Well, two votes for Casper to go on his own, one to go with Hisao, none for Shizune. Very well then.
Alright then. Guess it's well worth taking the risk. I'm not saying I'm someone who understands Misha the best, as this is Shizune's forte, but I guess I'll be able to get to her the best for now. Besides, Hisao should be around in case some teacher catches them. If I'll be caught, even with them, this really won't help my case.
"Alright." I say before realizing Shizune won't be able to hear me. With a sigh I take a notebook and write down what I wanted to say. [Guess I'll go on my own. If they catch me, nothing will help anyway.] Class rep nods.
[I'll go with Hisao then.] She writes back. [We'll check the Student Council room and the park. Can you check the rooftop and cafeteria?]
[Sure thing.] Shizune and Hisao exchange looks.
"Good luck." He says, smiling slightly.
"Gonna need it." I respond.
Well, so here I am, in a school at night. Normally I wouldn't be here. What's the reason of risking getting caught and robbing yourself off rest you get while sleeping? Even if you can't sleep, there's still a plenty of things to do. Surfing on Internet. Reading. Playing Devil May Cry 4 and trying to get that damn S rank on Mission 18... Huh. Guess that's why Nega's chess figures were modeled after lesser demons.
Alright, it's not so bad. I've got a flashlight in my cellphone, but it doesn't appear to be necessary yet. So far my good eye is able to catch general features and silhouettes of things.
Let's check cafeteria first. I seriously doubt anyone, let alone Misha, would hide in such a place. I mean... It lacks something. Surely you'd be able to disappear in some darker corner, but... I dunno, it just doesn't seem like a place one would sit in the middle of a night, trying to think about himself, his surroundings or whatever else.
And yet, I do find someone in cafeteria.
It's a girl. I shouldn't be surprised really. If there's something I agree with Kenji, that would be the vast dominance of females among students. Then again, most of stuff said by Kenji is... questionable, to say the least. The girl in question is very pale. As in, extremely pale. That's when I notice the silver hair and red eyes. She must be an albino then. That wouldn't explain why is she here, in Yamaku though... Or would it? Her hair is knotted into a braid. Currently she's staring at something outside. She doesn't seem to notice me, so I just sort of glance around. Apart from her, there's no one else here... Then again, why is she sitting in cafeteria of all places?
"Rooftop is occupied." She suddenly says, looking at me. Wha...? How did she...? "You said it out loud." She adds, allowing herself a small smirk.
"Did I?" It's a stupid question, but sometimes only stupid questions allow us to pick a conversation and keep it going. Suddenly, something snaps right in my mind. Cogs have started working. "Did you say that rooftop is occupied?" I ask. She nods slightly, very slowly. It reminds me a bit of Suzu for some reason.
"Two people. A guy and a girl." Oh... This sort of occupation. "He's ranting something about feminists. She's too scared to leave the rooftop. Probably thinks he's going to rip off her head and shit down her neck the moment she objects to something."
...Feminists?
Goddammit, Kenji.
"Guess I'll be on my way then." I say cautiously. I don't think I want to know what that nut is doing that late on the rooftop with a girl, but it might end in tears, especially if he will attempt to do something.
"Tagging along." The albino girl responds, standing up.
"'Scuse me?"
"I said I'll tag along. I don't have anything better to do." She shrugs. Oh, I'm certain there's a plenty other things for you to do, going back to your room and sleeping for example.
"...Sure thing. Uh, who are you, actually?"
"Rika." She responds with another shrug. "You're Fryface."
"Actually, my name is..." She interrupts me with a smug smile.
"I know your name. I find Fryface suiting you better though." ...Okay. Whatever.
"...Sure thing. It's mean, but guess I'm tolerant." I respond, trying my best to not voice my thoughts.
"You'll get used to it. I'm usually mean."
"Guess I will."
Along with Rika we head into rooftop in complete silence. She's... weird. This isn't Rin's weirdness. This one seems to be... stoic. Quiet. She seems like the type who doesn't ask nonsensical questions and instead prefers to get completely lost in thought in the middle of a street during rush hour. I can feel her glance on my person every once in a while, as if she was judging me for some reason. It's unpleasant. I'm not complaining though, as I can feel the stubbornness of a mule as well. Any attempt of mine would end in a glare.
Well, here we are. The door that lead to the rooftop. I take a look through the small window, trying to notice anything suspicious.
"Are you sure they're here?" I ask. I can't see anyone... There's a possibility they're in the blind spot, but I guess we would hear either a girl or Kenji.
"They were here some time ago." Rika responds, pushing me aside and casually opening the door. "Key word is "were"." She adds with a frown. Huh. So basically my and Hisao's hallmate went off and kidnapped some poor gal into absolutely unknown location for presumably no real reason. Whoop-de-fuckin-do.
"...Do you happen to know how did that girl look like?" I ask, feeling a sudden helplessness. Seriously, I've got absolutely no idea where they might be.
"Not really."
"Maybe pink drills?"
"No. I would remember such an atrocity." Sudden disgust in Rika's voice sounds hilarious. Now that I think of it, she's the only person so far besides me to express disgust in Shiina's hairstyle. Alright, so if she is to be believed, it's not Misha who was kidnapped by Kenji. Still now, I can't let this let go like that. Who knows what is he going to do...
"You said you don't have anything better to do than to tag along, correct?"
"Yeah."
"Great, I could use a hand." Rika smiles slightly.
"So, are you a superhero or am I?" A question leaves me thinking for a while.
"I'm fine with being a sidekick. I'm not handsome enough to be a hero." I respond jokingly. The albino girl smirks.
"Very well."
And with that, we depart to look for Kenji and his poor victim. Since I have absolutely no idea where they might be, this will quickly become a wild goose chase around the school grounds. There's always a possibility Hisao and Shizune will bump into them as well.
"So, why are you here?" I ask at some point after checking yet another empty room.
"Couldn't sleep." She responds with a shrug. "Cafeteria felt like a nice place to be."
"It's not really interesting."
"There was rooftop as an alternative, but, well..." Eh. If you did enter and interrupt, we wouldn't be in this mess. "I can't think of any other places."
"Park?" I respond.
"Eh. I'd prefer not to get lost." Well, that's some sort of argument. Out of a sudden, Rika appears before me and touches the bad side of the face. Sudden sensation isn't welcome as I take a step back, wincing. "You're in here because of that?" She asks. I thought that's pretty obvious so far.
"No, I've got tuberculosis." I snark back, not even trying to hide the sarcasm. Rika looks at me inquisitively, as if she was trying to decipher something.
"I take that as yes." She responds with a shrug. "I'm curious. It's always interesting to see a newcomer, especially if they have something that others do not."
"Yeah, sure. It's surely a captivating thing to ask people what kind of accident they had or what disease got them." She shrugs.
"Guess my interests are morbid." You're morbid. Thankfully I did not say it out loud. Still, wanting to know about others' disabilities and considering it "interesting"...
"How?" She asks, closing another door. We're wandering in the dark, I swear.
"Ex-girlfriend." Rika doesn't push the matter any further. I'm grateful. She seemed like a type who likes to get to the point in all things, including those which might be uncomfortable to others. I open another door. Nothing.
"Hypoplastic left heart syndrome." She says out of nowhere. I glance at her. She's looking at me intently, as if she was trying to guess my reaction. Just like with Saki, I predict this is not a good thing.
"Lethal?" I ask.
"Without quick operation, yes." Rika nods and looks inside yet another room before closing the door. "I still have to look out for myself. They think that they will be able to repair this, to "help" me." Noted bitterness in voice. Alarm bells in head. Albino girl sighs. "You know. They think I'm people like, I dunno, Ibarazaki."
"Huh?" What Emi has to do with it?
"You probably know her. She's the one without legs who's a star of track team. Have you ever touched the matter of her legs?"
"...Well, she did mention how she lost them, but other than that, I guess no."
"Exactly." Rika looks wistful, staring into unknown. "You've probably also noticed that she wears those striped socks every time she's not running."
"Yeah..."
"Have you ever wondered why?" A longer moment of thought and weighing answers.
"...Because she didn't accept the fact that she lost her legs, despite what she might say." The albino girl smiles widely.
"Huh. I thought you wouldn't get it." She says.
"Why's that?"
"Unlike me or Ibarazaki, your disability isn't something which will affect you in a long run. Yes, you've lost half of your face, along with your eye and ear... But this isn't restricting you in any way. You don't have to take pills or wear prosthesis. You don't have to use sign language, walk with a cane, know Braille or whatever else."
"Huh. Point taken. Still, your heart can be cured, I guess?"
"What, you think I wasn't being operated countless times already?" Rika rolls her eyes before shaking her head. "Even if they happened to get rid of it, I still have to watch out. Using some simple example, I could have sex and..."
"I get it." I respond, rolling my good eye. Good Lord, I don't have to know that much. "Für die Liebe Gottes, I get it." Rika smirks a little.
"Gut zu wissen, dann." She responds in German, surprising me. Of course, there's a case of heavy Japanese accent, but other than that it was a flawless German.
"Huh?"
"I've been taking lessons of German since middle high." She responds, shrugging. There's, however, a small smile on her face. "Your last name isn't very German-sounding though." Huh? Oh right, she mentioned she knows my name.
"Half-German, Half-Polish." I respond and this time I'm the one doing the shrugging. "Don't ask about the surname. It has a long history."
"I see." A longer moment of silence. "Well then..." Rika stretches her arms a bit. "We should look out for those two." Oh yeah. Actually, I kind of forgotten about Kenji and his victim. Heh. Guess I got too captivated by Rika's presence.
Strange. I don't recall being that easily-attracted to anyone, even if it has no romantic subtexts. Is it the aura of Yamaku or am I really becoming different?
After a longer moment of looking and searching, we've finally found them. Kenji was pretty much hyperventilating and lashing out at a poor girl who kept silent. His rants were audible from the... art room. After giving a slight glance at Rika, I open the door very slowly, trying my best to be as quiet as possible. Thankfully, Kenji has his back turned at me and is too busy with his rant about nothing to notice me or my sidekick(or is it the other way around?). The victim of his hideous acts is... Saki. She appears to be in quite a good mood. In fact, she seems to be having fun. Wha...? She flashes us a cheerful smile when she notices us, but says nothing, likely not to blow our cover. Meanwhile, Kenji continues to rant.
"I've got you discovered... You might be smiling, but you're the very first! After you, all of feminists' night agents will fall to my superior hunting abilities..." Kenji stops for a while. "And soon, all of your atrocities will be revealed to the public. Men and women alike will stop supporting you once they see it!"
"Oh really now, Setou-sama?" Saki responds in a changed voice, sounding a bit like some sort of evil baroness. "And where is your evidence?" I can tell she's having tons of fun.
"I will make you talk!" He snaps, his glasses shining ominously. Huh. Guess even Kenji can make glasses shine ominously. "You probably think that I'll be easy on you just because you're a woman... How naive of you, feminist!"
"You're being big talk for an hour so far, Setou-sama. I still haven't seen any sort of proof that you're capable of being a savior. In fact..." She flashes us a cheerful grin. "You've already helped us." Those words seem to be like a bucket of cold water for Kenji. He turns around, his scarf not-so-epically waving in the air.
"W-what?! What kind of trick is this, woman?!"
"You've walked straight into my trap." Saki gets up from her chair, using her crutch and points it at that unaware sap with a smirk that would make Shizune flinch. "Right now, my loyal assassins are aiming at you. Do so much as a step and..." She snaps her fingers for a great effect. "You're history."
"...You... You devil! You whore!" Ouch, going into curses. Then again, he really does seem to believe her as he nervously glances around. Thankfully, he did not think about looking at the mirror. Huh. Rika's got a truly shit-eating grin. Looks like she's enjoying the show as well. I must say, it's quite entertaining.
"Now... You can either join us... Or be assimilated." Loud gulp from Kenji. Saki breaks into dark chuckle which seems nothing like her. Heck, maybe she really is a ruthless agent of feminists? Hah, that would be comedy gold.
"A-aassimilated...?"
"Correct. We will put you in a dress, make you shave your legs, castrate you and learn how to cook. Not exactly in that order..." Another dark chuckle. This seems to be too much for that poor guy.
"NO! NEVER! I'D RATHER DIE!" It seems to be an interesting mixture of utter terror and pure rage. With a warcry Kenji promptly leaves the room through the open window. Thankfully we're on the ground floor or that would end nasty. With a lighthearted laugh, Saki turns to face us.
"I must say, I wouldn't expect you here." She says, exiting the room.
"Pot to kettle, Twitchy." Rika responds with a shrug. "Twitchy"? That's... mean. Brown-haired girl, however, doesn't seem to be too moved by this.
"As always, coming up with new nicknames." She then turns her eyes at me. "I understand why would Rika be here, but how about you?" It is when I'm reminded that I'm not here to pleasantly chat, but to find Misha. This was my objective in the first place.
"I, uh... I should be looking for someone." I stammer in response, cursing my attention deficit. Saki tilts her head a bit.
"Someone? Perhaps I've noticed this person?" She asks.
"Misha. Shiina Mikado, to be more exact. Pink drills." Rika visibly cringes. I can't help but chuckle nervously at it.
"No, I'm afraid I hadn't see her here." I think my face fell a bit, no pun intended.
"That's... That's bad. As far as I know, she does not act like that."
"You'd be surprised..." Albino girl speaks up, shaking her head. Huh? Before I can ask Rika anything else she might know, Saki interrupts me.
"Maybe we can help you find her?" She offers with a smile that strikes me as... overly cheerful, even for her.
Is she trying to get me off topic? What did Rika mean by her statement? "You'd be surprised"... This would imply something similar happened before.
"...Yeah, I'd love some help."
"Sorry, but I'll be off." Albino girl yawns. "It was some damn nice performance, Twitchy. See ya two later." With a slight smile, Rika departs, leaving the two of us alone in the corridor.
And yet again, I can feel Saki's gentle touch as she clings to me delicately with a smile. I won't say I'm not enjoying it, but it feels so... awkward.
"What were you doing here so late?" I ask at some point as we slowly make our way through the corridor.
"Wandering." She responds as sincerely as possible. "I haven't tried wandering here under risk of getting caught yet. Then, Setou-san came along and I thought I might as well have some fun at his expense."
"That poor guy will have nightmares because of you." I respond. Both of us chuckle, amused. "Seriously though... I know security here isn't exactly the tightest, but should someone find you..."
"Looks who says that." She giggles.
"Hey, at least I have some reason to be here, not unlike others who just look for a thrill."
"Life's not long enough to think about consequences, you know that?" Saki smiles gently. Yeah... I know that. Some people's lives are indeed short.
"...That's not fair." I mutter.
"No, it is quite fair." She replies, shaking her head. "Some people are destined to die young, be it by disease, accident or something else. Others will live long. This is how it is."
"That's bullshit. That's complete bullshit. If anything in your statement is correct, then it would be good people like you who will not live long. The philanthropists, benefactors, Samaritans..." Light punch on my shoulder. Saki's still smiling. Is it a mask? Or has she really came to terms with her inevitable end?
"Don't think about it. There's no tomorrow, there's no yesterday. There's only today." She says.
"I guess you're not an avid student, are you?" I ask, forcing a smile. The girl next to me giggles.
"Correct." A light nod. "Why should I sit and read something uninteresting if I can do something completely different and captivating?"
I really want to treat Saki as just a normal girl who just happens to have slight problems with motor control. The one who just happens to walk with a crutch and whose hands are shaking, nothing more, nothing less... And a part of me slowly starts to change, set its settings into "Saki-tolerant mode". It will take time though. Lots of time.
Suddenly, a sound of "The Few, The Proud, The Broken" by Kreator which snaps me out of thought. My ringtone. Cellphone. Almost mechanically I pick it up. Hisao.
"Hello. Hi. You've found her? She's alright?" I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Oh, I was still... searching." A white lie. No matter, they've found her, so... "Yeah. No problem. Glad I could be of any help... See ya." With that, I hang up. Well, at least there's that.
"Did they find her?" Saki asks, slightly curious.
"Yeah. Thankfully she's alright." I nod. "And I think I should be heading off to sleep... I'm not really a fan of night walks around the school."
"I take you will escort me back to the dorm, correct?" Oh Saki, you. You always have to make me shamefaced at some point.
"Yeah, that's not a problem... I guess." I respond, looking away. She only responds with a giggle.
"By the way..." I don't like the tone of that "by the way". "You've probably heard about the festival already?"
"Some minor snippets, yes. It's this weekend, correct?"
"Sunday, to be precise." Saki nods. I didn't even notice when we've exited the school building. Strange. We should be walking rather slowly, due to her condition and yet... Then again, I did see people who are capable of walking with a cane and still be surprisingly swift. "I wondered... Would you like to hang out with me on the festival?" The question is asked in the most innocent tone possible and yet I feel as if I just hit straight in the jaw.
"Beg your pardon?"
"You've heard me." She replies with a giggle.
"I, uh... No offense, Saki, but I think I'll have to think about it a longer while." How to respond diplomatically to this? "Judging from what I saw so far, I might get tons of invitations from other people." I allow myself a small smile.
"Well, well, someone's making progress in socializing." She smiles as well, but is it just me or is there some sort of teasing behind that smile? "Do I have your phone number?"
"No, I think not..." And so, Saki dictates it to me.
"Send me a message later, will you?"
"Of course." Before we know it, we're before girls' dorms. Now I feel that I should leave. I mean, she should do fine from here.
"Will you come in?" ...Cold sweat down my spine. Suddenly, Saki laughs, genuinely amused. "Relax, relax, I was kidding." Thank God you were. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow, I hope." She gracefully spins around to stand before me, supporting herself with a cane and flashes me a truly beautiful smile before leaning in slightly and giving a slight peck on the cheek. The good cheek, obviously. "Have a good sleep." And with that, Saki departs to girls' dorm, leaving me completely dumbfounded and with a cheek burning red.
I swear, all those women are trying to embarrass me to death.
Phew. Took me some time, but here it is. :) Read and review as always. :)