Blind Spot - English Edition - Chapters

Chapter 7

Axel Terizaki — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:32:00 +0200

Once again, I am awfully late.

Chapter 7: The final answer.

* * *

Autumn had come around once more. Months had flown by, classes had began again, and I was still unsure where I should be going with my life.

"That episode was truly awesome, ne?" Naruzaki, one of the girls of our class, asked.

Karen, a few classmates and I were eagerly chatting during recess time about a recent drama series called "Ten'to chi no Hazama(1)", often abbreviated into "Ten'haza". Calling it merely 'popular' would be something of an understatement. From what I had read in magazines, they did put a lot of time and money into the project to make it different from any drama series that existed before. A young engineer named Tetsuya created a gynoid named Alfeena with an ancient artefact given to him by his dying grandfather. Alfeena was the fruit of techonology and occultism in a sense, and her character was a great part of the success of the series. She wasn't played by an actress, but by computer-generated graphics, and a voice actress. It was really well integrated and allowed the series directors lots of liberties.

"It was a big clue about her true origins, when she told the Lord of Void that 'we shaped the world around'. Do you think she's some sort of god?"

I shook my head. They were referring to a battle in the last episode, where Alfeena started getting serious. It was the first time we saw her with her wings out, too.

"I don't think so. I rather see an angel when I look at her with those wings." I said, participating in the discussion.

"Heh, you're probably right Suzumiya, but I guess we won't know until the very last episode..."

"I hope she'll be able to save Tetsuya. It'd be really lame for him to die like that," Karen added.

I nodded a little. I had gotten a little closer to the girls of our class with Karen's help. It helped that the series had given us a good common topic ever since it started during the summer. I'd never really been able to make friends aside from Karen and Shizuka until recently. Karen, on the other hand, had some friends over at the sports club. Maybe I should've joined a club already, but none of them were really of any interest to me, not even the literature club. Whenever you came in they would ignore you and keep reading their books silently unless you spoke directly to them.

"It's time!" I heard Ryukawa announce, meaning recess time was almost over and we had to get back to our seats. I sat back at my computer, unlocked it with the fingerprint reader I begged my father for, and watched silently as Ura sat next to me, elbowing me on her way.

"Ow." I let out softly, frowning. She just seemed to grin.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!" our class representative did her routine, and we were soon on for some deadly Mathematics.

* * *

During the classes, however, Miho was more a pest than usual, and found a new way to torment me, like unplugging the fingerprint reader I used so she wouldn't be able to mess with my laptop when I was away. The thing was, it kind of backfired at me, since obviously the laptop would lock itself if the reader wasn't connected, and disabling that would prove it to be quite useless in the end.

"That's enough, stop that already!" I let out in a whisper, the teacher explaining something on the blackboard. I couldn't read it anyways.

"I'm not done with you yet Suzumiya."

"Oh god, what will it take to make you stop bullying me? I don't have anything against you."

"But I do." she simply whispered back.

"Come on, this is ridiculous!" I was starting to lose patience, but her tone of voice made me believe she wasn't in a good mood either.

"It is not, I won't let you get away with this. I know you want to go out with Shou-chan."

Shou-chan? When did SHE get so close with him? (2)

"I'm not interested in Ogata-kun, is that clear?" I told her, without specifying he liked Karen better. I didn't even notice my own voice escalated suddenly in anger.

"What!?"

The class suddenly looked back at us with her outburst, even the teacher, Kagashima-sensei, was interrupted. And our mathematics teacher didn't like being interrupted.

"Suzumiya! Ura! Stop disturbing my class and go stand in the hallway!"

I made a grimace, and stood up. Anger took over my embarassment and I just picked up my folded cane, my sunglasses, and got out with Miho following behind me. We were to stand in the hallway for the rest of the period, and that was her fault.

* * *

"It's your fault."

"No, yours." I replied dryly before letting out a little sigh.

We were standing facing the door, our backs to the hall windows. In my frustration, I'd forgotten to lock my laptop, but it wasn't like Miho would be able to touch it. It wasn't exactly the first time I'd been punished this way. In my first year of middle school, Shizuka was the one standing by my side after we chatted and giggled a little too loud for our teacher's taste.

"I'm not interested in Ogata-kun." I continued, stating this again.

"I know you went out with him last year."

"That was last year!"" I corrected. "And he's the one who asked me out!" I said for my defense.

"But you accepted." she says, closing her eyes.

I wanted to punch her or something, but when I looked her way, she had her eyes closed, and was just standing there proudly, arms folded under her chest. Her blonde hair was truly wonderful to look at. I kind of wanted to feel it, but I was too scared of getting my hand biten by the viper next to me.

"You have beautiful hair, you know?" I said without really thinking.

"W...What's that now?" Oh my, did I just embarrass her?

"Nothing, just trying to change the subject since you seem completely persuaded I'm in a love affair with Ogata-kun, while there is nothing of the sort!"

"You're trying to trick me!"

"Like hell I am!"

I kept my voice low, but it looks like we caught the attention of two schoolgirls who were passing by.

"Well well, what do we have here?"

I frowned as I heard those voices, and Miho let out a sigh as well.

"If it isn't model student and blind girl sitting outside the class. Got punished for arriving late?"

The two girls were third year students. They liked defying the rules and disobeying teachers a lot. One had a dark complexion and blonde hair, but it wasn't as good-looking as Miho's. The other one had very short hair and a mean look in her eyes and voice. They were known around the school for slacking off, skipping classes, and bullying students. Luckily I wasn't among these, but I possibly could have been if Karen hadn't been there.

To my surprise however, Miho didn't dare respond. Was she afraid of them?

"Hey, your watch looks nice, mind giving it to us?" one of them said. I wasn't wearing any watch, so it was probably Miho they were talking about.

Miho did reply this time.

"Sorry, I can't, it's mine."

"Oooh, come on."

I heard Miho gasp when the darker-skinned girl took her wrist in hand and started taking off her watch.

"Stop that!"

I frowned. While seeing Miho in trouble would normally be pleasant, there was something horribly wrong with this situation. Besides, there was a possibility they would pick on me next.

"Let go of her." I said simply, mastering the skill 'Bravery' to level two.

"Heh, your name is Suzumiya, right? Don't bother us, you're next anyways." she said sharply at me. The way she said it would probably send the shyest girl running away crying, but I wasn't like that.

With a swift move of the wrist holding my white cane, I wanted to play bluff and lifted my arm, the movement making the cane unfold before me with the distinct noise of metal clicking into place. That was enough to startle the two girls, at least, but when I tapped the other end of the cane in my palm, they got the message: I was going to use my cane to hit them. I tried to look as menacing as possible, but it was clearly a bluff. My sports abilities were close to zero, the cane had a light weight, and if they really decided to fight, I was in big trouble.

"H...Hey, back off! Here's her watch!"

They, much to my surprise, threw the watch in the air. Miho managed to catch it after she recovered from the shock of seeing me defend her. I guess anyone would be shocked, including myself. I was sure I was going to bang my head against a wall later that day while thinking of what I just did.

"Uhm..." Miho sounded hesitant, as she saw the two girls frown and leave us alone. I folded my cane again slowly, realizing I just wanted to use it as a weapon.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand it." I admitted to her, blushing a bit.

"Y...You didn't have to do that!"

Was she blushing too? It was difficult for me to tell. I wasn't too sure of what to do or say next, and cleared my throat quietly before returning to my place standing next to her.

"Hmph." I heard her say.

She didn't even thank me!

* * *

After the period ended, we went back into class to grab our things and go eat at the school cafeteria. Miho didn't say a thing, and I wasn't sure if I should tell Karen about what happened. She might get angry at the girls.

"Hey Sakazaki, that omelette looks delicious. Mind trading it for some of my sausages?"

There was also Ogata-kun, but I doubt he cared much about what happened to me. I watched in amusement as he tried to pick up a piece of omelette from Karen's tray with his chopsticks.

"No way, you should have chosen the omelette if you wanted it!" Karen replied protectively, trying to ensure he couldn't get at her food at all.

"Awww!"

I ate silently as usual. Come to think of it, I rarely saw Miho around in the cafeteria. I guess she was probably eating a bento outside most of the time with her friends.

"Why are you sticking with us during lunch? You don't have any friends, do you?" Karen asked with a smirk. That was rude, I thought.

I tried to change the subject to today's classes and asked what I missed while I was in the hallway. They didn't seem to argue much on the facts there, for once, and Karen was almost finished with her meal.

"Hey, Sakazaki, I was thinking..."

I looked up at Ogata-kun as he spoke. He seemed a little hesitant, and I wondered what he was going to ask her.

"Are you free this Sunday? I got two tickets for this new amusement park they opened recently..."

"DangoLand?" she asked, apparently intrigued.

"Right."

I could feel her hesitation now, as she took her tray in her hands and stood up. Or was she searching for a reply?

"Why don't you give me a few hours while I think of a negative reply?"

I placed my palm over my face in exasperation.

"Karen-chan!" I said to get her attention.

"She already left." I heard Ogata-kun reply. I looked at my side, and indeed Karen wasn't there anymore.

"She's fast." I commented back.

"I know about that..."

He let out a little sigh, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"I'll go talk to her after classes, okay? She had no reason to refuse, I know she loves the Big Dango Family."

"Heh, you don't have to do that, I'm sure I'll manage to convince her sometime."

I looked away a bit. I felt really sorry for him right now.

"But still..."

"Don't worry Suzumiya." he said to me.

Having finished my lunch, I stood up and took my tray in hands.

"I'm not worried, I'll take care of her." I said with the best smile I could make.

Ah, Karen, you're not making this easy on me!

* * *

Sadly, I didn't really have time to talk to her that day. Having a part-time job isn't easy, and it's been a while since the three of us had any fun with karaoke. Miho was strangely silent during the day. She wasn't as agressive as she was before the incident this morning, but she still kept her distances with me.

"I still don't know what to do, really." I told Takagi-san, who was sitting nearby. I was behind the counter of Tamashii Toshokan, waiting for today's shipment to arrive so I could sort it.

"You will know soon enough, when it will be time. You are still young."

He always spoke like that. It was a bit irritating sometimes.

"Maybe working here will be my only option." I said, looking down at my hands.

"I don't wish you that. A youngster like you should follow her dream. If you don't have any dream, any goal, you won't live a happy life."

"Hmmm..."

What he said was true, we live by setting new goals over and over, because life can be so short...

"Looks like our shipment arrives." I heard him say.

And indeed, the delivery man entered with packages full of books. I started to open them while Takagi-san used his stamp on the papers acknowledging the delivery.

I kept thinking about it over and over while sorting the new book shipment, when something caught my attention. There was a girl searching for something on the shelf I was putting books on.

"Welcome to our shop, how may I help you?" I asked politely like I do to everyone else. The girl seemed to have the same age as me.

However, she didn't reply.

"Errr, hello?"

No reply either...

I observed her a little. What struck me was her uniform, quite classy with a blazer, and a sweater underneath. Her purple hair was tied in two short ponytails. I didn't know which school she was from, but I asked again, quietly. I was a little afraid to disturb her. Maybe she was deaf? I started thinking that was the case, and I felt like I just had to help her, even though a blind girl helping a deaf one out would make some people laugh.

"Are you searching for a book?" I said a little louder to test her ears. Again, she didn't reply. I wanted to help her, but I realized a little late I didn't know the sign language when I touched her arm gently. This however had the effect of making her look at me. She turned her head to face me and looked me up and down a little.

"Are you searching..." I started making weird movements with my hands, I wasn't even sure of what I was doing.

"Book?" I said, taking a book in my hands and pointing a finger at it.

She looked down at the book, and that's when I finally heard her voice for the first time.

"Are you a bully?"

I sweatdropped.

"H...Heh?"

I wasn't sure how to take this, and wondered what the girl was thinking now. Me? A bully? No way!

I then heard the bookstore's door open and close again with the little bell on top of it ringing to announce a new customer.

"It's us, Ayako!" I heard Shizuka's voice call out.

It was Karen and Shizuka! It was time for me to go!

I quickly excused myself from the strange, creepy girl. I guess I'll let Takagi-san deal with her. I headed in the backroom to change back into my uniform, and grabbed my schoolbag. Let's get home now!

She must have been definitely deaf or something...

* * *

"You're WHAT?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

I was walking home with Karen and Shizuka as usual, when she told us about what happened in her school recently.

"You heard it, finalist." Shizuka said, proudly.

"That's incredible, Shizuka. But somehow it doesn't surprise me much, I knew you had it in you." Karen said, as overjoyed as I was.

"Hehe, thanks, girls." she said with a little giggle.

She paused.

"It wasn't that hard honestly, but the finals will decide if I get that ticket for two weeks at the Onneyu onsen this summer, in Hokkaidô."

"Two weeks... And you can go with the person of your choice, right?" I asked.

She nodded in response.

"Ah, I'd love to go there!" I said a little wishful, but I realized after I said that that Shizuka would probably bring her boyfriend with her instead of me.

Shizuka was actually participating in a contest at her school aimed at motivating students into making original hair creations, and she was one of the finalists for the grand prize.

"When are the finals, by the way?" Karen asked.

"In mid-May. We're supposed to pick one person to try our hair style on in front of a jury, but I haven't decid..."

"Pick me!" I said, surprising the two. Even myself, actually. I wasn't much into these shows usually, but it was Shizuka we were talking about here! I could entirely trust her!

"Heh?" Both Shizuka and Karen replied. The stunned tones in their voices made me think twice and blush. I looked down at my cane, which I was still holding and waving in front of me while we walked towards home.

"I uh... I mean, I'd like to be the test subject, if you wouldn't mind?" I asked Shizuka, a little more calmly this time.

"Hmmm, well, you've got plenty of hair, and it looks pretty style-able," she said. "And the hairstyle I chose would certainly look good on you, yes." she adds.

"Can we see it? What you imagined, I mean." Karen asked. It's true I should have asked for that before volunteering.

"I didn't bring the concept sketches with me today, but I can bring them tomorrow if you'd like?"

Both Karen and I nodded our heads at this.

"All I'll have to do will be to sit there and let you cut my hair, right?"

"Yeah, but we'll see the details about that once I have all the official papers in hand, okay?" she said gently.

"Okay!" I replied cheerfully.

It was soon time for Karen to leave us. She waved at us and we continued on our path home while chatting as usual.

* * *

When I got home that day, I heard mother on the phone. I didn't pay much attention to the conversation she was having, and waved a little at her from the hallway before heading upstairs to my room to change. On my way, I met Miyuki, who was hurriedly heading downstairs. I heard her put her shoes on and leave without a word. Maybe she got an urgent call from Seiji?

I emerged from my room in some more comfortable clothes, and went downstairs, to find my mother preparing dinner in the kitchen.

"Ayako-chan."

I raised an eyebrow, as her tone was quite grave.

"Uh, yes, mother?"

"We will be eating quickly this evening." she started saying without even looking at me.

"What's going on?" I asked back. The atmosphere in the kitchen was too deep to stay unnoticed.

"It's your cousin Kenji. He was suffering from back aches for the past few months, and the doctors discovered only today that he..."

"He... what?" I asked again, feeling a shiver run down my spine.

My mother lowered her head, but she didn't turn around to look my way.

"He has a cancer, and he's currently being hospitalized. Your father is already there, Miyuki left earlier, and we'll go join them when we're done with dinner."

Oh.

I sat down on a kitchen's chair. It was the only thing I could manage to do.

That dinner was probably the longest dinner I had in my life.

* * *

I didn't sleep very well that night, to be honest.

Even my morning shower didn't wake me up fully the next morning, and everyone in the house had a gloomy face, especially Miyuki. She always had been close to Kenji... Needless to say, Aoi had been looking devastated yesterday evening. I didn't stay for long in Kenji's hospital room. He sounded a bit weak, and my mother told me he had lost some weight and looked pale. I didn't dare approach him to confirm, that would have been awfully rude.

I quietly finished the breakfast father prepared, and bowed in thanks.

"I'll be going now." I said simply.

I closed the front door behind me and headed off to meet Karen and Shizuka and walk with them to school with them.

I didn't want to bother Karen and Shizuka with that for now. It's not like they knew Kenji very well, but there was also the fact that it was just family matters. Just family. This wasn't concerning them.

And what scared me most of all, is that I was feeling like I was the least affected by the news. It felt strange. Was I blocking the whole thing out of my head, or didn't I consider myself close enough to really care? Of course I was sad, but not like the rest of my family. It's almost like they were considering him gone already! I didn't like that idea...

My thoughts were interrupted by a starfish.

More exactly, a starfish-shaped cookie.

"Please, Here's a starfish."

I looked up from my laptop. It was Karen. She was giving out handmade cookies to the whole class. It's a new recipe she tested yesterday and it was pretty good, from what she told me.

She leaned on to whisper to me then.

"Don't worry, I have some more in my bag. We'll share them later with Shizuka." she said with a wink.

I smiled a little. At least I could count on my friends to cheer me up. Looking to my left, Karen had even given one to Miho. I couldn't say I agreed, but she at least said a weak 'Thanks' and munched on it gracefully. As gracefully as munching could get, of course. I had to admit that Miho had a very ladylike demeanor, like a wealthy girl. Karen was actually the wealthy one here, with her parents making a lot of money every month, but then again, she knew how to keep her feet on the ground and not act like a snob. She was a normal girl, and Shizuka and I liked her for that simplicity she kept everyday.

Speaking of Miho, she was strangely bearable today...

"Oh, Karen!"

She came towards me when she heard the sound of my voice. I could have stood up and came to her, but among all the students around in school, and the fact that we all wore the same school uniform, it was difficult for me to spot someone from a distance. So I called them out instead.

"Yeah?"

"Could we talk for a bit... like hmmm, after school?"

Luckily I had a day off my part-time job today. Ever since I started working part-time, I had much less time to spend with my two friends, which was making me a bit sad sometimes...

"Sure. Is something wrong?" she asked, curiously, tilting her head a little. Karen had always been concerned with my well being, it'd be normal that she worried.

"Oh no it's about..."

Then something hit me. I looked at my left and saw Miho looking away from us. Perhaps she was bored, but she could be listening.

"...Shizuka's birthday!"

"Heh? But it's in February."

Wrong move, Ayako!

"Well, we need to plan far ahead for a present, haha!" I said with a little giggle, trying to find an excuse.

Because if Miho were to find out Ogata liked Karen...

I shivered at the thought.

"Well, if you insist, I'm curious to see whatever you've got in mind this time." she told me. Looks like she bought my lie.

"Suzumiya-san?"

I heard another voice behind Karen. She moved away to allow me to see who was talking to me. It was Ryukawa, our class representative.

"Yes?" I replied, looking up again. It was pretty rare for the class representative to come to see me. Did I do something wrong?

"Suzumiya-san, I'll go right to the point. The drama club needs your help."

"Heh?"

Drama club?

I heard Miho let out the same exclamation as I just did.

"Is there something wrong at the club?" Karen asked Ryukawa.

"Ah well."

She readjusted her glasses a bit before continuing.

"We are supposed to do a play in two weeks, but Tsukiyo-san, our voice-over for the play, recently got ill and we have no one at the club to replace her."

Uh oh. I don't like where this is going.

"So I was thinking that maybe you could help? I know you have a splendid voice that can reach far. You'd only have to read lines of text, you don't even need to appear on stage, I mean, with your handicap and all..."

She sounded a bit embarrassed, but was mistaking things. Since when did would bad eyesight would prevent me from going on stage...?

...Okay well, maybe if I were to not see some cable or something lying on the ground...

...Ah, there are the spotlights too which could blind me.

Fine! Maybe that'd be a problem then.

"You want me to replace this person for your play?" I asked, just for confirmation, by pointing a finger at myself.

"Yes, that's i..."

"No way!"

Miho stood up from her seat and looked at me, and then at Ryukawa, startling us with her outburst.

"You can't let an amateur do this! There is no way she can do it!"

Heh? So many questions just popped in my head right then.

"Ura-san, please understand, I feel she can do this." Ryukawa replied kindly, not even raising her voice.

"You're the club president! You should take responsibility and not hire amateurs! I'm sure I can find..."

Ryukawa raised her hand to shut Miho up. Wow.

"Suzumiya-san, would you mind showing us if you can handle a tongue twister?"

I was a bit surprised. Was it a test? I was good at those, but still, the pressure was important now. I slowly stood up.

"Let's see."

I took a deep breathe and thought of a simple one to begin with.

"Tokyo tokkyo kyoka-kyoku kyou kyuukyo kyoka kyakka!(6)"

I let out a sigh. I thought I'd handled it well.

Ryukawa giggled, too.

"Perfect! I see you're perfectly capable."

I heard Miho stand too, next to me.

"But...!"

"No way there's a person more suited than Suzumiya-san for this task here. None, I won't accept anyone else." she said, firmly. So Ryukawa is the drama club's president? Woah!

"I... can I think about it?" I dared say, wanting to sound polite. Honestly, I wasn't really interested.

"Sure, but please give me your answer by tomorrow. You understand I'll have to find a replacement quickly if you refuse." she said, softly.

I nodded in response, but someone was still disagreeing.

"I can't allow this!"

Miho let out again, clenching her fists next to me. She wasn't planning on hitting me, right? Right?

"That's enough Ura-san!" Ryukawa raised her voice, which surprised me. She sounded cold and commanding for a moment, far from her usual kind tone. "I'm sure Suzumiya-san is the one we need."

I was impressed. Very impressed.

Ryukawa turned her back to us and went back to her friends, after telling me those words.

"I'll wait for your answer tomorrow, Suzumiya-san."

I blinked, twice.

* * *

Classes ended and Karen and I left school for our favourite café in Shibuya. We were supposed to meet Shizuka here, eat some cake, drink tea, and head for karaoke together.

Time for action!

"Ne, Karen..."

"Yes, Ayako-chan?" she asked.

"You really don't like Ogata?"

I could almost hear her wince. We were walking side by side, her arm holding mine. I guess that with my cane now having another girl walk so closely against me felt a little less weird for others. It was normal to help a blind person like this, right? I considered it normal now, but until last year, I was always embarrassed by it.

"Well, it's not that I don't like him..."

Ha ah!

"It's just that I don't trust him around girls. His smile is too bright, you know?"

I felt her shrug her shoulders.

"Why do you ask?" she continued. "Are you interested in him?"

"Not at all." I replied as naturally as possible. It was the truth too.

"Then why?"

I didn't answer just yet. I gave a slight pause to our conversation to collect my thoughts. Could I tell her the truth?

"You know, nothing happened during our date. He was just as much of a gentleman as anyone else."

"You told me about that, but what's your point?"

Ah, this was so awkward!

"Look, Karen, maybe you should reconsider your hate for Ogata..." I said, more a suggestion than an order.

"Hate? I don't hate him."

I looked at her face just now, quite of surprised. Was it all a misunderstanding to begin with? What a relief!

"I just wish he would get hit by a car." she said with a grin.

...So that was it.

"Mou! Karen!" I pouted.

She giggled, and squeezed my arm closer to hers for a second to get my attention.

"I'm just kidding. Actually it's a little difficult to explain. Maybe I'm a little possessive after all." She had a much softer tone in her voice as she said it, as if she was regretting it.

"I'm happy you noticed that." I replied sarcastically.

"Mou! Ayako!"

"Oh don't mimick me, that's mean!"

We both laughed loudly at that. I guess people must have turned their heads towards us when we laughed so loudly like that, but it was fine, I didn't care one bit. I couldn't see their faces. I couldn't see if they were looking at us or not.

"Seriously though... I don't hate him, it's just... Well, I'd like a second chance I guess, but I never really dared say anything, I always thought he always had lots of girls around him wanting to date him. And that did upset me."

Good news.

"The main problem is Ura-san, actually. She truly tries to get him." I explain. "Actually everything you heard about him is just rumours spread by Ura-san."

"...Did he tell you that?"

"Uh, yes."

"And you were naive enough to trust him?"

Ah, that hurt now. But Karen had a point, what if he deceived me?

"I... have my reasons to trust him." I replied cryptically.

"So he kissed you! Gah, Shizuka won the bet then!"

I facefaulted.

"A bet!?"

But before she could reply, another voice revealed its owner's presence.

"Yep! A bet about if Ogata kissed you or not during the date you had with him!"

Before us was Shizuka, waiting for us near the entrance of the café "Café Yume". Looks like we had arrived. I was so much into my conversation with Karen that I didn't notice. That's the problem when you let a person guide you around.

I tapped my foot on the sidewalk.

"A bet!? But nothing happened during this date! I swear it on my name!" I defended myself, telling them the truth. besides, there was nothing embarrassing about it!

"Awww, you're no fun Ayako-chan." Shizuka said, shrugging her shoulders, and admitting defeat. "Fine then, I'll have to pay this session it seems."

Karen giggled in victory. Looks like she didn't believe Ogata would do anything to me. Or maybe she didn't want that to happen, rather.

* * *

Once inside, I let Karen guide me to a table with Shizuka. I sat down and let my cane rest against the wall on my left.

"Is the light okay?" Karen asked.

I sat right next to a window, so the light from outside was coming through . Karen was often worried it'd blind me.

"Yeah, it's alright, don't worry." I said softly.

A waitress soon came to greet us and give us the menu. However, I didn't receive one.

"Excuse me..." I said softly, not wanting to bother her much, I could always use Karen's or Shizuka's anyways.

"HEY!" Shizuka called her over a little loudly, however, seeing that I was a bit troubled by not getting a menu.

"My friend here wants a menu. She's a customer too, you know." she added, and the waitress nodded a bit shyly I think, and went to fetch another menu and give it to me.

"I apologize." she said simply, and left us.

Shizuka sighed.

"I hate it when people are like that."

"It can't be helped sometimes." Karen simply added.

That's the only drawback I could think of when having a cane with me. People were often thinking I couldn't see, and assumed that I was blind and couldn't read.

"Karen's right, it's not like she could guess I'm able to see just like that." I said.

"Ayako, you need to learn how to make your presence known and tell people what you really want. Someone is going to step on your feet one day if you don't get stronger." Shizuka explained to me while browsing through the menu. I nodded a bit in response, and did the same. I guess I'll be having some strawberry cake with iced tea. That sounded right.

The cafe was well decorated, with clouds on the wallpapers and curtains, and the waitresses wore cute uniforms. They didn't look too revealing either, making them easier to wear for them I guess.

"Have you chosen yet?" the same waitress came again after a few minutes to check on our order.

"Yep, I will take a Cloudy Ice Cream and a tea." Shizuka began.

"A tea for me as well, and a strawberry cake." Karen did say, ordering almost the same thing as I did.

But before I could open my mouth to speak, I got interrupted by the waitress who turned to Shizuka.

"And what will your friend order?"

Why didn't she ask me directly? Did she confuse being blind and mute? Shizuka, however, sighed.

"Look, that's quite rude. She is a person, she can say what she wants by herself. Right, Ayako?"

I nodded, and looked at the waitress. She had her short black hair tied back in a small ponytail,

"I will be taking a strawberry cake as well, and some iced tea, please." I said that while handing her back the menu.

"Okay, I'll be back shortly with your order..." and with that said, she left us alone again. The cafe was decently crowded, and I could get a glimpse of her going to another table to attend to the other customers.

"She must be new here." Karen remarked.

"This kind of attitude pisses me off anyways." Shizuka said.

"Are you in a bad mood?" I asked, "Did something happen at school?"

"Not really at school." she shook her head. "Let's just say I got into an argument with my parents, but there's nothing to worry about really."

"What is it about?" I asked anyways. I wanted to know, Shizuka was my friend after all.

"They don't recognize my goal in life. The only reason why I was able to go to this school was because it could let me get a little more easily into Todai(4)."

"Todai, heh..."

"They still want you to become a lawyer?" Karen asked, sitting directly in front of Shizuka.

"Yeah, well, I think they still do. In my opinion they're believing I will be going to the justice department once I get into Todai, if I get there." she says with a little smile.

Shizuka was definitely not intending to follow her parents' wish, no matter how hard a clash with them would be. This really impressed me, as I don't believe I would be able to do such a thing to my parents. If they told me one day that I should do this career more than aother one, I would follow their advice, because I thought they had more experience and knew better. There's also the fact that, so far, they didn't direct me to anywhere in particular and let me make choices by myself, and that's why I would trust them if they told me to take on secretary work, for instance.

But then again, Shizuka was right, and showed me that with determiantion you can make decisions for yourself.

We idly chatted about each others' day when my turn came...

"Well, today, our class representative went to me and asked if I could help them out with doing voice-overs for their play. They are lacking someone it ssems." I told her.

"Ooooh. So you've accepted?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not too sure yet, I don't know if it's something for me."

Shizuka hmmed a little. She seemed thoughtful for an instant.

"I think you should try. It's just reading text, right? You don't have to face the public, I think that's the most difficult thing."

"And as for the lines, we all know you remember song lyrics easily, so why wouldn't it be the same for some lines? The narrator shouldn't have a very important part too, you'd do just fine. You're not participating in any clubs Ayako, now's your chance."

My friends apparently wanted me to participate, but I wasn't too sure myself.

Our order arrived, and we kept on chatting idly about what happened today at school, and about my cousin too. I decided to tell them despite it being a family problem, simply because Shizuka and Karen were my best friend, and part of my own own little family in a sense.

Once we were finished, we headed for the Karaoke box to relieve the stress. I needed it badly too, and ended up singing alone solo on Tears Infection by Kaori. Our karaoke sessions were always a good way to vent out the steam.

* * *

When I arrived home, dinner was almost ready, but the atmosphere was still gloomy. I took off my shoes and called out.

"I'm home!"

I then heard my mother call from the kitchen.

"Welcome home, Ayako-chan!"

I smiled. looks like her mood was back to normal...

"I'll go change." I simply said, and headed upstairs to my room to get a change of clothes. I had been in my uniform the whole day.

As I took a shower and changed, I was able to smell the food my mother was cooking. Once I got comfortable, I headed downstairs and met with Miyuki who just arrived. But she wasn't alone. Seiji was with her.

"Oh, Seiji-kun." I said, not even greeting my sister. It was a little rude, come to think of it, but that is how I saw my sister back then.

"Hey, Ayako-chan." he smiled and greeted me back.

"We're home, mother!" she announced from the hallway while taking off her shoes and coat. Her boyfriend was doing the same. Looks like he was invited for dinner. I didn't mind much though. Seiji was kind of a fun person to be with, always making little jokes, and he was sometimes playing video games with me, too.

Miyuki seemed to want to go change. I watched her climbing up the stairs. I admit I liked her office lady outfit too, it gave her a classy look; very businesslike. But I’d feel weird wearing that all day.

Seiji went to the kitchen to greet my mother. I followed, since dinner was about to get be ready.

"How is Kenji-kun?" she asked, sounding a bit worried.

"He should be fine as long as he stays in the hospital for now. The doctors are still examining him thoroughly, they said." he explained. Looks like he went with Miyuki to the hospital earlier today.

"I see..."

I wanted to tell them about the play today, get their opinion about it, but seeing the mood they were in, I wasn't sure if it was a good topic. I didn't want to bother them with my questions. I had to make this decision alone. Father soon joined us for dinner, and we ate together, chatting idly as usual. I wanted to thank Seiji for trying to lighten up the mood, but even he didn't succeed in that. Everyone was still worried about the news from the day before. I couldn't bother them with my own little problems... I didn't feel this was so important, even if deep inside, I wanted to scream at them for being so gloomy. But they might have thought I was taking this too lightly...

* * *

I had trouble getting to sleep again that night, not because of my cousin's condition, but more because I was still debating with myself if participating in this play was a good idea or not. If they asked me for a song, I would have probably accepted, but reciting lines, even if just as a voiceover...

"So, have you made up your mind?" I heard Ryukawa-san's voice taking me out of my thoughts during our second period's recess.

"Ah hm..."

In fact, I hadn't brought myself to a decision just yet, but I couldn't tell her that.

"You're still unsure?"

She then hummed, apparently thoughtful.

"Would you like to come see how the club feels like after class? This is just an invitation."

An invitation, yeah, sure. She was insistant....

"Okay, I guess."

But then again, I was too kind and polite to refuse.

"Fine. You know where our club room is, or do you need me to wait for you after classes?" she asked. I enjoyed the attention, but I really didn't know where the club room was, and wouldn't be able to read the club rooms plan hanging on the wall either.

"Please wait for me, I'll let you guide me to the club room then." I gave her a smile, accepting her offer.

Classes went by as usual that day and weren't really interesting per se, but what struck me was Miho. She still showed hostility towards me, but she wasn't playing pranks anymore, and just avoided my gaze the whole time. It really puzzled me.

When the bell rang for the last time that day, I hadn't even finished packing my schoolbag when Ryukawa came for me.

"Shall we go?" she offered me her arm.

"It's okay, I can follow you." I said with a gentle smile while finishing stuffing my laptop inside of my bag. Miho had already left without a word, and Karen was about to pass the classroom's door.

"I'll be waiting for you at the school gate." she offered to me . I just replied with a nod, and smiled to our class representative once again.

"I'm ready now, let's go." I said, holding onto my bag, and following the other girl out of the class.

* * *

I followed Ryukawa through the corridors. It was almost empty the whole way, since a lot of students either left for home or went to their own clubs. We got to the clubrooms' building, and she slid the door of the drama club's room open. The room was quite big, almost like a classroom's, but there were no desks or chairs. Just cardboxes, a screen behind which people probably changed into their costumes, and a table in the back with a few seats. There was also what looked like a chest full of clothes, possibly costumes. I looked around, unable to make out any faces. I heard voices though, talking about various things I did not immediately understood. I guess my arrival was pretty discreet.

Or not.

I heard Ryukawa clap her hands to catch everyone's attention.

"Everyone, this is Suzumiya-san. She will be our narrator for the play. Please be kind to her since she has eyesight problems."

"Uh, hello." I said shyly, waving a hand to everyone.

There was a roughly equal mix of boys and girls in the club room. Everyone greeted me back. and I heard a familiar groan of displeasure. I knew it was Miho's way to say hello to me.

"Nishijima, come here please."

"Yes."

Everyone resumed their activities, and a girl about my height with brown hair covering the sides of her face came to me. She was a first year judging from the color of her ribbon.

"Nishijima is our stage coordinator. She'll be guiding you through the play and show you around. I will be leaving you two together for a bit." Ryukawa excused herself then. "I'm Nishijima Haruka from class 1-C. Nice to meet you, Suzumiya-san." she then said and gave a bow, which I returned.

"Likewise. I'm Suzumiya Ayako from class 2-A. I will be in your care." I replied politely. Ryukawa was the only person in the club that I even remotely knew, save for Miho, and I was a little lost without her around, but this Nishijima seemed pretty nice.

"Let's go to the back at the table so we can chat about what you'll have to do. It'd be good if you knew about the play, too, sempai(5)."

I nodded, and followed her. It was a bit weird to be called sempai, but now that I was in second year, it was unavoidable, especially in a club where students from various classes and years were able to meet and construct something together. That was perhaps the only aspect of a club that I really liked.

"So hmm... How do we proceed? I guess I will tell you all about the play orally so you don't have to bother reading, right? Will you be able to read the script at home if I give you a printed copy?"

Her questions surprised me. I wasn't expecting her, a complete stranger, to care this much.

"Well hmmm, if it's possible, I'd like the original, digital version." I said, assuming they wrote it on a computer to begin with.

"Ah... So you can read it on your computer, I see." she nodded, and stood up.

"Hey, Seno-kun!" she called out.

I looked back and saw a boy come closer to our table. He had short hair, but I couldn't distinguish any facial feature from where I was. Besides, his back was to the windows, making him look like a shadow to me.

"Could you please send a copy of the script to Suzumiya-san so she can read it on her computer?" she politely asked.

"Sure." he said, and went away from us.

"Seno-kun is our scriptwriter. Speaking of the script, actually, it's just an adaptation of Cinderella. You know the story, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, we just made a few adjustments here and there, but the story stays true to the original. For example we have three fairies instead of one. They make an amazing trio." she says. "In this club, we try to make everyone's role fit them. Hinata, Onoki and Yanagimoto are good friends and often act with each other. "

I nodded silently again, letting her continuing on her explanations. It was pretty interesting, I really felt like a tourist, though.

"So, about your part..."

She took some sheets of paper, and seemed to be reading something there:

"Basically all you have to do is tell the story inbetween scenes to introduce each one. You'll have a lot of work at the beginning of the play, a bit in between each act, and a little too towards the end. It should last only a few minutes overall, no more. Is that okay with you?"

"Uh, sure..." I said softly.

"I will be with you at all times with Kenmochi-san and Matsuhiro-san. They'll be in charge of lights and music for the play." she explained.

"Oh, there'll be music, too?"

She nodded.

"Yes, the school's pretty well equipped."

I never knew there was so many ressources for the clubs in this school, but then again, Karen seemed to have everything she needed at the sports club...

"Is Ura-san part of the play, too?" I dared ask, a bit curious.

Nishijima nodded again.

"Yep, she's playing Cinderella, actually."

"And Ryukawa-san?"

"She's the evil aunt."

I just let a soft giggle at the thought. Maybe it was going to be fun after all. I still lacked self-confidence, but I believed it was possible, that I would be able to do it. I wouldn't be seen by the public, my voice was the only part of me that the spectators would hear.

"When is the play supposed to happen?"

"In about two weeks. Everyone is rehearsing right now, as you can hear." she said, looking sideways at the other corner of the room. There were other club members here indeed.

Two weeks? That would give me enough time to memorize my part perfectly.

"I think I will accept your request, I will do the voiceover and narration for the play."

"Excellent! Ryukawa-san!" Nishijima stood up and called over the drama club president. She came to me, and we shook hands.

"Thank you so much, Suzumiya-san." she told me.

"Yes, thank you, we were really in need." Nishijima said, visibly happy as well.

I felt warm inside, as for the first time in my life, I really felt needed, I really felt like what I would be doing would be of use to someone. That I would be able to participate in something. I guess that's part of the reason we have clubs, isn't it?

* * *

These two weeks passed too fast, definitely too fast. I did practice on my voice on the weekends when I was alone in my room and memorized all my lines, but there was still the pressure of the first time. Karen and Shizuka tried to help me relax by taking me out to the city yesterday but it didn't have the desired effect on me.

I soon was accompanied by Karen and Shizuka to the school on a bright Sunday. I sometimes came here for the school festivals, but I always was a visitor then. It wasn't a festival that was bringing people today, but the drama club's presentation of Cinderella.

I came about one hour before the play was scheduled to begin, as instructed by Ryukawa.

"Feeling pressured?" Shizuka asked with a giggle as we entered the school's theather.

"A little." I admitted.

I brought a printed version of the script so I could do last-minute checks, Ryukawa came to greet me. She was already in her costume, a long dress which made her look like a woman from ancient times, just like in the fairy tales.

"Wow, you look good." Karen let out with a smile. Ryukawa bowed in thanks, and took my hand.

Shizuka bowed as well and introduced herself.

"I'm Makihara Shizuka, second year at Sunagawa High School. I'm Ayako's friend."

"I’m Ryukawa Kimiko, second year and class representative. I'll take care of Suzumiya-san. So please don't worry about anything, and relax in your seats." she told them.

"Later." I simply told them, before looking forward and following Ryukawa to the backstage.

Everyone there was adjusting their costumes, and a few students were running around preparing props and other things I didn't fully understood at that time. Ryukawa took me to the other side of the backstage, inside of a box.

Inside, I immediately recognized someone by her hair.

"Nishijima, Suzumiya-san's here." my guide told her.

"Oh!"

The girl lifted her head from some papers, and looked my way. I smiled back There were two other people in the room. Two boys I didn't know. They were probably the ones in charge of the lights and sound effects, but their names had escaped me.

The room was pretty small, and it had a panel full of controls for the different aspects of the stage. To me it just looked like sliders and buttons you had to turn left and right. There were labels on each, but I couldn't read them; not like I was interested anyway.

"I'll leave you all. Let's work hard together!"

Everyone in the room let out a "Yes." in unison, except me, but it's because I wasn't used to that yet...

After Ryukawa left us, Nishijima addressed me.

"Well, Suzumiya, this is Kenmochi-san and Matsuhiro-san. As I told you back in the club room, they're in charge of lights, and sound effects."

"Nice to meet you." they both said in turns with a bow. I bowed back politley.

"I'll be in your care now."

"You ready?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"Okay, here's your seat."

She showed me to a seat in front of one part of the console panel. Once I sat down, I saw the microphone in front of me.

"The control is there..."

Before I could ask, she took my hand gently in hers, and guided it to a switch.

"Push it up to turn the microphone on, and down to close it. Just turn it on before you speak."

I nodded.

"I remember, from the rehearsal last week." I said.

"It'd be nice if we could one last test." one of the boys said. I guessed it had to be Matsuhiro. He had a deep voice, and judging by the build of his frame, he seemed quite athletic. But that's all I could tell.

"Another test?" I asked, intrigued.

"To hear if your voice is too loud or not. It sounded okay during the general rehearsal, but we need to test it one more time before the actual play." he explained. Open the microphone and say something in your normal voice.

I'd done a lot of practice in my speaking voice over the last two weeks, and assumed I had to use a neutral tone when narrating this story. I took a deep breathe, and turned the microphone on, before speaking.

"This is Suzumiya. I am doing a test, everyone."

It was probably very silly. I heard my amplified voice while I spoke in there, and a few giggles from outside, making me blush in embarrassment. This wasn't what I expected, but... It felt nice, somehow.

"Sounds all good." Matsuhiro said next to me.

"Everyone's ready then, all we have to do now is wait for the beginning of the play. You'll announce it, right, Suzumiya-san?"

"Of course!" I said with a little grin, staying on my seat. I trembled a bit, but I was able to control myself so far. This was my first time, and I was very nervous about it.

* * *

"Once upon a time..."

I spoke calmly into the microphone, my eyes closed as I recalled the lines . I'd put a lot of effort into memorizing them so that I wouldn't be bothered by trying to read them during the performance. With my handicap, that'd mean holding the script between me and the microphone.

"...there was a girl, opressed by her stepmother and stepsisters, who was trying her best to keep her gentle smile and sweet manners in contrast with the rest of her new family..."

Frankly, I practiced a LOT, because not laughing at the association of 'sweet manners' and Miho was difficult. I'd thought about suggesting they rename the play, 'Tsunderella' but decided to keep that to myself.

I spoke fluently into the microphone, but I didn't really listen to my own voice. I hope I didn't make any mistakes, but I was doing this very seriously even though it was just a voiceover. The drama club, and Ryukawa in particular, as well as Nishijima, had put a lot of trust into me. I couldn't disappoint them!

The first act began after my monologue, and I took my monocular to watch Miho, Ryukawa, and the other members of the drama club play on stage. It was impressive. Miho had that serious look, she was so much into it... I could tell how important it was to her. I briefly wondered if she was trying to start a career, or if she was just that serious about the club...

As I watched the first act come to a close, I suddenly remembered I wasn't just a spectator when I felt a finger on my left shoulder.

"Suzumiya-sempai...!"

"Oh!"

I blushed in embarrassment and sat down, taking a deep breath. I turned on the microphone again when Nishijima whispered in my ear.

"Go!"

I nodded, and started reading my lines once again. I was slowly beginning to get comfortable with it.

"...and when the announcement of the dance arrived to Cinderella's home, her two stepsisters were boiling with excitement. They wanted the Prince to choose them!"

I wasn't speaking like I was simply reading the words, but more like I was telling a story to someone. That is how my father did it for me when I was little... I couldn't read well since it was tiring for my eyes, and my father often sat on the edge of my bed to read me a book while I was about to go to sleep.

That is how I really liked books and stories, and wanted to read many more. By forcing myself to read despite my bad eyesight, I managed to get better at it, by making pauses once in a while. I adapted, I found workarounds for my handicap. That was my everyday life, and experiencing words like this was something completely normal to me.

The different scenes and acts flew by faster than I'd expected it to go when I had first read the script. I liked taking on this storyteller's voice, as if I was someone watching over the characters, holding a book on my lap and reading it to the audience. But the thing was, I didn't need a book since I knew the story by heart. I could tell them about it with different tones and by marking certain words over others. I couldn't do gestures, but I didn't need to. I couldn't make faces, but I didn't need to do that either. All the feelings of this story, all my feelings, were conveyed by my voice. I was able to make the audience shiver in anticipation or make them laugh with the tones I used.

And there it was. The answer that I'd been searching for, for so long.

"The prince left with the new princess in his beautiful carriage, and they lived happily ever after."

I took a deep breathe after shutting off the microphone, and I heard applause coming from the spectators. I then felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Suzumiya-sempai, it's our turn now." Nishijima said, took my hand and led me to the stage, where everyone was lined up.

"Bow with everyone else!" she whispered again to me, and I did, seeing everyone in the audience applaud the drama club. I was a part of their crew after all, I blushed vividly and bowed in thanks to the public while holding hands with Nishijima. On my right was a girl I didn't know, but who was part of the club too even if it was just for this play. I didn't care actually. I couldn't see Karen or Shizuka, but I knew they were in out there.

The applause lasted for a full minute, before the curtain lowered on us, and everyone congratulated each other. I stood a little away from this... I was just doing the voiceover inbetween the acts... It was nothing compared to the work they accomplished on the costumes, on the props, on music and sound effects, all the work they'd put into everything...

...but I was wrong.

"Suzumiya."

I looked up a little, and saw Miho, in her Cinderella dress.

"Your hand." She said simply, and I realized she was holding hers out. I took it gently in mine, and she shook it. Yes, Miho and I shook hands. Needless to say that I was completely astonished.

"Thanks for saving the play. You did well."

"Save... the play?"

"Yes, it was very important to me. My parents are getting transferred to Europe, so this is my last year here."

The news was so shocking that I didn't let go of her hand.

"Are you serious?"

She nodded, simply.

"Again, th-thanks." She looked away, visibly embarrassed.

his was a completely different Miho than the one I'd known.

"Did aliens abduct you?"

She let go of my hand.

"Huh?!"

"Just kidding, really." I felt a bit stupid after that joke, but I couldn't help it...

"Ayako-chan!"

I heard a familiar voice call out for me from afar, and turned to face them. Karen and Shizuka had managed to get to the backstage...

Then, something even more unexpected happened before my eyes. Karen took me into her arms and hugged me in front of everyone else.

"K...Karen? That's a little embarrassing...!"

There were people around us after all, but I guess Karen wasn't embarrassed by hugging someone in front of others after living in the United States.

"Ah, sorry sorry." she said and let go of me.

"That was incredible! Hearing your voice in the speakers like that, it was as if you were a completely different person." Shizuka smirked. "More mature too."

I blushed.

"Ah, well, I suppose... You know..."

I was trying to find my words.

"I realized something during this play. I... I want my voice to reach everyone. I want to use my voice to give life to characters and stories."

I took a deep breathe and closed my eyes for a few seconds, before opening them, and taking my friends' hands. I felt my chest fill with warmth and excitement.

"I want to become a voice actress!"

* * *

To be continued...

Next time!

Karen : "Shizuka-chan, what's wrong with you?"

Shizuka : "I don't want to talk about it..."

Karen : "You're so gloomy! You won't be able to help Ayako reach her dream like that."

Shizuka : "..."

Karen : "Love problems."

Shizuka : "You wish."

Karen : "So I was right..."

Shizuka : "Do you want me to discuss about your love life instead, or rather the lack of it all?"

Karen : "Geh!"

Shizuka : "Next time, in Blind Spot chapter 1337!"

Karen : "*sigh* All wrong, it's 8!"

Shizuka : "'An adult's choice.'"

Karen : "You're an adult now?"

Shizuka : "I'm closer to being a grown-up woman than you are, at least."

Karen : "HEY!"

* * *

Author's notes:

(1) The title of this TV show would translate as "Between Heaven and Earth" It is completely fictionnal and doesn't exist.

(2) In Japan, calling someone by their first or last name is of great importance and shows what kind of relationship you have with that person. Even students often call themselves by their last name, unless they are friends. Calling people by their last name is also a sign of politeness, generally.

(3) Onsen means hot springs. These are very popular in Japan, and Ayako is a fan of these.

(4) Todai = Tokyo Daigaku = Tokyo University. One of the most, if not the only one, recognized universities of Japan. For a lot of companies, there is Todai, and the rest. If you are not coming out of Todai, you are going to be paid less, in a sense.

(5) Sempai: See http://blindspot.teri-chan.net/dc2/index-en.php/post/2007/01/01/15-les-titres-honorifiques-en-japonais . Basically, Nishijima calls Ayako her sempai because Ayako is in second year of high school while Nishijima is in her first, making Ayako "more experienced" per se.

(6) Tongue-twister: this one means literally "The Tokyo patent office hurriedly rejected the permission today." See http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ja.htm for more of those.

Chapter 6

Axel Terizaki — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:07:00 +0100

Text version - PDF version

Yes, it's finally here, at long last. Sorry for the wait, and all that. I know I've been a bad author. :)

Chapter 6: Someday under the sun.

* * *

I was having a dream. A dream I can’t really remember, except for it being quite pleasant. Pleasant until something pulled me out of it.

And that something was the alarm clock I forgot to turn off last night when going to bed.

"Aaaah, mou!"

I was awake now, which was just too bad on such a day. Today was actually one of those rare days I could enjoy all alone in the house. Yes, that's right. No Miyuki around. Gone with her Seiji on a lovey-dovey week-end together. And my parents were invited to a wedding by some old-time friends in Osaka.

It was pretty rare for me to be all alone like this in the house. I sat up in my bed, yawned and stirred a little before getting up. I headed to the bathroom for a cold shower. Summer can be very tough sometimes and it was one of those days I had to put little on or I'd die from the heat soon enough. My parents had ordered a new fan since ours died last week and it was supposed to arrive today.

Come to think of it, it was better this way that I got woken up by my alarm clock instead of by the delivery guy.

I put on a tank top and some shorts, wore my sneakers and headed downstairs to prepare myself a breakfast.

* * *

My knowledge of cooking was very, very, very limited. I know that any normal schoolgirl, according to manga and TV, should be able to prepare a bento(1), but I wasn't among those. It's not that I didn't like cooking. I actually liked it all right, but there was this one thing that prevented me from properly cooking. Namely, not seeing well.

For example, how could I see what's cooking in the pan? I'd have to look closer and possibly get burned from the heat. That's why I always got paired with Karen during cooking classes back in junior high. That at least guaranteed a good grade in the subject.

I was always thankful for technology and it applied as well in the kitchen with the microwave. Ah, such a wonderful invention mankind had there! I was able to warm things up and use pre-made meals that way. The only thing I knew how to normally cook were omelets even then it was mostly guess work. It's hard to tell when it's finished, ironically it was easy to guess when it was burnt.

Upon entering the kitchen, I could feel the emptiness of the house. When everyone was home There was almost always someone in the kitchen. There was something on the table though, probably waiting for me and a note from my mother on top of it.

'Ayako-chan. I bought some of that melonpan you like for your breakfast from the combini(2). There's money on the table too if you need to buy anything else, like lunch. With love, mom.'

There was an additional note below.

'P.S.: There’s only one bottle of orange juice left in the fridge, if you go to the combini, could you go buy two or three more?'

I sighed, dropping the note into the trashcan. Mother, as usual, had gone over board overestimating my needs, the model of the overprotective parent.

Although I didn't mind the melonpan at all, teehee!

I took one and opened it, munching happily on the custard-filled bread. My favorite.

Our kitchen was a pretty neat place, actually, with a warm feeling to it. With a mother like mine, it was to be expected the kitchen would be like a holy ground. We had everything needed for cooking and it was always clean. I'd surely be dead if I left it all dirty by the time my parents come back home. It leads both to the hallway and the living room, with a table in the middle for all of us.

After the melonpan, I decided to have a drink and reached for a glass on the table to drink some milk.

However, my moving hand had miscalculated the exact position of the glass onto the table and knocked it over. I gasped as it slowly rolled towards the edge of the table and before I could see its position and reach for it, I heard it hit the floor in a loud crash.

"OH SHI-!"

Hey, I might be a girl, but I'm alone at home now, so let me swear if I feel like it.

* * *

Since I almost never ever did house chores because they were simply too difficult for me, I wasn't very sure of where to find the dustpan and broom. Don't laugh please, I know that was my house.

So, I took the phone and rang my parents' cell. Needless to say they were quite worried.

"Don't walk barefoot! Don't cut yourself! Don't use your hands to pick it up! Oh dear, Ayako broke a glass in the kitchen!" I heard my mother tell my father who was probably near her. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes yes, I do. Don't worry mother, I'll be fine, I just need to clean that up."

"Ah, yes, the closet near the entrance! And if you can't get anything, try to push them out of the way under the counter! I will clean it when I get back! And put shoes on!"

"I heard that!" I sighed.

"Okay, you call us if you ever have another problem, alright?"

"Yes yes. See you tomorrow evening."

I hung up and sighed, putting the phone back in place. Talk about a good way to start the day. I was a little irritated and went to the entrance to fetch a broom and a dustpan to clean that up. Kneeling before where the empty glass had fallen, I tried to take a look around and see the glass shards, but this proved to be quite difficult. I could barely see anything on the floor even when kneeling. I decided against using my hands to pick up the glass pieces and used my tools mostly at random, listening to the sounds the broom and pan were making when hitting the glass. I got a whole lot of the pieces in my dustpan and emptied it onto a old newspaper I prepared on the table earlier. I folded it onto itself with all the debris inside, taped it shut, wrote 'Glass' on it and threw it inside the trash nearby, before trying to make sure I got all the tiniest bits. It took me five good minutes, but and I imagine someone with better eyes would have done that much faster.

After a few more strokes of my broom, I think I got it all. However, walking on the area where the glass fell proved me wrong. I could still hear small crackles under my sneakers as I stepped on the remains of the glass.

"Bah, she'll clean that up!"

I gave up after having done most of the work for my mother and grabbed another glass to finally enjoy some milk. I'd have to head to the combini too, so I'd better go change into something I could go outside with. It's not like I'm very decent right now. Besides, I want to go out with Shizuka today.

* * *

I emerged from my room all dressed up. Well, not that much since it was still in August and the sun was shining hot as hell outside. I did put a white sundress on, picked up my sunglasses, my cane and headed out.

The sunglasses, while not entirely blocking the light of the sun from my eyes, were at least a little helpful and kept me from blinking too often. They took away a bit of the discomfort of being outside. It was only until recently that my parents really understood that I didn't like being outside for that reason. Maybe I should become like one of those girls in magazines and dress up like a vampiress, go out only at night and such...

Why take my cane with me even though I knew the district like the back of my hand? Believe it or not, but one year ago, I never thought I'd never go out without my cane in hand. It's like... a part of me now. When I walk outside without it, I do feel awkward and I start walking quite slowly. The cane feels like an additional layer of protection even though I don't use it like blind people usually do.

The combini in our district wasn't too far away. I said hello to the shopkeepers as I passed by, since most of them knew me. Now that I think about it, I didn't see many blind people walking by. I mean, it's not like someone walking with a white cane was difficult to spot, even for me. They usually came with clicking noises as the tip of the cane hits the ground. It's their way of discovering obstacles while walking. I was always amazed at how really blind people used their canes with such dexterity. Compared to them, I was quite an amateur. On the other hand, it's not like I was using it for the same purpose.

I arrived at the combini and stepped inside.

Even though it was a place I was used to, seeing all those products on display, on all those shelves, made it difficult for me to find one in particular. I had to come very close to see the brand clearly, for example.

"My, if it isn't Ayako-chan!"

Luckily, I had allies on this battlefield!

The cashier on my left noticed me and called for someone else in the backroom, I think. Ever since I was little, Mother often took me there so I could get used to the place. The combini owner and various cashiers knew about me as well by now. Someone came out from the backroom indeed soon after the cashier called for him and it was Aoba-san, an older man working here.

"So what is it the young lady wants today?" he asked me.

"Well, what kind of bento do you have today?"

"Home alone?"

"Yes." I nodded with a little smile.

"We have the usual: pork, rice and sliced carrots. Or I have this bigger one with noodles and a sliced egg."

I listened to what he was offering me and smiled sweetly in return.

"I'll take the one with pork and rice please." I said.

"Okay."

He fetched one pre-made bento from a shelf. I saw him heading towards the cash register and stopped him.

"Wait! I'll need three... no, two bottles of orange juice, please."

"Ah, sure."

He went to another shelf in the back where I could see a lot of different bottles from afar, without being able to tell whatever it was.

I went to the counter with him.

"One pork bento and two orange juice bottles, that'll be 790 yen, Ayako-chan."

"Here."

I handed him a bill, confident he'd give me the exact change back. I didn't bother to verify, I trusted him.

"Thank you for your purchase!"

Now it was weird, because I was the one saying those things at Tamashii Toshokan most of the time and hearing it was making me giggle to myself.

* * *

I made it back home without incident and went in. In a sense it was my home more than usual today, since I was the only one there. In the future, I hope to have a house like that, with someone who could take care of it, may it be a loving husband, or a butler. Oh yes, that'd be nice.

I placed the bento box in the fridge along with the bottles and headed to the living room to turn on the TV. Yes, I do watch TV sometimes, mostly dramas and sometimes anime, despite my handicap. I just needed to get close to the screen to see well. It could be a little problematic when I wasn't alone, since I blocked a part of the screen for the others watching with me. Miyuki liked to say that I made a better door then a window.

The weather was still hot as ever,

I was quietly enjoying the current TV show when the doorbell rang.

'Who could that be?' I thought to myself, not expecting anyone. Then I remembered the fan.

* * *

"Please sign here."

The delivery man handed me a clipboard.

"A...Ah sure. Excuse me, I don't see very well. I will go fetch my stamp(3)."

I was always saying that quite shyly, as if I was apologizing for my handicap. My parents and friends often told me I shouldn't. Call it a reflex.

I turned back and went to my room in a hurry to get my personal stamp before returning to the entrance of the house.

"So hmmm, where do I apply it?"

The guy placed his finger on the paper. He seemed a bit taken by surprise, but who wouldn't be?

"Here."

I signed it by applying the stamp on the paper where he showed me to and he took his clipboard back from my hands. The package was as tall as my knee and not very large.

I watched the delivery man head back into his truck and drive off, before taking the package inside and into the living room. If my guess was right, it was supposed to be a gift of god on this summer day.

I started unwrapping it using scissors to cut off the tape around it and inside, was a brand new electric fan.

I grinned to myself. This nightmare of heat will be over soon.

* * *

"Moo! Where is this damn piece supposed to go!?"

I’m not too good at putting things together. Usually Miyuki or my father do that kind of thing, but I am alone now. I tried to decipher the plans but they were written so small I had to try the other option, the pictures.

Needless to say, they weren't as helpful as I had expected them to be.

I was trying to correctly insert the fan into its base, but there was this little clip I was missing somewhere. I ran my fingers all over the base to try to find it.

"Ah...!"

I felt something under my finger and pressed it, hearing a little 'click' and the fan actually looked like it was solidly anchored into the base.

"Oh my, did I do it, did I do it?"

I was quite excited and made sure I’d used all the parts included in the package. Looks all right. I then plugged it into the outlet and took a deep breath. To be honest, I just spent half a hour trying to build this thing up from the various pieces in the package and I wasn't even sure of the result. For a moment I even thought it'd blow up once I turned it on.

I contemplated the result for a while before reaching for the power on button. Actually it had four positions: off and three levels of power. A bit fearful, I hesitated before pushing the level one button, my whole body trembling in anticipation.

I then felt a gentle breath of air and stepped back in reflex.

"It works."

I grinned to myself.

"IT WORKS!"

I contemplated my doings with awe and pride. Yes, I assembled this electric fan all by myself. I know it might sound silly to anyone normal, but being able to do something complicated by myself was filling me with pride and happiness. It often reminded me of the first time I was able to lace my shoes myself. Using laces and making a knot is quite difficult when you can't see what you're doing.

I sat on the low table next to the fan and let it cool me down a little. The air in the room was still a bit hot, but the feeling of it rushing all around my body made me feel a lot better already. I couldn't use the air conditioning since it was only working in the bedrooms and it wasn't very practical to wait for cool air from them to trickle through the rest of the house. I didn't really like it, to be frank.

Now to resume my activities...

I kept on watching TV for a while, when my stomach started telling me it wanted food. Naturally there was no one to cook something for me. I sat up and prepared the bento I bought earlier. I heated it up in our microwave and started to eat it in front of the TV, when the news report started.

I liked news reports actually. I liked knowing about what was going on in Japan and worldwide too, even if I wasn't interested in digging deeper into the subjects. The way it was treated in the TV news was enough for me. They were actually talking about someone who got killed on her own yacht. I'll pass on the morbid details.

"Hmmm... Nice boat." I commented to myself, finding this the only interesting thing about the news. I knew some friends who loved those murder cases and mysteries, but I just wasn't into that.

After I finished my bento and threw the box in the trashcan, I decided to give Shizuka a call. I knew Karen was away with her family this weekend and I thought I could go out with Shizuka.

However...

* * *

"You're on a date?" I asked again, with a obvious drop of disappointment in my voice.

"Yeah, well, it kinda got decided last evening."

I looked down while still holding the phone close to my ear. I couldn't possibly accompany her while she was with her boyfriend. Besides, it seemed to go pretty well between the two from what I heard recently. It had already been six months the two of them had been going out, a record for Shizuka.

"Ah well, sorry to have bothered you."

"Hey it's okay Ayako-chan. Look, if it doesn't go too well today, I'll give you a call, okay?"

Now I felt embarrassed, I couldn't ask something like that from her. How selfish that would be...!

"No, no, don't worry about me! I'll finish reading the book you offered me for my birthday or something like that." I said over the phone.

"Oh well, if you say so... Have a good day then."

"You too. See you later!"

I hung up the phone and sighed. So it looked like I would be spending the day alone.

I laid down on the couch with the TV volume low in the background and the air of the fan blowing gently towards me. Looking at the ceiling, I started to think about Shizuka and how she's been such a good friend to me over the years, ever since kindergarten.

* * *

"You can read that?"

I was wearing glasses at that time. Without them I could only see a blur. I looked up at the girl interrupting me from my reading. It was a picture book about witches.

I was a little shy at that time. Not seeing well, being different... Even as a child you feel that you don't belong with normal kids.

"Uh... Hello." I simply replied, looking up at her. I couldn't see her face well. I just saw she had black, short hair. She made me think of my cousin Aoi for some reason, who I often played with when I was a kid. "Yes, I like it." I added, talking about the book.

"The teacher said you didn't see good, but you can see the pictures in the book, it's great."

I smiled a little and looked over at the girl shyly with a nod.

"I can see well if I look at it up close."

And that was true, I was often having my nose against the paper in order to read things and see all the details on a picture.

"So you must be a witch!"

"Huh?"

I wondered what she meant, was that an insult? Was she there to mock me?

"I...I'm not a witch!"

"Of course you are! You're looking at a witch book! And you don't see well, that means you must have magic powers!"

"Magic... powers?"

"Yes, like Sailor Moon!"

I didn't really understand her at that time, to be honest, but I listened. It was pretty rare that another kid talked to me at all.

"I mean, it's like you must have a gift in some way! Do you hear better than us? Do you read minds? Do you see spirits?"

"Uh, no I don't..." I replied softly, intrigued by this girl. She was so into her own world, a bit like me in some way. She really believed I was kind of a special girl, but it made me feel warm inside. I wanted to believe her, because I had never been treated that way before.

"I'm sure you have, but you don't know it yet. Or you're hiding it from me, but I'll discover your secret!"

I was getting a bit intimidated by her.

"What's your name?" I finally asked, out of courage. I was quite shy at that time.

"Shizuka! You?"

"Ayako." I replied softly.

"Ayako-chan, heh? Call me Shizuka-chan then!"

She held my hands within hers and shook them.

"Let's be friends!" she said with quite some enthusiasm.

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not at first, but Shizuka quickly started asking me lots of questions and tested my eyesight while we played in a sandbox. I didn't show quite the same amount of enthusiasm as she was, but I did answer her questions and played her game. The truth was, she was the very first to come to me like this and talk with me, even play with me. Her lively attitude was in contrast with mine at that time, but it eventually rubbed off on me in the end. In the family, the only one who played with me and was about my age was Aoi and even then, I didn't see her that often. I really needed a friend and Shizuka did a wonderful job at that. She was interested in me, in how I felt, how I saw things.

Even a few years later, we managed to keep going to the same schools and classes. She was my protector until Karen arrived and she was also a good friend I could confide in. I still remember that time when we looked at each others' family photos and told each other stories about our different family members when we were bored, or when she used to describe to me the things I couldn't see.

"There's a plane in the sky, Ayako-chan!"

I looked up, but all I could see was whiteness in the blue sky, with a few hints of clouds here and there. The sun was blinding me.

"I can't see it..."

My eyesight had improved a little when I entered grade school. I didn't need glasses anymore as I was seeing more clearly already. Everything wasn't a total blur anymore.

And yet, I couldn't see the airplanes in the sky.

"Well, it's a big white one, with two long wings and it has two engines on each wing! And they're leaving a trail behind them."

"A trail? Is the engine leaving tire marks in the sky?"

I tried to imagine it.

"The trail is white and planes have no tires!" she argued.

"Of course they do! I know it!"

"How do you know?"

"I saw one with wheels on TV! When they are not flying, they use wheels." I explained, or at least tried to. At that age, my understanding of how things really worked was quite limited.

"Then how come we don't see any in the city on the road?" she asked back "If they use wheels, they should be on the road."

"But they're too big!"

"The wheels?"

"No, the planes!" I said, gesturing with my hands.

That's the kind of conversation we had, spurred on by what I couldn't see and how Shizuka was my eyes during my early years...

* * *

I was still laying down on the couch as I replayed all those good memories of the two of us in my mind. Shizuka was a little independent and liked going towards others. She liked being the center of attention without pushing it and she always did her best to follow her ideas, which of course led us to a few arguments once in a while, worse than that plane thingy when we were in grade school. She could be very narrow-minded sometimes and I often had to calmly show her where she was wrong. But her determination was something I often admired about her. This strength to follow her dreams... It was something that I was definitely lacking.

I kept on watching TV for a bit. There was a foreign series being broadcasted. I watched a bit idly while thinking aloud to myself.

"This girl has an annoying voice."

There was this blonde actress speaking in Japanese. The show was dubbed with the help of Japanese voice actors, actually. You could easily tell it wasn't their natural voices, but something struck me just at that moment. I came to realize that these weren’t the real actors' voices and it made me picture what I once read in a magazine about voice actors reading lines of text and trying to make their voices sound okay with the personality of the character they were supposed to dub. Come to think of it, it didn't seem too hard...

I started recording a few minutes of the show. While I wasn't really interested in its story, I wanted to try a little experience. I stopped the recording and replayed it a few times to memorize the lines of the characters. I then muted the TV and played it once again.

I tried to make the best adult female voice I could just then.

"’Is it Lupus ?’"

And I started reciting the lines with a voice that wasn't really mine. I guess any professional voice actor would have laughed at that, but I found it funny to try this out. It wasn't too difficult, really. The hardest part was actually to remember all of the lines and I started to forget halfway through the few minutes I had recorded.

After about three tries, I gave up and turned off recorder and TV.

"Not so hard compared to singing." I said to myself with a little shrug. Maybe I should take some acting lessons? Each time I decided to do something, I was hit by a lot of different technical difficulties, like how to get to the place where the lessons were given, how to come back home... I had to depend on others and I really hated asking for help and become a bother.

Oh well, I guess I'll go play a little in my room.

* * *

I brought the fan with me up to my room. I have air conditioning there, but I don't like it much honestly.

My room... could be labeled as a typical girl's room I guess. When I visit Karen's or Shizuka's, I don't feel like mine is that much out of the ordinary. There is my desk with my laptop on it, a set of shelves with books and CDs, a small TV set with a PS2 attached to it. I've asked help from my father to put some posters on the walls. One is of Ayumi Hamasaki and the other one is of Takuya Kimura. Takuya is such a cutie, I remember listening to his songs when he was a member of SMAP when I was little. His career as an actor was also successful and I watched a lot of his dramas(4).

I turned on the TV set and my game system before sitting down and searching for a game to play.

I spent something like two hours on Lumines, but some stages were a bit difficult for me to see the blocks because the colors used blend really well together, which makes the game even more difficult for me. But it being more difficult just makes it even better when I win or make a good score, because I know I did it in spite of my handicap.

Getting tired of the game, I turned off the console and TV and went to my desk to start up my computer. I was about to go surf the Web a little, but thought I might as well write a little on my different story ideas.

I just opened the word processor when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang downstairs.

"Uh?"

Even when my parents were around, we didn't have that many visits in a single day...

I went downstairs.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!"

As I opened the door I was quite surprised to see who it was.

"Osu."

He lifted his left hand in greeting. It was Ogata-kun, at my door.

"H... Hello, Ogata-kun."

He was dressed quite casually, in a red t-shirt with the words 'I AM COOL GUY' in bold and white letters and some blue jeans. I was a bit surprised to see him here.

"What are you doing around here?" I asked, trying to sound as unsurprised and as polite as possible.

"I was passing by, really."

Liar.

He chuckled when I stared at him intently.

"Okay okay, I'll tell you. You remember you lent me a CD a month ago, right?"

"Ah, yes. Are you returning it to me?" I asked back, now guessing his intentions. "Yep. May I come in? Are your parents home?"

I blinked.

"No, they are away for the weekend, my sister is away too, I'm all alone." I explained. It might not be the brightest thing to say to a guy coming over to your house. He might get the wrong idea, but I trusted him. "It's a shame. I wanted to come here and hear them say something like 'Oh my god a boy is coming to see our daughter!'"

I went silent and stared even more. The kind of death glare Karen gives sometimes.

"I was kidding Suzumiya, please don't get mad."

"Okay, come in, I'll get some drinks."

I let a boy in my house. Alone with him, on a hot summer day. What was I thinking, seriously?

* * *

"Thanks for the tea, Suzumiya."

I decided to let him sit on the couch of our living room. He thanked me for the tea, but he ended up doing everything to prepare it. I am deeply ashamed of not being able to do such simple things sometimes. Placing him next to me on the couch had another advantage: I didn't have to look directly at him when speaking to him, something I was pretty uncomfortable with.

"You did prepare it yourself, no need to thank me." I replied.

"Maybe, but you offered me some, at least. I'm sure Sakazaki would have thrown me out already." he chuckled. True, Karen might even have let the dogs out in addition.

"Thanks for returning this CD. I wasn't expecting it until school started again, honestly."

He hummed a little while sipping on his tea.

"You seem a bit tense, is there something wrong?" he asked. Did he read minds or something?

"I'm not... really tense."

"Could it be your first time having a guy over at your place?" he teased me now. It kind of got on my nerves sometimes.

"I'm sorry if I don't have any experience with boys!" I let out. Now that I think about it, it was maybe the most embarrassing thing I have ever said, if you don't count that time when I made a joke about our teacher with Karen and Shizuka without realizing he was nearby. One of the joys of not seeing well.

There was a silence that lasted a few uncomfortable minutes. I thought he was going to laugh any time now.

"That's a shame." I then felt his hand on my right shoulder. Before I could say anything, he continued.

"You are a cute girl, you have assets." That made me blush. "And you're not uninteresting to be with, do you know why?"

"Uh, no, I don't?" I honestly replied, looking over at him, but I couldn't stand it and ended up looking down at his lap.

"Because you see life differently as I do, or as normal people do, I think. It makes you special."

"S...Special?" I blushed even more. He was scoring points with me and it was pretty dangerous for me right now. I was feeling my heart beating a little faster and his warm hand was still on the exposed part of my shoulder's skin.

"Yeah. I have read somewhere that we, humans, collect about 70% of our information through sight. If you're partly disabled in this area, that means you collect much less information than we do on everything, or you do it in some other ways. That means you see things differently."

I listened, quite impressed on his opinion actually, before he corrected himself.

"I mean, not 'see' of course. But that's an image."

It was cute, really.

"...Ah! Not an 'image'! More like a way of sensing things..."

I laughed a little. It was so cute listening to him trying not to make any references to the imagery context, thinking it would hurt me, but I was far above that now. It is still funny seeing people fidget with their words while trying not to hurt me with them.

"It's okay, Ogata-kun, don't worry, I see what you mean."

And I laughed a little when I used the word 'see', to show him I wasn't bothered by it at all.

"Good."

That's when his hand left my shoulder. I was actually starting to get used to it...

"Ne, I have a question, though." I asked, a little shyly. It was something that bothered me for a while and I wanted an answer. Besides, we were alone, there was a good mood for it, too. These occasions were quite rare when I thought about it, back then. Karen was always with me, not giving me the independence I needed to communicate with others on my own.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you go out with me in the first place? You probably had and still have many girls going after you, right? So why choose me? And for just one date?"

He hummed a little and seemed to spend a little time considering his reply.

"Well, first, I believe you're an interesting girl and cute. But I said that already, didn't I?"

I nodded.

"You probably won't like what I'm going to tell you, but as you said yourself, there are girls going after me. And you know a very bad one at that."

"Ura Miho-san, right?"

"Yeah. But don't say her name too loud, who knows what it could summon..."

I laughed at that, honestly.

"Actually, she's practically the only one going after me. I am not THAT popular with girls." he chuckled. "But she's been spreading all those rumors to make sure she'd be the only one after me."

I couldn't believe that, there was something doubtful about this.

"But... That's terrible of her!"

"You know how she is, right? You're sitting next to her in class. You can't believe how sorry I was when I heard what she was doing to you and when she managed to get a seat next to yours."

"Uh huh." He had a point and sounded sincere. I couldn't see the look on his face, but honestly, you can tell when people are lying like that just by the sound of their voice. No need to look at their faces.

But something was definitely not right.

"What about your cell... ah!"

I placed a hand over my lips to cover my mouth. I was starting to tell him about the address book of his cellphone that Karen saw. I'm so stupid!

"Ah, that. Looks like Sakazaki told you. It's kind of weird. I did buy a cellphone a few weeks before this happened, but I only realized much later that Ura bought the same. And there's this function enabled by default that adds any e-mail's sender to your address book. She did send me a lot of e-mails with her own phone and those of her friends so it would appear like I had many girlfriends on my address book. And I didn't realize that before it was too late."

I was perplexed. His explanation was so far-fetched I could probably go to China with it.

"And you expect me to believe something like that? Why would Ura do such a thing?"

Actually, I wasn't precise enough. I knew Miho was perfectly capable of doing such a thing for her own interests, but the real question was, what was her interest in this?

"Well, believe what you want, but I don't have anything to gain by lying to you. Why did she do this? It was obvious: I was going to have a date with Sakazaki and she knew about it and wanted her to get the wrong idea about me, which is just what happened. And just when I had the courage to ask her out..."

The courage?

"Wait a second, you weren't this scared when you asked me for a date... In the cafeteria too of all places! It wasn't very romantic." I complained a little to him cutely.

"You know, these kind of things are much harder when it's with someone you truly love."

That hit me, hard. I was shocked about two things. First was that it meant he didn't love me or anything. Not that I loved him back, really! But a girl has her pride and mine just got hit by a truck. Second, there was this implication that...

"You mean... Karen...?"

"Uh, yeah."

I tried to look at his face, but couldn't see a blush or anything. He just had his face lowered a little.

I was quite confused. And sad too. I had no reason to be disappointed, but the first guy who ever went on a date with me didn’t love me.

He was in love with my best friend.

"I uh..."

The best course of action would have been to throw him out of the house, but I didn't have the energy for that anymore.

"Suzumiya, you're a great girl, but I'm sorry, I can't return your feelings."

"I don’t have any feelings for you to return!” I raised my voice before realizing it. My eyes felt a bit watery too and I was trembling. Ah, the embarrassment!

"F...Forget it, it's nothing..." I searched for a handkerchief with my hand nearby, but then I felt his on mine, placing a handkerchief in it.

"Dry your tears, I know I did something bad, but I wanted Sakazaki to think I wasn't that bad, that I could give you a good time because I knew she cares a lot about you."

He was right, but then again, what he did was horrible to me! I was torn between slapping him and just bursting into tears. Or both.

"Can I..."

"Yes?" he interrupted, seeing I was searching for my words.

"Can I slap you?"

I felt stupid, but I looked up at his face.

"Heh, yeah, I guess I deserve it." He chuckled a little.

I made a grimace and drew back my hand.

"I'm going to make this sting a lot, I promise." I said with a shy little grin.

Then, aiming right, my hand made contact with his face and the slap echoed in the empty house.

I looked at him, his head turned away, his cheek a little red. He then raised his hand to rub it a little.

"Ow. I'm sure you can beat Sakazaki at that."

I blinked a little, letting out a small giggle.

"Did she slap you back during that date?"

"Yeah, but it was nothing compared to yours."

I smiled a little.

"Idiot." I did give him a little punch in the arm, but it was more playful now.

How could I get mad at him now? He looked quite sorry and he had been honest with me. If there was something I couldn't be mad against, it was honesty, even if it hurt... I know how telling about your true feelings can be difficult and I felt like it needed to be rewarded with compassion.

"I'm sorry, really." he said while shrugging his shoulders.

"It's okay, I'll get over it. It's just that you were my first date and all and I feel a bit sad about it. But the first date and love is never going right, isn't it?"

"I guess so. I still think you're an extraordinary girl, for being able to go this far despite your handicap. I'm sure many boys are just too scared of that. They don't know how to be around you, if they should be overprotective, or if you're big enough to move by yourself. They don't know when you need help, they don't know how to react or what you're thinking about. It's a complex situation."

I nodded. I guess that would explain a lot of things. It was interesting to hear a guy's opinion about my condition, actually.

"Since I didn't know how to react at first, the beginning of our date was a little awkward, but I quickly realized you were autonomous enough to follow me around. But there were so many questions. I wanted to have a walk with you through the park but then realized it wouldn't be of any help. I thought the movie would be okay from what you told me about, but... well, I always admired Sakazaki about this because she knew exactly how to behave around you."

"That is because we’ve known each other for a few years already."

"I guessed so and that's why I wanted to know more about you, to experience what Sakazaki experiences every day, to get closer to her."

Even though he used me in that way, I felt like giving him credit for his thoughts.

"So I'm sort of a go-between, heh?"

"You could say something like that. If you'd allow it, of course. I know you don't like Ura much either."

"You couldn't be more right. Okay then, I will help you. To the best of my abilities."

I was feeling better already now. I had a mission, I had to open Karen's eyes! Ogata-kun was definitely trying to win her heart. A part of me was screaming though, telling my other side I was too naive for believing everything he said. Then again, it's not like he did abuse me, stole my first kiss, or worse... "I admit I'm a little upset by how you kind of... used me. But our date was very educational for me as well, since it was my first and all..." I said. I wasn't sure if I was reacting correctly to this. A normal girl would have surely cried all day and night about this. But somehow... There was a slight silence as both of us collected our thoughts. "So ummm... do you think we can do something about Ura? Can't you just reject her feelings or something?" He shook his head, much to my dismay. "Sadly I did that already months ago, but she is quite... attached to me, you see." I nodded a little. I could very well imagine that. "I guess it'll settle by itself as time'll pass." he continued. "I guess that once I get accepted by Sakazaki, Ura will let go of me already." Isn't that a bit cruel? "You know, the shock will probably be quite unbearable for her, if she sees all her plans have failed." He shrugged. "Honestly, she'll get what she deserves." It was true in a sense, but I couldn't help but feel bad for her, maybe because I was a girl too. "I'd better get going and leave you to your occupations." he stood up. "Need some help for washing those?" he pointed at the teacups we both used on the table. "N-No, it's okay, I'll manage." I offered him the best smile I could muster at the moment and took the tray back to the kitchen. I’d clean them when he was gone. I led him back to the entrance, where he sat down and laced his shoes. "Okay, I'm all set." He looked my way as he opened the door. "Thanks for understanding, Suzumiya. You're a wonderful girl." I waved him off and closed the door and strangely stood there in the entrance, contemplating my thoughts. I was a bit down actually. Disappointed might be the most accurate description for what I was feeling at the moment. I wanted to honestly believe him, even if any girl would have kicked him where it hurts already. Don't disappoint me, Ogata-kun. I'll be watching you, nyehehe. That said, let's finish this day by some creative work! I still had that little story of mine to work on...

* * * To be continued!

Next time! Shizuka: "We're already at the end of the first half of our highschool years and I think I found my real boyfriend this time! What about you, Karen-chan?" Karen: "Oh please! You know how I am with these things." Shizuka: "Teehee! But our little Ayako is still as innocent as ever. Do you think she'll be alright?" Karen: "As long as I'm here..." Shizuka: "You're saying it as if you want to marry her!" Karen: "..." Shizuka: "Next time, in Blind Spot chapter 219!" Karen: "All wrong! Seven!" Shizuka: "The final answer." Karen: "What, it's the last chapter already!?" Shizuka: "No way, we didn't get to see Ayako's wedding yet!" Karen: "Phew!"

Author's notes:

(1) Bento : Japanese lunch box, where every ingredient is separated from the other and you just pick them one after the other yourself. Mothers, wives or schoolgirls usually prepare bentos for the men/boys they like (or in case of mothers, for their children). If a girl offers to make a boy's bento, you can be sure he is quite special for her.

(2) Combini : Short for 'convenience store', these stores are open 24/7 in Japan and are offering a whole bunch of products, ranging from food to drinks, magazines, common medical and hygiene products and the like. You can even use a microwave there to heat the food you're buying. The good thing is that you find a lot of combinis all over Japan.

(3) Stamps : Japanese people tend to use stamps instead of pencils to sign stuff. The stamp writes their name on the paper. There are personal stamps but also family ones.

(4) Drama : A more or less 50-minutes TV show in Japan. Usually a short series with up to ten episodes.

Okay, this chapter is finished, but it was quite difficult to write. At first, I had many plans for this particular chapter focused on Ayako alone, but I quickly realized it didn't have enough content to be labelled a chapter. Instead of just adding various bits here and there to fill up the emptyness, I thought about the rest of the story and moved some elements from one chapter to another.

I hope I'll do it much faster next time, yes, much faster.

Don't hesitate to mail me if you have anything to say about the story. Comments are much welcome.