Ah! Gomen, ninny-chan! I missed your review! I'll just write you 2 letters
then. ^^x please let me resort to obaasan (grandmother) and ojiisan
(grandfather). Cheez! I'm using the names of my Japanese cousins. Rika-
chan, Rina-chan, ogenki desu ka?
Argh! I should have been using Canson when others were calling her. Bad, Kishi! Bad, bad Kishi!
***
"Tadaima!" Rika greeted as she entered the house. "Ojiisan, how are you?"
Her grandmother got out from her room and greeted her casually, "Okaerinasai, Rika-chan. How was your day? You seem a bit fazed and early. Didn't you meet up with Sendou?"
"Ah, I had a rough day, obaasan." She replied, "I didn't meet up with him; I'm too worried for ojiisan to meet up with him now. How is he, by the way?"
"He's resting." She produced a letter from her kimono, "This came in for you."
[Arlington, Virginia.] she read the back of the letter, "This couldn't be from dad, maybe from mom." She smiled nervously.
She smiled, it was from her mother, but her smile faded as she continued to read the letter.
[Rika dear,
I miss you so much and I'm so glad I'm going to see you again. Only a few weeks have gone by and I already miss you. But I regret to tell you that your father and your sister will be coming with me. I hope everything is well there. I hope you shall have met your friend Akira Sendou by the time we arrive. Tell me about your school, Shohoku, right? Your father told me to tell you that he wants you to personally pick us up at the airport at 1:45 on April 30. Your sister will be studying at an international school near Shohoku. She will be picking both you and father after school.
Love you,
Shishouta]
"Oh hell, dad's going be here," her eyes went wide, "And Rina to boot! Good thing she won't be studying at Shohoku. But wait a sec, there's a practice game! I can't be absent." She sighed, "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. I have to be absent this Friday then."
"Isn't Rina 10 months older than you?" her grandmother asked and Rika nodded, "Then she's in the same level as you; a freshman, too, right?"
"No, she's 1 level ahead of me. When my dad found out I was going to be born in the same year, he told my mother to have my sister study earlier. A good thing too," She smiled weakly, "But she tends to bully me especially when she's with her classmates. Ha! But she isn't going to do that, now."
"And why is that?" her grandmother asked quite amused.
"Because Akira is here," she grinned from ear to ear, "one, she has had and still has a major crush on him, two, he's 2 years older than she is, and three, I know my way better here; it's her first time to stay - she only visits!"
"After all those years, she still has her eyes on him." They both laughed.
"Well, then," Anzai came up from behind, "It seems we have to make more room as they arrive."
"Ojiisan, are you well, now?" Anzai nodded. "Good! Um, ojiisan, haven't you taught the players the riddles you gave me before? You know, the one about being a better player."
"Not yet," he replied, "It must have slipped my mind. Are you teaching it to them? How did the practice go?"
"Yes, they don't get it yet, but I'm sure they will." She smiled, "There was a...complication but everything's great now."
Just as they were about to talk more, the phone rang.
***
Sendou was at a restaurant with his friends when he decided to make a phone call. "Hello? May I speak with Rika?"
"Akira!" Rika's voice came in through the line, "What made you call? If it's about Sakuragi, don't worry about it anymore, OK?"
"No, it's not about that. I want to ask how your ojiisan is."
"Oh, he's good - laughing even - and he'll be able to come to school tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, my folks and my SISTER are coming on Friday."
"That's good. Send my best wishes to - your sister! She's coming? Oh hell, hide me from her."
"What's wrong Sendou?" asked Koshino, "Who do you want to hide from?"
Turning his attention to Koshino, he answered, "Rika's sister. I'll tell you about that later." He reverted back to Rika. "Your father's coming, too? Rika, you should live in our house."
"I'd like that but, you know the circumstances." She laughed, "Hey, why don't we meet tomorrow again? I'd like to meet your friends, too. I don't care if they bombard me with questions about THAT anymore."
"Tomorrow's good. Are you sure you're OK with that?" Sendou asked.
"Yeah! So, same place, same time. I have to go now, OK? Bye!"
"Yeah, sure, take care." Sendou put down the handset and went back to his friends after saying his thanks to the owner for lending him the time for a call.
"So, who's Canson's sister and why are you s afraid of her?" Ikegami asked.
"Her name's Rina and she's worse than a shark following a trail of blood." Sendou shivered just remembering her.
"You mean, she has a crush on you?" Uekusa asked unfazed. "You get that all the time."
"You think she's the same?" Sendou gritted his teeth, "She's the devil's daughter! You would rather that a rabid dog is chasing you once she gets on your heels. Believe me, I know it all too well."
***
Rukawa immediately laid on his bed and started thinking. 'What could she mean by that? I am a player; I know what a sport is! So, what's wrong?' He grunted in frustration. He had to know! What if he'd just ask her. He just couldn't bring himself to do that. His pride was in the way and he knew it.
He jerked up as the phone rang from his bedroom just as a thought that was near to the answer hit him. He frantically searched his head again - in vain. The thought was gone. He just has to re-think everything all over again.
"Hello? Who's this?" he asked rather rudely.
"Kaede! This is your mother. I did not raise you to give me that insolent question." Mrs. Rukawa barked at him on the phone. "Hear this one out and I don't want any excuses from you. This motorbike just got here from the US and I think this belongs to one of the students there. You just have to find this Rika Canson girl and give the bike to her. The address is to Shohoku High so we don't know who to send it to. You do that. It will be arriving late tonight."
"I don't know how to bring it there. I don't know how to ride it." Rukawa said indifferently.
"You don't have to ride it. Just bring it. I don't have time to chat any longer with you so, I'm going to be off. Ciao, honey." She said as quickly as she could.
Rukawa eyed the handset. Why was a motorcycle delivered by Fed Ex while it could be done so by a carrier plane? The Cansons sure is one weird family. He put the receiver down and stared out his window. What was he thinking before he was so rudely interrupted? He couldn't bring it back to his mind.
He was hungry. He didn't eat due to the incessant nagging in his head to know the answer to the riddle. He has to eat! His stomach was already disagreeing with him. He picked up the phone and dialed lazily.
"Hello?" the other line responded "Anz - "
Before the other speaker could continue, Rukawa hurriedly butt in, "I want an order of regular size super supreme pizza and a can of Pepsi."
"Who the hell - ?" the other line asked, "Wait, let me guess...Kaede?"
"What? Who is this? Where am I calling?" Rukawa suddenly blurted out, out of surprise.
"It's me, Rika, and you are calling at the Anzai residence before I was interrupted by you." She sniffed and sighed on the phone. "If you dialed the number by mistake, I'll hang up."
"No, wait." Rukawa hurriedly said, "Would you drop by my house tomorrow and get this motorcycle thing addressed to you? I can't bring it to school."
"Motorcycle?" she asked startled, "From whom? From where? I didn't order any such thing."
"I don't know where and who's it from but would you just get over here and get it. I don't know how to bring it there without riding it. If I did, how would I bring my bike?" he demanded.
"Oh, all right." She agreed reluctantly. "Anything else before I completely hang up?"
"Yeah just one," Rukawa rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "What's the answer to the riddle?"
"That, you have to figure out for yourself." Rika's smile on her end of the line was reflected in Rukawa's end and somehow lightened his spirit, "Once you have it, you will turn out a better player than what you once were." She said the rest of her statement in a gentler tone, "Good luck with that, Rukawa. I hope the stars will guard you for tonight. Sleep well and thank you again for what you did a while ago."
Rukawa's face heated up and he felt himself having goose bumps. That was weird. It never happened before. "It's quite all right. Just, don't do it again."
"Sure. Thanks a lot, Rukawa." She said and as she put down the receiver, she said in a softer voice, "Thank you for being there for me."
Rukawa set his own receiver down and looked at it for quite sometime lost in something he could not understand...something foreign...something that made him want to talk to her all over again. Just as he was about to go onto the feeling deeper, his stomach growled in protest. "Yare yare (what's this in English?)...I really have to eat now!" he berated himself angrily.
He picked up the phone and dialed again at Pizza Hut making sure, he dialed it correctly this time.
***
Sofia/3sh: The riddles? I don't know...they just came to me while I was writing this. There are more. Thanks, such flattery you give! Oh and, pare, Pilipino ka pala! ^^x
dunkmoonX: Oh thanks a lot! DDR is really cool, I haven't tried the 7th mix yet but I will someday...
ninny: well, you have found out! And yeah! Sendou's the best!!!
ninny: I'm no tensai. If I were I would've passed in UP (it's the most prestigious school in our country)
Argh! I should have been using Canson when others were calling her. Bad, Kishi! Bad, bad Kishi!
***
"Tadaima!" Rika greeted as she entered the house. "Ojiisan, how are you?"
Her grandmother got out from her room and greeted her casually, "Okaerinasai, Rika-chan. How was your day? You seem a bit fazed and early. Didn't you meet up with Sendou?"
"Ah, I had a rough day, obaasan." She replied, "I didn't meet up with him; I'm too worried for ojiisan to meet up with him now. How is he, by the way?"
"He's resting." She produced a letter from her kimono, "This came in for you."
[Arlington, Virginia.] she read the back of the letter, "This couldn't be from dad, maybe from mom." She smiled nervously.
She smiled, it was from her mother, but her smile faded as she continued to read the letter.
[Rika dear,
I miss you so much and I'm so glad I'm going to see you again. Only a few weeks have gone by and I already miss you. But I regret to tell you that your father and your sister will be coming with me. I hope everything is well there. I hope you shall have met your friend Akira Sendou by the time we arrive. Tell me about your school, Shohoku, right? Your father told me to tell you that he wants you to personally pick us up at the airport at 1:45 on April 30. Your sister will be studying at an international school near Shohoku. She will be picking both you and father after school.
Love you,
Shishouta]
"Oh hell, dad's going be here," her eyes went wide, "And Rina to boot! Good thing she won't be studying at Shohoku. But wait a sec, there's a practice game! I can't be absent." She sighed, "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. I have to be absent this Friday then."
"Isn't Rina 10 months older than you?" her grandmother asked and Rika nodded, "Then she's in the same level as you; a freshman, too, right?"
"No, she's 1 level ahead of me. When my dad found out I was going to be born in the same year, he told my mother to have my sister study earlier. A good thing too," She smiled weakly, "But she tends to bully me especially when she's with her classmates. Ha! But she isn't going to do that, now."
"And why is that?" her grandmother asked quite amused.
"Because Akira is here," she grinned from ear to ear, "one, she has had and still has a major crush on him, two, he's 2 years older than she is, and three, I know my way better here; it's her first time to stay - she only visits!"
"After all those years, she still has her eyes on him." They both laughed.
"Well, then," Anzai came up from behind, "It seems we have to make more room as they arrive."
"Ojiisan, are you well, now?" Anzai nodded. "Good! Um, ojiisan, haven't you taught the players the riddles you gave me before? You know, the one about being a better player."
"Not yet," he replied, "It must have slipped my mind. Are you teaching it to them? How did the practice go?"
"Yes, they don't get it yet, but I'm sure they will." She smiled, "There was a...complication but everything's great now."
Just as they were about to talk more, the phone rang.
***
Sendou was at a restaurant with his friends when he decided to make a phone call. "Hello? May I speak with Rika?"
"Akira!" Rika's voice came in through the line, "What made you call? If it's about Sakuragi, don't worry about it anymore, OK?"
"No, it's not about that. I want to ask how your ojiisan is."
"Oh, he's good - laughing even - and he'll be able to come to school tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, my folks and my SISTER are coming on Friday."
"That's good. Send my best wishes to - your sister! She's coming? Oh hell, hide me from her."
"What's wrong Sendou?" asked Koshino, "Who do you want to hide from?"
Turning his attention to Koshino, he answered, "Rika's sister. I'll tell you about that later." He reverted back to Rika. "Your father's coming, too? Rika, you should live in our house."
"I'd like that but, you know the circumstances." She laughed, "Hey, why don't we meet tomorrow again? I'd like to meet your friends, too. I don't care if they bombard me with questions about THAT anymore."
"Tomorrow's good. Are you sure you're OK with that?" Sendou asked.
"Yeah! So, same place, same time. I have to go now, OK? Bye!"
"Yeah, sure, take care." Sendou put down the handset and went back to his friends after saying his thanks to the owner for lending him the time for a call.
"So, who's Canson's sister and why are you s afraid of her?" Ikegami asked.
"Her name's Rina and she's worse than a shark following a trail of blood." Sendou shivered just remembering her.
"You mean, she has a crush on you?" Uekusa asked unfazed. "You get that all the time."
"You think she's the same?" Sendou gritted his teeth, "She's the devil's daughter! You would rather that a rabid dog is chasing you once she gets on your heels. Believe me, I know it all too well."
***
Rukawa immediately laid on his bed and started thinking. 'What could she mean by that? I am a player; I know what a sport is! So, what's wrong?' He grunted in frustration. He had to know! What if he'd just ask her. He just couldn't bring himself to do that. His pride was in the way and he knew it.
He jerked up as the phone rang from his bedroom just as a thought that was near to the answer hit him. He frantically searched his head again - in vain. The thought was gone. He just has to re-think everything all over again.
"Hello? Who's this?" he asked rather rudely.
"Kaede! This is your mother. I did not raise you to give me that insolent question." Mrs. Rukawa barked at him on the phone. "Hear this one out and I don't want any excuses from you. This motorbike just got here from the US and I think this belongs to one of the students there. You just have to find this Rika Canson girl and give the bike to her. The address is to Shohoku High so we don't know who to send it to. You do that. It will be arriving late tonight."
"I don't know how to bring it there. I don't know how to ride it." Rukawa said indifferently.
"You don't have to ride it. Just bring it. I don't have time to chat any longer with you so, I'm going to be off. Ciao, honey." She said as quickly as she could.
Rukawa eyed the handset. Why was a motorcycle delivered by Fed Ex while it could be done so by a carrier plane? The Cansons sure is one weird family. He put the receiver down and stared out his window. What was he thinking before he was so rudely interrupted? He couldn't bring it back to his mind.
He was hungry. He didn't eat due to the incessant nagging in his head to know the answer to the riddle. He has to eat! His stomach was already disagreeing with him. He picked up the phone and dialed lazily.
"Hello?" the other line responded "Anz - "
Before the other speaker could continue, Rukawa hurriedly butt in, "I want an order of regular size super supreme pizza and a can of Pepsi."
"Who the hell - ?" the other line asked, "Wait, let me guess...Kaede?"
"What? Who is this? Where am I calling?" Rukawa suddenly blurted out, out of surprise.
"It's me, Rika, and you are calling at the Anzai residence before I was interrupted by you." She sniffed and sighed on the phone. "If you dialed the number by mistake, I'll hang up."
"No, wait." Rukawa hurriedly said, "Would you drop by my house tomorrow and get this motorcycle thing addressed to you? I can't bring it to school."
"Motorcycle?" she asked startled, "From whom? From where? I didn't order any such thing."
"I don't know where and who's it from but would you just get over here and get it. I don't know how to bring it there without riding it. If I did, how would I bring my bike?" he demanded.
"Oh, all right." She agreed reluctantly. "Anything else before I completely hang up?"
"Yeah just one," Rukawa rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "What's the answer to the riddle?"
"That, you have to figure out for yourself." Rika's smile on her end of the line was reflected in Rukawa's end and somehow lightened his spirit, "Once you have it, you will turn out a better player than what you once were." She said the rest of her statement in a gentler tone, "Good luck with that, Rukawa. I hope the stars will guard you for tonight. Sleep well and thank you again for what you did a while ago."
Rukawa's face heated up and he felt himself having goose bumps. That was weird. It never happened before. "It's quite all right. Just, don't do it again."
"Sure. Thanks a lot, Rukawa." She said and as she put down the receiver, she said in a softer voice, "Thank you for being there for me."
Rukawa set his own receiver down and looked at it for quite sometime lost in something he could not understand...something foreign...something that made him want to talk to her all over again. Just as he was about to go onto the feeling deeper, his stomach growled in protest. "Yare yare (what's this in English?)...I really have to eat now!" he berated himself angrily.
He picked up the phone and dialed again at Pizza Hut making sure, he dialed it correctly this time.
***
Sofia/3sh: The riddles? I don't know...they just came to me while I was writing this. There are more. Thanks, such flattery you give! Oh and, pare, Pilipino ka pala! ^^x
dunkmoonX: Oh thanks a lot! DDR is really cool, I haven't tried the 7th mix yet but I will someday...
ninny: well, you have found out! And yeah! Sendou's the best!!!
ninny: I'm no tensai. If I were I would've passed in UP (it's the most prestigious school in our country)