"Oi come on, we're not giving in this early are we. Our parents already said their cool with it as long as I maintain high honors in college." Several moments ago I had received a phone call from my Dad. We had waited an entire a week for their response and thank god was it a good one. Komachi hasn't really smiled in the last week. That cynicism that haunted me back in middle school is starting to plague her. She's rarely smiled in the last week, let alone laughed. Well, when did I ever have an alright sense of humor.
'Society is the worst.' Really it is. Taking one of the happiest people on the Earth and mincing them from the inside out. "Komachi, lets just order pizza tonight." All I could get from her was a nod. Komachi had barely spoken lately. "Fries." She says suddenly. "Yeah sure." I respond. Well she speaks on a need to know basis. At the very least I can get some words out of her. D
"Cajun or just the normal crinkle ones?"
"Cajun?" She looks up dejectedly. No its ok, even I've never had cajun fries before. "Crinkle it is." I grab my phone off the counter and make the usual order. It consisted of the average lazy extravaganza diet. One triple cheese pizza with filled crust and a full hawaiian pizza. The perfect catalyst for a good cheering up and much needed nutrition! I looked towards her hoping for a reaction.
Her depressed expression remained even at the thought of pizza! This is gonna be harder than I thought. What could cheer up a prepubescent girl going through a crisis? Pizza is obviously not working at the moment. Something to let her ease her stress and promote relaxation? Oh wait!
"Komachi, why don't we go to a hot spring?" Her head perked up as I placed the phone down on the counter. "I think I have those coupons I won buried somewhere in my closet. I can get us in a hot spring in Kobe."
"But when?" Her monotonous voice sounded slightly irritable. Low expectations is probably what's going through her head right now. Well not that I ever really had any standards to meet in the first place. She probably doesn't want to go on a trip so suddenly. "How about this weekend? It's a four day weekend cause of the founders celebration." Might as well ask her anyways.
"Oh." Was all she said. Well I'd be at a loss of words by how convenient that timing is. "It probably won't help you know." Komachi said as she made her way out of the room. Out of instinct I grab her wrist. "It will. I'll make you cheer up you like it or not." I tried smiling but my cynical face ended up ruining everything. She responded with a brief grin of approval before exiting the room leaving me in silence. "At least I got the point across….." I said to myself
"Yes, the code works sir." The attendant said. "Alright can you book one room for two." I said in a victorious tone. Had I been a week later with this the coupon would of expired. Timing really is on my side this year. "Ok sir we've booked you for an arrival tomorrow evening and you'll be leaving on Monday. Was that correct."
"That's right, thank you."
"I hope you and your girlfriend enjoy your stay. Thank You for choosing Koibana onsen."
"Wait we are-." She hung up. The person who answered the phone was bizarre in their own way. Rather they sounded too young to actually be working a job like that. Well, so did Komachi. Purchasing the train tickets were not that difficult which was surprising. Usually booking on the Shinkansen on weekends were difficult but there happened to be two seats on the right side of the train. Which is always great since you get a view of Mt. Fuji when heading south.
"Hachi the pizzas here." Komachi walked in with the boxes of pizza and a liter of soda. "I paid them since you're taking me on a trip." A small red tint appeared on her face at the end of that sentence. But I was quick to disregard the display as the smell of pizza flew into my nose. Freaking delicious….
"Oh no you don't have to. I wa-." Wait a minute. Did she just call me Hachi? "Wait a minute. Did you just call me Hachi?"
"Eh!?"
"Eh." We both exclaimed in unison. "Uh, let's just eat." She said putting the pizza on the table. We both sat down and did our usual pre meal greeting. "Thanks for the food." We both said as we began to dig into the pizza. She had a nervous expression written all over her face. Probably thanks to the awkward silence that's occupied the table for a while. "Oh right we leave for Kobe tomorrow afternoon and we should arrive at the onsen around four."
"Oh I'm really excited." Komachi said in a stressed tone. "Hey don't be so stressed. This is a trip to cheer you up so please let me handle everything." She nodded. I don't think I've ever shown this much affection towards my sister before. Maybe those brotherly instincts do exist… Well looking back on it, comparing my old behaviour with her to this. I really was a bad brother to her wasn't I. She just ended up being the target of my frustration and cynical nature.
But there is the chance that it isn't brotherly affection. Obviously there are other reasons I would be going so far for her. Maybe I don't want a repeat of the past. Even though the circumstances here are vastly different, she could end up in the same state I did and what a worse time for that to happen then high school.
Man...I just don't know why I'm helping her. It's hard enough to figure out what actions I make are instinct and done consciously. But who knows maybe my conscious is acting on instinct. Or they're just the same thing? "Hey?" The girl across the table had spoken once again. "Yeah?" I said trying to keep a straight face. "Can I keep calling you Hachi?"
Huh? "Why?" I asked. She had a somewhat sad face when she asked that. Something else must be bothering her, but from the looks of things. It'll be awhile before she opens up again. "You don't need to know. Yes or no?" She ordered. Sighing in defeat I concur to her request. "Yeah ok sure. Just uh, don't go overboard with it." Her usual smile returned to her face and she began to dig into her pizza faster. Whatever I just did was a good thing. She made a nickname for me, though regardless I think it's normal for siblings to have nicknames. Putting emphasis on the 'I think'. What would I name her anyways? Machi? Koma? Oh god Koma, it's so close to Kuma but so far. Though I don't know how she'd feel if I called her bear all the time. "Mmmm it's been so long since I've been too a hot spring."
"What about that middle school field trip you would talk about all the time?"
"Canceled. Remember because of the earthquake, the shinkansen got shut down for two days." Oh right, I remember her complaining about it for two weeks. "Oh yeah. That was a while back wasn't it."
"Yeah three years. Well the train tracks got reinforced so we shouldn't have to worry about it."
"Anyways you should start packing. We'll be staying for two nights." I patted her head as I left the dining room. "Hey stay here and help me clean up!" Komachi yelled from the table. "Sorry I can't hear you!" I make victorious strides up the stairs with a smirk on my face.
"Oh what could go wrong this weekend?"
Here's a short chapter I wrote on the return flight. It's like five hundred words less than what I usually post. But meh what can I say? I'm trying to fulfill a plot development rather than a word count per chapter. Lemme know if the pacings getting bad and I'll work on it.
Also thanks for the comments of support. I really think they should ban guest commenting all together haha. Though it is expected since my writing preferences are catered to a minority in many communities.
