Five
The sun was high, and the wind was non-existent. Despite the huge crowd in
the stands, Rei heard nothing aside from his heart pounding in his chest and
his own breathing. He tapped the tip of his shoes on the dirt like he always
did before a run, and took his place on the markers. The crowd was going wild.
He crouched down and placed his hands on the ground, closing his eyes as he
did so. After taking a deep breath, his eyes snapped open and focused on
one thing: the finish line.
The ribbon.
Oh yeah, he was going to get it.
And then everything was going to be all right.
"You know, your mom might say you're too young to hear this, but I'm going to tell you, anyway."
"On your marks..."
"Keep your eye on your goal. Keep your eye on the Ribbon. And all the hardship you have to go through will feel like nothing."
"Get set..."
"Then everything's gonna be all right, son, everything's gonna be all right."
"GO!"
Rei felt everything around him blur into nothing as he ran. It was just him, the track, and the Ribbon. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running. And he knew it. Everyone knew it. And he was going to make sure they remembered it.
He felt as if his feet weren't even touching the ground. It was as if he was gliding over the track, his hazelnut hair whipping at his forehead. He had outrun the other runners already, and they were far behind. The sun was high, the crowds were going wild.
But he saw nothing but the ribbon.
He was almost at the finish line...
...when suddenly, a strange sound rang in his ears.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
What the...
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
"REI! Get up, you're going to be late!"
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
"Come on, Rei, up up up!"
Rei blinked, and the blurred image of his mother filled his vision.
"Mom?"
Miki sighed, and turned off the alarm clock on Rei's headboard.
"Yes, dear, I'm your mother. And as such, it is my duty to keep you from being late for school."
Rei blinked again and looked around, then collapsed back on his bed with a groan.
"A dream?! That was just a dream?!"
"Come on, you're going to be late," Miki said again, pulling her son out of bed.
"No, Mom, I don't wanna..."
"Oh, for goodness' sake..."
"I wanna win the race first!"
Miki rolled her eyes as she dropped his hands. "Aiya. Even in his sleep..." she muttered. Rei just buried himself in his blankets. Shaking her head, Miki crouched down, and reached for the bottom of the mattress.
"You're going to be late, Rei, now UP!" she exclaimed as she heaved the mattress upwards, throwing its 13-year-old occupant most unceremoniously to the floor.
"Aww, Mo~m..."
"Don't 'Aww, Mo~m' me, kid," she said, pointing to the door. "March."
~~~
"OK, time for a break!"
Ayanami Yoriko took off her cap with a huff and made her way to the bleachers.
"Here."
Yoriko smiled, and took the water bottle that was being offered to her. "Thanks, Midori."
"You need it," Midori said, then went back to looking over the charts.
"So, how're we doing?"
"Everyone's improving," she replied, flipping through the past records. "They're all at least one second faster than they were last month. I say we have a very good chance of winning Interschool this year."
"Good, good... Can I see?"
Midori handed her chartboard to her manager, and took a drink herself.
"Whoa, wait a second," Yoriko said. "Aiko hasn't improved at all the past month..."
"Yes, well, she's way ahead of everyone else, isn't she?"
"That's true, but don't you think that, with all our training, she should've improved a bit? At the very least be faster by a hundredth of a second. Even if she's so good, there still has to be room for improvement. She should run to grow, not just run for the sake of running."
"Right," Midori said, nodding at the 15-year-old beside her, "I'll tell her that."
Yoriko nodded as well, then looked at the opposite side of the tracks. "Check it out, the boys are starting another run."
"GO!" yelled Futamata from their side of the oval.
"Hey, look: Senior, sophomore, freshman."
Midori blinked. Yoriko was right. As expected, Seta was leading everyone, followed by a sophomore named Hongo Daiki, then there was Rei. The others were about a meter behind the leading three.
"Your friend Yokaze is pretty fast, huh, Midori?" Yoriko asked when the run ended.
"Yeah..."
"No doubt he's gonna go places. He just keeps improving, doesn't he? Just a while ago he wasn't with the leaders yet. He was first in the pack, yeah, but he wasn't ahead. I won't be surprised if he'll be neck and neck with Seta in two weeks."
"Two weeks?"
"Yep, the Interschool. We're going to have daily training now, right?"
Midori kept silent as she looked at the guys' side again. Rei was laughing with the other boys. And she couldn't help but smile at what Yoriko said next.
"That boy is just gonna fly."
~~~
"Wait just a sec. What do you mean, you're not going? "
Midori shrugged, twirling her straw in her Milky Way. "I went to the basketball court to tell him I couldn't come, when I met him halfway. And then he apologized to me and said that he had to call it off."
"And?"
"And I told him it's OK, because I couldn't come, too, anyway."
Aiko pursed her lips. "And why couldn't you come again?"
"Why are you forcing the issue?"
"I'm not forcing any issue. I'm just wondering why you suddenly changed your mind."
"I didn't change my mind. I never said 'yes', anyway."
"So why were you so excited about it earlier?" Aiko asked suspiciously.
Midori didn't answer.
"So did he ask you for another date?"
"I didn't give him a chance to. I told him right out that I can't go out with him. I don't want to lead him on or anything like that." When Aiko raised an eyebrow, Midori went on to elaborate. "Sure, he's good-looking enough to make you tongue-tied and have you rooted where you're standing. Yeah, he's nice, too, but...I barely know him. What's the sense in dating to get to know each other, anyway? I mean, you go out and show the perfect version of yourself. But isn't it that relationships should be built on love? Love that endures not because of the perfect image of yourself, but despite your faults? This trial-and-error dating game just doesn't appeal to me." Midori paused, then narrowed her eyes at the girl across the table, who just happened to have an amused grin on her face. "What?"
"Didn't know you were so passionate about it."
Midori was about to retort when the bells on the door signalled the arrival of the boys.
"Hey, girls, what's up?" asked Kamui as he took his seat beside Midori.
Aiko grinned. "Midori was just sharing something real interesting."
"What about?"
Aiko glanced at Midori, who just glared at her.
"Girl talk."
"Ooh, spare me the details," Kamui said with a grimace. "So how was your training?"
"Great, although I DID get a bit reprimanded by our up-and-coming manager here," Aiko replied with a meaningful glance at Midori.
"Haha. Very funny, Ai-chan."
"Says I was doing well but I could do better. But, it's good that you told me, Midori, really... Oh, by the way, Rei-kun, I saw you today. I didn't know you were already in the leading three!"
"Yeah, well..." Rei said uncertainly.
"I think Ayanami-sempai has a thing for you," Aiko told the boy beside her with a mischievous grin. "She kept saying how good you were."
Rei just grinned back. "You can't fool me, Kazetenshi. I know for a fact that Ayanami is Seta's girlfriend."
Rei's smile fell, though, when the door opened again. Midori blinked, then turned around to follow Rei's gaze. Four boys had entered The Spazio. One was Matsuyama Aoi, combing his fingers through his brown hair in a way that made the girls swoon. The one beside him looked like his twin, except for the fact that he was a good three inches taller than Aoi, and was wearing glasses. She supposed he was Aoi's older brother. The third was one Midori recognized to be Sakamoto Shinji, Aoi's classmate.
The fourth was someone Midori had never seen before. He had black hair, and his bangs framed his blue eyes, which were as stoic as you could make them. As if pulled by some unknown force, he looked in their direction. Midori couldn't place it, but he somehow looked familiar... But she wasn't able to figure it out before looked away and followed the other boys to the counter.
"I gotta go," Rei suddenly said, standing up.
"But we just got here," Kamui told him, but Rei was already on his way to the door. Until...
"Yokaze Rei!"
Rei froze at the sound of the familiar voice, then sighed heavily. He turned around, and smiled at the one who called him.
"Yo, Matsuyama."
"I thought that was you, Kiddo! How've you been?"
"Did Rei just
call that guy Matsuyama?" Aiko asked no one in particular.
"Yeah...Must be Matsuyama Osamu," Kamui replied, not taking his eyes off the scene.
"Did he just call Rei 'Kiddo'?!" asked Aiko again.
"Yes, he did," replied Midori absent-mindedly. She watched in wonder as Rei exchanged a seemingly special handshake with Osamu, and did the same with the latter's younger brother. Then, from the corner of her eye, Midori noticed the fourth guy walk over to a booth several tables away from theirs.
"I've been good, thanks," Rei was saying.
"Heard you're the third placer in your geogaphy exams," said Aoi. "Didn't know you were pursuing honors, man."
"Yeah...Scary, isn't it? Didn't know what got into me," Rei said with a smirk. The older boys laughed.
"Gotta love your sense of humor, Kid, I'll tell you that. By the way, this here's Sakamoto, a classmate of mine," Aoi said, nodding to the mentioned boy. The two acknowledged each other.
"So, wanna hang out with us, Kiddo? Or do you have your own buddies here?" Osamu asked, looking around.
"Yeah, they're over there," Rei said, making a quick gesture towards their regular booth. "But...I gotta go, anyway, so..."
"Oh, really? Well, don't let us stop you," the 17-year-old told him. "See ya around then, huh?"
"Yeah, see you around, guys," Rei said, taking a step backwards before turning around to leave.
The three freshmen watched the older boys walk to the booth their black-haired companion was occupying. Aoi glanced at their table again and smiled at Midori. She smiled back.
"Well, that was real brotherly of you," Osamu told their black-haired friend.
"He can take care of himself," the other boy answered with a cool voice.
"Yeah, we noticed, Yokaze," Aoi said, rolling his eyes as he sat down.
Aiko, Kamui and Midori looked at each other. So that was Yokaze Tokiya. Well, that totally explained why Midori thought he looked familiar.
~~~
Rei dismounted his bike, his eyebrows knitting together.
"Kano?"
The little boy beside the huge tree turned around and looked at him.
"Oniichan!"
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home already?" Rei asked, making his way to his brother.
"Chichi's up there, Oniichan," Kano said, looking up at the tree again.
Rei blinked. "Chichi?"
"Yes, it's the little cat I saw on the way home."
"A cat?" Rei looked up, too, and saw the white cat on one of the branches. "You're not intending to keep him, are you?"
"No, I just want to help him get down."
"Kano," Rei said with a sigh. "Cats climb up trees all the time. They can get themselves down without any help."
"But I think it's my fault he went up there, Oniichan! When he saw me, he ran up the tree!"
"Well, there you have it. He went up there because of us, so he'll probably not want to---"
"No, he went up there because of me. Can you get him down, Oniichan?"
"Kano..."
"What if he gets hurt coming down? The branch is pretty high for a little kitty like him."
"But---"
"Please, Oniichan? Please?"
By this time, Kano was holding onto Rei's arm, and was looking up at him with an innocent child's pleading eyes. Reckoning Kano won't believe him right now if he told him that cats NEVER fall on their backs, Rei sighed again and scratched his head in frustration.
"All right, all right..."
"YEY!" Kano exclaimed, jumping up. "Oniichan, you are the best!"
"Yeah, whatever."
With another frustrated sigh, Rei put his bag down on the ground and started climbing the tree.
"The branch is pretty high, period," he muttered under his breath. "The things I do for Kano..."
A few minutes passed, until, with a heave, Rei finally got to the branch where Chichi was.
"And now, you cute little annoying cat," he said to Chichi, who just blinked at him, "you are gonna come with me."
It all happened in four seconds.
One. Rei reached out to Chichi.
Two. He instinctively jerked backwards as he saw a blur of white in his face and heard an angry "Meowr!"
Three. Rei blinked when green leaves flooded his vision, and he felt the a wind blowing from behind him. Or rather, from under him.
Oh, crap.
Four. Suddenly, there wasn't wind. Suddenly, he couldn't see anything,
he couldn't hear anything, and he couldn't feel anything.