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Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone.

Chapter 10: Rain

I open my eyes to the faint light of my alarm clock greeting my eyes. I take notice of the time, 6:00 AM, I don't mind waking up this early, in fact, it is pretty normal for me, I've always been an early riser, and I notice that there is a slight patter on coming from the window, the patter of rain.

I sit up in bed and stretch, the stub of my leg brushing the comforter still feels odd, and I get annoyed with myself for allowing it to bother me, I can't do anything about it, so why bother myself about it? How ironic is it that I can't follow my own advice? I let the past bother me almost every day, it is incredibly frustrating.

I get up and go across the room on one foot, not requiring crutches for a small trip, and grab an new pair of clothes, listening to the soothing rhythm induced by the calming precipitation throwing itself at the window of my room, and I can't help but let a small smile show itself on my features, I truly do love rain and the cold it ushers along with it.

I hobble across the hall and twist the knob of the bathroom door to gain entrance to the faculties, and thankfully no one is in there, and hopefully Kenji won't barge in again.

I head across the tiled floors and turn the knobs of the bath, allowing the water to flow from the faucet and into the waiting tub.

As the tub fills to the brim with cold water, I set my clean clothes on the sink counter and strip out of my current ones, still with a little difficulty, as I am still not used to changing while balancing on only one leg.

I quickly bathe and throw on my clothes, ready to start the day with a few songs on my acoustic and then take a walk through the rain, I just hope the downpour lasts long enough for me to enjoy it.

I exit the bathroom and head into my room, where I deposit my worn clothes in the closet with another pair of clothes that need washed. I am wearing something more casual than the school uniform as there is no school today, just a pure black T-shirt, cargo jeans, Tennis shoes, and a dark grey sweat jacket. I pick up my guitar and position myself on the bed, getting comfortable and ready to play, my leg starting to hurt from hopping place-to-place.

I briefly consider what to play, what was I in the mood for? Something somber, but not really depressing, something inspiring but not really upbeat. Sort of like rain, relaxing and somber, but at the same time being a somewhat inspiring. That settles it, I know what to play.

I position my all of my fingers, other than my thumb, on the appropriate areas of the guitar, hovering over the strings, ready to strum the chords I desire.
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After playing a handful of songs, I look out the window and notice it is still raining. Good, I didn't spend too much time on the guitar and miss out on a walk through the rainfall.

I put the guitar back to where it was previously, I grab my crutches and lean into them, giving my leg a rest from it having to support me on its own as the crutches, my arms and shoulders take the burden of supporting my weight.

I swing my arms forward with every step, bringing myself closer to the exit of the dormitories, closer to the promised rain. As I go through the bland, unimaginative halls, I only encounter two of people, probably due to the fact it is only 6:30 AM, most people will still be enjoying their sleep right now, but I don't mind getting up early, and the enticing opportunity to enjoy the morning rain and chill easily drew me out of my slumber.

I reach the doors and give a slight, awkward push, to open it, and am welcomed by the sound of the gentle rain. I step outside the cover of the building and feel the morning chill as well as the touch of soft, newly-fallen water on my skin. It is truly relaxing. I start my walk, briskly making my way down the paved path, through the school grounds.

I keep going for about ten minutes when I see the track, I actually haven't been there yet and am a little curious as to what is there. I expect nothing other than a track, small stadium, and more than likely a storage shed or something similar, but it is always best to thoroughly survey the area you are in, so I shift my course in the direction of the track.

As I approach the track field, I notice a small blur moving along the track, while its not moving fast enough for me to normally not make it out, the darkness and static-mesh effect of the rain interferes with my vision. Was someone running this early, in the rain no less? It doesn't make much sense, but then again I am walking through the cold and rain because I enjoy it, maybe whoever it is has the same thought as me.

I arrive at the track and once the blur gets closer to me on the current lap it is on, as it gets closer, it gets cleared and I can make out details. It is definitely human, although the legs do have a very odd shape. I can make out two pig-tails and a body of small build, but that is about it.

I stand still and watch as the blur stops in front of me, going from high speeds to a complete stop in a very short amount of time. But she, as I can see it is a she, doesn't appear to be breathing heavily, and I can't tell if there is sweat on her, due to the pouring rain. I can see now she has large, dark grey eyes and light-coloured hair, she appears to be wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a very small pair of shorts, not exactly the best clothes for cold, rainy weather. But what catches my eye the most are the prosthetic legs. Her legs below the knee are replaced by plastic and metal, made for running judging from their design. I can't help but feel a brief pang of jealousy at the artificial legs, she still had far more motor abilities than I, and she lost both of her legs. That jealousy is immediately replaced by guilt for thinking something like that, but that too is shoved out of the way.

She comes up with a slight grin on her face, eyes clearly alight with energy despite the rain casting a static-mesh-like effect on her face and the darkness of the early morning.

"Hi there! I didn't expect anyone to show up this early, are you here to run?" She asks.

I am dumbfounded by her words. Run? Didn't she notice my crutches? "Uhh, no, I can't exactly run..." I trail off awkwardly, not sure how to respond.

She frowns for a moment, then apparently sees my crutches for the first time, and her face darkens in color, blushing. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't notice." She apologizes hastily, still looking embarrassed.

I actually chuckle some at her expense, "It's fine, I forgive you, though if you don't mind me asking, why are you running in the rain with those on?" I motion towards her running clothes, which you would only see on warm, rain-less days.

"These?" She asks, looking confused for a moment before noticing what she is actually wearing, "I didn't notice, I was too busy running."

I almost question her about why she would just go running in whatever she is wearing, but decide against it. It really isn't my business.

"Do you do this every morning? Alone?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Yes, I do this every morning, I need to keep up my girly figure you know?" After she says this, she winks in a playful manner, "Hisao usually runs with me though, if you know him. But I guess he can't stand the rain," Her grin widens some, "I'll need to punish him for that!" I can't help but smile a little, she is definitely a friendly person.

"Well, don't let me interrupt you, go back to your running." I say.

"I will, but before you go, my name is Ibarazaki Emi, yours?"

I almost hesitate, not sure if I want to go throwing my name around just yet, it has only been a few days since my lapse in strength to the pit. But I decide to give it anyway, it's common courtesy, especially if that person gives you their name, "It's Polk Benjamin, Ben for short."

Her eyes widen some at the revelation of my name, damn it seems as if she got word of what happened, not that I'm surprised. She recovers quickly and her smile holds true again, "By Ben! I'll see you later!" She calls over her shoulder as she blasts off down the track again at speeds I could never hope to achieve, even when I had full use of my legs.

I turn around and leave the track, heading back towards the dorms, I've had enough of the rain for now, the soaking cold rain was starting to soak through my clothes. I can't help but wonder at Emi, she is running around the track at 7:00 in the morning and in clothes that aren't at all suited for the weather, and the fact she can run so fast with her prosthetics, though I suppose in one way or another, they actually help her improve her running speed.

I arrive at the door to the dormitories and am a little reluctant to go in, as much as I like not having a cold, I also want to continue to enjoy the weather. I decide that I don't really have much to do in my room anyway, so I just head to the main building, going back to the gutair room, getting to enjoy a few more minutes of the rain in the process.

I make my way through the halls and eventually end up where I want to, and enter. The gutair and amp are still there, remaining as pristine as ever. I sit down and wait a little while, I need to let me dry off some so I can play without the risk of electrocuting myself.

Once I seem dry enough, I pick up the guitar plug it in and start playing.
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About an hour later I stop and put the gutair up, having my fill for now.

I peel myself out of the seat with my crutches and stand up, ready to depart. I head to the door and open it, and without really thinking about it, head towards the chess room, partially because I have nothing else to do, and partially because I hope Hisao, Lilly, or Hanako are in there.

It takes me a moment to remember which direction it is when I come to a crossroads, but I generally am pretty good at remembering paths and directions, so the hesitation doesn't last long before I am off again.

The sound of rain is still present and continues to relax me, letting my usually active and buzzing mind wind down for a bit, and the only thing that interrupts the calming drops of precipitation are a few sounds making their way through the halls from different areas of the school and the sound of my crutches' impact against the tiled floor.

After a minute or two I find myself in front of the door labeled "Chess Club". Once in front of the door, I knock on the door and moment comes a few seconds later.

"Come in." The voice was composed, dainty, and calm, it is easily recognized as Lilly's.

I apply pressure to the door and it creaks slightly on its un-oiled hinges as it opens, and I am greeted by the sight of Lilly sitting straight-backed in the same chair she sat in yesterday, with a glass of what I believe is tea sitting in front of her, I know it has at least some in it as steam is still rising from it, but that is it, there isn't anyone else in the room.

"Hello, Lilly, it's Ben, I hope I'm not interrupting." I say, greeting her.

"Oh, hello Ben, no, you aren't interupting anything important, would you like some tea?" She replies.

I almost take up her offer, but reasoning tells me that she just brewed some, as her cup is still steaming, and I don't want to inconvenience her by having her make tea right after she just made some, "No thank you, I'm fine for now."

"Very well than." She replies, and then gestures toward the general direction of the chair in front of her, "please, sit down."

That offer, I do take her up on and sit down into the rigid, yet somehow comfortable chair.

"I never got around to asking you this, but how are you settling in here at Yamaku?" Lilly questions.

I seriously take the question into consideration, it could be a loaded one, possibly a way to lead her into inquiring about what happened on Wednesday, but it doesn't seem to suit her personality, so I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt, "Other than what happened earlier this week, which I'm pretty sure you've heard about, I'm fine, for the most part."

She doesn't press the issue, so I assume I was correct on guessing prying wasn't a big factor in her nature.

"That's good, and, if you don't mind me asking, why did you come here, to this room?" She sounds somewhat curious, and after me dropping in uninvited, she has a right to be.

I shrug before I realize the action would go unnoticed, "I came on a whim, I decided to see if anyone was here, and possibly if I could sign up for the chess club here." The last part comes out without me thinking first, but my mind doesn't object to it, I haven't played chess in ages, and I do miss it.

"Unfortunately I'm the only one here at this time, I imagine Hisao and Hanako are doing something together, those two are piratically inseparable," I notice her smile drops a notch for about a half-second before regaining it's previous shine, but long enough for me to notice its lack of polish for a moment, if I had to guess, I'd say she feels like a bit of a third wheel in the group, it seems reasonable as Hisao and Hanako are obviously going out, "If you want to join the chess club, then I will have to asses your skills first, in other words, play a game with you, you don't have to win, just do well enough." I wonder for the first time just how she plays chess, probably the same way she does everything else in life, use senses other than sight, though that may be difficult with a game such as chess. "Can you get the board please? I believe it is in the shelf to the far right of the sink."

"Okay," is all I say as I go to retrieve the board from the location she mentioned. I open up the mentioned cabinet and sure enough, it is there. I pick it up and bring it over to the table in it's traditional, wooden case.

I put it down on the table between the two of us,"Here it is," I say, sitting down and opening up the case. Lilly nods in acknowledgement as the case soundlessly opens, apparently its hinges have been well-oiled unlike the door to the room. I pull the board out and it is a standard one, but the pieces look a little different. I can still see what they are, but they have small deformities here and there, mostly just on the top of the figures. I make the connection that each figure type has their own bumps and ridges on the top, pawns having their own, bishops having their own, etc..., that seems to be how blind people can play chess and tell piece from piece.

I set up the board for the both of us and let her go first as she has the white pieces and I have the black ones, white always goes first.

The game goes on for about fifteen minutes before I have one bishop, three pawns, both knights, my queen, and my king left, meanwhile Lilly only has her king and two pawns left. Her dainty fingers feel around the board, looking for a way out of my trap, despite the fact I will eventually get her king with my superior numbers and higher-grade pieces, but she smiles in defeat realizing there is no way out of my checkmate. "That was a good game." She says, her tone friendly. She seems to take defeat in stride, I'm glad, I've played against my fair share of sore losers in the game before.

"Good game." I reply, my tone similar to hers, giving the game-ending phrase used in almost any medium of entertainment, but they weren't just out of unofficial protocol, she was a good chess player, and I did enjoy that, I haven't played against a decent player in a long time.

Just as I am putting the board and pieces back into the box, "Welcome to the club," comes Lilly's ever pleasant voice, "but don't get too overconfident, I'm the worst in the group, Hisao and Hanako are both far better than I am."

I smile at the prospect of a good challenge, "Thank you for the welcome, and I'll try and keep myself from getting cocky." actual enthusiasm making its way into my voice for the first time in what felt like years, and probably actually has been years.

Roamin12 wrote:I only run into a two of people, there are only this many due to the fact it is only 6:30 AM, most people will still be enjoying their sleep right now,

This part right here was a little hard to read, maybe you might want to rephrase it.

Anyways, loved it as usual. Perhaps in the next one though you could write more conversations and less guitar playing? I understand it's probably important but I feel like it's just acting like filler, not really adding to the story.

Dippeggs wrote:

Roamin12 wrote:I only run into a two of people, there are only this many due to the fact it is only 6:30 AM, most people will still be enjoying their sleep right now,

This part right here was a little hard to read, maybe you might want to rephrase it.

Anyways, loved it as usual. Perhaps in the next one though you could write more conversations and less guitar playing? I understand it's probably important but I feel like it's just acting like filler, not really adding to the story.

Thank you for pointing that out.
And the gutair playing will make a significant role later in the story, although not for a while, so I will tone that down some. Ahhhh, dialogue,the part of writing I seem to have the most trouble using properly. I seem to have trouble coming up with conversations a lot, I'm not sure why. I'll try and work on that in the next few chapters.

"Unfortunately I'm the only one here at this time, I imagine Hisao and Hanako and Hisao are doing something together, those two are piratically inseparable,"

one too many Hisaos hehe.

Roamin12 wrote:I need to let me dry off some so I can play without the risk of electrocuting myself.

Good god, can this actually happen?

Maybe you should make it more clear that your description of Emi's speed is supposed to be hyperbole. It reads like it's supposed to be real.
Oh, and is there really such a thing as a gutair or is that a regular typo of yours?

Daitengu wrote:

"Unfortunately I'm the only one here at this time, I imagine Hisao and Hanako and Hisao are doing something together, those two are piratically inseparable,"

one too many Hisaos hehe.

Don't criticize Lilly's fantasy.

Daitengu wrote:

"Unfortunately I'm the only one here at this time, I imagine Hisao and Hanako and Hisao are doing something together, those two are piratically inseparable,"

one too many Hisaos hehe.

Thank you for pointing that out fixed. Damn me and my terrible editing skills.

Guest90206 wrote:

Roamin12 wrote:I need to let me dry off some so I can play without the risk of electrocuting myself.

Good god, can this actually happen?

Unfortunately. It is unlikely, but possible.

Mirage_GSM wrote:Maybe you should make it more clear that your description of Emi's speed is supposed to be hyperbole. It reads like it's supposed to be real.
Oh, and is there really such a thing as a gutair or is that a regular typo of yours?

Hopefully the hyperbole is more recognizable, and it was a typo, I went back and found all "Gutairs" I could find and replaced them with the correct spelling.

Oddball wrote:

Daitengu wrote:

"Unfortunately I'm the only one here at this time, I imagine Hisao and Hanako and Hisao are doing something together, those two are piratically inseparable,"

one too many Hisaos hehe.

Don't criticize Lilly's fantasy.

Haha.

Chapter 11: Further

I wake up like I always do, open eyes, try to sleep for a few minutes before resigning to the fact I won't be getting back to sleep, showering, play a few songs, and then leave. But while my morning is nothing new, the day will likely be interesting, it is Monday, and there are three things I'll have to address. First off, I have to get ready for barrage of un-dodge-able questions that will assault me when I get back, there is no doubt of that, but then again there is the possibility of every one ignoring me, trying to shove what they saw happen to the back of their minds and stay away from me at all costs. Either way will be annoying, but I'm not that worried about that. But what I will have to worry about is Shizune and Misha, something tells me that they won't give up on trying to get me to work for the council so easily, even after Wednesday's episode, and how will I say no? They will definitely give me hell for joining the chess club, even though I have no idea why they seem so dead-set on ignoring it or dismissing it so much, but then again, they may choose to ignore me like so many other classmates undoubtedly will. And the last thing is a chess meeting after school, Hisao and Hanako will be there, so I won't be alone with Lilly again. It doesn't make much of a difference to me, it may even be a good thing, while I did like talking to her, it did get awkward at some points, I am far from being a people person, usually preferring isolation, so this is all a little new to me.

I think all of this as I approach homeroom, choosing to skip breakfast, it may be the most important meal of the day, but I'm not hungry. I let most of my mind think about various things, just as I always do when there isn't something major to focus on. I get to homeroom and open the door, and find that no one except Hisao is in there. I give a small greeting and head to my seat, the pinging of my crutches interrupting the enveloping silence of the room before I had entered. I arrive at my seat, gingerly letting myself down, not in any rush. I open up a book and kill some time until the period starts.

The room slowly fills with people, some trying to ignore me, but failing, some succeeding, but most just look at me for a moment, eyes filled with either fear, or surprise, I figure many of them thought I'd be out longer or be shipped off to some insane asylum.

As I think for a moment, I realize that Nurse never told me I would have to see a therapist, why? I had thought that I would have to see one no matter what else happened, but I didn't. Why would he let me get off without scheduling an appointment, or anything? It doesn't make any sense. I run several theories through my head, but none seem to make any sense, why? I swear, this mystery will be the death of me.

I am so engrossed in my internal debate, I almost don't notice it when Mutou starts his lecture. It is on the subject of subatomic particles and things of that nature. For the most part, everyone either seems to be confused or not paying attention, I personally find a medium between listening and thinking. I soak in every word he says, but in the brief periods between his rants, my mind manages to get one or two thoughts in, usually in the form of possible scenarios for whatever may happen today or in the future, ranging from absurd to plausible, to horrible to as close to ideal as possible, but they are usually fleeting and I cannot really consider how ideal or absurd they are in-depth.

Eventually Mutou's lengthy rant ends and he passes out the homework for the day, as individual work. I am a little relieved at that, I am hoping to avoid being in a group as much as possible until everyone is ready to stand me being in their midst again.

I finish with a few minutes to spare and resume my randomly thought of theories and predictions, debunking them all as unlikely or giving them some merit, but this time they are not about what will happen in these coming days, but more on anything that happens to cross my mind, from conspiracies to math equations, from death to life. It is unrestrained and unfiltered, just as my thought always are like.

The minutes pass quickly until the bell rings. Once it breaks the quiet of the room, the room seems to give a collective sigh of relief, me excluded, and quickly filter out of the room. I get up in no hurry, It is just lunch, nothing to get too excited about. I put my things in my bag, sling it over my shoulder, and hoist myself back on my crutches. I start to head out the door, but am intercepted by Misha and Shizune, how did I not notice them? They are sneakier than I had given them credit for.

Misha beams while Shizune remains business faced, "Hi there Benchan~! Haven't seen you in awhile." Her voice is just as boisterous as usual, although there is an edge to it, unbeknownst by herself, she apparently isn't as at ease talking to me as she is letting on, I'm not surprised in the least.

"Yes it has..." I say musingly.

"I hope you haven't gone and gotten yourself into more trouble since then?" she says this in a questioning but also declarative way, as if decided for herself I haven't, but still asking.

I think about the chess club and mutter under my breath almost inaudibly, "I hope not."

"What was that?" she asks, I'm glad she missed it.

"Nothing important. How have you two been doing?"

Misha appears to give up on trying to figure out what I said, she looks to Shizune for a moment to read her signs, and then turn back to me, continuing to sign everything said back to Shizune, "Shiichan and I have been busy preparing for the elections, but we're the only ones running! I think they don't want to have to face up against us~! After all what chance do they have?" She throws her head back and gives out a mighty "WAHAHAHAH~!"

I don't think I can get used to that laugh, or more likely just not for awhile. "Yeah, seems like it to me." I suddenly have an idea, something that could get me out of the council without having to admit to joining the chess club. "Speaking of the elections, I don't think me joining the council would be a good idea." I say, purposely leaving them on a cliffhanger response to pique their interest.

Misha looks a little surprised, and once Shizune hears (sees?) about that, she raises one of her eyebrows in a questioning way.

"Why do you say that?" Misha questions.

"After what happened last week," Misha winces a little, but Shizune is unfazed when Misha signs this to Shizune, "with me running with you two, I don't think your chances of getting elected will skyrocket much, actually, it will probably drop."

Misha sees the flaw in my suggestion that I know was there, but hoped they wouldn't pick up on, "but you don't have to run with us, just work with us once we win, and there still isn't any opposition, and the elections are next week." Game over for me, she hit me right where it hurts, in the smack-dab middle of my flawed argument. I can't get too disappointed, I knew the chances of that working were low.

"I know." I say in a resigned manner.

"Then why did you bring it up?" Misha isn't signing when she said that, and the previous statement, when I think about it, so I'm talking to Shizune right now.

"No reason." I say, knowing full well that they knew why, or at least Shizune does, not much seems to get by her.

"But enough of small talk! The time for you decision has come!" says Misha in a cheerful tone, not matching the words with her tone well, and the words are, once again, Shizune's. "Would you like to join the student council?"

I inwardly sigh, the reckoning has come, "I'm, uh...already sort of in a club..." I say a little awkwardly.

Misha seems a little caught off guard, but Shizune gets a twinkle in her eye, as if the thought of a challenge is getting her excited. Shizune pushes up her glasses and begins to sign.

Misha begins translating with ease that will never cease impress me, "What club is it? And do you seriously think that being a club means you can't help us with the work?"

I ignore the first question, I'm trying to avoid mentioning the chess club, "I still have obligations other than the club, such as school projects, and more personal stuff." The argument is weak, but chess club is already going to cut into my guitar, reading, and video game time, I don't want to lose any more.

"And you can't take some time off from your so very busy schedule to help us then?" Shizune puts her hands on her hips, looking ecstatic by this debate, if you could call it that.

"So I'm a workhorse for you two? I am offended." I say in mock horror,

Thankfully Shizune seems to realize that I meant it in jest, as she gives a smile and signs once again to Misha, who dutifully translates, "You'll have some influence. But let's go to the lunch room for now, we are going to miss the entire lunch break if we do~!"

"Sounds like a plan," I reply, using the phrase my dad often makes use of.

We head to the cafeteria and along the way Misha and Shizune sign back and forth animatedly, having a silent conversation I could never keep track of, with me being illiterate in the ways of sign language.

We get to the cafeteria in a minute or two, the room is packed with students, most of whom are eagerly tucking into their bland meals. I order a plate of rice and nothing else, I'm not too hungry and rice is probably the best thing I have had so far here, so I just go with that. Misha carries hers and Shizune's as we make out way to a few empty seats at a table near the back wall. We all eat quickly, me because I didn't have much, and they eat quickly to get on with the conversation from earlier.

Once we all are finished and leave our plates empty, except for Shizune's, who still has the majority, if not all of it, left, they look at me and I mentally prepare for their renewed assault.

"Well Benchan, we need an answer!" Misha says up-beatly.

That was...straight forward. They didn't even beat around the bush, or anything? Well, this may make things easier, who am I kidding? These two won't give up that easy.

"I'd rather not join." I say, opting to keep it straight forward as well.

"How about we settle it with a game?" Misha says, beaming.

"What?"

"A game! Like paper football, you play that in America, right?" her voice is brimming with energy and cheerfulness.

"I hate that game." I reply evenly, I do hate it, it is pointless and requires little thought to it, it is a game of luck and wrist movement, neither being my forte.

Her smile remains as wide as ever, "How about Monopoly?"

"No, that is almost completely luck based, and I'm not about to bet my future here on a board game, especially when the odds are stacked in your favour with two against one."

"What about Risk? One-on-one between you and Shiichan?"

Risk, I haven't played that in awhile, I really like the game, although not as much as chess.

"I'm fine with that, as long as there are no strings attached." I say, hoping they will say yes, now that it has been mentioned, I have an urge to play Risk.

Misha relays those word to Shizune and they engage in a frantic conversation with their hands, probably discussing whether or not to agree to it.

After about half-a-minute of debate, they turn to face me and Misha beams, "Shiichan says 'yes'. Meet us in the rotunda after school."

I go over my schedule in my head, school ends at four, and the chess meeting is at six, that leaves a two hour window of time for a game of risk and any other shenanigans these two have in store. I can do that. I agree and we head our separate ways and finish the rest of our classes.
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I don't really know anyone else in my other classes, and they all seem to give me a wide berth, wanting to stay away from me, for fear that I may have a repeat incident. I grit my teeth in frustration throughout the day, the pits after affects have come in full force and hits hard, just another testament to my failure to keep it under lock-and-key.

Eventually the school day comes to a close and I hurry to the rotunda, hoping to evade the crowds, and unfortunately, I fail. I get stuck in one of the congested halls without pity and am forced to stand at the side of the hall until some people manage to filter out of the halls some. I eventually manage to get to the rotunda and I realize I am here first, I'm a little surprised I got here before them, but they may be located further away and they easily could have been caught in the tide of students as well. I find a bench in off to the side and sit down, keeping an eye out for them.

A few minutes pass and I wonder briefly if they are even coming, this may just be a joke they are playing on the new kid, it is possible, but it doesn't seem to fit their personality well, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

A few more minutes later, they do enter the rotunda, Misha looking as lively as always, and Shizune having the same serious expression that usually adorns her face. I take a moment to consider the possibility that they had me waiting as a mind game, having me wait puts them, psychologically, in the superior position. I'm actually fairly certain that is the case, but I'm not going to fall for it.

As I stand up and lean into my crutches once again, Misha waves in my direction and Shizune nods to me in greeting.

They approach and casually flank me on either side, effectively cutting off all routes of escape, not that I can exactly run away in the first place.

They whisk me away without a word, which is odd considering Misha is present, and she seems to be one of the most talkative people I have met.

We soon reach the student council room, and it's not exactly a sight for sore eyes. The place is empty and barely has any furniture in it, it has bookshelf full of board games instead of books, a large table in the middle, a black board, and that's all. There isn't much else in the room except for what I believe is a cob web in a corner of the room.

"Shiichan and I will have to spruce this place up a bit~!" Misha exclaims, sounding far too loud for the desolate space surrounding us.

Shizune nods in assent and move towards the book case, looking for the board game we desire.

"So, how are your other classes?" Misha asks me.

I consider the question seriously for a moment, how are the going? Academically, fine, socially? Horribly, but that is to be expected after what happened. I decide to use the academic option, "Fine, I guess."

"What level is your class?" She asks in an innocent manner.

"Why do you want to know?"

She shrugs, an action that make her drills bounce some, but the movement doesn't seem very Misha-like, but then again I don't know her that well yet, "Just out of curiosity." The way she says that makes me doubt it, something tells me Shizune has something to do with this, but there isn't any real use in lying.

(NOTE: I tried looking for the class rankings/levels/placement in Japan, but after about an hour of searching with no results, I gave up and I am using the system used at my highschool, AP=College level, Honours=Higher level, Regular=Regular (Who would've guessed).)

"Same science class as you have, AP calculus, honours world macro economics, regular Japanese, and honours literature, that's all of them." I say, giving her the list of my classes and their placement level.

She nods, "That's almost as good as Shiichan's! Except she has two classes higher than you!" she says this in an excited voice, as if Shizune's classes were the most fascinating topic in the world.

Before I can reply, there is the sound of something hitting the table and a snap, I turn around to see that Shizune had dropped the Risk box on the table and had snapped her finger to get our attention. The look in her eyes shows impatience and she quickly sits down, motioning for Misha and I to sit down. We both oblige and Shizune signs some to Misha.

"Shiichan asks if you need to hear the rules." Misha translates.

"No thanks, I remember the rules, now let's get started." I only have an hour-and-a-half until the chess meeting now, so I had better make this quick.

(If you don't want a lengthy description of how the game went, skip the next paragraph and continue on the one after it.)

After being dealt our territories, I take not that Shizune has a major hold on South America and Africa, while I heavy presence in Asia and North America. I choose to heap troops in Central America to keep Shizune out of my territories as I isolate and demolish the rest of her troops on the continent. It works well, and Shizune uses the same strategy to fully take control of Africa and South America. She still has one territory in Asia but that is quickly dominated by me. I have a continent under lock-and-key with heavily reinforced entry points, but Asia is still weak. She exploits this by launching raid attacks along the southern and western front form Africa and one territory in Europe. Making sure to keep a close eye on her border movement, I turn my attention to Australia, she only has one territory there and it is weak, so on my reinforce phase I put a few troops there and crush the rest of her forces in there, but this costs me as she manages to wrestle southern Europe and the Middle East out of my control. The loss of my Asia troop bonus isn't good, but I manage to take back the Middle East on my next turn and reinforce it. But Shizune is quickly pushing into Europe, taking it until all I have left there is Iceland. To keep her from getting the troop bonus, I reinforce heavily there from leftover troops in Greenland I never got to moving and a few others from my reinforce phase, and I begin to pack the heat in Ural and the Middle East, preparing for a push into Europe. But that plan is interrupted by a disturbance in Central America. I hadn't notice her modestly reinforcing South America. I curse my negligence and seek to rectify the damage by putting troops in the US territories to drive her back into South America. After a few turns of struggling back-and-forth, I manage to drive her out. But while I struggled to regain North America, she has put a lot of pressure onto Iceland. Realizing I had no other choice as I can't reinforce it enough this turn to stop her assault, I move my troops back into Greenland and reinforce them there. But I manage to keep her from dominating Europe when I launch an ambitious attack on Russia, and manage to hold against her initial waves that she sends after I manage to take control of Russia. Once I make sure Greenland, Russia, and other border territories are secure from threats, I decide it is time to go on the offensive. I quickly mount an offensive campaign to take South America and after some tug-of-war battles, I manage to push her out of Venezuela, and with that I gain entry to the rest of South America. I pick off the other territories and leave Brazil for last on purpose as to keep her from attacking me from the rear with forces from Africa. But I run into a wall once I reach Brazil, I can't take it, I don't have enough troops to overcome hers, so I have my troops dig in and prepare for a later assault. During this, she has been busy in Europe, finally taking control of the continent after taking Russia from me. And she cripples my reinforcements by her taking a territory in Asia once again. I manage to take Asia back and focus on Brazil again. I garner enough troops there and finally break through her defenses and bring down her reign over South America. With that, there isn't much hope left for her. I control the biggest continent, and I have successfully taken over four of the six continents on the map. I manage to kick her out of Europe after fighting a tooth-and-nail battle there, and fight tooth-and-nail once again by defeating her final fortresses in Africa from all sides. Madagascar is her final stand, but it falls not in a blaze of glory, but in a whimper due to there being virtually no soldiers there. It was a long, hard-fought battle, but I came out victorious. She was extremely good though, she was incredibly aggressive and wasn't afraid to take risks, as a huge fan and player of strategy games, I can easily respect that.

I reach out my hand and she grasps it, and we shake firmly, respect in my eyes, but I can't tell what's in hers.

"Good game." I say, as our hands separate from the handshake, using the time honoured phrase.

After Misha translates this, to her and she nods before signing something to Misha and Misha translates back to me: "Shiichan says it was a good game." I barely keep myself from allowing my passive face to turn into a frown at her tone, it was almost, disappointed. Very odd, it was just a game, but maybe it was something more for these two.

I say my good-byes and head out the door on my crutches, hurrying for the chess club, I don't want to be too late.

*****************************

I manage to get there only five minutes late.

I knock before I enter, letting them know someone is entering.

"Sorry I'm late," I say, as I enter, seeing Lilly and Hanako playing a game of chess, Hanako dominating from the looks of it, and Hisao watching their game with only mild interest. Hanako ignores me, apparently "in the zone", but Lilly swings her sightless eyes towards me and Hisao's dark ones also focus on the my disturbance.

"Hello, Ben." Comes Lilly's ever-soft voice before she goes back to focusing on the loosing battle.

Hisao briefly looks at a watch on his arm that I haven't noticed before, "You're only five minutes late, there's no need to say sorry."

"But I'm still late," I reply "it's not really punctual of me."

He smiles a little, "Punctuality isn't exactly forced with us."

I nod and lean my crutches against the wall as I sit next to Lilly in the only-vacant chair.

I watch as the game progresses, and I clearly see Lilly has no chances of wining. She is down to a rook, two pawns, and a king, meanwhile Hanako still has more than half her forces, including her queen. I am impressed at how well Hanako is doing, she already has Lilly nearly done with several more pieces left than I did when I had her forces whittled down to that level. And just as I think that, Hanako gets her captured knight back with one of the five pawns she has left on her board, that number now being reduced to four. The next turn she destroys Lilly's rook and the next one of Lilly's pawns, and than the next her last pawn. With its last safeguard gone, the king falls into checkmate and Hanako wins.

I notice Hisao fiddles with his watch for a moment before announcing: "Seven minutes and 12 seconds." I'm definitely impressed, all the moves I saw were masterfully executed and she dominated Lilly in under ten minutes when I took around twenty, were I to guess anyway. I can tell just by that time and my previous experience against Lilly, either Hanako is far better than I initially thought, or Lilly made some bad decisions against Hanako, something tells me it is the former, however.

"Impressive." I say under my breath without really thinking about it.

No one notices though as Lilly and Hanako are giving each other the "Good game" and discussing the match some, as is Hisao.

I don't pay much attention though, as I'm already busy formulating strategies to defeat Hanako, but none seem likely to be able to counter her brilliant moves. I give up for the moment and get back to the task at hand.

"That was very impressive." I say, congratulating Hanako.

She nods, looking very modest and shy. She switches seats with Hisao and I notice Lilly has gotten out of her chair as well.

I sit there for another moment before I realize I am meant to play against Hisao.

After a moment of awkwardly hoping into the adjacent seat, Hisao wordlessly starts the game.

(Another lengthy description of a board game ahead)

A few minutes later, I am pondering my position. Hisao seems to rely heavily on his queen and bishops to pick off unprotected pieces, and it is whittling away my front, which is no good. I am already down five pawns, which are invaluable as meat shields and sacrifices, so I don't like loosing them one bit. But I can't get to his queen and bishops, he never lets them stay in the field long enough to get trapped, his strategy seems to be hit and run, a strategy I have encountered before and find infuriating at its difficulty to trap and capture pieces. But, I think I have it figured out. After spending several precious moves carefully making getting the trap ready, I get ready to go into phase one. I move one of my pawns into a field of fire of his queen, the pawn can be hit by no other pieces. He take the bait and goes for the piece and claims the character for himself. I manage to keep my poker face at him falling for the trap. He spends his next move putting his queen back into its hidey-hole. He was so focused on taking my piece that he didn't notice he left his last bishop open to attack on the move I gained. One of my pawns is sitting diagonally from his bishop, that now has no where to go. If he takes my pawn, my knight will take it out. He chooses to take the pawn as last ditch effort to whittle my forces before my knight take his bishop. But that doesn't affect the plan much, no matter what he did, it would end the same now. Now my knight can take down his queen from its position, and my knight is untouchable from any other pieces. And the queen has only one route of escape. He eagerly takes this route and gets out of dodge. But now I move my knight elsewhere, to a spot where I put his king in check, which I announce. His queen can defeat my knight, but to do that, it would be in the line of fire for my last rook. But he has no choice, he sacrifices his queen. I feel some satisfaction at this, now he only has a rook, knight, and five pawns. I still have two rooks, a knight, a bishop, three pawns, and a queen. The queen and bishop were the main issues, now that those are gone, I will have little problem finishing his pieces. But he is still very good, and by the time I have him in check mate, I have lost both rooks, my last bishop and two pawns, more than what I initially thought my loses were going to be once I took down his queen. He is definitely very good. I exchange good games with him and he checks his watch.

"32 minutes and 12 seconds." he says.

"Damn." is all I have to say, that took far longer than I thought it would.

I look over and notice for the first time that Lilly and Hanako both have a cup and plate in front of them, cups were undoubtedly filled with tea at some point, and I believe I smell the scent cookies wafting from their plates and see some crumbs on the plates as well.

"Now you and Hanako go against each other, winner vs. winner." says Hisao.

He switches seats with Hanako and we start.

I got crushed.

That is all the description needed. She absolutely dominated my strategy with moves that seemed to have been planned 30 moves ago, all with insane precision. Holy shit is my best reaction.

Hisao smiles at seeing me getting dominated, and I can't blame him, I took him down, so he probably got a little satisfaction at seeing me get beaten by his girlfriend.

Hisao checks his watch, "15 minutes and 42 seconds." he announces.

Well, at least I lasted longer than Lilly.

I nod to her, "Good game." I say for the third time that day.

She nods a little bit somewhat shyly, "Likewise."

Hanako walks off for a moment, then comes back with a giant plastic bag.

"I brought us all dinner." she says, smiling.

We all say thank you as she hands us all the food, but Lilly nor Hisao immediately open it as Hanako goes to get a glass of water for everyone. I wonder why for a moment. I figure I had better wait too if they are going to.

She comes back with the water for everyone. Once she hands it all out she takes a bite out of it and swallows, then comes back for more. Once Hisao and Lilly see this, they dig in as well, and Hisao gives a silent sigh, although his exhale was visible. Perhaps her exploits in the kitchen aren't always successful? I have no idea why. But I take a bite out of mine anyway. It is some concoction made with noodles, chicken, and a variety of spices. But something tastes odd, then I recognize it, a taste similar to pine needles, is it what I think it is? I believe it is as there is a slight stirring in my stomach, not out of food digestion problems or anything like that, it is something else. I have to be sure it is what I think it is. If it is, there is a major problem.

"Hey Hanako," I begin to gain her attention, managing to mask my anxiety. She turns towards me to let me know she is paying attention. Her scars are there and are somewhat distracting, but I don't stare or think twice about it, that isn't my primary concern right now, "what is in this?" I ask, making sure my voice sounds curious.

Her eyes light up some, thinking that I love it and want to know the ingredients, it isn't bad, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, "It is made from," she goes onto a long list of ingredients that I don't recognize the majority of, but she says the word I have been dreading, "rosemary," and she finishes with a few more spices. I zone out the rest, as I think one thought, DAMMIT! Not so goddamn soon! I just had something like this happen just last week!

After she finishes, I make some lame excuse to that gets me out of the room after saying thank you and good-bye, they all look at me oddly as I exit, but I don't care, this is far more important. I rush to my dormitories as fast as possible on crutches. I have to start this long war alone, as when it starts, it will be at its ugliest.
__________________________________________________________
I wrote this all in one sitting, and edited it in the same one, six hours of writing with two breaks, holy shit. My brain hurts now.

So, does rosemary have something to do with the pit or did I miss something?

I recall there really is some obscure situation where it is expedient to exchange your pawn for a bishop instead of a queen - to prevent a stalemate - but from your description there seemed to be no reason for Hanako to do so in that situation...

Dippeggs wrote:So, does rosemary have something to do with the pit or did I miss something?

You'll see, although I believe I dropped plenty hints as to that.

Mirage_GSM wrote:I recall there really is some obscure situation where it is expedient to exchange your pawn for a bishop instead of a queen - to prevent a stalemate - but from your description there seemed to be no reason for Hanako to do so in that situation...

I probably should've brushed up on chess before writing that, I haven't played it very much the past few months. Thank you for that though, I'll try and edit that part.

Go to next page for the next chapter, the site won't let me delete this post for some reason.

Excuse me, but if he KNEW he would react to the word like this, why did he ASK Hanako for the ingredients?
And usually, people who act like that in reaction to common, everyday words are placed in an environment where they do not have access to sharp objects...
I think you're going a bit overboard with your character here. He has more than enough physical disabilities, and you have to make him a mental case as well...

Mirage_GSM wrote:Excuse me, but if he KNEW he would react to the word like this, why did he ASK Hanako for the ingredients?
And usually, people who act like that in reaction to common, everyday words are placed in an environment where they do not have access to sharp objects...
I think you're going a bit overboard with your character here. He has more than enough physical disabilities, and you have to make him a mental case as well...

The word didn't matter at that point, the taste was in it, and the pit would react anyway. He just wants to make sure. I'll edit it to make that clearer, I guess I'm running on too many assumptions of people connecting dots that only I can see at this point, as the dots haven't been introduced yet.And yes he is somewhat of a mental case, but not an un-salvageable one. Thank you for the advice. I'll tone down it down some.