Ignoring the World Around Me (2x continued)

She walked into the lobby and one of the staff members waved at her kindly. Getting right to the point, she signed, 'where is Takenaka? Where is her room?'

'Do you know her first name?'

'NO!' She stomped angrily again and shook her head. Why were these people so slow? 'Just show me her room!'

Hoping it was the right room, the faculty member went to the elevator and hopped in, with Kaori on her tail. She pressed the floor and they rode up a few stories, then they stepped out.

Following the staff, she wrung her hands nervously, hoping that she wouldn't be received badly. Eventually, they came to her door. She knocked on the door, but to nervous to see her, she shoved her note under the door and started to walk away stiffly.

Mio's room looked thoroughly lived in. The wooden desk, supplied by the school, was cluttered with books and pens, as well as a few knickknacks. She was lying down on her messily made bed. It was dressed with lavender sheets, two pillows, as well as a fluffy throw pillow shaped like a star. She was typing away on her laptop, which she had skillfully propped up against her knee.

She had been writing a story about a girl who didn't know how to make friends. She would try and try, but everyone though that she was too loud or too annoying. Everyone wanted her to just leave her alone. Mio knew that the story would end with the girl falling ill, but she wasn't sure where to go from there.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Before she could even make her way over to open it, a sheet of paper slid awkwardly through the space under the door. She carefully picked up the paper and read the message. With a sigh, she looked down, shaking her head. She decided that, this time, she would actually meet face-to-face, slowly opening the door. There was nobody at the door, but upon looking down the hallway, she could see the back of the girl, walking away.

She raised her arm, as if to motion her over, but realized that she couldn't see with her back turned. So she hit the wall to make a noticeable sound, but wait, she's deaf...so she jumped up, landing with a heavy thud, causing the floor of the old hallway to vibrate noticeably.

Kaori turned around, startled by the vibration. She saw the girl that she had chased standing in the doorway and grinned from ear to ear. She trotted back to the door way and beckoned the staff member to come with her as an interpreter.

She signed, 'I am pretty sorry for causing this whole mess. I am really bad at playing with others. Instead of gaining a new friend, I put you through a lot of trouble.' the faculty woman subsequently interpreted for her.

Looking up at the girl with guilty eyes, she first analyzed her face, and then what she could see of her dorm. It looked warm and rather inviting. Her own dorm was rather sterile, because she wasn't allowed to bring many things with her. Kaori was envious of someone who even got her own colorful sheets.

She thought for a moment, realizing that she was accomplishing the exact opposite of what her parents and even her nanny wanted her to do. At this rate, she'll probably never go back home, she thought.

A hot tear pricked her eye and rolled down to the tip of her nose.

Mio nodded as the interpreter spoke Kaori's words. But, she was surprised at the sudden tears that had slowly started falling down the girl's cheeks. The actions didn't match the words that had been spoken...er, signed. Lifting her hand near her face, she began to fret, unsure of how to react to this. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She looked to the interpretor, but had no language to convey. She clutched her fists tightly together and unconsciously stomped her foot hard on the ground, frustrated at her own inability to communicate. She stormed back into her room, her anger clearly read on her entire body.

She viciously pulled one of the notebooks off of her desk, sending three others falling from the sudden force. This further fueled the girl's frustration, as she thwacked the notebook in hand angrily against the desk. Quickly grabbing a pen to match, she stormed back to the doorway.

She intensely scribbled into the notebook:

"Relax! It's nothing to be crying over! I forgive you, okay?"

'Yes it is. I was sent here just to learn how to make friends. I was sent here to grow up. At this rate, I'll never go back home.' She signed. She walked into the dorm and looked for another pen or something to write on the notebook. She shooed the interpreter away and wrote in the notebook:

I don't like it here.

Kaori gazed around the room again. She was still a bit upset, but this room was colorful; it was hard to stay sad. She wished her dorm had all these colors, she would probably feel less lonely if it did.

I really like your dorm, she wrote.

[i]Well, you clearly haven't gotten very far in the whole 'growing up' goal.[i] Mio thought, in response to the girl's signed words, but thought better of voicing them...well, writing them. That was probably the only good thing about having lost her ability to speak: you couldn't blurt out something stupid that you were bound to regret later. That certainly made this ordeal far from worth it though.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't realized that the girl had invited herself into her room. Almost. With a sigh, she shook her head resigning herself to her fate.

Mio merely shrugged at the girl's dislike of the school. She honestly didn't care one way or the other. Sure, there were something pretty unusual people here, but at least they had the decency to leave her alone...present company excluded.

Thanks she wrote on the notebook, in regards to the compliment about her room. There wasn't much in her room, but it was enough to make it look lived in at least.

What's your name? she wrote, since the girl had never bother to introduce herself, clearly too dead-set on getting Mio to do it first.

I'm Kaori. She wrote, and then smiled at her friend. And yours? I never got your first name.

As she wrote, she resisted the urge to hug her as hard as she could, and instead started doodling along the margins of the notebook. She drew seashells and flowers, but then drew a chibi of herself and a chibi of Mio, holding hands. She wrote friends underneath it.

Mio. she wrote. As she did, she saw the doodle that Kaori was drawing. This person certainly was childish. It was no wonder that her parents sent her to live on campus. If she had truly been a child, the little drawing of what was most likely the two of them would have been endearing. To Mio, however, it was irritating. The natural order of friendship is not 'throw pen', 'have seizure', followed by 'friendship'. That's just silly! It's not supposed to work that way! With her pen, she moved in towards the picture, and right below where Kaori had written 'friends', she wrote 'possibly' with a snarky grin on her face. Mio wasn't sure how she felt about Kaori, but she did know that it was really entertaining to mess with a person so silly.

Will you be my friend?

Kaori wouldn't look up at Mio, she instead focused on continuing her border of seashells along the page. Kaori has never seen the sea, but she loved the fairy tales of mermaids and sailors. She was enchanted with those stories of beautiful undersea cities and endless battles between good and evil. She often daydreams of what it would be like to be a princess in one of these beautiful kingdoms, where magic would cure her epilepsy and allow her to hear again. She would have tons of friends and would play with them all day long. Her parents would love her, but Mai and Jiro would still live with her in the palace.

After finishing the border, she absentmindedly started drawing herself as a mermaid. Besides reading, drawing was her second favorite pastime, and she drew at least twice a day. She liked to color with colored pencils, but she really wanted to learn how to use water color.