Crossed Wires, Part 2
It seemed that the earthquake didn’t hit nearly as hard here at Yamaku. There were only some closed pill bottles to pick up in my room, and although Emi’s room was a bit messier, we had everything set right early enough that we could head into town for a leisurely dinner. Life settled back into its usual pre-quake routine; runs in the morning, classes, then studying for our upcoming exams, and with no replies, the incident with the text message seemed to be forgotten.
That was, until Thursday. I’d invited Emi over to help tutor her on her science, after she turned her puppy-dog eyes on me. Not that she needed to - I’d help anyway - but I think she enjoys having that kind of power over me. Truth be told, I kind of enjoy letting her.
We’ve just finished up our physics review and were about to move on to chemistry when my phone buzzes with a notification. Although she doesn’t say anything, I can feel Emi tense a little next to me as I flip open the phone. Glancing over it, I volunteer, “Huh, it’s from Hanako.”
‘
Do you remember which questions Mutou assigned for tomorrow?’
I type out a quick reply - ‘
Q. 3 and 4, a thru f’, and I’m about to close the phone, when I pause for a moment. There’s something… something tickling the back of my mind as familiar. I barely notice when Hanako’s reply message comes in, so lost in thought am I.
‘
Thanks, Hisao. You’re a lifesaver!’
With a slightly pensive cast to her voice, Emi asks, “What does she want, Hisao? You look… worried.”
I blink a little bit as Emi’s voice pulls me back. “Hm? Oh, sorry, Em, she just wanted to know what homework we were assigned today.”
Still sounding puzzled, Emi leans in, putting her head on my shoulder, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Then what’s on your mind? You look like you’re on Mars or something.”
Still somewhat distracted, I reply, “I’m not sure…” Abruptly, not sure why I’m doing it, I page back and start flipping through my received messages, and just as abruptly, I see it, my eyes widening involuntarily. “The- the numbers…”
Peering at my phone, it takes Emi a few moments, but her startled gasp tells me she’s seen it too. The message I just received, although marked as having been sent by Hanako, are also listed as being from the same phone number as the two mystery messages I received over the weekend.
“
Hanako sent those texts!?”
-----
It’s hard to concentrate through most of the morning’s lessons. I’d meant to ask Hanako about the texts before class, but she came late, and so we didn’t have a chance to talk. Although part of my attention is focused on getting all of the day’s notes down onto paper, I’m not really processing them, just copying. Questions are whirling through my head. Why would Hanako do something like this? Did someone put her up to it? What was Emi going to do?
Abruptly the bell rings, cutting through my reverie, and hastily I close my books and shove them into my bag, intent on catching Hanako before she can leave. She’s still here, which is a testament to how much progress she’s made since I came here to Yamaku, but appears to be getting ready to meet Lilly in the tea room. Abruptly nervous, I catch up with her just outside the classroom door. “Hey, Hanako, can I talk to you for a second?”
Somewhat startled, Hanako turns around to face me. “H-Hisao? Wh-what is it?”
Neither of us notice Emi sidle up behind us, slapping the wall right behind Hanako with enough force to make us both jump, despite the din of the students swirling around us in the halls. “Why did you send those flirty texts to Hisao? Did you think he wouldn’t tell me about them?”
Looking for all the world like a rabbit cornered by wolves, Hanako looks back and forth between us with a panicked expression on her face. “Th-they weren’t f-flirty! I j-j-just wanted t-to k-know ab-about the h-homework…”
Emi’s expression curls up in that little smile that tells me she’s
really angry. “Not
last night, the ones from the weekend!”
Hanako stammers a little, but she appears to have been frightened too badly to speak, so before she can bolt, I decide to step in. Flipping open my phone, I pull up the texts from the bus ride. “Hanako, is this your phone number? Did you send these?”
Hanako’s hands tremble a little bit as she takes the phone, looking at the screen, panic slowly giving way to confusion in her expression. “I… t-this is my ph-phone number, but I didn’t type these…” Seeing Emi’s expression, she hastily pulls out her own phone, pulling up the list of messages she’s sent me. “S-see?”
Emi takes the phone, and pages through the list, looking unimpressed, but confused. “I… I don’t see them. But what if you just deleted them?”
Hanako bites down on her lip, still looking scared and confused, so I take my phone back. Something’s bothering me about that, and look at my phone. “What I don’t understand is why it didn’t put these messages under your contact, Hanako. Hold on, I want to try something.” Quickly, I send a reply to Hanako’s last message about the homework, and almost instantly her phone buzzes with a notification.
‘
test’
That done, I page over to the other two mystery messages, and type out a slightly longer message. ‘
this is a test to find out who you are.’. My finger hovers over the ‘send’ button for a few moments before I push it, and all three of us stare at the swirling wait animation on the screen of my phone, holding our collective breath in anticipation.
We all blink in surprise when the phone that buzzes is not Hanako’s, but mine, returning an error message:
‘
Message undeliverable: recipient not found’
Almost instantly, Emi’s face turns crimson with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Hanako… I should’ve known you wouldn’t do something like that. I got angry, and it was hard to think straight. Can you forgive me?”
Hanako shakes her head a little bit, starting to calm down slightly. “It-it’s okay. I w-would’ve come to the s-same c-conclusion too, p-probably. N-no hard f-feelings.” Obviously still very tense, Hanako gives us a little wave and makes her way down the hall and around the corner at a pace roughly approaching light speed. Considering how angry Emi seemed, I can’t say that I blame her.
Emi sighs heavily, hanging her head. “Well, shit. Now I feel terrible.”
With a little smile, I reach out to squeeze Emi’s shoulder in a reassuring fashion. “Ah, you were just sticking up for me. I’m sure she’ll be fine. C’mon, let’s go to lunch. Rin’s probably up on the roof waiting for us.” Inwardly, though, I’m still troubled. If Hanako didn’t send those messages… then who did? And how?