Chapter 7
"Are?" Yuri frowned at the sight of a powder blue colored envelope propped on top of her worktable the moment she entered the office. It didn't take long for her to entertain a vivid, romantic fantasy as to whom it was from, but she managed to hold her delight and dismiss the silly scenario playing in her head as quickly as it came, convincing herself further that the note was intentionally for someone else. And whoever basketball fanatic placed it there obviously had mistaken her table as Kenji's!
She let out a sigh. "If this keeps up, I would have to ask Asuka-san to add another table for Kenji and his fan mails." But upon reading her name neatly printed on the front in intricate and fluid cursives, the frown on her face became a look of surprise. She took the envelope, almost snatched it, flipped it open, and then carefully slid the card out from the top opening then read:
Your beautiful eyes are those that show
the beautiful thoughts that burn below.
Kenji
Yuri can't help but blink at those words, her vision zooming in at that name. Kenji. She side-glanced at the office doorway as a figure passed by – Kenji Fujima with a stack of old animal records in his arms, giving her a playful smile before completely disappearing from the other side of the room's open door.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Yuri spat to no one from the doorway. Seconds later, Shoyo Junior High's ace player, resident heartthrob and conceited flirt poked his head sideways and eyed her back questioningly. When she held up both the envelope and the card as if he couldn't see it, Fujima shrugged.
"It's just a simple compliment, Yuri." he said evenly then smiled. "There's nothing wrong when a guy compliments a girl, right?" With that, he began to proceed to the next room where Asuka had been doing a little housekeeping and filing for clinic maintenance, leaving Yuri alone standing there motionless and stunned, her face clearly exclaiming a "WHAT!".
Fujima felt like a million dollars, the smile he wore after leaving Yuri in that office still in place. The mere curve on his lips widened and he began to show teeth. Oh, look how big her eyes were when she looked at him! Real smooth, Kenji. Real smooth. He felt a mental pat from him from behind. Well, he didn't actually saw her big eyes – the light from the window behind her made it impossible to see beyond those spectacles—but he surely felt it on him. And it felt good.
It felt like they were eyes that show shock in the outside but excitement and flattery in the inside. The feeling it gave him was the same feeling he felt whenever he instinctively knew a girl is falling for him, obviously captivated by his irresistible charm. He could tell, of course. He had been feeling it from girls—with ages ranging from pre-teens to late adolescence—since he was only seven. Admittedly, he could never really get used to it. The feeling of being adored and looked up to by people like a superstar is simply... intoxicating.
And wasn't this same, intoxicating feeling drove him to make a bet?
Fujima paused in the middle of his walk and just stood there for a moment, his gaze stretching onto the end wall of the corridor just five meters before him, and on his left was the opened door of the filing room. He was smiling, just the same, when he sighed.
Yuri is someone he couldn't just refer to as 'a girl'. He knew it now when he recalled the moment they first met, he saw it when she was on-stage, and he proved it when she turned him down – the very first that happened in all his life's flirting history. Girls like her fall under the category of the Soft-Yet-Strong type, like smoothie that feels good in the mouth yet gives you a terrible brain freeze when taken in successively. They naturally hate surprises.
Fujima made a soft chuckle then shook his head. What more if he told her straight in the face that he loved her?
"Kenji-kun?"
Fujima froze upon hearing Asuka's voice. He turned to face her there by the filing room doorway eyeing him like he's a retarded, tied stacks of moldy folders dangled on each of her hand. She advanced forward and gazed at what Kenji found so amusing that he had to contain the laughter to himself: the corridor end wall.
"What's wrong? Is there something funny about the wall?"
Fujima felt his face grew hot. "N-N-Nothing, Asuka-san. I-I-I…I just remembered something, that's all." He said then feigned a laugh.
By the look on Asuka-san's face, she seemed not to believe him. "Well, after you're done with that," she indicated on the pile Kenji was carrying, "you can start tying them up like what I did with these." She was now referring to the stacks she was carrying. "I'll be piling these just outside the clinic, ready for tomorrow's pick up. You do the same, ok?"
"Hai!" He keenly replied and went inside the room, passing by Asuka's shoulders as she made her way through the corridor.
Yuri felt like a million pieces. The look of mixed shock and bewilderment on her face after Kenji left her in the office still in place. Her mind went numb and her feet felt like solid ice. Suddenly, the world she knew is going insane. The vivid picture of Kenji smiling sweetly (at least to her it is) made her think that way – not to mention the lovely card bearing the lovely message with his name on it.
Yes. The world is insane.
She wanted to think that that smile is something cynical, wicked even. An effective bait to cover some crazy prank that boy had conjured up in his crazy head. She waited for him to laugh, even tease her on how she should look at herself with those big eyes of hers nearly popping out of their sockets and her mouth literally dropping on the floor but he didn't. He just smiled and went on his way. Until now, as she stood there gaping at the open door, she still waits. She felt it would serve her good if he would cock his head back, point a finger and laugh sadistically at her, then finally tell her that it was all a big joke, that she really fell for it big time but he didn't. No one was there.
Still a little dazed, Yuri slowly spun around and resumed work, wiping her desk first then arranging the papers on top.
That smile meant something. And no matter how many times she strained herself to believe that it only meant to deceive her, she found herself saying otherwise. It seemed kind of playful all right, but it has warmth and sincerity. It was the charming smile every girl in school nearly died for.
And wasn't this same, swooning charm made her reject his offer of helping her the first time they met?
Yuri's wiping hand stopped when her gaze rested once more on the baby blue colored envelope on the table. The look of shock resurfaced and now reflected on her glass-covered tabletop. Withdrawing her hand that held the rag, she found a picture of a girl beneath the clear glass. She was far from being Miss Japan, or a twin to Rachel Leigh Cook, but the girl striking a wide, metal-laced smile is definitely her. Yuri sighed.
She had to amend herself this time because it sounded true and it felt true. Kenji was not the same conceited Kenji she met a few weeks ago. In fact, having him around wasn't so bad after all. He was a great help in the shelter and Asuka adores him for it. Kenji was great with the animals, too, not to mention him being best friends with a female police Doberman….
Yuri frowned and groaned under breath, her head jerking back. And now this guy is…what? Courting her?
"Yuri-chan?"
Yuri turned on her heels to face Asuka who happen to pass by and was now peering through the office door carrying piles of old folders tied in a stack. The older woman's curious eyes met Yuri's boggled ones.
"A-Are you alright, Yuri-chan? You look a little pale."
Yuri slapped a hand over the powder blue envelope, hiding it from her boss' sight. "Nothing's wrong, Asuka-san, I assure you. I'm fine, really." She let out a shaky laugh. "I-I-I…just remembered something, that's all." She smiled that same metal-laced smile as the girl in the picture.
Asuka stared at her, hard, unaware that the older woman was fighting the urge to tell her that Kenji just said the very same thing a short time ago. "Anyway, as you were," she just said and went on her way, shaking her head as she treaded down the corridor towards the reception room and outside.
She never expected that a second, a third, and a fourth would follow the single, powder blue colored envelope.
Not long before the last month started, the second card had arrived. It wasn't a blue shade this time but a sweet peach color she liked…and it's not alone. Along with it was a fresh bouquet of the most beautiful tulips Yuri had ever seen. Yet for some reason, she wanted to give it away (really wanted to give it away), or let the nasty little pooches of the dreaded third pen have a closer look and see what they think of its taste. Yuri had laughed at the lovely yet nefarious thought of it then but no. She knew better.
No guy ever tells a girl she has beautiful eyes then leaves them alone for good.
The third card had come, as she expected, with the color of old rose—a unique marriage of dusty grey and pink, which Yuri found similar to her mother's shade of everyday lipstick. Two darling grey-and-white koala bear toys—the male koala wearing a HUGS t-shirt and the female koala wearing a KISSES t-shirt and a cute, little flower on its left ear—enfold respectively the left and right ends of the card with their chubby little arms and legs, appearing as makeshift cardholders, when she found them on her table. Yuri could not help but get excited by them, and that she had to call Maya, her squealing partner, to share her screams of adoration for the little koalas.
The last card, sealed and kept clean in a Ziploc bag, had been delivered first-hand at the clinic's doorstep some two hours ago, hidden underneath the soft chocolate chip cookies especially made by Kenji Fujima's skillful hands…quoting from his letter to Asuka. (He had been away for two days now, working nonstop for three school projects and preparing for the early exams.) Skillful hands, yes. Yuri had to give him that. The cookies had been perfectly molded into coaster-sized circles, their textures were incredibly consistent, and somehow—odd observation—the ratio of chocolate bits per cookie were consistent, as well, but—
—Asuka and Yuri had exchanged glances after taking their first bite, and they had both laughed at the odd and somehow peppery taste of it. Thanks to the doctor's good thinking (who has been going steady with Mr. Jim Beam and Monsieur Chivas Regal since the crash), she had improved the spicy taste by letting them enjoy it over saké. She knew Asuka wouldn't want to admit it, but the rice wine did a good job in cheating their taste buds.
They had an untimely festival that afternoon. Lots of laughs and lots of alcohol. Though Yuri was not in the legal age to be drinking, Asuka had been responsible for her, always have, occasionally reminding her to stop once she starts to see ten fingers of her left hand holding two cups, so she guessed it was okay. Surprisingly, when Asuka peaked at the container and was about to take the last piece, she decided to let Yuri have it…with a sly smile on her face. She took their cups instead and went to the kitchen while humming something that sounded like "You Make Me Feel Brand New". Yuri had a feeling coming then, and after reaching in for the cookie, she saw the white envelope.
There it was; the fourth of Kenji's 'complements'—as he had put it coolly.
"Yeah. Right." Yuri said with equal coolness then stifled a giggle.
The simple lack of you is more to me than others' presence.
I Miss you terribly.
Kenji
She was absentmindedly playing with the peach-colored envelope on her right hand, making it tumble on one side to the next until all four sides have had its turn of touching the glass surface, then making it tumble all over again. Her chin was resting on the back of her left hand (face still a little pink from the alcohol), and smiling dreamily at the cards carefully laid out in a series in front of her. She felt like some four-year-old girl wishing to be Sleeping Beauty someday, and wondering how it feels like to be kissed by the dashingly debonair Handsome-Prince in her sleep…if Knight-In-Shining-Armor is off duty, that is.
What was that she called him again?
"Shoyo Junior High's ace player, resident heartthrob and conceited flirt." She said softly to the cards, paused, and then amended herself saying: "Shoyo Junior High's ace player, resident heartthrob…and a romantically, true gentleman." Yuri sat back as she breathed in and stretched, card still on hand, then exhaled. Outside her window, she could see the auburn glow of the twilight sky gradually fading to show stars.
It was September then; but to Hajime Yuri, it felt like March.
"HI!"
Yuri stopped short at the closing door as she went inside the clinic, meeting eyes with Fujima Kenji for the first time after four days. She pushed her glasses up and tucked her hair at the back of her ears, subsequent actions that, Kenji have noticed before, were becoming more like reflex actions than intended whenever he sees her, or whenever she sees him. Either way, it never mattered who gets to see who first. Her reactions were all the same.
"Hi." Yuri said softly and made an uptight grin.
That, too, Fujima thought as he smiled back. She did not move for a few seconds but simply stood there staring at her loafers, and merely looking at her that way made him realize how innocent she really is. So vulnerable. Fujima suddenly found himself wanting to run towards her and sweep her off her feet with a hug—since, of course, sweeping her off her feet with his overwhelming looks and charm proved not so overwhelming to her at all.
He would tell her he missed her terribly, using the exact words he wrote in white card, the very last one he gave her, and kiss the ball tip of her nose. It was one of those things he had wanted to do—or rather, it was one of those things he'd loved to do, and probably go on doing in the near future as the cards he gave her really can't do much. Can't even be much, either. Sure, they were 'illustrated pieces of my fragile heart'—quoting it from some lame story in his Writing Class; they were written expressions of what he truly feels inside for this wonderful girl in the briefest and most solemn form on colored hard paper…but they are just cards. Yuri deserves more than that. And in Writing Class, he learned: Show; don't tell, which in reality equals 'Action speaks louder than words'. So show, he will.
Can't sweep her off now, of course; uh-uh, no way, Fujima thought, then looked down and smiled wider at those dark glassy eyes and a set of partly shown jagged teeth. Someone here would be jealous if he takes a single step towards the door, and he knew he would regret leaving her for Yuri.
"Hey, watch it!" Fujima jerked his hand up in time as Lucille leaped and nearly snapped the squishy ball off his hand. The Doberman's ears were up and alert, her eyes fixed solely on the orange ball he was grasping tightly on his right hand. She leaped again, pawed Kenji by the stomach (giving herself a little boost, he thought) but still failed. Then Lucille sat panting, seemingly resigned for the effort, and spotted tongue out to him giving him what he called A Happy Dog Smile. Fujima made a teasing coo at the dog while tossing the ball from one hand to the other. Lucille barked, panted.
"Wanna see something really cool?" Fujima began to say to Yuri, unknowingly startling her from whatever she was thinking.
"S-Sure. Why not?" She said. Fujima pulled a chair and directed her to sit. Yuri moved slowly toward him, smiling shyly and appearing relaxed, turned and sat on the chair. He smelled something sweet on her hair when she turned (Clinique or Fahrenheit?), and Kenji shivered. When she seemed settled on her seat, he moved towards the rear end of the small room where a table was placed, giving Lucille a quick head rub when he passed by her. On top of the table was a feather duster, a hoola-hoop and a little black box. Kenji placed the orange ball beside the duster and picked the other one up.
"Ok, Lucille," he began and went beside the dog, "now I've got you a spectator, let's see if you can still do the fancy tricks I taught 'ya." Then to Yuri, he said in a loud whisper: "She just learned it this morning." Hajime Yuri smiled and nodded.
Fujima held the feather duster like an ugly, fat wand and made the dog look at it as he held it in mid-air. When he got Lucille's attention, he paused for a few seconds then gave the wand a little wiggle, as if asking the dog if she can really see it. Lucille barked, eyes now stern on the duster, ears lowering to a rest.
"Lucille, UP." Kenji commanded her in a powerful voice and raised his empty hand and the wand duster upward with practiced speed. At that, Lucille got up on her hind legs and stayed there.
"Oh my God," Yuri muttered behind cupped hands on her mouth. "Kenji, that's great!" She started to laugh, her eyes sparkling and wide. Fujima was not having a hard time seeing reactions through her glasses, this time.
"Ah...but you haven't seen anything yet!" He boasted, then later realized he sounded like that salesman in TV trying to persuade audience to buy his Maco Knives, Y200,000 a set, no singles. Fujima pushed the thought aside and hurried to the table to get took the hoola.
"Lucille, CATCH." He called out and tossed the hoola with a diameter of about a meter and a half. The Doberman caught it on her mouth without dropping to her front legs. As she adjusted her grip to the hoop, she was balancing her stand. By then, Yuri was clapping.
"Lucille, TURN."
Guided by his master, Lucille slowly starts to turn on two feet, hoola jutting upward, as Kenji makes circular motions with the duster wand, like literally stirring the air. He made her turn clockwise, then counter clockwise. Yuri on the other hand, was already leaning on the chair, looking exhausted holding her tummy as she screamed in laughter.
"That's enough, girl. Drop that thing and get in here." Fujima said throwing the feather duster behind him and sat on his right heel, arms held out, like one would hold out arms to a baby learning how to walk.
Lucille released the hoola-hoop and let it drop on the floor with a sound of plastic hitting wood, then scurried towards Kenji's embrace, her tail down, as if suddenly embarrassed for what she did. She stroked her black pelt against him, licked his hands, his chin, his face. Fujima started to laugh himself.
At the far end of the room, he saw Yuri stood up and gave the both of them a round of applause. Fujima Kenji, like the circus master that he was, gave her a slow, grateful bow—left hand on his chest and right arm extended to Lucille, his palm up—then waved at his other ghostly fans. Yuri sat down again, still giggling a bit, and removed her glasses to wipe the wetness off her eyes.
Oh, Yuri, please don't cry. Please. It's too soon…
That last gave him cold feet in an instant, and his head started to throb in equal force with his heart. Oh God, here it comes…
When she completely sobered up, Kenji cupped Lucille's head and stared straight at her intelligent eyes, his nose touching her cold, damp snout. "There's still one more, girl. One more." He said then gave her another quick head rub. Kenji stood erect and moved a feet or two away from Lucille, giving the floor to the dog all her own. Yuri blinked, shifted her gaze to Kenji then back to Lucille, before setting her glasses back.
"Lucille," Kenji said—not a hint of commanding power in his tone this time—his baby blue eyes meaning more to what he was about to say, "PROPOSE."
Lucille made a ninety-degree turn towards the rear table, grabbed the little black box on top with her mouth then started her way towards Yuri. He saw the girl stiffen on her seat, then as he heard the Doberman's claws scrape on the wooden floor while she approached her, Yuri's hands were already half-way to her partly opened mouth, attempting to stifle a possible scream.
Wow. Nagano Mitsuru stared at his wristwatch, now in Stopwatch mode, as if mesmerized for the first time by its superlative features and ultra-modern, digital design that goes well with a price tag. Too bad it was his brother's. Twenty-two seconds, he read, and then turned his attention to Takano Shoichi finishing his fourth tumbler-sized glass of strawberry milk shake. His eyes were squeezed shut, not a solitary part of him moved but his Adam's apple making its way up and down his neck faster than any normal Adam's apple can go. Mitsuru blinked, clearing his eyes and read the stopwatch again. Amazing. I mean—WOW! That's just so damn…impossible…
When he heard the sound of straw sucking in air, Takano instantly withdrew his lips from the straw's adjustable end, jerking his head back with a snap then bouncing it back—the kind of head-jerk he immediately recognized when 'The Rock' was given the low blow by Rick Flair in last night's Pay-per-View. Only now, 'The Rock' who sat across him is quite skinny, very unappealing and bushy-haired, and is not really a rock at all. He saw how Shoichi curl up on his seat, except that his hands were not on his crotch but on his head, tapping it wildly with his big, open palms.
Mitsuru exploded with cynical laughter as he pointed a taunting finger at Takano. He didn't seem to mind, though. And after a very long time, Shoichi relaxed, straightened up to a sloppy sitting position—elbows propped at the seat's lengthy backrest, his bushy head lolled back—then drew in air and heaved it out.
"Still bored, Takano?" Hanagata Toru asked as he eyed the man across him with natural impassiveness, his tone sounding more indifferent than concerned. He sat between the huge, glass window of the ice cream parlor they're in and Nagano who was just beginning to sober up.
"…I'm…fine…Thank you…" the man almost wheezed like a drunkard. Shake-drunk, that is, if there is such a term. Mitsuru saw Toru roll his eyes and shook his head, then concentrated at the view outside and at his own milk shake. Just when Nagano thought that everything ended there, Shoichi let out a burp loud enough to stir the very bedrock of the parlor to where they have been slacking off for the past three hours.
The chit-chats, the order-taking, and the clatter of forks on porcelain plates stopped all at once when the burp died, leaving them with the droning hwoop-hwoop sound of rotating ceiling fans and the soft hum of the radio playing "Dive to Blue." Shoichi's limp hand floated over his face, briefly covered his half-opened mouth, and then set it back to where it was.
"Oops." Takano murmured wearily, then the three men bawled in laughter.
"You pig!" Hanagata chuckled and scolded at the same time, throwing a small pebble he took from the little display plant on their table. Shoichi was now laughing the loudest. Toru started to throw more pebbles at him. "Get…outta here, you…good-for-nothing…Shoo, pig, shoo! Did your mother…ever tell you that…it's bad…to fart in public?" This time, the whole ice cream parlor laughed along with them.
Now that's another record to add in Guinness aside from Shoichi's powerful sucker, Mitsuru mused.
Hanagata Toru: Shoyo Junior High's center, pernickety by nature and famous for his dry humor, just scored a perfect ten for the people in Frost Bytes—a small ice cream parlor in downtown Kanagawa—by doing his own rendition of Yosemite Sam. Shoo, vahrment! Shoo! Ah hate rahbbits!
At that thought, Mitsuru laughed even harder, too.
After some time, probably not more than two minutes, when the hilarity of today's events ultimately died down and everybody started minding their own lives again, Hanagata pushed his half-finished milk shake aside and stood up. "Well, I'd better be going. See 'ya later, guys." He waved after fishing his jacket and started to the glass door.
"Oi, Toru, don't go yet. It's still too early to go home." Takano said and raised one of his empty tumbler-sized glass to the waitress. The chubby waitress nodded and went to the pantry to get another glass of milk shake. Going back to Toru, he said: "This one's on me."
Hanagata smiled, "I appreciate the offer, Shoichi, but I'll pass. Besides, I'm not in the mood to go home just yet, since it's too early to sit around and wait for The Evening News. I figured that maybe I should drop by the vet clinic. You know? See what Kenji's up to, how things have been with him and that girl…"
Takano's head straightened up, his face suddenly brightening with a smile so wide Nagano can't help but think that, somehow, his shake-drunk friend just concocted something evil in his mind. "Hey, that's a great idea, Toru! Why don't we all go, and have a little groupie-hug with Kenji and Yuri? And if we're lucky enough, we can claim our prize money. What do you think, Mitsuru?"
"Well, yeah. Yeah! Why not?" Nagano had been nodding, but was really trying not to laugh at the thought of Takano sounding all freaking cheery like Barney, this time—the Kid-Crazy Dinosaur. "Kenji's not been telling us about it lately. Do you think he had forgotten about the bet?" He returned the question to Shoichi, then mentally added: No more strawberry milk shakes for you, buddy. Not in a million years.
"He didn't." Takano answered, stood up, got himself a toothpick from his wallet, and put it in his mouth. "He'd never." He added, probably the most 'sane' words Mitsuru had ever heard or will ever hear from him this day. Takano slid out of his side of the table and rejoined Toru by the door. Nagano hurried for his baseball cap and followed behind Shoichi.
As the three men left for the veterinary clinic, which was a good fifteen blocks walk up from downtown, no one said another word about Kenji or the girl Yuri. Nagano didn't question that, but their silence was starting to bother him. Not that he wanted to think their silence meant something, like pulling a dirty prank at him while on the way, Hanagata and Takano together, the dynamic duo—it would be too awful a thought. Besides, being dubbed as 'Research Extraordinaire' of the group, we had regarded himself then as an untouchable, almost in the ranks of Fujima himself. But like he always knew—and what his mother used to remind him—one can never be too careful or too prepared for what is about to happen, so he mentally prepared himself just the same.
The sun was high when they reached the vet clinic, and no one was prepared—
"Holy shit!"
—not even Nagano Mitsuru, Research Extraordinaire, for what they just stumbled upon.
"Oh shit, oh Christ, of shit!…"
He was the to first blank out.
I have a confession to make, Fujima Kenji once told his best friend when they were alone one afternoon, away from prying eyes, away from screaming girls, but between king-sized shelves of Shoyo Junior High's Research Library, aisle 14, History section. They had stood alongside each other for almost two hours, their faces buried on books that generally smelled of mold, and their eyes strained on words so small they could hardly read them on yellowish, discolored pages. It was the second day after they had attended the IJH Competition to see Yuri (not to mention that Mitsuru wanted company to check out the rock star babe of Takeishi Junior High). And for Hanagata Toru, it was the day when Kenji started not being his normal self.
What am I saying? Kenji had chuckled, immediately following his previous statement, and turned the page of his book dreamily. The soft sound of his voice made Toru look at his best friend incredulously, not that Kenji didn't sound like Kenji at all, oh no, but his laugh was so pleasing to the ears it almost seemed eerie. Maybe because…it had been a very long time since he had heard him laugh that way again.
Kenji had closed his book and stood there for a few minutes simply holding it with both hands—left hand under, right hand on top—like a young priest who just finished reading the Sunday's Gospel
("…The word of the Lord.")
("Thanks be to God.")
before returning it quietly on the shelf in front of him, between The Hiroshima Bombing and Liberation. He had made a deep, nervous sigh, turned and looked squarely at him, his blue eyes calm and innocent. C'mon, Toru, let's go get some snacks. I'm starving.
"Holy shit," Takano gasped, startling Hanagata out of his thoughts and making him look over his sunglasses. Shoichi appeared frozen on his tracks, toothpick hanging in his lips and eyes bulging at the sight of that girl, Yuri, sitting motionless on a chair, a little black box on her lap, her hands on her mouth. And a big dog—hell, every Cynophobe's nightmare—was sitting in front of her, one left forepaw on her lap, as well, while Kenji was standing just a few feet away. Seeing the stillness of every one and every thing inside the shelter felt similar to looking at a lifelike portrait, barely a Degas,but a stolen Kodak shot—quality picture, but nothing particularly special compared to family portraits over turkey on Christmas Eve. Though Toru had to admit, there is something about this stillness that tells him they're just in time for things to start happening, like something telling him it will rain soon but cannot explain when or how he knew it. He just knew it. And probably more than knowing…he felt it. Something is going to happen…and Takano and Nagano felt it, too.
"Oh shit, oh Christ, oh shit! This is it. Guys, this is IT!"
"Shut up, Shoichi." Hanagata quickly yanked Takano by the collar toward the side of the doorway before he started getting Kenji, Yuri, or (when worst comes to worst) the Doberman's attention. He called Mitsuru to follow, and he did as quickly and quietly.
Takano was almost kneeling when he peered by the doorjamb of the clinic; Mitsuru, on the other hand, was hunched a little higher—a kind of awkward stand—a little in front of Toru; and Toru was right behind Shoichi, the flat of his broad shoulders against the wall, neck askew to the left, watching from outside the window. They waited, listened.
"Holy shit," Shoichi started to mutter again when Kenji smiled and approached the sitting girl and knelt in front of her, the dog (was its name 'Lucy'?) sat panting beside him. Yuri's hands slowly dropped on her lap and stayed there, her fingers knitting. Then they heard her sob, faint but nonetheless discernible. She was visibly shivering from her shoulders down to her paper-white hands closed in a solemn prayer.
"Go ahead. Open it." Fujima said—referring to the little black box, Toru supposed. Yuri sobbed again, and then slowly lifted the box from her lap. She placed her right hand over the lid then looked at Fujima reluctantly, as if mentally telling him that she's afraid of what she might see. Fujima, in return, nodded, as if mentally telling her that there is nothing to be afraid of. Toru can't help but smile at his interpretations.
"Holy shi-hi-hi-hit!" Shoichi Takano was laughing between words, this time; his right hand curled into a fist to cover his mouth."Oh man, this is so damn intense. I think I'm gonna lose it!"
Yuri pulled the box lid upward and gasped, her free hand went to her mouth again. She looked at Kenji as tears starts to run down her face. Then the oddest of odd things happened to his not-so-normal best friend: Fujima started to chuckle…but it didn't seem eerie, this time (or would Yuri take it as some form of mockery) but it was nice. Comforting. And Toru was not surprised when Yuri started to laugh along with him.
Kenji made her laugh on purpose, of course; it is one way to ease the tension that is always present in every act of proposing: the kneeling, the handing of presents, the confession of their feeling and, in reward seeing sparks fly all over. She appeared to know it already, and welcomed his way with an appreciative heart and equal laughter.
There is one thing you also have to keep in mind, Hajime Yuri, Hanagata though, Kenji can't handle this tension more than you can. He then stole glances at Takano and Nagano, their interests keeping them glued in the scene. Oh yes, Kenji thrived on tension in court, all right…but, you know what, guys? I have a funny feeling in my gut, and I don't think you're gonna like it one bit if I tell you.
"You don't have to do this, you know." He heard Yuri say after a long time, her voice still a little shaky but it was all right. She was smiling when Toru peered at the window again and saw her took a silver chain bracelet from the black box, feeling it with her left thumb. It was the one Kenji had bought at Sable's when he took his a break (if you still call three hours a break) from finishing their school project.
"I'm sorry I can't make Lucille dance. I know you could have enjoyed it better than that."
Yuri giggled, "Stop it, okay." She lifted the bracelet away from her to get a better look from afar. "Kenji, this is gorgeous."
"Perfectly suits the bearer."
She frowned. "Is this another one of your 'fancy tricks'?"
"No, ma'am. No more tricks." He smiled.
Takano stifled a scornful laugh, making him sound like a hyena with a bad asthma. "God, I can't believe she's really falling for it!"
"Put a sock in it, pal." Hanagata snapped. At that point, he wasn't even sure why he had to act defensive for Yuri.
"You put a sock in it, man." Takano told him. "What's wrong with you?"
"Hey, shut the hell up, Shoichi!" Nagano hissed at the lower man before Hanagata could answer. Takano stared at him, looking more hurt than surprised then turned his attention back to the scene and said nothing.
"Here, let me." Kenji said to Yuri almost in a whisper then took the bracelet from her and wore it on her left wrist. She smiled, mentally thanking him, then adjusted the bracelet…and found something interesting written—engraved in fluid cursives—on the smooth surface of its long, curved plate:
Fujima Kenji.
Yuri's head snapped back up and met eyes with someone she now considers her blue-eyed angel. "I think this is—" yours, she was about to finish but was cut short when Fujima showed her a similar silver chain bracelet on his right wrist…only this time, her name—Hajime Yuri—was engraved in the same fluid cursives on its long curved plate. She stared at it with huge eyes (praying that Kenji would not see how big and red they are), and the longer she looked at the reflected light pass along the elegant impression of her name, she suddenly found herself wanting to faint. Not that the silvery shimmer was giving her the dizzy spells, but because she began to understand things all at once: Lucille, the little show he put up for her to watch, his bracelet on her left wrist, her bracelet on his right…
Oh God, this is so good to be true, she quickly turned away from Kenji and let her gaze fall on the empty reception table by the doorway. Too perfect, even for Judith McNaught to consider in her next big hit novel.
She felt her heart starting to expand, and it surprised her how equally painful it felt in her chest compared to its heart-clenching pain counterpart. Or maybe she was feeling 'good pain'—the term her crazy, optimistic sister used once when they were on the topic of love. It is the pain of loving someone so much, you wouldn't care less about the world, she had explained in her usual, no-nonsense tone. I know; it sounds totally nuts to me, too, at first until I met him. Only then, I understood. (HIM was, of course, Houojo Aoishi: Soccer Mid-Fielder, Kainan hotty, and current ex-boyfriend.) Good pain can and it will drive people insane, Yuri, if they let it; oftentimes, it really can't be helped. But you know what? It's O.K. I mean, people can be insane about other ridiculous things such as their work, or their lifetime collection of sports magazine…so why not go insane on love? And that's the good thing. It's good pain. It is the pain of true love…if not true love itself.
Is it? Is there such a bizarre thing? The ache in her chest rose to her temples, distorting her vision a little, making her see unfamiliar shadows by the doorway. They bobbed briefly then rested.
"Yuri?" she heard Fujima say then felt his touch under her chin. He obscured the shadows with his face and met her eyes right before she can position herself to looking his way. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, Kenji, I…I…" she looked down at the bracelet, hoping to find the right words there but couldn't find any, "I don't…I really don't know what to say…"
"Say yes." He said and gently enfolded his hands around hers. They were surprisingly warm. "Please say yes."
Oh man, I think I'm gonna lose it too, Hanagata thought to himself as he felt sweat run down the side of his right temple. He placed a hand on the center of his chest, fingers splayed, and felt the rapid thumping of his heart on his palm. Surprise, surprise. Who would have thought that this is better than watching two teams break a tie in less than fifteen seconds without going into Overtime?
"No! No! No! No!"
Just beneath him, he glared at Takano and Nagano cheering quietly as to what Yuri should respond to Kenji's proposal. Best friends back together again.
Hanagata began to see them as little people, no taller than two inches, wearing tight, red leotards with horn and tails, whispering sweet, soft and awful things
("No! No! No! No!")
to Yuri's ears that would make her say just that. Nevertheless, he savored the thought of them looking utterly stupid and sickening, and he forgave them (despite his disgust) for unknowingly giving him such delight in such intense moments, as Shoichi had put it.
I have a confession to make, the wind said to him in Kenji's voice. Hanagata can no longer feel the afternoon sun burning his skin. I have a funny feeling in my gut, the wind returned, this time carrying his voice. His eyes widened, then turned to look at Takano Shoichi and Nagano Mitsuru with a mad wonder and guilt. I have a funny feeling in my gut, and I don't think you're gonna like it one bit if I tell you…
Hanagata calmly shifted position—his chest on the wall now—then began to peer inside from his side of the window. Yuri, he mentally called to her. He felt stupid himself doing this, trying to put words into someone else's head with positively no assurance of success, but who knows? If he believes in love, then maybe he's a sucker for miracles, too. He closed his eyes.
Yuri, I know you don't know me personally, but if you can hear me, please say yes. I don't know why I want him to win this…but it would really mean more to Kenji than what we all bargained for. Say yesHanagata opened his eyes and saw Yuri bit her lower lip in confusion. YES!
"Kenji—" Yuri began to stay but couldn't continue. She looked at Fujima and smiled uneasily.
"That a 'yes'?" Fujima's smile broadened, his tone assuming more that questioning. "Say it is a 'yes'!"
Hanagata heard Shoichi and Mitsuru gasp, and saw them exchanged panicked glances. "No! No! No! No!" They cheered a little louder, faster.
"Mmm…" Yuri bowed her head again and began to nibble thoughtfully at her lips. She was blushing.
Yes! Toru thought. Say it's a yes It's clearly a yes
Then Yuri's lips twisted.
"No! No! No! No!" Mitsuru was almost really jumping.
"Kenji," Yuri called and briefly stroked Kenji's face.
Takano seized his hair with both hands. "NO!"
"Yes." Hanagata said. "YES."
With finality, Yuri said: "I'll think about it, okay?"
Silence ensued within the shelter perimeter. To his surprise, Kenji only managed to blink at Yuri.
To their surprise, all three men fell on the concrete at once, their crooked legs jutting upward.
For what it's worth:
Thank you for your patience
DISCLAIMER:
Slam Dunk and its characters do not belong to me.
The card quotations used by Fujima Kenji does not belong to me either but to the wonderful submitters of love quotes in acknowledgments to the song titles featured in this chapter:
You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics
Dive to Blue by L'Arc en Ciel