Fuahh...it's been so long since my last update, sorry, I tried to do too much things at once and ended up finishing none.
Also, it's another Shiki fic. Special for Betrayed Dreams, I guess :p this should've been completed weeks ago if only I didn't lose the file... meh that's just excuses. Anyway, enjoy!
If there's something I know about Yukinoshita family, it's that they attract great fortune and misfortune alike. And the older they get, the smarter and faster they could put up their mask, concealing the bitter pain they accumulated along with the sweetness that outsiders perceived. I won't claim that I understand them, for I too am an outsider. But the glimpse of it that slipped out from the Yukinoshita sisters' words was enough for me to at least take a peek to the faces they hid behind their mask, of the cries they never let anyone see, of the grimace they forcefully locked away with false smiles.
Then again, maybe it was precisely why they are so dangerous. Having no qualms against using both their fortune and misfortune to their advantage, the Yukinoshitas forged their path towards each of their dreams and objectives, before ending at the same conclusion each and every time.
That aside, I certainly never expected the matriarch of the Yukinoshita family to appear in front of me in a cafe where I met her eldest daughter not long earlier.
O god of love comedy, what sin hath thy humble servant committed that warrant thy wrath?
But even the god of love comedy wants nothing from this Yukinoshita.
"Thank you for taking care of my daughters, Hikigaya-kun, I've heard nothing but good things about you."
"I'm flattered, ma'am."
"But on other hand such overtly exemplary reports breeds suspicion within my mind. Tell me, Hikigaya-kun, what do you think the most important possession of a Yukinoshita is?"
What is the most important for Yukinoshita? I don't know. I know frustratingly little of those around me, their past, their hope, their wish, their hatred, their pain, I never knew any of them. And I never cared to know either; as long as they're walking on my side, it's more than what I could ask for.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I have no idea."
"It's their values, Hikigaya-kun. Their ability to discern their goals and weighs all option based on it. A Yukinoshita must never let anyone save themselves influence their values." She squinted. "And you somehow accomplished just that, skewing the values of my daughters to one beneficial to yours."
"Pardon me, ma'am, but I'm afraid-"
"Oh, playing dumb, are we? Do you seriously think that I won't notice something as blatant as my daughter's behavior?"
"No, ma'am, it's just that my ability to observe such things is far cry from yours-"
"You are severely mistaken if you think such simple flattery would affect me. My values are far harder to distort than that of my daughter's." I averted my eyes from her suffocating gaze.
"I'm deeply sorry for underestimating you, ma'am." I forcibly suppressed my instinct to run away. "Despite what it might looks like, I have no slightest intention to insult you."
"Your very existence is an insult for me, Hikigaya-kun." There are no way to prepare for her acidic words. I stared dumbfounded at her face, still displaying cold hard poker face. "I see that there are no point in playing a game of subtlety with the likes of you. Your ability to change my children's values is an interesting one, but at the same time a dangerous one to my plan. I won't allow you to change the arrangement of my board." The goddess stood up from her seat.
"Were you satisfied with merely playing with fire, I might be able to ignore you, but right now you might as well dousing a match in gasoline."
I could only stare at her receding back as she walked towards her limousine.
I've made an enemy I'd never hope to defeat. At least Yukinoshita Haruno is still a human. But this Yukinoshita woman has stopped being human long time ago. She will do anything it takes to ensure there aren't even the slightest chance for her plan to fail. I have no chance to challenge her, not even if I spend my whole life gathering allies and powers. She would simply swallow me whole and won't even spare another thought about it.
I never thought that the day would come that I voluntarily knocked into the dreaded temple dedicated to Holy Priestess Hiratsuka herself. Actually, that's not a bad nickname. She should convert to be a Priestess of Vesta or something, then at least she would have reason for her prolonged solitude.
Which begs the question, was she even virgin? I shook my head in silence. Why am I even thinking about that? She clearly wasn't, right? Argh, now I'm curious.
"When are you going to start talking? I don't have all the time in the world, you know?" Exasperated expression plastered over her beautiful face. Well, I just deprived her of her lunch time, after all.
"Ah, yes, I mean, are you, no-" Sighing, Hiratsuka-sensei suddenly shoved her cigarette pack to my face.
"Take one." She said flatly.
"But-"
"Just take it, geez." I reluctantly took a cigarette from the package, putting it between my lips. "Now suck on it slowly, like sucking a straw." She lit the cigarette as I took a drag from it, its tip glowing amber, smoke filing my lung. I coughed, pulling the cigarette away from my face.
"Slowly, you idiot. Try again."
"I don't think it's a good idea..." She simply smiled.
"Try again." I tentatively took a slower drag from the cigarette, smoke once again filling my lungs. Why would anyone do this voluntarily is beyond me.
"Good, now are you going to talk or not?" She took the cigarette from my hands, taking a drag from it herself.
"Sensei, isn't that indirect kiss?" Idiot, why did I said that?!
"So what? It's just you." She forced the cigarette back to me, puffing the smoke from her lips. I became overly conscious of her slightly parting moist lips, a thin lipstick concealed the darker hue courtesy of years of smoking.
I shrugged. Might as well.
"So, why are you here?" I returned the cigarette to her hand.
"I talked to Yukinoshita's mother yesterday." Puffing a waft of smoke, she handed the cigarette back to me.
"And then? Did you accidentally enlisted her into your harem?" I took another drag before answering.
"No, I didn't, and what harem are you talking about?" The cycle continued. She tapped the cigarette to the ashtray, ashes dropping from its ember tip.
"Forget it then."
"The only thing I accidentally did was enlisting myself to the list of person she hated the most in the world."
Silence permeated the room for several minutes as we continued the cycle to shorten the cigarette.
"She wanted you to get away from her daughter." She finally spoke when the cigarette became too short.
"...yeah, she talked about their values as Yukinoshita or something." She looked straight at my eyes after she extinguished the cigarette.
"Well, they're a bunch of weirdoes after all." She sighed. "In that case you better really get away from her daughters. Hmm, Yukino won't be happy, but I guess taking a break from the club would be the best course of action."
Calling the family of a student as weirdoes isn't really ideal teacher behavior. Then again, neither is sharing a cigarette with a student.
"You think so? Well, I have no qualms against it."
"I'll talk to Yukino about that. Now get out before someone found out what I just taught you."
Oh? That kinda sounds erotic.
I simply shrugged, before standing up and heading towards the door.
"Pardon for the intrusion." With a slight nod from her, I left the room.
"Yuigahama." I called out for the hyperactive girl in the class, gaining nasty looks from the people in her circle.
"Hikki? What is it?"
"Yeah, I was thinking to take a break from the club."
"Eh?! Why?"
"Hiratsuka-sensei told me to, it's a bit of personal problem, to be honest." I can't exactly tell her about my meeting with Yukinoshita's mother. "So, yeah, you could go without me."
"Is that so? The room would be different without Hikki..." What's with that upturned look? I won't fall in love with you with only that much you know? I'm not that desperate...
..Well, at least I like to think that I'm not.
"Well, that's it, I guess. Isn't that good? You could spend more time with your beloved Yukinoshi-"
"I told you it's not like that! Geez! Pervert! Hachiman!"
"Ah, you just called my first name." Her already red face turned even deeper shades of crimson.
"Idiot!"
"Sensei, I have a question." That same afternoon, I somehow found myself sitting in front of the same beautiful teacher of mine, who was shifting through a stack of paper.
"I prefer silver rings than gold ones." She answered without missing a beat, her hand still moving through the papers and marker.
"Not that. What's the point of me leaving the club if I still have to stay here afterschool?"
"Well it's not like you have better things to do right? I'm not as young as Yuigahama or Yukino, but I'm confident in my physical appearance."
"No offence, sensei, but I would rather spend my extra time leveling my mobile game." Now that I think about it new characters should be introduced today, argh, I wanna go home!
"I see, so our relationship is less important than a game, huh..." What's with that wistful voice?!
"Well it's not like we have much of one..."
"Is that so? You really didn't remember? That time when you held my hands, pledging our love to the infinite expanse of flowers atop that hill, sealing our vow with a sacred kiss..."
"The scariest thing is that your fingers hadn't even slowed down. As expected from a Japanese literature teacher, did you made all those lines on the fly? More like, if such kind of lovey-dovey development had happened in my past, I won't be half as rotten as I am right now."
"Hmm, then why don't we make it your future?" Her fingers paused, her beautiful eyes stabbing into mine "If you want, I could spare a day or two in Hokkaido with you this weekend, how does that sound?"
Faced with the obvious trick question, I took a deep breath to give her the only logical answer.
"I'm sorry sensei but as I thought as a person who had difficulties conforming to social bounds it is impossible for me to confront it head on, I'm sorry."
Silence.
"Who are you, Isshiki Iroha?" Hiratsuka-sensei's lips formed a frown as she resumed her works "Here I am offering you a holiday with no strings attached for once, and you became a masive jerk in response."
"I'm sorry..."
"Well, forget it. Why don't you go home? I'm going to stay here a bit longer, and I can't exactly ask you to help me grade these assignment."
"I'm sorry." I awkwardly stood up, picking my bag before making my way to the door.
"Oh wait," pausing her fingers once again, Hiratsuka-sensei took out a golden invitation letter from her desk. "This is yours, by the way. Why would she invite you after telling you to stay away from her daughters, I have no idea, but then again I never have any idea on how her mind works."
I took the letter, examining it in my hand.
Invitation letter for a dinner party, huh. And I have to bring a date on top of that—sigh, it's a pain. Maybe it's better if I don't come...
"I got one too, by the way, and I know you don't have anyone to come with you, so-"
"You can't seriously-"
"Of course I'm serious." I simply sighed.
"You can't just use me whenever it's convenient for you."
"Oh give me a break! You know I don't have anyone to come with either, and not coming is simply not an option for me!"
This is going to be bothersome…
To be continued.
I just realized that for a smoker, I have surprisingly small amount of vocabulary dedicated to the act of smoking. *shrugs* well it's not like I'm going to have a heated debate in English about detailed description of smoking or something, so I'm content with that. Smoking is dirty and unhealthy habit, no amount of linguistic eloquence could change that.
Critics and Reviews are always appreciated. riyangendut out.
