Marmalade Boy Fan Fiction ❯ Lonely Hearts ❯ Tours and Speculation ( Chapter 4 )

Studying has never been something I've really thought about, it was just expected, rather like breathing. I was merely following normal habits when I woke up Saturday morning, took a quick shower down the hall and was comfortably ensconced at my desk, with books open and at the ready, just after seven. Perhaps it is a bit bizarre to be studying before the term begins, particularly when a virtual stranger has tucked you into bed the previous evening, but at least the first made sense to me.

I was slated to teach at least one and possibly more freshman-level chemistry courses, and because many of the approximations and gentle lies given to the entry-level students are elaborated and expunged in more advanced courses it felt only natural for me to go over the advanced material I had learned, making sure it was fresh in my mind. In this fashion I could answer questions confidently, with proper support if I needed it. The studies also distracted me from the growing impatience to continue work on my laboratory research, something I'd sorely missed and would not be able to continue until Dr. Murphy, my advisor, gave me my lab assignment.

As to the second factor, the young man, I am ashamed to admit that he didn't even cross my mind. It is not that I'd forgotten, but that I am notoriously not a morning person, and function on automatic until I'm either studying, or forced to respond to external stimuli.

Thus, with both my petty impatience and my curiosity about Satoshi effectively buried within my mind, I retreated into the welcome logic of my studies. The ebb and flow of knowledge, coupled with the impersonal calculations I occupied myself with seemed timeless and it was with genuine surprise that the clamor of the bell tower breached my concentration. Stretching my tense muscles I was a little shocked to note that it was already nearly noon. The thought of lunch recalled the dinner party I'd been in the previous evening.

"What a very strange group of people." I mused to myself aloud, while standing to put away my books. Remembering the evening brought back thoughts of Satoshi. Shying away from him, unwilling as of yet to think of his putting me to bed, I turned my attention to the fellow students I'd met. Trying to remember each of them, I pictured the seating arrangement. A sudden flash of memory from when we'd been seated caused my final text to drop to the desk with a clatter.

"That voice, it had to have been Jennifer, and if she was with Bart then he's here too." I couldn't believe that I'd forgotten. Jennifer Haegerfeld had been my undergraduate roommate in college, and her escort, who I surmised was none other than Bartholomew Bixby, had been a friend of both of us. We'd all gone to school together, at Baylor University, and had become nearly like family. She and I had lived together for three and a half years, going through anime, nicknames, video games, boyfriends, diets and just about everything else together. Bart had met us at an anime convention we'd attended our freshman year, and he'd been included in the group ever since. We had been quite close, and were still, or would have been, had I been a better correspondent. I had, in fact, been living up to my self-appointed title of "World's Worst Correspondent" since we'd all graduated from Baylor with bachelor's degrees, and we hadn't seen each other since then. Jennifer, however, had taken the onerous task of communication almost entirely upon herself, writing often, calling occasionally, and, when I got even worse than usual, sending me self addressed, stamped envelopes to reply to her letters with. Bart and I got most of our news about each other through her, but I knew that he'd moved to New York two years earlier, just after graduation. In her last letter, about a month previous, she had mentioned something about working on her Master's in 19th Century British literature and about being finished moving into a different apartment in the New York area, and I had noticed that the return address was different, but it hadn't struck me that we'd be living close to each other again, the stress of my illness and of moving hadn't exactly been conducive to paying attention to nonessential details.

Setting myself to the task of actually finding the most recent letter and her new address proved not too difficult, and whetted my appetite for a quest involving finding the address that I now held firmly in one fist.

"After all, I haven't anything else to do today, honestly; and some mild walking will probably help my cold clear up a bit." After checking my area map, comparing it to the directions she'd sent, I ascertained that her apartment was less than five miles away from Chidester Hall, thus convincing myself and the empty room at large of the plausibility of my plan. I changed into jeans and a comfortable sweatshirt and headed downstairs to the communal kitchen. While I was making myself a sandwich I heard the front door open and a pile of people rush in. I recognized Yuu's voice, as well as some excited chatter in Japanese and English that I assumed came from Miki, Meiko and the student quartet that I'd met the previous evening.

It would probably have been polite to go greet them, but even as the thought occurred to me I heard their voices recede, as if they were heading to either Yuu's room or the common room. This assumption left me wholly unprepared for the sudden opening of the kitchen door and the entrance of Miki and her Meiko.

Miki's enthusiasm and Meiko's obviously gentle bemusement prevented them from immediately noticing me. The conversation was too fluent for me to follow, but it seemed to involve Miki exclaiming in happiness, and Meiko humoring her friend. I stood there quietly until they noticed me.

"Oh, Elizabeth," Miki switched into English when she noticed that I was there. "We didn't see you. This is really a great kitchen. I think that I might be a better cook if I had access to this sort of kitchen. You can ask Yuu, I'm a very bad cook" Miki's English had improved a bit during their tour, and I was able to understand her with very little difficulty.

"Miki." Meiko's disbelief was evident. I guessed that this was a continuing, and not particularly bitter discussion.

"How was your morning?" I asked, beginning to put away my sandwich ingredients.

"Super!" Miki grinned at me. I could tell that she'd loved being with Yuu.

"It was great." Meiko chimed in. "Yuu showed us all around New York. We're supposed to go around campus, but Yuu is trying to get out of it. He says that there's nothing interesting, and that it's easy to get lost." The young woman was more relaxed than she'd been yesterday; her demeanor was still lady-like, but it was obvious that she'd caught some of Miki's enthusiasm.

"You know, I'm surprised that Yuu thinks that way. The chemistry building just had a new addition built on, the administration building was built during the nineteenth century, part of the English complex is a deserted barn, and the gardens are lovely, especially in the fall."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Yuu asked from the doorway.

"Didn't you read about the campus before coming?" I countered. He laughed loudly before answering.

"I did not, but it seems like you did. Maybe you should give the tour this afternoon." I thought he was teasing me, but before I could say so Miki grabbed my hand.

"Please?" she asked softly. Turning to Yuu she said something rapidly.

"She doesn't want you to be lonely." Yuu translated for me, "I think she's also worried that I'll spend too much time giving the tour, and won't give her enough attention." He grinned at Miki.

"Mou!" Her sound of displeasure transcended language barriers. As I tried to think of a polite way to refuse Doris, Brian and Bill came in. Once Yuu explained the plan to his friends, specifically the men, I lost all hope of escaping. One of them firmly attached himself to either side of me and they began a rapid barrage of conversation, centering mostly on how much they'd rather listen to a beautiful girl than more of Yuu's lectures. Bemused, I let them lead me outside.

As we wandered around campus I noticed that Satoshi and Jinny had joined us. They were quiet, not participating in the exclamations that issued forth from Miki and even the other students at times. I got the distinct impression that I'd been the only one to learn about the campus where I'd be living before I moved in. I shrugged. I had to force myself to remember that they were high school students, and I shouldn't make assumptions.

When we arrived at the library I decided not to bring my noisy charges inside, but rather to just impart facts and avoid needlessly bothering the patrons. As I spoke about the current and planned renovations I noticed that Satoshi and Meiko were standing together, a little apart from the group. Shaking off the tiniest glimmer of jealousy I stepped down from the stairs where I'd been delivering my miniature lecture. The library was our last building, and as we headed back toward the dorm I noticed that the quiet members of my party were missing. Shrugging mentally I brought the group back, turning them over to Yuu, who had been reading in the common room.

Finally alone again I checked that I was still in possession of Jennifer's address, then headed out back to where my car was parked, deciding to forgo my anticipated sandwich and walk in order to safeguard my departure. Finding her apartment was a great deal easier than I'd expected. Of course it helped that she'd also added driving directions with the address, probably in an attempt to tease me, but I honestly couldn't be offended. She was, after all, the girl who'd pretty much demanded my friendship over the past years, and I was grateful for her efforts. It is all too easy for me to shut myself away from people.

Shaking my head clear of introspection I climbed out of my car and made my way slowly to the door. Doubts were beginning to plague me, in particular the fact that she might not be home. Telling myself that I had no choice, I knocked on the door.

"Yes?" She hadn't really changed. I don't know why I'd expected her to. Apparently I had though, because she didn't recognize me. "Can I help you?"

"You know, I actually brave driving over here with directions that you wrote. If I had really needed help I would have never made it all the way over here." I could tell the moment she recognized me, her eyes widened and she grinned.

"Elizabeth, I'm so glad so see you! When did you move up here?" She led me inside as I answered.

"I got settled in last week, I'm getting over a pretty nasty cold right now though. Last night was the first night I actually left the building, and today's the first day I've left campus."

"Well, at least that hasn't changed. When you get sick you go into hiding. I'm glad you're feeling better, even if I didn't know you had been sick. I was beginning to wonder if you had ever decided between Penn State and St. Andrew's. It would have been nice to know that you'd decided to move here, but I know you, so don't worry about it. Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love some." After a brief ritual involving boiling water and dried plants we both sat down in her comfortable, but small living room. "Okay, before I get started, were you and Bart at an Italian restaurant last night?"

"Why yes, actually, we went to two. He'd made reservations at one, but we went to the wrong one first, as usual. Why?"

"I thought I'd heard your voice. I was out eating with Yuu and some St. Andrew's high school students, as well as some visitors. I wasn't sure though, that's what prompted me to come and find you. By the way, what's Bart been up to?"

"And here I thought it was because you'd missed your old friends. He's got a job at a small advertising firm in the city. He made partner just last spring. Didn't I tell you?" At my negative shake of the head she playfully boxed my arm. "I don't know why I still hold out hope that the pair of you will eventually figure out how to communicate without nagging." She laughed. "No matter what the reason, I'm glad you came out. I've missed being able to talk to you, and Bart and I've been getting worried that you're going to work yourself too hard again."

"You worry too much about me Jennifer. I'll be fine. Do you remember the time I spent three straight days trying to write that debate paper? Nothing will ever top that." With that we began to reminisce in earnest, remembering all the quibbles of our undergraduate days. A full three hours had passed before either of us looked at the time.

"Goodness." Jennifer exclaimed. "It's nearly dinnertime. Do you want to go out and grab something?"

"Sure, so long as it's not Italian," I grinned at her.

"You never used to mind eating Italian all the time. Maybe it was the company. You never did tell me about why you were eating with a gentleman and his family." She was right, I'd been skirting around the present. I didn't know what was going on, and I was afraid that she'd see something going on that I was blind to.

"Oh, it's nothing like you're thinking. He's going to school here, and his girlfriend and a pair of friends came over from Japan to see him. They were having trouble with their relationship because of the distance and misunderstandings, but that's all worked out now. You might call last night a celebratory dinner."

"Remind me again how you met him. Your semester hasn't started yet, and I know you haven't been knocking on doors and introducing yourself around."

"Um." I couldn't help blushing, and her eyes widened.

"Or have you? C'mon Beth. Tell me." In a blatantly manipulative effort she called my by my old undergraduate nickname.

"One of his friends climbed through my window." I spoke rapidly and softly, but she still caught every word.

"Okay, not another word. You and I are going to Kelly's, the very nice bar just down the street, and in between a large number of drinks you are going to tell me exactly why someone, hopefully male, needed to crawl into your room." Picking up her coat, she pushed me out the door. We walked down the street in silence, and it wasn't until we were seated at the polished mahogany bar that she turned to me again. "Okay, first, his name."

"His name is Satoshi Miwa, and before you ask, yes, he's a stunning male specimen. He climbed in my window because I fainted while studying, and the girl who lives next door got worried, so she told Yuu and his friends, and the suggestion was made that someone break in. Miki, Yuu's girlfriend, was worried about Yuu hurting himself, so Satoshi did it. After he unlocked my door they invited me to dinner with them."

"Elizabeth you're leaving something out. I can tell. But that's okay, we have all night, and I'm sure I can get you drunk enough to spill all you sordid little secrets." We both giggled, to break my nervousness if nothing else, and drained our drinks. When the bartender brought us a second round I continued talking. Many rounds later she knew the entire story, down to the way he'd tucked me in, and had guessed my attraction towards him. I could tell she'd guessed when she leaned towards me and questioned me earnestly.

"Okay, be honest now, what do you really think of him? Don't you dare hold out on me."

I was inebriated enough to answer candidly, without thought. "I want him. He's so damn sweet, and even though Meiko told me he liked to rescue girls, I love the way he was just there for me last night, without any questions or anything." Taking a deep swallow of my drink I continued, musing to myself aloud. "I'd also like to spend several hours just exploring his chest, then work up to his face. Maybe the other way around would be better. Seeing him, no matter what he's doing, makes me want to touch him. Last night I watched him eat, and I couldn't stop thinking about him kissing me until I couldn't breathe." My voice trailed off as I imagined him holding me close, his lips on mine while I clutched at his shoulders.

My fantasy was interrupted by Jennifer violently fanning my face with a cocktail napkin.

"Lordy, and you've only known him for twenty four hours? You've got it bad. Geeze girl, you need to talk more to Meiko and find out more about him." She suggested.

"Or just ignore him. There's no way he's interested in me. I'm sure he has someone in Japan, and maybe they aren't telling me because they're trying to be kind, or everyone knows he's just pitying me." I was clinging vainly to any hope of staying uninvolved.

"Elizabeth, first off, I don't think the second could be true, in case you haven't looked at yourself lately." Her tone made me look at her in surprise. "But, even if it is, what does it matter? I think you need this. I've never seen you react like this to a man. Plus, it's been too long since you flirted with someone. It's unhealthy."