Of Arms, Legs, and Hooves

by TheHouseholdWarrior


Chapter 2- What a Gentleman Does

"Nomiya-sensei!"

The eccentric, white-haired, and rather fat art teacher looked up at us from the table. There was a violent twinkle in his eyes as he stared into our own, and it took Emi and I everything we had to not bail and run off. But the twinkle was wiped away in a heartbeat (not referring to mine, of course), only to be replaced by a tense smile. Looking down on his table, I saw two stacks of papers and a single pen. It seemed as if we had disturbed him in the middle of some important paperwork.

"Yes?" replied Nomiya, trying to disguise his annoyance. "Are you here to join the Art Club? It's quite late now, so I'm not sure if-"

As much as I'd liked to let him continue speaking so as to not induce his rage any further, this was a matter of too much importance.

"I'm sorry, Nomiya-sensei, but have you seen Rin anywhere?" I interrupted with a lot of internal conflict. "Rin Tezuka?"

Much like Mutou, it seemed that Nomiya didn't appreciate being interrupted in the middle of speaking at all. For a while, the violent twinkle came back to his eyes, and Emi looked at me with an unfamiliar scared look in her eyes. So even the bold and headstrong Emi was at least kinda afraid of this guy.

Nomiya is a plump, middle aged art teacher. He always wore the same thing- a white shirt that's been completely buttoned up, covered by a bright pink blazer. He wore a yellow and red polka-dotted tie, and dark blue jeans held up by a belt. He tucks his shirt in, so his layers of fat can easily be seen flowing out of those jeans. Yes, he looked weird. Or in other words, exactly like an art teacher.

Oh, and another thing that every Yamaku art club student should know- Nomiya may look approachable and friendly, and most of the time he is, but he can be really scary when pissed off. I heard that he'd start insulting you, putting you down and he'd walk off somewhere and abandon you where he last got pissed at you. Of course, these are nothing but rumors, but we're still scared nonetheless. It's surprising that even though Emi and Rin were so close, she didn't know anything about this scary art teacher. It's like he didn't exist anywhere outside art class. Like outside the art room was a vacuum in which he couldn't pass through, or in any way interact with. I've never actually seen him walking around school before. Maybe he can teleport from the art room to his home. From what I heard so far about this guy, I wouldn't be surprised.

"Yes, I'm familiar with who Mrs. Tezuka is. She is in my art club after all." said Nomiya, laughing the tension in the room off. It might've worked for him, but the two high-schoolers here was still ready to bolt off anytime in case Nomiya blew a fuse. But for now, we stood our ground. We need to know as much as possible about where Rin was. It was starting to get worrying.

"So do you know where she is?" asked Emi, her worry for her best friend overcoming her fear of the art teacher.

"I'm afraid not." said Nomiya, still grinning that obviously-false thousand watt smile. The edges of his right eye and mouth was twitching, probably from being tired of holding up his 'cheerful' facade for too long. "Why, is she missing?"

"Yeah." I said. "Did she tell you anything at all about where she went yesterday? Or maybe what she was doing? Any bit of information could help."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't see Tezuka at all yesterday." said Nomiya, his smile disappearing as the realization of his favorite student (or so Emi told) disappearing all of a sudden. I was actually half-expecting Nomiya over-dramatizing the whole situation, probably bending on his knees, his head and arms up in the air, and with teary eyes shouting something along the lines of: "Oh, Rin Tezuka! Tezuka Rin! My favourite student! I didn't take the chance to finally say goodbye, and how I regret it so! Where are you? ANSWER MEEEEE!", but I guess I expected too much.

"Okay then." said Emi, determined to wrap this conversation up as soon as possible. "Could you please inform us if you find out or remember anything?"

"I'll make sure to do just that." said Nomiya with a small smile. "And I won't inform the higher-ups, if that's what you were going to ask next."

Emi and I widened or eyes in surprise. He's psychic? My teleportation theory might be correct after all.

"T-thank you then, Nomiya-sensei." I said, slowly closing the door. "Have a nice day."

"You kids have a nice day too." said Nomiya before sighing heavily and going back to his dull work with an angry look in his eyes. We didn't want to stay any longer, so we just closed the door shut and walked away quickly.

But with the adrenaline of having to talk with such a person gone, our worry for Rin came back tenfold, as if to make up for when it was gone a few moments ago. My heart began beating with much greater force than before (despite the fact that there was nothing immediately threatening him now, unlike the encounter before), but thankfully it's still stable, and thus not hurting yet. It's sudden increase in weight feels bad, though.

"Oh, Rin..." said Emi, a worried look in her eyes. It just occurred to me that I've really not seen this kind of look before this situation. I've seen looks like this one, but I've not actually seen this one. She looks much less energetic than usual. Perhaps if this school was as crowded as it was a week ago, people might've asked us what was wrong, how they could help, et cetera et cetera, but since it's the summer holidays, there were barely twenty to thirty kids left in the school. I don't know if I should feel disappointed or relieved.

But now, I can't let our morale fall. if there's something I learned in 'the Art of War' that I can apply immediately, it's that the morale of the soldiers is a major factor for victory in war. It's not wartime, however, but I guess the general rules still apply. i have to cheer Emi up. If not just because I want to, then to achieve victory. Or something like that.

I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up at me. Instead of seeing her usual cheerful and bubbly face (the second bubbliest face I've ever seen, since the first goes to Misha without a doubt), I saw a face filled to the brim with anxiety. If I didn't know about the situation at hand, I probably would've guessed that her dog died or something, but I know exactly why she's looking like this.

"It's gonna be fine." I said. "We'll find her. I'm sure."

Emi immediately pulled me into a tight hug, taking the breath off of me. She must've noticed this, because she immediately pulled back afterwards. See, that's the downside of having a heart problem. You can't give or receive tight hugs. Although I'm not really the type to hug, that realization still kinds of burns me a bit. Ouch.

"S-sorry." said Emi, blushing hard.

"It's okay." I said, trying my best to keep a nonchalant face. "I'm not that weak. You helped me with that."

Emi didn't look convinced, and I could see that she was fighting a hard battle with herself- she could either take me (whether I wanted to or not) to the nurse, but that would bring up a lot of awkward questions. The only choice now was to leave me as I am.

"I'm okay, Emi." I said. "Completely fine. We should really focus on finding Rin again."

Rin. That was enough to distract Emi completely. I put my hand on my chest while she is deep in thought.

Badump.

Badump.

Badump.

It's still beating heavily, but it seems alright. Looks like there really is nothing to worry about.

A few months ago, I would've said that I hated my heart. I hated my situation. I hated all the medications and doctors and checkups. I hated all the precautions I had to take. I guess even now, I still hate it. But it's a bit different, because now I've come to accept it. I've come to embrace the arrhythmia.

Heh. Embrace the arrhythmia. That sounded stupid, even in my head. But it's perhaps the best way I can describe my relationship with my heart.

"We've searched everywhere!" screamed Emi all of a sudden, banging the wall loudly with her fist and bringing me back to reality. I could've sworn that the painting at the end of the hall (which has a name I never bothered to find out) became slightly crooked. 'We've asked everyone who could've known, we tried searching for clues, but there's nothing at all! Shit!" She banged the wall again.

I stood there, completely speechless. Seeing her this distraught was very unsettling. Plus, it's still really strange to see someone like Emi swear like that.

But what she said gave me the confidence to say what I've wanted to say from before.

"We've definitely talked to those who might know..." I said, stopping myself before saying 'except her parents'. "But what about those who might not know? I think it's about time we spread the news."

"Spread the news?" Emi repeated. This is obviously something she didn't want to do. Knowing her, she would want to find Rin alone, or at least together with me. But there's really no choice here.

"Yeah, but not like wildfire." I said. "Only to the people who can help us or are trustworthy enough to keep it a secret."

Emi thought about this for a moment, looking down at her prosthetic feet.

"Fine." said Emi, looking away. "But who can we ask? None of the student council is here, and they should know everything about the happenings in our school! Who else can we ask for help."

That is the question, isn't it? Who can we ask?

We can ask those we can place our trust in.

"Come on, let's-"

Bang!


B-bald!

Except for the small amount of hair on the monster's head, it was completely bald.

Twilight cowered even further, which made the monster come even closer to her. It seemed to be... studying her thoroughly.

"Hey, back off!" screamed Rainbow Dash from behind, immediately flying in between Twilight and the monster with her hooves ready to fight.

"Hello." said the monster again, this time to Rainbow Dash. The voice's utter calmness when addressing them was very unnerving.

"Don't you lay a hoof on my friends, or I will- Huh?" said Rainbow Dash. "What did you say?"

"I said hello." said the monster. "Is that word unfamiliar? Maybe you can understand it when I say it backwards. Olleh."

Rainbow Dash looked like she had just been struck by lightning, along with the rest of the group. Not only was the monster not eating any of them yet, but it could talk, too?

"Olleh." said the monster. "Oot sdrawkcab ti dnatsrednu t'nac uoy ebyam."

The monster shook her head, as if trying to shake off something from her messy hair.

"My name is Rin. Tezuka." said the monster. "Most people call me Tezuka. It's the social norm. But my friends call me Rin. I don't know what ponies should call me, though. I think you should call me Rin."

None of them knew how to properly react to what the monster just said. The monster itself, however, didn't seem to mind. Nor did she notice their silence. Twilight would've thought that she was simply talking to herself, if she hadn't addressed them so frankly.

"You don't have hands." said the monster that called herself Rin, staring intently at Rainbow Dash's forehooves as she spoke. "So I guess neither of us knows what a handshake feels like."

Rainbow Dash suddenly hid both her forehooves behind her back, as if feeling self-conscious because of 'Rin's staring.

"W-who are you?" asked Twilight, finally standing up and walking next to Rainbow Dash. The rest of the group followed suit. All of a sudden, the monster seemed much less threatening than it was a few moments ago. Maybe it was because they now had strength in numbers, but the monster's social awkwardness probably played a factor as well. Then again, aren't ALL monsters socially awkward?

"I'm Rin." said the monster. Rin seemed like a suitable name for a monster like her, though, since the name itself seemed... foreign. Maybe they should start referring to her as Rin.

"Okay, Rin." said Twilight, making sure to get the pronunciation right so as to not anger the monster, as unlikely as it may seem. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know." said Rin. That seemed to answer all their questions.

For a very long time, there was silence. In the meantime, Rin looked away from them and at the night sky, staring at it with half an open mouth.

"I seemed to have gone to another world, though." said Rin. If there was water in any of the ponies' mouths, they would have all spit it out at that last statement.

"Ya seemed to have WHAT?" asked Applejack incredulously.

All of a sudden, Rin began to chuckle to herself. Not a straight-out laugh, nor was it a secretive giggle. It was a chuckle.

"Heheh." said Rin, smiling as she looked over at Applejack with her lazy, green eyes. "You talk funny."

Applejack immediately exploded into a full blush. Her accent has always been one of Applejack's touchy subjects, ever since she went to that Equestrian Agricultural Society meeting a few years ago and asked the head for a full refund on the shipment of apples that was lost on its way to the Canterlot Market. Although Applejack didn't specify as to what actually happened there, the rest of her friends knew that it had caused enough of an uproar not to ask her. Although Rainbow Dash always managed to get a good insult in on her accent whenever possible nowadays.

"No, ah don't..." mumbled Applejack, hiding her face in her hat and looking away. Rainbow Dash tried to stifle a laugh, causing Applejack to look at her with a glare that seemed to say: 'Wait for me. I'll kill you later.'

Twilight, however, was still rendered speechless. What king of being could say "I seemed to have gone into another world" that calmly?

"When you say 'gone into another world'... what do you mean?" asked Twilight.

The monster, Rin, thought about that for a moment. She doesn't seem to be able to maintain eye contact with anypony.

"Well, I used to not be in this world..." said Rin. "And now I am. That's it."

Twilight could feel her face drop a million hooves. But no matter how unsatisfactory Rin's answer was, there was no denying that it was probably the only right answer. This made her heart drop just as much as her face.

Just what in Equestria is this thing?

There seemed to be a neverending supply of calm in Rin's blood, as if there was absolutely nothing that could make it respond emotionally. It was as if the Elements of Harmony themselves had hit her with a supersaturated calming spell, with effects that last forever. Or maybe even longer than that.

"You still haven't told me your names." said Rin, shocking Twilight out of her deep thoughts. Rin was looking at Twilight expectantly.

Can I trust this thing? At first glance, my answer would've been 'no', but...

She really didn't seem all that dangerous. Nor did she seem to have any malicious aura or intent about her. She was simply asking for her name.

"I-I'm Twilight." said Twilight, bowing her head awkwardly. She sensed that Rin did the same thing, except with more force and energy. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sparkle."

"Call me Twilight."

"...Twilight."

The awkward silences that come from talking with this monster are just way too unnerving. Twilight had more than half a mind to just abandon this crazy monster and run off back to the Library, but just couldn't. Her studious, curious self didn't allow her to do such a thing. She quickly nudged Rarity's side. Getting the point, Rarity began to introduce herself.

"I'm Rarity, and this is Fluttershy." said Rarity, pointing a hoof to herself first before pointing to the yellow and pink bundle of fur to her side.

"Rarity. Fluttershy." said Rin, bowing her head just as she did with Twilight before. She probably thought that it was some kind of tradition around here.

"And I'm Rainbow Dash!" said Rainbow Dash as she flew over from picking on Applejack in her usual boisterous manner to introduce herself. "Fastest pegasus in all of Equestria!"

"Do I call you 'Rainbow' or 'Dash'?" asked Rin. "Or both? Or Raindash? Maybe Dashbow? Bowdash? Dashrain? Or-"

"Just 'Rainbow Dash' is fine." interrupted the rainbow-maned pegasus. She seemed to be nervous around Rin as well.

"And ah'm Applejack." said the farmpony, walking to Rin with a huge blush on her face.

Rin chuckled again, causing Applejack to turn around and quickly walk to where the rest of the group is.

And after that... awkward silence. It really seemed as if there was nothing else to say at this point. Twilight began to feel beads of cold sweat flowing down her cheeks from the sheer nervousness of meeting such an... intriguing subject.

The silence, of course, is broken by the one who started it.

"I'm hungry." said Rin. Her body looked tense, but her voice was as calm as ever. It was as if she were fighting against something in her own body.

Nopony knew how to respond. The monster sure was friendly enough, and it was DEFINITELY harmless. But there was no way in Pony Hell were any of them going to allow Rin into their houses. Even Fluttershy, who always catered to ponies and animals in need, didn't dare to invite Rin over.

"I'm tired, too." said Rin. "Very tired."

She looked away again.

"I think I'm about to faint."

What?

And with that, Rin's legs gave way, making Rin fall down to the side with a loud 'thud'.