"Hello, Shinsuke-kun."
The boy welcomed them inside and suddenly Himura felt someone was tugging on her shirt. "Sara-neechan, long time no see!" Himura petted his light grey hair, "Long time no see, Kome-kun." She smiled and then an elderly woman came up to them. "Mitsuki, it's been awhile!" She hugged her grandma.
They all sat down and drank some tea. "Sara-kun, why aren't you talking to Shinsuke-kun?" Her grandma said. Himura sighed and Kome drank his tea but accidentally spilt on his shirt.
~~~~~~
An elderly woman walked with a dark brown haired little girl. "Sara-kun, I think you are going to like the boy you're going to meet." Her grandma chuckled as her granddaughter frowned. "I don't like new people." The little girl said emotionlessly, the old lady shook her head at her negativity.
"Why not Mafuyu-niisan or Kaoru-neesan?" The girl questioned her grandma again. "This boy is your age and I promised your mom I'll help you make friends." She pouted and goes along with it.
Knock
Knock
Knock
The opened to reveal an elderly woman, she put on a bright smile and greeted the two. "Hello, Mitsuki! And you must be little Sara-chan." Himura hid behind her grandmother and the woman chuckled. "Yumie, is your grandson here?" Both gradnmas smiled that made her suspicious. They went inside and Himura saw a boy with light gray hair with black tips and round brown eyes. "This fine gentleman is Kita Shinsuke." Mitsuki pushed her in front of him and she hugged her book tighter. "Shin-chan, this is Himura Sara." Yumie patted Kita's shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Kita Shinsuke." Himura kept her mouth shut and avoiding eye-contact from him. "Hi." She mumbled. Some time later, the two kids didn't said a word just stares. Their grandmas looked at them with knowing glances. "What do you like to do?" Kita asked her, she glanced at him and looked away. "Reading..." she showed her book to him. "Do you like to play volleyball?" He asked, she shook her head. "I don't like sport.." she felt uncomfortable from his stares.
The two stayed silent. She glanced up at him, he was facing their grandmothers. "Shin-chan, why don't you go play with Sara-chan?" Yumie and Mitsuki kept pestering them to play and get to know each other. Sighing, Himura stood up and faced Kita. "Do you want to play volleyball?" She frowned and he took his volleyball with him. He took her hand and walked out the door. 'Why is he holding my hand?' She thought as heating a sensation covered her face. Himura yanked her hand off of his grip. "I'm sorry." 'Why is he apologizing?'
They walked to a bridge and underneath it was a volleyball net. Shocked, she watched him playing by himself. Himura sat and read her book, then a ball hit her face. "What the heck?!" She shouted at him, Kita just stared at her blankly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He apologized, his voice sounded genuine it made her felt a warm feeling.
"Do you want to play volleyball, Sara-san?" She looked at him, his staring into her soul. "I don't like sports--" "Sara-san, exercise is important. You also have to talk more so you can be successful." An arrow pierced heart, but this wasn't a arrow of love, no...it was an arrow of painful statements. "Fine, I will talk...sheesh."
She sighed and sat up. "I can't play volleyball." She uttered. Kita looked at her and handed her the ball. Himura raised an eyebrow and took the ball, she watched as Kita walked into position and he told her to toss the ball. Confused, she was didn't tossed. Kita still had a blank face and walked up to her. "I'm gonna teach you volleyball, this is what you call a receive." He took the ball and positioned her arms into a receiving position.
Pink flushed her cheeks as she stared at the boy. Kita looked at her blankly as she shook her head. "You should pay more attention about what I was sayin' than phasing out." She snapped back because another arrow has been shot.
~~~~~~
A few hours later, the two kids were now practicing how to spike a ball. Himura's face red because she was getting hit by the ball many times. "Sara-san, do you want to try to spike the ball?" She looked at him wide-eye and in disbelief. "You told me this was the last time!" She stomped her foot on the ground. "I promise this is the last." She pouted and stomped into her position.
Even though Kita wasn't good at being a setter, he did toss enough to get a spike. "Ready?" The ball tossed and Himura kept her eye on the ball. The pain from the hits were gone and...
The ball was suddenly on the ground of the other side of the net. Himura looked at the ball rolling and smiled the widest smile she had ever shown. "Kita-san, did you see that? I hit the ball--wait, spike the ball! I didn't get hit! The feeling was awesome! It was like swoosh! And bam!" Realizing she was rambling, she shut herself up and looked at Kita. He was smiling at her.
She was red as a tomato and hid her face with her book while Kita was confused. "Ya did great because you ran really fast." That was the first positive thing he had said to her. Himura peaked from her book and saw the light grey smile that made her heart flutter. "Meow!" Both kids turned to see a black cat with wide eyes. Himura felt a rush of euphoria in her and picked up the cat. The girl started to play with the cat and the boy watched her putting the paws together as if it was clapping.
"Do you like cats?" Kita faced her, she stared at him. "I like cats more than foxes...foxes are scary and Kaoru-neesan said always say cats bring good luck." She said. Kita noticed the black cat was similar to a beckoning cat. "This cat looks like a maneki-neko." Himura looked at cat carefully, he was right. "Maneki-neko is my favorite cat." She admitted out of the blue. Kita told her that maneki-neko was not a breed of cat and Himura brushed it off.
"Do you like this cat?"
"Yes...it's cute. Its name is Fuku, it means good fortune."
They were busy playing with cat until Kita spoke up. "Sara-san, because our grandmothers and we have the same surnames, should we call each other given names so we wouldn't get confused" Himura thought her answer carefully and nodded. "Can I call you Sara-chan then?" He asked her, she nodded. "You can, Shinsuke-kun."
~~~~~~
Sipping the tea, Himura was listening to Kome's complain about school. She relate to him but in a different level. "Sara-neechan, do you go to Inarizaki too?" She was shocked, he thought she lived in Hyogo. She shook her head and Kome asked her what school did she went to. "Nekoma." "Woah, I heard they used to be a great volleyball team." 'Used to?'
Kita looked around and focused back to the girl. "What club did you join? Volleyball team again?" He asked, she shook her head. "Manager for the boy's team." She muttered. "Good for you."
The atmosphere felt like it was her childhood again. Himura sipped her tea again but almost spit it out when her grandmother mentioned about her love life and marriage. "Sara-kun, why haven't you found anyone to date? You're always looked so disinterested when talking about it. Your siblings are in relationships." Himura sighed and prepared herself for the lecture. "Shin-chan, your sister is already married why haven't you found anyone too?" Yumie pestered her oldest grandson.
Himura was trying to phase out from the conversation but the name that her grandmother a name. "How about that Fukunaga boy you mentioned earlier, Sara-kun?" Her face was red and shook her head. "Fukunaga? Do you mean Fuku the cat?" Himura forgot about the cat and remembered when she called it cute but it looks like Fukunaga. 'Oh shit, I called the cat cute and I named it Fuku.........naga. NOPE!'
The whole evening was spent with their grandmothers pestering them about marriages.
Is this a potential... love triangle?