Girl Next Door

Chapter Twelve

Risa's eyes widened a little. She was indeed caught by surprise.

"W-What?" she asked.

"A walk around town," replied Kyosuke, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, like a--"

"A date?" put in Risa.

"Well, yeah," replied Kyosuke, looking away sheepishly.

Risa put her index finger to her lip. She slowly turned to her left. Kyosuke patiently waited for her answer.

"A date?" asked Risa again.

"I-It's okay if you have something else to do," said Kyosuke sheepishly. "I mean, if it's so important--"

"Okay," said Risa.

"Huh?" uttered Kyosuke, confused.

"Saturday?" said Risa with a sweet smile. "I'm good."

Kyosuke's eyes widened. He was in shock.

"S-So, is it a yes?" asked Kyosuke.

"Yeah, sure," replied Risa, "I'd love to." Then she turned and opened the gate to her house.

Kyosuke was greatly elated and relieved.

"That's great," said Kyosuke. "Saturday, all right?"

Risa smiled at him. "Saturday." She then entered the gate and closed it behind her.

As soon as he heard Risa enter her house, Kyosuke clenched his fist and uttered a guttural "Yes!" He was finally going on a date with his childhood sweetheart, and he could not think clearly and sensibly.

"I'm finally going on a date with Risa," he thought to himself. "I'm gonna be spending a whole lot of time with her this time. I'm never making the same mistake that I did before." He then entered the gate to his house.

The next day at school, Kyosuke's class was having P.E. at the school grounds.

The boys wore white tee-shirts paired with blue shorts. The girls also wore white tees albeit paired with blue bloomers which exposed their legs.

Hiashi facilitated the class. He wore a red gym outfit and held a red rubber ball. The students knew they were going to play play dodgeball, and were very excited.

"Okay, guys," he said in his usual stern voice, "split into two teams: boys versus girls."

The girls separated themselves from the boys. Some of them stuck their tongues out towards the boys, much to the boys' annoyment. The girls knew most of the boys would never hit a girl.

Hiashi gave them each their balls, and after a brief moment, he blew his whistle and the students started throwing balls at each other.

Kyosuke had great reflexes and dodged the balls thrown at him, and with his throwing arm, he outed several girls at once. Ichiro, meanwhile, calmly sidestepped any ball thrown at him. No ball hit Risa though, since most of the boys have a hard time focusing on the game while she is present.

"Hey, Toyama-kun," Kyosuke called out while dodging a ball.

"Yes, Matsumaru-kun?" replied Ichiro while catching a ball.

"Ever been on a date?" asked Kyosuke, ducking under a flying ball.

"No, can't say that I have," said Ichiro, tossing a ball. "Why?"

"I have a date with Risa," said Kyosuke, smiling.

"Really?" asked Ichiro, catching another ball.

All of a sudden a speeding ball hit Kyosuke square in the face, knocking him out. Ichiro and the rest of the boys were indeed surprised. The girl who hit him was Risa, who was also surprised. She ran towards where Kyosuke lay.