Chapter 4
SUE'S STALKER
"My stalker is a heart freak."
Of course, I turned down Sen's offer.
Before he could fluster me with more of his 'give your heart to me' demands, Albert, who was carrying a tray of microscopic slides, opened the door just in time to give me the perfect opportunity to escape. I quickly picked up my Obstetrics book and white lace ribbon, which Sen placed on top of the bedside table, and exited unstoppably, accidentally bumping against Albert and toppling over his tray in my swift escape.
"WAAAA!" Albert exclaimed as his newly-prepared microscopic slides shattered on the floor. "My specimens!"
"Sorry, Hello Panda!" I said without turning back. "GOODBYE!"
"G-Goodbye?" Albert scratched his head as he watched me storm out of his messy apartment. Then, he turned towards Sen, who simply sat on the edge of the bed and did no effort to run after me, "Hey, Sen! Were you able to get a heart biopsy?"
Sen shook his head, "No."
"No?" Albert blinked. "Aren't you gonna go run after her then?"
Sen placed his palms on the back of his head, lay on the bed, and stared at the ceiling indifferently, "No."
"W…W-What?" Albert looked at him in disbelief. "But… but how about…"
"Just relax, Einstein…" Sen smiled cunningly. "She needs answers just as much as I need her heart. When she becomes desperate…
.
"… she'll come to us herself."
.
-VC-
Before heading back home, I called a cab on the curb of the foggy street across Albert's apartment and asked the driver to take me to Oshima Ika Daigaku. There, I grabbed a spare school uniform from my PE locker and changed my clothes as quickly as I could. Of course, I would not go back wearing some tacky, loose-fitting men's clothing.
On the ride back to my house, I spent time formulating a good excuse I could use in case otou-san or onii-san questioned the reason behind my coming home late. An acceptable one should be something unrelated to the S.A.T. or to Sen. A student council meeting would be a good one, I thought. But it was an overused excuse. What if Hideki onii-san becomes suspicious and asks Oshima Shiori-senpai herself if I was telling the truth? Although I knew that there was only a slim chance of that happening because onii-san and Shiori-senpai had not talked for the past weeks, I reminded myself of the conversation Hideki and I had the other day. I made a promise. I didn't want to break his trust by covering up again with lies. My conscience would be the enemy.
I descended from the taxi as it stopped by our home. That moment, I hoped that neither of them would come to ask… or that I would have some otherhonest reason to give them if they did.
Fortunately, she always comes to the rescue in times I most needed her.
"Sue-chan?"
"H…Hono-chan!" I exclaimed as I saw Honoka standing by our front gate, holding a rectangular box. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled at me, handing over the box she held, "Here."
"What's this?"
"Hershey's Cookies and Cream," she replied, "from me and our friends in the S.A.T."
