Fikush-ON!

Ch. 25: Yearly Marathon Tradition

The end of the summer break marks the beginning of the second semester. And that means going back to school. The very first day of the second semester, I slept in, waking up at noon. Obviously, since the summer break had left my sleep schedule a complete mess, but also because I just didn't care to listen to the principal's boring, monotonic monologue. I arrived at school halfway through the lunch break. After buying myself some lunch, I was just about to head to the basement, until I remembered that it's always locked after the summer break, and wouldn't be opened until after the classes. Shitty policy, but no can do; there's no way to reason with those asshats at the faculty office. It took only a single text message to find my friends, who were hanging around outside, behind the school. We spent the lunch break together, until the bell rang, forcing us back to the class.

Hours passed, and the classes were over. The guys and I were among the first ones to leave the classroom, and we headed straight to the basement, which was now unlocked. Strolling through the basement's narrow corridor in one, neat line, we finally got to the club room. Opening the door, we stepped in one at the time, me being first.

"Back in town, bitches!" I jokingly yelled at the empty room, throwing my bag on the couch.

Next up was Tadaaki, who also threw his bag on the couch. "Damn, this place is musty. Open some windows, will ya?"

"And hot. Shit, why the hell is it so hot in here...?" Ichiro muttered as he walked in, his airborne bag soon joining ours.

As instructed, I used a chair to climb up and open a couple of windows. In the meantime, Tadaaki headed over to the shelf and began browsing the music section. Having nothing better to do, Ichiro headed to the kitchen area and opened the cabinet, looking at our comprehensive selection of coffee beans and grounds.

With an exhausted sigh, he glanced at us over his shoulder. "Too hot for hot coffee, all in agreement?"

"Yup," I nodded, jumping down from the chair.

"Sure, why not," Tadaaki answered, picking a CD-case from the shelf and examining it. "Mocha Cola would do just fine."

"No can do," Ichiro said, shaking his head. "We drank all the soda the day before the summer break, remember?"

"Oh, right..." Tadaaki muttered, recalling the said event.

I crossed my arms, glancing at the fridge. "And there's no milk or cream. We had to use them all, since they would've gone bad during the summer."

"Yeah," Tadaaki nodded, standing up and walking over to the CD player. "Iced coffee it is, then."

Frowning a bit, Ichiro moved in front of the fridge, muttering: "Man, I would've liked something else for a change... Do we even have any ice?"

He opened the freezer compartment. As he took a look inside, I swear I could see a flash of joy in his eyes.

"Holy fuck, there's some vanilla ice cream in here!" he announced excitedly.

Surprised by the news, Tadaaki and I glanced at each other. I bet he was thinking the same as I.

With a slight smile, I turned to look at Ichiro, voicing my thoughts: "So, Affogato, then?"

"Right on, man!" he yelled, and immediately began working with the espresso machine.

Now that that's settled, I suddenly remembered the thing I've been thinking over during the summer break. I walked over to the shelf, and began examining all the cardboard boxes there. Meanwhile, Tadaaki turned the stereo system on, and some nice 90's rock began blasting from the speakers. This is a French band, if my memory serves me right. I was tapping my thigh in the rhythm of the song, when I found the box I was looking for. I reached for it and pulled it off the shelf, causing some dust to fall down with it. Yeah, clearly no one has touched this box in a long time.