Chapter 14: Kogoen Yukari, the Onemine Brothers
Author's note: If you don't remember which Onemine's brothers is which, I used page 14 of chapter 193 as a reference.
Kogoen so enjoyed the cool autumn afternoon that she hummed while sitting on a park bench. What's there to not enjoy? There was that smell of autumn; the whoosh of the wind she felt on the tip of her hair, and most noticeably the incredibly loud energetic screams of two kids. One had unruly brown spiky hair, while the other put his brown hair into short twintails.
Kogoen continued humming. After all, their screams filled in the atmosphere well.
There was a sudden shockwave appearing next to Kogoen's ears. "Hey! Miss! Why're you moving your mouth weird?" the twintail boy asked.
"She's pretending to be a fish," the other boy said. He mimicked a goldfish eating food pellets. "Eating the cool air to cool herself down."
The twintail boy copied the other boy. "This sucks. How do you keep on doing this for the last hour?"
Kogoen looked at her phone and sure enough, she had been sitting on this bench for an hour. She explained to the boys that she was just humming.
"You're moving your mouth weird again! Kazuya, I think this is a different fish," the twintail boy said.
"Nana, you fool, this one is a goldfish making bubbles!" Kazuya said, mimicking Kogoen's mouth movements.
Kogoen explained to the kids that she is making air bubbles that carried with it the music of her throat. She pointed to her throat to help carry her meaning across.
"Wait! Kazuya, she's choking!" Without hesitation, Nana jumped to Kogoen's side and start shaking her by the shoulders.
"," Kogoen said.
"No, Nana, I think she's...saying something?"
Kogoen nodded. She explained to the kids that she was just saying thank you for worrying, but that she's fine. Kazuya stared intensely at her mouth and mimicked it carefully. Kogoen asked him if he could read lips.
"I smelled rotten branches!" Kazuya said. "Nana, I got what she's saying! She said 'I smelled rotten branches and it smelled so bad I was gasping for air!"
"Amazing! Let's find these rotten branches and get rid of it," Nana said.
Kogoen explained to the kids that she didn't want to bother the kids, that they should return to their old play.
Nana looked at Kazuya. Kazuya smiled and said, "My name is Mia Mama, and I thank you. Gee, you're welcome, Mia! I'm Onemine Kazuya, and this is my younger brother, Onemine Nana! My other brother, Onemine Nono, is with my elder sister Onemine Nene, who is," he looked around the park, "somewhere here!"
Kogoen explained that she couldn't possibly remember names of people she didn't see, but she'll accompany the two until this 'Onemine Nene' appeared.
"Baby birds would like a soft pillow but they didn't know they themselves are pillows," Kazuya said. "Agreed!"
"Hang on, Kazuya, I don't think that is what Mia said. I think she's saying...she'll accompany us until Nene came back."
Kogoen nodded as she pointed at Nana.
"What? How come you know what she says?" Kazuya asked as he approached Nana.
"I'm just smarter, Kazuya," Nana said.
Sensing a fight was about to happen, Kogoen told the two to stop it. More specifically, she explained to Nana that she wouldn't be able to stop the two but would try anyway, and in the end they will only hurt her.
"Mia said it's because I focused on her lips better!" Nana said.
"Mia said you only got lucky and I was the better one!" Kazuya said.
"," Kogoen said, standing between the two boys.
"Mia said you should give up!" Nana said.
"You can't even see her lips from there!" Kazuya said.
"Oy! Boys!" A voice rang out from afar. A girl, about Kogoen's age, walked towards the bickering boys. She was carrying another boy, even younger than Nana. "I told you not to involve strangers in your fights!"
The two boys left Kogoen and stood by the girl's side. "I was the better lip reader," Kazuya said. Nana said the same thing.
"Alright, why don't we test it? What's your name?" the girl asked.
"," Kogoen introduced herself. The girl looked confused and then approached Kogoen. "," Kogoen repeated herself. The girl stood right in front of Kogoen. "," Kogoen said. She nodded.
"Kogoen, I want you to say "rabbits like turnips", alright? When I say go, you say it," the girl said. Kogoen nodded. The girl backed away from Kogoen. "Alright, Kazuya, Nana, I told her to say a specific sentence. The one who got it right is the winner. Kogoen, go."
"," Kogoen said.
"Whooey whooey whooey," Kazuya said.
"Shooey daikon suki," Nana said.
"Alright, you both lose. Let's go home." The boys complained, but one sharp hit to the head shut them up. Kogoen waved them goodbye.
[break]
Komi sat down.
Tadano's face was completely red. If he was honest, he'd tell Komi that his mind stopped working at about "tip of her hair", but he was just a dumb, weak boy, so of course he said nothing.
"Kogoen...is much better with whispering," Komi said, looking down on her notebook.
Tadano's blush disappeared. "Komi," he said. "The thing about people's 'thing' is they appreciate it the most when it's someone they loved. Kogoen is better at whispering, maybe, but to me your whispering is the best because it's your voice, Komi."
Before Komi could respond, however, she could see the shock in his eyes. Turning around, Komi saw Omojiri, her teacher, standing by the doorway.
"Er...do your lovey dovey stuff outside the school, please."
Omojiri had never seen the two of them ran that quickly.