- T R E E H O U S E - | Suna Rintaro

Plane Ride Home

The plane ride home was long, very long. I barely got any sleep on the 12 hour flight. I was exhausted, to say the least. As soon as I stepped off the plane the warm air surrounded me. It was the middle of August in Japan in a couple of weeks school would start and I was dreading the idea of having to join school on the second term of my second year. I already missed california, the beach, the parties, my friends, the running, pretty much everything. I was coming back from Moscow where I had competed in the world athletic championships. I hadn't done great and my coach was not very proud to say the least. But I didn't blame myself for once, I had so much on my mind lately that it was hard for me to even concentrate on one thing at the time. I was moving from California to Japan because I had gotten a bad grade on one of my finals and my scholarship got revoked, obviously I wasn't happy. But I didn't really care it didn't change that I was a good runner, and I wouldn't have been able to compete for the US anyways. My friends were the ones who were really sad, my best friend, Maya, cried for a while when she heard the news but she promised she would watch every single one of my races which would air on TV.

Anyway, I went through the border control after showing my passport and getting asked a couple of questions. As I went to pick up the rest of my luggage I put on my headphones and walked out of the airport. Around me people were yelling names, running around, hugging. I scanned the area looking for three familiar faces.

"Miki!" Suddenly two people crashed into me.

"Boys... let her breathe." Mom's voice ushered. Osamu stepped back but Atsumu kept hugging me.

"'Tsumu I really love you but I physically can't breathe'' I said, while wiggling out of his tight grasp. Osamu approached him, grabbed his ear and pulled him back.

"Osamu, Atsumu, stop bickering and let me properly see Miki, '' mom said as she approached me, a big smile plastered on her face. It had been a while since I last saw her in person, I feel bad for saying this but I got used to not seeing her, I sometimes forgot she was my mother. Other than the occasional calls and texts, we ever really saw each other during christmas, and a couple of weeks during summer. I knew she was a busy woman, barely ever home and I was a busy person too, I guess calling eachother was just not our priority. Suddenly, mom's phone started ringing. She looked at me with sad eyes and told me she had to take the phone call, she stepped away from us.

The air around us was awkward. Usually it was pretty awkward the first couple of days when we saw each other. But after a while we would just get used to each other's presence and it would be just like before I left.

"So... Miki, how have you been ?" Osamu asked.

"pretty decent thanks"

"We saw you on TV the other day," Atsumu added. I knew he was referring to my running in the finals.

"oh, yeah. I didn't run great." I awkwardly chuckled.

"Nah, you kinda sucked"

"You dumb moron I told you not to say that she probably already knows." Osamu stated

"I'm glad to see you still haven't changed" I laughed at their usual bickering

They both faced me, and replied that they had changed so much since last time we saw each other, they then proceeded to invite me at volleyball practice to come and watch how much they had improved to which I agreed, without knowing that their practice was at 6 am the following morning. I had never met their team. But I knew that it would make them happy for me to come see them play for once since they always watch me run, the best way to thank them is to come and see them play. Mom was heading towards us and told us all to go to the car so we could go back home and let me rest, which at the moment sounded amazing. Between the Jet Lag and the lack of sleep I was exhausted. I was starting to regret my decision to go see them practice at 6 am tomorrow morning.

The thirty minute drive was terrible, there was a constant fight going on between Atsumu and Osamu in the back, Mom was on the phone with one of her clients, And I was trying to sleep peacefully. The thirty minute drive felt like it lasted for hours. When we arrived home, my lips separated to form a smile. I hadn't been home since christmas and honestly I kinda missed it.

I stepped out of the car. Mom was still on the phone talking about who knows what and my brothers were in the back of the car still fighting about something probably irrelevant. I grabbed the keys from the car and went to open the front door, closely behind there were the two boys carrying my suitcases. As soon as I stepped into the house, the cozy smell filled my nose. No matter how hard I tried, nothing could compare to this smell. In my old dorm I tried all the types of candles that existed yet nothing could even slightly imitate this smell. I started walking into the house, when I heard Atsumu laugh off the top of his lungs.

"Look at her, she's a true american"

I looked at my feet and realized that I still had my shoes on. At that exact moment I felt it, I felt like a stranger in my own home, in my own country. I spent the last four years of my life in the US, no I hadn't forgotten my Japanese, but I definitely was americanized. I laughed it off, took off my shoes and headed up the stairs excited to finally be back in my room for good.

Putting on some spare pyjamas I closed the blinds and layed in bed. Falling asleep after a couple of minutes.