Chapter Six: Kin Grounded? I Think Not!
Inner Taro: Knowing her, she'll always find some way, and that way almost always includes my suffering...
Inner Kin: Don't be like that. It's not my fault that you can't resist my breathtaking persuasion skills.
Inner Taro: ... Persuasion skills? It's more like death threats.
Inner Kin: (dangerous glint in eyes, pulls out a machete) I dare you to say that again.
Inner Taro: Someone help me. -.-U
"Taro-chan! You're back!" Kin's face immediately brightened. She wrapped her arms around Taro's neck and squeezed, laughing and smiling cheerfully for the first time in over a week.
"C-can't b-breathe," he gasped, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
"Gomen, Taro-chan, I couldn't resist," she smiled full-heartedly, "It's been so lonely without you."
"Miss me much?" he teased.
"Nope, not at all," she lied flatly, sitting at her seat as the bell rang. She smiled as she watched Taro almost drop out of his seat in disappointment. 'How kawaii.' Since they hadn't seen each other for a week and a half (what a sin, right?) they told each other everything that happened.
"I was knocked out for 16 hours on Friday. Sugoi, right? When I was sleeping, it was pleasant, except for that one time when I nearly suffocated from snot..."
Inner Kin: Suffocated from snot? Now that is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard.
'Hey, it's my fault that he was even sick, right?' She sweatdropped, although she agreed with her conscience.
Inner Kin: But it was his utter stupidity and incompetence that he didn't solve the problem.
"Today I woke up and I was totally fine. My mom still makes me take medicine, but I feel great," he made a peace sign.
"That's awesome, Taro-chan! Did you do your homework too?"
"Ano, I forgot," he answered flatly.
"That's okay," Kikyo-sensei interrupted, "Both of you will be staying for the after school session today. Taro needs to make up work, and Kin, you're staying because you didn't get a single problem on the homework right. Did you really think I'm that gullible?"
"A-ano..." her face twitched, but sighed, defeated, "All right, I give up, but I don't think I can. I'm grounded."
"Waaahhh? You're grounded?" Taro repeated, concerned.
"I was going to tell you, but you couldn't stop rambling. That's not all. I've got to do all the laundry, dish-washing and cleaning for an entire month," she sighed and then screamed, "AN ENTIRE MONTH! Okaa-san is so mean." 'She's a housewife, after all. She doesn't have to worry about failing algebra, now does she?'
"Well, I suppose I can call your mother and maybe she can make an exception, neh?"
"Good luck at that," she sighed, "Sensei?"
"Ah?"
"Do you like playing tennis?" she asked.
"Tennis? I haven't played tennis since high school. Nande?" Kikyo was surprised at the question.
"Do you want to play after school today, then? I have a racket," she smiled, her voice sugarcoated and mellifluous. 'The regulars tournament is this week. I have to practice! I have to get onto the team. I have to! I won't let this stupid grounding get the best of me!'
"Arigatou, Kin, but you aren't getting out of math that easily," she chuckled, thinking that she had seen right through her words.
"How about this then? If you tell my mother that I'm going to be learning algebra from you this entire week, I swear I'll get a 90 on the next quiz. Not only that, but I'll do all my homework!" she offered.
"NNAANNNIIII? Kin, have you gone crazy?" Taro's jaw dropped to the ground.
"You, do all your homework and do well on the quiz?" the teacher's eyebrows twitched, "I don't believe you."
"What do you mean you don't believe me? I'll do anything, I swear!" To everyone's amazement, she fell out of the chair and grabbed her sensei's ankle. Anime tears fell from her cheeks. 'I have to do this. I have to become a regular!' The bewildered teacher tried to shake her off, but she held on to her ankle, praising like a sycophant and muttering die-hard oaths.
"No," Kikyo replied flatly.
"Kudasai, anything!" she cried, not letting go. Kikyo thought hard. Kin's heart pounded hopefully with each passing moment.
"You have to get 100," she stared down hard, shadows etching her face.
"A 100?!?!" Taro and Kin screamed together.
"I've never gotten a 100 in school my entire life!" Kin confessed.
"Never?" she repeated, shocked.
"Never," Kin sulked.
"Well then, this'll be the first time," Kikyo declared adamantly.
"92," Kin fought.
"100."
"95."
"100."
"97..."
"110." 'What a troublesome, obstinate girl. She just never gives up.'
"All right! I give up, sensei," Kin finally agreed.
"Ah, but I won't lie to your parents. You make sure you return the favor," she agreed with a malicious smile, "If you don't keep your end of the deal, you're coming in the entire next month to work on math packets."
"THE ENTIRE MONTH? You're so evil, sensei!" Kin cried, sniffing but finally letting go of her teacher's ankle. 'Whew,' Kikyo thought, 'I'm just relieved of getting this cuckoo girl off of my ankle.'
"Wow, I can't believe that Kin agreed to get a 100 in math. That's just..."
Inner Taro: A miracle?
'Ah, to say the least. Plus she'll do all of her homework and risk another month of math her entire afternoon. Either Kin is changing or she's starting to love math and tennis.'
Inner Taro: Now that thought creeps me out. Kin, loving math and tennis?
Taro imagined Kin with enormous glasses, oversize braces, and mounds of books while defeating the three-heads-taller senpais in the National tennis tournament.
Inner Taro: Now that is disturbing.
---After School---
All of last year's regulars were gathering outside. Tomorrow was the first day of the interschool championship, after all, and the top eight would become the ones to challenge the world.
"Kin, you need to concentrate," her young teacher's voice reminded.
"Hmm? Oh, gomen, Kikyo-sensei," she apologized, staring back down at the worksheets. Her eyes were already swirling. Her leg was twitching from restlessness and her hand refused to write a single word. No matter how hard she concentrated, her brain turned out blank. She was starting to think that her brain consisted of the ramen she ate for breakfast. She knocked her fists against her head.
Bonk. Bonk. 'Okay, good, at least I'm not hollow-headed.'
Inner Kin: Yet.
'Did you say something?'
Inner Kin: Sorry, can't help you here. I'm just as hopeless when it comes to math...
"Kin-chan, this is actually pretty easy. Are you having trouble?" Taro grinned from the seat next to her, making broad, swift pencil strokes.
"You be quiet," she said irritatedly, waited for Kikyo-sensei to turn around, and then whispered, "Give me the answers then."
"KKIIINNN! I heard that." Miraculously, Kikyo-sensei popped up behind Kin out of thin air.
"Sensei! You don't have to scare me like that," Kin smiled guiltily. 'If only sensei didn't have such good ears. Humph.'
"Ah, well, the sooner you finish those packets, the sooner you can act barbarian outside, neh?" Kikyo smiled.
"Hm..." she looked down back at her paper, but it just looked like a bunch of squiggles and lines. 'Am I hallucinating? Or do I need glasses?'
"Don't think about copying either. I know your handwriting and habits, Kin," Kikyo returned to her desk, "Ask me any question."
"Sensei?"
"Ah?"
"How long will you be staying?"
"Ano, probably until dinner," she smiled. 'I'm supposed to finish this in only three hours? Who does she think I am? Einstein? I'm going to be here all night.'
"Kin, the regulars tournament starts tomorrow, doesn't it?" Taro asked abruptly.
"Ah, it does. That's why I'm screwed. Why did they have to pick such a horrible time to ground me? It's not fair," she sighed, trying hopelessly to concentrate.
"Demo, Kin-chan, isn't that for the all-boys tennis club?" Kin couldn't believe that she had forgotten that part. "When's the girls' tournament starting?"
"No, I'm not participating in the girls' club. I'm going to beat all the guys and watch them cry like girls!" she replied forcefully. 'I have to fight on equal footing with onii-chan! Going to the girls' team... how humiliating.'
"Kin-chan, how are you going to do that?"
"You're right. That is a problem..." Taro was very alarmed when he heard snickering from the desk beside him. When he saw that her eye sockets were dark and her lips were curled malevolently, he knew that she had just concocted an idea from that ramen-filled brain of hers. She had the exact same look when she forced him to share his lunch the entire year, she copied his answers on an exam, and shaved him bald, calling it a 'trim'. He gulped. This was very, very bad.
---The Next Day---
Kin was allergic to peanut butter. Her face would swell, her eyes would get puffy, and she would sneeze incessantly. What her family didn't know is that she had a handy, ready stash under her bed. Cough a few times, take a lick here and there and she could feign a cold any day she wanted.
"A-A-ATCHOO!" She covered her mouth with a tissue.
"Oh, Kin, do you feel any better?" her mother carried a lunch tray to her bedroom.
"N-not really," she sniffed. 'It's not a lie.'
"Here, eat this," Ayana handed her a pill and she gulped it down with a glass of water. "This should help your symptoms. Eat everything on your plate. It's your mother's specially regulated Get-Well Lunch!"
"Arigatou, okaa-san," she smiled guiltily, her heart thumping. 'If only she knew, she'd rip my head off this moment.'
"Get well-rested, okay? Don't worry about your chores, but don't think you're getting out of them either- I'm just going to postpone your punishment," she smiled slyly, her brown eyes glinting.
"Mochiron, okaa-san. Arigatou gozaimasu," she smiled and took a bite. 'This is really good. Okaa-san is in a really good mood tod-'
"A-A-ATCHOO!" she sneezed on her lunch and she unattractively purged her full mouth onto her mother's face.
"Kkiiiinnnnn," her mother's eyes were unreadable, "Haven't you ever heard of covering your mouth when you sneeze?"
"G-gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen-" she apologized hastily and a lump of fear got stuck in her throat. This was going to be a long day.
---Later---
Snore.
Snore.
Wheezy snore. (Maybe her nose is clogged up?)
Inner Kin: Kin-chan's always been loquacious, but who knew she was this loud when she sleeps?
In the depths of her mind, Kin knocked out her pestering inner voice with a mega punch and resumed dreaming about acing school. In this classroom, Kin ruled as an undisputed monarch. Kikyo was now her slav- student, sitting obediently in her chair while Kin frenziedly gave her unfair detentions.
She taught her own mathematics; there was no such thing as radicals, theorems, imaginary numbers and polar equations.
"Hai, Tezuka Kin is the most beautiful, most passionate, most intelligent and most huggable goddess of all time," the classroom chanted nonchalantly.
"What's that? I can't hear you! Where is your passion?" she marched around with a snakeskin whip, "Kikyo, recite rule number nine!"
"H-hai, Supreme Overlord Kin the Great," Kikyo gulped, "Algebra, geometry and trigonometry are undisputedly the leading cause of dead brain cells, inevitably ending in death every time the word is mentioned."
"Then, I beg your pardon, why did you just say those forbidden words?"
"Gomen, Most Powerful Creator, I simply recited rule number nine," she stuttered.
"WHAT INSUBORDINATION! Sedition is the most unforgivable of all deadly sins! 100 lashes!" she screamed and Kikyo jolted in terror. "MWHAHAHAHA!"
Snore.
Wheezy Snore.
Snore.
Inner Kin: Uh, Kin-chan? It's 3:00 already. How long do you plan on dreaming these embarrassing fantasies? If anyone finds out what you dream about, I'm going to disown you.
"Whaaaa?" Kin jolted up from bed and glanced at her Hello-Kitty alarm clock. "AAAH? It's three already? Chikusho! You stupid conscience, why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
Inner Kin: -.-U You said you set the alarm clock.
"You are my mental alarm clock!" she rebutted, hastily changing into her tennis clothes.
Inner Kin: Well, I'm flattered to see that I'm put to such good use.
Kin hastily put on a tee shirt and jeans, disappointed to see that she didn't need to bind her chest because it was totally flat in the first place, and put Ginka's girl uniform in a bag around her shoulders along with her racket.
'This is the hardest part,' Kin thought, gulping. Her room was on the third floor, and the way down seemed like eternity to her. 'Calm down, Kin. You can do this. Just land in the bushes, that's all. Land in the bushes...'
She gulped again. She hoped the bushes didn't have thorns. Deliberately slowly, she opened her window.
Inner Kin: Any day now...
The window was just big enough for her to fit through. She grabbed the bag with her new tennis racket and held it over the window, ready to drop it, but her fingers suddenly seemed to be stuck to the grip tape.
Inner Kin: Coward. Now we're never going to make it to after school tennis. Hiroki was right. You. Don't. Stand. A. Chance.
'WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? Watch!' With a burst of fury, she dropped her racket and it landed into the bushes with a whoosh. 'Yosh. It's just small fall, that's all. I'm sure okaa-san takes care of the garden well.'
She accidentally tripped on her desk and she didn't exactly know what happened next. A blur of colors and suddenly she was screaming "ITAI!" She immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. She would not let her mother or grandfather realize what she had done. Not after all this hard work.
'I think I just broke my back,' she thought as she rubbed her head. After waiting the world to stop spinning, she made quite a ruckus climbing out of the rustling bushes. 'I'm lucky that nothing's seriously injured, especially with a headlong fall.'
Sighing with relief, she bent over to pick up her racket, and she was off to Ginka. Sprinting to the public bus stop, she suddenly realized something. She dug through her pockets, but they were empty.
"AAHHH! I FORGOT THE BUS FARE!"
From three stories above in a quaint but cozy room sat her ojii-san, gazing down at her with a smile. 'Teenagers these days are nothing but stubborn. Aw, well, what can I say. You're my granddaughter after all.'
---Later---
Taro waited in the boys' bathroom. Waited and waited and... waited. 'Kin-chan, where are you? The regulars tournament has already started and you aren't here yet.' He sighed and turned on the facet. He washed his face thoroughly, glad to feel refreshed.
"Taro-chan!" Kin's voice burst through as the door suddenly smashed open. She was wheezing for breath because she had never been more exhausted in her life.
"Kin-chan, you're late. Daijoubu?" Taro turned to face a crimson-faced, nearly-collapsing Kin.
"I forgot the bus fare, so I had to run the entire way. Where are the wig and the clothes?" she asked between fervent panting. Taro pointed to the bag next to her and she grabbed them, slamming the stall door. She changed as quickly as she could, until she realized that she had her shirt inside out. 'Chikusho...'
"Did you turn in the tennis club permission slip with the signatures?" Kin asked.
"Mochiron, Kin-chan. I would never let you down. Are you done?" Taro asked from outside.
"Put these on!" She kicked him a bag from under the stall. Taro's face twitched when he realized what was inside: Ginka's girl uniform.
"I hate cross dressing," he whined, grimacing at the thought.
"Stop being a baby and put it on!" she commanded, turning her shirt around, "Yosh, okay, how do I look?" She stepped outside and Taro nearly jolted. It was like looking at a mirror. They were the perfect height and the same bright blue eyes and chocolate-brown hair (only Kin's was a wig.)
"...Just like me," he answered after moments of gawking.
"I'll be off now. I'll be waiting for you to cheer me on, okay?" Without a moment to spare, she grabbed her racket and ran out of the boys' restroom.
"Matte, Kin-chan! I don't know how to put on a skirt," Taro's eyes twitched, "Why is it that I always get pulled along into doing what I don't want to do?" Sighing, he grudgingly put on the too-tight shirt and very revealing short skirt. He glanced at the mirror and flushed until his head was a walking tomato.
Inner Taro collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest, laughing deliriously like he had never laughed in his life.
"I am not letting anyone see me like this," he muttered as beads of sweat ran down his face, smoothing his skirt fervently. 'Why does the fabric have to be so short? How do girls stand exposing their underwear like this and pull it off?'
"Hey, that was good warm-up, Suzuki. I can't wait to play-" As two guys entered from the door, there came three blood-curdling screams.
---Meanwhile---
"So, Taro-kohai, you're going to participate as a freshman?" Hiroki turned to ask her. It took her a moment to realize that she was Taro now, and she better act like it.
"Ah," she nodded.
"Well, good luck. I heard you were sick. Daijoubu?" he smiled.
"I'm feeling pumped, ready to take on anything," she smiled.
"A new racket there, I see. Well, you made it just in time," he pointed to the poster, "I think you're on Court D."
"Arigatou gozaimasu," she bowed slightly and ran off. The first game was her warm-up. Although her serving was a bit off, she was determined to win the first game at least. Her opponent, quite frankly, could not serve or hit a backhand, but his forehand was pretty strong.
"Game and match won by Aoki Taro. 6-4."
"That was a good game, Taro-san. I underestimated you." They shook hands and she smiled. "Demo, next time, there's no way I'm losing to you."
"Ah, same here." She gasped for breath as she collapsed onto the bench. 'Where'd Taro go? He promised he'd cheer me on.'
---Meanwhile---
"Ah, Kin, there you are," Kikyo noticed him shivering in the corner of the hallway. She pulled him into her classroom, much to his protest.
"Why weren't you in class today, young lady?" she pointed at Taro accusingly.
"I'm not-" Taro started. 'Kin.'
"Nope, I'm not going to take any excuses. Here're the packets. Taro's late too. I'm going to go look for him. Finish those when I come back, okay?" Without further ado, she shut the door and locked it. Although she hated trapping a student in a classroom, she had things to do and she knew that if Kin was Kin, she would find some means of escape, locked or not.
"Do I really have to do Kin's homework for her? Why did I ever agree to this?" He sweatdropped and without a better choice, started on the first problem.
---Later---
Kin's legs were cramping up because she had done little to warm-up and now she was paying the price. She took a long drink from her water bottle and threw a towel over her face, emulating the older senpais, attempting to look cool. 'Onii-chan always managed to look all old and mature by acting like this. Am I doing it right?'
"Oi, your name is Aoki Taro, correct?" a previous regular approached Kin.
"Hai, and you?" She shined a flirty smile at the intimidating regular.
"Yamada Suzuki. You're left-handed, correct?" His glare was somewhat unnerving, but Kin was only flattered by the attention.
"Hai."
"When you use backhand, you need to tilt your grip or else you can only use it two-handed," he explained, picking up her racket.
"H-hai."
"Now show me again," he handed back her racket. She did so, albeit nervously, swapping from forehand to backhand and back again.
"Well, you have potential. When you wait for the ball, don't forget to return to ready position so your right hand can support your left hand," he reminded and stalked off.
"Arigatou gozaimasu," she bowed.
You have potential.
She smiled full-heartedly. It felt good to hear that.
"Dang it, where is Taro-chan? That liar," she pouted as she prepared for her next match. She spotted Kikyo-sensei's bright red hair and ducked behind a tree, staring as she passed.
---Later---
"There you are, Taro-chan! Where have you been?" Kin entered the boys' bathroom, thoroughly exhausted.
"You don't want to know," Taro sighed. Entering a stall, Kin started to change back into a tee-shirt and jeans. She took off the greasy wig and stuffed it into the bag.
"So how did practice go?" Taro asked from the adjacent stall, never gladder to be wearing pants in his life.
"It was great. I won all three games," she said cheerfully, "A guy named Suzuki was helping me with my backhand. Now all I have to do is correct my serve. I can't win using an underhand serve, after all."
"Good luck, Kin-chan. I know you'll do it," Taro smiled, patting her on the back.
"There you are, Taro-kun! I've been searching everywhere for you!" Kikyo-sensei's enthusiastic voice bursted from behind them, and both of them cringed. "Good work today, Kin. I didn't know you had it in you. I'm disappointed in you, Taro. You didn't come in. Humph, well, here's your punishment." She piled a mountain of papers into his arms. "All of that is due tomorrow."
Kin smiled encouragingly, patting Taro's twitching form.
Inner Taro: This. Is. Not. Fair.
"It's okay, I guess. Since I've already done it before, it won't take that long to re-do it, will it?" Taro pointed out optimistically.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Taro-chan," Kin said and ran off towards the tennis courts, "I'm going to stay late to practice, okay? I'm so glad you're back!"
"Ja!" he waved until she was gone and he was alone with a mountain of homework.
---Later---
"6." She served again and it barely made it over.
"7." The ball bounced on the net and landed in. She tried again, only with a higher angle.
"Out. Chikusho, I can't seem to beat my record of seven straight serves," she collapsed in a heap on the ground, panting deeply.
"Kin, here you are. I thought you'd be here," a cracked old voice said from behind. Kin forced herself to turn her head, dreading the sight.
"Ojii-san," she greeted, sweatdropping.
"It's already seven, and you missed dinner. Your family is worried about you," his told her, and she dropped her head in guilt. "I thought you were sick."
"Well, I was, but-" Her eyes on the ground, she packed the balls and her bags. Great, she had gotten so into tennis that she forgot all about the time. She was planning on returning before five, just in time to still be impersonating being asleep.
"Come on. I'll walk you home," he said, walking slowly towards the exit. She followed his heels, her eyes staring guiltily at the ground. Although he was walking excruciatingly, unbearably slowly, Kin was too fatigued and too guilty to complain.
Inner Kin: At this rate, we aren't going to reach home until midnight.
Kin didn't reply, but continued staring at the rainbow sky. The sunset was nothing less than beautiful- the tangerines seemed nearly tangible and the subtle teals meshed easily into each other. Although her stomach was in knots, dreading what may happen when she arrived home, she found serenity in this moment.
"Daijoubu, Kin. Everything will turn out okay," her grandfather said with a smile in front of her. 'Old people are really optimistic, aren't they?'
---At Night---
"Kin, where did you go?" her mother stared down at her rebellious daughter after she returned home far past dark. Her parents looked like they were ready to burst at her. 'What will it be now? Chores for an entire year?'
"You nearly gave your mother a heart attack when she found out that the things under the blanket were pillows, not her daughter," his father shook his head.
"S-suminasen," she bowed low.
Her grandfather put a hand on her shoulder, "I took her on a walk. She looked pretty sick, so I thought some fresh air would do her some good."
"You guys went on a walk for three hours? You're crazy," her father snorted, and both of them blinked in surprise. Her grandfather was defending her? This had never happened before.
"Well, I'm sure Kin enjoyed it," her grandfather grinned. Kin could have sworn that he winked at her.
"Ojii-chan..." She was at a loss for words.
Tezuka walked down the stairs to see what the ruckus was about and eavesdropped amusedly. 'A five- hour walk while carrying a bag with a change of clothes and tennis rackets?' Tezuka thought for a moment that he should defend his little sister, but thought better of himself. 'She needs to learn how to take care of herself.'
After she ate her dinner and finished the homework Taro she had missed, the lights around the house flicked off. Mustering her courage, she tapped on her ojii-chan's door and entered.
She bowed down to her knees in sheer gratitude and mumbled, "Arigatou gozaimasu." 'I'll never say anything bad about you again, ojii-chan.' After a moment, she returned to her room and propped onto the bed.
"Humph. Young people these days," the old man turned back to reading the newspaper through thick-rimmed spectacles.
---:D---
Yup. I've always wanted to include her family more in the series and I wanted a special affinity between her and her grandfather.
Well, you guys will have to be patient about the Kirihara part of the story. Of course, there's always my cute Taro-chan. I hope the cross dressing part wasn't that cliché- although I do hate the overused idea, it's still necessary.
Review, neh?