Part II

Chapter 54

Kagura awoke from her short nap with a mighty yawn, her senses slowly returning to her as she sloughed off her grogginess. Around her was the luxurious interior of Eiko's sports car, of which was currently speeding down a highway.

She stretched herself then, smiling widely as she enjoyed the satisfying feeling of a full stomach, and then glanced out the window at the world that zoomed by.

Eiko noticed her passenger was up now, and she addressed her as she kept her eyes on the road ahead. "You look like you slept well."

Kagura turned towards her, nodding happily, some sleep still lodged in her eyes. "...oh, man. That was weird. I can't remember the last time that I took a nap in the day..."

"Well, you drank a fairy strong drink, so, you were a little tipsy."

"...oh, I was...?"

"Just a little. But, it looks like you've shaken it off already. I'd imagine it would take quite a few drinks for someone of your build to really feel it, you know?"

"...you mean, like, get really drunk?"

"Right."

"...it still made me sleepy, though."

"I think that was more due to how many carbs you inhaled at lunch. Bread can do that to you, especially with how much you ate."

Kagura swiveled her head back to the passenger-side window. "I guess so. Don't really ever eat a lot of bread..." She yawned once more. "...so, you were gonna' take Minamo back with you when we got back, right?"

Eiko nodded. "Yes, but not right away. I'll drop you off for now, and then come back in the evening to pick her up, since I have some things at work to finish up first. Plus, she'll need some time to pack and get ready, in any case. Do you think you could help her with all of that while you still have time?"

"Sure!" Kagura took a peek at the digital clock on the dashboard. "Is she gonna' be up by now?"

"Pretty soon, maybe within another half hour."

...that's scary how she can just know that. "Is she actually gonna' go with you, though? She didn't want to leave the apartment when I was talking to her."

"Oh, she will, don't worry."

Again, the woman's words set her a little on edge. "Well, that's...good, I guess. Oh...hey...by the way..."

"Yes?"

Kagura rubbed her eyes, and then judged herself to be fully cognizant now. "I was wondering about somethin'. So, what if you fix all the problems Minamo's having, and Yukari's all good...but, then what, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...Minamo's in love with Yukari, right? Isn't she gonna' like, I dunno', have a crush on her still? That's gonna' be weird for them."

Eiko didn't immediately respond, easily passing a car ahead of them first. "...that will be awkward for them, yes."

"Yeah, I think so too. But, I guess that's somethin' Minamo will have to figure out. I mean, think about it: even if everything turns out ok, she's still gonna' be working next to her and stuff. How's she gonna' handle that? Oh, hey...!" She chuckled. "At least Yukari can say that someone's finally got a crush on her..."

Eiko took a hand off the wheel to adjust an earring. "...it wouldn't be the first time."

Kagura turned to look at the woman. "Oh, really? Someone's actually liked her before?"

"Yes, plenty of people."

"What? You're pullin' my leg, right?"

"You don't think she's attractive?"

The statement caught Kagura off guard for a moment. "...me? Well...yeah, I guess. I mean...all the guys at school thought she was hot, but, they were totally scared of her, too." She chuckled.

"And why is that?"

"'cause she's nuts."

Once again, Eiko didn't answer her immediately. "Well, back in the day, men used to ask her out all the time. There was one year, around when she and Minamo started working as teachers, where she had gone through about four or five boyfriends in a row."

Kagura didn't quite believe the claim off the bat, but the dry way in which Eiko had spoken quickly convinced her that the woman wasn't joking around. "Are you serious? Wow. I never knew that. Um, so, did she keep dumping them, or what?"

"The other way around."

She blinked.

Eiko relaxed back into her seat. "...Kagura, how would you feel if people initially fell for you because of your looks, but, when they really got to know you, they instantly wanted nothing to do with you?" She glanced towards her.

"...uh, I..." She frowned as she considered the point. "...I guess I would feel like crap."

"I'll bet." The woman passed a car ahead of them with little effort, her vehicle leaving it in the dust. "So, maybe you can began to understand as to why Yukari lashed out at you when you visited her. She's having some relationship issues with an important person in her life, and it's something that she's experienced many times before. In this case, I'm guessing part of it has to do with Minamo keeping some secrets from her. So, it's like a painful flashback for her, in a way."

As much as she didn't feel it was right, given how Yukari had treated her this morning, Kagura did begin to experience some genuine pity for her old homeroom teacher. "...um, because Minamo didn't tell her she was gay, and, well, never mentioned how she felt about her?"

"Again, I believe that's part of it. But, I'm certain there's more to it than that. Yukari does take her friendships to heart Kagura, whether you believe it or not, since she's never had many good ones. She really puts a lot of faith in the friends that she still does have, so it's not a fun experience for her when something still goes wrong with one regardless."

Kagura frowned. "...she doesn't exactly make it easy for people to stick with her, though. I mean, to even be friends with her in the first place is pretty hard..."

"I know she's a little rough around the edges. You don't have to remind me of that. But, really, it's more because the people in this country aren't used to someone with her sort of attitude. They just can't deal with someone who's so honest."

She pondered that comment over, scrunching her brow as she did. "...she's honest...?"

Eiko nodded. "Of course she is. She has no problem saying whatever she feels, or telling others what she feels of them. That's hard for a lot of people to deal with, you know, someone who isn't afraid to have an opinion."

...'have an opinion'? Never heard it put that way for Yukari's rants...

Kagura wasn't sure on how to follow up on what the woman had just said. As had occurred at lunch earlier, it just seemed that Eiko was talking about someone else entirely, whenever her rowdy teacher was the subject. She had never heard anyone else describe Yukari's erratic behavior in the way that she had been hearing, nor would she have ever made such flattering observations on her own.

Seriously, she's making Yukari out to be like some kinda' hero...

Her thoughts let go of the notion for the moment. "...so you're saying that...Yukari's a, uh...what's that expression, with the fish...?"

"'A fish out of water.'"

"Yeah! That's it."

"I suppose that's one way to put it."

Kagura sighed. "But, still, don't you think she could still be a little nicer, though? It's not like it would hurt..."

Eiko shrugged. "All I'm saying is that people don't value her correctly. Minamo certainly doesn't, and now, look at what she's done to her."

She did double-take. "...err, what? How? Minamo's her best friend...and she's in love with Yukari, to boot."

"That really doesn't mean anything at the end of it all. If she really valued her that much, then she wouldn't have hid all this business from her for half their lives."

"...hey, that's not fair. She was scared of what Yukari would think of her. It's not exactly an easy thing to talk about. Well, I would think so, anyway..."

"And that's exactly what I'm referring to, Kagura. If she had really known Yukari, and had actually taken the time to understand her, then she wouldn't have created all this trouble for herself." The car eased off an exit, joining another highway. "Just because you're in love with someone, that doesn't mean that you actually understand them to any degree. Those are two different things."

The topic was wandering into unfamiliar territory for her now, Kagura having no real offerings on the specifics of relationships. "...I don't get what you're saying."

"She told me that she should have talked to both myself and Yukari about this years ago, remember? But she didn't. I know Yukari wouldn't have cared about her being a lesbian, or...even if she had a crush on her. If anything, she would have been ecstatic with the idea of being attractive to both men and women." Eiko glanced over at her, an eagle look in her eyes. "But, why didn't Minamo know that, or ever figure it out?"

Kagura paused for a moment. "...because she didn't get her, like you were saying...?"

"Exactly. She's always been so busy trying to get Yukari to behave in certain ways, that she's never really taken the time to understand her. When she could've gotten to know her better, well, she just lectured her about some nonsense instead."

A bit of irritation was starting to form in Kagura, as she wasn't enjoying the criticism of her sensei. "...so Yukari's mad that she doesn't get her, or whatever?"

"Again, that's part of it. It's a complex issue. But, honestly, Kagura..."

"Yeah...?"

"...it's no wonder that Yukari acted so furiously when you mentioned Minamo to her this morning. She had every right to be. And it should have been Minamo on the receiving end of it all, not you. Your sensei got off quite easy in that regard."

"...wh-what...?"

"Do you feel that your sensei is a responsible individual, Kagura?"

"...uh...well, yeah."

"Then why did she agree for you to go see Yukari, and not go herself? She'll have to eventually confront her either way. So, don't you feel that it was a bit of a silly maneuver? All you did was confirm what she already knew: that Yukari was angry."

Her head was beginning to hurt a little, the conversation becoming too convoluted for her. "...but...she was scared of seeing if people already knew the news..."

"If that had happened, would staying home have solved anything?"

"...well, I...dunno'..."

Eiko shook her head. "No, it wouldn't have. She'll have the same problems either way, but by staying home, she's avoiding all of it for now, and proving to us that there's something more to this whole situation that she's not letting us in on." The woman peered over at her. "Let me be frank with you, Kagura. Minamo is my good friend, so don't get me wrong, but she gets into these sorts of situations because she's simply a coward at heart."

The irritation she had been feeling instantly flared into anger. "...what? No she's not! That's...that's so stupid!"

"She is one, Kagura. She's always been like that. She's just learned to cover it up better as the years have gone by."

"But, th-"

"I know what you're thinking. You feel that her actions as a good teacher couldn't possibly make her out to be cowardly. But, realize that she's doing that in front of an audience, Kagura, and dealing with other people's issues, not her own. You haven't noticed how she freezes whenever she's in an awkward situation, or when someone pokes fun at something she's sensitive about?"

Kagura had to take a few moments to digest all of that, startled as well by the fact that Eiko did know exactly what she had been thinking. "...yeah, I guess. But, that happens to everyone..."

"Do you think Yukari would ever act like that?"

She frowned. "...well, no. She'd just get mad."

"Maybe. But she wouldn't act like a coward about it all, that's for sure." Eiko shook her head with some level of obvious disgust. "Let me give you some advice, Kagura."

Kagura was quite sure that she didn't want to hear it.

"You and your classmates seem to have no problem judging Yukari. But, really, it's people like her who you want on your team at the end of the day. People who won't back down, or lock themselves in their apartments to escape reality."

Again, her anger flared. "If you're talking about Minamo, then, that's really not cool to say..."

"It's the truth. She's only telling us all these things about herself now because she's trapped, and she has to. She can't hide it anymore. But, let's put things into perspective again. If Yukari was the one who was into women instead, then would she have acted like Minamo has?"

She spent a few moments considering that question, and was greatly disappointed with her inability to form any sort of rebuttal.

"No, she wouldn't have. She may not choose to talk openly about it, but she sure wouldn't care if anyone did find out. And, why is that? Because she has little value in what others think about her, and that allows her to do and say as she pleases." Eiko floored the accelerator again, appearing to enjoy the act of easily out-speeding other cars as she continued to pass them. "And it's those sorts of people who are the ones that not only stick up for themselves, but also have no problem doing the same for you, when everyone else chooses not to. Do you understand?"

"...yeah."

"Good. So, that's why Minamo is where she is at the moment, Kagura. It's not something that I enjoy saying, but it's the truth: at the end of everything, she's simply not a very brave person, and greatly depends on others to get her by. That's your sensei in a nutshell."

Kagura barely heard the last words, barely felt her fists clench together so tightly, genuine anger dumbing down all her senses now.

...she's wrong. She's totally wrong...

A shiver went through her then, a burning wave of an emotion that she couldn't ever truly recall experiencing before.

...totally wrong.

Her headache increased then as well, part of it due from the rage generated by hearing this woman talk so callously about her beloved teacher, and the rest coming from a feeling of sheer futility.

She knew Eiko was completely wrong. There wasn't any question about that. It didn't matter if she had known Minamo longer than she had, or knew her better, or what not. She was just simply wrong about calling her a coward, and that was that.

But, even though Kagura knew that, and as much as she wanted to now yell at this woman, as much as she wanted to fully dismantle the attacks on her sensei, she just couldn't even begin to imagine as to how to do so. Eiko was dead wrong with her comments, but yet, at the same time, Kagura knew that in an argument of any sort with this woman, she was clearly and completely outgunned.

...I think...I think I know why Minamo just does whatever this lady says.

It was so confusing to her, as to what she was now feeling. On one hand, Kagura was still enthralled with this woman, with her looks, with her intelligence, with everything about her. And yet, at the same time, she was now also furious with her, but because of that same amazement and respect for her, she didn't know how to handle it. She just felt completely helpless now, and understood that no matter what she said to her, that Eiko would just immediately shred it apart.

For the remainder of the trip, Kagura remained quiet, her stare stuck to the passenger-side window. For some reason, she just couldn't look at Eiko now. It was the strangest feeling, but she just felt that the woman was almost waiting for her to say something again, for her to make eye contact and get angry.

It was an uncomfortable situation to be in, and Kagura just simply felt as if she were in the presence of a shark now, one that calmy bided its time until its potential prey stupidly spilt its own blood into the water.