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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 17, 2011 23:31:24 GMT -5
"Yukiko! Can you please show these guests to their room?" The voice of her mother caused Yukiko's head to snap away from a vase of flowers she'd been rearranging in a dazed state. A small noise of surprise escaped her lips as her fingers twitched and caused one of the blooms to snap off it's stem and fall to the floor. Cheeks flushing in embarrassment, the raven nodded as she knelt down to retrieve the fallen bud, cupping it in her hands carefully.
"Yes, mother," she replied quietly, pulling the now flowerless stem from the vase before turning around. She greeted the gusts with a warm smile and bow, gesturing to a hallway to the left. "If you'll please follow me, I'll be taking you to the Sakura Room."
"Yukiko, when that's finished you may be done for the day. I believe Ichijo-san is waiting for you in the study. On of the maids showed him in."
Stopping in her tracks, Yukiko's smile grew as she looked over her shoulder and thanked her mother. Her pace quickened slightly as she forced herself to remain calm; she was a hostess right now and her enthusiasm would have to wait. It wasn't as if Kou would just leave.
After showing the couple to their room and ensuring that they were comfortable and had everything they need, the raven hurried off to her room. Normally, she wouldn't have bothered changing before going to meet the basketball captain in the study, as tutoring didn't require a lot of movement, but this time it was different. She would be the one learning today, and she was much more excited than she allowed herself to let on.
A smile graced her lips as she carefully tucked her kimono away and slipped on a black short-sleeved shirt and her school gym pants. It seemed the most appropriate given the basketball lessons she'd be receiving today. It seemed an odd thing for a girl like her to learn, but given the amount of passion Kou had when speaking about it, her curiosity had been peeked. Soon after, she'd asked him if he'd be willing to teach her the basics and thus, today had been planned.
Exiting her room, she tied her hair back as she hurried into the kitchen, grabbing two water bottles before making her way toward the study. "I hope you weren't waiting long," Yukiko said as she stepped into the room. "I'm sorry for being late, I was helping a couple of guests settle into their room."
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 18, 2011 0:22:22 GMT -5
Kou was passing the time waiting for Yukiko in the study looking at the various ornaments and such around the room, being careful not to disturb anything as he went along. He had seen them all what seemed like a thousand times now, but he had little else to occupy himself right now while he waited.
As he continued waiting for Yukiko his mind wandered back to what Daisuke had told him yesterday...
Yesterday...
"Dude, you gotta stop polishing those balls." Daisuke said walking up behind his friend, Kou, who had stayed behind after practice to clean up.
"Oh, come on, man, you know it's not my style to half ass things like that." Kou whined slightly as he continued with his task.
Daisuke rolled his eyes and crouched next to Kou. "So you going round Yukiko-san's house tomorrow again, right? You seem to be going there an awful lot lately... Something going on maybe?" He said raising and eyebrow at Kou.
"What are you implying, Daisuke?" Kou said with a hint of fake offence in his voice while eyeing his friend suspiciously. "Are you suggesting that I have some other motive for going there so often?"
"You said it, man, not me." Daisuke laughed standing back up. "Well I gotta get going. And don't do anything I wouldn't do tomorrow." He laughed before walking off, leaving a slightly confused Kou behind.
Presently...
Kou hadn't really given it much thought at the time, he had simply taken it as his friend ribbing him jokingly as usual. But then he started to give it some thought...
Did he have another reason for the tutoring? He hadn't really considered that, he just thought he was trying to improve his academics. Still...
Kou was suddenly jolted from his train of thought as Yukiko suddenly appeared and spoke, making him jump slightly as he turned around. "Oh, hey, Yukiko-san, sorry about that. I was miles away." He said bowing politely in greeting, more from habit than anything else. "And it's alright. I don't mind waiting. I know you can be pretty busy around here." He said smiling at the girl.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 18, 2011 0:41:43 GMT -5
Waving off the male's zone-out, Yukiko offered one of the water-bottles to Kou. "Actually, my mother has given me the rest of the day off." With a smile, she wrapped both hands around her own water bottle behind her back, leaning her weight onto her right foot as the right taped the ground lightly at the toe. The stance was a habit more than anything else, a position that showed she was relaxed with whomever she was talking to at the time. "I shouldn't be busy for the rest of the day; we have it completely to ourselves."
Glancing around the room, the raven tried to spot Kou's bag. She'd gotten so used to seeing the other male's backpack in the corner, it seemed strange not seeing it now. Her head quirked to the side in curiosity as she turned back to the dark-haired male, "Did you bring anything with you?" A finger rose to her lips as she tapped them thoughtfully, her gaze shifting to the floor. "I'm sure we must have a basketball somewhere in the Inn if you weren't able to bring your own. I think I've seen some of the cooks playing together before."
As the raven tried to remember where the recreational equipment was kept, a sudden thought struck her and she looked down. "Oh..." Frowning, Yukiko looked up, a worried gaze crossing her face. "Um, is what I'm wearing alright? Chie is much more into sports than I am, but she usually practices her martial arts in a skirt. I know she wears shorts under it, but still... It seemed a bit impractical. Should I change?"
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 18, 2011 1:05:58 GMT -5
And it was in that moment that Kou silently cursed himself as he took the water bottle. How had he, Kou Ichijo, captain of the basketball team, managed to forget to bring a ball? "Oh, yeah, sorry, I wasn't able to bring one." He said, lying while rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground and slipping the water bottle into one of his pockets. He hadn't wanted to come across as forgetful about his favorite pastime after all. "Sorry about that, I guess I should have called ahead to make sure you had one really."
He then looked up and eyed Yukiko's clothes. "What you're wearing should be fine though. I mean, it's not like you're gonna be doing anything really high energy during your first lesson or anything. Though you never know I suppose, maybe you'll end up being the next Michael Jordan." Kou said chuckling slightly at his obviously award winning joke as he looked at the floor.
"So, uh, I guess we should go look for a ball then?" Kou said looking back up at Yukiko as he began walking towards the door.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 18, 2011 1:43:18 GMT -5
Hurrying after Kou, Yukiko peered at the other with a quizzical look on her face; she'd never heard the name the male had mentioned before. Curiosity poked at the back of her mind as she lead the other toward the storage rooms, and she couldn't help but ask: "Who is 'Michael Jordan'?" The question seemed innocent enough, alas, the poor raven didn't understand just how obvious the answer was.
When they reached the end of the hallway, the raven beckoned Kou down another and a third one still. At the end of the third hallway, were a set of double-sliding paper doors that led to the storage. Opening one, she felt along the wall until she hit the light switch and flicked it on, frowning at the oddly dim light. "It doesn't look like they've changed the bulbs back here for a while. I guess it isn't needed, but... what if someone got hurt?" The question was more rhetorical than anything else, but she couldn't help but wonder.
Shaking her head, Yukiko sighed and began to move around the room curiously, looking in the various bins and buckets. "There should be one in here," she said, "I found a soccer ball over here, so the rest of the equipment has to be more... Um, you can come in to. You might have better luck at finding what we're looking for than me. I don't know if there's a special way to store basketballs."
It was a bit of a ridiculous statement, but the poor raven really didn't now much about sports. She had played a few racket-based games and was rather fond of badminton, but beyond that, she was rather clueless. Martial arts would likely be the only sport she could be considered "expert" at, and that was because Chie had told her about it so many times. "Basketball, basketball... Um..."
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 18, 2011 2:29:49 GMT -5
Kou chuckled slightly as he followed Yukiko inside and began looking around. He should have probably expected Yukiko to not know the name he mentioned in hindsight, but "Special way to store basketballs" tickled him a bit.
"No, there's no special way to store them. Well, unless you have OCD or something I suppose..." Kou said more to himself than anything as he continued looking for a basketball among the bins and buckets.
"Ah, here we go." Kou said pulling a basket ball from one of the containers. "Hmm, it's a little deflated..." The dark haired boy mused to himself as he bounced the ball on the ground a couple of times and spinning it in his hand. "Do you have a pump around here somewhere? Or no...?"
Kou had gone into something of an absent stare at the ball, his mind drifting back to the first time he had played the sport and what it meant to him. For a long time it was something he would have never been allowed to due, because of his strict upbringing, so you could say the game represented freedom to him in some ways, explaining his passion for it in someways...
"Ah, sorry, I was just getting nostalgic for a second there." Kou said smiling awkwardly as he snapped back to reality. "It doesn't really matter I suppose, about the pump that is, the ball's got enough air really..." The dark haired boy said acting as if nothing had happened.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 18, 2011 11:53:19 GMT -5
"A pump?" Yukiko mused, glancing around the room. While she wasn't the most intelligent when it came to sports, she wasn't quite that out of touch. Glancing around, she approached a bin and began to shuffle through it, setting several objects aside before she stood up, smiling as she held a small hand-pump in the air. "Would this work?"
It wasn't the most glorious of things, as it's original purpose had been pumping air into balloons, but a small metallic bit stored in the cap allowed it to be used for sporting balls as well. It's body was a rather blinding red that boasted an all-too-happy logo of some children's company with a rather silly looking smiley-face. It looked innocent enough, but it's shape was a father bizarre one...
"I've seen the staff here use this one for the soccer balls," the Raven mused, walking over to Kou. "We don't have one of the electric ones I've seen people using at school, but I'm pretty sure this works. Let's see..." Turning the pump over in her hands, the inn-keeper found the small pop-off cap that held the metal bit in. Pulling it out, she screwed it onto the end of the pump and beamed, pleased with herself for having figured it out. "There." -------------- A/N: ...It was not me intention to make Yukiko sound quite as ditzy as I did in this post. *clears throat* Apologies all around.
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 18, 2011 18:02:05 GMT -5
Kou looked at Yukiko and noticed how she was beaming. "Well done, you got it." The dark haired boy said with a smile, he had thought it best to encourage her. It seemed a silly thing to be proud of to him, but she seemed happy with herself for doing it and he hardly wanted to squash her enthusiasm, especially so early on. "Now it just needs blowing up. Do you want to do that too?" He asked raising his eyebrows at Yukiko, wondering if she'd get a sense of accomplishment from that as well.
Kou was quite amused by the way Yukiko got excited at the strangest things sometimes and broke out into fits of laughter at even stranger things as well. He rather got the impression that miss "Prim and proper" inn heiress might not be quite as mature as she makes herself out to be sometimes. Not that it bothered him, mind, he just found it rather amusing and cute in an odd kind of way that he wasn't quite sure how to describe.
A/N: Some of that narration seems a little condescending actually. Apologies, that wasn't my intent.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 18, 2011 20:01:33 GMT -5
"Oh? Do you want me to?" Yukiko asked as she walked over to Kou and took the ball, completely oblivious to his amusement. Squinting through the darkness, she turned it over in her hand several times, trying to find the small hole used to inflate it. When she found it, she smiled in satisfaction and carefully slipped the pin inside.
A few moments later, the ball was fully inflated and she gave it a bounce, looking surprised when the force she put behind it sent the ball flying back up at the level of her face and caught it with a laugh. Setting the pump aside, the raven turned back to Kou and motioned for him to follow her back out of the storage room, which she closed after he stepped out. "Are you ready to go outside?"
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 19, 2011 15:57:47 GMT -5
Kou watched Yukiko and gave a laugh as well as the ball sailed back up at her. He was glad to see her smiling and having a good time. She usually seemed kinda withdrawn and maybe a little depressed around school. At least compared to when she was around her friends anyway.
"Sure, I'm ready." The dark haired boy said looking over at Yukiko and smiling a little. "I take it you are as well?" He said, not really needing to hear the answer, as he turned and began walking towards the door.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 19, 2011 19:39:07 GMT -5
Hugging the ball to her chest, Yukiko started down the hall, smiling politely at each maid as they past. As she got closer to the door, her grip on the basketball tightened and a sudden uneasy feeling settled in her chest. The raven really had no idea what she was doing with this game; she'd never played before, let alone figured out the rules. The only games she'd ever seen were the ones Souji had invited her to, and even then, that gave her very limited knowledge.
What if she was dreadful at it? What if she messed up completely? What if Kou laughed?
The last thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably. She'd been laughed at plenty of times before, be it from something small she said without meaning to, or because of one of her infamous outbursts, but if it were Kou... if it were Kou...
"The net is out here," Yukiko said quietly, opening one of the sliding paper doors. It lead out into a small yard with a blacktop court and a grassy area surrounding it. There was only one hoop, which was hanging off one of the cement walls of the inn above the half-court. "I'm sorry we don't have a full one... It was installed a few years ago for the staffs entertainment."
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 19, 2011 22:28:13 GMT -5
"That's fine." Kou said, completely oblivious to Yukiko's concerns as he stepped out onto the court and looked around. "It's not like we're playing a full team game, right?" The dark haired boy said as he began thinking of the best way to explain the rules. It's not like he often explained the game to someone who had little to no knowledge of the game before.
"So, I guess I should explain the rules, huh?" Kou said before giving Yukiko a crash course on the basic rules of the game, he didn't see much point explaining the ins and outs of the game at such an early stage, since he had no idea if she'd even enjoy the game anyway. Though he hoped she would. He had wanted to share his passion with her. He didn't know why with her in particular, but he did.
Kou ended up going into more detail than he had intended to explaining the rules in the end, having gotten caught up in his enthusiasm. "Oh, sorry, I guess I kinda got carried away there, didn't I?" He said rubbing the back of his neck and smiling awkwardly as he turned to Yukiko.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 19, 2011 23:31:43 GMT -5
"Oh, no... I thought it was very interesting!" Yukiko's voice was full of encouragement as she held the ball out to Kou and offered him a soft smile. "I'm not sure I quite get it yet, but if we play, I should be able to figure it out, right?"
Tossing her water bottle to the side of the court and into the grass, she turned back to Kou and began the set of basic stretches advised by their physical education teacher. "Naoto-kun said that knowing the rules to a game could only help so much; playing it is where the true talent comes in," she paused and turned around to face the other, finishing up the exercises. "She makes a good point, don't you think?"
After tightening her hair, the raven took a determined stance, looking up at Kou. "Where should we begin...?"
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Post by Yosuke/Kou on Oct 19, 2011 23:58:13 GMT -5
"That's true enough I suppose." Kou said with a chuckle while turning the ball over in his hands, thinking of the best thing to start with. "Dribbling seems like a good place to start." He said taking the water bottle out of his pocket and tossing it over onto the grass before bouncing the ball a couple of time and stretching his legs out.
After finishing stretching his legs Kou began demonstrating dribbling the ball while explaining proper technique as well. Which, really, was probably much too in-depth as well. Upon finishing his demonstration he stopped and held the ball out to Yukiko. "So, what to give it a try?" He said with an encouraging smile as he looked at the girl.
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Post by Naoto//Yukiko on Oct 20, 2011 0:52:27 GMT -5
The inn-keeper's obsidian eyes watched Kou's movements carefully as he explained and demonstrated the movements and basics of dribbling. It didn't seem that difficult of a concept, and a voice in the back of her mind questioned why she'd been so nervous in the first place. Her smile grew as she was finally offered the ball and she took it happily, pushing it down against the ground with both hands and watching in a bizarre fascinated amusement as it leapt back up to her.
He did it with one hand, she thought to herself, pushing down with both hands again. I guess that would make it easier to move around. More control too... Repeating the two-handed movements several more times, the raven caught the ball and switched it over to her right hand. "You must really like this sport a lot more than I thought," Yukiko smiled, "You're so passionate; it's like listening to Chie talk about martial arts."
Somehow, the thought made her sad. Her focus fell on the ball as she turned her hand over, slowly and carefully dribbling it with one hand instead of two. I wish I could be that passionate about something... Everyone seems to have something like that, but where does that leave me?
After a few minutes, she slowly began to move forward and walked around Kou in a circle, still dribbling. Her movements led her to one side of the court, then the other, before she finally came to a halt beside the captain. Catching the ball, she looked up with a wide smile and couldn't help the laugh that tumbled out. "I-I did it!"
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