Meeting the Limit

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The boys basketball team just finished their after school practice leaving a fully satisfied Keiichi.

"Good game, guys!" He huffed and wiped some sweat from his face with the collar of his shirt. He headed to his bag that he left on the side of the gym. He pulled out a long white towel with his name carefully stitched on one end. Ever since Nozomi gave it to him at the sports festival, he had always kept it with him. He smiled to himself just remembering the thrill of chasing her down the hall and seeing her adorable reaction.

He wiped off sweat with the towel then swung it around his neck. As he took gulps of water, he caught a glimpse of magenta hair passing through the gym's back window.

Was that Nozomi?

Quickly he raced out the back doors and intercepted Nozomi's direction, but something was different. Nozomi walked with her head down and a small frown before she was startled by Keiichi's sudden appearance.

"Keiichi-san! You surprised me!"

Keiichi gave her a goofy smile. "What are you doing at the back of the gym?"

Nozomi crumpled the small paper behind her back as discreetly as she can. "Eh? Actually I-"

A boy with dark green hair appeared from the shadows behind her. It was spiky and cut short. His eyes were sharp and silver. He had a fierce kind of smile. He trotted over with both hands in his pockets. "Sorry, its all my fault. Right, Nozo-chan?"

Keiichi was shocked at the sudden appearance of the boy. He felt that something was wrong especially by the way Nozomi held her head down at the sight of the stranger.

"I'm Juncho Hayami, a classmate of Nozo-chan."

Keiichi's right eye twitched slightly. He couldn't identify the unsettling feeling in his gut. "So, what were you guys doing here?"

Nozomi's eyes widened. "Ano~"

Juncho cut in while slinging an arm around around Nozomi's shoulders. "I confessed to her."

Keiichi's smile started to falter.

Juncho scratched the back of his head and made a sad face. "Sadly, she flat out rejected me, but... that won't stop me from trying again."

Nozomi slightly pulled away from him uncomfortably.

Juncho laughed. "I think that she will come to her senses one day. After all, I get to see her everyday as her classmate."

Keiichi held back the urge to pull Nozomi away. "I can't," he thought," I have no right to do so."

Juncho stood up tall still looking Keiichi dead in the eye. "Well, I gotta go. Until next time." He whispered something shortly into Nozomi's ear before leaving.

Keiichi could see Nozomi's face tinted a bit red and it enraged him on the inside. Still he maintained his outwardly cheerful image. "Wow! I didn't know Nozomi-chan was so popular with the boys," he laughed.

Nozomi's fist rose to her chest. "That's not true at all! If anything, Keiichi is even more popular with the girls!"

Keiichi smiled. He loved this part of Nozomi. More confident in her words, yet still humble and adorable.

Keiichi remembered the conversation from this morning. "Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me this morning, Nozomi-chan?"

Nozomi became flustered. "Eto~ Keiichi-san, can you walk me home today?!" Nozomi's face was blushing very hard. Her eyes were shut tight and her body was trembling.

A twisted smile started to creep on Keiichi's face. "Crap!" he yelled mentally. "My sadistic side almost surfaced for a second," he thought. He patted Nozomi on the head. "Hmmm... Of course I will."

Nozomi looked up with her eyes sparkling and smiled. "Arigatou!"
*****

Nozomi stood close to Keiichi as they walked home. She kept closing and her eyes with excitement!

She was screaming with joy on the inside.

Ahh! I actually got to walk home with Keiichi-san today! This mist be a dream. Should I pinch myself?! No wait I don't want to wake up from this dream!

Keiichi could obviously see the hearts starting to emit from Nozomi. She was so easy to read.

Keiichi chuckled, snapping Nozomi back to reality. "Nozomi-chan is so cute."

Keiichi froze.

"Darn it! I let it slip," he told himself.

Keiichi watched for Nozomi's reaction. He could see from the side of her face that her ears turned bright red.

"Not really! Keiichi is actually the cutest!"

Keiichi laughed. "You think I'm cute?"

"Of course I do!" Nozomi looked at him so much determination, then faltered. "Well, I do think you are the cutest, but I meant you are also the coolest and kindest guy! I really admire you senpai!"

Keiichi was pleasantly surprised by her words. Something warm spread through his chest and a hint of pink rose to his cheeks. "Is that so? Maybe I should give you an award."

He bent down to be at eye level with Nozomi. He brought his face just centimeters away causing Nozomi to shut her eyes tightly.

"Oh my gosh," Nozomi thought. "Is he going to kiss me?!"

After a few seconds, Nozomi felt a flick on her forehead. She cupped the area with both hands and opened her eyes. Keiichi pulled away and stuck out his tongue at her with a smile.

"Just kidding!"

Steam started rising from Nozomi's heated head. "Eh?!" She pouted with small tears on the corner of her eyes. "Keiichi-san! That's not fair!" She chased behind him until he suddenly stopped.

"This is as far as I will go, Nozomi."

Nozomi froze. It was the first time Keiichi called her without an honorific. "What do you mean?"

"Your house is right around the corner. I don't want Mattsun to see me here."

"Oh." Nozomi held her head down and had a breath of relief.  Suddenly, she remembered what she wanted to tell him. "Keiichi-san! Here!"

Nozomi fished out a bag of cookies from her bag. They were decorated with black and orange icing to mimic basketballs.

"Woah! These are so cool!" Keiichi took it from her hands and immediately popped one in his mouth. "Oishi!"

Nozomi smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

In her head, she sighed. "I'm sorry. This is how far I'll go...Keiichi-san."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hope you liked it!

I referenced a part of the manga that I really loved (the towel scene). I thought it was one of the best chapters because it highlighted their relationship.

Juncho is not part of the anime or manga. I just made him up. Hehehe. You have to heat things up with a rival, am I right?

Please vote, share, or whatever!

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