June 2010

            “Nino!” Ohno Satoshi shouted as he ran towards me. He was wearing a loose blue striped shirt and khaki shorts, his short brown hair bouncing as he went.

            I scratched my head as he came in front of me. “What now?”

            “I got some fireworks for tonight. Want to come?” he asked.

            I thought well then, I realized that I didn’t have anything planned for the night. “Sure, why not?”

            Ohno Satoshi was my classmate from junior high and was like a big brother to me. We both liked singing and dancing which made us even closer. But after junior high, he left for Osaka with his family, leaving me with only my other friend: my DS. Thankfully, he comes and goes as he pleases. Right now, he lives with my family and me while he decides what university he will study for.

            Ohno and I raced back to the house to eat dinner. The sun was still setting so we still have enough time to set up the fireworks that he brought. We were going out and watch the fireworks with some of our classmates from junior high at the beach.

            “Who confirmed?” I asked Ohno while checking the right angles for the other fireworks.

            Ohno thought hard while placing some firewood for our bonfire, “Matsujun, Sho-kun, Aiba-kun and Mao.”

            “Really?” I was shocked to find out that Mao was still living nearby. “Is she still living near here?”

            “Nope,” he replied, “She was in town with some of her other friends for the summer.”

            We didn’t talk much more since we were still setting up some of the things that we had to deal with. As we continued preparing, lights from a motorcycle neared and as the driver parked the vehicle, we looked up.

            The driver was just taking off his helmet but we knew who it was. From the built of his body, we guessed right as Sho Sakurai emerged underneath his black helmet. He was tall and in his red shorts and topless outfit, he was definitely handsome for the girls’ eye view.

            “Yo!” Sho greeted us with a smile.

            “Hi! Come and have a seat,” I said as we welcomed him.

            “Do you still need any help?” he asked, addressing Ohno who was still bent down trying to figure out how to fix the picnic table that we just bought.

            “If-you-can-help-me-with-this-thanks,” he said with gritted teeth. Sho and I laughed at the look of Ohno’s distorted face.

            “I guess you still need to get some muscles in there, Ohno!” Sho said as he took hold of the pieces of the table.

            The water kissed the sand as a wave passed. Sho and Ohno were talking about some stuff and where to buy them while I played with my DS. I just bought a new game and decided to try it out while we wait. While talking to Ohno, Sho seemed to get a little irritated.

            “Why?” Ohno asked him.

             “Masaki’s here,” he replied, “His voice is resounding.”

             “Ohno,” I said, “I think Sho’s right. And he’s with Mao.”

             Mao Inoue and Masaki Aiba were childhood friends even before junior high. I already guessed that they would come together. As they walked closer, Mao caught sight of me and waved wildly with a grin.

            Her face was still the same, with the cute smile and soft eyes that pierced through you. Her bangs that fall just before her eyes were just the same last time that we saw each other. She was like a little girl with eyes of interest in all around her.

            “Hello, Nino!” she smiled as she walked towards me. She had already left Masaki’s side and ran towards me.

             Masaki went towards the other boys with his tall and lanky figure. He was a former jock in junior high and he was still playing basketball in his high school. I guess he was really a great player. He has hair as brown as Ohno’s but a little darker; he’s tall as Sho and was a little slim like me.

            “Masaki, your voice is still loud!” commented Sho.

            “I will take that as a compliment,” Masaki replied. Turning to Ohno, he said, “How’s your little buddy?”

             “Nino’s still into games,” he replied, looking at me to let me know that their conversation involved me.

             They continued talking and I turned back to Mao who was a staring into the vast sea. I didn’t know what we would talk about since I’m not that into intimate conversations. As I thought of what to say, she was already talking to me.

             “Is Jun coming?” she asked me while still staring into the open sea.

              I could hear the splashing of the waves and the voices of the others clearly. I could even hear my heart beating fast as she asked me about Matsujun. I remember that she liked him ever since we started junior high but I didn’t know that she still was interested in him.

              “Ohno said that he is,” I replied nonchalantly. Stop looking so down, Mao. I wanted to say that to her but, all I can do was stare at her back that was facing me.

             After my answer, she didn’t speak. There was silence on our side of the beach as we wait for the last person invited. Her breaths were broken as she breathed and I knew that she was crying. I didn’t know how to deal with that so I stayed on my place.

           “Nino,” she softly said my name.

            “Yes?” I replied quietly. Knowing the boys, they were probably already talking about girls. I haven’t had any relationships yet so I didn’t know how to approach girls well.

           “Do you like me?”

            The question shocked me and it took a while for me to recover. It was the first time a girl asked me that and I didn’t know how to respond. I looked at her and saw that she was still crying but she was already looking at me.

           “Why do you ask?” I asked back.

           “You’re sweet and gentle,” she said, “You can simply have the girl that you like but---,”

            She stopped at the middle of her sentence and just stared into my eyes. Her eyes were piercing into my inner self and I was becoming aware of how much I like her.

            I was about to answer her question when I heard the sound of a car’s screeching tires as it braked and parked near Sho’s motorcycle.

           Jun Matsumoto dismounted his sleek blue Nissan Dayz and shouted, “What’s up?”

           Sho, who was always irritable exclaimed, “We’ve been waiting for ages!”

          I looked at Mao and she was already fixing herself. When she gazed into me, she was already smiling. Why do you do that, Mao? I couldn’t even bring up that kind of question to her.