"Who do you love most?"
The day was bright: had it been another season, then perhaps the weather would've inclined kite enthusiasts' from their houses to their local high-hill spots. Alas, the season was early spring; and students were in school: beginning another day of life's education.
"Sayuri—teacher's going to scold you again,"
"Why should she?"
In a center of a long row of desks beside a long row of windows with a high ledge that practically blinded a wandering students' eyes from the outdoors should he or she be slouching, a girl with shoulder-length chestnut hair and 'china doll' lips sat. The white dress shirt making up the torso of her uniform was unbuttoned slightly, the sleeves rolled up to taught just after her elbows.
From the doorway of the lengthy classroom, a girl of similar face entered. Her sleeves were primed and straight along her arms, the collar unbuttoned only slightly, and her deep green skirt with its pleats all properly in place.
"Mi-Chan!"
The so called 'mi-Chan' plopped herself up unto the ledge of the window beside the seat and sighed in wonder as her sister hopped up on the ledge beside her—placing herself in her sisters' lap and grinning wide.
"Fix your uniform, sayuri. You'll get scolded again,"
"Ah…Don't tell me that. Suki already warned me,"
"Then why don't you listen? She's second in class for a reason."
Sayuri wrapped an arm around her sister and let out an absent sigh. 'Mi-Chan' suddenly called her attention back to the present and pointed silently at her collar.
"It's too hot for that thing, mi-chan. Besides—"
"Where is it? Sayuri…you'll get cleaning duty again."
From below, a long-faced girl with bright blonde hair suddenly made to stand up beside them, a long, colored thing in her hand. She handed it silently to yumi and then resumed her seat.
"Ah—traitor!"
"I'm not betraying anyone, sayuri. Least of all you,"
Grudgingly, sayuri sat on her sister's lap as she adjusted the green-and-blue checked tie around her collar. Then, simultaneously they dropped down to the classroom floor, the bell ringing only a moment later. Sayuri took her seat by the window, and yumi moved to her seat two rows down, in the second to last seat.
They stood abruptly at attention as an older woman, off-grey pencil skirt in tow, entered the room: stern face approaching each row as she stood, visually inspecting her classroom and all in it.
"Uniform inspection."
Her tone was rather stern—stern as her face and her straight, manicured posture. One would never believe that this woman was actually a day-care teacher in her spar-time. But this had been confirmed by a sighting less than 2 semesters ago at a local daycare in the near-by city.
"Yes, yes…good, suki. However, sayuri; do these rules not apply to you?"
"Teacher…it's so warm,"
"None the less, who do you think you're representing? A summer club for delinquents?"
After a moment, she moved on to the next person in line: until she had finally reached the third row: second seat, with her perfect record of uniform inspection marks.
"And you, just where do you think you are? A pool hall?"
"I had to order a new set of ties, ma'am. Please excuse me this time,"
"This is an establishment that aims—"
"Excuse us for the interruption, will the student body please report to the front hall. Again, will the students please report to the front hall, this is not a request."
The loudspeaker and its rather low female tone soon had the students moving out of the classroom, chatter in their midst. Helplessly, the older woman tried to hold them back—however, all who were left were a few students still standing at attention and herself. Sayuri bounded over to where her sister stood and looped her arm with her sisters, pulling her along out the door.
"Look, Yu-Chan—you need to start listening to the teachers…"
"Ah—why? Half of them won't even bother telling us apart."
"That's…well, it's true that we don't make it very difficult…"
From behind the two girls, the sounds of shoving and laughter came, a large group of boys all playing and shoving each other in the hallways for their own entertainment.
"And another thing—lately those guys have been…ah!"
Promptly, yumi was mowed over by a conga-line of boys who were still, more aggressively now; shoving each other. When she next looked up, her sister was gone. She was several feet behind the rest of the class and the announcements continued up ahead.
"…maybe they'll want us outside; I'm sure that she's out there already…"
Rushing up ahead to meet the crowd, yumi walked rather uncertainly among a gaggle of younger girls who were very much unconcerned with the urgency of the overhead voice and its' continuing words.
"..We really still shouldn't be in the building. I think we need to leave—"
Surrounded by a semi-circle made up of no more than seven of her male classmates, sayuri moved uncertainty toward the inner-most empty edge of the shape; only to be blocked by the heavy-built arm of a boy that she'd taken to calling "pochi," due to his small face and rather bashful character.
"I…what is this?"
All at once, the boys began to speak. As their voices grew in volume with each syllable, she backed toward her former place along the middle of the section of wall she was basically trapped against.
"We're yours, sayuri! We love you!"
"Ah…what is this…? It's a joke, right?"
"Please take us seriously, sayuri!"
Evidently the ringleader of it all, a tall; built boy with bright eyes and dark hair was speaking.
"We are in love with you! Please believe us!"
A few bodies down, a rather skinny boy with large glasses cried out, face red and heart probably beating faster than it ever had for any one moment in his life.
"Why…? There's nothing…I mean, I like all of you very much—"
"Pick one of us fairly; and the rest of us will surrender!"
The leader had spoken again. Sayuri felt along the wall just beneath her, and found a step there in the form of a slightly jutting rock. Her eyes fell quickly from one end of the hall to her right, to the closets metal rim that stood perhaps a foot to a foot and a half above where she now stood.
"Please…guys, we shouldn't even be in here in the first place—and I don't feel that way!"
The leader approached her, eyes determined. He grabbed ahold of her forearms and kneeled down in front of her.
"Put me out of my misery, sayuri. Who do you love most?"
"Don't ask me that!"
Once, twice she pulled backward to free herself from his grasp. The second time; it worked. Though his face was utterly dumbfounded as she lept up on the little ledge and swung herself upward to meet the first of several empty metal rims that would soon be holding new ceiling fixtures in them. The second leap was smooth; one hand on the rim, the other reaching forward. The third leap was a near miss—it was a drop in height of up to a foot. The forth rose again by 6 inches—this time, she came up short. She was dropping fast from the 12 foot height. However as she closed her eyes and braced for impact, there was nothing.
No smack of linoleum against her surely damaged back—no severe pain from her skull. Slowly, cautiously; she opened her eyes, one and then the other.
"I'll leave the major scolding to your sister."
"Moki…!"
"Are you hurt, sayu?"
Moki; a tall, well-built boy who sayuri and yumi had known since they were children, sat up from his having been knocked down from the force of the catch. Sayuri felt her self-control dwindle as she left his lap, and tears started to flow. He stood slowly and helped her up to her feet.
"So then…what is it? I haven't seen you cry in a long time,"
They began to walk, he supporting her, as she wrapped an arm around the upper-half of his own arm. She was silent for a long, immeasurable moment; before speaking.
"I just don't get it…what's so special about me? Why do they always…"
"A guy said something to you, right? That they're in love, maybe?"
"Not just one…"
It was a little while before they met another person, in that long hall. But, eventually: yumi arrived. The rest of the girls from class were following close behind her, clearly on a mission of some kind. However, they stopped and all seemed to breathe a loud sigh of relief as they spotted the two.
"Yu-Chan!"
"Mi-Chan…"
"Eh—what's wrong? You're crying…"
Immediately, there were several pairs of eyes accusing poor Moki. He approached yumi and she slowly detached from his side to hers. Letting out a breath, he looked at yumi pointedly.
"I won't scold sayuri just now…but why you haven't taught this girl some self-defense? It was pure luck that I managed to catch her, you know."
"…catch? Yu-Chan…what does he mean by 'catch'?"
"Anyway; I'll explain what I can once we get to the infirmary."
It still took a moment before everything clicked in her mind—but the moment it did; after looking rather confused between Moki and the rest of the girls: older sister mode was locked in. turning back quickly, she grabbed Moki's wrist and pulled him forward with them.
"I want a full explanation."
"…right, yumi."
"And you too! I won't forgive you if this was something silly."
"uh-huh."
Sayuri spoke from her sister's side, quietly nursing a wounded arm as they walked their brisk walk down toward the infirmary's small room just south of their current location.
"Alright, sayuri. Show me that arm,"
Sayuri felt herself slowly sinking into a sulking mode. Yumi took off the tie she'd fixed just twenty minutes earlier, and sayuri discarded her dress shirt. Underneath; a white floral pattern followed both horizontally and vertically across a white sleeveless shirt. A nurse; probably only in her mid-thirties, with blue-black hair that spun in iron-made spirals across her forehead was now inspecting the injury; spanning from just beneath the shoulder and reaching to mid-elbow.
"If you'd fallen flat on the floor for that height…this arm would've easily broken."
"Yu-Chan! What on earth were you thinking?!"
"I…I just…it was the only way,"
Spinning around to see her sisters' pillow standing there with hands in his pockets, yumi looked utterly worried to the point of anger.
"And you! Instead of just catching her, you should've beaten those guys to a pulp as well! How dare they do this to Yu-Chan?!"
"It was a 'love attack' you know, for whatever that's worth. They weren't trying to hurt her; probably just trying to force their feelings on her—I would've done something earlier if I'd known about it."
"Then why do you know so much already?!"
"You had the same face on when those guys tried to kiss you in grade-school. Same principle, really."
Sayuri's sudden seriousness surprised even her sister as suddenly the tears stopped, and her arm was wrapped up with enough gauze to carry a whole load of fish were it made into a net rather than a large bandage.
"…my playing arm."
"Yu-Chan? You said something?"
"They almost…maybe they didn't mean to…"
"Sayu…come on, relax."
She sprung forward from her sitting position and promptly felt a pull in her upper thigh. The seriousness melted away, and the tears returned.
"I hate this! Moki, why did they do that? I'm not anything! I'm just a 17 year old kid with zero physical compatibility in P.E.!"
"Yu-Chan. Stop it already,"
"It's the one thing I'm good at, yumi…the one thing I do absolutely right!"
They all three stayed in the nurses office quite some time, until suddenly thunder was erupting in the skies. The P.E. classes all hustled in, girls screaming and guys groaning as they rushed underneath the nearest veranda. Sayuri presumably slept; yumi and Moki stayed put at her side, knowing it would be rather unwise to leave her in her current state.
"What did those guys say to her, really?"
"Probably 'I love you, so choose me!' right?"
"No…it was something more than that. A normal confession can't shake her like this. Usually she'll handle that kind of thing with 'but I'm not the one for you' or 'it's my policy not to date until I'm 21.'"
"Seriously?"
The rain became heavier and then lightened. The P.E. teachers were rallying the students back out to the soggy grounds. Most were utterly refusing; some were listening with the intent of earning a gold star or catching a cold so as to miss their next big test they'd forgotten until maybe just that very morning.
"You're actually surprised by that?"
"Not really. How about you?"
"Of course I'm not surprised! Didn't I just tell you?"
"No—I mean, how do you usually handle that kind of thing?"
The majority of the students were now running in a tsunami-grade rain storm. The electronic bell rang out in the halls, and students brushed past one another as they tried to push past their respective locker-room doors. She avoided his gaze and watched the scene, feigning interest as she look forward at absolutely nothing.
"I haven't…really had to. It'd be trouble-some, anyway."
"What would you say?"
"…probably…something like 'I might ha—"
"The culprit! Dieter, yumi; he's all yours!"
From behind a small group of class members, mostly female; some male a figure appeared. After closer inspection, it turned out to be the vice principal. He cleared his throat and silently motioned for the small crowd to disperse, detaining only the bright-eyed 'ringleader' and approaching those still in the room; nurse included, silently.
"Sayuri, with me."
"Sir, I'm sorry but—"
"Sayuri, with me."
His eyes were glued to yumi, almost as though she were the center of this whole problem. But, at the sound of her name; sayuri finally arose—pulling on her tie as she stood by her sisters side, some humor now back in her face, however much still clouded over by some amount of indescribable confusion.
"Yumi, you'll come too. It involves your sister, after all."
"Excuse me, sir…but I think—"
He started to take rapid steps toward the door; and the three all followed with a sigh after both the ringleader's and the vice principal backs began to disappear.
"Yumi, I think he's got the situation confused, somehow."
"Yeah, no kidding,"
"Sayuri,"
"Yeah, Moki?"
The vice principals voice boomed along the wide, tall hall—and as they all entered and gathered into his office, the speech began. The seven of them and then some who'd been unpresent during the earlier event were all gathered up there already.
"First off, sayuri—you clearly had another way to defend yourself…"
"Please, sir. You're making a mist—"
"Quiet!"
Previously pacing, he now took a seat; seething from the authority he felt slipping out from underneath him at the moment. As he seethed, dieter or 'Moki' quietly approached him.
"Sir, if I may clear up some confusion…the one with the serious expression is yumi, not sayuri. And the one you've been calling yumi is in fact sayuri."
"…well then, I'll apologize for the mistake. However, the fact still remains…"
"Excuse me, sir: my sister is the one who knows kendo. I just do recreational sports, so my defense score is only a 4 of 10."
"…defense score?"
Sayuri detached herself from yumi's side and instead pushed her forward a little bit, stepping back. Then, she proceeded to direct 'Moki' in a like manner.
"First is intimidation factor. Moki's got that right off the bat with his height and muscles. That's three points. Then you factor in his knowledge of various sports and his martial arts credibility. That's four points."
Sayuri continued on, first taking a breath and then moving unto her sister, who looked rather full of disbelief as she circled her once, and then spoke.
"Mi-Chan's intimidation factor on an ordinary day is two points. This can also be a disadvantage in some ways…ah, getting back to the point: she's learning two forms of martial arts and is an active participant in physical, as well as mental sports. That earns her five points for quick comebacks and back up her threats. To finish it off, both of these examples get two points additionally for looks: because they are considered beautiful and dangerous."
"Is this about finished?"
Taking another breath, she nodded quickly to the vice principal in response to his question.
"That said, both my sister and Moki get a nine out of ten for defense level. My stats are as follows: when next to either of these two, I've get two points for intimidation. Otherwise, I've got nothing. I don't have the reputation from school sports and haven't made an effort to learn martial arts: thus, one point for knowledge on that level. But I'm also book smart, so I get two points for potential comebacks and the like. I'll award myself one point for looks because both yumi and I share the same face: and people wonder if we're alike in defense because of that.
So, on my own my intimidation factor is a four: but next to either one of these people it's a six. Those in the group earlier today are solid sixes and up."
"And what is your point, Miss Sayuri?"
Taking another breath, sayuri did a visual scan for a chair, but found absolutely none, and with an internal groan; got to her point just as the balding vice-principal with the large black eyes wished.
"when a five or below feels trapped; like I did by being faced with the prospect of choosing a boyfriend merely because they had me alone and I by their logic I had to be madly in love with at least one of them—because of that, I was able to access my adrenaline due to uneasiness. I know with your understanding I could have reacted differently, but I don't see another way out of that situation, even looking back."
"Well then…what should I do with you, boys?"
So, the punishment was thus: the boys had cleaning duties for a month—'by not thinking through their plan and causing potential harm to another because of that,' and sayuri was given a warning for acting recklessly, also advised to learn some kind of self-defense. Additionally, what would spawn from that little introduction of 'levels' after this moment would be a rather interesting development; for those also uninvolved entirely in the highlighted situation.
"…ah, so self-defense classes…"
"Well, you put the idea into his head, yu-chan. But, it's not a bad thing…because that scale of yours is really, for the most part; accurate."
"Hmm…'really, for the most part,'? What's wrong with it?"
The two girls lay around, lounging at home in their window-sill cushioned, couch strewn library. This of course; belonging to none other than their mutual cousin and his wife. Yumi was absently flipping through a book of music that had been left out, stretched out leisurely along one of the bamboo couches their cousins decorator had recently introduced into the libraries design.
"Well, you gave both Moki and I a nine, right? If anything the 'serious' face I have attracts and repels at a pretty even rate…"
"That's why your score is somewhat subjective. It depends upon your environment, mostly."
"Ah…I see,"
End: story one