Nya~! Hontou ni GOMEN! This fic is dragging really long....so I decided to do the sequel of ICBG(Behind the Smile) while doing this! Well...um...
sakura2814 thanks for constantly supporting me! ^.~!
Jen-chan Don't get too much stress and don't worry yourself in school! I'm still in school...hehe...I get a holiday early September, but updates may take a while coz I've got extra tuition during the one-week holiday....!
So...on with the story...
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Yuki's POV
When I arrived at the Hokkaido airport, I was all alone. None of my relatives came to take me from the airport. Darn. I had to take the cab to some hospital. Anyway, I expected this a long time ago. My dad wasn't looked up to in the Haragiri family, being the one who was too ambitious but not sucessful. I didn't even know the name of the hospital my grandma was in. Once I took all my luggages, I stopped a cab. I told the taxi driver to go to the road I lived in. Hokkaido was as cold as usual. As I thought of Tokyo, I reminded myself about the cheery red-headed kid in my school, Eiji Kikumaru. I felt really sorry for not telling him about this in advance, but either way, he won't be able to follow me to Hokkaido. Anyway, Hokkaido's a safe, small town, not like a big city like Tokyo.
Eiji's POV
Last night, I was really puzzled at Yuki's actions. Why would she suddenly want to go back to Hokkaido? Finally, I decided to turn to my best friend, Oishi.
"Nanjaroh hoi hoi, Oishi,"I said without any enthusiasm over the phone.
"Hey, Eiji. You seem depressed today. Anything wrong?"said Oishi worriedly. It was typical of him to notice that, otherwise he wouldn't be known as the Mother of Seigaku.
"Hey, one question for you, Oishi. If you liked this girl, and she just told you over the phone that she went somewhere really far, what'd you do?"
"Ah? Why are you suddenly asking this question?"
"Just answer, Oishi."
"Well, if I know where she is, I'd go looking for her. Simple as that."
"AHHH! ARIGATO, OISHI! THAT JUST SOLVED MY PROBLEM! JA~!"I shouted over the phone. Yippee! Why didn't I think of going to Hokkaido to look for Yuki? Oishi sometimes was the smartest. Wait. I needed to tell the obaa-san about my absence first, or else I've got to drink Inui's horrifying Penal-Tea. And I wonder how Yuki can stand such stuff. I especially think the orange stuff was the worst. Actually, all the juices are equally bad.
I picked up the phone once again and dialed the obaa-san's house number. Her kawaii granddaughter picked it up.
"Ano, this is Ryuzaki residence,"said the girl timidly over the phone. She was still timid even if she was talking on the phone.
"Nanjaroh hoi hoi, is obaa...whoops! I mean, Ryuzaki-sensei here?"I chirped in happily.
"Ano, chotto matte kudasai."
"Hello? Kikumaru? Anything you need me for?"asked the middle-aged woman.
"Hoi, obaa-san, d'ya know where's Yuki?"
"Oh, she's in Hokkaido, visiting her sick grandmother in the hospital."
"NANI?! She didn't tell me anything about her grandma being sick!"
"I don't know, that's what she told me."
"Oi, obaa-san, I'll be absent for a week, ok? Bye!"I yelled before putting down the phone. I was definite to go to Hokkaido the next day. I told the news to my sister, as my parents were often busy with work. My sister couldn't stop me, and just let me go to Hokkaido. I packed all my favourite toothpastes and my Kuma Daigoro. Hokkaido, here I come!
Yuki's POV
Once I reached home, it was dark. No one at all was at home. Well, what could one expect being the orphan in the Haragiri family? All my aunts and uncles looked up to power and position. Nevertheless, I was lucky to have obaa-san. She was the one who stood by my side everytime. Now, I'm gonna be the one by her side, I hope.
I picked up my cell phone and dialed my aunt's cell phone number.
"Moshi moshi, it's Haragiri Chiharu."
"Aunt? It's Yuki. I'm back in Hokkaido, in the main house."
"Ah! Yuki! Come right now to the Hokkaido Hospital, okay?"
"Hai,"I said before putting down the phone. Since the hospital was nearby, I decided to cycle my way there. After all, it was useless to try call for a cab as it's the peak hour now. 8 AM, Saturday morning.
While cycling, I thought of my aunts. There was aunt Fumi, who was really the one who hungered for power and status. At least aunt Miko wasn't that bad. The most humble one was aunt Chiharu, though. I never met my cousins before. I just wondered how they looked like, since I was always cooped up in my room whenever there was a family gathering. I just hated all those glares thrown by my aunts and uncles.
It took me only 20 minutes to get to the Hokkaido Hospital. I locked my bicycle by the railing and rushed inside the hospital. I diverted my attention to the receptionist there. She wore a cold look on her face, probably bored of looking at everyone's worried looks.
"Haragiri Tsuki, please,"I said, hoping to cheer her up a little. Nevertheless, she just gave me a bored look, and searched for my grandma's name in the book of patients.
"Floor 6, Room 68,"she replied abruptly.
"Hai, arigato,"I replied politely before advancing to the lifts. Suddenly, I bumped into this red-headed guy.
"Gomen!"I said.
"Itai yo..."he groaned quietly. I gave a gasp as I saw who it seemed to be ; Kikumaru.
"EIJI! What're you doing here?"
"Ah? Who Eiji?"that guy said, puzzled. When I carefully looked at him, it wasn't Eiji at all.
"Gomen, gomen.."I murmured.
"It's alright."
"You sure?"
"I think you're the one who needs a checkup. What a sudden outburst."
"Gomen, you really looked like some guy I know in Tokyo."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Soon, the both of us began talking. I got to know his name, Kyoichi Haruda. Kyoichi was a nice guy, and both of us could talk for ages. In the lift up to the 6th floor(where he was headed to too), I felt as if we knew each other for ages. Finally, I reached room 68.
"Yo, see you sometime. I've got your Hokkaido and Tokyo number, so I'll call you sometime,"said Kyoichi with a grin. I smiled back at him and waved him goodbye.
Opening the door to my grandmother's room, I was astonished by the number of get-well card she recieved. With her was aunt Chiharu.
"Gomen, Yuki. I would have gotten you from the airport, but I didn't know when your flight was arriving, so I decided to wait for your call,"said aunt Chiharu. As far as I know, I think she's the only relative of mine who cares about me.
"No sweat, aunt. I cycled all the way here. The breeze's great. How's obaa-san?"
"She's doing fine. Yo, obaa-san..."
"Oh, ah? Ah! Yuki! How're you!"said my half-awake grandmother. She looked younger than usual with her green hair let down nicely.
"Fine, obaa-san. I should be the one asking about you. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah...daijoubu..just a stupid ball in my way and I could have beaten that smiling Banji,"said my grandmother. It seemed that the Banji guy was her rival.
"Too bad...he came all the way from Tokyo to play against me. You know him, Yuki? The coach of the Yamabuki Tennis Club,"continued my grandmother. The name Yamabuki sounded familiar, though.
"Oh yea! I think I know him! The grinning old man, right? The stupid coach of Yamabuki. Luckily Seigaku thrashed them!"I exclaimed with Seigaku patriotism.
"Hm...I knew Sumire won't let Seigaku down. Anyway, I used to be in Seigaku too when I was younger,"said my grandmother.
"NANI?! You mean you used to be in Seishun Gakuen?"
"Why not? I was from Tokyo, you know? There were a couple of us good players there.....I was supposed to be coaching them too, but I just thought of going to the outdoors and therefore, I moved to Hokkaido."
"Cool, obaa-san."
"So, how's Seigaku going on?"
"Fine, I suppose."
"Good! I knew Sumire won't let me down too!"
"You know what, obaa-san? We're gonna make it to the national tournaments. I'm gonna make sure that Seigaku's gonna be there. Same with all my other teammates."
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Hehe...alot of Seigaku patriotism.....^^;; GO GO GO SEIGAKU!..I'll get the ICBG sequel done....matte ne~!
