A/N: Again, if you want to see the outfit that Yuu is wearing, go to www dot photobucket dot com slash albums slash v192 slash Roque slash Comic Party. You'll be able to find Yuu in that outfit if you look enough. I mean, seriously, she looks great in that outfit, doesn't she?

Also, keep in mind that since the entire chapter is a flashback, the ending is a flash-forward, putting us back into the absolute present of the story.

I'm thinking of doing updates of future chapters with the actual lyrics of the song that inspired the chapter title. Since this isn't really a series of songfics, it doesn't seem that it's necessary, and if you're really enterprising to know the lyrics, you can just Google the song titles. Please E-mail or review with your thoughts!

Beta readers wanted! Cendrillo and Marivel have been nothing but helpful, and I'd like to expand the ranks. If anyone wants me to beta their stuff in exchange, I'll happily do so. Interested beta-ers, E-mail me through the E-mail Author link in my profile.


Interlude: One of Those Days

Kobe
December 31st
5:45 PM

"I'm ba-" Yuu announced as she stepped into the house, stopping herself when she saw three unfamiliar pairs of shoes in the foyer. Oh, I didn't know we had guests.

She stepped out of her sneakers and into her slippers, moving quietly to her room as not to disturb the guests. She carried the two large paper shopping bags with her carefully. After all, this was a ryokan, and ryokans didn't have the owners' daughters yelling messing up what was meant to be a relaxing soak at an old hot spring.

"You don't have to sneak around like that," a young boy's voice said from behind a door. "They went out a while ago."

"Dammit, Shuichi, don't scare me like that!" Yuu exclaimed, dropping her bags and throwing aside the shoji door to her brother's room. She breathed rapidly, not expecting her brother to perk up.

"Whatever." Shuichi was sitting at his desk, pencil twirling in his hand, obviously working on schoolwork. "You gonna stand there and shriek all night?"

"Awww, am I interrupting your little junior high learning? What a pity that you gotta concentrate the quarter of a brain you have left on—" Yuu looked over his shoulder with a lording-over look on her face. "Japanese history?! You don't know who the emperor was during the war?"

"Shut up! I've got this, world history, algebra and world lit to do before we go out tonight, so bug me later, you degenerate harper!"

"Don't you mean harpy?"

Shuichi threw a book at Yuu, which was easily dodged.

"You're worse in the brain and in aim than Eimi," Yuu stuck her tongue out.

Shuichi stopped glaring at Yuu and suddenly started snickering.

"What? What's so funny?"

Shuichi broke out into laughter as he turned back to his homework. "Oh, this is great! You don't have a clue!" Shuichi doubled over on his desk.

"You're too weird even for me, Shu-chan," Yuu resorted to his hated nickname to try and anger him further. No change was elicited from his hysterics, though; she shrugged, slid his door shut, and picked up her bags, tossing them onto her bed idly.

I actually bought it. I knew I'd do it, but I still don't believe it.

Yuu tentatively overturned the contents of her bags onto her bed. They spilled out the contents of any breathing otaku's shopping expedition: manga from Kinokuniya, a few extra boxes of Pocky for the train ride back on Sunday, and the new Battle Assault PS2 game.

Of course, entirely un-standard was the white Dokiko garment box that tumbled on top of Yuu's latest acquisitions.

She opened the box, looking down at the outfit inside. Silently, she just peered at it, then down at herself.

Why not try it on again? she thought as she held out an arm, rolling the sleeve of her hoodie up. Hell, I can wear it to dinner. Mom'll never know what hit her, and Dad's coming home today. I should be a little dressy.

Yuu unzipped her jeans, folding them up at the foot of her bed. She undid the clasp of the skirt, stepping into it and zipping it up under the fold of a pleat, edging the clasp back into place deftly.

I'm glad I shaved my legs this morning, she thought as she pulled off her white athletic socks for brown ones. I just hope I don't freeze. The hoodie and shirt came off next, followed by her bra as she traded black for white. All the better to not show under the turtleneck.

I still wish I'd bought that jacket. It really, really brought the outfit together. Well, let's take a look again... this time, in my own mirror. Not in Dokiko or any other clothing store, not a fancy three-view mirror... but this is my mirror. I've seen myself in this for years. Time to see me now...

Yuu stepped up to the mirror, holding her hands together loosely in front of herself in a remarkably feminine gesture.

Wow... it still looks good on me. In the light of the store, in this light, in any light... no, wait... one last thing, one last thing to make it perfect. Ever the obsessive artist, Inagawa...

Yuu retrieved two small hair ties from a drawer full of paired ties in her dresser, bringing them back in front of the mirror. She reached behind her back and tossed one of her light brown pigtails over her shoulder, untying the green ribbon that held it at the bottom. She deftly replaced it with one of the new ties, these being twin white poofballs held together by a scrunchie tie. Another few quick twists secured the other poofball hair tie onto the other pigtail.

That ties it all together well enough, she spun with a smile in the mirror. The skirt undulated outward a little, not short enough as to require government regulation, but not too long as to obscure her trim, smooth legs. I can't believe that I'm enjoying this. I never wore clothes like this just because I wanted to. I mean, you're not going to see me out of anything I'm not comfortable in, but...

She stopped posing for a moment and turned her back to the mirror, looking over her shoulder. But... will it work? She stretched her back a little, trying the standard ritual of trying to make her chest appear bigger. I have boobs that are only slightly bigger than my damn brother's. Freakin' 72 centimeters... fine, so my figure isn't going to be my #1 asset. But damned if I don't look really cute in this outfit. It needs the jacket, but I'll be able to make it work somehow...

The front doors to the ryokan opened and closed, and a familiar set of voices echoed upwards to the family's living area. "I'm back!" Sakiko Inagawa, Yuu and Shuichi's mother, called. "Our guests are a few minutes behind us, but I brought your father along just for kicks."

"Hi!" Shuichi yelled out. "Yuu's back. I'm doing my homework."

Yuu was already hurrying down the hall to greet her father. She didn't make much noise as she quickly walked, wearing only socks on her feet, and took the opportunity to slide sideways on the floor. It didn't take long for Yuu to build up enough steam, but as she readied a hearty "Hi, Dad!" and kicked off into her one-footed slide, a shoji door to a guest room slid open.

With a thunk and a tumble, Yuu collided with the guest who was stepping out of the room, ending up in a tumble of arms, legs, and torso.

"Yuu-chan! Are you all right?" Sakiko exclaimed, dashing over to the crash site.

"I'll be fine," Yuu sat up and rubbed her bruised elbow. "I guess I'm just channeling a business partner of mine. Oh, are you okay?" she turned and asked the guest as her face went pale.

"You!"

"You!"

A pair of accusing fingers pointed in crossing directions, as if emulating the final face-off of a John Woo film. The tangled mess turned into an angry mess as Yuu Inagawa and Eimi Oba faced each other down in the hallway of the Inagawa ryokan.

"Oh..." Sakiko said with a sigh. "You've already met one of our guests."

"All this time I thought that this was a reputable ryokan," Eimi haughtily exclaimed, standing up and profusely dusting herself off. "Yet they have pandas running around in the halls! I should have thought you'd migrate back to your home cave for the winter, stupid panda."

"Eimi, if you're running out of sycophants to beg for an autograph in Tokyo, you're not going to find a new army of zombies in Kobe. The masses aren't that ignorant out here."

"Aww, the panda's getting angry with me!" Eimi stuck her tongue out. "I guess you had to come recover from crushing defeat after crushing defeat at all the conventions this year, huh? I guess this panda's losing her claws!"

"Hey, keep it down out there, Yuu, I'm tryin' to do my homework!" Shuichi yelled, storming out of his room angrily.

"Don't talk to me; talk to the other harper," Yuu tossed her head at Eimi.

"What, you have some sort of problem, junior panda?" Eimi growled at Shuichi.

"Um... no, no problems, Eimi-san, I was just talking to my idiot sister," Shuichi said a lot more quietly, backing into his room and avoiding Eimi's angry eyes. "I'll be in here if you need me."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Yuu almost sneered. "Of all the saké joints in all the world, why'd you have to walk into mine?"

"Blame it on my parents, not me. I'd have been perfectly happy with anywhere else, but they're the ones who're friends here, and that's the direct opposite of you and me!"

"Oh, I blame your parents for a lot of things, Eimi, your birth primary among them!"

"What was that, you stupid panda?!"

"Nice to see the two of them are as they've always been," Yuu's father, Hitoshi, observed sotto voce as he stepped up beside his wife.

"I haven't even told her about dinner yet," Sakiko whispered to Hitoshi. "Maybe we ought to hold off on that for now."

"Look, just do your thing and don't make too much noise," Yuu turned her back on Eimi and crossed her arms. "Mom, Dad, if you need me, I'll start on dinner in the kitchen. Maybe if I've got knives within arm's reach, she'll leave me alone."

"Um..." Sakiko smiled cautiously. "Yuu-chan, about dinner tonight..."

Japanese noodle house Masaya
Nakayamate-dori 1-8-21
7:45 PM

"Here's to a happy and healthy new year!" Hitoshi called out, hoisting a big bottle of Orion beer and pouring it. "It's so nice to see you all again. Do you girls drink yet?"

"Heavily, so long as she's around," Eimi and Yuu simultaneously deadpanned while pointing their thumbs at each other. They followed up their mistaken simultaneity with matching angry stares that looked lethal enough to violate the Geneva Convention.

"Are you sure it's okay for them to be drinking?" Eimi's father raised his eyebrow in concern.

"Dear, it's a holiday," Eimi's mother sighed. "Besides, maybe if they get a little drunk, they'll be less at each other's throats."

"Well, drink up, then!" Hitoshi shrugged as he filled the girls' glasses, tending to the rest of the table.

Everyone clinked their glasses in one big circle, echoing a "Kampai!" Eimi and Yuu avoided contacting their glasses, a task made easier thanks to Shuichi sitting between them and obviously trying to get closer to Eimi.

"So how is school going, Yuu-san?" Eimi's father asked as he took a pull on his beer.

"Pretty well. My school in Tokyo isn't that different from Seishin High, and I've made a couple of friends."

"That's good to hear. We thought you'd stay in Kobe after you decided you were going to go to school for a business degree, but Tokyo's a good place to cut your teeth. It's the governmental and business capital after all."

"If you need anything, we'd be more than happy to help you out," Eimi's mother chimed in with a smile. "Goro and I both work in fairly major companies, and we can arrange internships or co-op studies if you run into it."

"Thank you very much," Yuu nodded deeply in an approximation of a bow. "I'm still studying for entrance exams, but maybe when college actually starts, I'll be able to do that."

"Not to brag, but she's going in for honors, too," Hitoshi bragged, initiating the usual trading of brags that went on between proud parents.

Eimi reached for a tempura shrimp on the plate that lay in the middle of the long, low table. "So what're you doing here anyway, panda girl?" she asked, mouth half full of shrimp.

"Learn some manners, Eimi Obaka," Yuu punned as she sipped on her beer.

Eimi glared at Yuu again, took another pull on her beer, and sat back haughtily, her legs crossed under the low table. "Hmph. Just keep in mind that I want to be here with you even less than you want to be here with me, panda," she harrumphed.

"Yeah, me too," Shuichi whined. "I still have tons of homework to do."

"You I have to live with each other, so I'm used to it," Yuu sighed as the grown-ups babbled on with each other. "But you—the fact that we're sharing a roof just outright sucks."

"Same here!" Eimi crossed her arms angrily and turned her chin away from Yuu. "I'll be gone as soon as you are, anyway."

"Fine by me," Yuu reached for a chunk of grilled tuna.

"Don't listen to my stupid sister, Eimi-san; you can stay as long as you like, if you want," Shuichi shyly poked around a piece of tempura with his chopsticks.

"Why, thank you, Shuichi," Eimi stuck her tongue out at Yuu. "I guess that panda blood only runs on the female line of your family. It's nice to know that true genius is appreciated around here." She threw an arm around Shuichi, almost choking him; if this was a problem to him, Shuichi didn't seem to voice any objection.

"Traitor!" Yuu elbowed Shuichi.

"You think we should have brought the girls?" Sakiko asked Hitoshi.

Hitoshi shrugged. "They used to be such good friends. I guess that something crossed their paths that put forth some kind of animosity."

"I don't know about animosity, though. If they really hated each other, how come they're even interacting?" Sakiko tossed her head in Yuu and Eimi's direction; Shuichi was holding Yuu back, her harisen raised up and ready to strike.

"How come you're so dressed-up anyway, panda?" Eimi raged. "Are you trying to shed your fur for a new winter coat or something?!"

WHAP!

"You did deserve that one, dear," Eimi's mother sighed. "Can't we all just enjoy some New Year's soba like old days?"

"Only because your parents are decent people," Yuu narrowed her eyes at Eimi, "and only because of that am I even here at the same table as you, Eimi Obaka."

"Oh, that's nice, because I'm only here because this old place deserves the acclaim and accolades that come with being the favorite soba shop of Cat or Fish!?," Eimi laughed conceitedly.

"Sorry to interrupt," a waiter interjected, sliding aside the shoji door of the private dining room with a free foot. His arms were burdened with two trays bearing huge steaming bowls. "Who ordered the toshikoshi soba?"

"Right here!" everyone at the table exclaimed happily in unison. Eimi and Yuu traded a nasty look, but that was it; for New Year's soba noodles, the Karamitei/Cat or Fish?! rivalry was put on hold.

How come she's dressed like that? Eimi thought as she slurped the hot noodles. Panda girl's usually not so defensive, either... curiouser and curiouser...

As she finshed the long slurp, Eimi tilted her head and tried to jut herself into her rival's line of sight, but Yuu was focused firmly on the bowl of soba, slurping less loudly than the others around her as she stared into the thin broth with a look more of spacedness than concentration.

You're far too quiet, panda. What's going on in that bear-claw brain of yours?

January 16th
Harajuku, Tokyo
2:45 PM

With my own two eyes, nothing less.

I was out doing something I haven't done since I was back in Kobe—shopping for clothes. Specifically, I wanted the jacket for this outfit. I can't wear it with the hoodie anymore... I just knew I'd look better with something that works with the outfit. I saved up for a couple of weeks, so it wasn't that bad... no fresh set of Copics for me this week, I guess. I figured I could survive. I had finished with the rough sketches for the dojinshi, and I was going to meet with Aya and Kazuki later. If I could find the jacket by then, it'll all be perfect. A perfect Sunday. I had done what I needed for the dojinshi, I had enough for the jacket, and after trudging through Harajuku all morning, I found it.

I felt really good. I felt really feminine, but still like myself. That's a good sign, I thought. I felt like a million yen. Like I could go up to Kazuki, grab his arm, and go "Where've you been? I've been waiting for you!" He'd chuckle shyly, apologize, and we'd go meet Aya. The plan was that I wouldn't let go, though... that I'd ask him if he noticed anything different about me. Cheap, I know. Cliché, I know. But at least it'd get him looking at me.

I had put on the jacket—it's actually really comfortable, nice and warm—and I headed over to the subway station to head to Marvel Burger.

Everything would have been fine if I didn't see them like that. In the middle of the street, in a crowd thick enough that I'd have missed them if I didn't see them directly, I saw them and froze dead in my tracks.

To be continued...