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Pre-Festival set up
The week passes in a blur of school, Food, and sleep. I can feel the school routine slowly setting in. Fortunately this routine is broken when Friday
rolls around and its time for me to fulfill my promise of setting up the festival with Kari and Natsume. We go through our morning classes flying through our work till lunch. At lunch we talk about our plans for helping set up the festival. “Natsume and I are helping paint stalls.” Kari is giving me my options for where my help would be needed. “And also the music club needs help setting up their stage.”

“A stage? isn’t that a bit excessive.”

“Its not a stage really its just general set up like the speakers and decorations. So who do you want to help ?”

Who should I help?

>>>Kari and Natsume
Music club

“I guess i’ll help you to.” I smile and finish of my soda throwing it away just as the bell rings.

“well lets get back to class just don’t skip out on us ok.”

“wouldn’t think of it.” I smile as they leave me to gather up the trash. “HEY WAIT YOU left the trash !” my voice fades out as I realize they are already gone.

After gathering the trash I make my way back to class surprised to see that Nakai wasn’t here yet. As I take my seat I can hear the door opening again, looks like I made it just in time. “Sorry class I ran into an old friend in town and lost track of the time.” He sets down a cup of tea that it looks like its from that tea house Kari and I went to.

The last of class drags on forever I have trouble keeping my eyes open. I dont think I can make it. I can feel myself fading fast I put up as much fight as my tired body will allow but I just can’t do it. My eyes close and drift away. My moment of peace is interrupted by the sound of the bell.

I run to my room and change into some more comfortable clothes and finish up the small amount of homework I have. When I walk to where Kari told me to meet her and Natsume they are no where to be found. I find the brushes paint and the stall but i’m the only one here. Some joke Kari set up? or did they really ditch me. No I shouldn’t think that way, I did take my time getting here maybe they went to the dorms to look for me. If I wait they should just come back here.

I sit with my back against one of the stalls and try to pass the time by watching the clouds. I decide that 20 minutes is a little too long to check at my dorm room. This better not be some joke.

Before I can set out looking for them I hear what sounds like half running footsteps coming from the path to the school. Who I see run into view is Kari who has a mixed look of anger and relief. She looks like she wants to scream and takes a moment to catch her breath before speaking, “Where have you been.”

I sneak a peek at my watch and see I was later than I realized “I’ve been right here.”

“you were a half hour late so Natsume and I went looking for you. I have to admit you kind of had us freaked out.” The angry tone in her voice fades away and a smile spreads on her lips, she punches me in the shoulder “ Do that again and ill give you a reason to have people worry.”

“I really am sorry, I lost track of time when I went back to my dorm to change.” I sigh shaking my head “I guess we should get to work, where is Natsume?”

“Right here.” She yawns looking more tired than anything else

We set about painting stalls that look like they have been painted more times than I could count. The work isn’t hard but to make it look good we need to take our time and the number of stalls take up most of the day and as the sun sets we still have nearly 12 stalls left.

“Lets call it a night.” Kari stretches and yawns

“Yeah I’m beat haha.” I look over to see Natsume passed out lying on the paint cans

“Well looks like she couldn’t wait.” Kari smiles, She must have to deal with this a lot.

“Would you like a hand getting her back to the dorms ?”

“Sure if you want.” with the help of Kari I get Natsume in my arms and begin carrying her back to the dorms.
The walk back is tiring and with the setting sun I start thinking about how worried Kari sounded. I understand being irritated but she seemed a little more than irritated like she was afraid I died or something, I wonder what would cause someone as easygoing as her to freak out? We make it back before curfew. There is some staff in the common room but they ignore us once they see who it is I am carrying

“This is her room, let me get the door just lay her on her bed.”

I do just as Kari asked. We say goodnight and I leave for my own dorm passing the night guard again who smiles and nods to me as I pass. Once in my own room I change out of my paint stained clothes and into some sleeping clothes. I close my eyes to try and end this day and start the next one. I feel tired but I can’t sleep.

I check my clock and I still have several hours till sun up so there is no way I can get away with a walk around the school. I don’t know when I fell asleep but when I wake up I can feel sweat on my body and vaguely remember the dream I had last night; pure white walls, irritating overhead lights, and a strong smell of disinfectants. I must of had a dream about the hospital again…..

After I manage to shake away the feelings I awoke with, I walk to the shower to wash of the sweat I woke up with. The hot water feels nice and relaxing so much so that I almost fall asleep standing up. After a quick drying off I make my way back to my room, As I get closer I see my neighbor's door open “Hey man!”

“What’s up…” SHIT did I forget his name ?!?

As he realizes my confusion he speaks up “It’s Akio, Don’t feel to bad I’m not good with names either.“ah well then you can call me Yuki.” I smile and extend my hand which he takes in a firm handshake.

“How’s it going man, haven’t seen ya in a few days?”

“Other than not sleeping, pretty good surprisingly.”

“Ahh if you’re able to you should try and get sleeping pills from the head nurse, don’t want to be falling asleep in your classes man.” He pats me on the shoulder as he starts walking down the hall “ I’ll catch you later, I gotta hit the shower before classes.”

I get my books and school supplies ready. I make it to the cafeteria in time to grab some of the better food. I spot Kari on the other side of the room, luckily its almost impossible to hide her hair. “Hey.” her head jerks up, looks like she was drifting to sleep.

“Uhh g-good morning Yuki.” She stretches and I hear her back crack

“From the looks of it you are just getting up haha. How long have you been awake.”

She sticks her tongue out at me “Who said I was awake yet.” her head lowers onto the table with a subtle thud.

“Come on now, schools about to start.” Nothing, she doesn’t even acknowledge me, “Look the cafeteria is giving away free food.” Still nothing, I have an idea that might work. “Who’s that guy Natsume is talking to.” Her head shoots up.

“Where, I don’t see anyone.” She gives me an annoyed look, “Natsume will normally sleep through breakfast every morning, she wouldn’t be here anyway.”

“Well it was good enough to fool you.” She goes to hit my shoulder but does little more than place her fist against my arm. “So, the mornings are your weakness.”

“I have no weaknesses,” She tries to sound heroic but an ill timed yawn ruins the effect “except maybe…” her thoughts and voice trail off as her head lays supported on her palm.

I look at my watch and see that there is only about 5 minutes left till class. I wonder how mad she would get if I left her here like she threatened to do to me. I decided that doing so wouldn’t be wise to my health as her next punch would be fully awake. Snapping my finger next to her ear, her eyes shoot open and she looks like shes ready to kill me. Luckily her death stare fades away and she smiles. “Hey look Natsume is here.”

“I’m not going to fall for that.” I smirk

“Fall for what.” now its Kari smirking, as I hear Natsume’s voice from behind me.

“U-uhh nothing haha.” I can’t help but feel embarrassed I hope she wouldn’t get too mad if she finds out what I said.

“Yeah just something Yuki said earlier.” Kari’s smile is enough to tell me she is wide awake and loving torturing me.

“and what’s that.” Natsume who still knows nothing looks confused

The bell rings saving me from that awkward moment at least for now. The few classes we have fly by which I am really grateful for. I tell Kari i’ll meet them at the stalls in ten minutes. I get changed back into the paint stained clothes and run over to meet them.

When I get there I see that Natsume and Kari have boxed lunches out eating. The sight makes my stomach growl and protest over my lack of food. “I thought we were painting not eating.”

“Well if thats how you feel then I guess we will just steal one of yours.” Natsume’s smile is a mix of tired and mischievous

“Yeah I’m good with that.” Kari smiles innocently.

“Well if you’re gonna twist my arm I guess i’ll have to.” I sit down on the bench next to Kari.

We dig into the modest lunches eating in silence. The lunches are pretty good even if they are just small sandwiches a rice ball and a colorful soda. “So who made these lunches?” My guess is Kari, I can’t really see Natsume cooking without having someone else around to make sure nothing catches on fire should she fall asleep.

“We both worked on it, I made the rice balls and Kari cooked the meat for the sandwiches. She’s a great cook isn’t she, she’ll make a good wife to someone.” Natsume smiles and Kari’s face becomes red.

“I think both the rice ball and sandwiches are great.” I smile and Kari blushes

“T-They’re ok.” She slightly studers. So mornings and complements are her weakness. I laugh inwardly trying not to laugh out loud. “They could be better, like if I used a little wasabi, or maybe..”

I lightly elbow her in the side before jumping to my feet, “They are great no need to try improve it after we ate it.” She smiles before joining me in standing.

We set to work finishing off the remaining stalls. Since yesterday we have picked up the pace and finished the remaining stalls relatively fast. We finish with plenty of time to spare before anyone comes to pick the stalls up. “Hey you two want anything to drink i’m going to run to the vending machine.” Kari asks Natsume and me

“Sure just surprise me.” I tell her

“I’ll take the same, one surprise please.” I laugh and Kari shakes her head as she walks away.

With that it’s just me and Natsume. This feels weird, I have no idea what to talk about. This is the first time it’s just been us. I really need to break this silence it’s almost deafening. “Thank you.” simple and soft Natsume’s voice breaks the silence if only a little bit.

“For what.” the only reason she would thank me is for getting her back to the dorms but thats nothing.

“Well for a few reasons.” her smile is small but honest, “First is for last night, it would of been hard for Kari and me to get this all done and then for her to have to get me back to the dorms, she probably wouldn’t of made it all the way. Second is for bringing me back to the dorms when you saw I was asleep in grass, and finally.” her smile changes just a bit “for not trying anything when you found me out in the grass.”

I can’t help but be a little stunned “Well to start with, I saw you and figured if I left you would get sick and since you were one of the two people I met here on my first day I figured you and Kari are the closest things to friends I had so I did what I thought was right. And I have to ask why you would think I or anyone here would ‘try anything’.”

She giggles a little “well you are a new kid, who I know nothing about. I mean most guys wouldn’t pull the whole shining knight thing on a girl they barely know.”

“I wasn’t trying to impress you or anything like that.” I say as flatly as possible “I did it because I saw someone whom I hoped I could be friends with needed a little help. I think you would help me if I was knocked out somewhere and you found me.”

She smiles and I can’t help but smile too. “I’m glad you became friends with me and Kari.

“So am I.” I don’t know if I could manage to make many friends if not for those two I probably wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone here because I would be terrified to repeat the same things I dealt with from my old school.

“You know you don’t have to worry about people being cruel here.” Am I that easy to read.

“So, Kari told you about that ?”


“Yeah she did, and I know what its like to, I was made fun of for my Narcolepsy since elementary school. In middle they would make jokes calling me lazy or a slacker.” she almost spits the last word out. “But when I got here no one makes jokes about stuff like that, or even just weird behavior in general is accepted. We are all a special school full of equally special people.” She laughs “In a way since we are all special in our own way it makes us all the normal ones.”

“I never thought of it that way.” We laugh, my past feels suddenly so far away. “Thank you.”

“Why?”

“For helping me feel welcomed when I got here.” I sigh a little “It probably sounds stupid but when I got to yamaku I almost wished I could go back to my old school, it might of been bad but at least I know what to expect, this was an unknown, The devil you know and all that.” she laughs a little but the look she gives me tells me she knows all too well what its like to be afraid of the future.

We turn and see Kari walk back up with a few drinks in her hands and a very wide smile like she knows something we don’t. after handing out our drinks to us she tells us to follow her. We obediently follow her to the front gate. “What did you want to show us?”

“look they are bringing them in.” the way she talks she sounds like a little kid at a candy store

“What, what are they bringing in?” I ask confused

She points to a truck parked outside the school “The fireworks.” she says it like it is the only possible thing a sane person could think of.

“O awesome, but why did you bring us here?”

“I don’t know really just wanted to see them, I ran into Mr. Nakai and he told me they just came in and that I shouldn’t miss them.” Kari still looks amazed as the men move the fireworks inside

“I think he meant don’t miss them tomorrow night.” I can help but laugh when Natsume points out what I had been thinking.

“I guess that makes sense.” She is still smiling like a lunatic.

“Kari are you still going to help me with our English work ?” Natsume looks like she’s fading fast I doubt they will get much studying done before she crashes.

“Of Course I am I totally didn’t forget.” She turns to me a stern look on her face “And you better not forget to come hang out with us tomorrow, right Natsume?”

“He can hang out with you, you know I don’t like the crowds.” She smiles “BUT, that doesn’t make you exempt from winning me something.” She points at me to emphasize that she expects some sort of prize.

We part ways and I make my way to my room, making sure I put the paint stained clothes separate from the rest of the dirty clothes. I fall to the bed and let sleep take me.

I was thinking about Tantaban (I probably butchered the spelling sorry) and for some reason I thought there was something to do with a winter festival (Maybe i'm just losing my mind.) *Fixed*

Tanabata is observed throughout Japan - though not everywhere on the same date - but it is unlikely that the school would organize the festivities. They might contribute something, though.

This one I have no idea what term you mean (again might be losing my mind)

Koi. It's a Japanese word and most of your readership probably doesn't speak Japanese.

To make up for this i'm going to post another part shortly, I hope I can keep from rushing in the future.

The irony is delicious

The walk back is tiring and with the setting sun I start thinking about how worried Kari sounded.... We make it back just before curfew.

Time again - I don't know where they painted the stalls, but it can't take them THAT long to get back to the dorms from there.

“This is her room, let me get the door just lie her on her bed.”

"lay"

So mornings and complements are her weakness.

"compliments"

This chapter is a lot less disjointed than the previous one, but there are still a lot of typos and flaky punctuation. If you want me to proofread for you, just drop me a PM.

Thank you for the offer to proofread i'll definitely take you up on that haha, Ill be fixing the little errors shortly after posting this.

Thanks for stopping by for the newest update thanks to the helping hand I have got from Mirage_GSM there should be fewer errors and hopefully its more enjoyable to read.
on a side note, I am really happy with the number of views this has got, and I hope everyone is enjoying it.

Nightmares and dreams come true.

I can’t see much at first; just a white light and the dizzying smell of disinfectants. The next sensation to come to me is the sound of a far off voices and a steady beating. The scene opens up before me: There is a boy with black hair like me, and he is lying on a small bed with his arms and legs all in casts. The voice becomes more clear “His condition... It’s something we’ve never seen before.”

The next voice sounds like a woman; her voice trembles “Is there a cure? What exactly happened?”

“From what his teacher told us, he was trying out for the dive team, and apparently some of the kids started heckling him, and their words must have caused extensive stress to be put on his brain and this caused his brain shut down, and a fall from the top diving board led to him breaking both arms and legs.” The woman starts to sob. “Mrs. Kazegawa, your son is very lucky to survive, and he needs you to be strong for him right now.”

Kazegawa, that’s my last name. Could that boy be me?

The woman walks over to the bed, and I can see her now holding the hand of the boy in the bed “Yuki, baby I’m here. You are going to get better, and no matter what it takes we will learn how to deal with your condition.

The woman, the bed, the boy and the doctor fade to black, and a new scene takes their place: In a room there is a boy with black hair walking a path with a rail on either side. He makes it from one side to the other with relative ease wincing slightly at the very end. A female voice echoes through my head
“Good Yuki, you’re done for the morning. Once you take your medicine you can go back and lie down.”

There is my name again. Can that kid really be me?

“What is the medicine for?” The voice I hear is hollow, a hopeless tone of a lost soul.

“This medicine is for your condition it regulates the hormones in your brain making sure the levels stay normal and there are no abnormalities. It is still experimental so we will possibly have to change ”

“Oh, okay.” the same hollow voice replies

That boy, he looks just like me - black hair, Stormy grey colored eyes… Wait, no, the eyes are different. His eyes look as hollow as his voice sounds.

The boy follows the nurse obediently. Once both the boy and nurse are gone from my sight the room fades to black and I’m left floating aimlessly in the darkness. I can feel a pressure on my chest, I open my eyes which I don’t remember closing and see a man in a white lab coat. He looks like every other doctor, but I can’t see his face. The only things I can see are his coat and his hand placing the stethoscope on my chest. “Well, Yuki, looks like there’s no permanent damage.” He smiles “That’s a lucky break. Someone who went through what you did deserves any good news they can get.”

“Yep.” The same hollow voice as before.

“I have been talking with your parents, and I think you can start going to school again.”

“Back to my old school.” The only determinable emotion in the boy’s voice is fear.

“Not at all. Between what I have heard from the teachers at your school and your parents, your school is far from the best place to safely observe your condition.”

“Not...my...old...school.” The voice is tiny, the fear is now mixed with happiness. “Then where will I be going to.”

“You will be attending a school that specializes in tending to the needs of kids with conditions such as yours. This school is called Yamaku.” The doctor sounds genuinely happy for the boy. “You are being discharged later this week.”

The scene fades away. The last thing I see are the face of the boy and his eyes; which no longer give off the feeling of hollow emptiness. They look alive again, and this boy looks more like me now.

***
I open my eyes and see I’m not in a hospital bed, or my bed at home but instead in the Yamaku dorms. According to my clock it’s 1p.m. Wait 1p.m. I feel like thats supposed to be important. As my mind slowly pieces together my scattered thoughts it dawns on me why 1p.m is important. I sit up fast in my bed “SHIT! Kari’s going to kill me.”

A loud banging interrupts my hurried dressing. I am expecting Kari’s voice to start chiding me over being late, but instead its the low voice of Akio my neighbor “Hey man everything all right? I heard you yell and wanted to make sure you don’t die on me.”

“Yeah just got up late for meeting a friend for the festival, and I don’t think she will appreciate me being late.” I laugh even though I know I’m a dead man now.
“Haha, well then you better get a move on.” He laughs

I throw on my school jacket and run out the door and down the hall. “Cya man!” I shout to him as I make my way towards the festival.

As I run out the front door I am blinded by the bright sunlight assaulting my eyes. I slow to a stop to avoid running into any people wandering around. The second thing to hit me is the smell: All the different foods entice me onward towards the greasy but delicious food filled stalls. Finally I notice the large amount of people wandering from stall to stall. Some of these people are obviously parents being shown around by their kids. Equally obvious are the people who don’t spend much time around the Yamaku students. They seem to be spending equal amounts of time looking at the students as they spend looking at the decorations.I would feel irritated, but it would be very hypocritical of me to be mad when I myself did the same thing as I looked over my school mates for the first time. I feel bad when I realize I’m one of the few students who don’t have to work in a stall or help in some other way. My regret is replaced by fear when I see Kari walking towards me through the crowd. Do I try and hide, or will that only make things worse ? My brain runs at high speed processing all my flight or fight reflexes, and finally I determine that the best course of action is to tell her the truth and hope she doesn’t hit me to hard.

Once she is in swinging distance she stops, puffing out her cheeks and gives me a very irritated look. I can’t help but shrink back a bit. How does this look to other people, me shrinking back from a girl that’s half my size. She looks at me, then stares at my hair for a moment before a smile breaks the irritated look on her face. “You overslept didn’t you ?” she asks laughing. She points to my hair which I only now notice is a complete mess, due to me skipping most of my routine.

“Nah, just trying something new with my hair”

“Your hair looks like you got into a fight with a weedwacker and lost.” She laughs; all irritation has left her voice, “Since you were late you are buying me lunch.” Seems she hasn’t forgot that.

“You mean breakfast, right.” I laugh even as she hits me in the arm.

“Come on there is a stall this way with the best noodles ever.”

Following her lead we fight our way through the docile crowd. We get to a large stall run by several students who are working so well together that it takes me several moment to notice that they are all students from the class down the hall; the class composed of Yamaku’s vision impaired students.

“Hello, what would you like to order,” the cheerful looking girl behind the counter asks us.

“Hmm, I guess just surprise me.” Kari smiles.

“I’ll have the same thank you.” I can’t help but be amazed as I watch the students prepare two bowls of noodles.

“Thank you, this looks great.” It isn’t till I hand over the money that I realize how stupid I sound. Should I apologize or will that make it worse. I ponder this for a moment or two before I feel a tug on my sleeve as Kari pulls me along away from the stall.

“You looked really confused there for a second, something wrong?” Kari looks puzzled for a moment, and then her face lights up. “Are you worried about what you said when you got your food?”

The look on my face is all the answer she needs as she bursts into laughter and leaves me more confused then before. “Don’t worry about that kind of stuff. It’s just how people talk. If you try and change your way of thinking just to seem less rude it really can hurt someones pride. If you didn’t notice everyone there was at least partially blind, and yet they still make the best noodles every year. Do you know why ?”

I shake my head from side to side slowly. “It’s because they want people to visit their stall because they have the best noodles not because they are blind. Thats what Yamaku is about, not helping you deal with your condition but helping you overcome it to live a semi-normal life.” Kari looking proud of herself smiles

“Wow, that makes a lot of sense. How long did it take you to learn that and be able to just ignore everyone's differences?” I can’t help but feeling kind of slow for not seeing this sooner.

“Actually, I kinda have been practicing that little speech since I heard I was gonna be the new kids tour guide. It was something Mr. Nakai told me when I came to him for advice on how to deal with everyone here. He was a student here once, so I figured he would know what to say, and thats what he told me.”

“Wow, I never knew he went to this school as well.”

“Yeah, he said he transferred in towards the start of the school year right before the big festival.”

We continue walking around while eating our noodles. We see one of the stalls we worked on - a brightly colored stall with a bunch of bottles set up in pyramides. An old trick using light balls and water filled bottles makes it almost impossible to do. Even as I am thinking this Kari drags me towards the stall.

“Come on lets go. You gotta win me something.” Kari continues dragging me towards the stall.

“Why do I ‘gotta’ win you something. I paid for lunch.”

“So you still made me wait, and besides isn’t it gentleman like to get a girl a present at a festival.” Kari smiles mischievously

“That is a horrible stereotype, I think if anyone is getting a prize for someone it should be you winnin…” A jab to my ribs cuts off my sentence.

“Yes, it should be YOU winning ME a present. Exactly what I was thinking.” She pushes me towards the stall passing two students who are walking away empty handed.

“AHH TWO MORE CONTENDERS.” The student at the front of the stall booms at us as we approach.

“Ohh, look, yuki!” Kari’s smile is wide as she points at a giant stuffed bear wearing a top hat and a bowtie.

Regretting my words before they even leave my mouth, “How many bottles do I need to knock over for that one?”

“Ah yes, that is our biggest prize as you can see, so its not an easy prize to win.” He smiles bringing up a basket with what look likes 4 wiffle balls “To win him you’re gonna have to knock over two pyramids in one go.”

So twenty bottles in 4 tries, at least 5 bottles a throw. If these were baseballs I could get it in maybe 3 goes but with these I don’t think I can I could do it in 100 tries. looking at Kari’s expectant face my doubts fade away, and I almost feel like If I try hard enough I can get it in one go.

“I'll take a shot at it.” Filled with confidence I never thought I had, I get ready to take my first shot.
Pulling my arm back doing my best imitation of a baseball player I swing it forward as fast and as hard as I can flinging the ball with the force of a bullet.
Or so I thought; my throw curves upward taking out the very top bottle. I guess one is okay. BUT ok isn’t going to win the prize. I take my second ball and throw again hitting the center of the pyramid only to have the ball bounce off.

By my 4th ball I have a bit of an idea on what the best strategy is for knocking the bottles over. I bring my arm back to my shoulder and throw the ball as hard as I can without whipping the ball forward. The ball strikes the lowest level knocking out the middle two bringin down the remainder of the pyramid, the first pyramid down the second still standing.

“Wow, Yuki, you got a whole set on your first go.” Kari’s smile hasn’t waned even after I failed at getting her a prize.

Since when have I cared about getting her a prize? Wasn’t I just completely against it. I look back down at Kari, and as soon as I see her smile the fire to win this game is back. It’s that damn smile. Its like some ultimate weapon I can’t resist. Note to self: Learn a defence for that smile. On that note I slap down the money needed for my next go.

With the bottles reset and the basket of wiffle balls refilled I take a glance back at Kari only to have my gaze drawn to the small crowd thats grown behind me. A mix of students and parents from the look of it have gathered, and when I glance at them a few students shoot me thumbs ups and words of encouragement. Wow, are they really here to give me support. I can’t help but let a grin spread across my face.

With one last glance at Kari I take the first ball bring it back to my shoulder and release it with as much force as I can put into it launching towards the pyramid. My shot hits it’s mark toppling over the first pyramid of bottles. I ready up my second shot to end this fast the crowd giving off such a pressuring aura that I can almost feel it weighing on me. This pressure makes my palms sweat and causes my second shot to miss its mark bouncing harmlessly off the center.

My third ball in hand I wipe my hands off on my pants and throw the ball as hard as I can missing completely. I can hear them talking behind me “What happened.” or “What’s wrong with him, is he okay.”

I don’t understand their worry so I go on grabbing the last ball. I bring the ball to my shoulder, focusing only on the ball and the pyramid. I can feel the plastic in my hand, and I can see the grey bottles in front of me, but I can still hear people behind me. One voice is louder than the rest, and it’s Kari’s. I think she’s asking me what's wrong, but I can’t lose focus right now, so I ignore her. I throw the ball with all my strength.

I feel the ball leave my hand and see it start out towards the pyramid. The result of my work is the sound of bottles hitting the ground and a mix of cheers and murmuring coming from the small crowd behind me.

She walks up to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,’ I lie. I feel like someone parked a car on my head.

She grabs my arm and drags me away from the crowd. I want to comment on how weird we must look, a girl dragging a guy by the arm and carrying a stuffed bear that’s as big as she is. “One, you can’t lie to me.You have a horrible poker face. And two, you look like you’re dying, is your condition bothering you.” I breathe deeply, the throbbing in my head fading away slightly. “I don’t know why, but I just started feeling really off.” I grimace slightly. “Do I really look like I’m dying?”

“You started looking pale and sweating a lot. You almost looked like a corpse, and you still do.” She smiles, “But you’re definitely looking a bit better now.”

I attempt to make sense of what happened. I did feel pretty freaked out by those people, but that shouldn’t have been a problem because of my medicine. My eyes open wide, and my jaw drops, those last two words slipping out as a whisper: “My medicine.”
“Hmm?” Kari looks confused.

“I forgot my damn medicine.” I bring my palms to cover my face. “Damnit, I was so freaked out about being late I forgot to take my medicine before running out to meet you.”

I feel the sudden thump of Kari’s fist hitting my shoulder, “Ow, haven’t I had my life threatened enough for today.” For once this punch actually hurt leaving me wondering if this was intentional or not.

“If you forget your medicine again,” she leans in close and whispers, “I’ll hit you with a bat instead of my fist.” Her smile is sweet and innocent, but that doesn't take away from the threat, it almost adds to it making me over 100% sure I’ll never forget my medicine again.

“Yes ma’am.” I give her a mock salute which she returns in earnest.


“All jokes aside, promise me you won’t forget your medicine again.”

I nod, and we set about enjoying the festival again, avoiding most of the games. When the sun slowly starts to drop Kari grabs my hand and pulls me towards the side gate of the school, “Hurry, we don’t want to miss them.”

“Where are we going?” I manage to get out before Kari releases my hand and takes off like a bullet.

I follow her at my own pace. I wish I could run like that, I can swim like a fish and I run like one to. I laugh at myself, a habit I have grown to be fond of. I almost lose sight of her as she draws me farther away from the school.

We finally get to the spot Kari wanted to go to: a hill outside the school grounds, under the colorful sky lit up by the setting sun. I lie back on the grass gazing up at the sky. We don’t talk, we just sit in silence - a comfortable silence that is only broken by the sounds of the first fireworks arching up into the sky. “Whoa.” we both mutter as the sky lights up in an explosion of colors. I watch in awe as the fireworks arch one after another into the sky exploding in a flurry of colors.

I look to my side where Kari is lying only a foot away. The colors of the beautiful fireworks reflecting off her face, the shadows dancing across her face lighting up in bright vivid colors. Her eyes no longer have that hint of sadness. Something much more ‘Kari-like’ is there; a wonder-filled gaze that never leaves the display above. So this is what it’s like to have someone you care about. I think I can get used to it. Turning my gaze back towards the sky I watch as the fireworks begin to ascend at a rapid pace filling the sky with colors and filling the air with the echoing booms.

With the end of show I take another look at Kari, and she still is lying there. Looking up at the sky she almost looks like she is trying to burn the images into her brain, so she will never forget them. I pick myself up off the grass offering a hand to Kari helping her to her feet. We look back out towards the school. All the lamps burning making it look like a swarm of fireflies. A breeze sweeps across the hills hitting us with its chilling embrace. I love the breeze it’s a nice pick me up after lying down for awhile.

I look to my right and see Kari isn’t enjoying the cold as much as I am, she is trying her best not to show it, but I can still see her shivering slightly.

“Here” I take my jacket and hand it to her. Kari looks like she wants to turn my offer down. “I don’t need it. I kind of like the cold.” I smile as another gust of wind cuts through the last of her resistance.
“Thanks.” She takes my jacket putting it on even though it is a bit too big for her.

We walk back towards the school taking our time now that we can’t see much other than what little is illuminated by the crescent moon. We finally get back inside the gates of the school with twenty minutes to spare before curfew. I walk her back to the girls’ dorm before we part ways. As she is walking away she stops and spins on her heels, “Hey wanna come in? I got something you should see.”

I’m thankful for the darkness which hides the warmth I feel rising to my cheeks “Isn’t curfew soon?”

She pouts “A few minutes won’t hurt, and besides the night guards are easy to get around.”

“Sure but not for too long. I want to get back to sleep soon since I had to get up early today” I smile

She laughs. “Really funny. Let’s go, sleeping beauty.”

We walk down the halls. Luckily no one is out in the common room to spot us. The last thing we need is rumors being spread. When we are standing outside her room she knocks on the door. Why is she knocking on her own door? My curiosity is piqued.

When the door opens it’s the sleepy face of Natsume that greets us. “Hmm?” All she can do is make a questioning sound before being dragged across the hall by Kari.

She opens the door, and Natsume and I follow obediently behind her. Her room is nothing like mine. There are stuffed animals on the brightly colored bed. A small amount of clutter on the ground but nothing outrageously messy
like my old room. Something else I notice is the smell of her perfume from earlier. It’s subtle but it’s there.

Kari takes my jacket and throws it into her closet. Looks like I won’t be getting that back soon. Surprisingly enough I don’t really mind though since I have another one in my room, and I don’t mind the cold much in the first place. Kari grabs three cans of sodas and hands them to us. We pop them open and start drinking. Natsume asks about how the festival went, and Kari tells all about it leaving out the part where my condition acted up.

“Didn’t you play any games?”

“Yep.” Kari answers fast.

“Kari, you can tell her if you want.” Natsume looks confused at my statement.

“Tell me what?”

“Well when we were playing games a small crowd gathered, and the pressure caused Yuki get sick.” her voice is solemn, “It doesn’t help he forgot to take his medicine.”

“Sorry I kind of put a damper on the fun.”

“Nah, don’t sweat it.” She holds up the bear proudly, “He even got me an awesome new bear.”

“Who said it was for you?” I snatch the bear bringing it to my side, “I think I will name him Fred.”

“What kind of name is Fred?” Natsume gives me a quizzical look.

I look back towards Kari in time to catch a pillow right in my face. Stunned for a moment I look towards Kari who looks like she’s hiding a smile behind

her irritated scowl. “Drop the bear, and I may let you leave here alive.” As if to emphasize her point she raises the pillow she was hiding behind her back.

I slowly put the bear down and take a few steps to the right of it. I’m surprised by the assault of another pillow from behind. I stumble forward barely keeping my balance. I glance back to see Natsume holding a large pillow behind her back not at all hidden by her slender frame. “And I thought I could trust you.” I fake being offended.

“Sorry Yuki, we girls stick together.” Kari smirks pulling back her pillow ready to fire.

“You know I was just about to go back to my room, so I’ll see ya.” I duck under the flying pillow and make my break for the door, turning on my heel once I’m safely in the hallway. “I’ll talk to you two tomorrow.” I laugh as two pillows collide against the door as a close it behind me.

Walking back to the dorm I have time to digest my day. I woke up late, skipped my medicine, and ate junk food with Kari. Almost had a panic attack and passed out from a game. Kari is normally is so energetic and strong but no matter how hard she tried I could still see through it. When she asked me what was wrong she really looked concerned, and I felt so useless. I can’t change that now but the only thing I am sure of is I never want to see her like that again. I hate making people worry.

I collapse onto my bed letting sleep overtake me. I drift into sleep with the memory of Kari’s face during the fireworks, the smell of her perfume. The smile on my face doesn’t fade as I fall asleep.