Stuttering with you

“Anyway, you’ve improved a lot Hayamichi!” it was night, and Etsuko Shimizu was talking on the phone with her friend, Hayami Takayama.

“I don’t know why you keep dragging me to this.” Hayami replied coldly.

“It’s fun! Don’t you think so as well?!” Etsuko was laying on her bed while asking.

“It’s definitely fun for you.” a sigh was heard. “Anyway, good night.”

“Good night, Hayamichi! See you tomorrow!” Etsuko shouted.

“Act…” Hayami's voice suddenly stopped.

“Huh?” Etsuko looked at her phone. “My internet is down…? That's odd, but well...” she turned it off and got ready to sleep, “If she has something to tell me, she can do it tomorrow.”

***

The next morning, Etsuko was waiting in front of the school gate. She had already waited in their usual spot (in front of the nearest train station) for several minutes.

“Hmm.” Etsuko pouted and frowned. “Where is she?” the girl observed the street, where various Obaka high students and some Akabo High students could be seen walking to their respective schools.

“Hey! There’s Shimizu-chan!” a female voice uttered, “So Takayama-chan is probably somewhere around here as well!”

“What?!” a male voice followed, “Takami-sama is here??!” the bot then bolted in Etsuko’s direction to ask: “Shimizu-chan! Where is Takayama-san??!”

“Aaah!” Etsuko jumped back and started to shudder slightly, “I-I d-don’t know!” she forced a smile.

“How don’t you know?! You’re always with her!” the boy insisted.

“I-I’m s-sorry! E-Excuse me!” Etsuko darted out of there without looking back. She kept doing things hurriedly until she arrived at class 1-C, which didn’t have many students at that time, where she finally picked his phone and verified the latest message:

Hayamichi: I won’t be going to school today, maybe it’d be better if you didn’t as well.

“Hehe.” Etsuko’s eyebrows were twitching, “Maybe it would be… hehe.”

“Good morning!” Hirata entered the room, followed directly by Yasutake.

“Aaaaah!” Etsuko screamed at them.

“Huh?” Hirata tilted his head, “Are you alright, Shimizu-chan?”

“YES! I’m totally fine! Better now!” she answered quickly.

“Nice!” Hirata headed to his desk, where he put his bag and started rummaging through it, “Hey…

“HI?!”

“...can I give your brother’s drawing now? I’ve already finished it.”

“Ohoho! Of c-course!” Etsuko stuttered.

“Okay then…”

“G-Good m-morning.” a voice murmured.

“Huh?” Etsuko finally noticed Yasutake behind Hirata

“G-Good m-morning Shimuzu-chan…” Yasutake repeated. In the past few days, she was finally starting to properly talk to Etsuko.

“GOOD MORNING!” Etsuko’s eyes widened as she looked at the girl, “Yasutake-chan!!” the girl bolted to Yasutake’s side and clung onto her shoulders.

“Huh?” Yasutake blinked with puzzlement, she was the one usually doing the clinging, “A-ah! S-Shimizu-chan, you’re squeezing too h…”

“Please…” Etsuko whispered in her ears, “Please help me today…”

“S-Shimizu-chan…?” Yasutake murmured, she then looked to Etsuko’s hands and noticed that they were trembling. “O-Okay.” she whispered back.

“Yay!” Etsuko shouted, right hand pointing to the ceiling and left, grasping Yasutake, “Yasutake-chan is going to stay in Hayamichi’s seat for today!”

“I-I am…?” Yasutake tilted her head.

“Huh?” Hirata’s eyes searched the room, “Takayama is not here today?”

“That’s right, Hirata-kun! But everything will be fine!”

“I’m not so sure about that…” Hirata murmured to himself.

“What did you say, Kazuhiko?” Yasutake asked him.

“Oh!” Hirata scratched his head, “What do you think of coming to our side, Shimizu-chan?”

“Huh?” Etsuko looked at the boy, “What?”

“You could sit in Koike-san’s seat!”

“Koike-kun’s seat…” she looked at his desk, it was empty which meant he hadn’t arrived.

“N-Now that you mention it, I think K-Koike-kun would let Shimizu-chan stay in his place…” Yasutake commented.

“Really?” Etsuko gazed at Yasutake, “She’s probably just wanting to stay with Hirata-kun… hmm...”

“So… Shimizu-chan?” Hirata called the girl who was spacing out, “Do you want to sit in his place?”

“Oh!” Etsuko gave Yasutake a quick look, “I’d appreciate it! But I don’t think he’ll let me use it…”

“It’s fine! I’m sure he’ll let you.”

“Really? It’s just that he stays most of the time quiet at the club, and…”

“D-Don’t worry, Shimizu-chan.” Yasutake assured, “I-I m-might not know him well, but I’ve never thought of him as a bad person…” she then remembered something, “...besides the time when I thought he was a masochist…"

"Well, some people are like that..."

"...and the time I heard he has a thing for bears…" 

"Wait, did you say 'bears'?"

"...or the time I thought he was sleeping with Suto-Sensei…”

“Sleeping with Suto-Sensei?”

“...but he told us he sees her as a sister…”

“Doesn’t that make things worse??!”

“...and told us she wasn’t sleeping with him, but in him, whatever this may mean.”

“Oh my god, maybe Hayamichi is right in hating this one…” Etsuko stared at the ground, her eyes spinning.

“Oh! Good morning Koike-san!” Hirata shouted to a boy behind Etsuko.

“Good morning Hirata-san...” the boy stared at Etsuko, who was hiding behind Yasutake, “...Yasutake-san, and... Shimizu-san...?”

“Yes!” Hirata confirmed, “It’s alright for you if Shimizu-chan stays in your place for today?”

“You mean my desk?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… fine by me.” Koike turned around and headed to the other side of the classroom.

“See, Shimizu-chan? Koike-san is actually a nice person.”

“Hmm.” Etsuko observed the boy going to her seat. "What about the things Yasutake-chan just told me?"

"Oh, that? I'm sure most of it is fake!"

"Didn't you mean 'all of it'?"

"No... I still have my doubts..."

"Oh, my..."

***

“It’s a centipede!” Etsuko uttered. She was smiling awkwardly while they were walking through the corridors. The girl was forming a line in which Hirata was the first, Yasutake, the second (clinging onto Hirata), and Etsuko, the third and last (holding onto Yasutake).

Everyone was staring at them, but it wasn’t because they were forming a weird line in the middle of the corridor (these happened all the time). or because they were “cosplaying” like a centipede (the cosplay club did that all the time as well), it was due to Takayama’s absence.

“Takami-sama didn’t come today?”

“That’s Shimizu-chan, but where’s Takayama-san?”

“Where is Takayama-san?”

"Takayama-san??"

"Oh no! When I finally brought that bread with banana for her to try!"

After a couple of minutes of this, Yasutake was the one to undo the line. “I-I have to g-go now.” she said to Hirata while looking down.

“Okay!” the boy replied, “You do what you got to do.”

“Shizumi-chan… will y…”

“Let’s go Yasutake-chan! I’ll chaperone you in your arduous journey!” Etsuko interrupted her.

“But…”

“It’s fine! It’s fine! Let’s get going!” Etsuko started to push Yasutake forward, “We don’t have time to waste! Bye, Bye, Hirata-kun!”

“Hmm…?” Hirata observed the two walking away, “See you later…”

“H-Hey, Shimizu-chan! Y-You c-can stop p-pushing me now!” 

“What do you mean?! If we don’t hurry we’ll never get to the…” Etsuko stopped, “...where are we going again?”

“Hmm…” Yasutake stared at the ground. “To the library…”

“Huh?” Etsuko looked at the girl, “Why would we go to a sanctuary now? It’s kind of far…”

“No!” Yasutake protested softly. “I-I s-said library!”

“Oh, the library!”

“Y-Yes, I-I go there… sometimes…”

“Okay, let's go!” Etsuko smiled.

"Hmm... o-okay." Yasutake nodded.

The two girls started to make their way to the library until they had to turn a corner, where Etsuko suddenly stopped. “Huh?” she looked through the window and noticed two figures in a short stair. One seemed to be an average boy, and the other, a bedraggled little girl, “What’s he doing…?” she got closer to the window.

“Hmm?” Yasutake stopped as well, she followed Etsuko’s eyes and said: “I-It l-looks like he'll do absurdities to her!"

"Absurdities?! What do you mean?!"

"Oh, n-no, he’s j-just giving her food…”

“Oh, yeah…” Etsuko murmured, “Is that girl a homeless child? Well, she’s wearing our school uniform...”

“I-I d-don’t know, but I-I think that I’ve seen her somewhere...”

“Hmm…” Etsuko stared at them for a few more seconds, “Anyway… let’s go…”

“Uhum.” Yasutake nodded, but she kept murmuring: “Where… have I seen her?”

With that, Etsuko turned to Yasutake, and they made their way to the library of the school.

“Yasutake-chan, do you come here often?” Etsuko asked as they entered the library.

“M-Me? W-Where t-that come from, Shimizu-c-chan?”

The girl smiled: “I thought maybe that’s the reason why you’ve been arriving after Hirata-kun at the club meetings.”

“O-Oh! I-I s-see! But you see, I don’t come here that of….”

“Oh! If it isn’t Erity-chan! Do you want the usual tea?” a female voice interrupted her, “I thought you wouldn’t come today! ‘Maybe she’s tired of seeing an old owl like me every single day.’ that’s what crossed my mind!”

“Oh…” Yasutake's voice was low, “H-Hi… T-Tamaki-san.”

Etsuko turned to her side to see a tall (and not old) woman wearing glasses and smiling at them.

“Oh, dear. I’ve told you that you can call me Mana.”

“Okay… Tamaki-san.” Yasutake replied shyly.

“Hmm… what do we have here…?” the lady straightened her glasses and glanced at Yasutake’s back, “Oh, so you’re embarrassed in front of your friend.” she concluded.

“F-Friend…?” Yasutake stared at the ground. “We are from the same club… no… as if someone like me could be friends with a popular girl like her…” she murmured while glancing behind her.

“Yasutake-chan?” Etsuko hadn’t heard what she murmured.

“N-Nothing!”

“Anyway.” the woman apparently named Mana Tamaki smiled a the girls, “Are you here to study again?”

“Y-Yes, e-excuse m-me.” Yasutake uttered and headed to one of the aisles. Etsuko followed her, while the woman went to behind a counter and started to read a book. 

The two girls passed through several aisles, Yasutake picked up books from different subjects, but Etsuko realized that were all related to the upcoming midterm exams.

“Wow Yasutake-chan, do you like to study?”

“N-Not r-really…”

“Oh! So you have a goal!” Etsuko smiled

“Huh??! A-A g-goal?! But how did you know…?” Yasutake was blushing

“She’s blushing? Hmm… so it’s probably Hirata related…” “Ohohoho! You see, I’m actually a mage!! Hohoho!” Etsuko pretended to be casting a spell, “Is what I wanted to say for real…” her smile diminished, “But the truth is that I know how it is…”

“You… know...?”

“Yes… I…”

“...WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THIS TO FEEL ALL THIS PAIN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“Aaah!” Etsuko and Yasutake exclaimed and jumped back at the same time.

“W-What was that??!” Etsuko yelled to Yasutake.

“Shhhhhhhhh, be quiet in the library.” Mana Tamaki shushed her from afar.

“I’m sorry Tamaki-san!” the girl whispered back and then looked at Yasutake: “What was that?”

“I-I d-don’t k-know! B-But I-I’ve b-been h-having t-the i-impression t-that s-someone i-is f-following u-us f-for a-a w-while.”

“W-What?!” Etsuko's face lost all its color. “D-Did y-you s-see w-who i-it w-was?” the girl started to shudder uncontrollably.

“No…”

“Y-Yasutake-c-chan…” Etsuko held her shoulders, “C-Can y-you g-go s-see w-who i-it is? Please?”

Erity Yasutake stared at Etsuko’s shuddering arms for a moment, then she looked at her frightened face… and nodded: “O-Okay.” 

Yasutake put the books on the ground and started to sneak through the aisles, looking for someone that might’ve followed them. “Found anything?” Etsuko whispered. She was actually hiding behind the short Yasutake during all this time.

“No…” Yasutake whispered back, “B-But if you want me to look, why a-are you coming along?”

“What are you saying??! if I stayed alone he could… he could…” Etsuko stared at the ground, not being able to finish the sentence.

“Could b-be a ‘she’...” Yasutake remarked, and, as she finished that, she could hear a low female voice trying to whisper:

“Shut up! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! They are coming this way!”

“You are the one shouting! Shut up, please!” a second voice followed.

“I’m hearing their steps! Run!!”

Two figures darted out from behind a bookshelf, but the first, a little girl with long dark hair, ended up bumping into Yasutake and Etsuko, making all of them fall to the ground with an “Aauaah!”

“Hey, Sawada!” a boy came from behind the same shelf as the girl and helped her get up, “Are you alright?”

“Ouch… my head hurts.” the girl named Sawada replied.

“Of course! You shouldn’t bolt like that!” the boy helped the other two girls get up, “I’m sorry for that…”

“Hmm..?” Etsuko held her head, “What…?” she stood up still groggy and saw what was in front of her: Koshiro Koike and a bedraggled small girl.

“I-I remember now…” Yasutake, who was beside Etsuko, murmured. She was looking at the little girl.

“W-What..?” Sawada stared at Yasutake and widened her eyes, “Y-You rem...?”

“What?” Koike turned to Sawada.

“It’s nothing! It’s nothing!” Sawada replied abruptly, “Let’s go!” she then grabbed Koike’s sleeve and ran away.

“Oh! So she must be the girl Hayamichi talked about…” “Do you know her?” Etsuko looked at Yasutake.

“K-Kind of...” she nodded.

“Hmm..” Etsuko mused at the girl wondering what that was about, she then looked at her hand, where the boy had held to assist her in getting up: “It was cold…”