“, where are you?”

A girl with dark straight brown hair called desperately into the darkness. She took a step into the shadows and cowered right back into the light of the street lamp. It was late, and the streets around her have already thinned. The park a few meters away was clouded by heavy leafs and the dense forestry blocked out all light from the Tokyo nightlife. She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and dashed into the darkness.

She ran and ran, looking out for any signs of . She soon came into a clearing and paused to catch her breath. She hugged her jacket a little tighter and walked closer to the only street lamp within the park. When she got close enough, she saw a small ball of white fur curled up against a sleeping figure. In happy surprise, she picked up the little ball of fur and hugged it inside her jacket.

Just as she was about to leave, she couldn’t help but to take another look at the sleeping boy. He had orange brown curly hair and his light jacket contrasted deeply with the sullen surroundings. She picked up the jacket and noted the familiar stripes and colors. In need for confirmation, she looked around and sure enough, there was a set of tennis racquets and bags bearing a familiar embroidered logo.

”Hyotei” The girl muttered quietly as she pulled the jacket over the boy’s sleeping figure. Suddenly, the boy stirred and opened his eyes. The girl froze.

“Hmmm…?” His eyes closed again and the girl sighed with relief. She took one last look behind her and walked away.

It was a regular day at Hyotei, the courts were freshly groomed to keep away any speck of dirt, the nets were hung perfectly, but there were no players on the court. Atobe signaled Kabaji to follow him as he stomped toward the change rooms to hunt down the rest of the members.

“What do you think you are doing?” Atobe bellowed as soon as he had opened the doors, “All of you are…late!”

Unfortunately, the loud laughter drowned out his accusation and Atobe had to take a few more steps before noticing all the regulars were surrounding something. It took a few seconds before Oshitari noticed Atobe’s presence and spoke up.

“Atobe” Oshitari explained, “It’s Jirou.”

“Arn~?” Atobe brushed past the blue haired genius and stared at the sleeping figure on the bench. “He’s asleep, nothing unusual.”

“But, but…” Shishido added anxiously, “He’s muttering in his sleep…”

“Arn~?” Atobe repeated, “Muttering…?”

“Just watch…”

Atobe stared at the boy and waited. All the regulars watched as Jirou turned flat on his back on the bench and his eyes opened slightly.

“Hmmm…angel…beautiful angel…my angel…” Jirou muttered before his eyes closed again and he went right back to sleep.

“Angel?” Atobe demanded as he looked around the room, his impatience was replaced by uncontrolled curiosity, “Who is this ‘angel’?”

“No idea,” Oshitari replied, “But he’s been like this all day.”

“Could it be…” Gakuto suddenly looked really excited, “There’s a girl involved!?”

Atobe snapped his fingers and a hushed stunned silence filled the room.

“Kabaji.”

“Usu.”

“Go get a bucket of cold water.”

“Hai!”

“Senpai,” Ohtori coaxed quietly, “Please don’t be mad, we were just curious…”

Jirou wheeled around and his eyes were unusually alert. “You guys dumped cold water on me while I was asleep!”

The two were making their way home after practice. Quite an interesting sight really, Jirou with his soaked jersey and sweatpants, stomping down the street and Ohtori trailing after the older boy and trying to calm him down. The two made their way past several blocks before Jirou suddenly stopped in his tracks and Ohtori bumped right into the older boy.

“Senpai,” Ohtori complained as he rubbed his forehead, “What’s wrong…?”

“It’s her, it’s her,” Jirou’s voice was beyond unsteady as he pointed to a figure in the distance, “That girl in my dreams…it’s really her! My angel…”

“Why don’t you just go and talk to her?” Ohtori stated the obvious as he squinted for a better look. The girl was sitting in an outdoor café booth, sipping a drink, and her uniform looked unbelievably familiar.

“I can’t do that!” Jirou exclaimed while casting Ohtori a glare, “Look at me, I’m soaked and messy and…”

“And?”

“She’s already with someone.” Jirou finished as he took one more look at the girl and her companion, “Wait…he looks familiar, red hair, bubble gum, Marui Bunta?”

As if the pair in the distance had heard him, the two both turned and looked in the direction of the two Hyotei boys. The red hair boy waved and gestured for the two to join them. Ohtori looked at Jirou and couldn’t help but laugh: the older boy was looking everywhere for a place to hide, but the streets were empty except for the expensive boutiques lined up along the sides. A few seconds passed before Jirou resigned and Ohtori followed him to the table.

“Long time no see.” Marui welcomed casually as he handed menus to the two, “Want something to eat?”

“Um, no thank you,” Jirou answered quietly as Marui waved the waitress away, “I…am… not hungry today…”

“Well, that’s fine,” Marui cut another piece of his cake before he continued, “But…why are you all wet?”

“Um…well…it’s a long story.” Jirou muttered as he dropped his glance to the floor, “A part of a new training program…”

“Wow, you must be so dedicated to the game!” The girl applauded, “You boys and your tennis.”

Seeing his senpai wasn’t going to make the first move, Ohtori smiled and asked, “And you are?”

“Where are my manners?” Marui laughed as he finished the last of his drink, “I forgot to introduce everyone, Jirou, Ohtori, this is , my fellow Rikkai Dai classmate and love of all animals. , those two are part of Hyotei’s tennis club.”

“Oh, our prime rivals,” joked as she smiled, “So tell me about this recent training of yours.”

As Ohtori and exchanged the usual greetings and such, Jirou shifted his glance to the girl’s face and felt his cheeks burning. The world around him disappeared as he fell flat asleep on the table.

“Not again!”

“Bunta-kun,” asked, “That Jirou boy is unusually shy, isn’t he?”

“Akutagawa Jirou, he’s usually so talkative, but he’s unusually strange today…” Marui trailed off as he unwrapped another piece of gum and popped it into his mouth, “You think Niou would like these for his birthday?”

‘Strange?’ repeated the word in her mind as she stepped into the candy store behind him and took a look at the package in Marui’s hand. She read the label and started laughing: “Extreme sugar rush, hours of fun packed flavor!”

Marui took one look at ’s face and put the package back on the shelf.

“I guess it’s safer to go with some books.”

“I still can’t believe I fell asleep!” Jirou whined, “Of all the possible time and places in the world, why did it have to be in front of her? She must think I’m some type of sleep-deprived child.”

“Senpai, you have been blaming yourself for the past week, there’s nothing you can do about it now, so don’t worry!” Ohtori assured the older boy for the hundredth time that week, “Besides, Marui-san explained what happened. She knows that napping is just one of your uncontrollable habits.”

Once again, the two were making their ways home after a late practice. They rounded a familiar corner as Jirou dropped onto a bench and grabbed his head with both hands in frustration. Ohtori sighed as he sat down next to the boy and started to pick up the older boy’s fallen belongings. Just as he bent down to pick up the boy’s jersey, Ohtori noticed a white blur brush past inches away from his hand and rubbed his eyes for a better look.

“!” A voice called from the distance, “Come back here!”

Both Ohtori and Jirou’s heads jerked toward the familiar voice and the figure in the distance was unmistakable. was dodging from one street light to another and when she arrived at their bench, she stopped and turned to face the two Hyotei boys.

“Have you guys seen ?” pleaded between short breaths, “It’s already dark and I can’t find her!”

“?” Jirou repeated as he lifted his eyes to meet hers, “Who’s ?”

“My pet rabbit,” explained quickly, “Jirou-kun and Ohtori-san, wouldn’t you two help me to look for her? Please?”

“Of course.” Ohtori said as he picked up his stuff, “I think I just saw her run past, senpai…”

Ohtori turned to look at Jirou, but the other boy had already jumped off the seat and dashed down the street at the speed of light. Soon he disappeared from their sights and ran into the darkness.

“Let’s go”

“Don’t be afraid,” Jirou crawled a few inches further into the bushes, “Come here .”

Jirou reached out his hand and cowered back a few inches. It had started to rain and it took a few seconds more before finally trusted him enough to crawl onto Jirou’s open hand. He put his other hand over her fur and slowly pulled out of the bushes. He dropped down onto the grass as the drizzle turned into large rain droplets and the skies were only lit by the occasional lightings.

“!” gasped when she found the clearing and saw in Jirou’s hands, “You found her!”

didn’t care that ground was already muddy when she slid down next to the boy and took from Jirou’s hands. She didn’t care that the thunder was loud and the skies were dark. Jirou took one look at her and started blushing. Her long brown hair was tied in a loose ponytail as she cuddled to her face. Her skirt was already stained by the raindrops when she stood up and offered Jirou her hands.

“Thank you so much!” pulled Jirou to his feet, “You’re soaked though…”

“Um…it’s nothing…” Jirou blushed again as he brushed the dirt off his sweatpants, “Um…anytime…”

hesitated a while before she grabbed Jirou’s hand and pulled him behind her.

“My house is just a block away, let’s get out of the rain and dry you off okay?”

“Um, I don’t want to bother you…”

“It’s the least I can do”

The rain came down harder as the two lone figures disappeared in the rain and the darkness swallowed them whole.

“Where are those two?” Ohtori looked around the streets and sighed, “I guess they left…”

The poor boy packed up both his and Jirou’s belongings and walked away.

“All done!” declared as she threw the last of the wet towels into the dryer, “Feeling warm yet, Jirou-kun?”

stepped into the living room only to find the boy asleep on the couch. She sighed as she picked up a blanket and pulled it over the boy’s sleeping figure.

“Angel…”

“Huh?” paused as she tucked the boy’s arms under the blanket, “Angel?”

Jirou shifted a little in his sleep, opened one eye, and repeated, “You’re my angel.”

“I can’t believe I fell asleep again!” Jirou dropped down on the bench in the change room, “Again! She must hate me now!”

“-san doesn’t hate you,” Ohtori reassured, “She actually really likes you.”

“Don’t lie to try to make me feel better.”

“Have you noticed that she calls you ‘Jirou-kun’ and me ‘Ohtori-san’?” Ohtori explained, “Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

“You mean…she…?”

“Yes!”

A crowd of voices came from the doorway and both boys looked up. All the regular members stood behind Atobe as the captain took a few more steps into the change room.

“Congratulations, Jirou.”

*Pause

“Ohtori.”

”Yes?”

”Ore-sama didn’t know you were a matchmaker.”

Written by Amiya
Requested by Kazu
January 18, 2008