A/N: Iyaa...I suddenly had this feeling like I wanted to write a typical high-school-romance fic. So this is going to be like, I don't know...full of high-school cliches, chocolates on Valentine's Day/White Day, asking for a button from your senpai's shirt...gahahaha. Inspired by Baseball Bear's Wakamono no Yukue's MV.
Yukue
It was a normal day for the students of 3Z. That is, it wasn't normal at all.
Ginpachi-sensei stared at his students. Something was off.
"I want to begin with homeroom..." he mumbled out loud. "But something is not right..."
"Sensei," Kagura, the exchange student from China, raised her hand. "Kondo-san and Hijikata-san is in the nurse's office aru."
"Ahhh...so that was it," Ginpachi-sensei nodded at Kagura. "Thank you Kagura-san. Now let's begin with cl-"
"Sensei, don't you want to know why they are there?" Shinpachi interjected.
"Well, it's because they're sick, aren't they?" Ginpachi-sensei brushed it off. "Now let's see-"
"Sensei, they were fighting in class before you got here and they got injured!" Yamazaki helpfully brought him up to date.
"That's really something I didn't care to know," Ginpachi-sensei retorted. "You bunch have so many disciplinary issues already. No need to -"
"They were fighting over Shimura-san!" another student randomly called out.
Ginpachi-sensei's vein throbbed. "I don't care! Shut up all of you! We're starting with homeroom!"
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The previous week...
"You again? Please give up," Shimura Tae said coldly. as she put away the various equipment littering the dojo from that afternoon's kendo practice. "I have absolutely no intention of going out with your captain."
"I know," Hijikata Toshirou said from where he was standing at the hall's doorway, a tall, lean but broad-shouldered figure still clad in the school's dark blue kendo training uniform. "I'm just following orders. He asked me to give this to you." He held out an envelope to Tae's back.
"I have no interest in it," Tae replied as she finally put away the last bokuto. "Please throw it away."
"Throw it away yourself," Hijikata looked around for somewhere to place the envelope, eventually placing it on a nearby bench. "See ya." He turned around to leave.
"Wait, Hijikata-kun."
He stopped and turned. "Eh?"
Tae was looking at him as if something had just clicked. "Are you...free? Now?"
"Now?"
"Yes. Do you mind accompanying me for a while?" Tae tilted her head and smiled.
Hijikata sweatdropped. "Iie...actually, Kondo-san is waiting for me. We're-"
"Tell him you have an appointment." Her eyes glinted. "Now."
Hijkata weighed his options. It was true that he was not someone who was normally pushed around. But Shimura Tae, captain of the girls' kendo club, was not someone to be trifled with. He had seen her victims. Plus, he could never bring himself to hit a girl, which almost certainly meant he would be killed as he would not be able to fight back.
"...fine."
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"I've been thinking," Tae said conversationally, as Hijikata dug into his mayo-don, "This is getting really annoying."
"Ya don't say," Hijikata said, his mouth full.
"We're already high-school seniors..." Tae said wistfully, resting her chin on one hand, "...and the Nationals are coming soon..I don't have time to spare, figuring out why my things go missing, clearing my locker which is filled with useless gifts - in other words, getting your idiotic Gori-captain off my back."
Hijikata twitched. "Be that as it may, but he's still our captain. Please don't disrespect him, Shimura-san."
"My point exactly," Tae carried on, without missing a beat. "The way things are going, the relationship between our girls' and boys' teams will only get worse. This isn't good for the Nationals."
Hijikata paused, to give it some thought. "Fair point."
"Therefore, Hijikata-kun, if I can ask you..." Tae now turned to him, her large brown eyes sparkling, "to help me think of how to get Kondo-san to give up on me, or to stop stalking me - well, basically to stop stalking me - wouldn't that be good in the end?"
Hijikata wasn't surprised; he had a feeling it was coming to this. "I'm sorry, Shimura-san. You're asking me to move a mountain here. I can't do that."
"Well, by yourself you certainly can't. But if we work together, I'm sure we can think of something. Don't you?"
"Frankly, no. I mean, what in the world can either or even both of us do to change Kondo-san's mind?"
"Hijikata-kun..." Tae suddenly changed her tone, "did you know? Kyuu-chan's family owns Yagyuu Enterprises."
Hijikata sweatdropped. "The whole class knows that, Shimura-san. I mean, it's a bit obvious from the surname, isn't it?"
"Yagyuu Enterprises controls the supply and distribution of condiments in Japan. Did you know that?"
"Well, yeah...I heard something like that..." He certainly had. It was yet another reason why nobody dared to mess with Shimura Tae. Her best friend was, after all, not only captain of the both the girls' and boys' karate team (she was that good), she was also the only daughter of the influential Yagyuu family. "So?"
"If I tell Kyuu-chan to make it so that you..." Her voice was still syrupy sweet, but steely eyes glinted amongst the brown bangs hanging over her forehead. "..never..ever get your hands on a single bottle of mayonnaise..."
Hijikata froze.
"I wonder how it would be?" Tae asked in a sing-song voice. She looked back at Hijikata, an evil smile on her face.
Hijikata could feel himself breaking out in cold sweat. No... mayonnaise?
"You...you wouldn't dare," he uttered.
"Oh really? Sa...Hijikata-kun. I think once we find out whether I dare, or don't, it'll be too late, won't it?" Tae nonchalantly sipped her strawberry milkshake.
Hijikata pushed away his mayo-don.
How bad could it be? He wondered to himself. I mean, Kondo-san would definitely kill me if he knew...but he doesn't have to. And on the off chance we succeed, I wouldn't have to be his deliveryman anymore. And like Shimura said, it will be good for the kendo teams to have a normal working relationship. It's difficult to work together when the captain of the girls' hates the captain of the guys' team because he stalks her 24/7.
And... His eyes strayed to the bottle of mayonnaise sitting innocently some way away from him. I can't live without mayonnaise!
He turned to Tae, who was now humming to herself, smiling slyly and looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
"...fine."
Tae brightened and held her hand out. "Let's shake on it. Deal?"
Hijikata warily took her hand and tried not to grimace at her iron grip as they shook on it. "Deal."
tbc
A/N: Sorry dears...it's just to satisfy my ahh-koukou-natsukashii mood...