face her.
Izumu blinked and sleepily rubbed her eyes. "Oshitari-san, where am I?"
"At my house," he informed her and walked over to the bed, sitting beside her.
"Eh? Why? Weren't we going shopping?" she asked, alarmed.
"Yes, but you fell asleep," he said. "It's almost ten now. It's too late to go shopping.
"Eh!?" she cried out and threw the covers aside, reaching across Oshitari to snatch the clock beside the bed. It's really nine-past. "What about the presents?"
"Gakuto can live without them for one year," he said. "If you're still tired go back to sleep."
"I am no longer tired, my head is just aching now," she said.
"It's your fault for staying out in the rain for so long," Oshitari reprimanded her, "And anyway, I called your house. Your sister picked up."
"Oh? What did she say?" she said and remembering the list of questions she was supposed to ask Izumi. She reaches into her skirt pocket and took out the wet piece of paper, thoroughly soaked and on the brink of dispersing into the air. She shoved it back in.
"Nothing. Just that you should be more careful," he said and offered her a cup of hot chocolate that has been sitting in the room waiting for her to wake up. She took a sip to clear her head. "Take off your clothes."
"W-what!?" she said and almost spit the drink out. Instead, she gulped it down in one go and felt her throat burn afterwards. "Hot! Hot!"
Oshitari shook his head and handed her another cup, this time filled with mineral water. She drank it all down and placed the cup on the bedside table. Oshitari threw some of his clothes at her.
"Change into those and I'll get your uniform cleaned for school tomorrow."
Izumu grabbed the clothes off her head. It was Oshitari's shirt and shorts with adjustable ropes around the waist.
"I chose the smallest size that I have," he informed her. She frowned at them. They were definitely way too big for her. Why must he be so tall anyway? Without another word, he left her alone in the room to change.
Keigo could not believe what he had just heard. "So you are saying they went to Oshitari's place?" he asked again just to make sure although he believed that the moment one of his chauffeurs tell him he drove them to Oshitari's place.
Normally, Keigo wouldn't be so worried about Izumu spending the night at Oshitari's. He trusted the tensai after all because he knew the tensai wouldn't let any sort of harm come to Izumu. But that's also where his worry lies. He wasn't stupid. He can tell Oshitari liked the girl and the only reason he hasn't made a move yet was because of Keigo himself. But that's only a matter of time. Sooner or later, something is going to happen between the two of them, which Keigo can only hope in vain that it wasn't romance.
He looked at the chauffeur irritably and dismissed him. It wasn't his fault anyway. He stood up from his chair and walked out of his study. He went back to his room and fetches one of his mobile phone collection and dialed Oshitari.
"Hello?" He said after the other side was picked up after several beeps.
Shoot. I wasn't thinking when I picked up the phone. It was ringing and I thought it was mine, so I just picked it up without even glancing at it. I heard Keigo-kun speak at the other end and almost jumped out of my skin. I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. It wasn't mine. It was Oshitari-san's.
"Hello? Oshitari, are you there?"
I panicked. Maybe I should just hang up, but how would that make Oshitari-san look like? I steeled my guts and started speaking, determined to let him know I will pass the phone to Oshitari instead of just hanging up like an idiot.
"Atobe-san? Oshitari-san isn't here at the moment. Please wait, I'll pass it to him."
Keigo almost dropped the phone when he heard Izumu.
"Izumu?" he quickly said, hoping she wouldn't pass it to Oshitari yet. He wanted to talk to her for a longer time. He needed to hear her voice.
"What is it?" she asked. Atobe took a deep breath. It's now or never.
"Sorry," he said. "I really mean it this time. For everything. I am sorry, I am sorry."
He can hear a long pause at the other side. Every second the clock ticks, his breathing hitched harder and harder until he can barely feel anything anymore. The world felt like it was weighing on his shoulder, shutting his eyes tight as he longed to hear that voice on the other side. He can hear rustling and things moving on the other side.
"Atobe? What did you want?"
Keigo's eyes shot open. It was Oshitari's voice. Did Izumu really plan to leave his apology hanging just like that without giving him an appropriate answer?
"Ahn? Oshitari?" Somehow he miraculously manages to keep his voice steady. But if he didn't, he wouldn't be Atobe Keigo now would he?
"Yes, what did you want, Atobe?"
Atobe stayed quiet for awhile before changing his mind. "Nothing. Take good care of Izumu."
"You don't have to tell me that. I know."
"That's all," he said and hung up. Oshitari would know what to do.
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