Act 2: Splinters
Lenny's alarm clock was beeping. Lenny opened his eyes to figure out where the sound was coming from. He looked to his night stand to see what it was that was beeping. After figuring out it was his alarm clock. He pressed it to shut up. This was the usual wake up time for him for classes but with today being Sunday, there were still no classes for them to attend to. Lenny sensed it was early but he had made a promise to Emi. After getting himself dressed he decided to make his way to the track to see what was up.
The cool morning air caresses Lenny's face as the morning sunshine causes the dew on the grass to sparkle, nearly blinding him at first. It was still very early in the morning and it wasn't as humid as the day before, it must've rained while everyone was asleep. As Lenny makes his way down to the track, an ugly thought strikes his mind. What if this is some sort of joke that Emi's playing on him? Would that surprise Lenny, really? Hell, He'd probably do it to the new guy, too. At the very least, Lenny wasn't sure Emi and Rin made a bet on whether or not he would actually show up. Lenny could feel a sense of trepidation as the track came into view.
Katawa Shoujo-Standing Tall
"You're late!" Emi's shrill voice called out. She looked at Lenny with her usual playful self. Lenny nodded as if he needed a confidence booster. It would seem that Emi is already there. What a relief.
"Not according to my watch. We both are early, in fact." Lenny jokingly told Emi that he was pointing to his heart monitor thinking it was a watch, it was acting in its usual self. Emi couldn't help but laugh
"Damn. You've got me there." Emi told Lenny that she had understood the joke. Emi is sitting on the bleachers, decked out in her running gear, waiting somewhat patiently for Lenny.
"I'm glad you're actually here. I was afraid that this was a joke or something." Lenny expressed to Emi that the joke of him running around and showing up was going to be a common occurrence.
"Nah, I'd never make someone get up early for nothing. Plus, Rin owes me 500 yen now. She didn't think you'd actually show up." Emi teased Lenny. This was the time to be up for class and with them having nothing to do, they might as well make the best of it. Lenny knew it! Nice to know Emi was on his side, at least. Emi hops off of the bleachers and begins stretching out. She's remarkably lithe, almost like a dancer. Lenny sets out trying to stretch as well, but then realizes that he doesn't exactly remember how to stretch properly. It's been ages since he had stretched for anything, if you don't count his one stint at running last week. And even then, he didn't think he actually stretched beforehand. The specter of his long hospital stay rises up again. Lenny can't say he was all that active before the hospital stay, though, so maybe Lenny was just being morose. Emi giggles as she watches Lenny awkwardly stretch out.
"No no no Lenny you've got to hold it for longer than that!" Emi told Lenny that he was stretching incorrectly. She walked over to show how it was actually done.
"I'm trying! It kinda hurts a little." Lenny called out that his muscles were getting ripped apart. Emi smiled before blinking one of her eyes.
"Ha! That's because you're out of shape. You've got to get some flexibility in you, like this." Emi instructed.
To demonstrate, Emi reaches down and puts her head through her legs. God bless you, Emi. Lenny was pretty surprised by Emi's flexibility.
"I see. Is that the sort of thing I should strive for?" Lenny asked curiously. Emi kept the smile on before blinking one of her eyes.
"Of course! Flexibility is important for any runner. You'll be able to go faster the more you stretch out." Emi explained to Lenny. To Lenny that makes no sense, but Emi seems to believe it's true. With Emi's help and guidance, Lenny managed to stretch himself out properly. He can't help but notice that when she thinks about how to explain things to me, her mouth scrunches up in concentration. It's adorable. "Not bad, Lenny. Come on, we'd better start running. We'll start off with just a mile, okay? That's four laps around the track, got it?"
"That sounds fine to me." Lenny told Emi, he didn't know what he was roping himself into. Lenny began to think, this shouldn't be too hard, right? A hazy memory of running a mile for gym class surfaces in his mind. Yeah, it wasn't that bad. Emi sets a pretty good pace, and he quickly falls in behind her.
Katawa Shoujo-Hokabi
"Try to keep up, okay Lenny?" Emi told Lenny to keep the pace she wanted him to run at.
"Alright." Lenny nervously told Emi that he was going to keep the same pace as Emi. Emi took off like a blur and Lenny chased after her, desperate to keep up. They round the first curve without incident, though Lenny could already feel his heart rate increasing slightly. By the second curve, Lenny started to breathe through my mouth as he needed oxybent. Emi doesn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. As if to punctuate her superiority, she turns around and starts running backwards. Lenny was surprised that Emi could pull off something like that.
"Are you doing okay, Lenny?" Emi asked. Lenny was panting at this point like an exhausted puppy after a long session of playtime.
"Never... better." Lenny wheezed, trying to get air. Emi just smiled.
"Oh really? Maybe I should speed up then, hmm?" Emi asked. Lenny's eyes widened, why would she step it up a notch while he was struggling to keep up?
"Oh... no, ...wouldn't want you... ...to... overex...ert yourself." Lenny panted, trying to say the words to Emi. He was also worried about himself. His heavy panting and wheezing makes the statement less convincing than he had hoped. Emi simply smiles and turns around again.
"You're the boss, Lenny. We'll stay at this pace." Emi told Lenny as she dashed off to run more rings around him. Lenny couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being mocked. If he wasn't in such terrible shape, He would probably feel offended. By the third lap, his breath was coming in ragged gasps almost if he was ready to collapse with exhaustion. Lenny was also awash in his own sweat. Gross. They round the curve to start our fourth lap, and Emi looks back at Lenny with a grin.
"Here we go!" Emi told Lenny before she took off at blinding speed while Lenny was forced to stubbornly stick to my slower pace. By the time Lenny was able to round the first turn, she's already rounding the second. As Lenny continues to struggle across the back stretch, Emi continues running and catches up to him. "Come on, Lenny! You can do it!" Emi was cheering him on to finish this lap and don't quit on her. Lenny wanted to answer her, but he was too focused on getting air into his lungs and ignoring the burning in his leg muscles. Part of Lenny wants to say something like "Maybe you can, but I'm about to die here." But again, he doubted he can actually form words right now. Emi keeps pace with Lenny as he rounds the second turn and crosses the finish line. Her sprint seems to have gotten her sweating. It's actually caused her shirt to turn slightly translucent. It seems she wears a black sports bra. Lenny blushed heavily and looked away with embarrassment; he felt a vague stab of guilt for being the sort of guy who stares at a girl's chest, but his own legs and chest are burning so badly he couldn't bring himself to care that much.
"Not bad for a first effort, Lenny." Emi began. Lenny was too busy gasping for air to really care all that much.
Katawa Shoujo- Fripperies
"Ki— ...kind of you... to say... so." Lenny explained to Emi while he was still panting hard, he was just ready to collapse onto the track again and black out. Emi looked at him a little worried about dragging him to the nurse again. Emi on the other hand seems to be, if not out of breath, at least breathing a little more heavily than she was before we started running. It must have been the sprint that did it.
"Hey, I've got to get a few sprints in. You should walk around the track to cool down. Then we can stretch out, and we'll be all done, okay?" Emi explained to Lenny that he could take it easy and walk around for a bit while she practiced.
"Sounds great." Lenny told Emi. His legs are still on fire, and his breathing is still heavy, but surprisingly his heart seems to be taking the strain well. Another triumph of medical science, he would think.
"You should put your hands behind your head. It makes it easier to catch your breath." Emi suggested if he wanted to be able to cool off faster. Lenny did what Emi told him to do and surprisingly, she's right. Lenny begins to stroll around the track, happy to feel my breath coming back to him. There's a blur as Emi sprints by him. Watching her run is absolutely fascinating. It's not just because she's on prosthetics, though that is interesting. The really interesting thing is the way her face changes. Lenny can only catch glimpses of it as she runs by, but her eyes seem to come alive with a sort of fierce joy. It's as if there's nothing else in the world but her and the track. By the time Lenny had gotten to the final stretch, Emi seemed to have finished her sprinting. She's breathing heavily now, but she's wearing a satisfied grin on her face. She waves to me cheerily as he is near her. "Feeling better, right?"
"Actually, yeah." Lenny told Emi that his breathing was back to normal. Emi still needed Lenny for one more thing.
"D'you want to take another lap around with me? I've got to cool down too, you know." Emi asked Lenny to come with her. For Lenny part of him would rather sit down, and not move, but something tells him that would be a bad idea. Besides, if he decided to sit down, there may be no getting back up again.
"Sure, why not?" Lenny gave his reply. Emi looked at him with a bright eyed smile. Emi's got her hands behind her head now as well, which makes her seem very relaxed. The positioning of her arms also pulls her shirt upwards ever-so-slightly so that he can see a small strip of her belly. Lenny was trying to do his best to act like the gentleman and not look, but the contrast of her skin against her red running shorts is rather arresting.
"So how do you feel, Lenny?" Emi asked Lenny about his condition from the run.
"Surprisingly good, actually. I'm sore and tired, but... surprisingly good." Lenny explained to Emi. The very moment Lenny say's it, he realizes that it's true. Sure, part of him wants to lay down and die, but Lenny feels like he accomplished something. It's almost like a glow throughout his body that persists despite the soreness.
"Yeah, that's the runner's high." Emi explained to Lenny. Lenny was confused by the term that Emi had just curved balls to him.
"Runner's high?" Lenny asked Emi. He wanted to know more.
"Yeah, it has something to do with... adrenaline?" Emi tried her best to explain to Lenny. Emi thinks for a moment as they walk, trying to remember. Then she shrugs and grins at Lenny. "I don't actually remember. It's a good feeling though, isn't it? Better than sex, right?" Lenny opens his mouth to respond shortly before processing what she's just said.
"..." Lenny wasn't able to come up with a response to what Emi had just said. "Emi watches his face for a few moments before bursting into laughter.
Katawa Shoujo- Generic Happy Music
"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't resist! You're just too easy!" Emi told Lenny, playfully shoving him while laughing at what his reaction was.
"Why did I agree to run with you again?" Lenny asked in a teasing manner. He just wanted Emi to smile. Emi just laughs harder. She takes a hold of my forearm and tilts it, allowing her to get a better view of my watch. Her face changes the moment she sees the time.
"Oh no! We'd better get a move on, Hisao! Class is in an hour, and I need to shower!" Emi told him as if they needed to get ready to learn.
"I should probably do that as well..." Lenny told Emi that he should also head off to clean himself off before heading up. Wait, today is Sunday right?
"I need to see the nurse, too... maybe he'll write me a note for being late!" Emi told Lenny in a teasing manner, maybe getting up so early to run around was a good idea but neither of them had breakfast as of yet.
"Why do you need to see the nurse?" Lenny asked curiously. Emi points to her prosthetics, as if that would explain everything.
"It's important to check for irritation. You know, from sweat or friction, or anything. Normally I only go after practice, but if we're going to be doing these morning runs then I guess I'll see him twice a day." Emi explained to Lenny because of the intensity of these morning runs, she needed to see the nurse. Wait, so Emi has only started doing these runs since Lenny showed up? Lenny was confused by this.
"If it's more convenient for you to run with me at a later time..." Lenny began to explain that he might be up for another run if he was bored enough and would bring him back to the track. Emi just smiled.
"Don't be silly! I've been meaning to start running in the morning for a while now. But if I didn't have a partner to run with, I'd be less likely to keep up a routine. It's always harder to blow off a commitment if you're going to let someone else down, you know? So you'll be my running partner for the mornings! We both need the exercise, so it all works out, don't you think?" Emi asked that this was something she had been doing for a while now.
"Yeah, perfect." Lenny was able to say that they both needed to go on their runs. For Lenny, he began to think, did it have to be him, though? Well, he guess he can't complain too much. Emi's pretty fun to hang out with. And she's right. He does need exercise. Doctor's orders, even. Emi waves a quick goodbye to Lenny.
"Right, I'm off! Come have lunch with us, okay?" Emi told Lenny that she was inviting him for lunch.
"What?" Lenny asked, he was a little confused by this. Emi smiled as she had to remind him.
"Lunch! You know, the meal? In the middle of the day? Come have it with us!" Emi invited Lenny to spend some time with her. Lenny was a little bit confused.
"Where?" Lenny asked. Emi looked at him, was he this naive?
"The rooftop. Rin likes it up there." Emi gave the location where they were going to eat.
"When?" Lenny asked for a time. Emi looked at him. Her Green eyes are trying to match Lenny's blue eyes.
"Lunchtime, when else? That was a silly question." Emi told Lenny when they should meet, she began to laugh again, that surely was a silly question.
"Yeah, but I sort of felt the need to ask all three for completeness' sake." Lenny nervously told Emi, trying his best to laugh along although he wasn't up for it. Emi backed away from Lenny. Emi laughs and grins. Lenny doesn't think he's ever seen a girl smile so much before.
"Not bad, Lenny. See ya! Emi happily told Lenny. With that, she takes off like a shot for the school building. Lenny was going to guess she's going to see the nurse first. Lenny decided to hurry back to his room and hop in the shower, only to find that the water takes a while to heat up. The shock of the cold water nearly kills Lenny, it certainly felt refreshing running on a hot sunny day like this. Lenny managed to warm the water a bit and spend some quality time feeling his muscles loosen. Lenny's heart, surprisingly, feels the least bothered by the run. Lenny supposed that's a good thing, even if it does make him feel like a bit of a wuss. Lenny meant at least he'd have an excuse beyond "I am out of shape" if his heart were bothering me. Guess the School Nurse was right, he have to keep this running thing up, otherwise Lenny was sure Emi won't let him hear the end of it. It's only after Lenny gets out and dries himself off that he realizes that he had only ten minutes left to put his clothes on and get to class. Wait, today was Sunday? Crap.
Katawa Shoujo- Wiosna
"Hey Lenny." A voice came from the shower. The voice turned out to be Hisao Nakai, Lenny jumped as if his heart was leaping into his throat, he had been caught off guard. "Sorry if I scared you. I am here as the shower in my dorm area wasn't working and I just came to see how you were doing."
"Oh Hisao, I wasn't expecting you or something." Lenny began. "I'm doing good although my legs feel sore." Lenny admitted to Hisao how he was doing. Hisao gave a nod and a smile.
"Good to hear, you went running with Emi again?" Hisao asked Lenny if this was something he was going to do on a daily basis. Lenny's mood shifted as he seemed to calm down a bit.
"Yeah I did and to tell you that, Emi is a pretty friendly person, I have never seen anyone smile or laugh so much before." Lenny admitted. Hisao nodded.
"Glad to hear about that. I was speaking to Hanako earlier today and she said that she might want to consider you a friend of some sort." Hisao told Lenny. "She wants to spend time with you when she gets the chance."
"Where is Hanako right now?" Lenny asked. Hisao began to think about what Lenny had asked. Should he tell Lenny where Hanako is and maybe they could work something out and Lenny could see her or should Hisao hold Hanako back a bit and let Lenny continue to settle into Yamaku.
"She's currently at the library but since you're still fairly new to Yamaku, I don't want to rush you to have you meet everyone. It will be bad for your health and as a reminder, we should try our best to work together here." Hisao told Lenny where Hanako was but with Lenny's nature, Hisao was going to play it safe and keep the two of them from meeting each other for now. Hisao paused as he noticed Lenny's hands were covering his chest. "You seem to be hiding something." Hisao had backed Lenny into a corner where the latter had no route to escape. Hisao moved his hand around and gently pushed one of Lenny's thumbs away from his chest. Hisao spotted what seemed to be the edge of a cut that was beginning to form where the supposed chest scar was. Hisao wanted to see what this was going to be but for Lenny to escape, he was going to brute force his way through if it meant getting out of there.
"I-I-I'VEGOTTOGODOSOMETHING!" Lenny shouted before he took off like a blur. He didn't want Hisao to see what he had hidden. Hisao was confused about what Lenny was hiding but more importantly, why did he run off like that? Hisao needed to figure out more about his friend. Lenny could be as skittish as Hanako.
The hands on the clock finally set Lenny free from the tedium of yet another boring day of having mostly nothing to do. Getting up from the seat in the lobby proves to be more of a problem than Lenny had anticipated. His legs are still killing him from the morning's run. Maybe doing these with Emi isn't such a hot idea after all. Still, the run's given Lenny something to look forward to. He was halfway down the hallway to the cafeteria when Lenny remembered that Emi's got his lunch with her. Lenny's parents saw fit to provide him with some prepackaged stuff when he moved in at his old school, and a good thing too. The hallway is packed with students headed for the cafeteria. Going back is like swimming upstream - but Lenny's got an appointment to keep on the rooftop.
It takes Lenny a moment to find the staircase leading up to the rooftop, but Lenny is willing to bet that Emi and Rin aren't up there by now anyway. In fact, he thinks he saw Emi among the bodies in the hallway headed for the cafeteria. Lenny steps out of the door to the roof and takes a deep breath. The fresh air blowing against his face and body almost makes his legs hurt less.
"Maybe if I'm upside down..." Rin greeted Lenny. Lenny wasn't taken off guard compared to Hisao. Part of Lenny wants to be surprised that Rin's already up here.
Katawa Shoujo- Parity
"What's that going to accomplish?" Lenny asked Rin what this rooftop business has to do. Rin shrugged her shoulders and wanted to look up instead.
"Things in the clouds." Rin explained to Lenny.
"Couldn't you just... look at them right-side up?" Lenny politely asked Rin. Rin rolls her eyes in something approaching exasperation.
"Then I wouldn't get a new perspective." Rin told Lenny. "Much like rainbow beasts, snakes and fish travel long steel parallels connected by nails and wood."
"Is upside down really a new perspective?" Lenny asked. What Rin had just said made absolutely no sense to Lenny. Ah ha! That caught her off guard. Rin looks pensive.
"You may have a point. Maybe sideways." Rin explained to Lenny before she turned sideways to see what perspective she was going to get. As Rin lays down on the bench to look at the sky, Lenny is forced to give up. Fortunately Emi chooses that moment to burst through the door carrying two bags. She nearly takes the door off the hinges. Behind her meekly coming from the doorway was Hanako.
"Sorry it took me so long! There were a ton of people in line." Emi apologized to the crowd that there were a lot of people she needed to get through. Someone must've been ordering everything off the menu which would explain Emi being late but… what was Hanako doing here? Emi drops the first bag in front of Rin and takes a seat on the bench next to her.
"You buy Rin's lunch for her?" Lenny asked curiously. He didn't know exactly what Emi had in mind for her. Hanako wasn't going to say anything while Emi was going to have to do the heavy lifting in terms of speaking.
"Sometimes, yeah. I'd have Rin buy my lunch for me in return, but I'm not sure how she'd carry it." Emi told Lenny that she was often the one buying the lunch for Rin. Rin spoke next
"Plus I'd never buy her lunch." Rin added. If Rin's offended by Emi's comment, she doesn't show it. Emi sniffs.
"How ungrateful of you." Emi playfully teased Rin. Lenny wanted to laugh along but something was preventing him from doing so. He was not sure whether the two were joking with one another or if he and Hanako were witnessing the beginnings of a cat fight. The two girls stare at one another for a few tense moments before breaking into smiles.
"Hey Emi, do you think being upside down is a new perspective on things?" Rin asked Emi if she had any ideas on what they were going to do. Didn't Lenny already have this conversation? Emi looks thoughtful, apparently giving the question some thought. After a deep and profound pause, she speaks.
"I have no idea." Emi told Rin that she didn't have a straight answer to the question.
"Well, at least she's as lost as I am." Lenny told Hanako about it.
"Yeah I didn't get what Rin was saying." Hanako added. Emi turned to Lenny as she had a question for him.
"Hey Lenny, you're coming to the track meet, right?" Emi asked Lenny as if she was giving him an invitation. The question comes out of the blue and catches Lenny off guard. Lenny tried his best to think about an answer to the question that Emi had presented him.
"Um... I don't know yet?" Lenny nervously told Emi that he didn't know if it was a yes or no. Emi looked at him, ready to tell him something. Emi wasn't pleased.
"Honestly, Lenny, after I went through all the trouble of letting you run with me in the morning, you won't even show up at my track meet?" Emi tried to talk some sense into Lenny, she wanted to see if he was going to show up for her track meet. Lenny began to think, wasn't she the one that asked him to run with her? Actually, she didn't even give Lenny a choice in the matter.
"Wait, no, I didn't say that..." Lenny tried his best to explain to Emi that he didn't mean to say anything rude. Emi smiles and she beams at Lenny as if he'd just agreed to give her a million dollars. Lenny tried to back away as Emi looked at him before pulling back.
Katawa Shoujo- Ease
"So you will come after all! That's great!" Emi excitedly told Lenny, she felt like she was proud of her. Lenny was even more confused by what Emi said. He didn't say that either! Rin looked at Emi before she began to speak.
"I'll be going too, so I'll make sure he comes, Emi." Rin explained to Emi that she was going to come as well for the track meeting.
"Good idea, Rin! Maybe we can get some food or something after the meet's over?" Emi suggested the idea that they should find a day to get together if they were going to celebrate. Lenny feels like he's just been conned, but not by these two. More like by some outside force, pushing Lenny irrevocably toward his destiny. ...Or maybe he shouldn't read books that feature conspiracy theories so heavily. Otherwise he might wind up sounding like Kenji. Still, Lenny supposed that he's got to show up now. He didn't think that he could stand against both of them being disappointed. Lenny never heard the end of it. Hanako meanwhile was listening in, taking notes about what they were going to say.
"When is it again?" Lenny asked Emi when this track meet was going to take place. Emi began to think about it, what kind of answer was she going to come up with.
"Tomorrow, silly! I just told you a few days ago." Emi explained to Lenny about the track meeting. Lenny had been a student at Yamaku for less than a week, there was no way that Emi told him about this in advance.
"No you didn't." Lenny added to what Emi said in terms of the track meeting. "I have only been here for four days and there is no way told me this in advance." Lenny explained to Emi that his short time being here, he had no idea that Emi told him about this. Emi withdrew and she began to speak again.
"I forgot? Well, you won't forget to come though, will you?" Emi asked Lenny if he was going to still show up.
"Of course I won't! I'll even make a note on a calendar or something!" Lenny nervously told Emi while waving his hands in front of his face. Emi smiled while Rin nodded sagely.
"That's probably a good idea, you know. Unless time changes its course." Rin explained to Lenny that it was good to make notes and start keeping habits in track.
"Can it do that?" Emi asked curiously, was there a black hole somewhere that they didn't know much about. Rin gives a noncommittal shrug.
"It hasn't yet, but you never know..." Rin tried to explain to Emi about how time could change course. This time it's Emi who gives a shrug.
"I suppose it can't be helped if it happens." Emi told Rin. Rin shrugged before talking back to Emi.
"Not unless you're a time traveler or something." Rin added onto what Emi had just said. Hanako continued to listen, not saying a word about it.
"You don't actually think that could happen, do you?" Lenny asked. He didn't know much about space and time travel though. Emi and Rin turned their heads to face Lenny.
"I don't think we do... do we?" Emi asked. Rin shrugs again. That seems to be her default response to everything.
"I suppose not. But I reserve the right to change my opinion at a moment's notice." Rin shrugged, she was growing bored by the conversation and wanted the lunch period to end. For Rin, this statement makes a disturbing amount of sense. The fact that I realize this now frightens Lenny a bit. He begins to wonder if Emi gets this feeling all the time. If she does she's not showing it, though. Emi merely nods.
"As expected." Emi's reply seemed to come out of the blue
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin asked Emi if she found any answers. This time, it's Emi who shrugs. It's like she's using Rin's own weapons against her.
"Your response is the sort of thing I'd expect from you, that's all." Emi explained to Rin.
"Am I really that predictable?" Rin asked. Emi's smile seems to border on gloating.
"Nah, it's just that your unpredictability is pretty predictable." Emi playfully explained to Rin that there was no sense of being predictable.
"Well that's all right then." Rin shrugged before looking around. Lenny doesn't get the chance to see whether Rin's being serious or not, as the bell rings. Neither Lenny or Hanako noticed the lunch period slipping by at all. Hanging out with these two was far too interesting. Emi jumps up, a look of panic on her face.
"Oh no! I needed to stop by my room to pick up my notebook for the library! I need to return Yuuko those books!" Emi told them as she realized she had forgotten something. Rin looked at Emi, wanting to see what she might have planned out.
"Don't you wish you had a time machine now?" Rin asked Emi. Rin seems rather smug as she delivers this line; like she'd just won an argument. Emi ignores Rin's comment.
"Sorry Lenny, but could you make sure our garbage gets thrown away? I usually clean up myself, but I've got to run!" Emi asked Lenny if she could take care of her stuff but for Emi, she needed to flee.
"Sure, no problem." Lenny told Emi that he would take care of her belongings. Emi darts away with an urgency that he was starting to expect from her. Lenny doesn't bother asking Rin why she couldn't help. She already seems to be preoccupied with something else entirely as she wanders off. She's probably used to Emi taking care of cleanup, and for some reason he doubts Emi's ever raised the issue with her. Cleaning up from lunch doesn't take long, so Lenny has plenty of time to toss our garbage and get off of the roof. Lenny wanted to talk to Hanako for a moment before they split.
"Hanako, are you coming to Emi's track meet tomorrow?" Lenny asked Hanako if she was going to see him tomorrow.
"Sorry, I can't. I promised I'll hang out with Lilly tomorrow. But I'll see you tomorrow for sure." Hanako explained to Lenny that she had other activities planned and she wasn't going to spend the time with Lenny. "I have to get going, it was nice for me to drop by." Hanako explained to Lenny before she left the scene.
"Take care Hanako." Lenny waved Hanako goodbye as Hanako left Lenny alone. Lenny had nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon. Misha greets Lenny with a wave and a devious grin as he walks through the door.
"Didn't see you in the cafeteria, Leechan." Misha greeted Lenny with a smile to her face. Lenny was caught off guard as he wasn't fond of Shizune and Misha.
"Yeah, I decided it was too crowded there." Lenny told Misha that he didn't want to eat there so much as he preferred the rooftop. Misha's grin gets even wider.
"Oh really? Are you sure you weren't participating in an illicit ren—dez—vous?" Misha asked before breaking out in her signature laugh.
"W... what? What are you talking about?" Lenny asked, he felt very confused about what Misha had said.
"You were on the roof, right? With both Rin and Emi, no less! You Casanova, you!" Misha told Lenny while her smile was beaming brighter than ever.
"We... we just had lunch, that's all!" Lenny tried his best to get Misha to go away as she was getting on his nerves. Misha bursts into laughter, drawing the attention of several of the students in the hallway. Lenny blushed with embarrassment.
"Wahahaha! You're so adorable when you blush like that, Leechan!" Misha commented about Lenny's blush. She gives him a conspiratorial wink. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"There's no secret!" Lenny told Misha that it was a fact that he was eating his lunch on the rooftop.
"Oh?" Misha told Lenny. Misha seems disappointed and then brightens up again. Lenny was surprised at how fast Misha's mood changes back to her usual self. "Time will tell~!" Lenny still doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but blessedly Lenny decided to turn and head the other way. He didn't bother to say goodbye to Misha, he was going straight for his dorm.
Another day of relaxation has finally dragged itself to a close. Unexpectedly, Lenny managed to stay awake for the whole day. He was pretty sure that counts as a miracle. His legs seem unwilling to stand up for a moment. Lenny began to guess that the run took a lot out of him. He headed down the hallway and made his way to his room. Lenny sat down and half-heartedly chipped away at the book he presented to Hanako a couple of days ago. For a while, feeling like a vulture picking at a particularly unsavory carcass. It knows this is what it eats, but it's not sure that it shouldn't be ordering takeout instead. Lenny felt tired but a new feeling was sweeping over him. He was feeling bored. He doesn't think he can take this, but it's important to get some reading done.
"I wish I hadn't got my homework done in one go on Friday." Lenny told himself. If he hadn't done his homework, it would have served as a distraction but since he did any assignment that was handed to him within the first hour or two shows that he was more or less used to his old school. Lenny knew it's a losing battle, but he had to fight it anyway. Halfway through reading a chapter, Lenny had to put the book down. This isn't working. He needed a distraction. Unfortunately, his options for distractions are rather slim. Lenny felt he was not in the mood to read, right now. Everyone else was, unusually, out of his room at the moment. If Lenny decided to go to the student council room, he'd just end up doing work for those two and he didn't like Shizune and Misha all that much. And heaven only knows where everyone else is, except for… Well, Lenny thought of another option, one he didn't think too much about. He decided to grab his shoes and head for the track. Emi's probably down there. Track practice is just ending as Lenny arrives at the track. The sun's beginning to dip low in the sky. Has it really gotten that late already?
Katawa Shoujo- Afternoon
"What are you doing down here, Lenny? Come to spy on me, have you?" Emi asked Lenny if he was here to check up on her. Lenny gives a shrug. To be honest, he was not sure why he's down here.
"I didn't have anything better to do." Lenny admitted. Emi's eyes widened as her own friend had decided to pay a visit to her. Lenny figures that's about right. At the moment, Emi's the only person he can think of who he could visit.
"So I'm your last resort, am I? Nobody cool around, so I'll just go see Emi, is that what you thought?" Emi asked Lenny if this was something he was going to truly come and visit actually looks angry. A chance for some teasing of his own presents itself.
"Actually, yeah, I guess you are." Lenny tried his best to explain to Emi that he had nothing better to do so he might as well visit her. Emi pouts, widening her eyes to give the maximum amount of puppy-dog resemblance. "Kidding! I was kidding!" Lenny tried his best to make Emi feel better. Emi turned back to Lenny.
"So you are down here to stalk me!" Emi shrieked, she didn't want to be followed around. Wait, what?
"That's not what I meant! Why would I stalk you anyway? It's not like you require stalking. If you're not asleep or in class, you're down here, right?" Lenny tried his best as he felt like he was going to fall off of his feet. Emi laughs at this comment.
"Well, you're not all wrong, I suppose - but you forgot about eating. I do that too, you know." Emi stated that Lenny must've forgotten the schedule she had him working towards. Lenny nods, conceding the point. "Plus I hang out with Rin sometimes too... so really I might take some effort to stalk."
"What do you two do together anyway? You don't seem to have a lot in common." Lenny asked. He wanted to figure out what she and Rin usually did in the weekend afternoons when they didn't have much to do. She puts her hands on her hips and assumes a superior air.
"That's what you think. I've got all sorts of hidden hobbies, you know." Emi told Lenny that she was reliant on herself but to Lenny, he wanted to figure out what Emi does whenever it isn't running or Rin when it comes to painting.
"Oh really? Like what?" Lenny asked Emi what she did with her free time. Emi puts her head to one side, as if she's trying to remember what it is she does in her free time. She turned back to Lenny when she remembered what she does with Rin in their free time.
"Well, Rin and I go out shopping sometimes." Emi would begin the conversation. This was what she would do with her free time. Lenny would have to guess that makes sense. Emi's a girl, after all. But Rin?
"Rin comes with you?" Lenny asked Emi if Rin came with her on the shopping trips that Emi would usually do. Emi's tone shifts before she begins to think of where she normally would take Rin to.
"We usually swing by the art supply store. Plus she likes this music store that sells all kinds of weird sounding stuff. She says it helps focus her." Emi would explain to Lenny where she would take Rin shopping to. Lenny began to think this over. That makes a little more sense.
"What is Rin's favorite piece of music? I never listened to much music in my life out of curiosity." Lenny asked Emi if Rin had any favorite genres or bands she listens to.
"That is something you have to ask Rin about, I don't know anything about any sort of music she listens to." Emi told Lenny that if they wanted to know about what Rin listened to, he might have to ask her himself.
"I see. Any other hidden hobbies?" Lenny asked Emi if she had anything else hidden in that mind of hers. Emi wags a finger at Lenny.
"Now now, why would I go and reveal all my dark secrets to you? We hardly know one another!" Emi told Lenny that for all of her hobbies and secrets, she wasn't willing to spill anything to him as of yet. Somehow Lenny began to think that's all that Emi has in the way of hobbies. Still, he doesn't think all of his questions have been answered.
"Even if you do have a few hobbies, I still don't see why you hang out with Rin so much. I mean, she's kind of weird, isn't she?" Lenny tried his best to ask why they would often spend their time with each other. This comment causes Emi to laugh loudly.
"Ha! That's the understatement of the year!" Emi told Lenny while trying to calm down from her laughing manner. Lenny was still curious about what it was and needed to ask again.
"So why? I mean, you're a lot better at conversation and stuff, so I figure you'd hang out with a lot of people, but I think I've only ever seen you with Rin." Lenny asked Emi if she had a reason that she and Rin spent a lot of time together. Emi seems unusually defensive.
"Hey, I hang out with plenty of people that aren't Rin! You just don't see me doing it because I'm not in your classes." Emi stuck her tongue out as if she was mocking Lenny like a striking snake. Lenny had to back off a bit.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you hang out with Rin." Lenny asked as he wanted to see why Emi and Rin spent a lot of their time together. Lenny was not even sure why he wanted to know this. Lenny had to guess it was because lunch was so strange. Emi shrugs, looking for a moment very Rin-ish.
"It's because we have similar outlooks." Emi finally blurted out. Lenny had his answer but this was only drawing him deeper into the well. If you were to ask Lenny, the least likely answer to his question, that would be it.
"What do you mean?" Lenny asked curiously. Emi nodded before she began to speak again.
"It's like... Okay, Rin paints and stuff, right?" Emi began. Lenny was curious and needed to know more.
Katawa Shoujo- Standing Tall
"Yes..." Lenny asked curiously if Emi truly had the answer he was looking for. He was not sure where this was going.
"Well, I run." Emi told Lenny as she began saying what her hobbies were.
"And?" Lenny asked.
"And... that's why we're similar." Emi concluded. Lenny was still confused and needed more information.
"... You lost me." Lenny told Emi, he felt dumb but his mind was rather numb as Emi didn't explain it fully. Emi frowns, as if trying to figure out her answer.
"Well, maybe it's that we do things for the same reasons." Emi explained. Lenny was curious again and wanted to know more.
"Huh?" Lenny asked.
"You know, we follow our passions." Emi explained to Lenny that they have their goals and passions they work to. Emi gave another smile as Lenny was learning more about her.
"So you're passionate about running and Rin's passionate about art, is that it?" Lenny asked. He had figured out what Emi had in mind. Emi nodded before she paused for a moment, she turned her head back to Lenny and began speaking.
"Well, sort of. Let me think... Well, Rin explained it to me once, but I don't know how much of it I followed." Emi explained to Lenny that when she and Rin first met they had their passions and for Lenny this was enough for him to understand. Not surprising. Lenny thinks any explanation from Rin would probably confuse anyone. "She says we both chase after an extreme. Like, she's always trying to find a new way to show a particular feeling or something. And I run because of the feeling I get from it. And since we don't allow ourselves to be slowed down by anything, we make a connection based on that."
"What do you mean "slowed down by anything?"" Lenny asked, he was still curious about Emi and what she had to say. Emi looks surprised and points to her legs.
"You know, because I'm a runner. And Rin's a painter even without arms. So we respect each other's determination. And that's why we hang out. I think." Emi told Lenny what she did with Rin and why they became friends. She remained confused on the last part of what she had said. Well, Lenny's not sure that made any sense to him...but from Emi's sheepish expression, she's not sure about it either. "Honestly, it's not something I think about much. We just get along - I think that's really all that matters." Lenny nodded, he supposed she's got a point there. Another question strikes him, and since he had got nothing better to do, Lenny decided to ask it.
"So what got you so into running, anyway? I got into it recently as the Nurse says I need to improve my health but it's just a way to release all of that energy built up inside of me and it's a good stress reliever." Lenny asked and he told Emi why he began running in the first place. Emi looked at Lenny before she smiled.
"Oh, I've been running since I was really little! My dad was a runner, and so as soon as I could walk, he started teaching me how to run. It was our father/daughter thing, you know? Our own mutual hobby." Emi explained. Lenny felt his heart race for a bit. Did she just mention her dad? Lenny tried his best to shake this feeling as the heart monitor began to give the statistics out faster and faster.A shadow crosses her face, and he's shocked to see her looking... sad. Did something happen between them? "Man, I don't have a lot of time left. Sorry, but I've got to get a few more laps in before I go see the nurse!" With Emi's words, Lenny's heart monitor finally began to calm down. Emi must've saved him but more importantly she had put him in a position where he wasn't ready to talk about his past. Lenny watched Emi as she raced off around the track, hair streaming in the wind. It seems to him she's going a lot faster than she was this morning. As she rounds the track, Lenny catches a glimpse of her face. It's much the same as it was this morning, but her eyes seem to have taken on a harder edge. He had to guess she's right. Lenny still doesn't really know much about her but more importantly, he didn't know what to say about himself. Lenny watches her run for a little while, and then stands up to head back to his room.
"Hey!" Emi called out as she raced over to him. The sun had disappeared as the blue sky was now a dark indigo. She spots Lenny leaving and waves to catch his attention. "Don't forget! Same time tomorrow morning, got it?"
"Got it." Lenny told Emi as they both left the track. Emi headed off to see the nurse while Lenny headed back to his room. Time for bed beckoned his mind. Walking around Yamaku at night time was the best time for him, it certainly felt calming as the cold air brushed against his face and the lights dotted the way. Lenny liked the atmosphere but he felt empty inside, he had no one to share it with. Eventually, he made it back to his dorm and decided to change into his night clothes. A shower tomorrow morning will do him fine. As his head hits the pillow. He began to think: That Emi surely was a nice person to hang out with. Could this be something new that will be happening between them? For Lenny, he didn't know the full answer to that. The one thing he cared about now was getting sleep.
Tomorrow was going to start a full week for Lenny.
[A/N]: Finally beginning the second act of the route with Lenny spending time with Emi. Now that some of Emi's character has been established. It's going to bounce off of Lenny now as the students and staff of Yamaku interact with him. See you later.