Chapter 2: "It's A Secret!"

Yuri walked home, books clutched near her chest and her bag hung loosely at her side. "The basketball practices had been fun to watch, ." She thought. It was dark and the shadows looked tantalizing as they played with the light. A few fauna was seen near the sidewalk and an occasional stray cat would loom in a few trashcans and in the alleyway.

She only heard the monotonous rhythm of her feat, trudging on the cold cement.

She walked on.

A few minutes had passed as she thought of Shohoku. She had grown to like the school and she made a few friends. She even joined the newspaper club of her school and the debate varsity. She was also acquainted with some of the members of the basketball varsity through Haruko.

"See! Shohoku isn't that bad!" She thought cheerfully. "Everything is almost perfect in Shohoku. Almost . Only if Rukawa wasn't there, it would be P-E-R-F-E-C-T!" She sighed. "Well, nothing's perfect." She muttered.

She thought more as she walked, getting absorbed with the debating of her mind. She didn't notice another sound of footsteps behind her. She stopped to adjust her bag and then she heard the footsteps before sit stopped completely. Swiftly, she turned her head towards the sound.

"K-Kogure .?"

"Anou . I hope you don't mind if I walk here, I mean with you. It just happens that we are walking in the same direction and well ."

Yuri gaped and cleared her throat. "It's okay . besides, it's kinda quiet and it would be nice talking to someone, ne?"

Kogure nodded in reply. "Hai."

Yuri walked towards Kogure, "Ikuso!" She beamed at Kogure. Did he blush? She pushed the thought aside. Kogure followed as they talked on; about basketball, about classes, how Yuri was soing in school.

As Yuri neared her house, Kogure cleared his throat. "Well, I'm going this way now."

"Don't worry, my house is right over there." Yuri pointed to a huge house, with a very tall and well-defined gate. The garden was huge with beautiful flowers.

"Hontou? That's nice. Well, see you tomorrow then."

"Hai."



"Ack! I need to hurry! Sale! Sale! Must not be late!" Yuri dashed through the new mall, which opened just the other day. She was approaching near the .

"Books! Books! So many choices! SUGOI!" She gaped with awe as she scanned through the humongous bookstore. "Cool!" Her eyes sparkled as she looked through fantasy books and other books, from juvenile to horror. She grabbed all the books she wanted and placed them in a basket.

After 10 minutes .

"Kuso . I need more baskets, but I can't carry them anymore." She groaned, perhaps it's because of the three full baskets she was carrying. "I guess I can pay these and leave." She sighed. "Maybe I got too much."

She scanned the baskets.



"Nah!"



She lined up at the cashier and then something caught her eye.



"Kogure?" She squinted, then she saw him.



Glasses, messy hair . yup, it's him!



She hurriedly paid the cashier, not caring about the change. She then grabbed the books and ran to Kogure.

"Kogure-san!"

"Oi, Yuri-san! I didn't expect to see you here!" He smiled and had a quick glance at the bags that Yuri carried. "Do you need help with those?"

"Oh, iie! I can carry them by-"

Kogure got 2 of the bags. "Don't worry, I'm just looking around and I'm not carrying anything ."

"I hope it's not that much of, well . you know." Yuri let out a sigh as they walked out of the bookstores. "Kogure-san?"

Kogure looked at Yuri. "Hai? Nani?"

"So, what are you planning to do here?" She shifted her bags to her other hand.

"Eto . I was looking for this book in physics but it was out of stock. I needed it for researching and well, I heard it was a good book for reference."

"So ka? Well, I can research for you. I mean, it's no big deal ."

"Iie! I can do it by myself!" He shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Yuri-san, where should we bring this?" He peeked at the baggage and sighed.

"Oh! I forgot! Come on, I can ask my driver to put it in the car. Is it alright? I mean, I can just go alone." Yuri sweatdropped.

" . I can help ."

Yuri walked towards school. She was tired of yesterday, and at the same time . she thought it wasn't bad. Yuri stopped near her classroom.

"Kogure-san is a nice guy after all . I thought he was rather dorky, geeky, useless ."

Sweatdrop .

She smiled and resumed walking to her classroom.

Kogure had treated her for lunch and they talked about school. She had enjoyed every minute of it and learned more about Shohoku, the team and him. She learned that he is an honor student, and the vice-captain of the team.

"He must be really overwhelmed with work. I shouldn't have asked him to help me." Yuri sighed as she sat down and grabbed one of her pocket books. She flipped through the pages and looked for the bookmark; she then resumed reading.



"Konnichi wa Haruko-san."

Haruko glimpsed at her back, it was Yuri.

"Ohayou Yuri-san! Are you going to watch the practices again?"

Yuri nodded. "I've grown to like it. Let's go then."

"Hai."

They walked to the basketball court, talking about the latest issues in school and the game with Miuradai. They then entered the basketball court and watched in the sidelines.

"Yuri-san, Ohayou."

Yuri jumped, surprised by the sudden greeting; she then peeped at her back. Kogure!

"Kogure-san . you surprised me. Don't just greet me when I'm not aware that you're there!" She glared at Kogure jokingly and smiled.

"H-hai ." He smiled back. He then shifted his gaze to Haruko. "Ohayou, Haruko-san."

"Ohayou. Is onii-chan coming?"

"Hai. He's changing. He'll be here in a minute."

"So ka .?" Haruko smiled and looked at the players that have assembled.



" It was a good practice game! Kogure-san, with a few more practices . you'd do great." Yuri walked along the sidewalk, Kogure beside her.

" I'm not that good. You're too nice." Kogure sweatdropped. He kept his mouth shut as he remembered the countless fights of Yuri and Rukawa.

" I'm telling the truth . there's something that makes you play well ." Yuri thought for awhile. "I know! Maybe, it's because you're hardworking and you try to encourage your teammates, ne?"

"You give me too much credit." He scratched his head in embarrassment as they strode. "Yuri-san?"

"Hm? Nani?"

"Err . do you want me to walk you home? I mean, if you want . I"

Yuri looked rather thoughtful for a moment. "Hai . but if you live far, it's alright."

"It's okay."

They walked on.

"Yuri-san?"

"Nani?"

"Well, it's really nice being with you. You're quite nice even though -" Kogure gulped and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and remembered the image of Yuri, fuming. " . even though you . err . get into trouble a lot."

"Same to me, but don't go telling that to everyone. I mean . can we keep it a secret." Yuri blushed.

"H-hai. It's a secret."

They both beamed at each other as both walked along the dim-lit sidewalk.