Panting heavily, Doremi barreled through the maze, pumping her arms up and down. Strangely enough, the witch was almost positive she was going in the right direction. She looked over her shoulder.
"Hazuki-chan I think we're almost there!" When there was no reply, a drop of sweat dribbled down her forehead, turning cold. The fatigued girl jammed her heels into the ground.
"Hazuki-chan?" Doremi turned in place, searching for her friend. "Hazuki-chan?!" The echo was her only answer.
She cupped her mouth with her hands. "Hazuki-chan! Are you there!?" A sense of great worry swept throughout her body. Was she okay?
Something clicked in the ojamajo's head. In her need to win the steak, she must have lost Hazuki! "That must be it..."
Waves of guilt washed over Doremi. Hanging her head, the clumsy witch had a two-sided debate with herself. "But the steak.. and Kotake.."
Doremi slapped herself on impulse. "What am I thinking?! Hazuki could be hurt or lost and I'm just standing here thinking about steak!"
Her eyes blazed with determination. "I have to find her! Besides, what fun is winning when your in it alone!"
Putting aside her other trivial desires, Doremi turned around and started running back, calling out her best friend's name with as much energy as she could muster.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brimming with an unknown source of stamina, Kotake ambled down the dirt path. "Come on Kimura-kun! Your falling behind!"
The other boy sighed. "Kotake, you've been running non-stop for the past forty minutes. Give it a rest will ya? It's not like the prize is anything special."
The navy-haired boy slowed, coming into more of a jog. "Don't you want to beat Dojimi? It's gonna be hilarious seeing her chase after me once I eat it. She'll probably want to lick my fingers!" He laughed hard at the thought.
Kimura shrugged. "I'm not having any part in this. If your so set on beating her, go right ahead." He regarded Kotake with apprehension, hoping he wouldn't go too far in this crazy competition.
"What happened? You always used to go along with my plans", Kotake asked, perplexed at Kimura's sudden distaste for trouble.
He smirked impishly, bringing past events together. "Say... does your new attitude have anything to do with Koizumi?" They were side-by-side now.
A revealing blush crept over Kimura's cheeks. "Well... that is.. Why would I like?... I mean..." He tugged at the collar of his shirt, unable to make a coherent sentence.
Tetsuya placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. "Not that I have a problem with that." He held up his other hand, eyes closed. "It's just a shame for all that competitive potential to go to waste." Kimura barely heard him, reminiscing his date with Marina at the theme park. Images of her smile flooded his mind, and he grinned like a love-struck fool.
"Oi Kimura! Are you listening," Kotake spoke near his ear. The brunette boy snapped out of his fantasies, and nodded a little too quickly. Kotake noticed this. "Guess not," he groaned in frustration.
"Well I for one am not going to submit to a clumsy, air-headed, m-" He threw up his arms and fell backwards. "Gaaahhh!!!" Splayed out on top of him and moaning in pain, was the person he had just been describing.
"Moron?" Out of breath, Doremi coughed and rearranged herself so that her legs and arms were on either side of him.
"Dojimi, trying to run me over? I didn't realize you were that desperate to win," he teased, though not without blushing at the position they were in.
The witch got off him, sitting at the soles of his feet. "Sorry..." She stared at her knees, irises shimmering like she was about to cry.
Seeing her upset disposition, the soccer players smug expression was replaced by a concerned frown. He enjoyed getting Doremi angry, but when something made her sad, it made his defenses melt away, leaving only the raw feelings underneath. He constantly forced himself to deny it. He was too much of a coward to ever admit that he adored the odango-haired girl.
"What's wrong?" He sat up and looked her in the eye, resisting the urge to smooth down her frayed bangs.
"Hazuki-chan..." She jerked her head upward and yelled, "Hazuki-chan's missing!" The witch apprentice turned away in shame. "And it's my fault. All my fault..." she murmured, a guilty tear sliding down her chin.
Alarmed, Tetsuya slid over to comfort her by placing an arm around her neck. "Wait, don't cry! We'll help you find Fujiwara-san. Right?" He looked at Kimura, who gave them a thumbs up.
The distressed girl whimpered and wiped away the tear. "R-really?" She glanced up at Kotake, who shook his head in affirmation.
Doremi extended her legs to stand, leaning on Kotake for support. She took a step forward and his arm fell back at his side. "We'd better get going if we want to find her." The witch beamed at the two boys and Kotake turned away to hide the shade of scarlet on his face.
The pink-haired girl rushed back and forth down the trail calling Hazuki's name.
Kimura playfully punched his friend in the side. "Now who's the sucker." He grinned until his pearly whites were showing.
"Shut it." Heart thumping irregularly, Tetsuya darted over to assist Doremi in the search.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"..lala lala lala la, dada... dada dada da..." Hazuki sung softly in her sleep, chest gently rising up and down. An adorable smile graced her face.
"Fujiwara?" Masaru twisted his neck to look at her, flushing pink when their noses were only an inch away from touching. He reflexively jerked his head back and mumbled, "Sleeping..."
By now the sky had turned the color of a royal blue evening. In the background, the mountaintops glowed bright orange, illuminated by the setting sun. Gray and violet clouds floated lazily over the treetops. The combination created the vision of a classic landscape that Yada couldn't help but admire.
Dim, but still prominent was the North Star, which twinkled at him playfully. It was not as bright or beautiful as the other stars, yet it was always there, watching out for lost travelers in space. Masaru stared at it, thinking about how his dad always used to point it out every time they took a night time stroll by the river.
"Masaru! Look at that!" Pointing at the evening sky with his index finger, a tall green-haired man gently squeezed his son's shoulder.
The young boy craned his neck to see the single star his father was indicating. "What is it dad?"
"Thats the North Star. No matter where you are in the world, whether in Japan or or anywhere else, it is always to the north." He gave young Masaru a knowledgeable smile. "Travelers in the olden times didn't have a compass, so they used to use it to navigate to other towns."
The smaller boy looked at the insignificant star in awe. "Really? But didn't they have maps and stuff?"
The older man straightened his back, watching as the river shimmered in the moonlight. "Yes thats true, they did. But... every once in a while someone would lose their way. Even if they didn't have a map, the North Star would still be there to guide them... all the way back home." He sat down and stretched his legs. Masaru moved to sit beside him, arms curled around his knees. He peeked at his father from behind them, unwilling to interrupt the moment.
"Everyone in this world has their own personal star. One to comfort them when their upset or frightened. One to complete their lost place in life. A star that will always make you feel like your never alone, no matter where you are." He shifted to look at a curious Masaru.
"Ah... I think your too young to understand just yet." He rubbed a hand through Masaru's hair. The little boy stared at him blankly.
Swishes of trickling water was the only sound to be heard.
Even nowMasaru still didn't quite understand what his father had been trying to tell him. But over the years as he matured, he did decipher some of the riddle. The star his father had been talking about wasn't like the ones in the sky. It was something here on Earth. Something that everyone deserved to have, even a cold and lonely boy such as himself.
Hazuki buried her head into his back and he jumped in surprise.
Fujiwara... she was someone he had known since kindergarden, his first friend he ever made, though he didn't think she realized it. On that day in the park, his first day at school, she had tripped and injured herself and had started bawling, even though it was only a few scrapes and a twisted knee. He had been sitting quietly in the shade of a tree doing nothing in particular and had been the only one to see it happen. Sure, he had no idea who she was or what she was doing, but seeing her cry like that had triggered his gentle, softer side. It had started out with just offering a hand, but before he knew it, he was carrying her all the way home, struggling with every step. It felt like it was almost impossible, but somehow he made it. The aches would haunt him for the next few days, but that 'Thank you' she gave him in her sweet, shy voice made the pain somehow bearable.
From that simple gesture, their childhood friendship had bloomed. She followed him around everywhere, even outside of school. He didn't mind. Fujiwara wasn't like the other kindergarden girls, with their childish, hyperactive tendencies. She was more reserved and demure, never feeling the need to fill every silence with random chatter. Even before his father left, Masaru was never much of a talker, but Fujiwara could always tell what he was feeling at pressured times. She knew when to leave him alone and was always there for him to convey his problems to.
Then of course, their friendship went over a speed bump that took several years to repair. On her birthday in first grade, he said some things he shouldn't have and ever since then they had felt awkward around one another. It wasn't until last year these hard feelings had been patched up. Their bond had grown stronger throughout the years of confronting mature issues and it had been about time that she had forgiven him.
Last Valentine's Day... her birthday, they had exchanged gifts for the first time in five years. He had gone out of his way to buy her a bouquet of flowers, though not without the supposed courage enhancement of Maho-Dou's chocolate, which was ironically made by Fujiwara herself. To his great surprise, she had bought him a present as well, a delicious Valentine chocolate. After a series of coincidental misses, they had finally found each other at the same tension filled park from five years ago. There he managed at last to give her another birthday present.
In sixth grade, he now had other friends, mainly Hasebe, who was similar to himself in a lot of ways, but also to some degree, Kotake and Kimura. But no matter what, Fujiwara was someone he cared about, the first person besides his parents that he ever became close with. Sometimes it was difficult to tell, but Masaru really was concerned about how she felt, knowing that she obviously reciprocated that care and concern for him.
But he couldn't help but wonder why she would give her Valentine chocolate to him of all people. It was common knowledge to the class that he never got any gifts on that day, mainly because of his gloomy and antisocial personality. He didn't accept presents that meant nothing to him anyway. However, deep down he wanted her to give him another chocolate. Masaru valued her friendship and affection, even though he wasn't sure that he deserved it. But all he could do was wait and see until her birthday.
"Huh?" Yada's vacant expression faded away at the din of several voices in the distance. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out any shifting shadows or footsteps. The pounding and scraping of shoes came closer, moving towards him.
Wary, Masaru stepped quietly, glancing left and right. It was probably just some of his classmates but he could never be too sure. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but with Fujiwara injured and sleeping on his back, a more protective side of him kicked in, ready to fight if need be.
The moonlight briefly illuminated a waving hand, which looked about twenty feet away. Masaru raised an eyebrow and paused in his trek down the path.
Three shadows of people ran towards him, one moving at an alarming rate. A squeal of apparent relief irritated his ears and he took a step back.
"HAZUKI-CHAN!!" Dirty and sweating was Doremi, who stumbled in her mad dash over to him. Masaru's eyes narrowed in contempt. "Harukaze," he grumbled.
"I was so worried about you! At the end of the maze, I realized you were gone and came back to look for you! But your okay, a-" Masaru stabbed her with a glare of blame. "She's asleep Harukaze." He said her name with a hint of venom.
Doremi breathed heavily for a few moments, noticing that Hazuki was indeed unconscious and barely comprehended the hostile look Masaru was giving her.
"Oi, wait up Doremi! Sheesh, why don't you run that fast at the sports festival?!' Kotake, closely followed by Kimura, jogged up to the three. The soccer played held his knees, panting, while Kimura only wiped his forehead.
Doremi smiled cheerfully. "We found Hazuki-chan!" Masaru grunted and her face fell, looking at Hazuki's condition for the first time. "Yada-kun, why are you carrying her? W-what happened... is she hurt?" A foreboding feeling passed through witches system. She moved closer, much to the dismay of Masaru.
"After you ran away, Fujiwara chased after you and took a hard fall. She injured her ankle." Doremi looked down, her gaze moving over the lumps and bruises on her friends leg. "She was sitting helpless in the road until Hasebe and I found her." The apprentice pursed her lips, overwhelmed with guilt and concern. "I told Hasebe to run ahead and get first aid. I've been carrying her to the exit for the past two hours." The trumpeter continued to pierce Doremi with unfriendly eyes.
Kotake butted in-between them, sensing the apathetic atmosphere. "But she's safe, right? That's all that matters." Masaru redirected his gaze at the navy-haired boy. Tetsuya glared back, and defensively pushed into Doremi.
Kimura would have given Kotake a roguish smirk, but it seemed out of place. The brunette boy 'ahemed' in his loud voice. "It's way past our deadline, and the teachers are gonna be worried sick, even though you said Hasebe was going to inform them. So we'd better quit it with the unnecessary explanations and start moving, the sooner the better." He gestured toward the sleeping Hazuki. "You need help?"
"No," Masaru muttered, irritated at all of them. His eyes turned steely and he started walking again, not even bothering to wait. Doremi ambled after him, unsettled. Kotake grudgingly treaded beside her, glaring daggers at Masaru's covered back. Kimura was starting to develop a rumbling headache, and rubbed the side of his head, all the while trailing after the group.
An uncomfortable silence made the air stale, hazy with straining winds. Minutes that seemed like hours ticked by, blowing in swirls and crescents. Puffs of breath carried on the turbulence, circulating through the majestic moonlight, waiting, watching. It beamed down upon the musty earth, to a single opening.
They had found the exit.