Chaser and the Silver Shadow

Chaser and Current Balance

"And with that, I hope you all understand the lesson. There'll be a test on this material at the end of the week, so make sure to study hard. I look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces first thing in the morning once again tomorrow. And three, two, one..."

Right on cue as the teacher counted down, the bell in the school rang, indicating the end of the day's instruction and the beginning of the rest of the day. For one boy, there could be no greater source of joy than being able to get out of this stuffy classroom. He began cramming his books into his backpack with reckless abandon, not caring about how they would all fit inside. Given that his 'backpack' was more commonly used by travelers to store their gear, it had more than enough room for him to be sloppy with his packing.

He stood up and pushed his chair in, ready to go, and he looked over towards his childhood friend, hoping that he would see her just as excited and ready to go. And then his heart sank.

She was being very tidy in her preparations, stacking her papers before slipping them into a folder. Then, with the entire stack prepared, she put it all into the old leather bag she used as a backpack, making sure to keep it all neatly organized.

"C'mon, Chloe!" he whined. "We've gotta hurry!"

Chloe looked up at him, her emerald green eyes looking sharp enough to pierce him. "What are you in such a rush for?" she asked. "We don't have anything else to do today."

The boy shook his head. "I just have to get back to the lab to see everyone there!" he said, gesturing wide. "You understand that, right?"

"I guess you really are more excited to do research on that rather than doing your homework, aren't you, Goh?"

Chloe's words hit at the heart of the matter, but Goh wasn't daunted. "Of course! I have to see everyone first, but I want to look more into what's going on with the feather, too!"

"There isn't a single part of you that knows the meaning of patience, is there?" Chloe sighed. "You can't rush through everything, you know. Sooner or later, you'll need to slow down and start taking things as they come. You're going to try to find a shortcut and only realize too late that it's a dead end."

Goh grinned confidently. "No way. I'll always find a way to keep moving forward. Where there's a will, there's a way, and there's always a way to the future in the palm of my hand!"

A wadded-up ball of paper hit Goh in the head. Turning to see where it came from, Goh saw one of his classmates, a boy wearing a bandage on his nose named Yeardley, standing near the door. He gave them a wry smile and turned to leave the room.

"Dorks," he said as he stepped out.

Goh felt his fingers clinch into a fist, but Chloe's hand on his shoulder turned his attention away from Yeardley. "Are you really going to let him bother you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I was just thinking that another hit would help fix his nose," he said.

Chloe wasn't enthusiastic about his posturing. "You got lucky he didn't want to admit that he got his nose broken by you the first time and said he fell down the stairs at school," she reminded him. "If you do it again, you might get expelled."

"That's just more time to spend with Ash at the lab," he said back, not truly thinking about what he was saying.

"I guess if Ash is your most important friend," she said looking away from him.

"Hey, don't talk like that-"

"Though I guess I should be glad you actually have a friend other than me," she said, Her emerald eyes seemed to glow mischievously in the afternoon sun.