Chapter 3: Back-to-Back Interaction
Natsume let out a grunt as he jerked forward, setting down several boxes stacked on top of each on the floor. The room was now full of move-in boxes stacked on top of one another and Natsume wondered why girls always had so many things.
Nearly a month had passed since he and Haruka last came to the Zodiac estate, and now they were moving Haruka into Hanji's place. He took out his phone and checked to see if anyone had messaged him. There was a notification for one new message with the name "Kana-nii" beside it. Before he could read it however, Haruka came in carrying a couple more boxes.
"Is that everything?" Natsume asked as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Haruka set down the boxes she was holding and nodded. "Should be. Thank you for helping me move in."
Natsume gave her a small smile. "And you're sure about moving in here?"
Before Haruka could answer, the door opened and Hanji waltzed in. "I told you not to worry,"
She came over and pat Haruka on the shoulder. "I promise you she'll be fine."
"You also promised you'd clean up your place and yet…" Natsume trailed off, staring out towards the hallway and into the living room.
The living room was still a complete disaster, just like how it was when they first came or maybe even worse. Natsume could have sworn that the book towers had gotten even taller since last time and there seemed to be even more loose papers and random trash lying around.
"Ah… oh yeah." Hanji laughed while rubbing the back of her head.
Natsume ran a hand through his hair in frustration. There was just no winning with this woman.
"This is what I decided to do and I will see it through to the end." Haruka said with a confident gaze.
Her eyes were brimming with something that Natsume had not seen in her for a while. He did promise that he'd respect her choice. All he could do now was be supportive in any way that he could.
He went over to Haruka, placed a hand on top of her head, then looked over at Hanji.
"If Haruka ever gets hurt because of this Zodiac thing I will be holding you personally responsible." Natsume said, glaring hard at Hanji.
His glare however did not seem to faze Hanji as she stared back with a confident smile. "I'll take full responsibility for her safety. But I assure you, it won't come to that."
Natsume let out a huff before turning his gaze back to Haruka. "Well, if this is it, I have to head back to work."
He paused briefly before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key.
"I made a spare key to my apartment in case of an emergency. But feel free to drop by anytime even if you just want to talk." Natsume said.
Haruka cupped her hands and Natsume dropped the key into her hands. She looked at it in surprise before smiling brightly and thanking him once again.
While Natsume knew he was being a bit overprotective, he couldn't help it. They'd known each other for years and Natsume always saw her as the little sister he never had. Especially since she was kind of oblivious to certain things.
The two exchanged farewells as Natsume gave a simple wave as he walked out the door. On his way to his car, he suddenly remembered something. Turning around, he quickly jogged back towards the more inward area of the estate.
Haruka took a few steps back to take the whole view of her new room in. The room was small but big enough for Haruka to be comfortable. The walls were a nice pale yellow color with interesting patterns scattered across it. Her bed was neatly made with a large green comforter on top and a small drawer with a lamp on top beside it. A small desk laid against the other side of the room with a few small shelves around it. There was a nicely sized window that was well placed on the opposite wall to the door, filling the room with natural light.
While she had yet to unpack anything, the sight still gave her a sense of the start of a new beginning. She shook her head at how cheesy that thought was but a smile still crept onto her face. Glancing over to the side, she spotted her keyboard lying propped up against the wall.
She walked over to it and gently set it down on the floor. She brushed her fingers over the smooth surface of the keys, giving her a sense of ease and comfort. Music was always something Haruka loved ever since she was little. It always filled the usually empty house with something warm and inviting.
Before she could create a single note, however, Hanji came back into the room, placing one hand on the doorframe.
"After you unpack a little, why don't I show you around the estate?" Hanji offered.
"That would be great, thank you!" Haruka said enthusiastically.
She quickly put the keyboard back over to the side for another time as she started rifling through the other boxes.
After a couple hours, Haruka was able to unpack a good portion of her things. Deciding to call it a day for unpacking, Haruka dusted off her hands and went to go look for Hanji.
She did want to take a look around the estate to get a better grasp of the area. Not to mention she might be able to meet more of the others living here. Though she had to admit that the idea was a little intimidating. Especially since these people were out of the ordinary if she had anything to go by when she first visited.
She quickly crossed the hall over to Hanji's room only to find it a complete mess. Though it really shouldn't have surprised her considering the state of the living room. But Hanji's room seemed like a tornado had passed through it with so many things scattered all over the place. It was in an even worse condition than the other room. Haruka was somewhat relieved in not having to share a room with her.
Hanji was sitting at her desk with several towers of paper stacked around her. She seemed to be deep in thought while furiously writing something.
"Um, Hanji-san?" Haruka called out.
Hanji's head snapped up and looked over towards the doorway at Haruka.
"Ah, are you done unpacking?"
Haruka nodded. "For now anyways. I'll unpack more tomorrow."
Hanji quickly finished off what was left of what she was writing and stood up from her seat. "All right, let the tour begin!"
As Hanji lead Haruka deeper into the Zodiac estate, a thought crossed Haruka's mind.
"Hanji-san."
Hanji glanced over at her curiously. "Hm?"
"I don't think you told me which Zodiac animal you were." Haruka said.
"Ah, right. I'm the boar," Hanji said enthusiastically. "And dead last in the rankings at twelfth."
That explained why Hanji's place looked a bit less furnished and run down than most of the other dwellings in the area.
"It must be difficult being at the bottom of the rankings." Haruka commented as Hanji just laughed.
"To be completely honest, I just don't care too much about the ranking system. Besides, I think it's best to just let the youngsters have at it."
"Youngsters?" Haruka repeated a little confused.
"Well I am twenty nine." Hanji answered nonchalantly.
Haruka's eyes widened in surprise. To Haruka, Hanji looked more like she was in her early twenties. However, what surprised Haruka more was that she didn't actively take part in the ranking battles and didn't seem too bothered by the fact she was at the very bottom. Haruka didn't know anything about the battles or the regulations, but she figured they were a lot more important than how Hanji was making them out to be.
"In any case," Hanji said, interrupting Haruka's thoughts. "This area here houses the members at the bottom half of the Zodiac.
"And depending on their ranks, the living quarters will get refurbished or left untouched as you can see. Rankings also decide on general welfare and living conditions for relatives outside the estate. The higher the rank, the better off your relatives in the rest of the gated community are."
From what Haruka could see, all the houses in the area were generally nice looking. Though she noticed that a couple had some wear marks on the windows and walls, giving them a more groady look. At least none of them looked ratty and falling apart. Even Hanji's place was in proper living conditions despite being at the bottom of the rankings. Though for a gated community, they had to have some propriety, Haruka supposed. However, there was something that was bothering her.
"I noticed this the first time I came here, but why are there hardly anyone around?" Haruka asked.
She had noticed this during her first visit as well. However, despite not seeing anyone, she felt an unsettling feeling of being watched. Though the feeling wasn't quite as intense as when she first visited.
"Well as you know it can get kind of dangerous around here with all the fighting so most tend to stear clear of going outside," Hanji explained. "The Zodiac members also have a tendency to stay more on the down low and don't show up that often unless there's a good reason."
Haruka giggled. "You make it sound like you're all rare beasts."
In a sense, however she guessed they were.
"Exactly!" Hanji said enthusiastically while turning to face Haruka and pointed at her with both hands. "That's precisely the reason why I want to study them more! I mean, think about it. What kind of answers could I find if I could just study and experiment on one of them?"
Haruka reared back a little as an excited spark ignited in Hanji's eyes and a creepy smile spread across her face. What kind of experiments did Hanji even have in mind?
After Hanji calmed down a little, she walked the two of them over to the other side of the estate. While the Zodiac estate was only a small portion of the gated community, Haruka had to admit it was still a pretty big area. Most of the ground was covered in nicely trimmed grass with several dirt pathways that led up to each of the houses and trees covered the perimeter, making it seem like the gated walls weren't even there. Haruka wondered if the Zodiac members felt more at ease surrounded by nature like this.
Hanji paused motioned towards to several houses behind her.
"And this here are where the upper half of the Zodiac members live. You probably won't see them much since a bunch of them are high ranks and generally keep to themselves. And while the lower ranks tend to shuffle around a lot in rankings, the higher ranks generally stay stagnant this generation. Though I think it's mostly because most of the higher ranks are older." Hanji explained with a shrug.
Haruka looked around and was shocked to find that all of the houses were exceptionally nicer than the ones of the lower half of the Zodiac living quarters. Though what stood out to Haruka the most was the mansion-like building near the back. The other houses seemed to make a pathway towards it. Who even lived there?
"You can say most of these places house the stuffy rich people in the Zodiac." Hanji said with a smirk as Haruka looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Now, now, you really shouldn't generalize like that, Hanji-san."
Hanji and Haruka glanced over to see a tall man wearing ceremonial Japanese robes walking over to them. He had blond hair that were spiky on the sides with a portion in the back being much longer and falling past his shoulders. His bangs parted down the middle that lined his face. He had striking hazel eyes that had an easygoing lull to them and a couple earrings on his left ear.
"Ooh, well if it isn't your lucky day, Haruka. You get to see an old stuffy high ranking Zodiac in the flesh. Ranked number three and the tiger of the Zodiac!" Hanji declared dramatically as she motioned a hand towards him.
"Exactly what do you mean by "old"? You're the oldest one out of all of us." The man shot back with a well humored smile, causing Hanji to make a face.
The man certainly seemed to know his way with words to even make Hanji react. Though it mildly surprised Haruka that someone of such high ranking would be showing himself to her.
He turned his attention back onto Haruka and went over to her side, taking her hand into his.
"So we finally meet, Haruka Nanami."
Haruka blinked. How did this man know her name already? She's never seen him before as far she could recall. However, she was interrupted mid thought when the man leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Haruka's face immediately lit up as red as a tomato while Hanji whistled in amusement behind her.
"I've heard quite a bit about you," The man said with a wink. "Kaname Asahina, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Haruka's eyes widened in realization, killing off her initial embarrassment. This was the Asahina brother she had never met. The one that Natsume mentioned was actually a Zodiac member and was living here the entire time.
There were so many things she wanted to talk to him about. However, before she could say anything, Kaname leaned in close to her.
"Do you know what else would be a great pleasure?" Kaname suddenly asked as Haruka looked at him curiously. "If we-"
"Hey, perv! Wataa!"
Hanji quickly grabbed Haruka's hand and twirled her to the side as someone came hurtling towards them and slamming the back of their foot down on Kaname's head. Kaname hit the ground face first with a crash as the person who had landed the blow jumped back a couple feet. Haruka covered her mouth with her hands in shock as Kaname lay unmoving on the ground.
"Chi-e~, could you please not endanger people who aren't part of the Zodiac again?" Hanji called causing the person referred to as Chie to stiffen.
"I-I was just trying to keep this guy from sexually harassing her, that's all!" Chie said trying to defend herself.
The girl seemed to be around Haruka's age and wore a high collared, light green athletic jacket with several decorative pins and a black and white checkered miniskirt. She had short, light brown, bowl-shaped hair and similarly colored eyes. She was short in stature, but from the looks of it she packed a pretty powerful kick.
Before Haruka could say something about the fact Kaname was lying facedown, he braced his arms on the ground to his sides.
"Now that's just rude," Kaname said as he pushed himself off the ground. "I was just saying hello."
Chie narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion as Kaname got back to his feet and dusted off his robes.
That was right. Haruka recalled how a similar event took place nearly a month ago.
"It's no use, Chie," a voice suddenly said as a familiar pink-haired male came up and stood beside Haruka. "There's no helping that idiot."
Haruka looked up at him in surprise as he glanced down at her. It was the guy that nearly crashed into her!
"Oh, it's you again."
Haruka blinked, not knowing how to take that statement.
"Ah, I don't think you all have had a proper introduction yet," Hanji said, placing a hand on Haruka's shoulder and gestured towards the young man next to her with the other. "This here is Shiho Kimizuki."
"I-it's nice to meet you." Haruka said with a polite bow as Kimizuki muttered a disinterested "yeah."
Haruka felt a little uncomfortable from Kimizuki's lack of responses and fell into an awkward silence.
His gaze eventually fell on Kaname. However, his eyes shifted to the side without any change to his expression when Kaname looked back at him.
"You'll have to excuse him, he's never learned any manners," Chie said while ignoring the dirty look Kimizuki was giving her as she walked over to Haruka. "I'm Chie Satonaka, nice to meet you."
Haruka reciprocated the greeting and smiled. She had only moved in today and was surprised to meet so many people already.
Chie put her hands together in an apologetic manner and bowed her head. "I also want to apologize for getting you mixed up in this mess of ours."
"What are you talking about…?" Haruka started but Chie cut her off.
"We were the ones kind of responsible for nearly crashing into you." Chie said with a nervous smile as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
So she was the other one in that fight during her first visit.
Chie turned to Kimizuki. "You apologize too."
Kimizuki rolled his eyes and Chie lightly elbowed him in the chest in response. He grunted and winced slightly in pain.
"...Sorry." Kimizuki replied monotonously.
"You could at least try to sound apologetic," Chie muttered. "Sheesh, you're making me look bad."
"Ah, it's fine, really. I mean, Hanji-san was able to get me out of the way in time, so..." Haruka said.
"Why don't both of you try apologizing to me? Considering it was my porch you guys wrecked," Kaname said as both shot him annoyed looks.
Kaname let out a sigh before turning to Harka and flashing her a charming smile.
"I have to take care of a few things so I need to be going. But we should get together and get to know each other better. I have a lot of things I'd like to talk to you about."
"Um, o-okay…" Haruka said, feeling a little uncomfortable by his tone.
"I'll see you later, Haruka-chan."
Kaname gave her a wink before walking off down one of the dirt paths as Chie and Kimizuki watched him leave with dirty looks while Hanji waved.
Kaname was definitely a lot different from what Haruka had expected. Though she did pick up on a couple similarities between him and a few of his brothers. He came in and out so fast that Haruka really didn't have a chance to talk to him at all. But she guessed she would have another time to talk to him since they'll be living in the same area for a year.
"Anyways," Chie said, turning back to Haruka. "I'll treat you to some steak as an apology and a welcome."
"Oh, you don't have to do that, really!" Haruka said frantically but Chie continued to insist.
As the two went back and forth, Kimizuki went over to Hanji's side.
"Hey, how did she even get permission to stay here? I mean, this is the Zodiac estate. No outsider should even be allowed to know what goes on in here. Even less be able to live here." Kimizuki asked quietly.
"As long as you say the right things, everything will naturally work out in your favor." Hanji replied nonchalantly.
Kimizuki quirked an eyebrow before narrowing his gaze. "Things don't work that way. Especially when it comes to that guy. He's not the most agreeable person."
Hanji shrugged, causing Kimizuki to groan in annoyance.
"Hey, Shiho-kun!" Chie called over. "Why don't you join us for some steak!"
Before Kimizuki could heave another groan, Hanji smacked him on the back, causing him to stumble forward a couple steps. Kimizuki caught himself and looked over at Hanji is a mix of confusion and annoyance.
"Why not go? You could afford to act like an actual teenager from time to time." Hanji said with a sympathetic smile.
Kimizuki's eyes widened in surprise before a softer expression came over his face. His shoulders sagged a little and a small, weary sigh escaped his lips.
"...Fine."
Kimizuki's eye twitched in annoyance. The three of them were currently sitting at a table in the middle of a nearby mall's food court with two plates of nicely cooked beef steak in front of Haruka and Chie. It was fairly busy today with many people chatting idly with each other and walking in and out of different stores.
"I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were going to make me pay for your stupid steak." Kimizuki grumbled.
"You really didn't need to pay for my share. I'm sorry if it's troubled you." Haruka said with a guilty expression.
She'd told Chie that they didn't need to take her out. But Chie had greatly insisted and Haruka wondered if she were just a big pushover. Considering how Hanji got her the same way... She sighed at the thought.
Kimizuki's frown was replaced with a look of slight panic. "N-No, I didn't mean-"
"Aw, don't apologize to him. He needs to learn some courtesy," Chie said before taking a large bite of her steak and glanced over at Kimizuki. "Think of this as your actual apology for nearly bowling her over."
"Then why am I treating you too?!"
Haruka watched as the two went back and forth with Chie yelling at Kimizuki about him breaking her "Trial of the Dragon" DVD. She giggled in awkward amusement at the two's relationship. Though that was something that confused her. Though they were bickering, they seemed to be getting along a lot better as opposed to be at each other's throats like the first time she saw them.
"Can I ask you two something?" Haruka asked and the two immediately stopped their bickering and looked over at her. "What are you two's relationship?"
Chie smirked and leaned back in her chair with crossed arms. "Hm, hm. Isn't it obvious? We're ultimate rivals!"
"Though it's completely one-sided." Kimizuki shot back as Chie shot him an annoyed look.
"So you're okay hanging out with each other even though you fight?" Haruka asked curiously.
"Haven't you heard the term, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?'" Chie said.
"Anyways, we only fight for ranking. Not for personal reasons against each other," Kimizuki explained before adding under his breath. "...for the most part."
Haruka looked at him questionably. What did he mean by that last sentence? However it seemed like he wasn't going to bother expanding as he glanced to the side without another word.
"Yeah," Chie said, catching Haruka's attention. "Think of it like sports. It's all just competition in the end and no hard feelings."
"Ah, I see." Haruka said as she looked down at her food.
On their walk over to the mall, Haruka found out that Kimizuki and Chie were the ram and the monkey of the Zodiac respectively. Not to mention that Kimizuki was ranked 7th and Chie placed at 8th. Haruka thought they seemed pretty strong from their first battle and expected them to be a little higher in the rankings. But she supposed there was a lot more to the ranking battles than just strength. Their world felt so foreign to her, but it was also pretty interesting.
She took a small bite of her meal and was surprised to find how rich with flavor it was. The meat was also very tender and cooked to perfection. Haruka wasn't the biggest fan of steak, but she had to admit this was pretty good. Chie however looked like she was having the time of her life digging into her steak as if she hadn't eaten in days. It was rather amazing.
A giggle escaped her when Kimizuki tried to take a piece but was fended off.
She had to wonder what kind of people the other Zodiac members were and if she'd be able to get along with them.
Well, she had the entire year to find out anyways.