Sanchez Suzume - Yakazawa District Monday April, 18th
I woke up wrapped in a blanket and on a warm fluffy bed. My shirt and pants were off, which alarmed me at first, but seeing Hiro asleep beside me made me relax. I huddled deeper under the covers, closing my eyes.
After a couple of minutes, my phone alarm rang. I sighed in frustration and turned it off. Hiro woke up from it and was rubbing his face and yawning. He was shirtless and when he got up I saw that he was just in his boxers. This didn't faze me in the slightest as I rose to take a shower.
I had my own shampoo and conditioner at Hiro's apartment. It was easier to have some stuff already here since I stayed over frequently. Though with his new girlfriend that I had seen at the strip club, I stayed the night less often. It didn't surprise me though. Hiro slept around a lot and if he was going to be balls deep in some chick he would gladly not have me around if it meant some action.
The water getting cold was my signal to get out. Hiro's water heater was low quality so showers had to be quick. I grabbed the towel on the rack and started drying myself. I changed into my school uniform and made my way into the kitchen, brush in hand. "I made scrambled eggs," Hiro announced when he noticed me at the table.
"Looks good," I complimented. He put some onto a plate and slid it over to me.
"I already ate so I'm going to shower," he told me. I nodded and watched him walk back into the bedroom. I rubbed my eyes and moved to the fridge. I grabbed some orange juice and poured myself some in a glass.
I was dreading what the outcome of the magazine would be when I went to school today. Most of the students must have seen it. They followed fashion trends religiously. I would also have to see the Host Club eventually seeing as how Tamaki took it upon himself to bother me. Mentoring would also be another thing added to my plate.
I sipped on the juice and focused on the tangy flavor. The eggs didn't quite match the taste but I didn't give a shit. My breath was pretty bad since I fell asleep on the couch and didn't brush my teeth. The water stopped running and my eyes wandered to the bathroom door.
When Hiro finally came out I eyed his chest. I rolled my eyes and stuffed my mouth full of the eggs. "You and I gotta go to the garage today. Silver texted."
"He can fuck himself."
"I'm sure he does. What did you do with his gun?"
"As far as I know it's in my safe. Why?"
"It's gone," Hiro frowned, giving me a backward glance as he put on a shirt.
Marianna Lorena - Ouran Highschool Monday, April, 18th
I held my dictionary in my hands in frustration. I had to fill out an important form in order for the school to deduct my rent automatically from my paycheck. Chairman Suoh forgot about it and now I was stuck without a copy in English available.
Reading in Japanese is a killer when you don't know much Kanji. I had successfully translated about 25% of the document within an hour at my desk. I put my head on the desk since no one was around. This was torture.
"Lorena-san?" a voice spoke. I jumped upright in surprise. I turned to see Kagame-san with some books in his hands. He was making his way to his desk here in the elementary building.
"Good morning," I bowed to him sheepishly.
"You seem stressed. Having trouble with lesson planning or grading? Student or parent issues?"
"Neither, housing and government forms."
"Let me see." I put the documents in his hands. "Give me till tomorrow morning and I can put sticky notes with the translations on where to sign and what information is needed in each box."
"Really!?" I perked up in surprise.
"Of course Lorena-san," he smiled. "Chairman Suoh did ask me to help you out with anything you need during your year here at Ouran."
"But still," I frowned.
"I'm sure this was all his fault anyways," he grinned, despite the deadpan delivery. "It's the least I could do since he brought you into this mess."
"Thank you," I bowed again. He smiled and waved me goodbye as he continued walking. I looked back down at my desk when he was out of sight. I took a peek at my phone and realized it was technically afternoon now and I had stupidly told Kagame good morning.
Given the time, the other teachers were probably finishing up with their lunch break in the lounge and would be preparing for the afternoon classes. I still had my brief prep period before having to head to the high school building.
Since I had no social life and spent Sunday trying to forget my encounter with my students, I spent time preparing most of my lessons for the week already. Ouran really was demanding of needing precise explanations for why each activity was selected and planned. I supposed it was due to the parents more than anything. Even at the open house for the little ones, they already seemed very wound up.
I glanced over at the pile of essays I had been grading before. Vulnerability, such a small little word. Well, it wasn't exactly little but it was still one singular word.
"Good afternoon Lorena-san," a feminine voice greeted. I turned my chair and was greeted by Mishi-san. I returned the greeting dutifully. "You weren't with us at lunch today. Did you fall behind on your work? I can help you grade a few things if you want."
"Thank you for offering, but it's not that. Chairman Suoh had forgotten to give me a document to sign so I was trying to translate the document all during lunch. Kagame-san saw me and offered to finish it for me," I explained.
"Ah," she hummed. Her face turned rather scary before she smiled. "He's rather helpful isn't he?"
"I suppose," I shrugged. "But Chairman Suoh told him to be."
"If you say so," she laughed. She walked to her desk before I could say anything more. Kagame-san being interested in me was ridiculous if that was what she was implying. I gripped what I needed to teach Class 1-A and marched out of the building.
The cherry blossoms had mostly all fallen now. It was kind of sad that they were in bloom for so little time. Cherry blossom trees don't look that pretty after their blossoms fall. There were other trees planted of course, but when someone thought of Japan, the famous flower is something that comes to mind.
One day on the weekend, I really needed to just hop on the train and go to a random town. Just to get out of the house without any fear of running into someone. There wasn't anything stopping me other than myself. I could use the time to think or rather, avoid thinking in a more pleasurable way.
In the corner of the hall, I saw Seno-san and Aki-san. From where I was standing they couldn't see me, but I had a perfect view of them. "I'm so excited about karaoke this weekend," Seno-san gushed.
"I know right," Aki-san agreed. I took a step forward, intending to get into their line of sight to greet them.
"I feel bad that we couldn't invite Lorena-san," Seno-san lamented. I paused, holding a breath subconsciously.
"Your husband really didn't like her and you can't really do anything about that. I mean, she is dark-skinned you know and her Japanese isn't all that good. I mean there are plenty of perfectly good English teachers who are Japanese. My husband explained to me that giving jobs to foreigners is bad for our economy."
"Mishi-san likes her a lot," Seno thought aloud.
"Mishi-san works with disabled people. She'd think anyone is nice," Aki shrugged. "Mishi-san invited her without asking us what we thought first. Lorena-san is always tailing us around like a lost puppy, it's annoying."
"That was a little too far," Seno-san shook her head.
"No it's not," Aki retorted. "I'm just speaking the truth." Seno's face was pensive but she didn't reply. They walked towards me and when they saw me they gave me a smile.
"Good afternoon Lorena-san," they greeted me with a small dip of the head.
"Good afternoon Seno-san, Aki-san," I bowed in return. I kept my smile as natural as possible.
"Heading to the high school?" Seno asked.
"Mmm," I nodded.
"You look a little tired," Aki-san pointed out, with what sounded like concern. "Maybe this weekend you should go to a spa. My husband and I always go to this great one by…" I couldn't understand the rest. My anger at their previous comments was overwhelming me and the words were becoming gibberish.
"Maybe I will," was my lame reply before leaving them.
I could hear Aki whisper, "See she didn't even understand what I told her." I sped walked farther away from them. My fists gripped the papers tighter than ever to avoid letting any tears slip.
I wasn't used to feeling ashamed about my skin color in this way. The fact that they mentioned my Japanese skills too. I felt very small and quite stupid. I was able to grasp the basic concept of what was said to me and during staff meetings. Whatever I didn't catch, Mishi-san was always very helpful and patient. Getting a tutor might be a better idea so that way I was no longer inconveniencing Mishi-san.
I didn't want to see anyone ever again as I continued walking down that hall. It was the longest walk of shame I felt in my entire life. A slew of voices bombarded my mind as I slid the door open to Classroom 1-A. The students were mostly done with lunch. I glanced at the clock and realized I was a bit early. The students straightened up at my presence regardless of this and many began to pack things away.
"You can keep eating," I told them loudly in English. "I'm just setting up early for an activity today." At the pause of some of them, I repeated what I said in Japanese. Some students whispered to each other before continuing on. I moved towards the desk for the teacher and put the papers down. There was no big lesson requiring extra prep but in my rush to get away I didn't stop to check the time.
The heat rushing to my cheeks in shame and embarrassment was overwhelming. I tried to inhale slowly and let a long breath out through my mouth. It did very little to help, but I managed to pull out the lesson for the day.
We would be reviewing how to use prepositions in order to give directions to someone. I wanted to really work on the class's conversational skills because many of them, despite having intense knowledge in vocabulary and the ability to translate the written word, were unable to get over that shyness of speaking. Given the fact that I said I would be setting something up, I took it upon myself to grab a marker and start drawing a map that I didn't provide on the handout. This could just be a way for me to do this activity with the class before spreading them into groups. It also helped me to distract myself from what just happened down the hall.
Suzume Sanchez - Ouran Highschool Monday, April 18th
I took a sip from my water bottle which was spiked with Vodka. I felt on edge and plain terrified. That stupid gun had my fingerprints on it. What if Silver killed someone with it and tried to frame me? My mind flashed back to the red and blue lights of the cop cars I saw that night. I could feel the concrete.
"Sanchez," a harsh voice interrupted my thoughts. I jumped in fright. "What in the world is the matter with you?"
"I have to go to the bathroom," I lied in rushed and clumsy Japanese. The teacher rolled her eyes and gestured at the bathroom pass she had hanging on the wall. I dashed to it and ignored the snickers of some of the other students.
At this point, I was feeling way too dizzy and anxious to think straight. The nerves were eating away at my appetite and I felt nauseous. The vodka wasn't giving me a soothing, relaxed feel. It amplified my feelings which was the opposite of what I had been hoping for. I closed my eyes as I stood by the bathroom door.
I focused on my physical body and tried to stop the rush of thoughts and emotions coursing through my mind. If I acted strangely people would notice something was off. I had to maintain my composure. Silver may have simply broken into the safe and taken the gun back. Or maybe Hiro was too high on some new street drug. Why he would even have my safe combination struck me. Did everyone know my safe combination?
I pulled out my phone and contemplated calling him right now, but that would just lead to an argument. My mom hadn't been home all weekend and I didn't want to see her. She would rather spend all her fucking time at someone else's house and dealing with someone else's kids than her own.
I angrily opened the door and then paused to let it shut gently. Appearances had to be maintained because if the police were to come they would ask everyone around me what my behavior was. Everything had to be okay even if it wasn't. I couldn't make another mistake. Not again.
I walked to a stall and began to throw up. The sickly feeling of my stomach kept me hunched over the toilet seat. I began to retch and vomit again. I wiped the saliva from my mouth. I groaned and flushed the toilet as soon as I could muster the strength to stand. I couldn't be sure if this was a hangover or just pure nerves.
"Sanchez-san!" a female voice called out. I crawled my way out the stall to the sink. Kimura Takara was there, with concern on her face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. "Just an upset stomach from something I ate last night."
"Maybe you should go to the nurse's office," she advised. I took a moment to think about it. Going might not be so bad. I could lie down and skip classes for the rest of the afternoon.
"Suzume-san!" some male voice shouted.
"Who is that?" I muttered out loud.
"I don't know," Kimura-san answered. She grabbed my arm and helped me walk outside the bathroom. There we were greeted by Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai.
"Suzume-san, are you sick? Kyoya texted us saying you felt unwell during class," Honey immediately told me. I frowned thinking about how Kyoya was keeping tabs on me.
"She needs to rest in the nurse's office," Kimura asserted. "She was just throwing up in the girl's bathroom."
"Takashi will make sure she gets there," Honey-senpai immediately said with a seriousness that surprised me. I looked up at the tall senior who hadn't said a word. He scooped me up in his arms without a word. I hung on to him and felt a wave of dizziness.
He began to walk down the hall, me still scooped in his arms. I felt each and every step he took and felt a wave of nausea hit. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Mhmm," I hummed into his chest. He took in a breath, I assumed due to my weight and opened the door to the nurse's station. He laid me on a bed and the nurse had a look of surprise.
"What happened?" she questioned, concern laced in her voice.
"Sanchez-san doesn't feel well," Mori-senpai answered for me.
"I threw up," I supplied, attempting to sit up. It was a failed attempt as I fell back down onto the pillow.
"Oh my. I'll get you some medicine and give your parents a call," she frowned.
"There's no need to contact my mom," I stated firmly. "She's at work."
"Yes, but if you're unwell she should surely be able to send for the family limo to take you home. Your servants can very well manage to take care of you," the nurse tattled on. I frowned in embarrassment. Mori-senpai hadn't left yet, adding to my shame. There was no family limousine, no family servants. There was just a stupid girl and her mother at home.
I waited with bated breath for her phone call to my mother. I heard the phone ring and the ever so familiar, "Hello?". The nurse proceeded to explain that I had thrown up and that a student carried me to the nurse's office. I heard my mother's worried voice answer and the nurse insensitively asking for her to send some servants with the family limo.
My mother simply said she'd arrive within the hour. I wondered how she was going to do that when she was at work. Perhaps Chairman Suoh would let her off early to get me. I frowned as the nurse huddled up to me. "Dear, I'm going to give you a pill for nausea. Now I just have to ask, do you think you might be pregnant?"
"No," I replied curtly. She nodded and I glanced at Mori-senpai who hadn't left yet.
"You can go back to class Dear," the nurse chirped to Mori-senpai. He nodded at us before leaving. I took the pill with some tap water. The nurse had me lie down and get some rest until my mother showed up.
Upon closing my eyes, flashes of the lost gun disturbed me. It was impossible to relax knowing the gun could cause problems for me. Despite this I managed to close my eyes and drift off.
"Suzume," a voice called out. I gasped and saw my mother, arms stretched out to hug me. I allowed this and snuggled into her arms. My nausea was much less than before which meant the pills were working wonders.
"A classmate found her throwing up in the girl's bathroom," the nurse told my mother. I watched my mother's face furrow into a frown.
"I'll take her home," my mother stated with seriousness.
"Just sign this form here so we can take it to the office for attendance," the nurse said. My mother quickly signed the form and helped me out of the bed. I felt a bit weak and leaned onto her for support. She hauled me outside and I saw a black limousine waiting for us.
My mother opened the door and helped me inside. I leaned against her arm and closed my eyes. "Chairman Suoh was kind enough to offer me his limousine to pick you up."
"Mmm," I hummed in return, not opening my eyes. The stress of the missing gun made me not want to ever leave the house again. My blood ran cold thinking about the consequences of being accused of murder. If only I had told Big G or told Silver to fuck off.
When we made it home, I texted Hiro to let him know I didn't need a ride home. I also told him I was feeling sick and wouldn't be at the auto shop. My mother made me some chicken soup which I gratefully ate. My anger towards her dissipated as I saw how much she worried. I felt a wave of guilt rush through me. I silently prayed we'd have more nights like this.
