Glass Masks

They weren’t quite sure what to do, after all, this was the last club on the list. He wasn’t interested in anything else on there, nor did he want to study for hours on end. Then again, he couldn’t afford to be suspended.

Their silence broke unexpectedly

“May I help you?”, their silence broke unexpectedly. Behind them, another student. A second year, she was much shorter than the rest of her year, in fact if she wasn’t wearing the 2nd year colours she’d be mistaken for a first year. Burgundy hair, tied in twin tails with grey ties.

“I don’t believe we were expecting guests…”

“Uhh, no. My name is Kamitani Natsuki, I was interested in this club. In fact I was considering joining but…” he responded with a palm on the back of his head.

“Ah, Eri?”

They nodded.

She opened the door and gestured inside, “Sorry about that, do come in.”

*-*-*

It was awkward, real awkward. Natsuki sat next to the girl that glared, whilst the other smiled and made tea. Usui had bolted before the door opened, claiming to have business for the council but Natsuki could tell it was just to get out of this.

“Why don’t we start off with an introduction to break the ice? Koma Izusu is the name, class 2A. I love this club because I can exercise while having fun!”

She looked over at the other, not satisfied with the silence when it came to her turn

“This is our leader from 3A, Lady Kotobuki Eri.”

Lady? The hell’s that about? Natsuki was a little shocked that he knew that name. Kotobuki was a famous family name, they were big government officials, and owned a massive law firm. Their daughter Eri played the part of a rich girl well. She was driven to and from school in a blacked out Toyota Century, less school girl more Yakuza boss. Anytime she stepped outside school or her home she was accompanied by guards, some say her father has some of his underlings working at the school, watching over her.

Just the wealth was enough to entice her suitors, but even without that she was drop dead gorgeous. She got her blonde hair from her mother, of a western descent. She had beautiful emerald green eyes, they were sharp, she got those and the ice cold glare from her father.

Because of all of that, she had this aura of unapproachability, like she was above the rest of the school and she knew it. How Koma had managed to become this close to her, he couldn’t fathom.

They were staring at him, he realised. He was so deep in thought he wasn’t listening

“Y-yo… My name’s Natsuki.” Perhaps a little more would be helpful…

And nothing was said.

…

Awkward was an understatement. Koma wanted to ease the tension

“So, Mr Kamitani, how do you like our club room? Do you have any questions?”

He pondered for a bit.

“Uhh. Well, I guess I should start with the club members, when are the others getting here?”

Koma twiddled her thumbs and stared up at the ceiling. “Unfortunately at this moment, the only members are present”.

“So, just 2?”

“…yes…” she answered meekly.

The silence returned.

“Anywho… Kamitani, we are thrilled you are interested in our club. But, could you advise what brought your attention to our humble club?”

Eri piped up “Does it matter? We don’t need him”

Koma shuffled over quicker than Natsuki could respond, cupping her hand against her mouth. “My lady I must disagree. You must recall the president’s message to us the week prior to last.”

She could see his smug face, reclined on his comfy chair “So basically, get at least 2 more members before the end of the month or we’ll be forced to close you down. Fight on! Ahaha!”

If she could get away with it, he’d have been chucked out the window, chair and all.

“That man may be touched in the head. But needless to say we are in need of new recruits, my lady” Koma urged.

“New members yes, not him. We can get others, trust me.”

“My lady, I will stand by your side until I may stand no more! But we haven’t had applicants since captain Hikari and Kourai graduated. This may be our only shot to keep our doors open.” She could tell from Eri’s face, she was getting through.

“In the worst case scenario, my lady, we can find another member and claim this one is inept. He will be gone and we will have more time to find another member. If you wish to end this club, I am with you as always, but I would prefer to see you dance again here, and unfortunately not accepting him means that will no longer be possible.” Koma added. Her puppy dog eyes were getting to her, each time she looked at her, they grew larger and filled with more tears, until she finally broke. She loved this space of theirs, a place away from the rest of the riff raff. A place for the two to enjoy their time and practice. Having to bare with Natsuki destroying that sanctity hurt her, but losing it altogether was worse and she knew that.

The Ojou gave in, and sighed loudly, “Fine, you win. But you’re taking responsibility if he sucks.”

“Naturally! Do not fear my lady, if he becomes a beast and tries to lay his hands on my lady, he will meet a grim end!”

“I don’t think you have to go that far…” She shook off the negativity. “C’mon, let's show our prospect what we are made of!”

*-*-*

Usui was wandering the school. It was good that he managed to escape from Natsuki’s situation, as he had other paperwork ready for his attention in the council room, “Ah, karma…” he realised.

Even when he cleaned up as much as he could, for a good hour, the pile was still stacked high as a skyscraper, looking up at the precipice had started to give him a nosebleed.

A quick trip to the library to pick up some research for Miyamura was the remedy, followed by a visit to the dance club again to try and get a sneak peek in, just to check up on Natsuki, only to be spotted, and glared at.

Now to the great outdoors, to breathe in the air… and wander over to the football pitch, see what crazy drill Miyamura had cooked up. This time was an elaborate configuration of moving tyres, with the aim of hitting the perfect long, lofted pass to the team mate on the other side. Being the self-professed assist king, he managed it immediately, much to the annoyance of his teammates that had to set it all up. A few minutes later they had something even more intricate set up, but it looked completely over the top, Usui thought.

He lay upon the grassy hill and pictured the past few days. Natsuki had gone from goalless to being ensnared into a dance club of all things. Sengoku managed to defy all logic and become kinda friends with Sawasa. Even now, looking at Miyamura arguing with his teammates, he may not have been out of the woods, not by a long shot. But he was learning. All of it was bittersweet, they were growing, even if it was a slow process, but a process nonetheless. They say success is in the journey, but what would become of them when that journey was done? What would become of him?

Miyamura cut through the team’s defence all on his own, slicing at the ball. He knew this shot, it was Miyamura’s favourite, a knuckleball, hit viciously but with no spin, letting the wind control its wild direction. The keeper dove for it but it shifted violently past him. The ace celebrated with his teammates. But Usui could hear something, looking across the way, it was the librarian girl from before Kannagi Aida. Passing by with books in hand, watching the game rather than the path ahead until she hit the wall.

Usui struggled to keep the laugh in.

A little further past her, there was a flicker of light. He could make out the face of one he had seen before but couldn’t really place.

“There’s no way…” he mumbled.

*-*-*

Yuri didn’t come to the school often, if at all. But on the odd day that she did, she kept out of sight. The gap in between the fence was a tricky one, old and malleable but threatening to break and splinter. Then there was a bit of a drop, easily done, and past the science block.

Finally in the dark corridor, sheltered by the surrounding buildings, she was writing, flicking a lighter on and off when she got bored.

“I was told you never come to school. Imagine my surprise when I saw you here.”

She took a glance at him with fire in her eyes. “It’s funny how parent teacher meetings work here, I get dragged here for no reason and have the privilege of being gawked at by people like you.”

He corrected her. “Actually, this is perfect, I wanted to talk to you.”

“And what would we have to talk about exactly?”

“I’m a member of the student council, Usui. I met you a few days ago”

“Funny, I don’t remember your face.”

“Do you remember almost breaking the Student Council President’s arm?”

“Oh, come to think of it, I do. Not going to ask me to apologise I hope, because he deserved it” she seemed to enjoy that memory.

“No, not this time. Actually, I was wondering if you could answer a question of mine. When I spoke to your mother, she mentioned a rumour?”

She paused, and her anger shot up a level. “You’re a student here, I’m sure you’ve heard it.”

“Unfortunately not. I’m a transfer, started late last term. The only time I had heard of you was that night.” It was true, all Usui knew was there had been an empty seat in class since he started, then again, getting into Hosokai is a bitch, so it’s not all that surprising.

So why do you care?” She snapped back.

“Well, for one I’m just curious. Then there’s the student council member in me, who wants to ensure you come back and have a good experience.”

“So like the Prez. Tell him he can call it quits and stop sending his minions. I’ve had enough of this place.”

“You do realise the reason the school is so adamant on having you come back is for your benefit, right?” Usui took a seat, the ground was still cold but at least he could rest a little.

“I don’t care! I spent 2 years being laughed at, and treated like mud. There were times I stayed awake fearing the next day. But no one sees that, they don’t want to. They look at the surface level and don’t even question it, they just see a student refusing to come to school, suddenly I’m the one in the wrong all because I don’t want to feel like that anymore.” She barked.

“You planning on running from your problems forever?”

Her eyes widened.

“Things like that don’t just disappear, and running away doesn’t solve anything. Someday you’ll find out that you’ve been running so long you don’t know anything else.”

She clicked her tongue “calm down Socrates.”

“When my older sister started working at her first job she was well liked. She was kind to everyone, even to the senior that everyone hated. That same senior saw how hard she was working and gave her a promotion, she took a spot that everyone else wanted. So they made up a lie, claiming that the only reason he promoted her was because she was flirting with him, amongst other things.”

“They pulled pranks on her, gave her the wrong files before meetings just so she would slip up, and told the bosses she was lazy. All of it to make her life misery, and it worked. We found her in her apartment. Dragged her to hospital, she was in intensive care for 2 days, and there was a moment where I thought we had lost her. All because of a few deadbeats and their jealousy. I was losing my mind, I’m sure at one point I blamed her coworkers, I wanted to make them suffer like they had done to my sister. But I realised that the pain I was suffering wasn’t an anger for revenge, it was anger at myself for not being there for her.” He continued, clasping his hands as he remembered his feelings on that day, trying to not bring back those demons.

“It’s a pain I don’t ever want to feel again.”

Never had she related to a story as strongly, she felt for him. But her past scared her, trusting another is a difficult thing, even more so when you’ve been hurt. But maybe he was right?

Yet she didn’t respond. Usui let off the pressure and took a breath.

“Well, that’s just my side of things. How you deal with it is your choice. But I know, at least for people like my sister, you feel like there is only one option. It’s up to nosy people like me to tell you that though things hurt and you feel the world on your shoulders, there is always another way, you just need to look. If finding that second option is difficult…

I can help you.”

Usui took his leave without looking back.