Seniors!
Going into classes and seeing Kaede's empty chair made Liz sad. They had a stupid fight because she saw Haruko kissing him. He tried to explain to her that he did not know it was Haruko, but as mad as Liz was, she kicked him out of her house and swore that she would never speak to him again. She did not believe him.
To Liz's surprise, she found Mitsui walking beside her one day after school.
Where the hell did he come from? She had no idea, however; seeing him was pleasant.
Mitsui had graduated from Shohoku High two years ago, but he never missed a weekend in Shohoku High to check on the team, and keep an eye on their new manageress; none but Liz Stanley.
"Hey" he said cheerfully.
"Hey you!" She replied.
"Going home?" he asked...as if it was not obvious!
"Yup, where else to? What are you doing here? I mean...the team, I..."
"What a cruel lady you are! Liza, I thought of picking you up and having a little chat."
"But aren't you here to check on the team?"
"No, I'm here today to see you only." He said pleasantly.
"Me? But why?" I asked with little confusion.
"That's why; you don't seem to be doing alright to me."
"No, but I'm just perfectly fine."
He narrowed his eyes and stared at me.
"I swear...honestly, I'm...believe me I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine?"
"One more 'fine' and that would prove my point."
"Of course I am not fine. I miss my lovely dark boyfriend." She thought
Liza didn't feel like telling Mitsui anything, she had an inner feeling that she shouldn't be open with him.
Mitsui was talking forever, but she did not catch up a word of what he was saying.
They were passing by the court on their way out of the school, and Liz heard noise coming from the court and heard someone shouting at them. That should have been her! She was no longer there, because of the stupid mistake Kaede had done. She quitted that job that she loved , because Kaede was just Kaede…he always knew how to hurt her.
However….
He never failed to let her heart skip a beat, and to give her that sweet shiver down her spine...
"Oh Kaede...do you miss me like I miss you?" She mused with tears in her eyes.
"Hey! Liza? Still in there?" asked Mitsui.
"Huh? Sorry you were saying?"I replied.
"That you are sort of flying with your wings to the court...you miss him? I mean them, right?"
"I miss...them...wish I was there."
"They miss you too; you know...you can go back if you want." He suggested
"You know I can't."
"Yes, you can, why not?"
"No, I can't...I won't...I don't want to talk about it."
"You and Ayako are the best manageress we have ever had...so yes, they would be confused without you. Just because he was stupid enough to cheat on you, doesn't mean you punish the whole team by leaving."
"Why?"I asked in vain
"Why what?"
"Why do you help me? Why do you come to see me where as you should go check on the team?"
"Because you are my friend, besides, I don't want you to end up like me."
"Friend? I never had any friend like him...but...and now he is..."
"I'm NOT like him." He said fiercely.
"Yeah, I know, I didn't mean it, sorry, I meant... he was...my everything, unfortunately...my friend, my..."
"But I am here, and he is not. Isn't that enough? I am here and I want to help you my friend, but you are not giving me a chance."
"No, it is enough; sorry I did not mean it. Sorry I just speak up my mind so loudly sometimes, and Kaede always understood that. Oops, sorry, I do not mean it really, I will stop talking now, and can we change the subject please?"
"Ok." he said angrily
"You are upset, right?"
"No, I just do not understand you. Why do you cling to what reminds you of your pain?"
"A hundred days have made me older, since the last time that I saw your pretty face, a thousand lies have made me colder, and I don't think I can look at this the same, but all the miles that separate disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face."
"You never will, because, Kaede was the only one who really understood me, and you all thought him care-less, Ha!"
"Don't you, Mitsui? I'm sure you have a similar story, you have said that you don't want me to end up like you...like you in what? What happened to you? So tell me instead of preaching me for something you can't do yourself?" she asked defensively, hoping to change the subject.
"Why are you getting so defensive like that?" he wondered
"Because you are insulting my boyfriend, that's why!" she wished to say.
"I don't know."
"Ok Liza Yamagato, I'll tell you, so you may understand why I was so angry...and why I want to help you."
Mitsui started telling her his story. He used to have a girl friend, and they loved each other madly, but she left him for someone else, and he was haunted by all the memories and places that they went to together, he even used to spend hours in the very same park in which they broke up in. The story was not interesting to Liza, but she could feel his pain. She understood what he meant when he said that he didn't want her to end up like him….But all of that didn't matter, because she and Kaede were different…They were supposed to be forever.
"Everything I know and everywhere I go. It gets hard but it won't take away my love, and when the last one falls. When it's all said and done. It gets hard but it won't take away my love for you..."
Kaede, on the other hand, dreaded seeing Liz, for he knew he would not be able to hide his pain, but he was dying to see her, yet she would just disappear if he tried to find her. However, unintended, he used to walk by her house every night after practice to make sure she was ok.
He knew that she did not eat or talk much since that day!
She always told him that he was her everything, her lover, brother, father, and even mother...
"So please, please, Kay, don't you ever try to take that away from me. It would be as if you take my breath away. I will not survive."
"You survived without me, Liz. You quickly started dating the stupid Mitsui...and I did not miss a night patrol to your house! No hells would be enough for me to burn him in, just because he was holding your hand."He thought
"So, here we are… me, you, and the idiot Mitsui. It happened when I least expected it." He mused on seeing Liz walking out of school with Mitsui.
She blushed when she saw him, yet he was too angry.
"Oh! Hey Kaede, how are you doing?" asked Mitsui stupidly.
"My name is Rukawa, D'ohou." Kaede replied angrily.
"Oh! Never mind him Mitsui, let us go!" she said carelessly.
She looked indifferent, to tease him, but he could not help seeing her acting as if she did not care. He grabbed her from her arm fiercely with a threatening look. He did not intend to horrify her, but his anger over came him.
"You! You should…." he said angrily.
"What? Am I supposed to feel threatened? Let go of me," She replied sharply.
She was as angry to see Kaede as angry as Kaede was to see her with that jerk.
"Hey, hey leave her alone, stupid." Interrupted Mitsui
"Get lost, baka!" Kaede glared at him and kicked him away.
"She is my girl, and he was not supposed to be anywhere near her." He mentally noted
"Let me go, you jerk." She screamed at Kaede with her furious teary eyes, which moved something inside of him.
"Ok, Liz, I'll let you go for now, and do humanity a favor and get away from that idiot." He softened.
Liz knew he would have killed Mitsui, if he hadn't looked to her teary eyes. He was jealous. However, she hoped that he would say that he missed her, but he would not. He had already said it before, and she shut him down roughly.
"He hates me." She whispered to herself.
"That...that arrogant boy...I'm gonna...," whined Mitsui.
"Oh! Pray, do not mind him, he is just jealous..." she replied quietly.
Furious or happy with Kay's actions? Liz could never tell.
Later on that day, when Yurika Yamagato saw her daughter gloomy, she guessed it was because of Kaede, and she wanted to cool of the situation, but that didn't happen!
"You still love him, don't you? You need to talk to him at least instead of shutting him down every time he tries to talk to you, you owe him that." asked Liz's mother anxiously.
"Wow mother, it seems that you are getting old or something! You want to have a normal mother-daughter conversation with me! That's weird."
"You will never change! You will always be as cynical and unbearable like your father."
"See! This is why we will never have a normal conversation! You can never stop comparing me to the man who destroyed our life and it hurts me! Stop doing that."
"When you know how to talk like a decent Japanese girl, I'll stop,"
"That is the thing, mom! I'm not Japanese! I'm American and you have to accept that! Gee, everyone in this damn country accepts me except my own mother!"
"I can't bear that! This conversation is over!" said her mother while slamming the door and leaving.
"Yes, mom…I still love him, but I cannot show him that. He hurt me...deeply, and I cannot let go of the memories or even the pain...It seems like I am stuck in the middle, I just cannot help it... I still love him in every sense of the word 'love', but he had to be that stupid and cheat on me with that girl." Said Liz to herself.
Her mother's words were so prophetic for she ran into Kaede in the next day.
He was coming into the class, whereas she was going out to ask the teacher about a part she did not understand. She did not want to see him. It would hurt her a lot.
But...prophetically, she owed him a talk...and there he was, looking for one.
"Hey, Liz…nice to see you." He said
"You too, Kay...Rukawa-kun."
"How are you doing?" He demanded a detailed answer, but realizing that he can get none, he put it in such a way anyways.
"Fine" Her short answer depressed him, and she knew it.
"Fine! Liar...tells him that you miss him, that you are sorry, and that you are not dating that stupid Mitsui as he thinks!" Liz thought.
"Good!"
"Good? Good? I am not good, she is not good; tell her that you miss her like hell..." He thought.
There was a brief moment of silence, and then he talked again.
"Fine, 'B.B' is taking up all my time."
'B.B' was the nickname she came up with for basketball.
"And how is the team?"
"Fine...they miss you, Lizzie!"
"I miss you too...terribly," he thought.
"I miss you too, Kay." she thought.
"They do! How nice of them!" Liz said with a little smile.
"We won yesterday, but we need our manageress, Liz." he asked hopefully to get a different answer from what he was expecting.
"I don't think so, after what happened…. I..." she stammered.
"But Liz, you know that I didn't kiss her."
"I really have to go." She ran away.
"Don't stop me, don't stop me." She prayed.
Yet, Kaede was just being Kaede...!
"Hey Liz?" he called her aloud.
"Yes?" Liz answered while perceiving him coming towards her.
"Pick you up after school?" He asked with his sweet and charming eyes.
"No need to."
"I want to."
"I'll never let go, Lil One, I never did and I'm not planning to now. I'll get you back one day." he thought.
"I'll meet you by the gates after school." She said plainly.
Liz could not understand why he was doing that. But she waited for him after school for 20 minutes and he didn't show up. She felt frustrated, because he forgot her as usual.
Typical of him!
However!
A freshman called Hiroshi whom Liz used to give extra practice and instructions to be up to Kaede's expectations, was running towards her. Fear was all over his face. He was so pale as if a ghost chased him.
Liz's heart beated so quickly like hammer. She knew he had some bad news for her.
"Oh! Missy, something terrible has happened." He said while gasping.
"What Hiro? Tell me, you are scaring the hell out of me, what happened?" she panicked.
"The captain..." he said that and stopped!
Kaede!
"What happened to him?" Liz screamed perceiving something bad.
"He was run over by a car when he tried to save an old man crossing the road."
Liz was thunder-struck... She could not understand a word of what he was saying. Her legs couldn't carry her, so she fell to the ground and Hiro tried to help her stand up.
A car hit Kaede!
"No, no, no that cannot be real. Take me to him now." She screamed through her tears and screams.
Ten minutes later…
She found Sakuragi and Ayako in the hospital.
"My heart will stop, Hana. Tell me what happened? MY Kaede is hurt; where is he? How is he? Please tell me. This cannot be real," she cried out.
"He is going to be just fine, Liza-Chan...He is one tough guy." Sakuragi tried to calm her down.
She raised her head to look at the redhead boy waiting for the relief to hit her, but it did not, yet he nodded.
Neither he, nor Kaede liked one another, since they were freshmen. Then, they, somehow when they were sophomores, started to soften to each other and respect one another, though not as close friends. Liz did not know what happened to them, but they did not fight as they used to...maybe they had grown up somewhere in the middle!
The doctor came out from the operation's room, and Sakuragi was the first one to talk to him.
"How is he doctor?" he asked.
"He has some broken ribs, and a simi-concussion. If he survives the coming 24 hours, he will be OK. However, we may need blood-transfer in a couple of hours, because he bled a lot internally, any family member here?"
"Yes, that would be me, doctor." Liz replied instantly.
"Are you his sister?" asked the doctor in a skeptical way, for he noticed that she was not Japanese
"Sister? No, I am...his girlfriend."
"No, that wouldn't do to sign for papers; I need a family member please. Can you call them? Only a family member can stay with him," the doctor said while overlooking her.
"I AM THE ONLY FAMILY HE HAS, SO I WOULD DO FOR THE TIME BEING. I know everything about him for God's sake, and I would be the one paying the costs here, so you will have to talk to me!" She screamed hysterically, and everyone looked terrified.
Sakuragi grabbed the doctor from his collar severely.
"Come on man! Talk to her or I will..." Hanamichi threatened.
Terrified as he was, the doctor took her to the examination room to take blood from her. Then he let her into Kaede's room.
06:20. P.m.
Liz had so many thoughts and questions in her head when she was holding the door handle to open the door to his room.
Will he play again? He certainly can't survive without Basketball! How bad is his injury?
Sakuragi batted her shoulder.
"He will be ok." he said.
Liz smiled weakly, and wondered if he would.
She opened the door, but was afraid to come in to see the man she loves lying in the bed helplessly as he was. Kaede's life was really on the stake, and she stupidly thought that he forgot her because he was Haruko.
"How could I be that stupid!" she said quietly.
She moved closer to his bed, and sat beside him. Her strength failed her, and she could not stand up. Looking at him made it harder. She passed her fingers through his smooth black hair, moving to his bandaged forehead, and beautiful cheek. Kaede was seriously injured.
Her heart bounced with pain.
09:30. p.m.
"Do you remember when you came back from America and you grew a little beard? Well, I am not allowing you to do this again. Do you remember what happened that day? You told me how much you loved me. I was mad at you that day, but deep inside, I was extremely happy to see you, touch you, and above all, to know that you still loved me regardless how rude I was to you before you left… C'mon Kaede, wake up, you cannot do that to me...please...wake up…talk to me." she begged through my tears
"Liz...my Liz" he said.
Her heart skipped another beat.
Kaede did not wake up as she hoped he would when she talked to him. Her miracle did not happen!
10:10. P.m.
"How ironic is my life. Kaede was dying to get back to me; and now, here I am, begging him to wake up, to take me back, to forgive me...and when I had so many chances to do that, I let my pride step in between! Please forgive me, wake up."
01:30 a.m.
"How could you do that to me? I am the one who is supposed to be in pain and you are supposed to help me! You cannot be in pain; you are untouchable, remember? You idiot! Why did you ruin everything we had? We were great together...I think, Kaede, wake up...you know you are my everything."
02:00 a.m.
A nurse came to ask her to sign some papers. The nurse was skeptical, but she could not say a word for fear of Sakuragi's reactions when he would show up next day...so Liz exploded impatiently.
"Yes, I am his girlfriend, but I am all what he has…literally. His mother is dead, and he is father is a businessman in the other side of the world for almost 6 months now, and I can't be possibly calling him now to tell him that his son's life is on the stake. I cannot do that. I promised him a year ago that I'd keep his son happy and to take care of him, so I can't….I can't tell him that I, not only made his son unhappy, but he was hit by a car… so I'm all what you have and you have to accept that."
She curled her lips as if she wanted to say, "I didn't ask you, I'm just doing my job."
02:20 a.m.
Liza donated two more liters of her blood to Kaede, since he was B- and I was O, so O was a giver to any blood type.
04:00 a.m.
The hours passed so heavily and he did not wake up. Yet his vital signs were stable.
Liz looked at the window, it was almost twilight time, and she could not open her eyes any longer.
End of Chapter four.
