Chapter 16:
March 23: Resolution
One Month to Figure out my Future
It was Tuesday and I still had to face the consequences of my actions. How will Rihoko react when she finds out what I did? I still don’t know, to be honest I’m not sure if I want to know, but hopefully it won’t be that bad.
“Good morning Miyo.”
“Good morning to you big brother.”
“Since you are a girl, tell me what I should expect from Rihoko.”
“What do you mean?”
“How will she react today?”
“Mhhhh, I think she will mostly mad at you because you let Megumi join the club.”
“If you say so…”
I wasn’t really convinced by Miyo’s words, she always tends to be a bit too sarcastic.
Regardless of that I headed to school. At the entrance Megumi was waiting for me.
“I see you take your sweet time to get to school.”
“Yes, who has the strength to run in the morning?”
“Everybody except you… Anyways, it’s already done.”
“Really? How did it go?”
“I talked with my father, he contacted his friend and explained him the situation. This guy has a clinic where he helps people with drinking problems. He organized a team of three people and they decided to go visit Rihoko’s father early in the morning so that he would be “fresher”. One of them is a physiologist specialized in children and teenagers, he talked to Rihoko. Rihoko’s father was furious and he still hadn’t completely recovered from the previous night. They put him in a tight spot where they basically forced him to be constantly visited by them in the clinic if he wanted to keep Rihoko with him. In some way they were able to calm him down. They brought him to the clinic to examine better his case, he will be staying there just for today. So, long story short, he will be constantly monitored hopefully preventing him from getting drunk again. Oh right, I also mentioned them the field tip and they suggested Rihoko’s father to let Megumi go so that she would have plenty of time to recover from the shock. This is what they told me, I don’t know any more details.”
“That’s already enough, thank you again for helping me.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m sure she will come to school, get ready to face her.”
“Yeah, see you after classes.”
“What do you mean?”
“We will be waiting for you in the club room, you remember?”
“Oh right…”
I can’t deny the fact that I was a bit scared. I slowly walked towards our classroom, then I noticed that Rihoko was waiting outside. She didn’t notice me, I still had the chance to run away. While I was basically paralyzed in the middle of the hallway, Rihoko turned her head and saw me. She started walking when she was really close to me, she… she hug me. Wait, did she just hug me?
She whispered: “This is the third time I hug you, and you totally deserve it.”
“W… Why?”
“I know everything that you did. This is was the right thing, both for me and my father. I was too scared to accept it. I don’t think that this time a simple videogame is going to be enough to pay you back.”
“I don’t think you should be thanking me, it was all possible thanks to someone else.”
“Megumi?”
“Yes, but how do you know that?”
“Miss. Kamuro told me.”
“Aren’t you mad at me?”
She nodded left and right. I was really surprised by that, but most importantly I was happy that she was happy.
“I think you should let go of me now.”
“Oh sorry… Shall we go to class?”
“I still have to do something. I will join you in a couple of minutes.”
“Ok sure, take your time.”
I really wanted to speak with Miss. Kamuro and off I went, but she was actually the one who found me while I was walking towards her office.
“Hey Kamizaki, you don’t look so bad. I guess your plan worked.”
“When did you tell Rihoko the all story?”
“This morning, I preferred to be the first one to confront her, being her homeroom teacher.”
“I see, it makes sense.”
“Thank you Satoshi, I was right to believe in you.”
“As I said to Rihoko, you should be thanking Megumi.”
“You are the one who made this all thing come to life, but I will certainly thank the student’s council president too.”
I guess I can take a big chunk of the merit. It felt really good.
“Now hurry up and get to class.”
“Yes!”
I went straight back to class. The rest of the school day was very chill, we didn’t really have to pay much attention so I mostly spent the time looking outside of the window and talking a bit with Hayato.
It was during Japanese class when I started telling him the whole story by writing on little pieces of paper, but this time we made sure not to get caught by the teacher. It was fun watching Hayato reading everything that I wrote, every time I passed him a new piece of paper, he read it as if it was a new chapter of a book.
His last reply was: “You are insane.”
Maybe I was, but it certainly paid off.
When the last bell rang, Rihoko asked me to come to the club room so that I could bring my laptop back home, apparently she no longer needed it.
“Are you sure you don’t need it anymore?”
“Yes, I figured out how to access everything from home too, plus, school is almost over. We don’t have to go to the club room anymore.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
We got to the club room and I started packing my laptop, external power supply and all the cables. I was still unplugging everything when someone knocked at the door. Rihoko went to open it.
Yes, it was Megumi. I totally forgot to tell Rihoko that she was going to join our club!
“Oh… Hi Megumi, I… I guess I should be thanking you too.”
“You don’t have to, it’s ok. I should apologize for all the times I have been mean to you.”
“I appreciate that.”
Rihoko was probably waiting for Megumi to go away but they ended up standing in front of each other for a couple of seconds.
I had to step in: “Rihoko, I think I forgot to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Megumi is joining our club.”
Her face clearly said “What the hell are you talking about.”
“What do you mean?”
“I invited her to join the cl...”
Megumi interrupted me: “If I’m not welcome I should leave.”
Now everything was falling apart.
Rihoko stopped Megumi: “Wait, do you really want to join us? What about your club?”
“My vice president will take my place.”
“Why do you want to join?”
“I read many books, why not joining the literary club…”
“You wanted our club to shut down, why now you have changed your mind?”
“I guess, I want to stay with people who see me like a person, not the Takano’s heir.”
There was a pause…
Rihoko broke the silence: “Mr. vice president Kamizaki, I wasn’t informed about a new member joining the club, you will probably face consequences. But for now, Megumi Tadakoro, welcome to the literary club. Tomorrow we can do the paper work.”
I already said it, she changes mood too frequently, but anyways, she accept! Now I can say that my job here is done.
“Thank you Rihoko, should I start calling you Miss. president too?”
“You don’t need to, it would just be confusing.”
They had a little laugh.
“Well, I’m happy you girls are getting along now. I’m done here, I think we can all go at home and get ready for the field trip.”
Megumi replied: “Great idea, I’ll be going then. See you tomorrow.”
After Megumi walked away I was also about to leave the room but Rihoko blocked me by holding my arm.
“Tell me, be honest, what’s he reason why you asked her to join?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated.”
“I have time to listen if you don’t mind.”
“She was forced to join the calligraphy club by her family, I just wanted to give her the opportunity to enjoy something that was not imposed to her.”
“Is there something more that I need to know?”
“No…”
From an innocent and clumsy girl she turned into a really intimidating inquisitor.
Finally she let my arm go and added: “Alright, I think we can call it a day.”
We both left school. At home, Miyo was already there.
“Hey Miyo are you already home?”
“Yes, I have to prepare for my field trip too. How did it go today?”
“Better than I expected. Rihoko thanked me for what I did. I hate to say I but I think you were right.”
“Of course, I’m always right… right about what?”
“I think Rihoko wasn’t really happy with Megumi joining the club, but in the end she accepted it.”
“Ohhh yes, of course she would be mad for that.”
“And why?”
“Come on Satoshi, you already know why! She likes you, if you bring another girl in, she will think you are not interested in her.”
“Maybe it’s true…”
“Unbelievable, I almost can’t stand what you are saying. You are so cold hearted.”
“It’s the price to pay for my genius.”
“Whatever…”
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