Chapter five, and the start of Miki's route!

Let's get this trainwreck moving.

I wake up groggily, though I can hear someone calling my name.

"James!" Whose voice is that? I know them. I have to know them. It's...

My eyes snap open, and the first thing I notice is that the tree fell to the other side. Scientifically, it probably shouldn't have, but I guess my luck is still holding. That's what I get, I guess. Maybe it was the wind, but what wind would be strong enough to move a tree that massive...even if it was already falling? ESPECIALLY if it was already falling?

"Hey, Miki." The words are out of my mouth before I can think of them. They're also all that I can really think to say

"You idiot!" Ah, there it is. The self-righteous anger of the female species, that which passes all understanding of any man and has transcended into mythic status during modern times. "What were you thinking? You could have been hurt, you could have died, you-"

"Save me the speech." I push myself off the ground and wrap her in a hug. Maybe that's a little too much for people who are just friends, but I've never been one for social protocols. Neither has Miki. That's a large part of our friendship, actually. "Why are you here, how did you find me, why were you so worried?

"This morning, after you didn't go to him last night, the nurse told me to look for you."

"You, specifically?"

"Yes."

Huh, that's kind of weird. You'd think he'd reach out to the teachers, not a student...but whatever his game is, he's made his move. Now it's my turn.

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine. The tree, though...I don't think it's gonna be getting back up from that one. Sorry, pal."

My joke is so pathetic that we have to laugh at it, and I realize that we've held this hug for a little too long for people who aren't dating. Uncurling my arms, I swing back from her. "Today's Saturday, right? I'll take you out to the city to make up for this. That okay?"

"Make up for what, idiot? We're friends, you had me worried! Isn't that the end of the story?"

"No, that's exactly why I should do something like this. I had you worried, so I'll make up for it."

She's only fighting this halfheartedly. I can see in her eyes that she wants to go, wants to do something that could make us more than what we are, but she wants to make sure I want it too.

"For fuck's sake, Miki, would you stop arguing and just go out with me?"

Well.

That could have been phrased better.

"Oh, well I guess when you put it that way..."

"I meant 'give me an answer.' All this talking in circles doesn't do anything for either of us."

She punches me in the arm, harder than our usual greeting or goodbye, and then once on the other arm.

"Sure, why not?"

"Because...never mind. Get ready, we'll leave after I'm done chewing the nurse out."

"You move fast, lady killer!" She tosses the words at me as I hurry away, but I can hear the grin in her voice while she does it.

For all my big talk, I'm smart enough to realize I'm the one in trouble as I step into the nurse's office.

"I realize you're concerned, that's your job, you do it well, all that jazz, but in my defense I was punching a tree down in the DDA."

"You did what?" He's more shocked, less angry. That's good. It's always good to keep people in power from being angry at you.

"I punched down a tree in the designated destruction area. The big...oak, I think? Maybe it wasn't oak. I punched it down, though. Bare hands and everything."

I show my blood- and sap-covered hands, with the occasional splinter or cut showing here or there.

"You're an idiot. Fortunately, though, you're not the only reckless child at this school...I'm assuming you know how to clean and bandage those?"

"Yeah. Can I do it here, though? I don't have the supplies in my room."

"Be my guest, kid."

I hold back the I am that wants to come out of my lips, and set myself to work; I wash my hands in water, then rubbing alcohol, then water again. I pull the splinters out neatly, now that nothing's coating my hands, and get the medical tape. I wind it around my fingers and palms with practiced, methodical ease, and idly realize it's my second-favorite color: black.

"Very nice." The nurse says. "I don't know that I'd have done it the exact same way, but..."

In his moments of silence, I interject. "Our approaches have two different purposes. You fix things so that they heal and get good as new. I fix things so that I can keep using them until I need someone like you."

"Aptly put...now, the blood transfusion?"

"Just give me another pack, I don't have the time for a full-blown one. We can do that tomorrow, as usual."

"Alright then. I wasn't sure."

"I probably would, but there's a pretty girl who I promised to take out today, so..."

"Good man." He waves me out, closing the door behind me, and I need to go change into something suitable for a day in town.

Black jeans, black t-shirt, black hoodie, fingerless gloves to go along with the medical tape. Black boots, as well.

My wardrobe isn't very expansive, as far as colors go. If it's not black or a very dark grey, it's white.

"Ah, yes." She says, mocking me. "The fabled man in black."

"Except I'm not fleeing across a desert, and no gunslinger is following."

"Incredible."

The bus ride is a short one. "So what do you want to do?"

"Well, I didn't eat breakfast or lunch because I was looking for you and getting ready for this..."

"Don't try to twist my arm like that."

She smirks. "Can you blame a girl for trying?"

"Nah. And I can't say no to a pretty face." That one earns me a punch on the arm. "Don't hear you denying it."

"Who would do that?"

"You'd be surprised how many girls don't think they look pretty, no matter what others tell them. It's mind-boggling."

"Mhm. I'll take your word for it. Now, about that food..."

"We're walking, aren't we? We'll pass by some place eventually."

True to my word, we do. It's a sports bar-looking sort of place with the name, "The Lighthouse." Nice and cozy, easy to get a booth and a window seat.

"What can I get you to start?" The waitress, a young woman with frizzy blonde hair and gold eyes, asks.

"Um...Coke?"

"Sure. And you?"

"Water's fine for me." I answer. It's free, too; I may have a lot of money from all of my tournaments, but I've got the soul of a miser. It's an interesting combination, to say the least.

"Any appetizers?"

I nod my head to Miki. I may be paying for everything, but she's the one who's deciding this stuff. "What are...hush puppies?"

Ah, so it's less a sports bar than a restaurant that seems taken straight from the American South. I don't remember a whole lot of the place, though I went there once or twice for a tournament. It's a region unlike any other, especially with their food. "They're good. Bread, I think they're fried, they taste sort of sweet."

"Sure, then, why not?"

The waitress gets up and takes our order back. In a few minutes, she's returned with our drinks and the basket of hush puppies.

It's an odd name for a food, but somehow it feels like it fits.

Miki orders two hamburgers and fries; surprising, even if ordinary. With her figure, I'd have suspected a salad, but she is pretty boyish.

I ask for...it doesn't sound remotely American, but the French dip au jus. A fancy roast beef sandwich, essentially, that comes with a side of fries as well.

When it arrives, faster than I might have expected, we dig in. Miki's a little less measured than I am, wolfing her food down as fast as she can manage, but even with the sheer size of my sandwich I still manage to beat her to the finish. I've always been better than almost everyone at putting food away.

"Jeez! Eat much?"

"I didn't have breakfast or lunch either, remember? Actually, I didn't have dinner either. this is the first time I've eaten in more than a day."

"Aw, poor baby." She teases me, sticking out her tongue. "Maybe that'll teach you to listen to people who know better."

"Nah, I'll be dead long before I choose to take good advice." She wants to punch me, but holds back.

She's gonna get me for that later, though.

I hand the waitress my card, to a sarcastically mumbled, "High roller," from Miki.

As she hands the card back, I put a few bills on the table; I can't see what they are, but I just pulled them out.

Maybe I shouldn't have given an absurdly huge tip like that, but why not make someone's day? It's not like I was really going to use that money. Give it to someone who still has their own dreams to fulfill, I thought.

I don't feel like I'll be regretting it.

"Anything else you want to do? Shopping, walking around, anything?"

"Either you really feel sorry, or you're letting me take advantage of you. I'm not sure which of those ideas I like more...follow me!"

I was going to do that anyway.

Miki drags me from store to store, and nobody asks her anything about the missing hand. Their stares may linger, but one look from me is generally enough to dissuade anyone from doing anything for much longer. I'm good with making people stop.

She tries on several different dresses, skirts, tops, and the like. If I'm honest, none of them really seem to suit her. Not that they don't look good, or that she doesn't look great in them, but they just don't feel like her.

Maybe I'm thinking too hard about it. Nothing says that a girl can or can't be girly, after all, and just because I've only ever seen her in a t-shirt and shorts doesn't really mean anything beyond that's what she's comfortable with as far as the school's dress code goes.

We leave after an hour or so, and it's getting late now; there's only one bus back to Yamaku, and even though we aren't in a hurry to catch it, it does come soon.

Still, there's enough time to get ice cream before we head back to the buildings that make up our home.

"Never would've picked you for a strawberry-flavor kind of girl."

"Never would've thought you'd take me out as an apology for something that didn't need one."

"I felt like I needed to apologize, so I did. The best way I knew how."

"As opposed to saying, 'I'm sorry?'"

"I'm not good with words. I'm good with actions."

"That's bullshit, I've seen the way you write."

"Okay, fine, I'm better with actions than words. Happy?"

"Yeah. Today was nice."

"Alright. So what does this make us?"

"Us."

Her reply is simple, resolute, and I pull an arm around her shoulders as we walk.

It's time to head into the future that's waiting for me, no looking back at what could have been, no retreating. I've made my choice, and now I'll need to see it through to the end...no matter what comes.