Chapter 11: Every Day's Great at Your Junes!
His chest was firm against her head, the thrum of his heartbeat filling her ears. Her entire body tensed up, and against every prayer she silently screamed in her head, her legs wouldn't work. Wanting desperately to end this situation as soon as possible, she raised her hands and placed them against him to balance herself. The fabric of his shirt wasn't the thickest, allowing her to feel the lean, toned muscle from underneath her fingertips. A shiver ran through her, and her already weakened knees buckled from the contact. In response, Sho's arms pulled her closer as if he thought that she couldn't stand on her own.
I'm making things worse! As embarrassing as it was, she kept her hands propped against his shirt for support and forced herself to look up at him. "I'm—"
When she saw him staring back at her, the apology faded on her lips. Her own heart threatened to burst from her chest, but she did nothing to break away, and he made no motion to let her go. His hands continued to linger on her back, his arms wrapped protectively around her. To her astonishment, the initial shiver she felt earlier subsided, leaving her lost in the warmth they shared between their clothed bodies. He was looking at her with a pensive expression that she couldn't read, his bright blue eyes staring at her with an intensity that made her feel like she was the only person in the world. The pale, scar-crossed face was one she was so familiar with—it was an honest face who wore its moods easily, a face that she would see in her thoughts when he wasn't around. Before she could stop herself, she dropped her eyes to Sho's mouth. He was taller than her, but she realized how small the distance was between his lips and her own.
And for one second, she wished that he was even closer to her.
What am I thinking?!
With a great effort of will, she gently pushed herself from him. "Sho-kun, I'm sorry." Her fingers trembled as they tucked away an errant strand of hair behind her ears. Unable to bring herself to look at him, she focused on his hands, which had fallen back at his sides.
His fingers clenched momentarily, like he was going to do something, but they loosened. When he spoke, the energy from earlier during his game of keep-away was gone. "You're a real klutz."
Yukiko didn't necessarily disagree with him, but she disliked his lack of acknowledgement on his part in things. "You could've just given me the book."
"And you could've not tripped. Crazy idea, I know." The sarcasm was thick in his voice as he sat back down at the table.
The guilt from her misstep overwhelmed any desire to hear him admit his blame, so Yukiko conceded. "I'm sorry if I made things awkward..."
His eyes were trained on his laptop, his tone suggesting that she was stupid for thinking he was affected in the slightest by what happened. "It's not a big deal. Besides, YOU'RE the one who moved away."
Her cheeks grew hot at his words. "Because I wanted to give you back your space!"
"No need to be so uptight." The taunt was there, but there was something else, too. As he ran his fingers through the messy red hair at the back of his head, he looked moody. "What, can't stand being that close to me?"
For some reason, the way he asked his question saddened her. It was like he believed that Yukiko was disgusted by him. "That's not true! I liked—" Suddenly catching herself, her hands clapped over her mouth before the rest of whatever she was saying could come out.
But it was too late. His hand paused at the back of his head as he gaped at her. In the glow of the lit screen of his laptop, she saw color rising to his normally pale cheeks. "You…you liked…?"
"I…" She what? What could she possibly say? How on earth was she supposed to follow up with? Her mind was a knotted mess, and the way he was looking at her wasn't helping in the least.
So when rational thought failed her, Yukiko acted on instinct: she chose to flee.
Forcing her lips in a tight smile, she moved towards the door with unnatural haste. "Well, it's late! I really should be off now, so good night!" And with that, she shut the door with a finality that made the frame shudder in its railings.
Sheer will and desperation motivated her to rush down the hallway and back to the residential quarters of the inn. It wasn't until she was in the sanctuary of her bedroom that she was aware of the throbbing pain in her calves. The tension was slow to leave the rest of her body as she walked over to her window and sank to the floor, leaning against the edge of the low writing table. She rested her hands against her knees, remembering everything in such vivid detail that it scared and fascinated her: the feeling of his broad chest against her head, the pleasant warmth of his strong arms around her, the startling brightness of his eyes against the dimly lit backdrop of his room.
If Yukiko had to be honest, she liked how he looked at her. She liked how he held her. She liked being so close to him, and as abrupt as her exit was, she wanted to stay like that with Sho for a little longer. This self-awareness only reminded her of how she almost told him something that they would've both regretted. It was no use denying it to herself, but what good was the truth when all it would do was weigh him down?
"I can't." She had to say them. "I can't." She had to say the words. She had to hear them.
No matter how much it hurt, she could never let him know.
Something had happened. Yukiko hadn't mentioned anything, but Chie knew.
It wasn't that she was in a bad mood, but her friend was definitely distracted. Luckily for Yukiko, Yosuke was a favorite target for their teachers today, and much to the amusement of their class, he failed to answer each of their questions spectacularly. But Chie still caught her best friend with her head down, absentmindedly staring at her fingers as their classmate struggled to keep face in front of their teachers. Even when the subject of the fast-approaching Culture Festival came up and the other students were throwing suggestions at one another, Yukiko didn't speak. She only nodded when the class rep asked her a question. When the class made their decision, Chie couldn't say for sure that Yukiko knew what they all voted on.
"Hey, can you really do all that?" Chie asked her at the end of the day.
Finally, Yukiko lifted her gaze from her fingers and looked directly at Chie. "Yes." Her prompt way of answering told Chie that she didn't remember what the class had discussed.
"So, you definitely will cook up five hundred steaks for the festival?"
She held back from laughing when Yukiko's eyes widened. "W-what? Five hundred steaks?!"
"Yeah, you agreed to it," Chie went on, biting back a grin. "Our class is running a café for the Culture Festival. The class president asked if you could prepare some fancy dishes, and you said you'd cook steaks! Everyone heard you."
Yukiko looked away from Chie again, running numbers in her head. "The Festival is this week, isn't it?" Keeping a straight face, Chie nodded. "If Junes doesn't have that many in stock, I wonder if I can make a rush delivery from Kobe," Yukiko muttered out loud, propping her chin with her hand. "It's going to be expensive, but it can't be helped if I agreed to it."
No longer able to hold back, Chie broke into laughter. "Yukiko, I'm kidding!"
Her friend snapped out of her panicked state, giving her a confused look. "About which part?"
"The part about the steaks. But you DID agree to cook something for the café."
A shroud of dread passed over Yukiko's face. "It's not a group date café again, is it?"
Chie quickly shook her head. "No way! After last year's disaster, we're not doing that again. This is just a regular café with sweets and drinks, and we're putting aside any money we make for the underclassmen to use next year."
"Oh, that's a nice thought." The panic in her voice was gone, but the confusion remained. "So, what am I cooking?"
"You don't remember?" Chie asked, deciding not to give her a hard time when Yukiko couldn't answer. "You and me are supposed to bake desserts. Cookies, cakes, that kind of stuff! Oh, and that idiot Yosuke said he had the perfect costumes for us."
Yukiko raised an eyebrow, looking hesitant. "I don't really know if I trust Yosuke-kun to pick clothes for us."
"Eh, it's our last Culture Festival. Dressing up might be fun. Besides, if we hate them, we can just make Yosuke wear them himself!" Chie added, and to her relief she saw Yukiko smile. "So, did you want to go to Junes tonight to pick up ingredients?"
Yukiko's eyes dropped to her fingers again. "Sure. Is it all right if I meet you after 7? "
Chie didn't have to ask why. Feeding the scar-faced boy was a part of her daily routine, but even if Yukiko didn't have to deliver his meals, Chie believed her friend would make time to check up on the inn's resident fugitive. "Yeah, we can meet after dinner." When Yukiko kept staring at her own hand, the nagging voice in the back of Chie's head couldn't be silenced. "Hey, you okay?"
Yukiko looked up at her with the awareness of a person who was half-asleep. "Huh?"
Suspecting that a certain red-haired boy was behind her friend's behavior, Chie glanced sideways to check if Yosuke was within earshot. When she saw that he was chatting to some boys on the other side of the room, she asked, "Did the cat do something again?"
"N-no!" If the stuttering wasn't strange enough, the blush on Yukiko's face was. "He didn't do anything at all! I was…"
Her voice trailed off at whatever was running through her head. When she couldn't finish her sentence, Yukiko's hands went to the sides of her face, the redness in her cheeks deepening. Yosuke was already sure that Yukiko had a secret boyfriend, and her reaction would've only been more fodder for that gossip. Not wanting to attract the idiot's notice, Chie asked another question to help Yukiko break out of her train of thought. "Did that stray start looking for his 'friend'?"
Though the boy was still the subject of conversation, the question was enough for Yukiko to compose herself. "He said he would soon." The blush had faded from her cheeks, but now she looked worried. "I know he wants to do this on his own, but I wish he would let us help him."
Seeing how bothered Yukiko was, Chie almost wished that the stray was nearby so she could kick his face in. "He's a stubborn one, Yukiko. You can't change that."
"You're right." As the pencil on her desk began to roll towards the edge, she picked it up to move it. "I wonder if he's still asleep." She muttered, placing the pencil on top of her notepad. "If he's awake, I'm sure he's restless. Other than that one time, I don't think he's stepped a foot outside of the inn's grounds."
What Yukiko said raised a question for Chie that she didn't think of until now: what DID the stray do when Yukiko wasn't around? She had a hunch that he would've been searching for Minazuki if he hadn't been sick, but now that he's better, what did he do to pass the time?
Even though she was sure his room was comfortable enough, Chie couldn't believe that any person would've been able to stay there without getting bored. When she looked to Yukiko, the heiress retained her good posture, but she still looked troubled. It was then that Chie knew no matter how justified it was, kicking Sho wouldn't help him or Yukiko. "You know, Junes has some first-aid kids and medicine. I bet that kind of stuff could come in handy!"
And when Yukiko's features brightened a bit after she said that, Chie decided that she could put up with that obnoxious stray for at least one shopping trip.
His head was heavy with thoughts that kept him awake throughout the night, preventing him from gleaning anything longer than a few minutes of sleep. By the time he was able to keep his eyes shut, the gloom of the autumn dawn crept into his room in gray shafts of light. Fatigue draped over his body like a lead sheet and kept him from answering Amagi's knock when she came by with breakfast. He was too tired and too agitated to see her after what had happened.
After she left, he tried getting some sleep again, but it was useless. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Amagi. A particular scent would follow the image of her, something that smelled clean and sweet. He recognized it as the same scent that lingered in the threads of his coat when he had taken it back from her that one night at the riverbank. That memory coupled with the recent events of last night only frustrated him more. After failing to shut his brain off, he would roll onto his other side, fighting with himself and with the sheets that were tangled around his legs, and then the cycle of self-defeat would begin anew.
Against his better judgment and driven by his need for answers, he kept thinking about last night, trying to convince himself about how stupid it all really was. It wasn't like she had never touched him before, but he realized that those instances had been fleeting and driven by purpose. Last night Amagi wasn't feeling his forehead for his temperature, and she wasn't trying to tell him that things were okay. He wasn't sure why she was so slow to stand on her own after he kept her from falling, but it made so much sense to pin all the blame on her for being so clumsy.
Then again, he was the one who didn't let her go after catching her.
The way she looked then, her lips parted and her dark eyes gazing quietly up at him, made Sho oblivious to anything else but her. Unlike the time when she woke up next to him at the riverbank, she wasn't freaking out or hurrying to get away. No, this time she was unmoving and facing him directly, her hands splayed against his chest as she tried to regain her balance. Although the contact of her fingertips was light, her touch set off something in him that wanted to feel more of her. When she finally did back away, Sho was almost overtaken by an impulse to reach for Amagi and tug her back towards him.
A pang ran through his chest, the back of his neck becoming hot. With an irritated groan, he kicked off the blankets and sat up from the futon. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He felt his pulse quickening, and his body shook with an inexplicable need that was tied to the girl he couldn't stop thinking about.
He wanted to feel Amagi's touch again. He wanted to feel her warmth against him.
He didn't hear her footsteps until she was only a few paces away from his door. His thoughts were a scattered mess when he heard her knocking on the frame. "Sho-kun?" Her voice was soft, but he could hear the unease in it. "Are you there?"
He suddenly remembered that he never took the breakfast she left for him. His agitation still present, he delayed responding to her. A part of him hoped that she would leave soon while the other part wanted to see her.
"Are you awake?" Guilt wormed its way into him at her question, and he decided that simply ignoring the girl wouldn't make anything better.
He reluctantly went to the door and when he opened it, a concerned Amagi greeted him after he slid back the frame. She hadn't changed into her kimono yet, as the red button-down sweater and plaid skirt indicated. "What?"
"Sorry to bother you like this," she started, sounding nervous. "I wanted to see if you had left." To his mixed relief and annoyance, her eyes fell from his, her fingers tightly interwoven across her lap.
"Obviously, I'm here." He responded curtly, remembering how fast Amagi made her exit to his door last night.
He watched her shoulders tense at his less-than-welcoming words as her eyes fell onto the tray of uneaten food at her side. "You didn't eat breakfast."
His annoyance at her for not looking at him grew. "I wasn't hungry."
Amagi hesitated, but went on in that cautious tone. "How are you feeling now? I could bring up dinner early."
"Why are you here?" He pointedly asked, his agitation over her presence and his lack of sleep getting the better of him. "You usually don't bug me until later, so what's your deal?"
When she raised her head, she looked somewhere between hurt and angry. "You don't have to be so rude! I just…" As quickly as her temper flared, Amagi reigned it under control. Her features softened as she avoided his eyes again. "You didn't answer me this morning. And when I saw that you didn't touch your food, I was worried."
Like so many times before, without yelling, she spoke in such a way that made it difficult to argue with her. Adding to that was the realization that the first thing the girl did after coming back from school was check up on him. He suddenly felt angry at himself for being so irritated, and worsening his mood was how Amagi refused to make eye contact with him. She had come right after her classes to see him, didn't she? Why couldn't she make the effort to look at him?
Look at me. I want you to look at me. He remembered then what she said after he tried to play off the events of last night by teasing her. She said she liked something. What was it? What was Amagi going to say, and why did he care so much about it?
The fingers of his right hand tightened at the memory of Amagi's unspoken words. "Hey."
Her eyes finally lifted from the floor to look at him directly, her cheeks unnaturally pink and her lips set in a firm line. Being here was difficult for her, he could tell, but she was here nonetheless. A twinge went through his chest and followed steadily down to his fingers. He kept thinking about what it was that Amagi liked but couldn't say, and his thoughts went back to the moment when her body fell against his own.
The thing that Amagi liked, the thing that she wouldn't tell him…what was it?
His hand was already raised when he realized what he was doing. Instead of immediately forcing it back down, he noticed that she was close enough for him to touch her. Would Amagi like it if he reached for her face and brushed back the strands of her long hair? Would she like feeling his fingertips trace the outline of her cheek?
Would she like it if he pulled her to him?
"What is it?"
Her soft voice broke over his thoughts, his fingers tensing again at the sound of it. When he saw her staring back at him with concern, he forced himself to believe that what he was feeling for her would pass. The girl overcame the awkwardness of what happened yesterday to check up on him—Sho didn't want to force her though more weird stuff. And to be completely honest, he wasn't ready to act on his impulses, no matter how strong and real they felt.
He pulled back his hand away from her, placing it behind his head in an attempt to save face. His fingers pulled at his hair to help him focus as he chose a corner of his room to look at. "You forgot the book."
He wasn't looking at her anymore, but he noticed the change in her pitch. "Oh, I did!"
Deciding to go with the shift in conversation, he continued. "So on top of being clumsy, you're forgetful, too. You're two for two, Princess."
"Again, you don't have to be so rude!" He felt the tension in the air leaving when he heard the indignation in her voice. Feeling that it was all right to look at her again, he found her glaring crossly at him. "And like I said yesterday, you could've given me the book!"
He felt strangely cheered by seeing her so irritated, his mouth forming a grin at this small accomplishment. "You're such a lousy hostess, y'know that? Because you left here so late, I couldn't get much sleep. I couldn't even get a decent nap in!"
The brief glow of victory faded when Amagi's annoyance was replaced by a sudden expression of guilt. "You didn't get much rest? Are you feeling ill again?"
"Don't be such a downer!" He quickly responded, hoping to brush off her tendency to worry. "I'm not sick, I was just bored."
"So, you didn't have much to do all day…" Her expression lit up, like she had just remembered something. "You said you were going to look for Minazuki-kun soon, right?"
Unsure why she was bringing up his plans to go back into the TV again, he regarded her almost warily. "Yeah, so?"
The smile on her lips was small, but genuine. "You may need some supplies. After dinner, did you want to go to Junes?"
"With you?" The question left him before he could stop it. "Even if I needed stuff, couldn't you get it all for me?"
"I suppose, but you said you were bored."
Amagi's logic wasn't wrong, but he was still hesitant to go with what she was suggesting. "I told you already, Princess: I CAN'T walk around here without someone noticing me." It wasn't that he was self-conscious, but the idea of walking in a crowded area in plain sight discouraged him.
But the smile on her rosy lips widened. "Then we just have to be careful."
It was a little after 7 o'clock when they entered the lobby. Yukiko was wearing her long red dress and flame-colored scarf, and who she assumed to be Sho came in with her. He wore a thick, camo-patterned coat that looked too big on him. His eyes and the majority of his scar were hidden by a large pair of tinted aviator glasses, and not a strand of his red hair showed from underneath the hood he wore over his head.
"Were you waiting long?" Yukiko asked when the pair were closer. Chie couldn't read Sho's expression on account of the glasses, but her friend spoke with a calmness that didn't suggest a fugitive was in their very presence.
"No. Where did you get this get-up?"
She caught the grimace on the boy's face as Yukiko answered. "Oh, an acting troupe stayed at our inn last year. One of their members left behind the wig."
"Did they leave behind the huge jacket, too?"
"The jacket's mine." The boy muttered, annoyed.
She would've let the subject of the jacket drop, but the hood was bothering Chie. "You can't go in wearing shades and a hood."
The stray gritted his teeth at her. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do, meat-eater!"
Although she was accustomed to his bad temper by now, Chie was still irritated by his brash response. "You look suspicious enough with the glasses, idiot! If you cover your head, they're gonna think you're a shoplifter or something!"
The boy looked like he was going to snap back, but Yukiko intervened. "Chie may be right, Sho-kun." The shades hid his eyes, but Chie was sure he was glaring at her friend. "The wig should be enough."
For a second, the martial artist thought that the stray would curse at both of them and march back towards the doors, but she saw his chest move with an exasperated sigh. When he pulled down his hood, he revealed the wig Yukiko mentioned. It was shaggy and jet black, its long ends barely brushing his shoulders. Amazingly enough, there was no red peeking out.
"Looks convincing enough." She commented honestly.
Yukiko smiled. "I thought so, too! He wears it well, doesn't he?"
"Can you both stop pointing out that I'm wearing a damn wig?" His voice was low, but the anxiety was poorly hidden. "This is a stupid idea."
When Chie felt inclined to agree with him, even though it had been her idea to invite him in the first place, Yukiko took a step closer by his side. "It'll be okay. Just don't call attention to yourself."
It was like watching an overgrown child being placated, and the scene baffled and amused Chie at the same time. Her friend's words must've worked to some extent since the stray didn't make a move to the exit. He readjusted the shades over the bridge of his nose, speaking to Yukiko in a voice that didn't sound entirely convinced. "If anyone recognizes me, it's YOUR fault."
For as anxious as he was, Yukiko remained calm. "I'll take full responsibility." Her answer had a playful tone to it, and she was even smiling. Sho said nothing else after that, standing with a frown next to her.
Not wanting to waste any more time in the lobby, Chie headed to the elevator and pressed the button on the control panel. When the doors opened, she stepped in and Yukiko and Sho followed her. Whether it was intentional or not, the Amagi heiress stood between her and the boy. After Chie pressed the button to the floor they wanted to go to, the doors shut and the elevator began its smooth ascent. They were all silent while the chipper Junes theme played from the speaker.
Glancing sideways, Chie observed the other two people in the compartment with her. Yukiko was humming along with the tune as she stood next to the fugitive responsible for Inaba's near-destruction. Chie honestly didn't know if he was going to show up, and she wasn't sure what kept him from backing out: boredom from staying at the inn, confidence in Yukiko, or both. But despite Sho's doubts and her own misgivings about this shopping trip, Chie didn't think that he was in any real danger of being spotted. Inaba was a small town where you could easily recognize visitors, but it wasn't like any of the local residents knew who Sho was. A lot of people may have seen the ad for the P-1 Climax on the Midnight Channel, but they saw General Teddie as the organizer. It wasn't until the town was covered in red fog that Sho revealed himself, and after May Chie didn't remember seeing the boy's face in the news.
When Chie took another look at Sho, she noticed that he seemed considerably less anxious. She also didn't fail to notice that he was standing so close to Yukiko that their arms were almost touching. It's like he can relax around her. Although Chie suspected that before, it was still weird seeing the quiet effect her friend had on the boy. She was about to look away when Yukiko stopped her humming and caught her glancing in her direction. "What should we pick up first?" The manager-in-training asked, completely oblivious to the fact that Chie was observing them.
When she replied, the Junes theme began its second loop. "We should go to the crafts aisle first to pick up decorations. After that, we can get the ingredients we need."
"Are you guys having a cook-off?" The boy asked, sounding genuinely curious.
A chime sounded as they passed a floor, and Yukiko answered him. "Our class is running a café for the Culture Festival."
Sho scoffed, leaning against the handrail. "It's a festival, right? You guys should have rides and games. Y'know, something actually interesting!"
"It's for a good cause!" Chie insisted. She had actually proposed a martial arts movie marathon for their class event, but the idea of raising money won her over.
Yukiko nodded in agreement. "The underclassmen could use the money, but…" Her friend's head lowered, her face wearing a thoughtful expression. "I would've really liked it if we could've built a haunted maze. Other classes have done it, and they always looked like so much fun."
At this, a grin widened across Sho's face. "That would be way more awesome than a boring café! You guys could dress up like ghosts and monsters, all bloody-like!"
To Chie's growing disapproval, Yukiko looked excited by the suggestion. "We could've gotten ideas from my movies and books, and making the costumes wouldn't have been expensive at all—"
"We agreed on a café! That's that!" Chie cut in before Sho could entice Yukiko with any more ideas of ghosts and haunted classrooms. Thankfully, the elevator came to a halt and with one final chime, the doors glided open. Not wanting to hear anything else related to scary movies, Chie stepped out of the compartment in a rush. "Come on, Yukiko, let's —"
She was cut off by two smaller figures running past her. A pair of boys were making a mad dash towards the now opened elevator, and one of them bumped into Chie. The contact didn't bother her, but the lack of apology did. "Hey!"
"Don't just stand there!" The shorter of the boys yelled at her, and Chie immediately suspected that he was the one who had bumped into her. Before Chie could tell them to wait so Sho and Yukiko had a chance to get off the elevator, the kids were already at the open doors. "Hurry up, I want to catch the new Featherman episode!"
As soon as the boys looked into the compartment, they stopped dead in their tracks. With the help of the aviator shades, Sho looked every bit the intimidating figure. He stood before the kids, casting a harrowing shadow over their puny statures. She couldn't see their faces, but she was certain they were fixed in terror as the older boy loomed over them like death personified.
"Get out of the way, runts." The command sounded more like a thinly veiled threat of worse things to come, and it worked. The boys' motions were rigid but they managed to clear a path without uttering a sound. When they were out of the way, Sho looked at Yukiko over his shoulder. "Come on."
Yukiko stepped out of the compartment, paying the petrified children no mind. "Hm, I wonder if there's a sale going on. It's busier than I thought it'd be!" She walked towards Chie with Sho following after her, a dark-haired shadow at the heiress's heels. With an innocent smile, Yukiko asked, "Shall we?"
"Y-yeah. Let's go get the decorations." Chie responded, feeling it was best not to ask Yukiko if she saw what had happened. Like in the elevator, Sho stayed on Yukiko's other side as they walked further into the store. Out of morbid curiosity, Chie looked back to see the aftermath of Sho's little display. Somehow the boys looked older, their eyes trained on the stray's back in apprehension. They didn't even notice the elevator doors closing behind them.
Chie looked away from the paralyzed children, figuring that their wits would eventually return to them. Her eyes roamed the suspended signs for any hints of where the paper crafts would be. "Ugh, I think that dumb Yosuke moved the merchandise again. I can't find anything!" After passing a couple of rows, she spotted a sign listing different kinds of art supplies. "Oh, there it is! " When she turned to her side, Yukiko was nowhere to be found. Chie halted, swearing that the girl had been next to her just a second ago. After noticing that the fugitive was also absent, she knew then that where Yukiko was, Sho would be with her. Muttering her annoyance under her breath, Chie turned around and backtracked, keeping a lookout for the pair.
It didn't take long for her to find them in an aisle stocked with costume wear and props. They were standing in front of a bin filled with wigs and headgear, and Yukiko was arranging a pair of what looked like giant sheep horns onto the boy's head. Even though Sho's face was fixed in a scowl, he was actually letting his hostess adjust the horns over his wig without complaint. When she was finished, the black-haired girl took a step back to admire her work. Her hand was covering her mouth, but Chie could tell that she was hiding a big smile. "They look great on you, Sho-kun!"
The boy rolled her eyes, clearing not buying the fib. "They feel stupid!"
"N-not at all!" Yukiko tried to reassure him, fighting back the laughing fit that Chie knew was coming. "They really are scary. See?"
She gestured toward the rectangular mirror that was placed next to the bin. When the boy saw his own reflection, his scowl deepened. "I DO look stupid! You LIED!"
Yukiko shook with the laughter she could no longer hold back. As an act of revenge, the boy grabbed a wig from the bin and pulled it over her head. She was too paralyzed by her fit to fight him off, and soon Yukiko was wearing a giant red afro that looked just as out-of-place as the fake sheep horns. At the sight of her, Sho's annoyance was replaced with an expression that was somewhere between amusement and self-satisfaction. Against all odds, Yukiko actually stopped laughing, now curious about the wig that was forced on her.
Chie was transfixed by how surreal and how natural the scene in front of her: Yukiko examining her own reflection with Sho grinning over her shoulder. At the sound of her footsteps, the manager-in-training looked in her direction. When she moved her head, the wig seemed to give off golden sparkles in the light. "What do you think, Chie?"
"Yeah, meat-eater, what do you think?" Sho repeated Yukiko's question with a mocking tone. "Amagi's hair definitely looks dumber, huh?"
"You both look pretty ridiculous." She remarked, pulling the wig off Yukiko's head and chucking it at the boy. It was originally her idea to invite Sho out as a favor to her friend, but she wasn't going to let him get in the way of their class duties. "Come on, no distractions! "
The boy caught the red afro before it could hit him. "Yeesh, no need to wig out."
Just as the corner of Chie's eye twitched at the awful pun, she heard a few snickers next to her. Oh great, she thought as she found Yukiko doubled-over, holding her sides as she laughed deeply. A few passerby shot curious glances at them as they passed by the aisle, but Chie had gotten used to the stares ever since Yukiko begun to laugh openly in public. As she waited for the worst of her friend's fit to pass, she noticed that Sho looked on, his lips still turned up in a grin. Whether he was pleased with himself or he just liked watching Yukiko laugh, she didn't know.
Determined to conquer their shopping list, Chie made another attempt to get through to her friend. "Yukiko, we have to get a lot of stuff."
The calling of responsibility helped stabilize Yukiko. After successfully repressing her final laughs, she was able to catch her breath and straighten her posture. Unsurprisingly, the boy disliked this turn of events.. "Aw, come on! We were having fun!"
Yukiko turned to him, brushing her hair back from her face. "You needed to buy things from here too, didn't you?" The shades hid his eyes, but Chie could tell that his mood had changed at Yukiko's question. "If you needed help, we can look for them after we go to the crafts aisle."
Unsatisfied with Yukiko's answer, the boy shook his head in defiance. "Nah, I can find what I need by myself." He turned to face the other end of the aisle, and without looking at them, he added, "Shopping for decorations sounds as dull as your café thing."
Chie was about to snap at him until her eyes went to the top of his wig, and then she stopped herself. She was suddenly overtaken by an urge to laugh, but she decided against it, not wanting to give anything away. When she heard Yukiko giggle, she knew that her friend had noticed it, too. Always the more polite one, Yukiko called out to the boy before he was out of earshot. "Um, Sho-kun?"
He stopped when he heard her, the shades obscuring the glare that Chie knew he was giving them. "What?"
His cluelessness made Chie snicker as Yukiko fought off the threat of another laughing fit, raising her hand and pointing a finger at her own head. At the heiress's motion, the boy raised a hand to his head and was quick to discover the sheep horns that were still attached to his wig. The shades hid any hint of embarrassment, but the boy muttered curses and dark threats through gritted teeth as he hurried to the bin. While his fingers fumbled to wrench the horns off, Yukiko walked over to help.
Chie watched in shocked awe as her friend loosened the headgear and put them back in the bin. Afterward her hands reached to the top of his wig, smoothing down the strands so that his real hair remained well-hidden. At one point, Yukiko's arm bumped the large aviator shades he wore, knocking them down to an awkward angle, and for a second, Sho's blue eyes locked with Yukiko's dark ones. She saw Yukiko's cheeks redden, but the detail that surprised Chie the most was how conflicted Sho's face looked right then. It didn't look anything like disdain or annoyance, but…he looked like he wanted something.
What the hell is going on? What's with those reactions?! Chie almost felt embarrassed watching the brief moment of intimacy. The wheels in her head didn't stop turning when Yukiko snatched her hands away from Sho's face. She avoided his eyes and took a few steps back, and as if to mirror her unease, the boy looked away from her as well. Against Chie's expectations, he didn't berate Yukiko for knocking his shades off.
"It's a big store, so try not to get lost," Yukiko mumbled to him, keeping her gaze away. "But if you do, go to the front desk. They can help you there."
The boy readjusted his shades over his eyes. "I KNOW how to find my way in a store, Amagi! I'm not a kid!"
Fighting her urge to contradict him on the matter, Chie bit her tongue. After the boy walked away, Yukiko lifted her head and was silent until he turned right at the end of the aisle. "The medical supplies are in the other direction!"
Only a few seconds had passed when they saw Sho re-appearing again, uttering what was most likely more curses under his breath as he stomped by, begrudgingly taking Yukiko's advice. When he vanished once more, Yukiko turned back to Chie with an apologetic smile. "Sorry for the wait."
Chie shook her head, and Yukiko rejoined her. As they finally continued to the crafts aisle, what she saw in the costume aisle confirmed the suspicions she has had since the last time she spoke with Sho at the inn. On that night, Chie asked point-blank if he had liked Yukiko. Even though the idiot had missed the actual meaning of what she asked, Chie felt she could piece the answer together herself without any more of his input.
As she stood by Yukiko while she browsed stacks of brightly colored tissue paper, Chie mulled over more questions that her memories brought up. Is Yukiko aware of his feelings at all?
"Chie, what do you think about this one?" Yukiko asked, holding up a piece of deep red tissue paper.
Does SHE even know how she feels? That was the more interesting question. Yukiko had always been unaware of the attention she received from boys, and that may have included Sho. What Chie did know was that very few boys had affected her best friend, and in that case, Sho was an exception. He's made her worry, he's made her angry…he's made her smile, and if Chie didn't know any better, she would say that Sho liked the sound of Yukiko's deranged laughter.
In a lot of ways, they could be a couple.
"Chie?" Her mind snapped away from her thoughts at Yukiko's voice. She was looking at her with a quizzical expression, her hand still holding up the red tissue paper.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something!" Chie recovered, trying to focus on her without imagining Sho at Yukiko's side. "What's up with the paper?"
"Don't you think this would be a nice color to use?" Yukiko asked without a hint of impatience. She then picked up another swatch of tissue paper, this time light pink. "Or how about this one?"
"That one's nice, too...let's get them both!" With a grin, Chie added, "We can just put everything on Yosuke's tab if we get carried away!"
In spite of her good upbringing, Yukiko seemed to like that idea, and she began to look through more stacks of paper. Picking up a piece of lime green tissue paper to examine, Chie decided to concentrate on their shopping trip for the rest of their time in Junes. Even if there were things she wanted to ask, there were places better than a department store to talk about Yukiko's romantic prospects.
The medical supplies aisle was where Amagi told him it would be. After getting what he needed from the shelves, he kept telling himself that he would've found them on his own soon enough. He didn't even need to be here in the first place, but Amagi wouldn't let up about getting out of the inn. What choice did he have if he wanted to keep his peace of mind?
He wasn't entirely sure if he really needed any of this crap, but he grabbed some things so she wouldn't be on his case later: a bottle of spray-on disinfectant, gauze, and a roll of cloth bandages. When he was done, he figured that Amagi would still be tied up with shopping, so he made a detour to the media section, where sales were spelled out in exaggerated fonts and discounts were displayed in red numbers. As he browsed through the different movie categories, he was grateful for the shades that helped protect his eyes from the glare of the bright, laminated banners that were set up. Eventually he reached the section where they kept the horror movies, and his eyes caught one with a familiar title. He picked up the DVD case, and just as he thought, he recognized the name: it was the sequel to the movie that he had watched with Amagi last weekend. Looking at the price tag, he saw that the cost had been cut in half, and this copy was the Special Edition Director's Cut.
Amagi would probably be happy if she got it as a gift.
The thought of his hostess suddenly irritated him, and he put the movie back down. It was a dumb idea; he didn't even know if she had already ordered it for herself. Finding no other reason to stay in this stuffy store, he set out to find Amagi and the meat-eater. Recalling that they had mentioned needing ingredients, he made his way to the grocery section at the back of the store.
As he walked past more aisles, his thoughts kept going back to the stupid DVD. He had enough money with him to get it, and it was practically a steal at the price the store wanted it for. Who knew how many were in stock? If he snagged one for her, he was sure Amagi would make a big deal about it, thanking him like she had received some rare treasure and smiling like an idiot.
The thought of her smile followed him as rows of produce came into his view. One look told him that they weren't there, so he began looking through the dried food aisles to find them. Eventually he spotted Amagi and her friend browsing shelves stocked with sugar and flour. Just as he was going to call out to them, something brushed his arm as it ran past, and a high-pitched voice rang through the air.
"YUKI-CHAAAAN! CHIE-CHAAAAN!" He watched as the small blonde boy sprinted towards Amagi with his arms outstretched. Without the weird suit, he looked passable enough as a human. Either way, the bear was annoying in this form, too. "Your Teddie is here!"
The little idiot looked like he intended to wrap his arms around the girl as soon as he reached her, and that triggered a certain memory in the back of Sho's mind. He was back in his room with Amagi. Her hands were on his chest, and he was sure she could tell how fast his heart had been beating, but he was too distracted by how warm and soft she felt in his arms to care. Something about that memory darkened his mood, and he decided then that he wasn't going to let the bear get near Amagi. Without giving it a second thought, Sho held up the roll of cloth bandage, lined up his shot, and hurled the roll at his target.
When the bandage hit the back of the blond head, the impact set off a chain of events. The bear tripped past the girls and went hurtling into a center display stocked with flour. Soon after a loud crash followed his sharp cry as he crashed into the merchandise and sent the bags tumbling from their places. Amagi and the meat-eater were caught in the explosion of white powder that erupted from the torn bags, which were now strewn on the floor around Sho's stunned victim. He recalled Amagi telling him not to call attention to himself back in the main lobby. Thinking it would be best to wait outside before the flour could settle, Sho turned away from the mess and the consequences of his actions.
But he didn't make it far. Clad in a white apron with his name tag pinned to the front, Captain Ressentiment stood a couple of feet away from him.
Writer's Note(s): I've been away for a while, so I wanted to say thank you as always, everyone. I was gone longer than I wanted to be, so when I came back to see the views, the feedback, and the follows, I was really touched. I'll never stop saying it, but you guys are awesome! I hope that this chapter was worth the wait!
So, a few things:
1) And then there were Yosuke and Teddie! I think I'll have fun writing about the reactions these two will have!
2) More than a few people were speculating that the P5 protagonist was Sho in a wig, and I thought that was pretty fun to read about! When I wrote about the black wig, I thought about that theory.
3) If you missed it, the sheep horns and the red afro are a callout to another Altus game: Catherine. I usually overlook puzzle games because I'm AWFUL at them, but I loved the art, the music, and the story of that quirky little game. Relationships and puzzles are a lot alike…who knew?!
4) The stuff I mentioned in May is finally over (and on that note, it wasn't school-related—sorry for the confusion!), and I had to take some time off to catch up with life. I'm happy that I could finally get back to writing! It definitely won't take a month (or two) to post the next chapter. Pinky swear!
5) I was REALLY hoping for a Persona 5 release date for the US at E3! I think it's slated for this year still, so there's that and the September release for Dancing All Night. Fingers crossed!