After breakfast on that cloudy, Friday morning, Souji was up in his room preparing for yet another day of investigating. He flipped up the collar on his white shirt, admiring himself in the mirror on the inside of his closet door.
I am one sexy piece of ass, he grinned broadly at himself. Nah, I'm just an asshole. Better stop before someone reads my thoughts.
He took a step towards the mirror and raised his bangs to look at his forehead. Above his right eyebrow was a thin scab from when he hit his head on the floor after Hanako fell on him. He poked at it a few times before letting his bangs fall back over his forehead and heading downstairs.
"Nanako-chan, I'm going out," he called over his shoulder as he tied his shoe laces. "Do you have any plans for today?"
The young girl unglued her eyes from the TV to respond. "Not really, just some laundry and the dishes."
Not what I meant by plans. The poor girl is deprived of a social life and sunshine. "Uh, okay. But don't you have friends to hang out with?"
"They're all on vacation with their families," she said, trying to sound as indifferent as possible, but Souji could hear the gloominess in her voice.
"Oh. Hey, one of these days we'll do something together. Sound good?" Even though Souji can be a jerk in his mind, he still worried about his little cousin.
"Really?" Nanako stood up from the table and ran over to him. "You promise?"
"Well, yeah. It's summer vacation, so people should do stuff on their vacation," he said as he patted her head.
"Yeah! Let's 'pinky swear' just to be sure!" she said as she stuck out her pinky to him. He took his own pinky and hooked it around hers.
When was the last time I 'pinky swore' to anything? He wondered as they parted. Oh well, I just hope I can keep that promise, he thought as he jogged straight to the shopping district.
--
At the Samegawa River Plain, Yukiko and Chie were asking around for a boy with golden-brown hair. When their efforts yielded no results, they moved on towards another location.
"So, where were you and the others yesterday?" Yukiko asked as they walked down the river plain.
"Huh? I was, y'know… investigating, of course!" Chie said before spotting a person they hadn't asked yet. She left Yukiko's side briefly to ask for information but returned soon after without learning anything new.
"Man! No one knows anything about this boy!" she sighed as she tried fanning herself with her hand. Yukiko tilted her head at her friend.
"Are you sure you were investigating? The only one I ran into all day yesterday was Seta-kun. I didn't even see Kanji-kun, or Rise-chan, or even Yosuke-kun. Come to think of it, these past few days felt like Seta-kun was the only one actually finding anything," she said in a slightly accusing tone.
"Well, it was like this when we were trying to find out more about Rise-chan, right? Souji-kun's just got a knack for gathering info. By the way, why are you calling him 'Seta-kun' all of a sudden? Did something happen between you two?" Chie gasped as she trotted ahead and pointing a threatening finger at her. "Did you two get in a huge fight?!"
Yukiko frowned, gaining more control over the panic that usually crippled her thoughts. "Not this again. What's wrong with calling him 'Seta-kun'? I used to call him that when we first started rescuing people."
"So why go back to calling him that?"
"Sometimes I call him 'Souji-kun' and sometimes 'Seta-kun'. What's wrong with that?"
"It's just weird, because he started calling you 'Amagi' again, too. Kinda strange that you two would revert to calling each other those things at the same time…"
"And you and Yosuke-kun hanging out more is normal," Yukiko muttered, but Chie heard it clearly.
"Back to that again? I already told you there's nothing going on between us!"
This sounds familiar. "If that's the case, then there's nothing going on between me and Seta-kun, either."
"Fine! Nothing's going on between you and Souji-kun, and me and Yosuke are just friends," Chie said with finality in her voice, but Yukiko was still unsure of something.
If they're just friends, how come they dropped the honorifics for each other's names? The both of us have only known Yosuke-kun for barely a year now.
Yukiko looked up to the cloudy sky. "I wonder if Seta-kun found the golden-haired boy yet?"
"He probably did, since finding random things is one of his talents," Chie said as she started walking.
"That's true. Even with his back out, he still found out more things that then rest of us combined," Yukiko sighed. "He should've gotten some rest, though."
"But if he did, we probably wouldn't have found out anything."
Yukiko shook her head. "I don't think we're so incompetent that we can't even ask people if they know anything about the suspect. He just happened to ask the right people before any of us."
"See, it's when you say things like this that makes people wonder if you have feelings for him or not," Chie said as she tugged at her green tank top. It started to cling to her from the mixture of humidity and perspiration. "Let's go to Junes—it's too hot to stay out here like this."
"What about that boy we have to find? We can't find him if—"
"I'm sure even golden-haired boys like to enjoy Junes' air conditioning on hot days like this," Chie grinned as she hooked her arm around Yukiko's and started pulling her towards the department store. Her friend shifted her weight to resist.
"Seta-kun's out in the same heat looking for the same person. He's working hard even with his injuries so we can't just give up because it's too hot!"
"Oh, come on!" Chie cried in a shrill voice. "It's been days since his accident and he was walking around fine two days ago! He should be healed by now!"
Yukiko glanced around at the people staring at them from Chie's outburst. "I… I guess," she said meekly. However, this didn't stop Chie from declaring her thoughts in public.
"Seriously, the way you're worried about him just now, it's like you're his girlfriend or something!" she yelled, not caring whether anyone heard her or not. She knew Yukiko was hiding something from her, and she refused to believe that her best friend did not have feelings for their leader.
"Ch-Chie, not so loud—people are staring," Yukiko whispered as her cheeks became rosy, but instead, her friend stared into her eyes at point-blank range.
"Okay, Yukiko. Just tell me the truth—do you or do you not like Souji-kun?"
--
Souji began his search from the northern end of the shopping district to take advantage of walking down the hill the district was on. As he passed the Konishi liquor store, he saw a familiar underclassman cleaning the windows.
"'Morning, Naoki-kun," he greeted the pale boy. Naoki turned around and smiled at him.
"Souji-san. Good morning," he said in his soft and soothing voice.
"Working hard over the summer?"
"Yeah. There's more to do since my sister…"
Souji felt the stab of guilt as he realized what he unintentionally led Naoki to think about his deceased older sister, Saki. A few days after moving to Inaba, Souji met her at Junes. The following morning, her body was discovered hanging from a telephone pole as the second victim of a serial murder. Yosuke, who was quite fond of her, had difficulty recovering from her death, but eventually was able to move beyond her passing with the help of Souji. It was from that tragedy that their bond was strengthened, transfiguring Yosuke's persona Jiraiya into Susano-O.
Souji smiled, knowing that the Konishi boy didn't like pity. "Good to see you've found a way to help the business."
Naoki slung the rag his was cleaning with over his shoulder. "It's not much, but my parents seem to appreciate it. Do you have plans for today?"
"Yeah, I kinda do. Have you seen a guy with golden-brown hair around here?"
The pale boy ran his fingers through his smooth, blonde hair. "I think I've seen that guy before. He was here the day before yesterday showing something off to his friends."
Souji turned and started heading down the hill. "Thanks, Naoki-kun! We'll hang out later!" he shouted over his shoulder. Naoki waved at him before resuming wiping the store's windows.
He jogged down the hill and found the boy he was looking for in front of the Marukyu Tofu Shop.
How coincidental—he's right in front of Rise-chan's house. But, there's no Rise-chan nearby. Where the hell is she? Our boy's right at her front door!
He approached the boy, who was wearing a school uniform with a yearbook tucked under his arm.
Oh, I guess he's taking summer classes. No wonder we couldn't find him anywhere. He should've gotten that Nakajima kid to tutor him.
The boy looked at Souji and saw him eyeing his yearbook. "Huh? You wanna see my yearbook?"
Souji was slightly confused that the boy wasn't bothered by him staring. "What?"
The boy smirked as he took a step towards Souji. "Oh, are you looking for… him? You wanna see his picture?"
Not really—I prefer pretty people. Heck, even all my friends are pretty. And then there's Kanji, who's actually kinda fabulous. I like to call him 'Mr. Fabulous'. Let's face it—I'm shallow.
The boy didn't wait for Souji's answer and started flipping through his yearbook. "Heh heh, you do, don't you? Well, today's your lucky day, because me and my friends are going around showing it to everyone! Want a copy?"
The boy snapped his book shut and dug a small, wrinkled picture from his pocket. Souji recognized the boy in the picture as the one he saw on the Midnight Channel. Underneath the picture read "Mitsuo Kubo."
"Uh… thanks," Souji said without taking his eyes off the picture. Hmm, he looks familiar… Why do I feel a hint of anger when I just look at him? Maybe it's because he's ugly. Damn, I really am shallow…
The boy left to continue showing his yearbook to more people while Souji continued down the hill where he encountered a stern-faced Chie and a troubled Yukiko.
--
Several people stopped to watch the two girls who seemingly engaged in a slight argument. The timid-looking one looked like she was about to cry while the aggressive one continued to press her for information.
"Well? Do you or don't you like Souji-kun?" Chie narrowed her eyes at her friend, wanting to know the absolute truth between her friends. Yukiko felt that familiar twinge in her chest as she felt panic rise up in her.
Just tell her no, that's all. Do what Seta-kun does and keep calm. In her mind, she imagined herself casually telling Chie that there was nothing going on between her and Souji and that she was just overreacting to her friend worrying about their leader.
"Of course there's nothing between us—we're just friends," Yukiko imagined herself say.
"Really? But you two seem so close," she made Chie say in her mind. "You're always so worried about him."
"I worry about all my friends like this. If you were the one that Hanako-san fell on, I would've been just as worried. After all, you're my prince, Chie."
"Yukiko!"
Yukiko's imagination cleared as her eyes focused on Chie's heated face. I probably shouldn't use that 'prince' thing out in the open. So, what now?
"Well… It's kinda like…" she started, and her mind blanked out as she tried to give an excuse as to why she can't like him. "I mean, can you really picture me with a boy like him?"
"Why not? You two look good together," Chie crossed her arms over her chest.
"It's not just about looking good together. What about the kind of person he is?" I have no idea where I'm going with this…
"Yukiko, he's a cute guy with a good brain! And he's so honest that he wouldn't even lead Ebihara on to thinking that they're dating!"
Ebihara… Ai-san? Wait, that's it!
"But, wasn't Ai-san the one that Souji-kun was buying all those nice things for?" Yukiko held her arm from behind her back, hoping that she could somehow wriggle her way out of the situation.
"Yeah, so? He admitted to that problem already," Chie put her hands on her hips. "We're helping him get over—"
"I can't like a guy who just goes around buying expensive jewelry for any pretty girl!" Yukiko heard herself say. "Just because he's good-looking and smart doesn't make him an ideal man for me!"
Chie heard whispering around them and saw that a few more people had gathered to watch them. "Yukiko, calm down…"
"No! You keep asking why I won't ask him out, and here's why—I HATE EVERY FIBER OF HIS BEING!"
Yukiko was breathing hard, hoping that her declaration was enough for Chie. When her breath was back to normal, she noticed that her friend was staring at something behind her.
"What is it?" she asked as she turned around. Souji was standing a few feet behind her, having heard everything that the girls were talking about.
"Seta-kun! N-No, I—"
"It's okay," he said with a pained smile. "I got our info, so just call everyone to meet at Junes as soon as possible."
Yukiko could only utter a tiny noise as Souji turned his back on them and ran. Even though she knew it was pointless, she reached her hand out to him, trying to regain any possibility of them ever getting back together again. She felt a hand on her shoulder as Chie guided her away from the shopping district and back to her house to prepare to meet everyone at Junes.
--
The group of teens met at their special headquarters at Junes' food court wearing their school uniforms to sneak in their weapons. When everyone had assembled (Kanji being late from oversleeping) they took the elevator down to the electronics department to enter their usual TV into the TV world. As they entered the TV one by one, Yukiko felt a crestfallen aura flowing from Souji and knew that she had to fix the damage she had done to him.
Inside the TV world, a thick fog blanketed what looked like a movie set, with giant lights up high on the scaffolding surrounding them. Horizontal ladders connected the small island platform they stood on to other parts of the strange world. The team stood in a circle and Souji handed Rise the photo he had obtained earlier to hold out for everyone to see.
"That's him all right… It's definitely the guy on the Midnight Channel!" Yosuke proclaimed as he put on the special glasses Teddie made for him. Everyone in the circle put on their own pair of glasses that allowed them to see through the fog.
"It's settled then," he continued. "He is the killer… and he's in here now!"
Rise scrunched her face up at the picture. "This guy came to our shop before… Was he… spying on me?"
Everyone stared at the photo as Rise came up with a startling conclusion. "Oh my god… I really was being targeted…"
Kanji started to grind his teeth. "Dammit! Freakin' punk!" His anger prevented him from saying anything more.
"Hey, I've seen him before too… Hmm…" Chie rubbed her chin in thought. "Oh, now I remember! Yukiko, it's that one guy!"
Six pairs of eyes flew to the girl whose mind had wandered to other things. "That one guy…?" she repeated idly.
"Back in April, remember? He suddenly came in and started hitting on you!" Chie's voice rose as she tried to remind her of who the boy was. Yosuke was the next one to remember who he was.
"Oh, him! The dude who got served by Yukiko-san in front of the school!" Yosuke laughed a little. "Man, Chie, how'd you remember something like that?"
Chie tightened her jacket around her waist. "Well, that was the first time he talked to her, but I remember he was always following her around."
Souji felt his anger flare up as he also remember who the boy was. That bastard! How dare he follow my girlfri—oh wait, she hates every fiber of my being now…
He felt like someone had taken his katana and ran him through the stomach, but he didn't show it. On his left, Yukiko tilted her head, still unsure of whom the boy was.
"Um… Sorry, who are we talking about?"
Yosuke recalled another thing that the boy had said to her. "The dude who came right up to you at the school gates and called you Yuki!"
Yukiko stood there, staring deeply into the photo and slowly started to remember. "Ohhhh…"
Chie and Yosuke sighed with relief that she started to remember, until she crushed their relief by saying, "Uhh… Really?"
If she didn't hate me, I'd think that she was just adorable right there, Souji felt something click in her mind.
"Wait, did he kidnap Yukiko to get back at her for rejecting him?!"
Across the circle from her, Yukiko winced. "Um… I didn't really reject him…"
"He came up to me while I was busy working and asked, 'Don't the biker gangs bother you?'" Rise added. "Just going on and on about how biker gangs can't do anything unless they're in a pack and stuff… He seemed to be the type who just keeps talking, whether you like it or not… if that makes sense. I usually treat those people politely so they won't get offended, but I was so tired that I kinda ignored him.
"Was that why I was kidnapped…?" she asked. It seemed like too small a reason for her to be kidnapped, but then Kanji reacted to what Rise had said about biker gangs.
"Huh…? Wait, I'm not a biker!" he said with wide eyes. "Ugh… That damn special report… So that's why I got dragged into this."
The group fell silent for a moment before Chie brought up another point about the suspect. "You know, I heard he'd been saying stuff about that announcer's affair, too. Lots of mutterings about how women who cheat on their husbands should be executed."
"Sounds like it's all coming together," Yosuke said as he produced a pair of kitchen knives from his pockets. "Well, it's time for a showdown! Can you tell us where this Mitsuo guy's at?" he asked Rise.
"I'll give it a try. Just a sec…" Rise said, and summoned her persona, Himiko, to locate Mitsuo. A dark, female figure in white robes descended from above and held a set of goggles onto Rise's eyes while it swiveled its satellite-like head from side to side for a better reading.
"…Yeah! I found him!" Rise cried excitedly. She pointed straight ahead in front of her. "He's that way."
As her persona dematerialized, Chie did a small fist pump. "Alright, let's go! We're so close to the killer… We can't lose him now!"
--
They followed the direction that Rise had pointed them towards until they came upon a pixilated area. The appearance of the sky, clumpy trees, a small grassy area, a bridge and even the water were made of three dimensional pixels. Floating somewhere in the sky were the words "Game Start" and "Continue".
"What is this…? Some kind of game?" Chie took in the scene before her with disapproval.
"Well, he did taunt us, saying 'Try and catch me'… I guess he thinks of all this as a game," Yosuke replied. Chie stomped the cubed ground, letting her frustration out.
"Ohhh, this pisses me off! I hereby sentence him to a hundred kicks to the face!" She looked to the rest of the team. "Let's go!"
"Let the games begin!" Souji's voice boomed as he raised a fist in the air. He knew that he couldn't let his depressed mood get in the way of his friends' safety. Yosuke winked.
"Gotta admit… All guys love games," he grinned.
"And all girls love Teddie!" Teddie beamed. The other six members started forward to leave him behind.
"So, who gets to fight first?" Chie asked Souji. "Now that Rise-chan's our guide, Teddie's able to fight."
They stopped short of the entrance which looked like a cave with a horned skull hanging over the entrance. Souji looked from one friend to another. "We'll go with the most experienced in our group first. Since we don't know what we're gonna be up against, we can't just let Teddie into battle without even knowing if our best fighters can handle it."
"So, it's you, me, Yukiko and Yosuke that fights first?"
Souji clenched his jaw at the sound of Yukiko's name. "Yeah. Kanji and Teddie will be back-up for now. Later when we figure out what the shadows' strengths and weaknesses are, we can start training Teddie."
"Man, and I wanted to pound some shadows, too," Kanji sighed. Yosuke eyed the boy's weapon of choice.
"Kanji… How'd you manage to sneak a desk from Yasogami High all the way here to Junes?"
Kanji lifted the desk from one of its legs and rested it on his shoulder. "Dunno. No one really asked me to leave it or anything."
"We'll get you something easier to bring another time," Chie said with nervous laughter. "Okay, let's get going!"
--
"Yosuke! Garula!"
"Come, Susano-O!"
A blue card fell before Yosuke and he shattered it with one of his knives, summoning a persona that had the appearance of a man in a blue jumpsuit with a towering, red wig and a bladed hula-hoop. A blast of wind slashed at one of the stone arms they encountered, but it didn't damage as severely as they had hoped.
"Chie! Mabufu!"
"Now, Suzuka Gongen!" Chie yelled as she smashed the blue card in front of her face. What looked like an armor-clad, samurai woman appeared and ice formed around the four stone arms before bursting, but still it did not slow the shadows down. One of the arms crept up to Yosuke and sent its sword crashing down on him.
"Ha!" He yelled as he successfully dodged it. Another arm made its way up to him, but he stopped its blade with his own little knives. While he struggled with that shadow, Chie went over to try to help him, leaving Souji and Yukiko to deal with three other stone arms.
"Amagi! Maragion!" Souji shouted as he swung his katana at the nearest arm. Yukiko looked over at Yosuke and saw that he was still struggling with the arm.
"I can't! I might hit Yosuke-kun!" she told him, and instead attacked with her fan. Off to the side, Rise, Kanji and Teddie watched, fighting the urge to step in and help.
"Senpai! Look out!" Rise yelled, but one of the arms swept its sword across and caught Souji off guard, knocking him off his feet. The wind was knocked out of him and the cut above his eyebrow reopened, allowing some blood to trickle down his face.
"Yosuke… Magaru…" he wheezed, and once Yosuke finally got the arm off of him, he sent a few blasts of weak wind at the enemies. Chie ran up and delivered several kicks to the weakest arm, immobilizing it for a few moments. When she saw it was down, she ran over to Souji and helped him to his feet.
"You okay?" she asked quickly before running off to continue fighting. Souji had to close his right eye to prevent any blood from dripping in, but through his left eye he saw a hint of jealousy from Yukiko before she cast Maragion, causing four explosions of fire to incinerate the enemies. With that final spell, the arms all disappeared.
"Are you okay, Senpai?" Rise ran up to Souji, followed by everyone else. She took out her handkerchief and dabbed at the blood that was trying to get into his eye. He saw her pull a face as she examined the cut.
"For a small cut, it makes quite the mess," he heard Yosuke say. "Hey, let's just use Dia and heal him."
Yukiko nodded. "Right. Here, hold still—"
"Ooh! Ooh! Let Teddie try!" Teddie bounced on his toes excitedly.
"Huh? You can heal now, Ted?" Kanji asked.
"Uh huh! And I can also cast ice like Chie-chan!" He smiled. "I'm just like everyone—I can trace people like Rise-chan, I can use ice like Chie-chan, and I can heal like Yuki-chan!"
Yukiko forced a smile. "Then let's let Teddie heal him. Go ahead, Teddie."
The bear cheered happily as he danced around his friends. Rise couldn't share his joy and grabbed him roughly. "Hurry up and heal Senpai before he bleeds to death!" She shoved him towards Souji and he took out his claws.
"Come, Kintoki-Douji!" he said happily as he smashed the blue card before him; what looked like a round, red piñata with a blue cape holding a missile appeared above his head and cast Mediarama on everyone.
"Whoa, he knows that spell already?" Yosuke felt his vitality return instantly. "Dude, even Yukiko-san doesn't know that one yet!"
"Hey, Yukiko's been doing a great job healing us so far," Chie defended her friend, but the damage had been done—Yukiko couldn't help but begin to feel the bite of inferiority.
Souji reached up and touched where his cut had been and felt that it was completely healed. "Thanks, Teddie. I'm counting on you and Yukiko-san to be our healers, okay?"
"You got it, Sensei!" Teddie turned and faced Yukiko. "Yuki-chan, let's work together to heal everyone!"
Yukiko had a blank look on her face as she sank back into her thoughts. … Am I useless?
"Yuki-chan? A-Are you alright? You don't look so good," Teddie frowned. "Do ya need a hug?"
Yukiko peered down at the bear and smiled. "Oh, Teddie. Don't worry about me. I was just… thinking about how busy our inn's going to be tomorrow," she said as she patted his fuzzy head.
"Yukiko-senpai won't be able to come tomorrow?" Kanji said as he adjusted his glasses.
"Unfortunately no, but I'll be free on Sunday," Yukiko told him. "It'll be all right, now that Teddie can heal."
"Yeah, but it's better when everyone's here," Chie reassured her. "Everyone's free on Sunday, right?"
"I'm free—"
"Yeah—"
"I'm never busy—"
"Yup—"
"How about you, Souji-kun?" Chie asked. Souji was still tapping where his cut once was when he was addressed.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure."
"Alright! Then it's settled! Yukiko, we're not going anywhere near the TV without you!" Chie grinned. Yukiko felt a little better, but it still wasn't enough to completely remove the sinking feeling in her gut.
--
The rest of the day they spent exploring every bit of the first four floors. By early evening, it was decided that while Yukiko was helping out her inn, Souji and a few others would head to Daidara Metal Works and get some new weapons.
"C'mon, Yukiko," Chie said as she tugged her friend's hand towards the inn. The two said "good night" to everyone and headed up the river.
"I was thinking that… maybe I was wrong," Chie said once they were alone. "After what you said today, I guess you really don't like Souji-kun."
"Took you long enough," Yukiko said bitterly. "But still, he heard some things that I didn't mean for him to hear."
"You'd better call him tonight and apologize. I bet today was awkward for him."
"It was awkward for me, too. But you're right, I really should apologize."
They walked through the humid stillness without exchanging another word until Chie asked for Yukiko's fan.
"Whew! It's so hot!" Chie huffed as she fanned herself. "I wish I could use Bufu in our world…"
When Yukiko didn't say anything, she glanced over at her and saw a gloomy look on her face. "Hey, Yukiko?"
Slowly the melancholy girl turned her head to look at her friend and found her smiling back. "Just because Teddie has a better healing spell doesn't mean we don't need you anymore."
"Chie…" Yukiko cracked a small smile. "…Thanks."
The rest of the way to the inn was noiseless, for Chie was afraid that she might say something that would bring down Yukiko's mood again. Yukiko was still wondering if she was ready to face Souji. At the inn, Yukiko bid her friend "good night" and went to her room to collect her things for a nice hot bath. As she gathered up a fresh yukata, the shrine charm fell from the drawer she pulled the folded cloth from. She stooped to pick it up and held it up to the light.
"I guess I really should take you with me wherever I go," she said to the small, red pouch. "But I don't want to waste any of the good luck you possess before I give you to…"
She sighed and looked at her cell phone on her table, thinking about the person that was supposed to receive her little gift and wondered if he was thinking of her, too.
--
"Welcome home, Big Bro!"
"Hey, Nanako-chan," Souji called lifelessly as he entered the house. He kicked his shoes off and flopped on the couch, completely drained from running around inside the TV world and hearing what Yukiko had to say about her thoughts on him.
"I HATE EVERY FIBER OF HIS BEING!" resounded in his mind as he laid face-down on the lumpy couch. He heard the sound of little feet as they padded up to him from the short table.
"Hey, are you okay? Are you not feeling well?" Nanako asked. "Do you have a cold?"
"I'm alright, Nanako-chan," Souji told her, his voice muffled by the squashy purple pillow. "Just not having a very good day."
The little girl bit her lip, unsure of what she could do to cheer him up. She suddenly smiled as she remembered something she made for him earlier that day. She ran to her room to retrieve it and ran back excitedly.
"Here! I heard that you got the highest score on your tests, so I made this for you!" she said gleefully as she held the item out to him. Souji turned his head towards her and sat up to get a better look at the homemade present. A folded piece of paper adorned with the words "Best In Class!" sat in her hands, and he took it to get a better look. He saw a small drawing of himself holding up a golden trophy, and he couldn't help but smile.
"It's an armband, so you can show everyone that you got good grades!" Nanako smiled. Souji reached out and hugged her.
"Thanks, Nanako-chan. This helped a lot," he said softly before letting her go. The little girl giggled when she saw the smile on his face.
"You're welcome, Big Bro! Oh, did you eat yet? I'm boiling some water to make ramen," she said as she looked to the kitchen. Souji stood up and went over to the stove.
"Wanna grab two bowls of ramen for me?" he asked as the kettle began to whistle. Nanako pulled two bowls of instant ramen out from the pantry and handed them to him to pour hot water in. He carried both bowls to the short table while his cousin grabbed two sets of chopsticks for them to use.
"Did Uncle call yet?" he asked as they waited for their noodles to cook.
"Yeah, but he said he's gonna be late again," she said as she took some juice out from the refrigerator. She grabbed two glasses and set them on the table. "He's been really busy lately."
"He sure has," Souji muttered as he subconsciously tapped the area above his eyebrow. "Have you been eating anything besides ramen?"
"No, I also ate cereal, eggs and toast," she replied as she poured juice into their cups. "I'm practicing to make scrambled eggs, but I still don't get how to make them fluffy."
Her cousin smiled again. "It's easy. First you whisk the eggs until the yolk's completely broken, then you add milk to make it fluffy…"
--
After their meal, Nanako set up the bath for Souji while he washed the dishes. He insisted that she didn't have to since he was only washing chopsticks and two cups, but she readied it anyway. When the bath was ready, he went in and washed himself quickly to hurry and relax in the tub. He inhaled deeply and dunked his head in the nearly-scalding water, his tense muscles loosening up slowly. When he resurfaced, he leaned his head back against the warm tub and found his mind roaming back to the events that had taken place earlier.
Yukiko-san… Do you really hate me that much, or was it a front to throw Chie-chan off? It was pretty extreme to just be something to throw her off. Does that mean she really hates me?
He dunked his head back underwater again and stayed under for as long as he could hold his breath. After about a minute, he sat up and gasped for air, wiping water out of his face and slicking his hair back so the stray strands would stay out of his eyes. It was only then that he heard his cell phone ringing.
Dammit, who's calling while I'm hot, wet and naked? He made a move to get out of the bath, but stopped when his phone fell silent.
Hmph, jerk. Messin' with my bath time…
--
Yukiko hung up her cell phone when she heard Souji's voice mail answer her call. She decided to have dinner before calling to give him time to return home and eat dinner as well, but apparently he was either busy with something else or ignoring her call. She set her phone back down on her desk, took up her extra clothes and rode the elevator down to the first floor, simply wanting to soak thoroughly to wash away the feelings of guilt that sat at the pit of her stomach. She had taken a step outside the elevator when she nearly walked right into her mother.
"Oh! Sorry, Mother, I wasn't paying attention," she said with a frown. Her mother smiled briefly before noticing the look on her daughter's face.
"Is everything alright? Lately you seem rather depressed about something," she said as she placed a hand on Yukiko's cheek. "Did something happen with your friends?"
Yukiko looked at her mother, whose face was almost identical to her own. "No, everything's all right, Mother. I'm just a little tired, that's all."
She received a worried look. "I suppose it's the heat and the stress of having so many customers. Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight—I need your help early morning."
"I will," she said, and her mother left her to tend to some business elsewhere. As she walked quickly down the hall, she turned around to see her daughter head down another hallway to the hot springs.
"Hurry and mend things with Seta-kun, Yukiko," the woman whispered to herself before going to the kitchen.
--
Souji was lying on his futon in the dark, hugging his pillow tightly with one hand while his other hand held his cell phone before him. The word 'Yukiko' was lit up on the screen as a missed call.
Call back! A part of his brain told him.
No! You promised you'd leave her alone! Another part argued.
If you don't, you might completely lose her!
If you do, you might piss her off even more!
She probably called about something important!
She could've dialed the wrong number and didn't realize it until she heard your voice mail.
Shut up!
No, you shut up!
Souji ground his knuckles into his temples as he clenched his jaw. Oh my god, now I'm arguing with myself! When will all this shit stop happening?! Is it because I've been a major asshole? It's not like I'm actually saying it for anyone to hear! It shouldn't even count for the whole karma crap!
He rolled over to his side and stared at the wall, finding that as tired as he was, his mind was incredibly restless and wouldn't let him sleep. The heat was thicker on the second floor, and his electric fan in the corner did little to cool the room down. He threw his long-sleeved shirt off of his back and tore his black pants right off his body, thankful that it was the kind that buttoned all the way down the sides.
If I get enough money, I'm investing in an air conditioner, he thought miserably as he laid there wearing only a thin pair of boxer shorts. Either that or I'll visit the Velvet Room and summon King Frost. Maybe I'll even get Nanako-chan her own Jack Frost that she can carry around in a backpack…
An hour passed and he still couldn't sleep. He began cursing global warming again while imagining himself yelling at Shu to use his brain to turn the humidity into snow.
I want me some snow…
--
Author's note: sorry for the late chapter. I've been pretty busy these past two weeks and I've fallen behind on chapters since Chapter 8. Once again, I'm sorry for my tardiness, and I thank you for your patience and support! Your reviews keep inspiring me to continue to write!