Chapter Fifteen

Sachie

I had sworn to help Fuji fill the empty void in him. I had sworn that I would be strong for him. But I never dreamed that I would one day need someone to fill the dark abyss that was now opened up deep inside me.

Takahashi tried to be there for me. She allowed hot tears to soak her clothes and hugged me tight as I clung to her. I held her small body to mine, as if some of her calmness could trickle into my own hurting heart. So much had happened during the past month. Fuji's accident...Chiko falling out of love and back in again...and now the surfacing of a new adversary. I had to confess that I was tired. Helping Fuji, counseling Chiko, fighting Saki, it had all sapped the energy out of me. But now, it was my turn to lean against someone else's arm. And I was thankful for it.

I had never forgotten that afternoon when I had freed Fuji's wheelchair from that rope. Takahashi's words shed some light on how he must have felt after I'd left him.

I'm sorry, Fuji. I'm so sorry.

There was nothing I could do now, except try to make up for it.

"Takahashi...if I went to find them, would you go with me?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Takahashi."

"Hitomi. Call me Hitomi."

I smiled through my tears, unlimited gratitude bursting in my chest. I could begin to understand why Fuji had stuck to me for so long.

"I heard they're going for a walk tonight. What about it?" Hitomi whispered.

"Sooner better than later." Drying my tears, I followed her out of the tent.

A murmur of voices resounded from the general direction of the barbecue fires.

"Come on," someone said. "Let's put this out. We can follow that trail..."

"Let's go." Before the last fire had been extinguished, Hitomi and I managed to spot Fuji fading into the darkness alongside Chiko, Saki and Eiji. Weaving in and out of our dispersing teammates, we silently caught up with them.

"Chiko! Eiji!" I forced out a cheerful tone. "Hi, Fuji, Saki."

"Excuse me, do you mind?" Saki uttered in a sweet voice dripping with fakeness. "We're having a walk now."

"I see. But Saki, I don't recall you telling us that you owned this path," I said smoothly. "Therefore I don't think it's—prudent—for you to decide who gets to walk on it. I and Hitomi would like a walk too, you know. Thus..."

Saki said nothing, but I was certain that the dark night hid a very nasty expression.

"So, Fuji," I said cautiously, anxiously waiting to see if he would reply.

"Yeah?"

I smiled, and felt Hitomi squeeze my arm.

Training began the next morning with us in much better spirits. My good mood wasn't dampened even by the fitness exercises, though that was mainly because Oishi hadn't the unfortunate habit of dishing out laps for every little thing.

Things got somewhat tenser when he decided to let us train by having matches. Imagine how flabbergasted I was when Saki approached me and asked—quite politely—whether we could have one. Being stuck in brain-lock I couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough, which is why I ended up standing stupidly on the court while Saki won the first game using serves only. It was so unfair that someone as nasty as her could actually have a talent. Besides torturing people.

Still, I couldn't just throw in the towel, could I? Bouncing the ball, I readied myself for the uphill battle before me.

"Good luck!" Chiko screamed. I wondered who she was cheering for.

Most likely for Saki. Angrily, I struck the ball with all the force I could muster without ripping my arm off.

Saki coolly dropped it near the net. It was going to be along game.

"Shimoda wins, 6-0!"

I have to train harder.

"Water," I gasped to myself, lunging for my bottle. And missed because Ishizaki got there first. "That's empty. Here." He held out another one. Desperately thirsty, I gulped the ice cold water down, as reluctant as I was to let him help me in any way.

"Thank you, Fuji! That's so nice of you!" Saki's extravagant praise drifted over to me from over twenty feet away, catching—or should I say throwing a net over and dragging off—my attention. I was just in time to witness a very touching scene of Fuji painstakingly offering Saki a towel. The transaction took so long; I could've pulled out a camera and snapped some pictures before her hand touched the fabric.

Saki making a big deal of it I can understand. But why is Fuji playing along? Not wanting to let then know they had gotten to me, I simply went on drinking.

Having left my towel in my bag, I followed the winding mountain path back to the tents.

"How does it feel to have your ex-best friend cheering for your opponent?"

"Why are you wasting your time wasting your time, Saki? I thought you'd said won."

"I like to rub it in. But this isn't like you, Tezumi. Don't tell me you're not going to try and sink your grubby little hooks into either of them again. Even you aren't that weak."

Weak. Again, weak. "No," I agreed lightly. "Of course I'm not giving up yet. But I'm going to let you stick your head in the clouds for a while longer."

In a flash she had jumped in front of me, blocking my path. "While you'd better keep that ugly head of yours in the sand, because if you haven't noticed my now, they chose to be with me!"

"Yes," I said, sounding as bored as possible. "Because you practically handcuffed them to you and threw away the key." With that, I side-stepped her and tried to walk away.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet—" Grabbing my arm forcefully, Saki tried to block me again. She leapt onto the path before me...

A scream shattered the sleepy silence. I felt my arm being jerked downward—my knees buckled and gave way—and before I knew it, I was rolling down a rocky slope with Saki in tow.

Down and down we tumbled, stones and various unidentified objects hitting us all the way. Grass cut my arms and calves as I rolled over them, branches snagged at me but failed to slow my progress, and the wind as knocked out of me every time I crashed against a log. I thought the soil would never stop ripping at my face until the ground suddenly dropped from under me—I flailed in mid air for a few seconds—and I was plunged into a freezing mass of water.

The coldness of the river made me gasp, so that I swallowed what seemed like galleons of water before I remembered to close my mouth. Instinctively I kicked out, lungs bursting for air when I finally reached the surface.

Saki.

Fighting to keep myself afloat, I glimpsed her slipping under the water and out of sight. By pure luck she collided with me a moment later, and a low hanging branch nearby saved us from being swept away by the current.

Shivering and exhausted, panting and groaning, I lay on the bank catching my breath.

Where are we? I managed to wonder before the dark grey sky above me faded into nothingness.