Chapter 2 - Blurring the Lines
"Sakamoto!" I heard my overactive best friend yell from down the hall. I turned slowly as Mikoto came to a stop just in front of me, waving my notebook that I had lent him last period about frantically. I cocked my head questioningly.
"What's wrong, Mikoto?" I asked, though I was no where near being in the mood to deal with Mikoto's drama. It wasn't that I didn't care, but a throbbing headache was brewing smack dab in the middle of my forehead for the fourth day in a row, making it almost impossible to focus on anything.
"What's up with your notes?" Mikoto huffed worriedly. I stared at the book as he handed it to me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, completely unaware of what he was talking about. What was wrong with my notes?
"Sakamoto..." he said softly. I flashed my eyes up at the man and then down to my notebook, flipping it open hesitantly. "None of them make any sense."
"How could that be?" I glared at that days notes curiously. As I read, I found none of the sentences made much sense. Some sentences were missing key particles, while others held grave spelling errors that didn't even make real words. I shook my head nervously. "This is...very strange." I sighed, flipping back a few pages. It seemed over the last two weeks, my notes had gradually gotten more and more incoherent, gaining a rather crazed characteristic.
"Come on, lets get some lunch..." Mikoto finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"What? Oh, yes of course." I said, shutting the notebook softly.
"Are you okay?" he asked, catching my careful eyes in his worried gaze. I nodded confusedly.
"Of course."
Mikoto said nothing more until after we'd gotten our lunch and were up on the roof. I sat down carefully and cast my eyes out through the wire fencing and across the school campus. It was a wonderfully crisp day, not too cold but not too warm, as the winter air began to recede, allowing us to once again resume our ritual of eating on the roof. Mikoto's soft voice finally broke the silence just as I opened my bento box that my mother had carefully prepaired with love for me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again. I popped a small scoop of rice in my mouth, pondering the question. Was I okay?
"Yes, I'm sure." I answered with a completely blank expression. Mikoto's stare was intense, breaking down every little wall that made me want to struggle against his caring questions.
"You just seem so tired all of the time now, and your notes...its like your head's somewhere else all the time." Mikoto took an exhausted bite of his sandwich, finally releasing me from his gaze. I sighed, chewing an my food carefully so I wouldn't have to reply right away.
The responsibilities of being student council president were much more taxing than I had anticipated. How in the world had Arisada managed everything and still kept his amazing beauty? I sighed inwardly; beauty. Well I could cross that worry off the list, you can't keep something you don't have. When I thought about it, I'd been pulling all-nighters more and more. It seemed the stress was starting to pile up, and I simply didn't know how to deal with it. Though I still had no idea what was up with my notes, and it was bothering me to no end.
"I'm very sorry..." I said softly. Mikoto laid his sandwich down gently.
"What's going on, Sakamoto?" he asked point blank, his expression letting me know without a doubt that I was not allowed to ignore this question. I bowed my head slightly, rubbing my forehead gently.
"I'm...just a little stressed, is all..."
"Is it all?"
"N-no...I'm more like...really stressed."
"Is it cause of student council?" I nodded my head. Mikoto laid a hand on my shoulder, making me realize I had been shaking. "A-are you alright?" he asked, a little more force in his worried voice. I put my bento box down and used my hands to support myself.
"U-umm, yeah...I just have this really bad headache." I lifted my head slowly and smiled as best I could, which was incredibly unconvincing. Mikoto shook his head.
"You look horrible, I'm taking you to the nurse." he said, wrapping up the remains of his sandwich and pushing himself up to his feet, brushing his pants off quickly. "Come on." he said, holding out a hand to me. It felt odd to take Mikoto's hand and feel his muscles strength as they helped pull me to my feet. I felt an unstoppable blush come to my cheeks as Mikoto began to release my hand. I gripped my bento tightly and hoped to god that he didn't notice it.
"Can you walk?" he asked, his pink hair ruffled in the wind. My blush darkened and my throbbing headache began pounding against my skull. I winced but nodded. I took a step, my bones feeling like jello and my legs threatening to give out on me. Mikoto held his hands out, taking my shoulders firmly to help steady me. "Here..." he said, wrapping one of my arms around his neck and latching one hand around my waist to keep me upright.
"Ughh..." I groaned reluctantly. Mikoto squeezed my hand comfortingly and began the trek down to the nurses office.
"Sir?" I heard Mikoto's voice through the fog of pounding pain.
"Oh yes, lay him down." the nurse said, the sound of his task chair's wheels gliding over the floor following. Mikoto helped me sit down on the bed and get me comfortable. I couldn't even keep my eyes open anymore, my headache wouldn't allow it.
"Sakamoto-sama, can you tell me exactly whats wrong?" he asked me in a low voice, respecting my obvious sensitivity to sound and light.
"Uhh...I have a horrible headache..." I began softly, feeling a painful nausia wash over me. "Right behind my eyes..." I sighed, starting to feel the slightest bit of relief come to me.
"Anything else?"
"Not really." I sighed, casting my arm lazily over my eyes to block out the infirmary room lights. The nurse rolled back to his desk with the soft tap-tap's of Mikoto's shoes as well. They talked in hushed tones, but I didn't care enough to listen to anything they were saying.
Eventually, after who knows how long, the nurse had come back to my bedside. "Open your eyes Sakamoto-sama and take some advil." he said, shaking my shoulder gently. I knitted my eyebrows in frustration, but removed my arm from my face and sat up regardless. My eyes opened slowly, instantly stinging with the light. I turned my head to see Mikoto standing behind the nurse, a worried expression etched deep into his features. I took the pills with a small cup of water and fell back on the bed, not a care in the world for classes or student council.
"Tell me, has this been happening a lot?"
"What...?"
"Have you been getting a lot of these headaches lately?"
"Yes, I suppose I have. Though this is definitely the worst." I answered, already starting to feel better as the medicine spread through me.
"Hm, interesting." the nurse smirked, though I was too far gone to notice. "Rest for now, we can talk later.
My eyes cracked open lazily as I surfaced from unconsciousness. I sat up slowly, immediately hit with the soreness in my joints and the ever present throbbing in my head left over from my monster headache. I swung my feet over the side of the bed and looked out the window to find the beautiful orange hues of evening. How long had I been here?
"Ahh, I see you're finally awake Sakamoto-sama." the nurse greeted me warmly as he rolled over to my side. I ran my hand through my messy hair and stretched out my muscles.
"I'm terribly sorry to have kept you here. Could you tell me what time it is?" I asked politely, my smile formal and kind.
"Certainly, it is seven thirty-two." he answered cheerfully. My eyes widened.
"Seven thirty!" I gasped, shooting up from the bed much too fast and falling straight back down.
"Calm down, I've already informed your family, but they're all very worried about you." I sighed heavily and shook my head.
"Thank you so much for you help, but I must hurry home now." the nurse shook his head as I tried to stand again and pushed me back down.
"Before you go, please look at this." he said, holding up a standard eye chart. I stared at it confusedly. "Please read what you see." he explained after a short silence.
"Oh, of course." I said, and began reading off the letters and numbers as he held the card up at the other end of the room. He scribbled some things down on a complicated looking form quickly as I finished and stood from his chair, throwing the card on his desk carelessly.
"Sakamoto-sama, have you been working yourself too hard lately? What I mean to say is, are you stressed?"
"Excuse me...?" I asked, slightly caught off guard. "Th-that is, I...suppose I am a bit stressed, though its nothing I can't handle."
"Oh really? Sakamoto-sama, I'm a doctor, its important you're completely honest with me."
"Yes, I've been very stressed lately. Why, is something wrong with me?"
"Not particularly." the nurse said, motioning for me to get up. I stood slowly and wobbled for a moment before gaining my balance. "I would recommend you go see an optometrist, though."
"O-optometrist?" I repeated, feeling my heart drop.
"Yes, I believe these headaches are related to your sight."
"You mean...?" my smile did a 180 as both fear and sadness took hold of me.
"You need glasses, Sakamoto-sama." he shuffled some papers before handing me the sheet he'd been writing on before. "Take this to your optometrist. Now your brother should be waiting outside for you to take you home, please be careful while walking around."
I stood in the nurse's office simply shocked to my core as I tried to process this new information. How could I need glasses? Curse my workaholic demenor! I looked plain enough without glasses, I certainly didn't need anything making my appearance worse. Eventually I figured out that it was time for me to leave, and so I did. Just as the nurse had said, Haru was waiting for me just outside and pulled me into a crushing hug the moment my foot was out of the school's doors.
"Akira!" he cried, slowly loosening his death grip. "We were all so worried about you!"
"I know, I'm sorry." I laughed nervously as he let me go and began walking to the car.
"Don't apologize! But are...are you okay?" he asked, his eyes big with childish fear. I nodded with a simple smile.
"Of course I'm alright." Harumi ruffled my hair lovingly and helped me into the car before running over to his side and getting in the drivers seat. The whole drive Harumi talked about how worried the family had been and the horrifying scenarios they'd come up with while I had been away. I smiled warmly, touched by family's love for me. They always had a way of making my day brighter.
"So what was wrong...?" Haru questioned softly. I groaned and leaned my head against the glass of the car window as we pulled to a stop in front of our house. "Huh?" Haru put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"I...I need glasses." I grumbled, opening the car door with annoyance in my every movement. Haru stared at me wide eyed for a moment, almost just as shocked as I had been.
"Seriously?" he called from inside the car, though I'd already made it to the front door.
"Seriously." I sighed.
Author's Notes
You: Needing glasses doesn't cause you to get that sick!
Me: Oh yes it does. _ I'd know.
Its true, this is from personal experience. It was stil a couple days before my first pair of glasses would be ready and I was watching a movie in the theaters. I got so sick I could hardly move. Headaches from blurry vision suck ass. No joke man. So don't forget to review, I love reviews like little kittens~.
-AppleLove
