Tucker woke up the next morning and got the second to last test done. A headache was relentlessly thumping against the back of his head as he pushed onward through the day, the English teacher noticed this and after Tucker was finished with the test, she sent him to the nurse for some aspirin. Afterward, he received an invitation from Rin that she was waiting for him to go to the art exhibition. Once arriving at the meeting spot, Tucker and Rin boarded the bus to go where the event was going to be held. Tucker's headache subsided and he was able to think straight again. After getting off of the bus, they walked over to the location the event was going to be held at and opened the door to the 22nd Corner. Apart from that, Tucker was perfectly calm. After venting on Eleanor that anger that he had bottled inside, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from his heart. The tension that had grasped his mind for the past few weeks faded away without leaving even a shadow behind. In this nearly Zen-like state of enlightenment they had realized that perhaps it was a bad idea to yell at Eleanor like that. Tucker really meant it, but what good does blowing up like that do? Nothing. Tucker realized he was not like that. Tucker was reasonably calm, and he didn't normally yell at people. He still doesn't know why he did yesterday. So, he kept feeling really guilty about it and wanting to take his words back. He thought Eleanor was probably upset too. Even more than his own behavior, her reaction shocked Tucker.
Rin always thought of Eleanor as unchanging, detached from her surroundings without a care in the world so that hearing their yelling made Tucker so upset felt... out of place. Rin wonders if she understands how they both feel? In Rin's world everything seems to be so absolute and subjective... absolutely subjective, as if she was completely unable to see things from other points of view than her own. But ultimately, is anyone able to do it? Maybe objectivity and altruism are just illusions for people who like to think of themselves as compassionate. Just like art is an illusion for people who think reality is merely a veil for something greater. Even when you stop thinking that the world revolves around you or start thinking outside of the mythical box, you are just inside another, bigger box that you can't escape. Maybe that, ultimately, makes her like the rest of her friends.
Katawa Shoujo- School Days
Tucker and Rin step through the door to find a gallery full of illusioned people. Despite Shinichi's remarks during his earlier visits to check on Eleanor, Tucker always thought it was very spacious from what he learned from Rin, but now when it's crowded like this it looks positively cramped. Tucker immediately notices Shinichi standing in the middle of a lively discussion, busily chattering with some old gentlemen and a lady. The lady was actually pretty tall and kind of cool-looking, so she stands out in the crowd. There are a few dozen wine glasses laid on the tables along the back wall, filled with burgundy liquid. A vast majority of the guests are sipping from their own glasses. The socialites and art connoisseurs are mingling happily, exchanging mild opinions about Eleanor's art which seems to be a secondary object of interest for most. Tucker felt distanced, excluded from the other people here. Neither of them can claim even at a stretch to be a social chameleon, so this situation is quite unnerving. Since Tucker doesn't blend into the crowd at all, Rin told Tucker to just fake it, which he does, trying to look as cool and smooth as He can. Tucker wonders how Rin and Eleanor are handling all this. If it was him, he would be quite freaked out. Throwing the anxiety aside, Tucker and Rin try to carefully navigate through the crowd, stealing peeks at the framed paintings now hanging on the walls.
"Ahh Tucker, Rin, I was expecting you to come." Shinichi's voice sounded off. Tucker and Rin turned to see their art teacher giving them a friendly greeting. Tucker was taken a bit by surprise, but Shinichi was greeting them in a friendly manner. Rin, however, wasn't buying it.
"Oh. Mr. Nomiya, I just finished my test today and I came over for the invitation. I got one more test after this one." Tucker explained to Shinichi what exactly he had planned in mind. Shinichi laughed while giving a smile.
"Good to hear, I have a special friend that I want to introduce to you." Shinichi explained. He went over to grab the tall looking woman who he was with moments earlier before. "Tucker I would like to introduce to you Sae Saionji, she's the art director of this building."
"Nice to meet you, I'm surprised Rin has fallen in love with someone as mysterious as yourself." Sae began, Tucker tried his best to think, he looked at Rin who was tense as if she was sensing something was wrong. Tucker knew it was best to keep going with the conversation and see where this was going to take him.
"Well, she met me on my first day here and I quickly got to know her, and I ended up swapping Eleanor and Rin and a part of me wishes I shouldn't have done that." Tucker tried his best to explain to Sae about how he ended up meeting Rin in the first place. Rin carefully placed her sandal on Tucker's foot and smashed his shoe around gently for a bit, trying to tell him that he should try and not mention her until the time was right.
"I would be fine with either or. I have a few of Rin's paintings on display that Shinichi Nomiya was generous enough to give." Sae told them about what she was willing to show off to the group that Rin had made.
"Let me see them. Rin hasn't shown me half of the stuff she makes." Tucker told Sae that he would like to get an eyeful of the pictures that Rin has painted. Rin looked at Tucker, giving a small smile as if she was saying that he made the right choice.
"Sure." Sae told them. She walked over to the space where Rin's paintings were on display, they took up the small side of the wall and Tucker began to look them over. It was a small collection of pictures she had painted recently, all of which had to do with her favorite game. "Rin looks like she wants to get into a hobby as she gets older. Have you seen any models where the train goes around in circles?" Sae asked Tucker and Rin. Rin decided to speak up.
"Yes, we did, when me, Tucker and Hanako went to that Hobby shop in Hokkaido." Rin explained to Sae where she had seen such things. Sae smiled a bit before she began to speak.
"That shop, I think one my children works there and he said he spotted Rin one day as she was picking out gifts, when he got a photo of her a couple days later, he said she spotted someone like her paying up and when he said that she was a painter, he got excited and wanted to purchase most of her paintings to sell at his shop, he might keep one if it's his favorite." Sae explained that one of her children worked at the shop the three of them had visited. Rin was astounded to hear that.
"He better find the space to put that painting on display, I might go back to that hobby shop one day." Rin explained that if he decided to keep one, she was willing to go back and pay a visit to the place. "Also are hobby trains like art?" Rin asked.
"It's kind of is as if you got to build everything from scratch yourself, it will cost a lot of money and time to put together but once it's together, it can be something really beautiful." Sae explained to the two of them, they shifted from Rin's paintings to Eleanor's paintings. Tucker looked at the wall as if he wasn't amused. Eleanor's exhibition takes about half of the gallery's wall space. Some paintings are less familiar than others, but he couldn't recognize most of them. Some he thought could be seen being created at the club meetings after all or remember from the time when Eleanor was choosing her portfolio. Tucker noted that a couple of the unfinished paintings are framed and, on the wall, as well. Maybe that's what they call coincidental art? Even Eleanor's failures, if you can call them that, became exhibits of her skill. Quite paradoxical. "So, what do you think about Eleanor Kagami's paintings?" Sae asked. Tucker and Rin stood there in silence; they didn't have a clue about what they were going to say. Tucker looked around for Eleanor. She herself is nowhere to be seen, which is strange because even though it's crowded, the gallery is pretty small. It's fine, sort of. Tucker doesn't know how to face her after yesterday. Maybe he shouldn't have even come. But he promised various people, Rin included, that he would, so... Damn, it sounds like we do the things we do because some kind of instinctual properness compels them to, not because it would be sensible (or not). Tucker tried to sneak closer to Sae to wait for a lull in the conversation so he could chat her up too if she was alone. Even though her voice is almost completely buried under the general background noise, Rin hears bits and pieces of her talking about Eleanor, Tucker and her. Rin decided to break the silence.
"I think it's best we should move on and figure out where we should go next, I'm getting some pretty bad feelings about this." Rin told Tucker that she was beginning to feel uneasy. Sae decided to interrupt them again before Tucker could make his move.
"Yes, she is a high schooler at a local school... Even though she's graduating next year I'm sure various art schools would be interested in... ...I thought it'd be interesting to have an exhibition of someone who is still in early stages of development..." Sae told them as she was talking about Eleanor's skills as a painter. Tucker was feeling his anxiety boiling up inside of him. Rin began to think. It's so strange, it's like Eleanor or Rin is some kind of mini celebrity even though this is nothing but a small exhibition opening at a small art gallery of a small town. "In fact, there is a friend of mine from..." Sae continued to blabber away as Rin was losing interest.
"I think this event's a bust, I want to look at some clouds." Rin expressed her boredom; this wasn't getting her attention at all. They were interrupted by a voice as she was going to bring life into an otherwise boring afternoon.
"It's Rin!" The voice called out. Tucker's eavesdropping is interrupted by a familiar voice and a familiar slap to the back. Neither of them don't need to guess the source of either, even without turning around.
"Hi Emi." Tucker greeted her. Emi smiled before waving her hand. She was the excitement they needed if they were going to function further.
"Hi! Are you liking a representative of the art club or something? I don't see anyone else from the school here..." Emi asked before looking around. Rin looked around too.
"Umm... I don't know, really. I guess I am if that's the case. What about you?" Rin asked Emi why she was here. Emi looked up as if she was going to give her puppy dog eyes at Rin.
"What about me?" Emi began. Tucker was confused and wanted to join the conversation.
"Err..." Tucker tried to speak, he was having a hard time trying to come up with the words for Emi and Rin as they were trying to continue the conversation.
"You didn't think I'm interested in art? Is that it, Tucker?" Emi asked Tucker if he was trying to figure out the reason why he showed up. Tucker was still lost for words before he began to speak.
"No, that's not what I... well, maybe a little, if you put it that way." Tucker did his best to explain the situation to Emi. Rin stood there in silence while Tucker stumbled through his choice of words and began to speak again. "I mean, even though you hang out with Rin I've never heard you talk about art with her so..." Emi huffs and looks around her, looking discontented.
"It's true, I don't get it at all, but she came to my track meet, so I thought it's only fair to return the favor." Emi began while giving a smile to her face, she wanted to see if she could ask Tucker a question. She leans closer, trying to look confidential but only managing to look conspiring. "Do you get art?" Emi asked.
"No. No, I don't. At all." Tucker explained to Emi while waving his hands back and forth and his head from side to side. Emi laughed almost if Tucker was playing into her tricks. Emi could read his emphasizing headshake draws a giggle and a cheery headshake of her own out of Emi.
"Me neither! Hey, let's go talk with Eleanor! I bet you haven't yet, because I haven't either. Come on!" Emi told Tucker and Rin that they should see his sister to find out what she had in mind. Before Emi has a chance to forcefully drag Tucker and Rin to Eleanor, Shinichi appears behind her with Eleanor in his tow. She's not dressed for the occasion, instead opting for the usual school uniform and unkempt hair. Maybe her natural look is what suits her the best. Eleanor was excited as she beamed with pride over the art pieces she had created. She looked at Tucker as Tucker looked back at her, both were uneasy about each other. Tucker didn't know if he was going to get berated by Eleanor again for not dumping Rin.
"Hello, teacher! Hi, Eleanor!" Emi smiled before greeting them. Unfazed, Emi greets the teacher cheerfully, causing him to turn around and look down confusedly.
"Who are you? I kind of forgot your name." Shinichi began, He wasn't familiar with Emi as much as Rin or Tucker.
"I'm Emi, from school, class 3-4. Don't you remember?" Emi introduced herself again to Shinichi. Tucker looked at how Emi was greeting her looks positively shocked at the prospect that there could be a person who doesn't know her.
"Oh, sorry. You are in the same class as Tezuka is in the third period class, right?" Shinichi asked Emi if it was correct if she was in the same classroom as her friend. Emi closed her eyes and smiled at Shinichi.
"Yeah!" Emi told Shinichi. Tucker smiled slightly as Emi was the one thing, he needed to brighten up his day. Rin tried her best to be included in this, but she didn't know how she was going to respond.
"You'll have to pardon me; I have trouble remembering students who don't take art." Shinichi told Emi that he wasn't one to be familiar with students outside of his class. Emi nodded with a giggle to her face.
"Don't mind, don't mind! Hi Rin!" Emi told Rin while waving to her. Rin looked at Emi before shrugging to herself.
"Hello." Rin calmly greeted Emi's wild energy. Emi decided to give Rin a compliment.
"Congratulations for your super cool art thing! I'm sure you'll be a big hit!" Emi expressed her excitement for Rin. Rin looked at Emi however as if she wasn't agreeing to her. Emi throws her arms into the air for boisterous emphasis, almost hitting Tucker in the face. "And look, Tucker came too!" Rin doesn't look at Shinichi, nor does she greet him.
"Congratulations, Rin." A voice called out. Tucker looked around to see his parents had attended this art event. "We looked at quite a few of your paintings and we were impressed. Rin's got some creative ideas and themes in her head. Eleanor… not so much." Mr. Kagami explained to Tucker that his girlfriend was one with the ideas of what she wanted to create. She seemed to be more graceful compared to Eleanor whose ideas seem to leap from painting to painting.
"Oh thanks Mr. Kagami, I was spending time with Tucker when you showed up even with Emi about the event." Rin explained to the parents about what was going on. Mr. Kagami gave a laugh.
"We came all the way out here as Mr. Nomiya wanted to speak to us about it." Mrs. Kagami explained to Rin. She then looked at Tucker. "So, Tucker, how many tests do you have left to make up?"
"Just one. I got the other three done so far." Tucker explained to his mother that he just had one more test left before he was complete.
"Very good." Mrs. Kagami told Tucker that she was amazed with what her son had told her. "At least you're taking better care of yourself even with your disability. I wonder what you and Rin have planned for the summer?"
"We're not exactly sure as of yet but we should be able to figure it out when the moment comes." Rin explained to Tucker's parents that they didn't know what they wanted to do but if they were able to figure something out, they better have to do it fast or risk getting left behind at then looks down, keeping averting her gaze, pointedly looking at her to the tension between Tucker and Eleanor and ignorant of what happened yesterday, Emi keeps on blabbering about this and that to an unresponsive Rin. Tucker guesses she's used to not getting much out of her at times. Before long, Nomiya and Sae turn as they were going to give the news, introducing her to the crowd. Expecting it, Tucker catches the second of confusion when the guests see her arms. Sae is luckily on the ball and briefly explains about our school. Doubtful faces quickly change to curious.
"Eleanor is going to be questioned for her art, we need to sit down in the front as those seats are reserved for us. And then Rin will be asked questions next." Shinichi told the group that Eleanor was going to be asked. Tucker and Rin nodded before they followed their art teacher. Tucker's parents and Emi follow up behind. They all gathered and took their seats with Eleanor at the front of the podium. She was still beaming with pride as all the attention was now on her.
"Would you mind telling us something about your art? I thought the development is quite easily noticeable, what do you yourself think of the differences between the older and more current works? It's quite rare for someone so young to dabble into abstraction." The man would ask Eleanor what she did for inspiration behind some of those paintings. Eleanor listened before she began to speak.
"I looked at what everyone else was doing and thought about my old art pieces I did in my previous school. It came naturally to me when I decided to take it up again and I decided to create some beautiful pieces based on my imagination and the work of others." Eleanor explained how she was able to do her artwork. A woman stood up and decided to comment.
"It would've been interesting to see how you work!" She commented that she would be interested in seeing Eleanor do her art pieces. Another man decided to comment, making a comparison between her and another student.
"Oh, definitely! I assume you use your hands. I spotted Rin Tezuka making beautiful paintings with feet. Must've been a great trouble to learn it, but you should be proud that you can make excellent art pieces like her." The man would comment. Rin on the other hand was feeling uncomfortable. The similarities between her and Eleanor was art and only art. After that, they were vastly different people.
"I... ummm..." Rin began. She tried to figure out what she was going to say before the man stood up and began speaking.
"Will you be pursuing a career as an artist after school?" The man would ask. Eleanor continued to smile before she spoke again.
"Of course, I will, art is one of things I look forward to in life. I always love the feeling of being able to create stuff that people will smile with. I love the idea of feedback." Eleanor told the crowd. Rin stood up next as she had to ask Eleanor:
"Feedback, don't you know what you had to do to sacrifice everything to get to where you needed to be? What about your friends, your family, your sanity, do they matter in the end?" Rin asked as she was trying to knock Eleanor to her senses. "It's the reason I never really committed to doing this in the first place." Eleanor's mood went from happy to sour as Rin had asked what she had to give up in order to make her dreams come true. Eleanor took the microphone from the podium before getting off the stage and heading over to Rin. She began to shout at her despite still being bombarded with questions.
Katawa Shoujo- Caged Heart
"Sacrifice? I gave up everything in the end as they all didn't matter to me. Who cares about what mother and father have to say, everything doesn't matter if you're the one in control of the switches and buttons, it feels rewarding to not have the strings attached at the end of the day. I feel proud of the hundred or so paintings I made as it took forever and letting anything get in my way wasn't what I wanted to do." Eleanor began. Tucker was shocked. Eleanor had completely sacrificed everything that didn't have to do with painting. She looked around before spotting Tucker and Rin. Tucker looked on while Emi buried her head in her hands. The Kagami parents braced themselves for the worst. If Rin was bombarded with so many questions, she can't even hope to answer all of them. Maybe that's for the best, Rin tends to talk nonsense more than occasionally. Some of the crowd continued to bombard Eleanor with questions.
"So where do you get your ideas?" Another man would ask. Eleanor ignores them before walking over to Tucker. She spotted him with Rin, and it was clear that her Ire hadn't left her when she screamed at him yesterday. She still had plenty left over.
"I told you to dump her already." Eleanor commanded Tucker. Rin stood up as if she was going to defend Tucker herself.
"It isn't his choice who he gets to see and who he shouldn't. Get it through your head that you've sacrificed everything, and you still don't have a care in the world for the consequences of your own actions. You're not the person I met on the first day when you came here." Rin began. She was ready to fight tooth and nail to defend the person who she loved. "Do you have anything you love other than painting, or even someone who cares about your well-being, willing to take you on trips around Japan to find stuff you enjoyed. Who would be willing to talk to you at the end of a long day. Do those people matter?" Rin asked Eleanor, she was putting her foot forward and standing up for Tucker. Eleanor scoffed Rin's question.
"They don't matter because none of life matters other than creativity. If you are willing to care for something as trivial as family, friends, and hobbies That's the fourth, I mean fifth worst thing in life. And what does a painter with no arms have to say about it?" Eleanor taunted in a way that didn't sound like her natural self. Rin was going to expose Eleanor for what she was worth.
"Are you going to apologize to your brother and his friends for all of the behavior that you've shown?" Rin asked Eleanor. Eleanor looked at Rin and scoffed again.
"No. They don't matter in the end and what is a pathetic painter like you going to do? Punch me? Oh, wait you can't you have no arms." Eleanor taunted Rin that she wanted to act in a way that she could make fun of Rin's disability. Rin meanwhile knew when enough was enough.
"I don't need to punch you to make sure it hurts." Rin told Eleanor. Rin swung her foot around and kicked Eleanor to the side. Eleanor dropped the microphone to the floor as it made a thud sound. Now Rin needed to grab the microphone and tell the group the truth about Eleanor and show what this so-called painter had to hide behind her canvas. Eleanor got up and charged at Rin, but Tucker grabbed her and tried to hold Eleanor down despite having one good arm to restrain her. Eleanor was kicking and hissing like a spoiled child who wanted something but couldn't.
"Tell the room about her. Hopefully that would get their attention." Tucker told Rin. Rin grabbed the microphone with her feet before she began to speak.
"May I have your attention please. Eleanor isn't like the person who she claims she is. From what I have gathered over the past few weeks from her brother and some of our friends, Eleanor has decided to not do her classwork, her homework either. Shinichi had suspended her from her classes just to paint pictures but that doesn't excuse her behavior that she has shown. Just last night, I heard her and Tucker yelling and her telling him to dump me which he will never do as he loves me too much. People who dump each other are nothing more than cheaters and scammers to get money from the naive like the herds of sheep that are around the pasture." Rin continued to speak. Eleanor was stumbling around trying to break free from Tucker. The crowd gasped as Eleanor was not only a good painter, but her behavior reflected a side of her that no one knew about. "So, if she claims to be a good painter, give all your money to me as a good painter has to tell the truth about everything even if they don't want to do it to begin with." Eleanor finally broke free, knocking Tucker to the ground. Eleanor found out what Rin had told them. Eleanor charged forward again to smash Rin's face in. Suddenly, a hand came from the right and yanked Eleanor by her hair, it was Mrs. Kagami. Tucker had gotten up before Rin turned to Mr. Kagami.
"You said about all of this?" Mr. Kagami asked as he was shocked about his daughter.
"Yes. I had to do it." Rin told him. She turned to Tucker before she began to speak to him again. "I'm going to take Tucker outside while you relish in giving the brat what she deserves." Rin told Mr. Kagami that she didn't want his son to be on the firing line.
"Take care." Mr. Kagami. Rin began to escort Tucker outside of the art gallery before sitting with him on the stone wall outside. The cool evening breeze hits his face at the door. Tucker lets go of Rin and she sits on the stone wall, trying to catch her breath.
Katawa Shoujo- Shadow of the Truth
"Are you all, right?" Tucker asked Rin if she was doing okay. Rin knew that she needed to speak to Tucker about it.
"I needed to tell the crowd the truth about Eleanor..." Rin began. Rin is still not looking at Tucker, so Tucker looks away too. The streetlights and colored neon signs twist their vision into a blur of near blindness, forcing him to look back. At least she talks, even if she's not directing her words to Tucker.
"What did you want to say originally when they questioned you about your art pieces?" Tucker asked Rin about what she wanted to say. Rin's mind was blank as she didn't say anything. "Maybe both of us can imagine that we are talking to an invisible friend." Tucker suggested to Rin if she could talk telepathically if she was to formulate a response.
"I don't know. Something that would have meant something." Rin told Tucker. They both said nothing as the silence lasted for a long time. The only sound was coming from the art gallery as Mrs. Kagami was berating Eleanor for lying about her grades to do art. It wasn't as loud out here than it was in there.
"I don't feel comfortable being alone with you Rin for a long time. I am not good at imagining things that don't exist, do... or that things that exist, don't." Tucker sighed. He wanted to figure out what he was going to say next. He didn't know if his parent's ire had left them, and Eleanor was going to be kicked out and Rin was going to say something about her paintings. "We should go back in. The guests Sae invited are in there, they probably want to meet you and talk with you. You know, ask you questions and stuff. About those paintings you worked so hard for." Tucker told Rin that they should go back inside and try to continue the day like normal. Rin however had other ideas.
"I don't want them to ask me questions like that. I can never say the right things." Rin began. She thought the day was a bust and wasn't going to end well. Some things to Rin weren't worth salvaging.
"What do you want then?" Tucker asked Rin if she had any ideas of what she wanted to do next. Rin said nothing for a minute as she tried to think about what she was going to say. Finally, she spoke.
"That someone wouldn't have to ask questions from me." Rin sighed. Tucker was at a crossroad, what would he want Rin to like more, be proud of her painting or the fact that she helped expose the veil off of Eleanor and had someone like Tucker by her side. Tucker knew that Rin wasn't a big painter as much as she used to be, so he decided to ask:
"But if you found someone like that, then what? Do you really think that it would be some kind of be-all, end-all thing, star-crossed lovers and happily ever after?" Tucker asked Rin if she were to find someone that truly cared for her. Rin began to think about it but to Tucker, his question was met with a blank stare, the darkness in her eyes unfazed by the thinly veiled bitterness.
"No, I don't think that. But at least then I wouldn't have to be alone." Rin began to whisper the words to the lights of the town, but Tucker heard them anyway. "I shouldn't have done this. Not yet. Today wasn't a good day."
"The exhibition?" Tucker asked. Rin nods and closes her eyes, breathing calmly out as if to prove she can, and then continues talking to herself. Tucker was confused and he knew that he needed to know more about Rin. "Why? Wrong conjunction of the planets?"
"No, not that. I double-checked, and I got up with the right, I mean left, foot and did everything else left, I mean right. It's me. I was wrong." Rin admitted. She thought the dissolution of the club was the worst thing that happened to her, but this event was the icing on the cake when it came to her relationship with Tucker and his family. Tucker and his parents were fine and nice people, but Eleanor was the black sheep of the bunch. Rin stands straight and stretches before stepping past Tucker out into the street.
"Wait, where are you going?" Tucker asked, he didn't want to be left alone while Rin was beginning to walk away. She stops on her tracks and turns around, looking at him quizzically.
"School. I'm leaving." Rin told Tucker that she was heading back to Yamaku. Tucker was confused. He didn't want Rin to leave him.
"What... why?" Tucker asked out of despair. He didn't want to be left alone with his family, a possibly angry Shinichi and Emi who could also be angry too. Rin sighed before she decided to say the truth one more time to Tucker.
"Because I don't want to be the famous artist that Shinichi had built me up to be. I want to be me." Rin told Tucker. She turned and continued to walk away, leaving Tucker behind and utterly confused.
"Rin!" Tucker shouted for Rin to not leave him behind. Rin meanwhile didn't say anything while she completely left the scene. To Tucker however, something she said really touched him, or maybe it was the way she said it. Maybe it was the fact that she said it. He wants to say something back to her, before he forgets this feeling again. As if granting Tucker, a wish, Rin stops in her tracks. She doesn't turn around, just keeps waiting for me to say what Tucker wanted even though Tucker didn't have time to think what...
"Rin... listen. I... I don't believe you have to be alone, even if you never meet anyone like that." Tucker cried out in despair. He didn't want Rin to dump him even if they worked so hard to understand each other. Tucker doesn't know if she heard his words, but either way, she doesn't react in any way. For the final time, she starts walking away from the gallery. Tucker buried his head into his hand as he was ashamed. He thought Rin heard Eleanor's message and she broke up with him for good. The doors opened with a crying Eleanor running out onto the street as if the entire place had started a fight. Mrs. Kagami walked out with Mr. Kagami.
"Eleanor isn't worth our time. I think we need to make sure Tucker is okay when summer vacation comes around and we should also care for his girl assuming they're still together." Mrs. Kagami told her husband. She didn't think Tucker was still sitting out there with his hands buried in his face. Finally, Shinichi walked out to find Tucker sitting there racked with guilt.
"So? Where's Tezuka?" Shinichi asked. Tucker could only shake his head, but it doesn't seem to be a sufficient answer as he has to say something.
"She ran away." Tucker told the truth to Shinichi. Shinichi gasped at the news that Rin was no longer with them.
"What?" Shinichi told Tucker. The horrific realization spreads on his face like wildfire. "This is a fiasco! Catastrophe! What is that girl thinking, the most important event of her life, and she just runs off? And you! Why didn't you stop her? I'm going to hold you personally responsible. Your parents have greatly embarrassed us tonight!" Shinichi shouted at Tucker thinking he and his family were responsible for Rin disappearing meanwhile Sae had come outside, interrupting him, holding her hands up calmingly. It's good she intervened; the teacher was starting to get a few weird looks from the nearby guests.
"Now, now, Shinichi. She probably just had stage fright. I don't know her as well as you people do, but I did get the image that she is somewhat peculiar. This kind of thing can happen. It'll be fine. I'll explain that she suddenly became ill. The guests will surely understand." Sae began speaking to Shinichi that Rin had run off. But the reason why she left was due to her exposing Eleanor and Tucker's parents going rampant with berating Eleanor.
"But..." Shinichi tried to tell Sae.
"Look around you, everyone seems to be rather happy with their free wine and chit chat." Sae tried to explain with the fact that the guests who remained were happy and whatever happened, happened and there was nothing they could do about it.
"The guests will be fine, but we are missing out on opportunities here! Networking, making contacts and acquaintances!" Shinichi expressed as he went off as they still had a job to do. Emi then exited the building before finding Tucker outside. As the adults keep arguing about something that can't be helped, Emi tugs his sleeve to get my attention. She doesn't look very happy either.
"Come on." Emi told Tucker that she was ready to chase Rin again.
"Where?" Tucker asked, he was confused about where Emi wanted to go.
"We are going to find Rin and kick her ass." Emi told Tucker that she was willing to go out of her way and give Rin what she wanted.
"What?" Tucker asked. He didn't know why Emi wanted to do this. Emi began to give her reason.
"I can't believe it; she is so stupid! That Rin, how can she do this? I'm telling you; she doesn't have a bit of common sense in her head!" Emi shouted; it was clear that Emi is seriously angry, only missing steam rising from her ears. I guess I understand Emi, she is that kind of a person. "Give up" has never felt like a part of her vocabulary, and maybe she feels it shouldn't be a part of anyone's vocabulary.
"It's probably best to leave her alone for tonight." Tucker told Emi that it wasn't worth it to go after and attack Rin for leaving. Emi began to speak again.
"What? Are you a Rin expert now?" Emi asked Tucker if he knew Rin more than anyone else in the gallery. Emi takes a firm stance and puts her hands on her hips confrontationally. It's like she wants to pick a fight with Tucker too.
"No, I don't think that's even possible in the first place. I just don't think kicking her ass would do her any good." Tucker tried his best to explain to Emi that violence being solved with violence wasn't the best solution. Emi decides to back off a bit. Tucker's melancholic remark surprisingly works, as Emi slumps her shoulders a little and sighs.
"I know that." Emi sighed. Tucker tilted his head to the left before looking at Emi.
"You do?" Tucker asked Emi if he knew what he was talking about.
"The last time I did that, it changed nothing." Emi shrugged, she was still a terrier in terms of her growl and wasn't that threatening in the end. Tucker sighed as the only thing to do now was head back to school.
The ride back to school in an empty late-night bus is silent. Both of them keep staring at the lights flashing past the windows without saying a word. The nightly grounds are quiet, lit only by the wan moon and yellow lamp posts. Once they get off the bus, they say their goodnights in front of boy's dormitory. Emi reflexively clenching her fists compels me to ensure that she won't assault Rin the moment Tucker let her out of his sight.
Katawa Shoujo- Air Guitar
"Promise me you will not go and scold her?" Tucker asked Emi that he didn't want to damage the relationship he had with Rin further than what happened earlier today. She looks up at Tucker, her poplar green eyes again flaring with anger that Tucker could match with as calming a stare as he could. It's only easy to face an angry woman if you are not the target of her ire. After a minute of the mismatched staring contest, she sighs and shakes her head in defeat.
"You are too nice, Tucker. Did you know that?" Emi huffed in defeat. She didn't know what she was going to do. Tucker was going out of his way and preventing fights from happening. Hints of a smile are tugging the corners of her mouth as she says that, and she seems a lot more relaxed. What a sudden change of mood. Maybe she wasn't as angry as it seemed to begin with. Maybe her moods change easily.
"If I was, I would've let you have your way." Tucker explained to Emi that if he was so nice, there could have been a fight to start with and Tucker would be on damage control for Emi's mess.
"Does that mean you are only nice to Rin?" Emi asked Tucker that he was only nice to Rin and not her. Both of them are hiding our concern behind empty jokes, but these empty jokes that Emi spouts from her mouth at least puts Tucker in a good mood. Emi waggles her eyebrows with a half-amused smirk, trying to push his buttons. Not going to work.
"No, it just means I'm not nice only to you." Tucker remarked with some sly comments of his own.
"HEY!" Emi shouted; this was no time to get angry at Tucker.
"Good night, Emi." Tucker told Emi, he was up to his dorm within a few minutes and after cleaning himself up, he thought one more exam would do him good and he would be off the hook to decide what he should be able to do for summer vacation. Hopefully Rin would still find the time to speak to him even after Eleanor's veil has been ripped off of her and she was exposed for what she was. He liked Rin for standing up for him, but he felt like the storm wasn't over yet as he had his parents to contend with next.
[A/N]: A big part of the story has been exposed and Eleanor isn't the person as she is made out to be. The next couple of chapters will be Tucker trying his best to make things right regarding Rin and his parents, he doesn't know if Eleanor could be salvaged at this point. Rin is the only person he truly cares about now. We don't have much longer to go sadly and there are only a few more scenes after this. See you later.