CHAPTER 4
“You'll be fine Risa-chan. There is no swelling anymore and there aren't any bruises. You should be thankful that door didn't break your nose.” Iida-san assures me.
She's the head nurse in this school. Even though she's a very caring nurse, oddly enough, I had to struggle to get her attention when I came into this office. She had this strange dazed expression sitting at her desk. Other than that, she does her work well and knows what to do, so I can't complain about her odd spaced out face. She's a diligent worker, dedicated to helping her students who are injured.
“You might feel a little sore, but that will go away in a few days.” Iida-san explains.
I'll take soreness over a broken nose anytime. Iida-san takes away the icepack from my head and walks back over to her desk. I sigh, relieved that I don't have that freezing pack on me anymore. It was starting to give me a headache. I guess this means I can go home.
Kicking my legs forward and back as I sit on the chair, I look across from me to the girl that gave me these injuries. She's been quiet most of the time until I managed to get her to say her name with much difficulty. She's very shy, but I figure I have the right to know the person that nearly smashed my nose in.
I found out that her name is Kamei Eri. She's a grade lower than me. I had no idea this school holds junior high school students either. It must be a very large school. Eri notices me staring at her then slouches down in her seat with a bashful face, possibly filled with sympathy.
“I'm really sorry!” Eri whispers, with a guilty face on.
“You've said that already. I've forgiven you.” I reply, feeling annoyed again.
Eri puts on a croaked nervous smile and scratches the back of her head. She's tough to talk to, but even if it's like pulling teeth to have a talk with her I still have this sense or urge to help her. Does this mean I've just made myself a friend and a weird one?
Before a conversation can start, although I doubt it was going to lead into one, I hear my phone ring inside my bag and quickly grab it to answer. I'm sure it's Ai-chan. I flip open my phone.
“Hello?” I say.
“Gaki-san, I'm leaving the club now. I'll meet you over at your place.” Ai-chan replies, cutting straight to the point.
“Ai-chan wait, where are you?” I hear the phone click then hang up my phone.
If she's in the school I can probably catch her on the way as she leaves or stand outside the main entrance to wait for her. I grab my bag and get off my seat to stand. Eri stands with me, not really understanding my sudden urge to leave. I say goodbye to Iida-san then walk out the door. I can hear Eri following me.
“Niigaki-san, where are you going?” Eri ask.
“I'm going home now. Ai-chan will be here soon.” I reply, looking around the hallways as I walk.
“Ai-chan?” Eri repeats.
I continue looking around me, ignoring her question. I don't really want to be around her anymore. I think if I do she'll cause another accident and one that might end with me unconscious. However, she just continues to follow me and I'm not sure if I should scream for her to get lost or just let her follow me until we get outside.
“Eririn~!!” Another person shouts.
What a strange nickname. I hear Eri running away towards the person and turn around to see Ai-chan down the hall walking with some girl next to her. She has jet black hair too and she's taller than Ai-chan.
Who is she? Ai-chan smiles at me and waves. I calmly walk over to hide the slight jealousy I have of seeing this stranger cling on to Ai-chan as they walk together. Who is she?!
“Where were you, Eri? I thought you were coming to book club with me.”
Eri puts on a bashful face. “Well...I was on my way there...but, when I was rushing I accidentally hurt Niigaki-san so I had to take her to the nurse.” Eri explains. “I'm sorry Sayu! I'll come to the next meeting, I promise.”
Ai-chan looks at me concerned. “You were hurt? Are you okay?”
She walks over to me, letting go of Sayu's arm and I'm glad. Who does she think she is?! She's stealing Ai-chan away from me!! I saw her first and we've been friends for years before her! I feel my hands slowly start to curl into fist in rage.
“Gaki-san are you, okay? You're face is turning red!!” Ai-chan shouts.
I look at her and start to feel stupid for being angry of such a stupid reason. I nervously laugh. I can feel Eri's and Sayu's gaze on me now.
“No, no, it's nothing Ai-chan.” I reply, hoping she'll buy it.
Ai-chan looks at me, trying to understand my sudden mood change. The way she's staring at me makes me kind of nervous. She knows we well enough to figure out what's gotten to me. That's the only bad thing about knowing someone for so long! I have to distract her!
“Uh...Ai-chan, who's that?” I point towards Sayu.
That seems to work because she now looks at her new found friend with a much lighter face. I look back at the two new possible friends and notice that they're...holding hands? They must be extremely close best friends.
“Oh, Gaki-san, this is Michishige Sayumi. We met today at book club.” Ai-chan then notices Eri and how close she is to Sayu. “You two know each other?”
Sayu has on a big grin and laughs. “Of course we do, we're-”
“Best friends!!!” Eri shouts, starling us.
Sayu turns around to her and looks upset. Eri giggles and starts to fidget. She's getting shy again and that means she'll start acting weird just like how weird her grin is right now. They're both really odd.
I feel my brows come together in confusion, wondering again if I want to be any of their friends. It looks like Ai-chan is fond of Sayu though and I'm sure if I don't greet myself to her Ai-chan will expect an explanation. Alright, so I'll try to be friends with her, but if she steals my Ai-chan away from me we'll have a problem!
“Oh...okay. You don't have to get so strung up on that. Hi nice to meet you. I'm Niigaki Risa, Ai-chan's best friend.” I reply.
“Are you an upperclassmen too, Niigaki-san?” Sayu questions.
“Yes, I'm in the same grade as Ai-chan.” I reply, still unsure about this girl.
We end up staring at each other after and it's not a nice kind of stare down. Ai-chan nudges me, as if telling me to just give up. I suppose I should do that. For all I know, Sayu can mean no harm. I sigh, agreeing with Ai-chan's silent gesture. There's suddenly a large yawn that interrupts the silence and I look over to see Eri leaning against Sayu with her eyes closed.
“Sayu...let's just go home. Today has...tired me out.” Eri mumbles, with her eyes still closed.
Sayu smiles at her friend and pats the top of Eri's head. “Okay, Eririn, we'll leave now. Come on.” She agrees.
Sayu grabs Eri's wrist and slowly begins to walk them towards the main entrance door. I watch them walk away until they exit the double doors and look back to Ai-chan. She seems to have the same expression as me.
“Those two are very strange.” I tell her.
Ai-chan laughs and agrees. “But they look like kind people. I like them.” Ai-chan links her arms through mine and we start to leave the school. “Gaki-san, you should join the book club too. I'll feel a lot better with you next to me.”
I feel myself break into a bright smile at her words even though I try not to show it. I may have met two strange friends and nearly got a nasty bump on my head from one of them, but the first school day is over. I'm finally with Ai-chan and with her next to me it makes my whole hectic day feel a whole lot better. I glance at her and put on another bright smile. She makes my day worth it.
Topic: This Might Be Love(UPDATE 6/23) (Read 7928 times)