[b]Toma Tanaka - Warakuma High School, Track Field[/b] 

Toma was spotted the instant he stepped outside. Kimura Arata, the track club's leader, was in the middle of a warm-up, lightly jogging around the oval track. He immediately broke off, turning towards Toma and Aiko.

"Tanaaakaaa!" he half-yelled, half-whined. "You're late!"

"Only by a few minutes," Toma answered as Arata slowed to a stop in front of them. 

"Nearly a quarter of an hour is not 'a few minutes'," the boy said in mock anger, hands on his hips.

"I have a good excuse," Toma said, nodding towards Aiko. "This is Yamamoto Aiko, a classmate of mine. He'd like to join the club."

Arata instantly lit up. "Ah! That's great, we'd be glad to have you, Yamamoto!" he said excitedly, taking Aiko's hand and shaking it with both of his. He then turned back towards Toma. "I guess I won't kick you out for your tardiness, then."

The tall boy snorted softly in response, knowing that that was something Arata would never do.

"But, you still need a punishment. Run ten 50-meter suicides, so out 'til the half-line of the soccer field."

Toma sighed through his smile. He turned and walked towards the door that lead to the change room.

Arata suddenly turned to face Aiko again, realising he hadn't introduced himself. "Oh! I'm Kimura Arata, from class 3 - 2, but feel free to call me whatever -- as long as it's not an insult, obviously," he said, speaking more than a little hyper-actively. "We do all of the basic events that'd come to mind when you think of track and field: high jump, long jump, all distances of running, but we don't really have the resources to do stuff like pole vaulting and javelin and stuff -- the teachers said it'd be too dangerous or something stupid like that -- I hope that doesn't disappoint you too much. Most of our members focus on running, which I guess I can sort of understand, but me, I love to practice as many events as I can -- it keeps things fun and interesting, and being well-rounded is always a plus. Oh, and -"

The boy's enthusiastic ramble was cut off by a young-looking female student poking him in the cheek. She wore track shorts and a t-shirt, just like Arata, making it clear she was a member of the club.

"Stop it, Arata-kun. You're going to scare him off," she said, unimpressed. After Arata recovered from the shock of her coming up on him out of nowhere, he opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off again when the girl addressed Aiko. "I'm Yamada Tsuruko, in first year," she said with a bright smile and a bow. "Don't be afraid to tell Arata to shut up -- I do it all the time." With that she jogged back towards the track.

"Tsuru-chaaaaaan!" Arata whined after her. "Stop making me look uncool!" His eyes lingered on her receding figure for a moment longer, before he turned back towards Aiko with a soft sigh. His bright grin quickly returned. "If you've got a change of clothes and are feeling up to it, you can join us today," he said. "If you don't, you should still stick around and watch, maybe talk to some of the members. I hope you like the club!" He then also ran off.

---

Toma had kicked off his shoes and taken off his shirt when he received a text from his mother. He stood in the change room and read it, frowning. She was asking him to pick up ingredients she needed for supper, apparently feeling the urge to cook tonight. While it was slightly unusual for her to make a full meal, that wasn't what bothered Toma. 

In the text, she called him Taiki. These instances were even fewer and farther between than his mother cooking, but they happened, and it always left him feeling... uncomfortable? Whatever the feeling was, he didn't like it.

And it was evidence that she was still hurt by his brother's death. That she hadn't gotten over it yet. Maybe that was a ridiculous thing for Toma to expect of her, but he had done it well enough. She was older and wiser -- she should understand that death is a part of life. She shouldn't let it pain her as much as it did.

But she also shouldn't [i]have had[/i] to deal with it in the first place. Clicking his tongue, he typed out [i]'sure thing'[/i], even adding a stupid smiley-face for good measure.