Chapter 11

Yakumo's heart pounded heavily. What is going on? Is it her he's talking to? What is she planning? She recovered her wits enough to not repeat her fainting spectacle from last week. "Are you sure?" she asked, wanting more clarification.

Sarah nodded. "Last week I saw him talking at the gate but there was nobody else there. I didn't think too much about it, but this afternoon I saw him do it again. I got home sooner than expected because Asou had closed the restaurant early since Mr. Chen left us again. I was about to enter the gate when I saw him having a conversation with no one in particular. I didn't hear what he was saying because I was hiding behind the gate."

There were many questions bustling around Yakumo's mind. Was he really talking to her? Why was Sarah not able to see her? Is it time to tell her about these things?

"Have you seen Harima talking to himself before?" Sarah asked.

Yakumo took a moment to contemplate deeply about her decision. Her friend was a nun, and she predicted that a single hint that this was all supernatural would lead to complications. Maybe there was a logical reason behind all of this instead of speculating the worst…

"Umm, no, I haven't." She answered and bowed. "But... maybe he's only rehearsing the dialogues for his manga?"

"Huh?" Sarah had not been expecting that.

"Well, to tell you the truth," Yakumo said, looking away from her. "We sometimes enact some scenes of his manga to get a better picture." Yakumo couldn't deny that they had done something of the sort despite how mightily awkward it was. It wasn't often but Harima sometimes asked her to read the dialogue from certain scenes in the manga. He had complimented her acting skills after he saw her in the school play. Harima had said it made him see the story better. He started to join on the reading too when he thought Eri had ripped up his manuscript and believed that his talents were better suited for acting. Since he didn't really follow the script, the dialogues would change depending on what he came up with at the spur-of-the-moment.

"What!? You do?" Sarah said disbelievingly.

Yakumo sheepishly nodded. Maybe this way is for the best, instead of the alternative.

Sarah put down the dish she was holding, her eyes obscured by her hair. "Yakumo, tell me." Sarah slowly turned to face her. "Did he make you do something you didn't want to?" she asked ominously.

Yakumo was surprised and confused about this turn of events but she nonetheless answered, "Umm, if you put it that way… then sometimes."

Sarah bowed her head low and touched Yakumo's shoulder. Her friend's behavior was starting to freak Yakumo out. What's happening?

"I never realized how his manga had come about." Sarah raised her head and looked straight at Yakumo, eyes sharp. "Yakumo, don't tell me you already did it with him!?"

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

Sarah crossed her arms, her face deep with indignation. "Yakumo, that's not morally right to do if you're not married yet! I can't believe Harima is that kind of guy!"

"What do you mean?" Married? What is she...

When it finally dawned on Yakumo what her friend was suggesting, steam blasted from her ears and she blushed furiously. "No, Sarah! It's not like that!" She strongly denied. "We would never do something like that! Promise!"

Sarah perked an eye open. "Are you sure that's not the only thing the both of you do behind closed doors?"

"We haven't done anything of the sort!"

"Are you sure? It's bad to lie."

"Of course, I-I'm sure!" Yakumo felt she was about to pass out again from the amount of blood going to her cheeks. A single pinprick would definitely do the job. Do other people think the same too?

Sarah sighed in relief. "Well, if you say so. Don't worry. I believe you. You're bad at lying in the first place so I can't imagine you being able to cover it up for so long." Yakumo was still blushing about the whole situation. "I'm sorry. I was mostly joking about that."

Calmed by her words, Yakumo replied, "No, it's okay. Harima really is a very good person and will never take advantage of someone like that."

Sarah smiled a little bit. "If that's the case, I should apologize for speaking badly about him." And no wonder you like him so much, she wanted to add but decided to spare Yakumo this time.

"So," Sarah said, going back to washing the dishes. "He rehearses his dialogues first? That makes sense now that I think about it."

Yakumo cleared her throat. "He once told me that manga only has printed words so he wanted to know how the dialogues would sound in real life. We compensate for it with the word font or the style of manga bubbles depending on the tone," she explained.

"I can see why you are his assistant," Sarah remarked. "You know, you could be a good editor someday."

Yakumo smiled at her friend's compliment. I am actually planning to.

Sarah faintly laughed. "And I thought he was talking to ghosts and this is actually a haunted house. How unbelievable would that sound, right?"

The smile on Yakumo's face was starting to slip. There it was again. How ironic things sounded when it might actually be the truth. She went back to washing the dishes too and replied, "Yes. That would sound very strange indeed."

x-x-x

A few days went by without any incident. Yakumo was in class, staring blankly out the window.

She was still bothered about the things Sarah had told her. It was very unnerving that the ghost could talk to Harima while Sarah could not see her. According to folklore or superstitions, only people who have supernatural gifts could see or communicate to unnatural beings like ghosts or spirits. She knows she has that strange gift and so she surmised that it was how she was able to see the mysterious young girl. Sarah might not have what people call the "third eye" and were unable to see her, but Harima apparently had it and he could even talk to her.

The ghost wasn't a wandering soul who had no place to go. If she was a typical ghost then surely Yakumo would have seen at least one other of her kind, but that wasn't the case. Yakumo could feel a strange connection linking her and the ghost so maybe that's why she knew so much about her. The young girl was the only ghost she had encountered so far and she once thought she was just a figment of her imagination until she had popped up in Harima's sketches. It was not a relationship exclusively between them. It was not a sheer coincidence either and the ghost had confirmed her suspicion by revealing she had deliberately appeared to him.

"Ms. Tsukamoto."

When the ghost had said Harima was supernaturally gifted too, Yakumo was greatly perplexed. Was he like her? Or did he have a different power? And if so, what kind of power did he have? She could see people's thoughts but Harima seemed completely oblivious to them. Maybe he could only see and talk to ghosts; it was the most "sensible" reason she could think of so far.

"Ms. Tsukamoto?"

It gave Yakumo chills to think what the ghost and Harima could be talking about. It was strange that Harima hadn't said anything about it to her or Sarah. His obliviousness might be useful for once. Ms. Osakabe had joked in one of their tea club meetings how terrified he had been at this "Flunk-out Phantom" that had once terrorized him. He was scared of it because he was aware it was a ghost and of its purpose. Yakumo didn't know if it existed at all since it sounded like a superstition, an urban legend meant to scare students with low grades into studying. It was a childish tactic but somehow both Harima and her sister had gotten aboard and believed it. At least those two had seriously started studying for their exams – their naivete could be useful at times, it seemed.

"Yakumo Tsukamoto." An imperious voice woke Yakumo from her thoughts. She looked away from the window she had been staring out of for an indeterminate amount of time, and found that everyone in the class was staring at her. She noticed Sarah in particular wincing at her mistake. Their female English teacher was looking grumpier than she usually did, not pleased about her daydreaming.

"Yes, ma'am?" Yakumo asked sheepishly.

"Ms. Tsukamoto, you looked absent-minded again. I won't have you sleeping in my class as you do on others." The teacher reprimanded her. Yakumo shrank into her seat in embarrassment. "For that, please read this poem by Edgar Lee Masters, in front of the class."

Yakumo resisted the urge to be surprised by her order. She didn't want any extra attention, and standing in front of the class meant she could read the minds of every one of her male classmates. She glanced towards Sarah who was looking worried sick at her situation.

Still, she was well versed in the English language so maybe her teacher wouldn't be mad at her for too long.

Grabbing a book and wanting to finish her penalty quickly, Yakumo went up and began to read. . .

-/-

I have studied many times

The marble which was chiseled for me—

A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.

In truth it pictures not my destination

But my life.

For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;

Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;

Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.

Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.

And now I know that we must lift the sail

And catch the winds of destiny

Wherever they drive the boat.

To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,

But life without meaning is the torture

Of restlessness and vague desire—

It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

-/-

After finishing reading, Yakumo felt uneasy. There was a bitter taste in her mouth that she couldn't explain. The message of the poem struck something within her. She stood for a few seconds, wondering what the poem had done to her. She brought the book down and glanced towards her classmates. There was a muted cheer from her legion of fans and she could see thoughts springing out from their heads.

Wow! Yakumo is cute even when she's speaking English!

I could spend the whole day listening to her voice!

If only she would speak more often!

Oh, man. I wonder what she sounds like when she's...

"Good work, Ms. Tsukamoto." The teacher said quite pleased. Yakumo quickly looked away from the invasive thoughts and stared at her teacher. "Very good diction and pronunciation. It seems you're still a responsible student. You may go back to your seat now."

Yakumo bowed in modesty and returned to her seat. The poem wouldn't leave her mind. It was as if it was made for her. There had been many things on her mind recently and now she was vexed by this poem that didn't even sound like a poem to her.

English sure is weird.

x-x-x

After the bell rang signaling for lunch break, the five first-year students grouped up together for their usual routine.

"Hey, Yakumo, what gives?" Miki said rather exasperated, "You can sleep with both eyes open now?"

"I don't think that was the case, Miki." Haruna said with her usual soft voice. Yakumo blushed at what Haruna was hinting at. It wasn't as if she was only thinking about him.

"If I was the one who had to read in front of the class," Satsuki remarked, "I would probably panic and start shaking so bad."

"How's that possible?" Sarah asked the basketball ace. "You play basketball in front of many people and you never get jitters."

"It's because I'm not good at speaking English at all, unlike you and Yakumo." Satsuki answered matter-of-factly. "You're like, a genius linguist or something. How can you even put all those words in your head?"

Sarah laughed at her supposed compliment. "I'm just used to it. It's the language I grew up with, after all. I find it hard learning Japanese. It's all about practice and immersion."

"Um, Sarah? What was that poem I read earlier?" Yakumo suddenly asked, joining in the conversation. Her friends looked at her, confused as to what she was asking.

Sarah gave an amused smile. "You aren't paying attention to our lessons, are you?" Yakumo reeled back in embarrassment whilst Miki scratched her own cheek, evidently also guilty under Sarah's tease.

"I'm just... curious about it, that's all." Yakumo answered.

Sarah placed an elbow on her desk and leaned her chin on one palm. "If I recall correctly, the teacher said it is a free verse poem that didn't conform to the traditional style with rhymes and meters. The poem you read is titled "George Gray". It was part of a collection, all of them with names of people as titles. And guess what? The spooky part is all of them were based on people buried in a cemetery. It was like a collection of epitaphs if you think about it."

"So I read a poem from beyond the grave?"

"It was written by the living, not ghosts, Yakumo."

"Heck yeah," Miki resounded. "That would be freaking weird for a ghost to be writing poems of all things. Wait, how can they write at all if things would just pass through them?"

"Miki, they're ghosts," Haruna answered. "The laws of physics or common sense don't apply to them."

"How would you know? Have you seen one?"

"Movies, Miki. Just like in the movies."

While her friends talked about ghosts or similar subjects and then drifted to horror stories and movies, Yakumo remained silent. It felt odd to be the only one who had actual exposure to those things. It was weird how people tended to behave courageously with these things when they were safely behind silver screens. But they don't realize how truly horrifying it is to be the one in that position of being haunted or chased with nowhere to run.

The poem she had read earlier was indeed a warning for the living. The name "Gray" was extremely fitting of the theme. She quickly surmised the poem had alluded to a life living in-betweens, in neither joy or sadness, comfort or risks, love or hate, in fear of the uncertainty. Thus he had missed most of what life had to offer. It was terrifying how closely it seemed to relate to her life.

Maybe eating lunch would fix her troubled mind.

Yakumo was about to grab her bento lunch box when her cellphone lit up and vibrated in her bag. Someone texting her at this hour usually meant it was from Hanai or some other boy who wanted to invite her out to lunch.

Well, time to change her number again. She'd better remember to tell her friends.

However, when she checked her phone, Yakumo realized she recognized the number and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Imouto-san, are you having your lunch now? Can you please go to the school's rooftop? I just want to talk to you."

Harima. Brief and straight to the point. It had been a long time since he had texted her. Yakumo supposed it would have been rather chaotic if he had come and invited her out for lunch in person.

Wait. What does Harima want me for? Does he want to have lunch with me?

Blushing scarlet, Yakumo texted back that she would be there in a few minutes. When she flipped closed her phone she noticed Sarah was smiling at her. The blonde was like a mind-reader and Yakumo knew that she knew what was up.

Yakumo grabbed her bento box and stood up. "I'm sorry everyone but I have to go somewhere."

Miki and Satsuki paused, food still dangling from their chopsticks. Miki grinned and held her chopsticks near Satsuki's mouth and said, "Here, Harima. I hope you like it." Surprisingly, Satsuki joined in the act and ate the food.

"It's delicious, Yakumo." Satsuki purred. Haruna stared quietly at their pathetic performance but there was a sliver of an amused smile on her lips. The victim of their act stood stock still, shocked and appalled. Sarah isn't the only one who can read her now!

"Hey now, don't tease our Yakumo." Sarah chided them. She looked at Yakumo and continued. "It's okay. You don't want him to wait, right?"

"He only wanted to have a talk—" Sarah spun her around and began to push her towards the door.

"Hurry now or others might get wind of it, especially Hanai." Sarah whispered. Yakumo inwardly flinched at her warning, dreading the prospect. She apologized again and went out of the room.

x-x-x

Yakumo arrived on the rooftop. Even if it had taken her a few minutes longer, she had avoided the halls with high volumes of floating thoughts. Not every boy had a fixation on her and so, fortunately, she could take those routes they were in, although their thoughts became visible as she got close to them. At least they weren't voicing it out loud as Hanai did.

When she arrived at her destination, she saw Harima sitting in his usual spot. He was leaning against the wall, his lunch box at his side.

"Hello, Harima." Yakumo greeted. "I'm sorry if I got here a little late."

"No, it's okay." Harima replied. "I should be apologizing if I'm bothering you. Have you eaten your lunch yet?"

Yakumo motioned to what she was carrying, "Not yet actually."

"Good, since I want to talk to you. Mind if I join you?"

At this, Yakumo blushed. What does Harima want that he needs to talk to me here instead of at home? Harima was simply inscrutable regarding his motives, but there was no reason to refuse so she complied, "I don't mind." She sat beside him and the two began to eat their lunch.

While eating, Yakumo noticed something was amiss from Harima's behavior. His mind wasn't static and his eyes weren't half-lidded in stark boredom. It was blank as usual. It wasn't easy to talk to him in school since he was so dismissive, but the fact that he was the one who called for her and he was actually talking instead of giving glances, only meant something was afoot. It only made her want to read his mind even more.

"I was thinking lately," Harima started talking. "With all that you have done for me, I don't think I deserve to eat this lunch."

"No, it's okay. It's the least I can do, for you doing most of the chores."

"If you put it that way, then I'm really grateful. You don't know how many times Hanai has tried to steal, bargain or buy my lunch, but I can't exchange it for anything else." Harima took a bite. "Your cooking really is something."

Yakumo stopped mid-meal after hearing his words. Harima's compliments always found their mark. Was Sarah right about him flirting with her? She couldn't detect a trace of flattery in his words from how casually he had delivered it. He said it like it was and no one would deny his claims, but there was something about it that made it precious to her. She didn't want to be complimented by everyone all the time, especially since she could 'see' them day after day. Their effectiveness was also lost upon repetition; but Harima's casualness and easy-going nature, and saying it at the most unexpected times made his words stand out among all the others.

"If you put it that way too, then thank you." Yakumo said smiling a little and then resuming her lunch. She was about to bring her chopsticks to her mouth when the picture of Miki feeding Satsuki suddenly barged into her mind. She couldn't do something so forward but at least Harima had complimented her, which fulfilled half of their joke-prophecy.

After they'd almost finished their lunch, Harima put down his chopsticks and said, "Imouto-san, do you remember the night when I told you we should be together?"

Yakumo suddenly lost her appetite. Remembering that awkward night gave her a bittersweet feeling. She could never forget how he had effectively cut off the first confession that had taken so much willpower from her to make. "Umm, yes." She mumbled.

"You haven't answered yet."

"Eh?"

"Lately, I've also been thinking that I may have said it the wrong way before so..." Harima looked her straight in the eyes and said in a steady tone, "Let's be a couple. I mean it."

For love was offered me...

Yakumo blushed bright red and gulped. The poem she had read earlier haunted her from the back of her mind. There was a small part of her that wanted to shout out 'yes' and jump into his arms, but this was all too quick and informal. Was that how a relationship started? Was he really flirting with her? Was this real? There were so many questions in her mind that only made matters more confusing.

"Umm, this is all too sudden," Yakumo said and bowed her head. "I – I don't know what to say..."

Harima scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression. "Oh, right. I'm sorry I'm being too fast over here. Deciding to be a co-author needs time."

Yakumo quickly perked up. "What?"

"Well, I decided you're not gonna simply be my assistant anymore, but a fellow author. Hearing your suggestions about your character stirred something up. I haven't been able to think of any story for the manga by myself these few days so I need to hear your ideas. That means you'll be taking part in the story-making, and that makes you a co-author."

"A... c-co-author?" Yakumo stammered.

"Yeah. Isn't that what it means in English? Couple-authors? Like co-pilots or co-host?"

Yakumo was completely dumbstruck. How could Harima come up with such logic? Did Eri teach him this? It didn't sound right in the first place and it was something only Harima could come up with. His thoughts could outwit the brightest of minds. Even if ancient philosophers come back to life for the sole purpose of unraveling Harima's logic, they would not guess that was the reason. She herself was literally a mind reader and even she couldn't fathom the deep bowels of Harima's mind through deduction and reasoning.

There was that feeling again, a feeling of great disappointment and sadness. Any girl would be at their utmost limit concerning their patience with this man. It was near insulting for their hopes and feelings to have toyed with this way - through outrageous expectations and teases. Once was enough, but twice?

...and I shrank from its disillusionment.

Yakumo steeled herself once again from her near breakdown. It was not all bad if you looked at it from a different perspective. He was now offering her to be a fellow author, not just someone who was only called for feedback or to help with inking panels. From now on, she would be involved in how the story progressed. There had been some ideas floating around her head these couple of days and maybe that was a sign foreshadowing her 'promotion.'

In effect, they would spend more time brainstorming for possible stories. She was a character in his manga and she was, in a sense, entitled to having a say. The addition of her character might have made Harima think the manga was not solely his anymore but 'theirs'. The two of them had really worked well together in the creation of the first chapter, so it was only sensible to continue it that way.

She was now decided.

"I've... also been thinking about it lately so... if it's okay, I would..." - love? – "I would like to be an author alongside you."

"Alright, Imouto-san! I knew I could count on you!" Harima exclaimed, patting her on the shoulder. "Let's be the best couple-authors out there!"

Yakumo smiled weakly, not sure whether she should laugh or cry.

Author's Corner: The poem is titled "George Gray" from the Spoon River Anthology, written by Edgar Lee Masters. I take absolutely no credit from it. It's not mine. Period. If someone has a problem with it, I'll remove it from this chapter so no one would sue my ass to court or whatever.

Now that the disclaimer is over, the poem is also an allusion to Harima's very brief sailor days. Also, that was my pathetic attempt at language misunderstanding. What was SR without any misunderstanding? I remember SR had always used such misunderstandings both in the anime and manga. It just sometimes throws me off since they were sometimes hard to understand without footnotes.