Chapter 2 – The Encounter
"Y-you're Rukawa Kaede aren't you?" I asked in shock. "Huh?" he said as he scratched his head. Kasumi nudged me. "It looks like he fell asleep on his bike…" I looked at him closer. It did seem as if he had fallen asleep while riding his bike. His eyes were half-closed and he seemed a bit groggy. "Are you hurt?" I asked him. "I'm fine." He replied as he brushed the dirt from his clothes. He looked at his bike and sighed. "Not again…" The bike's front wheel was deformed due to the crash. "You should get that repaired before you ride that again." I said wistfully. Kasumi looked at me in a duh-isn't-it-obvious kind of way…again. I shrugged. "Just trying to help."
Rukawa decided to tag-along since the bike shop was along the way to the store we were going to. "Shohoku played well at the practice game. Especially you." I complimented. Rukawa remained silent. I smiled. Kasumi interrupted and said, "But it's no surprise we won, we have Sendoh." I gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs. Rukawa's eyes became serious. "Uh, please don't mind her. She's quite tactless as you can see." I added quickly.
Rukawa still remained silent. I sighed to myself while trying to think of a way to brighten up the conversation. As you can probably tell, Kasumi is too loyal to Ryonan basketball team (namely Sendoh) to be polite to other schools' basketball teams. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Koyama Sekami." I said brightly. "And that's my cousin Takahashi Kasumi." I added pointing at Kasumi. "You're related?" he said finally. I nodded. "She seems nothing like you…" he pointed out.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Kasumi defensively. "You're rude and loud-mouthed. She's not." Rukawa replied. Kasumi was just about to smack him when I grabbed her arm. "Look there's the bike shop over there. I guess we'll be splitting-up here. It was nice meeting you Rukawa." I said as I gave a polite bow. "Speak for yourself…" Kasumi mumbled under her breath.
When Kasumi and I reached the store, I couldn't help but think of what Rukawa thought of Kasumi and me…me in particular. "What's wrong Sekami? Aren't you going to buy something? You could at least look around." Kasumi asked. I shook my head. "I don't feel like shopping right now." Kasumi sat beside me and put her hand on my forehead. "Nope. No fever. But what's bugging you?" she asked worriedly. "What if he thinks badly of us?" I replied glumly.
"Who Sekami?" I rolled my eyes. "Rukawa. Who else?" Kasumi stood up and replied, "Oh… Don't worry about him. I don't think he cares about anything except basketball." She started to look through the shelves. "While we're on the subject, why are you so interested in him all of a sudden?" I thought for a while. It hadn't really occurred to me before why I was so fixated on him. "I guess it's because I think he's pretty amazing." I replied after minutes of thoughtful consideration. Kasumi stared at me for a while and then continued looking around. "What's so amazing? He's not as good as Sendoh mind you." Kasumi said thoughtlessly. "I know. But just the fact that he's almost at Sendoh's level is overwhelming. You forget the fact that he's a freshman like us. While Sendoh is a junior."
"All right already! I'll admit he's got talent. But for me, Sendoh's the best." Kasumi finally gave in. I stood and started looking around the store. "So, looks like you've finally found your appetite for shopping." Kasumi pointed out. We both started to laugh.
It was about lunchtime when we left the store. "How long have we been shopping?" Kasumi asked wearily. I looked at my watch. "3 hours. Don't tell me you're tired already! We haven't even gotten to the other stores yet!" I said optimistically. "Can we please eat first Sekami? I'm starving…"
After eating lunch and shopping a little more, we decided to go home. "I wonder what Sato is doing…" Kasumi said after a couple of blocks. "He's probably playing videogames. Or maybe watching the tube." I replied. It started to get dark. Huge gray rain cloud formed above us. Just then, we heard a thunder roar in the distance. "It's starting to drizzle. We'd better hurry." Kasumi said coolly. I on the other hand started to panic. "Ah! Our stuff is going to get wet!" I said as a started to run. "Stop running or you're going to trip!" Kasumi yelled as she chased after me. "Don't worry, these are top-of-the-line sneakers. I won't slip." I called back.
The rain really started to pour just as we reached home. "That was close." I said with a sigh. "Hey Kasumi, did you get me anything?" asked Satoshi as we entered the living room. "No." she replied as she set the bags on the table. "How 'bout you Sekami? Did you get me anything?" I smiled. "As-a-matter-of-fact I did. Here." I handed him a book. "Thanks. Did anything interesting happen?"
"Really?! Whoa! You are so lucky!" Satoshi exclaimed. I had just told him about our encounter with Rukawa. "We weren't that lucky. We would have been luckier if we had bumped into Sendoh." Kasumi remarked. Satoshi and I sighed. "At least you two had something to do. I stayed home all day." Satoshi pointed out. "And of all the people you could have seen, you saw Super Rookie Rukawa Kaede." I smiled intently. "I guess that does make us lucky…" I whispered. "I guess it does."
"Y-you're Rukawa Kaede aren't you?" I asked in shock. "Huh?" he said as he scratched his head. Kasumi nudged me. "It looks like he fell asleep on his bike…" I looked at him closer. It did seem as if he had fallen asleep while riding his bike. His eyes were half-closed and he seemed a bit groggy. "Are you hurt?" I asked him. "I'm fine." He replied as he brushed the dirt from his clothes. He looked at his bike and sighed. "Not again…" The bike's front wheel was deformed due to the crash. "You should get that repaired before you ride that again." I said wistfully. Kasumi looked at me in a duh-isn't-it-obvious kind of way…again. I shrugged. "Just trying to help."
Rukawa decided to tag-along since the bike shop was along the way to the store we were going to. "Shohoku played well at the practice game. Especially you." I complimented. Rukawa remained silent. I smiled. Kasumi interrupted and said, "But it's no surprise we won, we have Sendoh." I gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs. Rukawa's eyes became serious. "Uh, please don't mind her. She's quite tactless as you can see." I added quickly.
Rukawa still remained silent. I sighed to myself while trying to think of a way to brighten up the conversation. As you can probably tell, Kasumi is too loyal to Ryonan basketball team (namely Sendoh) to be polite to other schools' basketball teams. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Koyama Sekami." I said brightly. "And that's my cousin Takahashi Kasumi." I added pointing at Kasumi. "You're related?" he said finally. I nodded. "She seems nothing like you…" he pointed out.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Kasumi defensively. "You're rude and loud-mouthed. She's not." Rukawa replied. Kasumi was just about to smack him when I grabbed her arm. "Look there's the bike shop over there. I guess we'll be splitting-up here. It was nice meeting you Rukawa." I said as I gave a polite bow. "Speak for yourself…" Kasumi mumbled under her breath.
When Kasumi and I reached the store, I couldn't help but think of what Rukawa thought of Kasumi and me…me in particular. "What's wrong Sekami? Aren't you going to buy something? You could at least look around." Kasumi asked. I shook my head. "I don't feel like shopping right now." Kasumi sat beside me and put her hand on my forehead. "Nope. No fever. But what's bugging you?" she asked worriedly. "What if he thinks badly of us?" I replied glumly.
"Who Sekami?" I rolled my eyes. "Rukawa. Who else?" Kasumi stood up and replied, "Oh… Don't worry about him. I don't think he cares about anything except basketball." She started to look through the shelves. "While we're on the subject, why are you so interested in him all of a sudden?" I thought for a while. It hadn't really occurred to me before why I was so fixated on him. "I guess it's because I think he's pretty amazing." I replied after minutes of thoughtful consideration. Kasumi stared at me for a while and then continued looking around. "What's so amazing? He's not as good as Sendoh mind you." Kasumi said thoughtlessly. "I know. But just the fact that he's almost at Sendoh's level is overwhelming. You forget the fact that he's a freshman like us. While Sendoh is a junior."
"All right already! I'll admit he's got talent. But for me, Sendoh's the best." Kasumi finally gave in. I stood and started looking around the store. "So, looks like you've finally found your appetite for shopping." Kasumi pointed out. We both started to laugh.
It was about lunchtime when we left the store. "How long have we been shopping?" Kasumi asked wearily. I looked at my watch. "3 hours. Don't tell me you're tired already! We haven't even gotten to the other stores yet!" I said optimistically. "Can we please eat first Sekami? I'm starving…"
After eating lunch and shopping a little more, we decided to go home. "I wonder what Sato is doing…" Kasumi said after a couple of blocks. "He's probably playing videogames. Or maybe watching the tube." I replied. It started to get dark. Huge gray rain cloud formed above us. Just then, we heard a thunder roar in the distance. "It's starting to drizzle. We'd better hurry." Kasumi said coolly. I on the other hand started to panic. "Ah! Our stuff is going to get wet!" I said as a started to run. "Stop running or you're going to trip!" Kasumi yelled as she chased after me. "Don't worry, these are top-of-the-line sneakers. I won't slip." I called back.
The rain really started to pour just as we reached home. "That was close." I said with a sigh. "Hey Kasumi, did you get me anything?" asked Satoshi as we entered the living room. "No." she replied as she set the bags on the table. "How 'bout you Sekami? Did you get me anything?" I smiled. "As-a-matter-of-fact I did. Here." I handed him a book. "Thanks. Did anything interesting happen?"
"Really?! Whoa! You are so lucky!" Satoshi exclaimed. I had just told him about our encounter with Rukawa. "We weren't that lucky. We would have been luckier if we had bumped into Sendoh." Kasumi remarked. Satoshi and I sighed. "At least you two had something to do. I stayed home all day." Satoshi pointed out. "And of all the people you could have seen, you saw Super Rookie Rukawa Kaede." I smiled intently. "I guess that does make us lucky…" I whispered. "I guess it does."