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it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop
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She opens her eyes to find herself in her favorite dinosaur shirt, lying on her bed with her blanket covering her up to her chin. She shifts, turning her head, and finds herself nose-to-nose with Hotaru - Kei's birthday present.
"Ah. We lost," she breathes, remembering.
With a grunt, she forces herself up and out of bed. Slipping her feet into her slippers, she comes out of her bedroom and opens Kei's door.
"It's eleven thirty," he says, seeing her disheveled hair. "Go to bed."
"I should say the same to you," Sayako shoots back. "Younger brother or not, you can't stay at such a tiny height forever, you know."
"Feh."
Kei puts down his pencil.
"Are you better?" he barks in a very brusque tone.
Sayako smiles.
"Yeah, I'm okay now. There will be other games, you know. More games to win, or to lose. And more games to show off my all-powerful spike," she adds, grinning at the way Kei scoffs.
"There's red bean buns and milk in your room," he says, turning back to his work. "Mom put them there."
"Thanks."
She closes the door behind her, then hesitates.
"Stand up," she orders.
"Why?" Kei replies.
With a huff, Sayako yanks him out of his chair.
"Mmm," she says, examining, "nope. We're the same height now."
Flushed with embarrassment, Kei shoves her out the door.
"If you came in to make rude remarks on my height, don't bother coming in at all," he tells her.
"If you don't want me to make rude remarks on your height, sleep earlier," is the cheerful retort.
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After that game, Kei turns back to normal. Replying with a snort, a cold look, or a sharp word, Sayako wonders if she'd imagined the way Kei had comforted her after their loss.
But she doesn't mind, really. Even though some of his comments sting, she doesn't mind.
"It's almost my birthday again," she sighs. "And our third year in middle school! We'll graduate real soon, right?"
"A year older makes no difference to me," Kei says.
"Ah. That reminds me. What high school do you want to go to?"
Sayako waits expectantly for his answer.
"Karasuno, I guess," he says. "It's conveniently close, anyways."
"That was my pick, but it'll be nice to go to the same high school." She ruffles his hair, and Kei pushes her hand off his head. "If we're in the same homeroom, then even better!"
Kei gives her a disinterested stare.
"What?" she says.
"You're distracting me," he says. "Please leave me alone."
Well, Sayako thinks as she leaves in a huff, at least he said please.
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"Man, after our match against Kitagawa Daichi, I seriously thought Tsukishima-kun would be a little nicer to you," says one of Sayako's friends, Megumi. "I mean, he looked seriously worried when we were coming back to Amemaru. But now he's as mean as ever. How come it doesn't bother you, Saya-chan? He always calls you names and tells you to shut up, and doesn't even care at all. How come you don't mind at all?"
"It's not that I don't mind," Sayako replies. "It does make me upset once in a while. But he's my brother, so I try not to let it get to me."
"So you're only doing it because you feel like it's your duty or something?"
"No, of course not!" Sayako stares, slightly offended. "I really care about Kei."
"Even though he's rude, cold-hearted, selfish, arrogant, bossy, annoying, and without conscience?" is the dubious reply.
Sayako whirls around angrily.
"Don't call him that!" she shouts. "He's not rude, or cold-hearted, or selfish. And he's definitely not without conscience, okay? He's a really good person, and I really love him! He's the best younger brother ever!"
"Geez, Saya-chan, calm down. It was just a question."
"It's not 'just a question' for me," she says hotly. "Don't insult him."
"Yeah, but I'm just saying. Is he really worth the effort? I can see every day that you get hurt from what he says to you all the time."
"What do you mean? Of course he's 'worth the effort'! I know him really well, and he definitely is worth the effort!"
She doesn't notice the shadow standing by the classroom door, and she doesn't notice when Kei turns, heading for his classroom, his hands in his pockets.
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For his birthday, Sayako decides to buy a pair of new headphones for Kei.
"Hmm, these look nice," she hums as she looks through the selection. And they are pretty nice: in fact, she thinks they're pretty cool.
Then she sees the price.
"How am I supposed to be able to afford that?" she says, appalled.
Sayako turns away, and starts looking for a new pair, but stops.
What would Kei's face look like when I give this to him? she thinks, and makes up her mind right away.
Whether it's extra chores, working at the local convenience store, or delivering newspapers, Sayako decides to do everything in order to earn the money. It takes an incredibly large amount of time, and she spends early mornings and late evenings every day to do so. Even her mother notices this new change.
"Is something the matter, Sayako?" her mom says. "You're really busy these days, helping out everywhere. I heard Ukai Keishin down at the Foothill Store's letting you do evening shifts, too."
"I'm just earning money, Mom," Sayako replies. "There's a present I want to get for somebody."
"I see," her mother nods. "Well, make sure you sleep enough and come back before nine."
"Okay."
Finally, when she's only seven hundred yen short, Kei's birthday looms over the horizon.
"It's tomorrow," she mutters to herself, counting her money again. "Seven hundred yen… that's not a lot… I can do it… "
"Sorry, Haruno-chan," says Ukai-san when she goes to the store. "There's already someone here for today's evening shift."
Sayako sinks in dismay, her hand clutching her purse.
"Do you have any other shifts?" she says. "I only need seven hundred more yen."
Ukai-san sighs.
"Morning shift is taken, and afternoon shift is by Yamada. Like I said, the evening shift is already taken, but - "
He hesitates.
"And?" Sayako says eagerly.
"There's the late night shift too," Ukai-san says reluctantly. "I'm on it today, but are you sure - "
"Yes!" Sayako says fiercely. "I'll do it! Thank you very much, Ukai-san!"
"What exactly are you buying again, Haruno-chan?" he says. "Is it for your boyfriend, or something?"
"Ah, no," she says, flapping her hand. "It's for my brother. He doesn't like me at all, but I at least want to see him smile."
"Well, see you at six," Ukai-san says. "Your shift goes to ten."
"Ten? Shoot! Mom said my curfew is nine!" Sayako frowns, thinking fast. "I already took out the trash, pulled out the weeds, organized the study room, and polished the windows. There's nothing else to do!"
Ukai-san contemplates this.
"Like I said, the late-night shift is mine," he says. "Luckily, we're closing early today. Usually we're open 'till eleven. How about you stay until nine and I do the rest of the shift?"
"Really?" Sayako's eyes widen.
"Yeah, sure," Ukai-san says. "And besides, it looks like this is really important for you. I don't think I could say no, even if I tried."
Sayako rubs at her eyes.
"A-A-Are you crying? Good grief! I'm sorry! Was it something I said?"
"No," Sayako says, hastily blinking. "I'm just really glad I can buy those headphones for my brother."
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After school, Sayako skips down the sidewalk, her hair a curtain of brown flying behind her.
"Stop being so cheerful," Kei says. "You're acting like a child."
"Well, your birthday's tomorrow!" she retorts.
"So what?"
Letting out a pfft of derision, Sayako stops, pulling at the back of Kei's shirt.
"This is the age when you start growing," she says firmly. "It's not important to you, bt it is to me."
"Che."
"You do want to grow taller, don't you? Come on. How tall are you?"
Kei stares.
"171," he says finally.
"Then don't you see? My growth spurt's already started. I'm 171.5."
Kei turns away, stuffing his headphones over his ears.
"I know you can still hear me! Oi! Kei!"
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"Evening, Ukai-san," Sayako says as she walks in.
"Oh, hello there, Haruno-chan," he replies. "Okay, let's see… it's ten to six. Here, put on the apron. I'm just going back inside to unpack some boxes, all right?"
"Sure." Sayako ties the apron strings behind her, and turns as the bell rings.
"Good evening," she calls over her shoulder. "How can I help you?"
"Uh," says Kei.
"Oh," says Sayako.
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"Mom said to buy meat buns," he explains shortly. "Keep the change."
"Thanks." Sayako hands him the plastic bag. "Tell her I'll be back at about nine, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. She says she appreciates her hard work, or something. And she said to eat this."
He tosses a meat bun at her, and she barely catches it.
"You're ridiculous," Sayako rolls her eyes. But she eats it anyway, savouring the fluffy outside and warm, juicy interior. She smiles. Kei eats his as well, his face completely devoid of expression.
"You work here often?" he says.
"Yeah, so often Ukai-san got me my own apron," Sayako says, proudly flaunting it.
Kei's eye twitches as he stares at it.
"Dinosaurs," he says, snorting.
"See you later," she calls as he leaves, the bell chiming behind him.
"That your brother?" Ukai-san says, coming in from the back.
Sayako grins.
"Yes, that was."
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"One more minute and you're done."
Sayako finds herself yawning at the counter, even though it's only eight-fifty. Being helpful and smiling doesn't sound like a lot of work, but she felt more exhausted than she'd like to admit. Especially since a particularly crabby customer had just stormed away, complaining about the prices.
"I'll let you go ten minutes early," Ukai-san decides. 'No, go ahead," he adds when Sayako protests. "You've had a long day. And besides, I wouldn't want you to go over your curfew."
"You're far too kind, Ukai-san," Sayako sighs.
"Well, thanks."
He puts a pile of coins and bills in her hand.
"Eh? Ukai-san, this is seven hundred more than my usual pay," says Sayko, confused.
"Nonsense." He blows out a cloud of smoke. "You need to get yourself something too, since you worked so hard."
"Thank you a million times over!" Sayako bows, making Ukai-san laugh.
"Good night, Haruno-chan."
"Good night."
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Racing out of the Foothill Store like a marathon runner on her last spurt, Sayako grins. Now she could buy those headphones for Kei and still have money to afford wrapping paper. Thank God for Ukai-san! she thinks, biting her lip to stop herself from bursting into happy tears.
On the other hand, as she sprints around the corner, was the shop still open?
Shoot!
She'd completely forgotten to check their closing time! What if they had already closed for the day? After all, it was almost nine!
Sayako forces her legs to pump faster, feeling her ankles burn and her purse thumping awkwardly against her thigh. One more corner -
She runs smack into a brick wall.
"Oh! Excuse me!" she shouts behind her, realizing that the 'wall' had been a person.
Her eyes widen.
There it is, in front of her! And the lights are still on!
With the force of a charging lion, she slams open the door, completely startling the clerk behind the counter.
The 'brick wall' adjusts his blue glasses. For a split second, he'd thought that girl had been Sayako.
But it had probably been just his imagination, Kei thinks, shrugging. Besides, Sayako's not done her shift yet.
He turns the corner and heads home.
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"Thank you very much," gasps Sayako. Her side is killing her, and she can hardly keep her breath, but she's so elated, she feels as if she were floating.
"You're… welcome," the clerk says, still looking very surprised.
He puts the headphones, wrapping paper, ribbon, and stickers in a bag and gives it to her.
And Sayako takes it and runs home, whooping and laughing like the world would never end.