Ch. 11: Partners (Pt. 1)

10 Minutes Before:

'The school day is almost over. I know I have a lot of explaining to do to Kikyo later, but besides that, things are going pretty smoothly. What class is next?'

I reach into my pocket and pull out my class schedule. I had 3 classes left and it looked like

"Music" class was up next. Good thing I already know where the room is, so I don't have to ask anyone for help.

"Mr. Takahashi! Do you need help getting to the music room? You can walk with us!"

"Sure. There's no harm in walking together, since we're going to the same class anyway right?"

'I guess I forgot that I was gonna get help, even without asking for it.'

"Just tell him!"

The girls start laughing amongst themselves as they walk a few steps ahead of me. Since it was obviously about me, I think it's only right that I get to know what they're saying.

I duck my head in between them and say, "Tell me what?"

"Uhh…just that you're an amazing bass player! You were so great this morning! How did you memorize the music so fast?"

"Yeah! I don't think I've met anyone with as great of a memory as you!"

'Well, they're easily impressed.'

"If you ladies think my memory is amazing, then other things I can do will make you lose your mind."

"Like what?"

"Haha! I know what he means."

After whispering into her friend's ear, you could easily see the look of full understanding on her face.

'Look at that. High school girls are so innocent, it makes me feel like a predator. Let me lighten the mood.'

"But honestly, memory plays a big part in playing instruments. And just like with anything, you have to practice memorizing things to get better at remembering. Like how someone would practice how to ride a bike, or play the piano, until it becomes "muscle memory" even after you don't ride or play for years. Same thing applies to your brain. You're just dealing with ACTUAL muscle memory. Does that make sense?"

"Very much so, yes. Do you happen to have a girlfriend, Mr. Takahashi?"

"You have very beautiful eyes."

'Did they not listen to anything I said? The obvious look of infatuation was plain as day on their faces. Were they still thinking about what I said before? Maybe these girls aren't so innocent after all.'

Now arriving at the band room, I find the spot, next to the window, where Sleeping Beauty was resting earlier this morning. Seeing it was vacant, I decided to take that spot for myself.

Looking outside before sitting down, I noticed the same cherry blossom tree, from the classroom, that stood in the courtyard. Sleeping Beauty must like cherry blossoms? Now sitting, I look around the room and don't see her or my sister, Kikyo in the room. It's still a few minutes before class starts, but I'm still surprised that I got here before they did.

"Do you mind if we sit next to you, Mr. Takahashi?"

"Not at all."

"Girls! Can you two come here for a second?"

"Oh! Sure thing, Madam President!"

"Coming! TTYL, Mr. Takahashi!"

It was obvious the President called the girls over to get them away from me.

'She's clever, I'll give her that. Which must mean that she's giving what I said to her, in the auditorium, some thought. I'm not gonna lie to myself. I'm actually kinda curious what her final decision is going to be. I don't really play around with high school girls, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Although…Kikyo did tell me not to involve myself with her. I wonder why that is? Did something happen with Nana, in the past? I really can't recall.'

I look at the President hoping that maybe if I stared at her long enough, I would remember something. But the longer I stared, the more it occurred to me that I don't remember her altogether, let alone anything that she might have done. I don't remember her straight brown hair and how she'll play with it out of nervousness. I don't remember the dimple on her cheek that appears when she smiles, or if she was even part of the student council in middle school. After a while, President Nana must've felt me staring, because she glances right at me and quickly snaps her eyes away from me once we make eye contact.

'Ahh! It's kinda fun, watching her struggle internally. Not even gonna talk to any of your friends about it, huh? Do you want me to yourself that bad?'

At that thought, I suddenly felt the hair on the back of my neck now tingle. Looking for the source, my eyes land on Renji, who's sitting on the opposite side of the room, with a group of guys in our class. Staring back at him, I try to understand why he's only staring and not manning up to say anything.

'How long does he plan on playing "silent treatment"? I would much rather fight out whatever his problem is.'

Sounds cruel. Wanting to fight the one person that you were once close to. But that's actually how we became friends, believe it or not. It was a few months after me and Kikyo moved in with our grandfather. Renji just moved to the area, and I guess the guys in our class thought it would be funny to have the new kid get his ass beat by me. They dared him to write, "dumpster baby" on Kikyo's desk. Long story short. I found out. We fought. I won. We got sent to the Principal's office and that's when I found out his last name. Shizuhara. My grandfather's name was Shizu. So as a kid, who looked up to his grandfather, like a god, I automatically took a liking to the kid and decided to cut him some slack. After he formally apologized to my sister, of course.

After that, Renji was around us so much that people started saying that we were triplets. I remember that he used to follow me in everything that I did. Even if it was something bad. Renji was either there to help me do it, or he was there to later help me get out of trouble. My actual "partner in crime". But once I was admitted into the Rehab facility, he never came to visit me once. He didn't even send me a letter. Obviously, I didn't expect him to follow me in there, but I didn't expect that he would just completely stop communicating with me. To this day, I don't know the reason and I don't know if he's ever going to tell me. Man, turning over a new leaf is hard.

No longer interested in the stare off, I look away to see Kikyo and Sleeping Beauty walk into the classroom. First Kikyo looks at me and pauses after seeing where I'm sitting. Then Sleeping Beauty does the same thing after seeing Kikyo's hesitation.

'I figured they were going to sit here.'

After talking amongst each other, Sleeping Beauty walks up to me and says, "You're kinda sitting in my spot."

'How can something so straightforward and simple sound so angelic?'

"Beautiful."

"Excuse me?" Sleeping Beauty replies.

'That's new. She didn't blush or get nervous like the other girls have.'

"The view of the cherry blossom tree is beautiful right here. I can see why you like to sit here."

You could tell she wanted to smile, but did well to keep a calm composure instead. Good to know that she has a good poker face.

As I'm thinking about what else to say to her, the classroom door slides open, and everyone falls silent as a pretty good looking middle aged man wearing glasses, a freshly brown tailored suit, and hair pulled back into a neat low ponytail, just like mine. I'm not sure how, but I started to feel like I was looking at a future version of myself. Or rather, like I was seeing my grandfather, for the first time, in 3 years.