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The Best Present
"KOIZUMI RIIISAAA!"
Baaaang!
Wh-what happened?
I shook my head and turned my eyes slowly down to my feet where someone-someone very perverted!- was lying on top of Koizumi grinning, sparkling and shouting her name so loud I had been hearing his voice even later that day when I was at home punching the door of my wardrobe… but anyways, that's beside the point here!
So… this perverted idiot ended up being nobody else than…
"HEY IT'S MEEE!" he shouted still lying over Koizumi, his hands on each side of her. She was glaring back at him looking rather terrified. She was even shivering and I felt the heat on my face increase dangerously.
"HARUKA! FUKAGAWA HARUKA!" he let a high-pitched scream which might have deafened about half the city and then fell over Koizumi hugging her tight making everyone passing by stare and mutter. Koizumi let a cry of pain in response, and that echoed like an alarm bell in my ears.
I rushed over them pulling this weirdo off of her and pushed him away gritting my teeth.
"What the… are you doing?" I growled at him.
As he stood up he blocked the sunlight from my sight and I swallowed with difficulty realizing the size of him.
He was way taller than Nakao, with short light brown hair and a fair complexity. He even wore earrings on each ear and his eyes were sparkling with fury down at me.
"Who are you?" he asked with a harsh tone.
I lifted an eyebrow with the expression he gave me as if I was the attacker here. My fists clenched.
I noticed Koizumi stand up with the corners of my eyes hiding behind me shivering.
"Whoever you are- don't go knocking strangers onto the street- IT'S DANGEROUS!" she screamed shaking me as she hold on to me.
"Hey!" I hissed at her.
I turned back at this tall weirdo who had taken his eyes off me to grin again at Koizumi.
"We were classmates in elementary school! Don't you remember?" he tried to make her remember making me grow angrier and angrier that a guy like him acted so cool and mighty; first knocked her down on the street, then hugged her lying over her publicly and now acting all cute…
There was a complete silence as we all waited for a response of Koizumi. I couldn't see her face as she was "hiding" behind me, but according to Nobu-san, Nakao, Suzuki and Chiharu-chan she must have had a rather strange, deep-in-thoughts face.
This Haruka started rubbing his hands together as he waited anxiously for some reaction of Koizumi… and there it was. She knocked me down and rushed over to that tall giraffe with the earrings and smiled at him.
"Haruka! Of course, little Haruka-chan!"
I managed to keep my balance before tripping over as my head was ready to burst open with anger.
I noticed Haruka frowning looking sad, but Koizumi shook her head.
"A! Sorry, didn't mean it! How are you? I thought you were abroad!" she said. All the shock and terror she had a minute ago had faded into thin air, but my frustration and irritation were growing more and more.
"I was! But I returned two days ago! I'll continue school here!" he replied.
The way they both looked so happy… was it wrong for me to feel so disgusted by it?
"Couldn't stand it anymore?" Koizumi joked placing her hands on her sides.
Haruka chuckled.
What was so funny…
"Koizumi Risa would never appreciate another culture as much as the Japanese! Am I right?"
"No wonder why!" I muttered to myself not taking my firing eyes off that weirdo. He glanced at me having heard my comment, but I glared back with greater intensity.
"Would you mind going out sometime, to catch up on things?"
There it was… of course, why wouldn't he ask her out…!
All I wanted that moment was to kill something- no, someone and I knew exactly whom; that Haruka-chan! That idiot, appearing out of nowhere, acting all foreign and cute and then asking her out in front of everybody…
From that moment on I hated him!
"Ehm, yeah! Well…" hearing the hesitation in Koizumi's voice made me come back to earth before I started planning the perfect crime. It was like the last glint of hope appeared before me. I looked at her frowning and I must have looked really stupid as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards her.
"Look, I have some party preparations to work on, so…" she began, but Haruka spoke beaming and clapping his hands.
Weirdo…
"Ah, yes! It's your birthday, right? Next week!"
Koizumi and I exchanged glances of wonder and then a faint smile appeared on her agitated face as if she remembered something.
"Oh… now that you mention it… it is!"
I slapped my forehead not getting how a person can be so… stupid! There must be limits, right?
I sighed, but Koizumi's grip tightened around my hand.
"I'll get you the best present ever!"
"Oh, right! Ehm, thanks Haruka!" she stuttered. "Have to go! Bye!" she greeted waving her hand while with the other she forced me along with her.
I noticed how Haruka was turning red with fury, probably because Koizumi chose me to drag along as if I was a pet, and Nobu and the rest grinning mischievously.
Nobu-san was up to something… and that scared me. But right now there was a greater threat lingering in the air; that foreigner-like Haruka. That idiot. Who taught him manners? It's not normal bumping into a girl and lay on her in the middle of the street… Murdering someone for instance would be way more normal… at least that's my opinion… I would do it!
But what I couldn't understand was Koizumi. The moment she remembered that Haruka she looked really happy and excited to see him. Her eyes were all sparkly and the colour on her cheeks grew so vividly peach like. And then, when he asked her out, she started trembling, stuttering. She was not the Koizumi I knew…
Suddenly we halted creating a cloud of smoke and Koizumi leaned on her knees panting. Droplets of sweat flowed on her forehead and I tried to orientate myself. We were not far away from our neighbourhood… that was fast!
"Oh man! That was close!" she said between deep exhales.
"What was?"
"Ehm , nothing!" she smiled trying to look confident, but I could see that something was troubling her.
"You're kidding me? You look as if this guy-"
"It's nothing, Otani!" she said simply and walked away.
I grabbed her wrist the same desperate way she grabbed mine to get away from that Haruka, and I forced her to look me face to face. There was a deep frown on her face and her eyes were filled with uneasiness as she looked so sad all of a sudden.
I felt my airway blocked with the face she was pulling, but it was obvious she didn't want to feel this way either. Despite everything else that was going on on my part, we were still friends…
"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine!" I shot at her harshly.
"I don't! Because you wouldn't understand!" she said the same way. Angry, fed-up, pissed-off…
"Understand what?"
Koizumi hesitated pressing her lips as her eyes flickered around before meeting mine again.
"I know…" she began sounding weak. "Nakao told Nobu, who told me that…" she pressed her lips again and hit her feet hard on the ground as if it was its fault she was so nervous and angry. But then I noticed a blush on her cheeks. "… that you had a girlfriend, back in junior high!"
I opened my mouth ready to say something back at her, but there was nothing to say. Why… wait, what? What did it have to do with her being angry and anxious and nervous in front of Haruka and… and it hit me, like the punches of Tako, my basketball team's captain, when I'd act all independent during training and pretend to look, according to him, cool although I'm short… geez, my school is filled with idiots, and I'm just one of them.
"Why are you changing subject, that has nothing to-"
"It has, Otani! I always thought you were like me!" she placed her fist on her chest and I even missed a heartbeat seeing tears forming in her eyes.
That was no good sign…
"I thought you never had dated before, that everyone teased you for being short!"
I lifted an eyebrow.
"Thanks!" I muttered simply.
"And now I'm turning sixteen while I never even liked someone the proper way!"
I crossed my arms realizing where she was getting it.
"You've never dated anyone." I stated what she was trying to say.
She nodded drying her eyes.
"No! And… it seems that I'll grow old and wrinkled like an old hag and I'll never have dated a single person!" she shouted towards the sky and her arms hang motionless on her sides.
My mind started spinning like mad; I was thinking that maybe I could risk it and ask her out myself, and since we were friends she would say yes and I could just tell her to go out again and again until she realized her true feelings for me… but knowing Koizumi we would both be old hags and still we'd go out just as friends.
But… it felt like a sign. If indeed it was her birthday next week, maybe I could be the one to give her the best present and try to show her that she was something much more than a friend. Show her that I looked up to her, and her personality and even the stupidity of hers, because that made her so unique.
And still, this sign could mean something else as well; first of, the fact that she was actually telling me this, meant that I was nothing more than a friend in her eyes, and second of all, she wasn't thinking of me… but of that Haruka…
"Maybe you will, maybe you won't!" I said and turned around, feeling all of a sudden exhausted.
"Trying to act wise now, are you?"
"Look! This has happened again! If you want to talk about such crap, go tell Nobu-san! I'm just… the short part of All-Hanshin Kyojin!" I said and the truth felt so heavy in my guts.
Koizumi smiled.
"And my basketball buddy!" she added.
I chuckled which sounded really desperate then and I waved at her without saying a word and left.
I had no control at that moment… I couldn't…
I hate being the nice guy here, but I couldn't change the row of things. I couldn't tell her, because on this matter she's so innocent she either won't understand a thing I'm saying or she will run to the conclusion that our friendship has ended. And, honestly, I prefer being the friend she'll run to when she needs someone for the rest of my life, than becoming a stranger she feels uncomfortable with…
And since it seems I'm the unluckiest guy in the whole universe, the next morning I bumped into Koizumi and Kohori talking comfortably with each other, as if catching up on Umibozou's latest news in the corridor outside our classroom.
I had woken up in a very bad mood, and this wasn't helping at all…
First an old childhood friend of hers appears out of nowhere, asking her out, and now Kohori decides to make his comeback after confessing his feelings to her…
Yeah, I'm a masochist! I like feeling so damn jealous I want to smash walls…
Ayayaya!
Right at the door of my classroom my forehead hit something hard that ended up to be Tako's chest. He grinned down at me looking all happy and cheerful for being so early in the morning at school during the summer holidays! His black hair looked spikier than normal…
Geez, he even had the courage to do hair-styling in the morning… I barely took a shower…
"Hey, Tako!"
"Otani! I wanted to inform you that we'll have training today." He told me simply.
"Why? I don't have my stuff with me!" I complained.
"It's ok, just for today we'll play with gym's shoes. The girl's team decided to have an auditioning tomorrow, so we had to postpone it for today. But you'll surely know, right?" It seemed weird the way he sounded actually displeased with that, but his face was all smiley and happy.
The girl's team huh…
"Well…" I began having no clue of this last minute change of plans.
"Yeah well… we'll go and check them out tomorrow! Everybody will come! Haha!" he laughed waving at me and left.
I followed him with my eyes before he disappeared down the stairs. So that was why he looked glad with that; they would go pick up on the girls; Koizumi included.
Argh!
"Hi, Otani-kun!" Nobu appeared in front of me, blinking her eyes in the most mysterious way. What was going on with everybody this early, before even the day had started…
"Hey, Nobu-san!"
"The rest and me- actually it was mostly my idea- we thought of organizing a surprise party for Risa and, well, we want you to help!" the way she asked me this favor sounded so not Nobu and I knew well that whatever the excuse there was no way I'd get out of this.
You see, Nakao chose the queen of if something's done it's done my way as a girlfriend…
"She's already going to throw a party by herself. Actually it's for inviting girls for the basketball team and-"
"Who cares about this! I mean a proper party, with cake, balloons and aaaall her favourite persons!" as she said the word all she leaned closer to me. I backed up with a frown leaving.
"You really think he's a threat?"
I froze feeling a chill down my spine. I looked at Nobu over my shoulder who was now wearing a serious face. She approached me, her brown eyes sparkling dangerously.
"Wha-"
"This is your chance, Otani! Do what you have to do and prove me you deserve my daughter's hand! Got it?" she hissed and left looking furious.
I swallowed with difficulty tightening my grip around my school bag.
This was crazy… CRAZYYYY!
Just a moment before Gorilla-sensei entered the classroom, Koizumi, followed by a grinning Kohori, came in to take their seats. As Koizumi sat at her desk next to mine she greeted me and I muttered back, not caring if I was rude or something.
"Later I want to talk to you about something!" she whispered to me as Go-sensei slid the door behind him.
I glanced at her with the corner of my eye noticing her hair hanging loose today. They were rather long and slightly wavy at the edges hugging beautifully her face…
I slapped my forehead and leaned my chin on my fists trying to look away and think of something else…
The double hours of maths had no end…
Blabla blablabla…
I remember nothing, only some a's and b's and y's and whatever…
When the bell rang it felt like deliberation. Everybody sighed with relief running out of the classroom's heavy atmosphere. But before I was able to escape, Koizumi grabbed my hand again, which started feeling annoying since the touch was always accompanied with irritation knowing that this touch meant nothing to her… unlike me…
"What is it?" I asked sounding bored and fed up with everything.
"I found a way to attract new members for the girls' basketball team! It's way better than an actual party!" she grinned pushing her long, dark red hair behind her shoulders. I rubbed the base of my neck looking down at my feet.
"Really?" I said without much interest.
"And you're going to be the main theme!"
I widened up my eyes.
"What?"
"Since you're so popular with the older girls, this was my best solution! Come on! You'll show them some tricks and stuff and they'll fall in love with you, and of course with basketball! You'll have fun, I promise!" she begged me linking her palms and grinning.
I made a step backwards finding it hard to breathe so close to her.
So this is why Tako was laughing as he told me of tomorrow's girls' team's plans and that he would be there along with everybody else of our team; they would come to laugh at me trying to make girls get crazy with me and my basketball skills.
I'm so going to kill her…
But… I've said that so many times and still she would manage to make me do everything for her… and she had no clue why…
Geez, I'm pathetic…
"Pleeeeease!"
I sighed.
In the end… she always had her way…
Witch…
"Sure!" I muttered and she screeched so loud I shouted at her angrily.
"Thanks soooo much! You're the greatest! I love you!" she shouted and, while I was too busy repeating the actual words she had said for all Maido High school to hear, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me. I choked and tried to push her away, but she was strong.
"Thanks! I owe you big one!" she said letting me free and ran away bouncing with the word happiness floating above her head.
I just stood there dizzy from all that had happened in such a short amount of time…
Help me you guys… did she really say I love you… you're the greatest…?
Am I going mad?
Did I imagine all this?
*slaps himself on both his cheeks and turns serious!*
Wait… as said a million times, she has no clue what I feel and she just said it in a friendly way. Besides I just agreed in doing a very embarrassing act in front of boys' and girls' basketball team members!
Why am I getting all nervous and blushing like a little school girl…
Geez…
"Oi, Otani!" I bumped into Nakao rubbing my head.
"MAN, WHAT'S WITH EVERYBODY KNOCKING ME OVER, HUH?" I growled annoyed.
Nakao frowned but then grinned at me showing me two tickets with a very familiar logo on them.
"Wh-what is this?"
"My father gave me these! It's for the next Umibozou concert, but since I hate them…" I gave him a killer glance. "… I thought I'd give them to you! They're two!"
All that troubled me was nothing compared to the extreme happiness that was floating now on top of my head. I jumped high in the air shouting hooray and grabbed the two tickets from Nakao's hand, but then… I realized what two meant…
The only one I could take with me is… is that witch!
"Invite Koizumi-san! She'll love it!"
I gapped hearing this word again…
"That's… awesome! Thanks, Nakao!" I said and patted his shoulder and hid them safe in my shorts' pocket.
Nakao chuckled and left the classroom.
I, on the other hand, was the only one left in the classroom. I walked towards the open window and gazed at the front yard with the cherry trees filled with green leaves, the buses that passed by in front of Maido high school and the city that extended as far as the eye could reach. The sky was vastly clear and only a couple of thin clouds floated up high.
I took a deep breath smiling with the thought that maybe Nobu was right. Maybe I felt threatened, maybe I was scared… but I also knew that if I didn't do something, anything, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.
There had been so many signs that told me that I meant something to her. I was the one Koizumi would call late in the night to remind me that we had an appointment at the park the next day and I was the one she'd drag along in the mall and try on sports' clothes and basketball outfits...
Even though a long time ago she had actually said that she'd never like a short guy like me, today she had said that I was the greatest…
I hid my hands in my pockets and a grin lingered on my face for the rest of the day knowing that, compared to Kohori and Hakura, I held the best present for Koizumi…
*blinks at us with a beaming smile!*