Act 2: Raising Steam
Tucker was walking through the hallway on his way to his morning art class. He was still holding the Calico that he won at the festival. He had it in his bag while he was going to tell Shinichi about it. Tucker rounded the corner when he felt someone collide into him. They both ended up falling over as Tucker looked ahead to see who collided into him. He looked up to see a pair of poplar green eyes looking at him.
"Emi? Did you crash into me again?" Tucker asked. He looked around to see that there was a stack of papers that had fallen out. Emi realized the mess she had just made and was scrambling around to clean it up. Once she got the papers together, she began speaking.
"Sorry Tucker, I was in a rush to drop these off for Rin and I wanted to get to my class before the bell rings." Emi did her best to explain what had just happened. Tucker nodded before he dusted himself off.
"That's where I'm heading, want to tag along?" Tucker asked Emi. Emi began to think about it for a moment as she was heading for the art room. She shrugged and began speaking.
"If I must." Emi sighed. Tucker nodded as the two of them began walking together, hand and hand. Emi looked behind to see the calico he won at the festival with the head sticking out of the bag.
"Did you win this?" Emi asked Tucker if he did. Tucker looked at Emi and realized she was beginning a conversation.
"Yes, I did. Any particular reason you want to ask?" Tucker was curious about what Emi was talking about and he wanted to know more.
"I tried to win a prize and I didn't. At least you did though." Emi began as she sighed. She didn't get anything at the festival. She flared up as she was happy Tucker won something.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to win especially with Rin cheering me on." Tucker told Emi about it. Emi smiled before she closed her eyes.
"If I can do something good, you can do it better than me." Emi told Tucker as if she too was cheering him on.
"Thanks Emi." Tucker softly told her. They arrived at the art room before Emi knocked on the door. The door opened with Shinichi and Rin as they were the first ones in the room. Shinichi looked at them as he was a little excited.
"Oh, Ibarazaki and Kagami, you two are early. Come on in." Shinichi told them. He held the door open for them as they both walked in. Emi looked at Mr. Nomiya and she began speaking.
"Where should I put these books?" Emi asked Shinichi where he needed the books to be.
"You could put them on my desk." Shinichi told Emi that was a good place to stash them for the time being, but he knew he couldn't leave the books indefinitely. Emi placed the books on his desk before turning to Rin and Tucker.
"I'll see you two later." Emi told them. With that, she was out the door. Rin and Tucker turned to Shinichi while Tucker was unpacking his belongings for class. Shinichi spotted the prize he won and walked over to him. He was curious about it too.
"What's the prize you've won?" Shinichi asked Tucker what it was that he won. Tucker looked at Shinichi before he began speaking.
"I won a cat at the festival over the weekend." Tucker explained. Shinichi adjusted his glasses before he looked over to him. He reached over and began stroking the cat with his hand.
"I had a cat once, some time before I became an art teacher that looked just like this one. She kind of became the basis for a lot of my art pieces and I think I still have some pictures of her." Shinichi began. His smile began to turn somber as he continued to speak. "She passed away a couple years ago and losing her felt like losing a friend." He tried his best to lighten up again. "We have a couple minutes before class begins so I'll try to find a picture of her." Shinichi told Tucker before he went off into the storage room to see if he found any paintings of his cat. Rin looked at Tucker while Tucker was doing his best.
"You intend on carrying that around with you all day huh?" Rin asked Tucker if that was going to bring his prize with him everywhere he went.
"I suppose so, I just really like cats and you actually helped me win this prize." Tucker told Rin that she was there to cheer him on. Rin looked at him as her eyes were a bit heavy. She closed them and sighed.
"Well if you want to carry it, that's fine with me." Rin told him. Shinichi came out of the closet as he was holding a canvas of his cat.
"That's my cat Patches." Shinichi told Tucker about it. Tucker was looking at the canvas as he seemed curious. The cat was sitting on the windowsill with a potted plant and some of the foliage in the background. It appeared he worked hard on it.
"Patches sure is beautiful." Tucker told Shinichi as he admired the painting. Shinichi laughed a bit as the door swung open, the students were starting to enter.
"She's a beauty. We'll talk more if we get some time." Shinichi told Tucker that class was about to begin. He picked up the canvas and brought it back to the storage room. After the students settled down. Shinichi decided to go over what they were going to do for the week. After figuring out what they were going to be doing, they were assigned partners again to begin their art projects. Tucker was once again assigned with Rin. Rin took Tucker off while Tucker began setting up his spot for him to see if he could draw. Rin looked like she was going to begin painting another canvas.
"So, did you get any girls that liked you back in your old school?" Rin began the conversation with that. Tucker began to think about it before he began speaking.
"Not really, I was the weird one out. I definitely like Eleanor though as I wanted to protect her. But other than my sister, no one has really told me that they liked me." Tucker told Rin about it. Rin sighed before she looked away and continued to paint. Tucker had finished setting everything with his cat being at the center of a still life of various cups and plates. He then began to draw.
"I had a bit of a crush on a blind boy once. He was in the art club. His talents and grace weren't very good. I kind of forgot about him as we didn't exchange names." Rin explained. She dipped her brush into the paint and began painting around on her canvas. Tucker was drawing his cat out as that was the thing he wanted to get done for the day.
"That was a shame, you really like me though, right?" Tucker asked Rin if she had any feelings for him.
"Only as a friend… for now." Rin told Tucker. She looked away as she continued painting. Tucker was still sketching out the cat, what did Rin mean for now? He began to think about it. Could Rin have something in mind? He didn't want to spoil himself with the possibility of Rin having a crush on him.
"Rin, can I ask you something?" Tucker asked as he seemed to be curious. Rin peeked from the canvas before she began to wonder what he needed.
"What is it?" Rin asked Tucker.
"Will we have another moment like what we did during the festival when those fireworks were going on? I noticed you were kind of hugging me." Tucker asked if what Rin did was intentional. Rin began to think about it while she continued to paint.
"I'm not sure about it. But if I need company, I'll call you to see if we can get… together." Rin explained to Tucker that she was more than willing to spend time with him. Tucker began to think before blushing a bit. Rin was speaking her feelings a bit to him. He stopped sketching and looked away for a bit. He didn't know what to say next and needed a moment to collect his thoughts. After a moment of thinking to himself he leaned back up and continued to sketch. He didn't bother saying a word. He didn't know what he was going to say to Rin. The minutes ticked down as it was clear he wasn't going to finish this drawing in time, but he made sure to finish the cat. He decided to hand it in and clean the mess up. Afterward he decided to speak to Shinichi about what Rin had just said.
"Hey Mr. Nomiya, you got a moment?" Tucker asked the art teacher if he had some time. Shinichi looked at Tucker before he smiled a bit.
"Sure, what do you need?" Shinichi asked Tucker if there was something he needed to speak to him about.
"Yeah, it's about Rin. She said she would call me to see if we can get together. I don't know how to respond to this." Tucker began. Shinichi knew Rin well and he knew that Rin meant no harm to whoever she spoke to.
"Tucker, you're probably nervous that Rin might be asking you out, I kind of heard about it when I was attending the festival. So, I am willing to say, if she's asking you out, don't be shy and don't say no. Give it a shot, see how it turns out." Shinichi explained to Tucker that Rin was not malicious when she spoke, maybe she was trying to say something to Tucker, but she didn't know how she was going to say it. Tucker nodded for a moment as he realized time for the class was running out.
"Thank you, I'll try to talk to Rin later if I get a chance." Tucker told Shinichi before he put the cups and plates back where he found them.
"Take care." Shinichi told him. Tucker decided to pack his belongings up as Rin pulled him over to the side.
"I finished this painting and I wanted to let you see it." Rin began speaking to Tucker. Tucker looked at the painting, the painting consisted of rows and rows of trees with many green, red and golden fruits growing off of them. Tucker seemed curious to see what they were.
"What are they? I don't think I've seen an entire field of trees where the fruit is growing." Tucker asked. Rin turned her head while she signed her name with black paint using the paint brush.
"That's an apple orchard. It's something I look forward to when we go out for the fall. Like falling off of trees. Does that kind of thing happen to you?" Rin asked Tucker if he had an event such as this.
"I've never been to an apple orchard, but I bet it would feel nice to pick your own apples off of the tree." Tucker added. The painting seemed to be calling him over and he didn't know what it was saying. Rin looked at Tucker almost if she was trying to call him over.
"Tucker, do you ever feel lost with the trees in rows?" Rin asked if he was standing in rows upon rows of trees and ended up feeling lost. Tucker tried his best to think about it. What was it that the orchard had that he did not. He tried his best to think about it. Then, the shrill of the bell rang out as the signal to the next class was beginning. Tucker knew he couldn't answer Rin's question.
"That I don't know about, it's something we have to figure out ourselves when we reach that point." Tucker told Rin. He gathered his belongings and headed off to his next class. He saw Shinichi who was helping his students wrap up the art room. "See you tomorrow Mr. Nomiya." Tucker told Shinichi.
"Take care." Shinichi told Tucker. Rin exited the room a moment later as she knew some things according to Tucker, couldn't be answered yet.
Tucker made his way to his second period class and decided to sit down. He made sure to get there early as all the good seats were at the front. He was hoping that he wasn't going to run into Shizune and Misha but more importantly, Kenji. He was worried about the festival he attended to win his prize as he thought the three of them were going to swarm around him. The door opened as the first person came charging in like a rhinoceros. It was indeed Misha. Shizune followed up behind as Misha sat next to Tucker and Shizune next to her. They looked at Tucker curiously and wanted to speak to him.
Katawa Shoujo- The Student Council
"Good morning Tucchan!" Misha's voice seemed to greet him almost if she was speaking through a loudspeaker. She turned to Shizune while Shizune made a few gestures with her hands. Misha turned back to Tucker as if she was a little worried for him. "Where were you that weekend? We searched all over the school grounds for you as we wanted to see if you attended the festival."
"I was at the festival, though I was spending time with a few friends. I don't think I got to see you either." Tucker admitted that he was at the festival though he didn't know what they were going to need from him. Misha turned to Shizune who made a few hand gestures. Misha quickly responded with a few of her own. She then turned back to Tucker.
"Shizune says you should have been at the stand where one of the games was. We were trying to win a prize, but we couldn't." Misha told Tucker where he should have been. Shizune didn't say a word, but Misha decided to continue the conversation without Shizune's training wheels. "Did you win any prizes at the festival?" Misha asked Tucker. Tucker remembered as he opened his bag and took out the stuffed cat, he had been carrying around with him.
"I won this cat with a ball racing game; Natsume had challenged me, and I managed to get lucky." Tucker told Misha as he took the cat out of the bag. Misha was surprised about it as she hadn't seen someone win a prize before.
"It's so beautiful. I wish I could win something like this." Misha admitted as she had been giving into her jealousy. Tucker nodded before the rest of the class came in. Tucker puts the cat away carefully as they get ready for the class.
"I know." Tucker told Misha as they looked at the black board.
The periods went by as Tucker didn't want to admit it, but he was steadily getting used to Misha and taking a bit of a liking to her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Tucker made his way to the rooftop to have lunch. No one was there so he decided to lay in the sun. It was a nice day out, so he decided to take some time to himself, perhaps catch a cat nap. Relaxing in the sun, he tried to figure out what was on his mind. Then a voice interrupted him.
"Taking in the sight of the clouds?" A voice tried to answer him. Tucker opened his eyes to see who it was. It was Rin as she was curious about it. Tucker got up though he tried his best not to use his bad arm.
"Taking a bit of a nap, I wanted to get some time to myself." Tucker told Rin there was nothing to worry about. He winced while trying to get himself to his feet as the left arm of his had to be used to help out with the getting up. Rin looked at him as they got to their usual eating spot. Within a couple moments, Emi came running up as she was going to spend time with them.
"You seem to be off, is there anything bothering you?" Emi asked Tucker if there was something on his mind. Tucker began to think about it before he just yawned.
"Nothing really, I'm just tired." Tucker admitted. Emi nodded before she looked at him.
"Right, let's eat." Emi told them. She got out their lunches and passed them around. It was time to eat according to Emi. Rin turned her head to Tucker, and she began speaking to him.
"The school Nurse, according to Emi, wants to see you again, it's time for another injection." Rin reminded Tucker that he needed to go see the nurse again if he was going to get his medicine for his condition. Tucker gulped at this; again, did he have to do this? He knew this was definitely going to be some kind of routine.
"Oh no what now? Do I have to really get another injection?" Tucker asked, he wasn't a fan of needles, but something told him it was going to be a common occurrence if he was going to fight his condition. Tucker still felt scared at the notion, so he turned turn the other way. He spotted Hisao and Eleanor as they were climbing onto the roof to enjoy their lunch.
"Hey Tuck." Hisao greeted him. Tucker was happy that Eleanor was still safe and nothing bad was going to happen to her.
"Thank you for looking out for Eleanor." Tucker told Hisao. Hisao looked at his friend and he began to speak to Tucker.
"Hey no problem. Eleanor seems to be happy around in the tearoom with me, Hanako and Lilly and you seem to like…" Hisao began. He paused when he was trying to figure out the name of the girl that Tucker liked.
"Rin?" Tucker asked. Rin turned her head to Tucker as she remained curious about him.
"Yeah Rin." Hisao explained. "I don't see why you two can't hang out more." Tucker continued to eat his food. There were a couple of moments where no one said anything to each other. Rin was the first to begin speaking.
"Actually, I want to say that we still don't know each other. I'm willing to keep everything in the dark until someone could come visit each other." Rin added that she was only going to date someone if specific requirements were met. Hisao nodded, he didn't take Rin for being the rather picky type when it came to dating someone. Emi was the person to date anybody.
"How do I meet these requirements then?" Tucker asked curiously. Rin shrugged her shoulders before she began speaking again.
"They come when they come." Rin told Tucker. She then turned and began whispering into his ear. "Though I should say thank you for attending the festival, I hope to figure out what we can do again." Tucker blushed; Rin was hiding something that he didn't know about. All of this was making him more curious about the talented painter that had no arms.
"I sense the conversation is getting awkward, I'm willing to see what you two are laying on when I stand over you." Emi playfully told them about it.
"You better be standing back up before some unfortunate soul will take the opportunity to take a look at your panties." Rin added with the remark. Emi jumped at the notion of someone taking a peek at her skirt. She placed her hands behind her, almost if she needed to hide something as well. Tucker decided to speak to Emi.
"It's okay Emi, I won't be peaking at you." Tucker reassured her that nobody would like to go up her skirt. Tucker looked at the clock before he knew he needed to be out the door. "Oh, class is going to begin in ten minutes, I have to get going, see you around." Tucker told them before he got up and gathered his belongings. Rin looked at him before she began speaking again.
"Tucker, can we stop by the Nurse's office afterward, it's your injections." Rin reminded him. Tucker waved before he took off.
'I'll be there, thanks for reminding me." Tucker nodded before he headed to his last period.
Tucker happily skipped his way to the last period classroom before he decided to sit himself down. He decided to get himself ready though the cat's head was sticking out of his bag as if it was a living creature that needed air to breathe. He got a tap on his shoulder before he turned to see who it was.
"Hey Tucker." Natsume greeted him. Naomi was sitting by her.
"Oh Natsume, I didn't realize you and Naomi were there already." Tucker began as this was a surprise for him. Natsume looked at him though she smiled a bit.
"We got here early. I can see you decided to race your way down here." Natsume told Tucker about it. Tucker gave a nod before he began speaking again.
"Well thanks for thinking ahead but I didn't know if this was something I was going to be expecting right off the bat. I wanted to figure out what I want to be able to do." Tucker did his best to explain, Natsume and Naomi looked back though Natsume seemed to have it in her blood. She began speaking again.
"Me and Naomi don't like being tardy students. We often like getting a few minutes head start everyday before we come here." Natsume explained to Tucker about what they did and why they got here early.
"Oh so you don't like being late, I was never a late student either. I would freak out if I was running late and tried to be determined to save every second I could." Tucker did his best to explain why he was racing to get to this class in particular.
"You made the right choice their Tucker." Naomi praised him. Tucker nodded before Natsume began to ask him something.
"Hey Tucker, want to come to the newspaper room after class assuming you have something to do, we kind of want to see if we can get you to make more friends." Natsume asked if he could drop by and hang out for a bit. Tucker decided to give it some thought before he began speaking himself.
"Okay, I'll come by when I'm done with the nurse's office." Tucker told them that he would visit them when the opportunity presented itself. He just needed to get a few things done first.
"Oh. Okay then, we'll be waiting for you." Natsume told them. Then the rest of the students began to trickle in as the last class of the day was going to begin.
Tucker felt the class dragging on as he tried his best to figure out what exactly was going on. He didn't know what was going to scare him more, an enraged Kenji, Misha and Shizune or the School Nurse he had to visit to get his injection. He decided to try his best not to think about it and focus on his own class. The period went by without a hitch and within moments, the bell rang, and everyone packed up. Natsume and Naomi gathered their things before they turned to Tucker.
"Tucker, do you know where the newspaper club room is?" Natsume asked Tucker if he knew where to get to it if he was going to go. Tucker knew he was going to have to ask and accept the directions again if he wasn't to get lost again.
"No, I haven't visited." Tucker told Natsume that he had no idea of where the newspaper club room was going to be located. Natsume got out a post-it note and she jotted it down. Afterward, she passed it to Tucker.
"I hope you can remember that. Try your best not to get lost on the way." Natsume kindly told Tucker about it. Tucker nodded as he got up and began making his way to the Nurse's office. He knew there was no way of asking his way out of this injection.
[A/N]: I'm once again splitting this day into two chapters. There is a lot that is going to happen as of the next chapter regarding what Natsume had said as someone's getting invited over to the newspaper club's room. Though Tucker doesn't want to join a club at the very moment, it is most likely clear that he won't go entirely club less in this fanfiction. Things are slowly coming together, and I hope this chapter meets your expectations as they did with me.
I'm happy we reached 50 views so far. It means a lot to see this story getting the attention it deserves. Anyways. I'm leaving you here. See you later.