"Wakey wakey Misao!" Sano said and gently woke her up. Misao opened one eye grumbled and turned on her other side.
"Misao!" Sano said a little louder. "You have to get up, you know what time it is?"
He got some noises for reply, but she still wouldn't get up.
"MISAO WE HAVE TO GO PRACTICE!!" He yelled and jumped on the bed. Another grumble escaped Misao's mouth and then her silent voice spoke: "Alright, alright I'm up…" Misao sat up straight and was greeted by Sano's wide grin. "Finally listening are ya? I'll be waiting downstairs." With that he got up and left the room.
Misao rubbed her eyes and took of the large shirt she had borrowed from Sano. When she was properly dressed she went downstairs and Sano joined her in going outside.
"So what do you think Sano?" Misao asked a little absent-mindly.
"What do I think about what?" He asked with a questioned look on his face.
"About the competition, do you think we can win?" Misao knew what his answer would be, he always planned to win, but she asked anyway.
"Off course we can win! We'll wipe their asses!" He said with that over confident smile plastered on his face.
"I knew you'd say something like that." Misao replied with a smirk, and then she sped up, suddenly wanting to train and win the contest.
Sano had no problems keeping up with her and it didn't take them long to get to the skate park where Katsu was already waiting for them.
"Hey Katsu!" Sano yelled out at his best friend, who turned around at hearing his voice.
"Yo Sano!" He exclaimed and came towards them. "Hey Misao!" He greeted her.
Yahiko wasn't there yet, but they weren't going to wait for him to show up, knowing he was late most of the time.
Misao practised some of her best tricks that always got her many points at competitions. For a reason unknown to her her tricks went more fluently than they usually did.
After performing a perfect Madonna180 she heard clapping coming from her friends. She stopped and looked at the three of them looking very pleased.
"If you can pull stuff like that of on the competition, Kamatari's group will have to bite the dust! Soujiro can never beat that!" an excited Sano yelled at her.
Misao smiled sheepishly at him and scratched the back of her neck.
"I don't know what's gotten into me today!" she said happily while going towards a grind bar and performing a grind.
They continued practicing practically the whole day, Misao had gotten a few days of from work to practice.
At the end of the day it surprised Misao they hadn't seen anything from Kamatari and his gang. She wondered if they had already gotten their private practice ground already.
She decided she wouldn't worry about the other team anymore and concentrate on her own performance.
"Mom I'm home!" Again there was no answer, as Misao had expected. She went further into the house and saw her sister Ayame sitting at the table all alone.
"Where's Suzume-chan?" Misao asked her.
He young girl looked up with a confused expression on her face.
"She was playing upstairs, but when mom called her for dinner she didn't come. Then mom went up to get her. She came running down carrying her and told me to wait for you and call Jiya. She left so fast I couldn't even ask what was going on." The girl's eyes filled with tears while Misao's had gone wide in surprise and utter horror. "Suzume…" For a moment she was caught in a battle against herself, one part wanted to get over to the hospital as quickly as possible, but the other couldn't leave Ayame alone.
"Have you called Jiya?" The girl shook her head. Misao immediately called her grandfather, who had left them that morning.
"Come on! Pick up, pick up!" Misao impatiently waited for him to answer the phone.
"Moshi moshi Nenji Blabla speaking."
"Jiya! Please come over here as soon as you can! Something's wrong with Suzume, mom took her to the hospital! I'm going there now!"
"I shall be there as soon as I can." Okina's voice sounded alarmed but he tried to keep his calm.
"You have to come home to stay with Ayame, jiya, I'll tell Sano to watch her until you're here!" Misao didn't wait for an answer and threw down the horn.
"Ayame-chan I'll ask Sano to stay with you, be good okay?" Misao didn't wait for a reply and sprinted over to Sano's house, only noticing she left her skateboard at home when she got there. She pushed the bell three times letting him know it was very urgent.
"Misao? What's the matter?" He asked before the door was fully opened.
"It's Suzume-chan. She's in the hospital. You need to stay with Ayame-chan so I can go there too." She finally stopped to catch her breath again and only then saw Katsu was inside too.
"You've got it Misao!" Sano said without doubting.
"Jiya is on his way, please stay until he's arrived."
Sano nodded and motioned for Katsu to go.
"Oh Sano, can I use your board? I forgot mine, and I don't want to run to the hospital."
"You can use mine Misao, Sano broke his." Came the unexpected reply from Katsu and he immediately went to get it and handed it over to Misao.
"Thanks you guys, this really means a lot to me. Oh, here's the key to my house." She said while giving it to Sano.
"Hey no problem, now get out of here before it's too late!" Sano said while pushing her onto the street. "We'll take care of your sister!"
After a race against time she finally reached the hospital and went inside, leaving Katsu's board outside.
She went to the counter and asked for Suzume Makimachi.
"She's in room 245, but she can't have visitors yet, only relatives."
"I'm her sister."
The lady looked at her unbelievingly, Misao didn't look anything like her little sisters after all. She was about to say something but Misao had already made her dash towards the elevator, not caring about what was yelled at her.
She pushed the down button a lot more than necessary and went inside the moment the doors opened, wriggling herself between the people that came out.
Then she pushed the button for the second floor and got out as fast as she had gotten in. Then she started running around in the corridors looking for room 245.
" 242, it should be around here!" And indeed only a few moments later she found room 245. She didn't bother to knock on the door and just went inside the room, causing a very surprised look on both her mother and the nurse that was inside.
"Misao!" The nurse was about to get her out again but her mother stopped her. "It's okay, she's one of my daughters as well." The nurse backed of again and went back to what she was doing.
"Misao, where's Ayame-chan? You didn't leave her behind did you?" Her mother asked worried about her third daughter.
"Sano and Katsu are with her and I called Jiya." Then she diverted her attention towards the little girl that lay in the hospital bed.
"Is she alright?" Misao asked worried.
"She is for now, but…" As her mother stopped talking, Misao's heart skipped a beat and it was filled with fear. "But what? Is anything wrong?"
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
"Her decease will only get worse, the only treatment there is costs $1000 a month."
Misao replied simply "Then we pay for the treatment."
"Misao, you must understand, I can't afford it, I still have two other daughters to take care of, and with the job I have,… It's just impossible."
Misao couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Jiya will help us out!"
"Honey, your grandfather doesn't have more than we do…I have thought this through, and in this situation I can't find any solution."
Misao looked at her sister, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She would do anything to help the girl, but what more could she do than the work she was already doing?
It took some time but it finally dawned upon her : the tournament!
"Mom how long will she have to be treated?"
Her mother looked up at her with no hope left. "Four months at least."
Misao couldn't help but to crack a smile and her mother looked at her questioningly.
"In a week there's a big skating competition. I wasn't planning on telling you, cause I know you don't like the fact that I like skating more than anything else, but I do now because the first price is $4000. I'm sure my friends won't mind giving their money to Suzume-chan."
Her mother couldn't help but to smile.
"Misao that's very sweet and all, but don't fool yourself, how big are the chances that you win? And how big will the chance be that your friends give their money away once they really have it?"
Misao looked at her mother angry. "Don't talk about my friends that way! They're not like that!"
"People can change a lot when something really valuable is at stake, don't get your hopes up."
"Well if you're right or not, it's the least I can do! And I'm gonna spend more hours working in the store, so you make sure you're home more often!" With a final look at her sister she left the room and went outside as fast as she could. She needed some time alone to think about it all, she was determined to make sure her sister got what she needed.
When she left the hospital she came to the painful conclusion that Katsu's skateboard was nowhere to be found. She cursed out loud making some of the people around her look at her. How was she going to tell him that his best board had just been stolen from under her nose, she had been so stupid!
She decided to go to Katsu's place first, it was nearest and she wanted to tell him first. She rang the doorbell and it took a while before it was answered by his mother.
"Is Katsu home yet?" She asked as if nothing was wrong.
"Yes, why don't you come in while I get him for you?" Misao just nodded and walked in, closing the door behind her. She had to wait less than a minute before Katsu called her from upstairs.
"Come on up to my room Misao!" She was glad she could talk to him alone, not with his parents or brothers nearby and went upstairs.
"So how was it?" He asked while turning of the screen of his computer.
"She's not too well. But that's not why I'm here." This caused Katsu to look at her confused.
"I went in and when I came back…You're skateboard was gone." Misao looked at the ground ashamed not daring to look him in the face.
"Misao…" But before he could really say something she started apologizing herself.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry but in the commotion I totally forgot about it and…"
"Misao stop that! First tell me what's up with your sister, we can discuss this later. Here sit down." He said while guiding her to the bed. She sat down and looked up at him.
"Now tell me, how is she?"
"She quite alright now, but the decease will only get worse and…" Katsu looked down at her expectantly. "And?"
"The treatment costs $1000 a month, and mom can't afford it." Finally Misao couldn't hold back her emotions anymore and broke down in tears.
---------------~---------------~---------------~--------------~--------------~--------------~--------------~
Author's note: I know it's quite an abrupt ending but I'm really running out of inspiration right now and I'm going to work on something else for a while and get back to this later. I thank everyone who reviewed my stories, it's really gave me the will to write more :) Arigatou!
"Misao!" Sano said a little louder. "You have to get up, you know what time it is?"
He got some noises for reply, but she still wouldn't get up.
"MISAO WE HAVE TO GO PRACTICE!!" He yelled and jumped on the bed. Another grumble escaped Misao's mouth and then her silent voice spoke: "Alright, alright I'm up…" Misao sat up straight and was greeted by Sano's wide grin. "Finally listening are ya? I'll be waiting downstairs." With that he got up and left the room.
Misao rubbed her eyes and took of the large shirt she had borrowed from Sano. When she was properly dressed she went downstairs and Sano joined her in going outside.
"So what do you think Sano?" Misao asked a little absent-mindly.
"What do I think about what?" He asked with a questioned look on his face.
"About the competition, do you think we can win?" Misao knew what his answer would be, he always planned to win, but she asked anyway.
"Off course we can win! We'll wipe their asses!" He said with that over confident smile plastered on his face.
"I knew you'd say something like that." Misao replied with a smirk, and then she sped up, suddenly wanting to train and win the contest.
Sano had no problems keeping up with her and it didn't take them long to get to the skate park where Katsu was already waiting for them.
"Hey Katsu!" Sano yelled out at his best friend, who turned around at hearing his voice.
"Yo Sano!" He exclaimed and came towards them. "Hey Misao!" He greeted her.
Yahiko wasn't there yet, but they weren't going to wait for him to show up, knowing he was late most of the time.
Misao practised some of her best tricks that always got her many points at competitions. For a reason unknown to her her tricks went more fluently than they usually did.
After performing a perfect Madonna180 she heard clapping coming from her friends. She stopped and looked at the three of them looking very pleased.
"If you can pull stuff like that of on the competition, Kamatari's group will have to bite the dust! Soujiro can never beat that!" an excited Sano yelled at her.
Misao smiled sheepishly at him and scratched the back of her neck.
"I don't know what's gotten into me today!" she said happily while going towards a grind bar and performing a grind.
They continued practicing practically the whole day, Misao had gotten a few days of from work to practice.
At the end of the day it surprised Misao they hadn't seen anything from Kamatari and his gang. She wondered if they had already gotten their private practice ground already.
She decided she wouldn't worry about the other team anymore and concentrate on her own performance.
"Mom I'm home!" Again there was no answer, as Misao had expected. She went further into the house and saw her sister Ayame sitting at the table all alone.
"Where's Suzume-chan?" Misao asked her.
He young girl looked up with a confused expression on her face.
"She was playing upstairs, but when mom called her for dinner she didn't come. Then mom went up to get her. She came running down carrying her and told me to wait for you and call Jiya. She left so fast I couldn't even ask what was going on." The girl's eyes filled with tears while Misao's had gone wide in surprise and utter horror. "Suzume…" For a moment she was caught in a battle against herself, one part wanted to get over to the hospital as quickly as possible, but the other couldn't leave Ayame alone.
"Have you called Jiya?" The girl shook her head. Misao immediately called her grandfather, who had left them that morning.
"Come on! Pick up, pick up!" Misao impatiently waited for him to answer the phone.
"Moshi moshi Nenji Blabla speaking."
"Jiya! Please come over here as soon as you can! Something's wrong with Suzume, mom took her to the hospital! I'm going there now!"
"I shall be there as soon as I can." Okina's voice sounded alarmed but he tried to keep his calm.
"You have to come home to stay with Ayame, jiya, I'll tell Sano to watch her until you're here!" Misao didn't wait for an answer and threw down the horn.
"Ayame-chan I'll ask Sano to stay with you, be good okay?" Misao didn't wait for a reply and sprinted over to Sano's house, only noticing she left her skateboard at home when she got there. She pushed the bell three times letting him know it was very urgent.
"Misao? What's the matter?" He asked before the door was fully opened.
"It's Suzume-chan. She's in the hospital. You need to stay with Ayame-chan so I can go there too." She finally stopped to catch her breath again and only then saw Katsu was inside too.
"You've got it Misao!" Sano said without doubting.
"Jiya is on his way, please stay until he's arrived."
Sano nodded and motioned for Katsu to go.
"Oh Sano, can I use your board? I forgot mine, and I don't want to run to the hospital."
"You can use mine Misao, Sano broke his." Came the unexpected reply from Katsu and he immediately went to get it and handed it over to Misao.
"Thanks you guys, this really means a lot to me. Oh, here's the key to my house." She said while giving it to Sano.
"Hey no problem, now get out of here before it's too late!" Sano said while pushing her onto the street. "We'll take care of your sister!"
After a race against time she finally reached the hospital and went inside, leaving Katsu's board outside.
She went to the counter and asked for Suzume Makimachi.
"She's in room 245, but she can't have visitors yet, only relatives."
"I'm her sister."
The lady looked at her unbelievingly, Misao didn't look anything like her little sisters after all. She was about to say something but Misao had already made her dash towards the elevator, not caring about what was yelled at her.
She pushed the down button a lot more than necessary and went inside the moment the doors opened, wriggling herself between the people that came out.
Then she pushed the button for the second floor and got out as fast as she had gotten in. Then she started running around in the corridors looking for room 245.
" 242, it should be around here!" And indeed only a few moments later she found room 245. She didn't bother to knock on the door and just went inside the room, causing a very surprised look on both her mother and the nurse that was inside.
"Misao!" The nurse was about to get her out again but her mother stopped her. "It's okay, she's one of my daughters as well." The nurse backed of again and went back to what she was doing.
"Misao, where's Ayame-chan? You didn't leave her behind did you?" Her mother asked worried about her third daughter.
"Sano and Katsu are with her and I called Jiya." Then she diverted her attention towards the little girl that lay in the hospital bed.
"Is she alright?" Misao asked worried.
"She is for now, but…" As her mother stopped talking, Misao's heart skipped a beat and it was filled with fear. "But what? Is anything wrong?"
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
"Her decease will only get worse, the only treatment there is costs $1000 a month."
Misao replied simply "Then we pay for the treatment."
"Misao, you must understand, I can't afford it, I still have two other daughters to take care of, and with the job I have,… It's just impossible."
Misao couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Jiya will help us out!"
"Honey, your grandfather doesn't have more than we do…I have thought this through, and in this situation I can't find any solution."
Misao looked at her sister, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She would do anything to help the girl, but what more could she do than the work she was already doing?
It took some time but it finally dawned upon her : the tournament!
"Mom how long will she have to be treated?"
Her mother looked up at her with no hope left. "Four months at least."
Misao couldn't help but to crack a smile and her mother looked at her questioningly.
"In a week there's a big skating competition. I wasn't planning on telling you, cause I know you don't like the fact that I like skating more than anything else, but I do now because the first price is $4000. I'm sure my friends won't mind giving their money to Suzume-chan."
Her mother couldn't help but to smile.
"Misao that's very sweet and all, but don't fool yourself, how big are the chances that you win? And how big will the chance be that your friends give their money away once they really have it?"
Misao looked at her mother angry. "Don't talk about my friends that way! They're not like that!"
"People can change a lot when something really valuable is at stake, don't get your hopes up."
"Well if you're right or not, it's the least I can do! And I'm gonna spend more hours working in the store, so you make sure you're home more often!" With a final look at her sister she left the room and went outside as fast as she could. She needed some time alone to think about it all, she was determined to make sure her sister got what she needed.
When she left the hospital she came to the painful conclusion that Katsu's skateboard was nowhere to be found. She cursed out loud making some of the people around her look at her. How was she going to tell him that his best board had just been stolen from under her nose, she had been so stupid!
She decided to go to Katsu's place first, it was nearest and she wanted to tell him first. She rang the doorbell and it took a while before it was answered by his mother.
"Is Katsu home yet?" She asked as if nothing was wrong.
"Yes, why don't you come in while I get him for you?" Misao just nodded and walked in, closing the door behind her. She had to wait less than a minute before Katsu called her from upstairs.
"Come on up to my room Misao!" She was glad she could talk to him alone, not with his parents or brothers nearby and went upstairs.
"So how was it?" He asked while turning of the screen of his computer.
"She's not too well. But that's not why I'm here." This caused Katsu to look at her confused.
"I went in and when I came back…You're skateboard was gone." Misao looked at the ground ashamed not daring to look him in the face.
"Misao…" But before he could really say something she started apologizing herself.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry but in the commotion I totally forgot about it and…"
"Misao stop that! First tell me what's up with your sister, we can discuss this later. Here sit down." He said while guiding her to the bed. She sat down and looked up at him.
"Now tell me, how is she?"
"She quite alright now, but the decease will only get worse and…" Katsu looked down at her expectantly. "And?"
"The treatment costs $1000 a month, and mom can't afford it." Finally Misao couldn't hold back her emotions anymore and broke down in tears.
---------------~---------------~---------------~--------------~--------------~--------------~--------------~
Author's note: I know it's quite an abrupt ending but I'm really running out of inspiration right now and I'm going to work on something else for a while and get back to this later. I thank everyone who reviewed my stories, it's really gave me the will to write more :) Arigatou!