**

Tensai brought the spoon to his lips, as he slowly chewed the previous mouthful of slop. His expression didn’t waver in the face of disgusting hospital food though, as he maintained an edgy look on that gaunt face of his.

At the moment, his solitude and disgusting meal weren’t his biggest concerns…

Instead, he had been thinking in a much more… grand… scope.

“*Sigh…”

It hasn’t even been a month since Tensai’s accident, and yet, he was already tired of it all.

But who wouldn’t be..?

He had lost it all… His career, his passion… His future, his past… himself…

Since the accident, he stopped being happy in general. It was as if he was waiting to meet his end, watching days pass as if they held no value. And to him, they didn’t.

In the past weeks, Tensai had developed an aberrant hatred towards… well… everything. There was nothing to develop his hatred towards in specific, so he just hated the world instead.

If the offender who had cost Tensai his leg hadn’t died, maybe the story would be different.

But, the story wasn’t different.

The story, was that Tensai had nothing. And that was that.

“Hey, you gonna eat that..?”

Suddenly, a feminine voice came from his left. And so, Tensai looked up and to the left- wondering who would ask such a stupid question.

But, to his surprise, no one was there. Then, he looked down.

“Soooo, yes… no..?”

A beautiful girl was sitting just below his initial vision, her hair long and lucious, with an inquisitive look on her face. Her finger was pointing towards Tensai’s slop, as if she had actually wanted it for whatever reason.

The only impurity in her was a small but clunky wheelchair- seemingly rusted.

But to Tensai, this wasn’t a surprise. After all, he was in a hospital… He had seen many types that put his self pity to shame. Though, this girl seemed to be below Tensai’s level.

‘What an odd thought…’

“You can have it.”

Tensai’s voice was gray and dull, as he gave up his lunch tray and handed it to the girl.

With that, she gave Tensai a sincere nod and smile. Then, she strolled down the aisle of lunch tables until reaching the cafeteria's main door.

It seemed she was stealing some food…

‘How can a cripple get away with thievery..?’

Tensai started to wonder.

Maybe there was more to this whole thing than he had thought.

**

“Hey, Akari! Come down here!”

To the sound of her mother’s voice, Akari sat herself up. She had been scrolling on her phone mindlessly before, so some change of scenery was well accepted.

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Quickly enough, Akari made pace down creaky wooden stairs which splintered at the ridges.

“Yeah mom..?”

As Akari was about to make her last step, she looked up, having previously looked down to navigate around protruding wood.

In her sights was an open door, with two feminine figures standing both in and outside the frame.

The one inside was Akari’s mother.

The one outside was Akari’s elder sister, older daughter to their shared mother.

Ella Anzai.

Instantly, disdain spread through Akari’s face. Her mother stepped aside, allowing Ella in.

“Akari! How are you doing..?”

Ella walked towards her sister, as Akari slowly landed on the flat floor from the stairs.

When she did, Ella instantly embraced her tightly with both arms.

“Ahhhh! I missed you!”

Her voice was full of deceit… at least that’s how Akari saw it. She didn’t respond, nor did she reciprocate the hug.

“Ella, dear, let me make you some food. I’ve gotten a lot better since you’ve last had my cooking!”

The both of them broke into laughter as Ella disengaged from her hug. The two of them walked into the kitchen, leaving Akari by her lonesome.

She made her way back upstairs and plopped onto her bed. Typically, she would pout about situations like this, but right now her face was full of fiery agitation.

She pulled the blankets over herself, and looked at her phone.

‘Maybe I could get out of the house for a bit…’

As she devised numerous plans to get away from her dreadful sister, Akari scrolled through her contacts.

‘Yuki, Mom, Bella…

Koji…’

She thought for a second, then expanded Koji’s contact- revealing a list of previous messages.

[Thanks for tonight] - Koji

[Of course!] - Akari

At the sight of last night's exchange, she sighed- then started typing.

[Hey, wanna…]

But before she could finish, a new message was added to their chat.

[Courts?] - Koji

Akari smiled.

**

The sun was amidst setting as Akari watched the courts come into view. The pavement was tinted by an orangy-yellow emitted by the night fall- as was a figure in the background.

Koji stood, dribbling his ball and occasionally breaking out into a shot. As Akari walked closer and closer, he came more and more into view.

‘…’

Akari’s face became a bit flushed, thinking back to the previous night on the train. Her hand trembled a bit before she pulled herself together and called over to Koji.

“Koji..!”

“Oh, Akari!”

He turned around and waved, then continued to shoot. Unbeknownst to Akari, he too had a flushed face.

Who wouldn’t after seeing their-

**

Nearly two hours passed since the two arrived at the courts. Night fall was well over, as the stars illuminated the court alongside the lamp posts.

Koji was damn near dead, but he persisted. Akari too was pretty tired, though it was more of a mental thing.

For some reason, the more time she spent with Koji, the more fun she found herself having.

‘I wonder why..?’

She shook off the thought.

“We done Akari..?”

“Huh? Oh… uhm, I guess…”

Akari’s face drew a bit solemn, not wanting to go home. It was a mixture of wanting to stay away from her harrowing sister, and…

…wanting to spend more time with Koji.

“I’ll walk you home then.”

Akari popped her head up, her solemn face growing a bit more happy.

At least she could get a bit more time out of Koji.

Coincidentally, Koji was thinking the same thing, but for Akari.

It was a win-win in all honesty.

**

Koji and Akari made their way down the street, encumbered by an awkward silence.

It was odd. The two haven’t really been awkward with each other before.

So why now?

Well, the answer was a bit obvious…

But neither would admit it- even if it affected one much more so than the other.

As Akari’s house grew near, her face began to grow a bit dim. As if she was just brought back to reality after having joy stripped from her.

“What’s wrong..?”

She propped her head up to Koji’s question, revealing a bit of water in her solemn eyes.

It turned out that she was not only thinking about the near future, but also the distant past…

“It’s nothing…”

“Clearly, it is something…”

“C’mon Koji, we’re not doing this again…”

Koji was quiet for a bit, but then put the basketball in his right hand- leaving his left free. With it, he grasped Akari’s hand as it continuously trembled by her side.

The trembling hand was a clear cut sign of her despair, so Koji held it in hopes that he could stop the trembling- and with it the despair.

…He also just wanted to hold her hand…

Akari looked at Koji’s hand as she flinched. When she saw it, she started crying again- and rubbed her eyes with her only free hand.

“Wh-what’s wrong now???”

“*Sniffle, I told you, no-nothing…”

“You know… you got a serious problem…”

Akari chuckled, as it mixed in with her sniffling.

“I know…”

And then, they were at Akari’s house.

**

End Chapter 16:

Comical Tears