Chapter 22: Farewell party
In the classroom of 1-10...
"You have 5 more minutes before the time is up. Please make sure that you have written down your name..."
It was the last day of the final semester exam week, and the students were sitting for their last paper. With only 5 minutes left before the paper was collected, half of the students were scribbling furiously on their paper, while some of them were looking through their paper for the last time. A handful were tapping their fingers on the table or twirling their pens, waiting for the 5 minutes to be over, while one particular raven-haired boy had been snoring away since half an hour before (do we have to ask who?).
Next to him, Hanayuki was staring into space.
Hmm... today is the last day of the exam week. Time really flies. It's been almost 4 months since the National Championships. It's just too bad that we didn't have enough stamina to go all the way to the finals. Oh well, no point mourning over it now. At least, next year we'll be rated as an A team. Maybe even AA...
Wait a minute. I sound so confident that we're going to make it again to the National Championships next year. smile Silly me... of course I'm confident! We are going to make it again next year. Geez... how silly can anyone get?
Oniichan came back from the rehabilitation centre where he was being treated for his back last month. I'm so glad that his back wasn't hurt too badly. He was a little rusty at first, I mean, who wouldn't, after having to stay off basketball for almost 4 months. But, he was quick to catch up on what he's been missing. He has always been quick. I guess he's a Tensai after all. No, make that from the start. Yeah, he is the Tensai from the start.
Kaede returned from the All Japan training about the same time as oniichan. He's gotten even better ever since he came back. Needless to say, with his return, his fans doubled in number. No... make that tripled, or better still quadrupled. Yes... quadrupled would be more like it. Why else would I have to see the principal and seek his permission to ban them from coming to practice and in the process become the most hated girl in school? I mean, they were making so much noise, it was disrupting the team's concentration, not to mention that Miyagi-sempai had to shout at the top of his lungs to make himself heard.
Speaking of Miyagi-sempai, he's doing pretty well as the new captain. Ayako-san has stopped hitting him with that fan of hers. After all, he is the captain now, and it wouldn't do very well for his reputation if he still gets whacked by her, especially when the new members arrive next year. Hisashi-niichan is still on the team, unlike Akagi-sempai and Kogure-sempai. Guess he couldn't let go of basketball, even at the expense of his final exams. Or perhaps he's trying to make up for lost time. I don't know; I never asked. Probably because I didn't want him to leave too.
And although Akagi-sempai and Kogure-sempai has stopped training with us, they still come to the gym once in a while. And when they do, sometimes, Akagi-sempai and Miyagi-sempai will be competing with each other in giving out orders.
It never fails to amuse me whenever I watch the rest of the team look from side to side while the two of them bicker and argue as to whose orders are to be obeyed. Of course, Kogure-sempai will always be there to try to sort things out the peaceful way, and Ayako-san will be brandishing her ever-trusty fan in her hands. I can see that she itches like mad to whack them both on the head every time they begin to argue, but she can't, because one of them was her captain and still is her senior, and the other is her current captain.
Hisashi-niichan will be watching too, and most of the time, he will be laughing his head off. Akagi-sempai and Miyagi-sempai will then turn on him together, and before you know it, it's a three-way argument. If oniichan was there, it would've been a four-way, no doubt about it.
Oh, that reminds me, Haruko-chan is now the assistant manageress of the team. She's doing pretty well herself. During the time when oniichan was still in rehabilitation, she was in charge of writing to him and keeping in touch with him. It was Ayako-san's idea, as well as mine, and it was brilliant, to say the least. If I knew oniichan, which I do, he'd probably kept the letters under his pillow while he slept, and clutched them to his heart whenever he had to undergo those painful rehab exercises.
When he came back last month, he told me that Kaede had purposely jogged past him on the beach one day while he was reading Haruko-chan's letter, and that Kaede had shown off his All Japan t-shirt. He went on to say that Kaede had only been chosen because he, the Tensai was hospitalised. I thought he was right on that one. I mean, not the part where Kaede was only chosen because oniichan wasn't available. If oniichan's back hadn't been injured, I am sure that he would've been asked to train too.
Anyway, despite oniichan's complains, I can see that he is now more willing to co-operate with Kaede, and vice versa. They still call each other kitsune and do'aho, but unlike before, it is now more or less like how friends call each other names. It wouldn't surprise me if they actually become friends in the end. I mean, that would be so cool.
"Time's up. Please put down your pens, and wait quietly while I collect your papers."
The teacher began to go from table to table to collect the exam papers. Each time a paper was taken from the hands of a student, a sigh of relief could be heard from the student. This went on until the last paper was handed in, and then, cheers began to erupt in every corner of the room.
"Finally!"
"Thank you Kami-sama!"
"Free at last!"
Hanayuki smiled to herself as she watched her classmates quickly launching into conversations, not about the paper, but about what they were going to do to celebrate.
At the front of the classroom, the teacher tied the papers together, before looking up and said, "Alright class, you can go now."
Even before she finished her sentence, the students were already rushing out of the classroom, talking and laughing loudly. By the time she left the classroom herself, the only ones left in the room were Hanayuki and Rukawa.
"Kaede, I won't be going to practice today. I have to go home and pack. I'll be leaving for America in two days, and I haven't even packed a single thing. Tell Miyagi-sempai that, will you?" said Hanayuki, as she gathered her stuffs on the table and dumped them into her bag.
Rukawa nodded his head.
Hanayuki looked at him for a moment. "You know I'll be gone until next April, when the new school year starts, don't you?" she asked.
Rukawa nodded again.
"Ok..." said Hanayuki, nodding her head as well. "Well then, better be going now. See you tomorrow, ne? Ja!"
Fluttering her fingers in a little wave, she walked out of the classroom, leaving Rukawa staring at her back.
See you later...
---
Later that evening, at home...
"Passport... where's the passport? How am I supposed to leave the country without a passport?" Hanayuki mumbled to herself as she bent down and rummaged through the cupboard. When she found it, she stood up quickly and turned, bumping into the cupboard door.
"Ouch! Shoot! This is what happens when you leave everything for the last minute." Rubbing her nose, she walked to the table, where she put her passport next to her plane ticket. "Ok... so the passport is here, the ticket is here... what else do I need? I renewed my visa like, last month, so there shouldn't be any problem."
Ring!
Hanayuki looked up at the sound of the doorbell. "What-? Who can it be? At this hour?"
She went downstairs to open the door, but before she could even touch the doorknob, the door swung open.
Hanayuki gaped at the person standing in front of her. "What the-? How did you-? What are you-?"
Ayako grinned at the surprised girl and closed the door behind her. "No time to explain, Yuki-chan. We've got to get you bathed and changed, fast."
"What? Bathed? Changed? Why?"
"Because we have a party to go to, that's why," said Ayako. "Here." She magically (?) produced a towel and pressed it into Hanayuki's hands, pushing her towards the bathroom.
"What? How-? Where-?"
Bam!
Before Hanayuki could say or ask anything further, the door was slammed close in her face.
---
On the beach...
"Well, that's about it. Is there anything else we missed out?" asked Miyagi.
"Let's see..." Kogure looked at the paper in his hands. "We'll just have to check one by one. Tents?"
Miyagi counted the number of tents they had put up. "8 of them, checked."
"Food, as in sushi, sashimi, tempura (fried prawns), fried chicken, fried eggs, fried fish, fried rice, fried noodles, fried-?"
"All fried and checked, Kogure-san. I don't think it's necessary to go through every single food item on the list."
"Um, right. But what about the ice-cream and the chocolates? And the cake? And the fruits too? The apples, oranges, pears, peaches, water-melons, grapes, strawberries, mang-?"
"Yes, Kogure-san. All checked."
"How about the drinks? Milk? Water? Tea? Coffee? Coke? Pepsi? Orange juice? Lemonade?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes."
"Plates and forks and spoons?"
"Checked, checked and checked."
"Cups and tissue papers?"
"Checked and checked."
"CD player? CD's?"
"Two checks."
"Video camera?"
"Chec- wait a minute. We will have to ask Sakuragi's gundan about that."
"Never mind. Now for the people. Akagi?"
"He's over there with Mitsui."
"Mitsui?"
"Er... he's over there with Akagi?"
"Oh, right. What about Sakuragi?"
"Nyahahahaha!" came Sakuragi's laughter. Both Miyagi and Kogure sweatdropped.
"Rukawa?"
"He's over there sleeping." Miyagi pointed to Rukawa, who was leaning against a tree and peacefully slumbering away.
"Haruko-chan?"
"She's with Akane-san."
"Aka- no, wait, she's with Haruko-chan, right? So that leaves... Ichiro?"
"He's over there trying to strike a conversation with a sleeping Rukawa," said Miyagi, pointing to the same place where Rukawa was fast asleep.
"Um... ok. What about the gundan then?"
"They're in the water, splashing each other." Placing one hand on each side of his mouth, he shouted, "Oi, you guys! Don't get the video camera wet. We need it record the whole party."
"Great. Everybody's here except for Yasuda, Shiozaki, Kakuta, Kuwata, Sasaoka and Ishii. Too bad they couldn't make it." Kogure folded the piece of paper and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "As for Ayako and Yuki-chan, they should be here any minute now."
---
"I cannot believe that I'm actually wearing this! What was I thinking?"
"You look absolutely great, Yuki-chan. Trust me," Ayako assured the younger girl, as they made their way to the beach.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one wearing it," Hanayuki argued.
"I wouldn't mind wearing it you know. Seriously."
"Just because you don't doesn't mean that I don't either! I mean, people kept looking at me from the moment I stepped out of my house, and they're still looking at me now."
"Now, now. It's only for tonight. Besides, they only looked at you because you look great. Chill a little."
Hanayuki grudgingly tugged at the skin-tight sleeveless top she was forced to wear a little lower and tried to pull the hipster jeans she was also forced to wear, along with the jingly little gold things tied around her waist, a little higher than its original position.
(A/n: Think Britney Spears in the video 'I'm A Slave For You'. Not the pink outfit, the other one. Before you start groaning, I would just like to say that I wanted her to wear something provocative, but not too provocative. You know what I mean? Initially, I thought about making her wear a polka-dot bikini, using the song 'Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini'. But, I thought that a bikini would be too much. Then, I saw Britney's video, and snap. Idea acquired, idea used.)
"I'm cold," Hanayuki complained.
"Don't fret, Yuki-chan. I know it's almost winter, but the weather's still not cold enough yet for you to complain about it."
"Excuse me! I'm wearing a sleeveless top with the whole of both my arms and stomach bared. Do you actually expect me to feel hot?"
"Well, yeah. At least, I think the guys will," Ayako cheekily replied.
"Whose idea was this anyway?" Hanayuki demanded.
"Mine, actually. But the rest of the guys were quick to embrace it."
"Uh-huh..." A determined look settled on Hanayuki's face, and her eyes gleamed, both mischievously and evilly. "Alright. If it's hot they want, then hot is what they are going to get."
She pulled Ayako by the arm to stop her, and said, "Ayako-san, I have a better idea."
---
Kogure looked at the watch on his wrist for the umpteenth time. "Where are they?"
"Oh no! What if something bad happened to them on their way here? Oh no! Aya-chan!"
"I tell you, if anything happens to Hana-chan, I'll kill myself. But not before I kill the person who touched her, and the person who came up with this stupid idea of Hana-chan wearing sexy clothes."
"I'm warning you, Hanamichi. Whoever touches Aya-chan will be having nightmares about my infamous flying kicks!"
"Che! I tell you Miyagi, if anything happens to Hana-chan, I'll revert back to my old gangster self and seek Tetsuo out to help in my quest for vengeance."
"No matter what, I'll not let you touch Aya-chan!"
"Oh yeah?!"
"Let's see if you can stop this Tensai!"
"Do'aho."
"Shut up, kitsune!"
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
"A-Aya-chan?"
"Itai!"
"Ayako-san, you're here!" Sakuragi looked around. "Eh? Where's Hana-chan?"
"Oh, don't worry. She'll be here soon. But first, I need you guys to sit down quietly and wait," said Ayako.
It was obvious that she was hiding something from them, what with her poor attempt at trying to disguise the excitement which was clearly written all over her face. Nevertheless, the others did as they were told; she had the fan with her after all.
After making sure that everybody was seated and ready, Ayako went through the pile of CD's, picked one out, reached for the CD player, inserted the disc, and pressed the 'play' button.
Instantly, the song 'I'm A Slave For You' by Britney Spears filled the air. As expected, everyone was surprised at the choice of song, and became even more curious as to what Ayako had in store for them. They didn't know that a bigger surprise was coming their way, and when it did, well, let's just say that their jaws unhinged to the extent that they were able to fall to the ground, and their eyes widened until they couldn't fit in their sockets anymore.
That's not all; all of them (even the girls) suffered from a sudden rush of blood to their heads, and blood started gushing out of their noses (the guys only) in turbulent flow. Pretty soon, all the tissue papers were used up, and Ayako had to send Haruko and Akane to buy more supplies.
3 minutes later, three-quarter of them fainted from the loss of too much blood.
---
Later that night...
Rukawa handed the half-full plate to Hanayuki, before sitting down next to her by the fire.
"Thank you!" Hanayuki said cheerily. "Your nose still bleeding?" she asked, referring to tissue sticking out of his nose.
Hanayuki laughed. "Hahahahaha! You poor thing. Here, take a piece of my chicken. You'd better eat more to make up for the massive loss of blood."
"You're pure evil, Hana-chan," Mitsui grumbled as he took a seat opposite her on the other side of the fire. Like Rukawa, he also had a tissue stuck up his nose.
"Yeah. You could have spared me or something. I'm your brother!" Sakuragi chipped in, a tissue also stuck up his nose. "Look at what you did to poor Megane-kun. His face is still red! And Gori too." He pointed to Kogure and Akagi, who were sitting a little far apart from them, their faces as red as Sakuragi's hair.
Next to him, the gundan nodded their heads vigorously, each with a tissue stuck up their nose. Haruko and Akane only blushed.
"Well, you guys wanted hot, didn't you?" Ayako asked. Beside her, Miyagi was trying his hardest to stop the blood flow, but only succeeded in making it worse.
"That's right. You know how generous I can be. Most of the time, I give more than is asked of me. And today, it just happened to be your lucky day," Hanayuki said, with the serves-you-right look on her face.
"Yuki-san, I didn't ask for anything like that," Ichiro muttered. He was lying beside Hanayuki, tending to his still-bleeding nose.
"Of course you didn't. You were just unlucky enough to be caught up in all this. Come, let me help you." Hanayuki put down her plate and reached for the bunch of tissues in his hand to help him blot away the excessive blood from his nose.
"Anyway, Hana-chan, I didn't know you could dance like that," said Sakuragi.
"I can't. If you guys had actually watched properly, I was just simply twisting and turning my waist in every direction and angle possible. But of course, I knew you guys would be too um, preoccupied to notice," explained Hanayuki, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, as she picked up her plate again.
"I'll say it again, Hana-chan. You're pure evil," said Mitsui, poking at his food with his fork. "You know I'm a little anaemic, and still you go and pull a stunt like that. You want me to die from the loss of too much blood, Hana-chan? I never thought you'd hate me that much."
"You know that's not true, Hisashi-niichan." Hanayuki stood up and walked over to Mitsui, plopping herself down beside him. She held up a piece of chicken from her plate with a fork. "Now, open your mouth and say 'aah'."
Not too reluctantly, Mitsui complied. "You owe me much, much more than just a few mouthfuls of chicken, young lady," he said, as he chewed on the chicken.
"Hai, hai. But this is my farewell party, so you'll let me go this once, right?" asked Hanayuki, beaming at him for all it's worth.
"Che!" Mitsui snorted, but put an arm around Hanayuki anyway.
The mention of Hanayuki's farewell party put Kogure into action immediately. "Oh, right! Come on, guys, it's time for the main event of the night."
"Huh? What main event?" Hanayuki asked.
"Well, you'll be gone until April, right? So, we decided to make this a farewell party and a birthday party as well. After all, you won't be here on your birthday," Ayako explained.
Hanayuki was surprised, but smiled anyway. "That's so sweet of you guys! But then, even if I am here, I won't be celebrating my birthday."
"Nani??! Why?" Sakuragi and Mitsui cried together.
"Well, you know my birthday is on the 31st of December, 6 days after Christmas, and exactly one day before New Year. It's a little cramped up, if you ask me. I mean, so many celebrations in one week, which is why I've never celebrated my birthday. Besides, it saves money. My Christmas presents are also my birthday presents."
"Oh..." Everyone took a moment to think about this.
Suddenly, Sakuragi shouted out, "Who cares? Let's celebrate it anyway!"
"Yeah!"
Everybody gathered around to celebrate Hanayuki's 15th birthday. The cake was brought out, the candles were lit, the song was sung, and the wish was made.
"What did you wish for, Hana-chan?" asked Sakuragi, after Hanayuki blew off the candles.
"I didn't wish for anything," said Hanayuki.
"But, why not?" Sakuragi asked, flabbergasted.
"Um, because it's not really my birthday today?"
"Still, you can make a wish, can't you?"
Hanayuki shrugged. "I guess, but I would like to wait till the real day if you don't mind."
"But-"
"Do'aho."
"Kitsune!"
"Maa, maa. Let's get on with the presents shall we?" said Kogure.
"Oh goody! Presents!" Hanayuki rubbed her hands together gleefully like a child.
The first present was from Akagi and Haruko. It was an exquisitely carved hair-clip.
"It is so beautiful! Thank you, Haruko-chan!" said Hanayuki as she hugged Haruko. She would have hugged Akagi too, if he didn't stiffen all of a sudden. In the end, she just smiled at him and said, "Thank you, Akagi-sempai."
The next present was from Kogure. It was a hand-made scrapbook, containing every single detail of all that had happened to the basketball team from the start of the school year. It included pictures and statistics of the team, plus the results of all the games they had played in. He too, stiffened when Hanayuki was about to hug him, but he got hugged anyway.
Then came Mitsui's present. It was a basketball-themed photo frame. "This is for the picture we took after the Sannoh game," he said. Unlike the two before him, Mitsui was looking forward to the hug. He even gave her peck on her cheek, much to Sakuragi and Rukawa's horror.
Miyagi and Ayako's present was a specially-made Shohoku jersey, with her name and the number 1 printed on it. Hanayuki hugged Ayako, but when it was Miyagi's turn, he declined, saying that he was saving it for Ayako. Naturally, that earned him a whack from Ayako's fan.
Ichiro and Akane's present was a huge teddy bear, while the gundan gave her a pair of crystal earrings.
"You love it don't you, Hana-chan?" Takamiya asked excitedly.
Hanayuki gave them a weak smile. "Anou... it's beautiful. And yes, I love it. The only problem is..." she pointed to her earlobes. "I don't wear earrings in the first place."
There was a moment of silence. "Oh," the gundan chorused.
"Um... you can get your ears pierced, right, Hana-chan?" asked Youhei.
"I could, but considering that I'm rather dependent on hearing aids..." Hanayuki hesitated, before clapping her hands together and said, "Maybe one day, I'll go and pierce my ears. I mean, who can resist such lovely earrings. They're practically shouting and screaming at me to be put on. Anyway, thanks guys."
Four hugs and bleeding noses later, it was Sakuragi's turn. He gave her a necklace, a locket to be exact. When it is opened, it started playing the tune of the song 'Memory'. Attached to one side of the locket was a picture of Sakuragi's face, while Hanayuki's was on the other side.
"Do you like it, Hana-chan?" asked Sakuragi, looking at her hopefully.
"Like it? I love it, oniichan! Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.
Lastly came Rukawa's turn. Wordlessly, he handed her his present. It was a hand-wound music box, made entirely out of pewter, with a sculpture of a bear on the cover. After winding, it began to play the song 'Suka-retto'. (A/n: In case you were wondering, there is a music box version of the song, which was how I got the idea. Anyway, the description of the music box is based on a music box from Royal Selangor Pewter. It's actually sculpted in pewter with a wooden base, but I thought it would look nicer without the wood. And of course, it's not supposed to play 'Suka-retto', but let's just think that Rukawa had it custom-made. After all, his father owns a limousine.)
"Hey, isn't that the song 'Suka-retto'?" asked Miyagi.
"Yup, I think it is," Ayako replied. Everybody (excluding Sakuragi, the gundan, Haruko, Akane and Ichiro) turned to look at Rukawa. (A/n: If you can remember, in chapter 18, he requested for the song in the karaoke bar.)
Hanayuki ran her fingers along every inch of the box until the song finished playing. Then, she closed it and placed it gently back into its wrapping box, before turning to hug Rukawa. "Thank you so much, Kaede."
Rukawa just hugged her back and didn't say anything.
After the present-opening ceremony, the gundan immediately launched into their karaoke mode and started singing into empty bottles. Sakuragi too broke into a couple of songs, all of them based on his 'Ore wa Tensai' tune. By the time he was finished with his second song, however, he was totally covered from head to toe with tomatoes and carrots and vegetables (basically leftovers from their outdoor farewell-cum-birthday party), courtesy of the gundan, Miyagi, Mitsui and, believe it or not, Rukawa, who pelted him mercilessly.
They ended up splashing each other in the sea afterwards, despite the cold sea breeze blowing non-stop, because Sakuragi wanted to clean himself up, while the rest of the people merely wanted to join in the splash-the-redhead fun. Hanayuki was practically carried and thrown into the sea, and when she emerged, there was no escaping from her splashing rampage. They only stopped when it was getting too cold to bear, and clambered onto the beach to change their clothes and warm themselves by the fire.
After the water fight, they had an arm-wrestling competition. Of course, since this is Shohoku we are talking about, it was more like a cheat-and-play-dirty-tricks-to-win arm-wrestling competition, not that it wasn't a lot of fun though.
The first pair was Sakuragi and Rukawa, and 5 minutes into the competition, there was still no clear sign of who would be the winner. To hasten the process, the gundan decided to distract Sakuragi by singing his 'Ore wa Tensai' song, only they had the lyrics changed to 'Ore wa Do'aho'. As for Rukawa, he had Miyagi and Mitsui to deal with, as the two of them resorted to physical distractions, such as playing with his hair and poking him in the ribs.
In the end, it was Rukawa who lost, much to the delight of Sakuragi, the gundan, Miyagi and Mitsui, and to the horror of Ichiro and Haruko. As if his losing was not enough, he had to do whatever Sakuragi asked him to do, which was the deal they had made before they started competing.
So what did the redhead ask him to do?
"Kitsune, after much discussion with the others, I want you to dance to the song 'Macarena'," Sakuragi announced.
To his credit, Rukawa's expression didn't change. However, he did shake his head, and said, "No."
"Ah, Rukawa, you lost, and the deal was the loser does whatever the winner says," said Mitsui, wagging his finger at Rukawa.
"No."
"Teme kitsune! Are you saying you're going to break a man-to-man promise?" Sakuragi demanded.
"Er, Hanamichi, I didn't know that the deal involved a man-to-man promise?" asked Takamiya, scratching his head.
"Urusai baka! Anyway, Rukawa, you'd better do as I say."
"Go to hell," came the reply.
"Nani??! Teme Rukawa!" Sakuragi was about to lunge at Rukawa when he thought of a better idea. He turned to Hanayuki for help. "Hana-chan, you say something."
Uh-oh... Hanayuki looked from Sakuragi to Rukawa, and back to Sakuragi again, before her eyes finally settled on Rukawa. She cleared her throat. "Anou, Kaede, you did lose to oniichan, you know."
Rukawa narrowed his eyes, and Hanayuki quickly continued, "I know he didn't win fair and square, but then, you guys didn't say anything about playing fair in the first place. And, it wasn't my intention to distract your concentration. I mean, Hisashi-niichan just pulled me to him and hugged me to his chest like his life depended on it before I could do anything."
When she saw that he was still scowling at her, she smiled a little and said, "Besides, I would very much like to see you dance too." She cocked her head to one side. "After all, you saw me dance earlier today."
For a fleeting moment, Hanayuki thought she saw a light bulb flashing above Rukawa's head.
"So, how about it, Rukawa? Are you going to back out like a chicken?" Sakuragi taunted.
Rukawa turned to face him. "Fine. But I'm choosing the song."
"No way! I get to tell you what to do, that means I get to choose the song too," Sakuragi argued.
"Oniichan, why don't you let him choose the song? I mean, no matter what song he chooses, he'll still be dancing," said Hanayuki.
"Hmm... you're right, Hana-chan. Alright, kitsune, the Tensai will take pity on you for once. Choose your song, and make it quick."
Without another word, Rukawa walked over to the CD player and looked through the pile of CD's, searching for the perfect song. When he found it, he put it into the player and pressed the 'play' button.
And then, history repeated itself once again, as everyone's jaws dropped to the ground, and their eyes bulged out of their sockets. There wasn't any sudden rush of blood to their heads, however, because this time, the blood decided to take another course, straight to their noses. Luckily, Haruko and Akane had earlier on bought enough tissue papers to last them a week, and so, they wouldn't be facing shortage problems anytime soon.
Hanayuki, on the other hand, was more entranced than shocked at the sight of Rukawa dancing. She watched wide-eyed as Rukawa swayed his hips around gracefully in time with the song he had chosen. Not bad, Kaede... I wonder how you are able to dance so seductively without a single expression on your face. I could certainly learn that from you.
Indeed, Rukawa danced as if he had been dancing his whole life, but with the same I-am-very-bored expression plastered on his face throughout the whole song. Even when it finally came to an end, and he walked over to Hanayuki and pulled her to her feet before the two of them walked away from the rest of their stoned-but-bleeding friends, his expression never changed.
---
Some distance away from the campsite...
"Here," said Rukawa, breaking the silence between him and Hanayuki, as they sat underneath a fir tree facing the sea.
Hanayuki looked at the nicely-wrapped box in his hand. "What is this?" she asked, as she took it from him.
When he didn't answer, she carefully unwrapped the box, and there, nestled in between sheets of tissue paper, was a cone-shaped crystal bottle with a glass stopper. (A/n: Now for the description of the bottle. It's actually based on a decanter also from Royal Selangor Pewter. I chanced upon it when I was browsing through the website. It was a rather lucky break, because I was looking for something that could help me describe my bottle.) It was filled to the brim with what looked like tiny pieces of folded paper, and hanging from the neck of the bottle, was a tiny card which was obviously hand-made, but nevertheless beautiful. The writings on it were hand-written, and they read:
Rukawa Kaede's Heart Clinic
Prescribed to: Tsukino Hanayuki
Prescription: Take one piece at a time whenever you feel like it
Prescribed by: Rukawa Kaede
Expiry Date: None
Note: Reusable
Hanayuki blinked a few times to make sure that she hadn't read wrongly. She looked at Rukawa for some explanation, and when she didn't get one (he still didn't say anything), she took out the bottle, pulled out the stopper and dropped a few of the folded papers onto her hand. The writings on each of the papers, also hand-written, were one and the same.
I love you. Always have, forever will.
Hanayuki felt her breath caught in her throat. Shocked and touched to the very core of her being, Hanayuki didn't know how to react to this gesture, and Rukawa, seeing that she would need time to compose herself, took the papers from her hand and refolded them, before putting them back into the bottle and securing the stopper.
He reached out to take her hands in his, and only then did Hanayuki turn to look at him. Even with only the moon as their source of light, Rukawa could see the tears shimmering in her violet eyes, threatening to spill out any moment.
Bringing her hands to his lips, he gently kissed them, and said, "I'll wait, for as long as it takes."
And then, the tears began to fall.
-Flashback-
Hanayuki stared in shock at Rukawa, who was sitting in front of her on the bed.
"H-How did you get in here?" she asked amidst her tears, and was pulled into an embrace.
"I'm sorry," Rukawa whispered.
Hanayuki clutched at his shirt tightly. "No... I'm... I'm sorry..." she sobbed. "I'm so... so sorry..." She pulled away a little and tilted her head to look up at him. "I can't."
Brushing some of her dishevelled hair from her tear-stained face, he said, "I'll wait, for as long as it takes."
Hanayuki shook her head. "It's not worth it, Kaede."
"It is to me."
"Your father wouldn't be happy."
"I will be."
Hanayuki looked at him sadly. "No, you won't."
"Yes, I will."
"Kaede-"
She was cut off when Rukawa cupped her face in his hands. "Forget it."
"F-Forget what?" Hanayuki stammered.
"Your past. You're now living in the future, not the past. Forget it."
Hanayuki looked away. "It's not that easy, Kaede. You don't know anything about my past. You don't understand what I've been through."
"I will, if you tell me."
"Unfortunately, Kaede, I'm not ready yet. In fact, I don't think I'll ever be ready. And until I'm ready, I'm afraid I cannot make your wish come true."
"It already came true," Rukawa said softly.
Hanayuki turned to face him. "What do you mean by it already came true?"
"You love me."
"Whoever told you that?" asked Hanayuki, frowning a little.
"You did."
"I did not," she denied.
"Yes you did. I heard you telling Ayako-sempai that night at Akagi-sempai's house."
"I don't know what-" Hanayuki stopped short when she realised what he was talking about. I knew it! I shouldn't have opened my big stupid ugly mouth!
"Why won't you admit it?"
Hanayuki took a deep breath before answering, "Kaede, if you really did overhear the conversation, you should have heard the reason too." When Rukawa kept quiet, she continued, "I'm sorry, Kaede. I know it isn't fair to you, but... it's not that I wanted it to be like so. It's just that, life is not fair to begin with." She smirked a little despite herself. "That's what I told Aki too, the last time we met at the jetty."
If Rukawa wasn't happy at the mention of Sendoh, he didn't show it. "I'll wait, for as long as it takes."
"Kaede-"
"I'll wait. For as long as it takes."
Before Hanayuki could say another word, she found herself once again pulled into an embrace. Too tired to protest, she placed her head on Rukawa's shoulder and closed her eyes.
Kaede...
-End of flashback-
"You know, that's already the fourth time you told me that you'll wait for as long as it takes," said Hanayuki with a smile, as she brushed away the tears on her face with her hands, before reaching out to hug him. "Thank you."
Rukawa rested his head on Hanayuki's and stroked her hair. "I love you."
Hanayuki sighed. "I know." I do too...
Making up her mind, she said, "Listen. When I go back to America two days later, I'll try to sort things out and put everything behind me, alright?"
At once, Rukawa pulled back and looked at her, his deep blue eyes fully conveying the hope he was feeling in his heart.
"I'm not saying that I'm promising you anything," she reminded him quickly. "All I'm saying is that I'll try. There's no guarantee that things will turn out right, the way you want it to. You understand?"
Rukawa just nodded a little, and Hanayuki smiled. "Ok." After putting the bottle back into its box and wrapping it up again (to keep out unwanted attention), she stood up and extended her hand to Rukawa. "Let's go back, shall we?"
---
Back at the campsite...
If 4 months ago, they had argued over who should be standing with whom for the photo session, now, 4 months later, they argued over who should be sharing a tent with whom for the night. As usual, a few punches and kicks and whacks were exchanged in the process, and when the final arrangement came through, it was decided that Ichiro will share a tent with his sister, Akane, Ayako with Haruko, Kogure with Mitsui and Miyagi with Sakuragi. The gundan will share two tents among themselves, and Akagi, due to his rather large built, will have a tent all to himself.
That left Rukawa to share a tent with Hanayuki. In fact, it was Rukawa's want to share a tent with Hanayuki that sparked off the argument in the first place. Lucky him, he had Ayako as his sempai, who, using her authority and that of her trusty fan, got everyone to do her bidding and follow her orders. She was more than happy to lend a helping hand to that particularly cold junior of hers of course; after all, she had always wanted him to get together with Hanayuki. As for Hanayuki herself, she was too used to sleeping with him, not to mention his stubbornness, to argue.
"Oyasumi nasai, Hana-chan," Mitsui greeted, stealing another hug and a peck on the cheek from Hanayuki. (A/n: In case any of you didn't know, oyasumi nasai means good night.)
"Oyasumi nasai, Hisashi-niichan. Thank you for everything."
"Hana-chan, if the kitsune touches you anytime during the night, just shout and I'll be right there to beat the crap out of him," said Sakuragi, cracking his knuckles and eyeing Rukawa warily.
Hanayuki laughed and said, "I will, oniichan. Don't worry."
"You too Haruko-chan. If Ayako-san touches you, just shout and I'll bea-"
Thwack!
"What are you talking about, Sakuragi Hanamichi? You make me sound like a pervert!" said Ayako hotly.
"Yeah, how dare you talk about Aya-chan like that?" Miyagi butted in. "Aya-chan is not a perver-"
Thwack!
"Aya-chan..." Miyagi looked at Ayako teary-eyed.
Hanayuki yawned. "Alright guys. It's getting really late. Thank you all so much for everything. I had a lot of fun, and I really, really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Breakfast at Danny's tomorrow, the tab's on me."
"Yeah!"
"Hail to Hanayuki!"
Hanayuki smiled. "Well, oyasumi nasai, minna." She walked to her tent, and upon entering, found Rukawa already fast asleep (or so it seemed). Lying down beside him, she said, "Oyasumi nasai, Kaede," and closed her eyes.
It wasn't long before she felt his arms around her, and she snuggled in closer to him. That's when she heard him whisper, "I'll wait, for as long as it takes."
Hanayuki's lips curved into a small smile. "That's the fifth time, Kaede," she whispered back before finally drifting off to sleep. "Thank you... again..."
---
Author's notes: Epilogue coming up, and then it's a wrap. But, it's faaaaaaaaar from the end. By the way, this chapter shouldn't have ended like this actually. The first plot included a scene with Sendoh, but... well, change of plans. Oh, and the Sannoh game was on the 3rd of August, so 4 months later would be early December. I put it this way so that it's consistent with the real education system in Japan. Their final exams are during the end of November, see. Then they have their winter break around end of December before Christmas until a few days after New Year. One last thing, if you want to see the picture of the presents Rukawa gave to Hanayuki, do tell me. I have the pictures, see, and I would only be too glad to share it with you. Thanks to Hikaru Itsuko, devil-gurl, Kiku Rukawa and David for reviewing. Thanks to the others for reading.