Day 5, 08:00
Damn that weather!
Nomiya sure wasn’t kidding when he said it would probably rain today. It started around two o’clock in the morning and kept on until now. Since our rooms are directly beneath the roof I didn’t get nearly enough sleep tonight.
Still, since trying to get more sleep was moot anyway, I decided to at least get a decent breakfast.
As I come down the stairs, I see several people already in the lobby. On one couch there are Leon and Misaki; apparently just sitting around bored. These days it’s remarkably easy to tell the twins apart: The one who is even more irritable than usual has to be Mizuki. She really hates being dragged along on this trip to nowhere.
In the other corner of the room there are Emi, Hisao and Ooki sitting around a table and chatting animatedly.
Ooki gives me a wave. “Morning, Jun! You’re up early.”
Deciding to postpone my breakfast a bit, I make a beeline for the table and plop down on the couch next to Ooki. “Yup. Couldn’t sleep at all with the rain hammering against the window all night. You?”
Ooki grins. “I’ve been out like a light since directly after dinner last night. Slept like a baby and woke up at half past six this morning. Sat around bored until those two returned from their morning run.”
I raise my left eyebrow and look at Hisao. “She took you running in this weather? Boy, you really do love her, don’t you.”
Hisao blushes a deep crimson, and Emi tries to kick me with her prosthetic. Too bad for her I was expecting that.
“Hisao has to get himself back in shape. It’s part of his therapy. We can’t skip his training just because of a little rain. Besides, it’s still warm outside, so we won’t catch a cold.”
I look at her questioningly, but she doesn’t elaborate. I don’t think Hisao has told many people why he is at Yamaku, but between Lilly’s cryptic remark the other day and Emi’s ‘therapy’ I think I can form an educated guess. As long as he’s not comfortable talking about it, I probably shouldn’t broach the topic, though.
Before the silence can get too uncomfortable, Ooki speaks up. “Speaking of the rain, It looks like it’s going to keep up for a while. We should all be sure to watch TV tonight.”
At this, Hisao breaks out in giggles, while Emi and I just stare at each other confusedly. “Why? To see the forecast for tomorrow?”
Hisao waves his girlfriend off, still smiling. “No, no. That was supposed to be a joke, but if you don’t know the reference, you can’t get it.” He turns to Ooki. “I really hope nobody of us is going to show up on TV, though.”
I’m about to question him further, when Nomiya comes down the stairs. “Good morning, children! I hope you all slept well.”
We all look up at him and nod our heads.
He pokes his head into the cafeteria, then turns back to us. “Say, have any of you seen Tezuka? I wanted to talk to her about her last painting, but she doesn’t seem to be in her room.”
Emi seems surprised by that. “She isn’t? When Hisao and I left for our run, she was still asleep.”
Nomiya strokes his chin. “Strange… Oh well, I’ll just have to look for her. The house isn’t that big after all.” He heads for the corridor leading towards the common rooms.
Before he can reach it though, Misaki stands up, staggers a few steps in his direction and catches his sleeve.
He stops and looks at her confusedly. “Yes, Yamaguchi? Is there something you wanted?”
Misaki starts to gesture one-handed without letting go of Nomiya’s sleeve. Her gestures don’t make any sense - one-handed gestures rarely do – but Nomiya doesn’t know sign language anyway, so what is she…?
Nomiya looks to Leon for a translation.
“Misaki… ah… dizzy… Bring nurse, yes?”
A bright smile appears on Nomiya’s face. “Ah, yes, must be the humidity. Don’t worry, I’ll get you upstairs to see Miss Uehara. I’m sure you’ll be fine if you just lay down for a while.”
Misaki gives him a thankful smile, though she couldn’t possibly have understood a word of what he said. As she lets herself be led upstairs I shoot a questioning glance at Leon.
So what was that about. Using sign language will be both more convenient for Leon and keep Nomiya from hearing whatever they want to keep secret from him.
Leon smiles apologetically and signs his reply. Rin and Nanami are in the common room, but we don’t want Mr. Nomiya to walk in on them right now.
I raise my eyebrow suggestively. Oh? What are they doing in there all by themselves?
Dumbass. I didn’t think that word was in Leon’s sign vocabulary. Mr. Nomiya’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. The art club is working on a collage for him, and we didn’t get it finished before we left Yamaku. So Rin and Nanami are working on it right now. And now excuse me. I have to get Rin, before Mr. Nomiya comes back.
As Leon leaves for the common rooms, I relay the information to my three gestically challenged companions.
“Well, duh. Why didn’t she tell me? I’m sure I could have managed a way better distraction than Misaki.”
“I’m sure you could, Emi, but they wanted to distract only Mr. Nomiya and not the whole youth hostel.” Before that quip can have any consequences for me, I rise. “So, anybody else up for some breakfast?”
Ooki is quick to back me up. “Thought you’d never ask. Let’s go!”
**********
Anyone who notices an apparent contradiction to one of the earlier chapters will have to... just wait and see
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