PERIOD 7

After spending the night over at Halu's place, Halu very sweetly and tenderly sends her off and chases after her bus when she insists on going home by herself.  It's amazing how cheerful and happy Halu looked, after the way he was betrayed by his mother just the day before.  Aki must really mean a lot to him to have that kind of effect on him.

Aki, Yuri and Chika are shopping when they see this wedding dress shop that allows them to try on the dresses and take a picture for free. Yuri's heel breaks and she drops her picture and it was picked up by someone, Green Monster's Yamamoto.

At Face Off bar, a birthday party is being held for Halu. Everyone presents their gifts to Halu and Aki's gift is a lamp for his apartment and she nearly lets the cat of the bag when she says that the lamp will brighten up his dreary apartment. Yuri arrives late and forgot to bring her present.  Following, Yamamoto also arrives and Yuri thanked him for helping her with her broken heel.  Yamato gets angry and chides her and Yuri leaves the bar angrily and requests Yamamoto to give her a ride. Yamato drinks himself silly and Aki and Halu sends him home. Aki tells Halu to go back to the bar and she will stay back and look after Yamato.  After Halu left, Yamato tells Aki that he is really happy for them. He says that he was really worried about them initially, because of Aki's long-distance relationship boyfriend. Aki tells Yamato she has decided to give up waiting and that she will no longer go to the bridge anymore. However, Aki's face pales when Yamato told her that her boyfriend might be coming back.

Hyoudou-coach and Youko visits Anzai-coach's grave and Hyoudou-coach tells her his reason for coming back to Japan. It is because of Halu, having watched videos of Halu in Canada, he believes that Halu could be capable of something that normal people cannot achieve.  At this moment, Halu arrives ...

Halu and Youko are chatting in a cafe and she teases Halu that both Anzai and Hyoudou are so interested in him.  Halu replies that he likes women. Halu then confides in her that he feel uneasy, maybe because this happiness will not last.  Youko asks him if he really loved the girl so much and it's because he's afraid to lose her, that's why he feels uneasy. She then tells him not to think too much about it and to leave before he himself gets hurt...

As Aki is browsing through a cookbook to design a properly balanced meal for sportsman, a call comes through for her.  Aki is stunned almost speechless when she recognizes the voice to be that of her ex-boyfriend, Natsukawa Keisuke (played by Tanihara Shousuke 谷原章介).

Aki and Halu are shopping at a supermarket for groceries when Halu suddenly stops and looks at Aki pensively. It was as if he felt that their game might be ending soon.  He asks Aki did she really love her boyfriend a lot?  And when they parted at the bridge, did she cry?  Cried a lot? Aki has no answers for Halu but gives him a weak smile.  Halu looks disappointed, maybe he was hoping that she will deny all that.  At the same time, Yuri, Yamato, Chika, Tomo and Makoto are at the bar and they mentions Aki and Halu.  Chika says that Aki received a call from Natsukawa.  Yamato insists that it is fine since they have not met for 2 years and Aki and Halu are probably going more serious now.  Chika refutes that what they have is just a game whereas there is a promise between Aki and Natsukawa. And he had come back to marry her.

Back at Halu's apartment, Halu apologizes to Aki for asking her weird questions earlier. He continues to say that after all, she had waited for him for 2 years.  And if he had been the other party, he wouldn't have had the confidence. Aki doesn't believe his lack of confidence and Halu say his confidence is just for show only.  Aki starts to cry and Halu pulls her into his arms to comfort her. Aki asks him to hug her really tightly and she asks Halu to tell her that he will not give her up to anyone else. Halu remains silent as Aki cries harder..

Halu is unable to concentrate at training and keeps making mistakes. At the locker room, Yamato, Tomo and Makoto ask Halu about this and Halu asks if all this is because Aki's boyfriend is coming back. The guys thought that Aki had told him about it but Halu says he didn't hear it from anyone.  It is just that he had prepared himself for this ending long ago, to say "byebye" with a smile and return her to her boyfriend when he's back. Yamato says that he is running away from his feelings and Halu denies it.  Tomo explains that Yamato is worried about Halu and also that they all think that he and Aki made a great couple, so it would be wonderful if their relationship could progress on.  Halu says that such things are really troublesome. Yamato asks him what is so troublesome about it and why can't he just tell Aki "game over" and start the relationship anew seriously? Yamato couldn't stand Halu's nonchalance and grabs him and ask him why is he so weak about this relationship?  Didn't Halu hate weak people who don't work towards that goal? Why can't he make Aki his goal and works towards his goal? And Halu tells Yamato to let go of him. Yamato continues and asks him why can't he give a straight answer and tells him that Aki really likes him and wants him to tell her his feelings too.

Aki reaches home and receives another call from Natsukawa. They make small talk and then Aki asks him why didn't he contact her at all for 2 years.  Natsukawa replies that many things happened and he would like to explain to her when he meets her.  He asks her to meet him at the bridge the next day at 12pm. She replies that she cannot meet him and that she had waited for him initially but it's too late and no longer possible. Natsukawa is confident that she will turn up because he is "natsu" (summer) and she is "aki" and they are linked by the seasons.  Meanwhile, Halu brings Wataru out and he is at a shop duplicating a key and later he is at home, tying a pink ribbon onto the key.

Halu rings Aki's doorbell but no one answers. He holds the duplicate key of his apartment in his hand. At the same time, Aki reaches Halu's apartment but he's not in. Both wait for each other at their respective apartment.  They wait for a long time and while waiting, Aki remembers the deal they made at the bridge. That they will say "byebye" to each other with a smile when her boyfriend returns. After waiting for a long time, both finally leave looking reluctantly back at the empty apartment. They miss each other as Aki's bus and Halu's truck pass each other by along the road.

Halu goes to the training rink and sees Hyoudou coach there. Hyoudou coach say both of them ultimately will only have ice hockey, just like Anzai-coach who couldn't put hockey aside even after his retirement.  Hyoudou then tells Halu about a goddess who's sleeping in the ice and that there are few who can see her.  Not even Hyoudou nor Anzai has seen her before. Hyoudou says that one has give up everything, including family, to see her.  Halu refutes that even though Hyoudou has done that, he still hasn't seen her and it's because such a goddess doesn't exist. Halu says that he would probably have been intrigued by such a story of a goddess previously but recently, he has grown fond of a warm-hearted girl.  It was something beyond his imagination but he likes the feeling.  And that Hyoudou is wrong to say that Anzai couldn't live for his family and that he had been happy, at least happier than Hyoudou.

Aki approaches the bridge but she has an uneasy look on her face and she seems to be thinking about a lot of things. As she was preparing herself, Halu appears and she looks shocked.  Not expecting to see him there, Aki turns away from him and starts to cry as Halu says that she is really something, coming to bridge no matter what weather it was. And that she is really here to meet the person she was waiting for.  Aki pleads for him to stop.

Halu tells her it is probably best for them to end their relationship here at the bridge since it was here that they started.  He then tells her to choose between the left and right pocket and if she chooses the one that has the pink ribbon on it, then they would have reach the goal of their game and then he would also have lost. Aki's tears fall and Halu thought that he had gone too far. Aki's vision suddenly look away and she covers her mouth as she cannot stop the tears from flowing.  Halu is shocked by her tears and turns back to see what she saw.  And he saw Natsukawa then, standing at the other end of the bridge. Aki's tearful eyes searched Halu and after a long while, Halu nodded at her and with his eyes, as if telling her it's ok to go.  Her eyes asks him back "do you mean it? Really?" ... As her tears continue to flow, she walks past Halu, who looks shattered, and runs towards Natsukawa... Halu looks at Aki's backview and as he takes his hand out of his pockets, there was nothing in them and he manages a weak smile to himself and walks away...

Surf, Feb 27, 2004.