In the end, Nozomi phoned me. It was a graceful gesture. She was polite and kind and almost timid. I almost did not recognize her. She said, "I heard you found out the worst way yesterday. If it was me and Eli I don't know how I could stand it. And we aren't even really a lovey-dovey couple like I wish, yet. Are you mad?"
I was but I think what Mrs. Yazawa had Niko do caught her flat-footed, too. "You didn't know Niko was going to be sent to Otonikizaka?" "No, I had no idea. It was a terrible thing. I helped her get home and said Minami-sensei told her to stay home until she was better." "Did she?" "Yeah, she was surprised to see how bad Niko was."
"Why in God's name did anyone want her to go to Otonokizaka in the first place?" I yelled. I Probably hurt Nozomi's ears. I didn't care.
Nozomi didn't say anything for quite a while. "Maki, you should listen. Niko, she doesn't remember anything after her first month at Otonokizaka. Not her idol club going boom, not Muse, not Love Live, not you."
I interrupted her there: "Why are you rubbing that in my face?"
"Maki, please listen. Niko-chan is a starting ichinensei in her mind. She doesn't know anything past middle school. You remember how hard it was to get her to pass math for me and Eli?"
"Nnn" I said. Well, yeah.
"Eli is already back at school and I have to go there, too. I don't want to get too far behind. We aren't going to be here to help her. And she's really sad. It's like she was when the Idol club broke up. She needs her Muse friends, but she doesn't know them."
It was such a bad feeling. Niko had told me very little about that time, but even so. It was like having her father die all over again. That's what she said. If she was like that, she needed help with more than school. So I said that to Nozomi.
"Exactly," Nozomi said to me. "You have my phone number and my email and LINE and so on. And you have everyone else?"
And I did, because of what happened to Niko. We wanted to all be in touch at a moment's notice.
"Okay," said Nozomi. "Because even though right now you can't help her directly, you need to help her indirectly. You need to meet up with her mother. Eli and I are looking up the law and looking for a lawyer or something. Mrs. Yazawa would settle for anything the train company offers, you know that."
"She would never sue, she doesn't have the time or money and she's too afraid, anyway." I want to write right here and now, I love Mrs. Yazawa and I see where Niko gets her kind heart and motherly instincts. But honestly, sending Niko to school like that reminded me that the Yazawas tend to keep their heads down when the rich and powerful are threatening them.
"She might sue, if it was in a crowd. There is no nail sticking up. But Eli says she may not have to. Just grouping together all the victims that weren't killed as if there will be a big suit will make a better settlement offer. Sometimes more than you would win."
I agreed, because telling her she just had to appear to be joining a suit, that was enough, would be acceptable.
We talked about a lot of things after that, and I notice my feelings also when I am crying too hard to speak. Nozomi has one more week before she absolutely has to go back to university, and she will have all of Niko's time and attention, and I am grateful to her.
