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August 24: Sports Festival - Bus Trip

I woke up around 6:30 A.M.; way later than I should have. My phone’s alarm clock once again failed me, but it wasn’t the time for any lamentation. In a rush I folded my futon, took my shower, put on a fresh set of day clothes - signature white shirt and cargo shorts, ate my breakfast, and ran out the door with my things all done in the span of twenty minutes. Grandma scolded me for rushing with my food, and I had to explain why. Today was the day of the Sports Festival.

Going against the saying of not doing any intense activity immediately after eating, I ran my way to the bus stop, slowing down to walk when I needed a break and some water. And while my endurance wasn’t as great as an athlete’s, walking and running around everywhere these past few weeks made it somewhat better than it was in years, managing to run for longer than I used to and taking only three walking breaks for something that used to take me five or more. Today the air felt a little humid and the sky was a cloudy pale gray, but some sunlight still shone, which made my sprinting slightly more comfortable. But I prayed that it wouldn’t rain or a lot of the events today would have to be postponed or, worst case scenario, cancelled.

I got to the bus stop around seven as planned, and there stood in waiting Kenji and Kounosuke, the latter fiddling with his camera and peeking at the viewfinder. Reduced to a sweaty mess when I got there, I took a moment to catch my breath and wiped myself dry with a handy towel. My one-liter bottle of water only had a quarter left in it, but the school had drinking fountains so that wasn’t much of an issue.

Kounosuke turned with a smug look on his face, hands on his sides. “Training for the relay race later?”

“Can it, baka-danuki,” I replied.

“Guess someone doesn’t want pictures of Torahiko later, huh?” He waved his camera.

“I can take those myself, you know?”

“But can your phone camera zoom in with clarity?”

I lost that round. My phone could take pictures with convenience, but the quality when zoomed was... let’s just say blocky.  

“Need a hand, Hiro-chan?” Kenji asked.

“I’m good, thanks.” Deeming myself dry enough, I stuffed the towel back in the bag.

“Great.” Kenji outstretched his arms.

“Uhh… what are you doing?”

The bear smiled, inching closer. “Hug me or I hug you. Take your pick.”

“I don’t have a choice?”

“Too late. Hugging you.”

He then proceeded to give me the biggest and softest hug, my face smushed on his chest. If one were hugging a huge teddy bear, that was what the experience was like. Well, if said teddy bear had some hard muscles underneath that fluff. I turned to the side and saw Kounosuke sporting a frown.

“No fair! I want one too!” he said.

“Alright, alright. Come here, you.” Kenji let me go and switched to hugging Kounosuke whose frown turned into a smile of comfort.

Just then, the bus arrived. The windows were open which meant there was no air conditioning, to our dismay. We sat together with me taking the middle seat. I wanted to sit close to the window, but Kounosuke requested to be there to test his camera out. Fortunately, air kept blowing inside so we didn’t have to endure a hot ride. And while Kounosuke was distracted with his own stuff, I took the opportunity to talk to Kenji.

“So uh, I hung out with Tatsu-nii yesterday,” I said. “And he told me some things.”

Kenji got close to my face, looking intrigued. “Oh? What did he tell?”

“That you two got more casual than what you told me.”

“Pfft! Well it’s true. We did hook up more often than we should. You wouldn’t believe the places we-”

“Ho-kay I stopped Tatsu-nii from telling me about the tree so I’ll stop you right there.”

“There goes my secret then.” The bear rested his back. “Kenji Mikazuki, resident exhibitionist. What else did that green drunk tell you?”

I sighed. “His side of the story about that old junior of yours.”

Kenji’s smile turned into a smirk. “Huh. Never thought he’d tell you about that too. Still painful every time I remember it.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to open up old wounds.”

In the background, the clicks of a camera can be heard as Kounosuke took some shots.

“Eh, don’t sweat it,” Kenji said, taking out a lollipop from the pocket of his shirt. “I’m guessing he told you how we’re sort of going out now?”

“How did you-”

“If you already knew his side, that’ll follow naturally.” He popped the unwrapped lollipop into his mouth. “And I can already tell you’re keeping something from me so I can guess that much.”

I shuddered. “It’s scary how you can read me like that. Like that time at the park...”

“So you wanna hear what I think of the whole thing we have going on?”

I spoke softly. “Yes.”

Kenji sighed and looked as if he was daydreaming. “What can I say? He knows how to treat a guy. When I’d feel down he’d go and drag me off somewhere to go, usually a place with food which I won’t complain about.”

“Who would even complain about food?” I quipped.

“Had to keep him down though when he’d get drunk. Oh god, that incident with the soba…”

“Soba?”

Kenji coughed. “Anyway, yeah. Our situation felt more like he was helping me get over it. And in a way I kinda already am.”

“But…?”

“But I don’t know. Recently I’ve been feeling like it’s becoming something more. It ain’t like the butterflies in your gut kinda thing, but more like a comforting hand warmer in winter kinda thing, you know? I’m not making sense any more am I?”

“No no. I understand,” I replied. “It’s more or less the same feeling I have whenever I’m with Torahiko.”

He smiled. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. Feels nice, right?”

“Sure does.”

Both of us ran out of words to say. Rather, there was nothing more that needed to be said.