I would appreciate any feedback you could give, since I probably need it. I hope you enjoy.Side Note: I wasn't sure whether or not what part of the trimester Yamaku was in during the VN, so the story takes place after the summer break of Lilly's neutral end, which I believe was right after Lilly left. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Moving On
It's been two months, three weeks, and five days since Lilly left. Summer break had come and passed, so here I am, at the same school, sitting at the same desk with the same kids, all listening to the same Mutou drone on and on about thermonuclear physics.
But at the same time, everything's different.
The lunchtimes I would always spend with Lilly and Hanako in the tearoom have instead been replaced with Miki and Suzu in the cafeteria. After school had started back up, I was still depressed over Lilly's departure. This had drawn the attention of a certain Miki Miura, who had insisted that I join her and Suzu for lunch in order to cheer me up. Listening to their back and forth banter never ceased to make me laugh, so lunch with them became commonplace. Hanako had become fast friends with Naomi and Natsume after joining the journalism club. She spends a lot of her free time with them now, so I only really see her during class nowadays. But we still spend at least one day a week in the tearoom, mostly sitting in silence or playing chess.
Lilly had kept in touch for the first month, calling regularly to tell me how Scotland was, and I would tell her how school was going, how I was, making small talk until we ran out of things to talk about. Afterwards, though, her calls became less frequent, until she eventually stopped calling altogether. I'm pretty sure I know why, though; talking with the woman I had loved tore me apart every time, without fail.
"Hey, you in there?" Miki says, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her and Suzu have made their way over to my desk, where the assignment we were given sits, untouched. Mutou must have given it out while I was reminiscing.
"Yeah," I say, getting out a pencil. "I assume we're going to be working together?"
"Yep," says Suzu, "although the student council wasn't too happy when we called dibs." She grins at this, looking over to Misha and Shizune, who are staring at me, both looking fairly annoyed. Well, Misha looks annoyed; Shizune seems to be radiating anger.
I chuckle a bit, and we get started, almost finishing the paper before the final school bell rings. As I'm packing up, I notice Miki motioning for me. Suzu's arm is draped around her shoulder, and she seems to have fallen asleep.
When I get to her, Miki smiles. "Wanna help me with this?" she says, jiggling Suzu a bit to indicate what she's referring to. I oblige, taking Suzu's other arm around my shoulder, and we start for the dorms. About halfway there, Suzu stirs slightly. I think she might have woken up, but she stays limp. Once we arrive, I remove Suzu's arm and lean against the wall of the girl's commons, breathing somewhat heavily, another reminder of my faulty heart.
"She's pretty heavy, huh?" I ask between breaths. I notice Suzu fidget slightly when I do. I think I see a small frown on her face, but her head is still hanging, so I can't be sure.
"Heh, yeah," she says, and grins. "So, Hisao, me and Suzu were wondering if you would wanna come over in about an hour to watch a few movies," Miki says, letting go of Suzu, who seems to have woken up. It's nice that she's awake, but after connecting all the dots, I realize that she's probably been awake for a while now.
"Uh, how long were you awake?" I ask Suzu, slightly frustrated at her lack of informing us. I'm not sure if she really was awake, but her next action proves that I was correct. She blushes slighlty, suddenly looking nervous. It's pretty cute.
"I-It wasn't that long..." She trails off, finding a sudden interest in the floor. Miki grins widely, apparently very amused.
"Anyway, sure, sounds great," I say to Miki, glad to have something to do other than study. As I begin to leave, I realize that I'm missing a very important detail. "So, uh, where will we be watching them at?"
"Suzu's room, 115," she says, heading towards the stairs with Suzu in tow, winking as she does. I nod in acknowledgement and head out for the boy's dorms. On the way, I see a bush rustling slightly. As I walk up for a closer look, Kenji jumps out, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the bush with him.
"What the hell, Kenji!?" I say, attempting to free myself from his unnaturally strong grip. He points a finger up to his mouth, signalling for me to be quiet. Realizing I have no way out of this, I stop trying to pry his arm away from his and do as he says. Seeing my compliance, he lets go.
"What is fucking wrong with you, man!? Heading into the feminist's headquarters without backup like that is suicide!" he whispers, flailing his arms about and almost hitting me in the process. "You should have told me you were going in! We could have found all of their patrol routes, back entrances, set up cameras!"
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't risk getting both of us caught," I whisper back, playing along. "What if they found out I was infiltrating and captured me? They might have brainwashed me into telling them everything I know about you." He leans back, furrowing his brows.
"Shit, man. You're right," he replies after a small pause. He adjusts his glasses, and a small smile creeps onto his face. "You're a damn good soldier, risking yourself for the greater good of men every where." Pleased at my quick thinking and of him believing me, I stand up and dust myself off. "Good idea, you go and I'll stay here so they don't know we were together."
I nod and begin walking to the dorms. Once I get there, Kenji leaves the bush and starts walking quickly towards the doors. About halfway, he trips, catching himself. As soon as he recovers, he does a full sprint for the last half, shoving the doors open. and I'm amazed at how fast he is. I barely manage to move out of his way as he barrels past me, running up the stairs.
Glad to finally be rid of him, I enter my room and begin to finish the worksheet from class. I finish, and see that since leaving the girls, it's been about 45 minutes. Deciding that be a little early wouldn't hurt anybody, I begin to leave for the girl's dorms and see Kenji sitting in the commons on the way out. Seeing me, he walks over.
"Watcha doing, man? Going somewhere?" he says, holding a mug of coffee.
"Just gonna, uh, go and infiltrate them again," I say, hoping he'll believe my lie. His expression turns serious as soon as the words leave my mouth.
"Alright man, be careful, alright? I can't let my only comrade die in the field." he says, extending his hand for me to shake. "If you do though, it was nice knowing you." I take his hand and shake it once. On my way out, he yells to me, "I believe in you, man! Teach big-boobs and that sleepy bitch what-for!" I turn around and glare at him, but he's already sitting back down. While 'big-boobs' may be an accurate description for Miki, Suzu is not a sleepy bitch.
Upon arriving in the girl's dorms, I wave to a few of the them watching T.V. in the commons. I quickly find room 115 and knock on the door, somewhat loudly to make sure anyone in there could here. Except for a heavy-sleeping narcoleptic girl.
I hear what sounds like things knocking over from Suzu's room, and a faint voice asking, "Who is it?" It must be Suzu, and she must have been asleep, because I doubt Miki would ever speak that softly.
"It's me, Hisao,"I say, and then proceed to hear what sounds like more things being knocked over and someone running around, but it seems to be muffled somewhat.
"OhgoshHisaoI'msosorryIsatonmybedanditwassosomfyandIfellasleepand-" Suzu cuts herself off as she opens the door. Since this would have been my first time seeing her room, you'd think that is what I would be looking at. But instead, my eyes are drawn to the half-naked girl in front of me.
Suzu stands in front of me, dressed only in a green bra with a matching pair of panties, which complement her sea-green hair, as well as show off her moderate curves. I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I stare at the sight in front of me. She stands in her doorway for a second, until she seems to realize that she's wearing almost nothing and slams the door in my face. I stand there for a what seems like a few minutes, dumbstruck, until Suzu opens her door again. This time she's wearing a loose white tee shirt and a baggy pair of striped red and white pajama pants. Her face is a deep red, presumably from what I just saw.
"Um, come in," she says meekly, stepping aside. I finally regain my motor functions and step inside, looking her room over, and being a bit shocked. "It's a bit messy, sorry." A bit messy is an understatement.
Every corner of her room is covered in clothes, stuffed animals, and pillows. Her desk holds a laptop, along with lamp, alarm clock, and more clothes. The walls are covered with posters of various bands, most of which I've never heard of. Her bed is a mess, with a body pillow covering most of it. Her closet lies open, more clothes and school uniforms flowing out of it. "You're early, ya know," I hear her say from behind me, her voice taking on an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, I just..." I trail off, not knowing my exact reasons for coming early. Was I bored? Did I want to get away from Kenji?
Did I want to spend some time with Suzu?
The thought enters my head suddenly, and I'm not sure where it came from. As much as I will it to go away, it stays. Did I want to spend time with Suzu? Well, she is my friend, but why wasn't Miki included? She's my friend too, right? My head begins to hurt as I think about it. Realizing I never really finished my statement, I turn around to see a freshly showered Miki standing with Suzu, holding some popcorn and a few sodas. She's wearing a black tank top and plain blue sweatpants. She seems to be holding all of it in her one hand, which seems to be fairly hard, as she keeps trying to set it all down but can't find anywhere not covered in clothes. Suzu is just laughing at her and she fails at every turn.
Finally deciding to just set it all on Suzu's bed, Miki turns to me. "Someone sure was excited to get here, huh? You got here before me, and I live here," she says, causing me to blush slightly.
After handing everyone a drink, we sit on the floor with Suzu's laptop, watching old movies and laughing at how corny they are. About halfway through the second movie, I feel a weight against my side, and look over to see that Suzu has fallen asleep and is leaning against me. I consider pushing her towards Miki, but her warmth and body weight feel pleasant, so I leave her be. After another 30 minutes, she wakes up, looking around sleepily. Once she sees that she was leaning on me, she jumps back a little and blushes, causing me to laugh.
It's getting close to curfew by the time the third movie ends, a cheesy romantic-comedy. Miki has already left, claiming that she was going to bed early for a track meet, so it's just me and Suzu.
"Hey, Hisao, thank you," she says, looking away from me and down slightly.
"For what?" I ask, because as far as I remembered, I hadn't done anything for her since arriving.
"For coming," she says, blushing. "And for being my pillow." I chuckle a bit.
"Well, I'd be happy to be your pillow anytime you want," I say. She smiles, and we both share a small laugh. "I should be going now, before curfew."
I head towards the door and open it, only to feel a hand on my shoulder. It turns me around, where Suzu pulls me into a small kiss on the lips, shoves me out the door, and slams it, all in the span of about 3 seconds. It felt like 5 minutes. I stand there, confused, still feeling the warmth of her lips on mine, when I hear a very familiar voice next to me.
"Damn, Hisao, you look like a fat kid in a cake shop," Miki says, with an absurdly wide grin. It's only then do I notice that I have a smile just as wide. "So, how was it?" she asks, waiting for my response with raised eyebrows.
"It was... uh..." I can't clearly express words right now. All of my thoughts are racing around in my head, crashing into each other and bouncing around. Only one thought comes forward clearly and unmistakable, at the very front of my mind.
"We should do this again sometime."
