Chapter 5
“I wonder what happened yesterday,” Haruko says sullenly as she sits with Kotaro at lunch, waiting for Naoyuki to show up. They had each gotten permission to go to Naoyuki’s house for dinner that night. But when they got to the house, Shizuyo told them that Naoyuki wasn’t feeling well and turned them away.
“Well he’s here today,” Kotaro says, “so he must not have been too sick.”
Haruko frowns and looks down at her half-eaten peanut butter sandwich. “I feel like he’s avoiding us,” she murmurs. “Even though we saw him earlier today, he ran off before we could get through the crowds to talk to him. He knows us now. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
Kotaro shrugs. “He is strange,” he says. “Who knows what was going through his head. Maybe he was just running late or something.”
“He’s not showing up now, either,” Haruko points out.
“Maybe he had a stomach ache,” Kotaro guesses.
Haruko sighs. She sees Tohru and Kei approaching them from the corner of her eye and turns to face them. “Hi,” she greets them sheepishly.
The girls sit down next to her. “What’s the matter?” Tohru asks, a hint of a taunt in her voice. “Did your new friend stand you up?” She takes a bite of her sandwich, then says, “You know, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Nobody tries to talk to the kid because – hello! – he’s slow!”
“He’s not slow,” Haruko defends Naoyuki. “He’s just...shy.”
“Wake-up call!” Tohru cries. “He doesn’t talk to anybody at all even though he reads in class. He doesn’t know anything about friends, and he doesn’t care about you; he just likes the attention you give him.”
Kotaro’s head snaps up when he notices Naoyuki behind the girls, his face lowered. Did he just get here? He wonders. Ugh, what awful timing!
“That retard is just taking advantage of you!” Kei yells. “Why don’t you go back to hanging out with us?! We’re your real friends!”
Kotaro tries to get Haruko’s attention, but before he can get the girls stop talking, Naoyuki grimaces and hurries away down the aisle.
“What, Nomura?!” Tohru yells.
Kotaro frowns. “Stupid girls,” he says. “Naoyuki was standing right behind you while you were shooting your mouths off.”
Haruko jumps up from her seat and cries, “He was?!”
“He went that way,” Kotaro says, pointing to where Naoyuki had just walked off.
Haruko rushes down the aisle, scanning the tables as she passes them. Oh, he’s probably angry, she thinks. I can’t believe I didn’t notice him. She finally sees Naoyuki eating alone at the end of one of the tables and sits next to him. When he doesn’t even look at her, she can’t bring herself to begin talking. He is angry, she thinks. I can’t believe I let them say such horrible things in front of him. She twiddles her thumbs over the table before she finally gets up the nerve to speak. “N-Naoyuki...? Are you mad? At me?” Naoyuki shakes his head. “Those girls,” Haruko continues, “Are you mad at them? They don’t know any better. All they know is that you’re different...” Naoyuki shakes his head again, but still won’t look at her.
It’s better off this way, Naoyuki thinks. She can be with her friends, and things’ll go back to the way they were. I don’t know what I got all worked up over; I’m not mad.
Haruko can feel a lump building up in her throat; though she tries to get herself under control, she can’t stop the tears from coming. “You are mad at me,” she cries. “Is that why you wouldn’t let us come over yesterday? Why you’ve been avoiding me and Kotaro all day? What did I do to make you hate me?”
Naoyuki still tries to keep from looking at her. Is she crying? he wonders, startled. I didn’t mean to make her cry. I don’t know what to do...
Haruko suddenly starts bawling like a baby. Everyone at the surrounding tables turns to look at her. Unable to bear hearing her so upset, Naoyuki finally gives in; he turns to face her and tries to calm her down, but she won’t stop crying. Soon, her wailing summons Kotaro and her two girl friends to the table, then the reading teacher, who was on lunch duty, after them.
“What’s going on here?” the teacher asks, peering at Haruko over the edge of her glasses. She gives Naoyuki a warning glance and grumbles, “Come with me,” then takes Haruko by the hand and leads them out into the hallway. “Did he hurt you?” the teacher asks, releasing Haruko’s hand.
“No,” Haruko sniffles, her tears still streaming down her face.
“Why don’t you two settle things here,” the teacher tells them, adding, “if you can, with him,” under her breath. “As soon as you’ve settled down some, come back in,” she tells them, turning back toward the lunchroom doors. “Do you understand?” she adds, mostly to Naoyuki. The kids both nod, and the teacher returns to her post.
Neither of them moves for a minute, and Haruko goes right on bawling. Then Naoyuki lightly taps Haruko on the shoulder. Haruko wipes her eyes and tries to stop crying. Naoyuki holds three fingers up to her. Though he can tell that Haruko doesn’t understand, he starts a charade and points to himself to show her that he’s trying to talk to her.
Haruko sniffles a bit and asks, “What are you...?”
He repeats the motions again, starting with signing, “three words.”
Haruko finally catches on. “I...” Naoyuki shapes his hands into a letter M. “I’m?” Haruko asks. Naoyuki nods, then shakes his head. “Yes or no?” Haruko asks. Naoyuki shapes a T with his hands. It’s part of the charade, Haruko realizes. “No..Not?” Naoyuki nods again, then screws up his face to look mad. “‘I’m not..mad’?” Haruko asks. Naoyuki nods, frowning, and looks up at her, then bows. “Thank you...for what...?” Haruko asks before she realizes that Naoyuki has clasped his hands together. No, this is different. Is he trying to apologize? “Sorry?” Haruko asks.
Naoyuki nods and stands again, his eyes starting to water. Haruko wipes the last of her tears away and laughs, “Don’t you start crying now, or neither one of us will be able to stop...”
The bell rings. “Lunch is over,” Haruko murmurs. “I guess we won’t be able to finish eating, huh?” She turns for the lunchroom, then asks, “Are we still...doing that play in Reading as a group?” Naoyuki nods and gives her a sorrowful smile; then, he leaves abruptly and hurries down the hallway. “Wait!” Haruko calls suddenly. “Your lunch box...!” He keeps going as if he hadn’t heard her. “Naoyuki...”
