The day before, he walked down the third year hallway and noticed Monika patiently standing next to the club room door.
"What are you doing out here, Monika?" Shujinkou asked.
"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," Monika replied.
She pulled a small slip of paper out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Shujinkou.
"This is something I got for my work during the school festival," Monika explained.
Shujinkou's eyes lit up as he read through the contents of the slip.
"A free limited edition parfait for two?" Shujinkou read aloud. While on the outside he retained a calm, yet surprised attitude, on the inside Shujinkou was very excited. He loved eating sweets and the thought of getting a parfait that is usually out of his price range was almost enough to make him show his excitement on the outside too. But his initial excitement quickly turned into confusion, prompting him to thoroughly read through all the lines again."For two… You mean the two of us?"
"Mm-hmm," Monika nodded. "It's a special couples' coupon."
"B-But…" Shujinkou stammered.
He was so flustered that he couldn't finish his sentence. Was Monika possibly asking him out on a date?
"I know we're not a couple," Monika said. "But we wouldn't want it to go to waste, would we? It expires soon."
"But why me?" Shujinkou asked. He really wasn't sure why Monika would want to go with him of all people. Surely there a lot of other people she could have asked.
"Well…" Monika went quiet for a moment before finishing her sentence. "I just thought it would be fun to do something together as fellow club members."
…
Shujinkou opened his eyes. Instead of walking into the old clubroom, he found himself lying in his bed. With a large yawn, He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"The couples' coupon…"
That was one of the first times he ever spent time with Monika alone. It was a happy memory, yet it also a memory that started to upset him.
Must be more Jamias Vu… I think…
Thinking about it made him confused and feel a little empty.
Shaking his head, Shujinkou jumped out of bed and walked out into the hallway. He noticed one of the doors open; it was Hiroko's. Taking a peek inside, he found his sister typing away on her laptop.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked.
"Hm?" Hiroko glanced up. They met eyes for a brief moment before she turned her gaze back to her laptop. "Oh, I'm just working on something for Fuyu. Everything's stagnant on the journalist front, so I have some time to do my VP work."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Besides his sister, he's never heard of any vice president being able to address their job as a side project.
Only Fuyu could let someone get away with that.
"Annnnnnnnnnd… Done," Hiroko gently closed her laptop and stretched her arms.
"Already?" Shujinkou marveled.
"I've been up since 6," she yawned.
"Wow… That's… Wow…"
Shujinkou solemnly scratched his right cheek. The emptiness he felt earlier slowly grew.
"Are you okay, Shujinkou?"
Meeting eyes with his sister once again, Shujinkou could see nothing but worry in them.
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"You're…"
He felt something hot crawl down his cheeks. It was like when he met her again yesterday; seeing her for the first time in so long…
So long…? But I've seen her almost every day.
Shujinkou violently shook his head; just thinking about the strange feeling hurt his head.
"Shujinkou?"
Blinking twice, the child was shocked to find Sayori's face mere inches away from his.
I'm never going to get used to that, am I?
The girl before his eyes just stared at him. "What are you waiting around for, Shiko? It's time to go."
"Sorry," Shujinkou apologized as he awkwardly scratched his right cheek.
He watched as she swiftly turned her attention to Hiroko. A slight chuckle slipped through her lips. "You really shouldn't keep the birthday girl waiting, ya know."
"Sorry…"
Today was Sayori's 10th birthday. During the lead-up to this day, Shujinkou and Hiroko asked her what she wanted. Sayori insisted she didn't want anything but they both knew what she actually wanted.
Shujinkou could remember exactly what his sister said to him after Sayori went home then.
"We can't afford a mountain of varied sweets," Hiroko flatly said.
Without a real plan, the two decided to pursue their own routes regarding what to get Sayori for her birthday.
Not to mention one twin can't spoil the other's surprise.
Shujinkou had already given Sayori her present in the morning. He was honestly surprised by how much she liked it.
Hiroko on the other hand had been gone all morning. She eventually returned mid-afternoon with the announcement of a trip. It was right then and there that Shujinkou knew that whatever gift she came up with, it would completely surpass his.
"Hey, Hiroko…?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Does the place we need to go really need backpacks?"
Shujinkou gripped the straps of his backpack. He felt like he was ready to explore an uncharted area or go on an adventure.
"Maybe," Hiroko coyly answered. "Besides, it makes us look like explorers like Dora, right? It's cool, huh?"
"Actually, I kinda feel like Sly Cooper in Thevious Raccoonus, but yeah, it's cool."
A vindicated smile crossed his twin's face. "Right?"
"Super cool!" Sayori beamed.
"Mm-hmm. Come on! Vámonos!"
With Hiroko taking the lead, the three began their journey.
"Hey, Hiroko, where are we going?" Sayori asked.
"That's part of the surprise," she answered.
"What's there?"
"That's also part of the surprise."
"Is it like Mooey?"
"Mooey?"
Sayori raised a pouch over her face. Held between her hands was a cartoonish depiction of a cow head with a single long string strapped over her right shoulder.
"It's the gift Shiko got me. He carries snacks and candy around for me. He's great."
"She named it pretty quickly," Shujinkou added.
Hiroko turned her attention to Shujinkou, then back at Sayori. Having bore witnessed to the glow that emanated for her face as she talked about the gift her brother gave her…
"…I'm not so sure that I can beat that," Hiroko weakly chuckled.
Hiroko scratched her right cheek. A part of her approved of her the interaction while another part-
"Is it edible?" Sayori suddenly asked.
"It's the first 10 digits of pi."
A look of anticipation landed on Sayori's face. "You got me pie? What flavor?"
"Uh… No, I was referring to the Greek letter; P-I." Hiroko explained.
"Pie is a letter in Greek?"
"No, it's a kind of a math thing. They teach in algebra."
"Isn't that a higher grade level class?" Shujinkou asked. "I knew it had letters, but now Greek letters? Older kids' math is sounding harder than I thought."
"It honestly sounds misleading…" Sayori mumbled. "I kinda want pie now…"
"Suddenly, I want chocolate pie," Shujinkou thought aloud.
"Chocolate pie…" Sayori dreamily repeated.
"I'm starting to think that my gift is going to fall short of pie…" Hiroko sighed.
…
After a treacherous journey of walking, the three arrived at the entrance of a local high school.
"You're birthday gift is at a school?" Shujinkou asked.
"Kinda sorta," Hiroko replied. "Follow me."
Shujinkou and Sayori curiously followed Hiroko around the school and towards a worn down building.
"What is this place?" Shujinkou asked.
"It's an old, abandoned section of the school," Hiroko answered. "I haven't found out why they haven't torn it down yet."
They walked inside. The interior was full of dust and paint of on the walls was peeling off. A few desks were overturned and some of the windows were broken and boarded up with wood.
Taking a second look around as he followed Hiroko to a nearby stairwell, Shujinkou wondered how such a foreboding place was still on a school's property.
"You're leading us to a creepy basement as hostages, are you?" he jokingly asked.
At least, part of him was joking. Another part of him was legitimately worried about the being to a creepy basement.
"Have you been reading Spider-Man: The Manga again?" Hiroko asked.
"It was my first Spider-Man." Shujinkou pointed out.
"I still can't believe that out of all the Spider-Men out there, yours was probably the most depressing one from 1970."
Sayori nodded her head in agreement. "Those stories really were depressing Shiko. I don't think any of them had any happy endings."
"I know and I'm pretty sure the later stories weren't meant for kids…" Shujinkou admitted. "I just wonder what that one panel was when Yu was in the dark after thinking about older girls that weren't… Um… wearing clothes.
I don't really understand what that was."
"Um…" Hiroko's face darkened with anxiety and horror. "It's nothing! He was just… Contemplating about where he was going in life."
"Like he had more important things to think about?"
"Y-Yeah, yeah! Anyway, I had to set you straight with Amazing and Ultimate Spider-Man."
"Yeah, Yu and his adventures are way different from Peter Parker. Also, kinda like Ultimate Spider-Man more than the original. I'm already at Issue 111."
"Really? I thought you were still on the first annual," Sayori said.
"I liked Spider-Man and Kitty hanging out…" Shujinkou admitted. "Though I gotta say, Hiroko, for a comic series about the original Spider-Man, the Amazing comics are pretty strange to read."
"What do you mean?"
"Like I'm reading a story in one issue then the next one is something else entirely."
Hiroko smacked her forehead. "Oh that's right. Sometimes Spider-Man stories switch between two titles like Amazing and Spectacular."
"Oh!" Sayori's eyes sparkled with realization. "So that's why Spectacular Spider-Man makes no sense. I was wondering why I was reading so many sequels to stories that weren't in the series. Like how Spider-Man was happy that Black Cat was alive."
"Wait, Black Cat's Alive?!" Shujinkou gasped.
"Yeah. She shows up in Issue 74."
"Yes!" he cheered.
The children walked through an open doorway to the third floor. Like the first, it was dusty and worn down.
"Wait here; I'll get things ready."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he watched his sister disappear into one of the old classrooms.
"Hey, Shiko, check this out!"
Shujinkou curiously approached the window his best friend was near. Peeking through the wood boards, they could see almost every noticeable section of the school.
"You know, one day we'll probably be going to this school." Sayori solemnly said.
"Yeah. I bet high school isn't as fun as TV and books make it look like."
"And before that is Junior High School. Soon we'll be wearing uniforms and probably no longer be in the same class. There'll be a lot of new faces and probably a lot of new rules to learn; both school and how to act around others."
"Yeah…" Shujinkou released a tired sigh. "No wonder Junior High isn't shown so much… It sounds tiring…"
Sayori snuck a peek at Shujinkou.
"Well… At least we'll face those issues together, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. We'll face those together."
A bright smile stretched across Sayori's face. It was always a smile he wanted to protect.
"It's ready!" Hiroko called.
They followed her voice into one of the nearby classrooms. In the middle of the room was a surprisingly clean table with cake on top of it. Outlining the top were rainbow sprinkles and chocolate M&Ms and the center had one phrase spelled in turquoise frosting: Happy Birthday, Sayori!
"And that's not all."
An excited grin crossed Hiroko's face as she reached for a nearby line of rope. Once she pulled it, several balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling.
"Wow! This is amazing, Hiroko!" Sayori excitedly thanked.
Shujinkou nodded his head in agreement.
Definitely better than Mooey.
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He felt his soul change shade to his favorite color. But that wasn't just the only thing he felt. There was another, unfathomable feeling. He felt empty; emptier than he did before.
Before? Before when?
Shujinkou felt someone tap him on his right shoulder before waving their hand in front of him. He shifted his gaze to Sayori who immediately started frantically talking.
At least, he thought she was. He couldn't hear exactly hear anything coming from her.
Sayori puffed her cheeks as she pouted until she noticed the cake from the corner of her eyes.
The 10-year old grabbed a fistful of cake and smothered her hands in it. She then walked to a nearby wall and used the frosting to begin writing on it.
Though he was confused, Shujinkou was also curious to what kind of message she was writing. It had to be important if she immediately jumped to using cake instead of looking for something else to write with.
As she continued writing he read aloud, "You… need… to… remember… your… Mon…"
Before she finished, a powerful force collided into Shujinkou and forced him through a nearby window.
"Wha?"
"Shujinkou?"
Blinking twice once again, Shujinkou found himself once again standing face to face with an older Hiroko.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"I don't know. You just stopped responding for a minute," Hiroko answered.
"Again?"
Again? When did it happen before?
Three times in just under 10 minutes he had to question how he instinctively responded to various scenarios. He found his it jarring to say the least. Before he could process what he just said, their parents soon walked by the door.
Shujinkou just stared at the two while Hiroko could barely stifle her chuckle. Not only were their parents bound by marriage, but now they were bound by several strings of yarn.
Only one question was on their son's mind. How did they even get upstairs?
Jomei exhaled a tired sigh. "Shujinkou, you really need to tell your mother to stop trying to sew things without you around."
"I just don't want to bother him while he's busy," Hiro said. "Though I have to wonder how I keep ending up in these comical situations lately…"
"Which is why you shouldn't do it without him," Jomei concluded.
Shujinkou silently scratched his right cheek. He truly didn't know what would be the right thing to say at the moment.
It was just strange enough for him to forget what he just went through.