"Everything takes longer than you think."
-Murphy's Law #2

Wednesday. After lunch.

"Oy, Haruka," a black-haired guy wearing our university's basketball uniform poked me from behind.

"Oy, Riku," I brushed off his hand and punched him playfully on his arm.

"What're still doing here in CAS! The tryouts have already started. I've showed them my stuff an hour ago. I showed them what they're looking for," Riku, my guy best friend and all time partner-in-crime, boasted about his performance on basketball and baseball.

"Where is the tryout for track, and till when?" I asked him in-between his speech.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "I heard it ends in 45 minutes. By the way," he smiled evilly, "It's on the Sunken Garden."

"What? The Sunken Garden?" I grunted and sighed inwardly. The Sunken Garden is located a few kilometers away from CAS, and assuming that I'll run with top speed from this college to the said garden, it will take me around 30 minutes at least to get to that place.

Baka.Haruka, you idiot. I slapped myself mentally. Such a bad stroke of luck, if I just brought my motorcycle to school, then there'll be no problem at all.

"Yeah, so you better get your butt moving, Tenoh," he pushed me with encouragement and laughed behind his hand.

"Okay, okay. So where are you off to now?"

"I don't know…maybe I'll return to the basketball court to see whether I'm in the team or not."

I tried to drag him forward, "Common, Riku. I've only got a few minutes to spare."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming. But I'll be right behind you a few steps. You know I'm not as fast as you." He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Turtle." I smirked at him.

"Chicken," he teased back.

"Crybaby!"

"Flirt!"

And the banter went on as we tried to make our way towards the garden. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that we wouldn't encounter any obstacles whatsoever and filled every fiber of my body with enough enthusiasm to run as fast as I could.

Author's Notes:

More on next chapter.

Disclaimer:

Haruka, Michiru, and the rest of the BSSM gang belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
And Mr. Murphy owns his laws.