Entry 56: Summer Begins

May 20th: Morning

Stretching my chair, I heard my bones crack. Oh, that felt good. Airing out the beds took way more time than I thought, making me stay the night in the large empty apartment last night. That place is so creepy when you're alone. It didn't help that it shoulda been done, but my brother had me do some errands for him the day before. Screw him~

I felt a pair of eyes staring at me, it was obvious who it belonged to. My seat neighbor was staring a hole into the side of my skull, but I kept ignoring them. I'd imagine Senjo was feeling frustrated. It's been over a week since she fake revealed herself as my long lost sister. So, I'd guess as my brother theorized, she was getting impatient. But we still have about two weeks of school left before summer. So, in order to keep her ignored, I rested my head on my desk.

I expected it to end there, for her to look back forward and wait for class to resume. But, of course my luck would seem to run out. "Ogata."

I forced my body to flinch. Great. This isn't how it's supposed to go. I sat back up but kept my eyes forward, not allowing her to look into my eyes. "Yes?" I answered in the most monotone I could come up with.

"Hey... can we talk after school?" Shit. What do I do here? Even if I were to reject her at this moment, she'd just bring it up again tomorrow. And I can't exactly afford to skip school for over two weeks. Even with an excuse from Library, it'd look suspicious. Not to mention who knows what kind of havoc she'd run here too if I reject her. Fucking hell. Okay, just plan. You've got hours so you can plan this out.

"Sure."

"Kay~ Meet me on the roof alright?" This... isn't good. No, I can figure something out by the end of class.

Same Day: Afterschool

I got nothing. Staging out at the campus, I racked my brain but couldn't think of anything. Every single time I thought I got to something that would make sense, I hit the wall. That wall was Senjougahara herself. I've never got a good read on her and every time I thought I did, it was a fake out and part of her plan.

In my nervousness, I began messing with my phone and turned it on. On my lock screen was a picture of myself being squished in between Nino and Miku in an attempt to take a selfie. I promise, I'll stay with you. Just as a smile was about to creep onto my face, the sound of the roof door opening made me move back to that emotionless mask. "Ogata... or should I just go with Kuro, since it's just us?" Turning to face her, even I could tell that her smug smile was mostly fake. Hm, maybe Shiro was off. She's really nervous. Or sit that another manipulation? I'm getting real tired of having to second guess everything around her.

"...call me whatever you like." I kept my eyes on the wall behind her, making sure not to look directly at her. "What can I help you with?"

"You can drop the whole Library bit. C'mon Kuro. it's me, W!" How dare you.. Somehow, I was able to stop myself from physically reacting. "I get that it's hard to swallow, but it's the truth. Do you want to quiz me once again?"

"That's... not the issue." letting out a sigh, I tried my best to remember how I was able to hide my emotions so well. Sure, I'm still not the best at showing what I feel. But I don't want her to even try to figure out that I know. Fuck it... I guess the best thing I can do here is to wing it. "I just don't know what to do. I wasn't in my right mind that day and-"

"Don't tell me those brats brainwashed you or something." Senjo said in an uncharacteristically angry tone. She practically growled it. "Those Nakano brats... who the hell do they think they are? You're my brother! They don't get to steal you away from me!" Huh? Is this actual- no. It's another manipulation. You know that. But this does confirm one thing. If she's still trying to manipulate me, then she thinks I still believe her. This is a battle of manipulation. I need to get her to believe me, but back of my friends.

"Please don't say that about them. They're important to me. So please don't-"

"They're nothing but disgusting women who have tricked you into caring for them. That goes double for that disgusting headphone girl!"

"...Don't talk that way about Miku. " Shit, that was a mistake. "W... no matter how much I care about you, I won't let anyone in the whole world talk that way about Miku. Take it back now." No, in fact this was good. Showing her how much I care about Miku while still giving her a chance, will only enhance the possibility that I believe her. "Please."

"...sorry. I guess I'm still a bit emotional when it comes to losing you." Her glare dissipated to an honestly convincing grimace. "But... I don't want them to steal you away from me. Your place is besides me in the underground, not with them!"

What should I do? I can't really see the best course of action now, but I have to act immediately. Think. She just conceded to the Nakano's being important but... AH! Got it! "Look, I understand but... I just don't know."

"But we can-"

"I'm not saying that I don't want you in my life. I just need more time to think about this, alright?" There it was. For a second, not a fraction of a second. She smirked. As if she was thinking "I can work with that" . God, I hate her so fucking much.

Then, like it never happened, she gave me a fake sweet smile. "That's fine. Just let me know before summer break ends, alright?" Without waiting for an answer, she gave me a wave and left the rooftop.

I didn't dare move from my spot until she was gone for a solid minute. When I reached sixty in my head, I fell to my ass and let out a breath. "That... could have gone a lot better." But it still worked out. For now, I bought some time. But it'd be bad to wait for too long. I'll have to end this soon. Plus, I actually want to enjoy my summer vacation. Ugh, I'm gonna have to move a lot of boxes in the summer heat. "Please let it be cool, when it's time."

June 15th: Afternoon

"Finally!" Yotsuba practically fell onto the floor after placing the last cardboard box onto the kitchen island. "Ahhhhh, the sweet sweet cold floor~"

Ichika giggled at her younger sister's antics. "Jeez, Kuku. You really made your adorable sister do so much work? How mean."

"Don't give me that shit. You're big girls." I dropped my own box onto the floor and took a deep breath. But Yotsu does have a was like the twentieth trip up the elevator that we took today. Shaking my hands to get the blood flowing again, I took a look around the living room. Most of the cardboard boxes were sitting on the side of the room, under the stairs, already organized. "Huh, I thought I'd have to do all the work like last time, looks like you actually did your best, huh?"

"Now now, what's that supposed to mean? I can do my chores all on my own now."

"Oh, so you're cleaning your room from now on?" Ichika's face went slightly pale before she gave me a soft slap on the back.

"Come on Kuro... I'm not THAT grown up yet." You're eighteen.

"Spoiled brat."

"Hey!" I ignored the immature lady as she stuck her tongue out at me and just went about moving the remaining boxes under the stairs. "By the way...could you help me-"

"No. Nino already asked for my help."

"Simp!" Rich coming from Taro's number one fan. "I thought I was supposed to be your favorite sister!"

"Don't even start. Make sure that Yotsu doesn't die while I go help Nino." Looking at the fourth sister, her eyes were closed and the soft sound of snores could be heard. That girl can fall asleep anywhere, huh? Giving the actress a wave, I went up the stairs and into Nino's room. Where a pillow immediately made contact with my face. "I'm gonna go with Ow."

"You're late." The young woman was sitting on the floor, going through her clothes before putting them in her closet. "What took you so long?"

"Do you have any idea how many things you girls own?" Picking the pillow off the floor, I threw it onto her bed and sat down next to her. "Seriously, the amount of things you girls could fit in that small apartment was insane." Seriously. The amount of boxes that belonged to Nino alone was...Whatever. "So, what do you need help with?"

Nino looked around the room before pointing at her desk. "Could you help me organize it? If there's one thing I know about that shitty Ugi, it's that he'll force us to study even during break." That wasn't something that I could refute so I stood up and went about placing her school supplies into the multiple drawers. "*Sigh* To think that we could be on the beach right now..." Today was the first day of summer vacation, and so the whole class decided to plan a beach day. At this very moment, most of class 3-1 was having fun on the beach. "I even bought a new swimsuit..."

"If you want, you can go. We already did the hard part of moving everything up here. We can unpack tomorrow or even tonight." After I said that, I heard Nino jump onto her feet. Turning around, I was just able to see Nino pull me into a hug.

"Really? Let's go then! Hehehe, I bet your nose will bleed when you see just how sexy I look in my swimsuit!" It's been a while since I've seen Nino in one... man she really would be~ Hey, hey! Calm down there Kuro! "Ku~Ro~, you're blushing."

"A-Am not. Anyway, I forgot to mention that... I'll stay behind."

"Huuuuuuuh? What's even the point then?" Nino let go of me and gave me a slight glare. "Come on, I'll even let you put sunscreen on me~"

"As tempting as that is." And it actually really is. "I don't want to go near Her, you know."

"Ah... the bitch." Yuu Senjogahara. For the past month I've been successfully ignoring her, but I can tell she's coming to the end of her rope. Every single day I could feel her glances at me. Who knows what would happen if I were to run into her outside of school. "...fine. I'll just stay and unpack."

"Huh, but you don't-"

"It wouldn't be fun going without you. Especially if that living embodiment of shit is there. I'd rather be stuck in a room with maki then look that girl in the eye and pretend to be nice." Turning back to the box, Nino sat back down and continued organizing her clothes. "Plus, summer just started. We have plenty of time to go somewhere. Hmm, maybe we should go camping again this year."

Camping? Ugh, I don't want to deal with bugs again. But Nino's declaration did move my heart quite a bit. It wouldn't be fun, huh. Listening to my heart, I knelt down behind Nino and wrapped her in a hug. "Thanks. I promise to make it up to you."

"..." She stopped moving her hands for a second before leaning back into the hug and grabbing onto my arm. "You better. Are you... staying over tonight?"

"Huh? No, probably not. Keeping this place clean the past few weeks has made me way too tired to clean my own place. Plus, my old room is missing a bed."

"You're old...oh shit!" Nino pulled herself out of the hug and turned to me, face completely red. "You didn't see it, did you?"

"Oh no, I totally didn't see those pics or anything."

"AHHHHH! No! Dammit, I knew it was a bad idea to put that there! I should have put something else! Kuro, erase your memory, right now!" That's not possible.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. I mean, the elation I felt when I saw just how much you treasured that moment was amazing. I love you too, Nino."

"Stop making fun of meee!" I could feel a smile was plastered on my face. Man, Nino's so cute when she's nervous! She refused to look at me and her face was the same shade as her hair. "You fucking... ugh! Screw you!"

"Pfthahaha!" my stomach began to hurt from the amount I was laughing, and I could feel the pure anger and bloodlust wafting off of my girlfriend. "Oh man... Phew! That's another point for me!"

"Kuro, 2. Me, 500." I mean, she was right, but it was the little wins that matter. But, it looks like the win isn't gonna last long, judging by her glare. "Fuck you."

Now I do feel a bit bad. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it. In all honesty, I did feel really happy to see you put that photo there... and also pissed."

"Pissed? Oh please. I should be the one that was pissed! Do you have any idea how long I was into you? There must be something wrong with your view on reality. I mean seriously! You've got to be the densest guy in the entire world!"

"Hey, Taro exists!"

"You know what, fair." Nino shrugged her shoulders but still pointed an accusatory finger at me. "You owe me for those years of not noticing!"

"Huuuh? How is it my fault? If anything you shoulda been more obvious and not making fun of me all the time!"

"THAT WAS ME BEING OBVIOUS!" FUCKING HOWWWWW?! I know I'm not the smartest guy in the world, especially when it comes to anything that has to do with emotions. But COME ON! How in the hell was I supposed to figure out that a girl being mean to me meant she liked me?! That's like...

"Wait a minute. Are you literally a Tsundere?!"

"...no."

"Nino... how in the living fuck was I supposed to figure that out?!"

"Well... fuck off." Wow. With a huff, my ever so lovely and nice girlfriend turned her head from me. "Look, it's frustrating, you know? Sorry I'm not the best at expressing myself."

I let out a sigh and scratched the back of my head. I don't really have the right to get mad. Ugh, now I feel like an asshole. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... be an asshole. I'm sorry."

The room was filled with silence for a moment. I stared down at the ground and thought about just lying on the ground. Ugh, idiot. "Ugh, idiot." Nino seemed to voice my exact thoughts. She returned to her seat right in front of me. "I'm sorry too. I'm still trying to overwrite it, you know? It's kinda hard to move from teasing you for five years to being honest, you know?"

I guess I get what she means. It took me a while to really get used to being casual with the sisters. "Yeah, I get you. Sor-"

"Stop apologizing so much, you idiot." I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from saying that word once more. "Pffft. What's wrong with my taste in men, jeez."

"Rude."

"Love you~"

I sighed but ended up resting my head onto her back. "I... I won't make you feel like that ever again, alright?"

"I know. And I'll try to get better at flirting. I'll have you blushing from ear to ear everyday." Damn cocky brat. You already do that.

June 21st: Afternoon

"Hmm... maybe this one?"

"Taro, that's a speedo." My best friend frowned but put the black swimming wear onto the rack. Yesterday, Taro invited everyone to the pool. Guess he really did miss us! So, because I don't really own swimming trunks, we came to the mall. "Okay, so not that one. Come on Kuro, we're going to the pool. Don't be afraid to show some skin."

"You wear it then, asshole."

"Hell no!" Hypocrite. With a chuckle, the two of us went back to looking through the swimming trunks. I asked Taro for help for multiple reasons. First, I have no sense of fashion and secondly, I couldn't trust any of the sisters to help me with this. They'd just make the whole trip a reason to screw with me. "Hmmm, what's your favorite color?"

"Color, huh... I guess purple?"

"Huh, I thought you'd say white." Just because I dye my hair doesn't mean that's my favorite color. I'd look ridiculous with purple hair. Though, to be fair, I do look ridiculous now. Taro pulled out a few trunks to show me, all of which I said no to.

"No, I don't really like the pattern. (…) Sunflowers? I feel like that'd make me look like an old man. (…) Dude, it has holes in it."

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Taro scratched the back of his head. "Come on, now you're just being too picky. Here I thought you didn't have a sense of fashion." Thankfully, my friend was still helping me though. "Hm, how about dots?"

"As a pattern? Sure." He then showed me a pair of trunks that was white with purple dots. "Huh, I like it."

"See? What would you do without me?" The smile Taro put on was way to proud for a guy who showed me twenty trunks that I didn't like. "Alright, let's get this and then you can treat me to some udon."

"Yeah, yeah." After paying for my swimming trunks, the two of us went to the food court and got two orders of Taro's favorite food. "I gotta say, Curry Udon? Of all things?"

"It's the perfect food. The richness of the curry, the perfect texture of the noodles, everything about it! It's the best! Not to mention, it's fairly cheap." Damn cheapskate The young tutor rubbed his hands together before picking up his chopsticks and digging in. "Thank you for the food!"

I was about to say something smart before a familiar voice called out to us. "Ogata? Uesugi?" Walking up to us, still wearing her oversized white hoodie even in this heat, was Hiiragi. "G-Good afternoon." The shy girl gave us a polite bow. "I didn't expect to see you t-two here."

"Hey, Hiiragi. How are you doing?" I gestured to the seat next to me for her to sit down. With a nod she took the seat and let her bags rest against her legs. "Doing some summer shopping?"

"Sorta. needed a couple things and basically forced me to do it for him. Says it's for my training..." Well, at least she seems to be doing better with her Hiiki-training. "I almost fainted when a cashier asked if I wanted to sign up for their rewards program." Baby steps.

"Ugh, I hate it when they do that. I know it's supposed to make you save money, but I don't like the thought of a store expecting me to shop there more often!" Taro decided to get angry on Hiiragi's behalf. "Where I spend my money is my business! The only place I think that's acceptable is a supermarket. At least they give out coupons every week."

"Yeah! You get it, Uesugi!" I did not expect her to agree with him. "But it's whatever. It's their job so I can't get mad at them... even if it makes me nervous." the brown haired girl shivered before sighing. "Why can't just order online or something? It's so much easier."

"Considering that man lives in an abandoned building, I doubt he can do that."

"...I forgot about that part." Hiiragi then looks up to me and taro. "So, what are you two doing?"

"We're on a date, duh." I said offhandedly, only to feel pure bloodlust coming from my girlfriend's best friend. "I'm joking! Taro was just helping me pick out some swimming trunks. I don't have the best sense of fashion."

"...yeah. You seem like the kinda guy who would wear a plain white shirt everyday if he could get away with it." Wow.

"I know, right? Kuro, you really need to diversify your closet."

"Taro, you are literally wearing your school uniform right now."

"...and?"

"Pfthahahaha! Uesugi, you're so dumb!" Hiiragi busted out laughing, with even tears appearing on the edge of her eyes. "Hahahaha... ! Uesugi, you really are a weirdo, huh?"

She flashed Taro a gentle smile that seemed to even go through the man's defenses. Making him turn away from her and kept his eyes on his food. "Shut up." I'm really getting tired of this man being so popular.

"Hiiragi, be careful, Taro is something of a heart breaker."

"Am not!"

"Sure, my friend. Sure." He gave me a slight glare but kept eating his food.

"Huh? Oh, no, no, no, no! Uesugi's to weird for someone like me!" Even I got hurt by that. Sheesh, poor guy. "Plus I... I kinda got someone in mind already."

"Oh? The shy Hiiragi already has a crush? Who's the lucky guy or gal?"

"G-Guy or Gal?!"

"Hey, love is love."

"I-I mean, I am... A-Anyway it's a guy this time." Finally, she fell in love with someone. Maybe now she'll stop prying Miku for so much info. "But I'm not telling! I know you can be really smug, Ogata."

"Hey, I'm not that smug. I'm way less smug than Nino."

"That's like comparing an ant to a lion." I get that she's really smug and mean sometimes but jeez. The shy girl shook her head and gave me what I could assume to be a glare. "And don't tell Miku! She can be really pushy sometimes."

"You have my word. I won't tell her you fell for her boyfriend."

"Not you, idiot! Not even if you were the last guy on earth!" Oh my god. So harsh. Hiiragi stood up and gave us another bow. "H-Have a good day, Uesugi. Ogata, I hate you!" With that, the brown haired girl left the two of us to our lunch.

"... Kuro, are you gonna eat your Udon?"

"You know, you can be just as gluttonous as Itsuki."

"How dare you."

AN: Hello everyone. I hope you all had a good week. I've been doing fine. Unfortunately , I have a bit of an announcement to make. next week there will be no update. It's because my birthday is next week and I kinda wanted to take a short break, as a treat. TBH, I'll probably still write a bit, knowing myself. But I'll still try to take it a bit easy. Sorry guys but I promise to be back the week after. I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to update consistently with this story and I promise that I will continue to do so! Thank you all, once again for reading and I hope you look forward to the next update.

Guest (1): I'm glad to know there is some interest in this idea. I've began planning/ writing down ideas for the IF/sequel. But I'm still not really committed to either yet. Perhaps I'll put out an extra chapter one of these updates that'll be like and IF test, but we'll see. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story.

Guest (2): I'm glad that you enjoyed the update! I hope I'm doing that ties to Yakuza correctly. I want it to be like a great surprise or reference for anyone who's enjoyed the series but also still make sense to those who haven't. It's hard toeing that line, I suppose. Thank you for dropping a review, I'll try my best to keep reaching your expectations for me.