She Comes And Goes As She Pleases (Part 69)
by BrDPirateMan
It was ten past six and outside it was still dark, though I could see the sky had changed to a very dark blue. The morning would be upon us soon.
Eri and I had dropped by Shiki's place as agreed between the three of us yesterday; now I was in the latter's sitting room, waiting for the girls to get dressed. And today, getting dressed up was serious business.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally stepped out. Completely transformed in their kimonos, I almost couldn't recognize them. But boy were they easy on the eyes. Eri in pink, Shiki in green.
"Looking good, ladies," I said. "You ready to paint the town red?"
Eri was a ball of energy and carelessly wrapped her arm over her friend's neck. "Are we ever! Let's go!"
"Calm down," yelped Shiki. "You'll crease my kimono."
The three of us bundled into my car and set off for the local shrine just in time to catch the morning's first rays of sunshine.
And here we were, right at the cusp of the new year…
Over the years a lot of things have changed. Routines we've come to take for granted suddenly become a hassle to maintain given our daily schedules. Activities we used to do as a group are the same way – some of them we couldn't do anymore, others we grew out of. Even sticking together as a gang simply wasn't possible anymore – we were split up far and wide as we went our separate ways.
But even with things the way they were, the lot of us made it a point – a promise – to at least spend New Year's Day as a group. And this was a promise that has stood the test of time.
Even this early the shrine had gathered a huge number of visitors. We made plans to arrive early, but apparently the rest of the Shibuyan population thought the same way. The place was like a huge can of sardines, and we were the shrimp that got caught in between the bigger fish.
We took one look at the throng from the entrance and knew we were in for a rough time. Simply making our way around anywhere would be difficult, to say the least.
"Be careful, Shiki," teased Eri. "If you don't watch out, someone might grab your sash and give it a nice pull…"
"I'll take note of that. So get your hands off my sash, please."
"Great! That means you're listening."
I'd love to pull Eri's sash myself… but we'll leave such shenanigans at home.
Then a voice rang out, calling our names. Even above the murmur of the people it was loud and clear. Turning towards the source I saw the Bito siblings waving at us. They had arrived late last year for the winter holidays and were due to return to Nagoya in a couple of days, so it's nice that they were able to squeeze in a little time for the gang despite their tight schedule.
"Oi…!" That was Beat. As usual, he had left his indoor voice at home. He pounced on me, locked my head in his elbow and ruffled my hair in that rough yet affectionate way of his. "Long time no see, y'all! Happy New Year!"
"Whoa, Beat, heel!" My hair! It's dying! "Um, a little help?!"
"It'll cost you," said Rhyme, with a straight face. "My bro isn't so easy to calm once he's excited."
"I can see that! Girls? I could use a hand here…"
"Nice kimonos, you two. Really went all out, huh?"
The girls were busy swapping compliments about each other's New Year garb. They were completely oblivious to my suffering. It's nice to know I have such good friends.
"No kimono this year either?" gaped an incredulous Eri. "Why not, Rhyme? I wanted to see you in it. I wanted to see that cute butt of yours in all of its glory! …You know, purely for research. Honest. Maybe."
"…That's exactly why I didn't wear it."
Eventually Beat did release me from his grip, but a quick look at myself with my phone's reverse camera function told me all I needed to know about my hair. It was butchered beyond all belief. The girls took one look at the disheveled guy before them and already they had problems calling me by name.
Shiki was stumped. "I give up. Who are you?"
"Nice haircut," said Eri. "You'll be a hit with all of the cavemen."
And Rhyme had to chip in, with her usual brand of sarcasm, "The hottest in Neanderthal fashion."
As I set to work fixing my hair, I muttered, "You hurt my pride, guys. And Happy New Year to you too."
Beat clapped me on the back, too hard as usual. "Yo, just thought a' somethin', Phones. Don'tchu think it's about time you changed yo' hairstyle?"
"Huh? Why?"
"You seriously ain't gonna change it? Getting a bit same-y, y'know. I mean, c'mon, it's the new year! Ain't you supposed to do new things for the new year?"
"Sure, but I think I'll hang onto my mane for a little while longer, thank you very much."
His sister agreed with him for once. "He has a point, you know. You could use a different hairdo. Don't tell me you intend to keep it till you're a rickety old prune."
"W-Well, not till that old, but I think for now, I'm fine."
"So you say. The general consensus, however, is that you ought to get a new one. Who knows, a buzzcut might look good on you."
Before I could protest, Shiki played mother hen and broke up our squabbles. "Now, now, children! We still have things to do, don't we?"
Much to my relief, our hair-related debate was put off indefinitely. If we never talked about that again, it'd be too soon. At any rate, we went into the shrine to pray for the new year.
Having made our donations at the offering box, the five of us stood side by side in a line, each of us with our hands clasped tightly in a praying stance. Part of me was curious to know what they wished for this year. Last year our wishes were fairly normal but there were a few oddities here and there – Eri and her obsession with having bigger breasts, and Beat with his single-minded quest for more curry in his life. But with final exams in the horizon I was certain everyone would be a bit more serious and wish for better grades amongst other things.
Meanwhile, Eri could be heard muttering, "…not asking for much… Just another ten centimeters to my bust size and – "
"Shush!" snapped Rhyme. "We can hear you!"
Beat was no better. "Curry, curry, curry…"
"Can it, bro."
On second thought, I guess some things never change.
But I knew what I wanted this year.
Please, I spoke in my mind, please let me pass my exams with flying colours. Well, okay, if flying colours aren't an option, at least give me a good enough grade. I can live with a single B, but the rest of them have got to be A's. It's the only way I can get a job! And if I can land a job with CAT after I graduate, that'd be perfect! I'd be really grateful, I promise. So far everything with Eri has been just marvelous. I pray that the two of us can continue to be happy together. But her dad still isn't big on us being a couple, and that can be a bit of a problem. I'm positive I can win him over eventually, but in the meantime, can't you nudge him in the right direction, put ideas in his head that I'm alright? No? It doesn't work that way? Okay, that's cool. I can figure something out. And then there's –
"Neku? Uh… hello? You've been praying for a long while now…"
In the midst of my prayers I heard Eri, her voice close to my left ear. Soon after the rest of my friends made their way into my head, becoming background noise I could scarcely ignore. But I hadn't finished yet!
"Maybe he's gone into a trance," said Shiki.
A clueless Beat asked, "What's a 'trance'?"
Our bespectacled friend was about to start explaining when Rhyme cut her off to spout off one of her sarcastic one-liners. "Shall we get the shrine maidens to perform an exorcism or something?"
"'Ex-sore-siz-em'?" Still locked out of the loop, he gasped. "I-Is that some kinda dirty word?! Why ain't I ever heard of it?"
Fed up with all of them disturbing my thoughts, I finished up as quickly as I could manage and when I was done, I turned to my friends with a wry glance and said, "Quit it, guys. I'm not possessed."
Eri retorted coolly, "Oh, good. I was about to stick a talisman onto your forehead."
"All's well that ends well," quipped Shiki.
"What did you pray for anyway? You took an awfully long time."
I shrugged. "Let's just say I had a list of things to wish for and I forgot to ask Santa last year."
"Well, good luck with that, Neku. You were real naughty last year… not that I minded, heh…"
Rhyme rolled her eyes to the skies. "Get a room, you two."
"Oh, we have a room alright…"
Again it was Shiki who pushed things along – the alternative would have been to let us have our harmless little arguments, but that'd take too much time.
"Well, we're all good to go for the new year, guys. Come on, let's go get our fortunes read."
"Hope I get a 'blessing' this time," sighed Rhyme, as we all walked towards the omikuji stall. "Not holding my breath though."
"Oh, now you're just being negative." Eri cheerily wrapped her arm around the shoulder of the younger Bito, who stiffened visibly. "It's all in good fun! Why? Are you that scared that your fortune's gonna read, 'someone will grope your butt soon'?"
"If you dare to make that come true," warned Rhyme with a dark face, "I'm tying you to the shrine rack."
"Wow, I've never been tied up before. That actually sounds kinda exciting."
"…Good grief."
Meanwhile, Beat had been wanting to speak up for a while now, but couldn't find it in himself to interrupt while everyone else was chatting. Eventually the suspense proved too much and out of the blue he called out:
"Guys! Can I have a minute, yo?"
I turned to him, and the others followed suit. "Go on."
"Uh, maybe this is a stupid question, but… can y'all tell me what an 'ex-sore-siz-em' is already?"
At any rate, we were huddled around the omikuji stall, taking turns to have our fortunes read. The Bito siblings went first.
Rhyme was positively sweating and her hands shaking as she unraveled the piece of paper that held her fortune for this year. In fact, she might be taking it a little too seriously. But when she finally laid her eyes on it, her composure completely transformed as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"'Small blessing'," she said, smiling contentedly. "Okay, that's more like it."
The other two girls peered over her shoulders to take a look. Eri read aloud from the omikuji, "'You will do well in your exams.' Hey, that's pretty neat! That's exactly what I prayed for just now." Then she continued reading off of it, "'Generally, you will be fine this year, but watch out for gropers.' Sounds like you'd better be careful, Rhyme…"
"Yeah…" And she cast a look at Eri. "Sound advice coming from the very person I should watch out for."
The pink-haired pervert flashed a goofy grin. "Hey now, I don't grope. I just… admire the beauty of the human body in a direct and physical manner. And since we're friends, you certainly don't mind if I, um, admired you a little, right? Just a wee bit…" It didn't help that she was clenching and unclenching her hands in a lewd way.
Rhyme scurried away to hide behind the bulk of her brother's body, eyeing her with a withering glare that screamed, "I'm watching you." Eri merely laughed; she must think her reaction was cute.
Speaking of Beat, he was busy struggling with his omikuji. The moment he laid his eyes on it, he turned pale.
"F-For real, yo?" He had been paralyzed into a catatonic state. Curious, I swiped a look at his fortune.
All of the curry you taste this year will be even worse than last year's.
Wow, talk about heavy. If you're in Beat's shoes, that is. He took it about as well as an ice cube to a heated skillet. Looked as though his soul had evaporated.
And wasn't this almost exactly the same thing he got from the omikuji he drew last year? The coincidence was uncanny. He's either really lucky or not at all… well, more like the latter.
"Hey, c'mon," I said, trying to help him feel better, "this fortune thing is random anyway. It doesn't mean your curry's gonna turn out bad."
Suddenly his brow furrowed and in his eyes was a glint of determination. It became clear from his words that what I said had gone over his head.
"No! It can't be, yo. I'ma get me another omikuji. Gonna make damn sure I get some good luck this time!"
"It's just a – ah, he's gone."
Beat came back with a second omikuji, which he unfurled recklessly in hopes of improving his dismal luck. Would Lady Luck take pity on this poor soul and smile upon him this time?
As he took a look at the second opinion he sought so badly, he broke into a smile… which quickly dropped like a bag of rocks.
You will find love this year, but can never get to eat good curry.
"I'ma bag me a girlfriend at last," he said, "but you sayin' I still can't get to eat great curry?! Why can't I have both?!"
"Calm down," I sighed, "it's just another random – "
"Dammit! One more time…"
As he slunk off to grab another omikuji, I tried to reason with him. "Hey, don't you want a girlfriend? There's more to life than just curry…"
To him, I'd just uttered words most taboo. He turned and looked me in the eye and corrected what I'd said with extreme prejudice.
"You wrong, man. There's more to curry than life. You ain't lived yet till you tasted good curry. And I tasted a lot. I can have all the chicks I want, but without curry in my life, it ain't no use!"
"…You have some skewed priorities, pal."
"I'ma get me another one 'a those fortune things. Be right back."
I could've suggested getting himself a girlfriend who could cook him all the curry he wanted – that way he'd kill two birds with stone – but something told me that by leaving him be I'd have a considerably less painful headache to deal with.
Shiki's omikuji wasn't really anything to write home about, though that in itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She had a 'small blessing' but her good fortune was as generic as they came – "your health will be good this year" or "your relationship with your friends and family will improve". Needless to say, she was cool with that, and it's a hell of a lot better than what I ended up with.
'Great curse', read the omikuji in my hand, to my horror. Again? Another 'great curse' this year? I've been a good nephew to my aunt and uncle, a good boyfriend to Eri, a good pal overall… Didn't I deserve better?
Rhyme gave me a sympathetic pat on the back, which was offset somewhat by the deadpan delivery of her words.
"Welp, that sucks."
Eri read through my omikuji aloud. "'The year ahead will be fraught with danger and uncertainty. Beware of illnesses. Stay strong as you will suffer at least one great calamity. Your patience and resolve will be tested throughout the year. And you will be tempted to spend more money than you normally would. Mostly on X-rated films.'"
That caused her to give me a weird look. So did everyone else. No doubt it was about that last bit. This year's 'great curse' had already begun, apparently.
Subtle as ever, Rhyme asked me point-blank, "You already have a girlfriend, and you still watch porn?"
"Of course not," I huffed. "You girls ought to give me a break. Especially you, Eri."
She crossed her arms and shot me an accusatory look. "Most of the anime you watch tend to feature a lot of scantily-clad women…"
"That's fanservice, silly. Not porn. And it's quite normal to see that much skin in anime nowadays."
"That's what worries me. My boyfriend's becoming a bit of a pervert…"
"Like you're one to talk! Anyway, I'll just tie this somewhere and it'll be alright. But let's see what you got first, Eri."
"Oh, mine will be a winner," she giggled, as she began to unroll her omikuji. "Mine will be the fortune to end all fortunes. You'll see. I'm putting all of my chips on this one. It's all or nothing. It's gonna be a good one – "
Her face contorted into a horrified expression. She was so blue with shock and disbelief that I thought she might faint.
"'Great curse'?!" she gulped. "Why… Why did I get a 'great curse'?! What did I do wrong?! I do all of my chores, I never slack off in class, and I make sure to water Mr Spiny everyday! Did I accidentally kick a puppy or something?!"
Rhyme raised one eyebrow. "Mr… Spiny?"
"It's the cactus we have at home," I explained. "She calls it that."
"…She gives a cactus a name. What's next, you give names to all of your underwear too?"
"Don't be ridiculous," hissed Eri. "Only the ones I really like."
"…What."
"Just so you know, I'm wearing Hot for my bra and Spicy for my panties today! So yes, my underwear is literally Hot and Spicy."
"Uh-huh… real charming. Would you happen to have a set of underwear called Dumb and Dumber too?"
"Rhyme!" snapped Shiki, and for good reason. Sometimes Li'l Shorty's sarcasm could be a little too biting.
But Eri wasn't the least bothered, replying, "I haven't found the right underwear for that. But if I do I'll give to you as a present."
That was a pretty good comeback. I tried not to laugh, but it took one hell of a monumental effort. Shiki herself had to turn away and pretend to cough, but she didn't do a very good job of it and it sounded more like a cow was dying somewhere.
Rhyme just held up her hands in defeat. "…You win."
With our attention turned back to Eri's horrible fortune, I said, "Seriously, Eri, calm down. Sure it's a tad alarming, but it's not like you're royally screwed."
"But look at what it says." Eri tapped at her omikuji with a finger. "'This year will be your most challenging yet. Be prepared to lose your job. When you cross the road, make sure to look both ways as you never know where disaster will strike. The trials over the year will have lasting consequences, so stay strong and falter not.'
"'And above all else, watch out for ripped condoms.' If that's not ominous enough, then what is? I can't even trust our freaking condoms!"
"Don't worry," I said, trying my best to reassure my girlfriend. "Just because you're told you'll have bad luck doesn't mean you'll actually have it. You just need to be a lot more careful."
"I suppose." Resigned to her fate, Eri heaved a sigh. "Oh well, you win some and you lose some."
"Looks like we're in the same boat this year. Come on, let's go tie them over there."
And that's what we did, tying our omikuji to the nearest shrine rack where dozens of other omikuji lay bound like ribbons. That helped her feel better, but I could see she was still worried. As we gazed upon the soon-to-be-overcrowded shrine rack, I shifted closer and pressed my palm against hers. She reciprocated by intertwining her fingers together with mine. Her hand was ever so warm. And when I snuck a glance at her, there was this adorable tinge of pink on her cheeks to match her kimono.
"We're gonna make this a great year," I said, "good luck or not. All goes well, we'll graduate and finally be free…"
"We'll have jobs," she said, smiling, "and make some real money, and carve out a life of our own. But I can't do this without you, Neku."
"You know I won't leave you behind. I promised you that much and some."
"And I you."
She leaned against me, shoulders pressed softly together. For those few moments, I felt a warm fuzzy feeling in my soul like no other. Damned if there were people around… I wanted so badly to reiterate to her face that I loved loved loved her.
"Alright!" she suddenly cried out, punching a fist high into the air, and the lovey-dovey atmosphere vanished in a puff. "No more doom and gloom for me. If my fortune says things will be bad for me this year, then I'll just have to laugh in its face and make my own luck!"
"Heh. That's a good way to think."
"Besides, we still have final exams to worry about. I think all of that bad luck can go and take a back seat."
"We'll get through this. We're in the same boat, remember?"
"It's a pretty rickety boat by the looks of it," she said with a laugh, "but it's a boat nonetheless."
When we returned to the others, we found Beat looking listless. Now, that's a rare sight considering how hot-blooded he was, but he was also muttering to himself like he'd gone mad.
He just went, "Curry… ain't no good curry to be had…"
I could only guess why he was behaving the way he did.
"No luck with the omikuji?" I asked.
"G-Got me twelve 'a them, man," he said weakly, "and none 'a them say anythin' good about curry… I give up."
"You got how many?!"
XOXOXOXOXO
What little time we had left before the exams was spent on solid studying, not a single second wasted. The first week of the new year had just gone by as we speak and we had to get serious.
Compromises to our weekly schedule were made liberally. We forwent the cooking lessons on Saturdays and the trips to the pool on Sundays. Eri made arrangements with her modeling agency to take time off from her job for the time being. She dialed back on her joking and teasing, perhaps as a subconscious effort to get our minds geared up for the exams. Heck, she even dressed a lot more conservatively nowadays for the same reason. To be fair, we didn't skimp on the romance completely, but hell if this wasn't going to be the quietest, least exciting one month ever.
Seeing her work so hard, I wondered if I was the only one who was secretly agonizing over the lack of skinship. More than once my mind would waver and Eri floated into my thoughts with that cheery smile of hers, and then I'd have to wave her away and remind myself that no, there were more serious things to be done!
Just then, she sauntered into my room and without a word, hopped into my bed. Before I could ask her what was up, she grabbed my pillow, smushed her face in it and took a deep whiff. That's a habit of hers I could never quite get used to, even now when we were more than a year into our relationship. It's just so… ick.
"Wh-Whoa, cut it out," I said, feeling the goosebumps rise on my skin. "What're you up to?"
She plucked her head away revealing a look of momentary bliss. "I need to recharge my batteries. But you're working hard, and I don't want to bother you, so this is the next best thing."
I guess I was wrong after all. She's just as hungry for me as I was for her.
"Come on," I said gently, "if you want a hug, just say so. I can spare a minute or two."
"No, I'd rather not take that risk."
"Risk? What risk? It's just a hug."
"Yeah, but you know how I am. I can get pretty horny. I love the hugs we have, but if hugging leads to kissing and kissing leads to four hours in the sack then we're not going to get much studying done."
I snorted. "Relax. I won't be able to last half that long anyway. So, uh… you still want that hug?"
She shook her head. "Nah, I'll pass for now."
"Wow, you've never refused a hug before. That's some willpower you got there."
"I know. I deserve a medal. Anyway, I gotta jet before you seduce me with your manly aura."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She's working hard for the sake of our future. But our love life had to take quite the hit…
Come on, Neku, focus! Our graduation together needed to be a team effort. I've got to put my back to it too!
Abstaining from the usual things that had long been normalized in our relationship still was no easy task. She did, however, throw me – and by extension herself – a bone. We allowed ourselves an hour before bedtime to have as much fun as we liked. And we still took baths together, so we could give each other something nice to look at and tide us over till the aforementioned 'happy hour'. And boy did we need the pick-me-up during bathtime to last through the evening slog.
As a matter of fact, I was starting to lose my mind as we speak. There were mere minutes to go till 8 pm when we would be liberated from our obligation to study for the day. We both made it a point to not have our faces wedged in a textbook past 8; as Eri herself put it, "There needs to be work and play." However, I was hardly concentrating anymore, just watching the last four or five minutes tick by. I would flick through my lecture notes in a vain attempt to do some revision, but in the end I was only fooling myself. My brain had shut itself off to further studying.
The second hand crept closer to the twelve… Any moment now…
Five, four, three, two, one!
Free at last! I stretched my tired arms and started bundling up my lecture notes…
Then the door burst open in a hurry, making me jump. And there in the middle of the doorway stood Eri with a big grin and little else.
"It's happy hour!" she announced, before holding up her arm like she was looking at a wristwatch. "We have approximately 59 minutes and 41 seconds remaining, so what're you waiting for?! Let's party!"
And she jumped into my bed, giggling like a maniac the whole time. Goodness knew how feverishly she must have been waiting for this.
Openly admiring her lacy underwear, I whistled, "That was fast."
"You should've seen me get out of my clothes just now. As soon as it was eight, I was like, 'whoosh'! Then before even I know it, here I am."
"You could set a record for being the world's fastest stripper."
"Yeah, I guess." She held up her invisible wristwatch again. "But are we gonna keep talking? I reckon we have less than 58 minutes left as we speak. Unless you make me very happy right now, I swear my sanity's gonna crumble like a house of cards."
Teasingly, I said, "What, no time for a little chat?"
"What's there to talk about?"
"How about mountain resorts? I think I've found a nice one you might like."
"Huh?"
That gave the hungry beast pause. She even stopped fiddling with her bra strap. Good, she's listening. I whipped out my laptop, did a quick search on the internet and beckoned her to come take a look at the webpage I'd called up.
"I was thinking," I said, "about how we could celebrate once our final exams are over. I know the results won't be released yet so it's not like we're out of the woods, but after we've worked so hard, I think we deserve to spoil ourselves a little."
She leaned in to peer at the screen, her lips curling into a smile. "Golly, Neku! That's Kurogane Inn! There's a hot spring and you can go skiing and everything!"
Seeing the excited look on her face, I couldn't help but be pleased with myself. "Glad you know all about it."
"How could I not? I almost went there when I was fourteen. There was a class trip and we were so stoked! I have no idea how many times I hit the ceiling with how much I was bouncing around."
But I picked up on a key word. "'Almost'?"
Her joy melted into a pained expression. "I didn't go."
"Wh-Why not?"
"My parents wouldn't let me. Said it was too dangerous for a girl of my age, and that I might get lost and disappear or something. Even Granny couldn't convince them otherwise, and she tried. I wound up being the only one in my class who didn't go on the trip. It sucked having to listen to my friends talk about all the fun they had."
"Damn, that does suck alright." I reached out and squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her. "Well, I guess your folks were just worried about you."
"I… I know… but it's still one heck of a missed opportunity. I mean, just think of all of the fun things I could do! Now I'll never know what it's like to ski with the whole class, shack up with my girlfriends in a room and chat till the late of night… And the hot springs, dear god, the hot springs… Such a waste. No matter how hard you try, you just can't replicate the experience by sitting in a bathtub."
"Yeah, it's quite different."
"And you usually bathe alone, so there's no one else to get an eyeful of."
I rolled my eyes to the heavens. "You could always admire yourself if you really must."
"Aw, that's boring," she said with a dismissive shrug. "There's no element of surprise. And groping yourself gets old after a while. No, these hands yearn for fresh flesh to knead!"
"R-Right…" Good god, this girl… No wonder Rhyme is scared of her.
"At any rate, Neku… are you serious? You'd take me to Kurogane Inn?"
"Sure, why not?" Feeling a brief lapse in confidence, I asked, "Do you not like it?"
"Of course I do!" Her reply was quick, as though if she took any longer to speak up I'd change my mind and take her to a cheap motel instead. "I've wanted to go there for ages! I missed my chance way back… No way am I gonna pass this up."
"I've never been to Kurogane Inn before, but I'm pretty sure you'll like it there. So… are we good?"
"Yup!"
"Then it's settled. I'll call them tomorrow and make reservations."
"Yay! Thank you so much!"
Overcome with joy she pulled me into a hug, but failed to observe that my face had ended up deep within her bosom, and that the superhuman strength in her arms was keeping me from moving… and breathing. I couldn't escape!
"You're the best boyfriend ever!" she squealed, gripping me ever so tightly. "Oh, I can't wait for the exams to be over already. February can't come fast enough!"
"Mmm… hrrm-mmm?!"
"I know, right?! It'll be so much fun! Oh yeah, I heard the food there is pretty good too! Their grilled yellowtail fillets are to die for! …Least, that's what my friends told me."
"Hrmmm…!"
"By the way, incidentally? You're very huggable. And that's good! Or have I told you that before?"
"…mmm."
"Neku? You've been very quiet for a while. Are you – "
Suddenly she gasped, having realized the situation I was in, and let go of me. Finally. I promptly collapsed onto the bed like a log of timber. While I was busy sucking in as much air as possible, her rapid-fire apologies could be heard in the background.
"Goodness, Neku! I'm sorry, so sorry! I was so excited I couldn't help myself… And I'm sorry too! Did I mention I'm sorry? Are… Are you okay?"
I had to gulp down a lungful of air before I could respond.
"I'll live."
That was good news to her. "Thank god! It'd suck if you died on me. 'Smothered to death by his girlfriend's breasts' doesn't a good epitaph make."
"But with boobs like yours," I deadpanned, "it's not such a bad way to go."
"Heh, is that really your idea of a compliment? I'll take it, though."
After I fully convinced her that I had come to no harm, we sat on my bed discussing about the things we could do during our mountain resort getaway. Even before I'd made arrangements, Eri was already up to her neck in a deluge of crazy schemes that she cooked up. She really wanted to make it as fun as possible, and I was expected to participate.
"I never got to ski," she said. "Just once, I'd like to try, even if all I end up doing is taking a round trip on the ski lift."
"That's not skiing, Eri…"
"Well then, do you know how to ski?"
"Um, I've used ice skates before. Does that count?"
"No," she giggled. "Not by a long shot. I was hoping for some pointers."
"Oh, if it's pointers you want, I have one."
"What's that?"
"Don't crash."
She gave a light snort in amusement. "Great advice, Neku. That's real helpful. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Suddenly she gasped. "…Oh no!"
"What's wrong? Did you finally realize I was just joking?"
"No, silly! Look how late it is! I came here to play but completely forgot about the time!"
True enough, it was already half past nine. Way past hitting-the-sack time. And we still had classes tomorrow that we couldn't afford to miss. The disappointment on her face was clear to see, and had I glanced at the mirror then, I'd have looked pretty disappointed myself.
"It's too bad," I said with a resigned shrug. "Another time, I guess."
"Can we at least cuddle a little?"
There was no way I could resist those puppy eyes. Once the lights were off, I drew the covers over us both and basked in her body warmth as she snuggled up to me. She even let out a prolonged sigh of satisfaction.
"February can't come quickly enough," said Eri. "Make sure you work hard, Neku. Can't have a vacation on a guilty conscience now, can we?"
"Yeah. Let's ace the finals, you and me."
"I'll be sure to put on my lucky underwear for the duration of the exam period. Got myself a whole arsenal to last me two weeks, so I'm set."
"That many?" I chuckled. "Do they even work?"
"You'd be surprised. I won myself an ice shaver at a local raffle one time. I was wearing one of my lucky bras."
"Really now…"
"And when I had my lucky panties on, I chanced upon a clothing sale with huge discounts! It was the best day ever."
"They work for exams too?"
"Heh, I've never had a bad grade so far. That should tell you something."
"Well, whatever works for you, so long as you pass with flying colors."
"I can lend you a pair if you like. Which do you prefer: lace or silk?"
"Neither. I'll stick to my boxers."
Eri giggled but didn't say anything to that, signaling the end of the conversation.
"Sleep tight," I said. "Ain't gonna be any rest for us till the Exampocalypse is over."
However, my words didn't reach her. Her peaceful breathing told me she was fast asleep. Gently, I laid an arm over her body and pulled her close, and that's the position we remained in till we were up the next morning.
XOXOXOXOXO
One week remained before the exams were upon us. This was our study week and there were no more classes to be had.
It was one straight week of solid studying and nothing would deter us from our shared goal. Whenever one of us started to show the tiniest sign of fatigue or laziness, the other would remind them not to slack off. Granted, with how determined we were, this didn't happen often.
We're going to graduate, get jobs, and live our lives to the fullest!
Of course, with little happening in the household, there's not much for me to talk about, with the exception of maybe one or two things.
Auntie and Uncle popped by around the middle of the week to see how we were getting by. They didn't wish to bother us while we were busy studying, so they didn't stick around for long. In fact, they were here to pretty much just drop off some home-cooked food and a few other essential supplies that a struggling student would appreciate.
"…And here," said Auntie, pointing to the last of at least four tiffins' worth of food, "are our special ginger beef cutlets. I just hope they're not too sweet this time."
"Oh, wow!" gushed Eri. "That'll keep us afloat for a while. Thanks!"
Uncle gestured towards a paper bag. "There's enough energy drinks for both of you to last a couple of weeks. Should help to keep you peppy."
Peering into the bag, I was floored by the sheer number of energy drink bottles nestled within. Were my foster parents preparing us for a zombie apocalypse or something?
"Uncle," I gulped, "you might have overdone it."
But to that he countered, "Au contraire! You can never have too much of a good thing." He, however, quickly dropped the faux-haughty tone and said with genuine sincerity, "We know you guys have a lot on your hands what with the exams coming up and all; least we can do as your folks is to make your lives a little easier."
"I know… we appreciate it."
"Use as many energy drinks as you need. Something tells me you're gonna need them."
Adopting a motherly tone, Auntie spoke to us, "You kids work hard now. And while we love it when you two are being close, try not to goof around too much. Your future depends on this. Understand?"
Eri shot her a salute. "You got it, Auntie! We'll be good!"
"You can have your fun after the exams are done. You'll have earned it by then."
"Yeah, Neku's taking me to a mountain resort." The grin on my girlfriend's face could stretch for miles.
Both of my folks reacted to this news a little too favorably. It's nice that they never had any objections to my love life, but they had ulterior motives… The need for a new addition or two to the Sakuraba family line was embarrassingly strong.
"On second thought," said Uncle, "save some of those energy drinks for that vacation of yours. Something tells me you're gonna, ahem, need them."
I sighed and told them the harsh truth, "Auntie, Uncle, I know what you're thinking. And no, it's too early in the relationship to be giving you grandkids."
But deterred they were not. "You've been going out for practically two years," said Auntie. "I'd hardly call that early anymore."
"At least wait for us to be gainfully employed before you ask my girlfriend to hop on the stick."
That caused Eri to snigger. She even had to hide the smirk on her face. Admittedly, what I said was the crudest remark ever. True to form, neither my aunt nor my uncle batted an eyelid to any of my protests.
He just shrugged. "Playing the shy game again, are we? No matter, sooner or later nature will take its course."
"Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that."
"First things first though," he said, reciting his personal favourite piece of advice, "nail those grades. It's all meaningless if you flunk the finals."
"Glad we're all back on track here."
Having done what they came here to do, they prepared to leave. Auntie left us with some non-grandchildren-related words for once:
"Eat well, sleep well, and above all else good luck."
"Thanks, Auntie, Uncle."
Eri was more animated, returning their wave with a big one where she practically swept her entire arm through the air. "Thanks for the stuff!"
We watched them walk down the hallway until they turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
"Your folks," giggled Eri, "are as funny as ever."
I mumbled in exasperation, "They're getting desperate with the grandkid thing. I can tell. We'd better watch out."
"Nah, it's just their regular shtick."
"Still, it can't hurt to check if they laced our food with aphrodisiacs. I won't put it past them to try that."
"Heh, you're funny. Just like them."
On the eve of the Exampocalypse, both of our phones were abuzz with messages from multiple people. Mostly our friends, wishing us luck. I wrote back too, with my own good luck wishes.
when everyone's done with exams, wrote Kariya, lets all play OverNite.
Pizza or not, I replied, I'll be there.
hell yes there'll be pizza. c u there :D
Eri happily showed me the messages she swapped with Uzuki, who wrote first.
Good luck Eri, she wrote. It's exam period, try not to jump Neku too much. He needs to work hard too.
lololol thanks uzuki ill be good XD
You'd better
after exams lets go shopping lol
Appreciate the sentiment but I'm not the fashionable kind, sorry
new clothes can't hurt, besides dis is my way of thanking u 4 being a good friend
I'm flattered but I suspect we have different tastes in fashion
den lets get somethin u like & go from there :)
Can't shake you off, can I?
nope! XD XD XD
Fine, you got yourself a date
dat's more like it lol, dun back out now
"Wow," I whistled, "you actually managed to get the immovable rock to go shopping with you. Gotta say, I'm impressed."
Eri haughtily struck a pose of victory. "What can I say, I have a very… magnetic personality."
"If you intend to have a field day dressing her up in all kinds of clothes, then just… um, try not to traumatize her. She does get embarrassed. Unlike a certain someone I know."
"Oh, it'll be fine! You worry too much."
"It's exactly when you say that that I get worried."
XOXOXOXOXO
I emerged from the washroom to a flurry of activity. My classmates were busy taking stationery out of their bags and some of the readier ones were already starting to shuffle into the exam hall. That was my cue to do the same.
"Oi," sniggered a friend, "how many times you gotta take a leak?"
"Can't help it," I said, shrugging. "But you know what they say: better safe than sorry." Last thing you wanted was to get the urge to go halfway through the exam. A full bladder always destroys your concentration.
"Heh, I reckon there ain't nothin' left to pee now. So I think you'll be just fine."
"Good luck to you too, bro."
He flashed me a cheeky grin and together we went inside.
In the deathly silence of the exam hall, even the most mundane sounds had a way of raising my stress levels. The clatter of stationery, the rustling of paper. And it didn't help that the invigilator had a deep booming voice.
Even though the rules were clearly written on the whiteboard, he still repeated them aloud to ensure we were well aware of them. Once the ol' spiel was done, we had about thirty seconds till the exam officially began. Thirty seconds which the lot of us used to go over what we knew. Either that or draw a blank. Or pray. That works too.
But me? I think despite the obvious stress I'd be fine. Eri gave me a good luck kiss this morning. And I'd been working so hard I knew the contents of my notes like the back of my hand. I'd get through this. I hoped.
Maybe I should have taken her up on her offer to lend me one of her lucky panties after all…
But there was little time for last-minute regrets. During the remaining ten seconds I uttered one final thing in my mind.
Good luck, Eri.
The second hand of the clock reached the twelve and the invigilator announced, "Alright, begin!"
All at once there was a flurry of exam papers being flipped open. I picked up my pen and got immediately to work.
There was no turning back now…