It's 5pm. Sendoh and Mizuki were at their favourite fishing spot. Mizuki's
bucket was already full of fish while Sendoh's bucket was empty.
"Err.Akira-kun could I borrow your bucket for today? Mine's kind of full.hehe", asked Mizuki.
Sendoh yawned and replied, "After 10 years of knowing you and I still can't figure out how you can catch so many fishes in 10 minutes."
Mizuki just stared at the sea where the water was calm and the last few rays of the sun were reflected onto the water's surface. She could feel the warm summer breeze blowing against her face as she looked far into the horizon with her ocean green eyes. She pushed back a strand of her dark purple hair behind her ear and turned to Sendoh.
"Hey Akira-kun.could you help me feed my cat for a few weeks? I have to go somewhere soon."
"A few weeks? To where?" asked Sendoh.
"Actually.it's not a few weeks .it's three years..."
"Nani?! You expect me to feed your cat for three years?!"
"Please." Mizuki stared at him with innocent puppy-looking eyes.
"Uh...okay.okay...where are you going anyway?"
"To America," Mizuki replied calmly.
"You expect me to feed your cat for three years when you're in America?! Why do you have to go there for anyway?" asked Sendoh.
"I was invited to go to America to train in a basketball academy for girls."
"What?! Since when were you good enough to go to America to train?"
"Hey I can beat you in a one on one game! Don't underestimate me!"
"But what am I going to do without my 'little sister' picking up hair gels and lemons for me?" Sendoh answered in a very pathetic way.
Sweat drops appeared on Mizuki's head as she answered, "Just remember to feed my cat, okay? You are the one who is always fighting over lemons with me and I am older than you and YOU are the one suggesting hair gels to ME. I guess you can survive for three years, ne?"
************************* 2 weeks later in America.
Aiko dribbled the ball swiftly pass all the defenders in the court and headed straight for the basket and did a lay-up. The ball went into the net neatly. It was her 50th point for the team and her team went up to lead 65- 58 during their practice game against the senior group.
"Beautiful! Go girl!" the captain of the team exclaimed.
Suddenly the doors of the gym banged open as Coach Steven walked into the gym.
"Miss Kaiokii, you were supposed to pick up the new girl from the airport 5 hours ago! What are you doing here?" the bald-headed coach asked her furiously.
"Huh? What? When? Who? Why?" Aiko stared at the coach innocently, confused. "Okay, what is he talking about?" Aiko thought to herself.
"How can you be so forgetful!!!? Remember the time I asked you to pick up the girl coming from Japan?"
Aiko thought about it for a while and mumbled, "Ohhh.bad." and rushed off to the airport.
************************* Meanwhile at the airport.
"Okay, it's been 5 hours since I arrived and nobody is here to pick me up?!" Mizuki sighed as she sat the entrance.
"When that baka who is supposed to pick me up comes, I'll give whoever it is a piece of my mind! GRR.."
Suddenly, a girl who was in a basketball attire came rushing towards the airport from a cab and was knocking practically everybody in her way down and tripping over the side walks.
"Who is that maniac?" Mizuki asked herself.
Before she knew it, the girl was already on top of her.
"Hey, what's the big idea?! What are you trying to do, kill me?" Mizuki yelled angrily.
"Gomen...gomen (sorry)." the girl standing in front of her apologized. She had long chestnut brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail.
"Hi, are you the new girl from Japan that was invited to America?" the girl asked.
Mizuki stared at her and thought to herself. "Why did they send a maniac to pick me up?"
"Come on, it's late, let's go.the coach is waiting for you." "Oh, by the way, I'm Kaiokii, Aiko Kaiokii, nice to meet you." the girl said to Mizuki while carrying one of her bags to the cab.
"Mizuki Kaioh, pleased to meet you too, I guess." "Maybe coming here isn't such a good idea after all." thought Mizuki.
********************
"Here we are." Aiko told Mizuki as she stepped out of the cab. Mizuki stared at the large building in front of her. It had the name-Basketball Academy for Girls written in gold lettering on it. "I hope I don't get lost in there." thought Mizuki.
"Follow me please, the coach wants to meet you now. You can leave your bags here, the person in charge will bring it to your room." Aiko said as she headed down the corridor to the coach's office. She opened a big wooden door at the end of the corridor.
"So, did you bring her back safely?"
Mizuki stepped into the room after Aiko and saw a bald headed man in tracksuit sitting at a desk.
"Of course I did, don't you trust me?" Aiko answered politely.
"Errr.anyway, Mizuki Kaioh, welcome to the Basketball Academy for Girls. My name is Steven Johnson, I am the head coach for this academy. We are happy to have you in the team but first, we have to see how good you are.so I suggest you have a one on one game with Aiko. Is it okay with you?" asked Coach Steven.
"Umm.it should be okay, I think." Mizuki said. "As long she doesn't knock me over again." Mizuki sighed to herself. "I don't think I can survive in this place for three years."
***********
After changing into proper attire, Mizuki headed straight for the gym.
"Oh great, I do not know where the gym is, " Mizuki threw up her hands in frustration.
After wondering around the big building, having knocked into two laboratory doors and a drink machine, not leaving out a senior who was carrying tons of books and three students who were carrying their lunch trays in the cafeteria, Mizuki finally reached the gym-ALIVE!(surprisingly) only to see girls in basketball attire looking pretty irritated with crossed arms waiting impatiently for her.
"Hehe, sorry.I got kinda lost." was all Mizuki managed to say.
"Never mind, let's just get on with the game." the coach sounded annoyed when he replied. "The first person who gets 25 points wins the game. Mizuki, I'll let you have the starting ball."
Mizuki started dribbling the ball and Aiko took her position for defence. "They shouldn't have let such an amateur play with me, what do they think I am? I could easily beat her." Mizuki thought angrily as she glared at the girl in front of her.
In a flash, Mizuki took a step back and shot a successful 3 point shot. "Don't underestimate me."
Aiko now had the possession of the ball, she dribbled it around the court slowly. Mizuki just stared at her and thought, "I could easily steal the ball from her, just watch me!" She ran towards Aiko and tried to steal the ball from her. Surprisingly, Aiko dribbled past her easily and made a beautiful DUNK! Everybody in the gym cheered, while Mizuki stared in shock at her opponent with her mouth hanging open. "She was so fast that I didn't even see her, I didn't think she'd be so good. Okay, time to be serious."
The game went on with Mizuki scoring every time she could, but Aiko easily tied back the score again. It was the final point, the score was tied 24- 24. Mizuki had the possession of the ball, she concentrated on the basket, jumped up and shot another 3- pointer that hit the rim but went back in. Breathing hard, Mizuki wiped her forehead with her sleeve and turned around only to see Aiko standing in front of her grinning.
"Congratulations! Looks like you've beat me!" the kawaii girl smiled at her happily.
"Ya.whatever.thanks to you too.I guess." Mizuki replied. "Was she even playing seriously?" This thought kept Mizuki wondering the whole night about that weird girl.
**************
The next day during lunchtime...
"I would have the fish and lemon special (sounds familiar?), please," Mizuki told the lunch lady who thought, "This girl seems to be the only one ordering this."
Mizuki carried her lunch tray and looked for a place to sit but all the tables were crowded with people. At a corner in the cafeteria, Mizuki noticed that Aiko was sitting alone. "Hai, isn't there anywhere else that I could sit.Oh well."
Mizuki walked over to where Aiko was sitting.
"Konnichiwa(good afternoon), may I sit here?" Mizuki asked uneasily.
"Sure!"
After eating in silence for a few minutes, Mizuki finally opened her mouth to break the silence.
"Hey, why are you sitting here alone? Why don't you join those other people over there." Mizuki said while pointing to a few American girls sitting in the middle of the cafeteria.
Aiko just stared at her food and did not answer her for quite a while. Finally she spoke.
"Well, don't you ever wonder why some of the girls don't bother you?"
"Hey! What do you mean by that!!! I'm new here.obviously they won't bother me!!!" Mizuki shouted. Only then did she realize that everybody in the cafeteria was staring at her.
"Ooppss.said that a little too loud." Mizuki mumbled in embarrassment.
"I thought that was it too, when I just came here. But after two years, only did I realize the people here gave me the cold shoulder just because I'm a Japanese." Aiko said quietly.
Mizuki stared at her. "I actually feel sorry for her." "I didn't know that.sorry."
"It's okay. I don't really mind." Aiko looked at Mizuki innocently.
Mizuki couldn't hold back any longer. She had to ask Aiko or she would go crazy( she's overreacting.isn't she?;)) "Umm.Aiko, about yesterday's game.did you play seriously?"
Aiko looked at Mizuki and smiled without saying anything.
"Err.Akira-kun could I borrow your bucket for today? Mine's kind of full.hehe", asked Mizuki.
Sendoh yawned and replied, "After 10 years of knowing you and I still can't figure out how you can catch so many fishes in 10 minutes."
Mizuki just stared at the sea where the water was calm and the last few rays of the sun were reflected onto the water's surface. She could feel the warm summer breeze blowing against her face as she looked far into the horizon with her ocean green eyes. She pushed back a strand of her dark purple hair behind her ear and turned to Sendoh.
"Hey Akira-kun.could you help me feed my cat for a few weeks? I have to go somewhere soon."
"A few weeks? To where?" asked Sendoh.
"Actually.it's not a few weeks .it's three years..."
"Nani?! You expect me to feed your cat for three years?!"
"Please." Mizuki stared at him with innocent puppy-looking eyes.
"Uh...okay.okay...where are you going anyway?"
"To America," Mizuki replied calmly.
"You expect me to feed your cat for three years when you're in America?! Why do you have to go there for anyway?" asked Sendoh.
"I was invited to go to America to train in a basketball academy for girls."
"What?! Since when were you good enough to go to America to train?"
"Hey I can beat you in a one on one game! Don't underestimate me!"
"But what am I going to do without my 'little sister' picking up hair gels and lemons for me?" Sendoh answered in a very pathetic way.
Sweat drops appeared on Mizuki's head as she answered, "Just remember to feed my cat, okay? You are the one who is always fighting over lemons with me and I am older than you and YOU are the one suggesting hair gels to ME. I guess you can survive for three years, ne?"
************************* 2 weeks later in America.
Aiko dribbled the ball swiftly pass all the defenders in the court and headed straight for the basket and did a lay-up. The ball went into the net neatly. It was her 50th point for the team and her team went up to lead 65- 58 during their practice game against the senior group.
"Beautiful! Go girl!" the captain of the team exclaimed.
Suddenly the doors of the gym banged open as Coach Steven walked into the gym.
"Miss Kaiokii, you were supposed to pick up the new girl from the airport 5 hours ago! What are you doing here?" the bald-headed coach asked her furiously.
"Huh? What? When? Who? Why?" Aiko stared at the coach innocently, confused. "Okay, what is he talking about?" Aiko thought to herself.
"How can you be so forgetful!!!? Remember the time I asked you to pick up the girl coming from Japan?"
Aiko thought about it for a while and mumbled, "Ohhh.bad." and rushed off to the airport.
************************* Meanwhile at the airport.
"Okay, it's been 5 hours since I arrived and nobody is here to pick me up?!" Mizuki sighed as she sat the entrance.
"When that baka who is supposed to pick me up comes, I'll give whoever it is a piece of my mind! GRR.."
Suddenly, a girl who was in a basketball attire came rushing towards the airport from a cab and was knocking practically everybody in her way down and tripping over the side walks.
"Who is that maniac?" Mizuki asked herself.
Before she knew it, the girl was already on top of her.
"Hey, what's the big idea?! What are you trying to do, kill me?" Mizuki yelled angrily.
"Gomen...gomen (sorry)." the girl standing in front of her apologized. She had long chestnut brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail.
"Hi, are you the new girl from Japan that was invited to America?" the girl asked.
Mizuki stared at her and thought to herself. "Why did they send a maniac to pick me up?"
"Come on, it's late, let's go.the coach is waiting for you." "Oh, by the way, I'm Kaiokii, Aiko Kaiokii, nice to meet you." the girl said to Mizuki while carrying one of her bags to the cab.
"Mizuki Kaioh, pleased to meet you too, I guess." "Maybe coming here isn't such a good idea after all." thought Mizuki.
********************
"Here we are." Aiko told Mizuki as she stepped out of the cab. Mizuki stared at the large building in front of her. It had the name-Basketball Academy for Girls written in gold lettering on it. "I hope I don't get lost in there." thought Mizuki.
"Follow me please, the coach wants to meet you now. You can leave your bags here, the person in charge will bring it to your room." Aiko said as she headed down the corridor to the coach's office. She opened a big wooden door at the end of the corridor.
"So, did you bring her back safely?"
Mizuki stepped into the room after Aiko and saw a bald headed man in tracksuit sitting at a desk.
"Of course I did, don't you trust me?" Aiko answered politely.
"Errr.anyway, Mizuki Kaioh, welcome to the Basketball Academy for Girls. My name is Steven Johnson, I am the head coach for this academy. We are happy to have you in the team but first, we have to see how good you are.so I suggest you have a one on one game with Aiko. Is it okay with you?" asked Coach Steven.
"Umm.it should be okay, I think." Mizuki said. "As long she doesn't knock me over again." Mizuki sighed to herself. "I don't think I can survive in this place for three years."
***********
After changing into proper attire, Mizuki headed straight for the gym.
"Oh great, I do not know where the gym is, " Mizuki threw up her hands in frustration.
After wondering around the big building, having knocked into two laboratory doors and a drink machine, not leaving out a senior who was carrying tons of books and three students who were carrying their lunch trays in the cafeteria, Mizuki finally reached the gym-ALIVE!(surprisingly) only to see girls in basketball attire looking pretty irritated with crossed arms waiting impatiently for her.
"Hehe, sorry.I got kinda lost." was all Mizuki managed to say.
"Never mind, let's just get on with the game." the coach sounded annoyed when he replied. "The first person who gets 25 points wins the game. Mizuki, I'll let you have the starting ball."
Mizuki started dribbling the ball and Aiko took her position for defence. "They shouldn't have let such an amateur play with me, what do they think I am? I could easily beat her." Mizuki thought angrily as she glared at the girl in front of her.
In a flash, Mizuki took a step back and shot a successful 3 point shot. "Don't underestimate me."
Aiko now had the possession of the ball, she dribbled it around the court slowly. Mizuki just stared at her and thought, "I could easily steal the ball from her, just watch me!" She ran towards Aiko and tried to steal the ball from her. Surprisingly, Aiko dribbled past her easily and made a beautiful DUNK! Everybody in the gym cheered, while Mizuki stared in shock at her opponent with her mouth hanging open. "She was so fast that I didn't even see her, I didn't think she'd be so good. Okay, time to be serious."
The game went on with Mizuki scoring every time she could, but Aiko easily tied back the score again. It was the final point, the score was tied 24- 24. Mizuki had the possession of the ball, she concentrated on the basket, jumped up and shot another 3- pointer that hit the rim but went back in. Breathing hard, Mizuki wiped her forehead with her sleeve and turned around only to see Aiko standing in front of her grinning.
"Congratulations! Looks like you've beat me!" the kawaii girl smiled at her happily.
"Ya.whatever.thanks to you too.I guess." Mizuki replied. "Was she even playing seriously?" This thought kept Mizuki wondering the whole night about that weird girl.
**************
The next day during lunchtime...
"I would have the fish and lemon special (sounds familiar?), please," Mizuki told the lunch lady who thought, "This girl seems to be the only one ordering this."
Mizuki carried her lunch tray and looked for a place to sit but all the tables were crowded with people. At a corner in the cafeteria, Mizuki noticed that Aiko was sitting alone. "Hai, isn't there anywhere else that I could sit.Oh well."
Mizuki walked over to where Aiko was sitting.
"Konnichiwa(good afternoon), may I sit here?" Mizuki asked uneasily.
"Sure!"
After eating in silence for a few minutes, Mizuki finally opened her mouth to break the silence.
"Hey, why are you sitting here alone? Why don't you join those other people over there." Mizuki said while pointing to a few American girls sitting in the middle of the cafeteria.
Aiko just stared at her food and did not answer her for quite a while. Finally she spoke.
"Well, don't you ever wonder why some of the girls don't bother you?"
"Hey! What do you mean by that!!! I'm new here.obviously they won't bother me!!!" Mizuki shouted. Only then did she realize that everybody in the cafeteria was staring at her.
"Ooppss.said that a little too loud." Mizuki mumbled in embarrassment.
"I thought that was it too, when I just came here. But after two years, only did I realize the people here gave me the cold shoulder just because I'm a Japanese." Aiko said quietly.
Mizuki stared at her. "I actually feel sorry for her." "I didn't know that.sorry."
"It's okay. I don't really mind." Aiko looked at Mizuki innocently.
Mizuki couldn't hold back any longer. She had to ask Aiko or she would go crazy( she's overreacting.isn't she?;)) "Umm.Aiko, about yesterday's game.did you play seriously?"
Aiko looked at Mizuki and smiled without saying anything.