Hi everyone... I hope you enjoy this chapter... now that April the 1st is officially over, so is my prank.
"Oh shit!" I mumbled. Chitose appeared at my side, so I lowered my phone so he could see it.
"Oh shit sounds about right…" Chitose agreed, "so do we show Yuki-san this message?"
"No," I said firmly, my hand going to my temples, as I was starting to feel dizzy, "we don't know who sent this message, or what's the intention behind it…"
"Nee-chan, are you alright?" I nodded and took a deep breath so I could think, "I thought you said it was a friend of yours…"
"He is…" I responded, "but my information about him is limited… I don't even know his family name…"
"Do you think he may be related to Prez?" Chitose replied, worriedly.
I slid to the floor, clutching my head to try and think. Prez said he has a father and a sister… Babe is definitely a student in our school, and he is definitely male, so it was highly unlikely that he was in that immediate house.
Besides, Prez said his family definitely wouldn't tell anyone… so how would Babe know? Is he someone Prez knows?
But Prez said the last thing he wanted was to get us involved… if I told him that someone else is looking for him, that guy would be out of my house before I could protest…
I stood up, wandering to one of the bins.
"Dammit!" I kicked it hard.
Ow, not a smart idea!
Still, from the sting in my foot, it cleared my head some. I needed to find out what Prez knew about this guy, and only then I'd consider responding.
"I have an idea…" I told Chitose, "can you go to the internet café, in the meantime?"
Chitose nodded seriously.
"Yo, you're done shopping already?" Prez greeted as I appeared in front of him.
"Not exactly…" I sighed, "he forgot that title, so I left him to search for it…" I plopped down casually, "in any case, I have a message I wanted to respond to…"
That was part of my strategy… Prez could tell if I was lying or hesitating, so I was going to face this straightforwardly as I could. In any case, it helped how limited my own knowledge was.
"Say Prez… would you say you know all the students in Maijima?"
"Doubt it," he laughed, "maybe all the third years…"
"Damn," I cursed, my fist punching the air in front of my stomach, "I don't know what year or class this guy is in…"
"Well, let me hear the name… maybe I might know him."
"Well," I scratched my head, "I kinda got this guy's number from a mutual friend, and we've been chatting for maybe a month now… in any case, he was asking if we could meet up over the holidays…"
"He's in class 2-B," Prez responded, completely straight-faced.
"It's not Katsuragi…" I replied, equally straight-faced, "that person is a bit of a mystery, but I know his first name… it's Babe…"
There was definitely recognition on his face. When he noticed me scrutinising him, he turned his head back forward.
"So yeah, I was wondering if I should respond with a yes to that invitation… if you know who he is, obviously…"
"I do know him, actually…" he said softly, "he's a good guy…"
"Really?" I could feel my curiosity growing, in spite of myself, "who is he, actually?"
"Well, he's in 2-C… You know his name, obviously-"
"What's his family name?"
"Yu-you don't know what his family name is?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah… at the time, he didn't want me to know him at school, so he didn't tell me… likewise, he doesn't know me either…" my thumb-pad rubbed against the other's nail.
"You know, you should go for it," he laughed, "it'd be unfair for me to say more about him, but I can definitely say he's a good guy… I think you'll like him."
"So you trust him?"
"With my life…" Prez smiled gently, and there was my answer. I gave his a nod and stood up.
"Alright, I will… after I go buy Chitose that game first." He nodded, but I think it was clear to both of us that the second part was an afterthought.
The next hurdle was thinking of what I'd want to write… I'd decided to keep myself completely anonymous by using my first, somewhat embarrassing, email address, so whatever I said didn't link back to "Miyuki"… however, after finally remembering the password, I was at a blank on what I could say.
Chitose's head appeared over my shoulder behind me.
"PrincessMeetbun93?" he snickered, "nice name, Nee-chan…"
"Shuddup!" I retorted, "now help me come up with a response… something that tells him Prez is safe without telling him the place or my name…"
"Give me a go, then," I got up, and he started typing.
'To Babe-san
Yuki Fuyuhara is safe and well with me, so you don't need to worry. He will get in contact with you as soon as possible. That being said, please don't raise a fuss at this message, or at his sudden interest in having a sleepover. He is in good hands.
Thank you'
"Actually, change the name… not many people refer to him with that name, and I don't know his other name…"
"So… Dear Sir, or To whom this may concern?" I smiled. I didn't expect Chitose to understand that kind of formal writing.
"To whom it may concern… it's weird to call someone my age Sir…" I replied, nodding, "otherwise, this is fine…"
With a slightly shaking hand, I sent it to Babe's email, a fairly standard docomo address, but with no name in the address. If anything, it's fair that I used my stupid email address too.
REVENGE!
"Nee-chan, you have a stupid face on again…" Chitose sighed, getting off the chair.
"I don't wanna hear it from you… you will always have a stupid face…" he snorted.
"Whatever… let's go get some games now…" I was about to agree, when my inbox made a pinging sound.
"WHERE IS YUKI-KUN?" was the subject. Before I could even click it, the computer pinged again.
"HOW DO I KNOW THIS IS THE TRUTH? THERE'S NO NAME OR ADDRESS!"
I sighed… that was an awfully jumpy reply, considering how polite the original email was. Did he suspect some foul play and force himself to be calm before?
"EITHER GIVE SOME OTHER FORM OF CONTACT INFORMATION, OR I'LL TRACK THIS IP ADDRESS DOWN!"
I felt the hair on my neck spike up. This guy was really serious about finding Prez. Part of the reason I really wanted to answer was because I was in the same place yesterday, but this was becoming bothersome. Maybe I can tell the truth and explain the circumstances…
"Subj: Calm down please
Look, I can get your frustration, but Yuki told me to not get involved, because he doesn't want me to get in trouble. I truly am a friend of his, and I have no bad intentions.
That is why I ask for you to be patient, and for God's sake, DON'T GET THE POLICE INVOLVED! I don't know how much you know, but he's here for his own good, and with his own will. When he's ready, he'll call you.
Just trust me on this one, even if I am a stranger."
Unlike before, I didn't hesitate sending this one.
The reply came fifteen seconds later, this time without a subject.
"This doesn't make it any less frustrating, but I can't do anything about it, considering I'm stuck at home and Yuki-kun wouldn't want me to say anything.
So yes, I'll believe in you. Please do whatever you can for him, and don't let him come home."
This guy… this can't be Prez's boyfriend, could it? Coz there was something really sweet and tender about how that last line is phrased… but if he's in second year, that can't be right… that guy was out of high school now.
Wait, though Prez shouldn't come home… so he does know their family situation… who the hell is this guy?
"Nee-chan…" Chitose hissed, and I quickly shut off the browser.
"Chihiro-san," Prez approached us, "I think we should go to the Optometrist now…" I glanced at the computer's clock, and he was right.
"Alright, lemme log off here…" Both Chitose and Prez walked out, so I pulled out the 200 yen I owed for this session and followed after them, my stomach weirdly fluttery.
Man, now I wish I actually could meet Babe… he truly seems like a nice guy…
With the crisis averted, I was sitting in the waiting room, earphones in and music on… Chitose had his knees on the chair and was staring raptly at the game store, which in that time, we unfortunately didn't get to visit…
Well, unfortunate for him… While Katsuragi was a thought that just sat at the back of my mind, I really didn't want to set up myself into mistakenly running into him.
Yeah, though that wouldn't happen… he probably brought his entire holiday's worth of games yesterday and hasn't left his room since…
I wonder how his holidays have been so far… probably less interesting than mines…
Yeah… he can't top mines… I'm hoarding a classmate in my house…
"Nee-chan…" Chitose tugged at my sleeve, and I pulled out an earpiece, "look, Otoshi-nii-san is here today too."
"Where?" I flipped my body around on the chair. At the tip of his finger, Katsuragi was walking toward the down escalator, one of his super happy smiles that he only has for his games gracing his face. While it was a little creepy, I was happy I got to see it so soon.
Though I wonder what happened to his head… It's in bandages.
For a second, he stopped, his head facing exactly where me and Chitose were. I quickly ducked.
"He isn't looking at us," Chitose whispered, "stop acting weird…"
"Says the one who's unabashedly staring at some guy…" I said irritably, but my head peeking out of the window.
Katsuragi was still frozen, but suddenly, his eyes shone and his mouth started moving fast, alongside his legs.
While it wasn't loud, I could almost hear it… moneymoneymoneymoneymoney… he must've been going to the ATM on the first floor before he went to buy something.
"Nee, let's go get a game too, Nee-chan…" Chitose whispered, "Maybe he's going to come back, so you'll get to bump into him."
"Rejected," I crossed my arms, "it'll be weird running into him there. If you want, you can go…"
"Cool… so when he comes back, I'll tell him you like hi-" I nearly shoved him off the circular couches we were on. The receptionist totally gave us a dirty look at that. What's her problem? We're not even being that loud…
"I'm going, I'm going…" a disgruntled Chitose mumbled.
"Not a word…"
"Yeah, yeah…" he sighed. From the window, I watched Chitose's back heading past the coffee joint… past the clothes outlet.
Oh, Ellie's at the games shop. Well, she just ran out, hand on her hair clip and eyes frantic.
Man, I missed her confused face… she hadn't been at school since Wednesday, so I didn't even get to say goodbye for the holidays…
Before I could move, Katsuragi appeared from the escalator, money on hand. His stupidly happy smile dropping as soon as he caught eyes with some non-descript girl who had two shop mugs in her hand, and she turned away. Before I could pick up what happened after that, Katsuragi was screaming, both him and his money covered in coffee.
Poor Katsuragi… poor money… I cringed at how painful and sad the whole situation was.
Ok, there was no way that wasn't on purpose… she was facing away from him… what could he have done to piss her off to the point where spilling burning hot coffee was actually an acceptable punishment?
Still, despite me wanting to look away, my eyes were stuck on the ensuing scene… Katsuragi approaching… her walking toward the railing… her flatly retorting to his rightful outrage… her sitting on the bannister… her falling over the other side.
"The hell!?" I stood up. I did see that right, because both Katsuragi and Ellie rushed to the bannister, eyes wide and mouths open. What the hell happened?
"Yo, Chihiro-san?" I turned around, where Prez had exited the doctor's office, a new pair of oval glasses sitting on his nose, "you look like you saw a ghost…"
"S-someone fell off the balcony…" I replied, turning around, "see, over there…"
The area was completely clear and both Katsuragi and his sister had disappeared.
"Are you sure… there would have been a lot more of a fuss if something like that happened?"
In the end, no one saw anything… Chitose, who entered the waiting room after a few minutes, also saw nothing, and the two witnesses were nowhere to be seen. So I gave up and brought some chocolate Taiyaki for the road…
"So…" I swallowed the mouthful of chocolatey goodness, "are we gonna do anything, or are we calling it a day?"
"That one is up to you," Prez replied, biting the head of his red bean pastry, "Man though… it's been a while since I've gotten to hang out with friends."
So you wanna stay out longer, after all…
Rustling disturbed the sound of us munching. That was Chitose opening his plastic bag that he must've gotten from the game store. I didn't even notice it before.
"I thought you were gonna call me so I could use Oka-san's card…" I questioned. Chitose frowned.
"You wouldn't have come out, anyway… besides, this was such a rare piece I wasn't gonna risk running out so someone else could buy it…"
"There are rare games?" I wondered out loud. Chitose smirked, using his left hand to mess with the box inside.
"You're so naïve, Nee-chan. However, fear not, because I will enlighten you…" with his right hand, he pulled off the packet, like he was doing an unveiling of some sort, "behold! The power of the First Edition…"
"So bright!" I gasped, shielding my eyes from the non-existent light, before my face fell into a poker face, "seriously, it's just another game… what's so good about that?"
Chitose put his right hand, still with the bag, on my shoulder, his face comically serious.
"Poor Nee-chan… are you not aware of the bonus items which come through with getting the first edition?"
"I do like freebies…" I nodded. He shook his head solemnly.
"Dear Nee-chan…. It is not about the freebies… As Otoshi-nii-san puts it, the First Edition of any game is The Truth…" I blinked at the profound look at Chitose's face.
"Huh?"
"The Truth… as soon as a game is on the market, reports of bugs and crashes reach the company, as well as notifications of other mistakes and misgivings the audience has… edits are made, and the games are being influenced by the audience, thus decreasing the credibility of the creators…"
"Umm… I don't think that's the word…"
"In any case," he ignored that, holding up his precious first edition in the air, "the First Edition is the purest form of the game that the creators made with their blood, sweat, and tears… even if it may be imperfect, it is the most beautiful thing in the world…"
Chitose held the game to his heart, his eyes filled with tears, before his eyes snapped to mines.
"You got it?" I nodded quickly, and a smirk came on his face, "of course, if you don't..."
He shut his hand around the bag, and the horrible scrunching sound of the plastic went right into my ear. I jumped and smacked his arm away. Chitose had his hands on his knees from laughing so hard.
Even Prez, who was on my other side, was laughing at me clutching my poor abused ear.
"You guys are really interesting," Prez replied at my glare, "and Chitose-kun speaks the truth…" my brother gave him a thumbs-up.
"Thanks… I learnt that from Otoshi-nii-san."
"You did mention him before… who is he exactly?"
"He's a renowned gamer, Otoshigami-sama, who runs a website of walkthroughs and game philosophies… he's also the guy Nee-san likes."
I'd complain, but it isn't like Prez doesn't know already… if anything, it'll make my revenge all the more sweeter when I do implement it. I took a bite from my taiyaki.
"Oh, so he's the fallen God…" Prez laughed, "though why Nii-san?"
"Coz he's gonna marry Nee-chan in the future…"
I choked, and by the sound of it, Prez wasn't doing that hot either.
"You know you can't make that decision, Chitose-kun… it's something both of them would decide far in the future…"
"I'd say no…" I replied grumpily, "nothing's even happened…"
"As Chihiro-san says, it's too early to say anything…" I shook my head, annoyed.
"It's got nothing to do with time… I'm not going to ask him out, end of story…" both of them gave me a really shocked look.
"Geez, why does it even matter to ya'll… it's my decision, you know…"
"But… but…" Chitose blubbered, "what about the games?"
"How about you buy them instead of leeching on other people?' I retorted back.
I think by that point, both Prez and Chitose could tell I was getting annoyed, so the topic changed to what we'd be doing in the afternoon.
"All in favour of karaoke?" I raised up a hand. At the park, we were sitting around a circular stone table that was in the shade.
"Aye!" the two of them replied. Prez then laughed.
"Since when have you been such a leader?" he asked.
"Hey, I'm a club president… leadership is in my blood…" I smiled smugly, "any other questions?"
"Here…" I called on Chitose, "who voted you as club president?"
I ignored the snarky tone behind it.
"Maijima's light music club was my idea and I was voted in by their members… NEXT!"
I took Prez's hand next.
"What do we exactly do during karaoke?" Chitose's eyes bugged out.
"Well, you get to sit inside a room with your friends, order food, and cue up songs on the machine… when they come up, the person has to sing, while the others snack or clap along… I'm sure you'll enjoy it…"
"Yeah, Yuki-san… it's really fun… though I think three people may be too little…"
Hmm… Chitose does kind of have a point, though… it's more fun with a larger party.
"Chihiro-san, why don't you invite Takahara-san and Terada-san… we did have fun when they were over yesterday…"
"Ooh, I should see if I can get Ellie to come too…"
"Waah, it's been a while…" I exclaimed as I entered my favourite room at our usual karaoke place. I quickly dove into the seat closest to the mic, revelling in its unchanging comfortableness.
"It has, hey?" Ayumi said, only slightly less excited than me. She came in next to me.
"Couldn't I have invited friends too?" Chitose whined, "now there's only girls here."
"Hey, just be glad Ellie was too busy to come…" I woulda flicked him if he wasn't so far, "Oka-san was nice enough to loan her card, so we shouldn't go overboard… why don't you take it as an opportunity to show off?"
Chitose snorted.
"To who!? Ayumi may as well be my sister… and your other friend…" he looked from the side of his eye, creeped at Miyako's face, "I don't want to show off to her…"
Honestly, I was a little weirded out myself… maybe it's the fact that Miyako is an only child, but she was soothed by Chitose's presence… to the point of creepiness, actually.
"Nee, Chitose-kun…" Miyako crooned from next to my brother, "do you know what song you wanna sing?"
She was about to pull the music catalogue, when I smacked my hand on the edge.
"Hey, I want to sing first!" I spoke, but I wasn't alone. Ayumi's hand was on the other corner. I glared at her.
"I'm the band vocalist… I have to practice…"
"At least you get to practice… give the rest of us a shot here…"
"Yeah, let your brother sing, Chihiro… I wanna hear that!" Chitose shook his head so fast he was blurring, which Miyako misinterpreted, "it's okay if you don't get how to use the machine… I can put on any song you like…"
I glared at the two girls, before sighing… this was stupid… that last line was particularly eyeroll-worthy.
"Look, how about we let Prez sing?" I suggested. When everyone turned to look at Prez, he turned a delicate shade of pink. I felt myself smile at that.
"I-I've never used that machine before…"
"You wanted someone to baby," I indicated my hand to Prez, "there ya go…"
Miyako laughed, but opened the music catalogue to explain it.
"Actually, what do you guys wanna drink?" Ayumi interrupted.
"Orange juice!"
"Oorlong Tea for me…"
"Ooh, gimme a chocolate milkshake."
Prez looked at all of us, surprised at the speed we replied.
"It's alright if you haven't decided yet… we can just order your drink later," Ayumi said kindly.
"N-no… I just don't know what kind of drinks they serve here…"
"Anything you can think of…" I replied.
"Yeah, basically… they have a wider spread than family restaurants even…" Prez's eyes bugged out at Ayumi's answer.
"Don't they have a menu around here?" Miyako asked, looking around. I shrugged.
"Maijima has so few newcomers it's rare anyone asks… most likely, they have at the front desk."
"Oh… in that case, can I get a coffee, please?" Ayumi gave him a two fingered solute.
"Consider it done, Prez…" she leaned over her chair to the phone. Looking around, I noticed a few instruments sitting on a table in the corner… nothing really high tech, but enough that it made a noise.
"Anyone want a tambourine… maracas?"
Everyone shook their head, but I decided to get them anyway… Eh, I liked them.
"Though Prez, is this the first time you've gone to karaoke?" Miyako asked, after explaining the whole song selecting process.
"Y-yeah…" he scratched his head, embarrassed, "is that bad?"
Better question… is it bad that I think he looks cute like that?
"Oh no, it isn't… I was just curious…" she smiled, "in any case, your song is ready… the words will be on the screen."
He gulped and walked to the centre, so I clapped him on with my tambourine. The nod he gave was somewhat more relaxed.
I didn't recognise the song he sang, but he sounded damn good… nervous, but damn good. Even Miyako jokingly invited him to be the 2B Pencil's vocalist. Usually, I'd be annoyed, but when he sounded like that…
Though following that, me and Ayumi were arguing about songs when Chitose hit me with a maraca… not because I was being annoying, but to listen to Miyako.
"Though how did you hurt your head?" she asked him. His fingers brushed the stitched up section absently. I glanced at Ayumi, who was looking at it as well.
"Actually, I klutzed out yesterday and smashed my head on the stairs, which broke my glasses as well…" the two girls cringed sympathetically, a motion Prez noticed, "don't worry, it isn't sore… and it was actually thanks to that I met Chihiro-san at Inazumart…"
"Oh yeah, the optometrist is on the second floor, right? Did you run into each other around there?"
"Yeah..." Chitose's voice synched with mines.
"Nee-chan was looking at clothes…"
"I was getting coffee…"
Damn, that didn't synch. Miyako's face changed and for a second.
"Yeah, Chitose wanted to look at some games, so I told him I was going to look at clothes…" I shrugged, "I got bored and went to get some coffee instead…"
"Even still, I'm glad," Ayumi laughed, "yesterday, I was thinking that'd be the last time we'd meet again… at least we got to hang out once more…"
Then the drinks came in and I could relax. Miyako didn't ask any pressing questions, but the longer it went on, the more restless I felt… she didn't even talk about that conversation we had yesterday. Surely, she didn't forget…
The rest of karaoke went as well as I could hope… Prez was impressed at the variety of foods they had there, and Ayumi and Chitose both bood me off the stage for laughs. I tripped Ayumi for that one, but the Karma points towards Chitose are just piling up… I really hope I can come up with a good revenge prank.
After I paid the relatively large bill with my mother's credit card (I'll apologise for that one…), Prez was the first to leave, after thanking everyone and giving me an extra pat on the head.
"I'm shipping out on Monday, but if you guys decide to meet again tomorrow, give me a call… I had a lot of fun today."
He gave me a curt nod, as if we weren't going to meet up two streets away.
"Bye, girls… Chitose-kun…"
"Bye Prez!" The four of us waved, but Chitose's use of his first name was audible between us.
"Thanks for treating us, Chihiro…" Ayumi said happily, "yesterday, I was feeling pretty sucky that holidays were coming up, but at least we'll get to hang out then too..."
"You know you can call whenever you want… except for weekends, coz I'll be tired then… though I'll be busy on weekdays, so maybe that's a bad time too…" I joked, but Ayumi shrugged, waving me off.
"Puh-lease… as if you have plans… though that joke was funnier that Chitose's pun from earlier…"
"Hey!" Chitose protested, "I can tell a funny joke…"
"I don't know what's wrong with you guys. I thought that was pretty funny," Miyako smiled broadly. Most likely, she was trying to suck up and get in his good books… it was working though.
"See, she gets it…"
"Oh, we got it alright… it was just a sucky joke…" Ayumi replied, irritating Chitose further. He charged like a bull, but she held him off easily coz he's still pretty short.
"Nee, Chihiro…" I looked up, where Miyako was next to me with her phone out, "can you send me Prez's number?"
I was about to, till I remembered that it was sitting at home with his bastard of a father.
"Yeah, sorry… Prez mentioned he lost it some time ago…"
"Eeh, but he had it just yesterday!" I laughed, shrugging.
"I guess Prez is more of a klutz than we thought…"
"Incoming! INCOMING!" Without skipping a beat, both me and Miyako opened our legs to brace ourselves and held up an arm toward where the voice was coming from, and Ayumi collided into it, effectively stopping her. Yeah, that was a new trick we learnt.
"Thanks…" I turned to face her.
"There are innocent people here… you shouldn't go running like that…"
"I couldn't help it… Chitose started chasing me, and he's also fast…" I rolled my eyes… two easily excitable athletes in the same place was not a good idea. Miyako continued from before.
"In any case, once you get his new phone, send me his number… I don't want to lose touch with him."
From the corner of my eyes, an exhausted Chitose came by, muttering under his breath.
"Who, Prez?" Ayumi joined in, barely breathing fast, "though was it just me, or when he's floundering around, he's actually cuter than usual…"
"Nope, not just you…" I agreed. Even Miyako, who never cares about guys, nodded approvingly.
"There's something else though… like he was more open and friendly today… he seemed in a better mood…" Ayumi nodded as well.
"Yeah… I wonder if something good happened to him."
I had a perfect poker face when Ayumi and Miyako turned to me, weirdly large smiles on their face.
"Did something happen between you guys?" Ayumi asked.
"Yeah, you've been a bit giddy today as well…" I waved them off, as if they were being stupid.
"As if… he doesn't roll that way, remember…" Ayumi scratched her head.
"Though he kept glancing at you…"
"Really?" That was news to me… I didn't let the shock stay on my face, rather replacing it with a smirk, "maybe he realised how reliable I was…"
Miyako and Ayumi looked at each other before laughing their heads off. Chitose stepped next to me, petting my arm
"I think you're reliable, Nee-chan…" he hid a laugh, "unfortunately, not reliable enough that a guy would notice you for that," then the first peal of laughter started him off.
"Hey, you lost a race to a girl!" he hushed up.
"I chased her around the block… how fast does she even run, because that speed wasn't even human?"
Sometimes, I have that exact feeling too…
"If you buffoons are done there, me and Chitose are gonna leave too!"
Ayumi stopped, gave me a wave, stared at me for a moment, and then fell back into that uncontrollable laughter. By this point, I was more offended at how unreliable she actually thought I was.
"See you around, Chihiro…" Miyako replied, now just smiling, "and to clarify, I am not a buffoon…"
"Yeah…" I looked pitifully at Ayumi, who was bent in half with laughter, "this one may be…"
So me and Chitose left. He was deep in thought about something, so I took that time to think too. Today, it's just been thing after thing, so I hadn't even thought about the more pressing issue that was Babe… he seemed to understand, and I did manage to keep my name completely off the table… just, I wonder if I made a mistake having Prez hang out with Ayumi and Miyako… I don't even know how many people got that message, but what if they got it? Or what if they innocently mentioned this karaoke session to someone who had gotten it… this was actually a really risky move…
Dammit, why am I even worried about how this will affect me? Prez is disappearing to God knows where after tomorrow. It's all good that we enjoyed today, but there are a lot more to think about and do…
In the meantime, I shouldn't let Oka-san or Oto-san hear about that message… or Prez, for that matter.
"By the way," I nudged Chitose so he was paying attention, "don't tell anyone about that email… we'll tell Prez about it on Monday when he's leaving," Chitose nodded.
"Yeah, for both our sake and his, it's for the best… though do you think we'll hear from your friend again?"
I paused for a second to think about it.
"Nah… I think we've explained it well enough that he'll just wait patiently…" I sighed before continuing, "it's gonna get dark soon, so we should hurry…"
Chitose stopped.
"How is that hurrying?"
"Nee-chan, is there really nothing happening between you and Yuki-san?"
"Huh?" I stopped too, "yeah, I told you before…"
"Then let me rephrase it… do you feel something for him?"
As I stopped, I noted the emotions running through my brain… shock… embarrassment… panic… anger… the last one was the thing that stayed there.
"Why would I tell you?" my voice was ice cold.
"Look, I'm not asking to embarrass you or as blackmail material…" I laughed humourlessly at the last point.
"Oh really… because when you met Katsuragi, I pitched in for that game so you wouldn't tell Nee-san about it… that didn't stop you. You were the one who wrote on my notes too, which was how Oka-san found out as well…"
"Nee-chan, that wasn't the intent-"
"No… yesterday, you and Keita were making snide remarks all evening... If that wasn't your intention, why didn't you keep your mouth shut!?"
Those harsh words worked, because even though Chitose was trying to speak, his eyes kept frantically blinking. I seem to have hit something harder than I intended.
"L-look, I don't expect an answer… just, have you decided on anything?"
"I'm not going to rock the boat…" I said firmly.
"Not about that, Nee-chan… about my question… the longer you waver on that question, the harder it'll be for you."
"That much I know…" I snapped, "at this time, he needs a friend more than anything, and that's what I'm gonna be…"
"So you're not going to think about it?" he asked quietly.
"I'm not going to leave him alone..."
"Okay then…" he replied stubbornly, before stomping forward. I followed him closely around the corner.
"Oy, Yuki-san…" Chitose grabbed Prez's hand and dragged him into motion, "let's go home… Nee-chan has to make a detour somewhere."
"No I'm not!" I shouted, falling into step with them.
"You were worried about leaving him alone, and he won't be… I'll stay by and walk him home and hang out with him."
"It isn't an issue! I don't need to make any detour…"
"Look, what's going on with you two!?" Prez asked over us, slowing back into a stop.
"Nothing!" I replied shortly.
"Yuki-san, can you tell her that she doesn't need to be around you 24/7?"
"Yeah, if you need to do something, it isn't an issue…" he turned back to Chitose, "does this have to do with me spending the night in her room yesterday?"
Chitose's eyes widened.
"Not like that! He had night terrors, and I wasn't going to kick him back to his room…" They narrowed again, but not at me.
"Are you really that dense!?" he shouted at Prez.
"Hey, have some respect!" I screamed back at him, "he's older than you…"
"No, Nee-chan… until he stops giving all those mixed messages, you shouldn't hang out alone with him…"
"Mixed signals?"
"I can do whatever the damn hell I want!" I screamed, my panic levels through the roof.
"Then so can I!" he retorted, and I could feel a rush of blood go to my head, drowning the sound of his next words. My other senses went into overdrive.
The cool late afternoon wind on my arms and legs… the smell of the heated tar and concrete under me… my mouth filling with saliva that I had no hope of swallowing… my ears pulsating with my heart.
Chitose's mouth forming words I couldn't read…
Prez's mouth falling into a small circle…
Behind those new shining oval glasses, I did not recognise the look in his eyes.
Well, God knows how many people actually read this for the four hours this was up, but Happy 1st of April... or 2nd now, according to my computer.
Though if you did read it, this story will continue as usual... true, I actually haven't written the next part, but I think I'll work on DMT in the meantime. I will see ya'll when I do.