Chapter three's been on my to-do list for a while. The last parts are going through a final polishing, but I really want to get this out. The remaining bits and bobs will be churned out within the next few days!
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Chapter 3a.
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"Are you alright, Nat?" Naomi looks at me with an inquisitive, if not slightly concerned, pout. "You're limping a bit..."
"Of course, I'm fine. I can keep going for a while yet!" I wave off her concerns with a smile, ignoring the throbbing in my heels from yesterday.
Naomi grins and bounces on her feet a little, apparently not thinking twice about my hobble. That's good, I don’t want to cause any inconvenience. I haven't told her about what happened last night and, to be honest, I don't really plan on it; it was just a one-off, surely! Maybe that wheelchair girl was having a crap day too and I was just her final straw? She definitely could have dealt with it in a more civilised way, but I guess it's in the past now. Either way, I really doubt it's anything to make a fuss of.
I think that's another reason I haven't told her, I just know Naomi would kick up a storm. We both look out for one another, but Naomi has always been more on the protective side. It definitely seems she takes care of the important people in her life. The people she loves.
Ugh, suddenly my stomach feels as though it's in a knot. I must be hungrier than I thought! It's a good thing we're already on our way down to the-
"Shanghai!" Naomi makes me jump with her announcement. Oh, we've finally arrived! She skips ahead and gets the door for me. "What'cha having?"
"Ooohh, I don't know." I scuttle through the door and give her a nod in thanks, to which she reciprocates. "What are you getting?"
"Cake." She says just a single word and couples it with a smile that occupies her entire face. Fair enough, I guess, I might as well join her with it. I send her away to find somewhere to sit while I go and see if I can find a menu. We come here every so often, so we don't know
exactly what’s offered, but we do know there's cake.
I hobble toward the main desk to see if there are any menus there. Strange, the main desk is completely bare! Come to think of it, there's nobody here to serve, nor are there any other customers. Is it closed? I'd hate to think that security is so lax that we've just blatantly walked right into a closed restaurant...
Out of nowhere, Yuuko comes barrelling through the door, apologising at the top of her lungs for being late and vaulting the desk with an unexpected elegance. She turns around to face me and greets me with a half-shout and a violent bow. Her hair is as dishevelled as my own and we both stare at one another, waiting for each other to start.
"G-Good afternoon, Yuuko," I stutter in shock. I can honestly say she really gave me a real scare. She's surprisingly fast... "I... I'll just let you get settled!"
The highly-strung waitress visibly relaxes and thanks me, turning to enter the back rooms. Goodness knows how she manages to keep up this job
alongside the librarian work she does at Yamaku... Turning, I decide to go and find where Naomi's sat us.
I find her in the corner cubicle, playing on her phone. She greets me as I sit across from her, and she puts her phone down and takes my hand between her own two. She looks solemn, genuinely anxious. It's an unusually serious expression for her.
"Do we have cake?"
“Is that what the face is about?” I burst out laughing and she grins. I retrieve my hand to give her the bad news. "Yuuko has only just arrived, so I left her to settle down."
"Awwwh..." Naomi slumps to the table and moans. I have to admit, her immaturity can be quite endearing.
We sit and talk about next week's issue of the
Journal for a few minutes, before Yuuko finally frees herself from what I assume is a reprimanding from her boss and takes our order. Two pieces of the double chocolate gateau and a pot of Lady Grey tea. The ruffled waitress takes her leave, allowing me and Naomi to continue our planning.
Another few minutes pass before Yuuko shows herself again and drops off our slice of cake, two cups and a small pot of tea.
Wait a second...
"Hold on, I thought you ordered two cakes?" Naomi inspects the single slice and prods it with her fork.
"I did...” It seems that rather than two separate slices of cake, Yuuko has inadvertently given us one large slice. Not a problem, though.
“It's a pretty big slice, but we could easily cut it into two," I suggest. Naomi looks less than satisfied with my answer.
“We don't have anything to cut it with, though," She fiddles with the two forks that were provided, probably hoping for one to magically transform into a knife.
"You know, we could just go and ask for one?"
"...You do it." Naomi sullenly looks down with a light blush. I shoot an amused glance at my friend. She's making me, the one who finds it hard to climb a staircase, get it? She puts her hands up and goes on the defensive. "I don't want to hassle her, you saw how busy she is!"
"Well we both want cake, here," My stomach begins grumbling at the distinct lack of cake inside it. “I'm not letting you have it all again.”
After a few minute's pondering, Naomi's face slowly lights up with a bright idea. “...Why don't we just eat the cake as it is?”
That's obviously a stupid idea, because...
Well... I...
I guess it makes sense.
“We
were just going to cut it in half anyway, might as well cut out the middle man!" Obviously very pleased with herself, she gracefully slams a large chunk of chocolate sponge into her mouth, getting crumbs over the table in doing so. She picks up on my hesitance and slowly slides the dish towards herself.
"Well, if you don't want any~"
Screw that. I know for a fact that she'd happily eat the whole thing, and I'm still quite hungry. I yank the plate into the middle of the table again, take my fork and dig in. I've got to assert my dominance, or something like that, so I maintain eye contact as I do so. Naomi grins and silently takes me up on my wordless challenge. The establishment is completely quiet, save for the sound of cake being devoured and forks catching the plate. The two proud newspaper journalists each staring the other down and stuffing cake into their mouths at alarming speeds. What a strange sight it must be, but it must be done. There's no way I'm letting her eat the majority of the cake
again.
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Minutes pass and finally the cake is no more. What was once a very large slice of chocolate gateau is now an empty plate with nothing but a few smears of icing and crumbs. Sad to say, I think Naomi actually did eat more than I did. I'll have to get her back for this.
"You've got cake everywhere." I reach up and rub some of the chocolate frosting from her face, "I don't even know how you got it on your forehead..."
"Hey, I could have done that myself!" Naomi laughs and feels the spot that once held a sizeable chunk of cake. "God, you're worse than my mother, y'know~"
"Well maybe I mother you, but it's hard not to when you act like you're twelve!” Naomi laughs and I reach for the pot of tea, pouring a cup for either of us. "Well, at least I don't act like your big brother~"
My friend takes a cup from me and chuckles.
Wait for it...
Finally, her face drops and she spits the tea back into her cup. Lovely. "Wait..! What did you mean by that?! I don't act like your brother!"
"You do! Like a big, smelly, doofus of a brother!" I love teasing her, even if I know she's going to get me back later. I'd like to consider this revenge for the cake. Naomi's face goes red and she puts the tea down, ready to defend her case.
"I grew up with three brothers! You can't blame me for that!"
"And were you the most masculine?"
"Shut up!"
Thinking about it, I guess we're not too far off the truth here. We both look out for each other, but in different ways... She acts brotherly and I guess I kinda
do mother her. I'd help Naomi with things like schoolwork and advice, whereas she gives me more hands-on help with stuff like heavier doors and thick crowds. I've never really thought about it too much... I guess opposites do attract?
"You might as well get used to it, you're stuck with me" She sips her tea with a wink.
"Well, until the end of the year, at least."
Naomi looks at me with a vacant smile. "...W-What?"
"You know, the end of the year?" She keeps her smile, although as the seconds go on it seems more and more forced. "When we both go home? You go south, I go west..."
Naomi doesn't respond, she just continues drinking her tea. Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have said that. Ah well, there's no use avoiding the inevitable.
"Gee, aren't you upbeat today."
Her dead tone stings a little. Considering how optimistic she usually is, it definitely seems I've pushed the wrong button.
"Well it's going to happen, isn't it?"
"Well yeah, but can't we deal with that problem when it arises?" Here she goes again, she's
always procrastinating! Naomi drinks the last of her tea and stands, getting herself ready to go. "C'mon, I'm finshed."
"Naomi, sit down. There's no point avoiding it.” It's September, we've practically only just started our second term! We can't leave this topic 'til last minute!
"Naaaaat..." she whines, tugging my at my sleeve.
"Naomi. Sit."
She looks at me. It's obvious she really doesn't want to talk about it and instead of sitting, she turns to the door.
"I'd I hate to say it, but time's wasting. You coming or shall I meet you back there?" Naomi stands beside me at the table, waiting for me to reply. However, I say nothing and wait for her to sit down again. She can be so stubborn! Finally, and with a sigh, she... She starts walking to the door.
She's leaving without me?
"Naomi!" I call after her, but she doesn't falter. After the door closes behind her, I watch her make her way down the street until she turns onto another road and disappears out of view. With nothing else to distract me, I drink my share of the tea and think about this last conversation. I've really done it now. I feel terrible, I think I've really pushed her too far this time.
Naomi has a real disdain for goodbyes. The end of the school year is pretty hard on her, even when she knew she was going to come back... But this time she won’t. Neither of us will.
This is our last year at Yamaku and truth be told, I'm not looking forward to it ending either. I've made a lot of friends here and we all stand with each other for support, considering most of us students (and even a few teachers) are disabled in some way or form. It's a big motivational boost, something you wont get out there in reality.
And moving away from Naomi? This isn't like the usual “see you in a month” separation, there's a real chance I wont ever see her again. I can call her, email her, text her, even send letters through the post, but it just wont be the same. Well, unfortunately it isn't something that can be postponed. We all have to move on eventually.
Times change.
I guess I was just hoping I could try and reach her today. Whenever this topic comes up, she hides away and ignores it, as if she believes it will just go away. When I talk about it she changes the topic, when other people chat about it she lets herself daydream, when Mutou was talking about it she hides away in her textbook and doodles... She's so childish! I get up and pay Yuuko before leaving the restaurant myself.
My walk back to the school gives me time to think. I know I've got to get this message through to her, she can't keep hiding from the truth all of her life... But how do I do that?
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thanks, I'll fix that.