As I walked to school in the morning I saw president Yuuki in high spirits, I stopped in front of her. "Good morning," I said with a smile.
"Good morning Kyo, I saw the list this morning, keep up the good work."
"I will, see you."
It was a quick exchange, and it seemed like she wanted to say more to me, but I didn't press it and went to class and sat in my usual seat. "Morning Kimori."
"Morning Kyo. What clubs are you checking out today?"
"The sports clubs."
"Oh cool, you will get to meet three of the legends of Hanabira high, honestly I'm kind of envious of that."
"I what?"
"Don't tell me you don't know of the seven legends?"
"Not a clue." He looked shocked by my answer.
"Listen Kyo, you know how most schools have the seven wonders like a piano playing in the dead of night, or a ghost who wanders the halls? Well we have those here, but we also have something similar with some of the students that go here, they are referred to as the seven legends. Three of these people are sports members; another that you would know of is the school's VP, legend number 4 The Ice Princess."
"Interesting, which three are they? I might go to them first." I was intrigued at this point.
"The first is the captain of the basketball team Kenji Koda, his nickname is flare of the blaring winds, he moves so fast that the red streak in his hair looks like a flame in the wind. The second is the president of the swimming club, Hiroko Oyogu, nicknamed Shark at sunset, not sure why though. The third and final one is a 2nd year student of the archery club, Yumi Yajirushi, nicknamed Target eyes, she has not lost a tournament since elementary school, or so the rumors say."
"Wow, they all sound amazing." I should probably be scared to meet with them all, but from my experience people who play sports are some of the kindest people in the world so I wasn't worried but intrigued. "Who are the last three?" I asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know, just rumors, I am lucky to have gotten all that when we are less than two weeks into the school year." Kimori was honest about his lack of knowledge. "Well when you do know let me know please." Class started shortly after my interaction with him.
During lunch I met with Yuuki in the usual spot by the stairs. I was there sooner than she was, but she arrived about five minutes after lunch started. "Sorry I am late Kyo, I was trying to get lunch from the school store but everything was sold out."
"You don't have to apologize, honestly I thought after I became the treasurer I would only see you during morning and meetings. So these lunches with you are nice."
"I think you and I are friends Kyo, I would hang out with Shino, but she is always busy with stuff." I felt like this situation was deja vu from last Friday. "Yuuki, do you not have friends?" I ask the same way she asked me. "Not really, you don't make true friends easily when you are always busy and are friendly to everyone."
"Hmm, I guess." I wasn't sure if that was the reason, but I only had two people I could consider real friends in my life so I couldn't say much to refute her.
"Since you couldn't get any lunch, did you want some of mine?"
"Huh?" Her eyes were confused since the offer came out of nowhere, "you mean I can have some?" My lunch was a bento and a sandwich, "yeah it's no problem." I gave her the rest of my bento, there was an egg, some sausage, white rice, and some meat left. I also gave her half of the sandwich.
"You're a lifesaver Kyo, I will make you lunch tomorrow."
"That sounds great, I haven't had a home made lunch in forever."
"Do you have any preferences?"
"Well I don't like citrus flavored stuff, but I am not allergic to anything, so whatever works best. I am sure whatever you make will taste amazing." I said smiling, she looked like she was blushing a bit.
"I promise I am not that good, my brother is better than I am."
"You have a sibling?" I asked, for some reason I thought she was an only child.
"Yeah he goes to college, he's two years older than me, do you have any?"
"A half sister, she is seven years younger than I am, so it's kind of hard to talk to her." I refrained from telling Yuuki that I live alone, I felt like she would worry about me more if I told her what happened.
"You're her older brother though, you should try to talk to her. I am sure she will be happy if you give her some attention."
"Yeah … maybe, it's a little more complicated than it sounds though." My quiet thoughts of reaching out to my sister made an awkward silence appear between us. "Do you have any animals?" I asked to change the subject from talking about family.
"Nope, you?"
"I don't, but my mother has a cat."
"Oh cute." Yuuki seemed confused by my wording, but she didn't pry. "Who do you plan on meeting today, Kyo?"
"The sports clubs"
"Smart, all of them are kind people so there shouldn't be any problems there." I was going to ask her why she contacted the president of the literature club, it seemed like he was asked to give me that advice. But as I gained the confidence to ask Yuuki, the bell rang.
"See you later Kyo"
"Yes, see you tomorrow."
After school I went to the back of the school where our fields and gym were. The first club I decided to check out was the basketball club. I entered the gym and saw an amazing display of two legends facing off in a 1v1 basketball match, full court. The duel was between my friend Goda and the basketball team captain Kenji Koda.
Goda was not only my friend, but an amazing athlete. He was a part of basketball, soccer, kendo, volleyball, and a few other sports in middle school. He was so good at all of them that he gained the title of "Ace," short black hair, and the build of a giant. It was weird seeing him in a different gym uniform, Hanabira's school colors were black and red, a stark difference from our middle school uniforms. Goda was quiet, not shy, but serious about everything. His hobby was moving his body, he was the rank one in terms of academics for all three of middle school and he was the best athlete we had back then too. The only person who could match him in anything was Hiro, and that was only in soccer. Although I knew nothing of Koda, he was one of the seven legends of our school. As I watched the match, for the first time ever, I saw Goda being pushed back.
Koda had the ball, while Goda was blocking him, they were at the mid court line. Koda's leg moved to the right, but he threw the ball left in between Goda's ribs and arm on the opposite side. Koda threw the ball so fast that it blitzed between Goda without him being able to react. Koda ran right, then bolted left to catch up to the ball, making a V around Goda. For a moment I saw what Kimori meant. He looked like a flame in the wind, as Koda grabbed the ball he was in the perfect spot to dunk it, earning him the win. Goda was less than a second off of blocking the shot. Both had impressive speed and power, everyone watching was mesmerized before clapping and yelling.
"LET'S GO KODA" "WAY TO GO KODA!!" "WHAT SPEED, KEEP IT UP CAPTAIN!!"
"Hehe, c'mon guys, I am getting embarrassed." He turned towards Goda, and the two gave a loud high five.
"That was fun, thank you Goda."
"I should be the one to thank you, it has been a long time since someone beat me in a sport that easily. I have a lot to learn from you."
"C'mon it wasn't that easy. Alright guys line up for shooting practice!"
I ran up to Goda and Koda after their moment, "excuse me can I speak to you two for a moment" Kendo looked confused, Goda looked at me with his plain face. Being next to the Ace was nothing new to me so the pressure was minimal. But being next to Koda was a different thing entirely though, he had this unearthly atmosphere around him.
"What is it Yo?" Goda said.
"You know this guy?" Koda asked
"Yeah he isn't one to stay after school though."
It had been over a month since I last spoke with him, I wasn't even sure Goda knew I got in. "Nice to meet you, I am with the student council, do you need any new equipment?" I kept things simple, but the pressure made me speak pretty quickly, I gave a small bow to him.
"Our equipment is fine for now, maybe a better air pump, but you don't have to do that this month."
"Right, sounds good, I will put that down for next month then, that's all I needed to hear."
He gave a bright smile, "sweet looking forward to it." Koda walked away and Goda was about to follow after.
"Hey Goda, just so you know, I no longer live with my mother, so if you would like to check out my new place and hang out sometime you can."
"Sounds fun, I will take you up on that offer one of these days."
That brief exchange was a valuable one for me, I was happy to see that me and him can still talk like this. With that out of the way I went to the next place, the swimming club. We had an outdoor swimming pool located at the farest place that was still on school grounds. The place the pool was located had two stories, the first floor was for showering and lockers, and the second was the pool itself. It was fairly big with a number of members. As I was going up to the stairs to meet with the club I saw a tan girl with surprisingly long black hair, about to the base of the neck, the underside of her hair was light blue, with dark blue eyes to match, she had a black jacket on with the schools one piece black swimsuit on underneath. She had a presence similar to Koda if not worse since it was only us two.
"H-hi, do you happen to be the president of the swim club?" She looked down at me from the top of the stairs. She nodded without saying anything.
"Sorry to interrupt your break, I was wondering if your club needs any new equipment?"
There was a silence between us, I slowly walked up the stairs until we were face to face. I got the feeling she heard me and was just thinking, so I looked to the closed door and heard splashing every few seconds. It was nice just hearing water moving, not people, just a consistent sound. We remained like this for about two minutes before she spoke.
"Do you like the water too?" Her voice was soft, she was just looking at door same as I was.
"I don't hate it, but I was never really around it as a kid."
"I feel sad for you."
"Can I ask why?"
"All your doing is running errands, instead of doing what makes you feel free."
"I find this job to be rewarding, sure for right now I am just running errands, but I get the feeling after I meet everyone and understand the council more, that's when the fun will really begin you know."
"If you ever feel trapped, feel free to swim with us."
"Um sure, but what about the equipment?" I asked confused.
She opened the door and left, I saw her climb onto the launch pad, when the door closed I didn't hear a splash. I was lost, but I took that as a sign that she nor the club needed anything new.
I walked from the pool over to the far right side of the school where our archery club was held. The building was the oldest one on school grounds, and was made almost purely out of wood. They did things the traditional way here, at least from the looks of it. As I walked around for a bit I saw six people all in a long black kimono holding a long wooden bow. They were sitting down watching a girl who had long brown glossy hair pulling back her bow, lining up the arrow, she exhaled, then shot. It hit the center of the target perfectly, she took a deep breath, put the bow to her side, and bowed. It was a breathtaking sight to see, I didn't realize how beautiful archery could look.
"Excuse me, mind explaining why you are looking at my club members like that?"
I turned around to see a man with really long light black hair being kept together with a red ribbon in the center. Wearing the same black kimono as everyone else. He had a serious look in his eyes.
"Wait, you have the wrong idea! I am the new treasurer of the student council Kyoyota Arianagi. I was asked to visit every club to see if they need anything! Please don't kill me."
He tapped his head with his right index finger, "I see that makes for a good excuse, but I'm gonna need some proof." Given how I must have looked he isn't sold on me being a member of the council.
"Ok ok, let me call the president. Yuuki will tell you the truth."
"Hanami will?? Well you don't seem to be lying that you have her number, go ahead and call her."
I got the president's phone number after I joined the club, but this was my first time calling her, and to think it is used to convince this guy that I'm not a stalker. Not even the first ring went through before she picked up. "Hello Kyo, is everything ok?"
"That was fast, Yuuki sorry to ask for this favor, but can you convince this guy that I was just waiting for the right moment to walk into the archery club and ask them if they need anything, not that I was peaking on the girls."
I handed the phone over to the man, and the two had a brief exchange, I could only hear his voice saying "yeah" or "I see." He then hung up the phone. He got down on his hands and knees, bowed his head, "I apologize for my rudeness, please forgive me."
What did Yuuki say to this guy? "No it's fine really, no harm done."
As he looked up it seemed like he was about to cry. He got up and walked past me into the room, tapped on the girl from before and she walked out. The girl heading towards me was Yumi Yajirushi, one of the seven legends Kimori told me about.
"Sorry about our team captain, he gets like this sometimes. Anyway, what's up?"
"Wait, why did he just walk off?"
"He said that he can't face you after doubting you so horribly, and something about reflecting on his actions in the mountains."
"That is way too extreme! Seriously it was nothing that bad."
"I need to get back to practice so please hurry up with your request."
"Right, sorry, does your club need any new equipment?"
"Arrows and targets are our usual requests. We keep up with our uniforms and bows well enough."
"That makes sense, a set of each every month then?"
"Arrows every two months, targets every month if possible."
"That shouldn't be a problem, thank you."
"No problem, later." She began to walk back into the room, "Your shooting was very beautiful, keep up the good work." She paused for a moment then continued to leave, I said that comment because it was true, hopefully she doesn't think I am a creep for that though.
After that incident I went to the other sports clubs including volleyball, soccer, kendo, tennis, and more. None of these clubs had anything that memorable about them compared to the first three, but I am sure they will do something interesting when I keep visiting them.
With the sports clubs out of the way I went back up to the fourth floor and copied the requested materials down on a piece of paper, leaving it on the president's desk, going home for the day. That night when deciding what clubs I should see nothing really came to mind. The uncertainty of it all scarred me a little.