Emi's route

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Life Expectancy

Hisao first encounters Emi on his third day at Yamaku while going to lunch (with either Lilly and Hanako or Shizune and Misha). Emi crashes into him while running in the corridors and nearly causes Hisao to have a heart attack. He encounters Emi a few days later at the track for light exercise as per the Nurse's instructions. On the second attempt Hisao overexerts himself and has another heart murmur, inciting Emi to take him to the Nurse who reprimands both of them for carelessness, making Emi well aware of Hisao's arrhythmia. In apology Emi invites Hisao to the roof for lunch with her and Rin. Over the next two days Hisao and Emi help Rin with painting her mural for the festival and Emi invites Hisao to be her running partner in the mornings, to which he agrees. On the day of the festival Hisao is caught buying fried food from one the stalls by Emi, who insists that he eat healthy. She then ends up dragging him, and later Rin after stopping by her mural, around the festival for the rest of the day. Hisao manages to slip away and buy something sweet in the end before retiring to his dorm room for homework.

Form

Hisao arrives for his first morning run with Emi, resulting in her winning a bet with Rin. The two run a mile around the track and to Hisao's surprise he doesn't feel so bad when it's complete, beyond tired that is, his first runner's high. Emi invites him to lunch on the rooftop again and Hisao watches Emi and Rin have an argument about perspective, predictability and time travel. Upon his return to class Misha ruthlessly teases Hisao about his 'rendevous' with Rin and Emi. Class ends and Hisao gives up halfway through his homework and decides instead to go see Emi at the track. After the, now traditional teasing greetings, Hisao asks Emi about her friendship with Rin. Emi doesn't seem to understand it herself but it seems that the two have one crucial commonality, they work hard at what they like, what they shouldn't be able to do. Hisao also learns the Emi started running because her father was one revealing a brief moment of melancholy. Emi returns to her training and reminds Hisao to come tomorrow for morning run. Hisao is unable to sleep and decides to go for a walk in the small hours of the morning. Eventually he falls asleep on the bleachers, waking only when Emi finds him. Today's run is even harder for Hisao but Emi snaps at him when he considers giving up. Afterwards she says that she can't stand the notion of giving in. Later that morning in the nurses office Hisao learns that before he worked at Yamaku the Nurse was one of the doctors who helped Emi recover after the car accident that cost her both legs. Sheer determination enabled her to complete years of convalescence in one years time. The two know each other well and have a friendly relationship. The day of the track meet arrives and Hisao attends, (another loss for Rin) and meets Emi's mother, Meiko Ibarazaki. After introductions, (and teasing), the trio watch Emi run her events. Hisao had glimpsed it before during their runs but he finally gets a good look at "Emi at her Emiest" as Rin puts it. Hisao also begins to notice that Emi appears beautiful to him when she runs and that he might be growing attracted to her. Mrs. Ibarazaki leaves mid-way and Rin and Hisao notice Emi stumble on the final event, suggesting that she's in pain. She still wins and as they congratulate her, Emi invites Hisao to join her and Rin for a celebration later in the week, reminding him to be bright and early for their run as usual. A few days later Hisao is with the Nurse due to mild chest pain as the result of neglecting his medications. As he advises Hisao to take it easy for a few days the nurse let's slip that Hisao's running with Emi means more to her then he may have realized. In the hall an agitated Emi babbles worriedly about Hisao until he surprises her with a hug and some reassurance. The dangerously tender moment is interrupted by the grinning Nurse. During lunch Hisao, Emi and Rin discuss the future. Hisao has no clear idea of his own and he and Rin are highly amused with Emi's desire to be a pirate. Hisao is quite conscious of Emi throughout and it appears that Rin has noticed this. Upon his return to the classroom he must endure Misha's teasing yet again and is informed that the Student Council left something for him in his room. As class resumes Hisao, analyzing Rin's words wonders briefly if Emi might share his growing feelings for her. After class he bumps into Kenji outside his room. Kenji advises him to stay off the roof in case the 'limbless wonders' decide to assassinate him by throwing him from the roof, and asks him for 500 yen. After he has gone Hisao finds a letter in his room. It's from Iwanako, an apology for those final awkward, uncommunicative weeks in the hospital. Hisoa, who hasn't thought of the hospital in weeks, crumples the letter and throws it away. The afternoon of Hisao's picnic with Emi and Rin starts off bad with overcast sky's and gets worse when the heavens open up, much to Emi's anger. The trio take shelter at the Shanghai where HIsao encounters Yuuko for the second time. As Hisao and Emi enjoy some cake Hisao learns that sometimes she comes here with the track team captain for discussions, although Emi seems nervous explaining it. The trio walk back to school when the rain stops. Despite previous claims that today's an off day Emi decides to run laps at the school, Hisao can either stay quiet or offer to run with Emi, in which case she sternly tells him to rest. The rain picks up on their return but Emi goes for her run anyway. Inside the dorms Hisao bumps into Kenji carrying a stack of books. After some rambling on Kenji's part Hisao lets slip that he went to the Shanghai with Emi and RIn, and receives a vehement lecture never to go again if he want's to avoid some horrible fate at the hands of the feminists! The next day Emi doesn't show up and a worried Hisao learns from the Nurse that she is sick in bed. Hisao resolves to see her after classes end. The day drags by monotonously, the only interesting moments: Yuuko looking for a stolen book, and meeting Lilly, who asks after Emi's well being. Finally when class ends Hisao looks in on Emi, for some reason or other the two get into a pillow fight and a compromising position. The two enjoy a companionable time as Hisao tells Emi about the days events, until she falls asleep that is. Unable to escape Hisao watches as Emi experiences a nightmare before waking her up out of it. Emi is reluctant to talk about it and Hisao decides to leave. Before he does, assures Emi that if she ever wants to talk about anything, he's there. Only now does Hisao realize that he developed romantic feelings for Emi, but he is afraid of ruining their friendship as well as feeling inadequate alongside the track captain, who he perceives as a rival. The next day Hisao resolves to find out whether or not Emi and the track captain are dating. He can't ask Emi or Rin of course so he decides to try the Nurse. After their morning run Hisao notices that Emi is a little preoccupied with something, most likely the previous night, but Emi refuses to elaborate. At the Nurses office Hisao makes a few oblique enquiries of the nurse and is happy to hear that Emi will never date the track captain, although how the Nurse knows this is puzzling. Later Hisao finds himself alone with Emi on the roof during lunch, she unknowingly transmitted her cold to Rin. After the usual teasing openings Hisao begins looking for an oppurtunity to ask Emi out. Emi is suddenly troubled by a memory of her deceased father, reluctantly she reveals that the nightmare from last night is a fairly recurring instance and is depressed by that. Hisao embraces her, reaffirming his promise to be there for her. There is a short interlude of talk about the future and suddenly Emi tells Hisao that if he wants to kiss her he should do it before the bell rings for class. There is a stunned silence, then Emi admits that she has a crush on Hisao and the two kiss. The kiss lasts until the bell rings and Emi invites Hisao to dinner after practise, giving him one more kiss in the hall before they part ways. Misha teases Hisao but he doesn't care.

Perspective

Class passes quickly for Hisao who is eager to go on his first date with Emi. Mutou asks Hisao some questions after class about future plans and suggests forming a "science club". He gives Hisao A Brief History of Time to read and Hisao returns to his room and promptly falls asleep. Fortunately he awakes with enough time left to prepare and meets Emi at the track. With neither one having any clear plan, they grab some food from the convenience store and eating in the park. Although Emi remarks that it's not much different from what they would have done as friends, the pair enjoy a few flirtatious moments and Hisao returns to the dorms well satisfied. Only then does he notice Emi favoring her left leg. Emi waves it off and Hisao is left vaguely disturbed by Emi's reluctance. The next morning run goes well but Emi stumbles in pain immediately after and a concerned Hisao takes her to the Nurses office. Emi fobs off the visit claiming other things to do. Both Hisao and the Nurse recognize that she's hiding her pain and the Nurse tells Hisao to make sure that Emi sees him later. During lunch on the rooftop Hisao teasingly, but firmly enforces the Nurses command and Emi reluctantly agrees. Emi and Hisao kiss goodbye before going to their respective classes and Hisao receives a scolding from Shizune and Misha against public displays of affection. Mutou and Hisao meets for a second Science Club meeting and Mutou suggests that a true scientist should look at any problem or question from more than one angle, in order to find a solution. Hisao takes this saying to heart, thinking that it might help him overcome the distance he feels between himself and Emi. With nothing else to do Hisao goes to the library where Yuuko confides that she is on the trail of the person who stole the missing books, although she has yet to determine who it is. The conversation is interrupted by an urgent phone call from Emi and Hisao rushes to her room to find Emi in a wheelchair. It turns out that she developed an infection and has to avoid running for a few weeks. Hisao attempts to cheer her up with varying degrees of success and he notice that, yet again, Emi is maintaining some kind of distance from him. However the mood lightens and yet another pillow fight turns into love-making. This is rudely interrupted by Rin who, seemingly utterly oblivious of Hisao and Emi's nudity, wants to watch a cloud from Emi's window, but leaves disappointed when the cloud changes shape. Hisao and Emi laugh and Hisao returns to his room. The next day Emi arrives in her wheelchair while Hisao prepares for his morning run. Emi insists that she needs gloves from the track shed to exercise in her wheelchair and Hisao realizes too late that this is just a ruse to spend some intimate time with him. Hisao discovers a tube of lubricant revealed to be the track captain's, who is revealed by Emi to be gay. Hesitantly the pair engage in a sexual experiment that is less than successful and both resolve never to do it again. Worn out, Hisao naps until awoken by Kenji who is convinced that the cause of Hisao's exhaustion is that Emi knocked him out. Emi visits later and informs a startled Hisao that they need to stop seeing each other until after exams, Emi claiming that their current intimacy will be a distraction.