Two Queens

Act 1 – Repair

Chapter Five – Festival

Over the course of the next week, my routine of meeting with Lilly and Hanako continued. Shizune and Misha didn't seem to bother me much, so I figured that they realized that I had made other friends...

That is, until Monday came, and I learned of the school festival that was coming up.

"Hicchan~," Misha said as Mutou , and I turned to her. Wait, Hiichan? When did that start, I thought."We need some help with preparations, could you lend us a hand for the next few days?~"

"What about the other members of the student council?" I had never asked about who the other members of the student council were, since they didn't seem to take an active role in every-day school life.

Shizune seemed to answer this one with a few signs, and Misha interpreted, "It's only us two in the student council, Hicchan~! It's a lot of work, so we really need your help!"

I tapped my desk in thought for a moment, then turned to look at the back of the classroom,where Hanako sat sunken down into her chair, a book in front of her face, obviously trying to go unnoticed.

"Sure, I just need to tell Hanako before she leaves," I told Misha as I turned back to them. She glanced over at Hanako, then gave me a kind of worried look. "What?"

"Nothing Hicchan~. We need to get to work on this assignment," Misha said, waving it off and returning to her usual grin.

Shizune seemed to wonder what was going on, Misha shot her a few quick hand signs. The bespectacled girl looked at me for a moment, then pushed up on her glasses and turned towards the assignment in front of her.

I sighed and glanced back at Hanako again. Is there something wrong with being her friend?

When the lunch bell rang, Mutou dismissed us. Hanako slammed her book shut and quickly shot up out of her chair, ready to move quickly out the door. However, I made my way over to her and said, "Wait, Hanako."

The girl jumped a little and turned my way. Seeing that it was me, however, she seemed to relax a bit, but she still covered her face like she usually did. "I'm going to help with the festival, for a few days, so I won't be eating lunch with you and Lilly," I told her.

Hanako nodded. "O-Okay," she said softly. With that, she turned and was out the door in an instant. She usually leaves before the bell chimes, but I guess she was caught up in her book, I thought with a smile.

"Hicchan!~ Let's go," Misha's voice came from behind.

"I'm coming," I told her, making my way over to the two girls who were waiting on me.

For the entire lunch time, we gathered supplies for our class's booth. Since they were the student council, they had to help with every class, but we decided that it would be easier to focus on ours and get it done first.

"Phew!~ Thank you Hicchan, we may have never got all of this stuff today," Misha told me as we dropped off the last load in the student council room.

I was the one who carried the heaviest stuff, I thought. I'm not very strong, but it seemed like Shizune and Misha were a little frail in comparison. "You're welcome," I told her, "Should we be getting back to class now?"

Shizune signed a couple of things to Misha, who returned with her own hand motions. Misha then beamed at me and said, "Shicchan and I have to do something, but you can go back if you want!~"

I nodded. "See you later then," I told them. When I walked out of the room, I almost bumped into someone, or rather, they blindly walked into me.

"Hey-" I started to say, but then I realized that it was Lilly, holding her cane slightly out in front of her, with her other hand guiding herself along the wall.

"Hisako?" She looked my way.

"O-Oh, hi Lilly," I said, blushing a bit. I almost said something I'd regret.

"Hanako told me that you were busy with festival preparations, so I figured I might bump into you on the way here," she told me with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm kinda worn out already from it," I admitted to her, "Why did you come here though?"

Lilly's smile dropped, and she said, "I have to talk with Hakamichi about my class booth, because we may need some help, since our class is for those of us with poor eyesight."

Oh, I see how that could be a problem, I thought. "Well, could I help? I'm sure Misha and Shizune wouldn't mind if I help another class as well," I told Lilly.

She smiled. "That would be nice, Hisako. Thank you."

At that, I realized that I might be wasting her time. "O-Oh, I guess there's not much time left. I won't keep you," I told her.

"It's fine. Perhaps you can go get Hanako and return her to class? She might think of just heading off to the library again..." Lilly trailed off, and I nodded.

"Sure," I answered.

With that, we said goodbye, and I headed toward the tea room.

When I opened the door, I came across an unusual sight. Hanako was sitting at the table, her head laying on her arms. For a moment, I wondered what was wrong...

But then I realized that she was sleeping.

Her gentle breathing was the only sound that could be heard. I quietly walked up to her and hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should wake her. This is probably why Lilly went alone, I realized.

I reached down to try and wake Hanako, but I noticed that the light flowing in through the window seemed to illuminate her sleeping figure. I gently pushed the hair away from her face to get a better look at it, and felt a warm sensation inside of me.

This is the Hanako that everyone should see, I thought, running a hand gently along her face. But even she doesn't see herself this way...

Worried that she would wake up at that moment, I moved my hand down to her shoulder and gently pushed on her. "Hanako?"

No response. I tried again, and again, but she was completely out of it. I sighed and stood up, pushing my hair behind my ear and gazing down at the sleeping girl in front of me.

I guess I'll let her sleep. I started to turn and walk away, but I stopped as Hanako said softly, "Hisako..."

I looked back at her, thinking she had woken up, but she was still in the same position that she was before. "Hanako..." There was no response again. If she's still sleeping, then...did she...

Shaking my head, I told myself, "N-No, that can't be true..." She must have just heard me and responded in her sleep.

My eyes fell upon Hanako again before I could make myself turn and leave. Something felt off, like I didn't want to simply leave her there. This is a rare opportunity...To see Hanako without her being frightened...

I knelt down and hesitantly placed a hand atop her head, petting her gently. I feel bad that nobody else can see you this way... That nobody else will ever see past your scars...

Then I did something that even surprised myself.

I softly kissed Hanako atop her head.

Blushing slightly, I stood and looked behind me, nervous that someone might have seen. "I-I'm going Hanako. Come to class if you wake up," I said to Hanako, before making my way to the door.

I took one last glance back at Hanako before leaving and heading for class.

The next few days were the similar; I helped Misha and Shizune with preparations for our class, as well as helping out some other classes. After school, I felt a little worn out, and I never felt better about having tea and some small talk.

On Thursday, I decided to go and help Lilly's class after school. When the bell chimed, Hanako and I both headed for Class 3-2.

Once there, Lilly greeted us, and we got to meet a few other classmates of hers. Like she had said before, each of them had a problem involving their eyesight. One girl had a white patch over her left eye, and her right could barely see. Another boy had a bandage wrap that went all the way around his head, because he apparently had no eyes, which I felt a little bad about.

"Could you two go and help Kenji over there, please?" At the sound of his name, a boy stood and looked our way.

"Sure," I responded. Hanako and I made our way over to him, and I realized that he was staring at me intently. "U-Um...Hi?"

Kenji pushed up in his glasses and sighed, sitting back down on the floor. "You two can work on the borders of the sign. I'm doing the lettering," he told us simply, opening his marker and getting straight back to work.

Did we do something wrong? I shrugged, and Hanako and I sat down, beginning to work on the border. I glanced over to see what Hanako was doing, just so it would match, and I saw that she was happily drawing little squiggly patterns in green and blue. She seems happy, either because she likes crafts, or because she's helping Lilly, I thought with a smile.

After not too long, we finished and stood to view our work. "Man, that looks good," Kenji said with a smile, seemingly a different person than before, "I guess it's good to have girls around for this kind of stuff."

I grinned slightly and nodded in agreement. Hanako, Kenji and I moved on to help with some other things. After a couple of hours, Lilly decides to wrap things up, and everybody put the supplies up and began to leave.

"Thank you for your help today," Lilly told us as we walked over to her.

"Your welcome," Kenji said, moving past us to make his way out the door. Lilly seemed surprised by his voice, and obviously directed that towards Hanako and I, not knowing he was there.

"It's no problem," I told her.

"I-It was fun," Hanako said simply, holding her hands together in front of her chest.

Lilly smiled. "I'm glad. Now, she'll we have some tea before heading off?"

Hanako and I both nodded, and I said, "That sounds good about now."

Before I knew it, Sunday came. I had slept in a little bit, and it was already almost noon, but it didn't matter too much.

Outside, I could hear people buzzing, and I peered outside my window, catching a glimpse of the crowd.

Time to go find Lilly and Hanako, I guess. I stood and walked over to my clean uniform, putting it on and heading out of my room.

The festival had finally begun.

To be continued...

Final Chapter for Act 1 – Beautiful