Hope someone likes it
Chapter one
I lie in my bed, feeling incredibly tired. Last night Kenji claimed he had received some secret inside information that lead him to think that the feminists would make their first move tonight. Using this as a reason he forced me to help him build a fort to protect us from the attack.
In my room.
The result... Wasn't really pretty. My door was sealed with duct tape and all my clothes were scattered around the room. On a larger pile of clothes in the corner sat Kenji, looking anxious. And eating my chocolate bars.
“Hey, Kenji!”, I poked his arm. “Where'd you find that? I didn't even know I had chocolate bars left!” “There were some in the closet”, he answers, continuing: “I'm just checking them in case they've been poisoned.”
I think he was actually serious about checking them for poison, which is kinda creepy. And I'm sure they weren't, since he ate all the chocolate he found in my room and didn't die.
I spent the next few hours trying to convince that there would not be a feminist attack. At least not tonight. When I finally got him to believe me, it was already around four o'clock in the morning. I had some thoughts about cleaning my room up, but it felt impossible at the time. After a while of sleep, I thought...
A few hours later, I woke up. I've been awake for ten minutes now, to be accurate. The floor is still a complete mess with all the clothes lying around. Myself, I'm lying in my bed, wishing I could sleep for the whole day.
Except that I can't. I have school! I quickly get up from my bed, grabbing my medication and downing the pills with a glass of water. After that, I dress up and hastily finish my most important morning routines. I check my watch. Phew, I still have time to get to class. I check that I have all my school stuff with me and quickly walk out of the dorms and toward the main building and the classroom.
I actually do arrive in time, even though most of the others are here already. Surprisingly that includes Hanako too, seeming somehow different than usually. Only when she notices I'm looking at her, I realize I've been staring at her for a while. She blushes and hides her small smile behind the book she's reading. At least someone is in a good mood today. I wonder why she's so happy.
The day passes quite uneventfully, nothing special happens during class. Regardless, I'm really hungry by lunchtime, like I hadn't eaten any breakfast this morning at all.
...Wait, I think I actually didn't eat any breakfast at all. Dammit.
Suddenly I notice that I'm still sitting in the classroom. Shizune and Misha have left without saying anything to me, so they probably have some student council work. I look around to see that only me, Mutou, a few girls whose names I can't remember and Hanako still are in the classroom. Hanako seems to be reading that book of hers, still in a good mood.
I can't seem to concentrate on anything now. I guess I really should go eat something so that I don't faint or anything.
I can't really be bothered to think of a place to go eat, so I simply decide to go to the cafeteria. I could go to the tea room for lunch, too... But it seems like Lilly is not going to come here today, which means I would have to eat alone in any case. And I'm not especially great at brewing tea or anything, so the cafeteria it is.
I walk out the classroom and let out a small yawn. I am just going to turn toward the nearest stairway, when I hear a familiar voice.
“Yo.” I turn around and see Kenji, looking pretty normal. As in not looking especially weird. “Goddamn, what now, Kenji? What brings you here?” I ask him, trying to be somewhat polite, although I do feel like yelling. I try to look like I really don't want to talk, until I realize it's probably futile due to him not seeing far enough.
“I just wanted to make sure you really know who we're dealing with”, he answers, takes a short breath and continues: “Feminists are a formidable foe. Did I already tell that you could wake up with a knife in your back?” I sigh. “Yes, you did. And I wondered how you would wake up if you had a knife in your back.” Now I try to sound like I don't want to talk to him, but he still doesn't get the clue and just keeps on babbling nonsense about feminists and attacks.
After a while I notice I've been standing here practically asleep. As I wake up from my daydreams, I hear Kenji is still talking. “...and just to be sure there won't be any immediate threat, you should stop seeing those girls who seem to hang around you”, he tells me. Yeah, right, like I would. This guy is really good at annoying me. “I'm sure they're just planning to find out your weak spot or something – and then eliminate you. And that Ikezawa girl is the real threat, get rid of her immediately!” he concludes his speech.
“What nonsen-” I begin my sentence, until I realize what he just said. “What, Hanako? You want me to stop hanging with Hanako- No, to eliminate her? Are you completely our of your mind?” I take a deep breath and continue yelling: “You start telling me bullshit about feminist attacks and that I should get rid of my friends and that they're dangerous – and I'm supposed to believe you? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD, MAN?”
At this point I run out of oxygen and have to take a few deep breaths again. Kenji stares at me with a blank expression. “If you don't want to believe, then don't”, he answers, sounding slightly disappointed. “I always thought you'd understand me, but I must've been wrong.” Then he turns on his heels and – finally – walks away.
Finally having got rid of Kenji, I head toward the cafeteria again, slightly less annoyed. I'm still thinking why the hell Kenji bugs me all the time, though, and that makes me pissed anyway. Did he really think I believed – let alone understood – his dumb theories or something? Doesn't he have any friends to bother? WHY ME?
I manage to instantly piss myself off and start walking faster. Actually, maybe I should run after him and pun-
My thoughts get cut short by a sudden impact that sends me on the hallway floor. Damn, that hurt! “GODDAMMIT”, I yell at whoever ran into me. Or I ran into, it doesn't really matter for me. “CAN'T I EVEN GO TO THE CAFETERIA IN THIS SCHOOL WITHOUT RUNNING INTO SOME ASSHO-?!?” My eyes widen as I realize I didn't even look who the person I'm yelling at is. I didn't even get up from the floor yet! What if I bumped into a teacher, that could get me in trouble...
Cursing myself for my stupidity, I turn my head up to see who it was.
She's... Not a teacher, but a girl of around my age. Not that it relieves me that much, since I still have to explain her why I ran into her and why I yelled at her and why I'm staring at her pan-
Wait, no, not that last one. It's not the point, anyway. I turn my head up again, since I somehow didn't manage to see the person's face the last time.
The face is a familiar one. I'm looking Hanako in the eyes. I start to feel like I should say something, and it surely doesn't help when I notice the tears in her eyes.
“H-Hanako, I... Uh...” I utter, trying to explain everything to her, while simultaneously getting up from the hallway floor. She keeps avoiding my eyes. “I... I didn't...” I still can't manage to say anything. I try approaching her, taking one step toward her and suddenly she starts running. She runs away from me in the direction I was going, and leaves me here feeling like I've kicked a puppy or something at least as horrible.
For a moment I just stand here. What did I do? What the hell did I just do? I yelled at the most fragile girl I've ever known, even called her an asshole – and now I have to think of a way to explain and apologize or she'll probably never even look at me again. Not to mention she'll probably be skipping class for weeks just to avoid seeing me.
As I'm trying my best not to blame myself for this, I hear something for behind the corner. A short scream and a thumping sound, like something – or more like someone, a person, falling.
Wait... The stairs I was headed for are behind that corner, aren't they?
I run to the corner, just to see I was right. About both things. The scream I heard was from a person falling down stairs. And not just any person, but...
I quickly skip down the stairs to where Hanako is laying. My heart starts beating faster. Is this my fault? I mean, it was me who made her run away, but still...
I try to remember what you're supposed to do in a situation like this. I try to shake her awake, but to no avail. Is she unconscious or...
I notice her chest is moving, albeit slightly. She's breathing, so she can't be that badly injured... Right..? But how the heck am I supposed to get her to the nurse? It's not like I can drag her or-
I feel somebody put their hand on my shoulder. Glancing behind me, I see a very worried Akira.
“A-Akira?!?” I exclaim, mouth wide open from her sudden appearance: “What are you doing here?”
“Hisao...” she begins a sentence: “What the hell happened?” Her expression is still worried, and it makes me feel even more nervous than before, not to even mention I'm still feeling horrible for shouting at Hanako.
“I... I, uh, kind of scared Hanako” I answer her. “And?” she asks, not satisfied by my short answer. I take a breath and continue: “And... She ran away from me–“ Akira's eyes widen slightly, interrupting me for a while. “–and then I don't know what happened, but I heard her fall down and came here and–“ Now Akira intentionally interrupts me. “We need to get her to the nurse.”
“...Y-yeah, I guess we should”, I answer, still unsure how we're going to do that. “Good”, she says. “Then, carry her lower body, would you?” Together we lift Hanako off the floor and start carrying her downstairs, toward the nurse's office.
Having carried Hanako to the main hallway, my arms start to hurt. Fortunately, I see the nurse run toward us, looking at least as worried as Akira. “What happened to her?” he asks, trying to examine Hanako. Before I say anything, he's already decided what to do next. “Can you carry her to my office?” Akira glances at me and I nod slightly, even though my arms are hurting more than I'd like. “Yeah, we can”, she answers him. The looks on both of their faces make me really realize how serious this could be.
...How'd the nurse know to come here, anyway? It's not like we called him or-
I only now notice that we're not alone in here. In fact, there's a lot of people, presumably students, in the main hallway. Many of them look concerned or worried and are staring or at least occasionally glancing at our direction. How did I not notice them before? I feel like moving faster, not wanting people to stare at me... Or us. It's hard enough carrying Hanako even without people around us disturbing me and being in our way.
Finally we reach the nurse's office. The nurse opens the door and hurries us to carry Hanako to the sole bed in the room. After we've done that, I take a seat and a deep breath. Carrying a girl isn't really the kind of exercise I should be doing, but even though my heart is beating quite fast, I'm not having any chest pain. I'm not going to have a heart attack or anything.
“Nakai”, the nurse mentions my name, cutting off my thoughts: “Are you okay? You shouldn't strain yourself like this.” “Yeah”, I answer: “I'm okay. Although I don't know how well I would be if Akira hadn't shown up.” The nurse nods, turning around to examine Hanako.
“Mmmhhmmm...” Hanako seems to be regaining her consciousness. The nurse seems fairly surprised by her waking up: “Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?” Hanako tries to look around: “W-where am I..?” She tries to get up, but the nurse gently grabs her shoulder: “Just stay calm for now.” His tone sounds less concerned than before, and it makes my heart feel a bit lighter. “You hit your head a moment go, so you might have a concussion”, he continues: “I think it's best for you to stay here for now. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you in case your condition is worse than it seems.” Nodding a little, she answers: “O-okay.” She looks slightly disappointed, though. Maybe she had planned something for tonight. Probably with Lilly, as she didn't fetch Hanako from class earlier today.
I get up from my chair, walking toward the bed. I'm trying to think of something to say to Hanako, when my vision starts to blur. “Oh damn–“ I manage to say, before blacking out completely.
“Hisao”, I hear Akira's voice: “Hey, Hisao, are you okay?” I see her face right in front of me. “What happened?” She asks me. “I don't really know”, I answer her: “I just got up from my chair and started walking and then... I don't know. But I'm feeling okay now.” The nurse moves closer: “That's not really convincing, Nakai. I think you need some rest.” I guess, but where am I supposed to rest, when there's only one-
“Ikezawa, could you make some space for him?” the nurse asks Hanako, who blushes noticeably. “I-I guess...” she says, repositioning herself on the bed. The nurse almost has to force me to get in the bed, but I climb in and trying to take the least possible space, lay down next to Hanako. The nurse leaves his office for a while, mentioning something about being back in half an hour or so, and that there's someone in the room next door if there's something wrong or something. I can't really concentrate on his speech but I think I got the basic idea.
I lay there for a while, my eyes closed. Hanako is as silent as I am. After I'm sure I won't be fainting again, I open my eyes. I turn my head to look at Hanako, and see she's crying. “H-Hanako, what's wrong?” I ask, sounding way more concerned than I intended. “Are you hurting? Should I-” I try to continue, but she cuts my speech short, saying: “N-no, I'm... I'm okay.” Tears keep flowing from her eyes. “No you're not, what's wrong?” I ask again, since she's clearly not okay.
“W-well...” She starts her sentence, either trying to think of what to say or simply to gather her courage to speak: “W-why did y-you shout at me... Earlier t-today?” she asks, sobbing. Talking about this seems to be very uncomfortable for her, and it makes it hard for me to answer. “I- I didn't think... I'd never intentionally...” I try to answer. Damn, gotta think of something! “I would never want to... I'd never hurt you...” I manage to say. She's sobbing more loudly and it gives me an increasing urge to do something. Unable to think of anything else, I crawl closer to her... And hug her. Seemingly shocked, Hanako goes tense for a moment, but stops sobbing. I hold her for a few moments, until she relaxes, and then she pushes herself away.
Hanako is laying right in front of me. Her hair isn't covering the right side of her face, and she's looking me directly in the eyes. “H-Hisao, do you...” She tries to ask me something. Building up her courage, she continues: “D-do you... Like me?” Still looking me in the eyes, I see she really means what she's asking, eyes still glossy from tears but fully open. Surprised by her asking this, I struggle to answer her again. “I- I...” I try to answer, but can't find the right words. I smile a little and blush. Now looking almost determined, Hanako slowly draws my face closer to hers, interpreting me correctly. She kisses me, and after her soft lips finally leave mine, I can see that she's blushing at least as much as I am. She's smiling and I hug her again.
Suddenly I realize I'm awake – and by extension that I've been sleeping for some time. I try to get up, but notice I can't lift my left arm. Hanako is still sleeping, keeping me from moving. She's smiling and looking so cute it makes me smile, too. For a while I just look at her, examining her face. Even with the scarring, she looks beautiful.
Hanako lets out a small yawn, stretching her arms and legs. She opens her eyes a little, but enough to see she's awake. “Morning”, I say, continuing: “Or evening, I'm not really sure what time it is.” I'm still smiling. Hanako's eyes widen, and she blushes: “H-Hisao?” She tries to look away, but I gently put my hand on her shoulder, asking her: “Hanako, are you okay already? Is you head hurting... Or anything?” I hear a noise from behind me: “Oh, you're awake”, the nurse says, looking from behind a pile of paper on his desk. I glance around to realize we've been sleeping in the nurse's office. The nurse is doing paperwork.
“...Yeah, we are”, I answer him, getting up and sitting on the bed, and Hanako does the same. “What time is it, anyway?” The nurse shrugs, answering: “Can't you just look at the clock on the wall? I'm kinda busy right now.” I glance at the clock. It's kinda late in the evening already. We've missed the whole school day after lunch. Well, I can't say I'm really worried about that, but I still feel like leaving.
I suddenly feel really hungry. Oh, dammit, I haven't eaten anything at all today, and it's evening already? “Damn, I gotta eat something...” I think, not completely realizing I said it aloud. “U-um, would you like to eat with m-me? In the t-tea room?” Hanako asks, blushing slightly. “Really?” I ask her, continuing with a smile: “I'd love to. Shall we go, then?” She nods and we get up from the bed, but the nurse stops us. “Hey, where are you two going?”, he asks. “We're going to eat”, I answer him: “We didn't even get to eat lunch today.” The nurse raises an eyebrow, continuing with his questions: “Are you both alright, then? No pain, dizziness or anything?” Hanako answers him this time. “Can't we g-go?” she asks: “I'm feeling alright already.” The nurse thinks for a moment, but then lets us go. We head straight for the tea room.
When we get to the tea room, Hanako starts brewing tea and preparing some sandwiches for us to eat. I sit down and watch her fiddle around. The way she prepares tea and food is very different from Lilly's, probably because she can see. Lilly, unlike Hanako, also seems to plan everything carefully beforehand. Or at least it looks like that. Anyway, Hanako does seem fairly skilled and it doesn't take long for her to be finished. She hands me a teacup and sits next to me.
For a moment I mainly concentrate on eating, but then I think of something. I turn to Hanako and ask her: “Hey, Hanako, do you know why Lilly isn't here?” She puts her teacup on the saucer, but before she can answer, I continue: “I mean, she didn't come pick you up from class like she usually does.” She seems to know, as she answers nigh-immediately. “U-um, actually I asked her not to c-come here today...” she says, looking embarrassed again. “Oh”, I say, surprised: “And... Why is that?” She fiddles with her fingers, looking even more embarrassed: “I... Wanted to ask y-you for a private lunch...” She looks incredibly cute, blushing like that.
Suddenly I realize why Hanako was standing in the hallway earlier today, when I ran into her. I try not to think of this, and am just going to start speaking about something else, when Hanako suddenly continues. “Hisao, I want to a-ask you something”, she says, looking more serious than before. I turn to face her and she looks me in the eyes again. “Hisao... Do you l-love me?” she asks. I smile and answer her: “Yes... I love you.” I move her hair off her face and kiss her.
For a few moments I don't notice anything else than Hanako, and someone manages to get inside the room without us noticing. Only when I hear her voice, I notice who has entered the room. “Hanako, are you here?” Lilly asks, looking a bit unsure. She must've heard us from outside the room. Ending the kiss, I draw myself a little further from Hanako and answer her: “Yeah, we're here.” Lilly looks slightly apologetic for not noticing me. “Hisao? You're here too? I'm sorry, I didn't notice”, she says, ponders for a while and continues: “What are you doing here at this time, anyway? It's not dinnertime, you know.” I take a deep breath, thinking whether or not to explain Lilly what happened earlier.
After some consideration I decide to tell her – but only as much as necessary. I don't want to shock her, and I suppose Hanako would tell her later, right? “We haven't eaten anything today, to be honest”, I tell her, but can't think of anything more. Lilly raises her eyebrow and asks: “Why is that?” I take a look at Hanako, who doesn't seem too eager to explain, either. “I h-had an accident”, she says. Unfortunately, this seemingly makes Lilly now both worried and puzzled. “An accident? What happened?”, Lilly asks. “Uh, I kinda scared Hanako earlier today”, I say, not really wanting to explain more, but Lilly apparently wants an answer: “And?”
If I told her, surely she would be shocked, right? But... She is Hanako's best friend after all, and I guess she deserves to know... “And she fell down a staircase”, I say after a moment of pondering. Lilly reacts somewhat like I thought she would. She almost drops her cane and her expression changes to a greatly concerned one. “Lilly, I'm okay a-already”, Hanako tries to comfort her: “No need to w-worry.” I decide to back her up, since her words didn't have that much of an effect. “Yeah, no need to worry”, I say: “We were resting in the nurse's office for most of the day. I believe Hanako is okay, if she says so herself.” Lilly looks a lot less concerned now, but then she asks me: “Why were you both resting there? What happened to you, Hisao?” “Nothing, really”, I answer: “I just passed out and the nurse thought it would be a good idea for me to rest.” Lilly looks a bit more worried again. “How did you get Hanako to the nurse, then? Did you carry her by yourself? Is that why you passed out?”, she asks, and I almost instantly answer her: “I didn't carry her by myself... Akira was helping me out. And... I guess that is why I passed out, yeah.”
Lilly doesn't seem too worried anymore, but a little annoyed instead. “Akira was here? What time was it?”, she asks me. “Around lunchtime”, I answer her, to which she reacts after a short while: “Well, that explains where she was, but not why she never came to the Shanghai.” That makes me wonder where Akira is. She did help me carry Hanako and also stayed in the nurse's office for a while, but where was she when the nurse left the room? Had she left already?
“Did you miss me?”, Akira asks, walking in through the open doorway. “The nurse told me you had left and were going to eat something, so-” In the middle of her sentence, she notices Lilly. “...Umm, hi, sis”, she says, looking kinda embarrassed: “I'm sorry I didn't come meet you today, but, you see, I was kinda busy and-” Lilly cuts her speech off: “There's not really anything to explain here, is there? Hisao and Hanako already told me about the... Accident earlier today. What I want you to explain is what you were doing here in the first place?” Akira looks and sounds genuinely surprised: “I thought I was supposed to come to your dorm room. Sorry, my mistake.”
We all stay silent for a while, until Akira continues: “Ah, wait, were you busy eating or something? Did I interrupt you?” “N-not really”, Hanako answers. “We were j-just... Talking...”, she continues, starting to blush and look embarrassed. “Oh, well then”, Lilly takes control of the conversation. “I suppose we'll leave you to... Talk privately. Come on, Akira, we can go to the tea house now, can't we?”, she says, having noticed the embarrassment of Hanako. Both smile a little when they leave the room.
“Well, we're alone again”, I say. Way to go, Captain Obvious. I really should think of a better subject to talk about. “Y-yeah...”, Hanako answers me. “So”, I try to continue: “Want to do something?” Suddenly I remember! “Wanna play chess?” I ask Hanako. She seems almost surprised, but also looks like she thinks it's a great idea. “S-sure”, she answers, getting the chess set from the cupboard. “But under one c-condition only”, she says. A condition? “What is the condition, then?” I ask, puzzled by what she meant. “If you l-lose, you have to give me a k-kiss”, she says, blushing again. “Sure”, I answer, smiling.
Eventually I actually lose. “Damn, you're better than last time”, I praise her. “I guess I have to give you the kiss now?”
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Less of a wall of text now.
