Lexiechan. Don't own it, you know the drill. And here we are moving onto chapter 3. In less than two weeks. I am on a roll! For explanations of some things, check the last paragraph. PS, The Vice Prez from Uru's high school didn't have a name, so I named here Hana because it seemed to suit her.
Chapter 3: Ben & Jerry's
I was so glad to finally end my shift at Bonheur, so I could go home to my apartment and rest. I hoped that Shindou wouldn't be staying at his apartment next to mine. I didn't think I could bear to see him again. I clutched the lemon drops Marie had given me, and the box of cakes that Manager had put together especially for me. He had told me not to open them until I reached home, and Ichirou kept me from peeking. I unlocked the door, and said "I'm home!" Suddenly, I was tackled against my door by several people.
"URU!" They cried, and I managed to make out Arimoto, Mitsuka-chan, and Hana, who used to be the Vice-prez rep from high school, as well as Sakura-chan.
"Wh-what….?"
"Welcome home, Uru." Ichirou stepped into the light, and I spotted Aizawa-kun, Abekawa Sou, Jirou-kun, and even Kenichi-kun, as well as my mom and dad.
"Why is everyone here?" I sniffed, holding back tears.
"Ichirou-kun told everyone to meet up at your house tonight!" Arimoto said, and Sakura nodded.
"Besides that, he told us that the demon king had the nerve to dump you." Mitsuka had an aura of death behind her, and it scared me.
"No, Mitsuka, it's fine-" She calmed down and patted me on the head.
"This is your cheering-up party. We all came to wish you the best, and to cheer you up." Hana coolly said, and took the box of cakes and my lemon drops, handing the latter to Ichirou to put in the kitchen, and opening the box for me to see what was inside. The cake had Cheer up written on it, and there other assorted desserts, enough for everyone to have some.
"Snacks for all of us!" Sakura-chan cried, and I smiled.
"And I brought something special for just us girls." Arimoto smirked, and held up two bins of ice cream.
"Ben….and…Jerry's?" I read off the label.
"Yep. They're the best ice cream makers ever, they make even the worst break ups feel better. Now come in, so we can start trashing Shindou and talking about girl stuff."
"You forgot about us, Ichi-chan." Aizawa-kun walked forward, closing the door behind me that was forgotten in the confusion. "There are guys here too, you know."
"I knew that, idiot. I'm trying to cheer her up! Who needs guys anyways, right? And who gave you permission to use my first name?" Arimoto shouted at Aizawa-kun. I felt bad for him, knowing he had a long while to go to get Arimoto to realize his feelings and hers.
"Isn't it better to find a new guy right after a break up?" My mom broke in, "Just look at all the hotties we have here!" She gestured at poor Abekawa Sou, who looked like he was hiding, Ichirou, who was almost asleep, and Aizawa-kun. My poor step-dad looked shocked, and I sighed.
"Mom, I don't think that's going to help. I mean…..I had just figured out what love was…..and then…" I drifted off and burst into tears, something I hadn't meant to do.
"It's okay Uru, that's what we're here for." Hana wiped my tears with a handkerchief, as everyone else froze in shock.
"I AM GOING TO GO FIND SHINDOU NOW." Arimoto, Mitsuka, and my step-dad were fired up, and ready to tear Shindou apart.
"Please don't. I'll be fine, honest," I choked out as Hana led me to the table and the ice cream she had placed there after taking it from Arimoto.
"No, Uru-" They all began, but were stopped by my mother, Aizawa-kun, and Sakura-chan.
"Sit down. You're being in the way." My mother yanked my dad down beside her, and he instantly became meek.
"Ichi-chan, you don't want to make even more trouble for poor Uru, do you now?" Aizawa-kun smiled at her, and she was instantly distracted.
"Stop calling me that! And I wasn't going to cause her any trouble!" Arimoto came and sat down by me.
"Mitsuka-san, you can't beat up Shindou. Uru will cry more and make her less cute if you do." Sakura-chan very seriously told Mitsuka, who then ran over to me, hugging me and saying,
"You're always cute Uru!" I laughed through my tears, and everyone came around the table and started talking.
"So…how exactly did it happen?" Kenichi-kun blushed as he asked the question, and Ichirou who had been suddenly revived, said
"He didn't even do it officially. He just showed up with a fiancée." And then promptly went back to licking his fingers.
"Ichirou! No, well, he did bring Marie to Café Bonheur, but I'm sure-"
"He brought her to where you worked?" Arimoto said incredulously. I was becoming increasingly flustered.
"Didn't he think of how that would affect you?" Aizawa-kun asked, and I blushed.
"No, I'm sure he meant to do it properly, I was just outside cleaning because I was-" I didn't want to say waiting for him, so I paused. "I was outside cleaning because I was hot inside the shop, and there was a breeze outside. And I saw him coming, and I ran to hug him, and he was flustered, and well, Marie was there-"
"So he hugged you in front of his fiancée? Pig!" Mitsuka said while eating her third cake.
"Shindou-san should've been nicer to onee-san. Onee-san, I think you should marry Sou-onii-san." Sakura-chan very seriously pointed at Abekawa Sou with her fork. He and I both blushed, and I remembered when he confessed to me.
"No, Sakura-chan, Uru-chan is going to marry Ichirou-niisan. Mom has already made the dress." Jirou-kun very calmly replied, and Ichirou nodded.
"She did design a dress." Ichirou said, and I blushed an even deeper red as he looked at me.
"Now wait a second!" Kencichi-kun shouted, and Sou chimed in with "No way!"
"Uru! You need to wait and see who makes the better offer!" My mom whispered across the table to me, and I hid my face in my hands.
"Uru, you don't have to marry, you can come live with me," Hana offered, handing me a spoon and the pint of ice cream. "Now, let's hear the rest of the story."
"Well, they came into the shop, and I took my break. And then Marie came in, looking for the bathroom. She and I talked, and she told me the whole story." I related the story to them, and some of my friends were teary-eyed by the end of it, and my mother was crying.
"So where was Shindou during all of this?" Abekawa Sou asked, startling me. I had almost forgotten he was here.
"He was sitting at his table, completely silent. He wouldn't even talk to Manager." Ichirou interrupted me, sitting behind me and playing with my hair despite the looks Hana and Mitsuka were giving him. I figured they just wanted to do my hair.
"I think there is something seriously wrong that his fiancée dumped his girlfriend for him." Arimoto said. "Uru, please let me pay him a visit."
"Ichi-chan, you can't. Besides, that's the guy's job." Aizawa cracked his knuckles, and my step-dad, Kenichi-kun, Abekawa Sou, and Ichirou all nodded.
"I told you to stop calling me that! And I can take care of it myself!" Arimoto looked ready to hit Aizawa, so I decided to try and help him out.
"Arimoto, can I call you Ichi-chan?" I asked, to distract them and myself.
"Uru! You can call me Ichi!" Ichi then hugged me, tearing me out of Ichirou's grasp.
"Then Uru has to call me Sou." Abekawa SOu added, and I looked up at him.
"Eh? How come?" He gave me a penetrating gaze, and then blushed.
"Because…..it's weird that I call you Uru and you use my full name. We're friends, aren't we?" I nodded, and ignored the glance that Sou gave to Ichirou or the glare that Kenichi-kun was giving Sou.
"We are. I'll call you Sou from now on!" I smiled, and Sakura-chan interrupted again.
"That means you're getting married, right?"
"I'm not marrying for a long time, I think." I replied, a little sad again. I had never imagined my future that far ahead, with learning to be a teacher at my university. It was amazing that all of my high school friends and Ichirou were attending the same university. We even had a few classes together. But I hadn't thought about after that. I hadn't even thought about what it would be like in a future with Shindou. I started to sniffle again. Suddenly, a loud beeping interrupted the brief silence.
"Honey! I thought you didn't have work today!" My mom yelled at my dad.
"I didn't! They want me back at the office to finish stuff up." My dad looked extremely depressed as my mother scolded him to get back to the office.
"I'll go with you, I have some shopping to get done for tomorrow. I forgot to pick up rice today." My mom had her trouble-causing glint in her eyes again. "Uru, since we have to leave, why don't you guys have a good old fashioned sleepover? There's enough room, and you're all old enough. Besides, you'll have so much more fun with us old folks gone." My mom smiled, and Ichirou smiled back, hugging me from behind as I had escaped Ichi's hug to stand up and say good-bye to my parents.
"That's a great idea, Uru's mom!" Ichirou said, and several other voices agreed. I started to get excited for the first time.
"Um, if everyone can stay, can we all play Uno tonight?" I asked, pouting a little on accident. There was the sound of a heartbeat, and then everyone shouted back, "YES!" My mom turned to leave , muttering something that sounded suspiciously like I'm leaving it to you, Ichirou-kun. I sat back down beside Hana and Mitsuka, with Aizawa across from me, Sou to his left, and Jirou-kun to his right. Sakura sat on the other side of Mitsuka, who was to the right of me. And Ichi was on the other side of Hana. I looked at everyone and smiled my real, most joyful smile.
"Thank you everyone, for coming and staying overnight!"
"Oh no, thank you, Uru. The fun is only just beginning." Hana said, and I suddenly felt the atmosphere change. I took another spoonful of ice-cream, convinced it was my imagination. And then Hana took the Truth or Dare cards out of her bag.
I hope everyone had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. I'm sorry the name thing is confusing, I'm trying to make it so Uru uses everyone's first name or last name with no suffixes to make it easier on myself. Also, the whole time she switches between dad and step-dad is on purpose. She does the same in the manga, and it depends on if she's consciously focusing on him or not. She'll occasionally use step-dad, then change it to dad. She thinks of him as her dad, it's only when she's around other people who get confused, such as the large party at her house, that she thinks of him as step-dad. And I'm sorry if I left anyone out, it's very difficult trying to keep track of so many characters in one space. The next chapter is going to be interesting, and definitely the start of some of the pairings, I promise. You can't have truth and dare coed without there being kissing!
