At the area in front of the administration building, a large group of students gathered there waited anxiously for the teacher in charge to appear. As soon as the sensei arrived, they all crowded around but allowed him to walk up to the bulletin board to post the much anticipated fax. As soon as the list was up the crowd rushed up to see, pushing away the harried but amused sensei in the process. Various emotions erupted among the student body: some were overjoyed, some were disappointed and a few were devestated.
Kogure took his time walking up to the board and when he did, he took a deep breath before he scanned the list for his name. When he found it, he felt his heart stop for a second.
~~~~
Kaede was woken up by the sound of a pencil tapping on the desk beside him. Lifting up his face from the pillow of his arm, he set his sleepy but glaring eyes upon his redheaded classmate but was easily ignored. Hanamichi was too busy staring out of the window, oblivious of two angry looks; one from the fox-eyed boy who was irritated that the redhead was disturbing his nap and the other was from the sensei who was annoyed that the redhead was disrupting his lesson with the constant tapping.
When the teacher told the redhead to stop, Hanamichi scowled but did as he was told. Unable to make himself concentrate in the maths lessons being taught, the boy found himself flipping the pages back and forth making unnecessary noise, again disrupting the class with his fidgeting. A vein appeared on the sensei's temple but patiently he forced himself to ignore the redheaded trouble-maker.
Kaede sighed. He wouldn't be able to snatch any sleep at this rate. The do'aho was far too worried for Kogure to notice his surroundings.
~~~~
The end of the class has begun and Hanamichi walked slowly towards the locker-room to change for the practice. He was early that day as it was his turn to clean the gym with Yasuda. Upon arriving at the locker-room, he opened the door only to be greeted by the sight of Kogure with his back turned, the ex-senior staring out the window of the small room. The stiffness of Kogure body did not bode well to the redhead's peace of mind and with the older boy refusing to turn around to look at him, Hanamichi's fear was strengthened.
"Ano...." the redead began hesitantly, breaking the silence in the musky room, "... I-It's ok. I mean... there's still the resit that you can take, right?"
The brown-haired head nodded, "Aa. I need to go and see the counsellor now..."
"Yosh..."
"I've been accepted to the university."
"Yosh.... NANI??!! Why didn't you say so earlier!! I've been worried sick!!"
Kogure laughed, gleeful that he managed to get Hanamichi worked up but also touched that the junior felt that much for him. Passing the exams in grades he could only hope to achieve meant that he has managed to get through at least one goal in his life. Being accepted by the university of his choice with Akagi and having the one he loves by his side, nothing else could go wrong. Everything would be wonderful.
~~~~
Just three weeks in the university, Kogure has already become one of the favourites of the lecturers. He and Akagi joined the course for the degree of Bachelor of Science although each young men has taken different majors and electives for the different routes they have planned to take when they graduate. This week after his last class, Kogure walked over to the Shohoku highschool by himself to watch the basketball team practice from the far end of the bleachers. Listening to the familiar rythm of the ball bouncing and sneakers squeaking on the floor made him feel contented that although he has left the game to seriously pursue further scholarly studies he could at least enjoy seeing other people play.
After the practice has ended, Kogure stepped outside and stood beside the gate to wait. It was already noon and nearly dark when the redhead appeared.
"It would've been better if we've met at the usual place," commented Sakuragi slinging his bag over his shoulder, "You wouldn't have to walk too far."
Kogure smiled as he and the redhead began to walk home, "That's ok. I wanted to see you guys play today. You all seem to have fun."
Silence from the redhead made Kogure lift his head to see the younger boy look at him in curiosity. "What?" asked Kogure puzzled as why Sakuragi was looking at him that way.
The redhead shrugged, "Nothin'. It's just that it's kinda weird to hear that you're a university student now."
Kogure grinned, "Aa. A favourite one too."
That earned a chuckle from the redhead, "You're getting arrogant."
"I'm not," scoffed Kogure jokingly, "Just more sure of myself."
A snort from Hanamichi made Kogure swat the boy on the arm and when another slap came, the redhead boy fended it off by using his bag as a shield. The two boys laughed good-naturedly as they continued to walk when suddenly Kogure stopped in his tracks, staring ahead in the distance. Hanamichi slung his bag back on his shoulder and asked, "Doijoubo desu ka?"
Kogure's voice was faint when he answered, "Outosan..."
The redhead looked to where Kogure was staring at and saw a man in his mid-forties looking at the spectacled-boy and then at him before the man turned and started to walk away as if he has not seen them at all.
Kogure hurried after his father and pulled Hanamichi with him. "Otousan, are you going home? Th-this is..."
But instead of slowing down to hear what Kogure has to say, his father didn't stop nor did he turn around to acknowledge the two boys' presence. Hurt and anxious, Kogure stopped and allowed his father to walk away from him, watching the man's form disappear into the night.
"Gomen nasai," whispered Kogure sadly, knowing that Hanamichi was close enough to hear him, "He's always like that..."
Hanamichi stuck his face in front of the spectacled-boy's forlorn one and put on his winning smile for comfort. "That's alright. He was probably too surprised, that's all," the redhead consoled Kogure before he clasped the older boy's hand and began pulling Kogure forward with him, "C'mon, let's go home."
Kogure gripped the redhead's warm hand tight and smiled, grateful at the redhead's patience.
Hana-kun... thank you...