Ordinary

Chapter 12: Mind of What Is

Back at the old crammed "house," another morning melts away Kaze's desire to wake up. Shunted out of the nightmarish fever dream cycle still vivid in the back of his mind, he noticed through his singular window that the streets were not yet basking in sunlight, only barely being serenaded by the omens of its coming.

5:02 AM, showed the phone that had been left uncharged yesterday. The newly awoken had been too busy cancelling many of the scheduled guide runs and boosting services he was planning to provide this week, and informing the clients that he won't be accepting jobs during the day at least until the end of the month. The massive loss of whatever minute income he'd possessed came with an abundance of spare time, during which he could practice in NAR.

Kaze contemplated whether his four hours of sleep were better than none at all. This time I woke up way before the alarm... I guess it makes sense with how bad it went tonight... The boy disabled it, lethargically reaching for his charger somewhere on the ground, in his mire of books. Looking at the pile at least reminded him of the guilt of not studying for the upcoming summer quarter, but the time away would not be in vain if he were to find out the truth behind his sister's murder, and only then...

"... It's a new day," He tried to reassure himself with foreign words he spoke to the Brand ancestor above his computer. A grin emerged from within with a laugh, then fell apart at the seams. "Can't let it get me down... right?"

Donning the Halo after a sluggish morning routine, the boy prepared for an intense run to push his limits, but paused. Instead of launching into the desired program, Kaze went into the settings of the device, and found the "Activation Phrase" option. Didn't think I'd actually do it... He mocked himself. When it came to recording the new booting line, he said but one word, like most people in his circle did. 

"Daybreak." Kaze said in English.

Its similarity to Mai's command phrase was just a coincidence. After all, the reasons behind her and Kaze's choices were different. Still, the soft irony was not lost on the boy.

Another point that piqued his interest: when Kaze'd logged in, his friends list opened automatically, and among the names he saw Runa online, playing NAR. Don't think you'll play it alone, huh?

He considered it, sending a message. Not yet. Shiro was both relieved and concerned about her name's appearance. It was a mix of seeing it so early in the morning, knowing the implication of Mai likely staying up the whole night again, and yet just the presence of the nametag was solace enough.

Kaze put on a pair of running shoes that had been clearly worn down by time, but nonetheless well-kept on a separate shelf next to the door. Black and blue, just shy of matching the red-accented dark shirt and pants upon him – the more comfortable counterparts of the tracksuit he'd worn before. The clash did bother him, but such a small notion couldn't interfere with his desire to put the old shoes on again. Kaze would squeeze out the feeling of nostalgia they offered of a past now impossible, and try them on again in a couple of weeks. To remind him, hold him to the mark.

Previously, regret would get him to keep the shoes off for a while. Not this time. No such rush oppressed him, for his sights were set. The end was now in view. A purpose. Opportunity. With Nemesis' announcement yesterday evening confirming the massive AR event they plan to hold in the heart of Tokyo by the coming of June, nothing could get to the determined boy, at least as far as he was concerned.

Kaze's run outran him. The 30 minutes were over before he'd even realized. His mind wandered unwillingly. What is she thinking? Surely she doesn't want to participate in it, knowing Alister may appear. Such were the notions that circled like vultures the depths of his thoughts round and round, much like how he nearly sprinted around his own block.

Strangely, his vision skewed and warped near the end of his run. Noticing a stumble in his own step, Kaze cut the exercise short. More intriguingly, a strange beep rang in his ears before the end, drowned out by an intense heartbeat. Is that the Halo? Kaze inspected his User Interface, frustrated to have both his thoughts and his run interrupted by something flashing red at the top right of the single eyeglass. 

"225 BPM, safety limit exceeded!" What the hell? Is there a setting to increase or disable the limit?

The realization that his breaths were far too fast and far too short came only after the fact. For sanity's sake, Kaze stopped moving completely and breathed. In, out, in, out. In, out. Again, and again. In. Out.

164. Better. The ringing stopped, a clearer mind of concentration swept away Kaze's confusion and disorientation. Now, another interruption forced his heart to skip unexpectedly. With a satisfying plop, a message appeared at the bottom right. The sender, of course, was his one and only online and in-game contact. And although the two were not close for long, the tryhard could read Runa's messages in her voice: soft, happy, and jumpy.

"Hey, Kaze.

"How are you doing?"

"Hey. I'm good. Was just running.

"You okay?"

"So that's why your heart rate was through the roof."

"You can see that?"

"There's a special setting for it, apparently. Can see all of my friends."

"Huh."

"Anyway, I wanted to ask: wanna go to the Stadium with me again?"

"It's pretty far."

"We could farm for that rare seal item you don't have yet. The one with the 5% drop rate."

"The one that you got on your first try?"

"Is that salt I smell?"

"Salt has no smell.

"But yes, it is."

"Please, Kaze? I'll do better than last time, promise."

"You did fine last time."

Getting no response for a minute, Kaze laughed with sweat still pouring down his cheeks. Even from here, he could already imagine Mai's puppy-eyed gaze and its world-crushing pressure. He posted a final message with a satisfied sigh. 

"When?"

A reply came instantly.

"How about tomorrow?"