The Nemesis

Minor Altercations

Himari brought Caleb some clothes. She said, "Its, um, the only pair of jeans and shirt we have. You see, we only wear kimonos."

Caleb who was still in drenched clothes, nodded, and said, "Its fine. Thank you Himari for coming to my rescue. I already got drenched in the seawater yesterday. I would have caught a cold. You are extremely caring."

Himari blushed, and said, "Its my pleasure, Caleb."

Izumi entered the room, in a frenzied state, and said, "THAT WAS OUTRAGEOUS.  You were in my bathroom. Shit. Sumiko is mad. Why couldn't she think of a better place. What would have happened if Enmei would have wanted to take a splash instead of me? I am telling you Himari this man is going to take all of us down."

Caleb angrily said, "Look, Izumi, I am not here by choice. I am unable to even walk properly. I would have left yesternight only, if only your father had not stopped me. I am extremely tired. Look, swimming so many miles from that hellship and landing here was exhausting enough. Stab wounds, gun wound, leg broken. Do you have minimum sense of humanity? At least Sumiko tried to do something in times of crisis. It was the best she could think of. Nothing bad happened yet. You can do nothing but complain."

Izumi said, "Now you are listing your injuries to make me feel pathetic. How sick are you? Yesterday you were acting all brave, and strong. You were ready to walk out. Now what happened? You are very injured, very weak. So, you chalked out a plan to linger around longer. My father is a foolish man. I don't even know why he has to be so kind to strangers. You are saying all this, because you have gotten used to us running errands for you. Listen, let me warn you, I am very cold hearted. You cannot and must not impose on our kindness. My father is a naive man. But oneday he too will oust you. And I am waiting to see that day."

Himari said, "Shut up already, Izumi. This man is already so weak. Dont make him overexert himself by arguing with you. You better leave him alone. Nothing bad happened. It could not, but it didn't. Don't chide Sumiko for unforeseen circumstances. And yes, there are risks. And we are willing to take it, for the sake of humanity. You have lost your sense of duty, Izumi. But we have not. And one more thing, ask your fiance to inform us from beforehand if he decides to visit."

Izumi snorted angrily, "He is not my fiance, Himari. Shut up."

And saying so, she stormed out of the room.

Caleb was staring blankly. Izumi was getting on his nerves. 

....

Caleb was sitting in the lounge. The windows were all shut properly. Izumi had gone to the college. Himari was sitting next to him, talking about Itsuki. Caleb's interest about Itsuki had increased manifold. He wanted to just grab hold the guitar and strum it. But Izumi was extremely possessive, and he did not do anything rash about his secret desire as of yet. 

Himari said, "My brother was a very brave fellow. He went to Pearl Harbour to fight. The bomb blast. He was one of the crewmates, I believe. But I am sorry, that..incident, must have been painful for you Americans."

Caleb suddenly became quiet. Peal Harbour, he thought. And his heart ached bitterly. He said, "Um, may we change the topic from Itsuki now?"

Himari understood and said, "Sure."

Caleb said, "Um, it sucks to be confined within four walls. Well, lets talk about Izumi Fuyuko's bonding with Itsuki."

Himari said, "Oh, they were the best of friends. And...also, I felt Itsuki had a soft spot for Fuyuko.  He had decided to propose marriage to her. I think, he did. And then never returned. I felt rather bad for her. But she has not been cold hearted from that incident. She was like that ever since she returned. I hated her bitterness. She was backstabbing people with whom she spent two years. She just changed. She was once a very kind girl. Well, that was when she was small."