All Our Lives

Shuichi, The Passionate

RIKU YAGAMI from the anime, PRINCE OF STRIDE ALTERNATIVE as SHUICHI MIYAMURA

Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!

One hundred push ups, DONE!

Looks like today is my good day. The weather is nice, I managed to get a hundred sit ups and push ups and now I'm going for a 5 KM run through the park. Haa~ this is refreshing. I guess I did need to let off some steam after last week's defeat. The mood around the team is getting worse and the coach's word still weighs heavily on my mind.

Keep your act together, Miyamura! Remember you're on a scholarship! You can't afford to lose!

I shook the thought out of my head and focused on my run. Physical exertion keeps me from feeling sad and depressed. 3 KM into my run and I heard a dog barking behind me. I slowed my pace a little and turned around. A small Shiba Inu was barking while following me. It looked like it enjoyed running with me. The collar was attached to a leash so I guess the dog was out on a run with its owner. I decided to stop at a bench so the dog would stop following me and wait for the owner to catch up.
A few minutes passed but still no sign of the dog's master. I crouch down and rubbed the dog's face.

"Hey boy! Where's your owner, huh? You think he got lost or something?"

The dog seems to understand my question as he barked at me and ran to another direction. I was afraid it would get lost so I followed it. We ran on the same route I took just now and took a left turn. Then the dog barked excitedly and I finally saw its owner. Apparently the owner was a young girl wearing thick bright pink glasses that looks around the same age as me. She was out of breath, probably from chasing her dog.

"Tigger, you rascal! You know I can't catch up if you run that fast!" She collapsed on the ground, clearly exhausted.

"So this guy is yours, right?" I asked. She looked up and let out a weird voice.

"GAH! Shuichi Miyamura!" She jumped back and pointed at me. Looks like she still has some energy left.

"Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you. What's your name?" I outstretch my hand for a handshake but I was met with a 90-degree bow instead.

"NICE TO MEET YOU! MY NAME IS HIKARI KATSURAGI!" The petite girl introduced herself full of gusto.

"Umm..Katsuragi-san, you don't need to be that formal." 

"How could I not be respectful! You're our university's football star!"

"Huh? You go to Seiryuu as well? What a coincidence! I'm in high school education course. What's yours?" 

"I'm in early childhood education." Just then, her dog started barking uncontrollably.

"What's wrong now, Tigger? Geez, you are restless." Katsuragi-san bent down to pet her dog.

"Tigger, huh. That's an unusual name for a japanese dog."

"Really? I think it suits him. I mean he's just like Tigger from Winne The Pooh. Needlessly energetic and never really listens to anyone but lovable all the same." 

"No wonder it sounded familiar! I watched it when I was a kid."

"WOW! I never really thought I would meet anyone who watched that show!"

"I thought it was normal though. My family always watched it when we were kids. But then again, my family was a bit westernized than most. You're a big fan?"

"I'm not only a big fan of the show but also the book!" She looked so excited with the fact that I know Winnie The Pooh and stared up at me with starry eyes. It was so cute that I feel my face warming up. Wait, what?! Am I blushing? No way! I shook my head and tried to change the subject. 

"K-Katsuragi-san, I think I'm gonna continue my run now."

"Oh-oh! I'm so sorry for disturbing you and thank you for bringing Tigger back to me!" She bowed again which made me uneasy somehow.

"No, nothing like that it was nice meeting you and Tigger. I hope we could me again soon. Bye." Her face lit up and she enthusiastically waved and yelled goodbye at me as I ran.

Throughout the my whole routine I kept thinking about Katsuragi-san's smile and her candid attitude.

YOSH! Today is really my lucky day! I'm gonna give it my all in the next tournament!

And maybe I'll get to meet Miss Winnie soon.

Hey, fellow readers!

Sorry for the such a short chapter but I've been planning this one for a long while now for my dear friend, winnie_dreaming!

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and give me any comments!