Chapter VII: Da Capo! Haruka, Satoshi, and Kanata!

For Haruka, it seemed like she only knew Satoshi just a few days ago. But for time, it has been three years since she first met Satoshi. They first met at the same school but at during these three years they stayed at the middle school building—literally in the middle of the high school and elementary buildings. Both of them were new to the campus and didn't know how to get along with such new faces. Heck, they didn't even know how to get along with each other—both Satoshi and Haruka were new faces to one another. During the first few days of middle school, they distanced themselves from each other out of shyness. There were instances when they were at least within their respective personal spaces. Unfortunately neither said a word to trigger a conversation nor dared to say anything at all for any reason at any given time.

This went on for at least half-a-year during their first year at middle school. That was then somebody decided to step up to the plate and swing one for the team.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Haruka bumped into somebody one sunny morning. "I wasn't going where I was looking."

"What? I think you mean you weren't looking where you were going." The one she bumped into, a purple-haired girl about her height, said in reply.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. I was kind of in a hurry."

The purple-haired girl noticed Haruka holding something in her hands—a photocopy of her birth certificate and some kind of an application form in which it seemed very familiar to the former.

"You're entering the Ms. Kawaii contest, aren't you?" The purple-haired girl asked.

"Oh, um…yeah…that's pretty much the case, kamo."

"Oh dear, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Maki Kanata from 1-B."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Kumano Haruka from 1-C."

The brunette girl looked at the wall clock nearby. It was almost noon—something which triggered her panic button to activate by itself.

"AH! I'm going to miss the deadline, kamo!" Haruka exclaimed; running like the wind. "I'm sorry Kanata but I need to go."

"Well, okay. Good luck on the pageant, Haruka." Kanata waved her hand goodbye for now.

That was how two people (whose names mean almost the same) became the best of friends. A few tips from Kanata later, Haruka managed to nab first place in the said pageant—beating other contestants who were very arrogant seniors. During the coronation ceremony, Haruka felt shocked not because she had won the contest but because of the fact that her beloved Satoshi was looking at her with a blushing face. Among the hundreds of people cheering and clapping for her, she only noticed Satoshi looking at her with a smile. Could this be a sign of love?

Maybe…maybe not…

"(H-He's looking at me…ka…mo…)" Haruka felt pressured which eventually made her collapse in sudden shock.

Talk about a killer stare.

By the time she woke up in the infirmary, it was almost nightfall. She was lying on top of a soft white bed with Satoshi and Kanata right by her side.

"You feel okay, Haruka?" Kanata asked. "Satoshi brought you here all the way from the auditorium."

"Huh? W-What happened? Did I win?" Haruka replied.

"Yeah, you won." Satoshi answered. "You were fantastic back there. You deserved to win, Haruka."

"He's right. You definitely showed those arrogant seniors what freshmen are made of."

This time, the brunette girl made no such reply to those congratulatory statements. Her mind was preoccupied by what Satoshi said a while ago—echoing inside her head. This was probably the best compliment she had ever heard from her crush.

"You were fantastic back there. You deserved to win, Haruka."

It was the very first compliment that she received from her crush. She didn't think that Satoshi would admire her considering that she was a complete dunce at almost everything from academics to sports. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that she doesn't know how to love a person.

"S-Satoshi…" She began to speak once more. "I think…I think…"

"Yeah…?" The clueless trainer replied.

"I think…I-I like…"

"What is it, Haruka—"

"I think I like…y-you…kamo."

Surely enough, Kanata was surprised to hear that. Haruka pulled herself back to bed; her face red with embarrassment. But she had no regrets—she had finally said what she wanted to say for a very long time—six months time. It felt very embarrassing but at least she could now give a sigh of relief. How did Satoshi react?

"Come on, Haruka. We're friends aren't we?" His thick head was so thick; the deep meaning to Haruka's statement didn't make it all the way inside. "I like you too. Well, I need to get going."

The trainer rose up from his seat and quietly left the infirmary. Kanata looked at her friend worryingly. The brunette girl lowered his head in seemingly complete disappointment.

"Haruka…" Kanata tried to reach out to her downed friend.

"Kanata…" Haruka said in reply.

"Come on; don't let that get you down."

"Who said I was down?"

"Huh?"

Haruka lifted up her head and smiled at Kanata, saying: "I think I just found love, kamo!"

---0---0---0---0---0---

Valentine's Day was one of the perfect occasions for confession. Haruka needed to unload her intense emotions or else she would go hysterical. During her second year in middle school and with the horrendous memory of a love gift that went ridiculously wrong last year (turned out that the chocolate éclairs she bought for Satoshi were contaminated with a Pokemon's poison but it was too late when she discovered it and Satoshi was already being rushed to the hospital), she thought of a perfect gift for Satoshi—one that didn't include food poisoning just like the last time. It was really the perfect gift but to pull it off and actually make it before February 14 was another story.

"A scarf…" Kanata said. "You're actually going to give him a scarf on Valentine's Day."

"It's not just any old scarf." Haruka replied happily. "It's a scarf with a touch…of love, kamo!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Satoshi's head is thicker than the crust of the Earth. Then you're going to give him a scarf sealed with a kiss?"

"I don't think he's a dense idiot, Kanata. I'm not just reaching out to him enough."

"Taking the blame, eh? Well who can stop you anyway? But Haruka…"

"What's the matter?"

"Do you even know how to make one?"

An eerie breeze blew followed by the traditional rolling of tumbleweed passing by.

"Wow that was some breeze eh?" Haruka abruptly changed the topic—an obvious and idiotic sign of weakness. "What a breeze, kamo!"

"Figures…" Kanata replied.

It was sloppy work but after several painstaking days of sitting in a rocking chair and doing nothing but knitting yarn strand after yarn strand, she finally made her first scarf—a yellow scarf shaped like the zigzag tail of a Pikachu. But things took a turn for the worse. On her way to school, Haruka got ambushed by a lone wild Graena (Mightyena) near the woods. The Pokemon grabbed a hold of her sloppy scarf by the fangs and ripped it apart like some rawhide chew toy. Rather than being ripped apart herself, she ditched her gift for Satoshi and fled to safer ground. Upon arriving safely at school (and in one piece), she cried a river during lunch while soaking her egg rolls in salty tears.

"I worked so hard on that sloppy scarf! Stupid Graena ruined my perfect gift for Satoshi!" The brunette girl cried.

"Aw come on. You can always make another one." Kanata tried to cheer her up but to no avail.

"I can't possibly make another one. I got pricked by the needles several times, kamo."

Then just when she was about to flood the entire rooftop with her tears, Satoshi barged in the top floor and hurried towards her.

"Haruka, I heard that you were attacked by a Graena!" He exclaimed worryingly. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

"S-Satoshi, it's no big deal…r-really." Haruka replied sobbing. "That Graena ruined my gift for you, Satoshi. I-I'm sorry."

"You had a gift for me?"

"Yeah…but it was ruined just to let me escape, kamo."

"Haruka…"

That's when she experienced being hugged by her love for the very first time. Haruka felt Satoshi's soft arms slowly enveloping her body like a Habunake (Seviper) using Wrap. Her face was once again red all over. This may be the sign of love she was waiting and hoping for.

"Haruka…you can make another one." He whispered into her ear. "But you can't with your arms torn apart."

Probably not…

"S-Satoshi…" Haruka replied; struggling to breathe. "Y-You're choking me."

"Oh, sorry…" Satoshi released her immediately from the tight hug. "I guess I got a bit too carried away."

These events in Haruka and Satoshi's lives were only a fraction of the bigger picture in high school. While Satoshi is busy with one dream which is to become a Pokemon master, Haruka is busy with two goals: to become a top coordinator and to be able to change her name to "Masara Haruka". The campaign continues.

TO BE CONTINUED

Kamo! Trivial Trivia #4: "Da capo" is an Italian term used primarily in music which means "from the beginning". I could go for pasta right now. Mmmm...pasta...XD

Kamo! Trivial Trivia #10: Haruka's fictional last name, "Kumano" is derived from a World War II Mogami-class Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser. The Kumano participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines on 1944 as part of Operation: Sho. She was sunk by torpedoes launched from airplanes from Allied aircraft carriers. Satoshi's ficitonal last name, "Masara" is derived from the Japanese name of his hometown of Pallet Town which is Masara Town. Kanata's fictional last name, "Maki", is a regular surname in use by some Japanese families. It is also a kind of Japanese snack which includes rice wrapped around some fillings on the center.