A lot happens in this one, I guess I got a little excited or something. Anyway, enjoy
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Sunlight pours in from my window. I must have forgotten to close the curtains last night. I check my clock. It’s too damn early, the sun shouldn’t even be up yet! I turn over and shut my eyes, but it’s too late. I’m awake already.
I get out of bed and pull on my uniform before grabbing my books and heading out. I think back to last night, seeing light coming from Kenji’s door. A lot happened yesterday, but at least this one I can research. I knock on his door, and a few seconds later hear the sliding of his many locks.
“Who is it?” He leans in closer to me, and that familiar smell of garlic hangs on his breath again. I push him back.
“It’s me, Hisao.”
“Oh, sup dude?” He adjusts his glasses before closing the door behind him.
“Nothing really, it’s just that I saw light coming from your room last night and-“
“WHAT?!?! Who else was with you?! I can’t have people knowing man, the feminists are everywhere and I’m not-“
“Kenji! Please, let me finish.” He shuts up and frowns, he probably isn’t used to being interrupted, but he gestures for me to go on. “I saw that light, and I was wondering what you were doing.”
“Oh no man, I can’t tell you that. This is some top secret shit right here, and I’m not sure if you’re ready for it. Hell, I don’t know if I can trust you anymore, I know you’ve been hanging out with that Miura chick. Watch out man, she’s a dangerous one.”
Miki? Dangerous? I know this is Kenji, he probably thinks every girl in the school is dangerous, but Miki?
“Dangerous? Explain please, I don’t really understand how she can be dangerous, and I actually know her Kenji.”
He looks hurt by my statement, I didn’t realise he would pick up on the little attack at his knowledge. Come to think of it, this is the first time I have ever disagreed with him. I should do it more often, this is fun.
“Never mind man, she already got you. You’re already gone Hisao, you don’t even realise it yet.” With that he slips back into his room and slams the door. The locks all slide back into place and I am left standing with a sly grin on my face. Damn that was fun.
I stand there for a few seconds, just basking in the moment. I managed to beat Kenji in an argument about girls. I wonder if I will see him again? This might have been enough to get him to leave me to my own business! I feel my grin widen, and begin to head outside. Today is starting out great.
I push open the dormitory doors and the suns warmth smacks me in the face. A few birds fly from a nearby treetop. I head outside and down to the quad, where a few other students are chatting. I see Emi running towards the auxilary building, probably getting back from her run.
That’s right, I have a run today! I don’t think I have ever been this excited about exercise in my life, but Miki will be there to help me. I’m still not sure what happened between us in the city, but it felt right somehow. We are closer now, at least it feels that way. I should talk to her before class about it.
I join the students trickling their way to the cafeteria, it’s been a while since I had breakfast. Emi’s running regime has kept me away from the cafeteria for a while, even on days that I didn’t show up.
To my surprise, I notice Suzu on the way there, and approach her. She notices me before I reach her, so I raise a hand and she waits for me.
“Hey Hisao, you're up early.”
“I could say the same for you, I didn’t expect you to be an early riser.”
She laughs a little bit, obviously seeing the irony in the situation. Or maybe she has heard that before, and it’s just humorous to her now.
“Right you are Hisao… So, how’ve you and Miki been? I noticed you hang around with her a lot nowadays. You didn’t forget about me, did you?” I didn’t think Suzu was capable of teasing, but here it is. She even tried a Miki style wink!
“How could I? You fell asleep on me the first time we met, remember? So, what have you been up to? You’re in the literature club, right?”
“You didn’t answer my question Hisao.” She nods as she says this, telling me she is in the literature club, but pushing the topic aside for later. Now we have to talk about Miki.
“Fine,” I sigh. “Something happened. I’m not sure what to think about it, but she asked me when I had my heart attack, and seemed upset when I told her it was in winter. She said that’s when she had hers too, but theres more than that, isn’t there?”
Suzu inhales deeply before starting to explain.
“Hisao, I don’t really know what it is. Try not to think about it, alright? Look at it this way, you’ve known Miki for a week now, right? She only told me when she had her accident after a few months. She likes you Hisao, she just doesn’t know why yet.”
She doesn’t know why she likes me… I try to wrap my mind around the idea, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. If she likes me, then why hasn’t she said anything? Why hasn’t she- Wait. She told me when she had her accident, but waited to tell Suzu?
“What do you mean? Wouldn’t she tell me if she liked me?”
Suzu just shakes her head in reply, and sighs.
“Miki is stubborn Hisao. She won’t say anything until she knows exactly how she feels. Give her time to figure it out, don’t try to force an answer out of her. Why are you asking me this anyway, do you like Miki or something?
I start to stammer a reply, but she holds up a finger.
“Don’t worry Hisao, I can tell. I won’t tell anyone, you can trust me. Don’t say anything to Misha though, she isn’t the best at keeping secrets.”
I chuckle a little at this. Misha can be good at keeping secrets if she thinks they are important, but Suzu doesn’t know this. She just laughs with me, probably thinking I found it funny for the same reasons she said it. We spend the rest of the walk to the cafeteria exchanging small talk and catching up on the events of the past few days.
Suzu and I split off, she goes to find us a table and I head to the serving station to get our breakfast. I grab some trays at random and turn to see Suzu waving me over. She is sat with Shizune and Misha, two people I didn’t expect to see outside of class today. I make my way over, careful not to drop the trays, and take my place next to Misha.
Across from us are Shizune and Suzu, and I notice for the first time how similar the two look. Their hair is almost identical, Suzu’s just a tone lighter than Shizune’s. It’s almost like Shizune is her older, more alert sister.
“…”
Shizune’s hands move quickly through the air, almost causing her to hit Suzu in the face.
“Good morning Hicchan~, Good morning Suki~! Shicchan says hello too~!”
I slide Suzu’s tray over to her and nod to Shizune. I don’t need Misha to translate that, at least I don’t think so. She seems to understand, and proceeds to eat her breakfast. I turn to Misha, who is currently elbow deep in her own meal. Suzu doesn’t have anything else to say, so we eat in silence until it is time to leave.
The walk to class is lively, Shizune and Suzu are engaged in a conversation about literature, using Misha as a bridge of communication. It looks like a hard job, signing everything one person says while saying what the other signs. I try to understand the conversation, but Suzu is spewing all kinds of incredibly complex words that I don’t understand. Some of them don’t even sound Japanese!
I tune out of their conversation and my thoughts drift back to Miki. I can’t help but feel confused right now. Suzu told me to wait, but I like Miki. How does she expect me to wait to find out if she likes me or not? A loud snap wrenches me back to reality, and I realise we are right outside of the classroom.
Shizune waves her hand in front of my face, causing the girls behind her to giggle.
“Yeah, I’m with you. Come on, I wasn’t spacing out for that long, was I?” Was I? Misha translates what I said to Shizune, and I am quickly told that I really was after she covers her mouth and shakes. A mute laugh is a strange thing.
We enter the classroom, and Mutou follows soon after as class begins for the day. I glance at Miki’s desk, but she isn’t there. Did something happen to her this morning? No, that can’t be it, Suzu would have said something. Hopefully she shows up to the run later.
“Nakai?” Mutou points to an equation on the board. It’s fairly complex looking, but simplifying it down is easy, and I answer correctly. “Very good! Now, as we know, particles…”
I tune out again. I can’t concentrate now, Miki is missing and I don’t know why. Why isn’t she here?
The school day ends, and still no sign of Miki anywhere. She didn’t show up to lunch, and she wasn’t in any classes. I head back to my room to change, maybe she will show up at the track. Today is the first day of our new regime, and if the trainee shows up to no trainer, we aren’t off to a great start.
As I make my way across the grassy expanse between the main building and the dormitories, I notice Kenji lying down in the shade of a tree with some binoculars. I don’t want to know anything about this, but he seems to have spotted me and is now scurrying to cover. No Hisao. You have an appointment, you don’t have time to mess with him.
I ignore his antics, with great difficulty, and pick up the pace as I draw close to my destination. The sound of footsteps behind me is getting louder, but I don’t dare turn to face Kenji. I don’t have time to-
“Hey Hisao. You ready for our run?” Miki? I turn to face the voice, and it is indeed her. She is dressed in full gear, wearing some black, tight fitting running shorts and a shirt identical to the one Emi wore. It must be the school’s sports uniform.
“On my way to my room to change now. Where were you today?”
“I was training. I thought I told you, I got a permit to practise for the track meet, so I won’t be in class for a few days.”
I don’t think she told me that, I would probably remember if she had. I shake my head and shrug at her, and we continue to the dorms together. I lead her up to my room, but before I can stop her from entering, she pushes past. Her eyes scan the bleak space before her before coming to rest on my nightstand. My pills.
“Woah… You need to take all of these? I mean, I knew you had medication, but…” I place my hand on her shoulder and she tears her gaze away from my array of bottles. She looks genuinely concerned for my health, but it isn’t the pity I had grown used to in hospital. This is different.
“Yeah… Twice a day, but they aren’t as important as the runs. You can stay here, I’ll go change in the bathroom or something.” I leave her standing there and grab my old soccer clothes before heading down the hall to change. Should I have told her about my pills before? I make sure to lock the door, I don’t want another interruption from Kenji, and begin changing.
A knock at the door causes me to jump, and I almost trip over my uniform, now on a heap on the floor.
“Hisao, hurry up in there! We’re going to be late if you don’t move it!” It’s Miki. She sounds happy again. I quickly pull my shorts on and gather my discarded clothes up before opening the door. I don’t even have time to respond before Miki grabs me and drags me to my door again. I ditch the clothes on my bed and am quickly dragged away again. Time to run.
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Feedback and stuff welcome as always. I'll be going back to work on this now
