Emi's Winter Break

[griffon8]

All right, we're finally getting to the stuff I thought of that made me want to write this thing in the first place. You've found much amusement and plenty of d'awww up to now, but the preliminary stuff is over. I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think I would be doing things that are different. Personally, I think you're in for a treat.

Emi's Winter Break, Part 6

***

Sunlight on my face woke me up. Wait, that shouldn’t happen; I always set the alarm to wake up before sunrise. And what was I sleeping on?

I opened my eyes to find that I was still lying with Hisao on the couch in the den. A blanket had been placed over us.

“Hisao?” I nudged him as I called out. “Hisao! We overslept!”

“Huh? Oh, wow. I don’t remember the last time I just woke up naturally.”

“Well, you still haven’t. I woke you up. We’re late for running.”

Hisao looked around the room. “I guess Mom and Dad decided not to disturb us when they came home.”

“Yeah, so we’re late. We have to get moving!”

“Tell me, when was the last time you missed your morning run?”

“Back in September, when I got sick.”

“Well, it wasn’t the end of the world then, so it’s not the end of the world now. We’ll go, but there’s no need to panic.”

“All right, all right. But let’s go!”

Much later than I had intended, we left on our run. Neither of us were used to the brightness of the sun for our run, but at least it was a little warmer.

There were more people around too, which became a problem after we heard someone yelling, “Hey, Heartbreaker!”

Jogging towards a corner, a figure suddenly dashed right in front of me. The stranger and I collided hard, both of us knocked to the ground. When I looked up again, I saw that Hisao was shocked. He even pressed his hand to his chest as he looked at the stranger. I turned to see who it was.

“Iwanako?”

At this the stranger turned toward Hisao. “H-Hisao?”

Iwanako? Oh, I remember. Hisao showed me a picture of her. Looking at her, I saw the same long dark hair, but her face was different. It seemed like she had been crying, and her eyes…

“Iwanako, are you all right?”

“Get away from me!” she cried out as she leapt to her feet and ran off.

“Iwanako!” Hisao called out.

“Want me to catch her?”

Hisao pondered that a moment. “No, obviously she doesn’t want to be near me. I wonder why?”

We stood there contemplating that. “Who yelled out ‘Heartbreaker’ just before we—okay I—ran into her?”

“I don’t see anyone now. Oh man, I’ll bet whoever did say that was yelling it at Iwanako. If she’s been hearing that ever since I was in the hospital…”

The implications of that struck me. Now I recognized the look of her eyes. “Hisao, let’s go home. I don’t feel like running anymore just now.”

We walked back to Hisao’s house in silence.

After showers and a change of clothes, Hisao and I settled in the den again.

“Hisao? I think I know what’s wrong with Iwanako.”

“You do? Just from running into her?”

“Yeah. I have to tell you about something from the time of my accident.”

That got his attention. “I’m all ears.”

“In the accident, the guy who hit our car came through with just some bumps and bruises. But he was at fault. I was real young and didn’t know all the details, but my parents sued him. One day while I was still recovering, I got a visit from him. I didn’t know who he was at first; I thought he was visiting someone else and got lost. We talked for a little bit before my mom got there. She was really angry with him and yelled for him to leave. He did, and mom told me who I had been talking to.”

“That’s… pretty amazing that he would find you and want to talk.”

“Yeah, it was. But the thing I remember most was the look of his eyes. I couldn’t know at the time, but they were full of guilt. His eyes had a very haunted look. I saw the same thing in Iwanako’s eyes.”

“You mean she feels guilty for my heart attack? But she shouldn’t! It was just bad luck that her love confession caused that. If it didn’t happen then, something else would have made it happen.”

“Yes, but guilt isn’t necessarily logical; people feel it for things that aren’t their responsibility all the time. But Hisao, it gets worse. The guy who caused the accident and my parents sued? By the time I got out of the hospital I was told that a settlement had been reached with him, so there wouldn’t be any need to go to court. I was glad for that at the time, but a couple years later I found out the truth: he had killed himself, leaving a note about how guilty he felt for destroying my life and leaving his estate to my parents.”

I’d never told this to anyone before. The shock on Hisao’s face was incredible of course. He even felt his chest. I looked at him in concern until he calmed down to the point where he could speak. The odd thing was that Hisao seemed to have a slightly guilty look, too.

“That’s… oh my god. The first thought I had when I got the idea that I might see Iwanako this week was playing a joke. I imagined walking up to her and when she turned to see me I’d fake a heart attack. I dismissed the idea, but to have considered it now makes me feel like dirt.”

“No, it makes you human. You rejected it, so you’re doing good. There’s enough things to feel bad about; you don’t have to add the stuff you didn’t even do.”

“All right. So you think Iwanako might kill herself over guilt?”

“We can’t know that, but guilt can be a powerful motivator. It seems her giving you a heart attack has been rubbed in her nose for a while. Someone called her ‘Heartbreaker’ today, and it’s been, what, nine months?”

“Ten. And she’s been made to feel that my heart attack was her fault all this time. So the question becomes, what can we do about it?”

“I don’t know. There might not be anything we can do, but I think it’s a good idea for us to tell your parents. That way they can maybe talk to Iwanako’s parents and get her some help.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. I think it can wait until after we exchange the rest of the presents though. No need to bring my parents down with this just yet.”

“Yeah. During lunch will be fine. Let’s go.”

***

Previous Next

[kosherbacon]

Alright! Wanko appears! For some reason, I've always thought an Iwanako reunion to be an incident with lots of potential for interesting stories.

Poor girl. I don't suppose a threesome is going to fix this one, huh?

[griffon8]

Poor girl. I don't suppose a threesome is going to fix this one, huh?

Kosher, just because sex is your answer to everything doesn't mean that sex is the answer to everything.

[neumanproductions]

Poor girl. I don't suppose a threesome is going to fix this one, huh?

Kosher, just because sex is your answer to everything doesn't mean that sex is the answer to everything.

Well, that is what Kosher is known for.
Great work by the way. These stories are the ones that get me think and I like them only next to Kosher's comedies. You know the one i'm talking about, Kosher.

[chaix]

^well that and making a good portion of the readers ask themselves 'wth?' anyway...

I like how it's going. extra points for the choice of presents, I had a problem with that myself.

[Mirage_GSM]

Something's missing here...

The first thought I had when the idea that I might see Iwanako this week was playing a joke.

Also nice twist. Can't wait to see how it turns out, but I'll have to.

[griffon8]

Something's missing here...

The first thought I had when the idea that I might see Iwanako this week was playing a joke.

Uh, what's missing?

[Mirage_GSM]

A verb. What did the idea do? Maybe it came to you or you got it. ..

[griffon8]

Ah, thank you. It's fixed.

[griffon8]

I keep going over and over the next part, and I don't think I'm going to change anything. So here it is.

And since I needed some extra characters, I borrowed them from a fanfic on this forum. Hey, steal from the best, right?

Emi's Winter Break, Part 7

***

When we arrived for the party, Hisao’s old school looked amazing. The trees outside were festooned with lights and more lights were visible in many windows. The inside had lots of Christmas decorations as well. It seemed the whole community had contributed to make this a great party.

I checked my new watch for the time when Hisao and I got to the gymnasium, where the dancing was: 5:10.

“Like your watch?”

“Yeah I do. I’ll be able to check my lap times while running with this.”

“Maybe you’ll be on time for class more often, too.”

That got Hisao a tongue stuck out at him. We laughed at that.

“I wonder if Iwanako or her parents are here,” I said.

“I don’t know. Mom said she would give them a call about our concerns. If it’s really serious, I doubt they would let their daughter come here where she’s likely to be teased more. I never met her parents though, so I can’t point them out.”

“Unless…” I had a thought.

“What?”

“What if they don’t know about it? It’s possible Iwanako’s been hiding this from her parents. Some people I’ve known will do that. They think bringing a problem to a parent is giving them a burden. Before your mom calls them, they might not even know there’s anything wrong.”

“Let’s find out if Mom made that call then.”

Mrs. Nakai was helping with the last setup of the buffet tables in the cafeteria.

“Hey, Mom? Were you able to get hold of Iwanako’s parents?”

“No I wasn’t. I left a message that I had a question for them, but this isn’t something you leave on an answering machine. Why?”

“Emi had the idea that Iwanako might not have told her parents about any of the bullying she’s getting. Which means it’s possible she’s here.”

“Oh my. I don’t like the idea of speaking to her without talking to her parents first. I’ll keep an eye out for them. I don’t know if Iwakako would be willing to talk to you either, given what you said happened this morning.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out and let you know if we see her, but we don’t know what her parents look like,” I said.

“All right. I guess that’s the best we can do for now.”

So Hisao and I went back to the gymnasium. We danced a bit, which is still kind of awkward for us, but it was a lot of fun. Then we had some food, and Hisao indulged himself a little bit with his mom’s dumplings. I had one too; he was right when he said his mom made great dumplings.

We met some of Hisao’s old friends from school. A few expressed amazement that he was still alive. A lot of them made comments about ‘Heartbreaker’. We reacted cooly towards that, and some of them got the idea that we didn’t appreciate Iwanako being called that. Others just kept being jerks and laughed.

“Just as well I haven’t talked to any of them in months. I guess those front gates made an effective division after all. It’s like I have nothing in common with them anymore.”

“You moved on and grew. They stayed here and just stagnated.”

“‘Stagnated’. Good word for it. They seem to be stuck as the same people I knew junior year.”

Hisao gave me a tour of the school. A lot of classrooms had done projects to make Christmas decorations. Around eight o’clock, we wound up back at the gymnasium.

“Looks like your dad was right; I don’t see anyone here who looks younger than 16,” I observed.

“Yep. I just hope one tradition of school gatherings is skipped.”

“What’s that?”

“Spiking the punch. There’s no way I want to drink any alcohol with my condition and medication.”

“Well, best to not have any then.”

We danced for a bit. The DJ was good, playing a mix of current stuff, American hits, some J-Pop, and oldies. Then Hisao had a funny reaction to a song that started.

“I don’t believe it. They’re still getting this song played.”

“What’s the song? I don’t recognize it.”

“It’s by a group called The Gap Band. I looked them up. This is one of their more famous songs: ‘You Dropped A Bomb On Me’. It’s the unofficial theme song for this school. Despite all attempts by the administrators to stop it, it still gets played at every dance the school hosts. One time it was piped in from a car stereo.”

I started noticing an undercurrent of laughter amongst the other people dancing. Even some of the adults on the sidelines were hiding smiles.

“I don’t think there’s as much pressure to stop this song from being played as you think. Probably lets the students think they’re ‘pulling a fast one’ on the faculty to get away with it. I can see some of the chaperons enjoying the song.”

“Huh. You’re right. I’ll bet it gives the principal a good laugh to try and catch…”

“Hmm? Something going on, Hisao?” I asked as Hisao’s words faded.

He pointed over at a particular spot along the wall. There stood Iwanako, flanked by two other girls. Then someone approached her. We couldn’t hear what was being said, but the guy suddenly bent over. The girls next to Iwanako grabbed him and pushed him away; Iwanako just seemed to shrink in the spot she was standing in.

A shift in the crowd hid our view of her then. Hisao and I looked at each other. We were both obviously worried about her. Then Hisao got a determined look to his face.

“Emi, I have to do something about this. It’s not fair what she’s been put through, and even if it’s not my fault, I want to do something. I just have to make sure my heart is up to it, okay?”

“I know it is in one sense. What about the other?”

We continued dancing for a little bit before he answered. “I think it is. Now that I’m set on this course, my heart seems to have calmed down. Thank you, Emi.”

I kissed him before responding. “You’re welcome, Hisao. Good luck.”

Hisao walked closer to where Iwanako was. I maneuvered nearby, so I could hear what was being said. Iwanako’s ‘bodyguards’ stayed with her though, and Hisao was reluctant to approach while they were still there. Unfortunately for Iwanako but fortunately for Hisao’s plan, another idiot tried to play the same dumb joke on Iwanako. Briefly devoid of her friends’ presence, Hisao made his move.

“Iwanako.”

She was absolutely shocked to see Hisao. If she hadn’t been already against a wall, I’m sure she would have turned and run.

“May I have the pleasure of the next dance with you?”

Iwanako was surprised of course. A mix of emotions ran through her face.

Then her friends came back. “What, another joker who thinks it’s funny to make her cry? Stop being such an asshole!”

“Not at all. I would genuinely like to dance with Iwanako.”

Suddenly they realized who he was. The look on their faces was something I’ll remember forever: a mixture of anger, shock, confusion, and amazement.

“Nako, are you okay with this?”

The question seemed to startle Iwanako out of her own mix of conflicting emotions. “I-I think so. Yes Hisao, I will dance with you.”

At first she was quite mechanical about taking Hisao’s hand and going out onto the dance floor. Another song started, a slow one to contrast from the previous one. They moved like two people just reproducing the physical aspects of the dance, very stiff and formal.

I walked over to Iwanako’s friends. “It’ll be all right. Hisao is as concerned about her as you are.”

“Who are you?” the taller of them asked.

“I’m Emi, Hisao’s girlfriend. We met at his new school, Yamaku.”

“Um, sorry if this seems like a weird question, but does that mean there’s something wrong with you?” the shorter one wearing glasses asked.

“Nope. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with me. And there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with Hisao. Get it?”

They thought about that for a moment, looked at each other, shrugged, then turned back to me. “Yeah, we get it,” the taller one began. “Nice to meet you, Emi. My name’s Rika. The fumble mouthed one here is Hina. We’re the only friends Nako has left.”

“Not anymore. Look.” I pointed over to Hisao and Iwanako. The mood between them had thawed quite a bit. They were both smiling and were much more relaxed in their dancing. Then I saw that other people were noticing just who was there. The reaction spread like wildfire. People were starting to stare at them. Hisao and Iwanako continued dancing to the music, seemingly oblivious to the commotion they were causing. Even Rika and Hina went slack-jawed in their amazement.

“Ah-hem! It’s polite to keep one’s mouth shut if one isn’t speaking,” I teased.

They closed their mouths, but continued staring at Hisao and Iwanako. When the song ended, the DJ continued with another slow song instead of changing the pace—he must have noticed what was going on and didn’t want to interrupt it.

At this point everyone in the room knew that Hisao and Iwanako, the supposed ‘Heartbreaker’, were dancing together, enjoying each other’s company, and showed no sign of impending heart attacks. Everyone started to relax and begin dancing again. Soon it was if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

When the song ended, Hisao and Iwanako came back over to us. Iwanako seemed to lack the horrid cast to her eyes from earlier. They parted company, allowing Iwanako to go to her friends and Hisao to me.

“Hey, what’s with the tears?” Hisao asked, concerned.

I didn’t even realize how much my emotions were being displayed. “They’re tears of happiness.” I kissed him. “I don’t think I’ve ever loved you as much as I do right now. That was a great kindness you showed her.”

“She needed it. And I love you, too.”

***

End

Previous

[kosherbacon]

As has been said before,

D'aaaaaaaaw.

Rika and Hina from here

Wow, even though their appearances seemed logical, I totally did not see that coming!

[griffon8]

Wow, even though their appearances seemed logical, I totally did not see that coming!

Well, why duplicate effort? The story had a need them.

[neumanproductions]

Nice use of Wren's characters. That reminds me I have to respond to his latest message. I'm really interested to see how you continue with this story. With these cameos will that mean that more hidden characters will show up?

[Wren]

I have been reading this story for some time. Very enjoyable. I was surprised you ended up using 2 of my characters from my other story. You got their personalities spot on.

Looking forward to any future chapters

[Leotrak]

Aww, geesh, you really made me feel that one... *sniffles*

Seriously, man, keep it up.