Tuesday morning seems to come. Emi was still upset over the fact that she nearly killed the person she loved. Hisao and Rin were standing by her while at the Nurse's office as Hisao just had his heart checked out.
"Emi, I know you feel upset for what you did with Lenny. Hopefully everything is okay now." Hisao began as he wanted to ease her through some of the pain. Emi sighed.
"I know, at least he got up and I checked his heart but he's looking worse compared to last week. It seems he's back at square one." Emi began.
"It's hard to see the fact that we've built up everything over the past couple weeks to only have it torn all down in a matter of days." Rin added. Hisao looked at them as he held out an envelope that he and Lenny managed to open this morning.
"We managed to get a letter from one of Lenny's old friends before he transferred here. I've decided to hang onto it." Hisao told them about the letter he got. He wanted to show it to Rin and Emi. He opened it and began to read it.
Dear Lenny Hirahi
There are other things I want to say. I'm writing to you because I felt that there are things I should've said after the incident back in winter. I really regret that I wasn't able to say them in person, and I have no excuse for it. The truth is, the times when I visited you at the hospital made me worried about you. I am not talking about your health. You seemed to become more distant and disheartened. It was natural after something like that happened, I'm sure, but somehow, I got the feeling that you had given up on something back then. Happiness, maybe? I wanted to somehow express my feelings, but the right words didn't come to me. I couldn't say anything to comfort you. I am really sorry for not being able to support you when it mattered the most, even though I like you so much. At least now, finally, I can be more honest. If I could go back to those quiet days in February and March, I'd tell you to not give up on yourself. That's what I would say. Maybe you wouldn't have drifted so far away if I had just said something. I hope you've managed to get back on your feet on your own. Now that the distance between us is also physical, it also feels more final, somehow. I wonder if we will meet again. Perhaps it's for the best if we don't? Still, if you would like to correspond with me, by all means write me back. I'd very much like to hear about your new school and how you are doing. I wish you all the best.
Sincerely Iwanako
Hisao was surprised by who wrote the letter. He couldn't believe himself.
"Iwanako wrote this letter?" Hisao asked. Iwanako was the girl he confessed his love to first before he ended up with a heart attack of his own that got him transferred to Yamaku Academy. He couldn't believe it. "She was friends with Lenny? How come she didn't tell me about this?" Hisao was having a hard time contemplating it.
"Would Lenny be dying because he's lost something dear to him?" Emi asked. She learned that neither of Lenny's parents were alive and now with the loss of his mother, it began to make his problems worse.
"Like him being happy? We thought he had bucket loads of them when we went to the carnival, did it spill?" Rin asked as she was reading the letter. Hisao began to think about it before he knew he had to come to a decision.
"I have to write back to Iwanako tonight about this. It's no coincidence that she is friends with him. It only makes me a little more jealous about it." Hisao admitted. He didn't know what to say now but could Iwanako know a thing or two about what happened to Lenny before he had his heart attack. He had to put it off as Emi began speaking again.
"I still feel foolish about what I did last night." Emi began. She was feeling regretful about the whole dinner she had with Meiko.
"Don't be. Not one of us was expecting it to come. It wasn't your fault Emi." Hisao tried to help Emi out. "I've sent him to Lilly and Hanako to have tea in order to calm him down."
"He's been in the School Nurse's office twice so far this week. When I was talking to him this morning, he was feeling very bad about it." Emi expressed to Hisao about what exactly was happening and how many times Lenny has blacked out so far this week. Then a horn-like sound was heard. Hisao, Rin and Emi raised their heads as Hanako, Lilly and another student were carrying someone to the School Nurse's office. Upon closer inspection, the person they were carrying was Lenny.
"Oh no. Lenny has blacked out again and they've taken him to the School Nurse's office." Hisao began speaking with worry as Hanako and Lilly joined the conversation.
"That's the third time this week… you know what that means right?" Hanako added as she asked with worry. Emi knew what Hanako was talking about when you were in the School Nurse's office three times a week.
"He has to have a trial inspection for his heart." Emi began. "If he gets assigned Shizune and Misha, they'll tear him apart."
"Not like we can do anything about it now. I hope he can take it." Hanako said with resentment in her voice. The two people that caused her to have a panic attack, she was ready to fight back against them.
"He has to, the trial inspection is required for a person of his situation. They best not do anything to harm him." Emi explained what exactly this inspection was going to be. Emi was hoping Lenny was going to be tough enough to handle Shizune and Misha. She was still worried at the end thinking that he was going to destroy himself.
Meanwhile in Shizune's office. A couple of students were cleaning the school up in preparation for Summer Break as one of the students walked up to Shizune and Misha.
"You just received a call from the School Nurse about a student whose pulse monitor reads the number 8926. It looks like your services are required." She began. Shizune smiled and she began signing to Misha who began to handle the translation to the girl who gave the news.
"Ah. He has finally had enough. It looks like we can finally throw him off the rails." Misha told her what Shizune was signing. She was of course referring to what Rin had made in her sketchbook, but they had to end up giving it back to Rin before they got the call. It was time for them to try to ruin Lenny.
Wednesday was the day of the trial inspection. The route was set for Lenny to run it, it would be from the track field to the top of Galveston Hill, that was a long distance, but they were allowing Lenny to run straight up the hill instead of taking the winding path up. Lenny was also allowed a couple minutes of rest if he sensed that he was going to topple over and black out. He was at the start of the track where he and Emi would have their races around the track field. Emi was looking with Hanako and Rin as they were going to wish him luck.
"Whatever happens today, you're still our friend Lenny." Emi began speaking to him. Lenny began to think about what this meant.
"Friend." He said to himself when Emi told him she was his friend, nothing was going to happen to him and no amount of setbacks were going to change that. "I won't let you down." Lenny told Emi and her friends.
"We know you won't. Good luck Lenny." Emi told him. She, Rin and Hanako withdrew as they were going to watch the opening stage of the trial.
Shizune and Misha came along as they went up to the person, they had the map and began making some changes in order to cheat the trial. The first change they made was making Lenny run along the winding path, the usual route to get to the top. Hanako looked at this and she was worried.
"Wait? What are they doing? I thought the trial involved running straight up the hill?" Hanako asked. Shizune began also making the other changes to the trial inspection, aside from running the usual route, they decided to take away Lenny's break as they were going to force him to run a straight shot up the hill.
"They're setting him up to fail." Emi began as she too was worried for Lenny. "The route goes to the top of Galveston Hill, there is no way he's going to run that all himself." Emi expressed her concern.
"But what can we do? If we interfere at all, Lenny fails automatically." Hanako asked if they had any ideas on what they could do. Emi began to speak next.
"I… I think I have a plan. But Lenny needs to pull through on his own." Emi told Hanako and Rin. Shuzune and Misha walked up to Lenny as they were going to be the ones to administer the inspection.
"Right so… Lenny, is it?" Misha began while Shizune signed his name. Lenny didn't respond as Shizune continued to sign as Misha translated it. "Well, are you ready? You will be running along a set path that we have predetermined; we will be following you along to judge your performance. If you cannot complete the route, you fail the inspection. I can't say I have much faith in you succeeding."
"I won't let her down." Lenny told himself. He promised that he wasn't going to fail Emi in the trial inspection. Misha heard this before signing to Shizune. Shizune began signing to Misha.
"Won't let who down?" Misha asked as Shizune was a bit annoyed with what he had said. "Well, not like it matters. Anyway, you may begin when ready." Lenny decided to put on some music to help him run and fill his head with noise. He didn't want to be developing second thoughts or flashbacks that might ruin the trial run. Lenny took off slow at first, but he wanted to steadily pick up speed as he ran. Shizune and Misha took off after him as they were going to judge Lenny.
Lenny Hirahi's Trial: Ender's Game- Salamander Battle
Lenny was taking the lead in the trial with Shizune and Misha following behind him. They were running along the mostly flat and easily navigable terrain that was the school grounds, the first part of the trial was easy as they were pushing onward. Lenny was playing the music on his phone as it was a means to keeping the thoughts out of his head. This was going to be his moment of truth and he knew he needed to pass. The one shot he had. All or nothing… was on him. Shizune and Misha continued to follow behind as they were observing Lenny through the trial. The first part was easy, but it was Galveston Hill that Lenny's friends dreaded.
The first part of the trial inspection Lenny managed to pull off without a hitch. He continued to run as the next part was the difficult part, the park and the hill. Lenny huffed as he was still going strong surprisingly. Shizune and Misha continued to follow behind as they were still judging his performance. Lenny's pulse monitor was flashing steadily despite the long run. The three of them crossed the first bridge while they pushed onward. They were going to be following the creek up the hill to get to the top. Now came the challenging part, climbing Galveston Hill. They passed by the sign that told them the climb to the top had just begun. Lenny pushed onward as Shizune and Misha followed along. The pulse monitor was beginning to flash steadily faster as the seconds went by, but Lenny knew there was nothing to worry about for the time being while they continued to run. They crossed the second bridge as the run was starting to wear them down. Lenny pushed onward despite the fact that his body was beginning to hurt especially around his chest. The pulse monitor was flashing faster and faster now.
Lenny's response to all of this was to begin slowing down in order to prevent him from blacking out and failing. He knew he needed to pass this trial inspection. He continued to push onward, much to the surprise of Shizune and Misha. How was he still going? However, Lenny was beginning to stumble from exhaustion. With the pulse monitor flashing rapidly. Lenny stumbled his way with his hands on his chest, crossing another bridge as he was determined to keep going. However, taking the winding path had taken its toll on Lenny. He stumbled along more and more while trying to get to the top. Eventually, Lenny knew he had to stop. Once they got to another curve on the winding path. Lenny collapsed to his knees and began to gasp for air. His body knew he had to stop. Shizune and Misha walked over. Shizune studied the number on the pulse monitor before she looked at Misha who began to handle the translation.
"Well, I'm not surprised. So, it appears that you can't do it." Misha began. Lenny was thinking back to all of his interactions at Yamaku, Emi telling him that she was his friend. Rin telling him his heart was like an engine. Misha pressured Hanako into a panic attack. Lenny knew he had to brush that all aside.
"I can't let her down." Lenny told Shizune and Misha that he wasn't ready to give up.
"Isn't it clear? You've already let your whole school down!" Misha shouted at Lenny as Shizune was angry that Lenny wasn't going to admit defeat.
"No! I WON'T LET HER DOWN!" Lenny shouted. Lenny knew he had to keep going. Despite being in a lot of pain, he pulled himself back to his feet and kept going. Shizune and Misha were shocked, how was he still going? They knew they needed to follow him.
I won't give up: Era- Devore Amante
Lenny stumbled onward, his pulse monitor was flashing rapidly but that didn't matter, Emi telling him that she was his friend was all that he cared about. Shizune and Misha followed behind, the trial inspection was far from over. Lenny continued to push himself, determined to make it to the top of the hill. His heart was beating so fast that he could only walk as his chest was hurting him. Crossing over another bridge, he pushed forward more. Sweat was beginning to drip down as it was clear his body was shouting for him to stop. Lenny knew that he could only answer it when he reached the top. Lenny began to think of what it would be like to finally reach the top of Galveston Hill. Thinking that one more step would bring him to the top of the hill, he stumbled onward.
Rin's words were starting to become true, if his heart was an engine, it would have begun to smoke due to it being overworked under immense stress. He began to shake almost if the electricity was getting shut down to the vital sections of the body. He still stumbled onward, shaking, sweating, his breath becoming hoarse while he struggled onward. He was thinking of what his friend had said and he dragged his feet onward. He was wearing himself out and that was what he didn't want but he didn't want to fail at the same time. However even for all of the struggling and pain he was putting himself through, it was all going to come to an end within a few moments. Lenny, Shizune and Misha were at the top of the hill, he was so close to the finish line but that is when his heart gave out on him. Lenny's eyes lurched open as wide as they could as his body finally stopped beating. He then closed his eyes and fell onto his knees before coming to a rest on the top of the hill. He was mere feet from the finish line, and he failed at the last possible moment. Shizune was pretty angry at Lenny for wrecking himself over an impossible to reach victory. They walked alongside him as he was staring at the end goal.
"Well look at the mess you've made, wasn't it clear the first time that you couldn't do it? Now you've only made it worse. Wouldn't your friends have to see the way you look right now. That is if you call them that? They only said that they were your friends so that you would pull your own weight." Misha translated Shizune's mocking words to Lenny who was laying on the hilltop. "Anyway, we have some important business we need to take care of, so we'll be off now." Shizune and Misha turned away, and they began to walk away from a nearly dead Lenny and made their way back down the hill. Lenny was lying there as he didn't know what to do. He began to speak to himself with his hoarse yet regretful voice.
"I'm… I'm sorry Emi." Lenny apologized to her. He had failed and let her down. He didn't know how Emi was going to react to this.
Shizune and Misha were making their way down the hill as they were definitely going to throw Lenny off the rails for sure. They got partway down the hill when they spotted Emi standing defiantly in their way. Shizune slapped her face as she was wondering what Emi was doing there.
"What are you doing here?" Misha asked as she began to translate what Shizune was saying.
"Making sure you didn't do anything to harm him. You regret what you did up there. He didn't deserve that!" Emi spoke defiantly at Misha as their treatment of Lenny was wrong. Shizune knew she had to shove Emi out of her way.
"Regardless of what that useless student deserves." Misha began. "What do you expect to do? You're the only one who kept mentioning him as a friend. If he couldn't run this route, you can't think of a person as little as you could…" Emi then interrupted Misha as she began speaking next. She was ready to fight the last student.
"I think you've underestimated Lenny's capacity of my friends." Emi called out before signaling them with her horn. Hanako responded as she managed to rally together the people that liked Lenny, Hanako, Hisao, Rin, Lilly, Mutou, the Track Team Captain, Miki and a couple members of the track team. They had rallied together to try to lend their support. Shizune and Misha felt a little overwhelmed by this, but Shizune's decision was final. She began to sign to Misha.
"Whether all of you help or not, he still failed, and he will still suffer the consequences!" Misha shouted what Shizune was saying. They turned and began making their way down the hill. Emi didn't know that Lenny had failed them, but she knew that the trial had probably ruined him. She turned to her friends and began speaking to them.
"Let's make Lenny's first trip over Galveston Hill one that he'll remember." Emi told the group. The group nodded and they began making their way to the top of the hill to find Lenny's unconscious body, laying there. Everyone gathered around and one by one, they began to pick him up except for Rin and Miki as they were going to be leading and trailing. They began to carry Lenny down the hill. Lenny felt the dirt lift from his face while they began to finally bring him back.
I failed you: After Forever- Cry With A Smile
Lenny felt like he was being moved despite being unconscious and being held by everyone. Emi was helping the crowd while they were going to take Lenny the long way back. He needed to experience the rest of the trail before they were going to bring him back. Crossing over another bridge, they carried him onward. Everyone was saddened about the fact that he failed. He gave everything he could to try to beat Shizune's unfair trial. At least the trial was over, and they were simply carrying him home. Even Rin began to get a little teary-eyed while they looked at the trail. It was going to be a long while before they were going to make sure he was going to be fully healed. Things weren't going to be the same at Yamaku after that day.
Hisao, Rin, Hanako and Emi were helping get Lenny back to the School Nurse's office so they could report on the trial. They were chatting among themselves.
"I'm surprised that he got as far as we expected him to." Hisao began. The pulse monitor was still flashing very fast. It was clear something was wrong with Lenny.
"He still didn't win. I'm saddened that Shizune and Misha weren't fair about it and they had to harm him." Emi replied. She began stroking his blonde hair as he wasn't responding to any of their commands. "His pulse is still beating as it's a sign that this battle is far from over." Emi continued to speak. They were just about there when Hanako spoke next.
"Would he have completed the trial's route if the changes weren't made?" Hanako asked. "It would have helped him a bit as it wouldn't be stressful to him. I'm heartbroken that he didn't get to complete the route he was running. They just had to wear him out until he could run no more." Hanako then fell silent as if she felt like they were at fault. "We should have interfered with the trial the moment you said that Lenny was being set up to fail."
"We couldn't. If we did, it would be an automatic failure for him. We were too little too late." Emi felt saddened as well.
"I'm going to Lilly and Akira before they head for Scotland. I want to spend one last night with them." Hisao told the three of them he was leaving for the time being. Emi knocked on the School Nurse's office. He opened the door to them.
"How can I help you?" The School Nurse asked the students.
"We got Lenny unconscious again, the trial inspection was an absolute disaster. We don't know what's going on with the pulse monitor." Emi tried her best to explain it. The School nurse took Lenny and the girls in and laid him on the table. He then began to inspect him to see what was wrong. After a few minutes of studying and taking some notes on what was going on with the pulse monitor. He came to a conclusion.
"Lenny is having another heart attack." The School Nurse told them. They all gasped.
[A/N]: This mainly deals with the trial of Lenny and his failure. The others are worried about how Lenny was run into the ground and now something else is going on. This will be painful for all of them. Next chapter will hopefully be some closure for Lenny and them being able to move on. Not until Shizune and Misha get to him first. See you later.