The air between Shizune and Lilly ripples with the heat of their enmity.
 
Well, not really. They can't disguise it any more, though. Even Misha looks like she's beginning to understand the real nature of this conversation.
 
Shizune turns to me and signs rapidly. "Hicchan~!" Misha translates. "Don't you slack off either~!"
 
"What are you talking about?"
 
"Aren't you taking part in the festival, Hicchan?" Misha goes on, as Shizune continues waving her hands at me. "You are, aren't you? Then~! I hope you're going to do a lot more to make sure it goes smoothly than this person~!" That last part is a gesture in the vague direction of the tall blind girl.
 
I don't understand why Shizune is suddenly getting mad at me. . . in fact, this whole situation is starting to seriously piss me off. Why the hell are these girls trying to draw ME into their private argument.
 
"You know what?" I say, getting to my feet. "Both of you can just piss off. I haven't even been here one week, and already you're trying to pull me into your stupid private argument?" I point at Lilly, forgetting for a moment that she can't tell the difference. "So why don't you get off your lazy ass and finish your damn assignment, and why don't you," I say, pointing at Shizune, "leave me the fuck alone. I'm sick and tired of you constantly following around and badgering me all the time!"
 
Two pairs of eyes regard me in stunned silence. Even Lilly seems taken aback by my sudden outburst.
 
Shizune's face falls, and she starts to sign a few times. . . but then she lets her hands fall to her sides. "I'm sorry," Misha says. "I didn't realize we were doing that to you. We'll leave you alone from now on, Hicchan."
 
I feel like a complete jerk.
 
Picking up the shattered pieces of my self-respect, I get my bags and slink out of the classroom.
 
-----
 
I head to the vending machines and get a can of my favorite melon juice, then sit down in the gap next to it and the wall. Hopefully no one will find me here, so I can wallow in my shame some more.
 
Why the hell was I even talking to Shizune and Lilly like that? I had no reason to treat them the way they did. I mean, sure, they were kind of being annoying, but did it really deserve me insulting them like I did."
 
I put my head on my knees and wish I could disappear into the ground out of shame. I have no idea how I'm going to face them tomorrow. Maybe I'll just die. Then I can get out of having to face them at all.
 
I laugh bitterly. Actually, all things considered, that's not too remote a possibility.
 
"Are you going to die now?" a familiar voice asks.
 
I look up into the red eyes of that strange girl I met in the nurse's office the other day. What was her name?
 
"I'm Rika Katayama," she says. "We met each other in the infirmary a couple of days ago?"
 
Oh, that's right. The creepy albino girl with the bad heart. "Right, I remember you. What brings you here?"
 
"You're in my spot," Rika says. "That's a good place to be if you want to hide from the world."
 
"Oh. Sorry about that," I say, getting to my feet. "I'll be going."
 
Rika cocks her head to one side and gives me a curious look. "Why do you want to hide from the world?"
 
"Oh." I consider telling her about the incident with Shizune and Lilly, then decide not to. "Just felt like it," I say.
 
Rika nods  "Sometimes I feel like hiding from the world too. But it's not good to do it too long. Want to come with me to the art room?"
 
"What?"
 
"I'm going to the art room right now. Do you want to come with me to the art room?" Rika asks again.
 
"Why would I?"
 
"No reason. I just thought maybe you were done hiding from the world for now."
 
She's right, I guess. Sitting here feeling sorry for myself isn't going to help anything. "Sure, I'll come along," I say. "May as well."
 
-----
 
We set off down the hallway together, up the stairs, and to the art room.
 
"Ah! Katayama!" a strange voice says. "You're here for the dress, then?"
 
An old man with silver-hair is coming out of the art club room. He's wearing the ugliest looking pink jacket I've ever seen, and his huge pot belly hangs low over his belt. A pair of small pink round glasses are perched on the end of his hawklike nose.
 
"Saki told me to come by and pick it up this afternoon," Rika says softly.
 
"Good, good. She's in the back of the art room, as usual. I'm on my way down to check how Rin's mural is coming along." The old man turns to me and raises an eyebrow. "And who is this? A new boyfriend?"
 
"No," Rika says flatly. "Just a stray cat I picked up."
 
"Does the stray cat have a name?" the old man asks.
 
"Hisao Nakai," I say, bowing politely. "I'm a new transfer student from Class 3-3. Nice to meet you."
 
"Mutou's class, huh? Well, I won't hold that against you." He laughs obnoxiously. I see Rika wince and avert her face. "I'm Shunichi Nomiya, the art teacher. Are you here to join the art club?"
 
"Not really. I'm just checking it out."
 
"Good, good. . . well, if you do decide to join, just let me know. We're always looking for new members. I'll be seeing you, Katayama."
 
He turns and walks away from us down the hallway. "So that was the art teacher, huh?"
 
"Yes," Rika says.
 
"He seems odd."
 
"I don't like him," Rika says flatly.
 
"Why not?"
 
"No reason. I just have a bad feeling about him. Hunches are important. They're the vestiges of the instinctual reactions we had when we were animals. When your hunch is bad, that's your animal side warning you something's wrong."
 
"So what should we do?"
 
"Nothing," Rika says. "It's only a hunch. Are you going to open the door for me?"
 
"Oh?"
 
"A gentleman should open a door for a lady. It's only proper," Rika says softly.
 
"Oh, right. Sorry."
 
I open the door for her, and Rika walks in, prim and proper, like a character from some sort of Victorian romance novel.
 
Inside, the art room is in a flurry of activity. Students are sitting at easels putting the finishing touches to art pieces they want to display at the festival. In one corner, a boy wearing dark glasses is sculpting something out of clay. I can see a couple of other students standing in front of a ten foot by ten foot canvas, arguing over something or other. A boy with a bandage over his right ear pushes past me into the hallway, carrying his canvas under one arm and a box of paints and brushes in another.
 
Rika walks past the other students and into the back of the art room, where part of the room has been sectioned off with a makeshift curtain. "Saki?" she says. "It's Rika." She glances over at me. "I brought a friend. Or an acquaintance. Or something."
 
"Come on in!" a cheerful feminine voice says. "I'm just putting the finishing touches on now."
 
Rika pushes the curtain aside.
 
There's a girl standing in front of a dressmaker's mannikin, pursing her lips as she studies the rather odd garment in front of her. She has shoulder-length hair the color of dark honey, held back from her face with bobby pins. She's leaning heavily on a crutch: one of those stainless steel kinds with the plastic forearm loop and the padded handle. She turns to us and smiles, extending her hand. "Hi," she says, cheerfully. "Are you Rika's new friend?"
 
"I'm not sure," I admit. "She picked me up at the vending machines and brought me here." I take her hand carefully. "I'm Hisao Nakai, the new transfer student from Class 3-3.
 
"I'm Saki Enomoto, Class 3-4," the girl says. "I'm helping Rika out with her costume for her class's haunted house. She's going to be the ghost bride, murdered on her wedding night."
 
I try to imagine Rika, with her blank eyes and flat, expressionless face, wearing that bloodstained white kimono. I'm not sure whether to be aroused or terrified.
 
"Anyway, why don't you go ahead and try it on, then?" Saki says. "Let me know if I need to make any changes."
 
Rika nods and begins to unbutton her blouse. I blink in surprise. "Hey!" Saki says, slapping me in the arm. "No looking! Rika, you can't just take off your clothes right now, there are boys present! Out, out!"
 
She pushes me out the little curtained-off nook and draws the curtains closed. "And no peeking!" she shouts.
 
I turn and look at the other students. A couple of them give me sidelong glances. Most of them don't seem to pay any attention. I give one of them a smile and a wave. He ignores me.
 
I sigh.
 
"All right, you can look now!" Saki says. She throws back the curtains.
 
I feel a chill run up my spine. Rika looks terrifying. With her pale skin and eerie, white hair cascading around her shoulders, she looks like a spectral being from beyond the grave. She's dressed in a pure white kimono, the sleeves and chest splattered with red paint, expertly applied to look like old, dried blood.
 
"We don't have the dagger prop yet, but when that's ready, it will go over your chest, here," Saki says. "Put the hilt through these two slits here, and it should look like it's going into your heart."
 
"That makes sense," Rika says softly. "So?" she asks, turning to me. "How do I look?"
 
"It's a fantastic looking kimono," I say. "Where did you buy it?"
 
"Buy it?" Saki laughs. "Why would we buy a kimono we're just going to tear up and splatter paint on anyway, when we could just make one for way cheaper?"
 
I take another look at the kimono. Knowing now that it was made by hand, it's actually a really impressive piece of work. It looks almost like one of those high quality kimonos that a real bride would wear to her wedding. Only the slightly lower quality of cloth betrays the difference. "It looks good," I say. "Real professional work."
 
"Saki's work is the best," Rika says. "Everyone knows this. That's why they all ask her for help with costumes."
 
"Not as much as last year, thankfully," Saki says. "I'm still working overtime with the workload I've got. Why did I ever agree to do so many costumes?"
 
"You enjoy it," Rika points out.
 
"Yeah, that's the sucky part, huh?" Saki frowns. "Anyway, I've got to take in the sleeves a bit. It's hanging a bit too far off the end of your hands. And I need to lower the hem some too. . ."
 
Her voice trails off. I clear my throat. "Anyway," I say. "I'll get going now. I guess you're going to be busy."
 
"Hm? Oh yes, sorry," Saki says. "It was good to meet you, Nakai."
 
I nod to her and turn to leave.
 
-----
 
By the time I get back to my room, the sun has started to set. I take my pills and lie down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.