The situation from yesterday was bizarre as heck and occurred so quickly. I have Leona over at my house; she lives next door, so I can't really chase her out, and I don't want to.
"Hey, how about yesterday. It's time I told you more about my past." I am seated on the couch, facing the television. She sat next me and gently turned to look at me.
"About time; who exactly are you? What have you done? You handled the laptop like it was nothing yesterday, and you pinned the teacher to the ground as if he weighed nothing." - To be honest, I'm a little terrified of her right now, but I don't have many good reasons; she stood by my side and continues to be polite to me.
"Before my parents transferred me here, I was committing cybercrime in my home country, hacking banks and corrupt institutions, gathering dirt on them, and then uploading that information on public forums as well as classified documents revealing their involvement in illicit operations. I made a plea agreement with the government in which I agreed to help them take down criminals and unlawful enterprises in exchange for my freedom and the ability to access the internet and electrical equipment. - She is speaking casually about everything; she does not react in any way, and there is no regret in her voice, not even the least hint of a wobbly voice.
"Why are you so carefree recalling this, and you haven't answered the other part of the question?"
"If you have to fight for your life knowing your murderer may be your own damn father, you don't take any chances with self-defense. I trained my body, lifted weights, and performed manual labor in order to be stronger than that bastard." Leona's hand moves to her mouth, covering a yawn. She does appear exhausted, but she is trying to hide something; I simply have a hunch.
"Didn't you sleep last night?" - My question is accompanied by a smile.
"Not really; shortly after you left, the police lectured me on the dangers of what I was doing." You were never really quizzed about the issue; the video was proof enough, and I told the cops to leave you alone, which somehow worked. I didn't want to involve you in my troubles." Leona proceeded across the house to the kitchen, which is immediately adjacent to the living room.
Thank you. My head is a mess right now; I can't organize my ideas or anything, but—" I halted in the middle of a sentence.
"Don't bring it up; you deserve a far better friend than me. Enough of this; you did not cook anything when you awoke. Let's get something started right away. "Are you craving something sweet?" - Leona ignored her previous comment and is now asking me about meals. Well, that was unexpected. Is that how she suppresses her own emotions? But I cannot blame her.
"Sure, something sweet won't hurt, but what about something light first?" - This whole thing needs to be put behind me, and I need to forget about it; thinking about it any longer gives me a headache.
"Sure, I can cook you an omelette and some rice on the side, a small portion, and then I can prepare some pancakes; we still have 3 hours until school starts, so it's plenty of time."
"Let's get started."
Cooking with Leona is more enjoyable than I expected; I don't know how to cook as much or as well as she does, but I helped her with everything; I placed the rice in the rice cooker and then assisted Leona with the eggs and vegetables. She makes omelettes using unusual vegetables, mixing and matching them in the bowl; I've never eaten anything like that.
When we finished cooking and ate it, it tasted better than I expected.
I glossed over a lot of details, but they aren't relevant; what happened next at school is more disheartening than anything that has transpired thus far.
A single flower on each of my and Leona's desks.
"Ooh, a flower. "What gentleman placed this flower here!" - Leona shouted at the top of her lungs during class.
Everyone began laughing at her.
"Me? "Do you want to go out on a date, Iyarashii?" - A guy from our class walked in front of her, laughing in her face and insulting her; that word is rarely heard around here; this guy is not from Okinawa and speaks some things I can barely understand.
"It was a rhetorical question, you "durak"—durak?" What does this mean?
"What did you call me?" - He stared at Leona, his expression confused.
"You labeled me indecent and nasty using a less common word in these regions; I can call you an idiot in Russian, Romanian, English, and Japanese. "Those aren't the only languages I know, urod!" - So that is what Russian sounds like. I know it's not the entire language, but some words seem strange.
"Take your flowers back; if you want us to commit suicide, you could have said, Why are you all being such pussies about it? Tell it in front of me; you can say whatever you want, but don't conceal." Leona smirked and sat on the chair; she removed the flower from her vase and placed it in mine, then placed the vase in one of the windows, followed by the empty one.
"I don't know, Leona; maybe if you spoke our language properly, we would be able to talk with you." Leona turned when one of the girls said, "I want to stay out of this."
"Yeah, my accent makes it hard to understand what I say; that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole." Leona didn't even look at the girl who commented and pulled out a manga from her backpack. "We still have 20 minutes before class begins." My eyes landed on what she brought out, which was a Yuri manga that she began reading in front of everyone in class; I can't claim I'm not fascinated.
"Here"—she shifted her seat closer to mine, and we both read the latest chapter of "Sakura Sisters." I didn't recognize the manga's name until I got close, but it's an excellent read and well worth it.