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[Ryu Tadashi]

Today was unusually hot for this time of year. Sweat poured off of Ryu as he conditioned for this year’s upcoming football season. Since the coach knew that Ryu was unstoppable and could handle anything, he usually let him sit out if he wanted. However, Ryu felt very competitive and strong today, so he stayed in for the entire practice. He did squats, suicides, laps, push-ups, and many other torture devices that made him feel like he was about to die. He huffed and puffed, but he didn’t give up; this is why he earned his nickname “The Bear”. All of the teammates looked at him in shear awe. “Damn…” he heard a lot of them say after they had already given up on torturing themselves for no reason. Ryu just smiled and went to practice some more.

When the coach called the end of practice, Ryu got up from finishing his crunches and put his hands on the back of his head and exhaled a big breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and made his way over to the bleachers and sat down. The metal seat was burning hot beneath him, and it felt as if it was going to burn a whole in his gym shorts. He didn’t care though- he just wanted to sit down. He took a few swigs from the now warm water bottle he had brought with him, then chucked the empty bottle into the nearby garbage can, landing it perfectly in the center of the can. He laid back on the seat and propped one leg up and put his hands around the back of his head. Ryu sighed and just watched the clouds go by for the next few minutes. He tried as hard as he could to avoid going home since his father would be there and would most likely harp on him about not staying later and practicing more. He liked to just sit here for a while and prolong the moments by himself- since they were rare to begin with. However, the thought that he would eventually have to return to that dark house kept swimming around in his head. He shook his head, trying to dispose of the wicked thought. He groaned in annoyance. If only he could find some other outlet of distraction to keep him from leaving…

[Rai Yamada]

"Come on Rai! You’re so close, just a few more feet and your there.” Rai Yamada said to herself as she puffed out a breath on the running track. She really did love to be outside, there was no place better especially when the weather was as lovely as it was today with clear blue skies and not a cloud in sight. She had some friends in classes that would much prefer to be inside with a book than being outside, she thought they were crazy! Not that she’d ever tell them that though. The sun beat down on her as she crossed the finish line, her footsteps slowing whilst her heartbeat kept up a frantic pace in her chest. She turned to face back the direction she came and smiled widely, reaching up to wipe the sweat off her brow before checking her watch.

"Yes!" she cheered, a little too loudly seeing as she was talking to herself but she didn't care, she'd just beaten her personal record. Rai looked around to see if she could see any of her friends to share the good news with but the only people around were a few clearly shattered football players and a young man who looked like he was asleep on the benches. She shrugged and ran over to a small grassy hill near the benches before falling backwards onto the grass gazing up at the sky. She moved her hands behind her head and sighed, closing her eyes and allowing the sun to heat her skin. Her heart still beating frantically and her muscles aching giving her that wonderful feeling she felt when she was running.

Although her body was relaxing her mind was still going a mind a minute, ‘Where was her water bottle? Did she leave it at home? Did she have a spare one in her locker? Why was the arch of her right foot hurting slightly? Did she need new trainers? If she did, where was she going to get the money for them? She didn’t want to ask her Mother for the money, she wanted to pay for them herself. It wouldn’t be fair to expect her Mother to pay for them seeing as she’s not long had a baby, the money needed to go towards looking after her Step-Brother.’
She sighed again, her smile fading as she opened her eyes. She really needed to calm her mind down, raising slowing onto her elbows and stretching her legs out to looked over to the student she’d seen earlier on the benches, he didn’t look familiar but he also hadn’t moved in quite a few minutes, she wondered briefly if she should shake him to see if he was OK but decided instead just to ask him.

“Hey! You alright over there?” she asked, raising one hand to shade her eyes from the sun to see if he responded.

[Ryu Tadashi]

As Ryu studied the insides of his eyelids he heard cheering a few hundred feet from where he lay. However, it didn’t interest him enough to look up. It was a girl’s voice though, and he recognized it from somewhere, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He sighed and tried again to fall asleep so that he could have some kind of excuse to as why he was late returning home. It got silent suddenly, and Ryu hoped that the girl making all of that racket had left for home- nope. “Hey! You alright over there?” she called out to him, and he lazily lifted his arm from over his face and opened his eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight. ”Yeah, why?” he answered back. He just wanted to get some sleep so he didn’t have to go home. Besides, he needed to gather his energy so that he could walk the 3 miles south to even reach his front gate.

The more his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the more he could see the girl’s face. She was sitting on the hill by the track, and he suddenly figured out who she was. ”Hey, you’re Rai Yamada, right? Captain of the track team?” he bellowed to her. He blinked a few times and then decided to get up and go meet her. This was the girl who had almost beaten his track record, and he wanted to shake her hand officially greet her. He walked over to where she sat and plopped down next to her. ”Im Ryu Tadashi, football captain” he said with a smile. ”So, what are you doing out here after school?” he asked with a slightly cocked head.

[Rai Yamada]

Rai nodded at Ryu as he walked over and sat next to her, shaking her hand she couldn’t help but blush, he was cute but she hoped she was still flushed from the run enough not to embarrass herself, she was normally pretty confident but she suddenly felt a little out of sorts talking to Ryu and she didn't know why,

”Nice to meet ya’ Ryu Tadashi.” she smiled back at him before answering his question, “I’m just practicing my running, gotta keep up with you I guess,” she winked at him ”I’m getting closer to your time though, it won’t be long before I win,” she joked, smiling so he knew she was only playing.

”What about you? What are you doing out here? You looked like you were asleep over there on the benches, that can’t have been comfortable,” she spoke the last bit mainly to herself before smiling and tucking a strand of hair that had fallen out of her pony tail, behind her ear.

[Ryu Tadashi]

This girl made Ryu laugh. He chuckled at her remarks about beating his track record- no way was that ever going to happen. He would make sure of that! "Well you're gonna have to practice a lot more to beat me" he said, returning a wink. He shrugged when she asked him why he was still here. "Well i practically was asleep...till you started talking to yourself" he joked and mocked a bit. "But, i just dont wanna go home, so i figured id just stay after school for a bit" he explained. Even though he had a ton of homework to do when he got home, he honestly didnt want to face his father after the fight they had gotten into the other day. They hadnt spoken to each other since. He sighed, trying to make conversation. "So..." was all he had the energy to say. Ryu was a pretty likeable guy, and he would talk about whatever you wanted, but he was not the best at starting conversasion.

[Rai Yamada]

Rai gasped, pretending to be insulted, ”I was not talking to myself! Well...OK, maybe I was but that’s beside the point!” she laughed.

She picked at the grass for a few moments before looking up at him and smiling at his obvious attempt at starting a conversation, ”What, cat got your tongue?” she cocked her head to the side and smirked, ”Or have my good looks stunned you to silence?” she flicked her hair over her shoulder before pretending to check her nails, acting like those cheerleader girls did whenever they caught sight of themselves in a reflective surface. ”Well if you’re not too tired did you wanna race? I could use another run, and it’ll give me a chance to finally beat you,” she joked.

[Ryu Tadashi]

Ryu chuckled at his own lameness. ”What, cat got your tongue?” she teased, and then added quickly ”Or have my good looks stunned you to silence?” and she giggled and began to act all prissy. ”Oh yeah, you got me!” he admitted with a laugh, shaking his head. He sighed again, his body becoming very warm from sitting out in the sunlight. ”Well if you’re not too tired did you wanna race? I could use another run, and it’ll give me a chance to finally beat you,” she spoke up. ”Hell yeah ill race you! Someone’s gotta teach you that you still have a long way to go before you beat me!” he joked and stood up, offering her a gentlemanly hand to help her up as well. He walked to the starting line of the track and bent his knees a few times stretching. ”Are you ready for this?” he spoke in a low tone voice, mocking that line from a song. He bent down and got in the ready position and waited for whatever starting signal she would give.

[Rai Yamada]

“Hell yeah I’ll race you! Someone’s gotta teach you that you still have a long way to go before you beat me!” Ryu joked making Rai laugh, she couldn’t help it he was just so sure of himself and she couldn’t wait to show him how good she’d gotten since the last time. As Ryu stood and held out a hand for her she accepted with a small curtsey of her own, giggling as she did before walking over with him to the start of the track. She stretched as he did preparing herself, trying to get herself into the mindset she needed. She did this every time she raced, she was such a scatter brain and this was something that over the years had really helped her clear her mind and concentrate on nothing but the race ahead of her.

“Are you ready for this?” she heard him say in a lone stone, making her laugh again before nodding to him,

”Of course” she smiled ”On your marks, get set, GO!” she said before setting off at a steady but fast pace, keeping her breathing in check.

[Ryu Tadashi]

On her signal Ryu dashed into a sprint- knowing that he could run the whole thing fast-paced. He started off with his tall, lean body at an angle, and then straightened himself up as he ran. His arms jetted out from either side, helping to maintain his balance as he swiftly passed Rai. However, being the gentleman that he was, he got a few feet ahead of her and then slowed down to match her pace evenly. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to beat him, and he also had the upper hand in the situation (as he could see if she were increasing her speed). If she did try to pass him, he would simply run a little faster and still try to stay only feet in front of her. Ryu didn’t like to win by long-shots unless he were running to beat a record. He liked to be courteous and respect others. He knew how it felt to be left in the dust, and it didn’t make a person feel good. He didn’t like to look like the big winner anyway, so he even contemplated letting Rai win.

[Rai Yamada]

Rai pushed herself forward towards the finish line as she watched Ryu always just a few feet ahead of her as they crossed the finish line. She slowed to a stop next to him and smiled sticking out her hand for a hand shake,

Congratulations!” she cheered ”Looks like I’m gonna have to keep practicing eh?” she laughed as she ungracefully fell to the ground, patting the space next to her. She looked at him and cocked her head to the side, looking deep into his eyes, furrowing her brow at him.

”Where you holding out on me? I’ve watched you run before and I know that you can be much quicker than that!” she smiled ”Is something wrong? Sometimes when I have something on my mind it messing up with my running, I know we’re not friends or anything but you know I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener if you want to talk anytime, I’d happily listen,” she said honestly.

[Ryu Tadashi]

Ryu barely even broke a sweat from that sprint. He was used to running much harder and longer than that, but he didn’t want to ruin the girl’s self esteem. She congratulated him, which made him smile as she plopped onto the ground next to him. He had never really been congratulated before, and he liked the sound of it. He waited for her to catch her breath before she spoke. He nodded. ”Im ok I guess…just a lot of stuff happening at home and I kinda just wanna hang out here till my dad goes to bed or leaves” he was surprised how easily that came out. He wasn’t one to burden others with his problems, and he felt like every time he talked about it (which wasn’t much and only to true friends) he was bragging a bit- even though that wasn’t his intention at all. He shrugged and realized that it was too late to change the subject, and that Rai would want to know more, so they sat and talked about him for a bit. Ryu never really got the chance to talk about himself. His father didn’t want to hear anything more than that Ryu was passing his classes and making good grades. He felt comfortable with Rai, and was sure that they could become good friends.

[Rai Yamada]

Rai smiled as Ryu opened up to her, she knew he was being honest and that made her happy. A lot of people probably would have lied and said they were fine but he was honest. She liked that in people.

”That’s sad, I hope everything sorts out soon though. Can’t have the school top football player being unhappy now can we. It might mess up your game,” she joked, nudging him with her elbow slightly before sighing a frown on her face, ”Well hey, at least you know who your Dad is” she joked, she’d been thinking more and more about her birth father lately. She wanted to try and find him but whenever she spoke to her Mom about it she would always try and turn the conversation to something else and she could sometimes see tears welling in her Mothers eyes as she asked about her father, so Rai never pushed it not wanting to upset her Mother any more than she already had but she wanted to know who had given her life.

[Ryu Tadashi]

Ryu nodded. Yeah I hope it works out too… he’s just…ugh! He’s so difficult!” he bursted. But, then after he heard Rai’s remark about knowing his father, he blushed a bit, feeling bad about even getting on this subject. Now he felt like an idiot. She didn’t know who her father was. Ryu tried to imagine how he would feel in her position. ”You…you don’t know who your father is? But ive seen you at the meet with your parents and your little brother…” he said without thinking. Oh, maybe its her step-father? he thought and bit his lip so that he didn’t let anything other unnecessary words slip out.

[Rai Yamada]

Rai nodded, not making eye contact with him as she plucked a few blades of grass from the ground and tearing them up, just for something to do with her hands,

”That my Step-dad. He married my Mom when I was about two; she met him not long after I was born. He’s always been like a Father to me but my Mom was honest to me when she explained that he wasn’t my real Dad but she won’t talk about my birth father, I don’t even know if she knows where he is which kind of sucks you know? I would’ve liked to meet him,” she shrugged before plastering a smile on her face and looking up at him,

”Parents suck huh?” she laughed before wiping her eyes on her sleeves, ”Sorry. I don’t usually get so emotional, I don’t mean to go all girly on you,” she mumbled with a laugh.

[Ryu Tadashi]

”That my Step-dad. He married my Mom when I was about two; she met him not long after I was born. He’s always been like a Father to me but my Mom was honest to me when she explained that he wasn’t my real Dad but she won’t talk about my birth father, I don’t even know if she knows where he is which kind of sucks you know? I would’ve liked to meet him,” she said. Ryu shrugged. ”Well you gotta consider too, what if you don’t like him if you meet him? Then you’ll really feel like crap ‘cause you wasted your life wanting and wishing to meet him, and then it turns out hes a total dick…” he went on, then realized what he was saying. ”Oh, sorry…” he apologized, looking down at her fingers ripping up the grass. ”Parents suck huh?” she said with a small smile, and Ryu nodded silently. She began to sniffle a bit, and Ryu immediately looked up at her with a concerned look. “Sorry. I don’t usually get so emotional, I don’t mean to go all girly on you,” she apologized and Ryu shook his head. ”Its ok…I totally understand” he sympathized. There were actually times when he almost cried himself. But, being the man he was, he never did, and holding it inside like this was unhealthy. He was glad that Rai was a person he could go talk to though.