Love Workshop
He got to the bus station early. He wanted to greet Kaho-chan the very millisecond that she arrived. They would be spending much of the weekend together, and most of today would be just the two of them. He could barely stand still, bobbing on the balls of his feet. He couldn't remember being this excited.
The taxi let her off at the bus station. Hihara-senpai sprang forward from the lobby to greet her. In spite of the early hour, he was bright and energetic. She on the other hand was barely awake. She was not a morning person. Besides that, she had pulled a couple all-nighters in order to hand in a project the day before. She was exhausted and it had taken both her mother and her sister yelling at her this morning to get her into the taxi.
"Good Morning, Kaho-chan! Let me carry your bag." He swung his own duffel bag further back on his shoulder and took her rolling carry-on bag. He had already researched which dock their bus would be leaving from, and the two of them headed in that direction. He bounced as he walked and she dragged her feet.
Their bus would be departing from dock #8. The two musicians stood in line behind 11 other people. "We should exchange phone numbers, right, Kaho-chan?"
"Good idea." She managed a weak smile as she took out her cell phone. She was grateful to not be doing this trip alone.
Holding their place in line outside the bus as Hihara went to get drinks and snacks, Kahoko reviewed the events that brought them here. Kanazawa had called a meeting last week to inform the concours participants that they would be attending performance workshops in Nagoya over the weekend. There were so many workshops on different topics, that most of the Seiso musicians wouldn't even be in the same classes as each other. She and Hihara-senpai were traveling together because their respective first workshops began around the same time on the 2nd day. All of their friends had gone already the evening before. Hotel rooms had been reserved for all Seiso participants, so they could stay overnight and attend workshops up to Day 3.
Kahoko was looking forward to traveling with her green-haired friend. He was such a sweet guy, always fun to be around. She liked his simple, optimistic approach to life. On the surface he seemed like just a happy-go-lucky guy, but when you got to know him there was a lot of depth and wisdom. They had been spending a lot of time together recently; playing music, going for ice cream or to the amusement park, or just hanging out and talking. He was a great listener and could brighten her mood like no one else. Except maybe not at 7:15am!
Hihara returned with enough snacks to feed an army. That fact that he was so fit was a testament to how much he exercised, as opposed to the kind of food he put in his body. He and Kahoko were soon boarding the bus, along with several other people from all walks of life. Most of them looked sleepy. Trumpet boy offered her the window seat, which she accepted. As the bus left the parking lot, she began falling into the numbness that she would have been enjoying if she were in her bed.
"You look tired, Kaho-chan. You should sleep. I don't mind."
"Oh…thanks Hihara-senpai. I guess I am still sleepy. I just need an hour or so." She laid her head back and closed her eyes.
Over the next several minutes he watched her as she tried one position after another. The window was probably too hard against her head, and the seat back didn't recline very far. If only she would lean against his shoulder, she would be more comfortable. Just as he was making up his mind to suggest it, she bunched up her jacket; put it in his lap and laid her head on it with her back to him, muttering to herself.