Chapter 3
Pieces of Advice
A/N: Well, this chapter is more on focus with Hana-chan and the guntais...but I don't want to be the one to spoil your reading…so read on and please leave a review! Thanks!
"Mou…Oni-chan, why don't you do the groceries today?" Haruko moaned while her brother explained himself on the phone.
"Gomenasai Haruko-chan…I need to finish correcting some papers before going home" Takenori said, as he busily rolled his chair from table to table while multi-tasking his way through work. "Why don't you go to Mito and the boys' grocery? I'm sure they'd love to have a chat with you…"
"I guess so…I think I will," Haruko decided, "Don't forget to bring your keys on your way home, you know how Yohei and the boys are, they might delay me for a while…"
"Sure…don't worry, bye"
"Bye,"
Haruko began to move around the apartment she shared with her brother, picking up her discarded stuff and her purse while hastily rushing towards the door. The moment she exited, she heard a familiar call from behind her,
"Oi! Haruko-chan!"
"Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko greeted, "What brings you here?"
"Nothing really, just wanted to say sorry to Gori about the thing at the university a few days ago…"
"Don't mind, he's gotten over it" Haruko assured him, "He did give some really hard pop quizzes to his students just to vent his anger at them though…."
"Really?" Sakuragi asked innocently, though in his eyes, it was evident that he was pleased with himself for unnerving his future brother-in-law, as he liked to believe he would be. "being too goody-two-shoes with ol' gori would be major boring…" he thought,
"Hai, Oni-chan's students are really getting mad at you for causing their professor such immense pains," Haruko smiled, "In fact, they've gotten used to anticipating a pop quiz in my brother's class, immediately after seeing you"
"Well, that's nice…If they're anticipating such things, they'd probably be studying to get their grades up," Sakuragi asserted, as he watched Haruko.
His undying devotion to her was still there, and it was evident that he loved her, everyone else but Haruko could see how much he felt for her.
"Sakuragi?"
"Yeah…" Sakuragi answered, quick to stop himself from staring at the woman beside him.
"Do you remember how much you and Rukawa went against each other back in high school?"
Sakuragi's jaw seemed to tense, and his body stiffened. "What about kitsune?" he asked, though his eyes were riveted on his companion, observing her closely.
"Well, its nothing…" Haruko answered, careful not to reveal what she truly felt. "I was just wondering if he'd be coming for our reunion during the summer,"
"The Kitsune's probably staying in the US, after all…foxes enjoy the cold climates…" Sakuragi grunted. From the corner of his eye, he could see a seemingly disappointed look on Haruko's face which made him as angry as he was hurt. "Could it be she's still hooked on foxy face after all these years?"
Sakuragi pushed the thought to the back of his mind, hard-put on not revealing how much he wished to murder Rukawa at that moment.
Haruko on the other hand was in silent reminisce, oblivious to Sakuragi's hovering figure beside her. In her mind, she could still picture the raven-black hair, the piercingly dark blue eyes, and the seemingly stiff yet alluring lips that she had so desired to kiss years ago. The memory alone brought a hot blush on her skin despite the cooling night air.
Sakuragi saw the faint touch of red upon her cheeks, and simpered in fury. "What's so special about foxy face anyway? I could treat her better than he ever could…"
Up to that moment, Sakuragi always believed that the way to Haruko's heart would always be by beating Rukawa through basketball. But that didn't seem like the case…he was now a basketball coach, and that should make him better than Rukawa…right? Rukawa's just some hot shot with a degree in Medicine. But why did it seem that though he's no longer some beginner rookie in the game, Haruko still wouldn't look at him the way he wanted her to see him…to just look at him as someone other than her pal, her friend, her confidante.
Both friends, remained in silence the remainder of the trip to Yohei and the boys' grocery.
……………………………………
"Oi! How's everyone doing!"
"Hanamichi!" four boys chorused upon seeing the redhead enter their door,
"Hey, I see you brought Haruko with you…" Yohei observed, "You get more gorgeous every time I see you Haruko,"
Haruko reddened, "Come on Yohei, you've seen me just last week…"
"well, anyway, how may I help you?" Okusu offered, flailing his arms about and bending his body in a mock bow.
"I need to pick up a few groceries for Oni-chan, and thought I might as well patronize your store," Haruko giggled, as she watched Okusu's antics.
"That's okay, just give me your list, and I'll handle picking out the groceries for you," Noma suggested as he took the list Haruko offered him and giving Sakuragi a wink before leaving.
"Well, since I'm here, I might as well pick out some stuff for myself…" Sakuragi began, as he walked about the aisles picking stuff out and tossing them to Takamiya who lugged behind him.
"Shut up, you idiot!" Takamiya grumbled, "We live together, and Yohei made sure we had enough supplies to last us for the rest of the month…all in expired goods,"
"Expired again!" Sakuragi muttered, "Yohei, I'm dying! I haven't eaten something good in days…look, my skin's yellow as curry…not that I wouldn't mind having some curry…."
"If you'd like, I'd cook you some lunch, Sakuragi…" Haruko suggested,
"Great! That'd be awesome!" Sakuragi stuttered, as his cheeks flushed red, "Thank you God for being kind! Not only do I get rescued from months of expired canned goods, I'll be eating Haruko's cooking!"
"So how's the bachelor pad?" Haruko asked, as she leaned against the counter and completely missing Hanamichi's exalted state of happiness.
"It wont be a bachelor pad for long…someone may be moving out," Yohei said, as he jabbed an elbow onto Sakuragi's rib.
Haruko flushed, and all five boys in the grocery watched her in anticipation, could she finally have gotten the hint?
"Sakuragi-kun…" Haruko began,
"Yes?" all boys chorused after her, leaning closer to her with their palms supporting their chins against the counter.
"You've been seeing someone?"
The boys slipped and slammed their faces on the counter,
"Damn, she couldn't take a hint!" Yohei simpered in exasperation.
"Sakuragi-kun, I know I shouldn't be minding your business, but I'm rather surprised to know you're seeing someone, she must be really special…" Haruko smiled,
Sakuragi shrugged sheepishly and smiled,
"Anyhow Haruko, how's your job at the school?" Yohei inquired, eager to change the conversation.
"Being school nurse is a bit of a hassle without a doctor around…I never expected there'd be a number of students getting into minor accidents everyday…especially one in particular,"
"Well, what about this guy?"
"she's a girl," Haruko began, "She's a really nice girl who's got a frail constitution to her body, she's got weak lungs, and its not good for her to tire, especially after having a horrible attack just recently…and it worries me greatly that she's forcing herself to recover faster and in such a short time…I really like that girl…"
"I heard about her," Sakuragi said, eager to join the conversation, "She's rather popular among my team…say's she's pretty cute,"
"Yeah, she is…" Haruko sighed, "but sadly, people worry too much about her health that it probably unnerves her, so she has very few friends,"
"So when are you getting a doctor to help you at the school?" Sakuragi asked, seeing the agitation that lined Haruko's words…he happened to know that she developed a favour for this particular patient.
"I've asked the school about it…but no one's answered our ad for a school doctor yet, I doubt if anyone'd be interested in the job…it pays peanuts…"
"Here're your groceries, Haruko…" Noma said, giving her the bags,
"How much are they?"
"Nah, don't mind, we'll just put it on Hanamichi's tab,"
"What the…" Sakuragi began to mutter, when Takamiya shoved him in the groin,
"If you wanna make points with the lady, don't mind giving us a part of your salary in payment…" Takamiya grinned, as his eyes took on a conspiratorial slant.
"Are you sure about this, Sakuragi?" Haruko asked apprehensively.
"Sure, just take it as an apology to ol' Gori,"
"Thanks,"
Okusu offered to hail her a taxi while the rest of the guys leaned against the counter thinking about Sakuragi's predicament.
"I don't know about it guys, I'm not so sure anymore…Haruko still doesn't seem to forget that kitsune! Damn that stupid Foxy face!" Sakuragi grunted as he gave the counter a head butt.
"Hey! Careful! I just got that counter varnished!" Yohei warned, "Damn you, Hanamichi! Now its scratched!"
"What! You care more for a counter than me! What kind of friends are you!" Sakuragi roared, as he watched his friends fawn over the counter top.
"Poor counter top…after having just varnished," the boys weeped,
There was no other way for Sakuragi to catch their attention than to give them all head butts….
…………………………………..
"Ow…ow…ow…ow…ow" Noma repeatedly grunted as he pressed cold ice on his searing forehead, and joined the boys at the couch, "Damn Hanamichi! He didn't have to get all that sensitive…"
They were all back in their shared apartment, having had to stagger the distance between the grocery and their home by reason of a huge bump on their foreheads, all thanks to their 'friend', Hanamichi Sakuragi…
"you hear that Hanamichi! You didn't have to go all sensitive!" Takamiya echoed, as he himself pressed half melted ice on his fore.
Sakuragi sulked in the corner, looking downcast and listening to tragic Japanese opera...
"Come on, akai no baka saru (stupid red monkey), don't sulk!" Yohei mumbled, "Now we're all home, and you've got our attention, so why don't you just spit out what's bothering you…"
"Really?" Sakuragi asked, looking at them in a comically sad face.
"Yeah, what else could we do when we're under threat of violence from an emotionally unstable primate," Okusu groaned,
"all right!" Sakuragi grinned as he squeezed himself in the overcrowded coach of their shared living room, "Well, I've just seen the Kitsune…"
Sakuragi waited for any sign of joy that was only to be expected from four men who were starved of excitement and who happened to have a strange hobby of watching soap operas during lazy afternoons.
"Well, what about it?" Okusu asked indifferently, as he channel-surfed the television and munched on expired potato-chips.
The indifferent reaction from his friends was alien to Sakuragi. he'd half-expected them to shower confetti on him for having procured a rival at the expense of his own misery.
"Maybe it's a good thing…" Sakuragi thought as he narrated to them the incident at Coach Anzai's house a few days before.
"So he's back…" Yohei grumbled, as he grabbed the bag of potato chips being passed amongst them, only to find the crumbled bits and pieces left at the bottom after Takamiya finished off the big ones.
"Hey, what do you think I should do? I just can't propose to her out of the blue when she still couldn't get the hint that I like her…" Sakuragi said, as he stared emptily at the TV screen showing hot babes while handing Okusu and Noma tissues for their bleeding noses.
"Well, for one thing…its been eight years," Yohei asserted, as he looked at the records of their grocery's monthly inventory, "Rukawa hasn't been around for that span of time, so you've got the advantage of a tried and tested companionship with Haruko,"
"Aside from that, Rukawa may have a girlfriend back in the US, and besides that…its not like he came back here for the sole purpose of ruining your life…or taking Haruko away," Takamiya muttered, as he frowned when the live bikini babes show stopped for a commercial,
"Come on, Hanamichi…lighten up, Rukawa doesn't seem interested on seeing anyone he knew in High School aside from Coach Anzai, so what chance is there that he'd want to see Haruko?" Okusu added, crumpling the bag of potato chips and tossing it into the trash can beside the television.
"Why don't you try asking her out on more dates, trying to make it a bit more than friendly…what's the harm in that?" Noma suggested,
"Or maybe you could take her to one of your practice sessions with the team…she still is a basketball fanatic after all," Takamiya said,
"You shouldn't get too disheartened Hanamichi, after all…its just Rukawa, right 'tensai'?" Yohei grinned, as he saw the sparkle return to Hanamichi's eyes.
"Yeah…you're right! After all, I'm still a tensai! What chance does foxy face have against me?" Sakuragi cheered, "Well thanks guys, you did me a favour…I'll just go to my room and map out a plan of action, thanks again!"
As soon as Sakuragi's bedroom door closed, the boys stared at each other in silence, "Any bets in favour of Sakuragi?" Noma asked,
A/N: By the way…I'm not so sure of my Japanese, so please feel free to correct me when I make mistakes in the language, Thanks!