The weekend went by too fast. I spent Saturday morning studying and helping my grandma with some chores. The rest of day I was in the shop, Saturdays aren't that busy, but she gets a steady stream of customers, no rush though. Sunday... I spent most of the day baking cookies. I usually make one batch of cookies and I divide that between Yuki and I, but I decided to make 3 batches. I wanted to thank him for helping me out that one night with those girls.
Yuki messaged me that Monday morning, telling me that he won't be coming to school today. He didn't specify why, I got worried. I couldn't focus on school today. Atsuki-san was even surprised when I didn't react or show emotion when she was bothering me.
"What's wrong, Fujioka-san? A little lonely without Yuki-kun?" she teased.
"Not today, Atsuki-san" I told her.
The day went by too slow. The moment the bell rang, I basically ran out of the classroom. I went to the shop and let my grandma know that I'm visiting Yuki. Just as I was leaving the shop, that's when I remembered that I don't know where he lives. Shit. I went back inside and ask her about his address. She wrote it down on a piece of paper and also handed me a paper bag.
"Tell him to get better soon"
I nodded in reply.
It took me a while to find his place. I had to go back home and start from there since I have no idea how to get to his place from the shop. Their house is a lot bigger than grandma's and looks homey. I rang the doorbell and Mayu opened it.
"Mio-san, how are you?" she asked.
"I'm doing great, you?"
"I'm good, I'm guessing you're here to see Yuki-nii?"
I nodded, "I also brought some miso soup from the shop and some cookies"
"You're too kind, come on in, mama is in the kitchen right now" she said. She escorted me to the kitchen where their mother was. She was cooking something and it smelled so good.
"Mama, this is Mio-san. She's Suzaki-obaa's granddaughter" Mayu introduced me.
Their mother turned around and she was beautiful. Her smile was very welcoming and warm. "Welcome! I've heard so much about you from Yuki-kun.. and oh my! You're just as pretty as your mother" she said.
"You knew my mom?" I asked.
"Of course, we're great friends, I'm very sorry about your loss. Your parents were very kind people" she said.
I just nodded in reply.
"Oh.. I almost forgot, obaasan prepared this for Yuki, there's some cookies in there as well" I said, handing her the paper bag.
"Ohh, her miso soup. I'll go ahead and heat it up so you can bring it to him.. it's time for him to have something to eat anyway, I'll put some cookies on a plate put the rest away"
I waited for the miso soup to heat while Ishikawa-san talked about her school days with my mom, reminiscing their good old days. "She was at the top of the class, your father trailing behind her all the time," she said.
"I wish I kept in contact with her... but Mio-chan, if you need anything, let me know. Ok?" she added.
I just nodded in reply. Once the soup was heated, she transferred it to a bowl and on to a tray. Mayu guided me to where his room was. It was up the stairs, down the hallway and the last door on the right.
"He's probably sleeping, so you can just go ahead and enter" she said.
"How long has he been sick?" I asked.
"I believe Saturday night.. I'm not sure"
"I see, thanks"
She opened the door for me and closed it once I was inside. The curtains were closed on both of his windows. His room was pretty clean. On the left side of the door was his study table and chair with his laptop on it and his notebooks, next to it was a bookshelf nestled on the corner of the room. On the wall adjacent to it was the first window and nestled to the other corner was his bed. Right across the door was the other window and underneath it was a dresser with some volleyball paraphernalia on top of it. On the right side of the door was a closet and a full size mirror.
I put the tray down on his study table. I quietly walked to his bed and gently sat down. He was turned towards the wall, sleeping peacefully. I felt his forehead and he was warm, not hot, just warm. I didn't want to wake him up, but he needs to eat something.
I gently shook him, "Hey.." I whispered.
He stirred a bit, but nothing.
"Yuki-kun, you gotta eat something" I said, shaking him again.
"Ma.. I'm not hungry" he whined, pulling his blanket over his head.
"Yeah, not even close" I said, pulling the blanket down a bit.
"Then Mayu-chan, I'm not hungry"
"Not Mayu either.."
"Just buzz off... I want to sleep"
I rolled my eyes.
"Gonna treat your friend like that huh?" I asked, "I guess I'll just have to eat all the cookies I brought by myself"
He quickly sat up, eyes wide open. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
I took the tray from the table and set it down in front of him. "Can't visit a sick friend?" I asked.
"Just wasn't expecting you.."
"I figured.. but anyway, I brought some miso soup and cookies"
He went for the plate of cookies but I took them away. "Soup first" I said.
He sighed, but he complied. He finished the soup in no time. I handed him the plate of cookies and he smiled at it. "Your cookies are good" he said.
"You've told me that a lot of times"
"Because they're good"
I sat on the chair by his study table and waited for him to finish. I noticed his math homework and I just wanted to correct a couple of the answers.
"I'll probably take another day off from school.." he said.
"Mmkay.. you need rest anyway"
I left the Ishikawa house after a couple of hours, which was when Yuki fell asleep. I went straight to the shop to help out.
He did take another sick day the following day. Atsuki-san even asked about him, if he was fine. I told her he was and that he should be back tomorrow. She asked how I knew... I was not going to tell her that I went to his house... She'll murder me. I lied, I told her that I messaged him. Although, it's a bit lonely without him here.
Time went by slowly, but it's Wednesday and Yuki should be back. I woke up super early to made sure I look decent. I made cookies yesterday as well. Shit. Why am I acting like this? Get yourself together, Mio.
As I left the house, I see him waiting by the gate. He looks so much better compared to when I saw him the other day. He stood there smiling.
"Miss me?" he asked.
"You should ask Atsuki-san that, she'll faint"
When we got to the school, everyone who knows him basically rushed to him, asking if he was fine, how he was doing etc. He's too popular sometimes. I excused myself from the commotion and went straight to the classroom. I took out the box of cookies I made for him and left it on his desk before I started reviewing my notes. He came in a few minutes later, Atsuki-san right behind him.
The rest of the week was spent practicing for the big day, Sports Day. It was Friday and everyone was excited. We were all in our gym uniforms, shorts and tshirts. Most of the girls folded the bands of their shorts to make it shorter and then tying the shirts to the side or back to make it fit better/tighter.. hugging their curves. I'm there.. standing with my shorts ending a couple of inches above my knee, and a semi loose tshirt.. looking awkward and out of place.
Tanaka-sensei's class did win some of the events, the majority of their class is made up of athletes.. so they were pretty competitive and strong.
As far as the other classes are concerned, there's always been a rivalry between Haruka-sensei and Tanaka-sensei's classes. So, the other classes tend to just stay out of it.
The tug of war was the tipping point though. We had our biggest, tallest, guys and girls on the rope. They were positioned alternating each other, left, right, left right etc. The strongest is at the very end, the weakest at the middle and leading them was Atsuki-san.
"Yooo pea brain, you're going down" she told the girl from the other team who was a lot smaller than her. I believe she's in the archery club.
"Ready!"
Both teams grabbed the rope, our team positiong the rope under their armpits, or close to it, on the side. Feet facing forward
"Set"
"Pull!"
Instead of pulling, our team held on to the room and leaned back as far as they could, almost laying on top of the person behind them. We've researched techniques on how win tug of war... we may not be as strong as them, but we're smart enough to actually plan for Sports Day, do some research.
"Pull!" the other team said.
"We are pulling!"
When the girl slid back a bit that was when Atsuki-san yelled to pull, "Pull!!!!"
The team started pulling hard. The girl on the other class fell forward, face first, followed by the person behind her.
"Harder!" Atsuki-san yelled.
The team pulled harder, the 3rd person on the other team tripped and it went downhill from there. They all fell forward, dropping the rope, losing. Our class won!
Atsuki-san walked over to the girl on the other team, "Better luck next time, pea brain."
We were celebrating like idiots.
We had a short break before heading to the final 2 events, 3 legged race and the relay. Yuki was excited. I've never seen him this competitive.
We tied our feet together when we were at the starting line, he was on my left. I wrapped my left arm around him and he wrapped his right arm around my shoulders.
"If we win this, I'll bake you more cookies" I told him.
"Deal"
The race started.
"Middle"
"Outside"
We chanted. A few people fell already. Tanaka-sensei's students are in the lead by a couple of steps.
"Pick up the pace you two!" I heard Atsuki-san yelled from the sidelines.
We did pick it up and we caught up. "
"We're gonna lose.." I said.
"No, we're not"
We took longer strides, well, as long as I can at least, and we went faster. I swear I was going to fall a few times if it wasn't for Yuki holding me up. Two more steps. One more. Yuki and I basically diving for the finish line.
"We won!!!" I heard Atsuki-san cheered, running straight for me and Yuki, emgulfing us in a hug as we were standing up.
I smiled at Yuki and he smiled back.
"One more race..." I said as I took a sip of water while Yuki untie us.
"Let's go" Atsuki-san pulled me to the track, along with Yuki.
The race started and the first boy in our class was not as fast as we needed him to be.
"Hurry up, slowpoke!" Atsuki-san yelled.
We were currently in 3rd place when Atsuki-san got the baton. She can definitely run. She managed to catch up and we were right behind Tanaka-sensei's class, we're currently in 2nd place. Atsuki-san ran her lap and handed me the baton, "You better run like your life depended on it!" she told me.
And so I ran like my life depended on it. I was not sure if I was going to catch up since the girl from Tanaka-sensei's class is in the track and field club. I managed to catch up though, shoulder to shoulder. We rounded the last curve, Yuki was at the starting line, waiting. I handed him the baton and he ran like the wind. I was out breath. Shimada-san was the anchor to Tanaka-sensei's relay team.
"Great job, four eyed" I heard Atsuki-san say right behind me.
I thanked her, but I was too focused on how Yuki was doing. We're currently in 2nd place and the last 100 meters... Yuki caught up. I feel the tension between those two while they were running.
"Let's go!"
"Come on. Yuki-kun"
"Almost there Ishikawa-san!"
We were cheering for him on the sidelines.
He took the lead... and... we won!!! He ran up to me and hugged me, tightly! Then we heard Atsuki-san mocking the Tanaka-sensei's class, "Pea brains!!
Our whole class was cheering and congratulating Yuki. He did so well. He was just smiling, shyly, as the class surrounded him. I got him a bottle of water and handed it to him when everyone dispersed.
We tied Tanaka-sensei's class for most events won. We didn't lose, but this was good enough since they didn't win either. Everyone was exhausted at the end of the day. As we were leaving, Shimada-san was at the gate. He smiled when he saw us.
"Shimada-san, you did well today" I said.
"Me? YOU were pretty awesome, I didn't know you can run that fast"
"Well, Atsuki-san said to run like my life depended on it... Anyway, are you waiting for someone?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's you actually, I just wanted to confirm if you're still good for tomorrow?"
"What's tomorrow?" Yuki asked.
"We're going to the movies tomorrow and dinner" I told him.
"Oh, I see" he replied.
"To answer your question, Shimada-san, yes. I'll meet you at the movies tomorrow"
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then! Bye!" He waved goodbye before leaving, going to the opposite direction of where Yuki and I were heading.
"You're still going on a date with him?" he asked, he sounded annoyed.
"We're just going to hang out"
"It's a date, Mio"
"Then that means we went on a date as well"
"Wha..-?"
"We had lunch and you took me out to explore Nagoya" I told him.
"We hung out"
"And Shimada-san and I are going to hang out as well"
"Fine"
We continued walking to the shop so I can help out during dinner rush. He went home for a bit, but he got back just time as I was heading home. We walked through the field nearby and sat on the slope of the hill, enjoying the Summer breeze and Summer sky.
"How's volleyball?" I asked him as he sat down.
"Doing well, going to semi-finals at the end of Summer"
"That's great!!"
"Let me know when so I can at least see a match or two" I smiled at him.
"I'll definitely let you know"
We both laid down on the grass, relaxing, tired from today's activities. I closed my eyes, enjoying the fine Summer breeze.
"Mio.." I heard him whisper, he sounded a little too close.
I opened my eyes and found his face above mines, hovering. He looks nice under the fading Summer sky.
"Ano..." I said.
"Sorry.." he moved away.
"Something bothering you?" I asked him as I sat up.
"If I'm being honest.. yes"
"Tell me?"
"I just... because... nevermind.. let's get you home, it's getting late" he said, standing up.
"Yuki.."
"Don't worry about it, have fun tomorrow, ok?"
I just nodded.
He wanted to say something, I know it, but... I also don't want force him to tell me. He'll eventually say it... hopefully..
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A/N: Posting this a little late tonight. As promised, a chapter on Thursday... well, it's still Thursday for me (NY timezone).
Can someone explain to me how volleyball season works in Japan for high school students? There's Summer league and then the Spring one... but that's all I know... multiple sources different information. It's different from wheren I'm from... volleyball season in my old high school was August-October for women and then February-ish to May for men. We compete in different school within our district and whoever wins in the district competes in the states etc.
As always, thank you for all your support, comments, follows, and votes!!
Take care and see you on the next chapter!!