<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/a/ac/Taro03.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Taro Ikeda (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=257738.msg12730054#msg12730054)<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Track & Field<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Flashback - a few days before school starts, very early morning<br/><strong>With:</strong>Shizuma<br/><hr/>It was about a quarter past five in the morning  when Taro sat down his gym bag at the school's track and took a deep breath of the cool morning air. The new school year hadn't even started, but a morning run around the field was part of his daily routine. It was better suited for running than the city streets, and here, half an hours walk from town, the air always seemed cleaner, fresher. The sky was just beginning to brighten a little, but the darkness didn't bother him. He knew the track, could make out enough details to see that there would be no unexpected obstacles. That was enough for him and he liked the solitude the very early morning offered just fine.<br/><br/>He stuffed his jacket into his bag, re-tied his trainers and the drawstring of his sweatpants, began a few warm-up exercises. After a few minutes he was on the track and began to run at a steady pace he knew he could keep up for his usual half hour of morning exercise. Soon his feet had settled into their rhythm and he forgot the world around him, shut down his mind and let his body do its thing. This early in the day there was hardly ever anyone around. He could just run, build up his fitness without having to think about anyone or anything.<br/><br/>The only thing he paid attention to was counting his laps around the field. Twenty laps were his goal for his morning runs – eight kilometers. But by the end of the school year he hoped to get to ten kilometers on a regular basis. But not today. Today just getting back to his old form after two weeks visiting his parents and not getting much regular exercise would have to do.