Part23- Kaze ne Narou (Let's be like the Wind)
So much had happened the araw before. Satsuki had come back to Hokkaido after nine years, she rejoined Raimon, and she had reunited with Fubuki....
Well, sort of.
Each time Satsuki remembered that Fubuki was close to her, a pang in her puso reminded Satsuki that he no longer remembered her.
Fubuki and Atsuya were the starters of Satsuki's life. She never really got a chance to repay them and now, Atsuya was gone and Fubuki had been alone for years...
A cold wind blew out through the night. Satsuki pulled her dyaket closer to her neck and sighed. It was no use thinking about the things that had happened in the past. Fubuki had been alone after the accident, but now Satsuki would make sure he wasn't sa pamamagitan ng himself ever again.
The sound of feet climbing up the Caravan ladder filled Satsuki's ears as Aki came onto the roof and sat susunod to her.
"It's beautiful out here isn't it?" Aki began as she looked up into the sky.
The frosty Hokkaido night skies were lit up sa pamamagitan ng the colorful auroras that were stretched out in their view. Satsuki nodded in agreement. This had been one of the many things she had missed about Hokkaido.
"Satsuki?" Aki asked.
Satsuki looked at her friend to find a worried expression written across her face.
"Have you been alright?" she asked,"Ever since you got to Hokkaido, you've been acting.... Nervous."
Satsuki shook her head and smiled. "Nothings wrong, Aki. I'm fine, really!"
Aki thought for a moment. If Satsuki sinabi everything was alright, then she trusted her. She just didn't want Satsuki to feel like she was alone. Aki gave a sly smile. "Well then.... Why are you always so nervous around Fubuki? Do you like him?
Aki started to laugh as Satsuki turned bright red.
"O-Of course not! I-I.... AKI!" For a moment they were both silent, but then both girls burst out in laughter. For so long, Satsuki had not been able to laugh like she did then. She was so happy to have mga kaibigan that were always there to support you.
As it began to get late, the two girls began their descent off of the Caravans roof. They both started heading inside Hakuren to get to bed, but as Satsuki began walking into the school, she took one last look at the sky and thought of what tomorrow would bring with their new member, Fubuki Shirou, practicing as a Raimon.
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In the morning, everyone woke up and got ready to start their first araw of training with Fubuki. Hitomiko-kantoku divided the team into a red and white groups.
"This exercise is used to create combinations between the different players and help transition from the offense to the defense position," Endou explained to Fubuki.
Satsuki pulled her gloves tighter on her hands. She had been put on the white team, opposite from Fubuki's. "Now I can see how his putbol has changed..." Satsuki thought. Meanwhile, Megane was crying about how he didn't get to play.
"Sorry Megane!!!" Satsuki yelled over to him. She gave him a sweet, apologetic smile causing him to cringe up and blush.
Hitomiko came over to Fubuki and told him his directions.
"Fubuki-kun," she said,"I'm going to put you as a pasulong for this exercise. That isn't a problem is it?"
Fubuki seemed to hesitate at first, but then agreed.
Everyone lined up in their positions. Satsuki took a deep breathe and waited for the whistle to sound.
*whistle*
Everyone started down the field towards the ball. The first two to get to the ball were Kazemaru and Kidou. Both of their feet collided with the ball making it hard for either of the two to gain control.
"Shippuu Dash!!!" Kazemaru finally took the upper hand and began running down the field. Satsuki ran close behind Kazemaru trying to figure out the susunod ilipat until a blast a wind passed her. Once she regained focus, Satsuki realized that it had been Fubuki. He had quickly run up behind Kazemaru and taken the ball from him.
"His speed has enhanced ever since we were little..." Memories began to form in Satsuki's mind until she heard Someoka yell something.
"Kazemaru!!! What are you doing!?" he yelled, then he directed instructions to Satsuki. "Satsuki! Go block him!"
With a brief nod, Satsuki turned toward the the direction Fubuki had gone and ran. Her speed quickly got her in front of Fubuki, who stopped and smiled.
"Your pretty fast." He said, sounding impressed.
Satsuki smiled back. "You are too!" Without anymore discussion, Satsuki went in toward Fubuki to get the ball, but Fubuki had read her move. He twirled around her with blinding speed and got past her block. Fubuki continued down the field in pursuit of Kazemaru, but Satsuki didn't move. She was too shocked and puso broken. While Fubuki had evaded her, he had whispered words into her ears that she hadn't heard in a long while.
"Kaze ne Narou....."
Those words echoed in her mind. The memory of Fubuki and Atsuya making an oath to always be with her seemed madami like a dream.
Aki looked toward Satsuki in confusion and concern. Her friend wore a surprised, crestfallen expression on her face that worried her a lot.
Meanwhile, Kazemaru ran past Satsuki without another thought and slowly began to catch up to Fubuki.
"Speed doesn't belong only to you!" Kazemaru ran faster and almost caught up to Fubuki.
"Fubuki!" Ichinose yelled,"Don't strain yourself!"
"Pass it hear," Kidou offered.
But instead, Fubuki ignored the comments made sa pamamagitan ng the others and kept dribbling across the field as Kazemaru went in for a slide-tackle.
As if pagbaba his move, Fubuki swiftly jumped up, away from Kazemaru's tackle. When he came back done, he had changed...
"All right!" the different Fubuki yelled as he began to run down the field. He ran straight through the defense with incredible speed that no one could keep up with. "You guys are all so slow! Can't anyone keep up?"
The sudden change in the air had snapped Satsuki out of her shock. She watched Fubuki as he ran down the field without so much as a pass.
"We're being completely ignored," Ichinose said
Before anything else could happen, Someoka stopped the match and walked up to Fubuki.
"What do you think your doing," he yelled,"Both Kidou and Ichinose were telling you to pass it to them!" The rest of the team gathered around Someoka.
"...But this is how I usually play," Fubuki protested innocently.
"I don't care!" Someoka continue to yell. "Hakuren may have a different way of playing, but your on Raimon Eleven now! You have to play how WE play!"
"Even if you say that... It's so sudden..." Fubuki's calm expression didn't change. "Building a sweaty stink like you guys sounds tiring..."
"WHO HAS A SWEATY STINK!?" Someoka yelled. Ichinose and some others had to keep him back.
"Never the less... There are some Hugh level teams in the world that base their teams style and technique around one individual," Megane walked over and replied,"That must have been what Hakuren did."
"WE'RE RAIMON," Someoka yelled, scarring Megane,"WE'RE NOT HAKUREN!"
Satsuki came pasulong and went over to Someoka, arms crossed. "Someoka, calm down. Do you really expect him to learn the way we play on his first day? Give him some time."
He looked down with a pained expression. "I don't care how fast his speed is. I can't work with this selfish brat!"
"Someoka, STOP!" Satsuki began to get angry. His behavior was too harsh.
"It's impossible for him to replace Gouenji!"
Satsuki winced as he sinabi her Nii-chan's name. Someoka looked directly at her. "You wish it too, don't you Satsuki? You wish that your nii-san was here too." Satsuki had no reply. He had made his point and now she couldn't say anything.
"I don't know about that," Kazemaru replied,"I'm going to match myself with Fubuki."
"What are you..." Someoka began to say, but stopped as he looked at Kazemaru's face.
"I need Fubuki's speed," he said,"I need it to beat Aliea Gakuen and out run them. Otherwise, it'll be the same as last time..."
There was a lot of tension in the group. No one knew what to say...
"Then... You'll just have to be like the wind," Fubuki replied through the silence,"Come with me... I'll ipakita you..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satsuki remembered her time as a five taon old when Fubuki and Atsuya had taught her how to run fast. They had made her run and run and run until she was as fast as lightning, but as Satsuki listened to what Fubuki's new method of speed training, she think he was telling the truth.
"Snowboard?" She as well as well as the other had asked the same tanong and each time Fubuki would look at them with a smile and say,"Just watch. The snow will let us be like the wind."
Fubuki geared up and stood ready at the edge of a slope. He signaled to the rest of the Hakuren team that he was ready and slid off down into the slope.
Everyone gasped in amazement.
"He's fast," Endou sinabi in awe.
"Fubuki's been pang-iski and snow boarding ever since he was little." The little Hakuren girl, Konko, explained,"He says he likes sliding across the snow than running because it let's him feel the wind."
"It's just snow boarding," Someoka sinabi with disgust.
Satsuki gave him a stern look. "Can YOU even snow board?" His face turned bright red. "N-No..." Satsuki let out a small laugh making Someoka's face even brighter.
As everyone continued to watch, Fubuki yelled out for the Hakuren members, scattered all over the slope's edges, to push down the huge snowballs they had been monitoring. The snowballs went down and began to roll down the slope with fast speed.
The first giant snowball came in pursuit near Fubuki. It nearly hit him, but as if pagbaba the movement of the snowballs, Fubuki had spun out of the way and dodged two other huge snowballs in the process.
"He's amazing," Domon said,"He's completely pagbaba the snowballs movements."
"What Fubuki means," Konko began,"the faster you go the madami your senses will get sharper and be able to get a clearer view of your surroundings."
Satsuki watched in amazement, but realized that something felt wrong... When she finally realized what it was, she breathed in. Satsuki had been so nervous about Fubuki's safety, that she had stopped breathing. The thought of him getting hurt or losing him was unbearable for her.
As the giant snowballs continued to fall down the slope, Fubuki kept sliding and dodging, but something strange happened as Megane and Kurimatsu got hit sa pamamagitan ng a snowball and rolled down the slope, colliding with the ground creating a tremor on the ground. That tremor caused a small avalanche in the slope.
Satsuki watched, surprised, as Fubuki stopped sliding and fell to the ground, arms wrapped around him.
"Fubuki!?" she yelled with concern,"Are you all right?"
He slowly lifted up his head with a smile. "Sorry... I messed up a little."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After everyone got a helmet and snowboard; they all lined up on tuktok of the slope.
"When did you start using this method as a tokun," Kidou asked Fubuki.
"It's not really something I use for training," Fubuki answered in a distant voice,"It's just something that happened."
"Oh really," Someoka taunted,"So it's just another game. We, Raimon Eleven don't "play" when we train. Overcoming hard obstacles to get stronger gives it meaning!"
"Yeah," Fubuki began,"That still sounds tiring. If your gonna train for something, the least you could do was have fun with it."
This made Someoka angrier.
"He does have a point though," Ichinose said,"Look at Endou. He's all ready to go."
But as Endou got ready to learn, he went too close to the edge of the slope and slide down in an odd fashion. Everyone laughed except for Someoka.
"Come on, Someoka," Satsuki sinabi as she came over, geared up. "The least you could do was try it."
"Are you really okay with that brat replacing Gouenji," he mumbled.
Satsuki gave him a look that told him to back off and so he did. Satsuki's sweet personality had lately been reversed. Everyone began to notice and get suspicious.
"That reminds me, Satsuki," Aki came up and said,"You've snowboarded before, right?"
"Really?" Fubuki asked,"Then you're already set. When we did the practice match, your speed was incredible!"
Satsuki blushed. "I haven't really snowboarded in a while and I don't think I'm going to be used to the speed. Especially if there are going to be giant snowballs rolling toward me."
Fubuki gave a small smile. "Don't worry," he sinabi with reassurance,"Once you've done something, you never really forget it."
"I know," Satsuki thought,"You're a great example of that."
One sa pamamagitan ng one, the Raimon members began to slide down the slope. For some, it was easier to do because of past experiences, but for others, such as Endou; they kept falling, face first, into the snow.
Satsuki stood at the tuktok of the slope an took a deep breathe. "Here we go!"
She took a jumpy start and landed hard on the snow as she slid down. She concentrated on her surroundings and made sure to watch out for the snowballs. One in pursuit of her, nearly caught the back of her snowboard until she flipped around and evaded getting smushed.
Satsuki laughed out loud. She had still remembered how to snowboard. She continued to slide down the slope, but then something caught her eye. Two little kids, the age of five, snowboarding in a close distance to her. One had red hair and the other grey.....
"Watch out, Satsuki!" Fubuki's voice sounded urgent, but before Satsuki could figure out why, a giant snowball in front of her stopped rolling, causing her to fly straight into it.
"Oh great," she thought as she pulled her head out of the snow. Satsuki returned to the tuktok of the slope to the waiting Fubuki.
"Are you alright?" he asked with concern,"What happened?"
Satsuki blushed and smiled. "I Nawawala my concentration."
Fubuki smiled back. "But that was some awesome snowboarding! You're really good at it."
"Thanks!" Satsuki was glad that she had come back to Hokkaido. She had made the right choice.
"Who taught you?"
Immediately, Satsuki's face darkened with sadness as she unhooked her helmet and turned to walk away. "You taught me," she replied in a faint voice. She didn't even turn to look at his confused expression. Satsuki merely dropped her gear and walked into the forest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone sat down to eat in front of pagkain enough for an ant.
"I want just a little more," Endou whined.
"When it comes to this, all he have to do is get seconds," Kabeyama said.
"Sorry minna," sinabi Furukabe-san,"That's all the pagkain for tonight." Kabeyama fell on the floor.
"It's the coaches order," Natsumi said,"It'll help with the speed training."
"And the calorie content is perfect!" Haruna added.
"Also," Aki finalized,"If you put it in your mouth once, you have to chew 30 times."
After a long discussion on the matter, everyone started to eat their food. Aki looked around the room and realized that someone was missing.
"Minna!" she called out,"Does anyone know where Satsuki is?"
Everyone dropped their forks and looked at the spot where Satsuki should have been sitting.
"That reminds me," Kurimatsu said,"She disappeared while we were training at the slope during the afternoon."
"She wasn't there?" Kazemaru asked.
"Well," Touko said, surprised,"I'm surprised YOU didn't notice."
"I'll go look for her," Ichinose sinabi as he stood up from the table. He took Satsuki's pagkain off of the mesa and left the room.
Someoka leaned towards Kazemaru. "Shouldn't YOU be the one to go paghahanap for Satsuki?" Kazemaru ignored him and continued to eat. All he had on his mind at the moment was training, getting stronger, and beating Gemini Storm. Nothing else seemed to matter to him.
Meanwhile, Fubuki sat in front of his pagkain and pretended to listen to Endou's stories. Ever since this afternoon, he had been thinking about what Satsuki had sinabi to him. He needed to talk with her in private. He needed answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satsuki sat on a bench behind the school thinking to herself. She had sat there for hours looking at the kuwintas around her neck.
"Isho" (Together)
So close were Satsuki and Fubuki, yet so far apart at the same time. She wanted to go back to the past, go back to a time when she was happy.
Tears streamed from her eyes. "I want him back," she whispered,"No, I want both of them back!"
Her body shook. Her eyes burned with tears. Her soul seemed shattered. Satsuki continued to cry, her sobs turned into wails.
As she cried, she heard a soft click of a tray settle onto the bench. Then, slowly, a pair of hands ushered Satsuki to get up. Through her mess of tears and the darkness of the night, Satsuki couldn't tell who it was.
The person led Satsuki into the school and down several hallways. Tears continued to flow down Satsuki's face as the person led her into a very spacious room. The only thing the room was.... A piano.
Satsuki couldn't move. The person that had led her into the room became clearer. It had been...
"Ichinose..."
Ichinose carefully sat Satsuki down in front of the piano and placed her hands onto the black and white keys.
"Play," he whispered into her ears.
Satsuki slowly closed her eyes and positioned her fingers on the keys. Gradually, she started playing a menacing tune, but it slowly turned into a soft, sad melody. It was Come Back to Me sa pamamagitan ng Utade Hikaru.
Satsuki continued to play. The sound of the piano bounced throughout the room. The melody could be heard throughout the school.
Satsuki's piece slowly ended leaving the sound of emptiness.
"I remember the years that I was crippled," Ichinose finally said. Satsuki continued to sit, unmoving.
He continued. "Every time there was a problem you would sit down at your piano and start to play. All your problems seem to melt away when the melody rings out and when your dons playing, you have a solution for everything. Some problems you can't fix, but that's when you need to let things go and ilipat on."
Satsuki's body began to shake and tears again fell from her eyes. Ichinose walked over and hugged her.
"You need to let things go," he sinabi in a stern but soothing voice,"Nows the time to let all your emotions out. Cry as much and as hard as you can."
And Satsuki did. She cried and cried and cried. Satsuki didn't want to let go, but if she didn't, her problems would ruin her life. She had to make a new beginning even if it meant letting go of the people she cared about the most.
And so, Satsuki looked at Fubuki as a person she had just met, not a person she had known long ago. She may have blocked her past from herself, but it was always with her.
----------------------------------------
Every one was at the point of finishing their hapunan until they all stopped to listen to a sound that echoed throughout the school.
"Huh? Is that..." Fubuki started.
"A piano," Aki sinabi giving a knowing smile towards Domon.
"Well, who is it playing it?" Natsumi asked.
"Ichinose found it, huh?" Domon said.
"Ichinose's playing it?" Endou asked.
Aki closed her eyes and smiled. "She'll be alright now."
Everyone looked towards her and finally understood who it was. Nobody had ever heard Satsuki play piano before, except for Aki, Domon, and Ichinose.
"It's beautiful..." Fubuki sinabi as if in a trance.
"Satsuki's puso is like a sweet melody," Aki explained,"Soft and thoughtful..."
"Her melody always comes from the heart," Domon finished,"Playing the piano always helps her to solve her problems."
Everyone closed their eyes and listened to the rest of the music.
Meanwhile, Fubuki was troubled. The song was different, but he knew that something about the music was familiar. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. Besides that, he knew that Satsuki's problem had to do with him, but he didn't know what. Fubuki decided that he had to be Satsuki's new melody and stick with her till the very end.
"Satsuki," he thought,"Isho ne Kaze ne Narou..."
Okay guys... So I'm really tired... I don't know if this one is good or even makes sense. I'll try to make the susunod one as fast as I can, but enjoy!
So much had happened the araw before. Satsuki had come back to Hokkaido after nine years, she rejoined Raimon, and she had reunited with Fubuki....
Well, sort of.
Each time Satsuki remembered that Fubuki was close to her, a pang in her puso reminded Satsuki that he no longer remembered her.
Fubuki and Atsuya were the starters of Satsuki's life. She never really got a chance to repay them and now, Atsuya was gone and Fubuki had been alone for years...
A cold wind blew out through the night. Satsuki pulled her dyaket closer to her neck and sighed. It was no use thinking about the things that had happened in the past. Fubuki had been alone after the accident, but now Satsuki would make sure he wasn't sa pamamagitan ng himself ever again.
The sound of feet climbing up the Caravan ladder filled Satsuki's ears as Aki came onto the roof and sat susunod to her.
"It's beautiful out here isn't it?" Aki began as she looked up into the sky.
The frosty Hokkaido night skies were lit up sa pamamagitan ng the colorful auroras that were stretched out in their view. Satsuki nodded in agreement. This had been one of the many things she had missed about Hokkaido.
"Satsuki?" Aki asked.
Satsuki looked at her friend to find a worried expression written across her face.
"Have you been alright?" she asked,"Ever since you got to Hokkaido, you've been acting.... Nervous."
Satsuki shook her head and smiled. "Nothings wrong, Aki. I'm fine, really!"
Aki thought for a moment. If Satsuki sinabi everything was alright, then she trusted her. She just didn't want Satsuki to feel like she was alone. Aki gave a sly smile. "Well then.... Why are you always so nervous around Fubuki? Do you like him?
Aki started to laugh as Satsuki turned bright red.
"O-Of course not! I-I.... AKI!" For a moment they were both silent, but then both girls burst out in laughter. For so long, Satsuki had not been able to laugh like she did then. She was so happy to have mga kaibigan that were always there to support you.
As it began to get late, the two girls began their descent off of the Caravans roof. They both started heading inside Hakuren to get to bed, but as Satsuki began walking into the school, she took one last look at the sky and thought of what tomorrow would bring with their new member, Fubuki Shirou, practicing as a Raimon.
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In the morning, everyone woke up and got ready to start their first araw of training with Fubuki. Hitomiko-kantoku divided the team into a red and white groups.
"This exercise is used to create combinations between the different players and help transition from the offense to the defense position," Endou explained to Fubuki.
Satsuki pulled her gloves tighter on her hands. She had been put on the white team, opposite from Fubuki's. "Now I can see how his putbol has changed..." Satsuki thought. Meanwhile, Megane was crying about how he didn't get to play.
"Sorry Megane!!!" Satsuki yelled over to him. She gave him a sweet, apologetic smile causing him to cringe up and blush.
Hitomiko came over to Fubuki and told him his directions.
"Fubuki-kun," she said,"I'm going to put you as a pasulong for this exercise. That isn't a problem is it?"
Fubuki seemed to hesitate at first, but then agreed.
Everyone lined up in their positions. Satsuki took a deep breathe and waited for the whistle to sound.
*whistle*
Everyone started down the field towards the ball. The first two to get to the ball were Kazemaru and Kidou. Both of their feet collided with the ball making it hard for either of the two to gain control.
"Shippuu Dash!!!" Kazemaru finally took the upper hand and began running down the field. Satsuki ran close behind Kazemaru trying to figure out the susunod ilipat until a blast a wind passed her. Once she regained focus, Satsuki realized that it had been Fubuki. He had quickly run up behind Kazemaru and taken the ball from him.
"His speed has enhanced ever since we were little..." Memories began to form in Satsuki's mind until she heard Someoka yell something.
"Kazemaru!!! What are you doing!?" he yelled, then he directed instructions to Satsuki. "Satsuki! Go block him!"
With a brief nod, Satsuki turned toward the the direction Fubuki had gone and ran. Her speed quickly got her in front of Fubuki, who stopped and smiled.
"Your pretty fast." He said, sounding impressed.
Satsuki smiled back. "You are too!" Without anymore discussion, Satsuki went in toward Fubuki to get the ball, but Fubuki had read her move. He twirled around her with blinding speed and got past her block. Fubuki continued down the field in pursuit of Kazemaru, but Satsuki didn't move. She was too shocked and puso broken. While Fubuki had evaded her, he had whispered words into her ears that she hadn't heard in a long while.
"Kaze ne Narou....."
Those words echoed in her mind. The memory of Fubuki and Atsuya making an oath to always be with her seemed madami like a dream.
Aki looked toward Satsuki in confusion and concern. Her friend wore a surprised, crestfallen expression on her face that worried her a lot.
Meanwhile, Kazemaru ran past Satsuki without another thought and slowly began to catch up to Fubuki.
"Speed doesn't belong only to you!" Kazemaru ran faster and almost caught up to Fubuki.
"Fubuki!" Ichinose yelled,"Don't strain yourself!"
"Pass it hear," Kidou offered.
But instead, Fubuki ignored the comments made sa pamamagitan ng the others and kept dribbling across the field as Kazemaru went in for a slide-tackle.
As if pagbaba his move, Fubuki swiftly jumped up, away from Kazemaru's tackle. When he came back done, he had changed...
"All right!" the different Fubuki yelled as he began to run down the field. He ran straight through the defense with incredible speed that no one could keep up with. "You guys are all so slow! Can't anyone keep up?"
The sudden change in the air had snapped Satsuki out of her shock. She watched Fubuki as he ran down the field without so much as a pass.
"We're being completely ignored," Ichinose said
Before anything else could happen, Someoka stopped the match and walked up to Fubuki.
"What do you think your doing," he yelled,"Both Kidou and Ichinose were telling you to pass it to them!" The rest of the team gathered around Someoka.
"...But this is how I usually play," Fubuki protested innocently.
"I don't care!" Someoka continue to yell. "Hakuren may have a different way of playing, but your on Raimon Eleven now! You have to play how WE play!"
"Even if you say that... It's so sudden..." Fubuki's calm expression didn't change. "Building a sweaty stink like you guys sounds tiring..."
"WHO HAS A SWEATY STINK!?" Someoka yelled. Ichinose and some others had to keep him back.
"Never the less... There are some Hugh level teams in the world that base their teams style and technique around one individual," Megane walked over and replied,"That must have been what Hakuren did."
"WE'RE RAIMON," Someoka yelled, scarring Megane,"WE'RE NOT HAKUREN!"
Satsuki came pasulong and went over to Someoka, arms crossed. "Someoka, calm down. Do you really expect him to learn the way we play on his first day? Give him some time."
He looked down with a pained expression. "I don't care how fast his speed is. I can't work with this selfish brat!"
"Someoka, STOP!" Satsuki began to get angry. His behavior was too harsh.
"It's impossible for him to replace Gouenji!"
Satsuki winced as he sinabi her Nii-chan's name. Someoka looked directly at her. "You wish it too, don't you Satsuki? You wish that your nii-san was here too." Satsuki had no reply. He had made his point and now she couldn't say anything.
"I don't know about that," Kazemaru replied,"I'm going to match myself with Fubuki."
"What are you..." Someoka began to say, but stopped as he looked at Kazemaru's face.
"I need Fubuki's speed," he said,"I need it to beat Aliea Gakuen and out run them. Otherwise, it'll be the same as last time..."
There was a lot of tension in the group. No one knew what to say...
"Then... You'll just have to be like the wind," Fubuki replied through the silence,"Come with me... I'll ipakita you..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satsuki remembered her time as a five taon old when Fubuki and Atsuya had taught her how to run fast. They had made her run and run and run until she was as fast as lightning, but as Satsuki listened to what Fubuki's new method of speed training, she think he was telling the truth.
"Snowboard?" She as well as well as the other had asked the same tanong and each time Fubuki would look at them with a smile and say,"Just watch. The snow will let us be like the wind."
Fubuki geared up and stood ready at the edge of a slope. He signaled to the rest of the Hakuren team that he was ready and slid off down into the slope.
Everyone gasped in amazement.
"He's fast," Endou sinabi in awe.
"Fubuki's been pang-iski and snow boarding ever since he was little." The little Hakuren girl, Konko, explained,"He says he likes sliding across the snow than running because it let's him feel the wind."
"It's just snow boarding," Someoka sinabi with disgust.
Satsuki gave him a stern look. "Can YOU even snow board?" His face turned bright red. "N-No..." Satsuki let out a small laugh making Someoka's face even brighter.
As everyone continued to watch, Fubuki yelled out for the Hakuren members, scattered all over the slope's edges, to push down the huge snowballs they had been monitoring. The snowballs went down and began to roll down the slope with fast speed.
The first giant snowball came in pursuit near Fubuki. It nearly hit him, but as if pagbaba the movement of the snowballs, Fubuki had spun out of the way and dodged two other huge snowballs in the process.
"He's amazing," Domon said,"He's completely pagbaba the snowballs movements."
"What Fubuki means," Konko began,"the faster you go the madami your senses will get sharper and be able to get a clearer view of your surroundings."
Satsuki watched in amazement, but realized that something felt wrong... When she finally realized what it was, she breathed in. Satsuki had been so nervous about Fubuki's safety, that she had stopped breathing. The thought of him getting hurt or losing him was unbearable for her.
As the giant snowballs continued to fall down the slope, Fubuki kept sliding and dodging, but something strange happened as Megane and Kurimatsu got hit sa pamamagitan ng a snowball and rolled down the slope, colliding with the ground creating a tremor on the ground. That tremor caused a small avalanche in the slope.
Satsuki watched, surprised, as Fubuki stopped sliding and fell to the ground, arms wrapped around him.
"Fubuki!?" she yelled with concern,"Are you all right?"
He slowly lifted up his head with a smile. "Sorry... I messed up a little."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After everyone got a helmet and snowboard; they all lined up on tuktok of the slope.
"When did you start using this method as a tokun," Kidou asked Fubuki.
"It's not really something I use for training," Fubuki answered in a distant voice,"It's just something that happened."
"Oh really," Someoka taunted,"So it's just another game. We, Raimon Eleven don't "play" when we train. Overcoming hard obstacles to get stronger gives it meaning!"
"Yeah," Fubuki began,"That still sounds tiring. If your gonna train for something, the least you could do was have fun with it."
This made Someoka angrier.
"He does have a point though," Ichinose said,"Look at Endou. He's all ready to go."
But as Endou got ready to learn, he went too close to the edge of the slope and slide down in an odd fashion. Everyone laughed except for Someoka.
"Come on, Someoka," Satsuki sinabi as she came over, geared up. "The least you could do was try it."
"Are you really okay with that brat replacing Gouenji," he mumbled.
Satsuki gave him a look that told him to back off and so he did. Satsuki's sweet personality had lately been reversed. Everyone began to notice and get suspicious.
"That reminds me, Satsuki," Aki came up and said,"You've snowboarded before, right?"
"Really?" Fubuki asked,"Then you're already set. When we did the practice match, your speed was incredible!"
Satsuki blushed. "I haven't really snowboarded in a while and I don't think I'm going to be used to the speed. Especially if there are going to be giant snowballs rolling toward me."
Fubuki gave a small smile. "Don't worry," he sinabi with reassurance,"Once you've done something, you never really forget it."
"I know," Satsuki thought,"You're a great example of that."
One sa pamamagitan ng one, the Raimon members began to slide down the slope. For some, it was easier to do because of past experiences, but for others, such as Endou; they kept falling, face first, into the snow.
Satsuki stood at the tuktok of the slope an took a deep breathe. "Here we go!"
She took a jumpy start and landed hard on the snow as she slid down. She concentrated on her surroundings and made sure to watch out for the snowballs. One in pursuit of her, nearly caught the back of her snowboard until she flipped around and evaded getting smushed.
Satsuki laughed out loud. She had still remembered how to snowboard. She continued to slide down the slope, but then something caught her eye. Two little kids, the age of five, snowboarding in a close distance to her. One had red hair and the other grey.....
"Watch out, Satsuki!" Fubuki's voice sounded urgent, but before Satsuki could figure out why, a giant snowball in front of her stopped rolling, causing her to fly straight into it.
"Oh great," she thought as she pulled her head out of the snow. Satsuki returned to the tuktok of the slope to the waiting Fubuki.
"Are you alright?" he asked with concern,"What happened?"
Satsuki blushed and smiled. "I Nawawala my concentration."
Fubuki smiled back. "But that was some awesome snowboarding! You're really good at it."
"Thanks!" Satsuki was glad that she had come back to Hokkaido. She had made the right choice.
"Who taught you?"
Immediately, Satsuki's face darkened with sadness as she unhooked her helmet and turned to walk away. "You taught me," she replied in a faint voice. She didn't even turn to look at his confused expression. Satsuki merely dropped her gear and walked into the forest.
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Everyone sat down to eat in front of pagkain enough for an ant.
"I want just a little more," Endou whined.
"When it comes to this, all he have to do is get seconds," Kabeyama said.
"Sorry minna," sinabi Furukabe-san,"That's all the pagkain for tonight." Kabeyama fell on the floor.
"It's the coaches order," Natsumi said,"It'll help with the speed training."
"And the calorie content is perfect!" Haruna added.
"Also," Aki finalized,"If you put it in your mouth once, you have to chew 30 times."
After a long discussion on the matter, everyone started to eat their food. Aki looked around the room and realized that someone was missing.
"Minna!" she called out,"Does anyone know where Satsuki is?"
Everyone dropped their forks and looked at the spot where Satsuki should have been sitting.
"That reminds me," Kurimatsu said,"She disappeared while we were training at the slope during the afternoon."
"She wasn't there?" Kazemaru asked.
"Well," Touko said, surprised,"I'm surprised YOU didn't notice."
"I'll go look for her," Ichinose sinabi as he stood up from the table. He took Satsuki's pagkain off of the mesa and left the room.
Someoka leaned towards Kazemaru. "Shouldn't YOU be the one to go paghahanap for Satsuki?" Kazemaru ignored him and continued to eat. All he had on his mind at the moment was training, getting stronger, and beating Gemini Storm. Nothing else seemed to matter to him.
Meanwhile, Fubuki sat in front of his pagkain and pretended to listen to Endou's stories. Ever since this afternoon, he had been thinking about what Satsuki had sinabi to him. He needed to talk with her in private. He needed answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satsuki sat on a bench behind the school thinking to herself. She had sat there for hours looking at the kuwintas around her neck.
"Isho" (Together)
So close were Satsuki and Fubuki, yet so far apart at the same time. She wanted to go back to the past, go back to a time when she was happy.
Tears streamed from her eyes. "I want him back," she whispered,"No, I want both of them back!"
Her body shook. Her eyes burned with tears. Her soul seemed shattered. Satsuki continued to cry, her sobs turned into wails.
As she cried, she heard a soft click of a tray settle onto the bench. Then, slowly, a pair of hands ushered Satsuki to get up. Through her mess of tears and the darkness of the night, Satsuki couldn't tell who it was.
The person led Satsuki into the school and down several hallways. Tears continued to flow down Satsuki's face as the person led her into a very spacious room. The only thing the room was.... A piano.
Satsuki couldn't move. The person that had led her into the room became clearer. It had been...
"Ichinose..."
Ichinose carefully sat Satsuki down in front of the piano and placed her hands onto the black and white keys.
"Play," he whispered into her ears.
Satsuki slowly closed her eyes and positioned her fingers on the keys. Gradually, she started playing a menacing tune, but it slowly turned into a soft, sad melody. It was Come Back to Me sa pamamagitan ng Utade Hikaru.
Satsuki continued to play. The sound of the piano bounced throughout the room. The melody could be heard throughout the school.
Satsuki's piece slowly ended leaving the sound of emptiness.
"I remember the years that I was crippled," Ichinose finally said. Satsuki continued to sit, unmoving.
He continued. "Every time there was a problem you would sit down at your piano and start to play. All your problems seem to melt away when the melody rings out and when your dons playing, you have a solution for everything. Some problems you can't fix, but that's when you need to let things go and ilipat on."
Satsuki's body began to shake and tears again fell from her eyes. Ichinose walked over and hugged her.
"You need to let things go," he sinabi in a stern but soothing voice,"Nows the time to let all your emotions out. Cry as much and as hard as you can."
And Satsuki did. She cried and cried and cried. Satsuki didn't want to let go, but if she didn't, her problems would ruin her life. She had to make a new beginning even if it meant letting go of the people she cared about the most.
And so, Satsuki looked at Fubuki as a person she had just met, not a person she had known long ago. She may have blocked her past from herself, but it was always with her.
----------------------------------------
Every one was at the point of finishing their hapunan until they all stopped to listen to a sound that echoed throughout the school.
"Huh? Is that..." Fubuki started.
"A piano," Aki sinabi giving a knowing smile towards Domon.
"Well, who is it playing it?" Natsumi asked.
"Ichinose found it, huh?" Domon said.
"Ichinose's playing it?" Endou asked.
Aki closed her eyes and smiled. "She'll be alright now."
Everyone looked towards her and finally understood who it was. Nobody had ever heard Satsuki play piano before, except for Aki, Domon, and Ichinose.
"It's beautiful..." Fubuki sinabi as if in a trance.
"Satsuki's puso is like a sweet melody," Aki explained,"Soft and thoughtful..."
"Her melody always comes from the heart," Domon finished,"Playing the piano always helps her to solve her problems."
Everyone closed their eyes and listened to the rest of the music.
Meanwhile, Fubuki was troubled. The song was different, but he knew that something about the music was familiar. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. Besides that, he knew that Satsuki's problem had to do with him, but he didn't know what. Fubuki decided that he had to be Satsuki's new melody and stick with her till the very end.
"Satsuki," he thought,"Isho ne Kaze ne Narou..."
Okay guys... So I'm really tired... I don't know if this one is good or even makes sense. I'll try to make the susunod one as fast as I can, but enjoy!