"Dammit Sakuragi!" yelled Miyagi, "Your passes are way off!"
Haruko watched the practice with worry, paying special attention to the redheaded point forward who was at that moment playing at his worst. Beside her, Ayako bit her pen in concentration, trying to figure out just what the redhead's problem is.
"Psst! Haruko-chan!"
Haruko turned towards the doors to see her friend, Matsui, waving to her urgently. The brown-haired girl complied and when she got close, Matsui pulled her forward.
"Guess what? I heard that Sakuragi and her girlfriend broke up!"
"Nani?" exclaimed Haruko in surprise, "Where did you hear that?"
"My friend who works in the cafe where Sakuragi usually hangs out didn't see Kogure-sempai with Sakuragi anymore so she assumed the two were fighting. I think that Sakuragi has already told the girl off!" Matsui told her.
"But you can't be sure-"
"And then another friend of mine who is in the same class as Sakuragi heard one of the boys ask him if he broke up or something when he saw Sakuragi being so quiet. Sakuragi of course butted the guy's head but he didn't deny it."
"Honto?" whispered Haruko, stunned.
Ayako who was standing a few feet away didn't need to get close to hear what they were saying. She looked back at Sakuragi who was still on the court and frowned.
After practice, Sakuragi walked back home when someone called him from behind, "Sakuragi."
-----
Mariko opened the front door and was surprised to see Kogure standing outside, smiling at her as he held up a small box in his hand, "Konnichiwa, Mariko-san. Can I come in?"
-----
"Are you going to let this problem between you and my brother go on?"
Sakuragi shrugged, tilting his head to the pink and blue sky, "I dunno..."
Then he looked down and sighed, "But I think it's for the best."
"Nani?"
"I meant what I said. I will not take it back and I know that it can't be forgotten with a simple apology...."
Kaede stopped, letting Sakuragi walk on on his own. Gomen ne, Sakuragi.
-----
"I bought the cake at the bakery shop along the road. I thought that we could eat it together. Where is Hisashi-kun by the way?" asked Kogure as Mariko sat a small plate in front him and a glass of cold juice.
"He's still at work," Mariko told him, "I got back early."
"Oh," smiled Kogure, "I stopped by just to try my luck. It's a good thing you're at home, ne?"
Mariko placed down the tray on the floor beside her and reached out to take Kogure's hand, "Kogure-kun. You don't need to pretend with me."
"About what?" Kogure asked nonchalantly as he gently slipped his hand out of Mariko's grasp to place a slice of cake on each of the plates for him and the young woman.
"About Sakuragi-kun," answered Mariko simply.
Kogure stopped his fork in mid-air for a moment before he began to pick at the cake, "Hanamichi..."
"About what he has said," Mariko gently persisted.
"What he has said? He did say that I was boring," Kogure smiled sadly, "He said that it was boring to walk home with me all the time. What he said really hurt, Mariko-san. Doesn't that mean that he doesn't want to see me?"
Mariko kept quiet, allowing the brown-haired young man in front of her to continue, "Whereas I wouldn't mind seeing him everyday for the rest of my life. And I wouldn't care if I have to wait for hours just to see his face or hear his voice. But I guess both of us knew that I wanted more from him everytime we meet. I think that's what burdens him, don't you think so? Being waited for something?"
"It-It might be..."
Kogure nodded and took a deep breath, putting on his brightest smile, "So I have decided. If I don't want him to be burdened, I'll not meet with him again."
Mariko picked on her cake as well as Kogure added, "If I do meet him someplace, I'll give him a smile. Better yet if I laugh with him. I'm going to be strong."
The piece of confectionary on the utensil did not reach his mouth. Kogure's voice began to waver even as he tried to persuade himself, "I-I'm going to be strong..."
I have decided.
~~~~
Kogure opened the door to Kaede's bedroom and leaned against the door-frame where he watched his brother busy packing his belongings to bring to the camp where he and the other members of the Shohoku basketball team would be practicing during their two week school holiday.
"If you add one more thing your bag will burst," chuckle Kogure, walking in to stand beside the fox-eyed boy.
"Shut up and help me zip this up," growled Kaede, tugging on the metal zipper.
Kogure slapped Kaede's hand away and began to sort the things out, trying to put a semblance of order at what his brother terms as 'packing', which is throwing all the things in the bag without any thought to carriage space.
As the older sibling began to go through the mess, Kaede watched Kogure from the corner of his eyes and asked carefully, "You and Sakuragi... it's not going to get any better is it?"
Kogure suddenly stopped in his work. When his hands moved again through the diluge of t-shirts, he answered with a smile, "No. And we don't need to talk about him, I think."
Kaede then turned to look at his brother fully.
"Because it's over," said Kogure simply.
"Hm," Kaede grunted, "Honto ni?"
"Aa."
I don't want him to hate me because it will only hurt me more. It has to end. It has to...