Waving Through A Window

Cheesecake

The night passed and another sun rose, basking the world in soft glowing light. Daichi woke up to the sun in his eyes, making him squint angrily.

He got up and got dressed, walking downstairs to grab some breakfast. His mother wasn't awake yet based on the snores he could hear coming from his parent's shared bedroom. He left a note on the table telling his parents that he was going out and left the house as quietly as he could.

He could see some of his friends were already playing in the street, kicking around a pall or playing with jump-ropes.

"Hey, Daichi!" One of the boys called, rushing to his porch. "We've missed you around here! Where've you been?"

"Oh, around," Daichi said, not meeting the other boy's eye. Daichi shuffled around the other boy and started to walk down the street, feeling a hint of guilt touch his bright and sunny mood.

"Where are you going? You do know what day it is, right?" The boy said, planting himself in Daichi's path.

"No? Is it someone's birthday?" The brunet thought out loud.

The boy smiled. "No, you silly-billy! It's the annual race-until-you-drop today!"

Oh. He forgot about that.

The annual race-until-you-drop was a go-kart race around the block. It started when someone drive their Kart around the block so many times that he passed out once he stepped out of the vehicle, falling onto the grass of his front yard. The story had spread quickly, and being the boys they were, they decided to re-create it.

Over the past few years it had changed slightly, going from a singular person to a whole friend group. The first person to complete ten laps around their street won a home-made treat from someone's mother. Last year, Tersurou's mother made a cheesecake for the winner. Everyone was jealous of that lucky guy.

"Oh, I actually have plans," Daichi said, looking for a way to back out of this conversation. Unfortunately, the boy wouldn't take a hint.

"Aww come on! You're one of the best racers! You can't quit on us!" He protested. "You have to race!"

Daichi debated with himself. On one hand, he could go check on Koushi and make sure that he's OK, or he could spend the day with his oldest friends. To any other person, this might be an easy decision, but Daichi had grown quite fond of Koushi in the short time he had known him.

Daichi was about to shove past his friend and keep walking, but he noticed the saddened puppy eyes he was giving him.

Daichi huffed. "Fine."

The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree. His smile was so large that it crinkled the skin around his eyes. Even though he felt bad about leaving Koushi, he knew he had made the right decision.

The boy dragged Daichi down the sidewalk, only letting go so that Daichi could dig his go-kart out of his garage. They worked together to push the vehicle down the street, finally rolling it up to the line where the race started. There were a few other go-karts already there, most having final checks done on them before the race began.

Daichi turned to the left and saw Tersurou's mother sitting at a fold-up table, sipping a glass of lemonade. On the table next to her was the most beautiful cheesecake Daichi had ever seen. It seemed to almost glow in the warm summer sun. Daichi felt his mouth water.

Over the next hour, more kids hoping to win that cheesecake lined up at the start. By the time the starting-shot rang out, over fifteen karts were ready to race.

The starting shot was fired and around and around the block they went, the person in first changing constantly. In the end, Daichi had come third. Kinoshita, a boy who Daichi hadn't taken much time to get to know, had come in first. When the cheesecake was presented to him, Daichi saw the hungriest look he had ever seen on a person cross the boy's face.

Daichi was chugging down a water bottle when he heard his mother call him for dinner. He stood up from the curb, said goodbye to his friends, and made the short trek to his house.

"How'd the race go?" Kazue asked once Daichi had stepped in the doorway. Daichi recounted the whole day, using sound effects and animated hand gestures. Kazue smiled the entire time, happy that her son had had such a fun day.

As Daichi tucked himself into bed that night, his thoughts slipped back to Koushi. He had kept himself away from that corner of his head for the entire day, and he thought he could keep it that way. But alas, his worries sprouted like weeds in a sunny garden, soon taking over everything else.

Tomorrow, he was going to figure out what was going on. There was no turning back now.

~~~~~~~~

Hello everyone! So after this week's chapter is published I'm going to be going on a small hiatus. I'll be back in a week or two and will still be on wattpad, but school is starting and I'm a bit overwhelmed. I hope you understand.

Oh I have Tumblr now: dachshund-games

Have a nice day/night! [No takebacks]

~Daniel