Disclaimer: I do not own Slamdunk. I know that. This is just for formalities.. hehe.. Libre naman ang mangarap diba?
coffeemaverick: thank you so much for your review... well... Mitsui is a character that i would say it more well-rounded, and isn't too much of an extreme with one attitude... i like the guy too.. hehe.. hope you'll keep on reading!
Calliope Medina Erato: thank you for continuing to read my fic… I'm glad that your guess was right… and I'm also glad that the title started to blossom in your mind… but of course as I portray it with the past few chapters, it's been mostly figuratively, or mentally, but things will start to go into a transition soon enough, and everything will become more clearer. ;)
autumnchloe: I'm glad that you were also able to tell that it was Mitsui… and well, yeah, they are best friends with Mitsui, although he has lots of best friends, she's one of them… and I'm also very glad to know that you see yourself in her, because one of my plans was to come up with a character that was believable, or more, that you could picture existing as someone from your school, from your group of friends, you know…
Do You See Me?
Flashback
"Today, we have a science test that will take the form of a trust-walk."
"A trust-walk?" I noticed I had voiced out my thoughts and quickly raised my hand to appease Ms. Hayane, our science teacher. She disliked students who don't raise their hand before saying anything. She glanced briefly at me before answering my question. "Yes, a trust-walk. You will be getting into partners, one blindfolded and the other one leading his/her partner to different parts of the school."
I turned back to find Ayako's seat, the person I trust the most in this class. I motioned for her seatmate to tap her, and when I did get her attention, I signalled by pointing to myself, then to her, and repeating it in the same fashion until she understood and nodded her head in agreement. I turned back to the teacher. She doesn't like students not paying attention while she's talking.
"There will be volunteer students from another class stationed in these specific sites to ask you a question and you are to repeat the same process until you are finished."
A buzz started to occur about the contract of who will be whose partner until the teacher called for the attention of the class. "I will be the one in charge of getting you a partner. This is a trust- walk. How will it be a trust-walk if you are already walking with a person whom you already trust?"
The class groaned. A girl from the fifth row raised her hand. "Does it include going down the stairs?" Silence turned the class into a ghost town. All eyes were on Ms. Hayane, the anticipation almost killing me. "Of course, how do you expect to go down the second floor?"
I swallowed a lump that was forming in my throat. "What if we fall down?" Another questioned. "Well, you just have to be careful." Another lump. Whispers began to erupt from the silence.
"How many people are in this class?" The class chorused, "35, ma'am." The teacher thought for a while, it might be the issue of the odd person.
The class was divided into 6 rows and 6 columns, the 35th person sitting in the 5th column. She divided us in the 3rd row and labelled the two halves group A and B. I belonged to group A. Ayako belonged to group B. She instructed group A to count off from 1-17 starting from the last person of the first column and moving up and down that path. Originally, we would be paired up with someone from group B, but our group had two number 1's. I was one.
You could look at the situation in two ways. Either she was the outcast, or I was. To solve this problem, we did it the old fashion way. Rock, paper, scissors. When the results showed, she had rock, and I had… scissors. I lost. I was the odd person out.
"Don't worry," The teacher reassured me. "The period 4 class will be doing the same activity this afternoon. Let me see if they have a spare."
And Ms. Hayane came back with… you. "He will be your trust-walk partner for today. Mitsui Hisashi, please meet Takahashi Karin." She gave you a little push as an indication for you to approach me. "Take good care Mitsui, no pranks. Oh and here's the blindfold."
Ms. Hayane clapped her hands thrice before she got our full attention. "Now that we all have partners, Group B please head to the library, and Group A will go to the computer room. Good luck!"
"We're group A." I informed you before you started to take off my sense of sight with that blindfold. Soon I could only see… darkness. I tried to create a mental picture of what the room looked like, only to find out it converted into a circle of darkness. I did not know which way was right.
"Ok, just, walk straight." I bumped into a chair then rebounded from it, walking extra slow that the turtle would have won the race. It did win it. "Now, stop. Turn a bit left." I did as you told me too. "Now a bit right." I kept on echoing the words you said - a bit right. "Now, go straight again."
"Where are we?" You placed my hand on the door. "Outside of your classroom. Now turn very left." I followed your directions. "Not that left, you're facing me. Turn a little to the right. Stop right there and walk straight."
"Is this the computer room already?" I hear you answer, "Yeah." An unfamiliar voice sounded right in front of me. "What is anything that occupies space and has mass?" Was that question for me. You nudged my elbow, so I answered. "Matter." I felt my hands being guided the table and something rough and with no particular shape with a little weight rested on the palm of my hand. "Guess what state of matter is this." I began to feel it's rough edges and started to pound it to the table. "Solid, it's a rock." You guide my hand to dip into something wet. I felt for the glass and tried to smell something. Nothing. "Liquid, its water." Then I felt something rubbery and shaped like a circle. "Inside this is gas, it's helium." I hear somebody clapping his or her hands, and by the sound of it, it came from the front, so it had to be that unknown student I could not see. And wait, there's another sound, fainter than the first. If I had to guess, I'd say it was beside me. Was that you? "Congratulations, please proceed to the audiovisual room."
"Now we're out of the computer room. Just walk straight ahead. Don't worry; it's an empty corridor." I became more at ease, although my knees were still tense. "Turn a little bit right, you're walking left." It did not feel like it but I turned a little bit right anyways. "Good. Continue, and stop!"
I bumped into you. "Now take 2 steps back, another one, another one, ok. Whoo. We've reached the edge of the stairs." My knees began to wobble. "You mean I was about to fall?" I hear footsteps drawing nearer, until it stopped. "Sorry 'bout that. Can you side-step to the right?"
"Where's the handle?" My hand reached out into thin air, waving it slightly to reach the handle. Instead I hit you. "Sorry." Again you take my hand and put it to the railing. With both hands, I held onto it, a foot slowly sinking to take a step. I missed by a small fraction and ended up with my left foot landing on a lower step. "Are you alright?" I slowly raise myself up, clinging more than ever to the railing. "Yeah." I attempted another step. Success! "Take your time." Step by step.
"I'll just follow the railing." I faced straight ahead, though that was not probably where you were. I turned a 90-degree angle and turned right. "Is this the edge?"
"Nope, 3 more steps." I slid my floor until I felt it. Down. 8 times more and here I am on solid ground. "Good. Now straight." My foot connected with the garbage can. "Sorry. Turn slightly to your right. Ok. Take 5 steps. Now turn 90-degrees to the left. Now go straight."
You hold my elbow to stop me. You could have just said it. "What is the ability to do work?" I opened my mouth to answer when you beat me to it. "Energy." Now I remember we had to take turns. "Can you name 3 forms of energy?" Can you? "Solar, wind, and hydro." You're not as bad as I thought. "Please proceed to the Science Laboratory just at the end of the hall."
You push my back and I started to walk, with no sense of direction as to where is straight ahead. "A bit left." My walking must be crooked. "More left, more, more." My shoulder hit a wall. "Sorry, you ok?" I felt the wall and backed away from it. "I'm fine."
"There. Straight. Right, no, left now, right again, left, left, ok straight, a little to the left, straight, stop. We're here."
"What is the short term condition of the atmosphere? Long term condition?" I had answered both questions right, and we were told to go back to our classrooms. "Straight. Let me hold you." You grabbed my shoulder and started to walk, dragging me behind you.
"Mitsui!" That's Ms. Hayane's voice. "You know the rules, only direct her on which way to go. Keep in mind, trust-walk." You let go of my arm, the footsteps walking away from us.
"This is the foot of the stairs." I raised a foot, stepped down, nothing. I had missed. You chuckle from behind. "Your steps are so little!" I tried again. I can feel it. I hauled myself up, until I reached the familiar corner, followed the railing and walked until my foot hit the bottom of the steps. I climbed once, successful, twice, thrice, and I missed a step, but you caught me. "Take your time." You once again said. 7 more, and I'm done.
I allowed you to direct me with a series of the familiar straight, left's and rights that you always state. "We're here." I untied the blindfold, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. "You were good." It was meant to be a compliment. "If you don't count the bumps I've caused you."
You were good. If you weren't I would've fallen down the stairs and well the rest would've never happened. Or I would've scraped my knee. You were good.
Ms. Hayane ordered you to return to class and you replied by placing both hands on your pocket, exiting in a leisurely fashion, as if you owned the place.
At the last minutes of class, I sat down to talk with Ayako. "So, who was your partner?" She pointed to a curly haired boy who sat with his friend 3 seats diagonally back from hers. "So, did you bump him?" You closed the notes you copied from the blackboard and turned to face me. "He was such a scarty cat, clinging onto my arm like that. So anyways, I walked on ahead, to avoid him of course and I kept saying straight, straight, straight, then he yelled "ouch!" He collided head first with the wall."
Two hands covered Ayako's eyes and she immediately unsheathed her lethal fan. "Guess who this is, Aya-chan!" Slap! Right through the unfortunate forehead of, "Miyagi Ryota." You were about to corner him and beat him to dust when he raised both hands in the air in surrender. "You better leave me alone before I chop you up!"
Ring! It's time for recess. "See ya later, Aya-chan!" I could not help but laugh quietly to myself. You noticed it anyways. "Let's go, Aya-chan?" You eyes caught fire. "You too Karin!" I unleashed my puppy dog eyes. "Don't look at me like that."
Um… the longest yet that I have written for this story… reason for this? It's a trust-walk… ;) anyways, thank you for reading and review!
