Chapter 7 – A Family Thing
It's been three days since I joined the Volleyball Team. And during those three days, I've been learning how to play the basics from Tsu and Rukia.
The latter taking it straight to her head.
"Ohhohoho! I'm impressed, Ayano. You've gotten better faster than I thought you would. Might have a chance to 1-up me in the near future. Ohhohoho!"
"Y-Yeah…thanks, Rukia. Is she normally like this?" I whispered the question to Tsu.
"Yeah. She is. I got used to it. So you will too. Eventually."
"I see…"
*SOUND OF AN ALARM*
"Oh. It's that time already. Sorry, guys. I gotta get going."
"Hold it." Rukia said. "Your jersey came in today. Took a while to get your sizes right. Still can't believe you have a bigger chest than me."
"They're not that big, Rukia. I'm like a size bigger."
"But they're still bigger. That's what I'm mad about."
"Come on. We're roughly the same size. Letter-wise."
"Yeah, but…"
"Guys…"
We both looked at Tsu, who had her blushed head hanging low while clenching her fists in a fit of rage.
Both Rukia and I knew what this meant.
"S-Sorry, Tsu." I said.
"W-We didn't mean it. Honest." Rukia added.
Yeah…when it comes to chest size, Tsu's worse than the both of us. And she really hates it when it's brought up. Even on accident.
"A-Anyway…here's your jersey. Hope you like it."
The jersey Rukia was talking about was much like one she and Tsu were wearing right now. The only difference was…while Tsu had a 13 on hers and Rukia had a 9 on hers, I had a 5 on mine.
Not sure if that's supposed to mean anything, but I'm not going to ask. Rukia will probably give an unnecessarily long answer anyway.
"Wow thanks, guys. It looks really cool."
"Right?" Tsu said after getting over the whole chest thing. Now the three of us are finally a team. We're like…The Volleyball Trio or something like that."
"The Volleyball Trio? Really now, Tsu?" Rukia asked.
"Well, it's a better name than "Volleyball Queen Rukia-sama"."
"*snicker* Volleyball Queen?" I tried holding in my laughter.
"H-Hey, shut up. I'm no doubt a queen with how good I am. Plus, I'm goddamn wealthy. Ohhohoho!"
Oh, yeah. I forgot.
"Hey, Rukia. Is it true that you're the daughter of a CEO of a huge publishing company?" I asked.
"Oh. You mean Yamabuki Works Co.? Yes, I am. Can't believe you took the time to look that up, Ayano."
"Well, no. I didn't. My caregiver told me about it. I think she's a fan."
Hmph. No surprise. The stuff Daddy makes into reality are real masterpieces in my eyes. Ohhohoho!"
"Uh…Daddy?"
"She's a real daddy's girl. You should see her yourself some time. It's really funny." Tsu explained.
"*giggle* I see."
"I'm about to hit both of you with this volleyball." Rukia said while sounding insulted.
"Sorry." We both said.
"Aw, geez. I'm running late. I gotta go. See you guys."
"I'll call you later." Tsu said. "Though, I'm pretty sure Rukia will be asleep by 9."
"N-No, I won't!" Rukia yelled with a blush of embarrassment on her face.
"Girl. Don't lie."
"I-I'm not lying! You're the one spouting nonsense!"
"Okay, Rukia. If you say so." Tsu said with a cheeky grin.
"Wipe that goddamn smile off your face." Rukia sounded pissed.
"What smile, Rukia? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Tsu…"
"*giggle* Those two seem to be really good friends." I said to myself as I left the old dusty run-down gym and soon out the school as a whole.
Today, both sets of groups were meeting up at a local cake shop to hang out. As we haven't done so with all of us together since the trip to the hot springs resort. It may not seem that long, but for Akari & Rise and Kyouko & Chinastu (the only two couples in our group), it seemed like an eternity.
Didn't think that being in a relationship would make you sound so needy. But I guess it happens.
"H-Hey…everyone." I said as I entered the shop. Catching my breath from running from my house.
"Geez, there you are, Ayano. What took ya?" Sakurako asked.
"S-Sorry. Practice took a little longer than it should've."
"Practice?" The four middle schoolers and Kyouko asked in confusion.
"Ayano joined the school's Volleyball Team." Yui said.
"Volleyball?!"
"I didn't know you were into volleyball, Ayano." Chinastu said.
"Well…at first, I wasn't. But then the team wanted me to watch them play and then I almost burned them to death and now I'm learning how to play."
"Oh, that's nice." Akari said.
"Wait, hold up. You said you almost BURNED them to death?" Himawari asked.
"Y-Yeah…they know about my curse now."
"Is Haruka okay with this?"
"I told her the same day. She's okay with it. As long as no one else finds out."
"I see. Well congrats, Ayano."
"Hope you smack the ball hard onto their faces." Sakurako added.
"Sakurako…that's dodgeball." Chizuru said.
"Well, they're the same thing, right?"
"No, they're not. They're two different sports."
"Oh…ah well, whatever." Sakurako then went back to eating her giant cake.
Seriously. Can she really eat all that?
"So what's your team like, Ayano?"
"Rise asked what's your team like, Ayano." Akari said.
"Huh? Oh, well…it isn't much. As in, it's only me and two other people."
"Just 3?" Yui asked.
"What are their names?" Kyouko asked.
"Well, they're both first-years. One is named Tsubaki Hirai, but she often goes by Tsu."
"Tsu?" Everyone asked.
"Cute name." Chinastu said.
"Yeah, that's what she said. And the captain of the team is named Rukia Yamabuki."
"R-Rukia Yamabuki?!" This was yelled out by Yui, Chizuru, Kyouko, and Sakurako.
"So I'm guessing you four have heard of her?" I asked.
"Heard of her?!" Sakurako yelled. "Her dad owns the biggest publishing company in all of Japan! They made some of my favorite manga!"
"And light-novels!" Chizuru added.
"And gaming sims!" Yui added.
"Wow. I can't believe someone that famous goes to our school. And plays volleyball, no less." Chitose said.
"Yeah, it was a shock when Haruka told me who she was." I said. "No surprise you four are huge fans."
"Duh."
"Obviously."
"Who isn't?"
"Um…well…"
We all looked at Kyouko, who looked really nervous for some reason.
"What's wrong, Kyouko? Didn't you say that you knew this Yamabuki girl?" Chinastu asked her girlfriend.
"Well…yeah, I did. I do know her, but for a different reason."
"Huh?" We were all mildly confused.
"Hehhehheh. Well, you see…Rukia Yamabuki is my cousin."
…
…
"Y…Your…
…
YOUR COUSIN?!" We all shouted with total shock.
"Surprise. Hehheh."
"Kyouko, why are you NOW bringing this up?!" Yui asked.
"S-Sorry, okay? It's just that we don't see each other often. And we eventually forget about each other."
"Forget?!"
"When was the last time you saw her?" Chitose asked.
"A couple months ago. When I was in the hospital. She came by once or twice. But nothing eventful happened."
"Why, what happened?" Akari asked.
"All we did was talk about what manga, light novels, and gaming sims that my uncle's company are going to publish in the next year or so."
"S-Sounds eventful to me, Kyouko." Akari responded while she (and the rest of us) had a sweatdrop moment.
"Anyway…are you really friends with her, Ayano?"
"Yeah, we're friends. Although she can be a bit of a self-righteous weirdo at times."
"Yeah. That's my cousin for ya."
"You know, I actually want to call her and see if this is true." I said as I took out my phone.
"What, you don't believe me?"
"Well, to be fair, you did use to spat out nonsensical bullshit in the past." Sakurako said.
"H-Hey! If you want to talk "nonsensical bullshit", then explain that picture you drew during the show!"
"What picture?"
"Oh, yeah. That picture." Himawari said. "The one where you drew yourself as a big-breasted main protagonist. It was pretty ugly."
"And stupid." Akari asked.
"Wh-Who asked you two?!" Sakurako yelled with a faint blush.
"Guys, shh. It's ringing." Yui said after I dialed Rukia's number."
"Hello?"
"Hey, Rukia. You got a minute?" I asked.
"Oh, Ayano. What can the refined and elegant Volleyball Queen Rukia-sama do for you?"
*sigh* Really, girl?
"I'm out with my friends and one of them seems to know you. Do you know a girl named Kyouko Toshinio?"
"Huh? You mean you're friends with my cousin Kyouko?"
"No freaking way…" Chizuru whispered.
"Yep, that's it. Thanks, Rukia. See you on Monday."
"Uh…okay. See you then."
I hung up the phone and looked at Yui, Chizuru, and Sakurako. Who couldn't believe what they just heard.
"See? I told you." Kyouko said.
"Welp. I'm going to Shinohara." Sakurako said.
"Really now?" Yui asked. "The school's no joke when it comes to grades."
"Huh. Well then, I better get to studying!" Sakurako shoved the rest of her cake in her mouth and then ran out the shop. Waving us goodbye while still chewing her cake.
…
…
"¥500 says she doesn't have a chance in hell." Himawari said as she placed ¥500 on the table.
"I'm in." The rest of us said as we did the same.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Huh. Kyouko and Rukia are related. Who knew? Well, I did. I'm the one writing this thing.
So sorry for going MIA for a while. I kinda got into a slump due to a story I was working on. Struggled on it for over 3 weeks. It was a difficult time, I can tell you that.
Actually, I've been thinking. I want to write another one-shot for Yuru Yuri. But unlike the last one, this one's going to be heavily based on humor. Both normal and a bit dirty. Wondering if you guys would read it.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Later.
