Chapter Thirty-Nine: Inductive Insight
~~~~Hanako~~~~
“Well we kind of all saw it coming, right?” Miki grins like the Cheshire Cat and I look around at Akio, Molly and Suzu, who all seem to be in agreement. The fight is the talk of the school this morning. Fights here are rare enough and even rarer are stories of lost lovers united against a common foe. It’s like something out of a fairy tale. Or Akio’s favourite manga.
“You really missed out, Suzu.” Molly smiles a little at the girl to my right. She would have appreciated the underlying romantic narrative behind it, I’m sure.
“Argh! I can’t believe I missed all the action! Please tell me one of you got pictures?” Suzu ruffles her hair in frustration before looking at me specifically. Kind of.
“I’ll ask Misaki. I’m s-sure she got a good shot.” I smile and she pats her messy hair back down.
“Thanks, Hanako.” Suzu says with a smile but her eyes don’t quite meet mine. Odd. Molly seems to notice it too.
“Did you show everyone the picture Misaki took of us?” Akio asks and I shake my head.
“Molly saw it but I’ve already f-framed it in my room…” I admit with a blush. It was a really sweet picture. I don’t think I’d ever look so comfortable and natural if I was aware it was being taken.
“Oh! Here we go…” Akio says, fishing his vibrating phone out of his back pocket.
“Yo? … Seriously? Awww, man! I needed an after-action report! … …Yeah, they’re all with me…” He says looking at the group getting the devilish grin he gets when he’s about to say something he’ll get a slap for.
“So what time did Ritsu leave this morning?” He smiles and holds the phone away from his ear, pressing the speaker phone button as a tinny voice shrieks from the device.
“AKIO! I will
throttle you, you son of a--”
“You’re a dead man.” Molly smirks and the phone goes silent for a second. Akio is holding his mouth tight to stop himself from laughing and I’m barely holding it together myself.
“Akio?” Taro asks, clearly coming through.
“Yeah, man?” Akio’s smile is wide as anything when he responds.
“Just… Thank your lucky stars that we’re going to be in On-Campus Suspension for rest of the week. You’d be in a body cast if she was right next to you.” Taro lets out a chuckle and then a hiss of pain. “Okay, okay, it’s not funny…”
“We’ll see you guys soon!” I chime in and Taro wishes us all a good day from the both of them. Akio disconnects the call and finally lets his laugh out.
“You are
such an asshole…” Suzu says, nudging him with her elbow.
He is… It’s a good thing he’s cute. I smile demurely and kiss him on the lips before we head to class.
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“Hey, Hana?” Akio asks and I look up from my textbook to look at him.
“Yes?” I look across our conjoined tables at him, the odd numbering thanks to Taro and Ritsu’s absence mean we get to be in a group all on our own. It’s really quite nice.
“Do…
Argh, how do I say this?” He furrows his brow, staring at his work. I peek over and it’s not a hard one to answer, he should know this.
“Do you have any secret ex-
whatevers I should know about?” He whispers, finally looking at me with a quizzical eyebrow.
“Umm, n-no… I’ve n-never dated anyone b-before you…” I quietly admit with a stutter, placing my free hand on his with a small smile.
“I only ask because I’d hate to see something like what happened to those two…” He gestures with his head to the empty desks to his left. “To happen to us, y’know?”
“No secret lovers or evil ex-boyfriends for you to battle, no.” I pat his hand and he smiles.
“Okay. One more thing I
have to ask though.” He places his pencil down and holds my hand, steadying his breathing. “Does it bother you, at all, that I’m bisexual?” He asks earnestly.
I ponder the question for a second and I can’t say that it does. I shake my head with a smile.
“That’s…
good.” He says, breathing a small sigh of relief.
“Akio, I love you and that means all of you. From your ruffian haircut to your sc-scars to your shitty personality and even the fact that,
sometimes, you wish I was a dude.” I tease and he blushes profusely.
“Th-that’s not…”
“Now there’s a scary thought…” I admit, shaking the thought out of my head.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sure you’d be just as pretty as a boy too.” He smirks, regaining his composure.
“I bet you’d look cute in a skirt.” I giggle and he grins. We Eskimo kiss and continue our work, our fingers idly playing with each other as we do.
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~~~~Suzu~~~~
I tap my foot impatiently as Molly and I wait outside the classroom for Akio and Hanako.
“Is the club meeting that important?” Molly asks, toying with her left braid.
“It’s not but I don’t like to be kept waiting… I’m actually surprised you didn’t join a club, Molls.” I counter, checking the clock on the wall for the umpteenth time.
“I thought about it, but nothing really caught my eye. I looked into the Film Club and those guys were just
weird. And really kinda racist.” Her voice lilts up with her last statement so I can’t tell if she’s joking or not.
“Who’s a racist?
Suzu, are you being a racist again?” Akio asks with a huge grin and a tone of mock disapproval. Molly giggles her ass off as my jaw goes slack. What the hell, man! I’m struggling for a comeback when Hanako decides to twist the knife.
“You’re giving him what he wants if you don’t fight back~” She cheerily chimes in. Like I don’t know that! I’ve been doing this longer than you have…
“I’m not, the Film Club is. I bet they wanted you to teach them about Bollywood, didn’t they?” I divert the attention to Molly who nods, wiping a tear from her eye.
“I don’t know a {bloody} thing about Bollywood movies! Well… I know they suck. Seriously, that was their first question after ‘Are you lost?’ Bunch of {wankers}…” She gripes, folding her arms and cursing in British. Such a beautiful language.
“Well, you can always come to the Lit Club with us.” Akio offers. “Hanako asked if she could sit in on the meeting too.” Wait, what?
“Akio spent so much time with me in the Newspaper Club, I thought it’d be fair to put in the hours with
his club.” She smiles. No, of course, that’s perfectly fair.
“Sure, that sounds like fun. I can pick Hana’s brain about the NC too.” Molly smiles. “Is that okay, Suzu?” She tilts her head towards me.
“Why not? The more the merrier!” I sarcastically sigh with a shrug.
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“See you guys!” I call to Morii and Ayame as they leave arm-in-arm. That just leaves Me, Akio and the guests…
“So you guys really just sit around and read?” Molly asks with a giggle, sitting at the table.
“Pretty much! It’s hardly exciting but if you like a good book, or manga in
some cases…” I throw a knowing glance at Akio, who snorts in amusement. “Then you can’t find a better place to do it.” I smile a little, proud of my club.
Hanako yawns and I turn my attention to her. She’s sitting between Akio’s legs on his favourite beanbag, her own legs crossed in a lady-like fashion. Her back pressed against his chest and his arms around her waist. I really envy her.
“Sleepy, Hana?” I ask, maintaining a friendly veneer.
“Yeah, Akio’s been keeping me up all night.” She says, another little yawn escaping her lips. A curt ‘Ahem’ from her boyfriend makes her realise what she just said.
“St-studying!” She blurts out as her face turns scarlet.
“Of course you were.” I smirk as Akio and Molly laugh.
“
We really were…” She whispers, hiding in her hair. Akio squeezes her tight and she lets out an ‘Eep!’ that makes me smile. She’s quite cute and I can see why Akio fell for her.
“We should go see how the lovebirds are doing, eh?” Akio asks and Hana rises to her feet in a smooth, dainty fashion. She offers her hand to him and lifts him out of the beanbag with surprising ease.
“You mean the jailbirds, right?” She smirks, nudging Akio with her elbow after she hands him his cane.
“Ha! Good one. See you later!” He waves and I wave back, watching him leave hand-in-hand with Hana. I breath a heavy sigh and wander over to the beanbag, flopping down in it and undoing my bow. I allow myself to fully relax and close my eyes. I smile a little to myself as I feel his residual warmth.
“You really like him, don’t you?” Molly asks and I suddenly remember I’m not alone.
Fuck.
~~~~Molly~~~~
It’s really quite funny how people who hide their feelings make it so bloody obvious. I had my suspicions from earlier but as Suzu’s eyes go wide with shock, I can see the gears in her head kick into overdrive. She bolts upright and will probably give a flimsy explanation.
“N-no, I don’t! That’s ridiculous! He’s just…” She sighs heavily and her head and shoulders slump.
“
How did you know?” She asks in a whisper.
Oh. Well, bugger me and my assumptions then.
“I didn’t, not for sure.” I admit, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“Well, there it is. I like Akio.” She frowns as she says it, obviously feeling guilt.
“Do you though?” I ask and she looks at me like I just asked her if the sky is blue.
“Well… Yeah! Pretty sure I do!”
“And how long have you felt that way?” I ask, tilting my head to gauge her reaction.
“When he started hanging around the Newspaper Club… I guess since he started dating Hanako… ” She rubs her arms and casts her gaze down again.
“And how do you feel about them dating? Are you jealous? Do you hate Hanako?” I’m asking a lot of questions but something about this just seems… off to what I expect from a would-be seductress.
“What?! No!
God no… More than any of us, I think Hanako deserves a little happiness. Not to diminish anyone else’s background but I think we can both agree that she’s had it tougher than most…” She looks to me for approval and I have to nod. I’ve thought the exact same thing.
“I don’t hate Hanako. I couldn’t. That would just be…
callous. But I do envy her…” She admits, pursing her lips. Hm. Interesting.
“So you’re attracted to Akio, but have no intention of splitting them up. You even like them being together. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“Huh.” She says, raising an eyebrow.
“So getting back to the real question. Do you really like Akio? You’ve confided in me that you desperately want some romance in your life and that Akio is the club member who doesn’t pull his punches with you or your condition. Soooo…” I hold my hands out and interlock the fingers of both hands, hoping she gets the symbolism.
“So I’m using Akio as a stand-in for my romantic desires because he’s one of my closest friends?” She furrows her brow, hopefully going along the same mental path I have to come to this conclusion. It makes sense to me, her actions aren’t indicative of a jealous love rival…
“
Now I feel bad for what I did in this beanbag…” I hear her say something quietly to herself but I can’t quite make it out.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing~” She giggles nervously. Whatever it was, I probably don’t need to know. “But…
Wow. That’s immensely clever, Molly!”
“I just thought you weren’t acting like I’d expect you to… Thought there might be more to it.” I shrug with a small smile as Suzu scrambles to get to her feet and hops over to me to wrap her arms around me.
“You’re amazing!” She beams and my cheeks warm at the genuine praise.
“I’m really not…” I tentatively wrap my arms around her back. She doesn’t seem to want to let go.
“You are!” She squeezes me tight once more before releasing me and holding my shoulders, looking more alive than I’ve ever seen her. Like a weight has been lifted off her. “You’re going to make an amazing psychologist someday, girl!”
I blush at the praise, stroking my right braid a little. It’s nice to be noticed.
“Thanks, Suzu… I’m glad I could help.” I nod with a genuine smile.
“You’ve been
so helpful! If the Akio in my fantasies suddenly becomes a British girl with braids, don’t hold it against me, eh?” She playfully winks and my cheeks get hotter.
Y’know, what? I don’t think I would…
Good to see more Hanakio sarcasm-offs again, I was starting to miss those.
EDIT: I've changed the title to Inductive Insight, Molly's reasonable insight into Suzu's feelings. 
