Courage (勇気)
Prologue 2
"Embrace the glorious mess that you are." —Elizabeth Gilbert
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." —Will Rogers
"Most of the schools here are quite stressful for you to handle, dear." A woman with mid-length raven hair and indigo eyes said to the girl sitting before her.
Makoto stiffened at the statement slightly. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her mother and nodded in understanding. "I see..."
Aika Murasakime scrolled down her tablet with a thoughtful expressin. Tapping her chin with her right finger in concentration, she suggested, "Why don't you transfer OUTSIDE of Yamagata? Anywhere is fine as long as it is in the Tohoku Region."
Obviously surprised at the sudden suggestion, Makoto stared at her mother in disbelief. "Y-you're letting ME study outside Yamagata?" She asked incredulously; her mother nodded in affrimation.
"Do you have a fever, Mommy?"
A vein popped into Aika's head at the ridiculous question. "No, Makoto. I don't. Thank you for your baseless concern."
Makoto quirked an eyebrow at the response. "Really? I thought that you'd be more protective than that..."
"Is that so? I figured that you don't need to be caged anymore... You're old enough to do what you want after all..." Aika trailed off before looking at her daughter's vibrant purple eyes.
"So, where do you want to go, Sugar?"
Makoto leaned back to her chair while thinking deeply with eyes closed.
"Where would I...?"
"Alítheia, I'll be staying here for as long as I live!"
"Then I'll come back as soon as I can, Noche!"
Makoto opened her eyes slightly sluggishly at the sudden image flashing in the middle of her train of thoughts.
Aika looked at her daughter eagerly while wriggling her eyebrows. "Well~ Have you thought about it?"
Makoto deadpanned at this. Is it just me or does Mommy really want me to go away that much?
"Miyagi."
Her mother snapped out of her reverie. "Um... Excuse me, what did you say again?"
Makoto inwardly rolled her eyes at this then took a deep breath. "I want to attend a school in Miyagi."
"Uh... What part of Miyagi?"
"Torono."
"Isn't that where we used to live in?"
"Uh... Yes?"
Aika eyed her daughter warily. "May I ask why?"
"Well, it's right next to Yamagata so i could get to visit you and Sis during the weekends."
"What? You don't have to do that, you know? Use that time to hang out with your future friends or something!"
"But if I didn't, I"ll get homesick!
Aika sighed once again, knowing that once her stubborn daughter made a decision, there is no going back. "Your aunt lives there. Once we made a decision of the school that you're going to attend, you'll be living with her."
"Really?"
"Really."
Bumping her fist in the air, Makoto yelled out victoriously.
"ORYAAA!"
"What about Shiratorizawa?"
"No way. Japan's Top 3 Ace Ushiwaka goes there. I'd rather not see him at all cost."
"Aoba Jousai?"
"Their uniforms are hideous."
"Jouzenji?"
"They're fond of rumors, they'll recognize me."
"How did you know."
"I have a friend that attends Jouzenji. Apparently, rumors cease to end there."
"Oh... Date Kogyou, perhaps?"
"Just... No."
"What about Niiyama?"
"Am I not allowed to become friends with a guy?"
Annoyed at the another rejected suggestion, Aika sighed for the hundredth time today. Well, there is one high school that I haven't mentioned yet. She looked at her tablet and searched for the name of the high school.
"Oi. What about Karasuno High?"
Makoto tilted her head at the somewhat familiar name of the said school. "Karasu...no? You mean the one with the Small Giant?"
"Oh? So you do know this school. It's where your father studied when I met him..."
Makoto jumped at her bed after the tiringly long discussion she had with her mom.
Karasuno High... huh? The education system thereis adequate compared to other schools, not to mention that the uniforms are soooo cute..! And it's in BLACK! You know how much I love the color black, it's so DOPE! Come to think of it, 'Karasu' means 'Raven' and ravens are as black as my natural hair... Ugh...
Turning around lazily, the raventte stared at the ceiling blankly.
Come to think of it, I completely forgotten what Noche's real name is already... It's been so long that even forgotten how he looked like in the first place...
Glancing at her study table, she took notice of the worn-out Molten volleyball placed on top of the desk.
"Alítheia, once you've come back, let's play volleyball again! Okay?"
"Okay! I promise, Noche!"
She stood up from her bed and walked towards to her study table. She grabbed the worn out ball and inspected it. There were marker writtings across the ball that is slightly fading away.
"I alítheia to vrády."
"I alítheia to vrády." Makoto read the markings on the ball outloud. She stared at it for quite a while as another memory flashes through her mind.
"Noche, what does this mean?"
"Oh, it's in Greek. Mom helped me out though. It means 'The truth in the evening.' I think it's a saying that speaks the two of us..."
"Eh... Is that so?"
"Yep! That way, whenever you read it, you'll always remember me!"
"I see! Noche, gimme' that marker too! I wanna write something as well! This time, it's for you!"
Makoto chuckled at the memory. It was the day before she moved to Yamagata, where she and Noche exchanged remembrances. To her, it's funny that when they met and when they departed, there is always a volleyball involved in the moment.
"And then I wrote everything in Spanish on the ball that I gave to him... 'La verdad en la noche'. Such a cute thing to do, even for me..." Makoto smiled at the written ball fondly. Slowly, she held the ball closer until she ended up hugging the treasured gift in relief.
Suddenly, she put the ball back on top of her desk then jumped back at her bed once again. She gazed at the ball sadly one last time.
"Alítheia, promise me that we'll play volleyball once you've come back?"
"I'm sorry, Noche. But I have long quit playing ever since last year's Spring High..."
Author's Note: And I'm back again with another prologue!
Chapter 1 will begin shortly after I finish my exams, so I will update once I get school out of my mind.
Until the next time!
~松原文子ちゃん
