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Into the Bat Cave - Part 3
As it turns out, I was quite exhausted, what with the bus ride from Shizouka to Yamaku, then the tour around the school, and finally Molly and Miki’s welcoming party… or… at least that’s what it felt like. It was fun, but by that time I was too sleepy to enjoy it for as long as they probably did. I wonder what time it is, what day it is; and for half a moment the disorientation I always seem to experience in new places makes me wonder where I am.
I slap around on the nightstands surface looking for my phone, but it’s nowhere to be found. “Dammit…” I mutter, must still be in my purse. Ugh… and my purse is… somewhere. I heave an exhausted sigh and collapse back into bed yawning. It’s can’t be that late – early – whatever; it’s still dark out. A little while longer… won’t… hurt…
I wake up to what sounds like a battering ram bashing down my door. I nearly trip on my blanket and sheets, startled out of inky-black unconsciousness and stumble towards the door. I open it a crack peeking out with sleep-blurred eyes. “What…” I ask, my voice a cracking whisper.
“It’s seven am! What are you still doing in bed?” The girl asks, I’m too sleepy to recognize who she is. Why should I care if it’s seven in the morning? School doesn’t start until tomorrow… I think. Doesn’t it? I start to wonder if I lost track of time and I’m late for my first day. Shit…
“Wh-why… what… I…” Get your mouth in gear Matsuri, I scold myself and try again: “…what’s wrong?” It finally dawns on me that its Miki standing in the doorway, and behind her is a bleary-eyed Molly - so she got yanked out of bed too. The tall, dark-skinned girl grins down at me. I suddenly feel like a rabbit corned by a wolf… Oh please, eat me.
Wait! I hope I didn’t say that out loud. My cheeks are burning hot, and I’m suddenly wide awake. I glance up at her, I don’t seem to have said it out loud. Sometimes my mind runs into the gutter around pretty girls, and it’s really embarrassing.
“It’s breakfast! And I know you haven’t eaten anything but my ice cream… and well… after last night…” Molly gets a questioning look.
“What happened…?” She askes, brushing slender fingers through her thick black hair. Miki turns around and grins.
“She threw…”
“MIKI!!” I exclaim and then slam the door on them, I lean my head on the doorframe and feel like I am going to die of embarrassment. It’s not a big deal really, but… the whole school doesn’t need to know! The battering ram starts up again, startling me. I open the door again and glare at Mi… Molly. She’s smiling a little shyly down at me, one braid finished and laying on her shoulder. I blink in confusion, and then see Miki behind her.
“I… I… was w-wondering if y-you would have breakfast with m-me.” Molly stammers, a cute smile on her blushing face as she works at her other braid. I notice they aren’t dressed in the school uniform and am suddenly relieved that I didn’t sleep a whole day away.
“I…” I mumble, watching her fingers move, wishing she was playing with my hair. “I… sure. Just give me five minutes.” Molly positively radiates happiness and nods. I shut the door on them again and go about dressing for my second day at Yamaku.
A little more than ten minutes later and I am dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and my shoes, standing in the doorway of the girl’s dorm. Sunlight, why do you hate me; and I’m not even a vampire… I yawn and check to make sure I have my cane, just in case. I hate using it, but I hate tripping and falling even more. Once I make sure I have it, I follow the two girls as they head over to the main building, and presumably the cafeteria.
It’s quiet out, despite it being in the morning. Maybe everyone is still sleeping in, last day of summer break and all. The grounds are washed out for me, though I can just barely make out trees and flower beds, and the stairway leading to the courtyard below the dorms. My cane is out, tapping away. I can’t help feeling self-conscious, but my two friends act like everything is normal.
Finally we make it to the cafeteria without incident and it’s just dim enough in this part of the cavernous room that I can see without the light blinding me. It’s nothing spectacular, a room filled with tables and chairs, and the kitchen at one end. Students are lined up with trays waiting for their turn.
“Just sit here, I’ll go get you something,” Molly tells me. I am too sleepy yet to protest this act, so I take a seat and lay my head in my arms to await my breakfast. Several minutes later I hear both girls arrive, chatting about how bland the food looked. Great… just what I wanted, tasteless food. But I can smell rice, eggs, miso soup and tea among their foodstuffs. No coffee? I hope this isn’t one of those “traditional” schools that makes up nonsense about Japanese breakfasts being the best.
Molly places my tray in front of me and I raise my head to look at the contents. A nice big roll tamagoyaki, a bowl of rice and a cup of tea to the side. At least there’s one thing on there I like for breakfast. I set to work on the grilled eggs, only to find out that it needs both salt and sugar. “Ugh… what is it with this food.” I groan. The tea – green tea I find out – at least tastes the way it’s supposed to. “This is slightly worse than hospital food…” My two new friends giggle as they eat their breakfast.
“Yamaku is not known for its spectacular food… that’s why we go into town, or take the bus into the city on the weekend when we want good food.” Miki tells me with a grin, and then stuffs another glob of rice in her mouth.
“I need sugar and salt… I don’t suppose there is any..?” Molly rummages around in her purse for a moment and then pulls out two packets, both of whom look like they should have been given their last rites long ago. She looks a bit sheepish.
“They don’t have actual salt and sugar here… I hope this helps.” I mumble thanks, take the two sorry looking packets, and dump the contents onto my tamagoyaki. I sigh, because it doesn’t really help at all. Maybe I should go into town and buy some food to make my own breakfast. I wouldn’t die from the food tasting so horrible at least.
“What are we going to do for the rest of the day?” I ask after I find out I survived eating breakfast and sit there nursing my tea. It’s almost cold, I wonder if I could get more.
“I,” Miki announces, “am going to run as soon as you and Molly are finished.” She smiles and stacks our empty dishes on the already stacked trays and then shoves them to the side. I watch her stretch, her chest is impressive for an athletic girl; mine would be bigger if I was her height though, I note with a bit of satisfaction. I maybe tiny, but my boobs are proportionally bigger!
“Yeah… what about us?”
“You could run with me.” Molly looks like she just ate half a lemon, and I don’t feel like I am smiling in excitement either.
“I told you why I don’t run.” I mutter, finishing off my tea, I glance at Molly who looks a little downcast and places her now-empty cup with the rest of our dirty dishes.
“Then you two gaylords can just sit and watch me!” She laughs. I open my mouth to ask what a ‘gaylord’ is, but I see Molly shaking her head in warning and then close my mouth again.
I follow the two girls outside into a blazing white world. Maybe I should look into sunglasses again. Surely they have invented day-vision glasses… or something. I’ve been living like this for as long as I can remember, but it seems like it’s been getting worse. I feel a soft hand take mine, long cool fingers intertwining with mine.
“I’ll let you know if something’s in your way.” Molly says softly as she leads me towards the track. Did she notice my embarrassment when I used my cane earlier? She really is sweet and… and patient. But then, it’s only been two days, she will probably get tired of me and my day blindness before long. I smile a bit self-consciously.
“Sorry…”
“Don’t worry about it, this is what friends are for.” Sure, until they get fed up with your weaknesses and leave you in the park in the middle of the day. “What?” She asks, she must have felt me tense up. I worry about opening up to people too soon, they tend to leave or get annoyed. I only know Molly and Miki, and I don’t want to be alone again. I sigh heavily and squint at the track as we arrive. It’s… track-y. There’s not much else I can say about it. It’s large and round, with trees on one side, and bleachers on the other. We head over to a large tree with a nice shade covering the ground and sit down. So much better than the bleachers.
“I’ve never had friends before.” I say softly as I lay back against the tree. It’s not terribly uncomfortable, but I’ve had better resting spots.
“Ah… when I first came here, I didn’t know anyone either, in fact, I was still learning Japanese. I could understand them well enough, but talking was a bit hard for me.”
“Why did you come to Japan? Did your parents get a job here?” I notice the happy brightness in her dark eyes dims as I mention her parents …uh oh, I think I stepped on a mine. She sighs and draws her legs up, her prosthetics make a clicking noise as they bend. She glances down at her legs and then rests her chin on her artificial knees.
“…I was… a-adopted.” She says quietly, her eyes tracking Miki as she runs her laps. I feel bad for mentioning her parents now, not that I could have known. But still, I can’t help feeling guilty. I wonder for a moment if she’s going to continue, and kinda hoping she doesn’t - but to my relief she remains quiet for the rest of the time.
Miki trots up and practically collapses in a heap before us. “Ah! That felt wonderful!” Miki exclaims, her chest heaving and her legs trembling noticeably. Molly changes position, reaching over, she brushes sweaty hair out of Miki’s face. “You should really try to run a bit Matsuri. There’s no ditches or trees to run into.”
I look up at the tree behind me, noting that it is close enough to the track that I could run into it… if I kept going in a straight line. Then over at the bleachers, yeah, I would stand a better chance of killing myself on those. Miki sits up and gives me an annoyed look, and asks: “Whatever… what should we do now?”
“A bath sounds good.” I state, I haven’t had one in three days and my head is starting to itch. She grins at me, hiding her amputated arm just out of sight.
“A bath together… hmm… we would have to go into the city. I think there is an onsen there…”
“I think she meant for you to take a shower.” Molly giggles.
“That too, but I need one as well.”
“Right… the dorm shower is pretty small, so I don’t think that we could both fit in there. You can see my boobs some other time!” Molly and I both turn a nice shade of red, though hers is more dusky and pretty.
“Whatever! Just go take a shower… I don’t want to smell you all day.” I grump. Both girls laugh and a few minutes later we get up and return to the dorms.
I decide that now is a good time to unpack all my stuff. Miki and Molly have their own things to do and we part ways at the second floor. My room is a cluttered mess of boxes and clothes strewn about. My purse sits on the floor where I left it yesterday, my phone next to it. I notice the light blinking, messages. I sigh, most likely my mother calling to nag me. Yep, three texts messages and a missed call. ‘Hi Matsuri, did you get there safe?’; ‘Call me when you can’; and ‘did you lose your phone again..?’ The last one was from my dad. I type out a message: No I didn’t lose it, I’m fine… was just a bit busy settling in. I’ll call later. With that sent I put both my purse and my phone on the nightstand and set to work arranging my room.
I must have fallen asleep at some point because the battering ram is at it again. Geez… doesn’t she care that she might be disturbing other students? I sit up and yawn and yell at her to stop pounding on my door. Silence. Good. Several boxes sit crammed in the corner, my closet is filled, my curtains are nailed shut – I wasn’t joking about that, and a lamp is sitting turned on over my desk.
At the door, Miki and Molly stand – are these two always together? “Hi!” She exclaims and holds out a box of pizza and some soda. Wow she really is psychic! I was craving a nice cheesy pizza earlier. I open the door and smile at her, she’s forgiven for trying to beat down my door… this time.
“House… err… room-warming party!” I take the box and the pack of soda, and wait for both girls to remove their shoes, Molly gives me a shy smile and bows slightly before entering and sitting on the floor. This was unexpected, but not unwanted, I’ve never had anyone do this for me before… but then I’ve never lived anywhere besides home. So I guess that’s to be expected.
“Geez… why is it so dark in here? It’s like the Bat Cave.” I blink at the tall girl as I sit on the floor with a sigh. The pizza turns out to be pork and pineapple, a Hawaiian I think it’s called. Well there’s cheese on it, so it’s not a total loss. I take one of the cans and crack it open. Miki is looking at the sole poster on my wall, a Korean girl-band. I have a picture of my grandpa standing in front of the shrine, and another picture of my parents and my baby sister; I’m not in that one, I don’t remember why.
“Bat cave?” I ask, looking up at the ceiling, why would it be called that? There’s no bats, though it is dark enough in here that they would like it.
“You know, Batman… the Boy Wonder…?” I look at her blankly, Molly giggles as she pulls out a piece of pizza.
“Who… who’s this Batman the Boy Wonder?” I ask, I know who he is, I have just never saw any of the movies. My teasing causes Miki to roll with laughter, and Molly starts coughing, her face darkening as she tries to dislodge whatever she swallowed wrong. I hand over my soda and a napkin, she takes a drink slowly and calms down a moment later, her breathing a bit ragged. Miki in that time has recovered from her own fit of laughter.
“No…” Miki gasps, “no… Batman and the Boy Wonder. It’s a… a super hero series from America. Everyone’s heard of it by now.” She looks somewhat amazed that I haven’t, like I just came from some time before the internet.
We eat in silence for a moment, and then I say: “Never heard of it… but I don’t watch much TV anyway. Books are more interesting.” I say with a nod. While Hawaiian pizza isn’t my favourite, this is really good. It feels really good to have friends over eating pizza and talking about stuff like this. At the moment, I couldn’t be happier.
“Oh! What manga do you like?” Molly asks, she hasn’t said anything the whole time. She names off a number of her favourites and I smile.
“I like novels better, but Aoi Hana is my favourite manga. It’s really…” I notice the heavy blush on her face and Miki is grinning at me over her pizza – her second piece. “…what?”
“You swing that way Matsuri?” Miki asks, a teasing grin on her face. Swing what way? Why does that phrase… oh… I feel my cheeks heating up. I’m not a flaming lesbian or anything, but I… I don’t try to… really hide it either. I scowl for a second, causing her to giggle.
“It’s ok! We don’t care if you like girls, it’s fine.”
“I never said I did… you… you can like yuri without being a lesbian!” I sputter, ah, why I am denying it? Maybe it’s because I don’t like being put on the spot. I don’t know, but my heart is racing and my face feels hot. I wonder why Molly looks so shy and why is she blushing so much? Could it be she likes girls too..? Sometimes I can tell if a girl likes other girls sexually, but it’s not something I can rely on.
“It’s ok, Matsuri… we know of at least one other girl in the school that likes girls too. Maybe you two could hook up!” Molly teases, and that sends her into a fit of giggles. There seems to be a joke in there somewhere. I appear to be the butt of a lot of jokes recently, not that I am really complaining. It’s all good-natured teasing from what I can tell.
“I can’t see her and Misha dating… it’d be like the sun and the moon dating.” Miki says finally, wiping her eyes and taking a sip of her soda.
“Who’s Misha?”
“You’ll find out soon enough… you’ll probably hear her before you see her though.” They both laugh, while I am left wondering what this Misha is like.
“Oh! Have you gotten your uniforms yet?” Molly asks as she finishes off her third piece of pizza. I have so far only eaten one, while Miki has eaten four; that leaves only two pieces left. I better get another piece before Miki inhales all of it. They don’t look like they are going to swoop in and take it anytime soon though.
“No… I suppose I should… do you think they have size zero skirts? I can never seem to find any clothes that fit me in teen sizes.” I take one of the pieces and enjoy the weird mix of pineapple, ham, tomato sauce and cheese. “They are either too big around the waist, or too long in the legs. Tops are a bit easier, but sometimes I have to go into the kids sections… that’s really embarrassing.”
“I’m sure they do, we have a couple of runts in the school, so you’re not…” I toss my pillow at her, cutting her off with a well-placed shot. Luckily, she wasn’t eating or drinking, or there could have been a mess.
“I’m not a runt…”
“You’re tiny… you’re a hobbit!” She giggles, I scowl.
“I’m too skinny to be a hobbit… and my feet aren’t that huge.” I grump as I finish off my pizza. “I’m stuffed, either of you want the last piece?” Both girls shake their heads, I look down at the lone piece, I’m too full to eat it, so I close the box and push it to the side. My head itches, reminding me that I still haven’t taken that shower I wanted earlier. I can see that it’s getting dark out; I should get over to the admin building and see about my uniforms before it’s too late, then I can take a shower. Though what I really want is a nice hot bath.
“Where is this place for the uniforms?” I ask, Molly gets up and smiles.
“I can show you where it is… Miki can take care of the mess in here.” She gives a bit of a grin, volunteering her friend for something doesn’t seem like something she usually does. I smile and nod.
“We’ll be back in a few minutes I guess.” I say as we move to leave the room. Miki smiles and waves.
“Don’t let Matsuri get you alone in that room Molly!” My cheeks heat up again, and I see my soon-to-be guide blushing furiously.
“Shut up Miki! She… she wouldn’t d-d-do that!” Miki laughs and starts to clean up as we leave my room and head over to the main building.
The rest of the night is uneventful, perhaps because I didn’t spend any more time with my new friends. We picked out my uniform, a miniskirt – which was still a bit too long on me, and the girl’s blouse. I was informed that we could wear what we wanted, even the boy’s uniform, but I don’t like boys clothes. The uniform is a bit too plain for my tastes, but it’s not ugly; green and white, with a cute black bow tie. Maybe I could roll the skirt up a bit and wear knee socks with it… After that I managed to finally get my shower, and then it I decided to call my parents after having put it off all evening.
“How are you fitting in Matsuri?” My mother asks, she sounds wide-awake, while I am fighting off sleepiness and sudden lethargy. Hanging out with those two is really tiring, though it’s pretty fun.
“I’m ok… everyone’s nice. Too bright though.” My mother chuckles. For a while, when I was little, she thought I was just making it up that I couldn’t see in bright light – and then I ran off the porch and broke both my arms.
“I’m sure you will fit right in and make friends in no time… who knows, you might find a boyfriend while you’re there.” I almost make a disgusted noise into the phone but instead turn my head and make a coughing sounds.
“Eh… I dunno about that mom… well, I did meet two really nice girls, but it’s soooo exhausting being around them.” I can’t help but smiling about it though. There’s an awkward silence between us for a few minutes. My mother has known about my sexual orientation since I was 13 when I told her I liked girls, but she refused to acknowledge it and has since been pretending that I like boys.
I must have sighed because my mother asks me if anything’s wrong. “No… I just miss the temple, and the trees… and grandpa.”
“Ah…” She says, sounding distracted. “Oh, here is Sayuri, she wanted to say hi.” The phone rattles as it is handed over and a cute little voice giggles nervously.
“Hi sissy! I miss you.”
“Hi, I miss you too! Are you being good, are you taking good care of the kitties?” We have two cats, one black, the other white; Shiro and Kuroko; original I know, but Sayuri named them.
“Yes… they are behaving, and eating like piggies.” She giggles. “Did you find a girlfriend yet?” She asks, I can hear my mother gasp in the background and call out her name. “Aww… mama…”
I sigh and say: “You know mama doesn’t like to be reminded of that.” There’s a momentary silence.
“You should be able to love who you want!” Nine years old and she’s so mature, our mother snaps at her again, I glare into the phone even though it’s a wasted action. That’s the main reason why I spent most of my time at the temple with grandpa. Aside from it being shady and quiet, he wasn’t overly judgmental. “I got to go… daddy is still at work… want me to tell him you said hi?” She asks.
“Of course, be good Sa-chan and don’t antagonize mother like that. I love you.”
“I love you too sissy, and good luck.” She giggles before handing the phone back to my mother. Great… I’m going to get talked at again. Whatever she says goes in one ear and out the other. I’ve learned how to tune her out and autopilot her rantings over the years.
“…just behave while you’re there, you represent the Harada Company you know.” No, I didn’t know that, I thought I was just a teenage girl in a school for the disabled. Really, I didn’t. Does she expect me to make connections for my father’s business while I’m here? Or am I supposed to hunt down some imaginary suitor from a wealthy company and get married? I feel a tiny bit of nausea at the thought. Do they even have arranged marriages in Japan anymore..?
“It’s getting late mama, and I have to be up early for class and all that.” She makes an annoyed noise, as if it’s bothering her that I need to go to bed. How dare I cut off her nattering so I can sleep. I roll my eyes.
“Right,” she says tersely. “Anyway… good luck finding a nice boy, and keep your grades up! Your father and I love you. Good night.” She hangs up the phone before I can even say anything in return. Ugh… I really dislike talking to her, she’s so… annoying. I would have much rather talked to my father, he wants me to get married and have babies too, but he also tells me in secret that he really just wants me to be happy.
I put my phone on my night stand, set my alarm for when the chickens get up and turn off my light. It’s pitch black in my room, even that sliver of light under my room door is pretty weak. I love this, laying in here not being able to see a thing and all my other senses feel a little sharper. It’s a different sensation than being blinded by bright light, that’s for sure; this is relaxing. Soon, I find my eyelids growing heavy and my thoughts growing sluggish. Sleep comes for me and takes me off to dreamland for another exciting adventure of nothingness.
I hope.
Not to mention she's a lot better than White-Knight Hisao~
