A/N: Yay for chapter three!

Chapter Three

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Ugh, Kari thought, slamming her fist down repetitively. That alarm is going to get old real fast. She forcefully pushed herself off of her bed and onto her feet. Shuffling, she made her way to the closet where she got changed as quickly as a person with so little sleep possibly could. She then moved toward her dresser where she contemplated the elastic sitting in the centre of it. For a moment, she considered leaving her hair down, but quickly brushed the though aside out of practicality. If Takeru is there, she reasoned while pulling her hair into a tight ponytail, he'll just have to deal with my heinous appearance.

Grabbing her water bottle, she made her way out the door and into the elevator which would eventually bring her to the cool summer morning.

Much like the day previous, she instantly fell into step, soothed by the subtle quiet of the early hour. Kari didn't need music or noise to be entertained; the feeling of movement was entertainment enough. She loved the way the wind brushed against her cheek and the soft patter of her feet hitting the ground. Really, she didn't know why she hadn't taken up jogging any sooner. It probably had something to do with the insanely early hour, but at that very moment, she didn't care. It was instantaneous freedom.

With glee, she watched as she passed by the park bench that she hadn't been able to go further than the day before. Not much longer, her legs began cramping and she was forced to stop. But at least, she added, taking a swig of water, I made it further today.

Catching her breath, she rested in the soft, dewy grass, thinking. It seems as though Mr. Takaishi has failed to make an appearance this morning. Part of her was vastly relieved, but she was also slightly disappointed. I guess I was right about never seeing him again…

"Hiya Kari!" said a cheerful voice from behind. She looked up, and there he was, clad in workout gear and an absolutely ridiculous looking hat. He plopped down beside her, clearly not caring that the grass was wet and added, "I'm T.K. by the way, in case you didn't remember."

"I remember," she said, still a bit dumbfounded that he had managed to find her not once, but twice. How far does this guy jog anyways?

"Good! So how are you this fine Tuesday morning?" he asked sunnily.

"Do you wake up this cheerful or something?" Kari responded grumpily. She was a bit irritated that he was able to catch her off guard like that, not to mention the fact that she looked like crap while he looked like…well…like he had gotten a full night's sleep last night, and wasn't sweating at all, not to mention the fact that his hair wasn't in some stupidly repulsive ponytail.

He laughed at her response. "Not a morning person then, eh?"

Her annoyed expression quickly turned apologetic. "No, I'm not," she said, embarrassed by her rudeness. "Sorry, I'm usually a lot nicer than this, it's just…four hours sleep isn't really my colour."

"Hey, don't sweat it. I was the same way when I first started jogging," he responded.

"I'm sweaty enough already," she grumbled under her breath.

He laughed again, able to catch what she had said despite her low tone. "Besides the sweating then, how do you like jogging so far?"

She pondered this for a moment. "And besides the early mornings? I like it quite a bit actually. It's…relaxing." She looked at him now. "Know what I mean?"

He smiled. "I know exactly what you mean. Although, I'm curious, why so early if you hate mornings? Wouldn't it make more sense to jog at night?"

"Well," she said deciding she would honest with him. "I don't like people to see me when I run. I think I must look really silly. If I come out here early, there aren't any people…or at least I thought there wouldn't be any people."

She could tell he was suppressing another laugh, although he did a relatively good job at controlling himself. "You look fine when you jog," he said, chuckling despite his efforts.

She smirked deviously. "So you've been watching me jog then?"

He looked down sheepishly. "Only a little bit," he admitted.

Excellent, she added mentally. What she said aloud, however, was, "What's up with the hat?"

He grinned. "This?" he asked, pulling the large, white brimmed-cap off his head and into his hands. He smiled fondly down at the piece of fabric. "This is my lucky hat."

"You weren't wearing it yesterday," Kari pointed out.

"I felt like I might an extra dose of luck today," he said, jamming the hat tightly back onto his head with a smile. "But your right, I generally don't wear hats while jogging."

Kari tried to make sense of his mysterious statement, but to no avail. Instead, she decided to change the topic. "How long have you been jogging for anyhow? I mean, every time I see you, you don't look tired at all."

He thought about this for a moment. "It's been a long time. I think I probably started when I was about fifteen," he responded.

So that explains it, she thought to herself, remembering his nicely toned legs. To him, she replied, "Wow, that's a long time."

He smiled. "It doesn't feel so long when you enjoy it as much as I do. It's sort of my time to relax and think. I guess you could say when I'm jogging I'm really, truly happy. The feeling of seeing just how far you can go," he said, speaking animatedly with his hands. "It's just incredible. You keep pushing yourself further and further and there's no limits; it's just you and the pavement and nothing else really matters." He ended here and looked at Kari.

"That, I can understand," she said smiling brightly. "Look! I made it further than yesterday!" She gestured to the bench where her jog had ended the day previous, not exactly what one would call far from their current position.

T.K. grinned at her enthusiasm. "Good job!" He looked over his shoulder at the horizon. "Oh man, the sun's almost up! I'd better get going if I want to finish my run."

Astonished, Kari looked as well, and realized that the sun was indeed gaining height in the sky. She got to her feet, accepting the offer of T.K.'s outstretched hand as he helped her up. His fingers lingered in hers for just a moment too long but he quickly came to his senses and let go, looking away. "Well, um, I guess I should be going then," he said, still not looking at her. "Bye Kari!" he called, already beginning to jog away.

"Bye," she muttered to herself. He was already gone.

A/N: Chapter title is You're Gonna Go Far, Kid by the Offspring. Please review! :-)