An Unwelcome Visitor
Dear Mum...
Akko backspaced. Way too formal even if it was an important email.
Mum,
I'm sorry I didn't share this part of my life with you before. For a long time it was so uncertain I didn't feel able, and once it became certain I was scared how the people closest to me would react.
Akko tapped the white plastic shelf, which her black keyboard rested on, lightly with her middle right finger; her legs crossed and tucked beneath the angular wooden chair. Typing this was going to be hard. It reminded her of the time she had written Mari that Christmas note; she had practically filled her wastepaper basket with thrown out drafts.
At least this time it won't use up paper. I guess I should start at the beginning so to speak.
It all started several years ago when Mari and I found ourselves in the same class. For a long time I found myself wondering about her. She was so quiet and diligent. Different to all my jokey Middle School friends, who stopped contacting me when I reached High School. Different to Sugi and Tamamin as well who were fun to be around but who I didn't feel close too.
As I watched her I noticed she often seemed to be alone and wanted to help her, wanted to see if I could improve her looks and make her cuter, wanted to see if she could be the special friend I had been searching for. Eventually I mustered up the courage to talk to her.
Akko paused, having reeled off a couple of paragraphs. Her head began to swim with the picture of the classroom that day. The clatter of chairs as the teacher dismissed the class, the last soundings of the school bell dashing away up the hall. What had made her call out to Mari that day of all days?
Certainly that day Mari had been slower at packing her stuff away and the class had emptied more than usual when she had got up to leave, including Sugi and Tamamin who had other plans after school (a boyfriend and some sort of drama event). And that day Mari also took the route that passed by her desk.
Usually she'd head to the front by one of the main corridors between the desks and clean the board, or simply head home. But that day a lot of the desks had cleared making it easier for Mari to head straight for the door through the gaps between the empty desks, and as we simply had an English exam there was nothing to rub off the board.
Akko recalled how her heart rate had quickened when she realised Mari was heading her way, her throat tightening to the point where she was afraid Mari would simply pass by without her saying a word.
It was the loneliness in her face, well her whole posture that made me blurt out her name. I could relate to that in a way, although for me it was a little different as I was always surrounded by 'friends'. What we were both searching for though was a soulmate. And even if the chance was small it was a chance. A chance for us both to be happier.
But at the time I was fearful. I was so different to her. What if she preferred things the way they were? What if I was simply an irritation to her? I wasn't smart like Mari. I didn't take class duties or studies as seriously. Would she hate me? But I had to try, and so I blurted those life changing words, a little louder than I intended: Mari-chan!
I decided on chan because I didn't want there to be distance between us. I wasn't going to go with a surname. I wanted my intentions to be clear from the start. Perhaps having never spoken it was a bit odd. But I don't really think things through sometimes. I guess I'm just a bit too impulsive! After all I also asked her to call me Akko straight off.
Mari's feet padding on the floor behind brought Akko back to earth, and she realised she'd been blankly staring at the screen for several minutes without typing.
Shoot! At this rate it's going to take forever!
Behind her Mari's towel hit the floor with a light thud as Mari pulled on her clothes from the day before. Akko was ever so tempted to look round but fought against it. Mari tended to be oddly protective of herself when getting changed. There was plenty of time to admire Mari's figure later anyway, so she concentrated on the screen and trying to type some more, but her mind wouldn't settle now: Mixed thoughts of Mari changing and their plans for the day crowding out deeper thought. With a sigh she hit the save button as Mari stepped across the room, dumped her damp towel into the laundry hamper to Akko's left and then came to stand behind her.
Mari placed her hands on Akko's shoulders and planted a light kiss on Akko's head,
"What are you up to?"
"I'm writing a mail to my mum. It's gonna take ages to finish."
The silence from behind suggested Mari was already reading it. Akko's eyes widened. Do I really want Mari reading this? Akko felt herself tensing.
"Ah, I'm sorry. You're right I shouldn't. It's between you and your mum."
The hands lifted from her shoulders and Mari padded over to the door.
"I'm going to go make breakfast. Is miso soup and fruit all-right?"
Akko nodded and shifted to face Mari.
"Say Mari, when we first met what did you think of me?"
Mari paused with a hand on the door handle, glancing at Akko and then the ceiling in thought.
She has a habit of looking away and taking her time when asked deeper questions, but I love that about her because it shows she's taking it seriously.
"Beautiful but odd, definitely odd." Mari replied with a small smile.
Akko's eyebrows rose.
Mari giggled. "Well you called me by my first name out of the blue, knew I'd only missed one English class and laughed at me for several minutes, dragged me to have food and obsessed about my hair. Until then the only person who had really spent time with me was Mayu-chan who was as silent as a mouse. I was a little overwhelmed. " She looked a more sombre as she added, "you know I almost didn't meet you the next day. I was going to make up some sort of excuse as I didn't have much to wear and thought you'd look down on me. But then I remembered what you said about my hair being a waste..." Mari smiled, and her eyes sparkled, "I'm so glad I took the chance and went now."
Akko couldn't hold herself back, crossing the room and hugging Mari tightly. The thought that her mother may still be about and the lateness of the day kept her from going further, so she simply held Mari in a warm embrace for a few minutes.
"Me too," she whispered.
BzzzzzBzzzzzBzzzzzz
The pair sprung apart.
"What's that!" Mari exclaimed in alarm, eyes darting about the room.
A shadow jerked and bounced behind the drifting curtains. Akko and Mari watched transfixed as a gust sent the curtain billowing and released the creature into the room.
A small body, streaked yellow and black with a curved barb attached, shot into the centre of the room buzzing loudly, making Mari cry out in alarm. Akko immediately assumed a defensive position in front of her, arms outstretched, as Mari asked nervously,
"Is it a hornet?"
"You go get breakfast Mari. I'll take care of it!"
The hornet headed for the computer screen and bumped against it before darting back towards the pair
Mari nodded and shot out of the room in record time, closing the door shut firmly behind her.
I can't stand hornets, ever since that one that stung me in the park when I was little.
It had taken two hours to stop her crying and a fair amount of ice cream, so her mother said at any rate; all Mari could remember was the buzzing as she stood in a golden sea of sand, the prickling on the back of her neck and the pain. She shivered and headed for the kitchen. I hope Akko's going to be okay, she's so brave.
She paused at the entrance to the dining room and glanced at her watch. It was ten to ten already. She debated knocking on Akko's mum's door and asking if she wanted breakfast. She shouldn't still be sleeping surely? But if she was? No, it would be rude not to offer her breakfast given it was her house. Mari walked back up the corridor and knocked twice on Akko's mum's door.
She waited a few moments before taking a calming breath and opening the door. The door slid inwards silently, without resistance.
The room was tidy, lit by sunlight streaming through two, floor to ceiling, sliding windows on the opposite wall and a little to her right. Directly opposite Mari was a skeletal bookcase, with about 5 shelves of books and DVD's; a few near the bottom were the large thick kind that were used once in a blue moon as reference material, the rest looked like a haphazard collection of films and light novels. The room was a little wider than Akko's and longer, as the bathroom didn't cut it off at the end. Mari peered right to see a single bed running against the near wall with covers neatly folded and empty. A bedside table beyond carried a cream lamp and a jumble of earrings and lipsticks, and past that Mari could see the far side of the room was not dissimilar in style to Akko's. There was a wall mirror above a sink in the far right corner, and then to the left, towards the window, was a laundry basket, writing desk and in the far left corner a giant green fern. The fern fanned out into the room from a rounded clay pot, glowing an emerald green in the sunlight that dashed the room with squares of gold.
She only spent a few seconds glancing around the room to confirm it was empty. Any more and she would have felt like she was prying. With a small sigh of relief she stepped out and carefully closed the door.
It's so silly. Why am I so scared? It doesn't make any sense.
Shaking her head she started heading for the kitchen. There was a thump from Akko's room followed by a loud exclamation of 'Damn!' and a loud angry buzzing.
Mari thought of checking if Akko was all right, but as there hadn't been any particularly disturbing noises and the hornet was clearly still alive she decided to just let Akko get on with it.
She had only made it into the living room when a series of enthusiastically delivered thumps echoed through the house followed by a jubilant exclamation of triumph from their room.
Mari grinned and continued on around the glowing table and into the kitchen to make breakfast.
It sounded like she was beating a bear to death rather than squishing an insect! But it does sum her up well: Wildly enthusiastic but totally reliable when it matters. She gave the kitchen a nervous once round glance, hornets still fresh on her mind, but it seemed the kitchen was free of them; there weren't any windows open for them to enter by anyway. Chuckling at the silliness of her fear she headed for the fridge; she had an important task to see to as well – the satisfying of Akko's ever demanding stomach.
A/N Everytime I start a Chapter for this story I think I'll get to point X this time, and then Mari and Akko fill the space before X and I never do. They might actually leave Akko's house next Chapter but given the way things are going I'm hesitant to promise it :)
As always thanks for the great support from everyone reading and reviewing this story, it makes me really happy to know people are enjoying it or finding ways to make it even better.