Chapter 21 - Shards (cont.)

With a breath, I bent down and took the saucer from her.

I was about to give it to Ms. Ishida when Akiko latched onto my leg and tried to bite it. I shook her off with a grunt, and she tumbled against the side of the counter. Her wrap slipped off.

Despite feeling angry, I watched as she fell to make sure she didn’t hit her head. She clung to the floor and stared up at me with those sangria eyes. She seemed to expect me to do something next. Her fingers dug into the ground. My fingers dug into themselves.

I turned to Jamie, I walked over and shoved Sumi away from him. My shoving hand felt warm. She staggered backwards. I focused my eyes like a beam on her and said, “I told you to leave my friend… alone.”

I grabbed Jamie’s arm. His eyes slid open.

I asked softly, “You okay?”

He made a little ‘hmm?’ and murmured, “Oh… actually, I had a tight muscle there. So, I didn’t really mind… the effects.” He pressed a hand to his back.

Akiko crawled back to Ms. Ishida’s side. The bleeding had stopped.

Sumi leaned her head low. Her fingers were slack. All sensations of coyness evaporated from her tone. “I’m glad if it helped but… your friend is right. I made a promise, and I pushed it. My most sincere apologies.”

My gaze remained undimmed. “What were your true intentions with that back rub?”

She gave us a respectful distance. “I intended to make your friend feel nice. I also intended to go a little further than just a back rub. But only for the sake of pleasure. Your friend’s pleasure.”

“Why?” My insides gave a tremble.

She gave a long bow. “I believe all women deserve to feel pleasure of all types. And I feel honored to offer it. But again… my apologies to you and your friend.”

I kept my eyes steady but gave her a nod. “Accepted.”

Her fingers gently curled inward. “I thank you. And… I will leave you two alone as long as I can…”

With that, she walked calmly down the hall and into her own room.

I felt every muscle go slack. I couldn’t imagine a few days ago standing up to a presence as intimidating as Sumi’s.

But I figured I’d have to do something like it again soon, as I saw Hitomi make her way off the steps at the end of the hall.

Akiko clenched Ms. Ishida so tightly she cleared her throat and gave Akiko a little pat on the head.

Miki grinned and said, “I must say, no matter how I feel about Sumi… THAT WAS AWESOME!” Mami gave a smile. “I have ways of dealing with Sumi, but I sometimes feel a sense like I might dissolve around her. So, I can’t even imagine how you did that.”

Keiko gave me a little clap. “You were really cool, Kelly.”

I gave them nods all around. Jamie, despite still rubbing his back a little, looked modestly grateful for what I had done and remarked, “I owe you…”

Hitomi stood on the periphery.

The spark was still strong. I took another breath, walked over to Hitomi, and commanded, “Tell them about the wind charms. Tell them about your so-called ‘plans’. Tell us all what you did to Carolyn, Shioriko, and Nina or you’ll never see any of your ‘sisters’ again…”

Hitomi gave a little chuckle and took a deep breath. “Now that’s the fiery spirit of my sister. Strong, beautiful, and determined. You’re almost back.”

I knew the threat of physical violence wouldn’t work. I shook my head. “I am not your sister.” I steadied my words with calm and focus and they sunk into Hitomi with a quiver.

She took another breath. “You only say that now. It’s an illusion speaking… trying in vain to preserve its own existence. Human-ness flailing against an inevitable fate.” Hitomi tried to give her words the flutter of confidence, but she spoke them quickly, as though she were trying to convince herself as much as me.

I looked behind myself to my friends. Keiko and Jamie looked back. The others gazed off, their eyes glossed-over.

I turned back to Hitomi. “What are you doing to them?”

Keiko squeezed her hands. “Please don’t hurt them.”

Jamie stepped up beside me. “If you do anything to Tara or any one of them then I will make sure you feel every so-called ‘human’ pain possible!”

Hitomi waved a hand through the air and the girls seemed to return to themselves. Miki waved to Hitomi and asked, “What’s going on? You still boxing stuff?”

Hitomi bowed to Miki. “Katsumi sent me away because she didn’t need any more help. Are all the shutters up?”

Miki stretched her legs. “As many as we could get up. Hopefully, they’ll be enough.”

Hitomi smiled. “I’m sure they’ll do their job. As a backup, I placed wind charms near all four corners on each floor. And…” She held up her necklace. “…I’m wearing this as an extra precaution.” She then looked to me and gave a little nod of her head.

Miki looked at the necklace. “Neato. Like the charms I use?”

Hitomi bowed her head. “Same sort, yes.”

Mami scoffed. “How can a few pieces of paper make such a difference?”

Hitomi chuckled. “They can make all the difference sometimes.”

Mami flipped her hair a bit, kindling a brief glow from the dim daylight, and bent her arms behind her. “Whatever you say… Is there some melon soda left, Ms. Ishida? I could really go for that right now.”

Miki and Keiko also seemed thirsty. Akiko watched as the three took their sodas. Mami offered around what was left. Jamie took one, but Hitomi and I both declined the offer. Akiko only looked at the soda.

Ms. Ishida held onto a soda and said, “I’ll give it to her later in a plastic cup…” Mami sucked down her soda and brushed at her hair.

Akiko still kept a harsh look for me, despite her wavering attention. I shrugged it off as best I could and transferred the same feeling to Hitomi. She waved a hand gently through the air and said, “If I do that, we have a bit of privacy and none of them is the wiser. It’s part of my particular talent. My influence.”

Sure enough, all the Mecchen girls seemed to have zoned out again, although Mami’s eyes were glancing around the room a little. I felt especially tingly around her right then.

Hitomi gestured with her hand again, roughly. “It’s not the easiest thing I can do, but it works.” Mami’s gaze drifted away. Akiko shook Ms. Ishida’s side and tugged at her arm with a little whimper. She touched the soda in her hand but couldn’t pull it from Ms. Ishida’s grasp.

I grabbed Hitomi’s shoulder. “Stop it. Don’t do this to them.”

She held her hand up but didn’t wave it. “Do you even understand what I’m doing and why? This is all for your sake.”

I squeezed her shoulder hard enough to make her wince. “I don’t want any of this!”

She shook her head. “It’s not 'want'. It’s what you need. I have to be the big sister for each of you. I have to do this.” She emphasized her words by bringing her hands together.

Jamie stepped to my side. “And what’s to keep us from stopping you? Say we lock you in a room, throw away the key, and see what happens then.”

Akiko kept brushing Ms. Ishida’s side. She grunted. She squeezed her and breathed in from her blouse.  

Ms. Ishida finally gave a blink, turned to look at Akiko, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry sweetie… I must’ve blanked out for a moment… there?” She looked around at the other frozen girls.  

Hitomi flailed her hand and Ms. Ishida froze again. She panted a few times, a touch of silvery sweat on her neck. She glared at me and pronounced, “My plans have several fail-safes, in case of interference. Even…that! Whatever it is now…” She huffed at Akiko, who still watched Ms. Ishida with bewilderment.

I rested a hand on my leg. Akiko, no matter her temperament or history, still seemed to be something like a ‘lump’ in Hitomi’s recipe, despite her dismissal.

I had an idea. I clenched my hands 'til they felt hot.

“I see. Then you won’t mind if we take her with us on our little walk, right?”

Keiko looked at me. “What do you mean walk?”

It didn’t take long to fill Keiko in on the basic details.

She gasped and looked at Hitomi. “Why would you do something to Carolyn? She wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

Hitomi spread out her hands. “I promise… I did no permanent harm to any of them. I even changed my mind for the sake of one… and so many more.”

I sighed, she was heading back towards cryptic territory. “We’ll see about that. Do you agree to let Akiko come with us?”

Hitomi shrugged. “With the way she’s been around you lately, I think the better question is… does she want to come with us?” Keiko stood next to Hitomi with worry-filled eyes. Jamie kept his distance with arms folded. He glanced once over his shoulder at Sumi’s room and scolded Hitomi, “And cut out this ‘freeze’ stuff.”

She gave Jamie a smile and waved her hands. The stillness lifted once again. Akiko dashed behind Ms. Ishida for protection. Ms. Ishida took out a plastic cup and poured the drink into it for Akiko.

Akiko looked at the fizzy melon soda, which appeared like semi-translucent green paint. She sipped once and looked bothered by the bubbles. After another sip, she grimaced and gave a tiny belch to match her tiny sneeze from last night.

Ms. Ishida chuckled and rubbed her on the shoulder. Mami sipped at her own melon soda. She gave a ‘huh’ and remarked, “Strange. I thought this was really cold just a moment ago, but now it doesn’t taste as cold.” Miki remarked the same, but Keiko held her tongue. Nothing came of the ‘oddity’.

Akiko was halfway through her soda before she shook her head a bit and tried to throw it away. Ms. Ishida was fortunately quick enough to catch the cup. She held it out to Akiko and explained, “When you don’t want any more, you can give it to me… kinda like you did with dinner last night.” Akiko glanced between Ms. Ishida and the cup. She mimed holding it out like Ms. Ishida then quickly slipped behind her.

I figured there was no point in drawing this out. I said, “Hitomi and the three of us…” I gestured around to my friends. I figured to wait on the idea of bringing Akiko along. “We need to head out for a little while to take care of something.”

Ms. Ishida disagreed first. She noted, “That terrible storm is coming ashore this evening. I don’t think anyone should be out at such a time. Why do you need to go out at all?”

She sure felt like a mother right then. Keiko noted the wind was beginning to pick up. Miki and Mami both confirmed this with nods.

Hitomi didn’t seem bothered in the least by their words.

Katsumi and Tara came down the stairs with arms full of boxes. Tara waved her arms so vigorously when she saw us that it threatened to upset her load. They set everything in a side room, and Tara burst out with something like a heavy cape in front of her and a lump behind it. Hitomi watched her with narrowed eyes.

Tara held up a little plush toy in her hands and giggled. “I found it! This is for you, Jamie-kun… OH WOW! Your hair looks so lovely!” Tara held the plushie under her chin with her wide, blue eyes staring at Jamie.

[Commission of Tara by Ana/SereneTears]

Jamie gave a little dip of his head and noted, “Well, uh, Ms. Ishida tamed it. It’s a lot more manageable now.”

Tara clapped with the sweater held close to her. “Yay! It looks really nice. Here! This is the one I told you about last night! You can have it, Jamie-kun!” She held out the little plush figure for Jamie.

The figure looked quite like her, with woven blond hair and blue, sewn-on eyes. She explained, “It’s Yumeko-chan!”

Jamie turned the figure around in his hands. “It’s nice. Are you giving it to me… for keeps?”

She gave an exuberant nod. “Yup! For ever and ever. Annnnd… I thought you could use something warm if you’re going outside. It’s really windy.” Tara held up a big sweater with the same, drawn visage of Yumeko. Her hair was short on one side with a little glow around it. She held a wand with both hands. The sky appeared brightly all around her. She looked content.

Jamie thanked her quietly and juggled the plush and the sweater into separate hands before bundling them up together.

Katsumi arched her back, grunted, and looked us over. “Oh… melon soda? Is there any left?”

She popped the top and drained half the can before taking a breath. She asked, “I think that’s everything in my room on the third floor. All the breakables are safe. I’m going to cover areas which could get glass on them.”

Ms. Ishida nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want to call home?”

Katsumi gave a firm nod. “Certain…”

A gust outside eclipsed her voice. Hitomi took a long breath, and Ms. Ishida sighed. “Alright. I worry about these four though. They want to go out in this thing.” She gestured towards us.

Katsumi brushed at her hair and tipped it to one side. “Their call, I guess. Reason?” She leaned her head around at us.

I had to wonder about my reason for all this. I wanted to know what had happened to the others. Beyond that, I wanted to prod Hitomi and tire her out a little with a walk. Maybe by leading her around, I could spoil some of her recipe. They were reasons, but not great reasons.

Jamie’s idea to lock Hitomi up looked good on the surface, but we probably didn’t have enough evidence to convince any of the others to go along with it. And considering Hitomi’s apparent mental sway or influence over them, she wasn’t likely to stay trapped for long.   

I flexed my hot hands and kept a fair distance from the sensations Mami still gave me. As I moved, I noticed Katsumi was also giving off a strange sensation as I got closer to her. I rubbed my stomach a little and finally stated, “I don’t have reasons to give. It’s just something we have to do. And I hope it’s the right thing. There’s something else too…”

I looked to Ms. Ishida and the red eyes peering out from behind her. “I’d like to take Akiko with us.”