Chapter 10: Revelations

The drive was exhausting. Tsubasa nodded off a few times, but sadly, sleep never grasped her fully. Every time she jolted awake again, as if grabbed and shaken by invisible hands.

Her father drove faster than she was used to from him. Not dangerously so, however. The times she was awake she noticed how she shifted around whenever he took a turn.

Finally, after what felt like a thousand turns, his father steered into a little, empty parking lot in front of a one-story flat roofed house. He told her to stay inside the car, as he made his way to the front door. She could see him ring the bell.

"What's up with him," Kanade asked, leaning over from the backseat.

"I don't know," was Tsubasa's exhausted reply. "We were visiting my grandfather, that's all I remember." With a sigh, she rested her head against the car door window and closed her eyes.

"Where are we, even?"

"I don't know," Tsubasa repeated.

"Wait, did you just say you visited your grandfather? The old shithead?"

Tsubasa nodded weakly.

"You gave him a piece of your mind, I hope."

Suddenly, a weak laugh. Was maybe her own. She couldn't tell. "I did."

Another laugh. This time, distinctively Kanade's. "Fuck, yeah. I knew you had it in ya. No way an old fart like him tells you what to do! You are better than him, better than everyone, remember that."

"I know, I know…" Her voice grew weaker and weaker as she drifted away into sleep.

"Tired?" Kanade's voice was booming.

"Very much," were the last few words she got out, before the gentle hands of dreams and slumber pulled her into their world.

When her father got back into the car, she was already fast asleep.

She woke up late in the evening. Her head pounded like a choir of jackhammers, her vision was like water, and the taste in her mouth reminded her of dead rats.

She pulled herself up, slowly, carefully. A look down on her showed her in her pajamas. Her clothes were neatly placed over her bed's footboard.

She smelled something pleasant. Soup, maybe?

"Hi there, sleepy head."

She turned her head to where the voice came from, and saw Kanade sitting in her chair at the desk.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Kanade looked up at the analogue clock above her room door. "Not long, maybe two to three hours."

And now, Tsubasa also saw where the smell came from. A bowl of tempura udon was placed on her desk. Presumably by her dad.

"Oh, yeah, your old man brought you some food," Kanade added.

She was hungry. Famished, even. Her shaky legs carried her towards the food, every step weaker than the previous one. With equally as shaky hands, she grabbed the bowl and made her way back to her bed. She grabbed the chopsticks from atop the bowl and stuffed a large helping of noodles into her mouth. She slurped so loudly, it must have been heard in the entire house.

And that's when she noticed something else on her desk. Her wallet was laying there, flipped open. It looked like nothing was missing, but it was concerning nonetheless. She usually cares it in her pants' back pocket at all times. "Why is my wallet out?"

Kanade shrugged her shoulders. "No idea."

Tsubasa regarded her with a doubtful look. She took a bite out of the tempura shrimp and was about to question Kanade, when voices reached her from behind her door.

"…you for coming," she heard her father speak as he opened her door. Following him was none other than Maria.

And Tsubasa could feel her heart beating faster and faster. The woman of her dreams was here, entering her room, and here she sat, in pajamas and probably looking like crap in general.

"Oh, you're awake," her father said. He stepped into her room and kneeled down to her. "And you're eating, that's great. How are you feeling?"

"I got a headache", she said. "But I am okay. Kanade told me you brought me that." She rose her bowl a bit demonstratively.

Her father threw a concerned look towards Maria. She nodded.

"S… She is right, I did. I thought you might be hungry when you wake up."

"Man," Kanade uttered with sarcasm. "That's so sweet, I think I am getting diabetes."

The younger girl regarded her with a crooked grin. "You're just jealous you didn't get food."

"Well, it smells delicious, I'll give your dad that much. He knows how to cook."

Tsubasa shifted her attention back to her father. In his face was fright. Unadulterated fear and concern.

Maria stepped up next to him. "Kazanari-san, do you mind leaving me and Tsubasa alone for a while?"

He caressed his daughter's cheek with his hand before getting up and leaving the room. Maria took a seat next to her on the bed.

Of course, Kanade had to add her silly comment: "Well, now you got her where you wanted: in your bed."

"Your father called me," Maria began. Her voice was quiet, gentle. "He is worried about you. And so am I."

"What do you mean?"

"They told me you changed. You yelled at teachers and students, and even your grandfather."

"That guy is a fucker anyhow," Kanade chimed in.

"That's not you, Basa. I talked to your teachers. You were always described as quiet and secluded. And then, all of a sudden, you skip school, insult people, and become downright aggressive. When I met you, you seemed like such a cute girl."

Tsubasa pointed over to her desk. "Well, Kanade showed me how to be more assertive. I was to Akihabara with her."

"Is she here right now?"

What? What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course! She is sitting right there, at the fucking table! "What do you mean? She is sitting right over there."

But Maria did not even look in that direction. She kept her eyes firmly on Tsubasa. "Tsubasa, what I am about to tell you might be hard to believe, but I swear it's the truth."

The words Maria spoke next shook her world view to the core.

"There is no one in this room besides you and me."

Tsubasa forgot how to think. She forgot how to feel. She forgot how to be. Her brain just ceased to function. She looked at Maria with unfocused eyes. No one else? What does she mean, no one else?

"There is no Kanade," Maria carefully added.

"Oh, come the fuck on," Kanade yelled, jumping out of her chair. "You really believe her? Look at me, Tsubasa. LOOK AT ME!"

Tsubasa did.

"I am standing right here, don't I? This dumb bitch is just fucking crazy. You know what we experienced! I showed you a different world! I showed you how to life, for fuck's sake!"

Kanade's voice grew louder and louder the more she spoke.

"And this stupid whore?" She stepped up next to Maria. Her face was full of hate and disgust. "How about you keep your nose out of shit, huh?"

Stop it.

"No one wants you here, you slut. Why don't you get fucked, you bimbo?"

STOP IT!

She hardly felt Maria's hand on her shoulder. "Basa, relax."

"Basa, relax," Kanade mocked her. "Listen to her. Acting like she knows you. I know you. Only I do! This dumb slut should get lost. Hey, Maria! How about getting raped, you pig?"

STOP IT!

"Or better yet, go fucking hang yourself!"

"STOP IT!" Tsubasa yelled. She didn't want to hear it! Stop it, stop it, stop it! Shut it out. Make it end! MAKE IT END!

"Tsubasa!, Tsubasa, please calm down," Maria called out. She cradled the poor girl in her arms.

"Stop saying those things," she cried. "Stop speaking." She desperately covered her ears, but Kanade's voice could not be silenced. It droned on and on, uttering one revolting thing after another. "I am sorry, I don't want her to say these things!"

Maria pulled the poor girl even closer. "It's okay, I know. I believe you, Tsubasa."