Chizuru: The Girls of Summer
Akarin!
Kyouko: Hey! Yuru Yuri: Amusement Club Forever is about to start!
Haruka: Kyouko and I are here today to do the introduction. Today's chapter feature's Chizuru.
Kyouko: Oh, you must be happy to be here, in that case.
Haruka: I am! Chizuru's my closest friend. She and I are like you and Yui.
Kyouko: Really? Does she let you copy her homework?
Haruka: I've never really asked. She's just let me copy notes now and then when I've missed school.
Kyouko: I see. May I copy your homework?
Haruka: Well, you really ought to do it yourself, but okay, if you're stuck…
Haruka hands over her notebook. Kyouko flips through it.
Kyouko: Your writing is tiny!
Haruka: Is it? I thought it was normal!
Kyouko (holding a magnifying glass over the page): Even with this, I can barely read it!
Yui (off-screen): Maybe you should do your own homework, then.
Kyouko grumbles.
Kyouko: Let's start the chapter. I need to find a copy machine so that I can make this larger.
Chizuru sat at her desk looking at the pile of printed pictures she had amassed. Normally, the bulletin board above her desk in the room she shared with her sister simply had things from school: a list of important announcements, the schedule of tests and exams, and so on. Her sister was the one whose bulletin board had pictures of her and her friends on it.
But now I have some to put up too, she thought happily.
She looked through the pictures she had gotten prints of, trying to decide which ones to pin up. She had many from her two recent trips: first to the beach house in Ishikawa and then to the Comuket convention. She thought back on both of them. The beach trip had been not just the combined Amusement Clubs, but also Chitose, Ayano, and two girls from Nanamori Middle who she didn't know very well. She had never gone on that sort of trip with a large group of just friends her own age. Unlike her sister, she had always been fairly shy. It wasn't until near the end of middle school and now into high school that she had finally made some friends.
And part of that is thanks to Toshino Kyouko, strangely enough, even if she does still stand in the way some of my sister's true happiness.
But she had become a little skeptical lately of just what Toshino Kyouko wanted when it came to the situation between her and Sugiura Ayano, having joined her Amusement Club and knowing her slightly better.
She's so strange, and she's hard to figure out sometimes. Ah well.
Chizuru continued to flip through the pictures from the beach trip. One was of her and Haruka sitting on the front step of the beach house they had stayed at, Haruka's arm linked in hers. She really liked that one; it was definitely going to be pinned up. Haruka was smiling brightly in it, and even Chizuru had smiled some.
You'd be so proud of me, Kaede-chan.
She chose two other pictures of her and Haruka to put up and then went back to sorting the rest. It was a large of mix of both pictures of some of the girls by themselves and all sorts of group pictures. There were a few of all ten of them, but there were others of just, say, Kyouko and Yui or Ayano and Chitose (Chizuru had felt herself drooling a little when looking at these) or the Nanamori Middle School girls all together or whoever. She picked a few of the group pictures to save, along with a few of Haruka by herself. One was of Haruka wearing a bright orange sunhat and a goofy expression on her face. Chizuru found it absolutely adorable.
She turned now to her second set of pictures. The trip to Comuket had been consisted of fewer people: Just Toshino Kyouko, Ayano, Haruka, and herself. Yui apparently usually went with Toshino Kyouko to that convention, but had been off on a trip with her family this time around. Chizuru's mind wandered a bit and she realized that she knew very little about Yui's family. She that knew that Yui had a younger cousin named Mari with whom she was close, but Chizuru had never met her. She had wondered if the Nanamori Middle Amusement Club members, Akari and Chinatsu, would join them on their trip to Comuket, but neither of them had come either. Toshino Kyouko said something about Chinatsu not liking it and Akari being invisible. She understood the first explanation, but had no idea what that other one had been about.
And onee-san also wasn't able to come along. She was helping our grandmother, but encouraged me to go. Had she gone, she could have spent more time with Sugiura Ayano. At least I came back with things for her to read. I'd be interested in reading more of that when she's done with it, truth be told.
She glanced briefly at the small box of manga volumes she had lugged back with her from Comuket. Kana in Love had been the series that interested her the most. It was a series about two best friends who fell in love, and that sounded just perfect to her.
Looking back down at her desk, she shuffled through the Comuket pictures some more. There was Toshino Kyouko and Ayano dressed as characters from Mirakurun. Next to them were Chizuru and Haruka, dressed as two of the girls from Calamity Disaster. Toshino Kyouko had made the costumes for the two of them to wear. Chizuru had been Natsuko, and Haruka had been Erika. She had been wary about dressing up as manga characters at first, but she did eventually come to somewhat enjoy going around the convention in her cosplay costume, even knowing she'd probably never hear the end of it from her club president.
Plus, she thought. We really did resemble the characters. Toshino Kyouko did a great job creating the costumes. And Haruka looks really cute in hers. She set aside the picture to tack up. The rest, she determined, would need to be saved in a photo album, along with a USB drive containing the digital copies. She didn't want to lose any of the pictures of the memories she had made over this summer break.
"Oh, are you going to put up some pictures, Chizuru?"
She looked up. Her sister had come into the room and was standing over her, smiling.
"Yes," Chizuru replied. "I'm glad I finally have some put up."
"Me too." Chitose picked up one of the pictures. "Oh look, here's Toshino laughing with Ayano-chan. Do you think that's embarrassment or sunburn on Ayano's face?"
"I don't know. There are some good ones of you and Ayano, however."
"Ah…"
Chizuru looked up. There was a small trickle of blood running from her sister's nose. Chizuru gently swapped the picture in her hand with a fresh tissue.
"Thank you," Chizuru," Chitose said, wiping her nose. She looked at another picture. "Oh, there's Furutani and Ohmuro. And they're arguing."
"Is that common for them? You know them better than I do."
"They used to argue quite a bit back in middle school. They didn't seem to as much on the trip, but then I haven't seen them in a while."
Chizuru nodded. "Here's one of you and Akaza."
"She's such a sweet girl. I miss seeing her at school."
"I think you'll see her next year. She and Chinatsu intend to come to Nanamori Senior High as well."
"Do they? How nice! We'll all be together at the same school again."
"Yes."
Chitose laughed merrily as she looked at another picture. "Here's one of you, Funami Yui, Ayano, and Haruka throwing Toshino into the ocean. You all look like you're enjoying yourselves there, though Toshino looks nervous."
"She had that coming, honestly," Chizuru replied. "First the house cleaning, and then the alcohol. At least she didn't manage to cause any big trouble in the days afterward."
"Well, she certainly kept us on our toes, didn't she?"
"Toshino Kyouko goes full throttle all the time," Chizuru said. "She has no brakes and only stops when she runs out of fuel and crashes."
Chitose chuckled. "True. But time with her and the others is always fun, isn't it?"
"Of course it is."
"So, are you ready for our homework session today?"
Chizuru had almost forgotten. Ayano and Haruka would be joining them today to work on their summer homework with them. Chizuru's was mostly done, but she welcomed a chance to see her friends all the same.
"Yes," Chizuru said. She stacked up her pictures neatly and put them in a little box so that she could finish going through them later. After she set down floor cushions for Ayano and Haruka, she gathered up her own schoolwork, sat down, and went over what she still needed to do. Chitose sat down across from her and did the same.
"It's fortunate we're all in the same class!" her sister said happily. Chizuru nodded in reply.
A while later, Haruka and Ayano arrived at their house and joined them in their studying. After an hour and a half of work, Chitose got up. The other three girls set their work aside and looked up at her.
"This seems like a good stopping point, if nobody objects" Chitose said.
The others nodded at her in agreement.
"I'll go and get juice and snacks for us, then."
"I'll come help you," Chizuru offered.
"No, no, please, stay and visit. I can manage." She walked out of their bedroom, humming as she went.
You're always so thoughtful and kind, onee-san.
Haruka got up and stretched her arms. She stepped over to Chizuru's desk and examined the pictures on her bulletin board. "Ooh, these are from our trips!"
"Yes," Chizuru said. "I wanted to put up some pictures to remember them by."
"Oh, why did you put up this one?!"
"Which one?" She got up and stood next to her friend. Haruka was frowning and pointing at the one of herself wearing the orange sunhat.
"I like it," Chizuru said.
"I look silly! That hat is hideous and my mouth's hanging open."
"I think you look cute," Chizuru replied.
"I agree!" Ayano added as she joined them to look at the pictures.
"Oh, you think so, Chizuru?" Haruka blushed a bit. She turned back to the bulletin board and looked at the other pictures. "Hey, when did you take a picture of me sleeping?"
There's ample opportunity to do that anywhere with you, but I didn't take that picture.
"That wasn't me," Chizuru said. "Toshino Kyouko took that picture."
"I'm told that is something she likes to do," Ayano commented dryly.
"So, why did you put that one up?"
"It looks cute also."
"Thank you, then."
"You seem like you sleep a lot, Koyama…" Ayano remarked.
"Our little life is rounded with a sleep," Chizuru told her.
"Huh? Where's that from?"
"William Shakespeare."
"Yeah, what Chizuru said, Sugiura!" Haruka laughed.
"I'm back!" Chitose walked into the room carrying a tray with a bottle of juice, four glasses, and some crackers.
The four girls sat back down at the table. Chizuru poured glasses of juice for each of them. As they snacked, they chatted a bit more.
"Summer break is going by so quickly," Chitose commented.
"Maybe it's all the activity," Ayano said.
"Last year, I barely did anything on my summer break except sleep or play games," Haruka giggled. "And it still went by quickly!"
"You shouldn't spend all your time doing just that," Chizuru said.
"Well, not this summer break, certainly," Haruka replied. "Sugiura is right, we've done so much."
"And after summer break is the athletic festival," Chitose commented.
"Oh, don't remind me," Haruka said. "That's one thing I'm not looking forward to."
"You'll do fine," Chizuru encouraged her. "I'll help you if you need." Haruka smiled back at her.
"And then later in the fall, we have the Cultural Festival!" Haruka added.
"Our first high school Cultural Festival!" Chitose said happily.
Haruka tilted her head. "I wonder what our class will do."
"Will your club do anything?" Ayano asked.
"Uh, I don't know, to be honest."
"Toshino Kyouko will probably think of something," Chizuru answered.
"That's good, because you definitely should," Ayano said, nodding.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Well, because you're a club and clubs usually do things for the Cultural Festival, right?" she chuckled nervously.
"True."
"Well, it looks like everyone's done eating!" Ayano said. "Shall we get back to work?"
The four of them continued to work on their homework for the rest of the afternoon. When it was over, they were all finished. For this, Chizuru was doubly glad. She had gotten her tasks done, and she had spent time with her sister and her friends. It wasn't a trip to a beach house or a convention, but it was definitely a good way to spend a summer day.