Secrets, Socials, and Seigaku

Chapter 39

“Dad! I’m going out!” I called through the house. I was in the kitchen putting my dirty dishes in the dishwasher after I had eaten a filling meal. “Dad!” I called again, awaiting a reply. I shut the dishwasher door with a huff of annoyance. Was he still sleeping? The clock on the wall read eleven in the morning, so I wouldn’t think so. Dad had always been the early to bed, early to rise kind of guy. Waking up at eight in the morning was considered sleeping in for him. Did he leave without telling me? I headed over to the door; ready to grab my long board and leave when a note on the fridge caught my eye.

‘Good morning baby girl!’ The chicken scratch on the torn piece of paper said, ‘I had to run out for a last minute meeting and I probably won’t be home until late tonight. Sorry for the last second news, but there’s some money on the table for dinner. Go order pizza to make up for it. Have a great day!’

I read through it quickly and sighed before crumbling it up and throwing it out. Looks like it would have to be pepperoni pizza night for me. Is pizza in Japan even as good as Papa John’s in America? I grabbed my phone and slipped it into my Nike shorts. In the blink of an eye I grabbed my board and left the empty household in my wake.

        If there was such a thing as the perfect day this was surely it. Blue skies above, not a cloud to cover up the sunshine, and somehow it wasn’t hot out. Florida should take notes on the weather here and make the proper changes to the weather. I decided I would travel to a different destination today, and this time I knew exactly where I was going! No chances of me getting lost like a newbie again! There was a quiet park a little outside the local area where my dad and I had driven by previously. It was practically begging me to come visit the place with its gorgeous scenery.

        I pushed off the concrete beneath me and glided through the town. Japan was nice, though I couldn’t be sure if I liked it because of the area or because of my new friends. Either way, it was moving higher and higher up on my list of favorite places in this world.  The tennis players here weren’t half bad either. Atobe, Tachibana, Tezuka, and even Echizen: there were a lot of people I was itching to play against one day. Though with my patience it would have to be one day soon. And to think that those were only slim pickings from three tennis teams! There were probably so many people out there that could offer up a great tennis match! I’m getting jazzed up just thinking about the possibilities. Though it would probably be better to start off playing against the people I know. I’d have to work on a way to play Echizen and Tezuka, though to play the former would certainly be easier than the latter

        The journey to the park had taken about fifteen minutes. It was nothing to complain about when I finally had the chance to relax and think. The park was actually a lot bigger than I had previously determined. A huge field sat at the entrance and from there you could see tennis courts, volleyball nets, racket ball walls, soccer goals, basketball courts: plenty of activates for someone to keep active with. Maybe I would come back and practice my basketball skills sometime. I used to practice with a friend in Los Angeles, though he was a whole lot better than I was; not to mention a whole lot taller. What was his name again? I think it was Kaga-something. Kagami Taiga? That sounds right. Hope he’s doing well.

        A couple more pushes with my sneaker-clad feet and I was breezing through the pathway that circled the area. I watched the basketball players dunk, the goalkeepers defend their goal posts, and then I came upon the tennis courts. Not many people were playing right now, and the ones who were looked to be in elementary school. I slowed down and hopped off my board to watch the kids rally with each other. I chuckled as they argued over where they were supposed to serve.

        Though the argument was extremely entertaining I moved on to where the sign said the racket ball courts were. “Check this out Ryoma! I’ve hit the ball eleven times in a row!” The familiar shrill voice called out. I paused mid-step. There was quite literally no other imaginable voice that could shout in that timbre other than one female freshman.