KS: Bloodline Act 1

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=6393

Katawa Shoujo Bloodline

Act 1: The Paths we Follow

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Chapter One: First Impressions

It's been a long time since I've had to wake up early in the morning. Even before I had my accident, I've always hated that incessant beeping my alarm would make. The very same one it's making right now.

I bring my fist down on my alarm in order to shut it off.

However, the beeping persists. Unconsciously, I used my left hand to shut off my alarm and it resulted in me missing the alarm by a few inches to the left.

Damn it, I can't even do this.

I sigh and lift my right hand to do what my left failed. I manage to shut off the alarm but now my whole upper body is hanging over the edge with very little balan-

"Ow!"

Yeah, face first into the ground. Luckily, my stroke hadn't left me with any facial deformities but repeatedly falling on my face isn't helping much.

I also notice that I haven't gotten much sleep because this position is starting to feel very comfortable.

I quickly get on my feet, grab my change of clothes and head to the shower across the hall. It's still pretty early in the morning so no one should be around to bother me in my morning routine.

The campus grounds are pretty much empty, save for a few students milling about. Most of them look like they're pretty normal. From the outside, you can't really tell that this is a school for the disabled, well, at least with the people I'm looking at.

Too bad it can't stay this way.

Yesterday, not even an hour after I had arrived, I saw a girl have a seizure out here on the field. She looked normal, cute even, but then that happened. The nursing staff was quick to respond though. A bunch of nurses came and took the girl somewhere else to rest. Seeing that girl on the ground was surreal and it crushed any optimism I may have had left.

I wonder if anyone has died here?

I pushed that thought out of my head as soon as it came in. I can't be thinking about that. After my stroke, my body became much weaker and the risk of me having another one has significantly increased. The next one might even kill me if I'm not careful.

What a depressing thought. I can't even go one day without thinking about how pitiful I am.

I've spent enough time loitering around. Time to get back to the task at hand. There's still half an hour before classes start so I should at least get familiar with the nursing staff. Who knows, they might save my life one day.

The school itself is pretty big. The buildings seem a bit too much though. They look like any other school building but with a certain extravagance that puts them over the top. It feels almost as if it's trying too hard to look like a normal school.

Try masking it however you want, I know your secret. You're nothing but a hospital in disguise.

The school officials had shown me all the places that I needed to know about, so finding the head nurse's office wasn't a hassle. They door is closed and I don't hear anyone inside, I knock anyways.

"Come in," says a muffled, male voice.

Weird, I don't remember having met a male nurse before. There weren't any at the hospital. I'll have to look into that later.

I open the door and slowly make my way in.

The office looks like what I'd expect a regular doctor's office would look like. Oddly enough, it shares similarities to my hospital and dorm room. It might be intentional, maybe to convince people that the stale, white walls will become their world from now on. A man sits at his desk, which is covered in paper work, as he reads a newspaper and drinks his morning coffee.

"Oh, I don't believe we've meet," the man states as he puts down his newspaper to address me. "You'll have to forgive me, I have a hard time remembering names of students that avoid visiting me when they need to." His face scowls at the mere thought of students disregarding their health.

"Uh, no. I'm actually a transfer student. Today's my first day and I thought I should familiarize myself with the people here."

"Transfer student?" His face grows pensive for a moment as he looks at his computer screen. "Ah, yes. Yaso Atoza, correct?"

I guess it's easy to figure out someone's name when he starts school later than everyone else.

"Yes, that's correct. Nice to meet you." I bow my head in a show of respect. It's worth noting that the man seems to be in his later years. The hairs on his head turn from a dark shade of amethyst to a light shade of silver. There are several wrinkles around the edges of his mouth and eyes. His body might be of an old man but his cheerful tone, facial expressions that often include a wink, and youthful spirit, suggest otherwise.

"It's good to meet you too, you can call me Nurse, as everyone else does. Well Mr. Atoza, it's kind of you take the initiative and introduce yourself," he grins slyly like fox. "It saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down."

I don't reply to this. I've never gotten along well with doctors or nurses. My stay at the hospital was no exception, at least the parts I remember weren't.

"From your record, you've recently had a stroke that inhibited your movement for quite some time." Apparently he had my record on hand since now he has it opened on his desk.

Recently isn't exactly the word I would use. It's been almost a year.

"You've seemed to recover most of your motor functions," he stops for a moment to read further into my record. "How's your left arm treating you?"

"It's fine, I can't really make a fist with my left hand but I don't think I'll need to."

For some reason, Nurse seems to be taken aback from my comment. His face seems surprised as he writes something down. He quickly changes his expression to a more serious one.

"Is something the matter?" I ask.

"Your record also states that you have the tendency to stutter in you speech from time to time." He's obviously avoiding my question.

I know you heard me. Don't try to change the subject.

I remain silent for a moment. I'm torn between whether or not to follow up on my previous question. I decide against it after a glance at the clock on the wall reveals that I'm running short on time.

"Yes, but the stuttering only occurs when I'm stressed or nervous. When I'm calm and relaxed, I can speak normally."

Nurse stands from his desk and reaches for his stethoscope but quickly draws his hand back. "I would like to do a quick check-up to see how your health is at this point, but I don't want you to be late for you first day of class." He looks at his schedule to make sure that he doesn't have any prior engagements. "Ok, come back at the end of the day and we'll have that check-up. It'll be quick so it shouldn't be much of a bother. How's that sound?"

The sole reason for me coming here was to get a check up to make sure I don't die on my first day. This is the first time in a long time that I'm not constantly being examined by a doctor.

I want to say something about it but I find it hard to bring it up. "Uh, y-yeah. That s-should be fine."

Nurse makes that biggest smile you can imagine on someone's face. "Come now, there's no need to be nervous. I understand it's your first day here, but no one is going to bite you. Just take it easy and everything will be fine. That is to say if you don't do anything rash. I remember there was a boy who-" He stops himself before he says anything else.

"Never mind, I can't tell you that. He'll be embarrassed if one of his students found out that did that." He winks with that last line. "You'd better run along if you don't want to be late, first impressions and all that."

"Oh right, t-thank you." I quickly go out the door and head for class 3-3.

I wonder what he meant when he said one of his students?

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Chapter Two: Take Your Lessons To Heart

The visit to the nursing office took longer than I thought it would. The bell rang a little while ago and I just now made it to class.

Well, I'm not exactly in class yet, I'm standing outside with my hand on the door handle.

This is it. My final moments before I relinquish my last chances at a normal life. I guess I really am doomed to be a cripple. It's a haunting thought, but my own father called me one too.

There's no helping it now. It's time to take the first step into my new life.

I turn the handle and step into the class. Immediately, I can feel the gaze of almost two dozen pairs of eyes turn to me.

Surely, I'm not that strange of a specimen. I'm a little on the tall side, being able to speak eye-to-eye with most people my age. My hair is jet-black and wavy when longer but I never let it grow past half of my forehead because then it gets messy. I am a few shades tanner than you'd find on most people but not enough for me to be able to say that I'm foreign. My eyes, though full of disappointment at the moment, are a dark shade of brown. I have average looks, if I remember the rumor-mill from my old school correctly. The only thing that may put off some people is that my left hand is almost always in a half-clenched position, a lingering effect of my stroke. I'm a still a little sensitive about that fact so I tend to keep my hand in my pocket or behind my back, whichever one seems more appropriate at the time.

I don't know what to do. It doesn't seem like I interrupted a lesson, in fact, the teacher is sitting at his desk working on something. He doesn't even seem to have noticed my entrance.

He's a short, portly man who seems more interested on his own book than teaching the class in front of him. There are small white hairs on his head that surround one particular large bold spot. He turns his gaze to me as I walk up to him.

"What do you want?" he says in a gruff, harsh, almost bitter voice. "I thought I told all of you to sit down and read."

"I-I'm the new, t-transfer student, s-so I don't kn-"

He cuts me off before I finish talking by raising his hand in the air to signify that he wants me quiet.

How is this guy even a teacher. He's too rude and impatience to be able to teach. I don't like him.

"So this is your first day I take it? Fine then, you have an excuse to be talking to be, this time," he snarls. He puts down his book, which I now notice to be a book full of Sudoku puzzles, to stand up and point me to the nearest empty desk.

"You can take that empty desk over there. I don't think anyone is using it." He looks around the class to confirm his assumption with other students, while they just nod their heads to answer him.

"Don't I h-have to introduce myself?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm just filling in for your teacher until he gets here. Apparently the scatterbrained science teacher's car had some issues so he's running late today." As he says this, I can feel the air around him get heavy, he must not like him very much. "You can do your introduction when he gets here. For now just sit at your desk and keep quiet," he almost yells as he sits back down to continue his puzzles.

Thank you God for having this grumpy old man not be my teacher for the rest of the year.

As I make my way to my newly, appointed desk, I look around at the other students. At a first glance, most of them appear to be normal. However, if you take your time to look at each of them you can notice that some of them have missing limbs, some wear bandages over their bodies, one girl even has an eye patch.

Luckily for me, my desk is near the back and next to a window and the girl next to me doesn't seem to have any physical ailments. She sits up, with her back straight in a calm, disciplined manner. She has straight, short, raven colored hair with a hair pin holding back her bangs from falling in her face. Her eyes are a deep blue and have a determined, analytical look to them. In fact, they're look straight at me, following my every movement even as I take a seat in the desk next to hers.

Well this isn't so bad. At the very least I sitting next to a cute girl, but why is she looking at me? She's just staring at everything I do.

It's a little nerve racking to have this girl just staring at me. Does she want something? I would try to talk to her but I'm pretty sure the old man would yell at me for making a sound. As I look in her direction, I notice some a movement in front of her. Her hands are moving making strange shapes and symbols.

Sign language? Oh isn't that just great! The one cute girl I sit next to ends up being deaf. Just great.

Naturally, disappointment starts crawling its way back into my mind at this revelation. The girl, oblivious to my mood, continues to sign. He face begins to show a little annoyance probably because she expects an immediate reply.

I don't know any sign language. What does she want from me?

I doubt the girl has enough patience to wait for me to pull out a notepad and write something to her so I decide to try my hand at improvised sign language. I move my hands, focusing on using my right had to do most of the actions, to try to ask her a question.

<Why are you looking at me?> I hope I say as I point to her eyes and back to me.

Her face suddenly brightens up and she starts signing something else at a faster rate.

Yeah, that wasn't the best idea. Now she has it in her mind that I can use at least some form of sign language.

I sigh, put my head down and shrug, hopefully conveying that I don't know how to sign. This action of mine is rewarded with a giggle. As I look up, I seen the girl next to me holding her hand up to her mouth and her shoulders moving up and down. What I also notice is that the door to the classroom opens and in walks a man with messy brown hair. The man, noticeably younger than the one sitting at the desk in front, is in a suit and is panting slightly.

"Mr. Koga, thank you for watching my class. Sorry for the inconvenience," the suited man says as he tries to catch his breath.

"Next time make sure your car is working before you try to make it to class. I'm still surprised someone like you managed to get a degree," Koga says as he collects his things and heads towards the door. "Oh, you also have a new transfer student in today. So you might want to get started with that before anything else."

As Koga departs, the teacher stands at his desk with his hand over his heart while he breathes deeply.

How could he be this tired. It's not that far from the staff parking lot. Even running here shouldn't be that bad.

While the teacher is in front trying to regain his composure, the students are still reading their books or doing other things to pass the time, except for one. The girl next to me has a concerned look on her face as she stares at the man. Eventually the man stands up straight and notices the girl's look of concern. He nods slightly in her direction and the girl calms down.

"I'm sorry for being so late today. I had car troubles this morning so Mr. Koga had to step in for me until I got here. I'm sure you all enjoyed his cheerful attitude." A few giggles and dry chuckles can be heard from the class.

"I see we have a new student in today. So how about it, would you like to introduce yourself?"

I don't have much to say about myself. I could talk about my interests but I'm too sure what I used to do before I ran track. I could just make something up, it's not like anyone here is going to fact check me.

"Y-yes, I would like to introduce myself." I stand and head to the front of the class. I clear my throat as I prepare for my introduction.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Yaso Atoza. I'm 18 and I enjoy spending most of my time outside enjoying nature. I enjoy playing all kinds of sports and can be quite good at them when I'm focused. I hope we can get along in our last year here."

Okay, I was more honest than I wanted to be but it's better not to have too much attention.

I make my way back to my desk. As I sit down, the girl next to me watches me with a devious grin on her face.

"Well thank you for that introduction, Mr. Atoza. I guess it's my turn to introduce myself to you. I'm Nakai, Hisao Nakai and I'm going to be your homeroom and science teacher. Welcome to Yamaku Academy, I'm sure you'll be able to find your place here soon," he smiles as he says this. I can't help but feel that he genuinely meant what he said.

The rest of the day goes by uneventfully. Nakai spends the majority of the time reviewing everything from the last few weeks for my benefit. The other students don't mind it, this stuff is fairly involved so going over it again is helpful. Before I know it the bell rings, signifying it's time for lunch.

As the students begin making their way out of the class, I stay behind and slowly put stuff away in my book bag.

So far everything here seems like a normal school. The lessons are something that you'd find at a private school, they're difficult but doable. Nakai seems like a good guy too, he took all of today's time making sure that I don't fall behind. I guess I can get comfortable here.

My thoughts are interrupted when the deaf girl that sits next to me walks up to my desk. I just put my notepad away so I slowly reach into my bag to pull it out again.

Suddenly her hand falls on my desk, her other hand is making a thumbs up sign pointed towards me.

"Congratulations! You have qualified to be one of the lucky few to be chosen to join the Student Council!" I guess my assumption that she was deaf was way off considering that she's cheerfully yelling at me.

"S-student Council?" I'll admit I'm a little nervous at the fact that a complete stranger is trying to rope me into something. A cute stranger, but a stranger none-the-less.

"Wahahaha~! That's right student council! You should totally join! You have shown that you aren't afraid to take on new challenges as you tried to sign back to me and you weren't nervous with your introduction!"

She's way too cheerful. And what's with that Wahahaha?

"Who a-are you and why d-do you want me to join?"

"Oh? Right~! I forgot to introduce myself!" She coughs into her hand to settle herself down. She then looks at me intently. "My name is Kamiko Hakamichi and it's nice to meet you Yaso Atoza."

"Kamiko!" As we both turn our heads, Nakai stands up from his desk and is looks in our direction. "You know better than that! You shouldn't force someone into Student Council on their first day." The way he's scolding her makes it seem as if she's done this before.

"But Mr. Nakai..." she tries to put on a puppy dog face as an attempt to appeal to Nakai.

"Kamiko, just go to lunch and leave Yaso alone for today."

She puffs her face at this and begins to pout but then makes her way towards the door.

"I swear that girl has spent too time with Misha."

"M-misha?" I'm still extremely confused at this point and I can't really make much sense of my thoughts.

Nakai looks at me for a second and sighs. "Don't worry about it Yaso, just go enjoy your lunch. Go before all the good food is gone." He leads me towards the door where we both step out and go our separate ways.

I don't know what to think of this school yet.

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Chapter Three: Draft Dodging

The rush to the cafeteria is just as you'd expect from any other school. It's just a giant mob of people that rush to get their lunches. I noticed that not everyone from my class is here. They must have brought their own lunches and have gone somewhere quiet to eat. Unfortunately I don't have that luxury since I didn't have enough time this morning to make something. Also, I don't really know where a good place to eat would be.

I grab a rather bland looking lunch and head for an empty table. Most people sit with their own group of friends, enjoy conversations, and laugh at jokes that wouldn't make sense to anyone else. I, however, sit alone with no one to talk to.

I don't mind it. I've never been too sociable. At my old school, I would eat my lunch underneath a tree that was quite a bit away from the main school building. It was far enough so that people wouldn't bother me but close enough so that I wouldn't attract any unneeded attention. Much like I did back then, I just eat my lunch quietly and let my mind wander while I enjoy a moment of peace.

This school isn't what I expected. I thought that there would be doctors and nurses around every corner, watching our every move. I thought this would be more like a prison with none of us being able to do anything unless we had permission from the person with the highest authority. If you ignore the fact that these people are disabled in some way or another, it would seem almost normal.

Normal.

Why does that word seem so strange to me now? Has it finally sunk in that I won't be able to return to my old life? Not only have I physically left what I considered my world, have I also begun to think myself no longer a part of it?

What a sad, miserable state of affairs.

I'm so distracted by my thoughts that I don't notice my over-enthusiastic classmate take a seat in front of me. With a loud thump, she slams down her lunch on the table in order to snap me out of my reverie.

"Wahahaha~! Did you really think that I'd let you get away so easily?"

It's hard to pretend to ignore her when that laugh is so ear-piercing.

She furrows her brow when she notices that I haven't acknowledged her presence yet.

"Hey! It's rude to not answer someone when they're talking to you!" She is visibly getting upset as she leans towards me with her cheeks puffed. She begins snapping her fingers in front of my eyes to get my attention.

At this point, her contradicting outward appearance and behavior don't surprise me as much as they did when we first spoke. "What do you need Hakamichi?"

"Oh, so you are awake, good! But you don't need to be so formal. Just call me Kamiko."

I wave my hand in front of me to dismiss her request. "Sorry but I'd rather call you Hakamichi. I've never been comfortable calling people by their first names."

Surprised by my response, she takes a moment to ponder my answer. After making up her mind she nods and continues which her train of thought. "Anyways~! Have you given much thought about my proposition?"

Proposition? If I remember correctly, she was just yelling at me demanding I join the Student Council. Where was the offer? All I saw was an order.

"Didn't Mr. Nakai tell you not to bother me about that today."

"Nakai? Forget him! What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

I thought the Student Council was suppose to be the model which other students should follow. What kind of example is she setting by disobeying what a teacher told her.

I'm not too keen about the idea of joining the Student Council on my first day but I'll admit I am curious about what they do.

"So why are you so interested in me joining the Student Council? You don't even know who I am."

"True, but I know enough about you to see that you'll fit perfectly with us."

"Who's us?"

"Wahahaha~! The rest to the Student Council of course!" She puts her hands on her hips and a huge, toothy grin forms across her face. She must really think highly of the Student Council since she seems the most cheerful whenever she mentions it.

Without even waiting for me to ask another question she begins her explanation. "You see Yaso, the Student Council is always busy with work around the clock. We organize many of the activities that occur throughout the year and help whenever there are conflicts among the clubs. Luckily, this year we have about nine members but it'll be better if we had more to ease our burden."

The way see talks about it makes it seem as if every moment of the day is filled with some job or another. It isn't doing much to persuade me, in fact it's having the opposite effect.

"If you guys are so busy every day, why are you spending your time here and not working?"

"I am working!" She almost jumps out of her seat with that statement. "As Class President, it's my duty to make sure the Student Council is able to complete all of its duties in a timely manner. Be it by actually working with everyone else or by getting a new member. At the end of the day it helps us do our job."

"That's assuming that I join the Student Council and so far-"

"You are joining!" She leans in close to prevent me from saying otherwise. "And I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

It's obvious that Hakamichi won't budge from her decision of me joining the Student Council. I just need to change the subject and hopefully she'll follow.

"Hey, did you find it strange that Mr. Nakai seemed so tired when he got to class." Not the smoothest of topic changes but it was the only thing I could think of.

Her cheery attitude suddenly disappears and she shows a worried expression.

Nice going! I've managed to make a girl sad. Yep, looks like I'll be branded as an asshole at this school.

"H-hey, I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean to say something bad. I just thought it was strange."

Hakamichi doesn't look me in the eyes, preferring to keep her sights on her lunch in front of her.

"So you noticed it too?  Nakai has..." She can't seem to find the right words to say and begins playing with her food.

"N-no. You don't have to explain anything y-you aren't comfortable with."

There has to be some way to cheer this girl up.

"J-just ignore what I said. What were we talking about again? The S-student Council right? You know, I-I think I might join."

Hakamichi's head moves slightly at my words.

"Do... you mean it?" She speaks in a low whisper that is almost hidden by the sound of the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I mean I'm not-"

Suddenly her mood shifts from depression to absolute bliss. "Great! So that means you joining right!"

That was a surprisingly fast rebound.

"Wait, I said I was thinking about it," I quickly answer before she gets any ideas.

"Come on, Yaso! You can't make a cute girl sad and then not do what she wants!"

...

You can't be serious?

I frown when I realize what she just tried to do. By Hakamichi's stunned expression, I can tell that she said that without thinking.

"That was an act, wasn't it!? You tried to trick me by making me feel guilty!" I'm offended and also ashamed that I almost fell for it.

"Ok, fine. It was an act. But you're tried to make me feel better by sacrificing your own desires. You're perfect for the Student Council!"

"Sneaky, underhanded, manipulative, corrupt Class President. Is that how you got eight people to join? It's just a giant conspiracy waiting to be exposed, some kind of Feminist Conspiracy!"

"It's not a conspiracy! Where did you get that crazy idea from?" Her face is a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Probably a little anger in there too.

"It fits the description of perfectly."

Back before my accident, one of my adventures was to find and expose mass conspiracies to the world. Obviously, I didn't find anything real but I was inspired to try because of a book that I bought on a whim.

Strange, why did I suddenly remember that?

Hakamichi looks ready to defend her recruitment methods when the bell rings. "Fine then! We'll save this for another time. But don't think you're off the hook."

She stands up and glares at me for a moment before walking off. I sigh a breath of relief and start making my way back to class.

Something tells me this won't be the only conversation I have about joining the Student Council.

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Chapter Four: Snake in the Grass

It's cold. Darkness surrounds me. I can't see, I can't move.

Fear. It's all I know, it's the only thing I can focus on.

Help me please. I don't want to be here. I don't know where I am.

"He had a stroke..." A muffled voice is the only thing that breaks the cold, bitter silence.

Who's voice that? Why does it sound so familiar, so sad?

"What can we do, there has to be something..." Another voice comes from the darkness, it belongs to a woman. She's crying, she's my-

Mother? Where are you? Why can't I do anything? Please help me!

I can feel tears make their way down my face as the two voices mix into a cacophony that I can't make any sense of.

Someone please listen to me.

The two voices become still when a third voice enters the conversation. His voice, deeper than the first, remains calm as he delivers his message.

"At this point, there is no telling how extensive the damages are..." His voice trails off as the first voice speaks up, anger now replacing the despair that was once there.

"Can't you tell us how my son doing!?"

Father? Is that you? Please help me! I don't want to be here. Get me out of here!

Another cacophony, this time louder and harsher than before.

It hurts, please someone, get me out.

Suddenly every sound is halted by a loud thud.

What is that? Where is it coming from?

Another thud, quickly followed by another. It continues without stopping. It grows louder and louder until-

"Gyah!" With a quick jolt, I sit up out of my sheets, awakened from my nightmare.

I quickly survey my surroundings to find out where I am.

My room? That's right, my dorm. I'm in Yamaku. It was just a dream.

I rest my head pillow once again. Upon contact, I realize that my pillow is wet.

Sweat? Just what was that nightmare?

As soon as I relax, I hear a series of loud thuds coming from the outside of my room. Someone is pounding on my door.

Who's knocking at my door this early? Classes don't start for another two hours. I'm not even close enough to anyone for them to want to see me in the morning.

Normally, the new student would stay after class on the first day of school just to meet everyone and get acquainted. I, however, decided to leave as soon as the last bell rang and head to my dorm. I didn't feel the need to be introduced to anyone and I didn't want to be bothered by Hakamichi again.

Oh you've got to be kidding me! Seriously Hakamichi? She's the only one that I can imagine to have a reason to wake me up. Is she really that motivated to make me join the Student Council?

I get out of bed, put on a shirt, and decide to give Hakamichi an earful about waking me up early for some stupid argument we can have later.

Hakamichi isn't that tall. All I have to do is stare her straight in the eyes, look as threatening and as big as possible, and explain to her why it's wrong to wake me up early.

I open my door with my eyes fixed at the position I expect Hakamichi's eyes to be. When the door swings open, I glare at her with a fury that is only just barely being held back. I play my part just as planned, the only problem is that Hakamichi isn't there.

In fact, I'm glaring at the chest of another guy.

This guy is already in full uniform. He has straight silver hair that is combed back to an almost professional businessman-like appearance. His eyes are a dark gray as they hide behind a small pair of glasses. He is taller than me so it takes a little while until I move my gaze from his chest to his eyes.

He stands there, neither surprised by my odd reaction to his appearance nor lost, which leads me to believe that he has some business with me.

"May I help you?" I ask, while trying to hide my relief that Hakamichi wasn't at my door.

He doesn't say anything. He just stands there looking at me, his eyes are analyzing me, judging my worth. His eyes linger on my half-clenched left hand. I instinctively put it behind my back and he continues his analysis.

"You're Yaso Atoza, correct?" he asks flatly, seemingly not impressed by my appearance.

"Yeah, and who are you exactly?"

He lifts his hand a points to the door behind him. "Ryo Hanamaru, I'm in the room across the hall."

Some people would take this as an opportunity to meet their neighbor. I won't. He woke me up early and I'm still a little peeved. "So why exactly are you here?"

He stares at me for a while before he responds. "I'm here on behalf of the Class President."

My right hand quickly finds its place on my forehead. "So let me guess, Hakamichi told you to come here, wake me up, and try to recruit me into the Student Council?"

"Hakamichi? You're meant to call her by her title. So refer to her by it." He steps forward in order to make his words have more impact.

Well isn't that just swell. Just what I need in the morning, some buffoon trying to threaten me.

"What, are you one of the people she conned into joining? How did she do it, did she start crying for you too?" I let my tone get harsher to make it obvious that I don't need this right now.

 "You should show more respect to your superiors. I'm the Vice President and no, I joined because I wanted to."

"Vice President? So far you seem like her lap dog doing all of the work she puts off."

"The Class President always works hard for the good of the school," he seems more insulted by my remark about Hakamichi than being called a lap dog. "I don't see why she would need a worthless, sad excuse for a man like you!"

"Worthless!? You think I'm worthless!" I grab Hanamaru by his collar and pull him down so that we're eye-to-eye. "You have no right to call me that! You have no idea-"

Hanamaru grabs my wrist with an intense grip, forcing me to let go. Once free, he takes a step back to straighten his uniform. "It's against school policy to lash out violently towards other students. They should have a least told you that when you entered."

I've had enough of him.

I quickly step back into my room and begin stuffing my gym clothes into a bag. I walk out, lock the door, and go past an angry Hanamaru.

"Where do you think you're going, Atoza!? You can't just assault someone and then walk off!"

"It's not assault and leave me the hell alone! I'm going to the track to blow off some steam. Is that fine or is it against school policies?" I'm pretty sure my yelling has woken up some people on this floor but at this point I don't care.

Hanamaru remains silent. He is still fuming but welcomes the growing distance between us.

Day two and I'm already sick of this place.

--------

Chapter Five: One Step at a Time

Who the hell does he think he is? He's just a pompous, inconsiderate, over-glorified lackey for a manipulative, underhanded, shady president. He has no idea who I am, what I lost after my stroke. Who is he to cast judgment on me?

Since Hanamaru was standing outside of my room, I didn't have a chance to change out of my pajamas and into my gym clothes. A quick trip to the nearest restroom and I was ready to head out to the track to hopefully calm my nerves.

To hell with Hanamaru! I'd be happy if I never have to see him again.

Normally I wouldn't get this way when confronting people that look down on me, but the combination of that nightmare, being woken up early, Hanamaru's attitude, and being called worthless really got to me. Had I stayed there any longer I would have punched him in that smug face of his but I'm pretty sure Yamaku has extremely strict rules against that kind of behavior. I don't want to be known as that guy who got kicked out of school on his second day.

Maybe getting out of this school wouldn't be so bad. I not physically limited as other students here are. I could probably go to a normal school without so much of an incident as long as I don't lose my head. But my parents have already paid the tuition for the year and I wouldn't be allowed to leave without permission from the administration and the nursing staff.

I'm stuck here. What can I do?

Before I realize it, I find myself on the edge of the field. The track here is roughly the same size as the one back at my old school. The area around it however, is more open and free. It looks like someone could just walk into the woods and nobody would notice. It's strangely isolated, I expected that there would be someone from the nursing staff here keeping guard in case someone wanted to go running.

In fact, there's no one here. Except for someone already stretching by the side of the track.

Another student? No, wait this person looks too old. A teacher, a coach? It looks like he's getting ready for a morning run.

As I approach the track, the man stands up and notices my presence. He turns around and looks in my direction.

"Oh, it's you! Good morning, Yaso." The man, who I now recognize to be one of my teachers, looks surprised that I'm out here.

"Good morning, Mr. Nakai," I reply back, "I didn't expect to find anyone here already."

What a shame, I just wanted to be alone.

Nakai chuckles at my bewildered response. "With you being a new student, I guess it's understandable why you're surprised. I actually come here every day for a morning run."

I can understand the logic behind a morning run. It helps get your body moving and your blood flowing. For me, running has always been sort of a relaxation technique that I use whenever I'm bothered by the things in my life.

"I see." I would respond more but I figure the less we talk the sooner I can get to running.

I join Nakai in a couple of quick stretches and without another word said we start on the track.

Without noticing it, I find myself running next to Nakai. His pace is a little slow for my liking so I begin to speed up.

With every step I take, I remember the argument I had with Hanamaru and the "discussions" I had with Hakamichi as they tried to rope me into the Student Council, I remember my strange nightmare, and I remember my first day at Yamaku.

This isn't helping. I need to go faster!

I push myself even faster, hoping that in some way I'll be able to run past my problems and forget them. But I can't.

Come on, move faster!

Again I push myself, I try harder and harder to get past all of my troubles to just ignore them and hopefully move on.

I step with my right foot.

I'm running so hard that I'm starting to remember the track meet.

I step with my left foot.

I was running near this same speed when I started to have my stroke.

I step with my right foot.

I'm beginning to round the curve of the track, near where I fell that night.

I stop with my left foot.

Stop! No more! I can't risk it again! I don't want to go back to the hospital! I don't want to-

"Yaso!" I hear Nakai run up from behind me, catching me before I fall to the ground.

My legs are shaking so much that they can't hold my weight. My breathing becomes labored and my head is spinning. It feels so much like that night.

Oh God! Please not again, please not again!

Nakai brings me to the bleachers where he sits me down and hands me some water.

"Yaso! Are you all right!? Listen to me just calm down and drink some water!"

I can still hear him, that's a good sign right? I'm still conscious, it's not a stroke, it's not a stroke, it's not a stroke...

I begin to calm down and everything around me is becoming clearer. Nakai is standing in front of me making sure that I don't pass out.

"Yaso, you're better now right? Wait here while I go get a nurse!"

"N-no!" I yell out to him before he runs off to get help.

"P-please don't. T-this isn't something that c-concerns him. Just give me soon t-time."

Now that I've relaxed, I can begin checking to see if everything is as it should be.

Part of my therapy included a lesson on how to check my body for anything that may cause a problem. The doctors had made sure that I learned how my body was  supposed to act after my stroke. I learned what I can and can't do and the limits of my strength and movement. With that knowledge in mind, I can feel if something isn't right whenever I need to check.

 Legs, sore but otherwise all right.

Arms, no harm done.

 Head, spinning but returning to normal.

Vision, slowly becoming clearer.

...

After a few moments in silence, I've made sure that I'm still in control of my body and nothing has shut down. It wasn't a stroke, I'm okay.

"Yaso," Nakai says in soft, concerned tone, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. That was nothing, it was just-" I stop for a moment to consider how to continue. "It was something I've experienced before, nothing serious."

"You've experienced it before?" Nakai doesn't seem to believe me.

"Yes," I stand up to help prove my point. "After I got out of the hospital and before coming to Yamaku, this happened to me when I was at my house. It was a sort of panic attack, nothing too serious."

"Panic attack?" Nakai still doesn't seem convinced of my well being. For some reason, the moment I said that his expression turned sour.

"A small one of sorts. It happened because I was suddenly bombarded with many painful memories. My accident and other things that happened."

I'd rather not go into detail about those things to Nakai.

He doesn't say anything but it's obvious that he's still concerned. I guess I have to explain a little bit more.

"Last year I had a stroke when I was running anchor for the mile relay. When I was given the baton I wanted to run but my body stopped listening to me. I fell to ground and I couldn't get up until I eventually blacked out. I guess with everything that's happened to me, running on the track just reminded me of that night and well, you saw what happened."

"What do you mean 'everything that's happened to you'?"

Damn it! Why are you so nosy!

I quickly run away from the bleachers and back onto the track. "Come on, Mr. Nakai! We don't have much time to finish our run!" I try to sound as positive and happy as I can be and hopefully he doesn't ask any more questions.

He remains quiet for a moment and doesn't move from the bleachers. Eventually, he slowly makes his way back on the track.

"Yaso, tell me one thing. Do you want to be here?" He keeps his eyes locked on me, watching every move I make. "Do you want to be at Yamaku?"

I answer instinctively, truthfully. "No, I don't. I don't think I need to be here. As long as I keep from reminding myself of the past, I can live my life without incident. I'm not like the other students."

Nakai doesn't seem to be surprised by my answer, in fact it seems like he expected it. He smiles a bit. It's not a smile of happiness but of one that seems to be hiding something else.

"You can continuing running without another incident right?'

I nod.

I guess that means he finally believes that I'm okay. But why is he still smiling?

"Ok Yaso, since you so firmly believe that you don't belong at Yamaku, I'll make you a deal." His expression is serious, almost scary but that strange smile still remains.

"What sort of deal?"

"We're both tired from our earlier run and incident, we're almost on even ground now. So here's the deal, one lap. If you can beat me in a one lap race then I will convince administration to let you transfer. However, if you can't beat me, you have to finish the year at Yamaku."

What!? How can he say something so calmly? He can't be serious?

"W-what are you talking about? You c-can't do something like that."

"I have connections with the administration and nursing staff, if I can prove to them that you can survive just as well at another as you can here, they'll let you go. The teachers here have a lot of influence on the lives of the students because we see you guys most out of everyone." The whole time Nakai speaks, that smile of his doesn't falter. What is he hiding? "So are we in agreement?"

Without a word, we shake on it.

What's going on here? I just had a panic attack and Nakai is challenging me to a race? And I accepted?

As we stand on the line that Nakai has drawn in the dirt, we both get into our starting positions.

Nakai is in charge of  when we start.

"Ready!"

We both put our hands on the line.

"Set!"

We lift our knees off the ground and begin pushing our weight forward.

Here we go! My one chance to escape Yamaku!

"Go!"

We both take off and quickly round the first curve.

As long as I focus on the task at hand, I shouldn't start panicking again. Nakai isn't that fast so I won't need to push that hard. He's too old and too slow to be able to beat me.

As we finish the first curve, I begin to pull ahead. Nakai responds to my acceleration and begins to speed up to match me.

As we start the second curve, I cut into the innermost lane forcing Nakai to either stay behind me or use up more energy to try to pass me in the outer lane. He decides to stay behind me, slowly catching up.

As I finish the curve, I sprint into the straightaway trying my hardest to leave Nakai behind me.

70m left.

I lose my focus on Nakai. I can't tell where he is but as long as he's not in front I'm fine.

60m left.

I notice something in the corner of my eye. He's starting to catch up.

50m left.

He's alongside me. I can't push any more without risking another shock.

40m left.

I put all of my weight forward, running faster and pushing my limits. Memories of that night are starting to appear in my head but I push them out as I see the finish line come closer.

30m left.

Time seems to slow down. Nakai and I are neck and neck. Neither one of us willing to concede.

20m left.

Impossible! No! Nakai took the lead! I can't move faster! How is he doing it?

10m left.

I can see his back and I can't do anything about it. I lost.

0m left.

Nakai beat me. I'm stuck here in Yamaku.

Damn it! My one chance and I blew it!

With his hands on his head and panting heavily, Nakai turns around and looks at me. His smile is still there. "You know our agreement Yaso. You have to stay at Yamaku without any-"

"Bullshit!" I cut him off before he finishes talking. "How fair was that? You challenge a stroke victim after he had a panic attack to a race. Yeah, you must feel like a big man!"

He's just another one! I thought he above this being a teacher at Yamaku, but he's just the same. Picking on the poor cripple and taking advantage of his disabilities.

"You must make every teacher here proud by the way that you mock the students! I bet they're all like that, every teacher ready to tear down the hopes and dreams of us that can no longer return to regular lives. You'll never understand what it's like to have your life change completely because of an accident!" My words are filled with venom but I don't try to hide it, I sick of holding anything back. I'm sick of this place.

As begin making my way towards the woods. I hear Nakai calmly say one thing, "Arrhythmia."

"What?"

"Arrhythmia, it's a condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly and increases the chances of a heart attack. It also severely reduces the life expectancy of the person who has it."

"What the hell does that have to do with-"

"When I was seventeen, I had a heart attack when a girl confessed to me. I was in the hospital for months and when I got out I was forced to go to another school, Yamaku."

Heart condition? Yamaku?

I remain silent. I don't know what to say nor what to think at this moment. Nakai accepts my silence and continues.

"I was like you when I came here. I hated this place and I wanted to leave. Everyone around me seemed to accept being here but I didn't. I thought they had given up on trying to move forward with their lives and I didn't want to be like that."

"H-how did you-"

"They showed me something different," Nakai seemed to already know my question. "The people I met here taught me to move on with my life. I learned to come to peace with my past, not ignore but accept it and move on from there."

"What were they l-like?"

"I met an amazing artist who drew with her feet because she had no arms. I met the fastest thing on no legs, she was the one who got me into running. I met a girl who couldn't speak or hear but was willing to take on the world if she had to."

Nakai lets out a soft sigh as he remembers his teenage years. "There was a girl who had scars on over half of her body and she was afraid of the rest of the world, but she was gentlest and kindest person you'll ever find. There was even a girl who didn't have any disabilities but was able to smile and laugh even when everything seemed to fall apart. I also met a blind girl who never once let her lack of sight hinder how she lived."

"You certainly knew a lot of girls, what were you some kind of-"

Nakai's glare stops me from finishing my joke.

"So you can crack jokes, good. But I didn't just meet girls. There was a nearly blind boy who was convinced that whole world was against him but was willingly to become friends with the new kid."

"Mr. Nakai, why are you telling me all of this." I've calm down considerably since he started talking. His words are soothing and sincere, I can't help but listen attentively as he speaks.

"Do you remember what I said to you yesterday?"

I think back to yesterday, just after my introduction when he was standing in front of the class and welcoming me. He said "I'm sure you'll be able to find your place here soon."


I remember those words. They were sincere that time too.

"I was serious when I said that. I was lost when I came to Yamaku, but with the help of the people around me I found a new purpose in life, I found a dream and I found love. I'm sure the same can happen to you." At this point his strange smile became clear to me. It was filled with hope, something I've long forgotten about.

Everyone here has their own disability and they've all learned to live with it, even Nakai. This whole time, I've been trying to just get through each day. Maybe if I take the time to enjoy my time here, I can find what Nakai found too.

My realization hits me harder than I imagined as my vision becomes blurry again. I quickly bow in a gesture of appreciation towards Nakai, which also hides the single tear that falls from my eye.

"Thank you, Mr. Nakai. I'm sorry that I said all of those things earlier."

"Don't worry about it. We should hurry and go see Nurse before we're both late to class."

"But I'm okay."

"Hey, you've decided to stay at Yamaku so you'll have to start listening to your teacher. So come on now."

I reluctantly agree to go see Nurse. I guess I really should start listening to those around me.

Nakai isn't so bad after all.

"Hey Mr. Nakai, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"You said you found love here right? So which one of the girls you met here was it? Was it the runner?"

Nakai laughs and puts his hand on my head. "You shouldn't be so interested in the life of your teacher, that's abnormal."

Nakai laughs again and this time I join him.

I wonder what I'll find in my time here in Yamaku.

--------

Chapter Six: Group Speak

After what happened on the track this morning, I was expecting to go to class today with a new outlook on life and try to enjoy my time here. Unfortunately, Nakai convinced me to see Nurse and those expectations were quickly demolished.

Nurse wasn't in good mood  this morning, mainly because I had forgotten to visit him after class yesterday and the fact that I raced a guy with a weak heart after I had a small panic attack. He made sure to give both Nakai and I an earful about how reckless we were and how irresponsible that race was.

Nakai was lucky enough to have the excuse that he had a class to teach to escape a large portion of Nurse's lecture. I, on the other hand, had to stay to be examined, or be yelled at some more, both seem plausible.

After a quick check-up, Nurse directed me to a nearby bed to rest until I was ready to go back to class. While I was physically exhausted from this morning, my mind was still repeating the words that Nakai had told me on the track. This made me a little curious about my teacher and how the system works around here.

"Hey Nurse, can I ask you a few questions?"

"That's what I'm here for," he replies from the other side of the curtains that separate this bed from the rest of the office. "What's on your mind?"

I sit up from the bed and pull the curtains away to directly address him. "I was wondering how long you have worked here."

"You know it's rude to ask someone about their age." The wide smile on his face betrays any negative feelings that may be in his words. "I've worked for about twenty-seven years now."

"Twenty-seven?" I work out the numbers in my head to see if it was possible for Nurse to be here when Nakai was a third year student.

It seems just about right.

"Were you working here when Mr. Nakai was a student?"

My question causes a chuckle and a sly grin to come from the Nurse. "Well now, it appears you've taken an interest in Nakai. I can't say that it wasn't unexpected. He was always so popular with his students." The wink that he delivers after his statement makes me think that he misinterpreted my question.

"I was j-just curious. He mentioned that he was at Yamaku while we were running today but he didn't tell me much about his time here."

"So you thought that I would fill you in, did you?  It was my third year here when I met Nakai, so I have known him for quite a long time."

"What was he like during high school?"

"Sorry, but he doesn't like telling his students about his high school life."

That's interesting, he seemed like he was willing to talk about it this morning.

"Did something bad happen to him?"

Nurse shakes his head. "He used to be open with his classes about his life here at Yamaku. It was only up until a few  years ago that he stopped sharing his stories." He stops for a moment to consider how he'll continue.

"His situation changed a few years ago. Since then he's been less open to prevent any unnecessary problems," his voice trails off as he sips his coffee.

It seems that this line of conversation is over so I move on to my next question. "You know about the deal that Mr. Nakai made with me, right? If I had won that race, could he have actually gone through with his end?"

Nurse's brow furrows at the mention of our ridiculous deal. "He'd have to get my approval to allow you to leave. But even if I said no, he could have gone straight to the principal and pulled some strings to get you transferred."

"Wait, so he was serious about his deal!?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Nakai has some leverage around the school. He's close to the principal and many of the higher ups. It's mainly due to him being an alumni."

"Is it common for alumni's to teach here?"

"I wouldn't say that it's common but it's not extremely rare. In fact, there are two other alumni's that are teaching here. Some students just get so inspired to share their experiences that they come back here to teach a new generation." He smiles slightly at this fact. It seems to bring him some joy seeing those he helped grow up and help others.

I glance at the clock and see that it's starting to get late. "Hey, is it all right if I head out? I don't want to miss too much of my second day."

"You seem to be doing fine, so I'll let you go," Nurse quickly scribbles something on a small piece of paper and hands it to me. "Here, give this to Nakai when you go back."

I take a look at the note. It's not an excuse for my tardiness but rather a summons for Nakai to come to the Nurse's after class.

"Nakai should still be teaching when you make it back to class, so could you make sure that he gets this note." He smiles again, but this time it has a bit of a sinister edge to it.

I take the note and promise that I'll deliver it. I quickly grab all of my things and head back to my dorm for a quick shower.

The classroom was unexpectedly quiet as I opened the door. Nakai is sitting at his desk working on his own paper work while everyone else seems to have formed small groups to work on the long list of assignments on the board. I quietly approach the front desk and hand Nakai the note.

"What's this? You don't need to give me a note, I already knew you were at the Nurse's office," he chuckles as he reaches over his desk to take the note.

"Oh no. This isn't for me, Nurse wanted me to give this to you," a small smirk makes its way on my face.

Nakai looks confused and curious about what Nurse wrote to him. When he takes a look at the note, his mood suddenly drops. Nurse's note had a severe lack of pleasantries.

"If I knew that teaching you a lesson this morning would cause so much trouble, I wouldn't have done it," he sighs.

"Isn't that what being a teacher means?"

Nakai looks at me as if I wasn't suppose to hear that. "Yeah, well, it's a bit of an inconvenience at certain times. I still enjoy it teaching class though." He coughs into his hand and points to the board behind him. "Speaking of class, you should get started on that, it's due before you head to lunch."

As I walk over to my desk I can't help but think about how I don't really know anyone here. Everyone forms groups with their friends, so who does that leave me?

When I reach the spot where my desk should be, I find that it's missing.

"Hey Yaso! Come over here, join our group!" Hakamichi seems to have taken the liberty of moving my desk to be part of her group while I wasn't here.

I don't really want to deal with a member of the Student Council after what happened this morning. However, it doesn't seem like anyone else is willing to have the new guy work with them. But who's the other girl?

"Yeah come on, Yaso! Join us!" said the cheery blonde girl who's working with Hakamichi.

Since it seems that this is my only option, I decide to join the two girls.

As I take a seat, the blonde girl speaks up, "No, don't sit there. Move your desk a little more to your left."

"Why?" I ask as I move according to her directions.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I want to be able to see you when we're working together."

The blonde girl is easy on the eyes with her hair cut short into a pixie-like fashion. Her emerald eyes and her small but cute smile indicate that she is one of those happy-go-lucky kind of girls. The only thing that may put off some people is the fact that she has an eye patch over her left eye. Which explains why  I couldn't sit where my desk was originally placed.

"Is this all right?"

"It's perfect. Now we can work together just fine."

If I moved in order to be in her line of sight, why is Hakamichi still to her left? Does she not care that she can't see her?

"As your Student Council President, it's my duty to introduce you to the other students. So Yaso, I'd like to meet-"

"Amaya Mori!" The blonde girl almost jumps out of her seat in order to interrupt Hakamichi, "Kamiko! You know I don't like being introduced by other people."

"Well you weren't going to say anything so I did it for you."

Mori sticks out her tongue and then turns to face me.

"So has Kamiko convinced you to join the Student Council yet?"

Great! Just what I need right now. I already got into one argument about this in the morning, I don't need another one.

"No, so far I don't think I'll be joining. It's just not my thing."

"That's good," Mori giggles quietly. "She tried to get me to join last year but I decided not to. Kamiko's too much of an overbearing bitch when it comes to the Student Council."

Hakamichi shoots her an evil glare when she hears this. It has little effect since the glare occurred outside of Mori's sight.

"Hey, it's rude to bad mouth people when you aren't looking at them!" Hakamichi yells in a hushed voice.

"But I am looking at you."

"Your bad eye doesn't count!"

Mori giggles at Hakamichi's antics. She seems to enjoy pushing her buttons.

"See what I mean? She's all rules and regulations. You should totally join my club, the Archery Club."

"This school has an Archery Club?" Somehow the image of a bunch of disabled students with bows and arrows doesn't seem like a very safe idea. "Isn't that really expensive to maintain in a high school."

"Nah, Yamaku is one of those fancy private schools that has a tons of people that give money to the school. Uh, what are they called?"

"Benefactors," Hakamichi answers her question in a deadpan, bitter voice.

"Yeah, benefactors. You would know since your parents are very involved with the school. I mean your father is-"

"Don't say it!" Hakamichi covers Mori's mouth with her hand before anymore is said. "I don't need more people to know about that."

"Know about what?" I ask.

"Wahahaha~! I'll tell you if you join the Student Council!" Her laugh is hushed this time but still loud enough to make me jump back.

"I'm not joining just for that. It's not worth it."

It's interesting, but not THAT interesting.

"Good, you don't need to know about that. Amaya has a big mouth and sometimes forgets that some things should be kept secret. So don't trust her with anything important." She returns back to her regular, calmer tone.

"Life's no fun if you just keep secrets," Mori pouts as she rests her head on her hands. "Anyways, you could join the Archery Club, it's fun. Anyone can join so long as their disability doesn't get in the way and you seem healthy enough."

"I appreciate the offer but I don't think that I'll be able to shoot anything accurately."

"Why not?"

Because my lame left arm wouldn't be able to pull back the string and hold an arrow at the same time.

"I'd r-rather not say."

"That's a shame," she sighs as she lifts her head. "You should be more open with us, we're your friends."

We've just met, I don't think we're anywhere near a level where I could tell you something so personal.

"Amaya, Kamiko, Yaso, I don't remember any of the questions asking you three to speak so loudly," from the front of the class, Nakai looks over to our group.

I guess we have gotten pretty loud. We all apologize and return to the task at hand.

We manage to finish all of the assignments on the board with a few minutes to spare. My late arrival put us back a little bit but we somehow managed to be one of the first to finish.

"You know Yaso, you were really talkative when you got here. When I tried talking to you at lunch yesterday, you just ignored me. What's changed?" Hakamichi leans in closer to get me to explain myself.

For some reason or another, Mori leans in as well.

"It's nothing b-big. I figured I'd try to make the most of my time while I'm here. So I'll try to be more o-outgoing."

"Really?" Hakamichi leans back and a quick, devilish grin appears. "I think it has to do with the change in company. Amaya is quite a sight, wouldn't you agree?"

At this, Mori becomes a deep shade of crimson and jumps back in her seat.

"W-what are you talking about? That h-has nothing to do with a-anything." I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I try to explain myself.

Surprisingly, Mori giggles quite loudly. "Aw, that's very sweet of you, Yaso." She winks at me, "but we've only just met, you can't make a move on me yet. Well, maybe we can hang out after school Saturday, but not today."

My cheeks feel like they're going to explode. I put my forehead on the table and bring both of my hands to the back of my head. The girls can't restrain their laughter.

When the bells ring Mori jumps out of her desk. "I have to go meet with my club president. It's been nice to meet you, Yaso. I can't wait for Saturday."

"Y-yeah, bye," I wave at her without taking my head off of the desk.

I can hear Mori walk up to the front of the class and stop. "Mr. Nakai! I hope you have a very nice lunch and I can't wait to see you tomorrow!" I hear her skip out of the classroom afterwards.

"What was that about?" I ask a still laughing Hakamichi.

"What was what about?"

"That, what she just said to Mr. Nakai."

"Oh, that. Well you see," she looks around the room and points at several girls. "Nakai is actually quite popular with many of the girls here. They all have some sort of weird teacher-student fantasy."

Is that what Nurse meant? Oh God, does he actually think that I'm...

"Really? A lot of the girls?"

"Yeah, some guys too or so I've heard."

"So do you, uh, also-"

"No, of course not!" she exclaims before I have a chance to say it.

"But you said-"

"Yeah, I know what I said. I'm not of those girls. That's just wrong. I mean he's..." she hesitates before she continues. "Wahahaha~! So about lunch, join me today. We have a lot to talk about. Like the Student Council for starters. And also, about an incident that occurred this morning." She grabs me by the arm and starts pulling me towards the door.

If she knows about what happened between Hanamaru and I, why is she trying to force me back into the same situation that caused that?

"Yaso, may I have a word with you?" Nakai stands from his desk and makes his way to the back where we are.

Hakamichi lets go of me and takes a step back as Nakai approaches.

"What is it?"

Nakai bends down and whispers in my ear. "I know what it's like to have someone trying to force you into something, so I'll help you out just for today. Take this opportunity to make your escape."

Before I have a chance to ask a question, Nakai turns his attentions to Hakamichi and begins talking to her about a seemingly unimportant topic.

I take this moment to collect my belongings and head out the door.

I'm not really hungry, but what else am I going to do for lunch today?

--------

Chapter Seven: Lost or Found

Ok, I just have to keep walking. Just keep walking, don't look back and don't look suspicious. I'm just a regular student, not the one that almost punched you in the face this morning.

So basically, after getting out of my classroom, I just went with the flow of things and wound up in the cafeteria. I wasn't in the mood for any of the sub-par food that they serve here so I ended up just sitting a table and looking out the window. Unfortunately, while looking out the window, the reflection of a certain person caught my eye.

It was another boy, dressed in his full uniform even though everyone else had thought to remove their green blazers because it was too warm indoors. His slicked-back silver hair and piercing grey eyes were pointed in my general direction.

It was none other than my neighbor from across the hall, Ryo Hanamaru.

At that moment, I nonchalantly got up and walked down a random hall, the one I'm in now.

I turn at the first corner and take the opportunity to look behind me.

Oh damn, he's heading this way.

Swell, I figured that I'd have to see him eventually but not today. Maybe tomorrow morning but not right now.

Hakamichi seemed to know about what happened between Hanamaru and I. I won't put it past her that she made him go talk to me. Now that I think about, she wasn't bothering me about joining the Student Council much today, she only brought it up a few times. Plus she wanted to talk about today's incident when Nakai interrupted us.

Maybe it's not a bad idea to talk it over with Hanamaru. Clear the air, have a fresh start...

Forget that! I'll have to do it eventually, but not today. I still might punch him in the face for calling me worthless.

With my mind made up, I run down the hall and take cover around the next corner. I slowly peak my head out to see if Hanamaru is still following me. Sure enough, he is. He turns in the same direction I turned and begins looking arou-

Ah shit! He saw me!

Hanamaru quickly picks up the pace when he spots me. I dart from my position and dash down the hall.

Stairs to my left.

I go up the stairs, not caring if my hurried pace would make my footsteps louder. I head down the hallway to the right of the stairs. As I turn the corner, I notice a silver head pop out from the stairwell looking at every direction.

As I continue down the hallway, I notice that there's a fork at the end. There's not enough time to check which way is better so I'll have to choose one at random and hope for the best.

Left or right?

Right!

As I go down my chosen hall, I notice two things. One, I can hear Hanamaru's footsteps as he enters the hallway I just left. Two, the path I chose is a dead end.

Damn it, the other way has a few more turns to it! What kind of building has a dead end here!?

There's only one option left. Pray that one of these rooms isn't locked.

The first one is locked and I move to the next.

The second door is locked and forcing it is out of the question.

The third is locked as well, the handle actually has dust on it.

The fourth is the same as the others and I'm starting to get a little worried.

Yes! This one's open.

I quickly make my way into the room and close the door. I let out a deep breath as I hear Hanamaru's footsteps come to a stop.

He's trying to decide which way to go. As long as I keep quiet he won't no-

"Um, excuse me, but who are you?" said a soft, feminine voice from behind me.

Oh  for the love of... Did I just step into some random club?

I let go of the door handle as I turn around to face the source the voice.

To my surprise, there is no one here besides the one girl who just talked.

She takes a second to look at me before asking her question again.

The girl is alone in this room drinking tea. She appears to have been in the middle of a sip because she is still holding her tea cup in mid-air. She has long brown hair that falls past her shoulder. Her bangs cover up a side of her face, while the other side exposes her light skin and dark brown eye.

”I-I'm just, uh, I'm l-lost." I manage to say with a distinct lack of certainty, it almost sounded like I asked a question.

"Lost? Where were you trying to go?"

"I was t-trying to go t-to... a club m-meeting."

Why am I stuttering so much? This isn't good, if I say something weird she'll kick me out and then I'll have to face Hanamaru.

I try to pay attention to any sound that may be outside of this room but it proves to be a futile effort. My heart is beating so fast that I can't hear anything from the other side of the door. It was bad enough that I was running to get here but add in this awkward situation, my heart won't slow down.

"I'm unaware of any club that holds their meetings in this area. Are you sure that you're supposed to be here?"

"Yeah, it's an i-impromptu meeting for... the a-archery club," I stumble with my words as I say it. The archery club was the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"Archery Club?" She puts down her teacup and brings her hand to rest under her chin as she digests this information.

Suddenly, I can hear footsteps coming from the other side of the door. They're getting closer and closer until they stop right outside the door.

Please don't say anything about me being here. Hanamaru is right outside. I don't want to face him right now.

"Well, you're welcome to join me for lunch if you want to," she points to the sit in front of her and tells me to take it.

"W-what do you-"

She interrupts me by putting her index finger to her lips and points to her ear and then the door.

Does she know that I hiding from someone?

As I take my seat, I notice that the footsteps from the hall are slowly growing quieter.

"So you were being followed?" She questions, once again taking the teacup in her hand.

There's no point in not telling the truth now.

"Yeah, I'm s-sorry for barging in and l-lying about it. But how did you know?"

"You were breathing rather deeply when you came in and there were footsteps that were coming in  the same direction after you entered," she answers with a smile. "But it became obvious when you said you were looking for the Archery Club. They usually hold their meetings outdoors or in the gym."

Note to self: do a little bit of research before you lie about club meetings again.

"Oh, sorry a-about that."

"Don't worry about it," she says with a chuckle. As she laughs, her bangs move and cover more of her face. She sighs quietly and uses her hand to tuck in the loose hairs behind her ear. That's when I notice something peculiar about this girl. The left eye that was covered by her hair is light blue.

The girl moves her gaze back to her tea as a hint of pink appears on her cheeks.

"Heterochromia. It's nothing special so you don't have to stare."

"O-oh. I didn't mean to s-stare. Is that why y-your here?"

Huh. Apparently I've caught foot-in-mouth disease. I wonder how many social rules I've broken today.

The girl stares at me wide-eyed and confused. The hint of pink that was once on her cheeks quickly vanishes as she starts laughing.

"Don't be silly. Heterochromia just means that I have two different eye colors from my parents. No, I'm here because of my sight."

"Sight? But you've b-been looking at me the whole time."

"Inherited Blindness. It means that my eyesight will deteriorate as I get older. I'll be completely blind when I'm older. I can only see now because of the special contacts I wear."

She fidgets in her seat a bit as she sips her tea. Neither she nor I can think of anything else to say, so we remain in silence for a good bit.

"I'm here because I h-had a stroke last year and... yeah. I guess it's only fair that I tell you that much since you told me why you're here."

I don't know why I just said that. The girl looks at me with a surprised look on her face. If I had a mirror, I'm pretty sure I'd look the same way.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I've been rude! Do you want some tea?" She holds up both of her hands up to her mouth and she blushes slightly.

"Uh, yeah sure, if it's not too m-much of an inconvenience." She had already gotten out of her seat and started making the tea by the time I answered. It would be rude to try to stop her now.

She suddenly stops and slowly starts turning around, giggling nervously. "I should have done this earlier but I'm Midori Kagami, nice to meet you."

"Nice to m-meet you too, I'm Yaso Atoza."

Kagami quickly finishes making the tea and places it in front of me. I've never really been too much of a tea person so I don't know what to expect from the taste. Regardless, I thank her for it and wait to take a sip once it cools down.

"I've never seen you around here before. Are you new here?" she asks as she takes her seat once more.

It might be the tea, or the fact that she accepted me so easily after disrupting her peace, but it feels nice being here. It's calming.

"Yeah, this is only my second day here. I'm still getting use to things here but, as you saw, I still haven't exactly adjusted."

She takes a moment to gather her thoughts. She seems torn between wanting to ask who I was running from or letting the subject drop. I should probably help her with that.

"I was trying to avoid the vice-president because we got off on the wrong foot this morning. I know I'll have face him eventually but just not today."

"You were running from Ryo?" She puts down her teacup to give me a inquisitive gaze. "I take it you've already been introduced to the Student Council then?"

I scoff at the notion, "Yeah, introductions were exchanged, more or less. I sit next to the class president, so I met the Student Council rather quickly."

"I see, Kamiko can be very brutish when it comes to the Student Council," she takes a quick sip of her tea before continuing. "If you sit next to her that means you're in class 3-3 with Nakai, right?"

"Yes, that's right. What class are you in, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm in class 3-2. It's taught by Miss Tora, it's a class specifically for both blind and partially blind students." She gives a very small, warm smile, "You're very lucky to be in Nakai's class. He's actually quite popular around the school."

"So, I've heard." I remember what Hakamichi told me about Nakai's popularity and how some girls swoon for him. I grimace at the thought that Kagami could be one of those girls.

"Is something the matter?" she asks. She must have seen the way my face changed when I thought about that.

"No, it's nothing. I just rememb-"

Suddenly, footsteps can be heard outside in the hallway. They grow louder and don't have any hint of deviation, no doubt as if whoever it is knows where to go. The footsteps stop short of the door.

Both Kagami and I stare at the door. Neither of us wanting to say a word. I can feel my heart rate rise again and beads of sweat collecting on my forehead. If this is Hanamaru, then that means we'll have a confrontation in front of Kagami.

Please don't open the door! Just walk away, please!

The footsteps can be heard going in the opposite direction, slowly growing softer with each passing second. I let out a deep breath and notice that Kagami does the same.

"Kagami, why were you so nervous?"

She slightly crimsons in response to my question. She clears her throat before speaking. "Well, that could have been Ryo and you didn't want to see him and I saw how nervous you got, so it made me get nervous too."

I chuckle at her hasty response which only cause her to get even redder.

"Well, that's not the only reason. I eat lunch here with someone else every day, so that might have been him and..." She trails off and looks down to her tea.

Oh, I get it. She's already with someone and if that person saw me here then there would be some unnecessary drama. I think I'd better leave.

Not a second after I finish that thought, the bells ring. This seems to take Kagami for surprised because she begins to panic slightly. I help her put everything away and we walk back to our respective classes.

Admittedly, I'm a little disappointed but it's no surprise that she's taken.

--------

Chapter Eight: Agree to Disagree

It's cold. Darkness surrounds me. I can't see, I can't move.

God damn it! Not again! Let me go!

It feels just like before, but it's somehow different. No voices, no sounds, just me alone in the dark. I know this isn't real, it can't be real.

This is just a dream! Let me out!

Suddenly, my left arm feels as if it is no longer hindered by whatever ails the rest of my body. As I lift it in the air to try to lever myself up, I feel a great weight fall on it. It's being painfully held down, stopping any and all movements. The weight then shifts to my right arm and then both my legs.

When the weight finally disappears, I find that I can move my body freely save for my arms and legs.

What's going on here!?

A lone voice pierces through the silence. "It's for his own good."

Who's there?

No response.

I wait for another sound but nothing ever comes. Fed up with the silence, I move my body once more to get free. Miraculously, I can move my body. I'm able to stand up but everything is still black, I can't see where I am.

I move blindly towards one direction and hit something. As I move my hands along the invisible object, I find that it's a hard, solid surface but not too tall. I reach over the object to see if there is anything beyond it. Another hard surface, but this one is too tall for me to get over.

I turn in what I assume is the opposite direction and after a few steps I'm in front of another hard surface. As I run my hands across this one, I notice that it's weaker than the one I had found before. I can feel it move slightly as I put my weight on it.

Is someone here? Can anyone hear me?

Once again, no response.

Since no one seems to be here, wherever here is, I don't see the need to stay. I begin pounding on the surface in order to break it down and escape. I can feel it shake every time I hit it but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

I take a few steps back in order to charge at the surface. Surely with the added momentum, I'll be able to make it out. I charge the surface as fast as I can go.

Contact, or rather the lack of it.

Whatever was blocking my path before is now gone. Charging further than I expected, I find it hard to regain my balance and I end up tripping over my own legs and falling.

And falling, and falling...

I wake up with a start. My heart is beating quickly, my breathing is labored, and I'm in a cold sweat. I try sitting up but my body is too heavy to move.

"Just what the hell was that?" I say as I try to catch my breath.

"Well Mr. Atoza, I was hoping you could tell me," a rather old sounding voice responds.

What?

"Who's there? What are you doing in my room?" I ask in a hurried and panicked tone.

The curtains around my bed come apart and reveal a smiling Nurse.

Since when did my room have curtains?

"I know you've come in here three days in a row but that doesn't mean that you can start calling this your room. If the world worked like that you'd at least have to be here longer than I have and your three days are feeble compared to my twenty-seven years."

Dumbfounded and at a loss for words, I begin to notice my surroundings. White walls covered in motivational posters, a desk littered with paperwork and a number of drawers and cabinets undoubtedly filled with medical supplies. I'm in the Nurse's Office but how did I get here?

A barely audible clank of metal can be heard whenever I try moving my arms or legs.

What the hell?

I focus my wandering eyes on the odd sensation coming from my wrist and ankles. They're tightly strapped down to the bed. No matter how much I move, I can't seem to come loose.

Only the several clanks of metal can be heard before Nurse finally says something. "Hm, you don't like them? I thought a lot of kids you age were into that kind of stuff."

I might still be confused about how I wound up here but at least I have enough sense to realize when I'm being insulted. Being at a loss of words and my restrains keeping me from giving the one-fingered salute, I resort to glaring at him.

Nurse notices my glare and lets out a loud, boisterous laugh. "I'm sorry. The restraints were a necessity given your state."

I cock my head to the side, "My state?"

"You were found in the hallway of the boys dorm in the morning. You were mumbling something and wildly moving about. A good Samaritan found you and brought here. We had to restraint you to prevent a repeat of what happened at the hospital."

Something happened while I was at the hospital? I know my memory might not be up to par but I should at least remember something like that happening, right?

It might have been my bewildered look or how I reeled back when Nurse said that, but he seemed to know what I was thinking. "You don't remember do you?" He sighs as I shake my head. "When acting in a similar manner at the hospital, you managed to punch your doctor in the face when he went to check up on you."

I know that I should feel ashamed of my actions but I can't help smile.

"Your records say that if you were ever to found in such a state, we would have to restrain you to keep you from harming yourself or others," he continues saying. He returns to his desk and pulls out a folder. He pulls out a page and shows it to me. Sure enough, written in a dark ink and highlighted for emphasize, it explains the procedure that should be followed if I were found in a "semi-conscious state of mind."

"Okay, I understand that but why am I still in these things?" I make the clanking sound again to make my point even clearer.

"Well, you know what they say: better safe than sorry. I prefer not having my face punched by a student in the morning."

After explaining the dreams I've been having and promising that I wouldn't punch Nurse in the face once freed, he finally takes off the restraints.

"Those dreams you've been having might be repressed memories. It's a good sign, it shows that you haven't permanently lost all of you memories. You just need the right trigger to get them back." He looks through my records one more time. "You know something though? You records indicate that you shouldn't be having such vivid dreams so consistently. Have you been taking you medication?"

No. In the rush of being sent to Yamaku, I neglected to pack my medication. I've also been lying to cover up my folly.

"Well, I m-may have forgotten to take them a few times." I sheepishly reply.

Nurse stares at me for a few moments, his expression doesn't betray what's going through his mind. He chuckles and reaches for something in his desk. "I have to thank you for that information." He pulls out a paper bag and tosses it to me. "You'll find you medication in there. It arrived shortly before you got here this morning. Don't lie to me again because now I know what you look like when you do."

I've come to realize that I'm a terrible liar. I've been caught in my lies almost immediately twice.

Nurse explains the importance of taking my medication and how I should be more responsible with my health. It's basically the same thing everyone hears when they go to the doctor's office. After his lecture is finished, he sends me on my way. A quick glance at the clock on the wall reveals that it's still pretty early.

Class doesn't start for a while. Maybe I should go join Nakai for a r-

Oh no.

As I step outside of the Nurse's office, I quickly recognize the person leaning against the wall. His grays eyes track my every movement, analyzing me to see how I'll react. Every cell in my body wants to run out of the building, but I can't. This has to be done.

Who will make the first move?

It feels like one of those old western movies. This is the point where the sheriff stares down the criminal. It's a duel and only one of us gets out of here alive.

Hanamaru raises his hand in the air. "Hey, Atoza, we need to talk." I'm thrown off balance by his delivery of those words. I don't feel any malice in them; they feel kind, almost apologetic.

"S-sure," is all I'm able to say. I was prepared for a fight but not this.

He leads me out of the building and we begin our talk. "Listen, I'm sorry about yesterday. It was very unprofessional of me."

"Is that coming from you or from Haka-, I mean, the Class President."

He seems to take some solace in the fact that referred to her by title. "Honestly, it's from both of us. She also told me to try to recruit you because you seemed to be 'worthy of the honor of being chosen for the Student Council'". He rubs the back of his head as he repeats her words.

"I'm surprised that you're so willing to admit that she made you do this."

"She didn't have to convince me. I felt guilty immediately after and I wanted to make amends. But I couldn't find you and when I did you ran away from me." His voice is quiet as he plays with the sleeve of his blazer. "By the way, it's against school regulations to run through the halls."

"Isn't there some rule against picking a fight with the transfer student upon meeting him. I think both of our mistakes can be over looked this one time." I put my arms behind my head and smile as we walk through the courtyard.

Hanamaru doesn't seem like a bad guy after all. At least he was able to admit when he did something wrong. He is my neighbor, so I guess befriending him doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Hanamaru remains silent as he looks at the path ahead of us. "I would have talked to you yesterday but you were in that room with that girl, so I decided against it."

So he was at the door that time.

"You mean Midori Kagami? Yeah, she realized I was hiding from someone so she helped me out. Good to see her plan worked, I might ask her for help if I ever need to hide again."

Hanamaru's face sours as he hears me speak of her. "You're in class 3-3 right? Have you heard about Nakai's popularity?"

"Yeah but what's that have to do with anything?"

He suddenly steps in front of me and looks me straight in the eye.

"There's word around the school that Nakai isn't the saint he makes himself out to be and that Kagami girl is in the middle of it."

What!?

"People have seen those to get together in secret and especially in that room you were in. If you want to avoid trouble I suggest that get don't close to her," he continues.

Kagami did mention that she was expecting someone else but she didn't seem like she wanted to talk about who he was. Other girls I've met have made it obvious who their boyfriends were but she tried to hide it. Could there be some truth to this rumor?

"B-but that's just insane. If someone did see that, then Nakai wouldn't be able to work here."

"That's the problem, no one can prove it. And even if someone found a way to prove it, no amount of evidence would be able to kick him out of this school. He's well connected to the higher-ups and is considered one of the best teachers here. There's no way that he'll be fired for something like this."

Nurse mentioned that Nakai had a lot of influence around the school and was close to the principal.

"But that can't be true right? I mean, girls like Amaya Mori are still head over heels for him. If that were true then wouldn't they be put off?"

Hanamaru scoffs at my suggestion. "Amaya Mori and other girls like her can be very fickle when it comes to romance. They probably consider these rumors to be an opportunity to find love."

"Then what about the Class President? She seemed interested in Nakai too."

No she didn't, but I'll grasp at any straw if it means that Nakai isn't a sick bastard. He helped me yesterday and I thought he was sincere with everything he said. There's no way that this is real.

Hanamaru grips me by the collar. "What did you say? That isn't true! She can't be, she isn't like them!" He doesn't sound angry but scared?

He lets go of me and turns to face the other direction. He starts playing with the sleeve of his blazer again, but this time it looks like he wants to rip it to pieces.

"Uh, Hanamaru? What's the matter?"

He mumbles something that I can't understand.

"Pardon?"

He mumbles something else that I can't understand.

What's with this reaction? First he's talking about how Nakai is a perv and now he looks like he might burst a blood vessel.

Wait, he couldn't.

No way.

Seriously, her?

This is going to be awkward. "Hanamaru? Do you have feelings for the Class President?"

He stops moving and remains quiet.

"You do, don't you?"

That would explain why he got so angry when I insulted her yesterday.

"H-Hanamaru?"

He suddenly faces me with his arms in the air and acts as if nothing is wrong. "What? Of course not! What would give you that idea?"

He's a worse liar than I am.

"Dude, it's obvious now. There's no point in hiding it."

He sighs in defeat.

"Wait, is that why you were so defensive yesterday? Were you jealous that she wanted me to join?" I ask.

He quickly nods his head. "But what's the point. She's going after Nakai, I could have beat you but I stand no chance against him."

I'll ignore the insult and take this as a perfect change of topic from what we were talking about earlier.

There's no point in lying to him about Hakamichi. It might break him if he believes me. "Hey, I was lying about the Class President's interest, I was just trying to make a point."

Hanamaru blankly stares at me. "What did you say?" he growls.

"I was just lying about the Class President. But since you're willing to admit you like her, I'll go tell her for you."

He jumps at me, grabbing me to keep me from going anywhere else. He shouts "Don't tell her!" over and over again until I agree to keep his secret.

I wasn't really going to tell her, but I figured this be the best way to diffuse his rage.

The rest of the morning was spent conversing a multitude of topics. From how he was born with Waardenburg Syndrome which caused the colorization of his hair and eyes and how it also resulted in his slight deafness in his right ear, to how he came to join the Student Council and how he fell for Hakamichi.

The bells ring, signifying the end of our conversation and the start of class. He makes his way to class 3-1 and I to class 3-3. I still can't forget what Hanamaru told me about Nakai and Kagami.

I don't know what to believe anymore.

--------

Chapter Nine: Watch Your Step

I would like to say that I spoke with Nakai and cleared up this misunderstanding. I would also like to say that I met with Kagami and she introduced me to her boyfriend, who was her age. I would like to say all that, but unfortunately, I can't.

I couldn't work up the nerve to talk to Nakai during class. It was mainly a lecture day so he didn't stop talking about an upcoming quiz until the bell rang. I even tried to find Kagami during lunch, but the room I found her in the other day was empty. As the day went by, I found myself thinking more and more about what Hanamaru said.

Was I wrong when I thought Nakai was a good person? Is he just some giant pervert that gets his jolly from high school girls? Was Kagami one of those kind of girls who revel in tabooed romances?

The image of Nakai and Kagami haunted me for the rest of the day.

This morning didn't help at all either. When I went out to meet Nakai for an early morning run, he was acting oddly. He avoided talking to me about anything that wasn't about our run or class. He rushed me to see the Nurse when we were done and rushed me to get ready for class. It's like he didn't want to say anything to me. He was really chatty before, what made him change?

Normally things like this don't bug me, I would have just let it slide and go on with my life, but Hanamaru wouldn't let me. As the Vice-President, he practically has his finger on the pulse of the school. He knows every rumor there is and he always tell me about each one. He says it's to get me more familiar with the school, but I think he's just doing it to bother me. He's probably still mad that I tricked him into revealing his feelings for Hakamichi, so he's trying to get back at me.

The more rumors he tells me, the more curious and confused I become. It's like that old saying about the curious cat. Clever jerk!

Classes have ended for the day and once again my thirst for knowledge  has yet to be quenched. Nakai avoided talking about anything that wasn't related to science and Kagami was nowhere to be found. With nothing important to do and not wanting to go back to my room, I decide head to library to focus my thoughts on an interest book.

The library here is much bigger than the one at my previous school. There are multiple aisles that line the edges of the room, each filled with their own genres. There are desks litter about as well, filled with students either engaged in a story or catching up on lost sleep.

Personally, I'm not much of an avid reader. I would always find a way to pass the time through a physical activity. Since my stay at the hospital, my endurance hasn't been what it used to be, so some less intensive activities  are much appreciated.

I think about asking the librarian for a recommendation. I decide against it however because the librarian is a bitter, white-haired, old woman who looks like she'll kill the next person who comes up to her.

Why is it that every librarian I know is a bitter, old lady? Just once I'd like to meet a young one who's easy to talk to.

As I make my way through one of the many rows, I notice a familiar figure at the end of it. Hidden near that back of the library, Mori sits in a beanbag completely absorbed in the book she's reading. When I'm not too far away from her, she looks up from her book and notices me.

"Oh, hi Yaso," she whispers. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just looking for something to pass the time. You?"

She holds up the book she's reading, it's a health book. "Nothing much, just looking up what the signs were for when girl is pregnant."

...

"Can you say that one more time, I think I misheard you."

For a moment she has a perplexed look on her face. When it finally dawns on her what she said, her cheeks crimson lightly. "Hey don't get the wrong idea, I'm not pregnant or anything like that."

"So you were just m-making sure?" I nervously ask.

"No! I just wanted to know what the signs were. I'm still pure damnit!" She gives me an evil glare.

Did she just admit that she's a vir-

She jumps out of the beanbag, stands in front of me and jabs the edge of her book into my chest. "No! Stop right there Yaso, I know what you're thinking. Don't you dare think that that."

From across the library, the librarian makes a rather loud shushing sound in our direction. Mori settles down and returns to her seat. I sit in a nearby beanbag and continue our conversation. "Ok, so if you weren't looking that up for... comparisons, why did you want to know?"

She lets out a sigh and flips through the pages of her book. "It's because of my mom. Every week she calls me to tell me to be careful, not get pregnant and what not." After she finds the page she's looking for, she hands me the book and continues. "I want to play a trick on her, so the next time she calls I can tell her about how I feel sick according to these indicators."

"What a cruel trick to play on your mother. Does it really bother you that much?" I take a look at the book. Jeez, woman sure do have a hard time when they have a bun in the oven.

"It's not that it bothers me, it's just really annoying. A good scare ought to set her straight." She flips the pages of the book in my hand and points to a picture of a fetus. "Look at that thing! It looks like a gummy bear. Can you imagine having that in your womb for nine months?"

"Yeah... no, not really. I'm a guy so I don't have to worry about something being in my womb."

She giggles at my response. "Oh, what if you were secretly a girl and somehow wound up pregnant?" Her giggling becomes even louder.

"That's just- No!"

"Don't worry," she puts her hand on my shoulder. "If that happens to you, I'll be the first one to support you."

"Yeah right, you can barely speak without laughing now. And that's not going to happen!" I almost forget to add that last part.

Mori actually manages to stop giggling for once and winks at me, or blinks, I can't tell with her one eye. "I'm only laughing now because we're joking. If that really happens I'll be serious."

I cross my arms and look away. "Yeah well, we'll just see when that happens, won't we?"

...

That didn't come out right.

I can feel my face scrunch up as that thought hits me. It must be plainly obvious because Mori reacts to it.

Mori's laughter earns her another loud shush from the librarian. "Oh my God, Yaso! The face you just made was hilarious!" She falls over on her beanbag, clutching her sides, "Your killing me!"

I can't help but laugh as well at the shear ridiculousness of our conversation. We both spend quite a bit of time laughing that the librarian gets fed up and kicks us out. Mori checks out her health book and I manage to grab something off of the fiction shelf before we're escorted out.

Once we're outside of the main building, Mori turns to me. "It's been fun Yaso, but I've got to go back to my room. I've got to study this before my mom calls." She slaps the cover of her book to emphasize her point. "I'll see you in class tomorrow and don't forget about our date."

Date?

She runs off and disappears in the girls dorm before I have a chance to ask her what she meant by "our date".

I turn towards the direction of the boys' dorms and start walking. It's not that late but there isn't much else for me to do today. Might as well just turn in for the day.

I look up at the sky. Well, it is a nice day and there is plenty of sunlight.

Why not? I guess it wouldn't hurt to read outside for a bit.

With my book in hand, I make my way to through the field. I follow the walkway to the wide open field that separates Yamaku's main buildings from its outer boundaries. There are plenty of benches scattered around. Some under trees while others run parallel to the stone walkway. I decide to make myself comfortable under a tree and crack open my book.

It's a story about a retired American spy whose old enemies target his family. In response, the spy uses his old connections to get weapons and intel to find his enemies. It's a mixture of action and psychological warfare. It's an interesting read but I can't seem to move pass the fifth chapter. Some words suddenly feel harder to read. I go over a page again because I can't seem to remember what I just read.

It's getting harder to focus...

...

"How's your tea Yaso?" a soft, feminine voice asks me.

I open my eyes and find myself staring at a pair of mismatched eyes, one brown, the other blue. I move my gaze to my left hand and see a hot cup of tea slowly make its way to my lips. "It's really good thank you, Kagami."

"I'm glad to hear that," Kagami takes her napkin and pats her lips. "I was afraid you wouldn't have liked it."

I chuckle at her worried expression. "Nonsense, I'm willing to try just about anything once and I'm more than willing to try some of this tea again."

Satisfied with the taste, I slowly put the teacup back down on the table. My hand slips however, which results in the contents being spilled on the table. As the puddle of tea moves along the surface, it slowly makes its way to the edge and it falls on my pants. "Ow!" I shout as the liquid burns me.

Kagami quickly uses her napkin to soak up the remain tea off the table. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, it was my mistake, don't worry about." I take a napkin a start drying my pants.

Before I have a chance to react, I see another set of hands helping me dry my clothes. As I follow the delicate hands back to their owner, I see a blushing Kagami with her eyes hidden by her hair. "Y-you don't have to help me with t-that. I can do it myself."

Slowly her hands make their way up my leg and stop short of my groin. She rests her hands on my thigh, having long passed the area where the tea fell. As she gently begins putting more weight on her hands, she leans forward and locks her gaze with mine.

No words can express what I'm feeling right now. It all feels foreign to me and yet, it feels like I know exactly what to do. Without breaking eye contact, I wrap my arms around her waist and bring her closer. Her hands slide up my chest and find their way to the back of my head.

No words need to be spoken.

I lean forward finding my way to her lips. She bites her lower lip for a few moments until she follows my lead.

Closer we become as our lips me-

A large thud shakes me out of my dream. I look at the ground and find my book just laying there.

A dream? But why did I dream that?

Sure, I find her attractive but I don't even know anything about her beyond some rumors which may or may not be true. There's just too much trouble with that girl to be interested in her beyond just being friends.

Yeah, that's right. Too much trouble to be anything more.

As I begin to stretch, I notice that there is a strange sensation on my shoulder. I turn my head to see what this feeling is when I notice that it's a hand.

"Are you feeling all right? I heard you groaning out here, are you well?" A concerned woman asks.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright. I was just sleeping," I reassuringly answer.

Now that my eyes have readjusted to the light I can see that it's getting late. The sun is already going down and there is no one else outside but me and this lady. She seems rather tall with long, wavy, blonde hair that go past her shoulders. She's dress in a grey jacket with long skirt to match.

"It's not safe to be sleeping outside at this hour. You should head back to your room to rest properly."

"Oh, sorry. I was reading out here and kind of nodded off. I'm still not well-adjusted to this school yet."

She takes a moment to think about my response. It's at this moment that I notice that this woman has kept her eyes closed for most of our talk. When she does eventually open them, I see that her blue eyes are cloudy. I also notice that in her right hand she holds and long, thin cane. "So you're a transfer student then?"

I nod my head, though this gestures seems for naught because the lady doesn't respond, so I vocalize my answer. "Yes, I just started this Monday."

She takes a seat at the other end of the bench before she speaks again. "Are you finding everything okay? Whose class are you in?"

"I'm doing well, I don't have a problem getting around. I'm in class 3-3 with Mr. Nakai."

A slight smile appears on her face. "So you're in his class. That's good, most of his students come to like him." Her smile falters for a bit, "Some too much, unfortunately."

"Are you a teacher her too Mrs....?"

"Miss," she quickly corrects me. "Miss Satou. I'm the English teacher for class 2-2."

Satou has a very welcoming air about her. It feels very easy to talk to her. "It's very nice to meet you Miss Satou, I'm Yaso Atoza."

"Hm," she tilts her head to the side but doesn't say more.

"Is something the matter, Miss?"

"Nothing," she smiles with a brief hum that follows. "Tell me, are you getting along with the other students?"

"I've managed to make a few friends here and there." It's strangely comfortable talking with Satou that I feel compelled to keep talking. "Though I am a bit worry about a rumor that involves one of them."

Satou furrows her brow. "What is this rumor about?" Her tone seems to have developed a bit of an edge.

Shit! I said that without thinking. I can't go around saying something like that to a staff member.

I don't say a word. Not because I don't want to say something but because I don't know what to say next.

She waits for me to answer but since I don't say anything she sighs. "You should be careful about what you say. You could get yourself and other people into trouble like that."

Once again, I'm at a loss for words.

"Rumors among students are a common practice, I understand that. But if it's something that is important and can cause problems for others, it would be in everyone's best interests that you tell me what it is."

The rumor is about Nakai and Kagami. Can I just go and tell a staff member about this? Is wrong that I don't tell anyone? What's the protocol for this situation?

"I-it's about s-something that I-" I'm having a hard time just getting the words across.

It's only my first week here, should I really be questioning the relationships of other students? All I really have to go on is Hanamaru and some rough speculation. Considering how he acted when I mentioned Hakamichi, I wouldn't put him as the most reliable of sources. But everything else just fits into place.

"I have heard t-that..." I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. "I've heard r-rumors about Mr. Nakai and a girl from c-class 3-2, Midori Kagami."

Suddenly, Satou gets up from her seat and begins walking off. "That's enough. I know what you're going to say. I don't want to hear anymore about that. Have a good night, Atoza." Her voice is bitter and hurtful.

Once she's out of view, I lean back on the bench and a think about everything that's happened.

This is just my fourth day here and I've already managed to get myself wrapped up in something I shouldn't have. This is why I always tried to avoid people back at my old school. I never wanted to be involved with unnecessary drama. Satou acted as if she knew what I was going to say, she seemed almost mad that I knew about it. Just what is going on here?

I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to know anything more. I wish I could just forget this. I thought Nakai was a person I could trust, someone that could help me get adjusted here. He now avoids talking to me. I thought that Kagami was an attractive girl, someone that I might have tried building a relationship with. Now I can't even find her.

Hanamaru and Mori don't help, they just add on to my worries by one being the person who tells me of these things and the other being an example of how this could have happened. Hakamichi doesn't even want to talk to me unless it has to do with me joining the Student Council.

Maybe it's easier to just avoid everyone.

I grab the few things that I had with me and head back to my room as the sky turns black.

Hopefully tomorrow won't leave me with this nasty pit in my stomach.

--------

Chapter Ten: Life Gamble

It's cold. Darkness surrounds me and I'm all alone.

Well, not really. Mentally, I'm a thousand miles away from here in a cold, barren wasteland with nothing but my thoughts. Physically, I'm sitting in a dark room filled with two dozen other people.

From the perspective of a passersby, this would seem like a very strange situation. Truth be told, it is a strange situation, we aren't supposed to be sitting here in the dark. There's a terrible storm outside and Yamaku's back-up generators weren't as reliable as we had hoped. We went through most of the day just fine but in the last class of the day, the power went out.

The English teacher sighs as he rubs the back of his head. "Ok, I guess we'll just call it quits here. No point in trying to read in the dark." Before he walks out the door, he gives us a practiced warning about going outside in this weather and how we should try our best to keep dry and warm.

Once he leaves the room, everyone starts talking about their plans for the rest of the day. Despite the warning, I hear many people planning to go to the small town that's just downhill from the school.

I haven't had a chance to check that place out yet. If only it wasn't raining today.

A tap on my shoulder pulls me from my thoughts. As soon as I face the person seeking my attention, I immediately notice two things: Hakamichi wants to say something to me and she has a very devious smile on her face.

Fully expecting another recruiting attempt, I reluctantly answer her. "What is Hakamichi?"

"I was wondering if you had any plans today?"

I glance out the window to see if the storm has signs of letting up anytime soon. It does not. "No, whatever I may have had planned seems to have gotten rained out."

A light suddenly comes from her hand and quickly disappears before she replies. "So you're free then? Great! Come on lets go to the Student Council Room!" She quickly grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards the door.

A little more direct today than usual aren't we?

Hakamichi isn't particularly strong so I'm able free myself from her grasp. "Don't tell me this is just another one your recruitment attempts. I already told you I'm not interested"

She frowns and puts her hands on her hips. "Why do you always think that I'm trying to make you join the Student Council?"

"Because you always are. In fact, every time we've talked, you've tried to get me to join."

She crosses her arms and tilts her head to the side to contemplate this revelation. "Hm, ok that might be true, but this time is different."

"Right," I sarcastically reply.

"It really is! I promise!"

I grab my things and start making my way towards the door. Hakamichi quickly steps in front of me to block my path. "Come on, Yaso! I just thought you might want to play a game with me."

I raise my eyebrow questioningly.

Hakamichi steps out of the way to allow another student to get past her. Once cleared, she retakes her position to keep me from going anywhere. "The power's still out so there wouldn't be much else to do. We have some flashlights in the Student Council Room so we can play even though it's dark. So how about it?"

It does sound like a better alternate than just going back to my room. But having to go to the Student Council Room seems more like a trap.

"No thanks," I reply as I walk past her and out the door.

She lets out a deep sigh and shrugs her shoulders as I walk towards the hall. "What a shame. We could have done this the easy way."

After only taking one step into the hallway, I feel a heavy hand fall on my shoulder. Its grip is enough to keep me from going anywhere.

"Sup Atoza, looks like you're going my way." A smiling Hanamaru greets me while not taking his hand off my shoulder.

"Since you and Ryo have started getting along, I thought it'd be a good idea to spend some time together. And what better way to do that than to play a game together, right?" Hakamichi marches out the door as if she were a general who had just won a war. "All right boys, let's go!"

Hanamaru 'escorts' me as Hakamichi leads the way downstairs. I notice the looks on the faces of the students we pass. Though they all look different, they all say the same thing: "I feel sorry for him."

Once Hakamichi is a little bit away from us, I lean back and whisper to Hanamaru. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"It's my job to do as the Class President says." His expression is cold and serious. "She texted me with instructions to wait by the door to catch you if you tried to leave."

I stare at him for a few moments with disbelief. "How long were you waiting there?"

"That's not important."

He's fallen head over heels for a girl that treats him like a dog. Oh, how I pity you.

"Hanamaru, let me go and I promise that I'll help you and the President get together."

The grip on my shoulder grows tighter and he flatly answers, "I'm not letting you go."

I've come to learn something about Hanamaru these few days. When he's by himself, he can be extremely emotional and reactive to anything around him. But whenever he's near Hakamichi, he becomes so serious that it becomes next to impossible to get him to act recklessly. When he's like that, I can't blackmail him.

The Student Council Room is a lot bigger than I imagined. It's about the size of any other classroom but instead of being filled with desk for the students, it's full of file cabinets and large tables used for work.

I'm 'kindly' directed to take a seat at small table. Hakamichi takes the seat in front of me while Hanamaru takes out an electric lantern to help light the room.

She takes the lantern and places it in the middle of the table. "So Yaso, what game do you want to play?"

"I thought you already had something in mind. I mean, why else would you drag me here if you didn't have a plan?"

"I do have an idea about what to play but it helps if you make a suggestion."

"Would the suggestion of not playing anything be considered?"

"No."

With some instructions from Hakamichi, Hanamaru starts digging through a cabinet pulling out boxes of many different board games.

"Hakamich-," I begin to speak but a glare from Hanamaru stops me. "I mean, Miss President, why are you so dead set in making me play a game with you?"

She takes a long look at Hanamaru before turning to me to answer. "You know how you've avoided giving me an answer about the Student Council?"

I haven't been avoiding an answer. I've been saying 'no' this whole time.

She takes my silence as a confirmation. "I just thought that maybe we could put this to rest today."

I furrow my brow, I don't like where this is going.

Hanamaru places a giant stack of board games on a nearby table. "She's been planning this for a while now. We pegged you as the kind of guy that would rather deal with things directly instead of waiting for things to eventually settle themselves."

I lean forward on the table and rest my chin on the surface of my palm. "Just what exactly do you two plan on doing?"

"Wahahaha~! It's a once-in-a-life time chance." She holds up her index finger in the air, "One game, any game, one-on-one. The loser has to do one thing that winner tells him to do, no questions asked."

I stare at her wide-eyed. "You're kidding right? What kind of childish game is that?"

"It's actually a very simple solution to our little problem," Hanamaru quickly begins explaining. "If you win the game, then you can ask the Class President to do one thing for you and vice versa. The request can be anything you want, even something..." The rest of his words are mumbled but easy to guess why he couldn't say it.

Hakamichi looks at him with a questioning look. "Hey, don't give him any ideas. He only gets one chance to ask me to do anything, I want to see what he can come up with."

Knowing her, she'll probably make me join the Student Council. Though if I win, I can make her stop trying to recruit me. It does seem promising but any game we play will be stacked in her favor. If only I can find something fair.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of this game. Even if I said no, Hanamaru  would probably block my exit until I agreed to play. "Ok, I accept your challenge, but with one condition: I get to choose what game we play."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smiles as she points to the stack of games, "Ryo can help explain any game that you might be unfamiliar with, so take your pick."

I take a look at the pile. The first box I see is a game called Risk. Hanamaru explains that it's a world domination type game where both players are in control of an army whose ultimate goal is to wipe out the opponent. A strategy game basically, I decide against that one. Next is a game I'm a little more familiar with Monopoly. It'll take too long and is more luck than anything else. Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Go, Blackjack, some weird thing called Heroscape, they all seem exploitable by Hakamichi. I want to play a game on an even ground but nothing here would allow it. I guess a game based on luck would be my best bet but I don't want to leave it completely out of my control.

"Have you made up your mind yet. At this rate, it'll be dinnertime before we play." Hakamichi stretches in her seat.

"Just a moment, Miss President, I've almost got it."

Hanamaru leans in and whispers in my ear. "You are taking a long time, you do know that right?"

"Shush, I don't need to hear that from you too. I just can't decide on a game that'll be fair."

He reaches into his pocket a pulls out a coin. "Why don't you just leave it to chance. One coin toss, winner take all, no regrets."

That may be my safest bet. A 50/50 chance for either of us winning.

Hanamaru flips the coin as a demonstration that it'll be a fair game. I'm almost convinced until the coin bounces off of his hand and slides under a cabinet. The way he quietly stares at where the coin went signifies that it was his only coin.

"Were you planning on doing a coin toss? How lame." Hakamichi covers her mouth as she yawns.

She's trying to bait me. She wants me to hurry up and choose something without thinking so that she can easily win. There has to be something that's quick, simple and won't give her an advantage. Wait a minute, that's it!

I quickly make my decision and head back to the small table. Once I take my seat I set down a deck of cards in front of both of us. "This is want we'll play."

"A card game?" A toothy smile starts to form on her face. "What game is it?"

"It's a simple game of chance. High card!" I can see Hakamichi's smile drop slightly. "This way it'll be a fair for both of us. We each draw card and the one with the highest card is the winner."

I hand the deck to Hanamaru to shuffle. "I'll let you draw the first card, Miss President. Aces are the lowest and kings are the highest, the suit doesn't matter."

Granted, it's not the most exciting games to play but at the very least it'll give us a level playing field.

Hanamaru hands her the deck. She stares at me for a moment before taking a card off the top. "I thought you'd want to do something more complex. Oh well." She takes a look at her card and smiles. "How fitting, the four of clubs. It's the lucky four-leaf clover. Your turn~!"

Perfect! A four is easy to beat. Hakamichi will be out of my hair in no time.

I'm handed the deck and take a card from the middle. Hanamaru takes the rest of the cards while I lay the card I drew face down in front of me. Everything rides on this one card. Everyone is quiet, the rain can be heard as it falls from the sky. It's the moment of truth. I take the card in my hand and flip it.

The ace of spades. The death card.

God damnit...

"Wahaha~! According to your rules, the aces are the lowest so that means I win!" She lifts her arms in the air in a celebratory manner.

I slowly slump down and  a rest my head in my arms.

I know what's coming next...

"Okay! I already know what my one request will be."

I look out the window, expecting thunder to be heard.

"Hey Yaso," she pokes my head to get my attention. "Come on look at me when I make this request."

I sigh, "What is it Miss President?"

Hakamichi stares straight into my eyes and only says one word. "Kamiko"

I'm stunned into silence.

She takes her finger and points to herself. "Kamiko is my first name." She then points to Hanamaru, "His first name is Ryo. We're friends aren't we, so you don't have to call us by our last names or titles. My request is for you to stop being so distant and formal."

"W-what are you talking about?"

Hanamaru chimes in as well, "This school is full of restrictions but it doesn't stop us from getting close to one another. So there's no need for us to try to isolate ourselves with our mannerisms."

I wasn't expecting this. They're both smiling and being sincere with me. I've always called people by their last names because I didn't feel the need to get close to them. By only using their family name, it was as if I clearly define how close I wanted them to get. These two, however, saw that and challenged me about it.

"Why a-are you doing this?"

Hakami- no, Kamiko, stands up from her seat and walks to the center of the room. "I would say that it's my duty as Class President to advocate unity in the student body, but that wouldn't be completely honest." She turns to me and smiles, "We sit next to each other in class, we work together in groups, and can even spend some time playing a game in the middle of a power outage. I consider you a friend Yaso, so please don't hesitate to think of us the same way."

I was expecting her to make me join the Student Council, not this. I can't help but laugh at this situation.

Ryo raises an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"

I can't say anything, I just keep laughing until my eyes tear up. My laughter proves infectious because they both join in.

It was a honest laugh, filled with nothing but bliss.

Eventually I manage to settle down and catch my breath, "This whole time," I wipe away the tears in my eyes. "This whole time I was expecting you to force me to join the Student Council with your request and yet, you use it on something like this."

She puffs her cheeks and pouts, "I wouldn't force you to join, it has to be your choice. I've just been trying to persuade you."

I chuckle at her antics. "You're not very persuasive then."

"She does tend to get carried away sometimes." Ryo remark earns him a nasty glare.

She looks back at me, expectantly waiting for something. "Well, what do you think about my request?"

I stand up from seat and make my way towards the center of the room. Both of them stare at me as I extend my hand and smile. "I have no objections with your request, Kamiko."

She returns my smile and enthusiastically shakes my hand, "I'm glad to hear that Yaso!"

The rest of the rainy day is spent playing the many games that are in the Student Council Room. The lights finally turn on during our second game of Risk. Preferring playing by the lantern's light, we turn off the main lights and continue until it's time for dinner. We eventually go our separate ways and I return to my room to get some rest.

Maybe I'm wrong about the people I've met, maybe they aren't so bad after all.

--------

Chapter Eleven: Out and About

Oh, good God.

I've forgotten how long the school week can seem. I can barely stay awake as the teacher drones on and on about something that I've lost interest in a long time ago. Saturdays are only a half day but it's still almost unbearable.

I'm only this way because Kamiko isn't next to me to scold me every time I start to doze off. She must have had some Student Council work to do since she didn't even bother to show up today.

I look out the window and see that the sky is still somewhat gray. The storm let up late last night but it was still overcast in the morning. There have been some drizzles every so often but it's nothing compared to what we had yesterday.

The teacher's lecture is cut short when the bell interrupts her. After a reminder of what assignments are due for Monday, she takes her leave and everyone begins packing. I slowly get out of my seat and stretch. Strange, I don't feel so tired anymore.

Finally, I can stop worrying about school for a while. But I don't know what to do with myself for the rest of the day.

As I start making my way out the door, I feel a hand grab on to my arm and slowly wrap around it. "Yaso! Do you want to head out now?"

Amaya Mori holds on to me and looks into my eyes with an small, innocent smile on her face.

"W-what are you talking about?" I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I've never been used to causal contact and with Amaya practically hugging my arm, I'm well out of my comfort zone.

Her smile drops and is replaced with an annoyed expression. "You forgot didn't you?"

"Forgot what?"

"Our date."

"I've been meaning to ask you about t-that. When did we set up a d-date?"

She lets go of my arm to put her hands behind her back. She stands on her tip-toes and grins, "The day we first met! I told you I was free on Saturday when you asked me out."

"But I didn't-" She covers my mouth with her hand.

"It was implied."  She tilts her head to the side, "Well, at least it was from Kamiko. Anyways, I been looking forward to it, so don't back out."

I'm sensing a pattern here. When did I become such a push-over that girls can make me do anything they want?

"Okay, okay," I sigh. "Though, I don't know what we can do today."

"Hm," she puts her finger to her chin. "Since you're new here, you haven't gone to town yet, right?"

I shake my head.

"Okay, that's what we'll do! Let me drop off my stuff and then meet me by the front gate." She runs off before I even have a chance to reply.

Wait, did I just agree to go on a date with Amaya? Does she mean a date-date? Great, just when I thought I could relax.

Not fifteen minutes later, I find myself waiting by the front gate. The breeze is gentle but also bit chilly. I grip the edges of the school blazer to try to keep some warmth inside of it. After a few moments of watching my breath come out of my mouth, I see Amaya walk up. She's still dressed in her uniform but she's added boots, an oversized green sweater and a long, grey scarf.

"You're going down in that? Won't you be cold?" she asks.

"It's not that cold and besides the town isn't that far, right?"

"Well no, but it's still a bit of a walk."

We start our descent in silence, partly because Amaya can't look at me and safely walk forward and also because I'm admiring the calm surroundings. The area around Yamaku is surprisingly serene. I guess it's the perfect place to build a school for the disabled, away from everything and isolated from the rest of the world...

Okay, that sounds a little darker than it should.

I shake my head to get rid of that thought.

"Hm?" Amaya turns to face me, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just thinking about Yamaku and where it's built. This area is pretty peaceful, isn't it?"

She smiles, "I know, right? I love it here. Though I prefer when it's not raining because then I don't have a chance to practice my shots."

That brings up an interesting thought.

"You said anyone can join the Archery Club as long as their disability doesn't get the way, correct? I was just wondering how you... uh..." I stumble with my words until I slowly go quiet.

"You've never met an one-eyed archer I take it." She giggles as she points to a building that can be seen in the distance. "Ok, I want you to make an O with your hand and put that building in the middle of it."

I do as she tells me but find it slightly difficult to decide what counts as the middle of the O.

"Having trouble?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure which image to focus on. My hand or the building, one's in focus while the other one is split into two."

She giggles again. "It's much easier if you close one eye."

Once again I do as she says and find it much easier to put the building in the middle of the O.

"There I've got it."

"Are you sure? Don't move your hand and switch to your other eye. Now what do you see?"

"I'm way off again." I put my hand down and open both eyes. "Okay I get it, it's easier for you to aim because you don't have to worry about the split images."

She tilts her head to one side and then to the other. "Yes and no. I don't have to worry about split images but I also don't have to question what's in front of me. I know that what I looking at is right there and not a trick of perspective." She makes the motions of holding a bow and pulling back the string to fire an arrow. "Find your target and go full force."

Going full force? Somehow I can't imagine Amaya being any other way.

"I can see how works for you." I say aloud without thinking.

She crosses her arms in front of her, making an x. "Wrong! I know what you're thinking and you're wrong."

I give her a questioning gaze, "Wrong? What am I wrong about?"

She turns her back to me and continues walking down hill. "You're probably think along the lines of: 'Oh I guess she goes full force with everything and that lead her to going on a date with me'."

Her impression of me is rather off putting. She makes me sound as if I had the speech patterns of a eight year old, though she is right about what I was thinking. How does she keep doing that?

Amaya puts her hands on her hips. "You're misunderstanding my intentions. I hate to break it to you but I'm not interested in you. You're just not my type."

I don't know whether or not I should feel disappointed about that.

"Then why go through all the trouble?"

She shrugs her shoulders, "It's your first weekend here, I figured you needed something to do."

"And what about calling this a date?"

She laughs at my question, "It's a friend-date!"

My hand quickly makes its way to my forehead. This whole time I've been worried that I'd have act a certain way since she'd be expecting me to. Now that I know that she doesn't have any specific expectations with how this day will turn out, I can relax a bit more.

"What's with that reaction? Did you really think that this was a romantic situation?" She starts giggling, "If I was really expecting something, I wouldn't have gone with you. I would have gone with a certain someone."

Oh no, I don't need to hear about this.

"Ah~," she wraps her arms around her body, as if giving herself hug. "If only I could convince Mr. Nakai to join me one day."

"Isn't he far too old for you? He's probably married and has a kid by now."

She holds out her hand and points to her ring finger. "I know for a fact that he isn't married anymore."

"Anymore?"

She rubs the base of her finger. "He's divorced. Haven't you seen how he does this. It's because he used to wear a ring and now he doesn't."

"Oh come on," I scoff at her conclusion. "He could be doing that for any number of reasons. It doesn't have to mean that."

She turns to face me and looks me straight in the eyes. She doesn't say anything and just keeps staring at me. It's a little unnerving.

After a few moments, she turns around and starts walking again.

"W-what was that about?"

Without turning to face me, she answers. "You left eye starts to twitch when you get nervous."

I quickly reach for my eye to see as if I could confirm it. I can't. "What's that have to do with anything."

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to pick up on what a person is thinking when you take into account all of the nervous habits they have." She scowls at me, "You make this face whenever you start thinking hard about something that has just been said."

I don't look that ridiculous do I?

"Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit. But it's true." She manages to say after a fit of giggles.

"So what? Just because he does that, it doesn't automatically mean he's divorced."

She looks around the area for a moment. After making sure that no one else is around she lets out a deep breath. "He does that whenever one of two topics are being talked about. The first is his past and family."

Did he do that when we talked on the track? I don't remember looking at his hands back then.

"Then only other time that he does it is when someone talks about Midori Kagami."

There she is again. Another person that links Nakai with Midori.

"What does she have to do with anything?" I ask.

She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know much about her. She tends to avoid other people. The only time someone does see her outside of class is when she's talking to Mr. Nakai. Some people have even seen them go into an empty classroom together during lunch and after classes are over."

"So what does that mean?"

"Think about it. Nakai is a divorced man and Midori is a recluse that only opens up to him. They spend a lot of time alone together and then never talk to each other in public. They stay in an empty classroom until late at night. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Her tone becomes bitter with each word being said. It's obvious that she doesn't like to talk about Midori.

With the mood of our conversation becoming more sour by the second, I quickly try to find something to change the subject. Noticing that we are almost in the town, I decide to ask about what's nearby.

Amaya accepts this change of subject and the mood slowly goes back to being light-hearted as it once was.

After a quick tour of the town, we buy some food from the mini-mart and sit down at a nearby park.

"So what do you think? I'm a great tour guide, aren't I?" She asks with a huge grin.

"Ok, I admit, you're pretty good. I wouldn't have come to the town unless someone showed me where everything was."

"Yamaku sponsors a tour of the town and nearby city. But it's far too boring and restrictive. It's much better to have a friend show you around."

"You've been on that tour?"

She nods, "I took it when I started."

I finish off my drink and throw it in the trash. "When was that?"

"I've been at Yamaku since the start of high school." She points to her eye patch, "I've had this for a few years before then, so it was obvious that I was coming here."

It's a wonder at how easily she can address her lost eye and how openly she wears her eye patch. She has no problem showing it to the world, while I'm embarrassed to show my left hand. I wonder how long it'll take me to get use to it.

She starts poking me in the side. "Hey, you're scowling again. Don't feel bad if you're not comfortable talking about what happened to you. It'll get easier with time."

My phone suddenly rings, stopping me from responding to Amaya. I take out my phone to see who it is.

It's a text message. I excuse myself while I begin reading.

Oh swell.

I put my phone back in my pocket and stand up. As I try to brush away the moisture on my pants, Amaya finishes the rest of her drink and stands up with me.

"Is something the matter?" she asks with a concerned tone.

"No, nothing is wrong. It's just- Could you show me where the Shanghai is before we head back."

"Sure." She seems unconvinced that nothing is wrong but we begin walking anyways.

After another walk around town and making sure that I know how to get to the Shanghai, we make our way back to school. After our saying goodbyes, I head back to my dorm. I'm a little tired from the walk in town so I decide to get some go to sleep early.

After a quick shower and changing into my pajamas, I take one more look at the text message I received earlier today. It reads:

"Hey Little Brother, how are you doing? I hope that you're enjoying your new school. Mom and Dad have been really busy lately so they didn't have much free time to call you. So to make up for not calling you this week, I'm going to visit tomorrow! I read online that there's a popular tea house call the Shanghai in the town. You like tea right? Let's meet up at about 2:00. See you tomorrow."

Great, just great. He's coming for a visit. He's the last person I wanted to see.

I set my alarm to wake me up early tomorrow morning. It's better to wake up early and enjoy the little I have of my day instead of waking up late and going straight there.

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.

--------

Chapter Twelve: Family Bonds

I hate waking up late. Not only does it waste so much of your day, it also means that the things you are dreading will arrive that much sooner. Since I spent all of last night staring a hole into the ceiling imagining what could go wrong, I didn't manage to fall asleep until a couple hours before sunrise. Plus, to make matters worse, I slept through my alarm and didn't wake up until noon. A whole day wasted because I couldn't sleep, I hate it.

But there is one thing I hate more than waking up late when I don't want to and that's waiting for my older brother, who always manages to fail following the schedule he sets for himself. It's already two and I'm already sitting at a table in the Shanghai waiting for my brother to show himself.

I figured that my day would have become terrible after meeting with my brother, not before. That's just goes to show how much Toshiro Atoza gets on my nerves.

As children, we would always get along. We would play together and share just about everything we had. Being six years older than I am, our parents put a lot of pressure on him to live out the dreams they couldn't. He was raised to be the golden child of the family, while I was left to live however I wanted. I can still remember some nights when he and my mother would argue about his grades.  He didn't mind it, he endured everything they threw at him. He considered it his brotherly duty to protect me from that.

Unfortunately, things didn't stay that way forever. As I grew older, our parents saw that I had more potential than my brother. My grades were better, my skills sharper, and my determination was boundless. After some time, they gave up on my brother and focused on me, I didn't have much say in the matter. Since I was less trouble than Toshiro, our parents didn't put such harsh restrictions on me. I didn't argue with them and they let me enjoy my life my way. It was a good system and everyone was a little happier.

He changed however, he became distant with me. The way that our parents just switched their ambitions over to me, made it seem like they disowned him. We never played after that. He became more rebellious toward our parents. He would spend nights arguing with my mother and father about how he wanted his life to be and how it wasn't fair that I got everything so easily. He considered himself a failure and he blamed me for it. He eventually left the house to live on his own.

He was still my older brother, and with all that it entails, we had to live with each other no matter what. I tried to get closer to him, but it would never work. As children we were very much alike, but as we grew older, we became opposites. Slowly, I starting giving up on our relationship and my brother just became some stranger who shared my last name.

Before I had my stroke, we made amends. We carefully tried to fix the bond we lost. He was still bitter about what my parents did but he tried his best not to show it. When we talked, we would avoid the vast amount of landmines that would set off an argument. It was tedious, but it worked. We became friends again, granted it was not the most stable to friendships but it still was one.

I can only imagine the effect my stroke had on my brother. We had made plans to go out and do something together for the first time in years. Everything came to a screeching halt after my accident and all the progress we had made was lost. The only time I can remember my brother visiting me was when he looked down on me and called me worthless. Those were the last words I remember him saying. When I got out of the hospital, my brother didn't speak to me and I never wanted to speak to him either.

He called me worthless when I was at the lowest point of my life. He came to visit me once, and the only thing he did was insult me. He might be my older brother but I see as nothing but scum. Nothing good will come from us meeting today.

"Excuse me sir, are you ready to order anything yet?" A waitress asks.

"Can I just have a glass of water? I'm still waiting for someone."

She nods her head and walks off. As she does, I take a look at the rest of the cafe. It isn't very modern looking. Compared to the other buildings that surround the area, this feel out of place.

While everything in the outside world moved forward and progressed, this place feels as if it hasn't changed in years. That's not to say that ambience is terrible. The booths are well maintained and there is nothing that looks visually unappealing. Many people speak in hushed tones and waitresses can be seen walking to and fro, taking orders, picking up places or talking with some of the customers. Generally, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, even the people that sit alone at the bar are seemingly happy. Maybe this mood will rub off on my brother and me.

Yeah, I don't think so.

I yawn quite loudly which attracts the attention of the patrons at another booth. They're adults who seem to be talking about some important business. Their eyes linger on me for a few moments until they see that I'm not very interesting and return to their discussion.

It feels like it's been forever but I'm glad that I finally have a chance to get out of my uniform and into my regular clothes. I'm pretty sure that if I had been wearing my Yamaku uniform, those businessmen would have looked at me much longer and would have tried to discover what's wrong with me. But as long as I keep my left hand out of sight, I'm just your average teenager in a dark jeans and a red t-shirt with the design of a shield over his heart.

I chuckle a bit at my own thoughts.

Average teenager.

What a funny way to think of myself. Average. It's been a while since I've used that word for myself.

The waitress returns and places a glass of water on the table. I thank her and take a long sip. I pull out my phone to take a look at the time.

2:30 pm.

I sigh and lean back in my chair and look out the window. It's actually really sunny and beautiful outside. The storm from a few days ago has finally completely past and it's left the sky calm and clear.

Damn it world. Why did you have to make today look so wonderful if it's just going to be full of shit?

I watch people walk by for a few minutes. It's actually pretty relaxing seeing everyone go by until I see someone I recognize. A man, tanner than most but not tan enough to be considered foreign, walks past the window and heads to the front door. I look over to this man and see his short, straight black hair, dark brown eyes, and short, black beard under his chin. He's basically an older version of me with the expectation that his hair never gets curly, he's a bit bulkier than I and his left hand isn't always in a half-clenched position. He's wearing a dark blue polo, brown khakis and stupid grin on his face. He's none other than my older brother, Toshiro Atoza

After a few seconds of talking with the hostess, he is directed to my booth. When he arrives, he takes a seat looks at me up and down. "Hey little brother!" He's overly eager with me. His cheerful attitude sounds fake and forced.

Ugh, just hearing his voice is giving me a headache.

After a bit of silence on my part, I answer. "Hello Toshiro. What took you so long to get here?" Granted my tone isn't very exciting, but it's hard to act that way after he had me waiting for so long.

His smile falters a bit as he starts to scratch his chin. "Well, there was some traffic getting here and I couldn't find the cafe."

"You could have called. I'm somewhat familiar with this area."

"But where's the fun in that? Besides, it makes it easier for me to come here next time."

"Next time?" I say in a surprised, yet quiet tone.

"Yeah. I'll visit every week. Or maybe every other week. I don't want to bother you too much."

I start rubbing my temples. My headache is really starting to act up.

Toshiro looks around for a bit before addressing me. "Have you ordered anything yet?"

I shake my head and point to the menu that stands in the middle of the table. He grabs hold of it and directs all of his attention to it. I do the same with mine, but hold it up to the point where it blocks my vision of him. "This my first time coming here, so I'm not sure what to expect. It must be good though, considering that many students from Yamaku come here."

Toshiro remains quiet for a few moments, I can hear him rubbing his arm. "How's school?" His voice sounds nervous and it's obvious to me why.

This is one of the many landmines that we used to avoid when we talked before. School and grades were one of the many things that drove us apart. "It's not like you to ask about how I'm doing in my classes."

"I'm not asking about that. I know you do well in you classes, you always do." He mumbles that last part. "I want to know about your school. Are all the students there... you know?"

I set down my menu to look at him. "Are they what?"

He hesitates and tries to avoid eye contact. "You know, are they all disabled?"

"It doesn't matter. A person's disability doesn't define who they are or what their worth is."

He jumps a little and his grip on the menu tightens. He knows what I'm referring to, I'm sure of it.

A waitress comes and asks if we're ready to order. We both say yes and place our orders. He orders coffee and a turkey sandwich. I order green tea and a tuna sandwich. When she takes our menus and walks off, Toshiro turns to me. "So you do like tea. I didn't know that."

"I met someone who introduced me to it." I hesitate a bit at the thought of Midori Kagami.

"So you're making friends. That's good. You were always a bit of a loner. I was worried that you might have had a problem with other people."

"Why would that worry you?" I ask.

"I understand what it's like to have your life suddenly change. It's difficult but it becomes easier if you have friends by your side. Trust me on that one." He looks past me and stares out the window.

There was a time when he wouldn't talk to the family. It makes sense that he'd find solace with his friends. But I don't appreciate him comparing his life to mine. My stroke and his falling out aren't on the same level. He caused his problem; I never asked for mine.

We don't speak again until the waitress returns with our food. I have to admit, even with the place packed, the service is very fast. The waitress sets down my tea in front of me and as I thank her, Toshiro grabs it and moves it to my other side.

"What are you doing?" I ask once the waitress leaves.

"I'm making sure you can grab it with you good hand."

"I can grab it just fine." To prove my point, I reach for my cup with my left hand. I take a sip and put my cup down with a bit of force that rattles the table.

Toshiro watches me in silence as I perform this action. He doesn't say a word and just eats his food.

The awkwardness only grows as we start eating. Neither of us can think of anything to say and my little act of defiance didn't help start any new lines of conversation.

With our plates cleared, I try to start a conversation. "Have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?"

He fidgets a bit in his seat. "A little. They've been really busy, so they didn't have time to visit you. They're still worried though. Your accident really did a number on them."

"How so?"

"Mom was a little hysterical at first and Dad, well you know how he is. He just tried to keep his mind occupied on other things."

I take a sip of my tea. "What about you?"

"I was honestly surprised. You were always the lucky one, so I didn't know what to think about what happened to you."

I furrow my brow. Lucky? He thinks I'm lucky? Yeah, it takes luck to have a stroke.

"Don't be surprised if they don't call you anytime soon. It's what they do."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I ask.

"Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it." He waves his hand in front of his face to dismiss the notion.

There he goes again. He's comparing my life to his. We're nothing alike! Just stop doing that!

I can feel a pit growing in my stomach. The more I talk to him the more painful it becomes. It's making my head hurt and my heart rate is increasing. My breathing is becoming sporadic.

"Yaso? Are you all right?" He gets out of his seat and put his hand on my shoulder.

When I see his face, I am suddenly remind of that day in the hospital. The image is so clear, so vivid. It's almost as I'm there right now. I can see him standing at the edge of my bed. He's looking down on me and talking. He's words are mumbled but there is one word that's loud and clear. Only one: worthless.

I slap his hand away. "Don't touch me!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"S-shut up! Just stop talking."

My head is killing me. Try as I might to calm myself down, it isn't working. I keep seeing that image in my head. I keep hearing him say that word time and time again. Worthless. Worthless. Worthless!

"Yaso?" Once again he talks to me.

The pit in my stomach is unbearable, I just want to scream at him. But I can't. I have to keep it under control. I can't make a scene here. "Leave. Just go a-away!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't need you here! I don't WANT you here! Leave me alone!"

The can feel the gazes of the other patrons turn in our direction. It's no surprise that they're looking at us, I'm here practically shouting at my brother.

Toshiro gets out of his seat and places enough money to cover both of our meals on the table. "I don't know what's gotten into you. When you've calmed down, call me okay?"

I wordlessly nod my head and he leaves.

My head still hurts. I ask for another cup of tea in hopes that it'll help me calm down.

Just what was that? Why did my head hurt so much? Why did that image seem so real?

I close my eyes and rub my temples to help alleviate the headache. I hear a waitress come by and place a new cup of tea in front of me. She quickly cleans up the rest of the table and leaves. For some reason, however, it feels like she's still here.

I open my eyes to see where the waitress is but I don't see her. Who I do see is a face that I've only seen once before. Straight, long brown hair, mismatched eyes, one brown and the other blue. She's dressed in a violet v-neck blouse with a white shirt underneath and light grey, form-fitting pants.

The mysterious girl who no one knows anything about, Midori Kagami, stands next to me. "What a-are you doing here?"

She keeps her eyes downcast and avoids making eye contact. "The rest of the cafe is full and you were the only person that I recognized. So I was wondering, will you let me join you for a bit?"

I take a look around that cafe and notice that there are still a few open seats by the bar. "Go right ahead, I don't mind."

She nods slightly and takes the seat across from me. "Thank you. I was actually going to meet someone else here but-"

"If you want me to leave, you can just tell me outright." I bitterly interject.

"No, you don't have to go!" she hastily replies. "I don't have a right to kick you out. You were here first."

I sigh. "It's all right, I was just getting ready to leave. It's been a long day."

"Does it have to do with the person that just left?"

I flinch. It's bad enough that I made a scene, but to have someone I know witness it is worse. My stomach feels like it's in a knot and my head hurts even more at the thought of it.

I don't respond. She takes my silence as an opportunity to give a waitress her order. She only orders a cup of French Vanilla Tea. When she turns her attention back to me, she brings her hands together in front of her. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry, but it just seemed like he bothering you."

"He was family."

She raises her eyebrows at my word choice.

"I haven't been getting along with my family lately."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but what happened?"

I take a sip from my tea. "It's a long story."

She offers a small smile. "I don't mind listening."

I let out a dry chuckle as I take another sip. Satisfied with the taste, I slowly put the teacup back down on the table. My hand slips however, which results in the contents being spilled on the table. As the puddle of tea moves along the surface, it slowly makes its way to the edge and it falls on my pants. "Ow!" I shout as the liquid burns me

Why does it feel like I've done this before?

She quickly grabs some napkins and begins soaking up the tea that spilled. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. The tea wasn't too hot."

As we clean up the mess, a waitress come by with more napkins and offers me a new cup of tea. It doesn't take long to clean up the spilt tea. By the time we finish, I start to remember why this felt familiar. It was just like that dream I had.

Too bad reality didn't follow the same path.

"What a shame." I whisper.

"Hm?"

"No, it was nothing." I say as I wave my hand in front of my face.

Midori pushes the used napkins aside and faces me. "So you were telling me about your family."

I don't see the need to talk about my family anymore, but she seem genuinely interested. There's also a familiar yet comforting air about her.

"Right," I mumble as I rub the back of my neck. "Let's just say that after my accident, my family just started to treat me differently. I was supposed to be the one that would live out his dreams and live life to the fullest. But after what happened, it just didn't seem possible anymore."

She tilts her head to the side. "That's why you came to Yamaku isn't it? To learn how to cope with what happened to you."

"They don't see it the same way. I know that Yamaku is supposed to be a place to help people like us but sometimes I think that my parents just sent me here to get rid of me. Out of sight, out of mind as they say."

She reflects on my words for a few moments. "I don't believe anyone would do that. The school might be hidden away but that doesn't mean that we're what society doesn't what to worry about."

I scoff at her claim. "You don't know my parents. My father called me a cripple and my mother was sorry I was ever born. My brother only visited me once and when he did, he called me worthless."

I can feel my head hurt again. The pit in my stomach returns as I recall my stay at the hospital. It's a painful memory that should be hidden away, not talked about openly to someone I don't even know.

Midori grips at the golden chain around her neck. "Do you hate your family?"

I pause. I've never really thought about it before. I mean, it's justifiable if I do, right?

"I don't know." I flatly state.

Midori stares at me for a few moments. Her grip on the golden chain only tightens. I can't tell what's attached to it, her hand is covering it up. "Yaso, can you keep a secret?"

I look at her and furrow my brow. "What is it?"

"Since you told me about your family. It's only fair I tell something in return."

"What are you talking about?"

She opens and closes her mouth several times as if she wants to speak. She take one deep breath after  another trying to form her sentence but nothing comes out. After about her fifth breath, she finally manages to say something. "It's about me and Nakai."

What? Does she want to tell me about her improper relationship right now? I told her about my family, something personal, and she thinks that it's fair, equal, to tell me something like that!

No! I don't want to hear it!

She begins speaking again. "I know there are rumors about me and I thought it's only fair to tell you-"

"Just stop." She looks surprised as I interrupt her. "You might think that it's the right thing to do, to tell me something like that after I told you about my family, but it's not. I don't want to hear it."

"But-"

"No, I already know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. It's obvious, so painfully obvious that even the new guy who's only been here for a week knows about it." My tone is harsh and bitter. "I don't want to know anything, okay? Nothing!"

I already have enough to deal with. I don't want to be considered some accessory to a crime just because I knew what was going on and didn't say anything. I don't need that.

A hurt expression crosses her face and she looks down on the table. "Oh. I understand." She whispers in an almost inaudible level.

I stand up from the table. I pull out my wallet and leave enough money for my tea.

"Where are you going?" She asks without even looking at me.

"I think Ryo was right about you. You are trouble." I start to walk off. "Good bye, Kagami."

Before I exit the building I turn back to where she sits. She's shaking and her hands still are wrapped around her necklace.

I think it's better if we never talk again. It'll be easier this way.

I turn back towards the door and walk out. I take a deep breath of fresh air as it hits me, in hopes that it'll help calm my nerves. It makes little difference.

I can't believe her! I can't think of any logical reason why she would want to tell me about her and Nakai. It makes no sense. What does she want from me? I already have enough to deal with after Toshiro came, I don't need know any more unnecessary drama.

This is why I avoided people before. They start to wrap you up in the mess they make and when they fall, they drag you down as well. I should have never come to the Shanghai. I should have just stood him up and then I wouldn't have had to see her. I don't need this right now.

My headache still lingers and it's making walking a harder task then it should be. Going back to my dorm in this state isn't a good idea. I need to rest, at least until I can walk normally.

A nearby park seems like the best place to rest. It seems pretty quiet. Trees and shrubbery line the edges of the park. In the middle are a number of trees where one can take a seat under and rest. There's even a fairly large pond in the center of the area with benches along its border.

I take a seat on one of the benches beneath a group of trees that look towards the pond. Children can be seen running around, men are fishing in the pond and a family celebrates the birthday of a relative. They're having fun and sharing happiness with each other while I sit here and sulk.

I just don't understand anything. Why did Toshiro come? He didn't need to visit, I don't even want him here. What does he have to gain from coming here? Did my parents force him? Did they make him do it so they don't have to?

What about Kagami? What's she doing at the Shanghai in the first place? Why did she come to me? We don't even know each other that well. Why did she seem so interested in my family?

Family. MY family.

Do I hate my family?

I do have a reason to hate them, but I can't bring myself to admit it. It doesn't feel right to say it. What they did is unforgiveable. No one should ever be that heartless to their own family and yet, I still can't hate them, at least not completely.

My phone suddenly starts ringing. I take a look at the caller id; I don't recognize this number.

"Hello." I answer.

"Is this Yaso?" asks a female voice. The static makes it hard to tell who it is.

"Y-yes, but who's calling?"

"It's Kamiko. I want to know where you are right now."  Her voice is somewhat forceful.

"I'm in the park. Why do you want to know?"

"Good, stay there. Don't you dare leave before I get there."

"Wait, why-" My phone beeps indicating the call has ended. "- do you want to know?"

Ok, that was strange. I don't remember giving her my number.

Only a few minutes of watching children play tag pass before I start hearing someone approach from behind me. As I turn to see who it is, my eyes go wide at the sight. I see Kamiko dressed  in her school uniform, which is odd because we didn't have class today. What I'm more surprised at is that she's dragging Kagami towards me.

"Kamiko, what are you doing?" I ask.

She doesn't answer, preferring to stand in front of me, her hands on her hips, and her eyes locked on to mine.

"Why are you dragging around Kagami? What are you planning to-."

Suddenly a flash of white burns through my vision. I feel my head forcibly shifted to the right. I don't know what happened but the stinging sensation from my cheek explains everything. It happened so fast that I can only see the aftermath. I see Kagami covering her mouth with her hands, a shocked expression visible over them. I see Kamiko's right hand held out in front of her, in the position it took after its brief contact with my face.

It's almost as if everything in the world just stopped. No one is moving and not a word is spoken. I just don't believe it. She slapped me. No 'hello' nor any warning, just a quick slap and nothing else.

Kamiko is the first to break the endless silence. "You deserve that for what you've done, don't try to argue it." Her words are cold and serious, nothing like her usual manner of speech.

I remain silent. My mind is still trying to register what happened.

"Do you know why I did that?"

I slowly shake my head.

She rubs her right hand and sighs. "Two reasons. One, you just called her Kagami. You promised me that you wouldn't call people by their last names. You went back on your word."

"But that doesn't merit me getting slapped!" I start raising my voice but only barely manage to keep my temper under control.

"The other reason is worse!" She takes a step closer to me and pokes me in the chest. "You made her cry and you did nothing to help. You just left her there alone. I can't believe you would do such a thing. I'm disappointed in you."

True, I did do that. I know it was wrong but I didn't want to deal with the issues that Kagami would have brought to me. I already had to endure my brother, I didn't want something else thrown on me. I'm ashamed to admit that I did something like that but I had no choice.

I can't think of an appropriate response that wouldn't sound like a lame excuse. The only thing that I manage to do is break eye contact and stare at the ground beneath me.

"Apologize to her! If you don't, I'll never respect you again."

"Kamiko, please don't say things like that," Kagami quietly says.

Kamiko glares at me for what feels like hours until she turns around with a loud "Hmph!" She begins walking off as she says, "I thought more of you, Yaso. Don't talk to me until you she forgives you."

I slump back into the bench I was in before with my head hanging low.

Well, that's just great. I tried to avoid being involved in something I thought was wrong and now I'm losing all of the people I considered friends. Just once, I'd like my decisions to not come back and bite me in the ass.

This is why I preferred solitude. I could do whatever I wanted and I had no one to judge me for it.

I move my hand to my cheek. I touch it lightly and it stings. She must have put a lot of strength into that slap...

As I sit, examining my cheek. I hear someone come closer to me and sit down next to me on the bench. I look up and see Kagami's worried eyes.

"Does your cheek still hurt?" She nervously asks.

"A little bit."

She fidgets a little and grips her necklace again. "I'm sorry about what happened."

I'm surprised by her apology. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who yelled at you and made you cry. If anyone should apologize it's me."

She shakes her head. "If it wasn't for me, Kamiko wouldn't have hit you and she wouldn't be mad at you."

"She takes her job too seriously, she would have done that to anyone."

She shakes her head again, more violently this time. "You don't understand. She hit you specifically because of me."

"What do you mean?"

She lets out a deep breath and her hands fall to her side. I can now see what her necklace is. It's two golden rings.

"We grew up together. We're cousins but she's more like an older sister to me. I was meeting her for lunch at the Shanghai. When she found me crying, she became furious and swore to make the person responsible suffer."

"You're r-related?" My head falls into my hands. "That would explain why I never heard her talk like that before. God, I'm an idiot. She must hate me."

She giggles. "You're lucky. She actually went easy on you. I've seen her do much worse."

I cringe at the thought of it. Her slap hurt a lot, I hate to imagine what was worse.

"Don't worry. If I say that you're okay then she'll forgive you."

I sigh. I'm an idiot, aren't I. Kagami is a kind person and I snapped at her for no real reason. She was just trying to be more open to me and I shot her down. I'm a complete asshole.

"Listen," I lift my head and  look into her eyes. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It was just that I was talking to my brother before we met and I was just mad from that. I had no reason to yell at you."

A small smile forms on her face. "It's okay. I'm at fault too. I was being too nosy and sort of pushed you to the edge."

That reminds me. "Back at the Shanghai, before I got angry, you were trying to say something weren't you? What was it?"

Her hands quickly make their way to her necklace and her cheeks crimson. "Oh that. Well, you were telling me so much about your family, I wanted to be fair and tell you about mine."

"But you mentioned Mr. Nakai." I feel my stomach twisting in a knot at the fact that I just asked about her relationship with him.

Her grip tightens on her necklace. "Yeah, I did."

Wait. She wanted to talk about her family and in doing so she mentioned Nakai. Oh good God, I'm an idiot. It all makes sense now.

"I haven't told this to anyone but it's only fair I tell you this because you were so open to me. My real name isn't Midori Kagami. It's Midori Nakai."

My stomach feels terrible now. Not because of the reason from before but for something else. Guilt and shame for rushing to a conclusion about what she wanted to tell me. "So d-does that mean that Mr. Nakai is your dad?"

She nods her head. "Both of my parents are teachers at Yamaku. That's why I don't agree with what you said about how parents leave their children at this school to forget about them. I'm here because I love my parents and I couldn't bear being apart from them."

"Both of your parents?"

"Yes, Hisao Nakai is my father and Lilly Satou is my mother."

My eyes go wide. She's Miss Satou's daughter! The one and only time I talked to Satou, I mentioned the rumor about an affair going on between Nakai and their daughter!  I let my head my head fall back into my hands.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just realized how wrong I was about a lot of things."

She looks down to the ground and sighs. "That stupid rumor that everyone passes around, I hate it."

"But your his daughter. Why don't you tell everyone that?"

"I can't. Yamaku Academy has rules against the children of faculty attending."

Rules against people attending? The only rule I remember that restricted admittance was the rule against people with mental disabilities. "What rule are you talking about?"

"Faculty members aren't allowed to have their children attend because of insurance reasons. There was an incident long ago when a student almost lost her life because a teacher was more focused on his son."

"But I've heard that Nakai has connections with the higher ups. Couldn't he have done something."

She shakes her head. "The best that he could do was to send me to another school like Yamaku."

"Then how are you here?"

"My parents got divorced in order to give me a reason to go by another name. They also used their connections to get some key faculty members to look the other way when certain information comes up about my history."

If that's true then the fact that she's related to two teachers should remain hidden from everyone. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's fair. You told me about your family, so I had tell you about mine."

"So by that logic, if anyone told you about their past, you'll tell them about this too?"

She tilts her head to the side as if she's in deep thought. "No, I wouldn't. You're the new guy at school and you met me before you knew anything about those rumors. You were very kind and open about what has happened to you, so I thought I could be the same way," She says with a bashful smile.

"You really are trouble," I sigh. "But I think I can deal with it."

We both share a laugh. It's unbelievable how wrong I was about this girl. All the things that everyone think they know about her are wrong. She's not a girl without morals who enjoys tabooed relationships, she's just another person who has deal with what life has thrown at her.

She looks up to the sky and sighs. "The sun is going to go down soon, so I should go back." She stands up and turns to me. "Are you going to head out too?"

I shake my head. "Not just yet. I'm just going to stay here a little longer."

"Okay then." She turns and begins walking away. "Oh, before I forget. Do you remember the room where we first met?"

I nod.

"If you'd like, you could join me for lunch there." She tilts her head in a way that makes her hair hide her face. I swear she's blushing.

"I'd like that, Midori." I can't help smiling as she walks off.

I lean back into the bench and watch as the sky turns from a light blue, to orange and eventually black. I take a deep breath and enjoy the crisp night air.

The more time that passes, the more stars become visible in the night sky. I've always loved the stars. No matter how much my life changes, no matter where I go, I can always look up at the sky and watch the stars. I admire them because even though they are so far away, so small to the naked eye, they continue to shine brightly. Even when no one is watching them, they shine because they can.

I was expecting this day to be terrible. While it did have its fair share of hardships during the beginning, it hit a high point towards the end. It almost makes me forget about what happened with my brother. It's funny, my day completely turned around because of one person.

Midori Nakai. What a strange and mysterious girl. Even though she told me about her family, I really don't know anything about her. I'll admit, I'm a little curious about who she really is. As far as I can tell, she's a kind and beautiful girl who enjoys her tea.

...

I laugh at the fact that I know next to nothing about her. I guess that will come in time. I just need to have patience. A feel a smile slowly start to form when the realization hits me. It's been a long time since I've had something work towards, it's been a long time since I've gone on one of my adventures.

I stare at the stars with a wide smile on my face. You're not the only ones that can shine brightly tonight.

When I finally reach the gates Yamaku, I'm surprise to find someone standing there. It's Kamiko and now that she's seen me, she's walking towards. I feel my body tense as it remembers the last time I saw her.

She stands in front of me with her hands on her hips and her eyes locked on to mine. I hold my breath because this is just like before.

"Wahahaha~! See what did I tell you! You're perfect for the Student Council!" Her laugh catches me by surprise.

"W-what?"

"You made a girl cry and you went back to make amends. It really happened this time and you followed through. You're perfect for the council."

This girl never ceases to amaze me. My hand makes its way to my forehead. "You've got to be kidding me! It's too late to be doing this! How can you be mad at me one second and then the next you try to make me join?"

"You made up with Midori, so you're okay with me." She gives a thumbs up and a wide, toothy grin. "Now we can resume our usual thing. So are you going to join or not?"

"For the hundredth time, no!"

She puffs her cheeks and pouts. "Fine then, if you don't join then I won't show you something interesting."

I walk past her and wave behind my back. "Not interested, good night."

She runs up to me and grabs my arm. "No, wait! Don't go, come with me to the girls dorm."

Did I hear that right? Did she just run up to me and ask me to come with her to her room?

The blood starts rushing to my cheeks. "Out of all p-people, I didn't expect you would ask such a t-thing."

I've never seen a face turn red so fast. She lets go of me and jumps back. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Just shut up and come with me."

She leads me to the girls dorm  and stops just outside the main entrance. She brings up one finger and holds it against her lips. "Don't make any loud noises and you should be fine."

"Fine for what?"

She doesn't answer me and walks through the door. We tiptoe down the hall without making a sound. I follow Kamiko until she stops next to a door. She points to her ear and then at the door. She moves aside to allow me to peak into to the room.

The first thing I notice is the sound of music being played in the lounge area. The sound is clear and deep, there's no stereo system that I know of that has that kind of quality. As I look deeper into the room I see someone sitting in front of a piano, swaying side to side as she hits every note of the song she's playing. It's Midori. She's playing and it seems like she's entranced by her song.

A tap on my shoulder turns my attention back to Kamiko. "Ever since we were little girls, she would always play the piano like this. This is her dream."

"Her dream? Does she want to be a concert pianist?"

She quietly laughs. "Don't be ridiculous. Midori isn't very outgoing, she'd rather die than play in front of hundreds of people. Take a look in front of her, what do you see."

I peak through the door again and try to see in front of her. I don't see anything.

"I don't get it. What am I suppose to see?"

Kamiko looks into the room and smiles. "She doesn't use sheet music. She knows that song by heart. It's Debussy's First Arabesque."

"That's incredible."

She turns back to me. "When you were younger, did you like to draw?"

"Yeah I did."

"Let me guess, you would show your parents your work of art, right?"

I nod.

"Think about that and apply it to her."

What is she getting at? I imagine a younger Midori drawing something and showing it to her parents. It seems perfectly normal until I remember who her mother is. Lilly Satou, the blind English teacher.

"She learned how to play because of her mother?"

Kamiko nods. "She wants to learn as many songs as she can before she loses her eyesight so that she can share them with her mother. She comes here in the middle of the night to practice in private."

I start moving away from the door. "If that's why she plays at night then we shouldn't be watching her."

Kamiko looks back into the lounge with a soft smile. "She's smiling, you know.  She's smiling because this is the first time in years that she's played this early. She's knows that someone will see her and she doesn't care."

I look through the door again. I see Midori swaying in time with the song she's playing. She moves with a reckless abandon, smiling as every note she plays mixes together create the melody.

Kamiko starts to walk off. "Just so you know curfew's about to start soon so you'll get in trouble if you're caught here."

I pay her no heed and continue watching Midori.

She sighs contently. "Good night Yaso. Don't get in trouble." She heads down the hall and disappears when she turns the corner.

I can't take my eyes off Midori as she plays. She moves gracefully from one key to the other. Each note she plays is filled with such raw emotion, that the mixture on the sound becomes the only thing I can focus on. I can tell she's passionate about the song she's playing. The more I watch her, the more I feel like I can learn something about her.

Switching from high notes to low notes, slowing the down the rhythm and picking it up again, I watch every moment she makes as she plays her song. It's simply amazing and makes me want to get closer to her, but I don't. I stay where I am, just outside of the lounge door, for fear that I might interrupt her when she's being so honest with her emotions.

For the rest of the night, I can't get the music she played out of my head. I don't think I want to, it was beautiful and something I don't want to soon forget.

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