Today looks like a beautiful day. Me, the lawn chair, and a novel; now that's what I call a weekend!
But I'll just have to settle for calculus manuals today. Yui's recent quiz scores are pretty subpar...and by subpar, I mean one digit scores. I thought she was joking until I saw the papers. It has happened before; so often, that sometimes I think she's doing it on purpose. Not that I mind. She's an important friend.
Besides, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Yui fails every college entrance exam out there.
"Nodoka! Come in, I just made some cookies for you and Yui."
Ui's as reliable as ever. For some reason, she reminds me of a young housewife. It's probably the apron. Her future husband is one lucky guy. Or wife. Hey, you never know.
Wait, what? That sounds a little... Anyway, the scent of freshly baked cookies set my thoughts back on track.
"Thanks. Yui's upstairs?"
She nodded and smiled proudly.
"She's been reading those books for two hours now. I'll take the cookies up later."
Well, time to get to work.
Finally, the weekend! There are buttloads of papers due next week, courtesy of Sawako-sensei - but today there's only one thing on my to do list. I grab the phone and give Mio a little heads up.
"I'll be at your house in five. Get dressed."
If she's still asleep, the message tone should have woken her up by now. I smirk at the thought of Mio falling off the bed in surprise. Wait, she might hurt her head... Oh well, too late for that now.
I'll probably be at her house in less than a minute, given how fast I'm running at the moment.
Agh. My neck hurts...looks like I slept on the table. And what's that awful noise? It sounds like...my cellphone.
I reach for my phone and slide it open. A message from Ritsu? This early too. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel worried.
"I'll be at your house in five. Get dressed."
What is she talking about? Maybe another one of her pranks. I was about to go down for some breakfast when I heard a light tap on the window. Then another one, getting louder and louder. Turns out to be Ritsu throwing pebbles at my window.
"Mornin' Mio!"
"What are you doing? Stop trying to break my window!"
"Hurry up, we're going to be late!"
Late? I'm really confused right now. Maybe that's why I grabbed the nearest shirt I could find and ran down the stairs. I wrote a little note to my parents and stuck it on the fridge, just before heading out the door.
"Finally. So, are you ready?" Ritsu looks like a kid hopped up on sugar. Sometimes I think she's got way too much energy for her own good.
"I guess so..." If this is some kind of joke, I swear her head will-
"Let's go!" Before I could ask her where we were going, Ritsu ran down the street. I hate running... but it looks like I don't have a choice.
I can't believe it. Yui lost all her copies of the assignment; now I'm forced to run over to my house to get my extra copies.
I rush down the stairs and start brisk walking towards my house, when something speeds past me. Is that... Ritsu? Before I could say hi, something smashes into me. The back of my head kisses the concrete and the impact sends my glasses flying. I hope they aren't broken.
"Oww..." It takes a while for my eyes to make sense of the blurry mass situated directly on top of me.
"Mio?"
"N-Nodoka! ...hah.." She was breathing heavily and all covered in sweat. I was afraid that she might faint at any given moment. Not exactly a good thing, given the position we were in; I found myself staring straight at her chest.
Stay calm, Nodoka. This is nothing. Nothing to get flustered about. Noth- Why does she keep squirming? Her legs are... I-I've had enough of this.
"Mio, can you stand up? Here, I'll help you." I nearly pushed her off me in my haste to re-establish the boundaries of personal space. She stood up shakily; from a distance, I checked her arms and legs for bruises. There were none. My body absorbed most of the impact... and what an impact that was.
Huh. I guess my head's still acting up from the light concussion.
The sound of feet furiously pounding the concrete grew louder behind us. Without looking, I knew it was Ritsu.
"Oh, hey Nodoka. Sorry about that, Mio's such a klutz!" She latched onto Mio's arm and ran before I could say anything. Where to, I have no idea.
Why...did I have this sudden impulse to chase them?
More importantly, why am I out here in the first place?
After what seemed like hours of physical torment, we finally arrived at the train station. Even Ritsu's breathing hard at this point.
"Mio, you don't look too good."
Sweat made my hair stick to my face; hopefully I didn't look like that girl who comes out of televisions late at night. The mere thought makes me shiver, despite the heat. Damn Ritsu and her horror movies. I look at her drying her hair with a towel. Short haired people sure have it easy.
Which reminds me... I can't believe we just ran off like that! Nodoka looked rather dazed... did she hit her head too hard? I-I didn't see blood on the concrete but...
"Maybe that's because you made me run a mile on an empty stomach! Then we bumped into Nodoka, and...and..." I didn't mean to shout, but I lost my temper. "Sorry, I-"
For a moment, Ritsu's eyes refused to meet mine. But then she faced me and grinned as if the greatest idea in the world happened to pop into her head.
"It's ok. I'll treat you to breakfast when we get there." Ritsu, treating me to a meal? That's new.
"Really?" My disbelief was negated by the nasty rumbling in my stomach.
"Yeah. You're dangerous when you're hungry."
I resisted the urge to give Ritsu a good thump on the head. Even idiots have their days. Especially this idiot who dragged me out of bed for the strangest of reasons.