Mei Hana by Mark Lauck (guided reading books .TXT) 📖

It was a cold, rainy morning during this seemingly pointless summer break. A young, junior of Keito High School, named Tsuniga Hoshi, was walking down a lonely street with rain being reflected off of his umbrella. He reached his hand up to his black, spiked hair and rubbed his head. What laid ahead of him was a young woman who stood in the rain as if she had not noticed that it was pouring. She was five foot tall, and she stood eight inches below Tsuniga. Her purple dress was elegant and didn't seem to be bothered by the rain. She looked at the ground as if she forgot something or something was on her mind.
Tsuniga walked up to her and said, "You know, you'll catch a cold if you don't get out of the rain." He rose his umbrella over her head.
She looked at him with eyes prepared to cry.
Tsuniga then asked, "What's wrong?"
She tried to build up the courage to speak, but then collapsed onto the ground.
Worried, Tsuniga picked her up with both hands and carried her over to his house leaving the umbrella on the ground.

Mei awakens from a blurred vision as if she awoken from a long party. She finds herself laying on top of a towel on a bed. She whispers, "Where am I?"
"You're finally awake, huh?" Tsuniga answers.
"Who are you?" she asks.
"I'm Tsuniga Hoshi. What's your name?" Tsuniga says softly as if he's talking to a terrified dog who is ready to run out the door the moment he makes any sudden moves.
"My name is Mei Hana. Why are you helping me?" Mei asks.
"Isn't it a person's duty to help someone in need?" Tsuniga replies with a question.
"I'm not sure," Mei says.
"I think it's best if we get you out of that dress before you end up catching a cold. I picked up a few things from my mother's closet," Tsuniga says handing her a pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a red jacket to accommodate the theme.
"You know. I'm not emo," she says with a joking expression.
"Nobody said you were," Tsuniga says seriously.
"No bra, hm?"
"I'm sorry that I don't look at your chest and wonder what size you wear."
Mei gives him a disgusted look as Tsuniga exits the room, so she could change. By the time he reenters he gets back to some questioning.
"Where do you live? I'll take you home." Tsuniga says being compassionate.
"Home?" Mei says with a long pause. "I forgot where I live."
Tsuniga was surprised, "you don't remember where you live?"
Mei sits with another long pause, "that's right. I don't remember where I live."
Tsuniga began thinking to himself. How could someone forget where they live at? Doesn't she want to go home? Maybe she just ran away. What should I do about this?

"You should get some rest. Maybe you'll remember later on," Tsuniga says.
Mei puts her head down on a pillow as Tsuniga leaves his room. He heads over to his kitchen. Tsuniga pulls out a package of sausages and cracks a few eggs to make some sort of breakfast. After a little while, he manages to make something worth eating. He places the food on some plates and places the plates on a tray. Nervous but stable, he takes the food into his room and places it on his desk that sat beside his bed.


It was now twelve in the afternoon by the time Mei had awaken. Tsuniga was still patiently sitting by the desk spinning a wooden #2 pencil in his hand.
"Oh, you're finally awake," he exclaims.
She sits up and looks around the room.
"I made you something to eat," he says handing the tray of food to her that he had waiting on the desk beside him. "Do you remember where you live at?"
She shakes her head.
"Darn, do you remember anything about where you came from?" Tsuniga asks.
She shakes her head once again.
"Ehh... You're hard to work with; you know that, Mei?" he finishes.
She chuckles a little.
"What's so funny about that?" Tsuniga questions with a serious tone.
She began to eat by picking up the fork and cuts a bit of the egg. She raises the fork up to her mouth before dropping it. It fell and hit the floor. Her face began to sadden.
"What's wrong?" Tsuniga asks picking up the fork.
She continues to look down at the floor and says with a tone ready to cry, "I can't do it."
"Can't do what?" he asks.
"I... I can't do it," she whispers once more.
"Can you tell me what it is?" he asks with wonder.
"My memories are lies. I'll never figure out what it is that I used to be!"
"Don't say that! I'm sure it just takes time. During the meanwhile, you should get some more rest."
"Why do you think that sleeping will help me?"
"It helps you regain your energy."
"Who proved that?"
Tsuniga stops for a moment and questions himself. Who really did prove that? Was it even proven?

He finally says, "fine, come walk around outside with me at least."
She stands up. "I'll agree to that," she responds.

The outdoors was more clear then the rain that had occurred earlier. The ground was still wet, but at least there wasn't a single drop of rain. However, there still wasn't very many people walking around the streets. The neighborhood was quiet and not a single noise could be heard. Tsuniga helped Mei exit his house, and she waited for him by the road. When he got to the road, they both began walking the same direction. They weren't exactly heading towards a certain location; they were just walking.
"Uhm," Mei began trying to start a conversation.
"Mei, I perfer my walks quiet if you don't mind," Tsuniga says trying to lay it down soft as if it would kill her if he didn't.
Mei nods her head and continues to walk with Tsuniga. After ten minutes, they both find themselves outside the neighborhood and walking around the city. Constantly, he notices her looking at his face. She didn't know that he noticed though. As evening began to rise, he asks, "Mei, how about we stop by this cafe that I know of."
She agrees to his offer. As they made their way to the cafe, Tsuniga notices someone looking at them. Without hesitation, Tsuniga grabs Mei's hand and rushes over to the cafe.

"What's the big idea grabbing my hand and making me run over to the cafe with you?" Mei asks with a disgusted tone.
"Uhm," Tsuniga began trying to come up with something, "there was just something that I really wanted to show you at the cafe."
"Oh really? What is it?" Mei questions.
"I just wanted to show you something that they served. It's really good," Tsuniga responds.
"I can't wait," Mei says still disgusted.
"Come on. It's not like you disliked having my hand gripped on yours."
Mei had a very serious face and smacked Tsuniga on his arm then says, "Whatever you say."
Tsuniga laughed and gets seated to a table by a waitress.
The cafe was a small, simple family cafe. It had enough seats to fill just about fifty people, twelve tables. The walls were painted a plain white color, and the floor was a brownish tile, perhaps to hide any messes that could be easily spotted.
Mei had her eyes wondering around the room trying to get situated with the new environment that she is currently in. Tsuniga was studying the menu for anything new. After a few minutes he lays down the menu and still notices Mei's view wondering the whole entire room.
"What's wrong?" Tsuniga asks.
Startled, she looks at him. "Huh? Oh, nothing," she responds.
"Are you sure? You seem a little paranoid," he implies.
"Don't worry. It's nothing," she says before continuing an analysis of the room.
"Looks like you have a cacoethes of looking around the room."
"What did you say?"
"I'm sorry, your highness. I forgot about how delicate you are."
Mei stuck out her tongue as if she was the one teasing him instead.

A few minutes have passed, and the waitress stops by their table.
"Aren't you a little cute one," the waitress flirts with Tsuniga. "I bet she's a lucky girl to be with someone like you."
"Wait. I'm not with her or anything like that! I mean, I'm with her, but we're just friends! Tell her Mei!" Tsuniga tries to explain shaking his hands side to side.
Mei sits in her seat as if it was a very awkward situation, and she had no part of the conversation and wanted none of it.
"Well, whatever," said the waitress, "what would you like."
Tsuniga responds with, "I want a regular Prime Cafe Latte and a blueberry muffin. How about you Mei?"
Mei was yet again viewing the room. "Huh? Oh, I would like a Prime Cafe Espresso and a... Hm, let's see. A blueberry muffin as well."
The waitress writes down their orders on a little notepad and walks over to the kitchen of the cafe. Mei's eyes began to wonder around the room once more.
"Is there something bothering you?" Tsuniga questions.
Mei looks back at Tsuniga once more and responds, "huh? Oh. I told you; it's nothing."
Tsuniga looks down at his lap. Is she seriously hiding something? Is it best that I don't know what it is?

"Tsuniga," Mei begins, "do you think I'll ever get back to who I was before?"
"I promise that you will," Tsuniga responds.
"But... What if..." Mei begins but doesn't finish.
"'What if' what?" Tsuniga questions.
"What if I don't want to go back. What if I just want to know who I was, but I don't want to stay that way? What if that's why I forgot who I was."
"'What if' is a pretty scary phrase, huh?"
"I guess it is," Mei said and began to tear up.
"Hey, don't cry. You don't have to go back to the way you were. Nobody can force you to do anything," Tsuniga says handing hear a napkin.
"A napkin... Really?" Mei said chuckling a little with some tears dropping onto the table.
The waitress finally comes out of the kitchen with their order ready. Mei had just finished wiping off the tears from her eyes.
"Will you be okay?" Tsuniga asks.
"Yeah. I'll be alright," Mei responds.
The waitress puts down their food onto their table. They spent most of their evening talking to each other about their basic qualities and interests. By seven o'clock, Tsuniga was ready to leave the cafe with Mei.

"You ready to go?" Tsuniga asks Mei.
"Sure," Mei responds.
They both got up, and