"I never had any intention of attending. I had things I wanted to do in the lab, but sleep takes precedence. Yawn… It's decided. Once we clean this up, I am definitely sleeping."
Tachyon picked up her pace. Not wanting to be left behind, Tanoue hurried after her. After dropping their dishes in the wash bins, they rushed back to his office.
As soon as they arrived, Tachyon collapsed onto the sofa. But just as she was settling in, she sat up. "Oh, right," she said, and hurried out of the room.
Tanoue felt a pang of disappointment; he had looked forward to a quiet afternoon together, yet she'd left without a word. However, he had work to catch up on—specifically, his schedules and tomorrow's lunch plans—which he had neglected while napping that morning.
Ten minutes later, the door creaked open. Tachyon returned, now wearing her school skirt over her tights and under her lab coat.
"Goodness, this school is needlessly large. All that walking has made me even sleepier. …There, Trainer. Are you satisfied? My undergarments are now thoroughly hidden. It's almost excessive, don't you think?"
Tachyon lifted the hem of her lab coat to give him a clear view of the skirt.
"I don't think a skirt is 'excessive'..." Tanoue countered weakly.
"Still complaining?"
"No, it's fine. Thank you… for, you know."
"For 'you know'? Hahaha! What kind of phrasing is that? You're as vague as ever. …Ugh, I'm fading. I'm going to sleep."
The laughter vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by sudden, heavy fatigue. She leaned back into the sofa and was asleep in moments. Eventually, the only sounds in the room were the rhythmic clicking of Tanoue's keyboard and Tachyon's soft breathing. In that moment, Tanoue felt a sense of peace so profound it almost frightened him. He gave a small, defiant huff to shake the feeling.
While she slept, Tachyon dreamed.
She was jumping rope. Perhaps it was a memory from childhood? But Tachyon hadn't really had a childhood like that. She had always been a spectator, watching the other children from a classroom window, never joining in.
In the dream, she was skipping to a rhythmic song about a postman. "Postman, postman, dropped a letter…" The count went on—one, two, three. When they reached ten, she expected it to end, but it didn't. The other children didn't stop.
"Tachyon-chan can keep going." "Tachyon-chan can do it."
The voices swirled around her. Tachyon felt a surge of confusion, then anger.
"I'm not doing this anymore!" she snapped.
She walked away, ignoring the rope that continued to turn behind her. When she looked back, the children had already replaced her with someone else. A deep, hollow sadness washed over her… and the dream snapped shut.
When she woke, her Trainer was hunched over a handheld gaming console, utterly absorbed.
"Good morning, Trainer," Tachyon croaked.
He didn't hear her. She tried again, louder this time. "Good morning!"
Tanoue flicked his eyes up briefly. "Good morning," he replied, before returning his gaze to the screen. He said nothing more. He looked like a middle-schooler, staring intensely at the display, his face occasionally contorting in a grimace of concentration.
While Tachyon had been asleep, Tanoue had finished his paperwork and found himself with nothing to do. He'd gone over to sneak a peek at her sleeping face once, but after that, he'd pulled his console from his bag. Since a Trainer's primary job is the actual training, administrative work is often light. He'd been obsessed lately with a 2D side-scrolling shooter—a game where you pilot a craft and blast enemies coming from the right. He usually played online games because of Kirishima's influence, but the Wi-Fi in the Trainer's Room wasn't strong enough, so he stuck to the offline shooter. The plot involved UFOs and aliens, and while the story was thin, the gameplay was addictive. The downside was that he tended to tune out the world entirely, which often earned him a scolding from Tachyon.
Like right now.
A hand suddenly clamped over the screen. Tanoue jumped. "Hey, you're in the way!" he barked, trying to brush the hand aside, but it wouldn't budge.
He looked up. Tachyon was inches away, her face clouded with anger. Tanoue's heart gave a violent thud.
"W-What is it?" he stammered.
"I told you I was going to the lab, but you wouldn't take your eyes off that toy. You didn't even hear me. Honestly, shouldn't you give up on games like that?"
"B-But games are fun. They're relaxing..."
"Even if they interfere with human communication?"
"They don't interfere with anything."
"Then what do you call this?"
Tanoue fell silent.
"See? You have no defense. If you get so absorbed that you can't even hear a person's voice…"
Tanoue found a counterargument. "Well, what about your research, Tachyon? You get so lost in it you forget the world exists. You're one to talk."
"That's entirely different. Yours is a mere game—"
"That's just a prejudice against games. If you're judging based on whether it's 'productive,' then fine, the game loses. But if we're talking about 'interference with communication,' your research and my games are exactly the same."
Tachyon went quiet, contemplating. "…I suppose you have a point. …However, it is lonely when I don't get a response. We've spent two years together, and yet you're still like this."
"…I'll do better," Tanoue muttered.
That seemed to settle it. Tachyon stood up. "I'm heading to the lab. We have training scheduled for today. If I don't show up at the track by 3:30, come get me. I intend to be there by then."
With a simple "Understood" from Tanoue, she left the room. He immediately returned his eyes to the screen.
When Tanoue finally looked up again, the room was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. He panicked. 3:30 had long since passed.
Where is she? He scrambled into his tracksuit and ran toward the training grounds, the chilly autumn air biting at his skin while the sun warmed his back. The field was already crowded. Is she here? He scanned the area, jogging toward the cluster of other Trainers.
He saw a few familiar faces and asked if they'd seen Tachyon.
"Probably skipping, isn't she?" one said.
"She probably went home since you were so late," said another.
Their useless, unsolicited opinions irritated him, and he resisted the urge to spit on the ground. It was clear Tachyon wasn't on the field. She must have gotten lost in her research and forgotten the time. Tanoue turned back toward the school building and sprinted up to the third floor.
For a man who had spent the entire weekend being sedentary, the three-flight climb was brutal. He cursed the fact that her lab was so high up. Just as he reached the landing, Tachyon rounded the corner.
"Oh, Trainer. …I take it you forgot as well?" she said with a smirk.
Tanoue couldn't answer. He was bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air. After a few moments, he managed a ragged apology. "Tachyon… sorry. Huff… It's already evening."