Chapter 4: Getting Settled In
When I arrived at the dojo this morning, Shinji was already there. He nodded his head to acknowledge me, and I do the same. It's about ten minutes till 5:00. I wanted to be early again so I woke up a bit earlier. I'll need to go to bed even earlier then last night if I want to be able to make it through training like this. I am a bit anxious about what we are going to be doing today. I'm curious if Shinji knows, but I am reluctant to ask him.
At 5:00 Oryou-Sensei enters the dojo. Shinji and I both walk over and bow to her. We both greet her with a quick, "Good morning Sensei," as we bow to her. Her expression doesn't change. She doesn't seem happy; nor does she seem angry. This must be how she normally is. She announces what kind of training we will be having today.
"Today we are going to test your ability in swordsmanship."
I am not completely familiar with sword techniques. I only know bits and pieces from what I've seen on television or in movies. I have always been fascinated with swordplay though. I am glad that I will probably be learning how to use a sword properly.
Sensei has me and Shinji grab a pair of shinai from a rack on the wall. It's a sword made out of bamboo; held together by strings. It is very light-weight and durable. It is the ideal practice sword. If I remember right, they are used in kendo.
Sensei has me and Shinji square off in the center of the dojo. Shinji takes on a fighting stance. I also take a stance. I'm not too sure about it though. I've only had a little bit of fighting experience before. It was mostly just messing around with friends and nothing really serious though.
Our fight begins. I decide to rush at him today since playing defense probably wouldn't be a good thing to do two days in a row. I am still cautious about my attacks though as I know that Shinji is a trained professional. If anything, I want to be able to hit him at least once today. Unfortunately, my first attempt wasn't going to cut it.
*Twack!*
I am struck hard on my back as I pass him. I begin to fall to the floor, but I am able to go into a roll and return to my feet quickly. I am surprised at how easily he was able to deflect my blow, and then to counter-attack. This guy is a real pro. That seemed almost super-human to me. I think to myself as I watch Shinji take a stance again. I have to outsmart him somehow. The only problem was how I was going to do so.
After a few seconds, Shinji charges at me. Our shinai crash together. Mine is pushed back quite a bit further then his, leaving me open for an attack. He slashes at my open spot, which I am able to defend luckily. He begins to bring his weapon back around for another slash. It is a vertical slash. As the bamboo sword comes down towards my head, I raise my own sword to block it. As our sword clash, I push with my right hand and shove the opposing sword off to the left. With his side undefended, I take the opportunity to try to "slash" his side with my sword. Just as my shinai is about to scrape against his side, he jumps back. I twist slightly to my right in order to swing my blade out and pursue the man that's trying to escape my attack. Unfortunately, he is able to swing his own blade in from the side and deflect the blow.
Our fight continues on like that for a while. I remain unable to connect a blow as he easily deflects everything I try. I am able to dodge his attacks and avoid being hit for the most part. He is far superior in skill and technique. My natural instincts and reflexes only serve to help me remain untouched for a mere thirty seconds at a time. After a while, I begin to pant excessively. Shinji stands there, barely even breathing hard. It is at this time that Sensei declares that training is finished for today.
Shinji and I bow to each other, and then to Sensei. As we head to the changing area, Shinji compliments me.
"I'm surprised. You are a lot better than most of the beginners I have fought. You seem to have quite a bit of natural talent."
"Thanks." I reply to him. "I'm no match for you though."
He chuckles.
"That is to be expected. I am looking forward to seeing you progress. You have a smart mouth, but you have a smart mind and a strong will. I respect that."
I rub the back of my head in embarrassment. "Thanks." I reply again.
After I change, I head back to the mansion. As I pass Mion's room I see the light on. Since it appears that she's up, I decide to knock. "Come in." the reply comes. I enter her room and see her in her casual school clothes. She once explained to me that their school doesn't have enough money to buy uniforms like other schools so the students were allowed to wear casual clothes to school.
"I saw your light on as I was passing so I thought I'd come and say hi before I head back to bed." I explain.
"I'm glad you did. I was just about to go to your room to see if you were still up."
We are both smiling.
"Have a good day at school Mion." I say.
"I will. I hope that you can get into the school without much problem. If there is then I might have to pull some strings for you."
I am touched that she would go that far for me, but I reply, "Its ok. If I can't get in, then that's just how it is."
"Yeah, I guess so." She says with a frown.
"I hope that you are free after I finish talking with the principal. I'd like to be able to come and say hi to you. Maybe you can introduce me to Rena, since I haven't had the chance to meet her yet."
"I hope so too. I'd be nice being able to see you at school. You'd also be able to tell me right away if you got in or not." She replies.
"Yeah, that would be nice. Anyways, I'm going to head to my room now. I'm pretty sore from training. I'll see you later."
"Alright, sleep well. See you later."
As I am about to leave she stops me. "Oh right, I forgot to ask you."
"What's up?" I ask.
"I was just curious about what you were going to do after you finish talking with the principal." She replies.
I think for a second since I haven't really thought about it myself.
I come up with, "I think I'll probably go into town to look and see if anyone is hiring."
"A job? Why do you want a job?" She asks.
"Why not?" I reply simply. "I have needs for money as well. I don't really intend to continue living here forever. I don't want to be a burden so I want to get a job so I can move out on my own."
Mion frowns. "Alright, I understand."
I turn to leave to room. Just as I am about to leave, I look back at Mion. She is still frowning and looking down at the floor. I begin to wonder what she's upset about. I end up standing in the doorway for a few seconds trying to think of what I should do or say to cheer her up. After a moment I come up with something and blurt it out without thinking.
"If you think you'll be lonely here if I move out, I wouldn't mind if you came to live with me."
I regret saying it for a second, but when I see her face light up, all my regret washes away like a soft stream flowing down from the mountain.
"Do you mean that?" She asks with excitement.
"Y-yeah. Of course. I wouldn't want Mion to be lonely. I would also be able to protect you better if you were closer to me." I reply as I scratch my head.
She comes running at me with a speed I've never seen before. Almost without my noticing, she has wrapped herself around me like she did yesterday. She is looking up at me and smiling. I can't help but blush. I wrap my arms around her in return. The feel of her pressing against my body is almost more then I can bear. I am unable to think about anything other than the girl here that I am holding in my arms.
We stand there for a few seconds, locked in each other's embrace. We then separate and turn our backs as we are both extremely embarrassed.
"Ah..ha…yeah…well…I-I'll be headed back to m-my room now. See you l-later Mion." I stutter out.
"Yeah..ah, see you later Mike."
I quickly start moving in the direction of my room. My heart is beating at a hundred beats per second. I am barely paying attention to where I am going and nearly knock a vase, full of flowers, over. Somehow, I make it back to my room. After I close the sliding door, I slide down and sit with my back to it. My mind is unable to concentrate on anything other than the hug I was given, not five minutes ago. All I am able to do is sit there on the ground, staring into space. I think I'm in love.
When I wake up, my body feels much better than it did right after training. When I look at the clock on the room it reads 10:24. After I roll up the futon and put it away, I get dressed and ready to head to the school. I head to the kitchen to see if I can find something to eat. When I look into the refrigerator, I find some food wrapped in plastic wrap on a small plate. There is a piece of paper lying on top of it. It reads, "You probably won't be able to make your own breakfast so I made a little extra and stored it here. Feel free to have some when you get up Mike-kun. -Mion."
Glad she thinks so little of me that I can't make my own breakfast. I think as I sigh. At least I don't actually have to make my own. I might as well enjoy her cooking. I'm going to have to think of a way to get her back later, though.
After finishing off the breakfast Mion made for me, I head out towards the schoolhouse. The road to the school is pretty much silent as I walk. Not many of the inhabitants of Hinamizawa seem to own cars, so I don't see any on the road. It takes me about ten minutes to reach the schoolhouse. I can see the students sitting in their seat through the window from where I'm standing, near the gate. I enter the building and walk down the hall to the room on the end of the hall. Though I have never been here before, I have a pretty good idea of where the principal's office is. As I walk down the hall, I reach a door on my left that I hear some voices coming out of. I can tell that this is the classroom door. I continue down the hall till I reach the last door. Not sure whether or not it would be appropriate to knock, I enter the room. "Excuse my intrusion." I announce my presence.
"Welcome to the Hinamizawa brand school. I am the principal here. How may I be of service?"
I explain my situation to the principal. I tell him who I am and why I am here.
"Ah, you're the mysterious boy that appeared out of nowhere." He thinks out loud.
"Yes sir. My name is Micheal." I reply.
"You say that you would like to transfer into this school?" He asks.
"Yes sir. I am seventeen years old and I believe that I still need to complete my education." I explain.
"I see. The only problem I see with this is that we don't have your records. Without them, we can't tell how much you have learned and how well you have learned it." He explains to me.
I become a bit disheartened. I should have realized this might have happened. All the records that I even exist are back where I came from. There is no way to get them.
"There might be something we can do though…." The principal says. "Are you free tomorrow?" He asks.
"I am. Why do you ask?"
He explains, "If you can come in tomorrow, we can have you do a proficiency test in order to determine how much you have learned. If you could come in at around this time tomorrow, that would perfect."
"Yes sir. I will come back tomorrow at around 11:30." I declare, rather excited.
"Very good. I will see you tomorrow then."
We both rise from our seats and shake hands. As I turn to leave, he speaks up again.
"You are residing in the Sonozaki household, are you not?" He asks.
"I am." I reply, confused as to why he is asking such a question and why it is relevant to anything.
"Ah well, it's almost time for lunch break. If you stick around a bit, you might be able to say hello to Mion-san." He explains.
Pleased, I reply, "Thank you sir. I'll make sure to hang around for a bit."
I leave the room and head out into the hall. A short while later, the principal comes out of his office with a bell. He rings the bell a few times, and then returns to his room. I can only assume this signals the start of lunch period. I think that it might be weird to just barge into the classroom out of nowhere so I decide to wait.
Surely one of the kids will have to go to the bathroom or something.
Sure enough, after five minutes, Rika comes out into the hallway.
"Ah Rika. It's good to see you." I greet her as she approaches.
"Mii, Hello Mike-kun. How are you doing today?" She greets me.
"I'm doing well. How about you?" I ask.
"I'm doing well, as well. Nipah!" She says as she gives me a big smile.
I smile as well. I find Rika's childish antics very cute.
"Are you here to see Mii?" She asks me.
"Not originally, but the principal said that I could stick around since your guy's lunch break was coming up. Do you think you can call Mion out for me?"
"Mii, Sure I can, but can it wait for a second? I was just about to go potty." She replies.
Embarrassed, I reply, "Oh yeah. Go ahead. Sorry for holding you up."
After she has disappeared into the bathroom, I smack my forehead.
Idiot.
After a minute or two, Rika comes back out. I follow her to the door of her classroom. Without any warning, she grabs my hand pulls.
"Rika, What are you…..?"
Before I can react, I am pulled into the classroom by Rika. By bursting out to Rika when she pulled me, I succeeded in drawing the attention of the whole class. With every face in the class staring at me, I scratch my head, completely embarrassed.
"Thanks Rika." I whisper sarcastically to the girl, still holding my hand.
She only looks up at me, gives me the biggest smile she can muster, and says, "Nipah!"
"Mike!" Mion stands up and walks over.
"Hey, Mion." I reply, somewhat robotically. "How are you doing?"
"I'm great! I'm glad that you could come."
She obviously isn't getting to hint.
A young woman with blue hair comes over to us.
"Uh…Mion-chan? Think you could explain who this boy is?"
Could this get any worse?
"This is Mike-kun, Chie-Sensei. He's the one who's been staying with me at my place. You know, he's the boy who appeared out of nowhere?" She explains to her teacher.
At the mention of me being the one that appeared out of nowhere, the entire class gets up and crowds around me.
Of course it can.
The children begin asking question after question. Though reluctant, I try to answer as much as I can, but the speed and the intensity, at which the questions are flying at me, is so great that I am overwhelmed in only twelve seconds. I end up stumbling around for words. "Ah…..ummm…."
Mion begins laughing at me when she sees my distress. I flash her a sour glance. She laughs again, but begins to clap her hands together.
"Okay, okay. Give him some air." She orders the class. I remember that she told me that she is the class rep. so it must be easy for her to get control of the raging children.
After a couple of seconds, the children begin to give me some space and return to their seats. Mion is standing in front of me with a big smiling like she just saved my life or something. I give her a sour look.
"Oh come on Mike. You have to admit that, that was funny."
I don't change my expression at all.
"Oh, don't be such a butthead!" She says as she gives me a pouting expression. I sigh.
"Fine." I give in to her. "I just came by to see how you were doing. I didn't really plan on coming into the classroom, but Rika here kinda kidnapped me.
Rika smiles and says, "Nipah!" Even though I am still mad at her, I end up smiling. I can't seem to resist doing so when she acts that cute.
"Yeah well, I'm glad she did." Mion replies. She beckons me to come and sit down at a desk. I follow and pick a seat next to her. At the table sits, Mion, Satoko, Rika, who just sat down, a girl in a white dress, and me. Mion introduces me.
"Mike, this is Rena." She then turns to the girl. "Rena, this is Mike."
I greet her, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
She greets me with, "Rena is pleased to make your acquaintance, she is."
From what I heard from Mion, Rena is a girl that finds random objects and people "cute" and promptly decides to take said item or person home with her. Mion told me that she almost got away with Rika once. Remembering this makes me chuckle.
After we finish greeting each other, Mion begins to ask me the questions I'm sure she's been waiting to ask since I came in.
"So, how did it go with the principal?"
Everyone around the table seems to scoot in a little closer in order to make sure they hear the answer.
"Well, he said that it might be a problem since there is no way to recover my records…" I explain.
Everyone's expressions turn to ones of sadness.
I continue, "…but he said that if I come in tomorrow, that I could take a proficiency test to see where I would fit in."
Instantly, everyone's faces brighten back up.
"That's great Mike!" Mion says.
Trying not to let her hopes up too much I reply, "It's not a sure thing that I'll be able to join."
"Of course it is! That test is only to tell which grade level you are supposed to be in. It's like a hundred percent guarantee to get in." She replies like its common knowledge.
"Maybe I'm actually too smart and end up scoring at a college level. I don't think I would be allowed to become a student here if that were the case."
Mion begins laughing.
"What's so funny?" I ask her.
"You think too highly of yourself Mike." She states in a teasing manner.
"Hey, I'm just saying. It could happen. If it does then don't blame me." I reply.
"Well then you will just need to throw the test then."
Surprised by her answer I reply, "What? I can't do that. What if I end up a couple grades lower then where I'm supposed to be? What if I mess up and end up having to repeat Jr. high School or something? It would be humiliating."
Mion smiles. "If that does happen then I will take responsibility and help you with any work you get so you don't have to do it."
As this argument has been pretty much just between Mion and I, Rena, Rika, and Satoko have remained quiet and listened. Rena decides to chime in now though.
"Mii-chan, I don't think it would be a good idea for Mike-kun to throw the test like that. It's something that's too important. Besides, I'm sure Mike-kun will be able to join us. He'll probably end up being in our grade too."
Rika also decides to chime in. "Mii, Even if Mikey really is a genius, he can still come by after school and join our club activities. I don't think Chie-Sensei would prohibit it."
I decide to ignore the fact that Rika called me "Mikey". Mion still doesn't seem convinced so I tell her what I think will happen.
"I'm sure it will be fine. I know that I'm smart, but I'm no genius. I think that you're over-reacting. Like Rika says; I'll probably be able to join in on club activities even if I don't get in so lighten up Mion. It's really depressing to see you so down like this."
I don't know why I added that last part, but everyone seemed to figure something out about us just then.
Satoko decides to go first. "He's right Mion. Even if this all goes bad and he can't join us, he'll still be there for you to hold when you get home."
I didn't say that!
"Mii, Mikey would never let anything bad happen. If Mii is upset about something, he can come and give her a big kiss and make it all better. Nipah!"
Both Mion and I are blushing like crazy. Mion is trying frantically to get them to believe that they have the wrong idea.
Rena bursts out with, "Mike and Mii, They're soo cute! I want to take them home!!!"
"No guys, seriously! You have the wrong idea! Mike and I aren't like that. Come on Mike, tell them!" She turns to me, frantic for help.
I think about telling them that it's really Mion that has a crush on me, but I'm afraid I might just end up hurting her so I decide to do the opposite.
"You guys have it all wrong. We truly aren't like that. Mion is just a good friend of mine. It's not like she's in love with me or anything. I'm the only one with those kind of feelings."
Everyone freezes. I know exactly what I said, and I intended to say it out load so everyone could hear it. I just confessed my love for Mion.
I look at Mion. She has brought her arms up to her chest and is standing there, dumbfounded. Her mouth is hanging open. Even though my cheeks are burning like a huge bonfire, I stare her straight in the eyes and repeat myself.
"Mion, I love you. We've gotten pretty close over these past few weeks, and maybe I'm moving too fast, but I really do love you. I really don't want to hide my feelings for you. I just hope that I haven't made a mistake by doing this."
Mion is only able to stand there. She is in complete shock. After a second or two, she starts to say something, but is obviously having great difficulty. My heart is pounding faster than it ever has before. Both because I just admitted my feelings and because I am scared to death that she will reject me. If I were to say what the most terrifying thing in the world is, I would say something similar to this situation.
Mion is still trying to find words, but is apparently still in shock. She is looking around. I can tell that she doesn't want to have everyone else hear what she's trying to say. Just as I am thinking this, I feel a pressure pushing me from behind.
I look behind me to see Rika. Confused, I ask, "Rika, what are you…?"
She says nothing. She has a big smile on her face. She seems to be pushing me towards the door. I look at Mion and Rena is doing the same to her.
I see. It looks like Mion has some pretty good friends that really care for her.
We are both pushed out into the hallway. The door is shut, right after we are pushed out so we can't get back in. We are being forced to face each other.
"You want to head outside for a bit?" I ask trying to find a way to help her relax.
A small, "Okay." was all she could muster.
We head out behind the school so we can have some privacy. Mion's entire face is red and she is fidgeting all over the place. I seemed to have calmed enough to talk normally. I look up at her. As soon as our eyes meet she turns away.
She just as scared as I am.
I don't know what to say, so I remain quiet. After a little while she tries again. "Mike I…." She hesitates. I smile at her in an effort to give her comfort. She takes a couple of deep breaths until she seems to relax a little. She takes one last breath before yelling, "MIKE, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!!!"
I am completely surprised by her statement. I am unable to reply. I stand there with my mouth open. I make an attempt to say something, "I….don't…..underst….." She cuts me off. "Shut up!" I don't know what to say. My heart is about to explode. My darkest fear is being realized.
I really did it this time. I really fucked it up.
I am in complete despair, but as I look at Mion, I see that she looks like she is about to cry. "Mion." She is quivering. "Mike…I-I'm sorry. I'm being stupid. I-it's just that this has never happened before."
"Mion, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have done that. I should have waited for a better time. I should have thought it through rather than just go with what my heart told me." I try to comfort her to the best of my ability.
"No Mike. You haven't done anything wrong. I'm the one that's being stupid." She replies. "I just don't know how to handle it."
I try to let her know what I feel, "I don't think that you are at fault. If I hadn't done something like this then I wouldn't have hurt you and…" She cuts me off.
"Hurt me?!? What are you talking about? I'm the happiest I have ever been! I'm so happy that I have no idea what to do with myself. For you to work up the courage to confess your love for me in front of everyone, its…its…amazing!!!"
All the fear and the pain in my heart disappear in an instant. Happiness fills my heart.
Mion mutters something.
"What?" I ask.
After a short pause she repeats herself, "I don't deserve you." Tears begin to flow down her face. I finally realize why she is acting like this. She can't accept me because she thinks that I am better than her. She probably thinks that I deserve better.
"Mion." I walk up to her. She has dropped down to her knees. Her hands are covering her face as she cries. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She repeats.
I drop down on my knees in front of her. She notices and looks up into my face. I lift up my hand, slide it across her cheek, and rest it on the back of her head. I move in closer, while lightly pulling her closer. She does not resist. She may think that she is not worthy of me, but she wants this more than anything in the world. Our lips draw in closer and closer till finally they meet. Time stops. We hold our lips together for what seems like an eternity. Naturally, the only thought in my mind is that I never want this moment to end. Finally, after what seemed like a century, our lips part. Her tears have stopped and she stares into my eyes. They begin again though. I realize that this time, they are tears of happiness.
She lunges at me; wrapping her arms around me. I am lying on my back with her on top of me. Again my heart is beating like a drummer, gone mad. This time, she takes the initiative and brings her lips to mine. We kiss again. This time doesn't seem to last quite as long, but it was amazing nonetheless.
"Mion, you have no idea how glad you have made me."
She giggles. "I can say the same thing about you Mike."
A funny thought comes to my head and I voice it to her. "Good thing we didn't end up having to do this in class."
She chuckles. "We would never hear the end of it.
"I don't think that we're going to hear the end of this anyways." I reply.
She puts on a sour expression. "You're right."
"Oh well. I'd say that it's worth it. How about you?" I ask.
"Nah, I don't think I'll be able to live with the teasing I'm going to get." She says teasingly.
"Oh come on." I reply.
"No, you don't know Mike. It's totally different for you since you're new."
"Oh fine. If you really feel that way, then I guess it can't be helped. If only you had something to protect you from such things though. Maybe something like a bodyguard."
She giggles. "Yeah, if only I had a bodyguard. All my life's worries would be over."
"I'm sure that bodyguard would try his hardest to do just that for you."
Mion lies her head down on my chest. "I'm sure he would." We lie there together for several minutes, enjoying each other's company. I let my mind wander. After a second, I regret it letting it do so. "Ah man. You still have class. Lunch break is probably almost over."
She wines to me. "I don't want to go. I'm sure they'll be fine without me."
"Yeah, it's totally fine if the class rep. skips school just to be with a boy." I reply sarcastically. I don't want her to leave either, but it can't be helped. "You haven't even gotten the chance to eat your lunch, Mion."
"This is more important." She replies simply.
Can't argue with that.
"You still have to go though." I say to her.
She begins to pout. "Come on Mion. Just because you have discovered love, doesn't mean that you can abandon responsibility."
She sighs. "Alright, alright. If you really want me to leave that badly, then it can't be helped."
"It's not that I don't want you with me right now. To the contrary actually. All I want to do is hold you in my arms."
She smiles. "I know. I feel the same way."
Finally we break free from each other. I get up and offer her a hand. She takes it and I lift her up with ease. We are both thinking the same thing as we are about to part. Acting upon it, I move in a little bit closer, and she does the same. We kiss. It was a short one, but it was still enough to make my heart skip a beat. I see her off and find myself standing alone behind the schoolhouse. Though I am sad that Mion needed to return to her class, I am ecstatic about the fact that I was able to confess my love and have it go well. Not just that though. I was able to confess it in front of all her friends. It was perfect. I don't think I could have asked for a better situation.
After I am able to collect myself, I remember what my second goal was for the day. I have to head to Okinomiya and look for a job. Not like I was planning on telling Mion this, but I was planning on using some of the money on buying chocolates or flowers for her.
The walk to Okinomiya takes about an hour. As I walk through town, I see many shops and stores. Ever so often, I would see one with a hiring sign in the window. I didn't take long to find a job that would be good for me.
The owner of the store is an old man. Though he appears old on the outside, I can see that he still has a great amount of strength left in him. He operates an antique shop. He says that he is looking for someone with a strong back, but is careful enough to not destroy his rare antiques. I tell the man that I am willing to work for him and that I believe that I have a strong enough back for the job. The only problem is that I have no idea what to tell him about being careful. I ask him if there is a test of some sort that I can do to prove I can be careful. He simply laughs. He tells me that I will be fine and that I'm hired.
"What time can you work?" He asks me.
"I will probably be having school till around 4:00 or 5:00 so after that I guess." I answer.
"I see. That being the case, I would like you to come in around 6:00 and work till 10:00. Does that work with you?" He asks.
"That should be fine." I answer.
"Good. Don't worry if you mess up. I'll make sure to straighten you out if you do." He says as he whacks me on the head with a pair of chopsticks.
With my second objective complete, I need only to return back home. It's only about 2:30, so Mion should probably be home in a couple of hours. I ponder if she will cancel club activities in favor of coming to see me. I really hope that she doesn't. She mustn't neglect the other parts of her life for me.
I don't encounter much people on the way back to the Sonozaki household. I think as I walk. I recall what happened today. I remember how Mion looked in the classroom and how her friends were there to help her. I wonder about my old life and if I had any friends like that, that I left behind. The thought is kinda sad. My mind wanders back to the events of today. Suddenly I remember something. It's something that I didn't really take notice of before because I was busy thinking about other things. There was someone extra today. I am sure about it. She was following behind Rika the whole time too. I'll have to talk to Rika about it later.
The moment after I think that, I fall to the ground. Out of nowhere, a great pain has started to emit from my back. The pain is overwhelming. It feels like something is trying to force its way out of my back from the inside of me. I roll on the ground. It is the only thing I can do in my position. The pain starts to subside after a minute. As it does, I can more accurately pinpoint location of the pain. It seems to be originating from my upper back, just at the base of my neck. It feels like two hot rods of steel are inside my back and are trying to make their way out my poking and burning through the skin. After about five minutes the pain has subsided enough that I can move again.
I have no idea what happened to me or why it happened. I can't think of any possible cause for this. I make a mental note that I need to go see Irie-Sensei to see if he can figure out what it was. All I can hope is that it won't ever happen again.
I resume walking and my pain resides completely. It takes me about forty-five minutes to make it back to the Sonozaki residence. When I get there, I head to my room and fix some tea. After the tea becomes ready, I pour myself some and have a drink of it. It helps to soothe me. My mind feels a little more relaxed. I am thankful for having it in my room. After a few hours of doing nothing I hear someone come in. "I'm home!" Mion calls out. I head out into the hallway to greet her. When she sees me, she comes up and gives me a hug.
"How'd it go with your friends?" I ask.
"As well as can be." She replies, seemingly exhausted. "I kept most of the fine details down to a minimum."
I chuckle. "I bet. They don't really need to know the fine details of our relationship anyways."
Mion agrees with me. "Luckily I was able to get off with a basic explanation, but I'd be careful tomorrow if I were you."
"Why is that?" I ask.
"Because what details they were unable to get from me, they will probably try to get from you." She explains.
"I see. Looks like I'm going to have to put my training to some good use then, huh?"
She laughs. "Yeah, it might just come down to that. Anyways, I need to go prepare dinner. I'll call you when it's finished."
"Alright." I reply.
We hug again quickly and she heads off. I go back into my room and wait for dinner time. When dinner time comes, we eat together with the rest of the family. I mostly listen to the other's conversations. Occasionally a question would be directed at me, and I would answer to the best of my ability.
After dinner, the bath is prepared. My turn comes up and I take my bath. When I finish, I head to Mion's room to say good night. After I explain my reasons for coming, we talk a little about what happened today. After I tell her about my getting a job, I ask her about what we should do about her parents. She tells me that they won't have a problem with it.
"What about Sensei?" I ask.
"I'm sure Baa-chan will be okay with it. If anything, it gives you more of a reason to protect me." She says.
"Perhaps, but I doubt I will feel comfortable telling her." I voice my concerns.
"It will be ok. We can tell them together, tomorrow." She replies.
"Okay, I'll try to see if I can work up the courage to do it."
She giggles. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it. I've already seen you do it once today."
We both smile.
"I should head back to my room now. I still have to wake up early tomorrow." I tell her reluctantly.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night Mike."
"Good night Mion. Sleep well."
We embrace and kiss one last time for the day before I head back to my room. I am excited about what tomorrow will bring. As I lie in my futon, I think about all the things that have been happening in my life. I am soo blessed to be here. I thank God for giving me such blessings. Not shortly after, my mind shuts off, and I fall asleep.