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FluffandCrunch

Lilly Route: Conflict: 1-3, Matters of The Heart

Feb 7th, 2013
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  1. I lay on the bench while Emi finishes her laps. When she's done, we head over to the Nurse. I mostly hobble and Emi helps me get there.
  2.  
  3. When we walk through the door, Nurse is at the computer with small stacks of paper all around him and a large cup of coffee hanging loosely in his hand. It looks like he's trying to get some extra work done during the vacation. He turns in his chair, one leg propped on his knee in an easy posture. He's about to take a sip of his coffee, but when he sees us walk in, me with an arm draped over Emi and my knee bloodied, he lurches out of his chair, nearly spilling his drink all over his paperwork. “Emi! Hisao? Are you all right?”
  4.  
  5. I wince and give him a thumbs-up. “Just fine.”
  6. Emi has a broad smile on her face. “We went for a run!” she declares triumphantly.
  7.  
  8. Nurse is shocked. “The both of you?”
  9. “Yes.”
  10. “With...Hisao?”
  11. “Yes!”
  12. He looks doubtful. “You wouldn't lie to me, would you?”
  13.  
  14. Emi laughs. “Of course not! It's true! Hisao did great!”
  15. Nurse looks at me and his smile is a mile wide. “That's great news! I guess you weren't kidding when you said you'd start taking better care of yourself.“
  16. I nod. “I've got a reason now.”
  17. “Good to hear, Hisao.”
  18. He looks over at Emi and winks. “Mission accomplished, huh?”
  19. Emi giggles.
  20.  
  21. I sit down on an examining table, still catching my breath and feeling sore all over. My knee throbs. My muscles ache and they feel like I just got hit by a car.
  22.  
  23. I like it. It's a good pain.
  24.  
  25. Nurse settles himself in front of me and looks at my knee in disapproval. “You didn't collapse, did you?”
  26. “No, I just tripped at the end. Landed on my knee pretty badly.“
  27. He nods. “Yes, I can see that.”
  28. He begins the painful process of cleaning and checking to make sure I didn't break anything. He makes me move my leg, which hurts like hell, but he seems satisfied I didn't do any long term damage to it. He cleans the abrasion and puts a bandage on it, slapping my knee with a grin which makes me hiss in discomfort.
  29.  
  30. “Feel better?” he asks, his work done.
  31. “Still sore, but, yeah, it feels fine.”
  32. “Excellent. Try and stay off it for a couple days. How was the run?”
  33. I grin. “It was great.”
  34. “I'm glad to hear that, Hisao.”
  35. “I didn't think I could do it.”
  36. “You probably wouldn't have if you hadn't been taking your medication. See how important it is?“
  37. I nod. “Yes, I do now.”
  38. Nurse smiles at me, giving my knee another slap and sending a jolt of pain through my leg. “About time.”
  39.  
  40. Nurse helps Emi with her legs behind a privacy divider for a few minutes while I sit and breathe on the table. They're talking, Emi bubbling over with excitement because of my accomplishment. “You should have seen him! He did great! You were a star out there, Hisao!“
  41. “Thanks, Emi.”
  42.  
  43. “Emi, where did you get this bruise?” Nurse asks.
  44.  
  45. I stop and stare at the ceiling, listening intently after Nurse's question, feeling bile begin to creep up my throat.
  46.  
  47. Emi laughs. “Hisao took his fall and I tried to catch him! He grabbed on pretty tight. It's all right, nothing I haven't had worse or done to myself, you know that.“
  48. Nurse doesn't answer, just makes a murmur of compliance.
  49. I feel like I want to leave the room before they step out from behind the curtain.
  50.  
  51. Her legs in place, Emi hops out in the open with Nurse right behind her. “Hisao, you'll have to give me a minute. I need to dig your records out and freshen my memory before I do your check-up. I'm doing some cleaning with my paperwork and I mothballed your file. I didn't think I'd ever see you again!“
  52.  
  53. I nod. “I know. That's going to change.”
  54. He smiles, looking a little proud as he does. “Good to hear. Do you want something for the pain?“
  55. “No, I'm good.”
  56. “All right.“ He turns towards Emi. “Everything okay with you?“
  57. “Yep!“
  58. He tilts his head towards her. “Are you sure?“
  59. “Yes! Get going! I don't have all day!“
  60. “All right. I'll be right back.”
  61.  
  62. Nurse exits the room, taking his coffee with him and Emi hops up onto the table next to me. “I'm proud of you, Hisao.”
  63. “Yeah,” I say, “I'm proud of me too.”
  64. She playfully shoves me. “I knew you had it in you. Things are going to be different now, right? I won't have to drag you out of bed?“
  65. I shake my head. “No, I'm not going to let myself fall back again. I have to take care of myself. If not for my own sake, then for the people who are important to me.“
  66. Emi nods, satisfied with my answer. “I'm glad to hear that. You had me worried, you looked really down on yourself.“
  67. “I know. It's been a rough summer so far.”
  68.  
  69. I blink and turn away from her.
  70.  
  71. “You all right?” she asks.
  72.  
  73. I shake my head. “No, I'm ashamed of myself.” I turn back towards her. “Emi, I'm sorry. I- I don't know why I did that. I shouldn't have...grabbed you that way. Are you okay?“
  74. She smiles. “I'm fine.”
  75. “Are you sure?”
  76. “Yes!”
  77. “Emi...why...why didn't you say something to Nurse?“
  78. She waves me off. “He doesn't need to be bothered. Besides, I know you didn't mean it, you were angry. I know what it's like to say and do things you regret when you're angry.“
  79.  
  80. She taps her feet against the side of the examining table, looking very reproachful.
  81. “Hisao, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did to you. You were right, it wasn't funny. No one should say something like that, even if it did get you to run. That was unforgivable.“
  82. “It's okay.”
  83. “It's just that, don't take this the wrong way, but you've always been a little bit of a downer, but it seems worse now.“ She looks concerned. “Are you okay?”
  84. “Yeah.”
  85. “Really? You seemed angry. I've never seen you lose your temper before.“
  86.  
  87. I sigh and think about my words before I say them. “I didn't even know I had one. I just...I wanted something more, you know? I got out of the hospital as soon as I could, expecting to spend the summer with Lilly and take control of my life. I ended up alone and falling into bad habits again. I hate being alone. If you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have ran, I wouldn't have tried. I want to make myself better for Lilly, but I'm afraid I can't do it.“
  88. Emi blinks. “You really miss her, huh?”
  89. I nod. “What was the point of stopping her from leaving and putting myself in the hospital if she's not here?“
  90. “You're going to see her today.”
  91. “That's not enough.”
  92.  
  93. Emi smirks. “Then why don't you ask her to stick around?”
  94. “I would if I could. Lilly already moved out of the dorms and because of the stupid paperwork, she can't move back in until school starts. I mean, she spent most nights in my dorm anyway, so....“ I stop talking, my hasty words cut off.
  95.  
  96. Emi giggles. “So that explains the grabby hands. You're used to having company! Why don't you just have her stay in your dorm?“
  97. I shrug bashfully. “It's one thing to sneak a girl into your room. It's another to sneak in a person that the school doesn't consider a student anymore. I could get expelled for that and Lilly may not be allowed back.“
  98. “Can she stay with someone nearby?”
  99. “Her sister Akira is out of her apartment. They were staying at Shizune's house until they left, so now she's stuck there.“
  100. “Lilly is at Shizune's house?”
  101. I nod.
  102. Emi blows a long stream of air through pursed lips. “That place must be a war zone by now.”
  103. I laugh. “Not really. I've talked to Lilly about it and it seems she and Shizune are doing a lot better. They still clash and argue, but they're at least trying to be 'civil' to each other as Lilly calls it. She said that when they start arguing, they just walk away and leave each other alone until they cool down.“
  104. “How do they argue?”
  105. “Misha is staying at Shizune's house as well.”
  106. Emi shakes her head. “Poor Misha,” she says.
  107. “What do you mean, 'poor Misha.'”
  108.  
  109. Emi blinks. “Just, you know, having to be stuck between the two of them all the time. It must be pretty stressful, that's all.“
  110. I nod in agreement. I don't envy Misha when she gets stuck arguing by proxy for the two of them.
  111.  
  112. “Overall, I've just been feeling like nothing I've done mattered," I continue. "I stopped Lilly and I still didn't get to spend summer with her. It's as if I didn't accomplish anything at all. It makes me feel useless.“
  113.  
  114. “Don't be like that,” she tells me with a harsh tone. “You accomplished something today. You're standing up for yourself and you're not going to let anything or anyone, even you, stop you ever again! Right?“
  115. “Right.”
  116. “I can't hear you!”
  117. “Right!” I shout.
  118. “That's the spirit!”
  119.  
  120. The door opens interrupting our pep rally. “Keep it down, you two,” Nurse says. “There are some people still trying to sleep, I should be one of them.“ He walks into the room and shuts the door behind him, putting down his freshened cup of coffee, holding my file flat in his hands. Blowing across the top of it, a thin film of dust floats off and into my face. I cough and wave it away. “Did you cover my files in dust just so you could do that to me?“
  121. “Took me a while. I stuck them under a hot water heater.“
  122.  
  123. He begins reading the inside of the folder. “Huh, I can't seem to read this dead language. You're into science, Hisao; can you read Latin?"
  124. “Very funny.”
  125. “Not as funny as your X-ray; it looks like it belongs to some form of prehistoric life.”
  126. “Knock it off.”
  127. “I was such a young man when I wrote this. It's kind of funny walking down memory lane, isn't it?“
  128. “Stop it.”
  129. “I can't. I have all this material saved up to use on you.“ He pauses. Then he holds the file open towards me dramatically. “Unlike the lack of material in your file. This thing is practically empty,“ he beams widely. "I kind of wish a moth would fly out if this thing right now. It would make this bit perfect."
  130.  
  131. Emi bubbles with laughter. I groan; maybe coming here was a bad idea.
  132.  
  133. There's a heavy, repeated bashing against the door, interrupting us. It's a persistent and regular sound, an even and unceasing tempo. It sounds somewhat familiar. Emi hops off the table excitedly. “I know that kicking!”
  134.  
  135. She rushes over and throws the door open. On the other side stands Rin, or at least what's left of her.
  136. Rin has half her shirt on, the other half dangling off her short arms, three buttons done up, all of them in the wrong holes. Her tie is loosely wrapped around her neck and dangles down to her hip. Her hair is messy and sticks up at weird angles, plastered with what I hope is paint. There's huge bags under her eyes and all her clothes hang off her skinny, unfed form and I think I can smell her from over here. “Hello,” she says in a monotone, flat grumble.
  137.  
  138. We're all staring at her in shock, but Emi looks to be in the greatest state of alarm. Her mouth gapes open and she has an expression like an architect who's building has been knocked down or an engineer who's been told the dam collapsed. Her mouth opens and closes like a fish, trying to form words, but unable to make sounds.
  139.  
  140. “You say 'hello' to me now,” Rin says helpfully.
  141.  
  142. Rin turns towards me. “Hello, Hisao.”
  143. “Hi, Rin. What are you doing here?”
  144. “Looking for Emi.”
  145. “No, I mean...why are you at school?”
  146. “I have classes.”
  147. “But it's summer.”
  148. Rin shrugs. “I missed a lot of them. Summer classes. I missed normal classes, not summer classes. I'm taking summer classes right now. Not right now, I mean, there wasn't even summer classes yet then. The classes I missed. So now I'm taking them, summer classes. I was doing this thing with people for teacher. I missed my classes, the non-summer ones, which I'm taking right now. Not right now, I'm looking for Emi right now. But I found her, so I'm not really doing anything right now, except talking to you.“
  149. Rin seems even more...Rin than usual.
  150. It's a worrying thought.
  151.  
  152. Emi starts squealing in distress, looking Rin up and down, trying to comprehend what's in front of her. “Rin...how?...why?...what happened? Oh, your hair! Oh, your clothes! What, what have you done?“
  153.  
  154. Without prompt, Emi starts arranging Rin's clothes and re-buttoning her shirt into a more modest state.
  155. Rin shrugs. “You've been gone. The school was supposed to send someone to help me, but they never arrived. I did fine until a couple days ago. I had to change, so I thought, 'why should I bother changing into pajamas, I'm just going to get back in normal clothes in the morning'? So I slept in my clothes, but then I had to take a shower and it took me all day to get my clothes dry and I missed class, summer class, so I stopped taking showers, but it was okay, because my clothes got washed with me when I took my last shower, but they smell again and I don't want to miss class while they dry. Then I was bored so I started painting and that got all over me.“
  156. “Why didn't you wash?” Emi asks helplessly.
  157. “Then my clothes would get wet. I already said that, weren't you listening?“ Rin shuffles back and forth, her sandals flopping against the floor. “I heard someone say you were here. Or, someone told me that you were here. Or I just knew you were here because I needed you, so I knew you would be here." She shrugs. "I was right. Here you are.“
  158.  
  159. Emi looks like she's going to cry as she finishes Rin's tie. “Why did you need me?”
  160. Rin's eyes dart over to me and Nurse, then back to Emi. “I need...help with something.”
  161. “Oh, Rin! You should have called! I would have come sooner!”
  162. “I'm not good with buttons.”
  163.  
  164. Emi cries out and throws her arms around Rin who takes the embrace in stride, but looks slightly annoyed. Rin gives a firm knee to the midsection to dislodge Emi from around her.
  165. “I'm sorry for kicking you,” she says. “Will you still help me?”
  166. Emi giggles and sniffles her tears, rubbing her stomach. “Of course!”
  167.  
  168. “Rin, if I had known you were here, I could have helped you if you needed it,“ I offer.
  169. Rin shrugs, looking uncomfortable. “I did fine on my own. Finding food was hard. I managed.” She shrugs. “Thanks anyway.”
  170. “Well, at least we could have hung out. I've been bored out of my mind here.“
  171. Emi turns towards me, wiping tears of either joy, pain or distress from her eyes. “You'd only be more frustrated than you already are.“
  172. “Hisao is frustrated? Why?” Rin asks with a hint of curiosity.
  173. “His girlfriend is away.”
  174. Rin nods. “The one that talks to butterflies? I see. I know what that kind of frustration is like.”
  175.  
  176. “Emi,” I say, “please don't broadcast my issues to everyone.”
  177. Emi shrugs. "It's just Rin."
  178. She takes Rin's loose sleeves and ties them into knots before looping her arm around what exists of her companion's arm.
  179.  
  180. “Ms. Tezuka,“ Nurse says, “I'm sorry your attendant didn't show up. With everything going on at Yamaku over the summer, it must have fallen through the cracks. I'll personally make sure that it's taken care of immediately.“
  181. “She doesn't need it! I'm here now!“ Emi declares with a puffed up chest.
  182. “Nonetheless, I'll see to it. You can't be here all the time, Emi.“
  183.  
  184. Emi doesn't seem to like the implication she can't be in two places at once.
  185. Rin just shrugs. “Thank you.“
  186. “I'm going to help Rin and get her something to eat,“ Emi says. ”Are you going to be okay, Hisao?“
  187. I wave her off. “I'll be fine.”
  188. Emi turns to leave, but I call her back. “Hey, Emi.”
  189. “Yeah, Hisao?”
  190. I nod deeply. “Thank you. For keeping me moving forward.”
  191. Emi smiles broadly. “Not a problem, Hisao. I just hope Lilly knows how lucky she is to have a guy like you.“
  192.  
  193. The two of them walk arm by pseudo-arm down the hall, the door shutting behind them.
  194. I reflect for a moment on how lucky I am to have the friends that I do.
  195.  
  196. “So,” Nurse says from just behind my shoulder in a sly whisper. “You're dating Ms. Satou, are you? She's quite the looker, Hisao, you lucky devil, you.“
  197.  
  198. I groan.
  199. This isn't going to end well.
  200.  
  201. ----------------------------------------
  202.  
  203. 1-4: http://pastebin.com/ZB3BGjFx
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