Drums of a Different Song

Chapter 7: Unexpected

Eiichi had spent the entire next day on the couch, in front of the TV at home. He was exhausted from all the commotion the day before. Not only was his back sore, but his mind had come under a lot of mental fire after his daring rescue. There had been so many positive emotions mingled with gratitude, envy and desire that his head was spinning once it was all over.

Eiichi had been astounded to see the same teach, Kamon-sensei, the one who stopped the fight between him and Makoto, had showed up to assess the situation. He actually looked at Eiichi and told him, 'I don't know what to make of you Kuzoka, but you did good.' They had decided not to extend his suspension for trespassing on campus, but still gave him the few days off. 'If I see you here again though, there's going to be trouble,' but it did not sound much like a warning.

He knew he'd be missing a lot of the festival because of his suspension, and he looked forward to getting away from the drama, plus because of his back he would not be able to do much walking around anyways. Though after saving Kotonoha from taking a swan dive into a concrete pool, he felt the drama was somehow attracted to him. Torio had been phoned to come pick him up early, and the last he saw of Kotonoha was when she was speaking with the school counselor.

There were even videos of the rescue, it was all over the internet. Eiichi at first found it only morbidly exciting, and then astronomically embarrassing when his voice echoed roughly on the audio of him declaring his love to Koto-chan. He didn't want to leave the house ever after hearing that, but Torio managed to calm him down.

Torio had been so excited he called dad and told as much as he could before giving Eiichi the phone. The conversation lasted about five minutes, ending with Eiichi only able to manage a raspy 'Thanks pop...'

Torio wanted to have a party that night, with all his friends over, but Eiichi managed to get him to settle for a bottle of saki and beers.

'This is a post party, but you're getting the real thing!' Torio had said, already tipsy, 'When your festival is over, everyone's going to be here. Invite Katsura, it'll be special!' and this had set off some red lights for Eiichi.

He thought about how this must be affecting her. She probably felt more responsible than anything. This might've made things worse!

While lost in thought, Eiichi had received a text from Kotonoha. He checked the time on his phone and realized school was out. The show played in the background as he read.

'May I come over? I want to talk with you more about what happened.'

Eiichi tapped about on the keypad, 'Sure, but you don't have to trouble yourself.'

Within half an hour, the doorbell rang. Eiichi hoisted himself out of the couch, his stiff back made him hobble steadily to the door. He opened it and Kotonoha was waiting on his step.

"Hey Koto-chan..."

"Eiichi..."

He closed the door behind them and began slowly hobbling back to the couch.

"It doesn't hurt too much, does it?" she worried.

"Nah, I just need to stay off it for a while."

"That's good..."

He laid himself out on the couch again. She stood there, looking very unwelcome.

"You shouldn't feel that way. Please, sit."

She made for the chair next to his couch, but it did not feel right to her. She wanted something. Feeling very awkward, she walked next to the couch and was about to sit on the floor.

"No, don't do that!"

She wanted to be facing him.

"Please, use the coffee table if you like."

He reached over and knocked some magazines off and placed empty beer bottles on the floor. This was also unbecoming to her, but she did it anyways. He could tell she felt so indebted to him. He set the TV on mute.

She was silent for the longest time. Now that she was here, she didn't know how to start.

"I know that you're on suspension..."

'Shit!'

He had completely forgotten to tell her, not that he could have thought of any easy way to put it. How do you tell your friend, 'Yeah, I just completely curb stomped the guy you love.'

He kept calm, "How did you find out?"

"Kiyora-san...she told a lot of people..."

'Of course! That's just like that little twit.'

She probably told Kotonoha in person just to see the look on her face, 'See? See what your friend did?' Kotonoha must have seen him at some point. She must have seen the damage.

'Dammit! Dammit, dammit!'

"I see..." he laid there, willing to accept whatever came next. "You must be pretty mad with me..."

"...I was, but only for a while..." her hands clasped together somewhat tightly.

He wasn't getting anger from her. Strange enough, there was a sort of peace, like something had been discovered.

"Why did you do it..."

He was expecting her to leave any moment and she would not be wrong in doing so. Maybe she had caused him a lot of problems, but he was just as much in the wrong. Maybe now was the best time for him to tell her. Everything had gotten so out of control, maybe now she would understand.

He spoke slowly, "Because...because I was angry. I was very, very angry, and I lost control. I let it get the best of me. Makoto threw the first punch, but I instigated the whole thing..."

She waited a while, "And why were you angry..."

Here it was, "Because there are things about Makoto that you need to know...things that you won't like..."

"And why does that make you angry..." she looked him in the eye.

She was getting very nervous and it was only making him nervous.

"Because it was hurting you...and..." he couldn't believe he was about to say it again. Before, there was so much noise and he had been in so much pain that saying it then seemed much easier. Now, it was so quiet. "Because...I..."

-"Out of the Blue" by Van Larkins-

He didn't get to finish. Her lips were pressed gently against his. It had happened so fast he didn't have time to react, his eyes were still open. Her hair brushed his chest, one hand laid gently on his shoulder. How long? He wasn't counting. In another moment, she was gone. His front door closed and he was alone again.

The television continued to play silently in the background. Eiichi was left staring into the open space where her face had been.

A single breath escaped him, "Wow..."