The day was long, longer than usual. It was longer than Kagashi remembered it being. Each act seemed to drag on interminably for him. A weight tied him down making his movements and thoughts slow as though they were suspended in time. Kagashi did not know how long he could keep going at this pace. He never felt so taxed with fatigue as he did this day. The day seemed normal to him and the motions felt usual, yet there was something off that he could not understand.

Once the sun set below the horizon he was finally freed from the prison. The sand around him did not seem to disappear filling in higher to his knees. He pulled his legs through the hall feeling as though he was ripping his muscles from his bone. Each struggled step increased in difficulty now up to his thighs. ‘What’s this feeling? What wrong with me?’

Kagashi trudged forward as a heavy wind slapped him across the face losing him ground. His step became unbalanced causing the next step to trip him forcing him to over counter and slam into the wall. The moment that his back came to rest against the wall he suddenly received an enormous weight on his shoulder straining at his legs to keep him up right. ‘This doesn’t make any sense…I don’t feel ill, but something…’

Sweat was beading down his face, but he was retaining his breath. He tried to ignore the paradox and push himself off the wall to resume the burning trek back to his room. Kagashi staggered back to his feet taking an uncertain step forward hearing the echo of the wood floor beneath his sandal. There was still no balance in his body as he started leaning forward. He saw the floor coming up quick to his face when a firm hand took hold of him. His mouth tasted the fabric of an academy uniform as a body stopped his fall, sort of. The motion could not be stopped and there was a heavy thud on the wood floor and a squashing noise as he met with the body that caught him.

Kagashi’s head was still thin, but he was almost certain that he had heard the indelicate exclamation of a woman. He raised up his hand to his head shaking himself back to focus. All that he knew was that he was on top of someone and he tried to push himself off, but he felt something strange under his left hand. Kagashi tightened his hand finishing to raise himself and opened his eyes that brought an immediate shocked expression to his face followed by a deep flush over him. He looked down at his hand finding that it was resting roughly against, unintentionally placed completely unknowingly without any sort of ill thoughts in mind. “U-u-uh…H-h-h-h-haruka! I-I didn’t…”

He jumped up off of her nearly running himself through the wall in the process. “I’m sorry!” he said sharply bowing repeatedly knowing that there was nothing he could do to make up for touching, assaulting. It was a mistake. ‘I can’t believe…I just…’

Haruka pulled herself up from the floor her face still red from the encounter that she had with Kagashi. She forewent her uniform and approached Kagashi slapping him firmly across the face laying him out on the floor dazed. Once that was done she straightened out her uniform making sure everything was back in the right place.

“Ugh…I should have hit the floor…” he said putting his hand to his cheek preferring to remain on the floor at this point rather than attempting to stand again.

The hall remained quiet for a moment before Haruka stepped forward leaning over Kagashi. “There’s a price for everything.”

“Hey! I didn’t mean to…you were under me when I fell!”

“Speak of which. What’s wrong with you?”

Kagashi felt cornered suddenly by the question. He was buried up to his waist now with weight applied to his shoulders. “I don’t know what you mean…” His head turned away forcing his eyes to look down the endless hallway that stopped in encroaching darkness.

An expression that said she did not believe him appeared, but he could not see it. “Right…stew in your problems…I don’t care…” Haruka walked away from Kagashi allowing the silence to return to the hall.

Now his chest was feeling the pressure making it difficult to breathe. It would be to his neck soon, but he would not last long enough for it to reach that point. Kagashi stood up roughly taking a couple steps forward. “Haruka…w-wait…” He stopped unable to continue forward hoping that it was enough for her. All he could see was her back, but he was certain that she was not moving anymore.


“Is this the place?” Haruka said having taken the lead for most of the walk through the academy coming out to a balcony. She leaned up against the railing looking out at the view as Kagashi stood at the entrance still.

Steph, Kagashi and Tamashi were standing before him looking out at the sky silently talking to each other. ‘Yeah, this is the place.’ He blinked his eyes quickly finding that the trio had disappeared when he looked once more. It was just Haruka alone waiting for him to join her. There was no turning back for him now. He pushed himself forward meeting up with Haruka looking out at the stars.

She turned to her side looking at the profile of Kagashi’s face. “So you going to tell me or you going to make me guess?”

“Huh?” Kagashi said having become distracted by the stars. He had been trying to let it them calm him, but he all he had done was buy himself time. It would be to his neck soon if he did nothing.

Haruka scowled at him tired of being brushed off by his constant desire to keep himself at a distance to everyone. He did not want to let anyone in. She was ready to leave again not sure if he deserved another chance. “You haven’t been yourself all day. You never said a single word and you failed just about everything. It doesn’t take a genius to see something’s on your mind. It’s distracting you. What is it?”

Kagashi turned his head to look at Haruka. He could genuinely stare at her confused. All he knew was that there was something off about him and the day. Nothing made any sense to him and he could not pin point it. “I wish I knew…I just…don’t know. I feel slow like there is a huge weight strapped to me and I’m buried in sand. I can’t explain it.”

“What happened? Something must have happened last night or maybe this morning.”

“No…” he said slowly as his memory flashed through him. ‘Last night…last…night…’ The events that transpired suddenly returned to him as though he had locked them away not able to withstand them. “Last night!”

Haruka leaned back a bit seeing the quick change in Kagashi from confusion to understanding. However, the understanding soon bled to something else. “What happened last night?”

He could not believe that he would do that to him. This was not the way that he should have been acting. It did not make sense that he would do this to Steph. “I…I…” The pressure held firm around him almost squeezing as to force him to speak knowing that there could not be any other way. “I…I saw Steph last night. He was weak and out of it. I don’t even know why I was out there. It seemed to go against my nature. I shouldn’t have cared. I never did before…but I don’t know… There is something different about him that makes me do things that I don’t normally do.”

“That’s not a bad thing. People like us view the world through a different lens. We keep everyone at a distance. Steph ignores those boundaries we have somehow finding his way inside. It sort of grows on you… But that doesn’t completely explain your mood today.”

“Hmm…I guess it doesn’t. It’s probably because Steph left during the night. When I woke up his bed was empty. Maybe you’re right that we have boundaries. I guess I just was used to seeing him there with that simple carefree grin. And when I saw him in those tests something else seemed to awaken in him. I watched all that innocence just crumble away. He’s not the same anymore. Maybe he shouldn’t come back. It might be better that he stayed away if this is going to destroy who is his.”

“We can’t decide that for him. It’s for him to determine his life and how he lives it.”

“But why do I care so much? I don’t understand.” Kagashi sat down on the stonework of the balcony leaning against the railing. He tilted his head up trying for the stars again. “Why?”

Haruka knelt down towards Kagashi looking at him when he brought his head back down. She stretched out her hand to meet with his feeling the shaking passing into her. “He can’t go back and neither can we…”

“Haruka…” Kagashi said slowly feeling his face become warm. The pressure poured out from around him bringing him relief finally from the weight of the day. He was at ease for once.

“Kagashi…”


“AH!” Kagashi said suddenly shooting up from his bed throwing the covers to his feet. He looked around in the darkened room seeing that it was still night. ‘Night…but what happened? Was all that…’ His memory was fuzzy unable to remember the events past with Haruka on the balcony. ‘How did I get back here and out of my uniform? Did something happen? Ugh…I can’t remember…’ Kagashi laid back on his pillow dropping his arm on his forehead staring at the ceiling trying to remember.