Author's Notes: Why is it that I'm more psyched to study for an exam when it's actually closing down on me? Is it more exciting? Do I work better under pressure? Or am I really just a procrastinator? I'll never know.
Anyways, With exactly 24 hours before my first midterm exam, I finished studying and finished Chapter 4. All hail multitasking! This will be the last chapter I'll update for a while. Studies call, people. I'll be back in business by the 26th. :D. Hope you guys enjoy this one too, and reviews are appreciated! Onwards!
Full Court Press!
Chapter 4
"Well hello Satoshi-kun. Would you like to come on in?"
It was 10:15 PM, Japanese Standard Time. The winds were chilly and dark clouds covered the sky. There at the front lawn of the Hirasawa household, a silent stand-off was taking place. With our eyes locked, I stood face to face with my Ui's elder sister, Yui Hirasawa.
The elder Hirasawa wore a smile on her face, a smile that sent chills down my spine. I knew all too well that she was still freaking pissed off at me. That being said, her usually pleasant smile was unsettling to say the least. It was the same effect a smiling Joker had on his next victim – you know something's going down in that sick mind of his.
Dark Knight references aside, what the hell was she planning to do? The sound of the shopping bag she held on to rusting in the wind didn't help either… what did she have in there? Groceries? A body bag? At least it wasn't a home improvement bag… knowing she didn't have power tools on her made me feel a little better. Not by much, but definitely a little better. Power drills always creeped me out anyways.
Finally, there was that other thing she was holding on to, a distinct cellphone my senpai had in her hand – Ui's cellphone. Why the hell does she have it?
"I borrowed it from her," she said with a wicked grin, "got a problem with that?"
You know what; I have a big ass problem with that. The only reason I came rushing here to this place was because I thought I was called out by my Ui, you know! But I didn't tell her that. Since I rushed here, I forewent bringing my cellphone… calling in the cavalry (namely Ritsu) was now an impossibility. Why did I have to go alone?
Now it was clear - it was Yui-senpai who summoned me here tonight. Whether her intentions were diplomatic or lethal, it was too early to discern. If she really did want to talk, she would have at least texted me with her own cellphone right? I didn't like this, not one bit. I didn't want to deal with this right now… I'm going home.
"You know what, it's getting late senpai…" I said, doing a full 180, "I… uh, was just passing by."
"You know Satoshi-kun," she said in a heavily sugared voice, "I really did want to… talk about something. There's a matter we need to… resolve."
As she said those words, the heavens thundered and the lightning illuminated Yui's face in an eerie light. Damn, she was scary! How much more lamp shading did I need here? I knew she wanted to rip my guts out… I knew that all too well. However, I figured that if I was screwed anyways, I might as well face her now.
"Alright senpai, let's talk." I said, facing her again, "I think there are quite a few issues we need to discuss."
"Indeed," she said, drawing her house key, "but let's talk inside, shall we? It's much more… quiet there."
Another rumble of thunder in the horizon then came and whatever remnants of my fortitude were threatening to go AWOL. Here it was; the invitation. It was the first step in many of the murder flicks I've watched. The suspect invites the victim to come with him or her to a more secluded place, such as their house, where he or she has a better chance of killing the victim without anyone noticing… it was a classic I didn't feel like admiring at the moment. Nonetheless, I had to get to the bottom of this. I'll go inside, but I just need to keep my distance. If I do that, I'll be fine.
"Please, come with me." She said in that same sugary voice. She then locked the door behind her. Argh… seems I won't be able to go out that way so easily. There was no turning back now…
Yui-senpai then led me to the kitchen. When her back was turned to me, I could see her free hand curled into a fist, shivering violently. She was mad, I could tell that much… but the question was why? I never treated Ui badly at all… as weird as it may sound coming from a jerk like me, I loved her and didn't want any harm to come to her. As a matter of fact, if anyone ever hurt her, it's going to fucking rain blood! Looking at it that way though, Yui-senpai might be on the same wavelength as me. The only problem was it was probably my blood she wanted to spill. That sense of solidarity between wasn't exactly comforting. One false move and I'll have my teeth smacked in with Gui-tah. Even though I was a bit of a musician myself, death by guitar isn't exactly a good way to go… I really need to be careful.
"So Satoshi-kun," Yui then asked, stopping in her tracks without turning back, "do you love my dearest sister Ui?"
Her back was still turned to me, but I could see her face puffing up. The sugar in her voice was starting to dilute. Playtime was over. This was it.
"I do." I said firmly, stopping as well
"Are you willing to fight for her?" Yui then asked with her back still turned, "To the death?"
My heart beat wildly as I heard this… just as I thought, she wanted to fight me. Oh joy – where's a gunblade when you need one? Gulping down my anxiety, I steeled my stance and said,
"Yes."
Hearing my response, the girl then quickly paced forward, dropping the shopping bag on the counter then heading for the knife rack by the sink. Argh, knives! I knew it! Why does it always have to be knives! Every single Yandere anime I see, it's knives! Why did I have to watch School Days last week? Now I was face to face with my very own Sekai, how fun was that? Clenching my fists, I waited for the inevitable charge. The charge however, never came.
Rather than run at me, the girl walked slowly towards me with the two knives in hand, still starting angrily at me. Judging by the way she held the knives, she wasn't planning to stab me. She then handed me one of the knives and said,
"I challenge you to a no-crying contest! First one to cry has to give up Ui!"
"No-crying contest?" I asked. I wasn't really sure how to react to that – stab at each other to see who cries first... Is that why she gave me a knife too? So I have a fighting chance? As gentlemanly as duels usually are, a knife-fight isn't exactly going to end well for either of us… Take twenty paces away from each other then run at each other with knives and cut each other like enraged monkeys. Very gentlemanly indeed. however, that wasn't what she had in mind.
"We're going to chop onions," she said, showing me the contents of the shopping bag, "lots of onions."
Chopping onions? What the hell man! She called me out late at night to chop onions and to see who cried first? The funny thing was, when Yui-senpai finally declared her ulterior motive, she didn't flinch. She was dead serious about chopping onions, which wasn't as much an ulterior motive as, let's say, chopping my head in two… This was for the better I guess.
Looking into her serious face, I wasn't really scared of her anymore… just amazed. Apparently, this was her way of exacting revenge. When Ritsu told me about how airheaded Yui-senpai was back then, I could see she wasn't kidding. An onion chopping contest isn't a fight to the death, Yui-senpai… it'll be a pain on the eyes, but no one's going to die. Hopefully. Nonetheless, this was still a contest with our honor at stake. I've been called out and I've been challenged. I'm not going to lose to her. Thus began our epic onion chopping contest.
"First one to cry loses!" Yui declared furiously, "If not, the one who chops more onions wins! The loser has to obey and do anything the winner wants, such as staying away from Ui the rest of your life!"
So her demands were already set in stone, huh... This'll be tough. We drew an onion each and started chopping. As silly as the whole shenanigan sounded, that was one consequence I wouldn't dare accept. I loved Ui, I won't give her up just like this. I can chop onions alright – I'll chop all these onions! I'm not going to lose to you Yui-senpai!
CHOP!
The moment my knife sliced through the first onion though, that mildly unfriendly itch in the eye was quick to manifest itself. With every chop, the itch got worse and worse and as the large onion became shallots, my eyes started to water. Turning over to Yui-senpai, she too was determinedly holding back the onion-induced tears… she didn't want to lose either.
We finished our first onion at roughly the same time and the two of us reached into the shopping bag for our second. We hit each other's hands and glared at each other, but quickly got back to the task at hand. Petty violence wouldn't resolve this conflict now (though a nice clean knife throw would end the completion plain and simple). In that moment, the only thing we could think of was chopping more onions than the other and holding back those onion tears. Loud, rapid chops echoed through the kitchen, along with the occasional sniff and gasp for air. It was getting intense.
"I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP UI!" Yui-senpai cried, chopping her eighth onion with one eye closed
"I'M NOT GIVING HER UP EITHER!" I cried back, squinting as I finished my eighth and reached for my ninth.
With the spray of about eighteen onions filling up the general area, keeping both our eyes open became a chore rather than a necessity. Our clothes were soiled in onion juice and bits of shallot and our eyes were bloodshot from onion irritation. The two of us were now shouting at each other, declaring our dedication to our task, but also to keep our minds off the pain. At this point, I wouldn't have minded a knife fight – it would have ended rather quickly. Chopping onions like this was a excruciating task, and I can see the rationale as to why Yui-senpai chose this task… she can think logically after all. I shouldn't have underestimated her.
In the midst of all that, the sound of the chopping slowed down and grew weaker. Rather than run towards the bag for our next onion, we struggled to even reach the bag. Our eyes were barely open and we couldn't really see where we were going anymore. We were at nineteen onions apiece and the two of us could cry at any moment. It was when we tried to reach for our twentieth that the contest finally came to an end.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!"
It was Ui. Though I couldn't see her from where I was, I recognized the voice.
"Ui!" Yui sniffled, trying to walk over to where Ui's voice came from, but she tripped.
"Onee-chan!" Ui gasped, braving the harsh air to tend to her beloved sister
"I don't want you to leave me Ui…" Yui said, letting go of her knife and embracing her sister, "I don't want you to leave me…"
I couldn't see what was going on, but my heart started pounding all of the sudden. Tears welled up in my eyes, not only because of the onions anymore. It was because of a realization. Yui-senpai truly loved her sister… she was just afraid to lose her. My knife fell to the floor and I dropped to my knees, crying. I lost the battle, I cried first. Not long after, Yui-senpai cried too, our sobs filling the room. Now that the contest was over, neither of us had to hold back our feelings anymore. We cried and cried till we couldn't cry anymore.
As we cried, Ui dutifully helped the two of us up and guided us out of the onion-fumed room and into the hallway. She then opened up the windows and got an electric fan running to blow out the irritable fumes. After a few minutes in neutral air, our eyes were soothed somewhat and our vision normalized.
"What were you two thinking?" Ui then scolded, facing the two of us with a stern face, "You shouldn't chop that many onions in such a small room!"
"But Yui-senpai…" I said, trying to reason my way out, but Ui would have none of it
"You still shouldn't have done that Satoshi-kun!"
Ui then turned to Yui and said,
"Onee-chan, I don't know what you were trying to prove here, but this was too much."
"I'm sorry Ui…" Yui apologized weakly, "I just thought that… I just thought that…"
Just then Yui-senpai cried again and was too overwhelmed to continue her answer. Ui sighed then faced us again and said, "You two should take a bath. You'll feel better afterwards."
She then looked at our clothes and said that she would put them in the laundry too. Nodding to her, Yui-senpai was led to one bathroom while I was led to another. As much as I would like to avoid taking a bath in another person's house, I was going to make this one exception. Being covered in onion juice and all, I didn't feel comfortable at all. Putting on a towel, I handed Ui my clothes from behind the door then prepared the bathtub. I sunk into the pool of warm water and closed my tired eyes, pondering about that insanity that had just transpired between me and Yui-senpai. A good forty minutes or so later, I head a knock on the bathroom door.
"I'll leave your clothes out here, okay Satoshi-kun?"
"Thanks Ui." I called out from the tub, "I'll be done in a second."
Draining the tub then taking a quick shower, I dried myself up and reached for my express-cleaned clothes. I put them on and headed out of the bathroom. There, Ui was waiting for me.
"You feeling better now?" She asked
"Yeah, the bath really helped." I said, scratching my head, "Thanks for cleaning my clothes."
"No problem." Ui said with a smile, "But tell me… what was that all about, Satoshi-kun? Why did onee-chan do this to you? And why did you agree to do it?"
"I was just thinking about that actually…" I said, shoving my hands into my pockets, "I think she's just really afraid to lose you."
"Lose me?" Ui asked
"Yeah, lose you." I repeated, "She thinks that now that we're going out, I'm a sort of rival or something like that…"
"Oh, I see…" Ui said a little sadly, "but why did she have to do that?"
"It's because she wants to defend her beloved sister. That's what I think." I said with a smile, "She'd do anything and everything to keep her safe."
"Making you chop onions is a little too much though…" Ui argued
"Well, I thought so too at the start, but thinking about it, she just wanted to make sure you don't get hurt." I explained, "Ritsu would do the same for me – if something happened to me, heads are going to roll."
"Knowing Ritsu-senpai, she might just do that." Ui chuckled, "But I can see what you mean."
"So, now I know what I have to do." I said to Ui with a smile, "Is Yui-senpai done yet?"
Ui nodded then led me to where Yui-senpai was.
"Oh right." Yui said the moment she saw me, "I won the contest. That means you'll have to do whatever I ask you to do."
"I understand that." I said, facing her determinedly, "But before that, would you hear me out?"
Yui-senpai wanted to retort, but I spoke regardless. I told her about just how much I loved Ui, talking in the most Quixotic fashion I could muster. As painful it was for me to say so many flowery things in sequence, it was the truth in my heart and it flowed out naturally. Yui-senpai looked at me with awe as she listened to my words, and the fierce look in her eyes slowly crumbled away. I reassured her that I wasn't going to hurt Ui, and that if ever I did, Yui-senpai had the exclusive rights to kick my ass. Then I bowed down to her and said,
"Please let me stay with Ui, Yui… nee."
"Yui-nee…" Yui repeated in a daze
"Yeah," I said firmly, "Please."
Yui-senpai was at a loss for words as she looked down to me. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She then turned to Ui for assurance, but she just smiled at her calmly. Yui-senpai's frown now weathered into a smile; her genuine smile. One of true happiness rather than murderous intent. Yui-senpai then bent down to my level and said,
"Since I am the winner of the contest, I decide what you have to do."
"I'll do anything." I said, still facing the floor
"From now on." She said, asking me to straighten up, "You have to call me 'Yui-nee', got it?"
"What?"
"You heard me." Yui-senpai said determinedly, "Yu-i-nee."
"That's all I have to do?" I asked, surprised by her seemingly simple demand.
"Yeah." She then said with a smile, "That's all."
"Very well…" I said taking a deep breath, "Thank you, Yui-nee."
"Kya~!" Yui-senpa… uhm, Yui-nee squealed, "So cute!"
Phew. She's not pissed off anymore. Seems I'm going to have to get used to calling her 'Yui-nee' from now on.
"But remember our agreement." Yui-nee reminded, "Hurt my beloved Ui and I have the exclusive rights to hurt your behind."
"I got it." I laughed. I then checked my watch and saw that it was already 1AM, the next day. "Oh man, I gotta go!"
Bidding farewell to the Hirasawas, I unlocked the front door and headed back home.
"Take care now," Yui-nee called out as I left, "little bro."
And with that simple exchange, I became an honorary member of the Hirasawa household. This has been a crazy day. I needed some sleep. I'm pretty sure I won't wake up in time to get the extra rice this morning, but what the hell. I can live with that. Quickening my pace, I hurried back to my house for some well deserved rest.
Along the way though, I happened to pass by the Akiyama household. There on the second floor of the house, a single room was still lit and a silhouette of Mio Akiyama, presumably wearing those earphones of hers, was sitting before a computer. What was she doing this late at night? I had a few theories… but I'd rather not think about that now. Shrugging, I just went on my way.
Today was a new day after all, I want to enjoy it.
To Be Continued
