The Disconsolate Maiden

Chapter Twelve

Homura opened her eyes, confused for only a few moments, wondering why she was at her desk with her homework as a pillow.

She could hear the birds singing their morning song, signaling the world that it was time to rise and face the day.

Yawning, Homura stretched and reached her arms behind her back. Her hair fell all in her face as she did such, but she couldn't have cared less.

Her eyes were swollen, and she felt like someone had poured a bag of gravel into her stomach.

Homura looked at her alarm clock beside her bed. Though she already knew it had to be late since there were mass amounts of sunlight bleeding through her closed curtains, she had no idea how late it really was.

"7 o'clock!" Homura gasped, pushing back from her desk chair, falling over her school bag in her process. "I'm going to be late!"

Homura exhaled slowly, remembering that it was Friday morning, meaning she didn't have to be at school too incredibly early.

"Right..." Homura thought, "it's Friday...so why was Father home last night? Why did I even expect him to be home..? He wasn't supposed to come home last night because of work..."

Homura stood up, rubbing her hip, hoping she hadn't bruised herself as she grabbed her brush off of her nightstand and ran it through her tangled hair.

"I don't want to know what today is going to hold..." Homura said to herself. "...and I don't think I want to know..."

"Homura?" Mrs. Kanojo called weakly as she pushed herself by her daughter's bedroom room. "Shouldn't you be leaving for school right now? You know how your father gets if he hears you were late."

"Father doesn't care about me..." Homura replied sadly to herself. "I wasn't the planned daughter. I wasn't the daughter who was supposed to live..."

Homura swung open her bedroom door as she threw her hair up into a ponytail, her school bag thrown over her shoulder.

She quickened her pace down the short hallway, almost blindly colliding with her mother, whom had just managed to make tea for herself.

"I'm so sorry!" Homura squealed nervously, bowing twice in a row the her mother. "I could have hurt you! Please, forgive me, Mother!"

Mrs. Kanojo smiled weakly then let out a small laugh.

"There's no need to apologize so much, Homura," her mother said. "I'm not helpless, so just one morning like this is fine."

"I still feel bad for not awakening on time to fix you breakfast," Homura sighed, turning her head to look at herself in a mirror at the end of the hallway. She looked a lot rougher than she usually did, but she didn't care. Her soul ached for some reason that day, and she couldn't understand why.

"I'll be off," Homura said, apologizing to her mother one last time before she ran out the front door.

By the time Homura had reached school, most of the students were already there. That included Totoko and Naomi, her "friends".

"Did you see the idol awards last night?!" Naomi exclaimed, leaning over her desk, blabbering with Totoko. "I couldn't believe that Hitoro Bikuo won this year's top 100 voice award!"

"Hitoro won?!" Totoko squealed and began to laugh, not even noting that Homura had just sat down across from the two girls in her usual space. "My parents wouldn't let me stay up to see the final awards."

"Really?" Naomi snorted. "What are you, twelve?"

Totoko's face turned a bright shade of red.

"Nine o'clock has always been my bedtime!" Totoko hissed, turning around abruptly, snorting a little as she pulled her chair closer to her desk. It didn't take much to tick the salty, fish loving freak off.

Naomi just smirked, then proceeded to turn to Homura, finally acknowledging her existence.

"So, did you stay up to watch the awards?" Naomi asked in her usual smug tone of voice. "Surely your parents aren't that strict."

"I-I..." Homura stammered a little, not wanting to remember how her night had ended abruptly. She had completely forgotten that the idol award show had been on.

"Well?" Naomi pushed, leaning even closer to Homura, nearly falling out of her chair. "Did you?"

"I forgot about it..." Homura said so softly, Naomi was barely able to hear her. "I'm sorry..."

Naomi leaned back, her smug face molding into one of sudden confusion.

"Why are you apologizing?" Naomi asked, her voice less rude. "What happened?"

"For once Naomi is asking me why I did something...and she doesn't sound rude about it..." Homura thought, her hands beginning to tremble. "Would it be a mistake for me to say 'it's nothing' and then smile like I'm fine...?"

"Hey," Naomi said, waving her hand in Homura's face, trying to get her attention. "Is something bothering you?"

At that moment, the teacher walked in the classroom and asked for all of the students to rise.

Homura let out a sigh of relief. Though she still felt anxious, praying Naomi wouldn't ask her again later on that day.