Mask Off: A Molly Route (Update 3/8)

[Path]

Act 2, Scene 4: Bits and Pieces


“So what time does the movie start?” Takashi kneels down to tie his shoe.

“At 19:00,” Asuka replies. “We have about two hours to kill.”

“We can walk around the shopping district,” Ikuno suggests.

“Oh that reminds me, I want to see if there are any summer dresses on sale,” Asuka says.

“Could we get some food along the way?” Molly chimes in.

“I’m getting pretty hungry myself,” Takashi stands up.

“We could we get some burgers,”Asuka suggest. “I haven’t had one in a while.”

“I don’t mind,” Molly nods gently.

“Me neither,” Takashi agrees.

“Burgers sound good,” I add.

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go,” Asuka leads the way.

We walk down the crowded street and stop at a crosswalk. I take a look around. The city is the complete opposite of the Yamaku. The constant chatter of people walking by, the cars honking in traffic and the sounds of construction in the distance make the city feel like a living entity. It’s a night and day difference between the two; where Yamaku feels like a quiet and isolated hermit, living on top of a mountain.

We continue down the street, passing stores along the way. The girls stop at a store entrance and slowly walk in. I follow them with Takashi following right after. We walk into toy shop. Shelves are stack with lots of various toys, stuff animals, and figurines. I don’t know where most of them are from, but I do recognize a few of them from some shows I’ve watched as a kid.

“Hey check this out Molly,” Asuka calls her over.

“What is it?” Molly walks towards Asuka.

“Look at this dog. It looks exactly like Aman.”

Molly picks up the gray stuff dog with white fur on its chest. It looks almost identical to the one I gave her during the school festival. Did she name it?

She pets it and smiles back at Asuka, “You’re right, it does look like him.”

“You should buy it so he doesn’t feel lonely.”

“Maybe next time,” she puts the dog down.

Takashi is standing in the corner looking at boxes. He picks up a box with a picture of a robot. It looks like one of those robot figures you build yourself. He puts it back and picks up another one. After putting back the second robot, he looks at some paint on the shelves next to them.

After some time, we leave the store and walk into another store. It’s a shoe store. They are having a sale where you buy a pair and get one half off. I see a pair of shoes that I like. They are black sneakers that have two red stripes along the side of the shoe. I check the price and see that they are way out of my price range. Putting them back, I spot some familiar looking shoes I wear. They look like the pair I packed, but they are white instead of the black and white pair I have. I put the shoes back.

We leave the store shortly after and enter a clothing store. They have a lot of clothes out on display as well as some swimsuits. The girls look at some blouses. Takashi is looking at some jeans and some shorts. I look around at some t-shirts, but nothing catches my eye.

I look down at what I’m wearing. I’m the only one in my school uniform. It kind of bums me out. I wish I knew that we were going to the city, so I would at least wear some of clothes that I brought. Wearing the uniform felt like second nature to me. Between school and going down to town, I never thought much to change out of them. Maybe another time.

After leaving the store, we walk down the street for a bit before Ikuno enters another store. Asuka and Molly follow her into the store and I follow behind them. When I enter the store, I notice it is a clothing store for girls. I quickly exit the place. I spot Takashi walking towards a light pole and pulls out his phone. He flips it open and I slowly approach him.

“What do you want?” he doesn’t look up from his phone.

“Nothing. I thought I hang here with you,” I answer.

“Lovely,” he sighs as he rolls his eyes.

“Quick question. How come you didn’t tell me about the movies?”

“You’re here right?”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“A heads up would have been nice.”

“Why does it matter?” he looks down at his phone again.

“Well, I thought we were becoming frien-,”

“We’re not friends,” he cuts me off. His words hit harsh and cold like a snowball to the face.

“...”

He opens up his phone as I stand there in silence. I debate whether to stay or go back into the store. Before I can decide, the girls walk out of the store.

“I’m telling you that you would look cute in that dress,” Asuka tells Molly.

“I don’t know. I think it would look better on you. Black suits you more.”

“Asuka is right though,” Ikuno reinsures. “Plus it wouldn’t fit Asuka.”

“Ikuno!” Asuka tries to punch Ikuno, but she is out of reach.

Ikuno and Molly share a laugh at Asuka’s dismay.

“What were you two doing?” Molly approaches us.

“Nothing. Can we go eat now?” Takashi answers.

“Sure…,” she sounds a little disappointed.

“The restaurant is right there,” Asuka points down the street to the giant yellow arches.

Takashi gets up from the light pole and begins to walk towards the restaurant. The rest of us quickly try to keep up to his pace.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So what is this movie about?” Ikuno places her tray on the table.

“It’s about a cop trying to take down terrorists. Well hackers, but it has some crazy action from the trailer I saw. It’s been over a decade since the last movie.”

“So it’s an action movie?”

“Mhmm,” Asuka takes a bite out of her hamburger; her mouth fills up like a chipmunk. “Da bess part is tat the teater iss havin a spesial shneak peek todai beefor it comess out nesh week.”

“I don’t really like action movies,” I say.

“Why?” Asuka swallows her food.

“It’s something about them that I can’t get into. It’s hard to explain.”

“Well what kind of movies do you like then?”

“I’m not sure. I guess science fiction movies interest me. I saw some movies on TV at the hospital at times. I read a lot of science fiction books when I was at the hospital.”

“Any books about time travel?”

“There was one was about a guy that built a time machine. I couldn’t keep it down.”

“Oh?” her ears perk up like a dog. “I think I know a movie you might like. You kind of remind me of one of the characters in it too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you should come by my room some time and we can watch it. It’s really good. I showed Ikuno and Molly and they liked it.”

I glance over at both Molly and Ikuno, and they nod their head in agreement.

“I really like the Doc character. He’s my favorite. I really like him in the third one,” Molly says.

“I like the second one,” Ikuno answers. “It ties with the first one really well.”

“There are three movies?”

“Yeah. The first two are awesome!” Asuka enthusiasm slips.

“What about the third one?”

“It’s okay. I can’t get into it,” Asuka puts her burger down.

“I see.”

“So you’re going to watch them with me right?”

“Sure, why not. I’ll stop by sometime this week.”

“Great!” she takes another bite.

We continue to eat our food. It’s great having food that’s different than what the school serves. As much as I would enjoy this burger, I can’t help but think about Emi. I can almost hear her giving me hell about the food I ordered. Speaking of which, I wonder how she is doing. She seemed to take losing the relay race really bad. She said she was fine, but I can’t help but think she said that to make me not worry about her. Maybe I should call her and see if everything is alright.

“I’ll be right back,” I stand up from my seat, “got to use the restroom.”

“Don’t need to announce it,” Takashi speaks up.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hi, sorry I can’t answer the phone right now. But leave your name and message and I’ll get back to you as qui—” I end the call. That’s the second time it went to voicemail. I guess she is still at the awards ceremony. Maybe I should text her. Before I can do that, I hear a familiar voice.

“Hey Hisao.”

“Hey Molly,” I look up from my phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh. I was just checking if I had any messages. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to freshen up before we leave,” she walks towards me. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about the city.”

“What about the city? You’re not a city person are you?”

I shake my head, “No. I grew up in the city. It’s just that it feels kind of weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess being in the hospital all this time has made me miss it. Like an old man visiting his old childhood home,” I shrug my shoulders. “It feels nostalgic even though I been to this city.”

“I think I understand. I feel the same when I’m at school,” she leans against the wall. “I feel more at peace there than the city. I kind of wish I could stay there, so I could be closer to my friends.”

“Even Takashi?”

“Yes, even Takashi. You don’t like him?”

“I can’t figure him out. He seems like a jerk. I try to be nice to him, but he seems to not want to be associated with me.”

“Takashi is always like that. He might not look like it, but he’s a nice person behind his attitude.”

“He did acted kind of nice yesterday?”

“How so?” Molly cocks her head.

“He waited outside my room to ask me to help him out with some class work. Afterwards he invited me for dinner. But he went back to his old self when he left. And earlier he said we’re not friends.”

“Really?” she lets out a small laugh. “Just like back then.”

“Just like what?”

“I was just thinking when I first met Takashi.”

“How did you two meet?”

“I’ll tell you another time. We should head back.”

“Okay,” I nod.

We slowly make our way back to the table. Ikuno and Asuka are chatting, while Takashi sits across from them looking out the window.

“What time does the movie start?” Molly asks.

“In 45 minutes. We have some time to kill,” Asuka says.

“Could we stop by the music store real quick?” Ikuno stands up. “I want to see if there are any new CDs out.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go,” Asuka rolls off.

~~~~~~~~~~

“They’re still making music?” Ikuno picks up the CD. “I thought they were still taking a break.”

Ikuno turns the CD around to read the back. She seems entranced holding the CD. Takashi is pushing Asuka around the somewhat crowded. Molly is looking at some CDs next to Ikuno. More like skimming through them; only stopping when she sees an interesting cover.

I walk around the store for a while before going out to get some fresh air. A breeze passes by and it feels great. It’s crazy to think summer is around the corner. I missed spring while I was in the hospital. Feels like I missed more than that. Guess lost would be a better word. After another breeze passes, I hear Molly talking and turn towards her. She’s on the phone.

“I told you yesterday that I was going to the movies with my friends,” she leans against the store window.

“…”

“No. Can’t you go on your own?”

“…”

“I don’t see why I have to come along.”

She continues to have the conversation, as I try my best to ignore it. At times, I overhear hear but it’s back and forth bickering. The bickering slowly becomes an argument. Molly calm voice gradually grows to an annoyed tone the longer it goes on. Eventually she snaps.

“Fine! I’ll be there in as soon I can!” she closes here phone.

Molly slides down against the window. Her head hangs down as she puts her phone away. She closes her eyes and takes slow deep breaths. I don’t know if I should approach or let her be. After minutes pass by, she slowly gets up and walks towards the entrance. She spots me staring at her and is caught off guard.

“…Hi, I didn’t know you were here,” her voice sounds a little shaken up.

“I went outside to get some fresh air.”

“Oh,” she tries her best to put on a weak smile.

“Who were you talking to?”

“…No one. Hisao, this is sudden, but I have to leave.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you. Can you tell the others that I had to go?”

“Sure…” she’s acting a little strange.

Molly leaves without hesitation.

“Bye,” I say as she turns the corner.

I walk back inside the music store, and see Takashi, Asuka, and Ikuno at the register. There’s a small stack of CDs on the counter.

“And here is your change. Thank you for shopping here. Come back soon,” the cashier hands Ikuno her change.

“Thank, I will,” Ikuno puts her CDs into her backpack.

“Hisao, there you are. Where’s Molly?” Asuka asks.

“She said she had to go.”

“Did she say why?”

I shake my head.

“We’ll see her tomorrow,” Ikuno reassures everyone.

“Yeah,” Asuka nods. “We should go. The movie is going to start soon.”

We all nod in agreement and leave the store. Ikuno and Asuka lead the way, while Takashi and I follow behind. The girls are chatting about the stores we visited earlier. We turn a corner and stop at a crosswalk. I turn to Takashi and he looks lost in thought. His expression is more stern than usual. Wonder what is on his mind. Asuka and Ikuno stop talking as well and look down. I guess all of us are thinking the same thing but none of us wants to bring it up. After what feels like hours, the light finally changes.

We continue to walk down a couple more blocks I silence until we reach the movie theater. The theater has various posters of movies that are out and some that are coming soon outside. There is quite a line outside. In the line are parents with their kids running around, young couples holding hands, and some businessmen patiently standing in line. We stand at the end of the line.

“This line is rather long,” Ikuno breaks the silence.

“Yeah it is,” Asuka answers. “I hope we don’t have to wait long. I still want to get popcorn and some candy before it starts.”

“We just ate,” Takashi speaks up.

“So? You can’t go to the movies and not get popcorn and candy. If you want, I share some with you if you’re nice. You too Ikuno and Hisao.”

“I’ll pass,” Ikuno declines.

“Thanks, but I’m still full,” I reply.

“More for me. Hey, the line is moving,” Asuka rolls forward.

~~~~~~~~~~

We manage to find some seats in the crowded theater. Since the theater is pretty pack, we had to split up. Somehow Asuka and Takashi are seating together in the wheelchair access seats, while Ikuno and I sit a few rows in front of them. We’re both in the middle of the row. Since we are closer to the screen, we have to tilt our head up just a bit.

“This is going to be annoying later,” Ikuno stretches her neck to the side.

“No joke. I think I heard your neck crack just now,” I joke.

“It’s nice that you came along with us.”

“Same. It refreshing to get away from school.”

“Tell me about it. I wish I went to a school that was in the city. I hate being secluded at the school.”

“Really?”

“That place feels so isolated. It’s like we’re cut off from the world.”

“I never saw it like that. It feels like any other school, well just more medical staff around.”

“I wish I could adjust to the school like everyone else.”

“What do you mean?”

Before I can get an answer, the movie theater lights fade as the screen lights up. Everyone in the theater quiets down, except for the sound of people eating popcorn.









Last Scene: Runners High
Next Scene: These Girls

[Mirage_GSM]

Nice to see you're back. One or two typos, but nothing worth mentioning.

The chapter was good overall, but the shopping section dragged on a bit - with four or five stores and listing what everyone was looking at for each of them.

[Zerebos]

The chapter was good overall, but the shopping section dragged on a bit - with four or five stores and listing what everyone was looking at for each of them.

While I can understand this to a point, I feel like this helps us understand the characters in this fic a bit better in terms of who they are and what they like.

It was a good chapter though, curious what happened to Molly. I would guess something with her brother.

[Path]

Act 2 Scene 5: These Girls

In which Hisao has trouble with the girls around him.


I place my books in my schoolbag as the school comes to an end. Most of the other students have already left as soon as the bell rang. Few of them are hanging around chatting with one another; Misha and Shizune being among those students. They sign back and forth while making subtle glances at me. If I had to make a guess, they are probably going to ask me to help them out with something. I wonder how long are they are going to take before they ask me? Either wat, I am really not in the mood to talk to them today.

Lately, my morning runs have been rather lonely. Emi hasn’t shown up to run the past few days. I texted her Tuesday if everything was alright, but she didn’t text me until last night to say she was. It wasn’t very convincing since it took her a day to respond. She might have been busy with school work. Regardless, my motivation to turn has been waning away with each passing day. Today I barely ran a lap before calling it quits.

“Hey Hisao,” Molly pulls me out of my thoughts with her calm voice.

“What’s up Molly? Going home early today again?”

“Yes,” she nods. “I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the bus stop. Ikuno said she had to catch up on some school work,” she picks up her bag.

“Um yeah. Let me just put my stuff away.”

“I’ll wait for you outside,” a smile grows on her face.

I put the rest of my supplies in my bag and begin to leave the classroom, until I hear a familiar ear piercing voice.


“Not so fast Hicchan~! Wahaha~!” Misha says in her “indoor” voice. “We need a word with you~!”

“What do you two want?” I mumble as I turn to face the duo.

Misha begins to sigh to Shizune and she signs back. They continue to trade back and forth some words before Misha speaks up again.

“As you know, the Student Council handles a lot of responsibilities. One of these tasks is delivering mail to students. We recently got a letter for you, Hicchan~!”

“A letter for me?”

“Yes, it arrived yesterday.”

“Do you have it?”

“Well the thing is…”

And here’s the catch.

“…we need some help doing some paperwork. We were wondering if you could help us out.”

“No. Last time I tried to help you two, I was stuck doing all the work.”

“Well Hicchan was on a roll and we didn’t want to interrupt your flow! Wahaha~!” she makes a big grin.

“I still don’t see why I have to help you two in exchange for my letter. It seems like you two are holding my letter as ransom. Gives the Student Council a shady reputation that everyone seems to talk about,” I stand my ground. Hopefully it’s enough to get out of it.

“...”

The two girls quickly sign to one another before facing me again. Shizune’s expression hasn’t change throughout the whole time. Misha places her hands together in front of her and looks down. She slowly looks up with sad eyes that remind me of Emi doing her puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately for Misha, she doesn’t have the same guilt effect I get from Emi. I think it’s because Shizune is staring at me with an analytic gaze.

“Please Hicchan? We really need the extra hand. It’s just that our hands hurt from doing all the paperwork,” she holds her hands closer to her to emphasize.

“Fine, see you tomorrow,” I give in, “but this is the last time I’m helping you two out.”

Misha quickly signs to Shizune; her expression changes to smile, but follow by a furry of hand movements.

“Okay Hicchan~! See you tomorrow! Wahaha!” Misha ends our conversation with her trademark laugh.

I wave them goodbye as I head towards the door. I spot Molly leaning against the wall holding her bag in front of her. She doesn’t spot me at first as I approach her. A few steps closer and she notice that I’m right in front of her.

“Hey there,” she pushes herself off the wall.

“Sorry for the wait. I had a little talk with Shizune and Misha.”

“What did they want?”

“They said they had a letter for me.”

“Ooo, that’s cool. Anyone you know?”

“They didn’t say,” we begin walking towards the stairs. “I don’t really know anyone who would want to write me a letter.”

“Maybe it’s from one of the nurses,” Molly chuckles lightly.

“Well there was this one nurse,” I recall my hospital stay. “She was always nice to me. She would bring me books she’d recommend. Inside the books, she would leave me notes.”

“So you think she might be the one that sent the letter?”

“I would be a surprised if she did, but doubt it.”

We continue walking down the hallway towards the stairs. The empty hallway is both eerie and calming, in sense that ten minutes ago, it was flowing with life. As we walk in silence, I begin to wonder who would write me a letter. The more I think about, the more curious I become. There weren’t a lot of people who I knew in my old school. I had a few friends but they most likely call me than write a letter. I ponder on that thought as we climb down the stairs.


~~~~~~~~~~


We exit the main building and make our way towards the school gates. It feels nice to get some fresh air after spending hours in the cramp classroom. The sun is shining but the trees make good cover from the bright rays. It feels like one of those days where you want to find a good patch of grass and take a nap. It’s the type of day where you want to be lazy and take a nap under a tree.

“Nice day isn’t it?” I comment.

“Yes,” she nods. “I’m kind of craving some shaved ice.”

“It’s been a long time since I had that. I wonder if there they sell some in town. I might have to take a trip down there to find out.”

“I know a shop in the city where they put fruit in it. It’s the best,” her mouth waters at the thought. “Maybe I can take you there someday.”

“They add fruit? That does sound pretty tasty. I look forward to it.”

We pass through the school gates and make our way towards the bus stop. There are a few students waiting there. They look to be second and first year. We pass by them and head towards the wall surrounding the school. The both of us lean against a wall as we wait for the bus.

“How long does the bus take to get here?” I ask.

“Umm one comes in twenty minutes usually,” she answers while putting down her schoolbag.

“That’s not that bad of a wait.”

She nods her head, “But today, my brother wanted to pick me up.”

“Does he often pick you up?”

“Not really.”

“What about your parents?”

“It’s just me and my brother. I moved in with him when I started attending here last year,” Molly’s tone lowers slightly.

The bus pulls up to the bus stop and the students board it. The bus driver looks at us; his expression asking if we are going to board as well. Molly politely shakes her head and the bus driver closes the door. The bus revs up its engine and slowly drives around the mountain.

Ten minutes pass in silence. Molly slowly pulls out a small pamphlet. It’s kind of hard to make out what it is at the angle I’m looking at, but I can make out a picture of a fish and a penguin.

“What’s that?”

“Huh? Oh! It’s a brochure for an aquarium,” she outs down the pamphlet. “They are remodeling the old aquarium and adding a lot of stuff to it.”

“Oh really? What are they adding?” I ask.

“I’m really excited about the penguin exhibit that they are going to have,” Molly voices raises in excitement. “The best part is that you could be able to feed them. I really want to do that.”

“Can I take a look at the pamphlet?” I reach my hand out.

Molly nods and proceeds to hand over the brochure. I open it up and read it over. The first page has a picture of a penguin with wearing red shorts and a straw hat. It’s also holding some balloons. It’s cute; underneath it is reads “Come visit our new penguin exhibit!” The second page has picture of jellyfishes swimming in a tank. On the next page they have a picture of a Ferris wheel, with the same penguin riding it. It advertises that the Ferris wheel is going to be 90 meters tall.

“They are going to have a Ferris wheel that has a view of the ocean,” I comment. “I would want to check that out just for the view alone.”

“This place is going to be amazing. I really want to go there opening day hopefully.”

“When do they open?”

“They open in about five weeks I think.”

“That’s the end of July,” I hand back the pamphlet to Molly.

She takes the brochure and flips through it again before she stuffs it back into her bag. It seems not much time has pass since the bus left. A quick look at my watch and only five minutes has passed. I look at Molly, who seems to be thinking about something. It’s hard to make ends on what she is thinking. Her face seems calm but at the same time, concern about something. Like something is off.

I pull out my phone; for no reason in particular. I guess because to do something even though I don’t know what to do and want to look like I’m doing something. Guess I can check it if I got a message from Emi. Though I doubt she is going to text but what the hell. I look through my messages and nothing. I close my phone and shove it back into my pocket.

I hear ring go off and turn my attention towards Molly, who is opening her schoolbag. She fishes around in it until she pulls out her phone. It’s a red flip phone with a charm of a dog dangling at the end. Molly opens up her phone. She stares at her phone, which is follow by a sigh.

“Something the matter?”

“It was my brother. He said something came up and he can’t pick me up,” she closes her phone.

“Sorry about that. I’ll stay with you until the next bus comes,” I try to cheer her up.

“You don’t have to. The next bus usually takes a long time.”

“I don’t mind,” I put on a reassuring grin.

Molly looks up to me and smiles back, “Thank you Hisao.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Want to get a drink? I’m getting kind of thirsty.”


~~~~~~~~~~


“Here you go Hisao,” she hands me the drink.

“Thank you,” I take the can.

“Thanks for waiting with me. I know it isn’t exciting.”

“It’s fine. I enjoy spending time with you.”

“Really?” her eyes widen.

“Yeah. When I’m with you, I feel more at ease. Between Misha and Shizune breathing down my neck during class and my crazy neighbor rambling about I don’t know anymore, this feels like a nice change of pace. Like there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I really like spending time with you too,” Molly takes a seat next to me.

Molly opens her can tea and takes a sip. She lets out a refreshing gasp. I follow her lead and open my drink. A quick swig of the milk tea and the flavor fills my taste buds with awesomeness deliciousness. A couple seconds later, I feel something on my right shoulder. It’s Molly. She’s resting her head on me.

“How’s Ibarazaki?” she asks out of the blue.


“I…I don’t know,” I fidget the can in my hand. Some of the milk tea spills out of it. “I haven’t seen her since Sunday. I’ve been calling her but it goes straight to voicemail. I’ve tried texting her but she took forever to reply. It’s been bothering me because she’s always been so cheerful. To see her act this way,” I hang my head, “it makes me feel like I’m a shitty friend.”

“Hmm. Have you tried looking to her?”

“I tried looking for her after school and during lunch, but no luck finding her.”

“Have you tried her room?” Molly takes another sip.

“No. I don’t know where her room is.”

“Have you tried asking anyone?”

“The thing is. I don’t know who to ask. Only person I know would be Rin, but I think I would get a better answer from a wall than her.”

“What about Miura? I bet she would know.”

Miura? She is in the track team as well. I guess it’s worth a shot. Though thinking about her, I remember our last encounter before the track meet. I’m still kind of confused about what she said about me preferring girls on the smaller side. Something about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” I answer awkwardly.

“It’s settled then. Tomorrow we visit Ibarazaki to cheer her up,” Molly lifts her head off my shoulder. She stands up and tosses her drink away. “We should head to the bus stop. It should be coming soon.”

I nod my head and finish off my drink.


~~~~~~~~~~


The classroom slowly fills up with my classmate. Unfortunately, Miura isn’t one of them; though I’m not really sure when she shows up to class. I skipped my morning run today, since the past few days I haven’t been in the mood. Maybe once Emi comes back, everything would go back to normal. I take a look at my watch to check the time. Only five minutes until class starts.

“Morning Hicchan~!” Misha greets me.

“Morning Misha,” my greeting doesn’t sound as ecstatic as hers. “Morning Shizune.”

The two girls sign back and forth each other with smiles on their faces. They continue to “talk” to each other as I turn my attention to the door. No sign of Miura or Molly.

“Hey Hicchan,” Misha waves to catch my attention again.

“What is it?”

“Shicchan and I are really happy that you are going to help us out today. We thought it would be nice that we want to treat you for lunch~!”

“Wait. What?” I forgot about that.

Misha and Shizune sign back, before Misha turns back to me, “Hicchan didn’t forget that he was helping us, did he?”

“Of course I didn’t. It’s just that-,” I try my best to remember yesterday’s interaction.

“Just that…” Misha repeats my words.

“Just that…I kind of made other plans afterschool.”

Shizune taps Misha on her left shoulder and Misha turns to her. The two of them trade words through their hands in rapid motion. Shizune face is all I need to know what they are talking about. One quick glance at me and I feel her aura resonating from her. Misha turns back to me with her best attempt at copying Shizune’s angry. But it’s more pleasant to the eyes than the blue haired demon right behind her.

“A promise is a promise Hicchan!” Misha crosses her arms. “You said you would help us yesterday and now you won’t. What is so important that you had to break your promise?”

“It’s uh uh-” I get cut off by the school bell.

“We’ll continue this later Hicchan~!” Misha takes her seat.

Shizune takes a quick glance over at me and I face forward to avoid her glare. But it seems futile as I can feel her eyes dill a hole into the side of my head. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. Today is going to be a rough one.


~~~~~~~~~~


The lunch bell rings after what felt like thirty hours since the morning bell rang. My thoughts between the bells were mostly what kind of mess I gotten myself with Shizune and Misha. I forgot that I agreed to help because I was focused on seeing if Emi is doing okay. Maybe if I can explain to them the situation, they would be okay with it.

“Hey Hisao,” Molly taps my desk. “I have some good news.”

“Hey Molly,” I snap out of my thoughts. “What’s the good news?”

“I ran into Miura before class.”

“Really? What happened?”

“I asked her if she knew where Ibarazaki’s dorm was. She said she knew.”

“That’s great!”

She nods her head, “So after school, we can go visit her.”

“Um about th-”

“Sorry Kapur, but Hicchan promised he would help us after school,” Misha butts in. “Isn’t that right?”

“…!”

“…?”
“Is that true, Hisao?”

“Well the thing is, I kind of forgot that I agreed to help them.”

“Not only is he helping us out, but he agreed to join us for lunch today as well~! Wahaha~!” Misha grabs my right arm.

“I didn’t agree to that!” Well I didn’t have time to decide on it.

“Come on Hicchan~! Are you saying no to a free meal with two cute girls?”

“It’s alright Hisao, go with them,” Molly words try to reassure me but she sounds confuse on what is happening. “We can go after you’re done helping them.”

“Yeah,” I try to see the silver lining in this situation.

“Wahaha~! Come on Hicchan~! We are wasting time~!”

Shuzune grabs my left arm; ensuring I have way to escape. I feel like a prisoner being drag to their death sentence. There’s not much for me to do but put away my pride. I turn back to the classroom one last time as we reach the door. I spot Takashi with a smug look on his face. His expression is just adding salt to the wound.









Last Scene: Bits and Pieces
Next Scene: Centipede

[Mirage_GSM]

“I would be a surprise if she did, but doubt it.”

Mix of "It would be a surprise" and "I would be surprised"

I wonder if there they sell some in town.

her mouth savors at the thought.

A mouth can't savour.

I hear ring go off

Something the matter here...

I’ll stay with you until the next bus comes,”

The two girls sign back and forth to each other

A few minor tyo´pos beyond that but nothing serious.

Nice chapter again. Good to see you're still at it.
Given that Molly leaves school after classes it would probably be better to visit Emi first and THEN go to the student council room to keep his promise...

[Path]

Given that Molly leaves school after classes it would probably be better to visit Emi first and THEN go to the student council room to keep his promise...

That's true she leaves school. But she could stay later to study or hang out with friends. Plus shes is kind of confused on what's happening towards the end. So maybe she thinks it wont take long to help them. Plus Hisao didn't have much say in explaining the situation to Misha.

[Path]

New chapter, new name, same writer.

Act 2 Scene 6: Centipede


Hands down. Eyes shut. I need to take a break from this.

“Come on Hicchan~! You can’t stop now!” Misha places down more paperwork in front of me.

“We’ve been doing this for over an hour now. My hand is starting to cramp on me.”

“We’re on the final stretch Hicchan. You got this~!”

I doubt we are done doing this. We went to the Shanghai for lunch and stayed there way past lunch. They reassured me that it was okay that we skip the rest of our classes, saying it’s one of the perks of being in the Student Council. But I doubt it is a perk and more of abuse of power. It was nice of them to treat me to lunch and not just the same old food from the cafeteria; even though I was starting to get used to it.

“How much is left?” I ask.

“Just a little bit left,” Misha replies.

“You said that last time.”

“I don’t remember saying that, Hicchan~,” Misha lies. “You must have imagined it. Wahaha~!”

I pick up where I left off and continue to fill out the paperwork in front of me. My hand begins to sting after writing for about twenty seconds. The other two continue to work as if they had just started until there is a knock on the door. The knock itself, wasn’t that loud, but it was just loud enough to catch our attentions to stop our work. Misha slowly raises her head and looks around, while Shizune continues to work. Shizune eventually stops to look up; only because Misha caught her attention.

“Were you two expecting someone?” I decide to ask them.

“Just continue filling out those forms while we answer the door,” Misha responds as she signs to Shizune.

Misha turns to Shizune; her face showing confusion and some signs of fatigue from all the work. I guess all this work has been taking a toll on her as well. She neatly places down her pen and signs back to Misha. Afterwards, they stand up and heads towards the door.

When they approach the door, there’s another knock. The sound of the knock is quickly follow by Misha opening the door. Shizune peeks over her shoulder before she makes room for her. From where I am sitting, I can’t make out who is at the door, nor hear the visitor.

“May we help you?” Misha questions the visitor, while signing to Shizune.

“…”

“We are really busy right now, so makes this quick.”

“…”

“We are not looking for new members to join the Student Council at the moment. Please try another time,” Misha closes the door.

Misha makes her way back to her seat with Shizune behind her. They both take their seat and continue to work as if nothing happened. A minute or two later there is another knock on the door; louder than the knocks before. The person behind the door starts to turn the knob. Misha turns to face the door. Shizune continues to work for obvious reasons.


“Molly?” I jerk my head back a bit. Why is she here?

Molly peeps her head through the opening; follow by the rest of her. She closes the door behind and turns to us. Her expression worried but she smiles when she spots me.

“Sorry for intruding, I was looking for Hisao,” she bows.

Shizune looks up and is shocked to see Molly, then she grabs Misha by the arm and signs. I look back to Molly, who is standing by the doorway. She hasn’t moved from her spot since she entered.

“Kapur, what are you doing here?” Misha speaks for Shizune. “We said we are not looking for new members.”

“I said I was looking for Hisao. Last time I saw him, you took him for lunch and neither of you came back.”

“Cause we are doing important Student Council work and Hicchan agreed to help us.”

“What’s wrong with me helping out?” Molly questions Misha. “You need the help, right? It’s why you asked Hisao?”

“…” Misha turns to Shizune.

Molly stands her ground against the Student Council. She even made Misha speechless; I’ve only seen Shizune ever made her. Then again, Shizune can be very intimidating without saying a word. Wonder why she is acting like this?

“If you are so persistent in helping us, then by all means take a seat,” Misha says somewhat in a bitter tone. Bet that was more Shizune than Misha talking there.

Molly takes a seat next to me. She smiles at me quickly before Shizune drops a small stack of papers in front of her. She then takes her seat and continues working. She doesn’t bother to look up afterwards.

“I think you may have made her upset,” I quietly whisper at Molly.

“I only wanted to help. She can’t be mad at that.”

“I think she is.”

“What are we doing by the way?” Molly searches for a pen in her bag.

“It’s pretty simple, just a lot of work,” I hand Molly my pen. She grabs it and returns the gesture with a small smile. “Just t filling out some forms for what I think, is from the festival.”


~~~~~~~~~~


“You sure that’s all of it?” I ask Misha one more time.

“Yes Hicchan,” Misha nods her head. “I’m surprised we actually finished today. Wahaha~!”

“Okay, we’ll be on our way then,” Molly says. “Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s fine, Kapur. I didn’t mind the extra hand. Shicchan however…,” Misha quickly glances over her to make sure Shizune isn’t behind her. “See you two tomorrow~!”

“Bye” I wave to both the Student Council.

“Bye Mikado. Hakamachi.”

The two of us begin to make our way to the door. I reach for the doorknob before I hear Misha speak up.

“Hicchan~! One more thing!”

“What is it now?” I turn to her. Molly turns around as well.

“Here’s the letter we promised.”

“Oh, thank you,” I grab the letter from Misha. “I forgot about why I was in this predicament in the first place.” I bow to both girls before reaching the doorknob once again.

I open the door and let Molly go through first. She smiles faintly to me as she enters the hallway. I close the door and we make our way down the hallway.

“Hey Molly,” I speak up.

“Yes?”

“You didn’t have to come to the Student Council room. Or decided to help out.”

Molly looks down. She twirls her right braid. “I thought since you were helping the Student Council, I thought I should help out as well.”

“…thanks. If you didn’t show up, I might have been stuck there for the rest of the day,” I thank Molly.

“Good thing they didn’t kick me out then.”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen Misha so quiet,” I laugh, but I am glad that she came.

“You did seem to enjoy working with them,” Molly looks up at me, “I might tell Mikado that you’re interested in joining them.”

“Oh, please don’t do that. I already sit next to them. I feel that’s torture enough.”

We both laugh as we make our way towards the staircase. A few steps down and I notice Molly is taking her time with the stairs. She has her left hand on the guard rail and is taking her time making her way down. I forget she told me that she usually has issues with stairs. Or that is what she told me last time. But this time around she is taking way more time than usual.

“You okay there?”

“Ye-Yes,” she blurts out. “I’m just a little sore. I tripped yesterday at home and landed wrong. It’s nothing.”

She slowly makes her way to the step I am on. I begin to walk down a few steps and stop to wait for her. I repeat the process one more time before I see Molly’s face grimaces in pain.

“You sure you are okay?” I’m starting to worry if she really is hurt.

“It’s fine Hisao,” she tries to stand up straight while taking a step. Her face tells me different.

I grab Molly’s hand and she looks up to me; surprise by me taking her hand.

“Hisao!?”

“Come on, Molly. I think it’ll be faster this way.”

I slowly take a step down and Molly takes a step down. We down this until we reach the second floor. Molly then takes the first down the second flight of stairs while still holding my had. It’s probably awkward seeing two students hold hands while slowly walking down the stairs. We probably look like an elderly couple. Thinking about that, I can’t help but smile. We make it down to the first floor and I let go of her hand. The way she was holding on, felt like she didn’t want to let go of my hand. No; I must be imagining it. Either way, we make our way out of the building.


~~~~~~~~~~


“Are you sure this is the room?” I turn to Molly on my left.

“Umm, Miura said that Ibarazaki’s room was this one.”

“Alright,” I clench my fist and hover it over Emi’s door.

I continue to hover my fist; is she even here? What if she’s not be here at all? What if this is someone else’s room and Miura was playing a cruel joke on me? No. She has no reason to do a thing like that. Well none that have made me think so. Maybe I am overthinking this. Or maybe I’m just scared to see Emi.

“Hisao?” Molly puts her hand on my shoulder. “Whenever you are ready.”

“What if she is not here?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“You’re right…”

I knock at the door, “Emi. It’s me, Hisao.”

“…”

Nothing. Maybe she isn’t here after all. Maybe I didn’t knock hard enough. It was a loud knock. I should knock again to be sure. As I reach up and try to knock again, I hear the doorknob turn and soon after the wooden door opens. On the other side, I see my running partner in her running outfit with her hair down.

“Hi Hisao,” Emi greets me while rubbing her eyes. “You woke me up.”

“Ahh! Sorry!” I bow my head.

“It’s okay, Hisao. I see you went and replaced me,” she turns to Molly. “And you are?”

“Molly Kapur,” Molly answers.

She smiles at Molly. “Nice to meet you! I’m Emi Ibarazaki.”

“…Nice to meet you Ibarazaki,” Molly hesitates to respond.

“You can call me Emi, Kapur.”

“And you can call me Molly, Ibarazaki.”

“…”

The two girls trade expressions; Emi’s cheerful warm smile contrasting with Molly’s uneasy smile and shudder, as if she felt a cold breeze going down her back. Both their expression change to a more neutral one. Molly turns to me and slowly backs away. Emi then turns to me and gets closer.

“So do you want to come in?”

“Is that alright?” I ask.

“Of course! You’re not the only boy in the dorms.”

“What?”

“You look cute when you are confused, Hisao,” Emi giggles as she reaches for my arm. “Come in. You too if you want.”

Emi pulls my arm and the rest of me towards her room. I am amazed by the strength of this tiny girl. Molly follows us into Emi’s room. Her expression neutral, but her body language is saying something else. Like she is more cautious. Either way, we all enter her room.

Her room looks almost the same as my room except her bed is under a window, with stuffed animals laying on top as if they were sleeping with her. Along with her bed buddies, there is a blanket folded by the foot of the bed. Next to the bed is her nightstand with nothing there besides her alarm clock. On the opposite side of the room is her drawers with a big stuff rabbit holding a carrot.

“Cute rabbit,” Molly takes a few steps towards the stuff animal.

“Thanks. I won it at the school fair.”

“Hisao won a stuffed dog at the fair as well,” Molly says as she turns back to us.

“Good one Hisao. Maybe we can have our stuff animals have a playdate some time?”

“Umm, I don’t have the dog anymore, so I have to pass on that offer.”

“What happened to it? Did you throw it away?”

“He gave it to me,” Molly answers almost immediately.

“Oh,” Emi responds indifferently, as she takes a seat on her bed. “So, what brings you here Hisao?”

“Well I haven’t seen you around for our morning runs or school for that matter,” I answer. “I was getting kind of worried about you.”

“I was feeling under the weather.”

“Why didn’t you say that when I texted you the other day?”

“I thought I was feeling better but the cold crept on me again.”

“Well Hisao has been worrying about you,” Molly speaks up.

“Really?” Emi’s voice cracks a little as her cheeks turn a light shade of red.

“Yeah, you’re my friend. What friends do right?”

“Yes, friends,” she pauses,” I’m glad that you came Hisao.”

“Don’t mention it. Thanks to Molly, we were able find you.”

Emi turns to Molly—whose leaning against her nightstand—and the two make eye contact once again. Both girls don’t say anything to each other. Molly continues to stare at Emi without changing her expression. It reminds me a little bit like Shizune’s analytical stare. Seeing her make that expression makes Emi break eye contact from her.

“So now that you found me,” Emi turns to me, “want to go do something?”

“Umm,” I hesitate. “I thought I’ll stick around for a bit. I don’t really want to bother you.”

“Oh, I mean, I really appreciate you visiting. You too, Kapur.”

“Don’t mention it,” Molly gets up from the nightstand.

“Just that I’ve been stuck in my room for a few days now. I need to stretch my legs with a little walk.”

“I guess you do have a point there,” I think over it.

Emi springs up from her bed and heads over towards the door. I guess she is feeling better by how fast she got up. Molly walks towards me.

“I think I’m going to leave,” Molly whispers.

“Wait, why?”

“I don’t know. I think it would be better if you and Ibara-Emi catch up.”

“But I want you stay. You helped me a lot. And I can’t thank you enough for it,” I tell Molly. “Please stay. I need you.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Emi asks while leaning against her door. “Better not be about me.”

“We’re not. Molly was just asking me the problems we had to do for homework.”

“Well you can talk and walk, so let’s go.”

“On our way,” Molly walks towards the door. “Come on Hisao. I’ll tell you the problems later.”

All three of us leave Emi’s room and back into the hallway. We follow Emi, who walks ahead of us in a brisk pace. She slowly slows down when she notices that she left us behind. She wedges between Molly and me. It’s weird she did that since there was enough space on my left side for her to fit.

“So Hisao,” Emi speaks up, “how did you two met?”

“Molly is in the same class. She sits in front of me.”

“Is that so?” she turns to Molly.

“Yes,” Molly confirms. “Well one day we were doing group work. I asked him if he wanted to work together since we both didn’t have a partner.”

“Did he tell you how we met?”

“I don’t thin—”

“I ran into him one day during lunch,” Emi cuts off Molly. “I was running a few laps to help prepare for the track meet. But I also forgot that I had to collect papers for class.”

“…”

“So, I’m running back to my class and around the corner, I crashed into Hisao.”

“I think I still have the bruise from that,” I rub my right hand over my chest.

“Hahaha,” Molly lets out a weak laugh. It sounded more nervous than anything.

“Oh, now you are saying that to make me feel bad,” Emi pouts.

“You got me,” although telling her that she might have send me back to hospital would upset her. I don’t want that to happen.

“And so, I thought that would be the last time I talked to Hisao until…,”

“Until…?” Molly repeats Emi’s last word.

“Why not you tell her the rest?” Emi turns to me.

“Okay,” I hesitate. “Um, the nurse comes up to me after school. He said he wanted me to try running to see if it, um, would help with my, um, heart. I said I’ll give it a shot, so the next day, I, um, go to the track field and see Emi.”

“Ever since then, we’ve been running partners,” Emi turns to Molly. “Maybe you should join us Kapur. We can have a race too.”

“Sorry but I think I have to decline the offer,” Molly slows down a bit.

We reach the stairs and proceed to head down. Emi is the first to head down the stairs at a fast pace. I follow afterwards then Molly rounds us up. When we reach the ground floor, I spot Asuka down the hallway. She is making her way towards us with a big bowl on her lap. She spots us and waves at us.

“Hey Hisao,” she continues rolling over towards us. “Molls!” I didn’t know you were still here.”

“I’m still here. Just with Hisao visiting Ibarazaki.”

“What are you doing with that bowl of popcorn?” I ask.

“Well I finished my homework early, so I am rewarding myself with a movie and popcorn.”

“Isn’t that a lot of popcorn?”

“No. There’s no such thing as too much popcorn. Well maybe that one time. But that was because Takashi said I couldn’t eat a large bag of popcorn by myself.”

“He didn’t say that,” Molly speaks up. “He said you shouldn’t eat that, but you told him he was saying that to steal your popcorn.”

“I don’t remember him saying that, so it didn’t happen.”

“Ahem,” Emi clears her throat with a pair of loud coughs.

“Oh, Sorry. Emi, this is our friend Asuka Kasugano,” Molly introduces Emi to out movie addict friend.

“Hi Kasugano, I’m Emi Ibarazaki.”

“I know who you are. You were really awesome at the track meet Emi, er, Ibarazaki.”

“Thank you Kasugano. Call me Emi. What movie were you going to watch?” she smiles.

“I was planning on seeing Fight Club. It’s been forever since I saw. It was due for a rewatch.”

“Fight Club? What is it about?”

“It’s about two guys who start a fight club,” Asuka reply while making a fist. “Well there’s more to it, but it gets pretty crazy without spoiling it.”

“How crazy?” Emi looks intrigued.

“Like really crazy. Like this one scene where they are making soa-” Asuka cuts herself off. Anyways, do you want to watch it?”

“I kind of want to now. I haven’t seen a movie in months. Is it good?”

“Of course! It’s in my top ten movies list with a twist!”

“There’s a twist?” I speak up.

“Oops. I shouldn’t have said that. Well do you still want to see it?”

“I do. Do you?” Emi turns to me. She smiles at me enthusiastically. It makes it hard to not say no with a cute face like hers.

“I think I can stay for a while before I have to go. I feel kind of tired.”

“Well if you fall asleep watching the movie, I will make sure you pay for that tomorrow on the track.”

“That seems kind of cruel.”

“Only if you fall asleep it will be,” Emi leans in closer to me. “If you do fall asleep, you can use me as a pillow,” she whispers.

“Molls are you in?”

“Yes,” she nods before looking down. “I felt bad leaving you on Sunday without saying goodbye.”

“Yay! Let’s go before the popcorn goes cold.”


~~~~~~~~~~


“Who did this to you?”

“I did, I think. But, I’m okay…I’m fine…”

“…”

“I’m sorry…you met me at a very strange time in my life.”

The credits begin to roll and that brings the end of the movie. Asuka begins to clap. Afterwards, she turns off the DVD player and TV. Molly gets up from the foot of Asuka’s bed and stretches. I think I heard a crack in her back. Emi is asleep on my shoulder. She passed out towards the final act of the movie. I wanted to push her off so she could lay down, but every time I tried to, she refused to move.

“Um, Emi,” I slowly nudge to wake her up. “The movie ended.”

“Hmm?” she slowly opens her eyes.

“That movie was a better a second time.”

“It was a little violent for me Asuka,” Molly takes a seat on the bed again. “I had to look away at some parts.”

“Well it’s called Fight Club for a reason. I should have told you how violent it is Molls. Sorry.”

“I liked it,” I throw my opinion in. “The twist was neat. And I also like the whole conflict between the main characters.”

“Yup! And watching it a second time, you noticed little details revealing subtle things.”

“It ended?” Emi sits up from my shoulder. “It’s getting late. I should get going.”

“Same.”

“Me too.”

I get up from the bed and the two girls do as well. I stretch my arms and twist my back. When I turn to my left, I spot a DVD box with an interesting cover. It has a picture of a high school girl with blonde hair and dark skin. Funny enough, I see the normal things about her before spotting that she has a shark fin sticking out of her back and octopus legs as for, well, legs. I would ask Askua what the hell this is about, but I’m not sure if I’d like the answer. Well not at this moment.

“Thank you for inviting us to watch the movie Kasugano,” Emi makes her way to the door.

“Your welcome and thanks for coming over. Someone was supposed to come over and watched with me but they bailed.”

“Well I guess they missed out.”

“Thanks again Asuka. See you tomorrow,” I wave at her.

“Hisao, can you walk me back to my room please,” Emi asks me.

“Uh, sure.”

“I’ll wait here with Asuka. Go on Hisao,” Molly says.

Emi opens the door and waves to Asuka before leaving through. I begin to make my way to the door. Emi is waiting for me and I close the door behind me.

“Oh, Kapur is not coming along?”

“Well she said she’ll wait here,” I mention.

“Oh, good,” she tries to say under her breath.

We make our way to the stairs and pass by a girl on her way down. At the top of the stairs Emi turns to me.

“Thanks for coming by,” Emi speaks up.

“No problem. I was worried about you,” I scratch an itch on a side of my head.

“I told you I was sick,” Emi replies.

“But I don’t think that’s all of it. Because you were pretty down on Sunday too.”

“…”

“I care about you Emi. And I want to make sure you are oka-“

“I’m fine,” Emi cuts me off. “I pushed myself a little bit but I’m fine.”

“It’s okay. I happy to know you’re okay. I just had to make sure so I can sleep better,” we stop in front of her room.

“I am now. Thanks to you Hisao,” Emi leans in towards me. I feel like she’s waiting for something.

“No problem.”

“…I’ll see you tomorrow on the track field,” Emi opens the door to her room rather quickly, “Let’s see if you kept up on your running.”

“I have, maybe not as much.”

“Well now I will have to punish you.”

“Why?”

“Cause,” Emi teases me in her response.

“…,” I sigh.

“Your punishment is going to be that you have to join me for lunch for tomorrow. You have to buy me lunch too.”

“Fine. It’s a deal.”

Emi enters her room and turns back to face me, “Bye Hisao.”

“Bye Emi.”

Emi closes the door gently, her smiling face inviting me in. I think that she is, considering how weird she acted today. Maybe she is still sick. I should take a cold pill before sleeping in case I get a cold. I stay standing in front of Emi’s door for another minute. After that, I begin to make my way back to Molly and Asuka. As I do, I hear a door lock behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~


Molly and I make our way through the school gates. It feels like yesterday since we were walking to the same spot; mostly because it was yesterday. The past day felt like a week has passed. A lot has been going on, but I think everything is settling down for the most part. We reach the bus stop and take a seat on a nearby bench. Sun is pretty much gone at this point, with the moon peeking in the distance. The street lights are also replacing the sun with their lights.

“Waiting for your bus again?” I decide to break the silence.

Molly turns to me and shakes her head, “No. My brother is on his way.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

Silence interrupts our small chatter. The worse part of it is that I don’t know how long Silence is going to talk for. At this rate, it might as well be the whole time. I look up at the street lights and see a moth flying around it. Occasionally headbutting into it or crawling on it.

“I wonder why moths fly into lights?” I think out loud.

“It has to do with their instincts,” Molly answers.

“What?”

“I remember something my dad told me once about them.”

“What did he say?” my interest is now pique.

“He said that it has to do with their instincts. Like everything in their body is telling it to fly towards moonlight,” she begins. “They are trying to fly north and they use the moon light as a guide.”

“Really? I still don’t see why they fly into the streetlight,” I interrupt, but Molly continues.

“Everything in its body is telling it what to do and they are doing everything right; but it is the wrong light they are flying into.”

“That seems plausible. But it also feels sad. It seems like it is futile for them to be attracted to a false thing even though their instincts are telling them it is right,” I stare back at the street light. The moth still flying around it.

“I think it’s the same with us,” Molly tones shift slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I guess like how we tell ourselves that everything is going to be okay, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite.”

“…,” I try my best to think of an answer.

“Sorry Hisao,” she snaps out of her train of thought.

“I-it’s okay. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, just got carried away a bit.”

“Well it was interesting to say the least. So, it’s part of their instinct to find moonlight. But they can’t tell the difference between lights.”

“Well that’s what my dad said,” Molly nods her head. “Though I think he was going through some stuff at the time.”

“Like what?” I ask.

Molly looks away for a few seconds and plays with her left braid. I think I may have hit a sensitive topic. Maybe I should change the subject.

“How long until your brother comes by to pick you up?”

“Soon,” she replies, still looking away.

I pull out the letter Misha gave me before we left to see Emi. I almost forgot about it because I was in a rush to see Emi. Now that she is doing fine and everything seems to calm down, I guess I can check it out.

“Is that the letter the Student Council was holding hostage from you?” Molly makes a lighthearted chuckle.

“Yes. Today was hectic. I just remember I had it.”

“You going to read it right now?” Molly leans in a little. “Wouldn’t it be better to read it when you return to your dorm?”

“It would, but I kind of want to see who it’s from.”

I open the letter as smoothly as I can, but I have a little difficulty. I manage to open it with the envelope almost destroyed at this point. Folding open the letter inside, I hold the letter to a better position to read it.

“It’s from my parents. It says that they miss me.”

“That’s sweet of them.”

“They are also asking if I am adjusting well to school and how my studies are.”

I fold up the letter and put it into my bag again.

“I guess the nurse didn’t miss as much as you thought,” Molly smiles.

“I think I know what Jack’s broken heart feels now.”

“Well as long as you are not jealous like someone else.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh nothing,” Molly shakes her head. “I guess it was just me.”

Before I can say anything, I hear in a distance loud music playing. The music gets louder and I turn to the direction of the music, I see an old beat up car approach us. The car windows are almost completely black out. When the car comes to a stop, the tires screech as it passes us a few meters.

“This is my ride Hisao,” Molly stands up.

“Alright,” I stand up as well. “I’ll see you tomorrow Molly. Have a safe trip.”

Molly smiles at me, “See you—“

The car horn cuts her off. Her face annoyed by it.

“Bye Hisao.”

Molly heads to the car, where the music continues to blast. When she opens the door, smoke comes fuming out of the passenger side. She waves her hands and coughs a little before entering the car. The door closes and the car drives off, with the music slowly fading away along with the car.

With nothing else to do, I make my way back to my room. Today has a long and eventful day at least. I don’t think I can take another minute conscious on this day. I feel like I might over sleep tomorrow.










Last Scene: These Girls
Next Scene: Here With You Again

[Feurox]

Nice to see an update Path! Lovely stuff as always. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes your use of full stops creates abrupt, fact like sentences. For example;

Molly is standing her ground. She made Misha speechless. I’ve only seen Shizune ever made her. Then again, Shizune can be very intimidating. Wonder why she is acting like this?

You don't do this all the time, but in some of these scenarios changing the format would make the sentence flow a little better,

"Molly stands her ground whilst Misha is speechless, a rarity I've only seen after she's argued with Shizune."

I'm not entirely sure that this is better but, for me it has a little more flow and doesn't read like a fact sheet. Regardless, fantastic update as usual Path, keep up the good work and look forward to more.

Mask on? Fuck it mask off.

[azumeow]

Oh god, Hisao's starting a full-out war between cripple legless girls.

Poor bastard....

[Mirage_GSM]

“I said I was looking for Hisao. Last time I saw him, you took him for lunch and neither of you never came back.”

Too negative

She lowly makes her way to the step I am on. I begin to walk down a few steps and stop to wait for her. I repeat the process one more time before I see Molly’s face wince in pain.

"slowly" - but more importantly a face can't wince.

Emi turns to Molly—whose leaning against Emi’s nightstand

"Who's" or "who is"

It reminds me a little bit like Shizune’s analytical stare.

"of"

Emi, who walks ahead of us in a brisk pace.

"at"
...couple more things, mostly minor grammar stuff like wrong tenses or pronouns.

Nice chapter again. Emi is maybe a bit too on-the-nose. It stretches SOD that Hisao wouldn't notice...

[Path]

Nice to see an update Path! Lovely stuff as always. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes your use of full stops creates abrupt, fact like sentences.

Thanks man, glad you like it. I started reading your fic recently and like it so far. But anyways, I think I use those full stops to just get words out when I'm stuck. I try to smooth them out but I guess I rushed this chapter out before making final edit.

Nice chapter again. Emi is maybe a bit too on-the-nose. It stretches SOD that Hisao wouldn't notice...

Maybe it was a weird day for him to notices her be off like that. Being in a different mind set can alter what you see. Maybe.

Oh god, Hisao's starting a full-out war between cripple legless girls.

Poor bastard....

Maybe he's a lucky bastard. Who knows?

[Oddball]

Pretty good so far. Although it seems the plot points and characters are a bit disconnected at times. This may simply because you're still setting things up. There's also a few times when Emi comes off as being a tad cruel. Otherwise, it seems rather interesting.

The meditating scene feels like something we should see a bit more of from Molly though. Not necessarily mediating itself, but similar things of that nature. Just the one scene makes it stick out a bit considering how it's never touched on again.

[CozyRavioli]

Good chapter Pathrick, I like the way the story is coming along.

Oftentimes, when people write confrontations with Shizune it involves blatant fighting or passive aggressiveness. I like that you made Molly keep a cool head and had her offer to help them out with the student council work, it suited her character nicely. Hisao helping Grandma Molly down the stairs was also really sweet.

The only thing I might say is that Emi's thirst is nigh unquenchable. Feels like she'll start dryhumping Hisao's leg in front of Molly at any minute. Not that that wouldn't be really dope and all, but still.

Asuka best gril.

[Path]

Act 2, Scene 7: Here with You Again


“You seem to be doing better Hisao. Keep up the great work!” Emi approaches me as I’m sit at a bench.

“I push myself harder today than normally. Good to see the effort is paying off,” I open my water bottle.

“I was beginning to think you were going to slack off when I was away.”

“Who? Me? O-of course not,” I reply with a nervous laugh. “I may have taken it easy one day. Maybe two.”

Emi takes a seat next me and pinches my left arm.

“Ow! What was that for?”

‘You can’t take an easy day off!” Emi responds in an almost authoritative tone. “Just because I wasn’t around mean you can use that as an excuse to slack off.”

“I had a good reason if that is the case we are going with.”

“No excuses! When you are on the track, there should be nothing on your mind besides running,” she stands up. “Running helps clear your mind. Sad about failing a test. Running can help. Mad about a friend lying to you. Running can help distract you from it.”

“This sounds a lot like what Molly said. Well almost.”

“What is what that Kapur said?” Emi leans in, her face in my personal space.

“Well a couple weeks ago I found Molly in the garden and she said that she goes meditates there to clear her mind. I don’t know, it just sounds like running is your way of meditation,” I close my water bottle.

Emi takes a step backs and turns around. She looks up towards the sky, where the sun is peeking through some of the clouds. I heard it might be a hot day today. By the way how it feels right now, I think bringing this water bottle with me was the right choice.

“I guess Molly might have a point,” Emi speaks up. “When I help Rin out with her paintings, she doesn’t act like her usual self.”

“What do you mean?” I begin stretching my arms.

“I guess the best way is to describe it what Rin says when she sees me run. When I am on the track, she said that I was my Emiest,” she turns to me and takes a seat on the grass to. “When Rin paints, she is at her Rinest.”

“In the moment.”

I join Emi on the grass and continue my post run stretches. I guess Rin might have a point about Emi being her Emiest on the track. At the track meet, she was in pain during the last events. But when she was on the track, all that seem to disappear and she looked like there was no one on the track. Just her. I wonder what Rin looks at her Rinest? Maybe she makes sense than she usually does.

When we finish with our stretching, I begin to make my way to the boy’s dorm, “See you later Emi.”

I walk a few steps before I few a tug on my shirt.

“What is it Emi?” I turn to her.

“Don’t forget that we’re having lunch together today,” she smiles.

“I know. And I’m buying lunch. I didn’t forget.”

Emi lets go on my shirt and takes a step back, “I’ll see you later Hisao.”

“Later Emi.”

Emi returns to the track and takes a seat at the bench. She takes a drink of water, and continues to sit there. Seeing her just sitting there, is kind of weird. She’s usually still running after I leave. Maybe she still isn’t at 100 percent and still getting over her cold. Whatever the case, I make my way to the boy’s dorm and look at the sky. Today is going to be a hot one.


~~~~~~~~~~


“What are planning to eat?” Takashi turns to me.

“I don’t know. I heard the bread was really good,” I answer, “but it seems to be gone by the time I usually get here.”

“The bread is delicious!” Asuka almost jumps out of her seat. “I only had it once, but the taste is something I can never forget.”

“It’s always the first thing to go. It’s a pain an ass to get here early too.”

“I guess I stick to my go to rice and whatever meat they have today,” I shrug my shoulders.

“If I had the time, I would make myself lunch. I bet I can make a better meal than what’s here,” Takashi looks over to Molly; sitting at our table with Ikuno. She is pulling out a small container out of her bag.

“Didn’t you burned water last time you were cooking?”

“How can you burn water?” I’m surprise by this.

“I didn’t burn water. I dropped the pot cause the cheap ass handle broke off.”

“What were you trying to cook?” I ask.

“That’s’ not important,” Takashi shakes his head.

“Hisao you’re next,” Asuka waves.

I turn around and see the student in front of me leaves with their lunch in hand. Taking a few steps forward, I see that there are two breads left. I think it might be my lucky day; today is the day I get to try the fabled bread and all its gloriousness. Without missing a beat, I grab the last two breads.

“Nice one Hisao! But why are you getting two? Asuka ask. “Maybe you’re getting one for me. If that is the case, you can hand me one now.”

I shake my head, “I promised Emi I owed her lunch. In fact, I promised to hang out with her today.”

“Emi Ibarazaki? Wow Hisao, you are a fast one to snag her.”

“What? No. It’s nothing like that. She’s just a friend.”

“Sure she is,” Takashi picks up a bowl of rice. “Did you tell Molly about your date?”

“No, I was going to after this. Wait, it’s not a date.”

“Don’t worry Hisao, your secret is safe with us,” Asuka winks at me. “Isn’t that right Taki?”

“Don’t call me that. I hate being called that.”

“Uh huh. Well, we promise to cover for you. Isn’t that right Taki?”

“…”

“O…k,” I slowly nod my head. “Thanks. Well I going to go now.”

I make my way to the lunchroom exit. Before I can make it about halfway, I lock with eyes Molly. Ah crap. This might get awkward. It feels like an eternity is passing with both of us staring at each other. Molly smiles at me with her onyx colored eyes at me while I make my best attempt of smile, Asuka and Takshi join her the table. Asuka catches her attention and I make my way to the exit.

With each step I make towards the exit, I feel as though Molly is still staring at me. That may not be true, but I don’t want to look back and see if she is. Turning around to see Molly with a sad look would probably make me feel guilty. I promised Emi that I would have lunch with her. Maybe I should have told Molly that earlier instead of having Asuka tell her. She’ll understand. It’s only lunch after all. When I reach the exit, I make a quick glance at Molly, and sure enough she’s not staring at me. She is talking to Asuka. I quickly exit through the door.

As I make my way down the hall and towards the stairs, the hallway has students entering classrooms and leaving the building. I make my way up the first flight and a student passes by me. He nods his head and I return the gesture. I also spot Lilly entering a classroom. When was the last time I spoke to her? It’s not important right now. I make my way up the second flight of stairs. Each step towards the last flight, my heart seems to beat faster. I feel nervous out of the sudden. I felt like this yesterday when I was going to meet Emi. Wonder why I feeling like this? I reach the roof door and open the door.

My vison goes white as soon as I push open the door. I close my eyes by instinct and slowly open them to get them readjusted to the outside light. A few steps outside to the roof, I feel like I’m going to melt because of the heat. I forgot how hot it was and being outside is doing a great job at reminding me of it.

With my vison becoming more adjusted, I see that no one is here. No Emi. No Rin. Guess I am the first one here. I make my way to one side of the roof and take a seat against the fence. I try to pick a spot with some shade, but there seems to be no shade. This sucks, as the heat isn’t making this better. I place the food next to me and try to focus on anything besides the sun glaring at me. Got to think of something. Anything.

Molly. The first thing to pop into my mind is her. I hope she isn’t upset that I left her today for Emi. There’s shouldn’t be a reason for her to be, but I can’t help but feel bad for not telling her myself. Seeing her staring at me while I left the lunchroom felt like a punch to the gut. Knowing her, she might have said that she wouldn’t mind, but I can’t shake off this feeling of guilt. Either way, I need to think about something else, but I don’t know about what. It’s not too long before I hear a voice in the distance.

“There you are Hisao,” the voice says. “For a second there, I wasn’t sure that you would show up.”

“Of course I’m here. I was waiting for you. I was about to send you a text if you were coming,” I say.

“Sorry for making you wait. I thought since you were getting us lunch, it was only fair that I brought some drinks,” Emi makes her way towards me with two cans.

“What drinks do you bring?”

“Um, lemon and apple. Which one do you want.?”

“I think I’ll take the apple one.”

Emi hands me the can on her right hand and takes a seat next to me. I open the can and take a drink of its content. The cool drink helps me wash away the heat. I grab one of the bread and hand it to Emi.

“Here is your lunch.”

“Thanks!” She opens the plastic wrapper and takes a bite of the bread. “Wow! You got this bread. I never got the chance to try this. You really know how to treat a girl.”

“I guess I was fast enough to get them,” I chuckle a bit. My head feels hot. I don’t think it’s the heat that’s causing it either.

“Maybe you be faster than me one day. But I doubt it will be any time soon by how slow you were,” Emi sticks out her tongue.

“You’ll might be surprise. Wait. Where is Rin? She isn’t with you?”

“Rin said that she had to talk to the art teacher about someone that like’s her art,” Emi answers. “During the festival, she said one of his friends were impressed by her mural, that they wanted to Rin.”

“Her mural?” I ask. “Oh yeah. The mural she painted in front of the boy’s dorm. I forgot that she did that.”

Emi nods her head, “Uh huh. I don’t really like it, but Rin painted it and I am happy for her that she got the chance to paint a mural for the school.”

“Good for her. I wish her the best.”

I open the wrapper and take a bite of the popular bread at this school. A few seconds later and I can taste why this bread is gone in an instant. It’s curry bread. But it isn’t fried but rather baked. I guess because since this school tries to cater to student that might have issues with some of the food. Regardless, this bread is amazing. The softness of the bread with the crunchiness of the bread crumbs on the outer layer blends well with the salt of the chicken curry. The chicken itself is savory and retains the curry well and each bite makes the flavors blend into something that I wish I had an endless supply of.

“This bread is delicious,” I say after taking another bite.

“It really is. I’m really glad that you brought this. I thought the rumors about this were too good to be true,” she takes a sip of her lemon drink. “This bread really lived up to its reputation.”

I wonder if Molly ever got to try this awesomeness of a food. Wait, why am I thinking about her again? I need to quit that, but I can’t. In the back of my mind, Molly is there. I take another bite of the bread, but the flavor of it changed from the best thing to the worst thing I have tasted. I try to wash it down with a drink, but even that makes the taste worse.

“You ok Hisao?” Emi taps me on my right shoulder.

“Yes. Just thinking how hot it is,” I wipe my head. I feel a collection of sweat gather in my hand.

“Oh, I know. I already feel my uniform sticking to me. I’m going to have to take a long bath tonight.”

“Bath?” I almost choke on this flavorless bread.

“You don’t like to take a bath?”

“I prefer showers. Something about running water helps me feel at ease.”

“I’ll make a note of that,” Emi smiles at me with joy.

“Why?”

“No reason. Just something I learn about you. Nothing else.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think we know much about each other.”

“Well,” Emi scoots closer to me, “what do you want to know about me? Let’s take turns asking each other questions.”

“O-okay,” I swallow the bread. I’m nervous what she might ask.

“I’ll go first!”

“…”

“What’s your favorite color?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. She didn’t go straight to the jugular.

“Red,” I reply.

“Red? I would have thought it might be blue. Okay, your turn.”

“..,” damn this is harder than I thought. Being put on the spot makes it difficult to think, as hundreds of questions race through my mind. Think of something. Something simple and not something like what’s the square root of 4638. “Um, do you have any pets?”

“No. Well I had a hamster when I was six. Her name was Momo and she had these big cheeks. She was really cute with her short brown bushy tail,” she answers with a smile on her face. “Do you have any pets?

“No. My dad is allergic to cats and my mom hates dogs.”

“Not even a goldfish?”

“I see them more as a decoration than a pet.”

“Oh,” she takes a sip of her drink. “You turn.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink,” she smiles. “No repeating questions.”

“You started it,” I counter.

“Starting now.”

“Um…umm…,” my mind runs blank. “I got nothing.”

“Really? You ran of questions already?”

“Sorry. This bread is really good. I can’t think of anything besides how it’s almost gone,” I try to save the few bites I have left.

Emi shakes her head, her frown is trying to guilt me.

“Oh! I got a great question,” Emi smiles. Her smile seems more mischief than playful. “Do you like anyone?”

“Wha?” I answer with a piece of bread caught in my throat. I take a sip of my drink to wash it down. “What did you say?”

“Do you like anyone Hisao?”

“…”

She really went straight to the jugular with this one. Do I like anyone? Some of the girls here are cute; some of them cuter than the girls from my old school. But I don’t know if I like anyone.

“I don’t know,” I answer.

“You don’t know if you like anyone? Not even Kapur?”

Molly. My mind goes blank. I should have told her that I was going to have lunch today with Emi. Her staring at me in the lunchroom. Why do I care about that so much? Maybe I do like her, or the very least, care about her. She has help me out and yesterday she really came through when she didn’t have to.

“Hisao?” Emi pulls me out of my train of thought.

“It’s my turn to ask a question,” I try to avoid answering.

“Another time. Lunch is over; the bell just rang.”

“Did it?”

“Yes. Let’s go before we’re late,” she gets up and heads towards the door. I follow her.

We walk down the stairs and join the mob of students walking to their classes. I continue to walk with Emi until we reach her classroom.

“See you in the morning Hisao,” she smiles.

“Bye Emi. See you tomorrow.”

She walks into her classroom, but turns around, “Hisao?”

“Yes?”

“Nothing,” she smiles one more time before she leaves.

Anyways, I make my way to my classroom. I open the door and see most of my classmates are in their seat. Molly is in her seat and she spots me. She smiles when I approach her and take my seat.

I look out the window until class begins. Lunch with Emi turned out to be not as bad. The curry bread was probably the best meal I had since in a while. I shift my attention from the window to Molly; I recall what Emi asked me earlier.

…”Do you like anyone Hisao?”…

…“Not even Kapur?”…


~~~~~~~~~~


The heat outside has died down a lot after school ended. It’s still hot, but it’s not too hot as it was earlier. The shade from the tree and gentle breeze passing is making it feel refreshing. Sounds of cicadas singing help only make me feel like taking a nap. I open my eyes and stretch a bit. Molly is still sitting next to me. We didn’t talk much on our way here and she didn’t bring up where I went for lunch. I was expecting she would have mention it but so far nothing.

“So how was lunch with Emi?” Molly asks out of nowhere. Though I was expecting ever since lunch was over.

“It was alright. The rooftop isn’t the best to have lunch on a hot day,” I answer with a chuckle; trying to calm myself, but I stop as soon as I start, “Molly?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell I was having lunch today with Emi. I should have told you.”

“It’s fine Hisao. Asuka told me,” she turns to me. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I don’t know. When I left the lunchroom, I felt like I did something wrong.”

“Why would you think that Hisao?”

“I think it’s because you’re the only person I trust here,” I take a deep breath. “The past couple weeks, you been there for me. You helped me out, especially the past couple of days. You didn’t have to, but you did. I can’t thank you enough.”

Molly eyes widen as her cheeks turn a soft shade of red, “It’s nothing. You would have done the same.”

“I don’t think I would have honestly. I was pretty down ever since I had my accident.”

“It’s understandable Hisao. I think most of us had that grief period.”

“Did you?”

“A little bit. But that was a long time ago,” she rubs her metal legs. “We all have our own demons that we have to face. It can be tough to do it alone sometimes, but with someone by your side, it’s easier.”

Our demons. I guess I never saw it like that. Everyone has their own problems that they are dealing with here. My heart, Molly lack of legs, Asuka being confine to a wheelchair, and so on. Not even our disabilities. My parents were hurt from it too. My father never really showed it as much as my mom did. I remember leaving the hospital, he didn’t look at me the whole time. It might have hit him hard. I guess I was being selfish about it.

“Thanks Molly.”

“For what?” she sounds confuse.

“For being there. I probably said this before, but you helped me out a lot since I got here. I’m glad that you asked me to pair up with you back then.”

Molly laughs a little, but it’s more sincere, “You did just say that Hisao.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad that I’ve met you.”


“Yeah,” I nod.

Molly stands up and stretches her arms. That is soon follow by a yawn. “I think it’s a good time to call it a day. I think my bus is going to be here soon.”

“You want me to come along?”

“No, it’s okay. I want to be by myself today.”

“How come?”

“Oh nothing. I have some stuff I want to think over.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow Molly.”

“Bye Hisao,” she smiles at me. I can’t help but to return the gesture.

Molly begins to take a few steps before turning back to me, “Hisao?”

“Yes?”

“Nothing,” she leaves with a quick pace.

Molly continues to walk as I watch on. She stops for a bit, turns around, and we lock eyes. She smiles at me one more time before disappearing around the corner of the main building. I decide to head towards my room. I feel like taking a bath for a change.









Last Scene: Centipede
Next Scene: Alone by Your Side

[Mirage_GSM]

Lots of small mistakes this time - a couple examples from the first part:

Emi approaches me as I’m sit at a bench.

Maybe she makes [] sense than she usually does.

I walk a few steps before I few a tug on my shirt.

Mostly they are not even real mistakes but rather sloppy copy-pasting...

Nice to see another story continue after a small hiatus. Welcome back!