Summer's Promise
Chapter 5: "Why would he help me when we don't even know each other?"
Luka slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying down on a bed. Confused, she tried to stand up to find out where she was, only to get stopped by Miku.
"You need to rest, Luka-chan. Just sit up for now, okay?" Miku kindly said as she helped the dazed Luka get comfortable.
When Luka looked around, she found Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki sitting around her, two of them on each side. Luka couldn't tell where she was because a curtain covered the area where they were.
"Am I…at the school infirmary?" Luka asked.
They all nodded their heads with a smiled relief on their faces. They wanted to hug Luka in relief, but they didn't want to stress her out. However, they knew that their worries had disappeared.
"I see that you're awake, Megurine-san. I'm Nurse Asakawa" the school nurse friendly smiled as she moved the curtain aside.
"You don't really have a fever or a cold. According to your friends, you were feeling weak and almost fell earlier this morning. They said it was because you were too nervous from all the attention you were getting, but I don't think you'd be asleep for half of the day because of that," Nurse Asakawa informed, also checking Luka's information on the clipboard she carried.
"I didn't get to ask you this since you were passed out when they brought you here, but what did you eat this morning for breakfast?" she asked, still looking at her clipboard.
"Oh…I didn't eat anything this morning," Luka honestly replied.
"What about last night?"
Luka remembered what happened to her that night. After finding the video of her friends with her face removed from any of the pictures included, she cried herself to sleep. She remembered hearing knocks on the door, but she didn't wake up because she thought it was a dream.
"I skipped dinner last night," Luka shamefully answered.
Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki were surprised that Luka hasn't eaten anything. They've comprehended the reason for Luka's collapsing based on the answers that she had given before the nurse could even tell them why she fainted.
"Luka-chan, you didn't eat lunch yesterday, either. You forgot to bring your bento, and you didn't want to get food from the cafeteria because there were a lot of people," Miku supported the thoughts they all had.
"That's not good!" Miki exclaimed.
"You have to eat properly, Luka-chan!" scolded Ia.
"You made us worry, you know!" Lily added.
With what Lily said, Luka started tearing up to hear that her new friends were worried because of her. Luka couldn't hold her tears to herself, so she hid her face in her hands, hoping they wouldn't see her tears. However, Luka cried out loud after putting more thought on what was going on.
"Luka-chan? Why are you crying?" Miku nervously asked as she stroked Luka's back to comfort her.
"I'm sorry…for making you worry…I'm sorry for…causing you trouble," Luka sobbed like a little child.
"Don't cry,Luka-chan," Miki sniffled as she wiped her own tears with embarrassment.
"But…I-I…made you all…worry about…me," Luka continued crying.
"It's our job to worry about you when something bad happens," Ia comforted, also stroking her back.
Luka looked up and uncovered her face, confused of what Ia said. She looked to Ia for an answer, but she gave Luka a soft and kind smile. Out of nowhere, a hand was placed on Luka's, causing her to turn and find out whose it was.
"We're your friends after all," Lily finished Ia's sentence with her own kind smile.
Luka was moved by how she was treated by her new friends. She felt all the pain of what happened to her last night disappear. In replacement were new memories with new people, who deeply cared for her. Luka was glad to have them as she continued to cry, tears of joy instead.
Nurse Asakawa was also happy to see a heartwarming scene of caring friends. As soon as they all finished comforting Luka and Miki, who was easily moved of Luka's tears that she also started crying, the nurse discharged Luka with reminders not to starve herself again. Luka promised Nurse Asakawa before they left for their lunch break that she'll never do it again. After they quickly grabbed their bento from their classroom and explaining to their teachers what happened, they headed to the rooftop to eat their lunch there.
On their way, Luka noticed that people were staring at her and whispering things about her. It was the usual, yes, but there was something different about what they were murmuring about her. Usually, the things Luka would hear were "She's so pretty" or "She's that transfer student from the States that's fluent in English" or "I can't believe she's that cute and acts mature for a first-year high school student." However, this time around, she heard her name along with a few other students' name that she had heard before.
Before Luka knew it, they had made it to the rooftop without her friends' noticing the whispers. The autumn wind was blowing by nicely when they arrived on the rooftop. The sky wasn't as sunny as how it was in the summer, making the temperature and weather just right.
"Thank you, everyone," Luka smiled as they all shared their lunches with her.
They sat down on the benches, except for Miki and Ia, who chose to sit down on the ground to be able to face Luka, Miku, and Lily. As they shared their lunches, they also chatted about what might've and should've happened during the rest of homeroom class after they all left to supervise the unconscious Luka at the infirmary. Since Luka woke up just as lunch break began, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki didn't want to stay in the classroom for lunch, where Luka would most likely be surrounded and questioned for what happened.
"Umm,"Luka interrupted the silence that arrived as everyone else decided to put food in their mouths.
"Hmm?" Miku mumbled, chewing her food.
"Who's Kamui and Nakajima?" Luka curiously asked, the gossips in the hallway stuck in her mind.
They all continued eating their meal except for Miki, who gulped down her food to answer Luka's question. Everyone else left Miki to answer the question because she had lived in the area longer than they have.
"Gakupo Kamui and Gumi Nakajima. They're two of the most popular people in our school despite only being in first-year students. Miku and I have been friends with Kamui since we were little, but Miku and I weren't really close to Nakajima-san since we were only in the same class on our first year of junior high school. These two, though, have known her longer," Miki narrated, pointing the tips of her chopsticks at Lily and Ia.
"Don't worry, Luka-chan. Gumi's really nice," Lily smiled, adding onto Miki's information.
"Gumi, Lily, and I transferred to the junior high school branch of this school together. We were all in the same class when we were first-year junior high students, but on our second and third year, Gumi and Gakupo-kun were stuck together in a different class, so only Miku, Miki, Lily, and I have been in the same class even 'til today," Ia added.
"Wow. That's amazing," Luka gasped in surprise of how much history they've had together.
"Why did you ask, anyways?" Miku wondered, fixing her bento box.
"Well, I heard people whispering about me in the hallway earlier on our way up here, and they also mentioned the names 'Kamui' and 'Nakajima,' so I got curious," Luka shyly said, fidgeting with her fingers.
All of them laughed at how cute Luka looked when she nervously revealed why she was curious of their other friends. They all cleaned up after the mess they made, even though there wasn't much.
"They were probably talking about what happened this morning," Ia said as she threw a candy wrapper in the trash can.
"This morning?" wondered Luka, who slightly tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"You don't remember what happened?" Miki asked as they all got together with Luka again after cleaning up.
"Well, we don't really know what happened either, but when we heard a voice outside the classroom, we all found Kamui-kun holding you," Miku revealed.
"Huh?"Luka muttered, still confused.
Miki sighed and looked at Ia and Lily. Knowing what Miki was thinking, Ia and Lily sighed together, too. When Miku realized what the three of them were planning, she face-palmed and groggily looked at three of them and back at Luka.
"Reenactment," Miku tiredly and embarrassingly announced like a host introducing a new act in a talent show.
"Ahem. This is what probably happened when you went out while we were inside the classroom," Miki began.
"I have to go to the restroom," Ia cutely acted.
"I-is that supposed to be…me?" Luka thought, embarrassed.
Luka watched as Ia gracefully walked to the right while humming something to make her acting as Luka look cuter.
"Ah. I have to go to the bathroom, too," Lily suddenly declared with a deeper voice, raising her shoulders to make them look broader and exaggerating her movements, like a stage actor.
"Is she Kamui-kun?"Miku sluggishly thought, unimpressed.
"Oh! Who is that beautiful young lady?" Lily exclaimed.
Luka's face got warmer and redder to hear Lily's line. She was aware that they were only doing a reenactment of what they think happened to her because she didn't know what happened, but she thought that the boy named Kamui wouldn't really say such things.
"Young lady, may I please know your name?" Lily, in a manly voice, asked Ia while embracing her.
"No. I must go before the spell runs out at 8 and I return to my deep 100-year sleep," Ia charmingly refused, gracefully getting away from Lily.
"Is this supposed to be Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty?!"Luka and Miku exclaimed in their heads, their jaws dropping to hear the little, comedic-like twist that Ia and Lily added.
"But young lady, you're too beautiful! You mustn't leave me!" Lily exclaimed once again.
"Ding dong! Ding dong!" Miki, supposedly the chime clock, warned.
"Oh no! It's eight o'clock!" Ia said just as she fell into Lily's arms.
Ia closed her eyes and Lily was stuck to holding Ia in her arms. Suddenly, Miki walks towards them from the sidelines and called out her own line.
"Gakupo," Miki said in a worried tone, acting as Gumi.
Lily dramatically turns around to reveal her holding Ia to Miki, his face concerned and shocked.
"Help," Lily muttered.
After a three-second pause, the three of them not making a move, they all lined up and took a bow in front of Luka and Miku. Luka's face was still shocked from the 'reenactment' of what happened to her, but Miku, who had been used to their hilarious stupidity, sarcastically clapped with an unenthusiastic cheering.
"Th-th-that d-d-didn't hap-p-pen! He wasn't the one w-w-who c-caught me and a-a-asked help!" Luka panicked in embarrassment.
All of them laughed at her once again, also admiring how adorable her face looked when she panicked and blushed. Just then, the bell rang and they hurried back down to the second floor where the classroom was. Luka's head was still stuck with the last part of their 'reenactment' since that was the only believable part.
Luka wasn't bothered by her classmates when she came back because Miki had already warned them and told them that Luka was stressed. Luka didn't notice that her classmates gave her space because all she had in mind was the 'reenactment.' For the rest of the day, she was intrigued if whether the last part of their 'reenactment' was true. She was also intrigued of why the person named Gakupo Kamui would help her, if it were true.
"I wonder if that really happened," Luka thought, dozing off and not paying attention to the teacher.
"Why would he help me when we don't even know each other?" she wondered.
Like yesterday, Luka walked to the train station with her new friends except for Miku and Miki, who had to run errands for their parents. Since Ia and Lily get off of the train before Luka, she was given more time to think before she got home. Luka felt as if her mind was starting to mess up because of how much thinking she was putting onto a simple and small matter.
"Oh, whatever!" she shook her head as she arrived in front of her house's door.
"I don't understand anymore!" Luka said out loud when she walked in.
Rin and Len, who arrived home earlier than Luka did, immediately turned to the entrance, confused of what was going on with Luka.
"What don't you get?" Len asked as he ate potato chips.
"Oh…uhh…nothing," Luka lied, awkwardly laughing right after.
Luka ran to her room and quickly shut the door when she realized that her face was blushing red. Sighing in relief that her younger siblings didn't notice, she sat down on her desk to check on her social network account.
Luka wanted to check if any of her friends from the States messaged her, though she was scared to see any more things that would only hurt her. Luckily, there weren't any recent news that hurt her, but sadly, there were none that made her smile. When she checked for who were online, she found her best childhood friend, Teto, logged in.
"Teto!" Luka quietly exclaimed in delight and excitement.
"Hi, Teto! I miss you so much! How have you been?" Luka said as she typed the words she said.
With a smile on her face, Luka waited for the message to send. After it was sent, she waited for Teto to reply. Luka was really glad that she could finally talk to Teto, her best friend. The time difference between the States and Japan was huge, so it was hard for Luka to contact Teto.
"She's probably getting ready for school," Luka thought when she saw the US time on her desktop showing 6:43 am.
When a notification beep echoed from her computer's speakers, Luka quickly turned her eyes back at their online conversation.
"Oh, hey Luka. Sorry, but can you stop bothering me. Thanks," Luka read Teto's reply in her mind just as Teto went offline.
The phrase 'stop bothering me' resounded all over Luka's mind. Her blue eyes were still fixed on the word 'thanks' as she tried to analyze what was going on. After reality caught up to her, Luka was slapped hard in the face with a painful understanding.
Lifelessly closing the computer window, Luka slowly turned her head to look at the framed picture of her and Teto when they were eighth-grade middle school students. As a teardrop unknowingly dropped down her cheek, Luka turned the frame face-down to hide a painful lie.
"I'm sorry, Nurse Asakawa," Luka mumbled, lifelessly getting up.
"Just this once…this is the last time," she thought as she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes with tears continuously streaming from them.
"I'm skipping dinner again."
Author's note:
bento- homemade lunch box