- ONE -
Courtship is a Filipino tradition. It is a process taken by a man to have the hand of the girl he loves. In the old times, courtship has a span of 10 years. It incorporates hardwork, patience and determination to earn the girl's family's trust and win especially her heart.
In this modern times we live in, girls begin to court guys thought it's not yet fully-accepted by the entire world. My fiction is apparently a yaoi story and in here I show the modern courtship style that a lover passes through to have the one he loves so much.
I am aware I'm writing about Japanese characters, but courtship is not only present in the Philippines. Most especially, not only for boy-to-girl relationships.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, a six-footer Shohoku Team rebounder with a rogue semi-bald hair and copper brown eyes, stomped his feet towards the locker room interior with a frown on his face.
The redhead opened his locker room and took a towel from it.
"Why don't you let me speak?" Kaede Rukawa, the Shohoku Team's ace and identical in height as Hanamichi, stood straight in the locker room door.
"Can you?" Hanamichi sent him a piercing glare, mixed with a robust close of his locker door.
"I love you," Kaede slowly raised his head to meet his sapphire eyes with those copper ones. Apparently, he was gathering all courage he has for this confrontation. "Why don't you give me a chance?"
"Are You Trying to fool the TENSAI?"
Kaede's heart thumped faster and faster as he saw Hanamichi's gansgter-body facing him only two meters away. The redhead looked like he was going to eat the raven-haired guy.
"I'm not."
"We are enemies Rukawa." Hanamichi seriously uttered. Kaede had never seen him speaking so consistent on his words like there never was a word joke. "Don't you make fun of me, or I'll twist your brains off!"
Kaede couldn't remember the last time he felt nervous. He didn't know what to do. Hanamichi seemed to lose his temper vacuole and he would explode soon. But there's no way he would retreat from this. He had spent four months planning and rehearsing his lines to say to Hanamichi how much he cares for him.
"Isn't worthy for a reconciliation?"
The Shohoku ace breathed a partial air of relief. He had wrote a list of possible words that the redhead could utter at this much-awaited moment. All those words constituted a esponse made by Kaede himself.
"I'm deadly-serious RUKAWA." Hanamichi was flaming red hot. That afternoon practice, Kaede and he was punished for having another brawl during training hours. They were tasked to be left after practice to clean the gym all by themselves as the consequence.
That punishment became Hanamichi's death sentence. He was only sweeping the floor when Kaede suddenly kneeled in front of him and looked into his eyes.
"I don't want to surprise you but I've waited for so many days for this moment," Kaede said. "I've been building my confidence to say to you how much you mean to me. I love you, Hanamichi Sakuragi."
Hanamichi dropped the mop and trotted towards the locker room that brought them both on that situation.
"What do I have to do to prove my sincerity?"
The redhead finally succumb from all his temperament. He walked towards the Shohoku ace, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him hard on the cold wall.
"We're both guys, for goodness sake!" Then he kept on banging Kaede's body against the wall. "Are you crazy? Fuck You, Rukawa! Fuck you!"
There was a transparent ferocity on those copper brown eyes that struck on Kaede's porcelain white face. It was not a time for any joke. Hanamichi was in total rage. The rebounder was known for being a crazy-for-girls guy and a tough man. Never in his dreams did he ever thought that a male like him would feel such romantic emotion for him.
"Does that matter?"
"Sure it does."
Kaede knew of that pain but he still felt it fresh on his heart. "All you have to do is to say yes or no. Do you love me too or not?"
"No. Even as friends, I don't. I suppose it's not surprising for you."
"Then I'll court you."
"Court me?"
"You know what it means, I'm sure." Kaede murmured. He still had all his lines memorized on his mind. "Give me two months and I'll prove my love for you. Just give me a chance."
"What? You'll be bringing flowers everyday, chocolates perhaps? Fuck you Rukawa! If you want to embarrass me to get all the girls here, well I'm not foolish to play with your game!"
"You want it secret?"
Hanamichi's grip on the Shohoku ace's collar tightened.
"Then I'll court you secretly." Kaede said.
"I'll tell it to you now. My answer is NO." Hanamichi thrusted the Shohoku ace against the wall again. "You get that???"
"Yes. But I'm not giving up."
Hanamichi grinned mischievously. "Let's see, Rukawa. You would know who you're bumping at."
The redhead finally released Kaede from his capture, took his brisk shower, wore his clean clothes and left the gym.
Kaede was the last one to leave the gym and Hanamichi didn't care to wait for him. He didn't care if anything wrong happens to him. He would rather be thankful if there is.
End of Page One