You’re In The Way

Inei wakes up, a super exhausted look on his face.

Did I sleep? It's been so long since I had that dream—that dream of someone calling for help, but I don't know who or why.

Inei sits up, rubbing his eyes, and he goes downstairs. He sits at the table before breakfast, waiting for the food to arrive, and his mom comes in with a plate of ham with sliced cheese, two slices of toast, and a bit of egg, and she places it on the table in front of him.

"Good morning Inei. You look so tired. Are you alright?"

Inei examines the plate.

The food is different.

He looks at his mom with an exhausted look and nods. She frowns in retaliation.

"Son, you look like you died last night; what did you do that caused you not to sleep well?"

He stares at her, then looks down at his plate, makes a sandwich out of it, and devours it. His mother stares, then stares at the floor and away from him. When he finishes, he gets up and leaves, his mother not saying a word to him on his way out. As he walks to the school, thunder rolls through the air, and tiny rain droplets fall.

Great. And I don't have an umbrella.

He begins to jog to the school. When he reaches it, he enters the doors and stands slightly soaked.

"Inei! Did you forget your umbrella?!"

He turns to see Azami standing there, concerned. He then looks away, walking forward. Before he takes too many steps, she grabs his hand.

"You can't go to class like that."

She pulls him along to the arts and crafts club room, leaves him to stand at the door, then grabs a few towels.

"Use as many as you'd like."

Inei smiles, wiping himself down and drying off with a few towels. Afterward, he places the towels in his backpack; however, Azami stops him from doing so.

"It's okay! I can wash them!"

She grabs them and puts them away in a cabinet in the room. She looks up, smiling after she places away the towels.

"We should go to class, and it will start soon."

She walks past Inei, and Inei grabs her wrist, her gasping, looking back at him. He hands her a paper.

"What is wrong? I passed it off as fatigue last night, but you still seem sad. What is wrong?"

She looks up at him and hands him back the paper.

"Inei, I promise I'm fine. Sometimes people get tired or aren't as happy as they usually are. However, I am excited about something later!"

She then beams a smile, Inei raising an eyebrow.

I won't fight her about it. If she's happy, then she's happy.

Inei then nods, walking and following her as they walk to the classroom. When they arrive, the class begins, and they work throughout the course, the day going on smoothly. When the bell rings in the building, they get up and start walking out, all six together. They take the path through the courtyard.

I'm not too fond of this place on Fridays.

Chura notices the look on his face, looking at the fraternities and him. Then an idea lights up her face.

"Hey, we should help Inei join a fraternity!"

Inei looks at her.

What?

Yui smiles.

"Yeah! That would be nice for him to make some guy friends!"

No, don't.

Yasu puts a finger to her bottom lip.

"I think it would be good for him."

Aneko turns her head.

"He won't be in the partnered fraternity of my sorority."

Aneko then looks to the side, mumbling.

"Unless he wants to."

He looks at them.

I don't want this. Please.

He looks at Azami for his last bit of hope. She looks at him and smiles.

"Yeah! I think that would be great for him!"

Inei's jaw drops with despair. Azami takes his hand, pulling him along.

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

There's nothing fun about morons.

They stop at the first table, and Azami speaks.

"Hello! He is Inei, and we're looking for a fraternity for him to join!"

The leader takes a look at him.

"Inei. The guy who will supposedly be our school's biggest sports star? We don't want that here."

Azami still smiles.

"Well, okay, moving on, Inei!"

She drags him along to the following table, the other five girls just watching as they go along.

"Hello! He is Inei. Can he be a part of your fraternity?!"

The guy looks at Inei, then back at Azami.

"If he's not manly enough to speak alone, then we don't want him."

Azami is slightly shocked, then nods with a grin that begins masking her frustrated anger.

"That is fine! Next one!"

They move to the following table.

"Hello! Are you looking for recruits for your fraternity?"

They examine him, then one member says to another.

"Isn't this the guy that we asked every Friday for a year to join us, and he never even acknowledged us?"

Azami gives Inei a mean look. Inei rolls his eyes, and then she smiles at the guys.

"You must understand! He's mute, and he can't talk.

I can; I choose not to talk!

They cross their arms.

"Sorry. Regardless Inei could have just shook his finger or moved his head side to side. We don't appreciate his mean attitude towards us."

Azami pouts.

"Fine! Next!"

She drags Inei behind her, going from fraternity to fraternity, each one denying him for reasons of not talking, looking/acting mean, and possibly bringing shame to their group. Even Aneko tried to persuade her sorority's counterpart and could not get him in, regardless of how much Aneko wanted to intimidate them. Finally, they reach the final table, Aneko standing with him.

"Will you all just accept this moron?!"

They shake their heads, not speaking—Aneko sighs.

"Let's go, Inei."

They turn away.

Yes! No fraternities for me!

Then a voice behind them comes.

"Wait."

They turn, looking at the leader, a seemingly significantly older man dressed in what seems to be martial arts attire.

"Inei. What is your last name?"

Aneko speaks for him.

"Hoshi. He is Inei Hoshi. Why does it matter if you know his last name?"

The man doesn't move, looking at them.

"I just wanted to know. However, I thought about it. We have almost no one in our fraternity. You may join us if you'd like. You seem like a calm, quiet boy. We're only here because we have to be; otherwise, they'd disband us."

Aneko speaks before he can consult with Inei.

"He'll join!"

The guy smiles.

"Good. Fill out the information."

The man gives Inei instructions, and he follows them; otherwise, if he hadn't, Aneko threatened to kick his butt. They leave and walk back to the group, Aneko crossing her arms with confidence.

"A-ha! Look who got him in a fraternity!"

Yui smirks.

"Yeah, but even though you said he wouldn't join your sorority's counterpart, you sure did fight for a good twenty minutes to get him in; I wonder WHY?"

She says the ending sarcastically, getting a rise out of Aneko, who turns red.

"Because I felt bad watching him get rejected so many times!"

Yui gives her a joking glare that says for itself that Yui is hinting at something else jokingly. Inei turns and walks away, the girls realizing and following him. Azami is speaking up.

"Oh! About the things I said about being excited earlier. You are going to the prep rally today, right?"

Yui looks at her.

"All athletes must and have to sit with their team. So, he and I both cannot sit with you all."

Azami smiles.

"That okay! As long as he's there."

Yasu tilts her head.

"Why does it matter if he is there?"

Azami looks at her, showing that she wants her to stop asking questions about it, then smiles.

"Oh, no reason! It's an entertaining event, and no one gets to miss it."

Yasu nods and doesn't speak another question. When they reach the gym, Yui and Inei part ways with the other four, then they part from each other when they arrive at their teams. After a few minutes, Inei's phone begins to buzz. He opens it and looks at it. The message is from Azami.

"I had to do a bit to get this to happen, and I hope you like it."

Inei tilts his head.

"Azami, what did you do?"

"Be patient, Inei. You'll see."

Inei closes his phone, not responding to it, putting it in his pocket. His teammates to his left and right pat his shoulder.

"Hey, you ready, man? This prep rally is going to cause a crazy day for you."

Inei begins to sweat.

What do people know that I do not?!

Music starts playing, and the MC goes to the center of the court, speaking on a microphone.

"Welcome to the Winter Sport Prep-Rally!"

The stands go wild, everyone yelling and getting hyped for the party.

"First, we have our Volleyball Team!"

The volleyball team stands up and gets in their designated positions, and the reserves stand on the sideline of the basketball court. The starters wait to be named to run through a tube, run down, and high-five their teammates on the other side of the court and then meet and face the home side in a line at half-court. The players are named, standing at the half, everyone cheering for them.

"These girls have been undefeated for two years in season! Will they go on to make it a third?! You know they will! Please give it up for your Volleyball Team! We have a designated speaker who will share a few words!"

Everyone cheers; the girl is taking the mic and saying some things to excite the fans, getting them excited. After the speech, music plays, and the girls leave, sitting back down in their designated chairs. Other sports go through, and then finally, basketball arrives.

"Now! For your Basketball Team! We will be naming the starting line-up for tomorrow's game!"

Inei gets with the four other starters, all getting hyped up.

"Alright, guys! Let's do this!"

"Our first player on our list of starters, starting at the power forward position, standing six foot and ten inches, number twenty-seven, Tatamo Giyama!"

He frees himself from the group and runs out, getting hyped, giving high fives to the teammates outside, standing at the baseline of the home side of the court.

"Next, starting at the shooting guard position, standing six foot five inches, number fourteen, Nakado Byuko!"

He runs out, doing the same as the other guy, then stands beside Tatamo.

"The next player starts at the center, standing seven feet one inch, number fifty, Ugo Handodo!"

He runs out slowly, ducking his head through the tube, giving high fives, and stands beside Nakado. Inei and the last starter stand together in the tunnel. He talks to Inei.

"You got this, man. I believe in you."

"The next player starts in the small forward position, standing at six foot eight inches, number twenty-five, Takiya Ponda!"

He runs through, leaving Inei on his own in the tunnel.

Does, does that mean that I am the best player on the team chosen by everyone else? In my first game?!

"Finally, the prospect you all have waited for, you have heard on the news, the radio, on almost every type of media! Starting at the point guard position, standing at six foot two inches, number ten, Inei Hoshi!"

The crowd erupts before Inei walks through the exit on the tube; he slowly smiles and gives high fives to all his teammates, his teammates hyping him up and everyone crowding around him, jumping up and down.

Azami did it; today ended up fantastic after all! Thank you, Azami, for this!

"These men look ready to play! Look at the enthusiasm! Look at the excitement! Now it is time to get a word from Inei, the prospect himself!"

Inei stops with a look of dread in the middle of the hype.

Eh?

The MC walks over to Inei and hands him a mic.

"Tell us: why did you hide your talents and anything else you would like to say!"

The gym becomes silent, everyone patiently waiting for Inei to speak. His teammates look at each other, not knowing what to do, as Inei stands there with a horror look on his face holding the microphone. A slight thumping sound from Inei's shaking hands softly beat through the microphone on the intercom. He looks around for his friends for comfort and help, and suddenly his eyes land on Azami, who is giving him a thumbs up from the crowd.

You did this? You did this to me?

Inei looks to his teammates and hands it to Takiya, and motions to the crowd. Takiya nods and excites the crowd.

"Look! It may be strange that he handed me the mic, but it is because he is mute! But even though he is mute, he wants what is best for the team and is excited for us to beat the team we play tomorrow!"

The crowd goes wild, and the basketball team jogs off, returning to their seats. Inei sits, dark red covering his face.

Why?

His phone buzzes, and it is Azami.

"Hey, Inei! I thought that went well! I figured you would talk under all of that pressure but it's okay, maybe next time!"

Inei then clenches a fist on the side of his chair. He starts typing.

"Went well? WENT WELL?! That was the OPPOSITE of well! You know I don't talk, and you just put me on the spot in front of the entire college! You made me look like a fool! You've pushed me to be uncomfortable in every way, shape, and form! Quit bothering me, leave me alone, and don't ever talk or do something for me ever again!"

When he hits send, he closes his phone, and something comes over him. Even being angry, he feels this immediate feeling of regret. He turns and looks to where Azami is. Azami, Chura, Aneko, and Yasu were all looking at her phone and looking at him with their jaws dropped, and Azami had tears in her eyes. Azami slams her phone down and gets up, running out of the gym as fast as possible, the girls following behind her. A buzz strikes Inei's phone, and he looks at it; Azami says.

"I understand."

Inei sits back, arms crossed.

Good. Good riddance and none of those girls will bother me anymore since I upset her. Now I can have my peace, my silence, and everything can go back tomorrow. I will perform lousy tomorrow, quit the fraternity next Friday, and finally relax, and everything will return to normal.

When the rally ends, Inei leaves, walking out of the building and finding Yui outside. She looks at him, but in a way Inei has never seen her look at anyone. She walks up to him and slaps him as hard as possible.

"Aneko was right. You are a piece of shit."

After that, Yui walks away and leaves. Inei stands shocked, the sting burning red on his face. He slowly begins to walk home alone, a car driving by, splashing him and soaking everything he had and himself with the puddle. He looks to his side and then forward, continuing. When he arrives home, he walks to his room and slams the door. He begins to change into different clothing, taking a shower. When he gets out, he looks out his window.

She sure did go to extremes; ridiculous.

He looks at his desk and sees the next book Yasu had given him, and he throws it in his closet. When he opens it, the poster board falls out, flat across Inei's floor. He examines every part of it, remembering specific moments with each person, Aneko with the dress, Yasu with the reading, Yui with the net, Chura with the walks home, and Azami with every moment they had spent together.

I want to feel bad, but I don't want to feel bad, either. Azami knew that this was going to be beyond my limits. She should have known me as my friend.

Inei lays on the bed covering his face.

Maybe I was too hard on her. Perhaps I'm overreacting.

Inei's body begins to shake from frustration, fatigue, and sadness.

I didn't mean to upset her. I didn't intend for it to be that aggressive. She's my friend. I'm just so tired, and the day was terrible. I had one good moment, and the microphone caused me to go overboard. I really should apologize. I shouldn't have taken that out on her like that.

Inei grabs his phone, tears falling down his face. There are no messages sent to him. He goes and opens Azami's contact, typing away.

"Azami. I am completely sorry for what I said. I did not mean it in the slightest. I should trust you more and open up to you..."

Inei stops, taking a deep breath as the tears flow, and then he types.

"For a few years, I have had nightmares of someone calling out to me. And every time I have that dream, I seem not to sleep well. That happened last night. And then the rain soaked me, and then the fraternity, and then something great happened, which was the applause and cheers at the prep rally. I haven't heard that in a long time. And it made me think about the older days in high school. I am truly sorry, and I never meant to hurt you. I snapped from the stress and fatigue, and I should not have taken it out on you. Even if I don't act like it or say it, I do want you to be my friend. Please, forgive me; I'm sorry."

Inei hesitates to hit send, taking a staggering deep breath and then hits send. Inei stares at his phone for several hours, waiting for a response. The response never comes. Inei clinches his fist, tossing his phone aside, and falling asleep in a miserable fashion.

"Inei...Inei..."

No, not tonight, please not tonight.

Everything is black, and only faint whispers surround Inei.

"How dare you..."

"How could you?..."

"You monster..."

This dream is so different; why is it different?

"You're useless..."

"You couldn't do anything..."

"Selfish..."

I don't understand; what is this? Why is it now negative? This dream isn't the same as the other ones.

The voices get louder, becoming jumbled, Inei covering his ears and clinching his head.

Tomorrow is so essential; please stop!

The voices slowly begin to fade, and then new ones arise.

"Inei, please be with me."

Huh? What is this?!

Inei stands in the middle of all five girls, each looking at him. He hears Chura.

"Be with me, Inei! I'm the gorgeous, lustful one, and I'll provide all the desires you could ever want!"

Inei blushes majorly, hearing Aneko now.

"No! Choose me! I'll never lie to you and always be honest, and I'll stop being mean to you!"

Inei becomes shocked by the notions, looking in every direction he can.

"No, we're both quiet and peaceful! Pick me!"

Yasu now reaches out to him. Inei looks around at everyone, confused.

"Come on, I'll always do what makes you happy, Inei, and we're both very athletic. Think about what child we could make!"

He looks at Yui, who is now trying to get him. Then finally, he looks at a desperate Azami.

"Inei. Please pick me; if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have met us; please, pick me!"

Inei squats in the middle.

I don't want to pick any of them! I care about all of them and don't want to treat any of the others more special than the rest!

He looks up, and all five surround him, reaching for him and giving him no space. He begins to cry.

This nightmare is horrible! Please stop! This nightmare reminds me of how happy they get! I hate seeing them sad like this!

Then, all five girls disappear into ashes, blowing away without a trace.

No! That's not what I want! Please bring them back! I didn't want them to disappear or go away!

A spirit rises behind him, a voice filling his head.

But that's what you told all of them just by telling Azami.

He turns, seeing a shadow version of himself. He backs away slowly.

Running will only cause more pain if you don't face the problem head-on.

Inei hesitates, standing completely still. He hears the voice again.

You need to stop running and accept what is happening.

Inei tries to speak back to the spirit by thinking.

I'm not running away, and I want them to come back!

The voice overpowers his thought immediately.

I'm not talking about those five.

Inei stumbles back more, and the shadow approaching him hovers closer.

Please stay away from me! What even are you?!

The shadow does not speak, now gaining ground on Inei. Inei tries to turn to run, but his body won't let him, still slowly stumbles back. When the shadow gets super close, Inei trips, falling off a ledge, fire eating him from below. There is one last thing Inei hears from the shadow.

Don't let it end this way.

Everything goes to black.

Inei shoots up from his bed, gasping for air, breathing heavily from the fear as he sits in his bed,feeling all over himself to see if what had happened was real. As he realizes it wasn't, he exhales deeply in relaxation, looking at his phone for the time being.The time is noon, and the game starts later that night. Inei gets up and goesthrough some routines, and then goes down, making his meal. His mother realizesthis and comes from her room.

"Hi, Inei! It's about time you woke up! You have to be ready for your game later. What is it you're making?"

Inei shows her a bowl of spaghetti in his hands. She examines it, then nods.

"Good. Eat up and then rest and focus; today is your big day. You have to be ready."

Inei sits eating his food, trying to block out everything in his mind. When he finishes, he grabs his gym bag, which has his shoes in it and an arm sleeve. Hewaves to his mom and leaves. As he walks along the sidewalk, people give him good luck as he passes them, not hearing them because he wears his headphones.

Focus on nothing but the game. I need to focus on nothing but the game andthe game itself.

Inei turns at a walkway, looking up to be standing at the entrance of the studygrounds. He enters the building and sits alone at the typical table. He sits completely still, focusing on his breathing and concentration.

This peacefulness is pleasant. Quiet. I can focus on the game and nothing more.

He sits more, longingly waiting for the game. Time passes, and he still sits inthe same position, wholly psyched into his concentration. His eyes are closed to be independent of anything and everything to come. Suddenly, there is a tap on his shoulder. His eyes shoot open and look from the direction of the feeling. He sees Yasu closest to him, who had touched him, and then Chura, Aneko, and Yui behind her.

What are they doing here?!

Inei slowly removed his headphones, unsure of what was going to happen. When they rest around his neck, they look at each other and hand him a box. Inei examines it and then looks up at them. The first one to break the tension was Yasu.

"We don't think you meant what you said. We thought about it, and what Azami did wasn't the smartest to do to you."

Chura nods in agreement.

"Very true. However, it gave you no right to tell Azami what you did, even though we believe you didn't mean it."

Inei looks at them and then at Yui, who holds her arm, looking away.

"I'm sorry for slapping you."

And then he looks at Aneko, who does nothing but sighs, shaking her head. He's miles and looks at the box—Yasu speaking up.

"We knew about this, she was so proud of it and wanted to give them to you today, but after yesterday she thinks you hate her and gets mad when we even mention your name. So, we decided to steal them and give them to you for her, as paying it back for what you told her."

He opens the box, looks inside, and then looks back at the girls, who step backand giggle at the expression on his face.