Chapter Six: Behind These Bars, Lunch and Then Some!
I hope that Hanako's friend is nice... Michael thought, before continuing, Or I'm afraid that my verdict's going to come early.
They stopped, and Hanako turned to Michael, putting a hand on his chest. It was in no way intimate, but more a means to communicate by.
Don't come in yet. I need to work this out.
Michael gave a smile and a nod, before saying "Hanako."
She was about to turn away, but stopped at his voice.
"I'm... I'm going to be different when I go in there. You understand, right?"
She looked a little worried, but covered it up by lowering her gaze to her hand on his chest.
"Will... Will you be...?"
"No, but I'm still me. In there."
She knew where he was talking about; her hand rested over it. She gave a little nod, steeling herself in her own way, before opening the door.
"... Lilly?"
She froze, and tensed up a bit, before an excited, yet even and calm voice rang back to her.
"Ah, Hanako. I was wondering if you were going to show up. You've met Hisao, have you not?"
Hanako's head turned to Hisao slowly, before turning back and managing a nod, and a small "Yes."
Lilly waited for a moment, but frowned after hearing nothing for a few moments.
"L – Lilly? I... I wanted... I wanted to... know if... if... you'd mind if... I – I brought Someone... To... lunch, T – today."
There was silence for a moment, before Hisao started laughing quietly, and Lilly said "Of course, Hanako. Why don't you introduce us?"
Michael heard the laughter, but waited for Hanako to turn back. She looked at him, before he looked down one more time, closed his eyes and took a deep breath...
Mikaru opened his eyes, a large, cocky grin on his face. He looked at the girl before him, and beamed.
"Come on, Hanako. Let me in! Hisaoooo! Is that you?"
Hanako let out a tiny 'Eeep!' before shooting into the room, and Mikaru followed him in. He took a large, sweeping gaze, noting Hisao's concern – filled face, before resting them on Lilly, the only other person in the Room. He strode over confidently, kneeling alongside the table.
"You must be Lilly, I presume! It's hardly fair that I know that though. Hisao! Introduce us!"
Hisao balked briefly, before letting out a defeated sigh, and putting a smile back onto his face.
"Lilly, this is my friend Kanasu Mikaru. He's... a little exuberant, but he's the strongest guy in the school. That's to be expected. He's a little Cocky, but he's... an outstanding individual. Mikaru -"
Hisao gave him a glare that said 'You know death comes to my enemies; Back off!'
Mikaru beamed, and shuffled back an inch for Hisao's sake.
"This is Lilly Satou. She's a very kind person, a wonderful conversationalist, and makes delectable tea."
Lilly blushed a bit, but turned her head towards Mikaru and extended her hand to shake it. Hisao blanched and Hanako froze, but Mikaru was quick and confident. Lifting one forearm, he used it to manoeuvre Lilly's hand to clasp his other one. He gave his signature "Hand Shake", and Lilly almost looked like she could die from embarrassment. Before she could say anything, though, Mikaru cut in.
"You'll forgive me, but I'm a pretty blunt person. You're blind, so I couldn't reasonably expect you to know that I have exactly zero hands. The point is moot, though, because I was going to shake your hand anyway." The shake ended after his sentence did. She blushed some more.
"Um, Uh... that wasn't your leg?"
The boys burst out into laughter. Lilly flinched, appearing frazzled for a second, before she too, joined in the laughter. Hanako gave the tiniest of laughs, if only because the tension was no longer in the air and she could breathe again.
The laughter died slowly, in a comfortable manner, before Lilly looked pensive. Hisao was a little confused, but Mikaru was just patient, looking back and forth between Hanako and Hisao. After a short while though, and another sip of her tea however, she spoke.
"Mikaru, it seems that we are in a bit of a quandary."
Mikaru raised his brow, before realizing it's futility and spoke. "Oh? I don't see a problem."
Hisao twitched a bit, likely because of his use of the word "See", but said nothing. Lilly smirked a bit, and responded. "... Well, WE have plenty of food here, and I would be happy to share it with you, but... you see, I haven't yet been able to serve a hand-less person. I am at a loss as to how."
Mikaru looked seriously down at the rather full platter of sandwiches, appearing pensive for a moment. Then looked up at Lilly and spoke.
"Well, Lilly, I'm going to be blunt again. Actually, before that. Can we agree that, from here on out, pretty much anything I say should be understood to be proceeded by 'to be blunt' or any other derivative term, and also imply the inevitable apologies? It's like walking on eggshells. I don't like eggs."
Lilly gave a pleasant chuckle, before an easygoing nod was given. "I believe I would prefer that arrangement as well. Proceed."
Mikaru smiled. He knew that the smile came through verbally, and Lilly was very attentive.
"You see, I am a large guy. By no means fat, but I could easily eat your weight in food in about three days, and it would leave me hungry. And, besides that, where I come from, the guest DOES NOT impose. While, were it my party, I would almost invite you to impose, as I have no personal space of my own volition, While I am at someone else's, I would hope that a simple 'No thanks, I will serve myself at a later time' would be sufficient to both allay your concerns, and satisfy your obligations."
She waited for a moment, seemingly weighing the words in her mind before a pleasant smile graced her features. She spoke to me in English next, mildly surprising me.
"You are a tough nut to crack, Michael. I would like to speak to you later, if that would be all right."
"Yes, Mam."
They switched back to Japanese, leaving a confused Hisao and a flustered Hanako.
Lilly spoke first, putting both at ease. "I apologize for that; I haven't spoken English in a long time. The prospect of having even a small conversation was too good to pass up."
After that, some light conversing ensued, followed by comfortable silence. Eventually, Hisao noticed the time, and looked to Lilly.
"Lilly, we have about ten minutes until class starts."
Lilly gave a small smile. "Ah, is that so? Then I'm afraid our time is up. This was... pleasant. I do hope we get to do this again soon."
Hanako smiled, but Mikaru did not.
Lilly, although very good at concealing her body language when she wanted to, was NOT good enough to fool Mikaru. Additionally, her speaking English, in the middle of a conversation with fluent Japanese speakers, specifically meant that she didn't really want the conversation to be a known thing. He suspected that she meant to speak with him now... and he thought he knew why.
As the others prepared to leave Lilly confirmed her suspicions. "Hisao, Hanako, could you please head forward to class? I suspect that Mikaru and I have the best chance of cleaning this up without getting in trouble. "
Hisao glanced between the two of us, but nodded. Hanako remained impassive, and nodded in his direction, before muttering a small 'goodbye' and taking her leave.
After the two left, Mikaru decided to bite the bullet. They spoke in English, so no one would eaves drop. "Lilly, I shall go close the door now; is this agreeable?"
She froze for a second, before nodding stiffly. He got up, and closed the door. When he turned around, Lilly was standing, cutting an imposing figure before him. He did not flinch.
"You... are an enigma. And you'd better believe that I will not tolerate this, Michael Kanas."