It Started as a Challenge
It was a bright, sunny day at Hakusen Private School, a perfect day for a challenge.
"You're going down!" yelled Hikari.
It was Saturday morning. The S.A. were having a special tea imported from India and some baked goods Akira made. At one side of the table, Hikari has challenged Kei with a determined and a trick up her sleeve and on the other side was Kei, who was secretly excited about the challenge but showed no emotion.
"You do realize that you lost every single challenge you've challenged me," said Kei.
"But it's different this time!" said Hikari. "We'll be doing this with the whole S.A!"
All the members dropped what they're doing. Jun almost choked on a scone he was eating and Megumi dropped her sketchpad knocking over a cup of hot tea onto Ryu's lap.
"OUCH!" yelled Ryu. "That's hot!"
"All of us are going to race to this mystery and the winner doesn't have to do the chores Tadashi's mom wants us to do!" exclaimed Hikari.
"Wait!" said Akira. "Tadashi's mom gave us chores?"
"Yes!" said Hikari.
"Nice going, Tadashi!" yelled Akira who found Tadashi's mom annoying.
As usual, Tadashi ignored. Because of that, Akira walked over to him.
"How many times have I told you to never ignore me!" yelled Akira as she punched him in the face.
Tadashi wasn't really focussed on Akira. He was focussed on why Hikari had to bring the rest of the S.A. into it.
"What do you mean all of us!" Tadashi yelled to Hikari who was across the room.
Hikari signalled Tadashi to go to her. Tadashi walked towards Hikari.
"I mean the entire S.A. will race to this location!" said Hikari.
"I'm in!" said Kei.
Kei wanted to spend some time with Hikari so he would give everyone the wrong address to mess them up.
Kei folded up a paper and wrote an address completely different from the real address and gave it to Hikari. Hikari did the same to Kei. The other members, who were reluctant to do this, stood in a line to receive their envelope that contained the location.
"There will be two teams, Team 1 is Akira and Tadashi, and Team 2 is Ryu, Jun and Megumi. Kei and I will be competing alone." said Hikari. "Everyone gets an advantage or disadvantage. Ryu, Jun and Megumi has a five minute head start. Akira and Tadashi can start with a four minute head start. Both teams can use cars and public transit. I start four minutes after Akira and Tadashi with just walking and Kei has to start five minutes after me by trying to escape from being tied with four feet of padlocks, a straitjacket, and rope around his wrists and after he escapes, he has to go there crawling on all fours!"
It was about 9 o'clock. Ryu, Megumi and Jun were doing this to support Hikari and Kei, but they would ditch as soon as they started. Tadashi used this race as an opportunity to spend time with Akira. Hikari and Kei were eager to start the race.
Hikari stepped in front of the line and yelled,"Ready, Set, Go!"
Ryu, Jun, and Megumi raced off.
HIkari went back and thought Kei gave her the wrong address because he wants to spend some time with her. She has to switch papers with Akira.
"Akira," said Hikari. "Can you switch papers with me? I can't read this."
"Sure!" said Akira.
They switched papers.
"Tadashi!" yelled Kei. "Switch papers. It's under my foot!"
"Sure!" said Tadashi.
They exchanged papers too.
A minute later, Akira and Tadashi got ready to race.
"Ready, Set, Go!"
Akira and Tadashi left.
"Taxi!" yelled Akira.
A taxi pulled over and they got in. There were black leather seats and dusty cup holders. It was not what you'd expect in a limousine, but they have to deal with it anyways.
"Tadashi!" yelled Akira. "Read the first step!"
"Go to the Takahashi Airport," said Tadashi.
The taxi driver followed the instructions.
"Why do we have to go to Takahashi Airport?" Akira asked Tadashi. "It's 50 kilometres from the school!"
"I don't know," said Tadashi.
Akira started to get suspicious. She started to think that Tadashi was trying to throw her off track so that she would be away from Hikari!
At the Takahashi Airport, Tadashi read the next step.
"Take bus# 19482746 that leads to Hiroshima."
"Is that even a bus number!" yelled Tadashi.
"Just follow the stupid step!" yelled Akira.
"Fine!" yelled Tadashi.
Twelve hours later, Akira and Tadashi just sat at the bus stop. They only had enough cash for one person to return home and they were fifty kilometres away from the school.
"I'm hungry!" Tadashi complained.
"Shut up!" yelled Akira. "Our bus will be here any minute."
"That's what you said an hour ago!" said Tadashi.
Akira picked up her directions paper. They were different from the instructions Tadashi said and they were different from each other. One said to go to Yokohama and other said to go to Hikari's house. This led her to believe that Tadashi rigged the instructions to get her away from Hikari.
"You idiot!" Akira yelled furiously. "You gave me the wrong address!"
"No I didn't!" yelled Tadashi.
"Yes you did!" yelled Akira. "I have the instructions that didn't match your description or each other! I can't believe you would sink so low!"
"I can't believe you're blaming me!" yelled Tadashi. "I thought you said you liked me! I guess you were wrong."
"I do!" yelled Akira.
"You're wrong!" yelled Tadashi.
There was a silence.
"If you really liked me, then you would've believed me!" yelled Tadashi.
"Wait!" Akira begged.
"That's it!" yelled Tadashi. "It's over! I'm going home by myself!"
He ran away and caught a taxi.
Meanwhile, at a sushi restaurant, Kei, Hikari, Jun, Megumi, and Ryu were concerned where Akira and Tadashi were.
"Where's Tadashi?" asked Kei.
"Where's Akira?" asked Hikari.
"Where's Jun?" asked Ryu.
Megumi tapped Ryu's shoulder.
"Ryu!" Megumi wrote. "Jun went off to look for them."
"Jun!" yelled everybody as they ran out of the restaurant.
Things are going great. Megumi's plan is unfolding slowly.
Jun walked down the street looking for them.
"Tadashi!" he yelled.
Jun was walking down the street alone. There was nobody to help him.
Jun stopped at a bar. Megumi told him that Tadashi is in there. He walked in. Jun sat on a chair and tapped on a person's shoulder and asked, "Have you seen my friend..."
The person turned around. It was Tadashi; he was half asleep and obviously depressed.
"Hit me again," Tadashi told the bartender.
The bartender gave him a bottle of sake.
"What's gotten into you!" yelled Jun.
Tadashi turned to Jun.
"I broke up with Akira," replied Tadashi.
"What!" yelled Jun. "That's it! I'm taking you home!"
Jun pulled Tadashi out of the bar and wandered around town.
"Why does my life have to be such a mess?" asked Tadashi.
"Tadashi!" yelled Jun. "It isn't the end of the world, go and find Akira!"
"No way!" yelled Tadashi.
"This is no time to be depressed!" yelled Jun. "I'm bringing you to Akira this instant!"
Jun grabbed his arm and ran outside.
At the other side of the prefecture, Kei, Hikari, and Ryu looked for the others.
"Where are they?" Kei complained.
"I don't know!" said Hikari.
"Wait!" yelled Ryu. "Megumi's missing!"
"First Jun and now Megumi!" yelled Kei.
"Let's find them!" yelled Hikari.
Kei and Hikari ran off afterwards.
"Wait for me!" yelled Ryu.
At the next block, Megumi was lost. She couldn`t find the others.
She was scared. It was almost midnight.
Then she heard music. It sounded beautiful and familiar.
She was right beside a restaurant. She decided to walk in. It turned out the person who was singing was Akira.
There was a crowd listening to her voice.
Akira was holding a microphone and she was definitely singing from the heart.
It was obvious. She has a broken heart.
As soon as she was done the crowd clapped, cheered and gave her a standing ovation.
Megumi ran to Akira who was walking through the crowd.
"Akira!" she wrote.
Akira noticed her and ran to her.
"What happened?" Megumi wrote.
"It's Tadashi!" said Akira. "He told me it's over."
"Why?" Megumi wrote.
"I don't know," said Akira.
Megumi grabbed Akira's hand and ran outside. On the other hand she grabbed her cellphone and texted Jun.
"Jun, I found Akira! Did you find Tadashi?" she texted.
Jun replied, "Yes! You were right! He was where you told me!"
Megumi replied, "I knew it! Our plan worked!"
Jun replied, "Meet me at the school!"
Megumi replied, "Where's Ryu?"
Jun replied, "I lost him! Just get to school!"
Megumi replied, "What! Ryu walks us to school! I have no idea where it is!"
Jun replied, "Meet me at home then."
Megumi replied, "Okay!"
At home, Jun and Megumi called Ryu.
Akira and Tadashi sat on the couch at their house. It was silent and tense.
"What happened?" Jun whispered to Megumi.
"Break up," she wrote.
"Oh," said Jun.
"What happened?" Megumi wrote to Akira.
"Oh!" said Akira. "Well, this guy has lied and got us into more trouble than ever before. He read out the wrong address and got us lost! Then, he spazzed out and ran off!"
"No!" yelled Tadashi. "That was because you don't trust me."
"I do trust you!" yelled Akira. "It's just like you to do that!"
"Oh," said Tadashi. "I get it! You trust me but you don't trust me. That makes so much sense!"
"Ugh!" yelled Akira. "You sicken me!"
"And you are so arrogant!" yelled Tadashi.
"Moron!" yelled Akira.
"Meany!" yelled Tadashi.
"Hog!" yelled Akira.
"Idiot!" yelled Tadashi.
"SHUT UP!" yelled Jun. "If you are going to fight, do it in the animal room!"
"Fine!" they both yelled.
They walked into the animal room and Jun locked the door. When they started arguing again, they were so loud that the entire floor woke up and complained.
"Why is it so loud!" yelled a man.
"Stop it!" yelled a woman.
Kids started crying, "I wanna sleep!"
Jun and Megumi were irritated. There was only one way to solve it.
"Jun!" Megumi yelled. "Tell the people to cover their ears!"
"Okay!" Jun replied.
Meanwhile, Hikari, Kei and Ryu went to Ryu's apartment. They were surprised to see that police circling the area.
"What's going on here!" Hikari asked the policeman.
"There's a disturbance in the apartment complex!" yelled the policeman. "Stay back!"
One of the policemen ran out.
"Cover your ears!" he yelled.
"Why?" asked Kei.
"Megumi!" yelled Ryu.
Megumi started singing. It was so loud!
"Why is it so loud?" Hikari complained.
"Why is Megumi doing this!" yelled Ryu.
At the animal room, the animals were disturbed and ran around the room. Inside was and unconscious Akira and Tadashi.
As soon as Megumi was gone, Jun stepped out to tell everyone that there was nothing to worry about causing them to go back into their suites.
Ryu slammed the door.
"Jun! Megumi! Are you okay?" asked a concerned Ryu.
"Yes," said Jun.
"What happened?" asked Hikari.
"Akira and Tadashi had an argument that woke everyone up!" said Jun.
"We had to fix the problem by having Akira and Tadashi pass out!" Megumi wrote.
"Where are they?" asked Kei.
"The animal room," Megumi wrote.
Ryu walked in. The animals were okay, but Akira and Tadashi were unconscious.
"Why were they arguing?" asked Ryu.
"It was because Tadashi and Akira had different instructions and Akira thought that it was Tadashi who rigged it," said Jun.
"Uh oh!" said Hikari and Kei in unison. "We might've switched our instructions with theirs"
They both had guilty looks on their faces.
"Why on Earth would you do that!" Megumi wrote.
"Well, the correct place was my house," said Hikari. "I traded it with Akira because I thought Kei used this as an opportunity to be alone with me by her the wrong one."
"I admit I gave everyone the wrong address," said Kei. "I only wanted to spend time with Hikari!"
Tadashi went out.
"I was able to tell that no one wanted to do this, right Ryu?" said Tadashi.
"To be honest, I wanted to do something else!" said Ryu.
"So I wanted to go to Kyoto with Akira, but the bus number was way off," said Tadashi. "Sadly, it resulted in a breakup that I would regret."
In the animal room, Akira overheard the conversation, hearing every word. She stood up and decided to talk with Tadashi.
"Tadashi!" yelled Akira. "I heard every word. I'm sorry for spazzing out like that."
"Hmm..." said Tadashi. "I forgive you, but let's just be really close friends for now until it's time."
"Sure!" said Akira. "I think you're trying to say, 'Let's start fresh!'"
"Yeah," said Tadashi. "You're right!"
Next morning, it was school time. It was a regular day at Hakusen Private School.
"You're such an idiot!" Akira yelled to Kei. "How dare you try to be alone with Hikari!"
"Yeah!" said Tadashi. "You're such a perv!"
"Hey!" yelled Akira. "You're no different. You tried to take me to Kyoto because you wanted us to be alone! Who knows what you could've one!"
She punched Tadashi repeatedly.
"OUCH!" yelled Tadashi who was lying down in pain.
"That's what you get!" yelled Akira.
Sadly, that morning was the usual at Paradise Campus at Hakusen Private School.