Saturday, August 28, Late Afternoon

Xavier Uzual

It was about time to start getting ready for dinner. I scooped three-fourths a cup from the bag and put it in the rice cooker. Half a cup for Xylia, half a cup for myself.

Something that I’d learned from our Cousin Mei a while back was that if you looked in the right circles, bags of rice were a lot cheaper than they should be, especially given how long they could last. As such, I’d invested in a dollar-store rice cooker, earlier today.

Now… to cover the rest of the food pyramid…

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” I said. Xylia looked up from the coffee table and nodded.

It was probably just a salesperson. I grabbed a dollar-store spatula, in case they wouldn’t leave.

“Hello?”

Without undoing the chain lock, I pulled the door open. A flit of a yellow cardigan.

“Hello?” It was Kotone’s voice.

I closed the door.

“Hey!”

My first instinct was to call the cops. Maybe get a restraining order. How did she figure out where we lived?

No, calm down. It might cause her act more aggressive. Calm down, Xavier.

There was a knocking coming from the other side. “You… wanna let me in, or something?”

“No.”

She was quiet.

“Xavy, what are you doing?” Xylia stepped past me and unlocked the door. “Didn’t I tell you that I invited Kotone over for dinner?”

Did she? I couldn’t remember if she did.

Kotone shut the door behind her and walked past me, with one hand in her bag. No pepper spray in this household, please.

“Please, come in,” I grumbled. “Sorry for the mess.”

She did not take her hand off that can of mace. Xylia got in between us and led her past the counter, and into the living area.

Kotone’s eyes slowly took in the apartment. “It’s not that messy.”

This girl has no standards. The carpet could stand to be cleaned again, at least two more times. I’d borrowed a vacuum from the security officer downstairs, but I was loathing the idea of talking to him (or anyone) again. I still needed to polish the outsides of the windows, too. And the blinds needed to be dusted.

Terrible. But it was the best I could do with the time I’d had so far.

So I just said, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Kotone collapsed onto the couch and started chatting with Xylia. I noticed that her fingers were jittering, as they had been the first time we’d met. Kotone took something out of her laptop; they seemed to be watching something. It didn’t really interest me, though, so I went back to preparing dinner.

I suppose now that Kotone’s here… it should be a cup and a quarter… On the one hand, the more often she came, the better she and Xylia would get along.

On the other, it meant that I’d have to spend more on food in the long run. The allowance we get might be obscene for a pair of teenagers, but as a living wage, I’m sure we were well below the poverty line.

Thank goodness our absentee uncle was covering rent and utilities.

About an hour later, I divided the portions into three and placed them on the counter. “Dinner’s ready.”

The girls looked up from the laptop screen. From the paused image, they were watching that old show that Xylia tried to get me into. Which… didn’t work, for a number of reasons. Kotone reached over and closed the screen.

“Hey, that smells really good.” She was no longer holding onto the can of pepper spray. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“Wooow. Xavier Uzual, Man of Mystery.”

I ignored her and walked Kotone and Xylia’s portions over to the coffee table. “No electronics at the dinner table.”

“Yes, Mom of Mystery.”

I shot my best glare. I’d practiced. A good look is usually enough to drive people away. But, Kotone just ignored me. She smirked, started eating, and returned to conversation with Xylia.

“Do you think Yoren’s really dead?” she asked. “On the one hand, that looked really final, and his character arc’s basically over.”

“Nah,” Xylia said. “They wouldn’t really do that. He’s too popular.”

“They’ve killed off popular characters in the past. Remember CAT-kun?”

“CAT-kun isn’t really dead. They never found the body. Prove me wrong.”

“They vaporized him a season and a half ago. Give it up.”

“He can’t be dead!” Xylia leaned across the table. “And neither can Yoren! He still needs to get together with--”

The phone started ringing. It wasn’t my ringtone, or Xylia’s. My eyes trailed to Kotone’s bag. She reached into it (I flinched, remembering the pepper spray) and took the call.

“Hey, Carla. It’s me.” A pause. “Yes, I sent it to you. I finished it after school.” Another pause. Kotone scrunched her eyebrows together. “What do you mean? No, wait. I’m sure I--”

She gripped her collar. Her knuckles were white.

“H-hey...” Xylia said.

But I wasn’t sure if Kotone heard. “Yes, I understand. I’ll have that to you immediately. I’m really sorry. Yes, I know.”

She hung up. Kotone let her hand dangle as she stared into the void. Her chest was rising and falling, rapidly. With her free hand, she reached up and covered her eyes. She gritted her teeth. Deep creases ran all around her collar where she’d just been holding her shirt in a vice grip.

Her whole body was shaking.

“Damn it… I…”

“Hey… Kotone, are you okay?”

Kotone peeked out from her fingers, at Xylia, then at me. I know that look. “I… I need to go. I’m so sorry. There’s something that I need to finish for the student council.” She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Thanks for dinner. It was really good.”

“Hold on. At least finish your meal, first.” I hesitated. “I… I think I really outdid myself.” Translation, I try harder when one of Xylia’s friends comes over. Not that I was about to say that.

“Thanks, but I really need to finish this.”

“You can work here,” I said, “You’ll only lose time commuting.”

She paused.

“At least finish dinner. From the looks of it, you need it,” I said. “I’ll even lift the no-electronics-at-the-table rule.”

After a long pause, Kotone sat back down at the coffee table. “Thanks.”

Kotone ate quickly after that. I wanted to tell her to slow down and chew, but it didn’t seem like a good time. She stood, holding her empty plate and utensils.

“Thanks for the food.” Kotone walked past me. I heard the sound of running water and scrubbing.

“What are you doing?”

“Dishes.”

I whipped my head around. “Do your student council work. I’ll handle the dishes.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I got it.”

“No, you don’t.” I stood. “I’ll take care of them once everyone’s done eating.”

She opened one of the the drawers. “You guys have rubber gloves?”

Now I was really getting annoyed. Stop poking around my stuff. “Like I said, let me handle it.”

“You don’t have to coddle me like this. I’m fine.”

I looked over at Xylia. She was just looking down at her food. I turned back to Kotone. I hadn’t noticed it before, but her eyes were red. Maybe from crying, maybe from sleep-deprivation. Given her twitching fingers, I assumed it was the latter.

“I’m not coddling you. I’ve got my job, you’ve got yours.” I took another two quick bites. “If you insist, I’ll leave it to you, but at least finish your stuff first.”

Kotone braced herself against the counter. She looked away and covered her mouth, not looking in our direction. She closed her eyes.

“Okay, okay.”

Xylia and I ate quickly. My meals are usually a moment to relax, with very little exception, so I was at least a little bit annoyed. But, if Xylia wants to be friends with someone, I’m significantly more willing to be patient.

And, this girl had seriously been trying my patience.

I took the rest of the plates, dumped them into the sink. I snuck a glance at Kotone. No protests. She was too busy booting up her laptop.

“Anything I can help with?” Xylia leaned over and looked at the screen.

Kotone pounded away at the keyboard. “Not right now.”

“Okay.” She leaned closer. “What are you working on?”

Kotone stopped. “Processing new club applications. Actually, I do have a favor to ask.” She turned her computer around at Xylia. “Can you… read this out loud for me?”

“Er… sure, but why?”

“No reason.”

Xylia leveled a stare at Kotone. Since, at the Other Coffee House, I’d already pointed out how to tell if Kotone was sleep deprived, I’m sure Xylia noticed it, too. “There has to be a reason. It’s too weird otherwise.”

I rinsed off another plate and placed it in the dishwasher. Said dishwasher didn’t work, but it did serve as a handy drying rack (after being disinfected and wiped down twice, that was). I started scrubbing the next plate.

Kotone still hadn’t said a word.

“Hey Kotone,” Xylia read, “Judy told me that you’d be filling in for Jack. What I need you to do is to review and categorize the new club applications. I’ve decided to move beyond splitting them into ‘reject’ and ‘further review’ categories. Instead, please make detailed notes for each one in the rejection pile. We’ll be sending out these notes to each club. Run them by me before that, though. Don’t forget to submit digitally, not hard copy. Carla.” Xylia looked up at Kotone’s face. Her gaze was downcast. She covered her mouth with one hand, and again, gripped her shirt with the other.

“That’s not… No, I could’ve sworn, that’s not what it said yesterday…”

“Said what yesterday?”

Slowly, Kotone looked up at Xylia. “The…” Kotone took a deep breath. “Yesterday… I could’ve sworn, it just said to split it in two groups. That’s what happens every year.” Her eyes were trembling. “And… the last time, and the time before that… oh my god… Oh my god…”

She reached over and snatched the laptop back. Now that the screen was no longer blocking the coffee table, I noticed Kotone’s phone on the table, and the phone charm hanging from it.

A ring with an eight pointed star in the middle.

The dish slipped out of my hands, and hit the floor, and shattered.

Crash.

“Whoa! Xavy, are you okay?”

“That…” I said. “That phone charm…”

“Which one?” Xylia asked. “Kotone’s?”

I nodded, slowly. “No, we’ll talk more about it later. I’m…” There was shattered ceramics all around my feet. “I’ll clean this up. You guys keep working. In the meantime… Xylia.”

“Yes?”

“You should write down that email.”

Kotone looked over at me. “There’s no need for that, but thank you.”

I shook my head. “I have a theory. I want to test it. Just humor me. Besides, if it really is changing, I think it’s good to have a written record.”

“It’s not actually changing.” She shot me her best smile. The corners of her lips were twitching. “I’m just… I guess I’m just incompetent! Ha-ha-ha!” A chill ran down my spine. You couldn’t really call that a laugh.

“I’m going to do it,” Xylia said. “No harm done.” We exchanged a glance. I knew that look. ‘Explain it to me, later,’ it read.

Kotone pounded away at her keyboard for a couple hours straight. Xylia busted out her homework, but kept shooting worried looks at Kotone. Even when I brought Calipco for the two of them, Kotone didn’t take a break.

She kept working. Her eyes were only half-open.

“Hey, it’s getting late,” I said. “The trains stop running in twenty minutes. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss it.”

“I biked. I’ll be fine. Give… give me another half-an-hour.”

“It’s almost midnight,’ I said. “Won’t your parents be worried?”

No response.

“Hey, Kotone. Hello?”

“I’m a-almost finished.”

Xylia leaned in to look at her. “Hey… Koto? You don’t… look so good.”

“I’ll be fine. I just… I just need to get through this. I’m…” She reached up, and rubbed one eye.

There was a loud thud. Kotone was on the ground.