Yui: The Best-Laid Plans
Akarin!
Akari: Hey! Yuru Yuri: Amusement Club Forever is about to start!
Akari: Today, we'll be back with Yui.
Yui: Hello.
Akari: She'll be-huh?
Kyouko walks on.
Kyouko: Sorry, it looks we have to vacate the set. So, you had better make the introduction quick.
Yui: Stop joking around.
Kyouko: I'm not joking! They're going to do a Mirakurun bit here shortly. So, you need to finish up and leave.
Yui sighs.
Yui: Akari, ignore her and just go ahead.
Akari: Okay. So today, Yui-chan will be-
Mirakurun enters the set.
Mirakurun: Hey! Beat it, all of you! We're going to be working on Mirakurun's show here!
Yui: Mirakurun! The Witch of Love and Justice! I love you!
Mirakurun: Oh, do you? It's always nice to meet a fan.
Mirakurun pats Kyouko on the head.
Mirakurun: But you still need to leave. So, if you don't mind…?
Yui: Good grief. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Kyouko (whispering): Yui, don't embarrass me in front of Mirakurun!
Mirakurun: Okay, I didn't want to do this, but…
Mirakurun whistles loudly. Ganbo comes charging in.
Ganbo: GANBO!
Mirakurun: Would you kindly escort them off of the set, please?
Ganbo: Of course!
Ganbo charges at Akari, Yui, and Kyouko. The three of them run away from the set.
Akari (rushing off): Ah, please enjoy the chapter!
Two days after the Amusement Club's first outing, Yui made her way to the club room feeling a little better about the club than she had when Kyouko had first suggested they start it up again at their new school. She had been very skeptical of the idea at first and had wondered if perhaps they should try and do something less childish, now that they were in high school.
I could have joined the Track Team. Kyouko has near- prodigious art skills, but I don't know how she'd handle the structure and rules that they undoubtedly have inside of the Art Club. I wonder if they'd have let her do as she pleased.
Yui paused. "Sort of like I do," she muttered to herself.
Still, it's hard to argue with Kyouko once she gets started on these sorts of things. And here I am, going along with her yet again. I guess that's my choice, but at the same time, it doesn't really feel like I ever had a choice.
She thought on this a little more.
I guess it's not that bad, really. And now we even have two more members, the first new ones since Chinatsu joined. And they're not just members; they're our friends now as well. And the club is official, an actual, real club. Hopefully, things will continue to go as positively as they've been going. It's not exactly what I might have planned for, but when Kyouko's involved, others' plans can fall to pieces in her wake.
"I'm being overly contemplative again," she said aloud. Fortunately, nobody was around to hear her talk to herself.
She arrived at the club room and stepped inside. Chizuru and Haruka were already there, sitting across from each other at the conference table, a game of cards laid out in front of them.
Haruka looked up and smiled at her. "Hello, Yui-san!" she said.
Chizuru looked up at her as well. "Hello."
"Hello, Haruka, Chizuru." Yui greeted them.
"Doing well today?" Haruka asked.
"Sure, thank you. And you?"
"Great, thanks! Any plans for us today?"
"Not yet," Yui said. "Kyouko's on cleaning duty, so it's just the three of us for a while."
"Oh, okay. Well, maybe when she gets here, we'll do something."
Yui shrugged. "Probably." The other two girls turned their attention back to their game.
"What are you two playing?" Yui asked.
"Empty Suits." answered Haruka, briefly glancing up again at Yui and then turning back to the cards in front of her.
"Oh. What's that?"
"A card game." Chizuru said, not looking up from the cards at all.
"I see. Alright then." If they're just going to play in silence, maybe that's for the best. I can read some and enjoy the peace and quiet before Kyouko comes.
At that moment, however, the door to the club room flew open with a bang, and Kyouko came bounding in.
Too late.
"Hello, everyone!" Kyouko said loudly and happily.
She looked at the table.
"Ooh, cards! Who's winning?"
"She is," both Chizuru and Haruka replied at the same time, pointing at each other. This sent Kyouko into a giggle fit.
"I see!" she gasped in between laughs. "You two are a bit like a comedy duo."
"Don't tease them, Kyouko." Yui said.
"I'm not! I meant that nicely. It's a good thing!"
"It's alright, Yui-san," Haruka said. "It's nice to make others laugh." Chizuru just shrugged.
Chizuru's gotten used to all this, something I wouldn't have believed possible just a few months ago, Yui thought. And Haruka's either too nice or too timid to be contrary, I guess.
"Didn't you have cleaning duty?" Yui asked Kyouko.
"Yes! But I worked quickly and efficiently."
Chizuru snorted in disbelief.
"I agree with Chizuru." Yui said.
"You've so little faith in me!" Kyouko said dramatically, waving her arms. "Haruka, you're on my side, right?"
"I…think it's better if I stay out of this." Haruka replied, chuckling a little.
"We were wondering what we would do today," Yui said, trying to steer the conversation back to any sort of track.
"There are always things to do, my precious clubbies!" Kyouko said happily.
An idea had come to Yui though. I should have thought of this earlier.
"I was thinking we could plan something special for the club."
"You know me, I'm always planning something!"
"I mean, I have an idea," Yui suggested.
"Let's hear it, Yui-chan!" Kyouko replied.
"We should have a combined event with Akari and Chinatsu and anyone else they've convinced to join them in the middle school club."
"Oh, that's a good idea!"
"Perhaps we could take a trip to an amusement park?" Haruka suggested.
"That's a good idea too, Haruka-chan!"
How friendly and informal we are and so quickly too, Yui thought. Well, that's probably a good thing.
"That's a good idea for the future," Yui said to Haruka. "But for this time, I was thinking maybe something smaller. I'd like for Akari and Chinatsu to meet you both. And I'd like for you to meet them."
"A PARTY!" Kyouko exclaimed, jumping up. "LET'S GO WILD AND CRAZY!"
Yui bonked her on the head. "Ouch!" her friend exclaimed.
"Maybe not that loud," Yui said. "But essentially, yes. We could do it at my place."
"You have your own apartment, don't you Funami-san?" Chizuru asked.
"Yes, which is part of the reason we can't be too loud."
"We're teenage girls." Kyouko pouted. "We're supposed to be loud!"
"Well, consider being quiet as practice for when you're an adult, then."
"Humph."
"Do you really have your own apartment, Yui-san?" Haruka asked.
"Yes. One of my relatives owns the building, so I'm able to live there."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"Just wait until you see it!" Kyouko exclaimed, leaning over the table.
"Oh, is it nice?"
"It's just-" Yui began, but Kyouko cut her off.
"Picture it," Kyouko began.
Kyouko then launched into a ridiculous-sounding story about Yui's apartment, that it contained an alligator pit, a dance floor, and an ice-cream bar. Haruka's eyes grew very wide. Chizuru just frowned.
Yui sighed.
Let's not do this today, Kyouko.
POW! Yui bonked Kyouko on the head again, putting a premature end to her silly story.
"Stop that," Yui said. "You'll give everyone weird ideas with the things you make up."
"That's twice today, Yui! You're so mean."
"Keep going. We'll make it three for three."
Haruka laughed.
"You two have so much fun together," she said. "I can see where the Amusement Club idea originally came from."
"Toshino Kyouko is always like that," Chizuru commented dryly.
"The club was originally Kyouko's idea," Yui said. "But that's neither here nor there. Let's discuss our party, and what we should do with it."
"Alright, Vice President Yui! We'll each need specific jobs!" Kyouko said energetically.
Look at you, acting more like a leader. I hope you'll work some for this too.
"Yes, exactly," Yui agreed. "And I was thinking that the four of us should take care of it, since we're inviting Akari, Chinatsu, and whoever else. That way, they don't have to worry about anything."
"Alright," Kyouko said. "Food and fun! Those are the two things we primarily need."
"You and I could handle the food," Yui went on. "And Chizuru and Haruka could handle finding some fun things for all of us to do. Again, just nothing too loud, please."
"I think we can do that," said Haruka.
"Yes," Chizuru concurred.
"Games, music, that sort of thing, right?" Haruka had taken out a notepad and was writing on it.
"Yes, that works," Yui told her.
"Should a party have this much planning?" Kyouko wondered. "Shouldn't it be more spontaneous?"
"We don't need to account for every single detail ahead of time," Yui answered her. "But a little planning goes a long way."
"Then let's go the long way!"
"And here I thought you preferred shortcuts for everything."
"I love your rapier wit, Yui-nyan!"
Yui chuckled. "Thank you."
"So, now that that's decided!" Kyouko said. "Let's play cards, all four of us! That'll be fun too!"
"That sounds good," Yui said. She turned to Chizuru and Haruka. "Are you two good with that?"
"Sure," Chizuru said.
"Of course!" Haruka said. "What do you want to play?"
"We used to play Old Maid at Nanamori Middle School."
"There are four of us," Haruka said. "Do you know how to play Hearts?"
Yui shook her head, as did Kyouko.
"I do," Chizuru said.
"Good!" Haruka said. "We can teach them. We'll try to go easy on them too, right?"
"Maybe." Yui didn't fail to notice Chizuru's small grin back.
Oh, is that how it is? It's on, then, you two.
So, the four of them played Hearts, with Yui and Kyouko learning the rules from the other two girls. Yui, of course, was a fast learner when it came to cards, and was able to keep a straight face through all of the game. Kyouko, however, quickly found her hand filled with cards.
"Look at all of them!" she sobbed. "I don't know if I like this game."
They played on, with Yui winning almost every game they finished that afternoon. It wasn't until the last go-around that she lost to Chizuru.
"Good game," Chizuru said.
"And you." Yui replied.
"I look forward to the next one, Funami-san."
Well, that's interesting. Does she have a competitive streak? She's so different from Chitose.
"Me too. And please, call me Yui."
"Of course, Yui-san."
It had grown fairly late, and it was time for the four of them to leave. Locking the club room behind them, they walked down the hall, and out of the school. At the gate, they parted ways, Chizuru and Haruka taking one direction, Yui and Kyouko taking another.
As Yui and Kyouko walked down the street that led to their homes, they talked a bit more about their upcoming party.
"It's a good plan," Yui said. "I think it will be a lot of fun, the bunch of us, all together. And we haven't gotten to see Akari and Chinatsu at all since school started."
"Oh, definitely, Yui-tan!" Kyouko replied happily. "Thank you for suggesting it."
"You're actually thanking me?"
"Of course!"
Well, I definitely didn't plan for that. It's nice, all the same.
"You're welcome." Yui smiled at her, and the two girls continued their walk home.