Kurosaki Ryuunosuke stared with daze at the student council president. At least, his brain was remembering the image and his eyes were just staring at whatever was in front of him.
Kurosaki Yuzu, his neighbour who shared the same surname, glared at him as she cooked dinner. They had been friends since they were little kids. She'd even lived through the gangster phase Kurotatsu had been through during junior high. In fact, it was partly because of her that he'd turned straight anyway. Now, all he did was day-dream about a woman who really didn't care about him at all. She felt heart-broken. After all, she had been in love with him since they first met.
"Ryuun! Dinner!" she yelled, snapping angrily at the boy who dared to day-dream about another woman when she was standing just six feet away, dressed in a flimsy tank-top and shorts. Kurotatsu looked at her and then frowned.
"Yuzu? What are you doing here?" he asked. Yuzu walked over and hit his head with a frying pan. Kurotatsu winced and held his head, rubbing it where she'd hit with his palm.
"Oba-san and Kaa-san have gone out! We're supposed to give each other company remember!" she said. Kurotatsu blinked and thought back, Yuzu rolled her eyes.
"You would remember" she mocked, "If you'd actually paid attention when they were talking! All you do these days is day-dream! Bakamono!" she scolded. Of course, since "Bakamono" is such an old word usage, Yuzu hadn't learnt it from her friends, but from a manga Kurotatsu used to read before. The female lead was old-world, and so was her language.
"Hai hai" he muttered, standing up and walking over to the dining table. Yuzu placed his plate in front of him.
"Yuzu should really get a boyfriend" Kurotatsu suggested. Yuzu rolled her eyes.
"Right" she muttered, "People are just dying to go out with the girl claimed by the red butterfly" she said.
Red Butterfly had been Kurotatsu's name during his days as a yankee. The reason was because of the embroidery on his leather jacket looked like that when he was fighting. Also, during middle school, since other delinquents would use Yuzu as a bait to get to him, Kurotatsu had claimed her in front of a large crowd and announced that whosoever even laid one finger on her would end up dying a painful death. This was why Yuzu didn't have possible admirers, or even any friends who were guys. Except of course, the other two bakamono Kurotatsu brought home some times.
"People still remeber that?" he asked, looking surprised. Yuzu nodded and pointed to the nape of her neck.
"Of course, even if they didn't, this really gives me away" she said. Kurotatsu fidgeted nervously.
What she was referring to was a small tattoo of a red butterfly that Kurotatsu insisted she get done for her protection. She'd cried for hours with pain and Kurotatsu had never been more ashamed or upset by his actions. It was after this incident that he'd given up being a delinquent. Since it had cause such a big change in him Yuzu had kept it, as a keepsake of their shared memories.
"Right" he said and then fell silent, eating his food in silence.
Yuzu watched for a few minutes and then sighed.
"It's alright, Ryuun" she said, "I don't want a boyfriend right now anyway" she said. Kurotatsu frowned.
"Why not?" he asked, "Every girl dreams of only that" he added. Yuzu nodded.
"True" she admitted, "I dream of that too. But it's in the future, not right now. Right now, I'm happy with going to school, and enjoying school-life" she added with a genuine smile. Of course, what she didn't admit was that the only guy whom she cared about was just two feet away and completely oblivious, so there's no need to hurry.
Kurotatsu frowned and chewed his mouthful slowly. Yuzu picked at her plate disinterestedly. The only reason she made omurice was for Kurotatsu's sake. He said he loved it. But, she didn't particularly like it. She preferred eating miso soup and rice with a serving of fried fish.
"Why did you make Omurice if you didn't want to eat?" he asked. Yuzu smiled.
"For you, of course!" she said, smiling a little. Kurotatsu looked at her for the first time in years. Ever since he'd joined Seika, he had changed in more ways than one. Now, after a long time, when he saw Yuzu, she looked like a woman, not a little girl. He blinked rapidly, hoping his dirty thoughts would not appear and then looked down again. Yuzu frowned and sighed as she ate the food grudgingly. After she was done, she looked at Kurotatsu expectantly. He knew that look. It meant: "You're washing the dishes"
He obliged by a nod of the head and took the dishes inside while Yuzu sat in the sofa and looked through the channels in the TV. She was particularly bored that evening, considering it was Friday night and there was no school tomorrow. After washing the dishes, Kurotatsu returned and sat down beside her watching whatever she had decided to watch. Yuzu was watching an anime, that too Shin-chan's adventures. She didn't laugh at the dirty jokes the five-year-old protagonist cracked, even though
Kurotatsu could barely control himself and laughed his heart out. Yuzu rolled her eyes and changed the channel. This time it landed in a news channel that was showing an amusement park that was near their town. Yuzu's eyes perked up.
"Ryuun!" she said excitedly, "Let's go there!" she said. Kurotatsu frowned. He didn't have any money. and he wouldn't have enough to go there for at least a week.
"That's such a pain, Yuzu" he complained, "This is why I told you to get a boyfriend"
Yuzu glared at him and smacked his head with her fist, hard.
"Ittai!" Kurotatsu yelled. Yuzu turned away, pouting. Kurotatsu knew better than to say anything more.
"I'll head home now" he said, standing up, "Thank you for the meal" he added, before he left.
Kurotatsu spent the next day looking for work that would pay enough for the amusement park, the trip there and back and food. Although the usual him would've just borrowed the money, he wanted to take Yuzu there on his own. Not with help from his friends. Yet, Kurotatsu, as his best friends referred to him, couldn't help but admit it to his best friends, Shiroyan and Ikkun.
"So, Kurotatsu likes Yuzu-chan" Ikkun said, when he'd told them. Kurotatsu blushed a little, frowned a lot and nodded meekly.
"No wonder you kept saying, 'Yuzu belongs to the Red Butterfly!'" Shiroyan offered. Kurotatsu shot them glares. The two best friends grinned and eased up.
"We'll help Kurotatsu get his girl!" Ikkun promised.
"No problem at all!" Shiroyan added. Kurotatsu smiled at them.
"But, we want Yuzu's dinner tonight!" Shiroyan declared.
"Yes! Most definitely!" Ikkun added. Kurotatsu sighed.
"Oh, alright!" he said. Kurotatsu found an opening at a grocery store and took up the offer. After spending the day behind the counter, stacking the aisles and cleaning up after kids who had vomited, Kurotatsu, went home. As always, Yuzu was there, in his living room, working on homework. Although she didn't look, or act, or even sound like it, Yuzu was a pretty smart girl. She was a scholarship student at Miyabigaoka and although she was surrounded by high-class guys throughout the day, she liked nothing better than spending the evening lazing around in her neighbour's home, watching TV off their money.
"Go home, Yuzu" Kurotatsu said as he walked past her to the kitchen. Yuzu snorted.
"You monster!" she complained, "All you ever do is kick me out"
Kurotatsu rolled his eyes.
"Go home and get dressed" he told her, "My friends want to eat your home-made dinner"
Yuzu frowned and looked at him as he drank milk wearing only his pants.
"Why?" she asked. Kurotatsu, the great big idiot, spouted all the milk in his mouth out, which sprayed on Yuzu's face. Yuzu glared at him.
"Nice" she said, "You owe me, Ryuun" she added, switching off the TV and making her way to the door.
"I'm making miso, by the way. No changes in the order accepted" she informed. Kurotatsu rolled his eyes as she left. Then, when she was gone, he sighed and then whacked his head.
After cleaning himself and the floor up, Kurotatsu make his way to Yuzu's. On his way, he met his friends and they went in together.
"Sorry for intruding" Shiroyan and Ikkun said loudly and cheerfully.
"You don't sound sorry" Yuzu snapped at them looking at them from the kitchen, where she stood, again, clad in a flimsy tank top and shorts that barely reached mid-thigh. She was wearing a white apron and her long black hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail. The boys ogled her until Yuzu rolled her eyes and turned back to making the fried fish. The idiot trio settled down on the sofa, and discussed something in hushed tones. Yuzu frowned, wondering what they were talking about. Then, rolled her eyes, remembering the crush they had on the student president at Seika. She was famous in Miyabigaoka too, for rejecting the offer for scholarship and transfer. Yuzu sighed as she put in the last ingredients for the miso. Then, she sniffed and smiled. It was ready.
"Dinner" she announced and the boys scrambled to help set the table. They had experienced Yuzu's wrath before for ignoring her announcements and just eating. They'd spent days with their heads under ice. Yuzu smiled at the quick response and was happy the guys were doing at least that after making her cook for them.
Soon, they were eating enthusiastically. Yuzu knew that none of the three guys liked miso that much. But the way they were eating, they could fool anyone! After they'd eaten, they thanked her for the meal.
"Yuzu-chan makes the best miso!" Shiroyan declared. Yuzu had known Shiroyan since they started junior high. But, the boy had changed over the years and now, he was like Kurotatsu, going after a girl who was unreachable and probably taken.
"Thanks" Yuzu said, smiling as she relaxed with the two boys while Kurotatsu washed the dishes. Ikkun grinned as he pulled out his sketch book.
"Does Yuzu-san want a portrait? I can make one, free of charge!" he offered. Yuzu's cheeks tinted red and she smiled, but shook her head.
"I look awful! No way!" she complained. Kurotatsu, watching this felt the blood rise to his nose and the capillaries rupture. He had a nose-bleed! Shiroyan, noticing this, quickly turned Yuzu's attention away from Kurotatsu, who was trying to stop the bleeding.
"Yuzu-chan, you are kawaii" he said, putting on his best sexy face. But Yuzu just smacked him in the face and hit Ikkun in the head before running back into her room. Kurotatsu held his nose and tilted his head up hoping that the bleeding would subside, but the face Yuz had just made was so adorable, it kept popping up in his head. Shiroyan and Ikkun, after recovering from Yuzu's hits, helped Kurotatsu, only for the nosebleed to start again when he saw the sketch Ikkun had made of Yuzu when her face was so adorable.
"Kurotatsu can keep it" he said, handing over the sketch, "For free!" he added. Kurotatsu nodded and after telling Yuzu, through the door, they left.
That night, all Kurotatsu did was stare at the sketch. He'd put it in a thin plastic bag to keep it safe and then stared at it for hours on end. By morning, Kurotatsu was a different man, who had fallen in love with Yuzu. She was beautiful just the way she was: tomboyish, with the long hair, dark eyes, small nose and pouty lips. Everytime he remembered the lips, Kurotatsu bit his own, wondering how long it would be before he kissed them.
By next Sunday, Kurotatsu had made enough money and he went to pick up Yuzu.
"Oba-san? Is Yuzu here?" Kurotatsu asked as he entered. The woman, who was Yuzu's mother, smiled warmly.
"She went out just a few minutes ago, Ryuu-kun" she informed. Kurotatsu blinked.
"Will she back soon?" he asked. The woman shrugged.
"She went with a boy" she told him, "She told me she'd be back by dinner-time" she added. Kurotatsu couldn't believe it! A boy?
"A boy?" he asked. The woman nodded.
"A good looking boy, light hair, green eyes, looked like a foreigner" she said, dreamily.
"What was his name?" he asked. The woman frowned.
"Takumi, I think" she said, "yes, Usui Takumi" she said.