Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Akiyoshi Hongo, creator of the Digimon concept, as well as various broadcasting networks. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Thanks again to Trisha for the edits; a Koumi scene appears in this chapter (which will undoubtedly please a certain reader…); and like always, please read, enjoy, and review.
Under the Surface
Chapter IV: Unresolved Issues
Koushiro recognized the instant that Yamato entered the dining hall that something was troubling him.
There were the less obvious signs. Yamato's eyes were downcast, nearly always looking toward the ground and distant, as if deep in thought. Yamato was never much of a talkative person to begin with, but he remained silent throughout dinner despite sitting close by Taichi - who was, as always, loud and animated. His shoulders were hunched in toward himself and gave the impression that he was deeply troubled with something on his mind.
And then, of course, there was the most obvious sign of all. Sora was acting in much the same way, and both were steadfastly avoiding each other's gaze, unwilling to so much as turn to the other's direction.
Problematic, indeed, Koushiro thought to himself, worrying his bottom lip as he confirmed his conclusion.
Koushiro glanced Taichi's way. The soccer player knew both Yamato and Sora better than Koushiro did, and Taichi undoubtedly was able to ascertain that something was afoot as well. Perhaps because of this, Taichi was purposely drawing everyone's attention his way with an epic story of some feats he had accomplished on the soccer field. It was clearly a tactic to instill some normality into the situation, as well as a diversion to shield Yamato and Sora's tension from their new friends.
As far as Koushiro could tell, it was working. Kiku was as enraptured as ever by Taichi, and even Wakana and Hayate looked interested by his tale. Taichi was going all the way, his protective instinct coming in full strength. Once in a while, his eyes would flicker toward his best friends, and in those seconds, his brown eyes betrayed the extent of his worry. Koushiro suspected that the soccer player probably had a more intimate knowledge of what happened between their friends, and he resolved to investigate the matter further at a later time.
In any case, it was getting late. People were already starting to excuse themselves from their tables and drifting back to their cabins to get some well-needed sleep. Koushiro coughed obtrusively then, interrupting Taichi's story. "Everyone, I think it would be best if we all turned in now," Koushiro said carefully. "You know what they say; teenagers our age need at least eight hours of proper sleep if we want to be at our optimum performance tomorrow."
Taichi caught on and was quick to agree. "Good idea, Koushiro! Let's get going guys," he said, standing up. The others began to follow suit. "Night, girls. We'll see you tomorrow morning."
While the others said their good byes as well, Koushiro weaved around the table to get to Sora's side. The girl looked worn out, and her eyes were distant, still lost in her thoughts. "Are you all right, Sora? You don't look so well," Koushiro said, concerned, as he touched her elbow to get her attention.
"What?" She gave a start. Sora's eyes focused on Koushiro, and she gave him a half-hearted smile. "Oh, don't worry about me Koushiro. I'm just sleepy, that's all. I'll be fine after I get some rest."
Koushiro nodded, though he was sure that it was much more complicated than that. "Well, then, I hope you sleep comfortably. Feel better tomorrow."
"You too, Koushiro," she said faintly when Kiku appeared by her side.
"Let's go, Sora, you look dead on your feat," Kiku tsked, though not unkindly. She nodded at Koushiro. "Night Koushiro, we'll see you tomorrow."
Koushiro watched, still unsatisfied, as Kiku then steered Sora toward Wakana and the three girls left together. His worries were still irking him, though, and that bothered him – but with a sigh, Koushiro resigned to himself that now was not the time for his detective work. That would have to wait. He walked over to where his roommates were waiting. "Are we ready to leave?" Koushiro asked.
"Yep." Hayate replied with a nod. "Let's go."
The walk back to the boys' cabins seemed to take longer than usual. Taichi was still talking steadily, and Hayate and Koushiro good-naturedly, occasionally, offered their opinions as well. But it was difficult to ignore Yamato dragging on behind them, his self-imposed silence a dark and looming presence. Hayate, miraculously for someone who was usually rather astute, remained oblivious. This was good, of course. Even if he was too conflicted at the moment to notice, Koushiro knew that Yamato would doubtlessly prefer that their roommate remained in the dark about the dramatics between him and Sora.
Koushiro heaved an inward sigh at the thought. Once, not so very long ago, he had believed that Yamato and Sora's relationship was the best you could find for teenagers their age. They weren't like all those other high school romances that were doomed for failure from the start. There was a part of Koushiro - foolishly, now, as he knew better - that had assumed that Yamato and Sora would be together forever. It was inconceivable that two such well-suited people could ever break away from each other. Neither one of them were superficial or overdramatic, clingy or demanding.
And then, all so suddenly, it simply ended, surprising everyone. Well, not surprising. Shocking was a far more apt term to describe the collective Chosen Children's reactions.
No one except Yamato and Sora had any real, substantial knowledge of how the relationship had disintegrated. And, with Yamato's taciturn behavior and Sora's uncharacteristically laconic replies to all the inevitably probing questions, it was likely to stay that way for a long while.
Koushiro hadn't been happy to simply let the matter go without getting any of his questions answered. It went against his very nature to leave a puzzle unsolved. Out of respect for his friendship to both Yamato and Sora, though, he managed to at least keep his questions to himself... for a while, at the least. But when it became apparent that whatever resolution that the two had come to, it wasn't making either one of them was happy, Koushiro had naturally decided that it was time to get to the bottom of the story. Thus far, he was highly unsuccessful in his venture. But Koushiro was not the type to give up so easily. The mystery of Yamato and Sora's dissolution was testing him, and it was only a matter of time before Koushiro would find the answers he was looking for.
"All right, we're here," Taichi announced when they finally arrived. He stepped up and opened the cabin door, leaving it open for everyone else to pass through. Koushiro followed Hayate in, and crossed over to the thermostat to set the temperature (he'd managed to fix it during the break hours before dinner, but it was still temperamental and Koushiro was unwilling to let anyone else use it and take the risk of it becoming damaged again). As soon as he was done, Koushiro quickly got ready for bed like his friends.
Later, Koushiro sat propped up in his bed against the wall and checked his email to see if he'd gotten anything new since dinner. The one that caught his attention first was a short email from Tentomon, asking Koushiro about his thoughts on summer camp so far. Koushiro replied to that email quickly, filling his partner in on the latest developments with his computer programs and his budding friendship with Hayate - something Koushiro was sure that Tentomon would be happy, since Tentomon was well-aware of Koushiro's desire for a friend who shared his interest in computers.
There was not much else to check on his email beside Tentomon's letter. There were a few updates on the various blogs that he had been subscribed to, but he would read up on those articles in the morning. Just as Koushiro was about to sign off and to get some sleep his roommates (he could tell from Taichi and Hayate's snores that at least two of his roommates were already asleep), a new instant message flashed up on his screen. Koushiro couldn't help but smile, his tiredness forgotten, when he saw who it was from.
pinkprincess: hey koushiro! what are you doing up so late?
Quickly, Koushiro typed back.
computergenius: Actually, I was about to head off when you caught me.
computergenius: Taichi, Yamato, and I came back from camp dinner just a while ago.
computergenius: They're all asleep now.
Koushiro waited patiently as the "pinkprincess is typing..." message appeared on the bottom of the window. He knew that Mimi was not a particularly fast typer, what with her tendency to chicken-peck her words and all.
pinkprincess: ohhh. i see.
pinkprincess: how is camp? are you having fun? :]
computergenius: It's quite enjoyable.
computergenius: The computer classes are excellent.
pinkprincess: that's good to hear, lol.
pinkprincess: enjoy your fill of them, okay?
computergenius: No worries, Mimi, I will.
They spent a few minutes in which they exchanged just the usual, mundane details about each other, to catch up. Mimi surprised Koushiro by telling him that she'd come and visit them all sometime later in the month, since her father wanted to come back and visit his family still in Japan for a couple of weeks. They'd tossed back and forth various activities that they could plan to do together with the others before they fell to a lull in the conversation. Then, Mimi began typing something again.
pinkprincess: so... how are sora and yamato doing?
pinkprincess: and taichi?
Koushiro chuckled. He knew that Mimi's interest was clearly devoted to developments between Sora and Yamato, and that she'd tacked on Taichi name only as an afterthought to disguise her curiosity. But Koushiro knew Mimi well enough to see through her attempt at casual pleasantries. Deep down, her curiosity burned just as fiercely as his did. Then he shook his head and sighed. It wasn't as if he had anything promising to tell her.
computergenius: No luck on that front. It looked like things were going well for a while when we got to camp...
computergenius: but then something happened before dinner.
He paused and bit his lip before adding another line.
computergenius: It really is a pity. Before then, it seemed almost like things were going to be going back to normal.
Mimi's reply was swift.
pinkprincess: awwww
pinkprincess: :[
pinkprincess: you don't know what happened?
Koushiro shook his head, even though Mimi couldn't see him.
computergenius: I really have no idea what could have taken place.
computergenius: I think that Taichi has some idea of what happened, though.
computergenius: But I haven't had a chance to ask him yet.
On the other bunk against the opposite wall, Yamato shifted uncomfortably in his top bunk and made Koushiro aware of his camp surroundings once again. He gave a start when he saw how long he'd stayed up to chat. Sometimes, it was all too easy to get absorbed into a conversation with Mimi. He stifled a yawn and then added another line.
computergenius: It's getting late for me now, so I'm going to sign off, all right?
computergenius: I'll talk to you later, Mimi.
pinkprincess: ohh okay
pinkprincess: keep me posted, koushiro?
pinkprincess: :]
computergenius: Of course I will.
computergenius: :-)
pinkprincess: thanks koushiro, you're the best
pinkprincess: :3
pinkprincess: good night!
computergenius: Good night, Mimi.
Koushiro signed off of the internet and turned the laptop off, placing it carefully on the floor next to his bunk. He settled down in his sleeping bag and tried to calm his ever ticking mind so that he could sleep in peace. But, like most nights, sleep eluded him. Koushiro knew why. His thoughts, whenever he tried to turn them toward sleep and rest, continually returned to Yamato and Sora's predicament. He frowned. He didn't want to pry more than was absolutely necessary; he prided himself on refraining from being a meddler.
And yet...
He couldn't help it. Koushiro wanted to help Yamato and Sora, wanted to do what he could to bring them back to normal. He missed the way they used to be, even though he knew that it wasn't he place to miss it in the first place. It wasn't his place to get involved, or to do more than just watch from the sidelines.
Resolutely, Koushiro squared his shoulders. One time to get the answers you want, he told himself sternly. You get only one chance to give into your selfishly inquisitive side, and that's it. No more.
He tried to ignore the part of himself that secretly rejoiced at his decision. If he had to be a spectator to this whole mess, then, darn it all, he wanted to at least be an informed spectator.
Quietly, so as not to wake the others, Koushiro whispered into the dark. "Yamato? Are you still awake?"
There was a moment of absolutely stillness, and then Koushiro heard an audible sigh. "Yeah. Can't sleep either?" Yamato's voice floated down the bunk to Koushiro's ears.
Koushiro gave a sigh of his own. "You could say that I'm having a hard time shutting my brain off tonight."
"Same here."
The silence fell again for a long time, though Koushiro knew that Yamato was still awake. For his part, at least, Koushiro was struggling to come up with a way to ask Yamato his question without sounding presumptuous.
"Koushiro? Can I... ask you something?"
"Of course. What is it?"
Yamato was silent again, and Koushiro imagined that Yamato was probably listening to Taichi and Hayate's snores to make sure that they were still asleep. When Yamato spoke again, his voice was even lower than before. "With my being a musician... does it ever bother you when we get stopped by people on the street who want my autograph?"
Koushiro, having expected something related to Sora in some way, was completely taken by surprise. He blinked, unsure of why the topic was suddenly on Yamato's mind, but gave it some serious thought since it seemed so important to him. "Honestly?" Koushiro said slowly. "No, not really. To be fair, we don't usually walk to very many places together outside of school. But when we do go places, it's never bothered me. It's just a part of the package, I suppose, when one is a friend of a popular 'rock star'." Koushiro let Yamato digest the answer for a few seconds before asking curiously, "May I ask what brought this on, Yamato?"
There was a slight, soft thumping sound that Koushiro deducted was probably Yamato shifting his pillow on the bunk in dissatisfaction. "It's just... something I had on my mind today." Yamato paused. "I never really noticed how often other people just intrude on my time with my friends sometimes. And it made me wonder if maybe it was irritating for you guys too, all along."
"Ah." Koushiro thought Yamato's response over carefully before saying slowly, "Well, I obviously cannot speak for everyone else, but I have never felt annoyed or bothered by your fans. Like I said earlier, it really can't be helped, since it comes with as an effect of you being so good at your music."
Yamato gave another sigh. Whether it was of disappointment or contentment, Koushiro couldn't tell. "Thanks."
"Think nothing of it." Koushiro rolled over again to look at Yamato's bunk. Even in the dark, the light color of his friend's hair stood out. "Now, can I ask you a question? I'll understand if you don't want to answer, but it has piqued my curiosity."
"What has?" Yamato asked, his voice a cross between patiently amused and cautiously wary.
For a moment, Koushiro battled internally with himself over which question was more pressing for him to have answered. At the moment, the war was over the reason behind Yamato and Sora's break-up, the battle over the reason why they had been so cold to each other at dinner. Koushiro chewed his bottom lip as he contemplated. Which question to ask? In the end, Koushiro chose to ask the lesser question of the two, since it was more likely that Yamato would answer it than the other.
"Something happened before dinner that got both you and Sora upset about something," Koushiro said as he trailed off, watching carefully for Yamato's reaction. As far as he could tell, though, the blond only seemed to freeze with tension at the mention of Sora's name, his shape in the dark unmoving.
Yamato's eventual response was spoken lowly. "And your question?"
Koushiro frowned slightly. Whatever it was, Yamato was clearly reluctant to speak about it if he was dragging out the obvious in an attempt to delay his answer. Koushiro already half-expected the answer that Yamato would give when he phrased his curiosity with a succinct "What happened?"
"I'd rather not talk about it," Yamato said, his voice strained - rather predictably, Koushiro thought. That usually was how he responded to topics that pertained to Sora. "I'm sorry."
"That's fine," Koushiro assured his friend, disguising his disappointment. "I thought it couldn't hurt to ask."
Yamato chuckled half-heartedly. "I know that tone of yours. When you try and pretend that it doesn't bother you when you don't know something."
Though Yamato could not see him in the dark, Koushiro grinned sheepishly. "That obvious, huh?"
"Painfully." The blond turned quiet, introspective. "I... did something that hurt Sora. I hadn't meant to, but by the time I tried to fix it, it was already too late."
"Oh." Koushiro waited for Yamato to elaborate, but after a while, it was more than clear that Yamato was unwilling to say more than that. It seemed that Koushiro would simply have to accept the answer for what it was worth. Still, though, he couldn't sleep. Not when he'd just made Yamato so clearly uncomfortable. "I'm here if you want to talk, Yamato," Koushiro said quietly. "Whatever it is. If there's anything I can do, even just listen, I will."
"Thanks man." Yamato voice became muffled as he pressed his face into his pillow. "I know that this - situation - has been hard to put up with."
"No need to apologize. I understand."
"What I don't understand," Taichi's groggy voice interrupted, "is why the two of you are still awake and talking when some of us are trying to get their beauty sleep."
As always, Taichi effectively diffused the seriousness and tension in the room. Yamato snickered quietly, and Koushiro was forced to press his own face into his pillow to muffle his startled laugh. "Sorry. We're going to sleep now, promise," Koushiro managed to say when he caught his breath again.
"You'd better," Taichi grumbled sleepily. "Good night."
"Night."
Sora sat on the edge of her seat, her legs crossed and her fingers pressed tightly together as she waited. She was the last one waiting in the room, all the other students having gone before her in alphabetical order according to their surnames. She uttered a soft sigh of impatience, glancing at the clock on the wall. An hour had already passed since the end of breakfast - another hour of a class for her to 'explore' gone to waste. Maybe it would have been better if she'd simply chosen a class before coming here, just to try it out for the duration of camp.
The door opened and a boy emerged from the office, a small piece of paper clutched in his hand. He gave her no notice as he quickly left the room to go to his new class. After he closed the door behind him, Sora tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath before getting up. She knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Sora stepped into the doorway of Counselor Ran's office. "Hi, Counselor Ran."
"Hello there. Come in and take a seat." Ran waved a hand at the chair in front of her makeshift desk and pushed a stack of the papers on her desk to the side. Sora closed the door behind her. "Takenouchi Sora, am I right? This will be just a routine check-up, it won't take very long at all. How was your class yesterday?"
Sora slid into the designated student's chair and forced a smile. "It was fun, I suppose. But I really don't think that creative writing is for me."
Ran nodded in a matter-of-fact manner. "I understand why it might not hold much appeal for you. Writing fiction is, of course, a lot of fun, but unless you feel passionate about it, it's pretty daunting to have it as an actual career." She pulled out a sheet of paper and scanned the list on it. "Well, do you have any idea yet which class you'd be interested in checking out for today?"
Sora shook her head. "Not really," she admitted, embarrassed. "I haven't really given it much thought."
"Take your time, there's no rush," Ran said encouragingly. "In any case, you still need a class to check out for the day." She scanned down the list before asking, "What do you think about theatre and drama production? You might enjoy that."
"I guess I could give it a try," Sora replied doubtfully. Secretly, Sora wasn't sure that theatre was for her in the long run. But, she reasoned, it was better to try out all of her options, just in case.
"Sounds good," Ran said cheerfully, oblivious to Sora's hesitation. She took out a scrap piece of paper and scribbled on it with her pen. "Here are the directions to get to the drama cabin. Let me know how it turns out tomorrow, okay?"
Sora nodded and stood up, taking the slip of paper into her palm. "I will. Thanks for the help, Ran," she said as she back up to the door and opened it. "See you later."
As soon as she got outside, she stopped to take a grateful breath of fresh air. She scanned the directions on the paper briefly before folding it and placing it in the back pocket of her shorts and starting down the worn pathway, following the trails of sneakers and sandals already left by the students who had gone this way earlier. A few minutes later, she spied the theatre cabin and, with a small knock on the door, slipped inside.
It was mostly dark, the only few lights turned on to face the makeshift stage on the far end of the room. Three girls were currently on the stage, acting out a scene of some sort. Sora hovered uncertainly by the door until a short female appeared by her side. "Exploratory course?" the woman asked, who Sora presumed to be the teacher.
Sora made a quick bow. "Yes, ma'am. I'm Takenouchi Sora. Counselor Ran sent me here today."
"Ah, I see. Well, take a seat back here and feel free to watch the others practice. After class has concluded, we can talk about you joining the class if you are still interested," the theatre teacher said with a small pat on Sora's elbow. Sora nodded in understanding and quietly took the nearest seat to the door that was available.
The performances were mostly serious, introspective dialogues between various characters, and it wasn't long before Sora's mind drifted. Her thoughts were not so much on the prospect of her latest class, however, but rather on a particular blond friend of hers...
Or whatever it was he to her, these days. She rubbed her temples as she sighed softly. What a mess.
Things had started out all right. When he came to the girls' cabin with Wakana, Sora had felt uncomfortable initially. But when dinner time came around and they left to hike back to the dining hall, things had felt right somehow between them, in a way that Sora hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe he had changed. When he began to allude so fondly to their former days together, her hopes had unknowingly been raised. She nearly confessed to him then that she had feelings for him - that they had never faded to begin with. After they broke up, Sora had sworn to herself that she would not voice the fact that she still had feelings for him because it was clear that things between them could not be worked out. End of story. But when she looked into his eyes last night, her silent vow had nearly been forgotten. And then, of course, reality came back to remind her of its ever looming presence.
"That's great!" Sora remembered Yamato saying enthusiastically to his fans when they'd literally appeared out of nowhere. His blue eyes had widened with genuine interest, his lips curved into a warm smile as he looked at the girls who had surrounded him. Sora had been pushed aside, and she automatically lingered for a few moments to wait for him. But it was easy to see where his true priorities laid: his "protests" to his fans that his friends were waiting for him were half-hearted and false. The girls had seen through it, and Sora had seen through it easily as well. It hurt her to think about it, but Sora realized that Yamato had probably only protested in the first place because he was expected to, what with her waiting for him.
So she left. In retrospect, she did overreact - just a tad - to Yamato's fans' presence. She could admit to that much, at least, now that she had had some time to think about what happened. A mature, thoughtful person probably would have handled the situation in a cooler manner that she had - and as Yamato's ex-girlfriend, who should be over him, she should have acted more indifferently about the whole thing. But, to Sora's frustration, whenever she was around Yamato, all of her rational thinking just seemed to fly out the window. All she was left with was her impulses, her instincts - and most of the time, they usually caused her to act in ways that inevitably led to her feeling no small degree of embarrassment later on when she could reflect back.
"Idiot," she muttered to herself under her breath. She slumped in her seat slightly lower and rubbed her eyes.
It hadn't mattered so much when they were together, but when they'd broke up, things were different and turned upside down. The only way that she knew how to cope with it all was by avoiding him. The onslaught of chaotic emotions that rose within her whenever she saw him simply were too much for her to handle on a daily basis, and, like a coward, she had opted to run away from him instead of trying to instill some sort of normalcy into their relationship as "just friends". Because away from Yamato, it was much easier for her to believe that she was strong enough to live her life the way she had before he had been apart of it.
It wasn't as if she couldn't live without Yamato - far from it. If there had to be some skill that the Digital World had helped her learn all those years ago, it would have to be her sense of resilience, her ability to survive independently from other people. Sora was determined to avoid the moping, self-pity period of weeping that other girls her age went through after the end of a relationship, and coped with the change in the way she found easiest to handle. She threw herself into her schoolwork, tennis, her mother's flower shop, and pushed herself to excel in every area that she could.
On the stage, a performance winded up and Sora straightened up in her seat and clapped politely like everyone else. When the next group trooped up onstage, she tuned them out again.
Her efforts to immerse herself in her activities had paid off in the past year. She'd taken the girls' tennis team at Odaiba to the regional finals, where they'd finished in third place - a high achievement for them in comparison to previous years. And her grades took a definitive turn for the better. Her parents had been extremely proud of her, and Sora would be lying if she didn't acknowledge that she was proud of herself too.
But - reluctantly and against her better judgment - Sora could also admit to herself that her accomplishments, though prestigious and wonderful, nonetheless felt incomplete to her. That was what clued her in to her still enduring feelings for him. She'd busied herself and did all she could short of changing schools to avoid running into Yamato; and yet, despite her best efforts, she realized that she still mourned the loss of his company. For most of their time together, Yamato had been her confidant and best friend. Even in the last months, when their meetings were strained and infrequent and caused her more pain than gave her joy, at least he had still remained a presence in her life.
There's a reason why he wasn't a presence afterward, though, she reminded herself mentally. Sora's hands twisted the fabric of her shirt, her head bowed. You broke up with him. It was your choice to cut him out of your life.
It was a melancholy thought, but then Sora rolled her eyes when she realized the ridiculousness of it all. It was an endless cycle: it hurt too much to be near him, and yet she missed him when he wasn't there. No matter where her decisions were, no matter how resolved she was about the course of action she should take, it all ended up being twisted between what her mind reasoned she needed and what her heart told her she wanted.
And it didn't help, either, that the rest of their friends were constantly trying to undermine her attempts to stay away from Yamato. She was no fool; Sora knew that the other Chosen Children were rooting - rather uselessly - for her to get back together with Yamato. They had kindly allowed her some time apart from him to adjust to their break-up and left them to their own devices. But as the months dragged on and contact between the two of them seemed to cease completely, however, the other Chosen Children felt compelled to step in and nudge them in the 'right direction' (as Mimi had bluntly put it during one of their late night chats).
Sora had resisted, and as far as she knew, Yamato had too to the meddling, well-meaning as it may have been. In the end, Taichi resolved the matter by finally putting his foot down and firmly insisting that they put aside their differences because of their duties to the Digital World. Taichi knew that she and Yamato were both too responsible to shirk on their duties, and used it to his advantage, calling upon his authority as the unofficial leader of the Chosen Children when he ordered them to cooperate.
He meant well, and though Sora still frowned now at the memory of Taichi's rare moment of sternness, she could grudgingly recognize that it was an action that Taichi had done with their best interests in mind. And to an extent, it worked. The forced contact helped ease Sora's feelings of being uncomfortable in Yamato's presence, since they were surrounded by their other friends. She didn't feel compelled to talk to him seriously in that type of setting, and it had allowed them to tentatively begin speaking again at least.
Of course, that was all moot now that he had shown his true colors. In his list of priorities, Sora was still very much at the bottom. It hurt more than she was willing to admit, even though she logically had no claim to a higher place in his life any longer.
The lights flickered on, and Sora blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden change in brightness in the theatre room. Distantly, the lunch bell rang and Sora gave a start. Was it already time to go? Her musings had taken up more time than she had thought.
As if on cue, the theatre teacher began to approach Sora with a smile. "Weren't the performances today outstanding?" she said enthusiastically, looking out fondly at the other students as they bid her goodbye on their way out of the room. "I'm really pleased with all of the students in this class, they show such promise. I hope that you'll become one of our numbers tomorrow as well!"
Sora coughed, embarrassed in the face of the theatre teacher's clear expectation. Awkwardly, Sora tried to politely explain, "I had a lot of fun today watching the others perform - but I'm really sorry to say that I don't think that theatre is for me."
There was time enough for a short pause of surprise on the theatre teacher's part before she recovered and smiled warmly. She patted Sora on the elbow. "Ah, well. Theatre isn't for everyone, though I'm sorry that you feel this way. Good luck on your future courses."
"Thank you, ma'am, for letting me sit in on your class," Sora said quickly and bowed, just relieved that the teacher's reaction wasn't nearly as bad as she had predicted. "I'll be going to lunch now."
The teacher readily agreed, and Sora excused herself from the cabin. She shaded her eyes from the bright sun overhead once she was outside and walked briskly up the path back to the dining hall. Unfortunately, since the theatre cabin was one of the further classes from the dining hall, by the time Sora reached it, the long line for food had already wound its way out the door and onto the pathway itself. She stifled an irritated groan and dutifully got to the end of the line, all the while debating whether or not she should just go inside and wait with Koushiro and Hayate for the line to get shorter. She wasn't really that hungry to begin with.
"Sora!"
She turned her head reflexively toward the sound of the voice calling her name and couldn't help but smile when she saw Wakana waving energetically. As Wakana came closer, she saw that Yamato was following Wakana at a further distance and swallowed nervously. Did she have to see him already? Maybe it would have been better if she did go inside while she had the chance. Then again, why did she always have to be the one who had to leave when Yamato was around? Her thoughts continued to spiral in incoherent directions, and she quickly tried to focus on remaining cool and calm at Yamato's arrival. She didn't want to allow him to see how easily he unnerved her with his very presence.
Thankfully, since Wakana had rushed ahead first, Sora was given some extra time to prepare for his arrival. Her cellist roommate looked happy to see her, and Sora pushed aside her thoughts of Yamato. "Hi Wakana. Why are you so late today?" Sora inquired pleasantly.
Wakana looked rueful. "The music room was kind of loud, so we didn't even hear the bell ring," she explained, "and it didn't help that Yamato was taking forever to pack up his things."
"I was not," Yamato said as he came closer, shifting the strap of his bass case on his shoulder to a more comfortable position. "Hey, Sora."
Sora nodded but before she could answer, Wakana engaged her in conversation again. "So how was your class today? Which subject did you sit in on?"
"Counselor Ran sent me to theatre today." Sora tried to ignore the silent weight of Yamato's gaze on her and shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. "It was all right, but theatre just isn't for me."
"Oh. That's too bad," Wakana said sympathetically. "So where are you going to go tomorrow?"
Sora rubbed the back of her neck and shifted her weight. "I haven't given it a lot of thought yet," she said slowly. "I know that something as important as my future college major shouldn't be held off on, and that I should probably come up with some kind of plan of attack. Like Koushiro told me to do." Sora smiled briefly at that. "But it's just so overwhelming - there are so many possibilities, it makes me nervous just to think about it."
"Why don't you come with us to music tomorrow?"
Sora blinked at Wakana's abrupt suggestion. Even Yamato seemed taken aback by it. "What?" he asked Wakana in a sharp tone that didn't escape Sora's notice.
"Well, if you don't have ideas for which class to go to, why go to a boring one that Counselor Ran assigns to you at random?" Wakana explained, seeing the shocked look that must have been evident on Sora's face. "You might as well come to music with us."
"I'm fairly sure that going to music will be a pointless idea," Sora said, frowning. "I already know that music is a class that I would never actually seriously consider for a college major. Why go and waste my time?"
Wakana looked playfully injured at Sora's response, but her expression brightened as she tried a new tactic to convince Sora. "We're having auditions for seats tomorrow, and everyone is practicing like crazy to make sure that they sound good. You'll hear some amazing music. And I'm sure that Yamato would appreciate having you there to support us too. Right, Yamato?" Wakana added, shooting a significant look Yamato's way and elbowing him jokingly in the ribs.
Yamato didn't respond and looked down instead at Sora. His expression revealing nothing as his eyes flickered over her face, as if trying to measuring her thoughts. "You don't have to come if you don't want to," Yamato said eventually. When Wakana gave a small groan of indignation, a small smile appeared on his lips as he looked back at Wakana and he added, "But of course we would like it if you were there."
Sora was taken off guard for a moment by the unexpected camaraderie between Yamato and Wakana, and for a short second experienced a strange mixture of apprehension and something else... but she couldn't linger on it, as Wakana had swiveled around to look for Sora's reply, and simply sighed instead. "Well, I guess I could -"
"Yes!" Wakana clapped her hands together. "It'll be fun, Sora, you'll see," she promised.
She continued to speak enthusiastically about the prospect of the next day, and Sora hummed and nodded at all the right places. Her mind was elsewhere, though. She couldn't help but notice that Wakana wasn't as shy as she had been when she first introduced herself to Sora just a few days ago. The change wasn't extremely noticeable, but it was a distinct change nonetheless.
Sora wondered distantly if it was maybe because of Yamato that this change had occurred. Something about the way Yamato acted made her believe that this was probably the case. He talked to Wakana often enough, his eyes sparked with that special earnest whenever the conversation turned to music, which Sora saw was mirrored in Wakana's eyes.
Watching them made her want to look away, so she did. It bothered her more than she was willing to admit - that an acquaintance of only a few days could capture Yamato's interest and hold it in a way that she herself was unable to.
When they finally were able to get their trays of food and make their way to the group's table, Sora felt a small amount of relief as she sat down at her seat between Taichi and Koushiro. The computer genius was currently engrossed in a technical conversation with Hayate - did they never run out of things to talk about? Sora wondered - so she turned instead to Taichi and Kiku to occupy her attention. "Hey, how did your scavenging go today?" she asked them.
Taichi groaned immediately. "Don't ask," he said, looking pitifully miserable.
Sora glanced at Kiku for clarification. For once, her bubbly roommate looked serious, even crestfallen. "It was bad," Kiku said, looking down at her tray of food.
"What happened?" Sora said sympathetically. "You guys were so confident yesterday."
Kiku and Taichi exchanged a glance with each other before Taichi turned to Sora. "It was probably because we did so over-confident about our plan yesterday that we did badly today," he said self-deprecatingly. "We got cocky... well, Kohei, Kiku, and I did. Suzu tried to keep us on track, but we were so sure that we would do well no matter what."
"We ended up running out of time," Kiku took up the thread of the conversation seriously and in a subdued tone, "and we got a few more items that were on the list. We probably missed, like, about a dozen less than what we needed to fill our quota for the day." Both Kiku and Taichi winced at this. "Hiroyuki really gave us a scolding when we reported to him how we did."
Sora squeezed Taichi's forearm comfortingly. "It's all right," she encouraged them both in an attempt to raise their spirits. "You'll have another chance tomorrow to make up for your mistake. Don't give up."
Kiku sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." They were quiet for a moment before Kiku changed the topic. "What was your class today, Sora?"
"Theatre," Sora replied, shrugging. "I'm not going back there tomorrow."
"Oh. That's too bad. You didn't like it?"
Sora shook her head vigorously. "I respect people who do like acting, but it just isn't something I can see myself doing."
"So where are you going to tomorrow?" Taichi asked.
Self-consciously, she grabbed her juice bottle and fiddled with the lid. "Music, actually."
"How cool! So you'll be going to class with Wakana and Yamato!" Kiku exclaimed, not noticing Taichi gaping wordlessly at Sora. "Did they convince you to give music a try?"
Sora took a sip from her juice before she answered. "Wakana more or less coerced me into going," she admitted. "But I'm not really going to try music seriously. She told me that tomorrow are their auditions, and lured me into coming to hear free music."
"Didn't know you were the stingy type, Sora," Taichi remarked, his eyes intent on her face and obviously trying to figure out what was her real motive for going to music class. "Is free music really strong enough to get you to go?"
"I'll be going to support Wakana and Yamato in their auditions too, of course," Sora defended herself, immediately disliking Taichi's suspicious tone. "What's it to you?"
Taichi frowned at her. "I'm just curious. You've never been one to really appreciate music," he said bluntly. He sounded almost accusing.
Sora couldn't help but glance at the other side of the table. Yamato had grown still, probably having picked up a few words from their conversation. Sora rolled her eyes and grit her teeth. "Does it really matter, Taichi? If I want to go, then I'll go." She drained the rest of her bottle and pushed her food back onto her tray. "Look, I'm going to go for a walk, all right? Don't wait for me."
"Well, we'll probably in the guys' cabin if you want to join us," Kiku said, her expression slightly bewildered by Sora and Taichi's cool tone. "But do you want me to go with you, Sora?"
"No, I'll be fine." Sora forced a brief smile. "See you guys later." She gathered her tray and took it with her to the nearest trash can to dispose of her food. Then, she quickly weaved her way through the tables to escape outside.