Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho
getabako - a Japanese shoe cupboard
Chapter 3
Curse you, Minamino!
"Curse you, Kakarrot!" – Vegeta, Dragonball Z
Kaito
This was the worst day of my life thus far.
It started off when I woke up approximately eighteen minutes later than I usually do. Something I had never had to contend with prior to living with my rather chaotic – and currently jetlagged – cousin. She had borrowed an extension cord from my room last night in order to set up her bedroom décor and unwittingly forgot to inform me that it was the extension cord my alarm clock had been housing. Then, when I did finally realize the time it turned out the bathroom had been overtaken ('sorry I'm taking so long! Still not used to the Japanese style bath!' Hanako had insisted) and take make matters worse, my uniform was wrinkled because our household was behind on laundry since we now had an extra body residing within our house. Living with a female – aside from my mother – would prove to be the most difficult adjustment I would have to make.
But, the most heinous problem of all occurred during homeroom.
Yes, absolutely – without a doubt – Shuichi Minamino had ticked me off the most today. I thought I despised him before with his neverendingly perfect scores, his dubiously kind persona and the absolute annoyance of the entire female population never failing to enter into our classroom during my precious lunch house (which was used primarily for me to write my novel) just to ask him how his day was. No, what truly set me off this morning was how he had the audacity to continuously stare at my cousin all throughout homeroom and the remaining morning classes.
We had English in the morning! My favorite subject had gone completely ignored due to him staring at MY cousin. I've spent quite some time during our first two terms observing him. He appeared to be your standard Japanese student. He was well managed, he submitted all his assignments and received top grades. He had good looks according to his rather loud and annoying fan club of females, the male population seemed to admire his athletic prowess and almost every club at our prestigious school was trying to recruit him. Of course, he never joined. He was helpful enough, joining in as an alternate if asked by someone and he never failed to provide them with a guaranteed win.
Was I jealous? Perhaps. I'm man enough to admit that I was to some degree, but what I find strangest of all – and most concerning – was how no one else seemed to doubt him. Minamino was suspicious to say the least. Sure, he had a lot happening at home with his mother's illness, but even considering that he was strange. Throughout the year he carried a rather dark aura around himself and yet no one else picked up on it. He disappeared for two weeks straight and not a single person blinked an eye at it. He never hung out with anyone at school and yet just the other week I caught him in the crowd with two incredibly skeptical looking fellows. I've read enough murder mystery novels in order for me to be able to identify a Ted Bundy when I saw one. And there was absolutely no way I was letting him near my cousin. Granted, I was already at a disadvantage considering he was chosen to be his seat mate but regardless, I rest my case.
I wanted to give him a stern talking to but when lunch period came he seemed to disappear as soon as the bell rang through the halls.
"Hanako, where did Minamino go?" I asked.
"Not sure," she answered as she stood. She stretched her legs with her typical carefree attitude intact. "How do you people stand this? We're literally sitting all day! It's ridiculous, how do you even socialize when the only time you get to stand is during lunch. Speaking of which, I'm starving. Where's the cafeteria? Please don't tell me you guys have square pizza here too."
"Square pizza—never mind that. Let's just go eat," I sighed. My headache from this morning was returning. Why is family so troublesome and yet so necessary?
I led Hanako to the small food stand that our school provided, which I'm sure surprised her considering how different it was to the way she's described her American school lunch system. I didn't even want to ask her what she meant by square pizza.
"It's all just bread?" Hanako stared confused by the crowds of students attempting to buy a few token snack items.
"I warned you. Just be lucky that our school even has this. Most high schools in Japan don't offer anything," I explained. "Why don't you grab some drinks from the vending machines and meet me back at the classroom. I'll buy your bread and we can share the bento I packed."
"We eat in the classroom?" Hanako asked, raising her eyebrows at the strange suggestion.
I sighed. "Yes, now go. I like the plain Oolong tea in the vending machines. The warm one."
I handed her some change for the machine and watched as she walked off, still giving me a strange look as if I were playing a prank on her. I grabbed a few of the breads that I liked – yakisoba pan and curry pan – along with an Anpan bread for Hanako's sweet tooth. It was difficult to carry back by myself since they ran out of bags but upon my return I noticed that Hanako was sitting at her desk talking to Yamazaki-san.
"Oh, Kaito, I was just speaking with Aki," Hanako smiled. "We're already on first name basis here. Do you mind if she eats with us?"
"Not at all, the more friends you make the less trouble you'll cause for me later on," I answered. "Thanks for keeping her company Yamazaki-san. I apologize for any of her impolite behavior."
"Kaito!" Hanako pouted. "I was being very polite. I even used formal Japanese initially."
"Well, most people prefer building up a stronger connection before using first names, and your formal Japanese could still be considered rude by some cons—" I had started going on with my language analysis when Yamazaki's laughter cut through.
"It's okay, Yu-Kun. Hanako-chan hasn't offended me or anything," she laughed as she turned her desk around to connect with Hanako's seat. "Your cousin is really interesting and fun to talk to, promise."
Hanako gave me one of her 'see, I told you so!' looks. I sighed as I let them be with their conversation. Aki Yamazaki was a good class president. She was smart, dependable and had more common sense compared to half of the students in our class. She'd be a good friend for Hanako, someone I'd be able to trust to keep her out of trouble. She was also one of the few in our school who didn't bend over backwards just to get close to Minamino which was an obvious plus in my books. I pulled my desk over to connect with theirs and pulled out the bento box I packed last night.
"Wow, you packed a lot, Kaito," Hanako stared.
"It's not just for me. I knew you wouldn't think to bring one today, so I packed extra," I explained as I passed her some food.
"Aww, you do care about me!" Hanako stated, louder than I expected her to.
"You're a really nice cousin," Yamazaki complimented. "I wish my cousins were as helpful as you are."
"Don't let his bookish exterior fool you, Aki. He's a real sweetheart deep, deep, way deep down inside," Hanako replied.
"How are you two so close? I thought you said you've been in America for the last nine years," Yamazaki asked.
"Our dads are twins, so our families have always been close. Even when she was in America, they would always send over packages, letters and we'd have family calls at least once a month," I explained.
"Usually, those calls consisted of Kaito challenging me to word games and spent half the minutes we paid for arguing with me that my American English teacher was wrong," Hanako teased. "Once we discovered email, he would write me long analysis on why my English basically sucked for someone who lived in America."
"I wasn't that bad," I argued. "This one here cared more about sharing gossip with me rather than giving me updates on new book releases I wanted."
Yamazaki giggled. "To be fair, Yu-kun is one of the smartest people in our grade. He's always receiving top marks. It's no wonder he'd be more interested in books"
"Second to the top marks," I grumbled to myself.
Not quietly enough, however, since Hanako heard. "Who's usually at the top?"
"That would be me, Yu-san," Minamino answered as he pulled out some sheets from his bag.
"You can call me, Hanako to avoid confusion with Kaito," Hanako smiled. Bleh disgusting. "Sorry for taking over the desk, Minamino-kun"
"Not to worry, you aren't intruding," he answered back with his usual perfect composure. "I just came to get my notebook so I can hand it into our teacher before lunch ends."
He walked away after spending one moment too long staring at Hanako. The look he was giving her gave me a weird feeling. His brows were furrowed, and his face looked contemplative, as if she was some sort of puzzle for him to complete.
As soon as he was out of the room, I turned to Hanako and said, "Don't talk to Minamino, Hanako."
"One, I'll speak to anyone I please, you don't dictate that," she answered firmly. "And two, why do you not want me speaking to him?"
"The two don't really get along…" Yamazaki answered hesitantly for me. "I think they have a bit of a rivalry between the two of them."
"Oh, he's the one you always complained about in your emails?" Hanako connected. "He's Mr. Pretty Boy?"
Yamazaki laughed at the comment. "I didn't know you paid that much attention to him Yu-kun." She collected her giggles before continuing. "There are quite a number of females that seem to be attracted to him. Although he never seems interested in anyone."
"Until this morning," I mumbled.
"This morning?" Hanako asked.
"Oh, don't pretend you didn't notice, he kept staring at you," I half scolded. "Be more aware of your surroundings."
"He was not, Kaito." She argued back.
"He was," Yamazaki agreed. "He definitely was. I swear, every time I turned around to pass back papers, he was looking at you."
"That doesn't mean anything. You two are being paranoid." Hanako argued back.
"Whatever, cousin. Just please don't start dating him," I pleaded. "I don't know if I'd ever be able to refer to you as a relative if you ever did."
Lunch hour ended soon after that conversation. Yamazaki and I pulled our desk away after agreeing to Hanako's plans to stop at a café close to the station after school. Yamazaki had mentioned it in passing during their conversation and Hanako seemed eager to try. Of course, since Hanako still didn't know her way home, I was tagged along in their plans. So much for getting a chance to write tonight. Although, like I'd said earlier, the sooner she makes friends the easier my life will (hopefully) become. I tried my best not to glare at Minamino for the rest of the school day, but it was difficult.
It'd be less irritating had it been any other person in our class. At least the other students were easier to figure out. Minamino on the other hand was not an open book. He was closed off and lacked a genuine personality for me to judge him on. Not that his lack of geniality would actually stop me from judging him. If his first offence was staring at my cousin too much, then his second offence towards me would be his amazing ability to distract me from my novel. Alas, where usually my classroom writings would amount to – at minimum – five pages of excerpts and idea threads, I was left with nothing but blank pages and doodles of unrecognizable videogame characters.
When, finally, the last bell rang I stood to gather my blank pages, unused ink and neglected notes, and made my way to my cousin.
"Hanako, are you ready to go?" I asked, hoping to make a quick exit before Minamino could insert himself into the conversation.
Unluckily, my wish was not to be.
"I invited Minamino-kun to join us," Hanako smiled naively. Her pile of white laundry will most definitely find a stray red sock hanging within her pile tonight.
"That's amazing, Minamino-kun," Yamazaki smiled beside them. "You hardly ever accept invitations from the class. This is great!"
"It is true, it's been some time since I've socialized," he agreed, fabricated innocence oozing out of his mouth.
I chose to ignore the trio, instead leading the way towards the getabako and making my way outside the school. I heard Hanako – chirpier than ever – explaining the horrors of American lunches to Minamino.
"Hanako sure does love to talk about square pizza," Yamazaki stated from next to me.
"I've gotten the emails on them," I grumbled. "She hates their meatloaf surprise more, and I remember one letter from her elementary days when she said something about eating dirt cups with worms in them?"
Yamazaki made a face at the thought of it. "The horrors. I'll take my mother's half-assed bento boxes any day."
Shock covered my face. "Excuse me, Yamazaki-san, but did you just say 'half-assed' in a sentence?"
She laughed from beside me. "Is it really so surprising?"
"I supposed I just never pictured you to use such brutish language considering you were the class president," I explained. "Usually, the only female I hear using such diction would be Hanako."
"I get it," she giggled at the comment. "I guess I have a bit of a reputation for being proper at school, but you should see me at home. I'm sure it'd surprise you."
"I doubt you could surprise me even more," I challenged. "But try me."
"Well, I happen to be real pro at fighting games. Street fighter is my jam but I'm pretty unbeatable with Mortal Kombat and Tekken."
"You don't say? Hanako and I will have to invite you over one day," I mused. "She and I get rather competitive when it comes to videogames. Personally, I prefer trivia games but fighting games are pretty fun as well."
"We should try our hands at the arcade one day after school," She agreed. "There's one arcade in Mushiyori that has the best games. They're always updating their systems and bringing in the latest ones."
We continued with our conversation until we reached the café. The conversation flowed so well that a part of me had almost forgotten the fourth member of our little squad. Almost. The four of us ordered our food, or should I say three of us ordered food – Hanako only ordered dessert.
"You're going to ruin your appetite with that," I scolded Hanako once her order of a sweetened crepe along with a sundae arrived.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say mother," she teased as she took a bite on her food. "Let me live, it's my first time stopping at a Japanese café since I was five."
"How different could the cafes really be between here and America," I rolled my eyes at her childish whims.
"It does sound like the American lunches she ate growing up weren't the best," Minamino defended.
"Yeah, didn't you say she ate worms for lunch?" Yamazaki nodded encouraging Hanako's behavior.
"Worms?" Hanako mused for a moment before clicking. "Oh! The dirt cups from school! Those were good."
Minamino made a surprisingly shocked face. I must admit it was interesting to see that side of him come out for once. It was almost a genuine reaction. The shock wore off quickly enough when she explained that dirt cups were in face not made of real dirt nor did they contain real worms. She went on to explain other differences she noticed during her first day.
"Did you enjoy your first day at Meiou then?" Minamino asked.
"Yeah," she smiled softly. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd say that I'm already off to a good start since I got to stop by after school with you guys."
"I'm definitely glad that you moved here," Yamazaki announced a bit more boisterously than I expected of her. "Not only can I relax my whole 'class president' persona but you also somehow managed to get these two to join in some after school fun."
Minamino and I looked away simultaneously. Urgh.
Hanako laughed, "Kaito can be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes. I bring out the fun in him."
"More like you drag me into your reckless behavior," I countered.
"Kaito," Hanako sighed. "Eating a crepe is not reckless behavior. It's delicious."
"The crepe did look rather good," Minamino hummed in agreement. "Perha—" He paused for a moment. Eyes shifting around uncharacteristically, and then – strangely – he stood. "I apologize; I just remembered an errand I must attend to immediately. If you'll excuse me."
And then he left.
Silence filled our table as we all looked towards the directly Minamino dashed off to so quickly he even forgot his belongings.
I recovered first. "See, I told you he was strange."
"I wonder what made him leave so quickly," Hanako stared, eyes looking slightly disappointed.
"I bet he was grossed out by all sugar you were scarfing down," I snickered at my own joke. Hanako pouted but didn't rebut like usual. Oh boy, this was going to be a long year.
"Well, he's going to need his bag today for his assignment," Yamazaki said nodding towards the leftover belongings. "I have his address in my pocketbook, I think. I had to deliver a few assignments off to him during his mother's hospitalization." She dug through her bag before pulling it out and showing it to us. "Although, I'm not sure if anyone will be home since his mother might still be at the hospital."
"He mentioned that he was planning on going to the hospital later tonight," Hanako nodded. "Should we drop it off there instead?"
"We?" I huffed. "It's "we" now, is it?"
"Look at his address, Kaito," Hanako pointed. "It's closer to the side of town towards Mushiyori, isn't it? It would make more sense for us to do it."
"I'm busy. I've waisted enough of my novel writing time on your newfound crush who, by the way, I do not approve of." I scowled.
"I don't need your approval, and I don't have a crush," Hanako glared back towards me.
"Um, well, I don't mind bringing it to him," Yamazaki spoke up. "It's just that it would help me out if I didn't have to go across town."
"Oh fine," I rolled my eyes – again – at the pair of them. "We can do it."
Curse you, Minamino!
Notes: Thank you to Damaged Forest Spirit and Rosentic for their reviews! They really helped motivate me into writing this chapter quickly!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know it was pretty heavy on the dialogue but I was hoping to be able to showcase more of Kaito and Hanako's personalities, especially since Hanako hasn't had much focus on her character (despite being the origin of this story) and Kaito wasn't expanded on very much during the manga/show.
BTW I was all set to search for a really good book quote about rivals that could fit into Kaito's chapter really well and connect with his love of literature but I saw the DBZ quote first and it made me giggle picturing Kaito saying "Curse you, Minamino!" like Vegeta and it made me laugh so much that I changed the original title of this chapter and added in the last sentence mostly for my own enjoyment LOL
