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'How many hamburgers can he eat!' Shira thought, exasperated, as she watched Momo and Sharr in a burger place after ice skating. That had been quite an adventure, watching Sharr scare little children when she was serious, and then having Momo immediately cheer her up by falling on the ice. It had almost been humorous; watching the 'powerhouse' of the guys' tennis team having one of the youngest on the girls' team skate circles around him. Momo's lack of grace on the ice was enough to make Sharr laugh childishly, a sight odd, even from Shira's perspective.
'21, 22,' Shira finally gave up trying to count all of the hamburgers he ate. He still seemed like he was going strong when he suddenly stopped and looked into Sharr's eyes.
"If you're ready to go, we can leave," he said, looking sincere. Sharr smiled and shook her head.
"I've waited for you for two years now, I can wait a little longer," she said, blushing slightly as she said it. Momo blushed even harder, and gently grabbed her hand, helping her to rise from the booth.
"Come on," he said, and she followed him with her smile still on her face. Shira's mouth dropped open as Momo walked out with her, heading towards his bike. Once again, she was in trouble. There was no way she could keep up, and she couldn't beat them home because the bus didn't run to their house.
She sighed, 'Someone is plotting against me today…'
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"Kiri Yamatashi?" the voice seemed familiar even as Kiri turned to see who had said her name. The smiling face that greeted her seemed familiar as well. She quickly placed them.
"Ales?" she asked, mildly surprised, though she didn't show it. After all, she was in the middle of a practice, trying to use the day between tournament days as well as she could. If she wasn't as surprised, she normally would have resented the interruption. Raina told the others keep working.
"I had hoped it was you," Ales grinned, "You've gotten a lot taller."
"So have you," Kiri nodded, "Quomodo? (How?)" Ales understood the question immediately, and quickly shifted to Latin as well.
"Res adhuc iters celer in ille vias (News still travels fast on the streets)," she shrugged, "Ille alter haedus's fundare extra qui tu did, et conatus ad exemplum tu. (The other kids found out what you did, and tried to copy you.) I was one of the lucky ones." She finished in Japanese, for lack of proper words in Latin.
"Probus pro tu. (Good for you.)"
"Ille notio was indoles. (The idea was genius.)"
"I did non egere ad mori (I did not want to die)," Kiri said simply, doubting Ales would really understand. Ales had been the one other street kid Kiri had worked with. Even then, the time was short, but it was more then Kiri had shared with anyone else. She and Ales had a bond, created by the hardships of the streets. Kiri had, in fact, talked to Ales one other time since the days on the streets. It was merely a passing on the street, but it was not long after Kiri had found her home and they recognized each other. She had given Ales her name, the one she hadn't been able to give her when they met, and Ales said one word, 'Latin', before hurrying away. Kiri had been right to assume she would need to learn the dead language.
Kiri glanced at her watch. She had been careless and it was now time to go. "Practice is over," she announced and walked away, Ales following. The remaining starters rushed to Canti.
"What were they talking about!" Cara demanded to know.
"I…" Canti thought for a moment, "I didn't understand…"
"What do you mean?" Christine frowned, "I recognized it as Latin. You studied that, didn't you?"
"Yes," Canti said, "Yes, I did. Let me rephrase myself: I didn't understand what they were talking about."
"What was it?" Shira asked, eagerly. Canti quoted the conversation for the others.
"… And then Kiri said 'I did not want to die'," Canti finished and the others looked stunned.
"You don't think…" Christine started, "That Kiri is actually a hit man… Er, woman… for a street gang of children?"
"That must be it!" Cara agreed.
"Don't be stupid," Canti said, "That's not possible, right Raina?" The assistant-captain sighed.
"It's not likely, but…" She paused, "… To tell you the truth I don't know anything about Kiri's life before fifth grade. She just doesn't talk about herself."
"With good reason!" Christine exclaimed, "She might let something slip!"
"And then there's how she always seems to know what you're thinking! That's creepy, you know!" Shira said, getting sucked into the excitement.
"Maybe they teach that in the street gang!" Sharr suggested, following her sister's lead.
"You know, it's all starting to seem possible…" Canti murmured. "We don't know anything about Kiri, even those of us who have known her for years have been kept at distance. Yet this girl comes and they… connect, I guess."
"I don't want to believe it, but…" Raina started.
"…It might just be true." Shia finished, and Aine nodded silently.
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"Where are you going?" Ales asked, following two steps behind Kiri.
"Where are you following me?" Kiri asked, not turning around. Ales shook her head, seeing that some things never changed. She thought back to when they met. In fact, it was a lot like what they were doing now. Kiri had had food that day, and had just put the last crumb in her mouth when Ales approached. Ales introduced herself, only to be ignored as Kiri walked on, giving her no more then a glance. Ales followed, telling her the proposal she had cooked up. It was logical, two people look together, there is twice as good a chance that they could find some scraps. Just when she was starting to think Kiri might be deaf or mute, she spoke to her for the first time. She told her that even if they found food more often two mouths were harder to feed then one. 'Yes, but we could find food more often,' she had pointed out. Kiri, of course, had already thought about this, and still preferred to work alone. Ales never knew why, then, Kiri turned around and looked her straight in the eyes. She never said it, but Ales knew that she was saying that she excepted the proposal.
'Where are you going?'
'Where are you following me?' She remembered that they had said those same things every day, without fail. Kiri, as expected, found food every day. More than once, Ales wondered why Kiri kept her around. Then there was that day…
"If you're following me, you need to keep up," Kiri's voice brought her back to the real world and she picked up her pace.
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"Alright, Operation A: Trail Kiri-Buchou," Canti said, "We can't all stay grouped up like this, we'd attract too much attention. If Kiri only sees one of us, she might let it pass as coincidence. Remember not to think about it!"
"Got it!" the girls exclaimed and split up, trailing Kiri and Ales from a distance. It soon became clear that the destination was a large house, a little ways away from the city and off the main road. The outer stone wall served as cover as the peeked around it, watching Kiri and Ales walk inside.
"Kiri is already home," a voice said from behind them. Many whirled around, then sighed heavily as they realized it was Kiri's younger sister. "If you need to see Kiri, she just went inside with a friend of hers." She looked the Raina and smiled, "I've never seen Kiri invite a friend over before, not even you!" The girl seemed to find this amusing, and they could all tell that this was certainly Kiri's sister.
"It's true," Raina mumbled, "She's always comes over to my place, ever since we first became friends."
"Hey, Kiri's-little-sister!" Christine smiled, then got serious, "Don't tell Kiri we're here, okay? We're on a mission."
"My name's not 'Kiri's-little-sister'," she pouted, "It's Sachi."
"Of course," Shira soothed her, "but you won't tell Kiri, right, Sachi?"
"Fine," Sachi agreed, looking at the older girl with admiration. Shira smiled.
"Thank you so much, Sachi," Shira patted the girl's head without making her seem inferior. "I knew we could trust you! Now…" she gained a serious expression. "What can you tell us about Kiri?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you know about her past?"
"Kiri is… Kiri," the younger girl said, "I don't understand what you want to know." Sharr stepped in.
"There is a chance your sister isn't who we all know her to be," she informed to sixth grader. Sachi's eyes widened.
"Come with me!" she said, and darted around the corner. Moving some vines away from the old wall, she revealed a trap door. "The previous owners installed this. Come on!"
"Wait, you haven't always lived here?" Canti asked, "I have no record on Kiri living anywhere except Tokyo."
"We moved here when I was two," Sachi confirmed, "Daddy told me so." She stomped her foot impatiently, "Now come on!" The other girls followed without another word and Sachi led them to what seemed to be the entrance to a storm cellar. She took them inside and led them further until she heard Kiri's voice, then led them to a vent of some sort so that they could partially see what seemed to be the living room. Ales had made herself comfortable on the couch, while Kiri remained standing. "We can hear them," Sachi informed the others, "but they won't be able to hear us unless we yell." Canti looked like she was about to say something, but the sound of Kiri's voice, speaking again, hushed her as they all concentrated on listening.
"What is it you want?" Kiri asked, and Ales smiled, Shia could see it through the vent.
"I don't want anything, Kiri, just to say hello to an old friend," she said, "It's been some time since we worked together."
"People like us never do anything without a reason," Kiri said, eyes cold.
"Don't say that," Ales said, eyes sad, "You make it sound like we're doomed forever. People can change."
"People think they change," Kiri corrected her, "but under the surface they're always the same."
"How can you say that?" Ales asked, "I see the change in you, you talk more, you listen more. I almost think you're developing the ability to care." Kiri kept silent for a while after that, and the girls below took the opportunity to discuss what they had heard.
"I never realized Kiri thought like that," Shira said, thoughtfully. "I knew she thought… but this…"
"It's terrible," Sharr finished for her twin, the same thoughtful look of despair on her face.
"So," Cara said, reasoning out what they had heard, "Whatever it was Kiri did in the past, it must not be entirely over, because Ales, or whatever, thinks they can change."
"People… do change," Aine said quietly and Shia understood that the older girl beside her must have also gone through something similar in the past. Shia also understood that people didn't always change for the better.
"Alright, alright," Ales said, snapping the girls back to attention, "I know I argued, but I know as well as you do that we'll never be completely normal, or even anything that resembles it. That's why I'm here." Kiri looked her old partner and, yes, her friend in the eyes, waiting. "I'm going to America to star over." Kiri kept silent for a moment, then finally answered, keeping all emotion from her eyes and voice.
"Good luck," she said, but her voice was a bit quieter than usual and part of her confidence seemed to have slipped. It was easy for everyone watching, since they recognized her normal actions so well, to notice these slight changes and assume that they meant she had been caught off guard.
"And…" Ales said, "I want you to come with me." The girls, watching from the floor vent, froze.