Jared Beppu sat with Nick in well trimmed grass, leaning against the trunk of a young cherry blossom tree. Since it was past the season where they flowered. There were none to be found in the tree’s branches. The lush blooms were absent and the tree’s skeletal limbs clawed at the sky. The appearance of the naked tree made Jared think about what was missing in his life. His friend, Kenneth, was like these flowers. He’d appeared earlier this year, brought color into the bully’s life and without his friend, school would be lackluster.

“Do you think he’s doing okay?” Jared asked, kind of bummed.

Nick shrugged and sighed, his lips twisting. “I don’t know anything. As I’ve said before, his phone has been disconnected. I’ve tried calling him every day, but I always get the same response, so hell if I know. At least Tommy’s recovering.”

Jared shook his head, chuckling. “What about that sexy angel that showed up and saved our butts?” He waved his hands dismissively. Whatever happened to that lazy bum, Tommy, riding Ken’s coattails, totally disinterested in socializing and stepping up like a man. That kid wouldn’t go anywhere in life, Jared was sure of it. Well, maybe he’d become some kind of a scientist or whatever, not like there weren’t enough of them around. Probably why you couldn’t find a good basketball team in Stellaris.

With a wry smile, Nick picked at the grass under his crossed legs, looking like some kind of a martial artist, too composed as always, although he couldn’t successfully hide his worry for the runt. “I haven’t seen her since she disappeared on the court, like you. But I did see another angel appear. I wonder if the world is going mad. I’m not religious or anything, but two angels appearing out of the sky and some kind of invisible monster attacking the Academy… I have to wonder if there’s something more to the universe than what we can see.”

“Was the other angel as hot as the one we all saw?” Jared allowed himself an eager grin.

Nick suppressed an urge to facepalm. “Oh yes. Erm… I think so...” Nick rubbed his chin. He hadn’t seen her up close so he didn’t know what her face was like, so he bluffed.

Jared couldn’t imagine this other angel not being stunningly gorgeous like the first. Weren’t angels supposed to all be graceful, or else some kind of eldritch weird monsters? If you asked Jared, he’d always prefer the hot girl version over flaming wheels and two headed creatures.

“Is he gone forever, or am I just being dramatic here?” Jared laughed lamely, scratching his own scalp.

Not for the first time, Nick ignored Jared’s worry for Ken. Why was he not as worried as him about their best friend? Asshole.

“I’ll try to find out where his parents’ house is and make some discreet inquiries about how Ken’s doing,” Nick said.

“How?” Jared frowned.

“I’ll ask in the office when school opens. He never gave us his address.” Nick shrugged. “Ken will need his homework, right? Leave that to me.”

“Hmmm… Fine.” Jared nodded. Nick sometimes had good ideas even though he was a bit of an egg head like Tommy. He didn’t really get that side of the smug bastard, but his plan seemed worth trying.

“E-excuse me,” a beautiful voice interrupted the two, sounding like bells ringing in his ears. Jared turned to gaze at a babe with legs for miles, long silvery hair. Her purple eyes fixated him and left Jared feeling a bit flustered. He laughed awkwardly.

“H-hey! What’s a…” His pickup line died on his lips as she shot a smile at Jared that set his blood rushing.

Similarly Nick flushed, but unlike Jared, Nick offered a smile of greeting and said more smoothly, “Do you need directions somewhere?”

The girl shook her head and glanced at the nearby basketball court. There were too few of them to be found in Stellaris. “Would you two mind playing a quick game of basketball with me? I’m feeling awfully restless.” She clasped her hands behind her, emphasizing her body’s lines. Her breasts were big and lush. Jared felt a stirring in his pants and he closed them coolly to hide his appreciation.

“Basketball?” Nick blinked and chuckled. “Why aren’t we doing that? Didn’t we come here to play and work off some of our frustrations?” He shot Jared a meaningful look.

“Well… yeah.” Jared laughed. “Just… I guess I felt more like talking once we got here.”

“Worried about something?” the girl asked softly at Jared. She looked somewhat surprised for some weird reason.

“Yeah… well kinda…” Jared laughed it off, not wanting to rant at the cutie about what was stressing him out. It’d probably just leave a bad impression of him.

“Well, if my moping friend, Jared, here is done with that for now… by the way, I’m Nick,” Nick introduced himself as he rose and picked up the basketball that was resting by his side, spinning the ball on a finger, making it look less a stunt to make a good impression and more like something he routinely did. He caught the ball and smiled at the girl. “I’ll play some with you. You, Jared?” He looked at Jared.

Waving his hands, Jared laughed. He kind of wanted to play now, but not against her. He’d play too hard or fake it if he tried and let her win. She’d probably be all patronized if he didn’t give it his all. He didn’t want to do that. “Go ahead. I’ll keep moping here.” His eyes bored into Nick and the cool guy’s lips twisted in response. 

Don’t get fresh with her on the court or I’ll turn you into mush, dickwad, Jared muttered to himself.

The two headed onto the court. Jared watched her go, appreciating the short shorts she was wearing. She’d come dressed for the occasion, wearing a loose jersey that managed to cling to her curves in the right ways.

The two faced off and Nick tossed the basketball to the girl in a seemingly offhanded gesture. A breeze breathed across the court, stirring up a small dust devil as it dissipated and birds tweeted in the barren sakura tree branches surrounding the court, the ground carpeted in lush grass, making the air smell alive with a faint scent of damp earth tinging it.

The girl caught the ball, more skillfully than Jared expected and he observed as the girl started dribbling, dancing in circles, extending her long legs as she weaved around, masterfully teasing Nick this way and the other as she prepared to dodge around Nick. Jared could clearly see what she planned to do. She danced on the court as gracefully as Ken ever had. 

Suddenly she stumbled and Nick spun and intercepted the ball as she charged in at the hoop, going in for her shot. She’d danced them over close enough to get a clear three pointer from the side.

She grunted as their bodies collided and Nick snagged the ball as it flew from her hands and smoothly turned, sinking the ball from the same angle. Jared rushed to his feet, muttering. “Hey, fucker! Don’t be so rough with her…!” The girl had been knocked down. Clumsy ass. “You fucking!”

“Chill out!” The girl laughed with a tinkling laugh as she gently rubbed a scrape on her creamy leg without much concern. She rose without a problem, clutching at her chest where they’d collided. Jared’s eyes narrowed but he still hung back on her say so. “I’m fine. Basketball is a physical sport, you know. I can handle myself.” She smiled. Nick hesitated as her expression changed from faintly troubled to determined.

Rushing, she recovered the bouncing ball that had rolled over into the grass and began dribbling. Grinning, Nick nodded and rushed to defend. The scene was repeated as the girl led Nick in a merry chase, an intricate dance as her legs weaved around and she bounced the ball off the warm pavement. With her expression firm, brimming with confidence, she pressed past Nick, ducking under his outspread arms and with her back to him, she jumped and Jared could swear he saw wings sprout for a moment from her back as she flew at the hoop and sunk the ball.

The hoop’s chains jingled as the ball swooshed through and the girl landed lightly, bowing slightly as she came to a stop, her knees flexing. She didn’t really have wings, but she had a similar quality to Ken’s. He had a way of making you believe he had wings too.

Reaching up, the girl wiped her forehead, pushing her silver bangs aside and her eyes sparkled with excitement. The watch on her wrist played a soft melody and she stiffened and then chuckled ruefully, scratching her head. “Ah… I guess I have less time than I thought. Thanks for the match, guys. I kinda wanted to do a full game at least, but duty calls.” 

She waved, smiling as she tossed the basketball at Nick with the same ease he’d shown and she darted away, moving like a gazelle in flight through the grass and out of sight. Nick caught it, dumbfounded.

The boys watched for a long moment after she vanished.

Rellawing

This has been a purry week! Downside, as of last night, there's some extensive maintenance in Final Fantasy 14 so they can tweak PvP. 🙄 Although maybe they're setting up new server hardware for North American players. Patch notes don't seem to mention it, so that's kinda weird.

There hasn't been much rain, or at least not nearly enough to leak through. I do worry, though, that my car will require maintenance sometime soon. It feels a bit sluggish and while I can't tell where noises come from, I fear that my car makes an odd one sometimes. It's a bit too persistent to think it's coming from anywhere else.

My stockpile of releases of RLA are plenty and Assuchan has asked me to assist with editing again recently. Yay! <3 I'm happy when he asks for a pass of edits. It makes me frowny when he says that my writing is 'too wordy' and that I "fail to achieve what I want to do too often".

RLA isn't his cup of tea, unlike Euphonia. He misses that story, much like AA misses Superluminal. >.> Oy, I have so many good stories I want to look at and work on and not enough of a span of attention to carry them all at once, even if I wanted to, they'd inevitably all suffer, IMO.

Included is a rare survey! I haven't poked my readers with one for a while (not since Euphonia). Do you think my writing has any significant issues? 🤔