Omake 1
The Tortoise
It was well known throughout Japan that Pandora Academy housed top athletes in track and field. In fact, the top runner in all of Asia had been signed on to run the hardest event, the 5000m. The coach, Gilbert Nightray, was wary about letting on this new runner, who had been signed on by the last coach, Xerxes Break, before he was "let go" for unscrupulous behavior. What exactly he was caught doing, no one knows. Either way, the new runner was set to start classes the next day and everyone was excited and anxious to meet him.
"Do you think he'll be any good?" grumbled Alice, the star in hurdles, "I mean, we have our reputation to uphold."
"I think so," replied Echo in her soft voice.
"Either way, Break always brought in some weird characters but they were the best in what they did," sighed Sharon, flipping her hair from her shoulders.
"What do you mean he picked the best? That stupid clown couldn't pick out a good runner if she was mowing him down!" screeched Alice.
"Hey! I was someone Coach Break recruited!"
"Me too!"
"Not me! Gil recruited me!"
And the arguing continued all day, but Gilbert's mind was not on the team, it was on the picture of the boy that would be joining their ranks he had found hidden in the paperwork. It was a simple school picture, the boy wearing a gray school uniform coat over a white button-up shirt and a navy blue tie. He had a mischievous grin on his face, but all Gil saw was the boy's bright, intelligent green eyes. They spoke of laughter and sunlight, pretty pictures painted on sparkling canvas, the stars shining their brightest, everything beautiful radiated from those eyes. Gilbert felt himself blushing in spite of himself. He would have to make sure to not get too close to this young man.
PANDORAHEARTS ~~ PANDORAHEARTS ~~
He stood outside the gates to Pandora Academy, a large brown duffel bag slung over one shoulder, his book bag on the other. He looked up at the enormous building, with its high arches and beautiful clock tower and felt the excitement build up. This was his dream, to race at this academy with some of the most talented people in the world. Before stepping through the gate, he took a big breath and ran headfirst into a solid object.
"Owwwww," mumbled Oz as he lay on his back, rubbing his offended forehead, "what was that?"
"Shit," came the reply, which turned into a long stretch of silence as Oz noticed the tall, handsome man.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you there. I'm new here, my name is…"
"Oz Bezarius," Gilbert blurted out.
Oz just laughed at the outburst, seemingly glad that the stranger knew his name. "So, what's your name? Or should I call you my brick wall?"
"M-m-my name is Gilbert. Gilbert Nightray," Gil managed out as a blush stained his cheeks.
"Oh, you're Coach Nightray! It's really nice to meet you! No wonder you knew my name. Break recruited me for the Academy, but then I heard he was kicked out or something. Either way, I'm really looking forward to running for you," said Oz as he got up and dusted himself off.
Gil remained on the ground, the words "running for you" repeating over and over inside his head. It was a nice thought, having that boy run for him.
"Hey, um, Coach Nightray, you okay? Did I hit you too hard or something?" Oz asked as bent over to check on Gil. He moved his head close to Gil to check for any damage, which made poor Gil blush from head to toe. Getting up quickly, he mumbled an excuse and fled off toward the building.
"Strange guy, but I think I like him," Oz said absently as he picked up his items and followed after his wayward coach.
PANDORAHEARTS ~~ PANDORAHEARTS ~~
Oz managed to make it through all of his classes without any problems. In fact, he even made some new friends along the way. He met Eliot and Leo in his music class, Vincent Nightray, Gil's younger brother, in home economics and Liam in history. So far, his favorite professor turned out to be Jack Bezarius, a young teacher with a nose for mischief. The class found their appearance and same last names to be far too interesting to be just mere coincidence and chalked it up to fate. Thus they became known as Jack and Little Jack to the class. Oz was not impressed.
After classes, when Oz arrived back at his dorm, he found his roommate sitting on his bed, reading a book.
"Hey, you're on my bed," sighed Oz.
"This is my property. In fact, you're my property too. And by the way, my name is Alice, star hurdler at Pandora Academy," she cried haughtily, waving her book around like a sword.
"Wonderful! When I first got here I thought I'd have a boring roommate but it looks like you and I are going to have a lot of fun. My name is Oz Bezarius."
"Oz… Bezarius? You mean the new long distance runner?"
"Um, yeah, how do you know?"
"Everyone knows, dummy! The 5000m is one of the hardest events and we've been looking for a great runner for several semesters. Now the only thing left to do is see if that stupid clown was as good a recruiter as he was a clown."
"I'm guessing you don't like Mr. Break?"
Well, that question opened up Pandora's Box and for the next hour Alice complained about every little part of Break's life, from his weird doll Emily which never left his side, to the sheer amount of candy he ate every day. Even when walking to practice Alice continued to rant about "the clown."
Arriving at the field, Oz couldn't help but smile. The grass was freshly cut, a cool spring breeze rolled through the campus and everywhere he could see students stretching, practicing and discussing strategies. Amidst it all was Coach Nightray, giving tips and taking running times. Alice broke off from Oz, spouting one last obscenity at Break before heading towards the hurdles.
"Hey Coach Nightray! What would you like me to do today?" Oz sing-songed to his coach.
Gil visibly started at the boy's voice. Even without turning around, Gil could see every detail of Oz in his head, as if he never left Gil's imagination. This realization made Gil blush and he kept his back to Oz until the red washed away from his cheeks.
Oz was taking off his academy sweatshirt as Gil turned around to give Oz his advice. Another blush stained his cheeks, but he held his head high as he asked Oz to run 1000m, so he could record his time.
At this, everyone started to gather around, interested in seeing how the new guy would perform.
Oz stretched and a smirk graced his features the entire time. Gil felt embarrassment spread to his limbs, but stopped as the boy stood at the starting line and motioned for Gil to count him down.
"3, 2, 1 GO!" cried Gil as he pressed START on the stopwatch.
Watching Oz run was like watching rain fall on a sunny day. It was graceful and elegant, with a shine all to its own. Everyone stood in awe as the small, lithe boy ran around the track once, twice, again and again. At the end of his run, Gilbert barely had enough sense to push STOP and when he looked at the time, his heart leapt in his chest. It was the fastest time anyone in the academy had ever accomplished.
PANDORAHEARTS ~~ PANDORAHEARTS ~~
The next day Oz caught up to Gilbert in the morning in-between his classes. Gil was preparing the roster for the coming competition and was deciding who to use for the long jump.
"Brown or Young? Brown or Young?" Gil murmured as a pencil gently tapped his mouth.
"Well, I would go with Brown since he has much more confidence in his abilities," said Oz matter-of-factly.
Gilbert nearly jumped 10 feet in the air, scared to death by the interruption and the golden haired boy at his door.
"Sorry coach, I didn't mean to scare you," apologized Oz as he rushed to the desk.
"No, no, it was nothing. I was just too preoccupied," sighed Gil.
"Well, coach, I think you should take a lunch break with me!"
For the second time that day, Gil nearly fell out of his seat. What was that boy thinking?
"Listen, Oz, I-I don't think that's a good idea."
"Come on, coach, it'll only be a half an hour and then you can get back to being a boring grown-up."
Gil sighed, mentally kicking himself for wanting to say yes so badly. "Alright."
Oz's smile was more radiant than the sun and Gil felt himself fall in love.
Together the two enjoyed lunch at Gil's desk, talking about running, about classes, about anything but why Oz had asked Gil to eat lunch together. At the end, with the crumbs of their lunch thrown in the trash, Oz thanked Gil for taking the time to eat lunch with him before turning to leave.
"Wh-why did you ask me to eat lunch with you?" Gil stammered out in embarrassment.
Oz gave him a knowing smile in return, "because you are a fascinating person. Even though I haven't known you for very long, it feels like we've been best friends our entire lives."
Gilbert thought about this and smiled, "then you better start calling me Gilbert."
This time, it was Oz who blushed. He smiled a shy smile at Gil and walked out of the room.
PANDORAHEARTS ~~ PANDORAHEARTS ~~
For two months it continued like this, with class in the morning, lunch with Gil, class again and practice in the afternoon. On the day before the first big competition Oz didn't show up to lunch. It worried Gil but he shrugged it off as nervousness on Oz's part due to the competition. But on the day of the competition, as every single person was nearly bursting with excitement, Oz didn't show up again for lunch. So Gil sought out Oz and managed to find Alice.
"Hey stupid rabbit-face, where's your roommate?"
"Oz is in the library, seaweed head."
They gave each other death glares before Gil stalked off toward the library, hoping that Oz was alright.
Indeed Oz was in the library, hunched over a book, eyes glazed over. He gently sat himself next to the boy, hoping to get his attention. He put his hand on Oz's shoulder and the boy flinched before noticing Gil and visibly relaxed.
"Hi Gil."
"Oz, what's wrong?"
For a while, Oz only sat there, staring at the book but not reading it. His mind seemed to be light years away and that scared Gil.
"I… My father told me that he wouldn't come to today's meet. In fact, he told me he would never come to one because he is ashamed to have me as his son. He said running… running was for children who only wanted to disgrace their families," he said quietly, his head bowed so low that Gil couldn't see his eyes.
"Oz…" Gil started as Oz threw himself onto his coach and best friend. To a passerby, it would have looked extremely bad, so Gil took the grieving boy back to his office. Once there, Gil set Oz on the couch propped against the wall and stroked the boy's head. It was the only thing he could think of to help.
"Gil, if… if my father doesn't approve of my choices, does that mean I should leave this academy?"
Horror seized Gil and he immediately grabbed Oz by the shoulders, bringing the boy's face parallel to his own.
"No! You should do what your heart loves! Even if it's against your family's wishes, even if others don't always approve, if it's what you want, then do it. And if you still need someone to support you, to tell you that what you're doing is right, then just come to me. Every decision you make is important to me. I will always stay by your side."
Oz's eyes grew wider at every passing sentence and in the end, he once again flung himself against Gilbert, hoping that this wasn't an illusion. After some more consoling, Oz headed to his dorm to get ready, while Gil nearly died of embarrassment after repeating in his head everything he had just said.
PANDORAHEARTS ~~ PANDORAHEARTS ~~
The track and field competition went by in a blur, with Oz's race being one of the last. As Gil stood there while Oz stretched, he felt a sort of longing to hold the boy once again. It was evident that his father's words still haunted him, but there was also a radiance that hadn't been there before and Gil wondered what had caused this change.
Getting up, Oz smiled at his coach and Gil felt his heart skip a beat.
"Gil," Oz said quietly, as he stood side by side with Gil, "I want you to wait for me. I need to find myself, but I want to come back to you. Gil, you're my coach and my best friend, but you're also something more. It's something I don't want to put into words yet, but it's there and it's growing. Please, wait for me. I'm a slow runner, but I always get to the finish line."
"Just like the tortoise, and he always did too," said Gil through a gentle smile.
"Right! Just wait! I will make my way back to you."
After that, Oz won the race and left the academy.
It would be several years before Gil would see Oz again, but after the wait, the ending was sweeter than anything both had ever imagined.