Ken was pacing around the foot of his bed. He ran over to his desk and grabbed his pencil, eyeing his paper like he had just gotten some wonderful idea. Then he sagged into his chair, defeated. He stood up again, and started pacing.
"What am I doing?"
He ran over to the chair again, a very hopeful look on his face, and nearly attacked his pen. He wrote three words on his paper.
'Daisuke Motomiya is'
He stood up again. "Why does this have to be so hard?"
* *
Daisuke was at his desk, writing everything that came to mind.
'Remember, take Hikari's advice. . . remember, take Hikari's advice. . .'
His pen worked over the paper and soon he was done. 'Well, she said I should tell him. When I read this, it should be obvious to anyone, even me, what it means.'
Daisuke reread his paper for any errors, and put it in his bag.
"Mom! Is dinner done yet?"
Jun walked down the hallway and stopped at Daisuke's doorway. "You mean. . . you are done with your homework?"
"Yup!" Daisuke put on a proud smile.
His sister just scoffed and started walking again.
* *
Ken looked at the paper. 'Daisuke Motomiya is. . .'
"Arg! Why is this so hard!"
He heard a gentle knock at the door. "Ken honey, time for dinner."
Ken put his pen down. 'Well, I can't write while I'm eating dinner, now can I?' "Yes Mama. Coming."
* *
"So squirt, what was the homework that was so easy today?"
"I ad u rgt ah pr n inotr peron." Daisuke said, through a mouth of noodles.
"Daisuke, it's not polite to talk with a mouth full of food. Not to mention disgusting."
Daisuke swallowed. "Sorry Mom. I said I had to write a paper on someone else."
"Eid u oo ll?" His father asked, with a mouth full of noodles.
* *
Ken had a bowl full of some concoction his mother made in one hand and his pen in the other. "I am going to write this, I am going to write this. NOW!"
Ken finished the sentence that was staring back at him from a mainly blank page. He read it out loud to see how it sounded.
"Daisuke Motomiya is a really cool guy."
Ken dropped his pen and slapped his forehead. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
* * *
The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Daisuke was in his family's kitchen scarfing down breakfast. He was actually looking forward to a day of school.
* *
The birds were chirping, the sun was bright and shining, and Ken was hiding under all of his blankets. He was dead tired. After writing countless different versions of the same essay and staying up later than he ever should have, Ken finally narrowed his choices down to 2. One was where he pegged Daisuke as just a friend, another, well, it was the more -intimate- version. He had only gotten two hours of sleep the whole night.
"Ken, time to get up. And this is the last call, no more '5 more minutes, please'. Do you understand?"
"Yes Mama."
He nearly rolled out of bed before he remembered his bed was 5 feet in the air. After catching his breath, he peeked his head out from under the blankets and cringed at the bright sunlight. Ken carefully peeled the sheets off and got down the ladder. Completely on autopilot.
He threw on what resembled his clothing and picked up his bag. He stalked his way into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee.
"Um, Ken?"
"Yes. . . Ma. ." Ken yawned. "ma?"
"Why are you drinking coffee? I thought you said it tasted like chalk."
He downed the whole mug in two giant gulps. "Caffeine."
"O. .K."
Ken tried to ignore the slightly numb feeling in his throat from the way-to-hot liquid and started off for school.
Daisuke was early to class, and watched as the others filed into the classroom. Miyako pulled out her paper right away and looked like she was waiting for Ken to get there. Takeru sat down and pulled out a book, and when asked, he said he didn't do his Literature homework. Hikari sat down and started to chat with Miyako, but nothing loud enough for Daisuke to hear. 'It's about me, I am totally sure. Hikari is telling Miya right now that I'm hopelessly in love with Ken. I'm sure of it.'
Finally, about 4 minutes later than the rest of the group and only 2 minutes ahead of the bell, Ken sat down in his seat. But sat would be the wrong word. More along the lines of 'flopped'.
"Ken! Hi! Who is your essay on?"
Ken slowly turned around. "Huh?"
"Whoa. What's wrong with you?"
"Uh. . .m. ."
"Ok. . " Daisuke was completely confused. Ken had never acted like such a zombie before.
* *
Ken felt Miyako tap his shoulder and he turned to face her. He was being sluggish to try and conserve energy, and now he felt justified in blowing some of it.
"What do you want?"
"Where's your paper!!"
"Right in my bag."
"Get it out!!!"
"You need to calm down."
She brushed his comment off with a flick of the wrist. "You need to calm up."
He leaned over to get his bag. "You know that makes no sense, right?"
"Well, you try and find the opposite to 'calm down'."
Ken thought about it a second, but couldn't find the answer. So he chose to ignore it. It was rhetorical, anyway. He pulled the two neatly typed sheets out of his bag and placed them on the table. "There."
"Why are there two of them?"
"I didn't know which one to read. And that is why I ask you."
Miyako took off her glasses and quickly scanned through each sheet. "Hmmm."
"Which one! Which one Miya?"
She pointed to the sheet on the left. "That one."
"What am I doing?"
He ran over to the chair again, a very hopeful look on his face, and nearly attacked his pen. He wrote three words on his paper.
'Daisuke Motomiya is'
He stood up again. "Why does this have to be so hard?"
* *
Daisuke was at his desk, writing everything that came to mind.
'Remember, take Hikari's advice. . . remember, take Hikari's advice. . .'
His pen worked over the paper and soon he was done. 'Well, she said I should tell him. When I read this, it should be obvious to anyone, even me, what it means.'
Daisuke reread his paper for any errors, and put it in his bag.
"Mom! Is dinner done yet?"
Jun walked down the hallway and stopped at Daisuke's doorway. "You mean. . . you are done with your homework?"
"Yup!" Daisuke put on a proud smile.
His sister just scoffed and started walking again.
* *
Ken looked at the paper. 'Daisuke Motomiya is. . .'
"Arg! Why is this so hard!"
He heard a gentle knock at the door. "Ken honey, time for dinner."
Ken put his pen down. 'Well, I can't write while I'm eating dinner, now can I?' "Yes Mama. Coming."
* *
"So squirt, what was the homework that was so easy today?"
"I ad u rgt ah pr n inotr peron." Daisuke said, through a mouth of noodles.
"Daisuke, it's not polite to talk with a mouth full of food. Not to mention disgusting."
Daisuke swallowed. "Sorry Mom. I said I had to write a paper on someone else."
"Eid u oo ll?" His father asked, with a mouth full of noodles.
* *
Ken had a bowl full of some concoction his mother made in one hand and his pen in the other. "I am going to write this, I am going to write this. NOW!"
Ken finished the sentence that was staring back at him from a mainly blank page. He read it out loud to see how it sounded.
"Daisuke Motomiya is a really cool guy."
Ken dropped his pen and slapped his forehead. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
* * *
The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Daisuke was in his family's kitchen scarfing down breakfast. He was actually looking forward to a day of school.
* *
The birds were chirping, the sun was bright and shining, and Ken was hiding under all of his blankets. He was dead tired. After writing countless different versions of the same essay and staying up later than he ever should have, Ken finally narrowed his choices down to 2. One was where he pegged Daisuke as just a friend, another, well, it was the more -intimate- version. He had only gotten two hours of sleep the whole night.
"Ken, time to get up. And this is the last call, no more '5 more minutes, please'. Do you understand?"
"Yes Mama."
He nearly rolled out of bed before he remembered his bed was 5 feet in the air. After catching his breath, he peeked his head out from under the blankets and cringed at the bright sunlight. Ken carefully peeled the sheets off and got down the ladder. Completely on autopilot.
He threw on what resembled his clothing and picked up his bag. He stalked his way into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee.
"Um, Ken?"
"Yes. . . Ma. ." Ken yawned. "ma?"
"Why are you drinking coffee? I thought you said it tasted like chalk."
He downed the whole mug in two giant gulps. "Caffeine."
"O. .K."
Ken tried to ignore the slightly numb feeling in his throat from the way-to-hot liquid and started off for school.
Daisuke was early to class, and watched as the others filed into the classroom. Miyako pulled out her paper right away and looked like she was waiting for Ken to get there. Takeru sat down and pulled out a book, and when asked, he said he didn't do his Literature homework. Hikari sat down and started to chat with Miyako, but nothing loud enough for Daisuke to hear. 'It's about me, I am totally sure. Hikari is telling Miya right now that I'm hopelessly in love with Ken. I'm sure of it.'
Finally, about 4 minutes later than the rest of the group and only 2 minutes ahead of the bell, Ken sat down in his seat. But sat would be the wrong word. More along the lines of 'flopped'.
"Ken! Hi! Who is your essay on?"
Ken slowly turned around. "Huh?"
"Whoa. What's wrong with you?"
"Uh. . .m. ."
"Ok. . " Daisuke was completely confused. Ken had never acted like such a zombie before.
* *
Ken felt Miyako tap his shoulder and he turned to face her. He was being sluggish to try and conserve energy, and now he felt justified in blowing some of it.
"What do you want?"
"Where's your paper!!"
"Right in my bag."
"Get it out!!!"
"You need to calm down."
She brushed his comment off with a flick of the wrist. "You need to calm up."
He leaned over to get his bag. "You know that makes no sense, right?"
"Well, you try and find the opposite to 'calm down'."
Ken thought about it a second, but couldn't find the answer. So he chose to ignore it. It was rhetorical, anyway. He pulled the two neatly typed sheets out of his bag and placed them on the table. "There."
"Why are there two of them?"
"I didn't know which one to read. And that is why I ask you."
Miyako took off her glasses and quickly scanned through each sheet. "Hmmm."
"Which one! Which one Miya?"
She pointed to the sheet on the left. "That one."