Monday, July 13, 2009, 8:14AM
Gekkoukan High School, Class 2-F
"Yo." Kaz greeted Makoto as soon as the former hobbled his way into class.
"Sup." Makoto rested his face against one fist, blue hair messily draped over one eye.
"You ready for exams?"
Makoto sighed. "Not really, but I'll make do."
"Same." Kaz scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, uh, happy birthday. I didn't really get you anything. Sorry."
Makoto laughed. "It's fine, I didn't want to make a big deal of it to begin with."
"Do you mind if I tag along after school?" He leaned on Makoto's desk. "Kenji said it was alright if it was alright with you."
"Sure." Makoto's eye flickered down to Kaz's leg.
Kaz chuckled. "Yeah, it's about that." He looked away.
Makoto's eye widened, ever so slightly. "Ah."
"Figured I'd talk to you about it 'fore it happened."
"Alright." Makoto said.
Kaz nodded. "Alright." He turned and limped back to his seat.
As Makoto entered Wakatsu, the strong scent of broiled fish hit his nostrils, and the loud chattering of dozens of people hit his ears. It was a lot more packed than when ate here with Yukari. Eventually he spotted Kenji and Kaz sitting in a corner booth, chatting away, and made his way over to them.
"...sister keeps saying if I get anything less than a seventy, mom is going to disown me." Makoto overheard Kenji say. "I'm gonna kick her butt one of these days, I swear."
"Are you going to score that high?" Kazushi asked.
"Probably not." He turned to Makoto. "Yo, hold my seat, I gotta go take a leak."
"Gotcha." Kenji left as Makoto sat down across the table from a rather somber-looking Kazushi.
Kaz sighed. "I don't even know where to start."
"Take your time." Makoto said. "If you're not in the mood to talk about it, I won't bother you."
The other boy chuckled. "Thanks. Oh yeah," he pulled something out of his pocket," I want to give you this." He handed Makoto a roll of sports tape. "My nephew gave it to me. Said it was a good luck charm." He grinned. "But there's so much there that I could never use it all. If you get hurt during practice, it should come in pretty handy."
"Thank you." Makoto said as he put it in his backpack.
"As you can probably guess I...I've made up my mind." Kaz said. "I'm going to have surgery to fix my knee. I..." he sighed, looking deflated as he trailed off.
"...won't be able to keep your promise to your nephew?"
"Yeah, that." A melancholic grin spread across his lips. "I hate to break my word, but sometimes things happen. Guess I'll just have to man up and explain myself to him."
Makoto nodded. "Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, you know?"
"Yeah...hey!" Kaz said indignantly.
Makoto laughed. "Your words, not mine."
"Fair 'nuff..." he shook his head. "I just...it wasn't an excuse. I did want to keep my promise to him, but part of it was I wanted to be number one for my own sake. I wanted to be the best in Japan, and that was my excuse to keep pushing even when I knew I shouldn't. But life's more important than just what I want, you know? I don't want people to suffer because of me. My mom, the team, my nephew, everyone. It's like, even if I managed to win, I don't think I'd feel good about it."
He tapped his fingers on the table as he went quiet. Makoto could almost see the gears in Kaz's head turning before him.
"I've always loved running, and I've always loved winning, but running's been getting harder and harder to do let alone enjoy, and winning doesn't feel as good if I don't have anyone to celebrate it with. And how am I going to celebrate it if I'm in pain and everyone's worried about me, you know?"
Makoto nodded. "I think I get what you mean."
"I'm done making dumb, selfish decisions. My mom, Yuko, coach, you, the guys on the team, they all gave me hell over this...and, yeah, you guys were right to. I...I really wanted to stand on my own two feet and stick to my guns, regardless of what people said. But if I do that...well I won't be able to stand on my own two feet at all." He chuckled. "Not with the way the doc says my hamstring will be."
Makoto chuckled. "I'm just glad to see you're comfortable enough to joke about it. You seemed pretty touchy about it before."
"A little bit." Kaz looked away. "It's embarrassing to admit but, I was wrong, and you guys were right."
"It's difficult to know when to follow the crowd, and when to disagree." Makoto said. "I've...been having my own issues with that. I'm not going to sit here and lecture you that I always know better than you."
Kaz smiled. "You know, I can never tell how you're going to react to stuff."
"Oh?"
"Some days you're as cool as a cucumber, and other days you're like a boiling kettle, ready to explode."
Makoto frowned. "Am I really like that?"
Kaz shrugged. "Sometimes you are." He tapped his fingers on the table. "I won't be able to be there on the field when we compete, but I'll still be there in the bleachers cheering you guys on. So use some of that energy to win for us."
Makoto held up a hand. "Only if you promise to put your energy into healing up." He rolled it up into a fist.
"Hell yeah." They bumped fists. Kaz's eye drifted a bit past Makoto's shoulder. "Yo, Kenji." Kaz stood up. "I gotta go myself, you just order uhhhhhh whatever for me." He said before hobbling away to the restroom.
"Same for me." Makoto said. "Anything is good right now.
Kenji nodded. "You got it."
"Hey Kenji," the other boy turned back to Makoto, eyes flickering between him and Kaz's back, "thanks man. For everything."
Kenji grinned. "Don't even worry about it dude." He said coolly before leaving to order. Makoto snorted, and slowly his smile faded as he remembered that exams began tomorrow.
Midterms were easy enough, but that was before the battles against the Shadows had accelerated, both in terms of quantity and difficulty. Just the last month alone had been an exhausting disruption to his regular routine.. Neither he, nor the rest of the second years, had found the time or the energy to study as much as when the year started. At this point he would be lucky if he still ended up somewhere in the top five...
Makoto shook his head. Now wasn't the time to sulk or aimlessly worry. He was out having a nice dinner with friends, and he was going on a quick summer vacation with his dorm next week. There was a lot to look forward to. As for exams, well, "you gotta do what you gotta do." Makoto mumbled to himself.
The next five days were theoretically comprised of one hundred and twenty hours, or one hundred and twenty five if they factored in the Dark Hour. But to Makoto, it felt more like one hundred and twenty something days of wandering blind and naked through a night-less desert.
The seniors were nowhere to be found. Junpei spent two hours every day silently staring at a wall. Despondent sobs could be heard coming from both Kotone and Yukari's rooms in the dead of night. Friday evening, Fuuka was found curled up in the kitchen, unconscious, with boxes of chocolate truffles surrounding her body.
Worst yet, Ikutsuki had appeared every night and attempted to soothe their weary souls with his jokes.
Monday, July 20, 2009, 2:01PM
On a boat
"YA-KU-SHI-MA! YA-KU-SHI-MA!" Kotone and Junpei chanted as their boat sailed to the titular island. "YA-KU-SHI-MA! YA-KU-SHI-MA!"
"Ya-ku-shi-ma." Makoto repeated lazily. Yukari rolled her eyes. "We should go and cheer with them."
"I'll conserve my energy." She said drolly.
Fuuka leaned on the railing. "I'm curious to see what kind of flora and fauna are there."
"I can't wait to swim laps around the place again." Sanada said. "Swimming is great cardio."
Shinjiro snorted. "Of course that'd be your first thought."
Fuuka turned to Sanada, eyes wide. "You've been here before senpai?"
He nodded. "Yep, Mitsuru's dad invited us out here a couple times before. I can show you guys all the good places to excercise if you want."
"Sounds great." Yukari said as she watched Mitsuru, quietly looking at the ocean, standing far from everyone else.
"YA-KU-SHI-MA! YA-KU-SHI-MA!"
As they arrived at the island, their bags were taken and they were directed to follow Mitsuru towards what Makoto could only describe as a mansion. The seniors took the wealth and opulence in stride, but the second years couldn't help but gawk at the expensive carpeting, the pristine marble pillars, and the tasteful oil paintings that decorated every room they walked through.
Junpei whistled. "Man, this place puts the W in wealthy."
"What does that even mean?" Akihiko asked, as Junpei ignored him in favor of looking around.
Two maids entered the room and bowed. "Welcome back milady." They jointly said.
"We won't be here long," Mitsuru said, "but I'll be relying on you during our stay."
"Holy crap!" Kotone whispered to Yukari. "She's got maids! Real maids!"
"Wow." Yukari mumbled.
The left maid addressed them. "You must be Lady Mitsuru's schoolmates, correct? Welcome to the Kirijo vacation home. Please follow me."
"I knew senpai came from a wealthy family, but..." Fuuka trailed off.
As they reached the end of the room, they were greeted by a man with jet-black hair and steely-gray eyes. Underneath his black suit was a red tie and a cream-colored vest. On both hands he wore thick white gloves.
"Ah, Mitsuru." He hugged her with his left arm, a small smile gracing his rough face. "It's good to see you again."
She hugged him tightly. "It's good to see you too, Papa."
He turned to the other two seniors. "It's good to see you again boys."
"Yo." Akihiko flashed him a peace-sign.
Shinjiro nodded. "Nice to see you too pops."
He turned to the younger students. "Hello, my name is Takeharu Kirijo, I'm Mitsuru's father, and the chairman of the Kirijo Group. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Mitsuru has told me a lot about you."
"Was at least some of it good?" Junpei asked with a grin. Mitsuru shot him a glare as her father laughed.
"Most of it, yes." He turned back to his daughter. "I know I said I'd be free for a few days, but I still need to finish up a couple of things today. I should be free by dinner. The rest of the vacation you'll have my full, undivided attention, promise."
"Of course papa."
He nodded. "All of you students, please feel free to relax in your rooms, enjoy the beach, walk round and see the forest with your own two eyes; whatever makes you feel at home."
Makoto nodded. As Takeharu walked away, Makoto couldn't help but notice there was something ever so slightly off about his gait.
"That was senpai's dad?" Junpei asked incredulously. "Dude looks scary, but he seems pretty chill."
"Can't judge a book by its cover y'know?" Kotone crossed her arms. "But enough talk, I wanna go to the beach!"
Yukari's face scrunched up. "Already? I haven't even had a chance to sit down, let alone change."
"We got plenty of time 'fore the sun sets." Junpei said. "Come on!" He grabbed Makoto and dragged him off, as did Kotone to both Yukari and Fuuka. Shinjiro and Akihiko looked at one another before shrugging and following, as Mitsuru did the same.