Clouded Distance
Chapter Fourteen
Keeping Quiet
Their footsteps echoed as they made their ways up the stairs to the roof. The staircase was narrow and empty, making the echoing sounds all the louder,
Hana clutched her lunch box tighter in her hand as she, Haru and Makoto moved up. Nagisa and Rei were either already there or still coming, for Gou had summoned them all for a meeting. And, for some strange reason, she had told them to make sure they brought their bentos.
Hana couldn't help but wonder what her reasoning was.
When the three of them emerged from the stairwell, they were momentarily blinded by the bright sun. It only took a moment to adjust. When they did, Hana bit her lip. Gou stood, looking surprisingly intimidating as she stood tall with her arms folded, Rei and Nagisa seated in front of her.
I'm definitely scared now, Hana thought. She felt tempted to run off, but felt things would only become worse if she did that.
So, instead of running off, Hana just continued to walk forward. Hana felt a bit like a primary school kid as she did so.
"So, there is but one reason I have gathered you all here today!" Gou started, once they were all gathered.
"What 'one reason' do you mean?" Rei asked.
"No needless talk back!"
The blue-haired boy shrank back a little. "Yes ma'am," he murmured.
Wow. What caused Gou to act like this? Hana shrunk back a little from her friend.
"Gou-chan, you're being scary!" Nagisa stated.
Gou ignored him, and placed her hands on her hips. "As prefecturals will soon be upon us, I shall be conducting a surprise bento check today!"
"What?"
"No complaining!" Gou glared at them all. "As athletes, eating a balanced diet is part of your training!"
Shoot. Hana glanced down at her food for the day and frowned. I guess this was a bad day to be in a rush and just hurriedly grab the leftover pizza from last night instead of making a proper bento...
"My diet is completely balanced," Haru muttered
"Then please let me see yours, Haruka-senpai."
Hana just about choked when she saw Haru's bento, consisting only of rice and mackerel. Good grief, he considers that balanced?
"It's not balanced at all!" Gou exclaimed. "Haruka-senpai, this gets forty-three points! Your lunch is too simple! Next, Makoto-senpai!"
Makoto's was certainly more balanced than Haru's, for sure, and healthier at that.
"That looks so yummy!" Nagisa exclaimed. He leaned over to get a better look.
Makoto laughed. "Do you really think so?"
"Makoto-senpai." Hana cringed at a little at Gou's tone. This doesn't sound good. "Sixty-eight points. There's nothing but meat in here, and not enough vegetables!
Like Haru, Makoto was left speechless, but Gou didn't even pause as she rounded on her nest victim "Next, Rei-kun!"
"Certainly!" He leapt up. Hana was surprised about his confidence after how Gou had talked to both Haru and Makoto. "Go right ahead and examine my bento all you like! See how it's fully of leafy green vegetables! Please also note the care with which the arrangement of the components was made, based on colour theory!" Rei laughed loudly. "What do you think? Is this not beauty approaching perfection?"
"Rei-kun..." Gou sighed, a frown on her lips. "Sixty-three points."
"That's ridiculous!" Rei exclaimed, jolting up in shock.
"You were so focused on the beauty of the food that you failed to make a balanced meal!" Gou cried. "There's not remotely enough meat in here! You need more protein! With a lunch like this, your muscles will never grow!"
Rei shrank back, obviously still in shock about Gou's words.
Gou sighed tiredly, covering her with in her hand. "Really, I'm worried about all your muscles. Next, Nagisa-kun -"
"Lookie! Tada!"
Hana's eyes widened in shock as she spotted Nagisa's lunch. Oh well. Looks like I'm not the only one Gou is going to be angry at today. That's some small relief.
"The Iwatobi High speciality Iwatobi Cream Bread?!" Gou exclaimed. She sounded faintly horrified.
Nagisa nodded. "It has strawberry jam, marmalade and even chocolate, all for just 480 yen! So cheap!"
Hana's jaw dropped. "So expensive!" She and Nagisa obviously didn't have the same definition of 'cheap.'
Gou grabbed Nagisa's juice and studied the nutritional information at the back. Her jaw fell slack. "Plus your juice has no actual juice in it. It's all carbohydrates and sugar!"
"Huh? But I like that juice!"
"No buts!" Gou yelled, wheeling around to face Nagisa, who stepped back a little. "Nagisa-kun, this gets zero points! Don't you have any awareness of the fact that you're an athlete? Actually, this problem goes beyond your nutrition as an athlete!"
Nagisa looked devestated. Hana would've gone and comforted him, but she was afraid of incurring Gou's wrath, and reminding her that she still hasn't checked my own bento. Who knows, now she's so focused on Nagisa, she could forget about me. Hope filled her.
"You didn't have to say all that..." Makoto tried to reason, but Gou was on him in an instant.
"Don't baby him!" she snapped. Makoto raised his hands in surrender.
Gou sighed, looking as though she was collecting herself before she tuned and faced Nagisa. "Nagisa-kun, remember that you're not just one person anymore! Not just Nagisa-kun -" Gou looked at all the boys. "All of you are members of a relay team now. You are four people united as one body!"
Hana sighed. It really does feel like I'm being left out of something by not being in the relay... why aren't more girls interested in swimming?
Gou nodded to herself then whipped out a notebook and pencil, beginning to scribble in it. "Therefore, Nagisa-kun, you are hereby forbidden to buy cafeteria bread," she muttered as she wrote
"Eh?" Nagisa leapt up, staring at Gou in horror. " That's too mean, Gou-chan!"
"It's not!"
Nagisa moaned, still glaring at Gou. "Then you should make a 100-point bento, Gou-chan!"
Rei nodded. "Exactly. We strongly request you show us how it's done."
Gou was silent for a while. "Well, since you all insist, I certainly can't refuse you," she said after the small pause. "Very well, as the swim club'a manager, I shall do all I can to support your endeavours to develop perfect bodies!"
She's forgotten about me. Hana breathed out slightly as the others were distracted. Maybe, I can get away with being in a rush after all... I can get up and eat my lunch somewhere else...
Hana rose to her feet, trying to move as naturally as possible.
"Don't think I've forgotten you, Hana," Gou sighed. Hana's froze, turning around to face her friend. Gou's arms were crossed over her chest and one eyebrow was raised. "Show me your bento."
Crap. I'm screwed.
Despite her many protests that this wasn't her usual lunch and she was in a rush that morning and normally she ate healthier, Gou still came down hard on her, saying that getting a good amount of sleep was also part of her training as an athlete and she should've been up earlier as a result.
She got ten points, her only saving grace the excessive amount of vegetables and ham her mother had used to cook their meal that night.
At least it's better than Nagisa's zero.
* * *
As the team walked home from practice that night, Haru and Hana told the others to go on ahead and leave them. They hadn't had the time to really spend any time around each other as of late, and now Hana's work load had lessened, they decided to spend time together that night.
The others went on their own way. Together, Hana and Haru made their way to the nearby convinience store and bought themselves ice creams. They ate them as they made their way to the beach.
"Gou would murder us if she found out what we were eating at the moment," Hana giggled, taking a large bite of her ice cream. She winced, a hand flying to cover her mouth as pain shot up her tooth. Damn sensitive teeth.
"Are you alright?" Haru asked instantly, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Hana nodded, straightening up again. "Fine. Just... sensitive teeth is all. I took too large a bite."
"I see. Be more careful."
Hana smiled softly. "Don't worry."
They walked in silence for a while longer. They were nearly at the beach: Hana could hear the waves and smell that salty sea breeze.
"Prefecturals are soon," she commented after a pause. A small sigh passed her lips, which turned into a nervous laugh. "I honesty I don't know if I'm going to make the cut for regionals. If I do, it'll only be barely."
"You've improved a lot," Haru told her. I'll be surprised if you didn't make it."
Hana flushed. She turned her head away to hide it."Thanks."
They reached the beach, and sat on the steps by the beach. Hana removed her shoes and dug her toes into the soft sand. The felt sand get between her toes and knew it was going to annoy her later, but she didn't care. She'd finished her ice cream, so she put the stick on the ground next to her. She'd find a bin later.
"It's nice tonight," she hummed, looking out at the beach. There was a light wind blowing, causing gentle ripples to form on the ocean's surface. The water itself was dark but illuminated with specks of grey and silver, as a result of the stars shining on that cloudless night. Hana smiled softly. "It would be perfect for camping under the stars."
"Have you done it before?"
"Yeah. Well, I guess it was strictly camping, since I did it in my own backyard. I was really little, mind you." Hana tilted her head up, looking at the endless amount of stars lighting the sky, so similar to what she looked up to all those years ago as a kid. "But I still remember lying there, looking at the vast expanse of stars as I fell asleep. It was really calming."
For a moment, Haru just stared at her. Starlight and moonlight shone on and illuminated her face. Her head was tipped back, her long brown hair touching the concrete. A smile was on her face, her whole body relaxed - relaxed like he hadn't seen in a long time. She looked peaceful and content.
She had never looked so beautiful.
"We could do that," he said quietly.
"Huh?" Hana looked across at him.
"What you just said. Camp out under the stars ."
Hana gasped, smiling at the suggestion. It does sound nice... Her eyes then widened and became as bright as the stars shining above them. "Or we could do something bigger," she blurted, the grin on her face widening with very word she spoke. "We could actually camp, once school has finished. Go back to that island we went to for training camp, it was so nice there. Swim in the ocean during the way, and at night just lie beneath the stars. It'd be fun."
"It sounds good."
"Right. It's settled." Hana smiled and rested her head on Haru's shoulder. "When school finishes, we'll do that. Just you and me."
"Just us," he agreed, squeezing her hand.
They stayed like that for a while longer, just enjoying the peace and one another's company. And, because they were so quiet, Hana found her mind starting to wander.
She instantly went back to the previous night, when she proposed the idea of the scholarship to her parents. Her mother had agreed the moment the word 'scholarship' had been brought up, and her dad had also been thoroughly supportive of the idea. Now she had the permission of both her parents, Hana knew she was going to have to apply soon before the closing date for submissions passed.
She was going to tell Haru about it, but she couldn't explain the reason the words seemed to die on her tongue when she tried to speak them.
Maybe it was because of the way she and Haru had hardly ever talked about their futures when it was just the two of them, or maybe it was because of the way Haru still didn't seem to know what he was going to do after school.
Whatever the reason was, Hana just couldn't bring herself to tell him that, should she miraculously be offered the scholarship, she'd be living in Tokyo next year.