At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

sixteen - "we need to talk"

Clapping his hands together, Haiji glances down at his watch and zips his jacket up higher as the wind whips around.

"Good, everyone's ready," He nods to the nine of them stood in front of him. "Hana's at the finish line again this morning."

Yuki glances up at the sky. "At least it's not rained the last few days."

Haiji agrees, about to turn on his heel to start their morning run, when the front door slides open and the group look to see a tired and grouchy Chiyo walk out, wearing a grey hoodie, leggings and white sneakers.

"Ahh, morning, Chiyo!" He grins. "I didn't think you were going to wake up."

With her hood up, Chiyo yawns and stuffs her hands into the pocket. "It's not normal to be up this early."

Musa laughs. "We used to think that but we're used to it now."

"Not much of a morning person, are you, Chiyo?" Nico shakes his head.

Ignoring him, she rubs under her eyes and squints in Haiji's direction. "Where's Nira?"

Before Haiji can answer, Nira comes bounding around the corner with her lead on and jumps up to Chiyo, who flails her arms about in her surprised state. She falls over as Nira wags her tail and climbs onto her stomach.

"Gahh! Nira!"

Haiji runs over, grimacing as Chiyo's arms are out to the side with Nira sitting on her. "Are you okay, Chiyo?"

Wheezing, Chiyo sends them all a thumbs up. "Just great."

Shindo grabs Nira's lead and she jumps off Chiyo, who splutters as she does so and rubs her head. "Thanks, Shindo."

Haiji hooks an arm under her shoulders and sits her up, chuckling. "If that didn't wake you up then I don't know what will."

Agreeing, Chiyo huffs a laugh, turning to him and her eyes widen.

"What's wrong?" He asks, studying her face.

She looks away from him, pulling herself up and brushing off her hands. "Nothing, nothing at all." She raises an eyebrow at Nico and Yuki who have slight smirks on their faces.

"Well, we'd better start our run, Hana's waiting for us." Haiji clears his throat, waving a hand to the group. "Take your time, Chiyo, we're going to run ahead."

Nodding, she takes Nira's lead from Shindo and watches as the others start their morning run, disappearing past the grass hedges.

Chiyo looks down at Nira --wagging her tail with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"It's just you and me now, Nira."

-

Humming to herself, avoiding the puddles on the pavement, Chiyo balances her textbooks in her arms and crosses the road, checking over her shoulder.

To her surprise, she sees a familiar girl standing in the doorway of the café up ahead and Chiyo raises an eyebrow.

The dark-haired girl looks up from the floor just as Chiyo spots her and she smiles, waving. "Hey, Chiyo-chan."

Her brain clicks and she waves back. "Hey, Emi! How are you?"

Emi lets out a soft laugh. "I'm alright, how are you?"

A third-year Philosophy student, Emi is the brightest in her class and although very quiet and not very sociable, she gains the attention of the class. She's beautiful with bright blue eyes, long, dark hair and red lipstick along with a gorgeous smile. Much to the dismay of her classmates, she has a boyfriend and has had since the start of the first term despite, in Chiyo's opinion, her unapproachable demeanour.