Warning for cursing
four - parcels
The week flashed in a rush of attempts at doing well. Attempts and subsequent failures and further attempts and busy work. Her parents would be at the Amagi In. They would get here right after school, which meant she would have to skip soccer practice. That was for the best, really. They didn't like her very much. Whether it was because she was a girl or because she outplayed many of them, she didn't know.
Daisuke and Kou liked her, however, and that was enough. They were even covering for her being gone.
Her school skirt itched on her legs as Yui stopped to take a breath, brushing against the already chilly skin. Her head hurt a little and she shut her eyes. This would be a long evening.
A large hand rested on her shoulder (not her uncle's size, but she could feel how much he worked day in and day out. This was the boy who fought with desks and chairs after all) and she looked up to see Kanji. His once pasty face was almost warm tan now after a few months of finding sunlight and no longer skulking under awnings and doing business in the rain.
"You okay, senpai?" His gruff voice was heavy with worry. "The others are on their way. Shirogane, er, Naoto went to flag down some taxi? I think."
Yui almost laughed but did resume walking. "I hope she doesn't overstep. They can walk the same as anyone else."
"Not with their luggage, senpai. Not all the way to the inn."
He sounded so stricken and earnest that Yui did have to laugh.
"Don't worry, Kanji," she said, patting him on the arm now. "They could handle it. And Naoto is taking care of it anyway. They'll be fine."
He flushed (the boys here in Inaba blushed so easily) and scratched his head. "If you say so, senpai."
Yui smiled again and nodded. They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes and Yui breathed as quietly as she could. As if that could cover up her nervousness.
She hesitated once more. Then, exhaling a bit, she said, "Kanji?"
Kanji twitched. She almost never used honorifics, something that baffled so many of the residents here, especially since even Yosuke used them to great effect at times. And yet she was polite enough as she was taught to be.
"Why can't you just be normal?"
"Yeah? What's up, senpai?"
Yui hesitated for a second, chewing her lip. She couldn't look at his sincerity for very long if she wanted to ask this question. It was too much, really. Too open.
Don't be such a hypocrite, she told herself. "Your shadow was reflecting your uncertainty about who you are."
"They are like that, senpai." He sounded… concerned, afraid? Something like that. She had been there, she should remember.
She nodded. "What if you know who you are at the moment, enough to accept it, but other people don't want you to accept it?"
Kanji swallowed. "I… huh."
"I don't need an answer," Yui said with a wan smile. "I just needed to ask the question."
"I… uhm." Kanji nodded to himself. "I'm gonna think about it and get back to you. That all right?"
Yui nodded and sat down on the Inaba train station steps.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
Kanji did not sit. He was determined to get the very first glimpse of their Head Investigator's (Rise had called her that once instead of Leader by accident and everyone had witnessed her turn into a blushing mess for about ninety seconds.) Family. He wondered who she took after. She looked nothing like Dojima-san, who was nothing but sharp chisel and awkward gait. But Nanako didn't look like him either.
Also, it was easier than looking at senpai, whose face had a strange, troubled expression. She didn't have that face very often. She was usually calm, composed. Sometimes she and Rise were of one mind it seemed like. Their tactics were just that on point. So now…. These past few weeks had turned her into almost a shadow. Her normally neatly combed hair was barely tamed this morning, matching eyes dull in the cloudy sky. The uniform even seemed to hang off of her shoulders.
"What if you know who you are at the moment, enough to accept it, but other people don't want you to accept it?"
That was a weird question. Then again, it also suited senpai. She was so straightforward sometimes. She had no hesitations most of the time.
Kanji fiddled with an incomplete project in his jacket pocket. He was starting to thrum with nerves. Where the hell were the others anyway, they were gonna be here any minute! This would be a shit first impression, senpai sitting here with a thug looking dude for a friend by herself at a train station. What if they were super protective?
What kinda protective parent ships their kid to the boonies?
"Senpai," he began slowly. She peered up at him. She reached his chest when standing up and cared little otherwise. "Do your parents uh-" He fiddled again. "Uh, ya know-"
"Mm." Yui smiled a bit, opening her bag. "I know. But they're not around much so not really. They love me of course, but-" she shrugged slightly. "Don't get your hopes up much okay?"
Kanji raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses but then he heard Rise calling out behind them and turned to the gaggle of their friends with bags and a van.
"Bit much!" Yukiko admitted when she jumped out of the car, eyes sparkling. "But when Dojima-san had to cancel… well, it seemed only fair, right?"
Yui's lips curled like a smile. Then her head whipped about as the sound of a train screeching to a halt met their ears.
She hopped to her feet and up the rest of the stairs. Then, they waited.
Everyone else left the car as the doors squeaked open on their automatic slides. Then, something small and grey sped out of them and tackled Yui off the stairs.
Kanji, being closest, acted fast enough to catch her and said blur. Yui's face was scrunched with amusement and dismay, one hand around the blur's torso, the other digging into the soft flesh under the ear. Said blur was quickly revealed to be a small child, who squirmed helplessly in her iron grip.
"Leggo!" They shouted, laughter betraying any chance at anger in their voice.
"You could have cracked our heads," she said as Kanji helped them both stand up. Yui looked back at them, smiling a little.
"Everyone," she said, now examining said child. "This is my little brother Yu."
"Nice to meet you!" He said, waving over her arm.
