Miki Route 2-2: Minute Break

label en_M2:

    "The day passes in a blur, one class blending into another, into the one after that."

    "Going to school has already lost its novelty and I'm finding myself just wanting for class to be over with."

    "I haven't felt this way since before my hospitalization. In a strange way, it's almost a nice feeling."

    "As the final bell rings, liberating us from the monotony, I see Miki and Suzu make their way towards the main hallway with the rest of the crowd."

    "They seem to be having some kind of discussion just outside the door, and I see Miki glance over her shoulder at me."

    "Their conversation ends with Suzu sighing and letting her shoulders slump in a dramatic fashion."

    "Miki just grins at the display and waves me over. It looks like now would be a good opportunity for me to introduce myself to Suzu."

    #Transition to hallway

    "Miki greets me with a smile, but Suzu seems to be paying more attention to her surroundings."

    "I can't blame her. I'm always monitoring my own pulse."

    "I'm pretty sure it must be similar for her, given that she could fall asleep at any time."

    "At least, I imagine that's why she's trying to maintain her state of awareness."

    "Miki doesn't seem to feel the same way and pats the girl's shoulder enthusiastically, startling her."

    mk "This is Suzu, though I'm sure that by now you know her name already."

    "Is she ever going to let that slide? Maybe if I prove that I know Suzu's full name she'll let it go."

    hi "You're Suzu Suzuki, right? I don't think we've talked before, my name's-"

    su "Hisao Nakai, I know. You're the transfer student."

    su "Fortunately I only needed to learn one new name since last week."

    "Her slight smile gives me the impression that she's playing along with Miki here. I'm surprised Miki even told her about me not knowing everybody's name yet."

    hi "Y-Yeah, that's true. I think I've learned them all by now though."

    "Both Miki and Suzu look underwhelmed by the statement. I was hoping for a slightly better response than that."

    hi "Anyway, since you and I are both friends with Miki already, we should try and get to know each other better."

    su "Sure. Please call me Suzu. For some reason a certain someone here turns into a total gearhead whenever she hears my last name."

    mk "I can't help it! It's nostalgic to me."

    su "When we first met you kept begging me to have my father 'pull some strings' and get you a free car. What part of that was nostalgic?"

    mk "Thinking back to it now is pretty nostalgic."

    "A devilish grin lights up Miki's face, knowing that she's managed to get under Suzu's skin. From the look of it, not for the first time, either."

    mk "Please? I'm sure it wouldn't be much trouble at all for someone as important as your father!"

    su "You're doing this on purpose, stop it."

    "She turns to me with an expression that reveals the kind of weariness usually reserved for having to endure the same joke over and over again."

    su "My father doesn't even work in the car industry."

    "Miki laughs happily, though I think a part of it is because Suzu and I seem to get along well enough."

    "Remembering something, Suzu turns to Miki, with a mild look of concern on her face."

    su "Miki, you should hurry and ask him. It's getting time for me to go."

    mk "Oh, yeah. Hisao, do you want to help out with my routine today?"

    hi "Help out how? It's not like I can race you."

    "Miki laughs at the suggestion, though she quickly regains her composure when her eyes meet Suzu's."

    mk "I wasn't thinking of that kind of help. I mainly need someone to time my runs for me."

    hi "So all I have to do is time you?"

    mk "And keep records of my times to see if I'm improving, of course."

    "With the image of Miki running still fresh in mind from this morning, it's not like I need much convincing."

    hi "Sure, if it'll help you prepare for the track meet I don't mind at all."

    "A sly grin spreads across Suzu's face as she glances back at Miki, who is frowning a little."

    su "Thank you, Hisao."

    hi "I'm a little confused. If you didn't want me to help, why ask?"

    mk "Oh, I do, you're doing me a big favor. It's just…"

    su "She didn't think you'd be interested, so I made a bet with her that you would say yes."

    su "Thanks to you, tomorrow's lunch is now paid for and will taste all the better for it."

    "Miki looks shocked that Suzu would confess so willingly. As she turns away with the perpetrator in tow I can see her cheeks turn the slightest bit redder."

    mk "Suzu! Time to go!"

    su "Finally."

    "Miki scowls when she realizes Suzu's trick."

    "Though when she turns around to face me one last time, she's wearing her usual grin again."

    mk "Hisao, just head down to the track, I'll be out in five to ten minutes."

    hi "Alright, I'll see you there. Nice meeting you, Suzu!"

    "Suzu turns and smiles politely, before taking her leave with Miki."

    "I watch them disappear around the corner before making my way outside."

    #Track

    "I get to the track, armed with a pen and notepad, and I can see a fair number of students there already."

    "Some are doing their routine, while others either watch from the sidelines, or chat happily amongst themselves."

    "With nothing better to do, I take a seat on the bleachers while I wait for Miki to arrive."

    "I'm surprised to see Miki's friends are absent. If this is when the track and field club meets, shouldn't they be here as well?"

    "It's then that I can see Miki strolling up to the track, wearing her usual running clothes."

    mk "Hope I didn't make you wait too long."

    hi "Don’t worry about it."

    hi "By the way, why aren't those other guys here? I thought they were with the track and field club too?"

    mk "They just show up on different days. The track and field club is kind of big, and since we're pretty much the only ones using the track, people can show up whenever they want."

    #Miki wink

    mk "Besides, if they were here I wouldn't have gotten to ask you to help me out."

    hi "Well, I'm flattered."

    mk "Haha, yeah, just don't let it go to your head. Now, onto business…"

    #stopwatch vfx shows here

    "Miki reaches up with her right hand and takes the stopwatch from around her neck, handing it to me."

    "It's nothing remarkable, just a simple grey-black stopwatch with a digital readout."

    #stopwatch flipped vfx

    "However, upon flipping it over, I see an initialed 'MM' written in silver Sharpie across the plastic casing."

    "From the wear and tear on the lettering, I'd bet that Miki has been putting this stopwatch to use for a while now."

    #hide vfx

    mk "Alright, any questions before we get started?"

    "As she says this, she starts doing her stretches. Every move she makes emphasizes her long legs."

    "I peel my eyes off her and look back at the stopwatch instead."

    hi "Left button to start and stop time, right to reset?"

    mk "Yep! Very important to know."

    "I can't think of any other questions that relate to helping her, but if I just stared at her quietly she would probably think I'm weird."

    hi "Suzu seems like a nice girl."

    mk "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry if she came across as a bit cold. She takes a little time to warm up to people."

    hi "She seemed to be in a hurry."

    mk "Suzu needs to take planned naps in order to reduce the number of sleep attacks she gets. She's pretty punctual about when she takes those."

    mk "She wants to stay in control of her narcolepsy as much as she can, since she wants to avoid accidentally falling on someone or something, or falling asleep midsentence."

    hi "I think I understand."

    mk "It's funny, she can be a bit of a control freak. Wasn't until I asked her for help that she started trusting me enough to let me walk her to class."

    hi "How did she manage before then?"

    mk "One of the nurses would come by and do it."

    "By now Miki has finished doing her stretches and looks eager to get started."

    mk "Alright! Enough talk, it's time to see if I've gotten any faster!"

    hi "What distance are you running?"

    mk "Hm. I'm running multiple events at the track meet. For today… The 400 meter dash sounds good. It's just one lap, so stop the time when I cross the line, alright?"

    hi "You're the boss."

    mk "I like that. Good boy."

    "She grins and kneels down in a starting position."

    "I stand with the stopwatch ready, waiting for her to take off."

    "…"

    "Moments pass, but she doesn't move."

    "Then she jerks her head up at me."

    mk "Are you gonna start us or what?"

    hi "What? I was waiting for you to start!"

    mk "What kind of race has the athlete decide when they should start? You have to give the signal."

    hi "How do I do that? I think I left my starter pistol in my other pants."

    "Miki raises an eyebrow at me. I'm expecting her to laugh, but she doesn't."

    mk "Just say 'on your marks, get set, go!'."

    hi "Alright, alright."

    "Miki sighs and assumes the same position as before."

    hi "On your marks."

    "Her expression changes. Her eyes narrow as they focus on the track before her."

    hi "Get set."

    "In one fluid motion Miki lifts her knee off the ground, shifting her weight forward, to the fingertips of her right hand."

    hi "GO!"

    "I hit the stopwatch as I say it. Miki launches herself. Before I have time to appreciate her sudden acceleration, she's already covered an impressive distance."

    #Completed running CG goes here

    "It's strange; for the first time, I find myself taking in Miki's expression rather than her body's movements."

    "I can't find the words to describe it, but it's as if she were both intensely focused and at complete ease simultaneously."

    #hide CG

    "Soon, though, her face disappears from my sight as she becomes just another figure running in the distance."

    "While I wait for her to work her way around the track, I decide to look down at the stopwatch's reading to see how well Miki's doing."

    "… but I quickly realize that I have no clue what a good time would even be."

    "Thankfully I don't have to wait much longer, since when I glance back up I see Miki has already made plenty of progress."

    "Just like that, she rounds the last corner and crosses the finish line."

    "I remember to hit the button on time and check the result."

    #stopwatch vfx again with time reading 0:59:14

    "Miki slows to a walk, then turns around and makes her way over to me."

    mk "How did I do?"

    hi "I'm not sure. I don't know if it's a fast time, but you ran a lap in just over 59 seconds."

    "I hold the stopwatch out for her to see, and she quickly grabs it. Her smile's returned and growing wider as she stares at the numbers on the display."

    mk "Yes! I did it!"

    hi "So I take it that's good?"

    mk "You kidding? I've been trying to break a minute for weeks!"

    "She hands the stopwatch back to me with a look of pride on her face."

    mk "Make sure you write this down, alright? And after that I'm gonna do a couple more runs."

    mk "I'm so fired up right now!"

    "I obediently write down the time on the notepad I'd brought. When I've finished, Miki has already taken the position to start another lap."

    hi "On your marks!"

    #Timeskip

    "Miki ends up running five more laps, before settling on shorter distances for some of her other events."

    "Inbetween runs, I can tell that her enthusiasm has started to rub off on me, and I find myself feeling more and more eager with every rep."

    "When she crosses the finish line for the last time, she stops herself with a deep breath and begins stretching her legs."

    hi "That's it for today?"

    mk "As far as running goes, at least. Let me have a look at that notepad of yours."

    "I wait for her to finish her cool down stretches before handing over the notepad. She takes it eagerly and her grin widens as she scans the page."

    "She then drops the notepad with a thud and wraps her arms around me in an enthusiastic embrace."

    hi "Are you okay?"

    mk "I'm just happy that all my work's paid off!"

    hi "Well, I'm happy for you too, but at this rate I'll need a shower after this as well."

    "Miki playfully pushes me away from her, releasing me from her grip."

    mk "Geez, Hisao. Don't be such a wuss."

    mk "You'd better get used to it, anyway. You'll be working up enough of a sweat of your own the next time we're on this track."

    "I let out an audible groan, albeit a bit more exaggerated than her comment warrants. Still, I already regret objecting in the first place."

    mk "But really, thanks for helping me out like this."

    hi "Any time."

    mk "I'll hold you to that. I could use someone to help me for my next training session as well. You could be my good luck charm for the race, too!"

    hi "I thought you didn't believe in good or bad luck?"

    mk "Maybe not all the time, but if it'll help me beat Emi I'll take anything I can get."

    hi "You really want to beat her, don't you?"

    mk "Of course! Every competitive runner wants to beat the best."

    hi "In that case, I'd be happy to help you any way I can."

    "Miki smiles and bends down to pick up the notepad she'd dropped earlier. She tears out the page with the times written on it before returning it to me."

    mk "I’m holding onto this. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower. See ya tomorrow morning?"

    hi "Yep, bright and early."

    mk "Just not {i}too{/i} early."

    "She then takes off, walking a little faster than usual."

    "As she disappears around the bleachers, I notice the stopwatch still resting in my hand. I'll have to return it to her next time."

    return