Don't Regret

twenty-three

The Rikkai regulars arrived at Yukimura's house after school, not bothering to go home to change because it was already late after practice. They went in after Yukimura opened the door.

He knew they were curious for this sudden meeting but since they were all hungry, he decided to order their food first. Miyu already had the phone ready; she knew these boys well.

As usual when they congregated at Yukimura's house, though they had not done it in a while, they would get two types of food: pizza and traditional Japanese ramen.

The ramen was for Yukimura and Yanagi who preferred to have something that was not made of grease. The pizza was for everyone else.

They all wanted to ask about this meeting, excluding Niou and Sanada who knew a bit about it already. Yukimura had told Sanada and Niou had 'asked' Yanagi to explain on the phone yesterday night.

The others knew better than to rush Yukimura when he was not ready to say anything, so they forced themselves to be patient and waited until they finished eating.

The food arrived very quickly and they sat down at the dining table. Bunta ate like there was no tomorrow; he was not only hungry but also wary that others would take his portion of the pizza.

Only Akaya was eating somewhat like him, but he was naturally a fast-eater. The others would have taken their time except their minds were not on the food but about the meeting.

Very soon, everyone finished and Miyu, being a good host, made green tea to help their digestion.

Yukimura waited until everyone had a cup of tea and spoke up, "I wanted everyone here today because yesterday, Miyu and Renji met with Inui and Fuji from Seigaku and they have something very interesting to tell us."

888888

Yanagi started to explain about Miyu's request to know more about her friend. He went on to talk about calling Inui and finding out that Sakuno was Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter.

He said that Inui told him when they met up that she was Echizen's girlfriend before she came here. Then before some of them could erupt, he quickly described Inui's most probable scenario and the accident.

The others were now silent, successfully distracted for the time being from the shock of 'Echizen's girlfriend'. He nodded at Miyu to take up the story because she was the first one to know about Sakuno's selective amnesia.

Miyu told them about Sakuno's first day at school and their conversation about tennis.

She then explained her wanting to know more about Sakuno from her old school, not letting on to anyone that her real reason in the beginning had been matchmaking. She thought that they would not be too pleased to find out that she had been, to some extent, manipulating them.

She described Fuji's unexpected appearance and his understanding about their reasons.

She glanced at Niou before talking about meeting Sakuno and Niou at the café and how she collapsed because of Fuji and Inui's presence. Miyu was glad that nobody reacted to the 'Niou and Sakuno' together bit.

She said that Sakuno revived after a while because Niou and Miyu had been there. She did not want to say that it was mainly Niou who had done caring. Niou did not correct her and Yanagi was never gossipy.