Burning The Midnight Oil

Chapter 22

Wardrobe Malfunction

~Ichika~

Nakano OMG u see this!?

Who's this?

Mitsuki! From class, remember?

Right, my bad. Didnt save ur #

All good!

So did u see it?

See what?

The pic!

What pic?

Hold on, I'll send it 2 u

See? It's on her insta!

Some view huh?

Fuck

Sorry.

Wow.

All good.

Oh god, this doesn't leave anything to the imagination.

I know, right? Like, get a room!

Or they did! Ha!

Who posted this?

Dunno, some little girl. I'll send you the link.

It's his sister

Wow, he has a sister?

Yes

Thats so weird. I expected him to be a robot or something. Her pics are so cute too.

Weird, huh?

It fits him

Part of me wishes I never saw it. I mean you can see everything. Including his. Ew!

Not that she seems to mind! She's basically riding him after all!

Well, she wouldn't. She that type of girl.

Really? Does she do this around you?

Kind of. It's not the first time, I'm sure.

There was this one time

Sorry, you don't wanna hear it.

No! Go on, I gotta hear this it sounds juicy!

Well, this happened last year and it might be nothing, but, well I don't think so.

One night he came over after studying and snuck into her room. I only saw them come out for a minute, then they went back inside. They were in there for quite a while.

OMG!

I hadnt thought anything of it, but then i just remembered, all she was wearing was a really long sleep shirt.

I don't remember if she was wearing anything underneath.

Oh

My

God!

They totally did it!

It was just the once, but, well...who knows?

I bet they do it every time they sneak off under the stairs! Like yesterday, remember?

I bet they can't get their hands off each other when no one's looking.

Well, maybe.

Maybe.

Hold on, I gotta tell Emi about this!

Ritsuko too!

I'm sending a group text! I'll add you!

~Nino~

"No!"

If her reflexes were as sharp as her wit, she could have caught them. Instead they slipped through her fingers like tear drops into the sink. She reached for them blindly, snagging one as it bounced against clean porcelain, but the other tumbled out of her grasp, end over end like a gymnast eager for the gold, settling into a clean roll as it circled the drain. She blocked it with her other hand, capturing it before it spiraled into the murky depths.

She looked at the tiny flecks of glass and muttered, "Shit." She hoped they weren't scratched, or at least not any more than they already were. She gently ran the water and held the lenses under the tap, she was out of solution, after all, and she had to make do.

"Nino," Itsuki said as she opened the door. She saw her holding her contacts and frowned, "Don't tell me you're still using those."

"It's fine, I just need to clean them-"

"Is this why you couldn't stop rubbing your eyes yesterday?"

"I'll be fine, I just had them in too long."

"Today's a long day too. You promised you'd get rid of them when they started hurting."

"Yeah, well I don't want to anymore."

"Why?"

"Just because, okay? Get off my back!"

"Why, Nino?"

Nino swallowed and said, "Because I don't have anymore. These are my last pair."

She hoped Itsuki would go easy on her, now that her secret was out. It might sound as simple as ordering replacements, and anywhere else it would be. But she didn't have her prescription. Papa did. Along with everything else. She might be able to fetch them herself, but again, it wasn't as easy as it appeared. Imagine, the daughter of the Director waltzing into one of the busiest hospitals in Tokyo. It only took one brown-nosing admin chair-heater to let slip up the ladder, saying sir, your daughter stopped by, wouldn't it be just grand to see her? But it was all moot because even if she had her prescription, and it was bad, she knew, she couldn't afford new lenses. Not even the cheap ones.

If only she'd known how long they'd be away, she'd have taken her entire stock. But as they signed the lease and began moving suitcase after suitcase over to their first independent home, they realized there was only so much room to share. So she made sacrifices. Everyone chipped in to trim the fat. Instead of five blow dryers, they had one. Instead of five beauty kits, they had one, hers. And instead of five medicine cabinets, they had one. And so they returned to their childhood and re-learned to share, a lesson their teenage years had dulled considerably. Among her essentials, she brought enough lenses for a three month stretch, if she followed the replacement instructions to the letter. Back then, it sounded like an unimaginably long time. But time began to fly, as it does, and as she tossed the remnants of that first pack in the rubbish, she realized she had to make what she had last. So she wore them a bit longer than the packaging advised, imagining her papa's frown each time she extended the lens' service lives. It was a noble effort at independence.

And now it was done. Her last pair rested in her hand, too scratched to continue service and doomed for the dump.

Itsuki cupped her hand and said, "I get it, but you'll only hurt yourself if you keep wearing these."

"But I need them," Nino whined.

"No, you don't."

"Yes I do! You know I'm blind without them, my eyes are like permanent walls of fog. Like, I couldn't tell Futaro from Miku without them, remember how that went? I'll make an idiot of myself if I don't."

Itsuki said, "Yeah, well, I might have planned for that."

Nino knew what she meant. You couldn't hide anything in this tiny home. Not even a moment of privacy with her boyfriend. Itsuki opened the medicine cabinet and took out a small, oval case of faux leather as black as a cloudy night. Nino had noticed them there months ago. She remembered sneering and calling her youngest a worry-wart, why would she waste valuable room on those antiquated things? Well now she wasn't laughing. At least Itsuki had the good grace to stay somber, for her sake.

"Here, use these."

Nino shook her head, "No."

"Nino."

"I don't want them."

"You're being childish."

"It's my choice," she breathed, "I don't want them."

Itsuki fumed, her temper rising at Nino's stubbornness, "So what're you gonna do? Wear them until they scratch your eyes blind? You think Futaro wants that? You think we do?"

"I always hated them," Nino said.

"I know, but you're out of options," she said too kindly. Nino wished she would scream at her. It would give her something to fight.

But Nino knew she was right. Wasn't she always? But she wanted to fight, and shout, and scream no! Anything to reject those frames. She could get rid of the braces and the retainer and the head gear, but not these, not completely. She dreamed of her father allowing her the surgery to fix her eyes to make her perfect, but he wouldn't allow it. She didn't need it, he claimed, and she was far too young for that sort of thing. She persisted, it wasn't like she wanted a boob job or lip injections or liposuction, all she wanted was better eyes. Just so she could fit in. He was unmoving, and so her vision remained inferior. Worse, it was different. Sure, Ichika and Itsuki used glasses for studies, but they didn't need them. She did. Just like the braces and the head gear. Why couldn't he see how much this mattered to her?

And so she was stuck with those things. She didn't even want them. Her father made her keep a pair for emergencies. In case there were a time when contact lenses were inappropriate, he explained. Or, if there was no other option. And Itsuki was right. There wasn't.

She took the case and peeled it open like a treasure chest. There they were, the one accessory she'd found no joy in choosing. They were half frames with round lenses, like two baby hands holding a pair of crystals. She chose them because she wanted as little metal as possible. It was the smallest pair she could find. And they still looked monstrous. She unfolded the hooks and slid them onto her face, gently touching them down on the bridge of her nose. She knew they'd scar her makeup over the day.

Itsuki tried grinning, "See? Not so bad."

She said nothing, because it was. The weight pinching her temple in a vice was a white flag of defeat, and for a moment she wished she was back home in her private bedroom with everything she needed to feel normal. She didn't look at herself in the mirror, she didn't want to recognize her old self. The one that was always broken somehow, like a crushed grape on a vine of healthy siblings.

She wanted to forget they were there, except their smallness worked against her and the frames remained within her vision like narrow tunnels of light trapping her inside. She tried to forget them as she cooked breakfast for her family, settling into her role should help her forget. But the glasses fogged from the steam until it was as if she weren't wearing them at all. And then Yotsuba came home.

"I'm back! Me and Futaro ran a-whoa! Nino, I like your glasses! I forgot how cute you look with them!" It bit into her like an icicle falling in a frozen cave, and she knew it wouldn't get better from here.

But a part of her hoped it would, like a bad haircut going unnoticed, or rushed makeup unmentioned. As she walked to school with what was left of her family she hoped everyone would pay her the compliment of inconspicuousness. If she could be a wallflower for a day and settle into her new reality without comment, maybe things would be okay.

But they looked. Everyone looked. They looked at her like an alien posing as a schoolgirl wearing a painted paper bag as disguise. Worse, friends would gesture to friends to look at her, and then they whispered, and giggled. Her glasses were magnets for attention of the worst kind. They looked and looked, how they looked at her like a spectacle on tour with the circus. She finally ripped off her second set of eyes and determined to make it through the day as if nothing were abnormal. Then she ran into a door and heard them laughing at her. She slid them back on and trudged into class as Yotsuba rubbed her beaten nose. All the ministrations did little for her wounded pride.

It struck her, what was Futaro going to think? How was she only just thinking about this? Of course it hit her the second her foot traversed the threshold into the classroom and there he was, so no time to prepare! Stupid, she chided herself. She thought to check her pocket mirror one last time, but too late, he looked up. She steeled herself, even managing a gulp.

But the confrontation was as blasé as could be. He waved hello, she waved back, and he returned to his studies. Was that it? No reaction whatsoever? That wasn't so bad, maybe he didn't mind.

But then she wondered, was no reaction worse? Did he dislike her look so much that he wouldn't even mention it? Sure, he was normally focused before the start of class, and nothing short of an avalanche in a prairie could steal his attention unless the teacher demanded it, but still, he should say something, right? Did he not like them? Did he think they made her look weird, too?

That thought was a parasite burrowing into her skull and feeding on brainpower for the rest of the day. It sapped her attention from her teacher's pedantry like a black hole stealing the light from the universe. And even though she tried to ignore it and focus, her classmates wouldn't let her. She noticed them looking at her with eyes dancing with delight, like they were watching a hamster try to swim. Amusement. Was that what she was now? And thanks to these stupid glasses, she could see every look and smirk and giggle in perfect clarity.

Her sisters tried to maintain that sense of normalcy, but they knew this was a touchy subject as sensitive as a sore pulsing on the tip of the tongue. And Futaro was worse, he acted indifferent as if nothing was wrong. When she didn't come to him during the break, he came to her, which would have been a heart-skipping change on any other day, but he talked about afternoon studies. Of all the things, it had to be afternoon studies. When was he going to say something about her glasses? First period? Nope. Second period? Fail again. And she realized that he really didn't get it, he didn't get her or her feelings even if it was obvious to the rest of the freaking world! That insensitive jerk!

When the lunch bell rang she gave Futaro and her sisters their lunches, hers as well, and excused herself to the bathroom for a moment alone after promising to meet them in the cafeteria. After using the toilet she ignored a snickering pair of girls at the sink. As she washed her hands she finally looked up to see herself in the mirror, the first time since class. The little four-eyed girl from all those years ago hadn't changed much, not in her eyes. Her glasses had slipped and smudged the makeup on her nose leaving ugly marks like deep dimples.

Ugly. There was the word for her. These things, this life, it made her ugly. She held back tears and stepped out of the room.

~Futaro~

If man was body and mind in one, it didn't take the latter long to decide which half was the ball and chain weighing the other down. The human mind was a marvel, the grandest yet seen in this vast, great universe. It was a pinnacle of natural achievement, and everything artificial only followed from its enviable faculty.

And then there was the body. The less said about that, the better.

On second thought, no. It deserved the ridicule and he was livid. The human form was practically...adequate. It got the job done. Bipedal movement, not bad. Decent eyes, nose, ears, they sufficed. And thumbs! Oh he could say a thing or two about thumbs! There was the pinnacle of physiological evolution right there! Without them, the wonders of the mind wouldn't have a perch! But the rest, well, it worked, until it broke. But otherwise what was the human body the apex of? Mankind won a single gold medal in the animal kingdom Olympics, and that was long distance running. Everything else, from sprinting, lifespan, swimming, and general survivability were all claimed by their primitive brethren. Man's physical prowess was dwarfed by the wild. Only in the mind was man supreme, and so they would remain.

So why shouldn't he put all his efforts into strengthening his mind? When you told the mind to grow, it grew, even without effort! Humans were always learning! The mind was endlessly growing and strengthening itself as a shark tirelessly swimming in the endless oceans. The body was a big, dumb jock! Really, with years of evolution the body was still a lazy sloth. You gave it resources to build monuments, it built fat. You agonize to train your muscles for years, and at the first reprieve the body slumps like melting ice cream. Unless you went out of your way to hold its primitive hand and shape it into granite against its will, it stuffed itself to bursting like a hoarder in a tiny home.

So then why was he still doing this? Why was he torturing himself with early hours and miles of unnecessary stress? He could stop anytime, he told himself. Yotsuba would understand. But he didn't. Why didn't he? Was it because research showed that the mind and body were unfortunately more closely linked than he cared to admit, and strengthening one would cause a noticeable bump in the other? Was it because he was tired of feeling beaten by bully hills and hateful stairs? Or was it because he remembered holding her hand on that rooftop, feeling her press into his chest like they were caught in a magnetic field, or feeling her lips crashing into his like balloons threatening to burst?

...He needed to stop thinking about that, his heart was beating fast enough as it was.

"All right, good effort!" Yotsuba cheered as she fanned him with her towel. He was lying face down in the grass and hoping he'd beaten the morning dogs in search of a toilet.

"Tell me we're done."

"We're done."

"Oh thank goodness!"

"Come on, up."

"Huh?"

"Up! We have another ten blocks to go!"

"But you said we're done!"

"You asked me to, I didn't wanna say no. Did it make you feel better?"

"For all of two seconds."

"Better than nothing!"

"Admit it, this is payback for studying."

She frowned, squatting next to him with her face in her hands, "Why do you say that every time we work out?"

"It's the only hypothesis that fits the evidence."

"No no no no no no no! We're out of class, smart guy. No sciency stuff! Now run!"

Ten blocks and what must be countless vials of sweat later, they stopped. Yotsuba stretched until her back popped like bubble gum. "Now we're done!"

"You mean it this time?"

She handed him some water which he gratefully gulped down like rain in the Gobi. No sooner had the plastic left his lip than Yotsuba yanked him to his feet and forced him into a cooldown. Futaro wondered, not for the first time, where she learned to lead like a dictator. But then he wondered, this for the first time, if it was from him. Maybe he was too good a teacher after all.

Yotsuba spread her legs into the splits, collapsing like a house of cards almost to the bed of grass. Futaro did his best to mirror her stretch, only for his legs to once again lock up at the halfway point so far from the earth. He blamed the body for not naturally developing a looseness. If flexibility was so important, was it too much to ask for a little more built-in wiggle room?

How did she become so flexible anyways? Sure, girls were naturally more flexible than boys, but this was apples to oranges. And she looked like she could go further, like if the earth weren't in her way she'd clap her feet over her head. Was this part of her hard work, or was this natural talent? Were her sisters this flexible too?

Was Nino?

He could follow that, so much was determined by genetics. Wait, that's right, she'd mentioned she practiced yoga in the morning, she might be even better. The fog inside his mind dispersed and he could almost see her, legs spread like an eagle proudly showcasing its span and her-

Okay, he knew where that was leading him. Not now, definitely not now in front of her carbon copy. He could control those thoughts. Except he stayed there, on Nino, where he'd been hoping to avoid for just a bit longer.

He checked his phone. No texts. It wouldn't have bothered him a month ago, that was normal. But not now. Ever since she changed her profile to 'in a relationship', and only that, until she bullied him into making a profile of his own to show off, half of their conversations had been text, most of them hers. She'd even send an emoji whenever he'd gone too long without texting her, and it was never the same one. He was surprised he couldn't feel calluses on her fingertips as much as she texted.

Nothing today, though. And nothing yesterday, either. Not even her usual goodnight. It reminded him of when she'd cut him off after their fight in the streets. And it wasn't limited to the virtual, whatever this was started yesterday at school, or at least that's where he first noticed. He hadn't spotted it right away, but he'd probably heard fewer words out of her mouth in the past day than ever before, and that was counting his time as her sworn nemesis. Breaks, lunch, studies, even work her silence persisted. The boss took one look at her and gave her kitchen duty for the entire shift. If he knew staying silent would get him out of customer duty, he'd have started ages ago. The boss had given him this look, accusing, as if this were somehow his fault.

Not that he could recall doing anything really bad. Except, well, maybe he'd been caught with his eyes trailing a bit south of the border. But she'd texted him it was okay, right? He had proof of vindication saved to his inbox! Unless...was she worried that wasn't the first time? Could she think that he was ogling her like a tourist under Amsterdam's red lights whenever she wasn't looking? No, it was too subtle, Nino would tell him straight if she was pissed. Wouldn't she? Didn't she always? Because whatever this was, she certainly wasn't telling him now.

Was that it, then? Was this really his fault? He wanted to know, and he wanted to know before he saw her again. He glanced at Yotsuba, who was stretched on the grass like a log, slowly pushing herself up like a flower blooming under the sun. She would tell him, he thought. She was his insider, the one who set the record straight.

"Hey, Yotsuba?"

"Huh?"

"What's up with Nino? Is she still upset?"

Yotsuba chewed on her answer, "Yeah, I thought she'd be better after the first day, but, ah, she might actually be worse. When we woke up she was already awake, just staring at the ceiling."

Futaro sighed, "I see. She knows I didn't mean to, right?"

"What?"

"It was only an accident, why is she taking it so seriously? It was one look."

Yotsuba twitched like a bunny checking the shrubs for movement. Her big, innocent eyes blinked in slow motion like wipers clearing a windshield.

She said, "You think she's mad at you for, that?"

Futaro paused, "Isn't she?"

Futaro wasn't sure how he wound up on his back, just that when he did, Yotsuba was somehow on top of him, screaming like a kettle ready to be taken off the stove.

"What's wrong with you!? Why would you even think that!?"

Futaro wondered if she would stop shaking him so he could answer. When she didn't, he pushed out, "But wasn't she-"

Yotsuba continued, not caring what his actual answer was, "This isn't about you you big, big dummyhead! How can you be so insensitive!? You're her boyfriend and you never even noticed-!"

"I did-!"

"-do you have any idea how mean that is? No wonder she's so mopey, she thinks you don't even care!"

"Care about what? How about you just tell me what I'm supposed to care about first!?"

"Her glasses, dumb dumb! She has to wear glasses now and she hates it!"

Futaro froze, "That's it?"

Yotsuba didn't say anything, just stared at him dead in the eye for a moment that slowed down time. It did more to drill the point into him than anything she could've said, though he still couldn't believe all this was because of a pair of glasses.

Yotsuba stood, standing over him as she said, "Yeah, that's it. Now you're supposed to do something about it, got it?"

"Like what?"

Yotsuba rolled her eyes, she actually rolled her eyes at him, he was surprised she was even capable of it. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Would it hurt?"

She looked defeated as she said, "Talk to her, about her glasses. Seriously, it's that simple." Then she realized it wasn't, "I mean, be nice and...I shouldn't have to explain this!"

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" A kindly old man asked them. They turned and suddenly realized that he, along with half a dozen other early birds were watching their display as today's opening festivities. Futaro rolled his eyes and got up while Yotsuba went white as raw onion and waved the man away.

She covered her cheeks and said to Futaro, "Look, just...do the, the...the thing, with her, okay? I mean it." She hurried away from the scene before Futaro could respond, not that he was sure how.

Glasses. All this fuss over a pair of corrective lenses. Why was this something to make a big deal of? He hadn't even been surprised when she came to class wearing her pair. He knew she wore contacts, it was hardly a logical leap to assume she had a spare pair of glasses in case of emergency, and she'd probably wear them someday. It wasn't even worth a shrug, just a minor mental footnote. So why was she treating this like a death in the family? Worse, why were others taking her seriously?

Like all matters Nino, this was hard to drop and he chewed it all the way home, bringing it into the shower and stuffing it under his school uniform. He sat down for breakfast with his sister.

"Where's dad?"

"Double shift, he left early."

He shrugged and sat down to a household delicacy of fried eggs over rice topped with hot sauce and sausage on the side.

"So how's breakfast?"

"Hmm, good," Futaro said as he ringed through flash cards. He'd never found the little ring he lost in the concert hall, not that he really tried. A part of him wish he'd had enough control to pocket the thing before going wild so he wouldn't have to carefully keep track of these.

"Carbs, protein and lipids all in one, everything the body needs."

"Mmhmm."

"Nothing like your sister's home cooking, is there?"

"Not that I've tasted." It's not like he had another sister to compare it to.

That little fallacy didn't spoil her mood as she hummed a merry morning tune that failed to thaw Futaro's icy mood. After breakfast, he checked over her homework as she scrubbed the dishes. She'd chide him on doing her teacher's work for her, and frowned when he took it as a compliment. It was literally elementary for Futaro, nice simple word problems and equations with definite answers. So much easier than the obtuse world he stepped further into each day. It was a moment to take his mind away from confusion of the morning, but it was fleeting as the clocked ticked towards the top of the hour.

He helped Raiha with her bag before preparing his own and was ready to meet the day, at least physically. He still wondered what exactly he was supposed to say when he saw her. Yotsuba seemed to think it was obvious, he wished he'd had a few more seconds to pick her brain.

"Here!"

Raiha nearly tackled him as she shoved the small box into his chest, like a relay runner catching her relief off-guard. Raiha took his hand and placed a small box wrapped in an old handkerchief. "Surprise!" she cheered.

"Where did you get a bento box?"

"In storage, way, way in the back."

"Uh-huh. And, why? You know Nino makes-"

"It's your favorite! Spicy curry noodles, with extra pepper and a packet of hot sauce! Come on take it take it take it!"

"Okay, calm down." He sighed as he took it. Raiha beamed and bolted out the door with a wave goodbye before he could say another word.

The why escaped him with his sister. He pondered the oddly weighty container as he beat a familiar path to school. He tried remembering the last time his sister made him a bento and couldn't think of one after he started high school. He'd used his first day at school to find the most frugally sound method of eating. Every menu had its secrets, sometimes even a combo that dipped into a restaurant's red. Once he found it, there was no reason to change. It was cheap, filling and saved his sister twenty minutes a day to study, in theory anyways.

So where had this brain child come from? Raiha had enough going on already without adding this to her plate. Why would she bother, she knew Nino started making him lunch for school. All this did was waste good food, unless she suspected him a closet glutton. What was she…

Somewhere in Futaro's brain, a billion neurons spoke with another billion neurons and compared notes, then another billion neurons butted in on their conversation and insisted that both sets of billion neurons had it all wrong! It got so noisy that the billion most important neurons had to intervene and hold an inquiry into the matter. It took them a full half second to build the final picture, practically a full work day when working at the speed of light. And thus Futaro realized that Raiha not only didn't like Nino, she was jealous.

It was so absurd that Futaro bit back a horde of laughter like a dam in heavy rain. His sister was jealous! Of what? Nino? What subset in the laws of physics allowed her to be jealous of Nino? A sister and a girlfriend were like a butterfly and a pomegranate, there was nothing to compare! He could see no root, no cause for jealousy, however petty it may be.

And yet, that was it. He could see it, even if he couldn't understand it. And he suspected, no, he knew the next time he caught Raiha looking at Nino without her knowing, he'd see it in her eyes, like the bottom of a muddy well. He could never picture Raiha like this before, not once. Something had changed for Raiha that he couldn't recognize. It was so small that he hadn't even noticed it when it was happening right under his nose. He's been absorbed in the ongoing changes so great they could only be called a metamorphosis that the rest of the world passed like life around a tunnel. He came out the other side and his world had changed. The pieces were all still there, but scattered and scarred like a child's playroom after a tantrum. Like little ripples in the water that grew into waves, his life that seemed finally ready to settle was left deformed by the tsunami. And now that he finally stopped to look at the field as a whole, he saw the shifting he'd so blissfully ignored.

He'd thought that given time, things could fall back to normal, as if all this was the shaking of a snow globe and they were tiny flecks of frost falling back into place. It seemed inevitable that sisters would forgive and forget and move on. But even his own family was different. The paradigm itself had changed, and now he feared, with so many words turned to memory, there was no going back to how they were. Maybe they could heal and forgive, but they would never be like they were before. And the sadness inside him swelled as he realized those study halls with everyone present with nothing more worrisome than an exam may be gone forever.

All this had happened without him noticing. There was a deep, welling frustration in his chest as he thought how all his studies and hard work had still not helped him see this sooner. But even if they had, would things be any different? How much of this was really in his own control?

Well, one thing. Maybe. Probably the most important one of them all. He still had no idea what he would do when he saw her, but Yotsuba seemed to believe in him. He trusted her instincts much better than his own.

It wasn't long before he saw the trio approaching at a distance. Something was immediately off. Nino always knew where she was headed, and she made that abundantly clear by blazing ahead at the front. So seeing her nestled behind her chattering sisters like a pony on a leash, her eyes on concrete, was a definite change.

Futaro waved, "Hey, you two go on ahead, we'll catch up at school."

Yotsuba and Itsuki glanced at each other, then at Nino. If they were looking to her for direction, she had none to give. Futaro was about to press, when Yotsuba gave a ringing cheer, "Right! I almost forgot I have to, er, polish the books before class! Itsuki can help me! Let's go!"

Woe be with the girl if she ever stumbled onto a poker table. He should host an after study-study hour on subterfuge just to give the poor thing a chance. She snatched a startled Itsuki's hand and set off for school like a runner at the end of her marathon.

He wondered when instincts were supposed to take over. They never had trouble when it was something physical. Why did they get cold feet with language? She looked at him through shining lenses and silently asked what he had to say. If only he knew himself. Yotsuba told him it was obvious. A little hint would have been appreciated. He tried to find the right words to start, but she beat him to it.

"What's that?"

"Huh?" Futaro followed her eyes, they were glaring down to his hand and the offending cloth in his grip. He lifted it up, "Oh, this?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"A bento my sister made."

"Oh."

Her gaze sharpened as if swept over a whetstone. She eyed the bento as if it personally insulted her. She held a pair of lunches in front of her, and though her stance was firm, she shrank before him like a balloon falling out of the sky. And as he followed her gaze he wondered, did she know what Raiha thought of her?

He lifted it to his eye, shrugging, "She hasn't made me a lunch in years, I wonder what got into her. I told her I had yours, but, she insisted. I couldn't get out the door until I took it with me."

"I see." She was hard like a taught rubber band. Futaro walked closer, past the zone of just friends, and looked at her. She didn't look up. He could see her makeup smudging on her nose where her glasses slid down. She grumbled, "What?"

He said, "I thought you'd have glasses somewhere. It only makes sense you'd have a pair to go with your contacts. Everyone should be prepared in case something happens."

She blinked, mulling his words with all the expression of a supercomputer, then muttered, "That's great." Then she moved past him like a river around rock.

Futaro turned and asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

"What's it look like?" she said without stopping.

Futaro growled and jogged next to her, grabbing at her hand, then her wrist when she didn't offer it. "Hey, will you just wait a second?"

"We're gonna be late-"

"I know-!"

"So come on!" She pulled away and stormed off. Futaro followed, but wondered what good it would do. She seemed shut off like a great gate to a beggar. Wasn't he playing the part of a good boyfriend? Wasn't he supposed to comfort her? Well how was he supposed to do that when she shut him off? Maybe, just maybe, if she'd actually talk with him and tell him what's wrong instead of having him play this unwinnable guessing game, they'd get somewhere! He wanted to scream what the hell her problem was, for what little good that might do. She wasn't even slowing down to let him catch up. A part of him, the one his peers called the robot, was tempted to let her keep walking. Let her decide when she was ready to talk again!

He was trying to understand her frustration, he really was. But it was just a pair of glasses! The world continued to turn and the sun shined as brightly as ever and it was just a pair of glasses! Get over it! And he wanted to scream his logic into her ear until she understood and stopped behaving like an irrational buffoon. But he didn't. Because in all his frustration, he could remember Nino telling him about a little girl who hid her metal smile to match her sisters. She was the girl who always needed something fixed just to keep up with her family. Now she had to wake up every day and put on a reminder that no, she wasn't like her sisters. Her very body felt to her as a second-hand doll.

All because of a pair of glasses. Was that really all? Futaro still couldn't see the whole picture, but an outline through the mist.

Futaro reached out again and took her wrist. "Wait. Hold on."

Nino twisted, frowning, "Stop grabbing me, it's annoying!"

It didn't sting this time, he didn't blame words coming in fear. "I wanted to say, you look good with them."

"What?"

"In your glasses. They look," what was the word she liked being called? He decided, "pretty. They really frame your face."

Nino narrowed her eyes, "Right. Where'd that come from. Was it Yotsuba? Did she tell you to say that?"

"Something like that," he admitted.

"That's sad. Whatever, I don't need pity." She pulled against his wrist, he kept his hold.

"That doesn't mean I don't think it's true. Just wait, let me say something." Futaro remembered how she looked at him yesterday, eyeing him with a silent question. "I always think you look pretty, and glasses didn't change that. So when I saw you, I didn't think to say anything. I still thought you were pretty," he paused, "Still do, too."

Nino took her arm back and rubbed her wrist, and Futaro wondered if he'd hurt her. "You don't need to lie to me."

"I'm not lying," he insisted, his voice calm against frustration.

She her arms and looked away. Futaro waited several short breaths, then she tilted her head and said, "I hate them."

"I know."

"I look like a bug. They keep falling down and I can just see them, all the time! And I can hear people in our class pointing to me and laughing and making fun of me-!"

"They're not doing that."

"Yes they are! I can hear them! I know they're saying things about me behind my back! And all because of these..." She took her glasses off and looked at them longingly. Futaro thought she might drop them and grind them beneath her heel. Instead he took them from her and examined them.

"They look nice. I bet you chose these yourself, didn't you?" Then he slid them onto her surprised face, carefully avoiding her ears. "I really don't see anything wrong. I think you look good. Or, pretty." His fingers slid down the temples, falling around her ears and around her cheeks. "You believe me?"

She sighed, looking at the sky, anywhere but at him. "I guess."

It felt strange having to draw her words out like a fishing net out of the sea. Were all girls this stubborn, or just Nino? He said, "I should've told you yesterday."

"You should have," she paused, then said, "So say sorry."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Fine. I'm sorry."

Futaro gagged when she threw herself at his chest. He put his arms around her, hopeful of what this meant. He asked, "So, we're okay?" Her answer was a nod against his chest. He checked the area to make sure they were alone, then leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Can we go?"

Nodding, she said, "Let's go." She let him take her hand, it felt like a checkered flag. She wouldn't speak for a time, as if she'd taken a short vow of silence. Her hand was hot in his own as if he were holding a dying coal. Futaro found himself filling the silence with his morning vignette, describing his sister's surprise lunch while assuring her he still wanted to have hers as well. It was a role reversal he never expected to happen. What force in the universe could remove Nino's voice? Herself, of course. But he kept her hand firmly in his, reminding her that he was here, and didn't want to leave. He wasn't her mother harboring secret thoughts. He wasn't a sister pitying the black sheep of the tribe. He wasn't a faceless other whispering gossip against her ear. She knew what he was, he just needed to remind her.

Right before turning the corner leading to the gate, she spoke at last, asking, "Why do they keep sliding?"

"Your glasses?"

"Yeah, they won't stay straight."

"You need to adjust the pads here."

"I know that, but I can't get them right, they keep falling."

"Probably because you haven't worn glasses in so long."

"Fix it for me at lunch."

"What makes you think I can do it?"

"What good is acing every subject if you can't fix a pair of glasses?"

"Fine, fine. I'll try...oh."

The gate. It was shut.

"Crap," he said.

Nino checked her watch. "Two minutes after. They sure are strict."

"I've never been late to class before...my perfect attendance..."

"It's not the end of the world." Nino mused. Then she did something that was so definitively her that it assured him that Nino was going to be okay. She turned to him, her lips curling into a devilish grin assuring that mischief wasn't far away. He loved that fire of hers.

"Well, since we're already late, how about we go-"

"No."

"Just for a-"

"No."

"You don't even know what-"

"I do. And no. There is nothing you could give me to play hookie a week before the mock exams."

She huffed, "Fine, you're no fun sometimes." Then she adjusted her glasses, saying, "Let's get this over with then."

A/N

I owe everyone an explanation. It's been months since I updated and it's the least I can provide. The first half of this chapter was completed at the end of January, and as I moved onto Futaro's part, I got stuck. It was like falling into a snow pit and having to wait for the snow to thaw before feeling free. I couldn't find a way to make his section work, and after several rewrites I took a step back and gave myself time to reset. Several days turned in to weeks, and I kept saying I'd get back to this chapter tomorrow. And now, over four months later, it's done. I finally forced myself to open this up again and force the conclusion. If I say so, I still think this chapter, at least the second half, is the worst writing I've done in this story. Perhaps it's something that just needs to get done and out there so I can move on to better writing. If I can, I will come back to this someday if I feel like I can improve this. I'm not satisfied, but I want it done. At last.

What finally convinced me to settle this chapter was comments from all of you. Even as of last week, people reached out to me asking if the story would continue. A few words carry great meaning and finally pushed me back to my keyboard. I'm glad for them, and thankful that you took the time to encourage me. I needed that support (kick in my ass) to get this going again. And now it is. We'll see how long I can keep the streak now.

I'll shoot for my old schedule, a post every two weeks. If I can't meet it, that's fine. I don't want to bind myself to a schedule absolutely, but a goal will push me forward. For those of you who are still here with me, thank you for sticking around. Let's continue. Please review, criticize, and stand by for the next chapter.

Chapter published: June 4th, 2020.