Rin Matsuoka, seventeen-year-old boy genius. Sousuke cannot tear his eyes off of the flapping glaucoma-inducing poster that advertises Astra! (Rin's newest project, apparently.)
At age seventeen, Rin Matsuoka has done more than Sousuke has ever dreamed of doing-his list of accomplishments stretches to Saturn and back.
Which, incidentally, is what this project is about. Sousuke has no idea how Rin is going to acquire the funding for (let alone create) a spaceship to Saturn, but he has no doubt that the boy will somehow achieve his goal. Rin's persuasive like that—sweet and charming. Sousuke thinks that if Rin had a taste, it'd be strawberries—tart, but when skin is broken, almost luxurious. What would Rin be like when his hard shell was cracked and water leaked into the machinery he'd so painstakingly created? Sousuke rips the poster from the stained brick it's been taped onto and skims it. So Rin's offering a chance for other people to come with him to Saturn? Wow—that's unexpected. I suppose he changed for the better, unlike most of our classmates. Everybody changes, but the degree to which they do so is always different. That's why—Sousuke's thoughts are interrupted by a motorcycle roaring by at full speed, intent on rendering those poor, poor people unfortunate enough to hear it deaf. Well, okay then. Sousuke folds the poster—piece of paper, really—into a square and tucks it into his breast pocket.
June 12, day of the physical examination and tryouts for Astra! Sousuke hovers in line. If he imagines hard enough, he can believe that his heart is propelling his feet off of the concrete and causing his veins to carry so much blood that they're mere seconds away from bursting. Gross, he thinks. What a disgusting way to die—bleeding from the inside-out, with no one to recognize what's wrong with you. I would hate to fade away. Although, I guess it's not really fading away, given the amount of pain you'd go through.
Sousuke is trying out not for astronaut (he's not idiotic enough to assume that he will ace the mathematical portion of the examination) but for a medic. Despite the unglamorous position, he can't help thinking, Mm, more opportunities to become closer to Rin—and touch that amazing bo—What? No, no, mind out of gutter now. Rin's the same doucheface he's always been—and I definitely don't like him. At all.
With his mind firmly set on decidedly clean (goddammit, Sousuke—keep it PG. Better yet, don't think about that weirdo at all.) topics, Sousuke sets off into the physical examination room. All results come out as expected, and as long as Sousuke doesn't royally fuck his health up in the next two weeks (and passes the examination, he can't help but remember), he'll be on his way to riding Starship Matsuoka (pun absolutely intended). Fun.
Sousuke glares at the paper, willing the problems to solve themselves. His pencil scratches aimlessly— he doesn't want to appear stupider than the rest of these people. The more noise his pencil makes and the more studious he appears, the better. What is the correct amount of DDVAP shots for a haemophiliac girl? I'll show you haemophilia, asshole. Does haemophilia even matter on a spaceship, for God's sake? Does it even exist? Which, of course, spins off into a tangent of philosophical musings (which, in turn, spirals into what the hell he's doing here, taking a test he's not sure he's going to get a high A on, which leads him to wonder, What if I'm not assigned as Matsuoka's medic, after all?, which…. Yeah. Point made.)
Somehow, Sousuke finishes the test in the allotted time. He has a couple minutes (two, to be exact. Maybe he shouldn't have spent valuable time contemplating the pathetic future he'd lead if he didn't pass this test. Not that he would be reduced to lying helplessly on the streets, eating only dog food if he didn't. It's just that Rin Matsuoka seems like he's undergone radical personality change. He's also gotten ripped. Sousuke contemplates Rin's mouth. Mm. Rin's gotten hotter over the years, but Sousuke cannot say the same for himself. He's looked in a mirror recently, after all.) left to check his answers before turning the stupid piece of paper in. He can't wait to leave the testing center.
The results come in a few weeks later, and while Sousuke has not achieved the perfect score he wanted, he has passed with an 89.5%. So close, he groans, relieved. So, so close.
The voyage will be departing in five months and nineteen days. Sousuke realizes that the amount of training given to space voyagers has been drastically compressed in order to schedule the landing appropriately. It would be cost and energy inefficient if the spaceship had to go out of its way to land on Saturn's moon, and although Sousuke has finally figured out how Rin was funded (this project has been in the works for more than two years, and even the American space agency, NASA, has sponsored it. That explains a lot, actually.) he's pretty sure that the amount is not enough to cover extensive outer-space travel.
Five months and nineteen days later, training complete, looking much more athletic, (he blames the exercise program he was put on—was it really that instrumental that he be in top physical condition to go? He can understand the underlying cause, but still-) Sousuke sits in a vertical chair, his body firmly locked into place. Matsuoka sits two rows behind him, and it's almost as though Sousuke can feel Rin's gaze sitting heavily on him. He swallows.
"Ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four-three-two-one- Liftoff!" The operator says. The spaceship launches. Sousuke feels like he's going to throw up.