Another guess the song?
Niigaki Risa was a dreamer. Her dreams travelled to foreign places that she wished she visited in magazines or in television. She imagined the how it felt to walk through Europe clinging onto a special’s person arm. Smiling throughout the vision, she kissed a blank face every time before shooting up from her bed, cursing her bad luck.
Days were different than nights. The daytime was the reality she faced, school and work. Morning was to prep for school in a white blouse tucked into a red knee-length skirt with matching mid-calf socks. Her mother’s calls for breakfast were the constant reminder of her loneliness in the world as she barely saw her father in the morning.
Silence filled the room as she saw the plate of fish and bowl of hot, steamed rice appeared in front of her. The blank-faced person would appear with chopsticks, breaking it down the middle perfectly, and offering the hot rice to her waiting mouth. She dreamt that she could be happy for a moment in the morning.
Leaving her house with a half-tank, she struggled through the wind and flurry of snow that seemed to prevent her from heading to school. Wishing once a blank-faced person would shield her from the cold, and a friendly smile to warm up her spirits. Despite her obstacle, she pushed along the sidewalk avoiding her sights on the couples passing by.
School was normal. She had many friends, few to understand her pain. However, she smiled through everything and kept the pain in a small pocket that hid well in her mind.
Although it was different after fighting through the snow and wind, she arrived earlier than expected, and walked to her class where the empty chalkboard stood erased of the words that were there yesterday, an image of the change every day brought. She took her seat and placed her head down to the table.
“Hello, is anyone in here?” The voice asked as Risa lifted her head up to someone dressed in a boy’s uniform.
“Boys aren’t allowed in our building.” Risa panicked as she stumbled out of her seat.
“I’m not a boy.” She responded as her hand extended towards Risa. “I’m playing one for a play.”
The voice was slightly low for a girl which impressed Risa as she felt her hand being touched as she struggled to pick her up from the floor. Brushing off the dust from her skirt, Risa stared at the cross-dressed girl with her mind in a daze. She produced a smile that made the girl blush as she headed for the exit.
“Sorry, I need to rehearse.” She escaped from the room as the rest of her classmate trickled inside.
Risa hopelessly looked into the hallway as she dragged back into the classroom. The chance seemed far away now as her lips quivered at the teacher with the class starting. She had a clue to where to look for her but it was an hour’s wait until she could venture through the halls. The long hand was brutal to Risa, every second slowed down as she watched the clock as she planned her escape.
She turned away for a moment but it was still a while more and she endured the lecture until the bell rang and bolted to the auditorium.
It was empty and dark. She expected to have her on stage, practicing her lines or singing, but it was dead. Risa’s heart fell into her stomach as she saw no one there. She turned back to find a stoic figure by the entrance. Risa shielded her eyes from the bright lights as the person came walking towards her.
“Who are you?” She asked in a husky voice.
“I’m Niigaki Risa. I was looking for someone.” She responded as she sidestepped the woman.
“Well no one is here and they just announced a half day because of the storm, so get going.” The woman instructed as Risa left with only her face to go by.
She arrived at the door when the voice again grabbed her attention and gave her a slip of paper. “This is her phone number.”
Risa gripped her phone and dialed the number.
One ring…
Two rings…
Three rings…
She hit the end button and closed the phone as she headed toward the exit. Risa held the phone in her hand with the gusts of wind hitting the door. She stepped out feeling the cold penetrating through the coat to protect her body. Her eyes aimed forward at the gate where she saw someone dressed similarly to the person she saw earlier. Staying behind, she tracked the person to crosswalk and dialed the number again. She waited for the reaction and saw the person pick up the phone. Her excitement grew as the person answered but Risa hung up and ran home.
Her heart wanted escape from her chest. Was it her? She kept thinking as she ran up to her room. Excitement was met with disappointment as she doubted the phone call that was coming in at the moment. She opened it to answer and held it near her heart.
Without thinking, she kept it for too long and it stopped before she could have time to answer it. Cursing her bad luck, she threw her phone onto her bed. The phone released the sound of a message and Risa ran to see who it was. It was an unknown number but it left an address and a message.
If you want to see me, please bring soup ![:) :)](http://forum.jphip.com/Smileys/default/001_smile.gif)
Risa jumped off her bed and ran down to the kitchen to grab a ramen bowl before heading out into the storm. She had no clue to the location but her heart seemed to guide her to a building. After the manager, let her in, she got onto the elevator and headed toward the apartment where the message was prompting her to. Risa knocked on the door a few times before a person answered.
“You were the one calling me?” Risa nodded as the girl took the bowl from her hand and closed the door.
After waiting a few moments, Risa turned away and walked back toward the elevator. The voice shouted from behind, “Where are you going?” Risa turned back seeing the girl wrapped in a blanket. “I need you to make it for me.”
Risa ran back into the apartment and placed a kettle on to the stove. The girl unwrap the blanket from her body and slouched onto the couch. Her pale face, a distinct difference from the morning, gave away her illness. However, Risa was surprised she was in the same costume and headed toward the closet where the girl shouted, “I have no other clothes and I like being dressed like this.”
Risa tried to hide her smile but her own instincts kicked in and grabbed a warm towel to wipe the girl’s face. The kettle blared the stuttering of the steam catching Risa’s attention. She poured the water into the bowl and placed it on the counter. Her eyes peered up to the girl and saw her eyes grew big as the roach crawled past her.
“Arghhhhhhh.”
The scream was deep unusual for a girl.
In her surprise, Risa tilted her head back and let out a grand laugh. She brought over her meal with tears running down her eyes as the girl held the bowl in her hand avoiding the eye contact.
“Thank you, I’m Takahashi Ai.” She introduced.
Risa smiled. That’s what she could do. She could stay at the apartment forever just get getting approving nods from Ai but in the back of her mind:
Hen na Oujisama…