Let us go further. I think Act 1 will be finishing soon... After that, who knows? Romance? Bromance? Friendship? We'll see.
The art room is just as I expected it to be: Cluttered, disorganized and chaotic, just like an average artist. On the contrary, the person who I presume is Saki is anything but chaotic. She's of average height, sitting in front of the only clean desk in the room and appears to sort documents. As expected of Yamaku Academy, she's quite pretty. Having a hair of light brown color and similar eyes, she greets us with a warm smile. Curiously, she wears earrings and happens to be the first person in here to do so.
"Hey, Enomoto-san..." Emi greets her and for some reason does so quite insecurely. Weird.
"Oh, good morning to all of you." She greets back. It is when she notices me. A curious glance appears for a brief second in her eyes. I make a small bow, out of habit. "Is there a way I can help you?"
"We were wondering if you would happen to know where Rin is." Molly says. A warm smile vanishes like a sand castle hit with a wave.
"...Yes, I do know. Nomiya-sensei wanted to talk to her." She responds and, judging from her reluctant expression and tone of voice, this isn't exactly something we should be happy about.
"Crap." It's all that comes from Emi's mouth. She really appears to be genuinely worried. "...Do you know how long...?"
"They are in there for at least half an hour." A longer moment of silence.
"Guess I'll just wait for her here. Is that alright?"
"I see no problem in this." Perhaps it's just me, but Saki's manner of speech is... odd. It is polite and refined, like Lilly's, but something seems to be missing.
"Guess we should be leaving..." Suzu mentions offhandedly, letting a small yawn. "Lessons are about to start. No offense, Emi."
"Sure. Thanks anyway, you helped tons." Twintails girl forces a small smile. Molly and Miki nod slightly and along with Suzu they depart, presumably back to class. That leaves only me, Emi and Saki in the room. "You're not going with them?" Blonde asks me, mildly surprised.
"It's still ten minutes. If something, I'll just tell Mutou I got lost." I respond with a slight smile which, however, disappears just a moment later. "To be honest, I'm worried too. What's with that Nomiya character?" Saki sighs.
"He's an overseer of art club and also happens to be our homeroom teacher." She explains. "He really values Rin's pictures' artistic quality, but I can't help but think he's putting too much pressure on her." Putting pressure on Rin? The prospect of Rin caring about some kind of form seems unlikely to me. "It is like he wasn't caring about her, but about the art she creates."
"So basically he's a prick."
"More or less." Emi nods. "A complete and utter prick."
"He's a teacher, correct?"
"...Yeah." There we go. No matter how much of an asshole that Nomiya is, we can even touch him if he's in such a position.
Suddenly, the door in the back of the room open and out goes Rin alongside with some middle-aged man who I assume is mentioned art teacher. He's wide, wears a campy suit and John Lennon-esque pink glasses. Perfect attire for his position, especially in such an unusual place as Yamaku. Without further ado, he grins and promptly leaves the room.
"Oh. Hey." Rin greets us. She's apparently surprised that we're here.
"...You have forgotten about the lunch today, haven't you?" Emi's concern washes away and is replaced by minor irritation.
"A lunch? We're not dating." Rin responds in a Rin way, causing twintails girl to blush and me and Saki to chuckle.
"What? T-that's not what I meant!" I'm surprised she would react in such a way. Oh well. This place has many strange things. Not everything is what it seems to be.
"You clearly mentioned lunch. Am I missing something?" Rin's eyebrows raise slightly. She seems unaware of emotions she may cause. Now that I think of it, it's both amusing and disturbing.
"Nevermind, nevermind." Emi lets out a small sigh. "We should be off. Nomiya doesn't take kindly when people are late, even you." Auburn-haired girl nods slightly. "Well..." Twintails girl addresses me now. "Thanks for the lunch. It was nice."
"It's me who should thank you for invitation." I respond with a slight smile.
"You're welcome." Emi smiles back. "See you another time." And with that, she leads Rin out of the room, leaving here only me and Saki. With a swift movement I take out the cellphone out of my pocket. It's still ten minutes.
The brief moment of silence makes me realize that Saki said that Nomiya is also her homeroom teacher. Shouldn't she be on her way to class as well? I take a brief glance at her. She's done with sorting the documents and is currently sipping something from a red mug adorned with an inscription saying "A cripple, but sexy". Huh. Guess this is what I couldn't find in her when comparing her to Lilly. Lilly's serious, more, hm, official. I suppose she has her moments of childishness too. Saki, however... She seems extremely cool with whatever disability she has. It's just that I notice that her hand is shaking a bit, making it difficult for her to actually drink from the mug. I find myself staring at her hand, which is something I shouldn't be doing because...
"Can I help you?" ...because she will take notice and you will awkward. Great work.
"Oh no no, my bad. I just... got lost in thought." I respond a little bit too fast. She smiles and puts the mug away.
"You are one of the newcomers from Suzu's class, correct?" She asks. I nod in response. She gets up and that's when I notice that she had a cane next to her desk all the time. This one is bigger than the one Lilly's using, most likely used to help you walking around rather than just navigating. Conclusion? Saki's got some problem with motor function. "I don't think we've been properly introduced to each other. Saki Enomoto."
"Casper Stratoavis. A pleasure to meet you, Enomoto-san." I respond with a small bow. Suddenly, she grins.
"A foreigner? It's been ages since any of them appeared here." She seems excited. Now that I think of it, most people I've meet didn't really were surprised at my height, my Caucasian features or anything of the sort, baring maybe Hisao at the very beginning. All that was important was the disfigured face and even then just some of the people, like Hanako or Misaki, took notice of this in any noticeable way.
"Nothing to see in Europe, to be honest." I respond with a small chuckle.
"Oh, you'd be surprised." Saki walks up to me, holding her cane firmly. The other hand is still shaking, though not to the extent it used to. "Would it be much of a trouble if I ask you for assistance on my way to classroom?" She asks with a smile.
"No offense, Enomoto-san, but I should be on my way. Being a new student or not, Mutou will still have my way with me."
"What about you getting lost?" She responds with a giggle. You have me here. Well, I guess it won't hurt. She seems nice enough to have a small talk with.
"Very well then." I respond with a slight smile. Quite surprising, for someone who walks with a cane, she rapidly appears on my right and leaning a bit on me, smiling. I'm not really into intimacy, especially after the incident with Misha, but... for some reason, it feels strangely pleasant. Maybe it's because I'm helping someone out rather than just a touch. Still... It's awkward. Saki notices that I'm feeling at least uncomfortable.
"Oh come on, will you deny a cripple a hand?" She asks teasingly. Haha. So very funny, woman.
I should have noticed something's not right the moment we exited the school and headed towards the park on school grounds. Guess I'm not a fan of Japanese history. Besides, Saki's just so fun to talk to. She's like a combination of everything best from others I've met so far. It's just so... unrealistic. She always smiles, but the smile isn't as obnoxious as Emi's. She's refined, yet in a relaxed, laid-back way not unlike Lilly. She's cheerful, but not annoyingly cheerful like Misha... I could go on and on.
I knew it's just too good. There had to be some sort of bad news. Something negative about her. Turns out... I was right and this rightness hit me right in the nads. With a sledgehammer.
"Spinocerebellar ataxia?" I ask, hearing her mention her disability. If there's something I know about disabilities, then it's the one thing: The longer the name, the more troublesome the disability is.
"Yes." She nods. We're sitting on a bench in a park, looking at the sky. It's cloudy today. "It's a genetic disease. Makes one lose control over their muscles and it's, unfortunately, incurable."
"Oh... That's pretty b-" I start, but she cuts me off.
"The only thing it can do is to progress. It will eventually start resulting in the ill being unable to move, eat, drink or breathe." The matter-of-fact tone she states it makes me think she really doesn't seem to mind the fact that she's on borrowed time. I, on the other hand, took the news like a pedestrian hit by a car.
"...Shit."
"No, it's quite okay." Saki smiles slightly. "It's not about how long do you live, but how exactly will you live. I'd rather do something big than just sit and do nothing for a longer time."
...My disability really is tame, isn't it? Then again, she's the first person here that will die. Not might die, will die. Hisao's heart can still be cured, I think. Saki has no such luxury... And yet... And yet she's so okay with it. She just accepts it. It's... weird.
"Stratoavis-san?" Her voice breaks me out of thought. I must be looking weird right now, face deformation notwithstanding. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I think. It's just that... Shit... I... I don't even curse that much, but..."
"You're worried. That's only natural." I swear, she's some sort of paragon. A female Jesus or something. "You don't have to worry though. Sometimes we just can't have things we desire."
"You're so optimistic. Outgoing, cheerful. Hell, you're in an art club despite the fact your hands are shaking. You take the bull by its horns despite the fact the bull itself overpowers you and pins you to the wall, ready to squash you into nothingness... It's weird."
"I get that a lot, but not to such poetic degree." She responds with an upbeat laughter.
"I don't find it funny in the slightest, Saki. No, really... I don't." There's a longer moment of silence.
"You don't have to pity me." I do not respond, preferring to look at the cloudy sky in an attempt to buy me some time to formulate a clever response. "I want to smile. It's better to smile. I could spend the rest of my short life wailing in self-pity and loathing, but that doesn't really appeal to me." She smiles again before giving me a light punch on the shoulder. "I'd prefer to be an upbeat girl, even if some people will give me weird looks because of that."
"...Smiling requires muscles." I know it's a low blow, but the prospect of being so plucky in face of inevitable sudden death is... strange. Personally, I can't think of me being in her place. The attack hit the weak spot, Saki's smile vanished for a brief while.
"I know." She responds before letting a sigh. Another moment of silence. Just how long are we sitting here? "You're a cynic, aren't you?"
"I try my best."
"You're doing a terrible job at it." She chuckles and her smile returns back on her face. "You try so hard to view the world as a hellhole without prospects and future and yet you're a caring, gentle soul. You took your time to talk with a girl whose worldview is completely different from yours. Besides, people are talking highly of you, especially Emi."
Welp, there goes my guise.
"I guess you're right, as much as I hate to admit it..." I respond after a longer while, smiling slightly. She smiles as well. "Then again, there is some sort of magic around you, Saki. You just feel like a person one could talk to about everything."
"I try my best." She responds, echoing my words spoken just a minute ago.
Well, now that the lessons are over... It is time I fulfill the promise given to Misha.
The one thing that bothers me is that Hisao is nowhere to be found. Why's that? I'll have to ask Kenji, as much as I dislike the idea of him going into another anti-feminist rant. It's a miracle Hisao is able to just listen to this garbage Kenji spouts and be so calm.
Who knows? Perhaps even he has his borders.
Pink-haired girl awaits me in the corridor. For once, I'm actually glad to see her.
"Well, it took me some time, but here I am." I say, smiling slightly. "I am at your disposal."
"Come on, Caschan, don't itemize yourself." She responds, grinning. "I promise it will be short and sweet." Gee. Thanks for establishing that. On the other hand, Shiina most likely does things sweetly. Now that I think of it, where's Shizune? Those two are almost inseparable, most likely because Misha's our class rep's interpreter and all of that. Now, however, she seems... absent. A brief glance at bespectacled girl's figure during class indeed signalized she's up to something important.
"Say, Misha..." I ask as we're walking down the corridor. "Is there some big thing soon here, at Yamaku?"
"Yeah." She nods enthusiastically. "A festival this weekend." I think I raised the eyebrow. A festival? "There are still so many things to do and it's just a couple of days left. Shicchan is going to work herself to death. Hicchan is helping her as best as he can, but..." There a small degree of uncertainty in Misha's voice.
"So, is Student Council responsible for the festival?" ...Wait. This weekend? Now that I think of it, I recall Rin mentioning that it's next weekend.
"Pretty much... Is something the matter, Caschan?" She notices my slightly worried expression.
"I think... Nah, it's nothing." I shake my head dismissively. "Don't think about it."
"Okay." She nods reluctantly, albeit she doesn't really appear convinced. What can I say?
The room Misha leads me to happens to be the same room I was with her earlier morning. Pink-haired girl jumps to one of the cupboards and take something out of it. It's a pair of chopsticks and instant noodles. I think I groaned a bit.
"Well then, let's get down to business." She says before bursting into her trademark "wahaha" laughter. This might be a long afternoon.
I will not describe what has happened in that room. Suffice to say, the rest of my pride was completely shattered by that drill-haired monster. Thankfully, we've settled that we're friends. Even if Misha was aiming for us to become an item, I don't think we would get along well. We're like fire and water, yin and yang, tiger and dragon. This wouldn't end good.
Saying goodbye to Misha and heading to my room, I feel a strange sense of fulfillment. Not sure why. Was it the talk with Saki that helped me out? Or maybe I'm really happy now that I can use chopsticks properly? Both of those? Any of those? Who knows? I'm quite certain I'm not tired like it was yesterday or two days ago. Those days also had their fair share of good things happening, but... I dunno. I'm getting involved in some weird stuff. Rendezvous with Misha, carrying Hanako to infirmary, what else? And why there are so many women in this school?
Sudden rapping to the door. Unlike this of Misha or Misaki, this one is violent, intensive, as if the person behind the door wanted to just knock them out of hinges.
Shizune. She's deaf, so it would only make sense for her to use extremely loud sounds like her trademark ear-shattering finger snap. What is she doing here that late though?
I open the door and, yes, it is our class rep. She's still in her school uniform which makes me think that she really will work herself to death while also bringing Hisao into this lethal equation. This time, however, she seems worried about something. Seeing me, she almost immediately starts signing. Huh. My sign language might as well be used as a doormat, so... I give her a gesture which boils down to "gimme a sec" and I go back to room, searching for a spare notebook and a pen. Finding this, I hand her those. She seems bemused, most likely because writing what you want to say isn't as efficient as signing it. Considering how fast she and Misha can sign, I guess this sudden slowed pace isn't pleasant at all.
Even then, she writes quickly. Class rep hands me the notebook back with a question.
[Where is Misha?]
It takes me a longer while to comprehend the message. I write back and hand her the notebook. Shizune cringes at my terrible handwriting.
[Isn't she in her room?]
[I wouldn't be here and asking you if she was.] Looking at her annoyed expression, this is probably sarcasm-tinted. The annoyed frown rapidly turns into genuine worry though.
[All I know is that we said goodbyes to each other near girls' dorm... Do you need a hand with looking for her?] She nods affirmatively. That much is clear. I nod as well.
[Do you know where she might be?] I ask her. This time, she shakes her head.
[This is so not like her... I'm worried.] I can see that, Shizune, although at least you're not hiding it. [Hisao will help too.] She adds. Well, it's always easier to find someone. [If some patrol catches us, we can always say we're doing important School Council duties.] There's a brief smile on her face.
[I'm not even a member.] I mention, although the prospect of getting away from consequences like that amuses me.
[Nobody cares.] Shizune giggles silently before reverting to her serious expression. [Be ready in next five minutes.] I nod. [We're waiting at the exit.] She probably means boys' dorms.
To be honest, I'm worried. Did Misha leave recently? Or was she going to be on her way as soon as I turned my back and left? The number of questions is... negatively staggering.
And now, an epic quest to find Misha begins...