Chapter Thirteen: To the Victor...

I didn't run Friday morning. I felt better, the mental breakdown from the previous day all gone. My hand's injury was sealed up, but I still had to bandage it. Luckily, there were some bandages in the bathroom, so after I showered, I patched myself up.

The day went off without a hitch. I shared lunch with Emi, Hisao, and Rin rather than Hanako and Lilly, however. I didn't want to relapse so soon, the dam bursting into little specks of crap. The lunch wasn't bad, and Emi reminded me to go to practice.

I went to practice, which lasted for several hours. The preliminary sprints resulted in no change with the relay line-up. Miki still handed the baton to me, and I still handed it to Emi. The running left me more sore than usual.

I went back to my room and slept like a baby, not even bothering to eat dinner. I was sore from all the running. Though I could run fast and I could run long, my body wasn't adjusted to the run-stop-run regiment that I had done the past couple days. Were it four months earlier, maybe I would have been adjusted.

Saturday was a whole new day. I woke up feeling good despite my soreness. I did my morning routine before making some breakfast. After I ate the cereal, I took my pills and put on my school uniform.

Homeroom was surprisingly lax. I greeted Miki and Suzumiya as I had the previous two days and took my seat next to Hisao. He was passed out on his desk. Misha wasn't even being loud, to my surprise.

We returned to physics that morning, but Mutou assigned no group work. I wouldn't have complained anyway, since I didn't want to be in a group. I thought that working alone might help with my physical duress, for some reason. I didn't question my illogical thoughts, since I just wanted the day over already.

Once the bell sounded, everyone geared up to leave. It was a long, dull process of physics and history. Regardless, I approached Miki before she could leave.

"Hey Miki," I said as she was nearing the door.

"Yeah?" She turned around.

"How long's track gonna be today?" I asked.

She tapped her chin with her fingers. "Maybe an hour?" she guessed. "I think we're just practicing the relay again. Anything after is optional."

I nodded. "Thanks," I said.

"Any time."

We both left the room, going our separate ways. She must have had her running gear with her, since she headed straight for the exit. I instead went to the dorms. In the dorms, I changed into my running clothes and made my way to the track.

Practice was definitely short. Our positions didn't change on the relay, and we executed the relay itself perfectly. We practiced it four times, an improvement being made each time.

"Alright team," Yoshimata announced at the end of practice. "If you want to practice more, be my guest. Practice is over. Now tomorrow..." He paused dramatically. "Let's kick some ass!"

The team cheered at Yoshimata's words. I couldn't help but get into the cheering mood. After a few moments, people started to disperse. I planned on going to the dorms and relaxing. If I could, I would have taken a nice bath, but that was unlikely.

I headed to the dorms and immediately took a shower. I stood in the hot shower for ten minutes, not even washing. I let the warm fluid run down my body in hopes of it alleviating some of the soreness that plagued my legs.

I started cleaning off after it felt like my plan had worked. After another ten minutes, I got out of the shower, my legs feeling less sore. I dried off and put underwear on. I walked back to my room and put on some loose clothes. A thin t-shirt and basketball shorts were what I wore.

I stretched out on my bed, hoping some of the remaining soreness would dissipate. I had no real luck and started pacing back and forth. I had several hours left to do things, yet I was completely unsure of what to do. The soreness made me uneasy to do anything physical and my small mental breakdown made me not want to hang out with Hanako or Lilly. Miki and Suzu were options, but I had no idea what they'd be doing. Emi was likely still running and Hisao seemed to want to sleep all day. That left me with Kenji, who wasn't my top priority.

Who the hell else is there? I thought. I drew a blank.

Reluctantly, I walked out into the hall and knocked on Kenji's door. After hearing footsteps and numerous locks being undone, the door opened.

"Yeah?" my crazed hallmate said. "Who is it?"

"It's Adolf," I replied.

"'Sup?"

"Just wond-"

"Hey," he interrupted. "Game's on, wanna watch?"

He either read my mind or was already watching. "What kind of game?"

"American baseball," he said. They get American baseball games here?

I thought about it for a second. I wanted to do something, reluctantly went to Kenji, and then he offers me to watch baseball with him. I didn't even mention that I wanted to hang out.

"Sure, why not?" I said as I entered Kenji's room.

Kenji wasn't keen on me just barging in, but he backed up. "Hey, you got any money?"

I nodded as I looked around. "Why?"

"Pizza."

"How much do you need?"

"About six hundred yen."

"Do I get any of that pizza?" Kenji nodded reluctantly. "Give me a second."

I walked back to my room and grabbed six hundred yen for the anti-feminist. Pizza's pizza.

"Thanks dude," he said as I handed him the money. He didn't make any motion to order pizza, leaving me wonder why. Wait, didn't he say he doesn't use phones?

"Kenji, how are you going to order that pizza if you don't use a phone?"

I must have caught him off guard. "What... what do you mean?"

"You need a phone to order pizza. You don't have a phone."

Kenji seemed tense. "Uh, right. About that..."

I looked around his room once more. There was an empty pizza box laying on his desk, indicating that he did buy a pizza the previous week. He had a TV, but it wasn't turned on. There were numerous maps hanging on the walls, all marked up like strategists' maps. He did have some puppets in a corner as well as some graphs. Seeing as the TV wasn't on, he was full of crap.

"TV's not on," I said. "You weren't watching TV."

"Dammit man, I thought you were cool," he said, as if he got got with his pants down.

"Give me back my money," I said. "And I am 'cool.' I think you're the one not being cool."

He reluctantly handed me back the six hundred yen. "What the hell do you mean?"

"If we truly are brothers in the fight against feminism," I said, playing off of his nutjob conspiracies. "You shouldn't lie to me, man."

It seemed like I struck a nerve, since he seemed remorseful. "I'm sorry man, I just got carried away."

I walked towards the door. "It's alright, bro," I said, adopting some of his speech. "Just don't do it again."

"Where are you going?"

I quickly thought of a lie. "To gather intel."

Kenji nodded. "I guess I should do that, too." He disregarded me and opened a notebook. "Now who can I look into?"

I walked out of Kenji's room and closed the door. I calmly walked into my room and closed my door.

"That was a bad idea," I said aloud. Hearing English, even if it was just me speaking, was always pleasant.

I rummaged for some more food and turned on the TV. I doubted that baseball was on, but I didn't really care. I wasn't big on baseball. I severely doubted I would have been able to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs, either. Getting American baseball was unlikely, but getting any of the NHL? Impossible.

I couldn't find anything worth watching, so I turned off the TV. I took what food I had, mainly snacks, and sat at the desk. I turned on my laptop and looked for something to watch. After searching for a good ten minutes, I found something to watch and sat back, snacking.

It wasn't long before I lost track of time. The sky darkened before I knew it and I started to get sleepy. I got up and showered once more. I brushed my teeth as well, before I went back to my room and slept.

I woke up at nine-thirty on Sunday. We needed to be at the track at ten, so I shot up and got dressed. I did my morning routine and ate breakfast in my track clothes before running out of the dorms.

I was on the stairs outside of the dorms when someone called my name. I turned around to see Suzumiya running up to me.

"Hey Suzumiya," I said. "You sleep in, too?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"We should get going, then," I said, jogging off. I wasn't going fast, so Suzumiya was able to keep up. We made it to the track with ten minutes remaining. I had no idea how twenty minutes passed that fast, but I figured it was 9:45 when we left.

I looked around for Emi and Miki. Yoshimata was talking to them, so I bid farewell and good luck to Suzumiya as I jogged over.

Yoshimata turned around as I jogged over. "Adolf!" he said. "How nice of you to show up." He turned back to Emi and Miki. "Anyway, you three going to be side-by-side for the four hundred meter dash."He took a breath. "As for the other events, I don't know if you'll run in them all. The relay's the exception, since you already knew you'd run that." He turned around. "Now, I'm going to talk with the rest of the team, so you can start stretching."

We started to stretch as he walked away. "What lanes are we in?" I asked mid-stretch.

Miki shrugged. "We'll find out before we start."

We kept stretching as Yoshimata had a pep-talk with the team. I really had no idea how track meets worked, but I assumed that so long as we had the best overall time, we'd win. I decided against asking about it.

My legs weren't sore, much to my relief. The other team arrived at ten and spectators started to show up in bulk around then. There were some people already in the bleachers, however, notably Rin and a familiar looking woman.

"Is Suzu watching?" I asked Miki.

"She should be arriving," Miki replied.

I glanced up at the bleachers again to see Rin leaving. I knew she was scatterbrained, but that was strange. I decided that she was getting something and kept stretching.

It wasn't long until we had to get ready for the dash. I glanced back at the bleachers to see Rin return with Hisao, who seemed like he just got up. Yoshimata came around and told us where to go.

Emi was in the outermost lane, which I figured was the first lane. Miki was in the second and I was in the third. There were six runners total, so it was their best three against our best three. As it turned out, I was the only guy out of the six.

I dropped into the running stance, or whatever it's called. Miki was ready to spring up, as was Emi, though Emi probably was able to actually spring up. I glanced at the starter, who raised his starting revolver. I never understood why the starters raised the revolvers. They were loaded with blanks, so they could just shoot at the ground or something. Must've been tradition.

When the trigger was pulled, we all shot off. Emi, Miki, and I kept pace, but so did the other team. We were essentially tied, but as we converged on the inside line, Emi took point. Miki and I followed close behind.

We rounded the corners, keeping pace, but Emi wasn't in the lead anymore when the final corner was rounded. Miki and I caught up with her, as well as one of the Yamagata girls. Emi lurched forward with an unnatural burst of speed, one that I could have matched. I decided not to, since we already had the dash in the bag. Emi crossed the finish line first, followed by me, Miki, and the one girl from Yamagata. We tied for second.

The crowd cheered loudly and the announcer gave the results, full of joy. The announcer's voice was awfully bubbly. Is that Misha? I thought. The three of us met up with Yoshimata as the two hundred meter dash was being prepared.

"Okay," he said as he noticed us. "Great job out there. All three of you. Now, Emi, you'll run the next dash with Haruhiko and Hikari." Emi nodded and promptly ran back off to the track. Yoshimata strolled off to find the other two and I stood there with Miki.

"Does she do this often?" I asked.

"Do what?" Miki asked in reply.

"Run multiple events."

Miki nodded, her hair bouncing around. "After this, she'll run in the hundred meter and the relay."

"Do you know what we're running in besides the relay?"

Miki shook her head. "I only know that because Emi volunteered. Usually, Hideo chooses the runners, but Emi always volunteers for the sprints."

A thought crossed my mind that didn't ask beforehand. "Why aren't there separate track teams?"

"What do you mean? Like boys' and girls' teams?" I nodded. "I wondered the same thing when I first came here."

I wondered when she did come to Yamaku, but that was for a later discussion. "I still wonder why, though." The revolver was fired, marking the start of the sprint.

"Yamaku isn't normal, you know that."

"Yeah, that's for damn sure."

Miki shrugged. "Well, I don't know why, myself. Maybe it's just one of those things."

"A quirk of sorts."

"Yeah."

I shrugged. I found myself staring at her as she watched the runners. I averted my attention from her as I tried to focus on the runners as well. Involuntarily, I glanced at my hand, knowing Emi would come out on top. My hand was still bandaged, yet nobody asked what happened. Probably for the better, I concluded.

After the runners finished, the crowd cheered once more. The Misha-sounding announcer gave the results once more and Emi headed back out on the track after drinking some water. Yoshimata rounded up two more runners and they headed to the blocks.

"Think we're doing mid-distance?" I asked Miki.

She turned her head. "Most likely."

There was a slight breeze flowing through. It felt good, not only to me, but to Miki. She sighed, not one of disappointment, but one of comfort.

"Enjoying the breeze?" I asked. She nodded.

I kept my focus on Emi as she got ready to run. Her lips curled into a devious grin as the starter told them to get set. When the trigger was pulled, Emi was like a severely stressed spring that just had that stress removed. She sprinted extremely fast, and the sprint itself was over in a few seconds. Emi's malicious grin was shortly replaced by her girly one as she bounded off of the track.

The crowd cheered for the third time. The announcer gave the results a third time, as well. Yoshimata made his way to Miki and me in the meantime.

"So, what are we doing?" I asked.

"Eight hundred meter mid-distance and the mile run," he said. "The fifteen hundred will be handled by another group." He turned to find another member of the team. "Dammit, where's Daiki?" I heard him say as he ran off. He walked funny, something I only noticed then.

"What's with the way he walks?" I asked as we walked to the starting blocks.

"Supposedly, it's his foot," Miki said with a grin. "But we suspect otherwise."

I grinned at her implication as we got into position. The boy who must have been Daiki ran over and got in position next to me. I glanced at the other team, noticing that it was still only girls. The starter told us to get ready and we did. Once the gun was fired, we sprang off of the blocks like they were springboards.

Miki and I quickly took to the front of the pack. I wasn't putting my all in, instead keeping steady. I could tell that Miki was doing the same. It was to be expected, since we weren't sprinting. We rounded the first corner, still in the front. The other team's girls started sprinting to catch up, causing Miki and me to increase our speed. Daiki was in the middle of the other group, not entirely trying.

We were halfway done with the second lap and nearing the finish. Miki and I both sprinted to the finish, the Yamagata girls trying to keep up. Daiki was still in the middle of the other group, somehow. We crossed the finish, sweat building on my back.

The crowd cheered and the announcer gave the results, joyfully. We seemed to be dominating the meet. The Yamagata team, which I realized was all girls, didn't seem daunted by the fact that we were kicking their asses. Miki and I joined Emi in the grass as the fifteen hundred meter was about to start.

"Good job out there, guys!" Emi exclaimed as we walked towards her.

"Thanks, you too," I said. Miki nodded.

"Are you two running the mile?" Emi asked. We both nodded.

The question I asked Miki resurfaced in my mind. "Hey Emi, how come there's just one track team?" I asked.

She put on her thinking face, which was borderline constipated. "There aren't enough boys in track to have a boys' team."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She pointed towards our team. "There aren't many guys. Maybe six, with you included."

I never paid any mind to that, but it made sense. It would hardly be practical to have a separate team if there were only six runners.

There were several water bottles set out. I took one and gave Miki one. I drank my water as the mid-distance event continued. Miki had to grasp the bottle with her knees and turn the cap with her hand. Should've opened it, asshat.

When the runners finished, the crowd cheered, but not as loud as before. The announcer's results were also less cheerful.

"We lost that one then, huh?" I asked Emi. She nodded.

Miki took two large gulps of water before placing the bottle on a nearby table. I did the same and we ran back out to the track. We got in position and were joined by a black-haired girl. When the revolver was fired, both teams shot off.

The mile run was just like the runs Hisao, Emi, and I did in the mornings. We ran a mile in the morning, and I was running a mile there. While running, my breathing got into the harmonious rhythm that had been there during our morning runs.

I led the charge, Miki following closely behind. There was a Yamagata girl right on our asses, but she couldn't match either of our paces. The first three laps passed just like that. Our black-haired teammate was in fifth place, but I was in first, with Miki in second. Once the final stretch came, however, our dark-haired companion jumped to fourth and Miki dropped to third. The finish line was near, and so was the Yamagata ass-rider.

I pushed myself into a full sprint, as if I was racing Emi. The finish line was within reach and my foot crossed it. I'm first! I happily thought. The Yamagata girl who was in second was in a close second, tied with Miki. Miki managed to tie it up with the other girl, thankfully.

The crowd cheered really loud, as did the announcer. I glanced into the bleachers to see Hisao clapping and cheering as well. Rin seemed disinterested, but she always seemed spaced out like that. Hisao must have noticed me looking at him, since he gave me a thumbs up. I noticed that the familiar woman had left.

I returned the gesture and ran back to the water, taking a quick swig. The relay was being set up. I was the only one on our team not in position. Emi was running anchor, something I didn't understand, so she was going to sprint out and grab the baton. I quickly ran to my position and got ready.

There were only four people in the relay. I misunderstood what Yoshimata said at the first practice, thinking there were a lot of people. In fact, that was just elimination, more or less. Everyone was in position, so the starter got ready to initiate the relay.

A brown-haired girl named Hitomi was our first runner. She sprinted out with the baton and covered the distance between her and Miki at the same rate as her Yamagata counterpart. Miki stumbled when she received the baton, causing her opponent to hand-off before her.

I sprinted off, receiving the baton shortly after. I quickly matched the girl running against me. I was increasing my speed, gaining a lead against the girl. After I hit the visual marker, Emi sprinted on the track and I handed it off to her. There was a considerable lead between her and her Yamagata counterpart. I slowed down, putting my hands behind my head.

Emi crossed the finish line with a small stumble, one that was barely noticeable. We won the relay, causing the crowd to stand and cheer. The Mishannouncer gave the results with even more glee. I waited for Miki and we walked toward the rest of the team together.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

Miki nodded. "Her stumble? That can't be good."

The team was crowded around Emi, congratulating her on winning for us. Miki and I joined in the cheering. Eventually, Yoshimata spoke up.

"Hey, Adolf! Miki!" he called. Why is he saying our names? "Get your asses in here!" I glanced at Miki. She shrugged and we walked into the center with Emi.

Everyone on the team cheered for us. At first, I was in shock that they even were cheering me. Then I realized that Miki and I were just as instrumental in our victory as Emi was. I felt quite good. Once the cheering died down a bit, Emi nudged me and walked towards two people. Those two people were Hisao and Rin.

"Hey, you showed up!" Emi exclaimed to the two of them. "Guess Rin owes me money, huh?"

"Hey, Emi!" Miki said. She had followed us. "You still owe me some money!" Emi frowned.

"We would have brought you a crown of laurels," Rin said. "But Hisao didn't find one."

Hisao got defensive. "Hey, neither did you."

"It wasn't my job to look." Rin seemed bored with his response.

"When did we assign jobs?"

I looked at Emi, who just smiled at the two bickering. When I looked at Miki, she was looking at the two, as well. She was somewhat confused, but amused at the same time.

"When I said, 'See if you can find a laurel branch,'" Rin continued, a bored expression on her face. "Try to keep up," Rin added with a slight grin.

Hisao shrugged. "Seems it's my fault after all, Emi."

Emi laughed while Miki and I just stared. "It's okay," Emi said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll make it up to me somehow."

Hisao looked confused. "Uh, sure."

"I like how we don't get any laurel branches," I mused. Miki heard me and nodded, slightly grinning.

"Good!" Emi said in gleeful response to Hisao. "So, how'd we look?"

Hisao seemed at a loss for words, but Rin was at a loss of reality. She just stared at the sky.

"Uh, you all looked very impressive," Hisao said. Emi grinned, but I knew why he said we looked very impressive, rather than anything else.

Hisao was a very readable guy, but girls seemed unable to notice such indicators. I knew he wanted to say Emi was the best, trying to flatter her or something. He was likely allured to her as she ran. However, he refrained from doing so, not only because Miki and I were present, but because he didn't want to come off as weird to Emi. They hadn't started dating, so saying something that indicated affection would be weird, given the fact she was running.

I stopped my thoughts, because they started to confuse me. While they seemed logical, there was also some faults. I didn't try to pick them out, since there was still a conversation going on.

"Great to hear!" Emi said in response to Hisao's appraisal. "I was worried that I looked a little slow on the relay-"

"No, I was slow on the relay," Miki interrupted. "Were it not for Adolf, we may have lost."

I was confused, since Emi was fast as hell. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You passed the other girl, even after she had a head start. The last Yamagata runner would have crossed the finish line before Emi if you didn't manage to gain that lead."

Emi nodded in agreement. "You did help. A lot." She turned back to Hisao. "I guess I did just fine, huh?"

Way to have an ego, Emi, I thought.

Hisao nodded. "Actually, I noticed-" Rin cut him off, kicking his shin.

Emi noticed the kick. "What was that all about?" she asked, her face showing confusion.

Rin frowned. "He noticed it. At the end."

"Yeah, we noticed it, too," Miki said, the two of us being mostly silent.

Emi frowned. "Hmm, that's no good."

"Hey," Miki said. "I'll talk to you guys later. I gotta go do something." She punched me in the arm in doing so and ran off, waving back. I found myself staring at her once more as we said goodbye. Emi spoke up again after Miki left.

"As for this..." she shook her leg. "Guess the nurse will look at it for me later."

She seemed rather ignorant of the situation, but she twitched, trying to hide discomfort. Hisao must have noticed the twitch as well, since Emi bounded to both of us.

"Hey," she said. "You guys look a little worried!"

I nodded. "Well, yeah, yo-"

"I'm fine, really!" she interrupted. "Just sore from all the running. That's all."

I was feeling sore as well. "I'm pretty sore, too."

Emi grinned. "And come on, a little pain isn't going to stop me."

I wasn't so sure, and neither was Hisao. "Oh no?" he asked.

Emi grinned once more. A quick glance at Hisao confirmed he was in a trance. "Hasn't yet," Emi said.

"Well then. I guess we shouldn't worry, huh?" Hisao asked.

"Damn right!" Emi exclaimed, her mouth agape. "I'm Emi Ibarazaki, fastest thing on no legs! I don't stop for anything!"

I lost it at 'fastest thing on no legs.' I keeled over in laughter. Emi giggled along with my laughter, but Hisao and Rin were undaunted.

"Impressive," Hisao said, unaffected by the hilarity that was Emi's unintentional joke. Emi giggled even more. Her giggling made me laugh even more. Eventually, I stopped laughing and stood back up, earning a raised eyebrow from Rin.

"Oh, before I forget," Emi said as I stood. "Rin and I are going to do something next Sunday as a post-track meet celebration! You should both come!"

"Why next Sunday?" I asked.

"Normally, we do it the next day," she explained. "But since the meet was on a Sunday, I've got homework and class and all that stuff to take care of." She grinned and nudged the both of us. "Plus our morning run, of course."

I wasn't keen on running again so soon.

"Right, of course," Hisao said. He then looked like something dawned on him. "Oh, right. Your mom wanted to say she's proud of you. She'll call you later tonight."

"Was she that woman with you and Rin?" I asked. Hisao nodded.

"I thought I saw her in the stands!" Emi happily said. "I'm glad she made it!" She paused. "Used to be my dad who showed up to my meets, but Mom's done a pretty good job of taking over." Emi seemed a bit sad to mention her father.

The cool breeze that blew earlier blew once more. I thought it was wonderful, but Emi shivered, thinking the exact opposite. Hisao noticed Emi's shivering and tossed his jacket around her shoulders.

GENTLEMAN! my brain exclaimed.

Emi jumped, but grinned at Hisao. "Hey, thanks! It's getting a little cold, I guess."

"Yeah, looked like it," Hisao said.

I noticed that Rin was still standing behind Emi, not talking at all. She seemed in a trance by the crowds of people. That, or she was entranced by something meaningless, like a tree branch or grass blades. During my observation, Miki came running back.

"Hey!" she called. "You guys are gonna miss the medal ceremony!"

She grabbed my hand and barreled off, me in tow. Emi stayed behind, telling Hisao and Rin that the ceremony would take a while.

"How long is this ceremony?" I asked as Miki and I ran through the crowds.

"Hell if I know! Long is a good estimate!" Miki called.

Exactly what I wanted to know, I thought.

As it turned out, the ceremony didn't last too long. Only about an hour. I got a few medals, as did Emi and Miki. After the rather pointless ceremony, the teams shook hands. Following that, the Yamagata team headed off of the grounds, boarding their bus back.

Emi ran off to see the nurse, telling Miki and me that she'd see us later. Miki and I waved goodbye and started to walk back to the dorms.

"You have any plans tonight?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, why?" In typical teenage fashion, I immediately thought it was an invitation to a date.

She shrugged. "Me and Suzu were gonna watch some movies," she said. "Just wanted to know if you'd want to tag along."

It wasn't an invitation for a date, but it was a invitation to hang out. I didn't want to spend the rest of the day in my room, so...

"Why not?" I said. "I'll come over, sure."

Miki grinned and punched me in the arm lightly. "Don't get any ideas," she said. "My room number's 202."

I nodded, remembering the number. "What time?"

Miki grabbed my hand and looked at my watch. "Four," she said.

"Alright, then." I had an hour. "What about food?"

"If you bring some money, we'll order a couple pizzas."

I thought back to when Kenji tried duping me, but Miki didn't seem like the kind of girl who would do that. So, I nodded.

"I'll be over in an hour, then," I said when we were in front of the dorms.

"See you then," she called, grinning. I waved to her as I entered the boys' dorm.

I showered and changed my clothes. I slipped on some khaki shorts and a t-shirt. I grabbed my wallet and headed out of the door, locking it in the process. I hadn't noticed at first, but Hisao's door was open. He was hunched over on his desk.

"What's up?" I asked as I walked into his room.

He shot up. "Whoa, why are you in here?"

"You left your door open," I pointed out.

"Oh," he said. "Can you close it on your way out?"

"Yeah," I said. "What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"Looks like you're drooling on it."

"Shut up."

I laughed. "See you around, man."

He looked at me as I went to leave. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way you're dressed."

"How does that mean I'm going somewhere?" I wanted to dodge the question.

"Your shoes are on," he said.

"Maybe I just like to wear my shoes."

He grunted, placing his head back on his homework. "Whatever. See you around."

I grinned as I closed the door. Success.

I walked out of the dorms and made a quick stop into the girls' dorms. Miki said her room was 202. The room wasn't hard to find, and none of the girls in the dorm paid me any heed. When I knocked on the door, I was greeted by Miki telling me to hold on.

"What?" she asked as she flung the door open. She was wearing a thin button-up shirt and no pants.

"Uh, hi," I said, my cheeks a little red.

Miki flushed red. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else." She looked back into her room. "You're early."

I glanced at my wristwatch. "It's only fifteen minutes," I said.

She shrugged. "Whatever, then. Suzu's already here, so come in."

I entered the room and analyzed it. The lights weren't on and the curtains were drawn. The curtains were really opaque, so I wasn't able to see anything the TV didn't illuminate. I was surprised that she had a TV, but stranger things have happened.

The television was placed next to her bed, so the bed became a makeshift couch. Suzu was already sitting on the bed, wearing pajamas. Though it wasn't nighttime, pajamas made sense to wear.

"You have some money?" Miki asked as she picked up her cell phone. I nodded. "What kind of pizza?"

I thought for a second. "Pepperoni, sausage, and bacon."

Miki nodded. "Suzu?"

"Anchovies, olives, pepperoni," the narcoleptic girl said.

"Okay." Miki dialed the number. As it was ringing, she turned to me. "If you don't mind, I'm sharing your pizza."

I nodded. "Fine with me."

Miki ordered our pizza as a large and Suzu's as a small.

"It'll be half an hour," she said after hanging up.

"You want me to pick them up?" I asked.

"If you wouldn't mind."

She sat on the floor next to her TV and started looking through DVD cases. I hadn't noticed them. The TV was on an entertainment center. There was a DVD player on the shelf below the TV and DVD cases below the player. I looked at the cases and noticed that a majority of them were in English.

"Fancy American movies, huh?" I asked as I sat next to Suzu.

Miki looked back. "Yeah, why? Am I not allowed?"

I laughed. "No, I never said that. You just didn't strike me as the kind of person to like American movies."

Miki grinned. "We went through this striking thing before, remember?"

"Yeah, we did."

Miki held up a case and asked if we wanted to watch it. I said I didn't care, since I didn't see the title, but Suzu said no. Miki kept rummaging through cases and asking us if we wanted to watch. Our answers didn't change until she presented Lethal Weapon. I never really watched it, but I always wanted to.

"You want to watch this?" she asked. I nodded, but Suzu said she didn't want to.

"Suzu, we're not watching The Hunger Games," Miki said.

Suzu groaned as Miki put the disc in the player. I looked at the time and saw that fifteen minutes had passed since Miki ordered the pizza.

"Alright, I'm gonna go wait for the pizza," I announced, getting up. "I need everyone's yen."

Suzu groaned again and handed me the yen for her pizza. Miki gave me half of the cost of our pizza, since we were sharing. I walked out of the room, saying that I would return.

I strolled out of the girls' dorm and made my way to the gates. I stood there for ten minutes, waiting for the pizza guy. I hope this is normal, I thought.

The pizza guy pulled up in a little car. When he got out, I saw he was holding two pizza boxes. He walked to the gates and I met him halfway.

"Order for Miura," he said.

"Here you go," I said, handing him the money and a delivery fee. I took the pizza boxes and went back to the girls' dorm.

Upon reentering the dorm, girls flocked around me, asking for pizza. Goddamn, Kenji. Why are you right? I made a mad dash for the stairs, moving as fast as possible to Miki's room. Certain I had shaken my pursuers, I opened the door and slid in the room.

"How many people attacked you?" Miki asked when I closed the door.

"Just about every girl in the dorms." She grinned.

I set the boxes down on Miki's desk, opening them both. Suzu grabbed a piece of her nasty looking pizza while Miki and I both took a piece of the beautiful pizza. I sat next to Miki on her bed as she pressed the 'play' button.

This isn't bad, I thought. Watching movies with an attractive girl and a narcoleptic. While eating pizza. I grinned a little. I could get used to this.

As the movie progressed, I noticed that Japanese subtitles weren't turned on. Not like it bothered me, but it still caused me to be curious.

Suzu fell asleep whenever Hunsaker admitted that he was in the heroin trade. I really liked the movie so far, but I was still surprised that Miki even had it.

American movies are awesome, I thought.

When the movie was over, there was still some pizza left in the box Miki and I shared. It was past 7:15, and I contemplated going back to my dorm.

"Stay and watch another movie," Miki said when I mentioned it to her.

I thought for a second. Might as well.

"Alright, let's watch one," I said.

Miki grinned as she put an Indiana Jones movie in the DVD player and stood. Miki took her seat next to me and I leaned back and relaxed as the opening credits started playing.

AN: Alright. Any questions pertaining to Adolf's mental state will be answered, because the last chapter likely confused some people. Just review or PM me and I'll get back to you. If you're a guest, I'll answer it in the next chapter's AN.

I also have no idea how a track meet really works, so please ignore any inconsistencies between the track meet in this chapter and real track meets.

Adolf's speed is something I want to clear up. In earlier chapters, he was slow because he was being lazy.

Any critiques are accepted. I also encourage reviews, as they bolster my desire to type.

Another thing. The next chapter will likely not be uploaded until sometime in the middle of next week. I have some family stuff to deal with this weekend. Plus, my chapter titles suck.

Also, if your name is Retrograde and you're reading this, hello there, mein freund.