Episode XII
An alarm clock rang. May woke up to it in a frenzy. It had startled her; with everything that transpired this weekend she was not use to such normalcies. She quickly turned it off and looked around her room. Everything was back to normal, how she wanted it. Her feeling of emptiness was also back. She hadn't noticed till now but being with Bean, Robin and Blue had made that emptiness go away. She quickly put it out of her mind; even the letters that made up his name enraged her. It was time to get ready for school, time to get back into her old routine, and that started out with a shower; one she desperately needed. She was still in the summer blue dress that Bean had bought her. She quickly took it off, crumpled it up and threw it in the corner as she made her way to the shower.
After the shower came breakfast, like always. May was the first one down to eat breakfast like always as well with her mother being second.
"Good morning." Her mother emptily greeted in Japanese.
"Good morning." May replied back in the same language and manner.
After the forced pleasantries her mother went straight into her morning coffee. May couldn't believe it. Was she a robot? Something completely and utterly out of the ordinary had happened this weekend and her mother didn't even think to ask one question about it. She didn't even notice. Even if May did have a false account that she would have to lie about to maintain she thought this new turn of events would surely give them a meaningful conversation to have around the breakfast table. Instead she received nothing. May clicked her tongue and turned her head away from her.
"May…" Her mother called.
A wave of excitement washed over May; maybe she was wrong about her parents.
"Yes?" She asked, ready to answer any questions her mother had.
"Your eye…"
"Oh…" May said as she touched it. "Well…what happened was…"
"Make sure you put some make-up on it. It's unsightly. We can't have you going to school like that." Her mom said as she finished her coffee and went to go finish getting ready.
(What?!) May yelled in her head.
She was infuriated. Her mother had said the words so nonchalantly. She had shown that she cared more about her daughter's physical appearance than her health and well-being.
(Even Bean cares more than my parents.) She thought.
Bean. She had thought about him again. She couldn't understand why she couldn't get him out of her mind. It frustrated and stressed her to the point where blood started to leak from her nose. She wiped away the blood and slowly calmed herself down so that she could finish getting ready for school.
The silver Mercedes-Benz was the first car in the school driveway as usual, May looking out the window to avoid any type of visual contact with her mother. As soon as the car started to come to a stop she gathered her things and stepped out before it could stop completely.
"Have a good day." Her mother said to her.
"Fuck you." May said under her breath as she slammed the door and walked away into the school.
As soon as she entered the school the Principle was there waiting for her.
"May!" He said in a worried tone.
He ran up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"I'm so glad to see you're alright. You had the whole school worried!"
May stood there, her heart began to sink.
(Do they know? No, no way. How could they?) She thought to herself.
"I'm glad to see that you're feeling well enough to be coming back to school after the accident though."
"Accident?"
"Yes. Your mother called and informed the school that you and your dad were involved in a car accident but that you were both ok."
"Oh yes." May said, playing along with the story. "Sorry. I'm still a little hazy about the whole thing. They say that I was knocked unconscious when I woke up in the hospital, and that all my injuries were superficial."
Students and teachers could start to be heard in the background.
"Well like I said, we're all just glad you're alright. We'd hate to lose this school's star pupil."
"What?" May said, getting upset again.
"I said we'd hate to lose our top student." He said again
May sighed with disgust as she brushed past him to catch up on her student council duties.
"May?" The principle called, not understanding why she had become so upset.
She gave him no reply.
(Am I just an asset to everyone?!) May thought to herself.
(Is there anyone who truly cares about me? Cares for me?)
(Bean does.) Her conscious said to her.
She ignored it.
Bean sat in his first class of the day on time as he waited for it to start. All around him students talked about their frivolous weekends amongst each other while right beside him Robin talked his ear off about questions on the homework.
"Bean what did you get for this answer?" She asked as she pointed to it.
"x=5 and y=17." He answered
"And this one?"
"25.25%"
"And this one?"
"You didn't do your homework again did you?" He said, finally turning his attention to her and making eye contact.
"What? Of course I did. I'm insulted that you'd even assume." Robin lied as she turned up her nose to him with arms folded and eyes closed.
Bean used this opportunity to take her homework assignment sheet while she wasn't looking. She popped open her eyes when she heard the sound of her paper being whisked away.
"Hey! Give that back!" She pouted as she reached for it.
Bean held her at bay as he looked over it.
"If you did it then why do you only have the answers I just gave you on it?"
"Ok fine I didn't do it. But it's not my fault! The season finales of all my favorite shows were on that night. Some were even two hours long. By the time they were all done I was too tired to do it."
Bean wrote down the answers.
"Here." He said as he gave the paper back.
Robin accepted it with surprise.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yea."
"What ever happened to the 'you need to do your homework yourself' thing?" She asked, mocking his voice.
"Couldn't tell you." Bean sulked as he turned back away from her.
Robin sat there quietly before she reached over and put her hand on his forehead.
"You feeling ok?" She asked, taking his temperature.
"Leave me alone." He said, swatting it away.
"Leave me alone?" Robin said flabbergasted. "Alright. Who are you and what the hell did you do with Bean!"
Shortly after saying those words May walked into the classroom. Instantaneously she was swarmed by the students and asked hundreds of questions.
"May! Thank goodness you're alright." One female student said to her.
"Do your injuries hurt?" Another female student asked, looking over her fading bruise on her neck, the forming scar on her cheek and her ever visible black eye.
"Do you need someone to take care of you?" A male student asked perversely.
May sweated and smiled as she took a few steps back to give herself breathing room. She was grateful that they seemed so worried about her well-being, even if the quantity of the questions were overwhelming, but she couldn't help but wonder which one of them was truly being sincere. She looked around her classmates, trying to get her wits about her before she answered questions when she inadvertently looked in Robin and Bean's direction.
"Robin!" May yelled out with a smile.
"Hi May!" Robin yelled back with a smile and a wave.
May's smile quickly left her when her eyes interlocked with Bean's. She quickly turned her gaze away with a slight frown.
"Look Bean, it's May. Wanna go greet her?" Robin asked.
Bean said nothing. Just quietly got up, stuck his hands in his pockets and left the room.
"Bean? Where are you going?" Robin asked.
Bean didn't answer, just opened the door to exit the room.
"But class is about…" Bean left and slammed the door before she could finish her sentence. "to start…" She finished somberly.
May had managed to escape the crowd as she made her way over to Robin.
"Good morning Robin." May greeted properly in Japanese as she sat down in the seat Bean was just in.
"Good morning May." Robin said in the same manner and language.
Small murmurs could be heard throughout the classroom about May's new found friendship to Robin. However May and Robin paid them no mind. The two friends were now off in their own world, the only ones who knew the real story of what happened over the weekend.
"You know, you just missed Bean. He left for some reason." Robin said.
"Forget about him." May said automatically but in a cheery way.
"But…I can't forget about him. He's my brother." Robin replied; taking May's words literally.
May laughed.
"No I don't mean forget about him completely, I mean just forget about him for right now."
"Did something happen between you two when I left?" Robin asked, knowing they were both acting weird.
"Nope, nothing at all." May lied, trying to avoid the topic.
"You sure? Because Bean was acting in a way that I have never seen him act before."
Curiosity had bit May.
"You mean he wasn't acting like a complete jerk?" She asked.
"No. He seemed…sad…" Robin said as she thought about Bean's demeanor.
(Sad?) May thought to herself.
She shook her head vigorously before questions could formulate in it.
"But Bean couldn't be sad. He doesn't know the meaning of sad. He must just be sick or something." Robin said with a laugh.
"Yea…must be…" May said with a fake laugh.
"So…what happened after I left last night? Anything perverted?" Robin asked with a perverted grin on her face.
"What? No!" May said blushing.
"Then why are you blushing?"
(Why am I blushing?) May thought. "No reason. Look nothing happened. We just both went to sleep and now I'm here."
"Together?"
"Separate."
"Oh come on May, I know more happened than that. You didn't have that black eye when I left."
"Did you catch the season finales of the Japanese soap operas last night Robin?" May asked, knowing that this would throw her off subject.
"Did I?!" Robin said as her mind was wiped clear of what they were originally talking about and now replaced with her shows.
Class had started, and Bean had entered the classroom several minutes late to the dismay of the teacher. The usual scolding had commenced, followed by detention after school. Bean nodded that he understood and walked to the back of the classroom to take up an empty seat that no one used; leaving his assigned seat next to May vacant. Throughout the day this process continued as Bean deliberately went out of his way to avoid May. May gave no hint of objection; didn't even seem to realize or have it affect her as she quickly melded back into her old school routine. The only person who these actions were obvious to was Robin. She continued to watch the both of them, the oddities of their behavior causing her to be bewildered. Bean even went out of his way to not sit at his usual spot in the cafeteria for lunch, leaving Robin to eat alone.
School ended and the routine exodus commenced as soon as the bell to end school chimed. Bean was beginning to take his leave as well when Robin blocked his path to the entrance doors to the school.
"What's going on Bean?" She asked sternly.
It was out of place for Robin to speak with such boldness.
"Nothing." Bean answered.
"Because you answered nothing means that it's something."
"How do you figure that?"
"Because if it really was nothing you would have asked me to clarify. You assumed; you never assume. You never say leave me alone either."
"I just knew what you were talking about."
"You're assuming again. What happened to you and May last night? Why does she have a black eye?"
"Why don't you just go ask her?" Bean said with disgust.
"I'm asking you!" Robin yelled.
Bean was taken back. Robin had never yelled at him before. Before he had a chance to respond his cell phone rang. He answered it.
"Go."
"You know we're going to have to work on your people skills. The correct and polite word to use is hello."
"What is it Fox?!" Bean yelled into the phone, not in the mood for games.
"Whoa, touchy. Alright. I've got a job for you; however given the profile of it you might not take it."
"What is it?"
"Well you know those bikers you got into it with last night?"
"Uh-huh."
"Seems they put a bounty on your head. A measly $20,000. Turns out you did quite a number on their guys. One's got a concussion, one had to get several stitches and the other is in a coma."
"The point Fox."
"Right. Well it seems that these guys have been a pain in the ass for another one of my clients and he's offering $50,000 to off these guys. Seems like they're that small fry. Now I know that this is a pretty small time contract for you to take but since its killing two birds with one stone I thought I might as well have one bird kill the other and save the stone."
"How much?"
"What?! You're going to take it?!" Fox said on the other line.
"How much Fox?"
"Right. $40,000."
"What am I getting in to?"
"They're gonna run a fake raid on a rival biker gang and trap you. After seeing what you did to three of their guys alone they don't wanna take any chances."
"Time?"
"Midnight tonight. I'll send you the location and other information via your cell phone."
"Thanks." Bean said as he hung up the phone.
He turned back to Robin.
"I'm gonna need your help with a job tonight Red."
"How much?"
"$40,000."
"You're going to need my help with a $40,000 op? Bean what the hell has gotten into you?" Robin said, now getting worried.
"I don't know!" Bean said, finally caving in. "Can't you see that I don't wanna talk about it though?"
Robin had never seen Bean act in this manner before. He was sad and conflicted; she could see it all over his face. She began to worry.
"Bean…don't take this job…"
"Are you going to help me or not?"
Robin hesitated.
"Yes." She said with her head down.
"Good. Go home and get set up then. I need to do the same."
