Author's notes: Yesss! Almost 200 reviews!
I ask that you, my beloved readers, try as much as possible to review! I appreciate all your reviews and I will always answer your questions! So review or ask any question, because OPD don't bite.
(08/13/10)
Monday…
After spending nearly a week or so at Hong Kong, Yukari and I went home.
Minako had called several times, but I didn't pick up for obvious reasons.
After a somewhat dreary flight that involved loud, noisy babies, bad airplane food and nosey old ladies, we touched down and returned to our beloved homeland.
I called a cab for Yukari and I went home with her, seeing as she was the only one, aside from her friend, Yuiri, who was home.
Then, I went to my own house.
As I opened the door, I found Leah watching TV.
"Oh! Welcome back!" She said, "Are you hungry? Want me to make you something?" she asked.
"Oh, it's alright! I ate plenty at the plane!"
"That's a load of bull… Airplane food sucks…" she mutters as she drones back and forth making me something to eat.
Leah had this big-sister attitude that she fusses over you even if you don't want her too.
Shrugging, I placed my luggage in my room, then going down, where she prepared me my favorite foods.
Medium rare sausages, poached egg and a glass of O.J.
"Chee, thanks." I said as I ate.
"No prob. Nothing much to do around here…" she mutters.
"Where are they?" I said while chewing my food.
"Hey, don't talk with your mouth full…" she chided, "Apparently, that rich chick, Mitsuru, ordered the school to make them attend summer class… you can imagine Junpei's reaction… I have never seen Junpei THAT agitated…" she mutters.
"So… they're in summer classes?" I said.
"That's what I just said."
"Okay then… I'm going to school." I said.
"What?!" Leah said, "Oh no you don't!"
"Why not?" I said.
"Because you just came home!" Leah said.
"From vacation!" I said, "You act as if I came home from the hospital from a car accident!"
She studied me.
"Alright… I know you just want to see Minako…"
My face felt flushed.
"No!" I said, but I was blushing.
"Just go already!" Leah said, "You don't need to wear uniforms, apparently…"
I threw on some clothes and walked to school.
I saw the gate and it was closed, so I walked around to the side, where I saw Kenji, Rio, Minako, Quan, Pinky, Junpei and another kid hanging out.
The kid… he seemed really familiar… in a sense that he looked alike to Leah…
He had the same windblown hair, with his bangs covering his left brow and a careless look.
Minako was chumming with him and I felt some sort of resentment at her.
Then, Junpei saw me and pointed at me excitedly.
Kenji, Rio and the rest ran to me, except Minako, who was walking sadly and the stranger, who just remained where he was.
"Dude! What are you doing here?!" Junpei said.
"I'm joining summer classes with you…" I said.
"What?" Junpei said, "You'd willingly join here?! Want to switch places?" he asked.
"No allowed. What do I do now?" I said.
"Here's a spoon." Kenji gave me a spoon.
"What do I do with this?"
"Dig a hole and-" he said, before Rio slapped him in the arm.
"Kenji!" She chided, "Just climb up, Minato-kun!"
"Really?!" I said.
"Hurry, before Ekoda sees us!" Quan urged.
I climbed up like a cat and jumped down as agile as a cat.
"Nice." Kenji noted.
"Minako!" I said.
"Ha-" Minako started.
She came closer to me.
Since I thought she wanted a hug, I opened my arms and she punched me on the nose, drawing blood with a crack and placed her forearm against my throat roughly, as Rio and Junpei try to restrain her.
"You fucking Judas!" Minako thundered at me.
"What'd I do?" I said sheepishly.
"God, you dumb ass! Do you realize how worried I was?!" she cried, "I mean, how worried WE were?!"
"We weren't as worried as you were…" Junpei muttered.
"We weren't worried at all!" Kenji laughed.
"Shut up!" she snarled at them, "Well? What's your excuse?"
"I know… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have come out here so suddenly…" I said as she choked me.
"Damn right!" she said, "Why'd you come here?"
"I-"
"Never mind… as long as you made it home, it's alright…" Minako said, letting go of me.
"Anyway, I'm so sorry that I didn't answer all your calls…" I said, "I… uh, lost my cellphone today…" I lied.
She gave me a confused look.
"Today?" she said, "I've been calling since last week." She pointed out.
"W-well… I… uh…" I stammered, "You see… I was with Yukari-chan…" I said.
"Yeah, I know." She shrugged.
"H-how?!"
"Well, you went on a vacation with her, so, obviously, you were together…" she then stopped dead cold, "What happened between you two…?"
"Uh… well…"
"….." Minako remained silent.
"You know… Yukari's really sophisticated… prim and proper… pretty and nice… look those words up in a dictionary, and you'll find her picture…" I said.
Minako looked so sad, "I'm not like her… I'm not prim… not proper either…"
"But…" She then looked steeled.
She drew a big breath.
"I'm not losing to her!" she declared.
Everyone was silent and I had both my eyebrows raised.
"I… Uh…" Minako said awkwardly.
"Uh…" the newcomer said, "Toriumi-sensei said its class time."
"Oh, yeah, Minato… this is Lee."
The newcomer offered his hand and I shook it.
"Minato Arisato."
He raised his eyebrows, "So, you are Minako's twin, yeah?"
"Ah… no." I said.
"Oh, she's your cousin?" he said.
"Nope. She's my friend."
"I see…" Lee said, "Well, I'm Lee… I was with the night class regime since last year, until recently… I only know Mr. Ono, Ms. Toriumi and Ekoda." He said, "Also Taro, the janitor."
His tone when saying Ekoda's name made us feel at ease; apparently, he'd come to hate him.
"Hey, do you know anyone by the name of Leah?" I asked.
"Leah?" he said blankly, "Nope."
Then, Ms. Toriumi waved at us.
"We'd better go in…" Minako said.
"Great idea." We all agreed as Toriumi stamped.
Our summer classes were, as usual, dreary, but we only had to do it for two more days…
The only people there was me, Minako, Kenji, Rio, Junpei, Pinky, Quan, Kaz, Yuko and two of our other classmates we weren't that close to.
We went home.
(08/14/10)
Tuesday…
We had Ekoda's class, and you can imagine it…
He berated us for our lack of knowledge about Classic literature, which no one really cared about, so we just ignored him.
Mr. Ono's class showed his usual antics and fetish for the Sengoku era.
Ms. Toriumi's class was about composition, which wasn't my cup of tea…
(08/15/10)
Wednesday…
Our last day…
We had classes and hastily got out.
"Thank God!" Junpei cried, "Those were moments of pure torture!"
"I especially hated Ekoda's classes…" Quan said.
"Hmph!" Ekoda cleared his throat, "Quan Lao, I am heartily disappointed in you… you used to be respectable, dignified and noble… now, look at you and the lot you keep."
"What do you mean?" Quan asked.
"Well, that Lee boy was a Soldier before he was kicked off…" Ekoda began.
"Honorably discharged." Lee corrected.
Quan looked at us and squared his shoulders, "I think I'm a lot more than what you said when I'm with my 'lot'."
Ekoda turned purple with rage, "You dare-"
"What's going on here?" a dignified voice said.
"What did you-" he said, then choked on his words.
Wearing cream colored pants, leather boots, a black ruffle shirt and a blazer, was a red headed woman, pale as the moon and proud as the sun…the Headmistress of Gekkoukan.
"H-Head M-Mistress Mitsuru! What a pleasant surprise!"
Mitsuru nodded.
"Pleasure. What were you in the process of doing?" she asked.
"I…I was merely… trying to…" he stammered, "Forgive me, but I need to take care of something… Very, VERY urgent… Good day!" he said and walked off.
When he left, Junpei laughed.
"What's so funny?" Minako asked.
"He had to take care of something urgent, right?" Junpei said.
"Yeah…" I said.
"I know what that was…" he said, still tearing up.
"What?" I said.
"He needed to change his diapers! He just shit himself!" Junpei then exploded with laughter as most of us did.
After that, I turned to Mitsuru.
"Thanks for the save, Mitsuru-senpai…" I said.
Mitsuru let out a gentle chuckle.
"No problem… I was just passing by to see how you are… I arranged a party at the Boarding House. I'm here to pick you up." She said.
Minako sized her up.
"So… you're Minato's second greatest love, eh?" she said, "You do look it…"
Mitsuru smiled gently as I blushed like nuts.
"I'm Minako." Minako said.
"Mitsuru Kirijo. Pleasure."
We walked to Mitsuru's limousine, where Quan, Rio, Kenji, Pink, Junpei, Minako and I fitted perfectly. The newcomer, Lee, went with us.
"She sure is rich…" Minako said.
"By the way, why are you throwing us a party?" I said, "What's up?"
"Oh, my reward for accomplishing the optional Summer classes." She said.
"Whoa, whoa, whao!" Junpei chimed in, "What d'ja mean optional?"
"Optional as in you're free to choose whether you join or not…" Mitsuru said.
"What?!" Junpei thundered, "First time I've heard of it!"
"Akihiko failed to mention this?" Mitsuru said.
"Obviously!" Junpei cried.
We arrived at the house, where the food was prepared.
Akihiko was watching TV.
"Hey Senpai." I greeted, "Where's Leah-nee?"
"Preparing the drinks…" He said.
We all took our seats.
"I've got a bone to pick with you, Senpai!" Junpei yelled, "Why didn't you tell me the summer classes were optional!?"
"I thought I did."
"You didn't!" Junpei cried.
"Oh… Junpei, the Summer classes were optional. There, I said it."
Junpei choked in fury.
"Hey, hey! Leah here!" Leah said, "Drinks for the thirsty kids!"
I noticed the eerie similarities of Lee and Leah… blonde hair, blue eyes, same build and same scar… hell, they even have the same hair style…
"Thanks Nee!" I said, "By the way, this guy's Lee."
Then, it happened.
Lee turned around and suddenly, the room felt weird.
We all felt as if we introduced two atomic bombs… and we were worried about which one would explode first.
The air suddenly flickered with a weird tension and a strange electricity hung in the air that caused us to get goosebumps… suddenly, the room became really dark and blue and the air of wrongness was so heavy, that Pink began to breathe really hard… and I felt as if Leah and Lee were not suppose to be in the same dimension…
Suddenly, Lee's shockingly blue eyes and Leah's electric blue eyes sparked with a strange light and the air became hot and stifling, as if the molecules became really unstable by their presence.
Lee and Leah suddenly clutched their left brow and I noticed that their scars were glowing red, as if on fire…
Then, a feeling of dread hit all of us, though we didn't know what caused it… the feeling that the very fabric of the space-time-continuum would be torn to shreds in any second.
Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Lee spoke.
"N-Nice to meet you…" he managed.
"Likewise…" Leah muttered.
Then, the feeling was gone.
Mitsuru apparently noticed, since she was wide-eyed and trying not to panic.
"Dig in." She said, gesturing the sushi.
"Sweet!" Junpei said.
We dug in and had fun.
Lee went home first… I think that the thing that just happened spooked him. Not that I blame the guy… that was terrifying for us…
Leah seemed shaken enough herself, but did her duties.
Everyone was shaken.
Then, everyone went home until Minako, Junpei, Akihiko, Mitsuru and I were left.
"Did you feel that?" I asked.
"Feel what?"Minako said.
"The moment when Lee and Leah saw themselves…" I said.
Mitsuru shuddered.
"That was really… strange." Mitsuru said.
"Amen… that was really crazy." Akihiko said.
"I think this has something to do in respect with the many paradoxes…" Mitsuru said, "I will get back to you with it, but I need to go now…"
"Bye."
When she left…
"Who wants to hang out tomorrow?" Minako said excitedly, "It's the summer festival and my first time here in Japan!"
"Let's go tomorrow…" Junpei said, "Right now, I'm tired…"
(08/16/10)
Thursday…
Summer festival…
On cue, Yukari called.
"Hey Minato-kun!" she said cheerily.
"Yo." I said.
"Hmm… anyway, its summer festival today and I'd like to ask if you're free." She said.
"I'd like to." I said.
"Yay! See you!" she said.
I hung up and went down, where, surprise, surprise, Minako was waiting.
"Hey bestie…" she said.
"Hey Minako." I said.
"You free tonight?" she asked, "Wanna be my date?"
"Not really…" I said, "Uh! I'm not free tonight but I'd like to be your date… but I already promised to go with Yukari…" I said.
"Oh… that's okay then." She said and didn't seem slightly incensed.
"Aren't you mad?" I asked.
She made a strange face, "Why would I be?"
"Well… I feel like I've been blowing you off lately… I don't feel great about it…" I said.
"Hahaha! She's your girlfriend! What do I have against that?" she said, "No, go on without me." she said.
"Damn it…" I muttered.
I thought about Minako… then Yukari.
"Say…" I said, "Did we… have sex?" I said.
She seemed surprised.
"What? Why?" she said.
"Well… the party… we woke up naked…" I said.
"We didn't have sex!" she said.
"So, what did happen?" I said.
"Well, when you fell from the pool, you dragged me in… I sorta smashed a beer bottle at you and you went unconscious… Leah carried you upstairs and I took off our clothes and slept beside you…" she said.
"We didn't have sex?!" I said.
"Nope. But we did technically sleep together." Minako said.
"Oh, thank god!" I cried.
She made an offended face.
"Why? What's wrong with me?"
"Er… nothing…" I said.
"Then, why won't you have sex with me?" she said.
"Because…"
"My boobs aren't big enough." she said.
"No. believe me, your boobs are… damn, they're big." I said, making a squeezing gesture.
"Ugh! Goddamned sex deviant!"
"Not this…" I muttered, "Nevermind."
Later, I went to the festival with Minako.
She wore an autumn orange colored kimono.
"Looking good." I noted.
"I know." She said, "I've never really worn these before… they're pretty tight."
"I've heard."
We met Yukari.
"Off you go." I said.
She went off to poke around.
Yukari wore a summer yellow kimono.
"Looking great." I said.
"Thanks…" Yukari said.
"Shall we?" I said, offering my arm.
She took it and we went and had fun.
I won a Jack Frost doll for Yukari and a Kaleidoscope for Minako.
We ate Takoyaki and I actually won in the lotto.
Minako and Yukari actually got along in a friendly game of darts, something I thought was impossible.
We saw Saori and Hidetoshi, Rio and Kenji, Quan and Pinky and strangely enough, Lee and Ms. Toriumi.
Lee and Toriumi looked great as a couple, but it's really illegal for a student and a teacher to hook up...
We went home after a respectable stay of two hours.
Though we were really enjoyed ourselves, our greatest problem since Nyx would surface…
In the next chapter…
Answering questions...
MoM: Why do you usually only have one sentence per paragraph?
Well, I think it's a bad habit to make a giant block of text. Plus, it's a WHOLE lot easier to read.