Learning to Run Epilogue 2: Track Meet
Part 1 (Hisao)
It is a weekend in the fall, and that means there is a track meet. I am currently sitting in the stands and watching the various races. I always enjoy going to them to see Emi in action as the club advisor and coach. I've been coming to them since before we were a couple. In retrospect, I think one of the many things that made me fall in love with her was seeing her at these track meets.
She is her usual fiery self. She gets especially frustrated with students who don't prepare adequately, or who she feels aren't trying their hardest.
But the students respect her and look up to her as a mentor. It makes sense, she knows everything there is to know about running, and like the students she is disabled. She also really cares about them. At times, it is difficult not to be moved by her efforts to mentor them.
This year, one of her first-year athletes is also in my homeroom. His name is Shouta Aoki. He is one of the tallest students at the school, standing at about 190 centimeters. He is thin and wiry, with short dark hair and dark eyes.
Like Emi, he has prosthetic legs below the knee. Unlike her, he was born with a defect that led to his amputations. He had never considered running before, but he happened to see me and Emi running one morning and seeing her on her running blades made him want to try it. He asked me about her after class, and I took him to track club that day to introduce them. Emi took some time out of her schedule to teach him how to run using blades. He is still getting used to them, but Emi encouraged him to compete at his first track meet and see where he stands.
She is very interested in his athletic future. More than I have ever seen her before. His size and body type means he may have a future as a paralympic athlete. He has an Emi-like worth ethic too. He has come to love running just as much as she does. I also think their similar disability has helped create a bond between them.
Emi has even joked that she won't be the Fastest Thing on No Legs for much longer.
Due to his height, he is particularly well-suited to the 600- and 800-meter sprints, and the 600 is about to begin.
Emi is giving him some last words of encouragement. They make a comical pair, as he is around half a meter taller than she is. But this doesn't prevent him from listening to her closely.
The gun fires and the race begins. He has to unwind his tall body, so he usually starts a little slow near the back of the pack. This has made the shorter sprints harder for him. However, once entirely unfurled, his long smooth strides allow him to quickly make up ground. In the end, he finishes in second. Losing to a third-year student with much more experience.
He also finishes in second in the 800-meter, with the same runner finishing in first.
After each race, he looks disappointed, but Emi is positively glowing. I find it hard not to smile just from looking at her.
Once the meet is over, I go down and congratulate both him and his happy coach.
"You did really well today, Aoki, especially for your first meet. I am sure you will continue to improve."
Emi nods with a broad smile, "Even I didn't do that well in my first competition on blades."
Aoki still looks a little disappointed but accepts our praise. "Thank you, teachers. I hope to do even better next time."
I head back to the stands and wait for Emi to finish up before we walk down the hill together to our apartment.
"He did really well. I'm impressed."
She laughs at me with a little bitterness, "Does that mean you're going to back off?"
Emi and I might be competing a little bit for Aoki. He is not only a great athlete, but also a great student that has a very strong interest in science. I would like to see him pursue that, while Emi wants him to become an elite runner.
"If by 'back off' you mean, 'stop encouraging him to pursue science,' then no, I am not. He can do both, you know. He wants to do both.
"I know." She grabs my hand and looks up at me with a mischievous smile "But it's fun to make it a competition, isn't it?"
I smile at her. "Not everything has to be a competition, you know."
She laughs, "I know. Hey, who do you think will pack the most boxes tonight?"
I roll my eyes at her. "Probably you. Be my guest."
"Aw, that's no fun. Packing is only fun if we make it a race."
"That's true. It is more fun than it would otherwise be. But do we really have to pack tonight?"
"Hisao, we're moving in a week, so yes, we kinda do."
Me and Emi have been living together for several months. Recently a little house went up for sale in town and we decided to buy it together. It is a big step, one decidedly larger than living in a rented apartment together. But at this point we love our jobs and we love each other, and we don't see that changing. I had a little anxiety about it at first, but now I'm mostly excited. Though…not so much about the packing
I sigh. "You're right. We'll pack. I'm just feeling lazy."
She lightly slaps me on the butt and giggles, "What else is new?"
—-
Me and Emi finished moving into our new place today. It is more than twice as big as the one room apartment we have shared for the last several months. It has two bedrooms, a large living room, a traditional Japanese bath, and a much larger kitchen. We will need to buy some furniture to fill the place out.
One of the things we are most excited about is that we now have a yard and patio. Tonight, we got some take out and we just finished enjoying it in a couple of chairs out on the new patio.
"Well, we did it. We are officially all moved in. I'm glad we hired movers, because even with their help I'm exhausted. And I'm Emi. I don't get exhausted very often."
I laugh, "That's true. It does take a lot." I grab her hand. "I'm really glad we're doing this together. I'm excited for our lives here."
She gets up and then straddles me while facing me and holds my face while she kisses me.
"Me too. I'm so happy you wanted to do this with me. I love you, Hisao."
I brush her hair out of her face and give her a kiss of my own.
"I love you too."
She puts her arms around me, and we snuggle that way for a while, then I get an idea.
"So…we both need a bath after our long day of work and now we have a traditional one. What do you say we try it out? Or are you too exhausted?"
Emi pulls away from me and smirks. "I'm not too exhausted for a bath. But you wanna do more than that, don't you?"
I move my hands down to her lower back, tantalizingly close to her butt.
"Mayyyybe. But if you really are too tired, I'm okay with just a bath."
She laughs, and puts her arms back around my neck, and starts grinding her body against mine with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'm not too tired."
"Good. Shall we?"
She quickly takes off her legs.
"Let's go!"
I pick her up and carry her to the bathroom. She opens the doors along the way.
Once we reach the bathroom, I set her down on the counter and start running the water.
"I'm really glad we have one of these. It will be much easier for me to use than our old shower." She giggles and pulls me close to her and kisses me while she undoes my belt, "Plus it is very easy for us to use together."
We continue undressing one another and kissing while we wait for the tub to fill.
Eventually, I use the shower head to quickly rinse us both off. Then, I put Emi in the tub before getting in with her. It is just warm enough, and there is more than enough space for both of us.
Once I'm in, I attempt to pull her towards me, eager to get started, but Emi resists my advances.
"Hold on there, mister. We do actually need to get clean, you know. Why don't we wash each other first? Might be a fun way to build up anticipation. Think of it as foreplay." She says the last part with a wink.
I scoff playfully, "Okay, fine. You're right, and it might be kind of fun. Who goes first?"
"I'll clean you first." She puts soap and water on a washcloth and beckons me to sit in front of her. I move as she instructs, and she starts washing my neck, shoulders, and back.
I sigh happily "This is pretty nice. It's relaxing."
She laughs, "I'm glad you like it. It is kinda nice doing it for you too." She continues washing my back for a few minutes.
"Okay, I'm done with your back. Turn around and face me now."
I do as she says, and she giggles proudly when she sees that I am fully erect. She wraps her hand around me for a moment and teases me, "Glad to see you aren't too relaxed though."
I whimper softly when she lets go causing her to giggle again. "Don't worry Hisao, I'll take care of that later. But for now, I need to clean you."
She uses the washcloth to wash my chest and legs, before spending some significant time on my genitals. It takes significant self-control for me to just sit there and take all the teasing.
"You are being more of a tease than usual today."
"Heh, you know you like it. Okay, you're all clean now. My turn!"
"Okay. I will do your back first. Come sit in front of me."
She giggles when she does, "You're poking me, Hisao."
"What was it you just said? Oh yeah. You know you like it."
She laughs, "Yes, I sure do."
I start cleaning her back for her, resulting in some soft moans of approval. "You know, I first started to think I was in love with you when you were touching my back at the beach. It is always kind of nice when you touch me there. Sort of nostalgic, I guess."
"I'm glad you like it. I first noticed I was attracted to you that day. That beach trip was important for us, huh?"
She laughs, "Yep. Chisato's little plan worked quite well that day. While we are talking about that bikini and the early days of our attraction…I have a confession to make. Did you know that time in the hot tub I fell on you on purpose? I wasn't sure you were attracted to me, and I staged the whole thing in an attempt to get a clear answer."
I stop scrubbing her back for a moment.
"Seriously? Well, good job. I thought that was real this whole time. That was the second time I realized I was really attracted to you."
She giggles. "I know it is. I was there. I figured putting my scantily clad self in your lap would make it difficult for you to hide that you were attracted to me. I'm proud it worked out so well. Are you done with my back yet?"
"Yep, you can turn around now."
She does, and when she faces me she puts her arms around my neck and pulls herself up to kiss me and she rubs her most sensitive spot directly against mine. "You can finish cleaning me later. All this talk of those early days has made me want you right now. I don't wanna wait."
"Oh? Well too bad. We have to clean you first."
She reaches down and wraps her hand around me, and gets as close as possible to putting it inside of her, and seductively pouts. "Really? You don't want to get started right now? You don't want to be inside of me, right now?"
It takes every fiber of my being to resist her, and my voice cracks when I do.
"I do. But these are your rules. We have to clean you first."
She raises her eyebrows in surprise and frustration, sighs, and gets back in position for me to clean her.
"I guess turnabout is fair play and all that. Hurry up and clean me then."
I start cleaning her front, spending significant time on her breasts, leading to her clutching my arm and making a face that is part pleasure and part frustration. The same thing happens when I wash her down below. But hey, she did the same sort of things to me. It only seems fair.
Finally, I am done cleaning her.
"Okay, all do-"
Before I can finish my sentence, she leaps on top of me, plants a kiss on my face, and lowers herself on to me all in one surprisingly smooth motion. Water splashes everywhere. I reach around her and place both of my hands on her butt and press her body against mine as hard as I can. She is very well lubricated from our foreplay and the fact we're in the water, so I am fully inside of her very quickly. While she kisses me tenderly with her arms around my neck, she moves herself up and down, moaning softly.
Before long, I take control of the situation, and start lifting and lowering her entire body. Before long she is enjoying herself so much that she can no longer focus on kissing me. She is panting and moaning in pleasure. I know right where her g-spot is, so I take special care to make sure I am rubbing against it. Each time I do, her body shudders more and her moans get progressively louder.
After several minutes of this, she wraps her arms around me, digging her fingernails into me while she climaxes. Her body's contractions also have the effect of squeezing me incredibly tightly, and this also sends me over the edge, as I empty myself deep inside of her. We stay connected for a while, both of us panting and basking in how good we made each other feel.
Eventually the water gets too cold, and we start to drain the tub while filling it with new warm water, because we aren't quite ready to get out yet.
Now spent, she sits next to me with my arm around her. She rests her head on my chest.
"I'm glad we bought a house together, Hisao. And not just cause we can have amazing sex in our new bathtub." She giggles.
"I'm glad too. But mostly because of the sex." This earns me a pinch on the thigh.
"Ow! That was a joke. Was violence really necessary?" I pull her closer to me and kiss her. "I'm also glad that we are building a future together here."
She smiles at me and puts a hand on my chest. "That's more like it. The sex part is a really nice bonus though."
—-
I just finished doing a presentation in science club about the best universities in Japan for studying science, and what students need to accomplish to get into them. This was mostly intended for second- and third-year students, but Aoki also came to the meeting today and he stayed behind to talk to me.
"Thank you for that presentation, I think it will be useful to have that information so far in advance. I can't say I am looking forward to examination hell in my third year. Kind of insane how many tests we have to take in such a short span of time. I'm already feeling a little anxious about it. How did you get through it?"
"Already looking so far ahead, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Well, my own experience wasn't the ideal one. I transferred to Yamaku mid-trimester after a stay in the hospital, and then had another surgery during the year. So, I only took my exams here that year, and then I went to a cram school for a year before taking the rest."
"Oh. Yeah, it would have been brutal dealing with all of that at once."
"Yeah, it worked out well for me in the end. I still had lots of exams that next year, but it was a little less intense. The key to all of it, unfortunately, is just staying on top of your schoolwork and studying a lot. There aren't any real tricks beyond that. Something tells me you're going to do well, though. Especially if you're already thinking about your third year."
"I hope so. Well, I should let you go. Tell your wife hello for me, sir."
What?
"…wife?"
Aoki realizes what he just said and looks apologetic.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Your girlfriend."
I blink a couple of times before pulling myself together.
"That's okay, I understand your mistake. We are a couple, and we live together. Pretty close, isn't it?"
"I apologize. I misspoke. Forget I said it. Thank you for your time today, sir, I really appreciate it."
"No problem, Aoki. Have a pleasant evening."
"You too, sir."
As I'm walking down the hill, I replay the conversation in my mind, and how it made me feel.
That rattled me far more than it should have. I should have known who he meant and just moved on, but I couldn't.
Emi and I are married in all but name. We talk about our future as if it's the rest of our lives. We live together in a house we own. We love each other deeply. So why did that bother me so much? And why have I not even considered thinking about her as potentially one day being my wife?
After mulling it over for a while, I come up with an answer.
In my mind, Saki is still my wife. Even all these years after I lost her. That's who I thought of first when Aoki mentioned my wife. Someone else having that title seems strange to me.
But the situation does have me thinking.
Obviously, things are heading that way between us. Emi probably does want to get married. I…think I want to marry her. No, I do want to. But I'm going to need time to adjust to the idea.
—-
Part 2 (Emi)
I'm home before Hisao today because he has science club. I am looking forward to him getting home, but there is something eating at me.
We live together now in a house we bought together. I know he loves me. Everything points towards us being together forever. That's how we talk about the future. That should be enough for me.
But now that I have all of that, I don't know if it is. I want to marry him. I want to make it official that I'm his and he's mine. I want everything else that goes along with that.
Our whole relationship has been me being really patient with him. I should try to be here, too. He always "gets there" as he puts it. But I'm having a hard time being patient this time. It isn't like I want him to marry me right now. I just want to know if he ever wants to get married again. But I'm afraid to ask because even asking him about this is pressuring him. I don't want to scare him away.
But I do have someone else I can talk about this stuff with. Someone who has probably become my closest non-Hisao friend. Someone who also knows Hisao really well. I'm going to have to give her a call. Hisao won't be back from science club for a little while.
"Hey Chisato, how are you this evening?"
"I'm doing pretty well, getting ready for a big concert in a few weeks. How about you?"
"I'm good, really excited to be in the new house with Hisao…"
"I feel a 'but' coming."
I sigh. "You aren't wrong. The but is that…I kind of want to know if he ever envisions getting married. I want to ask him myself, but I also don't want to pressure him. And asking about that would pressure him. So, I don't know what to do. Any advice?"
"You know, I was kind of wondering that myself. With you guys so serious, I kind of thought it was imminent."
"Yeah. I…hope it is. But I don't know. Does he want to get married again?"
"Well…I don't know for sure. But I can imagine him dragging his feet. He has come a long way, but I think you might need to be patient. Marriage is something he has only done with Saki. Something special. So, doing that again might be hard for him."
"Yeah." I sigh. "I just need to keep being patient. I don't know why I am having a harder time with this than the other things."
Chisato laughs, "Everyone has their limit. I wasn't sure you did, as patient as you've been with him. Good to know you're human."
I scoff, "How very helpful, Chisato. I was looking for some of your surprising wisdom, but it looks like you're all out of it."
"Oh, shut up. I just think you love him so much at this point that you kind of want to yell it at the top of a building. There isn't a better way of doing that than getting married."
"Yeah, that is basically how I feel. But I already knew that. You're dropping the ball here, Chisato."
She scoffs.
"I also think that you have built a strong enough relationship with him that you don't need to worry as much about scaring him away anymore. I think just asking him about it might be the right thing to do. He isn't going to dump you and disappear if the question makes him uncomfortable."
"Huh, that's a good point. I used to have this mindset that I could mess everything up between us with one wrong move. I think I have gotten better about that for the most part but I guess it's still there. I should just ask him about this."
"Yep, I don't see anything wrong with that. You two are deeply in love, the worst that will happen is he gets a little annoyed. But that's not a big deal. Heck, Mitsuru is a little annoyed at me about half the time." She chuckles.
"See? I knew you had that wisdom in there somewhere. If you ever decide you're done with the piano, you should be a relationship counselor for sure."
She laughs, "Or matchmaking. I do seem pretty good. With you two at least "
"Yes, thank you again Chisato. But I feel kind of selfish, I don't help you with your problems very often."
"Heh, don't worry about it. I still owe you a ton for what you've done for Hisao."
"Well, if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm only a call away."
"I just might take you up on that. But for now, I've gotta run. Hope this helped!"
"It did, as usual. Talk to you later, Chisato."
—-
After Hisao gets home from science club, we have a nice dinner together and play some chess. I lost of course, although I did make him curse a couple times. Particularly when I lured him into losing his Queen. I'm definitely getting better.
Now, we're lying in bed together, him spooning me from behind. This usually puts me to sleep quickly, but not tonight. I thought maybe I could sit on this a little longer, but I do have to ask him about this. I have to know now. If he says he never wants to get married again I think I would be able to make it work as long as I know he is in this for the long haul. I just want to know what to expect.
I turn around so I can look him in the eyes and give him my best smile. I put one hand on his chest and the other on his cheek.
"Hisao…how do you feel about…marriage?"
His face immediately turns to one of shock and he pulls away from me a little bit. Shit, did Chisato steer me wrong? I'm going to kill her.
Of course, maybe the problem is the way I asked the question.
"Um…I'm not proposing to you, right now, if you think that's what this is. I'm just asking, do you see yourself getting married again one day?"
His face relaxes once my meaning becomes clearer. He puts his arms back around me.
"I do. But I'm sorry, this is yet another thing where I will ask you to be patient with me." He pauses for a moment.
"Saki's the only wife I've ever had. It makes it harder for me than I would like to take that step again. I know you'll tell me not to feel guilty about that. But I should just be ready to take that step with you. You've been nothing but an amazing partner, and I love you so much. But right now, I'm just not ready."
He pauses again and looks lost in thought for what feels like half a minute. I'm about to tell him he doesn't need to say anything else, and I understand, but then he continues.
"I promise, I do want to marry you one day. I don't think it will be soon, but it isn't years and years away either. I think that's the best I can do right now."
I kiss him softly. "Thank you for explaining everything. It makes sense that the idea of a new wife is still hard for you after Saki. I'm glad you see it happening eventually. That's good enough for me."
He smiles at me. "Thanks, as always for being so patient with me, Emi. I know it isn't always easy."
I shrug, "Actually, it really isn't that hard. Every other time you've told me to be patient you've delivered. That makes it easy. Plus, I love you and junk."
He laughs, "I love you and junk too, Emi."
I turn back around, and he resumes holding me as he usually does. He said he wants to marry me one day. That feels pretty good, even if it won't be soon. One day he'll be my husband. I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.