Sunlight Under the Stars

Five: Ultimate Survivor

After a few hours, my fingers start to grow tired. "Hey, Kaede?" I ask as I force myself through a simple lullaby for the twentieth time. "Can we take a break? I don't know how much longer I can keep going."

She's looking at my fingers critically. "Your technique is still off... huh?" She looks at me, seeming embarrassed. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I should've noticed you were getting tired."

"It's fine." I realize only when I stand up that my entire lower half has fallen asleep. Pinpricks shoot through my body. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold out for as long as you wanted."

"Shuichi..." She gives me a disapproving look. "You shouldn't apologize for not having the stamina for something you've never done before. You really need to be more confident."

"Uh, yeah, I guess..." Damn it, that sounded lame. "What should we do now?"

"I don't know!" Her smile is just as radiant as ever. Easy for her to tell me to have confidence when she seems to be the most confident person alive. (Why am I holding that against her? Ugh, I can't even think about other people right.) "But it's a big school, and I'm sure there's something to do. We can figure something out!" She pokes me in the shoulder playfully, and my entire body heats up a little. "You are the Ultimate Detective, right?"

"Well..." Her disapproving look returns, and I realize I probably shouldn't put myself down again. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. So..." I rack my brain furiously. Why is this so hard?? "Well, this school seems to have a lot of interesting people. How about we go talk to some of them?"

That beautiful smile is back. Her eyes glow when she smiles. She must be a really happy person if she's developed that effect. "That's a great idea, Shuichi! I knew I could count on you!"

"Yeah." I can't tell if she's being sarcastic, but I don't think so. I've known her for less than a day, but I can already tell that she's extremely genuine and kind. "Let's get going."

"There's that confidence!" She hops off the piano bench, stretches, yawns (somehow without developing a double chin in the process), and grabs my hand. I open my mouth to protest, but if she's being natural about it, I guess there's no need. Even if it is really embarrassing. Plus, her hand feels good. It's so soft... and warm... crap. I made it weird.

Anyway, we're headed down the hall back toward homeroom now, still holding hands. I would ask where we're going, but not knowing is part of the point here. It's a little disconcerting, not having a plan, but with Kaede, I know it'll turn out all right. She's such a sensible girl, after all.

Despite how many students there are at this school, the hallway is almost deserted. There are a few students walking around, but they're either invested in some conversation or clearly don't want to be stopped. Once I almost stop for a chubby kid with glasses who's getting lectured by a ferocious-looking girl with levitating hair, but after Kaede whispers in my ear that he's the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, I decide that it's probably best if we leave him to work that out himself. Kaede's earlier enthusiasm is starting to wane, and I'm about to suggest that we head for some specific location to see if anyone's around when some sort of projectile crashes into my chest and I'm sent sprawling backward.

"Shuichi!" Kaede's voice swims through my now foggy consciousness. "Shuichi, are you okay?"

"Ohh, so that's your name?" I hear a voice coming from just a few inches away. Groaning, I pull myself over to the side, and my face almost collides with the face of the purple gremlin Kokichi I saw in homeroom. "It's really cute, Shui-chiii! Oh, what's your talent? The Ultimate Emo or something?"