Chapter Six
5/20
It's 10:00 PM now, and I also managed to slip the poem into Keiji's backpack at school, without him noticing. Since we don't need our backpacks for the orchestra concert, I figured I should just do it today. Now I've just got to hope he wont tell anyone about it.
Hoshiko's mother knocks on the door.
"What is it?" she questions.
"Did...did you write this? The thoughts in my mind—" she begins.
"No! No, I didn't. Sorry if I scared you, it's one I found on the internet." She flinches, as she lies to another person she holds close to her heart.
"But it's your writing style..." her mother argues.
"God, Mom...I'm not the only person in the world with that type of writing style." She forces the nervousness out of her voice.
"I'm sorry...Guess I'm just a bit paranoid. Everything's so wrong..."
"It's alright...I know."
"Okay, then...You better get some sleep. Your concert's tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm..." Hoshiko pulls the covers over her head as her mother's footsteps fade away.
5/20
The concert's over...Keiji is off in the corner, talking to his girlfriend. I'm writing this from a row of empty seats in the audience...This is awkward...I kind of want to make sure he knows how I feel before I go...But I can't with his girlfriend there. Guess I'll just have to live with it. Nothing I can do anyway, so...Goodbye.
Hoshiko stands up, and puts the diary in her purse, also checking to make sure she still has the box cutter.
Keiji's eyes wander, meeting Hoshiko's glistening stare. She runs out of the auditorium, and into the girl's bathroom.
The sound of his voice, "Hold on, I'll be right back," and the soft sound of his footsteps as he runs fill Hoshiko's world, as he runs after her. He knew. She runs faster, and turns the corner, intentionally passing the first bathroom.
In the next hall, she slams the door behind her. Hoshiko puts her foot, flexed upward, where the door and doorframe meet. In past experiences, this always kept someone out better than using her hands.
She pulls out the box cutter, breath held back. Before she can do anything, she hears Keiji pound his fists on the door.
"Hoshiko, open up! Please!" he shouts.
"Keiji, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry....I love you," Hoshiko whispers, but too quietly for Keiji to hear.
Without wasting a second more, she pulls the blade down, hard and fast across her wrist. Blood spills out instantly, pouring all over the floor. Some leaks out under the crack between the door and the ground. With each heartbeat, the blood flows faster.
"Stop...Hoshiko, PLEASE STOP!" he cries out.
Hoshiko slides away from the door, and Keiji pushes it open. Frantic, Keiji tugs off his pullover jacket, and wraps it around Hoshiko's wrist and arm.
As he drags her onto his lap while calling for an ambulance on his cell phone, Hoshiko feels as if she's falling, slowly, slowly, as the room dims.