Chapter Five: A Change of Pace
Mitsui pressed his cheek against the glass window of the bullet train and watched wearily as the vast countryside flashed before him. The sun intermittently peeked out from behind the thick foliage and it made Mitsui squint every time one of the sun's rays hit his eyes. It was well into the afternoon and the silence threatened to lull the ex-gangster to sleep.
To keep himself from falling asleep, Mitsui scanned the rest of what was in the train car. Each car contained 2 columns of seats with a wide aisle in the middle. Each column contained booths of 6 chairs each - 3 chairs facing another. Mitsui looked at the occupants of the seats that sat opposite his. Yasuda, Kuwata and Shiozaki were all asleep. Beside him, Miyagi was battling alien scum on his game boy. Rukawa, who sat beside Miyagi, had his head thrown back and his eyes were closed. Mitsui didn't know if he was asleep or not but he didn't dare rouse the raven-haired boy.
As Mitsui searched through the car again, he noticed that the redhead wasn't there. He must be in another car with the guntai. It came as no surprise to Mitsui - or to anybody, for that matter - as Sakuragi never said another word to Rukawa after the great walkout yesterday. This was bad news for Mitsui since his chances of winning the bet were reduced to nearly zilch. He needed to fix Rukawa and Sakuragi up before the night was over. He didn't have to plan as of the moment but he was confident he would be able to cook something up later on.
His attention shifted towards Miyagi when he heard the latter cursing. Miyagi was shaking the game boy violently and Mitsui could see "GAME OVER" flashing across the screen.
Mitsui laughed. "Looks like they toasted you man."
"It's not my fault! The 5th level is friggin' hard!" Miyagi complained, frustrated, and stuffed the game boy back into his duffel bag. He sat up straight and crossed his arms over his chest, planning to sit still for the rest of the trip. It was easier said that done, as Miyagi had found out. He could feel Mitsui staring at him and the silence gave him the urgent need to start a conversation with his annoying seatmate.
Mitsui, however, beat him to it. "So, what's your highest score?"
"2765," Miyagi replied. He fidgeted and looked down, at the slightly tangled shoelace on his left rubber shoe. He sighed in relief when Mitsui finally diverted his attention to the scenery outside the train. Miyagi knew that the older boy was planning something for the camp ahead, since he took a huge fall yesterday. Miyagi wanted to feel happy because he had won that day, but guilt brought the corners of his mouth back down whenever they felt like turning up for a smile. He had hurt Sakuragi's feelings and he had to admit, he WAS a jerk. Miyagi looked around the train car. Where was Sakuragi right now? And was he still fuming about yesterday?
Yasuda, Kuwata and Shiozaki were jolted awake when a voice came over the intercom. "Attention all passengers. We will arrive at our destination in 15 minutes. Please remain seated until the train has made a full stop."
"Thank goodness," Mitsui groaned. "We're almost there."
Miyagi allowed himself a faint smile. "As soon as we get there, I'm going to take a nice long nap."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"What the-!" Miyagi exclaimed as he entered the room he shared with Yasuda. All he wanted was to collapse on his bunk bed and sleep the rest of the afternoon away, but that didn't seem possible at the moment. The room looked like it was hit with a tornado. Clothes were littered across the room. Two large bags occupied the bed, which was supposed to be his. Miyagi faced a sheepish looking Yasuda. "What happened here Yasu?"
"Anou." was Yasuda's failed explanation, which turned out to be unnecessary when Sakuragi brushed past Miyagi as the redhead entered the room and sat on the bed.
"Hanamichi!" Miyagi complained. "You're supposed to be roommates with Rukawa and will you please get off my bed?"
"I'm not staying with that Kitsune!" Sakuragi argued as he stayed put on the bed.
"Well, I'm not staying with him! Yasu!" Miyagi called out to his friend. "You go and stay with Rukawa."
"No!" Sakuragi exclaimed, standing up. "I don't want to be roommates with an insensitive jerk like you."
Miyagi thought about a retort to that one, but came up empty. Sakuragi was right and he felt the guilt all over again. "Fine." Miyagi mumbled as he took his duffel bag. He caught Yasuda giving him an apologetic smile. Miyagi nodded, as if to say he understood. "Where's Rukawa's room."
Sakuragi smiled triumphantly at Miyagi. "It's Room 2B."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The door to room 2B was open, but Miyagi still knocked twice on the door. Rukawa had been unpacking his things when Miyagi came. Miyagi saw a slight change in Rukawa's expression when the raven-haired boy saw him. It was somewhere between surprise and inquiry.
"Hanamichi is staying in my room. Hope you don't mind." Miyagi said. Rukawa gave a small shrug before returning to his task. Miyagi took it as a goal signal and entered the room. The room was about the same size as his except that it had a perfect view of the ocean, as Miyagi learned as he approached the other bed. The window overlooking the ocean was above the bed and Miyagi caught a whiff of salty sea breeze as he laid his bag on the foot of the empty bed.
Miyagi kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the bed. "Thank goodness," he groaned and closed his eyes. "I'm so tired that I could sleep through the campfire." He opened an eye and saw Rukawa moving towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"Out," was Rukawa's short reply. Miyagi shrugged and closed his eye. This is better, in any case. The quiet ambiance was making him drowsy and he felt sleep coming very soon.
"That's so unfair! You cheat!"
Miyagi groaned and opened his eyes. "What the~"
"What did you tell him?"
Miyagi sat up in bed. Mitsui was standing on the doorway looking at him with an accusatory glare. "What do you mean?"
"You planned this didn't you? If Rukawa is your roommate, you'll be able to talk to him about the bet! You're planning to cheat!"
Miyagi groaned again. He felt sleep completely abandoning him. "Look! First of all, you're the one who's doing all the cheating! And second, I don't think talk is something you can do with Rukawa!"
"Then how~"
"Sakuragi claimed ownership of my room with my roommate included, okay? Being roommates with Rukawa is not exactly the greatest thing on earth."
Mitsui seemed to calm down a bit. "Fine. Why don't you go take my room instead? I'll stay here."
"Nice try." Miyagi sneered. "I don't trust you with Rukawa-"
"-And I don't trust you with Sakuragi." Mitsui interrupted. "So what if I tell Ishii to come here, and you can bunk with me?"
"I don't trust you with me either." Miyagi deadpanned.
"Well, at least if we're roommates, you can keep an eye on me." Mitsui offered.
"I'm not interested. I can keep an eye on you during the camp," Miyagi replied gruffly. The lack of rest was getting to him. "Go away. I want to sleep."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"I've got sand on my sandals," Miyagi mused as he shook the sand off his rubber sandals. He was leisurely walking towards the campfire one hour late, but he guessed that no one would care anyway. He could see the campfire clearly from where he was standing.
As he approached the site, he saw a small nipa hut bar on the other side of the campsite. There were benches scattered around the fire. Students were milling around everywhere. The sound system bleared reggae dance music that hurt Miyagi's eardrums. He was still sleepy and tired. He had woken up from his nap 10 minutes after the campfire started. Rukawa hadn't even bothered to wake him up.
He could recognize from which school everyone was from by the school logo on his or her T-shirts. Miyagi checked out his own getup. He was wearing his white Shohoku Basketball Team T-shirt, shorts and rubber sandals. Pretty decent compared to some of the partygoers who chose to bear a little skin.
He decided to go to the bar first. As he approached the nipa hut, he searched for some familiar faces. There were some lovers cuddling by the fire and he saw the Sakuragi guntai trying to charm the local girls. There was no sign of Sakuragi though. He couldn't see Rukawa either. Could they be together right now?
He sat on a bar stool and ordered a fruit shake. He figured it wouldn't be safe to get drunk this early and Miyagi suspected that they put a little bit of gin on every non-alcoholic drink served.
He caught a glance of the Ryonan High T-shirt the guy seated next to him was wearing. He looked at the guy's face and recognized it immediately. "You're Koshino Hiroaki, right?"
Koshino gave him a glare that said, 'Duh'. "What are you doing here?"
"I just arrived," Miyagi explained. "What are you doing here, all alone?"
"Hiding," was Koshino's flat answer. He gulped down his margarita and ordered another one. "Do me a favor okay?" Koshino faced Miyagi. "If you see Sendoh approaching warn me."
"Err," Miyagi began. "He's right behind you."
Koshino's eyes widened and he turned around quickly. "You!"
Sendoh flashed his usual wide smile. "Hiro-kun! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Koshino narrowed his eyes at Sendoh. "Did it every occur to you that I might now want to be found?"
Sendoh, unfazed by Koshino's cold behavior, reached out and hugged him tightly. "Nonsense! My Hiro-kun would never want to be separated from his only love ne?"
Miyagi's eyes widened. "Don't tell me," he began, pointing a finger at the two lovers. "Are you guys."
"Now look at what you've done Akira!" Koshino reprimanded his boyfriend. "You freaked him out!"
Sendoh blinked in confusion and looked at Miyagi. "I did?"
Miyagi was still staring at Koshino and Sendoh, shocked, when he realized that question was directed at him. "Err, it's okay," he said, making a quick recovery. "Believe me. These past few days, I've been getting de- sensitized slowly."
Sendoh flashed a huge smile at Koshino. "See? No harm done."
Koshino made a retort to that but Miyagi did not listen to it. He turned his attention back to his fruit shake and didn't mind the little lover's squabble taking place beside him. He was vaguely aware that Koshino had stepped off the stool and walked away, with Sendoh rushing after him. Miyagi caught bits and pieced of their conversation, with Koshino screaming at Sendoh for 'Not giving him enough personal space.'
Miyagi shook his head. This was too much information to digest. Sendoh and Koshino? How many basketball players were actually gay? Panicking, Miyagi turned and scanned the crowd. How many of the people here are actually gay?
"Would this be all?"
"Huh?" Miyagi turned his head and saw that the bartender was talking to him. He looked down and realized that his glass was empty.
"Want something else?"
"Right," Miyagi said, massaging his temples. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Give me the strongest thing you've got."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Miyagi roamed around the campfire, a little bit tipsy. He didn't bring a watch, but he knew it was getting late. The partygoers had retired to bed and only the lovers remained. The music had toned down several notched. Many people who were dancing around the campfire a while ago had now gathered around the patio tables and have engaged in small talk.
"Hi!"
Miyagi turned towards the source of the greeting and came face-to-face with a guy his age. The guy had bleached blonde hair up to his shoulders and was a few centimeters taller than Miyagi. "Hey," Miyagi said weakly. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation.
"Aren't you that point guard from Shohoku?" The guy asked, eyeing Miyagi's T-shirt.
"Right. I'm Miyagi Ryota. And you are--?"
The guy flashed a smile that reminded him of Sendoh. "Machima Keijo from Takezato." Keijo took Miyagi's hand and shook it. "How you play is simply wonderful! I'm a point guard myself."
"Err, that's great," Miyagi said, annoyed at Keijo's over enthusiastic attitude and how vigorously he was shaking his hand.
"I saw you walking around," Keijo continued. "Are you alone?"
"Kinda," Miyagi replied, slightly uncomfortable. "I'm looking for my teammates."
Keijo's eyes suddenly lit up. "Why don't we have a drink and talk about stuff? You know, you really look good on court."
Miyagi groaned and closed his eyes. 'Oh god, don't tell me he's one of them,' he thought. Suddenly, he felt someone's arm slip around his shoulder. His eyes flew open. "Keijo!"
With his eyes open, he saw that Keiko was still where he was standing a while ago. He turned and saw that it was Mitsui who was holding him.
"Hi honey," Mitsui said casually, tightening his hold on Miyagi. "Whatcha doin?"
Keijo's jaw dropped. "Mitsui Hisashi! So," he stammered, taking a step back. "Are you guys dating?" He looked at Miyagi, then at Mitsui.
Before Miyagi could disagree, Mitsui bent down and kissed Miyagi on the forehead. "Right," Mitsui said with a nod. "I was just by the bar honey, I'm sorry I left you all alone."
Miyagi gave Mitsui a forced smile then looked away. He would have punched Mitsui for touching him, but he had to admit, Mitsui was doing a fine job of taking care of this Keijo jerk. Mitsui was acting like a possessive boyfriend telling another guy to back off. Scanning the area, Miyagi caught Ayako looking at him with an inquiring stare. Miyagi simply shrugged at Ayako and hoped that she wouldn't get the wrong idea about the situation.
"Huh?" Miyagi asked. He had heard Mitsui asking him a question.
"I said, let's go to bed soon. I'm pretty tired."
"Um, right. Sure. Whatever." Miyagi mumbled.
"Oh!" Keijo said suddenly as if he found a way to make a graceful exit. "I'll leave you guys now. I'm getting pretty tired myself. I'm really sorry Mitsui san. I didn't know. All I wanted was to have a drink and maybe a little chat. You know-"
"It's okay." Mitsui interrupted with a smile, before Keijo can go on any further. "I understand."
"Thank you!" Keijo said with a bow. Without another word, he ran off towards the cabins.
Mitsui laughed. "Look at him go! He must be a point guard, with all that speed."
"He is, actually," Miyagi grumbled, brushing Mitsui's hand off his shoulder. He faced Mitsui and for the first time, got a good look at him. Mitsui was wearing loose shorts and rubber sandals. No shirt.
Miyagi gulped and looked up to face Mitsui. "I guess you're expecting me to thank you."
Mitsui laughed again. "Nah. I have to protect my interests anyway." He took Miyagi by the hand. "Let's go sit by the fire."
"I don't think so. I have to -"
"I saw Sakuragi there," Mitsui interrupted.
Miyagi looked at the hand holding his for a long time. "Sure, let's go," he finally said.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"So." Miyagi began, as they sat down on some logs by the fire. "Where's Hanamichi?"
Mitsui pointed at Sakuragi, who was alone and leaning against a tree that acted as a post of the nipa hut bar. The sad look on his face made Miyagi feel guilty. "I think I should talk to him." Miyagi whispered.
"Not now," Mitsui prompted. "Look."
Just then, Rukawa approached Sakuragi. Miyagi saw Rukawa's lips move as he whispered something in Sakuragi's ear. Sakuragi turned his face towards the opposite direction, obviously in deep thought. Rukawa took Sakuragi's hand and squeezed it lightly. Sakuragi looked down at his hand, and then said something back to Rukawa.
Miyagi was about to stand up when Mitsui stopped him. "Don't," Mitsui pleaded. "They need to sort out some things."
Miyagi looked at Sakuragi and Rukawa. Judging by the smile forming on Sakuragi's lips, he knew that they were making up, which was very bad for him. Miyagi faced Mitsui. "Look, Im glad that Hanamichi is happy now, but Rukawa is just gonna hurt him in the end because there's no such thing as love in these relationships."
Mitsui looked at the fire as it burned slowly. "I believe Rukawa loves Sakuragi."
Miyagi sneered. "You don't even believe in love."
"I do, okay?"
"Look," Miyagi said, raising his voice a little bit. "If you believe in love then you wouldn't be playing with people's emotions. Do you know how many people you've hurt? You don't even know the first thing about falling in love!"
"Oh I know about falling in love!" Mitsui turned to face Miyagi. Miyagi could see hurt in Mitsui eyes. "I've fallen in love and I know how it feels!"
Miyagi shook his head in disbelief. "You're lying."
"No I'm not," Mitsui gazed at the fire again. It was back when I was still a freshman here. He was everything to me. I can't believe that until now, it still haunts me."
"Until now? You mean he's still around?"
"Ryota," Mitsui began, hesitating. "It's Chujiro."
"Chujiro." Miyagi mused. He heard the name before. Wait a minute. No way! Him?
"Chujiro.. Chujiro Hideki?"
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Sorry this took so long minna. Please C&C. This is dedicated to my muse Mayumi and dearest Natasha. What's up girls!!!
Mitsui pressed his cheek against the glass window of the bullet train and watched wearily as the vast countryside flashed before him. The sun intermittently peeked out from behind the thick foliage and it made Mitsui squint every time one of the sun's rays hit his eyes. It was well into the afternoon and the silence threatened to lull the ex-gangster to sleep.
To keep himself from falling asleep, Mitsui scanned the rest of what was in the train car. Each car contained 2 columns of seats with a wide aisle in the middle. Each column contained booths of 6 chairs each - 3 chairs facing another. Mitsui looked at the occupants of the seats that sat opposite his. Yasuda, Kuwata and Shiozaki were all asleep. Beside him, Miyagi was battling alien scum on his game boy. Rukawa, who sat beside Miyagi, had his head thrown back and his eyes were closed. Mitsui didn't know if he was asleep or not but he didn't dare rouse the raven-haired boy.
As Mitsui searched through the car again, he noticed that the redhead wasn't there. He must be in another car with the guntai. It came as no surprise to Mitsui - or to anybody, for that matter - as Sakuragi never said another word to Rukawa after the great walkout yesterday. This was bad news for Mitsui since his chances of winning the bet were reduced to nearly zilch. He needed to fix Rukawa and Sakuragi up before the night was over. He didn't have to plan as of the moment but he was confident he would be able to cook something up later on.
His attention shifted towards Miyagi when he heard the latter cursing. Miyagi was shaking the game boy violently and Mitsui could see "GAME OVER" flashing across the screen.
Mitsui laughed. "Looks like they toasted you man."
"It's not my fault! The 5th level is friggin' hard!" Miyagi complained, frustrated, and stuffed the game boy back into his duffel bag. He sat up straight and crossed his arms over his chest, planning to sit still for the rest of the trip. It was easier said that done, as Miyagi had found out. He could feel Mitsui staring at him and the silence gave him the urgent need to start a conversation with his annoying seatmate.
Mitsui, however, beat him to it. "So, what's your highest score?"
"2765," Miyagi replied. He fidgeted and looked down, at the slightly tangled shoelace on his left rubber shoe. He sighed in relief when Mitsui finally diverted his attention to the scenery outside the train. Miyagi knew that the older boy was planning something for the camp ahead, since he took a huge fall yesterday. Miyagi wanted to feel happy because he had won that day, but guilt brought the corners of his mouth back down whenever they felt like turning up for a smile. He had hurt Sakuragi's feelings and he had to admit, he WAS a jerk. Miyagi looked around the train car. Where was Sakuragi right now? And was he still fuming about yesterday?
Yasuda, Kuwata and Shiozaki were jolted awake when a voice came over the intercom. "Attention all passengers. We will arrive at our destination in 15 minutes. Please remain seated until the train has made a full stop."
"Thank goodness," Mitsui groaned. "We're almost there."
Miyagi allowed himself a faint smile. "As soon as we get there, I'm going to take a nice long nap."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"What the-!" Miyagi exclaimed as he entered the room he shared with Yasuda. All he wanted was to collapse on his bunk bed and sleep the rest of the afternoon away, but that didn't seem possible at the moment. The room looked like it was hit with a tornado. Clothes were littered across the room. Two large bags occupied the bed, which was supposed to be his. Miyagi faced a sheepish looking Yasuda. "What happened here Yasu?"
"Anou." was Yasuda's failed explanation, which turned out to be unnecessary when Sakuragi brushed past Miyagi as the redhead entered the room and sat on the bed.
"Hanamichi!" Miyagi complained. "You're supposed to be roommates with Rukawa and will you please get off my bed?"
"I'm not staying with that Kitsune!" Sakuragi argued as he stayed put on the bed.
"Well, I'm not staying with him! Yasu!" Miyagi called out to his friend. "You go and stay with Rukawa."
"No!" Sakuragi exclaimed, standing up. "I don't want to be roommates with an insensitive jerk like you."
Miyagi thought about a retort to that one, but came up empty. Sakuragi was right and he felt the guilt all over again. "Fine." Miyagi mumbled as he took his duffel bag. He caught Yasuda giving him an apologetic smile. Miyagi nodded, as if to say he understood. "Where's Rukawa's room."
Sakuragi smiled triumphantly at Miyagi. "It's Room 2B."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The door to room 2B was open, but Miyagi still knocked twice on the door. Rukawa had been unpacking his things when Miyagi came. Miyagi saw a slight change in Rukawa's expression when the raven-haired boy saw him. It was somewhere between surprise and inquiry.
"Hanamichi is staying in my room. Hope you don't mind." Miyagi said. Rukawa gave a small shrug before returning to his task. Miyagi took it as a goal signal and entered the room. The room was about the same size as his except that it had a perfect view of the ocean, as Miyagi learned as he approached the other bed. The window overlooking the ocean was above the bed and Miyagi caught a whiff of salty sea breeze as he laid his bag on the foot of the empty bed.
Miyagi kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the bed. "Thank goodness," he groaned and closed his eyes. "I'm so tired that I could sleep through the campfire." He opened an eye and saw Rukawa moving towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"Out," was Rukawa's short reply. Miyagi shrugged and closed his eye. This is better, in any case. The quiet ambiance was making him drowsy and he felt sleep coming very soon.
"That's so unfair! You cheat!"
Miyagi groaned and opened his eyes. "What the~"
"What did you tell him?"
Miyagi sat up in bed. Mitsui was standing on the doorway looking at him with an accusatory glare. "What do you mean?"
"You planned this didn't you? If Rukawa is your roommate, you'll be able to talk to him about the bet! You're planning to cheat!"
Miyagi groaned again. He felt sleep completely abandoning him. "Look! First of all, you're the one who's doing all the cheating! And second, I don't think talk is something you can do with Rukawa!"
"Then how~"
"Sakuragi claimed ownership of my room with my roommate included, okay? Being roommates with Rukawa is not exactly the greatest thing on earth."
Mitsui seemed to calm down a bit. "Fine. Why don't you go take my room instead? I'll stay here."
"Nice try." Miyagi sneered. "I don't trust you with Rukawa-"
"-And I don't trust you with Sakuragi." Mitsui interrupted. "So what if I tell Ishii to come here, and you can bunk with me?"
"I don't trust you with me either." Miyagi deadpanned.
"Well, at least if we're roommates, you can keep an eye on me." Mitsui offered.
"I'm not interested. I can keep an eye on you during the camp," Miyagi replied gruffly. The lack of rest was getting to him. "Go away. I want to sleep."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"I've got sand on my sandals," Miyagi mused as he shook the sand off his rubber sandals. He was leisurely walking towards the campfire one hour late, but he guessed that no one would care anyway. He could see the campfire clearly from where he was standing.
As he approached the site, he saw a small nipa hut bar on the other side of the campsite. There were benches scattered around the fire. Students were milling around everywhere. The sound system bleared reggae dance music that hurt Miyagi's eardrums. He was still sleepy and tired. He had woken up from his nap 10 minutes after the campfire started. Rukawa hadn't even bothered to wake him up.
He could recognize from which school everyone was from by the school logo on his or her T-shirts. Miyagi checked out his own getup. He was wearing his white Shohoku Basketball Team T-shirt, shorts and rubber sandals. Pretty decent compared to some of the partygoers who chose to bear a little skin.
He decided to go to the bar first. As he approached the nipa hut, he searched for some familiar faces. There were some lovers cuddling by the fire and he saw the Sakuragi guntai trying to charm the local girls. There was no sign of Sakuragi though. He couldn't see Rukawa either. Could they be together right now?
He sat on a bar stool and ordered a fruit shake. He figured it wouldn't be safe to get drunk this early and Miyagi suspected that they put a little bit of gin on every non-alcoholic drink served.
He caught a glance of the Ryonan High T-shirt the guy seated next to him was wearing. He looked at the guy's face and recognized it immediately. "You're Koshino Hiroaki, right?"
Koshino gave him a glare that said, 'Duh'. "What are you doing here?"
"I just arrived," Miyagi explained. "What are you doing here, all alone?"
"Hiding," was Koshino's flat answer. He gulped down his margarita and ordered another one. "Do me a favor okay?" Koshino faced Miyagi. "If you see Sendoh approaching warn me."
"Err," Miyagi began. "He's right behind you."
Koshino's eyes widened and he turned around quickly. "You!"
Sendoh flashed his usual wide smile. "Hiro-kun! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Koshino narrowed his eyes at Sendoh. "Did it every occur to you that I might now want to be found?"
Sendoh, unfazed by Koshino's cold behavior, reached out and hugged him tightly. "Nonsense! My Hiro-kun would never want to be separated from his only love ne?"
Miyagi's eyes widened. "Don't tell me," he began, pointing a finger at the two lovers. "Are you guys."
"Now look at what you've done Akira!" Koshino reprimanded his boyfriend. "You freaked him out!"
Sendoh blinked in confusion and looked at Miyagi. "I did?"
Miyagi was still staring at Koshino and Sendoh, shocked, when he realized that question was directed at him. "Err, it's okay," he said, making a quick recovery. "Believe me. These past few days, I've been getting de- sensitized slowly."
Sendoh flashed a huge smile at Koshino. "See? No harm done."
Koshino made a retort to that but Miyagi did not listen to it. He turned his attention back to his fruit shake and didn't mind the little lover's squabble taking place beside him. He was vaguely aware that Koshino had stepped off the stool and walked away, with Sendoh rushing after him. Miyagi caught bits and pieced of their conversation, with Koshino screaming at Sendoh for 'Not giving him enough personal space.'
Miyagi shook his head. This was too much information to digest. Sendoh and Koshino? How many basketball players were actually gay? Panicking, Miyagi turned and scanned the crowd. How many of the people here are actually gay?
"Would this be all?"
"Huh?" Miyagi turned his head and saw that the bartender was talking to him. He looked down and realized that his glass was empty.
"Want something else?"
"Right," Miyagi said, massaging his temples. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Give me the strongest thing you've got."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Miyagi roamed around the campfire, a little bit tipsy. He didn't bring a watch, but he knew it was getting late. The partygoers had retired to bed and only the lovers remained. The music had toned down several notched. Many people who were dancing around the campfire a while ago had now gathered around the patio tables and have engaged in small talk.
"Hi!"
Miyagi turned towards the source of the greeting and came face-to-face with a guy his age. The guy had bleached blonde hair up to his shoulders and was a few centimeters taller than Miyagi. "Hey," Miyagi said weakly. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation.
"Aren't you that point guard from Shohoku?" The guy asked, eyeing Miyagi's T-shirt.
"Right. I'm Miyagi Ryota. And you are--?"
The guy flashed a smile that reminded him of Sendoh. "Machima Keijo from Takezato." Keijo took Miyagi's hand and shook it. "How you play is simply wonderful! I'm a point guard myself."
"Err, that's great," Miyagi said, annoyed at Keijo's over enthusiastic attitude and how vigorously he was shaking his hand.
"I saw you walking around," Keijo continued. "Are you alone?"
"Kinda," Miyagi replied, slightly uncomfortable. "I'm looking for my teammates."
Keijo's eyes suddenly lit up. "Why don't we have a drink and talk about stuff? You know, you really look good on court."
Miyagi groaned and closed his eyes. 'Oh god, don't tell me he's one of them,' he thought. Suddenly, he felt someone's arm slip around his shoulder. His eyes flew open. "Keijo!"
With his eyes open, he saw that Keiko was still where he was standing a while ago. He turned and saw that it was Mitsui who was holding him.
"Hi honey," Mitsui said casually, tightening his hold on Miyagi. "Whatcha doin?"
Keijo's jaw dropped. "Mitsui Hisashi! So," he stammered, taking a step back. "Are you guys dating?" He looked at Miyagi, then at Mitsui.
Before Miyagi could disagree, Mitsui bent down and kissed Miyagi on the forehead. "Right," Mitsui said with a nod. "I was just by the bar honey, I'm sorry I left you all alone."
Miyagi gave Mitsui a forced smile then looked away. He would have punched Mitsui for touching him, but he had to admit, Mitsui was doing a fine job of taking care of this Keijo jerk. Mitsui was acting like a possessive boyfriend telling another guy to back off. Scanning the area, Miyagi caught Ayako looking at him with an inquiring stare. Miyagi simply shrugged at Ayako and hoped that she wouldn't get the wrong idea about the situation.
"Huh?" Miyagi asked. He had heard Mitsui asking him a question.
"I said, let's go to bed soon. I'm pretty tired."
"Um, right. Sure. Whatever." Miyagi mumbled.
"Oh!" Keijo said suddenly as if he found a way to make a graceful exit. "I'll leave you guys now. I'm getting pretty tired myself. I'm really sorry Mitsui san. I didn't know. All I wanted was to have a drink and maybe a little chat. You know-"
"It's okay." Mitsui interrupted with a smile, before Keijo can go on any further. "I understand."
"Thank you!" Keijo said with a bow. Without another word, he ran off towards the cabins.
Mitsui laughed. "Look at him go! He must be a point guard, with all that speed."
"He is, actually," Miyagi grumbled, brushing Mitsui's hand off his shoulder. He faced Mitsui and for the first time, got a good look at him. Mitsui was wearing loose shorts and rubber sandals. No shirt.
Miyagi gulped and looked up to face Mitsui. "I guess you're expecting me to thank you."
Mitsui laughed again. "Nah. I have to protect my interests anyway." He took Miyagi by the hand. "Let's go sit by the fire."
"I don't think so. I have to -"
"I saw Sakuragi there," Mitsui interrupted.
Miyagi looked at the hand holding his for a long time. "Sure, let's go," he finally said.
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"So." Miyagi began, as they sat down on some logs by the fire. "Where's Hanamichi?"
Mitsui pointed at Sakuragi, who was alone and leaning against a tree that acted as a post of the nipa hut bar. The sad look on his face made Miyagi feel guilty. "I think I should talk to him." Miyagi whispered.
"Not now," Mitsui prompted. "Look."
Just then, Rukawa approached Sakuragi. Miyagi saw Rukawa's lips move as he whispered something in Sakuragi's ear. Sakuragi turned his face towards the opposite direction, obviously in deep thought. Rukawa took Sakuragi's hand and squeezed it lightly. Sakuragi looked down at his hand, and then said something back to Rukawa.
Miyagi was about to stand up when Mitsui stopped him. "Don't," Mitsui pleaded. "They need to sort out some things."
Miyagi looked at Sakuragi and Rukawa. Judging by the smile forming on Sakuragi's lips, he knew that they were making up, which was very bad for him. Miyagi faced Mitsui. "Look, Im glad that Hanamichi is happy now, but Rukawa is just gonna hurt him in the end because there's no such thing as love in these relationships."
Mitsui looked at the fire as it burned slowly. "I believe Rukawa loves Sakuragi."
Miyagi sneered. "You don't even believe in love."
"I do, okay?"
"Look," Miyagi said, raising his voice a little bit. "If you believe in love then you wouldn't be playing with people's emotions. Do you know how many people you've hurt? You don't even know the first thing about falling in love!"
"Oh I know about falling in love!" Mitsui turned to face Miyagi. Miyagi could see hurt in Mitsui eyes. "I've fallen in love and I know how it feels!"
Miyagi shook his head in disbelief. "You're lying."
"No I'm not," Mitsui gazed at the fire again. It was back when I was still a freshman here. He was everything to me. I can't believe that until now, it still haunts me."
"Until now? You mean he's still around?"
"Ryota," Mitsui began, hesitating. "It's Chujiro."
"Chujiro." Miyagi mused. He heard the name before. Wait a minute. No way! Him?
"Chujiro.. Chujiro Hideki?"
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Sorry this took so long minna. Please C&C. This is dedicated to my muse Mayumi and dearest Natasha. What's up girls!!!