destinystrings | (no subject)

Who: Akihiko Sanada and Minato Arisato.
Where: Pisces District, by the teleporter.
Summary: ~~Risin' up, back on the street, did the time, took my chances~~ Early morning run, complete with possible bonding!
Warnings: TW if you don't think steak is an excellent breakfast.

Akihiko wound up arriving in Pisces early that morning. Fifteen minutes early, to be precise, having been too restless after eating breakfast at his apartment to stay put. He stretched as he waited for Minato, reaching one arm out over his head after the other, clasping his hands together behind his back to push and loosen his shoulders, and finally settling down on the ground without a care to start working on his hamstrings.

It might have been terrible mundane to some, and he had a feeling that Minato wasn't as thrilled about getting up so early to run as he was, but at the same time, there was so much change afoot that a little bit of routine had the potential to do a lot of good. The demons that roamed the city were actually the least of his worries -- they were a problem, but there wasn't much adjustment necessary. While many of the changes in question were good, he was having some difficult wrapping his head around some of them, and trying to sort out years of anger and regret for others.

Running was simple. Running would take his mind of things, help him clear his head. Having a friend to go with him only made it a better distraction.

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Minato arrived exactly two minutes early. Oh, he had guessed that Akihiko would probably be there early, but he also didn't want to get up earlier than he had to in an attempt to anticipate Akihiko's actions. So, he just did his best to be there when they had agreed to meet.

And so, when he came in on Akihiko stretching, he lifted a hand and gave a sleepy, "Good morning."

Running was good. Running was great. Minato wouldn't have been on the track team if he'd hated running, but he probably wouldn't be fully awake until they started on the running.

"Hey, good morning," Akihiko greeted him from his place on the ground, grabbing hold of one of his feet to stretch himself out over his leg. He was noticeably more cheerful than Minato seemed to be, already wide awake despite how soul-crushingly early it was.

"You still look half-asleep. I'm betting you'll come to life once we get going, though. Need to stretch first?"

Minato answered by yawning and nodding before doing exactly that - stretching. As he stretched his hamstrings, however, he did ask: "How long have you been waiting?"

"Fifteen minutes or so," came the slightly-too-eager answer. Akihiko stretched both arms high over his head one last time before springing to his feet. "Not that I minded. I knew I was early. Better early than late, I figured."

"I see. Sorry for keeping you waiting, though..."

Minato delays a bit longer, however, making sure his legs are fully stretched out. He wasn't on any track team anymore, but that didn't mean he wanted to rush things and accidentally pull a muscle later.

"Don't be. You didn't know I'd be here early. I didn't mind waiting at all," Akihiko insisted, jumping up and down in place a few times to keep his blood pumping. The morning was cool, though they wouldn't be feeling the cold much longer, once they started moving.

"It's probably been awhile since you've done this, right? Wonder if you'll outrun me anyways... you spent all that time on the track team."

But he should have known, because he knew Akihiko and his early morning habits.

In any event, he smiled faintly and shrugged as he stood up straight, ready to go. "It's been a few months, though."

He hadn't gone to track practice since probably November or December. Except for some keeping in shape practices during the winter, they didn't do a lot of team running outside because of the cold and the snow. And from December on, it hadn't really seemed worth it. Then, as spring approached, he had simply been too tired and groggy with dwindling life to do much running. So now was a good fresh start - getting back into the swing of running and being in shape.

Akihiko nodded, giving a last stretch as Minato straightened up. "We'll ease into it, then. I haven't been doing it as regularly as I should for awhile, either. I'll let you set the pace this time? We'll see where that gets us."

It seemed fair, anyway. He knew that he had a habit of pushing himself; that could be tough for someone to keep up with, especially if they were rusty. Besides, it would do them both some good to start out slow and build up, rather than going full-tilt from the start.

Akihiko tended to let ambition get the better of him and go full-tilt when it came to most things, especially with athletics. It wasn't always the best idea, though getting him to admit that was probably next to impossible.

"Mm."

That sounded fair enough to Minato (and to be honest, he was a bit grateful for it, well aware of Akihiko's tendencies to push himself to the limits), and so with that, he started out, beginning with a relatively slow jog while they were near the building before picking up the pace steadily.

He kept pace with Minato quite easily; considering how athletic they both were, it wasn't much of a surprise, really. They jogged in silence for a few minutes, finding their stride, before Akihiko finally glanced over to him, curious.

"Have you been spending much time with Minako since you've both been here?"

Minato glanced sidelong back, nodding. "She has a key to my apartment, so she's over a lot. What about you and Miki?"

"We're finding the time to catch up. She's -- busy, you know?" He continues to keep pace easily, veering right to turn a corner. "She's made some friends since coming here. Seems to be good at that."

(no subject)

aww yis training montage GO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK4gv11PTI8

Why have I never heard that song before. xD

Consider your life enriched. <3

So enriched!

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/innocently slides in to backtag

/innocently backtags still later

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that icon is great

it felt appropriate!