Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cripple

Angus’s Abnormal Adventures I
Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cripple
By Emps

Lilly’s voice shocked Hanako out of her melancholy. She had been looking into her cup of tea.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay? You’ve been unresponsive lately.”
Hanako thought about what he said. She had been more reclusive the past few days, and she wasn’t talking much. When Angus left the other day she had unexpectedly been hit by a black mood. It hadn’t lifted yet, but Hanako had dealt with these moods before and knew they were always temporary. She sniffled before answering. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. It’ll pass. Th-these moods always do.”
“May I ask the cause of your mood?” Lilly asked, ever polite.
“I-I’m not sure m-myself. I-I’ve been like this ever since S-Saturday.”
“Saturday? That’s the day Angus left.” Hanako nodded to Lilly’s words. Lilly’s face contorted in thought before she said, “Is he why you’re sad?”
“M-maybe. I don’t usually c-cry over boys thought. Except…” she trailed off, thinking of her first crush, whom she had accidentally killed mid-confession. She still had nightmares about that, even though she had forgotten his face. There were also a few nights she had cried herself to sleep when she found out Hisao and Lilly had gotten together, but she was over him and happy for Lilly. She shook her head. “E-even if he is, I’ll get over it. I always d-do.” Hanako took a deep drink of her tea. It was cold and bitter, but she swallowed anyways.  “L-Let’s head back. I w-want to get some reading in.”
Lilly nodded and signaled over Yuuko before paying and leaving. Hanako wrapped her arm around Lilly’s to guide her as they walked back towards Yamaku, but mostly refrained from using her to hide.  She dropped Lilly off at her dorm before making her way to the library. At the library she greeted Yuuko as she entered. Putting off the question of how quickly Yuuko could switch between jobs, Hanako made her way to the back of the library. She turned a corner and stopped in her tracks. A man was sitting on her beanbag, reading a book.
“A-Angus?” she asked, incredulity painting her voice.
“Hey Hanako. Figured I find you here eventually,” he said as he looked up from his book. “Care to join me?”
“S-sure.” Hanako stood above him for a moment. She eventually decided to let him sit there and took a seat on a neighboring bag. Hanako looked at the book he was reading. She didn’t recognize it, and the angle he held it at made it hard for her to read the cover. “What book are you reading?”
Angus looked at her before flipping the book over to check its cover. “Magician, by Raymond E. Feist. It’s about an orphan boy named Pug and it follows him as he learns how to use magic, while also chronicling an alien invasion of his homeland. Its rather interesting. You might like it.”
Hanako nodded. “I-I’ll take a look at it.” Hanako opened her own book to read.
“What’s yours?”
“Orion. It’s a foreign novel, by Ben Bova. It’s about O-Orion, but he’s a time-travelling servant of O-Ohrmazd sent further and f-further back in time to defeat Ahriman.”
“Orion, as in the one from Greek mythology?” Hanako nodded confirmation of his statement. “I’ll have to check that one out.”
They went back to reading. They sat together silently, each absorbed in their own different world for a long time. It was Hanako who broke the silence.
“I-I thought y-you were supposed to go to A-America.”
“That was the original plan yes, but my parents bought a small steel company here, so they requested I stay.”
“So, where a-are you staying now?”
Angus grimaced. “In the city. I don’t particularly like it, but there could be worse arrangements. At least I sort of know the guy I’m staying with.”
“Who is it?”
“Akira’s boyfriend.”
Hanako remembered him. From the few times she had met him she had gotten the distinct impression he was bit of a freeaboo, with the notable exception of Doctor Who. Perhaps westaboo was the proper word.
“I’m in dorm 224,” she told Angus. “I-I can show you sometime, i-if you want.”
“Uh, okay,” Angus said before returning to his book. Hanako took a moment to steel herself before speaking again.
“I-I never t-told you about m-my f-family,” she said nervously. She waited for Angus to respond. Angus nodded, which she took as a request to continue. She looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before doing so.
“Th-there was a bl-black out, when I was e-eight. W-we h-had to u-use c-candles to s-see, but one f-fell over. B-by the t-time we n-noticed, the w-wall had a-already c-caught-”
“I think we should go somewhere more private,” Angus interrupted. His eyes had gone wide as he realized what she was saying.
Hanako blinked. “O-okay,” was all she could say. “A-are the d-dorms f-fine?”
“Sure.”
Hanako stood up, as did Angus. She led him out of the main building and into the girl’s dorms. Up the stairs and down a hall, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door marked “224.”
“Wow. This room could really use some color,” Angus said on seeing the interior.
‘You mean “Wow. This room is really depressing,”’ Hanako thought. She didn’t blame him; the inside was as gray and depressing as always. Despite living here for a number of years, she still didn’t think of the room as really her's. That was why she had never really bothered to decorate it. Hanako stood facing her shelf and took a moment to compose herself before speaking again.
“A-as I-I was s-saying, b-by the t-time w-we noticed the w-wall had already c-caught f-fire. Fr-from th-there it spread s-so quickly w-we were tr-trapped. M-Mom threw m-me on the g-ground and l-laid on top of m-me, and D-Dad on t-top of h-her to shield me fr-from the fl-flames.” Hanako closed her eyes and shuddered. “I-I c-can st-still h-hear th-their sc-screams as th-their flesh w-was c-cooked fr-from their b-bones.” Hanako was about to continue when she felt a pair of thick arms spin her around and wrap her up as a rough hand cradled the back of her head. She stiffened in surprise. “A-Angus?”
“Yes?”
“Wh-what are y-you d-doing?”
“Trying to comfort a friend. Am I doing it right?” Under his breath, he muttered, “Mars was always better at this stuff than I was.”
Hanako slowly relaxed. “Y-You’re d-doing f-fine. I-I was c-caught off guard, is a-all,” she said as she leaned her head against his chest. She stood there, drawing strength from Angus for a short while. She pushed away from him and sat down on the bed.
“Wh-why’d you decide to h-hug me?”
Angus shrugged. “It’s what Mars would do whenever Włady looked like he was going into a panic attack. I figured it’d work on you too.”
Hanako shook her head. “I-I wasn’t h-having an attack. I-I can handle t-talking about the fire; i-it’s what c-came after that r-really hurt.”
Angus nodded her on. He took a seat in her desk chair before she continued. “A-after the f-fire I was put in an orphanage. N-none of m-my surviving r-relatives w-wanted anything to do with m-me.” She saw Angus flinch. “I-I was still a-able to go to m-my old school. It w-would have been b-better if I h-hadn’t. O-once I g-got back all m-my friends t-turned on me.” Hanako suppressed a shudder. “I-It w-was h-horrible. The o-ones who h-had b-been cl-closest t-to m-me b-b-before w-were th-the w-w-worst.” She failed at suppressing the next shudder. She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. “Th-things were a-alright at the orphanage. No one e-ever adopted m-me, wh-why would th-they? b-but the w-workers were n-nice enough. A-and as I-I got older, some of the y-younger ones started t-to see me as a s-sort of surrogate mother.” Angus had moved the chair closer to the bed. “Th-those times w-were almost g-good. I-I met m-my first cr-crush at the orphanage.” A pang of guilt hit her as she remembered what happened when she tried to confess her feelings to him. “E-Eventually it w-was time to g-go to high school. I-I was g-given a ch-choice: st-stay in the p-public school s-system, or go h-here, to Yamaku.” She smiled at Angus before joking, “I-I think y-you know which I-I chose.” Angus made a small laughing sound and Hanako continued. “I-It was l-lonely for m-me. I-I k-kept to myself a-a lot. L-Lilly, Shizune, and M-Misha all went h-here back th-then, but at the t-time they were sc-scary. I-in hindsight, I-I realize th-they would h-have b-been friendly if I a-approached, but I-I was st-still too sc-scared then. I-it w-wasn’t until L-Lilly m-moved into the d-dorms at the beginning of th-this year th-that I-I c-could a-approach her. I-If you w-want to know m-more, you should a-ask her. I-I don’t remember m-much of th-that first d-day. Th-then Hisao transferred in a f-few months l-later, a c-couple m-more months later, a-and here we a-are.” Hanako turned to look at Angus, who had joined her on the bed. “N-now w-we’re r-really fr-friends. O-other th-than my therapist, I-I’ve only told that st-story to Lilly, H-Hisao, a-and now you.” A small smile danced across her lips as she said the words.
Angus was solemn as he said, “and none of us will willingly leave you now. I certainly won’t.” Hanako decided to ignore the fact that it was only two days ago he had planned to do just that as she leaned her head against his arm. He wrapped his left arm around her and they sat together silently.
After a while, Angus said, “I should be leaving now. Don’t want to start any rumors.”
“Pl-please stay the n-night. Lilly’s sp-spending the night with Hisao, a-and I want someone I trust n-nearby. In case I get n-nightmares.”
Angus frowned. He got up and peered through the blinds. He muttered something under his breath, but Hanako couldn’t hear it. Turning to her, he said, “Alright, I’ll stay. I just have to text Toriyama and tell him I won’t be there tonight.”
“O-okay. I’ll go change into m-my pajamas now.” Hanako hastily gathered her evening kit and pajamas. She couldn’t prevent a blush from staining her smiling face as she closed the door behind her.

Angus surveyed the room. It was small, with Hanako’s bed against the wall next to the door and her desk on the opposing wall. There was a closet on the side wall next to the door. Most importantly, there was no space other than the rough carpet floor to sleep. Angus could probably handle an all-nighter, but he didn’t have school in the morning. He decided he would probably just curl up in a corner when Hanako returned. She looked very cute in her large pink pajamas. He gave a slight wave as she entered, which Hanako returned.
“W-would you like some tea?”
Angus was about to ask which flavors she had, but realized that would be rude. “Sure.”
Hanako nodded as she retrieved the teapot and hotplate and some cups from the self above her bed. The arrangement struck Angus as somewhat hazardous. She set up the hotplate and set it to heat up before disappearing to the floor’s kitchen to fill the pot. She returned and set the water to boil. “Th-there’s a table under the b-bed. C-can you help set it up?”
Angus nodded. Together they dragged it out and set it to standing. It was a low Japanese table. When the tea was ready they took up seats at the low table. Hanako sat Japanese style, of course, and Angus squatted.
“Wh-why do you always squat? I-Isn’t it uncomfortable?”
“Not really. It just comes to me naturally.”
Hanako’s reaction was hidden as she took a drink. Angus sipped his tea too. It was green tea, which he hated, but he drank it anyways out of politeness. They spent a quiet moment looking at each other.
“Do you ever think it’s weird how quickly we became friends?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“We’ve literally only know each other for a week. It seems like it should have taken longer.”
Hanako shrugged. “I-I never r-really had many friends, even before the f-fire. I w-wouldn’t know.”
“Neither have I.”
Hanako seemed shocked by his words. “R-really? You seem pretty fr-friendly.”
Angus grunted. He could feel his brow furrow a bit involuntarily as he spoke, “Poles aren’t well regarded in Britain. My family’s wealth only isolated us further. Really, it was only the Satous and a couple other families that we could interact with on equal footing.”
“M-maybe that’s why we came together so fast. T-two lonely people l-looking for a friend.”
Angus smiled at her words. With a small chuckle he concurred, “Maybe. Maybe.” Once again they sat together in amiable silence for a time. Eventually Hanako announced she was tired, so they put the teapot and cups on her desk, to deal with later. As Hanako climbed into bed and turned off the lights Angus laid himself down in a corner by the door. He was silently grateful that Hanako still used a nightlight when she slept.

“A-Angus?”  Angus’s eyes snapped open at Hanako’s quiet voice. The nightlight illuminated the room just enough to make out the outlines of everything.
“Yes?”
“I-I can’t sleep.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“N-nothing. I f-figured we could talk, is all.”
“About what?”
Hanako took a moment to answer. In the meantime, Angus’s eyes adjusted a little bit and he could make out slightly more detail.
“D-do you believe in l-love at first sight?”
Angus blinked. That was honestly not the question he was expecting. He was about to answer, but then reflected on his experience. Only twice before had a girl attracted his affection for more than a few days, and it usually took time for those feelings to coalesce into something recognizable. Tentatively, he answered, “Yes, but it is rare. Do you?”
Another silence before Hanako answered, “Yes.” Her voice was firm, without a trace of stutter. It seemed that Hanako didn’t want to speak anymore, so Angus started to go back to sleep. Before he managed it, Hanako asked, “H-have you had a cr-crush before?”
Angus nodded even though he realized she probably couldn’t see. “You already know about Lilly, though I suppose that was less a crush on her and more a crush on the idea of a girl who’d give me a second glance for something other than making fun or insults. Before her though, there was another. Her name was Gwendolyn Jones, the older sister of my best friend, John Jones, by about two years. They moved up from Cardiff when I was three. Nothing ever came of it.”
“I-I had a crush. B-before Hisao, I mean. His name w-was Hideo Hara.”
“Anything happen between you two?”
“N-no. I-I ran mid-confession, and wasn’t able to speak to h-him again.”
Angus didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

Angus woke with a start. The room was brighter lit than last time he woke up, but the lights were still off. A quick check through the blinds showed a reddish-orange half circle sitting on the horizon, partly obscured by trees. A quick glance around the room told him that Hanako wasn’t in her bed. The tea stuff was also set back on the shelf, cleaned sometime earlier.
Angus pondered his situation. He could quickly leave now, but students were probably starting to wake up, and it would look very suspicious if he came out of the girl’s dorms at that time. He would probably have to wait until later in the day and make his escape while everyone was in class. There was a knock at the door. ‘Fuck! If I get caught-’
“A-Angus?” Hanako’s quiet question cut through his line of thought. Before he could respond she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her. She had two bowls of some sort of soup. Her hair was loose and disheveled; the lock that normally covered the right half of her face spread thin, revealing scarred flesh and obscuring part of the left of her face. “I-It’s miso soup, if you want some.”
Angus took the disposable bowl from her. “Oh. Thank you, Hanako. I’ll have to get you dinner sometime.”
Hanako shook her head. “I-it’s nothing. Just some i-instant food.”
“Well, thank you anyways.”
The table from yesterday was still out, so they set the food there and ate.
“Y-you looked f-funny when I woke up.”
Angus raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“You were c-curled up by the door. Almost like a d-dog. Or maybe a wolf.”
“Why do say that?”
Hanako blushed. “S-sometimes, you remind m-me of Perrin.”
Angus thought for a moment. She had said Perrin was her favorite Ta’veren. ‘What did she mean by this?’ Eventually he just nodded, ultimately agreeing with her assessment. “Not a bad person to remind people of.” They finished the food in silence and put the trash in a bin under Hanako’s desk.
“So, uh, how do I get out without being caught?”
It took Hanako a moment to realize what he meant. “Y-you can leave now. Very f-few students are out this early.”
“Okay. Well, it was nice seeing you again. Bye.”
“Bye, Angus. S-See you this Saturday?”
“Sure. I’ll come fetch you after lunch.” With that the flower girl closed her door, and Angus left to go to town.

“So, what help you up?” Toriyama asked as Angus opened the door to his flat.
“Hanako wanted me to stay with her.” Toriyama raised an eyebrow. It took a moment for Angus to grasp him meaning. “Not like that,” he said, exasperated.
Toriyama shrugged and said, “Hey man, I didn’t say anything.”
Angus glared at him. “Don’t you have work or something?”
Toriyama shook his head. “No, not until after the Doctor gets out. Though sometimes I help him with the science club.” Toriyama grinned. “Not today though, so you’re stuck with me all day.”
“What do you do all day?”
“Not much. But I get by. I can show you some of the stuff I’ve helped the Doctor with.”
Angus wasn’t too interested in that prospect. “No thanks. I think I’ll spend the day walking around town.”
Clad in sturdy, heeled leather boots, long pants, and a t-shirt, Angus wandered around town. Although it was rather hot, Angus chose protection from the harsh Japanese sun over being slightly less hot and sweaty. This is how he was when he entered a local art gallery under the sign “22nd Corner.” Amazingly, the sign was written in English. He was looking at a painting by a Tezuka Rin when he was approached by an older woman.
“Enjoying the gallery?” she asked.
“I guess. Not really my style though. I prefer, uh, baroque.” He settled for saying the last word in English, unsure what the Japanese translation was. The old woman nodded.
“I can see the appeal of that period. Not many people still paint in that style.”
“It’s a shame. The most beautiful paintings I’ve seen are in that style.”
“Art is more than just appearance. It’s a way of expressing something. That is where the value of art is.”
“I know. I just prefer make something visually stunning than something that hurts my brain to think about.”
“Miss Tezuka’s art can do that.” The old woman raised an eyebrow at him. “Make?”
Angus sighed. “I did say that, didn’t I? I don’t paint, if that’s what you’re thinking, but I do sketch, out of necessity, rather than passion. My chosen medium is iron and steel.”
“So you’re a sculptor?”
“Of sorts. If I could get them through customs I could show you some of the pieces I’ve wrought.”
A thoughtful look came over the woman’s face. She walked away and disappeared behind a desk for a moment before returning with two cards. “I’m Sae Saionji, but please just call me Sae. Mrs. Saionji makes me feel old.” She handed him two cards. There were Arabic numerals on them, but they were otherwise indecipherable. Fortunately, they were blank on the other side.
“I can’t read kanji,” Angus said. Mrs. Saionji sighed and motioned him over to the desk. She took the cards back and, in neat script, wrote down what was presumably on the other side in English. “Shinichi Nomiya, Yamaku Academy?”
Mrs. Saionji looked up from writing. “Are you familiar the place?”
“Yes. Many of my friends go there.”
“Then I suppose you’d know how to find it. Come see either me or him once you have some pieces to show.”
“I will. Thank you, Mrs. Saionji,” Angus said as he turned to leave.
“Please, just call me Sae. And you’re welcome, -”
“Angus McCrae.”
“You’re welcome, Angus.”
Angus nodded and left the art gallery. He supposed he would go see this Nomiya tomorrow.After leaving, Angus spent a few more hours walking around the city before having dinner at a café and returning to Toriyama’s flat.

Angus was mulling over his meeting with Mr. Nomiya as he left the Yamaku main building. He was stopped on the stairs between the first and ground floors by Hisao.
“Hey, Angus, wait up!” Hisao called from the top of the stairs. Angus stopped and let him catch up. “What are you doing here?”
“By ‘here’ do you mean Yamaku or Japan?”
“Yamaku. Lilly already told me about Japan.”
“Lilly? Eh, probably got it from Hanako.”
“Hanako?”
“Yes. Not, counting Akira’s boyfriend, she was the first one I told.”
“Huh. Well, that doesn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, that. I was meeting with Mr. Nomiya.”
“Mr. Nomiya? He’s the art teacher or something, right? Why were you meeting with him?”
Angus grimaced. “I accidentally wandered into an art gallery yesterday. The owner found out I work in metal, and gave me her and Mr. Nomiya’s cards. She said I should speak with either of them once I had some pieces to show. I wanted to see what he was like, so I came up today.” They passed through the doors of the main building. “This school is really lax about security. It’s amazing how easily I can sneak on and off campus.”
“So you’re going back to Akira’s boyfriend now?”
Angus nodded. “Yes, unless you’d like to go get dinner or something. You can bring Kenji along, if you’d like.” Angus saw Hisao cringe from the corner of his eye.
“No thanks. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Angus shrugged. “Suit yourself. Bye for now.”
“Bye.”
A thought popped into Angus’s head as Hisao left. “Wait, hold up.” Angus waited for Hisao to stop and turn around before continuing. “How long did it take for Hanako to open up to you?”
Hisao blinked in surprise. He clearly had not been expecting that question. “I’ve known her since early June. It wasn’t until the day before Hanako left with Naomi and Natsume that she really opened up to me. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, just a bit curious. Any chance you know how long it took for her to open up to them?”
“I don’t even know if she has. You’d have to ask them. Hanako’s included in that them, by the way.”
“Okay then. That’s all,” he said, waving Hisao away. Hisao had already turned back to the boys’ dorms. Angus though about the implications of what Hisao had told him.

Wednesday found Angus being dragged by Toriyama to meet Doctor Mutou. Angus didn’t really want to meet Doctor Mutou, but he could see Toriyama would not be placated otherwise. Toriyama opened the door to classroom 3-3 and bundled Angus inside.
“Doctor!” Toriyama called, causing the middle-aged man to look up from his desk. He was probably grading papers.
“Yes, Toriyama? What is it?”
“This is Angus. I thought you two should meet.”
The Doctor, ‘No, Doctor Mutou. The Doctor is a fictional character.’ Angus corrected himself, as Doctor Mutou stood up. He really did look like Tennant’s Doctor, if a bit older.
“Yes, hello. I am Mutou. Are you a new student here or…”
“No, I’ve already graduated.”
“Then, uh, why exactly are you here?”
“That’s what I asked Toriyama.”
“And I told you that the Doctor would be interested in your blacksmithing.”
Doctor Mutou raised an eye at this. “Blacksmithing? Yes, that would be interesting. Perhaps you could give a demonstration for the science club. I’ll speak with Hisao about it.”
“I’ll have to wait for my tools to get here, and I still need to produce some pieces for Mr. Nomiya-”
“That‘d be unadvisable,” Doctor Mutou interrupted.
“Why? Sure, he comes off as a bit creepy, but he doesn’t seem bad.”
“He’s more than just creepy. Though I suppose I shouldn’t speak ill of my fellow staff members, no matter how reprehensible-” Doctor Mutou cut himself off. Angus sensed that there might be something between Doctor Mutou and Mr. Nomiya, and that something might be more than just a professional rivalry between a science teacher and art teacher.
“It was nice meeting you, Doctor Mutou. Now, I must attend to some business in the city,” Angus said, turning to leave before Toriyama could stop him. He opened the door and ran right into an old police call box. He had gone into the closet instead of the hall.
“Why do you have a police call box in here?” he asked, more out of surprise than any real curiosity.
“Science project,” Doctor Mutou replied plainly.  Not giving Doctor Mutou’s reply more than a token thought, Angus found the door to the hallway and left through it.

“Got any plans this weekend, Hanako?” Naomi asked as she bounced into the newspaper club room. Without even waiting for a response she continued, “Me and Natsume were going into the city for karaoke. Wanna come?”
Hanako took a moment to recover from Naomi’s verbal assault. “I-I’d love to, Naomi, b-but I a-already have plans this weekend.”
Naomi set down the stack of papers she was carrying and bounded over to Hanako. Hanako recoiled from her aggressive approach. “Oh? Want to talk about them?” then, a devilish glint in her eye, she asked, “Is it a guy?”
Hanako was stricken with horror. “H-h-how did you know?”
“You just told me,” Naomi said, holding her victory over Hanako’s head. Hanako could see Naomi mentally reboot as she realized the implications of what Hanako had said. Hanako herself didn’t realized them for a few more seconds. “Wait, did you get a boyfriend?”
Hanako’s stammered “N-no!” was drowned out by a girlish squeal from Naomi. “W-w-we’re j-just fr-friends!” Hanako tried to tell Naomi, but the other girl pranced around the room in joy for her friend. Hanako was thankful it was otherwise deserted.
“So, who is it? Is it that guy with the heart problem?” Naomi asked upon returning to where Hanako was seated.
“H-Hisao is dating L-Lilly,” Hanako reminded Naomi. “B-besides, you w-wouldn’t know him; he doesn’t g-go here.”
“The mystery thickens! I can see the headline now! ‘Who is Hanako Ikezawa dating?’” Hanako had thought she was horrified before. She was wrong. Now, she was really horrified. Naomi looked at Hanako’s face and laughed, “Ah, you know I wouldn’t do that! The "Yamaku Herald" is a respectable newspaper, not some rumor-peddling tabloid!” Calming down, she added, “besides, I know you wouldn’t want to hog the spotlight in an issue full of other breaking stories.”
Hanako nodded, slowly recovering from Naomi’s joke. “R-right. We’re just fr-friends, anyways.”
Naomi pouted. “Aww. Why’d you have to go get my hopes up like that and drop this right at the end?”
“You weren’t paying a-attention when I tried t-to tell you earlier.”
“Fair point.” Naomi left Hanako alone for the time being and set about gathering miscellaneous things around the room. The door opened and Hanako thought Naomi was going to leave, but she had one more thing to say. “I wonder what happened to that scruffy foreigner you sat with on the train last week. You got his number, didn’t you?”
Hanako was glad she was facing away from the door. She could tell she was blushing and she knew there’d be no end of it if Naomi saw. Still, Naomi seemed to be waiting for an answer. “U-uh, I-I-I-”
“Eh,” Naomi closed the door, apparently dismissing the thought and leaving Hanako to herself. Hanako remained in the room, working on an article for Doctor Mutou and Hisao.

“Hey, Lilly.”
Lilly turned towards the sound of Hisao’s voice. “Good afternoon, Hisao.” She followed Hisao’s footsteps as he came over to her booth. Lilly heard the creak of the booth as Hisao took a seat.
“Been a long time since we’ve sat here together.”
Lilly frowned. “But we were here just yesterday with Hanako, and the week before that with Angus, too.”
“I meant alone.”
Hisao was right. With the fallout from his heart attack, setting up the science club, and preparations for the next trimester, along with Hanako’s recent return and Angus’s arrival, they had had little time to go on dates. In fact, the only excursion they had had since then that remotely approached a date was that day they spent lounging in the dandelion field on the hill behind Yamaku. That had been the day before Hanako returned from vacation.
“I suppose it has. The past week has been rather exciting for all of us.”
Yuuko arrived to take Hisao’s order. She returned with it remarkably quick. Taking a sip of his orange juice, Lilly was strictly rationing Hisao’s caffeine intake now, Hisao said, “Mutou tried to get Angus to do a blacksmithing demonstration for the science club.”
“Aren’t you the only person in the science club?”
“For now. I asked Hanako if she could write an article about it to see if we could get some more members, but with this most recent development, I may ask her to wait to publish it. That way, if Angus agrees, she can put that in the article too.”
“That’s a great idea,” Lilly took a sip of her tea. “Speaking of Hanako and Angus, have you noticed anything between them?”
Hisao didn’t answer immediately. “No, I don’t think so. Although, Angus did ask how long it took for Hanako to open up to me Wednesday.”
‘That’s an odd thing to be asking about,’ Lilly thought. “I…have some suspicions,” Lilly said cautiously. “Considering her change in attitude after she found out Angus was still here, I’d say she has a crush on him. I was hoping you had noticed something similar in Angus.”
“Are you looking to play match-maker for her?” Hisao asked incredulously.
Lilly shook her head. “No, that’d be demeaning to her. It’s just, I’d hate for her to be hurt if she confesses and he doesn’t reciprocate.”
Hisao snorted. “If Angus heard you say that he’d flip.”
This new information intrigued Lilly. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. He seems to take offence when he thinks someone thinks she needs protecting.”
‘Perhaps he does reciprocate her feelings?’ “I suppose he has a point. Hanako isn’t a child.”
“No, she isn’t. I suppose she can look out for herself.”
Lilly felt this was as far as that line of conversation should go, so she switched topics. When they finished their date Lilly returned to Yamaku with Hisao, her course of inaction set.

Hanako had required the aide of Lilly and Hisao to find Akira’s Boyfriend’s apartment. Akira’s Boyfriend himself was busy helping Mutou with “something or other” and Angus had refused to leave the flat, claiming, “I can’t very well cook if I’m not in the kitchen.” Hanako knew it was perfectly logical, but she still didn’t like it. It had still been difficult getting there, since Lilly was the only one of the three to have been there before and the sounds of the city disoriented her. She had relied on Hisao to tell her when they had reached certain waypoints and he in turn relied on her to direct him to the next one.
However, now that they were inside the building that contained Akira’s Boyfriend’s apartment, Lilly was able to guide them to the correct door relatively easily. Lilly and Hisao bid Hanako a quiet farewell and good luck before departing, on their way to their own date.
‘Is that what this is?’ Hanako thought. ‘A date between me and A-Angus?’ Hanako cringed a little as her internal monologue picked up her nervous stutter. She took a moment to build up her courage before lightly beating on the door. A few moments later she heard a bolt slide back and the door opened, revealing a non-kilted Angus. The smell of cooking food wafted out to her. She thought she could identify chicken and maybe garlic as well.
“Oh, Hanako! Come in,” Angus said, stepping back to let her through. “Have a seat at the table; the food’s almost ready.”
Hanako entered the apartment, and obediently made her way to the small, two-person table tucked in a corner by the small kitchen. There were pots and pans of boiling and frying things all about the small cook space, and two plates were set out, small mounds of fried rice and asparagus already on them. “H-Hello, A-Angus,” she remembered to say as Angus fished some dumplings from a pot on to the plates.
“Hello to you too, Hanako.” Angus slid something; it looked like fried chicken, from a pan onto the plates. Grabbing one in each hand he carried them over and set them down on the table. “Would you like something to drink? Toriyama gave me free access to the fridge for this.”
Hanako nodded. “S-Some tea would be nice.” Angus nodded and brought out a teapot, it had been hidden behind a large pot, and poured some out for both of them. It was a dark brew. That done, he sat down and bid Hanako to join him.
“Y-you made all this y-yourself?” Hanako asked as she sat down.
Angus nodded. “Although we’re better off than the Satous, Ma and Da always thought we should be able to care for ourselves if we had to. To that end, Ma taught us how to cook.”
Hanako sighed. “I-I wish my m-mom had taught me how to cook.”
“I could teach you if you want.”
Hanako shook her head. “Th-that’s not what I meant. I already know how, I j-just wish it had been h-her to teach me.”
Angus nodded as he realized his error. “I suppose we should start eating soon. I can explain each piece if you want.”
Lacking anything else to speak of at that moment, Hanako thought that would be a good idea. “O-okay.”
Using a knife to point to each piece of food in turn. “The meat is Scottish–style fried chicken. I think it’s derived from a Roman recipe called Pullum Frontonianum, but I’ve never checked that. The sides are fried rice mixed with chopped up asparagus, Polish dumplings called pierogi, and white Polish sausage, called biała kiełbasa.” A sheepish smile played across his face. “Ma mostly knows Polish recipes and that’s what she taught us. She is Polish, after all.”
Hanako nodded and took a bite of the chicken. It tasted interesting, if not good. It was also a bit on the dry side, but still edible. She didn’t want to say anything, but something on her face must have given her away.
“Something wrong with the chicken, Hanako?”
Hanako’s eyes widened in panic. “N-No! I-It’s f-f-fine!”
“Hanako, if you don’t like it, just tell me. I’ll understand; it is my first time frying chicken.”
“I-It i-is a bit d-dry.”
Angus took an appraising bite of his own chicken. He nodded and said, “I’ve never been able to get chicken right. I had hoped frying it would have helped. The rest of the food should be good, though.”
Biting into the, ‘What had he called it? “Biawa kyoobasa?” I’ll just go with “sausage,”’ Hanako found she agreed. Even the pierogi, which had surprised her by being stuffed with potato. The rice and asparagus didn’t strike her as particularly good, but neither were they at all bad. She finally started eating in earnest.
“S-so, I h-hear that you’ll be doing a blacksmithing d-demonstration for the science club,” Hanako said by way of starting a conversation.
“Yes. I’ll have to wait for my tools to get here though. Fortunately, they, along with the rest of my stuff, should be arriving in a week or so. How’d you find out?”
“H-Hisao told me. I-I’m writing an article a-about the science for the sch-school newspaper. He wanted me to m-mention it in the article.”
Angus nodded, obviously thinking. “Yes, that’s a good idea. If you put it in the article, more people will come, and even if they don’t come, they’ll still hear about it. This could be some good publicity for me. If everything goes just as planned, I could start selling pieces. Thank you, Hanako. This is a great favor you’re indirectly doing for me.”
Hanako blushed. She was not used to compliments or being thanked for something, but found it was not an entirely uncomfortable feeling. “I-its n-no big deal. I-I’m just a-adding a few l-lines to the article I-I already have wr-written.”
“I thank you nonetheless.” They both took a few bites before speaking again. “How’s school going for you?”
“Pr-pretty well. I-I’m not bad at anything, b-but there isn’t anything I-I excel at, either.”
“That’s good to hear. Any idea what you’ll study in college?”
Hanako shook her head. “Not really. The n-newspaper is f-fun and all, b-but I wouldn’t w-want to make a career out of it.”
“Eh, you have time. You’ll find something.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll probably get a business degree. That’d be useful if I stay with the company and when I start doing commission work.”
“S-sounds like you have your f-future planned out p-pretty well.”
“No more than that. I need a backup plan if neither of those works.”
Hanako wasn’t familiar enough with his work to assure him it would work out. Even if she had been, she felt her nervous stutter might contradict what she tried to tell him. Trying to think of a new topic of conversation, her mind wandered to the place they were eating and its owner.
“W-what’s A-Akira’s b-boyfriend like?”
Angus slowly let out a long breath. “Toriyama is… something, certainly. ‘Eccentric’ might start to describe him. He’s frequently out helping Doctor Mutou with stuff. Right now they’re checking out a possible rat infestation. I don’t know why they don’t just call an exterminator, or pick up some mousetraps and poison.”
“A r-rat infestation? Did he say where?” She knew the possibility was remote, but if the infestation was at the Shanghai or convenience store, or worse, Yamaku itself, it could pose a problem. Even before the fire she had hated the disgusting vermin.
“No, but he did say he was going to Yamaku to pick Doctor Mutou up. That doesn’t mean that’s where the infestation is, though.”
Hanako frowned. She knew what Angus said made sense, but she still did not like it. She would have to pick up some traps while she was in the city, just to be safe. They finished the rest of the dinner, Angus bussed the plates, and together left to walk around the city. They still had an hour or so before Hanako had to return to Yamaku if she didn’t want to get caught in the dark, so the first place they went was a store to pick up her rat traps. Angus seemed amused that she was doing so, and she only responded that, “I don’t like rats.”

They later went to an ice cream parlor and ran into a girl who seemed to know Hanako.
“Hey, Hanako. Who’s your friend?” said the very short twin-tailed girl as she approached. She was eating what seemed to be a lemon custard ice cream.
“H-hey, E-Emi. Th-this is A-Angus,” Hanako said, indicating him. The girl, Emi, stuck her hand out for Angus to shake. He did, taking special care to not crush her miniscule hands.
“You seem pretty strong,” Emi said, appraising his arms and shoulders. “You work out or something?”
Angus nodded. “You could say that, but not really in any traditional manner. Or more traditional, depending on how you look at it.”
“Oh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I do fencing.”
“You got arms like that from playing samurai?”
“It’s not playing samurai!” Angus retorted indignantly.  “One, it’s European style swordsmanship; two, the swords used are completely different; and three, its good exercise.”
“Alright, you big nerd.”
“Why does everyone call me that?”
Hanako chose that moment to rejoin them. Angus hadn’t realized she had left, and was about to ask where she had gone, but saw the two ice creams she carried before he did.
“I-I g-got you a-an ice cream. I-I w-would’ve asked wh-what flavor y-you w-wanted, b-but I p-panicked and s-said two v-vanillas. I-I hope that okay with y-you.”
“It’s fine. Better than fine, actually. Vanilla is my favorite flavor.” Hanako seemed to sigh in relief, without actually sighing.
“Ah! I have to get back! See ya later, Hanako. Oh, and keep an eye on Hisao for me. Make sure he eats right when he’s with you.”
Hanako nodded, even though Emi was already going through the door.
“We should probably go back too,” Angus said. He led Hanako out towards the closest bus stop. The sun was nearing the horizon as the bus arrived to take them up the hill. Angus hoped he would be able to make it back before night fell.

It was Wednesday when Hanako made her way to an open field where the science club was having their meeting today. Naomi bounced along beside her. She would be interviewing Mutou and Angus for the newspaper. Hanako was going because she wanted to see Angus work. His stuff had come in on Monday, and Mutou had agreed to see it stored until the demonstration.
By the time Hanako arrived a number of people had already arrived. Hisao was there, of course, being the President of the science club. Lilly was standing beside him. Mutou and Akira’s Boyfriend were there too, as was Kenji. Natsume was also there, camera and tripod set up. Interestingly, Emi and the Student Council were there too. A blonde haired girl with golden eyes, Hanako thought she was in the art club, and a silver haired girl with red eyes were also there. There was also a number of first- and second-years, but Hanako didn’t recognize any of them. Angus was there too, wearing what looked like matte black fatigues topped with a leather jerkin, standing near a metal table on which a small fire was burning. There was an anvil bound to a thick upright log in front of it and a bucket of what Hanako assumed would be water.
Mutou and Hisao were talking about something when Hisao abruptly nodded and stepped over in front of the anvil and cleared his throat. “Gather round, gather round, everybody! He shouted.  “We’ll be beginning the demonstration now.” He stepped aside and let Angus take over.
“Alright, everyone listen up. A bit of a warning before we begin: I am a blacksmith. I know the practical side of metalwork. For the theory behind all of this, we have Doctor Mutou here.” Mutou nodded lazily at Angus’s words.
Angus started his presentation by explaining the different parts of the anvil: the horn, face, and various holes, as well as their purpose. Then he grabbed some things from the table and brought them forward to pass around. “This shiny black rock I’m passing around is coal. It is full of impurities and smokes a lot when burned. The next one is dull and black. This is called coke. It burns cleaner and hotter than coal. It is also much lighter. This is produced by burning coal. The last piece is a clinker. It is composed of the impurities than come out of the coal and metal when in the fire. These steal heat from the fire, making it much harder to get the metal up to a workable temperature.”
Angus paused and Mutou started in with a more scientific explanation of what Angus had just said. In the meantime, Angus pushed a rod of metal into the fire and pulled a lever under the table. The fire grew with a roar.
When Mutou trailed off, Angus addressed the group again. “I’m going to show you something that looks pretty cool.” With that, he took the metal out of the fire with his bare hand.
Hanako gasped. ‘Surely that must burn!’
One end glowed white and threw off sparks like a sparkler on New Year’s. The end in his hand was still gray. He held it for a few seconds, garnering some “ooo”s and “ah”s from the small crowd. He cut them off sharply, saying, “This is very bad. Those sparks mean the metal is burning, and can no longer be used for anything.” He slowly stuck the now-yellow end into the bucket of water and swirled it around for almost a minute. He then held up the cooled metal for all to see. It was horribly deformed, covered in scars and pock marks. Hanako cringed as she drew the obvious parallel between herself and that burnt rod. Angus stuck it back in the fire as Mutou science up an explanation.
Angus then covered the use of hot and cold cuts, tapering and upsetting the metal, curving and twisting, hole-punches, engraving tools, and fullering, and lastly forge-welding. Mutou took every chance he could to provide an explanation of what Angus was doing. Once the demonstration was over Angus set to packing up everything. Hanako went over to see if she could help. Angus gave her a long, appraising look when she asked. It was making her uncomfortable.
“Perhaps,” he said, “you can carry my tools. I’ll get Toriyama to help me with the heavy stuff.”
Hanako nodded. She wanted to help more, but that anvil alone probably weighed more than she did. They were waiting for the coke to cool down so they could pack it and the portable forge up when Hisao approached then.
“Oh thank you so much, Hanako! We’ve quadrupled are membership thanks to you! I’m so happy I could kiss you!” Lilly chose that moment to have a rather convenient coughing fit. “but I won’t, because I already have a girlfriend, whom I greatly love and cherish!” Despite her embarrassment at being thanked in such a manner, Hanako found herself giggling at Hisao’s forced addendum.
“I-It was n-nothing, Hisao.”
“Maybe for you it wasn’t, but it certainly was for us,” Angus broke in. At Hisao’s confused expression, Angus explained, “I get exposure from this too. As long as I have my parents’ to support me, I’ll need that more than cash. It’d be good to have built up a customer base before they cut me off.” It was clear Hisao still didn’t quite understand what Angus was talking about, but neither of them pressed it.
“Let’s go to the Shanghai to celebrate,” Hisao suggested. Angus, Hanako, and Lilly resoundingly agreed with him. Unfortunately, they still had to wait for the forge to cool, but as soon as it had they set off for the Shanghai. In the mean time though, Naomi was able to collect her interview.

Midday on Saturday found Angus waiting outside the Yamaku gate. He had convinced Hanako to have a rematch at Han’s Karaoke and he was waiting outside to pick her up.
“A-Angus!” he heard Hanako call. He turned to look at her. She was wearing what he had come to call her “casual clothes” since they were the only thing other than her school uniform or pajamas that she wore.
“Hey Hanako! You ready to lose this time?”
“Ha! As i-if!”
Angus smirked as she closed the distance. For a moment she seemed to be hesitating about something, but put it aside and took a confident stride forward, going down the hill. Angus would have liked to imagine she was considering taking his arm, but he realized that was incredibly unlikely. Hanako didn’t seem to be interested in him as anything more than a friend.
“Hanako?” Angus called, not having moved.
“Huh?” She was already a short distance down the hill.
“Bus.”
Hanako tucked her head and ran back up to him. She was still blushing when she reached him. He let out a short laugh and walked over to the bus stop, Hanako trailing short behind. It was only a short time before the bus arrived to take them into town and less than five minutes into the trip Angus had the purple-haired girl sleeping on his arm.
When their stop came Angus shook Hanako awake. They disembarked and walked a few blocks to the karaoke place. Repeating the same procedure as last time, Angus and Hanako soon had a room to themselves. Angus took a seat as Hanako got up on the small stage to sing.
As Hanako started singing the lyrics, “Cruel and cold like winds on the sea, will you ever return to me, hear my voice sing with the tide, my love will never die,” Angus could see the change that came over her. She stood taller and her stutter was gone. She was not quiet with her voice, which flowed out sweet and soft. Angus’s heart pounded.
‘She’s so beautiful like this. Why can’t she always be like this?’ he thought. The song she had chosen ended and Angus slowly clapped. “Beautiful,” he breathed out. Apparently she had heard him, because she blushed immediately after he said it and got off the stage. She was quickly back to her usual nervous self.
Angus took his place on the stage and, choosing a song, began to sing, “The swirling of dresses, the scuffing of shoes – ‘Should my hair be in tresses?’ ‘What tie do I chose?’ – As the hall fills with dancers, and the strings start to sound, we will take that first step, and we won’t touch the ground.”
Angus’s song ran out. It took a moment for Hanako to react once he was done. “A-a l-love s-song?”
“You did one too,” Angus pointed out. Hanako slowly nodded.
“Wh-why?”
Angus could feel his face heating. He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. “I … think … I fell in love with you.” Even as he said the words he knew the futility of them. They had known each other for a grand total of twenty days. There was no way she’d feel the same way about him; she could only be creeped out by it. It was a few seconds before Angus could bring himself to make eye contact with her. She had still not responded, her mouth still open in shock. “I-I’ll go now-”
“Don’t.” Angus was stopped more by the force of her word than the word itself. “For h-how long?” Angus could see the apprehension written on her features. This was not quite how he had expected her to reject him, but all the same he could tell she was upset by his confession. He had nothing else to lose, so he figured he might as well hide nothing.
“The first time I heard you sing. The way you changed just… I felt like I had glimpsed the real you. Strong and brave, yet kind too. Someone I could stand beside as an equal.” Angus would have been staring at the floor if his eyes weren’t closed. For some reason, shame had overwhelmed him.
Angus started when he felt a pair of thin arms wrap around him and a weight press into his chest. He opened his eyes to see Hanako had embraced him. “Th-thank you,” she choked out. Angus accepted her hug and held her to him.
“What for?”
“I-I was w-worried th-that you saw m-me as th-thing that n-needed pr-protecting.”
“Never,” he said softly. “Never.”
Hanako slowly broke their embrace, so Angus let her go. Angus could see joy in her eyes and the smile on her face. She jumped up to quickly peck him on the lips. “D-does that m-mean you’re my b-boyfriend?”
“I think so.” Angus enjoyed the flush on her cheeks. This had turned out much better than expected. “Want to go play chess?” Hanako nodded. Angus noted that on the way back to the bus stop she didn’t hesitate to wrap herself around his arm. They arrived at the bus stop and shortly after the bus arrived to pick them up.
Upon boarding the bus, Angus saw a darker girl grinning widely at them. She made a loud whistling noise and exclaimed, “Nice catch, Hanako!”
Angus’s brain to a few seconds to process what happened. ‘Did ... did she just catcall me?’ Then Angus noticed the annoyed bus driver, paid the fee and guided Hanako to a seat near the brown girl. Angus was glad the bus was mostly empty, something Angus figured to be odd given the time and day. If it hadn’t, he felt he might have died of embarrassment. As it was, Hanako’s reaction was bad enough.
“M-M-Miki!” Hanako exclaimed once she had recovered her wits.
“Where’d you find him? I got to get me a man like that,” she said, ignoring Hanako’s protests.
“I’m right here, you know,” Angus broke in. He didn’t particularly like being talked about as if he wasn’t there. Miki ignored him.
“H-He’s visiting fr-from Sc-Scotland.”
“Scotland? Don’t the guys there wear skirts?”
“They’re called kilts, and only on formal occasions.”
Miki finally acknowledged him. “And taking your girl to town isn’t formal?”
“N-not every date h-has to be formal,” Hanako rushed to his defence.
Miki laughed. “I guess you’re right.” She stuck out her right hand, her left seemed to missing, Angus realized, for him to shake. “I’m Miki Miura. I take it you’re Angus?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Emi may have mentioned seeing you two together at an ice cream parlor.”
“Ah.”
The bus came to a stop. “Well, this is my stop. See you guys later,” Miki said getting up. Before leaving she made a “call me” gesture and winked. Angus rolled his eyes, and peripherally saw Hanako scowl at her. The rest of the ride back was uneventful and, once again, Angus pillowed Hanako with his arm.

Late that night, Hanako made her way back to her dorm. Angus had left hours before, not wanting to be stuck at Yamaku when sundown came. An underlying feeling of joy still suffused her as she climbed into her sheets. Although she knew it was still too early to tell, she felt that her first romance was going pretty well. As she drifted off to sleep, she briefly reflected that Angus’s dislike of chess probably stemmed less the reasons he claimed and more from the fact that he just sucked at it.