The Love Letter Lovelies
by Glee-chan
09.
"MEOW!"
Makoto shot up in bed from the loud noise, her head spinning. Taro was standing next to her pillow, his gingers face looking even more grumpy than usual. Makoto alarm clock had gone off and she must of slept through it. She reached over to switch it off and a wave of dizziness reached her head. She moaned, closing her eyes, and used her memory of the room to turn off the clock. Taro meowed again, rubbing his cheek on the arm propping her up.
"I'm moving… I'm moving." Makoto spoke in a drawl.
As soon as she got out of bed the dizzy sensation came back, with a side-order of light-headedness. Makoto groaned. After soaking herself in icy water the previous night she had went directly to bed. It seemed during the night she had caught a small cold.
She stumbled to the mirror and saw that her hair was a mess. Of course she hadn't dried it properly the night before, so it was kinked up and stick up in some places. She took a brush to it, but realized she didn't have the time to stylize it correctly, so she gave up on that idea. Making it as smooth as possible she stuck it in a ponytail, and hoped that would work. It didn't look that bad, so Makoto left it that way.
After she got dressed and went down the stairs, she ignored her light-head. She sometimes felt like she was floating, and other times she'd get dizzy again then feel like she was spinning. But the constant annoyance she felt was freezing. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she wondered if she should even bother going to school. But she thought of how mysterious Kaede was acting yesterday and she knew she had to see her.
"You're up late, it's time to go already." Nori was by the door, holding both of their lunches. "Are you okay?"
"Just slept too long. I can't seem to wake up." Makoto lied.
"Well wake up, if you're moving this slow you'll be late to school." Nori handed Makoto her bento box.
When they separated Makoto found it difficult to walk her normal pace. She was alright when she felt light-headed, but she had to slow down and even stop when the dizzies kicked back in. Her stomach was churning from all the disorientation, and Makoto had to stop and puke what little dinner she had left from the night before out onto the pavement.
This is nuts. I need to go back home. Makoto thought. But while that idea was sound, when she realized this she was closer to the school than she was to her home. Damn it.
Makoto somehow made it to school, then took a moment in the girls toilet to freshen up. She had gotten pale looking from the journey, and her face was shining with sweat. Doing what she could, she washed and dried off her face then went to Class 1-3. When she opened the door, Hayashi-sensei was already up front talking roll call.
"Ah, there's the princess."
"I slept in. Sorry Sensei." Makoto spoke. Even though she was trying extra to act normal, her voice came off as soft and weak.
"Well take your seat."
Makoto floated over to her desk and sat down. Thankfully she got dizzy when she took her seat not when she traveled across the room. She disguised this by resting her hands on the side of her head trying to focus her eyes on Nobuyuki's cowlick.
After homeroom Makoto was still dizzy, so she couldn't turn around to look at Kaede. She wanted to talk to her, but it was all she could do to pretend not to feel sick. Maria was talking to Kaede, but Makoto didn't know what she was saying. It was really a bad idea to come to school.
The rest of the day leading to lunch had offered a new challenge for Makoto. Since Izumi had cut the palm of her writing hand, Makoto had to switch taking notes with her left hand. At first she thought it would be a problem, but she discovered that if she concentrated enough that she wrote just as well with her left hand as well as her right. And concentration was what she needed to fight off her symptoms so Makoto took the challenge as a blessing. However, by the time lunch came around, she was exhausted.
"Mako-chan, are you feeling well?" Kaede finally spoke to her when Makoto was able to turn around and look at her.
"Just tired." Makoto's voice had a lazy quality to it. Why is it so cold in here?
"It's more than that." Kaede's eyes were filled with concern. "You look ill."
"It's probably my fault." Maria broke in. "She's probably feeling guilty about last night."
"Huh?" Makoto blinked heavily. She had forgotten about Maria's phone-sex call as she was too busy trying not to throw up.
"Ozawa-san, I have to admit something. I took advantage of your…" She paused, looked around, then whispered. "…your girlfriend last night."
"What do you mean?" Kaede's voice did not sink to a whisper.
"She was feeling vulnerable after the whole Kato thing. I guess I was feeling lonely and sort of took advantage of that. I was hitting on her hardcore, and she allowed me to do it. I bet that's why she's acting so distant. It's not her fault, it's mine. I was being selfish."
Makoto waited to see Kaede's reaction, but to her surprise she didn't seem to care about any of that. "You didn't do anything wrong, Mako-chan" was all she said. Relief filled her for a brief moment. But she still was feeling light-headed. Then suddenly Kaede was on her feet. "Fukui, may I talk to you alone."
"Uh, yeah, sure." Maria looked startled. Kaede was up out of her desk and out the room before Maria even stood up. Maria gave a "Hey, I tried" look to Makoto before she followed the kendo-girl out the room.
Exhaling as if she was holding her breath, Makoto flopped her hand on her desk, using her arms as a pillow. Somehow this felt like the most comfortable thing in the world. She let out an involuntary groan and closed her eyes, as the dizzies started up again. She heard someone step up to her, but she didn't want to move.
"Mako-chan." It was Shiho's voice.
She shivered. She didn't want to deal with acting well. Why couldn't she just have lunch break to relax? "I'm just tired, okay?"
"No you're not! My mom used to be a nurse and I know a cold when I see it. I just wish I had noticed sooner." Shiho spoke again. "Come on. Get up."
"No."
"I'm taking you to the Nurses Office."
"I don't want to go." Makoto moaned, but Shiho was physically picking her up now. The world spun around, and Makoto could barely stand on her feet.
"I got you." Shiho grunted. "We'll go slowly, okay."
Makoto gave in. All she wanted now was to sleep. She was so tired, so cold. The process of getting to the Nurses Office was slow. Shiho was taller than her, but not by much, so it was a struggle for her to carry most of Makoto's weight as they traveled. As they walked Makoto looked around to see if they ran into Kaede, but they didn't. Part of her was glad, she didn't want Kaede to see her so weak, but the other part wanted Kaede to baby her.
Reaching a bed in the Nurses Office, Shiho first placed Makoto in bed, then took the seat next to it to regained her breath. Makoto felt immediately drowsy from laying down on something soft. When Shiho had recovered she placed Makoto directly in the bed's blankets then started mopping her brow with a damp cloth. While Makoto may have felt like she was freezing she actually was sweating
"You have a fever. Why'd you come to school?" Shiho muttered as she leaned over Makoto padding her forehead. Shiho's breasts kept brushing against Makoto's lower face as she worked, but Makoto was too tired to complain.
The bell rang and Makoto pushed Shiho lightly off her. "I'm okay now. You can go back to class." Shiho looked hesitant. "It's okay…"
"You better get some rest." Shiho ordered. "I'm coming back after classes, and I'll know if you didn't sleep."
"Okay." Makoto gave a weak smile.
Pulling herself away, Shiho begrudgingly left. Makoto smiled as she watched her leave, thinking that she wasn't as bad as she originally thought. As soon as she was alone, she passed out. Makoto didn't even remember going to sleep, she just was. It seemed like no time at all when she heard voices next to her. She wondered if it was the end of the day already and if Shiho had come back, so when she opened her eyes she was surprised to see The Love Letter Lovelies, minus Kaede, surrounding the bed. They were in deep conversation. They didn't notice she that she had woken up, so Makoto closed her eyes and pretended she was still sleeping.
"Don't be an idiot." Shiho was saying. "If anyone has a shot it's you."
"I don't feel right about it." Maria sounded slightly further away than Shiho did. "Not with how she was acting."
"Are you sure she meant what she said?" Yui asked.
"I can't mistake something like that." Maria answered. "She flat out told me to take care of her from now on."
Makoto's heart seized in her chest. They couldn't be talking about what she thought they were.
"Something's going on with her, that's for sure." Shiho continued. "All day she didn't look like her calm self."
"She was crying." Yui added on. "I could tell. Her eyes were red."
"When I told her about last night…" Maria spoke softly. She was further away, it was harder to hear. "…she acted like it was no big deal."
"Wait, what do you mean last night?" Shiho asked.
Maria briefly described the phone sex conversation she had with Makoto. Makoto noticed that she was vague about on how much input Makoto was contributing into the phone call. In her version of the story, it sounded like it was a mural thing.
"Wow." Yui moaned. "Wow…"
"Pervert. Anyway, forget about that…" Shiho sounded annoyed. "Are you going to go through with it?"
"I can't." Maria finally decided after a long pause. "I can't let things with Ozawa end like that. Mako-chan has a right to fight for her, after all."
Makoto sat up. Yui squeaked and jumped back from the suddenness of it, and Shiho placed a hand on her chest. "What? What do you mean I have to fight for her?"
Maria looked strained. "Ozawa-san… she told me to take care of you. She wants to break up."
"What!?" Makoto threw the covers off the bed and climbed out. A wooziness took over her and she sat back down. She had gotten up way too quick.
"Whoa, whoa… slowly. Your fever's gone, but you have to still rest." Shiho sat down next to her and held her still.
Makoto couldn't be calmed down. "What do you mean she wants to break up?"
"She said that she's no good for you… that all she's going to do is hurt you in the end." Maria couldn't look her in the eye.
"No, it's not true, you're lying."
Maria shallowed and reached into her pocket and pulled out a letter. It was the same paper that Kaede had used for her love letter. She handed it to Makoto, then reached a hand to her mouth, her eyes watering. Makoto took it, her body shaking. This time it wasn't because of the cold. She opened it up and read it.
I apologize for doing it like this, but I don't have the courage to face you. I want to break up. It's not because of anything you've done, nor does it have anything to do with my feelings. I care for you. But I realized I'm not worthy of your affection. I'm a terrible person. I'll just hurt you again if we stay together. So that's why we can't be a couple anymore. I apologize for everything. Please forget about me.
Kaede Ozawa
Makoto lowered the letter and let it drop. She could feel her heart breaking in two. She could vaguely see the others staring at her, Shiho was saying something, but she couldn't hear it. Yui picked up the letter and read it herself. Makoto felt tears roll down her cheeks. Then she broke out into sobs.
"Mako-chan… it's okay… you've only known her for a few days. It's not that bad." Shiho tried to comfort her. "It's not like you love her or anything so-"
But Makoto bawled all the more. The undeniable realization dawned on her like being struck by lightning. Everyone knew that what Shiho said was true. Her reaction was more than just losing a crush. Shiho had stumbled on it, and the truth was that Makoto had been in love. As crazy as it was, sometime during there brief courtship, she had fallen in love with Kaede.
"Oh, sweetheart." Yui raised her eyebrows and hugged her. Makoto cried on her shoulder. The others surrounded her and gave her loving pats on the back and on her head.
"Mako-chan." Maria spoke after a while. "Don't give up. Make her take you back." Makoto pulled away and looked at her. Maria had a pained look on her face as she was saying it. "You have to at least try… so don't give up."
Not thinking, Makoto jumped out of bed. Her head spun, but she didn't care. She ran out the room, ignoring Shiho's protests. She could hear them chasing after her, but she felt like she could fly. She didn't feel anything. She ran. She ignored the fact she had no shoes on. She didn't have her school bag. Her head was causing a war of sensations from her illness, but she didn't care. She ran. She knew where Kaede was. Deep down she knew. She wasn't going to give up. She wouldn't let Kaede go. Not like this. She would fight for her love. She ran.
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