Marionette

Cosmos, Chapter Fifty Six - Fuan [不安]

Never could it be said that Amaya never tried when it mattered the most.

Even now, it couldn't be argued. At least by those who actually looked at her, in any case.

Amaya sat through the class meeting in silence, scarcely looking up at the faces of the others as they went over the script Hazama had put together overnight. She hardly even followed what was being discussed beyond the brief summary that the play was going to be based rather loosely around the story of Momotaro, the boy and the peach, as it were. It was a story Amaya could scarcely comprehend beyond the basics even outside of the current discussion. She had simply heard it mentioned, but neither had the care nor interest to know beyond that.

Expected, but not without the smallest edge of disdain, Koro-sensei was to play the "peach" in a play that was written more so as a grim story about the greed and manipulation of a husband who wanted to use the so called "child" in the peach to his own gain.

While Amaya could see vague, uncanny parallels between this story and her own messed up joke of a life, she knew without a doubt that it was nothing more than unintentional coincidences on Hazama's part. Of course, that didn't mean she missed the way Karma actually seemed to cast her a cautious glance when he undoubtedly noticed the similarities.

Though beyond that he didn't show any response.

That being said, Koro-sensei was eerily silent the whole time since Hazama had explained the script and handed out copies to everyone, gazing silently beyond his initial pleased chuckle that he was indeed granted a lead role for this play.

When the eventual end of the meeting came by and Amaya was asked if there were any issues with her role in the Drama festival, she uttered the only response that seemed appropriate to grace the room.

'It's fine.' She muttered. 'I don't care.'

A lie, but she didn't care about painting it up with any effort to veil it.

And nobody argued either.

They left her be, paying her little heed when she disappeared the very moment the actors were to go over their scripts.

The remainder of Amaya's Saturday was spent with a certain pineapple conure screeching and singing away atop her head while she carefully disassembled the rock walling for the garden beds and turned them into the foundations of an aviary base around the side of the house.

If she had materials, she could do something.

It was no different to how she learned how to spruce up the interior of the apartment with Nishimura's guidance at the time. She learned a lot simply by keeping one thing in mind; Anything could be used if you knew how.

She kept herself busy and well away from others, even going so far as to leave for the gym in the afternoon when emails started turning up on her phone from classmates wishing for her to come help out with the play. She later learned it was the best idea she'd had that day when Yuta emailed to let her know about Isogai and Kataoka turning up to track her down.

In the end she scarcely set foot outside the house on Sunday, and come Monday she was tempted to just stay locked away at home.

But she didn't.

Karma, who'd been strangely absent ever since the meeting for the play, had turned up and was waiting for her by the gate. Patiently, stranger still.

'Here, Koko. Stay out here for now.' Amaya murmured as she carefully set her bird in the outdoor aviary she had managed to put together, with a little help from a neighbor three houses down who also happened to have built an outdoor aviary for her own, much larger birds. 'I'll be back with some silverbeet for you later, okay?'