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Emi just stands still, frozen in place.
I widen my eyes at her, waiting for a response. "…Whoa."
She takes one moment to herself, then sighs loudly, burying her face in her hands. "Oh, shit…"
"…Okay, I'll bite. Emi, what the hell was that?"
"…It was maybe a teensy bit harsh."
"Yeah. A teensy bit."
"She's just so difficult sometimes."
"…That sounded kind of personal, though."
"I dunno."
"Do you wanna tell me what's up with you or is this gonna turn into a fight sometime later, when I'm not expecting it?"
"There's nothing up with me."
"I've known you long enough to know when that's not true."
"We really don't have to do this right now."
"I would rather do it now than later."
She groans quietly, fidgeting with her hands. "Hisao…"
"Since when do we not tell each other what's going on?"
"I just don't want to make tonight more stressful than it needs to be."
"Well, I'm going to be more stressed if I know you're upset about something and it hangs over my head all night. Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?"
"I don't…" she sighs, looking me in the eye for a moment. "…Yeah, okay, okay. You're right. I'm just… feeling a little frustrated, I guess."
"And Rin is…?"
"Rin doesn't know how good she has it."
"That's not fair. She's-"
"I know it's not fair. I know. I don't wanna take it out on her. And I didn't mean to," she says firmly. "Look, everything has just been kind of stressful for me lately. And it seems like I keep having to think about it. I dunno. It's annoying. It makes it annoying to see Rin squandering all the good opportunities she has."
"So this is about…"
"I'm sure you feel the same way. I'm just… getting kind of sick of being poor."
"Oh, God, Emi,
come on…"
"Hey, hey-"
"Emi, we're not
poor, seriously. Think about what you-"
"-hey, you asked me to tell you what was on my mind. Well, that's it. That's what was on my mind."
She watches me carefully, looking a little sad and a little frustrated. I feel like I need to tread carefully, but I still do my best to be reassuring. "…Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, you- I don't want you to do anything. There's a reason I didn't want to bring it up." Her face softens a little. "I'm sorry. It's not a big deal. I'll get over it, I promise."
"That's not very reassuring."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm just being crazy."
She smiles dismissively, whipping out the doe eyes. It requires a powerful immunity, built up over many years, to power through them.
"Wow, with a smile like that, how could anything possibly be wrong? I guess I'll just drop it."
Her face immediately hardens. "Come on. What do I have to do?"
"Just look at it this way. We get on with things now, and then not only do you need to talk to Rin, you need to apologize, too. And then you've still got me worrying about you. How much do you want to balance on your plate at once?"
She puts a hand to her forehead, her smile a little strained. "Alright…"
"Look, I… I'm trying as hard as I can. With work, and…"
"I know! God, I know it's not
your fault!" She smiles lightly. "Geez, I wish it was! Then I could take it out on you. Make you sleep on the couch. At least then I'd get the covers to myself."
"…Wait, you don't really prefer it when I sleep on the couch, do you?"
"No." She glares incredulously at me. "Seriously? No!"
"Alright, alright, that was just a gut punch I wasn't expecting."
"Dumbass."
She shoves me playfully to the side, but I straighten out in order to look serious, which makes her shrink a little.
"Is it what your mom said at dinner? You worried about preschool?"
"Oh, Hisao…"
"…'Cause if you think it's important, then we'll do it, alright? It's not a problem. Trust me; I have my priorities in order. Hell, there are places in the city I could swing by on my way to work if you-"
"It's not just that. It's… everything."
I raise an eyebrow. "Everything, huh?"
"Not like that. Not in a big, crazy kind of way. I'm not trying to be dramatic, okay? I just panicked."
She tilts her head to the side and holds her arms down in front of her, her face now fixed in a shy pout. With the way her hair looks- if it weren't the dead of night at the moment- I would expect blue birds to land on her shoulders and kick off a musical number right about now.
I reach out and place my hands on her shoulders, running them down her arms until both of her hands are in mine. But she still doesn't turn her head.
"Alright," I say quietly. "Hey. Look at me."
"Hisao, you don't have to-"
"You're not looking."
"Fine, fine." She tilts her head slowly up to make eye contact with me, and cracks up as soon as she does. "You're being silly."
"No. I'm helping." I look her in the eyes as firmly as possible. "Emi. We. Are. Fine. Okay?"
Her gaze softens the longer she looks at me.
I do my best to keep a poker face. "You hear me?"
"I hear you," she says quietly.
"Good." I take a breath to buy myself a few more seconds to figure out what to say. "You get that I'm not just saying that, right? I mean, we are
fine. We are
going to be fine. Right now? Whatever we have? We're handling it. We don't have anything to worry about that we can't handle."
"I know, I know…"
"There's not- look, nothing is in danger at work. I have nowhere to go but up. I'm handling this. I swear by that." I squeeze her hand lightly, but never break eye contact. "Whatever crap comes up, we can deal with it, and we will deal with it. Because I know we're both working as hard as the hell we can. And because we're a team, and we're supporting each other. Right? And because…"
She raises an eyebrow. "…Because…?"
"And… because… Hana is a prodigy genius, and she's going to be a millionaire, and take over the world, and buy us an island to support us when we're in diapers."
"Duh." She giggles suddenly, pulling her hands away to cover her mouth.
"We're going to be fine. I
promise." I try to let myself relax a little. "Count on me, okay?"
"I can do that."
She crosses her arms and looks up at me again, returning my smile. She opens her mouth to say something, but tears form in her eyes, and she stops herself.
"Hey, hey!" I rush towards her, though she seems even more surprised by the tears than I am. "Hey, I'm not
that bad at pep talks, am I…? I'm doing the best I can, here."
"No, no, it's not that," she laughs, patting me on the chest to push me away. "It's just… tsch…"
"What?"
She snickers to herself, wiping her eyes with her hand. "It's, uh… you just… made me think of my dad for a second there."
We exchange a glance, and she grins, giving me an expectant look.
I run a hand through my hair, flustered. "O- oh! Uh…"
Without any warning, she throws her arms around me, pressing her head firmly into my chest. I return the hug as soon as I realize what's happening.
"Are you okay?" I ask quietly.
"I'm okay. Promise."
"Good."
"I'm really glad you stuck around." Emi takes a long breath, like a sigh of relief. "You know you're the best, right?"
"I know."
"Like,
the best."
"Yeah. I know."
"I love you."
"I know."
"…You were supposed to say, 'I love you, too'."
"I know."
"Hey! Asshole!" Laughing, she pushes me off of her and collects herself a bit, starting off towards the gate. "I take it all back. You're the worst. I'm filing for divorce."
"Could have told me that half an hour ago. Then I wouldn't have had to go out in the cold."
"Oh, stop being such a damn baby."
The gate creaks open uneasily, and I follow Emi through it. I feel bad for the student that opens this thing one too many times and has it break on them.
Something strikes me. "Hey. I bet I know what would make Rin feel better."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Getting the hell out of here."
"Pft. I thought you were going to have a helpful suggestion."
"I do. Let's get Rin and bail out for the night. Go out some place and buy her sushi or something."
"Sushi? We already had dinner."
"What are you, seventy? It would be fun. And nothing cheers people up like free food."
She turns back for a second to look at me over her shoulder. "What happened to date night?"
"…I'll make it up to you."
"I'll count on it."
Somehow, with Emi in the lead, we make it back to the cafeteria without getting lost. With the night starting to drag on, the place is a little less crowded than before- or at least more limited to the half of the room with the bar.
We spot Rin right away. Noguchi is talking into her ear, and she looks distinctly disinterested in whatever it is he's saying. Kenji is nowhere to be seen, for what it's worth.
Noguchi stops himself as we approach, leaning back into his chair with a small frown. "Ah. You two again. Rin found her way back, eventually."
"Satou," Rin says dryly.
"Er." He glances over at her with a degree of confusion. "Yes, er, Lilly Satou found her out in the woods. Rin loses track of herself sometimes, you understand. Her mind tends to wander."
"Rin," Emi says loudly, practically straight-up ignoring Noguchi. "Do you have a ride home?"
Rin stares at her for a long time, not quite annoyed… more like exhausted. To answer the question, she just cranes her head towards Noguchi.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, Rin. It's not your fault if I get insecure around you. I never should have yelled."
Emi is making puppy-dog eyes again. I'd thought I was the only person immune to that, but then I don't think I've ever seen it used on Rin before. It's an interesting science experiment- like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
The end result is somewhere in the middle of what I expected. Rin softens a little but doesn't budge. Noguchi, on the other hand, looks very confused… maybe even distraught, for some reason.
"Hisao and I are going to get out of here," Emi continues after a few seconds. "Go do something else.
Alone. Please come with us. We can drive you home."
Noguchi sits up suddenly. "Er… that's a nice gesture, ma'am, but Rin already has plans for the rest of the-"
"Oh, really? Did you ask
Rin about these plans, or did you make them yourself?"
"I- well, Rin and I are together for the evening-"
"Says you! Why don't you just let Rin decide for herself?"
He seems a little dumbstruck, but turns to Rin anyway. "Rin, would you please-?"
"Stop. Stop talking." Rin shuts her eyes, still frowning. "I feel like my head is full of angry bees. Please just shut up for one second."
Everyone is quiet for a few moments, and Rin just sits there breathing unevenly. Even though the room is full of noise from everyone else here, it still feels like there is a very weighty silence. Noguchi cups his hands together uncomfortably, and I get the uneasy feeling he would somehow be handling this differently if we weren't in public.
Emi takes a gentle step forward. "Rin…"
"I forgive you," Rin says softly. She opens her eyes, looking vulnerable. If I didn't know better, I would expect her to start crying. "Can we please leave? Now?"
"Y- right now? Yeah, of course."
"Good."
Rin slides off the table and walks toward Emi, who touches her lightly on the shoulder. Noguchi gets out of his seat, frustrated.
"Hang on, Rin! We haven't even spoken to everyone!"
Rin turns fractionally. "I don't want to."
"But… ugh." He puts a hand to his head. "Look, I have my own car. Wherever it is you're going, I want to come along."
"Yeah? Do you?" Emi crosses her arms, now obviously pissed and with an expression I know only too well. "Well, guess what? You're not invited. So leave us the hell alone."
He goes red in the face, fixing his suit neurotically and getting in her face. "Who… do you think…?"
Emi stares him down fearsomely, and he ends up losing steam and trailing off. The two of them stand across from each other for a while, each waiting for the other to say something.
Eventually it becomes clear that he has nothing left to say, and Emi gives up.
"Creep," she says harshly before turning on her heel and heading straight out of the cafeteria. Rin and I trail behind her, both left a little speechless.
We quickly make it back onto the grounds together, and on instinct Emi takes a hard right around the building, even though it's probably the longest possible route to the parking lot.
"I thought you were gonna slap him," I say after a while.
She glances back at me. "So did I."
Rin looks back and forth between the two of us with an inquisitive look on her face, but doesn't say anything. She looks pretty depressed, moreso than before. I just wish I knew what to say to her.
Emi sees her face and frowns. "I'm sorry, Rin; I shouldn't even be getting involved."
"It's okay," Rin says quietly.
Hunched over a little, she wanders out and stands over the hill. Emi walks up next to her, leaning playfully on her shoulder. After a moment, I move to stand next to Emi from the other side.
As I get close, I see that the hill overlooks the field's bleachers from one side, and the track (which is lit by the lights around the field) a little further down. It certainly brings back memories, if nothing else. I'm surprised to see that nobody else has come down this way.
I take it in, tucking my hands into my pockets, but something else immediately steals my attention away. A funny rocking noise.
Emi is bouncing up and down on her plastic heels, rubbing her hands together. And I'd know that face anywhere.
"Wh- Emi, no.
No."
"Yes," she says excitedly.
"No. Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously. Shut up, Hisao. This is a great idea."
"You say that every time you have a terrible idea."
In one move, she flips to her side and shoves her hand in my face, four fingers held up. "Four laps. That's all. I promise."
"You're really not supposed to run on those legs."
"It's
advised against," she says slowly. "But it won't kill me, just this once."
"We're not dressed for it."
"We're not
not dressed for it."
"It's been ages since we did this, anyway."
"Yeah, exactly." She pouts, putting her hands on her hips. "What, don't tell me you're so out of shape that you can't give me four measly laps."
"Well, I… not in these clothes."
"That… is a terrible excuse."
I glance back to Rin again, who is watching us with a great deal of intrigue. Huh.
Taking one step around Emi, I pull my coat off and toss it over Rin's shoulders. "…Fine. You're on. Four laps. I'll race you."
At that, Emi grins, then leaps forward and kisses me out of nowhere. Before I even have time to react, she pulls away and darts off down the hill, pulling her shoes and socks off and tossing them haphazardly onto the grass.
I look over at Rin. "She is really something."
"Yeah," Rin says thoughtfully, taking off down the hill without another word.
I stand there by myself for a moment, and Emi makes faces at me from the track. After a brief pause to stretch out my arms and yawn, I follow them down the hill and take my place off to the side of the track, taking off my own shoes.
"What are you doing?" Emi asks, walking up next to me.
"I'm not scuffing these shoes up."
"You can't run in your bare feet!"
"Why not? You are."
"Yeah, it's not the same thing, smartass."
"I'll be fine."
"You'll never catch me without your shoes on."
"Oh, I'll never catch you anyway."
"…Alright, fair enough."
She bounces impatiently as I pull my socks off, which entertains me immensely. Once I set my feet on the track, I bend over and start stretching out my legs, prompting a loud groan.
"Oh my God, Hisao, what are you doing now?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm stretching. It's very important. You should know that."
"You…" She slumps down onto the ground next to me in order to stretch out her body over her legs. "Alright, fine. If that's how you wanna play it."
I glance over to see Rin settling very comfortably into the bottommost row of the bleachers, kicking her feet up. It's nice to see her more relaxed, if nothing else.
She spends about five minutes watching us, not moving an inch. I actually think she's fallen asleep several times, before I notice her eyes still open.
Emi seems to be paying just as much attention to Rin as I am- probably more, actually.
Eventually Emi gets sick of my stalling and stands, nudging me with her leg. "Alright, no more. You're ready now."
"I was born ready."
"Yeah, alright, hotshot," she snickers.
She wanders over to the starting line and bends over, setting her hands down on the ground. I do the same in the lane next to her, as though this is actually going to be a race. Even if I can't win, though, I know she'd kill me if I didn't try.
"On three." She glances back to me with a brief wink, then digs her hands into the ground. "Three… twoonego-!"
The millisecond she gets the last word out, she's gone in a trail of dust, and I already know I have no hope of trying to catch up to her. Even still, I take off all the same, amazed at how fast she can run even in her blue jeans and without her running prosthetics. I'm really going to have to hold her to just four laps, or she'll probably break the ones she's wearing.
I focus on my breathing, just letting my legs carry me along. I at least manage to keep Emi as more than just a speck in front of me, which is victory enough as far as I'm concerned. My legs start burning, but my chest feels okay. It feels good to get my blood pumping, if anything. After all this time, I know that it's the hard-earned result of practice.
Over on the bleachers, unless it's my imagination, I see Rin smiling. Just a little.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I remember a time when it would probably have been dangerous for me to even think about pushing myself like this. Man, how times have changed.
It's nice to feel so alive.
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