Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Saturday, 25^th August 2012)

Kenshiro’s way of fighting had changed.

Sakura shouldn’t have been surprised. It was to be expected, after all. He’d been too preoccupied fighting his illness for the past two years to keep up with his other forms of fighting. She’d been expecting him to be less capable now, than he had been two years ago. However…

Two years ago his fights had been… enjoyable to watch. He was a graceful and attentive man, one who would effortlessly dodge and block attacks until he spotted his opponent’s weak point and struck, usually with enough confidence that he could measure the blow carefully and avoid harming his opponent more than necessary.

Now, however, he was fighting to win… quickly. Even here in the hospital, in this test set up to determine whether he could face the challenges of fighting outside its walls once again, he was launching almost immediately into an overwhelming offensive and his strikes looked painful to receive, aimed at knocking each opponent down as fast as possible, rather than showcasing his superiority. It was not long at all before the last of the small group of challengers was knocked to the ground and struggling to stand back up…

“…Are you sure you can still fight? There’s no dishonour in understanding your limits…” Kenshiro asked with concern, something he often found himself needing to do when those who were clearly bested insisted on getting up time and time again, beyond what their own bodies could take. “…And I wouldn’t want to have to hurt you.”

That, on the other hand, was new. Even in his most heated of fights, he’d never threatened pain on his opponent, beyond that which was a necessary evil of the sport… But now that was exactly what he was doing, in an effort to force an instant end to the fight…

…It was as she suspected when he’d first told her that he felt ready to leave the hospital and take part in tournaments once again. His stamina was still poor. He may be able to get up and fight, perhaps almost as well as he had done previously, but he knew it would only be for a short period before his heart failed him. But he was so desperate to leave that he would rather resort to brutal tactics to make himself appear hale and hearty, than admit that he still had an issue…

It was aggravating to watch. She understood that he was restless and bored in his hospital room, but for him to disregard his health after he’d spent so long fighting for it? Not to mention her concern for what would happen if his heart failed without the dedicated team of professionals nearby to help resuscitate him. And if Kenshiro’s limit was just beyond this young man getting back up to face him one more time, then there was a strong possibility that would happen if he was to leave now…

“I… I concede. You truly are as strong as they say!” Unfortunately, the man facing him lacked the resolve to test if that was the case or not.

“Not quite… but I will be once again.” Kenshiro smiled as he offered a hand to help him up and help him out of the room… “So… How does it look, doctor? Any problems?”

“Hmm… it… doesn’t look like anything’s the matter…” His doctor has been paying more attention to the numbers on his computer, than Kenshiro’s behaviour, and has completely missed the risk.

“However, none of those fights lasted for a particularly long time.” Sakura tried to point it out to him.

“Ah… my sweet cherry blossom, always worrying so much about me…” Kenshiro flashed a brilliantly reassuring smile at her, “But it would be just the same in any tournament.”

“I… guess…” The doctor looked between her and Kenshiro with poorly hidden scepticism, much to her lover’s annoyance. “But we have to wait another month before you can leave regardless… it might be worth repeating this over the next few Saturdays, just in case…”

“Haah…” Kenshiro sighed with slight disappointment, “I suppose if it’ll ease your minds…”

“Alright then… I’ll organise that. You can head back to your room now.” The doctor told him offhandedly as he wrote himself a reminder.

“Thank you.” Kenshiro bowed to him and started to walk out of the door…

“In the chair!” The doctor suddenly added, pointing at a simple wheelchair that had been left by the side of the door. “Yes, I know you probably don’t need it, but you know it’s hospital rules…”

“I understand…” Kenshiro calmly sat down in it, “I don’t suppose there’s a nurse to push me?”

“Err…” The doctor’s panicked eyes swivelled from Kenshiro over to Sakura herself…

“…Can’t I push you?” Sakura said what the doctor was clearly thinking.

“I was hoping not to have to make my delicate flower lug me around the hospital.” Kenshiro sent another of those effortlessly dazzling smiles at her.

“There is a difference between delicacy and weakness…” Sakura reminded him as she took a hold of the chair’s handles and carefully tipped it backwards to the point where he was lying down and looking up at her. “See?”

“I see!” Kenshiro let out a joyful laugh, “And you look even more beautiful at this angle… Like an angel descending from heaven…”

“You flatter me…” Sakura could feel herself blushing. Even after all the compliments he’d given her over the years, she still found it hard to believe when he insisted on using words like ‘beautiful’, ‘flower’ and ‘angel’ to describe her.

“Not really… I’m just trying to describe what I see.” Kenshiro insisted, “Although I’m sure my words don’t do justice to the radiant goddess currently…”

“…Hush, now.” Sakura leant forward to kiss him quiet, otherwise he’d talk like that all day…

“Ahem…” There was a quiet cough behind her… ah, that was right. The doctor was still there.

“Ah, my apologies. We’ll be on our way.” Sakura straightened both herself and the chair and wheeled Kenshiro out of the room before the man said anything. She’d been so enthralled with Kenshiro that she’d forgot he was there altogether and started kissing in front of him...

“Hmm… Kiyotaka would not have approved of me doing that…” Sakura observed to herself.

“…The one whose party you’re going to next week?” Kenshiro asked, a slight edge of annoyance to his voice, “Why would it bother him?”

“He is the hall monitor at Hope’s Peak… and one of his duties is to ensure that no one engages in public displays of affection.”

“Oh really? I’ll have to remember that when I come to visit you.” Kenshiro smiled roguishly at her.

“I am not sure you would be allowed to. The school is quite averse to visitors.” Sakura warned him.

“Not even if I was there to challenge you?” He suggested, eyebrows raised in a manner that suggested a challenge would be the last thing on his mind.

“Perhaps… or they might tell me that I should meet you elsewhere to fight you.” She explained as they, “Besides, it appears that it will be a considerable amount of time before you can challenge me…”

“Hmm…”

He fell silent after that until they reached his private room and she tried to help him up onto the bed…

“I can manage by myself.” He announced, pushing himself out of the chair and sitting himself on the further side of the bed, then patting the space next to him. “I’m much better than you’re thinking, these days.”

“…I am not so sure about that.” Sakura admitted, carefully balancing on the small stretch of bed available to her. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but being close to Kenshiro made the balancing act worthwhile.

“…Is that just because the fights were over quickly? I can’t help it if I’m outclassing people…” Kenshiro slipped his arm around her back to help steady her… or pull her closer to him, perhaps.

“I am more concerned that you were making the fights end quickly.” Sakura pointed out, “You were being brutal…”

“Well, the underground fighting realm is different to yours…” Kenshiro shrugged and brushed and errant hair from her face. “I can’t afford to be as sweet and gentle as you…”

“I am neither sweet or gentle with my opponents…” Sakura started.

“You’re always sweet and gentle…” Kenshiro placed his finger on her lips. “It’s why I love you so much...”

…And before she had a chance to object, his lips were softly pressed against hers, one hand gently placed over her cheek and the other rubbing her back as if to soothe her trembling heart…

He was always like this… every time they kissed, he treated it as if it was the first time, giving her time and space to pull back as if he wasn’t sure she shared his feelings, even though they’d been dating for years. He made sure to just barely caress her skin, handling her as if she was some succulent fruit that would bruise if mishandled, and not over two hundred pounds of meaty muscle. He made sure to hide any signs of his arousal from her, as if she was an innocent maiden who’d be shocked at the contact, rather than a seventeen-year-old just like himself. And so they kissed until he fell asleep with his arm around her and a calm look upon his face…

Although, these days, that last point about him may have been because his body was still too unwell for him to progress beyond kissing her, even if his doctor hadn’t strictly advised against it… which was yet another thing frustrating him about the hospital. Although, in that sense, perhaps it was just as well that he didn’t have the energy to try and consummate their relationship. She’d hardly want to give him an attack while they were away from the hospital…

Wait… it wasn’t just her that might do that, if he left, was it? She’d been about to discuss the tournaments with him, when he’d started sweet-talking her to distraction… And she suspected he knew as much. He probably thought she was just worrying about him too much, like the ‘sweet caring angel’ he kept insisting that she was.

She’d need to try and find some way to make it clear to him that he really wasn’t well enough to risk fighting like that again… it may have worked today, but all it would take was one fighter determined enough to call his bluff and his heart was liable to fail him… And ideally he’d discover that over the next few weekends, before he left the hospital.

But what were the chances of that? It would need someone about the same level of skill as that man from today, but with the resolve to see the fight through to the bitter end… at least, until Kenshiro actually did start having an attack… A very specific set of circumstances…

Unless she manipulated the situation to ensure there was someone like that in one of the challenger groups… it wouldn’t be too difficult to get the doctor to let her pick one person, but who would it be? Of the fighters in school, she was far too strong, as was Pekoyama. Nidai could have pulled his blows to the right level, had his own heart not become worse recently. Owari was well matched, but... she didn’t always have the self-control to stop fighting. That meant the only other student whose fighting she was familiar with was… Kiyotaka.

Hmm… Could he do it? His Kendo was far better than his unarmed combat… but Kenshiro could handle a Shinai… A Kendo match between the two would probably push him just over his limits…

And chances were good that Kiyotaka was going to owe her a favour before the month’s time limit was up. It wouldn’t be too presumptuous to book him a flight from Hope’s Peak to here and back in advance of her birthday, would it?

(Wednesday, September 12th 2012)

Kiyotaka looked over the set of paper craft materials Makoto had given him carefully… There were multiple colours of thin cardboard, as well as tools to punch a variety of different shapes into them, such as cars, bicycles, stars, hearts (maybe he’d save that for Mondo’s booklet… or Valentine’s Day!) flowers…

Hmm… Sakura liked flowers, didn’t she? And cherry blossoms were pink… so perhaps he’d make the cover pink with flower shapes cut out around the edges? That should look reasonably nice… at least he hoped as much…

He quickly set to work, carefully measuring out the length of the card and marking spots at even points along it, so he could be sure the pattern would be consistent before he actually started cutting them out…

“Hrmm…” Well… it looked alright, to his eye… but he wasn’t exactly good at designing things…

“Is something bothering you?” Kiyotaka jumped slightly as Nanami suddenly spoke up from her tablet.

“Ah… not really! I was just wondering how this would look as the cover for a booklet…” He repositioned her, so he could hold up the card to her camera…

“Hmm…” She considered it for a moment, “It’s a bit uneven.”

“What!? Where!” He’d been sure he’d lined it all up carefully…

“Well… from the top left, the gap between the first two is 1.563 cm, but the gap between the next two is 1.569 cm, and the next it…”

“Err... I don’t think anyone would notice a different that small!” Kiyotaka interrupted her, “At least, no one with normal human eyesight…”

“Oh… So I should reduce the number of significant figures I’m measuring to?”

“Ah… yes please! I think one significant figure would do it!”

“Okay… in that case, it looks cute, but simple as well.”

“Hmm…” Well Sakura was one for simple pleasures… “That should work then, thank you!”

“You’re welcome!” Chiaki turned the screen off and… went… wherever it was she was when her screen was off…

Well, never mind that! He needed to write Happy Birthday to Sakura and tie this all together… preferably before Mondo finished his homework and came to see him…

“Hey, Taka!” As it was, Mondo arrived and let himself in the door just as he was finishing off the ‘a’ in Sakura, “How’s it going?”

“I’m almost done! I’ve got all the papers ready, I just need to perforate them and then attach the cover!” Kiyotaka told him, holding the cardboard cover up for Mondo to see, “What do you think?”

“It looks cute!” Mondo grinned, “Did ya really need ta do it so early though?”

“What? Mondo, her birthday’s tomorrow!” Kiyotaka warned him… did that mean he hadn’t made her a present?

“Uhh… wait…” Mondo squinted at the card, “That’s for Oogami? I thought it was Maizono’s…”

“Oh, I see!” He supposed the start and ends of the names were the same, but it was still surprising that Mondo had made the mix up… “You really thought I’d be preparing them that far ahead?”

“Well… no, not really…” Mondo admitted with a shrug, “I just figured it wouldn’t be for Oogami ‘cause it’s pink and flowery and shit…”

“Sakura likes flowers.” Kiyotaka told him, “She’s even named after a pink one! Why wouldn’t it be for her?”

“Well… ‘cause it looks super-girly!” Mondo exclaimed.

“…Sakura is a girl.” Kiyotaka reminded him, sardonically, “That’s why you refused to train with her…”

“I know that!” Mondo snapped, “But she’s not, y’know… girly… She’s a badass fighter, right?”

“That doesn’t mean she can’t like feminine things as well!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “After all, you like cute dogs!”

“Hey! Liking dogs ain’t girly! Dogs are cool!” Mondo insisted.

“Even little, fluffy white ones?” Kiyotaka asked incredulously.

“Hell yeah! Chuck coulda ripped the shit outta you!”

…Was he seriously that averse to the idea being seen to like something cute and cuddly?

“What about baby penguins?” Nanami suddenly piped up from her tablet.

“They’re definitely cute!” Makoto had shown him some pictures to cheer him up one time, “But why are you…?”

“That’s not got anything ta do with this!” Mondo hastily shouted over his question.

“It doesn’t?” Nanami sounded confused, “I thought because you like looking at them…”

Wait… did he!?

“No I don’t!” Mondo rushed to cry out.

“Oh… Why did you ask me to search for pictures of them then?” Mondo cringed as Nanami exposed his lie.

“Ah-ha! See! You do like cute fluffy animals!” Kiyotaka triumphantly exclaimed.

Alright, fine!” Mondo flopped to the bed in annoyance, “So I ain’t quite as badass as I’m supposed ta be! Quit laughing about it!”

“I wasn’t laughing!” At least, he hadn’t meant to… “And I’m not saying you aren’t bad… errm… backside either!”

“…Did ya seriously just call it bad-back…”

“That’s irrelevant!” Kiyotaka interrupted him. “My point is, you can be a… strong respectable fighter and still like things that would be considered feminine by most people! As can Sakura!”

“…I guess you’re right…” Mondo frowned anxiously, “Ya think I shoulda wrapped her present with… I dunno… pretty bows and shit then? I sorta just dumped it in a box like I usually do.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind that! After all you always make such good presents!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “Honestly, all of this is just to try and hide how bad my present really is…” He gestured to the pieces of paper piled on the table.

“The hell? Your presents are great!” Mondo sat up straighter to look at him, “You remember what everyone at the party said, right?”

He did remember, but… “That was probably just everybody being polite because it was my birthday! It’s nothing compared to all the effort they went to for me!”

“You were Ludenberg’s fuckin’ slave for the day! And ya pretty much did the same thing for Hiro!” Mondo cried, “And what did ya get in return? A set of darts and some rocks?”

“Seraphinites.” Kiyotaka corrected him.

“Whatever, it’s still some dumb crap from his collection of bullshit!” Mondo sighed at him, “It ain’t worth cleaning his shit up for a day!”

“Well… regardless, that’s just two examples! And probably the two people who took the most advantage of it!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “Meanwhile all I ended up doing for Togami was assuring him I would remember he’s of good character while he…”

“What about the whole ‘working on my birthday’ thing?” Mondo asked.

“Ah… I forgot to actually pick up the voucher for that…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But even so, he still paid me for that and went to the expense of transporting everyone and hosting my birthday party!”

“Eh… That’s just him showing off how rich he is…” Mondo shrugged.

“Perhaps… but Sayaka helped write a song for me, and gave me a CD player and signed copies of all her other records! And all I hardly did anything in return!”

“Are you serious?” Mondo gaped at him, “Ya saved her friend’s LIFE!”

“That wasn’t the favour! That was a fortunate accident and I’d have done it regardless of her owing me a favour!”

Mondo just rolled his eyes at that, “Then what was your favour to her?”

“I picked out that picture of you that she used when she apologised to you.” Kiyotaka explained, “Not that it was particularly difficult when most of them got taken out with all the terrible ones of me…”

“Eh? Those pictures of you weren’t bad! Well… not the later ones, anyway…” Mondo’s strong assurance trailed off at the end.

“You don’t need to lie. Togami already told me that it was obvious someone thought they’d be an embarrassment when he gave me new copies! It’s obvious I need to practise looking more photogenic!”

“What? No ya fuckin’ don’t! Togami didn’t say it was you who was the problem, did he?”

“No, but it was rather implied by the fact that all the missing photographs were of myself!”

“That still doesn’t mean you’re the problem!” Mondo insisted.

“Well, what else would problem be!?” Kiyotaka asked.

“…Ya seriously didn’t notice when ya got the news ones?” Mondo asked sceptically, “And your Dad didn’t notice either?”

“…I haven’t looked at them. I wasn’t particularly eager to see how bad I looked and Father… didn’t have much time over the holidays!” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’d been intending to show him a few at dinner on my birthday but…” Mondo knew full well how that had turned out.

“Probably just as well ya didn’t…” Mondo muttered.

“Indeed, he’d have probably been disappointed at my failure to even look normal in a photo…”

“That’s not what I fuckin’ meant!” Mondo snapped.

“Then what did you mean!?” Kiyotaka demanded.

“Urghh… dammit…” Mondo sighed, “Nanami… could ya quit listening to us for… I dunno, twenty minutes?”

“Okay!” Chiaki agreed from the screen, before disappearing…

“Why can’t she…?”

“I stole the photos ‘cause, well… they show me… kinda… staringatyourass…”

“…I beg your pardon?” He didn’t really just say what Kiyotaka thought he said, did he!?

“I SAID THEY SHOW ME STARING AT YOUR ASS!” Oh gods Mondo really DID say that!

“Wha…!? But… Why!?”

“I dunno! ‘Cause it’s a nice ass!” Mondo’s face was rapidly turning red, although after that statement Kiyotaka’s probably was as well… “And I guess my eyes figured out I liked ya before the rest of me did!”

“Err… well… I, err…” How was he supposed to respond to that!? The latter was romantic but the former was more sexual, so was this a chance to admit he’d been gawping at Mondo as well or should he try to say something equally as romantic, and if the latter, then what could he say…?

“’M sorry… I get it if you’re creeped out…” Mondo muttered, disheartened.

“No! I’m not upset! I just… wasn’t sure how to respond!” Kiyotaka admitted, “It’s not as if I haven’t stared at you, after all…”

“…When!?” Mondo looked like Kiyotaka had just claimed men had walked on Mars.

“Err… Well… Mostly when you wore that piece of underwear you call a swimming costume.”

“It’s called a speedo.” He sighed, “And I never noticed ya looking at me in it.”

“Well of course not! Unlike you, I wasn’t constantly doing it!”

“Hey! I wasn’t doing it all the time!” Mondo countered, “It’s only ‘cause Chi picked out pictures where I was doing it on purpose!”

“What? Why would he do that!?”

“…He said he’d been trying to give ya a hint that I liked ya…” Mondo grumbled.

“…But I suppose I didn’t notice because I was being vain and worrying about my own looks…” Kiyotaka realised.

“Yeah… And that makes Maizono’s favour make more sense…” Mondo mused.

“Wait… what?” What did he mean? Maizono’s favour involved him looking at pictures… of Mondo… “That request was just to make me look at the photographs of you in more detail? So it was to help ME!?”

“Umm… well, she never actually showed me any picture when she came ta apologise, so… maybe?” Mondo said, hesitantly.

“So… I still haven’t given her a proper present! And after I caused all of that trouble for her…”

“Dude, she caused that trouble herself, remember! And like I said: You. Saved. Her. Friend’s. LIFE!” Mondo insisted. “She probably felt bad for wasting all your time and felt like she owed it to ya.”

Well… perhaps in retrospect that was fair… “But… still! It’s still the case that everyone knows I can’t get proper presents.” Kiyotaka sighed, “Everyone knows exactly what I’m going to give them.”

“Well… maybe. But that’s nice as well!” Mondo assured him, “’Cause it means we know at least one person is gonna do what whatever we actually want, and we can plan out what it is and when we’ll do it!”

“Is that really true…?” Just being able to schedule something didn’t seem that advantageous…

“Sure it is!” Mondo smiled, “Hell, I bet Oogami’s already got something in mind for what she wants from ya!”

...Kiyotaka found that hard to believe. It might be somewhat useful to have someone you could call for help, but to actively think about how to make use of that in advance?

But, on the other hand, if Mondo thought it was a good present… “I guess I’d best finish this then!” Kiyotaka announced, turning back to the paper and cardboard…

(Thursday, September 13^th 2012)

Day by day nothing changes, and yet when you look back everything does…

It was a thought Sakura often considered around her birthday, comparing the new photograph of herself and parents and seeing how much she’d grown over the year. Training was a slow process, and there were times when she’d seem to be stagnating, and sometimes even falling backwards, but every year of her life that past had still shown her growing stronger overall. It was a comforting thought to keep in her mind, how much difference a single year could make.

But no previous birthday had ever highlighted that on such stark contrast as this one.

Her last birthday had left her feeling uncomfortable when her classmates had all unexpectedly wished her well on the day. This year it would have been cause for concern if they hadn’t. Last year what little celebrations she’d had were short, spontaneous moments with each of her scattered classmates. This year it had been obvious that they had been colluding together to throw her a party. Last year she had been surprised that they had even remembered the day. This year it was no surprise at all when Hina had done a poor job of pretending to have something she needed to discuss with her in a quiet room, only for that room to be full of decorations, food and all of her classmates…

Hmm… although there were more decorations than they had had for everyone else’s birthday parties… the most noticeable thing being a trail of confetti leading between the door and Yasuhiro…

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!”

*POP!*

The confetti was soon explained as her classmates each brought out a small tube and twisted it, causing a storm of pink paper pieces to fly up into the air and float down before her like cherry blossoms.

“Ah…” It took Sakura a moment to overcome the surprise at this addition to their normal party routine, “Thank you. That was a lovely sight.”

“It would have better if they’d all gone off at the same time!” Hina complained, “Why did you do yours before we even got here, Hiro!?”

“Well… I had a prediction you were about to come through the door and…” He explained sheepishly.

“And none of you guys tried to stop him!?”

“We didn’t get a chance!” Kuwata cried.

“Umm… he pretty much just shouted ‘Happy Birthday’ and shot the thing all of a sudden…” Chihiro added.

“Yeah! I barely managed to stop Mukuro turning around and shooting him back with hers!” Junko giggled while her sister flinched with embarrassment.

“Hrrghh…” Hina seemed overly upset about this development…

“It was still a wonderful surprise.” Sakura tried to assure her, “There is no use getting upset when things do not go perfectly the first time…”

“I know…” Hina sighed, “But we hardly did anything for your birthday last year so I wanted this one to be better! Now it just feels like you got the rubbish version because of when you were born!”

“…Especially after my party…” Kiyotaka agreed, guiltily. Despite that having been as much a last moment of fun before school began again, and a convenient way for them all to return to the school, as it was a party for his sake.

“Honestly, I am just glad that you choose to celebrate the occasion at all. You have always gone above my expectations for this.” Sakura told them.

“And besides, it’ll probably all even out after several years, anyway!” Makoto suggested.

“But… we’re only going to be here four years…” Hina said, sadly.

“…But we can still celebrate each other’s birthdays after we leave, right!?” Makoto countered, looking around the group… “Right, everyone?”

“Fuck, yeah!” “Certainly!” “No point having a wondrous castle if none of you ever come to see it…” “Yeah! I predict we’ll spend all our birthdays together!” “I suppose I can keep on adding that to my calendar…” “A-assuming S-syo plays along…” Her classmates all agreed, with as much enthusiasm as they usually managed to muster.

“Oh… really!?” Hina seemed much happier at that, “Well… I’m gonna hold you guys to that! Now let’s open the presents!”

Sakura quickly found herself being dragged to a table over to the side, where Hina picked up a brightly wrapped box and thrust it into her arms…

It contained a square shaped backpack with a variety of her favourite protein bars and supplements neatly organised into compartments inside, along with some wraps and a first aid kit, while still leaving enough room for her to pack other items and put her wallet and identification somewhere convenient…

“…You’ve been flying a lot, so I thought you’d like something carry-on sized to take your stuff in!” Hina explained.

“Yes… this will be incredibly useful, thank you!” A backpack would be far more comfortable to carry her things in than the suitcase she had currently. And this way she could lend that to Kiyotaka for the weekend…

It was the most thoughtful gift she received, although Kyoko’s gift of an eye mask and earplugs was a close second (and fit in well with Makoto’s present of a stuffed kettlebell that turned into a travel pillow). The remainder of the gifts were variations on themes her other classmates had settled into last year; Something from Yasuhiro that she did not quite understand the significance of, a nice blend of green tea from Ludenberg (and a comment about how she should really try black tea), stylised art of herself defeating fictional martial artists from Yamada, more flattering workout clothes from Junko, a frankly dangerous looking pair of nunchucks with curved blades at the end from Ikusaba and a more normal (albeit it, baseball bat-shaped) pair from Kuwata, a computer program to help track her training progress from Chihiro, a CD of meditation music from Maizono, a book detailing the history of various fighting styles from Fukawa, a slightly larger box of chocolates than the one Togami had given her last year, a wooden paperweight featuring carvings of herself winning the world championship from Oowada…

…And finally a small white envelope from Kiyotaka, which she had chosen to leave until last. Much to his increasing worry as she’d carefully opened all of her other gifts, especially when she’d taken it off of Oowada’s present and then put it back on the table while she opened that instead… his new boyfriend had had to grab his shoulder and whisper reassuringly into his ear to stop him descending into full-blown panic at that point.

Not that she’d intended to make him feel bad, it would just be easier to discuss the details of her favour if she opened it after everyone else’s presents, which of course she did once she’d complimented Oowada on how his woodwork continued to improve…

Last year, the voucher had been plain white and made entirely of thin paper. This year the cover was made of pink cardboard with flower shapes carefully cut into it, with her given name written in the centre instead of ‘Oogami-chan’. “…You’ve put Makoto’s present to good use.”

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka relaxed somewhat at the positive response, “Let me know whenever you want to use…”

Sakura flipped through the vouchers quickly, noticing that there was now one offering ‘one lesson’s transcript copied’ included until she came to the last one, which thankfully had remained unchanged. “Actually, I do need a favour.”

Last year he’d been surprised that she’d requested one. This year it was less surprise and more… brief suspicion directed at Oowada. “Hrmm… well, what can I help you with?”

“I would like for you to travel with me when I visit Kenshiro this weekend.” Sakura explained.

“This weekend…?” Kiyotaka looked worried.

“We have the council presidential debate this weekend!” Togami explained, irritably.

“Umm… Don’t worry! I checked the flight times and you’ll be back before Sunday evening!” Chihiro assured them.

“But, like, don’t planes get delayed and stuff all the time?” Junko asked.

“Umm, that’s true…” Chihiro admitted, apologetically, “But we booked the tickets before we knew about your debate…”

“Err… why would you…?” Kiyotaka looked confused.

“I… have a time limit regarding this.” Sakura partly admitted the situation, as she didn’t want to cause Kiyotaka too much concern by going into details. “And I wanted to ensure the flight did not become over-booked.”

“Oh…” Kiyotaka brows furrowed as he started considering the situation… He wouldn’t want to say ‘no’ to her, but on the other hand this debate was extremely important to him…

“Well… planes don’t get delayed that often!” Makoto tried to assure him, “And I’d bet you’ve made notes about your debate plans, right? I could always act as a stand-in...”

“That might not be necessary. There have been times when the council have agreed to delay the debate and voting by a week, because one student was unavailable…” Kyoko added, “It’s up to the current council to vote on it though. It could still end up with just Togami there.”

“No it would not!” Togami snapped, “I’m not wasting my time debating an empty chair! If the council refused to rearrange the debate in that situation, I’d boycott it myself!”

“Really!?” “You would!?” A large number of the class seemed shocked at his declaration.

“Of course! If I didn’t everyone would accuse me of engineering Ishimaru’s delay in order to give myself an easier opponent to debate with!” Togami complained.

“Oh… right…” Makoto sighed.

“Ah… well, if that’s the case, then I’d be happy to help you this weekend!” Kiyotaka told Sakura, “What is it you need me to do?”

“I would like you to do your utmost to defeat Kenshiro in a Kendo match…” That was as much detail as necessary. If she told him she wanted him to possibly cause him to have a heart attack, he’d be sure to refuse. After all, last year he’d balked at the mere thought of attacking her from behind. Hopefully this year he’d be less reserved about it…

“What? No! I couldn’t possibly do that!” Kiyotaka stared at her, aghast… “That couldn’t possibly be a fair fight!? Isn’t he sick at the moment?”

That was unfortunate… But then, one year wouldn’t change everything… It would seem she needed to explain her reasoning to him this year as well…

“He is…” Sakura admitted, “But he has recovered enough that he is considering leaving the hospital and engaging in fights once again.”

“But… then why can’t I just fight him then!?” Kiyotaka asked, understandably confused.

“He is currently having fights within the hospital, to ensure that he is capable of fighting again before they allow him to leave.” Sakura explained, “However, I am concerned that the opponents they are pitting him against are not strong enough to give an accurate assessment of his current ability.”

“Even though he’s been unwell?” Kiyotaka sounded impressed, “But… still… I’d be worried about putting his recovery backwards…”

In a way, that was what she was hoping would happen, but he’d refuse outright if she admitted to that. “I am sure that…”

“Then I’LL do it!” Sakura was surprised to hear Owari’s voice coming from the doorway, “I’d kill for a chance to beat the world’s strong man!”

…That had been the exact concern that had prevented Sakura about asking Owari for help with this.

“Umm… But the plane ticket is in Taka’s name, so you wouldn’t be able to go…” Chihiro thankfully had a good reason for Sakura to refuse her suggestion without insulting her...

“So he gets to go, but I don’t!?” Owari pointed at Kiyotaka angrily, “You think I’m weaker than him!?”

“No… I thought of Kiyotaka because he is closer in skill to the people Kenshiro has recently fought against.” Sakura explained, “I was worried you would be too strong…”

“You expect me to believe the world’s strongest fighter is weaker than me!?” Owari didn’t believe her.

“Well, he’s been sick for two years!” Hina tried to convince her.

“Nakomaru’s been sick all his life, and he can still give me a decent fight!” Owari argued.

But… that was a completely different situation to Kenshiro’s. How could she possibly convince Owari when her line of thought was so far removed from the reality of the situation…

“Uhh… hey, Owari! How about you fight me instead!?” What? Oowada was offering to fight a woman? Was that just to help Sakura out of this argument, or was he finally beginning to respect women…?

“Tch! I already kicked your weak ass…” Owari dismissed him... but… when had that happened?

“Only ‘cause ya had Tanaka helping ya out!” Oowada snapped.

“That didn’t have anything to do with me! He just showed up!” Owari argued, “You barely would have touched me anyway!”

“Well… alright, ya got a point…” Oowada sighed, “But I’ll take ya seriously this time!”

“Tch! And then if you lose again you’ll just say you still weren’t taking me seriously, because you thought I’d be weaker than you?” Owari snarled at him, “That’s what you punks always do, pretend it’s your ‘honour’ stopping you from winning instead of admitting you just lost!”

“Look, I dunno who you’ve fought before but, man’s promise, if you…”

“That crap’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Owari cut him off…

This was unfortunate… Oowada must have made great progress against his views of masculinity to even be offering this to her. But Owari didn’t know him well enough to see that…

“Ooh! I know! You could fight Mukuro sometime! She’s totally scary in a fight!” Junko suggested, “And I’ve picked up some great diet tips I can give you if you lose!”

“To her…!?” Owari looked at Ikusaba sceptically.

“…If you don’t mind me using weapons…” Ikusaba told her.

“Well…” Owari seemed mollified at the suggestion.

“Great! Call me this evening and we’ll organise it!” Junko told her, mimicking a phone with her fingers.

“…Fine! But you better not screw me around…” Owari glowered at Sakura as she left the room.

“Geez… she seems so angry lately…” Hina sighed.

“She must be worrying about Nekomaru…” Makoto suggested, “Nagito’s taken it really badly as well… He even asked me if my luck’s ever killed someone the other day!”

“Oh… Thinking about it, Koizumi was talking about no one ever being happy forever, last week…” Kiyotaka agreed, “And her highness has been out of her room when I cleaned for her the last two weeks… I imagine it must be worrying their whole class…”

“Oh, totally! Mikan’s been worried about him all the time!” Junko nodded, “But I bet with her in his class, and Sonia putting a ton of her country’s research into helping, and Teruteru being there to make sure he eats right, he’ll be better in no time!”

“And hopefully their mood will improve as well…” Kyoko suggested.

“But, if he…” Makoto frowned.

“But, speaking of eating right, we gotta a whole room’s full of food going to waste!” Junko reminded them, “This is supposed to be Sakura’s party! So let’s all eat up! Especially you Kiyotaka!”

“Err… why me?” Kiyotaka looked confused.

“…You would need to keep your energy up if you were to engage Kenshiro in a fight.” Sakura realised her reasoning.

“Oh… Err… I mean… As I said before…” He still seemed likely to refuse…

“Kiyotaka, I am sure you would stop before you did anything that could possibly set Kenshiro’s health backwards.” Sakura assured him, even though it was a partial lie. “That is why I asked you.”

“Hrmm…” Kiyotaka considered it, “Well… if you’re that certain about it, I’ll trust you!” He held his hand out to shake hers. “Now let’s all enjoy your birthday!”

(Friday, September 14^th 2012)

Kiyotaka looked around the airport terminal building 2, a suitcase full of books in one hand and his new shinai on his back, and attempted to locate one of the screens that would, according to Chihiro, show him which desk they were supposed to be checking in at… Only for Sakura to start moving away from the door before he even spotted it. “Ah! How do you know where you’re going?”

“I have been taking this flight often as of late, and it always has the same check-in desk…” Sakura explained.

“But… what if this time it doesn’t?”

“Then there will be a board nearby for us to check the new location.” She replied simply.

“Ah… that makes sense.” Kiyotaka agreed. He probably shouldn’t be worrying so much about this. Even if he hadn’t flown before, Sakura had done it enough times to guide him through and she’d even told him what to expect at the check in desk and security gates and what would happen when they needed to change planes, so he shouldn’t cause any delays by doing the wrong thing, and even if he did they’d got to the airport early enough that there was no risk of missing the flight…

And Sakura was correct about what check in desk they needed anyway, so even by the time his shinai was safely stowed away, it was only 19:50 and their flight wouldn’t be boarding until almost 21:05 anyway…

Wait… 19:50? Ah! It was almost time to ring his father, and he hadn’t even thought about it before now!

“…I know that took a while, but getting through security will not take too long, and the gate is not far…” Sakura seemed to think he was panicking about missing the flight still…

“Ah… no, it’s not that. It’s just I would usually call my father in te…nine minutes…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Would we have time for that? Assuming there’s a phone here?”

“Of course… There are some payphones this way. I can give you some change if you need it…” Sakura started to lead him through the airport.

“Thank you! But I have my money with me!” Kiyotaka told her, he’d been thinking he might need money if an emergency cropped up… even if this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind… But he should at least try to let his father know he’d be flying this evening, just in case an accident happened on the flight…

By the time they’d arrived at the phone and Kiyotaka had made sure he understood the instructions on how to operate it, it was time for him to ring his father…

“Father! I’m at the air…”

“Have you… changed anything?” His father actually spoke to him this week! Even if he sounded cautious, as if doing so would get him into trouble somehow... And he was another person thinking Kiyotaka had changed for some reason…

“I haven’t changed anything! I’m still running for student council president and…”

“You know what I’m talking about!” His father hissed, “That… thug!”

“He's not a thug!” Kiyotaka lowered his voice in case anyone overheard, “I’ll admit he might have been in the past but…”

“He still looks like one!”

“It doesn’t matter what he looks like! It’s his actual behaviour you should be…”

“Kiyotaka, you know that’s not true!” His father sighed, “Unless you’ve just been blindly issuing detentions for breaking rules without considering why those rules exist…”

What was he talking about? The only detentions he issued regarding appearances were for people failing to wear the school uniform… Was he saying school uniforms only existed to make the students look respectable? But… “School uniforms create a sense of unity between students and…”

“School uniforms exist to get kids used to wearing the types of clothes they’ll need to be taken seriously as an adult!” His father snapped.

“But… practically speaking, every job requires a different outfit!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “A school uniform wouldn’t have got you used to wearing your vest!”

“Do you really the people making dress codes care about practicality?” His father laughed bitterly, “There’s no reason for me to wear a tie to do my job! If anything it’s an extra risk to my life! But if I didn’t everyone I met would be judging me for it, based on how I look! And they’ll judge you if you keep being stupid enough to… be seen with him in public!”

…So he was saying that people would make judgements based on him just because of his proximity to Mondo? Well… after what had been going on at school, he could hardly deny it was having some effect… “I… I’m aware of that…”

“Then why are you…!?” His father started to interrupt.

“…But that’s outweighed by how much support and advice he gives me! And… and how he’s helped me learn to speak to people more… normally! And he’s been helping me with my student council president’s campaign by…”

“You really think that’s going to be enough to make up for what you’re doing?” His father asked incredulously, “Do you have any idea how many people don’t even think you should exist!?”

“…About 33%.” Kiyotaka admitted, “But I’ll…”

“So you know exactly how much of an idiot you’re being!” His father growled, “And you’re still going to insist you can ‘work harder to make up for it’!?”

“Yes! After all, my actions will…”

“Oh, for god’s sake…” His father sighed, “I thought that message meant you’d come to your senses…”

“I… I never lost my senses! I just meant that…”

“I don’t need to hear it!” His father snapped, “Our family’s in enough trouble, thanks to your grandfather being an idiot! I can’t afford to have you being one as well!”

That wasn’t really comparable, was it!? All he was doing was dating a man, not ruining the country! “Father, please, at least listen to me! Mondo is…”

“No, Kiyotaka!” His father barked in the same scolding tone from he’d used on rare occasions during Kiyotaka’s childhood. “I’m hanging up now…”

“Wait, PLEASE!” Kiyotaka forgot about being quiet and begged down the phone line.

“Don’t call me again unless it’s to tell me that you’ve stopped this.”

*Click.*

Kiyotaka put down the phone slowly. At least he knew his father had received the money he’d sent, they’d still be able to work towards paying off their debts. But… Could his father not even have listened to his point of view about this? Was he just that sure it was going to be a completely insurmountable challenge? Just because dating Mondo might make him look bad?

Would that really be the case? That people would take one look at the pair of them and instantly write him off? People couldn’t be that petty, surely? At least… not all of them! And even if Mondo did bring down his appearance somewhat, couldn’t he make up for it in other respects? He was good at dressing appropriately and holding himself well, after all! So… wouldn’t that make up for it? So long as he made sure not to let himself slip in those respects, he’d be able to make up for being with Mondo, right…?

Kiyotaka was staring at the phone, with the fierce look in his eyes that would be born of anger in most people, but may only have been intense concentration when he wore it.

It was unfortunate… she’d hoped, when it became apparent that his father was actually speaking to him this week, that Kiyotaka might have been able to make some progress with the man… but the way he begged his father not to hang up, with no regard for the crowd of people standing around them, suggested otherwise…

And as much as Sakura would like to allow him time to think on what had just occurred, and contemplate what he would want to try next, they had a plane to catch.

“Kiyotaka…”

“Ah! My apologies!” He smartly turned, back straight as a rod, to face her, “I believe we need to pass through security next, correct?”

“Yes… thank you.” It seemed he intended to put a brave face on his situation, in order to help with hers…

“Err… for what?” He asked, as they started walking towards to their next calling point.

“For… putting aside your father’s unreasonable behaviour in order to…”

“He’s… he’s not being unreasonable!” Kiyotaka interrupted her irritably.

Did he truly believe that? “...Oowada told us you’d sent him money. Has he accepted it?”

“Yes!” Kiyotaka seemed pleased by that, “But what does that have to do with…?”

“He’s willing to take money from you, but not talk to you.” Sakura summarised, “And you do not think he is being unreasonable?”

“Well… in the long term, the money’s helping both of us.” Kiyotaka started by repeating the explanation he’d given Oowada, “Whereas I… I… I’ve made him think I’m not.”

So… Kiyotaka thought it was reasonable for his father to only associate with him to the extent that it benefitted him? “His love for you should not have such conditions.”

“Ngh! I… I… I suppose, but… He’s dreamt of redeeming our name ever since Grandfather ruined it… and I always said I’d help with that! To the extent that he sacrificed things for himself to put me in the position where I might be able to!” Kiyotaka explained in words laced with guilt, “But now, from his point of view, I’ve suddenly destroyed any chance of his dream becoming a reality! Of course it’s reasonable for him to be upset with me!”

Was it? It was not the way her father thought… “Kiyotaka, have I ever told you about my father?”

“Well… you said he leads your family’s dojo… and he’s a good fighter as well…”

“Indeed. Good enough that he dreamt of becoming the world’s strongest. Until I surpassed him and destroyed any chance of that dream becoming a reality.” Sakura told him, and it seemed perhaps that he could see her next point coming before she made it. “Yet he never refused to speak with me.”

“Oh… I see…” It seemed Kiyotaka might be taking heed of her words… “But… your dreams were both incompatible with each other, whereas mine and my father’s were co-operative and… well… it was more like we had a deal with each other! A deal which he thinks I’ve broken!”

…Or perhaps not. “But you have worked with him, and trusted him, for so long. Do you not think you deserve for him to at least trust you long enough to explain yourself?”

“Well… it would be nice if he did…” Kiyotaka sighed, “But… it’s only been two weeks! I’m sure he’ll have calmed down some more and let me talk to him when I call him next week!”

Sakura couldn’t help but wonder if the older Ishimaru deserved the trust Kiyotaka put in him… “I hope that is the case. You deserve for it to be so.”

“…Thank you.” Kiyotaka nodded smartly and straightened himself up more as they approached the queue for security.

Late night flights were not too popular, so it was not long before it was their turn to put their suitcases on the conveyor belt and slip her sandals off, as always…

“Err… we have to take our shoes off!?” Kiyotaka balked as she removed the first one.

“Yes, and take off any clothing with metal parts as well.” The security assistant told him, pointing at the sign.

“Oh! Right! I, err… guess I might be a while!” Kiyotaka announced, embarrassed. “Feel free to call some other people through ahead of me!”

What? Surely it would it wouldn’t take him long to take off his… knee high, tightly laced boots… and blazer… and watch… and probably a belt…

“My apologies, this step does not affect me as much, so I didn’t think to warn you of it…” Sakura admitted with a sigh.

“Never mind! I’ll know in advance next time!” Kiyotaka put a cheerful spin on it, “But perhaps you’d best go ahead and make sure our bags are alright?”

“Of course, I’ll see you momentarily.” Sakura told him and headed through the metal detector…

Which beeped at her.

“Can you go through again, please?” The assistant on the other side requested. Sakura did as she asked, walking back through just a haughty old man followed by two younger men were called past Kiyotaka, who was just taking off his first boot.

Kiyotaka looked up briefly in concern as the metal detector went off again as she walked through.

“Are you sure you’ve not forgotten to take off anything metal?” The assistant asked.

Sakura considered the question… she didn’t usually wear anything with metal in it, except… “My bra, I forgot to switch to one without an underwire.” She realised. It was something she’d started doing as a precaution the first time this had happened, but with helping Kiyotaka plan for the trip as well…

“Well, if you can step to one side for a pat-down…” The assistant directed her over to a side, where Sakura stood patiently in a wide stance as a woman started by scanning all over her with a hand-held metal detector.

“What do you mean I have to take my shoes off!?” A loud voice caught her attention. It was the older man who’d gone ahead of Kiyotaka. “Do I look like some sort of terrorist!? Do you not know who I am!?”

Sakura couldn’t hear the assistant’s response at this distance, but Kiyotaka’s was loud enough… “You’re… Representative Masanori Tochikura, aren’t you?” He sounded somewhat awestruck, which was odd given how rudely the man was behaving, “One of the longest running members of the Diet! It’s an honour to meet…”

Ah… well that explained Kiyotaka’s reverence for the man.

“See! He knows who I am! You don’t really think I’m going to try and blow up an airport that’s part of the country I run!? Do you!?” The man apparently only cared about Kiyotaka in order to use him as a point in his argument. “So why should I have to waste my time practically undressing myself just because some idiot once tried to sneak a bomb through in his shoes! This whole farce is a waste of time!”

“Err… But couldn’t you have changed that? Or… at least raise a motion to, sir?” Kiyotaka asked cautiously, “Airport security has national guidelines, after all!”

“Well... This is the first time I’ve not flown privately!” The man admitted, “But it’s ridiculous! I’ve been serving in the House of Representatives for decades! I shouldn’t be reduced to wasting my time undressing when I have important business to attend to!”

“Well… I understand that! But if they made an exception for you, there’s always the possibility somebody could pose as you and use that to try and sneak a bomb on that way!” Kiyotaka argued, “And I’m sorry to be rude, but as I’m ready to go through, may I go back ahead of you? I… was expecting it to take longer to remove my boots…” There was a moment of awkward silence, presumably the man realising that he’d wasted more time complaining than it would have taken for him to follow the rules, before Kiyotaka let out a relieved “Thank you, sir! It was an honour to meet you!” and passed through the gate behind her to collect his belongings.

A couple of minutes later, Sakura’s pat down was completed and she headed over to pick up her backpack… only for it to be nowhere to be seen…

“Ah! Sakura! I have your bag!” Kiyotaka called over to her from next to the far wall, where he was finishing tightening his laces with his suitcase by his side and her backpack on his back. “Right! Sorry for taking so long! Let’s get going!”

Yes, I believe out gate is in that direction.” Sakura told him, holding her hand out to take her bag…

Except Kiyotaka strode away from her while still wearing it. “Kiyotaka…”

“Why was it you got called over for a more thorough check?” Kiyotaka interrupted her attempt to remind him of the extra weight he was carrying.

“It was because part of my clothing set off the metal detector.” Sakura explained, “But…”

“Why didn’t you just take it off and send it through the x-ray machine, then?” Kiyotaka asked.

Could he really not guess? “It was a part of my underwear, taking it off would have been...”

“You’re wearing metal underwear!?” Kiyotaka cried, “Err… is that for protection in fights? Should I have something like tha…”

“No… they’re not entirely metal…” Sakura had to fight to keep most of the amusement out of her voice, he really didn’t know about this… although on second thoughts, he had very little reason to know… “Bras often have a curved wire under the cup parts, in order to increase support.”

“Oh… But… then why doesn’t every woman get detected?” Kiyotaka’s eyes furrowed.

“I am not sure, some will likely have a different style of underwear. But I also find it depends on different scanners. The one I go through on the way back has never detected it.”

“Oh! And your bra will be bigger than most women’s, so it’ll have more metal to detect!” Kiyotaka suggested excitedly… And somewhat loudly. Then considered his sentence for a moment before a look of horror passed over his face. “Err… Sorry! I… It’s not really any of my business, is it?” He started to turn red and look around the passing crowds anxiously.

“I do not mind. And your idea could be right. But regardless, it’s not too much of a delay and I usually bring a different style with me for travelling, so it is not too inconvenient.”

“Ah… I see…” Kiyotaka seemed too embarrassed to carry on that conversation, which would allow her to say what she had originally intended to…

“And I can take my bag back now.”

“What? Oh! Don’t worry! I can manage it!” Kiyotaka told her in an assuring tone.

“But… it is my bag.” It was designed to fit her, so would be easier for her to carry. Not to mention there was no reason for him to burden himself with her belongings…

“Yes, but… I’m here as a favour, so I thought I’d carry your bag for you!” He insisted.

“That was not part of the favour I requested…” And, although he wasn’t exactly struggling to carry all the weight, they would most likely be moving faster if he wasn’t ladened down with her bag as well as his own. So why was he suddenly insisting on giving her help she hadn’t requested and clearly didn’t need…?

Why was Sakura so bothered by this? He was coping perfectly well with her bag! There wasn’t any reason for them to stop walking and give it back to her… everyone around him would probably just think he looked lazy and idiotic, wasting time to foist off something he could clearly manage by himself off on a friend.

“Well… friends often do each other spontaneous favours, don’t they?” He tried to assure her that it wasn’t a big deal. “And there’s no point us stopping to take it off now when we’ll be at the gate soon enough!”

“Then perhaps you can let me take your bag.” She suggested, “That will take me all of two seconds to…”

“Ah, no I couldn’t make you take this! It’s heavier than yours!” Kiyotaka explained, “That wouldn’t be fair!”

“I am stronger than you.” Sakura reminded him, “It seems fair I take the heavier load.”

“But… my load’s only heavier because I packed it that way! It would be rude of me to give you extra weight to carry because of that!” Kiyotaka countered.

“But… by that way of thinking, I’m being impolite by having you carry my bag.” Sakura worried.

“What!? No, it might be impolite for you to ask me to carry it! But as I offered it perfectly reasonable for you to let me!” Kiyotaka assured her, “That’s just politely accepting an offer!”

“I see…” Although she didn’t sound like she agreed at all, but at least he dropped the subject and let him carry on until they reached their gate and they both headed towards a pair of empty chairs near the front desk, where he took off Sakura’s backpack so they could sit down.

He checked his watch while Sakura started opening her bag up… 20:48. There should be time for a short amount of studying before their first flight, which would take an hour, followed by an hour’s connection time before their second flight, which was also an hour long… meaning they wouldn’t even have landed at their destination until after midnight, and then they’d have to travel to the hospital… How did Sakura do this without falling asleep…?

“Here… This will help you stay awake until we reach the hospital.” Sakura handed him a small food bar… apparently containing protein and, probably more relevantly to the situation, caffeine.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka opened it, “Do you want some?” He offered it to her before he ate any of it himself.

Sakura stared at him in confusion for a moment. “…I was the one who gave it to you.”

“I know! I just thought you might want to share it…” Kiyotaka explained, “You’ll need to stay awake as well!”

“I am not so disorganised that I forgot to pack extra protein for you before expecting you to fight.” Sakura told him, waving another identical bar at him.

“I didn’t think you were! I was just offering to be polite!” Kiyotaka assured her.

“…I see.” Sakura said. But she was staring at him in confusion again. Why was she so surprised by him being polite? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t usually polite! There was just a lot more things he could do to be polite in the airport, like carrying things for her, offering to share food, letting her go first when they boarded the plane and insisting she took whichever seat was more comfortable for her on the plane, and opening doors for her on the taxi and in at the hotel and hospital…

(Saturday, September 15^th 2012)

Kiyotaka was still behaving oddly, even this morning…

She’d appreciated him letting her take the more comfortable seats on the aeroplanes, as it was hard enough for her to be comfortable on flights even in the best of conditions. And she’d assumed that his insistence on opening every door for her was possibly and odd symptom of sleep deprivation that he would cease doing once he’d slept.

But he’d still insisted on opening the door to the breakfast area and waving her through like she had seen Togami’s butler do. And then he’d insisted that he be the one to refill their drinks from the breakfast buffet and even now as they travelled through the hospital towards the room reserved for Kneshiro’s tests, he was still insisting on opening every door, letting her pass through, and then jogging slightly to pass her again and open the next one.

Had he been embarrassed at how much he assumed his share of the hotel and flight would have cost him? Even though the hotel costs had been cheaper thanks to them sharing a twin sized room? Or perhaps he was nervous about his upcoming fight and was attempting to distract himself… or apologise to her in advance in case he failed to win against Kenshiro.

Either way, he kept it up right until they entered Kenshiro’s testing room, where he was already fighting his first opponent. Not that it stopped him from turning to look at her with a smile as she entered the room… an arrogant decision that caused the man he was fighting to think he had a chance of striking Kenshiro in the side during his moment of distraction.

Of course, Sakura knew that Kenshiro would feel the attempt coming and strike back, a side kick to the chest would likely be the most convenient method to deflect him…

But what she hadn't been expected was the sheer look of fury that passed over Kenshiro’s face as he made his attempt, or the loud crack that shot through the room as his kick made contact and sent the man toppling backwards.

Even Kenshiro looked momentarily surprised at the strength of his blow, while the man he was fighting cried out in pain as he attempted to roll onto his front…

“…Are his ribs broken!?” Kiyotaka asked, horrified at the needless violence.

“I suppose I've recovered so fast, I no longer know my own strength…” Kenshiro shot an almost smug look in her direction, “My deepest apologies…” He added, to the man he’d been fighting.

“Err… well… at least he’s already in the hospital…?” Kiyotaka gulped.

He had accepted Kenshiro’s explanation far more easily than Sakura would, however. Kenshiro had been perfectly capable of measuring his blows three weeks ago… That strike just now was because something had suddenly made him angry… but what? Surely it hadn’t just been his moment of weakness…

“Who’s next?” Kenshiro asked, once the man with the broken ribs was helped off of the mat…

None of the waiting fighters stepped forward… of course, they’d all be too frightened to face him after they’d seen that happen… which meant they’d be more likely to give up earlier, and Kenshiro would be less tired by the time he came to fight Kiyotaka…

“I can fight next!” …Who was making his own task all the more difficult by choosing to step forward already.

“No… you are the only Kendo fighter here, it will be quicker for you to go last, so the others do not have to wait for Kenshiro to put his protective gear on and off again.” Sakura discouraged him.

“Well, in that case, you’re next!” Kenshiro quickly singled out the man on the far left of the group, who stood up and bowed to Kenshiro nervously before they began to fight…

“Err… Sakura?” Kiyotaka whispered to her, “Was I supposed to have brought protective gear with me…?”

“No. There are some sets in that side room.” Sakura remembered, guiding him to the door. “I’ll help you get into one your size…”

“Ah! Wonderful!” Kiyotaka quickly sped up, aiming to open the door for her again, “Th…”

“AARRGGHH! MY ARM!” Kiyotaka almost jumped into the air at the sudden shout from Kenshiro’s second opponent, who was now clutching at his right arm with shocked tears in his eyes, while Kenshiro looked at him with guilty surprise all over his face.

He’d lost his temper again? He was usually such a calm man… If only she had been watching to see what had caused it.

There was no clue in the behaviour of either man, however. Kenshiro just apologised to him as before, and he was helped out by a nurse while she and Kiyotaka entered the side room and he began looking through the protective gear for pieces that were in his size…

Kenshiro’s behaviour was worrying though… at this rate, he’d hardly be tired at all when it came to Kiyotaka’s turn…

“Ah… Sakura? Are you… sure I was the right person to ask to do this?” Kiyotaka appeared to have been thinking along the same lines, “I mean… seeing how quickly he beat those two… Are you sure Owari wouldn’t have been a better choice?”

Sakura was quite sure of that… even if Owari would have stood a better chance of winning the match. But Sakura did not need Kiyotaka to win, or even to land a single hit… she merely needed Kenshiro to tire himself… “That was because those two attacked too early.” Sakura told him, “Kenshiro will sometimes bait opponents into attacking by making himself appear to have an opening, then he will use their lowered guard to strike…”

“Ah… like William’s retreat at the battle of Hastings!” Kiyotaka seemed impressed, “So… how can I tell when his guard actually is down?”

“That… is hard to describe. You will most likely get a feel for it once you have watched him fight for a while, and been on the receiving end of his attacks…”

“I see… so I’ll need to fight defensively and get a feel for his style, then!” Kiyotaka summarised with determination burning in his eyes.

“Indeed.” Sakura smiled, “I am sure you will do well, if you follow that strategy.”

Or, at least, well enough to inadvertently carry out the real task she required of him…

Alright! He had a plan! Watch Kenshiro’s fighting style as carefully as possible during the next few fights, then fight defensively until he could be absolutely sure that he had an opening to strike!

…Which made it all the more frustrating when they came back out of the side room to find that Kenshiro was already in the middle of bowing to his final unarmed opponent.

…Aaaaand he’d probably have a different fighting style entirely when wielding a sword, regardless! But at least Kiyotaka might get a feel for how he did those feints Sakura had warned him about…

It was amazing to watch him fight… he was obviously strong, even after two years of illness, but it wasn’t just that. He seemed to have almost perfect control of his body! Every single movement was carefully planned to make sure that he didn’t waste even a single calorie of energy, and he flowed between dodges and attacks as smoothly and surely as water flowing down a wide stream… calm and pleasant to watch but capable of extreme force when pushed into the right conditions, the same way Kenshiro could suddenly flex his muscles the right way and suddenly turn from calm movements to a raging rapid of attacks at a moment’s notice…

It was almost like the way Mondo could go from peaceful resting or joyful times with friends to explosive outbursts of strength in the most sudden of moments… except Kenshiro’s switches were calmer and far more controlled… everything done with an air of self-assurance that presumably came from having trained so hard and frequently that he knew exactly how strong he was and had no fear of losing…

What would it be like if Mondo had that sort of self-assurance? The expertise to know just how much force he needed to use to defend himself when it came to it, instead of throwing every punch with the full force he could muster… He’d be far happier that way, instead of widely swinging between fear that others thought he wasn’t strong if he didn’t fight and worrying that people thought he was nothing but a thug for beating people up…

If only he’d try a martial art! But with Nidai sick and the other two martial artists’ being women, he wasn’t likely to start learning one anytime soon…

Except… he had offered to fight Owari, hadn’t he? So perhaps he was starting to get over his insistence that women were completely off-limits to fights, and might be more open to training with Sakura. Then perhaps he’d have a little more confidence in himself when it came to fighting… and it might bleed over into other aspects of his life… imagine Mondo looking at Kiyotaka with that level of self-assurance, right before expertly kissing him… or spontaneously taking things a step further when they were alone together, because he could judge exactly how much Kiyotaka wanted from him… or…

“AAARRGGHHH!” Kiyotaka’s mind snapped back to reality as Kenshiro’s opponent fell to floor clutching his right calf... and even though he tried to get back up, he ended up staggering as soon as he tried to put weight on the affected foot and had to be helped out of the room…

Kiyotaka was lucky that he was getting to wear armour for his fight, and could only be struck in certain places! But his stupid lack of focus had meant he’d missed seeing Kenshiro’s feint completely! How completely idiotic of him! One night showering by himself shouldn’t result in him suddenly going back to daydreaming about Mondo when he was supposed be doing something important! Even if that thing happened to be carefully watching a man strong enough to remind him of Mondo’s bulging muscles and…

What had caused Kenshiro’s anger that time? The man hadn’t even been trying to attack. And even if he had, Kenshiro’s attention had been focused on Kiyotaka, who had been doing nothing other than staring at him intently while trying to learn his fighting style.

“Four down, one to go…” Kenshiro shrugged, once the man had been apologised to and taken away for treatment. “And then I can leave, right doctor?” He looked over to the doctor monitoring the tests, who nodded somewhat reluctantly.

But… “I thought you still needed to be here for another week…”

“Well, I’ve been doing so well in these tests, they decided they don’t really need to keep me here any longer!” Kenshiro smiled.

…So he’d even rushed that? Did he really have so little concern for himself, or was he just over-confident in his health, now that he could fight again, that he felt that all the tests and precautions were nothing but a waste of time?

“…I thought you’d be happier.” Kenshiro’s smile dropped rapidly.

“I… am just concerned that if you rush your departure, it may cause a problem to be overlooked and cause you more harm in the future…” Sakura admitted.

“Ah… haha!” Kenshiro laughed, a little too patronisingly for her tastes, “Really, my darling, I’ve told you, you shouldn’t worry about me so much.”

“He, err, he certainly looked, erm… healthy to me!” Kiyotaka also tried to ease her fears, “And I’m sure no doctor would ever allow a patient to leave without being absolutely confident that they were healthy enough to do so at the time! I mean, imagine how guilty they’d feel if they let someone go too early and then they immediately got sick again or maybe even died because of it!”

There was an awkward silence at Kiyotaka’s statement, as a pang of guilt flashed across the doctor’s face and Kenshiro glared at him…

How frustrating, the doctor was obviously not happy about him leaving even earlier than scheduled, but even Kiyotaka’s oblivious warning was not enough to convince him to say so… What had Kenshiro done to make the man fear upsetting him so badly?

“Exactly. I’ve been given the all-clear to leave, so you have no reason to worry, Sakura.” Kenshiro used Kiyotaka’s argument to try to assure her. “But, if you’re still worried that I’m not strong enough, I suppose I’ll have to convince you by beating him.” He looked derisively at Kiyotaka, before heading over to a corner of the room where his own protective gear and shinai had been prepared.

“Well… I don’t intend to make it easy for you!” Kiyotaka warned him, assertively.

It was true that he certainly appeared to be doing his utmost to learn Kenshiro’s style before the fight started. Although what exactly he thought he could learn by focusing on how he donned his protective gear was beyond her…

“Kiyotaka, it would probably be more beneficial to warm up before the fight…” Sakura suggested

“Ahgh… O-of course!” Kiyotaka jumped up, his face turning slightly red as he tore his eyes away from Kenshiro and starting stretching.

…Why the embarrassment? He hadn’t been ‘checking out’ Kenshiro, as Hina would have put it, had he? Kenshiro was certainly attractive enough, and teenagers were susceptible to such moments of distraction… But it was hard to imagine Kiyotaka of all people entertaining such thoughts…

But regardless of whether he had been letting his mind wander while watching Kenshiro get dressed, he appeared to be focused on the task at hand once Kenshito was fully dressed in his protective gear, a lightweight set that seemed to be built with a focus on making movements easier for the wearer, as opposed to proper protection, like the set that Kiyotaka had chosen for himself. Another sign that Kenshiro had concerns over his stamina…

They faced each other on the mat in the centre of the room and bowed, Kiyotaka going for a deep, overly-respectful one while Kenshiro barely tilted his head in return. Then they both stared at each other cautiously before Kenshiro moved to strike what looked like a weak point on the side of Kiyotaka’s waist, which he quickly managed to block with his own sword, causing Kenshiro to make an attempt at a headstrike, which Kiyotaka also managed to move to block…

The fight continued in a similar vein for a while, Kenshiro making all the offensive moves while Kiyotaka barely managed to keep up his defences in time to block them all, making it appear to be a slow battle of attrition, where whoever ran out of stamina first would lose… and Kenshiro already appeared to be gasping for breath and slowing his movements… But even with his illness, he shouldn’t have lost energy that quickly…

He must be attempting to lure Kiyotaka into an attack… but luckily Kiyotaka had either seen through the ruse, or did not have the confidence to try for a hit, instead choosing to take advantage of the slower pace to catch his own breath and recover while continuing to study Kenshiro’s style.

“You… had an opening there…” Kenshiro told him breathlessly, after a third attempt to look clumsy had failed to elicit an attack from the hall monitor.

“…Did I? I can’t tell between your attacks and feints yet…” Kiyotaka admitted, moving his shinai to block yet another blow.

“So you’re going to just block like a coward all match?” Kenshiro tried to taunt him, “An honourable man would have at least tried to hit me by now!”

“There’s nothing cowardly or dishonourable in ensuring that I’m not giving you easy points!” Kiyotaka countered.

“So be it. If it’s like that… Time out!” Kenshiro demanded.

“Ah… very well!” Kiyotaka agreed, taking the opportunity to start breathing deeply while Kenshiro headed off of the mat and began removing his protective gear… presumably to make it easier for him to launch an all-out offensive to beat his way past Kiyotaka’s defence.

But was that really necessary? Such light armour should not have obstructed him in the slightest. Was his stamina truly that poor…? Or had he noticed Kiyotaka’s distraction from earlier and hoping that removing the extra layer would cause his mind to wander again?

“Hss… haa… hss… haa… ahh… haa… haa…” Regardless of whether that was Kenshiro’s intention or not, it certainly seemed to be the effect, as Kiyotaka’s carefully measured, deep breaths quickly turned into shallow pants as the handsome man in front of them gracefully started to remove parts of his clothing and then stretched his body out teasingly before returning to the mat.

“Ready to start?” Kenshiro moved back into a fighting stance.

“Err… Of course!” Kiyotaka jumped and turned red yet again, quickly bowing to hide his embarrassment, while Kenshiro merely glared at him in return.

Kiyotaka had barely got back into his own stance when Kenshiro launched himself at him, forcing him to awkwardly shift positions to block the strike at the very last moment, and set him off on the wrong foot to begin with. But even with Kenshiro moving at a faster speed, he was quickly able to recover and start warding off the attacks more competently, and they were soon settled in a rhythm once again…

At least, until Kiyotaka appeared to become too settled into the rhythm and his eyes drifted down to the small patch of chest visible at the top of Kenshiro’s gi…

“DO!” Kenshiro took advantage of his distraction to thrust the shinai deep into Kiyotaka’s stomach, causing the hall monitor to double forward… even the thick protective gear wouldn’t have helped much against a strike that hard. And Kenshiro didn’t stop at just the single hit…

“Men…! Do…! Do…! KATO!” A hit to the head, one on each side and a hit on his wrist that caused Kiyotaka to drop his shinai altogether, which was when Kenshiro finally stopped his onslaught and allowed Kiyotaka time to recover… although whether he would do so after such a pummelling was another question altogether…

Stupid, stupid, stupid! What had Kiyotaka been thinking, letting himself get distracted like that in the middle of a fight!? He needed to stop thinking about how Mondo would look fighting like Kenshiro, or taking his clothing of like Kenshiro, or wearing a loose gi like Kenshiro and start focusing his attention on Kenshiro!

…Otherwise he’d be lucky not to be debating Togami tomorrow in a full body cast! And, even worse, he’d have completely failed at completing Sakura’s request!

Kiyotaka forced himself to ignore the pain around his waist as he picked up his sword and pulled himself back up to his feet…

“…Are you sure you can still fight…?” His opponent was looking down on him…

“Yes, I can still fight!” Kiyotaka told him, “And I’ll keep fighting until the end of the match, regardless of how many more points you score!”

“We aren’t keep a score.” Kenshiro corrected him, “The end of the match will be when one of us stops fighting.”

“Oh…” That wasn’t a scoring method Kiyotaka had ever heard of, but Sakura had mentioned that her boyfriend usually fought in unofficial matches so… “I expect it’s going to be a long fight, then!”

He looked irritated at that… but then, after that shoddy performance Kiyotaka had just given, it was no wonder if Kenshiro thought fighting him was a waste of his time. It would probably be of no benefit at all for him to be training against someone whose skills were clearly inferior to his own…

But he had been the one Sakura had asked to test the extent of Kenshiro’s recovery! He’d have to keep fighting as long as he possibly could, in order to convince her that he was fine and she didn’t have to worry about him leaving the hospital today!

So when the fighting resumed this time, he kept his mind focused on what Kenshiro was doing with his sword, only just about managing to keep up with the man and prevent himself from receiving another set of hits like that one before…

At least, that’s how it was at the beginning… but was it just him, or was it starting to get easier? It was starting to feel like he had a little more time to get his defensive stances ready before the strikes collided with them… was Kenshiro getting tired and slow? Or had Kiyotaka picked up his style fast enough that he was starting to recognise where the hits were going to come? Or was this yet another ruse…?

“Hah… You’re not bad, I’ll give you that…” Kenshiro muttered, as Kiyotaka managed to push him backwards after a hit… if he’d been just a bit better prepared, he might even have been able to follow it up with one of his own… Sickness or not, Kiyotaka really must have become a better fighter to be holding his own again the strongest man in the world!

“I have Sakura to thank for that!” Kiyotaka admitted, “She’s an absolutely wonderf…”

“Tch…TSUKI!” Kiyotaka realised moments too late that he’d let his guard down once again, and Kenshiro was taking advantage of it mercilessly as the sword jammed right into his throat, the sharp pain cutting off his airway as he dropped to the floor in shock… How had that hurt so much…?

He looked down… oh, right. His neck guard was broken… But… hadn’t they said no Tsuki? So… Why had Ochida hit his neck… and… was he about to keep hitting him…?

Another bout of anger from Kenshiro, so much so that he’d struck Kiyotaka with enough force to snap the neck guard from his helmet. But all Kiyotaka had been about to say was that Sakura was a good teacher… what was wrong with that? She’d trained many people before going to Hope’s Peak and Kenshiro had always been proud of her for it… He couldn’t possibly be bitter that she’d been able to continue her training while he languished in hospital, could he? He’d been so insistent that she do exactly that when he’d handed his title over to her…

So why was he now so delighted to have brought her student, and friend, down to knees and cowering in panic?

“…Is he having a panic attack?” Kenshiro asked, as Kiyotaka curled up on the floor, covering his head with his arms.

“I expect as much… Do you recall me telling you about the reason he gave up sparring in his youth?” Sakura asked, “After he saved my life from that Murasame member?”

“Hmph… Anyone could have done that…” Kenshiro huffed uncharacteristically, “I don’t see what you see in him…”

“Well… he might not have been the most naturally gifted fighter, but he is eager to learn and diligent in his training…” Sakura told him, “With time, he could become an exceptional fighter, even though it is only a side-goal for him.”

Kenshiro only looked all the more annoyed at her explanation, as if the mere act of her complimenting Kiyotaka had annoyed him, but why? Kiyotaka had not done anything that should have invoked his wrath that much, and he usually trusted Sakura’s judgement of other people. But now it was almost as if he disliked Kiyotaka because Sakura liked him…

Oh… the damn fool! Actively hurting her friend because he was jealous… and it was not just Kiyotaka either… the first person he’d hurt had been when he’d seen Kiyotaka opening the door for her and the second was when Sakura mentioned helping him get dressed… Did he think Sakura had brought him here to see which one was stronger, with the intention of choosing the victor or some equally ridiculous nonsense…?

“Ahh… Sakura…?” Kiyotaka’s voice cautiously drifted up from the floor, where Kiyotaka was blinking at his surroundings in some surprise. “You, err… really think that?”

“Yes. I would not have said so otherwise.” Sakura told him.

“I see!” Kiyotaka picked his shinai back up and started to struggle back to his feet, “In that case, I’d best do my best to live up to that then!”

“You’re still going to keep fighting?” Kenshiro asked, irritably. “You know, I might end up breaking more than your padding if you don’t have the sense to stay down…”

That was less of a warning and more of a blatant threat… Kenshiro was getting desperate… If Kiyotaka would only be brave enough to face him one more time…

“Well, then it’s a good thing we’re already in a hospital!” Kiyotaka announced, getting into his stance for what would likely be the final time, despite Kenshiro’s angry glare... or perhaps because he’d failed to notice it.

Either Kenshiro was going to hurt Kiyotaka again, or he was going to push himself to the point of having a heart failure while trying… or both could happen. Regardless, this was going to be an ugly fight… “I do not think I need to see the outcome of this…” Sakura told them. Perhaps that would convince Kenshiro that Kiyotaka was not there so she could determine whether he was a better suitor for her than Kenshiro. And it would probably be wise to warn the staff of what was likely to happen before it did…

WHAT!? What did Sakura mean by that!? Did she really think Kenshiro was going to break him!? Was she leaving because she didn’t want to see one of her friends getting beaten to a pulp by her own boyfriend!?

…He didn’t get a chance to ask before she walked out of the door they had originally come through, worry plastered all over her face as she left.

“Well, in that case, I won’t be using this…” Kiyotaka turned back around to see Kenshiro putting his sword back with the rest of his gear, perhaps he was giving Kiyotaka more of a chance! “…I fight better without it.” He added, turning back around to face Kiyotaka with an almost irritable look…

“I see…” Kiyotaka gulped. This was going to be very painful, wasn’t it…?

“Unless you’d rather not fight?” Kenshiro suggested, “We could even tell Sakura you tried a few more times, but then I won…”

“What!? NO!” Kiyotaka readied his stance again. “I’m not lying to her!”

“Have it your way then…” He sighed… and then suddenly raced forward…

Ahh! He didn’t recognise that stance at all! And he’d never tried defending against unarmed attacks with a shinai… would it be easier to drop it and fight unarmed himself? But he was far worse at fighting without his sword and it was too late to think because Kenshiro was right in front of him and…

“C-uurghh!” Kiyotaka coughed as all the air was expelled from his stomach by the foot that had just been buried deep into it, even more so that the thrust from Kenshiro’s sword before… he’d be lucky if he could still do a proper sit-up over the next few days… and it didn’t stop there either, as suddenly he could feel his head being pushed downwards towards Kenshiro’s knee…

He heard a crack and the world spun for a moment before he found himself able to stand back up and see more clearly… which meant that the protective covering of his Kendo mask had been snapped off and oh god Kenshiro was about to punch him in the face! He couldn’t debate Togami with a black eye!

Kiyotaka barely managed to bring his arm up in time to block the punch, but it still meant the he got punched hard in the forearm of his writing hand (Thank goodness he had Chiaki to transcribe his lessons for him!), and found himself stumbling backwards at the sheer force of the blow…

Was this really what he considered ‘sparring level’, force-wise? Or was he actively trying to hurt Kiyotaka?

“…Are you wishing you’d paid more attention to me stances in that fight you watched, instead of ogling me?”

Oh no… he’d noticed that? Was that why he was hitting so hard? Had he been offended by it? “Err… I… I wasn’t… Ooof!”

Kiyotaka’s explanation was cut off by another kick to the stomach, which sent him toppling onto his backside…

“It’d be better for you and everyone else if you’d just admit you’re gay…” Kenshiro quickly closed the distance between them…

“It’s not that simple!” Kiyotaka tried to defend himself, “For starters, my boyfriend doesn’t…”

“Who are you calling your BOYfriend!?” Kenshiro angrily dragged him by his body guard up to his knees with one hand and pulled back the other into a fist…

“Mondo Oowada!” Kiyotaka hastily answered… anything to stop himself getting punched in the face!

“…What?” Kenshiro blinked and let him go, shocked. “The gang leader…?”

“Yes…” Kiyotaka agreed, relieved that he was apparently safe for the moment… except… oh no… he’d PROMISED Mondo that it wouldn’t get out yet! “Err… but please don’t tell anyone! He… well, neither of us want everyone knowing about it! Not yet, anyway, otherwise we might end up ruined! Once we’re older and in a stronger position we’ll let people know, but…!”

“Okay… I don’t… really care…” Kenshiro was gasping for breath, and had started sweating profusely. “As long as it’s not Sakura…”

…What!? “But… Sakura’s a girl!” How did he not know that!? They’d been dating for years!

“I know… but… there’s some… guys… who…” Kenshiro’s breathlessness was only getting worse, and he was clutching at his chest… “Who… ahh-KGHH! Kuhh! Kuhh!”

Kiyotaka almost fell backwards again in shock as Kenshiro suddenly fell to his knees and started breathing in and coughing deeply… and painfully, from the look of it… and then suddenly there was a loud beeping noise from the computer that the doctor had been looking at…

“Nurses to training room 4! Stat!” The doctor ordered into a microphone attached to his coat, before rushing over towards Kenshiro…

Kiyotaka barely had time to scramble out of the way before the room was suddenly filled with people carrying some sort of machine on a trolley, who started quickly removing the martial artist’s gi and placing some pads of his chest…

Oh gods… he’d given Sakura’s boyfriend a heart attack! So much for him not hurting him! Should he have given up earlier? Was this why Sakura had left!? But why hadn’t she said so, he’d have happily conceded the fight if it meant avoiding this!

…Suddenly Kiyotaka was being picked up by his arms and carried out through the door, too exhausted to do anything other than look up at the person doing the carrying…

“Ah… Sakura!” Kiyotaka cried, as the door shut behind them and blocked out the sounds of people shouting orders he didn’t understand at each other, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise this was going to happen! If I’d realised it was even a possibility, I’d have stopped fighting when you left…!”

“I know… that is why I didn’t tell you so.” Sakura replied, looking away from him at the floor.

“…What? You… wanted me to give your boyfriend a heart attack!?” Kiyotaka cried, “WHY!? Are you… trying to kill him!?”

“No, of course not…” Sakura flinched, “He has had these sorts of attacks before and survived them…”

“But still, why take the risk!?” Kiyotaka asked… this didn’t make any sense!

“Because part of the reason he survives is because the very worst of them have been within this hospital, where he receives help quickly…” Sakura explained, “Outside of here, it would take more time for help to reach him, and it would take more time to recover from such an attack, and then the damage may even be permanent…”

“But… couldn’t you just tell him not to leave the hospital!?” Kiyotaka asked, “Instead of risking…”

“He did not listen to me when I tried…” Sakura sighed, “He thought, because he was only testing himself against people who were quick to surrender, that he would be perfectly capable to fight in tournaments outside of here. And that my requests were just me being worrisome out of love for him…”

“Oh…” So… she’d needed to do something drastic to make him realise he wasn’t as healthy as he thought… “So you set him against me as a warning…”

“Indeed… I needed someone who could persevere against his attacks until his stamina failed him…”

“Couldn’t you have told me that, though?” Kiyotaka asked her, “After all, if I’d known, I might have been on the lookout for the symptoms and pointed it out to him before it got that bad…”

“…I do not think you would have been able to do that, in practise.” Sakura told him, “It would have been one more thing distracting you from the fight, and Kenshiro has injured you enough as it is…”

“I’m not that injured!” Kiyotaka assured her, “I just took a few blows here and there… and maybe my stomach’s going to be a bit sore tomorrow… and… I’m feeling a bit… lightheaded…”

Actually, now that he thought about it, he was rapidly beginning to hurt in several places and felt as if he was going to throw up…

“…I expect you’re having an adrenaline rush… Once it wears off you are going to feel a lot worse than you do now…” Kiyotaka had to admit that Sakura was probably right, as he was already starting to feel the dull throb of pain in his arm and sides… “I organised a bed for you… you should try to rest…”

“Alright…” Kiyotaka knew better than to argue with her about his physical limitations, after all… “You’ve known I was going to lose this badly before I even started…”

“No… I did not realise until during the fight that Kenshiro would hurt you so badly…” Sakura corrected him, “I organised the room while I was warning the nurses that Kenshiro was likely about to have an attack…”

“Ah… so that was how they had the equipment ready so quickly!” He realised, “I thought this was just a very good hospital!”

“Well… It may not be quite that good… but I am sure you will still be well looked after this afternoon and evening…” Sakura assured him, in a tone that sounded like a farewell…

“Ah… so you’re planning to go stay with Kenshiro and see how he is?” Kiyotaka guessed, to which she agreed. “Well… please give him my apologies for hurting him and… if I insulted him as well!”

“I will… although I think he owes you more apologies than you owe him…” Sakura pointed out, “As do I, for having you fight someone who wanted to hurt you…”

“Well… you did it for me, after Valentine’s Day!” Kiyotaka reminded her. “It’s only fair I return the favour!”

“…You have an odd sense of fairness…” Sakura sighed in amusement. “But I am glad I have you to rely on at times…”

Kiyotaka couldn’t help but blush at the compliment… “Thank you! I feel the same way about you!”

“Hmm…” Sakura just hummed happily, “Ah, I believe this is your room…” She added, as they came to a particular door, “Rest well!”

“I’ll do my best!” Kiyotaka agreed before she left… although he wasn’t sure he actually felt tired enough to sleep… at least not until a nurse had helped him get out of what was left of his protective gear… after that he felt more tired… maybe he’d just have a quick nap and then study…

“…He’s sleeping, but you can see him now…” One of the nurses finally uttered the words Sakura had been praying to hear for the last few hours...

She quickly headed into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible, and looked down at Kenshiro with a mixture of relief and guilt…

Relief because this now meant that there would be no more talk of letting him take part in competitions outside of the hospital and it’s life-saving equipment, and guilt because he was now heavily hooked up to several machines… wires to measure his blood levels and pressure and the rhythm and strength of his heart. A needle in his hand attached to an IV drip. An oxygen mask covering his face…

All things keeping him tied to his bed… a position he absolutely hated. So much so that he’d risked his own health to get as far away from it as possible…

Had Sakura done the right thing…? Was it possible that he might have been perfectly fine in the tournament, without Kiyotaka and what had appeared to be a threat that she was planning to leave him? Should she have trusted his own judgement on his limitations?

But, if she could have trusted that, he wouldn’t have fought to the point where he put himself in this position regardless… So she had probably made the right decision… But it still felt selfish, having pushed him over the edge on purpose, just to ease her own mind… She could only sit holding his hand for now, and hoped that he’d forgive her once he was awake…

…She must have started to sleep at some point, because her first sign that Kenshiro had begun to wake up was when he squeezing her hand… a sure sign that he was fully awake.

“Kenshiro…” She looked towards him with some trepidation as to how he’d react…

He lifted the mask briefly to smile up at her and talk… a good sign… “…Did I die?”

“…Do you think I’d be here if you had?” He always specifically said he’d be furious with her if she tried to ‘follow him to heaven’…

“I couldn’t tell if it was you, or an angel that looked like you…” She should have seen that one coming. But it would appear he was not upset with her, at least. “…And I wasn’t sure you’d wait for me to wake up…”

So he had been jealous of Kiyotaka… “I am surprised you did not notice that Kiyotaka would be more interested in you than myself…”

“Of course I noticed that… But it didn’t mean you did.” He pointed out, “And I thought perhaps he was using you as some sort of… compromise… Someone like that wouldn’t have deserved you.”

So he’d been almost as furious at the apparent slight to Sakura’s femininity as he had at the thought of losing her… but neither had been things he should have been concerned with. After all… “I believe Kiyotaka was merely being chivalrous because I am a woman… and I never had any intention of leaving you…” She kissed his hand to try and strengthen the message… “I apologise that I failed to make that clear to you…”

“So, you were just worried that if I’d faced someone as stubborn as him away from the hospital…” Kenshiro gestured to the machines, “I’d be like this for a lot longer than I will be this time…”

“Indeed...” Sakura sighed, “I am sorry that I did this so… drastically. But you did not listen when I tried to talk to you about it… And I know you do not like this place and want your freedom and opportunity to grow back, but you will have neither if you disregard your health in such a manner…”

“You’re right… expect it’s not fighting and my freedom I miss... I miss seeing you.” He admitted, “You inspire me… whenever you’re with me, I can feel myself growing healthier again… you’re better for my health than all the doctors, nurses and machines in this building!”

“Kenshiro…” Even now, he insisted on treating her like some sort of purifying force of nature…

“I know you think I’m just being romantic… but I really think I’d recover faster if I could see you more often!” He admitted, “I wouldn’t even have to start fighting again… I could train at a more careful pace until I’m stronger… it’s not like you’d let me overdo it...”

…It did sound appealing in a way, her and Kenshiro living together, being able to focus on training, and his recovery, together… “Perhaps I could leave Hope’s Peak for that…”

“Hhgnn!” He took a deeper breath from his tank this time, “What? No, you can’t leave Hope’s Peak! I meant I’d come to you!”

Sakura shook her head sadly, “The school is not open to visitors…”

“Then I’d buy a place nearby… you could walk home each night…”

“Hope’s Peak’s students are required to stay in the school during night time, unless we have permission otherwise.” Sakura explained, “My being allowed to visit you so frequently is a special case, out of sympathy for your being in the hospital.”

“So… how often do the other students see their families?” He asked.

“A two-week holiday at Christmas, another two-week one during spring and then 6 weeks for the summer…” Sakura summarised.

“So… If I’d been discharged… I might have seen you even less than I do now?”

“Unless I’d have left Hope’s Peak…”

“You’re not leaving Hope’s Peak…” He reiterated, “You need to be the best… to keep my title safe until I recover…”

“Hmm… And how do you intend to recover without your…” What sort of wording would he use…? “Radiant angel of healing with you, to shine her heavenly light upon you?”

“Ahh… I’m finally getting through to you!” He smiled sincerely, as if she’d merely been stating facts and not joking about him… “…I suppose I might actually have to listen to that doctor, and let them do all those tests they want to do…” He sighed, “And learn to recognise when I’m pushing myself too far…”

“…Do you promise to do that?” Sakura asked… she would worry about him far less if she could be sure he would be careful about stepping too far over his limitations…

“Of course… After all, I need to recover enough to leave in three years, don’t I?”

“That would be convenient, yes…” Sakura agreed.

“Then I promise… so long as you promise to keep visiting me as much as you can…” He smiled, holding up his free hand for her to hold, “I still need some of Caduceus’ light to shine upon me, and as I’ve yet to meet any of his other angels…”

Really, how many different ridiculous ways did this man have to describe her?

…It would be nice to have the time to find out. “Of course, I promise.”

“And… so shall I, then…” He said contentedly, as his breathing began to shallow. “…I’m… sorry. I think I may… be about to sleep.”

“Then you should let yourself rest.” Sakura told him. She was lucky he’d woken up in time to talk to her at all…

“And sorry… to make you… lug your friend… back… to Hope’s Peak…” He murmured, “…Shouldn’t have… done that…”

…An odd way to apologise for hurting someone unnecessarily… as if the inconvenience to her as the reason he shouldn’t have done it… But she could tell he probably meant it as an apology to Kiyotaka as well… “…And he sends his apologies for giving you a heart attack.”

“No problem…” Kenshiro smiled, “It did me… a favour…”

It certainly had… Kenshiro was now sleeping safe in the hospital, where she could be sure she would be able to see him much more often than her friends got to see any of their loved ones… Kiyotaka had helped her enough that she would be more than glad to ‘lug him back to Hope’s Peak’…

Although, she suspected that it would be a difficult enough task getting him to let her carry even as much as his shinai for him…

(Sunday, September 16^th 2012)

Kiyotaka gritted his teeth as he and Sakura made their way through the airport… He’d ended up sleeping all the way through to the morning, and then waking up feeling so stiff that he may as well have been one of Mondo’s carvings! And even after spending the morning stretching and massaging his muscles as much as he could stand, the damage Kenshiro had left him with was still making every step painful and difficult.

…He just hoped people could tell he was wincing in pain, rather than scowling in anger. And he’d have to try and avoid it at the debate tonight as well…

“…Are you certain you do not need help with your bag?” Sakura asked him once again, as they approached the security gates.

“Of course! I’m fine! It’s just a few bruises!” Kiyotaka tried to assure her, “Anyway, ladies first!” He added, gesturing to the trays they were required to put their belongings into. After all, if she was going to get stuck having another pat-down it wouldn’t matter that it took him a while to get his boots off.

He was slightly quicker this time, knowing in advance what the procedure was, and having tied his boots slightly looser than usual to make up for it, but he still ended up letting another couple of people go between himself and Sakura before he was able to head through the metal detector and pick up his clothing and… where had his rucksack and shinai gone!?

“Kiyotaka, here!” Sakura called from behind him while, thankfully, carrying both his bags and her own.

“Ah! You got through quicker this time!” Kiyotaka realised as he finished putting on his blazer and walked over to take his things off of her.

“Indeed. I made sure to wear a different bra style today.” Sakura explained, turning away from him and headed towards the departure gates just before he managed to catch up with her.

“Err… right!” Kiyotaka grit his teeth again as he sped up to catch up with her, “And I can take my things back now!”

“Do not concern yourself, I can manage...” She smiled slightly with amusement.

“But… but they’re my things!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“But you carried mine on the way here.” Sakura countered, “And so now I can carry yours… especially as you are injured.”

“I’m not that injured! I can still manage to carry my own belongings!” Kiyotaka insisted.

“But it is far easier for you not to, correct?” Sakura asked.

“Well…” Admittedly, keeping up with her was easier now… “Perhaps! But… I still shouldn’t be making you do it for me!”

“Why not?” Sakura asked, “It was my fault you’re injured as badly as you are. It seems like a fair penance…”

“Yes… but… hmrmm…” She had a point, but he still didn’t want her lugging around his things for him!

“Let me ask you this… would you mind my carrying the bags so much if I were Oowada?”

Would he mind if she was Mondo? What difference would that make? There was no real difference between the two of them, aside from their gender… which would just mean he was forcing another man to carry his things for him instead of a woman, which would be… well, it would be slightly more understandable, wouldn’t it? One man wincing and the other carrying his things just looked like one friend helping out the other, but an injured man having to get a woman to carry it for him would be considered a bit… wimpy, right? Even if Sakura was far stronger than him and it made more sense to let her carry his things than it would to let Mondo do it, it was still the sort of thing people would judge him for, wasn’t it?

“…No, I suppose I wouldn’t mind Mondo carrying my bags for me.” Kiyotaka admitted, “And I realise it’s irrational, but may I please carry my own things, at least?”

“Well… if you insist.” Sakura relented surprisingly quickly and handed back his rucksack and shinai.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka smiled as he started to sling them onto his back, “Now, which way are we headed?”

“There.” Sakura pointed at a set of seats no more than 15 yards away from where they were standing…

“I see…” Kiyotaka tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. She’d ended up practically carrying his things all the way for him regardless…

Kiyotaka glared in annoyance at the short distance he had left to travel for a moment before awkwardly making his way over to the furthest pair of seats possible. He was barely coping with the suitcase full of books he’d brought with him, but if it truly bothered him that much to let her carry it she would just have to go a little slower through the airport…

Although his senses of chivalry and politeness were bordering on the ridiculous this weekend… even more so than usual. Even as he sat down, he seemed straighter and more on edge than he should be.

“…Is something worrying you?”

“No… no, not at all!” He seemed almost confused that she had asked, “I mean, I suppose I’m a little nervous about the debate tonight, but I’ve prepared well so… I should look alright during that!”

“Look alright?” Sakura made sure she’d heard him correctly, “I thought a debate was more about how you sound?”

“Ah… yes, of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, “I just meant ‘look’ in the sense of how everyone will judge my performances overall!”

“Hmm…” That wasn’t phrasing he’d usually use… He usually spoke about doing well, or acting appropriately… Except… “You seem to be insisting on being chivalrous this weekend… as if you’re worried about how you look to those around us.”

“You think so?” Kiyotaka considering it anxiously, “But I always strive to be polite and look… appropriate, at least! Don’t I?”

“Indeed, however, you seem to have done it… even more so the last two days.” Sakura explained, trying to remember when exactly he’d started it… “Ever since… you spoke to your father.”

“Oh…” He seemed to realised something, “…I suppose that makes sense…”

“How so?”

“Well… Father was talking about how people judge each other on how they look and… I suppose I wanted to avoid being judged poorly!” He explained, with a false brightness in his words, “Especially as there’s already enough reason for people to do that…”

…So, he was worried about how his relationship with Oowada would be perceived… and trying to make up for it by being all the more rigid and upstanding, even though… “I see no reason for anyone to judge you poorly.”

“Err… well, hmm… I was talking about… ah, you know… what happened at my…” Kiyotaka tried to explain what she’d already worked out.

“I understand what you are talking about.” Sakura stopped him, “I merely mean to say that it is not a reason to disrespect anyone.”

“But… people do…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“A number of people do. A number that is growing smaller over time.” Sakura corrected him, hoping she’d understood the discussion they’d had about it months ago. “And those who do are… foolish.”

“You think so?” Kiyotaka looked somewhat happier as he thought over her words. “…Thank you!”

“You are welcome.”

They fell into comfortable silence after that, with Kiyotaka getting yet another book out of his case and Sakura taking the opportunity to meditate while Kiyotaka had found a small measure of peace for himself...

*We apologise, but flight number EJ-583 has been delayed for approximately one hour.*

…Which was likely to be lost after that announcement…

“That… that’s our flight, isn’t it?” Kiyotaka asked, anxiously.

“Indeed.” Sakura sighed.

“And… we only had an hour between this flight landing and our next one taking off, didn’t we?” His eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed as he slowly began to figure out the reality of their situation.

“Yes.” Sakura agreed.

“So… what happens if this one is so late that we don’t have time to catch the next one!?” His voice rose in barely held panic…

Barely held panic that she was unable to do anything about, considering… “I do not know. This is the first time this has happened to me.”

“O-oh!” Kiyotaka gulped slightly and looked around the waiting area… “Well… I’ll ask at the information desk and see if they can tell us!” He quickly stood and crossed the short distance there, then fidgeted until the woman stood behind the desk looked up from her computer…

“Sorry for the wait. Can I help you, sir?”

“Ah… that’s no problem! But I was wondering… my friend and I have a second flight booked that’s due to leave an hour after this one was due to land, so I was wondering what happens if we land after that plane leaves?”

“That depends on your flights… May I check your boarding pass?”

“Of course!” Kiyotaka quickly fished it out of his pocket and she checked the details.

“Well, because both flights are with us, we’ll book you a ticket on the next flight available which is… this time tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!?” Kiyotaka cried… quite likely in both senses of the word, or so Sakura assumed from the reaction of the clerk. “So… we’d be stuck in the airport overnight?”

“Well… we’d provide you with free rooms and meals to make up for the inconvenience! But… there’s no other planes going to your destination until tomorrow.”

“Oh! So… we won’t be having to try and sleep on the chairs!” Kiyotaka surprisingly managed to laugh, “That doesn’t sound too bad…”

“Alright. Do you want me to book it all for you now, or would you prefer to try and run to your next flight?”

“Run!?”

“Yes… if this flight isn’t delayed any further, then you might have just enough time to run to the next one before the gate closed.”

“Hrmn…” Kiyotaka had a brief mental quandary over whether he would rather be late or run in a crowded place… “I’ll try to run for it! Thank you for your advice though!” He bowed before returning to his seat and turning to face her… “Err… unless you’d have preferred to stay overnight…?” He asked, guiltily.

“You’ve gone out of your way to help me enough this weekend. I can manage a short run.” Sakura assured him.

“Thank you.” He nodded appreciatively, “Would you mind looking after my bag while I ring Mondo and Makoto and let them know I might not make the debate tonight?”

“Of course not.” That way Hina would find out what had happened if she didn’t arrive back at the school as well…

Kiyotaka left, which left her surrounded by the other travellers, most of whom were either quietly muttering irritably amongst themselves, or getting up and heading off to get refreshments or follow Kiyotaka to the phones…

Well… this was an unfortunate turn of events. She could only hope they would be able to run quickly enough to catch the flight back to Hope’s Peak in time for Kiyotaka and Togami’s debate.

But at the very least, Kiyotaka had taken the delay well. She would have expected him to react more poorly to the news, but he seemed to be staying reasonably calm and positive about it instead of panicking and getting upset. He truly had grown over the last year… Had this happened a year ago he’d have likely shouted and acted as if it was an insult by the staff…

“What does it mean it’s delayed by an hour!? How do they expect me to catch my next flight if they don’t even land before it takes off!”

…Somewhat like the same politician from before, who had just arrived at the gate and see the delay posted on the board… As if the delay was not upsetting enough without listening to him endlessly complain about it…

A brief discussion with his aides caused him to storm over to the woman at the information desk and rap his fist on the counter to get her attention… “What is the meaning of this!? Why is my flight delayed!?”

“Ah… I’m very sorry, sir! But there was a problem with the plane that needed to be sorted, so it’s now re-fuelling before…”

“Well, can’t you do anything to hurry it up!? At this rate I’ll miss my next flight!”

“Ah… I’m sorry, sir, we can’t speed up the re-fuelling… But if you could let me see your boarding pass, I could…”

“Why do you want to that!? You’re not letting me on the plane!” He stopped her from answering the question he was asking. “What sort of customer service is this!? You caused me this problem, so why aren’t you doing anything to fix it!?”

“I’m trying to, sir, but…”

“Well ‘trying’ isn’t good enough! I didn’t get where I am to day by just ‘trying’ to do things, I…”

She had no intention of watching this man harangue a worker who was unlikely to be allowed to speak up for herself…

“What she can do to help you will depend on which flight you are catching next.” Sakura told him, firmly enough to stop him for a moment. “That is why she asked you for your boarding pass.”

“Well… you should have just said that!” He snapped, gesturing for one of his aides to hand the woman his pass…

…As satisfying as it would have been, Sakura decided it was not wise to cause an argument by pointing out that she hadn’t said that because he hadn’t given her a chance to…

“Well… if you did miss your flight, the next one won’t be going out until the same time tomorrow…”

“WHAT!? You meant you only have one flight a day!? That’s ridiculous! I might as well go to one of your competitors!”

“Umm… I already checked, and they don’t have any flights there either…”

“…Is that true?” The politician turned to one of his aides, who started looking it up on his phone and quickly agreed. “That’s ridiculous! So you’re telling me I can’t get back to work for an entire day!? Do you really think I can afford to ignore my responsibilities and sit around in an airport for that long!?”

“Well… you might still be able to catch your next flight, if someone runs to the gate in time…”

Hmm… neither of his aides looked particularly fit, but they probably could manage the run…

“I’m not sending my staff off without me, just because you messed up!”

“Ah... sorry! But it doesn’t have to be one of your group!” The woman turned to point to the side. “That schoolboy with the boots is catching the same flight as you, and he’s already said he’s going to run. If he gets there in time it will delay the flight enough for you to walk over to it!”

“…Hrmmn…” The politician scowled… was he remembering how foolish Kiyotaka had made him look at their last encounter, perhaps? If he was, he showed no sign of it as he stomped over to blissfully unaware Kiyotaka… “You there! What’s your name, boy?”

“Ah… me!?” Kiyotaka smiled with excitement at having been spoken to by someone so influential, “My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, sir! It’s an honour to…”

“Ishimaru!? Tch! I thought you looked familiar…” The politician rolled his eyes and turned away from Kiyotaka, leaving him stood with an outstretched hand and shocked disappointment seeping onto his face. “Can’t trust him! Probably just like that idiot Torano…”

“Sir, I assure you, I am NOTHING like my grandfather!” Kiyotaka’s outstretched hand clenched into a fist and his disappointment hardened into anger at that. “Whatever it was you were going to entrust me with, I promise you on my honour as a man that I will see it done!”

The politician turned back to look at him, and Kiyotaka held his gaze determinedly.

“…Well, I suppose I’ve not got any other options!” He huffed. “You’re running to the gate for your next flight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir!” Kiyotaka saluted eagerly.

“Then make sure that flight doesn’t leave without me!” The older man ordered.

“Of course, if I get there on time I’ll be glad to let them know you’re also…”

“I didn’t say ‘if you get there on time’ I said ‘make sure you do it’!” He snapped.

“Well… I’ll certainly try my best!” Kiyotaka assured him, “But it’ll depend on this flight, and…”

“Hah! Blaming others, just like him!” The politician sneered and turned away again.

“I’m just telling you the truth! I can’t make promises about something I can’t control! That was something else my grandfather shouldn’t have done, wasn’t it!?” Kiyotaka argued, “The best I can say is that if I can exit this plane at least five minutes before our next gate closes, then I’ll stop the next one from taking off without you!”

Five minutes? Hmm… It would hurt, but it was doable for him… unless he was going to be foolish and insist on trying to carry his own bags while he did it as well…

“Well… we’ll see then.” The politician eyes him suspiciously for a moment before turning away and finding a group of seats for himself and aides.

Kiyotaka slowly exhaled and came back to sit beside her, watching the group sit down anxiously.

“Five minutes? Are sure you can manage that?” If not Sakura could offer to run in his stead…

“Yes! It’ll be a slightly faster pace than usual, but I should cope for the short time!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Err… well… that is…” He paused guiltily, “…if you wouldn’t mind carrying my bags…”

“Of course not.” Sakura assured him, getting something out of her own bag… “Now have some protein, so you’ll have the energy for your run…”

“Hah! Always with the protein!” He laughed as he took it, “Thank you…”

Kiyotaka checked his watch… six minutes before the gate closes and he was stood waiting for the aeroplane doors to open.

He knew he’d said five minutes, but he’d been hoping that he’d get a little more time than that! Especially when they’d been let on the plane after only a forty five minute delay. He’d naively thought that meant he’d get fifteen minutes, which would have been laughably easy!

But then it felt as if every tiny thing that could possibly go wrong all happened at once, as if there was some grand conspiracy to delay him! The staff still needed to check the initial fault that had grounded the plane in the first place, there was some confusion over the number of people holding children in their laps that forced a recount of the passengers, the plane had to queue to get onto the runway… All minor little issues, but with his tight deadline, every single one made him want to pull out his hair in frustration that he was being delayed and there was absolutely nothing he could do to rectify it!

If Sakura hadn’t been with him, he probably would have torn his hair out… Then again, if Sakura wasn’t with him to carry his bags, he wouldn’t have made such a brash promise in the first place and wouldn’t have been worrying about it so much now, after Makoto had assured him that he’d let the council know about the potential delay and requested a change to the debate time. Not that Kiyotaka really wanted to cause that much trouble straight away… that wouldn’t look good in anyone’s book! But at least it would have been an option if he didn’t make the next flight…

But now he’d promised one of the longest running politicians in the country that he would make the flight… so long as he could start running in the next… forty seconds, at least! But would he really be able to do it, even if the door did open in time? He’d given himself as much chance as possible, jumping up as soon as the plane stopped to make sure he was at the front of the queue, even though he wasn’t supposed to do so until the seatbelt lights turned off. He’d even done a few stretches to make sure he was limbered up for the run but… would it be enough?

“Can’t you just let him off now? I can see the walkway’s been there for three minutes!” Tochikura was complaining at the staff again, as if they could magically make everything go faster if he yelled at them enough. Whereas in reality it wouldn’t have surprised Kiyotaka if him constantly distracting the staff had actually delayed the flight even more… and it had taken every ounce of patience he had, and constant reminders to himself that impressing a Diet member would do wonders for his career, not to storm over to the man’s seat and yell as much.

Did Kiyotaka even have five minutes left at this point? He checked his watch… five minutes 10 seconds, nine, eight, seven, at the is rate he wouldn’t be held to his promise at all, three, two…

The door opened.

Kiyotaka’s legs started moving before his brain even told them to and he was soon running through the tunnel and into the airport proper faster than he’d ever run before… except for the time he’d raced Hina in front of Mondo and ended up collapsing… That’s how he felt now… he knew he couldn’t keep this pace up! Especially not if he had to pay attention to the signs saying where to go!

He slowed down slightly… he might not have much time, but he still needed to stay calm about this!

The pace was still faster than his usual one, but not so fast that he couldn’t think and didn’t have time to dodge people as he shamelessly ran through crowded halls like the sort of hoodlum he’d have usually given detention to… But even if he gave himself detention for this later, he needed to keep running! He didn’t know how long he had left, but he needed to get to the correct gate in time, even though his heart was pounding in his chest and his lungs were starting to burn with the effort he needed to keep running! The directions on the signs were starting to narrow down to move specific number ranges, he must be getting close! Just keep going on a bit longer… Now he was in the room his gate would be in! Almost there! He could see the desk for the gate, and there was still a staff member stood by it! Run, run, RUN!

“Please don’t shut the gate!” Kiyotaka breathlessly begged as he threw his boarding pass at the man. “Our… our plane was delayed… There’s… there’s more people coming… including a Diet member…”

“Let me see what I can do…” He picked up his radio. “Hey… we just had a runner turn up, can he still get on…? Got it.”

Got it!? What did that mean? Was that a yes or a no!? Had he made it in time or not!?

“We can let you on, you’ll just have to wait for the walkway to be lined back up properly.”

“YES! THANK YOU!” Kiyotaka bowed partly out of thankfulness and partly from exhaustion. “I can’t believe I did it! Ahahaha!”

“Huh… no kidding…” The attendant muttered as he looked over Kiyotaka’s boarding passes. “I didn’t even see that plane had landed yet!” He looked out of the window and over towards a set of planes a long distance away…

Had Kiyotaka really run all that way in five minutes!? And he’d had to go around in the building instead of just being able to speed across the taxing area like that black jeep on the runway was doing… albeit, very erratically, swerving all over the place at high speed. Kiyotaka was surprised it was allowed there at all… it almost got hit by the plane it had just passed in front of! And… Wait… “Is that jeep supposed to be there?”

“What jeep?” The attendant asked, turning to look just as a member of the ground airport staff ran forward to signal the car to stop…

Instead it just swerved again, so that the man was in its path… and by the time he turned and tried to run away he was already being dragged under the bonnet and…

Kiyotaka flinched as the back wheel of jeep bounced over him and left him twitching on the floor… what the hell!? Why had they done that!? Why were they even here!? And why wasn’t there any security trying to stop them!? Did they even know what was going… on…?

“Oh shit… shit… what…?”

“Call security!” Kiyotaka ordered the horrified attendant, “They might not know about this! And call the emergency services as well!”

“Right!” The man scrambled for the phone on his desk as Kiyotaka looked back to see what the car was doing… “Security! Security! Hello?” …It was driving less erratically now… “Hello!? Emergency services!?” …speeding in a straight line towards this building… “Can anyone hear me!” …Towards Kiyotaka almost, if he weren’t stood on the second floor… “Hey! Are anyone’s phones working!?” …Until it made one last swerve and crashed into one of the wheels in the middle of the plane Kiyotaka was supposed to be getting on.

The plane trembled and shifted sideways slightly at the impact, but didn’t move too much… hopefully the passengers were alright! it was the jeep that suffered the most damage, front crumpled as easily as a can of soda in Mondo’s hands. The driver would be lucky not to have had their legs crushed! Who would do something like this!?

…Someone dressed like a giant teddy bear, it seemed. Two of them even! At least, that’s what Kiyotaka could see through the windscreen of the car… They looked like some sort of weird sports mascot, with one side being white and the other black… Why did that seem familiar…? Had he seen something like that before…? Or heard of it…?

Wherever he’d recognised it from before, it probably hadn’t been as unsettling as the moment the doors of the jeep all opened and the bear in the passenger seat, along with three more from the back and another three from the trunk, all slowly walked out in a line along the side of the aircraft furthest away from him. Even the members of the ground crew that had rushed over to see what they were doing slowed down slightly in confusion at the sight, before going over to try and grab at the bears, who ignored their presence completely… What the hell was this!? And why were they just standing around with their heads titled back in laughter…?

*BOOM*

The single noise, the combined result of the eight bears suddenly exploding outwards into orange flame, was loud enough that Kiyotaka could hear it through the thick glass and walls of the airport. And the resultant force was enough to shatter the jeep and the landing gear it had crashed into and tear the wing above it away from the aeroplane, like a piece of tin foil that was ripped away and thrown aside, before the rest of the plane leapt sideways in Kiyotaka’s direction.

Time slowed for a moment as it came towards him, just enough that he thought to grab the desk next to him in anticipation of the shock it would inevitably cause once it hit the wall he was stood on the other side of…

But there was no shock, instead he heard a faint crunch and there was just a faint tremor in the floor beneath him and the wing of the plane connected to the moveable walkway that he’d only been a few minutes away from walking through and ripped it in half, coming to rest roughly halfway down it...

And them, just as it appeared that everything had finally stopped, the walkway slowly, but surely, fell away from the building, dragging the other wings down and off of the rest of the plane, which teetered for what felt like an eternity before tipping over sideways, propped up by the single remaining set of wheels…

Was that it? Was that finally it? Was it over?

Kiyotaka carried on looking over the rest of the runways… no more movement from the damaged plane… no other movement anywhere else… no sign of those bears… or those poor people who’d tried to grab them…

Oh gods they were dead… and that man who’d been run over still wasn’t moving, despite the pair of people trying to help him… Those… those stupid things had just killed six people! Not to mention the damage done to the plane…

Which should have been about to take off…

“…There are people on that plane…” Kiyotaka realised, numbly.

“Yeah…” The attendant replied, shock making his voice distant.

No wonder, gods know what it must have been like being on that plane! Everyone sitting patiently when all of a sudden the whole vehicles shudders and then leaps sideways, grinds to a halt and then tips up at an angle. Those people must have been thrown about all over the place… especially if they hadn’t put their seatbelts on… Or were still stood up sorting their carry-on luggage while it happened… they’d probably have been thrown all over the place… hit with luggage... injured… in need of help…

…Those people needed help!

“What can I do to help?” Kiyotaka turned to the attendant next to him.

“I… I dunno!” He cried, “My phone is down, I can’t call anyone to get down there!”

And nor could anyone else, given the way they were all staring in horror at the wrangled plane… Not one of them trying to do anything… But… someone needed to do something! There was no possible way none of the people on that plane were unscathed!

“…How do I get down there, then!?” Kiyotaka demanded.

“Well… a walkway… but our one got smashed!” But that meant there would be other ones… “And we don’t even know if it’s safe!” Kiyotaka’s eyes scanned the other gates, “What if more…”

There! The next one over still had a queue of people, all frozen in shock, halfway through boarding!

Yet again, Kiyotaka had started running before his brain had truly caught up, and he was already pushing past the airport staff and halfway down to the runway before it even occurred to him that he didn’t even know how many different rules and possibly even laws he was breaking by doing this… but he couldn’t just stand around staring if there was even the slightest chance he could help!

But… could he help? Down here on the ground, the size of the plane was enormous! The side closest to him was tipping upwards so high he could barely determine where the door was! But it would probably be easiest to get people off of the other side, which was tipping downwards… In fact, he was surprised no one had opened the emergency exits and started leaving by themselves yet…

The reason for that became apparent so soon as he made it around to the other side of the plane… the heat from the bombs had caused the outer casing to warp and twist… there were holes bent inwards where the bears had been closest, but too small and too jagged for anyone to get through them… and the first few doors he tried didn’t budge regardless of how hard he tugged at the handle, they must all be stuck on this side!

So what could he do? Even if he managed to pull one of the staircases over to the doors on the other side, he wouldn’t be tall enough to reach them by himself!

…But he wasn’t by himself, was he? Sakura would be following him! She’d be sure to help as soon as she caught up and saw what was happening! And in the meantime he could start getting the staircase into position!

It had probably been just as well that Kiyotaka had been the one to make the mad dash to the next plane. These halls were crowded enough that Sakura would have been at risk of accidentally mowing people down with her larger frame. She could only hope that Kiyotaka had not been slowed too much by them all… But at least she didn’t catch up to find him panting from exhaustion or pain at any point. By the time she reached the room that would contain her departure gate, it seemed that Kiyotaka had already made his way there.

But… something about this area was... off, although she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. The airport was quiet and still, with no suspicious noises or sudden movements to signal an attack on her, so why…

Wait… that was the problem, this part of the airport was still and quiet when it should have been filled with busy people rushing to their destinations. Instead everyone was either stopped or gradually slowing down and turning towards the window to look at…

What!? How…!?

One of the planes, the largest in the group lined up next to this part of the building, looked completely wrecked; both wings ripped off, one buried in debris as well, the fuselage tipped up at an angle with the lower half scorched black… What could have done that? A bomb? Had someone successfully targeted the biggest plane there? She hoped that it would have been empty at the time, but looking at the deserted waiting area it was next to, it would appear they’d already boarded…

Hold on… that was the plane she and Kiyotaka were supposed to be getting! So where was he?

She ran the rest of the way to the desk, hoping to spot him nearby, but instead there was just the lone figure of a male desk attendant staring out of the window in horror…

“Excuse me…” Sakura dragged his attention away from the wreckage, “I’m looking for a boy with large black eyebrows and red eyes…”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him!” The man panicked… oh no… so Kiyotaka had dashed on board just before…? “He asked how he could help and then ran out through that gate over there!”

He run outside… after the damage?

Ah… Indeed, now she knew where to look it was easy to spot him through the window, straining to pull one of the moveable staircases up next to the plane… but even if he did that, the door would still be too high for him to reach by himself…

She quickly threw the bags aside and headed over to the gate the man had pointed to, where a pair of attendants were arguing with a crowd of people… until they noticed her running full pelt towards them.

“Uhh…! We don’t know if it’s safe to go out there! There could be more…” The one closest to her tried to convince her to stop… although he stepped backwards in fear of her at the same time.

“That is a risk I will take…” Sakura slowed down and pushed him the rest of the distance out of her path. “Excuse me.” She added, before resuming her previous speed.

She wasn’t sure, but it sounded like there were several pairs of footsteps behind her… too many to be the guards choosing to chase her. Perhaps some of the group of passengers had followed to help as well? Regardless she needed to go help Kiyotaka as quickly as possible…

He was still struggling to drag the staircase as she approached him and helped get it moving faster. “Where are we taking this?”

“As close to the front door as we can get!” Kiyotaka ordered, “I think I’ll still need your help to reach it though…”

“I understand.” Sakura confirmed and they quickly placed the stairs in a reasonable spot, quickly checked that it was safely balanced and climbed up… The bottom of the door was barely at Kiyotaka’s eye level, so giving him a boost to reach the door handle was an easy task. Then there was a brief sequence of irritable tutting from him before he figured out how to open the door and gain access to the inside, just as two men and a woman arrived at the foot of the stairs.

“Err… Hello!?” Kiyotaka called as he pulled himself the rest of the way inside, “I… I came to help…”

“What? Hey! Someone opened the front door!” There were some cries from the inside of the plane, followed by a pair of blonde flight attendants appearing in the doorway. One who was clutching her arm protectively and another whose face was unnaturally pallid…

“What happened!?” The pale one asked, “Did someone attack us? Is it safe out there?”

“Err… a van filled with men in costumes drove up and set off a series of bombs along the side of the plane!” Kiyotaka explained as he stood up… had he watched it happen then? “But there doesn’t appear to be anything else like that out here at the moment!"

“Oh… ok… why…?”

“Never mind that!” The injured one snapped at her, “Do you have any medical training!?”

“I know basic first aid!” Kiyotaka offered…

“I’m a surgeon!” The woman shouted as she ran up the stairs, “And my son just completed his residency!” She gestured to the young man running up behind her.

“Great, get up here!” The woman gestured… and then flinched as her other arm fell from its position slightly. “We’re trying to help who we can but we don’t know who to prioritize and other people keep getting in the way…”

“Alright, let me take a look…” The woman told her grimly as Sakura and Kiyotaka helped her up and she header further inside, quickly followed by her son while Kiyotaka looked between the stairs and the inside of the plane unsure of what to do...

“…Do you have any medical skills?” He eventually asked the remaining man.

“No, I came to find out did this and beat the shit outta ‘em!” He growled.

“…They already blew themselves up.” Kiyotaka told him, numbly.

Suicide bombers… It was almost disturbing how unsurprising the information was…

“Oh… so… I came for nothing…?”

Kiyotaka looked almost scared of the idea… “But…There must be something we can do to help… Even if we aren’t medics…” He replied, desperately.

“Right! You! With the armband!” As if to answer his wish, the flight attendant with the broken arm returned and started barking at him in an authoritative voice, “Get in here and start herding anyone capable of walking out of the plane!”

“Understood!” Kiyotaka saluted and promptly headed inside.

“You two stay here and help them get down the stairs!” She told Sakura and the remaining man, then looked sideways at the woman she’d first been accompanied with, who was still stood to the side in shock… “Maybe starting with Janice here…” She suggested, firmly pushing her co-worker towards Sakura…

The woman barely seemed to respond, and it took a moment of coaxing from Sakura before she let herself be lifted down, and even then she still needed to be led down the stairs themselves by the other man… How odd how different people react to these things…

It was a far cry from the first wave of people to come off, who were all too keen to get away from whatever scene was in there. First there were a few adults who were moving so fast they almost ran straight off the edge of the door, despite looking well enough to have helped if they’d wanted to. After that things were more organised; several families with children came first, the parents worriedly shielding the younger eyes as they left, then some older people who were slower to move, and in some cases unsteady enough to need escorting down the stairs. Finally came a second wave of healthy adults who were behaving much more sensibly.

Then the flow of people slowed as injuries started to become more prevalent… Some clutching their arms in lieu of a sling, some hobbling, some apparently needing a shoulder to lean on… In one case that shoulder was Kiyotaka’s…

Tears were running down his face, although he seemed to pay them no mind as he carefully encouraged the man he was helping into Sakura arms. “Ah… I might need help carrying people out now…”

“Very well, I will…” Sakura started to lift herself up to the plane.

“Actually… A lot of the seats and walls have bent… I’m not sure you’d fit. And we’ll need someone strong enough to carry people down the stairs…” Kiyotaka told her. “But if you could come up…” He looked at the man behind her.

“Got it.” He nodded and then climbed up with Sakura’s help.

The next group were mostly unconscious, but hopefully well enough that they’d recover, if the doctors had allowed Kiyotaka and the other man to carry them. During this time Sakura was mostly moving up and down the staircase to take the people off of Kiyotaka and pass them over to a group of passengers who had now gathered around the plane to watch and start treating some of the more minor injuries.

“No! That’s my brother!” There was a sudden break in the pattern as the screaming voice of a young boy broke the organised silence. “He needs help”

“The… the doctors will help…” She could hear Kiyotaka reply weakly, moments before he came into views, the tears now pouring down his face as he silently sobbed at the cries from the young boy he was tightly gripping in his arm. “Y-you just need to give them some space…”

“But… But I’ve gotta help him!” The boy was too upset to listen as Kiyotaka crouched down and allowed Sakura to lift both of them down, “AAAAAHHHHH! Let me GOOOOOOOO!”

Kiyotaka didn’t, seemingly immune to the boys kicking and thumps, despite the fact that she was sure some of them must have hit in the same places as Kenshiro had yesterday. Instead, he just smartly took the boy downstairs and handed him off to a pair of men, before heading back up the stairs and confidently placing one boot into Sakura’s outstretched hands to boost himself back up into the plane…

…There was blood on her hands now… Kiyotaka must have been stepping in blood… Just how bad was it in there…?

After five more unconscious people, she began to see an inkling of the answer as the victims Kiyotaka and his helper carried out became gradually more bloodied and mangled, starting with a teenage boy whose leg had merely had to be set using a metal pole as a splint, through people whose limbs had been crushed and onto some whose extremities were bound with ragged cloth were missing limbs had recently been…

Eventually, after what felt like an endless parade of the injured, a group of medical vans accompanied by armed cars arrived and people spilled out to talk to the group of people down below, several of whom pointed up at her. So it was little surprise when she was approached by two men, a paramedic who simply asked to be lifted onto the plane and an old man with white pointed hair, moustache and beard and glasses… who Sakura couldn’t help but feel had a familiarity about him, for some reason she couldn’t quite place…

“I been told you were one of the first people here…” He flashed a badge at her, “Is that correct?”

“It is, my friend was down here trying to get access to help, so I followed him.” Sakura explained, hoping she wasn’t about to be in trouble for coming here without permission.

“Did you see what happened?” Ah, it would appear not. He was just looking for witnesses…

“I did not, but my friend, Kiyotaka, was watching from that gate and saw the vehicle approaching.” Sakura told him, pointing to it. “He’s is inside attempting to help the injured…”

“I’m afraid I’m going to need to talk to him then.” He said, apologetically, “If you could be so kind as to help me up…”

Sakura crouched to let him up and he quickly disappeared into the plane, then came back a minute later, gently pushing a reluctant Kiyotaka towards the door as he did so…

“But…! I was helping! I can’t just…!” Kiyotaka was crying in both senses of the word.

“And you did a good job, my boy, but you need a rest!” The investigator told him, trying to pat his back comfortingly, “And there’s going to be paramedics crawling all over the place in five minutes, you’d just be in way.”

“But… I can’t just…! I need to help!” Kiyotaka was now trying to push back around him and get back inside, although it was obvious that he’d lost too much strength by now to manage it… and it was true that there would be little he could do to help here for much longer. “And what does it matter who they were!? They already killed themselves!”

“Kiyotaka, there will be people better suited to help the injured here soon.” Sakura tried to convince him, “But there is no one better suited to giving information that might help ensure that a similar attack is not being planned elsewhere…”

“Ah… Oh…” Kiyotaka’s eyes widened and he turned even paler than before at the thought. “O-of course… You’re right. I’ll go talk.” He stopped pushing back and allowed Sakura to lift him back down to the staircase, where he somewhat unsteadily made his was down the stairs and was taken off somewhere inside the airport building.

As the old man had promised, it was not long before large numbers of paramedics arrived, along with a set of cranes and winches that looked as if they might be used to lower people down from the plane. It was at this point that she and the other man with no medical knowledge were asked to move the staircase out of the way while they organised a more convenient means of entry.

“Thanks for all your help…” The man who’d asked them to move the stairs said, “You can probably go inside and get some rest now…”

…As much as her first instinct was to try and find something else do something to help, he was probably correct. The issues now were treating the injured and searching for clues as to who did this and how, neither being things she was particularly well-suited to… “Thank you.”

The air inside the building was… surprisingly cheerful. Or at least, the resilient sort of cheer that comes when a group survives as disaster and are all working together to overcome the damage. Passengers who otherwise would have sat reading books or checking their phones were gently talking to those in shock, and people who were on different flights appeared to have rallied round to buy food and drinks for the ones on theirs. Others were passing around their mobile phones, so those whose money was still on the plane could let their loved ones know they were safe.

The children are being well looked after, also. Various adults were now working in a group to talk to some of the more anxious looking ones and trying to help ease their trauma. Older children appeared to have taken it upon themselves to entertain the less daunted younger ones, including the boy who was sobbing in Kiyotaka’s arms as he was taken off the plane, but was now smiling happily as he played with the similar looking teenager whose leg was wrapped around a metal bar. They looked almost ecstatic when a cashier from a nearby shop came over and let them each pick a toy from a cheap assortment that appeared to have been hastily thrown together in a basket.

If the aim of whoever organised the horror outside was to drive people apart, or even to make them scared, they appeared to have failed spectacularly.

“Hey… do have any money or anything with you?” The man who’d been helping asked her, “I’ve still got my stuff, if you need anything…”

“Hmm… my bag was out here, but it appears to have been moved…” The seats she’d thoughtlessly thrown it one were now occupied by a group of old women. It would be disappointing if someone had taken the opportunity to steal it along Kiyotaka’s belongings… “I had best try to find it.”

Not that it would really matter in the slightest, all things considered, she could have lost a lot more than her belongings if her first plane hadn’t been late…

As it was, a member of staff and moved them behind the departure desk in order to reduce the chances of them being stolen. With that concern out of the way, she considered what to do next… she should probably eat and drink… and she had people who would probably be concerned for her wellbeing…

By the time the queue of people ahead of her had finished their calls, she had managed to eat a pair of protein bars and drink half of a large coffee with protein that a man had suddenly presented her with in appreciation of what she’d done to help. Not that it felt like she'd been able to do much… but perhaps it might have helped save a handful of lives. That would have been reward enough by itself.

Kenshiro was asleep when she rang, so she left a message with his nurses to say she was well. Her father had not heard about the attack, but was glad to hear she was safe regardless of it. So that just left…

“Hello…? Who is this?” Hina’s voice sounded cautiously optimistic as she answered.

“Hello, Hina, it is I…”

“SAKURA! You’re OK!” Hina cried down the phone in joy, and in the background she could hear several more voices chattering in excitement at the news, “We heard about your flight, but there’s nothing on who’s alive or not and it seemed like it was ages ago and we’d not heard and is Kiyotaka alright!?”

“He is unharmed. Our previous flight was delayed so we were not on board during the attack…” Sakura told her, and Hina relayed it back to the others, who all cheered in response. “He is currently being questioned about what he saw of the attack. And I am sorry for the delay, but we were trying to help those injured in the attacks.”

“Yeah… Makoto and Sayaka have been saying that for the last hour…” Hina giggled in relief, “But I just kept getting worried… well, we all were!”

“I am sure if our positions were reversed it would be just the same…” Sakura admitted.

“Hah! Like I’d go on a plane with a bomb on it! You guys are crazy! I mean, what were you thinking!?” Hina scolded her, “(What!? Alright, fine, I’ll tell her!) Also, Togami’s saying he’s booked a room for you at a nearby hotel, and he can arrange transport for you to get back here, but not until tomorrow because the area’s on high alert… and he’s got some staff at the airport who’ll take you there, so stay where you are, okay?”

“Give him my thanks.” Sakura requested, it was indeed generous of him. “And, as much as I wish to talk, I should probably allow others to use the phone now…”

“Oh yeah… I guess it must be pretty crazy over there…” Hina sighed anxiously, “Thanks for letting me know you’re alright… and… umm… I think it’d help Mondo if you get Kiyotaka to give him a call, once he’s finished…” The last part was said quietly.

“I will do.” Sakura promised, “And I’ll call again once I am at the hotel.”

“Thanks and… be careful, Sakura.” Hina asked her in a worried voice.

Was she worried their might be more attacks? “…I will do.” Sakura assured her, before hanging up the phone.

So, now there was little to do but wait for Kiyotaka and Togami’s staff…

“So… A brand new black jeep of this model, with the license plate painted over in black paint, came from the opposite end of the runway, ran over a man and then crashed into the plane…” The old man, who reminded him of the headmaster for some reason, was summing up what little information Kiyotaka had been able to tell him, “Then eight people, all wearing the same black-and-white bear costume, that looked like this…” He held up the sketch Kiyotaka had attempted to draw, “All got out and lined up alongside the plane, except for the driver who stayed in the car, then they all looked as if they were laughing for a moment, before they exploded.”

“Yes.” Kiyotaka agreed… Was that really all he'd been able to tell them? How were they supposed to work out who did this from that!? He hadn't been able to tell them any identifying information at all! Had he not been paying enough attention? Should he have been looking elsewhere for clues? He must have done something wrong, but what!?

“That’ll be a good start…” Would it really!? Kiyotaka couldn’t help but feel like he was being patronised… “Is there anything else you can think of that was notable?”

“Ah…” Come on, Kiyotaka! Think! This was his last chance to actually help! There must be something he could say!

“…Anything you thought was important at the time, even if it seems odd or inconsequential now?”

Anything he’d thought at the time…? “I… the bears!” Kiyotaka remembered, “I felt like I ought to know them from something…”

“…Can you remember where? They’re not anything we’re familiar with…”

…Come on! Why couldn't he remember this!? It was important! Why hadn’t he paid more attention when he’d… heard about them? Or was it something he'd read? Couldn't he even remember that much!? “…I’m sorry I… I don't remember…” He was useless…

“That’s understandable… you’ve been through a lot! But if you do manage to remember, or you think of anything else at all, here’s my number.” The man in charge handed him a card with his picture and a phone number, but no name.

“I… I’ll do my best to think of something…!” Kiyotaka promised… after all there must be something else he could do to help…

“Thank you very much… These men will take you back to the departure gate now.” 

Kiyotaka dutifully followed the two men he’d been told to… He felt like the bears were something written down, but why couldn’t he remember what the words were? Had he heard it second hand from someone else? But who? Or when? Or where even? He felt like it had to have been at school, so sometime over the last year…

He was being shaken! Was this another attack…!?

“Hey! Kid! Did you hear me?”

“Ah…” It took a moment for Kiyotaka to process what was happening… he was just being shaken by one of the men he was following… They must have been trying to talk to him… “I’m sorry, I was trying to think why I knew those bears…”

“Alright, but… we’re here now, so you can stop following us, alright?”

“Ah… understood!” Kiyotaka told them, and they headed back the way they came with one final concerned glance at him… and the room they’d taken him to…

The departure area was in chaos. There was already more people here than seats for them to sit on, and it was only getting worse as more people were arriving to find their own flights had been delayed by the attack as well. Most of them had to stand, or find somewhere to on the floor to sit, as the chairs were being reserved for the injured…

And there were so many injured, now that he saw them all sat together rather than helping them all out person-by-person… Bruises, broken bones and cuts were in abundance… and they didn’t even include the most severely injured, the ones who’d been caught by flying shrapnel, or hit by their own hand luggage, or crushed by the seats near the engines. The ones who’d been crying out in pain and covered in blood, the ones they couldn’t even try to help because there was already nothing they could do to help before he’d got on the plane. So many people dead and there was nothing he could do…

No… no! There was always something he could do! He couldn’t just here staring at everyone, he had to go and help! He had to work to fix this! That’s always what he did… And that’s what he was going to do right now, he was going to head back out to the plane and…

“You can’t go outside.”

What? No that couldn’t be right… he must have misunderstood… “I’m going to go help…”

“I get you, kid, but there’s enough people out there now, you’d be in the way.”

“No, I… I was helping earlier!”

“I know, but we’re handling this now. You can go rest.”

Rest? That wouldn’t help anyone! “No! I don’t need to rest! I can help…! Please let me…”

“Kiyotaka...” He was being held back. “Kiyotaka, I understand you want to stop people’s suffering, but what he says is true. The time when we could help has passed…”

Time… had passed? It was over? There was nothing he could do now?

…There was nothing he could now… but people were still in pain. Why? Why wasn’t there anything he could do to help? Had he done something wrong?

That must be it… there was nothing he could do now, but there must have been something he could have done something earlier… Something was pushed in his hand and someone said something about needing to drink… should he have got the victims water? By the time they’d been carrying them out they had probably needed it, so why hadn’t he thought to do that!? And someone was mentioning talking… he probably should have helped talk to the victims who’d been in shock, but he hadn’t had time! He’d been too busy to do anything but carry people out over and over and over and they still hadn’t managed to get everyone out! There hadn’t been enough people helping… He should have brought more people to help, like Sakura had! And he should have gone after those first few men who’d run out of the plane and dragged them back, like he was being dragged somewhere…

What else had he done wrong…? Someone was shouting at him about telling him something…of course, he already knew he’d messed that up, and someone else said something about waiting… That’s what Kiyotaka had done, wasn’t it… when those bears showed up, he’d stood watching them, instead of running outside to help… Maybe if he’d been out there, he would have been able to help? But that’s what the ground crew did and they all died and didn’t help… no it was obvious! He should have run straight to the other gate, then waited until the bomb went off, and then run to help… He might have been able to get the stairs up there faster and that would have been a few seconds saved…

…But was that all he could have done? That wouldn’t have changed anything! But he couldn’t think of anything else! Why wasn’t there anything better he could have done, and why hadn’t he thought to do it at the time? Why was he so useless!? Why…

“TAKA, WILL YA JUST FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!?”

“…Mondo…!?” That was who had just shouted at him… “Why are you here, Mondo …?” Wasn’t he supposed to be back at Hope’s Peak…?

“What!? Whaddya mean, why am I…? You’re on the PHONE!”

...That made sense, he was holding something, wasn’t he…? Wait… the phones… could he have used the phone to call for help instead of telling the airport staff to…?

“TAKA, WHY ARNE’T YOU TALKING!?”

“…I’m thinking.” …After all, just because the staff’s own commu…

“Think out loud, then!”

“…The staff’s communicators being down didn’t mean all communications were down, so I should have tried to use the payphones to call for help instead of just watching what happened…”

“What?” Oh, right, Mondo wouldn’t know what had happened.

“Someone attacked the plane I was supposed to be getting, and…”

“I know that! It’s all over the news! What I mean is, why’re ya worrying about shit like that?”

“I… I was trying to figure out what I could have done to help…”

“But… ya did help! Sakura just said ya figured out how ta get into the plane and ya got a coupla doctors on and…”

“But… it wasn’t enough! There were still people we were too late to help… But maybe if I hadn’t stood around staring for long I could have done something quicker, or if I’d thought to try different methods of calling for help we could have prevented the attack or…”

“Well… I dunno, maybe ya could’ve done little things different here and there, but no one’s gonna be perfect in that sorta situation! And at least ya did something!”

“But I could have done more…”

“I doubt it, but either way, it won’t help anyone if you just keep looking back and thinking it over and over in your head… You’ve gotta keep moving, and think about what ya need to do in the future instead of dwelling on what ya coulda done in the past.”

“The… future?” What future? All he could think of was the damage from the explosion and those people crying for help and the blood and…”

“Yeah, the future! Like… for starters, you’re gonna eat and drink something! Then you’re gonna get taken to a hotel and be able to wash up, eat some more and try and get some sleep…” Mondo told him, “Then tomorrow you’re gonna get brought back here, and I’m gonna be waiting ta give ya a hug and the notes for the classes ya missed. Then you’re probably gonna insist on going ta class for the rest of the week instead of resting like a normal person…”

“Of course I am! I can’t waste time…” Kiyotaka started to point out.

“Yeah, I know… Then next weekend you’re gonna have your debate with Togami, cause the council said they’d move it back a week and just have a normal meeting with the old lot tonight, and you’re gonna kick his ass, become president and forge ties with the reserve course like ya wanna.” Mondo continued, “And that’s gonna look all kinds of impressive once ya get out of Hope’s Peak so then you’ll be made Prime Minister and make it so we can get married and get a house together with some dogs and maybe even some kids who everyone’s gonna be jealous of ‘cause they’re Ishimarus like you!”

…Achieving his dream? Him and Mondo living happily together? A family who were proud of his name? It all sounded wonderful, but… “I think you missed a few steps, there. Between becoming council president and Prime Minister…”

“Well… why don’t ya try and think about what those are tonight?” Mondo suggested.

“Yes… once I’ve washed up… at the hotel… which I’ll be taken to once I’ve eaten and drank something…”

“Yeah. Which ya oughta go do now…” Mondo told him.

But that would mean hanging up on Mondo… “I… I don’t want to hang up yet…”

“Neither do I but… you sound like you haven’t drunk anything for hours…” Mondo sighed, “You can probably ring me up from the hotel… just look after yourself, first.”

Look after himself… how would that help anyone…

“Taka, please?” Mondo pleaded, “I’m worried about you… Hell, I’ve been worrying all afternoon that you’d been blown up and killed and I was never gonna see ya again and I had no idea what the fuck I was gonna do…”

Oh… It would help Mondo… “But I’m fine! You don’t need to worry about that!” Kiyotaka assured him, “I… I’m going to go now, but I’ll get myself a drink and some food, then go to the hotel and ring you there, alright?”

“Alright… thanks…” Mondo muttered, “I love you.”

“And I…” Wait… he was in a crowded airport… “Err… the feeling’s mutual!”

“…Pffft!” Mondo started laughing at him, “Ya coulda just said ‘you to’, ya nerd!”

“Well excuse me for having a good vocabulary, you delinquent!” Despite everything, Kiyotaka couldn’t resist the urge to smile and join in the joke…

“Bahahaha! Seriously though, be careful… cause if you get yourself killed, I’mma beat the shit outta you, ya hardass!”

“And if you ever get yourself killed I’m giving you detention for a year!”

“Hahaha! Hah… ahh… I can’t wait ta see you tomorrow…” Mondo’s laugh turned into a sigh.

“Neither can I…” Kiyotaka agreed. “I’ll ring as soon as I get to the hotel, alright?”

“Alright… see ya, Taka.” Mondo put the phone down… probably because he realised Kiyotaka wouldn’t have done it. It was hard enough forcing his hand to put it back on the stand even knowing Mondo’s voice wasn’t on the other side of it.

“Kiyotaka, here…” Sakura gently led him away from the phone with one hand while holding out a carton of juice and an unwrapped energy bar with the other.

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka started with the juice… which hit his tongue with a sweeter and more vibrant taste than he’d ever had, and he soon found himself gulping down the entire thing without even taking the time to breathe… and it was then, as the liquid travelled down to his empty stomach, that he realised just how hungry he was and shoved as much of the energy bar into his mouth at once as possible and started chewing frantically…

And then regretted it as he realised he’d literally bitten off more than he could chew comfortably and had to stop walking in order to force himself to slowly swallow it all and then catch his breath afterwards.

“Feeling better?” Sakura asked, to which he nodded as he shoved a smaller piece of energy bar into his mouth this time, “I have more juice if you…”

She laughed as Kiyotaka nodded even harder and handed him another carton. It didn’t taste as good as before, but it still went some way to quenching his thirst… “Thank you!”

“You are welcome…” She told him, “Now it seems we have little to do but wait for the member of Togami’s staff who has agreed to take us to this hotel…”

“Now hold on a minute!” Kiyotaka jumped slightly at the sound of Tochikura’s voice, “I still need to talk to him!”

“Err… me!?” Kiyotaka asked. Was he upset that Kiyotaka hadn’t managed to get him on the flight after all?

“Yes, you!” The Diet member looked incredibly annoyed that Kiyotaka had tried to confirm that…

“He tried to speak with you while you were in the queue for the phone and… thinking.”

…And Kiyotaka hadn’t even realised, let alone responded to him… “Err… I’m sorry about that! I… I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before, and…” He tried to explain.

“Never mind that! I saw you going off to talk those people!” He interrupted testily, “Did they tell you anything!?”

“Err… they said the jeep was a Wrangler Unlimited version…” Kiyotaka remembered… although they’d have him look through pictures of them to make sure they got the right one first, so did that count…?

“I don’t mean about the attack! I mean about our flight!”

“Err… our flight?” What about their flight? It had been exploded… what else was there to know…?

“Yes! Did they say when we’re going to be able to leave!?” He demanded.

“Err… no! They just needed me to tell them about the attackers.” Kiyotaka explained.

“And you didn’t think to ask them any questions in exchange?” He muttered irritably.

“No! They’re busy trying to make sure nothing else like this happens again! I’d say that’s more important than our travel plans for the moment!” Kiyotaka argued, “That’s assuming they’d even know, which I don’t think they would as they’re not associated with the airport!”

“Well, it’s not like the airport staff are managed to get their act together and help, either!” He complained.

…’Get their act together’?

Kiyotaka looked around the room and out of the window… there wasn’t a member of the building’s staff who wasn’t either guarding something, dashing around from one point to another, taking count of the people who’d been on the plane or outside assisting with the recovery effort.

“…With all due respect, sir, I think they’re too busy trying to save the lives of the people injured in a terrorist attack to be giving out general travel advice!” Kiyotaka pointed out, as sternly as he dared talk to one of the longest standing members of the Diet. “You’d probably be better off arranging a different form of transportation, if you need to leave that quickly!”

“I suppose, but I shouldn’t have to!” He moaned, “I mean, how did they even get that close to the plane anyway! Didn’t anyone bother to try and stop them!”

“Yes, they did!” Kiyotaka answered, “I saw one man attempted to divert the car upon it’s approach, but he was run over as a result. There were also five member of the ground staff who attempted to apprehend the bombers just before the detonation!”

“Oh… I see… that’s… that’s a tragic loss of life…” He sighed, “They should never have been put in that situation…”

“Indeed…” They’d just been trying to do their job, going to work every day, probably not earning a fantastic wage, but still doing the very best they could to provide for themselves and families, like his father always di…

“…And the police force keeps asking for more money when they apparently can’t even stop some idiots getting a bomb into an airport! Maybe if they actually made the staff they’ve already got get on with their jobs instead of taking advantage of taxpayer funds, then…”

“How DARE you! I KNOW policemen and not ONE of them is ‘taking advantage of taxpayer funds’!” What little patience Kiyotaka had for this stupid man and his constant complaining was gone in a flash, “If anything, most of them are wearing themselves to the bone doing the work of at least one-and-half, if not two, men! And they still wish they were able to do even more than they already are! They became policemen because they wanted to do the right thing for their country, help protect the innocent and bring criminals to justice! Not to take advantage of the government!”

…It looked like he didn’t have anything to say to that. He was just staring at Kiyotaka in shock…

“…You’re talking about your father, aren’t you?” Sakura, on the other hand, pointed out his potential bias regarding the subject…

“Not just my father! He’s told me enough stories about his coworkers for me to know that the only reason any of them could have allowed something like this to happen would either be because the attackers were clever enough to organise all of this without leaving any form of paper trail whatsoever, or because the counter-terrorism unit is so overworked and underfunded that they weren’t able to follow up on any suspicious clues these people left behind in enough time to stop it!” Kiyotaka explained to Sakura, somewhat angrily. “If it’s the former case, then that’s no one’s fault, and if it’s the latter than the blame lies with those setting the national policing budget!”

Sakura blinked at him in surprise, her gaze slowly moving away from him and towards…

Oh gods… Tochikura! He’d just blamed this attack on the Diet, in front of one of its longest serving members!

“That’s a very simplistic view of how the police force works.” He told Kiyotaka, stiffly, “They’re capable of prioritising more important tasks.”

“Err… of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, apologetically, “I just meant they might not have been aware at the time that it could be important, and that’s why they didn’t…”

“And there’s a lot of thought that goes into setting the national budget every year.” He carried on. “As much as we’d like to be able to give every public service every bit of funding they’d like to receive, in reality we have to make a lot of… very difficult decisions regarding what we can and can’t actually afford, and set tight budgets to ensure that wastage of public funds is reduced as much as possible.”

“I…” Kiyotaka started to try and apologise…

“Now I believe I have to organise new travel arrangements. Good day.” He walked off before Kiyotaka got the chance…

Urrrghh! What had he been thinking!? Ranting like some crazed idiot and insulting a Diet member right in front of him! So much for making a good impression on him! If his father heard about this, he’d probably never speak to Kiyotaka again!

(Monday, September 17^th 2012)

It would appear that sleep was going to be a stranger to Sakura tonight…

It was not a matter of comfort or noise. Togami had found the pair of them a twin room in a luxurious hotel with beds even more comfortable than those at Hope’s Peak. And Kiyotaka was lying so still and quietly that he almost appeared to be dead. Perfect conditions in which to sleep.

And yet, somewhat expectedly, her mind kept wandering back to the events of today, wondering if there had indeed been anything different the pair of them could have done to help more, or how the attackers had managed to breach the airport’s security, or why they’d done so…

She’d been given hints of one possible answer to that last question… Hina’s parting words from both their her phone calls, the conversation Kiyotaka had had with Oowada, along with the incredibly circuitous and cautious route Togami’s butler had taken on the route to the hotel, all combined with a snippet of a report on the attack she’d overheard from the television in the hotel bar…

“…The attackers may have been targeting a pair of Hope’s Peak students, who were returning from a weekend trip…”

Of course, there had been other forms of speculation… other possible targets were included the arrogant politician Kiyotaka had argued with earlier, a well-known movie actor who’d been travelling to his next filming location, or perhaps just the sheer number of people who had been on board the flight.

…But what if it had been her and Kiyotaka? Had she made this same trip so many times, that they’d learnt her routine and found a way to target her? Should she vary her plans, or perhaps stop visiting Kenshiro altogether…?

But it may be that that was exactly the type of thinking they were hoping to elicit from her, and various other people. These types of attacks were usually intended to cause fear after all… so would cowering away from travel be playing into their hands? Or was it merely a reasonable precaution? Was she even willing to stop seeing Kenshiro? Should she be? She was no criminal. She’d done nothing to deserve being forced to stay in one place to ensure her own safety… But it might not just be her own safety, but that of other people… unless it turned out that the perpetrators of the attack had a different motive entirely…

…This was futile. There was little solace to be found on meditating on how she should react to something that might not have been the case in the first place. She should do something to take her mind away from such thoughts… perhaps some light exercise, or if the bar was still open she could ask for some warm milk to help her sleep…

She sat up quietly, so as not to wake Kiyotaka…

“Is something the matter?” Kiyotaka asked her from his own bed, “Or could you not sleep either?”

“You were not asleep?” Had he been paralysed with thought again or just avoiding moving and waking her?

“No… I just… I know Mondo told me not to, but I keep thinking about the explosion and… everything else that happened today!” Likely including how ‘rudely’ he considered himself to have behaved to that ridiculous old man. “…Would you mind if I turn on the news? I just… want to know if they’ve… got any leads… or information on people who are safe… or if there’s been any other attacks at all…”

So, in order to process the events of today, he intended to study them… like every other thing that ever troubled his mind. “That is fine. I was intending to go to the bar for warm milk, if possible. Would you like anything?”

“…Maybe some cocoa would help me sleep…” He commented, although it not was in an overly hopeful tone, “If you wouldn’t mind.”

“It is no problem…”

Upon her return, Kiyotaka’s eyes was sitting up in bed, eyes transfixed by the large television on the opposite side of the room, which was currently showing a reporter standing in front of a small room filled with chairs that were facing a row of empty seats behind a table on a stage at the back…

“The police are about answer questions.” Kiyotaka explained, as she handed him his drink. “And they said that word’s going around that there should be an update into the investigation by now, as well!”

“I see.” Perhaps that would shed some light onto who the attack had been targeting…

After several minutes of pointless discussion where the reporters attempted to guess at what was going to be said, a well-dressed, albeit tired-looking, policeman entered the room and sat in the middle of the row of tables, adjusting the microphone that had been placed in front of him as he did so and began reading from a series of cue cards…

“Regarding today’s attack, I can tell you that at around 1:35 pm, a group of what is currently thought to be eight people in costumes, travelling in an off-road vehicle, gained access to the airport by blasting a hole in the fence near a non-functional security camera. They then proceeded to drive into a 747-I8, the largest plane in operation at this time, and set off a series of thermobaric bombs along the side of the aircraft. We can confirm that there have been twenty-five deaths counted so far, and thirty-four people are currently in critical condition. Our thoughts go out to those people, and their friends and family…”

Those poor people…

“Twenty-five, already?” Kiyotaka was already beginning to tear up again.

“Due to the calculated nature of this attack, and the large number of civilians targeted, we are treating this as a terrorist attack. I can also tell you that no groups of individuals have claimed responsibility for this attack so far, but we are continuing investigations into the perpetrators of this attack and the source of such high-powered explosive devices. I will now take questions.”

“That’s all they know?” Kiyotaka sighed, “If only I’d been able to give them better clues… Or figure out where I’d heard of those bears from…”

“Bears?” Sakura asked, paying half her attention to the television in case motives were asked about…

“The bombers were all dressed in black-and-white bear costumes…” Kiyotaka clarified, “And I was sure I’ve heard of something like that, but I can’t think of where…”

Sakura could only assume he wasn’t talking about panda bears… but she couldn’t help but think he was correct and she had heard about them as well… “The school paper… Hinai claimed to have seen them late at night…”

“Of course! How could I have forgot that!” Kiyotaka slapped himself, “I’ve got to let that investigator know right now!” He dashed over to the telephone and quickly dialled a number written on a card from his pocket… Only for his face to slowly tighten in concern… “The signal’s not getting through…” He sighed as he put the phone back down. “I’ll have to try again later… And ask Hinai for a more detailed description of them and see if they match up!”

“Indeed.” Sakura agreed, just at the policeman on the television told a reporter that they did not know the motive for the attack, or if any specific people on the flight had been the target…

But if those bears really had been seen at Hope’s Peak, it seemed all the more likely that the target was either herself or Kiyotaka…

“Is it true that you’ve taken a man into questioning regarding this attack?”

“I cannot disclose information on the progress of the investigation at this time…”

“The isn’t really telling us anything, is it?” Kiyotaka commented, “Perhaps we should try to sleep again?”

It was a fair suggestion. The questions were getting less informative answers as time went on…

“Have you seen the footage of Representative Tochikura’s argument with Ishimaru? The Hope’s Peak student?”

“..What!?” Kiyotaka’s head snapped back to the screen, “What is she talking about…!?”

“…I have, yes.” The policeman seemed to smiling somewhat…

“Someone recorded that!?” Kiyotaka cried, “And there are chiefs of police that have seen it!?”

“Your thoughts on Ishimaru’s comments, sir?”

“Now everyone’s seen my deluded ranting at a Diet member! I’m RUINED!” Kiyotaka continued panicking, “…Father’s never going to speak to me again!”

“…Kiyotaka, I am sure that footage is not as damning as you believe…” Certainly, no one there in the airport had thought less of him for standing up for his father and every other hard working member of the police…

“…I can’t make any comments regarding this particular attack.” Kiyotaka fell silent as the policeman on screen began to answer the question, “However, I DO still stand by my previous comments, warning the government that their cuts to the police force would, and now HAS, resulted in a reduced level of security across the nation, not just from terror attacks but from everyday crime as well… Not to mention that the force is made up of many hard working men and women whose efforts deserve to be recognised!”

“…What?” Kiyotaka stared at the screen in confusion, as the reporters all also responded to the statement with surprise, every one of them clamouring to have their questions heard.

“No more questions…” The policeman left, calmly pushing aside reporters as he did so…

“I don’t understand… what did that have to do with me…?” Kiyotaka’s brows furrowed at the screen… He really couldn’t make the connection… or perhaps he didn’t dare to hope there was one…

“You said that the police work hard and are underfunded.” Sakura reminded him, “His thoughts on the matter are that the police are underfunded and work hard…”

“…You think he’s agreeing with me!?” Kiyotaka looked flabbergasted.

“Why would he not? It is not as if your comments on the workload of your father and his colleagues were a lie, is it?” Sakura asked.

“Of course not… but… Representative Tochikura has been serving on the Diet for years! Surely he’d have a better understanding than I do!”

“But surely, the people running the police force itself would understand it even more so…”

“Interesting comments from the police chief, there…” The scene on the television had cut to a different room, where a news anchor looked to be hosting a discussion with between a two other men…

“Well, he WOULD say that! He’s hardly going to point out how rude the kid was being when he was saying the police ought to get more funding, is he!?” The older of the two others started negatively.

“Of course…” Kiyotaka sighed…

“You call that RUDE!? How about SHAKING a man who’s in shock because he witnessed as group of suicide bombers and then spent almost three hours tending to the wounded? Or doing nothing but complain about the delay while he’s recovering by talking to a friend? Or demanding trivial information from someone who’s obviously starving and trying to eat!?” The younger of the two men countered, “If anything, that video’s a perfect example of how out of touch the Diet is with the needs of the country!”

“The Diet is not ‘out of touch’!” The older one argued back, “Running a country is a far more complicated matter than that kid could understand! As Representative Tochikura said, they have to carefully consider what the country can and can’t afford and…”

“…and decide that it CAN afford to pay Representatives twenty-one million Yen a year, plus up to 12 million in expenses!?” The younger one interrupted.

“Diet members are required to be highly skilled and learned… The high salary prevents them from needing to take other jobs or be susceptible to corruption…”

“Then how do you justify the amount we spend on the military, when the government’s own nurses need to resort to food banks to feed their children!”

“Our country’s security is important! As these attacks today showed!”

“…This is ridiculous! They’re just arguing over me, instead of informing people about the bombing!” Kiyotaka complained, reached for the remote and switching to a different news channel…

“A lot of people are saying that’s the sort of attitude politics needs…”

…Who were also discussing Kiyotaka.

“Hah! Don’t they remember his grandfather!?”

“But he’s NOT his grandfather! All accounts say he only does as well as he does because of a strict study regime! He understands the value of hard work!”

“Here too!?” Kiyotaka complained and changed the channel… To one where a picture of himself, covered in blood and shoving the energy bar from earlier into his mouth, was being shown…

“Just LOOK at him! He’s unelectable! He’d never survive the media gauntlet…”

“That’s after he spent three hours carrying the wounded out of a bomb site! And what does it matter what he looks like in the media when he already has thousands of young people saying they’d vote for him based off of one Youtube video?”

“This is ridiculous… I haven’t got anywhere near getting into politics yet…” Kiyotaka sighed and changed the channel again…

“…Everyone’s acting like he’s this new voice for the common man, but keep in mind that this is a boy going to a prestigious boarding school! How’s he supposed to understand the plight of the average, working man?”

“Because his father is one! From all accounts I can find, Takaaki Ishimaru has been diligently working for the police force for over a decade! With little recognition for his hard work, all while having to juggle the costs of raising a child AND pay off his father’s debts!”

“Ahh…?” Kiyotaka’s finger froze, hovering over the remote.

“Well… that rather proves Tochikura’s point about the police being the place to find cushy, well-paid jobs!”

“He joined BEFORE any of the controversies surrounding Toranosuke came to light! And that was DESPITE his father being able to offer him any number of ‘cushy, well paid jobs’! He’s someone who joined the force because he felt it was his duty to serve his country and then stuck with it regardless of how hard it got! It’s no wonder his son showed so much respect to the police earlier!”

“Well… just because he sympathises with the police, doesn’t mean he understands all professions…”

“Expect in the video he stands up for the airport staff as well, when…”

“Argh… can’t they go back to talking about Father…?” Kiyotaka pleaded, tears beginning to well in his eyes as this pair turned their attention back to him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say anything that nice about him before!”

“Well… I am sure it will not be the last time.” Sakura tried to assure him.

“What? Why not?”

“Because they are talking about you… and despite what he may wish at the moment, your father’s reputation is tied to yours…” Sakura explained.

“But… that’s terrible!” Kiyotaka cried, “That’s exactly what he didn’t want! I’ve made myself look like an idiot and now he’ll get dragged down with me!”

What did he mean? “Kiyotaka, were you not listening to what those people were saying just now?”

“Of course I was! They were saying I’m a rude child, and liable to repeat my grandfather’s mistakes, assuming I’m elected which is unlikely given I’m unelectable and I won’t understand the plight of the average man…” Kiyotaka was only listing off the negative parts…

“Did you not listen to the responses?” Sakura asked, “The ones who said you grew up in that very plight, and that people already wish to vote for you, because you are not your grandfather…”

“Of course I heard that! But those were all opposition members! The people who actually have power were all insulting me…”

Those people were all politicians? And it was the current rulers who’d reacted badly to him… “Ah. I understand… they fear you.”

“What!?” Kiyotaka exclaimed, “I’m just a child! They’re all respected elders…!”

“Are they?” Sakura asked, she’d couldn’t have named any of them…

“What? Of course they are! They run the country! Everyone respects them!” He insisted, “There’s no reason for them to be afraid of me!”

“Hmm… perhaps it would have been more fair to say that they fear what you represent…”

“You mean… Hope’s Peak?” Kiyotaka misunderstood.

“No… I meant you represent change…” Hmm…he still didn’t understand… “You say everyone respects them, but the amount of support you garnered by shouting at one of them would suggest otherwise…”

“But, that’s just younger people!”

“Younger people who will only grow their numbers as time moves on…” Sakura pointed out, “Whereas the older ones who support them are dying out… and they know it.”

“But… by that time the younger people will be older and not support me anymore…”

“Ah… no… I did not mean that you can only appeal to those under a certain age.” Sakura corrected him, “I mean that the world is changing over time, and the young of today have grown up with different values to the older generations… values that are represented by people like you, not them. That is why they are already trying to launch their strongest offense at you… because they see you as a threat, and know you will only grow stronger with time.”

“Hmm…” Kiyotaka considered it. “But that would be completely irresponsible of them!”

“…How so?”

“There’s just been a terrorist attack and instead of discussing how to make sure something like that never happens again or showing respect for the dead, or talking about how to help the victims, they’re all just trying to shore up their political advantage! It’s… it’s shameful and… and…”

“Out of touch with the needs of the country?” Sakura suggested.

“Yes! Exactly!” Kiyotaka agreed, before considering it more. “…That was one of the things that was said in my favour, wasn’t it?” He remembered.

“Indeed… change is like a strong current. Those who struggle to move against it put themselves at risk of being destroyed by it…”

“You mean… you think they’re just making themselves look less respectable by attacking me like that?” He asked.

“Yes. All you need to do is stand fast and keep championing for what you believe is right, and others will follow your lead.”

Kiyotaka thought on that for a while, a light smile slowly spreading across his face… “Thank you… You know… for the first time, I’m starting to think I might understand how I could actually become Prime Minister… besides putting in as much effort as I can, that it!”

Ah… always espousing his belief in effort… some things would never change, regardless of how much they had both had grown over the past year…

“…I just wish it hadn’t taken a terrorist attack for me to find out.” Kiyotaka continued, “I’d give up any chance of being Prime Minister if it meant I could have stopped those bombs…”

“Yes… it has certainly been… a tragic day.” Sakura sighed, “But… try not to dwell on it too much. I believe Oowada suggested you consider how to ensure similar events do not occur again…”

“Yes! I could start by campaigning to increase the priority given to the police budget… or just all emergency services funding, to make sure that victims can get medical treatment as soon as possible… Maybe I’ll try…. to start a petition… if there isn’t… one… alread…”

…He’d fallen asleep with his back leant against the wall and his head on his chest. It was understandable, given he’d already been injured even before the exhausting events of the day began, and the thought of being able to make a difference had put his mind at rest just enough for him to succumb to sleep…

She could only hope that his life went the way he planned, and he’d get the chance to make the changes that he, and seemingly so many others, were so desperate to see happen…

But until then, perhaps some light exercise would help take her mind off of the events of the day. Or she could pray that she would not be involved in anymore horrifying attacks…