...OKAY.
It seems that the answer to the mystery voice has been revealed. If you haven't read the reviews and don't want it spoiled, I suggest skipping over this part and start reading the chapter NOW.
So, yeah. It was the teacher. I probably shouldn't have put such an obvious hint, but, oh well. Not much I can do about it now. But no more speculation on it! If people keep asking, the story will be spoiled for you all! And I'm sure you don't want that, now don't you.
ONE THING TO NOTE: the only thing I own regarding her is her name, and her status as a teacher. I in no way claim the character herself, since I did not create her, and thus she is NOT an OC. Just had to clear that up before anyone mistakes her for mine.
ANYWAYS. Enough with these long and pointless paragraphs, let's go to these wonderful reviews!
P4anonman: I'm glad you're liking the pairing! Doing my best to make it seem like it'd fit story-wise, with their personalities 'n all.
Hishin Trueflame: Yes, yes it was. But that's all you know! Her exact role in the story will not be figured out soon at all! Mwahahaha!
Jharoz: I think you're comment did fly over my head. Eheheh. My bad. Anyways, hooray Shinji! Have fun in heaven, 'n stuff. And I wonder what this next thing will be...?
Windmark: Andy has never met Souji's teacher. ...Yet. But don't worry, no teacher-student scoring will be done. Eeeewww... *shudders*
TenshiReike: Why thank you!
WHOA. Just realized this story now has EXACTLY one hundred reviews! Thank you, everyone! :D
Disclaimer: Andy's family and the name Omukay are mine. The rest belongs to their respective owners.
~Sunday, August 21~
~1:30 PM~
My first-year friends and I had chosen the day after the festival to work on some of our summer homework. I haven't had a decent look at it, but according to them there's a lot to be done, so we decided to start working on it a little bit every day before school started again.
The location we chose was the Samegawa Flood Plain, mainly because there were still party-goers at the shrine next door to Kanji's, Rise didn't exactly want to disturb her grandmother as she watched over the shop, and Ted would've been a rather large pain in the ass if we went to the inn. Kanji also suggested we try the Junes food court, but I told him that it would be too hard to concentrate with the store's regular customers.
When I reached the river, Rise and Kanji were already there. They had all of their homework with them, but not a thing was being worked at. Instead, they were casually talking to each other. The moment they came into view Rise turned around and waved, as did Kanji shortly after. I waved back, and when I reached the table I slammed my books on it, causing the two to jump in surprise.
"Why aren't you two working?" I asked as I crossed my arms and put on a stern face.
"We were… waiting for you?" Kanji asked as his eyebrow rose. "We probably wouldn't be able to get anything done without your help."
"Well, excuse me!" Rise shouted, glaring at the taller boy. "I'd be fine with this stuff! I was just being courteous and waiting for Andrew-kun to arrive."
"Oh, is that so?" I asked as I sat down next to her. "Most times you'd be chastising me for being late or the last one to get here."
"I've, um… recently had a change of heart. Yeah, I've realized that everyone needs a different amount of time to get ready, sooo there's really no need for me to get angry over that."
"…Uh-huh." I glanced over to her stack of books and papers. "So is that why there's a sheet in that book that says 'Ask Andrew-kun these questions'?"
"Wha-!" Her head turned around and saw the top of that piece of paper. She quickly tried to cover that up with her arms, but the damage had already been done. "Dammit! Okay, fine, I need some help, too…"
"Afraid to admit that you can't handle it by yourself?" Kanji chuckled.
"I'm not! I just don't like having to depend on someone for help, even with school work…"
"Have you tried doing some work by yourself?" I asked her.
"Well, yeah obviously, though there weren't many problems I could do on my own. Maybe… At least ten or eleven, I know that."
"How many questions are there, anyways?"
"They aren't numbered, they're just there," Kanji answered. "Gotta do 'em one-by-one."
I sighed and took out the huge list of assigned questions. It had numbers on them, going straight down and on the back side of it, sometimes being categorized by the subject they were associated with. And there were probably two or three more pages stapled to the back of it, all of which had numbers lining it. "Holy motherfreller, this is going to take a while."
"M-Mazz-ur-rue… fu-reh-rah?" Rise tried to repeat as her eyebrows furrowed. Wait, did I just say that in English? "Wh-What's that?"
"N-Nothing you need to worry yourself about. Now come one, let's get at this. We'll start with the harder stuff and work our way down from there."
"Aww! Seriously!" Kanji groaned and hung his head back. "Man, this is gonna suck."
"Don't whine about it! We're all suffering the same punishment for being first-year students, so just grin and bear it." All of a sudden Rise started to hold back a giggle. "What're you laughing at now?"
"N-Nothing, nothing," she chuckled. "It's just… That sounds like something Teddie would say."
"…'Grin and bear it'?" OHHHHH now I get it. "Pft, yeah, it does…"
Kanji himself was laughing slightly too, but he quickly cleared his throat and looked up at us with a serious look. "C'mon now, let's start before we all start spouting bad puns like that."
"Right, right, let's get to work. First: math."
"Alright, let's do it!" Rise was oddly suddenly pumped up to do this. She whipped out her math book, opened it to the correct page, and looked at the first question. She then immediately turned to me with a sheepish expression. "H-Help me…?"
I sighed, yet chuckled at the same time. "Already?"
"I-It's one that was covered before I came back to Inaba…"
"You're hopeless, you know that?"
"Shut up! Let's see you answer that question!"
"Alright, let's see it."
"First question on page seventy-two!"
"Seventy-two, seventy-two…" I flipped through the pages and eventually came across it. "Ah, here it is." Let's see… You do this, then that, then that thing again, and… "The answer is fifty-four."
"…W-Wha-!" Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open. "Bu- Wha-What! H-How-!"
Was she not expecting me to get it so quickly…? "You just gotta think it out. See?" I pointed out the key steps in that specific problem to her. "When you break it down, it's actually kind of easy."
"Easy for you, not for me!" Rise quickly looked through the following questions, and after a minute slammed the book shut. "Ugh, this stuff is way too hard! I'm never gonna be able to figure this out on my own!" And then she decided to send me some pain by smashing her head onto the table.
OW. "Please, don't do that, Rise-chan. That hurts."
"I don't care... You deserve this pain for being so smart."
*SLAM*
"Ow."
*SLAM*
"Ow."
*SLAM*
"Ow."
*SLAM*
"Okay, STOP!"
Just before her forehead could hit the table again, I put my hands on her head and made it halt in its descent. Rise remained silent as I pulled her back into a sitting position, although she was attempting to resist by trying to force her head back down again. She grunted as I pulled her head up, and when I finally got her back sitting upright, she glared at me with one of the most annoyed expressions I've ever seen on her. Wait, no, that's just her normal annoyed look.
"You, uhhhh… You got a bump growin' on your forehead now," I told her while trying not to laugh. She gasped and blushed as her hands flew to her forehead in an attempt to cover it up. "D-Don't worry, it's not that big. I'm sure it'll be gone by the time school starts again."
Rise remained silent before sighing and removing her hands. Good golly, that actually is pretty big. "You'd better be right, Andrew-kun… An idol can't go into a public place looking like this…"
IDEA. "M-Maybe you could wrap it in bandages again…?"
"Mm… Or maybe I just don't leave the house at all…?"
WHAAAT. "I-I… I guess that could work too."
Rise only nodded to that, and then looked across the table to see Kanji looking down at his work. "Huh… You'd think after all that, we would've caused Kanji to get distracted."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's true… Strange, I didn't think he'd be this focused… on his… work…?" Now that I looked at him, I noticed he was only looking down, not writing, or even reading anything. He was just face down over a blank sheet of paper in his notebook. "…Heeeey, wait a minute…"
"What?" Rise asked, turning to me.
I smirked. "Just watch." I carefully placed my hands on the table and started to lean forward towards him. When I was close enough, I brought my hands up, clapped them together repeatedly and screamed, "OI, KANJIIIIII!"
"WHA-!" Kanji's head suddenly shot up and his whole body jerked away from the table. "Whoa, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" His arms started flailing in large circles as he fell backwards and crash landed right on the cemented flooring. It sounded like it hurt, since there was a loud smack when he hit it. It even made me wince at him.
"…Mornin'," I said to him as I peered over the table. Rise stood and looked over it as well. "Have a nice nap, bud?"
"W-What the hell was that for?" Kanji asked through gripped teeth without even looking at me. His back was completely against the cement, yet his head was lying over it and onto the steps leading down to the grass. His legs were still over his seat, and I bet with enough effort he'd be able to pull himself back up without using his arms.
"You were sleeping on the job, so I had to wake you."
"But did ya hafta scare- I, uh, mean, surprise me like that?"
"I've noticed you've been falling asleep a few times when we all hang out, so I just wanted to have some fun. Though it looked like it hurt a bit…"
"Of course it hurt! I hit my neck on a stone step's corner! What do you think would've happened!"
"Whoa, okay, calm down man! I'm sorry about that!"
He breathed in, then out, in an effort to calm himself down. "…Feh." Kanji pushed himself up off the ground and crawled back onto the bench. He huffed out another breath as he rubbed his neck and sat back down. "My neck'll hurt like frickin' hell for a long time now…"
"Heeeey…" Rise suddenly spoke up, her face in deep thought. "Both of us have injuries right now... so-"
"Huh?" Kanji looked up at the redhead in surprise. "Whaddaya mean?"
Rise pointed to her forehead. "I banged my head against the table and got a bump."
"…When was that?"
"Probably when you fell asleep. When'd you doze off?
"Um… Last thing I remember was… Andrew trying to figure out that question."
"You fell asleep that quickly?" I raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't even a minute after we started!"
"Well, um… I got bored right away… And I'm a heavy sleeper…?"
"I… guess that makes sense…"
"But…" Rise still seemed confused. "How the hell can you sleep through those loud slams? I hit my head, like, four times-"
"Five," I corrected her.
"Five, whatever. And they all could've woken up the neighbourhood. If it was, y'know, dark out and they were actually asleep…"
"I don't know… Guess I was just knocked out?"
"Must've been," I nodded to him. "They were pretty loud." I looked off to the side and mumbled, "And it hurt a nice bit, too…"
"SO. Anyways, Andrew-kun's the only one who hasn't got hurt yet." Rise glanced at me with a mischievous and evil look in her eyes. "…I say we make us all even. I mean, you did make us both get hurt…"
"W-Wait, what?" Oh crap they wouldn't.
"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea…" Kanji grinned as he cracked his knuckles.
"N-No, no no no no no. You guys aren't serious, right?"
"Hmm…" Rise put a finger to her chin. "I got a bump on the head. Kanji's neck got snapped…" Her eyes lit up and she smirked at me. "Andrew-kun's foot got crushed…"
"What! N-NO! Don't, please, no!" Pain is my enemy! I'd rather not feel much of it, thank you!
"Just stay where you are, Andrew!" Kanji leapt out of his seat and started to briskly walk around the table. "This won't hurt a bit."
"L-Liar! Stay away!" I jolted out of the table and ran for my dear foot's life. Kanji had started to chase after me, and Rise was just behind him. Both had maniacal grins plastered on their faces, and slowly but surely the bigger one was starting to shorten the distance between us. OH SHIT THEY ARE GOING TO HURT ME! "Why me! What did I ever do to you guys!"
"You caused us both to get injured, that's what!" Rise shouted with her hands cupper over her mouth. "I just said that!"
"How the hell did I make you to get hurt!"
"You're smart, I'm not! That's the reason!"
"BULLSHIT!"
Seeing as how running on the street could lead to casualties, I chose to race around the canopy to try and get them to lose their breath. I wouldn't be able to get very far ahead of them, but I was hoping it would tire them out quicker. It's okay, it's okay. I'll just run and run and run around this thing until they get too beat out to chase me and then we'll sit down and have a laugh about it and OH SHIT RISE-CHAN'S IN FRONT OF ME.
I skidded to a quick stop and stared my girlfriend down. She had her hands on her hips and a big smirk on her face. How she got there without me noticing, I don't even know. "Out of luck, Andrew-kun." Her voice was ripe with a sadistic quality.
"R-Rise-chan, please get out of the way so I can keep running from you, please?" I knew that these guys weren't afraid to hurt me, even though Rise would get hurt by it, as well. I started to back away to try and get away from her, but suddenly-
"Can't let you do that, Andrew!" Kanji was quickly behind me and hooked his arms under mine, effectively locking me in place. Oh, shit, I need to do a barrel roll and get out of here! "You both made us get hurt, so now it's your turn."
"H-Huh?" I had thought for sure Kanji would be the one dishing out the pain, but now that I think about it Rise had a mean kick… "I-I didn't mean to actually hurt you guys! Your's was by accident, and I hardly did anything to Rise-chan!"
"Indirect means still count!" the redhead bellowed as she made her way to me. OH CRUD SHE'S SERIOUS! WYVER YOU GOTTA HELP ME!
'And how exactly would I be able to do that?'
Tell me things to say to them to talk them out of this! And why are you so calm about this!
'Too late. Rise is right in front of you.'
Wha OH FRIG! "C-C'mon now, guys, there's no need for this! Let's talk this over! Maybe I-I can buy you guys some food or something to make up for it! I heard Aiya is having a special today!" Well, it's not, but still.
"Not falling for it," Kanji cackled. "I took a quick look at the menu on the way here. No specials."
"Wha- Why would you do that before coming here!"
"I was planning on havin' it for supper. And since my mom needs my help at the shop after, I needed to decide what to get beforehand."
"…Dammit, that's actually a good reason."
"So, anyways, we've got you in our trap now," Rise giggled as she placed her hands on my shoulders. "This'll hurt you more than it hurts me. And trust me, I'll be feeling this."
"N-NO! No, stop!" I desperately tried to swing my arms to get Kanji's away from me, but every time I did his arms would tense and make my escape even more the harder. Rise smiled sweetly despite the dark look in her face, and her leg slowly raised up higher and higher. Oh wow she's flexible… WAIT WHAT NO DON'T GET DISTRACTED MUST BREAK FREE!
But, it was too late.
*CRUNCH*
"GAH!" My head shot up as her heel went down. It hurt like bloody hell, but I don't think there were any broken-
*CRUNCH*
Now some bones were broken.
"AHHHH!" As I cried in pain, Rise's hands tightened their grip on my shoulders. She, too, was feeling the hurt, but I could tell she was doing her best to ignore it. She started to raise her foot again, and I quickly contemplated using my good foot to kick her away, but I didn't want to physically hurt her.
*CRUNCH*
Those thoughts were quickly fleeting, though.
"STOP! NOW!" Screw her safety! She's hurting herself now, anyways! "Sorry, Rise-chan!" My other foot rose up and pressed against her stomach. She was confused for a second before coming to a quick realization, which, unfortunately, came too late.
"OOF!" I pushed my foot out and caused her to trip over her feet and fall flat on her rump.
I winced at her landing, but the pain in my foot was too much for the mental-pain to take away. "Y-You didn't need to step on it that hard! How the hell can you stomp like that, anyways! And- And let go of me, Kanji!" His arms loosened and I tried to walk forward, but Rise's foot caused way too much damage and I promptly lost balance on it. I only got so far that I fell over and (surprisingly) landed somewhat on top of her. She was quick enough to catch me, but I was still rather heavy, and I caused her to fall right flat on her back.
"H-Hey! You okay?" Rise shouted after her head landed on the grass.
"No, of course I'm not! I-I think you broke my foot!" Honest to goodness, I think she did. The pain wouldn't leave, and it was pretty much torture on my half. Doesn't Rise feel the pain too? "Don't you feel the pain too?"
"Ah- Y-Yeah, but I didn't think I actually broke it! Are my kicks really that hard…?"
"Now's not the time for that!" I turned my head around to look at a baffled and blushing(?) Kanji. "Call the ambulance already!"
"Huh? O-Oh, r-right!" Kanji quickly turned around and flipped open his phone.
"U-Um…" Rise stammered.
"W-What?" I said through gritted teeth as I turned back to her.
"Your, um…" Her face was completely red, and her eyes were looking straight down. "…Your hands are on my breasts again."
"...Huh?" I looked down. …So they are. I glanced back up. Rise's face showed signs of mild annoyance. I looked back down. Well, I've already come this far. Might as well actually squeeze-
*SLAP*
…N-Never mind… That actually hurt more than her foot… "S-Sorry… Didn't mean to land on you like that…" I removed my hands from her and started nursing the cheek she slapped.
"That's the second time in two days I got felt up…" Rise sighed as she sat up, which caused me to sit up as well, although I was more or less lying against her. "And by you, no less…"
"H-Hey, first time was in self-defense." Goddamn foot's in pain! "I would've died if I hadn't stopped you."
"You know I wouldn't've actually suffocated you, right? I was just playing with you."
"Yeah, I suppose your right… But this time, I oughta deserve something for having to put up with you and your shoes. My foot frickin' hurts!"
"Um…" Rise sighed again and hung her head back. "I guess I've been going overboard with some stuff as of late… Like just then, and last night… Uh, s-sorry…"
"Hmm…" Despite the throbbing in my foot, I tried my best to not show it. "I may need you to do something to make up for it…"
She looked back at me and said, "First, actually sit up. You're gonna make me topple over again."
"Ah, right, okay." I pushed my arms off of her shoulders and landed back on my butt. Of course to do this, my feet had to swing out in front of me, and that made a massive amount of pain rush through me. I grunted as I brought them out, and I could see Rise's face crunch while I did so.
"Okay, now I'm seriously starting to regret doing that to you now…" she said quickly after I finally stopped moving my feet.
I sighed and said, "I don't think you should worry about it. This wound probably wouldn't last long… Who knows, it might even be gone by tonight. The same with that bump on your head."
Rise blinked and idly put her small hand on it. "I had forgotten all about that…"
I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly Kanji was behind us again. "An ambulance is on it's way. You okay, man?"
"Not… really. Kinda got a broken foot here. Maybe. It could just be badly bruised or something…" I glanced to both of them. "So… Does this make us even, then? Bump on the head, sore neck… broken foot?" I purposefully put emphasis on that last one to get my point across.
"Uh…" Rise sighed again. "You… probably have it worse than us. S-Sorry."
"Yeah, uh… We kinda took that too far…" Kanji agreed.
"Yeah, well, just don't make a habit of it. I'm not exactly a fan of pain…" All was silent for a short moment before Rise got onto her knees, wrapped her hands around my shoe and tried to take it off. "Um, what are you doing?"
"I'm checking your foot. To see if it's actually broken or not."
"Ah. Well, then, be care- GAH!"
"O-Owie…!"
"Be more careful!"
"I hardly moved your foot!"
"Well move it even less than that! In fact, no, leave the shoe where it is! We'll have the doctors look at it when they get here!"
Rise huffed and sat back on her backside. "Fine. If you say so."
Kanji chose to sit down as well, except he walked over to the canopy's table and sat down on the bench facing us. The table… It has our homework on it. "You know, I just remembered, but we were supposed to work on our homework right now," I told the group.
"But… we got a little sidetracked, didn't we?" Rise sighed.
Kanji rubbed his neck and said, "I'm actually glad that all that happened. It means we don't have to work now."
"I'm not sure if I should agree with you there or not," I said, glancing to him. "Wouldn't mind working if I didn't have to have this pain, but I'm also sorta happy that we're not doing it."
"But we've still got to work on it afterwards, right?" Rise asked. "It's not just going to vanish. We're gonna have even less time to work on it now…"
"…Dammit! I'm not looking forward to that now…" I tried to shift my legs around to try and get in a more comfortable position, but that proved useless when all it did was cause more pain. "Ow ow ow ow…" Despite this, I still tried to get in a better spot.
But I was quickly stopped by a hand placing itself on my shoulder. "Stop," Rise said to me. Her brow was furrowed as if trying to quell her own pain, although she wasn't doing that good of a job to hide it. Unless she wasn't trying to hide it, that is. "Don't move. You're hurting yourself."
"…Okay," I slowly nodded to her. She solemnly returned that nod and scooted over to sit next to me.
"I'm sorry about that… I never meant to actually break your foot…"
"We don't really know if it's broken or not yet…"
"Well, whatever. It hurts, right? A lot. And I'm sorry about that."
"It's not your fau-"
"It is. Obviously it is. I did that to you, and I stomped on it so many times… I need to make it up to you somehow…"
"…I can think of something, but I probably shouldn't say it here," I chuckled under my breath.
"Hm? What was that?" Rise asked as she turned to me.
"N-Nothing, nothing…"
I was just able to notice it, but little by little, the pain in my foot started to grow bigger, even though I wasn't moving it at all. Of course, it was hurting a lot before this, but now it was starting to become unbearable. I started to breath deeper to see if I could stop the pain, but it did little help to it.
The pain was gradually building up, and after a certain amount of time Rise turned to me. "Y-You okay?" she asked me with a bit of her own pain in her voice.
"I-It's starting to hurt a b-bit more…" Although you could probably tell that.
"Just t-try to bear it…" Rise supported me as she grabbed and squeezed my hand. "It won't hurt for t-that long…"
I looked up at her. I could see the pain all throughout her face, but when she saw me she forced a smile on her own. "Thanks… I-I know it won't…"
She nodded to me, and looked back out towards the street. In the distance, I could hear the roar of the ambulance's siren coming to the river. My hand got squeezed again. "You'll be fine, Andrew-kun…" Rise turned to face me. "You'll be just fine."
I smiled gently at her even though my foot hurt like crazy. "As long as you're here with me, I will be."
Rise's smile didn't waver as she blushed slightly, and she turned back to the road to wait for the vehicle. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Kanji glance in a different direction and grumble, "Get a room, would'ja?"
I chuckled and leaned back to face him. "Aww, what's the matter? Jealous?"
The big guy's eyes shot open, his head turned to face me and his face was already flushed. "W-What! N-No, of course I'm not!"
I smirked. "I don't believe it."
"No! No no no!" Kanji's head and arms shook rapidly in front of him, and I could only laugh. Rise was also giggling to, although she wasn't really looking at us. Kanji breathed deeply and, when he calmed down a bit, glared at me. "Do you want your other foot broken?"
"Uh- N-No, that's alright, thank you…"
~3:00 PM~
The ambulance took me to the hospital the moment they arrived, but Rise and Kanji chose to stay behind and take back all of our books to their houses instead of just leaving them there in the open for anyone to take. They promised me that they'd be over at the hospital as soon as possible after they bring the stuff back, but I told them to take their time; that there was no need to worry about me, and that I'd be fine.
And so because of that, they chose not to come and visit. That made me feel angry.
The doctor I told my predicament to seemed confused and slightly shocked when I told him a celebrity and a delinquent worked together to help crush my foot. I assured him they were my friends and that I kinda sorta did something to make them do that to me. The doctor was still bewildered but chose to forget it.
Also, I was also generally surprised when the x-rays of my foot were in. According to the doctor, my foot was indeed broken, but 'somehow' the bones already started to mend themselves back together, and have actually got a good deal of it done. My foot was also well enough that the doctor said I didn't even need to stay in the hospital, although he told me I should still use some crutches to help me walk around, even though I knew that it won't take long to heal.
I caught the bus in hopes to return back to the inn, but before it could even reach halfway there, I had this 'feeling' that Rise was waiting at the shopping district's bus stop for me. I told the driver to let me off there, and when I got off and she saw the crutches, I was hugged and kissed and apologized to extensively.
"I am so sorry!" Rise screamed as she bowed before me. "I never meant to actually break your foot! I just wanted to hurt you a little! But… I got too carried away!"
"Hey hey hey!" Allowing for one of the crutches to fall to the ground, I tried to calm her down by stroking her hair. She tensed a little when I touched her head, but she quickly eased herself when she realized I meant no harm. "There's no need for that. A mistake is a mistake. I know you weren't actually trying to break some bones, and I'm not mad at you for doing that. Just… control yourself next time, okay?"
"R-Right…" She stood fully upwards and pulled me into another hug. I took my hand from her head and placed it around her, yet I continued to rub her back with that hand. "S-Still, I'm sorry."
"What did I just say? You don't need to apologize."
"…Alright."
We had a moment of silence until I spoke up again. "…So, um…"
"Hm?"
"You, uh, still need to make up for that, huh?"
"…And how would I do that?"
"Oh, I dunno… What do you think we should do?"
"I have something in mind, but… it won't be anything new that we've already done."
"…Aww."
"Shut up." I was squeezed. "You're lucky enough to have me, anyways."
"You know, I probably am lucky to have someone like you. ...Even though you can be violent at times."
She scoffed. "Besides earlier, when was I ever violent?"
"Oh, you know... Against the Shadows, those two punks from way back when… Me last night…"
"...Okay okay, I get what you mean. But those first two times were in self-defense."
"You still pack quite a punch. Or, kick, o-or slice, or something."
"Hm. Thank you, I guess."
"Your welcome. So, um, are we gonna get going now?"
Rise glanced up at me with an odd expression. "Wouldn't you rather want me to stay like this or something?"
"I'd like to, yes, but we're kinda facing the middle of the street and hundreds of people must've seen us by now."
"…Oh, right. Well, um, let's go. I have your books and everything at my house, so let's stop there for a bit."
"Alright."
She unwrapped her arms from me and bent down to pick up the fallen crutch. "Actually…" she said as she handed it back to me. "Maybe we can stay there for more than a bit…"
"…Huh?"
Rise giggled, turned on her heel and started to walk back to her house with a hop in her step. "Grandma told me she was taking an afternoon nap when I got home earlier. She's still asleep now, so we have some time to just hang out."
"I'd like that, actually," I grinned as I hobbled after her.
"Well I'm glad that you do. We may even be able to pick up what we left off last night."
"We weren't finished last night?"
"Nope! A couple is never finished kissing! Don't you know that?"
"Well, excuuuuuuuse me, your highness. Sorry if I don't know anything about relationships, since I've never been in one before now."
"That doesn't matter. Every teenaged person should know that couples will never give up on kissing. Never!"
"…You, um, seem rather upbeat about this."
"Of course! Ever since we started going out, I've… actually loved kissing you. It's a lot different than kissing someone as part of a script. Someone who actually loves me back makes me feel like… like there's nothing else happening. That we're the only two people here on this planet. In this universe. It's like… nothing matters at all." She turned her head around and smiled cheerfully at me. "Except us."
I was surprised that she had thought this deeply about it, and it seemed like she said that right from the bottom of her heart. "I… didn't realize you thought about it like that."
"Oh I think about it like that, alright," she said as she stopped and turned around. "I've kissed a lot of boys in my lifetime, but… you're different than them. You actually make me feel… special. Like I actually am someone…"
…Wait, what? "Huh? What do you mean by that last one?"
Her hands quickly flew to her mouth. "Ah, n-nothing! Never mind!" She spun back around and dashed off for her house. "C'mon, we won't have enough time if we're too slow!"
"Wha-! D-Don't say it like that in the middle of the street!"
"There's no one around, don't worry!"
"That doesn't matter! And I can't run, anyways, so slow down!"
~Saturday, August 27~
~8:30 PM~
"So, what's going on again?" Rise asked me as we walked down a street. In just a day's time, my foot had healed completely, and I was allowed to return the crutches and walk on my own to feet again. The doctors said I was a sort of legend by having rapid-quick healing skills, but to be honest, it only started happening once I came to Inaba.
"According to Teddie and Yukiko, Souji's been helping Nanako-chan with her summer homework. Everyone else went there to help or hang out, and I think it'd be nice if we all went there, too."
"Then why am I here too?" Kanji asked on my other side in an annoyed tone.
I turned my head to him. "Like I said, all of us would be nice." Kanji grunted and turned his head back in front of him. I looked back to Rise and asked, "So, what kind of summer homework would she have to do?"
Rise looked to the sky in thought. "Um… Probably, like, writing a short story or something? I can't exactly remember what I used to do back then…"
"Well, whatever it is, it should be a breeze," I smirked. "I mean, Nanako-chan's in elementary school, right? So what she's doing can't be hard at all!
"We have to build something? Sorry, man, that's too hard."
"Huh, looks like we picked the wrong day to come here… I can't do any of this art stuff," Rise sighed. She and I were both sitting on the couch right next to the little table where Kanji, Souji, and Nanako herself were all seated at.
"Me neither…" the little girl said dejectedly as she looked down at the table.
"Senpai, can't you do something like that?" I asked Souji.
Souji sighed and turned back to me, "I can, yes, but I want Nanako to try this on her own first."
"But… she doesn't know how…"
"Huh…" Kanji, who was oddly silent through that whole thing, turned his head to Nanako. "Lemme see what you got. I'll help you with it."
"Oh, um… Okay." Nanako quickly stood up and ran out of the room to get whatever she had.
When she left, Souji turned to Rise and I and chose to start conversing with us. "So, then, what have you guys been doing since we last met?"
"The last time we met waaas… the festival, right?" I asked him. He nodded. "Um, nothing much, really. Working on our own homework, spending time together, giving each other injuries… The kinds of things friends do, right?"
Souji's face scrunched in confusion, but Rise started to freak out. "D-Don't bring that up!"
I sighed with a smile. "Fine."
Our senpai shook his head, but then looked at me again. "You guys, um… Didn't happen to go exploring anywhere, did you?"
"Whaddaya mean?" I asked.
"Like… any adventures?"
"...Ummm…?"
"To… a castle?"
Castle? Castle… OH CRUD! "I-I don't know what your talk-"
"Teddie told me. He said you practically forced him to go there."
"Wha-! We did not!" OH CRAP I DIDN'T DENY IT.
Souji's eyes narrowed at me. "…I see." He looked at Rise, who now had a nervous expression, and to Kanji, who wasn't paying attention to us. "When we first formed the Investigation Team," he said as he turned back to me, "we made a promise that no one would go in there alone. I guess I can't blame you, since you guys weren't there and all, but still, it's too dangerous to go in there without any supervision from me or the others."
"B-But, we were alright!" Rise told him, leaning forward towards him. "None of us got seriously hurt, and plus, we still had someone watching over us!"
"Huh? Who?"
"Andrew-kun!" HUH. By now, Nanako had returned with her stuff and Kanji was helping her work on it. "He guided us through the castle and everything, and he kept us safe when we fought that strong Shadow at the top!"
Souji blinked as his mouth opened a bit. "You guys fought the Shadow?"
"Y-Yeah," I nodded to him, "B-But it was a piece of cake! None of us got hurt, and we managed to curb stomp that thing into nothing! It was way too weak for us to be considered a challenge!"
Souji took all of this new information in. He looked passed me, as if in deep thought, but then his eyes refocused and he said, "If you guys were able to beat that Shadow… then you must be better than I had thought."
"H-Huh? Seriously?" I was kinda sorta expecting him to get even more mad at us…
"Yeah. I mean, Teddie said that those Shadows at the top were pretty strong, and if you were able to beat it - just the three of you - without any help from me or the others, then you guys must be pretty strong yourselves." He glanced to the side and mumbled, "Admittedly, that was one of the weaker Shadows, but still…"
"S-So, what are you saying, senpai?"
"What I'm saying is, if there's ever a time that I get too tired to lead the group, I want you to take over for me."
"…S-So, I'll be, like, your back-up or something?" I asked him.
"Not necessarily. You'll still be a regular member of the fighting party, but if there's ever a time I need to take a break, you'll be the group's leader for the time being."
"…I-I will?" That was unexpected. I had thought that I was just another member on this team, but to actually be leading the whole group was something that wasn't on my to-do list. "B-But are you sure you want me to do that? I mean, I'm not very good…"
"But out of everyone on the team, you're the only one with at least a small experience of leadership, so you'd be the obvious choice. Of course, that's if we ever go back in there… Aaaand I'll have to judge you myself before anything is decided."
"O... Okay!" I stood and bowed to the grey-haired boy. "Thank you, senpai! I won't let you down, I promise!"
"Right, thank you," Souji smiled and nodded to me. "We'll all be counting on you." I grinned and sat right back down.
"What're you guys talking about?" Nanako suddenly asked as she looked up at us.
"Oh, u-um, nothing, Nanako-chan!" I assured her. "Nothing at all!"
"Oh, um… Okay."
I then chose to look at whatever she was making, and was I surprised when I saw it. I was a small car that had this little doll attached to the roof of it, and had many little designs on its sides. "N-Nanako-chan, did you make that?"
"Oh, no. He did," she said as she pointed to Kanji.
"I didn't exactly want you to do it yourself, Kanji," Souji sighed with a tired look in his eyes. "I was kinda hoping you'd be helping Nanako…"
"U-Uh… Sorry… I just, kinda took over it…" the big guy replied sheepishly.
"K-Kanji, you made that?" Rise asked, slightly startled. Well obviously he did. No elementary schooler could make something like that!
"Y-Yeah," the guy responded. "Why? Y-Ya got a problem with that?"
"What? No, I didn't mean it like that! I was gonna say, you did a really good job with that."
"...Huh? Y-You think so?"
"Well, yeah. I wasn't expecting you to make something as good as that."
"U-Um… Thanks…?"
"Wow…" I blinked, then turned to Rise. "You actually complimented someone, other than me or yourself."
"Wh-What do you mean by that?" she asked with a confused look.
"I'm just saying, I wasn't expecting you to say something like that."
"Shut up!"
~Wednesday, August 31~
~10:30 AM~
"Huh… termelon…? …ure, I'll go! …ny's still asle… ake him u…? Okay!"
Silence, then-
"AAAAAANDYYYYYYYY!"
"WHA!" I jerked out from under the futon covers and nearly came face first into Teddie's face. There was a wide smile brimming on his face, and there was this sort of excitement showing in his eyes. "W-What the hell was that for!"
"Yosuke's on the line!" He shoved my cell into my face. "Here, he wants to speak to you!"
"Guh…" I snatched the phone from his hands and fell back onto the pillow. "Whaaaat do you want so early in the morning, senpai?"
/Early? It's 10:30, that's not early at all!/
"It is to me. Now whaddaya want?"
/…Souji's uncle's bringing home a watermelon for him and Nanako-chan, but it'll be too big for them to eat alone. He called me and invited me over, and I've been calling everyone else to see if they wanted to go and have some./
"Some watermelon…? Huh, never had that before… Sure-"
/You never had a watermelon before! Where the hell have you been for the last fifteen years of your life?/
"…Canada? Watermelons aren't that big of a deal there. But yeah, sure, I'll tag along. What better way to spend the last day of summer than with your friends, right?"
/Sweet! Alright, we're meeting up at Souji's place now. I've gotta call the others, so make sure we're all there before it gets smacked open!/
"Right, gotcha! See ya then!" I closed the phone, sat back up and turned back to Ted, who was already hopping up and down trying to haul his pants on. "Ted! There still may be people asleep downstairs! There's no need to rush!"
He stopped jumping and looked at me with saddened eyes. "B-But… Nana-chan! Watermelon!"
"…Point taken. C'mon, let's hurry!"
When Teddie and I arrived, everyone else was already there waiting for us. The majority of the girls were on the couch - besides Rise, who came over to greet me - while the guys were standing - besides Yosuke, who was sitting at the actual table.
When everyone made their way to the living room, Souji spoke up. "My uncle got a watermelon from someone at work, and he suggested we get everyone together to have some."
"Man, a watermelon!" Kanji said ecstatically. "'Cause of all the stuff that's gone down this summer, I completely missed out!" He looked passed the group and into the kitchen. "So, where is it? The fridge?"
Rise started sending glares at the bigger boy. "Gee, Kanji, they invited us over… At least show some manners."
Kanji's frown left him as he turned away from the girl, but before they could argue anymore Yosuke interrupted. "We gotta smack it open first!"
"Huh? Smack it open?" Chie asked as she turned to him. "Are we seriously gonna do that? We can't eat it if it gets all crushed!"
"But, but-!" Yukiko shouted, surprisingly very excited. "Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"You know, it does sound rather fun…" I nodded to her. "Never smacked one open before either, so this should be an enjoyable experience!"
Nanako hopped off the couch and exclaimed, "I wanna do it too!"
And now Teddie was overflowing with determination. "I'll swing at it with everything I've got!" He suddenly grasped his hands and looked up to the ceiling with a melodramatic look. "The splattering fruit juice! Bursts of joy!" Oh crap is he doing this tagline thing again? "One night of love… The bitter sweetness of those days is the essence of youth!"
Everyone just stared at him in bewilderment, but Yosuke sighed and said, "That makes no sense at all… And dude, will you cut out those commercial lines of yours?"
"Oh, so I'm not the only one who notices this?" I asked him. "Oh, thank God…"
Nanako suddenly giggled. "That's the essence of youth!" she repeated.
"Now, see, it's much better - and cuter - when she says it."
Without any warning what so ever, the Dojima residence's sliding door slid opened and in walked an older man. "I'm home- Whoa-ho, that's a lot of shoes! How many people are here?"
Nanako cheered in joy and ran to greet him. "Welcome home!" she cried as she bounded into his stomach.
"Easy there, Nanako!" Dojima laughed.
"Um, let's split the watermelon open!" she said immediately.
"Say what!" Uh oh that tone is not good. "…Um, well, you see… The watermelon's… already split…"
Everyone in the room gasped in terror, but Nanako must've taken it the hardest. "W-What!" N-NO! Don't cry, please, Nanako-chan! My heart won't take it! ...D-Dojima, you bastard!
"Yeah…" Dojima sighed and kneeled down, patting her on the head. "I'm sorry…"
"It's already smacked open?" Yosuke's arms drooped down and he hung his head. "Man, I was looking forward to that…"
"So… now what? We just eat?" I asked everyone.
"Yeah, I guess so…" Souji responded dejectedly. "Honestly, I wanted to slice it open myself…"
Nanako said nothing as she slowly walked back to the living room, but walked in between Kanji and I, slid open the glass door and sat down on the porch. Dojima, with a distraught look in his eyes, came up to us and laid down the bag with the already-sliced watermelon slices in it. "The guys at work wanted to split it themselves. I didn't know you guys wanted to do it. Someone should've called and told me."
"S-Sorry Uncle, we were busy getting everyone else," Souji replied with a hint of embarrassment. Dojima sighed and handed each of us a rather big piece.
"W-Whoa, this is pretty big…" I said in amazement. It was easily the size of my head. ...Maybe bigger? "Not sure if I'll be able to finish it all."
Kanji gladly accepted his slice of watermelon from Dojima and actually started drilling through it with his teeth. "Mm! I forgot how good these things taste!"
"Whoa, Kanji, you'll start choking if you eat too quickly!" Yosuke yelled at him with his own slice in his hands. "Slow down!"
"I know, I know! But this is just so damn good!"
"You know, you really should eat more slowly," Rise told him. "Instead of just hogging it down, you'd be able to savour its flavour." Kanji considered this and started eating down the fruit a bit slower, but Rise only sighed and shook her head.
After handing everyone a slice of watermelon, whether it was a large one or a small one - actually, the guys were holding large slices and the girls had smaller ones - Dojima took a peek in the bag and looked at its remaining contents in confusion. "Huh, there's still a lot more left…" He looked up in the direction of the other houses on the street. "Maybe I should share it with the neighbours…?"
"That's a good idea," Souji nodded to him. "Want me to help bring it around?"
"No, that's alright." Dojima started walking to the front door. "You stay with your friends. I'll be back in a second."
"Oh, alright. See ya."
"You know…" Kanji said as he looked around. "It's kinda cramped in here. I'm headin' out back."
"Ooh! I'll go with you!" Chie said as she followed him. "I need some fresh air anyways."
"Nanako-chan's looking a little down…" Yukiko told Souji as she looked out the window. "Maybe we should try to cheer her up?"
"Yeah…" Souji responded, a scowl on his face. "I hate seeing her like this…"
The two nodded, Souji grabbed a watermelon slice for her, and they walked outside together, leaving Rise, Teddie, Yosuke and I in the house. "I'm staying inside," I said as I sat down at the small table. "It's starting to get too crowded out there now."
"This house is kinda small for every one of us here…" Rise observed as she glanced around. "Although for senpai, Nanako-chan and Dojima-san, it's probably alright…"
Teddie and Yosuke sat on my sides while Rise sat down right in front of me. I looked down at my huge watermelon, sniffed it, and took a bite out of it. "Mm… Mm! Thish ish gud!"
"Eww! Swallow before you talk!" Rise yelled with a scrunched face.
I grunted in acknowledgement, and quickly chewed and swallowed the food. "Uh, s-sorry."
"Geez, I know it's good, but don't speak with it in your mouth next time," Yosuke said while wearing a look of disgust.
"Right, right…" The next time… would be at school, right? "Crud! I just reminded myself tomorrow's the first day of the new semester…"
"A-Aww! You didn't have to tell us!" Rise shouted. "Great, now I'm getting depressed…"
"Uh, sorry. Again…"
"Hey, what's this school place like, anyway?" Teddie asked us. "Andy's told me about it a bit, but I've never experienced it myself."
"Trust us," I said for the three humans at the table. "You don't want to go through hell like that."
"Exams are the worst," Rise explained with a solemn expression, "since they get you to answer questions based on everything you learned that semester."
"And they always post the marks in the hallway, even if you did really bad on them," Yosuke sighed.
"And plus, you remember all those nights after you started staying with me that I had to work on some things? THAT was homework, every kid's nightmare." Teddie visibly gulped.
"There may be times where you have to pull all-nighters to get it done," Rise told him in an eerily spooky voice. "And if you get tired and fall asleep in class… They hit you on the head!" Teddie didn't seem to startled by this. "…W-With a sledgehammer!" The bear shrieked at that.
"And out of everything else, this is probably the most terrifying…" Yosuke said, this creepy smile on his face. "Sometimes… The teachers try to score with you… Even the ugly ones…"
"W-What! N-No! NOOO! It's not truuuuue! It can't be! It just can't!" Teddie started bawling and pounding his fist on the table.
Rise and I glanced at our senpai. "D-Do they really…?" we asked simultaneously.
He only shook his head slowly. "You don't even want to know…" The three of us shuddered at the thought. After those evil thoughts left my mind, Yosuke looked at me. "Oh, by the way, Andrew."
"Yeah?"
"How long did you say you'd be staying here in Inaba? I don't exactly remember how long you said."
"Oh, umm… I think I was told I could stay for a few years, maybe more, maybe less. It all depends on my parents and how much they miss me, I guess."
"Oh, I see. I thought you'd be leaving around when Souji leaves next spring."
"…Oh, that's right… I forgot all about that… Great, way to get me depressed now! I don't exactly want senpai to leave after all this time!"
"Hey, none of us do, so quit whining and eat your watermelon."
"Huh? Oh! Forgot about that." And I plopped my face right into it. Damn this is good!
"So then, I still have a few years with you then?" Rise asked, looking up from her melon.
"Mhm." I nodded, then swallowed what I had in my mouth. "Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that easily," I said with a wink.
Rise held back a laugh and faked a sigh. "Dang. And here I was, getting my hopes up."
"Sorry, dear, but I'm stuck with you until I go back home."
"Heh. I'll be counting down the days until then."
"Huh?" Teddie, whom had regained his senses, and whom I also noticed had yet to take a watermelon slice for himself, was looking between the two of us. "What are you two talking about? Why are you looking forward to the day Andy leaves?"
"…It's sarcasm, Ted," Yosuke sighed and shook his head.
"They sound pretty honest to me."
"You gotta learn this stuff, man."
Suddenly, the front door slid open and Dojima walked in again, this time with an empty bag. "The neighbours just hogged everything that was left… Probably should've left some here…"
"Welcome back!" everyone on the property (besides Nanako, who was still pissed) called out to him.
"Uh… T-Thanks," Dojima replied, obviously not expecting that. He noticed Nanako sitting on the porch as Souji and Yukiko tried to console her. He sighed, walked over to her and kneeled down. "Hey…" Nanako didn't say anything, and only turned her head away. He sighed again and said, "C'mon, Nanako, don't pout. Everyone came here to hang out, right?" Nanako grumbled again and looked even farther away from him. "…I'm really sorry. It never occurred to me you'd want to do that…"
Chie stopped biting into her watermelon and turned to the little girl. "Hey, Nanako-chan," she said. "Let's do this again sometime. Except next time, we'll do it right - at the beach!"
Rise's head shot up and turned to those outside. "Ooh ooh! Seconded!"
"Whoa, another beach trip?" Yosuke's eyes lit up. "T-That means we get to see you guys in swimsuits again!" And then his face fell. "Aw, wait… There aren't enough days left in summer for us to do that again. We'll have to do it next year…"
From my perspective, it was a little hard to see, but Nanako's head dropped down. "Next year…?" she said to herself. She looked back up to Souji and asked, "Will you play with me next year too?"
"Of course I will!" Souji smiled to the girl. "We all will! Won't we, guys?"
"You betcha!" Kanji, who was not in my line of sight, yelled at the top of his lungs.
"You betcha!" Yukiko copied with a giggle.
"Obviously we will!" I told her, after remembering to swallow the fruit.
"Did you hear that, Nanako?" Dojima asked his daughter with a smile.
Nanako grinned and giggled herself. "Yep! Thank you!"
"You're welcome!" Teddie cried with a cheerful voice. "We'll always be willing to spend time with you, Nana-chan!"
"You got that right!" Chie agreed. "Anytime you want us to hang, we'll be here in a flash!"
"You promise?" Nanako asked with bright eyes.
"Of course!" Every teenaged-looking person shouted in unison. Nanako's face beamed even brighter, and I swear to the Lord I contracted diabetes right then and there.
OKAY. Another chapter done. Don't got much time to talk right now, so I'll make this quick: I'll be getting Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood tomorrow, and I'll become addicted to that game no doubt, so try not to expect another chapter soon.
Okay now I seriously gotta go. Bye bye for now!~