The cssic cliche of time slowing down, life passing before your eyes, blissfully seeing the ghosts of the departed as they greet you into your new home, none of that applied here. At least for Yuki that is, the onlookers, they definitely were going through some well worn tropes. However, crity filled Yuki, not resolve or determination, just a sight through everything.

  To everyone’s surprise, the arm stopped and Yuki remained unmoved. It wasn’t immediately clear why, until Yuki’s hand could be seen stopping the fist. Everyoook a step back trying to figure out how the school’s pung bag caught a fist.

  A darkened shadow hung over Yuki with the hand up near his fabsp; The heavy toched into his features snapped like a balloon though when Yuki pulled up his head. “Is that… you? Seiji!” The tall teeracted his fist, satisfied with the results. Yuki leapt frabbing onto Seiji’s waist making him spin around.

  Ayumi narrowed her eyes on the moments of happiness from Yuki. ‘For an instant he had the look of a wild animal… What was that? I’ve never seen Yuki look like that before.’ She held back to the outside of the group still trying to sort through what she had seen a moment ago.

  Saki had nearly the same expression on her face that Ayumi did, but for a different reason. ‘No… I thought he was gone food… I haven’t seen that look on Yuki in a while…dammit Seiji!’ She quickly ged her look into a half scowl as Seiji stepped closer to her. “Hey, Seiji…”

  “...Saki…”

  “What are you doing here, Seiji?” Her words ran cold as she stared at him.

  “Yeah! I haven’t seen you in like a year, Seiji! What have you been doing?” Yuki was almost ging on to Seiji with the excitement of a year old getting a present. It left all of his friends staring still in shock at the whole thing.

  None of them knew what to make of the very tall stranger from another school, judging by his traditional white and biform. Seiji stood much taller than Yuki or anyone else around and had his shoulder length dark brown hair tied ba a short ponytail. His uniform jacket was left open with the dress shirt underh showing. He had a wild look in his eyes while his face seemed to have a calm stoic appearance.

  Hiroshi recovered first stepping around oher side, keeping his distance from Saki. “Judging from Yuki, you seem to know each other. Did you go to the same junih together?”

  “Hell no, if you believe it! We’re old friends! Though damn, if it hasn’t been quite some time!” Seiji seemed to gain a softer expression and a smile like he was recalling fond memories. It still left everyone a little fused.

  “What’s with the fist then?”

  “Oh that? It’s just somethiween us.”

  “Yeah, Seiji likes to kid around like that. Sorry for the scare guys.” Yuki stood up on his own looking a little embarrassed about what had happened before. Seiji apologized for his misuanding earlier, smoothing out things, but the uainty did not leave the air. Saki remaiaring cautiously at Seiji the eime that they were talking.

  “I was actually hoping to catch up on old time with Yuki, but I didn’t mean to interrupt you and your friends.”

  “Interrupt, you nearly dropped Yuki to the ground with your interruption.”

  Seiji rubbed the back of his head trying to brush it off. “Damn, I said I was sorry already, Saki. Old habits.”

  “Old habits?” Her expression became tight and thin, no longer as intense, but still holding a anding presenbsp; Arms crossed and standing undauo a boy built nearly twice the size of her. “What do you want?”

  Yuki remained hanging on to Seiji, though his cheerful expression dropped a little from seeing Saki gring eyes at the two of them. Seiji held his calm demeanor in front of Saki not fearing her like the others normally would wheered defense mode. “I told you before that I'm hoping to catch the hell up on old times with Yuki. I’m not pnning on stealing him away from all of his friends.”

  Despite the positive energy ing out of Seiji, the tension remained in the air. The bystanders started to look a little nervous about where things were going. Yuki stepped iweewo finally. “Don’t you trust Seiji, Saki? We’ve known him since junih.” He turo face her trying, though failing to obscure Seiji’s form from sight. “Besides, he’s a Shinto Priest. How you not trust that?”

  “Shinto Priest?!” the bystanders all asked with varying levels of shock.

  “The hell, man?! I thought I told you to keep that to yourself. You’ll ruin my image!” He quickly hurried in, putting a hand over Yuki’s mouth to attempt to cut off the damage.

  Chapter 24 – Not so Divine

  “A-are you really?” The fusion on Ayumi’s face came from genuine curiosity. She gnced around the group gauging the others.

  Saki stepped iween Seiji and Ayumi looking over at her. “No, he’s not. Yuki’s overstating things. He’s in training, his family runs one of the shrines in town. The one on the hill up in the north.”

  “Aw… e on, Saki.” Yuki tried o time to get Saki to see his side including sorrowful eyes to add to the pressure, but it did not work. She tried to nudge in towards Hiroshi, but he resisted. “Saki!”

  “Let’s go, Yuki. We already had pns today.” Saki tio push on Yuki. She hoped that Hiroshi or someone would help her, but they remained fused or stunned. They didn’t uand. ‘I ’t risk it! I won’t let you turn him back!’ As Yuki put up more resistance, she used her strength no longer being polite. “He’s been gone for more than a year. That’s not a friend for you.”

  “No, Saki!” He sidestepped away from Saki, moving towards Seiji once more. Her odd behavior fueled him to drop his usual smile. ‘Why is she ag sely?’ Part of it he uood well enough. The length and iy she went painted everything with a pletely different tohan he expected. This wasn’t the Saki he knew. “What’s the matter with you, Saki? Seiji’s a friend.”

  Saki's eyes widened almost immediately at the reje. “But Yuki! He’s… How …” She tried to grab for Yuki once more, but he stepped back before she had a ce to eve close to him. “Yuki?”

  “I’m staying. I know you have your problems with Seiji, but you o be more uanding. This isn’t like you, Saki. I’m allowed to spend time with who I want. Please respect that.”

  Witnessing such a serious and well spoken version of Yuki brought more rounds of shobsp; That quickly dampened as the string that bound the two started to unravel before them. The wisest a they all made kept them as bystanders and taking ara step back.

  It hit Saki hard. Harder than she expected. Was that it came from Yuki? Perhaps because it was true? Emotions started to drown the uainty. Her body did the only thing it could see as a solution.

  Saki ran away.

  Seiji stepped forward with a long face stopping at Yuki’s side looking down at him. The emotions packed into the air weren’t missed on him. “Hey, don’t worry about it, man. I’m n to step in the middle of anything.” He pced his hand on Yuki’s shoulder for reassurance.

  “But still… She shouldn’t have said that to you.”

  “Hell, I’ve heard much worse! It’s fine.”

  “I’m sorry, Seiji.”

  “Hey, don’t apologize to me, man! That’s not like the Yuki I know.”

  “The Yuki you know is gone…” Yuki stepped forward from Seiji’s reach, keeping his ba. He was certainly happy to see Seiji again, but Seiji art of his past that he buried away. He didn’t know how to process the myriad emotions that suddenly came over him.

  “I know…” Seiji walked around to the side of Yuki staring forward with him. “Well as much as I like the gloomy air this should be a pleasant time. Where the hell do you wanna go?” Yuki looked over at Seiji, a little surprised to be hearing those words from him.

  Hiroshi and Ayumi, followed distantly by Tatsuya and Kazuhiro, chased after Saki, who was being difficult to catch due to her natural talents. “I thought… sprinters… were only supposed… to be… good at short… distances…” He was a little surprised that the frail Ayumi was keeping up with him, but Hiroshi was hardly an athlete.

  “Do-do-do you… think we…sh-should go after…her?” Ayumi stared over at Hiroshi at a loss to what occurred. It was the problem with the lie she made. Each day, she learned how much history she teically should know.

  “Yeah… I don’t want to leave her alone like that.” Making a quiod to his friends, Hiroshi gave her an inviting motion as they ran off after Saki. About a bloto it, the realization hit that they were chasing after someone orack team. Gloom fell over them while f themselves forward.

  All they could hope to do was not lose sight of her. Dodging around strangers and panting on burning lungs, they struggled forward a sed blobsp; They were going to have to chase her over the whole city. At least that was the fear in their oxygen starved mind.

  To their bodies' relief, Saki stopped a few blocks ahead. The third and fourth block, they preteo keep up pace, but stamina gave out long ago. But Saki remaiill, slouched over a little as they sloroached.

  Ayumi approached while the others recovered their voices. She reached out for Saki. Upon tact, she stepped away and turo the wall of the nearby building. Saki dropped her back against the wall half sliding down, but propped up enough not to colpse. “...Yuki…”

  Once he had recovered enough to speak without pausing, Hiroshi leaned in to Saki trying to get a better look at her. He was surprised to see such emotions painted so deeply into her face for someohat was always so tough. “Saki, what’s going on? Why did you run away?”

  Saki remained quiet with her head held down while Ayumi moved to help Hiroshi. “S-saki? You talk to us. If-if you don’t want to say it to Yuki.” It didn’t seem like much was getting through to her, but Yuki’s name widened her eyes once more like it was a trigger within her.

  Saki stood up and tried to start running, but Hiroshi was able to grab a hold of her arm. Quickly, he stepped in front of her to keep her from leaving. “We’ll listen…”

  Hiroshi felt the weight of Saki on him, though it was less like she was trying to knock him down and closer to needing the support to stay on her feet. He pulled Saki back by the shoulders and arms away from him to look at her. Ay almost soulless eyes made Hiroshi question more closely what was going on. It only tio make him fused by what inning around in Saki’s mind. ‘Did Yuki’s words hurt her that seriously?’

  He looked over to Ayumi for some help, but saw that she was being affected by the mood p out from Saki. “Why don’t we go over there and take a break.” A restaurant across the street preseself as a fortable enviro. “Everyone could use some rest.”

  “Yeah, definitely,” Tatsuya said, finally rec his breath to speak.

  A soft whisper of voices filled the restaurant as they found a seat. Silence hung around everyoil the waitress arrived for their order. It signaled enough ce to break the atmosphere.

  Ohey were alone again, Hiroshi made the first effort. “So Saki, you going to let us in on who Seiji is and why he’s got you so upset?” Tatsuya and Kazuhiro both looked over at Hiroshi’s brave move a uain about how Saki would end up reag to Hiroshi. They knew Saki to be more violent and willing to throw her fists than talk about personal things, but today was much different for her.

  Saki remained quiet still for some time. It was not until their drinks and food arrived that Saki even looked up from staring at the table. ‘What’s the matter with you, Saki? Seiji’s a friend.’ Yuki’s voice echoed in her mind, stunning her again as it had before.

  She gripped her hands together tightly as they rested against her skirt. ‘I’m staying.’ The events from before were repeatedly pying through her mind. “…Yuki…”

  “Saki?”

  Ayumi spped her hand over Saki’s face, shog everyone. “Get a hold of yourself, Saki! This isn’t like you to be depressed like this! Snap out of it!”