The L Boogie: So…HI! And here I go coming back from a long disappearing act. Life is…well…ya know…busy at times. I've actually been sorta wishy washy about what I've been wanting to write lately, and suddenly, I get a great review. Funny thing about reviews though…it's kind of a pain in the ass…I mean…I hate disappointing folks, and every time I get a review (especially a good one), I remember that I'm disappointing someone if they actually like my work. I know how it feels to be on the other end too, so I look at it as unwelcome motivation since I'm such a slacker.
So I guess I should really get this one back and in the works. I do like my idea for it's story anyways, but I'm gonna have to plot it out a bit more carefully. But I'm kinda tired and getting bored of writing this Author's note, so let's just get to this story!
Oh! I also did a slight modification of the previous chapter. Took out some of the stuff at the beginning cause I thought " Ya know…I'm just not the kinda guy who can pull this sort of thing off…". I had some idea that I sorta borrowed from somewhere else about giving glimpses to the future of the story…Let me tell you…I'm disorganized as all get out, so there's no way I could really effectively pull that thing off with the proper dramatic appeal. So I just canned it. The changes were minor otherwise. Anyhow…like I said earlier, let's just get to this here story!
And also, to anyone who has been waiting around for me to get off my lazy ass and work on this…I'm really sorry, and I appreciate that you still actually give a crap about my work. It means quite a lot to me actually.
Legal Crapola: If I had a dime for every time I've tried to come up with something witty for my Legal info section…I'd probably be rich. If I got a dime for every one that was witty, I doubt I'd have much more than lint in my pockets. Regardless, I'm poor and sometimes (and currently) broke. So, I'll just say that only the story is mine. Characters and settings are generally owned by Mr. Jin Koboyashi. So there. Now leave me alone, evil blood sucking, money stealing, lawyers…CAN'T GET BLOOD FROM STONE!
Pandemonium Roulette: A School Rumble Fan Fiction
Chapter 3: Guilty as a Woman
A glance up to the clock suggested that Yakumo had not been very productive in her homework assignment this evening. With another glance down at the paper, she once again reread the various problems typed before her, and with her pencil, tapped the paper while she began to unravel the solutions. It was closing on nine at night, and she didn't want to be up late with such a simple assignment, but her day had been a bit hectic to say the least.
On top of dealing with the new school year ruckus, she also had to work this afternoon. She didn't end up getting home until 8:30, and thankfully Sarah had already made dinner so she wouldn't have to. But that wasn't the real problem. Nor was it the page in front of her with the various equations. No, this problem ran quite a bit deeper, and had once again presented itself earlier in the day.
Her job at the café wasn't a bad one. Certainly, the owner having her dress up in various outfits was quite a bit embarrassing, but she didn't really mind either since it paid quite well and the patrons tended to tip more. Some usual customers had just sat down in one of their regular tables, right on time at around 4pm. They all commented on how her traditional Chinese dress really suited her, and as usual, she thanked them for the compliments but otherwise scurried off with their orders.
They weren't necessarily bad people. They were always friendly, never gave her trouble, and even cleaned up a bit after themselves so as to make her job easier. But it was still never any easier to work around people who had your body constantly on their mind. While not all their thoughts were lewd, they were generally far from wholesome. With some degree had she just gotten used to it, though there had been times in her life, and especially at the café, where this had been a bewildering and sometimes terrifying experience.
But still…this wasn't the problem that was plaguing her attention and drawing it away from her studies.
Indeed, after this group had come in and she had gotten their beverages, she took a few minutes to clean some of the windows from the inside, and enjoyed the view of the low afternoon sun in the sky. She was excited for the warm up in the weather and began to ponder taking some time within the next few weeks to clean out the storage shed and air out all the mattresses. It was then she caught the glimpse of something whizzing through the streets, heading in her general direction. As it slowed down, she recognized it as Harima on his motorcycle. She blushed a light shade of pink in some excitement, hoping that he was coming to stop by, and watched as he pulled to a stop at the light across the street. It was then that she had noticed he carried a passenger.
Seated at the rear of the bike with her arms wrapped around his waist was Eri Sawachika. In her hands, she was carrying a few bags from a local grocery store as well as a few different clothing stores. She was beaming a bright smile and pointing in various directions, likely suggesting more places for the two of them to visit. They exchanged words, and once the light changed colors, she braced herself tightly against him and they took off down the street without even a glimpse towards the café.
She felt a slight tightening in her chest at the sight and had begun just staring into space while replaying the scene in her head before one of the café patrons had snapped her out of it, causing her some further embarrassment at her lack of attention. With almost 4 more hours of work to go, she knew she was in for a rough time of it.
And so, Yakumo stared on and on at the homework assignment, replaying the events of the day in her head and not paying it any real attention. Once the clock chimed 9, Sarah stepped into the living room where Yakumo was, wearing her pajama's with her hair wrapped up in a towel.
" Hey Yakumo, the bath is yours. Why don't you go take one." she suggested.
" Oh, thanks Sarah…I just need to finish this first. I'll take one later…" Yakumo answered, her voice filled with hesitation.
Sarah walked over to where Yakumo was seated and saw the blank page set out before her.
" I thought it was strange that you weren't done…but you haven't even gotten started yet. That's not good Yakumo…" Sarah scolded, though lightly.
" I know…it's just…I'm having a hard time concentrating, that's all…" explained Yakumo, with an exhausted sigh.
" Do you wanna talk about it?" the blond offered with a smile.
Yakumo's eyes dropped and looked away towards the floor, contemplating the offer.
" Maybe later Sarah. I might go take a bath first and see if it'll help me clear my head…" she responded, after some careful consideration.
" Alright then. And just cause I'm a super awesome friend…I'll let you copy my homework…" Sarah playfully teased as she walked out of the room.
The younger Tsukamoto stood up from her seat at the table with a long stretch and walked off into the bathroom, disrobing herself and prepared a bath. The mixture of hot water and steam eased her body and softened her mind, allowing herself a chance to finally relax. No homework, no job, no dealing with strangers and schoolmates…it was the best reprieve she could ask for. Leaning back in the tub, she watched the steam float about carelessly, and immediately her thoughts had wandered to Harima.
He was quite a bit of an enigma to Yakumo. He had a gruff exterior and was known for solving his problems with brute force. Dangerous, feared, and a derelict to modern society, his reputation was well earned. But despite all that, she was privy to his many other sides, like his awkward and clumsy attempts at kindness, his care and concern for animals, and his surprisingly mature views on love and relationships.
It hadn't been all that long ago that Yakumo had resigned herself to having romantic feelings for him. She had fought them long and hard, trying to trick herself that it was just her seeking a male, almost fatherly figure in her life. She had known about his infatuation with her older sister, and she did her very best to try and direct Tenma's affections towards Harima. But it ate away at her bit by bit, and the more she schemed to get the two of them together, the more painful it became for her to push him away. Eventually, she could no longer resign herself to it. This emotion…this love…had been for more than just a friend, or a paternal figure…no…she had wanted that pure and compassionate love he had burning in his chest, for her and her alone.
It's caused her to learn more about herself. When she was younger, she was often impatient and short with Tenma, and after the loss of their parents, Tenma had really pushed herself to grow up for Yakumo. For that, she always felt indebted, and swore that she'd always do her best and support her sister, because she knew that no matter what, Tenma never did anything out of selfish or malicious desires. But as Tenma and Harima would grow closer, Yakumo couldn't help but grow somewhat bitter towards her older sister.
This love has even caused her to become somewhat violent.
In the myriad and plethora's of misunderstands surrounding Harima, none have been more complex than when Eri was involved. It had been made obvious long ago that she had a strong romantic affection for him, despite their casual and sometimes hostile demeanor towards one another. Yakumo often wondered if Eri had these same thoughts and emotions running through her heart and mind regarding Harima, Tenma, and even herself. The two of them had clashed a number of times over it, and one time, she even slapped Eri across the face and loudly scolded her for being a bad friend to Tenma.
But deep down, Yakumo knew that they both had felt the same way. And as Eri had been a bad friend to Tenma, Yakumo had been a bad sister as well. But no one slapped or scolded her. And sometimes, she honestly felt like she really would have deserved it.
But at the same time, despite it's flaws, this love has had a positive impact on Yakumo. First and foremost is simply the contact she and Harima have. Even if it's not intimate, she does get a decent amount of private time for just the two of them. It's one of those little guilty pleasures that she has never really talked about in detail to anyone. Secondly, she has become more vocal, and a much stronger person as a result. Seeing him work so hard, despite his flaws and setbacks, has given her a newer resolve to do the things she finds hard in life. Third, it has really brought Yakumo out of her otherwise slightly introverted shell.
So despite it's flaws, drawbacks, setbacks, and periodical casualties, this love she feels in her heart for him…it's a most wonderful thing.
Self introspection was nothing new to Yakumo. She was very self conscious about many things, including her looks, her grades, and her friends. For a girl with a modelesque physique, top scoring grades, and is practically an icon at the school, one would not think she had such issues…but she is quite concerned about them. But now, this was something she could not directly control, for the most part. Her grades were good because she studied and tried hard on all her assignments. Her looks were good because she did her best to stay in shape and was a natural beauty (though she would never ever admit it). And though she is popular without trying, she does her best to contain her fans and to keep a low profile otherwise.
But no matter how hard Yakumo tried to change subjects and look to other means to occupy her thoughts, they always traced back to this afternoon.
Seeing the pair of them riding around so carefree on his motorcycle…she felt jealous. It wasn't like she had never ridden it before with him…but it was the look on Eri's face as she was laughing and smiling. It was the look on Harima's face as he gave her a shy and gentle smile, one Yakumo knew to be his genuine smile. Even more, it was the fact that it wasn't the two of them sharing that moment, right then and there. Yakumo envied Eri for a number of reasons. One seemed to be that the two of them were quite open and honest about things. Maybe with the exception of her affections, they seemed to be one the level with one another.
Another was that their attitudes and personalities tended to complement one another. They were both earnest people, just in their own way. But together, everything seemed to come much more naturally.
With no ability to resolve her situation currently, Yakumo decided it was best just to relax a bit more, then when she got out, she would finish her homework and go to bed. As she got out of the bath and finished rinsing and drying herself off, it was then that she realized he forgot her bath robe, so she wrapped her towel around herself instead and headed out into the hallway.
Not three steps down however, Yakumo stopped abruptly in the midst of her stride. For stationed just a few feet from her was none other than Harima Kenji himself. He was standing in the hallway facing her, and it was obvious to both of them that they had both seen one another. The pair stood like statues in the hallway, as Harima began to choke out an apology and an excuse while stammering the whole way, Yakumo was fraught with embarrassment, wearing only a slightly damp towel that barely clung otherwise to her body. As his attempt to force out an excuse failed to launch, her level of embarrassment rose through the roof, suggested visually through the darkening shades of crimson that blushed her cheeks.
Slowly, she finally was able to find the strength to try and retreat. She didn't want to make a scene of it, but the sheer amount of embarrassment she was feeling was enough to make her heart stop. Finally, she was able to work the strength up to dash around a corner and take up a defensive posture with the wall as her cover.
"H…Harima? What are you doing here?" she stammered, her voice obviously on the edge of a shriek.
" No wait! It's not…I mean…I just…uhhh…crap…what was it…" he continued to stammer.
Still unable to align his thoughts, she poked her head out from around the corner just slightly. Going on and on about how sorry he was and what his reason was for being there, and that he didn't mean anything by this whole situation, it didn't take long for her to get what he was trying to say. But despite all the racket he was making, there was a noise in the background that Yakumo caught a glimpse of. It was very faint, so she closed her eyes and concentrated on it.
'Static?" she thought.
It waxed and waned in strength from faint to inaudible, and it seemed as though he couldn't hear it himself. After a few moments, it occurred to her what it might be from, and so, stricken with a sudden bout of curiosity and courage, she stepped out from around the corner, despite being clad in nothing but a damp towel.
She took a cautious step towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, shushing him and doing her best to calm him down. In a way, he was more flustered then she may have been. As he quieted down, they stood and stared at each other in a moment of silence. She could still faintly hear that soft static in her ears, and now was the time to confirm it for herself. She swallowed hard and despite the obvious blush of nervousness she bore on her face, she took a step back and straightened her posture a bit. She was now entirely in Harima's view, and as she straightened her back, she allowed her towel to slide down some and expose her breasts and cleavage quite a bit. The towel itself held tightly to every curve and flat of her abdomen and bottom, and stopped just above her mid thigh, And while she found this almost excruciating due to the fact that she's never really shown this much skin around another man, she bore it as best she could.
And it resulted into what seemed like an explosion of static. In fact it hurt her ears initially to where she almost had to cover them, but was afraid that if she did, her towel would fall off.
Regardless, she'd had enough of this and if it continued any longer, she may very well faint. With a quick apology, she retreated through the hallway and into her room where she was able to slip on her pajama's.
'I can't believe I just did that…what's gotten into me?"she thought.
She had always been uncomfortable showing so much skin. Her bathing suits were either the school assigned grey one piece, or a white and red one piece that didn't allow for her cleavage to show. Now, her job at the café did require her to wear some more or less revealing items, it was at least work, and even then it was never too over the top. At least, nothing like the stunt she just pulled in the hall. Her face was scorched red from her blushing so much, and her body shook wearily to match. After a few minutes of clearing her head and some deep breaths, she finally emerged from within her room in order to go and greet Harima a little more sensibly.
In the living room, Harima sat by the coffee table, his face awash with blush as he grumbled to himself. Sarah sat opposite him with a wide smile across her face.
" You shouldn't be so hard on yourself Harima. It's nobody's fault, just bad timing…" she cheered.
" You say that…but jeez…I was just hoping one of you guys could explain some of this homework to me…It's kind of embarrassing to ask a couple of second years, but I don't really know anyone else that might help me…" he pouted, " But I really embarrassed her back there Sarah. I think I should just go home…"
" Don't talk like that. It won't kill her and I'm sure by tomorrow it'll be like it never happened. And anyways, you need some help right? Yakumo's great at math so I'm sure she could help you out." said the younger blond.
He grumbled again, still feeling a bit guilty for putting Yakumo in such a predicament. But he needed some help with his math homework and he decided that maybe he should actually try a bit harder in his studies this year. Plus, it would make a good example for a school based Manga he had begun cooking up on one of the back burners of his mind. Finally, without any more delay, Yakumo stepped out from the hallway and carefully made her way to a seat at the coffee table. She was adorned in light blue pajama's and had her hair pulled back in a pony tail.
" I'm sorry about all of that earlier Harima…" she began to say.
" No!" he yelped, alerting the neighbors and anyone passing by on a low flying aircraft of his embarrassed insistence, " I mean…it's my fault. I probably should have called or something…"
He looked away sheepishly, obviously still bewildered by the earlier encounter. Yakumo shook her head with a gentle blush.
" It's fine Harima, we'll just move on from that. So what did you want?" she asked, not seemingly concerned that it was a little bit past ten at night.
" Oh…well I just wanted a bit of help with some homework. I know it's weird to ask for your help since you're a year below me…but I don't get it at all and I know you're pretty good at this stuff. Can you help a guy out here?" he pleaded.
" Yeah, that's fine. Here, let me take a look at it…" Yakumo said looking over the page.
As the two huddled a bit closer, Sarah took this as the best moment to slip out. She watched them for a bit from the other room with a soft smile as Yakumo proceeded to try and teach Harima various math principals and formula's. After a few minutes, she wandered off into her room, lipping a silent cheer for Yakumo as she continued to play tutor. After a few hours, Harima departed slightly the wiser with his homework completed. Seeing him off, Yakumo allowed herself to enjoy a more confident smile as she replayed the sound of static she heard in her coming from Harima throughout the evening. And with that, it made the memory of watching Harima and Eri ride around together on the motorcycle earlier in the day, which bothered her so, seem like a fleeting instance.
