.
.
.
After I done practicing my bass, I was walking home while gazing lazily up at the sky and yawning. Well, now. Shall I read magazine, or take an afternoon nap? I have plenty of time to do what I want before dinner. As I was thinking these things, I arrived home, and found some shoes in the entryway I was not used to seeing. They were very small and decorated with a fluttery pattern. However I looked at it, these shoes didn't fit Naruko's tastes.
Now that I think about it, today was the day they were having that "anime appreciation event" or whatever here. Naruko's otaku friends had come over to play. Going up the stairs, I put down my bass in my room. I washed my hands, rinsed my mouth out, and then deciding to go drink some juice, headed in the direction of the living room where the refrigerator was.
"It's really quiet, isn't it?" Isn't this a bit strange? Knowing them, those people should be making a lot of noise around here…
When I opened the door, the inside of the room was dark. It seemed like the curtains were drawn closed. If they weren't here, they probably were in Naruko's room playing. I turned on the lights. The lights blinked. The fluorescent lights may have been dying. Hmm. I'll have to replace them…
"Wahh!" The instant the lights fully came on, I almost jumped back in surprise.
The reason was that right in front of me on the sofa, there was a girl dressed completely in black sitting calmly. Just like a queen sitting on her throne. She watched me with a penetrating, icy stare. As I stood there speechless, she grinned at me.
"Hm… so you've made it this far… I give you my compliments."
"This is my house!" I retorted instantaneously at Kuroneko. What was up with her acting like she was some wicked Vampire queen?
Why was it that, even though she was supposed to be here to play with Naruko, she was sitting alone in the pitch-black living room? I asked her this question which I should have asked from the get-go.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing really."
She quickly turned away from me. I hadn't the slightest idea what she was thinking, but she seemed almost a bit sad about something. The living room fell dead silent. It was uncomfortable. I mean, I was standing here in complete silence with one of my sister's friends, you know? What should I do?
As always, she was a hard person to deal with… shouldn't she at least give a proper greeting to the eldest brother of the house she came to visit?
Faced with this strange set of circumstances, I couldn't settle on what I should do… for now, I opened up the curtains and brightened up the room. The evening sun chased away the dimness in the room. When I looked back, I saw that Kuroneko had closed both her eyes tightly. She had completely lost that air of coolness she was carrying before. She looked more like a kitten who had just gotten her forehead poked.
"Sorry, is it too bright?"
"I do not do very well with sunlight."
You a vampire or something? Or maybe she was just quoting an anime again.
"Well, just make yourself at… well you already have I guess."
I made do with those words, but really, what should I do here…? For now, I should probably figure out what was going on, so I asked.
"By the way, where's Naruko?"
"In her room."
"And Rias-san? Is she also in Naruko's room?"
"She didn't come."
"Eh?" She didn't come?
"Why not?"
"She had urgent business to attend to. Yesterday, she came to my house with an 'I'm really sorry. I suddenly have to go out of town, so please hand this over to Naruru-chi,' and left this behind."
Kuroneko showed me a manga of "Puella magi Oriko Magica." It was probably the signed book or whatever Naruko had mentioned earlier. I don't know what kind of urgent business had popped up, but she sure was someone who kept her word.
"Please hand this over for me."
"Alright."
I began thinking while Kuroneko handed me the signed book. Rias was absent on urgent business. Hmm… was that so…? For some unknown reason, I had a bad feeling about this. Hold on, wait wait. So that means…
"So you were alone here with Naruko today?"
"Yes…"
Somehow… I knew what was going on… so… It was like that, right? Because Rias had not come, today's anime appreciation event became one in which only Naruko and Kuroneko were in attendance, right? That was absurd no matter how I thought about it…! Wasn't that just asking for World War? It would be unusual if they got together and didn't break out into an argument, right? There was no reason this would have gone well. I see…! I see I see I see. I knew exactly what was going on! I knew it all!
"And what?"
"You got into an argument with Naruko, didn't you?"
"Hm, aren't you sharp? Yes, precisely."
Facing each other, we fell into silence. So, in other words… Kuroneko came to this house for the sake of the anime appreciation event. But, Rias, who usually handled the disputes between Naruko and Kuroneko, couldn't come due to urgent business. And then unexpectedly, Kuroneko and Naruko had to play by themselves… and just like always, they got into a huge argument. And without anyone to mediate the dispute… Naruko became sulky and shut herself up in her room. Kuroneko faded into the pitch-black living room. This was just my guess, but I probably had guessed correctly for the most part… geez, why did it come to this? After they had finally found time to play with their friend, didn't they think that they should try a bit harder to get things to go well?
It's just that there were some points that should be examined in this case. In spite of breaking out into an argument in our home, Naruko had not driven Kuroneko out of the house. In spite of knowing that Rias would not be coming today, Kuroneko still came over and had not returned yet. What was up with that? Was I reading too much into it? Well, I personally don't think so.
"You're thinking something pointless, aren't you?"
"I'm not doing anything like that." I denied her statement with a stiff, twitching smile… she's pretty sharp, isn't she?
Well, at any rate. This had nothing to do with me. I couldn't stay here and take this damn heavy atmosphere. I had just gotten home and I really tired after practicing my bass since morning. It came at the exact moment I thought that. With almost suspicious timing, the cell phone in my back pocket began to vibrate.
"… Hm." It was an email. I had a bad feeling about this… and as I thought, it was from Rias.
Naruto-chi. I leave the rest to you.
"…"
Gazing at the LCD screen of the cell phone with dead fish eyes…
"Are you being serious, Rias…?" I wearily muttered.
(◕ω◕✿)
"… Hm, suddenly you're speaking funny…are you going crazy or something?"
"… It's nothing."
I responded dejectedly to Kuroneko, who appeared to have perfectly made herself at home and was flipping through my Dragonball manga that had been lying around.
Alright, what should I do…? I turned the situation over in my head to find the best solution. At this point, abandoning the situation as is and going off to do my own thing was no longer an option. Because, over these past few months, I had accumulated a great deal of debt that I now owed to Rias. If she wanted me to do this… I couldn't refuse. I had to do something about it.
That girl. Sending me this email with this timing, as if she were watching us through the window…
Rias definitely had good intuition. When she found out that she couldn't come due to urgent business, she probably guessed what was going to happen. And then she, thankfully, passed her duties down and depended on me. I might be exaggerating, but that's what I thought… geez. Well, there was no helping it. And so, the settlement of this anime appreciation event business was left to me.
Alright, first… I'll listen to both sides of the argument, figure out why they were arguing, and somehow smooth things over… and I'll stay with them until they agree to watch anime together. But then, they might get into an argument again, so I'll smooth that over as well. I'll manage to allow them to have fun, and then to allow their relationship to deepen. In Rias's place, I would become the buffer zone between them.
"Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt."
She was always doing things like this, wasn't she…? But she always did it with her trademark curvy smile…heh, it wasn't until she was gone that I understood her true value. Honestly, I should be thankful. Once again, I thanked Rias for being friends with Naruko.
"… What hurts?"
"Nothing."
Alright, let's begin. Pulling myself together, I started to act. The first person I had to deal with was the one right in front of me.
"By the way, uh, today… why did you argue with Naruko? I guess it was anime…"
"Wrong." Kuroneko emotionlessly butted in. But without having a subsequent sentence to connect her rebuttal to, she fell into silence. When I waited very patiently, she finally gave a sigh that seemed to be loaded with hidden meaning.
"… You know, it's not like I wanted to get into an argument when I came here… if Rias-san wasn't going to be here, then I would take that into account in my actions. So, even though I came here to watch anime, I tried to talk about anime as little as possible. She…probably also tried to do the same."
"I see."
"You have a problem with that?"
"There's no reason I would."
I didn't have a problem, but I was surprised. But I see… she had come to a friend's house to play, right? So she wouldn't deliberately talk about a topic that was likely to lead into an argument.
"So, why did you get into an argument?"
"Cell phone novels." Kuroneko spat that out irritatedly.
Cell phone novels… what were those? Umm… they were novel-like things that were written and read on cell phones, and were pretty popular with the female crowd, right? That might have been a bit off, but that was the general picture I think. Certainly, I think recently, some cell phone novels had been turned into books and movies too.
"So, what about cell phone novels?"
"'Fufuu, I wrote a cell phone novel, you know. Certainly, you've made things like manga and novels too, right? Want to take a look at mine? Well, it's a masterpiece though, if I do say so myself∼,' she told me."
Honestly, it was a pretty spot-on impersonation. It was an inspired performance, down to the irritating way she said "fufuu." But, to think Naruko had written a cell phone novel… that fit her almost spookily well. It definitely seemed like something trendy girls would do. And, she seemed strangely confident about it… but it was probably her first novel, right?
"Was it bad?"
"I wanted to kill her."
It was that bad!? Exactly what did she write!? Suddenly, I wanted to know! I could understand how reading a boring novel or manga could get you into a pretty angry mood. But wasn't it a bit excessive to want to kill the author? Perhaps she could infer from my expression what I had been thinking, but Kuroneko began to explain expressionlessly.
"First of all, the protagonist was the spitting image of the writer, and even referred to herself with 'atashi.'"
"Kill her!" Suddenly, at that moment, I could give a pretty good valuation as to what the high-and- mighty contents of that novel were!
"T-That's not all… she would be fine with starting a new line even though she only had written two or three characters, and then would start a new page when she felt like it. She used more emoticons and had more types of symbols than punctuation marks, although punctuation was few and far between in the first place, and she would switch from third person to first person without warning, making it hard to read, she filled it with cutaways and point-of-view changes, the first person portions matched her vocal patterns exactly, half of the contents were just her praising herself, the author and the characters would start meta conversations with each other…and to top it all off…"
Speaking completely indifferently, Kuroneko paused slightly, "And then there was a Kuroneko character that was clearly modeled off me who was raped and killed."
"That's terrible!"
She did that deliberately, didn't she!? If she showed that to her friend, then not only would she get angry, a fight would definitely break out!
"Hey, I'm really sorry about that…"
Kuroneko nodded, and once again fell into silence.
At this rate, nothing would move forward. I desperately tried to keep the conversation going.
"I mean, you sure do know a lot about writing. You also draw manga…"
"Not really… I'm just a bit above a complete beginner…"
Kuroneko glanced back to me. Alright, looks like I'm onto something here.
"I mean, I think it's pretty impressive. You could say what you did because you know the accepted…or should I say, right way of doing things. You really know what to look for!"
"Hm. You're misunderstanding a bit." Kuroneko had turned to face me head on. It appeared that she had taken the bait.
"Whether for manga or novels, there isn't really a 'completely correct' way to do things. Even if you put in a lot of onomatopoeia, even if you have a lot of line breaks, even if you use a lot of pictographs and emoticons, no matter what you make and how you make it, nobody can tell you that you're definitely doing it wrong… that's what I think. This goes for cell phone novels especially, since they're such a new written form."
Imitating the experts and just making things based completely on conventional rules and customs was not necessarily the correct ways of doing things, she continued.
"In a way, you could certainly say it is 'correct' to be able to take in the grand traditions developed and polished for a long time by our predecessors, to be able to take in the newest trends and learn the clever strategies for making your work popular. There's no mistaking that. But, just because that's true, that doesn't mean it's right to just categorically reject every other way of doing things. Looking down on everything and preaching tradition is something an idiot wannabe-expert would say. They're on the same level as the dumbasses who pay no attention to fundamentals and fill their writing with 'gdgd' and 'sense of wonder and so on.' It's natural that why people write what they write varies from person to person, and for a hundred people there would be over a hundred million things they could want to make… so there is no absolutely correct way of doing things. Hm, this is certainly an amateur speaking… but it's not like we're doing this for a living, so we should just write the way we want to write."
Just like Naruko, when it came to talking about her own field, she was quite talkative. But this aggressive style of speech… she seemed to be pretty annoyed.
"The hatred I expressed before along with all those points I listed were, to the very end, just things that did not fit my own personal preferences. I would like you to please not misunderstand that point."
"… I see." I had no idea. But because of her being able to get that all out to me, Kuroneko seemed refreshed. The previous depressing atmosphere had lightened. First step, complete… so, the next step is…
"Well, leaving that aside, I'll go prepare some juice and snacks… hold on just a second."
"Why is it that even though I came here to see that girl, I ended up spending time with her brother?"
"Don't ask me."
Leaving the living room, I ascended the stairs. I wasn't going to prepare snacks, but was going to talk with my sister instead.
"Naruko… hey. You're in there, right? Open up." Trying not to be heard by Kuroneko, I spoke in a soft voice and knocked.
After I continued to knock for a while, the door opened violently. With a facial expression that seemed to be disappointed that she had missed. It was as if she was trying to hit me in the face by opening it that way, but I had predicted it. Bam. I stopped the door with one hand, Naruko clicked her tongue.
"What?"
"Don't give me that. What are you doing here after abandoning your friend down there?"
"I was just playing with my little sisters."
"…!"
"What's with that gross face you're making? You got a problem?"
"No shit! How could you call your friend over to play, and then just go off playing games by yourself!?"
"Huh? So, you're suggesting that we play eroge together? Heh, hentai like you sure have different ways of thinking."
"You bitch…" Ugh…I'm so pissed off! And also… you say that two people playing eroge is something a hentai would say? Hah, well now you've said it… about four months ago, don't you remember when you came to me and ordered me to play eroge with you!? As always, she just completely ignores her own shortcomings, this hentai!
Dammit… this isn't good, I have to calm down… I was supposed to be helping her make up with Kuroneko, but here I am getting into an argument with her myself. Even while grinding my teeth, I pushed my anger back down deep into my chest.
"Naruko, your friend came today, so I think you should keep her company, right…?"
"Shut up."
"… Naruko… your friend came all this way to your house, so play nice. Don't get into fights with her."
"It's not like we're good friends or anything… and she was the one who started the argument."
"Liar. She told me that in the cell phone novel you wrote, there was a character that resembled her who was raped and killed. You're clearly the one at fault here."
"Huh!? What the hell is she saying!? That's completely wrong!"
"Huh? What's wrong about it…?"
Without responding to my question, Naruko went into her room. From inside the room, Naruko beckoned to me with her finger.
"Come in."
Naruko threw herself down on her bed with a thump, and pointed to a black book.
"Read a bit of that."
"What is this…? This…what does this have to do with what we were talking about?"
Just as my sister had ordered, I picked up the black book and flipped through it. On the front cover of the book, there was a painting-like illustration of a Gothic Lolita girl, and the title was written in stylish, cursive English letters. And inside of that book was…
"Manga… and… a novel…?"
"And after that, a thick mess of production materials."
"What is all this?"
"Doujinshi. A derivative work Kuroneko made for Rachel Alucard." Naruko's spoke irately, and thinned her lips.
"And… what's wrong with this doujinshi?"
"Hmph… then, while I read this cell phone novel that clearly stinks of rubbish, you can read this. You said that you had watched all of Blazblue Anime, right?' she said."
"I see."
Honestly, it was a pretty spot-on impersonation. It was an inspired performance, down to the condescending way she said "hmph." But…so this was a doujinshi that Kuroneko had made, was it…? It really didn't seem to fit Naruko's tastes…
"Was it boring?"
"I wanted to kill her."
It was that bad!? Also, this is pretty similar to the exchange I had with Kuroneko before!
"What kind of story was it?"
"Tch, it was a so-called 'time retrogression story.' And, what's more, the protagonist was definitely in the 'U-1' category."
"Why are you speaking in code?"
I know what a "time retrogression story" is but I couldn't make heads or tails of the word "U-1." Did it have something to do with MMA fighting tournaments or something? Perhaps sensing my confusion, Naruko began to irately explain.
"Both 'time retrogression story' and 'U-1' are terms that are used in relation to derivative works. 'Time regression stories' are, just like they sound, stories in which the protagonist travels back in time. Taking Fairy Tail as an example, you could have a story in which Lucy Heartfillia travels back to the timeline of the first episode from the time she join the guild while retaining her memories and experience, and repeats her fight with the enemies… those kinds of stories are what we call 'time regression stories.' It's crucial that the person in question retain her memories and experiences, and that's why the author and the protagonist can freely change history as he wishes. Not only does the author of the derivative work destroy all the previously established plot from the original work, he can make a completely different story."
"Yes I know that, but is that something wrong?"
Well, I understood at least what Naruko feel, a story in which the protagonist began the story again in extremely favorable circumstances, and a completely different story unfolded. Maybe she didn't like this kind of story.
"And then, 'U-1' refers to a story in which the protagonist has a bunch of random things added to him, and becomes overpower nonsense and the strongest character. Like, maybe he had inherited the powerful mystic eyes, or maybe he could enslave the opposite sex with just a smile and have a super large harem army, or maybe when he's serious earth will destroy by his power, or maybe he's an S-rank super-powerful person but he's only B-rank because he never sent in the right application… this kind of thing was used heavily in a famous derivative work of an eroge at a certain point, so the term 'U-1' is a warping of the name of the protagonist of that work. Another term, 'supashin,' refers to the same kind of thing."
"I-I'm having a hard time understanding this, Naruko." But you sure do know a lot about this!
"So… in other words, the doujinshi Kuroneko made fit into those 'time regression story' and "U-1' categories."
"Yes. After her favorite character Rachel Alucard was Killed by the series' main antogonist, Yuki Terumi, she returned back to the time of when she was still kid with nonsense method while retaining all her memories, possess the godlike power, and got close to all male character in the series and made them her harem boys… what kind of bullshit is that!"
"…"
"That shitty cat always cosplays as Rachel Alucard, so isn't it pretty obvious that she's projecting herself onto the protagonist of her doujinshi? At that point, it was just painful to read, and goosebumps had already…ugh."
You told her that to her face, didn't you? That's why you got into an argument. As I thought, you're the one at fault here.
"So, how exactly did that become 'I wanted to kill her' ? The artwork too… I mean, it bothers me a bit that the chins all look so pointed, but I think the art is pretty good… and from what you told me, the story seems relatively interesting, I think."
"Heh…why are you talking like you actually know what you're talking about after just looking at the artwork and listening to the outline of the story? This doujinshi's bad points aren't on the surface like that."
"… So where are they?"
"You can't figure it out after flipping through it? All the pages are incredibly difficult to read."
Naruko muttered frankly. She pointed to one of the pages in the book.
"Just look at these completely black pages. More than ninety percent of them are buried under text. She needs to use more linebreaks! And what's more, she uses so many hard-to-understand kanji and phrases, she just fills up space going on and on about things that nobody cares about, and doesn't think about the reader in the least. Especially during the battle scenes! They're so hard to read! I mean, for example, if there's an explosion, can't you just write 'dokaan!' or something? Just use a sound effect like that? Anyone who reads that would understand what was happening. And when someone's attacking, you can make them say 'Waah!' as a battle cry or something, and when they take damage you could make them scream 'Gyah!' or something! That's definitely easy to understand, easy to read, and everyone would read that, right? If you ask me, the stories she writes don't go an inch past self-gratification."
I haven't read the entire thing, so even if you say that, I can't really say I understand where you're coming from. But the way you talk is incredibly irritating. Also, to the very end, that was the writing method of the "Naruko school of cell phone novels," wasn't it? If the genre or the medium changed, then the most effective way of making the work probably changed as well. And it's not like you're running a hotel or something, so I don't see anything wrong with prioritizing self-satisfaction over everything else.
"And what's more, there are around two hundred pages of production materials that come with this doujinshi. Reading those in advance, there are a lot of original, incomprehensible technical terms that don't even exist in the original work, and because of that I can't even understand half of what's going on in the actual story. The technical terms themselves all stink of immature BS… stuff like Divine Demonic Destructive Wave! I can't read that at all! And what's more, she puts little 'stylish'-looking rubies in katakana above these terms! And it turns out to be some weird German or something! And, also, there's one thing that I can't swallow most of all…"
Naruko ground her teeth with all her might, and after pausing for a second spit it out.
"There was an original character that was obviously modeled after me, who had a magical 'charm' spell cast on her and became the protagonist's sex slave."
"Now, that's something to get pissed about!"
Until a few moments before, I had thought that Naruko was the one at fault here, but instantly I lost any desire to continue defending Kuroneko. What exactly is that Gothic Lolita doing to my sister!? Both of them were at fault here, weren't they!? Also, you two, you both sure did similar things to each other, didn't you!? You both wrote each other into your stories and did terrible things to them. You both read each other's work and bashed them condescendingly. And then you got into a fight and both of you started sulking… and that's how we got to where we are right now. But, Naruko…you…
"Did you seriously read all of that incredibly thick packet of production materials?"
"Huh? What are you saying? That's obvious, isn't it? If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to say anything."
And, that's that. Well? Doesn't it make you want to scowl? Just look at how close they really were. If Rias were here, she would definitely hold her stomach and burst out laughing right here. Geez, they're a troublesome pair, aren't they… anyhow, I now understood both sides of the story. The second stage had been cleared.
So, for the next step, I should take them from this situation to the point where they can hold the anime appreciation event, right? I don't know how much I can do to that end, but I was going to give it a go. And, I'll just say one last thing. Teenage girls shouldn't just suddenly start babbling about things like sex slaves! I'm definitely going to stop her before she does that next time!
(◕ω◕✿)
Holding a tray of juice and snacks, I entered the living room. I saw Kuroneko sunk into the couch, having completely made herself at home. It was the place where Naruko usually sat, so it felt somewhat strange. I spoke to her, feeling almost the same way I felt when speaking to my sister.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I already got tired of waiting. How long exactly does it take to prepare juice and some snacks?" She spoke vacantly while her gaze was focused on one of the magazines Naruko had modeled
What's with the big attitude, even though you're a guest in someone else's home? You sure resemble a certain someone I know. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I set the juice and snacks on top of the table.
… Alright, shall we begin? I plopped down a DVD case on top of the table.
"It took a bit more time than I thought to get this ready…"
"This is.…" Looking at the DVD case, Kuroneko's eyes narrowed. The DVD I had brought was the first volume of "Puella Magica Madoka Magi."
"What are you trying to do?"
"… I wanted to watch this with you, so I borrowed it and brought it here. Let's watch it on the big screen. The Madoka, or whatever."
I spoke in a half-resigned tone of voice. Kuroneko's expression didn't change at all, and she followed me with just her eyes.
"Have you seen this anime?"
"I haven't. I mean, I only watch Dragon Ball anime back when I was kid. But Naruko kept on going on and on about how interesting this was, so I've been interested in it for a while… so, if you help me follow the show I'd be really grateful."
There was a brief period of silence… and at last, Kuroneko softly picked up the Madoka DVD case, and after scrutinizing it in a profound manner, faced me and presented the case to me.
"Here you go."
"Alright."
I took the case and walked to the front of the TV, where I set everything up. The DVD tray that held the actual DVD receded back into the player… and the television screen suddenly came to life.
A menu screen was displayed. Ignoring the options for "Bonus Footage" and "Seiyuu Interviews," I selected the choice "From the Beginning" and hit the confirmation button on the remote control. When I did that, a pink-haired girl wearing pink dress pitter-pattered over from the edge of the screen. At the center of the screen, Wielding her bow, she shouted in a high-pitched loli voice.
"Puella Magi Madoka Magica STAAAAAARTOOOO!"
I can't do this… this is way more embarrassing than I thought it would be…! I felt my head heating up. But, as the person who had suggested doing this in the first place, it wasn't like I could back down now. And then, the title of the show, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, was displayed boldly on screen. As I listened to the seiyuu voicing the protagonist sing the theme song, I tried to deal with the immense amounts of embarrassment and regret I felt.
Then the scene begin with Madoka walking with her friends, she was probably going to school with her friend. As Madoka goes to school that morning, the mysterious black hair girl, Homura Akemi, enrolls in her class. Even stranger, Homura seems to know Madoka and later confronts her in the hallway about whether she cares for her friends or not, saying she should not try to change her life, lest she risk losing everything.
After school, whilst visiting a record store with her friend, Sayaka Miki, Madoka hears a voice calling for help. Following it to a floor under maintenance, she finds a small creature named Kyubey being attacked by Homura. As Homura insists that she hand Kyubey over, Sayaka helps Madoka and Kyubey escape by discharging a fire extinguisher on Homura.
While fleeing, they are caught in a strange illusion and approached by strange creatures. However, they are rescued at the last second by another girl named Mami Tomoe, who transforms into a magical girl and defeats the creatures, dispelling the illusion. After allowing Homura to escape, Mami heals Kyubey, who tells Madoka and Sayaka he intends to form a contract with them to make them magical girls.
"Isn't this bad!? They can show something like this on television!?"
"…"
"I've noticed that lately, there have been too many products, and not just anime, in which loli are pushed to the forefront. I understand that they're just trying to sell what the market demands, but something that makes it so blatant like this turns me off. What the hell is with the 'record breaking DVD sales' ? Personally, I can't help but lament the fact that we live in a world where only this kind of vulgar garbage sells. The general public really should cultivate a better sense of aesthetics."
I wiped off the cold sweat that had poured out onto my forehead. Why do I have to sit here with my sister friend and watch bunch loli girls fight to death with monsters…? I gazed at the living room door as if desperately searching for a way out.
"You really don't know anything, do you!?"
With strength enough to kick down the door, someone entered the living room. Naruko quickly lumbered over with heavy steps. Kuroneko watched the sudden intruder with cold eyes.
"Naruko…" Even though I acted surprised to see her, I was really relieved.
Alright, everything seemed to have gone well… In truth, when I had borrowed Madoka from Naruko, I told her this. "There's a gift for you from Rias-san in the living room, so at least come down to get that," I had said.
Remember, her stubbornness knows no bounds. If I tried to convince her to come down-stairs in a straightforward way, she definitely wouldn't listen. I understood that all too well. But, if I watched her beloved Madoka with Kuroneko, and we talked about Madoka, I thought that maybe she wouldn't be able to handle it and would barge in. And it happened just as I had expected. Just look at how angry she is.
"Madoka is about friendship! Just because the Blazbue Anime DVD doesn't sell as well, don't just go off saying what you want and calling it disgusting! Hah, what the hell do you mean, 'sense of aesthetics' ? That arrogance… are you sure your vision hasn't just gone blurry? Haha, leaving the cell phone novel aside, is your 'sense of aesthetics' just calling anything and everything you can't understand garbage? Idiot, don't act like some sort of expert if you can't even see what the writers for Madoka were trying to do. And also, you shitty cat, exactly how far did you watch this series on your PSP!?"
"What exactly did you come down here for? Nobody invited you."
"Shut up! I came to get a drink when I heard someone say something I couldn't forgive, that's all! Well!? How far did you watch!?"
"Until the middle of episode three."
"Tch, why did you stop watching there!? That was when Mami death, it's a one of the saddest episode! I cried the whole night after watching that episode."
"Hmph. That episode only centered about that blond haired girl who blindly follow that cat-rabbit thing 'Qube' or whatever offer without questioning his ulterior motives. And also in that battle with that worm monster because her overconfidence and her disagreement with that black haired girl let to her death, she die because her stupidity trying to show off as a senpai."
"Huh? What exactly were you watching? She had no choice but to do contract with Kyubey. And don't call Mami stupid you cat bitch! She's just want to protect Madoka!"
These anime otaku… they're really annoying, aren't they!? As I was getting pretty fed up with everything, Naruko and Kuroneko once again erupted into a tumultuous verbal debate.
Suddenly, Kuroneko took the remote and paused the DVD playing on the television.
"Hmph. well, I can't appreciate the godly artwork on a small screen, right? If that's what you believe, then I never really watched it. So quickly, go get all the disk that has all episode on it."
She made that proposal belligerently, responding to Naruko's anger with anger of her own.
"Ah, those were your words. Those were your words, right? Alright I'll bring it down right now."
Naruko flatly thrust a finger at Kuroneko's face.
"Hah, I'll definitely make you eat your words!"
After those words, Naruko ran up the stairs.
… Is she a child? Geez… it was a bit early to let my guard down, but at this rate, it seemed that somehow, the anime appreciation event would actually happen. Facing the door my sister had just run out of, I sighed.
In the end… just as we finished watching the fourth episode of Madoka, time ran out.
The anime appreciation event had only lasted thirty minutes, but there was nothing I could do about that. It might have been better if I had gotten home a bit sooner though. When it had gotten to five in the evening, Kuroneko announced that she was going back home. I didn't even have to ask why she needed to go home at that elementary-school-ish time.
By the way, while we were watching Madoka, the entire time, Kuroneko and Naruko were arguing back and forth like they always did. I couldn't really decide if they honestly disliked or liked each other, but I tried to calm them down, to coax them to play nice, to sweet-talk them, and in the process was slapped around, kicked, and abused… somehow or other without moving from my spot. Standing in the space between Naruko and Kuroneko, I succeeded in acting like a buffer zone between the two.
I think you can guess from what has been happening up until now, but this was really difficult. I seriously respect Rias for being able to do all this with a smile on her face. After all, it was like having to deal with two Narukos. It was terrible. Honestly, I was relieved that it ended after thirty minutes.
"Alright, I'll borrow this then."
In the entranceway of the Namikaze house, Kuroneko was just about to leave while carrying a paper bag. In that paper bag was the DVD for "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" that we didn't have enough time to finish watching.
Naruko crossed her arms, and responded triumphantly.
"Fufuu, you seem to finally understand the true value of Madoka."
"Don't be an idiot, please. Certainly, I will admit that one part of the battle scene was pretty splendidly drawn, and I have to give the DVD version credit for fixing many of the artistic failings of the TV version. But my opinion that the scenario is crap has not changed. Hmph, I suppose it is at least good enough for me to watch it to the end out of obligation."
"You're still pretty stubborn aren't you? You could just be honest with yourself and just say that you want to continue watching it because you liked it."
She's the last person who has the right to say that…
I sent her a reproachful look. Pulling myself together, I spoke to Kuroneko.
"Thanks for coming over today to play with Naruko."
I slackened my shoulders and curved the edges of my lips upwards.
"Feel free to come again any time. Let's hold a proper anime appreciation event next time."
Kuroneko stared me in the eyes.
"… Please just indulge my curiosity for a bit. This is a good opportunity to ask, but why exactly do you meddle so much in your sister's business even though she treats you so badly?"
Indeed, why was that…? I didn't really know myself. At the beginning, I was just reacting to the situation… well, that was still somewhat true… but it wasn't just that anymore, I think. But I definitely didn't want to admit that. In the end, I couldn't say anything but the following:
"Sorry, but I don't really know either."
"Siscon?"
"Definitely not!"
What are you saying!? There's no way that was true! After I denied her accusations with all my might, I felt someone kick my heel hard with her tiptoe.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Turning back with an angry shout, I saw Naruko looking at me with a scornful stare.
"… Gross."
"What the hell…!? I understand that you don't like anyone suggesting anything about siscon, but I wasn't the one who said it, and I denied the accusation! Don't just kick me like that so suddenly!"
Watching our bickering, Kuroneko said one word.
"Masochism?"
"What the hell are you talking about!"
"Well, what then?"
Kuroneko tilted her head to one side. I didn't know why, but she didn't seem to want to let this topic go. She didn't look like she was going to stop with the questioning until I gave her a satisfactory answer.
I guess there's no choice… scratching my head, I tried to put this thing that I couldn't figure out how to say into words. After knocking around a few words in my head… what came out of my mouth was honestly a terrible clich´e.
"… Because I'm her brother?"
I quickly averted my gaze and knocked myself on the forehead. Trying to hide my embarrassment, I clicked my tongue. This isn't good. Even though I was the one who said it, I knew that what I said didn't really amount to a good reason. Kuroneko wouldn't be satisfied with that answer either… or so I thought.
"I see. I understand."
Kuroneko gave me a light nod and smile. She then spoke in a gentle tone of voice that gradually sunk into my chest.
"… You're a good brother. I'm very jealous."
She faced Naruko and whispered. Normally, I would expect Naruko to respond with something like "What is that supposed to be, sarcasm?" but Naruko just stood there with her arms crossed and frowned. It seemed like they were having some sort of silent exchange with each other. I had no idea what was happening, so all I could do was keep watch. For a little while, the silence persisted…
Until finally, Naruko haughtily scoffed. She looked at Kuroneko closely.
"Hm… what? You like these types of guys? You have bad taste."
"…!"
At that statement, Kuroneko didn't make a move, but her eyes widened.
"You should heed my advice and not even think about it. After all, this guy is attracted to ugly girls."
"What the hell are you saying!? Who are you talking about!? Depending on your answer, I might really smack you!"
"Yeah yeah, don't take it so seriously. Sorryyy~" Naruko shrugged her shoulders as if making fun of me.
T-This little…! Her attitude was just… ugh! I started to voice my objections, but before I could, Naruko faced Kuroneko and stuck out her chin.
"If you're really ok with him, I'll give him to you. In fact, he's gross, so just take him home with you."
As I clenched my fists tightly in anger, Kuroneko watched us intently from the side.
"… Attracted to ugly girls… huh?" She mumbled vacantly. Kuroneko seemed to have come to a cool understanding of the situation.
Afterwards, Kuroneko sent Naruko a cold stare, and then turned the other way, "… I'll come again sometime." She said and quickly began to walk away.
Watching Kuroneko back as she left, Naruko still with her arms crossed, sticks her tongue out mockingly. This brat…
(◕ω◕✿)
The next day, Weiss passed me a squarish light-grey thing from her bag after she came into the classroom. It's pretty well wrapped — what is it?
"This…"
"Eh? What?"
She shoved the thing into my hands. I looked at it from all sides several times.
"That thing, it's…my fault. I bought this for you."
I had no idea what was going on. Weiss bought something for me? What sort of joke is that?
"But, you absolutely cannot open it here."
I nodded despite my brain being in a mess. However, those classmates of mine who don't listen to a single word others have to say, came leaning close to me excitedly as usual. Sasuke snatched the package away from my hands.
"What? A present from Princess to his servant? Oi oi, is this for real? Naruto, can I open it?"
"Eh, ah, wait Sasuke…"
The packaging was torn open before Weiss and I could even stop them. It's a CD. On its cover is a zombie with a blood-stained axe in its hands, and it was giving off a nasty grin. It's titled 'IRON MAIDEN Killers'.
"Didn't I say not to open it!? Don't show it to me, You disgusting!"
Weiss turned away, and her voiced sounded like she was close to tears.
"Weiss said I'm disgusting yet again. My sole hope of living is gone."
"Don't worry, she's not talking about you Sasuke. But this zombie looks slightly similar to you, don't you think?"
"Damm you Naruto!"
I snatched the CD back from Sasuke.
"Umm… you bought the CD for me just because of the cover?"
I had thrown away the cover which I found behind the cabinet, and it was all thanks to Weiss spraying a load of the insecticide on it.
Weiss nodded with her back still facing me, and murmured, "Hurry up and put it away."
It's just a cover, so why was she so concerned about it? I thought of Weiss, who was disgusted just by the image of the zombie. Then I thought of her going to the heavy metal section, and flipping through the CDs — all filled with covers of extreme designs and images — while desperately trying to locate the album of Iron Maiden hidden within. I no longer knew what I should say to her. Moreover…
"What?" Weiss noticed I had something to say. She shot a glance at me.
"No… it's nothing."
"Say it!"
"Mmm… it may be a little too much for me to be saying this, since you specially bought it for me, but this is actually their second album. The cover that you ruined is actually from their first album."
I couldn't blame her for confusing things, since the styles of both covers are extremely similar. After hearing that, Weiss's face turned red immediately.
Bang! Weiss slammed her palms against her desk, and stood up.
"I'll go buy it right now."
"Nah, lessons are about to begin."
"I'll buy it!"
"It just so happens that my second album's in pretty bad shape, so I'm really grateful to you for buying this album for me."
Just as I was consoling Weiss, the preparatory bells rang. And because our teacher came into class earlier than usual, Weiss finally removed the idea from her head. I really don't get girls at all!
After returning home, I found Mom's waching a DVD concert of Weiss Schnee at living rooom.
"Mom, you know Weiss?" I threw my mother question
"Hmm? Yeah, I do. Weiss Schnee, huh, Bach still suits her the best. There are some parts that don't flow smoothly in nearly all of his partita, but that's the fascinating point about them. Occasionally, there's the emergence of a few youngsters who can play Bach's music amazingly well. Take for example —"
" — Enough, I don't want to listen to your views on those things."
"But I heard that she transferred to your school?"
"How did you know?" I turned around in surprise, and nearly fell after kicking the pot.
"Jacques and I are old classmates from your school. And since Jacques is the school's director, he would definitely force her to study there unreasonably."
"Ah… right, she's his daughter."
Jacques Schnee is one of the greatest pianist France ever have who are well known. He also used to be a full-time conductor for the Orchestre de Paris, and is a world renowned musician as well. One of the topics that were widely discussed during Weiss's debut, was that her father is 'the world renowned Jacques Schnee'. There should be some who have tried to get the father and daughter pair to perform on the same stage, but Weiss disappeared from the music scene before any such performance became a reality.
"The thing is, our school no longer has music as a core subject, so why did she still transfer here?"
"I heard it was due to the constant complaints from his daughter. It had already been decided that she would be enrolling into the College of Music, but the daughter said she didn't want to. He was left with no choice but to allow her to study at a normal high school, and thus she transferred to your school. She no longer plays the piano, right? I felt she was one those destructive type of pianists after listening to her pieces for the very first time. Her countermelody sounds like a quarrel among family members."
Hmm? But… I heard her playing the piano that day at The Department Store of Hearts' Desires. She… no longer plays the piano? Why? the strange time of her transfer. Still, why did she give up on the piano? I shook my head and no longer wished to think deeper into it.
Later in the night, I was practicing on my bass after having dinner at living room. Just then, came a loud sound of avalanching items from the direction of the main door.
"Oohhh… it's the ultimate bliss to die while buried amid all this great music from different eras…"
At the door, was Mom in her rare dress, buried within a heap of collapsed CDs. She was staring at the ceiling and murmuring to herself in a daze.
"Mom what heck are you doing? Are you drunk!?" As I dug Mom out of the mess.
"After I die, you'll have to place Stravinsky's Firebird into my coffin. Don't go about playing Requiem Mass in D minor or something, just play St Matthew Passion! I'll then rewrite the record held by Jesus Christ, and revive myself within two days."
"There's no need for that, Mom!"
"Ah, mhmm. Been a long while since I met up with my fellow classmates from the College of Music… Urgg…"
"Ahhhh. I'll have to send this for cleaning."
After vomiting in the toilet, Mom returned with a pale face. In any case, I'll fix her a cup of hot lemon juice to fix her stupor.
"It's Weiss Schnee, right? You mentioned her before. She's a good girl, yeah. You know, there's a silly saying in music circles… see, in the case of the covers for the albums of female musicians, the picture's taken from their side profile — and it's especially so for the pianists. If she's prettier, the image will be a slanted profile of her face; if she is gorgeous, they'll take the picture from the front. And Weiss's the first I've seen who had her picture taken from bottoms up— Eh? What's wrong, lil' Naruto? I've hit the spot?"
"Shut up Mom!"
"I actually came back from Jacques's concert performance in Japan. I originally asked him to join us for a drink, but he said he'll be appearing on a live TV show, so it was expected that he would reject us. We did talk during the banquet though — seems like he'll be in Japan for this month, but he'll be travelling to a faraway place come November. Probably back to Paris."
"Weiss's father is back in Japan?'
He'll be returning to Paris in November. The November Weiss's referring to… is that?
"… Then what about Weiss? You heard anything related to her?"
"Hah?"
"Nothing. So…she'll be following him back to Paris too?"
Somewhere around this time last year, Weiss would probably be with her father flying to multiple places all over Europe and America due to the world tour? However, she couldn't have done something pointless like transferring to our school for few months, right?
"She's probably not returning back to piano, I think. I just heard about it today as well. Seems like the critics there have written some really nasty stuff about her. She had even participated in a competition that is not related to Jacques, and obtained victory as well. But even then, she is still tied down by the fame of her father."
"Ah…"
"Her playing styles do invite attacks though. Like how she was not lively enough; how it was too calm; how horrible her presentation of the parts were; how her music was like crawling insects; or how she was overly reliant on her techniques… even I can think up of quite a bit of nasty critiques on the spot, and if I really want to, I can probably write about thirty pages on it. But it will be quite stupid of me if I were to really write them out — it's not like all the pieces you play will be considered good just because you played them all vibrantly."
"So that's the reason Weiss doesn't play the piano?"
"I don't think so. Well, it seems like they had written things about her private life even though it is not related to music, just because she is the daughter of Jacques Schnee. You see, her mother's a Hungarian, and they're divorced now."
"Ah… so she is a mixed blood." I suddenly remembered the day when I fixed her recorder for her. Hungary.
"Ah, you mean you don't know about that? Well, we should stop talking about the topic. I feel like I'm a paparazzi who's hounding for some news."
Just when I was a junor high school student thinking of living my life leisurely back in Japan, Weiss was already on the other side of the seas under the scrutiny of the curious and hostile stares around her, and living a fearful life while grabbing her piano tightly. What sort of life is that? I can't imagine it at all. However, it's back to the initial problem once again. If she has really given up on the piano, then why is she playing the guitar?
(◕ω◕✿)
After break, as I was walking into the classroom, my classmates were discussing the television program yesterday.
"Is the show live?"
"Yeah, seems like he's back in Japan already."
"An interview?"
"They're talking about things that I don't understand. It's not like I listen to classical music anyway."
"Do they look alike?"
"Not one bit. Princess probably takes after her mother?"
Just from those bits of conversation, I immediately knew they were talking about. I took a glance at Weiss's empty seat.
"The host asked about Princess as well."
"The father and daughter are not on good terms with each other, right?"
I've been thinking this whole time — you guys should know that Weiss is about to get here soon, and yet you people are still loudly gossiping about things related to her?
"Naruto, your Mom's classmates with Jacques, right?"
"How did you know Sasuke?"
"Hiratsuka Sensei said so! She also said back when Jacques was still teaching her, your mother was always flirting him."
Dammit that woman! please do not exaggerate those stories and spread them out.
"What, so you really does know Princess beforehand."
"But from what I saw, Yoshiyuki kept trying to divert the topic whenever the host asked about his daughter. Do you know the reason for that?"
"Hey, look…" I removed the bass from my shoulders, and leaned it against my desk. Then I mustered my determination and said, "Stop asking about things related to her, alright?"
Everyone was looking at me with a surprised gaze. I pretended to organize my textbooks, and continued.
"Just leave her alone, okay? She's just like an injured wild kitten — if you guys get close to her, she may actually scratch you guys; but if you guys leave her alone, she won't be bothering you. That girl had her fair share of problems during the world tour in America and stuff, so…"
Just as I was saying all that, I noticed that the people around me had directed their gaze in a strange direction. I could feel a prickling sensation on my shoulder blades. I turned around, and saw Weiss standing at the door of the classroom. Perhaps she had inherited that from her Hungarian mother? There was a slight blush appearing beneath her fair skin. Her ice-blue eyes were staring at me — it seems like those were not stares of anger, but rather, she was shocked.
"… Ah, look, I don't…" I wasn't sure myself if I was trying to cook up some excuse then.
"You sure know how to spread those words around." She murmured, and made her way to her seat. Those around me had already fled in all directions.
"It's not what you're thinking."
"Please don't talk to me."
The voice of Weiss was just like a pair of scissors, snipping away the distance between us. I could only remain quiet. Those who were around me not too long ago were sending me flickering looks of apprehension.
Chiaki rushed into the classroom only some time after the bell had rung. As she walked past me and Weiss, she noticed the dangerous atmosphere as well.
"What's up?" She peeked at me, and then at Weiss.
"Are you two quarreling again?"
"I have never quarreled with him before, so please don't use the term 'again'." Weiss said that as she looked away.
Chiaki was about to say something, but I tugged her sleeves and pleaded her not to say anything. Forget about talking, Weiss didn't even look in my direction once. She immediately ran out of the classroom right at the start of lunch break.
"She's angry…"
"Princess' angry…"
All the reproaching murmurs as well as the stares of my classmates had gathered on me. It was really my fault this time. I had no choice but to stand up and leave the classroom.
I walked to the courtyard, and reached the training room of the old music building. There was no padlock hanging on the door, and the door was left ajar as well. I quietly sneaked a peek into the room, and saw no one inside.
What's happening here? I walked into the room, and saw a guitar connected to the amplifier, with the pick left randomly on the desk. Seemed like someone had run out of the room in a hurry after entering into here. Which means, it should be fine for me to wait here for her, right?
I then realized I had not thought about how I should apologize to her. What's the reason for Weiss to be that angry towards me? Just as I was sitting on the cushion on the desk and thinking of how I should apologize to her, I accidentally swept the pick onto the floor with a flick of my hands. That's probably the pick that Weiss uses. It was only until I picked it up that I realized — the shape of the pick was rather strange.
Typically speaking, picks are a thin piece of plastic shaped into a triangle or an onigiri. However, there's a plastic loop on both sides of the surface of the pic. I tried slipping my thumb and index finger through the plastic loop, and they slid in the position just like how one should hold a normal pick. However, I had never seen this sort of pick before. I had seen finger picks or thumb picks that are secured onto each of the fingers before, but a pick with two loops.
"Don't touch that!"
A voice came from the direction of the door, which caused me to nearly drop the pick again. Weiss pushed the door open with her shoulders. I placed the pick back into its original position, and got off the desk.
"Hey, look… I'm sorry."
I looked downwards, and noticed she was holding a small white plastic bag in her left hand… is that medicine?
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Weiss was surprised by my question, and said "It's nothing". She then stuffed the medicine bag and the pick beneath the cushion. So she just got back from the infirmary?
"What do you want?" Weiss gave a sigh as she said that, which was quite unlike how she used to yell at me to scram. It's actually much more scarier for her to be behaving this way.
I was blunt with her, "I'm here to apologize to you." Just as I was thinking on what I should be saying next, Weiss spoke, "Why? What are you apologizing for? Just tell everyone things about me as you please. I don't care the least bit."
"Look, I'll explain everything, so just listen to me," I said that while suppressing my anger. "Yesterday, my mother she came home in a drunken state, and told me gossips that she heard from the other critics. She said that some critics in America had written some really nasty things about you. However, she never went into details, so…"
"Then there is no reason for you to apologize to me!"
I could feel my face burning in an instant.
"Stop picking on my words."
"What, are you here to throw your anger at me?"
"That's not it, alright?"
I swallowed my words, and tried my best to keep my emotions as calm as possible.
"Okay, I get it. I'm here to apologize on behalf of all the critics in the world who only write rubbish."
My habit of talking nonsense had kicked in yet again. Weiss blinked her eyes in shock, which was then followed by an expression of surprise.
"But you're not a critic, right? Though I heard that your mother is."
"I'm a critic too."
Weiss tilted her head. Her gaze was filled with confusion.
"It's true. I've helped my mother write articles under her name about four to five times already, and those articles were actually published on music magazines. That's why, I should be qualified to apologize to you, right?"
Weiss bit on her lips. Not long after, she looked at the floor and shook her head.
"I don't get what you're trying to say. What are you talking about?" She suddenly said that with a slightly trembling voice.
"Why? Why are you apologizing to me? I've done so many nasty things to you."
"So you actually realized that?"
"Idiot."
Weiss lifted her head. Her eyes were filled with the dull colors of the gloomy skies — it was the same as that day when I met her for the very first time. It was a damp feeling, as though a downpour was approaching.
"I don't care about those silly things. No matter how they write about me, or what they write about me, it doesn't matter. That's not it at all. I wasn't that… wasn't that…"
I could faintly hear Weiss's choppy voice from afar, and I gradually found it difficult to breathe. I was thinking — just where exactly is she? This inconceivable girl with a dull violet aura surrounding her should be right in front of me — but in reality, how far away is she from me? Why… can't my voice and hands reach her?
"Why do you care about me? It's the same as back then. Why did you help me? Please, don't care about me anymore. I'm about to disappear soon anyway."
Weiss leaned against her guitar and sat on the desk, with her face buried in her arms that were hugging her knees to her chest.
There was a gloomy downpour, but the rain fell only on her body. I walked out of the classroom, but I could still hear the faint sounds of the continuing downpour. However, the skies of September were irresponsibly bright, with only a cloud or two hanging above the outlines of the buildings.
I thought to myself, I must be forgetting something; I must be missing something important about Weiss. However, I had no idea what that is. Till then, I thought I was beginning to understand something, but those feelings were totally swallowed up by the imaginary clouds of rain at her side.
I dragged my body which felt like it was drenched, and walked back towards the classroom.
.
.
.