[Summary: Nanako tries to figure out who she is after everything that has happened, but these things are never easy—and neither is patching up her broken team.]
[8/11: Thursday]
Nanako sat at the vanity table in Saki's room and watched her friend behind her in the mirror.
"How about braids?" Saki asked, threading Nanako's hair into one long braid without waiting for her answer.
"Nah..."
"A bun?" Saki wrapped the half-finished braid around itself into a makeshift bun.
"That's for old people, Senpai!"
"Pigtails?" Saki undid the braid and then separated the hair into two pigtails and waggled them.
Nanako snorted. "That takes me back. I haven't had pigtails since I was Souji-kun's age."
"We should do something with his hair, too."
"If only Junes made dinosaur-shaped hair clips."
"They do." Saki held a pair up with a mischievous smile.
Nanako took one from her. It was... it was pink and in the shape of a triceratops' head, and there were little hearts around it. It was obviously designed for little girls, and therefore perfect. "Wow, Senpai..." She shook her head, causing Saki to protest since the action shook the hair that she was still holding. "I think Yuu-chan might like them more than Sou-chan, though, heh heh."
"Speaking of Souji-kun," Saki said, "if you're with me, where's he at?"
"Oh, Shirogane-san is watching him for the day. They get along so well, it's really cute!"
"Anyone would get along with Souji-kun," Saki pointed out. "But Shirogane-san, hmm... That's interesting."
"Don't get jealous or anything," Nanako warned, "but he's living with us."
"...You're damn right I'm jealous," Saki muttered, nuzzling Nanako's neck with her nose. "Wish I could live with you. Anything beats living here."
"Your parents still bothering you with unrealistic expectations?" Nanako tried her best to stay on topic while the girl's breath warmed her skin.
"Yeah, but that's nothing new," Saki murmured. "I don't want to talk about them. Tell me about that Detective Prince. Why is he living with you?"
"Remember he got kidnapped out of his apartment? Well, he kind of doesn't want to go back there..."
Saki's eyes widened with excitement—Nanako could see the exact moment the idea came to her in the mirror. "Oh! If he's afraid of living alone, I could live with him!"
"Wouldn't that be something," Nanako murmured.
"It can't be weirder for him than living with you," Saki teased. "And I do clean up after myself."
"Are you implying that I don't?" Nanako pretended to look offended. "Because—"
Saki kissed her, effectively shutting her up.
Nanako kissed back with a soft murmur, savoring the taste of the cherry lip gloss, but then she pulled away with a heavy sigh.
"What?" Saki's lips turned down in a frown. "I'm not THAT bad a kisser."
"Oh, no," said Nanako, "the kiss was awesome. I just remembered something."
"Do tell. Is this going to get kinkier?"
Nanako shook her head. "Though I could always make it kinkier, heh heh. You know my friends Chie and Yukiko?"
"Yeah. Are they a couple, too?"
"Oh, totally. But now they're fighting, and it's all my fault!"
"Nanako, how can it be your fault? Short of you kissing one of them and then getting caught by the other, it can't be your fault."
"N-no, it's not a love triangle, although they both have very pretty legs—" At that, Saki tugged on her hair until she swatted her away. "What? They do!"
"I never really noticed," Saki admitted, "but I'll be sure to check next time I see them."
"Corrupting everyone, even those not in the DEATH Squad," Nanako murmured to herself. She blinked, remembering how Teddie had innocently asked to be corrupted, and how she'd just made a joke of it. What if she hadn't? What if—
Saki pulled her hair again. "I don't like that look on your face. What are you thinking?"
Nanako swallowed. "I'm thinking that after all we've been through, nothing's going to be the same now. And I'm wondering if Chie and Yukiko's relationship is one of those things."
Saki didn't answer immediately. "If a relationship can't survive the first time things go sour, well, maybe it wasn't built on the strongest foundation to begin with."
"D-don't say that!" Nanako exclaimed. Though some of the things Yukiko had said yesterday definitely indicated that Saki wasn't wrong...
"I'm saying," Saki went on, "that it was probably going to happen sooner or later, and you're just the excuse. Don't beat yourself up over it, Nanako."
Nanako stared down at the vanity's tabletop while Saki ran fingernails through her hair. Several long moments later, she looked up at her friend. "Wanna make out?"
Saki snickered. "I thought you'd never ask."
After having watched the news, Aunt Seta retired for the evening, leaving Nanako alone with Naoto at the tea table. The detective had watched the news with a dispassionate interest. Although Nanako had turned off the TV, her friend was continuing to stare at the blank screen.
"Have you tried putting your hand in?" Nanako asked, her voice just a whisper, not that anyone would overhear them. Souji was long since put to bed.
"Of course," Naoto replied without altering the direction of her gaze. "But I almost wish I hadn't. It is such an unnatural thing to experience." She shuddered, hugging her arms close to her body.
Nanako didn't disagree there, but the topic reminded her that they would eventually have to go back in there to explore both Naoto and Kubo's dungeons. Had large Shadows overtaken the final stages? Without Teddie, they'd only know if they went back there on their own and faced them.
And Nanako didn't have to ask to know that Naoto wanted to see the other dungeons first-hand, especially the sites of Ms. Yamano and Naoki-kun's deaths.
Maybe Naoto would like to visit the bathhouse, too? That idea didn't cheer Nanako up very much. Going back into the TV World, even for some fun... All it would do right now is bury her in her regrets. She recalled with bitterness how much she'd wanted Naoto on the team. Well, she'd gotten her wish, but the cost had been far too high.
It was too soon to go back there. Besides that, neither Chie nor Yosuke were in contact with her. And she'd promised Yosuke that she'd never ask him for anything again, which included anything related to the investigation, so she wouldn't be calling him up anytime soon, if ever.
"Your cousin..."
She blinked out of her thoughts. The detective had torn her gaze from the TV and was now addressing her. "Yes?" Nanako prompted.
The corner of Naoto's mouth was turned up in a half-smile. "I'm sorry. You looked far too pensive, and I thought to bring up a more palatable topic."
"How was it with him today?" Nanako asked, glad for the distraction. "And thanks for watching him."
"I believe I've mentioned before that at times a distraction is welcome, and he's hardly a bother. We had a fun time."
"Oh? What'd you do while I was gone? Another puzzle?"
Naoto shifted in her seat and her smile grew somewhat mischievous. "That is an interesting tale. I asked him what he really wanted to do, and he became rather flustered and wouldn't say until I pried it out of him."
Nanako imagined that—Naoto interrogating the little boy. Though of course the detective wouldn't have treated him like a criminal.
"As it so happens," Naoto continued, "he wanted me to read to him some of your manga. But he was afraid to go into your room and take them from the shelf without your permission." She paused for effect, and Nanako 'aww'd before she continued. "I told him I would be responsible if, in fact, it wasn't all right with you. But yes, we spent the day reading, err, 'Magical Detective Loveline.'"
"Truth and Justice," Nanako murmured, mostly to herself. "Actually," she said aloud, "I think the next volume is out, but... I haven't gone to the bookstore to get it yet. And I'm not sure I want to."
"Oh? Are you saving up your finances for something in particular?"
"It's not that," Nanako said almost hesitantly. "I just can't enjoy Loveline anymore. It's not... it's not me."
"Not you?" Naoto raised an eyebrow as if mimicking Aunt Seta. "Souji-kun seems to think otherwise. He pointed out several things Detective Loveline did in the manga that reminded him of you. And he informed me that you dressed up as a heroine quite reminiscent of her once when you were playing with him."
Nanako cracked a small smile at the memory of Souji in his 'Lieutenant Briefs' getup, but it didn't last long. "Loveline used to be my calling," she murmured. "Once upon a time."
"Are you feeling poetic today, Nanako-san?"
She laughed weakly at the detective's quip. Poetic, huh? She remembered the haiku she'd written for Mr. Morooka. That was about as poetic as she could get. "You know Loveline's catchphrase? Truth and Justice? When the truth isn't anything special and justice is subjective, I... I just..."
"Whether the truth is 'special' or not, it is the truth," Naoto began, but Nanako waved her off.
"Listen," she said, leaning forward. "I made a promise. A promise to Teddie that I'd figure out who was throwing people into his world and put a stop to it. A promise to find the truth." She paused, idly scratching a fingernail across surface of the tea table. "But at this point I don't think I even care about the truth. I just want it over."
"I doubt anyone would blame you for such a thought, considering the circumstances."
Nanako almost snorted, because the residents of the Velvet Room sure would blame her. That contract that she didn't remember signing... She should've demanded the details from them a long time ago, but no, they'd dazzled her with praise for her power of the 'Wild Card' and she'd never thought to question it.
Her brow furrowed in concentration. They'd never mentioned a contract or anything until she'd almost broken it that one time. She was sure of it! A contract didn't have to be written up on a sheet of paper. It could be verbal.
Like a promise?
"Loveline may not represent you now," Naoto said, "but you can aspire for it to. You don't need to give it up for lost. 'Truth and Justice' may well be your motto again one day, Nanako-san."
"Maybe," said Nanako, her voice laden with doubt.
"And if it never becomes yours," the detective continued. "Well, maybe one day it will become Souji-kun's."
[8/12: Friday]
The weather report promised a thunderstorm later in the day, but right now it was merely pouring rain—which meant it was perfect weather to catch Izaya in a good mood. Nanako had promised to speak with him, so she headed to the gas station, her purple umbrella in hand.
He wasn't in sight under the station's awning, nor was he hidden behind a gas pump—she checked them all—so she went inside and spoke with the store manager, who was reading a magazine behind the counter. According to him, Izaya was in the service garage behind the station.
The service garage's door was wide open, a moving truck in the only bay. She'd never been to the service garage before, so she was hesitant to enter, but then mentally shrugged and walked right on in.
Izaya's lower half was sticking out from under the moving truck. She had no idea what he was doing under there, and since he was busy working, she wondered if she should just leave and wait back at the store for potential customers. Before she could leave, however, Izaya's voice came from under the vehicle. "I know you're there, Nanako. How are you today...?"
How the heck had he known it was her? He couldn't see her!
"Uh, I'm okay, I guess, Izaya-san," she murmured, wondering if the manager had told him that she'd been in the hospital. She'd never seen Izaya interacting with the manager, so probably not. "How are you?"
"What do you think?"
She could easily imagine his creepy smile, the lip curled up just so. She didn't answer his question, knowing it was rhetorical.
A short time later, he rolled out from under the moving truck, an oily rag in his hand.
"I thought you said a local was the mechanic here?" she remarked.
"I never said I wasn't a local," Izaya replied, briefly chuckling at a joke only he heard, his creepy smile morphing into a sardonic and toothy grin. "In truth, he called out because of the weather, but anyone can do an oil change. I merely stepped up to the plate."
"I couldn't do an oil change," she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Perhaps that is the source of your problems."
Nanako laughed, but soon she noticed that Izaya was staring intently at her. Her problems, huh? She looked into his red eyes and remembered why she had come to the station.
"Did you hear, Izaya-san? The copycat killer was caught."
Izaya's head tilted slightly. "I have heard that, yes. But I'm ignorant of the details. And of his fate."
"He's been sent to a mental hospital," Nanako told him. "It's... It's what he deserves." She lowered her gaze and kicked her toe against the concrete floor of the garage.
Izaya snorted with force, and abruptly she brought her gaze back to him. He was shaking his head. "'What he deserves.' Don't lie to me, Nanako. The fire within you hasn't been dampened at all. You wish you'd gotten your hands on him."
"I had my chance," she reported, her eyes hard. "He was within my grasp, but I let him go, Izaya-san."
"You... let him go?" The man's face morphed into a frown of puzzlement, growing noticeably paler than its normal hue. "...Why?"
Nanako thought about it for a few minutes. Why? Everyone had almost died, herself included. When asked, back at the dungeon, she'd answered that she wanted the truth, but... but that wasn't why.
"I don't know," she eventually admitted. "You're right, though, I wish he'd died by my hand."
"Why, then?" he repeated, not frowning anymore but still very much puzzled, except on his face the confusion seemed larger than life, as though he was contemplating something completely alien to him.
"I don't know how to explain it, Izaya-san, but if I'd done anything different, anything at all, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you."
Death or the Hierophant. She continued to lose sleep over that choice, wondering what else she could have done.
"I don't understand," he admitted after a minute.
She looked out through the service garage's open door. The rain was pouring straight down; apparently there was no wind. She motioned at Izaya and then went out into the rain.
He followed her to a bench right outside the garage. It wasn't sheltered from the rain, and the cold water seeped through her skirt when she sat on it, though she hardly noticed the unpleasant sensation. Izaya sat too, his body angled towards her, a look of frank curiosity on his face.
"You told me, Izaya-san," she said, "that I shouldn't have regrets, but... y'know what? I have them. I regret letting him go. I won't—I can't—deny that!" The thin smile on her face was humorless. "But in the end, I went down the path that I thought would lead to the fewest regrets."
"But the regret you are left with is a hefty one," he pointed out.
"Yes," she said simply. "It is."
She leaned back in the bench and allowed the rain to wash over her face.
After a pause, she continued. "Trust me, it wasn't an easy choice, and even after I made it, I almost went back on it. In the end, to get my revenge, I'd have to sacrifice too many things."
"Like your innocence?" He sounded sarcastic.
She snorted her agreement, and rainwater dripped down her nose. "Yeah, right. I lost my innocence so long ago, I don't even remember it. But heck, even without having killed someone, sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to hug my little cousin, because my dirt might rub off on him." She sighed and rolled her head against the back of the bench until she was looking at him. "My innocence aside, Izaya-san, if I had my revenge, everything would change. My friends already think I'm crazy, but that would be crossing a line that I'm sure they hadn't even considered as an option. I might announce to the world that I don't care what they think, or what anyone thinks, but on some level I do. Yeah, I care what you think, too, Izaya-san. Don't give me that look."
"What look?" he murmured. "I believe I care more about what you think than the opposite." His eyes glittered. "Tell me, what else would have changed that swayed your decision?"
"I also might've ended up in jail," she pointed out. "That's the most obvious thing!"
Izaya shook his head. "As if the law's response crossed your mind at the time."
"It sure didn't," she freely admitted, "but it helps in justifying the decision to myself after the fact. Thinking of all the things that could've gone wrong had I chosen the other path."
But that assumes anything went right with the current path, she added in her mind while biting her lower lip. She wondered if killing Kubo would've prompted Naoto to build a case against her to get her arrested. Assuming her friends sent into the Secret Base would've been able to save Naoto from her Shadow. And that Teddie's Shadow wouldn't have gone on a rampage.
Yeah, right.
"It was just not the right decision to take at the time," she finished.
Considering it further, it was a decision she wouldn't have made without Igor. If he hadn't warned her of her options, she would've rushed headlong through her original plans. He wasn't supposed to be butting in like this—he'd said so!—and yet...
She had asked for a warning, hadn't she? When Mr. Morooka died, she'd complained that she wasn't given any sort of warning. This... it could have been Igor's way of making it up to her.
At that thought, she smiled in a sorrowful way. "Death, or the Hierophant," she muttered, closing her eyes.
She waited for Izaya to question that, but the only sound was the rain pattering around them. She opened her eyes and watched the man consider her words. Eventually, the side of his mouth turned up and his gaze moved up and locked onto hers. "I see," he said, and she knew in her heart that he meant it.
She matched his expression and looked to the distant sky. Dark clouds rolled through it; the promised thunderstorm was slowly invading Inaba.
They watched the encroaching darkness together for several long minutes.
"Do you... do you judge me for it?" Nanako asked in a voice smaller than Souji's.
[8/13: Saturday]
Nanako headed to the flood plain with trepidation, although she was the one who'd arranged this meeting; she'd sent a text to Chie asking to speak with her in person.
And Chie's only reply had been 'k.'
So she'd texted her friend the further details of time and place after debating hard with herself over whether they should go to Aiya or the flood plain. The latter had won out as a far more neutral location.
She dragged her feet as she turned onto the road that went through the flood plain, but she stopped completely as music came to her ears. That was Ayane's trombone, which wasn't too unusual, but today she was accompanied by...
A guitar?
She caught sight of the first year girl and stared, because she'd recognize that mop of dyed brown hair anywhere. Yosuke was playing with her. They were both by the river, completely absorbed in the piece they were playing. The sound... well, it wasn't great, but it didn't scare cats away or anything.
Huh, Nanako thought, and then continued on her way.
Chie was sitting at the edge of one of the pier stones some distance away from the music, leaning back on her hands and swinging her feet idly over the water. Since school was out, she was wearing casual clothes—a white pullover top and jean shorts. When she noticed Nanako approaching, she pulled her feet up onto the pier.
"Uh, hey, Chie," Nanako greeted, wondering if she should sit.
The girl didn't reply, only glanced at her and then began to stare out across the river, so Nanako went ahead and took a seat a few feet away and followed her gaze. Today there weren't any butterflies on the other bank.
"Soooo," Nanako began after a bit.
Chie cut her off with a glare. "Nanako, what in the world was going on with you that night?"
Several things, Nanako thought, looking up at the sky. Where did Chie want her to begin?
"For once in my life," Chie went on, "I found myself agreeing with Yosuke—that you were crazy. I mean, I want to save everyone, too, but calling us all there past midnight in the middle of a raging storm, and then splitting up the team like that? Fighting without you, it was the worst thing we've ever had to do."
"So I've heard," Nanako murmured.
"Can you imagine it, Nanako? The four of us fighting powerful Shadows that we'd never seen before, without you there to guide us?"
Nanako could imagine that pretty easily, actually. The four of them had been exhausted from being woken up in the middle of their sleep, confused by the urgency of the call to arms, and uncoordinated when fighting without her direction. She imagined that Yosuke had taken the lead, if Chie hadn't. With how angry he'd been at Nanako and the whole situation, he wouldn't be easy to work with. The team would trip over each other following his orders, and he didn't have the ability to switch Personas on the fly and cover the others' backs as she could.
"When we finally got to Kubo, and his Shadow came out and began to tear us to pieces... Nanako, we can't do that again. We can't." Chie's hands were curled into fists on her jean shorts, and the look on her red face said that this wasn't a plea.
Chie was quiet now, waiting for a response. Nanako took some time gathering her thoughts, trying to figure out what would be the right answer. After taking a deep breath, she said, "You have every right to be angry at me, okay? I'm not even expecting forgiveness. You know I haven't spoken with Yosuke at all since then? You can be like him. I promised I wouldn't bother him again. Ever. So he's not working with me anymore, no longer part of my crazy schemes. I can make the same promise to you. Never bother you again."
Chie opened and closed her mouth. Despite her frustration with Nanako, quitting the team apparently hadn't been an option she'd even considered.
"Yeah," Nanako continued. "I'm serious. I know better than to split up the party again, or go on my own like that. We'll take it slow and careful from here on out."
"But Yukiko would still be part of your schemes, so she'd still be in danger," Chie pointed out, and now it was Nanako's turn for her mouth to fall open, because she hadn't mentioned Yukiko at all, and Yukiko shouldn't be relevant to the discussion.
Nanako shifted hesitantly, almost imperceptibly. "I told Yukiko that, too, you know. That I'd put her in danger. That you were right to be angry with me about it."
"You talked to Yukiko...?"
"Yeah!" Nanako declared, rising to the topic. "And do you know what she said? She said she went there that night because she wanted to! It was by her own damned choice. If she didn't want to be there, she wouldn't have come. It was her choice. Not mine."
"Well, yeah," said Chie, rolling her eyes. "Of course she makes her own decisions. But they're influenced by you!"
"She hasn't once let me in the hot springs," Nanako pointed out. "Are you sure about that? You're the one who tried to stop her from coming to my out-of-the-hospital party. Do you know what else she told me? She thinks you're coddling her! She thinks you're no better than the boys at school! Is that what you want?"
Chie was staring at her, wide-eyed.
Nanako breathed heavily. "Because... because this shit is all my fault, you think I don't know that?" She grabbed Chie by the front of her shirt and leaned in close. "Mr. Morooka died and then I had the perfect chance to murder the piece of shit who killed him, a once in a lifetime chance, that's why I went there that night in the middle of the storm! But now Yosuke thinks I'm not worth the trouble, and you think I'm just going to put you in danger again, and Teddie is DEAD!"
Her grip slackened and she lowered her gaze to the stone they were sitting on, continuing in a much quieter voice. "Teddie is dead. Mr. Morooka is dead. I almost died, and you all almost died, and yet it will never be enough to compensate. But now I find out that not only did I hurt our friendship beyond repair, it's also making you two, who've been friends and girlfriends before I even arrived, fight? I can't do anything to fix this but talk to you, Chie..."
She hardly noticed her vision going blurry, but some tears fell from her eyes onto the pier, darkening the gray stone where they fell.
"If you want to, you can hate me forever," Nanako murmured. "I... I'd understand. But please don't let my fuckups ruin everyone else too. Don't try to bully Yukiko into siding with you. I don't care which side she's on! I just want it over!"
After a few beats, Nanako let go of Chie and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.
"That's... that's not what it's like," Chie said very quietly. "I'm not bullying Yukiko."
"Do you want to bet?" Nanako replied, her voice coarse. "Call her up right now. Let's ask her."
Chie hesitated. Her face had lost much of its color.
"Why not?" Nanako goaded. "We're talking about her. She deserves to be included."
"I don't bully her," Chie repeated. "And we're not f-fighting..."
"How long has it been since you've called her, and what was the last thing you said to her?"
The other girl frowned while she thought about it. Then she was pulling her phone out of the pouch attached to her belt and calling up her friend.
It took several rings, but of course there were many reasons a girl whose arm was in a sling could take some time to answer. Nanako tried not to read too far into it.
"H-hey, Yukiko!" Chie said way too loudly. "Heyyy, how are things? How's your arm? Oh... you're working? W-well, I'm here with Nanako. Yeah, that's right. Nanako. She's telling me that we're fighting or something, how ridiculous is that! I mean, sheesh! We're—huh?" Her eyes unfocused as she listened to Yukiko say something, and the frown on her face returned. "What are you talking about? Look, Yukiko, I'm only trying—Hey, I'm talking now!"
Observing the growing argument, Nanako began to gnaw on her lower lip, peeling up loose skin. She was helpless to intervene; she'd only make matters worse.
If that was possible.
"No, you shut up!" Chie shouted into the receiver. "You don't wanna hear it? Well I don't wanna hear it either! What? Hey! Don't you hang up on me. I'm not done talking yet!" She moved the phone away from her ear to look at the screen. "She hung up on me."
Nanako tasted metal as the lip she was worrying began to bleed.
Chie stared down at the phone for over a minute. "Oh my god," she whispered. "We... we really are fighting..."
She slouched back, her gaze fixed unseeing at the clear sky above them, and she didn't respond when Nanako murmured her name.
[8/14: Sunday]
"'At your Junes,'" Nanako mumbled while sifting through a bin of bargain swim trunks at the store in question. She was beginning to get discouraged. She held up a pair of trunks with a particular cartoon kitty design. Close, but not quite...
Someone's fingers drummed against her back. Nanako turned her head to see Saki in her apron. Soon the girl was kissing her.
Saki pulled away after a moment. "Don't tell me Kanji-kun lost his speedo or something."
"Nah, I'm shopping for Souji-kun," Nanako explained. "Skinny dipping's great, but there'll be other people at the beach, so..."
"So," Saki echoed. "You're looking in the wrong bin. The one you want is over... here." She turned down a nearby aisle and motioned for her to follow. Saki led her all the way to the back of the store.
The bin in question had been shoved into a corner, possibly because someone had feared for their masculinity due to it: it was piled high with eye-searingly pink and purple items. Nanako met Saki's eyes from the other side of the bin. She nodded. Together they moved the bin until it was out in the open, where it belonged.
Then Saki held up a shiny black speedo from the bin with the words 'cutie pie' depicted on it in hot pink text.
"I love you," Nanako blurted at the sight. The speedo was as perfect as those triceratops hair clips.
Saki fluttered her eyelashes before turning her attention back to the speedo. "But do you want the pink or the purple one?"
"Both," Nanako decided, just in case she needed another for Yuuta. He'd had a wardrobe malfunction at the river, so maybe he needed something tighter. She hadn't planned on inviting Yuuta to the beach trip, but maybe she should. Oh god, the two boys could be 'cutie pie' twins. After that thought, she had to shake her head to clear it. "Uh, speaking of beaches, you're coming with, girlfriend."
"That sounds nice," Saki said. "'Girlfriend.' Oh, and the beach, too. When are you going?"
"Tomorrow! I'm surprised my aunt acted so quickly. I was expecting to be back in school before she took any time off to go on a trip."
"Ohhh, so it's a family beach trip, huh?" Saki's voice had a playful lilt to it. "I'd say that it'll be nice to meet your family, but I kind of already met everyone."
"You haven't met my mom!" Nanako pointed out. "She'll love you. I'm sure of it. It's too bad she won't be back in Japan for months and months... But if we're still together then, she'll so want to meet you."
"Should I be afraid?" Saki teased. "Your dad was frightening enough."
"And yet you stood up to him for me as if it was nothing. He'll probably remember that. He's like an elephant. He never forgets. But my mom... Hmm, she's..." Nanako thought hard about it for a moment and then announced, "She's a lot like me!"
"Then I'll definitely be afraid," Saki quipped. Nanako batted her playfully with one of the speedos. "Your mom's overseas, right?" Saki continued on a more serious note.
"Yep, on a piano tour. She's the best pianist in the world!"
"Do you play?"
Nanako paused, a longing look overtaking her face. "...Yes."
"See! We're this close," – Saki draped arm around her and pulled until they were cheek to cheek – "and yet I'm still learning new things about you!"
"Do you..." Nanako swallowed. "Do you wanna see me perform?"
"Who'd say 'no'?" Saki responded.
Nanako smiled. The school was likely closed over the summer break, but... she was sure there'd be a way to visit the music room.
Another Junes employee walked by, and Saki decided to clock out for the day to hang out with Nanako. They went to the food court and sat at the long table that was the DEATH Squad's secret headquarters—not out of any team spirit, but simply because it was the only table with a canopy to shade them from the hot summer sun.
Saki brought out her lunch, a commercially-packaged bento, and began to eat from it. "I don't trust the food here," she commented, "but I don't have that much choice."
"Employee discount too much to ignore?" Nanako asked, teasing.
"The discount isn't that much," Saki reported, "although I suppose it adds up. You know, when I first started working at Junes, my mom would make lunch for me. She was proud that I was responsible enough to get a job." She paused with a reminiscent smile that suddenly turned down. "Of course, that was before she knew the full extent of Junes' effect on our store's business. I gotta buy my own lunch now."
"I'm sorry, Senpai."
Saki rolled her shoulders in a shrug. She held up a piece of carrot in her chopsticks. "Want some?"
Nanako opened her mouth to say, 'No,' but Saki had already poked it into her mouth. Nanako bit down on the chopsticks in punishment, blushing despite herself.
Saki tugged them out of her mouth, a playful expression on her face. Then her eyes unfocused as she spied something in the distance. "Look, we have entertainment."
Nanako followed her gaze. Yosuke was cleaning off a table at the far side of the food court. He was wearing a hair net and a Junes apron. His headphones were on over his ears.
"Hana-chan always works the food court," Saki commented. "And always on cleaning duty."
"Can't let a girl suffer in this godawful summer sun," Nanako murmured. She rubbed her forehead and her fingers came away slick with sweat. And they were sitting in the shade! With the sun as bright as it was, it was hard to believe how rainy yesterday had been.
Rain... She wondered if Yosuke had watched the Midnight Channel last night.
As if hearing her thoughts, Yosuke turned his head in their direction and noticed them looking at him.
He stared. They stared. It was a stare down.
And then he rolled one of his shoulders as if stretching out a kink in it and turned back to cleaning the table.
Nanako continued to stare.
Saki nudged her. "Want me to talk to him?"
"No."
Saki narrowed her eyes.
Nanako sighed. "Come on, Senpai. Let's just go."
Nanako decided to walk Saki home. Who knew? Maybe she'd be invited to her senpai's room again.
Or maybe she'd kinda push her way in without an invitation... Saki was giving her flirty looks while they walked down the central shopping district.
And then Nanako's step faltered, because she spotted Marie standing right outside the Velvet Room door. The sight was simply too unexpected.
Saki caught her arm. "Did you trip?"
"Err," said Nanako, and Saki followed her gaze. When Saki looked back at her questioningly just a few moments later, Nanako realized that she couldn't see Marie.
Now there was a neat trick. The girl stood out like a sore thumb with those white-and-black striped socks and that red plaid skirt that was definitely not part of any local school's uniform. She'd fit right in if she was in Tokyo, but sleepy Inaba was a whole different story.
She couldn't ignore Marie, not after what happened with Teddie, but Saki was, well, more important at the moment. She waved at Marie with an 'in a minute' gesture and proceeded to finish taking Saki home.
She returned to the Velvet Room door muuuch more than a minute later. She carried a blank notebook that she'd borrowed from Saki. Marie didn't have to know that it wasn't the reason she'd taken so long in coming back. Heh heh.
"Are you finally going to show me around town?" Marie asked when she approached.
"It's way too hot for that," Nanako said, fanning her flushed face. "We're totally going to write poetry instead. You wanted to learn haiku, right? Come on, let's go." She took out the Velvet Room key and opened the door before Marie could protest.
Igor didn't react when she plopped the notebook down right on the table in front of him. Margaret, on the other hand, had on an offended look, like she'd just witnessed Nanako carve her initials into the table with a pocketknife.
Ignoring the old bat, Nanako proceeded to teach Marie how to write haiku. It wasn't as easy as she'd expected.
"The first line is five syllables. If you don't know how many syllables a word is, just count how many times your jaw moves to say it. You can even hold your hand under your chin—just like Igor's doing right now!"
Igor continued not to react. Nanako was both disappointed and impressed.
"The blackness of the deep," Marie began.
Nanako shook her head. "Too many syllables! Try again."
"But..." Marie scowled down at her paper.
"'Shadows darker than,'" Nanako prompted. "Now continue from there!"
"This is too restrictive!" Marie complained. "I don't like it."
"I guess your pathos just isn't screaming hard enough," Nanako said, waving a hand dismissively.
"MY PATHOS THUNDERS!" Marie cried.
"Aaand that's five syllables! See, it's easy!"
Marie blinked at her. "Huh, so it is." She glared down at her notebook and began to write with apparent passion, occasionally staring up into space while she thought of what words she wanted to use.
"Are you quite sure, dear guest..." Margaret began. Nanako glanced at her, and that distasteful look on her face was absolutely beautiful. "...that you aren't going to perform a fusion today?"
Nanako pretended to think about it. She dearly needed to improve her arsenal, but not today. She was trying to establish a social link here!
"What rhymes with 'thunders'?" Marie mused.
"It doesn't have to rhyme," Nanako informed her. "In fact, I don't think I've seen a haiku that rhymes. Though I suppose it can be done."
Marie huffed at her.
"By the way," Nanako added, "you don't have to follow the 5-7-5 rule if it's too hard. You can do them 5-8-5, or 4-7-4, or whatever, as long as the first and last match. So it's actually less restrictive than you think!"
"That table is for fusions," Margaret went on, her voice as cold as Jack Frost's body.
"Yep," said Nanako. "And Igor's tarot card readings. I bet if this table could talk, it would have a lot of stories to tell." She brushed her fingers along the velvet blue tablecloth. Who made the table? How many guests had it seen? How much brandy had been spilled on it? Did it ever get bored, and did it ever rate the guests' sexiness to pass that boredom?
Across the table, she saw movement. Igor had just shifted in his seat. She raised an eyebrow at him. His enigmatic smile seemed knowing.
"'Blunders,'" Marie said. "That rhymes with 'thunders.' But it doesn't have the oomph that I'm looking for."
Nanako considered it for a moment, then suggested:
"My pathos thunders
over a dozen blunders."
"My heart it plunders?" Marie finished, a questioning look on her face.
Nanako leaned her head back, impressed. Maybe Marie had some talent after all!
"Fusions," Margaret repeated.
"We're fusing words," Nanako told her. "That has to count."
Marie stretched. "This is boring," she said, stifling a yawn. "That wasn't fun at all. I want to see what's outside. Take me out."
"Not today," Nanako said, briefly wondering whether anyone would even see Marie with her outside, though she was already crazy so it wouldn't be a big loss if she looked like she was talking to herself... "I have a hot date!"
She'd told Saki that she'd 'be right back,' after all!
[Author's Notes: I originally wanted to end the chapter with the Yosuke scene, but we haven't seen Marie in a very long time, so!
By the way, is there anything you want to see? Comments help the creativity flow! I haven't made as much progress writing for this story over the past month as I would have liked :(
Next Chapter: Cutie Pie
The beach trip! Fun in the sun for everyone.
(Well, maybe not everyone.)]