The Secret ~ [The Pig Pen]

The Secret

>April 1. Morning.<

It was a bright morning in a quiet neighborhood in Kanagawa prefecture. People walked briskly along the streets, and soft greetings of “Ohayo!” could be heard. However, among all the hustle and bustle, a bright red head of hair could be seen towering over the general population. The owner of the said head of hair was oblivious to his surroundings as he strolled leisurely along, humming his “Ore Wa Tensai” song.

“Ah! What a great morning! It’s Tensai’s birthday today. I wonder what the others have in store for me?” He grinned goofily to himself as he rubbed his hands with glee. People who happened to be walking by the redhead sweatdropped at the expression on his face and hastily inched away from the weird youth. “I think I’ll go over to Danny’s and see what the gundan is up to.” So saying, Sakuragi Hanamichi made his way to the popular hangout and diner known as Danny’s.

“Are you sure about this, Ayako-san? I mean…”

“Daijobu, Haruko-chan. Everything will go just as we planned.”

“Well, ok if you say so.”

“Great! Now we have to…”

“Ohayo! Ayako-san, Haruko-san! What are you two girls doing today?” Hanamichi greeted jovially as he walked up to the surprised girls. He had spotted them talking in the park as he walked past.

“Sakuragi-kun! Ohayo!” Haruko stammered nervously.

“Ah! Sakuragi Hanamichi! Ohayo! Oh, nothing much. We just happened to bump into each other here. I’m actually on my way to my, um, zither lessons. Yeah, that’s it.” Ayako spoke up. Seeing that Haruko was now acting all guilty, blushing furiously and refusing to look at Hanamichi, Ayako discreetly elbowed the younger girl.

“Huh? Oh, yes! I have to go, ahh, um, and have my self-defense lessons.” Haruko continued, still refusing to look at the boy.

By this time, our beloved Tensai has noticed something amiss. Ayako looked normal enough, but she had this slightly, panicky look in her eyes. And Haruko was also acting strangely. Normally, the shy girl would have a lot to say to him. But before he could voice out his thoughts, both girls hastily bid him goodbye.

“Oh my, look at the time,” Ayako said animatedly. “Well, gotta go! Ja!” She rushed off before anyone could say anything.

“Oh! Me too! Nice seeing you today, Sakuragi-kun. Ja!” Haruko dashed off as well, going in the opposite direction.

Hanamichi chibifies as he looked back and forth at the smoke trails left behind by the two girls, question marks dancing over his head.

As he returned to normal, (well, as normal as he could possibly be) Hanamichi pondered over the two girls’ odd behavior. “Ayako-san… zither lessons? Haruko san having self-defense lessons? That’s weird. Wait a minute! I get it! those two have a secret that they’re keeping from me! Well, the Tensai will find out what it is!” During the time that the redhead was talking to himself, he had managed to turn red with anger, steam billowing from his ears. “No one keeps a secret from the Tensai!”

~*~*~*~

Hanamichi crept as quietly as he could in the bushes, trying to keep the two girls in sight. And it wasn’t easy, considering his height and his hair. He had decided to follow Haruko, secretly of course, and sure enough, a few minutes later, she met up with Ayako again. Unfortunately, they were standing a distance away from the bushes where the redhead was hiding and so he couldn’t hear what they were saying. He only managed to hear a few words that happened to float towards his direction. “Party… invited… everyone…tonight.”

“A party! And the Tensai is not invited! Why else would they keep this a secret from me?” he mumbled to himself. He continued to seethe in anger. He started when he realized that Ayako and Haruko had started walking away. He followed them again as they made their way out of the park and into the streets. “Where the heck are they going?” the redhead thought to himself.

>April 1. Afternoon.<

Hanamichi huffed in irritation as he continued to follow the two girls around Kanagawa. It was now afternoon and the two girls showed no sign of going home. His face was now a permanent shade of red because of his anger.

He was angry because, as he followed the girls, he had spotted them speaking excitedly with other people; people he knew and trusted. So he thought. During the course of the day, Ayako and Haruko had spoken to all the Shohoku basketball club members; Sendoh and Koshino from Ryonan; Maki, Jin and Kiyota from Kainan, and, lastly, Fujima and Hanagata from Shoyo. But the last straw had come when he saw them talking with the four people he trusted and loved (in a brotherly way) the most; the Sakuragi Gundan.

He had chibified at that point as two streams of tears flowed down his face. “Wahh!! Even the Sakuragi gundan are invited while the Tensai is not!” Hanamichi almost wailed loudly when he noticed the two girls walk into a store. “A-re? Why are they going in there?” He sneaked to a spot across the store window as he observed the two girls talking to the owner. Soon, both came out and, after a few more words, waved to each other and went to opposite directions. “A-ha! Now I’ll find out what they did in there.”

~*~*~*~

Hanamichi crossed the street and nonchalantly made his way towards the store. It was a cake store. As he was about to walk in, he noticed a sign propped up in the display window. [Part-time delivery boy wanted] the sign read. “Yosh! I’ll apply for the job now! Then I will find out more about that secret party!”

>April 1. Evening.<

Hanamichi sighed wearily as he looked at the clock. It was almost 10 o’clock now and still, the owner hadn’t asked him to deliver anything to any of the guys’ or girls’ house. He finally made up his mind to ask the boss about it.

“Boss, are you sure there’s no more cakes to be delivered? It’s almost 10 now.” Hanamichi tried to make his voice sound as bored as possible. Can’t have the boss thinking he was stalking his customers or anything. He almost danced around in glee when the boss said, “Actually, there is still one special order that needs to be delivered. It’s going to #45 Sakura Street. Do you know where that is?”

“Hai! I, Tensai Sakuragi, will make sure that this cake gets there in record time!” The owner sweatdropped as Hanamichi grabbed the cake and sped out of the store, leaving a smoke trail and almost ripping the door out of its hinges.

~*~*~*~

Hanamichi stopped as he reached the address his boss specified. “Rukawa residence, huh? Che! They’re even holding the party at that kitsune’s house! How dare they have a party without inviting the Tensai!”

He walked slowly up the front door and rang the doorbell. “I have to hide my face. I’ll just use the box so anyone who opens the door won’t be able to see my face.” His hair was safely tucked under his uniform’s cap so he wasn’t worried that anyone would see it. It was Ayako who opened the door. “Oh good! The cake is here! Can you please take it inside for me?” Without waiting for a response, Ayako turned and led the way to the kitchen. He could hear noises inside the living room, where the party was apparently being held.

“Ha! Now they will know that no one can keep a secret from the Tensai!” Hanamichi followed Ayako inside, carefully balancing the cake box near his face so she wouldn’t see it was him.

Once inside the kitchen, Ayako went to the refrigerator and spoke without turning to face him. “Can you please put it down on the table and open the box? I want to see if they got it right.” Hanamichi obeyed and uttered a low “Hai!” carefully disguising his voice. He undid the string and proceeded to lift the cover. When finally set the cover aside to look at the cake, his eyes widened and he froze in shock.

He was snapped out of his stunned silence when Ayako came up beside him and looked at the cake. It was a round cake, with orange and black icing to make it look like a basketball and the swirly words on top read, <Happy Birthday!> “Oh, very nice. Yes, I think they got it right.” At that instant, people came streaming in from the living room as confetti was thrown into the air. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAKURAGI HANAMICHI!!!”

~Owari