When we reached our apartment complex, it had already been past 9 p.m. This was usually the time when Mai would go back to her own apartment so she didn't come over to my apartment to hang out this time. As she said her goodbyes and entered her own apartment, I proceeded to do the same.
When I entered my apartment, I performed my usual actions of greeting the dark, empty hallway, before hanging up my blazer and making my way to the bedroom to put my bag away and proceeding to the shower. The toilets in this apartment complex were also considered quite modern and they were all rather spacious. Inside the bathroom was a bathtub large enough for two people, and a space for a shower room.
As I sat on the bathtub, I thought back on the events that happened today. He wondered if it was right to have done what he did to the other school's basketball team. In truth, he was relentless and merciless against the other team. To his own ex-captain nonetheless.
"Huh… I guess I really am ungrateful…"
'But it's not like it wasn't he who taught me to always play at full capacity…'
He then recalled the moments where he sat alone on the court's bench after everyone had left. 'Why am I even still playing this game?', 'It's not like it should be called a game if no one enjoys it', 'Why the hell did Yanagi-sensei even ask me to become the captain'. All these thoughts swirled around in his head as he sank half his head into the water.
"Not like I will ever find the answer anyway…" Kei said as he got out of the bath.
He then proceeded to do all his homework and started his coursework progress. It was still fairly early in the semester, but Kei always finished the school's coursework in the first two to three week of the semester. When he was done, he then went to his bedroom where he lay in his bed just staring at the ceiling. He then recalled Mai's words from earlier.
'It must be nice to have such a blessing'
"Blessing huh? It would be nice if it were true… I can't help but see this photographic memory of mine as a curse." Kei said to himself.
"Well… whatever…"
With all the thinking he had going on, his mind consciousness drifted and his eyes were finding it hard to stay open as he slowly fell asleep.
***
'That's… such a bright light… hmm? I'm in a car? Ah… this moment… it just keeps replaying in my head over and over again…'
The bright light shone even brighter as what came next was a loud screech.
"Guh?!" Kei snapped up from his bed.
It seemed that he was having a horrible dream that woke him up halfway through his sleep. When he looked at his alarm clock, it was showing that it was only 4.30 in the morning. The alarm that was set on the digital clock showed that he was supposed to wake up at 6.
As Kei's heavy breaths calmed down, his usual expressionless demeanour returned. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so he proceeded to get up from the bed before heading to the bathroom. When he looked into the mirror as he was brushing his teeth, he noticed the dark circles forming under his eyes.
"It's getting worse huh…"
He walked out the apartment in a sports hoodie and tracksuit and proceeded to have a jogging session. As he was jogging, he was trying his best to get his mind off the dream he was having earlier. He ran for a whole hour before returning to his apartment complex. When he returned at 6a.m., he went straight for the shower before heading to the kitchen to start cooking.
'I guess I'll cook up something simple for myself…'
When he was done, he had served himself up some miso soup, steamed rice, grilled mackerel, and some side dishes. He had a lot of rice on his bowl as he ate big portions. When he was done, he started taking out a bento box to start packing for his lunch. He had cooked up just enough to last him through lunch. Usually, Kei would use the leftovers from the previous night's dinner. However, since he ate outside with Mai, he didn't have any leftovers to spare for his bento lunchbox.
As he finished the rest of his preparations, he started heading off to school at 7.30 a.m. It took only 10 minutes for him to walk to school so he took his time as the first period only started at 8.30 a.m.
"That's him, right?"
"I'm positive, I saw him coming out!"
"Should we ask him?"
Kei was slightly confused by the chatter going on around him. But seeing that he was already accustomed to having gossips and rumours, good or bad, around him, he just shrugged it off. Just then, two girls who he didn't know, approached him.
"Are you Amane-san from the basketball team?"
Their words gave Kei a slight shock as they shouldn't know about him being in the basketball team. Even if his classmates caught on, the rumours shouldn't have spread this fast, not to mention that the two girls were asking him the question as if they had already verified the information.
"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person."
"No way! I totally, like, saw you coming out of the basketball court yesterday!" One of the two girls, who were more enthusiastic, spoke out to him.
"Like I said… I'm sure you've got the wrong person here…"
As the two girls didn't seem to want to stand down, Kei found himself in a bit of a bind. As he tried hard to think of an excuse to tell the two of them, he felt an arm wrap around his neck.
"Have you seen his results? How would an athlete score so high in the school even amongst the scholars?"
Things were happening so fast; Kei didn't know what was happening. He felt a rare sense of relief towards the voice that he had heard. It was Chihaya who was trying to cover up for him even though she knew that the girls were spot on.