Binary Star

Chapter Four: Dollhouse

Chapter Four: Dollhouse

"Spica, you ready yet?" Jinnai called. I busily stuffed my equipment and supplies into my pack, gathering up everything I needed to get ready for today's outing. It would be my first time outside in the human world since the first night I came here the other day, and I was certainly looking foward to seeing the city of Tokyo in its entirety. Once I folded up my rifle and jammed it into my steel pack, I sealed the lid, clipped it onto my back, and put on my white ribbon headband, flicking back a strand of pink hair slithering in front of my sapphire eyes. I stood straight and tall in front of Jinnai- or at least as tall as I could at my meager size- and said, "Okay, I'm ready. Let's get moving."

Jinnai crouched down and reached his hand out to me so I could climb on. "Alright then, welcome aboard." I swallowed hard at first, just staring at his palm, but I quickly quashed my fear and stepped up into his hand. He raised his arm up to his shoulder, allowing me to crawl onto it. "Better hold on tight, I don't want you to fall off and die. And remember, I'm not doing this 'cause I want to. I'm only doing it because you asked." I planted myself on his shoulder and clamped onto the high collar of his tracksuit. "I'll keep that in mind."

As Jinnai headed for the door, there was a sharp rapping. I seized up at the noise and crawled behind his collar to hide myself. "Oh, who can it be now?" Jinnai groaned. When he answered the door, a human girl stood at the other side. She was a young woman, probably around his age. Even by Earthian standards, she was rather short and meek, as Jinnai seemed to tower over her. She wore a soft, simple white dress and had long, wavy, light purple hair. Her eyes were as blue as the sky. Although I kept myself hidden, she tensed up at Jinnai's appearance. "What's up, Hanako?" he asked. "Do I really look that scary? What do you want anyway? I was just about to go out."

"Oh, ummm...I just wanted to have a little chat with you," Hanako answered sheepishly. "You haven't come out of that room in almost a month, except for lectures and stuff. You don't talk or even try to interact with any of us. Ayato even thought you dropped out for a while. The professors are worried about you, you know. Especially after what happened at your high school graduation, they thought you might have-"

"Shut up," Jinnai growled, cutting her off in midword. "I don't want to talk about it. If I want to be alone, that's my own business. Am I not allowed to have privacy? Stop sticking your nose into everything, Hanako." I had never heard him speak in that tone before. It frightened me. "I-I'm sorry," Hanako stammered. "I...I didn't mean to make you upset, I just wanted to check on you. Since you're going out, can you come down to the cafe later? Ayato and I will be there. We just want to catch up, that's all."

Jinnai huffed. "Is that so? Fine then. If it gets you people off my back, I'll go to that damn stuffy cafe and drink coffee with you two for a while. After that, then you can leave me alone." Hanako's lip quivered. The purple-haired young lady looked ready to burst into tears. "O-okay then. I...I'll see you there." With that, she turned away and walked down the hall. Jinnai headed off in the opposite direction. "What was that all about?" I asked. "Who was that girl?"

"Hanako Suguwara," Jinnai replied. "She's a classmate of mine. We're sort of friends, I guess. But I don't really talk to people in general. Friends are just a waste of time. She always worries about me for some reason. I think she kinda likes me, but she'll never admit it."

"I think you should take her seriously," I said. "She seems like a very nice person. If someone is that concerned about you and wants to see you, you should reciprocate their feelings."

Jinnai chuckled lowly. "Oh, you think so? Well, it's a lot more complicated than that. There's a lot of things I don't know about you, but there's also a lot of things you don't know about me, Spica." I understood that well enough.