A Tall Task

"Itsuki, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's a huge fall."

...

"Itsuki, don't!"

...

"Oh no!"

"My God!"

"No way..."

"Call the nurse! Call an ambulance!"

"Is everything gonna be okay?"

"It's going to be fine, Itsuki. Calm down."

"I'm sorry. I screwed up."

...

"It's all over for me."

...

Itsuki wakes up with fear in his eyes.

"Another nightmare."

—

I've been in my new school for a month now. Nothing unusual happened for the past few weeks, until today.

A student outside the classroom asked, "Is Tanahashi-Kun here?"

"I'm here."

I went outside to see what they want from me.

"Tanahashi-Kun, are you part of any clubs?"

"I'm not."

"Can you be part of our basketball team?"

"What?"

I assume this guy is the captain of the basketball team.

"The basketball team!"

"But..."

Another student comes in and shouted, "Hey! That's my player!" 

Now what?

He asked, "Tanahashi-Kun, how about the volleyball team?"

"Ehhh?"

I guess this one is the captain of the volleyball team.

At this point, I don't know what is going on.

Then, Itsuki made his way into the conversation.

"You guys are bothering Tanahashi."

"Then, why don't you join the basketball team, Daisuke-san?"

"What are you saying! He fits well on our volleyball team. Join us, Daisuke-san!"

Itsuki answered, "Nope. I don't want to. Leave us alone."

"But!"

Uchida butts in and said, "Uhmmm...can you guys leave, you're making quite a ruckus here."

The two captains realized the noise and trouble they made and left out of embarrassment.

Itsuki complains, "They really like disturbing me when they see me, huh?"

Chiba reacts, "Well, that's that."

Nise asked, "Are they here to recruit you Tanahashi?"

I replied, "Well, at first."

Chiba follows, "At first?"

I answered, "Itsuki was there, so they tried to recruit him too."

Chiba insisted, "Just join them, Itsuki!"

Itsuki responds, "Why would I? I don't want to."

I asked, "Why not?"

He explained, "I—I have my reasons."

Itsuki left us and went outside of the classroom. 

Uchida asked us, "Guys, come with me." We all followed her outside the building without a clue of what she wanted to talk about.

I asked her, "What's the matter, Uchida?"

She replied, "Itsuki's birthday is coming soon."

Chiba exclaimed, "How did you know?"

Uchida answered, "I'm the class rep you know. I know all of your birthdays. Except for Tanahashi, since he just transferred a month ago."

Nise asked, "When's yours, Tanahashi?"

I responded, "April 04."

Kyouko-san said, "That was a month ago."

Nise asked the others, "How about you guys?"

Uchida answered, "September 05."

Chiba followed up, " February 19"

Kyouko-san responded, "Me? September 09."

Nise beamed, "Oh, we have the same birthday!"

I asked, "How about Itsuki?"

Uchida answered, "The 9th of May, this Thursday."

It's the day after tomorrow.

Chiba added, "That's near!"

Kyouko-san suggested, "How about we surprise him?"

I replied, "Sounds good."

The rest agreed with me and Uchida followed, "We should make a plan I guess."

Throughout that whole day, we planned on what we were going to do on his birthday and how are we going to surprise him and we came up with something. Hoping that there won't be anything that will screw our plans up.

But, fate has different plans...

It's the next day.

As I was about to enter the classroom, there was a huge crowd blocking the entrance. I squeeze myself into the crowd until I saw what was happening.

"Join us Daisuke-san, you'll fit in our basketball team!"

"No, the volleyball team is the right place for you! Imagine the stuff that you can do there!"

"We need new players. Please, join us in the badminton team."

"With those long legs and arms, the swimming team is the right fit for you."

"Those long legs and arms aren't for swimming! Track and field is the spot for you!"

Itsuki snapped, "Can you guys get out of the classroom? I already said no to all of you, didn't I?!"

Then one of them said, "You have been blessed by the Gods with your body. You could use it with any sports clubs you want!"

One of them added, "You could represent the school in a great way!"

Another one followed, "That's right, it would be ashamed if it wouldn't be used in good use. "

Uchida appeared right beside me and asked, "What's going on Tanahashi-Kun?"

I replied, "I don't know, to be exact, but I think they are insisting Itsuki join one of the sports clubs." 

They keep insisting on Itsuki until he couldn't take it anymore.

He slams the desk and stood, then yelled, "Can you not understand! Get out of the classroom! I don't want to be part of any clubs! Are your brains not working anymore! Can you not comprehend what the hell I'm saying!"

One of them keeps on insisting, "You're the one who can't understand! With that physique of yours, you could win any sport you want. You are stupid to realize that you are gifted, unlike us, who have to put every effort just to be good at it. You are young and in your prime, yet here you are, wasting it." 

I can sense the anger Itsuki is building up.

Then he added, "What, don't tell me you're already one of those broken ones?" with an annoying tone in his voice.

Itsuki finally brokedown and punched him and pulled his collar and snapped, "What the hell did you say to me? Do you think there's a God?! If there's a God, then fate could have been different for me already!"

No, this is bad!

Students started to stop the fight between Itsuki and the club presidents, until a teacher came out and shouted, "You guys there, go to the Guidance Office right now! Report everything that had happened!"

Itsuki and the rest followed the teacher and went to the Guidance Office. 

Nise returned from club practice, "I just saw Itsuki and some other dudes with sensei there. What happened?"

Behind him are Kyouko-san and Chiba who had just arrived in the classroom. 

It's the perfect timing to explain.

I explained what happened and how they are pressuring Itsuki to join one of the sports clubs. They told Itsuki about how he is gifted with his physique and how tall he is and long his arms are. They keep insisting on him until he snaps and needs to harm someone just to stop bothering him.

Chiba reacted, "Why they don't understand him! I feel bad for Itsuki."

Kyouko-san followed, "If he doesn't want to, they should have stopped."

Nise added, "This must suck for Itsuki."

The homeroom teacher entered the classroom and started homeroom, "Before I take the attendance, due to his actions a while ago, Daisuke-san will be suspended for a week. I know Daisuke-san didn't do anything wrong but that was the final call from the Guidance. I tried to clear his name out of this mess but there wasn't anything that I can do. As of now, he went home to reflect on his actions."

The class reacted to the situation completely frustrated but knew if they fight back, they would also get in trouble.

Then class proceeded without Itsuki in the class, and time passed by it was already lunchtime. 

I went to the rooftop, alongside Uchida, Nise, Chiba, and Kyouko-san. 

Chiba asked, "Now what?!" with frustration in her voice.

Nise added, "Our plans are ruined."

Kyouko-san followed, "What are we supposed to do at this point?"

Uchida can't even respond to the situation that just happened. Then I came up with an idea.

"How about we go to Itsuki's place and surprise him there?"

Chiba replied, "We don't even know where he lives!"

I responded, "Uchida should have the list of our addresses."

Uchida realizes, "Yeah, I have everyone's addresses."

Nise added, "Then, we can just go there."

We all agreed to the plan to surprise Itsuki at his house. We hope nothing happens again that would ruin our plans to surprise Itsuki. Hoping that everything goes according to plan.

But it wasn't.

It's Itsuki's birthday and we all went to his house and met her mother outside and told us that...

Itsuki ran out of the house.

No one knows where he is, not even his parents.

...

What are you doing Itsuki?