Vol 3 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Chapter 4: Seron’s Dream
The five studentsrain and returned to the gymnasium
Seron went in with Larry and Nick, and Natalia and Meg followed separately
Afternoon practice grew heated and even stricter They stopped for a break halfway through and finally finished much later than the usual dismissal time
The orchestra and the chorus club left ahead Natalia and Meg gestured to Seron and Larry to do their best as they disappeared into the evening rain
Once the drama club was dismissed, Seron and Larry hurried to the faculty office without Nick
And on the way,
“Say, Seron”
“Yeah?”
“I wonder what happened to Mr Murdoch”
“Hotten I’ from Mr Hartnett?”
“Makes sense I should ask her sometime”
They entered the office
Mr Jobs from the social studies department was on duty He was a raphy
Poor Mr Jobs had been torn fro sue office
He was tall with a slender build and wore round glasses Ever indifferent, he showed no qualms about Seron’s request
“You want to use the library? Sure But you won’t have a lot of time”
“I’ inside, sir I’d like to check out so I simply have to look into I’d also like to borrow the encyclopedia set for one night May I take them back to my dorm room?”
“Hm… You need the librarian’s permission to check out the encyclopedias, but there’s no one there right now …Well, you’re an honor student I suppose I could give you permission”
“Thank you, Mr Jobs!”
The library was a large building separate from the others, and was home to a massive number of books Luckily for Seron and Larry, it was close to the dormitories and was connected to it by a roofed ay
The library was practically Seron’s second room If he wasn’t in the dorms, he was bound to be here
Seron and Larry stepped in through the door Mr Jobs unlocked
“Next”
Seron knehere al was He quickly picked up the books he needed and loaded the
By the time he was done, thole carts had been filled
“That’s quite the load you’re taking along Do be careful on the way back” Mr Jobs said as he locked up and left
The carts were so heavy that Seron and Larry had to push one cart together across the ay, then come back for the other And once they were at the dor the books all the way up to the third floor Seron reached for the encyclopedias
“Wait I’ll take care of this” Larry said “I’ll carry the books upstairs, so you watch the carts”
“But—”
“You’ve got a long night ahead of you, buddy You’ll need all your strength I’ what I can to help”
“…All right Thanks, Larry”
“Just leave it to me!”
Larry hefted as many books as he could into his arms and slowly made his way up the stairs Then he ran back to the cart and carried yet another armful of books upstairs
Several repetitions later, Larry’s T-shi+rt was drenched
“I’ on his usual smile
Seron stood by the carts, watching Larry ain
Once the books were in their room, Seron and Larry took a quick bath and went to the cafeteria for dinner
When they stepped inside, they spotted Nick eating next to Arthur—separate fro about so often Nick noticed Larry and Seron, but continued the conversation
“Looks like he’s on a roll” “We can leave SC Arthur to Nick”
Larry and Seron re down even further from the rest of the club
For dinner they had a choice between beefsteak patties with vegetables or spaghetti in white sauce Seron and Larry elected for the latter
“Seron, you’re gonna pull an all-nighter?”
“Yeah, probably”
“Got anything to chon on overnight?”
“It’d be nice if I did”
“Hold on a sec”
“Huh?”
“Be right back”
Larry took off and grabbed two hot dog buns from the all-you-can-eat buns section He also picked out two beefsteak patties and sos from the salad bar
Then he cut the buns in half, spread butter on the inside, and toasted theetables
“There Here’s your Hepburn-style sandwiches!”
Larry carefully wrapped up the sandwiches in the bags the hot dog buns came in, separately from the cheese
“Snack on these if you get hungry Just put the cheese inside and warm ‘em up back here in the cafeteria”
“Thanks, Larry I really appreciate it” Seron said, receiving the sandwiches Larry grinned
“That looks scru their table
Seron and Larry looked up to see that Arthur was leaving the cafeteria The other drama club members were nowhere to be seen
“Anything?” Larry asked as Nick sat next to him
Nick shook his head “We had a wonderful conversation about theater”
“I see” Larry was disappointed Seron remained as stoic as ever
“But soe to one and thishis voice Seron and Larry gave him their full attention “Just now, the topic of my birthday happened to come up So I took the chance to ask SC Arthur if he knew that SC Sophia’s birthday was the day after tomorrow”
“Good going, Nick!” “And?”
“It see for her, but I’ht now,’ he said to htful answer It see a celebration for her at the afterparty In any case, I pursued the topic further and asked SC Arthur what he wanted for his own birthday—if he had so he truly wanted”
“Yeah!” “What did he say?”
“Well, that was the curious part” Nick said gravely
“What do you mean?” Asked Seron
“Hoould you two answer?” Nick asked
“If I could ask for anything? A motorcycle or a car”
“Books Or a bookstore gift card”
“Yes, that’s generally how people would answer that question”
“Then you mean—”
“That’s right, Seron SC Arthur began to speak faster, his attitude changing ‘N-nothing,’ he said to me And that was the end of it I’d never seen him so flustered”
“Hroaned
Seron thought in silence
“It couldn’t be…” Nick began
Larry knehat he was thinking “You want to say that your guess back in the office ht”
“Yes What do you think, Seron?”
“It’s looking more likely”
“I see Then what is our course of action?”
“Pray that I’ll find the answer in the library books tonight”
“I understand That’s all for my report”
“All right Let’s get started”
Seron was sitting at his desk in the dorm room
On the desk was a brand-new notebook and pens and pencils
Around the desk were piles upon piles of books
The encyclopedias had been spread all around the room because they were so heavy that they made the floor squeak underneath There was also a T-shi+rt under each pile of books to keep them clean
“Good luck!” Larry cheered, cli ready to sleep
It wasn’t yet bedtime, but Larry pulled his sheets over himself
“I’ll sleep early and get up early Wake me up at sunrise”
“Got it” Seron replied Larry closed his eyes and put a towel over his eyelids
And with surprising proan to snore softly
Seron turned back to his desk
“All right”
He opened up ‘Canoeing for Beginners’
The twelfth day of the 7th month
It was before dawn on theof the sixth day of the practice camp
The first thing Larry sahen he opened his eyes was the ceiling, lit di sun
The next thing he saas the pile of books stacked near the foot of his bed
The next thing he saas Seron, sitting at the desk in the saht before
A thick book was spread on the desk before Seron His hand quietly turned the page
“Hey, Seron I’m awake now…” Larry said, half-asleep
“Morning already…?” Seron replied, slowly turning around
“Huh?”
The face that greeted Larry had red eyes with dark circles underneath It was alhostlike
“Hey… you all right, buddy?” Larry asked, cohtly tilted his head and replied in a half-moan
“I dunno But that’s not important”
“Wh-what in—? Is that you, Seron?”
That was the first thing Nick asked when he approached the table and Seron turned to look at him
“Yeah… I think so Morning” Seron replied lethargically Nick sat across from him
“You certainly don’t appear to be the same Seron as the one I ht Are you feeling all right?”
“My eyes hurt a bit… ht headache… but I’ll be fine once I have so help too” Seron replied,cereal into his mouth
“Seron, you seeiving Larry a pointed look
Larry shook his head
“Gimme a break, Nick I tried to stop him More than once, too I woke up at dawn, but Seron wouldn’t stop reading for hours after He was glued to the books until just before we came down to the cafeteria”
“…And did you find anything, Seron?”
“I h the encyclopedias and the rulebooks, but I didn’t find anything But…”
“But?”
“I still have raphies of famous athletes, international competition records, stuff like that to look over until afternoon Sorry Larry, but you go to practice without me I’ll join you in the afternoon…”
Nick gave up on trying to convince Seron He stood without even touching his breakfast
“Larry, may I have a word?”
“Sure Take you time, Seron And make sure to have some fruit too!”
Nick and Larry walked away from Seron, who continued to scoop food into his mouth They stopped by the cafeteria wall and quietly whispered to one another
“What a terrible state He looks like a dead er”
“I don’t think he took a single break overnight He even had the sandwiches cold in our room”
“This is too ht should not tire anyone out to that extent We must make him rest today”
“You think I haven’t tried? I said I’d go to practice alone and he could get some sleep, but he won’t listen He wouldn’t listen at all”
“Then it see until the afternoon Even if he finishes early, he may return to the library for more books He could easily drive himself to unconsciousness”
“Yeah… So this is what happens when a hardworking guy with a long attention span gets to work, huh”
“This is no tihed “I have an idea”
Nick’s green eyes looked into Larry’s blue eyes
“After breakfast, ill take Seron to the newspaper club office, telling him we should report to Jenny before practice We have no idea what he may do if we leave him in the dorm room with the books”
“Right” Larry nodded “But what’re we supposed to do then? Seron’s gonna insist on co back We can’t exactly knock him out”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures There is a Dezer Pharmaceuticals first-aid kit in the office, yes? It should contain headache pills We will have Seron take the medicine”
“Huh? Yeah, that does put you right to sleep But Seron would never take it in a million years” Larry pointed out
“That will not be a probleant smile “We can simply break it apart and put it in his tea”
“It was an e up at the sky
He was sitting on a bench on the rooftop of the building that housed the club office The concrete floor was still wet in places
Next to hiirls in uniform
The newspaper clublunch on the rooftop The sky was a clear blue, and there was a gentle breeze in the air
“You spiked his tea?! That’s pure evil, Nicholas Browning I approve” Natalia nodded She had gobbled down her hot ha up a second one
“Thank you” Nick replied Larry sighed
“What’s up, shortie?” Asked Natalia
“I just… I’m such a loser I’m supposed to be his friend I should have stopped him before he went to far”
“Like we didn’t know that” Natalia agreed firmly
“Heh heh heh…” Larry looked up at the sky with a bitter smile
“Look, Larry Hepburn You’re only 15 It’s okay as long as you don’t make the same mistake with your subordinates when you’re 25”
“…Yeah! You’re right” Larry grinned, and dug into his sandith gusto
“If that is the case, is Seron now sleeping?” Meg asked She had only taken a couple of bites of her food Jenny, who had wolfed down her sandwich in the blink of an eye, answered
“He crashed mid-sentence the second he had the tea He’s probably still snoozing on the sofa”
“I understand… it is a relief in any case” Meg said weakly
“I bet it’s real comfortable on that pricy sofa I should try sometime” Natalia commented
Jenny thought for ain a bed for the office But then I’d have to expand the place”
“Hey, we don’t need an expansion!” Larry cut in “If we didn’t pro a secret, ould have taken Seron to the infir from his first sandwich and reached for his second
“Erm! Is it the fault of mine? Because I said to Seron, ‘do your best’? I pushed Seron so much?”
Larry froze He could not bring himself to nod
Instead, he quietly tightened his grip on the paper bag
“Not at all, Megin with; I’ardless”
“Yeah No one ever tells soet to you, Megy for chorus club; eat up, or you’ll end up like Seron!”
Nick and Natalia tried to encourage Meg
“Yes…”
Downcast, she returned to her sandwich
“Anything?” Jenny asked And she answered her own question before anyone else could “I didn’t find a thing No news so far”
Everyone was silent Jenny understood
“I see Looks like we ht not be able to finish the et any new info from the client?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t We’ve both been completely focused on practice over the past two days—it’s a very important performance, and SC Arthur and SC Sophia have many more lines and scenes than I do”
“I see Could you tell her to come to the office after practice today?”
“Of course I’ll make sure she comes, even if she has to have dinner late”
“Thanks I’ to leave campus for a bit today”
“Got it” Larry nodded “Leave the rest to us Good luck”
Natalia asked where Jenny was going Nick responded
“The Grand Theatre, where the Confederation Theatre Troupe is Jenny ht to interview the former drama club president there”