~My Little Sister's Best Friend~
~Chapter 7~
~BONUS! A Day in Track and Field~
~Neru's POV~
~Inner Section of Yamaha Stadium~
I was so done for.
My knees felt weak, and I thought I was hallucinating. My limbs were about to fall off and my head felt heavy. For warmups today, our coach, Seo Hyun Moon aka SeeU, made us run 50 laps around the campus. The entire fudgin' campus!
That woman is a monster.
Since I only joined the club in May (it is now June), and I have no experience whatsoever with T&F, I'm absolutely useless and flip floppity. Unlike the others who have watched the Olympics and have seen the athletes, or previously joined other clubs, or did freestyle.
The only thing keeping me from being kicked out is my speed.
I have an average set of stamina, I'm not muscular or spontaneously fit, my technique has yet to be mastered, I haven't won—nor participated—in any tournaments, and I'm a whiner.
Yup, I'm fabulous.
I was practically dying as I collapsed on the moist grass, my breathing ragged and harsh. I'm like a fish out of water.
"Wah!" A head gasped above me. "She's dying!"
"Fuki, she's not dying." Linako stated, arms crossed and an indifferent frown on her face.
The others surrounded me, whispering and mumbling quietly.
Before we carry on, let me introduce the 'unique' members of the T&F club.
The coach, as I said earlier; SeeU, is one of the handful of third years in the club. Before high school, SeeU was still living in South Korea. Now she specialises in most activities of track and field, but decided to be a tyrant-like coach instead. Why.
The Hatanaka siblings are polar opposites of each other. Teto is a bubbly, bouncy, jolly, cheerful and a hyper active redhead. Annoying too. Ted—a second year, the captain of the jumping department and a child prodigy—is your stereotypical smart pants, bookworm, who is proud of being a genius; and he is not afraid of showing it.
Teto—much to Ted's agonising despair—is the vice captain of the jumping section. She excels in all three jumps; long, high and triple. Plus relays. Ted is more into half of throwing half of jumping, and it is seen in his choices—discus, javelin, pole vault and high jump.
Did I mention Ted has a fetish for 'beautiful' and 'wondrous' things?
Ring Miyazaki is a mighty, strong, proud and selfless girl. Her childhood friend—Lui Kishi—is the captain of the running department. She, herself, is the captain of the throwing branch. Lui is the fastest one of us all, with an agility status that can make anyone jealous, but when it comes to strength and force, Ring is the better choice.
Her activities are of a boy's, but she doesn't even give it a second thought. Her capability allows her to perform activities like shot put, javelin, long jump and pole vault. While he sticks to his speed and legs; sprints, relays, hurdles and high jump.
Yura Taenaru is the suave playboy of the bunch. Before, during and after practise girls are there, waiting for him. Talk about creepy. But he doesn't mind. Despite his playful antics, he claims to be infatuated by Nagare Zensoukyoku, a fellow member of the club. The other boy shows no affection towards the shameless womaniser, but Fuki says he has a soft spot for the guy.
I have no trouble believing that. They are the closest to each other, even if the majority of their conversations—somehow—melt into an argument.
I have talked to Yura's fangirls before, them saying he's attractive with his dark hair and golden striking streaks, his loving attitude and everything else. His eyes were a plus too. He was American but with his Japanese blood, he blends in easily.
Nagare is into calligraphy, noodles, cares for his older sister (secretly) and Yura (supposedly). His features are his light purple hair and his solid purple eyes. He is also the vice captain of running, and tends to make Yura envious when he works alongside Lui.
Nagare isn't involved in too much stuff, only being in middle distance and sprints making him have a lot of extra time to himself. Yura's things are only shot put, triple jump and long distance; a mix of all branches.
Jaran Coppola Maeda (or better known as Jero) is the captain of all three divisions. He is involved in at least one activity from Running, Throwing and Jumping, which made him eligible and a good person to run for captain. Due to his involvement and skills, he won the election. He is a second year, a normal one too. His only weirdness? His obsession, or 'crush', on a third year, Linako Sonone.
He likes dinosaurs, video games and computers. Aside from his outward affection for Linako, he has a problem with talking to girls who aren't that close to him. That's a reference from our first meeting; he fainted whilst talking to me. A great captain indeed. He is quite attractive—platinum blonde-ish white hair, dark purple eyes and his unique American features.
Linako is a sempai of mine, who is very old fashioned, her interests like gardening, baking, painting, weaving and flowers. She is the personal medic of the team, and no doubt, the motherly figure too. She has nice rosy pink hair that ended with big corkscrew curls, cautious orange eyes and a developed body.
Linako ran for overall captain as well, but she resorted with being the nurse instead. She joined one from each division—Running: Middle, Jumping: Long, Throwing: Javelin. I once had a conversation with her, it went well until I mentioned genres of music and...well.
Apparently she favours rock.
That's all I have to say about that subject.
Akari Haneon is the youngest member, being a first year like me but the age difference is the thing. It feels good to be called a senpai instead of having to call someone else a senpai. (Since most of the time I'm the one saying it.) Anyhow, Akari can't run a long distance, nor a long time, so her tiny body and short limitations make her perfect for sprints. She also participates in triple and high jump, manoeuvring her small structure with ease.
She has soft peach-pink curls, and sparkling gold eyes. She grabs the attention of many boys, but they are driven away by the club's guys. They want at least ONE person to stay pure and innocent in T&F.
She is closest to Selen Hokama, the assistant of Linako when it comes to medical aid. She is the second mother figure of the club—almost an aunt. She has taken Akari under her wing, and she spends her time caring for the young girl. Her appearance is similar to Akari's. Sort of. She has peachy hair—that is generally tied back by a rubber band—bangs that slip down the front and sharp gold eyes.
Like Ring, Selen is associated with strength, and her physique is possibly better than the majority of the male population in our school. Her forte is one from each branch—which made her perfect for the position of captain, but she refused because of the time she'd lose—middle distance, hurdles, javelin and discus throwing.
Ron Keine is another third year, and was a candidate to become overall captain of all three divisions. He is a kuudere (Fuki said so), a brutally honest person, obliviousness is his emotion most of the time, he goes easy on people younger than him and he loathes annoying people. He has the hots for SeeU—Fuki said so, again, and I didn't really see why he wouldn't like her. (ExceptforthefactthatSeeUisamajorwitchsometimesbut ohwellshe'sagoodcoach.)
He has blue-ish black hair, azure eyes and Chinese features. (He comes from Beijing!) Ron excels in his performances of relay, pole vault and discus. He declined the offer of becoming captain because he would have less time to play mahjong.
Fuki Kusane is a 1st year, a gossiper and a brat—as Ron puts it. She was the first person to befriend me in the club—aside from SeeU who just wanted me to work hard, but now we're on good terms—and she hangs around me like that kind of smell that never seems to go away. Fuki enjoys her participation in shot put, triple and long jump. She is the icon of immaturity and childishness, and she is mighty proud.
She prefers walking for she has a fear of vehicles. She loves animals, the colour blue and dirt. Her other dislikes are gardening and confined spaces. Her outer appearance suits her personality best. With her sea green short hair that gives her a crazy look, wide alice blue eyes and her signature yellow star earring on her right ear—she looks perfect.
And last but not least, Shou Kurone. One day, while me and the girls were in the locker room, Fuki came up to me and suddenly said, "did you know Shouchi is gay?" Apparently it's true and not one of Fuki's supposedly 'fair' statements. Even the other girls agree. It wasn't that hard to believe, actually.
Aside from that he tries to compliment others—even if he doesn't really care—loves chocolates and despises cats. He is quite a tsundere, doesn't care about his appearance and once you get past his tight security, he will open up to you and smile.
Shou was yet another tribute to becoming captain. His lack of enthusiasm made him drop out then Jero inherited the position. His activities are middle and long distance, pole vault and javelin. He has blonde hair at the front and black at the back. His eyes are creamy gold, and he is slightly muscular.
That's all the members. Now back to the story.
"You should really drink some water. You're dehydrated." Selen suggested, concerned. She was as sweaty as me, her hair plastered to her face like glue. All of the divisions had to run—even jumping and throwing—to build up stamina.
At that moment Akari, Teto and SeeU walked back onto the track—a big cooler being lugged by the two smaller girls—while SeeU frowned at the sight of my befallen body. Selen immediately rushed to their help, and Ring offered a hand up.
"What happened to you, Akita?" SeeU asked, raising her eyebrows, questioningly. I took Ring's hand and hoisted myself up. I looked back at our coach. "I just slipped. The grass is wet."
She didn't question any further but she wasn't convinced either.
"Ai!" Fuki stretched her arms out, though it made no difference to her height. "That was a refreshing run."
"Here," Selen placed the cooler down (Teto and Akari left Selen to carry the cooler by herself because she was much stronger) and we walked down to grab a bottle of water.
We would've ran...but I think we've had enough of that.
Yura was the first to reach the box, and he threw a bottle for me and the other members of the running branch. You see, the running department usually is the first to train, it is seldom for another division to go first.
"So," SeeU began when we all took our seats on the ground in front of her. She waved a paper in the air, this disturbingly sweet smile on her face. "I will be announcing the agenda for today! Please listen!"
She cleared her throat thoroughly before continuing. "The first ones are running." Surprise, surprise. "Then jumping and throwing."
This is our daily schedule anyway. The runners go first because in the morning our metabolism is at our highest. Afterwards the jumpers, because they'd have finished eating lunch, by then, and would be ready to propel themselves off the ground. The throwers would go last because of the lack of movement they do. But their workouts are actually quite tiring, and the time their training starts is minor, making them the most flexible branch.
They can start their training at any time, although the problem is the other two branches who have to train at a specific time.
"Sprinters, follow me to the track."
Obeying, I carefully placed my more than half empty bottle down on the ground, along with the others who were called.
Me, Lui, Nagare and Akari trailed behind SeeU like little helpless pups. And she was the tigress.
Yamaha has two big stadiums connected to the main school, and a modern college. The school being at the bottom, the university at the top, the activity stadium at the right and the sports stadium at the left—its shape like a diamond.
The school is built tall and wide with a primary, junior high and secondary stuck together. Our yard and pitches are outside the diamond-like campus, including the entrance.
The university has a lab, a museum, a theatre, a convention hall and a huge library. In the main school we have a library too, but the differences are massive.
The activity stadium is where the clubs are. There's a tennis/badminton court, volleyball, archery, table tennis and various clubs—like Track and Field.
The sports stadium is where American football, soccer, hockey, baseball and a basketball hall (there is one outside the campus where we can use without supervision) are set up.
The activity stadium, or better known as AS, was currently empty and we were the only occupants. It gave off a cold chill, but it was very comfortable when more people were inside. AS has an actual track, a proper one, unlike SS; the sports stadium.
SeeU started at the beginning of the track, her clipboard tucked under her right armpit. "Okay!" She chirped, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "We already did our laps, now our stretches."
It was the usual exercise. Stretching muscles, inhale & exhale, MORE warmups and a mini lecture about diet and other stuff like that. Akari was ready to give up, and we haven't even started.
"Darling~ Nagare~ Do your best, sweetie~~~!" Yura shouted from the back. Nagare was nice enough to hold in his rage, resorting into throwing a glare (and a rock) at his face.
"So... I think we should go and time you guys." SeeU said thoughtfully, stroking her chin in a cliche manner. Lui perked up, his eyes flashing red. "How long is the distance?"
SeeU's response was said in a bored way. "It'll be the same distance. Akari can't handle any further than what we usually do."
Hearing this, Akari's face flared up and she frowned at herself. "I'm sorry for being weak."
Here we go again.
"Oh frick! Selen! Get over here and stop Akari before she goes ballistic!" Nagare screamed. Almost immediately, Yura (?) and Selen ran over.
"What's wrong, honeypoo?!" Yura asked, concerned. The black haired boy wrapped his arms around Nagare, earning a surprised grunt from said boy. "G-get off of me, you bas—"
Selen covered Akari's ears.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." The smaller girl assured her best friend after Selen's hands fell, eventually, back to her sides. Akari swallowed the lump in her throat when Selen—reluctantly—padded back to her seat.
Lui and I just stood there...enjoying (?) the show.
Yura went back too, much to Nagare's joy.
After that scene, Lui raced down the track, sticking a small neon yellow coloured flag into the soft earth (which we use to mark lengths). He went back to us, slightly breathless.
SeeU took out her stopwatch and pointed at Nagare. "You're going first, pinky. Last time your time was off. I'll be looking for an improvement."
The purple haired boy was ticked off by the nickname—his hair isn't pink—but he simply nodded before positioning himself on the track.
Yura's loud and off-key cheers made Nagare's eyebrow twitch. When he reached the end of the length, SeeU clicked the stopwatch off and a crooked smile crawled up her face. "One second difference...what a shame... Call the runners for middle and long distance."
Something tells me SeeU's mad about something. Big surprise there.
She timed me, Lui and Akari as well; but that didn't help her mood. We told the next runners to be aware—the tigress might snap.
"Ok... Middle distance is longer... We'll have a race then!" She chirped right after their exercises. I swear...this woman... Fuki spotted my expression, and she stopped playing with my hair to look at me.
"What's bothering you, Neru-chan?" She asked, though, she wasn't a little bit concerned. Well...it didn't sound like it to me.
"SeeU...she's a bit off today. Don't you agree?" I turned to face her.
She shrugged. "She's always like that."
Poor Nagare was scolded again, and Yura came in to save his 'beloved'. They both got punished. Linako and Selen calmed the argument, Yura went back to us with an annoyed face, and Nagare was red from yelling and possibly thankful that Yura defended him. Shou stayed clear from the conflict, even rambling about chocolate subconsciously.
The MD runners soon finished their session, and I briefly glanced at Ron's wristwatch behind his back. They didn't take too long... That's weird.
This time the long distant runners stepped up, including me.
Jero was humming happily because Linako had complimented him this morning about his stylish hair. I fail to see how its different compared to the other days of the week. Jero was oblivious to the tense atmosphere, and so was Akari. They were even eating pocky when it wasn't their turn.
I was the only female participate in LD, but it was far from awkward. We were so scared at the moment, I think Yura hid under my hair. Shou was daring and dangerously nonchalant, he even pretended to like SeeU's shoes and only received a disbelief-painted look in return.
"Look... You guys have the longest track to run... It's a lot of pressure but don't be too nervous, alright? This time... I won't be timing. It won't be a race either... It's actually like a race but it doesn't matter who gets to the end first... It's about who manages the best."
We were all confused, and Yura was still somewhere in my ponytail. SeeU flicked her wrist towards a few 2nd years dashing towards us whilst dragging rickshaws filled to the brim with...weights?!
"Today, with the permission of our kind sensei, some classes are going to watch the performance of our LD runners!" She squealed cheerfully, jumping up and down as students tumbled around us. They took a seat anywhere, and judging by the numbers, there was only about 4-5 classes here. Yet I could still feel the anxiousness rising.
Yep, SeeU was fine and her usual self today. Why did I even care in the first place.
"Now," she finally calmed herself down before I could throw a weight at someone who didn't deserve it, "the weights are to be strapped to your ankles, and you must get to the end without it falling off. If it does, you have to do a lap after school around the campus, AND go back to the start!" She glared at us. "Don't think you'll escape my eyes. I'll be keeping score of the laps you must do."
Yura raised his hand. "What if we don't do the laps...?"
SeeU blinked. "Well..." She said slowly before tilting her head to the side and sneering. "Your life will be eradicated."
Yura didn't ask any more questions after that. The 2nd years began securing the weights around our ankles with...rubber bands?!
"What the hell is this?!" I blurted out by mistake. "The weights will fall off immediately! Especially since they're as heavy as a cat! Their surfaces are smooth too—the rubber bands can just slide off!"
SeeU slammed her clipboard onto my chest. "Are you complaining, Akita?"
I was about to retort back in sarcasm, but Jero grabbed my arm and shook his head. I pushed the clipboard off of me, and turned towards the track. I can already feel the weights slipping...
Her scream was loud and the cheering began like wildfire. But all I could feel was the judgemental gazes from the crowd and the weights falling off before I could run a metre. This is...impossible...!
"What...is...the...point...of this...?..!" Jero said in between hisses. I spotted his shiny weights falling quickly. I shouldn't be worried about him! I mean, my own weights were falling even faster!
I found Yura turning back to the start, already, his weights wrapped in his arms like a child. Shou was doing well...how come?
He was near the beginning, he made little to no progress. He was waddling like a penguin...and his weights weren't moving an inch. What.
I ran quicker. The crowd became livelier. Ugh, is Dell in the cluster? Can he see the point in this race? I'm sure he has by now. He can be smart when he wants to.
"Noooooooooo." A wail echoed from behind me. Jero. Did he...? "Wah!" I tripped over my feet—wait...—over my own weights! They fell in front of me, causing me to run on them. I cursed under my breath. Great. One lap for me.
I quickly picked up the weights and ran to the start. I didn't get that far...but I was doing so well!
I met up with the others at the beginning. They were talking to Shou. "How are you doing this so effortlessly?!" Jero screeched in frustration. I heard their voices despite how noisy the cluster of people was. With speedy hands, I had the weights around my ankles again and I quickly caught up with them.
I was curious too.
"Remember what SeeU said before we started? 'It doesn't matter who gets to the end first... It's about who manages the best.'" Shou kept his eyes focused on the track. "Its quite clear that trying our best involves these weights." I slowed down my pace after hearing this. "And I think we have to try and handle the weights AND the race...or something like that..."
"So..." Jero began slowly, and looked at me. "This isn't about an actual race? But about handling weights?!"
"Yes. It's hard, though." Shou gritted his teeth. "No matter how careful we are, the weights will fall from our steps."
"We'll all take our time. No rush, right!" Yura said encouragingly.
It wasn't easy.
Yura's fangirls threw what ever they could find at us, just so Yura could win. Those sneaky little donkeys. Jero tried his best at being subtle, but his patience could not be tested. I was as impatient. Shou was doing the greatest out of us all. Although his weights did drop once or twice, he made it further and was completely calm and collected, despite the rocks being thrown around.
"Arrrrgh!" I growled as the weights fell a third time. In front of me, Jero's own weights just slid down and onto the track.
"This is ridiculous!" I cried out. Jero did the same, but with some gibberish words after. At the same time, SeeU blew her grating-sounding whistle.
"LD runners go back. Call the relay participates." She commanded.
We went back to the beginning, where the 2nd years took back their horrible weights, and the students went back to their classes. I felt so defeated.
Jero, Yura and Shou sat down on the ground, Jero and Yura giving me a comforting look and Shou simply patted my shoulder. Our failure today made a big impact on us, but, especially on me. The beginner. The one who hasn't experienced this kind of heavy feeling in my chest before.
It was really annoying, actually.
Teto was the first to reach me. She looked worried and absolutely bewildered. "That was absurd, Neru-chan! It'll be okay...relays (hopefully) wont be that bad today!"
Long distance training today wasn't bad...there's just this nagging feeling in my head. Like SeeU didn't do what she did just because she was sadistic and wished to humiliate us... It was something much logical.
Ron and Lui followed closely; Lui wearing an expression similar to Teto's and Ron looking thoughtful.
Fuki and Ted were delivering the batons to SeeU and they spoke in low voices—except Fuki, of course—then went on their way. Our blonde coach approached us quite proudly, batons in hand.
She smirked at us and handed the coloured baton, then she pulled out her cursed stopwatch. "I'll be timing you guys for this."
While we were positioning ourselves, Ron began his calculated speech. "SeeU may be a sadistic woman but... I have a feeling there was something more to that session."
I nodded in agreement while Lui and Teto looked beyond confused. Teto cocked her head to the side. "What ya mean?"
Ron turned to me, ignoring Teto. "Neru, what did SeeU say before the weights came in?"
I strained my mind. What did she say? "Um...something about us having the longest distance and not being nervous, or something..."
Ron snapped his fingers, his mouth open to shout. "That's it! She was testing you, to see how you'd handle yourself in an actual competition! SeeU is smart too."
I frowned. I didn't crack under the pressure...I was too focused on making it to the end... Is that good or bad?
Nothing special happened afterwards.
During our relay training, SeeU remained mysterious, and did not tell us how we did. Teto kept saying she did a bad job. In my opinion, Teto was no different than her other performances. She didn't have to go and cry and use my shirt as a tissue.
In hurdles, Selen made a big improvement. Lui and SeeU congratulated her; Jero shook her hand and gave some handy tips, while I simply had a nice chat with her. Selen had a problem before. In a fight against some bullies, Selen had been kicked in her left thigh, causing her to have some problems with hurdles. Since you run then jump, and repeat the procedure, it causes strain on her legs, which makes Selen kneel over in pain.
Today she cleared the set of hurdles without trouble, and her injury is slowly healing. I am so proud right now.
I screwed up. Along with Jero. Both of our timing were off, and this time JERO was the one crying. Might I add, using my shirt as a tissue as well.
Lui was perfect in speed, timing and height. I hid my jealous feelings behind a happy smile when the others congratulated him.
Fuki was finally getting her turn, for she was in the jumping division. Long jump—in my opinion—is actually quite hard. You run a certain distance then you jump as far as you can. Not as easy as you think.
SeeU prepared the participants' butts by doing some hilariously awkward stretches. Fuki was having the time of her life, unlike the others. Teto was too flustered to do it properly. SeeU said Teto would get butt cramps later on.
Ring refused to do it in public, so I had to escort her to the bathroom to make sure she did her stretches. Not exactly fap material... Linako managed to gather enough courage to stretch, although Jero took a ridiculous amount of photos. He even made it into an album on his phone.
Triple jump was no different. They did the embarrassing stretches. Yura. He was confident. Too confident with his hip swings, powerful pelvic thrusts, very low squats... Fuki took some amazing photos to sell to his fangirls. Those angles... Selen kept Akari from doing the exercise in public. So, she too, had to be escorted to the bathroom. Fuki and Teto didn't have to do it again, that's why Fuki had time to take pics.
Their training went pretty well.
The high jumpers didn't jump over much poles today. They did a LOT of flexing, and they made some pretty weird noises. Especially Ted.
Itwasntsexyatall.
Selen did not approve of Akari's painful cries. Teto refused to stand beside her brother—well—none of us really wanted to be near him for the rest of the day. Lui's noises weren't very manly. Even Ring agreed with me.
Pole vault has a lot of participants in it. This time, they were jumping. And I don't know if I'm happy or not.
Ted screamed—yes, he screamed—while he was running. His jump was perfect though...but we still didn't go near him. Ring and Shou cleared the height with ease, and they flatly complimented each other like there was no tomorrow. Jero had to retry three times and SeeU was not happy. I'm pretty sure he whimpered out Linako's name while he was being 'lectured'.
I think it was Ron who was the only one who didn't let the heat get to his head. He cleared the height, he got semi 'lectured' but wasn't pathetic enough to call out for help, didn't compliment himself, and, he was talking to Teto. Wait what.
That never happened before. Oh well. Whatever.
Onto the throwing branch! The day was nearing 5-6 PM and the sun wasn't even setting yet! Well...it was lowering down...bit by bit...someday...
In shot put, Ring—instead of SeeU for once—was scolding everyone. Yura was busy 'texting' Nagare and he hardly focused on the training. What exactly did Ring do to stop this? She threw his phone behind them—and to us. Akari caught it and immediately began snooping with Teto.
Jero's strange, strange mind was (probably) filled with Linako, making his throws beyond horrible—I think I'm about to puke with just trying to remember it. Ring whacked his head several times to get his thoughts straight. Fuki was looking through her phone of evilness and Ring threw that at Lui, who had an immediate nosebleed upon catching it.
SeeU watched this whilst eating popcorn.
Discus throwers were slightly tired from their previous training but SeeU wasn't going to let it go easily. She used some silent glares and hard blows to get them going. Selen was a slight exception, Ted was plain lazy, Ron was texting Teto (?!) though it did not last long before his phone was hurled across the stadium, Jero had those kind of 'thoughts' again and it only stayed until SeeU smacked him sideways across his skull.
Last but not least, was javelin training.
I nearly fell asleep while I was resting my head on Jero's shoulders. Lui let Fuki rest on his lap with the support of Ron's shoulder, while Ron himself let Akari lay in a fetal position on his thighs, and Teto was allowed to use Nagare's stomach as a head pillow. Ah...teammates are the best, aren't they?
Ring and Linako had their arms linked to keep themselves from collapsing, Selen insisted on helping Shou from falling sideways. SeeU even yawned.
They practised throwing and were timed, they did hand stretches, later on SeeU got lazy, and resorted with teaching them about health and such.
They slowly walked back to us with heads toppling, eyelids drooping, bodies limp and minds foggy. "Hey," SeeU started slowly before stopping to yawn again. "I'll treat us out to some sushi...for the good work today. And no laps for anyone."
I was surprised when everyone perked up. "Totally! Lets do it!"
Jero raced to Linako, making me fall onto the Tarmac.
For duck's sake.
What is wrong with these people?
During our walk there, Fuki continuously rambled on about this sushi shop near her neighbourhood. She recommended it, so we went there.
The shop was a nice small hut that could hold 2/5s of a school. It was a warm night. Lucky for us, the shop had a built-in aircon.
The things we ordered were: inarizushi, makizushi, futomaki, hosomaki, temaki, uramaki, oshizushi and nigirizushi. SeeU said that each of us would pick two out of eight.
When the dishes arrived, jaws began dropping, drool was forming and eyes were widening.
Teto began gobbling her dishes, dipping the rolls in the soy sauce completely, leaving them in a black state. Ted ate a lot of vegetables, which earned some punishments. Ring took a lot of rice—and this time—nobody complained. Lui's favourite sushi is, apparently, inarizushi. So he was absolutely strict with the portions the others took.
Poor, poor, poor Jero, Teto and Ron.
Other than being an inspector, Lui and Ring both talked a lot. Y'know...being close friends an' all...
Yura was bugging Nagare about his underwear... Hey, did you know Yura had about 23 pairs of cat briefs? Now you know. And now you're as scarred as me. He took many selfies too. Aside from being harassed, Nagare ate his orders with pleasured expressions. Count on Yura and Fuki to take photos.
Jero (pathetically) begged Linako to be fed. He soon gave up and just ate quietly in a corner. What a great captain. Linako, in a all her motherly glory, made sure we ate properly and left NOTHING BEHIND. She forced SeeU to get water instead of soda. Then she began singing a rock song.
Akari and Fuki played games, even when eating. But after that, Fuki continued going through her mysterious phone (it looked like she was texting someone?) while Akari chatted with Selen. Selen ate a three good platefuls of sushi. Shou was texting his friend—Kai Kim is his name—and, as Fuki told me, his gay crush.
He engaged in small talk, with us, every once in a while, then suddenly he'd be laughing at a text he had received. SeeU was talking to Ron about sushi and T&F.
I found myself slowly shrinking in the cluster.
An unknown amount of minutes later, I began talking to Jero, who had been crying into the wallpaper.
"Linako thinks I'm weird!" He sniffled as I tousled his hair. I couldn't help but laugh. "You're so pathetic."
Eventually, we finished eating and SeeU went up to pay. Apparently, we ordered too much and each of us had to cough out some ridiculous amount of money.
Fuki and Linako's neighbourhood was less than a five minute walk from the sushi place. They asked if we wanted to stay over, especially those whose house was quite far—like me. I declined almost immediately. I didn't want to disturb.
Akari, Ron and Shou come from the same street so they had no trouble with the a-friend-to-walk-with-me category. Selen, Teto and Ted were in the same situation, and in no time they were gone. Ring and Lui lived in the building, as well as Yura and Nagare.
Me and Jero actually live close to each other, which I never knew of. SeeU only tagged along because there was a shortcut to her house in our neighbourhood.
The sight began rising, and the temporarily gone drowsiness was coming up too. It was the Honnes' house. Halfway through eating, I realised. Rin and Len were asleep already. And those two are MONSTERS when woken up. Especially Rin. Besides, the Honnes are closer.
"Here it is...my house..." I lied through gritted teeth. The sad part is that Jero actually believed me.
He gawked at their lawn. "It looks pretty..."
While he was doing that, I pulled out a spare key that Haku gave me when we were younger. This is basically my second home.
Before going in, I turned back to Jero. "Goodnight."
It looked like he had something to say...but he quickly shut his mouth and forced out a hard smile. "Yeah...you too."
That bothered me.
I was too tired to properly wave at him—plus to change into some of Haku's clothes or even wake her up—so after shutting the door (and locking it) I dumped my belongings somewhere on the carpet and found the couch with much difficulty.
My sleepiness was steadily taking over, and before I realised it, I was falling asleep on a couch, in another person's house, in dried sweat, dirty clothes and with Jero on my mind.
When I woke up, a soft fabric brushed me gently and I instantly thought it was a bunny. But it wasn't. It was a blanket. Dell's blanket. Dell's personal blanket that he doesn't share with anyone, not even if his life depended on it.
Speaking of the devil. Dell's head was heavy on my legs, half his body hanging off the edge of the couch. His own body was wrapped in another blanket and he was drooling onto my pants. He was snoring away with this cute expression—
What. Dell is never cute. Seriously. What.
Questions—that gave me a migraine—raced around my mind, but all I did was accept his rare kindness half heatedly and rolled over and went back to sleep.
Teto Kasane, Ted Kasane, Yura Taenaru, Nagare Zensoukyoku, Jero, SELEN, Akari Haneon, Ron Keine, Linako Sonone, Fuki Kusane and Shou Kurone all belong to their respective owners. Please check their accounts! You can find these UTAUs in the wiki~~~
Heelp.
This chapter is too long. Too long. I swear. Help. In my opinion, I love all these UTAUs. They're so cute~~~ I wanted to include them as soon as possible. That's (probably) all the characters in this story. For now. I might throw in a new one if I want, but the characters that have been introduced to you guys in the last three chapters are important and probably the last people to be introduced. Anyway, next chapter is the return of the DIVAS~~~ After a long time without seeing them...they're back!