I truly appreciate everyone who has read this far. Here's chapter 14 :)
I met up with Mizii at the sushi bar about a block away from my dorm. We sat down next to each other on the patio and ordered an assortment.
"I heard that in America, a lot of people don't like sushi. So I wasn't a hundred percent sure that you'd be into this." she said. "Are you kidding? I've liked it as long as I can remember. In my opinion, anyone who says they don't like sushi hasn't tried it." I said.
"Are you sure you don't want miso to start? If your worried about the bill I said I'd take care of it." I continued. She seemed slighty embarrassed by the question.
"No, it's not the price I'm concerned about. You see, miso is usually served warm. And...well...I can't eat or touch anything remotely hot. This kind of limits the number of things we can do together, so I'd understand if you want to break up." she said, looking away.
"No way! I'd eat food frozen solid every day if it meant we could be together." I said truthfully. She blushed and said, "That's sweet."
I really liked talking to Mizii, there was just something new to learn and love about her each time.
Our food came and we ate graciously. I didn't care if it was a little overpriced. Come to think of it, I was hardly ever concerned with how much food cost. Back when I was 'working' I always got a sizable cut of the stuff that we repossessed. It was always stored in safe houses, only ever seen on paper except to a few trusted people.
When I stopped 'working' my friend Howard had the combined worth of my accumulated share transferred to me. I was surprised how much it was. Even after I pay my tuition in full, I would still have enough left over to be set for life.
But even so, being a teacher was something I always wanted to do. Plus, I always disliked spending the money from 'work'. Not all of it was gotten honorably.
When we finished eating, I remembered the thing I set out to ask half an hour ago. "Say Mizii..." I began. "Yes?" she said. "Do you really know Yukari?" I asked. She appeared to be confused by the question. "Of course I do, we went to highschool together." she said.
"That's odd, cause when I asked her about you she didn't know who I was talking about." I explained. "Oh...yeah. I changed my name since high school. Yukari knows me as Mizore." she said. Again, something new and interesting.
"Any reason you changed it?" I asked. She seemed to get a little uncomfortable. "Well...back in highschool me and three other girls followed around this guy named Tsukune." she began.
"Was this Tsukune something of a ladies man?" I said, thinking of Lee. "Oh, no. He was timid and good-hearted, and he helped us all at one time or another." she said almost dreamily.
"And Yukari was one of these girls?" I asked. "Yes, and we all wanted him to be our boyfriend. So we all kept trying to win him over. And this went on for four years." she explained. I was starting to like this Tsukune guy less and less.
"On graduation day he finally chose, and it wasn't me. I went into a deep depression afterwards. I'm convinced there was something about me Tsukune did not love, so I changed my name, started wearing different clothes, and dyed my hair. I even convinced my parents to let me go to school in another country, just to get away from the memory." she finished, now looking at the floor.
I was feeling so angry towards Tsukune right then. You idiot! How could you think to lead on four girls for four years and then break three hearts at the end of it! I thought. You've actually convinced Mizii/Mizore that there's something wrong with her! And Yukari, you drove her into the arms of a bastard! I thought.
"Listen to me..." I began to say. She looked up. "Mizii, Mizore, I don't care what your name is or what you look like. Your you, and that's all I care about. If Tsukune picked someone else over you that makes him damn idiot. But in the end I'm glad he did, because then I wouldn't be sitting here with you now. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel." I said. Emotions were poured into that speech that I had forgotten a long time ago.
A small tear fell into her lap, but she had a smile on face. She flung her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder, where she
sobbed softly. I hugged her around her back and let her be.
When she finished she looked into my eyes and kissed me with those cold lips of hers. When she pulled back, she said "Thank you." in a quiet voice. "No, thank you...thank you for being you." I said.
I had never felt this way about anyone before. I felt that I could tell her anything, anything.
And so they grow closer. In case you didn't know by now, what Jacob did for a living wasn't, strictly speaking, 'legal'. Come back again for the next one!