"WHY DON"T YOU JUST GO TO HELL?"
"AFTER YOU!"
The door to the clubroom slammed closed, the
sound of their voices still echoing throughout the
walls, reverberating around them long after he
had gone.
They were not exactly positive what had caused
the fight to begin. Granted, they always tried to
irritate him to the point of exhaustion, but this
time, this time, it had gone too far.
Eyes turned to the girl glaring at the door.
Tears began forming and she slowly melted to
the floor.
Her head rested behind her crossed arms on the
long table that served as the work-desk for every
brigade member but her. It was there for board
games, tea, and wars waged in the shoddy, 8-bit
expanse that was the infinite universe.
The others did not move an inch.
Mikuru Asahina still clutched her round serving
tray to her chest as if it were a protective shield.
Itsuki Koizumi was still nervously running his
right pointer finger along the white queen that
belonged on her square for the game.
Yuki Nagato…
…did nothing.
She read.
As she usually read, in the corner of the room
with her back to the same wall the bookshelves
stood.
"When?"
The soft word was a surprise to them.
In between the sobs and sniffles came the
simple question.
A question each of them had, but could never
know the answer.
"When will it all be over?"
She wiped her eyes and nose on the sleeve of
her uniform.
"When will it all be over?" she repeated slowly in
a quiet tone, but gradually spoke faster, and
louder, working herself into a shout. "When can
we finally tell him? When can we finally stop
putting up with all this shit?"
She pounded her fists on the table but nobody in
the room answered her.
"We do everything," she started again, calmer,
but still tense. "We give him plenty of excitement,
adventure, we tell him he's an ordinary human,
we let him blame me for the world's problems…"
she took a moment to let out a sob, "…and still
he screams at me."
Asahina came and dropped to her knees next to
the girl.
"Mikuru…Mikuru I'm sorry!" she almost shouted,
breaking into tears again as she threw her arms
around the brigade's official maid.
"I'm sorry. I took it too far. I won't spank you
again."
The other girl gave a shudder before returning
the hug and saying, with a bit of nervous
laughter, "That's alright...I-I'm alright."
"It's just getting so hard to keep up the energy.
I know I'm supposed to play my part…but it's just
so hard. It really is hard to be the bully. It's hard
to be the one he hates."
Only the sound of her quiet sobs filled the room,
amplified by the stillness.
That's when the flutter of a page came like angel
wings to her ears.
"Yuki…Yuki please," she looked over to the silent
one for the first time.
"Please…you know when he'll be back. Just give
me a few minutes. Just a few minutes of peace
and clarity."
Still on her knees, she 'walked' over to Nagato's
chair and placed her chin in the girl's lap, her
hands crossed in front of her as if in prayer.
"Just five minutes. That's all I ask. Please Yuki.
Please."
Her voice trailed into a whisper.
Nagato looked away from her book and watched
as she pleaded desperately with her.
Without a word, Nagato put down the book and
placed the cool palm of her hand against the
girl's forehead, allowing her fingers to rest in the
nest of her dark brown hair.
No sound came from the alien's moving lips, but
soon the girl was unconscious. Her head rested
in Nagato's lap and all the tension in her body
abandoned her. It was a dreamless sleep. It was
a restorative sleep. It was the only way she
could truly be at peace anymore.
Nagato alighted both of her hands atop her
head, robotically running her right hand fingertips
through the strands of the girl's bangs as she
watched over the one who had shouldered so
much of the burden.
