CHAPTER ONE: Himeko
I stared at the blackboard, waiting for the homeroom session to start. Ever since Bossun and I drank that drug... 'Exchange?'... I stayed like this. Constantly quiet and thinking of that night when Saaya confessed to Bossun (when I was in him) that she was interested in him. I sighed. Just thinking about that moment made me a little jealous. 'I don't understand at all! What am I feeling that makes me so confused? Jealousy, duh. But I think there's more to that...'
Suddenly, Remi Onee-san and Chuuma-sensei entered the classroom. Onee-san hopped toward the teacher's table, with her usual joyous aura, then fell facedown to the floor. Chuuma-sensei helped her up with an "Onee-san, you're such a klutz.". The news about them dating and later getting married spread all over the campus. My heart jumped and my head turned to Bossun. He saw me and grinned. I turned my head away and noticed that my cheeks were getting hot. 'I know! I'll ask him what's happening to me! Maybe later in the clubroom...'
"So, class we will be going to the—Chuuma-sensei, drum roll, please!",said Onee-san.
"Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Du-rum-rum.", obeyed Chuuma-sensei lazily. "To the beach. We'll be leaving next week and we'll stay there for three days. First day is next week's Monday, second day is Tuesday, and the third day is Wednesday. After the third day, you'll pack and head straight home. Get it, you middle schoolers?"
"We're high schoolers!"
"Aww... I was supposed to eat that!", complained Onee-san.
"You mean :'I was supposed to say that'?'", corrected Bossun .
"Hmph! When-e-ver!"
He sweat dropped. "You mean: 'Whatever'?"
"Class dismissed!",said Chuuma-sensei near the doorway.
"Yabas! What will I wear? I think I'll go with the one-piece I have but, oh! The boys will surely drool over my yabas, gorgeous curves! If that's the case, I'll just wear my one-piece...but, I think I'll just tease them more with that! Yabas!", blushed Yabasawa-san. "Ne, Himeko-san, what will you wear?"
"Me?", I asked, startled. She talks a lot that sometimes I catch only a few words from what she's talking about because I drift on to Himeko Land. "Lemme think..."
'I'm so excited! Woo-hoo! Oi! What will I wear? Maybe the tangerine two-piece my mom gave me. That fits me nicely... Wait, what about the brown one-piece that I bought?...Nah. Bossun will just laugh and call me poopy. Tangerine two-piece, then.'
"I'm gonna wear a tangerine two-piece. I will look like poop if I wear my brown one piece.", I answered.
"Ahh...", she reacted. "Yabas, can you help me pick out a swimsuit later? Captain is coming too."
"Glad to help! Ah, my first girl day out!", I said. Of course, hanging out with Bossun and Switch on a weekend doesn't count as a 'girl's day out', since they're boys.
"Okay, then. My house after dismissal! Yabas! It'll be so exciting!"
I sucked on a Crab Miso flavoured Pelolin while skipping gleefully with Captain and Yabasawa-san on the way to her house. I told Bossun that I can't attend that clubroom session because I had to help my friends choose their swimsuits. He agreed since there were no requests and that he also wanted to catch a show on TV. Switch went with the Otaku Club to the mall to see this year's Comic Con, featuring the show Nervous. Plus, Kibitsu Momoka was there so he'd definitely go and support her more.
"Pelo-pelo-pelolin~", sang Captain and I. She's not that into Pelolins but her brother is because the Pelolin mascot looks like their mother, according to him.
"We're here, you guys!", said Yabasawa-san. "Sorry, but my parents get so yabas when they hear people being noisy. Yabas, I must've offended you..."
"It's okay, Yabasawa-san. We'll be more quiet now.", replied Captain and I, stopping the Pelolin song.
"Thank you, thank you!"
We entered, leaving our shoes in the entrance. Yabasawa-san gave us fluffy slippers each. Mine was purple and Captain's was pink. We headed to her bedroom, which was so neat and comfy. Her mangas were carefully stacked on her desk, and magazines-which I think are full of romance-, were fanned out equally on the wall. Yabasawa-san was always a neat freak but I never thought her neatness could be this artistic. But when it comes to artistic, for me Bossun is always number one. 'He's so kind, and optimistic, and-Wait, why am I thinking about him? Ahh! Shoo, you pest! Perverted red-horned caterpillar!'
"Himeko-san...",called out Captain while poking me. "What- or Who are you thinking about? You're beet red."
"Yabas! Could it be—"
"Wha-" I waved my hands frantically. "N-n-no one! Of course, no one! I'm not thinking of Bossun if you're thinking of that!" I stopped, analyzing the words that flew out of my mouth. I cupped my mouth. 'Idiot. Now they think you like him. You should've just shut your mouth. Baka.'
A menacing aura surrounded the two. That Bossun's going to get a hell of a beat down tomorrow. Gr. If only he didn't go in my head, I wouldn't be in this trouble.
"Oh, is it so?", smiled Captain threateningly. Captain can get super scary when she wants to. "You weren't thinking of him, huh?"
"You don't want me to be yabas angry now... Himeko-chan.", she said, stressing the 'chan' in my name.
I sighed. 'These guys are so serious when it comes to romance. What-wait, romance? There's nothing between me and Bossun BUT friendship! AAAAH! I'm so confused! I can't take it anymore!'
"Fine!", I shouted. The menacing aura and smirks went away and Captain and Yabasawa-san looked at me. "I was thinking about him but I have absolutely no idea why... I'm confused. In my head it's like I have two Himekos. One is saying that it has something to do with romance and the other one is denying it and replacing it with friendship..."
"I see.", said Yabasawa-san. "You know that lots of people are looking at your relationship as a quite romantic one, right?"
"I don't know, I never knew until now."
"Well, I think that you are awakening to that reality. That your relationship with Bossun is actually more than friendship." She stared at me. "I never have experienced love. Not ever. But you, you have found love and you just need to choose for yourself. Do you want to agree with the first one, who knows that there is romance right there-", she poked my chest,"-or do you want to agree with the second guy, that the romance can never be?"
I took a deep breath. "The first guy. I mean, how bad can romance be? Other than getting broken-hearted and stuff?"
Captain laughed. "Of course, he wouldn't do that to you. He's Bossun, for God's sake! Anyway, stop worrying. You don't even know how he feels about you. What's the problem with that?"
"That is the problem! What if what he feels about me is just friendship? Nothing else? I don't know what to do if he says no to me!", I hyperventilate.
"Stop worrying. Breathe. Breathe.", she ordered. I obeyed. "Just be optimistic. Like I said, he might probably really like you, he just hides it."
"Oi. You didn't say that before. You just said that now."
"Fine, fine. Anyway, let's choose our swimsuits, it's getting dark out there."
I smiled. Knowing what confused me so much really took off the burden I had on my back but somehow, I feel that just for a moment were all my burden removed then it was multiplied twice then forced back to me.
'Still, I have this feeling that this story of us will last long and happy.'
