Sureiyazu

Episode 14: Divided

They were greeted by a small amount of applause. Aya put on a small smile and told the diners it wasn't necessary before sitting down at the nearest table.

"Hello, my name is Sakura and I will be your server today." The waitress introduced herself as if she had no idea who the team of four was, which Akuma considered to be a good thing at the moment. "What would you like to order?" 

"I'll have the clam special - actually, make that four," Akuma ordered, realizing that none of the others were willing to take up ordinary acts of living quite yet.

"Okay," said Sakura, "be right back." She walked quickly back to the kitchen, her hair flying behind her.

"Thanks Akuma," Yuri said.

"You're welcome?" Akuma said back uncertainly.

"You're going to make us pay after getting us all food?" asked Yuri, her face imitating that of a lost puppy.

"Fine, I'll pay," Akuma agreed at first. "Wait, don't we share money or something?"

"Technically," said Aya, "yes. But we'll let you have the courtesy of handing it over."

Akuma smiled. 

A few minutes later, their food came back from the kitchens. 

"Four clam specials," Sakura said, laying them on the table in front of each of the Sureiyazu. She added, sounding bored, "Enjoy."

The four teenagers picked at their food, but no one ate much of anything. Aya kept looking out the windows, Kasai kept stroking her katana, and Yuri kept looking longingly at her food as if she knew it wanted to be played with, but she didn't touch any of it. Akuma watched the others and wondered if any of them would ever be the same.

Afterwards, Aya suggested that they go home, but Akuma said they should stay in town a little longer.

"Oh, come on," she argued. "We need a little sunshine." Then she got an idea. "Race you to the park!" She took off running, with Kasai following closely behind, Yuri a little after that, and Aya jogging halfheartedly behind them.

Akuma felt Kasai getting closer on her right, so she pushed herself harder. The fountain in the center of the green was in sight now; she was almost there -

Apparently, Kasai had had a similar idea, and shot past Akuma at a startling speed, beating her by ten seconds at least. Yuri and Akuma collapsed next to the stone structure, panting and grinning.

"Ha!" shouted Kasai, pumping her fist, barely out of breath. "I beat you all!" It seemed almost as though her victory had made her forget her sadness, like she'd left it behind when she started running.

Aya, who had just arrived at the fountain, disapproved. "You had an advantage," she said, annoyed.

"You're just sour because I beat you by an entire minute!" Kasai accused.

"I went easy on you," said Aya. "So it wasn't fair." She started to jog away, a rare smile creeping up on her face. "When we meet up at the pond I'll wipe that grin off of your face!"

Akuma and Yuri got up together, but Yuri ran away without checking to see if the blue haired girl was following. Kasai sprinted after Aya, determined to win again.

Akuma had no trouble staying at a run all the way to the other side of the park, where the pond was. It was keeping up with her teammates that was the trouble. Aya had had a head start, Kasai had some kind of speed superpower, and Yuri never ran out of energy. At least they weren't mourning; she much preferred running long distances to sad silences.