"Hey Nanami! How are you feeling today?" Katsuro sat on the edge of the bed, his big hand enveloping his younger sister's much smaller one.
The little girl had a smile on her face that hadn't been there for days as she stared up at her beloved older brother. "Kaachan! Momma said you were coming to visit me today, but I didn't believe her."
Katsuro grinned and squeezed her fingers, "She wouldn't lie to you, Nana."
"I know, but I miss you, Kaachan. I wish you could visit me more," the little lips pouted and Katsuro brushed his other hand across her cheek.
"So do I, I feel sad that you're stuck in here all the time." The fact of the matter was that Nanami was battling leukemia, and the process was tough on her. She had just started chemotherapy last week, and the effects it had on her were startling. Though his mother had told him everything, looking at her and seeing how sick she looked was heartbreaking. She'd always been an energetic and happy kid, always smiling. Apparently today was the first time she'd smiled in a week, and he felt good that he could bring it out of her.
"It's okay, Kaachan. I can't leave, the doctors told me that more bad cells might find me if I leave the hospital without getting better first. So I don't mind staying here all the time, if it means I'll get better faster."
Katsuro smiled, patting her cheek. It was kind of silly, the way the doctors managed to dumb things down enough for kids so they could understand things in their own way. But if Nanami believed there were bad cells floating in the air waiting to attack her, then he'd keep up with the story for her sake. "You're very brave about the whole thing, Nana. I bet a lot of people wouldn't be able to stay in the hospital without complaining."
She smiled again, and squeezed his hand. "I still complain, Kaachan! But I understand why I have to stay." She looked unusually mature and wise when she made that last comment, and it killed him to see that sort of look on her face. She was too young.
He leaned over to kiss her cheek, "You're very smart, Nanami. I'm very proud of you."
Her smile came back again, and when she asked him if he would lie down on the bed beside her so she could take a nap because she was tired, he said yes. How could he say no?
He sat at his desk, pouring over his open math textbook. He needed to get these problems done before leaving for work in an hour, but the answers just weren't coming to him! He wanted to take a nap, just for ten minutes, but he was afraid he might not wake up if he did. He'd been having trouble sleeping since seeing Nanami in the hospital two days ago. While she'd been sleeping he'd been lying beside her, one arm around her, one hand brushing her hair. Without realizing it, he'd pulled his hand away from her head and had been shocked when a clump of hair had come with it. He'd thrown it to the ground beside him before she woke up and saw it, and spent the rest of his visit with tears in his eyes, imagining the rest of it just falling out.
The whole thing just wasn't fair! His sister was the greatest kid in the world, and the fact that she was suffering was tearing him apart. He hadn't told anyone about the incident with her hair, and for the first time he wondered if he maybe should have. It was all he kept seeing every time he shut his eyes, and it was the same nightmare that kept waking him up in the night. But he didn't want to think about it now. He had to finish his work.
Just then he heard a knock at his door and he jumped, startled at the sound. He really needed to get some sleep before he burned himself out. "Come in," he didn't bother asking who it was, he just took a deep breath and turned around to look at the door.
It turned out to be Seiji, standing there with a tray in his hands. "I noticed you didn't come for dinner, and I know you have to work soon, so I managed to get the cafeteria lady, Miss Kazuki, to make up a tray for you. I figured you were probably busy trying to get your work done." He stepped into the room and brought the tray of food over to Katsuro's desk, setting it down over his math work.
Katsuro smiled, grateful that Seiji had thought about him. "Thanks, I meant to go down earlier, but I got caught up."
Seiji sat down on his bed, looking pleased with himself. "Don't worry about it, I'm happy I can help!" He studied his friend for a moment, noting the troubled look that had returned to Katsuro's face. "Hey, are you okay?"
Katsuro looked over at Seiji, not realizing that he'd gotten that worried look on his face again. "I'm fine, really," he glanced at the food, trying to get the image of his sister's hair out of his head. "I'm just worried about the math, I'm having trouble concentrating on it." He picked up the bowl of miso soup, sipping at it to calm his nerves.
Seiji frowned, wishing that he was an expert at math instead of science. "Well, just forget it for now and eat, maybe you just need a little break."
Katsuro forced a smile to his face as he set the bowl back down and picked up his chop sticks. "Yeah, you're probably right. So have I been missing anything exciting while I'm at work?" He knew if he managed to get Seiji talking about something, it would be a nice distraction while he ate. For some reason he found it calming to listen to the younger boy ramble on about things.
Just as he hoped, Seiji did have a funny story to tell, and Katsuro was able to think about something other than his little sister while he ate. Now if only he could get Seiji to sit up beside him all night while he slept, maybe hearing his friend's voice would keep his nightmares away.
"So anyway, do you want me to ask Akira if he can stop by when you get back from work to help you with your math? I know he's a math wizard, I'm sure he won't mind helping you focus on it." Seiji didn't really care what Katsuro answered – he'd ask Akira anyway.
The older boy smiled again, surprised that Seiji was being so thoughtful. It wasn't that he was usually self-centered, it was more that he usually didn't focus on the needs of other people. After all, when a problem arose, Seiji was supposed to be the pleasant distraction, not the solution. "I think I should be okay after work, I've probably just been at it too long."
Seiji had expected that answer, and he was sticking to his earlier decision of telling Akira anyway. "It's okay for us to help you out, you know. You have to worry about your family, so let the rest of us worry about you, okay?" What he'd really wanted to say was 'let me worry about you', but he didn't know if Katsuro would find that a little strange, so he'd used the team instead.
Katsuro looked at Seiji with an expression of surprise, not having expected him to say that. He supposed the comment did strike a chord of truth, though – he did have a hard time letting his peers help him. Perhaps Seiji was right, and he did need more people around. "You're right. Do you want to go take some shots after I finish eating? We might only have ten minutes or so, but I think I need more of a distraction than just eating and going to work."
Seiji grinned and nodded. "Sure! I promise I'll go easy on you too, so you can feel good about your performance." He laughed and felt quite happy that his persistence was appearing to pay off.
hr
"I'm surprised at how well Minako does in net, imagine if she had more training? She'd be a beast!" Shige watched with amazement at how well the first year girl could read plays and stop shots. Some people were suited for the outdoor game, while others were suited for the indoor one. Minako was clearly marked for futsal.
"I know, and the fact that they don't even have an actual futsal coach just really shows how well Kojima knows the game." Tatsuya's eyes had been following her the whole game, impressed with her skillful technique.
"Yeah, kinda reminds me of a certain someone I know, trying to coach a team he was playing for." Shige grinned and nudged his friend with his elbow.
Tatsuya smiled and glanced at Shige. "I think she does much better than I did, though."
"You mean she actually tries to be supportive of her bad players?" Shige couldn't help the comment, though he knew his friend would be annoyed by it.
"Oh shut up! I wasn't that bad, was I?" Tatsuya kept his eyes on Shige for a moment, before looking back at the court. Minako had just made another save, and he had to admit that Shige was right about the girl. Her raw talent was phenomenal.
"You were decent, I'll give you that much." Shige grinned and watched the girls take a counter attack up directly through the middle, due to Kojima's fanciful footwork. "Sometimes you have to wonder if her mother had an affair with a Brazilian, huh?"
Tatsuya laughed and found himself agreeing again. The girl did possess extraordinary skill when it came to dribbling. She quickly passed the ball to Maiko, who took a well aimed shot into the right side of the net – goal!
The boys found themselves jumping up out of their seats – this goal put the girls back ahead in the game, now 3-2. While the other team certainly had more shots on net, their girls made better uses of their attempts.
"Futsal really is exciting, isn't it?" Tatsuya sat back down and kept his eyes on Kojima, who had just finished slapping hands with Minako. "Makes you wonder why it's not more popular."
Shige shrugged, though he did agree. "Who knows? I guess everyone is so stuck on the outdoor game because of it's history. But at least you and I know differently now, huh?" They continued watching the game, which ended with a score of 5-3 for the Josui girls. They had happily made their way down to the outside hall, going out to meet up with the team when they emerged from the locker room.
"Wasn't that awesome? Our first game, and we won!" Kojima was all smiles as she walked down the hall, her bag hanging off her shoulder.
"You guys were brilliant, you looked really good out there." Tatsuya smiled at her, really meaning his words.
"Thanks," she smiled back at him and walked beside him. "Minako was just amazing in net, thanks for helping her to train, Shige."
The blonde shrugged and managed to look quite smug. "No problem! It's all about recognizing the difference between what you have to do in an outdoor game versus a much smaller indoor one. Minako has really good natural instincts for a keeper." Shige nodded at the younger girl, who smiled and found herself blushing just slightly.
"Thanks, guys! I was pretty nervous before the game, actually. But as soon as we stepped out there, it wasn't so bad."
"I'm just glad we beat them! A former friend of mine goes to Minato, so I really wanted to win." Maiko looked quite pleased with herself upon making the statement.
"Really?" Kojima glanced at the other girl, looking a little confused. "Which one was she?"
Maiko grinned triumphantly. "The keeper."
The other girls all nodded and accepted the information, but Shige was a bit more curious. "How do you know her?"
Maiko looked at Shige as she answered him. "We went to the same pre-school, and she and I used to paint together." Everyone was silent, waiting for her to go on, enthralled already by the possibility of her story. "One day though, she dumped the entire container of green paint over my head!"
The girls managed to keep their composure, but Shige and Tatsuya both laughed. "And you've kept a grudge against her ever since?" Shige asked, thoroughly amused.
Maiko glared slightly at him. "Of course! I hate the colour green!"
"Did she even remember you?" Kojima asked, finding herself also amused with the story.
Maiko frowned momentarily. "I don't know. Either she did, and she was too afraid of me to admit it, or she didn't, probably because she was so afraid of me that her memory was suppressing it."
Again the boys laughed and this time Kojima joined them. The other girls (who were just slightly afraid of the aggressive Maiko) managed to keep quiet. Maiko glared at the three of them, before taking a sip from her bottle of water. Soon the group had reached a quiet part of the futsal facility, where they sat down to relax for twenty minutes before needing to get ready for another game.
As Shige sat down near the other girls, Tatsuya sat next to Kojima, who was rubbing her left knee. "Did you hurt it out there?" He asked her, slightly concerned.
She shrugged, not making a big deal of it. "I collided with one of their players, and she kind of kicked me in the knee by accident. I'm fine, really."
"Are you sure? Do you want me to get you some ice or something?"
Kojima smiled at his willingness to help her out, and decided to see how far he was willing to go. "I don't need ice. You can, however, feel free to massage it for me," she grinned and leaned her leg towards him, trying to make it apparent that she was only joking (in case he wasn't going to take her seriously).
To her utter surprise, his hands reached out for her leg, his fingers kneading her skin expertly. "I've had a lot of sore knees after games, so I'm rather good at this." He smiled at her and after a few seconds found himself wondering just what the hell he was doing – how on earth had he managed to start massaging Kojima's knee without freaking out? And what if she had just been joking and her knee was fine? What if she thought he was acting really weird?
She was too shocked at first to say anything in response. Tatsuya was massaging her leg - his fingers were on her leg! She wanted to squeal – but then remembered how annoying she found squealing girls to be. So instead she just settled for having a huge smile on her face. "Thanks, you are really good at this."
And across from them by the other wall, Maiko and Shige sat side by side, their eyes both watching the other two. They could each clearly see what was going on, and appeared to find it quite amusing. Maiko leaned her head towards Shige, whispering in his ear. "Don't they just make you sick?"
Shige grinned and whispered back to her, "Totally! I'm glad someone else sees it." He was pleasantly surprised by Maiko's reaction – figuring that she was the type of girl who would have found the scene to be ridiculously romantic.
"Hey, you two! Cut that out, you have a game to focus on Yuki. And you, Tatsuya, you should be out there scouting our opponents! Not distracting our captain!" Maiko grinned and crossed her arms.
Shige looked at Tatsuya, a look of pure amusement on his face. "She has a point, Tatsubon. Stop distracting Kojima."
Tatsuya had suddenly stopped what he was doing, and a rather fierce blush stole over his face. Just as he was about to jerk his hands away, Kojima's hands shot out, settling over his. "Why don't you two mind your own damn business? He happens to be massaging my injured knee! So if you want me playing, you'll let him do his job." She stuck her tongue out at her friends before leaning back against the wall. "You can keep going, Tatsuya."
Tatsuya wasn't sure what he should do – Kojima obviously wanted him to continue, but could he do so under what were now intensely scrutinizing gazes from the other two? While he hadn't minded Maiko at first, he was now starting to realize that there was something about her that was not sitting well with him.
"Well, as long as his hands stay on your knee, and don't venture any further upwards, I suppose we can allow it." Maiko grinned and winked at the pair before looking at Shige and laughing.
That was it! She was almost exactly like Shige! This thought worried Tatsuya as he glanced at the two, who he only now noticed were sitting very close to one another. That was a union that could not end well.