And the next chapter!
This time really with Kijyou's birthday.
I'll try to not get such sad or fluffy chapters out anymore, unless the spot is really made for it.
With the sports festival over, things at school turned back their normal routine and seemed careless.
The weather was growing warmer than before, the coldspell having completely disappeared, and everyone started to
look forward to summer break, despite it still being almost a month away.
On one Thursday, though, Haruka was especially excited during lessons, not concentrating at all. She was listening for the
bell to ring, so she could achieve the goal she had set herself for the day. Finally, lessons were over and the bell rang for
lunch break. Rushing out of her classroom, she almost bumped into Kijyou in the hall.
"Ya okay, Haruka-chan?" he asked.
"I was looking for you!" Haruka said and handed him the small, blue wrapped present. "Happy birthday!"
"Yah, I was kinda excited about this." he said. "Okay if I open it?"
Haruka nodded, trying to surpress an excited giggle. Kijyou carefully unwrapped the gift while the halls slowly emptied
and saw the tea cup lying on the correct padding.
"Ah, ya knew exactly what I like! .. Are ya an Esper?" he asked in a fascinated way. "Thanks a lot. I'll treasure it!"
Aside from some smalltalk, they couldn't spend lunch break together, as the coach of the cheerleading squad had ordered
a sudden meeting. Actually, she was just telling them about the club camp. The second week in august, they'd go to a camp
to do intensive practice for a week. The coach went over the general rules and reminded them that the basketball game against
Hanegasaki High was to be held on the sunday after that. And the cheerleaders had to be present for that.
With lunch break over, Haruka returned to her class and sat in her usual seat. Himuro-sensei was already at the blackboard,
writing several dates before he placed the chalk away and turned the class, pushing his glasses up in a menancing way.
"This trimester's tests will be held from July 4th to July 10th, covering everything you've learned up to now. For the next three
weeks will revise mostly, so I expect to see some good results." he told them, piercing everyone with his eyes.
In the back, Haruka twitched furiously.
She hadn't studied lately. Or even paid attention in class. Somehow, ever since she went on a date with Kijyou her mind has
been going a completely different way - a way that was far away from school.
He sure looked happy about the gift .. No, she had to concentrate! Focusing her gaze to the front of the class, she did her
best to listen to Himuro's explanation.
Ahh .. her head was pounding!
After hours of intensive revision, they were having Homeroom now and Himuro was telling them some last minute details about the tests.
"Sekai."
Haruka looked up. "Yes?"
"I want to see you this sunday at 9:30 AM in front of the planetarium." he told her.
Confused, Haruka nodded automatically and already made a mental note.
Himuro left the classroom, the other students getting up, packing their stuff and leaving as well.
She was already on her way home, knowing that she'd take some medicine against her headache as soon as she closed the door.
"Haruka-chan!" Kijyou caught up to her, patting his arm onto her shoulder to get her attention.
"Kijyou-kun."
"Ya're on yar way home, righ'?" he asked. "Wanna go do something together?"
"Mh .. sure, why not chat in a café?" she replied, gladly suffering from a headache longer for Kijyou's sake.
"Alrigh', let's go."
They went to the café Haruka had visited with Natsumi a few weeks ago, sitting at almost the same table.
Somehow, sitting with a guy in the café felt different than being there with a girl - understandibly, but the uneasiness that Haruka
was almost expecting to come was much smaller than she thought. It felt like a tiny wave of discomfort in her stomach, but it
soon stopped ..
"Haruka-chan, ya free on sunday? Thought we could spend some time at Karaoke. Sing ourselves hoarse."
"Ah, I'm really sorry .." she started. "Himuro-sensei already made an arrangement with me .."
"Hah? Sensei?"
"At 9:30 in front of the planetarium .."
"Himuro's meetin' ya. On a sunday." Kijyou listed.
"Correct."
"He asked ya out on a date? Fac'lty ain't supposed to date students!" he almost yelled.
"Shh ..!" Haruka tried to calm him down, getting red at the prospect of a date with her teacher. "It's not a date. I think he's going
to do an extra study lesson. My grades are slipping .."
"Study lesson, huh .."
Kijyou calmed down and they talked a bit longer.
"Say, Kijyou-kun."
"Mhm?"
"Any special programmes you like to watch?" Haruka asked freely, secretly having that wish to know everything about him again.
"Hmm .. I like watching variety. Some dramas .." Kijyou listed, sipping his coffee. "And F1 and bike races. But those are often on
so late I oversleep the next day .."
"Bike races? Like the preliminaries last friday?" she asked excitedly. "I stuck in front of the TV for hours - and Matsuda won!"
Realizing that both were interested in the bike races and having at least one of the bikers as a favorite, they spent almost
an hour talking about their favorite races they had seen.
The headache had lifted itself when Haruka left the café, but back at home the pile of revisions and new homework were ready
to impact her. Strangely, though, she sat for hours at her desk, doing her homework rather halfheartedly, and finally ended up
deciding, subconsciously, to remember the chat in the café. Anything related to Kijyou was more fun than schoolwork.
Both of them interested in the same things made conversations between them easier. Actually, they hardly ever ran out of things
to talk about.
Midnight rolled around pretty fast and Haruka noticed that she had hardly done anything the past few hours, schoolwise ..!
Kijyou had occupied her mind the entire time and she figured that she couldn't do anything today anymore, so she decided to
go to bed. However, she couldn't sleep for an hour or two, reliving how Kijyou had asked her out in the café. Turning him down
had made her feel bad .. she should've suggested to delay the date by a week .. Or maybe, if she got up the courage,
she could invite him out to a different spot. Getting up and grabbing the Watcher, she turned the light on her bedside table on
and flipped through to the event pages. Karaoke sounded fun, but somehow she didn't want to go there just yet .. she wanted
something that was a little bit special .. Her eyes fell onto the news for august and she gasped in delight.
A fireworks festival! She quickly read the short comment about it - held annually on the first sunday in august, it was very
popular and at the beach, with several stands built up for one day.
It sounded perfect! Sure, she would have to get herself a new Yukata - her old one was too tight - but it was a special event,
it was bound to become a good memory and watching fireworks together might be rather romantic ..
She really needed to go to sleep now ..!
The next few weeks were filled with revisions, revisions and revisions, keeping the students' noses pressed to the books,
learning formulas and equations until they could almost do them in their sleep. Finally, the week of the tests arrived and for the next
five days, four hours each test, they wrote and wrote, solved equations or translated old chinese sentences to modern japanese.
On Saturday, the results were hung out and students crowded around, checking their grades and cheering or moaning, depending
on how well or not they cut.
Haruka looked her name up, but first saw the name on the thirtieth place. Hazuki Kei.
"Hazuki-kun?" she asked him, standing close to her.
"Yes?"
"How come you've got 0 points in math?"
"Yes .." he mumbled. "I slept." He said it with a small smile and left to get some lunch.
Interesting, the superstar of the school, sleeping through an entire test .. Someone patted her back and Haruka turned around,
seeing Kijyou grin widely at her.
"Haruka-chan, we're gonna be remedial buddies." he told her and pointed to the results. Haruka finally concentrated on her own name,
listed on number 245 of 400. She had failed math, history and just barely failed translation, too. Madoka was only 5 steps lower.
"Aah .." Haruka sighed, feeling a bit sad. All the cramming in school had helped, but as soon as she got home she seemed to forget
most of it again.
"It's not so bad, Haruka-chan. Come on, let's eat." he slapped her back in a playful matter and left his hand on her shoulder, as the two
of them left the building to eat outside again.
Out on the grounds, they sat on a sunny spot in the grass and didn't talk very much. Both were rather exhausted from the tests.
"Studying is bad for my health." Haruka said in a half-joking way. "Well, not that I studied much .."
"Why study, anyway?" Kijyou asked. "Ya could spend yar time with more fun things to do."
Haruka giggled and quietly agreed with him. Studying wasn't much fun.
"Say, Haruka-chan, could ya do me a favor and taste this?" Kijyou asked her, holding towards her a small bowl filled with fried rice.
Surprised, Haruka took the chopsticks he offered her and tasted the fried rice. The rice must've been infused with vanilla, it had
lost any sort of dry taste. She tasted more than a handful of spices, but they were well-balanced, and the thinly sliced onions
were a nice crunchy, fresh taste.
"It tastes pretty good." she told him. "Why, anything wrong with it?"
"Dunno, it tastes different than it should .."
"What's it supposed to taste like?"
"Spicey, but so it won't burn the roof of ya mouth .." he listed, slightly lost in his thoughts. "Like a double hit of taste at first .."
"That's how it tastes like." Haruka said and, without thinking, held some more of the rice between the chopsticks and fed it to him.
Silently, Kijyou ate, but he frowned. "Hmm .. it still has that strange aftertaste .. not like last time. I musta failed .."
"Kijyou-kun made this?" she asked in a surprised tone.
"Yep. I cook a lot, kind of a hobby of mine. Maybe I put in too much tumeric .."
Haruka looked at him with admiration. He cooked. A lot. Admittingly, she cooked a lot, too, but she didn't know a big variety of dishes
and she usually didn't put too many spices in it. There had been a time where she put loads of spices in .. and it resulted that the food
had become inedible due to the flavor being too strong .. and was it her imagination or was Kijyou ever so slightly blushing?
Surely not. There wasn't really any reason to.
They both continued their lunch, giving of an air of relieve that the tests were over and soon enough, summer vacation would roll their
way, filled with loads of sunshine and time to do various things. Almost finished with her lunch, Haruka suddenly thought that the mood
was just right to ask Kijyou out. She could tell that he was in a good mood and since he seemed to enjoy fun and exciting places,
he'd surely agree to watch the fireworks with her.
"Hey, Ki-"
"Haruka ..!"
Both looked into the direction of the voice and saw Natsumi waving at them. "Haruka, cheerleaders are meeting up!"
Haruka nodded and waved, to signal that she was coming, and got up, patting any stray grass seeds off her uniform.
She had almost forgot about the second-to-last meeting before camp and knew she had to hurry or she would get into trouble with the
coach, who was a woman you don't screw around with.
"See you later, Kijyou-kun." she said hastily, running over to Natsumi.
Sunday Haruka woke up slowly, feeling drained and more tired than before. The tests had been murder and she was only in the first year ..!
But knowing what really dragged her down, she stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Once she changed out of her
pyjamas and into her sweatsuit, Haruka relived yesterday a bit. Eating lunch with Kijyou had been great and it seemed to be slowly starting
to become a habit of theirs. Actually, it had surprised her that he cooked. Then again, if she remembered Tsukushi's notes correctly, he
was living on his own ..
It had been too bad that she couldn't ask him out during lunch. But such things happened and they often happened at the most inappropriate
times, so being bummed about it wouldn't make things better. With a sigh, Haruka started to clean up the clothes she had worn during the past
few weeks, patting any dirt off her uniform or checking the pockets. Suddenly, feeling something in one of the pockets, Haruka pulled out
a small, folded piece of paper. Throwing the clothes into the washing machine and unfolding the paper, she saw telephone number written on it.
Quite obviously, this was Kijyou's number. But when had he given that to her? He must've snuck it into her pocket during their last date.
She had been absent-minded enough to not notice something like that. The next moment she remembered that she actually already had his
number, Tsukushi had found it out.
Rushing back to her room and grabbing the phone, she hesitated.
The thought of calling Kijyou made her feel nervous, she could feel her legs becoming weak and had to sit down onto a chair. Her whole body started
to shiver, she could barely keep hold onto the phone. Taking a deep breath, Haruka held it for a moment and exhaled, pressing in Kijyou's number
before she could change her mind again. Slightly excited, she held the phone to her ear, listening to the low tone being repeated a few times.
"Yes, this is Kijyou." he answered in a slightly drawling voice.
"A-ah .. Kijyou .. -kun?" Haruka said, her voice stuttering as much as her body was shivering. "D-did I wake you?"
"Nah, not at all .." he still sounded rather slow, though. "Watcha callin' for? Ah, I know. Ya wanna date, right?"
Haruka gave a small yelp which almost caused her to drop the phone.
"Um .. well, yeah." she coughed, trying to steady her voice. "I .. I wanted to ask if you'd like to go to the fireworks festival with me. It's on
August 4th."
The last bit came out rather fast and she wondered if he had understood her all that well, she couldn't really.
"Yah, sure. It'll be fun. Meet ya at 6 PM at the Station?" Kijyou asked, the grin quite noticable in his voice. "The fireworks don't start till 7,
we could walk along the stands an' all."
"Um .. well, sure. I'll look forward to it!" Haruka hung up and sighed deeply.
That hadn't .. gone so bad. She had been incredibly anxious and she still hadn't calmed down, but somehow the endorphines were kicking in
and she felt like she wanted to jump up and down, squealing like a small girl. But she had to calm down ..!
Remembering the issue about the yukata, though, she quickly changed into some different pants and ran off to the shopping district.
Hours later, she still hadn't bought a new yukata.
Not, that she couldn't find any, but she passed several accessory shops and retracked to them, looking at new earrings or clip-ons,
scrunchies and hair needles. Her weakness for pretty accessories was always her downfall ..
Determined, Haruka went into Jess' shop and walked to the section which had been especially cleared to have yukatas-only for this season.
She flipped through several racks, mostly finding pink or yellow patterened yukata, but she had learned that, with her haircolor, pink wasn't
a good choice. And her last yukata was yellow and this time she wanted something different.
It took her an hour and a half to choose an emerald colored yukata with leaves painted in white on the sleeves. What made her especially
happy was that the yukata fitted the hair needle she had bought earlier on.
Happy about her purchases, and amazed that - even for her standards - this shopping trip had taken so long, Haruka walked around town
a bit longer, taking in the scenery and getting to know more about the city.
"Oh, Haruka-chan?"
Haruka saw Kijyou. He looked rather hot and out of breath, coming out of the game center.
"Jo, Kijyou-kun. Eh .. sorry about the phone call .." she mumbled.
"Mh? Was somethin' wrong 'bout the call?" he grinned, leaving it be. "Guess what? I just cleared the entire list on the DDR machine."
"Eh? Cool, Kijyou-kun must be good." Haruka admired that. "Say, I'm interested in DDR myself, but I'm no good .. I bought the home version
a while ago, but can't figure a few things out .." She couldn't think of a way to express her request.
"Want me to give ya a few pointers?" Kijyou asked blatantly and Haruka nodded. "Sure, no problem. I could drop by sometime an' help ya."
"Thank you, Kijyou-kun."
A few days later, the doorbell rang.
"Keep cleaning." Haruka told Tsukushi in a menancing voice, the kitchen starting to sparkle over their scrubbing and polishing
and drying off. Tsukushi sighed and turned his attention back to the preparation surfaces.
Haruka, meanwhile, tapped out into the hallway and opened the door. Kijyou was standing there, grinning widely.
"Kijyou-kun!" she opened the door wider and let him in.
Suddenly, she realized that she was wearing a bandana, an old shirt with several stains on it and thick jogging pants.
"Waah, Kijyou-kun!" she yelled and disappeared in a flash into her room.
Kijyou stared confused and Tsukushi leaned out of the kitchen, wondering what had gotten into her suddenly.
A few moments later, Haruka re-appeared in a white-black mini dress and hissed at Tsukushi to return to the kitchen.
"No need to change for me." Kijyou grinned, amused by her sudden embarrassment.
"I get nervous when a guy visits me .." she mumbled.
"Anyway .. Pan-Papa-Pan!" he handed her a slightly long box in yellow wrapping paper. "Happy Birthday!"
".. Ah, you remembered my birthday!" Haruka gasped, taking the present. "Thank you!"
"Alrigh', that gave me plus-points ..!"
"What?"
"Oh, nothin'." Kijyou waved it off. "Hope ya still have a nice birthday. See ya for the fireworks."
He waved again and left, leaving Haruka to open the present. Inside was an antique radio with barely noticable scratches on the sides.
Smiling about the present, she placed it onto the dresser in her room. It was the first present she ever got from a guy her own age.
Haruka adjusted the needle in her hair one last time and looked around in expectation.
Habataki Station was filled again, even more than usually due to the fireworks festival, and she hadn't seen Kijyou yet.
Then again, she had been so excited, she had been an hour early at their meeting place. Time had passed now, though,
and six was just a few moments away. A hand tapped her shoulder and Haruka turned around, seeing Kijyou behind her.
"Jo, Haruka-chan." he said, wearing a black-golden yukata.
"J-jo .." she stuttered, realizing that his yukata was loosely tied, revealing more than any of the other clothes she had seen him in.
And due to the height difference she instantly had a good view of his chest.
"Haruka-chan, the yukata suits ya really well."
She blushed, feeling warm all over her body. "Y-you mean it?"
"Aho. Of course I do." Kijyou told her. "Come on, let's hit the stands."
The two of them made their way down to the beach, walking slowly through the crowd and talking about last night's motorcycle race.
Trying to catch goldfish and popping ballons with darts passed the time until the fireworks started.
"Sh" Kijyou tapped Haruka's shoulder and gave her to understand to follow him.
She obediently followed him, walking past couples and families, backing up against the wall a bit. Trying to catch up with him a bit,
she didn't watch her step and slipped on the sand, knocking into Kijyou in front of her.
"Ah, sorry." he said, stretching his arm back a bit to stabilize her. "Walking too fast for ya?"
"No, no." Haruka caught her balance again. "I'm not used to walking in geta."
Kijyou stopped then and pointed towards the sky where the first few fireworks were just being shot.
Haruka realized quickly why he had brought her here, the spot was quiet and they were the only ones there. But most amazing was
the view they had on the fireworks, without any obstacle or the noise of the other spectators around them. At one point during the
fireworks, Kijyou looked down at Haruka and smiled, casually putting his hand onto her head and ruffling up her hair a bit.
She didn't tell him, but it felt nice. Almost good, the way he messed up her hair. She flushed a little bit at the sensation.
The fireworks finished with a glorious finale, so many different shapes appearing at once that it seemed to light up the sky,
watching the last sparks fall and disappear in the dark night. Slightly disappointed that it was already over, Haruka and Kijyou made their
way back to the main part and to the crowd.
"They were really pretty .." Haruka muttered quietly.
"Oh, sure were." Kijyou agreed. "We should watch 'em next year again."
Thinking that it was a pre-set date for the next year, she nodded.
"It's really late .. I'll walk ya home."
"Eh? Ah, you don't need to do that." she waved her hands dismissively.
"But I want to." Kijyou looked at her with a superior sense. "My manners forbid me from lettin' a lady walk home alone at night."
Haruka blushed slightly at his words and nodded, walking towards the boardwalk with him. Once again she didn't really watch out
and tripped when the ground changed from sand to wood. Before anything could really happen, though, Kijyou grabbed her hand
which made her keep her balance.
"Oh? I'd better hold ya hand so ya don't fall anymore." he grinned at her, squeezing her hand slightly.
She mumbled something inaudible and slightly led the way towards her home, keeping her gaze mostly on the ground.
They were quiet for a while, walking past dark or dimly lit houses until they got to the house with the purple door.
"Say, Kijyou-kun," she turned her head towards him and smiled slightly. "When did you sneak your phone number to me?"
"Ah, ya didn't notice? Remember how I pulled ya close when asking yar birthdate?" he asked back, grinning at the memory.
Haruka nodded with a faint blush, she had been so nervous she hadn't noticed anything.
"I was surprised when I found it .." she grinned at her next sentence. "Did you give it to me just so I'd call you and you'd
get my phone number that way?"
"Why, no, whatever gave ya that idea!" both laughed for a bit until they remembered the time and quieted down. "But I did
write yar number down."
The last few meters they were quiet, the silent of the night making things slightly awkward for Haruka.
"Um .. thanks for walking me home." the girl mumbled slightly embarrassed.
"Watcha talkin' about?" Kijyou asked with a grin. "Something like this is no big deal. See ya around."
Haruka waved and watched Kijyou leave until he blended into the dark with his Yukata. She opened the door with her keys then
and sighed deeply when she closed it after herself.
She carefully went into her room, so as to not wake Tsukushi, and changed into her pyjamas. Watching the fireworks with Kijyou
had been fun and she wondered if they'd go to the same spot to see them alone next year or if other people would find it.
Heh, it felt rather strange to know that she had a date a year in advance.
Haruka slid underneath the thin blanket and lay her head onto the pillow.
She was sure to have good dreams tonight ..
Finally, the fourth chapter is up!
Stuck awhile with the fireworks, but got over it.
Ideas for the next chapter's storyboard are already forming and I keep getting new situations in my head to put those two into.
To warn you, in the later years things might be a little not-so-untouchy.
Just things you'd expect with two teenagers .. but nothing drastic!