"Yes...Yes I understand...Sorry, I'll be late for the joint practice session..."
Kenji was sitting in the living room when he overheard Haruko talking on the phone. From the conversation, he guessed he was telling her club ahead of time that she'll be date because of that date.
"Yes...Yes...No worries, thank you for understanding...Yes...Have a good day too."
The phone called ended as he heard silence in the kitchen. Few minutes have passed as Haruko came out of the kitchen bringing out dishes of food to place onto the dining room table.
"Heard your conversation in the kitchen..." Kenji looked to the girl as she set the plates down. "You told them ahead that you won't be there the whole morning right?"
"Yeah I just did. They said it was unfortunate that I'll miss the first half and a decent portion of the second half but what can you do." She said sitting across Kenji with all the dishes in the middle.
The two took their chopsticks in their hands as they did their grace before eating. After the grace they began to pick at their meal.
"It's been a while since we went to see grand father, after visiting him we have to visit my mom and dad." Kenji looked at her as he explained. "I will be staying over to hang out with them. That means you'll be home alone, will you be okay?"
"Kenjiji I am in high school now, I'll be okay." She took a bite of her dish as he talked. "If anything I could also stay over at Gion's if that will help."
"Anything but that! You are a girl and he is boy I won't allow it!" Kenji slammed his hands on the table as Haruko continue to eat. "Just make sure to have someone walk you home at night, there are scary people at night."
"Kenjiji I ain't a kid anyone, if something were to happen I could call 119* if anything were to happen." She said. "Don't worry so much..."
"Fine fine, just wanted to make sure you are safe but I see how it is..." Kenji grumbled under his breath.
The rest of dinner was silent as they continued to eat thinking about the day to come.
"Kenjiji, wake up..."
Kenji grumbled as Haruko was shaking him as he lied in bed. "What are you doing, it's so early?"
"You were talking about how today was the day and yet you are the one still in bed." Haruko walked to the window as she opened the curtains letting light in. "Come on, we have to go to the flower shop and the grocery to get the things."
She left the grumbling man to whine as she left the room to get her stuff ready for when she heads back to Jinko for the joint practice with Keijo. She packed all her books and supply into a nicer tote bog since she didn't want to bring her school bag out on a day like this.
She chose to wear a white blouse with a ribbon on the collar with a black skirt that went to her knees and black flats for the shoes. For her hair she chose to go with a ponytail braided hairstyle.
By the time she got ready, Kenji was already waiting for her out in the front of the house as she closed the door behind her.
"And you said for me to hurry up..." He walked up to her as he patted her head. "Come on, let's go..."
She nodded as Kenji lead the way with the girl following after him. The day was still dark as they had to leave early in order to have enough time to make it to where grand father resided, in Osaka. From Osaka to Kanagawa, it was about a 4 hour drive while in plane it was a hour.
"So the plan is we take a taxi there and you'll be taking plane back so you can make it for you club's practice." Kenji was looking on his phone for flight times. "The latest flight will be around late afternoon, would that be okay?"
"That should be fine, I had already inform them that I wouldn't be there for the first couple of hours so they are aware." She said.
Kenji looked at the girl before releasing a sigh. "You are really calm about this, you know you'll be taking a plane alone and then you'll have to walk home alone."
"I won't walk home alone, I can ask Gion or someone from the rugby club to take me home." She looked at him confused. "Did you honestly think I would not plan ahead?"
"Of course not, I just wanted to double check!" He turned to her as he passed her money. "Here, you'll need taxi fare to get to your school from the airport."
She took the money as she put it into her tote bag. The first place they stopped at was a floral shop which usually wasn't open this early, but the owners have known Kenji and Haruko for a while that they know what day to open early.
"Excuse me..." Kenji said opening the door walking in with Haruko following after him.
"Oh...Right on time..."
They turn to to see a elder man sitting at the counter with a gentle smile.
"Good morning Sakamoto-san." Kenji greeted with a bow. "Do you have the flowers ready?"
"Of course, they are ready in the back." Sakamoto stood up as he walked to the back room. "Wait there for a minute while I go and get them."
"Thank you..."
Haruko looked around the store as they waited for the flowers. She stopped in front of a frame photo on the wall that gave her nostalgia. In the photo was Sakamoto and his wife along with a younger looking Kenji and Haruko as they all stood outside the flower shop with Haruko holding a bouquet of flowers.
"That was the first time you all came to our shop."
Haruko turned to see Sakamoto's wife standing next to her as they stared at the frame together.
"You were so little when you first came into our shop." Ms. Sakamoto said turning to Haruko. "Now looking at you, you have grown in to a beautiful young lady."
"Oh thank you for the compliment." Haruko bow down down politely.
"Tell me, has your young maiden heart been stolen by anyone yet?"
"S-Stolen!?" Haruko looked at the women shocked. "What are you talking about!?"
"Now Miss Sakamoto-san you know that Haruko is too young to date..." Kenji came from behind as he held the bouquet of lilies in his arms. "Also, no guy is good enough for Haruko, they would have be approved by me first!"
Haruko turned to Kenji with a blank look. "Kenjiji, you're being very overprotective you know, it's not cute."
"Being cute doesn't matter! Also call me by my name!" Kenji yelled at the girl as she gave a bow to the elders as she left the building.
She stood outside for a bit until Kenji finally left the building. "Shall we go to the grocer to get the fruit?"
"No worries..." Kenji held a plastic bag on his right hand while his left arm carried the flowers. "Mr. Sakamoto-san had it ready for us so we didn't have to run around."
"That's nice of him to do." Haruko took the flowers into her own arms as Kenji was on the phone. "Calling for a taxi?"
He nodded as he turned away to talk with the taxi driver to take them all the way to Osaka. As he was calling, Haruko took out her own phone as she texted the rugby team wishing them luck and that she will meet with them later. As manager of the team, it was mandatory for her to have the phone numbers of everyone in case of emergencies. Once she has sent her text, she looked to Kenji who signaled her to walk so they can meet their taxi driver. It took a few minutes but they met up with their taxi driver and sat in the car in silence for the next four hours.
"Hey, Haruko..." She grumbled as her body was being moved. "Wake up, we are here."
Her eyes open slightly before closing from the light that came into the taxi. After a few seconds, she grumbled as she stretched her body exiting the taxi. The taxi stopped outside a old Japanese style house where a elder couple stood outside waiting.
"Good to see you here safe and sound Haruko, Kenji." The elder woman said as she bowed to them.
"Don't worry so much mom." Kenji walked up to his mom as he gave her a hug. "But it's good to be back, even if it's only for a little."
"You too, Haruko." She turned to see Kenji's dad looking at her with a kind smile. "You have grown up a lot too since the last time we saw you."
"It's only been a year Nakatomi-san, I haven't grown too much." She told the elder man as she gave him a polite bow.
Aoyama Haruko, and Nakatomi Kenji. Two people with two different last names. How did this happen would you wonder? When Haruko was about 3 years old, her actual mother met the Nakatomi grandfather and he offered to let them stay at his house. In exchange, her mother helped with the cooking and cleaning since the grandfather was quite old. However, one day, the mother just left Haruko behind leaving Haruko's baby documents and things. The grandfather took matters into his own hands and cared for the child as his own, adopting her and raising her till the day he passed away. Once he passed, Kenji met Haruko when she was 6 years old all alone at the funeral and decided to take her in as a single man with no knowledge on how to raise a kid, but Haruko grew up fine as we can tell.
"So Haruko..." Ms. Nakatomi poured Haruko some tea as they sat around the dining table. "Kenji told me that you joined a club at your school."
Haruko took a sip of her tea while turning to the elder woman. "Yes that's correct. I joined the boy's rugby club as their medic and manager."
"Oh rugby! Interesting!" Ms. Nakatomi clapped her hands together. "Isn't that the sport with the ball and the goal?"
"Mom, that's most sports." Kenji smirked as he took a bit of his tea, burning his tongue while drinking. "Hot!"
"Rugby is the sport where you take the ball the other side of the field and then you score when you touch the ball to the ground." Haruko explained. "The great thing about it is that the game is very fair. When the ball is out, everyone gets a fair chance to get the ball. It's called a gentleman's game."
"That seems like a good club you are in." Mr Nakatomi said smiling at the girl. "You seem like you're having a lot of fun in the club."
Haruko looked down at her tea cup as her mouth formed a gentle smile. "Yep, the rugby club is really fun. The people also make the club interesting."
"Make sure to take photos and send them to us, we would love to see the wonderful people you hang out with everyday." Ms. Nakatomi held the side of her face with delight. "Maybe even show us your boyfriend~"
"Mom! There's no way she would be dating!" Kenji turned to his mom yelling. "If any boy were to get close to Haruko, they would have to be approved by me!"
"Now Kenji! Haruko is old enough to date you know that!" Ms. Nakatomi scolded her son as she looked at him. "Let the poor girl date! She's in her youth!"
"Thank you for those words Ms. Nakatomi." Haruko smiled at the women. "If I were to find someone I'll let you know immediately without Kenji knowing."
"Hey Haruko!"
The family laughed as the moment shared was heart warming. Kenji looked up at the clock before putting his empty cup down standing up.
"Okay, we should start heading over, Haruko." He took the bag of fruit as he looked at the young girl. "If we don't go now, you'll be late for your flight."
"I understand." Haruko stood up as she gave the Nakatomi's a hug. "It was nice seeing you, even if it was for a small amount."
"Don't worry, we are always happy to have you visit, no matter how long." Ms Nakatomi release her hug as she went to go grab a decorated box. "Here, I got you some more yarns to knit with once you get home as well as a few jars of Konpeitō* to enjoy!"
"Woah thank you very much!" Haruko's eyes glimmer as she took the box in hand. "I will send you photos of the knitted items once I finish them!"
"Hey Haruko, hurry up!"
"I understand Kenjiji!" Haruko yelled outside before giving the Nakatomi's one last hug. "I'll call you when I arrive at home. Have a good day!"
The Nakatomi's waved the two off as they walked on their way to where the grandfather rest. Haruko placed the box into her bag as she carried the flowers as well in her arms.
"Doesn't this area feel nostalgic?" Haruko turned to Kenji as he smiled. "I used to walk you down here holding your hand as we enjoyed the weather."
"It's been a while since you've done that, but that's cause it be weird if I did it now." She stated.
"Weird!? That hurts!" Kenji held his chest in pain as the word stabbed him in the heart. "You used to love holding my hand walking down here."
"I still like to walk with you, but I just won't hold your hand." She stated walking past the old, frail man. "Come on, you are making a scene."
"I'm not!"
She stared at the man whose on the ground on the verge of tears before turning away and proceeded to walk without him.
"H-Hey wait! You can't just leave me here!" Kenji held his hand out as he stood up and ran after the girl. "Wait!"
The walk became silent as they arrived at their location standing across the grave with the name Nakatomi on it.
"It's been a while, grandfather..." Kenji kneel in front of the grave as took the fruit out of the bag arranging it onto the grave. "How have you been?"
Haruko placed the bouquet on the grave as she kneel next to Kenji staring at the gravestone in front of her. Her eyes wonder around as they landed on a glass vase with a single lily. Kenji has told her that the person that placed the vase every year was her mother, but not once have they met as her mother would always be one step ahead of her, as though she is avoiding Haruko on purpose.
"Come on Haruko..." Kenji watered the grave before he got into a pray position. "Let's pray to grandfather."
She nodded as she put her hands together closing her eyes as she prayed.
'Hello grandfather, how are you? Is the sky treating you well, are you watching us from where you are. I am fine, Kenjiji is too. I joined a club this year, it's the club Gion is in, the boy's rugby club. They are really crazy and everyone is a bit wild, but they are good people once you get to know them. They are good people, they try really hard when they play and they get really sad when they lose. They've been working hard to go to Hanazono, and I hope we get to go too. Gion's been having a lot of fun, he's been learning a lot about the sport and even has a role model to look up too. My life has really changed, and I am thankful for your grandson and Gion for helping me get this far. I hope that one day you can see our game from above and cheer for us. It was great meeting you grandfather, I will come back soon...'
She released her hands as she opened her eyes to see Kenji had finished praying a second after her. They both stood up as they gave a bow to his grave one last time.
"Rest in peace, grandfather..." Kenji whispered turning to Haruko. "Is there anything else you would like to tell him?"
"No, I think I told him everything in my prayer." She shook her head turning to Kenji." Can we stop by the usual store to grab some snacks for everyone?"
"Yeah of course." Kenji said. "But won't you have to cook for them later on?"
"I can stop by the grocery store before I go to the school. I think I'll make them some chicken karaage to treat them after practicing so hard." She stated.
"Huh!? You're gonna cook them your famous Karaage!?" Kenji looked shocked. "You never cook it in our home."
Haruko gave him a blank look as she began walking. "I do, just not as much so you don't get used to it."
"Huh!?" Kenji sped walk to catch up to the girl. "What's that suppose to mean!?"
The walk was full of childish argument before they arrived at the store.
"Okay do you want me to go with you shopping or can you handle it yourself?" Kenji asked the girl as she gave him a obvious look. "I understand I understand, I'll wait out here for you then."
She nodded as he sat at a nearby bench while she went inside the store. She took one of the hand baskets as she went straight to the snacks section to gather the snacks.
"For sure chips, cookies, candy..." She took whatever fit in the snack category. "And then..."
She scanned the shelf when her eyes landed on some flavored biscuits that were on the upper shelf.
"There they are!" She stood on her tippy toes as she struggle to grab the snacks that were just in reach but also not in reach. "Ugh just a little bit..."
"Need some help?"
A male's hand took the snacks she was reaching for as they held it out to the girl.
"Oh yes, thank you so much-" She turned to the person as her eyes widen in surprise. "Oh!? It's you! It's been a while!"
The boy smiled as he gave her a small wave. "Hello, been a while..."
119- The Japanese version of 911 if I remember right
Konpeito - The Japanese sugar candy that looks like little stars.