Two Queens

Act 1 – Repair

Chapter Two – Apologies

"My name is Lilly, by the way." the blonde-haired girl spoke as she poured me a cup of tea. She handed it to me, and I nodded in thanks. However, I quickly realized she wouldn't see it.

"Thank you." I told her. "My name is Hisako. Hisako Nakai." I added in before taking a sip of the tea. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. Tea wasn't really my thing, but I could easily get used to this, since it had a strange sweetness to it.

As Lilly raised her cup to her lips, I noticed the elegance and smoothness in every movement she made. They seemed to be careful and precise, likely due to the fact that she couldn't see what she was doing. However, she easily set the tea cup back onto the small plate in front of her.

I guess that's what it means to adapt to your disabilities. Would I ever adapt to mine? I could only hope so, or else I'd have the threat of a heart attack lingering over me at all times.

"So," Lilly suddenly spoke up, her soft voice gently cutting through the silence, "I'm assuming that you're new to Yamaku?"

I nodded, then caught myself again, and said, "Yes...All of this is new to me, so it's hard to take in all at once."

Lilly nodded. "I'm sure you'll get used to it. It's very homely here." she told me, taking another sip of tea.

"What class are you in, Lilly?" I decided to ask, just to make conversation.

"I'm the representative for Class 3-2." she told me. To my surprise, Lilly didn't add any sort of smugness to her tone, and treated the fact that she was the representative as not being a very big deal.

"I'm part of Class 3-3. I think Shizune is the class representative for my class, do you know her?" I asked. I noticed Lilly frown a bit.

"Yes, I know Shizune... She is the head of the Student Council, so most people have talked to her at one point or another." She said. There was a hint of disdain when she spoke Shizune's name.

I realized for a moment that Lilly and Shizune may not get along due to the communication barrier. Lilly can't see what Shizune is signing, and Shizune can't hear what Lilly has to say. An unfortunate predicament.

"...I wonder if Hanako is alright." Lilly said, obviously trying to change the subject. She had turned her head towards the windows, and, for a moment, I could almost believe that Lilly could see the sunlight that was causing her eyes to sparkle.

I caught myself staring and looked away, taking another sip of tea. Then I realized that Lilly wouldn't be able to see it anyways, and sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Lilly asked, looking my way and giving a slightly concerned face.

"I guess I feel guilty for scaring off Hanako..." I told her. It wasn't what was on my mind at that very moment, but it was still a worrisome event that I wished I could correct.

"Don't worry, Hisako," Lilly told me with a small, reassuring smile, "I'm sure Hanako will be over it in no time."

"T-Thanks." I told her, although I didn't feel any better about it. I realized that I was unsure of where the time had gone, and took out my cellphone, gazing at the time. I still had enough time to go and try to find the library.

I took a long sip of tea, then set my cup down. I stood, and saw Lilly flinch slightly at the sound of my chair moving along the floor.

"U-Um, I think I'm going to try and find the library while I still have time." I told her. Lilly nodded and stood out of her chair as well.

"I think I'd better go searching for Hanako," she told me, feeling along the wall for a moment before finding her cane, "I can take you to the library, if you wish."

I nodded. "Sure, that would be nice." I responded. I opened the door and stepped outside, looking back to see Lilly following closely behind me, shutting the door to the room.

Then, Lilly did something I didn't expect. She set a hand on my shoulder, and her gentle touch caused me to blush.

"Do you mind?" she asked. I shook my head.

"N-No, it's fine." I told her, not wanting to sound flustered. We began to make our way down the hall, and I noticed Lilly tapping the wall beside us every once in a while.

Then, eventually, she tugged on my shoulder and we both stopped. "This should be it." Lilly told me. I turned to look at the door beside us. Sure enough, it was marked with the words 'library' above it.

"Wow, that was really perceptive!" I commented. I regretted it immediately though, thinking I may have offended Lilly in some way, but she giggled a little and nodded her head.

"I've learned my way around." she told me.

With that, I told Lilly goodbye and watched her saw she left down the hall, staying beside the wall at all times, likely to know where she was going. Once she rounded the corner, I stepped inside of the library.

The library was surprisingly big, and appeared to have a much bigger selection than my old school. I noticed that someone was fumbling with something at the counter nearby, and figured that it must be the librarian.

"Hello." I said. The woman jumped at my voice, and I noticed various books and papers topple over. The sound of them hitting the ground made her jump again. She looked down at the books, then over to me. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to-" I began to say.

However, the woman interrupted me, "I-It's okay! I-Is there something you need?" her speech was fast and nervous-sounding.

"Um, I'm new to this school, so I was wondering if you could tell me where the fiction section is..." I said, trying to speak in a soft tone.

It seemed to work, as the woman appeared to settle. "Oh! I was wondering if I had seen you before or not." she said, smiling at me and standing up straight. "I'm Yuuko, the librarian here."

I bowed respectfully to Yuuko. "I'm Hisako. Hisako Nakai." I told her.

Yuuko nodded and began to pick up the books and papers that had fallen earlier. "Do you need any help?" I asked her. She was obviously trying to pick them up as quickly as possible, fumbling around with them for a few moments before being able to pick them all up and setting them back on the counter. I guess she didn't hear my offer.

Then, she stared at me blankly for a moment. I was about to try and remind her of why I came, but realization appeared to hit Yuuko. "O-Oh! Yes, the fiction section is right over here!" she told me, moving out from behind the counter.

Now that I could get a better look at Yuuko, I realized that she looked extremely young. If I had seen her in the halls, I would probably have taken her to be just another student.

I followed Yuuko to two long bookshelves near the center of the library. "All of these here are fiction," she told me, "And over there is our non-fiction, then the textbooks are over there, and, um..." Yuuko began to look around the library as if she was forgetting something.

"Thank you, Yuuko." I said, cutting into her thoughts.

She smiled nervously at me. "P-Please don't hesitate to ask for anything." Yuuko told me before scurrying off to the counter once more.

As I watched Yuuko leave, I couldn't help but giggle a bit. She's quite the character, I thought. Everybody whom I had met so far seemed to have a good personality, although, of course, I couldn't really say anything of Hanako yet.

I looked along the shelves, trying to find something I may like. I was aware that time was pressing on me, and that it would be time for class again soon. To my disdain, I wasn't able to find anything that sparked my interest.

As I began to leave, however, something caught my eye: Over in one section of the room was a sitting area, with a few tables and chairs, and two bean-bags...

And, sure enough, a familiar figure sat in one, her eyes glued to the book in her hands.

Watching Hanako so focused on something was an interesting sight. She must like to read a lot, and the library is probably a good, quiet spot for her to stay at.

It came to my attention that this would be a good time to apologize for startling her earlier. However, I didn't want to disturb Hanako, who looked like she was very into the book in her hands.

I should amend things before there's awkward tension between us later, I thought to myself, taking a deep breaths before making my way up to her.

Surprisingly, she didn't see me come over, even though I should easily be in her peripheral view. She really is glued to that book, I realized.

"U-Um..." I spoke, and Hanako jumped, looking up at me like a deer that was caught in headlights. She was obviously very nervous by my appearance, and, in all honesty, I was nervous myself, afraid to do anything that might break Hanako...

And maybe it was that fact that made Hanako seem to relax a little bit. She covered the right side of her face with her hand, like before, and her eyes became less widened with surprise...

There was silence for a moment, as I worked up what to say. Then, I spoke, more abruptly than I had wanted to:

"I'm sorry for earlier!"

"I-I'm sorry for before..."

…

Our words came out at the same moment. Both of us blushed a little, but then, I found myself laughing a bit. Even Hanako herself seemed to shyly smile and look away, which made her look extremely cute.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, I guess." I told her. Hanako hesitantly nodded, moving her hand from her face to her book, gently folding the corner of the page she was on and closing it. "I...felt a little bad about it..." I rubbed the back of my head, realizing my apology wasn't thought out at all.

"I-It's okay." Hanako told me. It wasn't a very reassuring response, but I smiled at her and nodded.

"That's good." I said. I decided then to sit in the nearby empty beanbag, making sure to move slowly as to not startle Hanako, who seemed relieved that I was on the side of her where I couldn't see her scar.

"So...what are you reading?" I asked, even though the title of the book was clearly visible.

"T-The Life of Pi..." Hanako told me, gazing down at the book in her hands. I looked at it, and saw a clearly depiction of a boy and a tiger that appeared to be floating on some sort of boat. "I-It's one of my f-favorites..."

"Oh? Have you read it before?" I asked her. Hanako nodded.

"Lots of t-times." she said. I noticed that she seemed to stutter a bit, likely coming from the nervousness she was probably feeling.

I opened my mouth to continue the conversation, but the sound of a ringing bell could be heard not too far off.

Hanako seemed to be relieved, as she quickly stood up. I followed suit, finding it a little difficult to stand up from the comfortable position I was in on the beanbag.

"How about we walk back to class together?" I said to Hanako, giving her a friendly smile. She covered her face with her hand once again, and slowly shook her head.

"I-I have something I h-have to do..." she told me. From Hanako's tone of voice, I could tell she was worried I might take offense.

"That's alright," I told her, "I guess I'll see you later then." I nodded to her, and she returned with a slight nod of her own.

As I made my way out of the library, I took one last glance over my shoulder. Hanako was still staring at me, and, caught in the act, she looked all around, blushing a bit.

I smiled and waved to her, which she returned shyly. Then, I left.

Although I wasn't able to find something to read, I was, at least, able to make things better with Hanako; I didn't want to have someone who hated me on the first day at my new school.

Hanako interested me as well, and I found myself thinking about her all the way back to my classroom. Her timid personality gave me a feeling that I had never really experienced before.

It made me want to change that cute, but frail, girl...

It made me want to protect her.

To be continued...

Next Chapter - Friends