She laughed, holy crap she laughed at that super lame joke. Her laughing was actually making Kyle beam a bit brighter, it seemed like his message of kindness might have gotten through. She thanked him and bowed, he scratched his head and laughed sheepishly. Now actually standing upright before this girl, he realized she didn't have just a small frame, but she was really super short too, like he was a giant in comparison. Thinking on that, he actually found that kind of adorable, just first impressions he found her to be a sweet girl, if not a bit innocent and very honest, her face showed more emotion than anyone he had known.

"I'm sorry I ran away Senpai. I didn't expect you to notice me and I got scared. It's just when I saw you there... under the tree... you looked so... serene. I wanted to capture that moment. I hope you're not angry."

Serene was not exactly what he was feeling at the time she took his photo, so that was the last thing he expected to hear. As for the anger part, no he wasn't, he was more intrigued since this girl viewed him as serene, but before reassure her she continued.

"Do you want to... um..." Her face was pretty flushed...was she? "...maybe I can make it up to you?... I can make lunch."

"Did she just ask-"

"Not like a date or anything! I just want to apologize!"

Kyle couldn't help but burst into laughter after she blurted that out, "you know," he said after calming down, "people who usually say stuff like that, mean the exact opposite, but I'll take your word for it," he smiled brightly at her.

In all seriousness though he was honestly pretty tired of the cafe food, so getting his hands on some real food was a great treat The fact that a cute girl was making the food for him too actually sweetened the deal. He nodded his head in a determined affirmation, "but yea, you can definitely make it up to me with some lunch." Almost as an afterthought he was compelled to say to her, "Hey, about that Senpai thing, I think that might be a little too stuffy for me, just call me Kyle."

The girl didn't seem overly shocked, bar what you would expect after being knocked over; so far so good. She had a pretty good smile too, which was interesting enough. A relief too, as it wasn't sharkish enough to suggest that Fuyuki had been figured out. Maybe all that time labouring away at the makeup and practicing general girlish mannerisms had helped... or perhaps the girl just wasn't paying enough attention. Regardless, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Something in this girl's manner seemed a little off and Fuyuki's information brokering habits returned unbidden; he cast a slow critical eye over the girl, noting a slight sway here, a hint of a squint there. Balance issues? Something wring with the leg? Honestly it could have been anything, but he decided that she must have some internal problem, perhaps something neural. And that made things easier for him tool; if she had to concentrate on her balance, then the girl was less likely to scrutinise him any closer.

Her question caught Fuyuki off guard though; explaining his lack of situational awareness was as easy as channeling clumsy girl moe, but that wouldn't explain why he was rushing... He paused for a noticeable moment, unsure of what to write, before jotting down a few sentences. 'I'm not sure, I can't see very well at the moment-' He paused in something akin to a eureka moment, coming up with a passable story. 'I forgot my glasses at that hotel and was in a rush to retrieve them; in hindsight, maybe I should have taken it easy?' Even as he did his best to be demure about it, Fuyuki couldn't hide a dry, cynical flash of a smile as he passed the notebook over. His character was all over the place today, but perhaps that would work in his favour.

~Amity & Fiona~

"And I haven't seen him since," Ami finished, looking at her red-haired senior. She didn't even know this girl, really. She just saw that she was missing an arm, and saw a chance to get a third party's take on whatever happened with her and Kyle a few days back. The weekend was as good a time as any to resolve it, she figured, so she dragged this girl along and started telling her the story about lunch and the boy's outburst at her. "What do you think?"

"I think you shouldn't drag along total strangers just because they're in the same boat as somebody who yelled at you." Adjusting the white-framed glasses on her face, Fiona added "You probably got him mad, though. A missing limb can be a very touchy subject for some people, especially if he's a boy that wanted to be a fighter like you said. I still get upset over it now and then, and I've already moved on from wanting to be a pro baseball player. No wonder he'd yell at you for bringing up that many times." This was a weird thing to associate today with. The day some complete stranger went on about another student who was missing an arm. At least this girl had a good taste of where to talk about things. The athletic clubs and their noise could be heard, the members seen at their respective spots. Then Fiona caught sight of it; she wouldn't have if she weren't wearing her glasses.

"Is that him?" she inquired, pointing a ways over, to a boy missing an arm. He certainly fit the description from the story, and if her virtual experiences meant anything, these kinds of coincidences didn't just not happen.

"Wow, it is! Thanks!" With a not-quite-a-smile on her face, Ami ran off. Probably because she couldn't feel her legs, she also tripped on the way over, but got herself back up. Then she saw the girl he was talking to. It would be rude to interrupt a conversation! Hoping she wouldn't be caught in the act, and really hoping any bystanders she didn't notice would mistake her for a stalker, Ami moved to behind the nearest tree, keeping her ears extra-open to listen for when the two would stop talking to each other.

I need some normalcy today, Fiona mentally groaned. Deciding the best way to do that would be to eat some cafeteria food, Fiona turned toward the main building. The best way to get some normalcy in the day was to do something normal, which she'd done fine at until that girl dragged her along by her one and only arm to tell her about another student short an arm. She was hungry anyway, so it was probably best in more ways than one that she just go to the cafeteria and get some food there, even if cafeteria food was far from her favorite. And so she made way to the cafeteria.

She read the second group of notes and paused. Something here didn't add up, Mariko could smell it. She couldn't see the six-foot girl in front of her? And she was also mute? And why did she keep that notebook in a plastic shopping bag and not in a skirt pocket, for easy access? Or even in a handbag, if that stupid pink frillpocalypse didn't have any. Mariko narrowed her eyes. How had she been shopping if she couldn't even speak, even? Did she just walk away without even saying thank you? Ruuuuude.

Okay, that last thought had crossed the line.

She shut the book and stole a quick glance at the back cover. A tiny price tag informed her that the notebook was 250 yen. Cheap, really. And it was entirely possible that she'd never wanted to remove the tag, but Mariko was pretty sure she'd bought it today. So she didn't plan on speaking to people? Was that it? Why was she thinking so much about it? Mariko reigned in her train of thought and concentrated on the question at hand. She needed to go to a hotel. And that was another odd thing, didn't you need parents to stay at the hotels round here? If she was a student, why hadn't she just gotten board at the dorms like everyone else? Gah, these thoughts were honestly starting to crowd her undersized head. She'd have to pop a Medrol later, her brain felt like it'd pop like a cherry tomato in a garlic crusher.

Mariko grinned unsteadily, and handed the book back, before bending down surrupticiously and picking up the last few of her grocery bags and standing with her back to the wall. "Well, don't let me stand in your way. I'm sure you've got things to do, people to see...?"

"Oh, Yuusuke-kun~! It's Shiori-nee-chan~," Shiori called out as she knocked on the door to his dorm room. "I came to help you with your homework, and then hang out a bit!," she added. Yuusuke came to the door and opened it, welcoming his sister inside. "Hi, Shiori-nee," he said as he let her in his dorm room. "I was just unpacking my bookbag when you came." Shiori looked around her little brother's dorm. It looked similar to hers, but had different things inside of it. Not as many books, no computer, and definitely no video games there. "Hm, impressive. It's not messy, yet," Shiori teased.

Shiori sat at the table where Yuu's stuff was settled, bringing her own stuff with her. Pencils, pens, and other miscellaneous equipment. She got all of this out. "So, first we can do homework with each other. I'll help you out if you need it. And, when we're both done, we can head over to my dorm room and play PS4 together! How does that sound?," she said, and then asked. Yuusuke smiled and said, "Sound's like a plan, onee-chan!"

---

After what was probably an hour of working, both siblings were finished with homework. Shiori finished in about fifteen minutes, average time for her, while it took Yuusuke longer, as he had more to be done. Shiori had finished most of hers in her free time. Shiori had, as promised, helped Yuusuke with his own homework. "Hnnghh~...," Yuusuke said as he stretched out, standing to his feet. "Thanks for helping me, onee-chan," he said as he helped her up. "Oh, it was no problem at all. You're very welcome, Yuu-kun." With Yuu's help, Shiori stood up, stretching as well.

Shiori grabbed her materials and put them back in her bookbag, smiling at Yuusuke afterwards. "Well? Come on, we finished homework, now to play games!," Shiori said. Yuusuke grinned and laughed. His sister was so silly. She was really into video games, the Internet, anime and manga. He then nodded. "Okay, let's go. You lead, I'll follow." Shiori would, as suggested, lead the way to her dorm room. It wasn't that far of a walk. It took about two minutes at the most. Both of them walked into a dorm that looked like Shiori's paradise. Books, manga, anime, PS4 with video games, computer, and family pictures. Most of them of Yuusuke, or having him in them. That made him feel special.

Shiori smiled and said, "Go ahead and sit down, make yourself comfy on the couch. I'll get us something to drink. What would you like? Cola, juice, water, what?" Yuusuke smiled and said, "I'll have some juice, thank you." Yuu sat on the couch, making himself comfortable on it. Shiori came back moments later with two juice pouches. These were both of their favorites growing up, still were. She handed Yuusuke one and sat down on the couch next to him, drinking some of her juice. Yuusuke did as well, and they both took sips of their juices. Shiori smiled and said, "You look so cute when you drink juice pouches. Just like a well-mannered kiddo." Shiori kissed his forehead before getting two PS4 controllers. "There's a game I bought just so we could play it together. I haven't played it yet at all. Haven't even opened it. Want to play?," she asked. Yuusuke giggled and nodded. "You bet!" With that, Shiori put the game disc in and selected it, starting up the game.

---

The two siblings spent their time playing the cooperative-competitive game together, having a bunch of fun. After what was around 15 sessions, Shiori sighed and looked at Yuusuke, smiling. "Let's take a break and just talk," she said, earning a nod from Yuusuke. Shiori turned her PS4 off and would put the controllers on the table before turning to Yuusuke. "So, how are classes? Meet any new friends in class?," Shiori asked. Yuusuke nodded. "I met these two girls in my class. Mori Kaori-san and Hitomi Azusa-san. Kaori-san is artistic and friendly, but Azusa-san is really shy. She's nice, though," he explained. Shiori smirked and said, "So, Yuu-kun, do you have crushes on these girls? Is there some sort of harem going on between them and you? You naughty boy~" Yuusuke blushed immensely and blurted out, "Onee-chan, it's not like that~!" Shiori giggled and hugged Yuu. "Aww, it's okay. I'm only teasing. I won't tell them about your crushes. Maybe." Yuusuke blushed even more. "Onee-chan!"

Shiori cuddled up next to her younger brother, smiling. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed. I just want to eat you up!," she said, before nibbling on various places on his arm, shoulder, neck, and ear. Yuusuke couldn't help but smile and laugh. "Onee-chan, stop...it tickles~!" They were both giggling by the end of it, tired out already from what felt like 5 minutes of nibbling and tickling. Shiori stopped and pretended to 'kiss his boo-boos' before hugging him and smiling. "Say, Yuusuke, do you want to take a bath together? Like old times, just the two of us?" Yuusuke blushed, but said, "I guess it couldn't hurt..."

Kaori would be making lunch for a boy, and not just any boy but a foreigner as well! She could only imagine the squeals that would ensue when she told her mother and sister about this later. Kaori led him to the girl's dorm common room adjacent to the kitchen. It had several sofas and coffee tables where students could sit, eat, and socialize on their off hours. Thankfully it was mostly empty except for two girls who were too busy studying to notice them enter. "Please get comfortable Senpai, it will take about twenty minutes for lunch to be ready." Kaori gave a bow, put down her things, and off to the kitchen she went.

The kitchen itself was only a small area (partitioned by wood flooring) where a few portable appliances were kept along with an extra-large refrigerator to store all of the students' food stuff so she wasn't exactly leaving the room. There was also a kitchen island where Kaori started to lay out the things she needed. She wasn't too sure what kinds of food he would like, or if he knew how to use chopsticks. Really she had no idea how he would react to her cooking, it made her feel more excited but also nervous. Kaori hadn't really planned to be cooking for anyone but herself today but she luckily had enough supplies for one dish, Menchi Katsu. She set up the single cook-top for the small pot, poured vegetable oil in the pot, washed her hands, and laid out all the ingredients she would need.

First thing to do was to cut the beef and pork slices into smaller bite size pieces. Then she took out a meat processor, placing it on the island, and put the cut meat into it. She added salt, pepper, and some nutmeg before placing the top of the processor and running it for a few moments. What resulted was a finely ground mixture of lightly seasoned beef and pork. Out of habit Kaori pinched the meat to make sure it was ground well. Next she grabbed an onion from the fridge, sliced it in half, stored the unused portion, diced the other portion, and added it to the ground meat. At this point she had started humming to herself without realizing it. It was something her mother would do as well, and so she adopted the habit. Next, she took an egg and beat it before again adding it to the ground meat along with some soft bread crumbs, a small amount of tomato ketchup and Japanese Worcestershire sauce. To finish the ground meat mixture she dove her hands into the bowl and worked it until it was thoroughly mixed.

At this point she took a second to turn on the cook-top so the oil would start getting hot while she finished preparing. She got back to her meat mixture and separated it into four sections. Taking each section in-hand she started tossing them against her palm to remove the pockets of air. Then, she coated them in flour, beaten egg, and soft bread crumbs in that order before shaping them into oval patty shapes. Finally they were ready for the pot, which had heated up sufficiently while she was preparing the food. Carefully she placed them in the pot to be deep-fried and went on to prepare a side dish of shredded cabbage leaves, baby salad greens, and a tomato wedge drizzled lightly with salt and pure olive oil. As everything was coming together she made a sauce cocktail of tonkatsu suace, tomato ketchup, japanese worcestershire sauce, and hot water for consistency. When it was all done Kaori had a proper Menchi Katsu that her mother would be proud of. Hopefully Kyle-Senpai would like it too. She brought over their plates to where he was sitting. She wasn't sure if he could use the chopsticks she had set on the plate but she really didn't have any forks or anything around. Before she sat down she wanted to make sure that he had everything he needed. "Would you like something to drink as well? I have water and orange juice or I could make some tea?"

Tomohina Mizukimura listened intently on that Saturday afternoon. She was once again alone, but that seemed to be more the fault of her blindness than anything else. It took time, she found, to make friends. Most seeing people could con jour up more interactions once they saw someone they recognized from class. Unfortunately by the time she heard voices she recognized, they had wandered off and too far away for her to reach. Though on the up side, she was making extreme progress in memorizing the general layout of the school and its more important landmarks. She smiled to herself, reveling in the small victory.

Another boon was also this place. The outdoor swimming pool. The swim club had finally finished its use for the vast cool waters and it was a prefect sunny day. In her modest school uniformed swimsuit, her rather delicate frame actually looked a bit more womanly than her usual attire led most to believe. Soft and still growing into her curves, she was actually less fragile looking for once. Standing at the edge of the pool, perfectly alone, she listened as the wind swept down and pushed on the water.

Was she allowed to be out here? Well from eight in the morning to eight at night she was technically allowed, though she wasn't quiet sure what restrictions they placed on blind students. She was blind, it wasn't like she didn't have arms and legs to swim. And even students with out limbs could swim, she was sure. There was a girl in the swim club with legs after all. Stretching up she sighed happily. It felt good to not be so restricted by clothing. Making sure her long hair was still up in its ponytail she felt a foot at the edge of the deep side.

How did she know it was the deep end? Easy. It was the farthest side of the pool and had a diving board. Oh. That was a good idea! She climbed up onto the diving board and edged her way out onto the tip. This was exhilarating! She had never been allowed on a diving board before. Her toes curled over the edge and her sightless eyes stared blankly down at the water. Grinning with excitement, she could feel her heart racing with fear and anticipation. Bouncing up and down slightly, she let out nervous giggles of exhilaration. This was terrifying! Letting out a high shout of terror and excitement she leapt forwards off the board.

It was confusing, to be so without hold in the world around you for those split seconds you were up in the air. Then her feet touched the water, her arms straight above her head. Holding her breath, she shot straight down in the deep cool water. Silence. Only the sound of bubbles tickling the water around her, lessening the deeper she sank. The feeling of panic as she floated in complete darkness, touching nothing but the weak willed water that surrounded her. Terror, panic, all so disorienting.

Then, when she felt like her lungs were about to burst from the need for air, she shot straight up. Breaking the surface, she gasped and panted for air, letting out breathless, reckless laughs as she fought to breathe. Raising herself up to float on her back, she laughed softly. That was terrifying! Closing her eyes she floated peaceful on top of the water, sounds deafened and blocked by the clear coolness that held her up. The sun hit her and she felt her long hair float up out, slipping around her arms and neck.

Her thoughts went back to that science class when she had been paired with that newly transferred girl and Kyle Parker. Hm… Kyle Parker… A hot blooded foreigner with a warm voice. She blushed slightly. Was it silly? Silly to think about that deep voice with this odd affection? Dipping under the water to cool her warmed face, she let out bubbles of embarrassed excitement. Obviously it was very silly for her to get so giddy over just the thought of his voice. Or the warmth of being close to him. Or the sound of his smile in words he spoke towards her. Silly, silly girl!

Shooting out of the water, she found her way back to that terrifying diving board. Dripping wet, she heard those droplets fall into the cool water below her. So close to hanging in the air, it felt just like that odd tumbling feeling in her stomach when she thought of him. So foreign to her, she had to jump again to spend all that adrenaline in her blood. And the cool water would calm her flustered blush. Putting her cold hands on her deeply rosy cheeks, she closed her eyes and made a small mewl of discomfort. It was unlike her to get so…so…so flustered! Tomo was usually so calm! Ah, silly, silly girl!

She lead him to the girl's dorm, it was eerily similar to the boy's dorm in that it was an exact mirror image of his dorm, just with a different color used in the painting. It was almost like stepping into an alternate reality, were it not the fact that it was indeed a real building, he might have felt fully transported. Arriving in the common area she told him to take a seat and get comfortable, he did so, though he suspected that the senpai thing probably wouldn't be going away for a while. He sighed at that, honestly it should be expected that you can't just ask someone to drop something of their culture at your request. He examined his surroundings, the common room was something simple, yet comfortable, the faint smell of perfume gently wafted in the room, something probably to be expected. He honestly wondered what she would be cooking for him, anything would be better than the cafe food though so he couldn't exactly complain, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious. Every once in a while he'd glance into the kitchen, really it was all part of the same room, but it was still a place where food was cooked. He saw meat and vegetables along with some herbs, but other than that he didn't really have much to go on with that and simply slouched back into the couch. Looking over at the two girls studying he wondered how strange it must be for a guy to actually be hanging out in this dorm.

Suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts was humming from the kitchen. It seemed like his chef of the day started humming while making food, somehow that old fashion sensibility made Kyle smile. He didn't know the song, probably something culturally related though, almost like something a mother would sing to her crying child. He closed his eyes, fully concentrating on listening to her humming, though despite the background noise coming from the cooking, her song rang clear. When it stopped he opened his eyes and realized she was coming over with two hot steaming plates full of food. She handed him his plates, though hoping for a fork he had to deal with chop sticks, he mentally groaned at that, but he didn't want to be rude by not using them.

"Would you like something to drink as well? I have water and orange juice or I could make some tea?"

He smiled, "Juice please, thank you," he nodded as she got up to go get the drinks. At this point he could inspect the food, they looked like patties of some kind, lightly breaded he could smell the seasoning used in this, perhaps the meat went into these patties; that actually sounded awesome! On the side there seemed to be a small salad with a tomato wedge in it, everything seemed so delicious, but the chopsticks almost seemed like a roadblock. While training to become a fighter, strength and speed were a must, fast paced punches to quickly knock out opponents. When it came to dexterity though, Kyle was severely lacking in that department, and it was extremely apparent when he tried handling the chopsticks. Positioning them in his fingers in a way that seemed right he crossed his legs, letting the steaming plate cradle in them. He slowly tried to grip the meat pattie thing with the chopsticks, when he had what seemed like a decent grip on them he'd lift it up and it'd come plopping back down in the plate. After several more attempts he noticed the girls who were studying giggling at his failed attempts, with new determination, his pride on the line, he attempted another pick up. His pick up was flawless, executed perfectly, he brought the dumpling up, closer to his mouth it came and...plop...right back in the plate.

"Screw this," he thought. He positioned the chopsticks inbetween his fingers and speared the meat pattie, bringing it up to his mouth he took it all in one bite and started chewing. His eyes slowly went wider as an explosion of flavor rocked his tastebuds, delicious, delicious meat, it was so beautiful and the flakiness of the patties breading almost made it that much more perfect. Slowly he looked towards the girl who had taken her place near him.

This food... "Ms...will you please make me food...everyday? I don't think I can go back to the cafe food."

He speared the second pattie and shoved it into his mouth enjoying every second of flavor it provided for him.

A drop of nervous sweat trickled down Fuyuki's dolled up brow as the girl paused, clearly sizing him up. Shiiiiit... Am I that suspicious? In hindsight, he had perhaps played his cover story a bit loose, but for something he had pulled out of his arse on the spot it was at least believable... right? For the first time in years he felt the tendrils of true fear seeping into his mind, along with something completely unexpected; a hint of excitement. To his horror, Fuyuki felt... no, that wasn't possible... Yes... yes, he felt a subtle... hardening. He had to exfil sharpish, lest his emerging masculinity become too noticeable. I refuse to believe this, he thought frantically as a heavy blush came unbidden. I am not a fucking pervert! Luckily the other girl dropped her suspicion and stepped aside; in that moment he could have kissed her. With escape the only thing on his mind, Fuyuki gave her a slightly unsteady nod of gratitude, then shot off toward the hotel at speed.

It took him an hour to recover from the shock.

Soon after he snuck back into the school, dumping his elicit duffel bag away in his room. He had taken three cold showers at that hotel, three, and he still didn't feel clean. He had been in sticky situations before, had nearly be caught a dozen times but never by a girl... It had been terrifying but... scarily exhilarating. Perhaps even addictive. Fuyuki had to take another cold shower just to banish the filthy thoughts from his mind, before heading out into school grounds to clear his head. In his male uniform, he would be quick to affirm.

Kaori wasted no time getting their juice and quietly sat with him eating her own lunch. Watching Kyle-Senpai struggle was almost comically tragic but seeing him spear the cutlet really made her smile. To see such a tall and strong person eating like a young child was very endearing. He was clearly enjoying the meal, so much so that he hadn't spoken a word. Kaori finished her own portion quickly so she could clean up once he had finished. Finally he spoke.

"Ms...will you please make me food...everyday? I don't think I can go back to the cafe food."

Every day? She certainly could and would! Buying the extra food wouldn't dip too far into her allowance, she honestly had enough to feed four people and still have money left over. She realized that she hadn't even told him her name yet. "It's Mori Kaori. I would be happy to cook for you every day, Senpai." As he finished the last of his lunch she swept it up from the table and moved back to the kitchen area and starting cleaning up so that others could use the kitchen later. At this point Kaori was practically radiating with joy. "If I'm going to cook for two I'm going to have to get twice as much food and It would be hard to carry all of it by myself." Aside from the fact that it was true she knew it would be a perfect excuse to spend some time with him. "It would be helpful if you came along..."

Mint crisp and clear, almost like disinfectant. The taste of the little candy he had grabbed in the waiting room as it slowly dissolved in his mouth. As a reward,to calm nerves, or as a last meal ? Ueda didn't really know and didn't really care when he took one from the little glass jar. But he was grateful to have taken it when he did. It did wonders to block out the droning of the psychologist that sat across to him. A man that was “trying to reach out to him” to “find what plagued him”. In short it was somebody who went to a fancy university to be able to say that he knew more about what was going inside Ueda’s head then Ueda himself, or exactly the kind of person Ueda hates most in the world.

It had been the same routine, the same questions, the same response ever since the accident. They told him it was for his own good, that under the circumstances that it would be best if somebody was able to monitor his mental health to make sure he was recovering. And for some reason Ueda came every weekend and even still he give the same answers or more correctly lack of them. His brain had walls within walls, within a maze that would make Daedalus look up in envy and that was the way he liked it. He just needed to be left alone, nobody had to worry about him, as long as his heart was beating he wouldn't just gave up. That would be cheating. Sure he didn't have a lot of friends and the ones he did have barely even talked to him, sure he was a bit more grumpy, sure he was probably the most cynical ass to grace the planet Earth, but he was alive and he was fine.

“Now Mr. Nobuyuki if you don’t talk to me we can’t make any progress? So I’m going to try and ask my question again. Can you tell about the accident?” He was an older man, his hair was more grey then it was black and he had seen many cases such as Mr. Nobuyuki’s but none as stubborn as he.The boy was obviously in deep pain over the events that transpired, anyone would be. But instead of letting the pain out he was bottling it deep inside himself, he is not letting any others bare the weight of what he perceived to be his fault. He instead hosted it above his own head, no matter how much it pushed down at him he had become his own Atlas holding up all the things he bottled deep inside up with the plug and he refused to let them out. Was it because he was scared? Probably not, angry? Maybe. But whatever it was he would get the boy to talk, eventually.

“Now I hope you take offense when I say this Doctor, but if you could kindly fuck off I think we would all be in a much happier position. Don’t you think?” Ueda asked with a smile on his face that could shatter mirrors and cut paper, as he tightened the grip on his cane and watched the doctor. It would be a game, and Ueda liked games, but who’s resolve would break first?

“You know I can’t do that Ueda. All I can do is ask you the questions and hope for a... pleasant response. Now why won’t you let me help you if you don’t let me in, then I can’t help you.” He pleaded with the boy, though somewhere deep in his gut he knew that it was a lost cause already. The boy had shut him out a long time ago, and one of the few things he did know was that he was not the type to let someone back in.

“Why do you need me to explain what happened. The news covered it, the police probably still have the file somewhere and I bet the hospital does as well. If I remember correctly it was a slow news week, so it was pretty much all they covered. I think you can get whatever information you need about what happened from there.” Ueda declared he had not lost his cool yet and was instead in his default defensive state of sarcasm. The Doctors words could not phase him, he had forgotten about it, he had forced himself to. He was not about to start remembering then.

“But that does not help me Ueda. I don’t about statistics and the opinions of anchormen and police. Those do not correlate with your story, they do not tell how the events affected you.” The Doctor declared with earnest, he was doing his best to at least keep the conversation going. Anything was better than himself rambling in silence as the boy watched on uninterested.

“Well I can answer that question for you Doctor. It didn't people died, I did not so life goes on. End of story.” Ueda declared as he tapped his foot against the floor, a tic that he developed it helped him stay calm and focused on the events at hand. Though one could start to feel a hint of bitter cold in his tone, an anger all of its own.

“I thought we agreed not to lie to one another, the first day you met me Mr. Nobuyuki, so why would you lie about this. One of the victims was a girl that went to Yamaku with you right up the mountain from here. And according to some, you and her were more than just friends. What was her name again -” The Doctor was cut off before he was able to finish his own thought process as Ueda got up with a startling show of speed.

“Doctor, no offense to you or what you do. But I’m going to advise you to shut up now. I’m going to leave now, our appointment is over.” Ueda explained his smile gone and replaced with a dead expression of tranquil fury. The Doctor had succeeded in one thing, he got the boy to show emotion, to just sit by and be a passive observer. He managed to make something click.

“Mr. Nobuyuki, I advise you to please sit down. We are just talking. Talking about her, won’t hurt you.” The Doctor got up and walked over to Ueda as he was turning to go out the door, and to stop him put a hand lightly on his shoulder.

This was of course a mistake to do at that current moment. Before he could react an elbow went back into his chest and sent him stumbling backwards into his own desk. The desk shook as papers and trinkets fell off and pictures toppled over. The Doctor was shocked and surprised. how dare he! It was his office and nobody could just go and push him around. He was about to let the boy have it, but then closed his mouth rather rapidly at what he saw. Ueda standing statuesque, his face calm though eyes seemed to burn with a fire as he looked at him.

“Doctor, I’m going to leave now. I’m never going to return to your stupid therapy ever again. I will do you the good grace of paying out the month for you as I leave. If you try and stop me, then you will have to be the one to explain to the authorities how a crippled, dying teenager beat the crap out of you. Farewell.” Ueda left the office after that, doing as he said paying for the rest of the months sessions. Nobody stopped him and The Doctor did not report him afterwards. Though Needless to say he never did return to the man’s office.

~~~~

”Hey Ueda.”
”....Yeah”
”Do you ever think God gets lonely?”
”What?”
”You Know with us being all terrible people and stuff down here, and he being up wherever being all omnipotent and shit. I think it must be terribly lonely up there.”

Ueda was dragged out of the past and thrown back into the present. Shaking his head and grumbling to himself mad that he let his mind wander like that. He had just finished his ascent back up the mountain, and was standing at the entrance of Yamaku. He looked around, half expecting kids to be rushing down the slope, towards the wide open world. But of course it was the weekend the students were already gone down, or they were crashing somewhere on the grounds. Everybody seemed to move at their own lackadaisical pace and Ueda did the same as he entered the school grounds with a sigh as he thought to himself.

Why do you choose to bother me? Why can’t you just leave me alone. I’ve said I’m sorry.. is’nt that enough? Ueda thought to himself to no response which was what he expected but he half wished for something else, a reprieve maybe. But he got none of course, your own guilt isn't too big on forgiving you that easily. No matter how much you try and try to deny it. So he kept on walking with no purpose, or direction in mind. He was just moving, moving it what ever direction the wind seemed to take him lost in his own thoughts.

It was around then that his phone buzzed in his pocket. Ueda took the phone out of his pocket and looked down puzzled. No one texted him, sure people had his number, but nobody texted him. They knew they were better off tracking him down then for him to actual respond. Hell it was even lucky that he forgot to turn his phone to silent. But as he looked down he saw he had one message from Rika, another student that was artistically inclined, mute but that did’nt stop her from being the voice in every conversation. Ueda let out a sigh as he decied that he had nothing better to do so he might as well text her back.


Rika: Where are you?
Ueda: I was running a few errands down in town. What’s Up?
Rika: The Mural?
Ueda: Huh?
Rika: The Mural in the Cafeteria! The one that you promised Nomiya you would paint.
Ueda: Yeah what about it?
Rika: You said you would start it today! You Idioit!
Ueda: Oh crap, I forgot all about that.
Rika: Yeah, lucky you have people that care you absent minded dope! Hideo and I were able to get all your supplies down there, so if you get there quick enough you can at least make some progress today!
Ueda: Thanks....


Ueda closed his phone with a heavy sigh. He did indeed promise Nomiya earlier in the week, that he would start this mural administration had commissioned the art department to do. Something about making the cafeteria more lively and less void sterile walls and floors, with an odd assortment of tables. It was at least something so keeping his slow gait he turned himself towards the cafeteria.

~~~

Eventually he made it and entered the building. He moved around the perimeter trying his best to stay out of peoples way. It wasn't as crowded as it would be on the weekdays, with most of the kids being out and about. But there still was a decent amount. More than he could just count with his hands, or even his feet. He directed himself towards the empty white wall, where he was instructed to just start painting and to see what happened. As he approached it he saw that Rika had indeed left his supplies laid out on a small tarp. Cans, brushes, stirring sticks and anything else that he really needed, turkey baster etc. What caught his eye was a small box laying there as well, leaning down slowly to not put too much stress on his frame he picked the box up and examined it. It was a Bento Box with a small note on it from Rika encouraging him, but also reminding him to not push himself too hard. That girl has to stop treating me like I’m her child. Ueda thought to himself with a small smile.

Soon he went to work, taking from his jacket a small music player and putting in his earbuds. Turning on some music and putting it up as high as it could go, effectively isolating himself in his own little bubble as he began to go to work. As he did, a small crowd of those eating their meals gathered around the tables around him, intrigued at the small live art display going on right in front of them. Though by that time Ueda was already lost in his own little world.

Sweat dripping down his body, Isamu racked the weights he'd been lifting, his breath slow and heavy. Sixty kilos. Not bad, just above his body weight. Yeah, that was about right. Stretching his arms and removing his grip gloves, the young man took a deep breath before moving over to the treadmill, grabbing his phone and putting the earbuds into his head. As the "ground" beneath him started to move, Isamu's legs pumped forward, the breaths coming out a bit quicker now. As his arms swung back and forth, he started to hum to the music, a blissful smile crossing his face.

A few minutes later, he was making his way to the pool, swim trunks on and a towel hung over his shoulder. His breath was still slightly ragged from the workout and his muscles cried out, but the aches were glorious. "No pain, no gain." Chuckling to himself, he shook his head. English had some pretty interesting phrases to it, but that one was spot-on. He certainly didn't get to where he was by lounging around and feeling sorry for himself. Two fingers? So what? He was better at origami than a good ninety percent of the population, and that was with barely a few years of practice and his parents teaching him!

Finally reaching the pool, Isamu stopped as he noticed he wasn't alone. Usually that was the case after the swim team had gone, but today he was a bit early, after all. Shrugging, he approached the pool, looking for a place to secure his towel. "Hi there, mind if-" Abruptly cutting himself off with a grunt, Isamu swapped languages, forgetting he'd been thinking in English. Having two mother tongues will do that to ya. "Hello. Do you mind if I join you out here?" Much better. There were people who could understand English, yeah, but it wasn't good to make a habit of speaking in a language most of the folks around you weren't fluent in. Stretching his arms, he gave the girl a moment to respond. She seemed a bit wrapped up with....whatever it was she was thinking about at the moment.

Mariko set back along the long and winding road to Yamaku, mentally conducting a timetable for all her trains of thought. The big new arrival via the ten fifteen bullet train was the girl she'd met. Short, but not dwarfish proportioned, short asian nose, fishbowl haircut. Had there been a ribbon in it? Mariko couldn't tell. The face had been plain, everyday. Like almost every secondary protagonist in every anime ever. She didn't speak, but she handed her a notebook she hadn't intended to use with words written in tiny letters. The dress, like a six year old's nightmare in lace. Too perky to be Gothic Lolita, but distinctive, yes. And she'd run off like all the demons of hell were after her. Like she, Matsushita Mariko, was bad news. She grinned.

So there was something somebody was hiding. And that secret had been revealed. The masquerade had been undone, and what was under the mask?

The big iron gates of Yamaku lay open, and Mariko passed through them without a second thought. She kept her gaze lowered, as if each of her black plastic shoes had the secret of life carved into them. Her bags cut into her hands but she didn't mind too much. She dragged them all around the corner and up into the girl's dorms. The smell her up first, a powerful aroma of meat and onions. Had someone been cooking? Not important right now. Two flights of stairs and a locked door later, Mariko entered into her room and dropped the bags on the floor, before scurrying to her desk and looking for paper, and a pencil. She sat down, took in a deep breath, and began writing.

Once she'd finished writing down what had happened, Mariko looked outside. The sun was high in the sky, still. She could still go out. Homework could still wait for sunday. But then again, it wasn't like she had a particularly active social life in any case. The Frill conspiracy was still a pretty interesting mystery even after she'd spent the whole walk back thinking about it hard. She'd need to ask around. Who could she ask? A teacher would get suspicious of her, and might ask awkward questions. Her contact in the student council? She doubted it. Student council was nothing like the bureaucratic centre for the school it once was. Who else was a reputable fountain of information? She thought about it while clearing up the room. The first year and the Princess were both too new in school to know who was who, and Yamauchi and Coral were too unfamiliar to her. They'd barely even talked during the whole half hour they'd been together. Who did that leave? Two dudes in her class?

After a while, she walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. Her school getup was gone, replaced with a orange tie-dye shirt under a dark green jacket, a modest navy blue skirt and black socks. Maybe a bit too vibrant, but whatever. She drifted back around to the common room, pausing at the door to murmur a "Hey" to the four of five people inside. She pulled the door back and stepped out into the warm summer Saturday.

Tomo was still at the edge of the diving board and lost in her own flustered thoughts when another person joined her at the pool. However it was only when he spoke that she realized her was there. Startled out of her thoughts, she jumped on accident with a soft sound of surprised. Of course when she jumped in surprised, she actually jumped into the pool. The crash of water around her was enough to shock her out of her own thoughts. Breaking the surface with a gasp she was able to swim over to an edge of the pool. Her dark long hair still partially in the water even when it was up in a tie, her uniform swimwear, she looked like a regular dollish Japanese girl. But those lavender eyes, glazed and misty, forever unseeing, they only helped build up the illusion of her be a doll instead of a real girl. Pulling herself onto land, she stood and tilted her head, pulling her hair over one shoulder.

"I apologize," she said in her polite way, even though she was not facing the boy, "Usually I am not so easy to startle. I thought I was alone." Head still tilted, she listened intently. Finally she was able to figure out the direction to face. She smiled, if a bit shyly, and gave a graceful bow in greeting towards his direction. "Oh, my name is Tomohina Mizukimura and I'm a second year," holding herself a bit more guarded but poised even for a girl in a swimsuit. Speaking of, she flushed a bit, both hands still preoccupying themselves with ringing out her hair, just so her arms could block her chest. It was a protective thing, but then again she always found it a bit embarrassing to be so...bare in front of people she didn't know. Yet she stood more calmly than she really felt. It was practice that helped her maintain facades more than the average girl. But then again she had been trained from a young age to always appear pleasant and refined.

Still shaken by the encounter, Fuyuki decided to do a bit of digging into the girl he had met in the hopes of perhaps tabling her movements. He would need to lie low for a few days to avoid suspicion. The worst case scenario would be running into her unprepared... After setting up an impromptu office in the library, he first spent some time rifling through his written notes, hoping to find a dossier that matched the physical description or better yet, had a photo. Normally he would do such work in his room, but the hot weather had turned the dorms into a veritable sauna, what with the shitty air conditioning units the boys were given... The girls got the decent ones, no surprise there. Fuyuki had never been able to prove his suspicions about the Principal, but the way the old bastard leered at first year girls was plain enough. But he knew he was getting sidetracked, the task at hand too urgent to ignore. He had to find this girl ASAP, it was a matter of... reputation. Not that his rep had earned him much business recently; aside from the usual 'Is Soandso-senpai single?' and 'What does Fred Bloggs-kun like to eat?' requests, he had received nothing of interest. At least it gave him some leeway when emergencies came up, like now. Eventually he exhausted his admittedly sparse paper files and went on to search the digital data, his preferred format. Taking someone's photo or recording a bit of audio was easy on his PDA and the dossiers he collected were much more detailed for it.

After a good hour of trawling the data, he narrowed it down to three possibilities. One was a student teacher, young and a bit dappy, unlikely to cause serious issues and easy to avoid. Another was a third year, aggressively social and unpredictable; it would be a headache to work around her... And the third was a second year in one of the other classes, one Matsushita, given name unknown, few details available. He hadn't really paid attention to the girl's face at the time, so it really could be any of them... which meant knocking up a timetable to avoid all three at the same time. No easy job and one that would require a bit of digging beforehand... Fuyuki sat for a full five minutes, glaring at the world at large. It was a bitter irony that he would need to stalk those girls for a few days before he could figure out how to avoid them... Once he had summoned up the will to move, he set off to find one of the three. Discreetly.

He could barely stifle a shocked laughed when the girl on the diving board literally jumped in surprise at his voice. Damn, that was a hell of a way to make a first impression, though. He couldn't help but watch as she moved to the edge of the pool and climbed out, more out of concern that she'd end up drowning in the shock than out of lust. He was too winded to think about anything other than relaxing and cooling his body down a bit. His body was flushed with blood from his workout, and the pool was a good way to cool down, both literally and figuratively. While the girl he'd startled was coming out of the pool, Isamu bent down and touched the water with his hand.

"Hello water, my sweet. Your lobster has returned to you." Whispering so that the girl couldn't hear him, he derisively shook his head and held back his laughter yet again. The malformation of his hands was rarely actually a disability. At worst, it was an inconvenience that he had primarily already overcome. The Yamaku Lobster came to terms with himself long, long before arriving at this school.

When she finally addressed him, Isamu smirked in realization. Blindness. Helps explain why she didn't notice me. "Ah, that's quite alright, it's my fault for calling out to you while you were on the diving board and clearly focusing." He wasn't just being polite, either. He really had been genuinely concerned, despite the laughter he had to hold back. Being at a school like Yamaku made one a bit more insightful on the frailty of life, though Isamu could only call upon second-hand experiences on this matter.

"Well, Mizukimura-san, it's nice to meet somebody with such poise. I am Tanaka Isamu, and I'm a third year student here." He couldn't blame the girl for her apparent shyness at addressing a male student while in a swimsuit. And if she knew who she was talking to, she'd definitely be self-conscious. One of the few things he regretted about his time at Yamaku was the reputation he'd built for himself. It was embarrassing, frankly. Though, he tried not to let the rumors get to his head. Even if they were true. Almost every one of them.

Not working, Tanaka! Distract yourself! Quantum mechanics! Beta-plus decay! Manami-chan! NO, ABORT, ABORT ABORT! Stepping into the pool to shock himself out of dangerous thoughts, Isamu sighed as the cool water covered his aching body. Few things beat the feel of this. "So, Mizukimura-san, what brings you out here? Business or pleasure?"

Her wet hair felt heavy and she turned her face, so as not to make him uncomfortable with her eyes. Though she couldn't see him, he reminded her a mix of Kyle and Ueda, confident yet calm and casual. His voice held a distinctive sort of amusement in it too. It would help to identify him later. While seeing people had faces, she had voices. Maybe that's why she enjoyed the extreme warmth in Kyle's voice. It was something exotic to her. She blushed softly at the thought and sat at the edge of the pool, her feet in the cool water.

"No, I should not of been so lost in my own thoughts," she gave the boy a small apologetic smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He was older than her then. Seemed she had a knack for embarrassing herself in front of upperclassman. Ueda, a third year as well, had surpassed in her such deep ways of thinking that she had to struggle just to keep up with him in their conversation on the first day. Though she had thought she had been able to present herself eloquently, she hadn't spoken to the upperclassman since then. Leaning back slight, her weight on her arms, she rested her head on one shoulder and closed her eyes.

She was a transfer and she didn't pay very much mind to gossip, so meeting this upperclassman he was starting with a clean slate. She could hear him move in the water, so even though she was a bit shy about being in a swimsuit, she stayed on her ledge. Swimming with someone was a bit intimate to her. Even though she held herself in a calm way, she sort of prayed he'd stay at a distance. Her modest side was known to get the better of her sometimes. And she'd blame the slight heat to her porcelain skin on the beating sunshine.

"Hm, well," her smooth voice, although still a bit dazed, was as clear as the water caressing her legs, "I like swimming. It's exhilarating. What about you, Tanaka-san?"

"It's Mori Kaori. I would be happy to cook for you every day, Senpai."

Kyle nearly choked on his food, he wasn't actually being serious about it, but this girl, smiling at him, she was seriously going to make him food...everyday. That was honestly amazing and while his pride almost made him not want her to actually make him food everyday, he knew it was an opportunity he couldn't just pass up. After he finished his food she took their dishes into the kitchen and started cleaning them. He followed into the kitchen, she seemed really happy, almost radiating it, it was infectious.

"If I'm going to cook for two I'm going to have to get twice as much food and It would be hard to carry all of it by myself. It would be helpful if you came along..."

He smirked a little, refraining himself from teasing her with "oh is this part two of our date?". It was to be expected though, he couldn't exactly ask for something like this (even if it wasn't all that serious) and not do some sort of reciprocation.

"Well, since you are making me food every day its the least I could do, a few grocery bags aren't too hard to handle," He flexed his one arm, he couldn't help but stroke his ego just a little bit. "I'm guessing we'll be doing this now then? Just let me go get changed real quick, I think I need something a little more casual," he strained a little as he put a couple fingers on his necktie, loosening it a little.

"Thank you for lunch by the way, it was fantastic," he started walking towards the door, "I'll meet you in front of the dorms, ok?"

He exited the building, doing a quick job around the path towards the boy's dorm. While climbing the stairs he passed by a slightly frazzled looking Todoroki, he wanted to ask her what was wrong, but a more prevalent question came to mind. Why was a girl in the boy's dorm? After pondering on it for a few seconds he wanted to mentally slap himself, of course it'd be fine for girls and boys to be in each others dorms, he was just in the girl's dorm. She unfortunately was already out the door so he quickly made his way into his room and started changing.

---

Not a few minutes later Kyle was out of his uniform and in a pair of blue jeans, a red buttoned, collared short sleeve shirt and a pair of cork sandals. He once knew a guy as a kid who had called these sandals 'Jesus Sneakers'. While kind of a lame thing, it reminded him of better times during his childhood...before his accident. He cringed a little...that guy died 2 weeks before his 12th birthday...gang violence in L.A...what else was new? He shook his head, he had better things to do, like a faux-grocery date with a cute first year. Hm...Kaori Mori...she seems so honest and earnest, its definitely one of her more adorable traits. He wondered if she would be changing too? His face quickly turned red, "where the hell did that come from?!"

This time he actually slapped himself, that was no way to be thinking, well...it was but it was...flustering for some reason...maybe because he was actually spending time with her? He didn't really know the answer, but there was time to think about it later, right now he was waiting for his new friend to make her way out so they could go shopping.

He rolled his eyes quickly as she politely blamed herself for their incident. Well, she definitely had good manners, that much was for sure. "Well, we all get a bit consumed in our thoughts sometimes. I can hardly fault you for it." I did the same thing literally just a moment ago. "And it's a pleasure to meet you as well. I've not had the honor of speaking with somebody as well-mannered as you are in quite a while." He could only remember one of his "uncles" speaking in such a reserved, polite manner. It made sense, he was meeting his mistress's son while the boy's father was in the other room doing work.

Dismissing the memory quickly, he processed her response to his question, as well as her follow-up, thinking on the appropriate way to phrase his answer. Once he had it, he let his mouth open. "It's part of my workout routine. I usually use it for cooling my body down as well as winding my muscles down. It's less stressful on the body than running is, as well, so it's good cardio exercise without the joint pain." Stretching his chest and back, he turned onto his back and slowly pushed himself through the water, alternating between wide, frog-like kicks and quick fluctuations of his feet to propel himself around.

Reaching the end of the pool, he turned around and returned to the side of the pool he'd started on. Halting his movement, he simply stayed there, looking over Mizukimura-san. She...certainly wasn't unattractive. Now that he was a bit cooler and his body wasn't flooded with endorphins, he could actually get a good look at the girl on the edge of the pool. Swimming to spit in the face of her blindness, much like his origami skills. He couldn't suppress the third chuckle that came to his lips, and his face flushed. Well....that's gonna need an explanation. "Sorry, I just...had a thought that struck me as funny. A perceived similarity we share that, actually, I'm quite proud of." He was leading her to ask, of course, but if she didn't take the bait, he wouldn't push it.

Mariko crouched down and picked up a 50 yen coin. It had been buried into the dirt path edge-first. She pocketed it. The park was warm, and several people strolled through it, happy that the first week was finally over. The park itself was like every park after Fredrick Law Olmsted had Invented the concept; wide, sprawling, difficult to walk around but a lovely place to rest. Mariko sat down at her bench, the second of four alongside the path, and stared ahead. People were bustling about, all at different speeds, some she recognised and others she would get to know in time. The garden sprinkler had been turned on, and a couple of the first-year kids were running through them and getting wet. It was a scene that one could see in all of japan, if not the world.

Look harder.

That little girl's leg had no muscle, Beyond her knee, it simply ended like a slim metal hockey stick. The water would probably make it rust, and there she was running through it like prosthetic legs grew on trees. And every so often the light would catch the sun and hit Mariko right in the eye and she'd twitch and screw her eyes shut because direct sunlight like that could damage her retinas beyond any real repair until she was pushing sixty and had forgotten what light was any more and was old and wrinkled and too diseased and tumorous to be any good anyway and- She stopped. Closed her eyes, then looked at her shoes. Those kneesocks were wonky. She reached down and pulled them up properly. She breathed out. She hadn't been aware that she'd been holding her breath, but she had.

She'd chosen this bench because it lay the longest in shade under a massive tree. She'd never been able to identify what kind it was, and she didn't particularly care, because under it's thick foliage and mossy trunk, no light or heat ever went near that tree. It was quite possibly a yuki-onna's summer house, it was so cold under there. Unfortunately, there were strict rules against that sort of thing, which metaleg and company over there were flagrantly breaking. She hoped a teacher would punish them soon.