So hey, second chapter. I wrote this one. Yep. Not much to say.
Runwithscissors made the titles though. I regret them and giving her the power. She said she wanted to do it because "You don't captilize the beginning of every word in the sentence."
She edited this chapter she went grammar nazi on it. It was terrifying.
"You're short a few 50 yen, miss."
The bookstore clerk looked at Natsumi impatiently after Natsumi had requested the one item she was buying, the monthly occult magazine-issue #47—"Evidence of Aliens' Involvement with the Dinosaurs." Natsumi didn't care for the occult at all, but it was Fuyuki's birthday and she would get him whatever he wanted to make this day at least a little more special for him. He deserved that at least. After all, he was a precious family member and she wasn't prepared to let anymore sadness befall him.
"Sorry…." Natsumi apologized. With a nervous giggle, she dug into her pocket to find the money she needed. She handed it over to the clerk, glad that she was able to find a bookstore that was carrying Fuyuki's favorite magazine so cheaply, it fit her price range just barely.
"You interested in things like this?" The store clerk leaned her arm on the check-out counter as she rung her up and put the magazine in a bag. "I always found them complete bullshit myself. I mean, aliens? Real and wandering around earth somewhere? It just doesn't seem believable."
"Yeah…" Natsumi awkwardly agreed, "I guess I can understand that viewpoint." The clerk looked at her oddly like she was a nut. "Oh, no, before you get it wrong I'm not into the occult and aliens! This is a present for my little brother. It's his birthday today."
"Oh. That makes sense. Younger boys are more likely to go through the phase of being into aliens and stuff like that. I myself have a brother who's crazy about dinosaurs," the clerk answered.
Natsumi bit her lip. "I wish it was just a phase…" she muttered under her breath. The clerk heard her, though.
"I'm sure it is. And if it's not, who knows? Maybe he'll get into science and become an astronaut or something! It's not completely hopeless, after all." The clerk tried to cheer up Natsumi.
Natsumi took the plastic bag with the occult magazine and turned away before answering. She made a quick dash out of the store to the dismay of the clerk. Scratching her head, the clerk just shrugged. Had she said something wrong?
Outside the store, Natsumi leaned against the side of the building and held the bag against her heart.
What if it is completely hopeless, though? she wondered. The doctors have said that Fuyuki's making no progress in his treatment at all. Natsumi tried not to cry. Today was a happy day. No tears were supposed to be shed.
"I hate aliens…" she muttered to keep herself from crying. It seemed to work and keep her focused; after all, it was easier to be angry than sad and it kept her more focused on her goal. Soon enough, she wiped her eyes, ready to go to the supermarket and pick up Fuyuki's cake. The sooner she did that, the sooner she'd see her precious brother again. Glancing up, she saw that the sun was still bright in the sky, even though it was nearing the evening.
"All right, I think I have enough…" Natsumi mentally counted her cash on hand and stood up straight, ready to depart. "I'll be there soon, Fuyuki."
"You're short 50 yen," the clerk told Natsumi as he rung up her cash and cake.
"Again?" Natsumi almost yelled but instead only expressed her severe frustration. "Just a sec." She tried not to curse her rotten luck and instead cursed her lack of income. Fishing through her pocket, though, she found nothing. "N-no…." She searched the other pocket and then her purse. There was nothing there.
"No…. No, no, no, no!" Natsumi kept repeating. If she couldn't get Fuyuki a cake, he wouldn't have a normal birthday. He needed this. He needed one normal day. Just once.
"I'm sorry, but if you don't have the cash, we can't let you purchase this," the clerk told her. "That's one of our policies."
"B-but… I need this…." Natsumi looked to the clerk with reddening eyes. "It's my brother's birthday…. You don't understand…."
"I'm sorry, but—" The clerk was cut off.
"Natsumi?" A questioning yet familiar voice filled Natsumi's ears as she turned the girl in the line next to her. "Is that you?"
"Satsuki…." Natsumi wiped a small tear from her eyes, "Could I borrow 50 yen from you? Please? I'll make it up to you and pay you back, I promise!" Natsumi begged.
"Sure. As long you let me talk to you after the clerk rings up my drink. I haven't seen you in a while with how much you've been working." Satsuki smiled. Natsumi smiled too. She usually didn't count on her friends—usually stayed strong and helped herself—but when she did count on her friends, it always went well and it reminded Natsumi that she wasn't alone.
"All right," Natsumi answered as Satsuki handed her the money. She quickly bought the cake and waited for Satsuki to finish her purchase.
After Satsuki had gotten her drink, she walked outside the store, accompanying Natsumi and stretching.
"You've been so busy, I haven't seen you in so long!" Satsuki finally spoke. "Well, outside of school, I mean."
"Yeah, I've been working part-time, remember?" Natsumi reminded her.
"Oh yeah. Will you be off of work for summer vacation when school lets out?" Satsuki asked. "Yayoi and I would love for you to maybe come on a trip with us to the beach. It would be just like old times, and it would be super fun!"
"I can't," Natsumi responded with hesitation. "I'm going to take a third job when school is let off for summer break."
"Really? Geez..." Satsuki frowned awkwardly. She tried to change the subject. "Who's the cake for, anyway?"
"Fuyuki. My little brother. It's his birthday," Natsumi answered.
"Fuyuki?" Satsuki asked, "Isn't that the guy who fell off the school roof six months ago?"
"…Y-yeah…" said Natsumi.
"He had been skipping school before that too, wasn't he? Is your brother a delinquent or something? Maybe he was hanging out with that upperclassmen Saburo."
"My brother's not a delinquent." Natsumi responded. She wanted to defend Saburo too, but there really wasn't much to say about that. Not that acting like a delinquent was a bad thing. At least, in Saburo's case it wasn't.
"I heard a rumor or something that he said he jumped off the school roof to catch an alien falling off a hovercraft or something." Satsuki giggled. "But I don't really believe it or anything, don't worry. The more prominent rumors that you should be worried about that I've heard are that he was skipping school to aid in some sort of alien invasion."
Natsumi remained silent.
"Or…" Satsuki tapped her chin. "…was it stop an alien invasion? Well, that's what I heard he said. I've heard so many different rumors about that guy, honestly."
Satsuki paused and looked up at her friend, who was now looking down at her shoes instead of Satsuki.
"But they're not real! Don't worry! Anyway, how's your brother doing? I mean, he did fall off of the school roof. Was he discharged from the hospital?"
"Y-yeah, a while back. He fell into a bush so there wasn't as much damage as there could have been," Natsumi admitted.
"That's great! But if he's discharged where is he? Why isn't he at school?" Satsuki asked.
"H-he was transferred to a different place…" said Natsumi.
"Really? For physical therapy or something? Or was it because…." Satsuki bit her lip. She didn't know how to finish the sentence, since the more likely rumor of what happened to Fuyuki would probably sadden her friend.
Natsumi gathered up her bag that the cake was in. "I have to go. I don't want to leave Fuyuki waiting too long for me." She quickly waved good-bye. Before Satsuki could even give her a good-bye hug, her friend was gone. Just like usual.
"Poor Natsumi…" Satsuki whispered to herself. Sympathy was all she could give to the poor girl. It was all she had.
Natsumi entered the glass doors to the first floor of the mental institution, where her brother was currently at.
"The Hinata House." Creepy that it matched her last name.
Natsumi walked up to the secretary who ran the front desk, a kind woman in her early twenties. "Can I visit room 168 again?" she asked her. The woman had a fresh look to her, a sure sign that she was recently hired, probably around the time Natsumi had started visiting.
When the woman glanced up at Natsumi, the decorative bells secured in her light pigtails jingled. "Hi, Miss Hinata. Visitors normally aren't allowed during this time, but I suppose since it's Fuyuki's birthday, I can make an exception. He's a nice kid." The woman smiled trying to find the room key on her various key rings. "Can I examine what you're bringing in?"
Natsumi frowned and pulled the cake-bag closer to her body, taking a step back.
"Sorry, it's one of our rules," explained the woman with a sympathetic smile. "We don't want anything that can hurt patients, after all."
Once more, Natsumi frowned. She had hoped, since the person who ran the front desk was new and inexperienced, that she might forget the rule. Then again, it only made sense, what with all the druggies they had admitted in. Sighing, Natsumi ceded the cake.
"Hmmm…. Let me look that up in my book…." The secretary opened her notebook, a master-list of all the patients, and inspected the names and information of the patients in room 168, presumably just to make sure none of them had any food-related problems. She smiled and snapped the book closed. "Should be okay."
"All right. That's all that I brought," Natsumi lied.
The secretary gave a tough scolding smile. "I can see the second bag your carrying, Miss Hinata."
"I…. I like your pigtails…." Natsumi's eyes darted all around the room.
"Thank you, I recently had my hair dyed." The secretary leaned the edge of her cheek against her hand. "But that's not going to get me to not look at your bag."
"Fine…." Natsumi grudgingly handed over the bag containing Fuyuki's occult magazine. It only took a few seconds for the secretary to look into her book and frown.
"You know I can't let you give this to him, Miss Hinata," she told her.
"B-but it's his birthday…. And he asked for it…." Natsumi knew her voice was giving out a whimper instead of a calm and persuasive tone. She just wanted Fuyuki to be happy.
"Look, I'm not a doctor or a therapist, I'm only a secretary who works with visitors and mail. But you can't keep babying him and giving into him." She looked her in the eye. "It's only going to make things worse."
"I'll stop right after this. It's just—he really wants this," Natsumi pleaded.
The secretary let out a sigh. "Look, you know why you can't give this to him, right? It's related to his condition, the reason he's here."
"I know…." Natsumi swallowed.
"Do you know why he can't see anything occult-related?" the secretary asked.
"Of course I do!" Natsumi answered defiant. I know better than anyone does. I know more about Fuyuki than any of his stupid therapists ever will. And that's why I know that he needs to be happy. Because I'm his older sister, the one who's supposed to protect him from bad things happening.
"Could you say why he can't have it?" asked the secretary, trying to be helpful and calm.
"Why? I already know. We both know. I'm just asking you to please bend the rules, just this once," she begged.
"Miss Hinata." The secretary now had an impatient look on her face.
"Why do I have to say it?" Natsumi asked weakly. She hated aliens, she really did, but something about admitting things just felt wrong.
"It's a trick to get patients to face the truth," the secretary explained. "I've heard it helps."
Natsumi frowned. "You're not a therapist, how would you know?"
"Ms. Pururu told me that tip, and she is a therapist, unlike me," said the secretary. "Please, Natsumi, just say why Fuyuki can't have the book. Say it out loud."
Natsumi sighed and took a deep breath. She hated talking about Fuyuki's condition, even with doctors or people she trusted like this secretary Meruru. Maybe that was just Fuyuki brushing off on her and making her not want to face things. Maybe it was her way of desperately clinging onto a normal life. Whatever it was, one thing was for certain: Meruru was right. Natsumi had to say it and face these things.
"Because…" She took another breath. "…it feeds into his delusions and this false reality he's created about his life."