Yuu looked at the wall beside his table. The clock on the wall read that it
was nearing one in the morning. He looked in distaste at the textbook that
he had been reading. He couldn't concentrate. Miki was civil to him and she
talked to him normally. Yuu had the impression that she wanted the both of
them to forget that anything ever happened. Yuu wanted to scoff. Things
didn't happen because things were left alone.
His chin rested on his hand. He wanted to see Miki. It had been a month since the incident in the movie house. He needed to talk to her. He heard noises in the kitchen below. Usually, no sound could have been heard through the wall and through the floor, but then he had heard a metal pot banging against the floor. It was a faint noise, not enough to awaken a sleeping person, but since he was already awake, he had, of course, heard it.
Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that it was Miki. His eyes went to the lit kitchen, and he saw Miki's slender figure in her heart spotted pajamas. She sensed someone behind her and then she looked back. Seeing that it was Yuu, she gave a smile.
"Yuu! Can't sleep?"
Yuu didn't give back a smile, instead, just took a seat in one of the plastic chairs beside the counter.
"Can you make me some coffee?"
"Do it yourself."
Yuu wanted to give a small smile. The fact that Miki had told him off in the movie house hadn't changed anything in their relationship. Her attitude towards him was as if he had never remotely admitted that he liked her. She was still wry and self-justified and practical.
But as for him, he couldn't help but feel a pang whenever he would see her. But still, he hid his feelings and played his own part of the game where he would pretend that everything was alright.
Yuu played with the small display of fruits beside him. Miki turned, a bowl of noodles in her hand, a ladle in the other.
"There are still some more noodles left, do you want some?" she asked in a matter-of-factly voice.
"Sure," he replied.
Five minutes later, the both of them were eating their noodles. Miki was hacing a one sided conversation with herself in the brightly lit kitchen across him, telling him about some science project she had to do in their class. Yuu was only half listening. He wasn't really used to having her so close to him anymore. After a month, it seemed quite foreign.
But still, he felt the need to join in the conversation.
"Did you know," he asked. "That this guy named.Jira.came to school two days ago? He came up to that 'popular' person Harry and asked something about his payment. I think the school official called a cop to drag him off because there was starting to begin a racket."
Miki's face held some shock.
"Are you sure? A guy named JIRA?"
Miki had gone to Meiko's house that day after school. She suddenly felt a pang of regret. She should have been there to see what this guy looked like.
Yuu appeared to be thinking hard.
"Yeah, I think that was the name. Personally, I wasn't there the whole time, but towards the end, when two policemen were dragging him out, I heard some stupid last words."
"What were they?" Miki was looked interested, and almost afraid.
"His last words?" Yuu paused. "I think they were something like: 'If you don't give me the fucking money, I'm going to come back and finish the job-ten times worse than you asked for, and then tell people why I did it.'"
Yuu thought again. "Or something like that. Close enough, I guess."
Miki had gone pale. Her hand shook as she used her chopsticks to pick up a string of noodles.
"Want to tell me something?" Yuu asked, looking concerned.
"What did Harry do?" Miki asked. She looked up into his face. "Didn't Harry do anything?!"
Her voice was beginning to take on a note of hysteria.
Yuu shrugged.
"He shouted that he'd pay that's all. You can ask other students, there was a whole crowd of them seeing what the commotion was about."
Miki let out a held breath. Then she looked at Yuu. Again Yuu wondered why she was so interested in knowing what had made her so half interested and half frightened. As if she could read his mind, Miki cleared her throat softly.
"Yuu, if I tell you something, then you have to promise not to tell ANYONE."
Yuu stared at her. Something important was coming. He nodded.
"Remember that incident beside my locker some time ago? When three hooded guys attacked me?" Miki almost choked with rage at the memory. "TWO people were behind the attack. One was the popular friend, I guess the one named Harry. The other was.It was Shin."
Yuu's lower jaw dropped.
"Hey!" Miki said defensively, feeling that something was going to burst in the air any moment. "He had no idea Harry was going to go so far! All he knew was that Harry had a 'great' plan that couldn't be disrupted!"
Yuu's face was going through two changes. One was shock. Another was forming in such slow motion that Miki knew whatever she said wouldn't change what was coming.
A smooth, calm mask rested itself on Yuu's face. But Miki could recognize some underlying feelings. All she could detect was a faint trace of anger.
"Yuu! You promised not to tell anyone," she reminded him.
"Yeah. All right. " Yuu gave a small wave of his wrist. "I just can't believe you never told me about this until now."
He stood up and left his unfinished bowl on the counter. Miki just looked after him until her disappeared from the kitchen. She looked in distaste at her own bowl of noodles that had gone slightly cold. She stood up and left her noodles on the counter as well.
***
The rest of the week passed by without incident. The next weekend, Miki went out with Shin to a fancy restaurant. Before that, she had to overcome a series of obstacles. First of all, Yuu had suddenly talked to Jin about making Miki stay inside. Jin had sensed an ally and had almost forbidden Miki to go, but the two women had convinced him that it was okay.
Then Yuu had gone to his own mother, and had asked her to forbid Miki. Of course, his mother found nothing wrong with the date.
So Yuu asked Miki's mother, who grew worried at his list of possibilities, and then pried Miki with questions. By the time Yuu was drained of possibilities, it was too late because Miki was already with Shin on a dinner date.
Yuu was wracking his brain. Miki had no idea Yuu was behind the parental questioning. She had assumed it had something to do with a midlife crisis and had thought nothing more.
Yuu was thinking of what could have happened if the three men hadn't retreated for some unknown reason. And to think that Shin was behind everything was unforgivable. A rational part of his mind knew that it wasn't completely his fault, but he still worried about Miki. If the couple would break up, then would the same thing happen?
After Miki had left, Yuu had looked outside the window at the retereating car, trying to memorize the car plate, but it had disappeared at the corner before long.
Jin noticed that something was bothering Yuu and sat beside him.
"What's with Shin that's making you so worried?"
Yuu looked at Jin. He had promised, but he could think of no other way to protect Miki. He had promised, and he was about to break that promise, but he was worried enough.
"Jin.remember that time when."
***
Miki came home that night in a great mood. She had skipped past the Parents, who had been watching television, and then she had gone up to her room. She didn't notice that all the Parents were in a bad mood, just almost glaring at the TV.
She went to sleep that night with a smile on her face, thinking about that perfect kiss that she and Shin had shared. She noticed that her parents, for the week thereafter were in a strange mood, as if a dark cloud had befallen on them. And they kept on telling her, that she could tell them anything at all, and then they'd understand.
But Miki had nothing to tell them, and they didn't really push it, so she thought nothing of it.
After two weeks had passed, Shin suddenly took Miki aside in the school halls after school. He gave her a long hug and then he broke off.
"Bye Miki," he said sadly. Miki didn't understand.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Shin gave her a small grin. She changed the topic and the both of them had talked. They laughed at some things and then grew silent at other times in their past, and when a good two hours had passed. Miki said:
"I've got to go now, Shin. I'll see you tomorrow."
Shin gave another soft smile.
Then he turned and went in to the direction of the classroom.
***
The next day, Miki noticed that Shin didn't come to school. The teacher said that Shin had had a meeting with the principal. Miki wondered what Shin could have done.
"What do you think?" Miki asked Meiko during recess.
"Didn't you hear?" Meiko asked, astounded. "Shin is being relocated to Osaka. He's been expelled from the school!"
Miki was shocked. "What?!" she almost screamed. Her bag of chips fell from her hand. "Are you sure?! Who told you?!"
Miki stood up and started to shake. "How did this happen?!"
Meiko tried to calm her friend down. "There was no clear reason.For goodness sakes, Miki, calm down!"
Miki tried to take a deep breath.
"He had always had such good grades," she said.
Miki tried to think what could have caused the school to expel a student like Shin. They had nothing against him. The thought never crossed Miki's mind that it could have had something to do with what had happened to her. Sure, Harry was also gone, but she didn't care, and aside from that, she had told no one except Yuu. She trusted Yuu.
At that moment, Yuu and Ginta came along with their cans of soda. Ginta and Yuu were always cold to each other for some unexplained reason, but they always went together with Meiko and Miki.
"Did you hear?" Yuu began. "Shin's being expelled."
***
"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Miki said. She was tired, and all she planned to do was stay in her room and cry over Shin. He had left the same afternoon, without bothering to call her at all or explain. She felt betrayed.
"Honey," her mother said from the kitchen. "Come in, we've made a feast."
Miki was about to say that she didn't want to eat, but then changed her mind. She needed her nutrition, after all, right? She plopped to the kitchen after she removed her school shoes. Everyone, including Yuu, was there, sitting at the table.
"So," Jin said cheerfully. "Is that Shin guy out of school?"
Miki gaped.
"Why?" she asked, suspicious for some reason.
"Oh," Yuu's mother said. "We called the school to have that brat expelled. No one hires thugs off the street to beat up a poor defenseless girl. The principal asked us quite a number of questions, but we were able to answer him."
As her parents continued to tell her why Shin was so wonderfully gone from the school, Miki fought her nausea. She just stood there, her soft black hair loose from it's ponytail to around her shoulders, her arms hanging limply.
Then her eyes had started to fill, and she turned to Yuu with such hatred and sudden realization that he had to look away from her gaze.
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted to him in particular, which brought the Shinizo Wyoming family forum to a complete halt. Miki was blinded by her tears. All she could see was a hazy view of things as she tore through the stairs into her room.
"She'll be okay," Jin said from the table.
***
It was late at night when Miki's phone rung. She knew who it was even before she answered, and she picked it up on the first ring.
"Shin?" she asked immediately.
"Miki, how are you?" Shin asked. There was concern in his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to worry. Listen, I'm living with my Auntie right now. My parents are still there in Tokyo. I'll visit you sometime."
From where she ay, Miki shook her head in the darkness.
"There's no use," she said sadly. "It's complicated to have a long distance relationship."
"Then we can write to each other.as friends," Shin suggested.
Miki gave a small bitter laugh. "Sure," she said softly.
Shin gave her his address. "I've got to go," Shin said after. "Miki.I love you."
".I love you too, Shin."
***
"Miki's staying in today," Miki's mother informed the people around the living room. They all had guilty expressions on their faces, but Yuu's face was a blank slate.
"Let's just act normally," she continued. "Eventually Miki will accept what had happened and she'll know that we just did it for her own good."
For some reason, her words were of no comfort, as each of the parents said a goodbye from the doorway to Miki's room and announced that they were leaving. It was early in the morning, a dreary November chill in the air.
The parents left for work and Yuu went to school.
An hour passed.
From her bedroom, Miki put a small piece of paper on top of her bed, and with a back pack in the other, she went out of the house, making sure to lock the door before she left.
She set out to the train station.
His chin rested on his hand. He wanted to see Miki. It had been a month since the incident in the movie house. He needed to talk to her. He heard noises in the kitchen below. Usually, no sound could have been heard through the wall and through the floor, but then he had heard a metal pot banging against the floor. It was a faint noise, not enough to awaken a sleeping person, but since he was already awake, he had, of course, heard it.
Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that it was Miki. His eyes went to the lit kitchen, and he saw Miki's slender figure in her heart spotted pajamas. She sensed someone behind her and then she looked back. Seeing that it was Yuu, she gave a smile.
"Yuu! Can't sleep?"
Yuu didn't give back a smile, instead, just took a seat in one of the plastic chairs beside the counter.
"Can you make me some coffee?"
"Do it yourself."
Yuu wanted to give a small smile. The fact that Miki had told him off in the movie house hadn't changed anything in their relationship. Her attitude towards him was as if he had never remotely admitted that he liked her. She was still wry and self-justified and practical.
But as for him, he couldn't help but feel a pang whenever he would see her. But still, he hid his feelings and played his own part of the game where he would pretend that everything was alright.
Yuu played with the small display of fruits beside him. Miki turned, a bowl of noodles in her hand, a ladle in the other.
"There are still some more noodles left, do you want some?" she asked in a matter-of-factly voice.
"Sure," he replied.
Five minutes later, the both of them were eating their noodles. Miki was hacing a one sided conversation with herself in the brightly lit kitchen across him, telling him about some science project she had to do in their class. Yuu was only half listening. He wasn't really used to having her so close to him anymore. After a month, it seemed quite foreign.
But still, he felt the need to join in the conversation.
"Did you know," he asked. "That this guy named.Jira.came to school two days ago? He came up to that 'popular' person Harry and asked something about his payment. I think the school official called a cop to drag him off because there was starting to begin a racket."
Miki's face held some shock.
"Are you sure? A guy named JIRA?"
Miki had gone to Meiko's house that day after school. She suddenly felt a pang of regret. She should have been there to see what this guy looked like.
Yuu appeared to be thinking hard.
"Yeah, I think that was the name. Personally, I wasn't there the whole time, but towards the end, when two policemen were dragging him out, I heard some stupid last words."
"What were they?" Miki was looked interested, and almost afraid.
"His last words?" Yuu paused. "I think they were something like: 'If you don't give me the fucking money, I'm going to come back and finish the job-ten times worse than you asked for, and then tell people why I did it.'"
Yuu thought again. "Or something like that. Close enough, I guess."
Miki had gone pale. Her hand shook as she used her chopsticks to pick up a string of noodles.
"Want to tell me something?" Yuu asked, looking concerned.
"What did Harry do?" Miki asked. She looked up into his face. "Didn't Harry do anything?!"
Her voice was beginning to take on a note of hysteria.
Yuu shrugged.
"He shouted that he'd pay that's all. You can ask other students, there was a whole crowd of them seeing what the commotion was about."
Miki let out a held breath. Then she looked at Yuu. Again Yuu wondered why she was so interested in knowing what had made her so half interested and half frightened. As if she could read his mind, Miki cleared her throat softly.
"Yuu, if I tell you something, then you have to promise not to tell ANYONE."
Yuu stared at her. Something important was coming. He nodded.
"Remember that incident beside my locker some time ago? When three hooded guys attacked me?" Miki almost choked with rage at the memory. "TWO people were behind the attack. One was the popular friend, I guess the one named Harry. The other was.It was Shin."
Yuu's lower jaw dropped.
"Hey!" Miki said defensively, feeling that something was going to burst in the air any moment. "He had no idea Harry was going to go so far! All he knew was that Harry had a 'great' plan that couldn't be disrupted!"
Yuu's face was going through two changes. One was shock. Another was forming in such slow motion that Miki knew whatever she said wouldn't change what was coming.
A smooth, calm mask rested itself on Yuu's face. But Miki could recognize some underlying feelings. All she could detect was a faint trace of anger.
"Yuu! You promised not to tell anyone," she reminded him.
"Yeah. All right. " Yuu gave a small wave of his wrist. "I just can't believe you never told me about this until now."
He stood up and left his unfinished bowl on the counter. Miki just looked after him until her disappeared from the kitchen. She looked in distaste at her own bowl of noodles that had gone slightly cold. She stood up and left her noodles on the counter as well.
***
The rest of the week passed by without incident. The next weekend, Miki went out with Shin to a fancy restaurant. Before that, she had to overcome a series of obstacles. First of all, Yuu had suddenly talked to Jin about making Miki stay inside. Jin had sensed an ally and had almost forbidden Miki to go, but the two women had convinced him that it was okay.
Then Yuu had gone to his own mother, and had asked her to forbid Miki. Of course, his mother found nothing wrong with the date.
So Yuu asked Miki's mother, who grew worried at his list of possibilities, and then pried Miki with questions. By the time Yuu was drained of possibilities, it was too late because Miki was already with Shin on a dinner date.
Yuu was wracking his brain. Miki had no idea Yuu was behind the parental questioning. She had assumed it had something to do with a midlife crisis and had thought nothing more.
Yuu was thinking of what could have happened if the three men hadn't retreated for some unknown reason. And to think that Shin was behind everything was unforgivable. A rational part of his mind knew that it wasn't completely his fault, but he still worried about Miki. If the couple would break up, then would the same thing happen?
After Miki had left, Yuu had looked outside the window at the retereating car, trying to memorize the car plate, but it had disappeared at the corner before long.
Jin noticed that something was bothering Yuu and sat beside him.
"What's with Shin that's making you so worried?"
Yuu looked at Jin. He had promised, but he could think of no other way to protect Miki. He had promised, and he was about to break that promise, but he was worried enough.
"Jin.remember that time when."
***
Miki came home that night in a great mood. She had skipped past the Parents, who had been watching television, and then she had gone up to her room. She didn't notice that all the Parents were in a bad mood, just almost glaring at the TV.
She went to sleep that night with a smile on her face, thinking about that perfect kiss that she and Shin had shared. She noticed that her parents, for the week thereafter were in a strange mood, as if a dark cloud had befallen on them. And they kept on telling her, that she could tell them anything at all, and then they'd understand.
But Miki had nothing to tell them, and they didn't really push it, so she thought nothing of it.
After two weeks had passed, Shin suddenly took Miki aside in the school halls after school. He gave her a long hug and then he broke off.
"Bye Miki," he said sadly. Miki didn't understand.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Shin gave her a small grin. She changed the topic and the both of them had talked. They laughed at some things and then grew silent at other times in their past, and when a good two hours had passed. Miki said:
"I've got to go now, Shin. I'll see you tomorrow."
Shin gave another soft smile.
Then he turned and went in to the direction of the classroom.
***
The next day, Miki noticed that Shin didn't come to school. The teacher said that Shin had had a meeting with the principal. Miki wondered what Shin could have done.
"What do you think?" Miki asked Meiko during recess.
"Didn't you hear?" Meiko asked, astounded. "Shin is being relocated to Osaka. He's been expelled from the school!"
Miki was shocked. "What?!" she almost screamed. Her bag of chips fell from her hand. "Are you sure?! Who told you?!"
Miki stood up and started to shake. "How did this happen?!"
Meiko tried to calm her friend down. "There was no clear reason.For goodness sakes, Miki, calm down!"
Miki tried to take a deep breath.
"He had always had such good grades," she said.
Miki tried to think what could have caused the school to expel a student like Shin. They had nothing against him. The thought never crossed Miki's mind that it could have had something to do with what had happened to her. Sure, Harry was also gone, but she didn't care, and aside from that, she had told no one except Yuu. She trusted Yuu.
At that moment, Yuu and Ginta came along with their cans of soda. Ginta and Yuu were always cold to each other for some unexplained reason, but they always went together with Meiko and Miki.
"Did you hear?" Yuu began. "Shin's being expelled."
***
"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Miki said. She was tired, and all she planned to do was stay in her room and cry over Shin. He had left the same afternoon, without bothering to call her at all or explain. She felt betrayed.
"Honey," her mother said from the kitchen. "Come in, we've made a feast."
Miki was about to say that she didn't want to eat, but then changed her mind. She needed her nutrition, after all, right? She plopped to the kitchen after she removed her school shoes. Everyone, including Yuu, was there, sitting at the table.
"So," Jin said cheerfully. "Is that Shin guy out of school?"
Miki gaped.
"Why?" she asked, suspicious for some reason.
"Oh," Yuu's mother said. "We called the school to have that brat expelled. No one hires thugs off the street to beat up a poor defenseless girl. The principal asked us quite a number of questions, but we were able to answer him."
As her parents continued to tell her why Shin was so wonderfully gone from the school, Miki fought her nausea. She just stood there, her soft black hair loose from it's ponytail to around her shoulders, her arms hanging limply.
Then her eyes had started to fill, and she turned to Yuu with such hatred and sudden realization that he had to look away from her gaze.
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted to him in particular, which brought the Shinizo Wyoming family forum to a complete halt. Miki was blinded by her tears. All she could see was a hazy view of things as she tore through the stairs into her room.
"She'll be okay," Jin said from the table.
***
It was late at night when Miki's phone rung. She knew who it was even before she answered, and she picked it up on the first ring.
"Shin?" she asked immediately.
"Miki, how are you?" Shin asked. There was concern in his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to worry. Listen, I'm living with my Auntie right now. My parents are still there in Tokyo. I'll visit you sometime."
From where she ay, Miki shook her head in the darkness.
"There's no use," she said sadly. "It's complicated to have a long distance relationship."
"Then we can write to each other.as friends," Shin suggested.
Miki gave a small bitter laugh. "Sure," she said softly.
Shin gave her his address. "I've got to go," Shin said after. "Miki.I love you."
".I love you too, Shin."
***
"Miki's staying in today," Miki's mother informed the people around the living room. They all had guilty expressions on their faces, but Yuu's face was a blank slate.
"Let's just act normally," she continued. "Eventually Miki will accept what had happened and she'll know that we just did it for her own good."
For some reason, her words were of no comfort, as each of the parents said a goodbye from the doorway to Miki's room and announced that they were leaving. It was early in the morning, a dreary November chill in the air.
The parents left for work and Yuu went to school.
An hour passed.
From her bedroom, Miki put a small piece of paper on top of her bed, and with a back pack in the other, she went out of the house, making sure to lock the door before she left.
She set out to the train station.