Here is a new chapter for you all. I hope that you all enjoyed the holiday and that you're spending time with family!
The second part to this episode will be up some time later today, but it's four in the morning and I need a break.
Please enjoy and don't forget to review so I know people are reading!
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I opened my eyes slowly getting use to the light. The weekend was soon approaching and I really needed it for catching up on sleep and getting work done. I was doing research on my operation more often and from doing so I kept finding that I was talking myself out of it. I didn't want to go through with it. The risks to me were much worse than I was willing to take just to be able to speak again. Yes, I missed speaking and singing, but it wasn't the end of the world if I never did again, right?
I got ready for school wanting to make sure that I would be able to meet up with Miho and Anzu to head to school. Miho had asked me if I would walk with them so that she could talk to us about something important. I had agreed so I needed to leave my house a little earlier to make it over to Anzu's to meet them. My uniform was on and my hair in its signature braid declaring that I was ready for the day. I grabbed my bag and headed out locking the door behind me. I took the time to take a quick jog so that I wasn't late. Making my way up to her door I knocked quickly and fixed my skirt. A few moments later Anzu walked out smiling and waving to me before she shut her door.
"Morning Maria!" She said happily waving to me. I returned the gesture as we began walking. After about five minutes of small talk Miho joined us as we made our way to the school. The building was in sight and Miho had not yet told us what was so important. I looked in front of us at all the students and one of the teachers caught my attention. She had red hair and wore a green outfit and I knew her as the sensei for morning period and she did not like me. She was the sensei that never called on me due to my lack of communication. I didn't like her all that much either. I noticed that all the males, even the teachers, were saying good morning to her and fawning all over her. In my opinion she had far too much make-up caked on her face, but who was I to judge?
"Chouno-sensei looks beautiful again today." Miho said admiration in her voice.
"Whether sensei is pretty or not has nothing to do with us Miho." Anzu said while I nodded in agreement.
"Hey, you." The three of us looked forward hearing her voice loudly speaking. I looked to see she was speaking to a girl and pointing to her bag. "What is that?"
"It's a mascot." The girl said looking away almost embarrassed. May have been something from a boyfriend or from a friend?
"That's against the rules. Hand it over." Sensei said grabbing the mascot right off the bag. "Be careful next time." I could tell she was pleased with herself. She was laughing and made her way into the building while I glared at her. That was just plain rude. She could have just simply told the girl to put it in her bag and not bring it again, she didn't have to take it.
"Plus she's strict with the rules." Anzu said continuing our conversation before the commotion happened.
"But that's what sensei's have to do, right?" Miho asked wondering where this was going.
"Chouno-sensei is trying to make them even more strict." Anzu declared. My gaze returned to sensei who had just entered the building. Japans rules were already strict compared to what I was use to, who would make them worse? "There's a rumor going around that she's been making a lot of proposals."
"You're kidding!" Miho said holding her hand up to her mouth in surprise.
"I wish." Anzu answered disappointment in her voice. I knew Anzu needed to work and I knew that it was also against school rules for her to work, so I felt bad for her.
"Umm, Anzu-chan, Miho-chan, Maria-chan." A voice spoke up from behind us making the three of us turn to see someone. She had green hair and a nice smile, I couldn't remember what her name was off the top of my head, even though I know I've seen her around. She seemed very worried at the moment however.
"Good morning, Mayumi." Mayumi that was it. I was glad Anzu was better at names then I was.
"What's wrong?" Miho asked. She must have noticed the look on Mayumi's face was well.
"I need some advice." She said making the three of us look at each other. What was this about? We nodded in agreement and decided to head into the building. We made our way up to our classroom and decided we would speak during first break.
Classes took a long time to get over with. I really wanted to know what was wrong with Mayumi. I had spoken a bit to Yugi about my weekend but other than that I really wasn't that 'talkative' today. My hands mostly remained still on my desk. Finally break was called and Anzu and Miho quickly moved to my desk as we stood heading out of the room.
"Eh? Maria-chan!" Yugi called wondering where I was off to but I smiled to him looking back.
"Don't worry, we'll be back soon." I signed seeing him nod then head over to Jounouchi and Honda.
We stood out in the hall waiting for the majority of the students to leave to wherever they were going then waited for Mayumi to show. Once she did she began speaking. I was surprised to hear what all she had to say. It seems that she's been harboring some feelings for Jounouchi. How sweet.
"Jounouchi?!" Anzu practically yelled making me place a hand over her mouth. He was only a few feet away in the room after all.
"No, Anzu!"
"Anzu-chan, your voice is too loud." Miho and Mayumi seemed to have the same thought that I did. Anzu reached up and removed my hand from her mouth looking apologetic to Mayumi.
"I get it. I get it but . . ." she faded off looking into the room as we all did seeing Honda and Jounouchi yelling about something with Yugi trying to calm them down.
"Hey, you! You skipped out on your cleaning duty yesterday, again!" Honda yelled clearly pissed.
"Please forgive me. Please, Honda! I had something to do." Jounouchi pleaded placing his hands together in a begging motion. He seemed somewhat genuine .
"Just what do you like about Jounouchi?" Anzu asked bringing us back to our conversation. I gave her a blank look. Sure Jounouchi was a goofball but he had a good heart and was a good guy. She wasn't giving him credit.
"It's hard to say what . . ." Mayumi faded off for a moment.
"You shouldn't ask things like that, Anzu!" Miho said surprising me. She wasn't exactly the most selfless person I knew, but she was sweet when it came to helping with matters of the heart I suppose. "Love doesn't need a reason!" She said folding her hands and looking all lovey-dovey at nothing. Oh yeah, she was a hopeless romantic.
"I wonder what Jounouchi-kun likes." I heard Mayumi say making me think for a minute. That was a bit tough.
"What he likes?" Anzu asked not understanding what Mayumi meant.
"What are you going to do?" Miho asked as well. Apparently I was the only one to realize that she wanted to get Jounouchi present. Wouldn't that be a main reason for asking what someone likes?
"I want to get him a present!" She said happily making me smile. She was so excited. "I want to make sure that I give him something he likes."
"What does he like?" Anzu said out loud making us all wonder.
"He and Honda-kun often talk about lewd videos." Miho suddenly said making my eyes widen. What kind of message was that to someone!
"I can't give that as a present!" Mayumi yelled. I thought for a moment trying to come up with something. Well, Jounouchi likes games so why not do something like that? Just as I was about to sign to Anzu she suddenly got an idea. She moved forward into the room to stand in the doorway and called to Yugi to get his attention. The three boys stopped speaking and turned to look at her.
"Come here a bit, Yugi." She said motioning to where we all stood.
"What is it Anzu?" He asked clearly confused at what was happening.
"Just come here. Hurry." She said while I smiled and signed to him.
"We need your help for a minute." My hands moved so he was able to see them and I say his eyes follow the movement. He started to walk toward us but then Jounouchi and Honda began to follow as well. This could be bad.
"What? Us too?" Jounouchi asked when Anzu suddenly halted them.
"You guys aren't needed! Just Yugi!" She snapped scaring the two other boys. Once Yugi was out in the hall with us we circled about him while Anzu explained the situation to him and asked him what Jounouchi would like as a present.
"Something Jounouchi-kun likes?" He asked thinking for a minute.
"Yeah. Do you know something that would work?" Anzu asked.
"He probably would like lewd videos." Yugi said smiling making me start to silently bust out laughing. It was bad enough that it seemed to be the only thing they could come up with and the way that he had said it was adorable.
"Not something like that!" Anzu said getting frustrated. "Something a girl can give as a present!"
"And Anzu is giving it?" He asked. I could see the sadness creeping onto his face. He really liked Anzu. I felt a slight worry hit me wondering if the 'Other Yugi' liked Anzu as well. I was pulled out of that thought however when I heard Anzu's voice.
"No! Mayumi is the one giving it to him!" She said letting it slip that this was Mayumi that liked Jounouchi.
"Hey! Anzu-chan!" She said getting scared.
"It's okay. Yugi won't tell anyone." Anzu said making me nod in agreement smiling to Yugi. I watched his face turn from sad to happy from hearing Anzu's words however and my smile faltered. It didn't matter to me if Yugi like Anzu or not, they should be happy, however, what bothered me was the idea of 'Other Yugi' liking her too.
"If it's a secret, then I'll keep it a secret." Yugi responded to something Anzu had asked him bringing me back to what mattered; Getting an idea for a gift that Mayumi could give to Jounouchi.
"Jounouchi-kun likes games. Maybe something from our shop?" Yugi said making me smile. Good, at least we were getting somewhere.
"I see."
"Let's look after school." Miho said while we all nodded. The bell rang signaling for us to all go back into class for the remainder of the day.
Once classes were over we all met up outside of the gate and headed over to Yugi's house where the shop was. We walked in being greeted by Yugi's grandpa while we told him what we were looking for.
"I see." He started. "A present to confess your feelings to the opposite sex? It's sure nice to be young."
"Hey, Anzu-chan." Mayumi started to ask. I could hear the worry in her voice.
"It'll be okay. You can trust the old man." Anzu replied.
"I think I've got just the thing for that!" He said happily getting all of our attention.
"Really. Grandpa?"
"Yugi, I've told you the story about how I used this to get your grandmother." He said making me smile. This sounded so cute. He turned and started looking through a box. "If I recall, it's in this box . . ." While he moved things around dust came out of the box making him cough.
"Is this really a good idea?" Miho asked making me frown. They really didn't have that much faith in Yugi's grandpa did they?
"I think so." Anzu said but I could tell she wasn't sure. I watched as he pulled down a box and smiled to it.
"Here it is. This is it." He blew on the top of the box to get the dust off however he blew it right at us making us all cough. When I began coughing I could feel it making my throat raw and sore once again. Once our coughing died down I removed a tear from the corner of my eyes glad that nobody noticed it.
"Here." Yugi's Grandpa said as he removed the lid showing us a blank white puzzle.
"A jigsaw puzzle?" Anzu asked wondering why this would help.
"But there's nothing drawn on it." Miho said making my eyes light up. Was the point of it to draw or write your own message to the person you cared for?
"Yup." He said answering Miho. "Send your feelings to the other person in pieces. The receiver will put the pieces together one by one." As I listened to him explain it I couldn't help but smile. It was the most romantic thing I have ever heard.
"That's lovely! Really lovely and really romantic!" Mayumi yelled as Yugi's Grandpa agreed with her. I smiled and nodded as well watching it all unfold. "I'm buying this!" She said happily.
"Here. Come again." He said while everyone got their things and began to leave.
"Ah! But what kind of message should I write?!" Mayumi suddenly asked making us all pause again to think.
"Tomorrow's Sunday. Take your time to think about it." Yugi's Grandpa told her while we all nodded and they began to leave. I waved goodbye to the three girls while I looked around the shop trying to find a new game to buy. My mind was still on the puzzle but I wanted something new to amuse myself in case I was going to be in the hospital for some time. Even if I didn't go through with the major surgery I still needed my annual one to get rid of the dead skin and healing dead tissue so the extra would not suffocate me. It was a nasty few days of recovery and I didn't want to be bored at the hospital.
"What are you looking for Maria-chan?" Yugi asked walking over to me. I noticed his Grandpa sneaking looks at us every so often but he would look away to pretend he wasn't paying attention.
"I need to find a game that I can play by myself." I signed to him. I watched a frown form on his face.
"Why? Doesn't Maria-chan like playing games with me anymore?" He asked making my eyes widen.
"Oh no Yugi it's nothing like that! I need something that will help pass the time at the hospital. Nothing to worry about." I tried to calm him although signing hospital got his attention like it always did.
"What's wrong Maria-chan? Why will you be in the hospital?" His voice held panic making me look away. I couldn't look at his worried expression for long. This was just a routine surgery. Imagine what would happen if I told him about the idea of getting my major, life threatening one. No way was that happening.
"It's nothing Yugi, just a routine surgery; I'll be back to myself in a few days after it." I signed seeing him become even more worried if that was possible.
"Surgery! Why do you need surgery!" I frowned then looked back at him signing slowly.
"They just need to get rid of scar tissue and dead tissue so that it frees my airways and I won't suffocate to death." I signed calmly seeing horror on his face. He really didn't know much about what all went into my medical needs, and I really wanted it to stay that way.
"Maria-chan that's awful! Is there anything I can do?" He asked surprising me. I was about to sign 'no' but realized that that would only hurt his feelings.
"Help me pick out a game." I signed seeing him look sad but nod. We continued to look around picking out a few single player games and a few 2 player ones because Yugi insisted that he was going to visit me while I was in the hospital. Once I bought the games I wanted to head home knowing that Sophia would stop by soon to see when I wanted to schedule the surgery. I knew I didn't want it to happen this week but possibly next considering it was before a small break we had. If I didn't miss a lot of school that would be good.
"Maria-chan, would you like to stay for dinner tonight?" Yugi's mom asking catching me off guard. I didn't want to seem rude but Sophia would be waiting for me. I smiled to her and bowed but shook my head no.
"I'm sorry but Sophia will be at my house soon to go over some of my upcoming events and appointments so I really need to get home. Thank you though." I signed as Yugi told his mother what I had said. She nodded understanding I hoped that I would be able to make a rain check. I smiled to the Motou family and waved leaving the shop and making my way quickly home.
One there I made myself change and get comfortable cleaning up here and there since some of my things were scattered about. After half an hour of being home Sophia knocked on the door. I opened it allowing her inside while she help up two bags of food. She had gotten us some burgers and milkshakes and we ate in the kitchen talking about our days and what was going to happen.
"Have you thought any more about having the surgery done? You've had so many of these routine ones, wouldn't it just be easier on you to have the major one done? You would have your voice back, and you would be able to . . . " She paused almost scared to say what she was going to. I looked at her confused for a moment before she sighed.
"You would be able to go home. Without needing the specialists and the doctors here for your throat anymore you would be able to go back home, to your house. Have a life there." She didn't look at me the whole time she was speaking. My eyes widened at this new development. I hadn't actually thought about that. I was more concerned with what would happen if it went wrong, not if it went right. I would be able to go home, back where things were normal and everyone knew me and . . . . wait. If I went home then I would leave Yugi and the others. I would only be able to write to them or call but it wouldn't be the same. I frowned wondering what I would miss more. I had friends here now too. My friends from back home only wrote to me every so often. When they knew that I was doing fine and made friends here too, they had all but stopped worrying and caring. I frowned thinking about what would happen if I never saw the gang again. They had really grown on me and we were all really close now, I didn't want to leave that, but would that be enough of a reason to stay here?
"Just . . . think about it alright?" She said slowly bringing me back to the present. "I've gotta run but you finish up eating and get some rest. I'll make the appointment for some time next week. Don't worry everything will be fine." She said standing. She gave me a hug then left my apartment. I finished eating slowly then threw everything away getting ready for bed. Once everything was cleaned up I brushed my teeth and headed for my room. All I wanted to do now was sleep.
Monday morning had come soon enough and we had all agreed to meet early to place the present in Jounouchi's desk before classes started. We each said good morning while we waited for Mayumi to show up. She was a bit behind from our agreed time but it wasn't too bad. We all stood around Jounouchi's desk waiting.
"Sorry I'm late." She said running in catching her breath. We all greeted her then got down to business.
"Did you write it? Did you write it?" Miho asked making me shake my head silently laughing to myself.
"Yeah." Mayumi said opening her bag and pulled out the box. She had wrapped it in blue paper with pink ribbon on it. An obvious female present I thought to myself while looking at it.
"Cute!" Miho said happily softly clapping her hands together once.
"I did my best all night to come up with it." Mayumi answered. It would be worth it.
"So what do we do?" Anzu asked looking to the four of us.
"Secretly leave it in his desk like we planned." I signed while the three nodded. Mayumi looked slightly confused not understanding me.
"But if that guy finds it wouldn't he just start working on it in front of everyone?" She asked making me pause. This was true.
"When that happens, I'll bring him to the roof." Yugi said solving the problem.
"Okay, let's do that." Anzu said while Mayumi hid the present in Jounouchi's desk. This was going to be great. We waited for the others to arrive and sure enough it was almost time for classes to begin, yet Jounouchi hadn't shown up yet. This could get bad.
"Jounouchi isn't here yet?" Anzu whispered softly making me frown. Where was he?
"Could it be he's absent today?" Miho asked. The door suddenly slammed open making us all turn to see Jounouchi standing there. He sighed and smiled to himself.
"I made it in time!" He cheered making me smile. Same old Jounouchi.
"Jounouchi-kun, you're late!" Miho said. Normally she wouldn't care but we wanted to see the reaction to the puzzle.
"Take your seat already. Sensei will be here soon." Honda said to him quickly. Jounouchi agreed and quickly shut the door and went to his seat.
"I stayed up watching videos last night. I went to bed late." He said softly to himself.
"Oh, lewd videos?" Honda asked making me place my head on my desk. Seriously?!
"Don't insult me! It was Hong Kong action!" He said shaking his fist at Honda. The conversation ended however when Sensei walked it.
"Stand up." We all stood and bowed to her. "Take seat."
"Okay, open your textbook." She began. I turned my attention to Jounouchi with slight panic. If he pulled that out while she was watching . . . he pulled it out. Idiot.
"What is this?" He asked making me bite my lip. This was bad! He needed to hide that! I looked to the front seeing that Sensei had seen.
"Stupid Jounouchi, hurry and hide that!" Anzu said but I knew it was too late.
"Jounouchi-kun, what are you doing during class?" She walked over to him making him look confused. "An ayaben? What a cute bentou lunch." She was humiliating him for fun! She reached forward and took the gift while other students began to laugh.
"That's not mine." He said shrugging it off. It looked to Anzu who held the same look of worry.
"Not yours? But you had it, right?" She asked not letting it go.
"It was just in my desk. Someone must have put it in there by accident." Any other time I would have been proud of him for keeping his cool, but right now we needed to get that present back!
"Accident? I see." She walked back up to the front of the room. My stomach fell to the ground. "But Sensei always tells you. Don't bring things to school that aren't related to class. What could this be, Jounouchi-kun?"
"I already told you I don't know!" I could tell he was getting pissed off.
"Really?" My eyes widened as she ripped open the box right in front of the whole class. A few pieces of the puzzle fell out onto her desk. "Oh? A Jigsaw puzzle? This is not good. You shouldn't bring a plaything." She said. I glared at her, she was loving every second of this. "You'd probably take it out and completely lose yourself in it." She said while she began to do the puzzle. "Oh! How interesting!" she said loudly. "When you put the pieces together words come out. 'Ever since I met you, I've always been preoccupied . . .' on no, is this a confession!" She said laughing about it. She was horrid! The class began to laugh while I saw Mayumi sink down into her desk.
"This would be a terrible distraction. In other words, against school rules." Oh here we go I thought rolling my eyes. "Perhaps leading to expulsion." She was ridiculous. "Who owns this?"
"Stop it, Sensei!" Anzu said standing up. My eyes widened as I looked to her.
"What, Masaki-san?"
"That's a message. A letter." She said making me smile. Anzu was so confident. "I think it's cruel to read other people's letters."
"Cruel?" She said offended. "But as a teacher I must know who brought this to school, and by putting the puzzle together, I will know the name."
"That . . " I could tell Anzu was going to say that she had brought it and that would be bad for her. I could afford to get expelled, she couldn't. I stood glaring at Sensei as hard as I could. I heard a surprised noise from a few people while Sensei looked at me.
"You? This is yours?" I nodded firmly while she glared at me scoffing. I didn't really care what she thought. I could also just tell Jounouchi that it was a joke later, he knew I thought of him more like a brother anyway. "When class is over, go to the advisor room, you as well Masaki-san!" She said as we both sat down and class continued.