For the first five minutes, the words have begun to blur. In the next five minutes, they began to swim in his focus and soon it was his head that swam. When he shook his head again, he realised that he was still at the first sentence of the second paragraph.
"Ten minutes are over! Explain to me what you have read!" commanded Akagi, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Umm.... a journal?"
"About?"
"......"
"Yes?"
Sakuragi squinted at the words as if the answer could be found easier that way.
Akagi sighed. "What page are you at, Sakuragi?"
"Uh... one."
"WHAT?? Ten minutes and you're only at the first page? Four paragraph isn't enough to help you win this competition, private!"
"Actually, I'm still in the second paragraph."
Akagi gaped. "But that's just eight sentences!"
"Ano.... I've only reached three..."
"THREE SENTENCES??!"
Sakuragi winced at the captain's shout. It was not his fault that he preferred machines over books. Even if the plane manuals have words in them, at least they have diagrams to make it all the more interesting.
When Akagi was busy trying to calm himself down, Sakuragi scowled at him. "Why am I the only one who's training for this thing anyway? How about Rukawa, Sendoh and Hikoichi? Aren't they joining the competition as well?"
"It depends on them. As Sargeant-status-active-pilots, they are given a choice whether to join the activities or not. You, PRIVATE, are under my jurisdiction."
"That's unfair!" the redhead complained.
Akagi growled. "Deal with it."
"White."
"Black."
"White."
"Black."
"He doesn't look like a black-coffee person, Rukawa."
"And what makes you think that he likes white coffee?" the fox-eyes pilot challenged.
"Because, he's so sweet!" Sendoh nearly gushed, "He's definitely someone who likes cream in his coffee."
Rukawa snorted in disgust. "He's strong and energetic. He's someone who likes his coffee black."
"Having cream in his coffee would not make him any less stronger and energetic!" the spiky-haired pilot protested.
"Like you?"
Sendoh growled. "I take you on anytime, Rukawa."
"But I don't want to read anymore!"
The two brunettes stopped their squabble to see where that plaintive cry has come from. On the left side corridor was a row of meeting rooms and in one of them, they could see through the small glass window Sakuragi sitting at a table with a stack of books in front of him. The redhead looked hagard and weary and along with the riddle of bumps on his head (no doubt received from the gorilla-man himself), the mechanic looked downright pitiful.
"How long has he been in there?" Sendoh breathed, "He looks as if he's been in there for hours."
Rukawa hesitated before replying with a note of uncertainty in his voice, "Hikoichi told me it's been 20 minutes."
Sendoh looked at his team-mate in disbelief. "He's kidding, right?!"
"...I don't know..."
~~~~
"Captain Akagi is out of his mind, sir! His proposition that the officers participate in this read-a-thon competition is-"
"Wonderful," General Anzai cut in through Commander Taoka's tirade, "My officers should take up any challange presented to them. I enjoy watching them rise to new heights."
Commander Taoka gaped before he began stuttering, "W-Well, yes, b-but-"
"I'm glad you approve, commander. I'm sure you'll make a fine role model for our squadron in this matter.... Oh, one more thing, the 301st flight team of Komatsu Bay is looking for a new commander. I need to find a good person to recommend to them."
Commander Taoka's face lit up. "A-An opening?"
"I'm looking forward to your fine leadership in this contest," the white haired general said, knowing that the commander has taken the bait.
"Yes, sir!" Commander Taoka saluted smartly, his heart already doing sumersaults at the possibility of being transferred out of the badly-reputed Airbats TTS of Kanagawa.
With an unreadable look, the general watched the commander walk out and close the door behind him before the white-haired man let himself a small smile of amusement.
"So, how did I do?" General Anzai asked the person who has been concealed behind the door of an extra room adjoining his office.
"You did well, sir," Mitsui replied, grinning at the older man.
"Will you be putting your stakes up as well, sir?"
"Ho Ho Ho! Of course!" the general said, laughing, "I haven't had this much excitement in ages!"
Above Chitose, an air jet was making the scheduled run around the air perimeter together with his partner who flew a few kilometres behind him in another jet. A few minutes later, one of the pilots in charge of reporting their flight called the control tower through his headset, "Chitose Tower, this is 5 Foxstrot 1 at smooth flying condition with good visibility preparing for landing at 1033 ... also, put me in for Akagi in the poll."
"This is Chitose Tower. Roger that."
~~~~
Sendoh absent-mindedly played with his food with his chopsticks, thinking of how much difficulty Hanamichi was having in his training for the read-a-thon competition. The spikey-haired pilot wondered how the redhead would feel if suddenly Sendoh was to win the competition and how gallant he would look when he presents the mechanic with the winning coupons of one year's worth of coffee...
"AH!! Akira-kun! You're amazing!" Sakuragi gushed.
"Think nothing of it, Hana-kun," Sendoh replied, running his fingers cooly through his short hair, "Come, let's go out and have some coffee."
"Sure! But one year of coffee! I won't be able to keep still!" the redhead exclaimed.
The spikey-haired pilot smiled. "I'm sure I can think of a way to help you burn of that excess energy, Hana-kun...."
"Eheheheheee...."
Rukawa stared at the maniacally grinning pilot in silence, knowing that Sendoh was at that moment thinking of something lewd by the looks of the pilot's face. Something that concerns Sakuragi, no doubt.
His thoughts immedietly directed themselves to the redhead in question. Akagi has been drilling the mechanic all week that he barely sees the redhead doing anything other than the harsh training he has been receiving from the captain.
The jolly, exuberant and proud expression that Rukawa normally sees on Sakuragi has become rare and most often, the redhead could be seen as a young man beaten down into... submission...
A shiver ran across Rukawa's body at the thought.
"Please! Let me out of this torture!" the redhead cried flinging a thick book away from him.
"Hanamichi..." Rukawa thrust the winning coupons of one year's worth of coffee to the redhead.
"Rukawa..." Sakuragi's eyes widened as he clutched at the coupons to his chest.
"My saviour..." the redhead sighed, his big brown eyes glassy with feeling and his face flushed with awe.
Before, the redhead could say any more, Rukawa lunged at the delectable mechanic and proceeded to have his way with him.
Hikoichi stared at Rukawa and Sendoh who has joined him for dinner that night. But at that moment, eating dinner seemed far away from both young man's mind judging from the expressions on their faces, Sendoh drooling on obliviously while Rukawa sat still with a glazed look on his normally stony look.
Slowly, the short pilot-cum-researcher inched away from his fellow officers while Chi-chan who was perched on his head squeaked in similiar nervousness.
~~~~
In the meeting room where the read-a-thon training was taking place, the redhead was at that moment dozing off during one of his reading, his cheek pressed against the pages as his drool dampened the paper of the book.
Unbeknowest to the private, a surveillance officer was watching him from one of the tall buildings of the airbase through a high-powered video equipment used to monitor targets. After a few minutes of watching the redhead sleep, the man switched on his radio and reported to his team on the other line.
"This is Iruma base. Private Sakuragi has been sleeping for 10 minutes, 40 seconds and counting, after a 25 minute reading through 'Grapes of Wrath'."
The officer who received the transmission quickly jotted down some notes on the space underneath the picture of Sakuragi Hanamichi. Beside the redhead's picture, were other pictures of Akagi, Rukawa, Sendoh and Hikoichi with more impressive comments as compared to the redhead's.
Clustered around the board in the debriefing room were other officers interested in keeping updated on the odds of the subjects that they have staked their money on.
"Gentlemen," the first officer said, directing his pointer at the redhead's picture. This man is a Drooler."
Murmurs of discussion sounded in the room as the present officers assessed the present situation.
"Damn! I thought he'd improve this week!" swore one man.
His friend laughed. "With what he got for his high-school scores? You've got to be kidding me!"
"How did you get his high-school scores?"
"Airforce connections."
"Ah. You gotta love 'em"
"I'm putting my money on Akagi!"
"How about Rukawa and Sendoh?"
"They're in second place in the poll."
"Hikoichi?"
"He's a top researcher but he's useless in leisure reading."