A/N:So back with another chapter. I originally wrote this one out 2 weeks ago, but for some reason, I couldn't sign onto the site. Then I went away this past weekend, and so I ended up adding to the story. This chapter is so ridiculously long, though, so I had to break it down into two. Anyway, things haven't picked up for me yet. I'm also going to be busy for this next month or so, but I think I'll definitely be able to commit to my writing by the summer... So don't abandon this story, onegai!
KuroYume:Haha, yes. I thought Ryu needed a reason to be a part of the fight. He doesn't usually do stuff like that willingly. And don't worry about Hayato yet. I still haven't decided who Sayuri will pick. You never know... Side note, thank you for continuing to stick with this story!
Chapter 9: We Promise Part 1
The sun shone brightly into the Japanese style rooms of the Oedo household, filling it with warmth. Sayuri stretched around in bed and yawned. She could faintly hear Tetsu and Minoru trying to wake Yankumi up, a frightening and daily task for them. The girl smiled as she laid in bed. It was nice to be home again. Even if she had only been gone for a day. No other place could compare to here. Sayuri rolled around to her side and hugged her pillow... which hugged her back?No. She was flashing back to the moment with Ryu on the beach then to the one after on the ground at the doorway to the little house she had stayed at. Her cheeks burned red. Sayuri didn't know what had gotten over her, but that should never be repeated again. Even now, days after the incident, things were still a bit awkward. Not with Ryu of course. He had a knack for being able to act as if something never happened that she found helpful in situations like this. It was Hayato who was acting weird. The girl found herself feeling guilty for some unexplainable reason and purposely trying to hang around the dark-haired boy more to make it up to him. It seemed like he was finally starting to warm up again.
"Being a senior doesn't mean you can just skip school, you know," Sakura said tauntingly at the door to Sayuri's room. The younger girl had returned to relatively normal once her onee-chan had come back. The only difference between now and before was that Sakura was making an effort to be more congenial towards Sayuri. She was grateful that her sister had sacrificed her life in Tokyo just so she could stay. "You'll be late if you don't get up soon," she said more softly.
Sayuri sat up and smiled, "Hai hai." She ruffled her own hair and got up to get ready. Luckily, the pretty girl wasn't too high maintenance, so she wasn't really late at all. She sat down for breakfast with the other Oedo members.
"Ohayo," she smiled sweetly to the men at the table.
"Ohayo, Yuri-chan," Tetsu, Minoru, and Sugawara all greeted back in unison. Kuroda and Wakamatsu just smiled back and nodded at the girl.
"Itadakimasu," she said as she dug into the food that Tetsu had prepared this morning. It was really her job, but the high schooler guessed that they had all decided to give her a couple of days off after all that had passed. She didn't really need it but wasn't exactly complaining either. Still, the young girl couldn't help but think that they should all be more worried about her father. She eyed him carefully now. Wakamatsu sat silently picking at his food and trying hard to act as if he was listening to the conversation the others were having. He had a weary look in his eyes. In the end, the one affected by Hanako the most was always Wakamatsu. It would take awhile for him to recover. His eldest daughter sighed quietly to herself.
By the time the girl finished eating, Yankumi had come bounding down the stairs earlier than usual, and the two were off for school. Sayuri wanted to enjoy a quiet walk on this nice day, so she tuned out most of what the older woman was saying. As they walked on, she noticed a group of guys far off in the distance. Most of them wore Todoroki uniforms while some were dressed casually. The girl thought she could make out Taro's face within the crowd, but the group had turned a corner before she could be sure.
"Yuri-chan. Yuri-chan," Yankumi called trying to get the girl's attention and bring her back. She pouted when it didn't work. "Eh, if it was Odagiri, you'd listen...," the teacher mumbled. This worked like a charm. The younger girl whipped her head back.
"Nani? Don't say something so weird," she awkwardly laughed and walked ahead. Yankumi remained undeterred.
"So is it Yabuki then?" she asked catching up to the girl. "You two have been around each other a lot lately." Since Sayuri got out of school early, she had made it a habit to sneak into 3D's classroom instead of waiting for the guys outside. Yankumi was usually there, being their homeroom and math teacher, so naturally she saw the girl's interactions with her students. She wasn't as naive as some people thought.
"It's no one. I'm going to live alone for the rest of my life like you, Nee-san," Sayuri blurted out.
"I see," the pig tailed woman thought that over. "Wait what?" Sayuri had to suppress the urge to laugh at her clueless companion. "You know, I'm working on that right now. It's actually going pretty good. I think maybe soon..." The older woman didn't finish that thought as she went into one of her many fantasies, this one undoubtedly being something that had to do with Kujo-sensei. Sayuri just shook her head and smiled. They split ways without saying much as Sayuri headed for Momogaoka and Yankumi for Kurogin, knowing that they'd be seeing each other again soon anyway.
"Yuri-chan, ohayo." The greeting came from Maki who sat in her seat, smiling and waving to the other girl as she entered the classroom. Sayuri had only really been absent from school for two days, so the principal and everyone else had readily accepted her back. No one really asked her about what happened, though. Apparently, while she was away, the girls had headed over to Kurogin to ask 3D if they knew where or what the girl was doing. They all seemed content with just knowing that it was a family issue. This meeting, however, had lead to constant begging from Tsucchi and Hyuuga for both Naomi's and Aiko's numbers. The girls didn't care or show as much interest. Although, when Sayuri had first gotten back, Naomi had made some comment that bothered her a little.
"Yo," the louder girl greeted now. "Seeing those ikemen later?" she asked suggestively. That was it. Not that Sayuri would care if anyone called Ryu and Hayato good-looking, Naomi just made it sound like she had other intentions. Well, that didn't really concern the girl either. Maki and Naomi laughed as Sayuri just cleared her throat a little and moved to her seat, ignoring the question. Aiko was more considerate. She smiled apologetically at the other girl.
"You guys shouldn't tease her so much," the quietest girl reprimanded. "Isn't your entrance exam for Waseda the day after tomorrow, Yuri-chan?" Sayuri turned slightly serious and gave her head a nod. She had already taken the entrance exams for a couple of other universities, but Waseda was her first choice. She was applying for the law program. She just hadn't discussed it with either Wakamatsu or Hanako. Now didn't seem like a good time anyhow. They'd probably just object to it like they had before.
"Number 893," the dark-haired girl said solemnly.
"Ehhh?" everyone around her exclaimed. 893 could be interpreted as yakuzain the Japanese language and was known to be a bad omen for students who received it as an examination number. Sayuri let out a sigh. She wasn't concerned about the superstition so much. It was just ironic really. When she had told the others in the Oedo family, they had all cheered for her, saying their congratulations and calling it good luck.
"Daijobu," Maki assured the girl, taking her expression for one of worry. "You'll do fine."
"Yeah, it's just a number," Aiko added from the side. Sayuri smiled grateful for their support.
"Arigatou."
"Ne," Naomi interjected excitedly. "Should we celebrate her upcoming exam tomorrow?" Her eyes lit up as she spoke.
"Nobody celebrates an exam," Sayuri said, though she said it with a smile.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to be scared of," Naomi said as she flung her arm around the other girl. "We'll keep things under control. Besides, you need to relieve your stress beforehand or else you won't do well." The girls all laughed at this explanation. Naomi could really come up with any excuse to let loose.
"Sou sou sou. We could even ask the 3D guys to come," Maki suggested. Sayuri had a feeling that she just wanted to see Take, though. The short haired girl looked to the others for confirmation that they didn't mind. Aiko gave a small smile while Naomi nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yosh," Sayuri said, easily relenting to the persuasion. "Tomorrow it is. I'll tell the guys." It didn't really seem like such a bad idea. She could just imagine how excited Tsucchi and Hyuuga would be. Even Take, too. Sayuri couldn't lie and say she wasn't excited either. She really needed a reprieve from reality to just hang out with her friends anyway. No worries about family or the future. This was her chance. After all that had happened, she was allowed at least one night of fun, right?
The atmosphere over at Kurogin's 3D was no less excitement-filled rivaled to Momogaoka's 3A. Of course, this was almost always the case for the group of rowdy boys. Unsupervised at the moment, they freely enjoyed themselves gathering here and there, playing games, or joking around. Hayato was shooting basketball while Take, Tsucchi, and Hyuuga stood around and watched. Ryu sat off to the side with his hands in his pocket – the usual pose for the light haired boy. Tsucchi and Hyuuga were yet again going on about Naomi and Aiko.
"Ne, Take," the tallest of the boys began. "Why don't you just talk to Maki-chan and set something up for us?" That idea had only occurred to him now, and the boy didn't know why he hadn't realized it sooner. He and Hyuuga looked expectantly toward their smaller friend.
"We aren't really that close yet...," Take trailed off almost wistfully. They truly weren't. Or at least, they weren't as close as he would have liked to be.
"How long are you guys going to keep this up?" Ryu asked his two buddies. This seemed to be all they talked about to anyone lately. It was starting to get to be too much.
"Until they get the numbers," Hayato answered as he threw the ball into the hoop with a swish. He said it tiredly as if he was dreading how long this would actually take.
"You guys wouldn't understand," Hyuuga told the two leaders. "Youwere too busy going off on your own," that last part was more of an accusation.
"You never told us what happened by the way," Take added as they all closed in on Hayato who, compared to Ryu, was the easier target for interrogation.
"Yeah," Tsucchi said as he fanned himself. "You and Yuri-chan were acting a little weird when she first got back." Hayato was surprised that his friends had noticed. They were as clueless as Yankumi at times. He should have probably given them some more credit.
"Iie," the dark haired boy breathed out. Then he muttered to himself, "Nothing ever worked out like I planned."
"Eh? Nani?" the other three asked, having clearly heard every word their leader had said.
Before anyone could say anything more on the subject, the back door to the classroom slammed open as Sayuri skipped her way in with a bright smile on her face, clearly unaware that she was the subject of their conversation just then. She bounded towards the five boys but not before she turned to the whole class and greeted everyone. "Yo," the girl said casually as she held up the signature bunny ears. All the guys in the class dropped what they were doing and collectively greeted the girl back.
"Ohayo, Yuri-chan!" they all grinned idiotically. The dark haired girl flashed them a grin of her own and laughed. A few of the guys 'fainted'into each others' arms. Hayato rolled his eyes at his classmates but found himself stealing glances at the Momo student also.
"It's already afternoon," Ryu said under his breath as Sayuri made a move to steal the ball from Hayato. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him either that those two were hanging out a lot more after "The Incident". That's what Ryu was calling it. He had been trying hard to act normal ever since for the sake of Sayuri and their friendship, but it wasn't something he was easily going to forget. He just wouldn't admit that to anyone.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" the small girl asked as she threw the ball into the basket. She made it in, no problem at all, and then smiled like a kid in a candy store.
The guys stood around and awkwardly coughed trying to ignore her question. "Betsuni," Hayato said brushing off the topic and retrieving the ball to make his shot. He missed.
"Nandemo nai," Take piped in a little too loudly. "Ne? Ne? Ne?" he asked his friends enthusiastically, prompting them to overact their parts also. Sayuri looked at all the guys who refused to return her stare. She finally turned to Ryu with her brow raised, demanding a straight answer. The quiet boy simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Ehhh...," the girl whined a little. "If you guys keep treating me like this, I just won't tell you the good news," she said with a pout on her lips, obviously teasing her friends. The boys turned their attention to her now.
"Good news?" Hyuuga asked excitedly. The pretty girl turned to face all of them properly.
"I'm hanging out with the girls tomorrow," Sayuri said, noting how Tsucchi and Hyuuga perked up at the word 'girls'. Hayato and Take were a little more toned down. Ryu was just being Ryu. "And they wanted to know if you guys wanted to come."
"By 'the girls', you mean...," Tsucchi began to ask carefully, closing his fan.
"Maki-chan, Naomi-chan, and Aiko-chan." The reaction from the others was almost instantaneous. Hyuuga grabbed onto Tsucchi with a grin that was full of anticipation. The tall boy cheered and hugged his friend back. Take smiled to himself, no doubt clinging onto Maki's name. Hayato just seemed excited about the opportunity to have some fun... and Ryu was still being Ryu.
"Is this a goukon?" Hyuuga asked after a moment.
"Iie, I'd rather not think of it like that," Sayuri said with an unsure laugh. It was a weird idea for her. Since when did hanging out with a group of her friends who happened to belong to both gender groups make the whole outing a group date? She really didn't want to think of the situation like that. "Anyway, I'll take it that your answer is yes," the girl said with a smile. The guys all nodded their heads vigorously.
Just then, Yankumi entered the classroom with a loud bang of the door like she usually did and like Sayuri had just done a moment ago. That was the only normal thing about her entrance. The math teacher hung her head with eyes that looked glazed over, a completely different Nee-san than the one Sayuri had last seen this morning. It was obvious that her thoughts were elsewhere. She looked at no one and nothing and slowly trudged over to an empty seat and sat down, pulling her legs up and hugging them to her body. Ryu was reminded of how she had entered the room the day Sayuri had left. If the girl wasn't actually there now, he would have been more worried. The quiet boy was the closest to the woman, so he stood up from his seat and turned to face her.
"Doshita no?" The rest of the class crowded around their homeroom teacher as the question left their leader's mouth. Sayuri and Hayato remained by the basketball hoop. Yankumi proceeded to explain to the class about her tentative job situation that she had been neglecting this whole time and had only just been reminded of. Come graduation, she would be leaving Kurogin with all of 3D and therefore left unemployed. The guys all felt bad and tried to cheer up their teacher. A happy Yankumi was weird, but an unhappy Yankumi was just plain wrong.
"We haven't decided on anything yet," Tsucchi informed the yakuza heiress as she let out a heavy sigh.
"Well, it's not hard to find part-time jobs," Hyuuga added in effort to comfort her. He sat dejectedly on a desk with Okuma messaging his shoulders.
"Ah, you can be a tutor," Take suggested enthusiastically.
"Or teach cram school," Sayuri proposed. She knew that Yankumi would never go for that, though. In the end, the pig-tailed woman worked best in this type of environment. In a small classroom reforming misunderstood delinquents.
"Why don't you just take over your family business?" Hayato asked without thinking as he prepared to make another shot. "You're the fourth generation." The heads of Sayuri, Ryu, and Yankumi all immediately whipped towards Hayato.
"Family business?" the 3D guys all asked in unison. The teacher struggled to say something coherent in response but failed. Sayuri threw a hostile glare at the idiot who was now cowering against the wall, seeming to have finally realized his mistake. He held up his hands asking for forgiveness. A ghost of a smile danced on both Sayuri and Ryu's lips at Hayato's squeamish behavior. It was comical to watch. The high school girl decided to let this go as she turned her attention to Yankumi's questioning. Besides, she knew her Nee-san would be able to get out of this with a couple of lies. It's not like it affected her, too...
"Wait, Yuri-chan is Yankumi's cousin," Take said as he stood up.
Sayuri cursed and whispered to the side, "I forgot."
"So she's fourth generation also," Tsucchi finished for the scrawnier boy, pointing his fan at the girl.
"If you're fourth generation, you've been in the business for awhile," Take stated.
"What do you guys do?" Tsucchi asked both females curiously.
"You're asking me?" Yankumi said feigning ignorance.
"What was it again?" Sayuri followed the older woman's suit.
"Is it something you can't tell others?" Hyuuga asked since both of them were acting suspicious. He and Take were standing with their arms crossed in an accusing manner. Sayuri and Yankumi shot each other helpless glances, searching for a solution from the other but finding nothing. Hayato walked right into the group then.
"Shut up. It's that. A soba joint." He looked around and told everyone, making an effort to sound convincing. Ryu was leaning against a desk in the middle of the crowd with his hands in his pockets, wondering exactly where all of this was going.
The whole class turned towards their dark haired leader and spoke in unison once again. "Soba joint?"
Okuma called out from the back, "Where's your joint?" The class of boys got loud as all of them began to reiterate the same question of "Where's it at?" Hayato gave his teacher a slight nudge.
Yankumi just panicked for a moment darting her eyes around to look for an answer. She stood from her seat suddenly and pointed to some unknown place in the distance. Everyone's eyes followed. "The soba joint over there," she said. Sayuri just stared at the woman for a second, not understanding the joke she was trying to make but knowing it was bad nonetheless. Hayato reacted right away, laughing and clapping loudly for his teacher. He was trying really hard to make up for his slip up. Sayuri and Ryu immediately followed with their own clapping to add to the charade. All of 3D mimicked Sayuri's earlier action of simply staring. The yakuza heiress looked around at all her students, smiling unconvincingly. "Let's start class!" she chirped and pushed her way to the front of the room. A few groans escaped from the group. Sayuri hurried to the back of the class before anyone could turn around and ask her about this 'soba joint' she had no idea about. The young girl plopped herself down in a chair situated next to Ryu's desk which was on the end of a row of four that formed a sort of blockade in front of Hayato's sole desk in the very back. Despite also being a leader of 3D, Ryu had declined this special seating arrangement. He was more comfortable sitting side by side with his friends in the back of the class like Sayuri had done at Haiirokin. Hayato just liked the power of being able to watch over everyone like some king.
All of 3D was now making their way to their own seats, getting settled. They were talking loudly amongst themselves, but this was still an improvement from when Yankumi had first arrived at the school. Noticing this, the teacher gave a joyful smile at her class. Sayuri could just imagine what the older woman was thinking. 'These little rugrats. Even they have their good sides.' The younger girl shook her head affectionately at this simple thing. These guys were slowly changing because of Nee-san, and they didn't even know it.
Ring.
The bell to Cafe de Rovne sounded as the group of friends exited the establishment. The rest of the school day had flown by after Yankumi's class. The other teachers left work for 3D, but all together they avoided actually teaching the class so Sayuri was safe from being caught. As they all filed out of their usual hangout now, the guys were discussing where they should go next. Tsucchi, Hyuuga, and Take were the most vocal of the conversation while Sayuri, Ryu, and Hayato hung back. The lone girl of the group smiled maternally at the idiots leading everyone to who knows where. She didn't notice the glances and longing looks she herself got from the two walking beside her. They hadn't made it far from the door before there was a thud and the voices in front had stopped, causing the others to look up.
On the ground was a girl who looked to be about Sayuri's age. Sprawled about around her were various bags of groceries. The girl had medium-length, brown hair and a small face that suggested a demure personality. Sayuri noticed a sharpness in her eyes that proved otherwise, though. It wasn't hard for the dark-haired girl to guess that her friends had been careless and bumped into the other girl. Well, she at least knew why the guys were being so quiet. The girl was pretty. Typical. She walked up to the front of the group and bowed.
"Sumimasen," she apologized for the others then knelt down and began to help the girl gather her things. The bag in her hands, however, was ripped out from her grip. She looked up at the girl in surprise. The steel in her eyes was more prevalent now, but Sayuri noticed something else. "Anno… have we met before?" she asked uncertainly.
"Iie," the other girl said coldly although her glare faltered a little. Just then, the bell to the shop rang again as the owner came out.
"Noriko," he called to the girl who had quickly picked up her bags and was beginning to walk away. Sayuri tilted her head, thinking over the name. Noriko…
"Uh!" she said as if she had just had an epiphany. "Ochida Noriko!" she turned around and pointed at the owner of the name. Noriko looked back at her with a look that showed she was shocked that the other girl had remembered her name. "It's me, Sayuri," she said with a warm smile. "Don't you guys remember?" she asked the others who obviously recalled no one by that name. "She transferred over to Haiirokin in third grade. She sat right next to you, Hayato." The memories were brought back to the others by those words as Noriko looked towards the boy that the dark-haired girl had just addressed. She blushed slightly and looked away. Only Ryu seemed to notice this, though.
"Nori-chan?" Take called as a smile appeared on his lips.
"Eh? You guys know her?" Hyuuga asked surprised at the connections his friends had. Apparently, Haiirokin was theelementary school to be at. Tsucchi nodded his head as if reading the other boy's thoughts and agreeing with him.
"Long time no see, Nori-chan," Hayato smiled at the girl who refused to return his gaze.
The Café de Rovne owner spoke up now. "Were they your friends all along?" he asked the girl. The guys had been frequenters of his place for almost two years now.
"Iie," Noriko answered all too quickly. "Let's go in, Papa." She tried to push the man back towards the door.
"Papa?" the group shouted together. Coming here for so long, they never knew that the owner had a daughter let alone seen the girl. Everyone subconsciously bowed to the older man in respect. Noriko furrowed her brows, clearly uncomfortable with this situation. She handed the bags of groceries over to her father.
"I have something else to take care of. Why don't you take these in first?" she said in voice that wasn't meant to be harsh but was. The next thing the others knew, the girl had turned and bolted down the street in the other direction.
"Matte!" Sayuri called out to the girl. She made a move to run after her, but Ryu reached out his arm to stop his friend.
"She's obviously running away from us," the quiet boy told her gently.
"Doshite?" Sayuri asked genuinely confused. Noriko had been her first friend at Haiirokin that was a girl. She was her first friend since she met Take, Taro, Ryu, and Hayato. The first person to be let into her little group. Sayuri frowned. Had she really lost another friend without knowing how?
"Sumimasen," Ochida-san apologized to the youngsters. "She's not very good with her words," he tried to explain. Everyone shook their heads to let him know that he didn't need to say sorry for anything. "Things are hard on us right now. I'm sure it's nothing personal," he continued to offer up words of comfort anyway.
Sayuri smiled at the man's efforts. "Arigatou. Will you tell her that we'll be back?" she asked the man. She intended to reconnect with the other girl whether she wanted to or not. Friends were people you met through fate and cherished. They weren't something you just threw away over time. Yankumi had taught her that much. Ochida-san nodded his head and went back inside to watch his store.
The group all turned and started walking again although no one was talking as animatedly as before. Tsucchi and Hyuuga would have normally asked or made some comment about such a pretty girl, but something about that seemed inappropriate to them right now. They all showed consideration and tried to remain quiet as Sayuri walked on silently, deep in thought. She was trying to remember if Ryu had told her anything about Noriko or if they had talked about her since Sayuri's return. The dark-haired girl felt guilty once she realized that she hadn't really bothered to ask. It was understandable that the guys wouldn't remember Noriko since they weren't exactly close, but Sayuri had considered Noriko and herself to be best friends. What kind of best friend was she? The girl let out a heavy sigh. This was just what she needed right before her entrance exam for Waseda.
"She stopped hanging out with us after you left," Ryu said quietly from the side.
"I think the girls in class gave her a hard time for being around us so much," Take added as he began to remember the past.
"You know, she wasn't as tough as you," Hayato explained. "She didn't intimidate anyone, so they weren't afraid of her." Sayuri stared at the boy as she let his words set in. She knew that the guys had accumulated a fanbase back at Haiirokin, but she never realized that it would cause trouble to either her or Noriko. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off as her thoughts were being vocalized.
"You guys knew?" Tsucchi asked.
"And you didn't do anything?" Hyuuga followed. He tried hard not to make it sound like an accusation.
"We did," Ryu said simply. "But she still never came back to the group." Sayuri frowned. She was about to ask if they had tried hard enough, but she knew the guys better than that. They valued friendship as much as she did.
The girl took in a deep breath. "Ne, where did you say we were going again?" she tried to say cheerily as she skipped to the front of the group. She didn't want to be bringing everyone down with what she saw as herproblem. She should be the one to deal with it and sigh over it on her own. The guys all turned to their friend. It was painfully obvious that she was putting on an act, but what else could they do besides play along? They didn't know how else to help the girl, but they could at least ease her mind and let her have some fun.
"Hmm, where?" Hyuuga pondered exaggeratedly with a hand to his chin.
Tsucchi closed his fan and pointed to the distance with an exited smile. "To Yuri-chan's soba joint!" Take and Hyuuga clapped enthusiastically as they dragged a wide-eyed Sayuri and followed behind Tsucchi.
"E-eh?" the girl managed to breathe out. She turned to Ryu and Hayato for help with a frantic look in her eyes. The boys each got a friend and threw their hands off of the girl, pulling her back. The other three looked back in surprise.
"Doshita no?" Take asked innocently.
Hayato faltered a moment before answering. "Didn't we just eat back there? Why are we eating again?" he asked logically. "Let's go karaoke. Or to the gay-cen."
"Pool," Ryu suggested calmly from the side. The three in the back flashed nervous smiles that even a complete idiot wouldn't buy. Before the others could press any further, though, Sayuri noticed something in the window of the restaurant they were standing in front of.
"Sakura?" she whispered her sister's name. As if hearing it through the glass, the smaller girl turned toward the group in surprise but quickly waved at everyone. The person sitting across from Sakura looked out the window also. The girl's eyes widened to the size of plates when she caught sight of Tsucchi, but a smile appeared on her lips.
"Miyazaki...," the taller boy breathed out.
"Ehh, that's the girl from...," Hyuuga pointed and trailed off as he looked to his friend.
"Dare?" Sayuri asked the guys curiously. While the two girls inside got up and paid for their drinks, the older girl was given a quick rundown of Tsucchi's relationship with the junior high student and his almost-expulsion. She had heard some of the story before and was practically caught up when the other two came out and joined the group.
"Onee-chan," Sakura called with a smile. It wasn't the smile of a little sister happy to see her older sister, though. The younger girl looked around at all the guys surrounding her onee-chan and smirked a smirk full of improper implications. It seemed as if she had forgotten her resolve to treat her sister with more consideration. Sayuri moved towards her imoto and put her in a headlock.
"Urusai," she gritted. Sakura held onto her sister's arm laughing.
"I didn't say anything yet." Sayuri let go of the girl with a pout. The guys laughed a little uneasily at this exchange but smiled when Sayuri messed up Sakura's hair in an affectionate gesture that they'd only seen Yankumi do with them. The younger girl pushed her sister's arm away like the guys so often did. She stepped back and fixed her hair then seemed to notice her friend again. "Ah, this is Miyazaki Nao. She's a friend from school," Sakura introduced with a smile. The others also gave quick introductions.
"So you go to Kirigaya, then?" Hyuuga asked and received a nod from the younger Wakamatsu.
"Don't tell me. Ishikawa...," Tsucchi began. Sakura made a face and wrinkled her nose.
"He's our homeroom teacher," she answered. "Well, Nao says he used to be a whole lot worse than he is now, but some weird teacher taught him a lesson." The entire group, excluding Sakura, laughed at this.
"Thatwould he Nee-san," Sayuri told her imoto.
"Eh? Hontoni?" she asked, mouth open. "So, that tall ikemen...," she said to herself as she turned her eyes to Tsucchi.
"Sakura," Nao whined, pulling on the girl's sleeve. She blushed from embarrassment and looked away. Sayuri bit back a smile at this. She flicked Sakura's forehead.
"Think before you speak," she reprimanded. The younger girl pouted and put a hand to her head. The group laughed, though the guys were laughing more because of how similar the two sisters were.
Tsucchi turned to Nao, "It's been awhile. Genki?" The small girl looked up and smiled at the boy. She gave her head a cute nod. Take and Hyuuga went over to tease their taller friend while Sakura did the same to her smaller one.
"Ne," Take said as he paused from his teasing. "Saki-chan, do you remember me?" The boy pointed to himself in an unsure manner that made Sayuri smile.
"Take-kun," Sakura said with a toothy grin. She looked to Hayato next. "And Taku's aniki." This caused a sour expression to form on the dark-haired leader's face. The girl giggled then turned to the quietest boy with a glint in her eye. "And Ryu-nii." The others all gaped at this while Ryu shifted uncomfortably.
Sayuri grabbed her little sister, "Oi!" The girl really did love to cause her older sister hell.
"Were you two always like that?" Hyuuga asked seriously, staring at his friends.
"It makes sense though," Take said in an almost knowing way that unnerved Sayuri. She noted how he smiled at Ryu.
"Chigau," Hayato told everyone defiantly. "Chigau." He looked around at the stares he was getting and tried to laugh it off. "Saki-chan, you need to work on your jokes." The younger girl looked to her pensive sister and then to Hayato with a look of pity.
"Maa na. It wasn't that funny, huh?"
"Eh? You were just joking?" Tsucchi asked while fanning himself. "You scared us."
Before anyone could say anything more on the matter, Sayuri decided to relocate the group from the middle of the sidewalk to somewhere more suitable. She didn't think taking the girls to the gay-cen or karaoke would be a good idea, so they all just walked around in search of a place. Somehow or another, the group ended up at Tetsu and Minoru's takoyaki stand, much to the dismay of the Wakamatsu girls. Ryu and Hayato subtly bowed to the two Oedo henchmen from the back of the group. They all ordered some takoyaki and sat down at the benches to eat and talk. There was no topic that they didn't hit on.
"Hmm, so you're both planning on going to Kurogin?" Sayuri asked with her mouth full. Everyone smiled at the girl who seemed to turn into a child when there was food around.
"Hai," Nao answered with a nod. She had meant it last time when she said that she wanted to attend the school.
"It'd be cool if Nee-san was my teacher, ne?" Sakura piped in. Her older sister raised an eyebrow, wondering if that would truly be cool. Well, it'd definitely be something.
"But Yankumi won't be teaching there in April," Take told the girls who whipped their heads up. The guys told them how she was hired as a temporary teacher for 3D and would be leaving once they graduated. The two Kirigaya students looked at one another, sad at losing the opportunity to be with such a dedicated teacher.
"Ojou," Tetsu breathed out sorrowfully, thinking about the woman. He had evidently been listening in on their conversation.
"Ojou?" half of the group questioned. The other half held astonished faces. They looked to one another, unsure of what to do.
Tetsu broke from his daze and froze, realizing his mistake. "O-ojouhin. We're closing up soon, so there's extra takoyaki if you don't mind, ojouhin," he said trying to smoothly cover up the mishap. "Ne, Minoru?" The other Oedo member followed suit, and everyone seemed to let it go. Tetsu still sent an apologetic look to Sayuri and the others, though.
"Is that okay?" Nao asked about the food.
"Didn't you give us one on the house before?" Hyuuga recalled.
"It's fine," Tetsu told the students as he handed then the takoyaki.
"Thank you for the food," Sayuri and Sakura bowed quietly. With that, the incident more or less blew over. The group finished eating as quickly as possible and was done by the time Tetsu and Minoru had finished closing shop. Sayuri decided it was best if they all went home. Take, Tsucchi, and Hyuuga voiced their objections, but Ryu and Hayato reminded them about their plans for tomorrow which seemed to pacify the boys. Since Nao was heading towards the same direction, the older girl demanded that the guys walk her home. They probably still would have done it anyway had she not told them to. The Wakamatsu sisters stood by the closed-up stand and waved to the others as they left. Once they were sure that they couldn't be seen anymore, the girls walked over to Tetsu and Minoru, and the four of them headed home together. Tetsu seemed most worried about Yankumi the whole time, but Sayuri noticed something else in the man.
"This means Nee-san will have to find another job. If she can't, then there's always the family business to take over," the girl mused out loud. Her companions all turned their attention to her. "That's what you're thinking, ne?" Tetsu looked away guiltily. The older girl forced a smile. There was no way to stop Tetsu from dreaming about the things he wanted. She was just thinking that she didn't want the teacher to have a harder time than she already was, though. Working hard towards what you want in life was a difficult thing. You needed all the support you could get. She sighed, letting her thoughts drift to her own support system. Her parents may not have been of the greatest assistance in that area, but she at least still had her friends. These thoughts were getting the girl excited for tomorrow when she would be seeing those foolish friends again. They may get themselves into a lot of trouble at times, but at least, they were all caring people.
I didn't know if this was a good place to end the chapter, but it picks up in the next one… so go read!