Searching for a Certain Someone

[badmanslayer04]

I am looking forward to seeing this

[demonix]

I've finally finished the third chapter which should hopefully fill the hole in the story (as long as I've done enough to patch it completely).

I've tried to break things down a bit more, but there's at least one part where I couldn't do that.

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The first real clue

I didn't think that this school would be so similar to my old school.
I've now started my second week here, and it's almost been like my first year in my old school with most of the schools clubs asking if I wanted to join.
Shizune and Misha started the charge asking if I wanted to join the student council, but the clubs didn't use what I would call the same pressure tactics that Shizune and Misha used, and from the looks of things, each club selected one of their members to ask if I was interested in joining.
The problem was that I wasn't that interested in joining any of the clubs that asked at this moment in time, nor did I want to join the student council.
It did take a few attempts for the student council duo to get the hint, but I think the way I went about getting the fact that I didn't want to join slightly damaged whatever friendship we'd formed.
However, the nurse was just as bad with suggesting that I do something after school like running, but I told him that I did things at my own pace and it's worked up to now.
At least I think it has.

Another quandary I had at the moment revolved around the delivery of food items I had from my mother last week.
The batch had to last me four weeks, but there was only enough to cover evening meals and since the food in the cafeteria wasn't getting any better, I had to go do some shopping to cover the lunches along with anything else I needed.
I did hear on the school grapevine that Monday was the better day to go to the local convenience store because it was quieter.
This was going to be a baptism by fire, since this would be the first time that I've done shopping for myself and I might have problems figuring out if what I'm getting wouldn't cause me any problems.

With all the school work I've been doing, along with everything else that has happened, I haven't been able to focus on my other reason for being here.
One of the things that had been keeping my mind away from that secondary mission was the mysterious dark haired girl who sits to my right, since she's been more out of the classroom then in it.
Unlike what happened when I started here last week, she has remained in the classroom even though she did turn up late at the beginning of the day, vanished a little while before lunch and came back after lunch had ended.

There was about half an hour left before everyone could leave, and I could head out to do my shopping.
I'd been spending some of my lunch break making up a list of what I needed to get, and some of the time in the classroom after lunch refining that list.
It ended up looking pretty reasonable, with a few things added to help spread out the supplies I already had.
The final bell caught me by surprise, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I could now get started on getting everything on that list.
As I started packing everything away, I noticed that dark haired and mysterious kept looking at the classrooms back door.
This is something I really shouldn't be paying too much attention to, so I continued packing my things away, headed back to my room to change into some more casual clothes and headed out of the schools main gate to go to the convenience store.

I've now entered the tenth level of hell.
Some of the stuff I was getting I didn't have to worry about that much, but once I got to the food part it was freak out time every time I looked at how much sugar was in each item.
This is something I should really have asked my mother about since she's the one that does this stuff for me, but I've got to start doing things like this myself since I can't depend or her all the time.
The only thing I can do is go through all the food I was going to get, and not freak out while I look at the labels again.
Now that I'm thinking clearly about all this, there's a few things that I don't need to worry about since the sugar content in them is so low it wouldn't even make a dent in my blood sugar level.
There were a few items I still wasn't sure about, but I was thinking about it so much I was taken by surprise when I heard someone talking behind me.
"Is something the matter, Hanako", a female voice asked in what could be described as a prim and proper tone.

Hearing someone utter that name shocked me so much, I think that my heart lept out of my chest, hit the ceiling and landed back in my chest in a worse state then when it left.
I received another shock as I turned around to see who had spoken as one of the two was the mysterious dark haired girl who sits to my right.
The taller blonde haired girl I knew as she was the one who walked into the classroom just after lunch started on my second day here, but I didn't know that the two knew each other since I left rather quickly.
With no response to her question, the blonde haired girl asked the question again.

"I-It's no-nothing", Hanako said.
"I think that I might be to blame for whatever happened", I said "she probably didn't think that I would be here, and in casual clothes as well".
"I didn't know that there was someone else here", the blonde haired girl said "it something the matter, since your voice seems to be a bit uneasy?"
It would be easy to know why she didn't know I was here because from my observations of her over the past minute or so she seems to be completely blind, which would explain how she was able to notice the uneasiness in my voice even though it was more to do with the shock I'd received and not what I was going to explain it as.
"This is the first time I've been shopping for myself", I said "and I'm having a few problems picking some things out because of my condition".
That seemed to pique Hanako's interest as she looked at the list I was holding, then the contents of me basket and walked off to look through the shelves.

"I didn't expect Hanako would do something like this", the blonde haired girl said.
"She did seem to have some interest in what I'd said", I said "maybe it has something to do with that".
It was actually an even bigger clue then hearing her name, as it would be one thing the Hanako I knew would know.
"You must be a new student to Yamaku", the blonde haired girl said "I'm Lilly Satou, pleased to meet you".
"I'm Seiji Sakai", I said "I started at Yamaku a week ago".
Our conversation came to a premature end when Hanako returned, and placed what she was holding into the basket I was holding.
A quick inspection told me that she'd gotten everything on the list I hadn't gotten, and that the amount of the things I had to look out for was lower then the stuff I'd looked at thus far, which made me wonder how I'd missed all of that.

"I'm pretty much done with my shopping now", I said "there's just a few emergency items I need to get".
There was a bit of discussion between the two girls, and after the discussion Lilly said that they'd just about gotten everything they needed with the remaining items they needed being on the way to the checkout.
My route was slightly different to theirs, and I arrived at the checkout just before them.
It took a bit of time for me to go through the checkout process, but I did hear a gasp as two items were put into their respective bags.
I headed outside once I'd paid for my items, and started to arrange everything so that the weights of the bags were a bit more balanced.
By the time I'd gotten everything a bit more balanced, Lilly and Hanako had finished paying for their items and had left the convenience store.

"I didn't expect that you'd still be out here", Lilly said after hearing me mutter whilst finishing of my re-packing.
"I wanted the bags to be a bit more balanced, weight wise", I said "since I didn't want one set pulling one of my arms down".
There wasn't much I could do to balance everything up by moving the bags around, so re-organising the contents of the bags was the only way to get everything to balance out.
We decided to head back to school together once Hanako had said it was okay, but during the walk I was able to sort out everything I'd found out during this escapade.
Two clues that this formally mysterious dark haired girl was the person I was looking for had come to light
The first was her name, but what I think is the most important clue to come to light is that she knows about my condition which is something I hadn't mentioned fully in the convenience store.
Another thing that has come to light now that I was able to get a better look at her is what her hair was covering, which I thought must have been caused by a fire of some kind.

We reached the point where the path splits to go to each of the dormitories, and after a quick farewell, headed our separate ways.
Getting everything packed away was pretty easy, but now I was back to my secondary mission.
There was enough proof to at least partly confirm that I'd found who I was looking for, but I wanted it to be a bit more concrete and the only way I could think about doing that is to do another sketch to compare with the one I did on Tuesday.
I picked up the sketchbook along with my drawing materials, and once I'd removed the first sketch, I started on this one.
Braincells, don't let me down.

An hour of sketching later, and I was finally finished.
When I compared the two sketches, I didn't to seem that surprised that there was at least a seventy-five percent similarity between the two.
The differing hairstyles made up some of that difference as I'd used the hairstyle she used to have, and the rest most likely comes from the scars.
I didn't expect to be getting the biggest hints this soon, but getting her to know that we're actually related was going to be problematic considering what I knew about her over the past week.
All those instances when she walked out of the classroom must be because she doesn't like being in contact with others, or something along those lines because of those scars.
She's probably more comfortable being around Lilly because of her lack of sight, but since I could see her it meant that I would have to gain her trust before I could tell her that we're related.
I didn't expect things to progress this quickly considering everything that happened after we found out that Hanako was still alive.

---------

"Why didn't you tell me that she was still alive", my mother asked in a raised tone.
"You never asked", a male voice said "and you could have gotten that answer from the rest of the family".
"What I got were a bunch of lies", my mother said with her tone of voice getting even louder "so I see your silence as backing those lies".
"I didn't know they would do that", the male voice said.
"Like how they decided to keep me in the dark as to what happened almost ten years ago", my mother said "how much of that was agreed by you".
"Just don't answer that", my mother said after interrupting the other person "I'm going to deal with this myself. Just get out and don't bother coming back".

I didn't expect to come back from school to find that happening, but then I didn't expect my mother to take me with her when she went to see the head of her family.
The last time I had to wait at home for my mother to return with the news, but this time I was going with her because she wanted me there as evidence to what their lies had done.
Our welcome when we arrived was about as warm as a bath tub filled to the brim with ice, and the responses to everything my mother asked was just as warm.
After hearing everything they said, mainly about me, I got so pissed off that I said if Hanako resented us and did anything physical in a violent way to either my mother or me, then I'd come back and do the same to the head of the family with interest.

We departed after that, but they wanted the last word as they said that even if we managed to track down Hanako or any places she was, we wouldn't be able to convince anyone that we were related to her in anyway.
It didn't take that much time to find the orphanage Hanako was sent to, but it seemed that those last words did ring true.
I wasn't really sure how they managed to pull it off, although falsifying paperwork or something along those lines was one of the ways I thought they'd done it afterwards, the people at the orphanage wouldn't believe that my mother was related to Hanako, even though she'd brought all the paperwork to prove that she was.
It pretty much put our investigation on hold, but it was around the time when my health problems came to a head.

I'd had one too many trips into diabetic hell by my doctors standards, and it was decided that I should be transferred into a school where my condition could be more better managed.
This was something I wasn't really sure about, but that changed pretty quickly when I got back home on the day my parents went to Yamaku.
My mother was happier then she'd ever been, and it was because she'd found out that Hanako was going to Yamaku as well.
That meant that as well as going through my final year at highschool, I also had to find Hanako, but I decided that I wouldn't be asking any questions in case they'd brought the same crap that was fed to the orphanage.

------------

Now I'm here, and I'm closer to Hanako then I'd expect to be at this point in time.
My train of thought was disrupted by the phone ringing, and since I now know who is calling, I could ask something I'd decided not to ask before now.

"How have things been in your world", my mother asked.
"I think... I've found her", I said.
"Are you sure", my mother asked after a brief silence.
"The name is the same, she knows about my condition even without telling her and I'm certain the scars I've seen must be from burns", I said "I'm pretty certain that I've got it right".
"Have you been able to talk to her", my mother asked.
"Not really", I said "after seeing how she is acts here, I didn't want to go in hamfisted and ruin things".
"Is it really that bad", my mother asked.
"Bad would be the understatement of the century", I said "she's been more out of the classroom then in it over the past week, so I'll have to take things slowly and earn her trust before going any further".
"I'll have to leave that to you", my mother said "at least you're both in the same class".
"We're actually seated next to each other", I said "that was something I didn't expect would happen".
"Now that is a turn up for the books", my mother said "I'd better let you get back to whatever you was doing before I called".
"There is one thing I wanted to ask", I said finally deciding to break my silence on this subject "How did you know that she was at this school?"
Another silence descended over the conversation.
"I managed to sneak into the girls dormitory", my mother said "and one of the rooms on the second floor had her name next to it".

The call ended after that admission, and I was left wondering what I should do.
I should get myself something to eat since I haven't eaten anything since lunch.
Plus I'd have a chance to think about how I should proceed with that second mission.

[Mirage_GSM]

It doesn't really happen all that often that I literally facepalm while reading a fanfiction, but...

There was enough proof to at least partly confirm that I'd found who I was looking for, but I wanted it to be a bit more concrete and the only way I could think about doing that is to do another sketch to compare with the one I did on Tuesday.

... in this case I did - twice.
So he knows her name, and he knows she's been in a fire, but he wants to make things more concrete by drawing a picture?

I'm not sure what plothole you expect to have been patched up with this chapter. I noticed one or two new things opening like how the family was able to convince the orphanage that Hanako is not related to your OC's family. They're supposed to be first cousins iIrc, so his mother should be a direct sibling to one of Hanako's parents. Quite hard to hide something like that. All she needs to do is bring her Personal ID.

Also, your OC is suffering from Diabethes for long enough for Hanako to remember, so at least ten years - and he still hasn't learned what he can and cannot eat? And they let him buy his own groceries? That's grossly negligent... Why doesn't he ask nurse for a dietary plan? That's why he IS at Yamaku isn't he?

Oh, and Hanako knowing about his condition means that she already KNOWS he is her cousin - you're aware of that, aren't you? Your OC should also be aware of it. So why is he still playing games about "earning her trust" before opening up to her? Does he expect to earn her trust by clumsily trying to hide their relationship?

That's just the three biggest things I noticed. Please keep in mind what I told you about reality checks...

[Oddball]

I'm trying to figure out this character's mindset and failing.

So, he's looking for a teenage girl names Hanako with purple hair that was in a fire that may or may not remember him.

He finds a purple haired girl of the right age with burns on her face from a fire and knows he has diabetes without him telling her.

So instead of saying "hey, remember me?" he goes and tries to draw a picture of what a teenage girl with purple hair and burns on her face.

What is that going to prove to him? That the person who already completely matches the description of who he's looking for matches what he thinks she should look like. What if he draws something different? Is he just going to assume that maybe the school has another 18 year old purple haired girl named Hanako going there?

[demonix]

So he knows her name, and he knows she's been in a fire, but he wants to make things more concrete by drawing a picture?

He wanted to compare the picture he did six days before with the one he did then to get some more certainty since the first picture was missing the scars and her hairstyle was different, but the rest was identical (it might have been a silly thing to do, but I'd already committed it to the story which would've made it difficult to remove and replace with something else).

I'm not sure what plothole you expect to have been patched up with this chapter. I noticed one or two new things opening like how the family was able to convince the orphanage that Hanako is not related to your OC's family. They're supposed to be first cousins iIrc, so his mother should be a direct sibling to one of Hanako's parents. Quite hard to hide something like that. All she needs to do is bring her Personal ID.

The original point to this chapter was to bring that first clue to the foreground (Hanako's name), but when silentcook (as you've just said) mentioned that the use of ID could've sorted this out even before the start of the story, so I had to plug that hole by expanding on what happened between when they found out that Hanako was still alive and when it was known that she was at Yamaku.
ID in the form of birth and marriage certificates (if they use both of those in Japan) were used since they would have had his mothers original family name on them since any ID she would've had would be in her married name, and I'm certain that in most countries those kinds of documents can be faked even though there might be some way to confirm legitimacy of those papers (that was more background thinking on my part whilst Seiji was more thinking about how the orphanage was convinced that Hanako had no living relatives even though I haven't covered her mothers family yet).

Also, your OC is suffering from Diabethes for long enough for Hanako to remember, so at least ten years - and he still hasn't learned what he can and cannot eat? And they let him buy his own groceries? That's grossly negligent... Why doesn't he ask nurse for a dietary plan? That's why he IS at Yamaku isn't he?

Diabetes (or was that just a keyboard slip).
And it's at least twelve years since he was diagnosed which was before the last time they were together (this was mentioned in chapter 1).
His condition was managed by diet (I'm not sure if a five/six year old would be given any medication) after diagnosis and went to medication/diet managed when the diagnosis was changed to type 1, but his mother was more in charge of his diet and getting everything that was required (she was a bit too protective if that's the best way to describe her) although he does have enough sense to know to look at the amount of sugar each item contains (the reason he went to Yamaku was more because of issues he had actually taking the medication which I'm certain was mentioned in chapter 1).

Oh, and Hanako knowing about his condition means that she already KNOWS he is her cousin - you're aware of that, aren't you? Your OC should also be aware of it. So why is he still playing games about "earning her trust" before opening up to her? Does he expect to earn her trust by clumsily trying to hide their relationship?

Hanako is more uncertain about if they're related since she wouldn't have any physical memories to get any confirmation from (if there was any, then it would have all been lost in the fire), and her going to find the rest of the items on his list was more her way of trying to get some confirmation if this is the person she knew from back then.
I'm keeping things within the bounds of Hanako's personality which is why she ran off at the end of chapter 2, and what Seiji knows about Hanako at that point in time is why he's going for the more gentle approach otherwise known as earning her trust although when everything comes out into the open it won't go straight to the happy Hanako.

This story is going to be more thought out (as long as I don't dig any more plot holes into the story) then some of the others I've been working on, so I should be able to keep everything in reality (unless I end up straying from the path which is unlikely).

[demonix]

I've finally gotten this story back on track after over two months of inactivity on it.

Some of it might be a bit rough around the edges, but I've been able to keep some parts that I'd planned for this chapter as they were when I thought about them.

There's still a few of the upcoming parts of the story that I have to think over, but I think that I've got the part where Hisao turns up sorted out.

And with all that said, here's all 3000+ words of the next chapter (and yes, I've started having problems finding decent chapter names).

---------------------------------------------

Contact Consideration

I really should start thinking about my posture before I go to sleep, since some of them make for an uncomfortable awakening.
At least my alarm clock is always there to tell me when to wake up, even when I'm halfway off my bed or in any other position.
A quick twist of my lower body removed most of the discomfort I was experiencing, but I couldn't stay in bed for the whole day since there was another day of school to go through.

One thing I did have to make ready before the start of classes was my lunch, so I slipped out of the bed to get it as well as myself ready.
The second thing I started thinking about was what happened yesterday afternoon in the convenience store.
I can put it beyond reasonable doubt that I've found Hanako, but I can't be sure if she's trying to confirm who I am.
Things have changed over the past twelve years, but then some things have stayed almost the same.
My diabetes has changed even though my diet hasn't, but my appearance is the only thing that has changed since I didn't wear glasses back then and I wasn't that much of a chick magnet either.

Nevertheless, it looks like we're both doing the same thing, but with my uncertainty on how to go ahead with getting in contact and her nervousness of sorts, we're most likely going to be standing still on this for a while until one of us steps up to the plate.
With my lunch now about ready, my thoughts turned to that near disaster of a shopping trip that happened yesterday.
If it wasn't for Hanako then I would have been standing in that shop for a lot longer then I was, but that wasn't the bit of that trip that I was thinking about the most.
My complete and utter lack of being able to judge if something was suitable for me to eat, and even though Hanako managed to get what I think would be the best, I couldn't even be sure if they were one hundred percent suitable.

Maybe I should run this stuff past the head nurse since he would know a lot more about this then I would, and would probably be able to give me some dietary advice as well.
Since I've gotten everything else ready, I made a note of all the nutritional information of most of the items I got yesterday, picked up my bag and headed out to the nurses office.

There weren't any signs of conversation coming from the head nurses office, so I knocked on the door and once I heard a response I opened the door and walked in.

"I'm certain that your next check up isn't for another few weeks", the nurse said "unless there's something you need to talk to me about".
"I needed to ask for some advice, actually it's more dietary advice", I said "I went to get some extra food items and I wasn't sure if they were completely suitable even though they had the lowest sugar content".
I handed over the notes I'd made, and he looked through them once he'd retrieved what looked like my file.
"All of those should be okay, but I'll try and get you an appointment with the dietician since you can't rely on you mother forever", the nurse said "and as long as you keep up with your injections and other medications with no major change in your blood sugar level then... now this I didn't expect".

The nurse suddenly pulled another file from a filing cabinet, and started looking through it.
"Are you by any chance related to another student", the nurse asked.
"If you're talking about Hanako Ikezawa", I said "then the answer would be yes".
"Why didn't you mention this before", the nurse asked "if I hadn't noticed that her last name was the same as your mothers maiden name then none of this would have come to light".
"We weren't sure if this place had eaten the same tripe that had been fed to the orphanage Hanako was sent to", I said "they didn't believe that we were related even with all the paperwork that would have proved it beyond any doubt".
"I'm just surprised that this happened", the nurse said "the odds of two people who are related to each other coming here at different times would be extremely slim".
"If it wasn't for my condition then we wouldn't have known each other before this", I said "her father wasn't in the good graces of his family for one reason or another which is what happened to my mother after they found out about my impending condition, and a little while after that I met Hanako for the first time with the rest pretty much being history".

"Most of your relatives are an unusual bunch", the nurse said.
"If I had words to describe them, they wouldn't be nice", I said "the last time I had to deal with them was at the beginning of this year after we found out that Hanako was still alive, and they didn't have any kind words for me which is why I ended up having a go at them".
I'd spent more time then I had expected on this, so I started heading for the door but I stopped before leaving.
"I expect everything I've said to be kept under doctor patient confidentiality", I said "it not that I don't want Hanako knowing, it's just that I'm not sure about how to proceed considering her current state".
The nurse didn't say anything in reply, so I took my leave and headed for the classroom.

As I left the auxiliary building, I started to wonder how the nurse could only have just found out about that little detail since he had read through my records before, that is if he'd read everything.
I really shouldn't think about those kinds of things too much as it'll just end up with me losing hair, and I'd constantly be late for lessons.
Not that I'm running that late today as I arrive at the classroom with enough time to get everything I need out, but I did manage to notice the empty chair to my right once I'd gotten everything sorted.
I'm not as taken aback by this as I was a week ago since I know that this has most likely been the norm here for the past two years, but it's still giving me issues as to how to approach her and say that she does still have family that would have taken her in if they'd been told about what happened.
My concentration was broken firstly by the bell, then secondly by the door opening with Hanako walking in followed by the teacher a few minutes later.

Keeping my mind on what the teacher was saying turned out to be a bit harder then usual since it felt like someone was looking at me for a few seconds every minute or so, but I did hear what sounded like a muffled gasp when I took off my glasses for a moment.
I might have let the cat out of the bag with that move, but now isn't the time to look over at the source of that noise since she might take it the wrong way even if she's just confirming her own suspicions.
That 'someone is looking at me' feeling didn't come back after that which meant that I could now put all of my focus back on what was going on at the front of the classroom, although one of the things that was happening near the front of the classroom was one of the students hurriedly putting their books and whatnot back onto their desk.

The classroom emptied rather quickly when the bell rang to signal the start of lunch break, so I packed everything away and headed out to what was becoming my usual eating spot.
I felt a lot more relaxed as I sorted out my lunch along with that other vital item I needed to have to hand, but that relaxed feeling went away as I saw five girls walking towards me.
All of them I could recognise as being from the class I'm in, and now that they've noticed that I'm here, one of the group doesn't look that happy.

"It looks like someone beat us to the good spot", the taller girl said.
"Can't we just go somewhere else to eat", the unhappy girl asked "I'd rather stay away from men as much as possible".
"Why don't you take a chill pill, Ikuno", the taller girl said "just because you found your now ex boyfriend in the track storage shed with the captain of the track team doesn't mean every man here swings the same way".
"That's quite fresh coming from someone who was clamouring to eat lunch with that guy when he started here", Ikuno said.
"Could we just stop arguing and start eating", the sleepy girl said as a yawn escaped from her mouth "I don't think I'll be able to stay awake for much longer".
"Su is right", the more foreign looking girl said "if you don't want to look at him then just sit on the other side of the tree".

I didn't feel like being in the middle of a massive debate, so I started to pack my things away only to be stopped by two of the girls.
"You are not leaving", the taller girl said "your not the one who started this debate".
"I shouldn't be around stressful situations", I said "the doctors say that it isn't good for my blood sugar levels. At least I think that's what my doctor said".
"You see, Ikuno arguing isn't going to solve things", the foreign looking girl said "so lets just sit down and start eating before someone has to run to get the nurse".
"Just as long as I'm not sitting next to him", Ikuno said.
"Fine, fine", the quiet until now girl said "just sit on the other side of the tree and we'll get the rest ready".

What could be called normality returned as the less talkative of the five started sorting out the food that they'd brought whilst the others sorted out their seating arrangements.
"You'll have to excuse Ikuno since she found out that her former boyfriend bats for the other team", the taller girl said "I'd better get the introductions done since you don't even know us. I'm Miki, the star of the track team in our class, Molly is our resident genius, Snoo-ow I mean Suzu is one of the members of the literature club in our class and Ritsu isn't this quiet".
"There wasn't any need for me to intrude in that conversation", Ritsu said "this little group came into being last year just after Miki transferred in and we've been eating together during lunch since then, but our usual spot had been taken which was when Suzu remembered this spot".

At least there wasn't any further comments on that as the now prepared meals were handed out, Miki sorted out where she was sitting while still nursing the leg that Suzu kicked during the introductions and I was sorting out my pre eating routine.
"Could you have done that elsewhere", Ritsu asked "it's kinda unnerving".
"I don't think that would be possible", Ikuno said from her position on the other side of the tree "I didn't get a good look at the injection pen, but it looks like more then your regular insulin and I've heard that some require you to eat just after injecting with bad consequences if that doesn't happen, so if he'd injected just before we turned up we wouldn't be in this position now".
It sounds like someone keeps up with some of the medications around, but then only a fellow diabetic would know about this.

"So what brought you here", Miki asked "I mean nobody ends up at cripple central in their last year with an ongoing condition without a good reason".
"My old school thought that my education was more important then my medication", I said "I ended up having more diabetic crises then I should have which left me at risk of repeating my first year, but I managed to get through everything and my doctor finally decided that I should go to a more suitable school which brought me here at this moment in time".
That's about as accurate as I could make it, and I did manage to keep the 'I'm also looking for an abandoned member of my immediate family who is here' part of why I'm here under wraps.
"I guess that some schools can get a bit an-ow about that", Miki said as she came under attack again.
"Maybe you should think before opening your mouth, Miki", Molly said "that one word would be extremely sensitive for one member of our group".
That would be really obvious considering what has been said, but since Molly is sitting to my right with Ritsu and Miki is sitting to my left with Suzu, so it would be easy to conclude that Suzu was the one who hit Miki.

There wasn't any further discussion or assaults as the rest of the group focused on their lunch, but I decided to leave once I'd finished since I didn't want to aggravate the angrier of the group.
The walk back to the school building gave me some time to think about to approach Hanako since doing that directly might still cause problems, and I'm not sure where she goes after lessons are over for the day although I'm not brave enough to go waltzing through the girls' dorm looking for her room.
About half the class had returned by the time I did, and about five minutes later four rather angry looking girls and one sleepy but angry looking girl walked into the classroom.

"That wasn't very nice", Ritsu said once she got to my desk.
"I didn't want to upset a certain member of your group any further then I already have", I said "she didn't seem to want any form of male company".
That explanation put an abrupt end to the conversation as Ritsu returned to her desk, and the rest of the students started to walk in with the exception of one who as usual walked in ten minutes after the bell rang.
The student count went down by two as Hanako walked out of the class just after the first afternoon lesson ended, and Suzu had to be helped out of the classroom by Miki after banging her head on the floor most likely while she was sleeping but Miki did return after depositing her lunch comrade at the nurses office.

My brain let out a metaphorical sigh of relief as the bell signalling the end of lessons chimed, and I was left wondering what I should do since I've gotten everything I needed to do done apart from seeing if the library had a few books I was looking for.
One problem I did have is that I didn't have a clue as to where the library is in this school, and since I'd doubt that I'd be able to get any help from whoever was left in the classroom which means that I've now found something to do for the next hour or so.
Since a majority of the rooms aren't marked, trying to find the library took a bit longer then expected as I started my search on the third floor and after an hour of checking rooms I finally found it during my checking of the second floor.

It was a good thing that I found the library when I did because there doesn't seem to be anyone manning the front desk, which meant that I could either wait for the librarian to return to the desk or walk around aimlessly hoping that I can find what I'm looking for in this maze of books.
I decided to go for the walking around aimlessly idea since you never know what you can find by just walking around and looking at the shelves filled with books.
The plan was to take this slow so I didn't miss anything, but at the rate I was going I'd only be half way through or even less then half way through by closing time.
There was a reprieve when I found that one section only contained books for the blind, but as I turned a corner around one bookcase I found myself face to face with someone I didn't expect to see.

"Oh, S-Seiji", Hanako said "I-I didn't e-expect to s-see you here".
I could say the same, but since we had that encounter last week I've now come to the conclusion that she had been here at that time as well.
"I was just in here looking for some books to read", I said "is that why you're here?"
"I-I normally come here to read", Hanako said "I ju-just finished th-this book and was just looking for another to read".
It looks like I've stumbled upon the jackpot since this must be where Hanako goes when she leaves the classroom, at least it's probably where she goes most of the time.
A sudden grumbling from my stomach told me that I should really go and eat something.
"I think something is telling me that I need to go get something to eat", I said "I'll leave you to your book hunting".
Hanako just nodded and headed off in one direction, while I went back the way I'd come.

As I left the library and headed through the maze of corridors to the stairs that would take me to the main lobby, I felt that some progress has been made.
I managed by chance to find one place that Hanako goes after classes have ended and I managed to break the ice with a bit of conversation, but I couldn't be sure if this is the norm for her considering what she's been doing or if she's been doing her own investigation on me which probably is correct considering that feeling I got during the mornings lessons.
There's still a ways to go before I feel that I can tell her everything, but there's one thing I need to sort out now.

Something to eat.

[Mirage_GSM]

I can put it beyond reasonable doubt that I've found Hanako, but I can't be sure if she's trying to confirm who I am.

Not going to reiterate everything I've said before.

Nevertheless, it looks like we're both doing the same thing,...

He introduced himself with his full name when he first came into class - even wrote his name on the board. Hanako has already shown she knows about his diabetes. She knows who he is, and if hes not a complete idiot, that should be obvious to him as well.

My complete and utter lack of being able to judge if something was suitable for me to eat, and even though Hanako managed to get what I think would be the best, I couldn't even be sure if they were one hundred percent suitable.

Well, of course not. While Hanako knows that he has diabethes, it's not like the diet for each diabetes patient is the same. But then again that's mostly about how much they can eat of something.

"I'm just surprised that this happened", the nurse said "the odds of two people who are related to each other coming here at different times would be extremely slim".

*cough* Lilly and Shizune *cough*

I might have let the cat out of the bag with that move,

^^°

One problem I did have is that I didn't have a clue as to where the library is in this school, and since I'd doubt that I'd be able to get any help from whoever was left in the classroom which means that I've now found something to do for the next hour or so.

Why wouldn't anyone tell him where the library is?

Also, some then/than-mixups.

[demonix]

I can put it beyond reasonable doubt that I've found Hanako, but I can't be sure if she's trying to confirm who I am.

Not going to reiterate everything I've said before.

Nevertheless, it looks like we're both doing the same thing,...

He introduced himself with his full name when he first came into class - even wrote his name on the board. Hanako has already shown she knows about his diabetes. She knows who he is, and if hes not a complete idiot, that should be obvious to him as well.

This little bit is coming to an end, but it's to be replaced by his doubts in actually reaching out to her.

My complete and utter lack of being able to judge if something was suitable for me to eat, and even though Hanako managed to get what I think would be the best, I couldn't even be sure if they were one hundred percent suitable.

Well, of course not. While Hanako knows that he has diabethes, it's not like the diet for each diabetes patient is the same. But then again that's mostly about how much they can eat of something.

It's more that because his mother sorts out all his dietary needs, he is oblivious to all this which is why he's uncertain about that but Hanako would still be in the belief that his diabetes hasn't changed since her sixth birthday.

"I'm just surprised that this happened", the nurse said "the odds of two people who are related to each other coming here at different times would be extremely slim".

*cough* Lilly and Shizune *cough*

Wouldn't they have started at the same time although Lilly didn't move to the dorms until the second year.

I might have let the cat out of the bag with that move,

^^°

I think that I have to re-read that part since I only started work on the next chapter a few weeks ago.

One problem I did have is that I didn't have a clue as to where the library is in this school, and since I'd doubt that I'd be able to get any help from whoever was left in the classroom which means that I've now found something to do for the next hour or so.

Why wouldn't anyone tell him where the library is?

He'd come to the conclusion that his actions during lunch would have had a negative impact on most of the class, so he decides to look for the library himself (I'll have to do a re-read of that part to make sure I've that correct).

Also, some then/than-mixups.

I doubt that I'll ever be able to get all that correct.

I've finally managed to finish off the next chapter even though I spent a lot of time thinking if I should just jump to golden week or just go to the next day (I went for the latter as I wanted to have a lunch scene with Lilly and Hanako before going any further into the story), but I've got to make some adjustments before I post it.

[demonix]

I'm finally finished with the next chapter after initially taking some time to think about if I should jump ahead to golden week or not (this chapter probably sets some of the stuff that happens in the next chapter), and adjusting a few lines to look a bit better.

This chapter is probably a bit of a mess, but I wanted to cover some of the doubts and hates that the main character has.

That's enough of my rambling, now it's on with the story.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Taking no steps forward.

I feel like I managed to take a step forwards yesterday, but why didn't I just get it all out in the open?
That's obvious as I wouldn't know how she'd react, and what actions she would take.
It's clear to me now that there is a high likelihood that Hanako already knows who I really am, and she's most likely as uncertain as I am as to how to act.
Something I should do is to start thinking about how to actually take a step forwards in this little dance, but my early morning just woken up and still sleep addled mind can't really come up with anything.
A great idea will come to me in due course, but I can't really dilly-dally even though it's been just over a week since I started here as the consequences for not telling her the truth could get worse.

My alarm clock starts to wail away next to my left ear as it tells me in no uncertain terms that I should be more awake then I currently am and getting out of bed.
It's something I really don't want to do at this moment as I'm still getting the discomfort out of my limbs, but time waits for no high school senior as I need to be up and getting ready for whatever I'm dealt.
I quickly turn off the alarm and get out of bed so as to not suffer too much discomfort, but it doesn't go that well as I have to make a quick grab for the night table so to not hit the ground from a sudden bout of morning leg.
Preparations for the day didn't take as long as it has before, so it gave me sometime to either get to the classroom that bit earlier or see if the breakfast offerings are better then what is available during lunch.

As I walk into the school building I start to consider my options as to where to head, and upon looking at my watch I decided to go to the cafeteria first and leave going to the classroom until a bit before classes start.
Maybe some food will help sort my head out, if it ever does.

It looks like the morning is the most popular time in the cafeteria, but mostly not for the food as there are several groups of students pouring over their notes whilst they occasionally pick at the food on their plates.
One mess of blonde hair does catch my eye as I walk towards the counter, and as I get that closer to finding out what this place offers at breakfast, I found out why it had caught my eye as the owner of that hair is rather familiar.

The choice is about as vast as the lunch menu, but I decided on something simple and headed over to where Lilly is sitting.
Lilly hadn't noticed me walking towards her, but that is mostly because her focus is on what she's eating as the knife and fork she's holding move around the plate in an organised pattern.

"Hey, Lilly", I said trying not to be too loud.
"Oh, Seiji", Lilly said even though she didn't look in my direction "I didn't expect that you took breakfast in the cafeteria as well".
"This is a... rare occurrence", I said "I normally never have any time before classes start to have breakfast, let alone have it in the cafeteria".
"It is always better if you have a good breakfast", Lilly said between bites "even if some of what is offered here doesn't taste like it should".

I sat down opposite Lilly and started on what I'd gotten, only to find out that I'd gotten one of the 'doesn't taste like it should' offerings Lilly spoke about.

"Maybe I should consider my options", I said trying to hide my distaste of what I'm eating "it'll probably take another trip to the convenience store to get some ideas".
"There are other options beyond the convenience store", Lilly said "you just have to find them".

I don't have any idea what Lilly is talking about although it might have something to do with sampling every breakfast menu option, but it might be that she has some other idea in mind.

"I'll probably consider my options a bit more", I said remembering something else that happened this week "I'd possibly end up taking ages to find stuff that I can eat".
"I'm certain that you'll get the hang of it eventually", Lilly said with a little chuckle included "I'm just wondering. Do you currently have any any plans for lunch?"
"Not at the moment", I said.

Besides, I doubt that I'd be spending another lunch with Miki and her cohorts after what I did yesterday.

"I normally have lunch with Hanako on days where I'm not too busy", Lilly said "and I was wondering if you wanted to join us?"
"Of course", I said "it does mean that I'll at least know where I'm going for lunch".
"I'll be meeting up with Hanako first", Lilly said "but I don't know where you sit in class".
"My seat is right next to Hanako's", I said "so it'll most likely make things easier".
"That it would", Lilly said just after she finished the last item on her plate "I should head to my classroom since classes should be starting in a little while".

Lilly picked up the plate after extending what looks like a thin white stick, and headed over to where the used plates and other items are placed leaving me with my thoughts and this barely edible slop.
It only took another few minutes before I couldn't take another mouthful, and disposed of what is left when I dropped the bowl off and then headed for the classroom.
All except three desks if you excluded my own are now occupied, with one of those empty desks being Hanako's.

"Have you finished~ looking at the scenery~", a familiar and really loud voice said.
I flinched when that voice rattled through my ears, and I only had to turn my head slightly to see the pink, drill styled hair of the speaker along with her silent companion.
"I only walked in a few seconds ago", I said "but it was enough time to know that you two hadn't turned up... until now".
"We had student council work to do~", Misha said "but we could have gotten it done~ with some extra help~".
"I thought that I'd made myself quite clear on that matter", I said "I'm certain that you can get the next person who transfers in to join".

I ended that little discussion by walking over to my seat, and the student council of two headed over to their seats just as the bell rang but we had to wait a bit longer before the teacher decided to turn up.
It'll probably take me a lot longer before I can get used to some of the teachers turning up late to class, but then nothing about this school could be called normal.

Hanako turned up around an hour after the teacher, but this time she did seem to look a bit worried about something that is in her bag.
I decided to keep eye contact to a minimum for the time being, but a few of the girls are glancing at me which doesn't bode well for lunch even though I've already got plans.
Scientific formulas followed by bending my brain around the English language managed to keep me occupied, but the closer lunch came the more I prayed that Lilly wouldn't be taking her time to get here.

A sigh of relief echoed through the classroom a few seconds after the bell chimed the start of lunch, but only a few started the usual filing out process which left me a bit worried as to what might happen if Lilly didn't turn up post haste.
I'm put out of my misery a few minutes later as Lilly walks in through the rear door, and Hanako is the first to greet her while I'm picking up my bag in preparation to leave.
The two girls who occupy the two desks after Hanako's had departed well before Lilly arrived, so her dash over to Lilly didn't cause any accidents.

They started talking seconds after the meeting, but from my position Hanako looked to be a little uneasy about something Lilly had just said.
"Wh-why did you invite someone to have lu-lunch with us", Hanako asked.
"I thought it would be good to have someone join us", Lilly said "besides, you already know who will be joining us".
"Hey, Lilly", I said "I'm ready to go".

That rather brief announcement made Hanako flinch, but when she turned to look at me the initial look of fear I could see quickly vanished to be replaced by a smile.
Now I know that she must know who I really am.
"Then lets get going", Lilly said "for some unknown reason, I feel like most of the people in here are looking at us".
You're not wrong there, in fact I think I can feel the burning on the back of my head from all those looks.

The walk to our destination took us to the second floor, and down several corridors until we stopped at an unmarked door.
This room must be a place where these two have their lunch as there are four desks set out in the centre of the room, and there's a small cupboard in one corner of the room that Lilly is walking towards now that she has placed her bag by one of the desks.
"I do hope that you like tea", Lilly asks as she retrieves something from the cupboard.
"Actually, I prefer tea", I said "I always end up in a really foul mood if I drink too much coffee".
And 'foul mood' would be the more polite way of saying it, as a few cups would make me become mister aggravated and I would hate to know what happens if I drank a lot more.

"We only have a few different varieties of tea here", Lilly said "so you would have had to have gone to one of the vending machines if you wanted something else".
"That would have put a damper on your invitation", I said whilst extracting my lunch from the depths of my bag along with two other items "and if I had to do a vending machine dash, I might forget something important I have to do".
I decided to focus on getting that important thing done while Lilly is sorting out the tea, and Hanako is sorting out both hers and Lilly's lunches.
At least I managed to keep my injection pen out of view whilst I screwed the needle on and primed it for the injection.

Lilly returned to the table with the first two cups while I'm dealing with my injection, and Hanako walked over to the tea preparation area to collect the final cup.
When Hanako came back with the final cup and took her seat next to Lilly, we went through the usual pre eating ritual and then started the ritual of disposing of our lunches... in our stomachs.
"I'd have to be honest and say that I didn't expect you to accept my invitation", Lilly said between bites "I had a feeling that you was getting a lot of attention in the classroom".
"I thought that I'd already alienated myself from most of the girls in my class", I said only pausing to take a sip from the tea cup "I'm not exactly a fan of being a girl magnet".

"But you still accepted my invitation", Lilly said.
"That was a different situation", I said "I approached you while all the other times I've been approached either in a classroom or on the grounds".
I was being quite generic there, since a majority of those lunches were at my old school.
"So, you must have been popular at your old school", Lilly said.
"There were a few quiet whys when it was announced that I was to transfer to another school", I said "it was almost if they'd forgotten there was something was wrong with me and that I had to transfer to a more suitable school".
It looked like Lilly was going to say something, but she stopped herself probably because she thought that I didn't like talking about my recent past although it doesn't really bother me that much since none of those girls weren't interested in me in a romantic way.

The remainder of lunch continued in relative silence apart from when Lilly asked Hanako if she would be doing something over the weekend, but Hanako said that she had to be somewhere for some of it.
I had a feeling that it has something to do with whatever happened to her over the past ten years, but I couldn't be really certain since she's being rather vague probably because she isn't too sure if I am who she thinks I am.
It makes me feel like I'm contradicting myself, but I think that should stop thinking too much if Hanako really knows who I am or not.

Once the tea cups and then the lunch boxes had been emptied, we sat in silence for a few minutes before anyone spoke.
"We should get ready so we can head back to our classrooms", Lilly said "lessons should be starting in a little while".
I quickly checked my watch and found that Lilly... wasn't that correct as there is at least fifteen minutes before the bell should be chiming, but it might be that Lilly has to factor in other things into her estimate of what she calls 'a little while'.
Regardless of how much time we had before we had to get back to our respective classrooms, the clean-up operation started as Hanako sorted out the containers and Lilly put the cups back while I went about packing away my empty lunch containers along with my injection pen which still has the used needle attached to it.

With the room now back the way it was when we arrived, we started on our short journey back to the third floor with Hanako acting as Lilly's guide once again.
We reached the corridor that Lilly has to go down to get to her classroom, but as Hanako and I reached the door to our classroom, Hanako started to move behind me most likely to try and cover her entrance.
That plan failed the moment we walked into the classroom, as at least five pairs of eyes started looking in our direction and caused Hanako to freeze up like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.
I should have said that they're only looking at me, but I'm not sure if it would help as it might make things worse even though the looking eyes are no longer looking in our direction.
It took about a minute before Hanako had calmed down enough for our walk back to our respective desks could continue, but I noticed a few unhappy looks along the way and Misha looks like she's holding back a massive 'wahaha~' with those bobbing drills telling me that she might fail at any time.

When we reached the point between our desks, Hanako quickly moved to her seat without saying anything but saying 'thanks' might cause even more problems with her actually saying it with all these people around.
Classes continued apace several minutes later, but a few more questions about how Hanako ended up the way that she is now and how it might affect her response when I finally tell her the truth came to my mind.
I decided to keep my focus on what the teacher is saying, and to contemplate those new thoughts once I get back to my room.

After what felt like a lifetime, the final bell of the day chimed and most of the students started packing up to head outside or to their clubs.
That is with the exception of Shizune and Misha who are 'talking' about something that I can't understand, and Miki who is now walking up to my desk.

"Can you explain why you left at lunch with the Amazon", Miki asked "the rest of us were expecting you to head to your usual eating place".
"She invited me to lunch this morning, and I went", I said "if you'd done the same then I would have considered it, and I know that not all of your group is thrilled to have me around".
"She'll come around soon enough", Miki said "Snoozu was a bit upset when you weren't at that tree".
"Just remember who makes your lunches, Miss Miura", Suzu said "I can easily incapacitate that big mouth of yours so you can't call me by that infantile nickname for a good while".
Those words and that kick Miki got yesterday is all the proof I need that Suzu really doesn't like that nickname, and I wouldn't want to be in the firing line when she gets hacked off when she's called Snoozu too many times.
"I know that isn't entirely true", I said "you lot weren't that happy when you walked back in here yesterday".
"Ikuno did appreciate you leaving before the rest of us", Ritsu said as she walked passed my desk on her way out of the classroom "but not the way you went about it".

"So you'd better not have any plans for lunch tomorrow", Miki said "otherwise we'll crowd around you when lunch starts".
Oh great, it looks like I'll have to make my feelings clear on that kind of thing.
"I'd rather that you didn't", I said "I'm not exactly that keen on the whole girls surrounding me thing".
"And why would that be the case", Miki asked.
"Because it happened in my old high school, and I hated it", I said "because they were only doing it out of pity".
That little sentence silenced whoever is left in the classroom, so I picked up my bag and started to leave the classroom stopping after a few steps to make sure I had everything out in the open.

"I know that as it only started after my first fainting spell in class", I said "they only did it to pity to poor disabled kid and I'd rather it ended now".
With that said I continued out of the classroom, and I'm thankful that Hanako has departed well before the final bell chimed.
I only managed to get as far as the stairs before the sound of someone running out of a classroom, and headed in my direction stopped me in my tracks as I did think that the person came out of the classroom I was in until a few minutes ago.
The footsteps came to a halt behind me and to my right, and from the sound of the person catching their breath, that person is female.
"Is that the real reason why you transferred to Yamaku", Ikuno asked.
"You already had the truth yesterday", I said "but I didn't think that my reputation would follow me here".

"I probably would have kept on hating you if you hadn't said what you'd said in the classroom", Ikuno said as she walked towards the stairs "my ex was popular with the girls even though he's as bent as a six hundred yen note, and I was relieved when you said that you didn't having girls crowding around you. Oh, and I need to give you this".
Ikuno pulled what looked like a business card out of one of the pockets on her skirt and handed it to me.
"I had to go see the dietician this morning and she told me to give you that", Ikuno said "but I don't know why you would need to see a dietician since you've got all your meals sorted".
I looked at the card, and it just told me to go to some room in the auxiliary building next week after classes let out.
"I don't have it all sorted when it comes to food", I said "everything I eat is cooked by my mother and after a shopping trip on Monday, I decided to ask the nurse if everything I'd gotten was okay and he decided to refer me to a dietician".

"Oh, just make sure you get there on time", Ikuno said as she started going down the stairs "she's like deaf-charge and her fog-horn friend when it comes to punctuality".
I stood at the top of the stairs, no doubt looking quite confused as to what Ikuno said.
"She's talking about Shizune and Misha", Miki said as she decided to make her presence felt "and you handled yourself well with getting misery chops back on your side".
"I'd be more then happy to help Su with that mouth paralysing lunch she's planning", Ikuno said rather loudly "then you'd know the meaning of pain".
Now I would pay at least a million yen not to be around when that lunch is served.
"And don't think you can avoid it", Suzu said as she walked down the stairs with Molly in tow "because I'll have the other girls hold you down while I pour it down your throat bit by bit".
"Only if you can catch me", Miki said "I'm no slouch when it comes to running".
"We know that", Molly said just before she goes out of my field of vision "and we'll have a countermeasure in place in time who knows how to run into people by mistake".

I decided to remove myself from this discussion, and left Miki at the top of the stairs so I can head to my room for a bit of rest before dinner.
On my way, I walked passed Suzu, Ikuno and Molly along with another student in gym clothing possibly talking their plans for getting Miki off her feet if it is necessary to get her to eat whatever is planned.
As I approach the boys dormitory, a familiar figure comes into view as she stands, her navigation cane held in both hands, near the entrance to the building.
Lilly had taken note of my approach a few seconds ago, but she didn't move from her location probably because she wants to be sure that the person who is approaching is the one she's waiting for.
"I need to talk to you about something, Seiji", Lilly said the second I walked pass her "it's a personal matter".

I'd have to wonder how Lilly knew that it was me who walked by, but then she would have other ways to identify someone using other senses.
"Will you okay going up the stairs", I asked since I'm not sure if there are rooms on the ground floor.
"I'll be fine", Lilly said "my room is on the second floor, although I'm still getting used to getting around the girls' dormitory building".
Since Lilly had said that this is a personal matter, I thought that it would be better to have this discussion in my room even though we'll have to go to the third floor and Lilly put her cane away when we got to the stairs as the handrail is there for this reason.

When we reached the third floor, I took over navigation duties as Lilly doesn't know my room number but once we got to my room, Lilly didn't wait a single second before she started talking.
"I know this might sound rather blunt, but I need to know so I can put my mind at ease", Lilly said "have you done something or said something to Hanako that might upset her? It's just that she's been acting strangely since the start of the school year, and it isn't just with her reaction at the convenience store".
Lilly had to take a few second, possibly to think, before she started talking again.
"It's just that I've accidentally heard her talking to herself in the shower and in her room", Lilly said "and some of what I heard her say might relate to you even though she didn't refer to you by name".

I think that I should compliment Lilly on her exemplary hearing, but I've got to come up with an explanation that she'll believe and quickly.

"It might be because I look similar to someone she knew", I said "I can't be to certain but I do keep having this feeling that she's looking at me from time to time".
Now I have to hope that Lilly buys that excuse of an explanation.
"Not knowing what you look like, and not knowing what Hanako knows about this person", Lilly said after thinking about my response "it could be a mistake on her side, but I don't see why you haven't cleared things up yet?"
"She hasn't really spoken about it, so I couldn't have cleared it up", I said "and we haven't spoken that much".

I suddenly remembered that I hadn't removed the needle from the injection pen, so I started rummaging through my bag for it along with the sharps bin which seems to pique Lilly's interest.
"I didn't take the needle off the pen after I used it at lunch", I said trying to predict at least one question Lilly might ask "so I'm just getting it in the bin before I forget that it's been used".
"Pen", Lilly said with an inquisitive look on her face.
"Injection pen", I said using the actual name for the device "I have to stick myself with it twice a day, normally just before I eat".
"And that would be", Lilly started asking.
"Diabetes", I said interrupting Lilly "I've been at risk since I was born, and the doctors did say that I should have gotten into my twenties or thirties before my pancreas gave out but I guess that the stress of high school entrance exams put an end to that as I collapsed a few days after the start of the school year".

At least I can think on my feet when it comes to putting in the odd white lie about what happened to me before coming here.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked", Lilly said looking rather apologetic.
"Don't worry about it", I said "it's not like I'm just going to hide it since I can still keel over even if I've taken all my medication".
"But still, I shouldn't have asked", Lilly said still trying to take all the blame.
"I'm more at fault then you", I said "I tried to anticipate what you might ask and it ended up moving on to my medical problems".
"At least if you keel over during lunch, I'll know what to do", Lilly said.
"You'll only have to go as far as my bag", I said "I always keep an emergency supply of sugar boosting items on hand in case of an emergency, although someone else would have to be there to operate the blood sugar checker since my blood sugar could be high and not low".
I've had more cases of low blood sugar then of high which is why I keep the sugar raising supplies with me, but I kept a smaller supply before my pancreas packed up for the exact same reason.
"That's good to know", Lilly said "I should get going as my sister should be waiting for me at the main gate now".

Lilly retrieved her navigation cane from her bag and headed for the door.
It also looks like I'm getting really good at lying, which I'm not all that happy about but needs must when your keeping a part of the reason why I'm here under wraps.
This little conversation has told me that Hanako does know who I am and is probably keeping it as under wraps as I am, but for what reason.
Maybe whatever happened to her after the fire has made her uncertain and unable to approach someone out of the blue, but it might also be that she has a deep set in hatred of the family after being abandoned by the main family and in her mind by my and my family.
That is one of the main reasons why I haven't gone straight to telling her as I might not come out the other end with a few bruises and probably missing a tooth or two.

"Are you still in there", Miki calls out after knocking on the door several times "I saw the Amazon walking out of this dorm building and I know that she would only be here to talk to you".
And that is someone I really didn't want to talk to, even though her compatriots are plotting to force feed her some rather spicy fare some time soon.
I doubt that she'll go away any time soon, so I'll let her in this time and I'll probably end up getting dragged to some shop or restaurant.
At least I'll be set for dinner if something like that happens.
That is as long as what I end up getting doesn't put me in the hospital, or the bed in the nurses' office.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The truth is out, he really doesn't like being a girl magnet (unless it's just one girl inviting him to lunch).

[Mirage_GSM]

- I know your tendency towards endless run-on sentences has gotten a lot better since you started writing here. Still there are a lot of sentences in this chapters with two or more subordinate clauses - mostly "to", "so" or "as." It's as if your main character has to justify each and every action he takes to himself.

- In your dialogues, you might consider using verbs other than "said" from time to time...

- Also tenses!

"At least if you keel over during lunch, I'll know what to do", Lilly said.
"You'll only have to go as far as my bag", I said "I always keep an emergency supply of sugar boosting items on hand in case of an emergency".

If he keels over during lunch, boosting blood sugar levels is NOT what you want to be doing. You might want to read up on diabetes a bit...

I'm not going to comment on any OOC ations, awkward dialogue or Lilly's apparent clairvoyance.

[demonix]

If he keels over during lunch, boosting blood sugar levels is NOT what you want to be doing. You might want to read up on diabetes a bit...

I'm not going to comment on any OOC ations, awkward dialogue or Lilly's apparent clairvoyance.

There are a few gaps in my knowledge as everything that I know comes either from my father (who has type 1 diabetes) or from those programs on the TV that focuses on the emergence services or hospitals, but it also (I think) could depend on his blood sugar levels at the time as something with a high sugar content can help if the persons blood sugar level is low enough to cause fainting (I should probably make some changes to that part to make it more accurate to the situation since checking blood sugar levels should be done first).

And now I have to get back to recovering from this cold I somehow managed to catch last week.

[Mirage_GSM]

In a nutshell, Type 1 diabetes is the inability of the body to produce insulin, the stuff that breaks down blood sugar. That means that people suffering from that are prone to extremely high blood sugar levels if they do not get their regulat insulin shots.
If it gets so high they keel over, you don't want to raise it any further with sugar boosting items.

A blood sugar that is too low could occur after an accidental overdose of insulin, which - considering how ignorant your OC is about his own dietary needs - is a definite danger for him.

Since the symptoms of both too high and too low blood sugar are similar, if you are not certain which a person is suffering from and have no way to measure blood sugalr levels at hand, you should still try to boost the sugar levels, since while continued high blood sugar levels can lead to lasting damage, they are not too dangerous provided the patient gets medical care soon.
Ignorantly applying more insulin to someone with already low blood sugar can lead to death.

[demonix]

Progress is going rather slowly (due to the same problems I mentioned in my other update), but I have gotten a large chunk of the current chapter written along with the alterations I've done to the previous chapter (although that is just one little part I made a change to) sorted out and as long as I don't have too many gaps in being able to write anything I should have the current chapter complete by the end of the year (it might take a few more days to check for any mistakes).

[demonix]

And after over two months after I said I'd have the current chapter completed, I've finally gotten the chapter in the bag although there might be a few things I'll have to tweak before I post it (along with the small change (if I haven't already done it) I made to the previous chapter) which I'll most likely be doing in the next hour.

[demonix]

It took a bit longer then I expected as there were a few more tweaks that had to be done (and there were a few instances where I didn't have any time to do any work on it), but I've finally gotten this chapter in the bag.

So, without further ado, please brace yourself for the shittiest sex scene ever written along with a story that has likely added more plot holes then removed, and a story that most likely be turning into something that most weren't expecting.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friends with benefits.

"Why in the heck haven't you told her yet", my mother shouted after I'd dragged her to what I thought was out of earshot of our guests.

"Could you please keep it down", I asked in a hushed tone "apart from the head nurse, nobody in the school knows that Hanako and I are related".

"But that doesn't explain why you haven't even told her yet", my mother asked in a more subdued tone.

"It's... complicated", I said

"Why is it complicated", my mother asked.

"I... don't think it will end well", I said rather hesitantly.

"How do you know that", my mother asked.

"It was something I was told on my second week", I said "I just have this feeling that if I tell her, the reaction from her won't be all that pleasant".

"You'll only find out when you tell her", my mother said

"Maybe you should put yourself in her shoes", I said "if you've been alone for over a decade and a member of your extended family suddenly appears and mentioned that, how would you react?"

"I'd probably lash out at that person for not showing up a lot sooner if I'd known them well before that time", my mother said after thinking about what I'd said "you're right. It does look like there's a chance that things won't go well once she knows".

"I think she already does, and that she's hiding it as well as I am", I said.

"Someone else found out quite quickly", my mother said "and what is the story with those two girls you turned up with?"

"The head nurse only found out through my records", I said "and it might take some time to explain why Ikuno and Suzu came with me".

"I'll settle for the abridged version then", my mother asked.

"Ikuno insisted on coming", I said "that's why you received that panicked call asking to get the guest room ready, but it could so easily have been three if the third didn't have any problems with one of her prosthetic limbs".

I learned not to take some of what Miki says that seriously after she'd said that I'd gotten Ikuno on my side as it wasn't the truth since she still didn't trust me when we had lunch the next time, and I was certain it was the same over an hour ago when I started on my way back home for golden week only to find Ikuno and Suzu waiting at the main gate with cases in hand.

It could have been three people standing there waiting for me, but Molly couldn't come since she'd damaged one of her prosthetic limbs trying to beat her now ex boyfriend to death for smashing her violin and couldn't go anywhere until it had been fixed.

Even though Ikuno had said this was partly for study and partly to come up with a few ideas for the festival that happening in just over a months time, I had a sneaking suspicion that she had another reason for coming here but I hadn't figured out what it is, if there even is another reason for her coming here and dragging Suzu along for the ride.

"I think we should go back to our guests", my mother said "they'd probably be wondering where we are".

"They might have figured that out if they heard you shouting a little while ago", I said jokingly.

I had to avoid getting hit by my mother for that joke as well as leaping over Youske when he decided to turn himself into a furry doorstop, and we walked into the living room grinning like idiots to make it look like nothing had happened.

"I'd better get the dinner started", my mother announced as she walked into the kitchen "I'd have to guess that you three haven't eaten anything since lunch".

"She does have a point there", Suzu mumbled "it's been at least six hours since we've eaten anything".

"That may be true, but what I'm wondering is why you dragged your mother out of earshot of us", Ikuno asked "even though we heard her shouting shortly afterwards".

"Private family business", I said "there are things that shouldn't be aired in front of our guests".

At least Ikuno hasn't asked who 'her' is when my mother was shouting.

.

Things ended up being slightly quieter during dinner then I expected, but that might have been because my father predictably arrived home just as everything was being served up.

Suzu did manage to remain awake for the whole of dinner which was something I'd only seen happen a few times during lunch, and Ikuno didn't complain about what was on offer even though it did look like she didn't like some of what she'd eaten.

Something that didn't happen that had almost every time at the dinner table since around the new year was talk about Hanako, but that is probably because of the addition of guests at the table and more likely because my mother had informed my father while we were on our way here.

Once dinner had finished, Ikuno and Suzu went back to the guest room to unpack their clothes and I headed back to my room so I could get started on the mountain of school work I had to go through.

Even though I'd managed to get some pretty decent marks in some subjects during a batch of surprise tests a week ago, I wasn't happy with the rest as I'd scored higher during the last tests I took before I started there.

At least I managed to keep my marks in Japanese history the same, but I have a feeling that someone was rather disappointed with their score in that subject considering the noises I heard when the test papers were handed back.

I managed to get through some of the science assignments I hadn't finished before golden week, but any plans to get through the rest had been possibly put on hold as I heard a knock on my door with Ikuno and Suzu barging in seconds later without being invited in.

"Weren't we going to do all that stuff together", Ikuno asked.

"You've probably done all this already", I said showing her what I'd been working on "I decided to use this time to get through any of the assignments I hadn't completed before we got that huge stack after all those tests".

"We didn't come here to go over all that paperwork", Ikuno said "Suzu wanted to tell you something, and I have to be here to fill some of the gaps".

This would probably explain why they decided to come here, but I'm not entirely convinced this is all of the reason why.

"You've probably figured out what my condition is by now", Suzu said.

That was something I didn't expect since I hadn't really thought about it at all.

"Not really, but I think that I have a general idea", I said.

Suzu started to look uneasy after I said that, like she was thinking if she should say what she is going to say.

"I-I was diagnosed when I w-was around six years old", Suzu started to say "and I thought m-my parents were coping wi-with it, but".

That was all that she could say as the second she mentioned her parents, the tears started flowing and Ikuno had to usher her over to the bed to sit down.

"I don't know all the particulars of what happened, but I do know that Suzu had one attack when she was ten and was injured", Ikuno said continuing the story "her parents were contacted, but they never arrived at the hospital".

Now this is something I never expected to be told at any time.

"They vanished almost without trace", Ikuno said "the cops thought that it had been planned in advance as where they were living was only a rented apartment and they'd been identified by several members of staff at one of the airports, although there were no records of their names on any flight leaving the country".

Now hang on a minute, if they only lived in rented accommodation then that means...

"I had nowhere to live, and I had no relatives to stay with", Suzu said, taking back the reigns for a few seconds "a few of my friends at school managed to help, but there were times when I didn't have anywhere to go and there were times where I had to find somewhere safe before I fell asleep".

"It was the last of those times where I came into the story", Ikuno said "some 'guys', if you could use that word, found her and took her into some toilets to do some unsavoury things to her while she slept".

If I saw something like that happening, I'd go after them and kick up enough of a storm to alert the police or someone around to contact the police if I didn't have a phone on me.

"I was out walking with my big brother when we saw Suzu being escorted into the toilet building", Ikuno said "he went in after them, and with the help of three police officers who were following managed to save her before anything happened".

I just hope those 'guys' were locked up in the smallest box the police could find.

"When my parents heard about what happened, and about Suzu's plight, they decided to bring her into our home", Ikuno said "that was around six years ago, but it hasn't all been plain sailing since each time the police came over to update on the progress of finding her parents has left her in a complete mess".

Ikuno then started walking towards me, almost like she is about to impart information that she doesn't want Suzu to fully hear.

"She hasn't been that comfortable around guys since then", Ikuno said talking normally "but it's different with you and she wanted you to know about the darker part of her life".

"Just how many people know about this", I asked "and just how did you know how Suzu acted before that?"

"Only me and you know", Ikuno said "and I met a few of her friends from school at the time who had said how she'd changed when around guys, but they never knew the reason why".

"I can tolerate being in class since there are more girls then guys around me", Suzu mentioned.

There's only one more girl near her, but you could count Molly and Ikuno as they're only a bit further away.

"Just remember not to mention this to anyone else", Ikuno said "as I've already said, we're the only ones who know about this and Suzu doesn't want everyone to know about her past".

"Oh, of course", I said raising one hand into the air "I declare that what I have heard here will never be mentioned again".

"There isn't any need to go that far", Ikuno said "although the sentiment is appreciated".

Once Suzu had calmed down, they went back to the guest room and left me with a lot more to think about than just the assignments I was working on.

.

It turned out that it took a lot longer then I thought to get over that bombshell that was dropped on me yesterday evening, especially since it hasn't even been a month since I met Suzu and I hardly know her.

At least I didn't end up having a sleepless night thinking about it, like what happened almost two years ago when we were lied to after being told about the fire.

Breakfast turned out to be a more silent affair then dinner was since my father wasn't around, and now I'm working on what I was going to complete yesterday, hopefully without any interruptions.

The interruption came with a knock on the door, thankfully a few seconds after I'd finished all the stuff I had to finish before going onto the stuff that we're doing as a group.

After I'd made some nonsense vocal blarb to whoever had knocked on the door, the door opened and whoever the knocker was walked in.

"Can I ask you something", the person asked.

"It depends on what the question is", I responded as I looked towards the door to confirm that the person who walked in was Ikuno.

"Okay", Ikuno said looking relatively nervous "if a girl approached you and asked if you would take her virginity, would you accept?"

Every single logical thought drained from my brain seconds after that question was asked, since I didn't expect those words to come out of any girls mouth let alone the girl who is standing a few meters away from me right now.

"Absolutely not, and for two reasons", I responded once a bit of logical thought returned "one, it's unlikely that I'd have a condom on me at the time, and two, my condition might stop me from even getting the deed done".

Ikuno started walking towards me, and once she'd reached my desk she placed what she had in her closed right hand onto the desk which turned out to be a single condom.

"I got that and a few more just after I started dating my now ex boyfriend", Ikuno said "I wanted to lose my virginity before I graduated, and I'd all but given up on it after finding out that he batted for the other side behind my back".

Ikuno then leaned towards me possibly to whisper something in my ear.

"I'm going to let you have that pleasure", Ikuno whispered "but there will be a few restrictions".

This is something I really don't want to be doing at this moment in time, so I really hope that there's a get out of this predicament clause somewhere.

"I don't think we should be doing that here", I uttered "where everyone can hear it".

"Your mother went out a little while ago", Ikuno said "and Suzu is sleeping off breakfast while using the dog as a cuddle buddy".

That's that idea flushed down the toilet, and that is likely to be my only chance to get out of this mess as Ikuno had already started to take her clothes off.

"I also doubt that your condition would have progressed far enough for that to have stopped working", Ikuno said as she removed her skirt "and as for the restrictions, there'll be no intimate contact and stimulation beyond you sticking it in and moving until you've reached your limit".

That's pretty clear cut, and is possibly going to make the first in that more uncomfortable.

"Aren't you going to take your clothes off", Ikuno mentioned "I don't want my first time to be one where only I've made some effort to strip".

Ikuno was in the process of removing her bra when she was saying that, and the moment that piece of clothing fell to the floor revealing her adequately ample bust was revealed, I looked towards the floor only to find that I'd started pitching a tent in my trousers.

"It looks like my theory about you having plenty of lead in your pencil has been proven", Ikuno said as she'd also noticed my newly formed trouser tent "now you know that you can do the deed, so lets get this over and done with".

I could just get out of here to avoid this predicament I've been put in, but since there's a few days before we have to head back to Yamaku I didn't want the current harmony to be disrupted, so I stripped down to my birthday suit, picked up the condom packet from my desk and headed over to my bed where Ikuno was now lying in preparation for what was coming.

Well it would be coming if I could figure out the condom as I'd only managed to get it out of the packet by the time Ikuno chimed in again.

"Could you be a bit quicker", Ikuno uttered "it's not like you have to be a rocket scientist to put a condom on".

"Any guy who has to deal with these things for the first time would probably have the same problems", I said "it shouldn't take me much longer to get this on".

And it didn't take me that much longer to get the condom on, but it had also given me the time I needed to figure out how to deal with the first push inwards.

It did, however, take two attempts to make contact as the first attempt missed the mark as my penis slipped across the surface, but my second attempt hit the mark as a slight moan emanated from Ikunos mouth upon initial penetration followed by a suppressed yelp when I push the rest of the way inside with something giving way in the process.

Ikuno didn't seem to like my initial penetration plan since she hit me around the head a second after that yelp, but she did lock her legs around my waist in case the hit caused me to slip out.

"You could have done that a bit slower", Ikuno mentioned "that hurt!"

"It might have hurt a lot more if I'd gone in slower", I said "I was considering how much pain you'd get, and it didn't look like it was that painful".

I'm not even sure if that is the truth since this is my first time, but I didn't want her first time to be remembered for the pain even though I'm not exactly a willing participant in all this.

"Lets just get this over with", Ikuno announced as she released her grip on my waist and resumed her posture "and no getting in close for something I've forbidden you from doing".

With those words said, I assumed what I thought would be a good posture to continue this and started up only to stop again when my first motions caused Ikuno to groan in discomfort, but all Ikuno said was to keep going which I did albeit not that quickly.

What I didn't like is that Ikuno was acting like some doll as I continued my motions, but that started to change after the initial discomfort of defloration had diminished to be replaced with the pleasure of out sexual act as her legs locked around my waist and her hands grabbed onto my shoulders.

"I thought you said that you wasn't going to do something like this", I asked while still going through my motions.

"Ju-just shut u-up and ke-keep going", Ikuno responded "mu-my body responded oh-on it's own and I'm nu-not going to disobey it".

She may want me to continue, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep going for much longer as I think I'm getting close to my limit.

Thankfully, her change in posture from anatomical sex doll to warm blooded woman has possibly changed things up a bit as her partly successful attempts to suppress her moans might mean that I've either managed to start hitting a more sensitive spot inside, or I'm just wrong and my increased tempo brought on by her change in posture is bringing her closer to her limit.

After what felt like another half a minute of continual pounding, I lost control of whatever it was I was holding back and while having to suppress my own moans, I started to shoot something into the condom and then lost all the strength in my arms causing my body to drop the short distance onto Ikuno.

"Couldn't you have lasted a bit longer", Ikuno asked after she had recovered her senses.

I'd have to guess from what she just said that while I managed to orgasm, she didn't.

"Guys can't turn into super-studs when they do this", I said "this was my first time, so it was likely that I wouldn't be able to hold out for long".

At least this is all over bar getting dressed, so I can get back so something that resembles...

"What have you two been doing?"

Ikuno turned to look towards the source of the voice just after I quickly lifted myself up enough to look in the same direction, and found Suzu standing a few feet from the bed, very much awake now and looking at her closest friend and the guy she had only known for just under a month naked and in a position that can't be explained away.

.

"Just how did it turn out like this", I asked after Suzu's virginity went the way of the dodo by my... you know what.

"She did see us going at it, so it's only logical that you let her get in on the action", Ikuno said "it's a good thing that you had a condom stuffed away in your desk and that you could get it back up to do this".

Actually, Suzu didn't see us going at it since her question clearly meant that she had entered my room after the finale, but you wouldn't have to be Albert Einstein to figure out what we had been doing even if you only heard the last few seconds outside the door.

To be honest, I do know how I've ended up doing it with Suzu as well as all Ikuno did was ask Suzu if she wanted to have a go which led to Suzu stripping in what looked like record time while Ikuno pushed me back, got off the bed and started looking around my room trying to find a condom.

Something else I really was surprised about is my ability to get it back up so soon after doing it with Ikuno, since I wasn't even sure if I would be able to get it up at all the first time.

"Could you hu-hurry this up", Suzu asked "I'm still feeling a bit of pain here".

That brought me back to the fact that I should really be focusing on the girl I've just deflowered, and not my own thoughts let alone the girl I deflowered a little while ago which led to this scenario.

With my focus now back on the partly scared girl lying on my bed, I shifted around ever so slightly to make sure I was in the optimal position, but Suzu looked to be slightly hesitant as her arms reached out to go over my shoulders which didn't go down well with Ikuno since she only did that on instinct or something along those lines.

I started off as I had done with Ikuno by going slowly, but there wasn't any hesitation in my motions this time since I knew the discomfort shown on Suzu's face and in her moans would subside even though I didn't know how long it would take.

It did, however, only take a few seconds for that to happen, and at her request I started to increase the speed of my thrusts while not going too fast too quickly so I didn't let go before Suzu was able to, although it did trigger another flurry of words from Ikuno.

By this time, it looked and sounded like Suzu didn't really care about Ikuno's little rants, and her actions were also a clear indication that she wanted my attention to be fully on her until the end and not Ikuno whose voice was now being drowned out by her ever louder moans.

What time I thought I had before I let go for the second time in god knows how many minutes came a lot longer then I thought as Suzu managed to something Ikuno didn't manage to get to do, and reach her limit which with her tightening in one place brought me over the edge and I started unloading into the condom with Suzu clinging on for all she's worth as she is savouring what remains of the pleasure she has experienced.

Once I'd come down from the heights of my own pleasure, my arms suddenly gave way almost like my body suddenly weighed a lot more then it should and I dropped the few inches there were between mine and Suzu's bodies, although, I did manage to avoid an unplanned kiss which would have pissed off Ikuno no end.

"Just how did you manage to get Suzu to orgasm and not me", Ikuno asked in an annoyed tone.

Could you at least give me some time to recover since even if I managed to get it up after doing it with you, I'm not going to have much stamina left after doing it a second time and I wouldn't have a clue as to how I managed to take Suzu all the way to orgasm and not you.

"I wouldn't have a clue", I uttered after a little while whilst using what strength I recovered to move to one side so Suzu didn't have to deal with me on top of her for too long "there could be a million reasons why things ended differently for you".

.

"We can't be friends now that we've done this", Suzu murmured.

"Stuff like this could be happening all over the place between people who are friends", Ikuno mentioned "there is such a thing as friends with benefits".

I doubt that there will be any kind of 'friends with benefits' type friendship between me and Ikuno since she only did this to bust her cherry bomb, although I don't know Suzu's motivation for jumping into this situation after Ikuno asked if she wanted to take her place on the bed with me.

"Would there be anyone else joining this little group", Suzu asked.

"Word of what happened here isn't going past these four walls, so no one else will hear about it", Ikuno declared "but considering what I was told after we got the results of that Japanese history test we took a week or so ago, Molly might end up wanting him in this way as payment of sorts for tuition to improve her score the next time we take that test".

All thanks to Miki 'over exaggeration' Miura who considers test scores of seventy points or higher as being a genius even though I didn't know that Molly wanted to use her body as payment for some private Japanese history lessons so she can get a better score come next test time.

"Doesn't she already have a boyfriend", Suzu mentioned.

I do remember it being mentioned that Molly doesn't reside on the same floor of the girls' dorm as Ikuno and Suzu, and I know that Ikuno said that she didn't hear the original argument in the dorm after Molly told the rest of the girls what happened.

"You must have been asleep when Molly walked into the classroom late, and during lunch when she told everyone what happened", I said only guessing as to Suzu's level of waking at the time "Molly had a real go at Takashi after he destroyed her favourite violin in a fit of misdirected rage and she nearly caved his head in with one of her prosthetics, but she only got one hit in before she hit the wall and damaged the socket".

"It's why she was using a crutch a few days before golden week", Ikuno continued "that second hit contacting with the wall was the only reason he managed to escape a worse beating".

Molly did give us a demonstration as to how well she could balance with just one leg during lunch on the day of the beating, but I suspect that swinging a prosthetic leg like it was a baseball bat might cause problems with someone's balance even if they're able to keep their balance on just one leg.

"I thought that she had an infection in that leg and couldn't use the prosthetic until it had cleared", Suzu wondered.

"Molly isn't as reckless as the resident detention expert in her regular prosthetics", Ikuno mentioned "she hasn't had any infections in her stumps since she came here, and I've seen Emi in a wheelchair at least once since she started here".

Suzu just let out a little "oh", but our attention quickly turned to the sound of the front door opening and closing which I'd missed earlier on when my mother went out which triggered panic stations in my room as Suzu was still in her birthday suit and Ikuno was about as naked.

The second after the front door closed, Ikuno quickly grabbed both her and Suzu's clothes and headed out of my room with Suzu following behind a lot faster then I've seen her walk thus far.

That just left me, so I rolled out of bed, got back into the clothes I was wearing, disposed the two condoms along with their wrappers in the bin and change the bedding since there are two noticeable blood stains on the sheets.

It really didn't bother me since I was going to change the bedding before I left for Yamaku, but time and a lot of packing meant that I wasn't able to do it then.

I just have to hope that my mother doesn't notice the blood stains when she does the laundry.

.

As I sit at my desk with a majority of the completed homework stacked on the left side, I'm just surprised that I managed to get through the rest of the day after what happened in the morning.

I was rather uneasy when the girls came down to the living room for the study session, but it did begin to subside as time -and a bit of food- went by although there was that niggling feeling going through my head the whole time that my mother would ask why there was a lot of running around upstairs when she came back.

Thankfully, no question like that ever emerged and we managed to get through both parts of the study session including dinner where my father was, unusually for golden week, missing from the table only returning home as we were organising our things ready to return to our rooms.

Now I'm wondering if I can get through the next few days, but my thinking process is disrupted by a knock on the door and the person who was knocking walking in without me even saying a word before she entered.

"I'm sorry for coming in unannounced", Suzu said after she'd closed the door "but I needed to talk about what happened this morning, and I didn't want Ikuno to be present".

I really don't want to be talking about what happened this morning, but since she wanted to do this without anyone else in here it's likely that what she's about to say is important and not to be said to anyone else.

"Are you still experiencing discomfort", I asked remembering that she did seem to have some discomfort when she came downstairs for the study session.

"I-I'm fine now", Suzu replied "I just wanted to clear something up".

After what I heard yesterday, I'm preparing for the worst if it does come.

"It's just that I always hesitate when a decision has to be made, especially when there's a guy around", Suzu mumbled "but when Ikuno asked if I wanted to trade places with her I just wanted to do it with no hesitation".

"Because you felt more at ease with me then you have with any other guys", I enquired.

"That is part of the reason why", Suzu responded "but experiencing something that would have been denied to me if Ikuno, her brother and the police hadn't intervened when I was dragged into that toilet when I was asleep was something I couldn't walk away from now that I know someone I don't get anxious being near".

So the trigger for her fear of being around guys ended up allowing her to experience what was so nearly taken from her by force and without her knowledge when she felt more at ease then she normally would.

"I only caught the end of you and Ikuno going at it through the door", Suzu mentioned half mumbling what she'd said "but I'm guessing from her response when we'd finished up and what little I heard through the door that you didn't get as far with her then you did with me, and that I didn't hold back when it came to enjoying the moment".

"That was my first time so it most likely was to be expected", I said "and Ikuno did let a moan slip out once although the rest was as you said with continually increasing levels of failure in trying to hold back the moans".

"Ikuno did mention her promise before and I did tell her not to hold back", Suzu said with a little giggle to start with "but she didn't listen even though I had about as much experience at the time".

"I think that she just wanted to go through the motions" I responded "she might have let rip with the noise if it was with a guy she really liked".

"After what happened earlier on this year, that was unlikely to happen" Suzu said "so it's likely that is why she took this course of action to fulfil the promise she made to herself".

"So I'd have to guess that her 'friends with benefits' statement was just to get around what you'd said", I mentioned "and she's unlikely to be wanting any more".

"Ikuno might not, but I certainly would if the opportunity arises", Suzu mumbled "I would like to be stimulated before you enter me".

"She really didn't give any opportunity for that kind of thing", I said "although it was probably a good thing that we didn't since my mother might have returned before we'd finished".

Suzu immediately started doing mental arithmetic the moment I finished speaking, possibly calculating how much time elapsed between when we'd finished, my mother returning and if any foreplay would have meant the sex being cut short.

"She might have", Suzu muttered after completing her calculations "but we won't know now".

This is why she's called the diva of the maths class even though she can sleep through most of it, along with the majority of any exam in that subject and can come out the other side smelling of roses as long as she knows what we're on if she's called on to answer a question.

"I'd better get back to my room", Suzu said looking towards the door "I don't want Ikuno to worry since I said that I was going to have a bath, but I didn't mention that I was heading here first".

Almost as if it was timed to happen that way, we heard a door open and shut shortly followed by Ikuno walking towards the bathroom calling for Suzu once she got to the door.

"You'd better get moving", I said "before Ikuno starts to think that we're up to something in here when she figures out that you're not in the bath even though I'm all out of condoms".

"Just make sure you stock up when we get back to Yamaku", Suzu mentioned "so we don't have to take any risks if the opportunity to do what we did earlier on today with a bit more ever arises".

With those words, she left my room and headed towards the bathroom where Ikuno was probably still waiting after finding that Suzu wasn't in the bathroom.

Now that my room is empty apart from me, and with my phone telling me that someone is calling me, I only wanted someone to stop this whacked out ride that is now my life so I can get off.

I really want my old life back.

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After a bit of thought (I've probably had a lot of time to do that, but I'd already decided on this before writing this chapter), I decided not to stick to the norm of Suzu and Miki having a close friendship and went for Ikuno and Suzu having a long term friendship after certain happenings in the life of the latter.

And Molly is going to get some major page time in the next chapter.