Chapter 32: Covalence
"Yasui, are you feeling okay?"
Yasui blinked dreamily and let his eyes focus on the animal across from him. It was Friday already, but it didn't feel like it. He was eating breakfast with Shinrai. At least, Shinrai was eating. Yasui still just didn't feel very hungry. He forced himself to eat a little bit at each meal, but he didn't have an appetite. Yasui looked down at his plate and broke off a small piece of toast to eat.
"Yasui! Hello!"
Yasui straightened his posture.
"Huh? Sorry, were you saying something?"
Shinrai gave him a concerned look.
"Yasui, I'm worried. I think something's wrong with you."
Yasui frowned.
"You mean… apart from my arm and eye?"
"Yasui, you're not yourself! You're all… distant and quiet lately. And you're losing a ton of weight!"
Yasui frowned and looked down at himself.
"I don't think I'm losing weight…."
"You're practically a skeleton! You didn't have much mass to begin with, but now you're emaciated!"
"You're overreacting, Shinrai."
Shinrai ducked under the table and pulled Yasui's shirt up, exposing his torso.
"Yasui! I can see your ribs!"
"Shinrai, relax. It's probably just…."
Shinrai crossed his arms.
"Just what?"
Yasui shook his head.
"I don't know. But it's not that big of a deal."
"Yasui, please listen to me! I'm really worried about you! Can you please go see a doctor?"
Yasui frowned.
"I have had more than my fill of doctors for a while, thank you very much."
The squirrel looked down at his hands and sighed.
"Then can you at least eat your food? Even just a bit of it?"
Yasui looked down at the toast and bean steak he had on his plate. His stomach lurched a bit at the thought of eating it.
"I just don't really—"
"Yasui, please. Just half? You need energy to heal."
Yasui sighed. He didn't really want to eat, but his friend made a good point.
"Okay. I'll try."
Yasui could only make it through a third of his meal before calling it quits. He didn't know why, but he just didn't feel like eating anymore. He sighed.
"I can't eat another bite."
"Well, at least you ate something. You'll feel better because of it."
"I guess."
Shinrai leaned in and smiled a bit.
"So… want to hang out this weekend?"
Yasui shrugged.
"Sure, why not."
"Awesome. So we can meet at the school gates at—"
As Shinrai kept talking, Yasui felt the telltale signs of his medicine wearing off. It seemed to be happening faster each day. He'd woken up at one a.m. to take a pill, and then again at five. Now it was around eight in the morning and he needed another one. Yasui popped the lid off the container and fished one of the capsules out. He quickly popped it into his mouth and washed it down with his carton of milk. Yasui screwed the top back onto his pills as Shinrai frowned.
"Huh, your pills are getting low."
"Yeah, I'll need to get more soon."
"How long are you going to have to take those?"
Yasui shrugged. Shinrai shook his head.
"Geez, they could at least give you an estimate of when you'll be done. Anyway, remember to meet me at the front gates tomorrow at three. Okay?"
Yasui nodded.
"Got it."
And with that, classes began. Yasui still had trouble keeping up with the lecture, but was getting a bit better. At least, when he wasn't desperately trying not to doze off. He would randomly get so sleepy at times, and he wasn't sure why.
He struggled through his classes until it was time for lunch. It wasn't that Yasui was hungry, he just needed the break. Even still, he went through the line and got his food because he knew Shinrai would worry if he didn't eat something. Sure enough, Shinrai watched him intently as he sat down, forcing Yasui to eat at least part of his sandwich and carrot sticks. He followed this up with another pill washed down with water. Shinrai furrowed his brow.
"How often are you supposed to take those?"
Yasui shrugged.
"I dunno, I just take them when I feel them wearing off."
"Well what does the bottle say?"
Yasui turned the bottle over in his hands and saw instructions in tiny print on the side. He read it carefully.
(Do not mix with alcohol. Take no more than one every six hours. Side effects may include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, mood swings, vertigo, paranoia, chronic fatigue, and slurred speech.)
Yasui gulped. That was a lot of bad news. He had been taking one close to every three hours. And the side effects were… worrying. Which meant he needed to slow down a bit. Yasui shrugged.
"Uh… take one every four or five hours."
"Oh, okay. So, planning on joining us at the study group tonight? We've missed you these last few weeks."
Yasui nodded.
"For sure! I'll be there!"
(I don't want to admit I messed up taking these pills too frequently. I'll fix it. I just don't want Shinrai to worry. He seems stressed enough as it is.)
The rest of the day passed slowly, and around three or so Yasui felt the need to take another dose of painkiller creeping up on him. He took a deep breath.
(It's only been three hours. I need to wait.)
Three turned into three twenty. Yasui felt a headache growing and a bit of a tremor developed in his hand as he was writing. This was impossible. How was he supposed to concentrate on school with this distraction going on? Maybe he should just start cutting back after today's classes were done. He was struggling to keep up enough as it was. That would definitely work.
Yasui quickly took out his pills and took another dose. Besides, there was nothing to worry about. He wasn't actually addicted or anything. It took a long time for that to happen. He'd only been taking these pills for a few days. He had plenty of time to gradually reduce his consumption of them.
Once classes were done and Yasui was heading towards his club and later to his study group, a different group was meeting in the library. The three dogs from the advanced class all sat around a table with looks of frustration on their faces. Kojo the beagle huffed.
"So that fox can be absent for weeks, come back looking like a mess, and they still let him stay in the advanced class. That doesn't seem fair to me."
Jimin the Newfoundland dog shrugged.
"I'd sort of hoped he had moved away. Guess that would have been too lucky."
Both boys sighed and looked at Rebecca, the golden retriever. She was staring intently down at her notebook and rhythmically tapping her finger on the table. Kojo raised an eyebrow.
"You're absorbed in thought. Got any great ideas to share?"
She closed her eyes.
"You saw how bandaged up he was, right?"
Jimin snorted.
"Sort of hard not to."
Rebecca opened her eyes and held up a finger.
"What do you think the doctors gave him for painkillers?"
Both boys shrugged and Kojo replied.
"It could be anything."
Rebecca nodded.
"We need to find out what it is. If we can make it seem like he's abusing his painkillers, then he'll probably get either suspended or put on probation."
Jimin grinned.
"Which would mean he'd be out of the advanced class!"
Kojo laughed.
"Rebecca, that is genius!"
The female raised a hand in modest acceptance of the complement.
"There's no guarantee it's going to work, but it's a chance."
She looked out the window towards the school grounds.
"You'd better watch yourself, fox. I don't give up easily."
"Bruh, I need a punk hyena girlfriend and I need her now!"
Yasui stared at Shiro as he thumped his fist against the table. The dog continued.
"Is it too much to ask for a hyena girlfriend who is a bit angry looking and wears dark clothes? But she secretly really cares and shows her affection by being grouchy."
Yasui rubbed his eye.
"Shiro, what are you talking about?"
Tao snickered.
"You rewatched 'Grill la Grill' again, didn't you?"
Shiro nodded and Yasui looked over at Shinrai and mouthed "Grill la Grill?" Shinrai yawned.
"It's a show where an aggressive hyena girl in a black chef's uniform runs around killing evil food with a giant spatula."
Yasui narrowed his eye.
"That sounds… strange."
Shiro nodded.
"Oh yeah, but the main character is super hot. Like, life changingly hot. Like, has unironically been called 'The character who made hyenas hot.'"
Yasui stared at the canine.
"And… What does this have to do with math?"
"Just needed to get it off my chest."
"…Okay…."
Tenbe the toucan glanced up from his phone.
"Am I the only one who wants an explanation as to what exactly happened to you?"
Yasui licked his lips, but before he could speak Shinrai did.
"So this huge caiman attacked me and my friend as we were walking to the train. Yasui showed up, fought him so we could escape, and then we found a polar bear to annihilate the caiman."
Tao whistled.
"Dude, for how cute their faces are, polar bears are hard core! I saw where one literally ripped a dude in half once. Like a piece of paper!"
Shiro nodded.
"They're absolutely friend shaped, but then can rip your arms off and beat you to death with them. Freaking metal."
Yasui cringed a bit at the mention of ripping off arms. Shiro noticed.
"Uh… my bad dude."
Shinrai pointed at the group members and asked,
"Vote for which has the cutest face. Shiba Inu, otter, or polar bear."
Shiro pursed his lips before grinning and bobbing his head.
"Polar bears. Because they also tend to have huge racks."
Tao made a finger gun.
"Same, and for the same reason."
Yasui shrugged.
"Well… I met an otter who ran a candy store. She was adorable and gave me free candy samples. So probably otter."
Shinrai hesitated before grinning and bobbing his head too.
"Shiro really sold me on the polar bears. Best of both worlds."
They all looked at Tenbe who just gave them the middle feather. Yasui rolled his eye.
"Moving on. So, what's everyone's thoughts about the History assignment?"
Tao made a "T" with his hands and cleared his throat.
"Uh, not to be that guy, but I'm more worried about our Seaspeak assignment."
Shiro frowned.
"What? Why? The teacher said we can work in groups. So we can all just turn in one assignment. Easy-peasy!"
Tao nodded.
"Okay, but who are we going to do it on?"
Yasui frowned as he thought about it. The assignment in question was to interview a sea creature who lived in the city about their experience here. The problem came when deciding who to interview. Shinrai fidgeted a bit.
"Well… does anyone know any sea creatures?"
Everyone shook their heads. Everyone except Yasui. Because at that point Yasui remembered a very fortunate meeting from months ago. A meeting with an unusual creature who managed a hotel. Yasui raised his hand.
"I actually know somebody. I can text my friend and see if she's willing to be interviewed."
Everyone happily chatted about the development as Yasui got out his phone and clumsily typed with one hand.
Y: Hello, Miss Diana. How are you doing today?
D: Hello! It's been a while since I heard from you
D: How are you doing? Feeling okay?
Y: Yeah, I'm doing fine. We'll have to meet up at some point. Although maybe not for lunch anytime soon. I haven't had much of an appetite lately.
D: Sounds like a plan
Y: Also, could you do me a favor? Could you ask that seal who's your hotel manager if she'd be willing to let me and some classmates interview her for our Seaspeak project?
D: I'll check and see
D: Give me just a minute
Y: Thanks, you're the best.
Yasui set his phone down and gave them all a thumbs up.
"She's checking with her. We just need to wait a second."
Shiro grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Yasui.
"She? Oooooooo, who's this she?"
Yasui frowned.
"Uh… a friend of mine."
"Just a friend?"
"Yeah."
Shiro and Tao shared a look and snickered. Yasui looked at Shinrai.
"I don't get it, what's so funny?"
The squirrel rolled his eyes.
"They think you're referring to a classmate or something."
Yasui let out a quiet "ah" before addressing the two boys.
"She's sort of like my aunt. Keeps an eye on me while I'm away from home."
Both boys immediately seemed disappointed. Tao huffed.
"Well that's lame. I got my hopes up that we were going to meet some girls during this."
Tenbe raised an eyebrow.
"You want to chat up some fish girls?"
Tao shook his head.
"No! Like, maybe we and another group of students here, who happen to be girls, team up for this. Sounds like a pretty sweet way to meet some chicks."
Shiro nodded.
"That's the only thing this study group is missing. We need some chicks dude. Some real hotties."
Tenbe huffed.
"Girls would just ruin it."
Shiro grinned.
"I knew you liked our study group! You don't want some ladies messing it with their girl-ness."
Tao shrugged.
"That is true. With girls around we wouldn't be able to discuss the finer points of bikini styles and which is hottest."
Yasui groaned.
"Not this again. Are we ever going to actually study?"
Shiro laughed.
"We do study! We study how to be cool and get some girls!"
Tenbe sniffed.
"Well apparently you're all failing because none of you can even talk to females."
Shinrai shook his head.
"That's not true. I have a good friend who's a girl. We play video games together."
Immediately Shiro sat upright from his reclined position.
"Is she hot?"
Shinrai rolled his eyes.
"She's a fennec fox, so it's not really a matter we discuss."
Tao held up a hand.
"Nah, that's a bit suspicious. Your best friend and other close friend are both foxes. You've got a fox-fetish my guy. You're just in denial."
Shinrai laughed and wiped at his eyes.
"A fox-fetish? Is that even a thing?"
Tao nodded smugly, arms crossed.
"Beasts can have a hard on for a specific other species. I know about a dude who's a cheetah and only likes alligator girls. He's just got a weird thing for them."
Yasui held up his hands.
"Hold up. I know you guys talk about thinking girls of different species are attractive, but people don't actually date outside their species here, do they?"
Shiro shrugged.
"It's getting more common nowadays. My neighbors are a lion-tiger couple. Their kids are all ligers."
Shinrai laughed.
"You're making that up. 'Liger'? That's ridiculous."
Shiro shook his head.
"No joke. That's what their official species is. Same as a mule. If it's a common enough hybrid it gets its own name."
Yasui was pulled away from the now completely derailed study group session by a text message from Miss Diana. He opened his phone and quickly read the words.
D: Zilnav said she'd be happy to meet with you all on Monday after school
D: Just go to the Prime Meridian after classes are over
Y: Thank you! You're the best!
D: Glad you're out and about again
D: I missed doing things with you
D: I was bored out of my mind while you were in the hospital
Y: Same here.
Yasui raised his head and nodded at the study group.
"We can meet Zilnav on Monday after class."
Tao took out his phone and typed something in.
"Okay, where are we meeting her?"
"The Prime Meridian." Yasui replied. This elicited looks of surprise from everyone. Shiro whistled.
"We're going to that fancy hotel!? Hot dang!"
Yasui nodded.
"Yeah she works there."
Shinrai sighed.
"If only it was summer. Then we could go to the beach."
Yasui gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Yeah, that would have been fun. But we can probably still walk around the beach. It's probably just too cold to swim."
Shiro grinned and gave them a thumbs up.
"Sweet. Now then, back to the topic at hand. So why exactly do you only like foxes, Shinrai?"
Yasui was quiet as he sat down to dinner that night with Shinrai. He felt the itch, he wanted to take another pill. But he needed to wait just a bit longer. Just a few more hours and then he could take one. But the waiting was driving him insane. He bounced his leg to distract himself as he idly picked at his dinner, Shinrai voraciously consuming his own meal across from him. The squirrel frowned as he saw Yasui not eating.
"Still not hungry?"
Yasui shook his head.
"Not really. But I ate a little bit."
"Are you excited to hang out tomorrow?"
Yasui nodded. Shinrai tilted his head.
"You don't seem very excited."
"Sorry. It's just… I get tired so quickly. Even getting to class wears me out. I'm worried that I'll just slow you down."
"Relax! If we have to take it easy then I'm okay with it. The point is spending time together doing something fun, not the actual thing itself."
Yasui smiled.
"So what do you have planned?"
"That's a surprise. You'll just have to wait and see."
Yasui rolled his visible eye and looked out the window. It was already dark out. Winter had really snuck up on him.
(Well of course it did. You went into a coma at the end of autumn and woke up in winter. Although it's not even close to as cold here as it is back home. Speaking of back home, I wonder how bad the snow has been this year? Hopefully not too bad.)
Once dinner was over, Yasui bid farewell to Shinrai and promised to meet him at the front gates at the agreed upon time. With that settled, he slowly began to make his way back to his dorm. However, as he passed by one of the main buildings, Yasui felt a sudden chill up his spine. He felt like he was being watched.
Yasui glanced around, still feeling that bizarre sensation of somebody watching him where he couldn't see them. His fur prickled and stood on end as he picked up his pace towards his dorm. It was probably just his imagination, but he thought he heard an ominous rattling sound.
Yasui felt relieved as he reached the warmly lit interior of the dorm. Even if it did mean seven flights of stairs to get to his room. With a resigned sigh, Yasui began trudging up the many steps to the seventh floor. By the third floor his legs were aching and he was out of breath. By the fifth his scars felt prickly and sore. By the seventh Yasui felt half dead. Even still, he was able to open the door to his room and stumble inside.
Yasui avoided spending much time in his room if he could help it. It tended to smell bad and his roommates were less than pleasant. Far better to spend his time in the library or club room than here. As such he tried not to make a scene as he entered the room. His roommates were all sitting around occupying themselves with various phones or computers, leaving Yasui to sit on his bed and pull out a book. However, that climb had really irritated his injuries. They hurt pretty bad, so maybe he could just take his pill a bit early. Just this one time.
As he began to open his pill bottle, a hand darted into his sight and snatched it out of his grip. Yasui quickly exclaimed,
"Hey!"
The other fox, Yasui believed his name was Goze, smiled nastily and looked at the bottle.
"What do you have here? Oooh, this is some good stuff! I'm sure you won't mind letting me have some."
Yasui grit his teeth.
"Give it back."
Goze sneered at him.
"Or what? Going to use your one arm to fight me? Or will you bleed all over me to really teach me a lesson?"
Yasui sighed.
"Please. Just give it back."
"You know, I don't think I will just yet. I've heard these get you a really nice high so I'll just try it out."
As the other boy began to unscrew the top, the fox in the bed next to Yasui's stood and gave the other boy a bored expression. This was the biggest fox in their room, the one Yasui had helped with homework before. Yasui was pretty sure his name was Juzo.
The other boy looked up at Juzo.
"What do you want?"
Without a word Juzo grabbed the bottle of pills and wrestled it away from Goze. Goze immediately bared his fangs.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Juzo pointed a finger at the smaller male.
"You want some pills of your own? How about I rip your arm off and beat you with it?"
"What, you think you scare me? You're not so tough! All you do is mope around all day like a—"
Whatever Juzo was like was unfortunately left to the imagination as the fox in question grabbed Goze by the throat and slammed him into one of the ladders that granted access to the top bunks. Juzo glared at Goze.
"I will personally reach my arm up your ass and rip your spine out. Don't mess with me."
He dropped the smaller boy, who immediately scurried away, looking murderous. Juzo handed Yasui his pills back. Yasui looked at the larger male in awe.
"Thanks. But… why did you stick up for me?"
He jerked his head towards Goze.
"I can't stand people who pick on animals with disabilities, temporary or otherwise. If he tries to give you trouble, let me know. We'll see how he likes having a limb in a cast."
Yasui smiled at the, admittedly scary, boy.
"Thanks, Juzo."
"No problem."
As the larger boy turned towards his bed again, he suddenly feigned like he was making a move for Goze. The smaller male flinched and squealed. Juzo sniffed.
"That's what I thought."
Yasui was… surprised to say the least. Juzo typically kept to himself and "spoke" by grunting, swearing, or growling one or two word commands towards you like "move" or "shut up". This was a whole new side of the fox to Yasui. Whatever his reasons were, Yasui was glad to have one roommate who seemed to at least tolerate him for a change.
Yasui didn't even need to set alarms anymore. He woke up every three hours craving another pill. It was so hard to resist just taking the painkillers so the discomfort would stop. Too hard, in fact, because Yasui had yet to successfully resist the craving for the brightly colored capsules since he realized how quickly he had been going through them. He hated the pills. They made him feel foggy and weak, they ruined his appetite, and they made it hard to sleep. But at the same time he couldn't bring himself to stop taking them.
Morning dawned on a very tired Yasui. Sleeping in small increments wasn't exactly a healthy habit to have. But either way he dragged his ragged keister out of bed and went through the motions of his morning routine. If he was being honest, right now he really didn't feel like going out to do… whatever with Shinrai. He sort of just wanted to curl up into a ball and feel terrible for a while. But he had said he was going to go with him, and Yasui's parents had raised him to always keep his word.
Saturday meant taking care of all the little things he needed to do to get ready for another week of school. Laundry, cleaning his part of the room, getting organized, all the fun things like that. Fortunately actually doing what he needed to got him into a better mood and ready to go by the time he was meeting Shinrai at the front gates. Although, much to his chagrin, he had yet to increase his time between doses of painkiller above three hours. In fact they seemed to be wearing off faster and faster. He was getting twitchy and irritable by hour two now.
Shinrai was sitting by the gate and waved at Yasui as he approached.
"Hello, Yasui! You all ready to go?"
Yasui nodded and rubbed his left shoulder. Having it in a sling was really starting to annoy him. His whole arm was stiff and cramped. Shinrai noticed and gave him a sympathetic look as they began to walk.
"Does your arm hurt?"
"Not really. It's just stiff and cramped. I wish I could move it around a bit more."
"I can imagine. And how's the eye? Feeling any better?"
"Same old same old."
"Well… your scars are fading a little bit. They're not as noticeable now."
"Really?"
"Mhm."
"Well that's good."
They kept walking past the train station causing Yasui to give Shinrai a confused look.
"Where are you taking me?"
"You'll see."
Yasui rolled his eyes but kept following. Soon he was rounding a familiar street where Cafe Lapin sat. Yasui gave his friend a searching look as Shinrai headed towards the cafe.
"We're headed to where I work? Did you want a coffee?"
"Yeah, I figured we could get something and just hang out for a bit. More chill than the mall."
"I didn't think you drank coffee?"
"I've decided to try it. Maybe I'll like it this time."
Yasui nodded.
"Mhm, small problem. Last I checked we're closed on weekends because Mr. Nabuyo has shogi at the community center."
"Well it seems open."
Yasui inspected the cafe and saw that it was in fact open, and oddly enough Mimi was manning the cash register. They opened the doors and walked in, with Yasui in the lead. He gave Mimi a look of surprise.
"Mimi? Since when has the cafe been open on weekends?"
She gave him a blank look.
"I dunno."
Yasui was about to continue asking her about this odd situation when he suddenly heard multiple loud voices.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YASUI!"
Yasui must have jumped a full meter off the ground as he whirled around. A crowd of previously hidden animals were standing under a banner and all pulled on confetti poppers, showering the floor in glittery squares. Yasui looked in disbelief at the crowd of all his friends. Shinrai was there of course, as were the 701 boys, the Cooking Club, the study group, Miss Diana, Shinrai's family, Hikaru, and Shinrai's two friends Don and Kashi. Yasui's mouth trembled a bit as they all cheered and laughed. He had to cover his face with a hand to hide how emotional he was getting. Jack clasped his hands.
"We definitely got him! Didn't suspect a thing!"
Yasui nodded and grinned.
"I thought everyone had forgotten…. With everything that happened and all."
Shinrai's mother hurried over to fuss over his fur and clothes before putting a party hat on his head. She looked over him with satisfaction before giving him a tight hug
"Of course we didn't forget! We just wanted to make sure you were well enough to have fun at your own party."
Yasui averted his gaze and chuckled a bit, wiping at his eye.
"You guys are going to make me cry! I just… this is amazing!"
Shinrai grinned and pat Yasui on the back.
"It was a group effort. The Cooking Club made your cake, my family and Miss Diana did the decorating and food, the 701 guys planned out games, the study group helped set up, and your boss let us use the store!"
Yasui was overwhelmed. He'd never even dreamed of something like this. He looked at all the smiling animals excitedly chatting as they watched his reaction and broke out in a massive smile.
"I just… thanks, everyone. This is way… it's so much more than I could have hoped for."
Shiro jokingly called out,
"Quit being overwhelmed and get this thing started! I'm hungry!"
Everyone laughed and Yasui nodded in approval before being escorted to where a wide selection of food was spread out on a table. Miss Diana beamed at him and pointed at the various dishes.
"We decided to get a variety because we didn't know which you would want. So there's spicy curry, three-bean soup, pizza, bbq skewers, and crispy fried tofu."
Yasui sniffed and looked at her approvingly.
"It all smells amazing. Thank you so much!"
Shinrai's mother pressed an empty plate into his hands.
"Well go on then! You're practically wasting away, so dig in!"
Yasui didn't need to be told twice. While he still wasn't exactly hungry, he liked these foods so much he could definitely eat them without being hungry. Yasui just hoped they wouldn't bother his stomach later.
He was pleasantly surprised by how spicy the curry was. It wasn't as hot as his mom's curry, but it had a good little kick to it. He noticed that many of the partygoers who tried the dish desperately went searching for something to drink after their first bite, so maybe he was just used to hot food. The soup was good too, very well seasoned and the beans weren't overcooked. Actually, all of it was just… perfect. Yasui looked around to see that everyone was filling plates with food and breaking off into smaller groups to eat.
(Oh… I'm going to end up by myself at my own party. Maybe I should—)
His thought was interrupted as Miss Diana sat down beside him and gave him a side hug.
"Happy birthday, Yasui! It feels like ages since we've spent time together. I miss you."
Yasui smiled and leaned into the hug.
"I've missed you too, Miss Diana."
She began delicately eating her portion of food while asking him some questions. Yasui was always very impressed with her table etiquette.
"So, how are you getting along back at school? Any issues getting around?"
"Well, I get winded easily. And carrying stuff with my arm in a sling is a bit difficult. But so far I've managed."
She nodded.
"That's good to hear. So, when are you due for a checkup? I can't imagine they'll need to keep your arm in a sling for much longer. From what I was told no bones in your arm were actually broken, just removed at the joint."
Yasui shrugged.
"Not sure. Sometimes my arm still hurts a bit though. Same with my eye."
She reached over and gently traced one of the scars around his eye.
"I'm glad you were able to get this eyepatch. Much better looking than that ghastly thing they gave you."
Yasui smiled.
"Yeah, one of Mimi's friends made it for me. Her name's Neon, she's really nice."
"Oh? Well we should have invited her than! If only we'd known."
Yasui pointed at Mimi, who was grabbing some pizza.
"You could always ask Mimi if she's nearby. I'm not exactly sure where she lives."
Diana nodded.
"I'll have to see about that. Anyway, I promise I'll stop fussing over your health and talk about something more fun now. I just want you to know that you look much better than you did."
Yasui smiled faintly.
"Really?"
"Mhm, although… you do look a bit gaunt and tired. Make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating enough. I know it can be a struggle when you're not feeling well, but it's vital. This is coming from experience."
"I will. And don't worry, I like it when you fuss over me. It shows you care."
She gave him a warm look and patted his arm.
"Well then I'll keep doing it. So, how's the food treating you? Everyone taste good?"
"It's all delicious! And it's a bunch of stuff I really like!"
"Yes, apparently your friends in the study group were vital in the food selection process. Especially whoever Shiro is. He seemed to remember exactly what you had said your favorites were."
Yasui looked down at his food and then glanced over at Shiro, who was apparently trying to eat the curry despite it being too spicy for him. He hadn't exactly thought of the other guys in the study group as his friends. But the fact they had worked this hard to help with the party really meant something. Yasui smiled at Miss Diana.
"I'll have to thank them for that."
"I'm sure they'd appreciate that. Anyway, how are your classes going? Any issues catching back up?"
"So far it's going pretty well. Writing with my right hand is still a bit weird, but I'm managing."
"Good! Oh, and let me know if you ever need me to drive you to the hospital for a checkup. I'm more than happy to."
"You mean Charles is?"
Diana rolled her eyes.
"Yes, he will be the one actually driving."
"Speaking of Charles, where is he?"
"Oh he elected to wait at a park nearby. Didn't want to crash your party."
She noticed Yasui's hurt look and held her hands up defensively.
"I told him he was being dumb, but he insisted he really wasn't invited."
"Well text him and tell him he's invited! He really thinks I'm that mean, after all the recipes he's taught me!"
Diana took out her phone and typed out a message while giving Yasui a wry smile.
"I told him you'd say that. Now I get to rub it in his face."
Yasui shook his head and returned to his food. As he finished a mouthful, he asked Miss Diana,
"So, what have you been up to while I was stuck in the hospital? Anything fun?"
She tapped her chin.
"Well… not really that much. I met an… old acquaintance for coffee a few times. It was nice actually, talking to someone my own age on some more equal footing."
That last bit made Yasui deflate internally. Sure, he was happy she was making friends and all that… but he liked having her all to himself. She seemed to notice his slight dip in excitement and playfully patted his cheek.
"But nobody's going to replace you as my dearest friend, Yasui."
"Well that's a relief. Otherwise I was going to have to hurt this acquaintance of yours."
"Now now, jealousy isn't a good look on you."
Within a few minutes, the door opened again and the hulking form of Charles filled the doorway. He glanced around uncomfortably as everyone stared at him. Yasui waved.
"Get over here, Charles! I have some words for you!"
The gorilla sheepishly moved over to the table where Yasui and scratched the back of his arm. Yasui had never seen the stoic primate look so uncomfortable. It was a bit weird. Yasui frowned at Charles.
"Did you really think I didn't want you at my party? I thought we were friends!"
"Well… I just didn't want to assume…. I'm just not used to people paying attention to me, in a personal sense that is. My main goal is to be scary and unapproachable."
Yasui rolled his eyes.
"Oh please. I know you're actually really nice. Otherwise you wouldn't have offered to teach me how to cook."
Charles opened his mouth before shaking his head. He smiled at Yasui.
"I appreciate you saying that."
"Now, go grab some food before it gets cold. Or Shiro eats it all."
Eventually, everyone had eaten as much food as they wished. Yasui was quite content when he suddenly heard Shinrai's mother begin singing from behind him.
"Happy birthday to you!"
Everyone then joined in the familiar song as Jack and Legoshi carried out a rather large cake with several candles stuck in it. Yasui hung his head in embarrassment as it was set in front of him and everyone finished the song. Shinrai called out,
"Make a wish and blow out the candles!"
Yasui hesitated a bit as he thought about what to wish for. Should he wish for his health? For his pill problem to go away? For him to find love in the future? Yasui just couldn't make up his mind. Eventually he decided to just go with his gut.
(I wish that I'd be able to… make the most out of my life.)
Yasui took a deep breath and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped and cheered before Shinrai's mother hurried over to begin cutting the confection. She cut a large slice first and set it down in front of Yasui.
"A nice, big piece for the birthday boy."
Yasui grinned embarrassedly as she began cutting pieces of cake for everyone. The cake was very good. Vanilla with strawberries. And he could tell it had been decorated by Yufine given it was covered in edible glitter and sprinkles. Yasui was beginning to feel a bit sick from all the food, and delicately leaned back in his seat to stretch his gut. It was then that several people set various boxes and bags in front of him. Yasui looked at the brightly colored parcels in surprise. Birthday presents, and lots of them. Yasui covered his eyes as he felt overwhelmed and desperately didn't want to cry. Miss Diana asked,
"Yasui? What's the matter?"
Yasui chuckled thickly through the emotions welling in his throat.
"It's just a bit overwhelming! I've… never had a birthday party before. At least, not one that wasn't just my family."
Diana gently patted him on the back.
"Well then, I guess we'd better make sure we do it right. Ready to open your gifts?"
Yasui shook his head and looked at everyone who was eagerly watching him. He smiled.
"Thanks everyone. This is… this is really amazing."
Shinrai pushed a bag towards him and grinned.
"Here, open mine first!"
Yasui accepted the bag and reached past the tissue paper to draw out what was inside. From inside the bag he removed a rectangular device with the words TwinScreen printed on it. Shinrai gestured at it.
"Ta-da! Your very own gaming system! It's handheld, so you can play it on the bus back home! There's also a couple of my favorite games in there too. My brother didn't want them anymore and said to give them to you as a gift."
Yasui was shocked. He owned a video game now. The idea of him ever owning his own console had never even entered his mind. That was for the rich kids in the town or here in the city, not poor farm boys. Yasui gingerly set the TwinScreen down.
"Thank you so much, Shinrai! This is incredible!"
"Ah, you're welcome."
Shinrai's mother pressed a box towards him.
"This one is from the rest of us."
He looked at the other members of Shinrai's family and laughed.
"Wow… for me? I guess I should get myself beaten up for Shinrai more often."
This drew some laughter from the party guests as Yasui slowly ripped the paper with his good hand. Inside the box were three books. Yasui read the titles. They were all from the same trilogy, "The Magic Ring" books. Shinrai's mother clasped her hands together.
"I asked Shinrai what you liked and he said you were a big reader. The clerk at the bookstore said these were very popular among boys of all ages."
"I love them, thank you so much!"
She nodded as Jack pushed a bag towards him.
"And here's a little something from all of us."
The 701 boys all nodded as Yasui opened the gift. Inside was a metallic water bottle with the words "Captain Hot-Body" on the outside, and a shirt that read "Certified Badass." Yasui laughed as he read them.
"Well it's definitely going to be the most unique part of my wardrobe! Thanks guys!"
Next the Cooking Club slid him a bag. He opened it up to see a beautifully drawn picture of all of the members standing proudly behind a mound of pancakes in a frame. Yufine giggled.
"We all worked hard to draw and then color this. It's because we don't have any official club photos yet, so we made one!"
Yasui showed the drawing to everyone.
"It's amazing. Thank you."
Shiro dropped a somewhat ragged looking gift in front of him and snickered.
"This is from me, Tenbe, and Tao."
Yasui opened it up to find a pair of sparkly pink short-shorts with the word "Juicy" bedazzled across the rear, and a calendar with a different fox lady in a "costume" for each month. Yasui blushed as he looked at the latter item. Shiro grinned.
"Wanted to give you that in the hospital for some… moral. But the others said we had to wait to give you your gifts."
Yasui shook his head as everyone snickered or looked appalled at the crude gift.
"Honestly, I should have expected it. Thanks."
Mimi grunted and set a small box in front of him before stalking off. Inside was a black chain necklace with a metal skull pendant. Yasui called after her.
"Thanks, Mimi!"
Mr Nabuyo then stepped up.
"Here's my gift, Yasui. I hope you get some good use out of it."
The small box he gave Yasui contained a beautiful calligraphy pen and some ink. Yasui admired the pen with awe.
"Wow… it's almost too pretty to use."
Mr. Nabuyo elbowed him.
"This way you can write a nice letter whenever you decide to ask a girl out."
"Huh… thanks."
Finally Miss Diana slid a box towards him. She tapped it with a finger and said,
"I wasn't quite sure what to get you, so I went with something classic."
Yasui opened the box to reveal a very nice wristwatch. The watch itself was some sort of silvery metal and had a black watch band. Yasui held it up to admire it.
"Wow… this is a really nice watch!"
Diana smiled.
"I'm glad you like it! I thought the color was perfect with your fur."
Yasui returned her smile.
"Thank you so much. I'll be sure to use it a lot."
With the gifts done, everyone started to mill about to talk with their friends. Diana quickly leaned into Yasui and whispered.
"I got you several more things, I just didn't want to be the only one who got you multiple gifts and make everyone else feel bad."
She hesitated before adding.
"Uh… maybe you should come over to my place tomorrow and I'll give them to you then."
Yasui nodded his approval before being dragged off to play some party games with the other animals his age. Currently it was some sort of game where somebody drew a picture without speaking and their teammates had to guess what it was. Yasui joined a team with Yufine, Kashikoi, and Hikaru. Yufine was the first to draw a picture. She read from a card before taking a dry erase marker and scrawling a large squiggly lump on the left side of the white board. Immediately Hikaru blurted out.
"Butt! It's a butt!"
Yufine shook her head and made some scribbly circles inside it and made it lumpier. Kashi tilted his head.
"Cotton? Cotton candy?"
Yufine vigorously shook her head and made some ovals underneath it. Yasui had no idea what it might be. Hikaru guessed again.
"Shedding? Dandruff? Sweating?"
Yufine shook her head again. This time she added a little stick figure with an umbrella. Yasui pointed with his good hand.
"Storm! Stormcloud!"
She gestured for him to keep going. Kashi added.
"Thunderstorm?"
Yufine shook her head. As she circled the ovals Yasui guessed,
"Rain?"
Yufine nodded excitedly before making a plus sign and drawing another stick figure. She then drew some bunny ears on it. Hikaru frowned.
"Rain bunny?"
Yufine shook her head and made the ears pointy. Kashi added.
"Cat? Is that a cat? A wet cat?"
Hikaru snickered.
"Is it a pussy cat? A wet one?"
She got some disapproving looks and some laughter for that, before somebody called time. Yufine huffed.
"It's a rainbow! Rain and bow!"
Yasui frowned.
"Why not draw a rainbow then? Like, two clouds and a rainbow?"
Yufine pointed at the marker.
"Because I only have a black marker!"
Kashi rubbed his eyes.
"I think we could have figured it out."
The game continued and Yasui's team couldn't seem to get anything right. Yasui failed to draw a stone wall, Kashi failed at drawing a Tennis court, and Hikaru barely made a coherent mess for "Time Capsule". The surprising team was the combination of Chaussette, Shiro, Legoshi, and Jack. Somehow they got every single drawing right almost immediately.
Eventually the party died down and everyone began filtering away to tend to their business. As they cleaned up, Shinrai sidled up to Yasui.
"So? Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah, it was amazing! Thanks so much."
Shinrai blushed.
"It was a group effort. So, is the arm and such not hurting as much anymore?"
Yasui shrugged. Truth be told he was still taking a painkiller once every three hours, and was beginning to get the craving after two hours. But he just needed to slow down a bit. He could be more careful going forward after tomorrow. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, Shinrai shrugged.
"Well… let me know if you need anything. Like, to talk or whatever."
"Yeah, I will."
He was interrupted when Shinrai's mother came bustling over and pulled him towards a chair. She made him sit and got him a drink.
"Now now, this is your party! No need to help clean up! You just take it easy for a bit."
"Mrs. Hanako, I'm fine. I was just—"
"No no! You need to be sure not to push yourself. Now, did you get enough to eat? I can make you a little bag of leftovers to bring with you."
"I'm fine. I ate more than enough."
"Well that's good. How about at school? Do you need any help with laundry or anything? You're more than welcome to come stay with us if you want, especially if you need some peace and quiet. And of course the sanitation factor! Now, I'm sure you're a tidy boy, but your roommates could be some real slobs! Make sure you keep those injuries clean! You want an infection."
Yasui sat in bewilderment as the squirrel whirled about him, fussing and fixing everything from his shirt to his tail. Eventually she left him to go tend to some matter of importance or other, leaving Yasui at a loss for words. Shinrai walked over to him, barely able to contain his amusement. Yasui shook his head.
"What was that about?"
"My mom has gotten a bit protective of you ever since the whole… incident. She's always asking about your health and saying that I should have you stay over so she can make sure you're getting enough to eat, and that you have warm clothes, and blah blah blah."
That took Yasui completely by surprise. Before he'd sort of assumed Shinrai's mother didn't particularly like that he and Shinrai were friends due to the species difference, but just tried to be nice. To hear that she was genuinely fond of him and protective of him gave Yasui a warm feeling in his chest.
"That's… really nice actually. You're mom is really great."
"To you maybe! She's still a bit psycho on my end!"
With the party done and having made his way back to school, Yasui began working on all the things he still needed to do before Saturday was over. Specifically his homework. It was close to midnight by the time he was finished, and he had just come to an unpleasant realization. His pills were over half gone. Probably closer to two thirds gone.
(Tomorrow. I'll start cutting back tomorrow.)
Sunday dawned and Yasui immediately felt the craving for another painkiller. He took one, but swore to himself that he would wait the full six hours to take another. He made it two hours and seventeen minutes. Desperate for a distraction, Yasui hurried over to Miss Diana's house to see what she had in store for him. Although being in a rush to go get more gifts felt a little greedy to Yasui.
It was a particularly windy and cold day, and the sky was that particular slate gray color it gets before it snows. Yasui frowned and looked at his shoes.
(Should have worn boots.)
He walked up the steps and knocked on the door. After a bit Miss Diana opened the door in a thick brown sweater and jeans.
"Hello! Come in, come in! It's absolutely frigid out there!"
Yasui gladly entered the warm house and took his shoes off.
"Hello, Miss Diana. How are you?"
"I'm doing well. How about you?"
"Well… I'm okay."
"Just okay?"
"Yeah, just okay."
She smiled at him.
"Well let's see if we can fix that."
As she led him towards the kitchen she asked,
"Would you like something warm to drink? Tea or coffee perhaps?"
"No thank you. I'm fine for now."
She escorted him to the kitchen and held up a finger.
"Just a moment."
She left, leaving Yasui to sit and stare at nothing in suspense. He never had been able to get over just how fancy Miss Diana's house was. Every time he walked in he felt like he was in some castle from a fairytale. And that Miss Diana was some magical queen or something. Either that or it was the painkillers talking.
She returned with a few bags and sheepishly smiled at Yasui.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself. I had so many good ideas for gifts that I just decided to get them all."
"Miss Diana, you shouldn't have! That's too generous."
"Oh please! It's your birthday… to a degree."
She pushed one box towards him.
"I thought you'd particularly enjoy this one!"
Yasui opened the box to reveal a thick cable knit sweater of charcoal gray wool. It was incredibly soft to the touch. Diana clasped her hands.
"Well, try it on! I can help you with your cast if you need me to."
Yasui shook his head and carefully finagled his way into the sweater. It was very comfortable and warm. Yasui gestured to himself.
"What do you think?"
Diana cocked her head.
"It's a bit big on you… but oversized sweaters are definitely trendy right now. So that's perfect. I'm glad you like it, it's from Ireland. The wool sweaters from there are famous for being absolutely amazing!"
"Wow, all the way from Ireland! That's incredible!"
"Aaaand, here's the next one!"
She handed him a slightly smaller rectangular box. Inside was a beautiful hardcover book titled "European Folklore and Fairytales." She grimaced.
"I wasn't entirely sure if you'd like it, but you seemed to be interested in this sort of thing after we were talking about that British wizard movie. So I figured you might enjoy this."
"This is really cool! I love it!"
"I'm glad to hear it…. Also there's one more."
Yasui groaned.
"Miss Diana! This is really too much! You're too generous!"
Diana smiled and laughed, in a way that was almost to herself.
"Me, too generous. Never thought I'd hear that. But, here it is. Ta-da!"
She gave him a bag with some black tissue paper poking out the top. Yasui reached in and pulled out a camera that had a somewhat old-school look to it. Diana tapped the device.
"I thought you could take some pictures to show your family back home. I'll show you how to use it."
She took the camera and held it up.
"Now, what should we take a picture of? Maybe you wearing your new sweater?"
Yasui shook his head.
"The first picture has to be of the two of us together."
Diana nodded and turned the camera around and knelt down a bit so she was at the same level as Yasui she smiled brightly.
"On three. One… two… three…."
click!*
There was a slight delay before a black square slid out of a slot in the bottom. Diana took it out and waved it through the air a bit before showing Yasui as the black square turned into a small picture of the two of them. Yasui gasped,
"That is so cool! Miss Diana, this is amazing! Thank you!"
Yasui gave her a one-armed hug, which she returned while still clutching the camera. She laughed.
"Now, just one more point of order. Follow me upstairs."
Yasui groaned.
"Not more gifts! Really, that's excessive! You're spoiling me!"
"It's not another gift, I promise!"
Yasui gave her a skeptical look but followed her. She led him towards her room, which immediately set Yasui's heart pounding. What exactly did she have planned? Was it going to be… something romantic? No, it couldn't be. But then again….
She went into her closet and handed Yasui a bundle of fabric which he recognized as one of the pairs of swim trunks she had gotten for him during his stay over the summer. Yasui raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't it a little cold to go swimming?"
"Oh, it's not for swimming. I'm giving you a bath."
That gave Yasui pause. He looked from the swim trunks to Diana and back again.
"Wait… what?"
"Yasui, I say this with love, but you smell pretty pungent right now. I figured it was that you were having trouble bathing with the cast and eyepatch and all that. You know, trying not to get them wet."
Yasui grimaced. He hadn't realized it was noticeable. He had sort of given up on bathing after a few unsuccessful attempts and had taken to trying to freshen up in a sink with his free hand. Diana pointed out the door.
"I'll go draw the bath. You get changed and meet me there when you're ready."
Before he could protest, Diana was out the door. Yasui looked at the swimwear and felt a little… no, a lot embarrassed. He really should have tried harder to bathe. But that was in the past. At least now he could get cleaned up. Yasui changed out of his current clothes and put the bathing suit on, surprised at how good he had gotten at changing his clothes one-armed. Once he was dressed, Yasui headed towards the bathroom where he heard running water.
Inside he saw that Diana had changed into some of her exercise clothes. A tightfitting shirt with black pants. She must not have wanted to get her sweater wet. She stood and walked over as water filled the massive tub that occupied most of the far wall. She held up a plastic sleeve of some sort.
"Here, let me see your arm."
Yasui held his cast-covered arm as far away from his body as he could, and Diana slid the plastic over it before taping closed just above the cast. Next, she carefully covered Yasui's injured eye with some squares of sticky plastic and pressed them smooth.
"There. I picked these up at a pharmacy. Apparently I just have to press a hot water bottle to the wrap to get the glue to melt so I can remove it. But, it should keep your eye dry. Hopefully the doctors will say you can get that part wet soon. I can't imagine the wound is still trying to close."
Yasui sighed.
"Hopefully the eye is healing well. I want to be able to see out of it again."
She finished covering his eye and stroked his cheek comfortingly.
"I'm sure you will. Now, get in the tub."
Yasui nodded and gingerly stepped into the rising water. It was already almost to his knees. Carefully, Yasui sat down. The water was up to his belly, and it was nice and warm. Diana gently situated his left arm outside the tub and added something that smelled nice to the water that made it start to foam up. Yasui raised an eyebrow.
"Bubble bath?"
Diana blushed.
"I thought you might want a little privacy while you wash… downstairs."
Yasui felt his cheeks get hot.
"Oh. Yeah, that's probably smart."
"Now, let's get you cleaned up."
It was a strange experience for Yasui, having somebody else bathe him. It awakened nearly forgotten memories from his childhood of his mother giving him and Yone baths while they played in the bubbles. Yasui tried really hard not to make the happy and content noises that occasionally slipped out of him as Miss Diana gently lathered his fur and scrubbed his back and other impossible to reach areas. Although, there was no stopping his tail from thrashing through the water which garnered laughter from Miss Diana as it occasionally splashed her with bathwater.
Yasui was in no hurry to finish his bath. It was a wonderful experience to be clean again, his fur no longer oily and matted. And he loved the attention from Miss Diana. But, all good things must eventually end, and before long Miss Diana was helping him towel off and remove the plastic covers from his cast and eye. Yasui sighed as he felt the fur on his stomach.
"It feels amazing to be clean again! I hadn't realized how much that was bothering me."
Diana laughed.
"Happy to help. Let me know if you need my help again. Worst case scenario you just have to come over every weekend for a bath."
"I wouldn't mind that!"
Diana beamed at him and moved towards the door.
"I think we have time to make some popcorn and watch a movie before you have to leave. Interested?"
"Absolutely! Just let me get changed!"
Diana left him to get his clothes back on and hang his wet towel and bathing suit up to dry. Suddenly a terrible, alien sensation came over him. It was hard to explain, like an itch inside his entire body. He felt a sudden, intense craving to take another painkiller. His arm ached so bad, and he felt shaky and unstable. And now his head was pounding and his tongue was dry and sticky! He needed to take another one!
Yasui scrambled through his possessions for the pill bottle and hurriedly popped a capsule in his mouth. He waited for it to take effect and sighed in relief as the discomfort stopped. He needed to be careful not to take too many of them, but clearly he still needed the pills. At least they stopped him from experiencing that terrible discomfort all the time.