Learning To Fly: A Saki Enomoto Pseudo-Route

Countdown :: Ask Me No Questions

AN: The theme for this chapter is linked below.

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I've made my share of regretful decisions in my life, but I'm having a hard time thinking of anything in recent memory that tops the one I made yesterday.

My head still reels from the jargon and all its implications. I don't remember exactly what time I left the library yesterday, but the sun was low enough in the sky to cast some very long shadows on my way back to my dorm.

There will never be a time in my life again where I won't know what I learned yesterday.

I learned about spinocerebellar ataxia yesterday.

Spinocerebellar ataxia, commonly abbreviated as SCA, is a progressive, degenerative, genetic disease with multiple types.

I learned about its multiple types. About how there were over a dozen different known types, some well documented, some only having a handful of cases.

Spinocerebellar ataxia is a hereditary and often fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

I learned about the symptoms. From balance problems, to twitching eyes and limbs, to losing coordination and strength, to body tremors, and other things that can get progressively worse.

There is no known effective treatment or cure.

I learned about different prognoses. I learned about the time clock each sufferer faces. I learned at what years they could expect to see their bodies break down, and in what order it would happen. I learned if they could expect the clock to stop at a certain point, or continue to its inevitable conclusion.

Spinocerebellar ataxia can affect anyone of any age.

Oh yeah. I learned, alright.

And most important of all, I learned that yesterday I made a huge mistake.

The worst thing about it all? It was all fruitless because I don't even know what type of ataxia Saki has.
Because of this, it's been impossible to keep from jumping to conclusions. I've been replaying everything Saki's said and done the last few weeks, along with what others have been saying about her, trying to find mental reassurance that the ataxia she has is one of the ones that isn't that bad. She can play the violin after all, and she's in the art club, so she can't have one that's serious, right?

I'm back in the library, during our lunch hour. I managed to trudge through another day of morning classes, and working with Maeda and the dynamic duo. Shizune seemed annoyed at first that my portion of the answer packet was woefully lacking, but a silent conversation with Misha combined with the facial expression I must have been wearing this morning quickly dismissed any thoughts of her chiding me.

At any rate, we managed to get some more work done on the project, with Shizune stepping in to take up my rather obvious slack. I simply told them I wasn't feeling too well, and that the new medication I was on must have been messing with my sleep schedule. It wasn't entirely a lie. Maeda seemed indifferent and bored like he always does, and the two girls didn't pry any further.

Nobody mentioned Saki.

The rest of the morning classes went rather smoothly. I learned to coast on autopilot quite early in my academic career, and while I normally use that skill to cover me while I daydream or think about more interesting things, I find it very useful for when there's heavier things on my mind.

So here I sit again, staring at the same packet, the same book in front of me. It's almost enough to make me wish I had simply dozed off here at this desk and the last twenty four hours was just a bad dream.

I'm interrupted in my thoughts by a voice I recognize.

"There you are."

I look up and see a girl with short, dark hair walking towards me, concern in her green eyes.

Chisato.

"Hey," I wave, trying to put on a smile. I haven't seen her or Noriko the last two days either, not since the night we went to the city. I wait until she's a little closer to the table I'm at before speaking again, out of respect to the other people in the room. "What's up?"

"We hadn't seen you in a few days," she starts, pulling out a chair and turning it backwards. In one smooth motion, she straddles it and crosses her arms to rest on the back. I'm shocked for a second at what a, well, unladylike gesture it is, but Chisato doesn't seem to notice or care at all.

"Yeah, um, sorry. Class has been busy the last two days. We've been working on a group project," I offer up lamely.

"So that's why you've been skipping lunch with the two of us, huh?" Chisato teases, her trademark twinkle in her eye. "It's alright. We've been kind of exhausted after, you know."

"How is she?" I ask before I can stop myself. I hadn't received any texts from Saki since the ones two nights ago, and Chisato's disarming demeanor is making me forget that it's pretty rude to talk about someone when they're not there in your presence.

"She's okay, for the most part," Chisato answers, a little bit of light fading from her cheery expression. "More ego than anything, I think."

I nod. I think about asking her about the strange interaction the two of them had that night, with Saki on the ground and Chisato helping her, but I think better of it. I know that would be out of line, and I already did enough of that yesterday.

"That's good."

"That reminds me," she says, back to normal. "Can you do me a favor? I had to run back to class to get something I left, so Saki's down in the cafeteria...do you want to go see her? I don't know if I'll be able to make it back before the break ends, so I can't wheel her to her next class..."

That sounds equally lame to what I said earlier, and flimsy to boot. But there's something in the way Chisato says it that makes me pause.

"She'd probably be really happy to see you," she continues, a bit softer, the unspoken subtext painfully clear, even to an obtuse idiot like me.

"Alright. I'm hungry anyway."

Chisato smiles and bounds up, easily flipping the chair back to its normal position. "Good! Glad that's settled."

"Chisato," I ask, my eyes narrowing, "were you actually looking for me?"

"Who, me? Of course not," she says. "I just stuck my head in the door passing by and you happened to be here, that's all."

"I thought your class was down the hall, by the elevators. Your class isn't even in this part of the building."

Chisato shrugs, refusing to admit anything. "Scenic route."