Wow, when was the last time this fic was updated? DAMN SUPER LONG. Mmmmmmmmm, yeah.

So after an eternity, a new chapter is out :X

I'm Not That Girl by SavageTrickster

Chapter 06 – He's All That

The school week went pretty fast; now it was only a day away from the tennis tournament Shiraishi invited her to watch.

In the past four days, she hadn't seen Shiraishi much except during lessons.

The spot under the lamppost right outside her house was always empty every time she left for school. For obvious reasons, morning practices and after-school practices that last till dark were necessary as the tournament drew close. Even during lunch breaks, Shiraishi would be one of the earliest to be out of their classroom to god knows where.

The only things they had going were some occasional greetings, meaningful eye contacts, and nods. It was not really odd though – it'd been quite a busy week with many tests and assignments due. Even Megumi has been busy with her club's fashion showcase for the festival.

Today was no different. But being a Friday, almost everyone was in a good mood – with the tennis tournament drawing near, the students especially the girls were particularly excited. Everywhere Shizue went on the campus; there were always words about the upcoming event. People were already discussing their anticipations.

The day also quickly came to an end, signaled by the resonating school bell.

Shiraishi was the first to leave for tennis; everyone knew it was for his team's final practice before the tournament. There were many wishes of 'good luck' spoken to him as he hurried past desks for the classroom door.

Shitenhouji was truly a strong team. Barely past noon, the team had already won three games against their rival team, already halfway to a complete victory. The spectators' stand belonging to Shitenhouji was nearly packed to the brim; fans and friends alike were there.

When she reached the tournament area with Megumi, they could barely find any seats and could only settle on remaining empty seats on the last row of the elevated spectators' stand. On their way to the designated tournament area, she spotted many ongoing matches between other schools. Apparently, there was more than one tournament occurring at the same time.

"It's Shiraishi-sama's turn!" An excited nudge prodded at Shizue's side as Megumi gushed along with the rest of the girls occupying the seats.

Shiraishi-sama…

Amusement and incredulity hummed through Shizue as she let out an awkward chuckle at her friend's reaction, cringing inwardly.

Her eyes were drawn back to the front in time to watch Shiraishi slip his jersey off his shoulders. Shizue noticed how the shrieks and gushes around had somehow grown even louder at that gesture. The banners held up seemed to be waved even more passionately too.

Shizue returned her eyes to the captain, eyeing the oblivious figure walking calmly into the court with his racket. Did he even notice the reactions he had caused? Or was he so used to this that he has become immune?

She knew Shiraishi had always been a magnet for attention, even when he was in his shy phase. But-But this was getting too exaggerating…!

The cacophony across the area was hushed into silence when the umpire announced the start of the game.

The soft, kind Shiraishi whose eyes were always smiling made her forget he was a person to be reckoned with on the court. But watching him now, the hard glint of determination and confidence in those eyes that showed no mercy reminded her that he wasn't just Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Not just her childhood friend and neighbor.

The man standing on the court now was simply Shiraishi Kuranosuke, the captain.

The team swept through the games like a breeze and earned their first victory in the national tournament. It was just an hour shy from four and the spectator's stand was already clearing out with people chattering excitedly about the next.

A frustrated groan fell from Megumi's lips as they walked along the main path leading to the exit of the tennis center. While there were still people standing around under the trees, the area was fairly empty. It was a good call for them to idle for a while at their seats for the leaving crowd to disperse.

"Ah this sucks, I was planning to bring you to that pancake café!" Megumi eyed her phone screen in dismay with a pout, "I'm sorry Shizue-chan, my stupid little brother is being a dumbass again. I swear he drives me nuts...!"

"No, no," Shizue cracked a reassuring smile at her frustrated friend," It's alright! We can go some other days!"

"Aww, you're sweet," Megumi gushed, pulling a surprised Shizue into a quick hug. "I'll make it up to you next time, Shizue-chan," She threw a wink and turned, about to go, "See ya in school!"

Shizue blinked at her fast retreating back and broke into a smile. Turning her eyes upwards, she squinted against the brightness of the blue sky above and sighed in bliss at a rushing breeze. Thankful for it on such a warm day.

A vending machine caught her eyes as soon as she lowered her gaze back down. Perhaps… Shizue cast a thoughtful glance over her shoulders at the tournament area they exited from.

Should she get him one too…?

Shizue approached the machine, her hands working on it mechanically the instant she took out a 100 yen coin. Her favorite can drink dropped into the collection den of the machine with a loud 'clunk'. With her second 100 yen coin ready, her hands paused with hesitation.

But wouldn't it be awkward? He was probably walking with his team.

The coin was being slipped into the machine anyway. Another loud 'clunk' alerted her to the second can.

Being the final member to play, the remaining traces of adrenaline from his match running in his blood kept his eyes open. But not for long. He could feel the drowsiness starting to take over his senses. Carried like a sack of potatoes over Kabaji's broad shoulder, the steady sways of his body was so… Jirou let out a big yawn.

Everything seemed to be lulling him to sleep.

The heat of the sun beating down his back.

The warmth of Kabaji's shoulder pressing against his stomach.

The soft scuffles of his teammates' shoes as they walked.

….Atobe-buchou who just wouldn't stop talking about whatever he was saying. Something about blah blah blah…He wasn't sure.

Raising his head off Kabaji's chest slightly, his brown eyes sleepily flitted to the front where Atobe led his team. Jirou blinked owlishly at the captain as his sluggish brain struggled to translate his gibberish words to human language.

His interest in his captain's words evaporated quickly as soon as he could make sense of his words.

Hmm?

Jirou darted his eyes to something ahead.

A girl.

Auburn, long hair.

A familiar frown of frustration on her quietly pretty face as she struggled to pull out a can from a vending machine.

Staring at the approaching figure from Kabaji's shoulder, a slow dawn of recognition crept in his head.

And when it clicked, an eager gasp from him made his whole team halt in their tracks.

Atobe paused in his speech about their path to the top to his team walking behind him with a raised eyebrow and quickly learned with a glance over his shoulder that his sleepy member was…not asleep.

"Shizue-chan!"

Oh?

Atobe's curious gaze swiveled back to the front from Jirou who was struggling to get off Kabaji's shoulder. That name struck a chord - Shizue-chan…?

Following Jirou's line of vision, Atobe zeroed in on the girl by the vending machine.

His eyes narrowed.

Wasn't that the girl who would bring Jirou's tennis bag to the courts whenever the silly boy overslept for practice and rushed out of his classroom without realizing he had forgotten about it?

The seats behind were empty by the time briefing by their coach ended. During their games, he had peered over his shoulders a couple of times and was almost disappointed when he couldn't spot a certain redhead.

He was only relieved to find her and her friend at the back of the watching crowd toward the end of the tournament. He was hoping that by inviting her to watch, he could slowly include her back into his life.

"Koshimae was so awesome!" Red, wild hair bounced energetically on the head of Toyama Kintaro as he gestured animatedly to his seniors," And then, and then! He said 'mada mada dane' and strolled out of the court!"

"Echizen is still Echizen, eh? Shiraishi chuckled.

"I'm going to beat the next time we play with Seigaku! You guys better watch me!"

Zaizen raised his head to the large movement he sensed before him, his eyes darting up from his phone to find himself watching Kintaro hopping off the ground like a monkey while clutching onto his pants.

Exasperation filled his gaze at the bizarre sight - standing at a height rivaling his and features sharpened with maturation, you would think Kintaro would be calmer.

"Toilet! Toilet! Toilet!"

"Eh?"

The middle schooler shot off like a rocket without warning, leaving behind his stunned seniors staring after him.

"Hey Shiraishi, isn't that Okuda?" Kenya nudged the captain.

Surprise flashed past Shiraishi's features as he turned his head to look.

Curious eyes behind him followed his gaze.

It was Shizue, alright. However, the one that caught his attention was something else.

Honey brown eyes stared, blinking rapidly in surprise at what he was witnessing.

A guy his age was…yanking Shizue rather forcefully to him.

He couldn't see the person's face. Somehow this stranger was outrageously daring enough to bury his face into her shoulder.

The way Shizue stiffened made his eyes narrow. The shock and uneasiness on her face tugged a fierce urge to intervene in him.

"Eh Kura-rin, who's that guy-"

"Kenya, hold this for me."

"H-Huh?"

The bright, happy glint in his eyes darkened as Shiraishi pushed his tennis bag to the spluttering speedstar.

The usual calm, gentle look their captain bore was gone.

Steeled eyes fixed on them, Shiraishi strode forward with his jaw clenched as a streak of overprotectiveness came over him.

Her eyes were practically burning into the second can she purchased from the vending machine.

Give or not to give this can to him?

She had a strong urge for the former choice but the lingering doubts and anxiety held her.

All she could think was the awkwardness with Shiraishi and his team.

It was such a laughably simple action but sometimes she was so amazed at how she could blow matters up just by thinking too much.

Good gosh, she hated this side of her so much…!

"... Shizue-chan!"

Shizue peered up from the cans in her hands.

Did someone just…

She turned her head and her eyes grew wide as the only thing that greeted her was a well-defined chest clad in a familiar shirt her mind couldn't process fast enough.

Shizue felt her next breath knock out of her as a pair of arms pulled her into the body before her. The cans slipped out of her hands the instant their bodies collided.

And the only things she could think about were the arms over her shoulders with its big hands resting on her mid-back, the head on her left shoulder and the hair tickling her left cheek.

What just...

A shaky breath escaped her as her brain ran wild in her attempt to understand what just happened.

Was she being hugged her?

Why?

This was a guy right?

Oh god, who was it?

Did she know any guy in Osaka who would call her 'Shizue-chan'?

Erm, what?

"I think she would appreciate it if you let go of her right now." An unreadable voice cool and crisp greeted her ears just as she was about to push the person away.

Shizue darted her eyes to the voice with a surprised gasp and met the serious face on… Shiraishi's face with wide eyes.

He looked oddly…upset.

She didn't have time to ponder why. The weight lifting off her shoulder drew her attention back to the assaulter. A small cry of disbelief rushed out from her mouth at the familiar face smiling happily back at her.

"...Akutagawa-san!"

"Eh, Hyotei?" Shizue heard Shiraishi voice his surprise. His cold voice softened drastically with recognition.

Hands sliding down her arms to her wrists in one swift move, Jirou's eyes danced with excitement, forgetting about the Shitenhouji captain in his delight to see her.

"Oh my god, oh my god! Shizue-chan, it's been so long!" He tugged her arms eagerly. A childish pout. "Class has been so boring without you! And I can't finish the sweets people are giving me!"Jirou reminded her of an overenthusiastic pup.

A soft look appeared on Shizue's face as a chuckle escaped her.

"I miss you too, Akutagawa-san. What are you doin-whoaa" Her words ended in a puff as he abruptly tugged her into him once again. She didn't know Jirou was such a hugger, she thought with amusement, patting him on the back.

Jirou was probably too excited to even think about his actions.

A discomforting tinge Shiraishi assumed was sympathy arose with surprise at the fact that Shizue was familiar with a Hyotei regular.

"Eh Shiraishi, Hyotei is here too?"

Shiraishi turned his head to find his team joining him, with Kenya ahead of the rest.

If this Hyotei regular was here, that means…

"Ahn, isn't it Shitenhouji?" Atobe's deep, velvety voice drawled as he strolled over.

Dark blue eyes flitted over the sight before him. A tad amusement curled a smirk on his lips.

"My my," Oshitari Yuushi finally tore his eyes off the novel in his hands. "Jirou is actually awake because of a girl."Ah, finally something more interesting than Roommate for Sale. The book was mediocre but it was definitely something more engaging than Atobe's dull monologue.

"Gekokujo."

"How does that even relate to this situation, Hiyoshi? For fuck's sake, stop-"

"Language, Gakuto." Yuushi murmured distractedly as his eyes flitted to his cousin standing behind the Shitenhouji captain and fell back onto his novel, losing interest in the situation with Jirou quickly. Gakuto's irritated 'shut up' was lost to his ears as well.

The chatter behind him fell past his concern as Atobe's attention was drawn to the Shitenhouji captain.

"Ore-sama suppose you have achieved your first victory, Shiraishi." Atobe drawled with a haughty tilt of his head.

"I suppose Hyotei did too, Atobe-san." Shiraishi smiled amicably. "As expected of-"

A sharp gasp rushing up to his ears made him return his eyes back to Shizue, only to find her staggering back.

Shizue wanted to marvel at how easily Jirou could fall asleep in the midst of a hug, but she was too busy panicking under his weight. As much as he reminded her of a child, Jirou was still a grown young man towering over her by at least a head!

"Not now, Akutagawa-san…!" Shizue felt her knees buckle under her, realizing with dread that his legs had loosened their hold on the ground.

Atobe noticed with a sigh, and languidly unfolded an arm from his chest, loosely pointing at Jirou-

"Kabaji."

"Usu."

Standing in the shadow of Kabaji, Shizue lifted her head with an appreciative smile as he took the snoring boy away from her shoulders. "Thanks, Kabaji-san."

Shizue relaxed with a relieved sigh, gaining back her footing.

"Ehhhh, Monkey King? Hyotei?"

Heads turned to a returning Kintaro who bounded over with bright, wide eyes.

Behind Atobe who snapped his head over with a shocked, incredulous face, Yuushi snorted in amusement into his novel.

Gakuto was howling with laughter, accompanying Kenya's while beside him, Shishido murmured 'Monkey King' under his breath repeatedly to his growing amusement.

Choutarou spun around with a short 'Eep!' to Hiyoshi behind him who abruptly let out a strong expulsion of 'Gekokujo'.

Shiraishi couldn't help cringing at the blatant disrespect his junior showed, knowing where or rather who Kintaro picked that from, while Shizue watched on with fascination and amusement.

"Take a look at the mirror, boy," Atobe scoffed, an eyebrow twitching in annoyance, "that name fits you better. Ore-sama would appreciate it if you pass this message to Echizen too."

"My apologies, Atobe-san." Shiraishi offered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's fine, Shiraishi," The Hyotei captain shrugged nonchalantly, turning as if about to go, "I'm sure we'll meet again on the courts."

Dark, cool eyes flitted over to her.

"I hope Shitenhouji is treating you well, Okuda."

Shizue flinched in surprise and could only bow at her waist, unable to find the right words to say in her haste to respond.

A heavy sigh escaped her as she straightened up, feeling rather drained on such a short day out. Things got weird fast, afterall.

What a strange day.

The supermarket was bustling with housewives and their lively children, the elderly, and teenagers like her – the typical customers to be seen every day, especially so on a special Sunday evening sales day like today.

Shizue tried to weave her way through the clusters of crowds around the mart, trying not to drop the items in her arms as she squeezed through the busy aisles.

Such luck for her to visit the supermarket on the day their trolleys were sent off for maintenance work. The limited baskets were mostly taken up by the ones who were fast enough to grab them.

Despite being the sprinter she was, Shizue couldn't compete with the uncharacteristically quick elderly and the middle-aged housewives – everything else they did seemed particularly slow.

Fumbling with items which nearly slipped out of her arms, a heavy sigh escaped Shizue as she quickly rushed up to the shortest cashier counter she spotted before the rest could take the spot – spending just a mere ten minutes in this suffocating overcrowded place made her breathless, and she wanted to be out as soon as possible!

Plus, she could feel her phone constantly vibrating in her pocket. She didn't have to pick it up to know who had been calling for the past three times while she was struggling to keep the items in her arms from falling out.

Her mom was the reason behind why she was even in this stuffy place. In the midst of baking a cake for the Shiraishi family to return their gesture of welcoming back Shizue with a cake, her mom had urgently passed her a shopping list and practically shoved her out of the house in a panic.

Still rather puzzled about the fuss the older woman made, Shizue could vaguely recall her mom yelling anxiously about the melting butter before pushing her out the front door and slamming it shut behind her.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Ah, there it was again.

Shizue sighed as another series of vibrations erupted from her phone once more.

Reaching the vibrating device in her pocket after she freed an arm by putting some items on the belt of the counter, Shizue snapped her head up to the sound of a rather loud gasp in front of her.

"Eh, it's expired already?"

A rather pretty woman looking about her age had a surprised expression as she peered at the card the cashier held to her. Her face fell with realization when she saw that her card had indeed expired, just yesterday.

Shizue watched on curiously as the woman murmured a quick apology before taking the card back. She felt a pinch of pity for the woman who was digging around her bag for an alternative method to pay for her goods – picking up something sounding akin to 'should have brought my wallet along' from the woman if she didn't hear her wrongly.

Staring at the flustered woman thoughtfully for a while, Shizue swept a quick glance at the single bag of groceries belonging to her and made a decision.

"Don't worry about it," With her card in her hand, Shizue stepped forward and received a confused look from the woman who seemed resigned about her situation. "I'll pay."

The cafe across the supermarket was quiet and fairly empty – it was a picture of contrast as compared to the busy mart.

"Thank you for earlier, erm..." Hesitation flashed past her delicate features as she sat down across Shizue.

"Oh, I'm Shizue." Shizue quickly intercepted when she realized what was happening. "Okuda Shizue." She offered with a small smile.

The woman's face brightened. "Thank you for earlier, Okuda-san. I'm Kanemoto Hanae."

Shizue could not help but notice the way the small smile that graced the woman's lips seemed to make her even prettier.

It was hard not to notice that she was a different kind of pretty from Minami Kaede who reeked maturity from her distinct features. The one that Kanemoto Hanae possessed was the gentle, graceful sort – somewhat making 'Hanae' such a fitting name to her face and demeanor.

Hanae sort of reminded her of those 'Yamato Nadeshiko' women, from the intricate way her dark raven hair framed her face with a neat set of bangs and ended below her breasts with a soft, loose curl.

Quickly realizing she was spacing out, Shizue snapped back to attention. "Oh erm, it's no problem at all, Kanemoto-san. This tea you're treating to me is enough as a payback."

The woman glanced down at the chamomile tea across the dainty table sheepishly, tugging a strand of her long, raven hair away from her face. "I would have treated you to some food as well, only if I had more money with me."

"Don't worry about it, Kanemoto-san, I'm very happy with this tea," Shizue reassured her, breaking into a smile again. "Oh yeah, you said you're visiting someone…?"She added quickly to change the subject.

The woman suddenly perked up in her seat, as if she was reminded of something that excited her.

"Yes, it's a very special someone I'm visiting." Shizue too perked up in her seat, curious about the shyness the woman displayed. She couldn't help but feel tad amusement at how the woman started ranting right off the bat. Her eagerness was endearing. "I met him when he was in his last year in our middle school, no, more like he saved me."

"Save you?" Shizue tilted her head in question, blinked curiously.

"I…" Hanae smiled lightly as if remembering a distant memory,"...had always been a chubby girl and constantly teased back then. I had such low self-esteem."

Shizue's eyes widened as those words tugged at her heart. She was...just like me.

"He was the most popular, probably the most handsome guy in school; you'd think he would be arrogant. But no, he was so...kind. He saw my struggle and told me I should love myself more. Since then, we grew closer."

"Oh so, he became your boyfriend?" Shizue eyed her, a small grin appearing on her face.

Hanae clutched her hands to her chest, feeling fuzzy flutters. Her cheeks aflamed with a blush of soft red that Shizue couldn't help but notice.

"Not yet," The bright look in Hanae's face dampened slightly. "Unfortunately, we only met when he was in the final year. When I realized my feelings, he had already graduated and we kinda stopped talking." Shizue watched her face light up again. "Then like it was fate, I ended up becoming a club senior for his younger sister. She knows our story and has been very supportive of me."

"So after I realized my feelings for him, I decided that I wanted to slim down and be the girl who can stand beside him." The silent promise in Hanae's eyes shot a stab of shame in Shizue as a flash of her own past surface at her words.

"...Wow." Shizue murmured breathlessly. "You're really-"

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Shizue pulled out her vibrating phone and rose from her seat sharply, throwing the woman an apologetic look. "Oh right, I've gotta go now. I'm sorry, Kanemoto-san, my mom is waiting for her ingredients so I need to head home now."

"No problem," Hanae smiled understandingly, "It's nice meeting you, Okuda-san."

"Same here, Kanemoto-san!"

Her fingers wrapped around the pen tightened their grip to her growing frustration. Shizue darted her eyes over to her Chemistry textbook for the umpteenth time and back to her assignment. Nothing made sense!

"Come down, Shizue-channnn!"

Shizue's head snapped up to the sound of her mum's voice. Glad for the distraction from the headache she was about to get, Shizue rose from her desk and left her room.

"Yes?" Shizue paused at the kitchen door with a loud yawn.

"Isn't this gorgeous?" Yuko grinned widely, snapping photos of an opened cake box with her phone.

Shizue stepped through the door to her gushing mum. Her head tilted curiously at the cake box and found herself salivating over what she was met with.

Sitting gloriously in a white box, a round mango cheesecake glistened under the orange glow of the light above their kitchen counter. The freshness of the fruit was reflecting back at her. Ohh, now she understood why they had so many mangos in the fridge!

"Can you be a dear and do me a favor?" Shizue's eyes reluctantly left the cake and flickered to the expectant look on her mum's face. "Can you bring this cake over to Kuranosuke-kun?"

Shizue felt her heart sink a little. "Did you make some for us too?" She asked hopefully.

Yuko burst out into laughter at her daughter's pleading face. "Of course, silly!" A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, "But you can only eat it when you're back."

Shizue watched her mother close the lid over the cake in envy.

Holding the cake box by its handle, Shizue peeked through the opened gate separating the Shiraishi household from the streets.

Shiraishi and his family had always been particularly fond of gardening so the sight of the small, green and colorful yard between her and their front door was pretty expected. The last time she stepped through this gate felt like more a decade ago.

Despite the changes such as the swing chair and the stone path lined up to the main door, the compound still remained recognizable, especially the small pond up against the sturdy fence.

The small pond at the corner was still the same and triggered a distant memory of her playing with Shiraishi and...

Realization jolted through Shizue.

Oh, and Yukari-chan…!

Feeling ashamed for forgetting about the little girl, she tried to remember the times she'd seen the girl. Shizue couldn't quite figure out whether it was just her or the youngest Shiraishi hadn't really been around in these few weeks since she moved back here.

Making a mental note to ask, Shizue stepped through the gate gingerly and made her way across the yard, carefully moving around potted plants and flowers along the stone path.

She pressed a finger into the dainty doorbell button.

"I'll get the door!"

A young, feminine voice rang out from the other side of the door.

Could it be… Shizue stared at the door in anticipation. It certainly didn't sound like Shiraishi's mum.

Her mind raced for things to say, so was her heart. Shizue could feel nervousness shaking in her guts like a fist. The last time she talked to Yukari-chan was way too long ago, after all!

What should she say?

Shizue bit her lips worriedly.

How should she greet her?

The door swung open before she could think.

Shizue fumbled for words and blurted her first thought the moment a face came into view from behind the door.

"Hello Yukari-chan! E-Erm, nice day huh?..." A second look at the bewildered face blinking back at her, Shizue nearly dropped the cake box in her hand. "...K-Kanemoto-san?"

"A-And you're the one from the supermarket right?"

Shizue said nothing, unable to find words as she tried to comprehend the meaning of seeing the girl she just met at the doorstep of Shiraishi's household.

"I met him when he was in his last year in our middle school, no, more like he saved me."

Shizue felt her breath catch in her throat.

"He was the most popular, probably the most handsome guy in school; you'd think he would be arrogant. But no, he was so...kind."

Her widened eyes wavered, with shock beginning to seep into them.

"He saw my struggle and told me I should love myself more. Since then, we grew closer."

Her hand rose to her mouth at the surge of disbelief. Her eyes darted from Hanae and to the house behind the girl.

"So after I realized my feelings for him, I decided that I wanted to slim down and be the girl who can stand beside him."

A cold splash of realization hit her as it all clicked.

So this very special someone was...Shiraishi Kuranosuke?!

okay, I am really not satisfied with how this chapter turned out! It's so freaking hard to write! I kept stopping because I just can't…nothing good was coming out on my screen. Somehow, I gritted my teeth and worked through this chapter. I'm just gonna put this here till I'm ready to come back and polish it! For now, I just can't.

I hope no one seem OOC here. I'm kinda worried about ruining your reading experience!