The hazy heat of a closing Spring made every little experience an eager one. Students knew the promise of summer was but a footstep or two away, and their distracted attention, already given with barely half a heart, was strained to its breaking point by the time the final bell rang.
For the majority, at any rate.
Usagi caught up with her most academic friend at the western entrance - a daily ritual that saw the two of them collecting girls at every stop until all five were together in Rei's pristine bedroom -, and was mortified to find that she was still reading. Reading and walking.
"There's something wrong with you, Ami-chan. Something in the brain." Usagi tucked her hands behind her head as they descended a set of stairs to the grass, her slim, plastic book case swinging harmlessly against her shoulders with every step.
Accustomed to the teasing, Ami only smiled, then re-read the sentence to be sure she'd understood it.
It wasn't until Usagi skipped onto the sidewalk and continued on that the young scholar could be moved from studying to reality. "Wait a minute, we don't have everybody yet."
Usagi paused, peered over her shoulder, then recalled with an unnecessary burst of energy and interest, "Oh! Mako-chan didn't come to school today, didn't you notice? And I know she's not sick!" Then, with a wistful, jealous edge, "Probably skipped out and spent all day curled up in bed with dumplings and trashy TV. I wish I lived alone."
Her pout was so severe that it drew the glance of a passerby.
Ami fell into step near the blonde and chastised gently, "There are only so many days left of the school year, Usagi-chan! That would be a dreadful misuse of time. I hope she knows better, too." Briefly concerned by the thought that Makoto would skip school and miss the opportunity to perfect her studies, Ami shook her head, then was consumed by the world of advanced geometry once more.
Usagi let out a nervous laugh and quickened her step, eager to reach the bus stop where they'd join Minako for a ride to the Hikawa Shrine. At least she had -one- companion in youth amongst her friends! One precious kindred spirit who cared more about living in the moment than concentrating on the future!
Minutes of anxiously walking beside the serene, silent girl later, her salvation came tumbling into view; Minako was slumped against the bus stop bench, looking worse for the wear of a tiring school day. Usagi rushed with affection to be beside her, then adopted the same used-up position, happy to have company in her misery. Minako knew. She knew that you were supposed to be exhausted and unhappy when you gave up a beautiful Spring day to class work.
"Ami-chan is acting crazy again," whined the shorter girl. "I think all the math has caused permanent damage."
Mina laughed, then pointed an accusing finger. "You got another crummy grade, didn't you? And she told you something you didn't want to hear, I bet."
"Worse! Summer is only two weeks away, and she still won't even -talk- about doing something fun for break. Just reads! Just walks and reads."
Ami took no offense, neither to the comment nor to Minako's expression, suddenly identical to Usagi's. When they'd first become friends, she mistook so much of their chagrin over her studying as a personal attack. By now, more aware of them as people, it flattered her deeply to know that they wished with such devotion to be spending time with her, to include her in the things they thought were fun. But what a day it would be if she could only make them understand that she already -was- having fun, trapezoids and all.
"I can't help it," she said with an airy detachment, "I'm a scrooge. A well-read old maid in a 16-year-old body."
Minako's urge to reply with a tease was cut short when she noticed someone was missing. "Mako-chan?"
"Didn't come to school today! Slacker. Here I am, putting up with the ugly hour that school starts and going to all these classes I can't stand, and she gets to spend the whole day in her own apartment, no one to yell at her about when she wakes up, no one to punish her if she does badly. . . I can't wait to move out."
Overcome with a defensiveness that took her by force, she heard herself spit, "What an insensitive thing to say! You act like she's on vacation. I doubt she sees the loss of her family as the positive thing that you do."
Stunned into a silence that they all knew wouldn't last, Usagi felt the worm of guilt wriggle obscenely in her gut, and realized her error too late, as usual. She softened and stilled, addressing the situation with a tender sincerity. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I wasn't thinking."
But Minako's anger had been falsely directed to begin with, and it fizzled, was forgotten as she contemplated the scenarios which might've inspired Mako to skip school. She was as fondly accustomed to Usagi's forgetful way of speaking as Ami was to the group's reactions to her compulsive study habits, and barely acknowledged the apology, stormed over by concern.
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The dim approach of evening found them knelt around a low, glossy table, brows knitted together in an expression of academic effort. The silence was freckled with pencil scribbles, Usagi's low, miserable whine, and an occasional word of encouragement from Ami, but otherwise, the girls were consumed by the task at hand.
Minako could find no peace. Newly vulnerable to the slightest disruption, she fidgeted with her pencils and shifted from one foot to the other and back again, then began to trace memories into herself of unimportant things around the room. Usagi was sweating; a thin, clear curtain of frustration on her love-pink skin. Rei had thrown her hair up in a multicolored band that, in some way, matched everything else she was wearing; intentional, or a happy accident of fashion? Three books on a nearby shelf were identical in size and jacketed in the same shade of beige; everything else defied its neighbor, almost as if on purpose.
It was a useless endeavor. There were two things she could think about - nothing, or Makoto. Why hadn't she gone to school? Every scenario was over-the-top, amplified into nonsense by her worry. Had she gotten drunk and been arrested?! Been in an accident on the way home? Tightening every muscle with a premature and childish anger, she wondered if the punk had tried something, then wondered with a combination of jealousy and dismay if they'd spent the night together! Eventually the wretched suspense was too much to bear; any longer left alone with her thoughts would produce only more impossible scenarios, so she excused herself to the restroom, but instead went straight for Rei's telephone in the entryway. It was almost predictable that she received no answer.
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