The day started like any other.
The sun shone brightly, and the Kazetenshi residence was in peace. While the wind blew softly outside, the man of the house continued to cook breakfast in the kitchen. Kazetenshi Ken’ichi had black hair (a bit bed-tousled, which was totally understandable), grey eyes (which his wife absolutely adored) and a handsome face that looked too young for a man nearly in his forties.
He waited as the second pancake turned to a light brown. When it was the perfect color, he skillfully scooped it out of the skillet and into a plate. Satisfied with his handiwork, he paused to glance at his watch. It read 7:29. As if on cue, the shrill cry from an alarm clock rang from the second floor. Ken’ichi remained still as he waited for any sign of movement. Several seconds passed, but there was nothing. He sighed, shaking his head, as he continued making breakfast.
Upstairs, the alarm clock continued its call, while its owner only stirred in her bed.
“Five… more… minutes…” came a muffled plea.
The alarm finally stopped, and the door with a wooden sign “Aiko” on it finally opened, and a pair of sleepy feet trudged to the next room.
“‘Niichan…Oniichan, wake up…” she said, barely even awake herself, while shaking the boy in the bed.
He groaned in the pillows, then opened his eyes slightly to show thin slits of deep brown. He shifted his gaze towards his sister’s silhouette before closing his eyes once more.
“Niichan…”
He blinked again, his mouth barely opening to mumble out a string of words.
“Are we gonna eat already?” he said involuntarily. His eyes remained closed. If anyone was to know one of the most consistent things about Kazetenshi Hikaru, it was that he slept like a log. He may have already spoken, but his mind wasn’t anywhere near awake.
And his sister didn’t seem to be in a better state.
“I dunno,” she said, yawning. “I’m gonna go dress up…”
She trudged back to her room, half-awake and half still in dreamland. She stood at her doorway for a few moments, her eyes blankly registering the beautiful weather outside. She blinked, her eyes catching her wall clock. It read 7:43.
She blinked again.
7:43?!
“GAH!!!! “
Downstairs, Ken’ichi only shook his head as his daughter’s surpised voice reached his ears. This was the way their mornings have been. At 7:00 am, Aiko’s alarm clock would go off. But she would only reset the alarm to 7:30. After the second wake-up call, she would still refuse to rise, and it would take her a few minutes before she actually got up to wake Hikaru. At approximately 7:40, she would be running around her room while getting dressed. About 10 minutes later, she would be running down the stairs. And that she did.
A small smile tugged on Ken’ichi’s lips as Aiko came runnning down the stairs, fully dressed and looking as if she had prepared for a full 30 minutes. Ken’ichi had always marveled at her speed and efficiency in getting prepared for school.
“Hao, otoosan!” Aiko greeted her father with a bright smile, her grey eyes twinkling. She grabbed a sandwich strategically located at the edge of the counter, and hurriedly put on her shoes.
“Good morning! Did you have a good sleep?” Ken’ichi looked at his watch. “Aiko, don’t you still have a few more minutes? Calm down!”
“Yes, and no respectively, dad— Oniichan!!! We’re late! Come on!”
“OK! OK!” came Hikaru’s voice as he descended on the stairs, one sleeve of his shirt on, while he struggled to slip his arm through the other one. He grabbed his sandwich, and chugged down his glass of water.
“Wegottago! Bye otoosan!”
“Wait up—Bye Dad—Aiko!!!”
Once again, Ken’ichi sighed. “Every morning… Can’t you kids wake up early for once?”
————–
Everyone in Kobayakawa High loved the afternoon chimes. It signalled the end of classes, which meant freedom for students, and relaxation for teachers.
Yes, everyone enjoyed hearing the school chimes. And that afternoon was no different. Students promptly poured out into the halls: some chattering about their day, some made their way to their clubs, some went straight home…
Others, however, went to watch the race between Kazetenshi Aiko and Toriyama Kamui.
It was a friendly race, really. There wasn’t any trophies for the winner (except maybe bragging rights), and it was nothing official. It was just “hey, why don’t you and I race?” kind of thing. It was simply a top-of-the-head idea thrown from one friend to another. It wasn’t meant to be a school attraction.
But that was precisely what it became.
How could it not attract attention when one of the racers was Toriyama Kamui? Him, Toriyama Kamui, one of the most popular first years in Kobayakawa. Tall and handsome (total eye-candy for fangirls). Soccer star since junior high (currently team captain). Academically excellent (ranking second, behind Aiko). He never became boastful in spite of his popularity. He was a nice guy, and everybody liked a nice guy.
Therefore, everybody liked Toriyama Kamui.
And, therefore, many girls were jealous of Kazetenshi Aiko, best friend to Toriyama Kamui, and currently standing beside him, busy tying her hair up in a high ponytail.
“Everything all right, Kamui?” she asked, noticing his gaze at the crowd.
Kamui turned to her smiling. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” he said. “I just noticed that what a huge crowd we have today.”
“Aren’t you used to it yet? We’ve had races like this before, right?”
“Yeah, but we’ve never had this big of an audience before…”
Aiko shrugged. “I don’t mind. Do you?”
Kamui didn’t answer, but instead looked out into the crowd again. Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed. He had always been used to big crowds, being in the soccer team and all that. So why would he not want people to watch them today? It was all strange, and the slight trace of worry in Kamui’s features bothered Aiko.
Aiko snickered, catching her best friend’s attention. “Maybe the great Toriyama doesn’t want his fans to see him get beaten… Again.”
She grinned wider when the worry in Kamui’s eyes disappeared.
“Cut it, Kazetenshi,” he said, “I’m going to beat you this time.”
“Dream on.”
Kamui opened his mouth to counter her when someone loudly cleared her throat behind him. Both Aiko and Kamui turned to see another pair of students standing behind them. The boy had hazelnut blonde hair, blue eyes, and a grin that spelled nothing but amusement at the two bickering runners. As Kobayakawa High’s boys’ track team manager, Yokaze Rei always held the gun to signal the start of the race. The girl had an eyebrow raised at Aiko, although her emerald eyes were twinkling, and her lips were curved in a smile. She was Yukibana Midori, the girls’ track team manager, and she held the stopwatch that was already worn with use.
“Are you guys gonna race…” Rei started,”or are you just going to talk?”
Aiko laughed. “OK, OK!”
“Finally!” Midori breathed. “Let the race begin!”
Aiko and Kamui nodded at each other before taking their positions.
“On’er marks… “
“‘Set…”
“GO!”
Competition. That was what pulled them to be close friends. And that was what kept them both running.
Kamui was the soccer team captain, yes. he was a fast runner, yes. He had strong legs, yes. But still, Aiko was th track team captain, and was the fastest runner in Kobayakawa High. Kamui had never come near to beating her, and he knew that track was something that Aiko would always be better at than him. But still, he wanted to beat her at this at least once. He and Aiko had been neck and neck at nearly everything since they were small kids; they took turns being better than the other… They both always gave their best. They both had fun that way, and he didn’t want that to stop any time soon.
Aiko kept her eyes at the finish line, keeping herself in check. Just because she always outran Kamui didn’t mean that the same thing would happen today. She had to be at her best, she had to keep at her toes. And that was why, every time they raced like this, she wanted Kamui to win… With her blood pulsing in her veins, Aiko pushed herself further, and at the same time silently cheered her best friend on.
Come on, Kamui! You can do this!!!
Time seemed to slow down as they were neared the goal. Out of the corner of her eye, Aiko could see the students cheering, although she didn’t know for who. But it didn’t matter; she couldn’t hear them, anyway. It was as if she had suddenly become deaf.
What the…
That was when she noticed it. Time HAD stopped. And she was frozen in her running position, a mere foot away from the finish line. Then, her eyes widened as she saw someone suddenly standing in front of her. Someone in black. She can only see his eyes.
Cold.
Silver.
Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe…
What the hell was happening?!
In a second, everything turned blue, and time continued. Aiko stumbled across the finish line and dropped to her knees. She was breathing hard. She closed her eyes, trying to “refresh” her brain, but instead, the figure that appeared before her flashed in her mind, sending cold shivers down her spine.
Her eyes flew open and she saw the ground of the tracks. She can now hear the excited shouts of her schoolmates…Now, she can feel the wind blowing through her midnight blue hair.
Everything’s back to normal… she thought to herself, bringing her hand to her forehead. Her breathing calmed slowly.
“Aiko?” A hesitant voice called above her. She looked up to see Kamui’s concerned eyes. “You all right?”
She forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Kamui didn’t look the least bit convinced. She looked pale, and she didn’t look anywhere near “all right”. He opened his mouth to ask again when Midori came running up to them.
“Wow…” Midori said, “This is new!”
Kamui was about to ask her why when, suddenly, he lunged forward as something hit his back HARD.
“OW! Yokaze, what—”
“Hey Toriyama!” Rei exclaimed. “You won! By a second!”
Kamui stared at Rei. And then he looked at Midori, who smiled and nodded in agreement. And then he looked at Aiko, who looked… Well, she looked like she wasn’t even listenening. Kamui’s concern tugged at him again.
“Ai-chan,” he began. “Are you sure you’re—”
“I’m fine,” Aiko said as she stood up. “Congratulations.”
Kamui blinked. Was that… Was that a sarcastic tone right there?
“Hey,” he said, chuckling a bit, “say it like you mean it, why don’t you?”
“I do mean it,” she said. “I’m going to get changed now.”
Aiko spoke with finality in her voice, but Kamui was very troubled by her behavior at this point. So when she turned to walk away, he caught her hand to stop her.
“Ai-chan, wait—”
“Kamui, can you please stop fussing over me already?”
“Fussing?” Kamui echoed. “Aiko, I’m just concerned!”
“Concerned, fussing, same thing. Whatever it is, just stop it, okay?”
At that point, Aiko tried to pull her hand out of Kamui’s grip, but he held on tight.
“Aiko,” he began as firmly and calmly as he could. “You are my best friend, and you are behaving in a really weird way. And—”
“Kamui, just— Please let me go!”
“Just tell me what’s wrong, and I will!”
“I can’t right now, okay?”
“Why not? I’m your best friend, you’re supposed to tell me things like this!”
“You’re best friend, so you’re supposed to respect my privacy!”
“Privacy?! Ha! I’ve known you since you were in diapers, there’s hardly any privacy between us!”
“HA! You were in diapers then, too, so don’t talk to me as if I’m a child!”
“I’m not treating me like a child, I’m just worried about you!”
“Then stop worrying about me!”
“FINE!” Kamui spat. “Fine, I’ll stop worrying about you! Let’s see if you survive one day without your cherished attention!”
“What?!” Aiko hissed. “Excuse me, but I am NOT starved for attention!!!”
“Yeah, that’s because you’ve got more than you deserve!!!”
The second the last word escaped his mouth, Kamui regretted it completely. He watched with horror and dread as Aiko froze, her grey eyes wide with shock. What the hell did he just say?! How could he say that?! He knew more than anyone else that what he said wasn’t true. If anything, Aiko never asked for attention. At some points, she even hated being popular!
How could he say that?!
“How could you say that?” Aiko said weakly. She took a step backwards.
“No, Aiko…” Kamui tried. “That wasn’t… I didn’t—… That’s not what I— “
Kamui couldn’t finish his sentence. And even if he could, he had no chance to, as Aiko shook her head in disbelief. Then, without another word, she spun around and ran back to the school building.
————–
Why did she do that?
Why did he say that?
Aiko sighed, leaning on the wall behind her. She closed her eyes, but it didn’t help. The worry in Kamui’s eyes was etched in her mind, and her guilt was eating her. As much as it touched her that he cared about her, she hated it that she made him worried. And her futile attempt to fool Kamui into thinking that she was all right only made things worse.
Everything just happened so fast. First the silver eyes, and then she tried to wriggle her way out of Kamui’s questions, and then, suddenly, they were shouting at each other?
What on earth happened back there?
Sighing, Aiko checked her watch. It said 5:15 pm, and the school was already practically deserted. After letting Aiko vent out her frustrations at herself, Midori had ran out of the locker room, saying that she forgot something at their classroom and asked Aiko to wait for her at the gate. But that had been 15 minutes ago. She looked up again, almost willing her eyes to see Midori finally running up to her, but instead, she saw Kamui. He was reading a book while walking and apparently, he hadn’t seen her yet. Aiko bit her lip. She should hide? Should she call him? Should she just ignore him? What if he asked about the afternoon? What if he was still angry with her? What if—
…What if he didn’t notice her?
Aiko blinked when Kamui passed by her, totally engrossed in what he was reading. He wasn’t ignoring her, was he?
“Kamui?”
Kamui gave a start, almost dropping his book as he quickly spun around.
“Ai-chan!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Sheesh, I didn’t see you there…I was… Uh…”
“Reading?” Aiko asked, a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.
“Yeah. That. Reading.” Kamui stopped, his eyebrows furrowing. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Aiko said, shaking her head. “You just look so cute when you’re surprised.”
Kamui raised an eyebrow at that, which only made Aiko laugh again.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Glad to be of service.”
“But you do look cute!”
Kamui harrumphed, stuffing his book in his bag. “So why are you still here?”
“I’m waiting for Midori…”
Kamui blinked. “Yukibana?”
“Do we know any other Midori?”
“Haha.”
“Yeah, she told me to wait here. I don’t understand, though, we could’ve just—”
“But…” Kamui interrupted. “She left already. She told me she had to go home, her mother’s going somewhere and she has to be in the house as soon as possible…”
Aiko was evidently surprised. “What? Sheesh…she could’ve told me!” Aiko sighed for the hundredth time that day, then remembered something. “Oh yeah! Rei passed by and asked me to tell you he forgot to do some errands so he has to hurry home…”
“What? But he told me to wait for him here…”
“Those two can be so… argh!” Aiko threw her hands in frustration.
“So ‘argh’, huh?” Kamui said with a smirk.
“Shut up, Toriyama.”
“Yes, Kazetenshi-sama.”
Aiko laughed. “So I guess it’s you and me.” She started to walk out of the gate when Kamui caught her arm. Aiko turned around, and was startled to see Kamui’s head hanging low.
“Aiko… I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”
Aiko frowned.
“Kamui, it wasn’t your fault, I mean I—”
“No, it’s… Aiko, I shouldn’t have poked too much. Maybe I should have asked another time or something… But despite that, I should not have said what I said.”
“You don’t have to apologize about that…”
“Yes I do! I just can’t let this pass and—”
“No you don’t, and yes you can.” she interrupted, smiling again. “So, shall we?”
————–
“Hey guys, let’s go!” Kamui called as he drummed his fingers on the roof of their car.
The Kazetenshi and Toriyama families had always been close. Rieka, Aiko’s mother, and Megumi, Kamui’s mom, had been best friends. Megumi had moved to Chiba, and stayed there until she married and had kids. The Kazetenshis frequently visited the Toriyamas, and vice versa. And that had been an ongoing tradition, even now that Megumi’s family already lived in Tokyo.
Today, the Kazetenshi household was preparing early in the morning for another visit to Chiba, though Ken’ichi won’t be able to go since he has work elsewhere.
“Son, careful in driving…” Ken’ichi told Hikaru as he gave him the keys.
“Sure, dad. See ya!” Hikaru called with a wave, and walked towards the car outside.
“Aiko, follow your brother…”
“I know, dad…”
“He’s a year older than you, so obey, OK?” Aiko said, speaking in sync with her father. She smiled as he raised an eyebrow at her.
“WAY scripted.”
Ken’ichi himself smiled. “Be careful, kids, see you!”
“Bye dad, see you tomorrow.” Aiko hugged her father, then moved to walk out of the house.
“OK…let’s—” Kamui was cut short when he sensed something. He looked around suspiciously. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Someone was standing behind a tree, as if spying on them. He was about to turn to see it when he heard Aiko’s voice.
“Something wrong, Kamui?”
“Someone’s watching us…” he whispered. He wondered if Aiko heard him at all, but she did.
“Where?” she whispered, as well.
“By that tree over there…”
Aiko followed his line of vision, but saw no one. “I don’t see him…”
“What?” Kamui looked at Aiko, but she seemed to be looking the right way. He turned again, and the “spy” was still there. Kamui wondered why. It was pretty obvious that Kamui had seen him…Any normal stalker would run away. “He’s still there, don’t you see him?”
“No…” she gave up and looked inquisitively at Kamui. “What time did you wake up this morning?”
“Huh?”
“Maybe you’re just…sleepy?” She looked at the tree again, but still saw no one. “I don’t see him still.”
Kamui looked at the tree again, but this time, the “spy” wasn’t there anymore.
Strange …
He sighed. “You’re right. I must be imagining things.” After all, he DID get up at 5 in the morning. He smiled at Aiko and shrugged. Aiko smiled back and got inside their car.
“Anything the matter?” came a voice inside Kamui’s car.
“Nope…”
————–
Aiko had been absent-mindedly staring at the digital clock that had said 6:55 before her. Now, though, it read 7:00. She looked outside the window to see the full moon shining brightly behind the passing roadlights. The day had been quite normal. The usual visit to Kamui’s grandparents… Nothing strange happened since that morning, except Kamui was looking around suspiciously every so often. Only Aiko seemed to notice, though.
I wonder if it has anything to do with that day at the tracks. She remembered the eyes… it was as if he was looking right through her. Her eyes narrowed. She hasn’t given it THAT much thought… but even if she did, she would never have made progress. She didn’t have any clue to go on, anyway…
“Pretty deep thought you have there…” came a voice beside her.
Aiko looked at her brother, grinning at her while driving. Leave it to Hikaru to always try and cheer her up when she’s too silent for his liking. She smiled back, then gave a start.
“ONIICHAN!”
“What?!”
“For the hundredth time…” she started. “Wear your seat belt!”
“Ok, OK!” Hikaru laughed as he turned to put the seat belt on.”Must you be so bossy about it?”
“Must you be so forgetful about it?” Aiko shot back, laughing as well. “Seriously, Oniichan, it’s for your own—”
Aiko never got to finish her sentence as a screeching sound jolted the siblings out of their laughter. Aiko looked up to see what caused the sound, and, for a second, her heart stopped.
.
.
“KAMUI!!!”
.
.
————–
From the Author:
So…Whaddya think? This is the first story I wrote ever, so forgive the clichés.
If you like Blue Star, you can support it by reviewing (one per chapter would be nice), and maybe advertising the story for me. Reviews mean a LOT to me, no matter how short they may be (though I am partial for long ones). Just the fact that you drop a line puts a smile on my face.
Glossary
Niisan/Oniisan/Oniichan – older brother
Otoosan – father
Hao – Aiko’s…umm…special word In this episode, it’s used as a greeting.
