Chapter Seventeen
I am awoken early by what feels like an extremely heavy sack of potatoes being dumped on my chest. I groan and open my eyes. Hanako in kneeling on me, grinning broadly.
"Guess what today is, Korin-nee-chan." she says, her brown eyes alight with excitement. I shove her off of me as I try to think what it could be that has made her so excited. It suddenly dawns on me, and I click my fingers.
"It's your birthday." I say. She nods, grinning broadly from ear to ear. "Happy birthday." I sit up slowly. Hanako runs across the room and playfully pokes Takeshi's cheek. He groans loudly and rolls over.
"Leave me alone…" he moans, fumbling with his duvet and pulling it up over his head. I stand up and tiredly make my way over to Takeshi's bed.
"It's the morning, idiot. Do you know what people do in the morning? They get their fat, lazy arses out of bed." I say, pulling his pillow out from underneath his head.
"Let me sleep…" he protests in a petulant whine.
"Not happening." I say, digging my hands under his mattress. I give Hanako a mischievous smile and she mimics my action.
"You're a horrible person, Korin." Ezra says softly, and I turn my head and grin at him. Megumi sticks her head down over the side of the bed.
"You know he'll beat you up if you do that, right?" she asks warningly. I shrug nonchalantly and lift Takeshi's mattress. Hanako and I raise our arms at the same time and successfully tip Takeshi out of his bed and onto the floor.
"I hope you understand that I really despise you right now, Korin-chan." Takeshi says, glaring darkly at me as he pushes himself upright and stands.
"I think you've forgotten what today is." I say to him. He frowns slightly, clearly having no idea what I'm talking about.
"Chiasa-chan's birthday." Megumi reminds him exasperatedly. He gasps, nodding. He walks around the end of the bed and scoops Hanako up in his arms.
"Happy birthday, Chiasa-chan." he says with a kind smile.
"You're really weird, Takeshi-kun. I'm ten, not two" Hanako says, looking slightly creeped lets go of her and she falls to the floor with a soft thud. Takeshi frowns at her.
"That's a really nice thing to say about someone." he says, his voice dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a hot spring. His voice is a lot more lively than I would have expected, considering how exhausted he looks. He has dark circles under his eyes and his hair is all over the place. He grimaces slightly and pokes his tongue out, staring down and trying to see the end of it.
"You're bleeding." I point out, seeing the blood that's pooling on his tongue. He nods.
"I know. I can feel it. I think I've broken my braces, because I just caught my tongue on them." he says. I raise my eyebrows with a slight smile.
"Idiot."
"Go eat a burger." he retorts, shaking his head exasperatedly. I grin at him. Megumi squeals as she slides down the ladder from the top bunk to the floor.
"I will go down with this ship!" she bubbles enthusiastically, clasping her hands together cheerfully. She begins giggling madly and Takeshi and I both turn and glare darkly at her.
"Who's the seme and who's the uke?" Hanako asks with a teasing smile. I give her a What the heck are you saying? look and she smiles cheerfully at me in response.
"The fact that a ten year old knows the meanings of those words worries me slightly." Ezra says quietly. Takeshi nods slowly.
"Do you have older siblings, Chiasa-chan?" he asks. Chiasa shakes her head.
"Nope! I'm an only child." she says cheerfully. Takeshi regards her with slight concern.
"There is no reason for a ten year old with no siblings to know what those mean…" he says, slowly stepping away from Hanako.
The door opens and Satoshi and Xander come in.
"We're all heading down to get breakfast," Satoshi says. "So you lot had better hurry up if you want to eat this morning." I pick up the first t-shirt and pair of jeans I see and step into the bathroom to change. When I come out, Takeshi raises his eyebrows.
"Have you seen what you're wearing?" he asks. I look down. "That's the t-shirt I wore yesterday." Everyone starts laughing. I shrug.
"It's really baggy, so I'm fine with it. It's comfy, and that's all I really care about." I say.
"It's baggy?" Satoshi asks incredulously. "You need to lose a couple of pounds, Takeshi!" He slaps Takeshi's stomach gently. Takeshi holds his middle finger up in Satoshi's face.
"Shut up, or I'll tell Dad about the mysterious sock and belt that were on your bed the other week." he says. Satoshi instantly pales. Ezra smirks slightly.
"The other week?" he asks mischievously, "Like, when we got back from orienteering?" Takeshi nods, grinning.
"Did you see something? I'm trying to build a collection of stuff I can use to blackmail him." Ezra opens his mouth, probably to tell him about the mysterious boy.
"Guys, shut up. Leave Satoshi-kun alone. What he does in his own time is none of your business." I reprimand. Satoshi gives me a grateful smile.
"Yeah! Shut up! No one cares about belts and socks!" Hanako says, and I grin at her.
"Ready to go and get breakfast, midget?" I ask her. She beams at me.
"Of course! When am I not ready to have breakfast? Breakfast is breakfast! Everyone loves breakfast!" she bubbles in a Megumi-like tone. Megumi's face contorts into an expression of uncomfortable disgust. I laugh out loud at the irony of it, though I'm truly worried for Megumi.
"Let's go!" Satoshi says, and the seven of us leave the bedroom.
After breakfast, Hanako decides that she wants to go into one of the hot springs.
"Which one's the best, Korin-nee-chan?" she asks me. "Can you drink the green tea one?"
I shake my head in both disgust and exasperation, "Would you really want to drink something that people have been bathing in?" I ask her. She wrinkles her nose and pokes her tongue out in disgust. "I've only been in the normal one and the sake one."
"Can we go in the sake one?" she asks. Satoshi stares at her, apparently slightly creeped out by the idea.
"Why would a ten year old want to bathe in alcohol?" he asks with mild concern. Takeshi laughs and messes up Hanako's hair playfully.
"She's Korin-chan's Mini Me, that's why." he says, and Hanako frowns.
"Korin-nee-chan's my Mini Me, actually." she corrects stroppily.
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Chiasa-chan." Satoshi says, smiling at her. Takeshi starts comparing my height to Hanako's with his hands.
"I can use Chiasa-chan's head as an armrest. Korin-chan can use my head as an armrest. Nope, Chiasa-chan is definitely Korin-chan's Mini Me." he says. Hanako pokes her tongue out at him. He smiles at her.
"I don't like you anymore." Hanako says. Takeshi pouts.
"I guess I'll just go and cry myself to sleep now, then." he says, pretending to wipe tears out of his eyes. He yawns. "I think I will actually go back to bed. I'm so-o-o tired, and it's all Korin-chan's fault."
"D'you need someone to come with you?" Satoshi asks gently. Takeshi shakes his head.
"Nah, I'm fine." He begins to walk off, but turns back to me, "Don't hurt the shirt." he says. I smirk at him.
"Wouldn't dream of it." I say.
"Everyone's abandoning me." Satoshi says. I look questioningly at him, and he elaborates. "Jase-kun met this cute Norwegian tourist girl and they're hanging out together." I shake my head with a light laugh.
"Typical Jase." I say. Xander, who has been worryingly quiet throughout the conversation, giggles.
"Yeah. Can we go in the hot spring now?" he asks excitedly. "I haven't been in one yet."
"We've been here since Saturday, and you still haven't been in any of the baths? You've seriously spent four days in the arcade?" Satoshi asks incredulously. Xander nods with a childish grin.
The four of us sit in the sake pool, chatting and laughing. Satoshi and I are both keeping a close eye on Hanako, because she keeps trying to drink the sake.
"Chiasa-chan, you're going to make yourself ill if you keep doing that." Satoshi gently reprimands for at least the seventh time since we got in here less than twenty minutes ago. "We'll have to get out if you keep doing that." Hanako pouts.
"Seriously, stop it, Hanako-chan." Hanako's eyes widen and I realise my mistake. I clamp my hands over my mouth and shake my head furiously, teardrops beginning to form in my eyes and threatening to find their way down my cheeks. Xander bites his lip so hard that blood begins to roll off of it. Satoshi raises his eyebrows.
"Hanako-chan? Is there something you three want to tell me?" he asks softly, his voice laced with morbid curiosity. The three of us shake our heads in unison. "Then I guess I'll just have to pull out my Shikigami on all of you…" He trails off with a soft sigh as Hanako lets her head hang. Xander whimpers, clutching Hanako's hand, clearly terrified.
"I-I should have known it was too good to last…" she whispers. "I don't want you to hurt Xander-kun or Korin-nee-chan, so I'm just going to tell you now. I'm not really a human. I'm a-"
"A Toilet Hanako," Satoshi cuts her off, his eyes and voice alight with excitement. "The same one that Megumi failed to exorcise a few weeks back, by any chance?" Hanako nods.
"Y-you can k-kill m-me, I d-don't m-mind," Hanako says sadly, her voice cracking on every word and tears rolling off of her cheeks and into the pool. "Just as long as you don't hurt Korin-nee-chan or Xander-kun." Satoshi's dark brown eyes are an eerie coal black in the low light of the pool. They seem to glisten murderously as he regards the three of us. I protectively wrap my arms around Hanako and Xander and turn my back on Satoshi and sob into their hair.
"K-Korin-nee-chan… Th-thank you… For- for everything…" Hanako whispers hoarsely.
"I l-love you, Chiasa-chan." Xander sobs, nuzzling his face into Hanako's chest. I take a deep breath and accept that Hanako's impending death is my fault.