Blink

Monday I went back to school, still covered in bruises, but the scrapes were gone and the cuts were just scabs. I got some funny looks, but no one asked about it until fourth period. Willow came in and flashed me a smile; then she saw the sling and bruises.

“Eiri, oh my gosh, what happened?!!” she exclaimed, sitting beside me.

“Nothing,” I said. “I just fell down the stairs.”

“And that’s nothing?!”

“Yeah,” I answered, shrugging slightly with my good shoulder.

“So what’s something? Your head getting busted in?”

“No. That is just nothing much.”

“Eiri!”

“Something is Tohma-san getting hurt. A dire emergency is my little brother getting hurt. Willow, I am perfectly fine.”

She started to argue further, but Mr. LeFevre started class, forcing the conversation to end, and not another word was said about it.

The second quarter went much more smoothly than the first had. We had a new Math teacher, and she was very nice. My grade was a 100% for that quarter, and when averaged with my 60% I had an 80% for the semester. A high “C”.

By Christmas, my sling was off, the bruises gone, and my tooth was finally growing back in. I wrote Mika and Tatsuha, telling them how excited I was to be where I was. Tohma and I sent gifts home, and celebrated quietly together, as is the Japanese custom. We had a chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.

As my birthday drew nearer, so did exams, which made me a little nervous. I had caught up with History, and was back in Mrs. Ernst’s class at the start of the third quarter. I also got back into Mr. Nessler’s class, now that I could read along and without speaking out loud; at least most of the time.

For tests I still went into teachers offices, so I wouldn’t disturb anyone if I needed to read it aloud, and it helped me to think clearer.

I invited Willow, Dee, and Delilah over for my birthday, and we all enjoyed ourselves, watching movies, eating cake and driving Tohma crazy. I spent a short time, maybe an hour, that morning thinking about my last one, but once the girls got there, I didn’t take another moment to dwell over my mother.

We didn’t see each other much over the summer, after we finished the school year, with me ending up with a 95% in Math. I was so proud of myself for having hauled it up.

Tohma had gotten me a book for my birthday, by a Kitazawa Yuki, and it had absorbed my entire attention once I’d started it. I had found every book by him I could, leaving Underneath alone for awhile. But sometimes it helps to stop a little; to refuel your juices. Once I went back to it, I ran with it, far and long.

My entire summer was spent either reading Kitazawa’s books, or writing my own. That fall I went to a high school, but none of the triplets were there. So I was again without friends. But that year was different. I didn’t make friends like I had, as though my social life was telling me something. To stay at home; stick to Tohma. Don’t do something stupid in an attempt to meet someone new. And I should have listened.

That school year swept by, finishing with me at the head of the class. Odd, since I was foreign. On the last day of school, Tohma gave me a little money before I left, saying I could stop and pick up a book on my way home. I walked into a book store I hadn’t visited often. As I browsed the shelves for what I wanted, I saw a man. He was just standing, reading a book, and so I overlooked him. At last I found the newest book by Kitazawa Yuki, and opened it, smiling broadly. I looked at the picture in the cover, and just glanced up at the guy in front of me.

Then I looked again. It was him. And I said so, making myself out to be an absolute retard. He laughed, and confirmed my semi-incoherent thoughts. I heard myself blurting out how much I loved his work and how I wanted to be an author too. I started telling him about Underneath, and he asked me to meet him at a park nearby in a day or so to show him it, promising to help me edit and proofread. I couldn’t believe my luck. That day was a pivotal one in my life; one of the days that determined that I would walk the ragged path I do.~