Naoko had no real reason to ignore the task he had been given. Well, he had almost done so anyway, though not intentionally. It was weird, really, but that Lita-22 substance was really affecting him. Sure, he was mostly fine, but when he started thinking about Yori, and her flowing chocolate hair, her amber eyes, her waifish figure, her cute little nose-
Naoko shook his head rapidly, realizing he had let himself get lost in thought again. He couldn't let himself get caught up thinking about THAT. He had something important to do.
He opened the door to the music room, seeing that Takeshi was indeed waiting there for him. The saxophone player had apparently been occupying himself by sitting down and polishing his instrument of choice with a brown rag. Takeshi didn't even look at Naoko right away as he entered the room.
"You here because of Yori?" Takeshi asked, not yet taking his eyes off his saxophone.
"Yeah, I, uh...yeah." God, did Naoko feel stupid. The mere mention of Yori derailed his train of thought.
Takeshi looked up at Naoko. "Something bothering you?"
"Kind of," Naoko admitted.
Takeshi stood up straighter in his chair, eyeing Naoko inquisitively. "Let me guess. It has something to do with the stuff in our systems? Perhaps it also has something to do with Yori?"
Naoko's eyes widened. "You know about the whole 'Yori' thing?"
"Well, I do now," Takeshi replied. "There's also that when I mentioned Yori, you paused. I was able to guess then."
"...Right. I did do that, didn't I?" Naoko began to feel ashamed, but Takeshi spoke up again to get his attention.
"Hey. No need to beat yourself up over it. We're all in the same boat as you. Well, most of us."
Naoko began rubbing his shoulder. "I know. It just makes me feel...I dunno. Stupid?"
Takeshi scoffed. "I don't think it makes you dumber. You just need to keep your emotions under control, y'know?"
"I know that," Naoko replied, "it's just kinda hard sometimes."
"Fair enough," Takeshi replied. "Maybe you shouldn't keep them under control, then? I dunno. To be honest, if you want sound advice, go to someone else." Takeshi let out a chuckle. "I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
"You're not?" Naoko asked. "Well, you don't seem dumb to me."
"I wouldn't say I'm dumb," Takeshi agreed. "All I'm saying is that I'm not a know-it-all. I'm not gonna act like one, either. So don't take my word as gospel, okay?"
"I never really planned to," Naoko replied. "I'm not even sure how you're coping with this, exactly."
"Meh," Takeshi shrugged, "I've just been keeping it to myself. No need to make anyone freak out or worry about me, or anything like that."
"So you've been ignoring it," Naoko summed up.
"The best I can, really," Takeshi admitted. "I dunno if it's the healthy thing to do, though. So, again, I say you should go to someone else for your sound advice. No offense."
"None taken," Naoko replied. "You ready to show me what you've got?"
"You know it."
From there, the two of them did what they were supposed to do. Takeshi played a couple of different songs on his saxophone, while Naoko acted as his audience. Really, his talent at playing the saxophone was no joke. While the music that he played was unfamiliar, Naoko could tell that he knew what he was doing, and he found himself practically enraptured by the jazzy melody.
When Takeshi finished his last song, Naoko actually gave him a light yet happy applause, which made the saxophone player laugh.
"This isn't that kind of live performance, you know," Takeshi pointed out. "I'm not here for applause."
"Sorry," Naoko said, smiling. "That was just really good, is all. I think that everyone's going to love it."
"You think so?" Takeshi asked. "That's good to hear. I wasn't sure of what people'd think, myself."
Naoko raised an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Well," Takeshi began, "I guess because it's kind of...Shit, I dunno. Maybe because it sounds kinda western?"
"I don't see anything wrong with that," Naoko replied.
"That's good," Takeshi said, looking down at his saxophone. "I was just thinking that maybe…" Takeshi paused, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say. "...I just wasn't sure, that's all. Lord knows I appreciate the company, in any case. Thanks for being here."
"Oh, no problem," Naoko replied. "If you need anything else, just let me know, okay?"
Takeshi nodded. "Gotcha."
Naoko turned around to leave, but noticed something as he did so.
"That's odd," he said. "Didn't I close the door all the way when I came in here? I'm pretty sure I did."
Takeshi looked over Naoko to see the door. At the moment, the door was ajar.
"I'm pretty sure I heard it close," Takeshi replied.
"Did...somebody open it?" Naoko wondered aloud. He opened the door all the way and took a look outside.
Naoko didn't have to look very far to get an explanation for who could've opened the door. All he had to do was turn to his right, peek through into the hall now on his right, and spot Sasa in the middle of it, looking like a deer caught in a car's headlights. She began to step back, but tripped on her own feet and fell down with a yelp.
Naoko began to move closer. "Are you alright?"
Sasa held her hand out. "I-it's fine. I'm f-fine." She then slowly got up to her feet again.
"Sorry if I startled you," Naoko said. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Oh…," Sasa replied quietly. "Okay."
Naoko looked over his shoulder for a second. "Did you open the door to the music room?"
Sasa blushed. "I...I just w-wanted to hear. Before I o-opened the door, i-it was muffled and a b-bit quiet. It sounded really n-nice."
"I agree," Naoko replied. "Takeshi is a very good musician, isn't he?"
Naoko felt like he understood why Sasa didn't just come in, so he didn't bother asking.
"H-he is," Sasa agreed. "It makes me th-think about…" Sasa paused, expression shifting to a frown. "N-no, I sh-shouldn't."
"Is there something wrong?" Naoko asked.
"I've been b-bothering you and the others too m-much. I n-need to do this on m-my own."
Sasa began to walk away, and Naoko was left wondering what she was going to say. Clearly, she had something on her mind. She probably had some sort of a crush. After all, considering what she did not too long ago, trying to rope him into a board game with her and Takeshi, such an explanation would certainly put things into perspective. And who would she have a crush on? Well, it seemed pretty clear to him.
Naoko considered following Sasa, to make sure that she was okay, but quickly decided against it. She seemed like she needed some time to herself. Besides, even if he did, he'd be ignoring the person who showed up soon after Sasa left Naoko's sight.
This person turned out to be Haru, who passed through where Sasa left, and looked to be eyeing her as he apparently passed her. He was carrying one of the plastic boxes from the storage room in front of him, which Naoko was quick to take notice of. Haru eyed Naoko in turn.
"Yo," Haru greeted him. "Sasa givin' you trouble?"
"Sort of," Naoko replied. "I was with Takeshi, and she decided to listen in on his saxophone playing."
Haru scowled. "She did? That's kinda fucked up. Guess she was never taught not to snoop."
"I think she's just dealing with some difficult emotions right now," Naoko explained.
"Oh. I see," Haru replied, maintaining his scowl. "Well, I gotta get goin'."
"You're going to be doing something with what you've got in that box, I'm assuming," Naoko said.
Haru looked down at the box in his hands. "Oh yeah. This box here's full of metal junk and spare parts. I finally got commissioned to actually make something. Eryu gave me a note with a list of stuff to make for the party."
"Cool," Naoko commented. "Good luck with that."
Haru chuckled. "No worries, Naoko. When you're as good as me, you work fast. I'll be done real quick, believe me."
Haru continued on his way to the workshop, and Naoko took his leave too. His work was done, and he had a feeling that there was a lot more work that'd have to be done tomorrow. The party was still two days away, after all.
*Dong, ding, dong!*
"GOOD MORNING. IT IS NOW 8AM. IF YOU ARE ALREADY AWAKE, THEN HELLO. LET US ALL WORK TOWARDS MUTUAL HARMONY TODAY."
Naoko woke up slowly. He found himself rather puzzled, as the dream he had the night before had been...especially strange. Typically, his dreams were nondescript, aside from IMONO being involved in them somehow. Well, things were...different that night. Naoko wasn't sure if it was because of the Lita-22 or what, but he could remember something odd about his dream. He couldn't quite remember exact details, however. The dream involved him and another one of the people trapped with him, in a room together. Who was it, specifically? He didn't really remember. He just remembered that they were...roleplaying?
Naoko shook it off. It probably wasn't important.
Naoko didn't get very far into his day before he was stopped in his tracks by Mine, who bounded towards him from behind while Naoko walked through the halls of the first floor.
"Yo, Naoko, hang on!" Mine called, causing Naoko to turn around to face her.
"Mine? What is it?" Naoko asked.
"Sorry for bothering you," Mine apologized. "It's just that Eryu said something about wanting to meet up with you so you could help with the party preparations and stuff."
"He did?" Naoko asked, confused. "I don't remember him saying that. Why didn't he tell me that during breakfast?"
"I wasn't really focusing on him that much," Mine admitted. "Still, I think he got distracted and couldn't talk to you before you left."
"I see," Naoko replied, remembering that he had left pretty quickly during breakfast. "Thanks for letting me know."
"No problem, Naoko!" Mine smiled, practically bouncing. "I just think it's good to make sure that you're working hard, y'know? I saw those papers you guys gave me, and I know you're a part of the prepping. It doesn't hurt that, uh…"
Suddenly, Mine's disposition changed. She seemed happy and peppy one moment, and the next, her smile turned to a frown, and she began standing a lot more still. Naoko was quick to notice this.
"Hm?"
"Sorry, sorry," Mine said. "I don't mean to bother you, but I also kiiinda felt like tracking you down was a good excuse to, uh...get away from Bankei for a bit."
"Has she been hard to handle?" Naoko inquired.
"Kind of?" Mine responded. "She's been pretty friendly since my last status report. Pleasant, even. But with the whole 'Lita' situation, I'm starting to feel like she's a bit too friendly now."
"Friendly as in perverted?"
"Maybe," Mine replied. "She's started calling me 'dear' and asking me about myself. Before then, she was calling me by name and telling me about stuff."
"Sounds like she might be attracted to you right now," Naoko reasoned. "I'll admit, I'm not sure how to deal with a lot of this, myself."
"So you're saying you don't know what I'm supposed to do?" Mine frowned.
"Well, I'm dealing with issues relating to the whole 'Lita' thing, too," Naoko explained. "I really wish I could give you solid advice, but I don't know if I can." Naoko frowned, realizing this was probably how Takeshi felt.
"Really?" Mine asked, bemused. "You don't know? If that's the case, then maybe I should...Wait, who's the group therapist?"
"Mariko, I think," Naoko answered. "You can talk to her if you want, I guess."
Mine stepped back a bit, seeming surprised. "Oh. Mariko? That's…"
"You don't want to talk to her?" Naoko asked.
"Oh, heh," Mine laughed nervously, "not exactly. But, well, let's just say...I think I remember why Eryu got distracted."
As per Mine's instructions, Naoko went into the kitchen to meet up with Eryu to go over the upcoming preparations. Stepping through the door, he saw that with Eryu were Haru and Yasuo, as well as...Yori.
Naoko began to blush. "Oh, hey, you guys."
Yori looked at Naoko quizzically. "Hello, Naoko."
Haru looked between the two of them and looked unamused. "What the hell are you doin' starin' at each other?"
"Haru, watch your goddamn language," Eryu snapped back.
Haru whipped back as if he was hit in the chest. "Seriously?! Man, what crawled up your ass and died?"
Eryu sighed and put his hands up. "Sorry," he muttered. "I've been a little on edge recently."
"Why's that?" Naoko asked.
"Because of Mariko, that's why," Eryu answered bitterly. "First she goes and makes a big scene after I tell everyone not to do that, and then she starts following me around everywhere like a lost puppy. And because of this Lita-22 in my system, I can barely stand her." Eryu began muttering to himself, as Yori continued in his place.
"It's not like we blame her for her current behavior," she explained, "but it's been kind of a bother, as you can imagine. We ended up having to ask around to see if anyone was willing to distract her long enough for us to meet up like this without her doing anything to distract us, or make us uncomfortable."
"Yes, indeed," Yasuo affirmed. "Mareo claimed he was up to the task. A real lifesaver, he was."
"Pretty sure he only agreed 'cause he's been eyein' her," Haru commented. "Let's hope he can get through the day without breakin' his pelvis. With a guy like him, it'll happen easily."
Naoko was left with some terrible, terrible mental images he tried his best to expunge. Otherwise, he got the idea.
"I, uh, hope we'll be okay, even with all…" Naoko made some vague gestures. "This."
"Eh, no worries," Haru assured him. "I can keep my pants on until the pool party. Then, I'm goin' in speedos, and you pussies can't stop me."
"I have no interest in stopping you," Eryu replied. "Not because I want to see you in a speedo, mind you. But we should all be okay, I think. Personally, aside from a mild attraction to Bankei, I think I'll be okay."
"Goo- Wait," Naoko interrupted himself mid-sentence. "Bankei?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you hated her."
"I do, I just…" Eryu stopped for a moment. "I mean, have you seen her?"
"We're not having this conversation," Yori stated flatly.
"Very well, then, miss Hogo," Yasuo replied. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah, let's go," Eryu agreed.
A/N: If I'm being honest, I'm surprised by how high the word count ended up being for what I had planned for this chapter. Well, I'm still working on solidifying people's personalities, so I guess it's only natural that I get some character interaction in there.
I also spent a bit of time on the whole "Naoko is drugged into liking Yori" thing I alluded to in Chapter 12, as you can probably tell. I'll admit that since I started writing this chapter, I've wondered if maybe I should downplay it later on both for brevity's sake and to keep things from getting too awkward. I've left the first couple paragraphs mostly the way I first wrote them for the sake of establishing additional character details, though.