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Episode 1: Blue Child
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The day started like any other. At 7:29 am, the sun shone brightly, and the Kazetenshi residence was in peace, except for Ken'ichi, who was cooking breakfast in the kitchen. A handsome man that you'd never guess is already in his mid-thirties, he waited as the second pancake turned to a light brown. He looked at his watch as he placed the pancake on a plate, then became still, as if listening for something... anything. As if on cue, a shrill cry from an alarm clock can be heard from the second floor. Ken'ichi still doesn't make a move as he waits for any sign of movement... several seconds pass...
But there was nothing.
He sighed. "Mattaku..."
The alarm continued its call, while its owner only stirred in her bed.
"Five... more... minutes..." came a muffled plea.
The alarm finally stopped, and the door with a wooden sign "Aiko" on it finally opened, and a pair of sleepy feet trudged to the next room.
"Niisan...niisan, wake up..." she said, barely even awake herself, while shaking the boy in the bed.
He groaned in the pillows, then opened his eyes slightly to show thin slits of deep brown. He shifted his gaze towards his sister's silhouette, then closed his eyes again.
"Niichan..." she shook him slightly again.
He blinked his eyes open again, THEN, he bolts up.
"Wha-wha-wha? Are we gonna eat already?"
He looked completely physically awake, though his brain wasn't functioning as well as it should be yet. His sister didn't seem to be in a better state.
"I dunno...I'm gonna go dress up..."
She trudged back to her room and looked around. Then, she spots her wall clock. It read 7:43.
7:43?!
"GAH!!!!"
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Downstairs, Ken'ichi was peacefully sipping his tea as he read the paper. This was the way their mornings have been. 7:30 am, Aiko's alarm clock would go off. It would take her a few minutes before she actually gets up to wake her brother. At approximately 7:40, she would be running around her room while getting dressed. About 10 minutes later, she would be running down the stairs.
And that she did.
A small smile tugged on Ken'ichi's lips as Aiko came runnning down the stairs, fully dressed and looking as if she had prepared for a full 30 minutes. Ken'ichi had always marvelled at her speed and efficiency in getting prepared for school.
"Ohayo! Hao otoosan!" Aiko greeted her dad with a bright smile, her grey eyes twinkling. She grabbed a sandwich strategically located at the edge of the counter, and hurriedly put on her shoes.
"Ohayo! Did you have a good sleep?" Ken'ichi looked at his watch. "Aiko, don't you still have a few more minutes? Calm down!"
"Yes, and no respectively, dad-- Hikaru-niisan!!! We're late! Come on!"
"OK! OK!" came a voice from upstairs.
Hikaru came running down the stairs, one sleeve of his shirt on, while he struggled to slip his arm through the other one. He grabbed his sandwich, and chugged down his glass of water.
"Wegottago! Bye otoosan!"
"Chotto matte!!!---Bye Dad!---Aiko!!!"
Ken'ichi sighed. "Every morning... Can't you kids wake up early for once?"
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Kobayakawa High School, the school chimes signal the end of classes.
"Wow...I got a low score in this test..." a girl commentted as she looked at the announcement board. "Hey, look, Kazetenshi-san got the highest score!"
"Like, duh," the boy beside her replied.
"I don't understand... How can she get the highest grades in all the exams, and STILL hang out, have fun, and be beautiful? Heck, I can't do that..."
"You're not her."
"I KNEW that, baka."
"Man, I'd give anything for a chance to ask Kazetenshi-san for a date..."
"You and every member of the male species."
"Ha. As you and every member of the female species go bonkers over Toriyama. You girls always get this dreamy look on your faces when he passes by."
True enough, nearly the whole female population of Kobayakawa High are dreamily watching the mentioned Toriyama Kamui as he prepares to race at the tracks. He was looking around the feild as he scratched his jet black hair. Tall, handsome and intelligent, he had been a star soccer player since elementary school. And, as he stepped into Kobayakawa High, the position for soccer team captain was already waiting for him, as it was for Aiko in the track team. He was already used to having a drone of people watch as he plays, but... that had been soccer. THIS is track.
"This is a bit strange," he thought out loud. "There's unusually a LOT of students in the field today..."
"Aren't you used to it yet, Kamui?" Kamui turned to the girl beside him. Aiko was there, blankly looking at him. "We've had races like this before, right? Why find it strange now?"
"Well, we never had this big of an audience before... It's not like this is a major competition..." He reasoned out.
Aiko thought about it. It was true. Every so often, she and Kamui would race for fun. The attention of several students usually get caught, but never this large of a number. She shrugged.
"I don't mind. Do you?" When Kamui didn't answer, a grin crept up to the corners of her mouth. "Maybe the great Toriyama doesn't want his fans to see him get beaten... Again."
"Cut it, Kazetenshi. I'm going to beat you this time."
"Dream on."
Rei, the manager of the boys' track team, interrupted the potential argument. "Are you guys gonna race..."
"Or are you just going to talk?" Midori, the girls' track team manager, finished the sentence for him.
Aiko laughed. "OK, OK!"
"Finally!" Rei breathed. "Track team captain vs. soccer team captain!" Midori laughed as she looked at her stopwatch.
"On'er marks..." The racers step up. Rei looked at his own stopwatch, readying the gun.
"'Set..."
"Go!" And the gun is fired. Quick to respond, Aiko and Kamui are both already running down the track in a second. Pure determination can be seen in Kamui's eyes as he looked directly at the goal.
I can do this! Just you watch, Aiko!
Aiko, however, is battling with herself.
If you want to win so much, then I could let you. But you don't want that, do you?
She sideglanced at him for a second, then reached a decision.
No, you don't.
COME ON! Kamui summoned all his energy and pushed harder.
Time seemed to slow down as they were nearing the goal. Out of the corner of her eye, Aiko could see the students cheering, she didn't know for who. But it didn't matter. She couldn't hear them, anyway. It was as if she had suddenly become deaf.
What the...
That was when she noticed it. Time HAD stopped. And she was frozen in her running position, inches away from the finish line. Then, her eyes widened as she saw someone suddenly standing in front of her. Someone in black. She can only see his eyes.
Cold.
Silver.
Suddenly, she couldn't breathe...
Someone...help... her mind raced. What was happening?!
In a second, everything turned blue, and time continued. Aiko stumbled across the finish line and dropped to her knees. She was breathing hard. She closed her eyes, trying to "refresh" her brain, but instead, the figure that appeared before her flashed in her mind, sending cold shivers down her spine.
Her eyes flew open and she saw the ground of the tracks. She can now hear the excited shouts of her schoolmates...Now, she can feel the wind blowing through her midnight blue hair.
Everything's back to normal... she thought to herself, bringing her hand to her forehead. Her breathing calmed slowly.
"Aiko?" A hesitant voice called above her. She looked up to see Kamui's concerned eyes. "You all right?"
She forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Kamui didn't look the least bit convinced. He had seen Aiko's facial expression change abruptly from focused to surprised, with a mixture of fear, as they crossed the finish line. After that, he had turned to see her collapse to her knees. His eyebrows furrowed. Aiko had always finished the race standing up, and with a smile, whether or not she won. He opened his mouth to ask again, when Midori came running up to them.
"Wow... this is new!"
Aiko looked at her. Kamui resigned himself to just ask her about it later. Suddenly, he lunged forward as something hit his back HARD.
"Hey Toriyama!" Rei exclaimed. "You beat Aiko! By a second!"
It was then that Kamui looked at the track team managers...and so did everybody else. Kamui was, to say the least, surprised. True, he was a fast runner. He had to be as he was on the soccer team. But his speed had never beaten Aiko's, the fastest student in Kobayakawa High. He had never even came close to a tie! He looked at Midori, who smiled and nodded in agreement, then at Aiko, who looked... as if she wasn't even listenening. Kamui's concern tugged at him again. He was about to say something to Aiko when she stood up and flipped her hair.
"Congratulations, Kamui," she said with a smile. "I guess you meant it this time!"
With that, she started to wak away. The other students are silent. Midori and Rei were looking at Aiko, bewildered of her reaction. Aiko had always congratulated anyone who won anything... Even if this IS track, and she had never lost to anyone in their school, she just wasn't the type to turn her back and walk away.
Kamui was thinking the same way. By this time, his previous thoughts had been pushed aside. What WAS different today? Aiko won't just leave like that. She usually thanks the winner for a good match...
"Unless," he thought. "It *wasn't* a good match."
"Hey Aiko!" he called after her.
Aiko stopped in her tracks.
"Promise to answer this question honestly?"
Aiko turned around, facing him, and nodded.
"Did you...or did you not...throw the race?" Kasmui asked, rather hesitantly, a bit afraid of her answer.
But there came none. Suspense crackled. The field is generally silent, but some students are murmuring.
"Do you think she let him win?"
"Why would she do that?"
"Well, they ARE best friends, maybe she's just giving him more self-confidence for next time..."
"But Kazetenshi knows he wants to win fair..."
"Did you?" Kamui repeated.
Threw the race? Sure, she had thought about it, but...she didn't! She didn't know what to say. She decided to take the safe way out: don't give a straight answer.
"Didn't you WANT to win?" came her reply.
"Yes, but---"
"You did!" Aiko said interrupted with a laugh. She still wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. She just knew that she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
"What more do you want?" she continued. "Everybody already knows that you're a great athlete! And now you finally beat me, what's your problem?" There. That ought to shut him up. She just wanted to turn her heels and leave.
"No, I didn't beat you!" Kamui countered. "For me, winning has to be fair--"
"You DID win fairly--!"
"No I didn't! YOU...LET... ME...WIN!"
The wind blew, and silence prevailed. Aiko rummaged through her brain. What was she going to do now? She wanted to scream "JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME LEAVE! I have some things to think about!" But then, she remembered how Kamui had been so worried about her. If she said that, Kamui would go and ask her what had happened. He obviously noticed that something happened, and Aiko didn't want to tell him just yet. As much as it comforted her to know that Kamui cared for her, she generally does NOT want to see his eyes look so worried. She sighed and combed her fingers through her dark blue hair. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Look, why don't we forget the whole thing and just think that I didn't race with you...that's just the same as throwing the race, isn't it? Let's just say I didn't want to beat you today--"
"What are you trying to say, now? That you're the one that decides if I will win or not?"
ARGH! Kamui no baka!
"Isn't that what you were implying? So I really didn't want to race with you today. Then it's just the same! I turned down a challenge! Just as I turned down your expectations that I would win, isn't it?!"
No response.
"Why do you want to beat me so badly? Why won't you just let me do what I want, and you'd do what you want?"
Silence.
In Aiko's mind, she wasn't making any sense at all.
"No matter how long I've known you and no matter how hard I try...sometimes I STILL don't understand you, and you...you don't understand me..."
Having said that, she ran back to the builiding. Almost everybody was speechless and sort of paralyzed in their positions in shock. It was trully odd, how Aiko acted.
Midori was the first to snap out of the daze. After throwing a glance at the boys, she ran after Aiko to the locker room. As the crowd dispersed, Rei looked at his friend standing frozen beside him. Kamui looked lost.
"Aww, c'mon, buddy...you know Kazetenshi, a few minutes later, she's gonna talk to us like nothing happened!" he said, slapping Kamui's back again, trying to lighten the mood.
But Aiko's words echoed in Kamui's brain.
"No matter how long I've known you and no matter how hard I try...sometimes I STILL don't understand you, and you...you don't understand me..."
"Both of you will get over it, you'll see!" Rei was saying. Kamui turned to him, and saw his usual wide, encouraging grin. The black-haired soccer team captain finally nodded with a sigh.
"Yeah...Hope you're right."
Rei instantly looked offended. "Hey! You're forgetting who you're talking to! Yokaze Rei is always right!"
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In the girls' locker room, Aiko was sitting on the bench, thinking of the day's events. She had no idea what made her say that. It was probably confusion of what had just happened, and frustration at Kamui's stubbornness.
What HAD happened back there?
"Ai-chan?"
Aiko looked up to see Midori at the door. "Hao."
"You all right?"
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"I don't know." Aiko sighed. "Ba~ka! What'd I have to THAT for, Midori? He's my best friend!"
"Come now, girl! You know Kamui, a few minutes later, he'll apologize and talk to us like nothing happened..." Midori said as she walked past Aiko and towards the window.
"Yeah..."
"Don't worry. It'll turn out fine, you'll see!"
"Well, I hope you're right..."
"Hey! You're forgetting who you're talking to! Yukibana Midori is always right!"
Aiko smiled and went to change into her uniform. Smiling, Midori went over to the window, and nodded outside.
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"Hey Toriyama," Rei said, glancing at his watch as he put his manga in his bag. "I've got to get something in the classroom...wait for me at the gate, ok? I won't be long!" Rei said as he ran outside before Kamui had a chance to say anything.
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5:15 pm, the school is almost deserted.
"'Ya...what could be taking her so long?" Aiko said as she checked her watch. Midori had ran out of the room, saying that she forgot something at their classroom and asked Aiko to wait for her at the gate. But that had been 15 minutes ago. She looked up again, almost willing her eyes to see Midoi finally running up to her, but instead, she saw Kamui. He was reading a book while walking and apparently, he hasn't seen her. Aiko decided that she had better not draw attention to herself; she was still aftraid he'd ask about what happened. She noticed a girl a few meters behind Kamui, running towards the gate. He turned slightly, hearing her running footsteps.
"Ja na, Toriyama-kun!" she said to Kamui as she passed by him. He just nodded and went back to his book.
"Ja na, Aiko-chan!"
Hearing Aiko's name, Kamui's head snapped up, and saw her wave slightly to the running girl. Then, her grey eyes turned to him. Kamui froze. What now?
Unknown to Kamui, Aiko herself didn't know what to do. She sighed. Better get this over with and face your fears.
"Hao, Kamui..." she said with a small smile.
He took a few more steps towards her. "Hey, Aiko...Why are you still here?" Kamui mentally hit himself. I pray to God that didn't come out as I thought it did...
"I'm waiting for Midori..." Aiko replied. Kamui gave a small sigh of relief. But then gave a start.
"Yukibana?"
Aiko scoffed. "Do we know any other Midori?"
"Haha."
"Yeah, she told me to wait here. I don't understand, though, we could've just---"
"But..." Kamui interrupted. "She left already. She told me she had to go home, her mother's going somewhere and she has to be in the house as soon as possible..."
Aiko was evidently surprised. "Nani? Mou...she could've told me!" Aiko sighed for the hundredth time that day, then remembered something. "Oh yeah! Yokaze-kun passed by and asked me to tell you he forgot to do some errands so he has to hurry home..."
"What? But he told me to wait for him here..."
"Those two can be so... argh!" Aiko threw her hands in frustration.
"So 'argh', huh?" Kamui said with a smirk.
"Shut up, Toriyama."
"Yes, Kazetenshi-sama."
Aiko laughed. "So I guess it's you and me." She started to walk out of the gate when Kamui caught her arm. Aiko turned around, and was startled to see Kamui's head hanging low.
"Aiko... I'm sorry about what I said earlier."
Aiko frowned.
"You don't have to do this, Kamui---"
"Yes, I do...I just can't let this pass and---"
"No you don't, and yes you can." she interrupted, smiling again. "So, shall we?"
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"Hey guys, let's go!" Kamui called as he drummed his fingers on the roof of their car.
The Kazetenshi and Toriyama families had always been close. Rieka, Aiko's mother, and Megumi, Kamui's mom, had been best friends. Megumi had moved to Chiba, and stayed there until she married and had kids. The Kazetenshis frequently visited the Toriyamas, and vice versa. And that had been an ongoing tradition, even now that Megumi's family is already in Tokyo.
Saturday, 6:30 a.m., the Kazetenshi household is preparing for another visit to Chiba, though Ken'ichi won't be able to go since he has work elsewhere...
"Son, careful in driving..." Ken'ichi told Hikaru as he gave him the keys.
"Sure, dad. See ya!" Hikaru called with a wave, and walked towards the car outside.
"Aiko, follow your brother..."
"I know, dad..."
"He's a year older than you, so obey, OK?" Aiko said, speaking in sync with her father. She smiled as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"WAY scripted."
Ken'ichi himself smiled. "Be careful, kids, see you!"
"Bye dad, see you tomorrow." Aiko hugged her father, then moved to walk out of the house.
"O~K...let's--- " Kamui was cut short when he sensed something. He looked around suspiciously. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Someone was standing behind a tree, as if spying on them. He was about to turn to see it when he heard Aiko's voice.
"Something wrong, Kamui?"
"Someone's watching us..." he whispered. He wondered if Aiko heard him at all, but she did.
"Where?" she whispered, as well.
"By that tree over there..."
Aiko followed his line of vision, but saw no one. "I don't see him..."
"What?" Kamui looked at Aiko, but she seemed to be looking the right way. He turned again, and the "spy" was still there. Kamui wondered why. It was pretty obvious that Kamui had seen him...Any normal stalker would run away. "He's still there, don't you see him?"
"No..." she gave up and looked inquisitively at Kamui. "What time did you wake up this morning?"
"Huh?"
"Maybe you're just...sleepy?" She looked at the tree again, but still saw no one. "I don't see him still."
Kamui looked at the tree again, but this time, the "spy" wasn't there anymore.
Strange ...
He sighed. "You're right. I must be imagining things." After all, he DID get up at 5 in the morning. He smiled at Aiko and shrugged. Aiko smiled back and got inside their car.
"Anything the matter?" came a voice inside Kamui's car.
"Nope..."
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Aiko had been absent-mindedly staring at the digital clock that had said 6:55 before her. Now, though, it read 7:00. She looked outside the window to see the full moon shining brightly behind the passing roadlights. The day had been quite normal. The usual visit to Kamui's grandparents... Nothing strange happened since that morning, except Kamui was looking around suspiciously every so often. Only Aiko seemed to notice, though.
I wonder if it has anything to do with that day at the tracks. She remembered the eyes... it was as if he was looking right through her. Her eyes narrowed. She hasn't given it THAT much thought... but even if she did, she would never have made progress. She didn't have any clue to go on, anyway...
"Pretty deep thought you have there..." came a voice beside her.
Aiko looked at her brother, grinning at her while driving. Leave it to Hikaru to always try and cheer her up when she's too silent for his liking. She smiled back, then gave a start.
"ONIICHAN!"
"What?!"
"For the hundredth time..." she started. "Wear your seatbelt!"
"OK, OK...just a second!" Hikaru laughed as he turned to put the seatbelt on. But a screeching sound distracted him. "What---"
Several yards away from them, a gasoline truck goes out of control and is already heading towards Kamui's car...
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"KAMUI!!!"
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From the Author:
So...Whaddya think? This is the first story I wrote ever, so forgive the clichés.
If you like Blue Star, you can support it by reviewing (one per chapter would be nice), and maybe advertising the story for me. Reviews mean a LOT to me, no matter how short they may be (though I *am* partial for long ones). Just the fact that you drop a line puts a smile on my face. You can also go to the Blue Star wepage and participate in the polls. The URL is http : / / www . geocities . com / sarah_cada / blue / blue . html without the spaces.
Clarification: The Kamui-Aiko argument may have been a little confusing. See, Aiko wasn't thinking clearly because of those silver eyes...
Glossary
Mattaku - so far, I've heard it used to mean something like "Really..." or "Geez..." and said with a sigh. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Niisan/Oniisan/Oniichan - older brother
Otoosan - father
Ohayo - good morning
Hao - Aiko's...umm...special word^^ In this episode, it's used as a greeting.
baka - stupid / idiot
"Kamui no baka!" - "Stupid Kamui!" or "Kamui you idiot!"
Ja na - see you later
Nani? - what?
Mou - literally translates as "already" or "enough". Also usually used like "Mattaku"