Re: Emi's Winter Break
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:31 pm
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
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
