"Ready...Set...Go!"
One after another, the girls watched as male students poured onto the track. Wheezes and huffs were heard as they competed, and they only became louder as they passed the finish line. Despite the events unfolding before her, Miyu found herself still distracted by the questions she'd received in the locker room.
"How close are you?" The voice echoed in her head as she solemnly stared at the track. Though several students gave hard-fought attempts to be first, they were no match for the dark-haired boy who seemed to almost effortlessly dance through the track. Saito was the first to cross the line with barely a sweat broken as he watched his classmates finish one-by-one.
Those around her seemed to squeal with amazement, but Miyu found herself less than impressed with his performance. She'd seen him train under her father ever since she was a child. It was only natural that a member of the Crimson Faces is able to do this much. Yet the person in front of her still seemed to be almost a stranger. Even as he stood on the sidelines, hands on his waist, she felt like this Saito couldn't be the one she knew.
At that moment, he glanced over, and they met eyes for just a second. Unable to read his expression, the gaze was short-lived. She hadn't noticed at the time, but she'd taken a step back under his watch, almost feeling pressured.
"Hide?! Are you okay?!" Anri sounded next to her, and Miyu realized that she'd forgotten where she was. A gasp came from the red-headed girl, and Miyu couldn't help but peer over her shoulder. Hide, keeled over and clutching his stomach, was the last to...almost cross the finish line. Groans sounded from him as students began laughing and whispering.
"You're a joke, Kanagawa!"
"Get off the field! You're crowding it for everybody else!"
The whistle sounded, but the talk didn't cease. Hide slowly pushed himself up, a grim expression in his eyes. It didn't suit him, she thought. It was a stark contrast from the happy-go-lucky Hide she'd previously seen him to be. A not-smiling Hide just seemed...unnatural.
The voices grew hushed, and she watched Saito emerge. Though Hide wasn't fully standing, they seemed to exchange words too low for her to hear. Shortly after, Saito extended his hand toward the other. The situation seemed to have sorted itself out, and Miyu started heading toward the start line knowing it was her turn soon. But she was still too distracted to focus.
"How close are we?" She spoke softly, eyes glazed over as she recalled memories of their childhood together.
"Ojou, don't touch that! You'll get in trouble!" A young Saito's hushed voice sounded behind her. It was well past nightfall, yet she'd snuck into her father's meeting room curious about the package she'd seen delivered earlier that day. Her father refused to disclose the object, albeit he hadn't succeeded in deterring her curiosity. The boy had gotten here too late. She'd already unwrapped the package to reveal a sword that seemed to glow brighter than the moonlight.
The sheath was plain black, with a small red crest engraved into the leather. The crest of the Crimson Faces. She knew it well. Holding it in her hand, she felt so small. But a growing sense of pride ran through her. Someday, she too would bestow this gift to someone. She, too, would lead the Crimson Faces into a fortune. She couldn't wait.
"I just wanna see!" She gave a trance-like mutter.
But before she knew it, the sword had been involuntarily thrown from her grip. A gentle clang sounded, and when she looked up, there stood a furious Saito. Fists balled at her side, he glared down at her.
SMACK!
The track field suddenly grew quiet, and all eyes turned toward the two men that had been speaking only seconds ago. Even she found herself shocked by the darkened glare in Hide's eyes as he looked up toward Saito. Saito held the same blank expression she knew him to wear and retracted his hand to his side. Hide, finally standing, pushed past him and the other students, heading back inside without another word.
"Kanagawa, what's your problem?!"
"Yeah, get over yourself!" Voices shouted toward him in annoyance, and it was only then that Miyu noticed the frowns and pitied eyes Anri and Eliza dawned at the moment. Both seemed so nervous. Anri stood biting her lip while Eliza clutched her arm, refusing to even look in Hide's general direction. What was going on? She wanted to ask, but even she could tell that no answers lied here.
"Ready...Set...Go!"
This time, it was the girls that took off running. Miyu found herself in a jog rather than a sprint as she contemplated the events that had just occurred. The memories came flooding back once more. Vivid as day, she was reminded of the disciplinary action she had brought upon them that night.
Peeking behind a wall, she watched a crying Saito kneeling over salt in the main hall. Despite the tears streaming down his cheeks, his expression was fierce. He made no sound as he endured the punishment. She had never seen anyone so formidable.
"Miyu, you didn't even break a sweat." She looked up, walking toward Eliza's voice. She, Anri, and most of her classmates, in fact, already stood waiting on the sidelines. She threw a glance over her shoulder, noticing only a couple more students trailing behind her. She had forgotten she was even in a race.
Miyu had expected the walk home to be silent, but the moment they'd parted with Anri and Eliza, Saito spoke up.
"Ojou, are you alright?" She gave a slight tilt of her head, confused at his question.
"What do you mean?"
"The test. Ojou, even I know that you run much faster than that." The interrogation caught her off guard. A ranking of students based on athletic ability was posted in their classroom. Saito had easily managed to make it to the top of the boys, but Miyu found hers toward the end of the list. 'Embarrassing…' She thought. Frankly, the ranking didn't matter much to her, but she knew she was more than capable. The move seemed to have scrambled her thoughts.
"Saito, do you remember when we were kids?" He furrowed his brows, obviously confused at the change of subject. Still, he didn't question her. Instead, a thoughtful but teasing nod came from him.
"Of course, Ojou." She cleared her throat, embarrassed at the lack of specificity in her question.
"When I opened that sword...why did you take the blame? You were punished for hours…"
"Because it would have been you kneeling on salt if I hadn't." He didn't miss a beat. The way he worded the response was so simplistic. That was the thing about Saito. He seemed to live in a perpetual world of black and white. Things were either right or wrong. You did your job, or you didn't. "Ojou, how can I call myself your bodyguard if I let you get hurt over something as simple as that?"
Had she been caught, it was very likely that she received little, if any, punishment. She didn't need to voice that though. She was sure he was fully aware. That's just the type of person Saito was. A completionist in life. He always did his job to the fullest extent. He never questioned reasons or motivations. He didn't need to. But why?
In a world where Miyu found herself ruled by responsibility, she couldn't help but glance upwards at the man walking beside her. What was he ruled by?