Author's note: 1/22/09: (: enjoy reading! ^^
Disclaimer 1: I don't own Eyeshield 21, but I do own Kamiya Mayuri.
Disclaimer 2: OOCness, probably. :P
Disclaimer 3: SPOILER ALERT! (Just in case.)
In Her Own Little World: aka Stop Cussing, Hiruma!
Chapter 7: Leaving
~off~
After school, Kamiya headed again towards the American football club office. As she neared the building, she spotted Anezaki waving to her, broom in hand.
"Mayuri-chan!" Anezaki called. "Where were you at lunch? I couldn't find you!"
"Ahh, gomen… I think we barely missed each other when we were looking. I couldn't find you or the other two girls either…" Kamiya frowned.
"Oh well," Anezaki replied. "We might as well continue to talk for minute or two, until you have to go inside. So what's new today, other than what you told me this morning?"
The other girl whispered into her friend's ear. Then she stepped back, slightly worried. "Do you think it'll work?"
A knowing smile crept across Anezaki's face. "It might not at first, but it should in the end. I'll help you. Let's go in, then!"
~on~
The two girls soon went inside. Apparently, only one person was in the building. Anezaki went off to organize the office, rearranging or putting away what could be rearranged or put away. At the same time, Kamiya walked straight towards the lone figure at a corner table, poring over a file containing what looked to be statistics.
"Hiruma-kun."
The figure looked up at Kamiya's greeting and stared down with an annoyed, 'do not interrupt me when I'm clearly busy doing something' expression. "What. Are you that eager to begin tutoring? I'll be ready after I'm done looking at this!" He waved his papers around, filling the girl's view with multiple sheets.
"Ahh… no… I just came to say that I'm not tutoring you anymore. I mean, you're smart enough already, and you don't really have a problem with what you've asked me for help with, so far…" she answered.
"Kekekeke… really?" Hiruma pulled a little black book out of nowhere and began fingering it.
At this moment, Anezaki approached and berated him. "Hiruma-kun! You are NOT going to threaten my best friend, especially after she helped you the past two days! Just ask her for help when you REALLY need it! Preferably DURING SCHOOL HOURS!" Anezaki glared at Hiruma, hands on her hips.
An intense staredown commenced.
Anezaki was unrelenting. So Hiruma, after a while, thought What the…? Che! According to previous arguments, the chances that I'm eventually going to lose or give in are around 45%. But the chances that it'll waste a lot of time to win this 'argument' are… 100%! Stubborn managers…overbearing and way too motherly… they annoy me to no end!
"Fine, whatever," Hiruma gave in. To Anezaki, he continued, "But I only said Kamiya isn't officially my tutor anymore. That doesn't mean I won't be able to coerce any help from her for something else some other time. Now if you two will EXCUSE ME, I'm busy."
"Arigatou, Hiruma-kun!" both replied enthusiastically.
Then the two girls escaped outside for a celebratory cheer.
"It worked! You really helped a lot, Mamori-chan! I'm so glad he actually listens to you, at least sometimes," said Kamiya, once they were far enough outside to be out of Hiruma's range of hearing.
"You're welcome," Anezaki replied. Actually, I was planning to 'nag him to no end', both now and afterwards, if he didn't give in. "Well… I'm actually pretty surprised. Things seemed to go a bit too smoothly back there. And half the time Hiruma doesn't listen to me either. Anyways, I've got to go." She eyed the American football team members, who were now trickling past the two, heading towards the club office. "So see you tomorrow!"
Then both girls waved goodbye to each other, each leaving as they parted with a "Mata ashita, Mayuri-chan, Mamori-chan!"
~off~
Kamiya immediately left for home—after stopping at her locker. At her locker, she readied her backpack with what she'd need for the afternoon's homework; then she folded her jacket and shoved it, too, into her backpack before finally turning to leave. As she walked home, though, she had to face the after-school rush of homeward-bound students. Thankfully, no one stopped to her other than to wave or call out a quick greeting.
Unfortunately, being summer, the temperature had by now escalated to its daytime peak, and the press of the also-overheated bodies of nearby students did not improve the simmering atmosphere. A sheen of sweat broke out and coated her skin, forming miniature droplets that somewhat blew away with a sudden gust of wind.
Soon enough, the traffic on the sidewalks thinned out, and Kamiya breathed a long sigh of relief. By now, there remained approximately one mile to cover before she reached home. During the following twenty minutes, she was able to close her eyes, as she'd done so many times before on the way home from school. Deeper into the residential section of town, the atmosphere was quieter, as the main disturbances were caused by the few vehicles that occasionally whizzed past. She enjoyed having the leisure to close her eyes and seemingly 'space out' on her walk home, when few others would be there to interrupt her. This served as a peaceful intermission out of a busy day. She would be able to listen to (and feel) the outside world from her temporarily sightless perspective, and she would slowly unwind any accumulating stress.
Once she finally reached home, she found her brother's car missing. She coolly unlocked the front door and entered without showing any sign of surprise. Inside, she quickly took a shower before starting to study.
~on~
Most of the next day seemed to pass uneventfully. In Kamiya's Japanese (language) class, a research paper was assigned and the students spent the period brainstorming and picking their essay topic. During first period chemistry, the only thing oddly amusing was the teacher's turning around every few minutes; the teacher would glance at Hiruma chewing gum and loudly popping the bubbles—which was technically not allowed on school grounds during school hours—but she would turn back to what she was teaching on the board almost immediately, before starting the entire cycle over again every few minutes. Then when she took English, all her class did was watch the Disney movie "Aladdin" as it was originally produced—in English, with no Japanese subtitles; the class would most likely finish the movie the following day, and write a short essay on the movie next week. Nothing unusual happened in Kamiya's third period art class, where the class was allowed to draw a sketch of their favorite animal—for some reason, she felt like drawing a (beautiful, not ugly) dragon, so she did—a sketch to be completed, hopefully, by the next Monday at the start of the period. During fourth period pre-calculus, she struggled somewhat over the trickier problems, though. And fifth period was spent taking notes on Japanese history.
During sixth period PE, though, things were different. Although nothing was out of the ordinary with the other students, or with the class itself, something subconsciously sparked a renewed ambition in Kamiya. Even Anezaki noticed it.
The PE teacher had told the students, "Class, today we're playing soccer. The boys' and girls' groups will take turns on the field, but first everyone must head to the track oval, where you will run four laps. I'm warning you, though, you will be timed for this mile. So good luck, everyone, and work hard!"
Yeah… Why not try harder today during the mile? After all, for what I planned this afternoon, I might need the practice… Kamiya outfitted herself mentally, determined to really have fun in PE today. She wormed her way through the group and quickly found Anezaki among the students lining up along the starting point. The two managed to exchange a brief greeting before the teacher called the class to order.
"Attention! Class has started, kids—less chatter, please. Save your breath for your exercise," the teacher sternly gave his reminder. "All right. Ready. Set. GO!"
Then the entire class began running the assigned mile. Some broke out into a sprint right away, only to reveal the level of their stamina as they slowed down after sprinting for half a lap. Others picked a steady pace and kept at it. Still others either refused to attempt the mile with any effort, or they were simply unable to keep up with the rest.
Anezaki ran alongside Kamiya for around three hundred meters, but soon dropped off, breathlessly, to a slower pace. Wow… Mayuri really is 'into' PE class today… normally she doesn't start off this fast, nor does she normally gain such a progressively widening gap from me. She really does love running, doesn't she? A knowing smile crept across Anezaki's face as she passed the four-hundred-meter mark, keeping up with the main body of the jogging students.
By this time Kamiya was almost finished with her second lap. Sweat silently ran down her face, arms, and thighs as she struggled to keep her place among the leading runners. Ahh… seven hundred meters… keep going… must keep going… eight hundred meters. Good, halfway done… wonder if I'll ever be able to slip into that 'runner's high' that I've heard about… okay, one thousand meters done. This is SO tiring. Now my legs feel like lead… comes from not working hard enough to keep in shape. Yaaaa~ one lap left!
Unbeknownst to her, the sports club boys in front of or immediately behind her started panicking. "Hey! We can't let a GIRL beat us! We're in the sports clubs! We've got to be faster! And isn't this the girl who normally runs way behind us, with that one cute girl, Anezaki? How'd she get here?!?" The males running nearby 'the girl' quickly made efforts to speed up.
Kamiya noticed the guys around her muttering amongst themselves. As they accelerated, she too tried to finish with them. However, by the time the leading group of ten or so students had reached the fourteen-hundred-meter mark, she'd fallen behind, moving from the front four to the front eight. Oh no! Since I left Mamori's side, I should be making up for it by being much faster! I mean, this IS just 'practice' in PE, but…
"Good job, Mayuri-chan! Keep going!" cheered Mamori, from several meters behind Kamiya.
"I will!" Kamiya replied, panting in short, quick breaths. We lapped Mamori already? O_O… alright. You musn't let her down, Mayuri! Get fourth place again, at least! She slipped into a temporary sprint for the remaining hundred and fifty meters. Her legs flew to the extent that even her gym shorts started riding up. She hastily pulled them down as she continued to finish the mile.
"… Kamiya, six-seventeen!" the gym teacher called out. Then he continued calling out the times for the people who followed behind her.
She had finished third among the sixth-period PE students. YESYESYES!!! I FINISHED THIRD! Wow… that is SO cool! And I finished with a great time! … for me, anyway. Maybe I actually CAN do this! I guess all the exercising served as practice and really paid off!
The guys who finished close to Kamiya walked off breathing heavily, with defeated expressions. In their minds, they were thinking… O_O. What just HAPPENED there? I shouldn't be forced to try really hard just to avoid being embarrassed! Ugh. Fine, whatever. Then they became determined to never again allow a girl to beat them in PE.
Kamiya had moved off to the side, clapping for her friends as they finished.
"Anezaki, eight-twenty-three!"
Then the two girls grabbed each other in a bear hug and congratulated each other. Then they went off the track to stretch before joining the class in soccer.
~off~
KIII~N! The sound of the bell released the throngs of students, eager to leave their classes as soon as possible.
Anezaki and Kamiya had to 'leave' as well, but for different reasons. After saying goodbye at their locker, the two girls parted and quickly disappeared into the cheery (though noisy) mass of students.
Anezaki headed towards her club office, and being in a good mood, she began to softly hum her favorite song to herself.
On the other hand, Kamiya turned towards the sports club rooms. She looked around, and finally found the one she was looking for.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"C-come in!" called a voice from within.
So she did.
Author's note: How was it? :P Hm… which room did the Kamiya knock on? …
Thank you RoseJustice, xDarklightx, and Ayla The Librarian for your reviews (on ch. 6)!! Glad you liked the story/chapter 6!
Thanks for reading, and REVIEW PLEASE! ^^
Translations~
Shurimasen / gomen (gomen nasai): sorry (Although shurimasen is more formal, I think.)
Mata ashita: see you tomorrow
Arigatou (arigatou gozaimasu): thank you
