Saturday seemed to be the last happy day for all of us. It was mostly running around the track and meeting with Emi for Lenny. After saying goodbye, they headed off to their dorms and to rest up for the night. When Emi got back to her dorm. Her phone began to ring. It was from Meiko. She opened it and placed it to her ear. She began to speak to Meiko.
"Hello?" Emi asked. Meiko was trembling a bit as she began speaking.
"Emi, I'm at the hospital right now and I have some bad news." Meiko began. Emi began to think, was her mother injured or was there something else going on.
"Are you hurt?" Emi asked Meiko if she was all right.
"I'm fine but I think you might have to break this to Lenny…" Meiko began. She paused as she knew this was going to be tough to say it.
"What's going on?" Emi asked Meiko if there was anything wrong. Meiko began speaking again.
"Lenny's mother… Lenny's mother has died." Meiko told Emi. Emi paused when she heard the news. She even began to tear up a bit.
"What happened to her?" Emi asked. She had never met her as he mentioned it a couple of times before.
"She overdosed. They were unable to save her." Meiko told Emi what happened.
"I guess I have to break the unfortunate news to him. I don't think he'll take it." Emi sniffed. She knew this was going to have an impact on him.
Lenny didn't take the death of his mother lightly. He was sobbing in his own tears for much of tomorrow. Emi stayed by his side as she tried everything, she could trying to ease him through the suffering. At least the exams were done otherwise he wouldn't use the time to study. She even decided to stay by his side for the night as he wasn't ready to let Emi leave him. She woke up the next morning to find Lenny being a bit unresponsive and she knew she needed to take him to the School Nurse.
The School Nurse was taking a look at the pulse monitor as well as checking the heart rate of an unconscious student.
"His heart rate had increased very recently, which caused him to black out. I think he has been like this ever since last night. Anything happened to him which caused this?" The School Nurse would ask Emi if there was anything that caused this black out in particular.
"Lenny's mother has passed away. He was crying for much of yesterday when I told him about it. He's also been having nightmares and his chest was hurting because of it." Emi explained to the School Nurse what was happening. He nodded as he continued to inspect him.
"Oh, I feel sorry for his loss. I don't know what exactly will happen to him." The School Nurse sighed. He made sure to remove the wet rag from his head to make sure he was doing okay.
"What should I do about it?" Emi asked as she wanted to make sure Lenny was feeling comfortable.
"Take him to your house and we can resolve it through Meiko. She called me about the news. Lenny is now in her custody." The School Nurse explained to Emi that Lenny was now under Meiko's protection. Emi was astounded to hear about it but the year wasn't going to conclude after this week or so. Emi nodded as Lenny finally opened his eyes.
"What happened?" Lenny asked. His heart was beating normally though it remained tense to race.
"You passed out in your sleep. You must have had nightmares of the whole ordeal; you were shaking from it, but I was there, and I understand you." Emi walked over and patted him softly. "I was thinking that we should head to my mother's house for dinner, and we can try to talk it out." Emi suggested. Lenny tried to think about it but it meant being with the girl who was close to him. She wasn't pushing him away despite some bad memories of her own.
"Okay…" Lenny stuttered, he didn't know what he was getting himself into.
Lenny didn't think he liked riding on buses. Actually, he thought he was pretty comfortable saying that as a fact. They sway a lot, and they smell funny, and the rider can feel every bump in the road. Lenny wasn't really not looking forward to this. Plus, Emi's legs keep making a clunking noise that draws the attention of everyone else on the bus. She's in shorts again, and she's got long socks drawn up on her prosthetics, so they don't look so obviously false again. But that doesn't stop the odd look or two every time her legs bump together with an audible clunk. Lenny shifts nervously in his seat, and Emi raises an eyebrow questioningly. She doesn't seem to mind the stares; either that or she doesn't even notice that people are staring. Lenny was sure she's gotten her fill of odd looks before. After a certain amount of time, he doubted she'd notice any more. Not that she'd ever tell me if either of us asked. Another fact is, he is not just uncomfortable about the bus. He just couldn't seem to come to terms with the fact that Emi appears to be trying to bring him closer while at the same time pushing Lenny away.
The nurse said he trusts me, even if it doesn't look like it. But Lenny was not sure he could trust the nurse. He was protective of Emi, just like I'm protective of Emi at times, and Lenny would be likely to say something to make her look good if someone asked him about her. So, he might just be doing that. Still, there was something about the way he seemed genuinely surprised that Emi invited me along... Maybe last night's talk helped more than he thought, but he was still worried. Meeting the parents is a big deal, right? Not that Lenny hasn't already met Emi's mother, but that was just as an acquaintance. Now it's going to be Emi's boyfriend, with everything that implies. Lenny can feel my heart pounding in his chest, an echo of that snow-covered afternoon that feels like it was so long ago that it might as well be another life entirely. Except then, he didn't know what was going on; Lenny also didn't have medication to help prevent things spiraling out of control. He has come a long way in terms of his physical health, and for the second time today he felt like he'll be able to live normally now, or at least as normally as possible. Now if only He could manage my relationship as well as he had managed his heart, he'd be in great shape.
"Well, we're here." Emi grabs Lenny's hand the moment as they have stepped off the bus. She starts heading down the street almost immediately. "Come on, we've got a couple blocks until my place."
"What? Oh, okay." Lenny replied. He follows Emi down the street, watching her confident stride. She's setting kind of a quick pace for just a walk. Lenny guesses she's anxious to get there. "So does your mom do this sort of thing often?" Lenny asked. His pulse monitor was flashing slightly faster as he was pretty nervous.
"Nah, not too frequently. Mom's never been much for playing hostess." Emi answered Lenny back.
"Oh yeah?" Lenny asked.
"Yeah, my dad was always the one pushing her to have people over." Emi replied. This sudden and unprompted reference to her father catches me off guard. And from the look on Emi's face, he was not sure she meant to mention him. Lenny thought he had only ever heard her talk about him once. All Lenny could remember is that Emi's mom told him that he wasn't around anymore.
"Oh? Your mom prefers solitude?" Lenny nervously asked, he looked at the pulse monitor which hadn't ticked up at all. Emi laughs, either from relief that he didn't ask about her father or from finding my statement actually funny.
"Not at all! She's why I'm such an outgoing person, you know. She just prefers to be a guest rather than a hostess; it's less stressful that way, or so she says." Emi was trying to get over her laugh as she spoke. Lenny giggled a bit as well; it wasn't much but it calmed the pulse monitor down for just a moment.
"Clearly she's never had to meet her girlfriend's mother for dinner." Lenny tried saying something to Emi to relieve the situation a bit. Emi giggles again and speaks in a teasing tone.
"Nervous, Lenny? You shouldn't be, you know! It's not that big a deal! Just dinner at my house, that's all!" Emi tried to act cheerful about it as she knew that this was going to be a bit of a stressful topic to bring up especially since neither of them were uncomfortable about their deceased family members.
"Yeah, but have you ever brought home a boyfriend before?" Lenny confesses that part of him that dreads hearing the answer to this. He knew very little of Emi's past relationships and he didn't even know if there were past relationships.
"No, I guess I haven't. Hey, maybe this really is kind of a big deal after all..." Emi tried her best to be cheerful before getting a playful remark from Lenny.
"Oh good, now I feel twice as nervous." Lenny gulped despite being playful about it.
"Don't be." Emi tried her best to smooth out the situation. Though to tell the truth, Lenny was pretty happy to hear that he was the first one. Maybe they've got something special after all. Bolstered by this new thought, Lenny managed to calm down considerably by the time Emi knocked on her front door. "Hey, mom, open up! We're here!" The door swings open, and Mrs. Ibarazaki stands grinning at her daughter. The grin is still surprisingly similar to Emi's. I'm never going to get used to that.
"You know, people normally wait for a few minutes before they start shouting at the door." Meiko told Emi that she didn't want to be banging on the front door.
"And most mothers say hello to their daughters instead of scolding them right away." Emi playfully replied to Meiko's response.
"Ah, of course. Welcome home, dear. I've missed you." Meiko then gives Emi an affectionate hug later they're inside, and it is only then that Emi's mom seems to remember that I'm actually here. "And hello to you too, Lenny. How are you?"
"I'm not going too well, thank you. Nice to not have school to worry about for a little bit." Lenny stated that he was still shaken about his mother's passing, but he was going to make the most of the rest of the week.
"Ah yes, you've finished up your exams, haven't you? That must be quite a relief for you both." Meiko replied as she was more than happy about it.
"It's certainly a weight off of my mind, that's for sure." Lenny sighed as the exams were over, but he didn't know what to do about himself.
"Mine too! I think I slept well for the first time in weeks last night from relief alone." Emi chirped happily. If this news is a surprise to Emi's mother, she doesn't show it. Still, her response betrays a note of interest.
"Is that so? I'm very glad to hear that, Emi. You know I get worried when you get all wound up about... well, exams." Meiko giggled before she went to the kitchen. Certainly, Emi's mother knows something Lenny doesn't or rather, she doesn't know that Emi's told him about the nightmares they were both having but more recently coming from Lenny. It's interesting, being able to observe how Mrs. Ibarazaki covers for Emi. That protective instinct to make sure that he doesn't know any more than Emi's willing to tell him.
"Yeah, it's not been as bad this year as in the past; Lenny helped me to stay focused and I helped him run and find purpose in Yamaku Academy." Emi began as if she was prideful about what was happening
"Well, then it appears that it's a good thing you two have become so close. I'd tell you to take good care of my daughter, Lenny, but it looks like you're already doing that." Meiko smiled while talking. Emi grins at this and seems to take pride in his having managed to ingratiate herself with her mother so easily.
"Actually, I'd say your daughter's been the one taking care of me. She's gotten me out and running. I've probably been more active since meeting her than I ever was, even before…" Lenny began, the pulse monitor was beginning to pick up a bit. He'd actually never thought of it that much, nor had Lenny ever appreciated the humor in it. He wasn't too active before the heart attack. Pickup games with his friends before then don't really count since they weren't that common. So now that Lenny knows for sure that he has a weak heart, he runs every day, pushing his luck a little further with the help of his medication. He chuckled quietly, then realized that he never finished my sentence. "Well, before I had my heart attack and wound up at school here." It comes out so casually. There was a time that he would have thought twice about talking about what was wrong with me at all. But now? Now it just seems silly to care, especially in the company of Emi and her mother. If Emi can be cavalier about her disability, then so can he. Lenny thinks back to the track meet, where Emi declared herself the fastest thing on no legs. The fact of her obvious loss has never seemed to bother her, at least not in public. Being stuck in the wheelchair frustrated her, he knew. But even that was something she dealt with on her own, despite my efforts to the contrary.
"Emi has a way of bringing out the more active side in people. I've never quite figured out how she does it." Meiko began. Those puppy dog eyes she gets, for starters. "I'm not surprised that she managed to rope you into an exercise routine. If Rin weren't just as stubborn as she is, I'm sure that Emi would have gotten her out and running with you too." Meiko giggled while she told them. Emi began speaking next.
"Oh, that reminds me! Rin says hello." Emi told Meiko and Lenny. She needed to see Rin again before they went on summer break. Lenny drifts to the outer edges of the conversation again as they move into the dining room to eat. It smells delicious here, and the spread that Emi's mom has produced is impressive. "Woah, you've made enough to feed an army here!" Emi was astounded as she began packing her plate with as much food as she could.
"Is it too much? Well, you can always take some leftovers with you when you go." Meiko reminded Emi that she didn't need to eat it all at once.
"That sounds great! I can only handle cafeteria food for so long. Something home-cooked would be a welcome change of pace." Lenny sighed as this was the first time he had something like this in a long while. He knew he wanted to take some of this stuff back to his dorm to live off of for the rest of the week.
"What he said. Thanks, mom." Emi sweetly told Meiko The food tastes as good as it smells, and there's a lull in the conversation while we all dig in. Emi assaults her plate with the usual amount of gusto, and Lenny looks at his small portion and he will admit that he set a pretty fast pace myself.
"So, Lenny, I hear that you and my daughter here have gotten rather close, hmm?" Meiko began. Lenny felt the urge to say something like "Not really" so strong that he opened his mouth to say it, but then reasserted control. They were close, there's no getting around it. He meant Emi's brought me here, hasn't she? Fortunately, both Emi and her mother seem to take his reaction as a sign that he caught off guard rather than considering saying something cruel.
"Heh, I suppose we have. I blame the morning runs, myself." Lenny sighed. Emi looked at him before she began speaking. The pulse monitor was flashing faster.
"You make it sound like a bad thing, Lenny." Emi tried to get Lenny to cheer up and not feel so down about it.
"Well, I for one found it a relief." Meiko added some of the dry humor to lighten up the situation.
"Why's that?" Lenny asked.
"Emi's always been a popular girl, but never made many close friends." Meiko began. This is a bit of news to Lenny. He had always seen Emi chatting with her classmates in the hallways. And certainly, the whole track team seems to love her, but it is true that she chooses to isolate herself during lunch with Rin, Lenny and their friends. Not exactly the sort of behavior one expects from a popular girl, after all. Then again, he experienced her unwillingness to get close firsthand, so he couldn't say he was that surprised. "I was beginning to have my doubts." Meiko continued to speak. This caused Emi to roll her eyes to the ceiling and grumble something Lenny can't quite make out.
"Huh?" Lenny began after hearing something from Emi.
"What?" Emi replied back.
"What's that you just said?" Lenny asked Emi as he wanted to figure out what she said.
"Nothing." Emi replied, she tried her best to cover it up. This caused Mrs. Ibarazaki to choke on her drink with laughter.
"You've been hanging out with the nurse too long, Emi. I'm going to have to talk to him about corrupting my daughter." Meiko told Emi that the School Nurse was possibly taking over her mind.
"Somehow I don't think that would be very effective." Lenny added while he was eating his food.
"I learned most of it from you anyway. Not the nurse." Emi told Lenny while she was going in for seconds. Meiko began speaking to Lenny.
"Don't listen to her, Hisao. She's a born liar." Meiko told Lenny not to side with Emi.
"Hmph. Yeah right." Emi shrugged. She continued to eat her food.
"Oh, I don't know, Emi. I think your mother has a point." Lenny was indecisive about this. Emi's happy personality was replaced with slight irritation.
"What? You traitor! You're supposed to take my side in this!" Emi began to raise her voice at Lenny slightly. Lenny felt the pulse monitor tick upward as he didn't mean to make Emi mad.
"Yeah, but you did lie about your leg after the meet…" Lenny tried to ask Emi but she responded with a kick in his shins from an unmistakably plastic foot cuts him off, but not before Mrs. Ibarazaki's eyebrows shoot upwards.
"What about your leg?" Meiko asked Emi as she thought Lenny had been kicked.
"It wasn't a big deal, that's all... I just was, er…" Emi tried to think of something to throw Meiko off her tail for a moment. "...inawheelchairforabit." The last few mumbled words are quickly deciphered by Emi's mother. Lenny suspects she has experience with this sort of thing and a worried frown appears on her face.
"So that's why you have kept dodging my calls... Oh Emi... I know how much you hate being in a wheelchair. No wonder you've been in such a mood lately!" Meiko told Emil that she was worried about it and ran away from the situation mentally.
"Yeah, she's much happier on her feet, so to speak." Lenny added on. "I bruised my ankle and we couldn't run for a couple of days. We both felt bored because of it. At least Emi wasn't alone."
"Well of course! She spent enough time in a chair just after the accident." Meiko recalled the time when Emi had her accident. Lenny seemed confused about this, and his curiosity was getting the better of him.
"She didn't get prosthetics immediately?" Lenny asked Meiko if Emi got the fake legs immediately after the accident.
"No, she had to finish healing up before they'd let her start the sort of therapy you've got to go through to adjust to those things. Especially since she wanted to run on them." Meiko replied. Emi was hearing that they were tearing her walls down and not Lenny's.
"I had no idea." Lenny admitted. There was so much he didn't know about Emi and at the same time Emi knew nothing about him. Emi began speaking next.
"Yeah, it sucked. Oh, did you see Rin's mural at the festival?" Emi tried her best to throw them both off. Emi's sudden change of topic makes Lenny realize belatedly that she's been fidgeting the whole time her mother and Lenny have been talking. Lenny gulped as he knew he should have figured on her being a little skittish when it comes to talking about the accident. Even around her mother. But he didn't want to bring it up as the pulse monitor was only going faster and faster by the moment.
"No, I didn't make it out to the festival, remember? Although I caught a glimpse of it at your track meet. It seemed pretty weird to me." Meiko explained to Emi that she didn't show up to the festival.
"I think that's more or less what she was going for. She talked a lot about it being dreamlike. Or trying to make it dreamlike." Emi nodded as she seemed happy. Lenny managed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Rin's art is one of those things I don't think I'll ever understand." Meiko managed to get a dry laugh out of it.
"That's not surprising. I don't think Rin expects to be understood. She told me once that art allows people to understand stuff they wouldn't understand otherwise, but all the same she doesn't think it actually works that way." Emi told Meiko about it. Lenny was surprised that Emi talked about this with Rin extensively enough to actually have Rin's opinion, such as it is. Although he expected that Rin could not, if she were so inclined, say the same thing about Emi's. Unless, of course, Emi is purposely keeping Lenny in the dark about everything, which is likely, but unpleasant to think about. Lenny began to drift down this unpleasant train of thought for a while, losing track of the conversation.
"Hey Emi, I've been meaning to ask..." Meiko began as she began to think about it.
"Huh?" Emi asked.
"Are you going to visit your father this year?" Meiko asked from the way she says it, you'd think Emi's mother was talking about the weather. From the way Emi reacts, it's clearly not the weather they're talking about. She flinches, a slight jerk of the head backwards as if she's just been slapped in the face. Emi began to think about it as she looked at Lenny's pulse monitor. Not only was she uncomfortable but the talk of her deceased father was making Lenny uncomfortable too.
"Can we talk about this later?" Emi asked. Her voice sounds brittle, strained. It looks as if she's been severely shaken by the question. It seems that Mrs. Ibarazaki misjudged just how close Emi and Lenny were. Some things, it seems, are best not talked about with him around. Her father is one of these things. The accident that took her legs is probably another one of those things, if her reaction to the earlier conversation between her mother and Lenny is any indication. It doesn't take Emi's mother long to realize she's screwed up.
"Of course, we can, dear. I'm sorry to bring it up, I just wanted to ask so I could make plans…" Meiko tried her best to apologize about what she said, and Emi shrugged it off.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Emi told Meiko. Emi fidgets nervously, as if embarrassed by her own reaction. Lenny confesses that her reaction is confusing. She only just mentioned her father to me earlier today! Less than a few hours ago, even! Why does a simple question about when she'll visit her father cause such a strong reaction? Unless whatever serenity she claimed to have reached by means of their talk the previous evening has suddenly evaporated. Or it didn't help as much as she thought. Or claimed. Emi knew she needed to cool off a bit. "I'll uh, be right back. Gotta visit the little girl's room." Emi gets up suddenly and leaves the table, leaving Lenny and Mrs. Ibarazaki alone. Lenny was a little conflicted. Should he go after her, or should he stay here? It's obvious that Emi's departure was not based on the call of nature. Something's bothering her, and I have to know what it is. How to go about it? Lenny then remembered what Yuuko told him about Emi when they visited the Shanghai a few days ago. Lenny decided to stay at the table.
"Sorry about that, Lenny. I sometimes forget that Emi's touchy about certain subjects. And I was talking about the wheelchair thing, too..." Meiko told Lenny about what was going on.
"Should I go after her? I want to make sure she is okay." Lenny asked as the conflict was plaguing his mind almost if he was having second thoughts. The pulse monitor was flashing faster now.
"Heavens no! She didn't leave the table to continue the conversation, you know." Meiko told Lenny that he should not pursue him. Lenny breathed another sigh of relief, but the pulse monitor wasn't calming down.
"But if she's troubled, shouldn't someone help her?" Lenny asked. Emi helped him out in the past and it would only be fair to repay the favor back.
"If it were anyone else, I'd say yes. But my daughter is stubborn as a mule, and if she wants to be alone it's best to let her be alone. Otherwise, she'll probably say something she'd regret, which would cause you to say something you'd regret, and I would prefer that dinner doesn't end with one or the both of you storming out of the house. If that were to happen I'd be a terrible hostess, wouldn't I? I've already acted as a fool once today." Meiko explained to Lenny that if Emi had a plan, she was sticking to it and not making any changes.
"That's okay, I shouldn't have brought up the wheelchair, apparently." Lenny sighed. He felt his chest was beginning to hurt him. Mrs. Ibarazaki frowns, clearly more bothered by Emi's omission than she'd let on.
"I wish she wouldn't do that. It just makes me worry more; you know." Meiko replied. Lenny was trying to ignore what was going on but it was beginning to bite his leg.
"She does this often?" Lenny asked Meiko.
"What, running off to the bathroom? No, I can't say she does. Keep injuries from her mother, though? Well, that's a little more common. Every time I catch her lying like that, she assures me that the only reason she didn't tell me is because it wasn't a big deal." Meiko explained that Emi was the one to say that nothing was wrong when there was clearly something wrong.
"If it's any consolation, I'm sure the only reason I knew about it at all was because I saw her every day." Lenny told Meiko, he was beginning to sweat a bit. The pulse monitor was only going slightly faster, but he had to get through this conversation.
"Still hesitant about getting close to people, huh? I keep hoping that she'll get over that. It's funny, really. She's bounced back so well from the accident in so many ways... I guess some things never really go away." Meiko tried to explain to Lenny that some things never really go away. Lenny then looked at Meiko. From the looks of it, the whole thing still bothers her, too. She seems to be a little more willing to talk about the accident without Emi around, though.
"Hey, I've got a question, if it's all right." Lenny asked, he placed a hand on his chest as the cramp was only getting more painful, but he was trying his best to hide it.
"Oh?" Meiko asked.
"What else did Emi lose in that accident? The nurse said that she gets this way near the anniversary, and she won't talk about it to me..." Lenny began, he wanted to know more about Emi even if he was hurting himself. He only felt his heartbeat faster by the moment.
"So you thought I'd fill you in, hmm?" Meiko asked Lenny if this was going to be the case.
"Er, yeah. Hopefully. I will try my best to…" Lenny tried his best to speak but his voice was starting to get a little hoarse.
"Well, there's a problem with that request, you know." Meiko told Lenny.
"Let me guess: you promised Emi that you wouldn't tell anyone she didn't want to know, and you don't know if she wants me to know?" Lenny began, he was trying his best to push on through even though his condition only continued to worsen by the minute.
"Something like that. I promised Emi that she'd be the one to tell people the full story." Meiko told Lenny that she promised her that she wouldn't bring it up. Lenny was dumbfounded by this.
"But isn't that important? I mean, it clearly had a huge effect on her if she's still like this so long after the accident happened." Lenny asked. His voice was only growing weaker as time went on.
"That's true. It did have a long-lasting effect on her. There are a few things that she'll probably never really get over. Just like me." Meiko explained. For a moment Mrs. Ibarazaki looks incredibly saddened, as if an old wound is bothering her.
"I suppose there are a few things I'll never really get over either..." Lenny tried to explain to Meiko. Another dry chuckle, and with a shake of her head Emi's mother banishes the memory.
"Look, there's something you absolutely must understand about the way Emi thinks about the accident." Meiko explained to Lenny.
"What's that?" Lenny asked, he felt the pulse monitor was ready to explode, the light continued to flash faster and faster.
"It wasn't a big deal." Meiko told Lenny Somehow, he managed to keep my mouth from falling open in surprise, but it takes some effort. That has to be the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard.
"I beg your pardon?" Lenny tried his best to speak but he was getting weaker.
"Okay, maybe it's not that simple, but it's a pretty accurate summation. Emi believes that the accident did not define her, and that everything she lost that day didn't define her either. She's not "that girl who lost her legs," she's "The Fastest Thing on No Legs." Her optimism and energy came out of that wreck without a scratch, as far as she's concerned." Meiko tried her best to explain to Lenny about this. Lenny tried to gather whatever strength he had left and began speaking.
"Yet it goes beyond that, doesn't it? I mean, last night she told me that she refused to rely on me because it would make losing me too painful. Especially since I just lost my father and now my mother too."
"Not really. You said she won't tell you about the accident, even though you've asked her about it before. The reason she won't talk about it when you ask is because to her it's not something you absolutely need to know. Even if she wasn't terrified of getting too close to anyone, she still wouldn't talk about it. I think you're also scared of bringing up the loss of your family. She doesn't let the accident define who she is and maybe you should let your loss don't define who you are either. Emi loves you." Meiko tried to explain to Lenny that her loss and his loss shouldn't define who they were. Emi was merely there to not only help him through the pain. Something else was growing with them but Lenny didn't understand what it was.
"Then why is she afraid of being close to me?" Lenny hoarsely spoke before he began to cough. Meiko was worried that he was getting sick rapidly, but she did her best to keep the conversation going.
"Oh goodness me, yes. For all that talk about being unscathed by the accident, she's gained the ugly knowledge of how quickly it can all be over. So, she's not going to let people get especially close to her, and she certainly would resent any implication that she cannot work through this on her own." Meiko explained as best as she could. The crash that ended up taking her husband and Emi's legs had left an ugly scar on them. Lenny wanted to speak about it but he was beginning to shake, ready to collapse.
"But I don't think she can." Lenny tried his best to speak.
"Oh, no? Are you sure you've been dating my daughter and not somebody else? Trust me, Lenny, she could get through it on her own." Meiko asked Lenny if he was dating Emi or someone else similar to her. Lenny tried his best to speak although he was having a hard time thinking straight.
"But she has nightmares, and can't sleep well, and… so have I for the past couple of days." Lenny admitted.
"And she does this every year. Tell me, if she wasn't able to get through it on her own, do you really think she'd still be alive? She would've killed herself, or something equally melodramatic." Meiko tried her best to tell Lenny about this. Lenny was fighting to keep himself up and try to learn more about it.
"So, what, I shouldn't try to help her? If she had killed herself, I would have died as well. I would have nothing left and Emi is the only thing helping me through after losing my mother." Lenny tried his best as if he was exhausted and his heart was ready to quit on him.
"I didn't say that! I hate seeing my daughter like this and knowing that she could rely on someone else would let me relax. You just need to understand that accepting help goes against everything Emi thinks about herself and the way the world works. If you still want to offer her help, then I guess that's your call. Honestly, I'd like you to, but it'd be silly not to warn you that it's not going to be easy." Meiko explained to Lenny about her being a mule again. However, if Lenny was going to help her, he needed to do it and not her. She began speaking again. "You just need to be patient with her. She's already closer to you than anyone else she's ever met at Yamaku." Lenny was feeling his hands slipping as if he was fighting for the truth as much as it was hurting him.
"I need to stand up." Lenny told Meiko. He then stood up as his entire body was shaking, he was sweating nervously, and the pulse monitor was flashing rapidly. Meiko studied this and it wasn't good.
"Are you okay Lenny?" Meiko asked. She felt like Lenny was undergoing what she and Rin experienced during Emi's track competition. Lenny began to speak again.
"Well, it sure doesn't feel like we're… very… close…" Lenny tried to speak but his body seemed to give up on him. He felt his eyes closed and he toppled over, falling to the floor with a thud. Emi came down to the dining room as she heard the conversation, ready to throw Lenny out of the house.
"Good, that makes this part easier…" Emi paused to see Lenny unconscious on the floor. "Lenny?" Emi tried calling his name. No response from him. His body seemed to give up on him. "Lenny!" Emi cried out. She ran up to him and turned him over to make sure he was still breathing. She looked at his pulse monitor as it was flashing rapidly. How he managed to push himself through as far as he could handle it was something she questioned but seeing him on the floor changed her mood from anger to worry. She hugged him. "This must be all my fault!" Emi cried into Lenny. Meiko walked up as his pulse was still going, he must've blacked out though.
"Did I kill him?" Meiko asked worried that she might have ended up killing Lenny by accident.
"Let's get him to the school nurse to find out what's the matter." Emi was trying to get over her tears.
Meiko drove Emi and Lenny back to Yamaku where the School Nurse was evaluating what exactly happened.
"Good news is that Lenny just blacked out, but the bad news is that if this continues, it's only going to get worse and what happened all of those months ago is going to happen again. So I can't say we should push him too hard." The School Nurse told them as Emi breathed a sigh of relief. His heart didn't explode on him.
"We were talking about Emi's father, and he seemed to just topple over and was not responding. We brought him back here to figure out what exactly went wrong." Meiko explained what exactly was happening, but they didn't know how they were going to respond to this. The School Nurse began to think about it as this was the worst that Lenny had experienced so far. "If this keeps up we might lose him in a couple of days and he will be hospitalized."
"I feel like we're both at fault here." Emi began. "I invited him over and we were talking about my father and when I left to cool off. I wanted to throw him out of the house but… he was just lying there not responding."
"You both seem to have a few things in common I see. I'll let you have him in your dorm for the night and see how it clears up." The School Nurse told Emi that he entrusted Lenny to her. Emi sighed before she got up and helped him off. Meiko decided to head for home. Emi felt betrayed as Meiko and Lenny went behind her back but it also nearly ended up killing Lenny in the process. She didn't know who to side with. All she knew was the fact that she was stuck in the middle, they wanted to know more about her but she didn't know if she should tear her walls down or Lenny's first.
Emi knew she needed to come to a decision.
[A/N]: This chapter is longer than anticipated as this one focused more on Emi's character and Lenny is going to have to undergo something if his relationship with Emi is going to continue. Emi is pretty much stuck and she doesn't know how to move forward.
Next chapter will be a bit of a switch up from the usual format and probably some Shizune antagonizing Lenny a bit more. Anyway, I better go before I continue to bother you. See you later.