Laily nope I have never watched ER! Glad you could relate. Thanks for liking the previous chapter. This one is more serious, IMO.
Miss Hachigatsu Kuroi yes, I think Rukawa should be poor. High school students are generally poor. Takes one to know one. Ha. Thanks for liking Kaede.
rip thanks for your compliments!
Allence of the Weed hey hi! Thanks for the compliment, hehehe. I'm Singaporean-Chinese! More power to you too.
Devon here's more Tadashi for you :P
x
Chapter Four
I drew in as many breaths as I could like a fish out of water (in a literal sense) as I ran from home to school. It was only a 15-minute walk away but I wasn't the world's best athlete. Chances of me being the world's worst was higher – the only person I ran faster than was the most obese guy in Ryonan who graduated last year.
Of course, his graduation marked my attainment of his throne. I had become the official mascot of the Thou Shalt Not Exercise Because It Harms Your Brain Club.
x
Koshino beamed up at me as I appeared in the sports hall. "Tokita! You're here!" he exclaimed to my half-dead, wheezing being.
"Sorry I'm late – Where's Sendoh?" I was late; the least I could do was to apologize.
"Talking to the coach," Koshino gestured behind his shoulder. "Why are you looking for him anyway?"
Sensing the slight irritation in Koshino's tone, I just shrugged and walked back up to the spectator stands, my hands in my pockets.
Good heavens, I stopped halfway up, thinking about what I had just done to Koshino.
That was so Ru.
x
"Why hasn't the game started yet!" I hissed to a schoolmate I barely knew, fanning myself as sweat from the short run ran down my neck in amounts that could rival Ru's drool.
Stop thinking about that kid, he doesn't appreciate you anyway, I scolded myself. The schoolmate handed me a piece of tissue paper and I muttered my thanks, albeit embarrassed at my earlier tone.
"There's been a delay," she replied. "Apparently the other team isn't here yet."
"Isn't the game supposed to start at eight?"
She looked at me queerly. "No, it starts at nine."
Looking at her disbelievingly, I whipped out my cell and screened my message inbox.
Wait a minute.
My eyes zoomed in to a message that was sent five minutes after the one in which Sendoh informed me about the match.
SENDOH AKIRA 9:20 PM
Oops. I think I typed in the wrong time. Please check. It's supposed to be 9 am! Forgive me
…Sendoh, you villain. You made me overwork my under-developed body for nothing
Then there was a big hoo-ha downstairs, followed by a loud whamming of the doors against the walls.
Shoyo had arrived.
x
Ryonan and Shoyo have probably been mortal... you can't say enemies, rivals would be a better choice of words, ever since the foundational bricks have been laid for both the schools. According to Sendoh, the basketball teams get along pretty well but apparently it isn't the same for the debating society (typical) and (strangely) the chess club. I heard from a classmate that the chess club staged a huge furor when Shoyo committed an illegal checkmate or something like that and they played 15 rounds of Mastermind to finally determine the winner of that chess game.
Talk about total geekdom.
It turned out that Shoyo's bus broke down about a third of their journey to our school. I glanced down at the court and saw Sendoh slapping Koshino's butt before moving off to the game. How very Sendoh.
Sendoh was my closest friend in class because we had been in the same class for two years and on top of that, Sendoh had always sat behind me.
Sendoh's love interest was one of the quieter girls in class. She sat in front of me and her name was Fujii Sayaka. Sendoh asked me to play matchmaker sometime the previous year - I politely declined, of course.
I don't know why exactly Sendoh picked me out of so many other girls in the class but it was probably because Sayaka was sitting in front of me and it wouldn't be too obvious if he wanted me to throw her a note, plus the fact that Sayaka came from the same junior high as I did. Sendoh started to talk to me more after that.
x
"Kill him, Sendoh!" I screamed, jumping to my feet along with several others, as the game hit its climax. It was then I noticed - at the far end of the spectator's stands was the Shohoku team.
I sighed. He didn't notice me, but I felt guilty just by looking at him.
Goodness, Kaede, just concentrate on the game, I forced myself to revert my thoughts.
"Tokita-san?"
I froze. That voice.
Like a clockwork doll I turned to face (who else?) Tadashi.
"Kawasaki-kun!" I half-squealed. He grinned and said, "Great game, isn't it?"
I nodded enthusiastically, my eyes bright.
"Your cousin's over there," he pointed higher up the spectator stands.
I glanced up there and spotted Ru gazing intently on the game. I gave a small, weak smile to Tadashi. "We're not exactly speaking right now," I explained.
Tadashi nodded politely and knew that he shouldn't probe.
What a gentleman.
I glanced up the stands again just as the game stopped for half-time. Ru was fast asleep, drool dribbling out from the corner of his mouth in the finest, most inconspicuous strand of liquid ever known to mankind.
…I had no comment.
x
Needing a break, I took off to the school yard in search for Tadashi, who was nowhere to be found after I took a second peek at my flatmate.
Pushing open the double doors of the gym, I breathed in the air infused with dust particles floating visibly, peacefully in the sunshine…
After sneezing, I turned the corner and went down the corridor. Ryonan has its gym and pool situated just beside the staff room – rumor has it that that almost every jock has an underground staff fanclub. The male teachers are all seated on the side nearest to the pool to ogle at the girls better and the females are on the side nearest to the gym to fantasize about the basketball and volleyball guys. Walls are made with special glass that cannot be detected from the outside and there's even a scope into a dressing room. That's why the staff room is out-of-bounds to all students. Those who have entered… never came out the same again.
(The principal's and heads-of-departments' office is rumored to be hence always available for the sad fact that they are situated in front of the garden where the Eco-Love Society, Chess Club and Science Club congregate.)
Strolling by the enclosure of the pool, I heard Tadashi's voice on the other side of the fence (something about 'not being able'). Wanting to call out to him, I opened my mouth but I promptly closed it again when I heard a female voice going, "What do you mean we cannot be together?"
Oh, shoot, I thought, thinking I had stumbled into a private conversation between him and his girlfriend. And then it struck me.
He has a girlfriend.
My heart hit my skull and then plummeted down to somewhere above my pelvis when I heard his reply-
"Ueno-san," he softly spoke to the now-sobbing girl.
-Ah. They are not on first-name basis. She isn't his girlfriend!
"I hardly know you, and you me. I believe that I will not make you happy."
My heart went back to its normal position, but it was throbbing rapidly.
"B-But Kawasaki-kun! I… I love you!"
My heart stopped. I thought I was going to die.
"Ueno-san…" his voice came through the fence like a gentle summer breeze. I shivered, despite that. I don't know why, but I just did.
"What do you know about love?" was his question. It got me unconsciously pondering as well.
"…It is being happy… Being with the one you think you would like to share your love with…"
I agree.
He sighed. "I disagree."
Another sob was heard. The caught-in-the-throat, choked kind. I, too, felt slapped.
"Love is a commitment," his tone was stronger than what he had used earlier. "It is not something that is always happy, not as simple as being together with someone. Love is complicated. It is only when troubles have passed and you still emerge with the one whom you love, your bond strengthened more than ever before, that you know what love is and who exactly you love."
There was silence. I believe the Ueno girl was even more stunned at that speech than I was, since she could see his face.
"I'm sorry, Ueno-san," his voice took on a friendlier tone, comparable to his first. "I cannot be with you."
x
My heart thumped against my chest as I ran back to the gym, and it wasn't because I was less-than-equipped when it came to fitness.
x
I spent the rest of the game heavily distracted, thinking about what Tadashi had said.
Love is a commitment – my parents did not have that.
Love is known when you can surmount all troubles – my parents could not do that.
I could not help but shed a tear at that memory, and the girl sitting beside me who had offered me tissues earlier patted my shoulder awkwardly.
"It's okay," she nodded earnestly because I had chosen to cry just when Shoyo scored two points, "Ryonan's still leading. You don't have to feel so bad."
x
I gave Sendoh a thumbs-up to congratulate his win and waved as I exited the gym. He waved back to thank me for coming before making the motion that he would text me later. I nodded and passed the heavy metal double-doors.
Pondering upon what had happened earlier at the pool, I unknowingly bumped into someone's back. Rubbing my nose, I looked up to see Tadashi.
Somehow, it felt different.
Somehow, it felt as if… I didn't have the need to act around him anymore.
"Hello," I gave him a small smile, thinking of how serious he sounded earlier.
"Hello," he said cheerfully back at me.
I just gave him a casual wave and went on my way, leaving Tadashi still caught in the throngs of people filing out of the gym.
It was official. I was in love.
x
It wasn't a special thing. No butterflies fluttering around yellow flowers I had passed before following in my wake, celebrating my joy. None of that nonsense. Just… a special, calm feeling resting somewhere in my chest, determined to open up into full blossom when the right time arrived.
I did not even smile to myself as I walked into my neighborhood, even though I was in a good mood. It was rather weird, but I just felt… totally at ease with myself. Like I had found true enlightenment in life.
x
Ru…?
"Rukawa-kun!" I heard a girl run past me up to Ru, who was just entering the lift lobby of our apartment building.
Ru stopped and turned around.
I shifted to the side of the pavement, not wanting to make known the fact that I existed in the same space as they did.
"I… I have something to tell you," she bit her lip and blushed.
Oh no, don't tell me-
Ru just looked at her, disinterested.
"I think…" she looked up confidently, "I like you."
Even at that distance, I could read Ru's movements. His hand moved slowly out of his pocket and gripped his bag strap. His left foot shifted slightly backward.
He was nervous.
He was also a terrific actor.
"So?" asked the girl, who was really quite brave, I'd say.
There was a pregnant pause.
Getting slightly impatient, I walked a little more up front before hearing Ru say the magic words-
"Who do you think you are?"
He was always so harsh.
The girl wasn't taken aback, however. I was surprised. She said, "I am Yanagisawa Megumi, president of the astronomy society and third best student in the level."
"…I don't care."
Ouch.
"Why do you always have to be so closed up?" the girl urgently pressed. "Why do you shun away from people who like you?"
"I don't. I just shun away from people like you."
What a great pun, I laughed inwardly. Manga must be doing something good to his thinking.
Now the girl looked offended.
"What are you trying to say?" she stood a step closer to Ru, her eyes flashing.
"You should be able to figure what 'go away' means."
Somehow, in all the melodrama, the girl's face crumpled.
"How could you treat me like this? Do you know how much I like you, actually? Do you know anything about anyone else? Don't you even know how to treat someone properly?" she cried amidst tears.
I was rather stoned. Two confessions in a day was hard to handle.
"I do. But she doesn't appreciate it," he turned around just as the girl sobbed down into her hands.
His gaze burnt into my fragile stare, shattering it into pieces as I quickly looked at a fascinating crack in a tiny sample of gravel.
He then went towards the building, leaving the girl bawling, and entered the elevator. My thoughts were encroached as its doors shut with a seemingly more resounding bump as in the past.
x
SENDOH AKIRA 01:03 PM
Thanks for attending the game. Oh yes, you know Kawasaki? The tennis captain? He wants your number and figured that since we're in the same class I'd have it. You wouldn't mind me giving it to him right? (I didn't tell Koshino. I think he'd have a fit and hang himself. Bwahaha.)
I was skeptical. Why on earth did Tadashi want my number?
No problem regarding the game, dude. Um. Why does he want my number? (And what kind of friend are you to Koshino, man…)
I didn't have to wait long for my answer.
SENDOH AKIRA 01:06 PM
He didn't say. He just texted me and I texted you even before giving him a reply. (Koshino would be better off if he didn't know some other guy was also trying to collect information related to you.)
I sighed. I guess it was okay to give Tadashi my number… Maybe he wanted to ask me about my manga. That was a wild guess – most of the school knew that I was a manga artist and since I was already in third year, it had already become old news.
Okay, whatever, you da man. Just give him my number. 1-988-899-9989.
SENDOH AKIRA 01:09 PM
That's the ramen delivery number. I wasn't fooled, you know. I happen to eat ramen too.
I stuck out my tongue at the phone and snapped it shut. Sendoh knew me well enough.
Sendoh was the only one I could really loosen up and talk to and laugh with, even though I wasn't that close to him. He was just… a nice person. Kind of fluffy in the head at times (especially when it came to Sayaka) but still a nice guy. Ru was too uptight and silent while Tadashi was too distant. Hence, Sendoh was the next thing for a friend.
x
Approaching The Back (which I have to reiterate is what we called our home studio) I found the door to be closed and rock music blasting the windows stupid. Sighing, I barged in without knocking and switched off the radio.
"We have to talk," I spun the swivel chair around and plopped myself on it, facing Ru's profile.
"There's nothing to say," Ru shrugged.
"I'm sorry, okay?" I said exasperatedly, knowing that I had apologized before.
Ru stared at me as if to say, It's not the first time.
"I know I've always tried to cover up the fact that you live with me, most of the time," I resignedly muttered. "But you need to know that I'm not ashamed of you. It's just that… our reputation is at stake here. You get what I mean?"
The look on his face hinted defiance.
"Ru… About Kawasaki-kun."
I saw him getting mildly interested; he bit the inside of his lower lip and chewed on it once before slowly cocking his head.
Taking a deep breath, I proclaimed, "I am in love with him."
"……"
Just then, my cellphone sounded.
x
(unknown) 01:20 PM
Tokita-san, this is Kawasaki Tadashi. Would like to see you and talk to you about something. Would you mind coming over to my home? It's two blocks away from school in the Akamiya Estate. Tomorrow after school would be good. I'll meet you at the big tree near the main gate.
Ru read the message upside down.
"Seems that he has something going on for you too."
I blushed, not wanting to fantasize. "Don't say things like that."
"…Are you going?"
"I should," I reasoned, "since he's invited me so nicely."
Ru seemed to be taking the news that I was in love with Tadashi pretty well. Then again, it was Ru we're talking about. I wasn't very sure exactly how he felt.
"Ru, let's get back to the topic. I just didn't want Kawasaki-kun to think badly of me, you know?"
"I'm only your flatmate."
"Yes, but you're a guy."
"So?"
"I'm a girl? Hello? Do you copy?"
Ru gave me this weird scrutinizing look that somehow made me suspect he had not been thinking of me as a girl all this while.
x
"Hey Ru," I popped my head down to his bunk that night before he switched off the lights.
"It's not the Ghost Month yet," Ru scowled, zipping up his pencil case. He had been working on his new manga. (How hardworking. It made me guilty.)
My long hair continued to float about and I looked rather ghastly. Ignoring his comment, I asked, "We're friends now?"
He just held my upside down gaze for about half a second, got up from his bunk, strode over to the lights and flicked them off.
I smiled inwardly.
Silence was a good enough answer.
It was then when I heard a thump and a groan that I realized Ru had collapsed on our room floor.
