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Chapter 12: Caught in the Act

School started in Kanagawa and Kogure and Hiroko began to busy themselves with their school activities. They barely had enough time together. Kogure had basketball practices after school everyday and Hiroko was busy with her own things. It didn't get better during the weekends either. Because there's an important match coming up, Kogure needed to attend the extra trainings on Saturdays, and on Sundays, Hiroko was ordered to stay at home, because her father thought that she had already spent too much time outside.

The only time they did get together was the regular "study session" they had in the library during mornings before school started, but that's enough for them.

Finally, February came and Kogure got a day off on the day before the match against Apollo Collage, because Anzai sensei wanted them to get a good rest.

That morning, Kogure called Hiroko straightaway.

"Hai, Gouhara residence." said Hiroko.

"Hiroko, it's me." said Kogure in his normal voice.

"Kimi…" started Hiroko excitedly and she glanced at her father, who was sitting near her. "…ko!" she ended quickly. "How are you? I thought you are busy today?"

"Anzai sensei wants the team to take a day off today." said Kogure. "So I'm free. Want to go out?"

"Of course." said Hiroko happily. "Where do you want to go?"

"The zoo? We can spend the whole day there."

"All right."

"Okay then, see you in 10 minutes at the bus station." said Kogure. "Ja ne."

Hiroko hung up the phone and called, "I'm going out!"

"To where?" asked her father.

"Zoo." said Hiroko as she put on her shoes.

"With who? Akira?" asked her mother in interest.

"No, Kimiko." said Hiroko and went out. "I will be back before dinner!"

"Kimiko again." said Mr Gouhara, shaking his head. "Does that daughter of mine go out with anybody else beside that friend with a weird voice?"

Mr Gouhara called his wife. "By the way, remind me to go out later, I want to buy a new wooden sword…"

Holding hands, Kogure and Hiroko walked in the zoo, looking at animals from all over the world. They laughed when they saw the gorillas, for they really reminded the couple of Akagi.

The day passed by quickly and evening came, so Hiroko had to go home.

"What a day, I'm exhausted!" said Hiroko as she and Kogure walked down the street, holding hands like any happy couple. They even had ice creams in their free hands.

"You're exhausted? Try taking basketball practice for a day." suggested Kogure.

"No way, I will collapsed." said Hiroko in protest. "Speaking of basketball, I'm sorry that I couldn't go to the match tomorrow to see Shohoku play. You know my father, he will never let me go…"

"It's okay. I understand." said Kogure kindly.

"But remember to tell me everything about the match on Monday." said Hiroko.

A car door slammed behind the couple but they didn't notice.

"That's easy," said Kogure, grinning. "As usual, Rukawa will gain the spotlight tomorrow."

"Don't you ever play?" asked Hiroko.

"Not unless one of the base players is out…" said Kogure. "I get to play in the game against Ryonan because Mitsui tired himself out in the second half."

"Hope you get to play tomorrow."

"What do I get in return if I play tomorrow?" asked Kogure as he finished his ice cream.

Hiroko pretended to think.

"If you play AND perform well…" said Hiroko slowly and grinned. "You will get this!"

Then Hiroko pressed her ice cream-stained hand on Kogure's cheek. Kogure gave a short scream and Hiroko laughed.

"HIROKO!"

Kogure and Hiroko turned around. Immediately, Kogure let go of Hiroko's hand.

Mr Gouhara was there, glaring at them as he stood beside his car.

"O-otousan? What are you doing here?" asked Hiroko in horror.

Mr Gouhara stormed to them and after an angry glance at Kogure, he grabbed Hiroko's hand. "Come home with me."

"But…" started Hiroko.

"Now!" roared her father.

Hiroko looked at Kogure.

"Gouhara-san, I can explain…" started Kogure.

"Shut up, boy." said Mr Gouhara and looked at Hiroko. "Let's go."

Then, he dragged her daughter away to the car, leaving Kogure behind with the stain still on his cheek. His happy mood was now replaced with worry. He kept on looking at Hiroko until she got into the car and her father drive off.

"Moshi moshi, Sendoh residence." said a voice in the phone.

"I'm Gouhara, get Akira to the phone, right now." said Mr Gouhara.

Hiroko was at home, sitting on the sofa. She looked at her mother for help, but her mother's face was emotionless.

"Hai, Akira here." said Sendoh.

"Nephew, get over here right now, I want to talk to you."

"Can't we talk over the phone, Ojiisan?" asked Sendoh.

"No." snapped Mr Gouhara.

"Okay, I will take about an hour to get there, because I have just finished my basketball practice and I'm covered with sweat, then I need to take the train…"

"Don't shower, just come here!" said Mr Gouhara, annoyed.

"Okay okay…"

Sendoh came over to the Gouhara's in his Ryonan sport jacket and immediately, he saw his cousin's sad face. He sat down beside Hiroko. "What's wrong, Ojiisan?" he asked in concern.

"Akira, you have been cheated on." said his uncle.

"Huh?" asked Sendoh in confusion.

"Your fiancée has been going out with someone else behind your back!" said Mr Gouhara angrily.

Sendoh blinked and turned to his cousin. "He knows, huh?" he asked.

"What do you mean by 'he knows, huh'?" asked Mr Gouhara. He looked at Hiroko, then back at Sendoh. "You mean you know that Hiroko has another boyfriend beside you?"

"That's not correct, I'm not her boyfriend, Kiminobu Kogure is."

"How could you let her do this, Akira?" asked Sendoh's aunt in horror. "Hiroko is your fiancée!"

"As long as we are not married, Hiroko has the freedom to love whoever she wants." said Sendoh calmly.

"What sort of rubbish is this?" asked Mr Gouhara, slapping his hand on the table. "You two are betrothed to each other since you were babies!"

Sendoh was silent.

"Hiroko, I don't care what you do, just break up with that boy."

Both Sendoh and Hiroko looked horrified.

"But, Otousan, I can't do that, I will break his heart!" said Hiroko.

"Break it then." said Mr Gouhara. "I don't care."

"Ojiisan, how could you?" asked Sendoh quietly.

"Baka, what do you mean? I'm doing this for you own good." said Mr Gouhara. "You two are going to be married sooner or later anyway, it's better for you and Hiroko not to go out with anybody else."

"Why must I marry to Akira?" asked Hiroko angrily.

"Hiroko, don't get too agitated…" said her mother worriedly. Even Sendoh looked concerned.

"Because you two are betrothed and as far as I know, Akira is the best husband a girl could ever have!" said Mr Gouhara firmly.

"You don't even know Kiminobu, he's as good as Akira!" argued Hiroko.

"That's true." Sendoh muttered.

Mr Gouhara snorted. "I don't have to know him. He mixes with those rowdy people I met during that beach outing and that's enough."

"But Kiminobu isn't like any one of them! He even wants to be a doctor when he's older!" shouted Hiroko.

"Hey, that's better than me. I want to be a basketball coach when I'm older." said Sendoh.

"Be quiet, Akira." growled his uncle and turned to Hiroko. "I don't care if he wants to be a doctor or a vet, you are breaking up with him and that's that! I don't want you to hang around with a basketball player. You know your heart isn't in a good condition, what if he drags you to see his matches and you get overexcited?"

"Akira is a basketball player too!" said Hiroko.

Sendoh looked at his sport jacket and didn't say anything.

Mr Gouhara was silent for a moment before he said, "And I know Akira better! Now either you break up with that boy or I disown you, understand? I mean it!"

Hiroko glared at her father, tears filled her eyes.

"You are biased, Otousan! You just want me to marry Akira and nobody else, I hate you!" shouted Hiroko and she ran out of the house.

"Hiroko!" cried her mother, who wanted to chase after her.

"Obasan, let me." said Sendoh and he went out after his cousin.

"Good boy, Akira! Let's see if you could talk some senses into her…" called Mr Gouhara.

Sendoh arrived at the playground and looked around. The playground seemed deserted. But Sendoh knew exactly where to look. Immediately, he went to the slide and looked beside it.

Hiroko was there, sitting on the ground, with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"I found you." sang Sendoh, trying to cheer his cousin up.

Hiroko looked up and smiled slightly. "How do you know I'm here?"

Sendoh came and sat down beside her. "Remember when we were little, we played tag and you broke Ojiisan's vase?"

Hiroko thought for a while and nodded.

"Ojiisan yelled at you and you ran out. Took us a while to find you asleep beside the slide." said Sendoh, smiling at the memory. "So I came here, just to try my luck."

"Are you going to take me home?" asked Hiroko.

Sendoh shrugged.

"Not until you feel better." he said. He looked at his cousin in concern. "How are you feeling now?"

Hiroko sniffled. "I can't believe Otousan."

"Me either." Sendoh muttered. "Does that mean you, um, have to break up with Kogure?"

Hiroko looked at Sendoh and nodded. "I have no choice, do I? Otousan always meant what he said, no matter what…"

Hiroko's voice sounded like she was going to break down, so Sendoh put his arm around her shoulders. And sure enough, Hiroko started to cry once he did.

"… B-but I really don't want to. Kiminobu is the one who brings me joy and happiness… It's wonderful to be with him these few months, I don't know what to do after I break up with him… my life just won't be the same without him."

Sendoh let Hiroko cried on his shoulder. "You will get over it. Just treat these few months as a beautiful dream." he said quietly and hugged his cousin in comfort.

"Akira… are you going to see the match that Shohoku is playing in tomorrow?"

"Yes." said Sendoh.

"If you see Kiminobu there, please don't tell him about what happened today."

"Okay."

Hiroko showed her pinkie to Sendoh.

"Promise?"

Sendoh smiled slightly before hooking his own little finger with Hiroko's.

"Promise."

Sendoh led his Ryonan team to the stadium and watched the game that Shohoku was playing in. As usual, Rukawa was performing well and Sakuragi was green with jealousy. Mitsui gained points with his three-point shots and Miyagi ran with a lightning speed whenever he had the ball with him.

Sendoh looked at Kogure, who was sitting at the bench along with the rest of the Shohoku players. He looked rather distracted and didn't even cheer with the rest when Rukawa had thrown his 8th shot of the game into the hoop.

The game ended with the score 89-70, Shohoku won. Kogure got up and smiled at his team mates.

That's when he saw Sendoh and his team, who were leaving the stadium

Immediately, he excused himself and ran out.

"Sendoh, chotto matte!" he called after the captain of the Ryonan team as they walked out of the stadium.

Sendoh turned and gave a polite look of puzzlement.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" said Kogure.

Sendoh nodded. "Certainly." he turned to his team mates. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

After his team mates left, Sendoh turned to Kogure. "What is it? Has my cousin given you any trouble?" he asked, smiling.

"Iie." said Kogure quietly.

He then told Sendoh about everything that happened yesterday.

"So I'm worried about Hiroko, is she going to be all right?" asked Kogure in concern.

"Wow, he really loves her." thought Sendoh.

Sendoh began to think of what to tell Kogure without breaking his promise to Hiroko.

"Actually…" said Sendoh slowly, "She called me this morning."

"And?" asked Kogure anxiously.

"She sounds okay. Maybe Ojiisan just lectured her or something." lied Sendoh.

"That's good." said Kogure, sighing in relief. "Maybe I should call her and…"

"No!" said Sendoh immediately. "I mean, you better not."

"You're right, I don't want to make things worse just when it's getting better." said Kogure.

"Wrong Kogure, you don't want to make things worse than it is now." thought Sendoh.

"Oi, Kogure! Stop talking to Sendoh and come back here!" yelled Mitsui. "We are going to celebrate!"

"Hai!" called Kogure. "I'm coming!"

He turned back to Sendoh. "Arigato, Sendoh, for telling me about Hiroko."

Sendoh smiled back. "No problem."

"KOGURE!" yelled Mitsui.

"Hai!" yelled Kogure and turned to Sendoh. "I better go, bye."

"Bye." said Sendoh and watched in sympathy as Kogure happily went back to his team mates.