Day 3, 20:30
Sighing softly, I run my fingers over the pages of the book I am reading. It has been a long day and walking around town all day with Hanako in the basking heat has been strenuous.
Well, you could say we literally walked around town most of the time to avoid running into too many people. Sadly, apart from the occasional copse of trees there is little in the way of shade to be found in the fields around Teshikaga.
On the positive side I finally got Hanako to tell me what happened this morning before breakfast, though I did not manage to convince her that it was probably a misunderstanding.
Right now, she is lying on her bed, reading one of her books. The only things I hear from her are her calm breathing and the occasional turning of the pages.
Hanako is always calm when she is reading. It is a skill I have always admired. I have never been able to become so absorbed in literature that I can leave all my cares and worries behind me…
Someone is knocking at the door. “It is all right, Hanako, I will go.” I put a placeholder in my book, close it and place it on the small table. Even though the room is small enough that I do not really need the cane to find my way, I pick it up, rise, walk to the door and open it.
“Hello Lilly, hi Hanako.”
“Hello, Hisao. Is there something I can help you with?”
He hesitates. “Actually… Could you come with me for a few minutes? There’s something you should see… Sorry, you know what I mean.”
I wait for him to elaborate, but it seems like he is not going to do so for the moment. I turn around to Hanako. “Hanako, I am going out for a moment.”
She calls out an “Okay” and goes back to reading her book. I take it as a good sign that Hisao’s presence doesn’t seem to bother her that much anymore.
I step into the corridor and close the door behind me. Hisao offers me his arm and leads me towards the stairs and down to the ground floor.
“So what is it, Hisao? Is there some problem with the day-trip to Lake Akan tomorrow?” At the base of the stairs we take a sharp left. Where is he leading me? The cafeteria?
“No… Actually Leon wanted to talk to you and asked me to get you.”
My mind is racing. What could Leon want? Is this about this morning?
We enter the cafeteria and are greeted by Leon. “Lilly... Hisao.”
“Hi Leon. You sure I shouldn’t stay?”
“No stay… ah… thank Hisao.” Hisao leads me to one of the tables and excuses himself.
Leon sits down opposite of me. Although I am a bit uncomfortable not knowing what this is about, I give him time to compose himself. This cannot be easy for him. I know he is very good with sign language and when communicating with others he can probably use gestures to help others understand him or even write things down, but none of these things will help him with me.
Finally, Leon takes a deep breath. “Lilly… eh… tell Hanako… and Leon meet… and ah… breakfast… crash… yes crash, yes?”
I furrow my brow in concentration, but I think I understood what he was trying to say. “Yes, Hanako told me she ran into you this morning.”
Leon sighs relieved. Then he starts speaking again. “Leon… and ah… yes tell Lilly… not want bump… eh Hanako.”
I smile. “I’m sure you didn’t run into her intentionally. Hanako told me she was scared by Emi and tripped. Was that what you were worried about?”
“Yes… No… ah… more, yes more. Lilly… and Leon… uh… in love…”
My mind goes blank for a moment. Is he going to confess to me? But we barely talked before… What should I do now? “I am sorry, Leon, but I do not feel the same way…”
“No!” He interrupts me, and I trail off confusedly. When he starts talking again, he is speaking every word for itself, as if he is listening to what he said so far and consciously chooses the next word. “Leon… … not… … uh… love … … Lilly, yes. Leon… … love… … Hanako.”
I feel the blood rising to my face. “I… I am sorry, Leon, I did not expect…”
I trail off. What did I not expect? That someone would fall in love with Hanako? Why should I be so surprised about that? Has hearing Hanako tell me time and again how unattractive she is finally made me believe her? After all I have no way to see for myself if it is true, and I never talked to anyone else about her appearance, let alone to a boy…
But right now a boy is sitting right in front of me and waiting for an answer. Leon. I try to recall what I know about him. He is in her class. He came to Yamaku a bit more than a year ago. What was his real name again? I don’t remember. He is well liked by most people. Very good grades. Good looking, too, if the other girls’ gossip is to be believed.
There have been several girls who asked him out over the past few months, but he turned them all down, so if he says he is in love with Hanako, I am inclined to believe he is serious, even though I don’t know him very well myself…
I start over, this time with a smile on my face. “I am sorry, Leon, this really came as a surprise to me. But why did you come to me?”
I hear him fidget on his chair. “Hanako eh… hate Leon, yes?”
“No, Hanako doesn’t hate you, I am sure of that.”
“Hanako… fright?”
I hesitate, but decide to be honest. “Yes, I think she is a little afraid of you. I already told her you did not mean any harm, but when you saw her face this morning, I think that was a bit of a shock for her. She always takes care not to let anybody see it.”
“Lilly… ah… help?”
“I am sorry, Leon, but I do not think I can be of much help. If I told her you love her, she would not believe me, and it would probably make things worse than they are.”
He seems to think that over for a moment. “Lilly… ah… tell about… and Hanako likes?”
It takes me a few seconds to grasp his meaning. “Well, you probably know she reads a lot. She spends most of her free time in a corner of the library. She does not have any friends besides me… and maybe Hisao. At least she does not feel too uncomfortable when he is around. He once stuck up for her in front of Ms. Hakamichi, so that is probably the reason…”
I suddenly realize this could create the wrong impression, so I quickly continue. “I do not think she has any romantic feelings for Hisao, though. At least she did not mind when he started dating Emi.”
“What else… There is an unused classroom on the second floor where we often sit and drink tea. Sometimes Hanako tells me about the books she has been reading, sometimes we play chess, and sometimes we…”
“Hanako… uh… and play… chess, yes?” Leon interrupts me. There is excitement in his voice.
“Yes, she likes to play it a lot. I think she used to play against her father before he… Well, now she can only play against me, and I think I am not much of a challenge for her, although she never complains.”
I hear Leon rising from his chair. “Leon… thank. Lilly… ah… and great… uh help. Leon… stairs… to room… help… now, yes?”
I rise as well and hold my arm out for Leon. Together we return upstairs and Leon takes his leave before I enter my room again. I quickly think of a likely excuse for taking so long, but I do not think Hanako will have even noticed the time. I find myself wishing Leon all the luck he can get. He is going to need a lot of it.
*****
Brace yourselves for another Rin Chapter next week
. Anyway don't start smoking, now I'm trying to give up smoking cigarettes but it turned out to be harder than I thought.