A Day to Remember

Lying in bed that night, I stared at the ceiling, letting the glow of my desk lamp cast weird shadows across my room. My body was sore from the punishment—100 laps are no joke—but the day's events kept replaying in my head like some low-budget soap opera.

Hikari and Sora fighting over a juice? I mean, who does that? And me, the genius, somehow deciding that drinking *both* juices was the best solution? Classic Haruto move. I groaned and buried my face in my pillow. *"Seriously, what is wrong with me?"*

I could still see Hikari's glare, sharp enough to pierce steel. "You're such a moron," she'd said. But for some reason, that glare wasn't what stuck with me. No, it was Sora's quiet smile, the way her eyes softened ever so slightly when she handed me her drink. *It wasn't just kindness—it was like she saw through me. Like maybe, behind the chaos, she understood something even I didn't.*

I sighed and rolled onto my side. "Nope, nope, not doing this," I muttered. "It's just juice. Get a grip, Haruto."

But as I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the day's chaos, another memory crept in—a darker one I hadn't thought about in years.

---

It was a rainy afternoon. The kind where the sky looks like it's been washed out, all gray and dull. I was sitting in the living room, clutching a photo of my family—me in the middle, my mom and dad on either side, all of us smiling like we had it all figured out.

Spoiler alert: we didn't.

The yelling started out as background noise, something I thought I could ignore. But it grew louder, sharper, until it felt like the walls themselves were screaming. *"You never listen!" "Maybe if you cared for once—" "I can't do this anymore!"*

I tried to focus on the rain tapping against the window, but it was like trying to block out a thunderstorm with a pair of earbuds. And then, just like that, it was over. My dad packed his things, my mom smiled like everything was fine, and I was left holding that stupid photo, wondering why it felt so heavy. *Every time I looked at it, it felt like trying to carry a world that didn't exist anymore.*

The memory hit me like a punch to the gut, and I sat up in bed, my heart racing. My chest felt tight, like I'd just run another 100 laps, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking. *No matter how much I tried to forget, it always came back. And tonight? It came back hard.*

---

"This is stupid," I muttered, raking my fingers through my hair. "It's been years. Get over it."

But of course, my brain had other plans. Pain doesn't just disappear—it lingers, hiding in the corners of your mind, waiting for the perfect moment to sneak up on you. And no matter how much I tried to shove it down, it always found a way to resurface.

I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. Not the real, honest kind, but the one I'd perfected over the years. The one that said, *"Everything's fine,"* even when it wasn't. Because that's what people wanted, right? The funny, carefree Haruto Takeda, always ready with a joke or a stupid idea.

But the truth? The cracks were always there. I just hid them well. *Because if I didn't hide them, what else was left of me?*

---

By morning, I was back to full "Haruto mode." I burst into the classroom with my signature grin, waving at random classmates like some discount celebrity. "Good morning, Kyoto High!" I announced loudly, earning a mix of groans and laughter.

"You're obnoxious," Hikari said without looking up from her notebook.

"And yet you tolerate me," I replied, sliding into the seat beside her.

"Barely," she muttered, scribbling furiously. "Don't talk to me. I'm still mad at you for yesterday."

"For what? Being the hero who saved the day?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"For drinking both juices, you idiot!" she snapped. "You turned Sora's sweet gesture into a comedy act."

"I thought it was a pretty good show," I said with a shrug. "Very dramatic, lots of tension. Audience loved it."

"Haruto," she said with a tired sigh, "I wouldn't love you if you were the last vending machine on Earth."

Before I could respond, Ren walked in, looking as unruffled as ever. "You're causing trouble already?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "It's barely eight in the morning."

"Trouble is my middle name," I said, grinning.

"Pretty sure it's 'clown,'" Ren replied, earning a laugh from Hikari.

The banter carried me through first period, leaving me feeling pretty good about my place in the social hierarchy of Kyoto High (i.e., Class Clown Extraordinaire). *Keeping people entertained? That was my thing. If I could make them laugh, I didn't have to think too hard about all the things I wasn't saying.*

But by the time third period rolled around, my momentum had fizzled out. Algebra, of all things, had the audacity to try and steal the spotlight.

I slumped over my desk, doodling aimlessly while the teacher rambled on about quadratic equations. Beside me, Hikari scribbled furiously in her notebook like she was preparing for war—against math, against me, against life in general. Ren sat across from us, his posture straight as ever, diligently copying down each and every line of the equation on the board.

And then there was Aki. She wasn't even pretending to pay attention, folding paper cranes like some kind of origami prodigy. Her desk was practically a shrine to chaos: wrappers, half-folded worksheets, and an alarming number of cranes scattered everywhere. I couldn't help but admire her dedication to avoiding schoolwork.

Sora, true to form, was quiet, her gaze flickering to the window every so often as if the sky held all the answers. *Maybe that's why I liked her—it was like she carried her own little world with her, and she let you peek inside every now and then, if you were lucky.*

Me? I was halfway through sketching an unflattering caricature of the teacher when Aki's voice broke the monotony.

"Hey, Haruto," she whispered, leaning toward me with a mischievous grin. "I bet you can't make Hikari laugh before class ends."

I smirked, slapping my pencil down like I was accepting a duel. "Challenge accepted."

Hikari, who had been half-listening, turned to glare at us. "You realize I'm right here, don't you?"

"That's the point," Aki said, her grin widening. "You're the target. And Haruto's terrible at making you laugh."

"I am not!" I whispered back, feigning mock offense. "I'll have you know I'm a comedic genius."

"You're a walking disaster," Hikari countered, crossing her arms. Her cool, unimpressed tone was like a bucket of ice water on my fiery confidence.

"Disaster or not," I said, pointing at her dramatically, "you're going to laugh, Tanaka. Prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself for disappointment?" she shot back, tilting her head in faux confusion. "Done."

Ren sighed audibly from across the table, glancing at us over the rims of his glasses. "This is going to end terribly."

Ignoring him, I tapped my chin, pretending to brainstorm like some sort of comedy strategist. Then, inspiration struck. I straightened up, cleared my throat, and leaned toward Hikari with what I can only describe as "maximum confidence."

"Knock, knock."

Her eyebrow twitched, and I swear I saw the faintest flicker of a smile—though it might've just been a trick of the light. "Really? That's your plan? Knock, knock jokes?"

"Who's there?" I continued undeterred, because there was no turning back now.

Hikari sighed, playing along. "Fine. Who's there?"

"Lettuce."

"Lettuce who?"

"Lettuce in—it's cold out here!" I finished, beaming like I'd just delivered the punchline of the century.

Silence. The kind of silence so profound, it made me question every decision I'd ever made in life. Hikari stared at me, her expression as blank as a freshly erased chalkboard.

"That was… horrible," she said at last, her voice deadpan.

Beside me, Aki was choking on laughter, clutching her sides as tears streamed down her face. "Oh my gosh, that was so bad it's hilarious!"

"It wasn't supposed to be bad!" I protested, throwing my hands up.

"It's you, Haruto," Hikari said, her tone dry as the Sahara Desert. "Of course it was bad."

Not one to give up, I switched tactics. Leaning back in my chair, I adopted my best "mature philosopher" pose—complete with hand-on-chin—and launched into a monologue. "You see, humor isn't about the joke itself. It's about the delivery, the timing, the way it—"

The chair wobbled. Before I could stop it, gravity did its thing, and I went crashing to the floor in a spectacular display of flailing limbs and utter humiliation. My head hit the edge of the desk on the way down, producing a loud thud that echoed through the room.

The entire class turned to stare. Even the teacher paused mid-equation, squinting at me like I was some alien creature that had crash-landed into his lecture.

The teacher cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses as he stared me down. "Takeda… Are you quite finished with your performance?"

I scrambled back into my seat, my face burning hotter than the sun. "Y-Yes, sensei. Completely finished. Never to repeat."

The class burst into muffled laughter, and even Hikari—traitor that she was—hid a smile behind her notebook. Aki, of course, wasn't holding back at all, clapping and wiping tears from her eyes. "Oh man, Haruto, that was legendary! Encore!"

"Yeah, no," I mumbled, sinking lower into my seat. "This show's been canceled. Permanently."

"Good," Hikari muttered, though her voice held the faintest trace of amusement. "You're a menace."

Sora, meanwhile, gave me a quiet, reassuring look. Her gaze lingered just a moment longer than usual, like she could see through my 'nothing fazes me' act. And somehow, that was both comforting and unsettling.

Ren, naturally, was busy massaging his temples, no doubt questioning all his life choices that had led him to be friends with me.

I figured that was the end of my suffering, but fate had other plans. The moment the bell rang, signaling the end of class, our teacher hit us with a bombshell announcement.

"All right, class," he said, with far too much enthusiasm for someone who just witnessed me obliterate any dignity I had left, "sports session starts after lunch. Make sure to be on time."

I groaned loudly as we filed out of the classroom. "Sports session? Seriously? Haven't we been through enough today?"

"Are you asking that as someone who literally just fell on his face?" Hikari deadpanned, her tone razor-sharp.

"Fell on his face *and* disrupted the lesson," Ren added helpfully, pushing his glasses up as if that somehow made his point clearer.

"You're all heart," I shot back, glaring at him.

Aki practically bounced beside us, her energy levels somehow untouched by the weight of impending doom. "Oh, come on, guys! Sports session is the best! Running, sweating, competing—it's all part of the high school experience!"

"It's all part of the high school misery," I corrected, dragging my feet in exaggerated protest.

Even Sora chimed in softly, her voice like a gentle breeze cutting through the chaos. "It might be fun if we're all together."

I blinked at her, momentarily caught off guard by the sincerity in her tone. "Yeah, I guess… if you look at it that way."

---

And with that, lunchtime passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, leaving me barely enough time to mentally prepare for what awaited us next. The field stretched out ahead of us, the coach standing at the center like an overly enthusiastic ringmaster presenting his latest torture device.

"Relay races?" I groaned, staring at the setup as if I'd just been sentenced to a marathon in the middle of a desert. "Seriously, who thinks this is fun?"

"Quit whining," Hikari said, tugging me into line like I was a rebellious toddler. "You'll survive."

"Define survive," I muttered, eyeing the track with all the dread of someone marching into battle.

The whistle blew, and somehow, I ended up as the first runner for our team. The pressure was on. I took off like my life depended on it—mostly because it probably did—my legs pumping as Hikari's death glare burned into my back.

The baton felt slick in my sweaty grip, but somehow, against all odds, I managed to pass it to Ren without tripping over my own feet. Progress.

---

Ren, bless his nerdy soul, grabbed the baton like it was a prized artifact and started running with the precision of a math equation come to life. His form was smooth, his pace steady—it was downright impressive. That is, until his eyes landed on Aki waiting as the next runner.

She was waving at him energetically, her pigtails bouncing with every exaggerated motion. "Let's go, Ren-chan!" she called out, her voice bright and teasing. "Don't let me down!"

Ren froze mid-stride. His face turned redder than the sports field itself, and for a moment, I wondered if he was about to spontaneously combust. The baton wobbled dangerously in his hand, and just like that, I thought we were done for.

"Focus, Ren!" Hikari shouted from the sidelines, cupping her hands around her mouth like she was the commander of some chaotic army. "This isn't your shoujo anime debut!"

That snapped Ren back to reality. He recovered just in time, his ears practically glowing, and handed the baton to Aki with all the grace of someone desperately trying to pretend nothing had happened.

---

Aki snatched the baton with her usual chaotic flair and took off like a rocket. She wasn't running for speed or efficiency—she was running for the *drama*. Her arms pumped wildly, her legs kicked up dust, and her pigtails flailed behind her like twin banners of destruction.

I swear I could hear an imaginary crowd cheering her on—epic music swelling in the background of her slow-motion sprint to victory. Or maybe that was just my brain short-circuiting from exhaustion. Either way, she stuck the landing with the kind of flair that could rival a protagonist's final move in a climactic battle.

"First place, baby!" she declared, grinning from ear to ear as she raised the baton high above her head like it was an Olympic trophy.

"We actually won?" Hikari said, blinking in disbelief. Her pencil froze mid-air as if her brain couldn't process what she'd just witnessed. "I can't believe it."

"Never underestimate the power of chaos," Aki said, winking at us like she'd just unlocked a hidden cheat code to life.

---

As we walked back to the benches, sweaty and exhausted, Sora tugged lightly on my sleeve. Her voice was soft, barely audible over the chatter of students around us. "You did good."

I blinked at her, caught off guard by the quiet sincerity in her words. "What?"

"You ran well," she repeated, her lips curving into a small smile.

"Uh, thanks," I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "You too. I mean, you were like… super fast."

Her voice was so soft, I almost thought I imagined it. But when I looked at her, her expression was steady, calm—the kind of look that made you stop and actually listen. She didn't say much, but when she did, it mattered.

She tilted her head slightly, her smile growing just a little. "Thanks."

Before I could say anything else, she walked off to join Hikari and Aki, leaving me standing there, feeling… well, warm. The kind of warm that sneaks up on you and makes you realize, maybe, just maybe, you're doing alright.

---

Back in the classroom, we were all slumped over our desks, too tired to even pretend to care about the lesson. Hikari was scribbling furiously, Ren was diligently taking notes, Aki was doodling on the back of her worksheet, and Sora… she was staring out the window, calm as ever.

Looking around at them—my chaotic, wonderful friends—I felt a spark of something I couldn't quite explain. No matter what the day threw at us, these moments were what made it all worth it.

After school, we headed to our usual hangout—the rooftop. The sun was dipping low in the sky, painting the world in hues of gold and orange. A light breeze ruffled our hair as we sprawled out across the concrete, tired but content.

"Alright, let's settle this," Aki said, tossing a handful of snacks onto the ground. "Who's the funniest person here?"

"It's me, obviously," I declared, grabbing a bag of chips.

"You're disqualified," Hikari shot back, stealing the chips from my hand.

"Then it's gotta be Aki," Ren said, glancing at her thoughtfully. "She's like… chaotic funny."

"Ren-chan, are you complimenting me?" Aki teased, leaning in with a sly grin. "Careful, or I'll think you have a crush on me."

Ren froze, his ears turning bright red. "W-What? No, I was just—"

"Relax," Aki said, laughing. "I was kidding. Mostly."

Beside me, Hikari rolled her eyes. "Why do I hang out with you people?"

"Because you secretly love us," I replied, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Admit it, Hikari. You're the glue that keeps this dysfunctional group together."

Her glare softened—just a little—and she shoved me off with a muttered, "You're insufferable."

Sora, sitting quietly as usual, suddenly spoke up. "You all make my day better," she said softly, her gaze focused on the horizon.

The words hung in the air, soft but heavy, like they carried a weight none of us were prepared for. Leave it to Sora to say something so simple yet so disarming. I glanced at her, wondering how she always managed to see the best in people—even when we were at our most ridiculous.

"That's sweet, Sora," I said, scratching the back of my neck. "But you've gotta say it with more flair. Like—'You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me!'"

She tilted her head, her lips curving into a faint smile. "I could never say it like you."

"Of course not," Hikari muttered, "because Haruto's incapable of sincerity."

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm deeply sincere."

"That's news to me," Ren chimed in, earning a laugh from Aki.

---

As the sun dipped lower, Aki started fiddling with the wrappers from the snacks, turning them into little origami shapes. She handed one—a paper heart—to Ren with an exaggerated wink. "For you, my prince."

Ren's face turned bright red again, and he stared at the heart like it was about to explode. "W-What is this supposed to mean?"

"Relax, Ren-chan," Aki said, laughing. "It's a joke. Or is it?"

"Why do you do this to me?" Ren muttered, burying his face in his hands.

Meanwhile, Hikari was glaring at me, probably annoyed that I'd taken the last cookie. "You're lucky I don't throw this wrapper at your head," she said.

"Go ahead," I replied, grinning. "You wouldn't hit me. You'd miss, just like that paper plane."

The mention of the plane made Sora chuckle—a rare sound that felt like winning the lottery. "You never give up, do you?" she asked.

"Never," I replied confidently. "That's my charm."

Hikari groaned. "You're ridiculous."

"And yet," I said, leaning back with a smirk, "you all still hang out with me. Admit it—you'd miss me if I weren't around."

She didn't reply, but the faintest flicker of a smile crossed her face.

---

As the stars began to appear, we started packing up. Ren looked exhausted from Aki's teasing, Hikari was muttering about my "terrible influence," and Sora was quietly collecting the wrappers to throw away. I couldn't help but feel a warmth in my chest, despite all the chaos.

Sure, we were a mess. Chaotic, awkward, loud, and occasionally annoying—but they were my mess. And in moments like this, under a sky full of stars, it felt like maybe, just maybe, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

And as I walked home, I couldn't help but grin, already planning what nonsense I'd drag them into tomorrow.