Now that my summer vacation has "officially" started, there was nothing stopping me from staying up until dawn. That's exactly what I did the day after my job ended. I bought hell of a lot of snacks, spending my night playing games. I ended up pulling an all-nighter, only hitting the hay at 8am. The rest of my family left for a trip early in the morning, leaving me to watch the house for a couple of days. No one to disturb my sleep, and no one to complain about me making too much noise, great! There's nothing better than waking up naturally, without something to disturb yo—
Ding, dong!
…of course.
I slowly opened my tired eyes, staring at the ceiling. Damn it, I don't even need to check the clock to know that I haven't slept enough, maybe five hours or so. Ah, whatever, I'll just go back to sleep…
Ding, dong!
What, again? Ugh, just give up already… Or, maybe it's something important? Maybe I should check it out, I can always go back to sleep later. Taking some seconds to gather my strength, I got out of the bed, picking up my pants and t-shirt from the floor. As I was getting dressed, I heard the front door opening.
"Is anyone home?"
That's a voice I'd recognize a kilometer away.
"…yes, come on in!" I gave a tired answer.
Finally getting dressed, I checked myself from the closet's mirror to make sure I didn't look like a total mess. Eh, only half-a-mess, it'll do. I slowly moseyed downstairs, spotting the visitor in the living room. She, of course, was Ui. However, there was another girl, too, who had crouched down to pet Dash.
"Good morning, Eiji-kun," Ui greeted me.
"Yo," I said with a wave of a hand, and nodded towards the unfamiliar gal. "Who's she?"
The girl turned to look at me, frowning. "Geez, give me a break!"
That's when I finally recognized her. "Ah, the cat girl. You've got yourself some tan."
'Some' was an understatement; her skin was totally tanned, which is why I didn't recognize her at first.
"That's because we went on a trip to a rock festival, and it was sunny out there," Azusa explained, and frowned again. "And I have a name, you know!"
I just smirked at her, as she continued petting Dash. As the rest of my brain began to wake up, I noticed something about the girls.
"Why are you gals in your school uniforms?"
"Ah, we're planning on going to school to give Jun-chan some treats, her Jazz Club practices even during the summer break," Ui explained, showing me a small lunch box in her hands. "We came over to ask if your sister would like to come along, too."
I sighed tiredly. "Sorry, but the rest of my family went on a trip just this morning, Tamiko included. They'll be gone for a couple of days."
"…oh, that's a shame," she muttered.
I kept looking at her for a few seconds. "What if I came in her stead?" I asked half-seriously.
I didn't expect to get much of an answer, but to my surprise, Ui actually seemed to think about it. "…I wonder if the school would allow it. It's summer vacation, so maybe they're not so strict about rules."
Wait, gal, I was just joking. Unsurely, I turned to look at Azusa. She kept her eyes on Dash, staying quiet. Almost as if she was thinking about it, too.
"What do you think, Azusa-chan?" Ui suddenly asked her.
Azusa frowned a bit, but sighed right after. "…fine. But even a single word from a teacher, and you're out of there, got it?" she said, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.
Confused, I just scratched the back of my head, muttering under my breath: "…I wasn't actually serious, but alright." I then turned to Ui. "You're not in a hurry, are you?"
"Oh, no," she shook her head.
"Great, because I need some coffee," I sighed tiredly, heading to the kitchen.
When the coffee was done, I decided to go on the front porch to drink it, and the girls followed me. As we were sitting on the porch's steps, watching the surrounding scenery, a question came to my mind.
"How long you reckon we'll be out?" I asked the girls.
Ui cocked her head. "How so?"
I nodded towards the front door. "Just thinking if I should call someone over to watch Dash."
Honestly, there was no reason for Dash to be watched. The worst she could do is sleep through the end of the world. However, if you forget to give her the evening meal, she'll become the most passive-aggressive dog you've ever seen.
Ui turned her gaze upwards, thinking. "Well… Maybe a few hours. After we've delivered the snacks, we could go out and have some fun."
"Alright," I nodded, sipping my coffee.
Now, if I remember correctly… Ah, I was right, my phone was in my pants' pocket. I dug it out, browsing through the contact list. Tadaaki was on a trip and wouldn't return until next Tuesday, but Ichiro should still be in town, hopefully without anything better to do. So, I chose his number, and called it. It took half a minute for him to answer.
"…the fuck?" he muttered tiredly.
I snickered. "Well, morning to you, too. What, you spent the night watching some adult channels?"
He gave a half-assed laugh for an answer. "But seriously, what do you want?"
"Care to come over and watch my dog for the afternoon? I've got things to do elsewhere."
"Man, can't that dog take care of itself?" he sighed. "I really wouldn't want to bother right now."
"Oh, come the fuck on," I clicked my tongue. "Have some heart, help a friend in need."
He chuckled tiredly. "What, we're friends now?"
"Now, don't be a cheeky little asshole. You know what? You can just come over, continue on with your wet dreams, and wake up later to feed the dog. How's that?"
"Oh, fuck you and your wet dreams," he muttered. "What do I get as compensation?"
"You get me not breaking your front teeth," I quipped.
"No, seriously. I'm kinda broke right now."
I thought about it for a couple of seconds, and shrugged to myself. "…okay, I guess I can give you 1000 yens."
"Dude, you're cheap," he snickered. "…alright, fine. I'll be there soon, Mr. Cheapskate."
"Yeah, fuck you too, Mr. Bitch," I said with a grin, before ending the call.
I shoved the phone back into my pocket, and sipped my coffee. Man, Ichiro can be a real dickhead at times. On the other hand, I guess it's understandable if someone is a bit grumpy after being woken up by such a stupid phone call. I guess 1000 yens is the least I can give him for his troubles. Honestly, I'd give him more, but I've got a feeling I'll be needing the rest of my money. Ui said we'd probably be going somewhere, and if it costs money, I'd like to pay for it myself. But, speaking of Ui, the girls seemed a bit quiet. I turned to look at them, and was met with a pair of shocked faces.
"…what?" I asked them.
Azusa frowned. "…is that how you talk to your friends?"
Oh, shit. Yeah, I just completely forgot about keeping my language in check.
I kept looking at them for some seconds, until I shrugged, and sipped my coffee. "Only to my guy friends."
"…wet dreams?" I heard Ui muttering to herself, confused, before turning to face me. "Eiji-kun…?"
Oh no, please don't give me a lecture.
"…what does 'wet dreams' mean?"
…
See, here's another reason for keeping my language in check. Not only because of the vulgarity, but also because it saves me from these overly embarrassing questions. These gals are too pure.
A few moments passed, and I found myself standing in Sakuragaoka's hallway. Both Ui and Azusa had pressed their ears against a door, which allegedly belonged to the Jazz Club. Though I was standing a couple of meters away, even I could hear that the classroom was empty. I felt both nervous and excited coming here, but now that I'm here, I can't help but notice how few students there are about. I mean, sure, it's summer vacation, but still. The hallways were quiet, I couldn't hear any sounds coming from any classrooms. Only students I saw were some members of some sports club jogging a bit further away in the yard. Well, can't blame them. Even though clubs are nice and all, many would still prefer spending their summer doing something else.
"No one's there," I muttered to the girls, getting bored.
Ui stepped away from the door. "I think you're right."
"I guess they take a break during Obon," Azusa opined.
Oh, right. It's Obon, isn't it? That's why my family went on a trip in the first place. Honestly, I kinda felt tempted to go with them, since I haven't seen my grandparents in a while. But on the other hand they're still healthy, and won't be dropping dead in a hundred years, so I guess I can visit them some other time. Well, since Jun wasn't at school, Azusa suggested that we'd go to her club room to eat. However, we'd need a key from a teacher.
I decided to wait outside the Staff Room while the girls went in to get the key. However, I was soon called inside. The hell, are they trying to get me busted on purpose? Taking a careful peek inside the room, I noticed only one teacher there: Sawako.
"Ah, Sugimoto-san. Don't be shy, it's just me here," she said with a slight smile.
Unsurely, I stepped further, raising my hand. "Yeah, hi."
She held her chin with a smug expression. "You're very blatant, coming to an all-girls school just like that."
"Lady, I don't want to hear about blatantness from you," I muttered to her, unamused.
She got confused for a while, until she seemed to realize something. She put a passive-aggressive smile on her face, turning to look at Azusa.
"Azusa-chan, what have you girls told him about me?"
Azusa flinched. "N-nothing, not a single word!"
She, of course, was lying. I've heard enough stuff about Sawako to file a complaint and get her fired. But I like her, at least more than all the other tight-assed teachers, so I'll just let her do her thing. It's not like I'm a model student, either. After some small chit-chat, she finally handed us the key to the club room.
"Now, Sugimoto-san, remember to behave yourself," Sawako said with a smile.
No, lady, I'm going to go sniffing around the locker rooms and jack off in a corner the second I get out of your sight. What kind of a horny teenager she takes me for? Exiting the Staff Room, the girls and I began heading upstairs to the club room.
"…by the way, Ui-san, got anything for me to eat?" I asked Ui.
She raised the lunch box, smiling. "Yes, you can eat Jun-chan's portion. It's fruit jelly."
"Nice, everything tastes better when it's taken from someone else," I quipped with a grin.
Some sets of stairs later we got to the third floor, where we entered the club room. Still the same, if my memory serves me right. Five school desks arranged to form one big table, a gorgeous tea set in a display (I'm pretty sure I know the owner of that one), a few musical equipment here and there… The only thing missing was the aquarium with the turtle in it. Eh, it's summer vacation, so maybe one of the girls is taking care of it. Ui headed to the table, and began messaging Jun about her whereabouts, while Azusa opened one of the windows, and watched the scenery. I could hear some voices coming from outside, maybe some club practicing? Ah, shit, speaking of clubs, the guys and I really need to find some new members, if we want to secure the future of the Coffee Club. I bet it'll be really difficult at this point, but we need to try, at least. I better look into it more when I get back to school. If Daichi hears about the club not getting any new members, he'd probably beat me up so bad I'd need to repeat high school.
I walked to the table, pulling out a chair next to Ui. "Any word from Jun-san?"
"Not yet," she said, looking at her phone on the table. "Maybe she went somewhere."
I nodded for an answer, and sat down. Straightening her pose, Azusa closed the window and moved herself to the table. Ui opened the lunchbox, taking out three packs of fruit jellies of different colors.
"Eiji-kun: peach, plum, or mango?"
I pretended to think about it for a second. "…mango."
She handed me over a pack of orange colored jelly, and another one to Azusa, keeping the third one for herself. Without further ado, we began enjoying the jellies… I mean, it was a bit lukewarm, but I wasn't in the position to complain about it. As I ate, I was overcome with tiredness, most likely due to my sleep debt. Right after I finished the jelly, I rested my head on the table to get some rest, while the girls talked about something by themselves. Their muffled voices soon faded as my consciousness drifted away.
The singing of cicadas, it's the sound of summer. Their singing is always the same, but why do they do that, anyway? Is it a signal or something? To keep the aliens away, or what? Huh, a war between cicadas and aliens… If ten aliens fought against thousand cicadas, who would win? I mean, assuming the aliens don't have their laser weapons. Also assuming that they're humanoid, and not the monsters with claws and big teeth you see in some movies…
Wait, the fuck am I thinking about? Am I sleeping?
Opening my eyes, I saw nothing but the top of the table, surrounded by my sleeves. Ah, what a comfortable sleeping position, maybe I'll just go back to sleep… No, wait, I'm in Sakuragaoka. I slowly raised my head, and suffered the pain caused by the room's brightness. Looking around me, I noticed Ui and Azusa, both of them asleep. Ah, no wonder I wasn't woken up by them. Though I still felt a bit tired, I decided it'd be better to get up. Should I wake the girls up, too? I glanced at Ui, sleeping soundly and peacefully. Eh, I guess I'll let them nap for a bit longer…
I walked away from the table, scoping my surroundings. What should I do to pass the time? I thought about exploring around the school, but that'd probably get me in trouble, even if Sawako's the only teacher here. Okay, so no leaving the club room. What's there even to do here? Should I dig around that tea set display in case there's some snacks hidden in there? Or not, I still remember the time I stole a piece of chocolate from Yui when she wasn't looking, but she still noticed it missing, and man, what a ruckus followed. With that in mind, I don't want to risk stealing any snacks, in case they're Yui's. Or maybe they're Miss Kotobuki's. Yeah, no, I don't even want to know what she'd do to me, with her death stare and all.
Alright, then. What else is there…? Ah, a blackboard. Just a simple blackboard you'd find in every classroom in every school, but enough to provide entertainment when needed. I walked over to it, picked up a chalk, and thought for a while. Should I draw something? I'm not much of an artist, but I can draw a good penis once in a while. Though, I'm not sure if I'd dare to draw something like that, with the gals present and all that. Instead, should I write something? Hm, maybe not something that'll make the club members hate me once they find it. Ugh, I can't really come up with anything not-so-offensive-but-still-funny to write. I'll just write the first thing that comes to my mind…
I love Ui's food!
Heh, there. That should confuse whoever finds it. Now, to hide it… Ah, I'll place the chalkboard eraser in front of it. There we go.
I placed the chalk back, and took a couple of steps backwards. The blackboard didn't provide as much entertainment as I thought it would, guess I'm just not creative enough. I glanced at the sleeping girls. Should I finally wake them up? Or, maybe I could pull a prank on them. But what prank won't end with them getting angry at me…? Oh, wait, I recall watching something on TV. They said that if you speak softly enough to a sleeping person, you appear in their dreams or something. I call bullshit, but it doesn't hurt to try. At least I hope so.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…" I quietly muttered to myself, trying to decide which girl would be the subject of my scientific test.
After a bit of pondering, I ended up picking Ui, since Azusa would probably smack me on the face if she suddenly woke up and found me whispering in her ear. I walked to Ui, crouching down next to her. She was resting her head on the table, sleeping peacefully, breathing softly. I kept looking at her for some seconds, until I moved myself closer, my mouth next to her ear. I bet this would look really shady out of context.
"Yo, Ui-san," I whispered to her.
…and, no answer. Of course. Or at least I thought so, until I saw Ui moving. As she slowly opened her eyes, I quickly retreated. She raised her head, yawned, and began rubbing the sleep out of her eye. Damn it, my whispering woke her up!
"…what?" she asked me.
Aw, shit, now what!? I was desperately trying to come up with some excuse, when Ui's phone suddenly began vibrating on the table. She didn't seem to notice it.
"…uh, your phone," I said, pointing at the thing.
"Oh," she muttered, picking up the phone. "I fell asleep."
She checked the message, smiling right after. "Ah, it's from Jun-chan."
She showed the message to me. It was a picture of a bored-looking Jun, a pretty countryside in the background.
"Their club is on a break during Obon, so she's visiting her grandmother," Ui explained.
"I, uh, see…" I muttered.
I let out a silent sigh of relief. Thanks, Jun, you saved me at the last second… From the corner of my eye, I saw Azusa raising her head slightly. Huh, so she woke up, too. I glanced at her, and froze when I saw her stern expression. What's that about? No, wait, how long has she been awake? While Ui was occupied with writing a message to Jun, I slipped closer to Azusa, crouching down to her level.
"How much did you see?"
"Everything. What were you trying to do?" she whispered back.
I glanced elsewhere, frowning. "…just forget about it."
"Pervert," she retorted quietly.
Ui raised her gaze from the phone and looked at us confusedly, so I decided to back off for now, taking a step backwards.
"So, Jun-san is in the countryside. What now?" I asked.
Ui cocked her head. "Don't you remember? We planned on going to see a movie."
"We did…?" I muttered. Hm, maybe we did, but I was probably half-asleep at that point. "Oh, right. What kind of a movie, exactly?"
"Well, Azusa-chan suggested that we'd watch a horror flick."
Horror flick, huh… I've never been a big fan of them. Not because they're scary or anything, I actually enjoy a good scare once in a while. They're just clichés after clichés, and are usually pretty predictable. I thought about voicing my opinion on the matter, but then decided to just let it be. Who knows, maybe I'll enjoy this movie.
One walk later, we got to the mall, and headed straight to the mall's cinema. The girls began browsing the movie listing, while I spent my time watching people coming and going, since I really didn't care what movie we'd watch. I've been to this cinema a few times before, but it sure has been a while since the last time. Thanks to the internet, I can watch movies whenever I want for free. Regardless, there's something about cinemas that makes you want to visit them. Maybe the atmosphere or something, ugh, I don't know.
"Eiji-san?"
Snapping out of my stupid thoughts, I turned to face the voice, finding Azusa standing next to me.
"Yeah?"
"There's some time until the next showing, so we're going somewhere to kill some time," she explained.
"Right…" I muttered, spreading my arm to my side. "Lead the way."
We spent the following minutes slowly roaming around the mall, looking at different things and places, but not visiting any. Suits me just fine, since I'd rather save the last of my money in case something urgent comes up. We ended up going to a grocery store, where the girls began browsing the magazines. I really don't like standing in the middle of the store, browsing magazines like it's some kind of a goddamn library, but since I had nothing better to do, I ended up swallowing my pride and picking up a video games magazine.
"…maybe I should find a summer job," Azusa muttered.
I glanced at her. "Hm, do they pay well?"
Ui lowered her own magazine. "Eiji-kun, what are you talking about? Weren't you working the last two weeks?"
With a flinch, I realized how stupid my question was, and began peering somewhere towards the ceiling. "O-oh, yeah, but… I'm just wondering what the normal summer jobs pay."
"Normal summer jobs?" Azusa repeated after me, giving me a confused glance.
I quietly looked at her for a few seconds, until I turned back to my magazine. "…I'll explain later."
Not sure why, but telling the girls about how I've been working as Tsumugi's butler just didn't feel like a comfortable idea. The girls were still looking at me, both equally confused, so I almost buried my face in the magazine, trying to ignore them… Hey, that post-apocalyptic RPG is getting a sequel next year!
Time passed, and we headed back to the cinema to watch the movie… whatever it was, I don't even know what we're about to watch. I didn't have to wonder about it for much longer, as we headed straight to the box office to get some tickets.
Confusedly staring at my ticket, I turned to face Ui. "…this ain't horror."
"No, it's not. Azusa-chan changed her mind," she explained.
Huh, she did? I always thought she'd be persistent with her decisions. The genre on the ticket said Drama, so I guess it's some kind of a drama movie. Well, I generally like those more than horror flicks.
After stopping by the snack booth, we headed to the auditorium, ready for the movie.
"You didn't get any popcorn?" Ui asked me. Both of the girls had a bucketful of the said thing on their laps.
I shook my head. "Nah, I don't really care for popcorn. I hate how those thin pieces of kernel get stuck under my gums. Blah…" I muttered, grinding my teeth in disgust.
So, instead of popcorn, I only got myself a multi-colored slushie. Now that I think about it, I guess it's my favorite 'snack', if you can even call it that. We chatted for a while, until the movie started rolling. It quickly became apparent that the movie was about some boy and his dog. Ah, so it's not the kind of drama I usually watch. Well, let's see how it holds up.
Over an hour later I had already finished my slushie, and we were nearing the movie's conclusion, where things got quite emotional. Of course, it takes a lot more than that to get me to shed a tear. Regardless, I still ended up liking it more than I thought at first. Hmm, I wonder how's Ui? I turned to look at her, and sure enough, she was weeping. Well, not that I expected anything else. Back to the movie, then…
"Sniff…"
H-huh!?
Slowly turning my gaze to the side, I was met with Ui's head. She had rested her head on my shoulder, continuing on with her sniveling. Did… Did she do that unintentionally, or…? Ugh, anyway, I'm not sure what to do now. Maybe it's the same thing as with the sleepwalkers; don't wake them up. Ui's tears sunk into my hoodie as I did my best to not make any sudden movements. Urgh, I bet Azusa has already noticed this, and is just sitting there with a big, shitty grin on her face… No, she's sleeping. She's sound asleep! Just what the hell is wrong with her today!? I seriously hope Ui is able to lift her head off my shoulder, because I damn sure don't know how to handle this situation!
…
Ding, dong!
…and there goes my sleep once again. Though, I can only blame myself for it; I knew I'd be getting visitors today, but I still ended up staying up late, watching TV. It's been a couple of days since Ui's, Azusa's and my visit to the cinema, and now that Jun's back in town, we'd be going to the pool as planned. It's also the last day I'd be the only one in the house, since my family would be coming back tomorrow… Oh, right, the doorbell rang. Taking a second to gather my strength, I got on my feet and walked to the window, which I opened.
"It's unlocked!" I yelled outside.
The second after my yell, I could hear the front door opening, followed by a cheery Jun-like greeting: "Mornin', Sugimoto residence!"
Tiredly smiling to myself, I stretched a bit, before throwing some clothes on. Stopping by the bathroom, I moseyed downstairs to meet the visitors. The first one I met was Ui. She had a sorry smile on her face.
"Sorry for the sudden wake-up," she apologized.
I just shook my head. "Nah, it's fine, I would've probably overslept otherwise. I'll just quickly drink some coffee, and we can go."
Ui's sorry smile turned into a nervous smile. "Well, actually… We are two hours ahead of the schedule."
"…huh?"
Ui didn't answer right away, so I began scoping around, looking for Jun. I quickly found her in the living room. She was crouching down, giving Dash some pats and scratches. As she saw me looking at her, she, too, smiled nervously.
"…W-well, you see, it was my idea," she muttered. "I… kinda woke up early, and since I had nothing to do, I headed over to Ui's place. And, well, we got bored, so we decided to come here earlier than what we planned."
Ui frowned a bit. "It was you who decided on that."
"Hm, I see," I nodded, turning around and heading towards the stairs. "Well, I'm going back to sleep."
"A-ah, Eiji-kun, wait!" Ui said hastily. As I looked at her over my shoulder, she continued: "Um, how about I make us some breakfast?"
I halted.
"Or, it'd be breakfast for you, and lunch for Jun-chan and me," she clarified, and cocked her head. "What do you say?"
…
God damn it, I just can't say no to Ui's food.
"Okay, whatever," I sighed.
I walked to the kitchen, Ui following right after me. I began making myself some coffee, while Ui just stood there, looking around the kitchen. Her eyes were drawn to the sink, which was half-full of dirty dishes. The counter next to it held a small pile of takeout boxes. I saw her eyeing the mess.
"Don't even think about it. I'll clean up later, before my family comes back."
"O-oh?" she flinched, blushing ever so slightly. Guess I was right.
"…A-anyway, mind if I take a look at what ingredients you have?"
"Go ahead," I muttered, snapping the coffeemaker on.
I leaned backwards against the kitchen counter, watching Ui as she went through the fridge and cabinets, quietly mumbling something to herself, and clearly making plans. After checking everything, she stood still for a few seconds, until she turned to face me.
"I think I'll make a simple meat pie," she announced. "It'll take a while, so you can enjoy your coffee in the meantime."
I glanced at the coffeemaker, noticing that the coffee had already dripped. "Ah, right."
I poured myself a cup of coffee and carried it over to the living room, while Ui began digging around the cabinets for ingredients, utensils and such. I sat down on the couch, picking up a remote and turning on the TV. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jun on the floor next to Dash, both lying lazily. A minute passed, and Jun began squirming.
"I'm bored," she whined quietly to herself.
I tried my best to not pay her any mind. She, however, sat up, facing me.
"Eiji-kun, can I play on your computer?"
I shook my head. "No."
She slapped the floor with both of her hands. "Aw, come on! Why not?"
"Because you can't," I said, sipping my coffee. "I mean literally. Yesterday, I sold my CPU, since I'll be getting a new one, anyway."
"See-Pee-You…?" she quietly repeated after me, confused.
With a slight smirk, I turned to look at her. "Let's just say it's a very important part. So yeah, my computer isn't usable right now."
She pretended to understand what I meant, and got a new idea: "How about your console?"
"No."
"What, you sold its cee-pee-something too?" she asked
Taking a more comfortable position, I changed the channel. "Nah, I just don't want any unnecessary racket right now."
Jun puffed her cheeks, unamused. "You're a real piece of work, Eiji-kun."
"You're one to talk…" I murmured quietly, sighing out of frustration, and glancing at her. "Look, if you're seriously that bored, how about you take Dash for a walk?"
"For a walk…?" she muttered, looking at the lazy dog. "…Uh, sure, I guess."
With a small grin of satisfaction, I sipped my coffee. "The harness and the leash are in the foyer."
Keeping my eyes on the TV, I could hear Jun walking to the foyer. The second she grabbed the leash off the wall, Dash jumped on her feet and ran to her, causing Jun to let out a surprised noise. A bit later I could hear Jun getting her shoes on.
"Oh, um, what should I do when it…? You know…" Jun asked, her voice drifting off at the end.
Takes a shit? I felt like complementing her sentence, but decided against the idea.
"You know that small stream that runs through the neighborhood? Walk her next to it, on the grass. No need to clean up."
"O-oh, okay, I guess that'll work," she muttered, and I could hear the front door opening. "We're off."
And there they go. Finally, some peace. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with having Jun around, she's actually quite a fun company. Right now, however, I wanted to enjoy my coffee in peace. Also, it saves me from having to take Dash for a walk. Gulping down the rest of my coffee, I laid down on the couch, changing the channel once again. Ugh, I swear to god, there's nothing but shit on the TV nowadays…
…Wha-… Huh? Did I doze off there for a second? With a heavy sigh, I slowly sat up, scratching my head. Glancing around with tired eyes, I spotted Jun, sitting on the other couch, reading something. Maybe something from the living room's bookshelf. Wait, on a closer inspection… It's one of my sister's manga. Well, I'm sure she won't mind.
"How long was I out?" I asked her.
"Hm? Oh, you're awake," she said, raising her gaze from the manga. "Maybe half an hour or so. I was about to wake you up when I came back, but Ui told me to let you sleep for a bit."
"Ah, she did, huh…?" I muttered, and recalled something. "Oh, right. How did you do with Dash?"
Returning to her manga, she answered: "Just fine." She nudged her head towards Dash, who was lazing around on the floor as usual.
Nodding to myself for no reason in particular, I was about to get up, when I noticed something on my lap: a blanket. I didn't even have to ask. Moving it aside, I got up, walking to the kitchen. The first thing I noticed was the delicious smell. As I got to the kitchen, I noticed Ui crouched down in front of the oven, peering into it. Carefully, I strode over her, and got myself a glass of water.
"How is it?" I asked, after which I gulped down the water in one go.
"Just about done, I'll let it brown for a minute longer."
"Sounds good," I noted, putting the glass on the sink.
Wait a minute. A glass… A sink… A glass of… water? Water, water… Water! Shit, shit, shit, I completely forgot about watering the plants! God damn it, mom's going to kill me if even one of them has withered! Where the hell's that watering can!?
Over an hour later I was standing in front of a vending machine, right next to a grocery store. I thought about my options for a while. I still didn't feel like trying anything special, so I just got myself a can of basic cola. Cracking it open, I returned to the girls, who were standing in front of the grocery store, which in return was located next to a train station. Once again, I had called Ichiro over to watch the house while I'm gone, and now that I've received my paycheck, I could pay him a whopping 1000 yens for his time. He, however, didn't care about the money that much, since he recently had another fight with his father, and wanted to be somewhere else for a while. As planned, the girls and I were waiting for Azusa so that we could go to the pool together. She, however, seemed to take her time. I was about to comment on it, when Jun beat me to it.
"What's taking her so long?" she whined.
"A hangover, most likely," I quipped.
Unamusedly glancing at me over her shoulder, Jun was about to say something, when she was interrupted by a young lady on the other side of the street, trotting towards us.
"Sorry, I needed some time to get ready!"
"…who are you?" Jun asked her.
Her reaction to tanned Azusa was exactly the same as mine. I turned my head away to hide my shitty grin, as Azusa was annoyedly retorting to Jun. Well, now that everyone's here, we moved to the station to wait for the train, which would take us to the pool. And yeah, it's the same pool Jun and I visited a bit over two years ago. I remember enjoying my time there, so I bet this trip will be just as fun, maybe even more so now that there's more of us. However, it made me remember the discussion Jun and I had back then; about how Ui didn't want to come with us. I never got an explanation for it, but to be fair, I never asked about it either. And as time passed, I completely forgot about it. Oh well, the past is in the past. I, if anyone, should know that.
As the girls talked about some inside stuff, I quickly got bored, stood up, and began slowly pacing along the platform. As I did that, I kept my eyes to the ground, having just remembered one of my brother's trivial tips: People tend to drop all kinds of stuff when they're rushing to enter or exit the train, including money. Hm, I wonder how he's doing. Dude got lucky with our uncle's job offer, that's for damn sure. He already has his own apartment, a driver's license… Shit, he'll probably have his own car by the end of the year. But anyway, what will I do? Sure, I bet our uncle would hire me if I asked for a job, but I don't feel like moving away. So, what other options do I have? Part-time jobs? Hmm, I wonder if I could convince my parents to fund me a driver's license. I'm not sure why, but I like the idea of having a job where I can drive around… Hey, a 100 yen coin! Damn, Daichi was right!
One train ride later we arrived at the pool. It still looked the same as before. Heading to our respective locker rooms, I headed to the least crowded corner to pick a locker, and changed into my swim trunks. Leaving everything else in the locker, I took the key and headed off to the pool. As I stepped outside, it affected all of my senses: the bright sun blinded my vision for a bit, the smell of chlorine and sunscreen wafted from all around, the sound of people having fun was almost deafening, and I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. Yeah, I guess this is what summer vacation is supposed to be. Playing in the water and soaking up the sun, instead of hanging around the side alleys at night, drinking alcohol and generally being a nuisance. Though, that can be fun, too.
I completely overestimated the time the girls would take to be ready, so I ended up almost nodding off while waiting for them. Finally, I managed to spot Jun amongst the crowd, so I walked over to her. As I did that, she in turn spotted me, and waved her hand. I also noticed Ui standing next to her. However, as I got to them, I noticed something.
"One is missing," I noted.
"Ah, you mean Azusa? She's embarrassed about her tan lines, so she's getting tanned in the corner, over there," Jun said, pointing at somewhere with her thumb.
I didn't bother looking at the direction, so I just nodded in agreement. With a smug grin, Jun spread her arms, showing off her green two-piece swimsuit.
"These are new, what do you like?"
Gal, you're talking to a guy who wears nothing but the same red hoodie all the time…
I just shrugged. "I don't know. If they feel fine to you, then I guess they're fine."
"What kind of an answer is that?" she muttered, unamused. "And you still have those same swim trunks?"
"Yeah, why? It's not like they're broken or anything, and they still fit just fine," I said, raising my leg to get a closer look at the trunks.
Jun frowned a bit. "…I really don't like your indifferent way of thinking."
I just smirked at her, and turned to look at Ui. She was wearing a plain, white bikini. Nothing special really, though it felt weird seeing her in a swimsuit. I still tried my best to act normal. Same couldn't be said about her, though: she actually looked a bit sheepish.
"Ah, Ui's just feeling a bit shy," Jun grinned. "Don't worry, she'll get over it."
This caused Ui to snap a bit: "J-Jun-chan!"
"Oh, there we go," Jun snickered.
She reached into a bag she was carrying, and pulled out a deflated beach ball, which she threw at me. I barely managed to catch it.
"Come on, then. Get to work."
I looked at her, and then at the limp piece of plastic in my hands. "Once a servant, always a servant…"
Now that I think about it, I don't really care for pool water. Because of the chlorine, yeah, but I also don't like the fact that hundreds of all sorts of people are sweating, drooling and pissing in the same body of water. And the chlorine, again, sticks to your skin and smells for the rest of the day. There's so many people in the pool that it's difficult to find a spot where you'd have space to breathe, not to mention play around with someone else. Yeah, and then there's your bag, if you happen to bring it along to the pool. Even if you trust Japan and its low crime rates, you still can't help but to glance at your bag every now and then, just to check if it's still there. Though, Azusa's currently taking care of Jun's bag, but on the other hand, what could she do if some dude suddenly grabs it and makes a run for it? I tried to think of a scenario where that would happen, but was interrupted by a sudden blow to my head.
"Hey! You listening, you dunce!?" Jun yelled at me.
She had thrown the beach ball at me to get my attention. Not the most elegant way, but it worked, since she had my undivided attention at that moment.
I crouched down to pick up the beach ball from the water. "What's up?"
"Ui and I will go get some yakisoba, go wait for us with Azusa."
"Your treat?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Of course not, you'll pay me back later."
"Figures…" I muttered.
We got out of the pool and walked to Azusa, who to my knowledge was still tanning next to the parasols. And yeah, she was there, but asleep. Damn, if she had tan lines before, they sure were gone now. Just how quickly does she tan? Is it a gift, or a curse?
Looking pensive, Jun said in a low voice: "Actually, should we leave Eiji-kun with sleeping Azusa after all?"
"Huh, what do you mean?" Ui asked.
Yeah, gal! What the fuck did you mean by that!?
She glanced at me. "He might try to pull a prank on her."
"Ah, yeah, Eiji-kun has a bad habit of doing that…" Ui muttered.
…Oh. Me and my perverted mind…
I just raised my hands, looking innocent. "Nah, I just want to sit down for a while. I'm too tired to pull pranks right now."
It was a lie. I'm not going to let this opportunity pass.
Still looking a bit sceptic, Jun finally shrugged. "Okay, then. We'll be right back."
She grabbed some money from her bag, and the both of them headed off, leaving me alone with Azusa. I sat down under the parasol, watching the girls disappear into the crowd. Alright, what should I do? Clearly, it was too late to write anything on her skin with sunscreen. If I had some juice, I could've made her drink it through her nose. And oh, what would I give for some empty beer cans and a camera. I'd make it look like she's passed out, and take a picture. Man, I'm out of options. What else is there…? Wait, what if…? I quickly scanned my surroundings to make sure no one was looking at us, and slipped closer to Azusa.
"Yo, Azusa-san," I whispered to her.
"W-wha…? Eiji-san, what… are you doing here?" she mumbled in her sleep.
It worked? Shit, it worked! I actually managed to get into her dream! I almost laughed out of excitement, but then remembered to keep calm.
"Just stopping by," I whispered, holding back my chuckling. "You know, Ui-san opened a five-star restaurant recently."
"She… She did?" Azusa mumbled, audibly confused.
"Yeah, it's famous worldwide. I'm actually the manager there, that's why I have this expensive suit."
I could see Azusa frowning a bit. "But, we're at the pool. Why are you wearing a suit here?"
Oh, so she's dreaming about the pool? Fitting, I guess.
"I'm just wearing the top part. See? I'm also wearing swim trunks," I whispered, grinning at the mental image.
Azusa mumbled some confused sounding sounds. "Wha…? What…?"
Shit, shit, this is too much, I don't know if I can hold my laughter for much longer. Better end this before I ruin it.
"Oh, look at the time, I've got to go help out the cicadas. They're at war with the aliens, you see," I whispered one last time, before retreating and covering my snickering mouth with my hand.
Azusa just continued on with her confused mumbling. Man, right now I'd really like to see her dream. Maybe I could ask about it when she wakes up? Or not, it'd raise too much suspicion. Well, now that I'm entertained, I guess I can rest for a bit. I dragged myself back under the parasol, laying down. I spent my time staring at the underside of the parasol, occasionally raising my head to get a look around me.
"…The hell's taking them so long?" I muttered to myself, turning to my side.
Before I met Ui, I've mostly spent my summers sleeping, playing games and messing around with my friends. Three years ago today, my last summer vacation in junior high, I was probably sleeping at this time. When the sun started to set, I'd finally wake up, and meet up with my friends at night. We'd spend the night hanging around downtown, passing the bottle around, occasionally smoking Tadaaki's cigarettes if we felt like it, and getting in trouble. We'd pick fights with other teens, which usually ended up with some outsider threatening to call the police, and us running like hell away. Remembering those times brought a smile on my face, which soon turned into a frown. I'm not like that anymore, at least I try not to be. Though, I still enjoy a nice beer once in a while…
My thought process was cut short by Azusa, who suddenly sat up, making me flinch a bit. "A dream…?" she muttered to herself.
A bit torpidly, she slowly began looking around with tired eyes, until her eyes reached me.
"Where are the others?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Getting yakisoba. Though, they've been gone for a while…"
Right at that moment however, a yell could be heard: "Azusa-chan! Eiji-kun!"
Turning to face the voice, I spotted both Ui and Jun skittering towards us, carrying four servings of yakisoba.
"The line was longer than we expected," Jun explained.
She then took a better look at Azusa, and let out an impressed sound. "Woah, you're all tanned now!"
"Fast, isn't it?" Azusa muttered, not sounding too impressed herself. Ah, so it's a curse…
We sat down under the parasol, and began eating. The girls immediately started talking about some inside stuff, so I just slipped a bit further away, turning to face the other direction. Well, whatever, I'm already used to this. Though it made me think. If I was a girl, I could've applied to Sakuragaoka High School, and thus I probably could participate in their conversations. Or, maybe not. As far as I know, Sakuragaoka is of higher quality compared to the other schools in this town. So what if I was a girl? My grades would've still been shit. Ugh, I don't know shit about being the opposite gender. I just concentrated on eating my yakisoba, listening to the girls talk and occasionally throwing a witty remark whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Hours passed by as we were having fun at the pool. As we got back to the town, the sun was already setting, turning the sky orange. According to my watch, I've been awake for about six hours, half of which I've spent at the pool. And I enjoyed myself a lot, to say the least. We were walking along the street, planning on heading to Ui's place. I decided to stay back a bit, so that we wouldn't occupy the whole sidewalk. Honestly, this is nice. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there's something about hanging out with Ui and the other gals. Something that can't be compared with hanging out with my guy friends. It's just… pure, I guess? Pure and innocent, if that makes sense.
I thought about it as I walked, my gaze pointed upwards a bit. It lasted for a bit, until the girls suddenly came to a halt, and I bumped into Ui, who would've probably fallen down if I hadn't grabbed her by the shoulders. Why the sudden stop? I, however, didn't have to ask, since as I directed my gaze forwards, I was met with Yui and her friends, standing about ten meters ahead of us. Yui immediately ran over to hug Azusa, which didn't surprise me anymore at this point.
From what I heard, apparently the girls were studying over at the library, and they're currently heading to a local festival to relax for a bit. Yui eagerly invited us to come with them. I've attended this town's summer festivals a few times before, and they've always been nice, so it sounded good to me. I told the girls I'd be stopping by my home to drop off my bag, and meet them at the festival, so that's what we did. I walked over to my house, dropped off my bag, paid Ichiro 1000 yen extra, and started heading back. I remember the festival taking place at a river bank, so I headed there. And sure enough, the whole river bank was full of people and festival stalls of different kinds. By the time I got there, the sun had already set, the starry sky sparkling above the town.
I slowly walked along the riverbank, looking at different stalls, smelling the pleasant aromas, and dodging running kids. There's a lot of people about, maybe hundreds. How am I going to find Ui and the rest? I thought about calling her, but gave up on the idea. If I just keep going straight forward, I'll bump into them sooner or later. So, I continued on walking, glancing at the stalls once in a while…
…Wait. That's a coffee stall. And the vendor… That peculiar but cute hairstyle…
I halted, thought about it for a bit, and walked over to the coffee stall. The vendor had crouched down to dig around some boxes, so she didn't notice me at first. I knocked on the counter, and she finally noticed my presence. As she got up and got a better look at me, she seemed surprised. And I was just as surprised to see her.
"Yo, Yoshiko-san," I greeted her.
Yoshiko grinned a bit "Ah, if it isn't Eiji-kun. Did you miss me already?"
"Well, let's put it this way: at the café, you were a more pleasant sight than those other tired-looking middle aged men," I quipped.
"My, what a romantic you've become," she snorted. "Would you like something?"
I nodded, digging out my wallet. "Yeah, just a cup of coffee, thanks."
I received my steaming coffee, served in a paper cup. I decided to stay at the stall for a bit longer to catch up with Yoshiko.
"Whose idea was it to put up a coffee stall, anyway?" I asked.
"Mine," she said, raising her hand like a schoolkid. "Though, I'm not sure if it was worth it. Nighttime isn't the best period for selling coffee. Oh well, live and learn, I guess."
"Right," I muttered, sipping my coffee. "How's the college? What were you studying again…? Managerial economics?"
She nodded, and began to wipe the counter with a rag. "That's right. So far it's been kinda tough, but I'll suffer through it. The future of my uncle's café depends on it."
"Well I'm not sure if that's true…" I muttered to myself.
She noticed my reaction. "Just you wait, it'll become the most famous café in our town! We'll open new locations, and expand to other towns!" she explained enthusiastically.
I just rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'll buy your stocks the first chance I get."
My joke didn't amuse her. However, a smug smile appeared on her face. I had a bad feeling about it.
"By the way, how's it going between you and Ui-chan?"
I wasn't prepared for that question, so I almost choked on the coffee. Yoshiko snickered as I cleaned my mouth with my sleeve, coughing all the way.
"Aw, did I hit a nerve?" she asked mockingly.
I didn't bother to answer her.
She waited for me to say something for a while. As I didn't do it, her smug smile turned into a sympathetic one.
"…so you're not denying it, either?"
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. "Guess there's no need..."
We stood in silence for a minute. I sipped my coffee once in a while.
"…but judging by your reaction, she doesn't know about it. It's just you, right?" she asked.
After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I nodded. "Yeah, just me."
Yoshiko leaned on the counter with her elbows, resting her head on her hands. "Well, then. What's holding you back?"
"I… I don't know," I muttered, looking at the peacefully flowing river. "Guess I'm just waiting for the right moment or something."
"Or maybe you're just nervous, and making excuses?"
I shrugged. "Maybe."
I could hear her chuckling quietly. "Well, I'm not really the one to give advice, so take your time if you feel like it."
I just nodded for an answer, and sipped my coffee. I noticed I had only a little bit left, so I gulped the rest of it down my throat. Conveniently, there was a trashcan right next to the stall, so I threw the empty paper cup there.
"Thanks for the coffee. I need to keep on looking for my companions."
"Sure, have fun," she said, waving her hand. "By the way, I'm in town through the whole summer vacation, so you and the guys better remember to stop by the café."
"Will do," I said to her, waving back and continuing on along the river.
After some minutes of walking, I finally managed to find the girls. They were sitting on some stone stairs in a neat row, eating what I presumed to be shaved ice. None of them seemed to notice my presence.
As I walked to them, I decided to say something to get their attention: "Yo. Where's my serving?"
It did the trick, as the girls turned to look at me, passing by some casual greetings. Ui was sitting at the end of the row, so I sat down next to her. The girls quickly resumed their conversation. Well, everyone except Ui, who was quietly staring at her serving of shaved ice. Before I had time to ask her about it, she suddenly handed the serving over to me.
"Here, you can have this."
"Huh? I was just kidding, you know…" I muttered.
Ui, however, insisted on it, at least judging by her eyes, so I decided to just go with it and take the serving. It was already half-eaten, so I guess I shouldn't feel that bad about it. Honestly, I really don't care for shaved ice, since it's just… well, ice, with some artificially flavored syrup. But then again, so are slushies, and I like them. Maybe shaved ice is better when drunk, not eaten. I scooped some up with a plastic spoon, and ate it. It tasted like strawberry.
Finishing the ice, I threw the empty aluminum container into a nearby trash can. The other girls seemed to be done with their shaved ices, too. As they were cleaning up, a loud bang could be heard from up in the sky, accompanied by a beautiful, colorful flash of light.
I immediately jumped to my feet. "Fireworks!"
My uncharacteristic overenthusiasm was met with a few confused glances from the girls. I didn't let them bother me, I just kept my eyes to the sky. Just a second later the girls, too, got excited. Damn right, you should be excited!
"Want to go closer?" I could hear Ui asking.
I turned to look at her, and she was looking back at me, meaning the question was for me.
"Of-fucking-course!" I yelled, not caring to filter my language.
It, however, didn't seem to bother Ui, since she was just smiling warmly. Yui and the rest of her club began running towards the fireworks, so Ui, Jun and I did the same. It didn't last for long, however, since our path was blocked by a thick crowd. We tried to push through it, but to no avail, and got stuck half-way through. The fireworks were soon over. I honestly felt quite pissed off about it, and wanted to personally beat up everyone in the crowd. We began pushing our way back to where we came from. As we were almost out of the crowd, Ui managed to spot Azusa standing outside it, and called out for her.
"Where's sis and the others?" she asked her as we finally got out of the mass.
"I got separated from them," Azusa muttered.
Jun looked around her with a satisfied smile. "Should we start heading home?"
The rest of us agreed.
Minutes later we were walking along a darkened street. Again, I was lagging two meters behind. Keeping my hands in my hoodie's pockets, I looked at the urban scenery, thinking about nothing special. However, one thing came to my mind, and after a bit of hesitating, I decided to open my mouth.
"You know, Ui-san…" I called out for the girl in front of me.
Ui looked at me over her shoulder, and slowed her pace to get next to me. "Yes?"
I just gave her a quick glance, before turning my gaze somewhere to the side. "It's just… I just wanted to say, that… I've, uh, I've liked…"
…
"I've liked this day, a lot. It was a fun day. Thanks for inviting me."
Ui cocked her head. "Oh, um, that's nice to hear. But, why all the gratitude? Of course I was going to invite you."
I just scratched my ear, trying to act normal. "No, it's just, uh, I felt like I haven't thanked you enough recently, that's all."
Still looking a bit puzzled, she soon smiled. "…well, I appreciate the gesture."
It wasn't long until we came across a bridge, where I had to separate from the girls. Saying our goodbyes to each other, I began heading towards the north-east part of town. One of Yui's club's songs came to my mind, so I began humming it as I walked. Oh, right, the family's returning home tomorrow. Maybe I should buy some snacks on my way home, and spend the night playing games. Yeah, and I could ask Ichiro if he'd like to stay over. Company is always nice, especially when playing games. So, I'll probably need to buy some chips and soda, and we can order pizza later. Heh, it should be fun…
I slowly came to a halt. I looked around for other people, and didn't happen to find any. I clenched my fists and pinched my eyes shut out of frustration.
"I'm a fucking moron!" I shouted as hard as I could, the shout echoing around the neighborhood.
I resumed walking, this time at a faster pace. I just couldn't bring myself to say it to her. I just couldn't, I chickened out at the last moment. I felt like a damn loser, a pathetic one at that. Shit, let's just calm down here… Remember what Yoshiko said: take your time. Though, it wasn't really an advise, but still… Oh well, what's the hurry, anyway. It's not like neither of us will disappear anytime soon. I'll just wait for the right moment. Maybe when we're alone, when there's nothing else going on.
…still, I'm a fucking moron.