Emi Ibarazaki was pissed.
Three days earlier, she had taken a spontaneous walk out to the track in the late morning to try and find a sketching pencil Rin had misplaced the day before and was deeply concerned about. Instead, she saw her friend Hisao sprinting down the track like he was being chased by wild dogs. His heart condition quickly caught up with him and she made it to the track just as he collapsed.
After calling an ambulance on her cellphone, she ran back towards the school as fast as her prosthetic legs could carry her, which was pretty damn fast. Barreling into the nurse's office, she told him what had happened and the two of them returned to the track. With her help, he carried Hisao towards the main gate where the ambulance would meet them. Hisao was still alive, but every second could have been the difference between life and death.
Emi jumped into the ambulance with Hisao while the nurse headed back to his office to call Mr and Mrs Nakai. After several excruciating hours at the hospital, his parents arrived and thanked her profusely for saving their son's life. The doctor emerged and informed everyone that Hisao was out of danger. The details of his explanation were already foggy; Emi had been too agitated to take them all in. Something about "keyhole surgery" and a temporary pacemaker.
Hisao had been heavily drugged and barely conscious for three days after his surgery. Emi had been stopping at the hospital each day for two reasons. The first was that she was worried about him. The second was that she really wanted to yell at him. When he first came to Yamaku, the nurse had recommended "light exercise." What part of "light" did he not understand?
It looked like today would be the day she was waiting for. The doctor informed Hisao's parents that he was awake and coherent. They went into his room for about an hour and came out looking shaken up but less worried than they had been. It was her turn now.
When she walked into the room, she was surprised at how defeated he looked.
"Well, look who's awake!"
"Hi Emi," he said softly.
"Hi yourself, buster!" she scolded. "What in the hell were you thinking? A guy with your condition can't just ignore exercise for weeks and then suddenly run at full speed! I thought you were smarter than this. Were you TRYING to kill yourself?!"
Hisao sighed. "Can't even do that right."
Emi was stunned for a moment before becoming seized by a white hot rage. Before she knew what she was doing, she pulled her right arm back and slapped Hisao across the face. "You dumb bastard! I ought to-"
"You ought to what?" he asked, barely reacting to the slap. "Kill me? Go right ahead. Maybe you'll have better luck."
"Who ARE you?!" she shouted, grabbing him by the hospital gown. "Do you know what this has been like for your parents?! For me?!"
He didn't have anything to say. She was about to berate him some more when she heard a familar voice from the hallway. Emi took a quick look and saw Misha and Shizune making their way towards the room. Misha was carrying flowers and Shizune had what looked like a stack of papers. Probably homework.
"I thought so," she said. "It's Hakamichi and her noisy translator. If she finds out what you pulled, she might actually kill you."
Hisao sighed. "It doesn't matter."
"We're going to keep that little detail to ourselves," Emi said. "If you tell anyone else, I'll castrate you. We're in a hospital, so I'm sure you'll survive."
"Why do you care?"
"Because if you're going to get through this, you're going to need all the friends you can get. It's not going to help if they're all as pissed off as I am."
Before she left the room, Emi pointed a finger at Hisao. "We are not done talking about this."
"Hello!" Misha called out when Emi was back in the hallway. "How is Hicchan?"
"He's awake now," she answered. "When you're done, I'd like to talk to you two if that's okay."
Shizune signed something to Misha, who promptly translated. "[Of course. I was going to suggest the same thing. I'm told that we have you to thank for his survival.]"
"Yeah, but it took some running through the hallways." Emi couldn't resist. Shizune was always giving her shit about that.
"[We can make an exception for an emergency, I'm sure. Just don't get used to it."]
As the two of them went in, Emi sat on a nearby chair. She hadn't shown it, but what Hisao had revealed shook her to the core. What bothered her most was that she didn't even consider the possibility when he visited that day and had sweetly complimented her and Rin out of the blue. Rin had seen right through him and even called him out, but Emi had dismissed it as just her usual strangeness.
She held both hands over her mouth and struggled not to cry. She would not break down in a public place like this. Emi heard soft footsteps approaching and glanced over to see Hanako timidly looking around.
Emi got up and walked over to her. "Hi, Hanako. He's okay now."
She wouldn't make eye contact. "Thank…thank you for telling me."
"Would you like to see him? Shizune and Misha are in there now but-"
"No," Hanako said suddenly. "No, I…I can't."
Emi sighed. "What happened between you two?"
Hanako had no answer and fidgeted nervously. She should have known that wouldn't work. "It's all right, you don't have to tell me."
"I…I think I'm going to leave now," Hanako said. "I just…wanted to make sure he was going to live."
She began to walk away but Emi was concerned. "Hanako, if you need to talk…I can try and help."
"Thank you," Hanako said. "And thank you for saving him."
And with that, she was gone again. Emi was actually a little relieved about that. She wasn't really the consoling type but Hanako just looked so upset that she couldn't help reaching out at least a little bit. She and Hisao were really a strange match. Getting responses out of Hanako could be like pulling teeth, but for a while Hisao seemed to have formed a real bond with her. Emi couldn't imagine she would hurt a fly but whatever incident had happened with Hisao must have been intense for him to do this to himself.
The whole experience, from finding Hisao unconscious to sitting in a hospital, was starting to dig up some feelings she had no interest in dealing with. She needed to run. As soon as she was done talking to the girls, Emi would be back on the track, doing her best to leave all of this at the starting line.
Shizune and Misha finally came out, with the former looking as stoic as ever and the latter seeming on the verge of tears. Shizune sat down in the chair next to Emi and wasted no time.
"[He is out of danger physically but his mood is what I am most concerned about.]"
"Me too," Emi said after Misha was finished translating.
"[He was acting strange even before this happened. Ikezawa's rejection combined with a sudden trauma like this has left him despondent. I worry he could do something rash if nobody intervenes.]"
She didn't know the half of it, Emi thought.
"[I'm going to set up a meeting tomorrow after classes in the student council room. I would appreciate your participation. You can bring that space cadet Tezuka, since I know she is friendly with Hisao as well.]"
"Her name is Rin and yeah, I will." Only Shizune could come off like a jerk while trying to do something caring. "What about Lilly? She and Hisao are pretty close."
"[According to my brother, Satou will be back at school this evening. We will get in touch with her.]"
"Your brother?" Emi asked. "Why would he know?"
"[Never mind that. I'll see you tomorrow.]"
"I'll tell you later," Misha whispered. Why she felt like she needed to whisper was anyone's guess.
Emi returned to Yamaku and relayed the news of the meeting to Rin, who reacted with one of her typical shrugs. She always came off as a little disconnected from the world around her, but Emi could tell that Rin was concerned about Hisao even if she couldn't really express it. After their short conversation, Emi realized on the walk back to the room that if Rin hadn't left one of her favorite pencils by the track, Hisao would be dead. Life was cruel and random, not that she needed any more proof of that.
The following afternoon, Emi and Rin arrived at the student council room at the same time as Lilly Satou. She looked uncharacteristically ragged, although given that she had just flown halfway around the world only to find out that one of her friends nearly died, it was easily understood.
"Welcome back," Emi said. "I'm sorry you had to come home to news like this."
"Is that Emi?"
"Yeah."
Lilly searched for Emi's hands and grabbed tightly once she found them. "I can never thank you enough for what you did. You are a hero."
She blushed. "I was just in the right place at the right time."
"I will never forget it," Lilly said emphatically. "Shall we go inside?"
The three of them walked in to see Shizune and Misha on opposite ends of the blackboard. Emi and Lilly sat in desks next to each other while Rin opted to sit on top of hers. There was something written on the blackboard already, which Emi decided to read aloud for Lilly's sake.
"Operation: Restore Hisao's Spirit."
"Thanks for coming, everyone!" Misha said with her typical lack of concern for the volume of her voice. "I know that we don't all know each other that well, but we're here because we all care about Hicchan and he needs us now. I'm going to turn things over to Shicchan so she can explain her plan."
Using a retractable metal pointer, Shizune motioned to the chalkboard before setting it down so she could sign for Misha. "[Hisao is suffering and it is our goal to put an end to it as efficiently as possible. Each of us has something to offer and with our combined efforts, I'm confident we can help him get past his troubles. To start, Misha and I will involve him in our planning for the Tanabata festival."]
Lilly exhaled and sounded mildly frustrated. Emi had heard gossip about the feud between her and Shizune, but had not yet seen it in action.
"We're not trying to permanently recruit Hicchan," Misha said, seemingly aware of what people would assume. "He has said no before and we'll respect that. It's a temporary thing."
"[Laziness at a time like this could be deadly. This is a chance to remind him that he is a valued part of the Yamaku community and to give him a sense of accomplishment."]
Shizune motioned to Misha, who started a list on the blackboard. The first item read "Hakamichi/Mikado: Community Involvement" Next, she pointed at Emi.
"[Ibarazaki, you're next."]
"Right," she said. "I can't fix a broken heart but I know what it takes to get a body back into shape. Once the nurse thinks he's ready for physical activity again, I'm going to put him on a regular exercise schedule and clean up his diet. I've heard that if the body feels better, the mind might too."
The others looked somewhat uncomfortable and she realized why. "I know it sounds a little scary since running is what got Hisao into this situation. I'll make sure he takes it slow and steady and if he tries to weasel out of the daily routine, I'm going to break down the door to his room and drag him to the track by his ear."
That might have sounded a little too angry. The others didn't know the full story and assumed Hisao was only guilty of not pacing himself. Emi wanted to vent, but they couldn't know. They didn't deserve to feel the frustration and hurt that she was dealing with.
Misha added to the list, "Ibarazaki: Exercise/Diet."
["Tezuka, what about you?"]
Rin suddenly shook her head. She must have completely spaced out. "Oh. I…I don't know. What are we doing again?"
Shizune rolled her eyes and pointed angrily to the blackboard.
"Oh right, that. Well, I…I'm not sure. Maybe he and I could listen to the rain fall? I think that's good for my spirit. Oh wait, but what if it doesn't rain? Listening to the sunlight would be boring. Hmm."
"[Why don't you try and come up with something during the long weekend?"]
Emi reached over and gave Rin a brief pat on the shoulder, although she didn't seem to notice. Misha stared thoughtfully at the blackboard for a few moments before writing "Tezuka: TBD."
"[That leaves you, Satou.]"
Lilly stood up out of her seat, making Emi briefly wonder if she and Rin had been disrespectful. "First, I want to thank you for making this effort."
There was no response so Lilly continued. "Distractions will be important, but Hisao also needs to address his feelings. He is not the type to speak frankly about his struggles but he will need to in order to heal and for that, he will need to feel safe. I will try and provide that for him."
She was taking on the most difficult job for herself. Emi was impressed but definitely not envious. Misha wrote "Satou: Emotional Support" on the board.
"We have different methods, but the basis for everything we are discussing is the same. Hisao needs love. I'm not talking about romance or dating or anything of the sort. I'm talking about care and understanding, so I hope the rest of you are gentle with him should he resist your suggestions."
["Your advice is duly noted."]
Lilly wasn't finished yet. "There is another topic we haven't yet addressed and that's Hanako. She is suffering too."
Shizune looked annoyed. "[I don't know how I can help someone who won't even leave her room."]
Emi was about to speak up and inform the others that Hanako had visited the hospital to check on Hisao, but stopped herself. The poor girl was just so shy she probably didn't want anyone to know.
"Might I remind you, Shizune, that you are her student representative as well?" Lilly asked.
"[I haven't forgotten.]" There was more, but Misha abruptly stopped translating.
"Shicchan, are you sure you want to say that?"
Shizune gave her a deadly glare and Misha continued, delivering the rest of "Shicchan's" comments in a nervous tone of voice. "[If we truly are talking about giving love, then I don't know what to suggest for someone who was already given love and tossed it aside."]
Lilly gripped her walking stick so hard Emi wondered if she was about to beat Shizune over the head with it. "That's heartless, even for you!"
Was she being heartless or was she trying to be loyal to a friend she clearly cared deeply about? Emi thought. Probably both. She glanced at Shizune and saw a devilish grin cross her face and realized she was savoring the chance of sparring with her nemesis. This wouldn't be helpful, but who would intervene? Certainly not Rin and Misha wouldn't dare.
"That's enough, okay? We didn't come here to argue."
"You're right," Lilly said. "I believe our business is concluded so I will be leaving."
Emi turned towards Shizune. She felt a little bad for her too. "Thank you for doing this. Hisao is lucky to have you as a friend."
"[I'll check in with you all in a few days."]
With the two student council members staying behind to presumably deal with other business, the remaining three girls made their way to the girls dormitories. As Lilly said goodbye and headed towards her room, Emi called out to her.
"Tell Hanako that I'm thinking of her, okay?"
"I will," Lilly replied. "Thank you again, Emi. I expect that we will speak again soon."
Rin didn't say a word until they returned to their own rooms. Just as she was about to disappear behind the door, she stopped in her tracks. Emi could practically see the light bulb appear over her head.
"Emi, I've got an idea."
