With his shoulder leaning against the window of his class on the first floor, his head was turned around to gaze outside where he could see the year three in their the PE class.
Easily he spotted Akagi among the shorter boys and he found Kogure a few seconds later. The spectacled senior wasn't as tall as the captain but as a basketball player he was a bit higher than the average japanese teenager.
The redhead was watching Kogure silently who was just about to do a long jump when something white was thrust in front of his face. He looked at Yohei in puzzlement as the boy grinned, "From your admirer."
"Who?"
"Fuji . That girl from my class who's a friend of Haruko's," said Yohei, putting the envelope in Sakuragi's hand.
The redhead tapped his chin with the end of the envelope and continued looking out of the window.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Yohei, "You've got dumped 50 times and now this girl shows an interest..."
"Maybe he likes someone else..." said Rukawa sitting at the edge of the desk in front of Sakuragi.
"Haruko," Yohei and Rukawa chorused.
"Yeah," sighed Sakuragi but there was no sadness in his voice like the other times. Only distant.
"She likes you, Fox."
Rukawa shoved his hands in his pockets, "You can take her."
"Thanks," Sakuragi snorted, "But no thanks."
~~~~
Outside in the school compund where outdoor PE sessions was taking place, Kogure and his friends were enjoying the fine day pushing away the stress of studies as they exerted themselves doing exercises that was meant to strengthen their physical form and also to let the students have a little bit of fun.
Kogure sat down beside his friends after he made his jump and watched as the remaining students did their turn. Instead of seeing his friend's form leaping over the strip of sand, he saw in his mind a boy with a small scar under his left chin, cropped short hair and wearing a cheeky grin, giving him the thumbs up sign after he executed a jump that had made their PE coach proud.
His memory jumped back towards that rainy day when he told that boy how much he loved him.
"I'm sorry..."
He sounded so sad when he said those words. Has he forgotten already? I don't know. It feels like it was just a dream and I feel so lost...but now, that feeling.... it's gone...
~~~~
"Why don't you like her, Rukawa?" asked Yohei to the fox-eyed boy.
"I'm just not interested in girls at the moment," said Rukawa shrugging.
Yohei sighed, "You don't know, Rukawa. Before you realise it you'll find yourself head over heels in love with someone."
Rukawa rolled his eyes, making Yohei chuckle before the shorter boy teased him, "You don't have any trouble chasing after girls though coz they're crazy about you..."
"So what?" sighed Rukawa.
"Yeah, so what," said Sakuragi suddenly, his eyes still not leaving the scenery below. The two looked at him in surprise, as he continued, "If you get the person that you really like, then it matters."
****
The train sped along the Kanagawa railway passing the houses, trees and other structures along the way. The boys from the Shohoku basketball team were chatting and joking and sometimes raised voices from petty quarreling were heard especially from Sakuragi, Miyagi and Akagi. Rukawa would join in but only to infuriate the trio with his cool, condescending manner.
The team was on their way to Miuradai highschool for a practice game with the team there and the juniors were nervous and excited even when they won't be playing yet until Anzai-sensei gives them the green light. Stanging beside Ayako, Kogure was aware of the redhead's arm brushing against his own whenever the train jolted or whenever the people crammed in the car pushed against them to move about.
Kogure always enjoyed watching the scenery outside even when they speed by too fast but at that moment he couldn't help but feel that the train was going faster than normal. Too fast that he can't even feel it.
Another brush against his arm made him realise the reason for his distraction.
"Hey, that's Ryonan!" said Miyagi suddenly.
Kogure felt his heart start to beat fast and his chest was hurting but he managed to retain his calm look when Anta spoke up, "I wonder what Mitsui-san is doing at the moment?"
"Who's Mitsui?" asked the redhead.
"He was a Shohoku team player before you guys came in but he moved to Ryonan when his dad had to transfer to another office near there. He's been playing for years and he's good with his three point shots," Miyagi told them.
Sakuragi grinned in challange, "Hope we'll meet then. He has yet to meet the tensai!"
Kogure quelled the panic in him when he thought of the possibility. Thankfully Ayako didn't seem to notice his silence that was so uncharactersitic of him especially before a game because she was busy listening the boys talk.
"He's not missing anything, do'aho," said Rukawa cooly.