Two
"Ah, lunch! I'm starving..."
Midori opened her bento, then smiled. She had sushi maki, her favorite. And she was going to eat it on a cool afternoon under the shade a tree with green leaves. What a way to start the week.
"Hey, Midori," Aiko said beside her. "What club are you planning to join this afternoon?"
"Hmmm.... I haven't planned yet..." Midori replied. "Maybe I'll go for choir."
"Choir? You like singing?"
"Yeah...a bit... But then again, maybe I should try something new. My mom did say I spend too much time indoors. I'm not really an athletic person."
"Well, maybe you just haven't found your sport. You won't unless you try..." Midori just shrugged. "OK...so if you don't play yourself... what's your favorite sport to watch?"
"I...don't have any favorite sport in particular..."
Aiko pouted. "This is going to be pretty hard."
"Well...Maybe I should just go with you. What's your club?"
"I was planning to join the track team---"
"I don't run very well," Midori said quickly.
"...Oh...That's too bad."
Silence ruled for a few moments. Then, Aiko suddenly clapped her hands once.
"I know!" she exclaimed, her face brightening with a smile. "How 'bout you join the managerial staff? You're not required to run if you join that..."
"But..." Midori racked her brain for an excuse not to go for track. Anything but track.
"But what?" Aiko asked after a few moments. "You won't break a sweat, I promise. You just keep times, and maybe help the managers and stuff."
"But I don't want to join the track team..."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Aiya," Aiko sighed in frustration. "Please, Midori? I guess you can go for choir if you want to, but think about it! Being a manager trains you to be a follower, and eventually a leader! It'll prepare you for the outside world!" Aiko said excitedly.
Innocent as they were, Aiko's words stung, unearthing something at the back of Midori's mind.
"No wonder you're not a member of any club! You can't be a follower yet you boss everyone around as if you're some kind of important person. Well let me tell you something: you're NOT."
"Learn to be a follower, huh?"
Aiko nodded, bewildered at Midori's sudden seriousness, yet excited that she was actually considering it.
"So I won't have to boss anyone around, hm?"
"Boss around? Of course not! I mean...not until you earn your place as a manager."
"Hmm..."
"If you really don't like track, maybe you can go for staff for the soccer team. Kamui is a soccer player, y'know. I think he wants to get Yokaze-kun in there with him. But I'm not sure what Yokaze-kun decided. He seemed to be considering it already last Thursday, though."
"Ah..." Well, Midori thought, Rei had always wanted to try soccer, too.
"So you're going to try it?"
Midori smiled. "I think I will."
"So... track or soccer?"
~~~
Seta Tomakazu reread the names on his list, glancing every now and then to the boys on the bleachers. As the captain, it was his duty to announce who got in. And, as such, he was the front-liner...meaning they're either gonna hate him or love him, depending on whether or not they made it. He hated that part of his job.
"O~K..." he finally said. "On behalf of the current members of the team, I would like to thank everyone for your participation today. However, we do have our standards. The names on this list are the ones who are officially accepted in the team, because, well... they're really really good. If you aren't in this list, don't worry. You can still join us in training. But, let me tell you right now: you're not going to get to join the inter-school events or anything yet. You're going to have to train harder. You can also stick around and be in the managerial staff if you'd like. We need help in that sector of our club. If nobody goes for the staff, we might be needing help from the girls' track team, and..." he dropped his voice, "no offense to the females, but we don't want that."
Most of the boys, including Rei, glanced at the opposite end of the oval, where the girls were, apparently finished with the try-outs already.
"So, let's get the ball rolling."
While Seta announced the new members, Rei's attention was directed somewhere else. There, at the side of the girls' track team, was a certain brown-haired girl who looked uncanningly like Midori.
But it CAN'T be her, he thought worriedly. She can't run, for crying out loud!
Then again, Rei reconsidered, squinting. The girls are pretty far away. Maybe it isn't Midori after all.
"We'll have our first training tomorrow," Seta was saying. "Those who want to join the managerial staff, go to Futamata over here. Thanks for coming."
Rei was startled when everybody suddenly stood up, and started leaving the bleachers. They were done already?!
NOT listening! he scolded himself.
"Um, excuse me," he said to the boy nearest to him. "Would you know if Yokaze Rei was called earlier?"
"Sorry," the other boy said. "I didn't notice. You should go and ask the captain."
"Thanks."
Rei looked at where Seta was standing, but he wasn't there. Rei looked further down the bleachers, and saw the captain waving good-bye to the older team members. Seta started running for the school buildings.
Oh, crap, he thought. Grabbing his duffel bag, Rei hopped down the bleachers, two steps at a time, then jumped over the railing. He landed a few meters away from Futamata, who was walking away, too.
"Futamata-sempai!"
Futamata turned to him. "Yes?"
"Umm...I'm sorry, but can you check if Yokaze Rei got in? I got...distracted earlier."
"Sorry, man, but Seta has the list already."
"Oh...OK."
"Better run for it if you want to catch up to him. He usually goes home right after training."
"Thanks!" Rei bowed slightly, and ran off.
"He should be at our staff room!" Futamata shouted at him. Rei waved another "Thanks!" just before he entered the building.
Rei was going as fast as his feet could carry him. It was embarrassing enough that he wasn't paying attention earlier, but it was even more embarrassing if he asked the captain tomorrow.
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Rei thought, turning around a corner. AHA!
He could see the staff room's label several doors down. He was almost there when the door slid open, and someone hurriedly stepped out.
Oh, crap.
It all happened in four seconds.
One. Rei instinctively shouted "Look out!" The other student --- who was a girl --- turned to him in surprise.
Two. He skidded to a halt, but the momentum was too strong, so he literally crashed into the girl.
Three. Rei grunted as he twisted himself. Sheets of paper flew everywhere.
Four. He gritted his teeth as his back hit the ground with a loud thud.
Rei blinked several times, willing the black blots to disappear from his vision. He vaguely felt the weight on his chest shift abruptly.
"Oh my gosh!" the girl exclaimed. "Are you all ri---"
Well, at least she's OK... he thought, relieved. "Sorry about tha---"
He stopped when his eyes focused on her.
The situation simply could NOT get any more awkward.
Yokaze Rei was lying down on the floor. And Yukibana Midori was lying over him, her hands leaning on the floor on either side of his shoulders, a stunned look on her face.
"..."
They were 3 meters away from each other in a flash, both looking everywhere except at each other. For a few moments, nobody moved. But Rei was soon unable to stand the silence, so he started to pick up the sheets of paper on the floor. Midori joined him, gathering her own pile.
"Here," came Rei's voice. Midori looked up to see him offering a hand. She took it, and she stood up with his help.
"What're you doing here?" he asked, handing her his pile.
"I was about to take these upstairs to the PE department," Midori replied. When Rei's eyebrows knitted together, she continued, "I'm in the girls' track team---"
"No way."
Midori's grip on her stack of papers tightened. "Is it so hard to believe?"
"You can't run, can you?"
Midori didn't answer.
"You can't, arayt?" Rei said hurriedly. "I've seen you run and it wasn't a pretty sight. Just give it up. Don't force yourself."
Her grip tightened even more.
"Well, for your information, Mr. I-know-what's-best-for-you, I am NOT forcing myself to run. I am in the girls' track team. MANAGERIAL staff."
Rei felt blood drain from his face. Oh, smooth, Yokaze. VERY smooth.
"So, if you don't mind, I would like to go about my business," Midori said with controlled anger, and turned to leave.
She didn't look back.
She turned around a corner, and saw Seta coming towards her.
"Ah, Yukibana, isn't it?"
Midori blinked. "H...Hai..."
"I dont know if you know me, but---" the 15-year-old boy started.
"The guys' track team captain," Midori supplied, "Seta Tomakazu, right?"
Seta smiled. "Yeah. You're going to the PE department now with those, right? I just realized I left the sign-up sheet in the staff room, not the final list."
"Oh..." Midori shuffled through her stack, looking for the mentioned sheet.
GAH! Look at what you did, Yokaze! Now the whole pile's mixed up.
Rei stared at the empty room.
OK, so Seta left already. What am I supposed to do now?
"Yokaze?"
Rei turned around to see Seta walking towards him. "Sempai."
"What's up? Shouldn't you be going home already?"
"Uh...Actually, I came here to look for you."
"Oh? So, what can I help you with?"
"Uh..." Rei suddenly hesitated. "I was just wondering...Uh..."
"You're wondering if...you got in?"
Rei blinked. "Huh?"
When Seta raised an eyebrow, Rei scratched the back of his head. "Eheh...Right..."
Seta shook his head. "Generally, Yokaze, I don't like people who don't pay attention when they were supposed to."
Rei bit his lip. Woops.
"So, tell me," Seta said with a grin. "What was so interesting in the girls' track team that sent one of my fastest new runners into lala-land?"
"I'm sorry?" Rei asked, stunned.
"I do believe you were too preoccupied with someone in the girls' team to pay attention to me in the bleachers."
"Uh..."
"So which one was it?"
"It's... I was just concerned about a friend that I saw over there."
Seta's eyebrow didn't go down, and his grin grew wider. "I see..."
"I'm even not sure if we're friends at all right now..." he trailed off. But he recovered quickly. "Anyway, I was just worried because she's not very athletic... But I found out a few minutes ago that she was in the staff, anyway, so..."
"You're talking about Yukibana Midori, right? I heard she's the only one who went for managerial. So, if we do get a shortage in staff, she's going to be helping Futamata out."
"And we don't want that, huh..."
"Yup."
"OK... Um, sempai... Can we backtrack a bit? Just who was sent to lala-land again?"
~~~
Midori exhaled freely when she put the stack down on Miyagi-sensei's desk.
"Not break a sweat, huh, Aiko?" she said out loud. "Let's see you say that after climbing four floors for a stack of pap---"
She stopped when her eyes drifted to the topmost name on the topmost paper.
"Yokaze Rei..."
So Rei was in the track team, after all. And he had the fastest time.
"The rising star of Kobayakawa Jr. High's track team, are you?"
Nobody else was in the room to see her smile.