Between the Pages

The chimes announced that someone interested with my tomes has arrived once more and I looked up and smiled. It was another regular.

The girl nodded at me and whisked away—perfectly stealthy in her actions. If I have met her for the first time, I would think that it was weird for her to show such signs of paranoia; however, I have seen her for most of the year and my first impressions of her had changed.

I watched her make her way towards the Horror section of the library. She always stayed there, scanning through the shelves and grazing her hands amongst the spines. Only a few people look for books on that area, thus, giving her the perfect mood for a bit of reading. It was surprising how I've become inclined to her strange complexities, yet, I still do not have the courage to speak to her. After all, she was weird in her own way.

She only read amongst the shelves. She doesn't look for a vacant table and do her reading there, even if only a few people were inside this vast and quaint building. She reads and places the books back, not even attempting to borrow it and it home. That is why, until now, she remained nameless to me.

It had been an hour since she arrived and more people began filing in. There were few who desperately asked for rare books and manual catalogues seemed to lay forgotten. If I had a say about those things, I would recommend it better. I paid attention to person after person, those who borrowed books and those who inquired about the proper reading material they needed. Some even asked me about the proper resources required for their personal works, which, as I see it, is truly mind-boggling.

Maybe, that's why I wasn't able to monitor her all day. It was Saturday, too, and this day seemed to be the library's peak.

"I want to borrow this." A hollow, yet feminine, voice caught my attention. It was her.

I glanced at her and saw her face up close for the first time. Even behind her long fringe, her beauty was unmistakable. I smiled warmly and placed my glasses atop my nose, my hand stretching out to hold the book that caught her attention so much that she needed to bring it home with her.

"Shakespeare?" I was surprised, to say the least. I expected a Horror novel, not a classical romance.

She nodded. A ghost of a smile appeared on her plump lips; however, her violet eyes appeared distant. As a librarian, I had my fair share of people who experienced the same hollowed look once their eyes meet with a certain book—she was no different.

"It reminds you of someone, doesn't it?" I whispered and watched as her glassy eyes stared at me nonchalantly, as if my sudden statement did not make an impact on her. I knew better.

"I…want to read a romantic tragedy." She reached for her card and handed it to me.

"Why not try Romeo and Juliet, then?" I knew that I was already prying, but still, it irked me to no end as to why she felt emotionally inclined with this particular book.

I punched the book's number into my computer, patiently waiting for her to answer. I glanced at her card and smiled. Sunako, I thought, what a beautiful name.

I handed her the book and card. She nodded her head and turned her back. But, the moment I accepted that she was not going to give me her answer, she halted her steps and said,

"I want a tragedy without death, to feel love without the drama. I find this perfect for that." With that, she walked away.

I shook my head and chuckled. She was a real weirdo, that girl. For the rest of my day, I thought about her and the book, knowing full well that Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was far from being a tragedy.

She came back two days later. I spotted her immediately since she was a target of mine for today. You see, a man came by yesterday, looking for a copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, stating that he was in desperate need of the said book. Unfortunately, we only had one copy of the famous Shakespearean play and I assured him (since I knew that he wasn't a patient man) that I could call him once the book had been returned.

I was lucky that Sunako was a fast reader.

"Good morning, Nakahara-san." I greeted her the moment she reached my desk and handed me the book. "Did you find it satisfying, dear?"

Sunako pursed her lips and I chuckled. Apparently, she didn't. She seemed to realize that I had finally uncovered her personal book review and I assured her with a smile. It's not the first time that I find a person think that Shakespeare was a dunderhead and complete nutter.

"I didn't like it, but," Sunako hesitated and pursed her lips again. "I found what I was looking for."

I raised my eyebrows in question, yet decided not to ask. It seemed that some personal issue thrived through the pages of Shakespeare's work and I doubt it that she did not like it because of the Old English text. It ran deeper than that.

"Thank you." Sunako bowed to me and I smiled.

She went out immediately, not even taking a few steps into the Horror section.

"Do you have it?" I jumped at the sound of a man's voice and sighed.

"Yes, Takano-san." I smiled as he sighed in relief. "It was returned earlier this morning."

Kyohei nodded as I handed him the book. He was one of my regulars; however, this was the first time that he demanded a book from me. He was more of the eager type, reading the text while he was inside the library and sipping his coffee. He and his friend Takenaga-san always talked about certain things that he seemed to find unexplainable and the more time he spent within the four walls of the building, the more confused his face grew.

"May I ask…" I cocked my head as his handsome face cracked into a whirl of uncertainty—and hope. "…who borrowed it before me?"

I placed my glasses down and sighed. As much as I wanted to learn about the boy's problems, this is one thing that I couldn't help him with. It was protocol.

"I'm sorry, Takano-san. I can't give you such information." I smiled apologetically, seeing that flicker of hope in his eyes as it vanished into nothingness.

He nodded and retracted from the front desk. With another sigh, I watched him depart from the library with a gloomy aura around him.

After that encounter with Kyohei, I began to see him more than usual. He brought the book with him and read it inside the library. I find it strange, yet, I paid him no heed. Sometimes, Takenaga-san accompanied him and watched as he dove into the words and become hypnotized with the story. It was unusual, really. Mostly, Takenaga-san did most of the reading and Kyohei did most of the gawking—this time, it was the other way around.

By the time that Kyohei finished his reading, Takenaga-san decided to talk.

"Do you want to go? Yuki and Ranmaru are worried sick." Takenaga's eyes spoke for itself, as if what Kyohei was doing was a bad thing.

"No." Kyohei glared at him and it made goosebumps rise from my flesh. "She's here, I can feel it."

Takenaga-san glared back and closed his book with a thud. He stood from their table and watched his friend stay silent. By the look on his face, it seemed that it wasn't Kyohei's natural behavior.

"Kyohei." Kyohei lifted his head and looked at him impassively. "Please, stop this. She wasn't the girl who borrowed that blasted book before you did!"

Takenaga-san left after that. All the while, Kyohei sat on his chair with his head cradled by his hands.

Kyohei returned the book a week after. I decided to ask him if he were alright, since he looked awful the moment he entered my library. He waved my concern away and said that he only lacked sleep because of his fight with Takenaga-san. I said no more after that.

This time, he stayed. He browsed through a variety of aisles and flipped pages of various books that caught his attention. He wandered to and fro, not stopping for a little rest or sitting down once he decided to read through the pages of another classic, probably Jane Austen. His silent demeanor caught the attention of most girls, some of the bolder ones even decided to approach him; nevertheless, he paid them no heed.

Saying that Takano Kyohei was handsome would be considered an understatement. With a lithe form and tousled blonde hair, he was the most beautiful of the male species that walked past my brass doors and if I were not an old woman of fifty-two, I might be one of those ogling girls who openly flirted with him. They stopped their ministrations though, since Kyohei decided not to even let his eyes leave the pages of the book that he was holding.

One might think that he did that because he was immersed in his reading material.

I would say that he is thinking of other things. Like the girl that was the topic of his argument with Takenaga-san.

"Librarian-san." I smiled at the new person in front of my desk. It was Sunako.

"Yes, dear?" I heard the sound of a falling book from my left, yet, paid it no attention. Sunako asking for assistance was rarer than that. I could fix it later.

"I need the book again." She stared at me and I nodded. It was a good thing that Kyohei only returned it this morning and I still kept it under my desk. I handed her the book and punched her name once more. She immediately left, and in her hurry, she elbowed my pencil canister without even knowing it.

I bent over to retrieve it; however, sudden yells of "Hey!" and "Watch it!" reached my ears. I immediately glared at the source of the noise, only to find the perpetrator gone. I sighed and shushed the remaining people, walking through the aisle where the fallen book lay.

My eyes widened as I saw a copy of Pride and Prejudice on the floor. I scanned the room, yet no blonde was to be found.

The sudden interest of both Kyohei and Sunako with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream intrigued me, to say the least. An added fact to that was because they borrowed it alternately without the one knowing of the other's interest, even after Kyohei's sudden walk out the week before. It did seem strange; however, he entered the library once more with a downcast look upon his face. That way, I deduced that he was trying to talk to Sunako.

It was already past midnight and I was still inside the library, sorting out through the books and plucking the misplaced ones. It had been a long time since I did this, and the cataloguing was becoming a pain because of the books that were placed within aisles which are not their own. I was already in the middle of the classics and to ease the pain caused by my continuous walking, I decided to quench my curiosity.

The tattered, and only, copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream peeked out of the various books of William Shakespeare. I pulled it from its shelf and situated myself in the midst of the deserted library. I have read this, yes, but the emotional pull the two teenagers had with this particular tome planted an itching curiosity in my belly.

And I got my answer the moment I opened the book.

"Kyohei." I glared and whispered at the crooked handwriting that greeted my eyes at its title page. It was bitingly obvious that a man wrote the vandalism and only one particular man came into mind. A date was inscribed at the upper left of the book and I made my way towards my desk to check on my computer.

August 23. I marveled at his vandals. It was the first time he went with Takenaga-san here, and he immediately borrowed the book.

I forgot the violation that was presented right in front of my eyes. Even at an old age, one could say that I'm not that much of a batty hag of a librarian that we are all stereotyped to be. Because of that, I read his writing.

Freak,

This was the first non-horror book that you ever read. Heh, maybe this IS also the very first book that I ever read. I don't know why I wrote in this copy. Heck, others could read it, too for all I care. Only, I bet the old librarian would flip once she saw this—in the title page, too.

If you ever read this, I just want to say I'm sorry. You might think that I was stupid enough to remember trivial things about you, but, it was worth it. I am a jerk, you said it before. But, I only realized it now. Come back. They miss you. I miss you.

Kyohei.

I scowled and thought of his conversation with Takenaga-san. I only found it odd for him to call her "freak". I always knew that he was a nutter, I chuckled at the thought and flipped a couple of pages.

I impassively stared at the multiple vandals done by Kyohei. It was as if in every page, he wrote something. The girl, apparently, wasn't able to borrow this particular copy; however, he incessantly wrote and wrote new things into the pages, others even contained swearing while most, narrated his memories of her—both painful and charming.

And as I read and read… I finally realized that I imagined the girl with flowing black hair, weird fashion sense, long fringe and piercing purple eyes. I didn't know why Nakahara Sunako seemed to invade my thoughts; maybe, it was because she borrowed the book often, as well. By that, I even started to think that she brought it home because she was entertained with the vandals written amongst the pages.

But, a certain entry caught my attention. It was dated on October 26—the day when he last borrowed it. Apparently, he was the last borrower.

I love you, you know? I know it was ironic and overly stupid…but I do. I wish I could tell you.

I love you, Sunako.

"I love you…" I whispered in shocked silence. "…Sunako."

The book fell to the floor and I placed my glasses down in surprise. The girl had been borrowing it all along because of his silent declarations. Nakahara Sunako claimed the book again and again because she knew that he continued writing…that he continued waiting.

I placed the book atop my desk and flicked the lights off.

I was walking along the deserted streets when I saw her by the library door. She sat by its large doors, quietly raking the fallen sakura petals by her feet. It was only quarter to six in the morning, and her early arrival brought the same wave of surprise that I experienced last night.

"Nakahara-san." I acknowledged her presence and she stood up. "Why so early?"

"I need the book again." Her eyes flashed determination and longing. "I need it immediately."

I nodded and slipped the key in. The large doors swung open and the young lass quickly made her way inside the library. I saw her hastily walk to the Classics section, only to stop her with my hoarse voice, stating that the book lay atop of my desk.

I watched as she reached it and flipped through its pages. She stopped as her eyes scanned certain words. The silence was biting and I knew that she finally read the last entry Kyohei made. I was too caught up with the woman who was standing rigidly by my desk that I was unable to detect the presence of another inside the library.

"Is it true?" The hoarseness of her voice was evident. Sunako calmly turned around and looked past me.

Kyohei stepped closer, not paying any attention to me. His blue eyes sought her violet ones and before he even had the chance to say his answer, a petite body was pressed against his. Whispered words of promise sounded loud and declarative and I smiled as a glare came from Sunako and Kyohei chuckled.

He wasted no time and grazed his lips against hers. It was chaste and sweet, bribed with longing and affection. It was just like the feeling invoked by Shakespeare the moment Lysander remembered his love for Hermia, it was like the satisfying ending of the book that brought the two of them together.

They left after that, no words needed. The book was unintentionally brought with them, yet, I couldn't care less. After all, the tome was already filled with numerous vandals that only they would find entertaining and memorable.

I sat behind my desk and drank my coffee. It was a great day, indeed.

"Librarian-san." Takenaga-san's angelic face greeted me a week later. "I want to return this."

A new copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream found its way into my elderly hands. I raised a brow at him in question and the lad merely chuckled.

"They seemed to find the last copy a bit old…and violated. That is why they chose to donate a new one." Takenaga-san bowed and waved, making his way amidst the throng of people.

I chuckled as I opened the book. Another note was written, this time, with the use of a female's hand.

Thank you. Kyohei made me write since he thinks that you find his handwriting revolting. I agree with you on that one.

Sunako.

Life is great, indeed.