Kyujunana
九十七
Chapter 1
It was on that rainy day when Kidō first saw her. Blue eyes that showed him the endless sky, pink hair bouncing off small and slouched shoulders.
The said prodigy woke up to the sound of rain crashing against his bedroom widow. Everything echoed as he pushed himself up, the bed making a creaking noise. He felt awful, quite awful it seems. All the blood came rushing in his head and the prodigy was forced to lean against the wall.
His head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. The taste of alcohol still lingered around his mouth. His throat burned like hell and the only thing — only question that popped into his mind was, Who's the fool that went out drinking on a school night?
As he forced himself to stand, everything around him blurred. Fighting the wave of nausea, he stood up and walked towards the bathroom door.
This is the worst, he groaned in disgust as he splashed water over his sweaty face. Even if his whole body felt tired to the point that he might collapse anytime now, he still sighed in relief at the cool kisses the water generously gave. It cleared all the blurry thoughts and sleep off his mind.
But still, he could still hear the ringing and buzzing from yesterday. The sound of loud music and the noisy chattering of people dancing along the floor of the bar his group went to last night. His eyes throbbed in pain as he remembered the way the lights flickered on and off with various shades of red and blue and — Argh! Just the thought of it made his head ache.
He just wasn't fit for stuff like bars and alcohol . He was the type that would rather read a book indoors and enjoy the silence rather than dance all night to the point where you go naked with people you barely knew. But you see, he was forced by his friends to at least try just once. And that was after their soccer training.
Maybe I have to give then a piece of my mind
Kidō stepped out of the bathroom with water dripping from his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose because of the lingering smell of the alcohol that stuck on his clothes. Maybe he'll throw them away soon. Washing them won't be enough, but burning them might be.
He threw the clothes that he wore to one corner of the room and grabbed fresh ones from inside his closet, sniffing them first.
It took him several minutes to finally finish preparing himself. Kidō frowned. After so many sprays of perfume, the smell of alcohol remained. It was faint, but still it remained, reminding him that drinking was really not his thing.
Thunder clashed overheads and the rain poured — stronger and heavier.
Kidō clicked his tongue in annoyance. He hated the rain since he was little because it soaked his clothes and dirties his shoes. And they had to clean the soccer field every single time it rained.
The sound of cars and people stepping on puddles rang his ears. The rain continued to pour and his only protection was the white umbrella over his head. The smell of the rain-filled cement and the muddy ground of gardens he walked pass by filled his nose and the smell of alcohol was no more.
Travelling to the university took more time today than usual because of the busy streets and stations; maybe because of the heavy rain. People holding various colors of umbrellas filled the entrance, some running for shelter. Kidō sighed again as he followed them inside.
"Yo." A sudden tap on his shoulder made the prodigy turn around abruptly, his surprised look greeted by a calm expression of a certain, metallic-haired soccer player. He had his hair tied into a low braid which made his former look of hardened hair childish. Tan skin greeted white as they both bumped their fists together.
"Gōenji," Kidō smiled at his friend and teammate, Gōenji Shūya.
Gōenji grinned back and nudged at the prodigy's shoulder because he too, felt a throbbing ache at the back of his head after the drinking party last night. He wasn't the type to read and stay at home, but he wasn't also the type to go out drinking on a school night. It was stupid of him he knows, but it made him glad that he's not the only one suffering.
Kidō placed his umbrella in the racks by the entrance of the building before both he and the other boy started walking towards their own departments.
The said prodigy had two courses to attend each day; AB Psychology and Sports. It was quite unusual since most people thought of him as the "business man" type, not as a psychologist or an athlete or a coach. But it made Kidō feel at ease, both his courses. As to why Kidō chose Psychology was because it interested him in so many ways and angles, tugging at his loose strings.
Gōenji waved good bye to the prodigy before going the opposite direction as him; towards the Business department. Just like Kidō, he also had two courses to attend; Business and Sports. And even if they both parted ways every morning, later in the afternoon, they would both go to the same classes for Sports.
The rain kept on pouring, not knowing when to stop and it annoyed lots of students who were eager to have activities on the fields. Kidō sighed as he leaned against his palm. Classes were still going on and he wasn't really in the mood right now. His headache that disappeared awhile ago was coming back from behind his head and spreading across his forehead. It throbbed slowly and he rubbed his temple gently.
Noisy chattering and the distant voice of his professor filled the whole room; the squeaky sound of the marker against the whiteboard; and papers crumpling. Kidō winced as the pain worsened and a wave of nausea overwhelmed him which made his vision blurry. He clicked his tongue, making up his mind — truly making up his mind — that drinking on a school night was a very stupid thing to do.
An hour or so, the school bell rang, signalling lunch and he sighed in relief, shoulders slumped and eyes droopy. The prodigy slowly stacked his books and slipped them inside his bag before following the other students out of the room. The hallway were filled with students in groups, laughing and squealing as they made their way towards the cafeteria. Kidō clicked his tongue in annoyance. He hated crowdy places, really. Not only was it noisy and humid, it was also suffocating and rang his ears.
He forced his way through groups of students, his headache worsening every single step he took.
What a time to have a hangover. Kidō sighed as he steadied himself against the wall after he successfully escaped the grips of suffocation. He pushed the door to the cafeteria open.
"Kidō!" A wave in the crowd caught his attention and teal greeted his eyes. Following the wave, he made his way towards the table at one side of the room where his friends sat.
"Kazemaru," The prodigy nodded towards the teal-haired boy who was eating a tuna sandwich. Kazemaru smiled back and continued eating his food, acting as if everything was okay. Why? He was the one who planned the late night drinking party that Kidō was dragged into.
And he pulled the said boy's ponytail.
"Ow — What did you do that for?" Kazemaru struck him a glare which the red-eyed boy shrugged off.
"For dragging me out to drink last night." Kidō clicked his tongue again. He rubbed his temples, feeling the soft vibration and the faint throb of the headache. His right eye twitched in annoyance after remembering as to what happened last night, and Kazemaru was the one to blame here. He was the suspect and the prodigy was the victim that was dragged out. "My head hurts like hell."
Gōenji chuckled. "Yeah right," He turned his head towards the one who sat beside him, who had his face planted on the table, ignoring the burger that was left on his tray, untouched.
His orange headband was a contrast to his dark brown locks, and as he raised his head, Kidō had to force down a snort at the sight of his friend. Endō, who only belonged in the Sports department, since all he had in his head was soccer, had dark lines under his red and puffy eyes. It was proof that he lacked sleep. And the way his lips cracked told him that this guy had a drink one to many last night.
Endō's eyes fixed on Kidō unsteadily. "This is the worst." He groaned as he planted his face on the table once more. "I'm never challenging Kazemaru in a drinking contest ever again."
Kazemaru chuckled. Out of the four of them, he was the one who held out the most in drinking. He had the highest tolerance in alcohol and only a fool challenges him on a drinking contest, which was his forté. But maybe, just maybe, going out drinking on a school night maybe was a foolish idea.
Both Gōenji and Kidō could only sigh at the state their friend was in.
In the afternoon were their Sports classes, and it looked like the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon. Kidō had the urge to skip classes and just go home and lie down and wait until his hangover would disappear. Well, who in the world would have the urge to go to class with his head throbbing like hell and throat burning?
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he noticed the faint smell of alcohol — and his slice of pizza tasted awful.
But just like any other day, in the afternoon, classes continued as usual which made the prodigy bite his lowerlip, trying to hide the annoyance he felt.
Kidō sat on the uppermost part of the room, spearating from the other three, where only a few students can be seen. Most of them sat at the front, eager to listen and participate throughout the whole afternoon — but he wasn't. The smell of the alcohol seemed a lot stronger now — or maybe, is he hallucinating? — No, No. That can't be right. It's wrong time to start hallucinating, quite a wrong time.
He closed his eyes and massaged the area between his eyebrows, trying to organize his thoughts and send away the clouds that made his head go fuzzy and blurry. He relaxed, and the noise died down — was he feeling sleepy? Maybe he was. It's hard to fight the wave of exhaustion, you see. And Kidō's really bad with struggles; but Endō was.
The prodigy bit down a laugh as he remembered the way the coffee-haired bastard literally dragged his saggy ass to their classes.
His right eye twitched.
Why was it so quiet? Is sleep finally sinking in? Was he really sleepy? Maybe — he opened his eyes — but he wasn't.
And that was the first time Kidō held his breath for someone he first saw.
Pink hair bouncing off shoulders as she walked towards the front, holding her chin up high and a cheerful smile plastered on her face; but the one thing that mesmerized him truly were the color of her eyes, and Kidō found himself staring into the sky's eyes. Blue — so blue — to the point that he forgot about the clouded heavens outside.
Red eyes met blue, and not once did she falter.
But it was him who looked away, transferring his gaze from blue to gray. And he watched; he watched the rain as it continued to pour.
"Don't you think you were staring too much?" And Kidō winced at the voice and heard a clatter beside him. He glanced towards his side, leaning more against his arm that supported his weight on the table.
And once again, red met blue as he saw the girl whose pink hair bounced off sit beside him.
"You don't mind do you?" She asked without facing the prodigy. Her fingers went up to her hair as she tugged a loose strand behind her ear.
"I don't." Kidō glanced her way, fighting the urge to face her. He was fearing that once he lay his eyes on those azure ones, he won't again look away. It attracted him, pulling at his heart's string; because for the first time in his whole life he saw eyes that held the beauty of the sky.