“Hey, do you know what a falling star does?”

“No, why?”

“I know what they say - it's not true because none of my wishes have come true.”

“Speeding Star”

“Faster, Kenya! Run like your butt's on fire!” his kohai called out.

After being pulled out of doubles, Kenya had chosen to train even harder and there was no one else better to help him than Zaizen, who had the pleasure of firing endless tennis balls at him. The brunette was wearing double the usual amount of weights and he had been training for more than three hours. To him, it seemed like it had been three years and Zaizen had just chopped of half his life span.

“Zaizen,” he panted, “don't you think we've done enough? I can barely even raise my racquet!”

The black-haired teen put his racquet behind his head. “That's because we're making sure that you've got enough stamina to run like you're a baboon whose butt's been set ablaze. I mean, honestly,” – he served for the umpteenth time – “do you really think you're going to get anywhere with that kind of speed? You wanna beat Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, don't you? Now get your butt in gear. You make snails look like they're faster than cheetahs!”

Annoyed with Zaizen's antics, Kenya plopped down on the floor. “I'm pooped.”

Seeing his best friend now sprawled out on the floor, Zaizen decided to stop. “Yeesh, you've got stamina lower than Gakuto and Marui and Where am I from? The ‘help-the-stars-get-back-on-their-feet' brigade? Come on, Kenya , I've got a life too, you know! So am I wasting my time trying to get yours back?”

“So much for being your senpai ,” growled Kenya. “Keep that up and I'll clean you good!”

Shrugging, the other boy retorted, “I'm just stating the obvious. Fine, I'll let you off. Go do some laps.”

Zaizen walked off the court as Kenya lay sprawled on the floor. The poor guy couldn't even budge and then, a kind voice called out him. “Hey, are you okay, senpai ?”

Looking up, he saw the black-haired girl with her emerald green eyes shining at him. “Hey, -san. You're awfully early today? What gives?”

Above him now stood the youngest captain of the Shitenhouji sports division, . She was actually both Zaizen's and his kohai considering that she had only graduated recently. However, what made her so formidable was the fact that she earned the title ‘Vanishing '. Her speed was impeccable and so was her footwork. He could see that her body was the toned and slim body of a runner and she was actually captain of the Shitenhouji Track and Field team. This kohai had actually beat the tennis speed demon in track and field by such a big margin that Kenya remembered that he heard no end of it from Zaizen and Kintarou.

However, after a few months of spending time with her, he had actually found more inspiration.

He found himself running most of the time and even Shiraishi commented on how light-footed he was becoming. Kenya had wanted to pay her back for beating him in the race but somehow, he felt different when talking to her in the hallway. She was very polite though she did have days when she would flare up but that was quite a rare sight.

She looked at his ankles and said, “It seems Zaizen-senpai 's been training you hard.”

“Yeah, you have no idea,” groaned the brown-haired Oshitari .

Helping him up kindly, said, “Would you like me to help you? Maybe there are a few techniques that I can give you to help you run faster.”

Glad that he would get the kohai to become his trainer, Kenya sat up. “Sure, let's leave before Zaizen gets back.”

++

Kenya had been doing a few leg stretches before he started running. Soon, he felt like what seemed to be three minutes to him then began to become a minute. He felt that his legs had gotten lighter and he was moving amazingly well. was telling him to bend his knees and keep his back a little leaned to the front so that he could keep up his speed. However, her training wasn't as easy as it looked. Every three minutes, she would add another two pounds to his legs so that he would exert more effort and break his limits.

The funny part was: he didn't actually care.

Kenya minded if Zaizen was the one working him to the ground. However, the more his kohai added pressure, the more effort he put in. Kenya was actually smiling while he worked at it. His first record time was four minutes which dropped to two minutes and thirty seconds after he had warmed up a little more.

“Hey, -san,” he said, pointing to the sky, “we'd better go, it's getting dark.”

Seeing that the sky was becoming dark blue, smiled. “Okay, let's call it a day then!”

The two headed towards the locker room and there, the tennis team went out to greet them both as well.

“Ah, -san,” said Chitose.

Bowing in respect, the kohai replied, “ Good evening, Chitose- senpai . Shiraishi-senpai , everyone.”

Zaizen whistled. “ Oooh , Kenya 's got a girlfriend.”

Kenya was having second thoughts about being Zaizen's best friend. He tried to control the nacarat¹ colour crawling up his face. “Hey! Will you not? Not in front of everyone! Don't you know how to shut up?”

“Umm,” too began blushing quite madly, saying defiantly, “I was just helping Oshitari-senpai train!”

However, to the whole team, Kenya 's feelings towards her were quite obvious. Kintarou was actually the one who first figured it out and often bugged him about it and then spread it to both Hitouji and Konjiki who didn't hesitate to tell their captain and vice-captain about it. Chitose thought it was quite amusing while Shiraishi thought it was amazing that a sadist like Kenya would like a kohai who beat him in running.

During her first few months here, when she tried out for the track team was because some people were bullying her friends and she couldn't stand it. Beating them quite quickly, the coach noticed her potential as a professional track runner and quickly went up to the ranks to captain. To some, it was quite unheard of to have a first year to become a captain while to others; she was nicknamed as the ‘Speeding Star'.

“Well,” Chitose said, “we'll be going now. Better make sure she gets home in one piece, Kenya .”

“Don't do anything funny,” added Zaizen.

Kenya glowered at the two and hissed, “Chitose, Zaizen…!” However, he felt a hand touch him gently on the shoulder and there stood his captain. “We'll be seeing you tomorrow then.”

“Um, yeah.” But his glower didn't fade from its real targets, who were moving away with snickers on their faces.

++

“So, you played against Seigaku?”

“No, never had a chance to but, seeing the others play has gotten me fired up for the next season.”

Kenya and were resting, after having had a couple of races. was an opponent to be reckoned with despite being a few inches shorter than Kenya.

“So,” asked Kenya, “was it always your dream to become a professional runner? You have the build for it.”

“Well,” she smiled ruefully, “not really. I always wanted to be a doctor but somehow, with the way my dad works me to become like my older brother…” A dry laugh bubbled up. “That dream seems impossible.”

He remembered that the girl had also done so well in science that she had been put into the advanced classes. Most of the senpai were jealous of her and yet she always had this ability to make them shut up.

“Hey, senpai?”

“Hm?”

She looked at the sky. “Do you know what a falling star does?”

He paused for a while, looking at the starry sky. “Most of the time, they say it'll grant wishes.”

She smiled. “Well, I know that's what they say. But it's not true because none of my wishes have come true.”

Kenya said, “Well, you can't always base it off on one falling star.” As they were looking up, a falling star appeared.

turned to him. “Go on, make a wish.”

Eyeing her curiously, Kenya said, “You just said that you didn't believe in this kind of stuff.”

“Well, it might work for you.”

Closing his eyes, Kenya took in a deep breath and then smiled at her. “Done.”

“Wow.” She gave him an astounded look. “That was fast.” saw how handsome he was under the starry sky. She just wished that he liked her, despite her being a kohai.

However, that seemed a little impossible for her too.

She had noticed how so many girls had hounded him to the point where he had to resort to escaping through the bathroom. That was the first time she met him because he had accidentally used the girls' bathroom as a hiding place and luckily, she wasn't on the toilet. She also remembered that it was White Day the next day and even though she wanted to give him something, she couldn't after being discouraged by the many boxes given by his fan girls.

++

The next day, she checked her locker and as many expected, all kinds of chocolate fell out and then, she saw a white rose peeking out with a note that read:

“I hope you don't mind meeting me in the park at 6:00 tonight. We have something to discuss.”

Truly, Oshitari Kenya

A smile formed on her lips. “Okay, I'll be there.”

That night, wore a skirt and blouse to the park with a bag of clothes to wear. However, when she got there, the man she expected to meet was not in training clothes but rather in semi-formal attire. Her eyes widened. “Kenya- senpai ? Why aren't you-?”

“Hey,” his tone was soft and his hand covered hers, “let's go get some dinner. I'm paying so don't be ashamed to eat a lot, okay?”

He took her to a place that looked like it was somewhere a Hyotei male would bring his date. stared at her hands which were numb from the cold and said sheepishly, “I'm sorry; I'm not wearing the proper attire.”

“You look beautiful,” Kenya said. “I mean you don't need to be in a gown to impress me. You make simple clothes look like as if they came from some designer racks. You don't even need” - he paused for a moment - “this…”

Moving towards her, he gently wiped off the make-up she had put on her face. His hand moved so gently that she could've melted instantly. “Kenya- senpai , you said that there was something to discuss?”

“Oh yeah.” His eyes averted for a moment. “I owe you an apology.”

“Huh?”

He pulled out a bouquet of roses that he had hidden only god knew where and said, “I believe I've forgotten to give someone a gift today. After all, her gift was the one I had been expecting the most.”

“But,” she stuttered as she took them, “I didn't give you anything. The chocolates, I gave them to-”

“Zaizen,” smirked Kenya, “who in turn shoved them in my bag. But I could tell you made them because they had this intricate swirl that you always used for designing almost anything, be it an art project or a cake ”

“I…” Turning away, she felt heat rush up to her cheeks as he put his hand over hers.

“ -chan, I know you think you're just my kohai but you're more than that. You weren't called the Speeding Star for nothing. I'm just glad you don't drive.” A dry laugh came from him.

Giggling softly, the air changed and the candle light lit up his features, making him more handsome than he already was. “ -chan, you are a Speeding Star. My speeding star and to tell you the truth, the wish I made on that falling star came true.”

“What was that wish?”

“I'll tell you.”

“It was for me to have one night with you so I can tell you what I really feel.”

------------------------------

¹ nacarat = a pale red-orange colour

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White Chocolate

Edited by Elenniel