Tori
by Mae [Hikou]

"...bird?" Hanagata peered at the cage, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, some exotic breed. A gift from a relative." Fujima muttered as he rummaged through the piles of paper on his table. "Ah, here. I just got the schedule for the tournaments."

He turned and gave his vice-captain a smack on the bottom. "You're not listening to me."

"Gomenasai!" Hanagata stopped his inspection of the bird.

"I don't see why you're interested in it." Fujima frowned. "It's not a particularly beautiful bird or anything."

He hung his head apologetically and looked up as his hand was taken.

"Let's go back to school now then, since I've gotten the paper."

He nodded, and casting one last look at the caged bird, they left.

"So how's your bird?"

Fujima raised an eyebrow at him. It had been a few days since he had first seen the bird.

"It's okay. Quite obedient." He replied. "Doesn't struggle or anything."

After a moment of silence he asked, "Why do you keep thinking about the damned bird?"

"No reason." Hanagata turned his head to the side, avoiding his captain's eyes.

He couldn't understand why he kept thinking about the bird either. It wasn't a special bird, even though it was a different breed and its plumage wasn't any more memorable than some other bird on the streets. But it had been occupying his mind, distracting him from doing anything else properly.

Math. Bird.

History. Bird.

English. Bird.

Physics. Bird.

Geography. Bird.

And so on. Until now, even in basketball.

BIRD.

It annoyed him, it really did. And now his heart sank, because he could tell it was really annoying Fujima.

"Look, stop thinking about the bird." Fujima sighed impatiently. "It's not going to help the team unless it plays basketball. Now go."

He entered the courts, but the image of the bird sitting in the cage looking through the bars quietly didn't go away.

He ran his fingers through his hair and winced as he tried to sit up. Fujima was already asleep next to him. He reached out blindly with his slender arms, and finally located his thick-rimmed glasses. It was pitch-dark but his eyes soon became accustomed to the gloom. He looked down and a faint smile touched his lips as Fujima grabbed sleepily at the sheets near him.

"Hana..." He muttered, and fell back into a deep slumber.

It still hadn't left his mind.

Stupid bird.

He slipped out of the bed, surprisingly soundlessly for a person of his stature. He gently made his way out of the bedroom.

And there it was, silver moonlight shining through the window down onto the roosting bird.

He went closer, and as he did so, the bird opened an eye.

They stared at each other for a while.

It stretched its wings, and in a flurry of feathers it had fluttered up to the edge of the cage, beak protruding from between the bars. It hopped back and forth in little bursts, eyes fixed on Hanagata.

There was no reaction. The bird flew back to the little bar in the cage and perched there delicately as it tucked its head back under its wing. A few loose feathers drifted to the bottom of the cage.

Hanagata stood there, looking at it.

Caged up. It was caged up, and it...doesn't seem to mind at all.

He returned to the bedroom.

"What happened to the bird?" Hanagata looked frantically around the room for the cage.

"It's gone." Fujima muttered, yanking off his shirt.

"When? How?"

"Just yesterday." He turned to look at him. "I had it put down."

A shiver went up Hanagata's back.

"Kenji-sama..." his throat went dry. "killed it? But why?"

"It tried to fly away." He stated simply. "When I opened the cage. It tried to fly away."

Hanagata tried to hide his dismayed look. "Well, it's a bird, and birds they - "

"It's different." He interrupted. "It never tried to run away before. When I opened the cage, it always just stayed in one place and it never made an attempt to get out. I decided that it was getting out of hand when it tried to fly out. So I had it shot."

Hanagata looked down at his hands.

"Sou...desu ka."

Seemingly sensing that he was upset, Fujima took him around the waist.

"Come Touru, let's go eat ice-cream."

He opened his mouth to remind Fujima that he had a class after that, but thought the better of it.

"....hai, Kenji-sama."

END