MAY 11TH 2015, MONDAY
Afterschool The familiar sounds of the archery range. The hum of dull, quiet conversation. Maybe it was the attachment Sato felt to the archery club, a symbol of personal freedom perhaps, but it felt, in a way, relaxing. There was still a subtle air around certain members that managed to bother him ever so slightly, but it was easy to forget when you're focusing on getting the perfect shot. Sato doubted that-- no, he knew that he would never pursue archery after he graduated, but he was okay with it. It wasn't his passion. It didn't actually mean much to him. Not much actually did matter to him outside of getting good grades. Perhaps... that was the reason Sato felt so out of place around the other archery kids. They all had a purpose after the school bell tolled, somewhere to be, while Sato didn't want to get out of his desk. He didn't even want to go home; there was nothing waiting for him there. Nothing to do. And... maybe... that was why his mind was fixated on Rokurou. Except Rokurou had a passion; music. Sato could play the piano, maybe they could play together some time? There was a keyboard in his room… but the time would be better spent studying than flailing about on some instruments. But, perhaps Otonashi was right. Perhaps it would be best to stop hanging out with Rokurou.
Sato scoffed, lowering the bow. He was so lost in thought he'd forgotten to let go of the bowstring. He couldn't even focus on the shot. It was ok to lose yourself sometimes. But lately, the only thing Sato had been able to focus on was his schoolwork. Everything else, the same kind of thoughts intruded, like a leech you can't pull off.
With a classic angsty sigh, Sato stepped away from the firing line and made his way back over to the equipment locker, tossing the bow and arrows he had borrowed into the one they came from. He'd forgotten his own equipment back at home again, so the crappy school-supplied ones had to make do. Shoving his hands into his pockets and eyes drawn to the floor, Sato made his way over to the exit, but upon pulling open the door and taking a step to leave, the boy stumbled backwards, clutching his nose. He'd walked straight into someone, and they recoiled similarly, people around them making soft alarmed noises. Sato looked over at who he had collided with, taking a second to recognize Mika followed by her squad.
After a few moments of swearing and greeting, Mika grabbed Sato's hand and pulled him outside, shutting the door behind them. Nobody else was around besides Mika's group and him besides the distant students headed out into the town. "You've been hanging out with Rokurou a lot recently?" Rento asked, hands subtly flexing in and out of fists.
Sato frowned. "Why is it an issue? I was just talking to him."
"I thought you said you wanted him out of the club," Mika said, adjusting her hair like she was trying to balance out the aggressiveness Rento was radiating. "He's a pretty shitty club prez."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why are you fucking around with him?"
Sato swallowed. Why were they so pissed off about Rokurou? A month ago they were totally fine with each other, if not flirting around. "I was just talking to him. About becoming club president. I didn't like creeping around behind him like we were going to Julius Caesar him, so I talked to him directly about how we're not happy with his management."
"Wait," Rento said, "you want to be prez?"
Maybe. "Yeah." But it's not like anything's going to change if he is or isn't. Probably just some minor influx in popularity around the range. More responsibility...
"Well," Mika opened the door to the range, taking a step in before continuing. "At least that's settled." As she and her followers entered, Rokurou quietly slipped around and out, that 'archery yellow' sweater on. It was loose around his frame, a size too big perhaps. It was a sunny day again, and Rokurou blended in with the rays of the sun beaming down on them. He gave a friendly smile to Sato, the trademark Rokurou greeting at this point, before approaching the slightly shorter male.
"How ya doing?" Rokurou asked, standing between Sato and the sun. "Wanna go study later?"
"I was just about to ask the same." Sato replied. "Is it okay to ditch practice so soon? This is the kind of thing is why Mika and Co. are outing you. And, what you off to do?"
"Ehhh… A prez's job is to take care of the club and do all that paperwork shit. I make sure it stays up and running. Do they want me to babysit everyone or something? I'm sure highschoolers can handle practice on their owns. I really only need to show up for a couple minutes; those guys have some sticks up their asses if you ask me." Rokurou sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "I'm just going out for a jog before heading home. Just meet me up at my place later."
Rokurou brushed past Sato, increasing his pace a little. "Wait," Sato blurted out, swiveling around to face Rokurou again. "I'll go with you."
He scoffed. "In your uniform? And carrying your bag? I won't stop you, but that'd be pretty stupid"
"Whatever," Sato shifted his weight onto his hip, "it doesn't matter. The faster I get to your house the sooner we can get started, right?" Rokurou snorted, turning around to get going again. Sato clutched his school bag under his arm and started to catch up, but as soon as he started to catch up, Rokurou took off running. It basically just became a game of chase.
[. . . . .]
While running across town to in his uniform and school bag in tow sucked enough for the obviously more academic boy, the rain that suddenly started up did not help at all. They were drenched when they burst through the front door of Sato's house. The heavy rain appeared out of nowhere, and running half-way across the town wasn't much of an option to Sato. Sato's mother immediately scolded the two for tracking in mud and water, though she immediately switched over to fawning over Rokurou for some reason. Now that he thought about, it was rare for Sato to bring company over. Or rather, it was rare for anyone to come over.
"A friend from school," Sato quickly explained. His mother fetched them a few towels from wherever, Sato drying himself off just enough to avoid tracking much rain in. "We're just here to study."
"Oh, I won't keep you away from the books then! Get lots of work done, ok?" She said, waving them away. It was the perfect method to get pestering parents off your back. The two made it only a few steps up, however, before his mom popped back in. "Say, is your friend staying for dinner? I can make whatever you kids want today."
Before Sato could answer, Rokurou chimed in. "Nabemono. I'm really feeling that right now. Make plenty too, I missed lunch today." Sato pulled Rokurou up the stairs, both boys muttering some kind of thanks before absconding to Sato's room. The first order of business for Sato was to get out of his wet clothes, but Rokurou was already on it. Rokurou peeled off his sweater before they even got into the room, tossing it onto the floor by the door. Sato blinked, staring at him until Rokurou noticed him looking. "Something wrong?"
Sato looked away immediately, drawing his attention to the basket of laundry beside the door. "No, nothing. Cover yourself please." Sato fished a pair of grey shorts and a plain shirt from the basket before slipping into his room and changing, closing the door behind him. Rokurou barged in just as he slid into the navy blue shirt, plopping down on the chair by Sato's desk, towel hanging around his neck.
"With what? None of your shit fits me." He replied, the delay between the two points in conversation tangibly awkward. "Throw my clothes into the drier for me if it bugs you so much."
"I'm not having you lounging around my house in your boxers for an hour, Roku." Sato shook his head, pulling his textbooks out of his school bag. "Whatever. Let's just get started. Pick, English or Chem?" He held the two books like an assistant on a game show displaying the contestant's fabulous prizes.
"What were you talking to Mika about?" Rokurou asked, reclining in the wooden chair, displaying his torso more clearly, hopefully not intentionally Rokurou's abs were clearly defined, though not lean like one would see on a model or something. A muscular-by-necessity kind of fit, you could say.
"Huh?"
Wait why the hell am I studying his muscles oh no did he notice "Oh, what's with you people and questioning who I'm with? They were bugging me about you. I told them that they were being stupid, since you're doing fine as club prez."
"Cool," Rokurou said, in that 'ok sure alright honey' kind of way. Sato got lost in his thoughts for a second, but Rokurou jabbing a finger at his face brought his attention back quickly. "Look, if it's bothering you so much, I'll put on something." It was only then did Sato notice his face was starting to burn red. He wanted to say it was alright, but the way he was acting, it was for the best if they wanted to get any studying done.
Rokurou pulled on some random white shirt that Sato had hanging off the back of the door. It was a bit of a tight fit but it accomplished the job of a shirt well enough. Having chosen English on his own, Sato set up the books like they usually did, except Rokurou didn't have any of his books so Rokurou just sat down next to Sato and ripped out a piece of paper from one of Sato's notebooks.
[. . . . .]
"You're so embarassing!"
"What? In some places, it's considered polite to burp after a meal."
Sato sighed. "Not in this house. And not while I'm still eating."
"Then you need to hurry up. We're already done." Rokurou rose from his seat, tossing the still damp sweater onto his shoulder. "I need to get going. I never told my dad that I was staying here. I can already tell you he's gonna be pissed."
Rokurou and Sato's mother exchanged formalities quickly before he bolted out of the house and down the street. It took him a moment, but Sato took after Rokurou as soon as he realized it. Rokurou was already half way down the block when Sato got out of the door. "Wait! My shirt!"
Rokurou stopped and turned back towards him, pedaling backwards as he shouted back. "I'll give it back at school!"
Sato watched Rokurou run down the street for a bit, not caring that he was running through every puddle he came across. Sato's mother stepped out beside Sato, looking up at the sky before the teen that was running away. The sun was peaking out from behind the clouds. "What an interesting young man." She simply said.
"Yeah... interesting."
