(Chapter 14: A Day on the Beach)
Shohoku High School's basketball team might have lost their first game, but they won it back by winning the next game, and the next game, and the next game, and the next. Four straight winning games in a row! There was only one more game, against Kainan, if they win that game, they would be declared the Regional Champion once again.
For a celebration, also a relaxation from the stress they've been under lately, basketball captain Akagi took time to organize a little holiday on the beach one Sunday morning, where the players can relax and loosen up their tense muscles on the sunny white beach. Strict, demanding Akagi hardly ever suggests anything more than practice and more practice, so when the players received this notice, they were naturally quite pleased.
And since it was merely a casual gather, the players are free to bring anyone they wish. Without a doubt, most people from Shohoku will probably attend, with or without an invitation.
So, as Sunday morning arrived…
"Kira!" Rukawa looked at his watch for the seventh time as he tapped his shoes impatiently on the wooden floor of her entryway. "Come on! It's only the beach! What are you doing?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Her voice was muffled. Rukawa let out a long sigh. What is it with girls and bathrooms? At last Kira immerged from the room and Rukawa drank in the sight of her silently.
She had kept simple and wore a soft white blouse, gathered and worn off the shoulders and a long, lovely aqua skirt with delicate lace insets. From her shoulders hung a large bag, while a white headband pulled back her long raven tresses and silver hoops hung from her ears.
Rukawa thought she looked like the prettiest gypsy he's ever seen.
"I'm ready." She said cheerfully as Rukawa nodded and got on his bike. He waited until she was settled and still before riding toward the pretty, exotic beaches of Kanagawa that they passed every day.
"It's such a pretty day." Kira was saying as the breeze pushed back her hair. Her pretty dangling earrings tinkered lightly and her skirt whispered from the gust.
"Hmm…" Rukawa still doesn't talk much, but it was enough for Kira, who knew him with her very heart.
"How many people are going to be there?" She wanted to know.
"Just the basketball team with whoever they brought."
"Yumi will be there, I heard Mitsui ask her. And Haruko too, since she's Akagi's sister. I bet Sakuragi probably asked her also."
"Don't forget Ayako. Miyagi wouldn't let her out of it." Rukawa added dryly.
"I think Aya-chan is the best." Kira told him readily. "And Haruko. I didn't understand any basketball rules until they told me. Haruko is very patient."
"I taught you basketball." Rukawa's head turned just a little. Kira giggled, remembering back to the useless mornings when Rukawa had taken so much pain in trying to teach her how to play basketball. The results were a swollen finger, a large scrape on the knee, and a bruised cheekbone. Rukawa had given up then, and declared she was helpless.
"I know, but you were too much of a expert to do me much good." She reminded him. "You were teaching me how to shoot three-pointers when I barely knew how to dribble. And you were teaching me how to much a million feet high when I can barely keep the ball in rolling away from my grasp." In secret, though, Kira knew Rukawa was a good teacher in his own way. He was teaching her moves that count, which are not necessarily beginner moves.
Rukawa, on the other hand, was perplexed. However did Kira, the elegant, swift, smooth-moving girl turn into such a klutz on the basketball court? One moment, she was tripping over her own feet trying to make a basket, the other minute he had to catch her before she dove headfirst into the bushes, lunging for the ball.
He sighed now as he remembered all the hazards that happened and shook his head. Even if he lived to be a hundred, he would never understand the female gender.
"Kira!" They saw Yumi waving crazily at them as soon as they turned onto the beach. Rukawa stopped the bike so suddenly that Kira had to catch herself from falling right off.
"Sand." Was his only explanation as he handed her his beach towel. "Off. I'll go lock the bike up somewhere."
Obediently, she took his towel and began walking, with difficulty, toward Yumi.
"Is there a particular place you'd like?" She called back. With his back toward her, Kira thought she heard him mumble something about being as far away from Yumi and Sakuragi and everyone else as possible. She shrugged. Rukawa doesn't favor Yumi that much, he thought she talked too much and was much too coquettish for his liking. Thinking about it, Rukawa doesn't like almost everyone. She placed his towel under one of the palm trees, and placed her right next to his.
"Kira!" Yumi ran up to her, her shirt and hair already glistening with seawater. "Come on, I've been waiting for you! Let's go change into our swimsuits. Mitsui and I have been here since ten this morning. What took you so long?"
"Nothing really." Kira looked over and saw Mitsui, who gave her a small wave. "Is he a nice guy?" She whispered to Yumi, who whispered back with a dreamy tone and a wink.
"Totally." Pulling on her friend, Yumi led her to the row of portable changing room and urged her into one. "Come on, I can't wait to get into water."
"Yumi! Kira!" Turning toward the voices, they saw Haruko and Ayako heading their way.
"Are you two changing?" Ayako was slightly breathless. Kira nodded. "Great, we were just about to, too!" Then, lowering her voice, she nodded toward a snobbish, egotistic group of bikini wearers. "I can't believe they're here also. They're from my class, and I have no idea who leaked the information that we're having a beach party here."
"Everyone in the whole school know, Ayako." Haruko pushed her hair behind her ear. "With Sakuragi on the team, there's very little the school doesn't know about them."
"That jerk." Kira could hear Ayako mutter as they each closed the door to their little changing room. "I've got to get him back for good for being such a arrogant big mouth."
Kira smiled to herself as she slipped out of the skirt and shirt. Straightening herself off and studying her image in the tiny mirror, then slid the door open and emerged from the dressing house. Just at the same second, so did the other three girls.
They made a dramatic, portrait-perfect image, stepping out at the same time, the four dazzling girls.
Haruko, on the very left, was clad in a cute blue suit. The top was like a tank top and fitted her slim body. Between the camisole top and shorts revealed several inches of her perfectly flat tummy. The dozens of shades of blue shimmered, making her look waves of the ocean.
Sakuragi stared. Akagi tried not to pummel him.
Ayako, in the little room next to her, was dressed in a slightly more elegant suit. The color was a vibrant scarlet, but the simple, but stunning style of her two-piece on her toned body caused Miyagi's jaws to drop to the sand as he stared with wide eyes.
Yumi had the fanciest suit out of all of them. Unlike other redheads, she doesn't believe in wearing green to bring out the color of her hair. Instead she donned on a deep violet two piece that was more revealing than the other girls. She gave her hair a flip that caused Mitsui to catch his breath as the long mane of red hair shimmered under the sunlight.
But all eyes were on Kira. Not because she was stunning, or sexy, or arousing. But because she looked so very different and unique from every girl on the beach.
A white one-piece hugged her body modestly. One-piece were rarely seen these days, and the silvery-white made it more impossible than ever. On any other girl, it would have looked unattractive and even ugly. But on Kira, it only looked exotic and charming, for it was the person that wore it makes the difference.
The plain suit became her excellently, and one ever thought of the suit, instead looked at the content and sweet figure who wore it, for the freedom from two pieces and the feeling of being half-naked made her every movement vigor, grace, and ease. A happy soul in a healthy body was a rare sight these days, and this pleasant union was the charm, which Kira possessed without knowing it.
Mito, from his position with the rest of the Sakuragi Brigade, took one took at the modest, sweet girl and proclaimed her, "Cuter than a sack full of puppies."
Unknown, even to himself, but at that moment, he fell in love. He lost his heart to the becoming, demure, artistic girl.
Out of everyone that was staring at her, only Rukawa wasn't. He was lying on the towel that Kira had set up for him, taking a nap. He lazily opened one eye to observe his surrounding, since it had suddenly grown quiet.
Kira paused for a moment as she stepped out on the wood, taking in the beauty of the ocean in front of her. The endless shimmering sapphire water, the white sandy beaches, the blue sky accented with puffs of white clouds. She was under the spell of the water's eternal beauty.
The pause, to Rukawa's dismay, conveniently gave all the guys a chance to look at her. With her glossy mane of ebony black, and a modest, yet alluring, one piece that lightly molded her slender body, she somehow outshone all the girls, including the large group that wore tiny bikinis that was like ornaments instead.
"Ayako!" Kira gasped as she looked over. "You look wonderful!" Ayako winked as pushed her thick curly waves away and tied the halter strings behind her neck.
"Nah." She replied easily. "Just because I'm the basketball team's manager, doesn't mean I have to dress and smell like them everyday." Haruko, peeking from behind the taller girl, gave a squeal as she laid eyes on Kira's one piece.
"You're gorgeous, Kira! Who'd have thought something as simple as that would look so attractive?" Yumi turned to study a friend, and a strange look shadowed her expression. She said nothing.
Down below, among the large group of bikini girls, a rustle of angry, jealous remarks were muttered among the group.
"Attractive?" One sniffed. "If she's thinks that's attractive, I don't want to know what planet they're from. I mean, look at her."
"Yeah," Another put in. "She thinks just because she's wearing white, she's going to catch the attention of all the guys? What is she trying to do?" A girl fanning herself added breezily.
"I can't believe her. I've seen her around school. She's always hanging on to Rukawa Kaede. Her name is Rukiko Kira. I heard that it was Rukawa who invited her."
As Kira stepped from the deck toward Rukawa, Yumi followed closely behind her. She took her friend's elbow and whispered loudly,
"What are you thinking, Kira? Why did you wear something as unattractive as that? If you needed a swimsuit you could have borrowed one from me. You know I've got mountains."
"I like this." Kira only gave her a tiny smile. "I feel like me in this swimsuit. I'm not here to show off my body to the guys, Yumi."
"But still, you look…old-fashioned." Yumi privately thought that her own swimsuit looked the best, yet conscious that blooming Kira had the most attractive face and manners.
"That's fine with me." Kira waved at Rukawa, who raised a hand back.
"But you could look better!" She argued.
Rukawa, who heard the remark, turned around and stated quietly with a look that neither girl could identify.
"Kira's so pretty, it doesn't matter what she wears." He observed, surveying her with an air of approval, which impressed Yumi very much, for Rukawa was considered by all girls as a model of good breeding and that indescribable something which they called "elegance."
It pleased Rukawa to see Kira standing so steadfast and true to herself. She didn't feel that being with the latest fashion of one with the tightest, most exhibition of her body was thought beautiful. She had everything every girl like her should have, youth health, intelligence, and modesty.
Yumi sighed exasperatedly. "Never mind, Kira. You should really take my advice sometimes. You could look so cute, but you have to be in that plain, white thing." She sniffed as Kira flopped down on her own towel. "I'm only doing this for your own good, you know." She added. "Why don't you want to be like other girls?" Kira looked up with a mysterious smile.
"If I was like the 'other girls,' would you still like me?"
Yumi caught her breath, then admitted, "Of course I would still like you, but I guess I like you best now."
"That's good." Kira spoke heartily now, and Rukawa looked at her as if Yumi's defender pleased him more than Yumi's defense.
"I'm going over there now," Yumi told them both. "I see Mitsui waving at me." Rukawa raised his head.
"Mitsui?" His eyes questioning. The redhead saw his suspicion, and laughed.
"Yes, Mitsui. In case you didn't know, Rukawa. Mitsui and I are getting along fine."
"Shock." He muttered. Kira joined Yumi as they laughed. Yumi pulled her friend up from the towel.
"Come with me, Mitsui. Let's get into the water!"
The tall basketball player watched with half-lidded eyes as the girls ran into the sun-shone waves. Mitsui soon came over to join him under the large palm tree. They were both silent as they watched the girls, the fair lily and wild rose, splash through the water, ocean droplets glistening in the air. The group of bikini-wears looked on jealously, for they couldn't go into the water, fearing they have worn too little to keep covered in the untamed waters.
"Kira's a swell girl." Mitsui finally broke the silence. Rukawa nodded, his arms behind his head. The three-point shooter looked down at him, amused.
"You've changed, Rukawa. I remember you before you met Kira. You were still wordless, but your manners have changed."
"Humph."
"Dress that girl up and she'd be a raving, tearing beauty." Mitsui watched her as she and Yumi jogged up onto the sandy beach laughing, looking all the prettier for her dishevelment. Jewel-like water droplets flew from their hair and glistened in the sun as they neared.
"Mitsui!" Yumi called and waved as they trotted toward the pair. Mitsui smiled and waved back.
"Yumi's a great girl, too." He said. "But very different from Kira. Hard to believe these two are friends. Under different circumstances, they wouldn't be." Rukawa nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Yumi acts mature on the outside, her clothing were bold, her actions were wild, and her attitude confident, while Kira's quiet, modest, and shy, but under the sophisticated silence, they see a girl burning with courage and determination.
"Kira, have you met Mitsui?" Yumi flopped down and immediately began toweling her hair. Kira turned to Mitsui, her eyes dancing, and stretched out a hand.
"We've met, but I have not properly introduced myself. I'm Rukiko Kira. Pleasure to meet you, Mitsui." As he was about to shake her hand, she suddenly pulled it back, and at his surprised glance, explained, "I just realized you probably don't want to shake a wet hand."
Mitsui laughed at Kira's earnest way of talking, but he liked it because it was so different from the coquettish clatter of most of the girl with whom he talked. Young men often laughed at the sensible girls whom they secretly respect, and affect to admire the silly ones whom they secretly despise because earnestness, intelligence, and womanly dignity were not the fashion.
"Why don't you and Rukawa go for a dip?" Yumi suggested, stretching out on her mat. Kira was staring into her mirror. Both young men thought it was girlish vanity and smiled at its naïve display, but Kira was looking for something deeper than beauty.
"I guess I will go for a dip." Mitsui stood up. "I see Miyagi and Ayako. I can't let him have Ayako all to himself. She belongs to the whole basketball team." Rukawa smirked to himself as he saw a blush darken on Yumi's face as Mitsui pulled off his large white T-shirt.
"I'll go with you." He spoke up, surprising everyone. Kira put her mirror down.
"We'll stay here and guard your stuff." She said encouragingly. The guys nodded and after Rukawa tossed his dark shirt aside, walked off toward the water.
"I just don't get it." Yumi slipped her sunglasses on as she positioned herself under the sun. "Rukawa's is not bad looking at all…without a shirt on. But I don't get why you're so interested in him, when it's not his body or looks you're interested in. Plus, he's so cold and rude to everyone, you would have thought a girl like you would have stayed clear away from him."
Kira looked up from her book and answered gently, "There's more to a guy other than looks, Yumi. I see in Rukawa what others can't see."
"Which is what? Ice?" Yumi retorted. They watched as Miyagi splashed water all over Ayako. Her squeals could be heard across the beach. Mitsui was treading on water along with Kogure, but Rukawa was nowhere to be seen.
"Why do you like Mitsui?" Kira changed the subject. Yumi flushed and gave a dreamy sigh.
"He's a sweet, polite guy under that battling look." She turned onto her stomach, allowing the sun to warm her back. "You would have thought he was a killer, but even a killer has a soft side."
"A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman, so I like Rukawa best because he is kind to me." Kira replied softly, her eyes faraway as she stared into the aqua blue water, recalling all the times when Rukawa had shielded her from the terrors with beset her path to school, in the shape of giant boys, scowling girls, and the horrible rumors that her delicate spirit couldn't have lived through if it wasn't for Rukawa.
Rukawa's color rose from his position behind the tree, where he was just returning to his towel, for the basketball-loving fellow was as sensitive as a girl to the praise of those dearest to him. Shaking his head to get rid of the color, he walked abruptly over and fell onto his towel.
"You're back so soon, Rukawa." Kira looked over from her book. "I thought you'd stay longer."
He was silent. But Kira read between the lines.
"Are some of the guys being so stupid that you can't stand it?" She placed a bookmark between her pages and rolled to her back playfully. He gave a tiny smile that shocked Yumi.
"It's shocking how you two can understand each other." She finally said, pulling out more suntan lotion. Following her example, Kira began applying another layer onto her milky skin.
"Hey!" All three of them looked up to see a guy stopping in front of Kira with a wide grin on his face that Rukawa didn't like at all. "Do you need help with your suntan lotion?" Kira looked up, surprised, then replied naively. "I don't think so. I think I'm doing okay."
The guy gave her a strange look, then walked off, mumbling to himself. They watched as he approached another group of giggling girls, offering to do the same thing. Kira frowned, a wondering look on her face. Yumi leaned over and told her with an unbelievable shake of her head.
"When he asked if you need help, it wasn't literal." She shook her head. "What he meant was, 'Do you want help?'"
"Why would I want help?" Kira still doesn't get it. With an exasperated sigh, Yumi pulled her friend by her side and pointed to the group of girls, where the guy is now happily rubbing lotion over her back in soothing motions.
"Guys like touching girls' bodies, and girls like to let guys touch their bodies." She whispered lowly. "Suntan lotion is a perfect connection." She sat back and sniffed. "I just don't know why that guy didn't ask me instead of you."
Rukawa coughed, hiding a grin that could no longer be concealed. Yumi turned around and caught the evidence, and just as she was about to explode, Mitsui jogged up.
"Hey." He gave Yumi a cautious look, noticing her unusually red face. Casting a questioning gaze toward Kira, and with a few wise gestures from the intelligent girl, he dropped down onto the blanket next to the redhead and asked mildly,
"Should I rub some sunscreen on your back? Lest you fry to death under the sun."
No words could describe the light that suddenly lit up Yumi's expression. Mitsui smiled gratefully toward Kira, who only gave him a mischievous wink.
Rukawa stood up without warning. "I'm going to get a soda." He said without looking back. Kira nodded, and added cheerfully,
"Be careful, Rukawa, you know I'd hate it if anything happens to you." Nodding, he disappeared.
"I wonder how they ever got along." Yumi remarked, chatting lightly to Mitsui, who was obediently moving his hand in circular motions across her back. And while Yumi was talking to him, she saw his eye rest on Kira, who sat apart watching the faces around her with the modest, intelligent look which many found so attractive.
"Are you laughing at Kira's prim ways?" She asked as she saw him smile.
"No, I am admiring Miss Kira's fine manners." He answered in a grave, respectful tone, which had impressed Yumi as much as Rukawa's compliment for Kira had. Suddenly, Yumi realized there might be something, some manner or attitude of some sort, in this "sissy girl" worth learning, for many admiration for Kira had already reached Yumi's ears. Mitsui's respect were just as hard to obtain as Rukawa's, yet both their favors had gone toward the quiet, raven haired girl that wasn't the least showy or flamboyant. Somehow, the little things she's done had won approval from everybody. Looking at Mitsui, Yumi wished she had done that little thing and won that approving look, for she valued the young man's good opinion because it was so hard to win, by people like her, at least.
However, Yumi wasn't hypocrite, nor was she narrow-minded or full of jealous. Those were her strong points and inner beauty, though she didn't know about it. To Mitsui's refined statement, Yumi only remarked timidly,
"Yes, she is a wonderful person, isn't she?" As he turned to look at her, she quickly added with a hint of her old flippant way. "Of course, I didn't know that in the beginning, in the beginning, I only felt sorry for her, but now…" Mitsui's eyes were steady as they watched her every movement and heard her every word. Yumi felt her heart beat harder. "Now, I just like her because she's a sweet person, and her manners are so gentle and kind that there never seems to be an evil thought inside of her. For example, like her and Rukawa—"
The redhead knew she was babbling, but couldn't help it. The pair of eyes on her was as intense as fire.
"Everybody thinks highly of her and she deserves it. She's just an elegant, perfect girl, anyhow…" She finished lamely, drowning in the deep pools. Mitsui gave a quiet laugh.
"I think highly of another girl, too." His voice was amused, but his eyes were thoughtful. "I think she has potential and inner qualities that she hides, though not very well."
Yumi raised up her face and met his eyes. Their gazes locked. And without knowing, the distant between their lips shortened. They got closer, and closer…until it was merely millimeters away. Then…
"I got our sodas." A dry voice interrupted several feet away. Yumi and Mitsui jerked apart, both of their faces flaming red, as if they've been caught doing a crime. Mitsui cleared his throat nervously while Yumi patted her hair with jerky motions.
A distance away, they watched as Rukawa tossed Kira a cool, bubbly bottle. She fumbled with it, but managed to keep it from landing on the sand.
"Thanks." They watched as Kira studied her bottle thoughtfully, then turned to the silent basketball player. "I trust you didn't shake my bottle before giving it to me?"
A look answered her question.
"I was just wondering."
"You're going to get sunburned if you don't stay out of the sun." He told her without any expression. "Or put on more sunscreen." Kira gasped as her hand flew to her shoulders.
"I am, aren't I?! Okay, then." She rummaged through her beach bag. "Lotion, lotion…hat… There!" She turned to Rukawa with an impish face and struck a small pose. "So…how do I look?"
"Normal." Was the careless, but honest, answer. She gave him a small poke and put on a small pout.
"What? Don't I look cuter than usual?" Crossing her arms, "I think I do." The look he gave her was one of amusement. Mitsui leaned over to Yumi and whispered by her ear,
"You know, I don't think it was the wealth, accomplishments, or position that most attracted Kira to Rukawa, though they are excellent influences."
"You feel that, too?" Yumi whispered back. "Somehow, I never believed this is all they are going to be."
Yumi had noticed long ago, with most girls, Rukawa was like other young men of his age, except perhaps in a certain grace of manner which was as natural to him as his respect for all womankind and coldness to all males. But to Kira, he showed the domestic traits and virtues which are more engaging to womanly women than any among of cool intellect or worldly wisdom.
"I wonder how they ever got together so well." Mitsui wondered out loud. "Maybe he's been waiting for the feminine type to come along." Yumi sighed.
"I'm becoming a regular old maid, as sharp as a lemon and twice as sour." They both laughed as Kira set down her drink and followed Rukawa toward the waterfront. He pointed to something and she looked interested.
The sun was at the peak of setting behind them. The sunset about the vivid turquoise blue waters painted the sky coral and red, pink and lavender. The huge, round ball of fire was their perfect backdrop as Kira laughed at something Rukawa said. Anyone could see they loved one another dearly, and weren't afraid to show it. However, though their love wasn't passionate, it seemed to go even deeper, more durable, and was a more pure sort of love.
In front of the fiery red sun, they saw the shadow of Kira as she stood on tiptoes to kiss her friend on the cheek, who returned it without looking as if he thought it as "girl's nonsense."
Yumi was surprised to find moisture in her eyes at the sweet little scene before her, but quickly wiped it away as they walked back towards her arm in arm, deeply engaged to each other.
A shout across the beach from Haruko quickly interrupted Rukawa and Kira as well as Yumi and Mitsui. Both sets looked up, their face expecting trouble. But all they received was an excited voice and enthusiastic facial expression.
"Come on, guys, we're having a basketball game! Everybody is to meet on the basketball court!"