After hearing my name being called, I put my book down and walk toward the living room. Just my luck, I was in a good spot in my book but Komachi ended up calling me. It's not like I mind, but getting your thought process back is a nuisance when it comes to reading.
I walked over to the living room and Komachi turned her back to face me. "We need groceries, mind getting some?"
She knows I have a bike, all the crap I bought will probably fall out of the bag as I'm riding.
"Huh? Why? But if it's not much then sure I'll go."
"Yeah it's not, just some milk and spices."
"Roger."
Milk and spices huh? Milk is one thing, but spices? You don't run out of seasoning or spices in a month, I bet she spilled them or something. I smiled as I walked back to my room.
I put on my coat then I went back to the living room for my shoes. After club time is my free time, we grocery shop on the weekends, but it seems we can't save anything around this house.
I walked out and unchained my bike then started to pedal.
Last week our parents brought home groceries. We had the required goods and we had the fruit. Oh yes the fruit, those will vanish in a day or two. We had 5 mangos that day and we dropped to one a day later. how the hell is that possible? I didn't eat any of them either.
The temperature dropped as well, it's hard to bike in this weather. Thankfully it isn't snowing too hard and there's zero wind to top it off. Biking fast in windy weather is intoxicating, all that wind in your face can throw you off.
I made it to the market and I chained up my bike to the rack and walked inside. Milk and spices huh? Wait, what spices? I know you use them for food but there's so many different kind of spices.
Screw it, I'll call her.
"Komachi."
"Oh hey Onii-Chan, what's up?"
"Is there any specific spices you need?"
"Hm? Oh yeah! Orange zest and ginger, sorry for not specifying." She giggles.
"It's fine, later." I hung up.
I walked amongst the aisles looking for the spices section. The market has like 10 different aisles so it's difficult to get around. You want to go to the breads but you're on the other side of the building, thankfully, there's boards to help guide us.
I walked in the narrow aisle and I scan the area for any zest or ginger. It didn't take long before I faced the spices, and there is a lot of them. I probably have to the master the art of spices and seasoning if I want to become a house husband, real life is going to hit me hard soon.
As I'm looking through the spices I notice Yukinoshita in my peripheral vision, if I make eye contact then I have to talk to her. Even though she's my friend, there's just days you don't want to speak to others, today is one of them. She does look nice though, I can't help but adjust my eyes a bit.
Before I even get a thought out, she turns her body and we face each other.
"Hey." I said breaking the awkwardness.
"Fancy seeing you here, Hikgaya-kun."
"I had to get groceries for Komachi, so she sent me out."
"In this weather? So she's truly trying to get rid of you then."
"I wouldn't go that far, I'm still a functional young man, I have a lot to live for." She chuckles at my statement.
"But your life goal is becoming a house husband, that's quite disappointing." I flinch at her comment.
"Whatever, I should get going, I got everything I needed."
"You biked here didn't you? I can drop you off at your house to save you the trouble."
"I'll take you up on your offer then, thanks."
"I need you for the request afterall, I can't have you getting sick in this weather." She said.
After her comment, we proceed to walk out of the aisle. Hopefully she's done shopping because I'm an impatient person, she can take years and years and I'll be standing with her waiting.
"Are you saying you don't care about my wellbeing? I'm still human you know."
"Don't forget your place, Hikigerma." She says in a different tone.
I chuckle a bit after her comment. "Are we really doing this now? We'll be here all day if we continue."
"Perhaps you're right, next time then?"
"Who knows, I'm always prepared to fight against your insults." She chuckles a bit.
We made our way to the self check out and paid. We walked out of the store and to the bike rack.
"We'll put your bike in the trunk." She says.
After unchaining my bike we walked over to her limousine that was parked decently far from us. We weren't talking as we walked. It wasn't snowing much, the light flurries of snow were getting in my eyes and bothering me quite a bit.
We walked over to the limousine and Haruno pulled down the window.
"Hey Hikgaya-kun!"
"Yo."
"Don't worry about your bike, our driver will take care of it, come in!"
I opened the door and stepped inside. I took the window seat with Haruno in the middle and Yukinoshita taking the other end.
"So how've you been? It's been ages right?"
"I've been fine." I said looking out the window.
Haruno isn't dumb, she can tell from the tone of voice that I don't want to part take in this conversation at all. Unlike her sister, she's more sociable and talkative, which is not a bad thing, but she should take a hint and leave it where it is.
"Hmm? Are you acting like that because I interrupted your evening with Yukino-chan?"
"No". We said in unison.
"You're both so in sync. Anyways, how's the request going?"
I was taken back a bit by her words. So she knew huh? No one of power was notified of our actions, other than Isshiki but would she tell Haruno about our request?
"So you knew?"
"Of course! Shizuka-chan told me about it."
"Hm, well that's fine I guess."
"Yup! You're working really hard too. She told me you're an excellent public speaker, taking this seriously it seems." She said in a teasingly tone.
"Any request is work, even though to work is to lose, I still have to give my best effort in the request."
After my comment, the cold glare of younger Yukinoshita hits me.
"Such an bizzare saying, only you from all people would say such a thing." Yukinoshita says.
"At least I can run for five minutes without losing my breath."
"At least I'm not third in Japanese." She smiles after saying that.
There's nothing I can say or do to counter that, I was third and she was first, she reigns over every student at this school.
After 7 minutes of driving we arrive at my house. The driver parks and heads to the trunk.
"Thank you for the ride, I appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it." The younger Yukinoshita says.
Yukinoshita was still facing the window. Honestly, I can't tell if she's pissed or not. It's hard to tell with her, you have to ask her straight up when it comes to stuff like this.
After she said that I grabbed my bags and head out the door. Before I could close the door, elder Yukinoshita speaks up.
"Later Hikgaya-kun!" Haruno said leaning forward.
"Yeah, bye."
Younger Yukinoshita was facing the window ignoring my presence. She seemed bothered by something and it's not the request.
I closed the door and went to the trunk to check my bike. It wasn't there, I turned my head and their driver ended up chaining it for me. I wonder if it's natural for them to do this, you know, like take care of guests belongings. I'm surprised he knew where to chain up my bike.
"I chained up your bike, sir."
"Oh, thank you." He bows and walks back to the drivers seat.
I walked to my door and headed inside. I dropped the groceries off on the counter and head to my room. Such a bizzare encounter, I had to deal with both of the Yukinoshita sisters which was fine. I knew from the second I saw her, that everything will go from normal to slightly uncomfortable or awkward.
I walked to my room and put my coat in my closet. Well thanks to this, I ended up losing a lot of time that was dedicated to reading. I'm a slacker, but even I know I can't read all day when I have homework to do.
After enduring Thursday's classes, we're finally set free. Sad part is, I found myself with homework in every class besides literature. And do we really need these subjects for the future? The answer is no, but it's a requirement, I'm not fond of balancing equations or messing around with shapes.
Yuigahama and I start walking to the conference room where Isshiki told us to go for today. Our help isn't needed until we get the signatures, unless we have a problem. Honestly, a problem this early on is impossible, still hope the plan goes accordingly.
We walk inside the conference room and about everyone is here. Multiple student reps, the student council, and sensei. The noise level changed dramatically, it feels like 5th grade recess.
Yuigamaha and I walk toward two empty seats next to Yukinoshita. As usual, Yuigahama begins her chatter with Yukinoshita. It might just be Yuigahama, but this room got uncomfortably loud, sensei should scold some of these kids.
As I lean back in my chair I notice more and more students walking inside the room, Isshiki called all the student reps in then it seems. Still, why were we called here? I mean, there's enough bodies to put up fliers, unless they're short.
Isshiki begins her talk by shutting up the room. "We called you all here to talk about flier and signature information. Each class rep will be responsible the signatures, you'll record the information on your clipboard. Now we have to put up the fliers, let's get to work!"
More work huh, can't she this on her own? She has an army of kids at her disposal, this is madness, I need to retaliate.
"Hey sensei. Tell Ishikki we're not her slaves and we should be able to go home."
"Come on Hikgaya, the more the merrier right?"
"She has every class rep in the school at her hands, she can get this done in 30 minutes, why the hell does she need us for?"
"You're so lazy, get up and work before I drop your rank in Japanese."
"Huh? You can do that?"
"No, but I can do one thing." She said cracking her knuckles.
"Okay fine, just don't hit me." I said flinching my whole body.
If there's one thing I'm afraid of, it's Sensei's punches. She can hit like a small truck, one of these days I might rupture something if she hits me hard enough.
"Good. Now go, everyone left already."
I didn't notice that a majority of the classroom left. Damn, I'm really doing this huh. Is this how it feels to be a corporate slave? Even though it was bound to happen, unexpected work is work I can't stand, so basically school work.
I had no idea where Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were at too, they shouldn't be far though. Come to think of it, were these necessary? The student reps are taking signatures in the classroom so us putting up fliers seems rather pointless. The things I do for this club, why couldn't I be forced into the literature club or something.
I can see a lot of students putting up the fliers, and in a quick fashion too. They're all eager to get out of here it seems, the faster they do it, the faster we get to go home.
The noise level also shifted from the conference room and Into the halls.
After a few minutes of walking I found both of the girls hanging up fliers by the north side of the building.
"Yo."
"There you are! You took forever to come out of the clubroom we just left."
"Sorry, not fond of putting up fliers when Isshiki has a whole infantry unit to do that."
"Infantry?" She said confusingly.
"Not an actual infantry unit Yuigamaha, she just has a lot of people at her side. Sorry for not using the easier term."
"Doesn't army mean the same thing?"
"...yeah?"
"Say that next time then, stop being extra Hikki."
Huh? Extra? I just used vocabulary that was implanted in my head over the years. If anyone is extra, it's Yukinoshita.
"I'm not extra for saying infantry unit, if anyone's extra it's Yukinoshita." She turns her head over to me and glared me down.
"Shall I remind of your Japanese score?"
"Want me to remind you of your shitty physical endurance?" I said taping a flier to the wall.
"Knowledge is far more valuable than physical attributes, are you, let's say, dumb?"
"What happened to the swimming match? Chickened out?"
"I have not, I've been practicing."
Crap. I haven't step foot in a pool since middle school, I may actually lose if I don't practice as well. She has probably has an indoor pool at her mansion, damn rich people.
"When's the battle then?"
"Sometime after the request is completed?"
Is that enough time for me to practice? I need to hit the pool on Saturday and Sunday if I want any hope of winning.
"Sure, I guess."
We continue to walk down the hall putting up fliers for the petition, our stack seems to be running short on fumes, can I leave after it's done? I can totally leave after it's done right? There's no way Isshiki has extra copies.
With the fliers going up, everyone on the school board will be alerted of our actions. It's not the worse thing, but it's not the best thing that can happen to us. They can leave us alone or they can cancel our work.
After we finished our stack we reported back to Isshiki. We were free to leave since we didn't have any copies to use. At least this meant I was free to go home.
Normally the school would be empty this time of the day, but we had the class reps doing work for us so it's pretty loud now. They also got some decent work in, the halls are filled with fliers it's like they're everywhere.
After getting the okay from Yukinoshita, I was free to go. I tried leaving right away but it didn't end well, she may not look like much, but she's scary. But aren't all women scary to an extent?
As I'm walking down the hall to the main entrance, I notice Yano reading the fliers on the wall to my left. She seems to be really into it, even though she read them yesterday.
"Yo." I said walking slowly to her.
"Hm? Oh, hey."
Getting less formal now, eh? She usually greets me with a 'Hi' now she seems to be getting a bit more comfortable around me, that's good I guess.
"You know if you want a flier, you could've asked."
"No it's not that, it's the design on it. It's really, unique to say the least."
I glance over at the flier and I guess I can see her point. There was a cute design on the flier, courtesy of the student council I bet, unless Yuigahama got a hold of this.
"I guess, I wasn't aware of the doodle on it though."
"It's a team effort right? It wouldn't be right for your club to take all the responsibility."
"Probably." I said glancing at the front gate. "I was heading home right now, so I'll see ya later." I said slightly moving away from her.
"A-ah wait. Want to walk home together?"
That statement could cause so many misunderstandings, luckily, all my expectations were broken during my middle school years.
"Sure then."
We walk out of the main entrance and we took a right to the bike rack. I wasn't exactly sure where she lived at, will I get lost if she lived ages away from my place?
The weather is still cold, the moment we walked outside I felt everything hit me at once. You can compare it to that one Pokémon move, sheer cold. It's a one hit K.O if it connects, luckily for me, it didn't connect and I was able to move forward through the cold.
"So, how've you been? Been a while, no?" She spoke up first.
"Fine, I guess. I'm always tired and grumpy, so there's that."
"First steps to becoming an adult it seems?" She said looking forward.
"I realized that a while back. Adults are always tired and they're all grumpy during the week."
"Struggling to make a 10,000 yen a day is pretty tiring, 40 hours a week is pretty intense."
Isn't that the normal hours to get around 100,000 yen a week? What was her definition of normal then?
"If that's intense, what's your definition of normal work hours?"
She made a 'hmm' sound while looking up to the sky.
"Well, my mother is a psychologist and my father is a biomedical scientist, so they work less hours as they make quite the amount of money." She says in a soft tone.
She must be wealthy then, both of her parents are bringing in quite the amount of money.
"That's pretty cool. My parents are corporate slaves for some company."
"Corporate slaves huh?" She whispered. "I haven't heard that term in a while, the harsh truth it seems."
"Basically. I don't want my future to consist of working in front of a desk for 8 hours a day and then overtime."
"Indeed. That'll be a depressing life. I strive to become a psychologist like my mother, that's the plan at least."
"Hm? Well that's good, goodluck with that."
"And what about your future, Hikgaya-san?"
"Probably something related to literature."
"I see, but it's never too late to start thinking about your future."
"Yeah."
My future huh? I've always joked about being a house husband, but I do need a stream of income to live on my own. Maybe over the summer it'll be a good time to start thinking about my future. I would not enjoy living on the streets of Chiba, begging for money.
"Is the book doing you well, Hikgaya-san?"
Oh right the book. I've gotten nice progress into it, I can see how it'll end from where I stand.
"It's interesting. The main characters are cool but the plot isn't all that."
Good characters can make up for a bad plot. If there's a character that's likable and you can relate to, you'll stick with that series solely for that character.
"Yes, you're right on that. It's a one shot, it would've been interesting to see some characters development within the main characters."
"Oh, so there's no character development? Thanks for the spoiler."
"A-ah, sorry I didn't mean to spoil it for you." She said quickly changing the tone of her voice.
"Yeah don't worry about it." I yawned intensely.
"Say, Hikgaya-san. You still play video games right?" She said after the brief silence.
"Yeah, why?"
"Want to go to gamestop one of these days to pick out a few games? I think it'll be cool to see lots of other games other than fighters." She said adjusting her eyes.
GameStop. I haven't been there in a while, I don't often go there since the games I have don't really have an end to them, not to mention it's pricy as hell.
"Yeah sure, just let me know when."
After saying that, her face showed no emotion and she continued to walk forward.
She suddenly stopped in her trail, staring in front of a house. The home was nice, it was definitely one of those rich person homes.
"This is my stop. Thanks for the talk, I'll see you tomorrow." She said walking back inside.
She left before I was able to say anything. With her gone, I had to find where the hell im at. This is definitely no rich person neighborhood, but I am quite far from my house. And I'm freezing too, riding my bike would make everything worse too.
As I chained up my bike I made my way inside the building. I notice there's a lot of people looking at the fliers, it seems the effect is working. The student council step up multiple signature booths throughout the building in addition to the clip board that the reps have in class.
I walked inside the classroom and took my seat. It's extra noisy today, probably due to the request. If Yuigahama wasn't in the club she would be going haywire like Tobe is right now.
"Yo." Said Yuigahama.
"Isn't that my line? And hey."
"The plan seems to be working. Everyone is signing up, the reps are getting crowded with students."
I glance over behind me and she's right, more people got up from their seat to sign the sheet. We'll probably have enough signatures by today.
"That's good, we just have to wait now."
"Yup! I'll see you during club, bye." She said walking back to her clique.
This is going to be a really long day, the noise levels just as add onto the irritation too. Class should start soon, well I hope, I've been here for like 5 minutes.
As the school day went on, we were passed back our homework assignments from the following week. As expected, I aced everything except the math related work sheets. Now I don't care if I fail these assignments, I usually stay up a bit studying the text book before a big math test. Usually I won't do that, I wing them, but the targets were getting harder and harder as the year progressed. I hate studying math, so I decided to study the night before a test.
The final bell rings and we were all free to go, excluding a couple people of course. We were called to the conference room again, probably for a status report on the request. Honestly, they could just email us the information instead of dragging us there to listen.
Yuigahama is talking with her friends, which leaves me to go without her. She knows where the room is at, she can go on her own. I told her this before, if she catches me before I leave the room then I'll walk with her. She's taking too long so I left.
I guess today is the judgement today, there's no other reason why Isshiki would call us to meet up if we either didn't meet our goal, or we succeeded in the first day.
I slide the door and I walked in. The took a seat next to the sensei and I made myself comfortable in the seat.
"Long day, Hikgaya?"
"No, I just got a bad headache for some reason."
"Well it happens to the everyone, you'll be fine."
"Tell that to my head, I can't think without getting some sort of strain in my head."
"Just man up, if it's that bad just take some Aspirin."
I didn't respond after her comment and I just put my head down.
I tried to hold down my headache but it got worse throughout the day. A bad headache can throw off your entire day, and if you're not home, there's no place for you to rest and you're forced to wait it out.
Shortly after, Isshiki started the meeting. There's no one else here besides the club and the student council.
"I called everyone here to let you know that we reached over the 1000 signatures from the boothes alone. The student reps will report their data tomorrow. The other school gained over 1000 as well on the first day. Nice work everyone!"
I know it's after school hours, but I wonder if the nurse is here. I'm sure she'll have aspirin or something to help my head. I can feel every vein in my head pumping out blood, I need to nap during club hours.
"Sensei, can the nurse give me some pills for my head?"
"Hmm. Probably not, unless they're given permission by your parents or guardian." I grunted and slowly walked away.
Probably not huh? Even a small percentage of success is still a possibility, I'll have to take it. Walking or doing any sort of physical activity with a headache feels like hell. Maybe it's all this work that's making my head like this.
After slowly walking to the nurses office, I check the door and it's locked. With my hopes lost into the wind, I just stare at the door. She went home right when the bell rang, I don't blame her, I'll probably do the same thing.
I tested the waters of chance, I ended up walking back to the clubroom. This must be a sign of the hard work I've been putting in.
A/N
Yo. I ended up making it a two part instead of a one part, just something minor.
Yeah, there's nothing else to say other than reviewing it and letting me know what I can improve on. I'm not the best, so I'm open to criticism, even if it's harsh criticism.
I read all the reviews by the way. If you want me to change something, PM me or say it directly on your review.
I'm serious, give me your complete honest opinion on everything you read so far. Be as brutally honest as you want, I'm open for change.