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Chapter 9: 1 boy, 1 girl and … 3 gooseberries

2 weeks had passed. Shohoku had won Kirameki easily by 60 points and it's time for another rest for the basketball team before they went and practiced harder for their next competitor, which was Apollo Collage.

September came and Hiroko's birthday was approaching. Kogure had asked her out to celebrate on Sunday and he still hadn't decided what to buy for her birthday. He wanted to ask Haruko for advice, but knowing Haruko, she would probably tell Akagi about it before he could stop her. Kogure didn't want that.

He wanted to ask Ayako too, but everytime he tried to talk to her in school, Miyagi would be somewhere nearby and if he hears about it, he would tell Sakuragi and Mitsui and the three of them would make his life miserable.

On Saturday, Kogure finally decided to go shopping by himself. He walked on the streets and stared at the items on display. Hiroko seemed to be too old for dolls and teddy bears. Perfume and flowers were not her type and even if they were, Kogure didn't have the money to buy them.

He strolled past the shops and finally he found something that caught his eye. He stared at it and smiled. "This is it!"

Sunday

"Darn this stupid weather." cursed Sakuragi as he fanned himself. "And I thought the weather will be cooler now since autumn is coming."

Sakuragi, Mitsui and Miyagi walked on the streets in their casual clothes. Miyagi was playing with the basketball in his hands. Mitsui was drinking a can of Pepsi. The three of them were covered with sweat.

"Just go into some café and cool ourselves with the air-con." said Miyagi.

"It's not fun to play basketball with just the three of us," complained Mitsui. "I just wish that Akagi is free. Too bad he and Haruko have gone for a family visit."

"And Kogure?" asked Miyagi.

"He says he's busy with his studying…"

Suddenly Sakuragi noticed someone and his mouth dropped. He slapped Miyagi on the chest to get his attention. "Oi, look who it is!"

Miyagi turned, so did Mitsui. Their mouths dropped open.

It's Kogure, wearing a striped shirt and jeans. He had a bag across his shoulder. He was walking towards the shopping street.

"Didn't you just say he's busy?" asked Miyagi.

"He said so!" said Mitsui and frowned. "That brat, how dare he trick me…"

"He looks like he's going for a date or something…" said Miyagi.

Still watching Kogure, the trio slowly grinned. Then they followed Kogure into the shopping street.

Hiroko stood outside a shop and looked at her watch. She looked cute in her white dress. Then Kogure reached her and smiled. "Gomen, have you waited for a long time?"

Hiroko smiled. "Iie."

Then her smile faded and she went, "Ah…"

"Nani?" asked Kogure and he turned around.

"Konnichiwa!" yelled his three friends and Kogure went pale. "I-it's your guys! What are you doing here?"

"Oh we are just passing by." said Mitsui airily.

"We have just finished a game." said Sakuragi.

"And we spotted you two here so we just come over and say hello." said Miyagi innocently.

Hiroko smiled again. "Kogure and I are just going out."

"Shouldn't you be calling him Kiminobu?" asked Mitsui, grinning.

Hiroko blushed.

"Where are you two going?" asked Miyagi.

"Err…" started Kogure.

"Actually we going to watch a movie…" said Hiroko slowly.

"A movie!" cried Sakuragi. "Cool, I haven't watched a movie for a long time, let's go together!"

"Yeah, let's!" said Mitsui and Miyagi.

Kogure panicked. If these three tagged along with him and Hiroko, he wouldn't get any peace!

"Well, it's fine with me…" said Hiroko slowly.

So much for a date.

"But we can't go if Kogure disapproves…" said Sakuragi and Kogure's three team mates looked at him with puppy-like eyes.

(Kogure sweatdrops)

"Oh no, please don't look at me like that…" thought Kogure but he couldn't resist their 'please-pity-us' look.

Kogure laughed, even though he didn't feel like laughing. "Sure, you three can join us."

Kogure and Hiroko wanted to watch a romantic comedy, but because of Kogure's three team mates, they ended up watching an action movie instead.

"Go Dan, shoot him with your device!" yelled Sakuragi during the movie.

"Behind you, behind you!" called Miyagi.

Mitsui laughed at the movie. "Nice somersault!"

Hiroko had the smile on her face throughout the movie. Whether she was being polite or she really like the movie, nobody was sure.

"Ouch!" said the trio when the lead was shot in the arm. The rest of the audience were giving them angry stares, because they were making too much noise.

Kogure groaned and sank deeper into his seat, his hands covering his face in embarrassment.

"Boy, am I starving, why don't we go and grab a bite?" asked Mitsui after the movie.

"I know a place where we could get some neat snacks!" said Sakuragi.

"Yoshi, let's go!" said Mitsui and Sakuragi led the way, as if he was the one who was in charge of the outing.

Kogure followed unwillingly.

"I will go and buy the food. What do you want to eat?" asked Kogure to Hiroko.

"Just sandwiches will do." said Hiroko, smiling sweetly at Kogure.

"Oi, Kogure, I want chocolate pie!" said Mitsui.

"I want a plate of fries!" said Sakuragi.

"I want pudding!" said Miyagi.

Kogure opened his wallet and stared. He had paid for the five movie tickets and now he had barely enough cash for all of their food…

"But guys, I don't have enough cash with me." said Kogure.

Mitsui frowned. "Why don't you bring extra cash? You should be well-prepared." he lectured while Miyagi and Sakuragi nodded in agreement.

"It's you three who are playing gooseberry and make a hole in my wallet…" thought Kogure.

"I will think of something…" said Kogure finally and walked off.

He came back to their table with the food on the tray. "Here you go, guys." he said tiredly.

The boys grabbed their food while Hiroko took hers with an "Arigato."

Kogure sat beside Hiroko. Hiroko noticed that the area in front of him was empty. "Eh? Kiminobu, aren't you eating?"

Kogure smiled. "I'm not hungry."

The truth was, he had spent all his money on his friends' food and he didn't have any left for himself.

"Really?" asked Hiroko.

Kogure remained smiling. But then his stomach growled, loudly.

There was a silence between them before Kogure started to laugh uncomfortably.

"Here, at least take one of them." said Hiroko, offering Kogure her sandwich. "Open your mouth."

Smiling back, he leaned forward and opened his mouth playfully. Then his sharp senses told him to look to his left. He turned his head slightly and found Sakuragi, Miyagi and Mitsui staring at him and Hiroko in amusement.

Kogure and Hiroko blushed with embarrassment and quickly, Kogure just took the sandwich with his hand.

"Arigato." he mumbled.

"Everyone, I'm sorry but it's time for me to go home." said Hiroko.

"So soon?" asked Mitsui.

Hiroko nodded. Kogure stood up. "I will see you home." he said quickly.

"We will all escort you home!" offered Miyagi, grinning. He and Sakuragi stood up.

Kogure felt like he was going to faint.

"Eh? Kogure? What are you doing here?" asked a voice.

Kogure turned around and smiled slightly. "Hello, Anzai sensei."

"Hiroko, this is my basketball coach, Anzai sensei." he said quickly. "Sensei, this is Hiroko."

Hiroko bowed slightly to Anzai in politeness. "Konnichiwa."

Anzai nodded back. "Konnichiwa."

"The three of us bumped into Kogure and Hiroko this early afternoon and we thought we should join them and have some fun." said Mitsui to Anzai.

Kogure sighed inwardly and looked at Anzai. He looked as if he was thinking.

"Now Hiroko is going back and we want to escort her home." said Sakuragi cheerfully.

"Let Kogure escort Hiroko-san home. I want to talk to you three about our next practice." said Anzai, gently pushing Miyagi and Sakuragi down on their seats.

"Nani? But…"started Miyagi but he shut up when Anzai gave him a look. "Hai."

Sakuragi looked sulky and Mitsui looked disappointed.

Anzai turned to Kogure and Hiroko. "You two just go." he said, waving his hand as if he was dismissing the couple.

"All right then, ja ne." said Hiroko and Kogure waved goodbye to his friends, glad that he could get away from them, with the help of Anzai.

Hiroko was quiet on her way home.

"Um… did you have a good time today?" asked Kogure timidly.

Hiroko looked at Kogure and smiled. "It's okay."

"Gomen, I didn't expect my three friends to tag along, they are just too playful…"

Hiroko giggled. "This is the first time I have people to follow me on a date. It's quite amusing when you think of it."

Kogure thought for a while and smiled slowly. "Yeah… it is kind of funny."

Giggling, the couple continued to walk.

"What's in your bag?" asked Hiroko.

"Eh? Oh, this!" said Kogure and he unzipped his bag. "I want to give it to you earlier but, um…"

Taking out the gift, he gave it to Hiroko. "Here, tanjoubi omedetou."

"Ah…" Hiroko sounded pleased. "Arigato. I can't believe that you will remember my birthday."

Happily, Hiroko wrapped her arms around Kogure's arm and leaned onto him as they walked.

Blushing, Kogure smiled. Maybe this date wasn't completely spoiled after all.

Kogure got home and after he had finished his dinner, the phone rang. He picked it up. "Hai, Kogure residence."

"Yo Kogure!"

"Hi Mitsui." said Kogure.

"Listen, um, the three of us, Miyagi, Sakuragi and I are sorry about today, we are just having a bit fun, you know, just to tease you. Coach Anzai made us stay back and lectured us about it, said that we have grown up and should stop behaving like kids." said Mitsui, sounding rather embarrassed.

"Anzai… how did he know…"

"That's what amazing about Anzai, he knows everything." said Mitsui in admiration. "But then again, you shouldn't lie to me when I asked you out this morning."

"Gomen. I know you won't let me off if I tell you the truth."

"True. Well, ja ne!"

"Ja." said Kogure and he hung up. He smiled. Things were getting better.

Hiroko stayed in her room and unwrapped her gift that Kogure gave her.

"Oh it's beautiful!" she said, holding up a music box with a white unicorn on top. She then put it on her desk and looked at it lovingly from her bed before she fell asleep.