Running After You

Chapter 10: Elephant in the Room

"You've been doing a terrific job." Youta's hard work had not gone unnoticed as he received praise from his teacher. "Fuwaka's has been putting in much more effort lately. While I do wish her scores would've improved a bit more. She's certainly on the right track thanks to you. So we can consider that little mission of yours accomplished."

"Great." He breathed a sigh of relief over passing his first job. While Youta would never consider what he had to do little, it certainly was rewarding. However if Mikimasa felt this was considering on the lighter side, then it meant there would be more difficult challenges in the future. "So I'm good for now? Can I just go hand out water bottles?"

"I already have a new mission lined up for you." The boy sighed upon realizing this new club would now take away any semblance of free time he would have for the rest of high school. "While I would like to inform you that you're not done with Fuwaka, as she still needs to continue to makes strides in her studies. There is another person in need of your services. This time, she was the one to make this request."

"Really?" For a moment, Youta's eyes lit up as he believed this was simply Mitora doing it so that they'd be able to spend more time together.

"She's a basketball player." The second he heard those words leave his teachers mouth, Youta felt indescribable disappointment. "Her name's Takame Yoshinaga. A first year student who recently joined the basketball team. From the way she worded her own problem. It seems she wants someone to help her get better at her chosen sport."

"Isn't that the job of a coach?" He asked, knowing full well that he didn't have the slightest clue on how basketball worked.

"True, but the coach does have their hands full teaching every member of the team. Maybe she just felt she had been neglected. So a bit of a side mission for you is to help her speak up to get the training she wants. I'll also have a chat with the coach to see what's going on. A bit odd for them to not mention anything to me about this, seeing as I've sent an email to everyone." Mikimasa wrote down on a piece of paper to remind himself of his own responsibilities.

"I'll handle what I can." Obviously it wasn't as if Youta could decline the mission. So he took it without much thought. The boy looked over at Fuwaka, who served as the shining example that he had what it took.

After school had ended, the boy took the most direct path to the school's gym. Which was where the basketball teams practiced every day. Unlike with his first mission, Youta wasn't given the luxury of seeing who he'd be helping. So he had to approach some of the players and asked where Takame happened to be.

"I haven't seen her yet." Was the answer he got after asking every person taking warm up shots. Since it appeared she was running late, there was nothing else for him to do other than to sit in the stands and wait while he watched. As he sat back, bored out of his mind waiting, Youta wondered what was taking that girl so long to arrive. Practice seemed to be begin for both teams, so he thought it was no wonder why she felt herself needing help training if she couldn't make the effort to actually be at practice.

"Um, who are you?" As he sat staring over at the girl's basketball team to see when this girl would show up. One of them apparently came up to him and asked this question.

"I'm..." The first thing he thought upon turning to see her was just how tall this girl was. Even though he was sitting, she clearly towered over him and was much bigger than the rest of her team. Somehow he didn't recall seeing her when asking for Takame, nor did he notice her arriving some time later.

"Oh, did I do something wrong?" She noticed him staring and immediately took a step back as she turned her head down and to the side to avoid his gaze.