"We would like the Sushi Platter, please." Hajime requested when the waitress arrived to take their order. "And green tea all around. Thank you very much, ma'am." The waitress bustled off, blushing at the flirtatious looks she had received from Mannen and Go. "Mannen, Go, you really should know better than to lead people on like that. Now she'll have her hopes up, and you'll probably never see her again." Mannen and Go at least had the decency to look sheepish; whether they were or not was debatable.
Sasame smiled at Kohra, who looked amused but also somewhat lonely. "So, Kohra. You aren't Japanese. Where are you from?" He didn't think she remembered that first day of school, when she had thanked him. He decided to keep it that way – it wouldn't do for her to know that they had been tracking her, because then she would also need to know why.
I...I'm from Wisconsin. She stated hesitantly. It's in the United States. Near Canada. She said, noting Mannen's confused look. "Maybe if you paid attention in class you'd know that, hmm, Mannen?" Sasame nudged his friend. Mannen wasn't very good at the concept of 'serious.'
"But, if you're from the United States, what are you doing living in Japan? Not that we aren't glad you're here! It's just...you're a long way from home, yeah?" Go inquired. I'm here because my...my father...Her eyes filled with tears and she began to shake. Without much warning – other than the obvious signs of grief – she got up and ran to the bathroom. The seven knights sat in awkward silence for a few moments.
"Well. That was exciting." Kei blinked. "Well, if I had known how upset she'd get, I wouldn't have asked." Go said, obviously feeling terrible for whatever it was he had done. He shrugged, "Do you think she's okay?"
"Hah!" Hayate snorted. "How okay could she be? She's a basketcase. Or didn't you all notice her arms when we brought her in? She's a loon." He kept his voice quiet, so that other patrons of the restaurant wouldn't overhear, but it was filled with a fierce intensity. "I don't care what you all think. She's not fit to be the Pretear. Not only has she got no control over any of her emotions, but she's a suicidal maniac! We don't need another dead Pretear!" Hayate didn't personally remember anything from his past life, but he had forced Shin and Hajime to tell him everything – or at least, what he thought was everything. He knew that he and Himeno had been in love. He did not know that one Pretear had died before Himeno, and her death and been partially due to his manipulations. Shin and Hajime had seen the burden just one death had been for him. They did not want to risk telling him about the other.
What happened? What happened is that father went crazy. I drove him mad. It's my fault. All my fault. Daddy would never hurt anyone but every time I screwed up, every failure of mine, I could see it eating away at him. And then he cracked. Mama wouldn't be dead if I weren't so horrible. What've I done?
No razor. Where is it? I hadn't brought it. My mind was screaming. I needed to do something to calm myself down, so I smashed the one small window in the bathroom. As shards of glass rained down, I found one suitable for my purposes. It was about as long as my middle finger, and about as wide as my thumb. The edge was curved and sharp on one side, straight and dull on the other. Perfect. I pulled up my sleeve, pressed the curved edge against my wrist and dragged. Watched tiny white lines become little ruby bracelets become tiny crimson rivers down my arms. And the sweet soft darkness filled me and took over, and I wasn't sad anymore. I was just sleepy. So sleepy. My vision went blurry at the edges, darkness creeping in. I sagged towards a lovely vermilion lake. Finally, I can rest.
"Hasn't it been an awfully long time? Maybe someone should check on her..." Shin looked at his watch nervously, glanced again at the ladies' room door. Hayate's comments had them all on edge now. What had happened before? What if she tried to kill herself? Whether she was the Pretear or not, they couldn't just let her kill herself. They were responsible for her.
"In case you haven't noticed, Shin, we're male. They probably won't appreciate us going and peeking in the ladies' room." Hajime said doubtfully. What could possibly make anyone hate herself enough to try to die? Life couldn't possibly be that bad...could it?
"Well, we could be sneaky." This was Mannen. Not only was he worried, he wanted to see what was so great about the girls' room! They sat in silence for a few more seconds. "I'm going. I don't care. If she's hurt, we have to help her." He stood up quietly and walked casually but purposefully towards the bathrooms. He made as if to go into the men's room, checked to make sure no one was watching, and slid into the ladies' room. Within twenty seconds he was back out, holding Kohra wrapped in a cloak. He gave a quick excuse to the other patrons and the owners. "She passed out over by the bathrooms. We'll just take her home. So sorry we didn't get to eat. Goodbye." Shin, Hajime, Go, Hayate, Sasame, and Kei promptly stood up and hurried after him. Once on the street, they broke into a run, ignoring the stares they got.
"Is she dead?"
"No. Close enough, though." Mannen's face was grim. "Hayate was right. In a way."
"What?!"
They flew through the park, dashed through to Leafania, and got her into a bed. In the bathroom at the restaurant, Mannen had tied his sweater around her arms, stopping some of the bleeding. They removed this and looked at her arms. Shin ran into the bathroom and was sick in the toilet. "She looks like she went through a paper shredder." Hajime murmured, horrified. Kei grimly set to work cleaning and bandaging her arms.
"I think," he said quietly, "that when she wakes up, it might be beneficial for us to find out just what happened back in Wisconsin. She needs to know that she is not alone."
The other six nodded. Kohra slept on.
A/N: Okay, I'm done apologizing for short chapters. I prefer them like this, and I think it works fine. Yes, the part in Kohra's POV is indeed supposed to be choppy and disjointed. After all, she's a bit...unstable at the moment. Please R/R! The more reviews I get, the sooner it will be happay!
