Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 52
In Hitomi's Chamber at the palace in Fanelia
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The girl from the Mystic Moon slowly roused from her deep slumber as her alarm clock beeped continuously. 'God, that is so annoying.' She moaned as she slowly rolled out of bed and walked over to the dresser to turn it off. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror she thought, 'Ugh, I look as tired as I feel. I need more sleep.' And she turned to go back to bed. Collapsing on the bed, she closed her eyes and sighed as she reached for her pillow and pulled it down to her, rolling on her side and hugging it closely.
After a few moments she let out another sigh and slowly opened her eyes.
"No, if I'm going to do this, I need to stick with a schedule."
She grudgingly pulled herself out of bed once again and walked over to the wash table. There she poured some water from the pitcher into the washbasin, then splashed her face several times.
"Ah."
She grabbed the towel next to her and patted her face dry.
"That's better."
Setting the towel aside, she went to the dresser and pulled out a sports bra, her running shorts, and a T-shirt as well as her warm up suit and a pair of sweat socks. Setting everything on the bed she quickly changed then grabbed her running shoes, slipped them on and laced them up.
"Hope you're ready for some real running today Merle." She smiled to herself as she grabbing her track shoes and walked to the door. "Not having seen Van since last evening, I've got a lot of anxiety to run off."
On the other side of the castle, Merle tossed her head from side to side. With her window open same as Hitomi's, she was able to hear the sound of her friend's alarm with her keen hearing. Though it was very faint, the unusual rhythmic sound was something the catgirl had never heard before and it slowly stirred her awake. Forcing herself to sit up, she managed to barely open her eyes as she smacked her mouth open and closed several times while scratching her stomach. Stretching with her arms high above her head she let out a silent yawn then looked out toward the window. Her window gave her a view of the forest behind the castle and while she couldn't see the sun from here she could tell by the faint glow that filled the valley that dawn was just breaking through.
"Ugh, it's too early!" She let herself fall back onto the bed.
"That girl is crazy. Getting up this early to go run." She closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.
Some time later, how long, she did not know, the catgirl felt herself being shaken roughly, her head and shoulders bouncing up and down from the bed.
"Get up already Merle." Hitomi commanded.
"Okay, okay, just stop shaking me." The catgirl said in a strained voice.
Sitting back up, the catgirl flung the blankets off her legs and swung them off the bed. Slipping her sandals on, she slid off the bed and yawned, "Okay, lets go."
"You sleep in your clothes?" Hitomi asked staring at her sleepy friend.
The catgirl nodded, her eyes barely opened.
"Well, you can't go running in sandals and a dress. You need proper running clothes." The sprinter insisted.
"What are you talking about? We're going to run, not battle dragons."
"Still" The girl with the emerald-eyes walked over to the dresser and started pulling open the drawers.
"What are you looking for?" The catgirl asked.
"A pair of shorts or pants." After looking in the last drawer, she turned to her friend and said. "Merle, you have no clothes in this dresser."
"I know that." She replied, her eyes slowly beginning to show signs of opening.
"Don't you own any clothes?" The taller girl asked.
"Of course I have clothes, they're in there." She yawned while pointing to the chifforobe.
Hitomi walked over to the chifforobe and pointed its doors open. Hanging were about twenty dresses all identical to the one Merle was already wearing. "Unbelievable." Then she started searching through the drawers only to find them all empty. "Merle, are these the only clothes you own?" She gestured to the dresses.
The catgirl nodded her head while yawning once again.
"What a minute, you mean to tell me you don't own any underwear?" Shock was written all over the teen's face.
Shaking her head the catgirl answered, "No."
"That's obscene, that… that's perverted!" The teen screamed.
"Haven't you ever noticed? My dress never rides up and its not like I make a habit of flashing people." The feline responded.
"Still, what if someone stole a peak?" The sprinter asked.
"Then it's their perversion, not mine." Tired of talking she started walking toward to door.
Hitomi stood staring at where the catgirl had been, too shocked to move, to even breathe.
"Are you coming or what?" Merle called from down the hall.
"Unbelievable." Was all she could say as she walked out the room.
"What are you doing?" The catgirl stared at her friend who was sitting on the grass; her legs stretched out in front of her as she grabbed the soles of her shoes with her fingers and brought her head down to her knees.
"Stretching." The teen said in a strained voice.
"I can see that. Why?" The younger teen stood a short distance away with her arms folded over her chest, tapping the ground with her foot as she waited impatiently.
"It's important to properly warm up your muscles before running in order to prevent injury." The teen responded. Now she had her legs separated wide but still straight, and she was leaning toward one leg then the other.
"You read that out of a book, didn't you?" The catgirl teased.
"It's commonsense, every serious runner knows this." The teen replied.
"Whatever. Just hurry up. I'm getting bored just standing here." Merle replied.
"You should stretch out too." The teen suggested.
Merle gave her a sarcastic look then clasped her hands together and stretched them over her head allowing her fingers to gradually untwine as she brought her arms out to the side. Taking a deep breath, she meowed and said, "There, I'm stretched. Now let's go."
"Just give me a minute, I'm almost done." Hitomi said as she stretched her thighs.
"Ugh! I could have been sleeping still." Merle whined, throwing her arms up in the air in disgust.
"I said just a minute! Sheesh!" The teen fumed. 'I'll show her. I'll make her regret she didn't stretch out.'
Stretching her calves one more time, she finally said, "Okay, let's go."
"It's about time." Where are we running to?" The catgirl asked.
"I thought we'd follow that path to the sea. There's a nice clearing over there we can use for sprints afterward. Come on, I'll take it easy on you right now." She grabbed her track shoes and started running along the path that took them to the front to the castle and down to the city below.
"Ha! You just make sure you can keep up with me." Merle started out running upright like Hitomi.
They maintained a nice steady pace as they made their way down to the city streets. As the sun made its way over the distant mountain horizon, the city slowly begin to stir with life but the streets were still deserted enough so as not to pose any problems for the two girls as they ran.
As she easily maintained the pace set by Hitomi while still running like a human, overconfidence quickly overcame the catgirl.
"Is this the best you can do?" She mocked. "I know oxen that walk faster than this."
"Feel free to set the pace if you like." The teen said, hiding her smile.
"My pleasure," and with that the catgirl started running on all fours as she quickly pulled away from Hitomi.
The teen let her stay a few strides ahead of her as they made their way through the city but as the city gate came into view, she quickened her pace to catch up. As they passed through the gate, Hitomi waved at the sentries who were on guard and who gladly waved back.
Once they reached the path that lead to the sea, Hitomi said, "This is a pretty quick pace you've got going Merle but if you don't mind, I think I'd like to run at my normal pace now." Not waiting for a reply, the teen kicked it up a couple notches and left the catgirl in the dust.
"MIAO!" She screamed as she struggled to catch up.
Estimating the distance from the castle to the sea to be about 10 km, Hitomi focused all her thoughts on maintaining proper form so as to waste as little energy as possible. To this end she ran with a nice even stride, her arms moving smoothly, front to back, her posture perfectly erect, and her breathing steady and long. While never an outstanding distance runner, she still enjoyed running distances, being one of the fortunate people who actually experienced the elusive runner's high. Unfortunately, for Merle, just as she was closing the distance between her and her long, lanky friend, the rush of that high hit and while it did not appear as if she had quickened her pace any, Hitomi began to pull away from her once again.
"Damn it!" The catgirl screamed between forced breaths. "How does she do it?"
It took them about 45 minutes to reach the sea and the port that serviced the Fanelian Merchant Fleet. As she reached the clearing, Hitomi slowed down to a walk as she caught her breath. Looking back down the path she was unable to see Merle but after a few seconds the catgirl came from around the bend into sight. It was pretty obvious that she was limping but she refused to stop running as she continued on the last thirty meters to Hitomi.
Finally catching up to the older teen the catgirl slowed to a walk then stopped, placing her hands on her knees as she strained to catch her breath. "How can you run so long, so fast?" She wheezed.
"Don't stop walking." Hitomi told her as she continued along the path.
"Huh?" The catgirl looked up only to see her friend several steps away from her already. "Hey! Stop already." She limped to catch up.
"Just like you need to warm up the muscles when you start running, you need to cool them down when you're done, and the way you do that is to keep moving." The sprinter said as she casually made her way to the field where she planned on practicing her sprints.
"You and your expert advice." Merle scoffed.
"Why are you limping?" Hitomi asked, not taking the time to look back.
"Aaa, I … Aaa … I" The younger girl instinctively grabbed the back of her left leg as she felt it tighten painfully. "I don't know. My leg got real tight all of a sudden and started hurting."
Glancing back at her, Hitomi said. "You got a cramp. That might not have happened if you stretched out properly."
"Hmm, know it all." The catgirl whispered.
"I don't know it all but I do know about running." The teen said as she came to a stop at one end of the field. "Hmm, yes. This should be more than long enough."
"Now what?"
"Now comes the real training." The teen said looking over at her friend. "That run was just the warm up."
"Aaah! You're kidding me. ARR!" She clinched her teeth in pain.
Taking sympathy on her friend, Hitomi told her, "Lay down. I'll help you loosen the knot in your leg."
Being in too much pain to argue the catgirl plopped down on the grass.
"Umm, Merle, you need to roll over."
"Oh, okay." As she did as her friend instructed. "Just don't go peeking up my dress." She teased.
"Aaa, as if… oww." The teen kneeled next to her friend. "This is going to hurt but trust me it will make it feel better afterward." She said as she started rubbing the cramped muscle.
"Aaa!" The catgirl cried out as she kicked her feet up and down and banged on the ground with hands.
"Just relax. It won't hurt as much if you relax." The teen explained as she continued to work the muscle.
After a few minutes, she could feel the muscle loosen up. Continuing to massage the problem area a little while longer she finally told Merle to roll over and sit up. Then she got behind her and helped her stretch the leg.
"Okay, here stand up." She offered her hand to help the girl up. "Try walking around on it."
Merle nodded, she took a few steps away from her friend then turned around and walked back. "It still hurts but not as much and it's not pulling anymore." She said as she hobbled to a stop.
"Good, well sit back down and keep stretching it otherwise it might cramp back up." Hitomi told her, and then she grabbed her track shoes that she tossed on the ground while helping Merle. Sitting down, she changed shoes and started stretching again.
"Umm, so now what are you going to do?" Merle asked as she sat on the grass, stretching the muscle like Hitomi had told her to do.
"I told you before. I'm a sprinter. I need to sprint."
"Okay, but what does sprint mean?"
Hitomi smiled. "Sorry, I guess you don't have recreational sports here on Gaea. Other then sword fighting tournaments. Sprinting is running very fast over short distances. I'm a 100 meter runner."
"What's a meter?"
"A meter, well … a meter is a unit of measurement. It's about this long." She held up her hand about a meter apart.
"Oh, so it's about a half a cubit." Merle observed.
"A cubit?" The teen asked.
"Yes, here on Gaea things are measured by cubits." Pointing at her friend who was still holding her hands up. "That is about half a cubit."
"So a cubit is two meters." The teen smiled. "I guess on Gaea I'm a 50 cubit runner."
"I guess so." Merle grinned.
"Well, I need to measure off the distance I need to run." She grabbed her running shoes and set one down a short way away from Merle then she started counting off steps. Approximately 100 meters later she set the other shoe down. Taking off her warm up suit she stretched her legs once more before taking her spot at what she marked as the starting position.
"Okay" She steadied her breathing. "Ready" She got down on one knee and positioned her feet while setting her hands correctly on the ground. "Set." She raised her backside up in to the air, lifting her knee of the ground while still keeping her body loose. "Go!" She exploded into an all out sprint.
"By the gods!" Merle marveled at the speed Hitomi was traveling at. Within a matter of a few seconds she passed her marker and was slowing to a stop. "That's impossible. People can't run that fast. It's just not normal."
Walking up to her friend with her hands on her hips as she took long, deep breaths, she said. "You're right. It's not normal. It takes training to be able to run that fast. And to be honest, that wasn't that fast. I figure… I probably ran it in about… fourteen five, maybe even slower than that. The grass here is a little too tall. It's hard to get good traction.
"You mean you can run that distance even faster?" Merle's eyes grew wide.
"I've run that a whole second and a half faster." The teen replied.
Giving her friend a sarcastic grin. "Second and a half, I thought you meant like in half the time it just took you."
"Let me tell you, in the 100 meters, the difference of one tenth of a second can be the difference between finishing first and finishing last." Hitomi explained, finally catching her breath. "That's why I have to train. So far, I'm one of only two girls in my school that's been able to run the 100 in 13 seconds. But that was unofficial. Only Amano and Yukari saw me do it. But if I can do it again and do it consistently during summer practices then there's no way they can't put me on the first team varsity squad, even though I'm just in 10th grade."
Looking down at her friend, she asked. "So how does it feel now?"
"Hmm?" Looking down at her leg, she had all but forgotten about the pain that had her limping half the way to the coast. "Better, much better."
"Good. Well I just need to do a few more of these then we can head back okay." The girl with the emerald-eyes smiled.
"Oh, that's fine. I'm in no rush to leave. Do what you have to do." Merle smiled up at her friend.
"Thanks." She grinned back once more then walked over to the nearby marker.
Watching her get down on all fours, Merle could hear she say, "Ready, Set, Go!" Then she exploded into full stride as she raced down the field. "Amazing."
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AN: Hope you found that entertaining. All the running information is based on my own running experiences and those of my eldest son. If there were any inaccuracies, its because the last time I ran was when I was back in college. That was some time ago. L
I'm so glad you enjoyed my last chapter. I agree that that type of behavior would be way out of character for Hitomi to do in public but in the privacy of her own room. Well, I'm sure we've all done things behind closed doors that we could never think of doing in front of another person. J
I'm afraid I may have spoiled you guys this week. With my family away at summer camp this week, I've had lots of time to work on all my stories but they come home today so updates won't be coming as quickly. Though I will still try to have one or two each week.
Speaking of what is in-character and out-of-character for Hitomi, let me pose this question: Is Hitomi the type of person that would have sex before getting married or before the marriage was very imminent OR not? For that matter, is Van the type of guy who would accept such advances or would he politely turn her down, not wanting to dishonor his true love? I have my own opinion about this; I'd just like to know what you guys think.
Well, have a great weekend and I love you all, J
A. Amishi
PS: you may have noticed I changed the time Hitomi ran the 100 meters in from 12 to 13 seconds. I just re-watched episode 1 and she does say 13 seconds, not 12. Which based on my research, it makes a whole lot more sense because there are only a handful of women in he world that can run the 100 meters in under 12 seconds. 13 seconds for a 15-year old is still very fast but not unbelievably so. I also corrected this in chapter 1.
