[Jihatsu] Wataru puts the drawing somewhere safe, inside his closet for now. He uses the toilet, puts away the drinks, and takes two illicit shipped- from-home-and-mercifully-not-confiscated Advil, with a big glass of water. Then he curls up on the couch, knees tucked up to his chest in the fetal position. He cram a pillow over his face, and drifts into a fitful, exhausted sleep. ...He wakes up, dry-mouthed and bleary-eyed, at some indefinite later time. It's dark; he doesn't have his glasses. He's starving, but his head still hurts. Ugh... He pads into the kitchen, makes himself some pop- tarts and eats them standing up at the counter, with a big glass of milk. The microwave clock reads 4:12. Mid-afternoon in Maine. He pours himself another glass of milk and then puts the carton away, and pads back into the living room. Pops another two Advil, and takes out his phone. He texts Satoshi. _Hey. Met with K&H, you'll be fucking surprised how well it went. Apologies for the swearing, but it was called for. Exhausted, but I think I'm one of you guys now. Or whatever. We need to video chat soon! Going back to bed now, headache, but I think I'm taking tomorrow off. So I'll be around whenever. Text me?_ Wataru closes his phone and thinks about what was said, sipping his milk. Katie killed Yushiro. There were five gates. Haruko is the first person he's ever met who can also do TK, but she's much better at it than he is (annoying, that's really annoying). He promised Katie he'd tell Aunt Midori about her art. Sho might not be dead, but he's gone, gone, gone. He sighs. He slips into bed after hitting the bathroom and brushing his teeth and checking his phone - Satoshi must be in class - and he won't wake up again until past 10 AM, his headache disappearing in the night. --- [Ciara] When Satoshi wakes up that morning, the first thing he does is to check his e-mail. His initial excitement at seeing an e-mail from Wataru quickly turns to mild disappointment when he sees it was just a reply to his last e-mail, though he reads it anyway. He considers replying to it but figures it doesn't quite make sense; after all, the meeting already happened, right? It did happen, didn't it? Maybe it got canceled? Should he ask? Who should he ask? All of them? Or should he just calm down and trust that it went off and wait for them to let him know how it went? Maybe he should do that. If he's asking Wataru to trust the others, he should trust them all as well. That morning, he's jittery and distracted and when Paul wishes him "good morning" in Japanese, he immediately launches into a whole reply in his native language before realizing that Paul is maybe understanding about ten percent of the words he's using. At least Paul doesn't mind and even asks him for some pronunciation tips, though Satoshi is still extremely apologetic afterwards. He only has one class on Fridays, and it's at 11AM, so all throughout the morning he's constantly checking his phone. Nothing. He drafts at least two e-mails that he doesn't send. Trust them, he tries to tell himself. You can't be there, but you did everything you could. But what if it's not enough? Class happens, and he silences his phone and tries to take notes the best that he can. After class, he hurries out of the room, and immediately checks his phone. Still nothing. Lunch comes, and if he seems nervous it's very easy to attribute it to pre-game jitters. In fact, that's exactly what Liam interprets it as, and he spends the better part of the early afternoon trying to alternately reassure, strategize with, and lecture his linemate. It's probably good for Liam that he's not Arcana, because while Satoshi looks politely attentive, he's constantly thinking, "Please, Liam, shut the hell up." It only gets worse, when, around 2:15 or so, Satoshi feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Finally, he's able to extricate himself from the conversation with a promise that he will be in full focused game mode tonight, and checks his cell phone. There is a text from Wataru! Satohi has to reread the second sentence several times before it sinks in. It went well. It went well! Holy crap, it went well! "Yes!" he says before realizing that oh, he just said that out loud and people are kind of staring at him. Well, let them stare. He starts texting his response: "Oh my god yes you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. Seriously, I just... yes. Thank you, Wataru. Thank you so much. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep my cell phone with me today because game, but I'll try. Keep getting some rest, and feel better! We can talk scheduling later." When Wataru wakes up, it's after 8PM in Maine and it's partway into the second period. Maine is already up 2-0. Tonight's third line - Campbell/Watanabe/Bradley - has just gotten back onto the ice after a shift change. Satoshi maneuvers around a couple of Massachusetts forwards, hearing Joshua calling something out to Liam and already positioning himself to where he's sure he's going to need to be. Liam yells something back - does he have the puck now? - and Satoshi darts past a defenseman. It's just him and the goalie now, and all of a sudden Liam is passing and he's angling his stick to receive it and the goalie is leaning in one direction and he's shooting in the other... and for that moment everything is pure and perfect and clear. 3-0 Maine. Goal by Watanabe, with assists by Campbell and Bradley. Liam and Joshua come over to hug, err, backslap him and Grant's yelling something from the bench and the crowd is on its feet. He thinks maybe he says something along the lines of "I told you, man!" to Liam but he's not really sure because everything is so loud. But it's the best kind of loud. The morning was bad, the early afternoon was questionable, but after that, it's been a very, very good day. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru checks his phone before even getting out of bed, one eye open. Text from Satoshi.....!! He opens his other eye, realizing with relief that he does not seem to presently have a headache, and sits up a bit. His mouth tastes super gross and his head feels heavy, but he's had worse mornings. Emotions leave worse hangovers than booze. He checks the message. His smile goes from faint to beaming within two seconds. He looks up from the phone, takes a deep breath, and opens the curtains. It's a shitty-ass Tokyo winter day, but things are gonna be just fine. _Hey, ganbatte on the game! Be the guy on the ice, and rock it. I'm up now, and slept like forever, so, I can probably make a video chat work any time over the weekend. Didn't end up skipping class because... it's Saturday. Yeah, the meeting left me pretty frazzled, lol. So much to talk about. Let's work around your schedule, just let me know! :)_ He goes to take a long, hot, American-style shower, standing in the bathtub like a maroon. AMERICA. --- [Ciara] It's probably early in the afternoon in Tokyo when Wataru gets a reply: "Guess who scored a goal tonight? ^^ We won, 3-0! Doing off-campus shopping tip tomorrow - btw, I'm hitting a grocery store; need anything? - and then game in the evening. So maybe Sunday morning my time/evening yours? Don't have a whole lot of time, but we can't be on for all that long anyway." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru perks up, delighted, and replies almost immediately! _Yay! Grats on the goal!! I really wish I could see you play again. Anyway, Sunday works for me! Like when, is 7 for you/9 for me too early? And OMG, American groceries. Seriously? I don't want to ask you for anything, but... if you don't mind sending me some Sweet Chili Heat Doritos and Charleston Chews that would be amazing. We can do a junk-food swap pen pal thing? Tell me yours!_ And after a few minutes, _Actually, there's no way for you to get me bagels, is there? Would they rot in transit??_ And a few minutes later, _Sorry, I'm being so greedy. ^^; You don't have to send me anything, seriously._ --- [Ciara] Wataru gets a reply a few minutes later: "Thanks! Normally 7 would be early because roommate, but Paul's doing this anime-thon thing this weekend so he'll actually be out that morning. So let's do that. How long do we have before the internet police call your aunt again?" "No bagels, sorry, but I can get the other things. I'm getting Katie some stuff, too, and I'll ask her, but if it's okay with both of you can I just send one package and mark whose stuff is whose? And I'm still good on snacks for the moment." --- [Jihatsu] _Oh!_ Wataru thinks about this. Right. FRIENDS. He continues the message: _Yeah, sure. That's cool! And, I dunno. I've been trying to use the internet less in general? How about I set a timer for like, an hour, and if we finish sooner then great. Still can't believe you ended up with an otaku roommate. Does he say sayonara desu every time he leaves the room?_ --- [Ciara] "Okay, I'll check with her and let you know when I ship. And an hour isn't too much? I mean, it's only been a week since the last one. Really long week, but. And no, he doesn't. Well, not anymore." "Gonna crash now. Night!" --- [Jihatsu] _Night Satoshi! I'll face the wrath of the Aunt if it comes. Maybe I'll draft a budget proposal and be ready for her. We really do have lots to talk about. I doubt all of our conversations forever will be this epic, but... I mean Katie told me what happened two years ago. I really need to talk about it, you know? Sleep well, and we'll figure it out on Sunday._