Rebirth In Kurokonobasket - Chapter 154

Shun stood outside Satsuki’s house with a cap over his head and a backpack on his shoulders. He was wearing a royal-blue polo shirt with white shorts, and a pair of black sneakers with ankle-length shorts.

He looked at the sky and saw a clear blue sky.

Shun: “Hmm, the weather is not too hot today, and it seems it won’t rain.”

The weather was good for a hot summer day, and Shun was thankful for that.

Shun raised his hand to look at his wrist-watch, but the moment he was about to read the time, he heard the door to the Momoi House open.

He turned to see a sight that mesmerized him.

At the door, Satsuki was wearing a white summer one-piece dress, a pair of matching sandals on her feet, a cream-colored brim hat on her head, her hair braided that hung over her shoulder, and a cloth handbag at her shoulder.

To Shun, she looked like a summer fairy.

Satsuki walked towards a stunned Shun. When she reached him, she waved her hand in front of his face and repeated the words that he had said to her a few days back.

Satsuki: “Anyone, home?”

Shun: “You look pretty.”

Satsuki smiled and twirled on the spot to show her dress to Shun.

Satsuki: “Thank you. And, you too look well put together.”

Shun chuckled and asked.

Shun: “Eh~ so I normally don’t look put together.”

Satsuki nodded her head with a small grin and replied.

Satsuki: “Normally, you roam around with a loose shirt on you, so of course, you look put together now.”

Shun crossed his hands and protected the honor of his favorite clothing.

Shun: “But, they are so comfortable.”

Shun: “Oh, so you wore them?”

Satsuki tucked her hair behind her ear to showcase the earrings.

Shun: “Yes, they look good together with this outfit.”

She looked at Shun and asked.

Satsuki: “So, what is the plan today?”

Shun gestured Satsuki to walk and spoke while they walked.

Shun: “Well, today. We won’t be doing anything strenuous. Today is a day to relax, and so nothing with moving around a lot.”

Shun glanced towards Satsuki and announced.

Shun: “First up, we will be going to a bookstore.”

Shun lead Satsuki to the bookstore had found earlier.

Satsuki’s eyes widened, and sparkles appeared in her eyes when she saw the size of the bookstore.

Satsuki: “H-Huge!”

Shun nodded as he had felt the same thing when he had first entered the bookstore.

Shun: “Yeah, think about the number of books you could find here. So, take your time and browse through the store, if you like something, buy it or bookmark it for later.”

Satsuki roamed the bookstore like an excited child while Shun followed with a smile on his face.

As Satsuki browsed through the books, she turned to Shun and asked.

Satsuki: “Shun-kun, what kind of books do you like to read.”

Shun pulled out a book from a shelf and replied while reading the summary on the back of the book.

Shun: “I am a storyline fanatic. I can’t read anything that doesn’t have a storyline. What about you?”

Satsuki looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered.

Satsuki: “I can’t read anything that is dark or has a heavy theme. I end up getting feeling so sad after reading that kind of book.”

Shun and Satsuki kept on talking while they browsed through the books.

Shun: “Series or Stand-alone.”

Satsuki answered.

Satsuki: “Series, I like to immerse myself in a long book, as it gives me a lot of time to relate with the characters.”

Shun smiled and added.

Shun: “Same.”

It was Satsuki’s turn to ask a question.

Satsuki: “New books or re-reading.”

Shun smiled and immediately answered.

Shun: “I prefer re-reading the book at least once before moving on to a new one, reading anything the second time ends up with me finding new things that I missed while reading the first time.”

Satsuki answered her own question.

Satsuki: “I like to wait for a while before re-reading the book. I move on to a new book and come back to re-read the previous book after a while.”

Shun nodded and commented.

Shun: “Reading with a fresh pair of eyes. A fresh perspective.”

Satsuki nodded and spoke.

Satsuki: “Exactly.”

Once again, it was Shun’s turn, and he asked.

Shun: “Binge-reader, or a little every day.”

Satsuki dragged her finger across the spines of a line of books as she answered the question.

Satsuki: “Reading a little just before going to bed. What about you?”

Shun leaned against a wall as he revealed his preference.

Shun: “I like to follow a routine, so I don’t do a marathon reading of a book, but if I pick up a book, then I will return to it every time I get a single bit of free time.”

-*-*-*-

Satsuki and Shun exited the bookstore when they were satisfied with the time they spent inside the book haven.

Neither Satsuki nor Shun bought anything, but both had plans to return to the bookstore in the future.

Shun looked at Satsuki and said.

Shun: “We should exchange books. I might not have a huge collection of books like you, but I do have a decent collection.”

Satsuki clapped once at the idea and agreed.

Satsuki: “That is a great idea. We should totally do that! Then we can talk about books, that will be so fun.”

Satsuki walked in front of Shun, and while walking backward, she asked.

Satsuki: “Where are we going next?”

Shun smiled and announced the next location.

Shun: “Next, we will be going painting.”

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun and Satsuki arrived at a painting studio, and Shun opened the door for Satsuki.

Shun: “Milady.”

Satsuki giggled and entered the building, Shun followed after.

Shun approached the reception and asked the receptionist.

Shun: “Hello, I have a booking under the name Kageyama.”

The receptionist greeted the pair with a smile and replied.

Receptionist: “Welcome, please wait as I check the booking.”

Shun nodded and said.

Shun: “Yes.”

He turned to Satsuki and said.

Shun: “This studio gives a lot of types of painting lessons. I chose the single class that a lot of people choose for fun.”

The reception had checked the booking and answered.

Reception: “Yes, we have a booking for two under the name Kageyama.”

The receptionist stood up and gestured.

Receptionist: “Please follow me, I will lead you to the room.”

The receptionist led Shun and Satsuki to the class.

-*-*-*-

Shun fetched two aprons and two pairs of gloves for him and Satsuki and handed her one.

Shun: “Here you go, put these on. We don’t want the paint to get on our clothes.”

Satsuki received the apron and gloves.

Satsuki: “Thank you.”

Satsuki and Shun put the apron and gloves on, and Satsuki asked.

Satsuki: “Okay, tell me what are we going to do here.”

Shun tied the up his apron and said.

Shun: “Well, we are going to spend time painting, but we aren’t going to paint on a canvas.”

Satsuki tilted her head and asked.

Satsuki: “Eh? Then what are we going to paint?”

Shun smiled and replied.

Shun: “We are going to paint ceramics.”

Satsuki questioned.

Satsuki: “You mean ceramic utensils?”

Shun nodded and added.

Shun: “Yeah, we will have the options to choose from a lot of ceramics.

Like Coffee Mugs, Japanese Tea-cups, Western Tea-cups, your own dinner set, Kettles, among other things.

And, of course, you get to take them home.”

-*-*-*-

Other people who had signed up for the class joined.

The instructor of the class instructed the attendees to pick a set of ceramics.

Satsuki and Shun headed towards a wall of the room, where the unpainted ceramics were lined for picking.

Satsuki glanced at Shun and inquired.

Satsuki: “What are you going to choose?”

Shun held his chin and answered.

Shun: “I think I will go for a dinner-set. We don’t drink coffee at my house, and my parents have their own personal tea-cups.

So, I think I would just paint a dinner-set for myself.

What about you?”

Satsuki tapped her chin with her index finger and replied.

Satsuki: “I think I would go with a tea-set.”

Shun nodded and picked up a dinner set with one soup bowl, one rice bowl, one big plate, one small plate, and a little condiment holder.

Satsuki chose a Japanese Tea set. It had a round kettle, four cups, and a tray to hold the individual components.

Satsuki and Shun then spent their time in the studio by painting their ceramics.

By the time they were finished with their ceramics, it was time for lunch.

Shun submitted their painted goods to the studio and staff and got ready to leave.

Satsuki seeing that, asked.

Satsuki: “Eh? We aren’t going to take them home?”

Shun: “We need to give them time to dry. I will collect them later and bring them to your house later.”

Satsuki understood and nodded.

The pair left the studio to have lunch.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun and Satsuki sat in the restaurant that Shun had chosen.

Shun looked at the girl in front of him and asked.

Shun: “So, have you ever been to a Korean restaurant?”

Satsuki looked at the grill pit built in the middle of the table and shook her head.

Satsuki: “No, it is my first team.”

She looked at the pipe falling from the ceiling, above the grill, and questioned.

Satsuki: “What is this?”

Shun glanced at the hanging pipe and answered.

Shun: “The food would be grilled right in front of us, and it would cause smoke to rise. The pipe will act as a chimney to suck the smoke to keep the area smoke-free.”

Satsuki looked worried and said.

Satsuki: “But, I don’t know how to grill meat.”

Shun smiled and waved his hand to ease her worries.

Shun: “Even I don’t know how to grill meat, but we don’t need to cook the food, the restaurant staff would do it for us.”

Satsuki sighed in relief, and Shun ordered the food.

In a minute, plates of food were delivered to the pair’s table.

Satsuki was a little overwhelmed by the number of dishes on the table.

Satsuki: “Why did you order so many dishes?!”

Shun chuckled and responded.

Shun: “I actually didn’t order any of this. These all are side dishes. We can have them refilled as much as we need.

My actual order was just meat and one stew.”

Korean cuisine was like that when you went to a restaurant, they would bring in several side dishes before what you ordered.

-*-*-*-

As Shun and Satsuki ate the meat that was grilled in front of them, Shun asked Satsuki a question.

Shun: “So, what are your plans for the rest of the year, anything special planned.”

Satsuki looked thoughtful for a while and answered.

Satsuki: “Hmm… nothing special. Well, there is one thing.”

Shun ate a piece of meat and asked.

Shun: “Oh, yeah? What is it?”

Satsuki: “I see club members practicing so much in the club at school and thought that I should also take up some form of exercise.”

Shun looked thoughtful for a moment and said.

Shun: “With your daily schedule, I think the only time you would get time to exercise is with our mothers in the morning.”

Satsuki went through her typical day in her memory and affirmed that Shun was correct.

Satsuki: “Yeah, you are right. I will think about joining them.”

She looked at Shun and asked.

Satsuki: “What about you? What are your future goals?”

Shun shrugged and answered.

Shun: “Well, get better at basketball is at the top of my list, and I don’t know what, but I want to pick up a different hobby.

Something that I can do in the comfort of home.

I just don’t know what I want to do yet.”

Satsuki sighed as she shook her head.

Satsuki: “There isn’t anything other than basketball in your head, is there?”

Shun retorted.

Shun: “Hey, I did just say that I want a new hobby.”

Shun waited for Satsuki to reply, but she didn’t speak and concentrated on the meal.

Shun: “Ignored?!”

Satsuki and Shun enjoyed their meal while talking about random things.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun and Satsuki exited the restaurant, Satsuki gazed at Shun and asked.

Satsuki: “Well, this has been fun until now. What is next on the docket?”

Shun pointed at this stomach and announced.

Shun: “It is time to burn the calories that we just consumed. We are going bowling.”

-*-*-*-

Shun and Satsuki entered a bowling alley, and Shun rented a pair of shoes for them.

Shun: “So, have you been bowling before?”

Satsuki nodded and answered.

Satsuki: “A few times, but I had fun when I did it.”

Shun: “Same here.”

Shun tied his laces and stood up.

Shun: “Let’s have some fun.”

-*-*-*-

Shun didn’t play at his full capacity, as he knew that if he did that, then he would end up ruining the experience for Satsuki.

But, Satsuki was too sharp, and she asked.

Satsuki: “Shun-kun, are you holding back?”

Shun shook his head and lied through his teeth.

Shun: “Of course not. You know that I can copy stuff, but every time I have played, I didn’t see a person that was so good at bowling that I could attain up with a copy of high quality.

I am playing the best I can, so let’s not analyze my bowling skills and have fun.”

Satsuki looked at Shun with a critical eye and then moved to swing the ball for her turn.

Shun sighed in relief and thought.

Shun: ‘I don’t know if she believed me or not, but at least she dropped the topic.’

-*-*-*-

In the end, Shun ended up winning against Satsuki, but he could tell that she was having fun.

Satsuki smiled and asked.

Satsuki: “Okay, what is next?”

Shun chuckled and replied.

Shun: “I saw a photo booth in the building, how about we take some pictures to commemorate today.”

Satsuki liked the idea, so she agreed with great enthusiasm.

Satsuki: “That is a great idea, let’s go.”

Shun and Satsuki entered the photo booth and clicked a lot of photos and used the editing and filters of the booth to write on each other’s faces and gave each other funny features.

-*-*-*-

The two exited the bowling alley, and Shun spoke.

Shun: “Next will be the last event of the day.”

Satsuki furrowed her brows and asked.

Satsuki: “Eeh~, Already?”

Shun showed Satsuki the time on his wristwatch and spoke.

Shun: “We have been out for a couple of hours.”

Satsuki looked like she wanted to hang out more, so to divert her attention, he pulled out the coupons from the ice-cream parlor.

Shun: “Here, see? I told you about these coupons before, right? Let’s go try some ice-cream.”

Satsuki took the coupons from Shun’s hand and eyed them. Her eyes sparkled when she scanned through the contents of the coupon.

Shun smiled wryly and said.

Shun: “Come on, let’s go.”

Satsuki smiled brightly, showing no trace of her previous expression.

Satsuki: “Yeah, let’s hurry!”

-*-*-*-

Shun and Satsuki exited the ice cream parlor with three-scoop cones in their hands.

Shun looked at the cone in his hand and spoke.

Shun: “I am pretty sure that this will give me a sugar rush.”

Satsuki nodded as she eyed her cone.

Satsuki: “The sugar rush is worth for the heavenly flavor.”

Satsuki had tasted a lot of flavors to choose her final three scoops, so she was pretty excited about eating her cone.

Shun glanced at Satsuki and spoke.

Shun: “Come on. Let’s move towards the park near our houses.

How about we just hang out in the park for a while. Even if we aren’t doing anything special, we can just talk and relax.”

Satsuki gazed at Shun and nodded.

Satsuki: “Good.”

-*-*-*-

The pair sat on the swings in the park and talked.

Satsuki: “Now that I think I haven’t asked about the summer camp. How was it? Give me some details.”

Shun pushed himself on the swings.

Shun: “Hmm… well, for one, all the participants here highschool.”

Shun sighed and continued.

Shun: “I was the shortest person in the group I was part of. It was an unusual experience for me.”

Shun clicked his tongue and said.

Shun: “You won’t believe how many of my shots and layup were blocked because of the height and physical difference.”

The laughing images of Gilbert and Douglas revolved inside Shun’s mind.

Satsuki, as the manager of a basketball club, was extremely interested in the camp.

Satsuki: “What kind of players did you play with?”

Shun answered her while swinging.

Shun: “All of them had played at an international level, part of their country’s U-19 representative teams.”

Shun described the players and their physical and personality quirks.

Satsuki laughed when he described them.

Shun sighed as he finished with.

Shun: “I had a tough time, but my time there was fun and very constructive.

Not only I learned a lot from older players, but I also learned a lot about the game itself.

The coaches there was also a great help.”

Satsuki let her legs swing above the ground as she asked.

Satsuki: “So, are you going to your club?”

Shun shook his head and said.

Shun: “Our season this already ended, so we didn’t have a reason to assemble in the summer break.

So, the club activities will continue after the break.”

Shun had visited Coach Koetsuji’s house to give him souvenirs and to tell him about the summer camp.

The coach had told him that unlike last year when they had Nationals to prepare for, this year they didn’t qualify for the tournament, so there was no need to extend the practice to the summer break, and the club activities were suspended till the start of the new semester.

Shun looked at the setting sun and spoke.

Shun: “It is going to be dark soon, let’s get you home before your mother starts to worry.”

Satsuki nodded and got up from her swing, and the pair proceeded to their home.

-*-*-*-

The two reached their street, and Shun spoke.

Shun: “I will deliver the ceramics to your house tomorrow.”

Satsuki nodded and responded.

Satsuki: “Okay.”

Shun glanced at his companion and asked.

Shun: “So, did you have fun today?”

Satsuki gazed at Shun and nodded.

Satsuki: “I had a lot of fun today. You did a great job of choosing the painting class and the restaurant.

It was different, and that made it fun.”

Shun grinned at that and replied.

Shun: “Good, I too had a lot of fun in your company.”

They reached in front of Satsuki’s house, and as Satsuki opened the gate to her house, she said.

Satsuki: “Shun-kun, let’s do this again.”

Shun nodded and spoke.

Shun: “I was about to say the same thing. Let’s do something similar next time, maybe go to an amus.e.m.e.nt park?”

Satsuki smiled and nodded her head.

Satsuki: “An amus.e.m.e.nt park would be fun, it has been a while since I went to one.”

Shun: “Then it is decided, the next time we both have time and want to do something fun, we will go to an amus.e.m.e.nt park.”

The pair said goodbye to each other and went home.

-*-*-*-

After having a shower and dip in the bath, Shun sat on his study table to finish a portion of his summer break homework.

He was about to start when he saw the photos that he and Satsuki had clicked.

He picked them up and looked through them, and unknown to Shun a smile made its way to his face.

In the next house, the girl in the picture was also smiling as she looked at the pictures while laying on her bed.