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Chapter 13: Valentine's Day

Miyagi was checking the basketball practice schedule for this week when he realized that 14th of February was approaching, and that's Valentine's Day.

"Oi, Hanamichi!" yelled Miyagi and he ran to his best friend after class. "Look at the schedule…"

"There's practice everyday, big deal…" said Sakuragi without much attention to the paper Miyagi had in his hand.

"Baka, look more carefully!"

"12th, 13th, 14th, 15th…" read Sakuragi and then he blinked and grabbed the paper but Miyagi had a firm grip on it. "Wait a minute, 14th? Valentine's Day is on this week?"

Miyagi nodded in excitement. Then he and Sakuragi grinned at each other.

"Do you think we will get Valentine's Day chocolates this year?" asked Miyagi dreamily.

"I hope so." said Sakuragi hopefully. "What would you do if you get a box of chocolates from Ayako?"

"Haven't thought about that. What about you?"

"Eat the chocolates right on the spot." said Sakuragi. "Haruko's chocolates must be very delicious…"

"So must be Aya-chan's…" said Miyagi.

Rukawa walked past and he saw Sakura and Miyagi standing at the corridor with the schedule in their hands, both blushing and grinning in a silly way.

"What are those two idiots doing…" he thought.

When Valentine's Day approached, girls would be working hard, making chocolates for the boys they like, just to express their feelings.

And that included Hiroko. She stood in the kitchen and stirred the light brown mixture in the pot.

"Hiroko, what are you doing?" asked her mother.

"Making chocolate."

"For Akira?" asked her mother.

Hiroko didn't answer. Seeing that her daughter was quiet, Mrs Gouhara just left.

Hiroko continued to stir her chocolate, but she didn't seem to be concentrating on it. In fact, she didn't even notice that she had shed a drop of tear right into the mixture.

Valentine's Day arrived and the love fever spread throughout the whole Shohoku school.

Rukawa opened his locker and found love letters piling up in it. Without a second thought, he simply removed them from his locker and threw them into the trashcan so that he could put his things in.

Akagi opened his locker and saw a letter in it. He took it and turned to his sister. "Haruko, there's no need to put your card into my locker, just give it to me."

Mitsui found love letters in his lockers and he spent 10 minutes reading all of them.

Sakuragi found five letters in his locker but he was disappointed to see that there's no letter from Haruko. However, he decided to come back later in case Haruko put the Valentine's card in his locker at a later time.

Miyagi saw Ayako's letter in his locker and happily, he took it.

"Kogure, look! I got a letter from Aya-chan!" he said, waving the letter at the vice-captain of the basketball team as he walked by with books in his hands.

"Really? That's nice." said Kogure and walked off.

Miyagi opened the card, only to find that Ayako had written in her best calligraphy: 'To all Shohoku basketball players' instead of 'To Ryota' on the card.

The day passed quickly and when the school was over, it was time for the usual basketball practice.

"Ayako, thanks for the Valentine's Day card." said Miyagi, blushing.

"What do you think of my handwriting?" asked Ayako.

"Superb!" said Miyagi happily and Ayako smiled.

Sakuragi sulked at the scene, for he didn't even receive anything from Haruko.

"Sakuragi?" asked Haruko.

"Hai!" said Sakuragi, turning his head eagerly to her. "Here it comes, here it comes…" he thought excitedly.

"Your shoelace is undone." said Haruko helpfully.

Sakuragi's face fell.

"Oh. Arigato." he mumbled and he squatted down to tie his shoelace.

"By the way…" said Haruko.

"Nani?" asked Sakuragi grumpily as he continued to tie his shoelace. He didn't care if he got anything from Haruko anymore. Obviously she gave her chocolates to that darn Rukawa…

"Hai." said Haruko.

Sakuragi looked up and saw a box of chocolates right in front of him. "What the…"

Haruko smiled shyly. "Today is Valentine's Day and you are a good friend, so I decide to make a box for you…"

Sakuragi's face changed from being depressed to delight. He jumped up and took the chocolate from Haruko. "Arigato!" he said.

Kogure smiled at Sakuragi and Miyagi, who were talking to their crushes and frowned slightly. He had not seen Hiroko throughout the whole day. She didn't come for the 'study session' recently and she didn't leave anything in his locker. Feeling rather lonely, Kogure sighed.

"What is it, Kogure?" asked Mitsui, slapping his best friend on the back.

"Nothing."

"Is it because Hiroko didn't give you anything today?" asked Mitsui, grinning.

Kogure blushed in embarrassment.

"Kogure! Hiroko is looking for you!" called Ayako.

Kogure looked up and saw Hiroko, standing outside the court. Kogure smiled and ran off to her.

"Lucky bastard." Mitsui muttered.

"Hi." said Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko smiled back slightly. "Do you have a minute?"

"I guess so." said Kogure.

"Ja…"

"Kogure, if you have something on, just go. You are allowed to skip practice today." said Anzai from behind.

"Eh?" asked Kogure. "But…"

"Today is Valentine's Day. If you want to spend your day with Hiroko-san, go ahead." said Anzai.

"Really?" asked Kogure in surprise.

Anzai nodded. "Go."

Kogure turned back to Hiroko. "Want to spend the rest of the day together?"

Hiroko nodded eagerly. Kogure smiled and went back into the court to pick his bag and his sports jacket.

"Oi, Kogure, where are you going?" asked Akagi.

"I got a day-off! Ja ne!" called Kogure and said to his coach. "Arigato, sensei!"

"Ho ho ho…" said Anzai. "It's good to be young…"

"Where do you want to go?" asked Kogure to Hiroko as they walked out of the school gates, holding hands.

"To the shopping street. I feel like buy something." said Hiroko, smiling.

"Okay. To be honest, I thought you are not allowed to come out with me anymore. Not since your father saw us…" said Kogure.

Hiroko shuddered but she didn't say anything.

At the shopping street, Kogure and Hiroko went everywhere. They went to the gift shop and Hiroko spent a while, trying to see which bracelet suited her best. Kogure just stood by and watched. She was about to buy a new necklace as well when Kogure suddenly said, "You don't have to buy a new one."

"Huh?" asked Hiroko.

"Never mind." he muttered. But Hiroko didn't buy any in the end, much to Kogure's relief.

Then they went to toy shop where they fooled around and fought (flirted is more like it…) with the stuffed animal toys they had in their hands. They walked past a video arcade and Hiroko dragged Kogure in, so that they could take photos at the photo-sticker machine in the arcade.

Throughout the whole day, the couple was happy, but Kogure couldn't help noticing the sad look on Hiroko's face she had whenever she thought Kogure wasn't looking.

As they walked home together, Kogure asked, "Are you happy today?"

Hiroko nodded. "Today is the best day I ever had." Then she held on to Kogure's arm lovingly.

"Maybe I'm overreacting…" thought Kogure.

As usual, they stopped at the corner of the street where Hiroko lived.

"So, I will see you tomorrow morning then." said Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko stared at Kogure sadly. Kogure blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?"

Hiroko blinked and shook her head. "Nothing." she then opened her bag and took out a box of chocolates. "Hai. This is for you. I made them myself."

Kogure blushed and smiled. "Arigato. I won't bear to eat them through…"

"No, you have to." said Hiroko quietly. "My love for you is in those chocolates. You have to eat them all."

Kogure looked embarrassed. "All right." he said and kept the chocolates. Then he opened his own bag and took out a long box. "And this is for you."

"What is this? Chocolate?" asked Hiroko, smiling slightly.

Kogure laughed. "Iie, of course not. It's, um… a Valentine's Day gift." he said shyly.

Hiroko took it and she stared at the gift. Then she looked back at Kogure, who was still smiling. He was expecting her to kiss him but instead, Hiroko sniffled and threw her arms around him.

"What the…" asked Kogure in puzzlement.

"Just hold me, Kiminobu." said Hiroko, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his jacket.

Kogure looked confused, but he hugged her anyway. "What's the matter?" he asked softly. "Did you have a fight with your father?"

Hiroko shook her head. Kogure stroked her head. "Come on, no matter what happens, I will be here for you…"

"No, you won't." said Hiroko quietly.

"Huh?"

"I… I have to go now. Remember to eat those chocolates." said Hiroko looking up at him.

"Sure. I promise I will eat all of them." said Kogure, grinning.

Hiroko smiled, then suddenly she pulled her boyfriend close for a long kiss. She let go of him and while Kogure still looked rather dazed, she dashed off to her house.

Kogure shook his head to clear it. "Whoa, what happened?"

He watched Hiroko went into her house and he smiled. "See you tomorrow then, ja ne!" he said and he left.

Hiroko went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes. There, she had done it. She had sent the chocolates to Kogure… Hiroko sat down on the floor sadly, with the gift still in her hand. She stared at the gift and unwrapped it.

It's a velvet-made box. She opened and found a folded note and gold heart-shaped locket in it.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful…" she said quietly. She picked the locket out and opened it. Her face was emotionless when she saw the tiny picture of herself and Kogure in the locket. But when she read the note, her face crumbled and she started to weep. It said:

Dear Hiroko,

I know it's a little old-fashioned to give you a gold locket, but I just want to express a saying: Love is more solid than gold. Keep this close to your heart. I hope our love will last forever.

Remember, I love you.

Love,
Kiminobu

"Gomen, Kiminobu…" she sobbed.

Kogure got home, whistling.

"Kiminobu, you're home." said his mother. "By the way, Mitsui called just now. You better call him back."

"Later, Okaasan." said Kogure, smiling. Mitsui probably just called to get all the juicy details about his date today. Well, he would tell him later, after he ate the chocolates.

He went to his room and sat on the desk. Then he took out the chocolates. He opened the box and found a note inside.

"Just like what I did for her." said Kogure, smiling. "Looks like our minds think alike."

He took a piece of chocolate and popped it into his mouth. "Not bad." he said happily and unfolded the note.

His smile vanished. Then he read it for the second and the third time, just to see if he's reading it correctly:

Dear Kiminobu,

Happy Valentine's Day. This is the first and last time I'm going to give you chocolates. I afraid we mustn't see each other again. Please don't ask me why. I'm sorry to hurt your feelings. I hope you will find a girl better than me.

Hiroko

"You're lying." Kogure muttered. Then he crumpled up the paper and closed his eyes.

The next day, Kogure walked around the school, as if he was in a trance. He couldn't concentrate in his class, for Hiroko was all he could think about.

Finally, school was over and he went to the basketball practice. Immediately after he had opened the door that led to the basketball court, Sakuragi, Miyagi and Mitsui rushed to him.

"Hey, how's our lover boy doing?" asked Miyagi.

"Why didn't you call me back last night? I called, you know." said Mitsui.

"He's probably too busy, you know. Spending a passionate night with Hiroko." teased Sakuragi.

The three boys laughed as Kogure walked past them. Then he stopped, his back facing them.

"Come on, Kogure, tell us all the juicy details, what did you two do?" asked Miyagi.

"Whatever it is, it's better not what Sakuragi said." said Mitsui.

"Why not?" asked Sakuragi.

"Aho, Kogure and Hiroko won't do anything like that, not until they are married." snapped Mitsui impatiently.

"You will never know." sang Sakuragi.

"You're crazy." said Mitsui and turned to Kogure, whose back was still facing them. "So what happened yesterday?"

"Did she give you chocolates?" asked Miyagi excitedly.

Kogure was silent.

Sakuragi and Miyagi looked at each other. Mitsui frowned. "Oi, Kogure, are you even listening to us?"

Kogure didn't respond.

"Oi, Megane-kun." called Sakuragi.

Kogure slowly turned his head to them and the trio stared in shock.

Kogure was crying. A single drop of tear had just rolled down his cheek.