Form
I have to admit, I'm glad that I don't have to wake up earlier than I'm supposed to this weekend. My new sleeping habits are starting to make everyone else seem like they've been partying all night. I'll be happy to get an extra hour's rest.
Realistically, I wake up the same time I did yesterday. I think my body clock is broken. Or, for a certain few people, my body clock is fixed. It wouldn't really be a big problem for most days. Except today wasn't most days.
There are still three more hours until the track meet.
I groan and bury myself underneath my sheets. My efforts are futile. Deep in my heart I know that I won't be getting any extra wink of sleep thanks to a good night's rest. I wish I could take a little extra sleepiness off Suzu. Wait, belay that thought. That'd undermine her disability... whatever it is. And that would definitely make me a jerk.
I consider wasting time lying down awake in my bed until Miki's race starts, but I quickly decide against it. It's counterproductive and boring, and it'll probably mess up my sleeping patterns for tomorrow. I reluctantly get up and start going through my stack of pills and tablets, burn some hours by finishing a novel I started a few nights ago, get myself bathed, and change into some casual wear, a pair of slacks and a polo shirt.
Today is Sunday, the day of the inter-school track meeting, and the day me and Suzu are going to spend cheering for one tan-skinned runner. The event managed to attract a sizable crowd. Yamaku Academy isn't as densely populated as it was during the Festival, but it's still teeming with people, at least on the school grounds. I guess it's the sort of occasion that's rare in rural places like this, and it warrants the attention of the town that surrounds the school. Either that, or the spectators that hail from the other schools are pretty supportive of their representatives. It's a bit surprising to me that there are a lot of other schools that specialize with disabled teens. From where I'm standing, it's even more surprising how large the participant turnout is. It just goes to show that some people just don't let their disabilities hinder them from doing what they love.
I scan the masses for any sign of sea-green hair. Shoulder-to-shoulder with some people, I try my best to wade into the thick of things. My thoughts wander to her condition, and I start to worry about whether or not it was a good idea to have her walking about in the middle of a crowd.
"Hisao!" a voice floats amidst the chittering of a hundred voices. I turn my head to the source and smile as I see the girl in question. "Hey, Suzu," I say to her once I reach her. It's the first time I've seen her not wearing the school uniform. She's wearing a gray t-shirt that looked to be a few sizes bigger than what she's supposed to wear, what I discern to be a pair of brown short-shorts, and long socks. Compared to me, she seemed overdressed for a track meet. "You look... uhh..." Don't say "overdressed". Don't say "
overdressed".
"Nice."
She deflates a bit from my words. Did I say something wrong? Before I ask what's the matter, she quickly smiles. "You look nice, too."
Not wanting to make a fuss over things, I make a suggestion. "We better find a seat on the bleachers before it all gets filled."
Suzu nods and follows me to the field. As we reach the seats, I start ascending the steps to find a good vantage point before I feel a tug behind my shirt.
"Lower, please," Suzu says, slightly quietly. It takes me a moment to realize what she means.
"Right. We don't want you falling off, now. Sorry."
"It's okay." We settle down in a spot somewhere near the middle of the stands, where we can still get a good view of the track and make it less likely for her to break something in the event of a sleeping spell.
"They should be starting soon," she says, craning her neck probably to look for Miki. I attempt to look for her as well, but meet someone else's gaze instead.
"Hey, there's Rin," I say to Suzu. She's sitting next to a caramel-haired older woman that somehow looks familiar. I wave to her, but then quickly realize how stupid that decision was. It at least managed to catch the girl's attention, though she returns my wave with a confused tilt of the head. The woman beside her laughs.
"I'm an asshole," I say as I palm my forehead, blushing in embarrassment. The girl beside me is laughing, too.
"Maybe just a bit," Suzu jokes, "but I'm sure it's just you getting used to how things work here. You'll get the hang of it."
I nod and resume looking for Miki before getting a poke to my shoulder. "Hey." I look over to her, eyebrow raised.
"Wake me up," she says as she slowly starts leaning against me. "Quick."
I try to find some way to give Suzu a quick pick-me-up. It takes me a bit of time before I see them.
"Hey, Suzu, I think they're starting. Look."
Emi's the runner placed first on the track, and Miki is right behind her. Both girls look relaxed, almost cat-like. Then I remembered a few wildlife documentaries on big cats. Cheetahs and leopards come into mind. They aren't relaxed. They're tightly-wound coils, ready to spring into action at any time. An announcer (that sounds suspiciously like Misha) yells out the event and the roster of contestants. Applause rises from the crowd around us as they cheer for their chosen contestant. I let out a whoop myself, cheering for Emi, but mostly for Miki as well.
The referee calls for all the runners to be on their marks, and I see both girls on the track coil up even more. The starting pistol rings clear, and all the contestants go for a mad dash to the finish line. It's amazing how fast they all are, especially the ones without lower limbs. The excitement of the many bodies moving in fluid motion draws me in. I eventually notice that Miki runs with a graceful gait to her step, like she has more control over her body than anyone else. And as soon as it started, it was over. Emi cuts past the finish line just a few milliseconds before Miki does. It's a bit disappointing not seeing her win. I feel like sighing, but the head on my shoulder does it for me.
Wait. Head on my shoulder?
Suzu is apparently resting the head-in-question on my shoulder. I must've been so caught up in the moment that I hadn't noticed her.
"That was still really impressive!" I declare. "A for effort."
"I think you mean 'E' for effort," Suzu says sleepily. "Miki just can't seem to beat that one. Lucky for Emi, she isn't the jealous type."
"Really?" I ask. I think it'd be bad manners to shift Suzu's head away, but she just looks so tired. I decide to keep supporting her like this. "She seems like the kind of girl who isn't above getting even if you pissed her off hard enough." That much is true. She punched me on the shin once. The memory makes me flinch in my seat.
Suzu giggles. “That's actually very true. But she doesn't get mad over things like this.”
Another shot from the starting pistol is heard, and I find my attention back on the track. Once again, Miki and Emi are tearing down the track for the gold, and once again Miki comes in a very close second. I feel my gut sink a little lower. It looks like both of the girls are participants in most of the races, and for the single-runner events, Emi always finishes first with Miki hot on her tracks. It's nice to see that a friend is leaving the competition in the dust, but it's horrible to see the one you're rooting for being left in it.
"Do you ever wish you could be like that?" Suzu asks me while stifling a yawn.
"Huh?"
"The way they move, I mean. The way they can focus only on one thing, going as fast as they can. Nothing else matters.”
I nod. "I do, in fact. Ever since Miki got me to do those morning runs, I've been wishing that I could at least do five laps straight without stopping once or collapsing. But I really want to run that fast. Maybe not any time soon."
Suzu only nods into my shoulder.
The last event comes. It's the relay, and three teams that represent the three schools each take their starting positions. A girl from 3-1 seems to be running first for team Yamaku. I'm guessing Miki runs second, another girl from our school runs third, and then Emi does the final lap. At least when I cheer this time, I won't have to divide my bias. The starting pistol fires, and off goes our representative. She's faster than me, and I find that admirable, but she's slow compared to the two other sprinters in our team. This turns out to be bad for the relay; the first runner looks like she's the last to pass the baton.
I look at Suzu with worry and excitement for Miki and our track team, but she's already drifted off, her mouth slightly agape. In an attempt to boost the team's morale and wake Suzu in one fell swoop, I grab the girl's hand, raise it alongside mine, and yell in my loudest voice. "You can do it, Miki! Make us proud!"
As I feel the girl beside me stir herself awake, I can see Miki's megawatt smile flash at me just as she grabs the baton. Without missing a beat, she darts down the path with incredible speed. I think the runner's rush is getting to me. My palms start sweating and I can almost feel my heart beating excitedly through my chest. My cheering seems to have garnered positive results, because Miki closed the distance and tied first place with another school. The third runner capitalizes on Miki's tie and keeps the position. As she is passing the baton to Emi, I am now confident that they've won us the relay.
As the crowd disperses at the end of the races, I look down and smile at Suzu, my hand still in hers. I see her blushing deeply despite the sleep still evident in her eyes.
"Ah." I let go of her, my smile souring in embarrassment. "Sorry. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I figured you'd be doing it, too, if you were awake."
She nods slowly. "It's all right," she says, rubbing her right hand in her left.
Before things became too awkward, Suzu stands up and stretches. "Let's congratulate the winners," she says.
"Good idea." I nod.
The crowd is beginning to thin now that the excitement is over. We make our way down towards the track, where all the members of the Yamaku team are gathered around their star runner, the girl with the twin-tails hairstyle and no legs. But that last part isn't that unusual around here.
Being the good sport that she is, Miki is congratulating Emi along with the rest of the team. She's still sweating from her last run, making the sunlight bounce off of her and making her skin seem more bronze than tan. Her shirt is drenched, making it more transparent than usual. I can see she's wearing a tan sports bra, and it's... filling my mind with promiscuous thoughts in public. I shake my head to clear my mind. I can't be thinking like this right now, not during Miki's big moment. But I admit. She's stunning without trying.
I take a look at Suzu and it seems she's preoccupied with Rin. I'm guessing the other girl got curious. Suzu looks uncomfortable. I try to save her by initiating some conversation with Rin, though I'm not quite sure how that's supposed to go. She makes it hard to keep a good conversation going.
"Hi, Rin," I say.
"Hello," Rin says in her typical deadpan manner.
"You're here to cheer for Emi, right?"
Rin stares at me like I'm the most interesting thing in the world right now. "Is being psychic your disability, too?"
What? "I've got nothing like that." I laugh nervously. "I just guessed."
"I don't think being a good guesser is a disability." Rin frowns. "But it's interesting."
As if to save me from further confusion, I can hear a familiar clacking of prosthetic legs coming over our way. "Hisao!" Emi pipes up from behind me, and I turn around to meet her. "I wasn't expecting to see you here!” She's absolutely cheery, probably from all that winning.
“Hey Emi, it's good to see you. Yeah, they asked me to come cheer you guys on.” I return her smile. "Looks like all those morning runs payed off."
"Damn right they have!" Her expression slowly turns to confusion. "Wait, who's 'they'?"
I'm about to point to Suzu when Miki cuts me off.
"Yo!" She waves her good hand at us before wrapping it around Suzu.
"That would be us," she says to Emi, a hint of cockiness in her voice. Emi blinks a couple times in complete surprise, although her smile only goes down by the tiniest notch.
"Hi," Suzu says, accompanying her greeting with the smallest of yawns.
I hardly notice Rin, who suddenly appears beside Emi. She's frowning vacantly at the scene.
"So, Hisao, I see you've made some new friends." Despite her bright smile, I think I can sense a familiar saccharine from her voice. "Good friends, I bet."
"Y-yeah, well..." Before things get any more awkward, one of the male members of the track team arrives.
“Hey Emi, Miki! You guys are going to miss the medal ceremony!” He says. Emi goes back to flashing her brilliant smile. Thank God for awarding ceremonies.
“Oh yeah, thanks!” She replies, before turning back to us. “Are you coming, Miki?”
“Nah, screw the medal ceremony, it's boring as hell.” Miki bats her stump in the air dismissively before wrapping her other arm around me. I am slightly startled by the sudden show of affection and I also notice Emi's smile fade another notch. Seeing her slowly start to look more and more put out makes me feel a little put out myself.
“C'mon guys, whaddaya say we get something to eat? I'm starving.” Miki says, looking back and forth between me and Suzu. It's obvious that the other two girls aren't invited. Out of the corner of my eye I see Emi's lips are drawn in a pouty line. It's cute. But from what I've been experiencing these days, being cute usually just doesn't cut it.
“But don't you want to stay for your silver medal, Miki?” Suzu asks.
“And it's Sunday, don't you have homework and stuff like that?” I chime in.
“Forget it. I can pick that up any time. And as for homework, let's see if we can find a dog somewhere along the way to eat it.” Miki's grip around our shoulders tightens. She grins at us, and I can't stop myself from smiling back. She might not have taken home the gold, but there are things that are more important than trophies. And besides, I don't think saying no to Stumpfist is a good idea.
After Miki gets changed into some more appropriate attire, I'm sufficiently glad that we left all that awkward mess behind as we begin our descent towards the town beneath Yamaku's hill. This is the first time I've ever went outside the school with these two, though I've been to the town before to do some shopping with Lilly.
Suzu looks like she's in deep thought. Miki notices as well, and nudges the other girl. "Something bothering you?"
"Nothing in particular, no." I think she's blinking those thoughts away. "Where do you guys wanna eat?"
"Well, there's the Shanghai," I suggest. I get incredulous looks from both girls, especially from Miki.
"The Shanghai is boring," she quickly says, and I can't help but think she's hiding something. She looks to Suzu and the other girl nods. "I have a better idea."
"Ta-da!" Miki gestures to the restaurant before us with her good hand.
"The Beijing?" I squint at the neon sign. I can hardly believe the originality of the name. Then again, small town restaurants probably need small town competition. I wouldn't be surprised if someone made a "Macau" restaurant here.
"You got it," she says, and shoves herself into the door. "What are you two waiting for? Let's go!"
Suzu follows her but worriedly takes a peek at me to see if I'm fine. I
am fine, just still mildly interested by the restaurant's name choice. I shrug and follow the girls inside.
The inside of the Beijing is as bright and shiny as the outside. It's a small establishment, probably much more modern and sleek than the elderly townspeople would prefer. The menu is cheap but Suzu says everything still tastes good, so it's a popular spot for students who are willing to risk being late back to class if it means an escape from the cafeteria or vending machines at the school.
A server grimaces at us as we enter. “We're closed,” he says.
“Piss off Lezard, we're hungry,” Miki counters, immediately disappearing inside a booth. Suzu stops to wave at the chef in the back of the restaurant, barely visible through the space that provides a glimpse of the kitchen.
"Hi Taro!" she chirps.
"Hey~!" The voice that calls back makes Suzu smile.
"Hi Lezard," I say. "Is that Taro? I didn't know students were allowed to work in town."
“You're allowed," Suzu explains, "as long as you get permission from the school first and prove that you can keep up with your classes.” Lezard continues to scowl at us. I guess it's a good way to earn a little bit of extra money. Maybe you could use that money to pay for tuition, too. Yamaku doesn't exactly come off as a cheap school.
"Taro can cook?" I ask.
“He's mostly here in case a door breaks and we need a battering ram to get it open,” Lezard says dryly.
“His cooking is a lot better than whatever you do with one hand!” Miki's voice rings out from a corner of the restaurant. Lezard rolls his eyes, but his sour expression tells me that it's time to take our seats.
We walk towards the booth where Miki's voice came from, but I notice that she's still standing next to the table. I have a bad feeling about this. I decide to sit down at one end of the table. Suzu moves to sit at the opposite side, but Miki gently grabs her and starts pushing her towards my side. Suzu whispers something angrily, but Miki sounds like she's up to something. I try to not eavesdrop by pretending I'm engrossed with a menu. And inevitably, Suzu ends up sitting next to me.
“Never seen a menu before?” Miki asks. I frown.
“Not since I've moved here, no.”
“And that is one of the reasons why we don't go to the Shanghai.” Miki grins.
The most unenthusiastic waiter ever arrives at our table. “Welcome to the Beijing, what do you want.” Lezard croaks. His bow of greeting is barely more than a slight inclination of the head.
Miki wants something sweet, I am inclined to buy a sandwich and some juice, while Suzu asks for some spring rolls and, of course, a tall cup of coffee. Somehow Miki talks me into paying for everything, but I am ready and willing. She deserves a break after all that running.
I look beside me and, sure enough, Suzu is snoozing it up on her seat, lying down and curled up like it was her own bed. Miki waves her hand at the girl. "That's normal. Leave her alone. I think she needs some rest after that walk."
"I guess..." Though Miki's piercing smile is trained at me, I can't help but feel a little awkward. I try to break the ice.
"So, congrats again on getting second place. On practically everything. I know you deserve a lot more, though."
"Forget it," Miki waves her hand again in a dismissive manner. "To be honest running isn't my thing."
"Huh. Really?" I ask. "With the way you move, I was almost sure you started running as a hobby when you were a kid."
"Ahh... Yes and no." She shrugs.
Our food arrives, and I chuckle at the irony of Suzu being asleep while her coffee arrived.
"Still, during the relay, you were pretty incredible out there. I don't think that other school will forget how bad we beat them any time soon.” I smile at Miki while she's digging into her cake.
“You got that right," she responds, her words slightly muffled by her bites of dessert. “We could have pulled it off without Emi, but she did go a long way in helping them eat our dust. Plus, she's pretty cute.” She winks.
"Well..." I start, munching on my sandwich to keep my thoughts to myself, but eventually I have to admit it. "Yeah, she is. but that's scientific fact."
"Speaking of cute, though..." Miki's gaze falls on Suzu and I look at the sleeping girl as well.
Is she looking for an answer from me? I gulp.
"I-I mean I guess she is, but that's more like a scientific theory, I think.”
“A scient-what?”
“It's when there's an observed phenomenon that's--”
“Never mind, forget that,” Miki interrupts. She sets down her spoon on her saucer. “Since you could say I finally have you alone, I have a question for you, Hisao.”
I gulp a mouthful of sandwich. She's really testing my limits, here.
“Shoot, I guess.”
Miki clears her throat. “Hisao, what do think..."
"...what do you think of me?” She asks, all traces of jest gone from her voice.
I'm caught off guard, even though I should've seen that question coming from a mile away. I gulp again, feeling my ears grow a little warmer. Should I tell her? We're alone, relatively. I might not get another chance.
I suck up my awkwardness and try to muster as much courage as I can.
...
...
...!
"You're pretty attractive," I manage to say, slightly quietly. I might be imagining it, but I think I can feel Suzu deflating beside me.
"Huh?" She pauses for what seems like an eternity. I wait for her response, which comes sooner than I think. "I wasn't really expecting that."
Wait, what?
"To be honest I meant to ask that as a joke," she says plainly, crossing her legs and leaning towards me.
Wait,
what?
"But now that the cat's out of the bag, I guess there's nothing we can do about it." She shrugs. "I thought you had a thing for Suzu, with you being her knight in shining armor carrying her around all the time."
"Umm. Not really. I mean sure she's cute, but I always thought you got me to be her friend just so I could keep an eye on her while you could practice for the track meet."
She puffs up her cheeks while sticking a finger on one feigning deep thought. "True, true, I
did manipulate you into lugging poor Suzu around and being her servant and companion, but I did that to try and play cupid." She sighs. "I guess my work backfired."
"Wow. That's pretty mean," I grimace.
"Not if it was all for the greater good," she retorts, grinning madly. "We're all good friends now, right?"
I nod. "Sure, I guess."
"Mmnh... where's my food?" A voice wafts up from beside me. I look to find Suzu rubbing sleep, and what seems to be a few tears, off her eyes.
"Right here, kiddo." Miki pushes her platter of spring rolls and cup of coffee toward the sleepy girl and patting the table once. "You better finish everything fast, though. The night's just starting and we still have some more celebrating to do." A mischevous smile creeps up her face.
I have a bad feeling about this.
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