Chapter Three:
"School?"
"Yes," Keiichi said to Skuld as he attempted to extricate his
engineering book from underneath Tamiya's unconscious form, "school.
If I don't get there in fifteen minutes, I'm going to be late."
"Well, if you knew you had school today," Skuld said, lifting
Tamiya up in the air with a wave of a finger, "why did we have this
party, then?"
"Thanks," Keiichi said, grabbing the book and placing it in his
backpack. "Well, do you actually think this little moving-in party was
my idea?"
Skuld lowered Tamiya gently so as not to disturb his slumber.
"Come to think of it, don't these guys have classes, too?"
"They probably do," Keiichi sighed. "Have you seen Megumi
anywhere?"
"No," Skuld said, "but I did find this note." She handed it to
Keiichi.
He read it out loud. "'I've gone off to school early. Don't want
to be late for my first day at Nekomi!' Figures."
"Mind if I come along?" Skuld asked.
"Huh? Oh, not at all, although I wonder how we'll explain you
being in class."
"Are the school records on computer?"
"Yes, but --"
"Then you shouldn't worry, now, should you?" She smiled at
Keiichi and gave him a wink.
Keiichi blinked for a moment, and then he grinned back. "No, I
guess I shouldn't, huh?"
First school day of the first term. Nekomi Tech was abuzz with
activity as freshmen chattered and moved around in herds, milling from
classroom to classroom while upperclassmen tried their darndest to
seem jaded and disinterested about the whole process, giving the
newbies looks of prefabricated pretentiousness and synthetic savoir-
faire. The beginnings of the power struggles for campus king and queen
were already becoming apparent between the more popular students.
Meanwhile, new teachers flitted here and there, carrying their
school planners and their schedules and their syllabi, while the older
professors simply watched and shook their heads, awaiting the
impending nervous breakdowns.
Even though the Club Festival was a week away some guerilla
recruitment was already going on, and whispers of 'Join the Art Club'
and flyers from the Friends of Pasta were already circulating among
the unsuspecting freshmen blocks.
There was a buzz of a different tone that day, however; one that
was a note higher and clearer than the rest:
"Who's that with Morisato?"
Amid the crowds walked Keiichi and his beautiful companion, her
long dark hair shimmering in the morning sun. Her face lit up with the
brightest of smiles as she and Keiichi carried on a conversation that
seemed to be about both everything and nothing at all. Though her
attire at the time could be described as ordinary, which consisted of
a yellow sweater, jeans, and white sneakers, there was something in
the way she carried those clothes that made them float and wrap around
her form like the finest fabric.
Not surprisingly, the phrase 'Who's that with Morisato' soon
became colored with shades of envy, resentment, and all-around sour-
graping. Most of these colored statements came from the male portion
of the population; there were few things more odious to men than
seeing a beautiful woman paired up with a plain-looking man.
This ran contrary to many of the opinions from the females of
the student body (and some of the faculty), who were now beginning to
see that Keiichi was kind of cute, now that they thought about it. In
fact, they decided, he was a lot more attractive than most of the
losers who were even at that moment gaping like landed fishes at
Keiichi's prize catch.
In fact, Mishima Sayoko thought as she watched the pair enter
the main building, Keiichi himself was beginning to look like the
golden ring in the Campus Queen merry-go-round. If she could manage to
snatch him from that woman's grasp, then her position on the top of
the student pecking order would be secured.
She chuckled to herself, brushing aside her own long black hair
and straightening out her rather short skirt. What was it about other
people's things...?
"Miss Skuld...?"
"Yes, sir?" Skuld looked up as her name was called.
The teacher took off his glasses. "I don't see your family name
here."
"Um, I don't have one."
"You don't have a family name?"
"Yes, sir. We don't have family names up in... I mean, not where
I come from."
"All right. Just Skuld then?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Aoshima Toshiyuki raised an eyebrow. Must be one of those
strange Westerner things. Not that he minded. That odd little one-
syllable name seemed to fit her. Just like those triangular markings
on her face; odd, yet fitting. Or was 'becoming' a better word?
He could not understand Skuld's bond with Morisato. How did a
wimp like Morisato catch a girl like Skuld? Perhaps his family played
host for some exchange program? Perhaps he saved her life? Nothing
else seemed to make sense.
He pushed back his wire-framed glasses. All the same, if
Morisato could win her, then it would be child's play for a more
charming man to snatch her from him.
He leaned back on his desk and crossed his arms. "Three guesses
who that is," he whispered to himself.
"So this is what a college cafeteria is like," Skuld said,
looking around from where Keiichi and her were seated. People were
queuing up for meal tickets dispensed by vending machines, which were
exchanged for food at the counter.
"Yeah," Keiichi said, blowing on his ramen to cool it down. "The
food isn't much --"
"-- But the company is nice," Skuld finished, smiling.
"Yes, isn't it though?" Sayoko agreed as she sat down beside
Keiichi.
Murmurs began to spread across the cafeteria.
Sayoko faced Skuld. "You're new here, aren't you? I'm Mishima
Sayoko."
"I'm Skuld. Nice to meet you."
"I'm sure," Sayoko said absently. "So, Keiichi, I remember you
saying we were going to get together to study sometime."
Keiichi blinked. He didn't seem to recall this incident. Nor did
her ever remember actually speaking to Sayoko for any extended period
of time. Surely, in the past he planned to, but he'd decided that she
was too high up on the social ladder for him to reach. "I did?"
"Sure, you did," Sayoko said, clinging onto his right arm. "Just
say when, Keiichi. I'll be happy to get together with you."
"To study, you mean," Skuld said flatly.
"Hmm?" Sayoko said, fluttering her eyelashes at Keiichi,
pressing herself against his arm. "Oh, right, study."
"Um, what are you doing?" Keiichi nervously said.
"Why? Don't you like me?" Sayoko asked.
"Um, it's not that --"
"So you do like me?" Sayoko pressed on.
"May I join in your little party?" Aoshima said, sitting himself
down next to Skuld.
"No," Sayoko spat.
The ambient noise of the cafeteria turned several semitones and
decibels lower.
"Is that any way to greet your cousin?" Aoshima said innocently.
"At any rate, I'm Aoshima Toshiyuki. Pleased to meet you." He flashed
her a calculatedly charming smile. "And you are?"
"Skuld. Nice to meet you."
"Well, Morisato-sempai," he said, turning to Keiichi, "I must
say that you have such a lovely girlfriend."
Keiichi thought he heard a grinding noise from Sayoko but paid
no attention to it.
"Oh, I'm not his girlfriend," Skuld said. "I'm just here to --"
"Ahahaha!" Keiichi interrupted nervously. "What she means to say
is that she's just here to pay a visit! We're old childhood friends,
you see. Right?" Keiichi said this last while nudging Skuld's foot
underneath the table.
"Huh?" Skuld said, looking at Keiichi confusedly, then she
caught herself. "Oh. Oh! Oh, right! Yes, I'm just visiting. We're just
friends," she said, chuckling weakly.
"So, he's just your friend, huh?" Sayoko asked Skuld. "Just...
friends?"
"Well..." Skuld began, but her voice died down.
"Then I insist we go out on a double date tomorrow, after
classes." Aoshima said. "What do you say, cousin?"
"WHAT?" Sayoko started. "I mean, that's a great idea!" she
exclaimed, catching herself.
"But..." Keiichi tried to interject.
"Then it's decided. See you then," Aoshima said, taking Skuld's
hand and kissing it. He then stood up and walked away.
"Yes, see you then, Keiichi," Sayoko said, kissing Keiichi on
the cheek before leaving.
Keiichi and Skuld stared after them in long moments of confused
silence.
"What..." Keiichi began.
"...Was THAT about?" Skuld finished.
"Say, you're not really considering going on that double date
thing, are you?"
"Why not? Besides," Skuld continued, with an expression on her
face that Keiichi could not read, "we ARE just friends, right?"
"Oh," Keiichi said, lowering his gaze to his now-cold ramen.
"Right. Just... friends."
"WHAT? You spineless, gutless wimp!" Megumi exclaimed, nearly
choking on her canned coffee. "How could you let that slimeball
Aoshima undercut you like that? Oh, no, wait. Maybe you just happen to
like Sayoko better than Skuld, huh?"
"No! It's not like that at all!" Keiichi cried. "I... damn it!"
He almost hurled down his helmet on the front steps of the temple in
frustration. "I'm so indecisive. It's the same thing with that damn
wish -- why can't I ever make up my mind?"
Megumi raised an eyebrow. "What wish?"
Keiichi checked himself. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just talking to
myself."
"Maybe that's the problem, don't you think? Why don't you tell
her how you feel for a change, instead of just playing it out in your
mind like you always do?" Megumi clicked her tongue. "Stop dreaming
about it and do something."
"It's not that simple."
"Isn't it, though. Live with it."
"You don't understand!"
"Neither do you, apparently."
"Look, we're just friends, okay?" Keiichi spat. "Just...
friends." He felt his mouth twist at the words.
"Just... friends? When did this happen?"
"She said so. I said so. Does it matter?"
Megumi threw up her hands and sighed. "I knew I should have
moved out sooner. Maybe you two would have gotten it on by now if you
weren't so worried about me finding out. Not that I really mind, in
fact I'd be happy for both of you if you could just get over yourself
and go for it."
"That isn't funny."
"Look, kidding aside, it doesn't really matter who said it
anymore," Megumi said as she sat next to her brother and patted him on
the back. "What matters now is that you find out for yourself whether
whoever said it meant it or not. Do you understand?"
Keiichi nodded slowly. "I do."
Megumi stood up. "Good, because tomorrow's date is as good a
time as any to find out for sure."
"How will I know?"
Megumi smiled. "Trust me. You'll know."
That night, the walls that lay between where Keiichi and Skuld
slept felt thicker, at least to Keiichi, than the wood and paper they
were made of. The temple felt empty; it had lost the warm, lived-in
feeling it gained from the short two nights he and Skuld had been
living in it. Maybe it was the lack of noise, Keiichi told himself;
Tamiya, Otaki, and the others had all gone back to the dorm,
conveniently forgetting that they had missed the first day of classes.
Keiichi had breathed a sigh of relief, then; now he strained his ears
to hear a sound, any sound, but now the temple was as silent as it had
been when they first arrived. Even the sound of the television was
gone; Megumi had turned in for the night.
Still Keiichi listened, tossing and turning in his futon. What
had he hoped to hear? Keiichi wasn't sure he knew, himself.
He shook his head. What was the big deal, anyway? Skuld was only
here because he was too indecisive to make his wish and get everything
over with. It wasn't like she was here because she wanted to be; she
told him that, herself. He was lucky he was even able to call her his
friend.
Friend. What was it about that word that made his mouth twist
so? What was it Megumi told him he was supposed to 'know'? And how
would he find whatever it was out from some silly double date? Why was
it even important?
He sighed and pulled the sheets over his head.
=====
w.o.m.
TimeRunner's Web Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7482
=====
Indeed, it seems to me, one of the most vital qualities for a writer to have
is an ability to see the potentialities for impending doom in everything
that happens.
- Dwight Swain