Sumire tied her hai into her usual ponytail as she stood in front of the mirror, eyeing herself carefully. Do I look okay?
She walked out of her room then, and knocked on Toru's door. "Toru-kun, can I come in?"
His voice responded to her from within. "The door's open, Mire-chan!"
Sumire pushed the door open, and found her cousin bent over his desk, apparently working on some project or other. She smiled. He's always so hardworking. "How do I look, Toru-kun?"
Toru turned to her, and she watched his eyes slowly get bigger and bigger from behind his glasses. "Mire-chan…you look GOOD!"
Sumire smiled, and blushed. "Well…thanks." She was wearing a pair of bootleg-cut jeans and an Abercrombie and Fitch top with sleeves up to her elbows. The top was kind of fitted and showed off her figure, something that she was secretly proud of. As for her footwear, it was a pair of L.A Gear trainers, her favorite because they were very comfortable, especially if she had a lot of walking to do. To complete everything, she had on a wristwatch on her left wrist and a pair of small silver earrings dangling from her earlobes. As it turned out, ear piercing, even among girls, was quite rare in Japan, and associated with rebellion and all that.
"Thanks? That's all you have to say?! Mire-chan, you look like a fashion model straight off the cover of Vogue!" Toru teased.
Sumire whacked him lightly over the head. "Toru-kun!!! I don't look THAT good!"
"Compared with some of the girls I've seen? Hah, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that all of the girls will be green with envy!!!"
Sumire laughed, and shook her head at her cousin. "You're just trying to butter me up."
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Sumire jumped. "That's probably Fujima-sempai!" She snatched up her denim body bag, and slipped it over her head to rest on her left shoulder. She grinned at Toru then. "Ja ne, Toru-kun! See you later!"
Toru smiled at her, and nodded, waving her off. "Ja, Mire-chan! Have fun!"
"Hai!"
* * *
"So where are you going to take me, Fujima-sempai?"
Fujima glanced at his companion with a smile. "I was thinking of taking you to the mall. Maybe we can see a movie, go for some ice cream, spend some time at the arcade if you'd like, and then go to the beach later this afternoon to watch the sunset. How does that sound?"
A grin spread on Sumire's face. "Wow, sounds like a lot of fun!! What's showing at the movies?"
"Well, there're a couple new movies… 'A Walk to Remember' is one of them, and 'Star Wars Episode Two: Attack of the Clones' is showing too…which one do you want to see?"
"Star Wars!" Sumire exclaimed with a laugh.
Fujima blinked. Star Wars? He had expected that she would want to see "A Walk to Remember", which was clearly a romantic movie and something that a girl like her would like. "Are you sure about that, Sumire?"
Sumire nodded. "Yes I am. What, you expect me to watch 'A Walk to Remember'?! Seriously Fujima-sempai, you've been around me long enough to know that I'm not the kind of girl who watches romantic movies, though I DO harbor romantic fantasies of my own. Given a choice between watching a kissing scene with Mandy Moore and a light saber fight with Yoda, I'd choose the saber fight and Yoda hands-down!" Her smile became bemused when she added, "And besides, I know you'd just get bored if we watched 'A Walk to Remember'."
"If that's what you wanted to watch it'd be just fine with me," Fujima said sincerely, even as they got closer and closer to the mall. "You should be having fun."
"I know, I know," Sumire said with a wave of her hand, "but I want you to have fun too. I'm not the only one who's going to be watching, ne? It just so happens that I really like Star Wars too. I'd be a lot happier watching it than 'A Walk to Remember'."
Fujima laughed, and rolled his eyes. "Hai, hai, whatever you say, Sumire." It's a good thing that she'd rather watch Star Wars than 'A Walk to Remember'. I'd probably have slept through the latter one. They were at the entrance of the cinemas at that moment, and Fujima lined up to buy the tickets.
Sumire grinned as she nodded towards the popcorn stand. "You stay and get the tickets, I'll handle the popcorn."
Nani?! How come she wants to do that?! "Sumire-"
"I'LL do it," Sumire said, cutting him off immediately. "Fujima-sempai, you must understand this about me: if there is something I can do to make something easier for someone else, then I'll usually do it. If I get the popcorn now, we'll be able to get into the theater faster. It'll save us precious time. And no, you're not going to pay me for the popcorn. I think you're going to be spending a lot of money today, even though Toru-kun is going to be paying you back for everything. So let me make it a little easier on you, okay?"
Fujima sighed as he watched Sumire make her way towards the popcorn stand, shaking his head. She's so independent and hardheaded… But I think that's what makes me like her all the more. She doesn't really need anyone to do anything for her; she can do it by herself.
He only wished it was easy to tell her what he felt for her.
* * *
Sumire laughed as she and Fujima exited the movie theater. "God, that was FUN!!!! The light saber fights were BRILLIANT!! The true hero of the movie wasn't Obi-wan, not Anakin, and not even Mace Windu! It was YODA!!!"
Fujima laughed with her, nodding. "Hai, hai! When everyone else failed, it was Yoda who saved the day."
"I heard that George Lucas intentionally worked that scene to prove just why Yoda deserved to be called the most powerful Jedi," Sumire shared.
Fujima nodded, his blue eyes twinkling merrily at her in the sun. "He managed to do just that, didn't he?"
"Hai!" Sumire looked around. "So, where do we go next?"
Fujima nodded towards a nearby arcade. "How about over there?"
Sumire's eyes gleamed. "Do they have air hockey there?"
"Nani?" Fujima blinked. "What's air hockey?"
Holy… "Fujima-sempai, you don't know what air
hockey is?"
"Iie."
"You know, the one wherein two players hit a puck-like thing around a table and prevent it from reaching the little goal thing on their side?"
"Oh, THAT!" Fujima exclaimed with a laugh. "Hai, I know that one! They have that in the arcade!" He glanced at her, a mischievous smile on his face. "Do you know how to play that game?"
Sumire drew herself up, putting on a mock-imperious expression. "I'll have you know that I am one of the best air-hockey players in my family!! Are you saying you're going to play against me?"
"Why not? I'm pretty good at the game myself."
Sumire laughed, excited about playing air hockey against her companion. "You're on, Fujima-sempai!!!!"
The two of them immediately headed for the arcade, where Fujima then purchased a large batch of tokens for the both of them. They quickly looked for an air hockey table, and spent a good deal of their time – and tokens – on that game. At first Fujima had the lead, but Sumire quickly caught up. Their match had ended in a draw, though, with a 30-30 tie.
They each had twelve tokens left over, so Fujima took all of them and spent them all on the basketball free throw game. Naturally, being a player himself the game was chicken feed, and he ended up winning a LONG strip of tickets. These they exchanged at the counter for a teddy bear with gray fur for Sumire.
"This teddy bear is SO kawaii!" Sumire exclaimed as she and Fujima left the arcade. She hugged the stuffed toy tightly, pressing her cheek against the soft fur. "Arigatou, Fujima-sempai!"
Fujima chuckled, and nodded. "You're welcome, Sumire." He glanced at his watch, then at the sky. "Do you want that ice cream now, Sumire?"
Sumire perked up all the more at the mention of ice cream. "You just said the magic words, Fujima-sempai!"
Her companion laughed, and nodded towards an ice cream shop not that far away. "Let's go over there. That place serves the best ice cream in Kanagawa!"
Sumire giggled, and walked alongside Fujima, looking and feeling EXTREMELY happy. This is best day I've EVER had!! It turned out that Fujima was a wonderful companion to have around, being very kind and considerate, and always ready to do something fun. That was the kind of person she liked to have around on days out. Toru was that kind of person; never afraid to do anything for fun so long as it was harmless. When she and Toru got together for a weekend on the town, it was usually utter chaos, but fun, harmless chaos.
They walked by a record store then, and paused in front of it. Which reminds me, Toru-kun's birthday is in two weeks… Maybe I ought to get something for him right now. She turned to Fujima then. "Fujima-sempai, could you please go on ahead? I'm going to do some birthday shopping for Toru-kun."
Fujima looked ready to say no, but after a moment, he smiled, and nodded. "Okay. What kind of ice cream do you want?"
"A chocolate sundae with lots of cream and syrup," Sumire replied with a grin, to which Fujima laughed, and walked ahead to the ice cream shop. In the meantime, Sumire entered the record store, and riffled through the selection until she found the CD she wanted to buy her cousin.
As she stepped out of the store, however, she felt someone bump right into her. Ow! She turned to give the person who bumped into her a piece of her mind, but the words died in her throat when she sees just WHO bumped into her. Mi-Mitsui Hisashi?!
* * *
Mitsui stared down at the girl he had bumped into, his eyes wide with disbelief. Oh gods, it can't be…
"Oi Micchy, what are you doing holding it up?" Sakuragi asked from behind him as he came up to the front. He glanced at the girl. He blinked. "Eh? Micchy, what are you doing staring at her?"
Mitsui blinked, and shook his head. "H-hai…" He forced his eyes to move away from her, and skirted around her, trying his best not to look back. Oh gods, she's here, she's really here…and she remembers who I am…
"Oi Mitsui-san, do you know who that girl was?" Miyagi asked as he glanced up at his older teammate. "She seemed to recognize you too."
Mitsui shrugged, carefully hiding his discomfort beneath the cool mask of nonchalance. "Hai, I recognize her, but her name slips my mind. I saw her last two years ago… Odd, really, since I rarely forget the name of a pretty girl…"
He mentally sighed in relief when he heard Miyagi and Sakuragi laughing at his remark. I don't want THAT bit to get out…
It had haunted him all his life, what had happened that night two years ago. He was forced to undergo the "initiation rite" that would finally set him up as the leader of the gang he had joined. His eventual subordinates had plucked this girl from the streets, practically hog-tied her, gagged her, and dumped her in their little hideout.
He hadn't wanted to do it. Even during that time, when he was already slowly spiraling ever downwards into the pit of despair, he still held on tightly to a few morals that he wouldn't let go of. And that included forcing a girl to have sex with him when she didn't want it.
I can't believe I actually did that to her, he thought as he and Miyagi and Sakuragi headed for the movie house. I wish I could turn back time…I wish I had enough strength to just walk away from what the others wanted me to do… He shook his head sharply. What would the others think if they found out? What would Akagi and Kogure think? What would…what would Anzai-sensei think?
"Oi, Micchy!"
Mitsui jerked from his thoughts, and glanced at Sakuragi, who was lining up at the ticket booth for their tickets. "Nani?"
Hanamichi held out his hand. "Your money, Micchy. You promised we'd all chip in for this."
"Oh, yeah, right." Mitsui reached into his pocket, and pulled out the money. He only hoped that he could drown out the memory while watching a light saber fight.
* * *
Something was wrong with her. Fujima could tell as much. Something is wrong with Sumire…but the question is, what?
She had been oddly silent since she came back from her little side-trip to the record shop. Though she smiled like she usually did and she talked eagerly about what they had done that entire day, there was something in the way she picked at her chocolate sundae that told him something was amiss. The way she made as little eye contact as possible with him, the way she seemed to suddenly shy away from him…all of these pointed to something. The problem, though, was that he didn't know WHAT was the matter with her.
But for the meantime, he didn't want to pry. He just let the waves and the seagulls fill in the silence between them, the sun slowly dipping down beyond the horizon and painting the sky with a variety of reds and pinks, staining the ocean gold and scarlet.
When they found a lone bench in front of the beach, Fujima grinned, and gently took Sumire's hand, tugging her towards the bench. "Let's sit here a while, Sumire."
Sumire obliged him, and followed him towards the bench – but not before flinching a little and pulling her hand out of his.
Now Fujima was certain something was wrong. He gazed at his companion worriedly. "Daijobou ka, Sumire?"
Sumire glanced at him, eyes wide as if in fright for a moment, but then she relaxed, and nodded. "Hai, Fujima-sempai. How can I NOT be okay? We've spent such a fun day together… I only wish that Toru-kun were here to join in, though…"
Fujima tilted his head slightly in amusement. "You really love your cousin, don't you?"
"Hai. He's the only cousin I'm really close to. I mean, sure, I get along fine with the cousins I have on my mother's side of the family, but Toru-kun and I share a lot more in common." She smiled up at him. "He's the brother I never had."
"Ah." Fujima fell silent then, gazing at the ocean, deep in thought. He had spent so much time with the remarkable young woman who was sitting beside him, and he had come to adore her as more than just a mere friend.
To be completely honest I thought of her as more than a friend ever since the night I taught her how to do a jump shot, he thought amusedly. And that love had only grown as more and more days passed. He had reached the point wherein he couldn't close his eyes without seeing her face. She wandered his dreams every night, and her face was always the same: happy, brilliant smile; crystal, lilting laughter; but the eyes were sad, always infinitely sad.
That was what ate at him, what tortured his heart. What has she been hiding, he wondered as he now turned his eyes to her, gazing at her contemplative face, at the shadowed emotions that were swirling through the dark brown depths of her eyes. Ever since the day they had played against Shohoku, he had noticed things – little things, really – that had changed about her. She still laughed the same way, she still smiled the same way, but her eyes were no longer filled with the clear sunlight he had always associated with them. Until the day they had played against Shohoku, nothing had been wrong.
But what could have gone wrong? He couldn't attribute it to their loss – they had played a good game, she herself had said that. She was thoroughly proud of the team and she always let them know it. She often joked that she would rip limb from limb anyone who had the gall to insult the team. Fujima was completely certain that it wasn't because of their performance that day. But if that's the case, then what…
"Fujima-sempai?"
He blinked back to reality, and turned to Sumire, putting a smile on his face then. "Hmm? Is there something you want, Sumire?"
Sumire shivered then, and rubbed her arms. "Can we go home? I hate to cut this so short, but it's getting late."
"Ah…hai." Fujima stood up, sliding his jacket off his arms. He turned to Sumire then, and with a smile, draped it over her shoulders. "Here. To keep the cold away."
Sumire opened her mouth, and tried to protest. "Fujima-sempai-"
"Keep it for the walk back to your house," Fujima said, his tone saying that he would not change his mind.
Sumire gave him a grateful half-smile as she pulled the jacket tighter around her. "Arigatou, Fujima-sempai."
They walked back to Sumire's house, silent all the while. Sumire was lost in her own thoughts; while Fujima was busy with his own…most of them concerning her.
She looked so different at the moment. The jacket covering her slim frame made her seem smaller and frailer than Fujima imagined her to be. He was used to seeing her run around (or, more accurately, run AFTER her older cousin), and generally act a lot stronger than what he saw right now. She looked delicate, as though one breath of wind could easily knock her down. And he suddenly felt a strong urge to protect her, protect her from the world and all of its madness. He wanted to shield her like a precious glass statuette, one that he could lose easily in the maelstrom of life.
In that moment, he knew he loved her more than anything else he had ever loved. He loved her more than his family, more than his friends, more than basketball…more than life itself. She was his family, she was his friend…she was his entire life. He knew with certainty that the gods could take away everything he had, and he would still be happy…so long as they did not take Sumire away. If Sumire were to be taken away…then nothing would matter to him anymore. Life would lose all meaning, and he would just wander from day to day without really LIVING. He hadn't begun to live…until Sumire came.
They were in front of the house now, the lights inside coming on one by one as Toru prepared against the coming of night. In fact, Fujima could see his best friend's shadow as it moved from room to room. He turned to Sumire then, and smiled. "Well, I guess this is where I leave you for today, Sumire."
Sumire smiled back up at him, and for a moment, Fujima thought he caught a faint flicker of happiness in her eyes. "Arigatou again, Fujima-sempai." She removed the jacket, and handed it to him. "And thanks for the jacket too."
Fujima grinned as he took the jacket back. "It wasn't a problem." He paused a moment, taking in his fill of her face. At last, he nodded his head slightly. "Oyasumi nasai, Sumire."
Her pale pink lips turned upwards as she returned his grin. "Oyasumi nasai, Fujima-sempai."
AUTHOR'S OOC:
Harle giggling like a madwoman while leafing through a sheaf of papers: OOH-LA-LA!!!!!!! Maia, you sure know how to cook up a lemon!!!
Maia grinning a little bashfully: Thanks Harle. But you know, writing that was very, VERY draining…
Harle waves hand: Pshaw, you did GREAT!!!! It might drain most of your energy, but hey, when you write 'em, you WRITE 'EM!!!
Chibi-Toru trying to read over Harle's shoulder: Nani? Hey, let me a take a look at that, onegai!!!!
Harle whacks Chibi-Toru on the head and sends him back down: Oi, leave me alone will you?! You're not involved here, it's just between Fujima and Sumire!!!
Chibi-Sumire and Chibi-Fujima blink: Nani?
Maia rolls eyes: I don't think you ought to tell them yet, Harle. Better to keep them in the dark about it.
Harle sighs: I know, I know.
Chibi-Sumire: Keep us in the dark about what???
Harle shakes head: How am I going to keep you in the dark about it if I tell you what it is??? No, you're going to find out later… Anyway, let's get on with the fic!!!!