disclaimer: not mine.
Interlude II: The Rat
Practice was as usual that day; there wasn't anything that was out of place. The usual drills, the usual people, the usual things; it was as normal as it could ever be. It was just practice after all, and practices were the simplest things anyone ever had to deal with. The only difference, however, was that Marui Bunta had started practicing with the non-regulars, but no one doubted that the red-haired senior would be back on the team in no time. Besides that small inconsequential matter, nothing was out of place that day.
It was uneventful, perhaps even more so than usual; the residue of the storm last night hung heavily in the air.
Then the bell rang and morning practice was over. They nodded politely to one another, thanking one another for the game, like real professional players ought to do. They said nothing though; there was no need to. Mindless conversation was frowned upon in official games; they might as well start practicing now.
Silently they went about preparing for class. Most of the non-regulars who noticed dismissed the lack of interaction as a result of exhaustion. The more perceptive ones smelt a rat but could not find its hiding place, and therefore attributed it to their wild imaginations induced by large amounts of physical training. Others merely went through the practice without noticing anything. But it didn't matter to them anyway; every one was entitled to his thoughts.
What was there to care about, when you were being suffocated by the smell of decay the dead rat was emitting?
It reeked, and they were the only ones to know its hidden location. When they left, however, the rat still remained, filling the room with its revolting smell of death.
They did not bother to clean it up when the least they could have done was to give it a proper burial.
A/N: Phew. That was short. School's draining me. A good thing I'm no longer suicidal, or I highly doubt that I'd still be here. I still remember a time when I really really wanted to die; it was absolutely horrible. Never glorify the idea of suicide; it's not romantic. Anyway, it'll probably be a while before I posted agian- or maybe not, but hard to say- because my finals are coming in about five weeks' time. Sigh. And by the way, I just realised how bad the imagery of a dead rat is, but I like how it fit in. :D.
