Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are rightfully owned by the creator/mangaka himself.
Just Right Beside You
Blue eyes, pale skin…
She kept her eyes on the dark-haired boy, playing on the court. He leaped and released his shot, aiming for a three-pointer. The ball went right in. Gasps and cheers were heard.
"Alright!" "Nice shot!" "That was great."
A huge smile crossed her face. He was amazing all right. Never once did he fail to amaze her. Unfortunately, he never seemed to notice her.
"Hey." A sudden voice said into her ear
"Aaahh….."
"Don't lose your lunch." The boy said as he sat down next to her.
She glared at him. He chuckled and turned his attention to the court.
"I could get a heart attack you know?"
"Please. That would only happen in a million years." He said casually without looking at her.
"It's not funny."
"Besides, it only happens when you're staring at Rukawa." He replied.
Her face flushed at his words. She looked at him for a second before smacking him in the shoulder.
"Hey! What was that for?" He said as he whipped around to face her, giving her a mock glare.
"Nothing." She said with an innocent smile.
"Nothing." He mimicked her soft voice.
"Hey!"
"Okay, I'll stop." He held his hands up.
"I still don't understand what made me…"
"What made you and I become good friends. Right?" He finished for her.
"Yes."
"I dunno. My good looks?"
She giggled and shook her head.
"No way."
"What? I'm not good looking?"
"Well…"
"Yes yes, I get it. Rukawa-kun will forever be the most cutest and gorgeous guy in the whole entire planet. No one will be able to compete with him. Not even me, the good looking Mitsui Hisashi." He said sarcastically and made a face.
She laughed.
"You know I don't mean that way." She said.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just teasing."
She smiled. He rolled his eyes and turned away. She watched him for a moment. Mitsui Hisashi, third year sempai. Basketball player. Former Jr.High MVP. Former gangster. And her good friend. It was kinda unbelievable. If someone were to tell her 3 months ago that she, Haruko would be good friends with Mitsui, she would tell them, 'You're crazy.'
Flashback….
"No. Not again!"
Haruko stared up at the sky. She was about to step out of the building when it suddenly started to rain.
"Great. Stuck."
She glanced at her watch. She was supposed to be home in 15 minutes time. Looks like she was gonna be late again.
"Just my luck. Just my luck." She muttered to herself.
"Are you….talking to yourself?" A curious voice asked.
She turned around only to see someone she had never expected would talk to her. She took a step back. He raised an eyebrow.
"I was just…just…" She stumbled to find her words.
"Hey, I was just saying. You don't have to be so scared you know? It's not like it's a life and death question."
"No…no, I mean…"
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Are you heading out?"
"Wha…what?"
He chuckled again and ran a hand through his short hair.
"I said…are you planning to go?" He said as he pointed to the main gate.
"Uh…yeah…"
"Look kid. I'm not a serial killer or a serial rapist. And I don't bite either. So, just chill okay?"
She nodded. He looked at her amusedly for a moment. Finally, he shrugged and looked away. He took off the jacket he was wearing.
"What…what are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm going to strip."
"What?" She exclaimed and then quickly took a step further.
He looked at her and laughed.
"Hey, look…I'm not interested in doing anything to you okay? Even if I am…Captain will probably kill me and kick me off the basketball team. Besides, I'm not that kinda guy. And just because I used to be a gangster, that doesn't mean a person can't change for the better."
"I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it seem that way. I didn't mean that…"
"I know. Forget it." He said casually.
He lifted his jacket above his head and look at her.
"Well?"
"Well what?" She asked.
"Are you gonna come along or are you planning to stay here until the rain stops, which is not likely to unless in another 2 hours or so, by the looks of it."
She bit her lip and debated her choice. Go or don't go?
"I don't have all day." He interrupted her thoughts.
She looked at him and finally nodded.
….End flashback
"Will you please quit staring at me?"
Haruko's thoughts flew back to the present. Mitsui shook his head. She then realized he had just said something.
"What did you just say?"
"I said…will you please quit staring at me? It makes me feel like I'm some kind of bug under a microscope."
She giggled.
"Sorry."
……………………………………………………..
"Ohayo."
"Mmm…"
"Ohayo."
"Mmm…"
Haruko's lips twitched in annoyance. She pinched the upper fleshy part of his arm.
"Oww!"
Mitsui glared at her. She gave him a satisfied smile.
"What is your problem?"
"I said Ohayo. You didn't reply."
"I said…Mmm.."
"That's not a reply. That wasn't even a word."
"It is."
"Look it up in the dictionary." She challenged.
"Lazy." He replied and turned back to his locker.
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold metal.
"What DID you do last night?"
"Stufying." Mitsui mumbled, still with closed eyes.
"Stuffing what?"
"Hisfree"
"He's free? Who's free?" Haruko repeated in confusion.
Mitsui lifted his forehead from the locker and turn to look at her. She shot him a questioning look, clearly not understanding.
"I said. Studying. Not stuffing. And History. Not he's free. Understand?"
"You? Studying?"
"What?" He replied indignantly.
She walked past him and looked out the window that was next to the row of lockers. Curious, Mitsui walked up to her and looked out the window. There was nothing except a sunny day and a few students walking into the school.
"What are you looking at?" He asked as he eyed her.
"At the sky."
"Why?"
"Pigs are gonna fall. The horses are gonna skydive. I don't want to miss all that." She replied, still looking out.
"What? Pigs? Horses? What are you talking about?" He asked with an eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
She smiled and turned to look at him.
"You studying. On the day you study, pigs will fall from the sky and horses will skydive." She said.
"Oh…" He slowly nodded.
Then he looked at her, realizing her sarcasm. She smiled innocently.
"Hey! I have a test coming up alright? You don't have to sound so sarcastic…"
"No…" She said as she quickly turned to look out the window to hide her grin.
"You're one evil person Akagi. I can't believe…"
He didn't got to finish. He was cut off by a sudden gasp from her. He didn't have to look out the window to know what was happening. He looked at her instead. Her face was practically glowing, her eyes seem to be trained on someone. There was a slight blush on her cheeks. Only on person could give Haruko this kind of reaction…Rukawa Kaede. Mitsui watch her for a little while before shaking his head and headed back to his locker. Right then the bell rang.
"I have to go. See you senpai." Haruko said as she ran to her class.
Mitsui didn't even bother to respond. He had a feeling she was probably out of earshot anyway. He smiled and slowly walked to his class. 'Even if I lived to a 100, I'll never understand why Haruko is so in love with that walking, monosyllabic ice block.'
……………………………………………………….
"Do you want to learn or not?"
"I…"
"One…"
"Well, I…"
"Three…."
"Uh…"
"Five! Time's up. Too late. Too bad." He said as he walked away from her.
"Hey! Wait!"
"When you've decided, call me." He called out without looking back at her.
"Mitsui Hisashi!"
He stopped and turned around with a raised eyebrow. He cleared his throat, looking at her expectantly. She swallowed hard and smiled meekly. She knew calling him with his full name at a raised voice is not something she should do, considering she was still a first year kouhai, or rather, a junior.
"Mitsui-senpai." She said in a softer tone of voice.
"Yes?"
"I want to learn how to play."
He cleared his throat again. She rolled her eyes before giving him another meek, innocent smiled.
"Please, can you teach me how to play basketball?" She said politely, hiding her biting tone.
"Of course my dear first year kouhai." He stressed the words 'first year'.
She rolled her eyes again. 'Unbelievable guy.'
He grinned and picked up a basketball from the floor and tossed it to her. It hit her squarely in the face before she could fully respond to catch it. Mitsui looked horrified at first, but a slow smile slowly appeared, then a grin, soon, he collapsed into a laughing fit. Haruko glared at him indignantly. Luckily, Mitsui's toss wasn't that hard, but it still hurt her nose. She gently rubbed it to ease the pain while glaring at him.
"Are you finished?" She asked sarcastically.
"Ahaha…haha…nearly….hahaha…..almost...haha…slightly more….ahaha…haha…"
A smile slowly appeared on Haruko's lips despite herself. Seeing Mitsui laughing made her laughed along. It was kinda funny. He finally stopped laughing and clutched his stomach.
"You're gonna be the death of me Akagi Haruko."
"Good. I'll be sure to visit your grave."
He chuckled at her words and walked up to her. He came closer to her, making Haruko a little self-conscious. He reached up and gently rubbed her nose.
"You okay?"
She nodded without a word. Another chuckle escaped his lips and he started laughing again. Haruko felt her face flame up in embarrassment though she didn't know what he was laughing at, but she was sure it was probably something about her.
"What?"
"Your face. When you blush….it's cute."
The comment made her blush even more so.
"Alright, let's get to the teaching." She quickly said.
Mitsui stopped laughing and nodded.
"Okay, so you know the basic jump shot, lay-up shot…"
"Yeah…but I want to be better. In fact, I want to try a three pointer."
Mitsui shrugged. "Okie-dokie then."
Haruko took the ball that fell to the floor and stepped outside the three pointer line. She poised, ready to shoot. The she stopped and looked at Mitsui who was still standing at the same spot.
"Aren't you gonna guide me?" she asked.
"No. You shoot first so I know your shooting form."
"K." She nodded.
She leaped and release her shot, the ball didn't even reach anywhere near the board. She turned and looked at Mitsui, as if daring him to laugh. He bit his lower lip, clearly trying to stop himself from laughing. His shoulders were slightly shaking.
"Hey…" She warned.
"Okay...okay. Wait. One sec."
He quickly turned around, took a deep breath, released it and then turned back to her.
"Okay. Not gonna laugh anymore."
He walked up to her with another basketball in hand. He gave her the ball to which Haruko took it.
"Okay, just relax yourself. Your stance, your arms….just relax. You look really tense when you threw the ball."
Haruko nodded and took a deep breath, before leaping up and shooting the ball again. Again, it flew no where near the board.
"Relax girl. Chill."
"I am relax."
"No you're not. Besides, you got your arms positioned wrong. Show me your shooting form, but don't shoot. Just freeze right there."
"Gee, do I have a play and rewind button as well?"
"I wish you had a mute button so I can turn you off and make you listen." He replied.
"Okay okay."
He smirked. Haruko positioned herself once more. Mitsui placed one hand on her arm and lowered it down. Then he angled both her arms. He then stood behind her and placed both hands on her hips lightly. Haruko felt another wave of self-consciousness as she realized how close he was being. He leaned close to her ear, where she could feel his breathing gently tickling her neck.
"Relax." He whispered.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes the same time she released her breath.
"Focus on the basket. Released the ball towards the basket, not too fast, not to hard either. Raise your arm slowly, lower your hips, bend a lil' of your knees, and let your right hand push the ball forward." He whispered.
Haruko tried to forget about how close he was and did as he said. The ball flew towards the basket, but was short by just a few inches. It fell before the basket.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." Mitsui said as he went to get another basketball.
Haruko nodded.
"Why sudden urge to learn basketball anyway?"
"I just…wanted to…"
"Add to your co-curricular activities?"
"Yeah."
Mitsui looked at her and smirked.
"Liar."
She blushed and nodded. She was never good at lying.
"Okay. It's cause I was hoping it could make Rukawa notice me."
"Right." He nodded.
There was a moment of silence.
"What?" Haruko asked.
She knew there was something Mitsui wanted to say, but he just didn't want to tell her.
"Nothing."
"C'mon senpai."
He turned to look at her in the eye.
"He should notice you for who you are, not for who you are not." He said.
Haruko stared at him in surprise. He shrugged and turned to make a shot at the basket.
……………………………………………………...
"Aaahhh!"
Everyone turned at the sound of the voice.
"Haruko? Are you okay?" Miyagi asked in concern.
"Haruko?" Ayako said as she crouched next to the brown-haired girl.
The basketball team gathered around. One minute Haruko was running across the gym, holding some kind of paper in her hands, glowing by the minute and the other, she had fallen flat facedown on the gym floor.
"Haruko." Akagi said as he crouched on the other side of her and slowly helped her up.
"Eh, what's that?" Miyagi said as he pointed at her face.
"Haruko! There's blood on your lips!" Ayako said in panic.
"Oh..it's nothing…it's just…uh...split lip." Haruko reached out to touch her lips.
"Don't touch it yet." Kogure said.
Kogure turned to Sakuragi and instructed him to bring the first aid box.
"Are you okay?" Akagi asked gently.
She nodded. Her cheeks were flaming red. 'I can't believe I wiped out, in front of Rukawa! He's gonna think I'm so stupid!' She dared herself to look up at Rukawa. He had an emotionless face. He then muttered 'Da-ahou' before turning away. Haruko looked down in hurt and rejection.
"First-aid box!" Sakuragi shouted as he made his way back to them.
"Here, let me do it." Ayako said.
"No, it's…okay…" Haruko began to speak.
"Ayako."
Ayako turned to face Mitsui.
"I'll help her. You guys get back to the game." He offered.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
He nodded. Everyone went back to the court to continue their practice. Mitsui helped Haruko to her feet and lead her to the bench nearby. He then made her sit down.
"I'm okay…"
"Yeah, with a split lip…you're in the most wonderful state right now." He said sarcastically.
He took out a white cloth from the first-aid box and reached over to gently pat her blood. She moved back.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He replied and came closer.
"I can do it myself…"
"Don't be stubborn. Just stay still."
"But I…"
"I said…stay still."
"But…"
"Will you just stop already and let me help you?"
She shut her mouth and nodded. He smirked and gently patted her blood dry. He gave her a water bottle and asked her to wet her lips with the water before patting it dry again.
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks." She said softly.
"You sure you're okay?" He asked as he peered at her closely.
She looked up at him.
"I can't believe I fell down right in front of him like that." She whispered.
A chuckle escaped his lips as he stared at her in amazement.
"What?" she said defensively.
"You worry too much. Besides, the guy doesn't really care either."
"I know…"
"Hey, I didn't mean to crash your hopes." He said gently.
"I know."
"Anyway, what were you so excited about anyway?"
Haruko remembered the paper in her hands. She quickly passed it to Mitsui. He scanned through it, a grin appearing on his face.
"Hey congratulations. You won an all-expense paid trip for five to Tokyo Disneyland. No wonder you're so excited."
"I've always wanted to go there since I was a kid. And when this writing contest came along, I decided I couldn't pass up this chance."
"Nice."
Haruko smiled. Mitsui handed the paper back to her and shook his head, smiling.
"So I guess for this, a split lip is worth it huh?"
"But not at the expense of humiliating myself in front of Rukawa and looking ridiculous." She replied.
He shook his head again and stood up. He walked towards the court but stopping halfway to look back.
"I don't think you looked ridiculous at all. Besides, it's what inside not outside that counts right?" He said before heading back to the court.
…………………………………………………
"Senpai…" Haruko stop short at the sight in front of her.
"Yeah, I would like that sometime."
"Really? That would be great." He gave her his trademark charming smile.
The girl giggled lightly and tucked her hair back to her ear. He leaned closer to her and whispered something into her ear to which made her giggle lightly again.
"Maybe." She replied.
Haruko kept her eye on the both of them. She recognized the girl. Akiou Aizamia. Third year senpai, very pretty with her light brown hair with slight hints of blond and big hazel eyes. She was half-American and half-Japanese, which explains her good looks. 'What is she doing with Mitsui?' Haruko then realized her stupidity, Akiou-senpai is a third year after all, of course she and Mitsui would be friends. She watched as Mitsui laughed at something the girl said. She then decided she should just leave them and talk to him later, though there was this tugging feeling in her heart but she decided to ignore it. Just then Mitsui averted his eyes to see her standing there. She quickly turned to leave.
"Haruko!" He called out.
She stopped and slowly turned around with a small smile. He smiled and waved her to come over. Haruko suddenly felt really embarrassed, there were a few third-year students staring at her making her feel like she shouldn't be here, in the third-year floor.
"Hey." She said softly as she reached his side.
"Hey. What are you doing here? To see Captain?"
"Not really."
"To see me then?" He asked with a wry grin.
"No…"
"Yeah right." He teased.
He turned to the other girl next to him.
"This is Akagi Haruko."
"Hello." Aizamia greeted her cheerfully with a smile.
"Hi."
"Haruko, this is Akiou Aizamia, the most beautiful girl in third-year."
Aizamia laughed and gently elbowed Mitsui in the rib.
"He's such a tease. Don't mind him." She said to Haruko.
Haruko just nodded weakly, giving a weak smile. The tugging feeling in her was starting to grow. Mitsui noticed the slight difference in her but said nothing. He turned to Aizamia.
"I'll talk to you later k?"
"Hai. I'll see you during lunch then?"
"Definitely. My treat." He grinned.
Aizamia nodded and said bye to Haruko before leaving. Mitsui then tugged Haruko's arm and motioned her to follow him to the staircase. She duly followed. Mitsui turn around to face her as soon as they reached the staircase.
"I'm sorry…did I disturb you with Akiou-senpai?" She said softly, not looking at him in the eye.
Silence. Haruko dared herself to look up at him. Mitsui looked so serious then that Haruko thought he was annoyed and irritated with her. But then he suddenly laughed and shook his head.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Aizamia and I were just talking."
"It didn't seem like it." She muttered softly, looking back down.
A grin spread across Mitsui's face. He came up a few steps closer to her.
"Why? Jealous?" He whispered softly.
Haruko looked up in surprise at his words only to find his face was just a few inches away. She stumbled back in shock, nearly tripping over the steps. Mitsui quickly reached out and grabbed her around the waist before she could fall on her butt.
"You okay?" He asked.
She quickly nodded. He released his arms from her and then shook his head as he kept his eye on her.
"Klutz." He noted.
"Hey!"
"Well you are."
"Am not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Okay, as much as I would like to stand here and bicker with you like 6 year olds, I can't. I have to get to class now before I get detention for the fifth time this week, and if you have nothing else to say, then I'll leave and we'll continue this later."
"I…"
He looked at her expectantly. Haruko had forgotten what she had came here to tell him.
"I forgot…"
He chuckled and nodded.
"K then. I really need to go now. If anything, call me." He said as he waved his cell phone at her.
"In the middle of your class?" She asked in surprise.
He rolled his eyes.
"No. Unless you really need to talk to me, then…just call."
"Oh."
"Yeah, just make sure it is important. Not some girly fluff stuff." He said but then he shook his head. "Then again, anything to take me out of class and kill my boredom is fine actually. Just call if you want to talk to me. About anything."
She giggled and nodded.
…………………………………………………...
"When are you gonna tell the guy?"
"Who?"
"That guy."
"That guy?"
"Yes. THAT guy." He said with a meaningful look.
She then understood who he was talking about.
"Do you think I should tell him?"
"I don't know."
"Why not? You're a guy, you should know."
"Let me tell you the difference between me and that…." Mitsui paused and searched for the right words to describe Rukawa so that he wouldn't offend Haruko. "…that ice prince."
She raised an eyebrow at his description of Rukawa and giggled.
"I am the really easy-going sociable kind, while he's not. I am the friendly outspoken kind and he's not. I am the say-how-you-feel kind while he's not. Basically, I'm not like him. So don't compare him with me."
"I'm not comparing. You are both guys, so you should at least know how he would feel."
"I don't have psychic powers."
"I am just saying that you both are from the same gender so…"
"Haruko. I really don't know. I don't know what he will say or do or think or feel. I don't want to raise your hopes and let it come crashing down later. Tell him if you feel that the time is right okay?" Mitsui said gently.
"But…" Haruko stopped and bit her lower lip.
"Look, if you want to tell him, just go up to him when there's no one else around, say…I want to talk to you about something, and then just say, I like you. That's all. He doesn't respond or reply then you just say, that's okay you just wanted to let him know. Then leave. If he responds with a yes, he likes you, then you can come thanking me later with the extra ticket to Tokyo Disneyland."
Haruko giggled at his advice.
"You're serious?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Haruko looked up at the sky. She wondered if she should tell Rukawa how she feels. But truthfully, she was starting to doubt her feelings for him. She felt her feelings for him were just mere infatuation. It wasn't exactly the real kind of liking. She didn't know when she felt that way. When she even thought that way. Of course she admired the guy and all, but if you were to ask her who she really cares about and who she really likes to be with, who she feels comfortable with, it wasn't him.
"Hey."
She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at Mitsui.
"Quit day-dreaming."
"Are you and Akiou-senpai together?"
"Why do you ask?" He said as he picked up a leaf that had had just fell from the tree they were sitting under.
"That day I saw you with her and the few other times…"
Mitsui chuckled as he examined the leaf in his hands.
"Do you like her?" She asked again.
"Sometimes when you like a person, it's not necessary to be with that person. Just knowing that the person is happy and healthy, that's all that matters." Mitsui answered.
Haruko looked at him, wondering at his words. He turned to her and smiled.
"You don't get it?"
She shook her head.
"Well, too bad then."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"Do you like her?"
"Who?"
"Senpai." She said almost in frustration.
"Oh." He feigned ignorance.
"Hey. C'mon."
"Why do you want to know?" He asked.
She shrugged. 'Why did I want to know?' She couldn't really think of a reason.
"Well if you don't know, then answering your question or not wouldn't make a difference right?"
"It would."
"How?"
"I…I don't know…"
He chuckled.
"Anyway, have you decided?" He asked.
"About what?"
"If you're gonna tell ice prince."
"I don't really know." She said thoughtfully.
………………………………………………………
"How do you tell a guy you like him?"
Mitsui nearly choked on his turkey sandwich at her words. He started to cough. Haruko quickly handed him her orange juice to which he quickly took a few gulps down.
"You okay?" She asked, trying to hide her laughter.
"Never, I mean never, ask me that kind of question when I'm eating."
"Sorry. But really, how…how do you tell a guy you like him?"
"I told you before."
"Not really. It was more like a direction thing, I mean really."
"There's no method for it, young kouhai. What makes you think there is a method?"
"Cause I thought you usually do this kind of stuff."
He choked on his sandwich again. Haruko handed him her orange juice again and this she didn't bother to hide her laughter.
"Ha-ha. Very funny." He said with a mock-glare.
"I just thought…you know…"
"Excuse me, I do not go confessing to girls I like them just like how you girls do your shopping during sale. Like it's all free and try to grab as much as you can. Besides, I've only liked two girls."
"Two girls?" She repeated.
"Is that so hard to believe?"
She giggled and nodded. Before Mitsui could say anything, Aizamia came up to them.
"Mitsui, can I talk to you for a little while?" She asked.
Mitsui nodded and got up to leave with her. Haruko stared back down at her own sandwich, feeling a little uneasy. 'Forget it Haruko.'
Mitsui came back after a while looking a little less cheerful than he was earlier.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Silence. Mitsui stared at what was left of his sandwich. Haruko kept eating, saying nothing, but kept her eye on him.
"Mitsui!" Miyagi said as he came over to their bench.
Mitsui looked up at him and groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming.
"I just heard what happened. Congrats man!" Miyagi said excitedly as he plunked down, in between of Haruko and Mitsui.
"What happened?" Haruko asked curiously.
"Mitsui didn't tell you?"
"No…" Haruko said.
Secretly, she think she knew what had happened, but she tried to squash the thought away.
"Mitsui had just gotten the catch of the year."
"Catch of the year?" Haruko repeated.
"You know Akiou Aizamia?"
Haruko nodded. Miyagi grinned and slapped Mitsui's back.
"She just confessed to Mitsui that she likes him!"
Haruko's eyes flew wide open in surprise.
"You're the luckiest guy alive! Who wouldn't want to be with Akiou-senpai?
"Me." Mitsui replied softly.
Both Haruko and Miyagi stared at him in shock. Both wondering if they had heard right.
"What?" Miyagi asked.
"I said, me."
"As in, you wouldn't want to be with Akiou-senpai?"
"Yes."
Miyagi stared at him and shook his head. He then smacked his forehead with his hand.
"Are you nuts?"
"No."
"Are you delusional then?"
"No."
"I don't get you."
Mitsui looked at him and shrugged with a small smile. Miyagi sighed and finally nodded.
He patted Mitsui on the back.
"Guess you're still into that one girl huh?"
Mitsui nodded. Haruko wondered who Miyagi was talking about.
"What one girl?" She asked.
Miyagi turned around and grinned at her.
"A really lucky girl."
"Really lucky?"
"Yeap. Well, I gotta go. See you both later." Miyagi said as he stood up. He looked at Haruko and winked before leaving.
Haruko stared at his retreating back. 'What was that all about?'
……………………………………………………
"So."
"So." He repeated.
"How was your day?"
He made a face at her question. Basketball practice had just ended. Haruko had stayed back to watch them practice.
"How was practice then?"
"Weren't you watching?" He replied.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Guess there's no point in trying to be nice to you."
"Hey, I was just kidding." Mitsui said as he grabbed her arm before she could stand up to leave.
She sat back down next to him and passed him a towel. He took it and wiped his swat from the forehead.
"What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have piano classes?"
"No, it's cancelled today."
"Huh."
"Actually, I came to tell something to somebody."
Mitsui raised an eyebrow.
"Something? To somebody?"
Haruko nodded. Mitsui then nodded in understanding. But his face expression changed a little. He quickly looked away. There were a few others still on the court, among them was Rukawa.
"Well good luck." He said without looking at her.
"Thanks."
Mitsui turn to her, expecting her to go over to Rukawa, but she stayed where she was.
"Waiting for the right moment?"
"What you mean?"
"You are here. He is there." He pointed.
"What you mean? He is here."
Mitsui stared at her in confusion. She smiled, a light blush creeping her cheeks.
"I wanted to talk to you, about something."
"Me?"
She nodded and took a deep breath.
"See, remember the words you told me?"
"What words?"
"How the guy should notice me for who I am, not what I'm not? It's what inside that matters, not the outside?"
He slowly nodded.
"Well, it made me think. A lot. And I realized, you're right. And when I thought about it, Rukawa was just nothing more but a mere infatuation. He wasn't who I liked. I realized I liked someone who cares about me, who makes me laugh…." She stopped before continuing, "…and someone who laughs at me too. Someone who catches me when I fall, but despite my klutz-ness, he still stays by my side. Someone who saw me for who I am. Someone who's contented enough by just seeing me happy and healthy."
A small smile crossed Mitsui's face.
"But all the while, I didn't really see him. I mean I saw him, but I wasn't really looking at him. I was looking at a dark-haired, blue eyed guy. But the wrong one. Cause, all the while, the one beside me, is the one I should be looking at. One who also has, dark hair but with streaks of dark blue, and a more comforting blue eyes."
Mitsui's smile turned into a grin. He looked away before looking back at her.
"So you mean you like someone who was beside you all along?"
She nodded. Mitsui looked at her other side and then he looked at himself.
"You mean me?"
She smiled. Mitsui chuckled.
"How did you know I wouldn't….reject you?"
"Cause of all the hints you dropped, and the fact that you rejected Akiou-senpai, and that last hint by Miyagi-senpai."
"Smart girl."
Haruko just smiled. Mitsui reached for her hand and held it in his. They both said nothing, but stood up and left together with their hands in each other's as everyone stared at them in surprise, except for Miyagi and Ayako.
"Finally." Miyagi said.
Ayako nodded and smiled.