Enjoy (if you're so inclined
)Chapter 6
With a determined stride, I went to the door of the tea room, opened it and went inside.
Hisao was sitting on the chair, still shackled and blindfolded and ranting with the eloquence of a literature critic and the vocabulary of an Osaka hillbilly – at least that's what Misha told me. She refused to translate most of it.
Lilly had finished brewing tea and was calmly sitting across from Hisao, calmly and cautiously sipping from her cup. A second cup, still untouched was on the table in front of Hisao. Her cane was lying on the table in front of her. When she heard the door open, she looked our way and started to speak.
Oh, you're here, Misha translated silently, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten me. She stood up and reached for her cane. I understand that, since I'm not technically a victim, I'm not entitled to having my turn, so I'll just step outside and help organizing the line.
When she turned towards the door, her cane swept across the table, hitting the cup in front of Hisao and spilling the contents across his lap. Hisao began to scream. THAT was going to be out of order for a while...
My my, did I spill the tea? What a waste. Oh well, it was too hot to drink anyway. With all your complaining distracting me, I must have left the water in the boiler too long. I do hope the cup is not broken. It was the largest one I had. It can't be helped, I guess, so if you would excuse me? With that she left and closed the door behind her.
It was a lesser miracle that Misha had managed not to burst out laughing thorough this, but even more I had to admire Lilly's skill. I wasn't sure, I'd have been able to execute this 'accident' with such precision.
Hisao's scream had faded to a whimper. I moved over to his chair. He turned his head in my direction and opened his mouth. I didn't need to turn to Misha to know what he had asked. I slowly undid the buttons of his shirt and drew two Kanji on his chest with my index finger. He shivered. “Shizune”
Again I didn't need Misha to understand that, but when I turned to her, she signed another word: fear. So he was frightened. Good, he should be. Grinning I nodded to Misha, giving her the permission to speak, while pulling off his blindfold. He blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden brilliance.
Of course it's us, you bastard. I raised my eyebrows. It was truly rare for Misha to address someone by something other than their nickname. Did you really think you'd get away with what you did? Tonight you're going to PAY! This was followed by one of her trademark laughs.
He visibly paled. What are you going to do to me?
Misha seemed to be enjoying this immensely. Oh, nothing much. We put the word out that you'd be available here in this room to address some grievances with a sizable portion of the female students at Yamaku. Right now there should be a line forming in front of this room. They are all going to get their chance to tell you personally just what they think of you.
He looked at Misha defiantly. But I didn't do anything wrong! They all consented!
I'm sorry, Misha said with a grin that belied her words, but each girl will be her the judge of that. You are free to try to convince them.
From his look, Hisao was close to a panic now. You can't do that to me. This is illegal restraint and assault. You're all going to be expelled for this.
Misha's grin turned into a sweet smile. You do that, but you see, we're going to have a-li-bis. There will be two dozen girls who will testify that we've been together in the girl's dorms, celebrating my birthday. It's all official. We have a permit for extending the curfew and one for playing loud music. The party is going on as we speak. Oh, and we're going through your list of conquests backwards, so Shicchan is the first to have her go.
His fearful gaze turned to me. I equipped my sweetest smile and placed my hand on his chest, letting it slowly and languidly trail towards his crotch. I noticed he started to sweat.
Then I abruptly turned my back on him and started to sign while Misha translated. My punishment for you will be the knowledge that you lost to me. Misha seemed to be a bit disappointed by that. Don't think you've gotten off easy, though. I'll claim a part of everything that's going to happen to you tonight for my revenge as well.
With that I opened the door and let the first girl in. It was Nao. Misha stepped back to where I could conveniently see both her and Hisao to handle the translation. Hi Hisao? How's it hanging?
Yuuki, thank god, you have to stop this, tell them...
Oh you poor dear, what have they done to you Nao wrapped her arms around Hisao's neck and sat on his lap. He let out a small scream. Ouch. Did Lilly tell her about the tea, or was this just luck? Poor Hisao, come on, I'll make you feel better. With that she grabbed his head in both hands and smashed her mouth to his in a feral kiss.
I would have said I was speechless, but that wouldn't account for much. Much more remarkable was Misha standing with her mouth open and both hands frozen in mid-sign. Suddenly Hisao started to scream again. Nao rose and turned to me. A small trickle of blood trailed from the corner of her mouth. That jerk really was stupid enough to put his tongue in my mouth. With that she turned around and strode out of the room.
Next in was that ditzy Furukawa girl from the drama club. She just walked up to Hisao and produced some garishly colourful and strangely shaped pieces of bread from her bag. She held them out to Hisao. Eat!.
Misha looked at me and I could only shrug. Hey, Nacchan, how is this supposed to be a punishment?
Furukawa just smiled. My mother baked them, she said as if that would answer the question.
She continued to force him to swallow every last bite, and Hisao indeed looked a bit ill afterwards. Uh, Nacchan, those weren't poisoned, were they? There was a concerned look on Misha's face.
Not really. Furukawa shrugged. Oh well, I'd better let Miyo get her turn.
Miyo Mihama was the only girl I knew who was even shorter than Ibarazaki, but in her defence she was also only a freshman – the youngest of Hisao’s victims. To our knowledge he had not bothered any of the middle schoolers. Mihama was here because of a bad case of diabetes. She claimed it was because of her younger sister Chio who was so cute she’d also given her caries several times. Well, if cuteness was hereditary, I wouldn’t discount the possibility, because Miyo herself was so cute, her supply of insulin had come in handy once and again.
That’s why I almost didn’t recognize the girl who now drew closer and closer to Hisao. Her face was a distorted sneer, and as she produced a syringe from her bag, a maniacal cackle escaped her.
Hisao, whose face had just flushed red from his encounter with Nao lost all its colour again. No! You can’t do that. It might kill me!
Even Misha shivered as she translated Miyo’s answer. Don’t worry, Hisao. This won’t KILL you. And I’ve been giving myself shots thrice a day for two years now, so I’m pretty proficient. If you don’t struggle, this won’t hurt a bit… Her face now showed the sweet smile everybody associated with her. Please struggle.
Hisao hung his head down and closed his eyes, while Miyo expertly disinfected his arm, filled the syringe with a clear liquid and gave him the injection. She then disposed the needle in a small plastic container and even put a band-aid on his arm.
Before she left the room, she turned around once more. Goodbye Hisao, If you experience any side effects, don’t hesitate to call on me.
I decided then and there never to get on that girl’s bad side. If she hadn’t assured me beforehand that what she was giving him was a harmless sodium chloride solution, I would have stopped her for fear she was actually trying to kill him.
A steady stream of girls entered the room to dish out Hisao’s well earned retribution. Most of them limited themselves to slapping him or spitting in his face, but once or twice Misha had to step in.
No Micchan! No mutilations! Pulling out his fingernails is forbidden!
Stop it, Naru-chan, no punching him in the chest!
Definitely not, Miko-chan! And if you even suggest something like this again we will confiscate all your spare change for the student council!
As the evening continued, I kept checking the girls against the names on my list. They had all come. The only one who didn’t show up was Emi. Oh well, Harada had told me she didn't expect her to be here.
When Natsume from our class had left the room, the door stayed closed. Nobody entered. Misha looked at me, obviously confused. What now Shicchan? That can’t have been all of them. Who’s next?
I smiled at her. You are, Misha. Happy birthday!
Misha’s ever-present smile evaporated. Uh… Shicchan… Do I have to? I mean… look at him. He’s so battered, and there’s still at least half a dozen girls out there…
Misha looked at me as if I had asked her to kick a puppy. I gave her a quick hug. Of course you don’t have to. If you like you can use your time to give him a short break.
Her smile reappeared. Did you hear that Hisao? No of course you didn’t. A laugh. You’ll now get a five minute break before the next girl comes in. She then went over to the sink and filled a glass with water, which she then carefully gave Hisao to drink.
Hisao managed to smile gratefully at Misha before his head slumped down again. I shook my head, wondering if maybe Misha was too good to be in this world…
Five minutes later, I went to the door and opened it to find Ritsu eagerly standing in front of it with a big bag slung over her shoulder. She grinned at me and went over to stand in front of Hisao.
There, she reached into her bag and took out a pair of her drumsticks. Hello Hisao! Do you still remember what you told me about my drumsticks when you broke up with me?
Hisao’s eyes went wide. But that’s only a figure of speech! You can’t seriously…
She stepped around his chair, and he desperately tried to see what she was doing behind his back. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t ruin a perfectly good pair of drumsticks just because of you. With that she pulled a giant pair of cymbals from her bag and smashed them together directly behind his head.
Even Misha cringed, and this was the first moment in my life when I was glad to be deaf. Ritsu pulled a pair of hearing protectors from her ears, repacked her cymbals, and left the room without another word. There wasn’t anyone in here who could have understood her anyway…
The next three girls went with the tried and tested bitch-slap of doom. Hisao’s cheek was glowing a bright cherry-red by now.
Then it was time for Rin. I’d been very curious what she had in store for Hisao, but I was still surprised, when the door opened and not one but two people came in. Rin was accompanied by Emi who was carrying a bucket of paint and a few brushes. Curiously she was wearing her legblades.
While Rin studied Hisao with concentration, Emi grinned at Misha and me. Hi Misha, hello Shizune! I’m sorry, I know I should have had my turn earlier, but you said no one should take more than five minutes and Rin said she’d like to have more time, so I asked Lilly if it was OK, if I gave her some of mine. I don’t need more than one minute…
With that she went over to Hisao. Do you go bowling sometimes?
Hisao looked puzzeled. Yes, I went with Kenji once or twice.
Emi raised her leg and slammed her legblade down on Hisao’s big toe. Hisao screamed again. I imagine this is what it feels like to drop a bowling ball on your foot, is it not?
She raised her leg again to repeat the procedure on his other foot, but Misha pulled her back. Stop it! You could break his bones that way.
Emi crossed her arms in front of her chest. I don’t care. He broke my heart, so I want to break something of his.
I stepped forward to restrain Emi, while Misha carefully removed Hisao’s shoes to examine his foot. Well it doesn’t seem to be broken, she signed after she’d washed away most of the blood with water. She turned to Emi again. Miss Ibarazaki, you will now go and fetch some bandages from the first-aid kit by the stairs!
Emi started to protest, but after one look at Misha she turned on her proverbial heel and left the room.
Rin seemed to be done with studying Hisao. She placed the paint bucket in front of the table and sat down on top of it. Then she grabbed a brush with her foot and began to paint on Hisao’s chest. Meanwhile she started what was probably supposed to be casual conversation. You know I specially ordered this paint for this occasion. It’s water resistant and won’t wear off for at least two weeks… Well, I suppose you could get it off with a wire-brush, but that will hurt. A lot. So feel free to do so. By the way, did you know…
Misha stopped translating, because Emi returned with the bandages, and Misha busied herself treating Hisao’s foot. In all likelihood I wasn’t missing out on any insightful conversation either way. Hisao didn’t react at all except for a small whimpering now and then.
Rin utilized her allotted time to the last second, and we had to physically pry the brush from her to get her to leave.
As we pushed her and Emi from the room, Harada sauntered in with a smile on her face. She studied Hisao for a moment and grinned. That’s even better than I hoped. Rin told me what she planned and… Well, I changed my mind regarding my punishment for him. She pulled out her cell phone. Hey Hisao!
Hisao drowsily looked her way, and she quickly snapped half a dozen photos of him.
Misha turned to her. You’re not going to post those photos on the internet in some Shimmie or something like that, are you?
Relax, I’m not stupid, you know. Those are strictly for my personal pleasure, to forever remember this day. I could make some copies for you, though.
Misha looked sadly down at Hisao. No thank you… How many are still outside?
Just one. Okay, I’ll be going now. I’ll see you at your party. She waved and ran out the door.
I frowned. One more? I’d thought Harada would be the last. No… it couldn’t be…
The door opened and there was the one person, I’d never have expected to be here.
H-hello? Until now I hadn’t even known you could convey a stutter using sign language. Misha truly was a genius.
Misha was just as surprised as I was. Come in Hanako. We didn’t expect you to come.
I I didn’t want to. B-but Lilly said it would be g-good for me.
So what are you going to do?
I-I don’t know. Lilly s-said to just g-go with what I was f-eeling.
Misha took a step back to allow her to step up to Hisao. Hanako took a few steps until she was standing directly in front of the chair. Hisao looked up into her face. Hankao took a deep breath and…
…punched his face so hard that his chair fell over backwards.
For the second time today, Misha was speechless. Somewhat belatedly she translated what Hanako had said: F-FUCK YOU, YOU B-BASTARD!
I went over to check on Hisao. He was out cold but breathing regularly. I took his pulse and it seemed to be normal as well.
With a sigh, I produced the key to the handcuffs and removed them. Misha removed the silk shawls and laid him out in a recovery position, so he wouldn’t suffocate.
I stood up and smiled at Hanako. Let’s go. There’s a birthday party going on.
Hanako smiled back.
.
