Chapter VI. Big Flashback
"Sendoh doesn't even know you…You must be lying.." confronted Haruko.
"No I'm not! Sendoh just doesn't recognize me. It was 10 years ago…" Lae was embarrassed.
Back at the locker room of Ryonan everybody was busy wiping their sweats off. Hikoichi seemed to have notice Sendoh wandering through his head…
I seem to have heard that voice before. It isn't of my mother's either. Who is she…
Sendoh saw a little fat boy running outside the Ryonan's locker room holding a hand of a little girl.
"Hurry up! Or we'll miss this practice game…" said the boy.
"How come you're fat you can run so fast… So envy" complained the little girl.
"I promise you someday I'll be like Sendoh.."
Those words hit Sendoh…
"Sendoh-san daijobou?" asked Hikoichi.
"Yeah."
"Okay! This is good Shohoku's falling into our trap. We'll keep this up…"
The words of Coach Taoka suddenly faded away… Sendoh remembered a little fat boy with spiky hair and a skinny sickly little girl on top of the roof top. They were lying down and watching the stars in the moon lit sky.
"Neh, Sendoh-kun. I really wish we could be together until junior high and high school and forever!"
"Me too." Sendoh replied gladly.
The next morning the little girl woke up earlier than little Sendoh. The little girl kisses little Sendoh.
"Wake up sleepy head." she pleaded.
"No. Sleepy head is still sleepy that's why you call it sleepy head. Okay?" Sendoh yawned for he was still in dreamland.
"That's why you're so fat!" The little girl got a pail of water and splashed it on the little Sendoh's face. The little girl coughed and coughed as if she can never breathe.
"Sendoh-kun help me!"
"What?! Oh no! I'm here! What am I going to do. Help! Mom!" Sendoh sat up from his bed and started panicking.
"Teehee…can't believe you always fall for that...you're awake now." The little girl pinched Sendoh's nose.
"Oh goody." Sendoh rubbed his eyes from waking up.
"Come on it's a beautiful day! I'll tell mom we'll go fishing in our rest house on weekends…don't you like that?"
"Oh well okay. Can't believe you're so perky even though you're skinny!"
She pinched Sendoh's nose as hard as she could.
"Itaii! Now I'm really awake. Skinny goat!"
"Hey at least I take a bath unlike some pig who doesn't"
"I still smell like a baby you know…" raises his arm straight at the little girl's face.
"Eeww Sendoh! Would you like it if I would have an asthma attack this instant?"
Sendoh and that little girl were child hood friends, neighbors actually. But the little girl is skinny and has asthma while Sendoh, he was so fat. That day they played basketball together.
"Let's stop, I can't breathe anymore…" the little girl said panting.
"Oh. I told you not to run after me here…" Sendoh hands her what was said to be water was Sendoh's spit.
"Sendoh! How come you could run so fast even if you are faat? I mean faat as in pig?"
"Was that a complement?"
"Well you always call me skinny! Hmpf!" The little girl was pouting. Sendoh kissed her.
"Oh come on princess. You've always been very pretty to me."
"Yeah? Ever since I got hospitalized I really wanted to have a friend or a brother that could protect me and play with me. Until you came along you filled that missing part…"
"Cut the drama! Bleh!" Sendoh sticking out his tongue.
They were about to go home when they saw a old neighbors patio being cemented.
"Let's carve our names here." said Sendoh.
"I'll make a promise that in our school I'll be the best writer ever! And whenever you have baskterball games I would be there to cheer you on! I promise. Pinky swear."
"I promise to be the Ace player of our school no, ace player of Japan and you? You will interview me. Haha! Pinky swear." They both convened their pinkies together. That's what they both do when they make a solemn promise.
"Let's go before the neighbor sees us." They both ran as fast as they could. The little girl could hardly catch up to the chubby little Sendoh who was wearing his undies.
Weekend came and they went fishing. Since, the little girl has asthma her parents have built her a rest house near a beach so whenever she could feel like it she could go there and breathe the fresh air.
"Sendoh-kun, I wish this would never end..right?" the little girl said after gazing up the stars.
"What do you mean?" Sendoh asked.
"I mean being young and all this...being together. This is fun." The little girl smiled.
"Yeah…I wanted to tell you something princess…" Sendoh asked while he scratched his cheeks because he was a bit shy.
"What is it? It's the first time at midnight you haven't felt sleepy…" The little girl wondered.
"Um…You really think I'm like your brother? I mean. Yeah I'm a year older than you…" Sendoh continued to blush.
"So? Continue…I'm listening…" The little girl rested her head upon Sendoh's chest and closed her eyes.
"Well…I really like you…" Sendoh was surprised to hear a snore from the little girl.
Mata-kun. I really like you. I don't consider you as my sister anymore. I like you and I will take care of you…always…Sendoh then fell asleep.
The next morning when they got home Sendoh rushed to his mom and bid goodbye to the little girl for he thought they could see each other after lunch.
"I'm home mom! Mom? What's all this? Why are my bags packed?" tears started to fill her eyes.
"You're dad..has been transferred to Tokyo..It's going to be all good there 'cause your asthma can be cured with the high technology in Tokyo…"
"But mom! This is all so very sudden! Mom! Mom! I can't leave Sendoh-niichan" She was even shocked that she shouted at her own mom.
"No. Fix yourself and we'll go. I'm sorry." The little girl's mom just looked down and didn't want to see the little girl cry.
The little girl tried to calm herself and wrote a letter. She doesn't want to say goodbye for she knows it hurts. When Sendoh dropped by for lunched he noticed that nobody was at home. He only found a letter on the door way addressed to him.
