THIS FANFICTION IS CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN AND UPDATED.
THINGS HAVE BEEN CHANGED AND I WOULD RECOMMEND REREADING THIS TITLE IF YOU HAVEN'T IN A WHILE.
THANK YOU FOR READING x
[START]
Define 'Normal'…
Chapter 25:
Coughs and sneezes were quick to follow the group's entry and arrival, the colours of the outside giving way to a paler interior of the large, three story holiday home of the Najimi household.
"Whoo! The beach!" A whoop and laugh as a girl blurred through the entryway to the glass doors at the back of the house, leading to a patio and a stairway down to the cove proper.
"Sayori, don't just leave your suitcase lying there!" Exasperated and hurried, the boy rushed after his friend to ensure she didn't hurt herself.
"I can get started on cleaning, where are the supplies?" Green eyes looking about at the dusty floor and surfaces. resisting the urge to just swat it away with a wave.
"They should be in the cupboard under the sink, I'll give you a hand. But we should first get our cases into our rooms." The orange haired lady of the house answered and began to direct those still in the house to a large staircase leading from the ground floor to the second and third.
"I'm gonna keep an eye on Sayori and Hiro." A headband wearing boy gleefully called from the rear before he made his own hurried way after the duo,
"You'd better call them back up here to help out!" Najimi-san called to Budo's retreating form, the interplay met with some laughs and head shakes,
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Harry, pulling out armfuls of spray bottles and clothes from the cupboard to Najimi's accepting nod, "Let's get started without them."
"Eh?! That's not fair!" Hanako stomping her foot as she whinged, looking to the others for support and not finding any. Yuri crossed the space to take some of the cleaning supplies from Harry's hands (the collection teetering on complete collapse every second he stood there), flushing under his grateful smile,
"It's fine, Hana-chan." Najimi sighed, a smirk cruelly lifting the corners of her lips as she cast a glance down the corridor towards the kitchen, a salty breeze wafting in from an open door none of them could see, "I have an idea on how they'll make it up to us."
...
The trio wouldn't be inside for another half hour, the three grinning (Hiro having thankfully come out of his shell a little on the beach) and were immediately scolded by Najimi and Hanako for traipsing sand and sea water into the kitchen that Harry and Yuri had just scrubbed and mopped.
They spent the better part of their first day scouring away dirt and dust from the neglect of the place and, by virtue of having gone to explore the beach without them, the trio were left with the lovely task of dealing with the perishable food they had found in the cupboards and fridge from Najimi and Yamada's families trip the previous year…
The cruel price for fun.
Jeering and laughter abound at Budo's drawing of the short straw (thus having to interact with it)…
By the time futons were rolled out in the two bedrooms they would be occupying, the TV and the little tech in the house was set up and the house met Najimi's (the gruelling task master she was) own personal standard for cleanliness, then were they allowed outside to bask in the pleasantly warm summer night.
Crickets chirped as Budo and Taro began to set up a barbecue whilst Harry and Yuri began to dice ingredients for skewers.
"Nice knife skills there." Harry smirked as he saw the girl make short work of a chicken breast, dicing it into cubes and deftly sliding the meat aside to do it again. She flushed and smiled just a little at the praise but was otherwise EXTREMELY focused on what she was doing,
"I should say the same, I wouldn't have imagined you were so gifted." Yuri spoke in her usual, gentle tone, "Do you enjoy cooking? I'm surprised you didn't join the cooking club."
"I have a bit of a… mixed bag of feelings towards cooking. I don't mind doing it but don't exactly enjoy it enough to go to a club for it."
"That's a shame." Sayori piped up from behind them, having been salivating at the food from the sidelines before being dragged off by Hiro when she made a dive for some of the peppers Harry had been slicing, "You could have hung out with Natsuki."
"Ah… yeah, she used to be in that club, right?" Harry's hand stilled as he remembered how he got that info on the… confrontational girl, "Hey, Sayori?"
"Hmm?"
"What's Natsuki like?"
"Ehehe, you should get to know her to find that out, Harry."
"I'd love to, but I don't think she likes me very much. She kind of had some… words for me when we first met."
"You seem rather invested." Yuri entered the conversation with a thoughtful sidelong glance as she ran out of chicken to cut, "Do you… like her or something?"
Harry didn't quite know what the element was in her voice as she asked that question, but he could guess from the almost worried look in Yuri's eyes. He didn't really know what to make of Yuri, she seemed to have some sort of crush on him (he was neither dumb nor dense enough to not see it) but didn't quite know what to do about it.
She was obviously gorgeous, he felt like a perv whenever he let his mind drift here, but she had likely the most womanly figure of ANY student at the school (and anyone his age he had ever met). Tall, long legs and a large chest, glorious long hair and beautiful eyes. As well as being absolutely adorable (even if the timidity and easily flustered personality she exhibited was also saddening at the display of her own lack of self-esteem) as well as showcasing moments of great wisdom, intelligence and elegance.
You really could not do much better than Kuroyanagi Yuri.
But, it seemed that his silence and distracted introspection had set up something that Harry had endeavoured to avoid for his entire life…
Shenanigans…
"What's this? Our Assistant Rep is having MORE lady troubles?" Budo turned from the successfully assembled barbecue and followed Taro over to the rest of the group, the latter settling in next to his beaming sister (sipping from a glass of juice mixed with lemonade and marvelling at the awakening fireflies) before saying his piece,
"This is about Gushiken-san, correct? From your class, Sayori-chan?" A nod from Sayori answering him before continuing, "You went and stopped the Ganguro's from bullying her, did you do that because you wanted to date her?"
Scandalised, Harry's response was vehement and incredulous,
"Of course not! I heard they were planning something nasty for another student and decided to stop them. Anyone else would have done the same." He scowled and folded his arms, only to realise he was still holding the knife and had almost stabbed himself. He quickly set it down and the realisation acted like a bucket of ice cold water over the flames of his embarrassment, "She's the one who came to me afterwards, I didn't even know who she was. I just want to…"
"Know what her issue is?" Najimi supplied from off to the side, scooping up a similar drink to Hanako's and sliding in to sit on the girl's other side. A quick look over her shoulder in the twilight gave her a fond smile, bleached white wooden steps lead down a sandy shrub infested hill to a beach with pretty white sand surrounded on both sides by towering rocks. The mini-cliff faces that stopped people from simply looking in on the closed of space formed a horse shoe shape that curled out into the water and left only the narrowest of entry's/exits to the rest of the ocean. She looked forward to spending the next week or two just lounging down there but decided to get back to the topic at hand, which had moved on a little in her distraction.
"So… the reason you kept leaving change under the machine was because you knew she would find it and use it?" Taro inquired with a slightly unreadable expression, his dark eyes on Harry's slightly guiltily hooded green,
"I KNEW it wasn't some British custom." Budo exclaimed before deflating a little at Najimi's sidelong glare,
"So, Natsuki's upset cause she thinks you're treating her like a charity case?" Hiro's first foray into the dialogue, the boy a little flustered when eyes snapped to him, "I mean, she does seem pretty proud. She probably took a bit of a hit to her ego after finding out."
His words were met with a few resolute nods,
"I saw a girl and decided to offer a bit of help." Harry muttered a bit weakly,
"You didn't push the issue, did you? You didn't make her feel guilty or obligated to do something in return?" Hanako, also her first entry into the larger conversation. The boy in question once again looked horrified and scandalised at the insinuation, especially when Taro nodded just a little in approval (as she voiced the questions he hadn't yet vocalised), but she held up her hand as his expression acted as enough of an answer, "Don't worry, I'm taking that face of yours as a big NO."
Hanako smiled sweetly and spoke again,
"I think that's really sweet, helping her twice just for the sake of helping someone. It says a lot about your character. Big brother made a good choice in friends with you."
"Ehehe, that's our Harry alright. A little superhero!" Sayori's declaration was delivered with a smile and a thumbs up, Budo copied the gesture and Yuri's was left feeling a little dizzy with how hard she nodded her head in agreement.
Then there was a minute shift in atmosphere, and Harry did not like the look Budo and Sayori shared one bit. A silent conversation taking place and concluding with two downright EVIL smirks on their faces,
"You go get his I'll get mine." Sayori declared,
"On it!" Budo's agreement made as the two sprinted off into the house,
"I… do not have a good feeling about this…" Harry murmured as he heard them stomp upstairs. He turned to Hiro and the boy seemed surprised, "Please tell me, has she always been like this?"
He froze at being addressed and recovered slowly,
"Sayori kind of just does what she wants, I never know what's going through her head. I just hope it doesn't become too troublesome." He sighed out and folded his arms, looking up towards the girl's rooms window (the light suddenly flicking on) with what looked to be a tired and almost a little resentful glare,
"You've been Sayori's best friend for a while, right?" He probed,
"Huh, erm… yeah. Since the minute I moved onto the street actually."
"You're her neighbour too, right? Why don't you two walk to school or anything? I remember hearing that you aren't in a club or have any responsibilities before or after school."
Hiro seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden line of questioning.
"Well… Sayori doesn't really make it much of an option. She likes to sleep in until the last possible moment and I'm not just going to stand around waiting for her to drag herself out of bed." Hiro huffed a bit and thus missed the dark little look he received from Harry before the boy schooled his expression, "She's way too airheaded and whimsical, she's a bit too hard to deal with. Especially that early in the morning."
"That's not a very nice thing to say." Hanako snapped before Harry himself could speak, eyes flitting to her but her heated gaze was burned into Hiro, "Especially about your supposed best friend. You should be going in and getting her up on time, helping her out in the morning, being supportive."
"Erm, Hanako…" Her brother tried to sooth his suddenly very aggravated baby sister, he was promptly ignored,
"You're not a good friend if you're just going to leave her hanging the minute she becomes a little too inconvenient to you." She continued and struck a chord with all present, leading to a harsh stare down between the two.
Sayori and Budo rushed back outside at that point, stopping dead at the far tenser atmosphere than they had left. Sayori worriedly looked between her friends with worried eyes before asking in a small voice,
"W-what's going on?"
"Nothing." Hiro spat, he turned a harsh, hurt gaze to the others and Harry lied with a soft,
"Yeah, it's nothing. Honestly." He turned his eyes from the boy and he daren't look at the others for their reactions. Instead he decided to bring back the previously fun atmosphere with the question, "Why do you have my phone?"
And, though the two returning to the fray still seemed a bit… uneasy, their smirks returned to their faces.
[TO BE CONTINUED]
TO NEW READERS, WELCOME!
TO OLDER READERS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND CONTINUED SUPPORT!
AND TO EVERYONE, THANK YOU FOR READING x